Today was the nineteenth of December. It was Yui Kodai's birthday.

Her birthday was always during winter break off school, so it had always been just her and her parents…and before that, Saya…

No, don't think about that.

But this year, much like last year, she was in a dorm surrounded by people who liked her. At least, she was pretty sure they liked her. They had no reason to dislike her, since she barely ever spoke to any of them. And that's how I like it…right?

In any case, beyond a basic "happy birthday" greeting when she came downstairs, none of the boys in Class B were acknowledging it any further. Not that she cared about the boys that much.

"Happy birthday, Yui," said Itsuka with a smile. She handed her a small wrapped package over the breakfast table.

"That's from both of us!" Setsuna chimed in from the left.

Yui blinked down at it, opening it gingerly. She did not want to waste good wrapping paper. Itsuka and Setsuna exchanged an amused glance over the girl's careful manner.

Inside was a softer blue box, with golden leaflet writing on the top. It was loopy cursive and in English. Yui could not really read English that well. She ignored it and opened the box. Inside was a golden ring bracelet, simple but shiny and cool to the touch.

Her eyebrows rose up just a tad, enough for Itsuka and Setsuna, watching intently, to notice. "How much did this cost?" she asked quietly.

Her two friends looked at each other. "Well…"

"That's why it's from both of us…"

"We had to pool our money…"

Yui continued to gaze down at it. "You shouldn't have," she muttered, pursing her lips out a little, cutely.

"Put it on," Setsuna told her, nudging her arm excitedly.

Yui shot her an annoyed glance, and then slowly put her right hand through the bracelet, stopping it at her wrist. She lifted up her arm and twisted it around, watching the light catch the gold at different angles.

Itsuka pressed her palms together. "It looks great!"

"It looks great on you," Setsuna added. She reached up and pulled Yui's hair behind her ear. "You're so pretty, Yui. If I didn't know you had the hots for Izuku, I would eat you up myself."

Yui glared at her in alarm, and then looked around the breakfast table wildly. The only people in earshot were Tetsutetsu and Awase, currently racing to chug orange juice. They were of course not listening.

She sighed and relaxed, as Itsuka and Setsuna both laughed. "So it's true after all?" Itsuka asked. "During the snowball fight I noticed but didn't want to say anything…of course, Setsuna isn't as accommodating as I am."

Yui looked back and forth between them guiltily, and then slowly…imperceptibly, nodded.

"Ha!" Setsuna clapped her hands. "Do you need any help?"

"No," Yui answered bluntly.

The lizard girl drooped. "I even went to the trouble of asking for permission instead of just starting to meddle on my own."

Itsuka gave her a motherly scowl. "The last time you meddled in Midoriya's love life, you made him storm out of the party, or did you forget?"

"I didn't!" Setsuna protested hotly. "Anyway, Yui doesn't need my help. Based on the snowball fight incident, it seems like he's already head-over-heels."

Yui bit her lip. They don't really know him at all.

Setsuna continued. "...Anyway Yui, it's your birthday today! Why don't you go out and find him? I bet even if he's 'busy', it's just with working out or something, and he's sure to forgo that to hang out with you!"

"But…what if he interprets that the wrong way?" Yui whispered.

"You'd best HOPE he interprets it the…which way is wrong, anyway? You want him to know you like him, don't you?"

"...Not right now…"

"Yeah, but it's your birthday today," Itsuka put in. "Surely Midoriya would be accommodating of that and…" She stopped herself. "Oh. Midoriya doesn't actually know that today's your birthday, does he?"

Yui shrugged miserably. Why would he know? They weren't in the same class. She didn't even know what his birthday was. Or anyone in Class A's for that matter.

"Ooh, hey, hey!" Setsuna patted Itsuka's shoulder repeatedly like an irritating mosquito. "What if you went over to their dorm, Class Pres? And like, talked to Yaoyorozu really loudly about birthdays and loudly mention that it's Yui's and make sure Izuku's in the room? I can bet that if he likes her then he'll IMMEDIATELY jump and try to do something before the day is over…"

Itsuka rolled her eyes and forcibly pried Setsuna off her. "Even if I wanted to do something that convoluted, Midoriya is absolutely not the type to take action like that."

You. Don't. Know. Him.

Unable to take it any longer, Yui stood up rather abruptly. "Thank you again for the bracelet. I really like it," she said softly, and then went back up to her room.

…

Izuku was trying out a different tactic to focus.

Instead of being up in his room while working on the notebook, he was down in the loud, boisterous common room. Sato, Kirishima, and surprisingly Bakugo were all making gingerbread men in the kitchen for the upcoming Christmas party, while Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, and Ashido were hanging up decorations.

