A day had passed after the incident, bringing forth a new week and the start of another Monday, which meant school for (Y/n) and her peers.

Eyes a bit bleary from remnants of sleep, (Y/n) trudged downstairs, dressed in her uniform, bag slung over her shoulder and ready to head to school. She went into the kitchen where she found her aunt seated on a counter chair as she drank her morning coffee.

"Morning," the girl greeted as she passed by her aunt to head to the fridge.

"Morning," Nanami set her cup down on the counter and turned her head to look at the girl. "Sleep well?"

(Y/n) hummed in response while opening the fridge. She took out a half-full carton of milk before pushing the fridge door closed with her hip.

"There's toast."

"I'm not hungry," (Y/n) took out a cup from the dish rack and proceeded to pour the milk into the cup.

"You can't miss breakfast dear. You need all the nutrients."

The girl simply shrugged before chugging down the cold milk in big gulps. When she was done, she licked her lips in satisfaction while setting the cup into the sink. She returned the carton into the fridge and turned to face her aunt. Nanami was giving her a concerned look and it prompted (Y/n) to raise a puzzled eyebrow.

"What?"

The woman propped her chin on her head. "Are you okay?"

(Y/n) sighed and threaded a hand through her hair. "I'm fine. Just not hungry," the corner of her lips quirked up into a small smirk. "Besides, the dinner you made yesterday night was too much. I almost thought you were prepping me for a sacrifice."

Nanami returned the smirk. "Well, I have noticed that you've lost a lot of weight during the past few days. I could almost see your collarbones from here," she picked up her cup and brought it to her lips to take a sip.

"Don't...look at my collarbones," (Y/n) self-consciously tugged her collar up to cover her lower neck all the while glaring bemused aunt. "Jeez. You're making me feel underweight."

The woman released an airy laugh at (Y/n)'s expense, which resulted in (Y/n) rolling her eyes. (Y/n)'s phone then suddenly vibrated in her pocket and she quickly fished it out. She swiped across the screen and read the new text preview from the pull-down bar.

[7:15 am] My Fireworks 💞🎆: Get your ass out

(Y/n) bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from erupting into giggles as butterflies attacked her stomach. It was weird how charming she found the brief text when in someone else's case they would've found it plain rude. But she didn't care. He was her boyfriend, not theirs.

(Y/n) internally squealed when the thought of him being her boyfriend crossed her mind. They hadn't talked since the night of the festival due to "unforeseen circumstances" but that didn't bother her at all. He was already hers.

"Judging by that love-struck look on your face," Nanami's voice suddenly broke her out of her train of thoughts to focus back on a smirking Nanami. "I'm guessing it's your new boo."

(Y/n)'s cheeks turned pink as her eyes widened. She instinctively brought the phone to her chest and frowned at the woman. "Wha-what are you talking about?"

"Cut the crap dear. You already told me what he is to you. Plus," the woman stared down at her cup as the milk swirled into the coffee. Her mouth turned up in a fond smile. "I think you should respond to that quickly. He might think you fainted from overexcitement and had a concussion."

"Whatever..." (Y/n) muttered under her breath, her face still heated up from embarrassment. She looked back down at her phone and quickly sent a text back.

[7:18 am] (Y/n): Comin

"I have to go. He's outside," she said offhandedly while checking the time before returning her phone back into her pocket. "Later," she gave a wave of her hand as she made her way past her aunt out of the kitchen towards the front door.

"Have a nice day!" Nanami's disembodied voice rang from the kitchen.

"You too!" (Y/n) responded before slamming the front door close behind her. She found Katsuki waiting for her, leaning against the wall next to her door with one foot propped behind him and hands in his pockets. For a second there, he looked like a character from one of the biker movies (Y/n) would watch from time to time. The random thought made her smile.

"Hi..." she greeted him in a breathy voice.

"'Sup," he pushed himself from the wall and immediately fell in step with the girl as they began their journey to school.

How...casual...The girl's eyebrows furrowed at his simple response, or more like a grunt.

"Did you...have a nice weekend?" (Y/n) asked in hopes that it would spark a conversation but Katsuki's flat reply shot her efforts down.

"'Twas cool."

