"Call me Tsu," Asui said. Midoriya Izuku would recognise that raspy but calm voice anywhere. He had heard voices over the sound of his game, but paused it when he heard the unmistakable authoritarian voice of his classmate Iida Tenya, but he couldn't find a way to pause the game just yet. Recovery Girl had released him to his mother's care, and his mother had surprised him with a Nintendo Switch, so he could work his hands without overworking them. He was tempted to use just 1% of One for All when the game got difficult, but he knew better than to exert himself while recovering. He set the Switch down and opened his door to see Iida and Asui Tsuyu walking in past his smiling mother, who shut the door behind him.

"Midoriya," Iida said, beaming with a smile. "It's good to see you up and dressed."

"Ribbit," Asui said, waving shyly, a full step behind Iida.

"Oh. Hi, Iida," Midoriya said, waving back to both of them. "Hi, Asui."

"I told you to call me Tsu," Asui — no, Tsu — said, in her usual annoyed voice.

"We've brought you your homework, Midoriya," Iida said, holding out a binder, just as he had the day before. Only, the day before he had brought Todoroki Shouto with him. He was nervous around Todoroki as well, because of what he had said during their fight at the Sports Festival, but if Todoroki was holding a grudge, he didn't show it. Now he wondered if things would be tense between Asui and himself, as his upbringing rebelled against his short term memory wanting to call his female classmate by a shortening of her given name. Asui's annoyance was nothing compared to how his mother would feel if her only son abandoned his manners, and under her roof, no less.

"Sorry," he said, looking past them. His mother had returned to the living room, and Iida and Asui were at the threshold of his door, so he added, "Tsu." Asui grinned, and due to her unique features, her smile nearly reached her ears. It was adorable, and Midoriya stifled a chuckle, and covered it up by inviting them both in.

Asui hesitated at the threshold, having never been to the Midoriya residence, and unsure about stepping into a male classmate's bedroom with only another male classmate present, but Iida swept in, scanning the room top to bottom, right to left, as though he were furiously studying a manga. Midoriya became immediately self-conscious of his All Might fandom. Posters on the wall, action figures, even drawings Midoriya had made since he could first pick up a crayon. Any depiction of All Might, especially one he had made himself, had a place in the shrine to the #1 Hero that was Midoriya Izuku's room.

"This room is a sty!" Iida scolded. "You are off from school, and I know you are supposed to be resting, but the least you could do is keep your bedroom presentable!"

"Sorry Iida," Midoriya said, bowing deeply. Iida chopped the back of his head lightly. It didn't hurt Midoriya physically, but his pride was wounded and he found himself wondering what Tsuyu, otherwise silent, was thinking.

"It's not that bad, Iida," Tsuyu said. "You should see my room sometime."

"You have two younger siblings, Tsu," Iida said. "Midoriya here has no excuse."

"Well, thank you for bringing me my homework, both of you," Midoriya said. "How is Bakugou doing?"

This elicited another wide grin from Tsuyu, which Midoriya found he liked better the second time. But it was Iida who spoke. "Bakugou is Bakugou," he said without even a hint of humour. "I should expect him to initiate a confrontation when you return."

"When will you be coming back to school, Midoriya?" Tsuyu asked him.

Iida uncharacteristically took out his phone and furrowed his brow. Midoriya hadn't heard it go off. Iida most likely kept it on vibrate, not wanting to disturb others. He cracked a smile. "I'm sorry, both of you, I must go. Something's come up that requires my immediate attention."

"Sure. Thanks, Iida," Midoriya said. He went to stand, to show Iida out, but Iida was already at the door. Even without his Engine quirk, owing to his height, Iida was quite fast. Iida said nothing to Midoriya's mother as he left; perhaps their paths had not crossed. By this time his mother was probably in the kitchen, preparing dinner. Midoriya looked at Tsuyu, but she didn't seem to know any more than he did. He looked nervously at his bedroom door, which Iida had pulled partly shut, leaving him alone with Tsuyu in relative privacy. Had Iida planned this? Had he gotten a message or notification at all? He dismissed the thought. Iida was the most responsible of them. He wasn't a matchmaker, or a kidder at all.

Midoriya was at a loss for words. He felt nervous. He'd never really thought about any of the girls at UA; training to be the #1 Hero had been his only goal. That, and maintaining his friendship with Kacchan, and his developing friendships with Todoroki, Uraraka, Iida, and his other 1-A classmates. He'd noticed Tsuyu, but she was a little strange, and he didn't know how to approach girls on their own, and now one was alone with him in his bedroom, and she wasn't running for the door. He opened his mouth to speak when she spoke first.

"Midoriya, is that a Switch?"

"Oh, yeah, this?" he said nervously, his voice cracking. He held it out to her.

"Oh, you have Breath of the Wild," she said, looking at the pause menu. "Is your game saved?"

He had paused the game, but he hadn't saved it. He quickly navigated to the save screen and saved his game. He did it a second time, for good measure. "Yeah, why do you ask?" She sat at the foot of his bed, and dug through her bag. He had already lost her, so he nervously added, "It's really cool, I've been playing it for hours." When he looked up, she was holding up a brand new copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, still in the shrink wrap with price tag on it. His eyes widened.

