that's just how it works [REWRITING]

Chapter Twenty - Prep Work to Enjoy

. . .

   "Gah! Sorry I'm late, Eiji-Kun!" You pant, resting your hands on your knees. The redhead you called out to turned around, smiling brightly at you. "It's alright, Midoriya told me you would be a little late." You smile slightly, straightening up and walking over to him. 

   Midoriya had been fussing over you all day. Since last night, when your ribs hurt at the beach. He had taken you home and made sure you were okay. But then, that morning, he had come back, making sure you were fine. He had finally let you come to the training with Kirishima, after some asking and demanding on your part. 

   "Ready to start? I won't go easy on you, Eiji-Kun."

   Kirishima smirked, nodding and holding up his fist. "I won't go easy, either!"

   You nod, shifting into a battle stance. "Good. I apologize in advance if either of us gets hurt during this." He's about to reply, when you lunge at him. He gasps, holding up his arms in front of his face. He activates his quirk, hardening his arms. You copy his arm movement, but form a cushioning of clouds on your arms, knocking into him. He staggers back, and you clench your fist, a layer of water settling onto it. You reach out and open your hand to press your fingers against his cheek. He blinks, confused by your action. 

   He suddenly yelps, falling back as the water runs off your hands and soaking into his clothes. He shivers, dropping his guard and deactivating his quirk. You rush over and jump onto him. You pull the clouds off your arms and wrap them around him, acting as rope. He struggles for a few seconds, even activating his quirk a few times to try to cut the clouds, before giving up and hanging his head. 

   You wave your hand and the clouds disperse. You lean down and kiss his forehead before getting off him. He stands, a soft blush coating his cheeks. He rubs the back of his head, looking at you with an unsure expression. "Uh.. (Y/n)-Chan?"

   "Hm?" You look at him, eyes wide. You grow worried at his serious tone. He gulps, averting his eyes. "Why.. Why do you keep kissing me?" His eyes widen at what it sounds like he's implying, and he raises his hands up, waving them slightly. "N-Not that I don't like them, or a-anything! It's just..." You blink once, twice, and then break out in a fit of giggles. You lean over, covering your mouth to muffle your laughs. Eventually, you calm down and look back up at him. He stares at you with a flustered and bewildered expression.

   "Eiji-Kun, next time don't act like s-something's wrong! You had me worried for a moment there!" "S-Sorry..." He mumbles, looking down. You continue, "And to answer your question, I care for you, and I want you to know that, Eijirou. You're my friend."

   'Oh...' Kirishima was rather disappointed. But he gave a smile to you, waving it off. "A-Alright! Well, why don't we continue?" You nod, agreeing to more training. But all throughout, your words kept replaying through Kirishimas head, putting a damper on his mood. 'She considers me a friend... but I desire to be something more to her.'

   You laugh softly, falling back onto the soft sand on the beach. Two hours had passed, and you were pretty tired from the relentless training. You and him had only took a five minute break at one point, but other than that? Beating each other up. 

   Your hands were starting to throb, and a headache was forming, slowly building. Each are drawbacks from your quirk, but there were more out there. 

   Kirishima shared in your exhaustion and cleared his throat to grab your attention. You sit up, gazing at him. He blinks, nervously shuffling his feet. "Uh, after we both get cleaned up, do you maybe want to, um... go out to eat? I'll treat you."

   You stand, crossing your arms. "I'll pay, Eiji-Kun. Meet you back here, in half an hour?"

   He smiles brightly, nodding. "Alright! See you then, (Y/n)-Chan!" He walked off, presumably back to his home. After a second, you do the same, eager to wash off the sand particles clinging to your skin. It felt really weird. 

   You unlock your apartment door and slip in, heading to your room. You pull off your sweaty, sandy clothes and dump them in a basket, grabbing your towel. You sneak into the bathroom next to your room and place your towel on the closed toilet seat. You start running the water in the tub, ready to relax in the hot water.

   When the tub was halfful, you turned off the faucet and slip in, sighing. You quickly washed up, making sure to do it thoroughly. Eventually, you got out and drained the water, drying off yourself with your towel. You wrap it around your hair, sneaking back into your room to get dressed. You slip on the necessary undergarments and shuffle to your closet to find a dress. You don't have that many, mostly because you don't have a need for them. You prefer wearing jeans and shorts out, aside from the needed skirt for the uniform, so you don't have many dresses. But your aunt likes supplying you with them, if there's a need. You sigh, moving through them before one catches your eye. 

   You pause, (eye color) orbs drifting over it. It was a pastel shade of (fav color [other than black or white for obvs reasons]), with a dark shade of (second fav color) as floral designs over the sleeves of it. It was three-quarter length sleeves, with bands of whites at the edges. It had a simple oval shaped neckline. You blink, a smile finding its way to your lips. You pull it off the hanger and slip it on, looking in the mirror. 

   It hugged your figure perfectly, and you twirled slightly, giggling in joy at the way it flowed out at the bottom so it didn't hug your thighs or bottom. It came to your knees. It's the one. You pull on some knee high black and white striped socks, and then to top it off, ankle boots with a two-inch heel. You finish tying the laces on the boots and stand, walking over to your mirror. You admire your outfit, letting your now mostly dry hair out of the towel it was entrapped in. You grab a comb and run it through your hair, deciding to leave it as is. You slip a simple pastel (fav color) hair clip in, matching your dress. You apply some lip gloss and stuff your wallet, keys, and phone into a little Hatsune Miku side bag*. You're ready. 

   You go out to the front door and yell to your aunt where you're headed off to, then you leave. You walk confidently back to the beach park, hands behind your back. You had a feeling this dinner date would go well.

   'Wait, date?'

   You stop walking, eyes widening. A blush covers your cheeks as you straighten out your thoughts, making little squeak noises of embarrassment. 'No, no, Eiji-Kun is your friend! This is just an outing with him! T-There's nothing romantic about it!'

   You quickly reassure yourself, gulping before resuming your walk to the beach, though this time a hint of nervousness pried at your thoughts. 

   'Calm down, (Y/n). This isn't a date. Right?'

. . .

To be continued

  *I have one, and it's so darling. If you don't know what I'm talking about, search up "Hatsune Miku messenger bags"