He's really not making this easy for me, is he? (Y/n) sent the ash-blond a withered look. She wanted to try and ask something else but the silence between them made it even more impossible to do so, so she chose to keep quiet.

Okay...this is not awkward...(Y/n) thought after five minutes of the insufferable silence. She sneaked a glance at the ash-blond beside her and sighed wistfully. I wanna hold his hand. It is okay, right? I mean, we kissed and everything so we're dating, right? (Y/n) furrowed her eyebrows. Wait, we didn't exactly say that we are now boyfriend and girlfriend. Her eyes then shot open in realization. What if I'm the only one who thinks like that and not him?! I can't be, right? She sent Katsuki a quick sidelong glance and noticed that his eyes were glued to the front. He hasn't even looked at me since I came out of the house. Is he embarrassed about what happened? She scrunched up her face. Oh my God, he totally is. Her hands unconsciously squeezed into fists at her sides as she gritted her teeth. Arghhhh! Why am I overthinking all of this? Maybe I should try and hold his hand. Yeah, I totally should. She glanced to the side and saw that his hands were still buried deep into his pockets. No...his hands are in his pockets. It would be weird if I pried them out. Wait, what if he doesn't want to hold my hand? No, no, no (Y/n) stop thinking so much. He usually puts his hands in his pockets so it's totally normal. But then what if he doesn't want to hold my hand because he doesn't want to lead me on or something? Maybe he's regretting what happened and wants to let me down easy. She let out a silent, frustrated groan. Ugh noooo, why am I thinking all of this?!!!!

Suddenly, an arm wrapped itself around her neck and pulled her back against someone's chest, making her squeal in surprise. A car immediately whizzed past in front of her, a few inches away from her body. Mouth wide agape in shock and mind reeling at how close a shave that was, she turned her head to the side to look at her savior who sent her an annoyed glare.

"Watch where you're goin', you fucking twat," he scolded but his voice held no malice in contrast to his harsh words. "You gonna get your stupid ass killed if you keep your head in the fucking clouds like that."

Her previous shock melted away into gratefulness as a soft smile graced her lips. "Thanks Fireworks."

"Yeah whatever," the male turned his face away from her when a small blush began creeping up his ears and neck. He dropped his arm from around her, much to her dismay, and returned his hand back into his pocket. "Just keep your eyes in front."

(Y/n)'s smile widened. He's so cute! And here I was, about to get run over because of overthinking... "I will."

With feelings of giddiness and butterflies appearing in her stomach anew, (Y/n) kept the smile on as they waited for the green light to signal them when to cross the road. When the orange light turned green, she was about to take a step forward when a hand grabbed hers in a tight grip. She looked down at the rough, slightly sweaty, hand holding hers and trailed it back to its flustered owner.

"Uhh...Ka-"

"I'm just doing this because your stupid brain will eventually forget to look forward!" the flustered boy cut her cold, making her roll her eyes in amusement. As if he couldn't get any redder.

(Y/n) smirked and affectionately squeezed his hand. "You just want to hold my hand, don't you?"

"Tch," Katsuki looked away from her. "I'll slam your fucking head on the concrete."

"No you won't," the girl simpered as she fell in step with Katsuki to cross the road. The boy clicked his tongue, causing (Y/n) to giggle even more. Even though he didn't look in her direction, he never once let go of her hand.

***

The rest of the day went well, nothing exciting happened apart from an incident where someone nearly died.

The details weren't clear as rumors tended to get distorted when passed from one party to another but what was certain was that a flamethrower was involved. How a flamethrower was even allowed in school in the first place was beyond everyone but then again, rumors are rumors.

It was the last class before lunch time and the bell to signify its end chimed. Aizawa gathered up his papers and arranged them as the students put their books away.

"Okay, that's it for class," the dark-haired teacher announced. "There's only one week left until the final exams." He looked up at the students with a stern look. "You all are studying properly, right? I'm sure you already know but it won't just be a written exam. There's also a practical component." He began making his way towards the door. "Make sure you train your minds and bodies at the same time. That's all." He said before sliding the door close behind him.

