A/N: Hey, everyone! Sorry this is so late! I had a lot if responsibilities to fulfill, plus midterms. These last few weeks have been busy. On a side note, next chapter should be out a bit earlier, as February break is coming up. I'm so excited lol. I really need a break.
Anyway, I'd say I'm pretty proud of this chapter. It's my longest one yet, but because of the content I don't think you guys will hate me for that. Let me know what you guys think in the reviews! Every read is appreciated.
- o - o - o - o -
Thursday, as unremarkable and uneventful as it was, flew by in an instant.
And then, without a lick of delay or doubt, a few short hours passed and it was all of a sudden Friday.
Tensions still grew strong. The rest of the class was relatively over Tuesday's chaotic catastrophe, but for those directly involved—Izuku, Uraraka, Mina, maybe even Kirishima—they were anything but moved past it. It was a struggle for them to even look one another in the eye. Awkwardness hung heavily over their heads, a wandering cloud that never seemed to let up nor stopped sneaking up on them through their shadows, never seemed to disappear.
Class ended on Friday on a relatively relaxing note. Aizawa didn't bother with an abundance of busy work, or too tough of a schedule for this weekend. Saturday hosted optional classes as usual, and Sunday they had off.
Mina was glad. She needed it—needed the extra sleep.
"Midoriya."
Halfway out the door, Izuku turned back around upon hearing his name out of somebody else's mouth. His teacher usually didn't call after the bell had rung—it was honestly quite surprising.
"Hm?" he asked, eyes on Mr. Aizawa.
"Can you do me a favor?"
Izuku nodded. "Sure."
"I need"—Aizawa handed him a few worksheets—"40 copies. Of each of these. It shouldn't be too long of a trip. The copy machine's right downstairs."
"Okay," Izuku said. He suddenly turned timid. "But, um, where exactly is the copy machine? I don't think I've been down there yet."
Aizawa gave him a set of confusing directions. Izuku nodded like he understood, but inside he was scrambling. The most he was able to get out of all that was the machine was in the main office. Although, that was kind of off of his own accord. Where else would it be, after all? The cafeteria?
"Um, I'm not quite sure I follow…"
For a guy who got good grades, Izuku could be dense sometimes.
Aizawa sighed, and upon this Izuku bristled with fear. "Bring a partner, then. I'm sure somebody else will know."
Izuku took a broad look around the classroom, hoping not everyone had left so he could possibly find at least one potential accomplice. A loud laugh caught his eye, easily likeable and bright and bubbly and well-received by anyone in the near vicinity, an all-too familiar laugh he didn't have to question was whose. He looked away as soon as she met his eyes.
In Mina's mind, she was clueless. She was too focused on the funny thing Jirou had said to worry about much bigger matters like her irrelevant issues with Izuku. She whispered to Jirou, "Why's he looking at me like that?"
"You didn't listen to a word Aizawa said?"
Mina cocked her head. "Um, no? Why would I?"
Jirou briefly explained it to her. "Just get over there," she said, firmly pushing against Mina's backside, sending her flying toward a flustered Mr. Aizawa and Izuku. She stood there for a second before saying anything.
"Ashido? Would you be willing to help?"
If this was anyone but her own teacher, she'd most certainly say no. Stuck in an isolated area with the very person she was in the midst of a confusing conflict with wasn't how she envisioned spending her Friday afternoon, or any day of the week, for that matter. She knew they'd have to start talking eventually, but just not now.
But, with the end of the school year just around the corner, she knew she didn't have much time.
And she also wasn't looking to piss off her teacher, either. "Sure," she obliged, eyes darting back and forth between Izuku and the floor by his feet, Jirou and Mr. Aizawa making their way into her line of sight every once in a while as well. She'd do anything to avoid his eye contact.
Izuku knew he needed a handyman by his side—he just wasn't expecting it to be Mina. It was honestly quite ironic. Just this Monday, they'd spent some time alone together after school as well, although there wasn't as much conflict back then and much more devotion, emotion, more care and closeness that they could easily say they'd lost in the last few days.
Honest to God he found it quite upsetting. He missed the feeling of somebody else's warmth, Mina's warmth, a warmth like no other. As he looked over at her, strutting down the hall a few feet ahead of him with a bin full of loose leaf paper (more by her side than he'd ever be), he realized just how much he missed those kinds of things, the things that made him love her that much more, and flushed a deep, crimson kind of red. He began to whistle to ease the tension.
They eventually arrived at the main office. At a loss for words, Mina stepped in in Izuku's aid and gave Principal Nezu a reason for them being here. "Mr. Aizawa's orders," she suggested.
It would be about ten minutes before they had the required number of copies. 200, apparently—five sheets, 40 for both Class 1-A and Class 1-B—which Mina honestly found kind of stupid. Why couldn't Aizawa do this himself? Surely someone at this school had to have a Quirk made for this kind of stuff. Why go the extra mile?
