Getting Started

A/N: Sorry for the wait on the next update of this story. I haven't had a chance to work on it for a while even though I kept meaning too. I finally got to rewatch the My Hero Movie the other day and it inspired me to come back and work on this once more. From the small upsurge in reviews I've received over the last few days, it seems like a few others got their hands on the movie as well and are searching out the Izuku/Melissa tag. For everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed or the ao3 equivalent, I thank you so much! It means a lot to me. Again, I'm not sure when I'll update this again, but at the moment, I do plan to continue it. I hope you enjoy!

Shaking Melissa's hand that day had all the indicators of a monumental shift in Izuku Midoriya's burgeoning career as a pro-hero. They'd both sensed it. That moment was special… just like that fateful day that All Might had offered to make Izuku his successor. This was going to change things.

Due to this, most people would probably be surprised to learn that the boy in question's mind was actually focused somewhere else completely for once then on his career. He was still completely cognizant of what exactly he was agreeing to, having given Melissa his full attention up until the end, but it was just after that, he'd found himself a bit… distracted. To be fair, he was only a socially awkward fifteen-year-old boy who had realized, albeit several seconds into the gesture, that he was holding a pretty older girl's hand.

Izuku's face flushed as bright as a traffic sign and he froze in place. What was he supposed to do? He was holding a girl's hand! This was completely new territory for him. Despite this, he couldn't help but notice how soft the blonde girl's hands were… how warm. She was a support technician, he'd have expected more calluses for someone working on support items all day. Maybe she did something to keep her skin that soft? Did girls worry about stuff like that? They did, right? Maybe he could ask Ochako? No! That would be too embarrassing as well!

A small gasp snapped him back to attention and he caught the look of shock on Melissa's face. Her grip on his hand tightened and before he could react she had taken him into her other hand as well. Looking down in confusion, Izuku quickly realized what was the matter. Holding his hand in her own, she stared down at the ugly raised scarring that ran along the back of his hand until it disappeared up his arm, hidden by the cuff of his school uniform. He knew however that the scarring continued up past his forearm, even if it got gradually less noticeable.

"Oh! I-" he stumbled over an explanation he didn't have, "It's really not as bad as it looks."

He tried to pull his hand away, but Melissa's grip tightened once again, "Not as bad as it-"

She cut herself off, giving him a look he couldn't quite describe, before looking back down at his hand sadly. She loosened her grip, running her fingers lightly now over the rough edges of his scars. Her touch tickled slightly, sending a quick shiver down his spine. He had never been more aware of her proximity as he was at that moment.

"What happened?" She finally asked. "You had some scars back in I-Island, but not this bad."

Izuku once again was brought crashing back down to Earth by her comment. Avoiding meeting her gaze, an indefinable sense of shame welling up inside his chest, "I had to fight a villain. One of the many that attacked our Summer Training Camp shortly after I got home from I-Expo. He was strong… really strong, and I couldn't beat with the amount of my quirk that I can control safely."

"And you weren't just going to run away," she said softly. He would have almost thought it was a question, but for her tone of voice that sounded more like this was a reality she had already resigned herself to.

"I couldn't leave," Izuku answered anyway, regardless of whether she had been looking for a response or not. He turned his head up to look at her, having no way of seeing the sudden confidence that had come over him as he spoke. "There was this kid, Kota, who was in danger. I didn't have the ability to carry us both out of there so I had to stand and fight. Otherwise, Kota would have died."

"I wasn't questioning your decision," she said, finally letting his hand go free. She placed one of her own on his shoulder instead. "As I said to you earlier, you have the heart of a hero. Asking you to do anything else would be cruel. I'm just upset because it means I was too late."

"Too late?" The green haired teen parotted. "What do you mean?"

"I was too late to prevent you from damaging your body even more," she said. "It's one of the reasons I'm here. I recreated the Full Gauntlet, but spent too long trying to perfect it… to customize it for your use. Maybe if I'd just sent you the original design, this wouldn't have happened to you."

Izuku's eyes widened. She'd made him another one? Even after he'd destroyed her first prototype? He didn't know what to say. Focusing back into the present moment, he observed his new partner. It didn't take a genius, or even a socially awkward teen, to pick up on how Melissa was feeling. The wetness gathering at the corner of her eyes was a good indication.

