Ejirou's week was going like shit, to put it bluntly. He hates it, hates that he can't be supportive of his friend and have a good time like everyone else. Hates that he's been avoiding everyone. Most importantly, he hates that he can't look the black haired girl in the eyes when he knows he's supposed to love her.

Kazuya Bakugou is just like her father, in Eijirou's opinion. She draws the whole rooms attention with her presence, standing proudly with square shoulders and a confident smirk across her lips. There is an air to her that can't be rivaled; It feels like a strong tide on a windy day, pushing and pulling at waters - dangerous if one gets to close. Eijirou remembers being new to Yuuei and seeing that very same aura surrounded a certain blonde. He remembers feeling determined to sail those dangerous waters and make friends with the sea despite what everyone warned.

When he looks at Kaz he sees Bakugou, but he also sees something else - someone else.

Her kindness extends beyond simple pleasantries as he watches her help Uraraka purchase her lunch. He sees her eyes light up when Kaminari asks her about her favorite book, notices the passion and excitement barely keeping from bursting out. When she hugs Ashido for helping her with eyeliner, wrapping her in strong arms and nearly squeezing the life out of her, Eijirou doesn't see Bakugou's tendency to show his affection quietly.

That is why Eijirou's emotions shift to silent anger and dread; because he looks at Kaz and sees the parts of her that belong to Bakugou's future partner.

It's so incredibly selfish that Eijirou feels sick at the thought. He mentally scolds himself to quit it. He should be happy for Bakugou, for Kaz. Heck, it's not like he's cut out of Bakugou's life in the future. They're hero partners! He should be happy.

Kaz notices it. Eijirou knows she does. She makes the same thinking face as Bakugou, eyebrows drawing together and jaw tightening. Having seen that look when she caught him excusing himself from the group several times confirms she's in the know. He noticed her giving him a sympathetic look before lunch earlier in the day. It made him wonder how much she really knew. Does she think it's as stupid as he does?

That's what it comes down to, that this - these feelings and thoughts - are stupid. They make him want to curl up and cry himself to sleep as any hope he had for returned feelings gets sucked down the drain. At the same time, he curses himself for even having such self-pity swirling around inside him. He should be happy. He needs to pretend to be happy.

He's tried so hard these past few days to come off happier than he is. The first day he spent as much time as he could manage around the class and Kaz. He attempted to participate in the future conversations, doing his best not to look too long at Kaz or her father. It hadn't been all that bad besides feeling guilty every time he so much as said a word to Kaz.

The second day had been worse. His mind felt fogged, his whole being weighed down. He blamed the depression and moved on with his day. He'd even forgotten to do his hair up, Bakugou having noticed and then proceeding to force feed him. The worst part was watching everyone chat excitedly about Kaz's "Pa". He hadn't been strong enough to stand it and left.

He couldn't - just, he couldn't watch Kaz or Bakugou without his heart breaking a little bit more. It's foolish and dumb and silly. He's a teenager, not even an adult for a few more months. He shouldn't be so upset over a stupid high school crush on his best friend. So what if he and Bakugou are meant for other people? Most people don't end up with the person they're in love with in high school. It's unrealistic.

But it still hurts. It hurt so fucking much.

By the third day, he couldn't stand next to Bakugou without being reminded of what he'll never have, what he never was meant to have in the first place, so he avoided him. Avoid what hurts you and you won't hurt.

It's why he's up so late now, staring out the window of his dorm and feeling disappointment rip at his chest. Disappointment over the fact he'd avoided his best friend, that he's still a coward even now.

He's so lost in his thoughts that he almost doesn't hear the sound of knocking at his door. A frown pulls at his lips as he looks to the door. Bakugou maybe? Or it could be Ashido if the spam texts she's been sending him lately say anything.

Getting to his feet, he makes for the door and gently tugs it open. He doesn't have time to register who it is before he's stumbling backwards as someone collides into him, arms wrapping around his middle and holding him like their life depends on it. In his surprised state with arms lifted awkwardly and brows pinched together, he can feel the person shaking and roughly sobbing into his shirt.

"Uh. . . hi?" he says, flabbergasted. He stares at the head of short black hair and recognition registers in his mind. He carefully lowers his arms to the persons shoulder and taps them lightly. "Kaz? Are you okay?"

