The infirmary screen showed cleanup crews dragging broken slabs of concrete off the platform while a counter in the corner ticked down the minutes left in the break.
Ren stayed still in the chair beside the gurneys with one arm draped over the backrest, Momo had fallen asleep with her cheek resting on his shoulder, and he had absolutely no intention of being the one to wake her.
She fought three matches and built half an arsenal in the process, he thought as he watched the steady rise and fall of her chest, so she can sleep through the cleanup all she wants.
A few steps away, Mina leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, while Toru's gym uniform floated next to her in the silhouette of a girl who couldn't stay still for more than a second.
"Are you seeing this, Toru?" Mina whispered, covering her mouth as she watched the scene. "I don't care what anyone says, those two are way too comfortable to be 'just classmates.'"
Toru gave a little hop of excitement.
"Right?! They're super adorable!" she exclaimed at full volume. "Look how she's leaning on him! And Momo-chan still looks elegant even when she's knocked out! That should be illegal!"
Mina brought a hand to her face.
"Toru... the point of whispering is so they don't hear you."
"Oh! Right!" Toru replied, lowering her voice just barely. "I always forget that part!"
A sound came from the gurney at the back, and the sheets rustled as Ochako turned her head, eyes opening heavily before settling on the ceiling for a long moment.
"... Did I win?" she mumbled.
Toru crossed the room before the question even finished landing and threw herself onto the gurney, wrapping Ochako in a tight hug.
"URARAKA-CHAN! You're awake! You scared us so bad, you just stopped moving all of a sudden, then your Quirk started glowing super weird and then you collapsed! They brought you here and you wouldn't respond to anything!"
"Hey, hey, ease up a little or you're gonna end up suffocating her before she even recovers," Mina said with a relieved smile. "But seriously, Uraraka, don't ever pull something like that on us again. I was already thinking about charging tickets to watch you drool."
"I don't drool," Ochako protested weakly, blinking the sleep away. "Hold on, I lost, didn't I?"
Ren looked over from the chair, careful not to jostle Momo.
"Yeah, you lost," he admitted. "But that's not what people remember. They remember how you kept going when your body was already past its limit. They remember Inko fighting you all the way to the end. When the match was over, Ochako... people were crying everywhere."
"R-really...?" Ochako murmured, feeling her cheeks heat up.
She lowered her gaze and fidgeted nervously with the sheets.
"I... I don't know if it was that big a deal. There were tons of people putting in their best."
Ochako pressed her lips together and gave a faint smile.
"But... if I really managed to make someone remember me, even just a little bit... then I guess it was worth it."
She brought a hand to her chest.
"I wanted to prove I could make it far, that my mom and dad would be proud of me, that I wasn't gonna give up so easily."
Her eyes shone a little, though she tried to hide it with a nervous laugh.
"So yeah... I think that was the whole point."
Then she scratched her cheek, embarrassed.
"Although hearing that people were crying is kinda weird. It was supposed to be a match, not a sad movie!"
The shift in everyone's voices finally pulled Momo out of her sleep, her eyes opening slowly.
"Wh-what?! R-Ren-kun!" she exclaimed, straightening up so fast the bed creaked under her weight. "I'm terribly sorry! It seems I fell asleep on you. That was completely inappropriate conduct on my part! I didn't mean to..."
"Momo, it's fine," he interrupted. "You drooled a little, but I decided to let it slide."
"I-I drooled?!" Her face lit up instantly. "Of course I didn't...!"
Bringing one hand to her mouth and the other to his shoulder, she inspected the fabric with growing desperation.
"Th-this can't be... I would never... Ah..."
Her eyes swept over the cloth again and again.
"Th-there's nothing..."
"There isn't. I just wanted to see how you'd react."
Momo froze for a few seconds before turning even redder.
"R-Ren-kun! That isn't funny at all! For a moment I thought I'd committed an unforgivable offense!"
Mina let out a snort, holding back her laughter, while Toru's cackle rang out across the whole room without an ounce of remorse.
"Yaomomo, your face!" Toru managed to say. "When you started checking Ren-kun's shoulder I thought you were gonna pull out a magnifying glass!"
"Don't give her ideas," Mina muttered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
Momo kept her face buried, showing no intention of coming out anytime soon.
