Another day, another Izuku/Mina story. If you're a returning reader, hope you'll enjoy this like my other works. If you're new, welcome! I hope you'll stick around. Anyway, let's get into it.

It was a typical Sunday afternoon at the prestigious U.A. Being a day off for classes, the grounds were much quieter than they were the rest of the week. However, that didn't mean the place was abandoned; several of the school's staff members worked weekends, as some facilities remained open despite there being no class. For example, Gamma Gym didn't lock its doors on Sundays, offering both students and staff a place to exercise and train. While anyone affiliated with U.A. was allowed to utilize the gym, of course, it was primarily students in the school's famed hero program that took advantage of the extended hours.

Izuku Midoriya was one such student.

Standing just outside the entrance to the renowned academy, the aspiring hero took a deep breath. It had been about two weeks since he first stepped onto these sacred grounds, yet he always got anxious before crossing this threshold. He had spent most of his life dreaming of the day he'd be a part of this school, and for most of that time he was convinced that day would remain nothing more than a dream. How could he not, after discovering he had been born without a Quirk?

And yet, he had never given up. No matter how impossible the odds, no matter how much others tried to tell him otherwise, that Quirkless boy kept dreaming. And after a fateful encounter with the one and only All Might, his perseverance had been rewarded. That dream had actually become a reality.

Every time he arrived at this gate, Izuku was reminded of all of this. Even now, he could hardly believe he was actually here.

With a single, deliberate step, the he passed through the gate, swelling with pride as he did. A simple gesture for most, but even now it meant the world to him.

With his little ritual out of the way, the once-Quirkless boy began heading for Gamma Gym. As he walked, he noticed there were a surprisingly high number of faculty members walking around the campus. Someone actually stopped him, asking to see his school ID. He obliged, of course, and was allowed to proceed.

"U.A's serious about upping security…" He thought out loud. These people wouldn't have been here two weeks ago; they were a direct response to the attack on U.A. by a nefarious group of villains.

An attack Izuku and his class had been directly involved in.

He shuddered as he thought back to that horrific day. It had only been his fourth day of classes. He had barely had his Quirk for a week before he was thrust into a life-threatening situation. While things turned out okay in the end (thanks to All Might, of course), the fact that the so-called "League of Villains" managed to breach the school's formidable security systems attracted a lot of attention from the media.

While they had failed to kill All Might like they had planned, Izuku still couldn't help but feel the villains hadn't truly lost. The invasion itself, and the fact that it had clearly been planned for some time, sent enough of message on its own.

And it was a message U.A. had responded to in full.

Naturally, the school's security was upgraded to prevent an incident like that from repeating itself. However, there was also a reaction from the students as well.

Class 1A had seen what real villains were like firsthand. While they had managed to hold their own for a while, and they had earned quite a bit of respect for that fact, the fact was that they now fully understood the seriousness and danger of the profession they were all pursuing. They had experienced the gap between themselves and the pros, and they could see just how wipe that gap truly was.

None of that discourage a single one of them, of course. Rather, it bolstered their resolve and had pushed them all to work even harder than before.

This was especially true for Izuku. He was already at a severe disadvantage compared to everyone else, due to the circumstances surrounding his Quirk, and had already been (literally) breaking himself just to keep up. But after seeing just how helpless he was against the League's leaders, he was more determined than ever to get stronger. He had been trusted to wield the #1 hero's Quirk, and he intended to demonstrate that that trust had been well-placed.

That's why the current wielder of One for All was here at school on his day off. He couldn't let himself fall behind.

…Though admittedly, it was also because he didn't exactly have anything better to do.

Izuku sighed as he arrived at the gym. While a lot had changed since the day he met All Might, his social life had more less remained stagnant. While he had managed to actually make a couple friends at U.A., he still wasn't exactly close to them. Uraraka, Iida, Tsuyu… He appreciated their company, and he knew they appreciated his, but… None of them had really done anything outside of school. A lot of that had to do with how busy they all were with coursework as well as his friends' personal lives. Tsuyu and Uraraka's family situations meant they had to be home a lot, and Iida wasn't exactly the type to just goof off with friends.

