FYI: there is a scene of mild adult content in this chapter. Nothing too spicy, and no lemon (because I don't know how) but I feel you ought to have forewarning. If you're not comfortable with it, don't read the section from Tensei's perspective, it isn't too critical to the plot. Thank you for understanding.

Happy Valentine's Day, FFN Crowd!

Shota blinked the sleep out of his eyes best he could, avoiding rubbing at them and increasing the irritation. He needed to be able to use his Quirk today, which meant a lot of annoyances.

"You're no doubt aware; final exams are approaching fast. Another two weeks and it'll be a solid five days of testing, maybe six," he informed them, noticing some of his less confident students blanch and sweat at the proclamation, "To help you gauge where you stand: today's lesson will be a one-on-one sparring match. Each of you against me. We'll go in reverse seating order, so Yaoyorozu: you're up first."

With that, he turned and walked into the cityscape that was Ground Beta. The cluster of costumed would-be-Heroes fell into step behind him with only a moment's hesitation.

Still took them three seconds, he mentally noted, they're still being irrational, but they've improved.

He didn't stop walking once they were inside, taking them on a short jaunt towards a familiar, cratered building. Bakugo sniffed irritably, and Midoriya laughed nervously. Wasted breath, in its most pure form.

"Yes, we'll be fighting in this building," Shota confirmed, stepping into the entrance, "You may watch from the basement as usual. The cameras are set up for you."

This time they were already in motion before he finished speaking. Much better.

Yaoyorozu stayed behind, adjusting her boots for some reason or other; facing away from him at a right angle. Shota didn't plan on giving her the benefit of a lazy start. She should have taken care of her costume before coming out. He fixed her with his gaze, keeping his lids close together to help stay off dryness. She didn't flinch or react to his Quirk activating, so that meant she wasn't aware yet. Good. This would be a learning experience.

"At your convenience, Yaoyorozu," he growled, a bit irritated as she continued to just sit there.

"Alright. I'm ready Sensei!" Yaoyorozu informed him, standing up and holding out her usual metal staff in a salute.

Shota knew something was up the moment she turned to face him, his hand twitching in anticipation. He scanned her body, trying to figure out what was setting off his danger sense the most. Her staff was in her left hand, held diagonally across her chest, but Yaoyorozu was ambidextrous, so that wasn't it. She was keeping her right arm behind her body, but it was too obviously a ploy to make him think the threat was in that hand. Everything else was… completely normal.

Leaping back from her, Eraserhead launched the end of his capture scarf at her, dropping his goggles over his eyes but keeping them open to ensure his power stayed active. Creati whipped her staff into his attack, catching it on the tip and snagging his backwards motion. He tried to catch her off-guard, pulling her off-balance and towards him, but her stance was too solid.

Eraserhead loosened the grip, sliding his scarf off her staff and pulling away to try and get in a more roundabout attack. Creati let him go, not pressing her advantage. She wasn't amiture enough to not even attempt capitalizing on it. Something was definitely up.

Normally he'd try to retreat, strike from the shadows, but Creati was more deadly than most when it came to leaving her Quirk operational while out of range. He had to eliminate her now.

Eraserhead charged, but Creati retreated, leaping back and up towards the massive crater in the center of the structure. Her boots whistled to life, enough fuel evidently to give her a short flight. But she didn't start to fly either.

Just full of surprises today, aren't we?

Creati hovered a few centimeters above his head, swaying slightly as she fought to control her balance and maintain her advantage. Certainly, without her endless supply of fuel: it would preserve her reserves slightly longer than flying.

She edged her feet towards his head, the heat and light of the boosters making Eraserhead's eyes water. Again, an excellent strategy. But if she was going to make him blink, she'd have to pay for it later.

Lassoing an errant pillar, Eraserhead pulled himself up and around her, swinging to impact her back with both his feet and give himself a moment in her blindspot with which to blink. Creati flinched as he rushed past, clearly not as adept at hovering yet as she'd like to be. He made his full turn without difficulty, on the other hand, and his boots connected with her shoulderblades.

A cut off breath of surprise and pain told him she wouldn't be winning this battle. Eraserhead relaxed slightly, preparing to catch her before she hit the ground, but she seemed to have a little fight left in her.

Creati managed to fire her jets a few times, spinning around and trying to whack him with her pole. Eraserhead caught it and tore it from her hands, noticing she was still having difficulty inhaling after the breath was knocked out of her. Still, by the time they hit the ground, she'd managed to be enough of a bother that he'd landed atop her, holding down her arms and with a knee on her stomach.

Then she smiled, and Eraserhead realized he'd been had.

A strangely loud pop came from below her collarbone, hovering in the place where his eyes had automatically avoided out of common niceties.

Stupid, irrational- he thought angrilly.

A puff of air accompanied the explosion, along with a few bits of errant glitter and paper. The sudden sound and motion instinctively drew his gaze, and just as unerringly: caused him to shield his most delicate sensory organs.

For a single instant he closed his eyes, and then something gooey and stiff splattered over his face, sealing them closed. A hard knot of something smashed into his stomach, knocking him off Creati, before clanging to the ground. Another bar? Of course. Now there would be one close-by, and it was simple enough to make on the fly. But he wasn't just a seeing-eye Hero.

Whipping his scarf around faster than he had shown the class before, Eraserhead ensnared Creati as she went to pick up the bar, feeling the tension on his capture weapon confirm he'd got her. He spent a solid twenty seconds entrapping her every limb, even covering her mouth to try and minimize her ability to focus on the escape of her limbs.

Silence filled the air as he waited for her to stop struggling. But as he felt her slow down, a soft tap of something metal against his head made Eraserhead sag in defeat.

"Sensei?" Yaoyorozu asked from behind him, her tone innocent and timid, "Have I won?"

Releasing what he could only guess was a doll or some other trick, Shota sighed and nodded.

"Yes, Yaoyorozu. You win. Now get this… whatever it is off my face."

"Oh! Yes, of course!" she agreed, her voice coming around towards his front.

A hand placed itself on his forehead, and a cool liquid came from the fingers, sliding down into the partial mask of gunk. After a moment, it cracked and crumbled away, leaving almost no trace.

Shota blinked, picking up some of the remnants, before touching some of the liquid on his cheek.

"What are these?"

"It's a type of glue I developed as an easy way to constrain up enemy limbs," Yaoyorozu beamed, holding out a handful of the stuff in its liquid form, "It solidifies after a quick jerk, so I can throw it liquid and cause it to harden almost instantly when it impacts something."

"And the solvent?"

"Pure water. Saltwater won't work, so sweat isn't an issue in the short run, but it will eventually degrade it in case of emergency."

"Hm," Shota praised, nodding her towards the stairs down to the others.

Mineta passed her on his way up, shaking in fear and with the traces of a nosebleed on his mask. Evidently when Yaoyorozu had been hovering: he'd seen the party popper she'd made to stun him.

Lousy, stupid thing to get tricked by, he berated himself, she's getting trickier, this one. I'll have another Midnight on my hands if she isn't stopped.

He was in such a concerned mood that Shota barely registered that Mineta was prowling around the room, placing balls strategically along the walls and floor, though he was careful not to get anywhere close to his teacher's arm-reach.

"Your preparation is commendable," he told the boy, causing him to squeak in terror, "But you do realize you won't always have such advantages, yes?"

"I- I- I'll make such advantages then!" he insisted, turning and hurling balls at Eraserhead without so much as a warning.

Shota flicked a glare at him, freezing the boy solid as he reached up to find no more balls atop his head. He took a menacing step towards him, and Mineta retreated in terror. He ran straight for one of his pre-laid balls, before jumping at it. The capture scarf nearly caught his leg, but Mineta rebounded so fast he sailed through the loose fabric enough to untie himself.

Eraserhead followed the motion of his shortest student, watching as he deflected off of the balls he'd laid down, having somehow calculated the angles and speeds perfectly. Grape Juice whizzed past towards the cluster he'd thrown to initiate the match, and Eraserhead struck.

The capture tape grabbed for where he would be right before the impact, and Mineta was snatched from midair. He strained towards the last balls, almost like he was willing himself to fly and meet his victory bounce, but then gravity brought him back to earth.

"Good attempt, but you're relying on tricks you've already used where I can see. You can't afford to get stale."

The purple boy sighed and nodded, faceplanting and raising a thumbs up in defeat.

"Get the next one, tell him to meet me on the next floor," Shota told him unenthusiastically, releasing Mineta and heading for the stairs.

Shota gave himself some eye drops as he waited for Midoriya to arrive, feeling like some of Yaoyorozu's glue might still be around his eyelids. Or an eyelash. Blasted things always grew back.

"Sensei!" Midoriya called, flying up the hole he'd created on his first day with apparent ease, "I am ready!"

Is he showing off? Shota wondered, Visually displaying that he's come so far in so short a time? Where once he could barely hover in this exact place, now he owns every cubic-centimeter of the air? Arrogant, irrational, even for him. …no doubt another trick.

"You do realize that if I activated my Quirk on you right now, that you'd plummet to excruciating pain?" Eraserhead asked, nodding at the meter's worth of empty space between Midoriya's impact boots and the flooring.

Midoriya looked at his hand, contemplating something, before nodding and flying over to land at the edge. Eraserhead shrugged, getting into a defensive stance.

Easily baited. We'll have to work on that.

Both of them stood ready, shifting their weight and postures experimentally. Midoriya had been improving in his martial arts, Eraserhead had seen it in the more casual sparring the students had taken to, but his reactions were still timid.

Midoriya threw a right hook, an imitation of an American boxing move; clearly All Might inspired. Eraserhead leaned back to dodge it, preparing to activate his Quirk and test how proficient Midoriya was without it, when something dark emerged from his right hand. It was like a tentacle of shadows, sprouting from his central knuckle like Yaoyorozu or Tokoyami might create with their own Quirks. But rather than take shape or fall off, the tendril snapped out and caught Eraserhead's face, blinding him but forcing his eyes to stay open.

He reached up with a hand, trying to rip it off, only to find his hands buzzing numbly as he tried to grip it. It was some kind of energy, and while he could touch it: it clearly didn't want him doing that.

"Special Move: Dark Dart!" Midoriya called, his voice vanishing towards the hallway.

Eraserhead wasn't going to be fooled twice in one day. He brought out his combat knife and sliced through the energy. It dissipated almost at once, Midoriya restraining a scream behind a gasp, but revealing he was indeed still nearby.

The shadows faded, and he caught sight of Midoriya, knocking him from the air as his powers were erased. He didn't hesitate for even a moment, already running before he hit the ground again. Eraserhead's scarf snapped after his feet, only missing by a few hairs' breadth.

Midoriya took cover behind a pillar, barely concealing his entire body. Oddly cowardly, especially for Midoriya, but he wasn't exactly the first to be acting out of character today. He'd taught Mineta to be variable, but he also needed to teach them to polish the strengths they had.

The capture scarf ensnared both student and concrete, pulling taught as Shota landed with his feet on the pillar, using the tension to allow himself to stand parallel to the ground. However, it was not yet victory. The continual tugs and give of the weapon told him that Midoriya hadn't been held to the pillar securely. He was probably crouched against the pillar, or maybe keeping himself sideways to ensure slack. Either way, it was a test of muscles now.

Eraserhead tugged with all he could, while Midoriya fought back, their strained groans filling the room as they tried to overpower the other. Then the scarf snapped straight, Midoriya suddenly giving out. Shota shifted and gripped his capture weapon again, trying to keep himself to the column, and blinking without realizing it.

The concrete cracked, and a dark lance shot out from through the pillar. Shota's eyes were ensnared again, and he felt the scarf tear as Midoriya's emerald aura returned. He attempted to cut the line again, but was suddenly torn from his footing and slammed face-first into the wall as the black stuff pulled his face back towards Midoriya.

A ringing sounded in his ears, Shota's arm barely bracing him from breaking his nose. By the time he recovered, he realized there was a whistling going about him and the pillar, along with a tightness on his back. He was being entrapped in a reverse from how he'd been holding Midoriya just a moment before.

Imitative, this one. Perhaps too much.

Before Shota could cut the line again, maneuvering his knife around within his bonds, an open palm hit his back, knocking him flat against the concrete and jamming the blade between his fingers and the artificial rock. He could almost hear the words "that was for Yaoyorozu" in Midoriya's blow.

"Do… do you yield?" Deku asked, gasping for air as he continued to hold him securely, hand pressed hard into his spine.

