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Chapter 8 : Lunch time with the girls.​

Once Midnight was satisfied that Kokya and I weren't going to spill the beans and 'ruin the surprise' before the 'Hero vs Villain' exercise All Might had apparently stayed true too -even if it had been an unparalleled shitshow in canon-, the girls and I finally made our way toward UA's cafeteria.

Where I promptly stopped before entering into the queue, giving them an apologetic smile.

"Ara, I've brought my own lunch with me, ne?" I informed them helpfully while tapping a nail on my handbag for emphasis, "So I'm going to look for a table for all of us, ne?"

After receiving a chorus of agreement and thanks, I cowardly left the girls to fend for themselves in that particular kind of hell that is waiting in an orderly fashion, and went looking for a big enough free spot for the seven of us.

And quickly came up short, since it was currently the rush hour, which, ironic, considering the name of the local chef, and I could only pout in frustration while panning my eyes around.

I did find a table big enough for six, but not seven.

Shrugging, I walked in that direction, and swiftly seated myself.

Moments later, I had my cute bento box and a pair of sticks in front of me.

See, there's a reason why I took [Faerie Feast] as a lure after the bountiful harvest I've made with the Chie Hassaikai incident : because I was both sick and tired at being pants at cooking and way too lazy to sink hours to learn how to not-burn basically everything that isn't either pasta or omelet.

Added to that the fact that I was pretty sure I was going to have to take care of a young girl by myself, since I severely doubted what passes as the social services in Future!Japan were going to endear themselves to Eri -I was right, and we don't talk about that particular mess-, I swallowed my pride and brought the god damn lure.

Hands down the second best thing I've ever bought from the catalog after my choice of [Possess], and, since I don't remember doing the latter, it automatically takes first place by default.

Yummy and easy meals that I can do without having to give too much of an input bar the level of supernatural bullshit I want packed inside, where the fuck were you in my previous life?

I am an absolute fan, Eri never makes any kind of difficulties when I put vegetables in her plate, and I am apparently 'a good host' according to Metal-obaasan.

Even if it can help me get in the pants of a cutie someday, it'll barely count as a nice bonus compared to the amount of time and headaches those ten points saved me in my attempt at aping the 'strong willed single-mother' lifestyle.

A few minutes later, the girls found me penspinning one of my sticks while waiting for them, idly listening to music within the privacy of my hardware.

"Ano, Ban-san, you didn't find a bigger table?" the girl with the power of hidden cute wrenches me out of my humming.

"Ara, no, I'm sorry, that's the biggest table I found," I answer apologetically, "Unless some others got free while I wasn't looking, ne?"

Momo, by virtue of being the tallest, makes a show of looking around, before shaking her head.

"It appears that there isn't a free table big enough for all of us at the time." she calmly answers.

Mina tilts her head to the side in thought.

"En, maybe we could go eat outside?" she suddenly suggests.

"It's alright," Ochako suddenly blurts out, "I'm just going to sit with the boys."

Faster than a thunderclap, six heads turn in her direction.

"Ara, please, elaborate, ne?" I sweetly ask, lacing my finger in a Gendo pose.

"You saw Midoriya-kun and wanted to go speak with him, kero." Tsuyu mercilessly cuts the chestnut haired girl's explanation before she can even begin formulating it, bringing her faint hope of making a subtle exit crashing down in flames.

"Awww."/"That's so cute!"/"Ano, good luck?" Myself, Mina and Toru say atop each other, prompting us to trade a look before giggling.

It's more cooing than speaking in my case, but still, the result is the same and Ochako ends up trying her hardest not to spontaneously transform into a tea-kettle and failing badly.

"Ara~ Ara~, you shouldn't let us hold you back, ne?" I 'commiseratingly' say to her, before wiggling my eyebrows over my heart-shaped sunglasses, "Go, have fun, ne?"

The poor girl makes a strangled noise before turning on her heels and making a tactical retreat under an avalanche of titters from the rest of the 1-A girls, bar Momo who seems to be a bit conflicted.

"Do you not think we went a little bit too far here?" she ends up asking once everyone is seated with their plate in front of them.

"Ara, not really, ne?" I answer first while wiggling a hand in a so-so gesture, "It may seems a bit harsh as far as teasing go, but the poor girl has a crush on the green bean the size of mount Fuji, so at least we're pestering her to act upon it instead of placidly waiting for him to make the first move, ne?"

The other girls trade a look, even Toru, and nod.

"Sounds about right."/"En, that's so the case."/"Accurate, kero."/"Ban-san is probably correct." Kyoka, Mina, Tsuyu and Toru are quick to agree to my statement.

Guess they don't need [Communication Talent] screaming it inside their ears to see it, then. I wonder why they never acted upon it in canon?

"Would it not be proper to wait for the male to propose?" Momo asks confusedly, which, adorable.

"Oh, you're so precious, ne?" I coo at her, which only reinforces her confusion even harder.

"En, it so doesn't work like that anymore, Mo-chan." Mina agree, and I feel rather proud of myself that she chose to use the same nickname as I do because this way the prim and proper heiress won't have any way to deny its use, "Like, maybe for the very rich people, but those are a bit weird, so…"

She trails off while beaming a smile, apparently not paying attention toward Momo's suddenly very complicated expression.

"Na-Na-chan," I start while rubbing one of my temples, "Mo-chan's name is Yaoyorozu."

"En?" she blinks a bit dumbly, apparently not getting it, while the other girls perk up in realization.

"The Yaoyorozu Consortium?" I hazard, "One of the richest family owned businesses of Japan, doesn't ring a bell, ne?"

