Truce & Rules
Waking up to birds chirping a pretty melody in the morning is the best feeling. Beautiful amethyst color eyes peek out through heavy eyelids when a stream of sunlight passes the window's blinds, flashes her in the face. Sitting up, she stretches her arm up and yawns out the leftover tiredness. Higana manages to always wake up for school without an alarm like an internal alarm system is embedded into her. After looking around a little confused, completely forgetting about her move to Hawks' place, she sighs in realization. "Oh yeah, I forgot..." Although she wanted to bask in the warmth of her futon, she forces her body to move out to face the cold air. A shiver went up to her spine when her foot met the cold hardwood floor as she heads to the bathroom. The apartment was tranquil, almost as if she was the only one living here. There wasn't even a snore!
It took her a little longer than usual to get ready, especially since she tries her best to stay quiet. After all, she was just trying to avoid confrontation with the temperamental man. Higana looks into the full-length mirror in her room, pouting slightly when her hair was being stubborn. It was long and wavy but tangled a lot due to the curls. "I need Mimi to help fix it..." After messing with her bangs, she puts on her thigh high socks and grabs her school bag. With one more check in the mirror, as soundless as possible, she ambles downstairs. "I should make him breakfast. Oh dear, I hope he doesn't wake up." Higana looks up to the ceiling as if she prayed to the gods before starting the stove. The lights peeking through the blinds were enough to light her way through the kitchen. She just decided to do regular sunny side eggs, miso soup, leftover rice, and fried some fish. "Oh, vegetables. I forgot to ask if hates any... but it seems like he hates anything except for chicken, so does it really matter?" Talking to herself was actually a naturally occurring thing. She has always been teased for it, but her way of talking to herself is actually beginners' level after meeting one of her friends.
"Finished!" Cheering for herself, she pats her shoulder for a job well done. Other than the unavoidable sizzling oil noise, she didn't make any noise loud enough to be detected. When she packed her lunch and placed it in her bag, she proceeds to wrap all of Hawks' food and grab the same notebook from yesterday to write another note. "Hopefully, he doesn't just try to order KFC!" Satisfied with the message, she grabs all her stuff, and the toast pops out of the toaster. With minimal noise, she puts on her shoes and walks out the door. "Mission Undetected Complete!"
~ School ~
"Higaaaaa!" Once Higana walks through the door, something pink suddenly ambushes her from behind. "Oh my god! Don't tell me you didn't fix your hair again?" Bright yellow eyes have never felt closer with how the pink-haired girl shoving her face so close to Higana's.
Higana nervously scratches at her cheek, "Um, I'm sorry?"
"Sit your pretty butt down! I'll do it for you!" Ashido Mina ushers the shorter girl inside the classroom to Higana's seat. Forcefully placing the shorter girl on her chair, she hops on the desk behind Higana's seat and took out, what she calls, her handy dandy Miracle Dazzler. "You are so cute, and you don't pay no attention to your looks. If I were you, I would be getting all the designer clothes and grabbing all the boys' attention." Mina sighs as she brushes through Higana's hair, skillfully not hurting her even with the tangles.
"You know Hi-chan only cares about finding her soulmate." A cheerful voice comes up behind them. A girl with short brown hair places her bag on the desk diagonal from Higana on the left. "And I agree that you should wait."
"You guys are so lame." Mina rolled her eyes, placing her brush back inside of her little bag. Even if she says that Mina is also waiting for her soulmate. It's too scary to think that if you decide to get with someone other than your soulmate, all the different horrible scenarios could happen. Like if you find your soulmate when you are married with kids? Or meet them when you are newlyweds, and they suddenly pop out of nowhere. That's why there has been a decline in marriages lately. "We all know who you're simping for Ochaco!" The pink-haired girl grins mischievously, grabbing a comb from her mystery bag.
Uraraka Ochaco blinks at the comment before her whole face turns red. "W-What?! S-Stop Mina!!!" She stutters out, looking around the classroom to see if whoever Mina was referencing too is here. Thankfully not.
"Oh, are we talking about who Uraraka is simping for?" A soft, calm voice pops up behind them again. Green unruly curled up hair came up behind Mina as he places his school bag on the desk next to Higana.
"Seriously Deku?!" Ochaco flails her arms around. "Why is it always me?" She whines, stomping her foot on the ground with a pout on her face.
