The school day at UA had come to an end and Izuku and his classmates were in their dorms preparing for the next day of classes and training. The class had been going over the history of hero society, with specific reference to a number of retro heroes with details of their quirks and feats being listed. Izuku being the overachiever that he is, managed to shorthand every point on every hero, and now that he was in his dorm, he was going to rewrite his notes.

"Looks like I have a busy night ahead of me, l just needs to get a new notebook," Izuku told himself as he sat down at his writing desk, adorned with All Might memorabilia, with a bobblehead of All might standing centre stage, his toothy grin on full display.

Izuku placed his hand under the desk, feeling for a notebook, but there were none left.

"Aww, man. I must have used the last one when writing the notes on heroes I met during the raid, looks like I've got to make a quick visit to the mall." Izuku sighed as he looked out the window in his dorm to see the sun was still out, it was the middle of Autumn, the days were starting to shorten, and the weather was starting to turn cold.

Izuku grabbed his heaviest coat, which was dark green, put on his usual red boots and left his dorm room, passing through the main hall of the dorm. Mineta and Kaminari were sitting on one of the couches, discussing their plans to get a detailed look at the girls, when they least expected it. Mina, Momo and Tsuyu were on the other couch, chatting as usual. And Ochako was in the kitchen, she was on cooking duty for the day.

"Hey Deku, what you doing?" Ochako chirped, once the sight of Izuku caught her eye.

"Oh hey, Ochako, I um, need to head to the mall, I was going to rewrite my notes but I used up all my notebooks, so I'm making a quick trip to the mall."

"Oh well. Be quick. You know what Azaiwa's like with keeping us to the curfew."

"I'll try and get back as quickly as I can...do you need anything" Izuku, leaned over and whispered

"I um, uh, um...no no I don't but thanks for asking." Ochako blurred out, she hadn't expected Izuku to ask her.

"Okay? I'll get going, see you later Ochako" Izuku said puzzled by Ochako's reaction, not noticing the eyes now focused on them, before he made his way to the main entrance and headed to the mall.

"I think I should get her so something, but what?" Izuku thought.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned warehouse, the League of Villains were planning their next moves, their work with the Shie Hassaikai had not been as fruitful as they had wished. They had managed to get a stash of quirk erasing bullets, but they were so few in number that they were to be saved for emergencies, and thanks to Shigaraki, they had managed to get rid of the nuisance that was Overhall, whose presence invited challenge within the organisation. However, Midoriya and his friends had once again caused their master plan to fall apart as well as removing a thorn in Shigaraki's side.

"I hate those brats at UA...jumping into things they have no business being involved in.

"I agree Tomura, they have proven to be a thorn in our sides, especially the successor of All Might, that boy has caused more pain than he is worth.

"That kid defeated Muscular, we sent him there to counter his raw power and he beat him down. While his power has not reached anywhere near All Mights level, he is still a force to be reckoned with, but he does have one flaw.

"His durability," Kurogiri replied his mist shifting as he answered.

"Exactly, to be specific his body cannot handle his power at its full potential, without grievous injury, which is why I called in a favour." Shigiraki scratched his neck as he spoke, a hint of excitement marking his voice.

"A favour?"

"I asked an old acquaintance of my master to help deal with Izuku Midoriya, he's been watching his movements for the past few days and noticed a common path he used, so I sent him to wait there till Izuku arrives, then we should not worry about him anymore.

"I see, and what pray tell is the quirk of this acquaintance."

"Let's just say, he turns tank builds into class cannons, if you catch my drift" Tomurua chuckled leaving Kurogiri to think on his analogy.

After a 20-minute walk, made shorter thanks to a shortcut through a small woodland area, which Izuku had used to shorten the time it took for him to collect groceries so he could spend more time on his studies and training. Once Izuku made it to the mall, he headed straight for an office supply store, getting everything he needed and a little extra.

" a collection of All Might erasers and pens which are half price, what a bargain!" Izuku cheered in his head as he paid for his purchases and exited the store.

"Now I know what Ochako reacted as she did, I strangely asked her, I must have made her feel awkward, I'm an idiot... I need to make it up to her... hmmm" Izuku thought as he walked slowly through the mall, it was rather busy so he had to make sure he didn't bump into anyone.

"Theirs a nice bakery here, I could pick her up something...she said he liked sweet things, but what kind of sweet things does she like?" Izuku mumbled, only to break from him mumbling after hearing someone call his name.

