Stronger Together

Twenty-three: What is She Doing Here?

   "Ugh, I'm so hungry!" I groan as Eijirou, Hakai and I go to get food. We had met up after the cavalry battle and now we're walking together.

   "Good thing we have a full hour," Eijirou says elbowing my arm.

   "What's that supposed to mean?" I ask with a raised brow. He just shrugs with a chuckle. I roll my eyes playfully and turn to Hakai. "Eijirou told me you went off the rails with Bakugou. Is that true?" I ask.

   "Kinda... I mean that guy from Class B was being a real jerk, and I just got so mad." Hakai explains looking at the ground.

   "Still though, I never expected that from you. I think Bakugou's starting to rub off on you~!" Eijirou teases with a chuckle. Hakai's face turns slightly sour at his comment. I giggle at them both before I see Ochako come up to us.

    "Hey guys, have you seen Deku?" She asks us.

    "No, sorry," I answer for all of us.

    "Speaking of, have either of you seen Katsuki?" Hakai asks with a concerned look. Eijirou and I look at each other before he shakes his head. 

   "Not since the event ended. He just kinda walked off on his own," He explained with a shrug. Hakai frowns slightly.

   "I'm gonna go look for him. Save me a seat?" Eijirou and I nod with smiles as we watch Hakai run off toward the entrance.

    "She seems pretty worried about him, don't you think?" Eijirou asks stepping up in line and grabbing a bowl of ramen for me. I take it from him with a smile and he gets one for himself and we head for a table.

   "Yeah, I guess. She's always like that though. I can tell she really cares for him," I say sitting down at an empty table. Eijirou claims the spot next to me and shrugs.

   "You're probably right. They do hang out a lot," He says eating some of his food. I smile and lean on him a bit.

   "Just like us?" I ask. Eijirou looks down at me and grins.

   "Just like us." He chuckles and puts his arm around my back. He goes to take another bite of food when someone with blue hair sits across from us.

   "Hi, Honey!" Mom greets with a large grin. Eijirou nearly choked as he pulled his arm back and played with the back of his neck.

   "Mom! What are you doing?!" I ask rubbing Eijirou's back trying to help him breathe right.

   "I'm here to cheer you on, of course!" She says with a concerned look. "Am I not allowed to cheer on my little rising hero?" She pouts. I facepalm with a sigh.

   "That's not what I said." I look her over before groaning. "Why are you in the student cafeteria? And why are you wearing that?" I ask, tired of her shenanigans.

   "Why wouldn't I wear it out? The people know me as Marina, don't they?" She asks. Her gaze then shifts to the redhead next to me, who was still coughing. "Dear, are you alright?" She asks. Eijirou clears his throat and nods with teary eyes.

   "Yes, ma'am. I'm just surprised to see you here, is all..." he says with his hands wound tightly in his lap and a nervous grin on his face.

   "Oh! I'm flattered, but there's no need to be surprised!  I am a hero, after all." She says with a boastful pose.

   "You were a hero. Now you're just bothersome..." I groan before eating some of my ramen.

   "Oh my gosh! That's Marina!" I hear someone shout in excitement. I look up to see Mina bouncing with excitement. "Taya, why is Marina sitting in front of you?!"

   "You know her?" I ask raising an eyebrow. Mina clenched her fists and nods up and down very quickly. "Well gosh, Mina. You're gonna give me a headache. Marina is my mom."

   "She's...your...MOTHER?!" Mina shouts with wide eyes. I cover my ears as she squeals.

   "Oh my! You seem like a doting fan, doesn't she dear?" Mom asks.  I roll my eyes again before nudging Eijirou, who is sitting extremely stiff.

   "You okay?" I ask softly. He winces a bit and nods. I sigh and look back up at mom, who's having a wonderful time talking with who might be her biggest fan. When I look back at Eijirou, he seemed to relax a tad. "Wanna go somewhere else?"

   "Do you think we can?" He asks softly.

   "She won't even notice us leave. Look at her. She's having the time of her life right now." Eijirou looks up at mom and smiles.

   "Alright, let's go." I smile back and follow him away from mom and into a hallway that leads to a prep room. I reach down and grab his hand, making his cheeks tint pink. 'It's adorable to watch him get flustered.'

   "Why are you so scared of mom?" I ask. His shoulders sink down as he sighs.

   "I'm not scared of her, I just...I just want her to like me." He admits as we go into a prep room. I giggle at him and seat myself on the desk in the middle of the room and wait for him to come over to me.

   "She does like you, trust me," I say with a smile. Eijirou walks closer to me with his head tilted.

   "How do you know?" He asks leaning against the desk next to me.

   "She always asks me about you. 'How's that young man in your class doing? You know, the redhead you talk about so much?' 'Have you talked to Kirishima today?' That kinda stuff." I explain scooting closer to him on the desk. He turns around to face me and puts his hand on either side on my legs.

   "Well, that makes me feel a little better." He says with a grin.

   "Oh yeah?" I ask with a smirk as I fix the collar of his jersey. He nods with a smile. "Good," I say before giving him a quick peck. "We should really get back now. We don't want to be late for the next bit." Eijirou frowns slightly but complies.

   "Alright. Hop down then." He helps me off the table and we make our way back down to the arena. When he and I make it back, there's still a few minutes left of lunch and mom is nowhere to be found. Lucky us. Eijirou went to go to the bathroom real quick, so I was waiting alone. Soon I see Bakugou walk in carting Hakai over his shoulder and supporting a proud smirk.

   "Heeyyyyyy Baka-gou. What's that you got there?" I ask forcing back a laugh.

   "Someone who went and threw a tantrum... She didn't want to come out here," He responds looking over his shoulder.

   "That's because you-!" Before she could finish her sentence, Bakugou pretends to drop her by squatting, but before she could fall, he put his hand on her butt. "Oh my god Katsuki, hands off!" She squeals. Bakugou just smirks.

   "Didn't want to drop you," He said. His voice was coated in sarcasm. Holding back my laughter was getting very hard.

   "Taya... stop laughing," Hakai says coldly. I wave my hand.

   "I'm not laughing... just, oh look there's Eijirou!"

   "Don't bring him over-"

   "Hey, Taya!" Eijirou comes back up to me and sees the two of them in front of us. He stands frozen with a red face before he clears his throat loudly.

   "Hey, Baka-gou... wanna move your hand up north a little?"
I ask a tad irritated. Bakugou sighs and moves his hand back to a spot on her lower back.

   "So, uh, Hakai, why are you being carried? Are you okay?" Eijirou asks with his head tilted.

   "I-I'm fine... just dead inside..." Hakai responds before slumping over in defeat.