"Because you are too easy, Chacha!" Mina laughs hard when Ochaco looks like a big ol' cherry. Even with her distracted by the conversation, she naturally curlers her fingers around Higana's hair to make a French fishtail braid. "Speaking of simping... how was your class duty with Bakugou, Deku?"
"Oh yeah! How was it, huh, Deku?" Ochaco took the opportunity when she could to change the subject away from her.
Midoriya Izuku looks at all three pairs of eyes staring at him in anticipation. "Um..." He starts out, but his eyes trail over to who just entered the room. "Todoroki! Good Morning!" He greeted brightly, over to the boy tiredly walking over to them. Izuku looks away awkwardly from the girls piercing gaze, trying to just focus on the boy with half white and half red hair.
"Oh, good morning Midoriya." Todoroki Shoto yawns into his hands, placing his bag on the desk in front of Higana. "Good morning Higa..." He greets softly, naturally poking at Higana on the cheek where her dimples would usually pop out from.
"Um, we are here too, Todo." Mina reminds the boy, waving her comb in the air sassily.
"Hmm? Oh, I know." Shoto simply said as he sat in his chair.
Both Mina and Ochaco look at each other, rolling their eyes at the same time. "He don't see us?" Mina asked Ochaco, implying to the video she showed her last week
"You see me?" Ochaco asks, playing along.
"Y-Yeah, I see you! You see me?" Mina's lips start to curl upward about to break character.
"Hell yeah, I see you! Both of us looking like two big Totoros!" Ochaco finishes the lineup, both of the girls laughing up a storm. Mina had to stop braiding before she ends up pulling at Higana's hair. Izuku and Higana chuckle at the silliness while Shoto sighs, but a smile plays on his lips.
"It's Barney Chacha!"
"Totoro sounds better!" Ochaco argues, still giggling at the joke.
"You extras are fucking loud!" A booming voice was heard from the entrance of the room. Izuku visibly tenses up when he heard the voice. All four pairs of eyes wander over to Izuku, who didn't even notice their stares. Only focusing on bright red ones. Bakugou Katsuki walks over and aggressively, dropping his bag in the desk in front of Izuku, "The fuck you looking at, you damn nerd?"
"Ah, I'm sorry, K-Kacchan." Izuku stutters softly, cheeks holding a healthy pink glow.
"So, I'm guessing yesterday didn't go well?" Mina whispers to only the girls, finally tying up the braid.
"I guess not?" Ochaco whispers back as both girls look at the tension between both boys. "So much tension."
"I think it's sexual tension." Higana decided to whisper back. All three look at each other blankly before bursting out laughing, not even paying attention to Katsuki's growing irritation.
"Good morning Bakugou." Shoto greets the boy sitting next to him.
"Shut up half n' half bastard," Katsuki growls out, looking away from the group of friends next to him.
A dark-haired boy enters the classroom robotically and points his rigid hands towards Mina, who zipped up her little pack. "Ashido, you know this isn't your class! This has been the 458th time I have told you. Please go to your classroom!" Iida Tenya was moving his hands around to emphasize his point.
"Well, that's my cue! See you guys at lunch! Byyyeeee!" Mina quickly rushes out toward the other door closer to the classroom's back to avoid Iida's scolding. If she stayed any longer, then she wasn't going to hear the end of it.
Shoto turns around to look at Higana, holding up a paper with yesterday's homework. "Did you finish Higa?"
"Oh! Yes, I did! I finished on my train ride here, thanks, Sho." Higana smiles at her best friend/childhood friend. They have known each other since they were in their last year of primary school and have been together since then. The way they act around each other always has everyone question if they were together, but it was just a habit that became hard to break. Everyone had mixed feelings in their relationship. Simultaneously, girls were jealous of Higana and are also desirous of Shoto for being so close to her and vice versa for the guys. It was a conflicting time for everyone.
"You guys are fucking disgusting." Katsuki gave both of the best friends a dirty look.
Shoto raises his eyebrow slightly, "But you and Midoriya act worse than us?"
"Don't put me together with damn Deku!!" Katsuki exclaims, his fingers cringing out toward Shoto.
"Bakugou! Refrain from that indecent language, please!" Iida scolds from the front of the class.
"Shut your mouth glasses!"
