Ch. 10 The Games We Play

Three weeks had passed since the USJ incident. Thankfully for Allen, the intense preparation for the upcoming UA Sports Festival was a pretty effective distraction from what had happened. The sessions with Aizawa helped—the man was very good at reframing Allen's thoughts in a way that made things seem less terrible—but sometimes, in the quiet moments when he was alone, it felt like every bit of progress would come unraveled, slipping him back into the same sense of numb melancholy that he had felt before. Allen avoided those quiet moments like the plague, jamming every possible second full of activity so that he didn't have a chance to think.

He spent a lot of time with friends, old and new. Ojiro, whom Allen had initially branded as utterly forgettable became a good friend. Besides Midoriya, the tailed-teen was first person from the class to get invited over to Allen's house when he expressed interest in having a spar. This evolved into a two to three time a week occurrence, with Midoriya often joining them.

Allen would never say it out loud, but he was privately quite thankful that he had Ojiro to spar with—Midoriya was a quick and wily opponent, he learned fast and he was able to pull off clever gambits that could even trip up more experienced, technical fighters. However, the sheer gap of experience between them, only made worse by his comparative lack of combat practice during the ten months of hell in preparation for the entrance exam meant that in a spar without quirks, Midoriya was far below Allen's level.

On the other hand, Ojiro had been doing martial arts even longer than Allen had, practically since he could walk, and Allen relished the challenge. Even without using his tail, he was really good, but with it—forget about it. As plain as it seemed compared to Todoroki or Bakugo's quirks, Ojiro's tail was devastating at close range. The first time he actually used it in a spar, it was brief and very one sided. Aside from the difficulty of adjusting years of ingrained reactions and tactics to an opponent who essentially had an extra limb, Ojiro's tail gave him multiple defensive options, extra reach, mobility, and superior balance. Also, it was strong. Ojiro's tail struck with the force of a sledgehammer, and Allen spent a good couple of minutes on the floor gasping for air after being jabbed by it in the diaphragm while he had been busy defending against a blistering combination aimed at his head.

The cover-up gel (Allen refused to call it make-up) that Midnight had given him had turned out great. His first few tries, he applied way too much—making him look like a department store mannequin, but fortunately—after some light teasing of course—Asui stepped up and enlisted the aid of Ashido, who pulled him aside and gave him a crash course in applying it correctly. He still got the occasional stares and whispers at school from people that knew about the brands in the first place, but at least he had some measure of peace in public.

As a side benefit, he had a chance to get to know the acid-wielding girl a bit better. Her appearance was pretty…unique, but Allen thought that she was quite attractive. Asui drily made the observation that he probably just liked big boobs when he admitted that to her, a charge that he couldn't truthfully deny. He had a great appreciation for how well Ashido filled out that costume of hers and it was difficult not to stare, especially with her tendency to jump up and down when excited—which was often. He wasted no time in asking for her number and began texting her regularly, finding her to be rather fun and quite a lot like him, even beyond their academic struggles.

His efforts with Momo had proven entirely fruitless. She had softened her behavior towards him slightly—whether it was out of pity or familiarity, he wasn't sure—but she had nonetheless made it abundantly clear that she did not reciprocate his attraction to her. Allen was a persistent guy, but he knew the difference between persistence and beating his head against the wall and this was definitely the latter. So, he ceased his casual attempts to compliment her or ask her out, and began treating her in the same respectfully formal way that she treated him. It was disappointing, but he wasn't about to get hung up on one girl when there were plenty of fish in the sea.

One morning, Allen got to school early. Cursing the sight of the empty classroom, he compared his watch with the clock on the wall and realized that it had gotten ahead by almost 30 minutes this time. "Really?" he muttered, resetting the time. "God damn cheap piece of shit...need to go ahead and get one of those ones that syncs with my phone automatically." He had some time to kill, so he whipped out his phone and started playing his latest favorite game. It was nothing super special or complicated, just a mobile clone of a popular bullet hell game from a couple of years back. Since it was a game that relied almost entirely on reflexes and ability to make quick decisions under pressure, Allen regularly made use of his quirk to tip the scales in his favor. Was it cheap? Yes. Did it piss off the other players who stood no chance of even touching his high scores? Absolutely, but Allen appreciated any chance to show off his ability, whether online or in the real world. The background noise faded out as Allen mindlessly focused on the machine in his hands.

"Ren-chan."

"Hmm?" Allen said; tearing his focus away from his phone to look into Asui's dark brown eyes. He glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that people were filing in the room and that class was going to start in five minutes…had it been that long already? Damn. "What's up Tsu-chan?" He asked.

"What are you doing after school today?"

Allen was surprised by the question, but thought for a moment, "I promised I would go shopping with my mom, and then I was thinking about training with my dad afterwards, but I could blow it off if it's really important. Why?"

Asui's expression did not change, "Want to go to the arcade with me?" She held up a voucher for ¥10000 at popular arcade in Tokyo. "Got this as a present for my birthday but never used it, ribbit. Today's the expiration date. You want to come?"

