Shirayuki had been nervous plenty of times in her life, but none of those previous moments could compare to this. It felt as though her heart would beat right out of her chest. She could imagine it bursting through her ribcage and it made her wince.

Taking a deep breath, she pressed a hand to her chest and tried to calm herself. Kittens. Warm cookies. Flowers. Everything will be alright. She tried to reassure herself and work up the courage necessary to hand the note to Shinsou, but her hands were trembling.

The walk to the shoe lockers seemed to take an eternity. She felt as though each step barely moved her along. When she finally approached and saw Shinsou waiting for her near the exit, the girl's stomach twisted into knots. There he is. Okay, deep breaths. Ashido-chan was right. I just have to give him this note and…

"Shirayuki."

The girl jumped, the note nearly falling out of her hands. Swiftly catching it, she released a quiet sigh of relief from behind her mask and turned to look over her shoulder. Crimson eyes widened as they met a blue eye and a brown eye. "…oh…um…T-Todoroki-kun…did you…n-need something…?"

He looked down at the note in her hands and raised an eyebrow before lifting his gaze back to hers. A hand raised to adjust the strap of his bag and he took a step closer. "I heard that you had something at your house that you're trying to find a home for."

"…ah…th-the kittens…?" Her voice was a hushed whisper as she spoke, still alarmed that he was speaking to her. She and Todoroki had never interacted before. They had never even made eye contact.

"Yes. Those. I overheard that there was one left." Seeing her give a small nod of confirmation, he shifted his gaze from hers and continued. "I want to meet her," he stated bluntly.

"…oh…y-you're…interested…?" Shirayuki looked over her shoulder and saw Shinsou facing them. His gaze darted away quickly, a hand lifting to rub at the back of his neck. "…c-could you…maybe…w-would tomorrow…be alright…?"

Todoroki had noticed her looking over her shoulder, now looking in that direction as well. Spotting the indigo-haired boy staring at her back, he frowned. "Tomorrow is fine."

"…a-alright…um…th-thank you…for having an interest in…adopting the last kitten…I know you haven't met her yet, but…she's…r-really sweet…and I just know that…i-it's going to be a good match…" She bowed, still gripping her note to Shinsou tightly in her hand.

He lingered there for a moment, almost awkwardly, before finally speaking again. "You live with your grandmother, don't you?"

"…ah…y-yes…I do…"

"A gift then. Alright. Tomorrow after school. I'll meet you back here."

Watching him walk away, Shirayuki was still a little taken aback by the interaction. Todoroki had never struck her as someone that would be interested in something as cutesy as kittens. It made her see him a little bit differently. Especially when she thought of the almost secretive way that he had tried to approach her about it.

"Are we still having dinner?" Shinsou inquired, approaching her.

"…y-yes…sorry about that…" Shirayuki turned toward him, her face burning pink as her palms began to sweat. Adjusting her grip on the note, she contemplated giving it to him then and there, but she was hesitant. If she gave it to him and he opened it, he might try to answer her right away. If he rejected her, dinner would be too much to handle. She could not sit with him and keep herself from crying.

"So what was that about?" He waited to ask this after they were already on their way to her house. The tone of his voice made it clear that Shinsou was hesitant to ask.

The girl had her head down as they walked so she missed the concerned frown that he displayed. "…my classmate…he wants to meet the last kitten and…he might adopt her…"

A silence fell between them for a moment as they approached the train station. "That's good. I wish I could take her."

The ride to their neighborhood was filled with an odd tension. The boy clearly had something that he wanted to say, but he was holding back. The girl kept fidgeting with the hairband around her wrist and chewing her lower lip behind her mask. It was only as they were walking toward her house that Shinsou finally spoke up once more.

"Shirayuki." He waited for her to look up at him before continuing. "I should apologize for what I did at lunch. I know how you feel and I ignored your feelings when I reacted that way. But…it's important that you know how I feel, too."

Her stomach felt like it was dropping and she bowed her head again. A sense of dread started to form, making her tremble. "…Shinsou…?"

His hand closed around her upper arm, stopping her in her tracks. The girl closed her eyes tightly, bringing a frown to his face. "I don't like seeing people pick on you," he stated. "I know that you want to stand up for yourself, but if I see someone bullying you, I'm not just going to let it happen."