"Hey Melissa, it's not your fault. You know that, right?" Even though his nerves were already shot, and he wanted nothing more to go bury his head in a deep dark hole, Izuku reached out and gently patted her on the back. "You had no way of knowing. Plus it's my own fault, to begin with for not having my quirk under control yet. You don't owe me anything... any help you decide to give me is just a bonus in my mind."

"But-" she began, dabbing away the small amount of moisture around her eyes with her sleeve.

"No buts," Izuku cut her off in an uncharacteristic display of confidence. He didn't usually like having to be so assertive, but he wanted Melissa to know that this wasn't her fault. He didn't want her to be upset. "Why don't we just agree that the past is the past and going forward we'll both work harder… together."

Izuku prided himself on those few moments of composure, feeling that he managed to get his message across without falling back into any of his nervous habits. That was of course until Melissa decided to answer his declaration by pulling him in for a big hug. Once more standing as still as a statue, he didn't know what to do. He was suddenly much better acquainted with the pleasant curves of her body than he ever would have imagined possible. He was, in fact, so hyper-aware of his current situation that he was sure his face was giving off enough heat to give the fire half of Todoroki's quirk a run for its money.

This continued on for a moment or two until Izuku finally allowed himself to relax into the hug. It too was a new experience for him, seeing as the only one to really give him hugs before that was his mother, but he couldn't deny that it was strangely nice, once some of the anxiety started to drain away that is. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, a faint whiff of lavender tickled his nose.

"Thank you," she said quietly to him once more.

A small cough sounded from the doorway startling the two teens who sprang apart, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"All Might!"

"Uncle Might!" Melissa exclaimed, sprinting towards the former number one hero. There was one terrifying second where Izuku was sure that she was going to jump into the blonde man's arms, much like she had done when greeting him on I-Island, but it seemed she thought better of it too, slowing to a stop before him in hesitation.

"Come on! Give me a hug," he said. "I might not be strong enough to lift you anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm an invalid."

Standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, Izuku watched the two embrace.

"I'd heard the news that you'd arrived and had a feeling you might already have tracked young Midoriya here down," he said.

"Is that really you Uncle Might?" She asked quietly, ignoring his last statement entirely.

He let out a tired sigh, "I know I might not look like much but I… well… I'm still me."

He heard her sniffle loudly, "I saw the broadcast on TV… of your fight. We were so worried. Dad wouldn't stop pacing all night."

"How is Dave?" The skeletal-looking man asked, his expression serious.

"As well as can be," she said, "He's still being watched closely by the council so he couldn't send you a proper message but he wanted you to know that he was concerned for you."

All Might frowned, "I appreciate it. It just seems like I'll just have to find my way to I-Island to visit more often."

"I think he'd like that," she responded with a small smile.

"Anyway," All Might announced, sounding, even for just a second, like his old self as he turned towards Izuku, "There's no more time to chit chat. I'm assuming that Melissa here explained her proposition to you Midoriya?"

Jumping slightly at being addressed, he started nodding emphatically, "Yes, and I have already agreed to partner up with her. It is a great honor. I can still hardly believe it."

"Wonderful! That must have been right when I walked in on earlier. Again my apologies," All Might said with a big grin on his face.

Izuku had to work so hard on fighting his blush down that he almost didn't even realize that All Might was teasing them. It was just a simple hug. All of them knew that. She'd been upset so he'd comforted her the best he could. All Might was just being silly. He had to admit though, he never would have thought he'd see the day where he could joke around like this with his idol.

"Now, with everything set between you two, you should head on to the auditorium," he said. "Aizawa had some more instructions he was going to give when the pairs were all firmed up."

"Right now?" Melissa asked with a small frown, "I wanted to show Izuku my new lab."

"You'll have a chance to do that later," he said with a chuckle. "For now though, it would be best not to get on Aizawa's bad side."

"It's ok Melissa," Izuku stepped in. "You can show me that tomorrow. All Might is right, we definitely don't want to get on Aizawa-sensei's bad side."

He resisted the urge to shiver as he said that.

"Alright," she agreed with a bright smile that looked much more at home on her face than the sadness from before. "Why don't you lead the way then, Deku-kun."

Izuku jumped slightly at the nickname before remembering that it was, in fact, the name he'd told her to first call him by when they'd met on I-Island. He couldn't help but smile. That had been such a great day before the events of that night had broken out.

"I will," he agreed, bending down to grab his backpack from where it had been laying on the ground. "Let's go."

"Good luck you two," All Might said. "Dave and I always made sure to watch each other's back during our time together. Now it's time for you two to do the same. These kinds of partnership mean more than you might realize."

