It was weird being the only person in the common area.

That was Izuku Midoriya's singular thought as he plopped on one of the couches. Usually this place would be filled with his classmates just hanging out but now it was completely empty. It was the beginning of the weekend and class had just ended so he should have expected less than the usual amount of people.

But the fact that nobody else was here besides him bought some very bitter memories from back before he had his quirk.

He quickly shook off those awful thoughts. He wasn't a quirkless target of ridicule anymore, no he was the successor of All Might. Not only that, he also had some genuine friends that just happened to all be busy today.

Midoriya was actually shocked that every member of his usual circle of friends was preoccupied at the moment. Sure, he knew that Uraraka was a on date with Bakugou (the notion of one of the sweetest people he knew dating Bakugou was equal parts terrifying and adorable) since she told them all she wouldn't be available on Friday

Todoroki decided to visit his mother again out of the blue today. Tsuyu also had to babysit her younger siblings since her parents had to leave for an emergency business meeting. The two oldest members of the Asui family promised that they would make it up to her for saving their butts at the last minute like she tended to do.

As for Iida, he had disappeared again. Midoriya's bespectacled close friend and staunch ally had recently picked up a habit of vanishing without a trace whenever he wasn't in class or performing his duties as class president. Everyone in the group (and a number of his other classmates) noticed his odd change of behavior but they didn't want to comment on it. Besides, Iida was a responsible person so there's no way he would be getting in trouble.

Midoriya slumped further along the couch. Everyone else had something to do today while he was stuck in the dorms doing absolutely nothing. He pulled out the latest issue of Hero Magazine and began catching up to all the reading he had missed.

Midoriya was ten pages into his reading when he heard a loud groan. It was his classmate, Mina Ashido. Midoriya was surprised that she would still be here since she was amongst the more social members of Class 1A.

"A-Ashido? I can't believe you're still here!"

Mina flopped face first into the adjacent couch and groaned something unintelligible before turning towards him. "All my friends are doing something else!"

Midoriya nodded sympathetically "You too, huh?"

Mina got up and looked at Midoriya quizzically "I didn't expect that all your friends had plans that didn't involve you…"

Midoriya shrugged. "Tsuyu is babysitting her sisters and Todoroki is visiting his mother. I already knew Uraraka was going on a date with Kacchan-"

A pang of sympathy went through Mina's heart. Everyone knew just how perfect Uraraka and Midoriya were for each other. They were both so precious and adorable. They also spent so much time together that it was almost guaranteed that they would become a happy couple.

That was until Bakugou somehow managed to steal her away from Midoriya. A lot of people felt so bad for Midoriya after that happened.

"I'm sorry that Uraraka left you for Bakugou…"

"Uh...I guess? I mean she did tell us that her and Kacchan were going out today so…"

"No, Midori...I'm sorry that her and Bakugou are a thing…"

Midoriya's eyes narrowed in confusion "I mean...I don't like Kacchan but it seems kinda of mean to feel sorry for Uraraka-"

Mina cut him off by standing up and sympathetically putting a hand on his shoulder "Listen...it's okay to feel some resentment. Nobody will get mad at you, alright?"

"What are you talking…?" Midoriya's eyes widened in realization "Oh no! I think you got the wrong idea between me and Uraraka!" Midoriya waved his hands frantically "We...We're just friends and we've always been just friends, okay?"

"So, you don't like her?"

Midoriya violently shook his head "I get that we hang out a lot and that makes us look like that but we just are friends. Besides, with that logic that would mean me and Todoroki were in love but nobody believes that, right?

Mina silently crossed option B on her list of Midoriya's love interests.

Still, the revelation that Midoriya and Uraraka did not have feelings for each other made Mina question how good her matchmaking skills were. It also made her question who Midoriya's actual crush was on. With Uraraka (and Todoroki) out of the running that gave her no other logical candidates. This was beginning to get a bit more interesting. The logical part of her realized that she shouldn't be too into Midoriya's dating life but when has she ever listened to that part?

"Uh...so where's the remaining member of your squad? The class prez?"

"I don't know...you've noticed how Iida's been vanishing a lot lately, right?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. It's actually freaking me out."

"I'm mean, I'm not freaked out. I'm kinda curious as to what he's doing but I don't think we should be worried or anything."

"What if he's seeing like a secret girlfriend or something? That would be- Pffhahaha!" Mina couldn't finish that sentence without giggling at the absurdity of such a notion. "You know, she's a pretty thick girl called "Advanced Organic Chemistry"

Midoriya couldn't help but laugh at her (admittedly mean spirited) joke. "So...why are you sitting all alone in the common room?"