Shota held out hope for another moment, before sighing and sagging.

"I yield. Good work, Midoriya."

The darkness faded into nothing, and Midoriya helped ease him to his feet. Shota brushed himself off, allowing the young boy to hover a few meters away. The poor kid clearly loved to fly, but he almost never did, seeing as he had to be in a lesson to legally do so.

"Where did you go wrong?" Shota asked his student, allowing him to analyze the fight for himself.

"I let you capture me early on," he said without hesitation, "I had the advantage of maneuverability, and could have taken up my place behind a pillar from the beginning, or attacked from the shadows without warning, as you are always on guard. In summation: I fought too fairly."

"Good. Go get Bakugo. Don't make another crater this time."

"Yes, sensei!"

"Now, who can tell me what defines a piece of art as belonging to the post-impressionist era?" Kayama-sensei asked the class, seeming a little more tired than she usually did during last period.

Tenya raised his hand, as did Yaoyorozu. No one else seemed to know, or in the case of Kaminari and Sero: did not care. He had to restrain himself from scolding his classmates, but that could wait until later in the lesson, perhaps during the working sections.

Yaoyorozu was quite intelligent, often answering the majority of questions, and having yet failed to answer incorrectly in any subject not related to application of force. It was most likely thanks to this fact that Kayama-sensei called upon Tenya to answer rather than her.

"Post-Impressionism is characterized as artwork from the late 19th Century, directly following Impressionism pieces," Tenya offered, once his hand had been pointed to.

"Textbook answer, and… ultimately wrong," Midnight yawned, "Really, Tenya hon, you've gotta be less stiff. Girls won't chase you if you're always playing it safe and by the rules. Take a few leaves out of your brother's book and go for the crazy option here and there, right? You've gotta be creative! Speaking of…?"

She flicked her whip almost casually towards Yaoyorozu this time, who hesitated for a moment before giving her answer.

"Post-impressionist pieces sought to reverse the vague shapes and light brushstrokes of the impressionism period, easily identified by the much more tactile painting style and detailed images, most often in portraits or attempts at highly realistic, yet stylized landscapes."

"Precisely!"

Tenya wondered a bit vaguely if he'd somehow offended his art teacher. She usually gave him at least partial credit when he gave plain answers. He would have to apply all his wit to this issue!

As the lesson continued, Tenya did his best to answer the questions with more originality. Kayama-sensei seemed to lighten up once things got going, but she still seemed rather aloof towards him. He might not have noticed, but she had a tendency to bring up Tensei when doing so, which caught his attention. Normally he might have attributed it merely to her being excited to see him tonight, but there was almost a touch of bitterness to her voice. Had they fought over something trivial? Perhaps a plan was changed and she was annoyed?

Despite her mood, Tenya did have an enjoyable time learning about the art she'd selected for that day. Van Gogh had, as always, an excellent array to appreciate, though he was not the only artist they were shown. He had to admit, the specific and detailed designs were very refreshing, as opposed to the vague shapes of the prior works they'd studied.

"Now, who can tell me how this connects to the work of Heroes?" Kayama-sensei offered to the class, tapping her short, black nails along a framed copy of Starry Night.

Vaguely, Tenya recognized the practicality of her finger dressings, a trait his brother had no doubt noticed as well. While many women preferred longer, more extravagantly colored nails, Midnight's were practical for gripping tools and forming fists, while also playing into her dominatrix style. He held his hand high, noticing Aoyama, Hagakure, and Ashido's arms also extend towards the ceiling, the invisible girl's motion marked by a circle of paper on a stick, marked with a cartoon hand.

Kayama-sensei grinned, her cheeks flushing as she muttered something about "youth." Tenya really hoped his brother would help her mellow out a little. He completely understood the concept of teachers preparing them for potential issues with their eventual livelihoods, with Midnight representing the sensual hurdles and Vlad King the medical ones, but her material was slowly becoming less enflaming and more along the lines of uncomfortable. True, she was nothing but respectful to the class (barring the occasional reprimand via whip to Mineta's head), but her continual fantasies of youthful men and sadistic edge couldn't help but set many of the young men on edge, including even Bakugo.

Ashido went first, clenching her fist and grinning in anticipation.

"The bigger and brighter designs are more popular with more people, so we should have that sort of look in our costumes and super moves!" she insisted proudly.

Hagakure went next, Kayama-sensei offering not opinions on Ashido's answer.

"We need to be able to see that level of detail in the world, since villains are tricky and disasters need you to be aware of everything?" she tried, a bit hesitantly.

Aoyama attempted next, barely waiting for the hand to find him.

"We must learn to see beyond the obvious shapes and movements of the world, and to the fine details!" he said, striking a dazzling pose, "The clues to a deeper, more intimate world!"

Finally, it was Tenya's turn. He stood respectfully, before chopping to point at Kayama-sensei's hand.

"Heroes are scrutinized with a critical eye by the public, with each and every detail noted and discussed by civilians and the Hero Public Safety Commission. Any act, design choice, or expression will be recorded and often broadcast via internet means to thousands or even millions of viewers! We must therefore have a critical eye on both ourselves and others, to ensure that we appear every bit the Hero we wish to present to them, right down to something as seemingly insignificant as fingernail cut or hairstyle!"

Yawning a little, Kayama-sensei lifted herself out of her leaning position. Her eyes glittered with giddiness as she addressed the class.

"All most excellent answers!" she praised, snapping her whip behind her legs as she did when her emotions began to come to the surface, "But there is something you missed! Something this period attempted in defiance of the past. Something young Bakugo should be able to explain better than most."

Glancing up, the explosive boy grunted before staring out the window and speaking most disrespectfully towards it instead. It wasn't that he would be difficult to hear, as his quite obnoxiously loud vocals would permit even the least attentive student to know his thoughts in the classroom next door, but the principle of his actions which bothered Tenya. His posture said that he didn't care about the class or anyone in it, which was most certainly not a Heroic standpoint.

"You **mn extras forgot to be bold!" he groused, sniffing in annoyance, "These dead painters just finished a bunch o' old idiots who couldn't draw very well, so they gave up and called it good with just the stick figures and outlines. These guys risked it all by going plus ultra on those ***k-mothering canvases, and it paid off big time! We gotta give more effort to show we're better than those old hacks in the field who just call it good half-***ing it!"

"While your explanation was wrong, your overall thesis was correct, Bakugo," Kayama-sensei sighed.

Stepping behind her podium, she indicated it was time for the last portion of the class: "Debate and Discuss" where the floor would be open to any student who wished to speak as Kayama-sensei offered various pieces of art on the board.

Her first display was one of an arrangement of people beside a riverbank or small lake, many holding parasols. Bakugo groaned audibly, while Todoroki simply interlaced his fingers and rested his head against the knuckles. Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu seemed to brighten substantially, and oddly enough: Jiro started restraining a laugh. Tenya had no idea why seemed so detestable and excited, respectively.

"Who'd like to guess why I'm showing you Un dimanche après-midi a I'lle de la Grande Jatte?" Kayama-sense asked.

Tenya understood why Aoyama was vibrating like Midoriya's air chair now. French art must be something of a familiarity, or at least the equivalent of a comfort food.

"Oui, mademuaselle!" he proclaimed, posing once again, "It depicts the most dreadful class disparity of the beloved homeland of art itself, with her twin showing those less fortunate!"

"Plus it's got a creepy girl in the middle. All whited out, like she's a ghost or something," Hagakure pointed out, shivering a little.

"That lady fishin' in the front is pretty manly," Kirishima noted, grinning, "doin' what she feels like, even around all those stuffy folks!"

Jiro snorted at that, leaning across the corner of his desk to speak softly to the hardening student.

"Dude, Yaomomo told me about that. It's like, an allegory. Not actually fishing," she said, getting in close enough to whisper into his ear what it was actually representing.

Kirishima recoiled like he'd been burned, much to Jiro's evident amusement.

"What'd you say, man?" Kaminari complained, before she explained it to him as well in confidence.

"I take back what I said! Not manly at all!"

Their red-haired companion crossed his arms, making an X and hardening the fingers into blades. His electric buddy paled as well, but seemed more intrigued than appalled. The tattooed jack snapped out and buzzed his spine, and he quickly reversed his expression.

"Yep! Super not cool! No fishing allowed, right?" he laughed awkwardly.

Sero yawned, stretching a little before pointing at one figure which had caught his attention.

"That one's got a monkey. That could be a metaphor or whatsit, right? Oppression and all that jazz."

"What makes you say that, Sero?" Tsuyu asked, placing a finger to her mouth with curiosity.

"Because it's a french painting. All art is about oppression or depression or some other -ession."

"Ya know, just because you're right doesn't make you not a prick for saying that," Shoji informed him with a grinning spare mouth, earning a laugh from most of the class, including Sero himself.

"It's a warning!" Uraraka decided, pointing at it accusingly over Tenya's head, "It's the upper class in all their despicable glory, looking down on us working citizens and our hard lives! Flaunting their riches and excess time by wearing dresses and formal clothes to the beach, a place of fun! Behold how they shade themselves from the light of truth and goodness with umbrellas and hats! For Shame!"

Then she turned to Yaoyorozu and bowed.

"Not you, you're perfect, Yaomomo," Uraraka apologized, before turning to Tenya and whispering, "And you're one of my besties, so you're okay too."

Little knots of conversation began to form as different schools of thought took hold. Kaminari was firmly in the camp that it was just art and they were all crazy, which started to sound more and more like a conspiracy theory the more people started avoiding him and turning him into a lone, deranged voice in the crowd of quieter conversation. Tenya thought it was probably commentary, but didn't see where Uraraka was getting the whole class thing from. They all looked like perfectly normal people to him. Then again, Uraraka did have a different perspective on classes than he did.

Kayama-sensei didn't bother picking a second piece of art, or even joining back in, which wasn't unheard of when they got passionate, but definitely an oddity. Tenya noticed her glancing to the clock almost skittishly, and sometimes pointing at it under her chin, rotating her finger as if counting hours on it.

I can't believe it. Kayama's worried about being late for her date with Tensei! What did I miss while we were in Hosu to make her so… smitten?!

A horrible sense of foreboding filled Tenya's heart. If the dread Midnight had corrupted the former Ingenium, the new Indelible… But no. It was foolishness to imagine Tensei would be so easily deformed from his indomitable righteousness. He most certainly wouldn't have fornicated about so recklessly, especially not on a first date.

A dull bell chimed through the room, leading to an instant shift in the air. Excitement crackled through the voices which lingered through the noise, while the stances of everyone became energized for the weekend which for many: had just begun. Tenya quickly stood and called out to the others to ensure they remained respectful to the reputation of U.A.

"Everyone! Stand! Bow!" he called, to which only a handful responded.

"Kayama-sensei!" Tenya called, catching Midnight as she was in mid-stride towards the door.

"Yes, Ida?" she asked, left eye twitching as if she was wondering about knocking them all out and running.

"I feel it is my duty to remind you that you will be under speculation tonight, and that any video evidence of your actions will impact both your reputation and that of your date," he said, stepping forward to make sure she understood the gravity of trying to romance his brother.

"Yeah, I got enough sass from the tired kid last period, I'm done."

"Kayama-sensei, I assure you that you must be aware-"

Grabbing the edge of her sleeve, Midnight tore the fabric and released a wave of pink mist through the classroom. Tenya felt himself getting sleepy, and vaguely heard some of the others trying not to be struck. Midoriya hit the ground hard, his air-chair failing instantly, while Bakugo cussed through a yawn. Oddly enough a number of the class seemed to be acting concerned, though admittedly less tired. It seemed like the girls, Shinji, and Todoroki weren't being knocked out quite as fast.

"Okay," Midnight's voice came from far away, "Girls, cold boy, and masky: clean up the bodies. Extra credit for everyone who comes-to or stays awake before I leave the school. Girls: don't look at your crush if it's a girl, the gas will affect you more. Boys: keep your lungs clear."

Tenya tried to get off the floor, wondering when he'd reached it, ready to lecture Nemuri on improper use of educational power, but… the ground was very comfy all of the sudden.

"You would not believe the day I've had," Nemuri sighed, curling up around Tensei's arm, "but now it's all over, and I can just let you take care of everything."

He chuckled, the deep hum of his laugh vibrating through his chest and into her arms. Sweet Kami, she needed this. Nemuri nuzzled into his shoulder, missing his warmth.