Straightening himself out, as the weight of his mentor's words settled upon his shoulders, Izuku turned to look at Melissa. There was a determined looked on her face, and her bright blue eyes quickly fixated upon him. She gave a small nod. Something about that look was enough of a push for Izuku to stand just a little bit taller as he nodded back. No words had been exchanged at that moment, and yet they both somehow knew that they were in alignment. They both knew the other was taking this seriously.

"Good," All Might said. "That was all I wanted to say. Now you two get out of here. We'll catch up more soon Melissa."

Giving her 'Uncle Might' one more quick hug, the blonde girl joined Izuku as he led her across the large campus that was U.A. High so they could find the auditorium. They didn't talk about anything serious during this time. Izuku inquired about any of her new inventions and she told him a bit about a few of her smaller projects but refused to give any details on her main project, saying he had to wait until he came to see her lab.

He didn't even have a chance to get frustrated at this lack of information before they arrived at their destination. Entering the auditorium, it was clear to see many people from both hero courses 1-A and 1-B milling about amongst other people he didn't recognize as well. He figured these were the first year support students. While many were obviously still looking for a partner, it clear that others were already settled into their pairings.

"I'm assuming you accepted Miss Shield's proposal then," a voice said from behind them, making them both jump.

"Aizawa-sensei!" Izuku explained as he met the eyes of his homeroom teacher. "I didn't hear you approach."

The dark-haired hero didn't say a word as he observed them.

"Midoriya-kun and I did come to an agreement," Melissa added after a moment realizing what the man was waiting for.

"Very well," he said, giving them both a look Izuku couldn't quite place. "You will need to speak to Power Loader about your schedule Miss Shield since you are obviously not in the first year class along with the other participants of this program."

"Of course," she said. "I'll make sure to do that right away."

Aizawa nodded, "I believe he is in WorkShop B at the moment."

"Oh. You meant right now?" The blonde said somewhat awkwardly as she looked to Izuku and back to his teacher. "I guess I'll get going then."

"Don't worry," he assured her. "We can catch up later. I'll let you know if you miss anything."

"Thanks, Izuku," she gave him another smile that made his heart flutter strangely in his chest before turning and leaving the auditorium.

"Mi...dor...iya…" a creepy and ghostly sounding voice groaned from somewhere nearby and before he knew it he found himself sandwiched between Kaminari and Mineta.

"Wasn't that the hot blonde babe we met on I-Island?" The electric hero asked.

"Why is she here with you?" Mineta wailed.

"Who? Melissa?" He asked nervously.

"Yes!" They cried in unison.

"Well she transferred here into the third year Support Course," he said. "And she wanted to partner up for this new program."

"That's not fair!" Mineta cried. "Why does an older woman want you?"

Izuku laughed nervously, scratching at his head, "I don't know… We're just friends..."

"Really?" They both seemed to lean in uncomfortably close to his face, and Izuku struggled to free himself from their grasp.

"That's enough!" A familiar voice called. "Release Midoriya at once!"

Iida brought his arms down in a chopping motion on the back of the two boys heads. Their grips slacked as they slumping down to the ground stunned. He quickly took several steps away from their downed forms.

"Iida!" Izuku exclaimed. "Thank you so much! I couldn't seem to get away from them."

"It's no big deal," he said, straightening his glasses. "Those two need to learn how to act more appropriate in public. They're going to bring shame on our class one day, I just know it."

Izuku chuckled at his friend's serious demeanor, "So, did you find a partner?"

To his surprise, Iida seemed to flinch at the question, his one hand shooting down to grab at his other wrist where he noticed a strange metal bracelet with a small flashing light on it.

"I- I did," he paused for a moment, seeming to struggle with something before finally just finishing with, "I don't want to talk about it…"

"Oh… ok," Izuku laughed nervously, unsure of what else to say.

"So, did I hear you mention Melissa Shield?" His friend asked, obviously struggling to appear normal again. "Is that why you had to wait behind?"

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, I guess she said she's wanted to work with me ever since we met and even transferred from the Academy on I-Island to here to do it."

"I hope you realize how much that means," Iida said, his eyebrows raised as he looked at Izuku. "The Academy on I-Island is the best in the world, and making a transfer, even to U.A., is definitely a step-down. She must believe in you a lot."

His face began to flush once again, "I know."

"Did I hear you say, Melissa Shield?" Another voice asked again, making Izuku jump. "As in the daughter of famous Support Technician David Shield?"

