A/N: Thank you all so much for your kind reviews and support. I'm so humbled and grateful that you took a chance on this story and loved it! For those of you interested in a continuation, I've include the intro to the sequel fic "The Ribbon: Untied." Please note, that fic does include explicit sexual content, so if you'd prefer to avoid that, then stick around here for possible cute scenes in the future, or check out "The Contract," my parallel Ashido fic. Whatever you choose, thank you so much for being here, you gorgeous people~

Introduction: The Ribbon - Untied

I want to kiss her.

She was laughing—really laughing. Not a shy giggle, stifled by her hand but real, genuine laughter. The kind that made tears form in her eyes and that adorable hiccupping sound that escaped between gasped breaths.

It wasn't even that funny. He'd just made a comment about how the protagonist's hair in the show they were watching looked like how he'd imagine Midoriya with an afro. But she'd thought it was hilarious, and was now doubled over, smile huge and laughter filling the space in his dorm room.

I need to kiss her.

The red, twilight sunshine that infiltrated his blinds made her hair and skin seem to glow. Her hair… already radiant from the joy she was feeling, shone like the setting sun. The lengthening shadows caressed her skin in a way that seemed fluid. Pooling in the dips and crevices, accentuating the light shining on her cheeks, her shoulder, her lips. He wanted to be the shadows crawling on her soft skin.

I'm going to kiss her.

Her laughter faded. Silver eyes, colored orange by the setting sun, looked at him with a wide, startled expression. "Eijiro…?"

The sound of his name issued from her parted lips was the trigger-pull. He gripped her arms and pushed her down against the bed, so that her blonde hair was strewn across his pillows and her starlight eyes stared up at him. A hand slid behind her head, fingers tangling in rapidly shifting hair. Another to cup her face, to touch her jaw and neck the way the shadows had.

"Hana…" he said her name, letting it coat his tongue like honey.

Eyes wide, lips parted, a rosy blush spreading across her cheeks and seemingly into her blonde hair until it too was streaked with pink. That was the beauty of her quirk. It spoke for her when words could not. It gave him the consent she was too embarrassed to speak.

He crushed his mouth down on hers, capturing her in the kiss he'd been so desperate for. It wasn't enough to feel the teasing warmth of them moving against his own. He needed so much more. His tongue begged for access and she granted it, issuing a small, helpless sound from the recesses of her throat as he deepened the kiss, filling his senses with the taste of her.

Closer. He wanted to be closer to her.

One hand still tangled in her hair, finger kneading her scalp. The other slipping down to her waist to tug her body against his. Tongue urgent, insistent on more.

Her arms encircled him, as needy for closeness as he was. Fingers clutching at his shirt, nails scraping skin. Her tongue responding to his, though with more restraint. She had to be careful of his teeth, after all.

"E-Eijiro…" a trembling name. A whimper. A plea.

"Kinuhana…" He drew his lips across her skin, along her jaw and to her neck. It was instinctual. Lips and tongue weren't enough, he wanted to taste more of her. His tongue drew out, along the sensitive spot on her neck, welcoming the flavor of his girlfriend's skin.

Her nails dug into him and she made a sound he'd never heard before. It was shaky and quiet and dripping with pleasure. A moan, his mind supplied. She likes it.

He wanted to hear it again. He wanted to hear more, feel more, do more.

But then her hands were in his hair and her voice was a nervous whisper. "E-Eijiro, s-stop."

He lifted his head and looked down at her. Her face was colored with an intense, deep emotion that he'd started to see more often lately. Desire. And not just her face. Her hair had changed too. From blonde and pink, to pink and… he couldn't tell what the other color was in the fading light.

"Y-You can't just lick someone randomly, stupid second-year," she chastised. But there was no passion in her words. Her lips were still parted with thirst.

"But if I asked, you'd have said no," he pointed out, flashing her a grin. "'Don't ask me embarrassing things, stupid second-year,'" he mocked her voice.

"Eijiro Kirshima!" She huffed and pushed him away from her. "You're unbelievable."

"Kinuhana Kanzashi!" He ignored her protests and pulled her into a tight embrace. "You know you love it, though."

"Stop embarrassing me!" She fought uselessly as he snuggled against her and pulled his Crimson Riot quilt over them.

"Stay here and nap with me, Hana, please? We could keep cuddling and making out…"

"No!" She weaseled out of his grip. "I have homework to do, s-so I have to go back to my own dorm."

"Aw, come on!" he pouted. "I thought you were gonna stay another hour!"

"That was before you started slobbering all over me like a dog!"

He sighed and flopped down on his back. "Guess I won't do that again."

"T-That's not what I…" She met his gaze and must have seen the smirk he was trying to hide, because she threw a pillow at him. "I'm leaving!"

Kinuhana Kanzashi, Eijiro's girlfriend of eight months. The third-year girl whose quirk enabled her color-changing hair to be cut into any fabric. Once his tutor, now his partner. He couldn't wait to see where their relationship would take them…