"THE MORNING IS HERE! THE -"

BEEP

The alarm clock that he had on the table beside his bed, set to go off at five o'clock on the dot, didn't even have any time to go off due to Izuku reaching over and pressing the button before it could blare All Might's voice for any longer than it had to. This, of course, was mostly due to the fact that Izuku was already wide awake by that point, letting out a small sigh as he moved his arm back onto the bed, and continued his silent staring contest with the dark ceiling, laying there in his pajamas while his heart beat uncomfortably hard in his chest.

The reason he was already awake? And probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep? Well …

As though he had summoned her by thought alone, his phone, which had been laying on the bed beside him, suddenly vibrated, indicating that he had just gotten a message. Feeling his brow furrow at the bright light appearing in his dark room, Izuku reached over himself to grab it, fumbling for a second and grumbling before he got a hold of it, and lifted it up, turning it on the side to see who was texting him - and as more messages began to pop in one by one, he felt his cheeks begin to turn red.

NEJIRE HADOU

hi midoriya! good morning!

today's the day! i'm so excited!

we're going to the beach!

i just remembered, please bring some sun-tan lotion! for your skin!

ooh! and your wallet!

and a towel! in case we go in the water!

and your swimtrunks! i don't think you wanna go swimming in your school uniform

wait we might not be swimming at all, i just remembered

but still bring them just to be safe!

anyway! i'll see you at school!

have fun with your run later!

can't wait for tn!

With a small sigh, Izuku slowly lowered the phone down onto his chest, turning his gaze upwards to continue to stare blankly up at the ceiling, and desperately trying to pretend that his heart wasn't trying to beat its way out of his chest.

Indeed, today was Friday. The day he would go on a 'date' with Nejire after school.

Letting out another small, shuddering breath, Izuku closed his eyes, and then swung his legs out from underneath his covers so he could sit up, shivering a bit at the cold air as he stood up and stretched, feeling his shoulders pop as he raised his arms over his head. He knew that sleep wasn't going to be coming back to him anytime soon - he'd pretty much been lying awake for about an hour now, having a staring contest with the roof while both dreading and feeling nervous about today. Two sides of himself were currently locked in combat, making his stomach feel like it was twisting as he raised his hand to rub his eyes.

Part of him was pretty much demanding he get to school as quickly as he could, and the other part of him was heavily fighting the other half to try and call in sick. He was feeling both excited to see Nejire today and absolutely dreading the moment he sees her. He was impatient for the day to end so he could head off with her to train on the beach, while also begging Father Time to put a pause so it would never come.

So he was feeling … well, to sum it up, he was feeling pretty mixed about what he and Nejire would be doing after school today.

Yawning, Izuku moved quietly out of his room, scooping up his school uniform and his backpack - which had already been filled with his stuff for after school, Izuku having a near nervous breakdown last night while simply packing it all up - and began quietly tiptoeing his way into the bathroom, moving quietly so as not to wake up his snoring father on the couch, a glance into the living room showing Hisashi lying awkwardly on his side with his blanket almost falling off him. Once he was inside the bathroom, Izuku let out another sigh as he winced from flicking on the lights, moving over to the bathtub to pull the curtain closed and start up the shower.

His mind felt a bit sluggish as he turned the dial up, wincing at the stream of cold water that he briefly ran his hand under, and then moved towards the mirror as he took off his pajamas. Dropping them into the laundry basket beside the counter, Izuku glanced up into the mirror as it began to fog up from the steam beginning to come from the shower - and felt himself sigh again at the utter dull-eyed look on his face, raising his hand and gently scratching his cheek.

He was going … on a date with Nejire. An - an actual date. These thoughts had been on his mind pretty much all week long, his mind unable to comprehend that he was going out on an outing with the girl that sat in front of him, and kept turning in her seat to smile and talk to him. He was pretty much … well, to say that he was shocked would be an understatement. He had spent the last two days in an almost zombie-like trance, walking to and from UA with a shocked, wide-eyed look that he knew had concerned Itsuka and Ochako, both of them uncertain about what was going on but still guiding him along so he didn't walk into any lampposts. Although, they couldn't really help him when he ended up staring off into space in class, only being brought back to reality by Midnight smacking him upside the head with her flogger.

But now … now the time had come, Izuku felt himself shake as he stepped into the shower, standing underneath the now warm water as he stared blankly down at his feet. Today was the day that he never thought would come - the day that he finally went on his first date.

But this … this wasn't what he thought would happen at all! He thought dates meant going to an amusement park, eating crêpes while holding hands! Not - not going to a beach where he wouldn't have a shirt on, and he'd have to see his date wearing - wearing a -

- oh, god, do not imagine Nejire in a bikini!

Izuku let out another groan as he pressed his forehead against the shower wall. So all in all, no, he was not handling the fact he was going on a date very well. Especially considering …

… well, ever since the word 'date' had left her lips, Izuku couldn't help but realize that … well … okay, look, he was a teenage guy. Many people would scoff and laugh about this fact, or outright deny that it was possible, but Izuku was not immune from thinking that girls were pretty. That girls were beautiful. That girls were … or, well, that they could be … they could be … sexy.

He was a teenage guy! Of course he would think these things!