"I don't see what's so funny," she said from behind her palms. "I took something seriously that turned out to be a lie. That's all."
"And that's exactly the good part," Mina said.
"I don't see it that way."
"Ren-kun," Toru interjected, turning toward him, "do you do this kind of thing often?"
"Only when it's worth it," he replied.
Momo finally lowered her hands, though the red on her cheeks hadn't faded a single shade, and gave him a look that was meant to be stern.
"I hope you enjoyed your little moment," she declared, "because I refuse to be the target of your jokes again."
"I enjoyed it plenty," Ren admitted, with zero trace of guilt.
"What a shameless guy!" Toru exclaimed, absolutely delighted with the situation.
Momo straightened up with whatever composure she had left, smoothed the sheet over her lap, and opened her mouth to add something more, probably something very dignified and perfectly articulated, but her stomach beat her to it with a long, thunderous growl that grabbed the attention of everyone in the infirmary, to the point that the red on her cheeks deepened into a shade that looked downright embarrassing.
Right, Creation runs on her own fat reserves, and she spent the whole morning turning herself into a walking factory, Ren thought, ... so there's nothing left in the tank.
He stood up, settling Momo gently back against the bed.
"Stay there. I'll get you some food."
"Y-you don't have to do that," Momo said, mortified all over again. "I can wait, this barely qualifies as an emergency..."
"You can barely sit up straight and your stomach just declared war on the entire room, so I'm bringing you food," he added, turning toward the door. "Consider it a knight's duty."
"Since when are you a knight, baldy?" Mina asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I contain multitudes, Ashido. Besides, you still owe me a cake date, so don't push your luck."
"YOU'RE the one who owes ME the cake!"
"Bring me something fried!" Toru shouted from the back. "Anything, surprise me!"
Ren raised a hand over his shoulder without looking back and stepped out into the hallway.
---
The stands on the west side reopened with the start of the break and flooded the hallway with the smell of grilled meat and fried dough as Ren moved along the line, his only goal being to secure food in bulk.
A handful of people stopped to watch the floating dinner pass by, though Ren had stopped caring about that ever since his match against Jiro.
"Ren-kuuun!"
He recognized the voice before turning, and Nejire appeared bouncing through the crowd, her long hair swinging behind her until she planted herself in front of him with a wide grin.
"Hado-senpai, enjoying the festival?"
"It's amazing! Your match was incredible, the part where you floated over the ground was so cool, have you been practicing since our training session? Were you scared up there? I would've been scared with all those people watching... ah!" She stopped mid bounce, pressing her fingertips together in front of her and looking at him shyly. "Sooo... about the other day..."
And here we go, Ren held her gaze and caught the laughter she could barely keep down, this girl isn't embarrassed at all, she's having the time of her life watching me sweat.
"I have an explanation for that," he said with a sigh.
"You always do!" Nejire smiled, though the act fell apart the second her gaze drifted up to the trays spinning over his head. "Wait, why do you have so much food? Is all that for you? Are you really that hungry? You're gonna explode, Ren-kun!"
"It's not for me. A friend wore herself out at the tournament and her Quirk burns through all her energy, so I'm restocking her."
"Ohhh, the Creation girl! The one who made all those cool things!" Nejire clapped with enthusiasm. "Tell her I thought her match was awesome! She's so smart, I never would've thought of using someone's own speed against them."
"I'll tell her." Ren plucked a skewer out of the air and held it out to her. "Here, before it gets cold."
"For me? Sweet, thanks!" Nejire took it and, instead of biting it like anyone else would, slid her lips slowly down the end, pulling the meat off the stick while keeping her eyes locked on his, which made Ren blink in surprise.
This... he watched her chew with the same transparent cheerfulness she put into everything, was that supposed to be a lewd gesture?
"It's so good!" Nejire said with her mouth full. "Lucky they gave us a whole hour this time, right? Usually the breaks are so short you barely sit down before they drag you back."
"They wrecked the arena and Inko needs to recover, so I'm choosing to see the bright side. I get to go for a walk."
"True, true." She licked a streak of sauce off her thumb and tilted her head. "Hey, Ren-kun, can we do the haunted house thing again sometime? I still have a few questions left."
Ren went still, one skewer floating halfway back to the tray.
