He was in a jam stickier than honey in the summer heat. And just as sweet too.

Izuku scratched the back of his head and watched the cityfolk mill about while he waited for Mei to emerge from her apartment. He'd been to this place before, stayed there his first year even, but the place was a bit too tight for a person like him. Honestly, he was half surprised that Mei wasn't living in whatever space she could find in the middle of a scrap yard. That wasn't to say that Mei was a rat or anything, just more that she seemed most at home whenever there was tinkering to be done.

"How on earth did I go from nowhere to here in a day?" he muttered and closed his eyes. Sure, he'd been invited places before from his classmates, karaoke that one time, a few dozen or so places for chow, but, to have a weekend so booked he could start a library was completely new to him. Were they dates? Sure, he had invited Mei to go on the supply run to cheer her up, but the idea of grabbing some grub after they were done was all on her, and it was brought about by Nejire wanting to hang out Sunday.

He'd ask his folks for advice, but his Ma would probably call him a playboy and give him a bunch of advice that wouldn't apply to either Mei or Nejire, and his Da would just tell Ma. And the internet was no more helpful than telling him to make sure he showered and wore nice clothes. Which he reckoned just meant clean.

Honestly, he was more lost than a headless chicken in the rain when it came to crushes and the like. Sure, he had a crush on Nejire—one that kept on even after a year; she was just so bubbly and cute—but he had never had someone crush on him. And if Mei really did have a crush on him, then he didn't know what to do about it.

Would Nejire know?

Askin' his crush what to do if someone had a crush on him would just make him a bigger ass than a donkey that got into the grain silo.

And what of Nejire? Did she have a crush on him too? They were hanging out tomorrow, but was it something more? Or was he foolin' himself? Was it even a crush if she was just responding to his crush?

"Maybe I should get Sensei a ticket to a tractor show or somethin'." He leaned back against the wall and debated on going to go find Mei or texting her to find out what's what. "Or some—"

The word 'moonshine' drowned in his mouth as he saw Mei step up towards him. Now, while he was very much aware that Mei was a woman—hell, he had even assumed that he was more aware of her gender than she was—and thought that she was cute with some curves, he had underestimated what a bit of effort on her part would do to her.

In that she had gone from the natural girl he got along with like they were two peas in a pod to what looked like a clown in some heels. A moist smear of lipstick covered part of her lips, her left eye was shut tight, and there was enough blush on her cheeks that she looked like a tomato. Her every step looked like she was about to faceplant, and from the scuff marks on her sundress, she probably already had.

"Mei," he rushed over to her and caught her, "what on earth got into your head?"

"Is it that bad?" she asked weakly.

"Totally!"

Both he and Mei jumped a foot when they saw Nejire standing right beside them. It was his first time seeing Nejire in casual clothes, her long blue hair pulled up into a ponytail that bounced with every slight movement. The light blue shirt she had on was baggy on the top, but cut off just short of her stomach, showing off a bit of her waist, and her black plants looked loose and breathable. It looked like the kind of thing a dancer would wear during practice. Or maybe at the gym.

"Nejire!" Izuku shouted and looked at Mei. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh! I live here!" She pointed towards one of the apartments on the top floor, a convenience store bag dangling in her hand. "I saw you waiting, so I decided to wait too because I wanted to see how cute Mei would look!"

Mei let out a groan that was nearly identical to the one she gave whenever she was being forced to do something she didn't want, like safety protocols.

"What happened to your eye?"

"Don't know." He had never heard Mei sound so defeated. "Make-up?"

"Hmm, well that's no good, especially if you don't wash it out. It can do damage! And that's your quirk, right?" Nejire grabbed onto Mei's other arm and looked down at her heels. "Hmm, you're crushing your feet too."

"Did I do anything right?"

"Your dress is cute! It shows off your boobs good!" Nejire smiled and then looked up to Izuku, "Hey, you're big and strong and stuff. Carry Mei, there's no way she can handle stairs in those things."

"Sure!" He jumped and held out his arm towards Mei. "Umm, is it alright if I carry you?"

She turned her head away, but nodded. "Yeah."

Izuku followed Nejire all the way to her apartment on the third floor and helped her in.

"You can see the inside of my apartment some other time." Nejire placed a finger to his chest and stuck her tongue out. "Mostly because you're huge, and I need space to help Mei, and it's a mess, and I'm not ready for you to know what color underwear I wear."

He opened his mouth but no noise came out.

Not ready?

What?

"Oh! And the shopping thingy is going to have to wait for tomorrow."

"Umm, should I just wait out here?" he asked, gesturing towards the slightly narrow hallway.

"Uhh, hmm." Nejire tapped her chin and looked back towards Mei. "I don't think so, it'd be a bummer knowing that you're out there being bored and stuff. Oh, I know! Go find something fun for us to do after I fix Mei up! Oh, and dinner! I just got done with my Zumba class, so I'm super hungry."

The door was shut, and Izuku was left with many questions, such as: what on earth was a Zumba?