It was certainly noisy, but it was a busy kind of noise, the kind that Izuku suspected might actually increase his productivity and focus. The only potential distractions were the last two people in the room and the closest to him, since he was currently sitting on the couch.

Kaminari and Mineta were both cross-legged on the floor about five feet away, playing some video game on the TV.

Yaoyorozu walked past with a box in her hands, and scolded them, "Couldn't you two make yourselves useful for once?"

"Hey!" Kaminari protested. "The last time I offered to help, Jiro stabbed me and said I was assuming the girls couldn't handle it on their own!"

"We're using the common room for its intended purpose," complained Mineta. "What's next? Are you gonna complain that I'm using the bathroom to piss and tell me to go outside instead?"

Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes. "Disgusting," she muttered. She then caught notice of Midoriya. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Midoriya looked up, slightly annoyed at being distracted. "Just writing in my notebook," he answered.

"Oh!" Yaoyorozu smiled. "Your notebook has notes for all of us in it, right? One day you'll have to show me the page you've made for me."

He blushed, slightly. "It's just a hobby, like the v-video games these two are playing," he said. "I d-don't really understand why you're c-commending me and scolding them."

"Midoriya!" Mineta gasped, stars in his eyes. "Could you be on our side after all?"

Momo seemed perturbed. "Err, right. Sorry for disturbing you." She walked away awkwardly.

Kaminari made a show of swooning. "Midoriya, I didn't know you were capable of shutdowns so effective. I've had you pegged wrong this whole time."

"Consider it leverage," Izuku mumbled. "As repayment, try to play your game a little more quietly. I'm really trying to f-focus on this page and I need the n-noise levels exactly right."

Kaminari and Mineta exchanged a glance, and shrugged.

"Yes, sir."

"Anything for a fellow comrade."

Izuku sighed and leaned closer into the pages, focusing intently on his drawing. Her nose is more like that…and the reflection in her eyes comes in higher…oh, where's my eraser.

His updated drawing of Kodai was taking shape. He had thought of a bunch of interesting uses for her Quirk, as well…

Yaoyorozu's words flashed back through his head. One day you'll have to show me the page you've made for me.

Others, over the past year, had expressed similar desires to see what he had written about them. Would Kodai be the same?

Of course, everyone who'd ever asked him had been someone in Class A, who knew him well. They all knew he was harmless, helpful, and altogether not a pervert. But Kodai might think differently, since she wasn't as aware of his notebook habit and what they actually entailed.

Why do I want to show her so bad, anyway?

Come to think of it, showing Kodai would be a good litmus test for showing Class B in general. She was now the one he knew best, he supposed. And she was so quiet and neutral…surely she wouldn't have anything bad to say…

But if she has a negative reaction, then it's probably safe to assume that the others will be similar. Yes, in that way it's a good way to test. Maybe Yaoyorozu is right; I should start showing people.

After all, the Quirk tips didn't do them any good if he just kept them to himself.

Izuku tidied up some parts of the drawing, added some last-minute edits to the notes, and then began gathering up his pencils.

"Going somewhere?" a feminine voice asked him.

Izuku looked up. Hagakure's clothed form was standing over the couch. It seemed from the way her sleeves bent that her hands were on her hips.

Izuku's face twitched. "Wh-why do you want to know? Do you need my h-help with something, Hagakure?"

Randomly, he remembered that day in the classroom when he'd been working on this same notebook page. Hagakure had caught him off guard that day, too. Could it be that she's…spying on me?

That made him panic a little, and more heat rose in his cheeks as he tried to speed up his process of putting his pencils away in their case.

"No, not particularly," the invisible girl giggled. Behind them, Kaminari and Mineta had stopped their video game, and were watching.

"I can't help but notice you've been working a lot on one page in your notebook in particular, Midoriya," she said. "I've noticed it three times now, and I'm not even looking on purpose. But you don't make an attempt to hide it from me like you do the others because you never know which way my head is facing."

"Wh-what's all this about?" he stammered.

"It's about your particular fixation on a certain dark-haired girl in our opposing class. I can't help but wonder what it means." She giggled again. The sound was perfectly superficial, as was her curiosity, but Izuku couldn't help but shudder. The whole situation felt oddly…sinister.

"It's just…" he coughed, growing redder and redder. "It's just that I've been working more on the Class B notes in general and Kodai just happens to be the person I'm working on now and you've just happened to start noticing recently because…yeah!" He got to his feet frantically and moved to step away from her.

"Wait, Kodai?" Kaminari raised his eyebrows in alarm. "I knew it!" He thrusted a finger at Midoriya. "Don't think that we forgot what we saw out there in the snow!"

"Wait, what?" Mineta asked, since he hadn't been there. "What happened in the snow?"