And Nejire was … well, by all extents, she was pretty much … she was pretty much all three of those. She was cute, she was beautiful, and she could be very … er. He felt his face go very red, feeling like the steam from the shower was actually coming from his face as he closed his eyes, imagining a beautiful girl in a very skin tight costume, that hugged every curve and -

- no, Izuku, calm down! Do not imagine her like that, or he wouldn't even be able to look her in the eye today!

Letting out another tired groan, Izuku reached for his shampoo, squirting some into his hand before he began to scrub the liquid into his hair. Nejire was … very cute. Someone who also really liked getting up in his face, brushing her hand against his arm when she passed by him, smiling whenever he laughed at something Eijirou was joking about. And … well, ever since she referred to this little outing of theirs as a 'date', Izuku couldn't help but notice it even more than he did before.

Noticing … her.

Izuku wasn't an idiot, he sighed as he closed his eyes and let the water wash out the shampoo in his hair. It wasn't like he had never crushed on other people before today - once, he had a crush on a popular girl back in middle school, but her spitefully calling him a villain while some of Katsuki's cronies shoved him around had been more than enough to kill that crush completely. And it wasn't like he didn't notice beautiful pro heroines before either - Midnight strutting into class for the first time last week had made him blush a bright red, along with half of the class as well.

So no, Izuku wasn't exactly some oblivious idiot when it came to girls -


In two entirely different places in the city, both Ochako and Itsuka were startled awake by sneezing.


- and his new friend was … well … she was definitely very hard to ignore.

It was just … okay, Izuku would have to be honest with himself here, frowning slightly as he turned the dial for the shower off and began shivering in the cold air. He knew that Nejire was … she was a very attractive person. But there was one tiny problem with this situation that he couldn't help but think about.

What … exactly did he feel for her? Not - not physically, he knew exactly how he felt about that. More ... how did he feel for her emotionally.

And that … wasn't exactly an easy question for him to answer, Izuku sighed as he pulled the curtain back and moved out of the tub, grabbing his towel to begin scrubbing through the curls on his head to get his hair dried.

In truth, he knew that Nejire was unlike anyone he'd met before - someone who had completely and, without a shadow of a doubt, expressed an interest in spending time with him, something that hadn't happened since he met Ochako when they were kids. But … well, there was a part of him that was uncertain about how he actually felt about her, because they had only really known each other for about two weeks. And a few of those times, he hadn't really … had an actual conversation with her.

As in, they definitely talked in their group, and in their chat, and there were a few times they talked on their own, but that was always during class, or lunch or on their breaks. So the amount of times he had spent alone with Nejire and just - talking with her was … pretty much nonexistent.

So the fact that he didn't have an idea about how he felt for a girl he pretty much agreed to go on a date with was kind of scary.

Like … what would happen if he messed up? Izuku felt himself gulp as he lowered the towel from around his head, looking into the foggy mirror to see his nervous expression as he continued to dry himself off. It was pretty easy to appear like he had his crap together when he was with other people, but this was - this was just going to be between him and her. No Ochako and Itsuka around to make sure he didn't come across as a -

- wait.

Izuku felt himself falter as an idea came to him, staring at his reflection in shock as he paused his attempts to dry off. Maybe … maybe that was it! Nejire did kind of imply that they were just going to train, so maybe - maybe inviting Ochako and Itsuka to come with them would save him from being an awkward idiot! He definitely didn't feel awkward around them - most of the time - so asking them if they wanted to come train with the two of them would definitely help keep him calm!

Besides, Izuku let out a tense chuckle, resuming his attempts to dry himself off, he was - he was probably overthinking things. Nejire asking him on a date - she probably didn't mean it, didn't she? No way, no how! She had probably been joking about it being a date. Yeah, yeah, that made sense.

… but what if she wasn't?! Izuku let out a small whine as he smacked a hand to his eyes, hunching over slightly. What if he was underestimating everything?! Or overestimating everything?! God, what'll he do if she tries to hold his hand?! Or if he thinks she wants to hold his hand, and do something that would make their friendship awkward?!

Letting out another weak, defeated groan, Izuku put the towel into the clothes bin and began moving to get dressed, opting to wear his uniform to school and get changed there - Itsuka had plans to do a run this morning with their group, so he would just get changed into his gym stuff when he got to school. As he began doing up his tie, he glanced at his reflection, frowning at the nervous look on his red face.

No matter what he did, he knew he wasn't going to be able to calm down or think about this rationally. Either he was about to make an idiot out of himself on a date with one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen, or he was going to do something that would make his friendship with her super awkward. No in between, no thoughts of positivity here. He was either going to do something that was going to make him want to die of embarrassment, or she was going to do something that killed him of embarrassment anyway.

Opening the bathroom door again, Izuku walked out of the now steamy room completely and utterly defeated, his thoughts only on how much he was going to mess up today as he slung his backpack over his shoulders -

"Gotta say, Izuku, you're muttering a lot earlier than usual."

He jumped slightly, eyes widened at the sound of an amused, chuckling voice coming from the dark living room, and looked around just in time for the lamp beside the couch to flick on. With a yawn, Hisashi sat up from where he was laying on his side, stretching his arms over his head and smacking his lips slightly as he grinned up at his son, lowering one arm to wipe the drool from the corner of his lips and using the other to pat down his own messy hair.

"Dad," Izuku blinked, standing near the hallway in surprise. "I - oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

"Nah, I've been in and out of sleep for a little while," Hisashi shook his head, smiling as he leaned back against the couch he'd been sleeping on and lowering his voice - probably to make sure Inko didn't get woken up by their talking - "I was working a bit later than usual last night on my assignments, so - well, I'm probably going to nap this afternoon, but that's something your mom can poke me awake for later. Anyway, that's why I'm awake so early - how about you?"