Calming his racing heart, Izuku turned around, coming face to face with pair of shockingly yellow eyes.

"Hatsume-san!" Iida exclaimed, before quickly lowering his voice. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Her head tilted slightly to the side for a moment as if confused, she quickly pointed to that strange bracelet on his wrist, "My baby has a tracker on it. It's accurate down to a few feet."

"Wow, Hatsume!" Izuku exclaimed. "That's pretty impressive."

"I don't know why I'm surprised," Iida grumbled under his breath.

"Anyway, I was asking about Melissa Shield?" She reminded them. "Were you talking about her?"

"Yeah…" Izuku admitted reluctantly. "She just transferred here to U.A. She's my partner."

Once again the pink haired girl zoomed right up into his face, "You're partners with her? You're so lucky! I can only imagine what kinds of babies we could create together. You have to introduce me!"

"I'll see what I can do…" he replied awkwardly.

Any further conversation was cut off as Aizawa climbed onto the small raised platform at one end of the room, "Attention everyone. Attention... Good. Now, welcome to our first ever Hero / Support Course Mingle. As I instructed before, most of you should now have found a partner. If not, you can keep looking after I'm done, but pay attention for now."

The two boys from class 1-A shared a quick glance.

"Now," their homeroom teacher started. "I wanted to reiterate from earlier that the support class students are not personal assistants for those in the Hero classes. This is a joint venture that is supposed to be equally as beneficial to both courses. For those in the hero class, you get a dedicated partner that will help you with support item creation and maintenance. For those in the Support Course, you will get a taste what it's like to work with heroes from a Support Item agency or for those aiming to become heroes themselves through the use of your creations, this will give you a chance to gain experience alongside our Hero Course students. Now, any abuse of this new relationship reported to me will be dealt with… swiftly. Am I understood?"

No one said a word.

"Good. Make sure to take some time to get to know each other and bond… and all that kind of crap."

The Eraser Hero walked off stage without any further words. Some of the students seemed a bit put off by the man's attitude, but Class 1-A was used it enough by now as to not be phased whatsoever. While some might think that what they'd just been told went without saying, Izuku thought it was a good idea he had reminded them. He was sure there were more than a few Hero Class students that would need the reminder.

"Well, it appears that's it for today then," Iida said.

"Yeah," Izuku agreed, before catching sight of Mei tinkering away at something small in hands not too far away. "So, you did end teaming up with Mei after all?"

Iida's eyes widened comically behind his glasses, "It's not like that! I tried to keep away from her but she found me anyway. Said something about how I was the perfect test subject. Then, before I could do anything to object she stuck me with this weird bracelet I can't get rid of.

"I'm sure she means well enough," Izuku said carefully. "Maybe give her another chance and she'll surprise you?"

His studious friend sighed, "I know. I'll give her a chance. Don't worry."

"Thank you, Iida."

It was later that evening, as he finally settled back into his bedroom for the night, that his thoughts finally turned to the day's events. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was to have Melissa here to work with him. Everyone was right, she was exceptionally skilled and he no idea what he could do to repay her kindness. He would have to think of something.

On top of that, he couldn't exactly deny that he was excited to spend time with her again. He had really enjoyed their short time together on I-Island. She was smart, kind, passionate, and striving towards a goal that was very similar to his own. That wasn't even to mention that she was one of the few people in the world who could truly understand him. She was Quirkless. Just like he had spent his whole life until he'd met All Might and everything had changed. While he had grown a lot since that day, his many years without a quirk had affected him, and in the end, helped shape who he was today. None of his classmates could understand that, and with the need to keep One for All a secret, it wasn't like he could even try to start explaining it to them. That meant he couldn't explain it to Melissa either, but just knowing that she understood what it was like to be Quirkless, even if she didn't know about him, was enough of a comfort for Izuku. It was more than he'd had before.

A sharp knock at his door broke Izuku out of his self-reflection. Who could it be? He didn't think they were having a group activity down in the common room, which was something they did once in a while to promote 'team building' and stuff like that. Maybe someone needed help on an assignment? Though people tended to go to Yayorozu for help first.

Hand closing around the door handle, he yanked it open, surprised for the second time that day to see Melissa Shield waiting for him.

"Melissa?" He asked shocked.

"Hey Izuku," she said, her cheeks a bit flushed. She had changed out of her school uniform, and instead was wearing a pair of long thick grey sweatpants and a plain blue t-shirt that hugged her curves. "Sorry for showing up unannounced. I just really couldn't wait and wanted to show you some of the support items I'd prepared for you."

