Qualmless [KatsuMina]

Katsuki’s eye twitched when the whispers rose in volume again, a chorus of hissing girls hanging around behind him. He wondered if they knew how damn obvious they were being, their whispers pretty much useless with how much of it was going on, and for once in his life he couldn’t wait for class to start just to make them go back to their desks and cut it out.

He turned around to shoot them a quick glare, going ignored by the group, which only made him scowl even harder. He gritted his teeth, taking a long breath to make sure he wouldn’t blurt out anything he’d regret, and finally he opened his mouth.

“Oi,” he growled. “The hell are you idiots going on about? This gossipy shit is getting annoying.”

A few of them huffed quietly, but only Ochako was brave enough to scowl right back, putting her hands on her hips as she squared up for a fight.

“It’s none of your business, Bakugou. Stay out of it.”

“What did you just say to me?” he stood up, making the most of his extra ten-plus centimetres on her. “What the hell does that mean, asshole?”

“It means that our friend is upset and you are not helping!”

“Who the fuck is upset?”

He looked up to see an unfamiliar expression on Mina’s face, devoid of her usual smile, lacking the bright look in her eyes that he was so used to. His eyes narrowed, and Ochako stepped in front of him, glaring up at him as if she was daring him to say a word. Katsuki just shoved her aside, turning his chair around to face them and levelling her with a stern look.

“Alright Raccoon-Face, start talking. Whose ass do I need to kick? I won’t hesitate.”

“Mind your own business,” Ochako huffed, kicking his chair stubbornly. “Someone’s nicknames are really not helping the matter.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“She’s just having a bit of a self-doubt problem,” Tsuyu cut in, doing her best to play peace-maker. “We’ve all been there, kero! We all love you, Mina!”

“The hell have you got to be doubtful about?” Katsuki snorted. “You’re by far the cutest chick in the class, Pink-Ass.”

The group bristled, but no one dared to object, and Mina’s eyes slowly rose a little from where they’d been locked on her own feet.

“I mean, I do have to specify girl,” Katsuki smirked. “Seeing as I’m in the class too.”

Mina giggled, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle it, and the girls gathered around her all stared in awe. Katsuki only realised in that moment that he hadn’t heard that sound all day. Not as she walked to class only metres behind him, not when they’d all been messing around before class began, not even when she ate lunch with their usual group. He felt... Weirdly bad about not noticing.

The bell rang right as he opened his mouth, before he could get out a word about it, and quickly the girls all hurried back to their seats, leaving Mina on the opposite side of the room, where he couldn’t say anything without the entire room hearing.

On a whim, he tore a page noisily from his notebook, ignoring the weird looks he got from Kyouka and Hanta beside him in favour of grabbing a pen. He scribbled a few words on it hurriedly, then scrunched it into a tight ball, eyeing the distance between them and taking aim.

With a crinkly patter that felt immensely satisfying, the ball landed on Mina’s desk, and she jolted upright. Her head whipped toward him, eyes wide when he lifted his pen, and after a moment she began to uncrumple the page, smoothing it out to read. She stared at it for a moment, then looked up again, at Katsuki’s smirk that was struggling to keep from wavering.

Be ready at seven, I’m taking you to dinner.

─────

“Holy shit.”

Katsuki stopped at the doorway, staring out into a world dwarfed by white, only stepping aside when someone knocked him aside in their haste to go explore. Usually he had absolutely no hesitance about yelling at people for bumping him, but in that moment all he cared about was not walking out into the miserable landscape of endless snow.

“Wow!” Izuku gasped, stepping aside to join Katsuki as people barrelled past. “I didn’t know there was this much snow!”

Katsuki nodded faintly. Their usual outdoor trainings had been cancelled all afternoon, replaced by classroom sessions to avoid the freak storm, but he hadn’t noticed the magnitude of it. Their classmates were already making snow angels and throwing snowballs, but Katsuki was still figuring out how he was going to get back to the dorms without his feet falling off, let alone without falling on his ass.

“Maybe your costume boots?” Izuku suggested knowingly – nerd had always been too good at reading his mind. “I wonder if they would mind if we used our quirks to get back safely.”

“Did somebody say quirks?”

Katsuki jumped when a hand slapped him on the back, glancing down to watch his feet leave the floor, floating an inch above the ground.

“And what, we’re meant to swim back?” Katsuki snorted, flailing uselessly. “You didn’t think this through, did you, Round Face?”

“Actually, we did!” She grinned, looking back as Hanta joined them, a couple of floating classmates wrapped up in his tape behind him. “Is Todoroki on his way?”

