BLOW.

POTTED PLANT

what once was, hers

The students spread out, heading to their rooms to unpack and settle into their new homes. Juniper steeled her nerves and knocked on the door of the first person she wanted to talk to.

"Juni?"

She nervously smiled, scratching the back of her head as she asked, "Could... Could I come in? Maybe help with unpacking and talk a bit, if you're okay with that."

He could never push her away, not again after everything that had happened, "Of course. Come in, I'm still putting everything together."

Juniper stepped inside, surprised by the tatami mats he already had in place and realizing he was planning on going for a traditional japanese room. Just like home. The boy had turned away from her, not knowing what to say and instead rifling through his things to look busy.

Guilt filled the girl's chest as she thought about how their relationship fell to pieces, causing tears to well up in her eyes. She tugged on his sleeve, quietly whispering his name, "Sh—Shoto. I'm so sorry for everything I did to you!!"

Seeing her break into tears snapped Shoto out of his concerns, quickly pulling the girl in for a hug and squeezing her tightly. Her knees gave out, bringing both of them to the floor as the boy spoke quietly, "No, I'm sorry. I didn't think I could regret something so much until I pushed you away again. I thought I lost you."

She felt weak, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him even closer, "I should've reached out to you! I shouldn't have given up on you after I had finally found you again. Shoto, I don't want you to leave me, please. I can't lose any more people."

Shoto pulled back slightly, wiping away her tears and gently holding her face, "I... I thought having friends would only get in my way to the top. The sports festival was supposed to be my debut to the world and my father's words got to me. After I realized what I had done it was worse than anything I dealt with before. When you were with those villains... I could barely sleep, I was so worried about you. Juni, I don't want to lose you either. I can't."

The girl sniffled, letting his words settle in.

Maybe things could be okay.

Juniper tackled the boy, making the roll on the ground until they hit the wall. She started laughing, holding her body up over the boy who looked at her bewildered. It felt like a weight came off of her chest, causing her to smile widely, "I guess we are in agreement then?"

He didn't know what to say, looking at her beautiful smile that contrasted her usual grin. It felt good to see her shine again. Shoto lifted a hand, holding her cheek gently as a smile overtook his usual stoic demeanor. He laughed, pulling the girl closer by moving his hand to the back of her neck. "Yes. We are."

They were so close that their noses were touching, both laughing out of relief and joy. Juniper brought a hand up to brush his hair back, "You know that now you're never ever getting rid of me, even if you try."

It was like music to his ears, "Thank god."

The girl giggled while continuing to mess with his hair, changing the mood as she teased the boy, "Mmm. So what now, Sho~to~?"

He realized the position they were in, heat rushing to his face. Shoto flipped them over so Juniper was on her back and swiftly got up, covering his face with his right hand.

Juniper sat up, leaning her body to the side happily as she watched the boy, "What's wrong, Sho?"

Returning to his things, Shoto tried to focus on unpacking instead of the girl who riled him up, "Nothing. Gotta finish settling in before it gets too late."

"Hah..." Juniper got up, taking the potted plant and placing it in the corner before glomping over the half and half boy's shoulders, "Look all done! It's so homey now!"

Shoto continued, dragging Juniper behind him as he started placing wall panels around the room. Eventually, she brought her legs up and fully got into a piggy back. He spoke while continuing to work, "I thought you said you were going to help me unpack?"

She began stretching out his face, bothering him as much as possible while not getting in the way, "I did! Didn't you see me move that plant?"

He turned slightly, glancing at the girl who was happily pointing at the plant, "And you're proud of it?"

Humming, Juniper thought about it before nodding, "Yup!" She held out her hands, framing the pot in the corner with her hands, extending her thumbs and index fingers as if she were taking a picture, "The way it sits so gently, filling the corner and making it seem like a nature room. It fills the room with oxygen and suddenly the room is just like home and comfortable and green and natural and fun and cool and amazing and—"

A bit of ice covered her mouth, shutting her up as Shoto kept working. She pouted, jumping off of his back and getting into his face. With the quirk nullification cuff, she was helpless, having to force the boy to remove the ice himself.

It was just like when they were children, the girl yammering about some nonsense to annoy him, causing him to shut her up with a layer of ice.

Juniper narrowed her eyes at the boy, using her height to look down on him.

Shoto had a look of mischief she recognized from years ago which only made the girl feel more dedicated to get what she wanted.

He did what he used to do.

Run.

He ran out of his room, booking it to the stairs with Juniper hot on his tail. She jumped down the stairs, not caring about the loud impact of her feet as she continued her pursuit. Shoto was using ice under his feet to slide down smoothly, just a bit faster than the girl.

She used the walls to her advantage, kicking off them but being careful enough to not make holes in the walls as they reached the bottom floor. Juniper tackled Shoto from mid air and the two went rolling to the ground once more. She grabbed his arms, pinning them down above his head and leaned her face closer to his.

Shoto pulled an innocent look, tilting his head slightly as he asked, "What is it? Do you need something, Juni?"

Juniper deadpanned at him, taking his left hand and placing it over her mouth. She changed tactics as the boy continued to look as if he didn't know what she wanted, leaning closer and pressing down on him. She brought her legs up slightly so she was straddling him and moved her other hand to the side of his neck.

Her thumb gently brushed his cheek, causing the reaction she was looking for.

His left side acted up, melting the ice on her face causing her to immediately back off. She pulled the boy up with her, twirling him around out of joy, "Thanks, Sho!"

He rolled his eyes before dragging Juniper back over to the stairs so he could melt the ice he made. Lucky for them, everyone else was still unpacking and didn't notice the commotion they made.

While walking up the stairs, Juniper stopped for a moment and pulled out the small package from her pocket, "Oh. This is for you, Sho."

She handed over a small box to the boy who gently took it from her hands. They sat on the steps as he opened it up, taking out the contents and looking at it with a raised eyebrow, "A half red half white tie? How did you find this?"

Juniper began giggling, tying it around his neck as if she were tying her shoes, "It matches you so well! You look like a pretty princess Sho!"

Shoto looked at the girl who was clearly enjoying herself. He didn't mind her having her fun, bringing a hand up to her head to pat her hair, "Thank you Juni. I like it a lot." They made it to the fourth floor when Juniper stopped, glancing down the hallway to the rooms that were filling up.

"I'll see you in a bit Shoto. I gotta talk to someone else real quick!"