Izuku woke up feeling really content and refreshed, but could not remember why for a moment.

He flexed his fingers, feeling like he was holding the ghost of something in his hand.

Oh right. It was...Kodai's hand. We...held hands.

He blushed. The memories from the party last night were something of a blur, but he remembered that at least. She had kept her hand in his for quite a few minutes as they went around and spoke to people, but no one had seemed to notice or comment on it. Eventually they had separated.

It made Izuku's heart race just to think about it, but at the same time, he had no idea what it meant. Holding hands is something you do with someone you like, right?! Did she like him? Was that her way of expressing it instead of using words?

He just couldn't believe it. Even with the encouragement from others like Momo and Tsuyu, and Kodai herself opening up a bit around him, and displaying certain signs…he still felt like he couldn't trust himself to jump to conclusions.

He imagined himself asking the question. Kodai…do you like me?

She would turn and fix that blank blue stare on him…maybe even turn up her nose or curl her lip in disgust…that's what the girls at Aldera would have done…

Or maybe she'd raise her eyebrows in surprise…and her eyes would fill with sad pity…oh no, Midoriya…I'm sorry. It seems you've misinterpreted the situation. And then things would be awkward for the rest of all eternity. His life would be over.

Or…she would turn, those blue eyes half-lidded, her perfect glossy dark hair blowing in the breeze a little, and her lips would turn up into a smile. And she'd say an enthusiastic mmhmm! I've been waiting so long for you to figure it out.

A goofy grin crossed Izuku's face, and then he snapped himself out of it. Yeah, right.

He'd already had one insane fantasy fulfilled for him in his life, when All Might told him he could become a hero after all. Two would be asking too much.

Speaking of which, even if Kodai DID like him back, what would he do then? Enter a relationship with her? He didn't have the slightest idea how to do that, AND he wouldn't have time what with all the training he had to do to perfect One for All and become the next Symbol of…

All Might. I should ask All Might about this. Surely he would have some knowledge on the topic. There was a lot of popular speculation that the man was asexual, but Izuku didn't really think so. Surely he'd loved someone before. And had to make the hard decision. If he heard a definitive path he should take from All Might, that would clear his troubled heart, surely.

Even after that, though, I'd like to remain friends with Kodai. She's made me feel really happy recently. He pulled out his phone and decided to send her a text. Just a simple good morning! And that was all. Not thinking much of it, he pocketed his phone and decided to go looking for All Might.

…

Yui was sitting with Reiko and drinking juice at the kitchen counter when her phone buzzed.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened a little. It was from Izuku. It said good morning!

Reiko peered up at her with one exposed eye. "Yui? Your cheeks are red."

"He…" she muttered quietly, and then turned her phone around.

Reiko looked down at it and whistled. "A good morning text, huh? So did you guys seal the deal or what?"

Yui pouted. "You're as bad as Setsuna."

"Well, both her and I want the same thing. For you to be happy." Reiko shrugged. "It's nice to see him taking initiative."

Yui nodded. "Yes," she whispered in agreement. "Perhaps I should…"

"Take initiative back?" Reiko finished for her, like she always did.

"Mmmhmm."

"How much time did you two spend together at the party?"

Yui pouted again.

"Not enough, huh?"

Yui looked down at her phone and typed out a response.

Good morning Midoriya. Would you like to hang out today?

Reiko whistled again. "My, my. How forward of you, Yui."

Yui raised a concerned eyebrow. "Are you telling me not to…?"

"Not to send it? Are you kidding me? Send that text, Yui. I'll do it for you if you wa…"

"No," Yui interrupted her, as forcefully as Yui was like to ever say anything. "I'll do it."

She pressed send.

…

Izuku's phone buzzed, but he was already walking into All Might's office, and so he didn't check it immediately.

Toshinori Yagi was half-slumped over his desk, folding some papers. He looked up with his sunken blue eyes. "Young Midoriya."

"You shouldn't slouch at your desk like that. It's bad for your back, sir."

All Might smiled slightly. "Let me know if you're still so motivated to have good posture when you get to be seven feet tall."