The girl shakes her head against his chest and he feels her hands ball up his shirt. "I - I didn't -- He just--" she sobs, cutting herself off. She draws away from his chest. "I need to be here right now. Don't make me go."

He's about to promise her that he won't turn her away when he sees her face and stops short of speaking. Stilling, his jaw drops as he takes in the literal cracks running across her features. Each crack burns brightly with orange-red liquid, like lava. In the deeper cracks, it seems to almost drip down her face like tears. He realizes it's not just her face but her arms and neck and shoulders and-- oh gods. It's heartbreaking.

Hurriedly, he brings hardened hands to her face, brushing her cheeks and starts fussing. "What happened? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?"

"No." She shook her head again. "No. Quirk. My quirk."

Her words are choked and broken. He bites his lip and asks, "Does it hurt."

"No. Hurts inside." Another sob racks her body, her arms shaking. "Why does it hurt so fucking much all the god damn time!"

She practically shouts the last bit before collapsing into Eijirou's arms again, holding him impossibly tighter. Not knowing what else to do, he guides her to his bed, helping her sit down on it. He goes to stand and get his water bottle -- his mother having once told him that water helps when crying -- but she tugs him back to the bed, keeping him at her side.

"Don't," she says firmly. It feels too similar to how Bakugou asks for help when it comes to his nightmares. He used to think it was bull that kids take on their parents habits but this girl proves him more and more wrong everyday.

"What can I do?" he asks. Her arms have retracted from him now, her whole body having shifted a few inches away from his. He may not be able to look her in the eye half the time but dammit if he's going to let her be upset like this and not do anything.

She whispers so low that he barely catches it, "I don't know."

"Is there something someone normally does that helps? Can I try that?" he prompts. He'll do anything to keep those tears from falling from her eyes. As much as it's been eating him up lately, she's Bakugou's kid and that means she's important to him.

She silent for several seconds, only crying and clenching her fists in her lap. He frowns when she still doesn't speak. He sighs. Treating it like she's Bakugou it is, he guesses.

"Do you want to talk, be comforted, or get advice?" he says this time instead.

Her watery eyes glare at the floor and he worries for a second that she won't respond again. Then-

"I was so angry," she says quietly like any more volume and she'd break. He assumes they're going with talk as she bitterly laughs. It comes out watery and broken. "I was so angry that I didn't care what I said or did as long as it hurt him. I wanted him to feel what I felt. I was so stupid."

He can't help it when he wraps an arm around her shoulder. It shocked him to remember that this girl is still only a kid, a kid younger than him at that. She holds herself high and tall, seeming unbreakable yet here she was, curling into his touch and crying so hard she stumbled over her words.

"Now I'm here and I still can't stop hurting him," she cries. Her fists tighten so much in her lap that he sees there her knuckles turn white. "How sad is that? I get a second chance and I still fuck it up."

He panics then as her breaths quicken and the cracks across her skin grow wider. The lava like substance in them burns brighter.

Desperate, he grips her shoulders and softly tells her, "Hey, can you breath with me? We can calm down together, yeah?"

He counts his breaths in his head as he tries to help her join him. She gives a jerky nod of her head and sucks in a breath through her nose. They hold a rhythm for a minute or two, the cracks on her face slowly closing as they do so. By the end, she's wiping tears from her eyes and sniffling. Her nose scrunches up when she wipes snot from it.

"God, that's gross," she mutters as she stares at her snotty sleeve. A watery chuckle leaves her lips, Eijirou joining in. He reaches across the bed for the tissues on the nightstand and offers her one. She takes it and starts wiping away at the sleeve.

"Snot's better than Lava at least," he jokes.

She snorts. "We don't want to have another incident like at the zoo, that's for sure."

"Is that something I should prepare for?"

Her eyes snap back up to his at that. She watches him for a moment before her face falls again. Wrapping her arms around herself, she mumbles, "Right. Forgot you weren't you for a second."

He raises an eyebrow. "Not me?"

"Future you."

"Ah."

As weird as this is for Eijirou, he can't imagine how this must feel for her. She knows all of them and has to face them looking and likely acting completely different. He can't even begin to comprehend how he'd feel if he suddenly showed up at one of his mom's high schools during the time they were going there.

Curiosity gets the better of him and awkwardly, he asks, "Am I that similar?"