Of course, it didn't help that Izuku was still pretty awkward in social situations. On top of that, he didn't exactly have any hobbies… Unless you counted his obsessive note-taking, or his somewhat unhealthy love of All Might merchandise.

Yeah, he was sure the others would want to hear all about that stuff.

Entering the rather large facility, Izuku wondered how he could break out of the wall he had built around himself over the years. He finally had friends, and even the people in his class he didn't know well were treating him kindly. If he was going to be a hero anywhere near the caliber of All Might, he would need to get more comfortable dealing with people.

Especially girls. Seriously, he hated how easily he fell apart when Uraraka or Tsuyu talked to him. It was kind of pathetic.

Deciding to stop dwelling on the subject for now, the green-haired boy shifted his focus to the task at hand. He had come here to train, and he needed to figure out the best way to go about it.

Setting the weights back in their appropriate spots, Izuku exhaled loudly. He had decided to focus on strength training for today, hoping the more he improved his body, the more control he would have over the immense power of One for All. Having just completed a few sets of reps, he decided to take a quick break.

Seeing his water bottle was nearly empty, the aspiring hero got up to find a fountain to fill it. He noticed a few other students working out as he walked, though he didn't recognize any of them. They must have been from the other courses; after all, it wasn't just heroes that liked to exercise.

"I wonder if the pros ever train here?" He asked himself. Gamma Gym had top-notch equipment for all manners of training, whether it be a standard workout, combat practice, improving Quirk technique, and more. It would make sense for some of U.A's teachers to take advantage of that.

As he thought about how pros might train, a faint sound in the distance caught Izuku's attention. Stopping to listen, he quickly realized it was music.

"Huh?" It wasn't uncommon to see people workout with headphones or something, but this was obviously different.

From the distance he was at to wherever the music was playing from, the only thing the confused boy could clearly make out was the fairly heavy beat of the song. Curiosity getting the better of him, he followed the sound.

Walking down a few halls, it wasn't long before he found the source of the rather catchy song.

"…Oh, that makes sense."

He was standing in front of a door labeled "Dance Studio". From the other side of the door, the music played at a fairly high volume.

"Is there a class or something?" Izuku decided to take a quick peek through the door's square window.

His jaw dropped at what was inside.

Rather than a class, there was a single person in the studio. A very familiar, very pink person.

"A…Ashido?" Izuku was not surprised to see Mina Ashido on the other side of the door. What he was surprised by was what she was doing. He had seen people dance before, of course, but this…

It was incredible.

His pink-skinned classmate was on what appeared to be a flattened cardboard box. Her "dancing", if it could even be called that, was one of the most, if not the most intense dances Izuku had ever seen. She was putting her entire body into it, twisting and turning it in ways the slack-jawed boy didn't think were possible.

One second, was on the floor, supporting all her weight on just one hand. The next, she was handspringing back onto her feet. Suddenly she was on her back, spinning in place as she straightened her body out upside down until her only point of contact to the ground was her head… But she was still spinning.

These insane stunts were broken up with more simple leg movements, though even those were full of energy as the girl's feet went every which way. Yet while the maneuvers seemed spastic and random, there was a clear intent and rhythm to it all.

Izuku knew Mina was a fairly athletic person, but this… The amount of strength, flexibility, and coordination this all must have required… And she made it look so effortless!

He hadn't been watching for more than 20 seconds before his notebook was out and his pen was moving. He was honestly only half-aware of what he was writing. He was entranced by this bizarre dance he had never seen before. It was like art.

The display only lasted a few more minutes before the pink performer stopped to rest. She looked, unsurprisingly, quite exhausted. How could she not, after all that?

However, her stopping her routine made Izuku come back to reality. And it only took mere moments before he realized exactly what he was doing.

He had just spent the last several minutes more or less spying on someone through a window, scribbling furiously into a notebook the whole time.