"Midoriya! Hey over here!" the voice cried, a hand waving through the crowds

"Huh...is that Kirishima? what's he doing here?" Izuku pondered as he caught sight of Kirishima and waved to show he had seen him.

"Hey man, what are you doing out? You're usually in your room studying, why the change in routine?" Kirishima asked as he and Izuku headed to a more quiet spot of the mall to walk and talk

"I was planning to rewrite my class notes till I noticed I was out of notebooks, so I rushed over. What about you?

"I needed some new training equipment for training at the dorm, you know skipping ropes and stuff like that," Kirishima explained as he walked with Izuku

"Skipping ropes?

"Yeah, I've realised that while my unbreakable form can take a lot of hits, I can't keep it up for long especially under extreme physical stress, so I'm thinking of trying to use skipping speed work in that form to build my endurance," Kirshimia explained his plan. he knew from his fight with Rappa and the enhanced thug that he couldn't hold the form for long and his manoeuvrability was reduced, so anything that could deal with both issues would help him even if it was a little unconventional.

"Makes sense, plus the coordination of the movement may help you with making more fluid movements in that form."

"I never thought of that. Thanks, Midoriya, that's what makes you such a great student, you see details that others don't realise are there" Kirishima exclaimed as he wrapped his arm around Izuku as they walked to thank him for the idea.

"Your welcome, did you get the stuff you needed?" Izuku asked, thinking Kirishima had out the stuff in his schoolbag

"Oh not yet, I'm just here, it takes a while to get to from the dorms. " Kirshimia grumbled

"Well, I know a short cut, ill show you when we head back.

"Cool" Kirishima beamed as he and Izuku made their way to a sports equipment store, buying a set of skipping ropes, some built for speed work and others which were weighted to help increase endurance. On top of that, he also bought a new foam roller and yoga mat.

"I also thought of trying out yoga, It may not sound the manliest way to build endurance and flexibility, but from what I've been told it's tougher than it looks."

"I might try I out, maybe I could use the static moves to help me control the output of my quirk," Izuku stated, as he and Kirishima made their way to the exit of the mall

"Just let me know and we can try it out, maybe get a few of the girls involved, If you catch my drift" Kirishima chuckled nudging Izuku who thanks to his social denseness did not click to the joke, instead it made him remember he had forgotten to do something, stopping him in his tracks.

"Crap, I forgot something, I'll have to rush so we get back before the curfew," Izuku mumbled.

"You all right...what did you forget?" Kirishima asked once he heard Izuku.

"I was picking up something from the nice bakery in the store, why don't you head back to the dorms, I don't want you getting in trouble for being late."

"No chance, we still have a little time and we were going to take that shortcut you mentioned, I'll come with you.

"Okay, thanks Kirishima" Izuku nodded as he and the sturdy hero rushed to the bakery, Izuku had heard a few of the girls in the dorm talking about how nice the cakes were from the bakery so he felt it would be the best way to apologise to Ochako.

Once they arrived at the bakery, Izuku rushed in leaving Kirishima outside the store and after a rather lengthy wait in a large queue and Izuku's own overthinking he managed to pick something, a large slice of rich, triple chocolate gateau covered in milk and white chocolates shaving.

"What did you pick?" Kirishima asked as he and Izuku jogged to the exit noticing the size of the box, which was larger than he had expected.

"I picked packed a chocolate gateau."

"Nice, is that for you mum?" Kirishima asked, with a big smile on his face

"No, it's for someone else."

"Ohhh I wonder who," Kirishima stated surprised by the answer

"Can we talk about this after we get out?" Izuku grumbled he didn't want to waste time when they had to focus on moving quickly through the crowd of shoppers

"Alright." Kirishima sighed a little annoyed he didn't get an answer, but he didn't mind given how close they were to the curfew time.

"Once they made it out of the mall and jogged a little further, the pair made it to crossroads with Izuku taking the lead so they could get to the short cut.

"Soo, whos the cake for? Is it for one of the girls in the dorm?" Kirishima asked, leaning closer to Izuku as he spoke

"I ummmmm I..." Izuku muttered in a flustered state as he started to turn red and fidget with the bag

"Come on you can trust me. I'm not like that perv Mineta, and I'm not as stupid as Kaminari, so if it's a secret you know I can keep it." Kirishima confidently stated placing his arm on his chest.