"The disrespect." Iida astonishingly said, placing his hand on his chest.
Higana couldn't help but laugh at the lecture Iida proceed to tell Bakugou while the blonde just mocks him angrily. "Oh god..." Izuku groans out as the bickering got worse. Shoto plays with Higana's fingernails, only slightly listening to the argument. At the same time, Ochaco stares at Iida with blissful eyes like a fool in love. U.A is famous for letting everyone be themselves. Top students from different schools come here to express individuality. Maybe just a bit too much. "Plus Ultra my ass." Izuku covers his eyes in horror when Katsuki threatens to throw his desk at Iida. Only to be stopped when a long-haired man strolls inside of the classroom with his obnoxiously yellow sleeping bag dragging behind him.
And just like that, the class went quiet, and they proceeded with homeroom peacefully.
~ back at the apartment ~
It was around twelve almost one in the afternoon before the blond-haired man steps outside of his bedroom. Hawks hoped to catch Higana in the morning, but it seems like she managed to leave without getting caught. He lazily scratches at his toned stomach, walking to the phone to call his favorite chicken place. But he stops when he saw the perfectly laid out Japanese breakfast sitting on the island kitchen counter for him. "She cooked me breakfast too?" He picks up the neatly written note once again.
Hawks,
Here is some food for the day. I didn't know when you might wake up, so I don't know if I should call it breakfast. Please heat them up for one minute individually. It seems like you liked the bold seasoning of the chicken yesterday, so I seasoned the fish boldly as well. I hope you like it!
P.S. Also, please don't order chicken. Please don't.
⁃ Higana
Hawks scratches the back of his head, feeling a little awkward from the sweet gesture. "You really trying to make me feel guilty, huh, kid?" He looks at the meal that's present in front of him. After unwrapping all of it, he placed them inside of the microwave individually. While prepping his meal, he couldn't help but think what it would taste like if he could eat it fresh, hot, and ready to eat. "Should I wake up earlier?" He questions himself as he walks back and forth from the kitchen and dining room to place his food down on the table.
He lays his food in the same format that Higana placed it on the counter and went inside his office. Hawks came out with his laptop, traditional writing paper, and his fountain pen in his hands. Placing his black-rimmed glasses on his face, he opens up his computer to reference his notes attentively. His sharp gold eyes look up at the clock, seeing that it'll be a couple hours until Higana comes back. "I'll wait here, just in case." After a night of guilt-tripping himself about it while he ate his chicken, Hawks finally agreed that he did go overboard. "Remember to apologize. Don't be a dick. Chicks don't dig dicks. Well... scratch that." Hawks shook his head, knowing damn well women like the bad boy type. "Just don't be an ass and just apologize." He reminds himself as he took a piece of the fish flesh, almost having a tiny orgasm from how delicious it tastes.
~ school ~
It was lunchtime, and it was Shoto and Higana's turn to get drinks for everyone for today. "Two strawberry milk, one chocolate milk, two milk teas, and one regular milk." Higana lists out as Shoto presses on all of the things listed out once. Then place money inside of the machine again to grab the repetitive ones. "I wonder why Iida wants just regular milk all the time?"
Shoto hums as he grabs the second round of drinks coming out of the machine. "I guess this milk is the most excitement he can take in his life?"
Amethyst eyes look into heterochromatic eyes and burst out laughing. Her one deep dimples on each cheek were appearing on her face. Shoto chuckles along with her as they both walk toward the classroom. "Are you quitting your job at the convenience store?"
"Yeah! Nee-chan told me to stop since it's starting to get dangerous in that area." Higana went to help him, trying to grab some of the drinks, but he just maneuvers his body away from her hands.
"I told you to quit a long time ago." Shoto grimace, recalling that day that they got in an argument about her not quitting.
"I know, I know." Higana bit her lips; she still hasn't told her friend about moving out of Yukine's apartment. Mina would probably applaud her for living with an older man. Ochaco would probably create lewd scenes in her head and get embarrassed for thinking of it. Izuku would look at her worriedly and mumble nonstop about the different dangerous scenarios. Iida would shake his head in disappointment, saying that you should be in a relationship if you live with a man like that. But Shoto would definitely be furious since he told her she can come to live with him and his family if she ever needs it. Fumi and Natsuo already treat her like family, and Shoto's mom absolutely loves her. But something hinders her from taking his offer all the time. "Today's my last shift since it was such a last-minute notice." Now that she thinks about it, she didn't tell Hawks about it her working today. Hopefully, he isn't expecting her.
