The next hour or so is foggy, but I think I hear someone rustling through papers, smell antiseptic, and feel something pinching the inside of my elbow. Something cold is pressed to my face and suddenly I'm being brought somewhere else and pushed into a chair. The dizzy feeling in my brain begins to subside and somebody forces me to eat something gummy. Ochaco? She's...force feeding me a fruit snack thing? Okay, I guess.

I chew and swallow, then reach for the other food in front of me, my empty stomach growling at the small bite of food, demanding more. I don't really register how much I'm eating, but my awareness soon comes back. I'm sitting between Ochaco and Iida, eating tempura shrimp. Oh, so that's why I couldn't stop eating it. 

I let myself breathe deeply, noticing I actually have free airways now. I also notice there's a patch on the inside of my elbow. 

I tap Ochaco on the shoulder. "Okay, what happened?" I sign. 

"She's alive!" She cheers and suddenly the cafeteria is filled with applause and hollers. I roll my eyes and give a forced laugh as the loud sound sends a dagger through my head that already throbs with pain. "You lost so much blood, they had to give you a transfusion since Recovery Girl isn't here! I guess it was making you really woozy and out of it. You gotta eat more to regain your strength, but do you feel better?"

I nod solemnly, digging into the bowl of rice in front of me. 

After dinner, Ochaco and Tsu put their arms around me to walk me out, even though I insist I'm fine. 

"I don't know, ribbit," Tsu says. "It was kinda scary to see how incapacitated you were. Just let us help you."

I sigh and nod, walking along with them until we reach the women's locker rooms. Inside, the girls are all stripping down and rinsing off in the communal showers. I avert my gaze immediately and my heart starts racing. That's right, the hot springs. I'm not ready for this today. 

I sit down on a bench and take my shoes off slowly as everyone else washes off and heads outside with a towel and a silky grey robe. I wait until I'm alone to fully strip down and wash off, scrubbing at my bloody shirt with cold water in the sink. 

Walking outside, I keep one arm around me and the other holding the towel and robe to my stomach. As quick as I can, I put them down and sink into the steaming water. 

When I'm sufficiently submerged, I look around and tune into the conversation. There's a giant wall separating our side from the boys'. Accents of rock and foliage dot the area, making the whole place feel very peaceful. 

"This feels amazing!" Mina squeals, dipping her feet in from the side. 

Ochaco leans up against one of the walls, relaxing into the water. "I'm so glad they've got a hot springs here."

"Tell me about it, ribbit!" Tsu exclaims, paddling around a bit. "My quirk makes it so I have to stay warm. If I'm too cold, I'll fall into a hibernation-like state."

Everyone talks for a bit while I stay by the edge next to the exit. Eventually they decide to move to the topic of boys because what else would they talk about? I groan as they discuss all the guys' good points. Naturally, I'm sure the boys can all hear them and are attentively listening. I point this out to them and Ochaco seems to be the only one to agree with me. 

"Oh, who cares!" Mina squeals. "What does it matter if they know I just wanna look at Todoroki all day?!"

I intake a sharp breath and hear people snickering on the other side of the wall. Suddenly, I hear some splashes and Kaminari asking, "hey, where're you goin'?"

Eijiro replies, "I'm exhausted. Gonna turn in early." He uses a tired voice that almost sounds real. I can hear the pain as it threatens to overtake him. 

The girls keep giggling about Mina's proclamation as I slip out of the water, hopefully unnoticed. Still soaking wet, I pull on my robe, then run inside. I bypass the locker rooms and barrel out into the hallway where Eijiro, with only a towel around his waist, is walking away, scrubbing his face with his hands. 

"Ei," I illuse, running after him, my bare feet padding on the ground. He turns around and looks at me with teary eyes, his red hair drooping. "Are you okay?"

He gulps and nods, but the movement is much too quick and forced. He lets out a shakey breath and I don't hesitate to pull him into a hug, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my cheek against his bare chest (which is still wet, but I don't bring it up).

His arms find their way around my shoulders and hold me tight while his fingers twist my damp hair, something I know comforts him. 

The locker room door opens down the hall and we pull away from each other as fast as humanly possible. Eijiro turns away, leaning up against the wall while I face Mina and her giant, glowing smile. 

"Heya!" She calls. "Just wanted to check up on ya! We didn't even see you leave, but I guess you're fine, so I'll leave you to it!" She sends me a smug wink before heading back to the hot springs. 

Eijiro groans and hits his head on the wall, not even bothering to harden his skin as he does. "Dammit!"

I rub his back and bring him back into a hug. "Hey," I illuse, but he cuts me off. 

"No! I don't wanna hear it!" He pauses and I hear him squeak as he lets out a sob. "I feel so stupid. I should've known she doesn't like me, but Todoroki? I see him everyday! Now all I'm going to see is her just staring at him!"

"You couldn't have known."

"B-but…"

"You couldn't have known," I repeat more forcefully. 

"To make matters worse," he takes in a shuddering breath and I realize it may be hard for him to breathe with me squeezing him, so I loosen my hold. He backs away, to lean against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. Tear tracks stain his fiery red cheeks and he refuses to make eye contact with me. "She definitely thinks something's happening between us now."

"I'll talk to her."

"And tell her what?" He snaps. Immediately, regret fills his eyes. "That I ran out here to cry over her and you were just trying to make me feel better? Because you knew? And I hid it from her? I was so unmanly! Why couldn't I just say anything to her?"

"Because it's terrifying?" I suggest, standing next to him against the wall. 

