A/N: Part 1 of this story (the idea) shows three different versions of how they got into this situation (because I couldn't pick just one.) Parts 2 and 3 are chronological.

Part I: The Idea

(Shinso Version)

They were all in Midoriya's room. Midoriya was sitting on the edge of the bed, just barely staying off his feet as he spoke rapid fire to Hatsume, sitting in his desk chair. She was sitting backwards in the chair, her arms folded over the back and her eyes lit up with excitement as she chattered with Izuku about quirks.

Shinso was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed, slouching so much that he was almost laying down. He had his face practically buried in his phone as he scrolled through various social media sights and half listened to their chatter. They were talking so quickly and so excitedly that he could hardly discern the words, but the blanket of noise was oddly comforting.

"Hey," he said as an idea came to him. "Let's bake a cake."

They didn't hear him. Here he was with the best idea ever and no one was even listening to him. He huffed, pushing himself up and crawling closer to them. He held his hand up between them and snapped a few time to catch their attention.

"Huh?" Midoriya jumped and blinked a few times before he focused on Shinso, deflating as his end of the conversation died off. It didn't effect Hatsume. She continued on as if Midoriya hadn't abruptly stopped talking and Shinso wasn't blatantly trying to get her attention. Shinso glared at her, but he knew that wouldn't make much of a difference. "What is it, Shinso?" Midoriya asked.

"Let's bake a cake," He repeated.

"A...cake?"

"Yeah," Shinso nodded. "I have a craving."

"Um, okay," Midoriya agreed. There was confusion on his face, but he was smiling as earnestly as ever.

Shinso pointed at Hatsume. "She can come, too. If you want."

Midoriya laughed. He reached out to push on Hatsume's shoulder playfully. "Come on, don't ignore him."

"I wasn't ignoring him," She said. "I hadn't finished my thought yet."

Shinso rolled his eyes. "Your thought was several paragraphs worth of text?"

"I have well formed opinions."

"Whatever," Shinso said. "Let's go."

(Hatsume Version)

Hatsume had one passion and it wasn't just inventing things like everyone thought. Hatsume's passion was innovation. She saw something and she wanted to find a way to make it better. How could she make it work more smoothly? How could she make something more convenient? What if she made it faster, or stronger, or bigger? This was Mei's passion.

Usually she had tunnel vision when it came to creating new things, but sometimes other people inspired her.

"Wow, Mei, is there anything you can't make?" She's spent two days making something to help this girl improve her fire quirk, but she couldn't remember her name at all.

"I haven't met a problem that I haven't beaten yet," Hatsume told her.

The girl laughed.

Her friend, some gen ed girl whose quirk was little more than a physical mutation, also laughed. "People that are really good at things like this usually suck at real skills."

"Real skills?" Hatsume repeated. Most things people said about her didn't bother her, especially if they happened to be true, but this annoyed her. They came to her for help and then had the nerve to imply that she didn't have "real" skills.

"You know, like cooking and stuff."

"Don't be rude," the fire quirk girl said, pushing her friend from the room.

"What? It's true!" The girl insisted before pushed out the door.

Hatsume didn't usually feel like she needed to prove things to other people and aside from being annoyed that her talents were being belittled, she didn't feel like she needed to prove anything this time either. But it was a challenge and Hatsume wasn't afraid of a challenge. Cooking couldn't be that hard. In fact, she was fairly certain that she could improve the process somehow.

Her eagerness lead her to leave the lab immediately. She went to the gen ed dorms, knocking loudly on Shinso's door.

He only opened it a crack and she stared at one bloodshot, sleep deprived eye. "What?"

"I want to bake a cake!" she announced excitedly.

He stared at her for moment, then he slammed the door in her face. Shinso could be so grumpy sometimes. She banged on his door again, but he didn't answer it again. If she wanted to, she could probably get his door open. He wouldn't appreciate that, though. Not after last time.

She left and came back twenty minutes later with Midoriya. She let him knock on the door and when she Shinso answered it this time, she pushed the door all the way open.

"I want to bake a cake!" she announced for a second time.

"Fuck, Hatsume!" Shinso swore, glaring at her with beary eyes. "You almost threw that door into my face."

"Wait, you want to do what?" Midoriya asked.

"You brought her here and you didn't even ask why?" Shinso groaned.

"I... didn't think I needed to?" Midoriya answered sheepishly, smiling nervously at him. Hatsume could see the moment that smile made Shinso crack and then the moment afterwards where he was annoyed for being swayed. He blew out an irritated breathe and glared at her.

