The Ice Cream Incident

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After narrowly escaping Bakugo's rage and sidestepping Aizawa's exhaustion, I let myself hope—for just a moment—that maybe, just maybe, we can enjoy something normal.

Tsuki skips ahead of me toward the campus ice cream truck, completely unbothered by the trail of destruction he left behind.

"See, bro?" Tsuki says, spinning around to walk backward with a smug grin. "You stress too much. Ice cream solves everything."

"Ice cream," I mutter under my breath, "won't save you from Bakugo."

He winks. "Yeah, but it'll buy me time."

We reach the ice cream truck, and as we approach, Tsuki gives me a sly look.
"Okay, I'm ordering for you. Trust me."

"No," I say flatly.

"Too bad," Tsuki shoots back with an evil grin.

Before I can stop him, Tsuki's already at the counter.
"Hi! Two cones—one mint chocolate chip, one..." He pauses dramatically, then smirks at me. "Double-scoop vanilla. Extra plain."

The vendor raises an eyebrow, clearly confused. "You mean just vanilla?"

Tsuki nods solemnly. "Exactly. No sprinkles, no chocolate, no joy. Just pure blandness."

I glare at him.
"You're going to regret this."

"Worth it," Tsuki says, practically vibrating with smugness.

As we wait for our ice cream, Tsuki taps his chin like he's pondering something deeply important.

"Hey, bro?"

"What?"

"You think Bakugo has a favorite ice cream flavor? Or do you think he's just like... Boomerang-flavored rage?"

I stare at him. "You know you'll pay for this later, right?"

Tsuki shrugs, grinning. "Later isn't now."

The vendor hands over our cones, and Tsuki immediately grabs his mint chocolate chip. I accept my plain vanilla cone with all the enthusiasm of someone being handed a parking ticket.

As I take a reluctant bite, Tsuki leans over and stage-whispers:
"Taste that? That's the flavor of your soul, bro."

Dark Shadow wheezes in laughter.

Just when I think things might calm down, I spot trouble brewing: in the distance, Denki and Mina are walking toward us, their faces lighting up when they see Tsuki.

"Oh no," I mutter, instantly regretting every decision that led me here.

Tsuki notices them, too. His grin turns downright wicked.

"Hey, guys!" Tsuki shouts, waving wildly.

Mina bounds over, looking delighted. "Tsuki! What're you doing here? Wreaking havoc?"

"Obviously," Tsuki replies. "I just outran Bakugo and made my brother eat a vanilla cone. Today's been productive."

Denki laughs. "Man, this kid's fearless. Tokoyami, where've you been hiding him?"

"Behind thick walls and multiple locks," I mutter darkly.

Tsuki's eyes glint with mischief, and before I can stop him, he points dramatically at Denki.
"Hey, Pikachu!"

Denki blinks. "Uh, yeah?"

Tsuki smirks. "Do you ever just... forget what you were doing and stand still for a whole minute because your brain short-circuited?"

Mina snorts with laughter, clutching her stomach.

"Wow," Denki mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's... that's accurate, actually."

"And you!" Tsuki whirls on Mina. "You ever feel like you've got glitter in your soul, but it's all powered by bad decisions?"

Mina gasps, laughing so hard she almost drops her phone. "Okay, how does he know this?!"

"It's a gift," Tsuki says solemnly.

Just as things start spiraling out of control, I spot the real problem.

Bakugo is back. And he's charging toward us like a missile locked on target.

"Uh-oh," I say, nudging Tsuki.

Tsuki turns, sees Bakugo, and grins. "Perfect timing."

"No, Tsuki," I hiss. "No more—"

But it's too late.

Tsuki plants his feet, raises his ice cream cone like a sword, and yells:
"EN GARDE, POMERANIAN!"

Bakugo's eyes widen in disbelief. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Before Bakugo can react, Tsuki dramatically throws his ice cream cone straight at him.

The mint chocolate chip arcs through the air... and lands squarely on Bakugo's forehead with a cold, sticky splat.

The entire world freezes.

For one glorious second, Bakugo stands there in stunned silence, ice cream dripping down his face.

Then... boom.

Bakugo explodes—not literally, but emotionally. His face twists in pure rage, and for a moment, I see my life flash before my eyes.

Tsuki grabs my hand and yells, "Time to run!"

And just like that, we're sprinting again.

"YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Bakugo roars, explosions blasting from his palms as he chases us down the street.

"Totally worth it!" Tsuki yells over his shoulder, laughing like a maniac.

"TSUKI, I SWEAR—" I start, but I'm too busy dodging fireballs to finish the sentence.

Mina and Denki are left standing by the ice cream truck, howling with laughter as Bakugo's rampage echoes in the distance.

Mina wipes tears from her eyes. "That kid... is a legend."

Denki nods solemnly. "We should all strive to be more like Tsuki."

Meanwhile, Tsuki and I weave through the streets, dodging explosions and yelling apologies to bystanders as we flee for our lives.

Dark Shadow floats beside us, cackling uncontrollably. "This is the best day ever!"

"IT IS NOT!" I shout, narrowly avoiding another blast.

Tsuki grins up at me mid-sprint. "So... was this better than a boring day at UA?"

I glare at him, panting. "Ask me again if we survive."

"Deal." Tsuki winks, then pulls ahead, leaving me to wonder how much worse things can possibly get.

Spoiler: It's going to get much worse.

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