Class representative meetings were always welcomed in Iida's eyes. Yaoyorozu and Kendou were wonderful friends that always had amazing ideas on how to improve the quality of life for the students of UA high. He felt that the three of them together could probably tackle any problem that was thrown into their direction.
After a while, he noticed something rather peculiar. The way Kendou and Yaoyorozu looked at each other had changed. There was a glint in their eyes everytime they had a conversation. He caught the both of them stealing glances when they thought the other wasn't looking. Yes, despite his personality the speedster did know how to read people. His wonderful older brother taught him quite a bit about how to read people and infer what they were thinking. Apparently, it really helps in the field.
He was happy for the two of them. Both of them were good friends and they had an undeniable chemistry even before he noticed their apparent attraction to each other. There was a problem however, it had been weeks since they've shown signs of being attracted to one another and neither of them made an attempt to advance their relationships.
It was frustrating to watch. Don't get him wrong, it was quite adorable watching those two of them be so captivated with each other. But after a while it just became baffling to observe. Were they both unaware of the other's feelings towards them? Eventually he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Iida and frequently invited Yaoyorozu to re-arrange books in the school library properly. It was something they both enjoyed because it helped them catch up on various matters. Kendou barely found time to attend since she frequently had to reign in on the antics of her classmates. Well, just one of her classmates- that egotistical one that could temporarily purloin quirks. The poor fool probably had an intense crush on Kendou and he's acting like an idiot in attempt to spend some time with her. It was pretty sad.
Iida and Yaoyorozu finished properly arranging the books in quicker than they had expected so they took the time to relax in the empty library. The two sat on table discussing school, hobbies, and other kinds of small talk. Things took a turn when Iida bought up Kendou.
"Do you have any romantic feelings towards towards Kendou?" He was 99% sure that she did but he always accounted for the margin of error.
Yaoyorozu choked on the tea she was drinking and Iida regretted asking her the question while she was taking a catching her breath, Yaoyorozu took a moment to think about what she was going to say. She could try lying and denying her crush but she knew Iida wouldn't have bought it up unless he knew for certain. She had to come clean.
"I...do harbour feelings towards Kendou. Feelings that go beyond just friendship." she steeled herself for a rant on how such relationships only lead to trouble.
"It's good that you admitted it."
"Wait, are you not going to lecture me about this? Surely the UA guidebook forbides such relationships?"
He shook his head "I have checked, that policy was abolished years ago. Turns out that forbidding teens from doing such things leads to quite a few problems. Why did you think I showed no protest when Midoriya and Ashido formed a relationship?"
"I always assumed that you disregarded those rules since you were close to Midoriya…"
"Well if those rules were still in place I would disregard them." he noticed Yaoyorozu look at him with disbelief in her eyes "Yes, I can't believe I'm saying that either but it's true. Forbidding teenagers from dating to prevent any potential problems will only cause more severe problems. So if you're worried about breaking any rules, you really don't have to."
"That's...good to hear."
"So are you going to ask her out on a date?"
"I...I can't."
Iida's face scrunched up in confusion "Why not?"
"Because I'm afraid of what might happen. Kendou is an amazing person and I don't want to ruin anything between us. What if I ask her out and she rejects me? I don't think we can remain friends with that awkward tension between us. What if things work out wonderfully and she says yes to my proposal but then we drift apart and break up? It's just too much of a risk…
Iida sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Is that really what's preventing you from pursuing your desires? If you keep thinking like that than every time you look at Kendou you're always going to think "what if I did things differently" and that's a terrible feeling."
"It's understandable that you're afraid of your feelings towards one of your closest friends. Anyone else would have similar reservations so don't be too hard on yourself. The notions of rejection and regret are terrifying as well and it's alright to be hesitant. But...sometimes it takes a little pain to grow."
"E-Excuse me?"
"It's hard to explain but sometimes the mistakes you make; the ones that hurt you immensely and make you question your choices. What you gain from those experiences will make you a better person."
Yaoyorozu noticed that Iida took a cursory glance at his left arm as he spoke to her. He looked a bit remorseful but then he looked into her eyes and smiled before speaking again. "And your growth as a person will allow you to do things that your old self would never dream of."
"That was...quite the speech."
"I Hope it helped."
"It did actually. You're right, I should confess my feelings to Kendou. It's not healthy to let my feelings fester like some sort of cancer."
"Well I wouldn't compare feelings of affection to cancer but you do have the right idea." they both chuckled at Yaoyorozu's odd simile
"The only problem is that I don't know an appropriate time to tell her…"
"Why don't you do it during one of our class rep meetings? I'll conveniently excuse myself and that'll give you a perfect opportunity to talk to her in private."
"That's a sound idea. Thank you for your willingness to help."
"It's the least I could do for a friend."
The wait for the next class meeting was both exciting and terrifying for Yaoyorozu. She wanted to tell Kendou exactly how she felt but her fears of what the future might hold still lingered in her being. She never had the best self confidence and that often made her second guess herself. Iida's speech about growth echoed in her mind. She shouldn't avoid her anxieties lest she stay a fearful fool throughout her life.
