Cherry Bomb

Danger Up In This Club

In the evenings after dinner, I exercised to tire myself out. It helped me sleep more soundly and ensured I'd get to bed at a decent time. I started by jogging for an hour and walking back to the dorms to lift some weights. I'd been walking downtown when I ran into three of my classmates.

Cho, the blonde who'd cheered me on on the day of our entrance exam. Hoka, (gun hands) who I secretly called bullets for brains, and bear boy whose actual name was Kuma.

"Hey! Hibichan!" Cho cried out excitedly, jumping up and down.

I flushed awkwardly. My own mother doesn't even call me that. I jogged over to them, trying to catch my breath. "What's up?"

Cho wore a cute pink dress that brought out her eyes, which were the same color. Bearboy sported neon sweatpants and a snapback hat with holes for his ears, and bullets for brains wore a black dress shirt that he left untucked.

"Night out?" I asked. "Don't you guys wanna rest before - "

" - We're not gonna be out long," Bullets for Brains assured. "The new club that opened up has half-off drinks tonight."

I gasped. "Do you know how much trouble we'd get in if we were caught drinking?"

Bear boy laughed. "It's a club for teens. The drinks are non-alcoholic."

"You should come with us!" Cho exclaimed, pulling on my arm.

"I'm not exactly dressed for..." I looked down at my red & black crop top, and matching sweatpants, "dancing."

"You look perfect," Cho assured.

"I need to get my reps in," I insisted.

Bear boy grinned, flexing his biceps. "Oh, you will."

"We go hard," Gunhands boasted, punching my arm. "Attack-stealer." He wiggled an eyebrow at me.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets and sighed deeply. "I dunno..."

"It'll be fun, I promise," Cho encouraged, pouting at me with wide eyes.

I pretended to ponder, biting my lip. "Oh, well if it's fun..."

She squealed and pulled me down the sidewalk.

~.~

I sat at the end of a leather couch fiddling with my glass of melon soda. The girls in our class formed a dance circle around Mina, who broke dance like the world was ending. The idiot Kaminari had one too many cokes and the sugar was clearly taking effect. He hadn't given back the karaoke mic since eight songs ago. Kirishima and Sero managed to start some sort of samba mess that several people joined, and Deku stood in the corner trying to show Todoroki some moves. I recognized them from our performance at the concert last year.

When we first arrived I basically twiddled my thumbs and looked down at my watch, waiting until Deku tired himself out and wanted to go home. But after a while, I'd actually started to relax. Everyone was content to do their own thing, which meant I was left to my own thoughts.

I wasn't worried about tomorrow. If anything, I was pumped. But the talk with Aizawa still bugged me.

I tried to find out why, but I couldn't get a straight answer.

I couldn't help but wonder what the first-year was like. What made them think they stood a chance against me, let alone anyone who'd had a year to prepare for this.

Not that I cared. It didn't matter who I had to fight. Kirishima. Deku. Icy-Hot. One of those class-B extras. Even that brainwashing guy. I would win fair and square. Not like last year. But a first-year who wanted to fight me...