AN: It's come to my attention that some of you read Kae's name as "kay" like "may". My bad. It's *meant* to be pronounced "kah-eh". Two syllables.

There were mixed reactions to the whirlwind that had just scampered in and out of class 1-A. The room fell quiet in the moment right after she abruptly requested Kaminari, their resident dork, to meet her at lunch. "She sure is fast." Whether it was about how quickly she ran out the room or how quickly she snatched up Kaminari was uncertain.

"It's no wonder she almost beat Iida," Tsu croaked out. Iida looked thoughtful as he stared at the door.

He placed a finger to his chin. "Yes, that is true. She was quite difficult to capture during our match. Had it not been for that small technicality, she may have bested me."

Kirishima listened to his friends talk about the girl from class B, Kae Itoyo . With Eraserhead back he went back to his seat quietly. She was lively and seemed to get along with everyone she spoke to, even rivals like Kaminari. He didn't notice her at all from his place near Bakugo, and neither did he, until she spoke loud enough to startle the blonde in his seat, leaning forward as she took up his own desk behind Kaminari to do so. He wasn't territorial or anything, so it didn't really bother him if she borrowed his desk to hang out with her friend, but...he did get curious vibes from her.

Like when she spoke over him at the sports festival. He noticed her eye him a bit before ignoring him, and then she acted strangely again just now when he defended her against Bakugo.

Maybe she thought he was weird? Or was he mansplaining or something? She didn't seem like the type to find it annoying, but then again she did ask Kaminari out on a date so maybe she saw his actions as old fashioned? He could tell how uncomfortable she was when Bakugo started attacking her and being his general abrasive self, just one look at her face was enough, let alone the way she drew into herself as her ears and tail lowered.

He knows his friend's personality takes getting used to so he was only trying to be chivalrous, a hero . He couldn't let a girl feel uncomfortable like that.

Maybe she didn't think she needed saving?

Glancing down at his feet, he noticed the papers Itoyo and Kaminari were looking over splayed out on the floor. Her list of invitations as well as the application they were supposed to submit in three days' time were mixed in with Kaminari's documents. Separating the pages, he called the other boy. "Here, I think you dropped this," he said, handing the papers to Kaminari with a soft tap on the shoulder. "Thanks! Oh Itoyo left her stuff here."

Kirishima offered him an easy going smile. "You're meeting her for lunch aren't you? You can give it to her then."

They moved on with their lessons and soon enough lunch was upon them. He walked in with his usual group, Kaminari, Sero, and Bakugo, who begrudgingly began to accept them as friends. "Oh man this line is huge! And it's super crowded today too..." Sero whined.

"No's goes on holding the table!" Kaminari shouted with his pointer finger on the tip of his nose. Sero hastily mimicked the gesture. Bakugo simply walked off with a shout. Bewildered, Kirishima watched his friends dump their belongings on the first available table and all three ditched him with quick shouts.

"Oh! If you see Itoyo and I'm not back yet, give her her application back, will you? And tell her I'll find her once I've got my lunch!"

Truthfully, he'd forgotten about the cat girl from earlier, the one he'd probably unintentionally offended, until he'd been left behind by his friends. A quick look around and he spotted her on the other side of the room, standing a full head above the rest of the crowd.

"Itoyo!" She froze when she saw it was him that called her, and he couldn't imagine that Kaminari would get the same reaction. Did he really offend her that badly?

She approached him hesitantly after another student snickered something at her and she scowled, but walked over pleasantly enough.

She wore a mask over the lower part of her face and it only made her eyes look that much bigger. His gaze followed her as she followed her friend to a table nearby, a heavy sheet of dark hair brushing against the back of her thighs as she walked. Even from a distance, he could see tight muscles rippling beneath her spotted skin.

He had to look up at her. Kirishima felt his cheeks begin to heat. Everything about this girl was striking. He'd seen some pretty girls, of course, but he'd never gotten so flustered just at the sight of a girl before.

"Hey, what's up?" She fidgeted like she had zero desire to be near him. Her nose was twitching too. Did he smell?

He lifted the sheets indebted to him by Kaminari. "You left these behind." Taking them carefully, she read them over with a quick glance.

"Oh. Where's Kaminari?" Her head turned away and her chartreuse eyes wandered over the many faces in the cafeteria.

Kirishima started to feel the slightest bit awkward. "He's just grabbing his plate. He'll be here soon."

Itoyo still wouldn't meet his gaze. "Oh..."

He sucked in a breath, hoping to salvage their botched conversation, if only to make up for offending her earlier. "You did great in the sports-"

"I think I'll go wait in line with him." She scurried away from him with a stiff posture and he watched as she slowly relaxed and even smiled when she reached Kaminari. He took a subtle whiff of his armpit. God...