"Same story, I guess. All of my usual friends had plans. Yaomomo is on a date with Jirou and Tooru is on a date with Shouji."

"Tooru and Shouji?"

Mina grinned "Crazy right? Tooru always wanted to stand out and what better to stand out than dating Shouji! But seriously, we were shocked when Tooru announced she was dating him at first. After thinking about it for a couple of moments it really made sense. Shouji is a pretty good guy and the two already spent a lot of time together since they both have more recon type quirks."

"Makes sense"

"Kaminari and Kirishima are also watching a movie together. Those jerks didn't even ask me if I wanted to join them!" Mina punctuated her statement by crossing her arms and huffing in mock outrage.

"I guess we're birds of a feather, huh?"

Mina put a finger up to her chin which made her look like she was contemplating something important. Then she suddenly shot her fist in the air, a gesture that made a startled Midoriya flinch

"I know what we can do!"

"W-We?"

The fist that was now in the air was now pointing in Midoriya's direction "That's right! Going to the mall by yourself is one of the lamest things a person could do, don't you know that Midori?"

"...I went to the mall alone a lot of times."

Mina acted like she didn't hear Midoriya "Yup, the night is still young my friend and we are gonna enjoy the start of our weekend!"

"I...I was actually reading a magazine…"

Mina blew a raspberry in response to his objection "We read stuff all the time, Midori! Let's do something different!"

Without waiting for his response, mina grabbed his hand and lead him out the doors.

"...So, do you have a plan for what to do or…?"

Mina giggled once again "Plan? Midori, this is the mall! What's the point of having a plan? We just walk around until we find a sweet place to check out!"

Midoriya shrugged and let her guide him through Kiyashi Ward mall. They wandered aimlessly for what seemed to be an eternity until Mina stopped and looked at a store with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Let's go over there!"

Midoriya felt the colour drain from his face when he saw exactly which store Mina was pointing at. The brightly lit neon sign that read "SUMMER SENSATIONS" told Midoriya all he needed to know about the place.

"Y-You wanna try out s-swimsuits?"

"Duh! Summer's coming soon Midoriya, and we both have to look our best to impress! C'mon let's go!"

Midoriya was looking through the selection of swim trunks desperately trying to keep his cool. This trip went from a zero to a thousand on his anxiety meter real quick. Buying swimsuits...With Mina. This is not how he pictured his Friday was going to go. He just hoped that he wouldn't-

"Hey Midori!"

"Ahh! Oh...you kinda surprised me there."

Mina nervously rubbed the back of her head "Sorry 'bout that. Was just too hyped to notice! So, you pick anything out?"

Midoriya held up a simple dark green pair of swim trunks "I guess this is good enough…"

"Kinda boring but I like the fact that you stuck with the green!" she pointed to his hair "It's a good colour for you!"

Against his better judgement, Midoriya asked what Mina intended to purchase.

The mischievous smile returned to her face as she held up a bright blue two-piece swimsuit.

"I bet this'll look really good on me! What do you think, Midori?"

"I...t-think it would like n-nice…"

Mina bought a finger to her lip inquisitively "Hmm...there's no way of knowing unless we try them on! So, you wanna go first or do you want to take a look at me?" She asked with a teasing smile.

Midoriya went catatonic

"Too late! Since you're taking like, hours to decide, I'll do it instead! How about you go first?"

Midoriya snapped out of his catatonia "wait, what?"

Mina dragged him near the men's changing room "tell me when you're done, 'kay? I want to see how stylish the green looks like on you!"

Midoriya wondered how he got into this mess as he stripped himself of his clothes and out on the trunks that he randomly picked out. Before going out in front of the no doubt scrutinizing eyes of Mina, he checked himself out in front of the mirror. His extended time with One for All gave him a sort of confidence that he never had before. For the past couple of weeks, Midoriya found himself posing in front of the mirror in his dorm room more often than not. He remembered the scrawny loser that once looked back at him and marveled at how he morphed into a scar covered warrior of justice.

He just hoped it would be good enough for Mina.

"Holy crap, Midori!" Mina felt her cheeks heat up as she gave her friend an applause. "I knew you were strong but those muscles are something else!"

Midoriya looked down in embarrassment and chuckled "it's nothing really."

"You kidding me?! You gotta show off those guns of yours more!" She leaned in close to whisper in his ear "because between you and me, I'm not the only one who likes what she's seeing…" she finished her statement with a discrete finger point behind her.

Following her finger, Izuku noticed a gaggle of teens behind Mina gawk at him. Some of them were blushing, while others were nodding in approval.

"I bet the only reason why they're not hitting on you is because they think we're a couple! How crazy is that?"

"Uh...very?"

