"Some rescue training, am I right? I can't believe we survived all of that." Eijiro groaned as he threw himself down near where Mina was resting. "You were pretty awesome today Ashido, how are you feeling?"
"What are you talking about, Kirishima, I didn't do anything. I was useless."
The crack in her voice made Eijiro look up "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Mina rubbed the heel of her hand into her eye "You were all amazing today, you defeated so many of those villains! All I did was watch."
"That's not true," he rolled over on his stomach to smile up at her " I saw you bandaging people up and doing everything you could to help. The way I see it, you did as much as I did, just in a different way."
"Thanks Kirishima," Mina said, smiling through her tears "that's really nice of you."
"Don't worry about it!" Eijiro laughed, his sharp teeth glinting in the light as he flopped back over on his back, folding his arms behind his head and crossing one leg over the other "At least it's a nice day today, I could sleep here in the sun for a week."
"Kirishima!" Mina cried "You're hurt!"
"Eh?" he opened one eye.
"Turn back over, you're bleeding!" Mina crawled over to him and started prodding him in the ribs, trying to get him to roll back onto his stomach "Let me see."
"I'm fine Ashido, it takes a lot more than some lame villains to hurt a manly guy like me!" despite his cocky words, Eijiro let Mina guide him to lay on his stomach so she could inspect the wound on his back.
"It's not nothing! It looks like you got scratched pretty good, let me fix it." she grabbed a first aid kit and started dabbing it with antiseptic "It might feel like nothing now, but if it gets infected, you'll be down for a while."
"Alright, do what you want." he said casually, grinning at her as he peeked over his shoulder, watching her work.
Mina had the wound cleaned and bandaged in no time, giving it a little pat as she finished "There! You're all fixed up!"
"Thanks, Ashido!" Eijiro said cheerily. Not looking as he went to push himself to his feet, he felt soft fingers under his and glancing up, saw that he had closed his hand over hers.
They stared down at where their hands touched for several moments, both of them frozen in uncertainty, but neither wanting to be the one to pull away first.
Eijiro finally pulled his hand back and sat up "Sorry, Ashido!" he said, scratching the back of his head as he chuckled awkwardly "My bad."
Mina let out a giggle "It's okay! I didn't mind it. By the way," she continued as they both got to their feet "call me Mina will you?"
"Sure!" he replied eagerly "And you call me by my first name, too."
"I will, Eijiro." she said, smiling happily. "I'm hungry, want to go get lunch?"
"You bet I do! I didn't even think about it, but now I'm starving!"
They took off for the cafeteria, laughing and chatting as they went. The cafeteria was packed when they got there, the place abuzz with talk of what had happened to their class.
"Hey, do you want to eat outside on the lawn? It's really nice over under the maple trees."
Mina's face lit up at the suggestion "Yeah!"
It wasn't long before they were seated comfortably under the boughs of the tall maples, talking and eating.
"Do you think Midoriya likes Ochaco?" Mina asked after their conversation had reached a lull.
Eijiro shrugged "I don't know, what makes you think so?"
"He's always blushing when she's around, and he can't stop staring at her. Plus, she calls him Deku, and he seems to like it. But when Bakugo calls him that, he hates it."
"Yeah? Now that you mention it, he does act weird around her. But why do you care?"
"Because it's so cute!" Mina cried, clapping her hands to her face "I don't think Ochaco has noticed how Midoriya acts around her, and he doesn't realize how obvious he is. They're both so oblivious, it's adorable!"
Eijiro laughed at her enthusiasm "That so? Well you'll have to point em out to me when you see them so I can judge for myself."
The two enjoyed each other's company so much, that they agreed to have lunch together the next day in the same place, a plan that would eventually turn into a daily habit that they both looked forward to with anticipation.
One day during such a lunch, Eijiro was talking away about something when Mina glanced over his shoulder, and then caught his attention, waving her chopsticks in that direction "Look at those two. So oblivious."
Turning to look over his shoulder, Eijiro caught sight of Midoriya and Ochaco walking together. Ochaco seemed to be talking about something that she was excited about, while Midoriya simply gazed at her, hanging on every word.
"Oh man," Eijiro said, shaking his head "she totally doesn't see it, does she?"
"Nope." Mina replied as she stuffed a rice ball into her mouth.
"I hope I'm not that much of an idiot when I have feelings for someone." he quipped, returning to his own lunch.
