Today was the day, Uraraka decided.
It was going to be the day she'd confess her feelings for her fellow hero-in-training, Midoriya Izuku, or Deku as she so affectionately called him.
If she could get past her nerves, that is.
During the Hero Provisional License Exam, she had decided to withhold her feelings so she could focus more on becoming the best hero she could be. After watching Deku's focus and drive toward becoming the number one hero, a dream Uraraka was confident he would achieve, she felt like such feelings would just distract from her own hero goals.
Deku had that effect on her, on nearly all of their class. His determination and heart were infectious and she often found herself swept up in his wake and wanted to step up her own performance. While all of her hard work this year wasn't purely because of Deku, she'd be lying if she didn't think of him as her motivation. And it was kind of humbling to see this shy, dorky kid be such a strong hero.
And after seeing him kick so much Villian butt, how could she not want to be similar to him?!
But her admiration soon deepened into something more and before she knew it, Uraraka found herself falling in love with the boy.
Gosh, she was already blushing just thinking about it and she hadn't even gotten to the asking out part yet!
But really, how could she not fall for the dashing young hero who doesn't hesitate to jump into life-threatening situations and always finds a way to come up on top? How could she not fall for someone who is kind and always willing to listen to her ramble on about the latest celebrity news and the cute way he gets all bashful when she gets close and his adorable little freckles and ohmygoshshesramblingjustlikeDekuhowembarrassing.
Uraraka slapped her hands against her face and drew in a deep breath before letting out a strangled squee. She breathed in deeply again to calm herself down, ignoring with all of her might the heat that crept up to her cheeks.
Nerves.
The worst.
But maybe it was ok to think such devilishly tempting thoughts now. After all, the academic calendar gave her the perfect excuse to focus on her love life rather than her hero life: Christmas Eve.
More specifically, Christmas Eve at UA.
Christmas time, oddly enough, has the lowest crime occurrence of the entire calendar year. Something it's because of the cold weather, or maybe even the villains get swept up in the holiday spirit themselves.
Aizawa-sensei had another theory: Christmas was one of the few times in the year where heroes tended to get a break from villain fighting. If a villain WERE to do something during this time, they'd be faced with a legion of grumpy heroes upset that someone interrupted holiday-time. Aizawa-sensei was scary enough when they had to wake him up to get the class started; Uraraka shuddered to think what would happen if his rest was interrupted during a time he was actually ALLOWED to sleep in.
As such, UA tended to make a big deal of holiday and gives all of the students a week off. During this time there was no homework, no internships and they even closed off most of the training grounds. Being a hero meant merry-time was in limited quantity and UA would make sure nothing would get in the way of its students' well-deserved merriment.
Nothing except the UA Winter Ball.
Well, that was technically included under merriment but Uraraka wasn't too nitpicky on details.
As an annual tradition, UA holds a huge dance on the night of Christmas Eve for all of the students and staff. It's the only school-related project students and staff are involved in during the break which isn't a lot, surprisingly. A lot of the planning and preparation of the dance are handled by the upperclassmen beforehand so all the students have to do is set it up the day before, freeing the rest of the break up for the students to do whatever they please.
It's also the only dance UA puts on all year.
Sure, there was the cultural festival, and while there was dancing at the concert her class put on, it's not the same as a school-wide, fancy ball.
A school-wide, fancy ball that the student body was encouraged to take dates to.
So, in short, the UA Winter Ball was a school-wide fancy dance on Christmas Eve, one of the most romantic holidays of the year, her mind unhelpfully reminded her nervously beating heart. It was also during a time where the students were encouraged to take a break from heroics and rest, relax and flirt to their heart's content.
Wait, what was that last bit?
Uraraka shook her head and tried to dispel the impure thoughts invading her mind. Still, with the break and the ball, Uraraka really had no excuse for going for it. She wouldn't want to regret not asking Deku later on when they didn't have the time for it. She knew if she didn't, she was just going to be up all night wondering 'what if?'
So, this was where Uraraka found herself, marching steadfastly toward the dorm common room. She already knocked on his door and he wasn't there. If he wasn't at the common room, surely someone there would know where he went.
Or maybe they wouldn't and she wouldn't be able to find him in time for the dance and she could just forget it and go to sleep with a nice 'maybe next time!' and not have to worry about asking out her closest friend!
Uraraka sighed as she stopped that train of thought.
To be honest, the main reason she was so nervous was that she had no idea how Deku would respond to her confession. She could already list all of the reasons he would turn her down. First of all, he might just be so focused on being a hero that he might not want to date anyone right now. Second, they were good friends and he might not want to complicate that.
Third, maybe he was already planning on asking out All-Might?
Uraraka snickered at the thought of that. Fanboy he may be, it was pretty clear his admiration of All Might was purely platonic. Still, it was a funny thought that calmed her down a bit.
There was also another fact that gave Uraraka a small boost of confidence:
She was most likely going to be the only person asking him as a date.
Now, Deku was by no means unattractive, but he was fairly plain-looking by conventional beauty standards. Beauty standards that Uraraka considered horribly out-of-date and should just get locked up in Tartarus because they were just too dumb to understand how awesome Deku was.