She asked Izuku—half just trying to make headway for conversation, half because she was curious. He provided her with a logical explanation. Maybe Mr. Aizawa had other things to do, he said, more important matters he desperately needed to get done, which meant he didn't have time to sit around all day downstairs waiting for work to print out for next week's classes, the printer so slow it could probably go out of order in the next couple of weeks.
So much for a high-end high school.
And Izuku also mentioned that the chances of someone having such a Quirk were actually quite low, especially in a school where most people's Quirks were considerably more elite.
She agreed with him on that. But what she really wanted to know was how to take up the matter at hand.
He slipped the first round of paper into the printer.
They just kind of stood there. To break up the silence, Izuku pulled out his phone, leaning against the back wall pretending he had something to do whilst in reality just scrolling through Instagram. He'd much prefer that over having to face Mina.
Mina sighed, following Izuku's lead, but instead of putting up a facade, pretending she wasn't at all ill at ease, she looked up at him every once in a while, wondering if he'd ever be looking back at her, ready to start a conversation. He never was.
Eventually, she got fed up. "Let's talk."
It took him a moment to come up with the words. "But, Ashido— here?"
"Why not?"
"It's just… I don't know, maybe a little bit public?"
She watched as he gritted and grinded his teeth, bit the tip of his tongue, slid his feet a bit further to the left, much more away from her. He was clearly quite uncomfortable.
"So? It's not like you'll ever talk to me any other time. You just continue to ignore me."
He slipped his phone in his back pocket, standing slightly taller. "Because it's awkward, Ashido. Really, really awkward! And… I'm obviously still mad at you."
"Well, so am I! But don't you want to move past this? I miss you, Midoriya. I miss hanging out with you."
"Of course I do. I miss both of those things. But is it really worth it if all we're gonna do is fight? We hurt someone, Ashido. Someone very dear to us. What're we supposed to do now?"
Mina began to tighten her grip around her loose leaf pieces of paper, the ones Izuku had given to her intuitively just a few minutes ago, crinkling the corners and corroding the edges. She was beginning to lose her cool. "Fix it! We're supposed to fix it! What, you don't think we can do that? You don't want to try?"
"I do! I just… can't stop thinking about Uraraka."
She ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah. Well, I mean, you did cheat on her. And now she hates you and me."
Little did Izuku know how deeply he'd regret his next words, the words soon to come out of his mouth. "And whose fault is that?"
Mina gave him a look.
He caught wind of his cruelty, his malicious intent. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean that. And I didn't mean what I said on Tuesday. I—"
"Are you kidding me? Midoriya—"
"It's both of our faults. I know. I should've been upfront with her. And you shouldn't have come onto me like that."
Mina was mad. "I came onto you?"
Izuku tilted his head, raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" he almost asked.
"It was very much mutual. I liked you; you liked me. Hell, I still like you. I was just so sick of you not telling Uraraka—"
He stopped her short. "You gave me three days. Three days, Ashido! That's barely any time!"
She got in his face. "That's plenty of time to tell your girlfriend—or whatever she was to you—that you've been hanging around all romantic-like with somebody else for the past week and don't even know if you still like her! That's a lot, Midoriya. That's a big deal. I wouldn't have been able to stand one day I'd feel so bad!"
Izuku pouted, scrunched up his eyebrows. Misinterpreting her remark, he took that as a personal attack. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means, if you cared about her so much, how could you lie to her like that? How could you look her in the eyes the same way and still smile?"
"Because I didn't want to hurt her, Ashido! Because I was too scared to hurt her. Not after what you said."
She looked at him funny, as if, not for the first time, she was trying to figure him out. "After what I said?"
"About her… y'know, being in love with me."
She glanced unmindfully down at the ground. "Oh. Well, um, I wasn't lying, you know."
"I know. But honest to God you had no right to tell me that in the first place. You're supposed to keep your mouth shut with stuff like that, not go spreading it around. That was very much personal, and very much for Uraraka to tell me and not you."
She suddenly couldn't keep her composure, couldn't cope with Izuku's conniving comments—which he had no right to use, by the way—reiterating once again how she was going to lash out at him in retaliation. He was pointing out all of the worst parts of her personality, the parts she liked to hide, and hearing him say it straight to her face made it all the more a reality—that not only Kirishima had noticed, but he had, too. She knew it would be fruitless to fight with him, but in a heated rage, she'd decidedly do it anyway.
"I know. I know I screwed up, okay?" She began to have a hoarse voice, hiccup over her words, choke on her own phlegm and tears as they all balled up in the back of her throat. "Say it to my face again, why don't you? Want me to point out all the worst parts about you? How would you feel? Here, I'm gonna do it anyway, 'cause my name's Izuku and I'm an ass. You care too much. You care too much about other people's feelings. Usually that'd be a good thing, but you don't know how to handle it. You couldn't have done anything stupider with Uraraka. It would've been better if you'd just straight up been upfront with her. You weren't protecting her. You were only making it worse."