"Oh, uh -" Izuku paused for a moment, glancing around at the front door and gulping a bit - technically, he still had a bit of time before he had to leave - "well, Kendou wants Occhan and me to arrive early for school - we're gonna start training for the sports festival today, so she wants us, Tokage and Kodai to go for an early morning run around the school."

"Interesting," Hisashi slowly nodded, smiling up at his son as he glanced over his uniform, "honestly, it still kind of takes me aback - last time I saw you in person you were as thin as a stick, and then when I get back, you somehow packed on all those muscles after getting taught martial arts for a year? I wouldn't be surprised if you end up bench pressing the couch at some point."

"I … don't think Mom would be very happy with me like it if I did that," Izuku chuckled a bit, glancing down at his feet. Well, Hisashi had been correct about a martial artist being involved in his training, but he didn't know a lot of the muscle his son had put on came from a much more surprising trainer.

But in any case, he should probably make his way over to the Urarakas soon to get Ochako moving as well so they could start heading to school - there was supposed to be more people coming for their run this morning, but Nejire and Yuuyu had said that they had to do something else, which made Izuku blush a bit when he thought of the blue-haired -

- wait. Wait a second.

"Well, if you've got places to be, Izuku, don't let me stop you," Hisashi yawned again, scooting a bit so he could get up and stretch his back, "I think I'll be surprising your mom and the Urarakas for once - this is the first time I've been awake before her, so I think for breakfast -"

"Uh, Dad?"

Hisashi paused in his attempt to stand up, glancing back over at Izuku when he heard the quiet and nervous tone in his son's voice. Izuku was looking away from him, but Hisashi could tell that he was tense, his shoulders a bit stiff and his hands wriggling together as a small tinge of red appeared on his cheeks.

"Er - yeah, Izuku? What's up?"

"O-oh, nothing - nothing much, just … I, uh …" Izuku hesitated again, and then reached up to scratch the scar on his cheek, "I was just … wondering if I could ask you for some - some advice."

"Advice?" Hisashi repeated, and then shrugged, sitting back down on the couch. "Er - I guess, Izuku. What's going on? Everything okay?"

"Oh, uh - y-yeah, everything's okay," Izuku quickly nodded, moving into the living room and putting his backpack down on the floor so he could sit on the couch beside his dad, Hisashi leaning back in his seat a bit as Izuku remained sitting forward, his elbows resting on his knees, "I was just … uh … I was just wondering …"

Hisashi slowly nodded, letting his son find his words. Izuku stayed still for a moment, his mouth slowly opening as he obviously tried to figure out a way to voice what was on his mind - and then he let out a defeated sigh as he decided to wing the question.

"… if … if you were heading out o-on a - a - on a date - what would you do so you don't mess it up?"

There was a good ten seconds of long silence in the living room as Izuku stared down at his socks, and Hisashi stared blankly at him. Then, as the silence started to feel more than a little uncomfortable, Izuku stole a small glance at his dad out of the corner of his eyes, and felt a bit confused at the sight of Hisashi staring at him with a look of complete surprise as he slowly blinked.

"Er … Dad? Are you -"

"You've got a date?" Hisashi repeated, and Izuku let out a small squeak as he quickly looked back down at the floor, color immediately flooding his cheeks. A smile appeared on his dad's face, one that made Izuku immediately slide into panic mode. "You've - you've got a date? Is - is it with O-"

"J-just a friend!" Izuku was quick to correct him, making Hisashi blink in surprise while his son continued to look very uncomfortable and hesitant, "Or - it - it might be a date - or - it's a - I'm - I'm not really sure."

"You're … not sure?"

"W-well, uh … no, I'm not." He sighed, staring glumly ahead of him while Hisashi leaned back and tried as hard as he could to not give away his own excitement that it was very much possible that ten years of waiting might finally be paying off, and Inko and Miwa might be doing somersaults during breakfast this morning. "She - she said it was a date, but I - I don't know, she might've been joking. I'm just wondering … well …"

"Yeah?"

"… I don't know," He groaned, folding his hands together as he turned his gaze down to the floor, "I just … I don't know if this is actually a date or not, and … and I'm not really sure if I want it to be? Or if I don't want it to be?"

"You're not sure?" Hisashi raised an eyebrow, "So … sorry, Izuku, let's back it up a bit. What exactly is going on?"

"Er - right," Izuku quickly nodded, realizing that he was leaving out a few pieces of information, "so, uh - one of my friends is asking me to - to go with her to train for the sports festival. And - and it makes sense to train together, so - so I agreed. But then she called it a date, and - and is telling me to bring my swimsuit and my towel and my - and my everything. And she's - she's really excited for it, too, and I - I don't exactly know what's going on anymore."

"I … see," Hisashi slowly nodded, his mind now trying to connect the dots - whoever this girl was, she sounded assertive, perhaps more so than he knew Ochako was. So maybe … it wasn't her? Maybe he had to call the Kendous this morning and offer congratulations?

However, before he could put more thought into it, Izuku let out another sigh.

"It's just …" He hesitated, "... I'm kinda scared that if this is something serious, I'm gonna … I'm gonna end up messing everything up. So - so how do I make sure I don't come across as awkward? Or - or scare her off?"