Just how much had he offended this girl?

That was the most painful experience Kae had ever had the displeasure of going through. Ah, why was she like this?! Walking away from Kirishima when he handed her her forgotten items like they were just having a meet-cute and looking so handsome and alksdjfe. She couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it.

And then she just cut him off right when he was about to compliment her about her fight and so awkwardly ditched him- who raised her?! Ugh, this was just horrible.

One thing was for sure, she thought as she made way for the one person who could possibly offer her solace in this moment.

Kirishima was the boy who loaned her his handkerchief. Her cheeks burned and Kae felt like she was going to combust at any moment.

She knew it for certain when he hesitantly pawed over her stupidly forgotten application it was like time slowed down. His hands were big-knuckled and covered in light scars, his skin rough but unsurprisingly gentle when he handed her her forgotten items. It was like she was experiencing meeting him for the first time all over again, and Kae was an absolute goner.

Her eyes focused on his hands, following the appendages until her eyes traveled up his shapely forearms, to his hard shoulders, all the way until she saw his face, god his face , and she knew right then and there, from his appearance, his gestures, and his goddamn hands, that he was the one. Her senses never lied.

Pressing her hands against her cheeks, Kae forced out a calming breath in a sorry attempt at calming down.

She was fucked. Totally and absolutely fucked.

"Yo Itoyo, what's up?" Kae shook her thoughts away. "Kaminari. Um, sorry, I thought I'd wait with you in line." He was about to ask if she'd brought her own lunch, and if she'd share with him, when an annoyed second year cut into their private conversation.

"Hey no cutting!"

She just rolled her eyes. "I've got a bento from home. Chill, dude." Wonderful to know. Maybe she would share with him. Itoyo seemed like that kind of person. She had to be if she'd go up against upperclassmen to hang out with him.

"Just couldn't resist me huh?" he grinned.

Kae gave him a cheeky grin. "Must be the sparks between us."

"Tch. That was lame."

Whirling around, Kae's eyes narrowed to slits. "Bakugo. Feeling better now?" Provoking him, intentionally or not, was inevitable, and Kae wasn't the type to leave things well enough alone.

"Shut up cat ears!" He didn't know it yet, but they were playing cat and mouse.

"My name isn't 'cat ears', it's 'Itoyo' to you !"

What neither of them knew was who was Cat and who was Mouse.

Kaminari waved his hands as if wafting away their aggression. "Ah don't let him bother you Itoyo, he's like that with everyone." Despite his placating, Bakugo kept his gaze on her. "Don't think that getting chummy with these extras is gonna give any kind of advantage."

Kae withheld a disdainful scoff, but as usual, was unable to completely hide her derision. "Extras huh? Wow, wow you seem really bothered by me. Do I threaten you?" The tip of her tail flickered half in agitation, half in curious mischief. Bakugo continued to bare his teeth at her, daring to get closer to her face. She seriously wanted to scratch that look off his face. "You're just a stone to step on on my way to number one. Don't even think you're gonna beat me!" Kae played it off with a playful attitude she did and didn't feel.

With a teasing grin, she crooned, "Ahh now that you've forbidden it I want to even more now!" Nevermind the fact that that wasn't something she was interested in beforehand. He set himself up pretty easily for that. Maybe she really would try and beat him.

"Get the hell outta here cat ears or I'm gonna kick your ass!" Thoroughly fed up with his attitude, Kae dismissed him with a flick of her hair.

"Maah mah, you sure do rile up easy. But fine. I'll get outta your hair. C'mon Kaminari."

"You heard the lady. See you guys later," he shrugged carelessly. Balancing his tray on one hand as they walked away, Kaminari chuckled at her. "You sure got his nerves."

"What's a little teasing between friends?" Kae grinned playfully.

"I don't think he'd agree with you there," Kaminari laughed, and she shoved him good naturedly. "All in due time, Kaminari. All in due time."

They decided to meet up after school for their date. "Meet me at the teacher's lounge? I'm turning my application in today."

"Sure. See ya later!"

The rest of the school day was overshadowed by talk of hero internships. Turns out those without invitations were still going to have internships for the week. A fact Kae was pleased to hear for the sake of her friends who were feeling left out. Swinging her black bookbag onto her shoulder, key chains jingling with the movement, she turned to her two closest friends. "I'll be going now. I'm meeting Kaminari for our date soon."

At the mention of class A's dunce, Tetsutetsu gaped at her. "I can't believe how ballsy you were. Asking your opponent out and actually going through with it!" She rubbed her ears a bit at his loud volume, but otherwise kept her expression schooled and playful.

