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▃▃▃  O4 // 3O

▃▃▃  mont's writing blog

▃▃▃  agency prompt

            ╱╳╲   SYNOPSIS

      a   lantern   rite    festival

      momo plans to celebrate

      with     someone   .   .   .

                     unexpected   ?   ?

                               ▃▃▃  fluff

                               ▃▃▃  momo yaoyorozu

                               ▃▃▃  katsuki bakugo

                               ▃▃▃  3633 words

                               ▃▃▃ platonic, unless...?

─────────── ───────────

“You sure you’re not coming, Bakugo?” asked the redhead who Bakugo considered as his closest friend.

“I already told you, I’m not going.” And with a last click of his tongue, Bakugo shook away from his friend.

It was the day Class 1-A awaited: The Gion Matsuri Festival! One of the biggest festivals celebrated in Japan. It took a whole while for the UA staff to approve the students to attend the festival. It was only once in a blue moon the kids got to have fun so there was no reason to say No to the kids. Bakugo however, was the only one who did not bat an interest in going. He liked the idea of staying inside the dorm better than walking around the streets witnessing fireworks with the crowd.

He sunk his weight onto the couch and let out a rough sigh. Just as he was about to relax, he heard shuffling noises nearby. The noise got louder and closer and Bakugo couldn’t help but feel irritated. His classmates had left around 20 minutes ago so who was in the dorm with him?

“The idiots had already left 20 minutes ago! What are you still doing he-“

The sight to behold made him pause to his words for he did not expect to see her still in the dorm.

“B-Bakugo!” Her chest heaved; she was slightly out of breath from running with a yukata and sandals on.

It was Yaoyorozu.

“They already left? But I’ve just finished up.” She said with a heavy sad sigh, looking down. She knew it wasn’t too late to catch up because the fireworks will start in about an hour. The festival was just a few blocks away and it was only going to take her around 10 minutes, but the problem was the overwhelming crowd in the streets.

“We should catch up! We still have time.” Yaoyorozu said, raising her head back up determined, but paused seeing Bakugo wasn’t in his yukata. “Oh, you’re not yet dressed up?”

“Tch. It’s too crowded.” A perfectly valid excuse, however, Yaoyorozu sensed a hint of hesitation. What was he hesitating? In telling her? Maybe Bakugo just didn’t like festivals very much and she knew better than to try to convince him to go. It would only fuel the growing irritation within the explosive blonde.

“Alright then.” She said, “I should get going now. I’m sure I can through the crowd and hopefully find our classmates.”

The raven-haired woman had then walked over to the door, clutching to her string purse with her phone, wallet and pepper spray in case some creep made a move on her.

“Is it really that crowded?” Bakugo asked, now sitting up to meet Yaoyorozu’s gaze which made her stop in her tracks. She pursed her lips before giving him an answer.

“Apparently, yes. I’m afraid this year is a little bit too crowded than last year because they announced that the fireworks will be accompanied by floating lanterns.” This was also one of the reasons why the students begged to attend the festival. The floating lanterns with a huge addition to the festival and everyone did not want to miss it. Mina predicted that the festival would have such a Disney vibe to it along with the fireworks.

Bakugo clicked his tongue once again before getting up from the couch and started to head upstairs.

“Wait for me.” It was a brief request—more like a command.

“What…?” Yaoyorozu asked in awe.

“I said wait for me. I’ll come with you.”

Bakugo did not know what came over him. Sure, he disliked the crowd so much, but it was more annoying to be worried about his classmate’s safety. He knew Yaoyorozu would be alright going by herself, but it was better to be sure of her safety. After all, he liked to think that he owed her after that villain incident where he got kidnapped.

Yaoyorozu was curious as to what made him decide to get on his feet and go with her to the festival. Perhaps he secretly wanted to go but was just embarrassed? Whatever his reasons were, she couldn’t help but feel even more curious. What are festivals to him? He was such a mystery underneath.

She then sat on the couch to wait for him. It took about 7 minutes for him to come back down. Bakugo was in his pants, a black sweater, and a jacket to protect himself from the cold. Most of the men did not really wear the yukata so Yaoyorozu did not dare to question him. She stood up from the couch and walked with him towards the door where they exited the dorm building. The cold breeze chilled Yaoyorozu a bit and she felt more excited to go see the fireworks. After all, it was a perfect night weather.

“Bakugo?” Yaoyorozu called.

“What?”

“Did you secretly want to go to the festival?”

“I said I hated the crowd, Ponytail.” Bakugo snarled as he kept his hands shoved in his pockets.