"I thought you said you loved being a teacher? More than anything else in the world?" Tensei asked, teasing her like he did.

"I wouldn't say more than anything," she returned, grinning, "And I'm sure I'll feel very guilty about what happened in class on Sunday, but… for right now, I suppose you might say I overreacted and don't care."

"What could you have possibly done that wouldn't go down as "ooh, that darn Midnight"?"

"Well, one of my Gen. Ed. students sassed me, and I threatened him with Sex. Ed. in his third year after he gets into the Hero Course," she admitted, surprised he didn't immediately spasm in shock, "And then your brother decided to try telling me how to have a proper date, so I knocked out the whole class and gave anyone still awake extra credit."

"I suppose you filed it with Nezu as "impromptu reaction training"?" Tensei laughed, looking down at her with those gorgeous, steel-blue eyes, "Just like our teachers did back in the day when they were at their wits' end?"

Nemuri blinked.

"Damn, I knew I had an easy way out of that… I'll have to send in the paperwork before Nezu closes submissions. Probably only have the next twenty-four hours to do it too…"

"Do you need to postpone the date so you can keep your job?" he asked sweetly, not a trace of judgement or blame in his tone.

Hugging him tighter, Nemuri shook her head.

"Not on your life, muffler boy," she chided, "I'll do it online at your place. I might need you to bring me the laptop though, seeing as I shouldn't be able to move my legs by sunrise."

Ignoring her old nickname easily, Tensei sighed and reached around to give her shoulder a squeeze.

"You're just so certain I'm going to end this date with us in bed doing," he paused and leaned down to hiss the rest of his sentence into her ear, "scandalous things…"

Holy- damn, I need to get a move on, or he'll steal my gimmick!

"I'm about a second from doing every scandalous thing to you right here and now," she responded without bothering to lower her voice, nuzzling her cheek into his shoulder again, literally rubbing it in.

"It's not exactly the most sanitary place," he pointed out, nodding toward an alleyway with an excess of burnables.

"That's what makes it so kinky. Just imagine, someone on a nighttime stroll, suddenly coming across two Pro Heroes making like rabbits in heat on the filthy ground, contorted in all sorts of sensual ways and sounding like the most wonderful massages over are being rubbed across every inch of their-"

Nemuri felt herself sputter to a halt as something pressed against the top of her head, her cheeks flushing a bright red. Tensei had just…

"Did you just kiss me?"

"Only on the head. You were being adorable, trying to fluster me with sexual things, so I decided to hit back," Tensei admitted, grinning like a madman, "It's nice that I have some power over you too."

"F-f-f-f-f-ahuck," she managed, not even sure how else to articulate how aroused and affectionate she felt towards him right then.

"Don't get too hot and bothered," he chided, booping her nose with a finger, "And keep it PG-13, okay honey? You don't want to scar some kid into becoming a lecherous villain."

Despite him taking a good deal of wind out of her sails, Nemuri calmed down. She could make innuendo and have her fun later. Right now it was about them as a couple, not as lovers, and despite Tensei's implications they wouldn't be using every inch of his home as a lever or proxy bed: she was certain he was just teasing.

Letting him lead her along, Nemuri let out a breath, relaxing into his warmth and the beauty around them. The lights of the city, the periodic trees and people helping to make everything seem a little more lively, and even the multi-colored cars racing along the road. She was surprised more people didn't recognize them. Then again, without her mask or his helmet, and with her usual, wild bedhead tamed into a gentle ponytail which reminded her of her most buxom student, Nemuri supposed they didn't look anything like Indelible and Midnight.

Tensei brought her to a stop outside the little, background theater which few people probably noticed beyond whatever movie was being advertised which they would stream later. Nemuri had to admit, she never really saw the appeal of streaming new releases. Aside from the obvious double entendre which was beneath her, a movie theater was an experience which couldn't be replicated so easily by the average citizen's phone or tv. True, she could afford an actual theater in her house, but it wasn't quite the same with no one to share it with.

"So, what cheezy superhero romp will you be showing me today, my dear?" Nemuri asked, deciding to run with the theme of "lovey-dovey couple with no concept of what sex even was" he'd been going with tonight.

"Oh no, you're not getting away that easily," Tensei chuckled back pointing to the poster boards.

Narrowing her eyes a bit, Nemuri gasped as she saw what he was indicating. The image was one of a stereotypically burley actor, his arms extended towards the sky as feathers exploded from his mouth. Really, it wasn't exactly well composed from an artistic perspective, and his arms were a bit awkwardly positioned for the situation.

Shouldn't he be clutching at his throat or something? she wondered for a moment, before recognizing the name at the bottom.

"Quirk Awakening III!?" she gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth in glee, "How did you know I wanted to see this?!"

Tensei grinned and jostled her a little, giving her hand a squeeze as her fingers found his.

"You were always one for Horror movies, and I remembered you were extra excited when the original came out back in third year," he reminded her, "and since the original director came back for a last hurrah after the… sequel incident… anyway, I figured you'd appreciate it more than the dumb car movie sequel 1500 or whatever they're on now."

Nemuri giggled, leaning up on her toes to whisper into his ear.

"You know I first started liking Horror movies because it gave me an excuse to curl up or make out with my date, right?"

"Are you threatening me with a good time?"

Oh Kami, I'm going to marry this boy if he doesn't stop.

"I'm just saying, even my first girlfriend said I was pretty good at turning any movie into a blockbuster once my lips get involved," she teased, tracing his jaw with a finger, "of course, my last boyfriend never took me back to the movies after I made him watch Quirk Awakening: Nazi Winter."

"That was the prequel-ish thing, right? The one about an alternate history or something during World War II?" Tensei checked, evidently not 100% up-to-date with the franchise.

"No, no," Nemuri explained, tracing a lot of nothing into his collar as she spoke, "That's Industrial Awakening. Nazi Winter was where the guy awoke a necromancy Quirk at the same time as II supposedly took place, and a whole bunch of bodies from Operation Barbarossa started doing the whole zombie apocalypse thing. Really cheesy. Awful effects. Fair love story in the background."

"Ooooooh, so that's why the post-credit scene had the guy limping in the snow," Tensei recalled, remembering the end of the first movie which had never tied into the second in any way.

"You got it, cutie!" Nemuri praised, winking and pointing at his face, "Now come on, lets see what happened since the last time everything went to shit."

"As you wish."

Grabbing his hand, Nemuri dragged Tensei up to the ticket counter, feeling so young and full of energy, a far cry from how she'd felt at the end of 1-A's art period. He just energized her somehow, electrifying her body and spirit with his presence and little acts of affection. A glance sent shivers down her spine. A little twitch of his fingers made her tighten her hand in return, desperate for his touch.

The teenager at the counter barely gave them a second glance, getting them their tickets and directing them to which theatre would be theirs. Nemuri almost asked him what he was doing this far from Musutafu, before realizing his hair was brown, not green, and he wasn't Midoriya. Before she could call attention to her mistake, Tensei managed to drag her over to the concessions with an imperious look.

"I'm thinking a nice big bucket of popcorn for me, and a little one for you," he said, patting his thigh slightly to indicate the calories he absolutely shredded through, "Do you want any drinks or candy, my sweet?"

"I think I'd rather just steal from yours, letting our slick fingers meet in the darkness," she winked, before thumbing back at the cups, "But I'll take a tall blue one by myself. We'll need all the fluids we can stomach, I promise you that."

Shaking his head in acceptance, Tensei went up to get their confections. Such a good boyfriend, following her directions and treating her like a lady. He had everything she was looking for, kinks and otherwise.

Letting her eyes roam, Nemuri drank in his appearance. A simple button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled twice at the end to show off his forearms, silver dress pants, and just a hint of his chest from the open collar; but he wore it like a god. She felt a little underdressed, which wasn't usually an issue for her.

She'd gone for a simple sundress, but suddenly the transparent paisley swirls on her legs and the minimal flower pattern at the hem felt like an overly-large t-shirt and socks. Should she have worn a gown? Maybe heels? Oh, this ponytail looked so silly on her, didn't it?

A pair of hands slid around to her waist, and Nemuri started. When had she lost focus? She didn't even realize Tensei had bought their things. She'd meant to carry the drinks for him.

"You're beautiful just how you are," he whispered into her ear.

"Damnit, am I picking up Midoriya's muttering habit?" she hissed to herself.

"No, I can just tell."

She felt suddenly very warm in her chest, none of the heat wasted on her loins as Nemuri heard those words. How long had she loved him for? Seconds? Minutes? Years? Eternities? She couldn't say, and it didn't matter. It was true now.

Hugging back, she placed a kiss on his cheek as a silent thank you.

Once the moment passed and she could get back to teasing, Nemuri pulled away, twirling around him to pick up the massive bucket of popcorn from atop the counter he'd balanced it on, walking backwards so she could watch him as she retreated towards their seats. Leaning her head down, she deftly snagged a piece of popcorn with her tongue, managing not to contaminate the rest but still making the act seem as dirty as she could manage.

Seeing Tensei falter was worth every carefully balanced step she'd had to take, worried about running into something or someone and looking like an idiot. Once she'd got her reaction, Nemuri turned to face the right way, plucking a kernel from the top and flicking it into her mouth. As she led him to their seats, she was sure to sway her hips too, wondering if she could get him to pent up; he'd forgo dinner altogether and just carry her straight home. It would be a sad way to end the evening, especially with a romantic dinner to play footsie during missed as a result.

Settling into one of the chairs on the side, Nemuri waited for Tensei to curl up next to her. Her jaw dropped into an aghast expression as he instead took a seat one away from her, reaching over and depositing the popcorn container into the hole formed between the back and the cushion, preventing the need to hold it. She might have rushed around to sit on his other side, but he'd taken the edge!

"No fooling around until after the refill," he informed her with a grin of pure evil.

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

"You can't prove that," she huffed, taking a massive handful and trying to eat it daintily instead of just tipping the bucket and swallowing it all so she could get back to her new favorite spot.

Despite her worry, they did manage to make a fair dent into the popcorn before the previews ended. By the time the film proper began though, she was able to forget about losing her Tensei cuddle spot.

It was a pretty standard plot for the series. A Quirk sparked to life in someone who wasn't prepared, and the outrageously high-output and impossible power sparked crazy things. As always, the terribly wonderful CGI and wonderfully terrible makeup on the initial scene was wonderful, showing the true visceral feelings of an awakening. It was nice to see the original cast come back in mentor roles, and treated respectfully, surprise surprise.

Tensei's fingers brushed a few unpopped kernels, sending them spinning along the bottom of the barrel. Both of them stiffened, glancing at each other as they settled to a stop.

"I'll go get a refill," he whispered, lifting the bucket out of the chair.

There was a touch of fear in his voice, and the way he was speedwalking away certainly seemed like he was running away. Oh dear, she felt a familiar urge, only barely fed by the hyper-gore projecting on the wall.

He stalled when he returned, seeing Nemuri stare at him with her sadistic grin. Before he could run, she crooked a finger at him, summoning him. Tensei couldn't disobey, so she didn't bother him as he came back, sitting down and replacing the popcorn. He glanced at her in terror, before trying to focus on the movie again.

The moment he was comfortable, Midnight stood up. She stepped over to him, standing directly between him and the screen. Before he could say a word, she lowered herself onto his thighs. Getting comfortable in his lap, she leaned towards his face, her breathing ghosting his mouth.

"I'm going to save our first kiss for a special moment," she tortured him, sliding a finger drown his lips tantalizingly slowly, "Otherwise I'd have you moaning my name right now. So, instead, I'm going to be using you as my chair. Be sure to stay comfy for me."

With that, she twisted to bring her legs around so she could lay against him while remaining in his lap. Reaching down, she brought his hands to her waist like a seatbelt before grabbing a handful of popcorn to munch on while they finished the movie.

"Ooh, extra butter. You're gonna fatten me up, spoiling me like this. Then again, maybe you'd like me with a little more… bounce?"

The soft hiss of steam from his ears was music to hers.

"I swear it was them!" Yu protested, folding her arms as they got up from their seats, before a pointed look from Shinji made her pick up her little bag of popcorn and empty cup.

"It could have been, or it might just be an older couple. Do you really want to go ask and get found out?" her tripply wooden boyfriend asked.

"Oh… fine," she sighed, tossing her trash into a bin and quickly snagging his free hand, "But you owe me some Tea on our next date."

"You can have tea at the restaurant," he promised, lacing their fingers together in that tsundere way of his.