Allen thought for a moment, and then smiled. "Sure, why not? It's been too long since I went to an arcade. But I got to say, you don't really strike me as the gaming type, Tsu-chan."

Asui shook her head, "I'm not. That's why I never used the voucher, ribbit. Someone went to the trouble of getting it for me though, so I don't want it to go to waste."

"Fair enough." Allen said, "I'm curious though, why invite me? I consider you one of my better friends in the class but we haven't really hung out outside of school. I know that you occasionally hang with Uraraka-san and Ashido-chan. I would have thought you would bring them."

In response, Asui pointed to the flashing game over screen displayed on his phone, "As far as I know, neither of them play video games either. You do, ribbit."

Allen shrugged, "I guess I can't argue with that logic."

"Meet me there at 18:00." Asui said, "Don't be late, ribbit."

"I'll be there." Allen promised.

(Lunch)

"Hey Allen," Midoriya said with a hopeful glint in his eye, "I've got a little free time today, could I come by for the training session with you and your dad? I've been doing physical training for my quirk, but I can't let myself get too rusty. I want to be at my peak for the sports festival."

"An excellent plan, Midoriya-kun!" Iida remarked, "I myself will be training with my brother for the event as well!"

Allen shook his head apologetically, "Sorry man, I made different plans for the day."

Midoriya was surprised, "R-really? It's really rare that you ever blow off training. What for?"

"Tsu-chan invited me to go to the arcade with her," Allen said, "she got a voucher for it that expires today and I said I'd go."

Midoriya frowned, "I thought you were banned for life from the arcade after last time."

Allen waved his hand dismissively, "It's a different arcade, closer to this side of town. And even if it wasn't, it's been over two years, I doubt anyone cares anymore."

"They still had your picture up the last time I passed by there." Midoriya said.

"Wait," Uraraka said, "what happened 'last time' ya went ta an arcade? There sounds like there's a story there."

"Yes," Iida agreed, "I too wish to hear this story."

Allen merely scowled while Midoriya laughed and began to explain. "Back in our 2nd year of middle school, Allen went to the arcade by the station in my neighborhood and systematically beat every listed score on every game there over the course of a couple of weeks, setting the name as 'Bakugo Ballsucker'."

Uraraka started laughing out loud, and even Iida looked slightly amused-as much as he didn't like foul language, he liked Bakugo even less. "That's rather crude," Iida said, adjusting his glasses, "but nothing worthy of a lifetime ban."

Midoriya chortled, "Oh, it gets better. Nobody could beat Allen's scores and even if they did, he would quickly get their name back off of the listing again. Then Allen decided to start posting pictures of Bakugo up around the arcade with his name, so whenever Kacchan would go to the arcade or even pass by that part of the station, people would start asking him if he was the ballsucker who held all of the top scores. This drove him crazy, and he started spending all of his free time there trying to beat the scores and remove that name from the listings."

Iida looked at Allen aghast while Uraraka had tears streaming down her face she was laughing so hard. "Why would you do this Allen-kun?" he asked, "Surely there were better uses for your time?"

Allen shrugged, "Screwing with Bakugo is always a worthwhile use of my time. Fuck that asshole."

"So…so then what happened?" Uraraka asked once she had gotten control of herself.

Midoriya grinned weakly, "Kacchan caught Allen in the middle of putting up the pictures. They got into a…fight, if you could call it that."

Allen smirked, "Which I won."

Midoriya looked at him deadpan, "You kicked him in the balls and put his head through a wall, you're lucky that you didn't have charges pressed against you."

"He threatened to blow me up!" Allen exclaimed, "What was I supposed to do, let him?"

Midoriya turned to Iida and Uraraka; "Kacchan did his thing where he punches his palm and makes a mini blast to intimidate people. He didn't even get a full sentence out before Allen started hitting him."

Allen looked sheepish, "Well, he was going to threaten to blow me up. You know him well enough to know that's true…anyways, who cares about ancient history, I'm living in the now! Anyone want to come with me?"

"I'm in," Midoriya said, "a break from training would be nice. Plus, somebody's got to keep you out of trouble, after all."

"Ooh, me too!" Uraraka said excitedly, "I've never been to the arcade before! It sounds fun!"

The trio turned to Iida expectantly, and he cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I must decline." He said, looking regretful, "As I said earlier, I have training with my brother. He's taking precious time away from his hero work especially for me, so…"

"Don't worry about it Iida." Allen said, "We all know how much time with your brother means to you, and I'd leap at the chance to get personal training from Ingenium too."

Iida smiled. The tension between Allen and him had lessened considerably when Iida had told them about his connection to the high-ranked hero. As a fellow speedster, Ingenium was a favorite of Allen's.

"What time are we meeting?" Uraraka asked.

"At 18:00. Don't be late." Allen echoed Asui's words from earlier.

Uraraka gave a playful approximation of a military salute, "Yes sir!" She barked, before breaking down into giggles, making Allen roll his eyes.

(After School, PX at the Base)

Susan Martin rolled her eyes as Allen glanced at his watch for the fiftieth time since they had begun their shopping trip. "Is shopping with your mother really so painful?" Susan asked as she finished inspecting the carton of eggs for cracks and handed it to Allen, who placed it in the cart. "You've been watching the clock non-stop since we got here."