She immediately regretted that last line. In fact, she regretted most, if not all of those lines. She'd said she didn't like him pointing out the negative qualities about her, and now she was doing the exact same thing. She was being two-faced, a hypocrite. Two wrongs didn't make a right—that was something her mother had taught her from a very young age, something she was supposed to live by.
She could see the hurt in his eyes. He'd bite back. "I would've been able to say it if you'd given me a little more time, okay? Some people just handle things differently. I couldn't come right out and tell her that. Maybe you could, but I couldn't. And I guess that's a good thing, and I know I'm in the wrong, but—"
He was about to say "so are you" but was promptly interrupted by the rude old lady sitting at the front desk, the one lounging just a few feet away who'd likely been listening in on their lover's quarrel the whole time. They both blushed. How could they fail to notice such a glaringly obvious outfit, a glaringly obvious Quirk? She seemed to be an animal of some sort, a feline, which was probably why Nezu hired her.
She put a finger to her lips, begging them to be quiet. Mina looked back at Izuku, and Izuku looked back at her. They both stared down at the floor.
"Y'know what? Why don't you just go? We aren't gonna get anywhere with this. This is exactly like the last time." Mina walked over to the copy machine, pulling out forty brand new, crisp pieces of paper, exact replicas of Aizawa's five page polynomials packet, the one they'd probably have to start working on at the beginning of next week. They still smelled sweet, airy, very much novel. Weirdly enough, Mina liked that smell, especially when it was hot off the press, along with the smell of old library books. Most tended to disagree with her.
She held on tight, ruining the elegant edges with her anger. She turned back around, surprised to see Izuku still standing there. She'd expected him to put the papers down on a nearby desk and run off. "What're you doing? I said you can go, didn't I?"
"Ashido, I'm not leaving you."
Her cheeks went just a little bit light lilac, so much so that she was ashamed. She opened her mouth and then shut it again, unsure of what to say. "Fine. But we can't keep fighting like this. So it looks like I'm leaving you."
She whisked by him, tossing her still-new stack briskly on top of the photocopier, taking big strides as she strutted out the door. She couldn't help but keep her fists clenched, an aura of anger surrounding her the whole time.
She ran back upstairs, speeding down the hall quickly toward Class 1-A. Aizawa raised an eyebrow, as if to wonder where Izuku was and what she was doing alone, but she didn't care, nor did she even botter batting an eyelash. It would only make things worse.
Mina crammed her books into her bag. "Ashido, where's Midoriya?" Aizawa asked.
"He said he's got it covered," she replied, swinging it over her shoulder as soon as she was ready to run. She was out the door in a flurry.
Quick and shorts struts down the hall. Quick and short, she reminded herself. She couldn't be slow. She needed to get out, get somewhere safe, somewhere where she could let the tears fall freely without fear or judgement or anything more embarrassing than what she'd already put herself through.
But, alas, even Mina could admit that it was too late. One tear rolled down, and then the next.
Through blurred vision, she could barely make out the back of a lackadaisical redhead walking just a few feet in front of her, comfortable and calm and completely unbothered by his sidetracking surroundings. She almost stopped short, but realizing he was alone, and that he was Kirishima, she rammed right into him.
He turned around, relieved to see it was her. "Mina, what's up? What're you doing? What's wrong?"
He stopped as soon as he saw her. Crying. Something had clearly made her upset. Letting her latch onto him, he wrapped his arms around her, knowing that no matter what'd went on she surely needed his comfort, his help. "I hate boys," she started. "They're all such assholes."
Kirishima knew she didn't mean him, and she definitely didn't mean what she'd said. It was a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing, something she'd regret later. "I do too," he said, smiling, thinking of all the dumb stuff Bakugo did. He could be an ass sometimes.
He wasn't going to lie. All boys could be.
"Midoriya said something again, didn't he?"
"Yeah…" she said, coercing herself into calming down, beginning to think a bit more rationally. "But so did I." There was a hic in her voice. "And if we hadn't been interrupted by that stupid secretary, maybe we could have gotten over some things, gotten some things cleared up, but of course that didn't happen. Of course things went south. They always do."
"Mina," Kirishima consoled. "You usually don't think like this. C'mon, cheer up. It wasn't so bad, was it? Didn't you get at least a little somewhere?"
"No. Not really."
"Well, knowing Midoriya, he'll one day come running back to you. I'd put money on it. He's made some mistakes, but he's a good guy. But whatever you do, don't let him down easy. You two will work things out. A lot's happened, after all. It's only been a few days."
She hugged him tighter, her hands running up his back. This was why she loved him. "Thanks, Eijirou."
"Yeah. I've got you, you know," he said. "With whatever you need."
She smiled. He could feel her lips parting through the silky fabric of his school uniform. "I know."
With Kirishima planning to hang out with Kaminari soon and the sun beginning to set, they decided it'd be best if they go.
