I skipped through the mud with Denki holding my one hand. We both ran through the forest in order to get to the part of the city that sold fast food. He suggested we get a cheeseburger, and I agreed. Even though the last time I went to get a hamburger with a guy didn't go so well. . . .

"This'll be much better than that French food!" said Denki.

"I hope so. I'm famished. Where are we even going?"

"To White Castle!"

White Castle? Did he mean Himeji Temple? That sounded so lovely! I always wanted to go to that beautiful place. Everyone says how stunning it is.

"Oh, Denki! You shouldn't have! That's so sweet!"

When we finally got there, I looked around and saw nothing but a tacky, unwashed burger joint with faux turrets that looked more like sprayed on Styrofoam. This looked nothing like Himeji Temple. The worst thing was: I was wearing my good Crocs for this.

Denki said, "It's the grand opening! It's the first White Castle to open up in Japan. I hear their Sliders are amazing."

I can't believe Denki took me to the junkiest burger joint in America. And this wasn't even America.

So, Denki led me inside. On the front door, was a piece of plain computer paper with large Arial font that read, 'Now hiring losers.'

"Wow, maybe I could get a job here!" Denki smiled.

I was super uncomfortable. The people in this place looked creepy. Now the Hardee's experience with Katsuki didn't seem so bad.

So, we both approached the counter and waited for the clerk to show up. And to our surprise, it was Hanta.

"Hey, guys! Didn't expect to see you here."

"With the sign on the door, I'm not surprised," remarked Denki.

I giggled with a nervous grin. "Uhm, so what do you guys sell here?"

"Oh, we sell our famous Sliders." Hanta pointed toward the menu.

"Two Sliders then!" Denki beamed.

They looked pretty big on the menu, so this was probably going to be a mighty treat! Maybe my hunger would be put at ease.

After ordering two combos, we headed to a small, empty table. Denki was coloring on a sheet of paper with the Crayons the restaurant provided for toddlers in case they got bored. I only stared out the window, attempting to any avoid eye contact with the hobos nearby. I then started to shiver because of the air conditioning.

"Hey, are you cold?" asked Denki with a concerned look on his face.

"A bit."

"Here. I'll use my Quirk to warm you up. Give me your hands."

I snatched my hands away from him and put them in the air. "No thanks. I choose life."

At the moment, we both heard the sound of a teenage boy screeching. "THE HECK? THIS BURGER IS SMALLER THAN MINETA'S FACE! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT SOMETHING THIS PATHETIC??"

Denki and I both turned our heads in the direction of the screaming, saying in unison, "Katsuki, is that you?"

And we were both right. Katsuki took the Slider he ordered and launched it at the window while triggering his Quirk. A trail of fire and smoke was sent flying across the room as the burger busted through the glass. Katsuki raged and hopped on top of the nearest table, while Eijiro—who was with him—facepalmed at the embarrassing scene his friend was causing.

"HOW DO THEY EXPECT US TO EAT THESE PUNY THINGS!? YOU GETTIN' STINGY ON ME, TAPE-GUY!?"

"Hey, man. I just work here. I don't make them that small on purpose."

"SERIOUSLY!? I MEAN, WHERE'S THE BEEF?" he spat. "THIS IS THE BIGGEST DISGRACE I'VE EVER SEEN!!!"

"Okay, Gordan Ramsey," Denki insulted under his breath.

"WHADJA CALL ME, CALAMARI!?!"

Eijiro tried to diffuse his fiery wrath. "Bakugou! Chill. You don't want to have to talk to your parole officer again."

"MY PAROLE OFFICER CAN TAKE A HIKE!"

"AW, SHADDUP, YA BRAT!" A middle-aged man from the corner of the room projected his unopened can of cola and hit Katsuki in the face with it. He lost all composure and tripped off the table, taking a nosedive for the floor. When he impacted against the ground, Eijiro's cheese fries flipped up and landed in Katsuki's hair as well.

The room went dead silent. The only thing remotely even audible was the sound of Katsuki's snarling. And I swear, I saw his eye twitch.

So, I knew it was time to bail because somebody was about to die. I hastily pulled my purse strap over my shoulder and speed walked out the door.

As soon as I got away from there, I heard explosions go off, and people were scattering the area faster than the time Kanye West sang Bohemian Rhapsody. Well, more like Bohemian Catastrophe.

So, yeah. It was chaos.

👁👄👁

A few weeks later, the boys seemed to have calmed down. . .and they weren't obsessively fighting over me as much. I wonder why?

One morning in homeroom, Mr. Aizawa dragged himself inside and announced, "Attention, students. As you may know, the annual Sports Festival is approaching. But of course, there's going to be a dance held beforehand."