"I'll drop you off." Shoto offers, though it was more of a demand than an offer. It was a thing that he would drop her off and would pick her up, but if she tells him that Yukine is going to pick her up, he would reluctantly not come. "Do you need me to pick you up?"
"No, Nee-chan is going to pick me up." It was a lie, but she wasn't ready to get scold and lectured about her living with Hawks. She'll eventually say something, but maybe just not today.
"Finally, guys! Jeez, did you guys get confess to on the way here?" Mina complains as Shoto hands her the carton of chocolate milk.
Izuku laughs, thanking Shoto for handing over his milk tea. "You guys remember that? Higana didn't know what to do when that guy just came out of nowhere."
Ochaco snapped her fingers when she realized what confession story they were flashbacking too. "Oh yeah! The one when the guy came up to both Todoroki and Hi-chan!" The brown-haired girl almost choked on her cherry tomato because she suddenly laughs out of nowhere. Higana gave Ochaco the strawberry milk, a little reluctant to hand it over after bringing up that terrible memory. "Higana's face! OH MY GOD!"
"Uraraka, please chew and swallow before you end up choking." Iida scolds, receiving his regular milk from Higana.
"Oh! It was when Higana thought she was getting confessed to in the middle of the hallway, right?" Mina hits her fist on the table, and Izuku nodded. "That dude ended up confessing to Todo! He looks so offended when Higana thought he was confessing to her!" All three of the friends burst out laughing, attracting the people walking through the hallway. "He literally told Higa, 'excuse me, but I'm into cocks, not hens. So, you can cluck your way out of my face.'" The pink-haired girl tries her best to move her head the same way the guy did but failing when she ended up straining her neck.
Higana covers her face in embarrassment. "Oh, please don't remind me." That was the worst moment of her life, how she was supposed to know the guy was confessing to Shoto. "I hate you, Sho." She gave her best friend a pout, but Shoto just chuckles at the childishness.
"If it makes you feel better, the guy had to do 3 weeks of class duty for making a scene." Shoto smiles, pinching Higana's cheek playfully.
Higana bats his hand away from her face, still pouting. "That does not make me feel better! I'm traumatized!" She covers her face again and groans in embarrassment. Her fingers spread a little to peek over at Izuku. "Speaking of class duty, how was it yesterday, Izuku?"
Izuku chokes on his milk tea at the question. Everyone had his eyes on him, and he nervously looks away. "It was fine." He mumbles, patting himself on the chest to cough out the rest of the liquid.
"Nah, Nah, Nah! You spill it, don't leave out the juicy details either." Mina grabs Izuku's face and squeezes it.
"You don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with, Midoriya," Iida said. However, he also looks eager to know himself. All the girls threw Iida a dirty look, and Shoto proceeded to slurp his cold soba.
Izuku sighs, thinking that it's easier to just go to the path most traveled by instead of less. Knowing his friends for years, he already knew they weren't going to let it go until he spilled all the details. "We didn't really talk. I mean, other than him splitting the jobs between us, we didn't say a word. Which was awkward enough on its own. He kept looking at his watch for the time, so I thought he was late for something, so I ask if he wants me to finish up. He was like," Izuku pinches the gap between his eyebrows to mimic the angry expression on Kastuki's face. "' Mind your f-ing business, damn nerd. But if you insist, then f yeah, I need to go somewhere. Have f-ing fun.' Then he left, and I ended up doing the rest myself."
Ochaco and Mina both gave each other a side look, already looking irritated with how yesterday seemed to play out. "Do you want me to tell Bakugou to suck my dick? Cause I'll do it." Mina asks with a serious look on her pretty face. Higana shook her head at the vulgar language, and Iida looks like he was about to reprimand her. Still, the main character from yesterday's class duty decided to enter the classroom at that moment. Before Izuku can stop her, she stood up and looks over at the eternally angry boy. "Ay Yo Bitch!" Mina calls over to Katsuki, who looks over at her in shock.
A red-headed boy, Kirishima Eijirou, and a blonde-haired boy, Kaminari Denki, were standing at the door frame but looking like deers caught in a headlight. "Fuck you call me Pinky?"