Allen shook his head, "No, mom. I'm meeting a friend at the arcade at 18:00 and I want to make sure I have enough time to get ready and get over there."

"Really?" Susan raised a delicate eyebrow; "I thought you were banned from the arcade after what happened last time."

"Different arcade."

"Hmm," Susan said, looking at Allen speculatively, "alright, but your father and I had better not be getting another repair bill…or calls about heads being shoved places where they don't belong."

Allen laughed, "I make no promises, but I doubt it will come to that today." After thinking for a second, Allen reached over to the nearest wooden object and knocked on it.

"Good idea," Susan said drily, "no point in invoking Murphy's wrath. Who's this 'friend' by the way? If it were Midoriya or that nice boy with the tail—"

"Ojiro Mashirao." Allen supplied.

"Yes, him—then you would have just told me so. Another friend from school?"

Allen nodded, "Yeah, her name's Tsuyu Asui. I've told you about her before."
Recognition dawned on Susan's face, "Oh yes," she said, "the girl that you helped at the entrance exam. She also helped you sort out your little drama with Midoriya and that girl he likes."

"That's her."

Susan grinned wickedly, "Sooo, the arcade huh?" She teased, "Wanted to show off a little for her, did you? Is she cute? Have you already given up on what's-her-face…the girl with the long complicated name? I thought she was the 'most beautiful thing you had ever seen'."

Allen laughed, "It's not like that." He calmly denied, "She only invited me because she has a voucher that expires today. Midoriya and Uraraka are going too. Tsuyu is cute in her own way, but she isn't really my type, and I doubt I'm hers either. We're just friends. And if you're talking about Yaoyorozu, yeah, I've pretty much given up on that."

Susan pouted at Allen's boring reaction to her insinuation. She had been hoping that he would blush and get all embarrassed about it. "Why have you given up on Yo-Ya-Yow…" She struggled to pronounce Momo's name before giving it up as a bad job, "that other girl so quickly?"

Allen shrugged, "Not that quickly. I've been trying to ask her out for weeks. She's been nice about it, but she's blown off every attempt I've made to get closer to her. I know how to take a hint. She's just not interested. It's disappointing, but I'm over it. It's not like there aren't a bunch of other cute girls at the school."

Susan huffed, offended that someone would write off her son. "Well good riddance, she must not be very clever if she isn't smart enough to recognize a good thing when she sees it!"

Allen coughed, "Uh…yeah, about that. Apparently Yaoyorozu is some kind of prodigy. She's at the top of our class in like, every subject. I don't think she's gotten less than a perfect grade ever."

"Oh," Susan said lamely, "well then I guess it goes to show that book smarts don't count for everything!" She changed the subject, "Well if it isn't this Tsuyu girl, is there anybody you've got your eye on now?"

"Hmm, maybe." Allen said, "I've been chatting with one of my classmates, Mina Ashido. She's pretty cool and we actually have a lot in common."

"Have you got a picture of her?" Susan asked.

Allen pulled out his phone, "Yeah, hold on." He logged into his social media account and pulled up her profile, "This is her," he said proudly, "she's cute right?"

Susan's eyebrow twitched minutely as she stared at the exposed cleavage of the girl's costume. After Allen's previous crush on Momo, she was beginning to see a pattern here. "And how do all of these fifteen year old girls have bigger boobs than me?" she thought, suddenly irritated as she looked down at her slender frame. "She seems nice. She's very…" Susan struggled to find the right word, before settling on, "pink."

"Yeah," Allen replied, grabbing six boxes of his favorite cereal and shoving them into the cart, "I think it's pretty neat. Apparently it's related to her quirk."

"Oh?" Susan asked, "And what's that?"

"She makes acid. She can melt pretty much anything with it! I watched her eat a hole through concrete the other day."

"That's…nice." Susan replied weakly, "I feel like that would intimidate most guys."

"What?" Allen asked, confused, "Why would I be intimidated by her being able to make…" he trailed off and horrified understanding dawned on his face, making him look ill. "Thank you for that mental image mom," he said sarcastically, "I really needed that."

"Sorry honey." Susan apologized, though she didn't really feel sorry at all—make her feel insecure about her body would they? "Just try and forget about it. She would never do that to someone, right?"

Allen relaxed, "No, she wouldn't do that…I'm pretty sure."

"Can you get that bag of chips for me right there?" Susan asked, "We ought to get moving if you want to make it to your little date by 18:00."

Allen groaned, "It's not a date."

(Nagareboshi Arcade)

"Allen!"

"Allen-kun, over here!"

Allen grinned as he spotted the waving forms of Uraraka and Midoriya waiting for him at the front of the arcade. He checked his watch, and saw that it read 17:55. "Hey guys," he greeted with a smile, "have you seen Tsu-chan yet?"

They shook their heads, "No," Midoriya replied, "we actually just got here ourselves."