He scoffs. "Damn right it is." We stand in silence for a moment. I can't help but ponder how we both got our hearts broken by people who didn't even know they were doing it. 

"I can't believe I waited!" Eijiro growls after a moment, shoving his face into his hands. "I could've lived with the fact that we're friends, but I just got my expectations so high and now…"

I lean my head against his shoulder, hoping my presence comforts him at least a little bit. 

"Why did I wait for her to be my first kiss...my first girlfriend...when I should've known she didn't feel the same?"

"It's hard to let go," I illuse softly as a tear rolls down my left cheek, thankfully the one facing away from Eijiro. "And it hurts like hell."

"It just seems so pointless now, ya know?" He asks, pounding a fist weakly against the wall. "Like everything I waited for is a lie. Why should it've mattered?"

"Because you like her." 

"Yeah…" he trails off, looking at his bare feet on the bamboo floor. "I trust her. I feel safe when I'm with her."

I nod, thinking, there was a time when I felt the same way. I subconsciously fiddle with my choker.

"I feel safe when I'm with you…" 

What?!

Immediately I face him in disbelief to find him already looking at me. His eyes are filled with pain and sadness that make my chest constrict. 

He's just hurting.

"It feels stupid to have waited and...I just wanna get it over with, ya know?" He asks a bit sheepishly. "I know there's nothing happening between us and that's why I trust you enough. You can't break my heart like that."

What the hell is he proposing here? This is unfamiliar waters. Sure, I've already had my first (and second) kiss with Grant and that proved to be a failure. But I guess it sorta makes sense. I'd get a do-over and he'd get it over with. 

I make my decision and glance down both sides of the hallway, making sure nobody's coming. Returning to face him, I take a deep breath and nod, illusing, "Todoroki broke my heart too."

It hurts so much more to hear it out loud than I expected it to. The pain in my chest triples and I feel tears falling down my face. 

Eijiro sighs and reaches up to wipe my tears away, hands cupping either side of my face. I place my hands over them and close my eyes as he leans down and places the softest of kisses against my lips. It lasts for merely a second and his hands are shaking, his whole form tense. 

My eyes flutter open as we pull away to see the shade of his face matching his hair, one of his sharp teeth gnawing at his bottom lip nervously. 

"That's not what it's supposed to feel like, is it?" He asks after a moment. I let out a heavy breath and shake my head with a tiny smile. 

"Wasn't bad for your first attempt," I illuse.

His eyes narrow playfully. "Oh yeah? And how many attempts have you had?"

"That was my third, I'll have you know," I illuse with an air of haughtiness, my nose pointed up into the air, but I can't stop smiling anyway. 

"Still friends?" He asks, looking at me out of the tops of his eyes like a puppy. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and give him a friendly kiss on the cheek.

"Still friends." 

He hugs me tightly around the waist and I can feel his sunshiny smile radiating off of him even without seeing his face. We pull away at the same time and I swat him on his bare abs. 

"Now think about putting some clothes on, will ya?" I illuse and his face becomes red again. 

"Yup," he chirps, hurrying to the men's locker room while holding his towel in place. I just roll my eyes at the action. 

If it was gonna fall, it probably would've already.

I head back into the women's locker rooms to change into my pajamas. Thankfully, the girls sound like they're still hanging out outside with no intention of stopping anytime soon. I walk over to the bathroom portion of the room to use the toilet and brush my teeth before heading back to our room. 

I had definitely been in here before, but I was all loopy when that happened, so I take in my surroundings as if it's the first time. There are high ceilings and several windows on one wall to let in light in the morning. All our bags are pushed to the far wall, so I grab my bedroll and set it up next to the door. With my anxiety in the mornings, the last thing I need to do is step on everyone else when I'm running to the bathroom. 

I'm climbing into bed when I hear female laughter from down the hall. Not wanting them to ask me about anything (because Mina surely gossiped about what she saw), I pull my blanket up to my nose and curl up into a ball, letting my red curls settle over my face. I force my breaths to slow as the door slides open. 

"Aww," Toru groans quietly, whispering, "she's already asleep?"

"Let's wake her up!" Mina says deviously under her breath. 

"I don't think that's a good idea, ribbit," Tsu chimes in. "She's had a rough day. Besides, your remedial lessons begin soon, so you can't expect to get much questioning done even if you did wake her up."

"Don't remind me!" Mina whines. 

"You can ask her about it tomorrow," Momo says, already on the other side of the room. I hear her pick up a bag and set it down across from me. "If she wants to tell you anything, she will. Don't bug her too much about it, okay?"

"But I've known Kiri for like ever," Mina protests. "And I think they'd be adorable together!"

He was right. She thinks he's off the market now. I need to fix this, I think, fighting to suppress a yawn. In the morning…

------Author's Note------

Hey guys!

Wow, that hot springs scene is so much better without Mineta, right?

We have some more fan art!!

These two lovely pieces were made by DrineRelucio! Koto's hero costume is beautiful with all the detail! And the picture from the roller coaster!!! AAAAHHHHH!!! They're so cute! And the anger in Bakugo's face is spot on!

As always, thanks for voting and commenting. I always love to see what you think of the story!

I thought of this the other day and wanted to try it out. Life is hard sometimes and you never know who could use some positivity, so let's start a positivity chain! Comment on this paragraph something good/funny/ridiculous you saw/experienced recently that makes you happy, no matter how small or weird it may seem. I'll go first: I walked past a basketball court today with a group of squirrels just running around on it and it looked like they were playing a game of 2v2.