Chapter Two: Escort (Nighttime Stroll)

"Thanks for walking me home, Izuku!"

Mina's cheerful smile had his face turning a bright shade of red, but Izuku managed to stammer back a response. "I-it's no problem! Everyone else went home with s-someone, s-so I thought it'd be, um…"

"A good idea to make sure I didn't get mugged on my way back?" She prompted, looking all too amused as his fluster.

"Err…well, that too, but mostly I thought you might like the company?"

"Aww," she cooed, leaning into his space to nudge his shoulder with hers. "You're a sweetheart, you know that?"

When he started to blush outside the human spectrum of red, Mina may have cackled a bit more loudly than was necessary, but she didn't care. This was quality entertainment, and she'd be lying if she said there wasn't something truly special about teasing him.

"Well, since you're walking me home," she began, a wide grin spreading her lips upwards. She reached out for his arm and loped hers around it, joining them at the elbows. "Better make sure you don't lose track of me, right?"

Izuku looked like he might've passed out, but then he swallowed and his arm shifted. For a moment, Mina thought he might pull away (and she would've let him since he probably needed some space).

Then his fingers brushed against hers as he grasped her hand carefully, and she almost stopped walking.

Izuku couldn't even look at her, instead choosing to stare at his feet. "Um…i-it would be easier to keep track of y-you like th-this…"

Mina felt her face blossom with heat as butterflies ran riot in her tummy. There was no way it was legal for him to do that. Sure, she was kind of crushing on him, but this was ridiculous.

He had her heart racing with a few stuttered words and a touch of his hand!

Mina fought through the blush and butterflies and tried to respond. "W-well, yes! You're right! This way, we can't lose each other!"

She was quick to adjust their hands so their fingers were intertwined, and now she could really feel a current of heat building up where their skin touched, like a live wire running through her veins.

He swallowed nervously, glancing at their joined hands before looking back at the ground, and she felt some of her control come back. Despite his unexpected boldness, he was clearly even more nervous than she was about this. He wasn't letting go, though…

She leaned a bit into him so their shoulders were touching and he stiffened a bit before relaxing several seconds later. Mina squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Is this ok?"

"Y-yeah," he gulped, chancing a look at her face. "Is it ok with you?"

Her lips quirked up into a smile despite the lilac tinting her cheeks. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

Izuku managed a wobbly smile of his own. Mina could feel them both sweating where their hands were connected, but she didn't care right now. The only thing she cared about for that last quarter mile before they reached her home was that she was holding his hand, having an enjoyable conversation, and thinking that maybe he might admire her as much as she did him.

When they got to her door at last, it felt like the time they'd enjoyed had flown by way too fast. Mina was reluctant to let go of his hand when they stopped in front of her house.

"Well, this is my stop," she told him.

"Y-yeah," he replied. "This is your stop. Your house. Where you live. Um. Yeah."

She snorted and smirked at him. "Wanna come in and meet my dad? I've always been kind of curious to see how he'd react to me bringing a boy home."

Izuku paled a little and she started laughing. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

The teenager deflated slightly, clutching at his heart. "Oh, good…I think my heart stopped for a second."

Feeling especially bold after her good (wonderful) night, Mina accepted that challenge.

Stood on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek.

"How about now?" She teased despite her blush.

Izuku just stared back hollowly, like his soul had left his body. His entire body began to turn red and for a moment, Mina wondered if he was going to explode. She really hoped not; she was kind of hoping he'd stay alive long enough for her to try it again.

Mina lifted a hand to pat his cheek after a few minutes passed of Izuku standing in place like a zombie. "You alive?"

"Uhhhuuuhh?" He tried. She took that as a yes.

"Um…I've never done this before," she admitted after a second, looking at him and cocking her head to one side. "So, uh…maybe you can walk me home more often?"

Izuku nodded robotically. "Walk you home more often. Yeah."

He went silent for a bit longer before managing to lower his eyes enough to look at her. "Uh…are you gonna…do that…again?"

Mina smirked a little. "Depends. Do you want me to?"

"…is it ok if I say yes?"

She nodded. There went another wave of butterflies. "More than ok."

"Ok," he repeated absently. "It's ok."

"Yeah."

"Right."

The door opened.

Both of them jumped and screamed, having been snapped out of their little world to spin towards the interloper. Mina's mother, as pink and bright-eyed as she was, but with much longer hair, blinked at them.

"Oh, Mina!" She exclaimed, leaning against the doorway. "I thought I heard you talking out here."

Her gaze trailed to Izuku, who looked like he'd been struck by lightning. "And this is…?"

"Izuku! He's my friend, Izuku!" Mina stumbled over her words in haste, flustered by the sudden interruption.

Her mother's eyes gleamed and Mina felt horror dawning inside of her.

"Izuku, huh?" That silky, gleeful tone promised humor at Mina's expense. "This wouldn't be the same Izuku you can't stop talking about, would it? The one with 'really pretty eyes and pretty hair and a heart bigger than the sun'?"

Mina mentally slapped a bullseye on her mother. This demanded retribution.

Retribution that, regrettably, would have to wait when she was coherent enough to respond, because all she managed in that moment was nonsensical spluttering as Izuku fell over onto the ground, stiff as a board. His face was literally steaming and his eyes swirled in unconsciousness.

Her mother cackled like the witch she was and Mina wished in that moment she could sink into a black hole.

At least Izuku would probably be there with her.

A/N: Here's Day 2! Keep in mind that some of these entries are going to be expansions or sequels to prompts from the previous IzuMina Weeks in 2018 and 2019 respectively! This isn't one of them, but I'll tell you guys when one of these chapters is related to one of the previous prompts!

As ever, please review and thanks for reading!