"Not tea like the drink. Tea!"

"Now you're just saying words. Not even talking, just saying words."

Groaning, he tugged Yu out of the theater, nodding his thanks to the janitor as they headed in to clean up whatever the patrons had left on the floor. It made Yu shiver, thinking of what dumb teenagers and old people did when nobody was watching, and how others had to take care of it after. Luckily, she had something to distract her tonight.

Shinji was such a gentleman. Always holding doors and chairs for her. True, he had five years on her, which made the physical side of their relationship a pretty slow one, but… she was patient, and he was worth it.

Allegedly they were dating in secret until she turned 27, so it would be less odd to be dating him, and she'd have a better establishment under her so people wouldn't accuse her of seducing him for her career. Technically speaking it was absolutely true, and Yu understood it well enough, but she loved to tease him about it; saying it was just because he was embarrassed of her or because he was shy. The fact she could fluster him with such simple taunts made her grin.

"You know, I could probably get away with kissing you right now," Yu prodded, trying to get him to tense up or lighten up, whichever, "If you took your scarf down a little, I could plant one right on your cheek, and nobody would ever know."

He stiffened even more than usual, which was a bit of a challenge for someone made of wood. She laughed and simply gave his hand a squeeze. They weren't there yet, of course. He hadn't even shown her his face, after all. Shinji had told her when they first started dating, just about ten months ago actually, that he thought his real face was ugly and repulsive, which was why he wore the mask so casually. He said that Kamui Woods was his real face, and that what was underneath was just the sap.

Personally, she kind of liked when he was a sap. It was sweet to see him trying so hard, and almost as much fun to reward him with a hug or praise he seemed to take to heart. She still wouldn't apologize for stealing any of his captures, of course (that was marriage-level talk, right there), but he knew how much she liked him. Plus, Yu loved her some maple syrup, so his face probably just needed some sugar.

Damn, that came out way kinkier than I thought it would. I need to spend less time around Midnight. Stupid interviews…

"What is it?" Shinji asked, evidently noticing her expression darken as she thought about the elderly Heroine who thought she was still new talk.

"Nothing, just… thinking about the tv spot I did," she tried to brush it off.

"Takeyama, it hasn't even aired yet," he objected, "It can't be that bad."

"Well, I suppose it depends on if you like the idea of your girlfriend showing some skin on national television?"

The way he stumbled in shock was too cute.

"You-"

"Midnight and I got into a little spat and she ripped my sleeve and stuff, they want to edit it down a bit and the corporate side's kind of fighting to have it declared private property so they can use it to feature it in an adult film or something," Yu waved it away, "Why did you think they had to delay a few weeks?"

One of his hands vanished into the shadow of his hat, rubbing at his face.

"I can't leave you alone for a second…" he groaned.

"I'd rather you never left me," she agreed with a bit of a sing-song tone, trying to get his mind off the issue.

They continued strolling towards the little hole-in-the-wall Shinji had found some weeks back, filling the silence with whatever small talk came to mind. The one thing that made Yu impatient with their relationship had to be their talking patterns. No doubt, she liked to chat with the people she loved, but she wished she could get to the point with him where they could just sit in silence and not feel awkward. How was she ever supposed to cuddle him if she couldn't shut up and just enjoy his presence?!

Luckily for her sanity, Yu didn't have time to worry about their lack of growth as a couple for too long. They had to face the ever-dreaded conflict of: the lobby.

It was only moderately packed, especially for a Friday night, but it still sucked. So many people, and all of them talking! Some weren't even talking. She might occasionally just say words (which was totally not what she was doing, thank you Shinji) but these people just babbled. They were making noise for its own sake.

"Easy girl," Shinji whispered, giving her a little nudge.

"Easy for you to say, Nishiya," she grumbled back, but tried to relax and just enjoy being there with him instead of focusing on other people.

Still, he was right. She didn't want to go all Ultraman on the place and expose not only their love life, but also probably get her into more trouble with her agency. Despite her best efforts, Yu still had a bit of a property damage problem. She was trying her best, okay?

Wobbling from side to side, Yu tried to think of something to say. Something worth saying, of course, but… well, she didn't want Shinji to think she was boring. Sure, he knew she wasn't boring, and she knew he knew, but that was… at work. On dates like this, she wanted to show him that she was more than Mt. Lady. She was… cool, right?

"Right this way," a polite voice cut into her thoughts.

Yu blinked and realized they were being led to a table, Shinji giving her a little tug so she wouldn't be left behind. It was a subtle thing, not making a scene out of her lapse in concentration.

So considerate…

He'd want to pull her chair out for her, of course, being the gentleman he was, but Yu had other plans. The moment the hostess indicated their table, she slid her hand from Shinji's and tugged one of the seats back for him. She grinned at him and gestured dramatically to the cushion. Shinji just stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Just sit down, Nishi," Yu told him, rolling her eyes.

She couldn't see his frown, but she could hear his sigh as he took his place at the table. Getting him in just far enough was a bit of a challenge too. She didn't want to squash him, but leaving him too far back would be rude. She hadn't realized how much of an art chair-pulling was. Yu hadn't given him enough credit.

"You are aware I'm not paying for your dinner because of that," he informed her, a hint of a smile in his tone.

"Are you still on about that?" she asked, sighing and picking up a menu, "It was one vendor. And I really didn't have anything on me, okay?"

"Then you should learn how to prioritize your outfit a little better."

"Hey, they haven't cracked how to make me support gear yet," Yu whined, folding her arms in a huff, "Size-changers always have the roughest time of it. You're lucky you're so versatile you don't need gear."

Shinji seemed about to speak, but Yu cut him off with a finger.

"And your mask doesn't count, that's just outfit dressing. It's like my horns, they don't do anything other than look cool."

He let the point pass, browsing the folded menu himself for a moment. There were quite a number of delicious items, but Shinji was right: she had to keep on-budget tonight.

Once they'd ordered, the awkward silence came back, filled only with the ponderous sips of water and tentative glances around to see if someone would recognize both or either of them.

"Does it hurt, going so big?" Shinji asked out of the blue.

"Hurt?" she caught onto the word, desperate for something to break the tension, "Um… no, not really. Kinda relaxing, all things considered. Lounging around in giant form would be awesome. If I could afford a place big enough for a mega bed or ultra couch, I'd totally buy it. Why, does it hurt to use yours?"

"Not anymore," he said, his head shifting just a little in the way that told Yu he was looking away from her face, "But it's still a little painful when someone snaps my branches. I used to have a bit of a mental block, actually. I didn't like using my wood on things bigger than me because I was afraid it would crack or get broken off."

"Bet you never had any accidental building replacement costs then…" she grumbled.

"I actually heard about that," Shinji chuckled, "you were so excited to make it big, you got big inside your agency and broke the ceiling, right?"

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore."

Letting him have his laugh, Yu pouted. Sometimes he would make fun of her. He didn't mean anything by it, probably, and she got her fair jabs in too, but… it still bugged her in the moment.

A hand touched hers on the table, but this time she recognized its source immediately. The rough grain of the wooden fingers were unmistakable, and she quickly grasped them in turn.

"You know I'm only teasing, right?" he checked, that adorable caution returning.

"'Course I do," Yu assured him, "It's not like I haven't made a fire pun or two recently."

Shinji nodded, but the action was hesitant, almost self-assuring. Part of her Hero thinking considered how he'd said his Quirk had been limited by his fear of being hurt.

"Hey, Shinji?"

That caught his attention, and his eyes met hers instantly, the intelligent and intense gleam of his irises shining out from beneath the shadows.

"You don't have plans tomorrow morning, do you? I mean, patrol in the afternoon like always, but… your morning's clear, right?"

A sort of hesitancy filled what little of his expression she could see.

"I'm not asking for anything too crazy," Yu promised him, holding his hand tight to try and reassure him, "I just, um… would it be super crazy if we didn't go home tonight? Just, ya know… found a place in the countryside and relaxed? Slept under the stars or some sappy shit like ya do?"

"You want an impromptu camping trip?" Shinji clarified, confused.

"Sure, let's go with that."

"Wouldn't sleeping giant tell everyone who you were? And if I was there, wouldn't it be way too obvious that we're… together?"

Yu waved the concerns aside with a hand.

"I'm not planning on doing that. I just wanted to, ya know… it'd be colder outside and maybe you'd be willing to cuddle… a bit," she admitted, glancing at her empty plate, "Maybe then you wouldn't be so scared of me… or scared of us."

He respected her enough not to lie and say he wasn't scared, which made her feel better about the whole thing. But he also seemed like she was asking for a step a little further than he was ready for.

"It's not, like, a requirement," she explained, worried he'd feel pressured into it, "I just, um… wanted to see if we could try something a little more personal, that's all. I'm okay taking it slow, so if I'm pushing-"

"I can't tonight," he cut her off, his voice barely making it around the brim of his hat as he pulled it over his face, "But… next weekend I have some time off. There's a bit of private land some Heroes own who owe me a favor. I could probably convince them… and you'd be able to forget about the paparazzi…"

Oh, his being embarrassed was so cute! She had to do something for him to thank him.

"Thanks, Nishi," Yu whispered, giving his hand a final squeeze.

["In other news, the rising star: Mt. Lady was spotted attending the romantic eatery: Interdit Amour,"] the reporter said, indicating a rather plain-looking woman who barely resembled Mt. Lady, ["Her companion was seen escorting her from the nearby entertainment mall, specifically the theater. Though their identity has yet to be ascertained, the proximity to the Idaten Agency has led many to speculate she is in an illicit love affair with the 1st place winner of "Midnight's Most Eligible Bachelors" for over seven years."]

Minoru snorted. Indelible wouldn't be so stupid as to cheat on Midnight-sensei. Mt. Lady had to be with someone else. He had to figure out who, and warn the poor soul.

["When confronted by our reporters,"] the tv continued, ["she became both flustered and angry, increasing her size and damaging both her attire and the pavement."]

The screen changed to a video of Mt. Lady growing, her clothes tearing as her expression became one of horror. She sprinted out of frame before she got too big, and only the barest hint of her skin starting to show as she ran for the hills.

Minoru felt himself caught between the urge to watch closer, his hormones pumping with adult levels through a child's frame, and the desire to hide as her size increase triggered his fear of women who could kill him. Luckily, only the barest edge of her bare behind was shown before the screen cut, and he could get back to studying.

["We were unable to continue the interview, as an unknown method caused a majority of citizens present to be rendered unconscious. Due to the pink mist caught on this amature footage, it's believed to be the Quirk of the Pro. Hero: Midnight, though she was not seen near the area, and holds a known disdain for Mt. Lady, and thus it is unlikely she would have aided in her retreat."]

Man, these guys were idiots. Women were the most deadly of demons. Alone: they were able to level any lifestyle or person, but they were rarely alone. Women traveled in packs. They were like the worst dangers of bears mixed with wolves. Of course Midnight was on her date there, and of course she stepped in.

Changing the channel, Minoru heard about the reports from Hosu's recovery, but that wasn't interesting. Uwabami was there, but she was kinda boring. An older lady, kind of an airhead, and not really that pretty, if he was being honest. Sure, he'd tap that, but at this stage in life: he'd sleep with just about anybody with a pulse and… who wouldn't kill him after.

A commercial for female hair conditioner came on, speak of the devil, but he decided to watch it to see if Jiro looked any less bland in makeup.

Minoru's jaw hit the floor.

Jiro and Kendo seemed utterly at home in the commercial, their bright smiles almost literally stunning him. They just… exhuded confidence, those erotic jacks twirling just like the others' hair, her own just curled at the ends in a simple design that really freakin' fit!

"Holy… Uwabami made Jiro hawt!" he shouted, dumbfounded, "She's some kind of miracle worker!"

Tensei opened the door to his apartment, inhaling anxiously. That was… a lot. Poor Takeyama, getting into an argument with Nemuri and then… Poor Takeyama.

"I guess tonight… could've gone better," he apologized to his date as she stepped in after him, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion, "Thanks for helping her out like that."

"Please," Nemuri groaned, plopping down into the nearest chair, "I hate the bint, but I'm not gonna let horny paparazzi get pictures of her naked when it's my fault she was already on edge. I just know Mineta's going to watch their channels, so making sure he's not getting ideas is part of it too. That's probably gonna be my excuse when she asks, too. Takeyama knows what he's like."

