𝐇𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐢 『Bakugo Katsuki』

◆Chapter 83◇

Time flew by and soon, the school festival was set to begin the following morning. Miyuki found herself busier than she had ever been before with just about everything. Preparing for the pageant had consumed most of her time, but she remained diligent in practicing with her classmates.

As evening fell, Miyuki ambled into the dormitory building with her dress bag in one hand and a box under one arm. She let out an exhausted sigh as she dropped them off in the lounge and pushed back her bangs, looking satisfactorily down at what she'd carried. This was her last errand for the pageant, and as much as she didn't want to risk someone opening her stuff, she needed to rush back to the gym for practice right away.

She turned around to go back the way she came, but paused when she heard the elevator doors open.

"Firecracker?" Miyuki questioned, looking over her shoulder as Katsuki emerged in his p.e. uniform. He looked at her, pausing in his tracks. "What're you doing here?"

"Looking for you!" He loudly replied before he marched up to her. Miyuki leaned back a bit as he stopped right in front of her. "You left over an hour ago, so where the hell have you been?!"

"An hour? Sorry," Miyuki apologized, sheepishly scratching her cheek. "I picked up the dress and everything, but I ran into a little problem, so time must've gotten away from me."

"A problem?" Katsuki reiterated, raising a brow. Miyuki bit her lip, realizing the mistake she'd made. "What sort of problem?"

"It's fine, it's fine," Miyuki assured him, waving her hand dismissively. "I dealt with them - it." Miyuki internally groaned. She took his wrist and ushered him towards the door. "I dealt with it already, so really there's no need to -"

"Of course there is," Katsuki interjected, switching their positions so he was guiding her along instead as they made their way back to the gym. "Those bastards were giving you grief over the villain attacks, weren't they?"

Miyuki sighed, realizing there was no use in trying to dissuade him from the subject now that he'd figured it out for himself.

"Yes, but I understand where they're coming from," she replied, increasing her pace so she walked beside him. Katsuki clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"You're too nice for your own good," he said. Miyuki looked at him and found his eyes were already trained on her, causing her cheeks to colour. He averted his gaze. "We don't owe them anything." He grumbled before adding, "Idiots. Just who the hell do they think they are, huh?"

Her lips parted slightly as she let out a sigh over his attitude. She was about to say something in response, but Miyuki froze as she found her gaze transfixed on his features vivified by the moonlight shrouding his face. His brow was furrowed in his usual sour expression, tufts of his hair covering his forehead. But as the silence continued, his features softened and his red irises glimmered like polished rubies under the bright evening light.

Katsuki turned to her and Miyuki quickly averted her gaze, pretending to look at the sky as her face flushed considerably.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, eyeing her strangely red face. "Were those guys so terrible they made you sick or something?"

"...You know, I can't tell if you're being serious or not..." she told him, quite amused. Katsuki scoffed, stuffing his other hand in his pocket.

"Of course I am!" He responded. Miyuki looked down and her mouth formed a small 'o', just realizing why her hand was so warm all this time. "Hanging around people like that - whatever. Just thinking about 'em makes me mad." He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "If you're gonna run into trouble all the damn time, I might as well just go with you."