Chapter 103: Ambush at the Supermarket! (or: How to Turn a Ramen Run Into a Date Nobody Planned)

Ren pushed the cart down the instant noodle aisle with all the energy of a freshly retired ghost. The supermarket's white light came down on him without mercy and showed off just how pale he was, two shades lighter than usual, while every step cost him twice as much effort as normal.

If I collapse right here, just put on my tombstone that it was completely worth it, he thought while reaching for a cup of spicy ramen. Mitsuki-san should seriously come with a medical warning label. Last night I felt my soul try to escape through the window in at least three separate attempts, and the worst part is I'd ring that doorbell again without thinking twice.

He dropped four cups into the cart and ended up staring at his own reflection in the freezer door, where a bald, hollow-eyed kid, white as paper, stared back at him with a dopey smile.

I need protein, iron, and probably a full blood transfusion, he told himself. I also need to stop smiling like an idiot. Focus, Ren. You're here for the ramen, not for the memories of a sexy nurse.

A sharp clatter cut through the mental spiral. A cup of instant ramen rolled across the floor and stopped right against the wheel of his cart.

Ren looked up. A few feet away, a girl in a gray hoodie and a face mask was fighting with a plastic basket that kept slipping out of her hands. Both her arms were wrapped in bandages from wrist to elbow, and no matter how hard she tried to hold onto things, her fingers wouldn't quite cooperate. A strand of green hair slipped out from under her hood and fell across her forehead.

I'd recognize that green anywhere, he thought. You don't need to be a detective to figure out who's losing a war against a plastic basket from halfway across the store.

He crouched down, picked the cup up off the floor, and walked over with a smile, reading the label before handing it back.

"You know, these are my favorites," he said. "Medium spicy, just enough not to cry but still feel like you're living on the edge. You've got great taste, Inko."

The girl froze. She tugged the mask down a couple inches and two wide green eyes stared at him in surprise.

"H-Hayashi-kun?" Her voice came out strangled. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Buying food that's gonna kill me slowly, like any responsible student." Ren took the basket out of her hands before she could protest. "The more interesting question is what you're doing carrying all this with your arms like that. You're gonna end up spilling half the supermarket, and that's just sad for the supermarket."

"N-no, wait, I can do it myself!" Inko tried to grab the basket back and let out a small whine when the motion tugged at her bandages. "I just drop things a little, that's all, I swear I've got everything under control."

"Uh-huh." Ren looked at the ramen cup, then at the bandaged arms and the half-full basket she could barely hold. "Here's the deal. I carry, you direct. Consider it the least I can do after the festival."

Inko looked down and pulled her hood lower to cover more of her face.

"It wasn't your fault," she murmured. "I agreed to fight for real, and you were better that day. It's as simple as that."

Man, what a humble girl... The least I can do is carry her ramen without turning it into some soap opera drama, Ren thought, keeping his smile in place.

"Alright, boss, what else do we need?" he asked, pushing the cart with one hand and holding her basket with the other.

"Rice, eggs, and a little bit of..." Inko stopped, clearly uncomfortable giving him orders. "You really don't have to do this, Hayashi-kun, you already did way too much just by picking up the cup."

"Too late, I've officially adopted myself as your personal shopping assistant. It's a lifelong commitment and quitting isn't allowed." He dropped a bag of rice into the cart. "Think of it as after-sales service for handing you a beatdown on national TV."

Inko laughed under her breath, a small, nervous sound, and for the first time her shoulders loosened up a little under the hoodie. She nodded toward the produce section and started walking beside him down the aisle.

Hold on, Ren thought as he watched her hesitate shyly in front of some tomatoes. Cute girl with a powerful secret, random run-in at the supermarket, and me carrying her groceries while she blushes under her mask... This has a suspiciously familiar setup.

He went completely still in the middle of the aisle, a half-grabbed cabbage in his hand.

No, no, no. Is this the start of another teen romance, again? I haven't even finished dealing with the mess I've got going with Nejire and the universe is already sending me a second candidate with a romance-anime-protagonist discount. This has gotta be a trap.

"Hayashi-kun?" Inko tilted her head, watching him curiously. "You got all weird out of nowhere, are you okay? You look kinda pale."

"I'm doing great, I just had an existential revelation next to the vegetables." Ren cleared his throat and pushed the cart again, dropping the cabbage into the basket. "Happens to cultured people. Let's grab those eggs before I lose my mind again."