And that someone was a girl.

…

Izuku felt blood rushing to his face as he realized how bad this looked. Backing away from the window, he rapidly glanced around, praying to All Might that nobody had been watching him. Fortunately, it seemed he was safe.

God, what was that just now? He had gotten completely lost in the dance, and now he just felt like a creep for peeping on Mina like that.

…Still, it was a very impressive display. A very Mina display, too; while he didn't know his acid-wielding classmate that well, he at least knew she could be a very extreme person, putting all her energy and emotion into just about everything she did. It was quite admirable; she had an intensity that reminded him of All Might in a few ways.

"Enjoying the show?"

A feminine voice made Izuku's blood turn to ice. Eyes bugging out, he slowly turned his head.

Mina was standing there, hands on her hips with an eyebrow raised. He had been so distracted by his own thoughts that he hadn't heard the door open.

A strange, gargling noise escaped Izuku's mouth as he attempted some form of communication. From the sound of things, the somewhat annoyed-looking girl had noticed his presence some time ago. Why hadn't he considered that fact? Why had he just assumed she was too focused on her dancing to see his face pressed up against the window!?

Mina said something else, but he didn't hear it. In the terrified teen's mind, this was a life-or-death situation, and his fight-or-flight response was starting to kick in.

Naturally, he decided to go with the latter of those two options.

Without a word, the red-faced boy bolted off in the other direction as fast as he could. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he needed to get away. Far away.

Mina was actually a little startled when Izuku suddenly sprang to life, letting out a shriek before taking off like a rocket. She didn't even have time to call out his name before he was out of sight.

"…Ooookay." The perplexed pinkette stared at where Izuku was for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Weird."

Mina had decided to use some of her day off to practice her breakdancing. Due to the fact that she tended to blast her music when dancing, she had opted to find somewhere her tunes wouldn't be an annoyance to anyone. Plus, she kind of preferred practicing in private. It helped her focus better.

Breakdancing served multiple functions for the horned girl. Not only was it a fun way to work out, it was how she liked to relieve stress. A way for her to cope with the mountains of school work she had been putting off, as well as the somewhat traumatizing villain attack that happened at school last week.

That day had been a real wakeup call for Mina. Dealing with actual villains made her better understand what was going to be expected of her as a hero one day. It was why she had decided to come here on her day off rather than laze around the house.

As she turned to go back into the studio, something on the ground caught the girl's eye. Looking down, she let out a small laugh.

Izuku's notebook was resting on the floor. Evidently, he had dropped it while fleeing.

"Oh boy," she muttered as she picked the object up off the ground. The number "15" was written on the front of; given how much she had seen the book's owner write stuff down, she had to assume this meant he had at least 14 other full ones.

To be frank, Mina barely knew Izuku. She could count the number of times they had spoken on one hand, and she'd have fingers to spare. While she tried not to think badly of anyone, one couldn't deny that the guy was, well, weird.

For starters, he pretty much never spoke outside of answering class questions. And when he did speak, it was often because he was freaking out about something ultimately mundane or rambling to himself under his breath. And again, he seemed to constantly be writing stuff in his notebooks, even outside of class. Heck, even his Quirk was weird. Immensely powerful, yet even a single use of it shattered his bones. Honestly, the fact that he was able to still stay conscious and keep a straight face after some of the battles he'd been in was nothing short of amazing.

But the strangest thing about him was how his personality seemed to do a complete 180 at times, such as that fight he had with Bakugou on their second day of class. He would randomly show this much bolder, more confident side of him in spurts, only to go back to his usual self in the blink of an eye.

Mina just couldn't figure him out. It wasn't like she disliked the guy or anything, she just found him a bit strange. But then again, everyone in their class could be considered a bit strange, so she didn't think much of it. Plus, he did seem to have friends, which was good.

She didn't really know what to think when she saw him suddenly appear in the window just a few minutes ago. For a moment, she just thought he had just heard her music and was investigating. But when he lingered, she got a bit confused. That confusion turned to slight worry when she noticed that he was scribbling something in his notebook. Was it dirty art? Was Izuku secretly a massive pervert like Mineta or something?

