"Ahhh, nothing beats a nice, soft bed."
Back at Midnight's place, the very first thing Konata did was yeet herself face-first onto the mattress, sprawling out like she was auditioning for the role of "unmoving corpse."
Sure, that little "whatever-his-name-was-Worrywart" incident earlier had gotten awkward for a moment, but she'd successfully powered through.
Because cute... is justice.
...Well, technically, thick skin is justice—but the results are the same.
After about five minutes of lazy bliss, Konata suddenly bolted upright.
"Nope, nope, nope—gotta shower before Midnight gets back, or she's gonna pull another sneak attack on me."
Survival instincts on high alert, she zipped to her tiny suitcase, dug out her pajamas, and fled into the bathroom, locking the door behind her like a soldier sealing a bunker.
Night fell, and the glow from her bedside lamp cast warm light over the room. Sitting against the headboard with a diary balanced on her lap, Konata idly twirled a pen between her fingers, deep in thought.
It was time for some serious self-reflection.
Other people were working hard; she needed to get her act together too. Time management was crucial.
Which is why—next week—she absolutely had to catch that anime's premiere episode live. Watching a rerun? Soulless. Empty. Pointless.
...And that was the entire content of her deep reflection.
Checking her phone, she yawned.
"Better just finish my diary and crash early. Midnight's not bugging me tonight, so maybe I'll actually—wait. What was I forgetting…?"
Head tilted in confusion, she remembered—kind of—that Bakugo had looked for her this morning. But for what? Did he really look for her?
After a few seconds of intense "thinking," she gave up and kept writing.
Time zipped by, and in the blink of an eye, a week passed without much happening.
With the Sports Festival coming up, the whole of U.A. was buzzing with a festive atmosphere. The League of Villains had been totally Missing In Action since their big failure, like they'd just vanished off the face of the earth.
Honestly, this was what a normal high school life should be. All that other stuff? Not exactly textbook "student life" in Konata's opinion.
...Now if only people would stop slipping love letters into her desk.
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Saturday.
The day before the Festival. At this point, training wouldn't do much—risk of injury wasn't worth it—so most people were taking it easy.
Konata had planned a perfect day of staying home, but then she got The Call from Izuku Midoriya. Goodbye, perfect plan.
As she shoved her feet into her shoes at the door, Midnight glanced up from the TV, an odd look in her eyes.
"Little Konata, where are you going in this heat?"
"Hey, it's not like I want to go out. But I made a promise on Monday, and…" She sighed. "I never break my own promises. Even dumb, sleep-deprived promises I shouldn't have made in the first place."
"A promise you made?" Midnight's face twitched slightly.
"Mm-hmm. Why?"
"That was Midoriya on the phone, right?"
"Yep. Problem?"
Midnight leaned in a little. "So… last weekend, when you came home late—also with him?"
"Well, duh. I was teach—"
"Got it." Midnight stood, a mischievous smile on her lips.
"But are you sure that outfit's okay? Maybe I should pick you something else."
Konata glanced down at herself, completely lost.
"What's wrong with this? It's fine."
"If it's, you know, that, at least wear a skirt. And fix your hair—just tying it all back with a red ribbon looks sloppy."
"First off, the only skirt I own is my uniform. Second—skirts have zero combat utility. You ever try fighting in one? Even with safety shorts, it's weird. Pants are superior. Anyway, I'm eating out—someone's buying."
Checking the time on her phone, she popped on a baseball cap, waved at Midnight, and headed out, leaving the older woman murmuring to herself.
"…How exactly does 'date' connect to 'battle'…?"
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Meanwhile, Dagobah Beach Park.
"You're not teaming up to screw with me, are you, Deku?" Bakugo growled from his shady spot under a tree, looking like a bomb with a pulled pin.
"Uh, Konata said she's on her way. Just… five more minutes." Midoriya nervously showed him his phone.
He hadn't expected Bakugo to actually show up, so now he was on edge. Even if he wanted to make small talk to ease the tension, one look at Bakugo's expression convinced him silence was the safer bet.
…Well, he felt that he would be beaten, although he felt that Bakugo might not be able to beat him in a hand-to-hand combat.
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After the mountains of garbage were finally cleared away, the park's beautiful scenery and prime location quickly turned it into a popular hangout spot.
And since it faced the sea yet wasn't crowded most of the time, it became the go-to date location for lovebirds during the holidays.