"Why do you want to bake a cake?" Shinso asked. "You won't eat on a regular schedule but you're willing to bake an entire cake?"

"I want to improve the process," she told him.

"Do you even know how to bake a cake, first off, before you go trying to 'improve the process?'" Shinso asked.

She was undaunted by his lack of enthusiasm. "It can't be that hard."

Shinso looked like he was about to lose it, which was why Midoriya stepped between them with a large grin. "I bet we can do it together," he told them.

Hatsume grinned widely. Having Midoriya on her side guaranteed a win against Shinso.

Shinso just sighed deeply. "I hate this already," he said.

"But you'll help us?" Midoriya asked.

Shinso had turned his long suffering sighs into an art. An art that was sadly lost on them most of the time. "I'll help."

"Yes!" Hatsume exclaimed. "Victory is assured."

(Izuku Version)

Izuku was sitting at his desk when the door opened. He looked up to see Hatsume's greasy smile and Shinso on her heels, hand in a bag of chips.

"Your door is unlocked," Shinso told him as he sat on Izuku's bed.

Hatsume had the good grace to remain standing. "Hey, Midoriya."

Midoriya smiled at her. "Hello, Hatsume. And I know my door was unlocked. I left it open for you two." He looked back at Hatsume again. "I, uh, was expecting to have you in better condition, Hatsume."

Hatsume shrugged. "I was doing some last minute upgrades and it would have taken way too much time to stop by my dorm and shower, so I thought I'd just do it tomorrow."

"To-tomorrow?" He stuttered. "You can't stay that way all day."

"Why not?" She shrugged.

Shinso laughed and shook his head. "Why do we let this grease monkey hang out with us?"

"Hatsume, I'm making a new rule that you can't come into my room without showering first," Izuku told her.

"That's more of a hindrance to you than it is to me," she replied.

He sighed. Deeply. Hatsume was a handful and a half.

"So what did you want?" Shinso asked.

"Right." Izuku smiled. "My mom's birthday is coming up soon and I wanted to bake her cake. I was hoping that you two would be willing to help me make a practice cake?" His statement tuned into a question halfway through and he smiled at them imploringly.

"I've never made a device to help with cooking before," Hatsume mumbled, placing a hand on her chin as she began to think.

"No, that's not what I meant," he told her.

"You realize that this is going to be a diaster, right?" Shinso asked. "Hatsume probably lives off of cup noodles and take out, and I've never baked a day in my life."

"I've baked before," Izuku told them. "I'm just a little out of practice... and I haven't done it on my own before, but I know what to do! Mostly."

"Read my lips, Midoriya." Shinso sat forward and pointed to his mouth as he enunciated his words carefully, "Di-sas-ter."

"Of course I'll help you, Midoriya! This is a great opportunity to test out-"

"No," Shinso interrupted her. "You go back to your dorm and shower before you even talk to us again."

"Ugh! Who has time for that?" she groaned.

"You do," Shinso insisted. "Now shoo."

"I have to agree with Shinso on this one," Izuku said. "You can't really cook if your hands are covered in grease stains."

"I'll wash my hands," She told them.

"Wash your body, you filthy creature!" Shinso yelled, throwing his nearly empty chip bag at her.

Part II: The Location

(1-A Dorms)

"Midoriya, your dorms are kinda crowded," Hatsume said.

The kitchen area was alread crowded, the couches full, and she was pretty sure the entire class was lounging around. The kitchen was filled with yelling and explosions, something pink was chasing a pile of floating clothing, and some blonde guy was staring at her? No... he was staring at the window behind her? Whatever, it didn't matter.

"Does anyone ever go into their own room around here?" Shinso asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Midoriya shrugged. "We get along really well."

"Out of my way, Deku!"

Midoriya jumped back at the walking explosion pushed his way past, an apoloegetic red head and a scolding black haired boy on his heels.

"Yeah, real friendly," Shinso said.

"W-well, most of us get along," Midoriya muttered.

Hatsume placed her hands on her hips. "I could use of one my babies to-"

"Pass," Shinso interrupted.

"We could wait until later tonight?" Midoriya suggested.

"Pass," Shinso said again.

Hatsume sighed. "Midoriya, I don't think we're going to get any cooking done here. "

Shinso frowned and took a deep breath. "Let's go to my dorm."

(Gen Ed Dorms)

"Take two," Shinso said as he lead them into his dorm room. Izuku was surprised at how much... emptier it was. It wasn't entirely empty, of course. There were a few people around, but it was nothing like his dorm. He was used to his entire class hanging out fairly often, but that didn't seem to be the case with the gen ed kids.

