Since we had been told by Mr. Aizawa to not go too far over vacation (barring I-Island since there were a bunch of heroes there), due to the League of Villains being on our trails, us girls asked him if we could use the school pool as our own little getaway. He had miraculously agreed, so the day after we get back from I-Island, we all meet up at UA.

We have to wear the school regulated swimsuits, but I don't mind. It's not revealing and I don't have to worry about the shorts riding up. I apply copious amounts of sunscreen in the locker rooms, knowing it still probably won't do much good.

Ochaco and I walk out to the pool with our bags, meeting the rest of the girls. The Olympic sized pool is split into two sides, one half open and the other with defined lanes. Momo and Tsu are already at work setting up a volleyball net on the open side.

My friend and I put our stuff down and go to start stretching out with Mina and Toru. Momo and Tsu join us when they're done.

"Greetings!" I hear from across the pool. Iida has arrived, wearing the boy's swim uniform as well as a ghastly yellow swim cap and goggles. "Us boys have decided to have endurance training today. I hope that won't bother you!"

"Not at all, Iida," Momo calls out, reaching down to touch her toes, all of us following her actions. "We're just going to use this half. Feel free to use the other side!"

"We'll try not to disturb you!"

She sends him a thumbs up in response as we move onto other stretches and the other guys show up. When Todoroki arrives, shirtless, I force myself to stare at the water. Kaminari rushes into the pool area and seems to deflate at the fact that all the guys are here and us girls aren't in skimpy bikinis.

I mean if he was planning on ogling us, is it really so bad if I look over there? I mean they're just guys. I glance up, looking over at the other side where the half and half teenager is stretching out his back, his muscles rippling as he does so. Immediately, I feel bad for watching and look back at the water with pink cheeks. Don't be creepy, Koto.

After stretching, Tsu dives instantly into the water, the rest of us following after her. The water is cold, but only compared to the scorching heat in the air. I swim down to the bottom, letting myself sit and pretend to be a child of Poseidon like I always used to when I was a kid. Eventually, I run out of air and have to resurface. I blink the water off my eyelashes and take in a deep breath.

"Who wants to be on my team?" Mina asks.

"I will," I volunteer.

"Me too!" Cheers Toru.

We go to separate sides of the net and start playing volleyball. Of course we're at a disadvantage since they have Tsu on their team, but it's not a very competitive game. Not to mention, Mina is pretty athletic, so I'm not worried.

After lunch, I apply more sunscreen and sit out with the rest of the girls, just relaxing in the sun. At some point, Bakugo must've shown up because our meal is punctuated with his competitive shouts. We watch as the guys have their rigorous workout, some collapsing the moment they get out of the water. Iida's running them like a drill sergeant, huh?

When we're about to hop back in, Iida calls lunch for the boys. We laugh as they drag themselves over to the shade.

"Hey guys!" Mina calls. "Wanna judge a diving contest?" Most of them nod, out of breath, but willing.

"What?" Ochaco asks, looking at our pink friend.

"I mean, why not? Just for fun!"

We all agree and decide to have three rounds, the first one being any fancy dives we want, the second one being pairs, and the third being belly flops. Of course, we're allowed to use our quirks since we're on school property, so this should get interesting.

The guys line up in the shade on their side while we stand in a group by the end of our half of the pool, so we have room to jump. I glance over at them, tired, out of breath, eating lunch and drinking what looks to be canned orange juice. I meet Todoroki's multicolored eyes for a moment, sending him a confident smile, then look away when my face heats up in a blush.

Jeez Koto, he's just a person! A very...very attractive person, but still! Calm down. It's not like anyone's ogling you! At least now that Mineta's gone. Thank God.

Momo goes first, running up and shooting a metal pole out of her hand to launch herself into the air, then letting go of it and performing a graceful swan dive, landing stick straight into the water. Of course, graceful as ever, Momo. Toru just spins around before landing feet first in the water. Tsu pushes off the ground hard to leap up and do a very similar move, completing an aileron roll midair before extending her arms out in front of her to brace the impact of the water.