His classmate did not really mind the snarky answer since it was Bakugo’s nature. Instead, she continued to ask more questions. “So why are you walking with me to the festival now? I did say this year is more crowded than the last.”

Bakugo was silent. Yaoyorozu decided not to poke him with more questions so she faced back ahead to where they were heading. The fact that Bakugo did not want to answer any of her questions and even avoided conversation, Yaoyorozu felt the walk to be a little awkward, like there’s a barrier separating them from being potentially good friends.

The closer the pair got to the city, the more bustling it got. Even the city streets were very busy; there was even heavy traffic, erasing their plan on getting a cab to reach the entrance of the festival. The sidewalk had many people walking—even jogging towards the same direction to the festival.

Yaoyorozu got her purse and pulled out her phone to check the time. A bright flash of light shone and the time read: 7:28 PM. Only half an hour left before they start the floating lanterns and fireworks. She then swiped her phone to Jiro; her closest friend. Holding the phone to her ear, she did not stop moving with Bakugo through the street as they move along with the crowd. The ringing did not stop and Yaoyorozu was praying Jiro would pick up, but to no avail, there was no answer from her.

Bakugo took the lead through the crowd for Yaoyorozu to follow. He was a little fast and for Yaoyorozu to multi-task (following Bakugo while calling Jiro), it was a little difficult considering the further they went forward, the more people there were practically inserting between Yaoyorozu and Bakugo.

Giving up the call, Yaoyorozu placed her phone back in her purse until a woman had bumped into her and the purse fell to the ground. With no apology, the people kept moving while Yaoyorozu was forced to look for her purse on the ground. It was one hell of a stampede-like situation because kneeling to the ground alone was already harder than it seemed.

“Oi, Ponytail!” Bakugo called out as his crimson eyes searched for her in the crowd.

“Wait, Bakugo! My purse!” Yaoyorozu called back as she hurriedly searched the ground full of feet walking before finally spotting her red purse. Immediately grabbing it, she then stood up and clutched onto to the purse very tightly, not wanting to lose it ever again.

She then turned to follow Bakugo back to the festival, but her heart sunk when she did not see him around the crowd anymore. Where is he?

“Bakugo?” She called out but no answer from him and the people kept walking, slightly pushing Yaoyorozu and bumping onto her.

“Bakugo?” She called out again. Still, no answer. Just the bustling of the city and people.

A slight panic rose within her chest. She needed to find Bakugo so it would be easier to go to the festival together. Calling him would be an option, but did he bring his phone? What if he doesn’t answer her call as Jiro did? Maybe she should try ringing them more than once.

Yaoyorozu then squeezed her way through the crowd and went to an empty alleyway, but not straying too far away from the crowd in case someone tried to nab her. Once finally freeing herself from the busy crowd, she once again pulled out her phone and tried to ring Jiro. She didn’t have Bakugo’s number since he rarely shared his number with the class. Kirishima was probably with them so it would be good if he had Bakugo’s number.

She brought the phone up to her ear. It ringed, waiting for Jiro to answer, but to no luck, Jiro did not pick up. She ringed again, and again, and again. No answer. Yaoyorozu felt tense and time was ticking fast. Checking the time, it was now 7:41 PM. Maybe Bakugo had already proceeded to their classmates without her. She shouldn’t doubt herself at this time. She had to start moving back with the crowd if she wanted to see the fireworks and floating lanterns.

“Yaoyorozu!”

It was the first time she heard him call her by her name. No insulting nicknames whatsoever.

But where was he?

Yaoyorozu then walked towards the crowd to find her classmate, hoping to find each other and never lose each other again.

“Bakugo?” She called out. “Bakugo!”

A tight hand gripped her left wrist which caught her by surprise. It was Bakugo Katsuki himself!

“Bakugo!” Yaoyorozu exclaimed in relief while Bakugo still held her onto her wrist, his grip loosening a bit.

“The hell were you? I was looking everywhere for you! You’re supposed to be hard to miss with your ponytail.” Bakugo scolded, his brows knitted together in anger and concern which surprised Yaoyorozu again. Did he actually care about his classmates secretly? Even Momo herself?

“My apologies, Bakugo. My purse fell and it was too crowded so we lost each other.”

He answered with a huff.

“We should get moving. It’s not appropriate to stop in the middle of the sidewalk. But…” Yaoyorozu hesitated for a bit before telling him her plan. “Just to be sure we don’t lose each other again, let’s… here.”

She used her quirk to produce a red handkerchief, producing it to where Bakugo was holding her. “Let’s hold on to this.”