"at least it isn't crowded," Hatsume said with a smile.

"Yeah, we'll have room to move around," Izuku added. It was pretty rare that they were in the gen ed dorms. Shinso didn't like to hang out his room much, preferring to come to Izuku's instead. Or maybe he just didn't like him and Hatsume to be in space.

"Hey," one of the kids lounging in the room elbowed his friend. "Shinso bought his stooges."

Izuku's steps faltered. The two were speaking in a low tone, but not so low that they couldn't be overheard. Not so low that Izuku thought they were trying not to be heard.

"Didn't he fight that kid at the sport's festival?" the other questioned. "Man, it's gotta suck to keep falling for Shinso's quirk."

"Midoriya." Shinso bumped his shoulder with Izuku's. "You're spacing out." Shinso's lips were pressed into a hard line. He clearly heard what those two were saying and he was ignoring it. Izuku felt his hands balling into fist.

"S-sorry," he tried to laugh it off, but it rang false. "I, um...sorry."

Hatsume was staring at the two with her arms crossed. It was rare to see her with such a focused look on her face unless she was working. Shinso grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her toward the kitchen. Izuku found himself reluctantly following.

"It's fine," Shinso said. "No big deal."

"And he's with Hot Hatsume," the gen ed kid continued. "Think he's trying to get her to fix his quirk?"

His friend scoffed. "No way, I think he's got other things on his mind, if you catch my drift."

They laughed. "Once a villain always."

"No," Hatsume said. "I'm not gonna stay here and listen this." Her gaze was still focused on the two gossipers on the couch, glaring more fiercely than he'd ever seen from her.

Shinso looked at her with surprise. He glanced quickly at them before looking back to Izuku and Hatsume. "I can make them go away, if you want," he said quietly.

"That's not good enough," Hatsume told him. She turned around to look at Shinso. "i'm pretty sure Midoriya's gonna punch those two in the face if we stay here any longer and I'm going to help him."

They both looked at Izuku's hands where they were still balled into fist at his side. He avoided their gaze. "People used to say mean things to me to my face all the time. I don't like hearing them talk about you this way."

Shinso's expression was still disbelieving, but he nodded. "Uh, okay. We can..."

Hatsume grabbed both their hands. "My dorm," she said difinitively. She marched them out of the room quickly. Izuku felt himself slowly calming. He looked over at Shinso and took his other hand.

"I'm okay, Hatsume," Izuku said quietly.

"I'm not," she replied and squeezed his hand tighter.

(Support Course Dorms)

The support course dorms were surprisingly empty. Shinso had never noticed before, since he so rarely came to Hatsume's dorm. There was only one person in the room, sitting on the floor and glued to her phone. She waved in their general direction but Hasume either ignored the greeting or didn't see it. Midoriya, of course, waved back, though Shinso felt certain Midoriya had no idea who that girl was.

Shinso shook his head at his boyfriend's friendliness. How he could so easily go from wanting to punch someone in the face to waving at strangers would always be lost on Shinso. Friendliness was not in Shinso's nature, not like it was for Midoriya.

"Here," Hatsume said once they were standing in her dorm's kitchen. She let go of their hands and spun on her heel to face them both. "Empty kitchen ready for use."

"Why's it so empty?" Midoriya asked.

Hatsume shrugged. "Everyone keeps to themselves a lot," she explained. "Most of them just hang out in each other's rooms or in the other dorms. It doesn't really matter, right?"

"I guess not," Midoriya replied.

Shinso went over to the fridge, opening the door and poking his head in. It took only a moment to discern the problem of this location. "There's nothing in here."

"Huh," Hatsume hummed. "I suppose I didn't think of that."

Shinso closed the fridge.

"I guess we should go shopping," Midoriya said.

"Guess so," Shinso agreed with a sigh.

Part III: Execution

(Shopping)

"What do we need to bake a cake?" Hatsume asked once they were in the store. Midoriya had a shopping basket on his arm as he walked around the store with her and Shinso following him.

"Eggs, milk, butter, sugar," Midoriya began listing off the ingredients.

"Hey, what kind of cake are we making?" Shinso asked.

"Uh..." Midoriya's gaze traveled to her and she shrugged.

"Fuck it, let's just buy chocolate and go home. This isn't worth it." Shinso said.

"No, we can... we can do this! Let's just... make something simple," Midoriya said.

"We should get back up ingredients," Hatsume said. "I have a feeling that we're going to need them."