"Ren-chan." A voice croaked out from behind them, "…Midoriya-chan, Ochako-chan." Allen's eyes narrowed—if he wasn't mistaken, Asui's wide mouth had the slightest hint of a frown when she greeted the other two.

"Hey, Tsu-chan!" Allen said cheerfully, "I hope you don't mind that I invited these two, but I figured the more the merrier, right?"

"Right," she said after a few seconds, "let's go in and get our credit, ribbit." With that, she walked past the group and into the arcade without another word.

"Huh," Allen said as he watched her depart, he leaned over to whisper to Midoriya and Uraraka, "is it just me or does she seem a little pissed off?"

Midoriya shrugged, "I can't tell any difference from how she usually acts, but then again, she's pretty hard to read. Even when we were trapped on that boat at the USJ, her expression never changed."

Allen looked over at Uraraka who looked thoughtful. "She did seem a little short with us...but maybe she's jus' excited ta play. It's hard ta guess what she's feelin' unless she tells you."

Allen scratched his head; "It was probably my imagination then. Let's head inside, I'm sure she's waiting for us." With that, the trio made their way inside and saw Asui waiting for them at the service counter with a placid expression on her face.

"Took you long enough," she croaked, "here are your cards." She handed each of them a card with ¥2500 yen on it.

Midoriya began waving his hands, and tried to return the card to Asui. "Y-you don't have to do that, Asu…Tsu-chan," he corrected quickly, "we did show up unexpectedly after all. I brought enough money to play."

Uraraka on the other hand, accepted the card without hesitation, enthusiastically thanking Asui. She blushed at Midoriya's disappointed gaze. "What?" She said defensively, cradling the card to her chest, "I told ya that money is tight for me. I only came here with enough money ta play a handful of games."

"Just take it, Midoriya-chan." Asui said, gently pressing the card back into his hands, "Consider it thanks for saving me at USJ if you have to, ribbit."

"B-b-but you saved me first and…" Midoriya stammered.

"Dude!" Allen interrupted—he was getting tired of this little routine and just wanted to get down to business already, "Just take the freaking card. She wouldn't have offered it to you if she didn't want you to have it, right Tsu-chan?" Asui nodded. "See," Allen said, "now let's get to playing some games! Time's a wasting. What do you want to do first, Tsu-chan? DDR? Co-op shooter? Dealer's choice."

"I don't really care, ribbit." Asui said, "I already told you that I'm not much of a gamer. You pick."

"C'mon," Allen cajoled her, "you've got to have some kind of opinion. I'm awesome at everything, so it doesn't really matter what I do."

Asui croaked, "Humble aren't you."

"Just being honest. If I wasn't so set on being a hero, I could totally go pro. There were Korean teams that tried to scout me for Starcraft VIII when I was younger."

Midoriya leaned in to Uraraka, "I think we're being ignored." He whispered.

Uraraka nodded, staring intently at Asui during this exchange, noticing several things that she hadn't paid attention to before—Asui looked cute. She was wearing a green blouse with a thigh-length brown skirt and red shoes. Her hair was done up differently than usual into a sort of ponytail-looking style, and…was that makeup? It was subtle enough that she had to look closely to be sure, but Uraraka could see evidence of cosmetics. Fuller eyelashes, hints of blush, things like that. She gasped and her face took on a canny expression when Allen's words came rushing back to her, "Is it just me, or does she seem a little pissed off?"

"Oh my gosh, Tsuyu-chan!" Uraraka said loudly, latching on to the frog-like girl and interrupting the dialogue between the two friends, "Ya look so cute today!"

Allen, Midoriya and Asui all exchanged a confused glance at Uraraka's seemingly random outburst. "Ribbit…thanks Ochako-chan." Asui replied.

"Allen-kun," Uraraka said, "don't Tsuyu-chan look super cute today?" Uraraka was smiling brightly when she directed her question at Allen, but there was something about the way she asked it that sent a chill down his spine telling him that he had better answer this question correctly or there would be consequences.

"Uh…" he felt put on the spot and wondered what had brought this on. Asui was staring blankly at him as he floundered for an answer, "I mean…" Allen looked at Asui closely, remembering his mother's advice on giving compliments.

"If a girl has done something different with her appearance, a new haircut, a new dress, ect. It means a lot if you notice and comment on it."

"I like your…hair?" He said hesitantly, relaxing when he felt Uraraka's threatening aura dissipate a little, "It looks good done up like that. And this is the first time I've seen you in casual clothes." He gave her a thumbs up and a grin, "Super cute."

Uraraka beamed widely and grabbed Midoriya by the arm, dragging him away. "Let's go Deku-kun!" She said, "I wanna play that game over there! Thanks for the credits Tsuyu-chan!'

"Eh?" Midoriya said, "W-what? Ow!" He protested, "Uraraka-san, you're pulling my arm off! Slow down!"

Allen and Asui watched as the two disappeared into the crowd in awkward silence. "…That was weird." Allen finally said, scratching his head, "What do you think that was about? Tsu-chan?" He asked, seeing the girl staring vacantly in the direction that their friends had gone, "You still with us?"

