Finished - September 3, 2022

Word Count - 3036

Music - Fate's Compass - Audiomachine

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Allira adjusted her grip on the cardboard box and carefully walked up the stairs. Packing her things was extremely easy, after so many moves, she was an expert. Over and over, she used the same boxes, packing the same things.

However, this time was different. Even though she was moving living spaces, she was not leaving her situation. She would still be surrounded by the same people and attending the same classes. Which was an odd experience, to move, but not move.

Atop the third floor, Allira passed several doors on her way to her own. Many of her fellow students littered the hallway, all trying to move in before the weekend ended, because classes resumed without delay on monday.

Keeping her head down, Allira snuck past them and pushed open her own door. Room C15, her new home. The room was bland and small, a perfect canvas to make her own space. Allira was very used to empty rooms and white walls.

Setting the heavy box down Allira fell upon the mattress of her bed, she then looked upon all the boxes sprawled on the floor. All waiting to be unpacked and put away. Even though the room was empty, something about it was comfortable. Possibly because she already knew her neighbors. 

She thought about putting up decorations, to trick herself into thinking she would be there long term. In general, Allira wasn't a big decorator. Her family had little money to buy house accessories, plus it would be one more thing to pack up.

With a sigh, Allira knelt down and opened one of the boxes. Inside held a lamp, school supplies and other knick knacks. She reached inside and picked out a small wooden frame. The simple frame held an old family photo, which pictured her family of three. Before her mother was taken.

Her parents standing close with an overjoyed seven year old Allira standing in front. Times were simple then, before they were forced to move so often. Before her father became so distantly involved in his work.

She tried not to focus on the past, not to dwell on happier times, because those memories were now shadowed with sadness. She still had many things to be thankful for, her father being one of them. She valued his opinion and trusted him. She loved him. He was her rock.

She couldn't have moved into the dorms without her father's support. After her confrontation with Bakugo in the library, she ran to her father. She was worried about leaving the house, because then he would be alone and they had never lived apart before. But surprisingly, he encouraged her to live on campus. Told her not to be afraid and that it would be good for her. After their conversation, Allira felt much better about the situation.

With a heavy sigh, she placed the photo on the bedside table and started to put all her things away neatly. It didn't take long to completely unpack, she didn't own a lot of stuff.

She had brought only the essentials which included: a week's worth of regular clothes, her school uniform, bathroom toiletries, study items, a few books, her craft supplies and a ton of sunscreen.

Allira always carried sunscreen with her, her pale skin burned on the cloudiest days, therefore she always kept it within arms reach. At all times.

With such a small load, she was finished unpacking before any of her classmates had finished bringing their things inside the building.

Since she didn't have anything else to do, so she decided to walk around the building and people watch. Not bothering to lock her door, she walked down the hallway to see how her classmates were fairing with the move.

In the room beside her were Uraraka, she only had one neighbor because her room was located in the very corner. The rest of the girls floor was full of boxes and a bustle of moving pieces. They all had significantly more boxes than Allira, probably why it was taking them longer. Was it normal for a person to have that much stuff? Maybe it was simply because women held onto a lot of things? But Allira was female and she didn't own that much stuff.

She then decided to descend to the boys floor, maybe it would different down there. Making as little noise as possible, she snuck down the stairs to the second level. As expected, the boys floor was much messier than the girls. Many of their boxes were left open or improperly packaged. Clothes in plastic bags or tossed around. Allira found the image silly to watch the chaos attempt to be organized.

She counted the number of boxes and, if possible, there were even more boys boxes! They had even more stuff than the girls.

Allira was baffled at the mountain of things in front of Todoroki's door. It looked like he had brought his own furniture and flooring? How was that even possible?!

His boxes differed from the rest, all taped perfectly. Each stacked neatly as if they were in a game of tetris. Allira couldn't help but giggle at his ocd.

Neighboring Todoroki was another set of pristine boxes. All sealed tightly, as if they were hiding something inside.

As she was observing the hallway, Allira heard her name. "Hey Takari."

She turned to see Midoryia, a smile on his freckled face and an open box in his hands.

"How is the move going?" His voice was very friendly.

"I finished unpacking, so I thought I'd look around." Allira smiled.

"You already finished unpacking? No way!" The boy looked very impressed, if only he knew it was because of her lack of inventory, not her speed. She then noticed the box in his hands and more importantly what it held.

"Wow, that's a lot of All Might figures." Allira focused on dozens of novelties inside the open box.

"Oh, whoops." Midoryia tried to close the embarrassing box, his face turning red.

"No no, it's cool." Allira assured him. "I've never seen so many before."

The boy's face calmed as he realized she was interested. In fact, Allira was not prepared for the demon she had released. Midoryia's fanboy shed its shell and he started rambling about all his toys.

