Mina could hardly stand still.
"Any minute now… Ohmygosh I can't wait!" Looking a bit more hyper than usual, the horned girl bounced a bit on the balls of her feet, a huge smile on her face. She turned to her friend. "How many people do you think will show up? What if we get, like, fifty members? You think we can even fit that many people in here? I know there was limit, but-
"Um, Mina?" Izuku cut her off. Realizing she was motor-mouthing a bit, his classmate took a second to compose herself.
"Right. Sorry. Getting a bit too excited."
"I-It's okay. I'm really looking forward to this too," he assured her.
The dancing duo was once again back at the studio, all set up for more practice. However, this wasn't just another one of their usual lessons; today was something of a special occasion.
It was the first meeting of U.A. Breakdancing Club.
It hadn't taken too much for the pair to get this idea up and running. When Izuku had expressed interesting in starting the club last week, Mina literally dragged him to principal Nedzu's office to learn how to start a club. There wasn't that much to it; all they needed was a teacher who would be willing to serve as a club advisor, and a minimum of five guaranteed members.
Getting three others on board was easy. While a good portion of their class declined for one reason or another, Uraraka, Aoyama, and Hagakure were all more than willing to join. As for the advisor, both Izuku and Mina agreed on the obvious choice: Present Mic. Unsurprisingly, the musical hero was extremely supportive of the idea. He agreed to advise the club almost instantly.
Once that was out of the way, all that was left was advertising. The two spent some time after school making flyers (Izuku having to talk Mina out of coating them all in glitter) and posting them around campus. They had decided to make the club meet on Saturdays, as that was the day that worked best for everyone.
And so the two students patiently, or impatiently, waited for the others to show up. Neither of them was sure how many more members to expect; the club did have a twenty five-person limit, despite Mina's earlier statements. Probably for the best; too many people would be impossible to manage for the two of them. And that wasn't even getting into the fact that Izuku didn't do so well with big crowds.
Still, the fact that he was willing to even do this was a testament to how much he'd changed over the last month or so. Though he was obviously still a bit nervous about the whole thing, of course. Mina couldn't help but feel a little anxious herself, to be honest. Teaching a group was going to be very different from these one-on-ones she and Izuku had been having.
It wasn't long until the first member walked through the door.
"Ochako!" Mina rushed forward and pulled her friend into a tight hug, as if they hadn't just seen each other about 20 minutes ago. The brunette was caught a bit off guard by the zealous gesture.
"Hi… Mina…" She gasped as was caught in the vice-like hug.
"M-Mina, I don't think she can breathe…" Izuku said quietly. Realizing she'd gotten carried away again, the pink girl turned a bit lilac as she released Uraraka.
"Haha… Sorry, just, you know." She had never been good at holding in her emotions, and she was particularly happy today.
"It's okay, I'm pretty used to that sort of thing by now," the other girl joked, nodding toward Izuku in greeting. She looked around. "Oh, am I the first one here?"
"Looks like it. Though Tooru could be here and we'd never know," Mina mused.
"I don't just walk around naked, you know," another voice called out as a floating set of gym clothes entered the studio.
"Well there was that one time…" Uraraka mumbled.
"HEY! We agreed never to talk about that!"
"Oops! S-Sorry!" The brunette's normally rosy cheeks turned even brighter as she held a hand to her mouth. Mina simply laughed at the exchange before noticing Izuku's face flaring up.
"What's up, Izuku?" A smirk crossed her lips. "Don't like being alone with all these cute girls~?" The question only served to intensify the boy's blush, much to his friend's amusement.
"Ng…" A small, high-pitched noise was all that came out of him. Mina laughed heartily, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Relax, buddy. Just messing around." She knew just how to push Izuku's buttons when she wanted to. While she made a concerted effort to be considerate toward his anxiety, she also wanted to treat him like any of her other friends. Coddling him and treating him like some fragile object forever would only make things worse for him.
Plus, she just found flustered Izuku super cute.
The group chatted a bit more, the one male member slowly calming down after a while. A few more students trickled in, most of whom Mina had never seen before. They were from a mix of the General Studies and Support classes, though one member of the other Hero class, 1B, had shown up. Aoyama eventually made his "fashionably late", as he put it, appearance as well.