Asui blinked, and then nodded. "I bet she thinks this was supposed to be a date, ribbit." She said bluntly, making Allen sputter with surprise. She shook her head. "Ochako-chan shouldn't do unnecessary things. Let's go try DDR. I'm pretty confident in my ability to hop."

"I bet you are," Allen agreed, mostly recovered from the surprise. "I'm still gonna win though."

"Ren-chan, you brute," Asui said in a dry monotone, "you won't take it easy on a fragile girl like me?"

Allen snorted, "Fragile my ass," he said, "Midoriya told me that you kicked a fish man in the head. You knocked him out in one blow too. I don't know if I could even do that in the water. I'll tell you what though, to make this fair, I won't use my quirk."

"Okay, ribbit." Asui said, "What do you say we make this game more interesting?"

Allen raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" he said, curiosity piqued, "Interesting how?"

Asui put a finger to her chin and thought for a moment, "Loser owes the winner dinner at the restaurant of their choice—nothing too expensive though, we are just high school students after all."

Allen grinned wickedly and began rubbing his hands together, "Oh you are so on!" He laughed, "Didn't think that you were the type to just throw your money away like that Tsu-chan."

Asui made a noncommittal noise, "We'll see." She hopped up onto the dance platform and picked a popular J-Pop song. "I like this song, ribbit."

"You sure about that?" Allen asked, swiping his card in the machine and taking his place beside her, "You know this is one of the hardest songs on here, right? You might want to start with something a little easier first."

"I'll be fine."

And she was—as soon as the song started playing, the directions began blazing across the screen at a blistering speed, and the two began dancing in time to the beat. A small crowd began gathering to watch the two once they realized how well the pair was pulling it off.

"Holy crap," one of the patrons said, "neither of them have missed anything yet!"

Allen was impressed. True to his word, he had not activated his quirk, relying on his already pretty great reflexes and his familiarity with the game to see him through—but the pressure was beginning to get to him. He had never tried to do a song of this level without being in at least his 2X mode and he knew it was only a matter of time before he slipped up. Sparing a second during a break in the song he glanced over at Asui's score and his jaw nearly dropped—Allen was definitely doing well, he had not scored anything lower than a "Great". But Asui was on another level altogether, having gotten a "Perfect" on every single note. "I totally just got played for a sucker," Allen thought ruefully as the song started back up again in earnest, "Tsu-chan is just full of surprises isn't she?"

Another minute later and the song had finished. Asui's screen flashed, declaring that she held the new high score. Stepping up to the touchscreen, she quickly typed in the name "Froppy". The small crowd broke out into applause as the two stepped off of the platform. While Allen grinned and bowed to the people watching, Asui just shook her head. The only sign that she had done anything strenuous at all was a small bead of sweat on her forehead. "That was fun, ribbit. What's next? You owe me dinner by the way."

Allen put his hands on his hips and stared her down, "Not much of a gamer, huh?" He referenced with a mocking monotone before he broke out into a grin, "Tsu-chan, you liar."

"Not a lie." Asui replied, unphased by Allen's attempt to call her out, "I told you I was confident in my hopping."

"I don't care how 'confident' you are," he said, "you don't just get a perfect score on a song like that without being intimately familiar with its ins and outs beforehand. Admit it Tsu-chan, you played me!"

"Like a fiddle." Asui admitted with no shame whatsoever, "You were acting a little too full of yourself Ren-chan. What kind of friend would I be if I let you keep walking around with that undeserved sense of superiority, ribbit?"

"A less expensive one." Allen replied, "You could have done the same thing without scamming a dinner out of me you know."

Asui glanced at Allen, and then shrugged. "A girl's gotta eat, ribbit."

Allen laughed, "One more game!" He said, "Double or nothing!"

"Not a chance, Ren-chan."

"Come on," he goaded her, "you scared?"

"No," she replied, "I'm just smarter than you. I hope you like Udon."

(With Midoriya and Uraraka)

"Oraoraoraoraoraoraora!" Uraraka yelled as she pounded the colored drum pads of the rhythm game she had picked to play. "Whew," she said, wiping her brow with a beaming grin, "that was so much fun! What ya want to do next Deku-kun?"

Midoriya laughed sheepishly. He could feel the angry and jealous eyes of all the single guys glaring at him and it was making him feel self-conscious. "Uh, w-whatever you want to do is fine with me Uraraka-san." He said nervously, "I'm just happy that you're having fun."

Uraraka slugged Midoriya in the arm good naturedly, "Come on Deku-kun, don't be a bore!" She said, "There's gotta be a game here that ya like!"

Midoriya eyed and unused console in the corner with a very distinctive hairstyle logo on it, "Well…"

Uraraka followed his line of vision and snorted when she saw what it was, "'All Might: The Official Video Game'?" She read gleefully, making him blush, "Ya sure do have a one track mind, don't ya?"

"Well…I…uh." Midoriya stammered. Yes, he was a All Might fanboy—second to none in that regard, but was it really so weird?

"Don't worry about it, Deku-kun," Uraraka reassured him, "it's ok. It's kinda cool how much ya look up to him, really. Let's play!"