Izuku's eyes widened. "Will that happen to me?"

"Uhh…I'm honestly not sure." Toshinori scratched his neck. "What did you need, Young Midoriya?"

"Advice." Izuku walked over to the chair in front of the desk and sat down. "It's…erm, about…well…" His face reddened.

All Might raised his eyebrows. "Oh dear. Has One for All done something strange to your body?"

"NO! Well, not recently…nothing new…" Izuku rubbed his arm and stared at the floor. "It's about…" He looked at All Might again, and his throat closed up. Ugh! Why can't I just say it?! "It's about a g-girl."

Toshinori paled. "Ah. I…I see." He coughed, and looked toward the side wall nervously. Izuku wilted. It was the exact sort of reaction he had been dreading. All Might isn't good with this sort of stuff, but maybe he does have something he can tell me…

"Well, Young Midoriya. I confess I have very little experience in these matters."

Izuku was surprised to hear that. "Really? I thought…surely you've…loved someone in the past, at least…"

"Of course I did," Toshinori said softly. "I loved my master, Nana Shimura."

Izuku felt a strange feeling in his chest. "Oh," he muttered. "But…"

"It was a hopeless love, of course. And born more of admiration and respect than anything…but it was real. She knew me before I'd really grown up, though…so that was never our dynamic. She prepared me to face All For One, and then she died. All that time spent…I never thought of anything else when I could afford it. I was completely dedicated to the duty of One For All."

"Even when you were in America…?"

All Might nodded. "By then the fire of hero work was what drove me, and it drove me and drove me until I became the Symbol of Peace. By then, the idea of doing something like dating or settling down…it became impossible. And that was before you threw All For One's continued survival into the equation."

Izuku sighed, his shoulders slumping. "You're telling me I'll have to be the same way."

"Look at me, Izuku."

Though he'd given All Might the privilege to use his first name, the man rarely did so. Izuku realized how serious he was. He looked.

"Who is this girl?" asked Toshinori Yagi.

Izuku swallowed, his mouth dry. "Yui Kodai."

All Might's eyebrows shot a mile up. "Kodai in Class B? I confess…I saw the two of you running together one recent morning. I thought it was very strange, but then I forgot about it…have you been spending time with her?"

"When I can." Izuku wrung his hands. "We're at this strange stage…we haven't been together all that much, but we're both trying to find opportunities to get to know each other better, I think. We're friends, and becoming closer friends…and I can't stop thinking about her." All those words just spilled out of him awkwardly, unevenly.

Toshinori looked at him with concern. "Do you like her in that way, Young Midoriya?"

"I…I believe I do, yes." It felt like turning a corner, admitting it out loud to someone. Even if Yaoyorozu had already accused him.

"Do you think she likes you?"

"I have no idea."

"Well, I suppose she is a strangely detached, aloof girl." All Might stroked his chin. "Not the sort I imagined you getting into this situation with."

"That's what I like about her, though," Izuku insisted. "Wait, you imagined me getting into this situation?!"

"Yes, I confess it. Most often I worried about Young Uraraka or Young Ashido. You're a high-strung young man, and I could see their carefree energy complimenting you well."

Izuku felt oddly disappointed. "A lot of people think so, apparently. Uraraka and I have never been like that. Why do you say you worried, though?"

"Because…" All Might sighed. "There's no easy way to say it, young man. I don't believe you should pursue this further."

Those words hit Izuku like a cold bag of ice to the back of the neck.

It slowly slid down his spine, settling in his soul.

"I…"

What did I expect him to say?

"Oh…"

"It sounds as if you're in a position where you can still turn back without hurting her or your own feelings. I believe that is the correct course for you."

Izuku's throat had never felt dryer. He opened his mouth to talk and had to force it out, his legs starting to tremble. "But…why…" Why does hearing this feel so awful?

"Do I need to spell it out for you? You said yourself that you have been unable to spend much time together. You're too busy to date someone, Izuku. Especially someone in a different class than you, who you may only see every once in a while in the halls. You have not fully mastered every Quirk granted to you by One For All, and many of our greatest enemies are still out there. This is not a distraction you can afford to have. I could not afford it at your age; you cannot afford it now."

