Sunshine Traitor (ENG)

Chapter 6: Mina Ashido

Warnings: mentions of depression and verbal attacks.

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Mina walks with Kyoka to the field inside UA where they had agreed to do something fun after exams with their friend group. They talk cheerfully and Mina can't help but hear her friend out about her date with her new boyfriend last Saturday, "How did it go? How did it go?" Mina cheerfully bounces up and down "I want to hear all the details."

"Mina!" Her friend replies shyly and looks the other way.

Mina smiles cheerfully and encourages her some more: "What did you do on your first date? Did you kiss? Hugged at least? Oh, did you maybe make a romantic, sweet promise?"

"Mina, stop..." Kyoka meanwhile looks all red, "Not in front of the boys." By now they are almost at the agreed upon field.

"Okay, okay, but you're going to tell me everything when we get back to the dorm. You won't get away with it, Kyoka."

Her friend sighs deeply, but eventually she gives in. They walk around the corner of the building and see the boys already there, all except Kyoka's lover boy: Kaminari. "Hey guys!" says Mina cheerfully "Where is Kaminari?"

"No idea," says Sero as he shrugs his shoulders. "He said he had something else to do. We thought he would be with you guys..."

"He'll be here, we all know by now that he's a huge scatterbrain." Says Kirishima, "We can decide what we want to do by now. How about an ice cream? I know a fantastic ice cream parlour nearby."

Mina notices her friend looking in Bakugo's direction for confirmation. He hasn't told her yet, but she sees the way he looks at him. She will have to give another couple a push, but since Bakugo is involved, it will take a little longer here. But Mina likes a challenge and the first step she will take is to question Kirishima when she gets the chance. She has known Kirishima since they were children, they grew up together and formed a brother-sister bond. Mina was therefore the first to know when Kirishima was in the depths of his depression. He didn't want to tell anyone anything and pasted a big fake smile on his face. Mina saw the pain behind that smile and confronted her non-biological brother. It ended in her best friend crying. She had helped him as much as she could, which mostly involved being an outlet when things got too much, but she was positively surprised when she saw him sitting in the same class as her, with red hair. So far, it's a secret between the two of them, but secretly she hopes that one day he'll find the courage to tell their friends, especially Bakugo, about it.

"I don't care!" Is Bakugo's annoyed reply, "Why can't Dunce Face be here on time!" He is irritated. Mina is startled out of her thoughts and knows that Bakugo's irritation is probably because they had forced him to come along.

"The ice cream parlour sounds good Kiri." Mina smiles, "And Kaminari will be there soon."

They talk about this and that, about school and family, about the traitor, and about the new relationship between Kyoka and Kaminari, which Bakugo apparently didn't know about yet. After fifteen minutes, Kaminari is still not there and Mina sees her friend looking around worriedly, waiting for her boyfriend to arrive. Mina tries to distract her and keeps the conversation going. They talk about vacation plans and memories, and they even share gift ideas already for the Christmas party in a few months. When the conversation threatens to stall again, Mina speaks up again, "Have you guys seen that new video? Of Kaminari short circuiting?"

"From the sports festival? That's been online for weeks, right?" asks Sero, confused but also curious.

"No, a new video that's been online since last night. It's already gone viral." Explains Mina.

"Which video has gone viral?" asks a new voice and everyone turns around. Kaminari stands behind them with his hands in his pockets and Kyoka almost jumps into his arms. Mina notices that he is not hugging Kyoka full on and that he has a huge bruise on his temple.

Mina decides to give the two sometime before asking her questions, but Bakugo knows no bounds, "What took you so long, Dunce Face? We've been waiting for you forever!"

"I, uhm, I was lost..." Kaminari sounds nervous and he laughs sheepishly.

Sero smiles at his friend, "How can you be lost? We've been here for months. How did you even get that black eye?"

"Uhm, fell down the stairs..." It comes out quickly, as if it were rehearsed. She notices how nervous he is. When he has released Kyoka, he plays with his fingers and his eyes shoot in all directions as he waits for his friends to answer. Mina doesn't have a good feeling about this, and she knows something is wrong. She can't shake the feeling that Kaminari's smile is very similar to Kirishima's smile during the depths of his depression, fake. She just doesn't know how to bring it up in front of all her other friends.

Her friend tries to keep it light-hearted and laughs at his awkwardness, but Bakugo has less patience: "How can you be so stupid, Dunce Face? Now hurry up, and we'll go get that damn ice cream for Shitty Hair!" His patience is clearly running out, but Mina's attention is drawn to something else: Kaminari flinches at the aggression of their explosive friend. It's a small movement, she's not even sure if the others noticed, but a glance at Kyoka, who is standing next to her friend, tells her that she noticed it too.

"Of course, lead us the way bro." says Kaminari to Kirishima. The cheerfulness in his voice confuses Mina. He doesn't sound made up at all; he sounds genuinely cheerful. It's not a broken cheerfulness like she heard from Kirishima years ago. She shakes off the strange feeling. Surely nothing is wrong.

"But what video were you talking about just now?" asks Kaminari as they walk to the ice cream parlour.

"I haven't seen it myself yet either, but Mina said it was yours. You're going to be popular Kami."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Kaminari smiles at his best friend.

"That video that came online yesterday where you short circuited." Clarifies Mina and she turns to Sero, "But I never said it was from Kaminari himself."

"From the sports festival?" asks Kaminari very confused and nervous.

"No, a new video. We should watch it together." Says Kirishima enthusiastically, with another quick glance for confirmation to Bakugo.

"It's stupid, Dunce Face. Can't you be normal for once?" snarls Bakugo, not liking it, that's obvious. Still, they watch the video together, which elicits several happy responses from her friends, most of her friends.

"What! How did that get online?" The smile slides off Kaminari's face and he sounds surprised and nervous.

"No idea, but don't worry, it'll make you mega popular bro." Kirishima taps his friend on the shoulder and Kaminari conjures up a small smile.

"Yeah... Popular." Mina worries and curses the boys for their insensitivity. She promises herself that she will talk to Kaminari when she gets the chance if she sees him alone. She promises herself that she will help her friend with whatever is bothering him.

She does not keep her promise. During the trip to the ice cream parlour, she doesn't get a chance to talk to him, and her friend's cheerful and hyperactive personality makes her forget why she cared about him. She forgets the fear and nervousness she saw earlier and when she sees it again, it's too late. 

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I am finaly back after my exams, and I hope to upload more this summer. 

The idea of the viral video with Denki shortcircuiting is from a TikTok, so the credits go to @lilapess.

Thanks for reading. Plus Ultra!