Izuku arrived at the school gate at 3 like they'd planned, and when he saw Yui, he briefly lost the ability to speak.

She was wearing a cream-colored tight sweater, tucked in at her waist, which was circled by a stylish dark belt that held up a plaid skirt. She had dark tights over her legs, and a fur scarf around her shoulders.

Yui turned and saw him. A small smile danced across her lips. "Hello, Midoriya. Your mouth is open."

He shut it abruptly, causing her smile to widen a little. "What?" she asked.

"Well, it's just…you look really…rich?"

"Ah. Yes. It's the scarf." Yui's blue eyes twinkled.

Izuku could tell she was amused with him. He sighed inwardly. Rich? Really? Best compliment you could come up with for your date, Izuku?

Except it wasn't a date. Not at all. Nope.

He'd dressed in a tight sweater of his own, and a pair of grey slacks. If Kodai thought anything of his appearance, she gave nothing away. Izuku didn't know what he'd expected.

"Anyway," he coughed, "shall we?"

Instinctively, he put his arm out at his side at a bend, the way his mom had shown him once. This is how you escort a lady, Izuku, she'd told him.

A second later, he realized that Kodai probably didn't know what that gesture even meant, let alone would actually follow through with it. After all, they weren't datin…

Yui's arm went through his, gripping him gently. She smiled at him again. "Let's go," she said.

Izuku swallowed, fighting the heat on his cheeks, and nodded. "Alright!"

They set off down the hill at a leisurely pace, Izuku feeling more and more sweaty and nervous by the second. He could feel Kodai's warmth, her closeness. If this was really meant to be an outing between friends, then she was making it really hard to focus…

Then again, he couldn't say he disliked this more playful, forward side of her. He wondered if anyone else besides him got to see it.

Yui turned and looked at him somewhat blankly as they walked. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Izuku balked at that. "Well, uhh, I…"

A small smirk danced on her full lips. It was then that he remembered she'd been the one to invite him in the first place, not the other way around.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "Shouldn't you be the one who knows that?" He couldn't help but smile. Izuku didn't know it, but when he smiled and laughed a little, his eyes had a jade twinkle. It was enough to nearly make Yui swoon.

She kept her composure, though, and said, "I know. I just thought…maybe you'd have something you'd like to do…"

"Well, my idea of a fun outing is to, well…" Izuku coughed. "Go to a comic shop or a hero merch shop, so…I'm sort of in your hands, as it were."

"I like comic shops," she said quietly.

Izuku looked further down the street. Musutafu had quite a few shops and unique stores near UA, though one could not necessarily call it a full shopping district. It was more on its way to becoming one. Still, though…

"Why don't we browse some shops, then?" Izuku suggested. "I bet, uhh…I bet everything will be really cheap now, with Christmas behind us and all…"

"I'm not sure I want to buy anything," Kodai said.

"Ah! Well, we can always d-do something el-"

"No," she interrupted. "That sounds fun. Sorry. I would like to just browse."

"Ah! ...Okay, then."

They kept walking. Izuku was still in a cold sweat over their physical contact, but now he was nervous about their communication as well. It's still hard for us to understand one another immediately…why am I not better at understanding what she's saying? Oh, I always have to jump to frantic conclusions and look weird…

Meanwhile, inside Yui's head: Why am I not better at conveying my thoughts? He's gonna get the wrong idea and think I'm a cold bitch.

And then, at the same time: Want to keep trying. Either from the strength of their feelings or just the sunken-cost fallacy…they both knew they'd gotten too far into it to give up now.

They turned a corner, leaving the high street that led up to UA and down a side street. Izuku pointed at a shaded shopfront with dark windows. Two small cherry trees, bare in the winter, drooped in front of it.

"That's a, um…" he coughed. "A cat cafe."

Yui looked up. Her blue eyes shimmered a little. "Hm," she said. "I like cats."

Izuku had no real opinion on cats one way or another. But I'm gonna have to get some new hobbies and interests, and I'm gonna have to get them fast. Besides, a cat cafe sounded interesting enough.

"Let's go, then."

The two of them walked into the cafe. A little bell dinged to announce their arrival.

It was a narrow corridor, which somewhat took Izuku aback. It had looked spacious from the outside. Was it not connected to the dark shop windows after all?

