Hikari: 『Volume 2 - Omakes』

◆Number One Study Partner◇

[Takes place between Season 4 and 5]

◆

Katsuki's brows furrowed as he stared at his textbook. He looked at his notebook, the notes he'd taken from his biochemistry class with Cementoss, then back at his textbook. The pencil in his hand snapped, falling to the floor of his room in pieces. He grumbled, annoyed with himself.

Why wasn't he getting this already? It wasn't even that hard! If that half-and-half bastard and Deku could do it, then so could he. He was going to do better than them, in fact! There was no way he was going to join those two's study group, no matter how hard everybody kept saying the stuff was. No piece of homework was going to get the better of him; especially not with the pile on from his provisional remedial classes and the rest of his time devoted to training for it, too.

Katsuki exhaled deeply, forcing his facial muscles to relax as he turned back to the work before him.

'Inner peace and quiet leads to double the fun and productivity, so enjoy it!'

That was what she said, right? Or at least that's what he remembered overhearing when he passed the common area where Miyuki, Izuku, and Shoto were studying. That stupid nerd was having a mental meltdown, as usual, and Shoto was sweating profusely as he read the book. Miyuki didn't look so calm, either, with some pieces of her hair out of place from her ribbon. He didn't expect that from her since Biochem was one of those things she loved to study. But there she was spouting out those words like she wasn't going through the same pressure as those two.

Katsuki scoffed. He picked out a new pencil from his bag, tore the page out of his notebook, and started all over again from scratch.

That idiot. When's she gonna learn there's no point in taking care of others if she can't even look after herself first?

And for her to go to them for help...

His grip around the pencil hardened and he paused in his writing.

No, they must've gone to her. As idiotic as she could be, Miyuki still was the smartest person in their class. It didn't matter if damn Deku and that Todoroki were going to slow her down with their ineptitude; she'd somehow find a way out of it and come out on top, as usual.

The thought alone made his chest and body warm up. Her smiling face flashed through his mind, and the back of his neck turned a harsh red before he started scribbling down the words he remembered from Cementoss's Class.

Dammit! I won't allow it! He told himself, writing as frantically as possible. I'll beat it in if I have to, but there's no way in hell I'm letting her get ahead of me again...!

"Huh?"

Katsuki stopped. His brows furrowed in confusion as he looked down at what he'd written.

"The hell is this...?!" He picked up his notebook in an iron grip, glaring daggers at the very rough sketch of the half-and-half girl studying under a tree. "What the hell!"

This is...! This is...!!

He ripped out the page and tossed it into the bin, face turning a deeper and darker red as he banged his head on the table, teeth grinding in frustration.

BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BA! -

A knock came at his door. Katsuki froze and looked up, his forehead now a blazing red.

"Firecracker?" Miyuki called. His body stiffened. "Are you okay? I was hearing a lot of noise coming from here just now."