Light in the Dark

Shoto and Momo walked through the mall together. "Momo, I fail to see why you brought me with you. I don't have a good fashion sense." Momo stopped and faced her best friend. "And that's why you're here." Shoto stopped. "What?" "You don't have a fashion sense, so I'm here to help you pick stuff out." Shoto sighed. "I don't want new clothes. I just want to go home." She turned and started walking away. Momo called out to her. "You know, everyone will be going to Mina's dinner party. She said you'll be paired up with Jason." Shoto stopped in her tracks. Momo took her best friend's hand. "Come on. Let's go make you look pretty for him." "...I won't wear pink." "Fair enough." The two girls went to go look for dresses.

The dinner was just a class get together in a nearby park off campus. Everyone was dressed up in a professional casual style. There were exactly 10 tables so two students could sit together. Momo sat in a chair as Chris pushed her in. She smiled up at him. "Thanks." Chris smiled before sitting across from her. "I like what you did with your hair today." Momo blushed. "You like it when I let my hair down?" "I do." Momo smiled and reached across the table. Chris also reached across and held her hand. "I'm glad you asked to be with me tonight." Momo looked into his eyes. "I wouldn't have picked anyone else." The two shared that moment for a bit before Chris looked out of the corner of his eye. "...The hell?" Momo looked over at what caught his attention. Mina was standing up out of her seat looking around. Kirishima, still sitting down, was also looking around. Momo realized what was happening. "...Oh no…" Shoto was sitting by herself at one of the outer tables. She was just looking at her phone, trying not to look disappointed. She had even dressed up in a nice black dress. Mina and Kirishima made a beeline for his truck. Chris and Momo quickly got up and followed. Shoto noticed the movement and followed. "Hey, where is everyone going?" Mina angrily looked at her. "We're going to go get Jason for you."

The five drove to the dorms. Mina pounded on Jason's door. "You wake up this very second!" Kirishima checked the time on his phone. "...Why would he be asleep this early?" Shoto also checked the time. "It's only seven in the afternoon. And it's Friday." Mina pounded on the door again. Chris strained his ears, listening for his friend. After a few seconds, he smirked. "He's in Gym Alpha." The rest of the group looked at him with confusion. Kirishima blinked. "...I thought only the 3rd year students could use that gym due to the dangerous equipment and drills built into it." Shoto looked over at him. "Since Chris, Jason, and I placed in the top three at the Sports Festival, we were all given access to Gym Alpha to train." Mina lifted up her purple dress and rushed to Gym Alpha with the rest of the group following her.

They all looked through the thick glass to see Jason training in the Sand Room: a room with punching bags rotating at high speeds. The goal was for the students to hit the targets with their quirks or their bodies while avoiding the swinging 200lb punching bags. Jason was sweating profusely as he rolled to avoid punching bags, punching the wooden targets. He was even practicing ranged attacks by mimicking Chris's flicks. Jason charged up some blue energy and flicked a target across the room. He then proceeded into a combat roll to avoid more punching bags. Mina made a beeline for the entrance to the Sand Room. Chris tried to stop her. "Wait, don't go in there!" Mina opened the door and stepped inside. "Jason!" Jason turned to face her. In that split second of lost concentration, a bag slammed him in the back, sending him flying. Another bag hit his face in midair. Chris sprinted to the emergency shut off switch, which raised all of the bags to the ceiling, preventing them from causing any more harm. Shoto sprinted to Jason, who was holding his face in pain. The rest of the group gathered around him as Kirishima called for a teacher. Jason, still holding his face, shouted at Mina. "What?! What the fuck do you want?!" Mina was startled by Jason's sudden but justifiable rage. "...You weren't at the party…" "What party?!" "Did you look at your phone at all this week?" Jason let go of his face as he shouted up at the ceiling. "I don't have a goddamn phone!" The group was surprised by this revelation. Mina quickly looked through her phone contacts and the contacts in the 1A group chat. Sure enough, Jason wasn't there at all. "...Huh. Never noticed." Jason slowly tried to sit up. Shoto made him lay back down, using her own lap as a pillow for his head. "Hold still. A teacher will come get you." She held Jason's hand, putting her right hand on his head. She activated her ice quirk, easing some of his pain.

The next day, Recovery Girl took her stethoscope off. "I don't need to use my quirk on you. You don't even seem to have a concussion. However, I'm restricting you to your dorm for a week." Jason nodded. "Ok." Recovery Girl just stared at Jason. "...You have no intention of staying in the dorm, do you?" "None whatsoever." The school doctor sighed. "Fine. We'll compromise. You can do whatever, but no working out for a week. Deal?" "Deal." The doctor looked over at Shoto, who was nearby. "Can I trust you to keep an eye on him?" She nodded. Once that was settled, the two left Recovery Girl's office.

Shoto glanced over at Jason. "Mina has detention for a week." "Why?" "Entering the Sand Room without written permission. It would normally mean just a day in detention, but you got hurt because of her." "Don't really care. I mean, I'm still alive." Shoto stopped. Jason faced her. "You ok?" "...I was scared…" Jason smirked a little. "It was just a bump on the head." "No, I mean, I was scared when I got kidnapped." Jason lost his smile. "...Yea… we had no idea what they were going to do to you…" Shoto looked up at Jason, her eyes tearing up. "...I… I thought I would never see you again…" Jason very gently took her hands in his. He gave a warm smile before pulling Shoto into a hug. "...You won't lose me… I promise you that…" Shoto blushed before smiling. They two separated slightly and looked into each other's eyes. Jason put a hand on her cheek. Shoto blushed as she put her hand on his hand. They began leaning into each other. Shoto's heart began to race as their lips came closer together.