To the right was a coffee bar, which had a young woman sitting at it in an apron. "Hello there!" she said brightly. "You two make a cute pair."

Izuku and Yui both flushed red and looked in opposite directions, but they didn't separate their arms. They were both thinking: that's probably not what he/she wants to hear.

The employee giggled a little. "Is this your first time at a cat cafe?"

"Erm, yes." Izuku coughed. His anxiety made it hard for him to be the one to step up and speak to a service worker, but he was pretty sure Yui wasn't going to do it. "How does it work?"

"Well, you pay here, and get a cup of coffee and a pastry each, along with thirty minutes inside the room with the cats." She nodded to a door opposite the bar. Izuku realized that must lead to the room that had the storefront window.

The door had a small window on it at head level. Yui gently slid away from Izuku and walked gracefully over to it. He found his eyes trending downward. Her strides look nice in those tights…SNAP OUT OF IT!

She put her neutral face close to the glass. "Why is it set up this way?" she asked quietly.

The employee seemed slightly put off by Kodai's manner, but answered anyway. "You have to d-disinfect before and after leaving the room. For the cat's safety and yours. This isn't just a cafe, you see. It's also their home until they get adopted."

A twinkle of excitement escaped Yui's blue eyes. "You can adopt them?"

"Yes, if you wish. You have to sign some papers, though."

"We can't bring a cat back to UA," Izuku blurted.

Yui did her usual enigmatic half-smirk, and poked him in the chest. "I know that, silly."

A goofy smile spread across his face. She never stops taking me off guard, huh?

"You're UA students?" the employee asked. "That's interesting. Heroes?"

Izuku nodded. "Second year."

Yui's eye twitched. "Do you not recognize him?"

The woman paled. "Err…no. Sorry. I don't watch the events that much."

Izuku felt a little uncomfortable. For some reason, Yui seemed a little upset. "We'll take half an hour, then," he told the woman, quickly remedying the situation.

"Okay." She took his debit card and swiped it. "What would you like to eat and drink?"

"Coffee and danish, please," said Kodai flatly.

"For my pastry I'd like erm…a croissant, I suppose? And…instead of coffee, could I have hot chocolate?" Izuku asked.

The woman smiled kindly at him. "Sure," she said.

A few minutes later, she had that ready for them. She handed Yui her things first, and then handed over Izuku's. Then, she walked over and opened the door for them. "Please use the hand sanitizer on your right as you enter and leave," she said. "I will be out here if you need anything else. Enjoy."

She closed the door behind them.

Izuku held Yui's things for her while she sanitized her hands. The girl had a slightly…grumpy look on her face?

"Is something wrong?" Izuku blurted.

Yui's eyes widened. Did he just…read my expression? She'd thought she'd been hiding it! No way he'd noticed! That hardly ever happened!

"I-" she choked on the word. "Sorry." She pouted. "I just can't believe that woman works so close to UA and doesn't recognize Deku at all."

Izuku laughed. "It's not a big deal, though…besides, I'm often masked when I'm in the field." He took his turn with the hand sanitizer.

Yui seemed to relax at that. Then she looked down at his hot chocolate, which she was holding. And smirked a little.

Izuku turned back to take his things back and halted. Looked her in the eye. "What?" he asked.

"Hot chocolate?" she asked playfully.

"Yeah! I don't…I don't really do coffee…or caffeine in general…"

She blinked at him. "You really just rawdog life like that? No enhancement at all? You?"

"Rawdog? What on Earth is that supposed to mean?"

She shook her head, a disbelieving smile on her face. "Izuku Midoriya…" She conceded his hot chocolate and the paper-wrapped croissant, then turned to open the second door into the cat room.

The sun was shining in through the storefront window into the room, casting a warm glow over it. There were all kinds of couches and chairs and nooks and crannies in the room, of various colors and soft materials. A huge cat tower loomed in the corner, and several string toys dangled off of it.

They were the only humans in the room. But the cats…they were everywhere. Lounging, sitting, walking around a bit. Three sat on the windowsill and sunned themselves. One was taking a bath right at Izuku's feet, licking between its claws.

Yui made a very feminine noise. It wasn't quite a squeal, but it was close enough. It was the same sound Izuku had heard his mom make when looking at his baby photos.