“I’m here,” Shouto answered, joining them from the other direction. “Shall we?”

Izuku laughed brightly when Hanta dragged them all outside, a collection of classmates floating on the cold breeze, and Katsuki gave them all an unimpressed look when a stream of tape wrapped him up to join the bunch. Regardless, he didn’t bother to protest, letting Hanta drag his collection of human balloons outside and climb onto Shouto’s back, holding on tight with his legs while his hands were full of tape strands.

In their ridiculous piggyback-and-tape chain, they began to move toward the dorms. Shouto melted the surface of the snow piles and immediately froze it again into solid ice, giving him freedom to skate along the path in his usual effortless way. To any passers-by Katsuki knew they had to look completely ridiculous, but he supposed it was worth it to get home quicker and dryer.

When Ochako deposited them at the entrance to the dorm, Shouto melting out their path indoors, Katsuki conceded a little nod that she thankfully seemed to accept without any words to go with it.

“Shouji is going to handle the next load,” Shouto informed them, when Hanta opened his mouth. “Uraraka will make them all float, and he has enough hands to hold on with.”

“Couldn’t you just melt all the damn snow?” Katsuki huffed, looking around at his nightmares incarnate. “You have a fire quirk, don’t you?”

“Maybe if you want the entire campus to flood.” Shouto hummed thoughtfully. “Though I suppose the water damage might get us out of class.”

“Alright, point taken, asshole.”

He took Ochako by the hand and skated off again, back toward the classrooms, and Katsuki shoved through the group to get inside, to the relief of-

A building that hadn’t had any heating running.

Fuck.

Grumbling under his breath, he headed straight for the stupidly cold elevator, shivering as he hurried up to his floor and the safety of his bedroom. He flicked the heater on at full blast the moment he got inside, standing underneath it to take in the warmth, only stripping off his uniform when there was a strong enough heat bearing down on him.

Screw classmates, screw homework, he was just going to crawl into bed and curl up with a hot water bottle for the rest of the damn night. Maybe he’d emerge for food, but only if-

Shit.

He was meant to be taking Mina out, in the snow. God, he was going to die. Thick layers of sweaters and coats probably wasn’t the most attractive look for the hottest guy in the class on his first date with someone.

Screw it, he could at least curl up in bed until then.

He crawled under the covers, grumbling at the cold sheets, curling up into a ball to conserve his body heat. At least he could find a restaurant from the bed, could scroll through a few local places on his phone and see who had openings. Then he could contemplate his wardrobe options, still from the safety of his bed. In fact, if he played his cards right, he wouldn’t have to leave the bed until around ten minutes to seven, enough time to clean up and throw his clothes on, then get downstairs by the time Mina showed up – inevitably ten minutes late, if his observations of the other girls in the class going on dates were anything to judge by.

He set an alarm on his phone just in case, then began his slow scroll through their options. His favourite place was booked up, understandably, but his second favourite had an opening at seven-thirty. Twenty minutes was long enough to walk there on a good day, but in snow? And what if she was more than ten minutes late?

Screw it, they’d cope if he was five minutes late for his booking, right? It was only his second favourite place, so it wasn’t like he’d be getting shitty looks at his favourite place.

He booked it in and set the phone down, rolling onto his back to spread out a little as the sheets and the room alike began to warm up. His parents had bought him a thick goose-down duvet the day he’d moved into the dorms, and he was never more grateful for it than on days he needed to warm up in a hurry. It was so damn squishy and comfy, and kept all the heat in just right.

Maybe he’d text his Dad later and mention it.

If he wore his thermals, he could probably get away with a nice shirt and his warm coat. His latest one was pretty nice looking, long and thick with two rows of buttons down the front instead of the zippers of his usual hoodies and down jackets. His mother had come across it at work and thought it would look nice on him, and as much as she missed the mark sometimes with his style, she’d done well with that one.

The plus side of having parents working in fashion, he supposed. Sometimes they got it right.

By the time his alarm went off he had it all planned out, crawling out from the blankets to get ready. He washed his face, brushed his hair, sprayed on some extra deodorant just in case, and grabbed his thermals. Then it was a decent pair of trousers, a button-up shirt, and a god damn tie because he was making that much effort. He didn’t oftenmake an effort, but when he did, he didn’t hesitate to go all out. His classmates would make fun of him, but he knew he looked hot, and that was all that really mattered.