Uraraka coughed.
Anyway, aside from that, he was a pretty meek guy. Outside of his hero work, Deku was super shy and kind of awkward. Also, he was a huge hero fanboy. While Uraraka actually found these qualities to be endearing, most other people would be turned off by them. Either preferring the mysterious pretty-boy type like Todoroki, or if he was a lot less angry and violent, the confident bad-boy type like Bakugo.
Those people were wrong of course, but Uraraka wasn't going to judge them on their poor taste in romantic partners. That wouldn't be very heroic.
So, Uraraka took some small confidence in that. She wouldn't have to worry about potentially breaking hearts or getting into catfights with romantic rivals or have to worry about her guts getting wrung out whenever she sees a really pretty girl talking to Deku as she starts plotting their demise, how dare they try to take Deku away from her that horrible villain!
Wow, her mind is going into all sorts of weird places today.
Still, it was nice knowing that she was the only person planning on asking out her crush to the dance.
Uraraka didn't notice the person walking with their heads hung in sorrow until she walked straight into them.
"Oh, sorry! I didn't see you- Kaminari! Are you ok?"
Kaminari looked up at her like someone who was just told they had a terminal illness and their date to expire was five minutes ago.
"Hi, Uraraka. You're not planning on asking Deku out to the dance, are you?"
Uraraka light up like the giant Christmas tree that was going to be at the ball.
"I-I have n-no idea what you're talking about! What even is a Deku? Kaminari you're hilarious!"
Uraraka forced out a hysterical laugh that would probably mistake her for having a hyena quirk. She mentally winced as she slowly died inside.
Thankfully Kaminari didn't notice.
"That's nice. Everything else is awful. I'm going to Mineta's room so we can cry in each other's arms."
"Um, ok? Kaminari, what's wrong?"
Kaminari pointed behind him at the door leading to the common room and slowly dragged his wilted body away to the elevator.
Concerned, Uraraka quickly rushed to the door and opened it.
She was greeted by the tensest tableau she had ever seen.
Yaoyorozu sat on the couch glaring daggers at Jiro who was returning them in kind. In between their mental knife fight was Iida, who had his hands pressed against each other as his face was pinched together in pure focus on, what Uraraka guessed, trying to stop their knives with his mind.
Off to the side, leaning on the couch and looking like he would want to be anywhere else was Todoroki. Uraraka thought she knew what an awkward facial expression looked like, but Todoroki's face had found a way to weaponize the awkwardness and turn it into an awkward bomb that spread awkwardness in a giant awkward explosion.
Uraraka couldn't see Hagakure's expression, but the way her t-shirt sleeves were positioned, she was probably displeased.
Tsuyu sat to the next of Iida, her eyes shifting rapidly between Hagakure, Jiro, and Yaoyorozu, her hand nervously in her mouth. Uraraka instinctually wanted to hug her friend at seeing how concerned she looked.
Aoyama was just Aoyama, sparkling brilliantly next to Jiro.
At least Ashido was enjoying herself. She sat on the other side of Iida with her eyes and mouth open in delight. It looked more like she was at a football game than in the middle of some kind of argument.
She was about to back away to go look for Deku elsewhere when Iida's eyes zeroed in on her, like a targeting missile sending her to her doom.
"Uraraka!"
"Yes!"
Uraraka would normally be embarrassed at standing at attention in response but Iida just had that effect on people.
"I need your help resolving this dispute."
"Um, how can I help?"
Uraraka inwardly scolded herself for saying the wrong thing. What she meant to say was, "Thank you but no. I would prefer not to be dragged into awkward hell like Todoroki over there." But unfortunately for her, her mouth just sometimes like to betray her as revenge for her minds dirty thoughts.
Which happened quite a bit more than she would have liked to admit.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Hagakure jumped up and pointed at Jiro and Yaoyorozu.
"They're denying my feelings!"
" We're not denying your feelings Hagakure. We just think that ours should take priority considering the circumstances." Yaoyorozu reluctantly took her eye daggers off of Jiro to try to calm down Hagakure.
Jiro scoffed.
"Yeah, as long as Miss Princess over here gets first priority."
Yaoyorozu eye daggers returned to Jiro in the form of death eye lasers.
"Enough!" Iida shouted bringing their quarrel to, well, a stop would be too strong; it was more like a temporary ceasefire.
"But it's not fair!" Hagakure protested. "I want to ask out Midoriya too!"
"Wait, what?" Uraraka managed to get out before her mind decided to stop functioning.
Iida drew in a deep sigh as he ran his hand along his forehead in exasperation.
"Yaoyorozu asked me for advice on asking Midoriya to the dance. Jiro overheard and protested since she also likes Midoriya. Hagakure overheard their protests and came in herself since she too likes Midoriya."
Iida sighed again and somehow managed to age thirty years before Uraraka's very eyes.
"We're trying to decide on who gets to ask Midoriya to the dance first."
"Oh."