Humming in agreement, Tensei closed up, heading over to put on the water for some tea. He didn't have much, but his tea maker and collection of flavors could match it with the best of them for comforting people.

Nemuri kicked off her shoes, groaning as she stretched and throwing in an occasional moan just to try and tease him no doubt. Tensei didn't mind it. She was cute when she was trying so hard to fluster him.

Pulling over a pair of cups and saucers, Tensei poured up some simple sencha, before stepping over to offer one to his date. She accepted with a grateful nod, blowing on it for a second before taking a grateful sip.

"Aw… this is heavenly," she said, appreciatively.

Nodding in acceptance, Tensei took a sip of his own.

"You know," Nemuri said, her tone thoughtful, "one of my students named herself after this tea. Sencha-flavored Hero, she went with."

"Tea-based Quirk?"

"No. Even better," she grinned, "She said it was because it was a pun on her name, her hair color, and the fact she's broke, when I asked her about it later, but I happened to hear her best friend start calling her: Sen-chan a few days before."

Setting her tea down, Nemuri squirmed in her chair, squee-ing joyously.

"So youthful! The young love between the little gentleman and the timid lady! It's enough to make my heart go all fluttery, and my panties get soaked!"

"Nemuri…" Tensei warned her.

"Oh please, I'm no crib robber," she waved him off, "It's the romance that's got me riled up, not the kids. Besides, neither of them are really… well, they're not going to be stealing "Sexiest woman alive" from me any time soon."

"You won that seven years ago!" he protested playfully, earning a laugh.

"And I've been banned from the competition ever since because they know I'd still win!" she agreed, giving him a finger gun.

It was… probably a lie, but she was so earnest about it he didn't dispute her claim.

Tensei shook his head, sitting down beside her and sipping on his own drink. At least her mind was off the disastrous end to their date.

Aside from a few bits of idle chatter, they spent the rest of their tea in silence. It was nice, comfortably enjoying one another's presence.

Then the tea was gone, and the silence began to knew what he had to do, but that didn't make it any less nerve-wracking. He stood, collecting the dishes without a word and rinsing them. Nemuri hadn't said anything about leaving, nor had she made any indication she was planning on driving home. He certainly wouldn't throw her out, which meant she was staying the night. And if she was going to stay the night, and on a second date… well, he wasn't exactly stupid.

"Okay…" he sighed, drying his hands and steeling his nerves, "Go nuts."

"Hm?"

"Just… whatever you're planning. Go crazy. I'm all yours."

Nemuri turned in her spot, giving him a confused look. Tensei fought the urge not to roll his eyes as he held his arms out.

"You like being dominant, right? So… direct me, I guess."

Her bewilderment turned into a tender smile. Nemuri turned and stood, walking over to him and placing a finger on Tensei's chest.

"Alright. Dom it is," she decided, grinning, "Do you promise to obey me tonight? Totally, instantly, without question, and without deviation?"

Swallowing down his rising doubts, Tensei nodded.

"Good boy. Now then: carry me to the bed. Bridal style will do."

So, he knelt and picked up his date as instructed. His bedroom was attached to the hall, but since his apartment was built on top of his agency: it wasn't far. He was careful to set her down gently, not really sure he was into her whole whip stuff.

"Again, very good," she praised, kicking her bare feet lazily, "Now, let's see about those pesky clothes of yours. Shirt and pants off please. But leave your boxers and socks."

Tensei had expected her to go for something a little more intense, but evidently she didn't perceive warm ups the same way he did. He unbuttoned his shirt and loosened his belt, Nemuri's eyes glued to his face. Was she not even going to watch? Maybe she was going to go for denial or something?

"And how about you get a little prize for being such a gentleman?" she offered once he was sufficiently stripped down, "You can take off my dress and leggings. I won't judge too much if you feel me up."

He didn't take her up on that. Instead, Tensei tried to respect her body as much as possible as he slid her dress over her head and leggings past her feet. He felt his face turn very red as he noticed her rather… intricately designed underwear.

As his face neared hers, Nemuri leaned up and whispered into his ear.

"You can kiss me, you know," she offered, a bit of worry hidden in her voice, "Unless you find me so unshapely that you're repulsed?"

His reassurance was swift and absolute, his lips finding her cheek and then her lips, pressing her down into the sheets.

"Don't ever doubt that I think you're the most gorgeous creature on this Earth," Tensei promised, pulling away as he threw her dress off the bed.

"Good. Then pull that quilt over us," she instructed, fluttering her eyes seductively.

"Won't it get in the way?"

"If we were going to have sex it would," Nemuri admitted, "But you're not ready for me yet. I can wait until then."

Tensei wanted to protest that he was most certainly ready, when a finger touched his lips.

"'Sei, it's okay to be hesitant," she assured him, "and it's okay not to be ready to expose yourself that way. I'm not here to judge you or test your bravery. Tonight I want you to know how much I… damnit, I want to cuddle and kiss you to sleep. I want to show you that I… I love you, Tensei. "

The self-sacrifice of her favorite activity, all for him, and her confession on top of it were too much. Sliding his arms under her, Tensei spun Nemuri around to sit on top of him, while he was on the bed. She let out an adorable gasp of surprise as he twisted them about, but it was cut off as he tucked her into his chest in a loving hug.

"I love you too, Nemuri," he whispered into her hair, pulling them both higher onto the bed, "That is, if you aren't teasing me."

As he loosened his arms, she gave him a chiding smirk, before leaning in to kiss him again.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Grabbing the quilt, Tensei covered their bodies, helping his girlfriend get comfortable as they cuddled and settled in for the night.

"You know, I really wouldn't mind it if you want to have sex," Tensei offered a final time.

Nemuri yawned, nuzzling his shoulder a little.

"I'll leave you a few love bites if I wake up in the night and need a snack, but don't push yourself tonight. Besides, you're really comfy without that silly shirt on."

"Ya know, Kyo," Itsuka sighed, folding her arms and looking over the assembled group outside her father's dojo, "When I said to bring some friends, I didn't think you'd assemble a half-dozen students. I'm smart, but I'm only one gal here."

Jiro smirked and sent her jacks over to the group, tapping a few heads and beckoning them over.

"What do you take me for?" she asked, grinning quietly, "I made sure to bring help."

Itsuka recognized a few of the 1-A students, to her own surprise. Their Vice-Representative, who she'd met from time to time: Yaoyorozu, the first and second place winners of the Sports Festival: Uraraka and Midoriya, along with the tail-guy in the Gi who'd helped her with the civilians in Hosu. Ojiro, she thought she recalled.

The four bowed slightly, while Jiro smirked at her.

"I'm guessing you didn't come alone either?"

Sighing in defeat, Itsuka pushed open the door and allowed them in, revealing the additional eight 1-B students within. Of course, the resident class antagonist immediately caught everyone's attention.

"Class 1-A?!" Monoma screeched, leveling his hands like claws to ward off evil spirits, "At last we see your true colors: coming to spy on our secret training session!"

Raising a hand, Itsuka walked over and chopped his head between her flattened palms, discombobulating him for long enough to get a word in.

"I invited Kyoka-chan here," she informed them all, ignoring the suddenly wide eyes of Shiozaki, "Just like I invited all of you. Now we're going to be kind to one another and avoid fighting until I say it's sparring time, or I'll have to ask you to leave. We good?"

A series of quick nods from either side assured her that no one else would be a problem.

"We good, Monoma?" she asked the boy hanging by his collar.

He grumbled something half-intelligible, but it sounded vaguely like agreement. She took it as a yes and set him down.

"Great!" Itsuka beamed, "Now, let's get everyone acquainted. Kyo, if you'd be so kind to start off with your group?"

Playfully sticking her pinky-finger in the air as if flipping Itsuka the bird, Kyo stepped in and gave a quick intro as to who was there and why.

"I'm Jiro Kyoka, mostly just here because I want to make sure I'm up to snuff for a test next week. I'm probably not gonna be leading any discussions, but I'm not gonna be giving out blank stares either," she introduced herself, before gesturing to the people who followed her.

"That's Yaoyorozu, she's our Vice-Rep, and probably gonna be the one helping Itsuka with most of the practical stuff. Hands off, she's-" Kyo cut herself off, noticing Shiozaki and smiling more softly, "She's… on reserve. After her we have Midoriya, he's gonna be helping with English, History, and practical stuff later. His hetero-life partner: Uraraka, I'm guessing she's gonna be schooling us on physics and chemistry later."

Midoriya tilted his head in confusion, not unlike a puppy, while Uraraka's face went bright red and she looked about an inch from tearing Kyo's head off. The 1-B students meanwhile, stared at the obvious couple-to-be; not getting the joke until they realized Kyo was teasing them.

"Behind them are my second-bestie: Kaminari, and Ojiro: Kaminari's bestie. I kinda screwed them over in a practical lesson, so this is part of my apology. They're here to try and build up their combat skills, or in Jamming Whey's case: not fail the next test. Koda here's shy, but he's a wizard at Japanese and Art, so I asked him to come help us out there, and lastly we have Sato: who brought snacks!"

The last four boys seemed a bit bashful at being called out so blatantly, but they waved politely enough, and Sato did indeed have a boxy suitcase rolling behind him that spoke to tasty things in their future. Itsuka decided she liked them; even Midoriya, to her surprise.

"Nice to meet you," she greeted them on 1-B's behalf, despite knowing Shiozaki was probably waving and Tetsutetsu was definitely giving them his best "manly thumb hello", "I'm Kendo, 1-B's Class Prez and Big sis. I'll be running most of the study with Yaoyorozu, but probably just helping you learn to punch safer."

Thumbing back at her compatriots, Itsuka decided she'd be a little more kind with her introductions.

"This is Kodai Yui. She's my best friend and our resident quiet girl, so don't be surprised if she just speaks in soft hums. I'll warn you now though: she's a taskmaster with Heroics."

"Mm."

"Shiozaki Ibara's next to her, you probably recognize her. She's gonna be helping with sparring later, but her Japanese and Science skills are top notch too."

"Hello everyone."

"After that's Monoma Neito, as you probably noticed," she sighed, glancing at the still limp body of her most consistent headache, "He's here for "motivational purposes" in his own words. I wouldn't put it past him to have known you were coming and being here just to keep an eye on all of you. Sorry in advance."

"Hrrrghrngah… 1-A…"

"Indeed," Yaoyorozu sighed, seeming put out at his reaction.

"That's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu in the back. I think you already know him a bit, what with the whole "palette swap" debacle. He said he wants to be a punching bag today, so… go nuts, I guess?"

"Enduring damage is Manly!" he confirmed.

"Honenuki Juzo's the guy next to him. He's a pretty good mathematician, but he's mostly here to keep an eye on Monoma."

Honenuki just gave a nod, his teeth firmly clamped together.

"Shishida Jurota's gonna be my assistant in the written study," she continued, indicating the furred student standing closest to the front.

He too just nodded, though it was more of a respectful bow restrained to his neck.

"Kaibara Sen's gonna be testing everyone's defenses in the practical section, and needs extra help with Art and Math," Itsuka winked, leaning in to whisper loudly to Kyo: "He gets distracted by Midnight and Ectoplasm's legs."

Kaibara didn't appreciate her addition, and threw a spare eraser at her, bouncing it off her ponytail and pouting. She waved him off, and looked around for the last member of her group.

"That just leaves me-" a voice came from atop Yaoyorozu's head, cut off by a scream of surprise and then a shout of pain as a steel bar emerged from her hand and came whistling down onto Kuroiro's head as he emerged from her black hair, knocking him free.

"I'm so sorry!" Yaoyorozu apologized, realizing who it was who she'd hit.

"I'm not," Itsuka admitted, picking him up off the ground and setting him beside Monoma, "That's Kuroiro Shihai, by the way. He's… Kuroiro."

"Present…" he agreed, holding his head where a bruise was no doubt forming.

With introductions out of the way, Itsuka decided to get started. She had them all grab some floor and pull out their various notepads and books, before pulling out the projector and dropping the screen.

"Okay, let's start with Math. No need for you all to be asleep when we get to the hard stuff," Itsuka decided, turning to look at them, "Who's willing to teach and who needs help?"

The class 1-A students blinked in surprise at being asked so bluntly. Evidently their class wasn't as comfortable being honest with one another yet. Luckily, her side showed them the way.