He headed back downstairs at two minutes to seven, bundling up in his coat and scarf for the walk, and leaned against the wall to wait. He knew it would be at least ten minutes before she arrived, but he refused to be late himself – he knew even ten seconds after seven his anxiety would be flaring wildly, forcing him out the door.

“Hi! Sorry I’m late!”

His head darted up, eyes widening, and after a moment he shook his head faintly.

“You’re good,” he explained, glancing at his phone screen. “Right on time, actually.”

“Oh good! I didn’t want to keep you waiting too long!”

“I just got here.”

“Perfect!” she grinned, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s not too cold for you?”

“Worth it,” he shrugged, waving toward the door. “Shall we?”

“Yeah!”

She set down a pair of fluffy boots in the entryway, bending over to put them on, and Katsuki waited patiently for her to finish before he laced himself into his hiking boots. With any luck, they’d help him navigate the snow and ice without slipping and making an ass of himself in the middle of a date.

A date.

It seemed so weird to think the words, still. Katsuki hadn’t been on a date in a long time, and the last one had been... Kind of a disaster. Still, it had been years since then, and surely with a little more maturity he’d be able to navigate it all more gracefully.

Mina, on the other hand, seemed pretty experienced with the matter. There wasn’t an ounce of worry in her as she walked beside him, smiling every time she caught him looking over.

“I found us a table at a restaurant I like,” he spoke up, when the silence grew a little longer than felt comfortable. “They have a pretty big menu, so hopefully there’ll be something you eat too.”

“I’m not picky!” Mina assured him. “If it meets your standards, it must be pretty good!”

“Sorry, I know it’s a pain.”

“What? No, you don’t need to apologise! I get it, you’re a perfectionist, it makes sense that you have high standards! You’re always so well put together, laser focused on your goals, willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want, and you speak your mind so unabashedly. It’s admirable, honestly. I envy that confidence.”

“It’s all fake,” Katsuki snorted, cheeks a little warmer than they should have been. “The confidence, anyway. Can’t show any weakness if you want to be the top hero.”

“You do a good job of it.”

“Thanks.”

As they approached the restaurant, Katsuki couldn’t help but notice that the building looked dark. Considering the sun had already set, and the snowy footpaths were cast with the glow of streetlamps, he’d expected to see more lights.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” he groaned, when they found a handwritten note taped to the front door. “I can’t believe this shit. They couldn’t have told me this online when I was booking the table?! Of course it’s the place I was meant to be taking you, on the day of our first date. My luck is so shit.”

“It’s okay,” Mina giggled, the light finally reaching her eyes. “Don’t blame yourself! We could always come back another time.”

“I promised you dinner, I’m getting you a damn dinner.”

As he looked around, he began to notice a pattern in the surrounding buildings. Dark rooms, closed doors, notes taped to the windows. Apparently the whole damn area was out of power – honestly, they were probably just lucky it hadn’t reached the school too. The only other restaurants were the other direction, close to an hour away.

“I guess we could find a supermarket, we could go back and I can cook. It’ll just take a while, ugh. I’m sorry.”

“I’ve never heard you apologise so much before.”

“You’ve never seen me screw up a date before, either.”

“You didn’t screw anything up! Why don’t we just go to the konbini and get some cup noodles or onigiri or something? At least the snow is pretty, we could take a cute selfie to show off our super fun first date.”

“A picnic in the snow, then. At least that’s a little romantic.”

“You know dates don’t have to be romantic, right? They can just be fun, too! Life would get boring if we couldn’t have fun sometimes.”

“I guess. I’ll make the next one perfect though. If you’ll let me have another try, I mean.”

“Gladly!”

They turned to head back toward the school, managing to find a konbini with the lights on once they got a bit closer, and Katsuki breathed a sigh of relief when they stepped into the warmth of the heated building. He grabbed a basket, heading for the aisle of ready-to-eat foods, and as they pored the shelves he couldn’t help but crack a smile. She really was good company – easy to talk to, and he didn’t feel like he had to censor himself, she just laughed at his crude comments anyway.

“Grab some stuff you like, I’m paying,” he instructed, picking up a little bag of potato salad. “I used to live on this stuff in middle school. Ate it straight from the bag between classes ending and clubs starting, so I didn’t end up vomiting of hunger by the time I went home.”

“I didn’t know you did club activities!”

“Didn’t everyone?”

“Well, yeah, but you’re... Independent. I just figured you’d go home and study, or to the gym or something.”

“Looks good on high school applications,” Katsuki pointed out, grabbing a handful of the onigiri he’d seen Mina pick out at lunch a few times, and holding out the basket when she chose a little boxed salad. “We should grab some oden, for the warmth.”