Bakugo raised a brow before turning back, still holding onto the red handkerchief. He knew that it would be awkward for Yaoyorozu to hold him by the hand even if people did not know them. The lad continued to walk through the crowd, pulling Yaoyorozu who was also gripping onto the cloth. He knew the fireworks were going to start soon and thankfully, they are already a few meters away from the entrance of the venue where the festival was going to be held. Now coming to notice it, the venue was dark. There were only a few lights but they were all very dim making the sea look so dark. Maybe this was the purpose of the floating lanterns. Bakugo did not really appreciate the venue because it was still very crowded making it hard to ire the event even though it was about to start around 15 minutes.

Yaoyorozu ed that Bakugo hated crowds. An idea popped in her head.

It was her turn to pull the cloth to bring him somewhere away from the crowd, but still near the entrance of the festival. Bakugo was curious, but followed her with no arguments. Perhaps she knew where their classmate was.

The two squeezed through the crowd until they both found themselves in an empty corner where there was a crate or two filled with masks and props for the festival. It wasn’t the best place to see the fireworks and floating lanterns, but at least it was enough to stir Bakugo away from the large group of people. Getting clustered with strangers wasn’t Yaoyorozu’s cup of tea either.

“Sorry, Bakugo. I ed you hated crowds so I decided maybe to bring you here for a little breather.” The girl said. “Though, this isn’t the best place to watch the fireworks and lanterns…” There was a sinking feeling in her tone, and Bakugo wasn’t blind to sense it.

“Tch. These people are too eager to watch the fireworks. You idiots could just watch me use my quirk. They’re almost the same as fireworks.” The male snarled, and Yaoyorozu just smiled in response.

“Well, this festival is different. It has floating lanterns and the fireworks are going to be more colorful and bigger. It would be a shame to miss it.” She said, “Though, I guess it’s alright for us to stay here away from the large assembly. We can, after all, see some part of the fireworks and lanterns here.”

There was a roof blocking a part of their view of the sky. Yaoyorozu valued Bakugo’s comfort more than the event. After all, he did accompany her to the festival. If it weren’t for him, she would be viewing the festival alone. The number of people made it almost impossible to find her classmates that easily.

The two were silent for a bit before Bakugo had said something that piqued Yaoyorozu’s interest.

“What? Is that even allowed?” Yaoyorozu said, clutching her palm on her chest as she looks away.

“Some people are clearly doing it so why not?”

“I…” She hesitated, but she also seemed to like the idea as a smile slowly curved in the corners of her lips.

“We’re wasting time, let’s go.” Bakugo said as he then took the lead by pulling the red cloth they never let go since the last few minutes.

Yaoyorozu followed him away from the festival, making their way down the stairs and to the shore where there was a ferryman who had a few little boats good for two or three people.

“Ya kids goin’ to see the lantern, eh? Well, say nothin’ more, er. Just pay up ‘round a thousand Yen, but ye better not mess up the boat, ‘kay?” The ferryman spoke like one of those pirates they saw in movies when they were kids. He even had a figure of a stout man with a long curly beard, but there was no eyepatch and a wooden leg to complete his appearance as a real pirate. The two did not complain, and Bakugo offered to pay up. “Better ‘urry up, cause they be startin’ in a few minutes.”

And with no time wasted, the two hopped onto the boat and Bakugo started to row away from the shore.

There were a few boats with couples on them on the sea too. Surely these people were also here to witness the long-awaited festival. Though, the fact that they were also surrounded by couples stirred a little awkwardness for Yaoyorozu. What if these people might mistake her and Bakugo a couple? They were nothing like that, and it was hard to believe if they ever were and-

“Oi.” A rough voice snapped Yaoyorozu back to reality. “The hell you spacing out for?” Bakugo asked and oddly enough, there was no aggression in his voice despite his usual hostility towards everyone even someone such as herself.

“My apologies!” She answered almost immediately. “It’s just…” She started, “This was very out of plan. I never thought about spending this festival with you alone.” Her voice was gentle and pure.

Bakugo could tell she was very honest in her words. If he were to be honest, this was also unexpected and he never thought he’d be going out to see the festival especially with her. He huffed, “I was only trying to get you to the festival safely. Besides, I don’t want to owe anyone.”

“Owe anyone?” Yaoyorozu asked curiously.

“You went to save me when the League kidnapped me. Shitty-hair told me.”

She recalled the core memory. It was something she could never forget. Yaoyorozu went with Todoroki, Iida, Midoriya, and Kirishima to make sure they wouldn’t go overboard with anything and to ensure their safety even if it meant risking their own. She was also very concerned with Bakugo’s safety. It was really a good thing she came with her classmates even if it meant only helping them by making skates to succeed in their plan on rescuing Bakugo.