"Midoriya and Kodai were rolling around and laughing together! It was the most emotion I've ever seen that girl show, ever!"

Mineta's lazer gaze turned toward Izuku. "So you're a traitor after all, then," he intoned in a cold, damning voice.

Meanwhile, Hagakure was just standing there watching. What on Earth was her goal, here? Izuku backed away out of the seating area slowly, not taking his eyes off of where her face was.

"You guys shouldn't accuse him like that," she scolded the two boys. "I'm sure I've just gotten the wrong idea. Isn't that right, Midoriya?"

"Th-that's right! S-so you better not tell a soul about this, especially Ashido…s-since it's just a baseless theory. No m-merit to it at all."

"Of course. You can't tell, but I'm winking. You can trust me, Midoriya-kun. Don't you worry. And I'll try not to notice your notebook so much in the future. Something about it just draws the eye, ya know?"

"Uhh…sure. Anyway…I gotta go do something bye!" He turned and quickly left Hagakure, Kaminari, and Mineta behind.

His heart was racing. Of course Hagakure has seen the notebook. She probably suspects I'm a pervert or something after all!

Something about her whole demeanor had been weird, though. It was almost like she was luring him into saying that it wasn't true. Like she wanted to hear him say that. Why on Earth would that be?

And Kaminari and Mineta…even after he attempted to stick up for them a little, they went off insane like usual. Kodai and I aren't like that. Even if I'm not a worthless Deku anymore, I'm still an anxious bundle of nerves who has no chance with any girls, ever.

And it's not like it matters. One For All is too much of a responsibility. I can't afford to fall in love.

But the heart and the mind didn't always agree…and while Izuku Midoriya's mind said he couldn't afford love…the heart had already paid the price.

…

Reiko Yanagi opened the door to Yui's room slowly, carefully. "Yui?" she asked in a soft tone. "Are you alive in here?"

She stepped into the room, and blinked. Yui was laying flat and stiff on her bed like a board, face-down. In any other context, it would have been funny.

"Oh, Yui." Reiko stepped further into the room and sighed, closing the door behind her. "What's got you acting like this on your birthday?"

Yui murmured something incomprehensible in response, muffled by her pillow. In any other scenario, Reiko would be the person she would be most happy to see, but as of right now she was in second place.

And he wasn't coming.

Reiko sat down on the side of the bed, moving the mattress upward a little. Yui hmmphed and rolled over, looking up at her best friend. Her black hair splayed out around her head.

The ghost girl was smiling down at her. "You look sleepier than I am," she said, "and that's saying something. Was it Itsuka and Tokage?"

Yui nodded.

"I see they got you this nice bracelet, though." Reiko lifted up Yui's arm and inspected it. "Are you concerned about how much money they spent on it?"

Yui blushed. She didn't like when people assumed she was concerned about something. It reminded her too much of old times. It made her suspicious that she wasn't keeping the facade up well enough.

In any case, that wasn't it, so she shook her head. "It was about…Midoriya," she whispered.

"Oh. I see." Reiko already knew; she was the first and only person Yui had directly told about it. "Did they try to convince you to go see him?"

Yui shrugged.

The grey-haired girl tilted her head slightly in a knowing way. "But you think that just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you have to suddenly be so bold about it."

Yui pouted, and lifted up her pillow, pressing it against her face from above. Reiko was so good at reading her somehow.

Gently, the ghost girl pried the pillow off her face. "I am not diminishing your feelings on the matter, but is that worth getting upset over? Or is there something else?"

A long pause.

"He doesn't know it's my birthday," Yui finally said, "and he has no obligation to."

"Ah. I see. Your mind is filling with fantasies where he comes to you and says happy birthday, maybe even gives you a present, of his own volition. I can see why that would be frustrating." Reiko rubbed Yui's shoulder comfortingly, and then lifted up a box in her other hand. "Well, I got you something, at least."

Yui raised her eyebrows and sat up a little. The box wasn't wrapped, so she could see what it was plainly enough.

Reiko grinned wider and handed her the box, which Yui took in both hands.

"I love seeing your eyes get all starry like that," the grey-haired girl said. "Yep, it's an Ultraman box set, restored quality. I dug through your stuff to make sure you didn't have this one already. Hope you don't mind."

"Mm-mm." Yui hugged the box close to her chest, closed her eyes, and smiled.

"Do you want to watch some now?"

She nodded.

…

They were halfway through their third episode and eating cookie dough ice cream straight from the same carton when someone knocked on the door.

Yui and Reiko both exchanged a surprised glance, their faces illuminated by the blue light of Yui's small television screen. There was a bit of ice cream dripping off of Yui's lip. Reiko giggled, lifted her finger and wiped it off for her. "Go get it, birthday girl."