"It's just a date, Tetsu. Besides, we're just friends!"

Rin, ever the thoughtful friend, turned to her as well. "He's right Kae. Kaminari doesn't seem the type to want to remain just friends," he said with a worried frown.

"Aw Rin you worry too much," she pinched his cheek. It was difficult to tell if his cheek reddened from embarrassment or her grip. Maybe both. "If he does anything weird I'll kick his ass so hard he'll taste it!"

"And we'll be there to back you up!" Tetsu pounded his fists together in solidarity. "Hn." Rin nodded. He had the tiniest smile on his face. She knew she could always count on them. "Haha you guys are the best. See ya!"

Racing to the teacher's lounge, Kae ducked and dodged exiting students, some of whom yelled at her for running in the halls, and practically threw herself into the room. Skidding to a stop in front of Vlad, she shoved the application into his face with two hands. Might as well appease him with good manners.

Raising a brow, Vlad kept his arms crossed across his burly chest as he eyed her sternly. "Kae. Submitting your application so soon?" Kae wasn't deterred. She kept her hands out patiently.

"Yes Mr. Vlad."

His piercing gaze pressed her further. "Are you positive you've put enough thought into who you'll be interning with? You only get one chance and some students end up regretting their choices."

"100%!" Even as she jumped a bit in her excitement, her hands remained in the same position in front of her homeroom teacher. He continued eying her until he decided she was serious enough with a click of his tongue.

"Alright. Hand it over." He ripped it from her hands and grumbled to himself, waving her away in silent dismissal.

Kaminari peered into the lounge. "Itoyo. Ready to head out?" She gave him a silly grin full of teeth. "Born ready Kaminari."

He gave her a small grin in return. "There's a cafe a few minutes away from campus. Wanna go there?"

Her keychains jingled as she swung her arms childishly. "Lead the way."

Despite Tetsu and Rin's warnings, Kae wasn't worried at all about her relationship status with Kaminari. They got along really well and actually had a few things in common. They spoke about their classes, the USJ, the sports festival, and their classmates. Kaminari handed her a goldmine of information. But she found herself indulging his questions. He really was a fun guy.

After leaving the cafe, Kae felt that more than information, she'd found a friend.

Kaminari's eyes widened. "Class B sounds strong!" Kae laughed at his expression out of amusement and exasperation. "We are strong! Just because we're in a different class doesn't mean we're not just as good as you 1-A kids." Seriously, it wasn't that difficult to believe. He put a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "It's kinda funny that there seems to be class B equivalent for some of the class A students." Yeah, Kae thought so too.

"Like who?" She asked, though she had a feeling she already knew who he was going to mention. Kaminari kept his gaze on his strawberry milkshake, swirling his straw, as he answered thoughtfully. "Well Kirishima and that Tetsutetsu guy for sure. Their quirks are pretty similar and Present Mic even gave them the same introduction at the sports festival." Even though it was expected, Kirishima's name put Kae back in her seat.

"Tetsu and Kirishima huh..." Kaminari didn't take notice of her sudden mood change. "Totally. They're both super enthusiastic and good fighters." That was true...wait a minute. Did-did Kae have a type?!

To keep her thoughts from presenting themselves outwardly, Kae dropped her head against her hand. "Too bad Tetsu lost their match. They seemed even footed for a while." She hoped the nervous twitching of her tail looked like it could be attributed to being disappointed about her best friend's match.

"Kirishima won in the end. Obviously he's stronger," he said haughtily. Kae jumped forward in her seat. She wouldn't take slander sitting down! "That was luck! Besides, they can't be that alike can they?" There was something off putting about having a crush on your best friend's doppelganger.

"They are from what I can tell."

Kae's breath caught in her throat. Surely that wasn't the case. "What's Kirishima like?" The question was almost desperate. This time Kaminari did eye her curiously. "He's cool. And he's the only one who can get Bakugo to listen to him. Even if he blows up on him. Literally."

"So he's resilient?"

"For sure. Ironic that his quirk is hardening, makes him tough." Kae nodded to herself. That was one thing that was kinda different at least. The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Kae spoke up. "Why don't you call me Kae? Since we're friends you get special friend privileges." Kaminari smiled and gave her a happy thumbs up. "Alright, first name basis! In that case you can call me Denki."

AN: I am so sorry. This was supposed to be longer, but I'm simultaneously graduating college, moving cross country, and taking a family road trip. Some of my other works are also behind as well unfortunately.

Kae and Kirishima's first interaction was so painfully awkward I died from second hand embarrassment. Kae you're so embarrassing TT

Next time! More Kae and Kirishima interaction. Is this considered a slow build?