Uraraka tried to hide the sound of her soul and her heart shattering but didn't do a fairly good job of it. Thankfully for her everyone was too distracted by the trainwreck unfolding in front of her.
"Iida, Yaoyorozu knew I liked Midoriya and still wants to go first!"
"You told me you weren't planning on asking him to the dance!"
"Just because I wasn't planning on it doesn't mean I want someone else to?"
"Jiro, why don't you just let Yaoyorozu go first and if he says no you can ask after?"
"Because Iida, she wants to go first! She's Yaoyorozu! If she wants to go first then she must have some kind of plan or strategy!"
"Well, traditionally, those who strike first have the advantage."
Yaoyorozu adopted her traditional lecturing tone and only realized her mistake after she had already shoved her foot into her mouth.
"I knew it!"
"W-why do you all l-like Deku?"
Uraraka hoped the tremble in her voice came off as her being afraid of all of the tension and not because her heart fell to the floor and was currently rolling about on fire.
They all turned to her which did wonders for her collapsing psyche.
"It started for me during the Camino incident. I was so convinced that we would have to turn back before we even got close to Bakugo. But, Midoriya instantly came up with a plan that not only let us save him, but also do it in a way that didn't involve us fighting with the villains. Since then, I've noticed the little things more: his dedication, his kindness and his skill as a hero."
Yaoyorozu stared at the ground
during her explanation with a blush. She seemed determined though, not shy. Like a general who could see the entire battle plan out in front of her and knew she was going to win.
"And how long have I liked him Momo? Care to tell the audience?"
The look on Yaoyorozu face was that of a general who didn't foresee an assassin slipping into her tent and strangling her to death with earphone cords.
"S-since, the class election."
That long!? Well, Uraraka can say with confidence that her heart had now turned to ash and had been blown away into the Pacific.
Funny world.
"A-and you Hagakure?"
"I like him because he's the closest thing to dating All Might."
…
What?
Uraraka's confusion must have shown on her face because Hagakure continued.
"Well, All Might was like, THE celebrity that everyone wants. But, like, he was too busy with being the symbol of peace and all so no one could date him. But Midoriya is just like All Might! He's superheroic and even has a similar quirk! Dating him I would be just like dating All Might!"
The room was silent at Hagakure's admission. Uraraka was still a little confused by it if she was being honest. It was Todoroki that broke the silence.
"Why wouldn't you just date All Might? He's retired so he has time for that now."
"No way! He's way too old!"
Well, at least that made sense.
"Look." Iida calmly said bringing the group's attention back to him. "I know how you all feel. I too have feelings for Midoriya, but you can't-"
Wait, WHAT?
"WHAT?" the rest of the room helpfully echoed her thoughts.
Iida took in the room with a small amount of surprise.
"Is it so hard to believe? I'd like to not get into specifics, but Midoriya helped me immensely to get past the incident with my brother and I've adored him ever since."
Uraraka stared at her friend in shock. How could she be so ignorant? She walked over to him in an apologetic trance.
"Iida, I had no idea."
Iida smiled in response. "Do not worry Uraraka. I intentionally tried to hide my feelings. I decided soon after developing them that I would withhold my feelings in order to preserve the sanctity of our friendship."
Unlike with her? Thanks, Iida, the last thing she needed was another blow to her confidence.
Maybe the universe was trying to tell her something?
Hagakure raised her arm.
"So does that mean we don't have to worry about you asking Midoriya out to the dance?"
"Well, no. I'm not planning on it."
"Good. Dibs."
"You can't call dibs!" Yaoyorozu, Jiro, and Uraraka all said in unison to her absolute and utter horror
They all turned to look at her. Yaoyorozu, Hagakure (she assumed), and Jiro's eyes narrowed dangerously at her.
Iida now looked up at her shock.
"Uraraka, you too?"
"Umm"
It wouldn't be enough to say sweat began to bead down her face, it would be more appropriate to say it formed rivers down her face.
Thankfully, she was saved from her imminent demise by the sound of Ashido's howling laughter.
"I can't believe Midoriya is going to be our class heartbreaker of all people."
"Ashido, you too?" Uraraka asked nervously.
"No, not at all. I have my eyes set on the number one hottie of our class," she said with her eyes closed in mirth. When they opened, the mirth turned into confusion. "Speaking of, where is Todoroki?"
Well, out of all of the shock of the last ten minutes it was nice to have something play out as she expected.
"Midoriya." Todoroki greeted.
The room went dead silent as they all turned in the direction of Todoroki's voice. There he stood at the doorway facing the topic on everyone's mind, Izuku Midoriya, who had just entered the common room without a care in the world, blissfully unaware of the chaos he caused.
"Oh, hi Todoroki! What's up?"
"Will you go to the dance with me?"
…
Today was not the day, Uraraka decided.
Thank you for reading!
This is the second fic that I've published and I hope the quality has gone up! I'm eventually planning on finishing up my own story one day and want to get as much practice in as I continue writing it.
I appreciate any and all feedback you can give!
I'm planning on making this one a multiple chapter fic. It shouldn't be too long though. It's a lot better in length than my 1500 word one shot though. 'XD