Things got problematic, though, when another pair of familiar faces walked in.
"Alright, found it," Mineta said, looking up at Kaminari. "And you wanted to go left."
"Oh shut it. Look, this place is-
"No."
The two looked at Mina, who was glaring at them with her arms crossed.
"What do you mean-
"I mean no. Out." She pointed at the door.
"Hey!" Mineta immediately went on the defensive. "We're just here to join the club! You can't just-
"No you're not." The fact that the grape-themed student was so ready with that was very telling.
"Hey come on Ashido, give us a break. We signed up and everything," Kaminari whined. The rest of the club decided to stay out of this.
"You guys think I'm stupid or something?" Mina was not in the mood.
"Well-Mmph!" A hand was shoved over Mineta's mouth before he could finish that sentence. Pulling it away, he started flailing his arms. "Look, we're not just here to stare at butts okay!? Well, maybe Kaminari is, but I'm not!"
"Hey!"
"Dancing's, like, a great way to meet ladies!" The perverted midget continued. "Come ooooon, please?"
"Oh my god…" Mina pinched her temples, shaking her head. She then turned to Izuku. "You buying this?"
"Well…" The green-haired boy looked at his lecherous classmates, then back to Mina. "I… I don't think it's really fair to throw them out. I mean, they signed up right?"
"Yes!" Mineta cheered as he and Kaminari each did a fist pump.
"Izuku, are you sure-
"But." His voice suddenly grew uncharacteristically stern as he shot a hard look at the two. "You guys need to be serious about this. If you're really just here to… To… Stare, then you shouldn't be here."
There was a brief silence. Mina was a bit surprised to hear Izuku talk that way, but she was in complete agreement.
"…Alright, alright." Kaminari held up his hands, sighing. "Forget it." Without another word, he stepped out of the room. Mineta, though, held his ground.
"What?" He asked as the two club runners stared at him. "He might not have been serious, but I sure am." Mina and Izuku looked at each other with slight shock. If anything, they probably both expected Mineta to leave and Kaminari to stay.
"…Fine." Still a bit skeptical of the shrimp's motives, Mina gave him another glare. "But I swear, if I catch you doing anything…"
"Yeah yeah, I get it." Rubbing his hands together, the purple-topped boy smiled to himself. "I'm gonna be such a chick magnet after this…"
Overall there were twelve people including Izuku and Mina. Not a full house, but not a small amount either. After waiting a few minutes to see if anyone else would show, the club leader decided to get started.
"Alrighty!" Clapping her hands together, Mina beamed. "Welcome, everyone!"
Overall it proved to be a fun if not hectic first meeting. Introductions were made before Mina gave a small demonstration to whet everyone's appetite. Izuku then gave a small lecture of sorts explaining the basic terms and structure of breakdance, a segment he had been insistent on adding when he and Mina had been planning things out. Of course, he was really the only one who found it remotely interesting.
Once that was over (Mina having to cut the lecture off early), the rest of the meeting was spent teaching the new club members the basics. The two instructors started with the same 3-step routine Izuku had learned, building from there. For the most part, the group was able to get a quick grasp of the moves; nobody needed to be pulled aside and given a pep talk like Izuku did during that first lesson. It was a little difficult getting everyone to stay focused, especially since Mina was the one running things, but with a little help from her so-called vice president things were able to stay relatively on track.
"Oh wow, where does the time go?" The club president looked at the clock, realizing they were out of time. "Okay, that about does it for today. Great work everyone! You were all super duper awesome!" Judging by their reactions, everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves. "See you all next week!"
The students dispersed for the day, going to the locker rooms to change.
Izuku dried some sweat off with a towel as he took off his gym clothes. He wasn't actually all that tired; being an introductory meeting, there hadn't actually been a ton of dancing today. And what they did practice was all beginner stuff.
It wasn't the workout that had gotten him all sweaty as much as it was nerves. Being one of the club's instructors, he had to talk a lot. Whether it was to explain something to a member, or help someone who wasn't quite getting something down, or just demonstrate a move… Mina couldn't do that all herself. It didn't help that about half the club members were complete strangers to Izuku. They didn't know about all his weird little mannerisms like his friends did. He had been fearful of making a bad first impression.