Yui walked over to the door. She suspected it would be one of the other girls and was kind of hoping they wouldn't ask to join in on what she and Reiko were doing. Reiko was into geek stuff, though not specifically Ultraman…however, that meant she knew how to be respectful of other people's weird interests. Pony or Setsuna would not be the same way.

She opened the door on one Izuku Midoriya.

For a moment, they stood apart, gaping at each other. Yui, for her part, was in complete shock. She knew her eyebrows must be a mile up in the air.

Izuku was holding something in his hand. "Uhh, h-hello, Kodai. K-Kendo let me on up. I h-have something I'd like to sh-show you…"

"Oh, is that Midoriya?" Reiko was standing up from behind. Inwardly, Yui winced. She wished she could take control of this embarrassing situation somehow.

"Hello, Yanagi-san. Err…what are you guys up to?" He peeked slightly into the room, the paused Ultraman episode clearly visible on the TV, as well as the carton of ice cream on the floor.

"Just hanging out," Reiko replied easily.

Midoriya took stock of the environment, and then smiled a little as if he was amused. Yui felt like she might just wilt and die of embarrassment right then and there.

"You wanted to show me something?" she asked in a low voice.

"Uhh…y-yeah." He shot Reiko another glance, as if over-aware of her presence, and then pulled none other than one of his famous notebooks out of his pocket.

Yui's eyes widened. He held it out to her.

"It's, uhhh…your page is umm, marked. The page that has, umm, Quirk tips for you. I'm sort of…trying to reach out to everyone…not to be presumptuous or anything! But…of everyone in Class B your notes are the m-m-most extensive…and…" he trailed off, face tilted down and extremely red, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"This is…one of your personal notebooks?" Yui breathed. She knew one thing about Midoriya: he NEVER showed anyone his notebooks. But here he was, giving one right to her.

Slowly, heat spread up across her cheeks.

"Uhh…yeah, anyway! Take a look if you want and I don't mean to presume or be a creep or anything but I just thought you might find it interesting and yeah anyway bye!" Almost cartoonishly, he zipped off down the corridor. Yui and Reiko both turned their heads to watch him go, their hair slightly flapping in a breeze he'd left behind.

"I think he just activated his Quirk a little bit," Reiko said with a trace of humor. Then, she looked back down at the notebook. "Wow, he really just left that with you, huh? I thought he would just let us look at it and then take it back, but…I guess waiting around here was too much for the guy."

Yui was speechless. She backed into her room, letting Reiko close the door behind them. She half-fell backward onto her bed, and opened the book to the marked page.

It was a near-immaculate drawing of her in her hero costume. While the costume itself was a little rough, her actual physical features were basically perfect. Perfect in every sense of the word.

Is this how…he sees me? The girl in this drawing is so…beautiful.

Yui tore her eyes away from the drawing and looked at some of the notes. She read them in his nervous voice, which was funny in a cute way.

Yui Kodai. Quirk: Size.

Activated by pressing her fingertips together. I wonder if she's distantly related to Uraraka-san?

It seems she can change the size of things at will, though, even without pressing her fingertips. Quirks that work in this way are rare and valuable. Any Quirk that requires maintaining a mental connection to an inanimate object like that requires extreme focus. Of course, looking at how Kodai operates in the field, you wouldn't expect anything less.

A methodical, cooperative, and strategic combatant. I've only ever seen her get taken out in situations where she is being countered or the raw power on the opposing side is simply too great.

Especially works well with: Yanagi (Poltergeist), Shoda (Twin Impact), and Monoma (Copy). Potential team-ups: Uraraka (Zero Gravity), Sero (Tape), Yaoyorozu (Creation).

Here, the name "Midoriya" had been written and then erased, but traces of it could still be seen. The notes continued.

Has extensive counterplay against the following notable villains: Mr. Compress, Gentle Criminal, Overhaul.

Note on the drawing: Hero costume needs work. I have seen her most often in casual or winter clothes. Costume itself appears to be some kind of reference to Ultraman or tokusatsu in general. Will have to ask. I hope that I CAN ask.

Here, another line had been erased and replaced with this:

Initial observations would suggest that Kodai's demeanor is not exactly perfect for rescuing civilians and putting them at ease, but you'd be mistaken to keep that opinion. When observed closely, Kodai is a thoughtful, nice, and caring girl who is as expressive as she needs to be. That is all to say…she puts ME at ease, at least.

"Yui? What does it say?" Reiko asked. "Yui?"

He doesn't even know it, but he got me a wonderful birthday present. Yui pressed the open book against her chest, leaned back onto her bed, and let out a long, happy sigh.

To Reiko, it was the most in-love sound she had ever heard.

…

Birthday chapter. Yay.