Kaibara held up his hand, not ashamed to admit he was having trouble. Honenuki and Shishida meanwhile came up to stand beside Itsuka, all three looking over at the little knot of 1-A's. That might be a problem…

As Itsuka opened her mouth to dismiss her question though, Yaoyorozu stood up again and came to stand with her. Kyo's jacks jabbed Kaminari's neck, and he raised his hand as well. After a moment, Ojiro brought his up as well, seeming a little nervous about admitting it. Closing her mouth, Itsuka smiled at them all.

"It's okay to need help, guys. That's why we're here. If we all had the same skills: we'd be -t Heroes, right?"

A few of them chuckled, and she felt the air get a little more comfortable. She was practicing her group-influence like Uwabami taught her, but 1-B already listened to her. Now though, she could tell she was actually improving.

So they got to work.

They started with Math, obviously, trying to avoid shorting out Kaminari or making Kaibara's head spin too much. Luckily, Yaoyorozu seemed to have a knack for putting it into terms they'd understand, and between Kyo and Shiozaki translating whenever she got too complex: things turned out alright.

Kyo had to get Midoriya to rein in Uraraka when they got to physics; her enthusiasm for thing related to space almost turning a discussion about gravitational pull into orbital mechanics, but otherwise Science went pretty smooth as well. Kaminari was surprisingly clever when it came to chemical bonds, which made Kyo smile like a proud mama when Shishida was the one giving a blank stare for once.

The language studies were interesting though. While Midoriya had offered up excellent tips on pronunciation and helped even Honenuki sound more relaxed when speaking English, Japanese proved more of a challenge. Namely: that while Koda was indeed a genius when it came to formal Japanese, they had to play a bit of a game of telephone with him.

Koda signed another apology, positively shaking as he tried to explain. Yui just stared at him while he worked, before nodding and letting out her usual response.

"Mm."

Itsuka sighed, rubbing at her forehead. Most of her class wasn't up to snuff on JSL, and even she was kinda rusty. Yui's explanation confirmed what she'd guessed, and clarified a little, but it was still kind of slow.

"No, you're alright Koda," she apologized, giving him a kind smile.

He scrunched his face a little, signing about wishing he was better as explaining things.

"It's not your fault you can't talk," Kyo assured him, patting his shoulder, "Plus, we get you man. It's just taking them a second to get to know you like we do."

His lips quivered, and for a moment Itsuka wondered if he was going to need a second to let out some emotion, when Kyo seemed to stiffen in surprise. She looked at him in shock, leaning in a little to whisper something. Itsuka was about to take the lesson back so they could talk privately, when something happened she didn't register for a second.

"S-sorry…" said a new voice, barely loud enough to catch her attention.

Itsuka's eyes went wide as she realized it was Koda himself, still shaking but quite clearly speaking.

"I- oh… I'm not good with lots of people," he whispered, hunching in on himself a little as he adamantly kept his eyes on his knees, "I thought I could be… if I was brave…"

Kyo was already giving him a sideways hug, so Itsuka decided not to impose. Instead, she just gave them a few seconds more silence, a swelling of pride coming up in her chest as she realized the others were keeping any thoughts to themselves so Koda wouldn't be overwhelmed.

Eventually, he managed to help them get back on track again. He kept mostly to just answering questions though, since that limited his speaking time. Still, it smoothed over the process considerably.

Midoriya and Yaomomo (as she'd asked to be called) both had to be pulled off their lectures about History, with Yaomomo citing the Sengoku Jidai period as the most influential time in Japan, while Midoriya adamantly declared it the early Hero Formation period. Eventually though, Shiozaki and Uraraka combined their puppy-eyes and calmed them down, with Kyo doing her best not to be helpful and simply watching the show.

Itsuka decided that Art would probably be best if they broke off into smaller groups for a bit and enjoyed the snacks Sato had brought. As it turned out, he had pound cake, cinnamon bread with frosting, muffins, and gummi bears. She decided the last three subjects would be done outside, since cleaning crumbs out of the mats would be nigh-impossible.

Predictably, they formed into little knots based on class. Itsuka sighed and got her muffin, sliding over to a patch of grass on her own, a bit between Yui and Kyo. She wasn't solitary by nature, but she was finding it harder and harder to actually make… friends. 1-B all saw her as an older sister figure, which was fine, but it didn't really make it easy to confide in anyone or have an actual relationship. 1-A were all pretty much strangers aside from Kyo, Ida, and Yaomomo, maybe adding Ojiro in now they'd met twice.

"Mm," Yui growled, sliding up next to her and giving her a baleful glare.

"Wha- I'm not being moody!" she insisted, watching as Yui's eyes shifted to the definition of "doubt."

"I dunno, Itsuka-chan," Kyo teased, sliding over and throwing an arm around her shoulders, "Sitting by yourself like this when your best friends are only an arm's length away? Seems pretty mopey to me."

Deciding she didn't have the energy to explain why she was fine, Itsuka started channeling her aura into driving the others off. Uwabami had only just sent her the training videos, and they'd talked about it the weekend prior.

["When you've got to deal with somebody out of your league: it's best to make them think you're the one who'd beat them, and let them do the running away."] she'd said, ["Just don't oversell it."]

Nothing happened.

"Cute, but slithery tricks don't work on the cold-blooded like me," Kyo teased, wiggling her jacks around over her hair like Uwabami's snakes.

"Mm. I just don't care," Yui said, not treating like her speaking was a big deal as she turned her back to Itsuka and firmly planted her spine against her shoulder.

Kyo pulled away soon enough, winking at her and not-at-all-subtly flicking her eyes to Yui relaxing against Itsuka's side. She didn't retaliate immediately, instead waiting for Shiozaki to timidly shuffle over to the little knot of 1-A romantics. When the vine-haired girl half-whispered her request it sit with them, she let out the loudest and most drawn-out coo of her entire life.

"Awwww… aren't they cute together, Monoma?"

While Yaomomo and Shiozaki blushed crimson, and Kyo threw gummi bears at her with surprising accuracy, Monoma merely harrumphed and turned away.

"W-we're not together!" Shiozaki insisted, much to the disheartened expressions of all three at her admitting as such.

"I was talking about the Lesbian Couple," she teased again, enjoying how Shiozaki sputtered at that.

Yaoyorozu frowned, her confusion overcoming her embarrassment. Itsuka was pretty sure she could hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to figure it out.

"I don't believe that's particularly correct," Midoriya interjected, frowning at the sky as he started talking oddly fast and quieting down as he sped up, "After all, a lesbian couple would require two females to be in love without romantic attachment to male counterparts. Yaoyorozu is a Bi-Pan, Jiro is a Bi-Bi, Senchan is straight, I'm straight, and though I don't know who or what Shiozaki finds attractive, even assuming she was a full lesbian: that would make it impossible to generate a lesbian couple from the five of us. Senchan and I are eliminated immediately from consideration, but presuming Jiro and Shiozaki, as the closest definitions possible with Shiozaki acting as a sort of "wild card" for the moment, then it would still only be sapphic, as Jiro is still capable of finding attraction to a male. However, the point is moot as both Jiro and Shiozaki are simultaneously romancing Yaoyorozu, which would create a polycule most often referred to as a Triad, which cannot be a couple of any kind as it contains three components, regardless of all three being of the-"

On instinct, Itsuka chopped down to knock the guy out before he had an aneurysm, but to her surprise: he jumped back right before she would have hit him, avoiding the blow. However: as he moved he seemed also to activate his Quirk, flying backwards and impacting the concrete walls that cordoned off the open-air training area. She hadn't noticed back during the festival, but his body projected a green electrical field as he flew. Neat.

"Hey!" Uraraka protested, before twisting to look after him and then rush over in concern as he rubbed at the back of his shoulder blades, "Deku, are you alright?!"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm okay," Midoriya groaned, sitting up a little and stretching his back.

As she fussed over him, Itsuka shook her head and sent Kyo a questioning glance.

"He mutters sometimes," she said, shrugging, "It's actually usually pretty helpful, if you can catch what he says."

Making a small but silent "ah," Itsuka turned back to watch the two turn incredibly red as she touched his hand to help him up. They quickly whipped their hands back to their own, looking at the ground as they walked back over.

"Good -d, they are a Lesbian Couple," she whispered to Yui in exasperation.

"Alright, now it's Midoriya's turn again," Kendo informed them all, waving their attention to the man in question as the 1-B guys started packing up, "Anyone else with something to offer for physical training: come on up as well and we'll get sorted."

Mashirao turned around in his spot, about to ask Kaminari to let go when he saw the poor guy had fallen asleep. The electrical student had his head on the poof of hair that ended his tail, arms wrapped around and pretty much cuddling the appedage itself. It sent a flicker of emotion through the martial artist's heart.

Since Kaminari sat directly behind him, Mashirao's tail was almost always in his face, but rather than protest, they'd come to an arrangement in the second week. Kaminari was able to keep any static from getting in his hair by absorption and also wouldn't make a big deal of it when he needed to see somewhere the tail was otherwise blocking. In exchange, Mashirao had to let him let out his nervous energy by playing with the tail in lessons. He was fine with that.

Somewhere along the line, Kaminari started sitting behind him out of habit even when they weren't in class, messing with the little tuft of hair and even hugging the tail itself. At first, Mashirao wasn't sure what to make of it. Now though, he found it kind of adorable.

His friend trusted him, and it wasn't like the free hugs weren't nice. Hagakure, his best friend other than Kaminari, had even said they were cute when a drowsy Kaminari would let Mashirao lead him around by that method. It got his cheeks a little hot when she said that, which didn't make a lot of sense.

He'd been noticing lately that Kaminari's cuddly nature was having an effect on his facial blood flow. He'd investigated the possibility he was touch-starved, of course, but he received plenty of physical affection in the form of high-fives from his buddies and hugs at home. His mother had suggested he might be discovering a bisexual side, but he'd investigated that as well. No male body made him feel anything but kinda awkward, while those of the opposite sex made him the usual nervous and flustered most guys were.

When no reasonable answer was forthcoming, he decided to let it just be for a bit. He wasn't super bothered by it, in any case. Still, he did think about it as Kaminari treated his tail like a teddy bear.

Giving it a little shake, he woke his friend as gently as he could.

"Kaminari? Midoriya's ready to help you with your Quirk," he told him softly.

Rousing himself just barely, Kaminari blinked the sleep from his eyes and nodded, not quite wearing his "whey face" but pretty out of it. He gave Mashirao's tail one final squeeze as if saying goodbye, then pulled away to stand up and stretch.

As he went to turn back to the front, Mashirao noticed Jiro and the vine-haired girl… Shiozaki, that was it; the pair of them were also asleep. Or rather, they looked asleep. Jiro's right jack was plugged into her phone like usual, while her left was in- Shiozaki's ear? He realized they were listening to music by that point, but it just seemed so odd to have the strand of flesh plugged into someone's ear as opposed to an electronic device or flush with whatever it had stabbed.

Turning to make sure he was ready at least, Mashirao packed up and set his bag by the door, before grabbing his gym outfit and heading into the changing room to get ready. They'd all dressed relatively casually for the study session, but he was pretty sure it would be better not to tear his new jeans.

Once everyone was assembled, Kendo offered up the trainers. Midoriya, herself, Monoma, Tetsutetsu, & Kaibara.

"If you wanna practice martial arts since you're not well-equipped for combat, come see me," she informed them, pointing to the nearest mats.

"If you want to practice your Quirk against itself to get a new perspective: see Monoma."

Kendo pointed to the other side of the room.

"If you want to practice offense: Tetsutetsu."

He got the third corner.

"Defense: Kaibara."

The boy revved his hands, spinning them like drill bits and a manic grin as he took the final corner.

"Lastly: Midoriya's gonna be outside if you want to try… "expanding your Quirk?" she checked, clearly not sure what it meant.

While Kendo was clearly unsure about the option, most of the others in the room seemed intrigued. Even the other three who were looking to teach seemed interested in the idea. Seeing their reactions, she sighed and frowned in what looked like contemplation.

"Okay, how about he does his stuff first then?" she checked with everyone, looking around and getting some nods, "Alright: floor's yours green-y."

Giving his friend the thumbs-up, Mashirao watched him take to the mats, timid and uncertain as ever. He was positively shaking as the room went quiet and everyone looked to him expectantly.

Mashirao glanced over to Uraraka, who was giving Midoriya encouraging nods, before realizing he'd probably asked her not to step in and help him for this. They were certainly excellent friends, but he'd seen how adamant the two of them were at not using the other as a crutch, but as mutual support.

