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

Chapter 9

"Hey, Shitty Hair!" Bakugo was stomping towards the group, hands in his pockets. "I beat all the extras in this arcade at Street Fighter, come play me before we go." Kirishima flashed a pointed smile and a thumbs up before following his friend toward the game. He had been enthusiastically talking with Moegi and Shinso up until that moment, and Sero was all too eager to take his place.

Nervously brushing his fingers through his hair, Sero walked up beside Moegi. "Hey, Kiashio, you wanna go try that shooter over there with me?" He looked up at Shinso, eyes pleading in hopes he wouldn't follow. Shinso caught it and smirked, quietly stepping away to talk to Kamanari and Mina, or rather listen to them talk.

"Sure!" Moegi held the same enthusiasm for every single game she was shown that night, no matter who introduced it to her. Truthfully, she would have happily played with Bakugo too even knowing she couldn't win. She tucked her cat plush under her right arm and started to walk to the game. "You'll have to teach me, obviously. I'm a quick learner though, I promise!"

"Yeah, of course." He smiled at her even though she was faced away from him, following just two steps behind. About halfway to the game, a pair of kids ran by and knocked into Moegi, sending her flying. As she fell towards the floor, Sero reacted by sending his tape towards her. However, instead of sticking to her arm and breaking her fall, it slapped her skin and fell along side her. She thankfully was able to use her stuffed cat to keep her face from hitting the ground.

She hit the floor with a small "oof!" and quickly reoriented herself before Sero pulled her up with his hand.

"I'm so sorry, Kiashio! I tried to catch you but my tape... it didn't stick." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, avoiding eye contact and trying to hide his reddening cheeks. "I don't... I don't know why it didn't stick."

"It's okay, Sero. Those kids need to watch where they're going." She spun around looking for them, intending to scold them if she caught them, but they had run off.

Sero was still caught up on his tape failing to stick to Moegi. "Hey, can I try something real quick?"

"Sure, what is it?" She turned back to face him.

Sero took a short length of his tape out, tearing it from his elbow, and pressed it into her arm. His hand lingered over it for a second, and when he pulled away, the tape again fell to the floor. "Huh?"

"What's wrong? Is it not sticky or something?"

"No, it's definitely sticky," he said as he tried to pick it up, showing that there was resistance as it stuck to the dirty arcade carpet. "That's so weird. Let me try again. Kamanari, Ashido, come here!"

The pair came over with Shinso right behind them. "What's up, dude?" Kamanari had a hand on his hip, looking quizzically at Sero holding his tape and looking flustered.

"Check this out," Sero grabbed another short length of tape and repeated his attempt to stick it to Moegi's arm. Again, it fell, and again when he bent down to retrieve it, it peeled from the carpet with some resistance. "My tape doesn't stick to Kiashio."

"Whoa," Mina started poking at Moegi's arm, her fingertips rubbing at the green skin. "It's weird, your skin feels like regular skin, but like... slightly different? It's hard to explain. Almost like you just moisturized, but not greasy, you know?"

Moegi's brows knit together in confusion. She looked down at Sero's tape and took it from his hand. Sure enough, it caught on her gloves. She peeled it from the leather but noted how it fell away from her fingers as if it were regular paper. "I guess... since I've never really come into contact with something like this, I never realized my skin would be..." she trailed off as she played with the tape in her hands, trying to understand.