A:N/ This was an itch story that I had on my mind for a while. This story is inspired by Zero Two and Hiro's dynamic in the anime Darling in the Franxx. Since Zero Two's appearance actually reminded me a lot about Eri's when she was younger (save for the red skin) I wanted to try and pair up My Hero Academia's two most adorable kids in a light-hearted centered fic. that revolves around Kota's apparent case of gynophobia around Eri.

I'll be updating this frequently so tell me how it goes when you finish reading it!

Red Strings of Fate

Kota's POV:

It was just another stupid and pointless day when I woke up. I'm a little bit happy though, since today is the day that I get to meet Deku again. I quickly grabbed my hat from my nightstand and went out of my room with a grin on my face.

"Well someone's awfully excited." I heard Shino teasing me from the kitchen when I went downstairs.

I cocked my head back and yelled back at her in annoyance. "Shut up! I am not excited!" as much as I like to deny it, I am pretty excited to see Deku and his friends. Shino made me my breakfast, a simple plate of eggs and bacon still does the trick. I quickly gorged on my food so that we can leave earlier. I couldn't help but feel stoked to see what Deku and his friends have up their sleeves for their Cultural Festival being held at their school.

"You ready to go?" Shino asks and I nod in response.

I couldn't help but feel a little bit anxious when I was lacing up my shoes. Red - they were the same sneaker brand that Deku wore when he beat that bastard, Muscular. The confidence that I feel when I wore my new shoes makes me feel like as if I were Deku – brave and strong.

Shino soon started up the car and drove us to U.A. I was on the edge of my seat when we saw the school grounds from afar. There was a huge entrance with various decorations and stalls. I could go on and on with the amount of stuff that they had there. I quickly got out of the car and went to explore on my own. Shino and the gang allowed me to roam around, since it was a safe event to begin with.

"Aniki!" I quickly covered my mouth when I blurted that out. Deku turned around when he heard my voice. I always wanted to call him that ever since he stood up for me. My idol and brother-figure stood in front of me with a stupid dopey grin on his face.

"Kota-kun! I'm so glad to see you! Thanks again for the letter that you sent me!" He kept shaking my hand as if I were the one that saved him. I felt embarrassed and at the same time, really happy that I made a difference in his day.

"There you are you, little rascal." Uh oh, busted. Shino and the others caught on to us.

"Deku-nii?" I heard a girl's voice call out to Deku from afar. I saw her peeking through the door with her shy demeanor, she looks like a timid kitten from afar.

I was baffled at the stranger clinging to Deku. "What the hell?" I blurted out rudely.

There weren't plenty of times that I curse since Shino would hit me and nag that I was being rude. But this was one of the few times that I couldn't stop myself from cursing out. It was so random that I felt Shino's eyes were already boring holes through me.

"Aniki! Who the hell is she calling Deku-nii?" I pointed a figure towards Deku, feeling betrayed. He was my idol! Why the hell is a girl calling him brother?

"Kota, this is Eri-chan. She's about your age and she's going to stay with us for a while." Deku explained to me while the girl named Eri was hiding behind his leg.

"Aniki! She has cooties!" I instantly got hit on the head by Shino, urging me to bow and apologize to the girl. Girls have cooties! They're always so noisy and bratty that it drives me nuts when I'm around them!

"Cooties? What's that?" Eri asks me. My eyes widened when I saw her small horn on her forehead. She got too close to me and I felt the spikes on my hat hitting her horn. Seeing her flinch from the sharp points of my hat made me feel bad.

"I'm sorry…" I mumbled when I saw her tending to her horn when my hat poked on it.

"It's alright... What's your name?" her white hair and her blood red eyes made her a little intimidating. Now that I think about it, I'm really a stark contrast compared to this girl. She was more timid than me, probably more younger as well.

They say that people are bound by fate. It's all a bunch of crazy-talk if you ask me. Isn't there a way to defy fate? All that dumb talk about fate and red strings from the other class booth was getting to me. Their play was so cheesy; it was about two lovers crossing a bridge made of birds just to see each other! How ridiculous is that? Anyway, getting caught too much in my thoughts, I hid my face a little bit from under my cap and replied back to the girl.

