Izuku was bruised, but satisfied. He knew that Bakugou would catch on eventually, but for now, this was the best way he could think of to calm his former friend down. Mina was not aware of what had happened just yet, but she didn't care right now. She was softly crying. She was angry at Bakugou for putting her friend through all the bullying and abuse, angry that her friend had to watch his dreams go up in smoke to get the guy to back off, confused as to why he was celebrating, and frustrated with herself for not being able to put a stop to things.

"It's not fair." Mina whispered under her breath, tears in her eyes.

"W-what?" Izuku asked. He hadn't heard all of wat she said, but he could sense the emotion.

"IT's NOT FAIR THAT YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT!" she shouted, angry on her friend's behalf. Izuku was not used to this. At all. His moher loved him, and he loved her back. Still, Izuku was stunned. He had never had someone angry on his behalf before. He wasn't used to anyone standing up for him. He was on the verge of tears himself. He hugged her tightly. He was eternally grateful.

"It isn't. I know. But thank you for standing up for me." He breathed.

"How are you going to be a hero without your notebooks?" Mina cried. It was a leap in the conversation. She knew this. She was just too angry and sad to care right now.

Izuku broke the hug and wiped the tears from his eyes. A smile crept across his face. It was weak, but filled with satisfaction. "He didn't destroy them. I… I had an old backpack I filled with empty journals I had bought for the future. It was a waste of paper. But better those than you."

Mina punched his arm lightly, while wiping the tears away. "You had me scared."

"You had me scared too. You just ran off to face Kacchan alone."

"So, I guess we're both curly haired scaredy cats who throw themselves into trouble to help friends." Mina smiled, resting her arms behind her head

"Guess so." Izuku shrugged and smiled back sheepishly

"So what now?" Mina asked

"Um… it's a day before we planned to hang out…. But we could do something today too."

"Yeah. I'd love that, Midori. Lead the way." And the two talked next to each other towards their next adventure. Neither of them were quite sure where or what that was exactly, but it didn't matter. They were in it together. And that's all the two recent friends needed.

The next day, Mina had decided to take Izuku with her to see if Tsuyu and Kirishima wanted to do anything. She hadn't known the boy long, but they had become fast friends and he had cemented a spot in her little group. Mina lived farther away from Izuku and a train was required for the two to meet up, so they met half way, at the same park, they first bumped into each other. Izuku had arrived earlier than planned, so he had sat on a bench and decided to wait. As he did so, he could have sworn he heard her voice calling to him.

"Midori! Hey Midori! Please! Up here!"

He looked all around, thinking he was going mad. However, a readily recognizable flash of pink made him realize he was the sane one here. Stuck in a nearby tree was Mina Ashido, waving nonchalantly at her green-haired friend.

"Sup? Little help?"

"Ashi? H-how did this happen?" He called up in astonishment and concern.

"I'll explain if you help me out." Mina was slightly embarrassed, but this wasn't exactly a first for her. Her parents and older brother, Micha, had dealt with this since she was a little girl.

Izuku was puzzled by how his friend had ended up in a tree, but decided to help, no questions asked (aside from the question of how she got up there to begin with and why).

"W-wait right here. I'll go get a ladder." He called up the tree and ran off.

"Sure. Not like I can do much else." The pink girl pouted, though she really was grateful for him to get

Izuku was surprised, stunned and eager to help. He ran to get help, looking all over for a maintenance person he could ask for a ladder. Mina kicked her feet, yawning as she waited for her friend to return. He did after 20 minutes, having found someone, who drove up in a maintenance cart with a ladder on the back. The employee had black hair, red eyes, and looked like they would rather be home. Judging from the interactions between Mina and the employee, Izuku deduced that this was a regular occurrence for her.

After she was free, they walked across the street to meet Tsuyu and Kirishima. The four friends walked around until they found a place that caught Mina's eye.

"Why do you come to places like this, Ashido?"

"What can I say? I love retro things." The pink girl squealed with excitement at all te cool things she could see.

"I know that, but what makes you think Midoriya is…wait, where is he?" The black-haired boy did a double take in the small store, looking for his new friend until he saw him behind a rack of clothes, looking at old comics.

"Woah! I don't have these issues! Most of these are out of print. They even have trades! Ashi! This place is amazing!" The green-haired boy pawed through the issues carefully yet feverishly, his eyes widened with wonder and joy.