He smiled again. It seems she makes me smile about once every five seconds. "Why don't we sit down?" he suggested, pointing to a nearby sofa.

There was already a cat sleeping there on the leftmost cushion. Yui sat down next to it, and Izuku sat on the other side of her.

Kodai stared down at the cat for a moment. It was curled up, with a black back and upper face, but a white lower face, belly, and legs. "What's the word for that coloring again?" Izuku asked.

"Tuxedo," she answered, still just staring at the feline. It stirred a moment, and blinked its eyes up at them. They were blue, like Kodai's own.

"Why don't you pet it?"

"Hm." Kodai leaned forward to the coffee table the sofa sat behind, and picked up a binder off of it. She opened it and began flipping through.

Izuku leaned over to look at what the binder was, curious. Their shoulders nudged together. "Oh, I see. All the cats are listed here." Each page had a picture of a cat, their name, gender, age, and personality. A few had notes warning not to pet them in certain places, or not at all. Kodai found the tuxedo cat, which had the curious name of Capone. It was a 3-year-old male.

"Still an adolescent," Kodai muttered. There was no warning against petting Capone, though, so she set the book down and began stroking his back. The cat responded by immediately beginning to purr and rolling over on his belly.

Yui giggled and began scratching gently at his white underfur. The cat closed its eyes, content.

Izuku watched her watch the animal, not realizing how goofily in love he appeared. "You're very careful," he commented. "I would never have thought to look at that binder to make sure…I mean, I probably would get scratched and hissed at immediately…"

"Well," Yui said, "we can't all have a reckless streak a mile long."

"I meant careful as a compliment!"

She relaxed her eyebrows and smiled. "I know."

Suddenly, another cat, a tabby, jumped up into Izuku's lap. He leaned back and gasped, surprised.

Yui brought her head around. The cat was circling his lap, purring and nudging against his chest. Then, it plopped itself right down.

You're in my spot, thought Yui Kodai. Oh dear. Where did that come from?

"Kodai, why is your face red?" Izuku asked naively.

"Nothing," she said shortly, and leaned forward to check the binder to hide her embarrassment. She flipped to the tabby's page. "She's called Lily."

"Oh, a girl?" Izuku looked down at the now-purring cat curled up in his lap. "Is she okay to pet?"

"Hm. Only on the back. She does not like people touching her belly, it says."

Gingerly, Izuku stroked down the cat's striped spine. Lily responded by sinking herself deeper into him. The cat's warmth emanated off of it in waves.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. It was peaceful enough for a little while, with the cats to occupy them, but Izuku slowly felt more and more awkward. Small talk. I need a conversation topic.

"Did you own pets, Kodai?" he asked. "Or…do you own-"

"Mmm," she replied in confirmation. "There is a parrot at my home."

"But…I guess it's not your parrot?" It didn't sound like it from how she described it. Must get better at interpreting her statements.

Yui nodded. "I suppose it belongs to…my mother."

Her mom. Suddenly, Izuku remembered the night of the movie when he'd taken her to her bed, and the sleepy thing she'd told him. "Your mother…she must be an interesting person, to own a parrot."

Kodai gave him a bemused expression. "Is it interesting?"

"Well, I think it is!" he replied defensively.

"Hmm. Maybe."

A pause.

"What about your mother?" Kodai asked.

That took Izuku aback. Kodai hardly ever seemed to ask him questions, especially about his personal life…but this is an outing between just the two of us, so of course she'll try to make conversation. I shouldn't think of her as only being the quiet girl. Still, was it possible she wanted to deflect the conversation to him and not talk about her mom?

"What about her?" he responded.

"Is she…interesting?"

Inwardly, Yui cringed to herself. How awkward can I get?

Izuku only answered honestly, though. "I think she is. She's raised me by herself for m-most of my life, so…"

"Oh." Yui's mouth shut.

"It's fine!" he quickly added. "My dad…he's working overseas, so I haven't seen him very much…but it's not a big deal or anything!"

"Ah." Her lips curled into a smirk. "I suppose All Might is more like your dad."

"WHa-no, I…have you been talking to Todoroki?"

"No." Yui blinked. "What?"

