Kaito and I may have overprepared.
And by "may have," I mean we showed up to the common room looking like we were evacuating for winter.
Denki stared at the pile in my arms.
"…Why do you have six bags of chips."
"In case of emotional distress," I said seriously.
Mina pointed at Kaito. "Why do you have three two-liters."
"In case of different soda preferences," he replied just as serious.
Bakugou walked in behind us, saw the pile of blankets and pillows, and just sighed.
"You're building a bunker, not a sleepover."
"Correct," I said. "It's called Fort Protocol."
Midoriya blinked. "You named it already?"
"Yes."
Within ten minutes, the Nova-1 common room looked insane.
Blankets draped over couches.
Chairs flipped and repositioned.
Pillows stacked into walls.
Denki was crawling underneath holding a flashlight like he was in a documentary.
"Structural integrity is strong," he announced.
Kirishima held up a couch cushion. "This one's the shield."
Mina was in charge of arranging fairy lights inside the fort because "ambience matters."
Bakugou claimed the corner seat with the best view of the door.
"Strategic placement," he muttered.
I dropped the last bag of snacks in the center.
"Okay," I said, clapping once. "Before we start."
Everyone looked at me.
I held up one finger.
"No one lets her get near their blood."
Denki blinked. "Well yeah?"
"I'm serious," I said. "Her quirk activates if she drinks someone's blood. Even a small amount."
Mina looked mildly horrified. "That is so gross."
Midoriya nodded. "Duration depends on quantity consumed."
"Exactly," I said. "So no random paper cuts. No 'oops I scraped my arm.' If you're bleeding, you say something immediately."
Bakugou raised an eyebrow. "You think she'd try that here?"
"She escalated from sticky notes to my bed," I said flatly. "I'm not underestimating anything."
Silence for a second.
Then Kirishima nodded firmly. "Okay. Blood rule established."
Denki raised his soda. "To not being vampires."
"That's not what—" I started.
"Just drink your soda," Bakugou muttered.
The lights went low.
The big TV flickered on.
Someone picked an action movie. Then someone else picked a comedy. Then Mina forced us to watch something with at least one emotional speech.
At some point, we were all yelling at the screen.
Denki almost spilled soda laughing.
Kirishima tried to reenact a fight scene and knocked over a pillow wall.
Bakugou complained the entire time but didn't leave.
I actually laughed.
Like genuinely laughed.
For the first time since 12:17 a.m.
The Pulse stayed quiet.
Not tense.
Not tight.
Just… there.
Watching with me.
Halfway through the second movie, I did something stupid.
On purpose.
There was this ridiculous stunt in the movie where the hero flipped over a couch.
Denki went, "Bet you can't do that."
So obviously I had to.
"Move," I said, backing up dramatically.
Mina gasped. "No—"
Too late.
I ran forward, planted one hand on the couch—
—and barely made it over without crashing into the snack pile.
I landed in a crouch.
There was a half-second of silence.
Then everyone started yelling.
Denki: "HE STUCK THE LANDING."
Kirishima: "That was manly."
Mina: "You almost died."
Bakugou: "…Not terrible."
I stood up, bowing dramatically.
"Thank you, thank you. I will not be taking questions."
And then—
A sound.
Soft.
Outside.
A giggle.
Not loud.
Not echoing.
Close.
Very close.
The room went dead silent.
The movie kept playing in the background.
No one moved.
The Pulse didn't explode.
It dropped.
Cold.
She was there.
Outside the common room window.
Watching.
I didn't turn immediately.
Neither did Kaito.
We both knew that giggle.
Crème-blonde hair.
Too-wide smile.
Amused.
She'd seen the flip.
She'd heard the laughter.
She knew I wasn't alone tonight.
Slowly… I turned my head toward the dark window.
I couldn't see her.
But I felt her.
Excited.
Curious.
Still watching.
The fairy lights inside our fort flickered softly.
No one spoke.
And somewhere just beyond the glass—
She giggled again.