Still, he had grown a lot since he entered U.A. Despite his worries, he managed to get through the first meeting without losing his composure. Mina being by his side helped immensely; not only was she able to handle the bulk of the talking, but her presence alone was enough to give him that little boost.
He was actually a bit surprised by how much everyone enjoyed themselves. Hagakure seemed to get the hang of things pretty quickly, and Aoyama's dramatic personality was a good fit for this style of dance. Uraraka had a little more trouble picking up the basics, though she was clearly having a blast despite that. Heck, even Mineta-
"Midoriya, Midoriya, Midoriya."
Izuku turned toward the voice, seeing his shortest classmate leaning against the locker next to him, looking at him with his arms crossed. He had apparently changed already, dressed in a purple shirt and tan shorts. There was a suspicious look in his eyes as he smiled wryly at the taller boy.
"Uh… Hey, Mineta." Not exactly comfortable with the look he was receiving, Izuku continued to change. "You, uh, like the club?"
"Oh yeah for sure, it was actually a lot more fun than I was expecting." The shrimp paused, chuckling. "But uh, I bet those 'private lessons' are way more fun, huh?"
"Huh?" Confused, Izuku looked down at him. "What do you mean?" In a way, he supposed they were more fun, but…
"Aw don't be like that man. You know exactly what I mean." He got a little closer, much to his classmate's discomfort. "You gotta give me the details, dude. How far you get with her?" Why was he whispering?
"Wh-What are you t-talking about?" How far had he gotten with her? What was Mineta trying to say?
"You know, you and Ashido. First base, second… Oh man don't tell you you've already scored!" He started playfully punching Izuku's arm, his smile growing.
It suddenly clicked.
"Wh…WHHHAAAAT!?" The taller boy, now completely red in the face, nearly tripped over a bench as he leapt backwards. He held his hands up in front of his face as if to defend himself before manically flailing them around. "I… Ng… We… Gah… YOU TH-THINK WE'RE T-T-T-TOGETHER!?" Realizing he just shouted that, Izuku clamped his hands over his mouth, looking around. If anybody else heard that, they weren't reacting.
He looked back at Mineta in horror, who seemed more confused than anything. Did this guy seriously think that he and Mina were... Were…
He couldn't even finish the thought.
"Uh… Are you trying to tell me you aren't?" The pint-sized pervert raised an eyebrow.
"NO!" Izuku's voice was incredibly high pitched right now as his face glowed brighter and brighter. Clamping his mouth shut again, he got closer before continuing in a loud whisper. "H-H-H-How could you e-e-even th-think that!?…"
"I mean… It's kinda obvious man. Like, Kaminari and I have had our suspicions already, but-
"W-We are not d-d-dating!" Just saying the world aloud was enough to cause his chest to tighten. "M-M-Mina and I-I are… We're just f-f-friends!" Mineta stared blankly at him.
"…Riiiiiight."
"I'm serious!" Izuku had to make a conscious effort to not start screaming all this. After staring him down for a few more moments, the shorter student tilted his head a bit.
"…For real? Oh." An awkward silence followed as he finally seemed to accept facts. "…Well, are you going to ask her out soon?"
"WHAT!?" The red-faced boy was about ready to pass out.
"Alright, don't try to tell me you don't like her. You and her are both giving off serious vibes, man."
"…"
Izuku didn't respond as his brain effectively shut down. Mineta waved a hand in his face as he stared off into space.
"Hello? Midoriya?" Nothing. Shrugging, he patted the frozen student on the shoulder before walking off. Izuku continued to stare off at nothing.
He… He liked Mina? And she liked…
He shook his head.
"No, no…" That couldn't possibly be right. Mineta just viewed the world in a very unique way when it came to this sort of stuff. He was seeing things that weren't there because… Well, he was Mineta. The fact that he actually thought Mina could have any romantic interest in a guy like Izuku showed how insane the whole thing was.
Yeah, that's all it was. Crazy ramblings from the class pervert. There wasn't anything going on between the two of them.
Nothing at all.
