"Will you shut up already, Toga." Kyoka pressed her fingers against her temples, feeling a headache building. "If you were sad about not being in the same class as us, that would be one thing. But talking my ear off for an entire week because you're not with some girl you met for the first time? That's too much."
Toga pouted dramatically, sprawled across Ryoto's couch like she owned the place. "But Ochako-chan was so cute! You should have seen how she blushed when I helped her down after Deku-kun's big hero moment? And her quirk is amazing—I could do so much with making things float!"
"You've literally said the exact same thing fifty times since the exam ended," Kyoka pointed out, adjusting her earphone jacks. They were twitching with annoyance, which always happened when Toga got like this. "We get it. She's cute. Her quirk is interesting. You're devastated to be separated by the cruel fate of class divisions."
Kyoka's eye twitched as she glanced at Ryoto, who was sprawled in his desk chair with a bag of chips, completely ignoring their conversation in favor of his snacks. Of course he was—he wasn't the one who'd been subjected to Toga's nonstop rambling for seven straight days.
"Are you even listening to us?" she asked.
"Mmhmm," Ryoto mumbled through a mouthful of chips. "Toga's obsessed with the gravity girl. Water is wet. Sky is blue."
"Ochako-chan has a name," Toga protested.
"Which you've said about a thousand times this week." Ryoto finally swallowed and reached for another chip. "Look, you should have already expected the class split anyway. Vlad King is the homeroom teacher for 1-B. Since he also has a blood-related quirk, they probably figured you'd want to learn from him. Get familiar with someone who understands that type of ability."
Toga's pout deepened. "But I wanted to be with you guys and Ochako-chan!"
"The classes are right next to each other," Kyoka said, trying to inject some logic into this conversation. "It's not like they're shipping you off to another school. You'll see her every day. During lunch. Training exercises. Whatever else U.A. makes us do."
"It's not the same!" Toga whined, rolling onto her back dramatically. "I wanted to sit next to her in class! Share notes! Partner up for projects!"
"You know," Ryoto said casually. "if you spent half as much energy actually talking to Uraraka as you do complaining about not being in her class, you'd probably already be friends."
"I did talk to her!" Toga protested. "At the exam! I used my quirk to help her after Deku-kun destroyed that zero pointer, and she was so sweet and grateful andsmiled at me! It was the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"
"Here we go again," Kyoka muttered.
She'd heard this story approximately forty-seven times now. How Toga had helped Uraraka till Recovery girl came. How they'd talked for maybe three minutes before the exam ended.
Three minutes. And Toga had been obsessed ever since.
"I'm just saying," Kyoka continued, trying to be the voice of reason despite knowing it was pointless, "you're acting like you'll never see her again. U.A.'s hero course is small. There's only two classes. You're going to run into each other constantly."
"But what if she forgets about me?" Toga's voice took on a genuinely worried tone. "What if she makes friends in 1-A and doesn't remember the girl who was with her for three minutes during the entrance exam?"
"Then you remind her," Ryoto said simply and giving Toga his attention. "You're not exactly forgettable, Toga. Trust me, if Uraraka met you, she remembers you."
"You think so?" Toga sat up, looking hopeful.
"I know so. You're loud, energetic, and you probably invaded her personal space at least twice during those three minutes."
"I did not invade her personal space!"
"You absolutely did," Kyoka and Ryoto said in unison.
Toga huffed, crossing her arms. "Well, maybe a little. But she didn't seem to mind! She was very sweet about it!"
"Most people are too polite to tell you to back off," Kyoka pointed out. "It's one of your more effective strategies, actually. Weaponized friendliness."
"I'm not weaponizing anything! I genuinely like her!" Toga's expression turned dreamy again. "She's just so... genuine, you know? And that quirk! Imagine if I could use Zero Gravity with my transformations. I could float while looking like someone else!"
Kyoka sighed. They were going in circles now, which was typical for conversations with Toga. The girl had the attention span of a caffeinated squirrel and the emotional range of a theatrical performance.
"Look," Ryoto said. "You're in 1-B. Uraraka's in 1-A. That's not changing. So you have two options—keep whining about it, or actually do something productive with the situation."
"Like what?" Toga asked.
"Like using it as an excuse to visit 1-A's classroom. 'Oh, I just wanted to say hi to my friend from the exam.' Boom. Instant conversation starter." Ryoto leaned back in his chair, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "Plus, it gives you a reason to scope out the competition."
