Ten Days of Katsuki (Todobaku)

Day 0 (Prologue)

"Um, Bakugou," I say, "I don't think that's going to fit."

"OF COURSE IT'LL FIT YOU ICYHOT BASTARD! IF IT DOESN'T FIT THEN I'LL MAKE IT FIT!"

Katsuki Bakugou tries once again to shove his 106 pound kettlebell into his suitcase, but just like the previous five times, there's simply not enough room for it. At least, not with the obscene amount of clothes and toiletries that already occupy the red luggage piece. It'll be hard for him to secure everything inside even without the kettlebell.

Eijiro Kirishima watches on with worry. "Even if it does fit, do you really want to be carrying that around with you? You know there's a gym on the ship, right?"

Bakugou looks up at all of us and grits his teeth. "WHY DIDN'T ANY OF YOU MORONS SAY SOMETHING BEFORE?"

Hanta Sero, standing to the left of me, offers a shrug. "We tried. You chose not to listen."

All of the students from class 3-A are currently sprawled throughout the common room of the class dormitory for a last minute packing session. Our class representative Tenya Iida called for this meeting to ensure that we each have all the essentials before we pack anything extra. As he runs down the list of items we need to bring, I check everything off. I don't plan on bringing anything other than the necessities as I assume anything additional I'll need I can find easily on the ship. So, instead I'm helping my fellow classmates pack the rest of their belongings.

Momo Yaoyorozu, one of my closest friends in 3-A, looks especially lost, so I kneel beside her to offer my assistance.

"Would it be pompous of me to just create a larger suitcase so all of my stuff fits?" she asks. "It's just so hard to decide which of my designer swimsuits have to be left behind." She clutches her heart. "Don't even get me started on my shoe collection."

Her girlfriend, Kyouka Jirou, snorts. "It's ten days, Momo. You won't even have time to wear half of that stuff."

"I know, but have you seen this brochure? There's a formal night, a teens club, a gym, a spa, the list goes on! I want to be prepared for whatever it is that we choose to do!"

"There's extra space in my suitcase, Yaoyorozu," I say. "You can put some of your things in there."

She engulfs me in a hug that cuts off my air supply. "Oh, Todoroki! Thank you!"

When she pulls away, I scan the rest of the room. Ochaco Uraraka is helping Izuku Midoriya decide which of his three All Might towel sets he should bring. Then, to my surprise, a member of class 3-B enters our common room.

Denki Kaminari's face lights up. "Hey, babe! What are you doing here?"

Hitoshi Shinsou bends down to kiss his boyfriend's forehead before sitting beside him. "Hey, Denks. Got some bad news."

Denki's lips curl downward. "What's wrong?"

Shinsou now has the majority of my class's attention. Letting out a sigh, he grabs the back of his neck. "I tried, but Vlad said we're only allowed to room with people from our own classes. We just got our roommate assignments a few minutes ago. I'll be with Monoma. I tried to negotiate, but he said the assignments are final. I'm sorry."

Denki pouts, but it's short lived. He leans forward and pecks Shinsou on the cheek. "That's okay! This is still going to be the best summer vacation ever! Right, guys?"

Many of my classmates cheer upon hearing Denki's question. Frankly, if I were the cheerful type, I'd surely join in. After everything we've endured, our class definitely deserves a break.

A disastrous war broke out at the beginning of the year, even worse than the one that took place during our first year. But this time, we succeeded. The League of Villains was destroyed once and for all, and peace has finally been restored in our society. So, to honor our efforts, the faculty at UA decided to fund a trip for the students who fought in the war for our summer vacation. We'll be taking a cruise that visits three separate islands not too far from Japan.

I've actually never been on a cruise before. Any time my father was offered to take a trip on one, I was never allowed to tag along with him. I had to stay behind and focus on improving my quirk. But it's okay. I'd much rather experience a vacation like this with my friends than with him. This is bound to be a summer I'll never forget. We're leaving tomorrow morning and I'm counting down the hours.

Just then, our teacher Mr. Aizawa strolls into the common room, a slip of paper in his hand.

"I won't stay too long," he says. "I know you're all finishing up packing. But I wanted to stop by and share that I've finalized your roommate assignments."

If he didn't have everyone's attention before, he does now. Everyone has been anxious about roommate assignments. Not because we don't get along or anything (though there are some of my classmates who'd rather not room with Mineta), but more because everyone wants to room with the people they're closest to. It makes sense. I definitely hope Aizawa says I'll be rooming with Midoriya. He's my best friend at UA and I'm sure he'll make a good roommate. But it's out of my control.

"I'll read off the pairings," Aizawa says. "Asui and Uraraka, Kirishima and Kaminari..."

"Well if it can't be Hitoshi, I'm glad it's you, man," Denki says to Kirishima.

Kirishima offers a fist bump. "This is gonna be awesome."

Aizawa continues reading the pairings off. I'm bummed when he announces that Midoriya will be rooming with Sero. Still, that leaves plenty of other people for me to room with. Truthfully, I'll be fine with most of them.

"Todoroki and Bakugou..."

But not that one.

Bakugou interrupts the rest of Aizawa's announcement with one of his usual outbursts. "WHAT? I'M NOT ROOMING WITH THAT HALF-AND-HALF FREAK!"

Aizawa narrows his gaze. "Bakugou, you either room with Todoroki or you don't go at all."

He scoffs. "I'd rather stay here then. No way I'm sharing a room with him."

"Your ticket has already been paid, as well as the excursions you signed up for. Unless you find a way to reimburse me 168,000 yen within the next twelve hours, you're going."

That shuts him up.

Yaoyorozu rests a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be fine. We'll be spending most of our time outside of the rooms anyway."

Although she's right, I don't feel any better. It's one thing to room with someone who doesn't clean up after themselves, or someone who snores, or someone who likes to sleep with the television on.

It's another thing to room with someone who absolutely hates you.

The weird thing is Bakugou didn't always act this way toward me. In fact, last year we were friends. Or at least, I think we were friends. It's always hard to tell with Bakugou. But we were definitely closer than we were our first year, and certainly closer than we are now.

And then, out of nowhere, he wanted nothing to do with me.

I still have no idea what I did, and any time I tried to ask he'd ignore me. So I stopped trying. It hurt a lot, especially because I spent enough time with Bakugou that I actually developed feelings for him. But he made it abundantly clear that his feelings couldn't be any more opposite than mine.

Aizawa leaves once he finishes reading off the roommate pairings as promised. Most of my classmates continue packing, but Bakugou appears to have had enough. He manages to close his suitcase once he gives up on trying to fit his kettlebell. Luggage in one hand, kettlebell in the other, he stands up with a scowl and looks directly at me.

I already know he hates me, but sometimes I wish he'd make it a little less obvious. He may regret the time we spent getting to know each other last year, but I don't.

I then help Yaoyorozu transfer some of her swimsuits into my suitcase, though my thoughts remain occupied. Suddenly this trip doesn't seem all that exciting. For ten straight days, I'll be reminded of how Bakugou abruptly decided I was no longer worth his time. How whatever sort of bond we built is now broken.

And how there's nothing I can do to fix it.