Her hands fidget in her lap as she answers, "Kinda but not really. You just-- you do this sort of thing the exact same way. The breathing and questions and shit."

For some reason, that makes him happy. Though it saddens him to have to see Kaz like this, he can't help but be glad that she has him in the future to comfort her, even if it's only every once and a while.

"Do you still want to talk about it?" he says, squeezing her shoulder.

Her eyes shift back to the ground, her shoulders hike up to her ears. "I don't know where to start."

"How about the beginning?"

She takes a deep breath and nods. She says, "Yeah, okay. My Dad, uh-- My Dad, he and I haven't been on good terms lately. In the future, I mean. He was always my biggest supporter and he always said he loved me but when Papa went to the hospital that felt like it changed. I-- He and I stopped spending all this time together that I was used to. He dived into hero work and taking care of Pa."

Eijirou felt a pang of sympathy strike him. He knew how Bakugou got when things went crazy. Often, he's the one that has to drag him out of school work and training.

"He didn't meant to, I know that. But I just--" Her hands shook and and voice caught. "I felt alone. He needed to work more to keep the agency afloat and taking care of Pa was important but it felt like he was forgetting about me. When he did have time for me, we always fought. It was just stress but it still hurt, y'know? It was always stupid shit."

She stops for a moment, eyes glazed over like she was remembering something. Eijirou tried not to flinch at the sight of another crack breaking open on her neck. She sighed and pushed on.

"It was only a month before Papa was back to full health but things didn't feel the same. Dad got stricter, watching me like a hawk. Touya says he was being protective after what happened to Pa. I don't know, he's probably right." She laughs again, but it's another one of those laughs that aren't actually funny. It sounds more pained than amused. "God, it was like if I so much as stubbed my toe I'd die. We'd just scream and scream and scream at each other for hours about it. I'd want to go out with friends but he'd want me to stay locked up in my room. I'd want to stay over at the Midoriya's and he'd demand I come home. I'd want to become a hero, but he rather I get an office job."

Her eyes start to water and Eijirou hugs her with his arm around her shoulder. Tears silently trail down her face.

"Papa and him used to yell at each other for so long. I don't think they knew I could hear them. Pa said Dad was being too harsh, irrational, but Dad would yell that he can't let his baby get hurt." She cries harder, three more cracks breaking across her face. "I-- I know he loved me and that was all. He was just trying to protect me. I wouldn't listen. I wanted to be a hero so bad that I was willing to fuck everything up."

A sob shakes her whole body and Eijirou immediately brings his other arm around her, fully embracing her. He understands. If someone had tried to stop him from being a hero, he'd have fought tooth and nail to go against them.

He wants to say something to comfort her. He can't think of anything.

"I had to be a hero," she wails. "It would have been so much better if I wasn't."

"Hey," he whispers to her. "Don't say that."

"It's true!" she says. "He was so mad when he found out Touya and I applied together. I know he was! I saw him crying with Papa about it! He doesn't ever fucking cry but I made him cry! He wouldn't stop hovering after that until I moved into the dorms! Even then, he still called every damn fucking day!"

She slumped against him, shaking. She mumbles, "I wish I'd just fucking picked up the phone once and a while. He called so often and I never picked up."

There's so much weight to those words. He doesn't know why, just can feel it as he watches Kaz vent. Something tugs at his chest, pulling and pulling until it draws a shaky breath from him. His eyes sting as he thinks what she could mean by her words.

No. Please no.

"We were never not fighting. Pa told me to make amends with him," she says quietly. Her shoulder shake while she continues. "I-- I thought that joining the agency would make things better. If we were together for internships then maybe he could see I knew how to handle myself and-- and we could go back to normal.

"He got worse. He called twice as often and I still wouldn't pick up. He started to look . . . sad all the time. He got this look on face every time I was around him. I thought it was disappointment. I was so so angry at him and he knew it but he wouldn't give me space. He-- he kept trying to stop me from coming on missions and when the time villain showed up he tried to ban me from the case entirely."

She stopped talking as she seemed to brace herself for the rest. She was shaking so much she looked like she was shivering in the cold. All the cracks their breathing had gotten rid of resurfaced as her emotions clearly grew stronger.