The rest of the day was pretty normal for Izuku. He went straight home after club ended, helping his mom with dinner and getting his school work out of the way for most of the evening. Once that was out of the way, he relaxed in bed with a couple comics he had recently picked up. Again, a pretty normal end to his day. Except, of course, for one small detail.
Mina.
Try as he might, the boy just couldn't completely get that conversation with Mineta out of his head. Every time he thought he had moved past it, he found himself thinking about it all over again.
Why had his classmate said all that? Why did he have to have zero concept of tact or decency? Perhaps it would have been better to not let him join the club after all.
Izuku desperately wanted to forget that whole thing ever happened, but for some reason his brain refused to let it go.
Why was he so hung up on this? It was a bizarre conversation, sure, but also utterly ridiculous. He kept reminding himself over and over that it was Mineta of all people who made those "observations". Not exactly a trustworthy source when it came to anything dealing with relationships. Izuku knew better than anyone that nothing was going on between him and Mina.
So why did he have to keep telling himself all this?
It was late now, and the sleepy student was now lying in bed. Just before he could drift off into dreamland, though, a buzz was heard as his phone vibrated against his nightstand. Lazily reaching out to grab it, he checked to see who was contacting him at this hour.
Of course it had to be Mina.
"hey u doin anything tomorrow?"
Izuku hesitated to answer. He was technically free, but with everything that had been on his mind he wasn't sure if doing anything with Mina was the best idea. Still, she was his friend and he did want to spend time with her.
"Nothing planned. Why?"
"want 2 hang out?"
"Sure!" He typed the response without thinking.
"yay! ^_^ every1 else is busy, so itll just be us."
Oh.
Izuku wasn't sure why that fact gave him pause. He had spent plenty of time alone with Mina, what with all their dance lessons. Sure they hadn't done much outside of that, but still.
"Oh, okay. What did you want to do?" Normally they hung out on the weekends with a group, so he wasn't really sure.
"u should come over here! we havent ever hung out at each others places."
The boy's chest tightened slightly as he read this. The idea of spending the day at Mina's house – or any girl's house – was a little nerve-wracking to him. But she was right; they hadn't ever actually been to each other's houses. While he could just suggest she come to his place, he wasn't too keen on bringing a girl home while his mother was around. No doubt she'd get the completely wrong idea.
"Okay, sounds good." Once again, he answered without fully thinking it through. He panicked for a split second before calming himself down; why did this have to be such a big deal?
"AWESOME! :D ill let you know when im free tomorrow. night~!"
"Goodnight, Mina."
Setting the phone back down, Izuku flopped back down on his bed. Staring at the ceiling for a second, he questioned just exactly what he just got himself into. However, a yawn indicated that now was not the time to think about that.
Shutting his eyes, the boy quickly fell asleep, thoughts of Mina still lingering in his mind.
The next morning flew by, and before Izuku knew it he was standing outside the Ashido household. It was 12:30 in the afternoon; both students needed time to get their morning workouts in and help around the house. Mina didn't live too far from Izuku, but it still took some time waiting for the train. He was able to find her place pretty easily, though.
It was an average-sized 2-story house, much different from the apartment he and his mother called home. He half-expected it to be painted pink or some other vibrant color, but it was actually quite plain. The yard, however, was a different story; there was a sizeable garden full of colorful flowers that was well maintained, and more than a few lawn ornaments. There was a lot of personality here; fitting for Mina's family.
After hesitating for a moment or two, the shy boy rang the doorbell. He wondered what Mina's parents would be like. They had to be at least a little like her, right?
A moments later, the door opened to reveal his pink friend, sporting one of her typical warm-weather outfits.
"Hey buddy! Come on in!" Following her inside, Izuku slipped off his shoes before entering the kitchen. "You eat lunch yet?" She asked as they entered.
"Uh, y-yeah. Ate before I left." The house was quiet, something the boy had not expected. "Are your parents upstairs or something?"
"Oh, no. My family's out for the afternoon. It's just you and me."
Izuku's stomach lurched a bit as she said this. Just the two of them, alone all afternoon, in her house?
He managed to hold back his blush as his heartrate increased ever so slightly. Alone… With a girl… In her house.
Gah, what was he doing? He had gotten past this sort of thing by now with her. Or at least, he should have.
"O-Oh, well… Alright."