I watch understanding slowly dawn on her, before her expression turns sheepish and she immediately whirls toward Momo, clasping one of her hands atop the table.

"E-En, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" the pink-haired girl immediately starts to apologize, and I think she's two seconds from doing a dogeza atop the table if nobody stops her, "I promise it had, like, nothing against you!"

Momo, boggling a little for a bit, manages to gather her countenance back in time before the drama can continue even further.

"It's alright, I understand." the heiress commiserates kindly, "I do agree that people raised like me tend to be removed from society's sensitivities."

I snort loudly, prompting everyone to look at me in askance, Momo seemingly a bit hurt by my reaction.

"Ara, no, that's bullshit, ne?" I start, and her expression fall even further, some of the other girls visibly gearing up to jump at her defense, but I carry on before they can say anything, "The way I see it, you are here because you haven't been raised like them, you may have had a different education, resulting in you being maybe a little bit sheltered, but you still chose to contribute to society in a different way than managing portfolios and catering to shareholders, ne?"

I watch surprise, then understanding starts to dawn on everyone around the table.

"You've ended up second behind me at the Quirk Apprehension Test this morning, that speaks of, like, so much preparation and determination that you should be proud of yourself. Yes, you've entered via recommendation and maybe your parents -or someone at Yaoyorozu- pulled some strings : it doesn't matter." I carry on, pointing -quite rudely, but it fits the image- at her, "They're not the ones being here, and they definitely aren't the one who trained her butt off to get those results, ne?"

Silence falls on our table, and I take the time to open my bento box.

"...Thank you, Ban-san." Momo ends up saying, going so far as giving me a little bow, her hand still clasped by Mina, and her voice thick with gratitude.

"Ara, don't mention it, ne?" I easily answer while giving her a beaming smile, "Besides, you were pretty awesome there, you even managed to stick it to the latest Todoroki offspring, I'm genuinely impressed, ne?"

"En, you tots were!" Mina is quick to add even as she sits herself back in her chair, "Your quirk is, like, so awesome and versatile!"

The girls are quick to heap praise upon Momo for her earlier showing, prompting a light darkening of her cheeks and a little happy smile to blossom on her lips.

When the congratulations lull, she gives me a second nod of sincere acknowledgement.

"Ano, what did you mean exactly by 'the latest Todoroki offspring', Ban-san?" Toru restarts the conversation while everyone starts to munch after the proper round of 'itadakimasu'.

"Endeavor's got a big family, ne?" I answer with a shrug, taking the time to swallow my bite-sized piece of omelet before explaining further, "I think Todoroki-kun has something like three or four siblings, if I'm remembering correctly? I'm not really following hero gossip, ne?"

Once more, silence falls in our midst after my declaration.

"Wait, Todoroki, as in Todoroki Enji, the 2nd ranked pro-hero, kero?" Tsuyu slowly utters in realization.

"Ara, yes, ne?" I answer, my 'clueless airhead look' number 4 on my face, "That's the one, ne?"

"En, did Todoroki-kun not inherit his father's quirk, then?" Mina asks while tilting her head.

"Ara, Na-Na-chan, how do you think he melted his ice on the track so fast after he was done if he didn't, ne?" I ask her while arching an eyebrow in amusement.

She makes a little 'Oh' of realization before taking another forkful of her meal.

"He was before me during the recommendation exam." Momo helpfully provides while carefully cutting a piece of meat, "I can confirm that he is indeed Endeavor's son since he was accompanied by one of his known sidekicks."

I wave my hand in Momo's direction in a 'there you have it' gesture.

"Do ya think that's all he can do with his flames?" Kyoka suddenly asks, "Seems a bit underwhelming. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's useful for sure, but, just melting ice?"

As everyone around the table seems to ponder the question, I have to bite my tongue extra-hard not to laugh.

Oh, girls, if you had any idea.

But, ultimately, Shoto's whole mess isn't my own, and I wouldn't want to touch it with a ten-foot pole.

I'm pretty sure he'd take any meddling on my part badly in any case.

"Ano, Ban-san?" Toru suddenly asks, prompting to perk up, "Did you buy your meal?"

I blink, before parsing through my Big-Data analysis to get why she'd say that.

Ah, understandable : I don't really act the part of the girl skilled with house chores, especially with the load of crap I fed to Ida this morning that she may have heard from afar.

"Ara, no?" I answer with a smile, "I prepared it myself this morning, ne?"

"Really?" Momo blurts out, which, a bit rude, don't you think?

"Yup," I answer while popping the P, "I cook for me and Eri-chan each morning, it saves me a ton of time each day."

I giggle, showing a 'disgruntled' face as the others boggles a bit.

"It's my fault, really, she fell in love with my cooking so much that she refused to eat what her caretaker made her at first, so I have to fix her a bento everyday now, ne?" I mock-grumble, before smiling softly.

"En, my mom never did that for me." Mina grumbles under her breath.

"Ara~ Ara~, that's what happens when you are a naughty child, Na-Na-chan~." I sing-song to her, and the pink-skinned girl flushes.

She goes to answer back something, opening her mouth.

Lightning quick, I drop a piece of octopus-carved sausage in her mouth from across the table, and she reflexively bites in surprise.

The moan of bliss and contentment that escapes her mouth is positively vulgar, and a little bit loud.

I giggle as she flushes even harder, the other girls looking at her with wide eyes.

"Well, I guess it answers the question of whether it is really that good or not, kero." Tsuyu sarcastically drawls.

"En, it is~." Mina utters, still a little bit blissed out, "Can I have seconds?"

"Kishu!"