Right now, in the shade of a roadside tree by the shore, a green-haired seaweed boy and a durian-headed blond boy were sitting together. Their unusual combination was attracting more than a few curious stares from passersby.
Just as Bakugo Katsuki's patience wore thin and he was about to stand up and storm off, a slightly breathless voice called out from under the tree.
"Sorry, sorry! I'm really late this time."
Bracing her hands on her knees, Konata wiped the sweat from her face.
She had tried to hurry, but she'd underestimated how ridiculously hot today was. What should've been just a few minutes' walk had turned into a sweaty, exhausting ten-plus minutes of running.
"It's fine, we only just got here," Midoriya Izuku said quickly, standing and handing her a bottle of cola.
"Just got here," my ass. We've been baking in this heat for half an hour.
Bakugo's expression darkened at the blatant lie, but before he could open his mouth to throw a jab, he noticed the flushed cheeks and trembling frame of the girl in front of him. She'd clearly run all the way here in the blazing sun.
If she'd shown up twirling a parasol and licking ice cream like she was on a summer stroll, he would've roasted her on the spot. But she'd obviously tried hard to make it, and somehow, his irritation evaporated.
…But still.
Glancing at Midoriya, then at Konata—now casually downing an entire bottle of cola in one go—Bakugo remembered what Deku had said earlier and narrowed his eyes slightly.
It was about 11:30 AM, right when the sun was most merciless. Training in this heat was a dumb idea, so the three of them stayed in the shade. Facing the sea, the temperature actually didn't feel too bad.
With Konata's arrival, a picnic blanket appeared under the tree. The whole scene looked suspiciously like the three of them had come out for a little seaside picnic.
"Spicy fish roe, stir-fried dried fish, extra-hot curry…"
Konata's lips twitched at the sight of Bakugo's "menu" spread out on the blanket.
"…Do you only eat spicy food or something?"
"What do you want to eat, then?" Bakugo shot her a flat look.
"Eh? Did you actually bring other food?" She looked around him in mild surprise.
"…If I ask for a rice bowl right now, can you magically make one appear?"
Without another word, Bakugo pulled out his phone and called for delivery.
"One katsudon, one rice bowl. Location: Dagobah Beach Park."
"Katsudon, huh…" Konata glanced at Midoriya thoughtfully, nodding.
Bakugo: "…"
He didn't know why, but even without any insults from her, he suddenly had the urge to punch something.
"Alright, back to business. I know I've said this before, but I'm going to repeat it."
After lunch, Konata looked at Bakugo with a serious expression.
"With your fighting style, you don't need to bother learning joint locks or that kind of thing. They won't be much use to you. Your Quirk is your strongest weapon, so why waste time on them?"
Instead of answering directly, Bakugo glanced at Midoriya. "If neither of us used our Quirks, who would win?"
"Without a doubt, you'd lose." Konata didn't even hesitate.
"In pure physical ability, Deku might be a little behind you, but not by much. And if you can't use your Quirk, you'd lose to him—he's already got basic joint lock skills. It's like comparing someone holding a knife to someone barehanded."
"Lose, huh?" Bakugo's grin turned sharp as he stood. "So you're saying Deku could beat me?"
"W-wait, hold on, this has nothing to do with—" Midoriya began, but Bakugo yanked him up before he could finish.
"If you don't believe it, you two can fight without Quirks and see."
Konata shrugged. "If you ask me, there's no need to do it now. Tomorrow's the U.A. Sports Festival—if you two get hurt today, I'll be blamed. Settle it there instead."
Then, like a magician, she pulled two sticks from behind her back and handed one to Bakugo.
"Joint locks might not suit you, but I thought of something better—something I know you'll like."
"…Something better?" Bakugo frowned but sat back down.
"Yep. You can use your Quirk with both hands, right? But your right hand is more agile. Most people are like that. So—"
She took a stick and wrote the word "Hero" in the sand.
"The fastest way to get stronger is to train yourself to do two things at once. In other words, split your focus. Learn to multitask—it might help you."
Bakugo stared at the word for a moment, then said flatly, "Your handwriting sucks."
Konata: "…"
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Being a teacher is hard.
Especially when your "student" is an angry, durian-blonde powder keg? Yeah… that's nightmare difficulty.
For the first time, Konata truly understood how Mic-sensei must feel while teaching.