"So do I." Mina teased, grinning at him as she grabbed another rice ball "Don't worry though, I won't let you be that oblivious."
Their lunches together continued, morphing into a daily ritual that was important to both of them. While they mostly ate food from the cafeteria, Eijiro was discovering a love of cooking and would sometimes make Lunches for both himself and Mina, always listening carefully to any comments she had.
While they had their group of friends, both considered their friendship to be closer than that of anyone else, and would always go to the other for advice or to talk before anyone else.
One day when Eijiro was heading to meet Mina for lunch, he was walking behins a group of guys from another class and overheard them discussing the girls from the hero program.
"Uraraka's the cutest, but Yaoyorozu is definitely the hottest." one said.
"What about the frog girl?"
"Asui? Nah. She's alright but not the best, for sure."
Eijiro rolled his and kept walking; he didn't love to hear his classmates talked about like that, but it wasn't the first time.
"What about that Ashido girl, calls herself 'Alien Queen' now I'd definitely hit that."
Eijiro felt his neck getting hot; of course it irked him to hear his friend talked about like that, but righteous anger wasn't the only thing he was feeling.
"Oh yeah. Never thought I'd be into horns and pink hair, but she fills out that hero suit really nicely."
Clenching his fists, Eijiro hurried along, knowing that if he got involved it might mean getting himself into trouble and maybe even embarrassing Mina, the idea of which, he couldn't stand.
"You're right! That thing hugs her body so well. The things I'd do to get my hands on those curves if you know what I mean."
It was the last straw.
"Shut up!" Eijiro yelled, catching the guys off guard as they whirled around to look at him.
"You got a problem?" one of them sneered.
"Yeah I do," Eijiro returned, his voice dripping with scorn "I don't like how you're talking bout my classmates, and I want you to stop."
"You gonna make me?" the other shot back, advancing on Eijiro as he cracked the knuckles of one hand one by one "I'd like to see how that would turn out."
Eijiro was just about to drop his things to the floor when a voice rang out over the hubbub of the hall "Kirishima, Eijiro! In my office, please."
Turning, Eijiro saw Principle Nezu walking toward him.
"The rest of you, get to lunch and don't let me or any of your teachers hear you talking about a classmate like that again, alright?"
Mumbled agreements were heard as the guys shuffled off down the hall, hurrying to avoid a further talking to.
Eijiro's visit with the principle was brief, and largely boiled down to how he had to be the bigger person and not let things like that bother him. Knowing that Mina would be waiting for him, Eijiro nodded and agreed with everything Nezu said, and got out of there as quickly as possible, running out to the lawn, afraid Mina would get tired of waiting.
At first he didn't see her when he got to their usual meeting place, but a voice sang out happily from above him.
"Took you long enough! Did you get lost?" Mina landed nimbly on the grass next to him, a big smile on her face as her eyes fell on the lunch box tucked under Eijiro's arm.
"Did you get bored and decide to climb trees while you were waiting?" he teased back.
"Yeah, pretty much. I was worried I'd have to forage for something to eat if you weren't coming." they laughed as they unpacked their lunch and set upon the food as if they were starving.
"I heard you almost got in a fight." Mina said finally, when they had slowed the devouring of the food.
Eijiro shrugged "It was nothing, just some guys being jerks."
"It wasn't nothing. I appreciate you standing up for me." The way she was smiling at him gave Eijiro the same warm feeling creeping up his neck that he had experienced earlier, though this time, it was more of a pleasant feeling than an angry one.
"Yeah, well, uh, I'm glad that you're...glad?" he began stuffing his mouth to avoid saying anything further, making Mina laugh and change the subject. The incident was soon forgotten and they had another great lunch together.
As the days went by, Eijiro started to notice himself taking more notice of Mina. Sometimes it was the way her skirt swished in the wind, or he couldn't help but stare at the top of her shirt where it fell open. He usually tried to dismiss the feelings that came along with those urges, but a part of him entertained the inclination.
It was even worse during All Might's class where they had to wear their hero suits. The guys from the hallway were right; Mina's suit was skin tight and flattered every curve of her well-proportioned figure, a fact that was painfully obvious to Eijiro, and he hated the fact that he was starting to look at her the way those guys had talked about.
Eijiro's feelings finally came to a head when he and Mina were paired up on opposite Hero/villain teams; he was a hero, and she was the villain trying sneak up and claim the weapon he was guarding.
