PLASTIC FLOWERS ( k. bakugou )

chapter 33

' blood will out'

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Nothing is wrong. Nothing is amiss. Like the perfect punctuation in a sentence, the perfect shoes to the perfect dress and an extra paycheck after exhausting days in the job. Perfect. She even passed the written examination. It's over. So why are her hands still trembling with excitement?

Even the clouds are expecting something. The calm before the storm, the rising of heartbeats before the battle and the trickle of sweat before a test.

Everything is perfect so she smiles, pearly white teeth and that easy to miss missing tooth.

"Stop the beaming, dumbass," Katsuki tells her as she approaches them (Katsuki and Kirishima). "You look like a disco ball."

"Not cool, bro," Kirishima tells him and nods at Yuko in acknowledgment. She nods back of course.

Katsuki clicks his tongue in displease and turns to her with that same uncaring look- as if he can fool her with indifference. "So," he says. "What do you fucking want?"

Yuko beams at them. "I self-checked my answers. I think I got more than a half correct so that's for the written portion."

She turns to Kirishima. "I'm not sure about the practical test, but after that, I can treat you guys to food. As compensation."

Katsuki raises an eyebrow at that. "I thought you didn't have money?"

"That was a joke," she admits, scratching the back of her head. "I received my paycheck last week. So, up for it? I'm going with"- she begins raising fingers to denote a person "-Shouto, Izuku, Iida and Uraraka."

"That seems fun," Kirishima says and grins with those sharp teeth of his. "But I have training. Have to be fit for the summer. Thanks though, Yuko. Good luck on your exam too."

"How about you Katsuki?" she asks, wistful.

"I'm not going with damn Deku and that half and half bastard," he merely says and Yuko has to pout in response. This was so petty. Kirishima had an acceptable response but Bakugou, my God, Bakugou.

"Really?" she asks. "They're really nice people you know. Especially Izuku, he's-"

Kirishima begins shaking his head and mouthing don't. But Yuko is Yuko so she persists.

"He's nice, unlike you. And I bet that he's stronger. He'll surely become a better hero than you."

One might have expected that she would have gotten her head blown off, but Yuko was as furtive as she was mischievous so the moment the last syllables are uttered, she spun on her heel and made a run for it.

And what better place to hide than behind Todoroki Shouto.

"What's wrong, Yuko-san?" Izuku asks.

"Katsuki's out to kill me," she says, both hands on Shouto's shoulders.

"W-What?! Kacchan?" Izuku asks, wide-eyed. "W-What did you do?"

Yuko grins at him and was about to answer that question when a murderous dandelion asshole passes through the hallways, chasing something and wreaking havoc. Yuko ducks and pulls Izuku closer so the Stain Trio looked like some wall and she was hidden properly.

"Don't sell me out guys," she says, forehead leaning on Shouto's back, eyes closed and hands clutching the fabric of his shirt tightly. "I want to be a hero before I die."