Mina came out with a brown fedora and a large, multi-colored scarf, which she twirled around enthusiastically.

"I know, right? Places like this tend to have the coolest stuff! I love stores like this." She twirled back behind a rack of dresses and grabbed a slim dress with an 80s inspired pattern, made up of triangles, checker-boards, and circles

Kirishima didn't mind older stuff, but he didn't have the obsession that his friends did. He turned to see if Tsuyu was as bored as he was.

"It's not that bad, Kiri." She said as she looked over a series of whimsical frog figurines, next to some rainy day gear that caught her eye.

The sharp-toothed boy relented and decided to see if he could find anything that tickled his fancy. He found a "New Japan Pro Wrestling" tanktop and a small weight set. After the four teenagers made their purchases, they went out to eat at a nearby pizzeria. Mina swung her bag happily as the scarf from before peeked out of it. Izuku had bought a few comics that caught his attention. He didn't have a lot of money, but he had enough that he felt comfortable with his purchases.

"Having fun yet, Midori?"

"Yeah. Lots. Thanks for pointing that place out, Ashi. "

The four friends chose an outdoor table after ordering their food and took their seats, placing their bags next to their chairs. The two curly haired teens smiled at each other as they sat down and hate their pizza. Tsuyu and Kirishima exchanged looks and ate theirs as well. They spoke while Izuku and Mina were lost in conversation.

"How long do you think it takes before the end up together." The sharp-toothed kid spoke after washing down a bite of his food with a sip of soda.

"Full year." She ribbited.

"Really? I dunno. Seems like it might be a lot sooner. Six Months at the longest."

"Midoriya seems really awkward and Ashido can be oblivious to her own shoelaces, let alone her feelings. It will be about a year."

"Ok, Tsu. You're on." He accepted.

"You shouldn't bet by the way. You're bad at it." The long-haired girl took a bite out of her pizza. The teens finished their meal after about half an hour and grabbed their bags.

"So, what next, gang." Kirishima stretched out, wiping his mouth with a napkin before throwing it in the trash.

Mina chirped cheerily. "Let's hit the arcade, guys. Midori isn't that familiar with video games. I want to introduce him."

The four walked for half an hour until they reached an open-air building with marquee lights. The Sign above the entrance read "Solitaire". It was an odd name for a place to play games with others, but Mina just shrugged and skipped ahead, grabbing a surprised and flustered Izuku by the hand and taking him with her while their friends smiled and rolled their eyes before pursuing.

The building housed a wide assortment of games and amusements, with an assortment of modern and vintage games, from the latest entry in the Battle For All series to Joust. Mina passed a creepy looking fortuneteller booth, housing an android fortuneteller named Rassilon, towards the front of the arcade. Izuku scanned the area, seeing a few pinball machines and several arcade cabinets. He hadn't been in an arcade since he was a kid, when his mom took him once to distract him from having been born quirkless, she meant well. She loved her son more than anything. Unfortunately, she had not handled his quirklessness well, and he had wanted her to support him no matter what, even after that reveal, rather than beating herself up. Still, he loved his mom. Izuku was snapped out of it by a pink finger licking his nose.

"Earth to Midori! I asked if you wanted to play anything in particular." The pink girl gently knocked on his head.

He shook his head, snapping back to reality. "Oh…S-sorry, Ashi. I'm not exactly an avid gamer."

"I know. That's why I'm going to introduce you to the wonders of the arcade."

Izuku's eyes scanned the area again and eventually decided on the skeeball area.

Mina's eyes lit up.

"I love this game. I can teach you how to play, if you want." The acid girl exclaimed.

Mina grabbed the ball and rolled it briskly up the ramp, landing it close to the center. The two comrades in curls had accrued a large amount of tickets and went off to find Tsuyu and Kirishima and play something with them. The four had decided to take turns playing a fighting game.

"What's Dark Stalkers?" Izuku asked, furrowing his brow as he investigated the cabinet.

"Oh, I think you'll like it. You play as different monsters and have different abilities and battle each other." Mina explained with her usual level of exuberance.

"Hell yeah. Tsu, wanna play me?" Kirishima spoke up, eager to play againt his frog-like friend.

"Sure. Beating you is always fun. Gero."

Izuku was pensive, though appreciative nonetheless. "Monsters aren't my thing. Sorry. That looks fun though."