Multitasking isn't exactly beginner-level stuff, so she'd started him off with the classic "draw a circle with your left hand, draw a square with your right" exercise, and then…
…yeah, there was no "and then." That was it.
"So you can't learn it—how is that my fault?"
On the walk home, Konata wore the expression of someone whose soul had just been slightly stepped on.
Sure, she'd extorted two meals' worth of food money out of him, but she hadn't actually taught him anything. That… felt a little wrong.
At least Midoriya had done some running along the beach to work his body. Bakugo, meanwhile, had been jabbing at the sand with two sticks like some kind of caveman, and by the time he went home his face was completely black with dirt.
See? I really wasn't just mooching for free food. I SWEAR.
When Konata got back to Midnight's place, the woman had clearly just stepped out of the shower. The moment she saw Konata, she lit up with an intense curiosity and started pestering her for details about "the date."
…Wait. Date?
Konata's face twisted the moment she realized exactly what Midnight had misunderstood.
After a quick pause, Konata decided to set the record straight—seriously.
"Midnight-sensei, early romance is bad and must be firmly stopped. Midoriya and Bakugo are just classmates—pure, wholesome classmates. This 'outing' was just to teach them some basic combat skills and how to multitask, so—"
"You dated two boys at the same time?!"
Konata: "…"
Is… is murder still illegal if it's a teacher? Asking for a friend.
It turned out to be just a joke on Midnight's part—though the sudden urge to "teacher-cide" didn't vanish instantly. Still, later, when Konata was in the bath and Midnight strolled in offering to scrub her back, Konata wordlessly threw a bar of soap at her.
I only love lolis. Keep your onee-san energy out of my personal space, thanks.
The UA Sports Festival was tomorrow, but Konata was the picture of nonchalance. She lived by one creed: "It's the taking part that counts. Rankings are for people who care."
After all, friendship first, competition second—that's the unshakable truth.
Tonight's sleep? Haha.
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The Sports Festival was split into three divisions: first-years, second-years, and third-years. Usually, the third-year matches got the most attention, but this year—thanks to the USJ incident and the League of Villains—everyone's eyes were on the first-year division. Specifically, Class 1-A.
As the class president of 1-A, and with her absurdly overpowered, borderline-mythical quirk, Konata was already a target of interest from the moment things began.
Not that she knew any of that—she'd even forgotten she was class president. Right now, she was in the 1-A waiting room, mentally planning how to best live out the day as a perfectly unbothered salted fish.
Sprawled across a desk, she idly spun a coin in boredom.
For fairness, combat gear wasn't allowed during the festival—just the standard UA tracksuit. That meant no stuffing her pockets with dozens of coins. One coin would have to do. Not like she planned to try hard anyway.
"Konata, are you confident about the Sports Festival?"
Turning her head, she found Yaoyorozu standing beside her, looking just a little tense.
In fact, everyone in the room except Konata had nervous energy radiating off them. Even Bakugo, who'd been scowling since last night, had a flicker of tension in his expression.
"Confidence? Nah. Oh—hey, guess if this coin landed heads or tails."
Covering the coin with her hand, Konata looked up at her with a spark of excitement.
"…Fine. Tails." Yaoyorozu sighed.
"Nope. It's standing upright."
She lifted her hand to reveal the coin perfectly balanced on its edge, her face deadly serious.
Yaoyorozu: "…"
Before more nonsense could happen, the door slammed open. Iida marched in.
"Classmates! Are you ready? It's almost our turn!"
The booming voice only made everyone's nerves spike higher.
"Let's go, then. Time for our big entrance," Konata said, pocketing her lone coin and standing tall like she was about to conquer the world.
"Midoriya."
The sudden voice came from Todoroki, who walked up to Deku with his usual frosty calm.
"Uh—Todoroki? What's up?" Midoriya blinked, confused. The guy rarely approached people out of the blue.
The room's attention drifted toward them. Even Bakugo looked over.
"Objectively speaking, my strength should be above yours," Todoroki stated without hesitation.
It was a pretty arrogant line, and the class was collectively stunned.
"No, I think you two are about fifty-fifty."
Konata, who had somehow appeared between them, delivered her verdict with a straight face.
Todoroki: "…"
Where did she even come from?
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Surprise! Thanks to all your support and for smashing past 200+ power stones, here's your well-earned extra chapter!
Don't worry, the regular update will still come later today like usual.
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