Hisashi gave his son another few seconds of quiet so he could wind down from how clearly anxious he was about this, Izuku taking a few seconds to try and control his breathing. With a small sigh, Hisashi slowly nodded, bringing his foot up to rest on the coffee table while giving his son a comforting smile, reaching out to pat his shoulder.

"I don't know, Izuku," He joked a bit, "from the sound of things, this kinda does seem like it's a date. Or at least, whoever this … er … lucky girl is, you sound pretty serious about her."

"I … don't know," Izuku shook her head, "and … I'm kinda scared to find out."

"Well … if you want my advice," Hisashi smiled, "if you're scared of coming across as awkward for this kind of thing, don't be. Trust me when I say this, kid, it's way easier to act like yourself instead of someone you're not."

"I'm …"

"See, that was my first mistake when I tried going out with your mom for the first time," His dad shook his head, chuckling sheepishly, "I was trying way too hard to act cool and confident, and that just turned your mom right off. I'm lucky I ended up getting a second date with her. The second time around, though, I acted more like myself, and that endeared me to her a lot better than me trying to second-guess every little thing to impress her."

"R-really?" Izuku blinked at that, feeling surprised - his parents' first date hadn't worked out? Before he could think about that, though, Hisashi patted his shoulder again.

"So I guess if I've got any advice for you," He smiled comfortingly, "you want this girl to like you for you, not someone you're trying to be. So I wouldn't approach this as a date - approach it like you're going out for a … a social outing with one of your friends. One that you might get a kiss at the end of. So just be yourself, pay attention to her, make sure she's having a fun time, and Izuku, for the love of god," He gave him a serious look, "if you go out for something to eat, do not let her handle the bill by herself. Good lord."

"I …" Izuku felt himself pause for a moment, blinking slowly to himself as he glanced away. His father's words rung in his head - act like he was just going out to hang with Nejire? Just - be himself? It didn't quite make him feel comforted, seeing as he was a ball of anxiety and hero trivia, but - but maybe it was like what his dad was saying - he was overthinking things.

It wasn't like - well, he knew that he didn't want to come across as weird to Nejire, but … well … it wasn't like Nejire wasn't a little weird either, he reluctantly thought with a blush. So maybe instead of overthinking what was about to happen, and … and fearing what was to come, maybe … instead he should just treat this as something he'd do with Ochako and Itsuka.

He just … needed to come at it from an angle he knew. He'd spent plenty of time training with them on the beach. So this wasn't much different, was it?

"I … I'll keep that in mind, Dad," Izuku sighed, leaning back slightly and turning to give his dad a small smile, "I'll … yeah. Thank you."

"Good," Hisashi nodded, smiling kindly down at his son, and then turned to look over at the wall, his own face turning pensive. There was another small silence in the living room as Izuku slowly came to grips with what he had to do and trying to feel more excited than nervous for after school, and Hisashi was fine with everything quieting down a bit - and then he said, in a low, curious voice, "Hey, Izuku?"

"Yeah?"

"I was just thinking," He shrugged, trying to come across as unconcerned, but his eyes flickered over to his son as though to gauge his reaction, "but, well … I've been curious about something for a while now, and I was just wondering if you noticed … uh …"

Izuku felt his brow furrow a bit, looking around at his dad as he trailed off awkwardly, and glanced at him again.

"… your mom, and …" He hesitated again, and then sighed and shook his head, "… and Coach Yagi."

"H-huh?" Izuku felt himself straighten up a bit, unsure as to where exactly this was going (but feeling his stomach lurch slightly for some reason), "Uh - w-what about them?"

"Oh, nothing much," Hisashi quickly shook his head, tapping his finger against his knee and watching Izuku's face carefully as he leaned back against the couch, "I was just noticing that they, uh … well, they seem to get along together, don't they? Like they seem to enjoy each other's company."

"Uh … y-yeah," Izuku slowly nodded, not entirely sure what was going on now but feeling more and more like this was a conversation that he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to be a part of, "why?"

"Oh, well, I was just … wondering how you … felt about that," Hisashi shrugged, glancing off to the side at last, "Coach Yagi, I mean. He's - he's a good guy, right?"

"Er - y-yeah?"

"Yeah, that's - that's the impression I got about him too. So I was just, uh … wondering …" Hisashi hesitated again, and Izuku was suddenly struck by the feeling that he needed to leave, and fast, "… since your mom likes spending time with him, I was … pretty much just wondering how you would feel if her and Coach Yagi were to -"

"A-anyway!" Izuku suddenly squeaked, hopping up and surprising his dad as he looked back around at him in shock. "I - I just remembered, I've - I've gotta make sure Occhan is awake, we - we gotta go soon! I should, uh - I should get going."

"Oh, uh, r-right," Hisashi quickly nodded, taken out of it and watching as Izuku quickly scooped his bag up from the floor, "I - I guess in that case, I should get started on breakfast soon."

"Y-yeah. Thanks for - thank you for the advice, Dad, I'll - I'll keep it in mind for later today. I - I think I know what to do now when it comes to Hadou," Izuku slowly nodded, beginning to walk out to the hall while slinging his bag over his shoulders, "just … keep calm and treat everything like normal. I - I think I can do that. Have - have a good rest of your day."