"Okay... I bought the cake for Ochako, it not what it looks like though" Izuku took a deep breath and spoke in a pleading manner

"I knew it!" Kirishima yelled with glee shaking his fist

"You did!" Izuku yelped in response

"Of course, theirs a little bet going with Mina, Hadarkai and Jiro over potential couples, I decided to join in the little wager and said you and Ochako were a prime candidate for a couple... so when did you start going out?"

"I Ummm I'm. we're not in a relationship!" Izuku exclaimed only to become more flustered and redder with each passing second.

"Hu, so why are you getting her a cake then?" Kirishima raised his brow,

"As an apology. " izuku asnwered.

Apology? what did you do?" Kirishima looked quizzically at Izuku

"When I was heading to the mall, Ochako asked what I was doing and I asked if she wanted anything, she got flustered and starting blushing, before saying she didn't need anything, I now think I embarrassed her by asking so I want to make it up to her. " Izuku explained the situation, his voice becoming marked with nerves as he went on

"Come on Izuku, you didn't embarrass her, you surprised her. I'm pretty dense with romance and stuff like that, but I can tell that she was taken back by using asking if she wanted anything."

"How so? "

"She likes you, a lot. So imagine If your crush asked you if you wanted anything when they were out, wouldn't you get a bit flustered? Kirishima posed the question, leaving Izuku, to ponder it.

"I ...your right, I guess I misread what she did then huh." Izuku sheepishly replied rubbing the back of his head as he spoke

"Overread it is an understatement. so do you like her back?" Kirishima asked, looking for any facial cues that Izuku would show to get a clear idea as to his answer.

"I'm, I'm not sure, I mean she's great, she funny, strong and driven, she's a great friend, and there have been times I've done what she did when she spoke to me, so I guess I do like her, it's just...I worry about what would happen? Izuku smiled as he spoke thought it disappeared when he thought about the consequences of his potential actions

"What do mean? "

"I don't want to read her wrong and then strain our friendship, you know what I mean?" Izuku nervously mumbled

"Yeah, I get it. In fact, I have the same issue as you." Kirishima placed a gentle hand on Izukus shoulder.

"You do?" Izuku looked quizically at Kirshimia, he had never expected to hear this from him given how little he talks about anything that wasn't about fighting or being manly.

"Yeah. Promise to keep this a secret right, I haven't told Bakakgou this so don't tell him alright" Kirishima sternly stated, point his finger at Izuku to reinforce the point, only to break this serious demeanour with a smile

"Yeah sure, you have my word Kirishima," Izuku promised.

"Okay... I like Mina, I've liked her since the day she saved her friends from a giant quirk user. She's strong, confident and funny. I don't think she knows or can tell that I like her, but I want to tell her, but I'm scared It would hurt our friendship. Kirishima spoke softly keeping his head down showing Izuku that he wasn't this over the top, all the time but he had soft spots and could be anxious or nervous at times, though he wouldn't let it show.

I never thought id hear Kirshimia talk like this...you never know what people are going through or think until they let you in." Izuku thought to himself before speaking

"Woah, I guess we are in the same boat. We both like girls, who we are close with but we fear ruining that closeness."

"Exactly!" Kirishima proclaimed louder than he and Izuku expected, causing them to both burst out laughing.

"You know what we need to do" Izuku stated

"What?" Kirishima looked to Izuku

"We need to go Plus Ultra and tell them, just need to time it right." Izuku cheered fist-pumping the air,

"Hahaha true, though you already covered, you've got that cake so you tell her when you give it to her." Kirishima pointed to the bag that Izuku was carrying as he spoke

"Oh no, no, no, I need to spend like a few months planning this!" Izuku yelped

"Ahahah a few months now that's too long man!" Kirishima heartily laughed as he and Izuku made it to the woodland area and started walking into it, continuing to discuss their dilemma and a few of the other class relationship predictions.

"So, you think me and Ochako, Shoto and Momo, Jiro and Kaminari, Tokoyami and Tsuyu and Toru and Ojiro being in couples by the time we leave. What about Mineta? Izuku started listing off the couples counting them off in his left hand.

"Him! he's going to leave without a girlfriend unless he somehow finds a way to brainwash midnight which would be his only course of actions."

"He is a bit creepy, to be honest," Izuku chuckled as he and Kirishima made their way through the woodland only to notice a man pacing back and forth on the pathway they were on, around 4 metres away from them.