"I got this one a few years ago at a special event, it's a limited edition, because of the color. They only made a few of them this color, the other figures are dark blue, but this one is deep blue. I think there are fifty of them, no wait. Maybe eighty? Either way, it's super cool and very rare. That's not even the best figure I have..." Midoryia barely blinked as he spoke, his eyes shining with excitement.

Allira suddenly didn't know what to do, she wasn't extremely interested in what he was saying. But she didn't want to cut him off either, he looked so happy. She had bitten off more than she could chew.

"Hey nerd!" An annoyed voice called from further down the hall.

Both Allira and Midoryia turned to the loud voice. Unsurprisingly, Bakugo stomped towards them, his hands full of boxes.

"Hey Kacchan." Midoriya smiled, his face leaning on the nervous side.

"What the hell are you two doing in front of my room?" The angry boy demanded.

Allira looked at the door, then at the immaculate boxes at her feet, the ones she was looking at earlier. They must be Bakugo's things.

"I was just showing her my All Might figures." Midoryia explained.

"She could care less about your toys, stupid Deku!" Bakugo yelled, which caused Midoryia to roll his eyes and leave the conversion. But not without a quick, friendly wave to Allira as he left.

"Why do you call him that?" Allira spoke for the first time.

"What are you talking about Squintz?" Bakugo carefully set his box down, but his voice stayed rough.

"Deku." Allira repeated. "That's not a nice thing to call anyone."

"I could care less if it's nice." He growled.

"Hmmm" Allira hummed, her brain trying to find the root of the problem.

"Go bother someone else and stay out of my stuff." Bakugo huffed and moved his boxes into his room with haste. As if he was trying to hide them, or keep them away from her.

Allira came to the conclusion that he was hiding something, not just from her, but from everyone. That the contents of his boxes weren't as macho or manly as he would like, therefore he didn't want people to see them. Maybe he had a figure collection of his own, which was why he was giving Midoryia a hard time for flaunting his. Because it wasn't something he felt comfortable doing yet.

For some reason, Allira found it simple to understand Bakugo. She found him easy to read and where his true intentions lay. Which was odd because she was terrible with people. She had little experience dealing with complex emotions and usually stayed away from drama. Maybe she could read him because her brain worked the same way. But instead of lashing out with loud (sometimes aggressive words) she would run away.

Allira turned away from Bakugo's door and walked back down the hall. She maneuvered around Kaminari and Kirishima, as they wound up their towels and snapped them at each other. Creating loud popping sounds, followed by a high pitched screams and much laughter.

With not much else to do, she found her way down stairs to the common area. A large open space filled with study tables, comfortable couches and a large kitchen. The room was quiet and empty, occasionally someone would pass through carrying boxes and bags. But everyone else was so preoccupied with unpacking that the main floor was left alone.

Allira found the opportunity to sit and watch, enjoying the quiet. She walked around silently, attempting to familiarize herself with the new space. Her fingers traced every table, laced every couch and opened every drawer.

She was quite fond of the kitchen, especially since it was the fanciest kitchen she had ever seen. Equipt with a massive fridge, stove with six burners and all the counterspace anyone could wish for.

Her mind danced with ideas of what she could bake in the magnificent kitchen. With the room and tools to make anything she wanted and an audience to eat it.

Though she loved baking, she wasn't a huge fan of eating so much sugar and she always baked more than she could chew. Bigger batches were always more fun, but in a household of two, leftovers were unavoidable.

As she scanned the area, she heard footsteps descend the stairs. Several pairs of feet joined her in the common room, each chatting and enjoying eachothers company.

Once in view, Allira recognized them as Kirishima, Ashido, Kaminari and Jiro. They noticed Allira immediately and beckoned her over, to join the conversation.

The group of five crashed upon the couches, all tired from the stress of moving.

"Dude, I'm bushed." Kirishima rested his head on the back of the sofa.

"Same. For some reason, I don't remember it being as bad last year." Jiro agreed.

"Maybe that's because you brought twice as many instruments this year." Kaminari teased, which didn't go too well with his girlfriend.

The banter continued as Allira stared out the window and barely paid attention to their argument. Instead, her mind was far away, still trying to come to grips with her new living space.

Meanwhile, Ashido noticed something off about Allira. In particular, what she was wearing. It looked to be a school uniform, but not from UA. Plus, it was a weekend and no one else was wearing their uniforms. This was supposed to be a casual day, not a study day.

"Hey, Takari." Ashido called out and caught her attention.

Allira pulled herself from her thoughts and gave her attention to her friend.

"Is that an old school uniform?" She asked.

Alira nodded. "Yeah."

"I don't recognize that emblem, where did you go to middle school?" Kirishima joined.

Allira bit her lip and wondered if she wanted to tell them about her leapfrog past. She concluded that they would find out anyway, plus, it wasn't something she needed to hide. It wasn't bad, just embarrassing.