Again, she didn't like to think bad of people, but…

Still, despite being a little weirded out by his writing or drawing or whatever it was, she ignored it until the song stopped. Perhaps he was just waiting for her to stop, then talk to her?

But no. He actually hid when the song stopped… Or at least tried to. It seemed stealth wasn't Izuku's strong suit, as Mina saw his hair poking out of the corner of the window. After waiting another minute or two, she decided he was acting suspicious enough to be confronted.

To be honest, she wasn't exactly surprised by his reaction.

As walked back into the studio, the curious girl considered the notebook in her hands. On one hand, she felt it was a little insensitive to go flipping through what could very well have been the equivalent of a diary. But on the other hand, he had been using it while "spying" on her, and she felt like she deserved to know what he had put in it.

"Just a quick peek," she decided before opening the book. At first, she merely skimmed the pages, trying to see if there was anything on her. However, after a few page turns, she found herself slowing down and reading everything more carefully.

Her quick peek soon turned into a full-on reading.

The notebook was almost entirely filled with various little snippets and details about dozens of heroes. Mt. Lady, Best Jeanist, Gang Orca, Endeavor… The list went on. Unsurprisingly, a huge chunk of the book was taken up by All Might, who was clearly Izuku's favorite hero. Accompanying all these notes were smell sketches of the various heroes, complete with little annotations about their costumes and anatomy. Pages were packed with information about Quirks, fighting styles, personalities… And with them, ideas on how to utilize all this information. Techniques to borrow from, philosophies to follow, strategies to take lessons from…

"…Woah."

This guy lived, breathed, slept, and ate heroes. While part of Mina found it a bit off-putting just how much time and effort had been spent on this, she was mostly just impressed. Izuku had probably taken more notes in the first half of this book than she had in her entire time at middle school… And this wasn't even for class!

Things got even crazier, though, when she turned to the page that had some familiar faces. Bakugou, Uraraka, Iida… There were sections for everyone in their class here. He had left a lot of blank space between each student, and something told her she had every intention of filling it all at some point. One could consider it creepy, sure, but the stuff in here was rather endearing. It seemed the shy boy admired everyone in the class, with several entries commenting on how cool their Quirks were, or how he could learn from something they did. She double checked some of the girls' sections to see if he had written or drawn anything risqué, but she found nothing of the sort.

Finally, she got to the part she was looking for.

"Mina Ashido…" She mumbled as she read aloud.

At first, it seemed like all the others. Notes about her Quirk, a few comments on her general attitude (Mina took a little offense to the part that said "seems to not be concerned about her grades?"), combat style, things like that.

However, there was a section written with what was clearly at a different point near the bottom. The handwriting was a bit cruder than the rest, as if it was being more hastily written. Along side it were some small sketches of stick figures in poses Mina was very familiar with.

It was all about her breakdancing. And boy, the things he had to say.

A smile crossed the pink girl's lips as she read. The part was written with more… Emotion. Rather than detailed observations about a technique, he had simply written stuff such as…

"That was so cool!"

"How does she spin like that?"

"WOW!" This one was written above a stick figure standing on its head with an arrow indicating it was spinning.

Grinning from ear to ear, Mina shut the book. Tomorrow was going to be fun.

And there's the first chapter. Mostly just set-up and establishing where we are in the timeline, and how our stars feel about each other from the beginning. And before anyone mentions it, I am aware this kind of sort of happens much later in the canon. That's actually where the idea came from.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the introduction. For anyone new who has an interest in this ship, I invite you to check out my other works. And so I don't just look like a selfish shill, I'll also recommend DominoMags and QuirkQuartz for tons of Izuku/Mina goodness (Though if you like the ship and haven't seen their stuff, I'd be a bit surprised). There's also stories from authors TruWarrior, Scandanavian Sensation, Eternal Love Song… I'm sure I'll think of others to shout out later. See you next time!