Kendou was surprised that Yaoyorozu opted to arrive at the meeting with Iida instead of hanging out with her like usual. She didn't know that the two were discussing their plan to bring her and Yaoyorozu together. After the three exchanged pleasantries they began to talk about their usual subjects- extra curricular activities, the physical and mental wellbeing of their classmate and other regular topics.
"Ah! I almost forgot that I promised Midnight that I will assist her in moving some heavy materials around this time today!"
"Oh yes, I remember I was there when Midnight asked you. I think you should go now."
"You're right Yaoyorozu, it would terrible if I shook our teachers faith in us. I apologize that I must leave now." He bowed to the two women before walking out of the room.
Kendou had no idea what the hell had just happened. It wasn't like Iida to just plan to do something during class rep meeting time. Then again, Midnight would ask someone like Iida to help her, probably to tease him. She always did stuff like that convince herself that she still "got it" as people pointed out that she was getting older and she still had no significant other.
She also didn't get how weird Iida and Yaomomo were acting. Iida was really hammy when he talked about helping Midnight while Yaomomo sounded like an actor in a school play. It was as if they planned for Iida to leave for whatever reason. Her heart fluttered at the idea of Yaomomo wanting to be alone with her but she quickly dismissed those thoughts.
Cool it girl, don't let your crazy theories get your hopes up
Kendou was so enamoured in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed the other woman in the room walk closer to her.
"Hello Kendou"
"Uh...hi?"
Why was Yaoyorozu greeting her again?
"So...how's it going?"
"It's going great" this was a weird time for smalltalk
"Would it be possible for you to engage in an activity with me this Saturday?"
Wait, what? Kendou froze in shock. Did Yaoyorozu really just ask her out? Yeah, it wasn't the most normal way to propose a date but Yaoyorozu wasn't a normal girl.
"Did...did you just ask me out?"
"Yes...I know this is sudden but I've been enamoured with you for quite some time. I thought that I would be satisfied with admiring you from afar and I didn't want to ask you out because I felt if I did it would inadvertently decimate our friendship. But I just couldn't handle not being express my feelings."
Kendou put her hand on Yaoyorozu's shoulder "You know, I feel the same way. I guess I was also scared of taking the plunge and asking you out. I guess it's because I've burned from asking some girls out in the past when I thought they were interested but they didn't exactly…"
Yaoyorozu realized what she was talking about- incompatible orientation. It must have been embarrassing for her.
"I guess that's the reason why I didn't ask you out earlier Momo. I wasn't sure if you had felt the same way."
"Well...I do"
Kendou giggled, a sound that always made Yaoyorozu smile "yeah, I get it."
"So do you want to go on a date with me?"
"Okay, "date" sounds way better than "engage in an activity", Momo."
Yaoyorozu's cheeks turned red "yes it does."
"But a date with you sounds great! So, where do you want to go?"
"I know this wonderful cafe that you will absolutely adore..."
Once again, Iida found himself volunteering in the library. He had just finished scraping the gum off the bottom of some tables (a practice that he still found disgusting) and was now preparing on putting back the books that belonged in the top shelf.
He was pleased to know that Yaoyorozu asked Kendou out on a date and she said yes. The two of them were good people and they deserved each other. He was also happy that he helped a fellow student with her feels and insecurities. It always felt good to help someone out.
"Hey Iida!"
"Kendou? What are you doing here?"
"Well you always volunteer to clean this place up with Yaomomo but since she's helping Tooru and Jirou with their english project I thought it would suck for you to do this work all alone."
"Ah, so you've come to assist me?"
"Well, you've been a good wingman for Yaomomo so I thought it would be the least I could do…"
Kendou watched as Iida's eyes widened in shock before his face morphed into a smile "Ah...so you were aware of our plan."
"It wasn't hard to crack the case. You would never plan to do something if it fell on the same time as the class rep meetings."
"Excellent deduction skills."
"What are you doing up there anyway?"
"Someone has to put the books that belong on the top of the selves where they belong. Thankfully every aisle has a ladder."
"Let me get up there with you. I could carry a lot more books."
Just then, Iida's phone buzzed. "Can you please get my phone, Kendou? It's on the table near you."
"Sure thing." When Kendou went to grab the cellular device she almost yelped in surprise. Someone sent Iida a message alright and they didn't account for the fact that Iida's phone might not have been on his person.
Climbing a second ladder to reach Iida, kendou gave him a suggestion. "Hey Iida, might want to try making your text messages private until you unlock your phone."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"So you can prevent other people from seeing this"
Iida nertly fell off the ladder he was on when Kendou showed him what was on his phone screen. It was a message that was sent from his girlfriend, Camie with a picture attached.
Camie: hey babe, how do you like my new bra?
Kendou almost died laughing when she watched Iida's face go through a range of emotions. "She's pretty cute...and she's stacked. Didn't know you were a boob guy."
Iida gave her a dry look "Yes...well, I'm going to take your advice."
"So...you guys send pictures like this to each other often?"
"This conversation is over"