"Suck my dick!" Ochaco suddenly yelled, puffing up her chest to look more intimidating.
"Oh my god…" Izuku buries his head in his arms. Iida looks like he lost his mind, life, and soul when he heard Ochaco say those words. He couldn't even form a single word.
"We need to take Tiktok away from them." Higana sighs, looking at how Kirishima and Kaminari held Katsuki back. At the same time, the angry blonde started cursing away at the two girls. The two girls just further pissed Katsuki out by sticking their tongue at him, and Mina flips him off.
Shoto simply smiles at the chaos in front of him, "Why? I think it's fun."
This wasn't even the most chaotic day. If we have to rate it, it is not even the top 100th. Let that sink in.
~ time skip w/ Hawks ~
It was way past the time Higana was supposed to arrive. He went to the same school as her when he went to High School, so he knew when the hell they got off. Even if she was doing sports, which she isn't since she's in her last year, Higana should've been home a long time ago. Did she decide to not come back? Was it because of him? But if she left for good, then she would have taken all her stuff. Gold eyes look frantically at the clock to the door and then to his laptop. He's been like this for probably four hours, tapping his foot onto the floor in irritation. "Where is she? Should I call-"
The door finally opens, and Higana comes in quietly, again not noticing Hawks sitting on the couch in the living room. Hawks try to look nonchalant like he wasn't freaking out from the past couple of hours and walks toward her with a straight face. "OH!" Higana yelps when she suddenly saw the handsome man standing in front of her. She had a hand on her chest and her back against the wall in surprise. "Hawks, I'm so sorry. I had my last shift at my job today, since me quitting was last minute and they asked if I could at least work today, because they weren't
able to get someone in on short notice-"
"Kid, it's fine. I'm not mad." That was a lie, but he didn't want a repeat from yesterday. He probably already acts like a dick from her perspective. Still, he wasn't about to start tippy-toeing around his home because she's wary about him. "Upset, but I'm not mad. It was work, right?"
Higana looks confused by the surprisingly docile creature in front of her. "Yes…"
"Then, it was unavoidable." Hawks' licks his lips hesitantly. It's now or never. He prefers never, but he likes where he lives, and he wasn't trying to move. "Hey, look about yesterday. I was just stressed. It's been a horrible week, and I wasn't in a good mood…" Hawks looks towards the floor, close to kicking himself mentally. He couldn't say it; he hasn't had to say it before because he was always right. Why is apologizing so damn hard?
Higana still had the same confused look on her face, but it dropped the minute she realized what he was trying to do. Is he trying to apologize? "It was my fault too. I shouldn't have left without saying anything or without leaving at least a note. I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time."
Shit. She apologized first. Hawks want to slap himself in the face for wussing out last minute. All he could think about was how Higana manages to maturely take in the situation and act accordingly. He starts to wonder who the adult in the room was. When he tries to open his mouth to force out the apology, the doorbell went off. "Hawks? I'm leaving your chicken at the door." A muffled voice informs through the door.
It was quiet for a while, and amethyst eyes look up into gold accusingly. "Nee-chan said no more fried chicken."
"I honestly didn't know if you were coming back, and I was hungry." Hawks nervously laughs as he passed Higana at the entrance and took his chicken from behind the door. "But let's eat? I got enough for the both of us." He offers lightly already on his way to the dining room. The girl follows him with soft steps barely audible, making Hawks sharp eyes look down at her feet. She walks normally, but she tries to make the lightest sound possible for some reason. Like she was used to it. "Interesting." He mumbles inaudibly. Once they start to eat, he notices that Higana's overall mood seems to brighten. Her posture has relaxed, her face serene, and her eyes looked calm. When he first met her, she had her head down, barely even looked up at him. Though he prefers how she's acting now, it made him wonder why she worked like that. "Oh kid, I didn't get to ask yesterday. But give me your contact information." He digs into his pocket and smoothly hands over his phone to her. "I think we will avoid a lot of misunderstandings this way."
"I agree." Higana smiles softly and places her contact information onto the screen, and hands it back, letting Hawks do the saving. The man took back his phone and saved her contact name as 'Kid' for now.