A brief silence followed.
"Sooooo…" Mina was the one to break it. "What do you wanna do?"
"Oh, um…" For some reason Izuku had assumed she would have had something in mind. "Well, I did bring some of my books if you wanted to maybe study-
A raspberry interrupted him as Mina stuck her tongue out.
"…Yeah, figured." For all her admirable qualities, Mina's work ethic when it came to academia was… Lacking. Her more studious friend had done what he could to get her to apply herself more, but it was an uphill battle. He supposed good grades weren't essential to being a good hero, but still. "Um… We could plan out the next club meeting maybe?"
"Ooo, that could be fun. I've had some ideas for what we could do moving forward."
"Oh, really? Like what?"
"Well, I was thinking we could all do some kind of demo for the school at some point. Show off the club a bit, you know?" Mina had expressed slight disappointment at the fact that they only had about half the members they potentially could.
"Er… I-I don't know, I…" The prospect of performing for, what, the whole school? Didn't sit well with Izuku.
"It wouldn't be for a little while. Let everyone else learn a bit more, you know?" She paused. "Do you not want to?"
"Oh, n-no! It's not that, just…" The boy sighed. "It'd be a lot of people…"
"Yeah. It would." A hand rested on his shoulder, making him tense up. "And you know what? I think you can handle it just fine." Mina had that warm, sunny smile on her face that she always did when she talked to him like this. He'd grown to become quite fond of it, finding it comforting. "I mean, you handled the club just fine right? We'll get there."
"…Alright." Izuku nodded.
"Like I said, just an idea. We can talk about it more later. Anyway, I also was thinking about maybe doing other stuff like a movie day or…"
Time passed as the two friends spent the afternoon doing a variety of activities. Once club discussion was done, Mina suggested they play a videogame or two. Izuku wasn't really one for that sort of thing, but he decided to go along with it when he learned she owned a home version of Dance Revolt. While he obviously didn't stand a chance against his friend, he enjoyed himself nonetheless.
She showed him around her house, at one point giving a tour of her room. Naturally, the prospect of alone with a girl in her room made Izuku's brain go haywire.
"What's wrong? Scared you'll get cooties?" Mina joked when he stopped outside her door. She'd been making a habit of poking fun at him like this more and more recently. Granted, she acted like that with all her friends, but Izuku couldn't help but feel she would tease him the most. Not maliciously, of course.
Once he finally worked up the courage to enter, the blushing boy found himself looking at quite a sight. Mina's room was about as vibrant and hectic as she was. Posters for bands, movies, and some heroes he recognized lined the walls. The curtains, bedsheets, lampshades, rug… Everything was a hodge-podge of psychedelic colors, with a bunch of random patterns like hearts and leopard print. None of it matched, and it was all very… Well, Izuku didn't like the word "tacky", but…
This was definitely Mina Ashido's room.
The hyper girl showed him around, explaining where a lot of baubles had come from. She showed him some of the music she liked, most of it being the kind of stuff one could easily dance to (If there was a little more room, Izuku honestly might have broken out into a routine).
Afterwards, after many attempts, the freckled boy managed to convince her to get a little homework done. The two worked through an assignment together, Mina managing to focus long enough to complete it. That proved to be her limit, however.
Well, better than nothing.
Desperate to, as she put it "give her brain a break", her next idea was to watch a movie. The two were currently in the middle of watching one, sitting on the couch together with a bowl of popcorn.
Unsurprisingly, they had ultimately decided on a film about – what else – Breakdancing. The plot was pretty basic for these types of films; the main character was a guy who had just moved to a new town, and was starting at a new school. As one might expect, he struggles to make friends at first and becomes a target for the school's resident bullies (and like most of these films, the teachers obviously do nothing to stop this).
One day a rather spunky girl stands up for him, and he soon becomes part of her group of friends. As one might expect, they all share a talent for breakdance, and the new guy wants to learn. They of course teach him, and he joins their team to help them win an upcoming competition.
Again, basic, but enjoyable nonetheless. Izuku couldn't help but notice some similarities between himself and the main character.
Which is why when the romantic subplot with the main girl got introduced, he suddenly felt incredibly anxious.