"Yeah... we probably will," Midoriya admitted.

"I'm still getting chocolate," Shinso said, walking away from them. "Chocolate is my comfort food."

"I thought your comfort was-"

"I have many comfort foods, Midoriya."

"Well, if we're all getting things," Hatsume said, "I should get a few things, too."

"W-wait!" Midoriya objected.

Neither of his significant other's waited.

(Baking)

Midoriya dropped all the bags on the counter gently before laying his head down beside them and looking at Shinso and Hatsume with sad eyes. "Why did I have to carry all the bags?"

"You're the hero around here," Shinso answered with a smirk.

"You wanna be a hero, too!" Midoriya objected.

"You're my role model," Shinso replied easily.

Hatsume was gathering bowls and utensils, taking ingredients out of the bags, and being much more helpful than Shinso was used to. He laid his folded arms on Midoriya's back as he watched her. He could feel the heat of Midoriya's blush as his boyfriend's face turned red.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Midoriya asked.

"Watching our girlfriend," Shinso answered. "She almost looks like she knows what she's doing, doesn't she?"

Midoriya stopped blushing and squirming long enough to watch Hatsume. "Y-yeah, she does."

Shinso grinned as he wrapped his arms around Midoriya. "Also, you're really cute and I couldn't resist cuddling you!"

"Sh-shin!" He exclaimed, squirming once more and causing Shinso to laugh as his boyfriend flailed and tried to escape his embrace. This was nice. Shinso could do with a few more moments like this.

They ended up in a heap on the floor. Midoriya red and embarrassed while Shinso was pleased and slightly out of breath. Shinso looked up to see Hatsume still at the counter and he got up to check on what she was doing.

"What are you doing, Mei?" Shinso asked. She had placed all of the ingredients in separate bowls, luckily without opening any of them, since he knew for a fact that she couldn't cook.

"I've seen cooking shows before," Hatsume explained. "You're supposed to have each thing in it's own bowl." She looked so proud of herself that he couldn't stop himself from petting her head.

"Oh, Hatsume." He pulled her closer, still petting her head.

"What?" She asked. He was a little surprised that Hatsume didn't try to pull away. Most people would object to his somewhat patronizing behavior even if he was joking. He should have expected that Mei wouldn't see it that way and honestly, he wasn't objecting to being able to hold her without objection.

Midoriya picked himself up off the floor. "Hatsume, they do that to show the audience what to do. You don't actually need to have all the ingredients separated like that."

"Oh." Hatsume smiled at them both. "I guess we'll follow your lead, Midoriya."

Shinso looked to Midoriya, as well. "Lead us, o leader."

Midoriya sighed, but he was smiling."

They did not bake a cake.

Their night ended with a mess kitchen and Izuku standing over them with a look of frustration and disappointment. The kitchen was a mess, they were a mess, and looking at all the wasted ingredients.

"So, in all fairness, I did tell you that this would end in disaster," Shinso said. He was trying to shake flour out of hair and succeeding in only making more of a mess.

Hatsume had egg in her hair. Izuku made a note to either keep her away from the kitchen at all cost or take great pains to teach her at least the basics. He wasn't sure which would be better in the long run, so he pushed the thought away for the time being.

"I can clean all of this up," Hatsume said. "It's my dorm, after all."

"And yourself," Izuku added with a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah," she said. "If I'm going to be cleaning up anyway, I'll clean myself, too."

"At this point," Shinso said, "We should just buy a cake. And maybe try again without Mei."

"Hey! No leaving me out!" she objected.

"No offense, Mei, but you need remedial lessons before you can attempt something as hard as a cake."

Hatsume frowned. "Cooking can't be this hard."

"You just need to learn the basics first," Izuku told her. He reached out to rest his hands on her shoulders. "Hatsume, I care about you a lot. Please, promise me that you'll stay out of the kitchen until Shin or I can teach you not to set everything on fire."

She sighed. "Alright, I get your point, Midoriya."

"You go clean yourself up and get some sleep, Midoriya," Shinso yold him. "I'll help Mei and tomorrow, I'll go buy a cake."

"Thanks Shin."

Shinso smiled, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. "You deserve the rest." He pulled Hatsume over and pushed her toward Izuku. "Tell our boyfriend goodbye."

Hatsume hugged him. Izuku ignored the mess that newly covered him and returned the hug. "Thanks for trying, you guys."

"Next time, I'll do better," Hatsume told him.

"She's already planning a next time," Shinso said with mock horror in his voice.

Izuku laughed as he stepped away. "Next time we'll do better, he agreed."