Kirishima let her hide behind him whenever someone walked by, shielding her from potential onlookers (people tended to talk), as she wasn't too fond of her crying face, or that she was crying at all. She wanted to hug him all over again—where in the world would she ever find another friend like this, especially one so caring and kind and considerate of her needs? She seriously needed to savor this boy.
As soon as they arrived back at the dorms, she thanked Kirishima for all that he'd done and hurriedly headed up to her room. Izuku was yet to be back. Thank God, she thought. She could cry in peace.
At least, that was what she wanted to do. But instead she laid back in bed, listening to a mix of media of music, after all that'd happened the tears still somehow reluctant to fall. She supposed that was a good thing.
- o - o - o -"Just apologize."
In an instant, Izuku isolated Todoroki's words, everything else in the near vicinity becoming background noise. He'd come to him for advice, as Todoroki seemed to be one of the least problematic people he knew, and could say he wasn't at all disappointed. Of course, this was common sense, but Izuku could be a little slow sometimes. He needed some extra guidance—a step-by-step tutorial, a reiteration of even the most rudimentary things.
He'd already tried apologizing to Mina. He got interrupted long before he could get to that part.
"W-What?" he stuttered.
"Apologize."
He looked Todoroki dead in the eye. "Um, well, I mean, I kind of tried that already. It didn't go over too well."
"Did you really?"
Izuku was almost surprised by Todoroki's detective skills. "Well, uh, I-I guess not." He scratched the nape of his neck. "I never actually got to say those words directly to her, as we kind of got interrupted, but—"
"So no, you didn't actually apologize."
Izuku sighed. "No. I guess not."
Fed up with Izuku's foolery, his evasion of the truth, Todoroki crossed his arms. "Took you a while," he mumbled. Then, he suddenly got serious. "Listen, Midoriya—what time is it right now? Seven? You've kept her waiting for four hours. I recommend if you're ready, go up and see her. Say you're sorry and explain yourself. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."
Izuku started to stutter. "B-But, Todoroki, what if she doesn't? What if she doesn't accept my apology, or never wants to talk to me again, or… or hates me for the rest of her life? I don't know what I'd do. I'd be heartbroken—"
Todoroki got up off the couch and grabbed Izuku by the shoulders. "Midoriya, I may not know Ashido that well, but she seems like a reasonable person. And you two have a connection. I'm sure she'll be understanding, and maybe even apologize herself. Out of anyone, you'd know that best, am I right?"
In Izuku's mind, Todoroki had lit up a lightbulb. After all this time, he'd finally connected the dots. It was all so simple. A simple matter of liking someone special, a simple matter of falling in love, a simple matter of saying sorry and bringing this brawl to an end by admitting his true feelings and letting her know how much he cared, how much he missed her and wanted to be with her, how easily he'd fallen in love with her. She was so special, so one-of-a-kind, that it wouldn't take long to explain.
"That's… That's true," Izuku uttered. "Todoroki, you're really great at advice. Thank you. Seriously."
Todoroki nodded at Izuku's flattery. "No problem."
Izuku kneaded his sweaty hands together, still slightly nervous. "Okay, well, um, I think I'll go do that now. I feel bad keeping her waiting, seeing her upset because of me."
Izuku turned and took off toward the elevator, waving back to his next-best friend behind Uraraka and Iida, the infamous trio, thanking him for his input on this whole situation whilst wearing one of his weakest smiles. He was nervous, practically on the verge of a panic attack, so nervous, in fact, that he almost had no way of controlling it. Todoroki was really a big help—a wake-up call, more or less. He needed one. But he couldn't help but fear what was ahead.
He hopped off on the fourth floor. There, to his left, was Uraraka's room. He almost walked by, but something in him screamed to stop.
And so he did. And, a little listless and ill at ease, he knocked at her door.
She came out a mess—hair half up, half down, still slightly asleep, nearly no makeup. She freaked when she realized it was Izuku standing there waiting for her and not one of the girls like she was used to.
"U-Um, Deku! I wasn't expecting you!" she shrieked, hurrying to redo her ponytail. She left it in a messy bun. He thought it looked cute like that; she should wear it more often. Maybe it'd make Mina look good, even better than she already did.
Or, on second thought, maybe that was an Uraraka thing. Mina's hair was too short.
"Sorry! I-I didn't mean to startle you. I just… wanted to say that I'm… I'm going to talk to Ashido. If that's okay with you."
Elastic half-hanging out of her mouth, Uraraka stood up. She spit it out in order to be able to talk. "Deku, you don't need my permission. I'm not your girlfriend, remember?"
"I-I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hurting you, is all."
"Of course it's going to hurt me. Deku, I fell in love with you. I know that might be sly of me to say when you're about to go visit the one person you'd rather have over me, but I thought, since this is my last chance, I should probably tell you now before it's too late. And you don't have to give me so much space. If I'm gonna get over it, I gotta start by being around you. Okay, Deku? Don't worry about me. You and Ashido… do whatever you need to do, okay? I may be mad at her, but that doesn't mean you can't both be happy."