And now, it's my turn. I take a deep breath and shake out my limbs, then get a running start. I illuse under my feet, but not hard enough to crack the concrete, just enough to get a bit of extra lift. I straighten my legs to complete a front flip while spinning, splashing down feet first. I resurface to applause, much like the others.

Ochaco, I notice, activates her quirk as her upward velocity decelerates, so she's still traveling up, but very slowly. She tucks into herself, flipping backwards, then extends herself out, bending back to reach down towards the water as she releases her quirk. All in all, I'd say it was extremely graceful. As she hops out of the water, I snag her arm to claim her as my partner for the next round.

As the first round comes to a close, Mina cartwheels into the pool, ending in a cannonball. After collecting the votes from the boys, Iida signals for us to move onto the second round.

Ochaco and I go first, her activating her quirk on both of us so we float up above the pool. I illuse graceful music around us to correct our trajectory and make us twirl and spin. With a nod from Ochaco, we both turn upside down, reaching out gracefully, similar to how she had ended her dive before, then fall as she deactivates her quirk.

Tsu partners with Toru, using her tongue to fling the invisible girl into the air. As she twirls around, Toru refracts the light, making her a sunny disco ball above the water. As she begins to fall, Tsu jumps over her, reaching out with her tongue to throw her even higher up, then splash down.

Momo creates another long pole for Mina, the two of them vaulting into the pool, accompanied by many flips and turns.

As round three begins, I mainly ignore everyone else, too nervous about my own plan. Belly flops usually hurt, but I don't want to slip on the wet concrete.

When I walk up to take my turn, I go straight up to the edge, placing my feet a good distance away from each other, then bend sideways to go up in a handstand. I hear a collective intake of breath at my crazy decision. My right hand slips on the ground so, heart pounding, I illuse sound to steady myself, then let myself fall forward, pushing off the edge at the last moment to put some distance between me and the wall. I hold my breath and brace for impact.

Smack!

I land flat on the water, the sensation stinging my skin and knocking my breath from my lungs. I let myself sink for a moment, rubbing at my arms before coming back up to the surface. I cough for air as everyone applauds and I haul myself out of the pool.

I applaud everyone else's performances and we wait for the final scores. Astonishingly, I manage to get second place. I guess everyone else was too repetitive with their dives. Not to mention, I'm friends with quite a few of the guys in the class, so that must've guaranteed me at least some votes. I know pairing up with Ochaco probably guaranteed Midoriya's vote for our team in that round. And my daring last trick garnered a pretty good response if I'm being honest.

I'm not surprised to find Tsu in first place, only one point ahead of me. She used her quirk well and had really good form.

"Alright! Now back to work!" Iida shouts, ushering the boys back to their side of the pool.

"Wait! We should have a competition too!" Sero calls out.

"But our quirks don't really help us with diving like theirs do," Eijiro points out, hardening his fists and slamming them together. How is his hair still mostly spiky? I think to myself.

"How about a race?" Ojiro suggests.

"Yes! We'll have a race!" Iida announces, seeming to decide for the rest of the guys. "But after our training is over!"

Most of the boys groan and head back to work. I meet Eijiro's sad eyes and give him a shrug, walking over to the edge of the pool and flopping in sideways. When I come back up, he's laughing, his usual happy self back. I grin to myself and swim over to where the other girls are getting back in position for volleyball.

•°•°•°•

Around 4 o'clock, we're just floating around, chatting, when Momo notices the time. "We should start the races now, so they have at least some time to relax," she tells us, then raises her voice. "Iida! Hey, Iida!"

The blue haired boy can't hear her, too busy swimming intensely back and forth. She's about to call for him again, but Tsu shoots her tongue across and smacks his arm. He turns his head a bit and treads water, looking over at us.

"Sorry, were you calling me?" He asks. "I was too focused to hear you. What do you need?"

"We were thinking you boys should do the race now so that you have time to relax and enjoy the pool," Ochaco chirps.

"Of course! Great idea!" He swims over to the edge and addresses the rest of the boys. "I propose we do the 50 meter race now!"

This seems to hype the boys up. We walk over so Momo can discuss our adjudication with Iida. I notice Bakugo has gone to stare Midoriya down, probably making some death threat or another. I really just wish he'd chill, but if he did, he wouldn't be Bakugo I guess.

