𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮 ~ 𝓲𝔃𝓾𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓪

promise

Rule no. 1 of using a synthetic outdoor track: never underestimate the turf. Tiny red beads clung tightly to Mina's sweaty skin despite her numerous attempts at dusting them off. The sun was particularly unforgiving today; spring wasn't even in full swing yet. It poured its rage down on her as she finished her track workout for the day. The sun was right behind her every lap, break, stretch, and workout she completed; it was right behind her- Sweaty, sticky, exhausted, and dehydrated—not a good combination. The first meet of the season loomed over everyone's heads. Through extensive workouts and diets, Mina and her teammates had been training all season for this moment. She --no, they were ready for this.

The thought didn't quell the small pit in her stomach.

She threw herself down on the turf and began to catch her breath. Mina stopped caring about the beads; a good shower should wash them off. At last, she could finally catch up to her breathing again. It might have been the heat stroke finally kicking in, but the rays didn't feel so harsh anymore. It was rather alluring, the sun. If she were to succumb to heat stroke like numerous other track athletes across Japan, it wouldn't have been a terrible way to go. She closed her eyes and smiled, letting herself bask in the sun.

"I see you're taking advantage of golden hour," a familiar voice teased. A silhouette with spiky hair blocked her view of the sun. She rolled her eyes, turning away from him.

"And what would you know about the golden hour, Bakugou?" She groaned. She thought the blonde would have wandered off by now, off to terrorize someone else or hang around Kirishima, but unexpectedly, he plopped down next to her.

"More than you think, raccoon eyes," He shot back. Mina winced at the nickname. He had two water bottles. He opened one, immediately chugged it down, and squished the plastic between his hands.

"I told you not to call me that," She groaned.

"Fine," He paused. "Pinky," He smirked at his new name for her.

"Not much better than raccoon eyes, but I'll take it," She took her shoe off and shook it out to get the beads out. "Why are you over here anyway? I told you guys I'm not coming to spar this week."

"Shitty hair told me to give this to you," He tossed the remaining water bottle to her. "Said you looked like shit or whatever, not my business."

She caught it and looked at the blonde. Was Bakugou trying to be nice? Kirishima wasn't even at practice today.

"I don't know why you're running yourself so damn hard today anyway. You are going to burn out tomorrow, the girls team will be upset with you, and you have to live with the fact that you fucked up the first meet of the season for the rest of the year!" He chastised her. She swore she could have seen steam escaping from his ears. "Just remember it's not my damn problem, pinky!" And with that, he rose from his seat next to her and did his usual angry waddle away.

Maybe Bakugou wasn't so bad; he seemed to care for people in his weird, demeaning way. She looked down at the water bottle and grinned. Shitty Hair, my ass. She thought.

---

"I don't know why you're acting like this is out of his character," Midoriya shrugged. "Kacchan may come off as rude, mean, and abrasive, but I know him. He's a good person." He peeled off the seal of the yogurt cup and licked the top. Mina scrunched her face at the scene.

"What?" He asked, licking the yogurt that got on his thumb. "Is there something on my face?"

Once again, it was just the two of them, along with the quiet hum from his fan. She took this as an opportunity to size the green-haired boy up. She scooted a little bit closer to him. They caught each other's gaze and held it. The emerald green in his eyes had faded into a murky moss color.