Her lips curled into a timid smile and she decided to make a bold move. Both arms wrapped around him, drawing him into a hug. Thankfully, he was soon hugging back. "…thank you…"

Arriving at her house, her grandmother greeted the two with a big smile and was more than happy to make dinner for three instead of just herself and Shirayuki. As she prepared the meal, the girl sat in the sitting room with Shinsou, among her multiple cats. Holding the kitten, she felt all of the dread and terribleness from earlier that day fading away. She was sitting with her crush, holding a fluffy ball of happiness that would, hopefully, soon have a home.

Shift P.O.V

He really liked to see her this happy. Without her mask on, he was able to see her lips curved into a wide smile as she rubbed behind the kitten's ears. She was sitting beside him on the couch and he was tempted to put his arm around her. Shirayuki just looked too cute when she was like this. He wanted her to always feel this level of joy.

Can I make her this happy every day? This thought almost made him frown. He had not meant for it to pop into his head, but it had. They were only in high school. It was such a strange thing to think about. Whether or not he could make her happy every day was something that he could consider if they were perhaps third-year students or even older than that.

Eating dinner with her and her grandmother was pleasant. The old woman spoke a lot more than the girl did. She asked them both about school and talked about how exciting it was for Shirayuki to take part in UA's sports festival.

"You know, Ume's father did terrible at the sports festival when he was in school," she explained. "He was so funny to watch though! He never took it seriously and just wanted to make friends with everyone in the other classes!"

Shirayuki's face was turning pink with embarrassment and bowed her head. "…but…he still became a hero…"

"That's right! He did terrible at the sports festival, but he was such a people person! He could talk to just about anyone and when he showed off his skills seriously, he had his pick of the local hero agencies!"

Shinsou finished chewing a bite of meat and decided to join the conversation. "He sounds like an interesting person."

"Oh, he was!" The old woman sighed and beamed at him from across the table. "He would have been so proud of Ume, you know. And I'm sure that he would have loved you, Shinsou-kun! You're such a polite boy. Unlike that classmate of Ume's. What was his name?"

"…Bakugou-kun…" the girl replied, head down.

"Yes, that boy! That brazen disrespect he has for others! I've never met such a cheeky young man."

Hearing her grandmother blatantly favor him over Bakugou only boosted Shinsou's good mood. He was feeling a little more confident about the question that he had planned to ask Shirayuki before he went home. All afternoon, the boy had tried to think of how he could make it up to her for upsetting her at lunchtime. The conclusion he came to was to ask her on another date, but this one would be better. It would go more smoothly and he would end the date by actually asking her to be his girlfriend.

As she walked him out to the gate, he caught the flush of pink in her face. Is she nervous again? He had thought that they were close enough now that her anxiety would have decreased a little. "Shirayuki. You're not going out with that bully from your class."

"…n-no…!" She shook her head, fidgeting with her hairband again. "…d-definitely not…we're…not the least bit compatible…"

Shinsou ran a hand through his hair, but smiled ever so slightly. "I didn't think you were, but I overheard what he said and-"

"I have something for you!" she blurted out. Shirayuki bowed and held out a folded piece of paper that she had pulled from her pocket. "…please…don't look at this…until after you get home…okay…?"

"Alright." He accepted it and looked at the folded paper. The ink of her pen was visible through the thin paper so he could already make out a few words.

"…and…um…Sh-Shinsou…I'd…like to walk to school with you…t-tomorrow morning…" The girl's entire face was bright red, the flush spreading to her ears as well. Her mask hid her mouth from view, but it was obvious that she was frowning with nervousness.

"Of course." Pushing the note into his pocket, his free arm slipped around Shirayuki to pull her into a hug. "You're busy tomorrow afternoon, right?" He felt her nod against his chest. As much as he wanted to walk home with her after school the next day, he knew how important it was to her that the last stray kitten find a home. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

When he drew away from her, he saw that her blush seemed to have gotten even redder. She hurried into her house, embarrassed. Shinsou started to walk home, but could not resist looking at the note she had given him.

Unfolding the paper, he saw her delicate handwriting as well as a small, inked heart. The note simply read: Will you go out with me? His pulse quickened at the sight of this question and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Heat rushed to his face. I need to find a pen.