They reached the register a few minutes later with everything on the list, and Ren paid for his part before Inko could reach her wallet with her clumsy fingers. While the cashier bagged everything, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, have you eaten anything today?" he asked.

"I was gonna cook when I got home," she answered, trying to lift a bag that immediately slipped from her grip.

"With those arms it'll take you three hours to chop a single onion, and by then it'll be dinnertime all over again." Ren grabbed the bag off the floor without missing a beat. "There's a food stand right outside, my treat. And no, I'm not taking no for an answer, my honor as an isekai knight is on the line."

"Knight what?"

"My own thing, don't worry about the vocabulary. Walk."

The stand was small, with four plastic tables under a striped awning and a half-faded sign that promised the best katsudon in the neighborhood. They sat across from each other while a waitress dropped off two glasses of iced tea and disappeared toward the kitchen.

"So, you said you live alone?" Ren asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Yeah, for a couple years now." Inko fiddled with the rim of her glass using just her fingertips, the only thing the bandages let her move well. "My parents died in a villain attack when I was thirteen."

And there it is, the mandatory tragic backstory of the holder.

CRACK.

Inko had squeezed the glass with her bandaged hand on pure reflex, and a thin crack ran across the corner of the plastic table while the iced tea escaped between her fingers and soaked her wrist underneath the wrapping.

"Oh no, I'm sorry!" She yanked her hand back, red all the way to her ears. "Sometimes I don't gauge my strength, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to break anything, this honestly happens to me all the time and..."

"Easy, breathe." Ren already had a napkin in his hand and held her wrist carefully to wipe up the tea before it dripped to the floor. Inko's hand was small and soft under his, which didn't match someone who trained until her knuckles split against concrete walls. He dried her skin with slow, calm movements. "Nobody's gonna notice. And for the record, I'm an orphan too, so we're even in the least fun club in the world."

"You too?"

"For as long as I can remember." He shrugged one shoulder. "That's why I survive on instant ramen and the sad life of a student. Welcome to the club, officially, the membership fee is one trauma and half a box of tissues."

That pulled a small laugh out of her, more genuine this time, and a bit of the tension drained out of her body.

The waitress came over with a rag to clean up the puddle of tea. Inko tensed up again, expecting her to notice the crack in the corner of the table, but the woman wiped it down, picked up the empty glass, and left without a word.

"Could you bring her another tea, please?" Ren asked with a friendly smile.

"Of course, coming right up."

Inko blinked, confused, and leaned toward him the second the waitress was far enough away.

"The crack... she didn't see it," she whispered. "It's right there, it's huge, how did she not see it?"

Ren winked at her.

"Magic trick," he said. "A knight never reveals his secrets, that'd ruin the whole mystery."

"That's... thanks, again." Inko sank a little into her seat, still blushing. "It's embarrassing. I break things all the time ever since my Quirk got so strong, I've lost count of how many mugs I've destroyed this month."

Ren watched her for a second as she apologized for the umpteenth time to the plastic table, and an uneasy feeling came over him out of nowhere.

When she talked about the villain who killed her parents, her voice changed and she squeezed the glass hard enough to crack the table... that kind of resentment doesn't fit the image of the One For All holder I know from the story. I thought the power chose clean hearts, not girls with a score to settle against villains...

When the food arrived, Inko looked at the chopsticks resting on the steaming katsudon with a face of total defeat. She tried to hold them, but her bandaged fingers slipped and one chopstick fell onto the table with a pathetic little tap.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered, mortified. "I can't even eat by myself like a normal person."

"Open up and say 'ah'." Ren had already picked up the chopsticks and was lifting a bite of pork and rice toward her.

"W-what?!" Inko turned red again, her shoulders jerking. "N-no, it's fine, really, I can try with my hand or ask for a spoon or something, I don't want you to...!"

"You're gonna end up with rice in your hair and it'll be really sad for everyone here. Say 'ah', Inko, before it gets cold and loses all its charm."

Inko glanced around, checking that nobody she knew was watching, and finally opened her mouth, her face bright red.

"Ah..."

Ren fed her the bite with an ease that surprised even her. She chewed slowly, still red to the ears, and swallowed.

"Good?" he asked, already getting the next one ready.

"Really good," she admitted in a small voice. "Thanks, Hayashi-kun."

This looks dangerously like a date, Ren thought while she blew on the next bite to cool it down. And the weirdest part is that she's relaxed, almost smiling, totally comfortable. Since when am I the guy people feel comfortable around instead of awkward?