Suddenly, Mina and Kaminari all erupted into a frenzy of anxious shouts and nervous laughter on how they haven't studied at all. (Y/n) tuned the noise out and fished out her phone from her pocket. She made a quick check for her notifications and only found a message from the phone company and another one alerting her that the expiration date for her bundles was nearing. The girl ignored them and turned her phone off.

She began playing with her cell phone as she went deep into thought. The final exams had been the last thing on her mind and that was the time that she began thinking back on all the subjects she wasn't good at. She might've placed third on the midterms but who's to say that she was a whiz in Mathematics.

It was a good thing she was a master of the silent art of internal panicking.

"Hey (Y/n)!"

The said girl flinched at the loud, cheery voice, immediately recognizing who it belonged to. She looked up to face the red-haired male and her mouth immediately curved into a smile. Thus, behold the power of Kirishima's smile.

"Hi," she placed her phone on the tabletop and laid her cheek on her palm. "What's up?"

The boy shrugged. "Nothing really. Just checking up on you." He gave her a once-over. "You look tired."

"It's a Monday," she half-heartedly chuckled. "Who wouldn't be tired?"

"I guess you're right," Kirishima sent her a thumbs up. "Plus, your fish are doing well. Stubborn but very good." He winked at her playfully. "You named them well."

(Y/n)'s eyes darted to the lower left in thought. "I did, didn't I?"

The memories of that night came flooding back and the feeling of emptiness she had tried ignoring since the bad news reappeared. Her smile faded and a tired sigh escaped her parted lips. The tears in her eyes had long ago dried up but that didn't stop the weird feeling. So far she could only describe it as if something felt missing inside her, like a part of her disappeared since that night. And that feeling had gotten stronger ever since she stepped foot inside the class that morning. She hadn't even noticed that she wasn't paying attention until someone snapped their fingers in front of her. She blinked in surprise, focus returning back to her and sent Kirishima a questioning look.

"Hey uh..." he gave a concerned look. "You okay there? You seemed kinda lost."

"Hmm?" (Y/n) cleared her throat and folded her forearms across the tabletop. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Just..." she flashed him a fake smile. "...a lot on my mind right now."

Kirishima arched an eyebrow, clearly not convinced considering the troubled expression she had on before she snapped out of it. But since he didn't want to pry, he instead returned the gesture with a billion dollar watt smile that put hers to shame. "Alright if you say so. I have a question though..."

(Y/n) leaned forward with a furrowed brow. "What is it?"

The boy placed a hand on her head and leaned a bit closer to her, his expression serious. "If you spent your day in a well...can you say your day was well-spent?"

(Y/n) stared at him blankly. "Eh?"

"Chew on that thought instead, 'kay?" the boy smiled at the confused girl as he gently patted her head. He then straightened up and turned to look at something over her head. His hand lifted in a wave as his smile seemed to widen impossibly. "Yo! Bakugou! I haven't seen you in years! You haven't returned any of my texts..."

(Y/n) stared sightlessly at the board while trying to decode his question for a good three minutes when she realized that it was actually a trick question and he asked it so that she'd stop looking so down. The corner of her lips turned up slightly as she turned her attention to the red-haired boy having a one-sided conversation with a ticked off Katsuki. She shook her head and a silent giggle erupted from her chest.

She really has to treat him one of these days for all the times he's made her feel better.

"So about the final exams..." Kirishima clapped a hand on Katsuki's shoulder. "Do ya think you can tutor me?"

"Piss off, shark mouth," Katsuki shrugged off his hand. "I don't have time to waste on the likes of you!"

As per the usual, Kirishima did not even blink at the insult and his smile remained unfaltering.

"Come on, bro!" the sharp-toothed male griped as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "If you don't, I'm gonna ask (Y/n) to."

"I can't believe you just said that," (Y/n) deadpanned and rolled her eyes at the brief but subtle smirk Kirishima sent her.

The red-haired male shrugged when Katsuki did not respond normally to his "so-called nagging" and turned to look at the commotion occurring at Yaoyorozu's desk. Apparently, a convention consisting of Jirou, Kaminari, Mina, and Sero had formed around her desk to request the girl to help them with their studies as she was the one to place first in the mid-terms. Yaoyorozu was gushing on what kind of tea she would serve to the awe-struck students and (Y/n) couldn't help but chuckle.