Izuku pointed to Battle For All, unsurprisingly enamored by heroes. Mina smiled. She was familiar with the game. It was a favorite of hers. Midnight was her main, followed by Thirteen. She had managed to beat her friends and more than a few strangers at this game.

"Ok, Midori. You're on. I'll go easy on you, though. Since it's your first time playing."

Izuku, unsurprisingly, lost the first few rounds. Mina had experience and Izuku had barely even touched a video game before. He was, however, fairly astute and an avid enough fanboy that he was able to prove more of a match for Mina after a few rounds. Tsuyu and Kirishima were having fun at Dark Stalkers, with Kirishima exclaiming something about being a mummy.

"All Might vs Midnight. You do surprise me, Mr. Midoriya." Mina teased.

"Oh, well he is my favorite." Izuku smiled. He was coming out of his shell and Mina was happy. After what she learned about his history with Bakugou, he needed that.

Izuku had acquainted himself with the controls after several humiliating losses, and using what he knew about All Might (which was a lot.), he managed to turn things around. It was a close match in the first round. Mina took the second round. Izuku absolutely dominated the third round.

"YES! PLUS ULTRA!" Izuku jumped up excitedly. "That was incredibly fun! Thanks, Ashi!"

"No prob, Midori! I knew you would love it! Not going to lie, though. Didn't expect you to beat me so quickly."

"Yeah. Video games aren't my specialty. You're definitely better than me. I had a blast though."

"That's the spirit, Midori!" Mina cheered. "Come on! Let's play something else!" and the two were off to another arcade cabinet.

"HEY TSU! KIRI! SORRY TO LEAVE YOU HANGING! ME AND MIDORI WILL BE OVER HERE!" Mina shouted to her friends, costing Kirishima the match.

"DUDE!" Kirishima exclaimed at his defeat.

Tsuyu croaked victoriously "Thanks, Mina. We'll see you in a bit. Gero."

Mina and Izuku chated away the whole time, about heroes and school and other things.

"You know someone who can shoot laser beams?"

"Yeah, from his belly button. We met in dance class. I don't know him that well though. He was apparently born in France."

"That's really cool! My dad is abroad…. he's never home though. Haven't seen him in years. I've… I've never even left Japan." Izuku smiled weakly, failing to hide the sadness he felt at not having his dad around.

"Sorry to hear that, Midori…. I didn't know. I doubt it will help, but I can put on a fake mustache and be your fake dad."

Izuku chuckled. "That…wouldn't help much. But thank you. Haha."

"No problem, Midori. Happy to help… or at least try to." She smiled.

"You have helped. A lot. Thanks, Ashi." Izuku smiled back.

Kirishima and Tsuyu walked over, the black-haired boy grinning in satisfaction. "Yeah, I am so winning this bet. OW!"

Tsuyu smacked him with her tongue. "You never win, Kirishima. Hey guys, want to get going? We should probably head back and work on homework. Gero."

Mina and Kirishima sighed, with Mina's being more drawn out. "Ugh. Yeah. Sorry, Midri." She said, turning to her green-haired friend.

"Yeah. Sorry, Midoriya. We should hang out more, when Mina isn't hogging you to herself." Tsuyu smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean, Tsu?" the pink girl pouted. "Are you insinuating something?"

"Nope. Just saying we should hang out again. It was fun, though you two did kind of run off and do your own thing." Tsuyu stated calmly. Even if he spent most of his time with Mina, she did like Izuku well enough. He seemed like a good kid. She looked forward to becoming better friends with him, even if he was an awkward mess at times.

"She's not wrong. You did drag him away from us a lot. I look forward to talking about heroes with you more, Midoriya." He grinned while pointing at himself with his right thumb.

"Y-yeah. I would like that too. It's nice seeing you two again." He nodded.

The four friends walked to the train station and parted ways. Mina and Izuku took the train together to the station near his house.

"This…This was fun. Thank you, Ashi. I…. I liked hanging with you guys." Izuku leaned his head back on the head rest of his seat, Mina sitting right next to him.

"You're welcome, Midori. Always! You're one of us now." She said cheerfully, voice like a song.

"We…We don't know each other that well though." Izuku was still not used to this, but was quickly warming up to it, after years in the cold.

"We know each other well enough so far." She grinned and offered a fist. Izuku looked at it like it was a newly discovered artifact before hi smiled back and returned her fist bump. Both bid eachother farewell for the time being before parting ways, grateful to each other for having met.. Little did they know just how close they would become.