"It's just…he had this theory one time…never mind, it doesn't matter." Izuku rubbed his forehead and sighed. "All Might is a big role model to me and yes, a mentor as well, but he's not my dad or anything…our Quirks are just similar." Uh huh. And how long do I want to keep going with that lie? If I want to be in a relationship with her?

"So…if you only have a parrot…have you always just liked cats?" he asked.

"Hm." Yui looked lovingly down at the tuxedo cat, Capone, who had just moved into her lap. "My friend Saya had a cat."

"I…I see." Saya? Must be a friend from elementary or middle school.

"He was a black cat. And big." Yui bit her lip. "I, umm…"

Izuku blinked at her patiently. He really, really wanted her to talk. To just open up. But he didn't know what he could do to ease that process, besides just being present. He was worried that if he said anything, he'd just mess it up.

"One time," Kodai said in a very small voice. "I tried to use my Quirk on him. On. The cat."

"Oh!" Izuku's eyes widened. "But your Quirk…doesn't work on living things?"

"We were only six. The doctor had only…advised me not to try it."

Izuku nodded in understanding. At that age, Kodai would have still been testing out her Quirk, and the doctors may not have been able to capture the full scope of it yet.

"Kodai," he said, somewhat slowly. "Your Quirk doesn't work on living things, right?"

She shook her head. "But…I didn't know that, you see. And…Saya saw me do it. So…"

"Ah. Did she get mad at you for trying?"

"Mm." Yui nodded. "Accused me of trying to shrink and steal her cat."

"What happened after that?"

"I told her I was going to make him bigger, so she had nothing to worry about."

Izuku snorted, still stroking Lily's back. "Nothing to worry about? You would've accidentally unleashed a panther!"

Kodai laughed.

Izuku lowered his hand from the cat, stunned. She was laughing fully, continuously. It was like music. And it was infectious. It spread to him. In seconds, they were both laughing.

"Ahahahahahaha!"

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Yui rubbed her eyes and sighed, coming down from the amused high. Not only had it been ages since she'd been able to laugh like that in front of someone, it had been ages since she'd been able to look back on a memory with Saya so fondly, let alone one that involved the girl getting mad at her. It's all because of you, Izuku. All because of you.

They both died down to chuckles, and then silence again. The cats continued to purr. Izuku returned to petting Lily. Yui returned to petting Capone. Near the window, two orange cats played with a ping-pong ball attached to a string.

Izuku blinked, very slowly. Warm. It was then that it occurred to him…he had not felt so at peace in…how long had it been? Months? Years? His whole life?

Izuku Midoriya and Yui Kodai both looked at each other at the same time.

He gasped a little, his lips parting. Emerald eyes met sapphire. I'm going to drown in her eyes, he thought. If they are pools, then they don't have a bottom. I'll sink and sink and sink until I…

Without realizing it, he'd shrunk the space between their faces to inches. Centimeters. Millimeters.

Yui closed her eyes and kissed him.

! A zillion alarm bells went off in his head at once. Her lips. Against his. Happening. Right now.

Forget it all! Suppress it all! The MOMENT!

Izuku shut his eyes and shut his thoughts. He returned the kiss.

Her lips were soft. They moved slightly against his. Her slender hand caressed his neck and slid down the front of his chest. She smelled vaguely of lavender. His head spun. He felt like he was ascending to heaven.

They separated slowly. As Yui pulled away from him, she dragged his bottom lip with hers. Just a little.

Izuku stared back into her eyes again, breathless. He wasn't sure what to do or say. Completely lost. Broken. She'd broken him.

"Well," she commented. "That cat's out of the bag."

Izuku looked down at Capone and Lily, their temporary furry companions. "Nice choice of words," he squeaked.

Another moment of silence, and then they were giggling again.

"So…"

"Um…"

"...Well."

"...Yes."

"Yeah."

For the next twenty minutes, they sat in silence, petting the cats, both smiling widely to themselves, unable to look the other in the eye.

When they left, Yui put her arm through his again.

Izuku coughed and scratched his chin as they went back outside onto the street. "Would you like to umm…k-keep, keep going?"

"Alright," Kodai breathed. "Lead the way…Midoriya-kun."

…

Sorry this one took a while, it went through quite a few versions of varying progression before I was happy with where to end it.

Those of you who like drama, not to worry, there is more trouble on the horizon…things are far from over.