"Yeah, that - that sounds good, Izuku. Good luck today wiiiiiiiiith …"

Izuku, of course, was unaware of the sound of his father's voice trailing off as he realized what his son had just said, with Izuku instead opening the door and quickly stepping out into the cool morning air. As he closed it behind him, Izuku felt himself nod, determined not to let things with Nejire get awkward today, and to not panic in front of her as he began to walk over to the Urarakas' apartment -

- and being completely unaware of Hisashi staring blankly at the spot Izuku had disappeared around the corner from, half-risen up from the couch and hearing the sound of his son's footsteps walking next door.

And then, in a blank, confused tone, Hisashi asked the empty room, "… who the hell is Hadou?"


All that stuff about Izuku being determined not to let things with Nejire get awkward? And to just enjoy his time with her after school and not get anxious?

Yeah, that was pretty much out the window now. Now he was utterly terrified.

The day had ended up going by much quicker than he would have liked. Izuku couldn't help but gulp nervously as he tried to focus all of his attention on the board in front of him, watching as Tensei wrote down another note before turning to lean against the podium, chuckling and laughing about a story from last year while he was on duty. Something that Izuku would've found extremely interesting, and be writing down notes a mile a minute right now, if it weren't for the fact his gaze kept flickering from the board to the clock on the wall, and then to the girl sitting in front of him bouncing in her seat.

As Nejire let out another amused, happy giggle as she listened to Tensei's story, everyone laughing around them at the pro hero's tale about him slipping on a frozen puddle and sliding all the way down the street on his butt, Izuku found himself sweating heavily, staring blankly at the clock on the wall as he tried desperately to pretend that Nejire wasn't occasionally glancing at him from behind her shoulder in fear that he would melt in a pile of stress and terror. The entire day had been spent trying to pretend that everything was fine and he could act like a normal human being in front of her, but Nejire's excited little giggles had been enough to make him shrink in on himself like a turtle, unable to resist looking at the clock on the wall and seeing it tick down the seconds until class was finally over with a mixed feeling of excitement and dread.

Okay … it was all going to be okay. He tried desperately to go over what his dad had advised him this morning. He was going to be able to act normal when they got to the beach. They were just going to do some training for the sports festival - doing laps, that's what she said. He just needed to treat this as something he would do with Ochako and Itsuka - don't try to act confident (that wouldn't be hard seeing as he had the confidence of a guy who was bullied by everyone his entire life), make sure he paid attention to her (not that she was hard to ignore) and … pay the bill? Is that what his dad said? Er - right.

They were just going to hang out like he always did with Ochako and Itsuka.

Just … alone.

On a nice, hot day.

On a beach.

With swimsuits.

And Nejire being very, very pretty.

… oh, god, he was so -

The sound of the bell suddenly ringing above them made Izuku practically jump out of his skin, letting out a small squeak of terror that made everyone around him look at him curiously. He felt his face go red as he let out a meek 'Sorry', slowly leaning back in his seat as Nejire took the time to stretch her arms above her head, and Tensei was thankfully able to take the attention off of him as he sighed and straightened up at the podium.

"Well, I guess that's that," He chuckled half-heartedly, putting his pen down as he gave the class a smile, "I've gotta say, guys, it was a lot of fun getting to teach you all this last week or so, but looks like this is our last day. Honestly, I'm gonna miss you guys."

Mostly everyone in the class couldn't help but frown sadly at that, seeing their teacher lean over to grab his bag on the side of the podium, and there was the sound of chairs being pushed back as several students jumped up to run over to the podium. Quite honestly, Tensei wouldn't be the only one missing his presence in their class - some of Tenya's friends had wondered if he had talked his brother up when he had told them about him last week, but Tensei had blown Tenya's praise out of the water with how kind and humorous he was, especially compared to what they're used to with Aizawa.

So seeing him getting ready to leave was quite the saddening sight.

"We'll miss you, Ingenium-sensei!" Mina reached the podium first, looking like she was about five seconds from tearing up as Tensei smiled kindly down at them. "Do you ever think you'll come back to teach us again?"

"Yeah!" Pony nodded as well, balling her fists. "You're really good at it!"

"Well …" Tensei looked to the side, thinking for a moment as he gave a non-committed shrug, but still looked like he liked the idea, "… I wouldn't say right now, of course, since I have a few assignments to get to, and I'm heading off back to Hosu tonight, but … who knows? Now that I got some experience, I honestly wouldn't mind if I had to teach again. I guess if Nezu's open to having me come back, I'd love to."

"I hope so, kero," Tsuyu gave him a happy smile, "you're an awesome teacher, Ingenium-sensei."

"Yeah!" Eijirou likewise beamed up at him. "I hope you get to come back soon."

"Ah, stop, guys, you'll make me blush."

"Indeed!" Tenya suddenly threw his arm into the air, drawing the class's attention as he stood up from his seat. "I recognize that you all wish to send my brother off on a happy note, and I'm more than pleased that he's made quite the impression, but he still has to leave soon so that he can get to his train! Brother, do you have -"

"Yes, Tenya, I've got my ticket," Tensei laughed, already ten steps ahead of his little brother as he patted his costume's pocket, "but I guess you've got a point - if I end up fainting in the teacher's lounge because I passed out from how embarrassed I am from you guys flattering me too much, I got a feeling the Commission won't be happy with me."

With that, the teacher moved around the corner, patting people's shoulders or heads, or otherwise shaking their hands, before he made his way to the door with Tenya, who was obviously waiting for his older brother. With a chuckle, Tensei looked back around, raising his hand in farewell.