It was only then that he was able to tear his eyes away from her and notice the silver briefcase that she held at her side. She hefted it up in front of her, holding it out like an offering.

"Oh! Of course!" Izuku scrambled for a moment, "It's no trouble at all. I… uhh… come in. Come in!"

He opened the door the rest of the way and ushered her inside. Glancing around frantically, he was happy to see that it wasn't too messy. He'd never been one to just leave things lying around in the open anyway.

Hearing a muffled giggle, his gaze locked onto his new partner. She had a hand placed over her mouth, but even so, Izuku could see the mirth sparkling in her eyes from behind her glasses. What was so funny?

"You really are a big fan of Uncle Might, aren't you?" She said, unable to hide her smile anymore.

Izuku's eyes widened as he realized he'd just let her into his room to see the copious amounts of All Might memorabilia that covered every surface of the room. His face burned hot with embarrassment, as he fruitlessly sought after an excuse in his mind that would make the situation better.

"Well, he's been my idol for as long as I can remember," Izuku admitted quietly once he realized that he had no excuses. "It's what helped inspire my dream. I want to be a hero just like him one day. Someone who can smile fearlessly in the face of danger and reassure people that everything will be ok."

Melissa's eyes had softened, "I hope you didn't think I was laughing at you. Just the thought of Uncle Might seeing all this stuff was amusing to me. It's cute. But in all seriousness, I want you to remember that I believe in your dream. You will achieve it one day. I'll make sure of it!"

It was a strong declaration, but Izuku found that his mind was stuck on another part of Melissa's speech, and it took him a moment to process that 'a girl just called me cute' before getting serious once more.

With a small grunt of exertion, Melissa lifted the case and set it on his bed. Izuku hovered awkwardly nearby as she bent down and fiddled with the cases locking mechanism, unsure if he could help with anything. A few strands of her long blonde hair fell forward to partially obscure his face. For the first time in his life, Izuku found himself resisting the urge to reach down brush it out of the way. It was a move he'd seen in some of his mother's cheesy romance movies when he was younger, and yet he still couldn't deny his sudden urge to do it. Letting out a small huff, Melissa, blew her own hair out of the way as she finished opening the case. She combed it aside with her hand, easily breaking whatever spell had held Izuku there under its power.

"There it's ready," she said as she turned back to him.

"Oh… err… right," Izuku stumbled, trying to appear nonchalant. "That's good."

Giving him a momentarily concerned look, she continued on. Flipping the lid up, she revealed a series of different wristbands that looked just like the original Full Gauntlet in it's retracted small form. What drew his attention was how some of them were the same colour red as before, while others were a dull mixture of black and grey.

"First of all, the one here on the left," she pointed out the relevant items as she spoke. "It is just a copy of the original Full Gauntlet. The others have some modifications. The next one over is a more lightweight version, though it offers less protection, while the third in the row offers the most bracing of them all. Not only will it help protect your arm from its own strength, but it can also act defensively from exterior threats as well. It basically doubles as body armour."

"That could be really useful!" Izuku exclaimed. "I know the original Full Gauntlet saved me from that villain with the bladed arms on I-Island. I'm not sure how I would have been able to counter him if the gauntlet hadn't allowed me to parry his blades."

Melissa nodded, "I remember that. It wasn't what the Gauntlet had originally been designed for so it probably bled away some of its overall durability in the end, but luckily it had all been enough. It's actually the reason I decided to design one with that specifically in mind."

"What about this larger pair here," he asked pointing to two more that were near the bottom of the case.

"Well, I heard through the grapevine that a certain someone had developed a new style utilizing their legs a lot more too."

"You know about that?" Izuku's eyes widened. "I call it my Shoot Style."

She nodded, "It was tricky because I had to be careful not to restrict your movement too much, but I think I was able to create a brace with just the right amount of support so that you won't damage your legs if you happened to accidentally channel too much of your quirk into them."

"This is amazing Melissa! You're amazing!" He laughed. "This will help so much!"

"Enough with the praise for now," she said, though her cheeks had taken on a rosy hue. "Wait until you learn about the last part. I'm not so sure if you'll still be happy with me then. I'm actually surprised you haven't asked me about them yet."

Izuku gave her a cautious look, "So what's up with the black pieces?"

"That's going to be your training gear," she told him.

"Training gear?"