"I…I see…" Didn't I know this? Didn't I come here to receive confirmation? So why did he feel like crying? Every word was like a knife in his heart.

"If you did start to date Young Kodai, people would find out and villains would exploit it. It often happens to hero couples. Just look at the Water Hose team, and that boy you ended up saving. While many hero families have been successful, there are many more that end like that."

"But…but…" Izuku gasped, trying to hold his body back from starting to completely shake all over. He couldn't look his mentor in the eye.

All Might's voice grew softer. "You came to me for advice, Young Midoriya. Did you just expect me to tell you what you wanted to hear?"

Yes, actually. But in the opposite way you think. What he'd thought he wanted to hear wasn't what he wanted to hear after all.

"I wouldn't…let myself get…exploited," he muttered. "Villains have put me to that test b-before. You've seen it. I have always r-risen to the challenge."

"Yes, but can you say the same for her?" All Might said gently. "I've taught her just like I have the rest of you. She is technically competent but her decision-making in the heat of the moment is on the lower side of your class level, and far lower than yours."

Izuku looked down at his trembling hands…

…and watched them close into fists.

"You're not being fair," he heard himself say.

"Fair? What wouldn't be fair would be to bring that girl into matters far beyond her when she is unprepared to handle them. I don't want you to let feelings cloud your judgement."

"They're not clouding my judgement…"

"But you don't even know her that well yet. What if you're idealizing her, Young Midoriya?"

"I'm not." While it's true that my feelings might be stronger than they should be at this stage of our relationship, isn't that just more proof that this is truly worth pursuing?

All Might wasn't done. "What happens if your relationship never properly gets serious, but you end up wanting to tell her about One For All too soon? What happens if you tell her and you have a bad breakup, and she wants to exploit that information she now holds against you? What happens if you do get serious, and she becomes targeted by All For One?"

Each question branded his heart like a fire poker. Izuku's mouth twitched. A lot of the shake was gone, and his voice felt strangely…steady. The cold had been replaced with a dark heat rising in him.

"Kodai is a hero too, All Might," he said in a low voice. His eyes were still on the floor, but they were threatening to flick upward. "You're not giving her enough credit. She is more than capable of standing up for herself…"

"All For One is different. As strong as you are, you're not even ready to face him. And then if you look at her…"

"Don't." Izuku interrupted. He looked up at his mentor now, letting the anger completely take hold of him. "Don't finish that sentence, All Might. Do not call her weak."

Toshinori paled. "I wasn't…Young Midoriya, I am only telling you that…"

"What about the other people you've personally entrusted with your secret over the years? David Shield, Tsukauchi, Cementoss…are you saying they're all weak as well? Why did you tell them, then?"

"Young Midoriya!"

"You know what I think?" Izuku stood. "I think One for All is mine now, not yours. And I think who I choose to involve or not to involve in it is my business, not yours. So if those are the only reasons you have as to why I shouldn't try to start something with Kodai…then I don't want to hear it."

"You…you…" All Might sputtered. "But where would you find the t-time…"

"I'll figure it out!" Izuku promised. He raised his fist up to his chest. "I've balanced a lot of things at once before, and it may be hard, but she's worth it! We'll figure it out together!"

His last words rang about the room, his chest heaving. A silence emerged.

Slowly, Izuku watched All Might's face strangely…relax.

He awkwardly realized all the words he'd just said. They'd all sort of just…escaped him. Oh my God! I just got really angry at him! And I said she was…worth it? What is happening to me?!

Color rose in his cheeks as he grew more and more confused by All Might's strangely relaxed expression.

Then…the man smiled.

"Well," said Toshinori Yagi. "If all that's the case, then I suppose you should hurry up and ask the girl out, no?"

"Wha…" Izuku's arms fell to his sides, limp. "Was this…were you testing me?"

"Difficult to say." Still grinning, as if none of the intense debate between them had even happened, All Might returned to folding his papers. "Best get going, Young Midoriya."

