"After the Spotlight Fades"

As we continued to chat, Mina suddenly excused herself, her eyes scanning the room until they landed on Kirishima. She strode over to him, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Hey, Kirishima, when is your date with Vesper? She's been waiting." I watched in amusement as Kirishima's face turned bright red, his eyes darting around the room as if searching for an escape. I couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction. Mina, however, seemed entirely serious, her expression inquiring. Kirishima cleared his throat, trying to play it cool, but it was clear he was flustered. "Uh, I...I don't know, Mina. We haven't really talked about it." Mina raised an eyebrow, her voice teasing. "Oh, come on, Kirishima. You're not going to leave Vesper hanging, are you?" I decided to intervene, not wanting to see Kirishima get any more flustered. I strode over to Mina, a grin on my face. "MinAAAA, leave him alone." I playfully dragged Mina back to our group, where Ochaco and Froppy were waiting with interest. "Hey, guys, let's not pick on Kirishima too much, okay?" Mina pouted good-naturedly, but eventually settled back into our conversation, regaling us with more stories of her adventures. As we chatted, I couldn't help but steal glances at Kirishima, who was still looking a bit flustered. Vesper, the mysterious girl he had been talking to, was a bit of an enigma, and I wondered what their story was. For now, though, I was happy to just enjoy the easy camaraderie of our group, and let Kirishima deal with his own drama. The conversation flowed easily, with Froppy making us all laugh with her impressions, and Ochaco sharing her own stories of the support course. As we talked, I felt a sense of contentment wash over me, grateful for these friends of mine, and the simple joys of everyday life. But as the evening wore on, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to come, and that our peaceful little bubble was about to be disrupted in some way.