Melissa nodded, "While I think being able to use 100% of your quirk is important to have available, hence the Full Gauntlet, I think you were right in how your were going about training your body to handle it naturally. Even the greatest Support Gear can break sometimes, and if you ever stuck without it, we don't want you to be in trouble. That's why I designed this last line of gauntlets for both your arms and your legs. Its whole purpose is to help your body grow stronger at its optimal level."

"That's amazing," he exclaimed. "Why would I ever be mad at you for that?"

The blonde girl winced slightly, "While I do believe it will be effective, following through with the program designed to go along with these gauntlets will be incredibly physically demanding. You might just end up hating me for it in the end."

"I doubt I'd hate you, no matter how intense it is."

She gave him a small smile, "I guess we'll see."

They both silent for a few moments as Melissa put everything away and locked the case back up.

"Maybe we can book one of the practice rooms tomorrow," Izuku suggested. "We could try all of this out."

"Yeah," she agreed. "It will be a good chance to test them out. I can see if there any improvements I need to do right away."

"I'm looking forward to it then," he said. "It should be fun."

Melissa gave him a strange look again, "I really think you're underestimating how hard the training gauntlets will push you."

"It can't be that much worse than All Might's training, can it?" He asked somewhat sheepishly.

Her eyes lit up, "So Uncle Might did train you directly then! I knew I was right about that. It's why he chose to bring you to I-Island specifically. You didn't answer me earlier when I mentioned that."

She looked somewhat smug with her deduction and Izuku honestly had no idea what to say. He couldn't talk directly about One For All, but it probably wouldn't hurt to admit that they were close. That fact was pretty readily apparent at this point.

"He's helped me a bunch with my quirk," Izuku mumbled. "You were right about them being similar, so he's been able to help me get better control of it. I would've been a lot worse off without him."

"Mmhmm," she hummed. "And he's training you to be his successor. There is no doubt about it in my mind now. It all makes sense. He probably said you can't talk about it too and that's why you're being all weird about this."

Izuku avoided looking her in the eye.

"Oh alright, I'll stop bugging you about that," she said with a teasing smile. "Anyway, this is probably enough for tonight. You book the room for tomorrow and I'll meet you afterward, ok?"

"That sounds good," he agreed.

"I meant to ask earlier, but did I miss anything earlier today when Aizawa sent me off to talk to Power Loader?" She inquired.

Izuku shook his head, "Not much. He just went over the same speech basically warning the Hero Course students not to take advantage of their new partners and then told us all that we have to make sure to spend some time doing non-academic bonding too."

Melissa gave him a funny look, "What? Does he think us Support Techs are pushovers or something?"

"I think it was more a warning for our class than anything," he said with a shrug. "I could see a few individuals who would need to be reminded about stuff like this."

"Oh well, I'm sure it will be fine. At least I didn't miss anything important. I should probably get heading back now though," she said. "I still need to get started on cleaning up and organizing my new room."

"Do the Support Students have a dorm of their own?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah, I've been placed with the other third year students since I'm technically joining their class," she explained. "Hey, before I forget, what's your cell number? That way we can coordinate our schedules better."

"Oh. Right. That's a good idea," he handed over his cellphone so that she could send a text to herself from his device. Hearing it bleep successfully, he took it back and filled in her details while she did the same on her end. "Perfect."

"Thanks," she smiled, tucking the small device away. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow Izuku."

"See you later…"

And just like that, she was gone. Izuku wasn't sure how long he stood there staring at the closed door, but when he eventually snapped out of it, he simply turned walked back over to his bed and allowed himself to fall back onto it. Apart from the day they'd all moved in and had that room sharing contest, that was the first time he'd had a girl in his bedroom. It was certainly the first time he'd been alone with a girl in his bedroom.

There had been nothing strange about it, they'd both been focused on school-related matters, but that didn't stop delayed embarrassment now that he thought about it. He wasn't sure why he even let his mind wander that way. Melissa was two years older than him, she was well known because of her father, she was successful, she was intelligent, kind, beautiful, and way way way out of his league. Whether she had admiration for his dream to become a hero or not, it didn't matter. She was looking for a professional relationship, not a romantic one. There was no use of him getting all worked up because of his overactive imagination.

Pulling out of his phone, he logged onto the U.A. system and found a free practice room to book for the next afternoon. Receiving an automated email as confirmation, he sent off the details to Melissa by text before plugging his phone and shutting down for the night. It had been an interesting day, and Izuku was sure things were only going to keep getting more interesting going forward.