Toga's eyes lit up. "That's actually brilliant."
"I know. I'm very smart."
"And very humble," Kyoka added dryly.
"That too."
Kyoka watched as Toga started planning out loud, something about bringing Uraraka her favorite snacks and offering to train together. It was simultaneously endearing and exhausting. This was what she'd signed up for, though—being friends with these two meant dealing with Ryoto's competitive streak and Toga's intense everything.
Kyoka wasn't even able to daydream with all the noise of Ryoto eating.
"Could you please eat quieter?" Kyoka said to Ryoto.
"Could you please stop yelling? I'm trying to enjoy my chips in peace." He said it completely deadpan, not even looking at her.
Kyoka grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at his head. He caught it without looking, still eating his chips with his other hand.
"Show off," she muttered.
"Just good reflexes," he replied with a slight smirk.
"Speaking of showing off," Toga said, that mischievous glint appearing in her eyes. "Kyoka, did you hear about Ryoto's grand finale at the exam? With the giant sword?"
Kyoka groaned. "Oh god, don't remind me."
"What?" Ryoto looked genuinely confused, chip halfway to his mouth. "It was effective."
"It was excessive," Kyoka corrected. "You literally created a sword the size of a bus and dropped it on a zero pointer. That's not tactics—that's compensation."
Toga burst into giggles. "Right? I heard everyone talking about it after the exam ended. It was so over the top!"
"It got the job done," Ryoto said defensively, but Kyoka could see the slight color in his cheeks.
"You could have used a regular-sized sword," Kyoka pointed out. "Or literally any other quirk combination. But no, you had to make it huge and flashy."
"The bigger the sword, the bigger the statement," Toga added, still grinning. "Very subtle, Ryo. Very understated."
"I hate both of you," Ryoto muttered, shoving another chip in his mouth.
"No you don't," they said in unison.
Kyoka had to admit, watching the replay of Ryoto's zero pointer takedown had been impressive in a completely ridiculous way. Not to mention how he managed to get the clips, definitely the work of his grandpa. Leave it to him to turn a practical exam into a spectacle. At least it had worked, even if it was absolutely unnecessary.
"At least you actually fought yours," Toga said. "I heard most people just ran away from the zero pointers. Smart, technically, since they're worth zero points. But boring."
"Don't start about your 'Deku-kun' again Toga." Kyoka said.
"Deku-kun is so brave," Toga sighed dreamily. "And reckless. But mostly brave. Ochako-chan told me all about it while I was helping her. She was so worried about him!"
Kyoka couldn't help but groan.
"His control is terrible though," Ryoto spoke, finally setting down his chip bag. "Breaking all your limbs every time you use your quirk isn't sustainable. He'll need serious training."
"Well that's the point of U.A.," Kyoka suggested. "Learning to actually use your quirk without killing yourself."
"Fair point."
"Oh!" Toga sat up suddenly. "Speaking of U.A., that Iida boy is in 1-A with you guys, right?"
"The one with the stick up his ass?" Kyoka asked.
"That's the one!" Toga grinned. "He was so uptight at the battle center gates. Kept yelling at everyone about proper conduct and respecting the exam process. Someone sneezed and I swear he almost filed a complaint about disrupting the serious atmosphere."
Ryoto snorted. "Well I guess that much is expected since he called me out for eating chips during Present Mic's speech."
"And you talked your way out of it by claiming it was for your quirk," Kyoka added with a smirk.
"It was for my quirk."
"It was because you were hungry and bored."
"Same thing when you have Archive."
Kyoka rolled her eyes but didn't argue. With Ryoto's quirk requiring energy, he technically could claim any eating as fuel. Convenient excuse.
"Still," Toga said, "Iida seems... intense. Very by-the-book. That's going to clash with some personalities in 1-A."
"You mean Ryo's personality," Kyoka said.
"Hey, I can follow rules."
"You follow rules when they don't get in the way of what you want to do. That's different."
"I'm efficient."
"You're a pain in the ass."
"Also accurate," Ryoto agreed cheerfully, grabbing his chip bag again.
Kyoka shook her head, but she was smiling despite herself. This was their dynamic—Toga being dramatic and energetic, Ryoto being blunt and competitive, and Kyoka trying to be the voice of reason while simultaneously enabling their chaos.