Stunned and even more confused than ever, Izuku left the office.

…

As he walked down the halls of UA, his head spun, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

But then he remembered he'd heard his phone buzz right before he'd gone in to talk to All Might. He took it out of his pocket now to read the text message.

Oh, he thought, gasping. His ears heated up.

It was from Kodai. She was asking him if he wanted to…hang out?

Izuku set his face determinedly, and typed back: Sure. Why don't we meet at the school gate at 3 and go out into town?

No more messing around. Things had never fallen into Izuku Midoriya's lap. Even to get All Might's attention to become his successor in the first place, he'd had to run into fire and sludge to risk his life for his friend. And he would have to take a risk again. Even though he wasn't sure if Kodai liked him back, he would try his best. And he would only give up if he received absolute confirmation that she did not.

That's right. I'm a hero. And so is she.

…

Neito Monoma watched Yui Kodai walking over to the school gate. She was dolled up like she was going somewhere, and he was pretty sure he knew…well, not where she was going, but who she was going with.

Any minute now HE'LL show up. He checked one of his many watches, the time was 2:56. They must have agreed to meet at 3. They probably text each other. It's sickening.

As of late, Neito had grown more and more frustrated with his class's lack of growth. While they had technical skill, excellent teamwork with one another, and a good sense of macro-strategy, time and time again they showed lack of aggression and drive. Not only could that mean death on the battlefield, as they approached that ever-present date where they would graduate and join the war against the dark villains that loomed over Japan, but it also meant that they would be forever stuck behind Class A. And that would just not do.

I have to keep lighting that fire under them. The rivalry must be sustained. Those feelings of frustration after the sports festival and the joint training where their class utterly showed us up…they must keep those in mind, if we are to ever reach our full potential as a class. And if someone from his own class started a RELATIONSHIP with one of them…that would be directly counter to that feeling they needed. Kodai would fall behind. And Neito would never admit this aloud, lest risk a chopping-to-the-neck courtesy of one Itsuka Kendo, but he'd always thought Kodai was pretty eternally slightly behind to begin with. She could not afford this extra distraction.

He had the catalyst he needed. That thing he'd overhead Kendo talking about…Hagakure and Midoriya flirting. Hagakure was the invisible girl, someone Monoma had never paid much attention to, but he was now. In his observations in the last few days, he had noticed her often hovering near Midoriya when she should otherwise be somewhere else. She must like him. Well, she can have him. At first, he'd actually directly considered walking up to Hagakure and offering to be her wingman, but that would never work. The invisible girl definitely wouldn't trust his intentions, and besides, he was fairly sure she was doomed to fail anyway. Midoriya and Kodai were already too far along in their feelings for each other.

No, but he could still use the invisible girl to his advantage. He sensed that someone in this web of intrigue would take action soon, and it would probably be her. That would leave Midoriya with the choice…and surely that nervous, muttering boy would not be up to the task of being immediately decisive. Neito would use this window of opportunity to drive the wedge.

He doubted he could ever make the two of them get genuinely upset with one another, and he even doubted that he could get anyone to believe him if he started spreading a certain rumor or two. But that wouldn't matter. All that would matter is that Midoriya and Kodai were at the center of the situation. Because if there was one thing that those two had in common…

They're both uncomfortable being the center of attention.

All he had to do was cause a scene. Cause one scene, and suddenly the two of them, regardless of their feelings, would feel extraneous factors pulling them back from each other. They might even be demotivated enough to stop pursuing one another entirely.

Soon. It has to be soon. If he didn't catch Hagakure making her move before New Year's Eve, he would act then.

And next year will turn a new leaf for Class B at last!

…

Sorry to Monoma fans, but he's gonna be conniving, maniacal, and pretty much irredeemable in this. I don't necessarily have a problem with the guy in canon (more than anyone else, anyway) but for this fic, he suits my purposes well.

Hooray for Izuku development though. Next time will be his not-a-date with Yui. Because they're just a couple of friends hanging out. Yep. Nothing more. Not a date. No way.