He wanted to hug her, but he knew it'd be too soon. Too much close contact for someone who had just moments ago admitted she wasn't just crushing on him, liking him, but in fact falling in love with him. Maybe he would one day. In fact, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that that day would come. This was just a mini mountain they'd have to climb.
"Uraraka, are you sure? You can admit it if it makes you upset." He motioned toward the now-empty doorway. "I can head right back downstairs."
"It doesn't. I promise. Just go. Go see Mina. I'm sure she has something to say to you. I know she does." She took a step closer to him, so fed up with his self-accusatory, shamefaced attitude that she was seconds away from just shoving him out the door. She was tired of his constant nagging, his anxiety that stuck with him wherever he'd go—it was beginning to get on her nerves. He was an obsessive overthinker and a worrywart.
And she also couldn't stand to see him again. Not like this. Not when he was about to talk to the one person she was mad at most.
Izuku opened the door. He stopped just before stepping out. "Uraraka, are you sure—"
"Deku, I'm sure." She pushed him, and he yelped, nearly tripping over his own feet as he did so. She just wanted him gone. She wanted Mina to stop being so upset, and, most of all, she wanted some alone time, some peace. It wasn't Izuku. But he did have everything to do with it. Just having him here hurt her.
Izuku stumbled down the hall. "Go! Go see her!" she said, willing to wave back with the door wide open, wearing one of her most exuberant smiles in an attempt to pretend to be at least the littlest bit fine. And she was. Just far more upset than she'd show.
She saw him to the other end of the dorm—Mina's room, which Uraraka was jealous of because she had it exclusively all to herself—gave him a quick thumbs-up, and then, before the big breakdown, slyly showed herself out. She shut the door, sliding slowly down to the floor. Admitting that she was in love with him had finally brought her to tears.
- o - o - o -Apologize, Mina. You have to.
Mina reread Jirou's texts over and over again.
But he needs to apologize back. We both do. It's just that I'm scared he won't. I'd look like an ass. I'd be making a fool out of myself.
She could picture Jirou hitting herself over the head through the phone. Well then if he doesn't, he's the one who's ass. You won't have to worry about him anymore; you can find someone better than that. But, knowing Midoriya, I don't doubt that he will. He seems like a pretty good guy.
She suddenly got giddy. She hopped up off the bed, heading toward the door. Now was the time, if any, to take Jirou's advice. She'd been trying to persuade her for hours, and it'd finally gotten to her head. He is. Thank you, Kyoka. For everything.
She wasn't able to read Jirou's response quite yet, as she was in too much of a hurry. She needed to go see him. She needed to go see Izuku.
But as soon as she opened the door, adrenaline pumping wildly through her veins, she had to stop short.
Izuku stood just a few feet away.
She gasped. "M-Midori, hi!"
"Hey," he stuttered.
"Um, I actually wanted to talk to you—"
She stopped when she saw him bow. "Me too!" he shrieked. "Me too," he reiterated after relaxing a little, coming back to Planet Earth and his senses and toning it down a few notches in order to seem at least a little bit calm. He'd come off far too strong.
"I'm sorry," he continued. "I'm sorry for always picking a fight with you and not owning up to what I'd done. I'm sorry for doing something dumb, not telling Uraraka about what was going on between us and refusing to admit I'd made a mistake. I was just so stubborn at that time because, well, I was scared. Scared of what you'd say, scared of what everyone else would say, scared of making it all the more the reality. I acted like an ass. I don't know what else to say except I'm sorry—with all of my heart."
Her facial features softened. But before she could fully rest easy, she took one look down each end of the hallway, ensuring they were alone. She decided it'd be best if she pulled him into her room.
Her motioning him in was a good thing, wasn't it? It meant she wanted to talk more. At least that was what he'd assumed. She certainly hadn't slammed the door in his face, so that was a good start.
She swept him off of his feet, grabbing and guiding him through the door.
Pinks and blacks and loads of pretty patterned prints—all of which caught his eye. Despite her light skin tone, magenta was her color.
He quit his existential wandering and focused on the problem at hand.
A nervous Mina, one of the world's most rarest sights, stood stiff right in front of him, head down and heels hammered to the floor. She was incredibly reluctant to move.
"I'm… I'm also sorry! I fucked up too. I pushed you away today when we maybe could have come to a compromise just because I was angry—I know, childish. And I'm so, so sorry for kissing you out of the blue like that and being so hard on you during a difficult time and not giving you a break for not doing what I'd asked. It was a hard task; I know. I would have done things differently, but you and I—we're two different people. I can't expect you to be like me. And for that, I'm sorry! So, so sincerely sorry!"
Izuku's cheeks turned red, the tip of his nose rose. She stood up for a few lasting seconds, the tension finally starting to dissipate between the two. It was a relieving feeling, a feeling like no other. The jitters just seemed to fade away.