“Oooh that sounds good. And do you eat chicken?”

“The fried stuff?” Katsuki asked, glancing at the warmers on the counter. “I do if you don’t tell anyone about it.”

“Deal.”

He headed for the counter, setting his basket on top and pointing out some fried chicken, along a few skewers that looked good.

“Oh, can you grab us some drinks?” he asked, pointing at the fridges. “That fizzy orange stuff for me, thanks.”

He served up a big cup of oden while he waited, letting the cashier scan and bag the rest of their spoils while they finished off, and soon they had a nice collection of food and drinks in Katsuki’s hands, ready to put their date back on track.

The feeling was short-lived.

Whenthey reached the konbini doors, they saw another flurry of snow falling into the streets beyond. They could hardly see a thing through the sudden onset of white, couldn’t even make out the streetlamps across the road, and Katsuki groaned as they watched.

“I guess we’re having our picnic indoors,” Mina giggled, pointing at the empty bar along the store windows, every stool vacant in the stormy evening. “At least we’ll be warm!”

“I guess so,” Katsuki conceded, taking their bags over and shedding his coat. “Let’s eat.”

Mina stared at him, wide-eyed, and it took a minute for Katsuki to catch on, blushing as he quickly looked away. She broke into a smile at his embarrassment, a giggle coming out of her that was more genuine than he’d heard in weeks, and he couldn’t help but soften a little when he glanced back at her pure joy.

“Take a photo with me,” she insisted, pulling her phone from her little pink handbag. “You look so handsome, I need to memorialise it!”

“Shut up,” he huffed, stepping closer all the same. “You look nice too. Really pretty.”

“Aww, thank you! You’re such a sweetie when you’re not yelling.”

“Shut up,” he repeated, cracking a smile. “Alright, get it over with so we can eat.”

He put his arm around her waist tentatively, leaning in closer, relieved to see her shoot him another grin as she held up the phone. His own reflection looked surprisingly happy too, devoid of the scowl he wore almost permanently, and with the snowy window behind them it was actually kind of a nice snapshot.

“Alright, let’s eat!”

Katsuki emptied the bags onto the table, divvying the food up and making sure Mina got the biggest or nicest-looking portions of everything. She watched him silently, smiling, and Katsuki raised an eyebrow as he slid her her drink.

“It was really nice of you to do this,” she said softly. “To cheer me up, I mean.”

“What’re you talking about?” Katsuki scoffed. “You think this was all selfless and shit?”

“Wasn’t it?”

“Obviously not, I don’t do shit I don’t want to do. Just didn’t think you’d want to. Figured if you were feeling down about yourself, it was a good chance to shoot my shot.”

“I’m not sure if I should punch you or thank you.”

Katsuki shrugged, taking a sip of his drink to give himself time to think, and she smiled again as she unwrapped a rice ball.

“I like hanging out with you,” he admitted. “You’re easy to talk to, you don’t piss me off, we like all the same stuff. Plus you’re cute, obviously, but I know I’m not supposed to focus on that.”

“You must really like pink.”

Katsuki failed to hold back his laugh, snorting when he tried, but thankfully Mina laughed along with him, a lot brighter than he’d heard in... weeks, come to think of it.

“You wear it well,” he shrugged, when he’d managed to get himself under control again. “Being different is cool, shit gets boring when it’s all the same.”

“Is that why you live as a hedgehog?”

“My hair does whatever the hell it wants. Well, except when Best Jeanist empties three cans of hairspray on me, but my lungs hate that almost as much as my eyes do.”

“I like this better anyway.” Mina ruffled his hair fondly, messing up his spikes. “Different is cool, right?”

“Right,” he smirked back. “But uh... Was Round Face right? Was I making it worse?”

“What? How?”

“She said my nicknames made you feel bad.”

“Oh, no! We all know your nicknames are affectionate, really. Even though you’d deny it.”

“Haah? No they’re fuckin’ not.”

“Told you you’d deny it.”

“Ugh,” he huffed, pouting as he looked away. “Whatever. At least I wasn’t fucking with your head.”

“Not at all! Although, if we’re gonna have more dates, it might be nice to hear you use my name sometimes.”

“What, you want me to call you Ashido when we’re on a date?”

The word felt weird in his mouth, but he refused to let it show.

“My name, not my surname.”

“Oh.”

He paused, and she grinned as she leaned over to nudge him lightly.

“It’s Mina.”

“I know what it is, asshole.”

“Awww, are you getting all shy on me, Blasty?”

“See, you don’t use my name, either.”