The first group lines up at the blocks and Momo creates a whistle, looping it over her head. She lifts it to her mouth and shouts, "Alright now, everyone on your marks!"

Tokoyami, Koda, Bakugo, and Kaminari bend down with determined expressions. Kaminari sends me a quick wink before turning back to the pool.

"Get set!" Momo blows the whistle and they all take off.

While the other three dive into the water, Bakugo hops up to propel himself with explosions over the water. "BURST SPEED TURBO!!" He yells, clearing the pool with only a few explosions. He lands on the other side with a skid on his heels that makes me cringe. "How was that, ya sidekicks?!?" He taunts.

"Whaddya think you're doing?" Sero exclaims.

"You didn't even touch the water!" Eijiro yells, pointing an accusatory finger at the boy as he stands with a confident smirk.

Well, we did use our quirks in the diving contest, so he's going by the rules. They never said he had to touch the water. That would mess with his quirk anyway.

Bakugo's face falls into its usual unpleasant scowl as his hands start sparking. "It's called freestyle swimming!" He shouts angrily.

"Aww, is Ducky afraid of the water?" I illuse, jutting my lip out in a fake pout.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU FUCKIN' MUTE!!!!" He blasts over to me so quickly I have to take a step back, briefly losing my cool.

Use your quirk, idiot!

I illuse the sound of a bird hitting a window straight to his forehead, crumpling over in laughter as he falls back into the pool, disoriented.

"I got him," Tsu says, shooting her tongue into the water to grab his wrist and yank him out. His spiky hair drips as he coughs a bit. A twinge of guilt hits me. I only meant to knock him out of the air, not back into the water where he accidentally inhaled some.

I walk over to his side to make sure he's actually okay, but he smacks my hand away when I try to reach out. The next moment, he's on his feet, getting in my face, but Kaminari grabs him from behind.

"Let go of me, idiot!" He growls, his voice thick as if his throat is still full of water. A piece of Sero's tape is slapped over his mouth as the black haired boy gives me a smile and a thumbs up. With a few other people's help, they have his hands taped behind his back and attached to the wall. His eyes say all the unspoken curses as he glares at us.

"Let's set up for the next heat!" Iida says, getting everyone back on track. The rest of the class goes to the pool, Eijiro, Todoroki, Sero, Sato, and Aoyama going up to race, but I hang back with the angry boy.

"I'm sorry," I illuse quietly. His eyes squint angrily as he fights against his restraints. His shouts are muffled, but I illuse over them, rubbing my arm uncomfortably. "I really didn't mean to."

He stops struggling, but still gives me a fiery glare, growling deep in his throat. What is he, a rabid animal?

I mean...yeah...

"I panicked and accidentally hit you in. I'm sorry. I'm sure it can't be easy to breathe with that on," I continue, motioning towards the tape on his mouth. He did inhale some water and was trying to cough it out when they put it on him. I reach over and grab an edge. "I'm sorry if this hurts."

I yank as hard as I can, pulling the tape off. He winces and lets out a pained shout. I crumple up the tape as he begins coughing onto the ground and turn to walk away.

The second and third rounds end soon after, Todoroki and Midoriya winning them. That means they have to race Bakugo to decide the winner.

"It's time for the final race," Iida announces.

"I'll go free Bakugo," Momo says, walking over while creating a small knife in her hand. I always forget just how dangerous she could be, what with all the weapons she can make.

I stand by the sidelines, watching Midoriya and Todoroki take their places when something suddenly shoves me forward. I flail for a moment before turning to the side to splash into the water. Out of the corner of my eye, I see ash blonde hair where I just stood.

Dammit, Bakugo.

I come up for air to see the other girls pushing him towards the edge. Since he can't see Toru's arms, she manages to shove him hard into the water right next to me. And just like that, everyone's pushing each other in.

"This is extremely unsafe!" Iida exclaims, dodging Ochaco. "What if someone were to--"

The rest of his sentence is garbled as something grabs my leg and drags me down into the water. I barely manage a final gasp of air before I'm submerged. I turn around to see Bakugo holding my ankle with that smirk he gets when he's in battle. I try to kick him off, but my movements are too slow in the water.