"Cool?" He thought, forcibly reminding himself not to get his hopes up as he followed her to the machine, his face beet red. "Why does she keep saying stuff like that to me when she knows what it does to me? Is she trying to torture me?" The two of them swiped their cards into the machine and Midoriya automatically scrolled over to All Might's place on the character select and picked him.

"Wahahaha! I am here!" the figure on the screen boomed before going into a bodybuilding pose, flexing his muscles and making Uraraka laugh.

"He..he did that exact pose for our class! Hahaha!" Uraraka scrolled through the rest of the hero list before eventually settling on Best Jeanist.

The character crossed its hands in front of his face in a flamboyant gesture, making the fibers of his outfit unravel slightly. "I'll show you what it means to be an excellent hero!"

"I-interesting choice Uraraka-san." Midoriya commented as the first level loaded, "Best Jeanist is kind of hard to use, why'd you pick him? After All Might, Endeavor is the easiest character to get the hang of."

Uraraka shrugged, "No real reason, Endeavor jus' seems like kind of a jerk ta me. I didn't really wanna play as him."

"F-fair enough."

The level had finally loaded and the two started playing. The game itself was nothing amazing, a typical beat 'em up 2-D side scroller, Uraraka and Midoriya controlled their heroes and used basic attacks and special moves to take down the hordes of enemies coming at them from all sides.

All Might was, as expected, a purely physical force, getting in close and unleashing powerful punches that would take out most standard enemies in one blow. Whenever his special meter was full, he would yell, "TEXAS SMASH!" and blow away every opponent directly in his path.
Best Jeanist was more of a ranged fighter, catching enemies with his thread and throwing them across the screen with the chance of hitting other enemies for extra damage. His special immobilized every enemy on the screen and slammed them together for massive damage.

"This is actually pretty fun!" Uraraka exclaimed cheerfully when they finally cleared the first level. She had used up several of her continues already, while Midoriya had yet to lose his first life. "I heard that licensed games like these usually suck!"

Midoriya nodded, "Yeah, they do. There have been over 500 different All Might themed games over the course of his career. Most have them have been bootlegs where they just slapped his sprite into an already existing game. A consequence of this has been that the aggregate average review score of these games has been a paltry 3.5 out of 10, however, this was the first one that he was personally involved in the creation of and…" Midoriya trailed off upon seeing the amused look in Uraraka's eye at his sudden lecture. "Uh, I mean, this one is good."

Uraraka looked like she was about to bust a gut. "Deku-kun, you've gotta be the biggest nerd I've ever met in my life."

Midoriya looked down at the console, his eyes watering, "Yeah," he said, "I…I didn't really have any friends from the time I was 4 until I met Allen, so I sort of threw myself into following the heroes I looked up to."

Uraraka pushed him lightly, "Oh wipe that miserable look off of yer face, I'm only jokin' with ya."

Midoriya laughed awkwardly, "Oh…yeah, I knew that."

Uraraka smiled, practically blinding Midoriya with her bright, sunny disposition. "Let's play the next level!" She cheered, "I think I'm gettin' the hang of it now!"

Midoriya smiled. "Yeah," he replied, "let's keep going." The two played in relative silence for a while, save for the occasional frustrated outbursts from Uraraka as she died or Midoriya's laugh when he snatched up a power-up right from under her nose. "H-Hey, Uraraka-san?" Midoriya asked after taking a deep breath to find his courage, as this had been bothering him for a while.

"Yeah Deku-kun?" Uraraka's tongue was sticking out comically as she mashed the buttons, focusing as hard as she could on staying alive.

"Why did you pull me away from Allen and Asui-san?"

Uraraka froze, and as a result she took a hit that drained the last bit of health from her character, dropping Best Jeanist to his knees. "I can't lose in a place like this!" the character said before disappearing from the screen, prompting the deposit of additional credits.

"What do you mean?" She asked carefully, swiping the card once more and returning to the game. "I just wanted to play some games with you."
Midoriya was silent for a second as he activated his character's special, eliminating an entire wave of enemies from the screen. "Well, it's just that you've avoided being alone with me ever since…y-you know." They both flushed, "And I don't blame you…it's awkward for me too…I'm just surprised that you would do it now, since people could easily mistake this as a…" he gulped, "a-a-a date." He went into a panic, "N-n-not that I think that this is a date, I-I know it isn't and that you wouldn't ever think that way about s-someone like me, but…I'm just confused."

Uraraka's heart ached a little bit at how thoughtlessly Midoriya had just put himself down—like he was totally unworthy of being loved. She wasn't sure if her genuine feelings of admiration for the shy boy would ever blossom into romantic ones, but hearing someone so wonderful dismiss himself like that was awful. The thought that her reaction the involuntary airing of his feelings might have contributed to that made her feel even worse. "Ain't no real reason," Uraraka replied, "I jus' had a hunch that Tsuyu-chan wanted ta be alone with Allen-kun, that's all."

"Oh." Midoriya replied, "I-I see." He looked pensive as he continued to pulverize the virtual bad guys on the screen en masse. "You think that Tsuyu-san likes Allen, don't you?" He asked, putting two and two together.