Never one for subtlety, Mina came sliding in on a wave of acid and made straight for the weapon, launching herself at Eijiro with a wide grin and a shout "Let's go, Eijiro! Show me what you're made of!"
He was just about to raise his hands to block her attack when his eyes fell on her cleavage and was instantly mesmerized by the sight of her breasts almost bursting from her suit as she charged at him.
The next thing Eijiro knew, he was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling and wondering what had happened when Mina popped into his view.
"Eijiro! Are you OK? I'm so sorry!" she looked worried as she gazed down at him "I didn't mean to hit you that hard, I thought you were going to block me!"
"I'm fine, must have gotten a little distracted," he said, trying to laugh it off "that was a good hit though, you've got a solid arm."
She didn't seem convinced, but helped him to his feet "Are you sure you just got distracted? Let's head in, maybe you're getting sick."
"It's nothing," he replied airily "you beat us fair and square, good job!"
The next day Eijiro pretended he was too busy to eat lunch with Mina and instead ate alone in a stairwell; he needed some time to think about his feelings. "I can't let myself get distracted like that," he thought "not only is it unfair to Mina, but my brain can't be going blank like that in the real world. Someone could get seriously hurt if that happened. How do I deal with this?"
His first thought was to stay away from her, but he quickly dismissed that idea "I can't punish her like that, this is MY problem and it's something I have to deal with on my own."
Feeling resolved despite not having a plan, Eijiro got up and headed to his next class. When he sat down, he turned to wave at Mina like he always did, and though she smiled, he could tell there was something on her mind. "Crap. She knows something's up." he debated back and forth on whether to sit down and talk to her about his feelings, but decided that would make it worse, and instead chose to be more cheerful so she wouldn't notice a problem.
The next day, Eijiro was heading to get lunch at the cafeteria when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he found Mina with a concerned smile on her face.
"Hey, I got us lunch already. Want to head to the lawn? I want to talk to you."
Eijiro's stomach flipped flopped as he nodded silently and let her lead them to their favorite lunch spot, a feeling of dread overtaking him "How am I going to deal with this? I don't know how to talk to her; what if I offend her or hurt her feelings?" As they sat down and Mina started to unpack their food, he wracked his brain for ways to approach the subject "She's my friend and I really like her, I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable and I don't want to lose her as a friend, but I can't lie to her."
"Eijiro, you've seemed a little off since training the other day, and I wanted to ask you if I did something to upset you? If I did, I'm really sorry. Please tell me so I can make it up to you." The concern in her voice was real and she looked like she was ready to cry.
"Mina no!" he rushed to reassure her "You didn't do anything, OK? You're great, it's my fault."
She tilted her head to the side, looking confused "Your fault? What do you mean?"
Eijiro sighed "This is going to sound really bad, so I'm sorry ahead of time. Just know that you're my friend and I really care about you." He took a deep breath "It's been going on for a little while now, and I tried to ignore it, but it's really hard." He paused for a moment, scratching the back of his head and looking away from her before taking a deep breath and plunging in "You're really pretty, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it." he blurted out "I can't stop staring at you, and when you wear your hero suit it's even worse, and I get so distracted because you look so good, and when you came running at me the other day, you looked really good and my brain just blacked out and I couldn't think or move." His words tumbled out over each other in a stream until he was done, and had to take another breath, his eyes cast down and unable to meet hers.
When he finally got the courage to look up, Eijiro saw that Mina was just sitting there staring at him, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Dammit! I've completely ruined our friendship, I should have kept my stupid mouth shut." He was panicking and unsure of whether to run or wait it out.
The silence was finally broken when Mina started to giggle.
Eijiro stared at her, gobsmacked by her reaction; he had been expecting tears or anger, but definitely not this.
When Mina finally stopped giggling, she grinned up at him "Is that all Eijiro? I thought you were mad at me or had some family issue going on. I'm so glad it's not either of those things!"
He continued to stare at her, still shocked that she wasn't angry.
"I mean, I have to admit, I've noticed that you look pretty good in your costume too, and I've caught myself staring more than once." she said it with a snicker, but her cheeks were flushed and she couldn't look him in the eye.
"So...you're not mad?" he ventured finally.
"No of course not! I'm in the same spot, I think you look really good too." she was now able to lift her eyes to his face, but her nose was all scrunched up, and she kept giggling nervously.