Kirishima turned back to Katsuki with a challenging smirk. "Look at the difference in virtue."

Finally fed up with his "so-called nagging", Katsuki gnashed his teeth together in hostility and sent the smirking boy a dark glare. "I can do it too! Want me to beat into you?"

"Yeah! I'm counting on you!" Kirishima punched a fist in the air with excitement before turning to (Y/n). "You're coming too, right?"

"Thanks but no thanks. Unlike some of us," she sent Katsuki a discreet side-long glance. "I prefer studying in a silent environment without violence. You two can do your own thing."

"Great! Let's all work hard so that we can all go to the training camp!"

Oh yeah...(Y/n) smiled. How could she have forgotten about the summer camp? Maybe because when the announcement was made, she was out in the mountains with Katsuki and Reo. She remembered Kirishima updating her about it before. Apparently, only the people who passed the exams were allowed to go. It was probably why Kirishima has been working so hard these past few days.

The sheer determination radiating off him coupled with his smile must've been visible even from space. It was hard not to support that.

"Yeah...sure thing."

***

Lunchtime ended in a cinch and the new rumor of the day was that the practical part of the final exams would be similar to that of the entrance exam. That piece of information brought hope to most of the students especially Kaminari and Co.

The day's classes had already ended and everyone was buzzing around talking to each other. (Y/n) wasn't feeling all that bubbly and just wanted to go home to start off on her studies. She hadn't yet told Katsuki about her parents, mostly because it seemed like there was something bothering him ever since the announcement about the final exams. She wanted to ask what was wrong but knowing him, he wouldn't outright tell her but since he wasn't so good at hiding his feelings, she'd then have to decode his reactions until she scored a bullseye. And she was planning to do exactly that when not in the vicinity of so many people.

The girl had already slung her bag over her shoulder and was ready to head towards the door when someone griped her arm and began tugging her towards the door. She wasn't even surprised when she realized who was pulling her as it was the norm. A sigh escaped her lips as she stared at the back of his head. She quickly sent a wave towards some of her classmates thinking that next she'd see them was the following day but that wasn't until Katsuki abruptly stopped in his tracks, causing her to nearly crash into him. The boy dropped her arm and looked over his shoulder to glare at the group that was gathered at the front of the class.

"It doesn't matter if they're fucking people or robots," he said in a gruff voice. "They're the same if you beat 'em up, right? What are you idiots talking about it being a cinch for?"

"Who're you calling an idiot?!" Kaminari pointed an offended finger at him.

"Shut up!" Katsuki yelled, fully turning to face the startled Kaminari and Mina. "If you need to control your Quirk, then control it! Idiot!" he then turned to look at Izuku, who was sitting on his chair with a wide-eyed expression on. Katsuki bared his teeth at him in a death glare. "Hey, Deku! I don't know if you've figured out how to use your Quirk a little or what..." his eyes narrowed dangerously. "...but you seriously keep rubbing me the wrong way."

It was like the atmosphere had dropped a chilling eighty degrees with all the animosity coming from Katsuki. A line appeared between (Y/n)'s brows as she tried to figure out what had prompted this intensity from him. It had been a while since she had last seen him like that and it was worrying her. Was that what was bothering him the whole day?

"Oh," Uraraka said as she shuffled closer to Mina, her gaze glued on Katsuki. "He must be talking about how Deku was moving like Bakugou the other day."

"Oh yeah..."

"I don't need another half-assed result like at the sports festival," Katsuki continued. "At the upcoming festival, we'll get individual scores, so we'll see who's better whether you like it or not," he pointed at Izuku. "I'll beat you with an indisputable difference! I'll fucking kill you!" he then turned to Shoto. "Todoroki! You too!"

Said male simply nodded before his dual-colored eyes met with (Y/n)'s. The girl faked a small smile and was just about to wave at him when her arm was grabbed once more and was dragged out of the suffocating class.

Katsuki was relentless in pulling her and had not once looked behind to assure she was alright or anything as he dragged her through the hallways. Meanwhile, (Y/n) was struggling to keep up with his pace. They were already outside and were heading towards the gate and yet he still wasn't showing any signs of ceasing.

