There was something brewin' between Nejire and Mei, and Izuku found himself more lost than a hog in a bathtub in what to do about it. Sure, they were being civil, but when there was water about even a rabbit would get along with a fox. Izuku scratched the back of his head as he looked at Mei, who was switching between gathering data and glaring at Nejire.

Nejire at least didn't seem bothered by none of it. Or she was, and that was why she was smiling so much at Mei. But then again, Nejire was currently flying around like a hummingbird that just drank sugar water, and Izuku ain't never seen a bird that didn't look like it was smiling. Well, save for a cockatoo that had its wings clipped. He imagined that flyin' was a surefire way to put a smile on someone's face.

Or maybe, just maybe, that was the natural effect Nejire had on people. Especially herself.

"Nyooom!" Nejire flew past him for the umpteenth time, complete with her own sound effects that were as adorable as they were childish. Many kids often gave their quirks sound effects to help them control them, and it was effective enough that even pros did it, though it was often calling out their super moves.

Izuku watched as Nejire came within inches of the ground before she shot up into the air, her body bending like grain in the wind, and her long blue hair forming a wave behind her. She reached her apex, the skirt of her uniform floating up to reveal the tight black shorts she had on, then she spread her arms and legs like she had exploded like a summer firework and let out a cheer that echoed throughout the entire gym. "Flying is so much easier!"

"Glad everythings workin'!" he called, barely able to contain his grin. He had put in a lot of work into those devices: a set of four that helped to channel Nejire's wave energy through to her hands. It increased not only her output, but her accuracy and speed as well.

Nejire dove in the air, her giggles and joy echoing through the entire gymnasium, and Izuku himself felt like he was on cloud nine with how much Nejire was enjoying his support item. Or he would have been, had it not been for the dark cloud looming over Mei.

"May." He walked over to her and took a glance at the laptop she was recording the data on. Her normally chaotically cheerful demeanour that could put a greased pig in the barn was gone, replaced with one pricklier than a briar patch. Her face snapped towards him, and she tilted her head. He scratched the back of his head. As much as he could tell when something was wrong with someone, he couldn't for the life of him find out what. "Everything alright?"

"Fine," she muttered and turned towards the laptop again. "Just fine."

"Umm, do you wanna head back to the workshop?" he offered, glancing towards Nejire flying through the rafters of the gym. "I can handle things here if you want."

Mei squinted at him; it wasn't quite a glare, but it was flirting with the idea of it. She glanced towards Nejire and gave a small pout before she looked towards the laptop again. "No, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Uhh, alright then." He scratched the back of his head. He had a feeling in his stomach that Mei's bad mood was somehow his fault. Did he mess up? Was he spending too much time trying to make a plastic out of boogers? Maybe he could cheer Mei up. What did Mei like? She liked bits and bobs and makin' babies. "Say, May?"

"Hmm?"

"Power Loader-sensei wanted me to head to the parts store this weekend and pick stuff up for the lab."

That manic glee he was so used to dealing with appeared in Mei's eyes as she looked up at him. He was left with a choice: either deal with a mistake he didn't know anything about, or fix the unknown mistake with a new mistake that he understood. Best to go for the one that he could actually start to fix.

"Wanna tag along?"

"What's our budget?"

"Should I take that as a yes?"

"Yes!" Mei bounced over to him, a wide smile spreading over her face while her entire body vibrated. "Ooh, where are we going? I should check their catalogue. Are we just getting parts? Can we get some new tools?"

"Uhh, mostly just parts, but if you can think of some tools the workshop needs I can double-check with Sensei." Why did it feel like he had just let a pig into the feed? The expected budget might as well have just doubled.

"Hey hey!" Nejire sounded off and floated down between them. The tie of her uniform had vanished along with her vest, and the top two buttons of her white shirt were undone, showing a bit of skin. She took a step that turned into a float and stood between them. "What's going on? Are you guys doing something?"

Izuku would have to be blinder than a fat cat on a hot day to not see how Mei's mood instantly shifted back to moderately prickly, but she was still bouncing in place.

Nejire saw this and started to bounce right alongside Mei.

She was so adorable, and cute, and pretty, and beautiful, and amazing.

Both of them were.

"Oh, nothin' worth nothin', just talking to Mei about going shopping for parts this Saturday." Izuku smiled. "Our sensei wants us to get stuff for the workshop."

"Oh! That sounds like fun! There must be a whole lot of neat stuff there! And hanging out with you is probably a blast!" Nejire jumped into the air again and did a flip with her quirk. She zoomed right in front of him, getting right into his face. "Hey! I know! We should hang out Sunday! What'd be fun with you? Lots oh! We should go to the boardwalk! There's lots to do there and there's a great place to eat!"

Izuku felt his brain freeze.

Nejire Hado, the girl he had a crush on for over a year, was effectively asking him out? Was this a date? What would he wear? Was this a date? What was he supposed to do? Was this a date? He should say yes, right? Was this a date? Mei pulled his mind out of the fog by grabbing his hand and tugging on it.

"I wanna eat after we shop too!" Mei shouted, her face redder than a baby's bottom.

Huh?

What?

Mei?

What?

Well this wasn't how he saw today going at all.

"Alright, sure. I guess I have a full weekend then, huh?"

"Sure do!" Nejire chirped and floated down to stand next to Mei, a proud, triumphant smile on Nejire's face. "Oh! Hey hey, give me your number!"

AN: Short chapter to get back into the swing of things