“It really was nothing, Bakugo. Though, I thank you for accompanying me tonight. If it weren’t for you, I would be spending the festival alone. We couldn’t even find our classmates in this mess of a festival.” A soft giggle escaped from her with a slight tint of blush. Bakugo could see it even through the dim atmosphere. He wasn’t dense, but he didn’t like to assume things too so perhaps the tint on her soft cheeks was because of the cold of the night. When he realized he was staring, he cut off the connection with a huff saying it wasn’t much.

The two settled comfortably in their own seats on the small boat, avoiding too much movement so the boat wouldn’t rock too much. Although the two were silent for the remaining time, the gentle sound of the water filled in the background and inaudible chit-chat of the waiting crowd far from them. With the time, Yaoyorozu decided to look in the boat they were in and found a lantern. Perhaps this was free along with the boat? There was even a basket of Sakura flowers beside the free floating lantern. The renting of boat business sure was booming and had creative freebies.

Yaoyorozu took out her phone from her little purse to check the time. It flashed 7:53 PM. “It’s almost time.” She said, breaking the silence as she took the lantern and prepared to light it up. Bakugo saw people starting to light up their lanterns and waiting until it was ready to float up into the sky. The two helped each other in lighting up the lantern they had. On the corner of Yaoyorozu’s eye, she saw the very first floating lantern making its way higher into the sky.

“Look, Bakugo! The very first lantern tonight.” She said as she turned her head to where the first lantern was and Bakugo followed. Though it was nothing impressive of some sort, but then the first lantern was then accompanied by the second, and the third, and until a whole group of lanterns started to float up into the sky.

The sight was ever so magical that the two had stopped to gaze into the night sky being lightered with lanterns. The sea reflected the lights and the night was bright and the sight made Yaoyorozu feel warm inside. She sighed from the beauty of it all, and Bakugo too, was impressed by the outstanding view. His gaze then slowly returned to Yaoyorozu who was still looking at the sky while they were holding their very own lantern.

“Ponytail,” Bakugo called, bringing Yaoyorozu back down to earth with him. “Our lantern is ready to float up.”

“Oh! Yes, we should release it now.” Yaoyorozu said, as she slowly lifted their lantern and Bakugo matched her grace to release the lantern. As it left them, they fixed their eyes onto it for a little longer. Bakugo’s gaze then shifted to the other floating lanterns, iring the view. For a minute, he felt quite soft and pleasant seeing the view. It was something out of a dream, and he never thought about regretting to accompany Yaoyorozu to this festival.

A sharp sizzling sound then caught the people’s attention. It was the first firework for tonight! It exploded into the sky, painting it with wonderful colors and the loud boom made the people feel excited. Yaoyorozu laughed at how the festival had amazed her. Her smile was very bright and contagious that Bakugo had smiled at the view. Thinking of it, it had been the first time Bakugo thought about how beautiful Yaoyorozu was especially when she was this happy. He knew Mineta liked her a lot and the boys in their class usually mentioned her when they talked about girls, but it was just now that he had come to appreciate the beauty of her. She was kind, ive, smart, and caring. Not to mention she was also this beautiful.

The two continued to watch the fireworks and lanterns taking place. As it ended, Bakugo had rowed them back to the shore to spend the rest of the festival walking around booths. Was it a date? It looked like it, but both refused to call it so since they were nothing but just classmates and maybe just friends. After all they’ve been through, it was already safe to call Bakugo as her friend. There is, after all, a thing called ‘platonic love’. Yaoyorozu loved all her friends even Bakugo.

“Wear this, Bakugo.” Yaoyorozu said as she held up a flower crown.

“What? I’m not wearing that! It doesn’t look good on me!” He complained, but she insisted.

“Of course, it does. We’re friends after all, so you trust me, right?”

It was hard to refuse with her sparkling eyes, begging to have him put on the flower crown. If there was no harm in doing so, then there shouldn’t be something to fear. Though, he would look embarrassing.

“Fine… But next time, you should also wear something that would embarrass you too!”

“Bakugo!”

“Not like that, stupid! I meant something… like ragged clothes or whatever the hell that is funny!”

Yaoyorozu teased him with a giggle. “Alright, it’s a promise.”

“Tch. Didn’t know you could be cheeky.”

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author's notes

i've been very rusty with writing lately and decided to write about one of my favorite ships in the bnha fandom. no ship hate because i will just laugh at you :>

#EtherEco

#writingmatters