"Maybe." Uraraka said, "I do think they'd totally be adorable together though." She paused. "Hey, Deku-kun?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I'm sorry 'bout how I reacted before." She continued mashing wildly mashing the buttons on the machine, thankful that she didn't have to maintain eye contact. She was already embarrassed enough as it was, but she felt like she had to get this out. "I haven't known ya for very long yet, but I honestly think that you're pretty amazin'. Ya jumped in an' saved me durin' the entrance exam, even though it broke yer bones and almost cost ya the chance ta come to Yuuei. Ya fought so well against that Bakugo and ya saved Tsu-chan and Mineta at USJ."

Incredibly, Midoriya didn't blush, or stammer during her entire spiel. Instead, he seemed to be doing his very best to burn a hole into the carpet with his eyes. "I'm really nothing so special." he said quietly, "I talked big during the battle trial, but I couldn't do anything against Kacchan once he got serious. At the USJ I had to be saved by Asui-san and then again by Aizawa-sensei and All Might. When All Might was in trouble, I couldn't do anything…if Kacchan and Todoroki hadn't been there, All Might would have…he would have…" Midoriya clenched his fists tightly, unable to say it out loud. "I'm still weak." He said with a determined look in his eyes, "I've still got a long way to go before I can accept being called amazing."

"Yer so weird Deku-kun." Uraraka said with a giggle, "Even when yer puttin' yourself down, ya still believe that you can find a way."

Midoriya blushed and rubbed the back of his head, "Haha, I-I guess you're right about that."
"What ya said earlier," Uraraka said, blushing equally, "'bout me never thinking that way 'bout someone like you…I might not be sure how I feel right now, but don't give up okay?"

"Eh?" Midoriya squeaked in surprise, then freaked out as her words actually sank in, "EEEEEEH?"

"Ooh! A punching test!" Uraraka spat out quickly, needing to stand up and remove herself from the awkward situation, "Deku-kun, let's go do that!"

"But I still haven't died on this yet…" Midoriya protested, "Wait, that's not important! What did you mean by that earlier, Uraraka-san! Uraraka-san!"

"That bag won't punch itself, Deku-kun!"

(Two hours later)

The four students stood outside the arcade. It had taken a while, but they had finally played enough to wipe the cards clean. "Thanks a lot for this Tsu-chan!" Allen exclaimed, stretching his shoulders, "I needed this more than I thought."

"Y-yeah," Midoriya agreed, "thanks a lot, Tsuyu-san!"

Uraraka wrapped Asui in a hug, "I had so much fun!" She gushed, "Thanks Tsuyu-chan!"

"Don't mention it, ribbit." Asui said, "It was nothing much."

"Ya weren't kidding 'bout bein' great at games, Allen-kun!" Uraraka said, punching the air excitedly, "I kept seein' yer name up on the top of the screen after I played!"

"Don't praise him," Asui croaked, "he's a dirty cheater."

"Don't hate," Allen scoffed, "you're just mad that I utterly crushed you in everything after the first game."

"You used your quirk." Asui said, "Pretty sure most people would consider that cheating, ribbit."

"Using the natural abilities that I was born with does not count as cheating." Allen retorted, "How many times do I have to say that before it sinks in?"

"Are you allowed to use quirks in official competitions?" Asui asked rhetorically.

"Well…no, not technically." Allen admitted.

"Then it's cheating."

Allen waved his hand, "Only if you're caught. Quirk use in E-Sports is about as well regulated as steroid use in cycling was back in the 20th century."

"Cheating doesn't sound very heroic Ren-chan."

"Is it really cheating if everybody is doing it?" Allen countered, "If you look up the quirks of every top player in the world, they all have something to do with enhanced reflexes, hand-eye coordination, or technopathy. You think that's just a coincidence?"

"I think it's cheating."

"ARGBFL!" Allen made a strangled noise from frustration and wrung his hands like he was strangling someone.

"Wait a minute," Midoriya said, realizing something; "you said that you crushed her in everything after the first game. Does that mean that you lost at a videogame to Tsuyu-san?"

Allen scowled, "Yeah," he admitted, "I lost." He pointed to Asui, "Don't be fooled by her innocent face, she's a total DDR shark. She totally scammed me for a free dinner!"

"It was a fair bet," Asui said, "I didn't say anything that was a lie."

"You two are goin' ta dinner together?" Uraraka asked with a gleam in her eye.

"Those were the terms of the bet." Allen replied, "The loser takes the winner to the restaurant of their choice and pays for the meals."

"Hmm," Uraraka said, "I see."

"How did you two fare?" Allen asked, "You both ran off so quickly when we got here, and I barely saw you the entire time…kinda defeats the purpose of coming together in the first place, doesn't it?"

Both Uraraka and Midoriya looked at each other, blushed and started laughing awkwardly at this question. "Oh…you know," Uraraka said, "I was jus' excited since this was my first time at an arcade…I uh, jus' wanted Deku-kun to show me the ropes without gettin' in yer way. Ain't that right, Deku-kun?"