"Hey! Katsuki!" she desperately called after him. "Hey wait!"

He didn't listen.

"Katsuki stop!"

He didn't stop.

The girl let out a loud frustrated groan before firmly planting her heels on the ground to prevent him from pulling her any further. She then yanked her arm away from his iron grip and nearly lost her balance from the force. Her action seemed to have annoyed Katsuki as he immediately stopped and turned to face her with a malicious look.

"What?! What?!"

"Don't what me!" (Y/n) snapped back and frantically gesticulated back at the school building. "What was that back there?!"

Katsuki clicked his tongue, his wild expression taming a bit as he looked away from her in petulance. "Let it go."

"No."

"Just fucking let it go," he said, his jaw taut with the effort not to scream it.

"No," (Y/n) repeated with narrowed eyes and a slightly tilted head. "Tell me. Why the sudden threats? Really? What's gotten into you?"

Silence.

The (h/c)-haired female raised an eyebrow at his unusual silence and dismissive behavior. It was as if he was sulking but at the same time, he wasn't. She bit her lower lip when Katsuki remained silent and stepped closer to him.

"Look," she raised a hand and gently placed it on his shoulder. "You know you can always talk to me, you know?"

"..."

"And," her hand went up to his cheek and turned his head to face her. She sent him a soft smile as her thumb drew circles on his skin. "...I'll listen."

The ash-blonde narrowed his crimson eyes at her. "You're a fucking hoot, aren't ya?"

"Huh?"

Katsuki scoffed before pulling away from her touch. "You do a pretty good job at giving me some fucking advice when you can't open up or some shit."

(Y/n) blinked. "Wha-"

"Think I wouldn't notice how miserable you've looked the whole day?" Katsuki asked. "Huh?"

Realization flooded the (e/c)-eyed female's face before defensiveness kicked in, making her scowl. How dare he pin this one on her when he is the one who doesn't talk about his issues ninety-five percent of the time?

"You're-" she began but Katsuki wouldn't let her get started.

"What?" he baited with a violent tone.

(Y/n) immediately snapped her mouth shut. Feelings of frustration at both her easy submission to him and his unfairness made her want to rip out her hair.

She literally just can't even with him sometimes.

Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she raked her fingers through her hair. She heaved out a sigh. "...I wanted to tell you some other time. Besides, you looked like you had a lot on your plate and I didn't wanna burden you or anything."

Katsuki stared at her in silence and (Y/n) stared back.

"You're a fucking shithead, you know that right?"

When it comes to you, absolutely...(Y/n) exhaled through her nose as the corners of her mouth quirked up. What was she even getting angry at before? "Guess so."

The boy rolled his eyes and shoved the hand that was previously holding onto (Y/n)'s arm back into his pocket. He sighed then jerked his head towards the gate. "Let's go. We're burning daylight here just fucking around."

(Y/n) nodded and they started their usual journey back home. The girl took the opportunity to link their arms together and bring their bodies closer to each other, an action that made Katsuki jump away but didn't get too far due to the hold she had on him.

"What the-?!" he hissed at the smug girl while trying to lean away from her, a flush creeping up his face. "We're still in fucking school!"

"So?" (Y/n) smirked while pulling him back closer to her. "For all I know, I'm simply comforting my boyfriend as we walk home." She then sent him an innocent look. "Is that a crime?"

Katsuki drew back his lips in a snarl but still, no intensity of glares could pry off (Y/n) from his arm. Red-faced and horribly flustered by the fact that she referred to him as her boyfriend, he looked to the side and scowled at the distance.

"Yeah fine...whatever..." he then muttered under his breath with a ghost of a smirk. "...Idiot."

***

Okay, so there are many different ways people react to grief. There are people who take ages to react while others immediately react to bad news. I, for one, am one of those people who take ages to react for example it took me a whole week to react to my closest grandma's passing. And in all that time I didn't feel anything nor did I think about it for more than a minute. It only came to hit me during her burial that she was gone, and that's when I reacted. So since this is an insert story, and I didn't want to use my method as some might see it as unnatural, I tried combining both ways of grieving so I hope that I haven't messed it up.