"But there's never been a dance before," said Fumikage.

"Shut up, bird. Just cuz you can't get a girl, doesn't mean you gotta ruin it or the rest of us!" Denki cried.

"Oh, my! A dance!" Mina gasped.

"It'll be so fun! I wonder who will ask us~?" Ochako hinted out loud.

Momo softly smiled. "I wonder what gentleman I'll go with~"

"If you wanna go with a gentleman, Momo—you'll have to go with a guy from another school!" Jirou scoffed.

Before the girls could finish their hopeful conversation—every single one of my male classmates piled up on my desk—attempting to assert dominance over the other males.

"PICK ME, (Y/N)!!"

"NO, ME!!"

"PLEASE!! I NEED MY MOM TO KNOW I'M NOT PATHETIC AND UNDESIRABLE!!"

"FOOLS! SHE WANTS TO GO WITH ME!!"

All of their arguing made me blank out for a few seconds. But Mr. Aizawa objected with the words, "Oh, and by the way—it's a girls' choice dance. You boys have to get asked by one of them."

"WAAAAAAAHHHTTTT!?!?" they all groaned.

"The teachers all decided that it was safer this way—than to have all the guys battling over the same girl."

Mina growled, "What do you mean the same girl?"

Mineta drooled, "Isn't it obvious~? We all got the hots for (Y/N)."

"Oh, so we're second best option?" snapped Toru.

"We decided it would be more rational." Mr. Aizawa then shot a deathly glare at every boy in the room. "If the only girl you ever want to kiss for the rest of your life is Recovery Girl—I suggest all of you be on your best behavior while the girls make their choices. And remember, it is an honor and privilege to be chosen at all by any young lady. So, treat them all respectively."

"Man, that's like telling Harry Potter to date Voldemort or something," whined Deku.

Katsuki scornfully laughed. "The only girl you'll ever kiss is Recovery Girl, Deku."

"Ouch," Eijiro cringed.

All in all—a girls' choice dance seemed so fun! And maybe all the guys wouldn't throw themselves all over me. Maybe Mr. Aizawa really was looking out for me.

But oh boy, was I wrong. It only made the guys act weirder than before.

As I minded my own business and talked to a Big Chungus I spawned, that one classmate with the multiple arms who I've never talked to—Mezo Shoji—walked out of a vending machine and in front of me. He was holding separate roses in his six hands, and handed them to me one by one.

"Six roses for a rose."

"Uhm—thank you?" I received them, which became hard to hold all at once—since they still had the thorns.

"My name is Mezo Shoji. When I saw these, I immediately thought of you. No strings attached. Even if you don't ask me to the dance—we could always go out for a bite to eat. I'd like to get to know you be—"

"Excuse me?" the voice of Shouto appeared. We both turned to see him holding a bouquet of white and red roses—their colors separated as perfectly as his hair was. "Are you trying to warm up to (Y/N) so she'll ask you to the dance?"

"No! Not at all!" Mezo defended. "What about you?"

"Of course, not. . ."

"Hey, (Y/N)! I got somethin' for ya!" Hanta approached. I looked at his hands to see that he was holding some piece of impressively folded paper. "I made you an origami sakura flower with my own tape!"

"Wow!! Really!?" I ran over to him and admired his skillset in origami. Hanta smiled proudly while the other guys watched and fumed.

"(Y/N)! I saw that other guys were getting you flowers—so I got these out of the schoolyard last minute!" Deku held up a few dandelions still attached to the root with dirt clinging to them. "Hope you like 'em!"

"Oh—" I cringed.

Suddenly, Katsuki stomped up with a dozen roses wrapped in foil. "I got you some chocolate roses."

"Wow, did you save those from last Valentine's Day?" snarked Hanta.

"SHUT UP. GIRLS WOULD RATHER HAVE FOOD THAN BORING FLOWERS!"

I accepted all their gifts and somehow carried them as I was standing up. "Thanks, guys! But what's with all the gifts?"

No one answered my question. But of course, more guys showed up.

"Heya, (Y/N)! I made you something as well." Eijiro showed up and took his hands from behind his back to reveal a pastel pink heart carved from quartz attached to a tiny, golden keychain. "I've been taking up mineral carving."

"OH, MY GOSH!!" I dropped all of the other things I was given, and jumped into Eijiro's arms with the biggest, happiest smile I've ever had. The other boys grumbled at the sight. Eijiro hugged me and delicately placed me down.

"Alright, turn around!" he told me.

I did as he said, and he placed the necklace around my neck.

"Alright, time to step up our game. . ." Hanta whispered to himself.

All the others nodded, accepting the challenge.

~~~

Angstiest angst that ever angsted.