Mina raised an eyebrow "hey, if I see this every day, I wouldn't mind…" she punctuated her sentence with a playful faux-growl.

"Uh... shouldn't I get changed? Don't you have to show me your swimsuit?"

"Wow Midoriya, never thought you'd be so eager to see me in a bikini! I'm starting to wonder if planned this…"

"Wait a minute! You're the one that brought me here!"

Mina snorted "I was just messing with you, ya goofball!" She then batted her eyelashes "but who knows...maybe I did bring you here to get a good look at you…"

"Wait, what?!"

"Are you gonna get changed or not?"

"Oh...right!"

The duo now found their roles reversed. Midoriya was now outside the changing room looking forward-er, waiting for Mina to come out so he could see her swimwear while Mina was posing in front of the mirror.

I can't believe I care so much about how Midori thinks I look. She thought with a giggle. I wish I could film his reaction"

As soon as she pulled back the curtains to show her outfit off, Midoriya's jaw dropped. If his cheeks felt any hotter he would probably assume he somehow developed Todoroki's quirk.

Midoriya never thought about before but Mina was extremely attractive. A part of him finally understood what went through Kaminari's head when he talked about girls. Mina looked utterly gorgeous in the swimsuit which come to think of it, looked a lot skimpier than the one she picked out beforehand. Did she swap it out when he wasn't looking?"

Mina was elated that she elicited such a response from Midoriya. She always assumed that he was part of the no "no sex drive" gang that consisted of him, Bakugou, Iida, and Todoroki. To be fair, Bakugou's relationship with Uraraka already knocked him out of that gang. Having Midoriya of all people think you look good was basically proof that you were hot!

It didn't hurt that he proved to be quite the stud underneath those clothes…

Mina decided to tease him some more by doing a bunch of "sexy" poses. Not only did she have the attention of Midoriya but she seemed garner the attention of several older onlookers as well.

"Looking good, babe!"

"Holy shit dude, is that your girl?! Fucking legend!"

Mina jumped at the opportunity that random guy gave her. She threw an arm around Midoriya's shoulder and gave the other guys winks "That's right! Sorry boys, this girl's off the market!"

Midoriya managed to whisper "Mina, what are you doing?!" to which Mina gave him a perfect response "Just play along with it, don't want these guys following me around…"

"Okay…" Midoriya stopped whispering "Yeah, I'm so lucky to have her as a girlfriend!" his voice dropped back into a whisper "quick, change back so we could buy this stuff and get out of here!"

As the two exited the store, bags in hand Mina spoke to Midoriya.

"Thanks for going along with my plan, those guys kinda creeped me out"

"Don't mention it...I didn't like them either."

"I'm impressed that you didn't freak out when I called you my boyfriend! Is it because you didn't mind it?"

Midoriya chuckled weakly "I've been through way too much stuff for something like that to freak me out!"

"Really?"

"Okay, I was internally having a meltdown but two months ago I would've turned into puddle of anxiety; So, I guess this is progress?"

Mina clapped sarcastically "I'm proud of you, Midori"

"Very funny...What do you want to do next?"

"There's a sweet arcade downstairs, you up for it?"

"Sure, I'm not that good at most games since I spend all my time...studying."

"Midori, it's the beginning of the weekend, please don't mention the "S word" okay?"

"The "S word"? I thought you improved your grades?"

"Going from failing to just barely passing isn't much of an improvement…" Midoriya noticed that the ever present "bounce" in Mina's demeanor had disappeared. He had never seen her so crestfallen. A familiar feeling flared within him, it was something that he felt when he witnessed Bakugou get kidnapped by that Slime villain, and when he fought Todoroki in the Sports Festival, and when he saw Iida broken down in front of Stain.

He needed to help Mina

"We're going to start studying together starting tomorrow. We're going to work until you reach a grade you'd be proud of!"

"Wow Midori, how forward of you…"

Midoriya rubbed the back of his head nervously "S-sorry about that...if I have a chance to help someone, I tend to go overboard…"

"I think it's kinda cute and I just might take you up on that offer. You know, tomorrow. Right now, it's time to hit the arcade!"

Midoriya and Mina entered the brightly lit cavalcade of games and quickly looked around to see what they should play.

"How about the Dance Dance Revolution machine?"

"No offense Midori but between the Cultural Festival and what I do in my free time, dancing sounds like a chore now."

"I understand where you're coming from. I'm integrating some capoeira into my fighting style and I'm a little sick of it too."

"How about a fighting game?"

"You know how to play them?"

"Not that well but Kiri gave me some pointers, you?"

"Iida's a huge fan of them and he taught me to play. I wasn't really listening to his lessons since uh, I wasn't really interested."