"Ojiro? Kaminari? And, ah… Shiozaki?" Midoriya asked tentatively, "Could you come up first?"

Blinking in surprise, Mashirao pointed to himself in confusion. Midoriya nodded, and he stepped over, a bit wary himself now. Kaminari followed, having reattached to his tail for a moment before suddenly releasing it. He wasn't entirely sure if he was grateful or bummed out, and that was a very strange sensation. Shiozaki seemed the most surprised of all of them.

"Um… Kaminari, can you put your hand on Ojiro's tail hair for a second?" Midoriya asked, clearly a bit nervous about his suggestion.

Glancing back as his friend, Mashirao offered up the appendage. He was a bit worried, but he trusted them. Kaminari laid his hand in the fur, reflexively petting it a little.

"Kay," Midoriya swallowed, before nodding, "Kaminari: I'd like you to generate just a little electricity. Don't discharge it, but kind of coat your hand and his fur in it."

Kaminari paled at the suggestion, shaking his head and withdrawing his fingers from the hair.

"I could totally hurt Ojiro, man! That's not cool!" he protested.

Mashirao wasn't super-excited about it himself. Midoriya seemed about to shut down and forget the idea, when Shiozaki placed her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Evidently it was green versus blonde today.

"Um, I don't want you to get hurt, but this will help," Midoriya insisted, turning to Shiozaki, "Here. Could you shock one of Shiozaki's vines?"

His buddy seemed more inclined to try that, Shiozaki's explanation of how her vines acted as a ground during the science section clearly coming to mind. Kaminari took ahold of her vine, shot her a wink she immediately frowned at, and let loose a visual jolt of electricity.

Shiozaki didn't flinch as he crackled as best he could, the vines immune to his energy.

"Now try Ojiro's tail. Don't let go of Shiozaki's vine either. Just the hair, and not so much," Midoriya said again, "I promise this will help his Quirk."

Kaminari glanced to him questioningly, and Mashirao held up his tail. His other hand went into the fur again, and he breathed carefully, clearly very nervous.

"Okay. Kaminari, you need to coat your body in electricity. Just a little bit."

Swallowing, the shocking blonde closed his eyes and let out a little surge. Ojiro's tail poof stood on end, supercharged with static, but otherwise nothing happened. Shiozaki's reaction was even less.

"See?" Midoriya praised, gesturing to the tail, "he's not hurt."

"Yeah, but… isn't that because he went so low?" Mashirao asked, glancing around and getting some nods of agreement.

Midoriya stepped over and reached out, his own green lightning crackling to life as he neared Kaminari. He brought a finger just shy of Kaminari's arm, withdrawing as a loud snap sounded through the room, a golden arc appearing and clashing violently with the emerald.

"Kaminari's still generating electricity," he grinned, though he was waving his finger wildly in an attempt to get feeling back, "Shiozaki's vines aren't affected, but neither is your tail. I heard you complaining about how the static built up along it, but then Kaminari started playing with it to help absorb it. The little hairs along your tail act like sort of conductors, allowing you to absorb and release electricity into the ground through your feet. If you want to add a new aspect to your Quirk: I'd recommend having Kaminari try discharging into your tail instead of sucking it dry. Building up your ability to carry static might open new doors."

Mashirao looked at his tail in disbelief. He'd never even considered what properties his tail held.

"As for you, Kaminari:" Midoriya continued, grinning giddily, "letting out your electricity through your hands like this should help you become more precise when you fire off your shocks. Since Shiozaki is insulating your left hand, and Ojiro's drawing on your right, you should be able to get a feel for how it feels when your energy moves from one part of the body to another."

Lastly he gave Shiozaki an apologetic smile.

"A-actually though, there's no real benefit to you here, Shiozaki. Sorry, but I needed your vines," he admitted.

She seemed to take it well.

"No problem, Midoriya," she nodded, smiling kindly, "It is my joy and my privilege to aid those who require my power."

She went to sit down, detaching a vine for Kaminari to keep using, when Midoriya stepped forward, his hand moving to grab her arm before pulling back without even reaching her. Shiozaki noticed the motion though, and stopped to look at him with a polite question in her eyes.

"I do have something for you though," he said, glancing around before finding Kaibara and gesturing him over.

"Mineta said you were able to make a giant fist on par with Mt. Lady if you used all your hair?" he clarified, nodding at her hair.

"Or a marginally smaller one and still have some left over. I also must anchor myself with my vines when going that large, or the weight overcomes by shoulders," she confirmed.

Mashirao watched with interest, not really able to move as his tail and body became accustomed to the charge of electricity.

Midoriya checked how the vines' weight affected her first, before having her divide her hair into two portions. One she was told to reach as high and far as possible outside, testing if her vines could support themselves in some way, while also testing her control at range. The other was to form a constant fist and push it towards Kaibara.

Kaibara, meanwhile, would have to shred the vines with body parts he hadn't considered before. Rather than just spiraling his arms, Midoriya had him spin his forearms while attempting to keep his hands still. At first he attempted counter-spinning his wrists, though that made his whole arms gyrate rather violently, which limited his ability to manipulate things.

As he looked around for some other options, Midoriya's gaze alit on Monoma, and his expression lit up.

"Monoma-kun! Why don't you help me?" Midoriya asked, his suggestion oozing kindness and enthusiasm.

The copier's reaction was not as upbeat.

"Slacking off on your self-proclaimed duties, 1-A?" Monoma snarked, "I think not."

Midoriya sagged a little, though not as much as when Bakugo insulted him.

"Oh. Okay. I just thought that you might be able to improve your ability to recognize strengths and weaknesses of other Quirks, so when you saw them in the field, even if they were new: you'd be proficient with them."

Kendo gave Monoma a smug look at that, while he sputtered in indignation at both of them.

"I can absolutely perform that analysis far quicker and more accurately than you!" he insisted, getting up and moving over to Yaomomo, "You should attempt to generate objects within your body! Here: create a gun with the barrel emerging from your arm but the rest in your body so you can just fire it without holding onto it!"

She seemed quite flustered at the idea, and tried to protest the idea by generating a beanbag shotgun from her arm, only for the object to remain completely imobile as she leveled it at him. Then it finished coming out and fell into Jiro's hands, who fired it into Monoma's chest without hesitation. Had he not turned to steel with Tetsutetsu's Quirk, he probably would have been knocked to the ground; winded and with bruised ribs.

"Foolish 1-A! You have to generate it so it will fire on its own!" he berated her, only to freeze and begin vibrating violently as Jiro's jack pierced the steel of his chest and jolted him until he shut up.

"Ojiro?" a voice asked, jolting Mashirao from his watching the others.

Glancing around, he noticed Midoriya had returned with Tetsutetsu, bringing the fully-steel and more durable boy over to him.

"I'd like you to put your hand on Tetsutetsu-"

"Dude, just call me Tetsutetsu, we're close enough," Tetsutetsu teased.

Midoriya blinked at him, before shaking his head and continuing.

"Anyway, put your hand on Tetsuract's shoulder," Midoriya resumed, making Tetsutetsu frown in confusion, "And try to release the electricity from Kaminari through him. I realized that if he's able to turn his body into steel instead of just coating it: he'll be conductive too. If the three of you channel it into one another, you should all get a better feel for how your Quirks can conduct it and possibly other forms of energy."

"Tetsuract?" he mumbled, while Mashirao held up his arm to do as he was instructed.

"Yeah. Your name is Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu," Midoriya recalled, stepping back so he wouldn't get shocked, "That's four "Tetsu"s all next to one another. So if you multiply something by itself four times: it's tesseracted."

They got arranged, Tetsutetsu having to sit at their side so he could take Kaminari's left hand and stay in range of Mashirao's. It took a bit of finagling, and Kaminari took a moment to stop outputting electricity so it wouldn't all discharge into any one of them on accident.

As all of them touched, Mashirao felt the current. The flow of power in from his tail and through his body, along the hairs and through his nerves, and then out through his and into the warming steel. His skin was starting to go numb, as were his fingers, but they felt asleep, and not dead. Not only could he feel it, he could tell when and where it caught something or went around. His heart and brain seemed to avoid the energy, or otherwise cause it to stay clear, but a little leaked out of his feet and into the ground even if he tried to make it stay clear.

He tried to stay calm, watching the others and keeping his breathing constant as his body started to recover from a bit of the numbness. Kuroiro seemed to be working with Kodai, with her growing bits of pencil graphite up to the size of boulders and then back, and Kuroiro attempting to control them and stay inside them throughout. He seemed to have trouble when it got smaller than a finger's breadth or larger than twice his size, ejecting from the object rather violently, but he was a determined bugger.

Shishida and Honenuki went outside, and after a few moments: a raging beast was fighting and flailing in the softened yard, clearly trying to escape the pit while the recommended student tried to continually soften the mass to prevent it. Mashirao noticed that even while raging: Shishida was restrained. He didn't roar, and his eyes were perfectly calm.

Uraraka and Jiro seemed to be tormenting Monoma while Yaomomo continued to try and make objects half-inside her and half outside. Her attempts didn't seem to be working, with a small pile of objects starting to appear at her feet and a more and more tired expression overcoming her face.

"That just leaves…" Mashirao muttered, glancing around before seeing the only people actually on the mats: Kendo and Midoriya.

"Whazzup?" Kaminari asked, opening his eyes and tilting his head.

"Oh, I was just wondering how Midoriya's gonna train Kendo," he explained, pointing.

They seemed to be just doing normal fighting motions. Midoriya kept catching her punches and kicks with his forearms and shins, not really fighting back but nicely preventing her from hitting him. As a martial-artist himself, Mashirao realized they were getting a feel for the other's style. Midoriya seemed to know some Wing Chun, if he was to guess, but not much more than the basics. Meanwhile, Kendo was using some pretty well-practiced Muay Thai, her attacks starting to speed up and pushing past his defenses.

She landed a solid cross on his cheek, but Midoriya just grinned and caught the next leg, switching into a Judo twist to break her balance. Kendo hit the mat without much fanfare, but leapt up quickly; her style of martial arts not suited for fighting on the ground. Midoriya let her up, but soon realized that was a mistake as she started going wild on him, bruising his sides and arms as she showed off the gap in their experience.

And then: her fists started hitting air. Midoriya was dodging perfectly, the green lightning which wreathed his body when he turned on "Full Cowl" appearing so suddenly: Mashirao hadn't seen it. He seemed to relax, blocking or evading everything once again, no matter how quickly she threw herself into the attacks.

Kendo countered by growing a fist and trying to hit him with a wider surface area, but he moved aside like a ghost, suddenly a few centimeters taller as he floated just shy of the ground and gilded around her attack.

"For someone with a fast-acting Quirk: you're far too slow," he explained kindly, "You need to stop projecting your attacks so much."

She shrank her hands, getting her speed back as she tried to tag him. Midoriya stopped moving his body at all, simply floating and moving slightly to the side or back to dodge, making it seem supremely without effort. That pissed Kendo off.

Throwing a straight punch, she expanded her fist midway, growing it to the size of his whole body by the time it came into contact with him. His casual dodging didn't let him get clear in time, and she grinned in triumph.

"Better. But you're wasting energy," Midoriya informed her, whipping around behind her and grabbing her other shoulder.

Kendo tried to turn around, but her ultra-large fist caught too much air, and Midoriya was able to simply push her over.

"You have to be fast in attacking and recovering," he said with a smile, hovering over her horizontally, "You should also stop growing your hands to max size each time. You could hurt someone if you hit them wrong, and some areas won't accommodate it."

She turned and smirked up at him.

"Since when are you a fighter? I thought you were a goody-goody?"

"It comes and goes while I fight," Midoriya admitted, dropping back to his feet and bringing his fists up defensively.

She seemed to consider that, before turning to look at Mashirao, who tensed up in alarm and felt the electricity suddenly constrict as well, flowing more swiftly out and less quickly in.

"Tetsuract," she called, using Midoriya's nickname for Tetsutetsu, "Add Midoriya to that list."

"List?" Kaminari asked, frowning and starting to push more lightning into Mashirao's tail.

Tetsutetsu ignored the question, merely smirking at her.

"Toldja. Manly as heck, dude."

"I'm so sorry I didn't get to help you guys!" Deku apologized to her, Yaomomo, and Jiro, "I was trying to get to everyone, and then Kendo wanted to keep fighting when Tetsutetsu started overheating, and I didn't realize Monoma wasn't actually helping-"

"It's quite alright, Midoriya-kun," Yaomomo said, smiling gently and patting his shoulder, "I do have much to think about. I wouldn't mind your input after I've had some time to practice with the concepts I learned today. Perhaps this weekend?"

