**ON HOLD** Soft/Sharp (Kirishima x OC)

Chapter 5

The rest of the week passed easily, Moegi feeling more and more comfortable with each passing day. She enjoyed her lunch periods, sitting with her new friends, although Shinso always conveniently disappeared at lunch time, clearly avoiding any chance at being social. Moegi didn't mind though. Sitting with the squad gave her a weird sense of confidence. She had finally been accepted. Mostly.

There was one particular incident on Friday, when she arrived to the table everyone was in different seats than usual. Moegi took her usual chair anyway, this time dropping down into the seat next to Bakugo instead of Mina. He was not thrilled, to say the least.

"Ugh, go sit over there with Dunce Face," he grumbled. "I don't want you touching me, even with the gloves on."

Before anyone at the table could speak up and reprimand him for being rude, Moegi, without thinking, reached her hand up and palmed Bakugo's forehead, a dull smack from the leather startling him on impact. He immediately became red, palms sparking and ready to return the blow. Mina and the boys watched in horror at what was about to unfold. Then, Moegi spoke. "You're fine, see?"

Bakugo fumed. "Touch me again and I'll kill you, you fucking goblin."

Hearing this new insult, Moegi blinked at him, and then her face began to twist into something unreadable. The rest of the group snapped their gazes to Bakugo, ready to scold him for calling her that. Just as they began to talk over each other, they were interrupted by a surprising sound. Laughter. The entire group turned to the green girl, stunned to see her cracking up. One hand held her stomach and the other covered her mouth as she tried not to fall from her seat.

"Umm," Mina began nervously, "Kiashio?"

After a moment of cackling, Moegi took a deep breath, fanning her face. Finally she wiped a tear with her index finger and then placed her palm on the table closer to Bakugo. She looked at him and flashed her jagged smile.

"What's so damn funny?" He looked even more irritated now.

"You!" She was holding in more giggles. "You're funny, I've never heard that one before."

The rest of the group seemed uneasy, somewhere between relief that she wasn't upset, and worry over Bakugo getting pissed again. Thankfully, he just scoffed and went back to his lunch, ignoring the presence of the green girl beside him.

Sero tried to divert the conversation. "So, guys, I've been thinking about where we should go for food tomorrow."

"Do we want to eat before or after the arcade?" Mina said, inspecting her nails.

"I want ramen," Kamanari pulled out his phone to look up what restaurants were near the arcade. "I think there's a place right down the street from the arcade, but I've never been there so I don't know if it's good."

"No way, dude. There's a curry place I've been wanting to try." Sero was adamant about his choice. He and Kamanari looked to Kirishima, hoping he would break the tie.

His red eyes moved over to Moegi. "Hey Kiashio, what do you think? Ramen or curry?"

Moegi perked up at the sound of his voice, looking at him with a shy smile. "Uhm... I dunno. I'm fine with whatever, really."

"Come on," he leaned over the table a bit towards her. "What's your favorite food? Maybe we can find something else we all agree on."

Sero groaned. He really wanted to go get curry. Moegi felt bad, so she decided to vote for his pick. "Curry sounds good. I do love meat." She flashed her sharp smile, and it was returned by Kirishima's.

"Curry it is then. Sorry, Kamanari." Sero gave Moegi a thumbs up, thanking her for swinging the vote his way. This caused Kamanari to whine about wanting ramen, putting his head on Mina's shoulder while she rubbed his hair in an attempt to comfort him.

The rest of the day felt so slow. Moegi was excited for the weekend, and getting to go out and spend time with her friends outside the cafeteria. As she and Shinso walked out the front doors of the building to go home, Mina came running up to them, her arm catching around Moegi's. "Hey girl, since we're all hanging out tomorrow, would you wanna come over to my place first? Or maybe even have a sleepover?!" Her pink face lit up with excitement.

"Oh, umm... Yeah! Okay. I just need to go home and change and grab some things. Do you wanna come with?"

"Yes! I have to help you pick out your outfit for tomorrow." She was nearly dancing at this point, tugging on her friend's arm as she walked. Shinso stepped further away to avoid being stepped on, then excused himself, stating that he had left something in his locker and needed to go back. Moegi waved goodbye to him weakly, feeling a little bad that Mina scared him off.

"So..." Mina gave a devious smirk. "Are you and Shinso like... together?"

Moegi's eyes popped open wider than ever. "What?! No way, we barely know each other. We're just in the same class so we chat sometimes." She tried to speed up her pace, but the arm around hers held her tight to Mina's body, denying her an escape from the awkward conversation. "We're friends, nothing more."

"Aww. I thought it was kinda cute that he always walks you to the train station. But then again, he never sits with you at lunch, so I guess that would be weird if he was your boyfriend."

A lump formed in Moegi's throat. Sure, she thought Shinso was nice, she liked talking to him, and she even had to admit to herself that she enjoyed looking at him. With his wild purple hair and tired eyes, he may not be everyone's type, but he was handsome enough for her to notice. Her mind wandered back to a certain redhead though.

"Kiashio?" Mina snapped her back to reality, and unfortunately, their conversation. "Do you have a crush on him though? You got real quiet. Maybe if you told him, he'd return your feelings."

"I don't have feelings!" the green girl nearly shouted, unintentionally. She covered her mouth with her hand and tried to hide her face. "I mean... he's great. We're friends. But I don't see him that way."

"Dang, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I think it's just because you're my friend, and I like the idea of you meeting a guy who makes you happy."

A smile crept over Moegi's face. "Thanks, Mina. But..." She didn't want to make the conversation more awkward. Should she admit to Mina that she thought about Kirishima a lot? Was it really a crush? She couldn't remember ever looking at a boy that way, or thinking about someone throughout her day.

"But... what?"

"It's just... I've never really pictured myself ever getting a... boyfriend. You know?"

Mina furrowed her brows at Moegi, genuinely confused that another girl her age was seemingly uninterested in boys.

With a sigh, Moegi looked up as she sat down on a train station bench. "Boys don't exactly... look at me, unless it's because they think I'm weird looking. I dunno, I guess not a lot of peoples' favorite color is green. Plus my ears. Some people have cute little elf ears from their quirks, but mine are huge and stick out so far. Plus, my quirk scares everyone."

Mina rolled her eyes at her friend. "Girl. I'm pink. My eyes are black, and I have antennas. I shoot acid from my hands. But guys like me. You know why?"

"Your body, I figured."

"Because I own it. I am who I am, and I love me. People appreciate and admire confidence. Even Bakugo, as much of a shithead as he can be, draws people in because he's unapologetically himself. You just need to be more confident! And I'm going to help you get there. I'm giving you a makeover before we go out tomorrow. Maybe we'll find you a guy at the arcade!" She started getting amped up again, excited to dress up her friend.

Moegi laughed at her, nervously. She had never been given a makeover before, and was skeptical about the idea. But, she trusted Mina, and had to admit she had a good point. Maybe she just needed a little push from her friend to find her confidence.