"I'll probably be in the teacher's lounge for a few minutes if you guys need me for anything else," He told them, "so I just wanna say that it was a pleasure to teach you guys this last week. You're all some of the strongest kids I've ever met, and I'm so excited to see what you guys can do going forward. Hopefully I'll be able to watch you guys on TV in two weeks during the sports festival, so keep training hard, aim for the top, and good luck!"

The students politely clapped for Tensei as he sank into a small bow, Itsuka having to wrap her enlarged hand around Eijirou when he began whistling loudly and hurting Kyouka's ears, and with one last wave, Tensei walked out the door, chuckling when Tenya quickly moved to follow him to the lounge (but offering no complaint, lightly smacking his brother's shoulder with the back of his hand) as the door slid closed, and everyone returned to their desks to grab their things and start heading home.

As it was Friday, they now had the entire weekend to themselves to get ready for training, but it became apparent that for a few people in Class 1A, their day at UA wasn't over just yet. Katsuki stomped through the door with the briefcase that held his hero costume, obviously headed off to do something by himself, while Eijirou wrapped his arms around Yosetsu and Hanta's shoulders as he started leading them out the door, their gym clothes in hand. Momo and Kyouka, meanwhile, grabbed their bags as they began walking out the door together, discussing places they could go to train both their quirks, and Itsuka and Ochako leaned against their desks, chatting about what they were going to do this weekend.

And yet, on the other side of the room, Izuku found his gaze slowly moving to the girl in front of him, gulping nervously as Nejire wheeled around in her seat and beamed at him.

"Sooooooo …" She tapped her feet against the floor, glancing over at the door, "… you good to go, Midoriya? Like - do you have anything you have to do before we leave? Like talk to people? Or go to the bathroom? I'd definitely go to the bathroom before we have to leave, no toilets on the train, after all - or maybe there are, and I never looked for them? But I don't think I'd go in there anyway just to be safe. But anyway, are you good?"

"I, uh …" Izuku glanced around for a second, feeling his face turning hot again as Nejire stood up from her desk - and then he slowly nodded, sighing, "… I'm … er … I don't think so. I - I think I'm good to -"

"Great! Then let's go!"

With sudden lightning speed, Nejire's hand zipped down and grabbed his wrist, and Izuku let out a yelp as he was practically yanked out of his seat by the excited girl. Barely managing to grab his yellow backpack from under his feet, Izuku had little choice but to let Nejire pull him through the classroom and right out the door, Nejire pretty much skipping as Izuku tried his hardest not to trip over himself as he attempted to match her pace lest he fall over and smack his face against the floor.

As Izuku vanished out the door, the sound of their feet moving away from the classroom fading away, both Itsuka and Ochako blinked from their desks, Ochako sitting up in her seat slightly, and turned to glance between each other. Ochako slowly felt a frown appear on her face, and Itsuka's own face became a bit cross as she turned back around and put her notebook in her bag with a little more force than necessary.

"Er … say, Itsuka, do you know what's going on with Deku and … Hadou this week?" Ochako decided to ask her, leaning back slightly in her seat as Itsuka sighed and moved her bag over her shoulder, "I swear that he's been avoiding looking at her for some reason, but he hasn't told me anything."

"I've got no clue," Itsuka shook her head, biting her lower lip slightly as she stared down at her desk for a moment - and then she quickly shook her head, letting out a small sigh as she tried to fix a smile on her face, and looked back around at Ochako.

"Er - anyway, Ochako, I … guess Midoriya's heading home with … her today. In that case, do you wanna -"

"Nope! You're ours today, Ken!"

Itsuka let out a sudden yelp as an arm suddenly wrapped around her shoulders securely, and dragged her down slightly to Setsuna's height as her friend let out a giggle. On her other side, Yui likewise hummed as she grabbed Itsuka's arm, and together, the two girls began frog marching their friend out of the room, with Itsuka sputtering in confusion and Ochako looking around at them in surprise as Setsuna flashed her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Uraraka! It's been like - an entire year since we've had something unhealthy, and we're afraid if Ken slips away with you, we'll just feel guilty. We're just gonna steal her for the afternoon, if that's okay! Just so we feel less guilty about pigging out."

"Oh, uh - y-yeah, that's - that's okay."

"I - what?" Itsuka looked between both her friends in slight alarm. "Set? Yui? What're you -?!"

"C'mon, Ken!" Setsuna giggled again, continuing to guide her friend out the door with Yui's assistance, "I've got a craving for burgers! And fries! And milkshakes! It's been so long since we've gotten to eat anything unhealthy, and Mama's hungry! Let's go get some junk food!"

"I - uh - I guess - er - but - but we should ask Ochako if -"

"Sorry," Yui shook her head, grimacing slightly, and then leaned in so she could mutter to her friend, "but … we kinda wanted to ask you something about her."

At that, Itsuka stopped, quickly looking around in alarm, and Setsuna raised her hand to pat her shoulder.

"Nothing bad," She assured her, "just … maybe something you might not want her to know about just yet. If you wanna tell her afterwards, you can - you should just hear us out first, though."

Itsuka felt her brow furrow at that, unsure, but still did little to resist Setsuna and Yui pushing her out of Class 1A's room, taking a bit of time to glance back at Ochako and give her an apologetic look as the brown-haired girl blinked somewhat in confusion. Finally, the door slid closed, leaving Ochako one of the last people in the classroom.