XXXX

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because you need it."

Mei gave a frustrated grunt at that very hero-like response that came from Nejire. She should have known better. Most of the heroes she met would do the same, other than their sensei, though they seemed to enjoy suffering just a bit. She felt Nejire dab her face with some kind of a moist cloth, carefully removing the layer of make-up she had put on.

"I mean… aren't we rivals?" Mei asked. "That's what the internet said at least. I like Izuku, and so do you. So why help me?"

"Because I think you're cute!" Nejire's voice was so chipper Mei couldn't help but believe her. "And besides, how do you know I like Izuku?"

Mei kept her eyes shut while Nejire continued to dab and slowly remove the mountain of irritants that she had placed on in an attempt to seduce Izuku. She had bought a bunch of make-up a while ago to impress Izuku, but had never figured out how to wear it. She spent all last night using the internet to figure it out.

She bit the inside of her lip, unwilling to taste lipstick more than she had to. "How could you not?"

"Well, for starters, I barely know him." Nejire hummed softly, her soft touch slowly removing the damage that Mei had done to herself. "Don't get me wrong, he is cute, tall, handsome, and checks all of my boxes, so I am interested in him. That's why I wanted to hang out with him."

"Oh." Mei felt a pit in her stomach grow. She wanted to run. She wanted to bury herself in her room and pretend like she hadn't messed today up. She wanted to have fun with Izuku, she wanted to buy parts, tools, and things with him! And eat food with him! "Crushes suck."

"Yeah, kinda, but hey, why do you like Izuku?"

"I don't know."

"Why don't you try?"

Mei let out a sigh and winced as she felt Nejire pull something out of her eye. Probably one of the fake eyelashes she had given up on after they broke. "He understands me. I feel like I can talk to him forever. And I really like working with him. And… I feel things when he smiles at me."

"What do you feel?" A large, damp towel pressed against her lips, silencing her for a few moments while Nejire continued to remove the make-up.

"Happy?" Mei shrugged. "Warm? It's weird, but I like it."

"Well, it sounds like you really care for Izuku." Nejire continued to remove the make-up. "Wanna know something?"

"What?"

"I have a crush on you."

"Huh!?" Mei's eyes shot open and she saw Nejire's face was far closer to her than she realized. Her heart was racing, and she scrambled back, her head bouncing against Nejire's bed. "What? Is that? What? Huh?"

"Oh, was that too much?" Nejire placed a finger on the edge of her smile, but remained where she was. "Sorry, I probably should have kept that to myself, huh?"

"But, Izuku?"

"Oh, I like him too."

"That's allowed?"

"There are no rules for liking people, Mei," Nejire explained softly.

"But, why?"

"Why what?"

"You. Me. Crush. Why?"

"You're cute when you're embarrassed." Nejire's smile turned into a predatory one that made Mei feel completely and utterly overwhelmed. "But, I have a crush on you because I do. You're like a female version of Izuku, and I think grease monkeys are hot. Aside from being cute, and having really nice boobs, I guess it's just that you're neat, and I want to know a lot about you."

Despite herself, Mei looked down at her chest. This was the second time Nejire had mentioned her breasts. Were they that nice?

"But, we're girls."

"So?" Nejire did a strange motion, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear, and somehow Mei felt her toes tingle. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"But…" Honestly, the fact that there were two genders and that it meant something was still something that Mei was still struggling with, and her only real coping mechanism had been to use male and female mechanical components to justify the idea. But two female components didn't work!

"But nothing," Nejire crawled towards her, her shirt dipping low enough to show the sports bra she was wearing while her wide hips swayed like a tiger ready to pounce. Instead of fangs and claws, Nejire pounded with the soft touch of the damp rag she had been using. "You wanna know what would happen if you got a crush on me too?"

She was afraid to ask. But terrified not to know. "What?"

"We can share Izuku!" Nejire sounded so happy. "I mean, think about it! We both get a super hot boyfriend that can bench a tractor with a smooth country boy accent, and we both get a super cool and beautiful girlfriend! It'd be great!"

"Is that allowed?"

"There's no rule against it?"

Somehow, that pit in her stomach had vanished, replaced by the near-constant beating heart in her chest.

"I got most of it off, but the rest is going to need to be washed off. Do you wanna go to the bathhouse?" Nejire's smile widened. "We can talk more about sharing Izuku, and each other."

"I think I need time to process."

Nejire's phone vibrated on the table. "Oh! Izuku found a place to eat! And offered to take us both to a movie theater. Ooh, he said to tell you that there's a giant robot movie playing."

"So where's the bathhouse?" Mei asked. Thinking time was over!

Nejire's face twisted into one of equal parts confusion and disgust. "We're neighbors, how do you not know where the bathhouse is?"

"I mostly just shower."

"Oh, okay then. You're going to love it! It's pretty nice! Oh! We can even compare boobs!"

"Why?"

"Because it's sexy and fun!"

"Oh. Okay."

AN: Oooh progress! Nejire knew right who to aim for.