I debate forcing him off with my quirk, but I don't know what kind of results that would yield and I don't want him to accidentally inhale water again, so I grapple with him, trying to get away.

I kick him as hard as I can in the chest with my other leg and try to swim up for air, but he won't let go. "You win!" I sign as I can feel my lungs starting to burn. My hair drifts around me like an auburn jellyfish, catching the light through the water.

He sends me a look that says that's not good enough. What a jerk! I pull my leg up to my chest, bringing me closer to him, then reach my arms out to him. Realizing what's happening, he immediately lets me go. Yeah, I only have one tactic to get him to submit. But it works.

Despite him letting go, I still tickle him a bit before propping my feet on his chest and pushing off, swimming up while forcing him further down.

I gasp for air the moment I break the surface only to see everyone in the water, splashing each other. I catch a glimpse of Todoroki using an ice shield to block Mina and Momo with the smallest hint of a smile on his face.

All of a sudden, a wave of water douses me. I turn to see Kaminari and Ojiro splashing me, so I return fire. I hear somebody moving behind me, so I whip around and end up splashing Bakugo as he tries to pull himself up.

"Not getting away that easy," I illuse, wrapping my arms around him from behind and pushing off the wall to fling him back in. He growls, but is suddenly in the middle of the three of us, getting splashed on all sides.

"You losers wanna go?" He asks with a devilish smirk and begins setting off explosions on the surface of the water to create larger showers over us.

The water war continues for a while until suddenly, Bakugo isn't using explosions, Todoroki's ice shield crumples from being in the water too long, and a half-created water gun falls from Momo's arm.

"Hey!" A voice calls from the pool's entrance. We all pause and look over to see our teacher, hair defying gravity, staring us down with red eyes. "It's 5 pm. Your authorized pool time is officially over. Hurry up and go home."

"But wait!" Kaminari exclaims.

"We didn't get to the final race!" Eijiro points out. Similar protests are made from everyone, but Aizawa just blinks, letting his hair fall back to his shoulders in an air of disinterest.

"I don't care," he says, his eyes suddenly flashing red again, making all of us flinch. "Now go home."

I scramble along with the rest of my classmates to heave myself out of the pool. I shrug a towel over my shoulders and make my way inside.

•°•°•°•

After a brief shower, the rest of the girls and I head out.

"Okay, Toru!" Mina exclaims. "Truth or dare?"

The invisible girl giggles and replies, "truth!"

"Yell out the first word that comes to mind right now!"

"Chicken!" She exclaims as we walk out the doors of the school. "Sorry, I'm hungry."

The rest of us laugh, but she turns to me, so I quickly stop.

"Koto!"

"Dare," I respond immediately. I know without even seeing her face that Toru would've asked me about who I have a crush on. I figure it's just safer to go with dares in this group.

She appears to look around for a moment before spotting Todoroki standing by the gates on his phone. "Go tackle Todoroki!"

Or maybe I'm not safe either way with this group. I run forward to hide my blushing face from them as I sprint towards the boy. He looks up at the sound of footsteps and his eyes widen slightly when I barrel into him. Embarrassingly enough, I can't manage to topple him over. He just loses his balance for a moment before catching himself.

"That was unnecessary," he says, peeling himself away from me.

I paste a smile on my face as I step back, pretending that didn't hurt. "Sorry, it was a dare! I wasn't about to back down."

He nods and glances down at his phone one more time before turning it off and putting it in his back pocket. "I was waiting for you actually."

A flicker of hope sparks to life in my chest, completely drowning out the embarrassment of having him push me away. "Oh, what's up?"

As he opens his mouth, the other girls walk by. "Were you scared, Todoroki?" Toru chirps from over my shoulder.

"Not scared, just caught off guard," he replies, glancing back down at me. There's something imploring in his eyes.

Oh, right! He said he wanted to talk with me!

"I'm gonna hang back," I illuse. "I'll see you guys the day of camp, kay?"

We wave goodbye and suddenly I'm alone with Todoroki again. I motion for him to continue with what he was going to say.

"My father came home early today according to my sister. I was hoping you weren't busy and we could do something," he explains.

I have to reign my smile in before it looks crazy. "Yeah, I'm down to hang out."