“Do you want me to?”

Katsuki paused again, and Mina’s eyebrows shot sky-high.

“You do,” she said, disbelieving. “Wow, okay. I will if you do, then!”

“Are we gonna be a couple?” he grumbled, refusing to meet her eyes. “If we are, then I do. If it’s just... I dunno, a couple of dates for the fun of it, then nah.”

“Do you want to?”

“Do you?”

Mina grinned, finally taking pity on him as she ruffled his hair again.

“Yeah,” she said firmly. “If you want to, I’d like that.”

“Really?”

“Really. Be my boyfriend, Katsuki.”

His face burned bright red, and Mina cooed at him, grabbing his arm before he could run away to hide. He groaned quietly, hiding his face in his hands, and Mina just laughed as she patted him on the back lightly.

“Not used to that, huh?” she teased. “You’re really cute when you get embarrassed, I’m not used to this side of you!”

“I swear to God if you-”

“I won’t tell anyone,” she cut him off. “You know I won’t.”

She picked up a skewer of chicken, poking it at him lightly, and with a little grumble he accepted. The distraction helped, his mouth occupied by chewing rather than spewing embarrassing things, and Mina watched the falling snow as she waited for him to gather himself again. If he was a much sappier person, he’d have noted how pretty of a picture it made, with her soft smile as she watched the snowflakes swirl by the window. Maybe he’d even have stared a little, carefully committing the image to memory. But Katsuki, of course, was not a sap, and he definitely did not do any of those things.

“I’ll get used to all of this,” he said quietly, when the food began to run low. “It’s uh, been a while. Since I went on a date, I mean. And the last person... Well, that date makes this one look flawless.”

“What are you talking about?” Mina grinned. “This one is flawless.”

Katsuki smiled faintly, nodding as he reached over to pinch her cheek lightly.

“Yeah, I guess it is. Thanks for coming, Mina.”

“My pleasure.”

─────

Mina was wearing a surprisingly bright smile when the doors opened, giggling happily despite being covered in snow, and Ochako looked up in surprise when Katsuki followed her in. He was dressed in a button-up shirt and a tie, drenched from head to toe, while Mina was wrapped in a dark coat that looked like it could have held two of her. It took a minute of staring for her to piece it all together, to realise Katsuki, of all people, had sacrificed his warmth for her, but when she looked over at Izukuto share in her shock, he seemed entirely unphased.

“You had a good time, then?” he prompted, smiling at the pair as they shoved each other lightly.

“It was great,” Mina grinned, looking up at Katsuki fondly. “Thanks for taking me.”

“I don’t need thanks for that shit.”

Ochako just continued to stare, clearly out of the loop, as they shed their boots and Mina handed Katsuki back his coat.

“The power was out,” Katsuki told them, shaking snow from his hair. “We ended up eating onigiri and oden at a konbini table.”

“And walking home in the snow,” Mina added needlessly. “It looks like it’s never gonna end.”

“Go get changed,” Katsuki instructed, nudging her toward the hallway. “You can gossip later.”

“You should too! You’ll get sick!”

“I will, don’t worry. Can’t wait to get this shit off.”

He pulled his tie off as he spoke, and Mina just grinned again, nodding as she took a step toward the elevators.

“I appreciate the effort! You look great!”

“Whatever,” he huffed, face tinged with pink. “Go, don’t make me drag you.”

“I’m going!”

Izuku’s smile twisted a little when Mina left, into the little smirk he only ever seemed to aim at Katsuki. He was one of the few people who dared to poke the bear, to tease him mercilessly, and Ochako was pretty sure Katsuki was the only person she ever saw Izuku tease. She would never understand their weird friendship.

“So, Kacchan,” he began, amused when Katsuki tensed up in anticipation. “You finally asked her out?”

“Shut up.”

“Took advantage of poor, sweet Ashido feeling a little down and used it to finally convince her to go on a date with you?”

“First of all, fucker, I didn’t convince her of shit. And I did not take advantage of her!”

“Uh-huh,” Izuku grinned, turning his attention back to his book. “Kacchan is Kacchan, after all. Always has to use any tactical advantage he can find.”

“You wanna go, bastard?!”

Izuku just smiled, ignoring the invitation, and after a moment of fuming, Katsuki stomped his way toward the elevators.

“Hey Kacchan?” Izuku called after him.

“What, asshole?”

“I’m glad you had a good time.”

Katsuki was silent for a moment, and Izuku grinned at Ochako briefly before he spoke again.

“Even if you are shameless.”

“Alright fucker, let’s go!”