It was like a weight was lifted off Eijiro's shoulders "I should have just talked to her about this from the beginning" he thought "would have made this way less of a big deal than I thought it was."
As they sat there looking nervously at each other, Eijiro was taken by a sudden impulse and, leaning in, he looked at her solemnly.
"Mina, can I kiss you?"
"What?!" she yelped, clapping a hand over her mouth, her cheeks flushing a deep magenta "Eijiro! What do you mean?!"
"Im sorry! You just looked so cute blushing like that I couldn't help it. Forget I asked." he leaned back and rubbed his own blushing cheek with the back of his hand, feeling a little silly.
"Well, that sounds really nice but…" she trailed off, but Eijiro's ears perked up.
"You mean you want to?" He asked eagerly.
"I do but...I can't" she said it sadly and let her head hang a little.
"What do you mean? Why can't you?" Eijiro was in disbelief that she had actually said she wanted to kiss him, and he wasn't going to be dissuaded by 'I can't' so easily.
Mina shifted uncomfortably "Well, you know my quirk. I secrete acid out of my pores, I would hurt you if I kissed you."
Eijiro's eyes narrowed "But I've touched your skin before and nothing happened…"
Her blush deepened again "Well, yeah, but my skin is usually dry. My sweat is acidic, and so is every other part of my body that has moisture, so…" she licked her lips and tapped them, shaking her head.
Eijiro stared again before letting out a bark of laughter, making Mina's eyes flash to his face, a look of annoyed confusion in her gaze.
"It's not funny!" she said, her voice tinged with anger.
Eijiro stopped laughing immediately and held up his hands "I'm not laughing at you! Well, kinda. But Mina!" he rushed to explain himself "You know what my quirk is, I can make my skin hard and resistant to anything. Way more resistant than any normal person, you won't hurt me!"
Mina blinked, a look of cautious interest dawning in her eyes before she blushed and let out an awkward giggle "But wouldn't that be like kissing a rock?"
"Hey, now who's being mean!" he demanded jokingly "But no, I don't have to actually use my hardening ability, my skin is naturally extra strong, is a side benefit of my quirk."
His proud grin made her smile, her cheeks feeling warm "Oh, I didn't know that. In that case…" she paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and almost shouting "Yes, Eijiro, I would like it if you kissed me!"
It was his turn to grin widely, and he scooted close to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, suddenly feeling a wave of nervousness rush over him. He wasn't about to lose the opportunity though, and leaned in.
"Just a quick one at first!" she cried "So I can be sure I won't hurt you."
He nodded as he drew closer, both of them feeling their hearts begin to race and licking their lips in nervous anticipation.
Their lips touched, and Eijiro was struck by how soft Mina's lips were. They were like plump little pillows and he could taste little hints of her strawberry chapstick. He was just about to deepen the kiss when she pulled away.
"Are you OK?" she asked, her eyes scanning his face "I didn't hurt you?"
"Of course not," he replied with a big smile "but that was amazing, I want to keep kissing you, Mina."
She chewed on her lower lip as she looked up at him shyly "I really liked it too. And I wanna do it again."
Taking her face in both of his hands, he pulled her closer, scanning her face with a smile before leaning in and connecting their lips again.
This kiss was longer; neither of them wanting it to stop, they both leaned in closer, and Eijiro felt one of Mina's hands come up to rest on his chest, while the other closed around one of his that was holding her cheek.
Feeling brave, he opened his mouth a little and, swiping the tip of his tongue along her lower lip, was rewarded with a tiny squeal from Mina, who gripped the lapel of his jacket and pulled him closer, her own tongue flicking out to meet his.
They had both lost track of time by the time they separated, both breathless and feeling a little disheveled.
"I think it's time we get back to class." Mina commented breathily as she straightened her shirt and stood up "But we should do that again."
Eijiro jumped to his feet and caught her around the waist, pressing kisses to each of her cheeks and then her forehead "You don't have to tell me twice!"
Mina shrieked with laughter and made a weak attempt to fight him off "Eijiro! Stop it! Someone will see!"
"Why should I care if they see? I'm not ashamed of how I feel about you!"
The pride in his voice made Mina's heart flutter and she buried her face in his chest. "We really do have to get to class, now." her voice was muffled in his shirt, and despite her words, she made no attempt to head into the building.
"Alright," Eijiro said as he finally let her go "but I'm gonna kiss you every day from now on!" he grabbed her hand and they headed off toward the school, laughing happily as they went.