"Also, I think we need to make some ground rules." Higana looks up at him mid-bite, and he wipes his hand on the napkin before grabbing the pen and paper next to him. "I don't like drama. I rather avoid all this if we have rules to live peacefully, right?" Even with the weird look she gave him, Hawks continues to write number one through ten on the paper and titles it 'Drama-free Rules'. "So, Rule number one: Tell each other when coming home late. Sounds good, right?"
"Yes." Higana agrees.
"Ok, then. Rule Two: Inform the other where they are headed. For safety reasons." Higana nods, thinking that rule was sensible. "Rule number three: No boys. Rule number four-"
"Wait! But I have friends that are boys. That's a little unfair."
Hawks eyes twitched a little when she said her friends were guys, and it irritates him that he couldn't think of the reason why he was annoyed. "How about telling me if you are planning on inviting them over?" That sounds a little fairer, even if he doesn't like it.
"… Ok. Then can rule four be that you have to tell me if you invite girls over?"
"You can't make rules."
"Why not?"
Hawks scoff at the ridiculous question. "Cause this is my apartment."
"But I'm the one that cooks and cleans this apartment." She argues, crossing her arms across her chest.
The man looks at her incredulously; when the hell did she get so bold? "Fine. Fine! Though that rule won't matter anyway because I don't invite girls over. Rule Five: no secret relationship. If you get a girl or boyfriend, no discrimination, you have to say it." He waits for any complaints, but he got none, so he wrote it down. "Rule six-"
"Boundaries. Things that are off-limits to each other like asking super personal questions. Knock on doors before opening, don't leave your clothes around. Things like that." Higana inputs, grabbing the paper from Hawks and write down that rule. "Also, rule number seven: Don't date anyone within each other's circle. I rather not have drama either, so keeping our family and friends off-limits would be better."
She made a good point, which Hawks agreed to, though she didn't have to worry about that anymore. "Don't have to worry about that. I'm not interested in children." Hawks chuckles when Higana narrows her eyes at him. "Since you have the spotlight, what's the next rule?"
Higana suddenly got quiet as she stares down at the paper in contemplation. "Rule eight: Eat together."
"Eat together?" Hawks questions a little confused.
"Yes… Nee-chan would always try to make time to eat with me. I would also like to have meals with you if possible." Higana explains, a little blush slowly appears on her cheeks.
The blonde man nods in understanding, smiling at the innocent request. "Sounds good. I can't say that I'll make it to every meal, but I'll try to be here for most." He watches as Higana visibly brightens, her smile big, and her dimple appears. She excitedly writes down that rule while Hawks studies her. "So, she has a childish side too…" He says to himself. How cute. Fuck. I didn't just think that, right? He looks at how the girl stares at the paper with a satisfied look on her face. Yeah, I did. "Rule nine: Trust. I don't need to live with someone I can't trust. Don't lie to me, and I won't lie to you, ok? But we will still respect the boundaries." Higana nods in agreement, thinking that's a perfect rule to have. I have to nip this one in the bud.
"I don't have anything left. Do you?" She moves the paper back over to him after a while of thinking of another rule.
"Yeah." Hawks taps his finger on the table. "Rule ten: No falling in love." Simple and straight to the point. He preferably doesn't want any stupid, awkward silence. He avoids any way they end up acting like strangers because a weird moment between them got too far. "Can you do that?" Higana looks at Hawks, and the way he suddenly went serious, his walls appear. She wasn't thinking of it, but the way he suddenly brought it up made her hesitate. Can she do it? Just spending a few minutes with him unguarded, she felt peace in her chest. "Can you not do that, kid? You have to tell me the truth. Can you not fall in love with me?" Hawks asked one more time, leaning against the table.
"I-… I can do it. I won't fall in love with you." Higana forces out, her hands wringing together under the table.
"You positive?" Hawks questions one more time, pen hovering over the paper.
"Yes." The man proceeds to write on the paper, placing his signature underneath the set of rules. He then put it in front of her telling her to sign too.
Once Higana signs, Hawks held his hand out for a handshake, "Nice to live with ya Kid."
She hesitated slightly before placing her hand in Hawks' outstretched one. That's when she felt the heat that went through her body. The tips of her fingers all through the tips of her toes, a shockingly pleasant feeling took over her senses. She took her hand back, quickly stating that she had to do some homework before rushing up to her room. And with that, Higana already broke two rules. "Shit!"