"I bet that you'd do great! Come on, let's dump our quarters in and play this thing!"

Once the selected their characters they spent the entirety of the first round looking at the on-screen controls to find out what do to. They wasted so much time that it ended up a draw.

The second round consisted of Mina just button mashing while Midoriya attempted to follow the motions directed to him. Mina won the second round handedly by just laying low and spamming the low kicks.

The final round ended not much different than the first- with Midoriya wondering what the hell a double circle input was while Mina just kept jumping and attacking.

The green haired teen insisted on playing a couple more rounds and Mina was amazed to see just how aggravated Midoriya got as she kept beating him by just mashing buttons. She never seen such a frustrated scowl from him before and she found it hilarious.

"What the hell, I did the super move!"

Seeing Midoriya actually voice his frustrations over his continued lack of success was the straw that broke the camel's back for her and she started laughing heartily.

Midoriya realized that he actually let his temper get the best of him over a fighting game. He endured years of bullying from Bakugou and countless hours of (figurative) bone breaking training and (literal) bone breaking moves from his newly acquired quirk.

...and he ends up losing his temper over a fighting game. What the hell.

You good for another round?"

"I think I should lay off for now…"

"That's good to hear because I'm really hungry! Wanna grab a bite?"

"Sure!"

The two of them managed to return to the dorms just before curfew hit. In true Mina fashion, she opened the door to the common room with a swift kick with Midoriya trailing behind her. The loud noise made everyone turn their heads to the source and they were all a bit surprised to see Mina and Midoriya arrive together.

Mina made a beeline straight to Jirou, Tooru, Tsuyu, and Momo to brag about the day she had with Midoriya.

"...So anyway, we're gonna start studying together starting tomorrow."

Momo put a hand to her face and whispered "Oh my" while Jirou started snarking at her friend "Sounds like you and Midoriya had a lot of fun today…"

"Yeah, we didn't buy that much, only some swimsuits for the summer. Girl's gotta be prepared for the season, you know?"

"Did Midoriya get a sneak peek?"

"He actually did"

Tooru choked on her drink while Jirou and Yaoyorozu's eyes widened in surprise. Tsuyu still had the same unreadable expression on her face.

"It's cool though, I saw him in a pair of trunks so we're even." at this point Tooru doubled over laughing while Jirou applauded while praising Mina. Yaoyorozu also appeared quite proud of Mina's accomplishment.

Tsuyu just walked over to where Midoriya was- talking to Iida and Uraraka. Bakugou was there as well but he just seemed interested in teasing Iida.

"Midoriya, I'm surprised that you spent an entire day with Ashido. I wasn't aware that you two were so close."

"Yeah Deku! I don't think I've ever saw you talk to her before!"
"Well actually...Uh, this is the first time-"

He was interrupted by Tsuyu "Midoriya, I heard that you and Mina saw each other in your swimsuits and that you two are going to study together. Is this correct?"

Bakugou started laughing "Holy shit, are you and Racoon eyes dating now!"

Uraraka was a lot more encouraging, and she started pumping her fist in the air "ignore Katsuki, go get em Deku!"

Iida was calmer than either of them "I'm happy for you two but remember it's your duty to keep the reputation of this school shining. Please don't do anything hasty-"

"That's fucking rich coming from you Four eyes! Why don't you shut the fuck up and let those two be lame by themselves? It's not like Deku's gonna get any action!"

"Did you just defend me?"

Iida smirked "Guess starting a relationship with Uraraka really did improve his attitude"

Bakugou scowled "If you that think me dating Ochako is making me soft then you got another-" Uraraka kissed him on the cheek, ending his rant before speaking to Midoriya

"Looks like it was good that we all ended up not being here today. I guess that you're gonna be spending a lot of time with Ashido now, eh Deku?"

"I wish the both of you the best"

"I don't give a shit but Raccoon eyes is cool I guess...and I'd rather have her dating a nerd like you than a freak like that Grapist"

"Guys...I haven't really asked her out yet-"

"Then what the fuck are you waiting for!? Just ask her before it's too late, you dumbass! Don't fucking flake on her, we all saw you do actual brave shit so if you cower out of this I'm gonna fuck you up"

Midoriya let out a defeated sigh. He knew that Bakugou was right when he told him that he couldn't be indecisive about this. He gave the three of them one last nod before walking up to Mina.

"Ashido, I just want to ask you-"

"We're dating, right? Like I thought that since we had so much fun today and then you invited me to some regular "private studying sessions" we're a thing now. I don't want to get the wrong impression but…"

"Yeah...I guess we are dating."

"That's good because you're pretty cool. Good thing we both had nothing to do today, huh?"

Midoriya smile "Yes...yes it is"