Questions...? He scanned her face for any sign that she understood the magnitude of what she'd just dropped in the middle of a public food court. Does she actually know what she's asking me, or does she think she signed up for a study session?
A mature and sensible young man would've gently guided the conversation toward safer territory.
"Sure," Ren answered immediately with a smile.
Certain instincts ran deeper than common sense, and a bald pervert knew exactly what he was.
"Sweet!" Nejire bounced on her heels and leaned in to plant a quick kiss on his cheek before stepping back. "Okay, bye, Ren-kun!"
His hand drifted to his cheek without thinking.
"... And what was that for?"
"I read it online!" she exclaimed with total conviction. "It said people in a relationship eat together and say goodbye with a kiss, so I did both!"
"A r-relationship?" Ren repeated slowly. "Since when are we in a...?"
"Okay, I know we skipped a bunch of steps," Nejire admitted, and for the first time a real blush crept up her cheeks while her gaze drifted away for a second, "but I've been really curious about what it feels like to have one, like super curious, and since you're already the most interesting person I know you're the perfect candidate, right? I hope you're okay with it."
Let me get this straight, he thought, a girl just declared us a couple based on a relationship advice article, sealed it with a kiss next to a takoyaki stand, and is asking permission after the fact. Now I have a girlfriend? That's how this works? HAS HAVING A GIRLFRIEND BEEN THIS EASY THE WHOLE TIME?
"... Y-yeah," he managed to say. "I'm... okay with it?"
"Excellent!" Nejire kissed his other cheek and carefully placed her empty skewer on top of the floating pile of food before backing away into the crowd with little skipping steps, waving with both hands. "Good luck in your match, Ren-kun! I'll be cheering for you with all my might!"
Ren stood there for a while with a small constellation of food orbiting his head, no idea what had just happened to his life.
---
He pushed the infirmary door open with his shoulder, letting the food enter ahead of him to stack itself neatly on the rolling table next to Momo's chair, whose eyes locked onto it the second it landed.
"Alright, you can start whenever you wa..."
She had already started.
"Momo, when was the last time you ate?!" Toru blurted out, watching an entire tray empty at an alarming speed.
Mina and Ochako stared in disbelief as Momo demolished a small mountain of food without the slightest sign of slowing down.
"This is a little scary..." Ochako commented.
"Seriously, she's setting some kind of record here," Mina added.
Toru tilted her head, mulling it over, until her attention drifted to Momo's chest.
"Well... now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't be surprised."
"Huh?" Mina and Ochako said in unison.
"Her Quirk converts the lipids in her body into stuff!" Toru pointed at Momo. "And with everything she's got stored up there she needs way more fuel than the rest of us, right?"
"TORU!" Momo nearly choked on a rice ball, turning red.
Mina could barely contain her laughter and had to brace herself against the wall.
"HAHAHAHA! I can't believe you said that out loud!"
"See, Momo? I'm a scientist too!" Toru said with an innocent shrug.
Her empty sleeves spun toward Ren, who had just dropped into his chair and was studying the back wall with tremendous concentration.
"Right, Ren-kun? You've spent a ton of time around Momo-chan, so you'd back me up. They're big, aren't they?"
The entire room went silent, Mina's smile widened, Ochako covered her mouth with one hand, and Momo froze mid bite with her cheeks the same color as the meat on her skewer while four pairs of eyes locked onto Ren.
The invisible pervert strikes again, Ren thought as he felt the trap close cleanly around his neck, there's no safe answer here, a yes gets me killed by Momo, a no gets me killed for a completely different reason, and saying nothing just gets all four of them to finish me off at once. Toru, you're an absolute menace, I almost have to respect it... a worthy opponent.
"I think," Ren said carefully, sidestepping the question entirely to grab a skewer off the table, "that Momo is the smartest person in our year and the most dangerous strategist I've ever had to fight, and that I'm going to eat this in peace before one of you gets me killed."
"COWARD!" Toru yelled.
"He didn't deny it," Mina pointed out.
"REN-KUN!" Momo wailed from somewhere between rice and takoyaki.
Ochako let out a laugh that finally pushed the exhaustion off her face, and for a moment the infirmary sounded less like a recovery room and more like the dorm common area on a quiet afternoon.
*******
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