Green eyes darted over to the girl beside him. She was completely enthralled despite seeing this movie multiple times. Boy, they were sitting close together weren't they?
Izuku swallowed some saliva before returning his attention to the screen.
Those thoughts from yesterday were bubbling up to the surface of his mind again. They'd been coming up all day, in fact. For some reason he was feeling a bit jumpier around Mina than normal, like the way he would act when they were first getting to know each other.
Trying to distract himself in some way, the boy quickly reached into the bowl to grab a handful of popcorn. Maybe the crunching would drown out these stupid thoughts.
It wasn't until he closed his hand that he realized it wasn't popcorn he had grabbed.
His blood ran cold as he felt what was clearly skin. Slowly looking down, he saw he had firmly grabbed hold of a pink hand that was also going for the popcorn.
"Uh, dude?"
He looked up, bug-eyed, to see Mina staring at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Can I have my hand back, please?"
Fully processing what he had just done, Izuku let out a yelp as he released the hand, recoiling.
"I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, I-I d-d-didn't…" The boy's face was practically on fire as he struggled to get words out. What the heck did he just do!?
"Izuku, breathe. It's fine." Mina seemed more amused by his reaction than anything. "It happens. Didn't know you liked popcorn that much," she added with a smirk, handing him the bowl.
Realizing that gesture had even remotely phased the girl, Izuku slowly calmed down. Worried he might say something stupid now, he shoved some popcorn in his mouth. He tried to focus on the movie again, desperate to forget that awkward moment. Unfortunately, those bubbling thoughts were boiling at this point, much like his cheeks.
As the movie continued, he found himself glancing at Mina more and more. His gaze lingered a couple times as he was reminded of how pretty he found her. Of course, the second he caught himself thinking that he was back to the TV.
These thoughts, these feelings… Where were they all coming from? Sure he'd had them before here and there, but never to this degree.
As the movie continued, the romance plot hit its peak. The two leads finally confessed to each other, sharing an intimate moment.
"Aaaaawww!" Mina cooed, enamored by the scene. Izuku was having a very different reaction.
It was obvious where this was all coming from. He could continue to deny it all he wanted, but he couldn't fool himself any longer.
His stomach began to do cartwheels as reality set in.
"Hello?" A second later, he had stood up and whipped out his phone. "Mom?" Mina paused the movie as he pretended to take a call. "Huh? Right now? Can it wait?" He waited a few seconds. "But I… Alright, I'll be there soon." Putting the phone away, he looked back at Mina. It took every ounce of his willpower to keep a straight face right now, given what was going through his head.
"…You have to go?" It seemed like she picked up the gist of the "conversation".
"Y-Yeah, sorry. Some stuff came up at home." He didn't like lying, but his fight-of-flight was kicking in right now. "B-But, uh, thanks f-for having me over."
"Izuku, is everything okay?" He obviously wasn't doing a great job keeping his composure.
"Oh yeah, i-it's nothing serious." He was already putting on his shoes. "B-But I need to be there ASAP, s-so I really need to get going." Mina looked at him for a moment.
"…Alright." It looked like she wanted to say more but didn't. "Well, see you tomorrow then. I'd offer to walk to the station with you, but I should probably start getting dinner prepped for folks." She smiled. "But thanks for hanging out! It was a lot of fun, dude."
"Yeah." Izuku gave a considerably more awkward smile back. "Yeah, it was f-fun. We'll, uh, h-have to finish that movie some other time."
With that, he hurried out the door. He moved at a brisk pace, desperate to get some distance between him and the house. A maelstrom of emotions swirled in his mindscape as he walked.
How he didn't realize he had fallen for Mina sooner was beyond him. Had he really been that oblivious to his own feelings? Or was he just that good at denying it? Regardless, it was a truth he could no longer ignore.
It was frightening; what did this mean for their friendship? He obviously couldn't tell her about this. Mineta may have been correct about him having feelings for her, but there was no way the reverse was true.
But would he be able to keep it secret for long? He had never been good at hiding his emotions. Mina clearly thought something was up just now.
Damn it. Why? Why did this have to happen?
Hey the thing happened. How will this affect their relationship? Who knows? Well, given my track record it's actually pretty obvious, but still!