"We got in a huge fight," she manages to say. "It was so stupid. I barely even remember what it was about. I got called away to take down the time villain in the middle of screaming at him. He. . . he came after me. The villain-- she-- he just. . . I didn't even get to say goodbye."

She breaks down, shattering like pottery thrown at a wall. All that strength Eijirou saw in her falls apart as she succumbs to sobs, covering her hands over her eyes. The cracks on her face burn and burn endlessly.

"I can't - I can't even do anything!" she cries. "I couldn't protect him! She sent me here and I-- I can't do anything! I can't even talk to him here!"

No, Eijirou thinks, feeling his heart break. This isn't happening.

"We can do something," he says despite the part of him that believes they can't.

She shook her head, wiping furiously at her tears. "It's the future. It's set in stone already. The only thing I can do is spend as much time with him as I can, and I keep fucking that up. He's going to catch on and he's going to be mad that I was too weak to help him and then I won't get to spend any time with him and he'll be gone! I won't see him ever again! I won't hug him again, I won't tell him I love him again, I won't get to show him that he was the best Dad I could ask for! He'll die thinking I hated him! Don't you understand?!"

Eijirou can't do anything but cry for this girl who he decides he would die for right then and there. It's such a strong contrast to how he was feeling earlier, the feeling of self-pity changed into a strange protectiveness.

He holds her tighter and runs his fingers through her hair. She clings to his shirt, crying into it.

"Bakugou," he says suddenly, "is someone who everyone assumes will blow up at you for telling him the truth but I'll let you in on a secret." He pulls away from her, meeting her dark red eyes. He gives her a small and hopefully comforting smile. "He will never get mad at someone for being honest and owning up to their actions, good or bad. I promise that if you tell him all this, he won't be mad at you. He'll tell you that if he went after you that day, then whatever happened to him is not your fault. If anything, he'll say that he knew what he was going into and it's his fault."

Eijirou knows it's stupid to promise something like that but he's known Bakugou long enough to know what he'll do. Maybe he's sugar coating a bit for Kaz but he knows at the very least that Bakugou won't be mad.

Kazuya opens her mouth but he cuts her off before she can slip in a word. "Don't deny it. Remember, I've known him for longer."

"Not yet."

"Still counts," he argues, shrugging. His cheeks feel tingly as he registers drying tears on them. He takes a tissue and wipes at them. He huffs. "Now we're both crying messes."

She snickers, taking tissues for herself. "That's on you. Not my fault you're a sympathy crier."

He jabs her in the ribs with his fingers for that comment and she barks a laugh. He freezes, eyes lighting up.

"You're ticklish!" he exclaims.

Kaz's eyes widen and she scrambles away from him. "No! I'm not!"

"Really? So you won't mind if I do this!" He grabs her feet and tickles them. She kicks at him and squeals, rolling off the bed.

"Stop it!"

He laughs, the weight coming off his shoulders. He stares at Kaz as she collects herself on the floor, huffing and mumbling something that sounds a lot like swears. She glances up at him, a glare crossing her features and lips pulled into a pout. Then, it eases up and melts into a sad smile.

"Thank you," she says softly.

He tilts his head to the side. "For what?"

"Listening to me." She ducks her head. "It's, uh, easier to deal with when I say it out loud. It's been hard without having Touya to talk to."

Touya. Midoriya's kid she'd said. He's glad she has someone to help her. She'll need it when she gets back. . .

"So. . . " he sing songs instead of thinking about that. Kaz perks up, clearly glad for a distraction as well. "This Touya guy, what's the deal with him?"

Her face flushes and her shoulders lift to her ears. Interesting.

"He's Midoriya's son," she tells him. "We've known each other since we were born. He's my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without him."

He lifts his eyebrows. "Just best friends?"

She groans and falls onto her back. "Oh my god. You're like that here too?"

Chuckles, grinning from ear to ear. It's surprising how much he likes this kid. She's. . . well she's not what he expected. Suddenly, he's regretting having avoided talking to her these past few days.

"Hey, better to tell me than your dad," he says, shrugging. He can imagine Bakugou how Bakugou would treat someone Kaz is into. Even before knowing he's unhealthily protective in the future, he would have pegged him as the type of dad to point a shotgun at his daughters date.

Kaz laughs like that was the most ridiculous thing she's heard in his life. "Dad? Oh no, he's not the one to be afraid of. Pa will slit the throat of any guy who comes within a five mile radius of me."