"I can do Sunday, but you guys might wanna do Yaomomo's stuff on your own time, since it's gonna be different from helping us," Jiro said, giving Deku the thumbs-up.

"So… the four of us this Sunday, and Yaoyo- um, Yaomomo-chan on Saturday?" he confirmed, looking at them a bit sheepishly, "Y-yeah, I can do that."

"Jammin'. I'll get permission from my old man to use my place," Jiro confirmed, smirking, "Well, see ya in class tomorrow."

"Farewell my friends!" Yaomomo beamed.

Ochako shook her head as they left, following Deku towards the train station. It had been a good study group, all things considered. Even Monoma wasn't that bad. Maybe Kat-chan had been exaggerating about him?

"I don't know what Mom's making," Deku spoke up suddenly, blushing a little as he glanced back at her, "so I hope you like it."

Jogging a little to catch up and take his right hand out of his left, Ochako gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"You know I love your mom, right? She could serve boiled locusts and I'd be absolutely thrilled," she assured him.

He smiled at her insistence, squeezing back and giving her a little tug forward. Ochako giggled a little, settling a little closer to her best friend so they were shoulder-to-shoulder as well, enjoying his warmth as the sun neared the horizon. Then Deku got his confused face, and turned to look at her.

"Wait, I thought you said you liked locusts?"

"Deku! You were supposed to forget that!" she whined, looking away and blushing up a storm as she buried her face in his shirt to avoid seeing him.

"Wh- but why would I forget your favorite food?" he asked, clearly bewildered.

"Because it's embarrassing and reminds you that I'm super poor!" Ochako said, trying and failing to hide how much she hated her social station.

Deku stopped so suddenly she almost tripped, only failing to hit the ground because he wrapped her in his arms as she fell. Suddenly she realized just how very close to Deku she was, and how nice his hands felt on her sides.

"Senchan," he said, his face all serious now, "I don't care if you're the wealthiest miser or the most humble beggar. You are my best friend; no one else. I love everything about what makes you… well, you. Your wonderful practicality, your can-do attitude, your kindness and generosity, the little things you picked up from being… well, yeah: poor. All of the things that make you Ochako, are things that make me so happy you- that you chose to be my friend. Please: don't ever be ashamed of the wonderful, spectacular person you are."

Ochako wasn't sure when she'd started to tear up, looking into his honest, innocent, loving, emerald eyes. Her entire face turned a spectacular red, and she was pretty sure the ringing in her ears was actually the whistling of steam coming from within them. Deku's expression turned the same shade as her own, and he quickly set her on her feet and took a few steps back.

"I, um… wow," she mumbled, brushing a hair behind her ear and staring at her shoes, "You really think highly of me, huh?"

"I- yeah? Did I not make that obvious?" Deku asked, his tone so abashed it was kind of adorable.

"No, no- I just, um… You're just kinda really honest, and not a lot of people are as… as good as you. It's hard to believe sometimes," she admitted, glancing up at him again.

"Oh. Sorry?"

Giggling, Ochako started walking back towards the train station.

"Only you could apologize for being too wonderful," she whispered, grabbing a pair of his fingers and pulling Deku along.

They stayed silent the whole ride back to the Midoriya apartment, Ochako taking care to sit beside him the whole time and hug his shoulders protectively when another girl noticed his muscles and not his smile. Deku's blush went down a little, but not nearly as much as it could have.

As they walked towards the building her best friend called home, Ochako took a moment to really look at him. She recalled the somewhat scrawny boy with a bright expression and broken body from the entrance exam, and some part of her still thought of him as that person. But Deku was more than he was.

While he wasn't any taller or much broader than he had been those months ago, but without the baggy jumpsuit or uniform well… uniform, to hide them: his muscles were far more defined. His posture was better, showing off the full 166 cm of his height. Deku's hair and eyes were just as green and vibrant as ever, his gentle face and freckles unchanged from when she'd first met him, but now they had a new strength. His hair had a more windswept look than simply curly and messy, only vaguely distinct from one another but definitive. His eyes glowed with an inner light, like the lightning from his Full Cowl was trapped just within: ready to burst forth and spread across his entire body at a moment's notice.

But he was also the same. His innocent expression remained the same as ever, a kindness and friendliness radiating through and even enhanced by the power in his eyes. Izuku's hands, scarred from his attempts to push himself beyond his means, were still soft and ready to reach out to anyone who might need his help.

"Do I have something on my face?" Deku asked, gingerly placing a finger to the spot where Kendo had decked him earlier.

Ochako realized she'd been staring, and quickly shook her head.

"N-no!" she exclaimed, embarrassed she'd been caught, "Aside from the bruise, I guess."

He rubbed at the spot absently, clearly worried about it. Ochako bumped her arm against his, smirking to try and raise his spirits.

"Your mom'll understand. And if she kicks you out: I can let you crash at my place. I'll serve you delicious charred locusts for dinners, and you can make us dirt-soup for breakfast."

"You don't… you don't actually eat dirt-soup, do you?" Deku checked, concern lacing his voice.

"Only when I'm up to treating myself," Ochako teased, not wanting to reveal she didn't usually eat much of anything.

He fell silent again, but instead of an awkward or embarrassed aura: Deku felt far more intense now. It was like his worrying energy and his thinking energy and the determination he always exuded had mixed and grown into something equally scary and comforting. Ochako tried to ignore it, knocking on the Midoriya door and stepping inside.

"Pardon the intrusion!" she called, "And thank you for having me, Midoriya-san!"

"Come on in Uraraka-chan!" Inko called, a warm and welcoming smile identical to her son's evident in her voice alone.

Slipping off her shoes and setting them beside Deku's adorable red boots, she jogged into the living area. Inko was in the kitchen, doing something or other with the stovetop. Ochako grabbed the All Might-themed apron from the hook, slipping it on and moving to her side.

"Where can I help?" she asked, filling her voice with some of the Deku-brand determination she'd been picking up.

The first dozen times she'd come over for dinner: Inko had silently struggled to make the food on her own, ignoring and rejecting any attempts to help from either her son or Ochako. Her most common refute was that "you don't have an apron, dear, I'd hate for you to ruin those lovely clothes." Seeing as girlfriends had a claim to all of their boyfriend's clothes, and she was his best friend and conveniently enough: a girl… well, it certainly helped.

Now: Inko just accepted that Ochako would be helping in the kitchen, no matter what she tried to say.

"If you could take care of the rice?" she asked, only a hint of resignation in her voice and mostly filled with repressed gratitude, "The maker should be almost done, and the other ingredients are in the fridge."

"Can do!"

Deku peeked in, but didn't say anything. He'd tried to help too, but once Ochako had started insisting: he'd been more and more hesitant to say anything. Maybe it was because she'd glared at him when putting on his apron for the first time, cutting off his "that's mine…" Still, he stayed on-hand, just in case, and it was sweet of him.

"Izuku? Is that a bruise on your cheek?" Inko asked, her worry suddenly coming out in full force.

"Yep!" Ochako confirmed over his squeak of terror, "Him and Kendo from the class next door got into a sparring match to help her with her Quirk, and she got in a good punch! He made sure to throw her around a little too though!"

"Izuku! I taught you better than to hit girls," Inko chided, a bit teasingly as she realized he was fine, "This is even more distressing than when I found you and Uraraka-chan wrestling on the ceiling."

That made both of them shut up, their faces radiating more heat than the stove as they recalled that adventure. Evidently Judo vs Gunhead Martial Arts while fighting without gravity made a lot of noise, and Inko had thought they were doing… something else. When she'd walked in, Ochako straddling his waist and restraining his arms as she tried to stop him from moving (unsuccessfully), there'd been a moment of utter shame and panic in all three of them. Inko had closed the door without a word, Deku had shot off to explain that they weren't doing anything, and Ochako had rolled around on the ceiling by herself for a bit, promising that she wasn't ever going to do that move again.

Rather than answering, Deku simply slid back out of sight and Ochako focused on frying the rice. Inko laughed as their silence spoke for them.

They didn't talk after that, even after Deku set the table and they sat down to their food. Inko watched the pair from over her bowl, not really subtly but also like she thought she was being subtle. Ochako glanced at Deku questioningly, flicking her eyes to his mother for a heartbeat to indicate what she wasn't sure about.

Deku checked on her as well, but he just came up blank, apologetic uncertainty in his eyes. She frowned back at him, urging him to ask her, as Inko was his mother. His affronted slide back of the head was cute, but not enough to save him. So what if she was the guest and would be more likely to get an answer? So what if she was the curious one? She'd asked him to ask, wasn't that enough of a reason?

Finally, Deku gave in, sagging a little and moving to ask his mother what was up.

Inko burst into tears at that moment, for no evident reason. Both of them leaned forward on instinct, worried about the woman who had put so much good into the world, both on her own and through her son.

"Mom!?"

"Midoriya-san?!"

Wiping at her eyes, Inko waved them off.

"I'm fine, don't get up," she insisted, pulling out a handkerchief and blowing her nose a little.

Ochako shot Deku another confused look, finding her expression mirrored on his face. The action earned another sniff and muffled sob from Inko, and realization struck her like a wound serpent.

"M-Midoriya-san!" she protested.

"I'm sorry," Inko sighed, smiling through her tears, "I'm just so happy to see you two growing so close. Soon enough you'll be getting an apartment together and I'll turn into a lonely old lady with nothing to do, waiting for you to make me a grandmother."

Deku vanished so quickly that if Ochako wasn't familiar with his habit to fly to the ceiling or into the nearest wall in shock: she would have thought he disintegrated out of embarrassment. As it was, that seemed like a pretty good option.

She glanced after Deku as he came back down, flushing at the involuntary Quirk-usage. Ochako could tell he wasn't just embarrassed, but more worried. Every time someone made some pass of them being a couple, he became terrified of her reaction, as if the idea might repulse her to the point she would leave him. But his mother would never stop, especially because Ochako knew she was absolutely awful at hiding her crush on Inko's son in front of the woman herself. She had to put an end to this.

"Deku? Can I talk to you privately real quick?" she asked, standing up and edging around the table towards the hallway, "If that's alright with you, Midoriya-san?"

Inko nodded, still taking care of her eyes. Ochako didn't waste another second, grabbing Deku's wrist and dragging his floating body after her until they were out of Inko's sight.

"Izuku," she informed him, using his name so he knew she was being dead serious, "I want you to know something. Something I know you know, but I think you need to hear."

He swallowed and settled himself on the ground, looking into her eyes and making her insides get all stirred up with emotions she really wished she could let out.

"Deku, you're my best friend. You know you're my best friend. And I know you're always going to be my best friend. No matter what."

Deku's eyes got all teary, but Ochako didn't let him cut her off.

"When someone teases us about being like a couple, you look at me with all that fear, like I'm going to abandon you over some stupid words. When the USJ was attacked, you tried to hit that Nomu-guy with no arms and nothing but a full blast of your Quirk. I remember how your eyes looked. You were fearless, and you always are when we're in costume. I believe in you, Deku, so please: believe in me."

A light seemed to go on in his head as Deku realized one of the ways she could interpret his repeated fear when they were teased. He wrapped her in a tight hug, repeated whispers of "I'm sorry" entering her ear as Ochako just shook her head and smiled. She made a fist and knocked on his back a few times until he eased up a bit.

"We already had one tearful moment today, I don't think it's healthy for you to cry that much twice in one day," she teased, cupping his cheek for a moment before heading back to the dining area.

Ochako hoped Inko would ask her to stay the night again. She politely declined whenever it was brought up before, but tonight felt a little different. Her tiny apartment where she stayed each night never felt like home, but it had at least felt like a safe place to stay. Now though… the house Midoriya suddenly felt like home. Her parents' house out in Mie still drew her with the stronger attraction, but nowhere else had ever come close before.

As she settled herself in her chair again, Ochako turned to Inko and decided to correct a small mistake.

"Midoriya-san? I, um… is the offer still open for me to call you… Inko-san?"

Alright kiddies, I hope you enjoyed everything going wrong and everything going right in all of four days. Also, anyone who can call me out on where I got the movie Tensei and Nemuri watched gets a gold star.

(There won't be another chapter this week, I just gave it early because of the holiday. Next Friday will be the next chapter.)