Tsuyu tore the shrink wrap off the new game as Midoriya turned off the Switch and removed the Zelda game cartridge, carefully placing it back in its protective case. He bowed his head slightly as he held the Switch out to Tsuyu, cartridge slot out, and she popped the game in. Midoriya docked the Switch and turned his TV on, disconnecting the two controllers, and throwing one to Tsuyu.

"Excuse me, Midoriya," she said. "Um, my game, I'm first."

"Oh, right," he said, trading controllers with her, even though it was his Switch. He didn't have a preference as to who was first, but he did prefer the blue as it was a cooler colour, and it reminded him somewhat of UA's training uniforms and his quest to become the #1 hero. Then again, his hero, All Might, wore red, so either was good. He chose the neon blue and red model because it made him think of him and All Might, upholders of justice, those colours in his hands as he fought evil in the game as his hand recovered.

Tsuyu clicked through to character selection, and quickly found and chose Yoshi. Midoriya looked over all of the characters, stopping longer on some than on others. He knew what he wanted, and came back to Link, who he had just been playing. Just as he started to press the button to select Link, Tsuyu's tongue lashed out, whipped around, and hit the down arrow on his controller, forcing him to pick Peach instead! She then confirmed their selections and began the match.

"Hey, I don't know Peach," he said. And he looked down at his controller, expecting to find it slobbered on, but her tongue hadn't left any streaks or marks of any kind, so he couldn't find the words to object to using it. Instead, he laughed.

"Samidare does it to me when we play on his," she said, referring to her younger brother. "And he says it's fair game. Besides, you don't know Link, either. And you better not lose to me on purpose because I'm a girl," she added.

"I won't!" Midoriya retorted, mashing buttons trying to discover combos. He was never great at fighting games, but enjoyed watching others play them. He clumsily jumped around and landed a few blows. Tsuyu seemed to be doing the same, but then she figured out how to use Yoshi's tongue, and hit Midoriya's character with a powerful combo attack.

Midoriya cursed, his character reduced to around a quarter health. He mashed some buttons, and pulled off a special move of his own, but Tsuyu dodged him, and then darted in, dealing the coup de grace with that smile he had grown to like, followed by a "Ribbit." She held out her fist, and he bumped it.

"I'm gonna check on my mom real quick," he said nervously, put his controller down, and headed for the door before she could object. He didn't know what had happened, but the space between them seemed to vanish, he had felt a connection, and his stomach had turned. He needed air, though as he stepped into the hallway, he found himself wanting to return to Tsuyu. He wanted to shut the door behind him and — he dismissed the thought, and, feeling her curious eyes at his back, he continued down the hallway and into the kitchen, where his mother was chopping vegetables.

"Hi Mom," he said.

"Oh, Izuku," she said, turning to face him, pausing in her task. "Did your friends leave?"

"Well, Iida left a while ago," he said, and watched his mother's face, but she only smiled. "And I was just showing Asui my Switch."

"She seems like a nice girl," Midoriya Inko said.

He thought about her smile, and then her sneaky tongue maneuver… and then her smile again. "Yeah Mom, she's really nice."

"Will she be staying for dinner, then? I made enough for four…"

"Sure, Mom. I'll ask her."

When Midoriya returned to his room, Tsuyu wasn't where she was when he left. She had moved to the center of the bed. He could sit at the foot of the bed, where she previously sat, or he could sit where he sat before, but either way, there would be no space between them. He could also sit in his chair, but he noticed Tsuyu's bag was there. There was no choice. He took his previous place on the bed, expecting her to move back to where she had been. She did not. Oh boy, he thought. If my mother comes by—

"Ready for round two?" she asked. He hadn't realised the game would do three matches when he left.

"Um, sure," he said, picking up his controller. "My mom's making ramen, if you want to stay for dinner," he added nervously. She jumped right in, landing some powerful licks. Midoriya jumped away, and started tapping in a sequence he'd discovered in the first round.

"Why, Midoriya, are you asking me out on a date?" she asked. He fumbled the combo, and left himself open to another attack.

"It's not like that, I swear!" he said nervously. "My mom thought Iida was still here, and she intended to cook for all three of us!" But he had taken his focus off the game, and she beat him a second time, this time without losing any health. He hung his head. She had distracted him, and delivered to him an embarrassing defeat.

"Good game," she said, offering her hand, and he shook it with a smile. She smiled as well, and he realised how close they were sitting. All of a sudden, it felt suddenly warm in the room, though the door was open and his bedroom windows were cracked, and a draft blew through.

"Kids!" Midoriya's mother called out, "Dinner's ready!"

Tsuyu jumped up, and headed out ahead of Midoriya. Midoriya snapped the controllers back onto the docked Switch, and turned off the TV. Something caught his eye. His phone's notification LED was blinking. Someone must have called or left a message while they were playing the game. That was strange. He picked it up and unlocked it. One text message, from Kacchan of all people. Just five words.

WE'RE EVEN, YOU DAMN NERD.