"A-Ashido, of course I accept your apology. I've been waiting for one for a while. Do you... maybe accept mine?"
She nodded furiously, fiddling her fingers a few feet in front of her face. What else could she say? She was nervous. "Midoriya, I would've accepted it a long time ago."
He stuttered before getting his lines straight. "D-Does that mean you miss me?"
"More than you could imagine."
Mina coming on so strong gave Izuku the shivers, the shakes, the anxious shudders and brisk breaks. But he decided despite that, he'd follow her lead. "Me too. Me too, Ashido. I miss hanging out with you. I miss being around you. I miss you being my best friend. I miss it all."
"I do too. And, honestly, something inside me is telling me it's probably because I'm in love with you."
Izuku went wide-eyed.
What? he wanted to ask.
So it wasn't just him? She felt it too?
He started to have second thoughts. But isn't it too early for love? Too early for the infamous L-word?
In a fit of fierce feelings, he hugged her, wrapping his arms around her more hastily than he ever had before, a lover loath to let go. He asked first, of course, looking at her one last time before ducking under her, slyly sliding his hands around her broad frame and back as soon as she gave an obligatory nod. It wasn't something he could help, something he could or would prevent; instincts had become like second nature to him, enrapturing his body as he, out of stun and shock and a boatload of overridden uneasiness, walked right over and slipped his arms under her, holding her firmly by waist.
He could, without a doubt, say that he loved her. It'd all happened so fast, and many may say he was being overdramatic, but after All Might's words, he couldn't deny that it had wholeheartedly become one-hundred percent true.
"I'm sorry," he muttered over her shoulder, voice muffled by the thick fabric of her heavy-duty hoodie. Why it was so cold out today—the world would never know. "For everything. And I… I'm in love with you too."
She held him tighter, partly because she was just so nervous and overcome with bliss. "But, Uraraka—is she okay with you being here? You at least talked to her first, didn't you?"
Izuku pulled away. "Yes. Of course I did. I couldn't have come here if I didn't—I'd feel too bad. And she said so. She said it was fine. I checked in on her."
"Midoriya… She's surely still upset."
Izuku's eyes fell to the floor, knowing deep down that Mina's words were an unchangeable and undeniable truth, the truth Uraraka tried so hard to hide. She was only fooling herself if she thought no one would notice.
Izuku sighed. "Yeah, probably. I— Ugh," he started, tightly rubbing the top of his temple, dissatisfaction distilled in his voice. "I can't help feeling bad."
Mina felt a few tears fall, dribbling down her cheeks and her chin and all the way down to her neck. They eventually collected at her collarbone, soaked up by the fabric of her once-brand-new Hero hoodie, the one she liked to wear so much whenever she wanted to relax, the one she felt so comfortable in, the cotton picking them up before they had the chance to roll down any further. The fact that they had even reached that far was a feat in and of itself.
Izuku started to freak. "A-Ashido, what's wrong?"
"It's just… I've been waiting for this for so, so long, and now all of a sudden I can't get over the fact that there's still Uraraka, and she hates me, absolutely hates me, and I get this feeling we're totally screwing her over, acting like such tools—"
She wiped away the tears just lightly with the back of her hand. Izuku started to notice these things—the way her horns quivered with each and every weep, the way she shook and shivered and shuddered her shoulders, the way she curled her fingertips into a ball so tight and couldn't even begin to think to open her eyes—it all screamed weak, meak, not bubbly and bright and bustling with life, everything her opposite, everything upside-down.
This was Mina. Emotional. Anxious. Scared, absolutely terrified, to open up.
This was the Mina Izuku was yet to know.
This confident Izuku, this caring, not-so-socially-awkward Izuku was just as new to her as well.
They were just beginning to get to know each other.
And, instead of stopping them, it only fueled their fire more.
Izuku stopped her short. She was still rambling, something she would've been quick to scold him for just a few weeks ago. Times had really changed.
Tentatively, he brought his hand to the nape of her neck, and then to the top of her cheek. He rubbed right under her eye.
She could feel his hands shaking, his cheeks reddening, him radiating off heat. He started to speak up. "Ashido, Uraraka let me come here. I even asked her. And I'm willing to bet she's sad, since, y'know, she apparently really did feel a lot for me, but... So am I." He took his hand away. "I'm… I'm sad that I haven't gotten to see you. Sad that it seems like you hate me."
"Oh, Midori. I don't hate you. But I could honestly say the same. I'm sad, too. For all the same reasons."
"Then let's be a little less sad together. I-If you want to, I mean. Stop thinking about Uraraka, even if it's just for right now."
And so that was exactly what she did.
She cornered him, closing the remaining distance. She walked right up to him, and before he could even think of pulling away, she kissed him hard on the lips. He went wide-eyed, absolutely and unbelievably stunned, before beginning to kiss her back, holding her hips and her heart in his hands. He could feel it beating from everywhere.