"Kota." I said to her while looking down on the ground. A student who was rushing towards the main hallway bumped into us. The box that she was carrying fell onto both me and Eri.

"Koucchan...?" the girl from me tested. I nodded simply and allowed her to call me that for a while. I guess it's better than nothing right? Being called by my family name is always a hard thing for me.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized. The box that fell on us contained plenty of streamers and confetti. Deku helped us in removing the junk that was on me and Eri. After the student went out of her way, I noticed something on my pinky.

"Where did this come from?" I say as a single red thread tied into a knot on my pinky. Tracing back the thread, I saw it lacing around on Eri towards her pinky as well.

"Koucchan...? Are you okay...?" she asks while removing some pieces of paper and confetti off of her head.

I grabbed a few stray ones that she missed right behind her ear. "I should be asking you that." after checking if there's any paper of trace of confetti left, I patted Eri on the shoulder to reassure her. "Alright, you're all clean now..." I mumbled. Eri turned around with a shy nod and a small smile on her face.

I felt something weird happening inside me when the string intertwined with hers. For the remainder of the day, I got to know more about Eri from Deku's story. From how they rescued her to what she's been through. I never thought that girls were this tough. How could a girl that looks so defenseless be this strong? We spent the day hanging out and going to plenty of booths together. Not only that, but we played plenty of games together. I guess I had fun, even if she's a girl, I guess she's also pretty cool...

"Let's definitely meet again, Darling!" she grins at me when we were about to leave. I know what 'Darling' means ever since we saw a play done by some students. Eri and I watched this play about a Princess Demon that fell in love with a handsome Prince. The story didn't have a happy ending because the Fairy that gave the Princess Demon turned out to be a witch. The story went on with the Demon Princess marrying the prince. Though in the end of the story she had to leave the Prince because his life was in danger because of her presence. It was so weird when she called me that. I decided to roll with it since I would probably not even come back here for a while, I'm sure Eri would forget calling me that.

It didn't stop me from being embarrassed though from all the teasing that Deku's classmates did. "Shut up! And don't call me Darling, it's weird!" truth be told, I thought only lovey-dovey couples called each other that? I was told that I was her first friend that was around her age. I guess she called me that to make me feel special? I'm overthinking things like an adult again, but I wish she wasn't such an airhead sometimes... "I'll come back and play again sometime..." I kicked some imaginary dirt off the ground and looked at Deku then back at Eri. Today was fun. It was the most fun I've had in a long time, I guess I'd really miss coming back here after all.

Eri held up her pinky before me with a grin on her face, all her shyness from earlier seemingly melting away. "Pinky promise me that you'll be back, Darling?" there it is again, her weird way of calling me. I laughed it off and nodded. I laced my pinky around her's before promising.

"I promise to come back here soon. See you later..." I bowed politely at them before joining in Shino outside. U.A. gave me a great and warm experience, I can't wait t'ill the next time that I come back there!

"I think she likes you." Shino quips as she starts the car up. I huffed and turned away. I would be lying if I said I wasn't happy that I made a friend like Eri today.

I held out my pinky still remembering my pinky promise with Eri earlier. I avoided Shino's teasing look by looking out of the window to not seem interested."She has cooties..." I muttered quietly.

~ End

A:N/ So I added a few more things that are a reference to Darling in the Franxx, such as the story book and Eri's horn bumping onto Kota's spikes on his hat. There hasn't been an Eri x Kota fic. yet from what I recall (no, this will not be a sappy drama story) I said it before and I will say it again, this story is meant to be a series of heart-warming exchanges between Eri and Kota as they grow up (I might make the part where they grow up in future chapters)

Thanks again for finishing the read! See you in the next chapters Darlings! xD

EDIT: I changed a few things here and there from the last version of this. I'll be doing some edits every now and then, so be sure to re-read the chapters when you have the time.