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Chapter 44 - [ 44 ] Costume Upgrades

"Guys!!"

Mina gathered the whole class when we returned from break.

"Since the first day, I felt like something was missing in our classroom!"

She then points at Midoriya, who looks behind him, then to the sides, and finally points at himself in confusion.

"Midoriya-kun! What is missing in our classroom?!"

"Er…"

"Exactly!" She opens and raises her arms into the air.

"A class group chat!" She shakes her arms, expecting explosive reactions from the class.

"..."

Everyone looks at each other for a few seconds.

"That was it?" Bakugo grumbles in the back.

"Oh, right…" Kaminari just scratches the back of his neck.

"I didn't even think about that," Jiro shrugs, also not sharing Mina's excitement.

Mina puffs her cheeks in discontent and lets out a "Tsk," before getting everyone's number in the class to add them to the group.

The group name was simply 1A for now, but they started a discussion about what name to give it.

For some reason, maybe to inaugurate the group, the discussion happened almost entirely in the chat, even though everyone was present.

[Momo: "Class 1-A Academic Group"]

[Tsuyu: Too formal, YaoMomo]

[Lida: "Class 1-A Official Communication Channel"]

[Uraraka: "That's even more formal!"]

[Lida: "The group needs to be professional!"]

[Mina: "1-A Divas & Divos ✨"]

[Kaminari: "1-A Zap 😎"]

[Bakugo: "The Strongest of U.A!!!"]

[Uraraka: "Isn't just 1A good enough?"]

The conversation ended when Cementoss entered the classroom to teach, but it seems they would separate the best ones and hold a vote later.

 

─── ◆ ───

 

Taking advantage of classes ending a little early, Himiko and I decided to stop by the support department to talk about a project with Hatsume.

Walking through the corridors, which were empty since most classes were still in session, we're surprised by a door opening in front of us, and a skeletal figure with yellow hair stepping out.

The man widens his eyes upon seeing us pass and coughs with his fist in front of his mouth, as if composing himself.

"Cough cough, good afternoon, young ones."

"Good afternoon," we reply in unison.

We keep walking.

Once we're far enough, Himiko leans closer to me and whispers, narrowing her eyes:

"Doesn't that guy look familiar? I think I've seen him before…"

I nod.

"I had a strange sense of déjà vu."

Out of our sight and knowledge, the stick-like man lets out a sigh of relief as we disappear down the corridors.

 

─── ◆ ───

 

We arrive at the heavy metal door of the support department.

I step closer to knock, but I hear a commotion on the other side, along with an irritating buzzing sound.

"Turn that off, Hatsume!!! TURN IT OFF!!!"

"It's going to stabilize! It's under control!"

The buzzing starts getting louder and louder.

I pull Himiko behind me and we step away from the door.

BOOOM!

The door is blasted open, and a female figure is sent flying toward me.

Automatically, I step aside to let the figure pass, but at the last second I recognize the girl and grab her by the collar of her shirt before she crashes face-first into the wall.

I lift Hatsume like a cat by the collar of her uniform and turn her to face us.

"Phew, thanks… Who are you again?"

She then raises her index finger, as if remembering.

"Oh right! Koneko and Hamiko!"

"..."

"It's Kaneki and Himiko…"

"That's right!"

We go inside with her and show a project for a blood suction device, which Himiko would use to collect blood samples more easily.

Hatsume got excited about the project and started redesigning it, making it more compact and giving it a better appearance, while discussing details with Himiko.

According to her, it shouldn't take long to be ready.

 

─── ◆ ───

 

It's the weekend.

Himiko and I are resting after cleaning the house to receive a special guest.

Knock knock knock...

A guest who just arrived.

I get up from the couch and head to the door.

The moment I open it, I'm pulled into a tight hug by Nemuri.

"Good afternoon, Nemuri-san." I return the hug.

"Good afternoon, Nemuri-sensei."

Nemuri lets me go, and then Himiko is also pulled into a tight hug.

She then pulls her back slightly and squeezes her cheeks.

"Leave those honorifics for when we're at school! Just call me Nemuri, or sister-in-law!"

"Okway Newmuri-sen–" Himiko tries to speak, but her cheeks are squeezed even more.

"S-Sister-in-law!"

She then releases Himiko, giving her a few pats on the head, approving her behavior.

"Hehe." I let out a small laugh at the scene, but freeze when Nemuri turns to me.

She grabs my cheeks and pulls them to the sides.

"And you!! Drop that 'san,' call me Onee-chan!"

"Awa!"

"Come on, repeat after me! O-N-E-E–"

"Awawa!" I try to mumble, but it gets harder as she pulls my cheeks more and more.

"Nemuri-sa–" Himiko covers her mouth when Nemuri's gaze turns back to her.

"Er… Nemuri…"

"Yes?~"

"I think that… if you keep doing that, his cheeks are going to stay like that forever…" She timidly points at my face.

"Hmm?" Nemuri turns to me.

"Awa" { –  ̄﹃ ̄ – }

"Ah, sorry."

She finally lets me go, giving a few gentle pats to my face to put it back in place.

We sit on the couch to talk and decide what to order for dinner.

In the end, we vote for pizza, but leave the order for later, there was still plenty of time before dinner.

"Nemuri, could you help us with our new costumes?"

"Of course! Actually, I was going to tell you that you should change them, they didn't have much personality, and honestly, they were kind of ugly."

"We already had a better idea before, but we didn't have time to finish the costumes before classes started."

"So we handed in some more basic ones for now," Himiko adds.

"Hmm."

I hand her a sheet with costume sketches.

"These are much more interesting!"

"They'll need some adjustments, I'll help you."

"But don't expect them to be ready before the internships start," she adds.

"We already know that."

Nemuri takes another look at the sketches.

"Well, let me see… Do you really want to keep the mask?"

"Yes! It's cute!" Himiko replies.

"Sigh, alright."

"How about making the costumes tighter?"

"Too uncomfortable." Tight clothes make me itchy.

Himiko nods, agreeing with me.

"I find it quite comforting… Hehehehe." She hugs herself, laughing and squirming on the couch in a strange way.

"..."

 

─── ◆ ───

 

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