"Jason!" Jason and Shoto quickly let go of each other and faced their friends. Chris, Momo, and Kirishima walked up. Momo was the one who had yelled. "Are you ok?" Jason smiled. "Yea. I'm fine. Just got banged up a little bit." Chris sighed in relief. "Oh thank god." Momo looked from Jason to Shoto, then back to Jason. "...did we interrupt something?" Jason and Shoto both shook their heads. Kirishima slowly nodded, not believing either of them. Momo looked at Jason. "So you seriously don't have a phone?" "Nope." "...Well, we decided that we'll be taking you to go get a phone today." Jason started turning away. "Don't need one." Momo grabbed Jason's arm. "We're getting you a phone and that's final." Jason faced Momo. "I can't afford a cellular plan." Shoto spoke up. "I'll pay for it." Jason was about to argue, but didn't.

The six friends all went to the mall to look at different phones. Jason started walking over to the flip phones, but Shoto took him by the arm and dragged him to the iPhones. "Go big or go home." "Then I guess I'm going home." "Pick a phone, Jason." The hero in training sighed in defeat as he looked at the selection. "...That one looks fine." "Jason, that's the oldest phone here." "It calls and texts, doesn't it?" Shoto directed Jason's attention to the newer phones. "Why don't you get something nice?" "Those are expensive." "Jason. I'm rich. Pick one or I'll pick one for you." "I give up. You pick." Shoto immediately ordered the newest phone.

At the park, Jason took the phone out of the box. Momo looked over his shoulder. "The power button is-" Jason spun around and faced her. "I know how to work a phone." Momo put her hands up in surrender and backed off to go talk to the others. Shoto came up and stood next to Jason as he set a password. Shoto typed her number into his new phone. "I have you on the unlimited plan, so you can call and text as much as you want." "...I really don't know how I can thank you…" Shoto smiled up at him. "...I can think of a way…" Jason looked over at her. He knew what she was asking for. He very gently wrapped an arm around her. She blushed, but did nothing. Their lips came close once more.

Mina wrapped her arms around their necks. "Group selfie!" Shoto and Jason were both stunned by Mina. The other three came close and posed behind them. Jason sighed and took a selfie with his phone. "There." He set the photo as his screensaver. "Well, let's head back." The six friends start walking. Chris smiled as he saw Shoto and Jason walking with their hands intertwined.

The following day, Kirishima and Chris dragged Jason back to the mall. "What do you all want this time?" Kirishima smiled brightly. "Well, as you may or may not know, you have a date tonight!" "Is that so. Wait, what?!" Chris smirked. "You and Shoto are going to an amazing place across town called Ruth's." "The fancy steakhouse?!" Kirishima nodded. "And to look nice, we'll be helping you pick out a nice outfit." "...You two are insane." The two guys pushed Jason into a nearby dressing store as Chris shouted. "Hurry up already!"

Shoto spun around in her new short black dress. "I do like how this looks." Mina smiled, taking lots of photos. "You look amazing, Shoto!" Momo was paying for the dress. "We have three hours to get her ready for dinner." Shoto quickly spun around. "What dinner?" "Oh, I guess we forgot to tell you. You have a date with Jason at six tonight." "What?!" "Don't worry, honey. We'll get your make up done in plenty of time. You'll look fabulous." Shoto thought for a bit before nodding. Regardless of circumstances, she was happy to get the chance to be alone with Jason.

Jason waited by the Dorm entrance, wearing a black polo shirt and tan jeans. He sighed as he looked at the time. Only a few seconds to six. He heard the sound of heels walking across the floor. "Sorry for keeping you waiting." Jason looked up and froze. Shoto was smiling brightly. Her red and white hair drifted behind her as she walked. Her heels made her almost the same height as Jason. She stopped in front of him. "So? How do I look?" "...Beautiful…" Shoto slightly blushed. "Thanks. You look nice as well." Jason offered a hand to her. Shoto graciously accepted it and the two walked out to go meet up with the Uber driver. Their four friends watched them leave from Mina's window. Chris looked over. "You think they'll be ok?" Momo smiled. "It's guaranteed now."

Jason and Shoto walked along the Santa Cruz pier, which had a beautiful view of the ocean. They were hand in hand. "I don't think I can eat another bite." Jason nodded. "They sure do make the best steak ever." They reached the end of the pier and just leaned on the wooden railing, watching the sun set. "...You know, as long as I've been around Santa Cruz, I've never been to this spot. It's so obvious." Jason smirked. "It's my favorite place on the beach." They just watched the sunset for a few minutes. The sound of the waves crashing into the pier was soothing. Jason very gently took Shoto's hand and made her face him. She blushed. Jason wrapped his free arm around her lower back, pulling her closer. Her breathing quickened as their lips came closer.

Jason suddenly stopped and looked around. Shoto was confused. "What?" Jason looked around for a little bit longer before smiling at her. "Making sure we have no more interruptions." Shoto giggled. Jason very gently pressed his lips against hers. Shoto let go of Jason's hand and wrapped her arms around his neck.

It was the first of many perfect moments for the two lovers.