"Hey," he said between bites, "changing the subject, what do you think about the internships coming up?"

"I'm really nervous, but excited too. It's the first time we're gonna work with actual pro heroes, out on the street, not in a training field." She lowered her voice a little. "The only thing is I'm scared I won't measure up with my arms this useless."

"By then you'll be good as new, trust me, those bandages come off sooner than you think." Ren lifted another bite and brought it toward her. "So, did you pick a hero name yet?"

Inko's eyes lit up, and a half-mischievous smile formed on her face.

"I've got one in mind, yeah."

"And? Don't leave me hanging, tell me."

"Nope." Her smile widened a little. "You'll find out in two days, with everyone else, when we present them in class."

"That's not fair, I asked first so you were supposed to answer!"

"You started the whole mystery thing, Inko, I'm just matching your bet like a good rival." He patiently brought the last bite to her. "Admit it, we're both equally insufferable, we make a great team when it comes to being a pain."

Inko laughed, enough that a couple tears of laughter slipped out and she had to wipe them away clumsily with the back of her bandaged wrist. The katsudon stand, the iced tea, and the cracked table stopped feeling like an accident and started feeling like an afternoon neither of them had planned to have.

They left the stand with the bags a while later, and Ren insisted on carrying all of them while ignoring Inko's protests for the first two full blocks, until she gave up and settled for just pointing the way. The route led them to a building way nicer than Ren expected, with a doorman at the entrance and an elevator that actually worked on the first button.

Hold on. An actual doorman? An elevator that goes up? What fantasy neighborhood does this girl live in?, Ren thought as they rode up in silence. My building treats hot water on Tuesday mornings as a five-star luxury, and only if the neighbor doesn't shower first.

Inko's apartment was spacious and tidy, with big windows that let the afternoon light pour in. Ren set the bags down on the kitchen table and took a discreet look around.

He decided not to ask anything about it, because some doors were better left shut.

"Thanks for bringing me all the way here," Inko said, trying to pull things out of the bags with her clumsy fingers and failing miserably. "You really didn't have to carry everything the whole way, it was a lot of bags."

"You direct, I put away, you know the personal assistant protocol by now." Ren started arranging the ramen cups in the cupboard. "Where does the rice go, boss?"

"Top left, next to the pasta." Inko watched him move around her kitchen, embarrassed. "This is really weird, you know? Yesterday you fought me in front of the whole country and practically buried me under half the arena, and today you're putting my rice away in my cupboard."

"Life takes some really strange turns, I've gotten used to not questioning them too much." He closed the cupboard carefully. "Last night I honestly thought I was gonna die, and look at me, here I am, alive and putting away someone else's rice."

When he finished putting away the last of it, Inko bowed deeply, her bandaged hands pressed carefully against her thighs.

"Thank you, Hayashi-kun. Really, for the whole day."

"It was nothing, I promise." Ren scratched the back of his neck, suddenly very aware of how close they were standing in the small kitchen. "Just take care of those arms, okay? I need you at a hundred percent so you can give me a rematch at the internships or wherever. It's no fun beating you when you're falling apart."

"I'll try, I promise." Inko straightened up, still blushing, but with a completely eager smile. "See you in two days, then."

"In two days." Ren headed for the door and stopped with his hand on the knob, glancing at her over his shoulder. "And Midoriya, one last thing. Medium spicy ramen is definitely the right call, you've got a bright future in the world of instant food."

He left before she could answer, leaving her laughing alone in her kitchen that was way too nice for a student.

Inko stood there a moment looking at the closed door, her heart a little lighter than it had been in entire weeks. She tucked the green strand behind her ear with a clumsy motion.

I never really got the chance to get to know him, she thought. I think he's a good guy. A really good guy, actually.

And for the first time in a long while, the idea of the internships coming up stopped scaring her and started making her wish they'd just hurry up and arrive.

Outside in the hallway, Ren waited for the elevator with a tired smile stuck to his face.

Definitely the start of a teen romance, there's no other possible explanation, he thought, rubbing his pale face with the palm of his hand. Great, exactly what I needed with my body running at half capacity and a romance schedule that was already overbooked to begin with. Anyway, I guess it could be a lot worse. I could be buying ramen for one again, like every Sunday of my sad little life.

The elevator opened with a polite chime, and Ren stepped in whistling, a little less pale than when he'd walked through the supermarket doors.

******

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