"What about that explosion kid?" Toga asked. "The angry blonde one? I saw him on the clips too. He was going absolutely feral on those robots."
"Bakugo," Kyoka supplied. "Yeah, he's in 1-A too. Seems like he has anger management issues and an superiority complex."
"So he's going to get along great with everyone," Toga said sarcastically.
"He looked strong though," Ryoto observed. "Powerful quirk, good instincts. Just needs to work on not being a complete asshole."
"Rich coming from you," Kyoka muttered.
"I'm competitive, not an asshole. There's a difference."
"Debatable."
"Well then you two can compete for top scores."
"I'm not competing with anyone," Ryoto said, which was an obvious lie given his entire personality. "I'm just going to do my best."
"Your best always happens to involve being better than everyone else," Kyoka pointed out.
"Is that my fault if everyone else's best isn't good enough?"
"See? This is what I have to deal with," Kyoka said to Toga. "Ego the size of Tokyo Tower."
"It's not ego if it's accurate," Ryoto countered. "I scored highest in the entrance exam. That's just facts."
"And you're going to let everyone know it, aren't you?"
"Only if they ask."
"You're going to bring it up in the first five minutes of class."
"I might mention it if it's relevant to the conversation."
Kyoka and Toga both gave him identical skeptical looks.
"Fine," Ryoto admitted, a slight grin breaking through his serious expression. "I might bring it up. But only because it sets a standard. Everyone should know what they're aiming for."
"You're impossible," Kyoka said, but there was no real heat in it. This was just who Ryoto was—confident to the point of arrogance, but with the skills to back it up. It would probably get him in trouble at U.A., especially with other competitive students like Bakugo around.
Actually, that was going to be a disaster waiting to happen. Two highly competitive people in the same class? Kyoka could already feel the headaches forming.
"Anyway," Kyoka said, steering the conversation back on track, "the point is, 1-A is going to be packed with talented people. Strong quirks, good training, high expectations. We're going to have to work hard just to keep up."
"Speak for yourself," Ryoto said. "I'm aiming higher than 'keeping up.'"
"Of course you are."
"What about you, Kyoka?" Toga asked. "Any goals for U.A.?"
"I'm more focused on not screwing up," Kyoka admitted. "U.A.'s the top hero school. The entrance exam was just the beginning. Now we have to actually prove we belong here."
"Always so serious," Toga teased, but her smile was fond. "That's why we need you, though. Someone has to keep Ryoto from challenging every strong-looking person to a fight."
"Hey, I have self-control," Ryoto protested.
Kyoka shook her head, but she was smiling despite herself. They fell into comfortable silence for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts about what tomorrow would bring. U.A. High School. The top hero academy in Japan. They'd made it through the entrance exam, but that was just the beginning. Now came the real test—proving they had what it took to become pro heroes.
"Hey," Toga jumped up suddenly. "We should celebrate! Last day before U.A. starts! Let's go get food!"
Kyoka checked the time on her phone. It was early afternoon, and they had been cooped up in Ryoto's house for the past few hours going over their acceptance letters and class assignments. Food actually sounded good.
"What are you thinking?" she asked.
"That new ramen place near the station?" Toga suggested. "I heard they have like twenty different flavors."
"I could eat," Ryoto said, already standing up and grabbing his jacket.
"You can always eat," Kyoka pointed out.
"It's a gift."
They headed out, falling into familiar patterns—Toga chattering about everything and nothing, Ryoto occasionally interjecting with blunt observations, Kyoka providing commentary and trying to keep them on track. It was comfortable. Easy.
Tomorrow, everything would change. Tomorrow, they'd be U.A. students, training to become professional heroes. The entrance exam had been just the first test. Now came the real work.
But today? Today they were just three friends grabbing ramen and enjoying the last moments before their lives got significantly more complicated.
"So," Toga said as they walked, that troublemaking grin back on her face, "how long do you think it'll take before Ryoto and Bakugo get into a fight?"
"First week," Kyoka said immediately.
"I'm betting first day," Toga countered.
"I'm not going to fight him," Ryoto said.
"Uh-huh."
"I'm not."
"Sure."
"I'm going to beat him. There's a difference."
Kyoka and Toga burst out laughing, and even Ryoto cracked a smile.
Yeah, tomorrow was going to be hectic.
But tonight, they had ramen to eat and schemes to plan and one last evening of peace before the chaos began.
Kyoka wouldn't have it any other way.