"Well..." She started. "These pieces are all from different schools. The blazer is from Kamaruka, the tie is from Nikko, and the skirt is my favorite of all the schools I attended, Takayama. I think these socks were from Shirakawa and-"

"Wait. Wait. Wait."Kaminari shook his hands in the air and stopped her. "How many schools have you attended?"

"At least two every school year, so probably over thirty." Allira stated plainly, as if it wasn't an astronomical number.

Her classmates seemed speechless as they soaked in the information. However, someone else had something to say about it.

"What the hell?!" From behind her a loud voice joined the conversation. It seemed that Bakugo had snuck down the stairs and ease-dropped on their conversation. He hadn't felt the need to say anything, until Allira spoke about her multitude of schools.

"You're telling me that you have been a student in thirty; three zero, different schools?" Bakugo emphasized the three and the zero.

"Takari, t-that's not normal." Kaminari stuttered.

"It's not that bad." She shrugged.

"Not that bad?!" Bakugo stomped closer and slammed his palm on the back of the sofa. From his standing position behind the couch, he stared down at Allira from behind. His face leaning close to hers as she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I've lived in the same house my entire life, never moved! Not once have I had to move towns, let alone schools. Don't let yourself think what you've experienced is normal. Cut the crap."

"Dude!" Kirishima stood up and tried to tell him off, for being so harsh.

"It's okay." Allira reassured him. "I appreciate the honesty. Plus, I already knew that. It's just hard to remember sometimes."

"Good." Bakugo straightened, but did not take his hand from its place next to Allira's shoulder.

Since her back was to him, she couldn't see his face, but she was hyper aware of his grip of the fabric so close to her. She could smell that caramel scent once again, since his body literally leaned against the sofa she was sitting on.

"Well..." Jiro broke the awkward silence. "Why are you wearing your old uniforms? It's not a school day, so wear whatever you want. Don't feel like you have to stay formal for us."

"It's not that, I just don't have any other clothes. I have such a big collection of uniforms and we are always short on money. Sooooo." Allira brushed off the comment.

"So you only own uniforms." Kanimari repeated.

Allira nodded, which seemed to make Ashido excited. Which was very strange and unexpected.

"Do you know what this means?" The rosey girl jumped up from her seat.

When she received no response, Ashido answered her own question. "It means we get to go shopping!"

"Shopping?" Allira repeated the word with dread. She always hated the activity.

"Oh yes! Pack your bags, because we are going to the mall!"  Ashido ran back up the stairs with pure excitement.

"The mall?" By this point, Allira was devastated. She had zero interest in going out in public, surrounded by noisy people. To try on goofy clothes that she hated and wish she could spend money she didn't have. The entire idea was enough to make her feel sick.

"I better come along, so she doesn't spend all her money." Kirishiama sighed, knowing Ashido all too well.

"The mall could be fun, we're in too." Jiro volunteered Kaminari and herself.

"No, I really don't need to go shopping." Allira basically pleaded.

"Too late. Once Mina says she's going. We're all going." Kirishima stood up and shook his head.

"But-" Allira tried to stand up, but something stopped her.

The hand that was once rested beside her was now placed firmly on her shoulder. The grip was firm, but not forceful, instead it felt reassuring. As if he was trying to comfort her, in an odd way.

"Stop complaining. It's not like they're forcing you to tap dance." Bakugo's hand squeezed her shoulder gently.

"And what would you know about tap dancing?" Jiro folded her arms, a smirk upon her lips.

"Nothing of interest to you!" His countenance flipped like a switch, his voice harsh and defensive.

Once again, Allira found the sudden change to be humorous and she giggled lightly to herself. She was finding Bakugo more and more interesting. How he was kind, but hated to show it. How he cared, but hated feeling emotions. She wanted to know more about him and his strange behaviors.

"Ready to go?" Ashiso descended the stairs, a cute bag hanging from her shoulder. It took her less than three minutes to prepare herself for travel. This girl was committed and ready!

"Yep, I'll call us a ride." Jiro walked over to the common room telephone and dialed the number for campus transportation.

"Do we have to go?" Allira tilted her head back to ask her question to Bakugo, his hand still taking up the space on her shoulder. Which Allira didn't mind at all.

But before the boy could answer, Ashido rushed over in elation. "Bakugo's coming too? How splendid."

"What? No!" Bakugo tried to counter her statement, But Ashido was not listening. Instead she looped her arm around his elbow and started dragging him towards the doorway.

Her voice sang happy songs, while Bakugo shouted in protest.

Allira watched as her friends danced in the chaotic fun around her. In the several weeks of attending UA, she found it impossible to stay away from them. They were all so kind and accepting. The type of people she wished she could keep in her life forever, even if she had to move again.

After much consideration, she decided that she would make these friends. She would let them into her life and maybe let down a few of her walls. Because after just a few weeks, she was starting to change.

Her once bleak mentality was starting to clear into a blue sky. Slowly. But rays of light were definitely starting to peek through the clouds.