With a small sigh, Ochako frowned slightly, turning back in her seat as she bit the inside of her cheek. Well, there went her chances of hanging out with someone tonight, she supposed - she had thought about maybe asking Itsuka if she wanted to come over for dinner at her apartment again, so they could eat with her parents and the Midoriyas, but … well, apparently she had plans.

She had just … she didn't expect Izuku to have plans too. Or, well, more accurately, Nejire had plans, evidenced by how quickly she had pulled him out the door. So … it was probably just going to be her tonight.

Grimacing slightly, Ochako gently closed her eyes, breathing through her nose as she leaned forward to put her arms on her desk -

- but then a thought suddenly came to her, making her snap them open again as a sudden nagging feeling overcame her.

Wait … wasn't there something she was supposed to do before she went home?

Furrowing her brow, Ochako sat up so she could lean back in her seat, trying to think. By now most of her classmates had already left, with Mina, Tsuyu and Pony chatting by the pink girl's desk, so she had a bit of time to sit there and try to remember. She had a feeling that she had forgotten to do something, and now that she was thinking about it, it wouldn't leave her alone, making her sigh as she closed her eyes again.

Something about … school. Yeah, that was definitely it. Maybe something to do with the support studio? No, not there, the teachers told her and Itsuka that their costumes wouldn't be ready for repairs until after the sports festival. Maybe … she had to ask Aizawa about something?

No, not that either. Something to do with support items, maybe? Training?

… training. Yes, training! It had something to do with -

- oh.

Oh, now she remembered.

Snapping her eyes open again, Ochako sat forward in her seat, her mind beginning to race as her eyes widened. Of course - of course, she had completely forgotten. She had wanted to ask her more about it on Tuesday after she had snuck into their classroom, probably during the spar between Izuku and Mirio, but their senpai's … nakedness had completely driven that thought out of her head due to the sheer 'what the fuck'-ery.

But … but it was after school now, with nothing to do tonight. If she was still on campus …

Slowly nodding to herself, Ochako was quick to gather up her books and stuff them into her bag, pushing her seat back so she could stand up. At the sound of her seat being pushed back, Mina, Pony and Tsuyu looked around at her curiously, seeing the girl in the back packing up her stuff.

"Kero, are you leaving for the day, Uraraka?" Tsuyu called over to her, poking her lip as Ochako blinked and looked around at her.

"Huh? Oh, uh - kinda?" Ochako shrugged, giving the three girls a weak smile as she put her pens into her bag and quickly put the bag over her shoulders, "I've gotta do something, then - well, yeah, I'll probably be heading home."

"Oh, cool! We're actually going to head out to one of the training facilities here," Mina giggled, putting her bag down on her desk and pulling out her gym clothes for them all to look at, "we're thinking about practising for the sports festival while we've got time here - the teachers never said anything about us staying behind to train, and I bet UA's got a load of exercise equipment for us to play with."

"I'm gonna lift all the weights!" Pony declared, smacking her bicep while the two girls beside her let out giggles. "Do you wanna join us, Ochako-chan?"

"Oh, uh - thank you for the offer," Ochako smiled politely, bowing slightly, "but I should probably hurry before the person I want to talk to heads home. Maybe next time, though?"

"We'll hold you to that," Tsuyu flashed her the peace sign, "have yourself a good night, Ochako."

"You too, Asui!"

"Tsuyu."

"Er - right! Tsuyu!"

With that, Ochako quickly jogged out the door, waving to the three girls with a smile one more time as she slid the door shut again, and began quickly moving down the hall. With a small sigh, she tucked some of her hair behind her ear as she speed-walked through the hall - she knew that her senpai would probably be hanging around the nurse's office at this time, and all else fails, if she wasn't there, she could ask Recovery Girl to send a message for her.

So with renewed vigor, Ochako quickly began moving down the hallway, passing by a slightly open door -

"- those Class 1A idiots -"

Ochako's step faltered, however, as she passed by the open door, blinking as she registered what she had just heard. Someone calling her class … idiots?

With a small frown, she looked around at the open door, and her eyes trailed up to the sign near the top of the door - she was currently standing in front of the classroom right beside hers, so … Class 1B. And at the moment, she could hear the sound of people talking inside, a bit loudly and not sounding very pleased.

Feeling her brow scrunch, Ochako debated briefly on whether or not to listen in - it would be pretty rude, and it'd be awkward if she were to get caught, of course, but whoever was talking at the moment seemed pretty rude himself - but then, as she sighed and slowly began turning away, the sound of Yuuyu's voice suddenly speaking made her pause again.

"For fucks' sakes, Monoma, how many times do I have to tell you not to call them idiots?"

"Well, I apologize, Haya, that was my mistake. I should've just called them attention-seekers, would that make you feel better?"

"Oh, my - would you just stop with the dick-measuring contest you keep going on about and tell us why you wanted to call a meeting? Nej isn't waiting for me, so I wanna go home soon."

Ochako felt herself go still as the group quieted down - and then, against her better judgment, she let out a small sigh as she slowly moved towards the back door, gulping nervously as she leaned slightly against it and prayed that no one was looking in her general direction, and slowly peeked inside through the crack, ready to jump away at a moment's notice.

