FOR the entire next week, shigaraki and hoshimi abided by their set of rules.

like discussed, shigaraki usually went to hoshimi's class as his finished earlier than hers. and since his building was a bit away from hers, he made it just in time to pick her up.

sometimes, hoshimi would even walk shigaraki to class before they started since her class usually started a few minutes late.

they both switched off on taking the baby to class. and today, was shigaraki's turn.

shigaraki was walking out the classroom so that he could spend his time with his "family".

"HEY! watch it loser!", a football player said as he bumped into shigaraki, who was holding an infant car seat with little tomi in there.

the man was definitely a football player as he wore the typical lettermen.

"sorry", shigaraki mumbled. he still needed to quickly get to hoshimi's class so that they could go out for lunch.

"huh? what'd you say? I couldn't hear you", the brown-haired football player mocked.

shigaraki sighed and rolled his eyes. he didn't have time for this jerk's mocking. the last time he was late, hoshimi made him wait an extra 5 minutes the next day.

"don't roll your eyes at me! didn't your mom teach you basic manners?", the man asked as he pushed shigaraki's chest, making him stumble back a few steps.

his friends just laughed as he had a grin on his face. shigaraki gripped the infant car seat tighter. he made a scowl as he glared at the male.

the football players were cornering shigaraki. they were about to mess him up until they heard a familiar voice.

"hello katsuki? yeah. some of your players are bullying my partner. what? they can get benched for the rest of the season? or even kicked off the team?!", hoshimi fake gasped.

the football players immediately turned their heads towards hoshimi.

"w-wait!! we didn't know he was your friend aizawa-san!! p-please tell captain we're very sorry!!", the male said, flailing his hands around.

"did you hear that katsuki? they want extra laps and longer warmups for the rest of the semester as apology", hoshimi said, fake smiling at the players.

she then hung up the phone and walked towards the players. although each one of them were all taller and buffer, they cowered in her presence.

hoshimi wasn't a very scary girl herself, but her connections said otherwise. her father and many of his coworkers were considered her uncles.

her friends consisted of kirishima, kaminari, and sero, who were all respected members of the football team. especially bakugo, who was the captain of the team. any members who broke the rules were punished.

even with todoroki on her side, he's a well respected boy on campus as he's smart, rich, and good-looking.  if hoshimi asked, todoroki could have them expelled in a snap.

"w-we're very s-sorry!!", the male apologized as the rest of his friends bowed with him.

"don't apologize to me. the man is over there", hoshimi said, pointing at shigaraki, who just looked stunned.

"w-we're...", the football player gritted his teeth and clenched his hands tight.

"he can't hear you and neither can I", hoshimi said while yawning.

"we're...s-sorry...", he mumbled out.

"great! well he'll forgive you only if you never bother him again", hoshimi said. "and if you'll excuse us, we have chick-fil-a waiting for us".

hoshimi grabbed shigaraki's hand and pulled him with her, exiting out the building. she got in her car and drove, with shigaraki still not saying anything.

"t-thanks", shigaraki finally said as she ordered food from the drive through of chick-fil-a. tomi was in his car seat in the back, sleeping.

"you know, you need to stand up for yourself more", hoshimi said, sipping her sweet tea.

"it's...not as easy as you think it is", shigaraki said, looking out the window.

"hm. well first, we need to boost your confidence. and in order to do that, we need to get you a new set of clothes".

"what—"

"since we both don't have afternoon classes today, I'll take you shopping after I drop tomi off with mina and eijiro", hoshimi said as she drove back to their dorms.

»»————-　★　————-««

"I never agreed to this", shigaraki grumbled as he walked out the changing room in jeans and a t-shirt.

"finally!! I never thought I'd see the day that you'd wear something else other than black", hoshimi exclaimed as she stood up.

she already had bags filled with clothes she bought for shigaraki. obviously she paid for them with her own money, as she wasn't spoiled by aizawa.

"you should wear color more often. and this cream-colored turtleneck sweater looks really cute on you!!", hoshimi said excitedly.

shigaraki just looked stunned. never has he had anyone stand up for him or compliment him. all he received were nasty comments from people who would walk by him. even dabi insulted him at times.

"oh! by the way, katsuki and their football game's next saturday. do you wanna come with me, mina, and shouto? izuku offered to take care of tomi since he doesn't want to go", hoshimi offered.

shigaraki thought for a moment. he's never been to a football game before even though this was their third year in college.

"sure", he responded as he didn't really mind. as long as it wasn't too boring or the tickets weren't too expensive.

"the tickets are free since they're my best friends. oh! and you can invite toga and them if you want", hoshimi smiled as she paid for his new clothes, despite his protest.

"you can wear the stripped blue t-shirt and jeans to the game since it's going to be really hot", she said as they got in the car and arrived back at the dorms.

"yeah", shigaraki said as he glanced at the girl walking beside him.

he was holding most of the bags, with hoshimi holding some. they arrived in front of his dorm.

hoshimi then realized that this was her first time visiting, since they always went to hers for the project.

"I'm back", shigaraki grumbled as he took his shoes off.

"whatchu got there crusty?", dabi called out from the couch.

"clothes! I bought many new outfits for him", hoshimi excitedly said.

"oh! you're here too!", dabi said as he got up to hold some of the bags. he briefly glanced at some of the clothes inside.

"damn. you got yourself a sugar mama huh?", dabi joked.

hoshimi snorted while shigaraki's face twisted in disgust.

"please just die", he said to dabi, who shot him a glare.

"at least princess enjoys my joke", dabi smirked.

"well dabi. sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not his sugar mama. we're just friends", hoshimi said.

shigaraki felt a little warm feeling in his heart. she thought that they were friends? that made him feel a bit happy for some reason.

"damn. friend-zoneddddd!!", dabi yelled as shigaraki just groaned at his roommate's behavior.

"please ignore his two brain cells", shigaraki said, making hoshimi laugh.

"will do".