Izuku was slow. He was a sly, shy kisser, a timid and uptight mess, which maybe might've been a little bit because of her. She was scaring him so much, she guessed, worrying him out of his mind.
It was his first real kiss, after all. And technically hers as well.
Her skin was so supple, so soft. He couldn't even begin to describe something so sweet, nor could he come up with the right words. It was like finally closing this gap that'd lingered so loudly between two people for such a long time, finally shattering that wall, that last layer between them. And now that it was broken all they wanted to do was explore every inch of each other.
She pulled away, face flushed, heart hammering heavily out of her chest. She put her hand right in the middle of where his rib cage and sternum would meet, the pressure from each beat noticeably more vigorous than usual, going a thousand miles a minute. It got her all riled up.
She stayed close to him. "That makes two," she said, smiling, holding up a couple of bunny ears just subtly below her waist in an attempt to lighten the mood. Whether or not he would notice would remain completely unknown, nor did it matter to her.
He smiled, eyes cast down onto hers. He was red as a ripe tomato.
After such a chaste kiss, they decided to heat things up.
Just barely. It was more of a fervent kind of heat, a needy one—one that'd lit up between two people who had recently fallen in love.
Mina was much more dominant. She was so excited to finally get to kiss him—for real this time, not during some stupid kids' game—that she just couldn't help herself. She pulled at his bottom lip, teeth just lightly biting in and breaking the skin. Her hands left a trail up his lean, muscular build, traveling all the way up to his round and boyish face. She rubbed her thumb over his smooth skin once she'd made her way to his cheeks.
Izuku tried to speed things up in order to match her pace. They were both brand new to this, neither having experience nor knowledge at what they were doing. They'd gone in blind, fire in their hearts and an unrelenting desire the only thing they had left going for them.
"Three," Mina mumbled, pulling away for one last breath, mere moments later going back in in a fervent fever for more. Izuku, finally gaining some more confidence, pulled her close, running his rugged hands through her wild, messy, unruly head of poofy pink hair. It reminded him so much of his own, except different. Softer. Smoother. Ten times more untamed.
She wanted to maybe move in with some tongue, but inevitably decided to wait. She liked taking things slow, especially with Izuku so timid and shy.
Besides, they were moving too quickly already. Which could prove to be both a good and a bad thing. Maybe they should slow things down.
Eh. Oh well.
Mina mused in the more happy-go-lucky side of her mind, tears beginning to breach her once-dry skin. They were the good kind of tears, the happy ones. They were too subtle, too unnoticeable to fall.
Izuku's hands were everywhere—her hips, her hands, her waist—purely out of longing and lust. He was tongue-tied, trying his best not to squeal. Just one kiss was all it took to realize he was so far gone with this girl, so deep in love.
He tasted like mangoes and peach. She, pomegranate and pineapple—tangy and tart yet still sickly sweet. It was appetizing, appealing how easily the two fruits mixed.
He interlocked his fingers with hers. She began to push back, in a heated fury with little to nowhere to go, having no control over where she was walking. He stumbled back in consequence, practically fighting to stay on two feet. He couldn't fall over; it'd do numbers to the fiery feeling.
She rolled with the tide, taking the two toward the bed. They stumbled and fell and nearly tripped over the base of the bed frame, but were able to maintain their balance. Izuku's calves hit hastily against the hard wooden edge, an indent imprinting on the inside of his leg.
In fear of banging teeth, Mina pulled away.
He sat staring blankly at the border of the bed. She still hovered above him, both breathing heavily. It was a battle in and of itself just to calm down.
There wasn't any way Mina was going further. Izuku wasn't ready, and neither was she—she was also more than sure she didn't want to, definitely not right now. It would totally ruin the mood.
And so, at that very moment, miserably missing his touch, she gave him the most loving hug she could even think to muster up. "I'm sorry," she said. "I want to start over."
"So do I," he managed to mutter, still in a trance-like state. This whole experience was completely surreal to him, much like a dream.
They both collapsed back onto the bed, turning toward each other and finally giving one another a break from wearing the weight of the world on top of their tired shoulders. If it continued on like this, it was bound to do some permanent damage.
She finally caught wind enough to be able to talk, speak clearly and spark some sentences. "Midori... I've been wanting to kiss you for a while now."
"Me too," he said, smiling, too stirred-up and high-strung to worry too much about his probably-poor performance. He wondered whether or not he was allowed to touch her, pet her hair and show her how much he loved her, give her the affection he very much thought she deserved.
He picked up his hand and moved it toward the side of her face, or, in the case of them lying down, the top. "Can I?" he asked, suddenly stopping short, a certain sweetness and serenity in his voice. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable, break this newfound trust.
She nodded.
He rubbed the top of her head, pretty pink hair an unmanageable mess as he laced it through each of his fingers. How she contained such a thing—he'd never know.
"We should go on a date."
Izuku smiled, suddenly so much more relaxed around her. "Saturday?"