The feeling of jealousy the writhes inside Eijirou then makes him sick. He hates that he should be smiling and joking with this lovely daughter of Bakugou's but instead he's focusing on the word Papa and wishing that would be what she called him.

It was such a strange and abrupt thought. Before it had just been disappointment that he and Bakugou weren't ever going to be a thing. Now, spending time with this girl, comforting and teasing her, he longs for something more with her as well. He wants to spend more time at her side, treat her like his daughter. He can see himself raising this girl. It's such a weird thought to be having when he's only a few months from being eighteen. He shouldn't be thinking of fatherhood, never mind be jealous of someone for it.

"P-- Eijirou?" Kaz snaps him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," he apologizes, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Got lost in thought."

She eyes him for a second then asks, "Is it because of Papa?"

Surprised, he jolts and has to do a double take to make sure he heard her right. He blanks. "You know?"

"Let's just say in order to unlock my romantic secrets you need to spill some of your own." She smirks and folds her arms over her chest. "Honestly wasn't a secret though. It was more like you trying to encourage me to open up with your own sappy love stories."

Horror pools in his his stomach. It takes maximum effort not to bolt out that door right then and there. Bakugou's daughter knows he's in love with him. He-- wow. That's perfect, totally not frightening or anything.

He runs his fingers through his hair nervously. "Does. . . Does Bakugou know?"

"Yeah."

Fuck.

He's not sure whether he says that out loud or not. Bakugou was never supposed to know. Especially if he's married and from the way Kaz is talking, Eijirou is still very much in love with him.

"And your Papa? He doesn't know, right?"

A grin spreads across Kaz's face. "Oh he knows all right. He won't stop talking about it."

Eijirou shoves his head into his hands and groans, his face burning. How did they go from crying to this? He almost wants to go back to crying just to save himself the embarrassment. Not only does the object of his affections and his kid know about his hopeless crush but also Bakugou's god damn husband.

"How do that many people know?" he exclaims. "Did I walk into your house and scream 'Hey, I'm in love with Katsuki Bakugou!' or something?"

"That's happened before."

"Oh my god. Kill me now."

The devil merely giggles into her hands. She pats him on the shoulder, saying, "If it makes you feel any better, it's cheering me up watching what a hopeless piner you were in high school."

He looks up at her through his fingers. "Am I not pining hopelessly in the future?"

"No. You're just hopeless."

"Real comforting, Kaz. Feeling super comforted." He points at her accusingly. "I'm telling Touya you're in love with him in the future!"

Her face turned red almost on command. She sputtered, "Hey! I never said I was in love with him!"

"Your reaction did though."

She stands up and marches for the door. "I'm leaving!"

"Noooo, I'm sorry," he calls through his barely contained laughter. She flips him the bird and yanks open the door. Oh, she's serious. He scrambles to his feet and rushes to the door. "Wait, Kaz. Hold up a second!"

She halts and faces him with a clearly forced unimpressed look. He can see the little smile ticking up the corner of her lips and the glitter in her eyes. She looks a lot like her father with that expression. Hiding emotions behind faked disdain. He wonders how many of her expressions look like her other fathers. Which ones look like her other family members, aunts and uncles? Do Touya and her share faces and sayings like best friends often do?

"You going to say something or what?" she prompts.

He straightens. Right. He tosses his words of choosing around in his head for a little while. A pang of sadness strikes him in the chest but he pushes through it. "You should talk to Bakugou," he tells her. "Tell him how you feel. Maybe it'll help you spend these last days with him. At the very least it will help him die knowing his daughter loves him."

When Kaz's eyes water, he regrets what he says. He shouldn't have said that. He's making her cry again. Damn it. How does he--

Oh.

Kaz engulfs him in a hug. Her arms tighten around him and he has half the mind to hug her back. She whispers to him, "Thank you."

He doesn't get the chance to say anything back before she pulls away and steps out the door. She hesitates outside it before turning back to him. She opens her mouth, then closes it again. He waits.

Finally, she says, "Just to let you know, your classmates think my Papa has dark hair like me."

She shuts the door in his face, vanishing off to wherever she came from. He stands there for few moments, baffled by all the events that just went down.

. . . my Papa has dark hair like me.

What does that even--

Oh.

Oh.