"Y-yeah!" Midoriya agreed with a stricken expression, "S-show her the ropes. That's what I did. That's why we left. No other reason than that. No sir."

"He's so bad at lying!" Allen, Uraraka, and Asui all thought at the same time.

"Riiight." Allen said, "Well, it's getting late, so we should be getting home. Do you want me to escort you to the dorms, Tsu-chan? A teenage girl shouldn't walk home by herself at this time of night." He looked her in the eye and discretely cocked his head in Midoriya and Uraraka's direction. "Let's allow them some more alone time together." He tried to say with his body language, hoping that she would get the message.

"Sure." Asui said, "I won't object if you really want to, but just so you know, there probably aren't many places in Japan safer than the area surrounding Yuuei's campus."

"Momma Martin didn't raise no boor," Allen replied, "of course I want to." He whipped out his phone, "I'm just going to text my parents real quick and tell them I'll be a bit delayed getting back." Allen fired off a text and put the phone away, "Ok, message sent!" He turned to Uraraka and Midoriya, and gave his best friend a very significant look. "Good night you guys," he said cheerfully, "I'll see you in the morning! Let's go, Tsu-chan." The two made their way down the street.

"That was really sweet of him to do that!" Uraraka cooed, "They're just soo cute together."

At that moment, Midoriya's phone buzzed. "Huh?" he said, "That's weird, I wonder who would be texting me at this time of night?" He pulled out his phone and let out a squeak when he read it.

"Offer to walk her to her apartment or I swear to God I will put my boot so far up your ass that you'll be tasting leather for a week! If she asks, this is your mom asking what time you'll get back."

"What did it say?" Uraraka asked curiously.

"N-nothing!" Midoriya lied, "I-it was just my mom asking when I'll get back!" He paused and took a deep breath. "Um, d-do you need me to walk you back to your apartment?" He shut his eyes and clenched his fists, preparing himself for the answer.

"Sure!" Uraraka beamed, "That'd be nice, Deku-kun!" She giggled, "Who'd have thought you'd be takin' cues on manners from Allen-kun of all people!"

"W-what? I-I uh…" Midoriya stammered, flailing his hands around, "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You're a really bad liar Deku-kun."

The road to the dorms on Yuuei's campus was dark and silent. The only sound that could be heard was the slap of Allen and Asui's shoes on the pavement as they walked. Uncomfortable with the silence, Allen felt the need to speak. "I've been thinking Tsu-chan."

"Ribbit; sounds painful."

"Ha ha," Allen laughed sarcastically, "you're a real riot, you know that?"

"No," she said, "I'm a frog."

Allen did laugh legitimately at that. "Your jokes suck Tsu-chan." He said chuckling, "They're really stupid."

"Must be why you like them so much, ribbit."

Allen pinched his nose, "Okay, I totally walked into that one." He scowled, "Stop distracting me! I was gonna say something, and now I can't remember what!"

"You've been thinking." Asui supplied.

Allen snapped his fingers, "Right! I was thinking about what you said earlier, about Uraraka thinking this was supposed a date!"

Asui stopped walking, frozen in place. "What about it?"

"Well, I was just thinking that this would be a great date idea for me and Ashido. It was a ton of fun, and if it can get someone as tightly wound as Midoriya to loosen up around Uraraka-san, then it would be bound to work for me, right?

Asui started walking again, "I think you two are probably loose enough as it is, ribbit." Her voice was flatter than usual and she was looking at the ground as she said this.

Allen's eyes widened at the hostile sounding reply, "Whoa, whoa, what the hell was that?" He asked, "Are you upset with me about something?"

"No." She replied, shaking her head, "I'm just yanking your chain, Ren-chan. You should take her there…she'll have a great time with you."

"You sure?" Allen asked, "That seemed somehow different than your usual ball busting."

"It was a dumb joke Ren-chan," Asui said, "let it go." The two of them walked in silence for the next few minutes after this, until they finally reached a large building. "This is it," Asui said, holding up her student ID to the door to buzz it open and walked inside, "good night Ren-chan."

"Night Tsu-chan, I'll see you—" Allen was cut off by the door closing in his face, "tomorrow." he finished. "Okay yeah, she's definitely pissed about something." He scratched his head, "Is it because I called her jokes stupid? I was kidding…" he shrugged, "I'll apologize when I see her in the morning."

Asui watched from the 2nd story window of the dorm as Allen walked away down the road. "Ren-chan, you really aren't very smart, are you?"

AN: This chapter was an absolute joy to write. I actually wrote most of it before I even started on the previous chapter because I was so excited by the ideas in it. In case anybody is still wondering after this, I have decided on the eventual pairing of Allen X Tsuyu. Like Uraraka, I just can't help but ship them because of how much I love the way that these two play off of each other in my head. Unfortunately for Tsu-chan, Allen is still too stupid and immature to realize it just yet. Speaking of Uraraka, if anybody is wondering about her dialect, yes, that is my approximation of the kansai-ben. Stay tuned for the next chapter, and as always, please take the time to leave a review.