Tomorrow? she wanted to ask. "Yeah. Let's," she said. "Where?"
"We can figure it out later."
Huh, Mina thought. Izuku was usually a planner, but apparently not today. Maybe she'd influenced him with her impulsiveness. "Okay."
Mina brought him close. She'd hold him tight, loath to let go, chin resting if only a little uncomfortably in the crook of his shoulder. She missed this—missed this so much. "What are we, Izu?"
"W-What do you mean? And what do you mean by 'Izu'?"
"Are we dating? Or, I don't know, would you rather wait until after the first date?" she said. She continued. "And… I guess, since, y'know, we're clearly pretty close, I thought maybe I could call you that. But if you don't like it, I'll stop—"
She knew he'd shriek as soon as he started to shiver. "N-No! I didn't mean it like that. I was just surprised, is all. And, M-Mina—I'll call you that from now on, too."
He added on, as he suddenly realized he'd only answered half of her question. "And let's just see how this date goes."
She wasn't sure whether to be glad or sad. She was so excited to just finally call him her boyfriend, give him love and affection out in the open without it being weird or having to schedule special rendezvous, finally get to kiss him whenever and wherever she wanted. But alas, she'd have to wait a little while longer to make her dream come true.
"Okay," she said, cuddling him closer. They touched the tips of their noses, connected at the hip, and she gave him one more quick kiss, to which he blushed furiously bright red.
She couldn't help herself. She was just so happy to finally be by his side. She had to give him one more.
They vowed they did not need a blanket. They would use one another's body heat, one another's warmth, to keep them from being too cold. And it worked. At least for a little while.
But as day turned to night, the air outside getting considerably cooler as it seeped its way into the open windows and doors of the dorms and dorm-room balconies, they eventually decided they could no longer go without one.
And so Mina fell asleep right then—the drama coming to an all-time end bringing ease to her body and soul, finally letting her leave her sleep-deprived state—on top of Izuku, the blanket balled up by their feet. She rested comfortably in the crook of his shoulder, letting out a loud snore every once in a while, much to his amusement. He admired her for a few minutes, giving her this loving look, this look of awe and amazement over finally getting to be with such a sweet girl—he was glad he got to be with a girl in general, but this one was special.
This one was sweet. This one he loved. This one could be a little too loud, vexatious and a bit too ambitious, but he had fallen in love with her anyway. There was never going to be another like this one, and if there ever was, he probably wouldn't find her for quite a long time.
He had to cherish her. Had to be careful with her. He couldn't fuck up so easily, fuck up so often—he had to step up his game.
And so he promised to himself that that was what he'd do. He'd never let her down, never give her a reason to leave earlier than she had to, never hurt her, never break her heart.
He swore to God this was the one thing he wanted in life besides becoming a Hero.
He looked at her for a little while longer before becoming too tired. Laying there next to her had drained the life out of him—this whole day had. And so, even if only a little reluctantly, he hopped up off the bed, careful not to wake her, and wrote her a note.
Hi, Mina. This is Izuku. I'm leaving now—it's 9:30 p.m., and I still have a lot of homework to do. I would've stayed the night, but I wasn't sure if you'd be comfortable with that yet, so I decided not to take that risk. I just wanted to let you know what time I left and when I'd be back at my dorm. Maybe you'll see this in the morning, maybe in a few minutes—who knows? But whatever you do I hope you rest easy. Can't wait to see you at school tomorrow!
-Izu
He sent it as a text—adding so much as a single sweet emoji terrified him, but he decided he'd do it anyway—hoping she'd see it in the morning. He was too scared to be much more affectionate with her—say "I love you" anywhere other than in person, hold her hand, tell her straight to her face how much he missed her. But he did. He missed her a lot. Of course he did. And she knew that—he was sure that at this point in their relationship none of that needed explaining. Not yet.
One day he knew he'd be comfortable enough where it wouldn't be weird if he would. He anticipated that day, was even excited for it. It might've been easy for Mina, but not so much for him.
Still, he thought that note expressed enough in such few words. He'd even say he was proud of it, how short and sweet it was, looking forward to Mina's reaction when it finally did pop up in the notifications center of her phone, waiting patiently to not only be opened but to be read. He most eagerly awaited her response.
Izuku smiled back at her one last time, head still up in the clouds, waving back to her shortly before he'd reluctantly have to shut her dorm room door. He put on an incredibly happy face, a high-spirited one, walking down the corridors more joyous than he'd ever been before, a skip in his step. He could no longer hide his overwhelming elation, exhilaration. Saturday classes the next morning, and then their highly anticipated first date—it was all to die for. And, especially after tonight, after all this, after everything that'd happened, there was only one thing left looming in the back of his mind: Finally.
- o - o - o - o -A/N: So the story's finally reached its climax! I hope you guys enjoyed this—took me a while lol. Thank you all so much for reading. There are only a few more closing chapters left and an epilogue and then I'll be done! My first full novel. As usual, reviews are always greatly appreciated!