As previously suggested, the entire classroom was still full of students, despite the bell ringing about five minutes ago, although their teacher had obviously already left the room. She gulped a bit at the sight of every student staring up at the only two students not in their seats, standing up at the podium. Ochako, of course, instantly recognized Yuuyu at the side, looking annoyed and a bit cross as she crossed her arms together and tapped her foot against the floor as she leaned against the board, but it was the boy that was leaning against the podium who was obviously calling the shots at the moment, drawing Ochako's attention to him and making her feel more than a little nervous at the look on his face.

He was a bit taller than her, with neat blonde hair and bright blue eyes, but the scheming, calculating look on his face and the small smirk immediately filled Ochako with dislike towards him. It was quite odd, seeing as Yuuyu was the class rep and yet this guy clearly looked like he was in charge, his eyes scanning all of the students sitting down and thankfully missing Ochako peeking in through the barely open door.

"So," He tapped his fingers against the podium to get their attention, "I suppose you'd all like to know why I asked you to stay behind today."

"Well, duh," Came a girl's voice, and Ochako blinked as she looked around and saw … well, what looked to be a girl's school uniform with absolutely no one wearing it, the sleeves moving to cross its arms across its chest, "I gotta go home soon, Monoma, so can you hurry it up?"

"Yeah," Another boy near the window sighed, looking fairly normal except for the fact that he had no lips, and his teeth were on the outside of his skin, which made Ochako blink at him in surprise, "I do have to get to my job soon, and I'm sure that everyone else have things to do. So can we skip the theatrics?"

"Oh, very well," The guy named Monoma sighed, seemingly undeterred by his class's lack of enthusiasm if the smirk remaining on his face was anything to go by, leaning back slightly and continuing to lean against the podium, "I suppose we'll just have to skip the details so we can get to my plan. You see, I've been keeping my ears open since Monday, trying to listen to the small rumor mill that's been going around. And as you would happen to know, they've only been talking about one class ever since Monday morning."

"Oh, god," Another boy, with his head looking like a speech bubble, groaned.

"Class 1A." Monoma slowly nodded, ignoring the multiple groans that sounded throughout the classroom.

"Good lord, man," Another guy with brown hair and oval-shaped eyes looked annoyed, "I get that they've been sucking up everyone's attention, but can you go like - an hour without bringing them up?"

"Indeed," A girl spoke up, Ochako blinking at the long green vines on her head as she folded a hand against her chest, "such obsessions will be your undoing, Monoma."

"I mean, I wouldn't exactly put it like that," One furry guy at the front grimaced slightly, "but Lady Shiozaki has a point. You've been going on and on about them, Sir Monoma - it's not healthy to obsess with our other class as you have."

"Look," Monoma's smirk fell slightly, and Ochako gulped at the utterly serious look on his face as he leaned against the podium, "like it or not, they've become the talk of the school. You can't go anywhere here without someone talking them up about what happened last week."

"Uh … yeah?" Another guy leaned back in his chair, scratching the side of his black hair, "They survived a freakin' villain attack, dude. Who the hell else would they be talking about?"

"Well," Monoma's smirk suddenly snapped back onto his face, "that is exactly why I called this meeting, Kaibara. It's because we'll be taking advantage of that in the sports festival, just so we can rip the rug right out from under them."

That, at the very least, seemed to catch the attention of the entire class, their complaining fading slightly as they looked back up at their classmate, and Ochako couldn't help but gulp nervously again at the outright nefarious look on Monoma's face as he glanced around the classroom again, his smirk widening.

"You see," He continued to tap his finger against the podium, "we have multiple advantages that Class 1A doesn't have. And one of those is that they're way too busy basking in all the attention they're getting. And that's where we steal the show right out from under them. While they continue to coast on the glow of surviving against a few measly villains that got too big for their britches, we'll sneak underneath them. During the first competition in the sports festival, whichever it is, they always angle it so that over eighty percent of the competition is eliminated - so here's what I'm thinking: we'll deliberately underperform."

"What?!" The girl named Shiozaki gasped dramatically, her hand rising to put on her chest from the audacity.

"We'll underperform to lure Class 1A under a false sense of security," Monoma continued to explain, "to make them think that we're much weaker than we actually are. And then, when the second challenge comes - we rip the rug right out from under them as we ascend to the final round! All the heroes watching the sports festival will know that they should've been watching us instead."

"Okay," Yuuyu rolled her eyes as she leaned against the board, "say we go with your idea. You are forgetting one thing, though."

"Oh? And what would that be, Haya?"

"They've got Nej," Yuuyu couldn't help but smile gently at that, "and there's no chance in hell she's gonna let you kick her ass."

"Ah," Monoma tsked, looking condescending at his class rep, "but there's one thing you aren't thinking of, Haya."

"… I'm gonna regret asking, but … what would that be?"

"We," His smirk somehow widened even more, making him look even more psychotic, "have Todoroki."

The entire class blinked at that, and as one, they all turned to look around towards the back of the class. Ochako felt herself follow their gazes towards the boy with white hair sitting by himself in the back of the room, idly writing down some notes and not paying that much attention to the conversation. At the sound of his name, though, he glanced up to see everyone staring at him, making him blink as he looked around, and Ochako found herself letting out a small gasp as he looked around in her direction - letting her look at both the red hair on the other side of his head, and the faded, reddish burn mark around his eye.

"Shouto Todoroki," Monoma grinned in victory while Yuuyu rolled her eyes, "the son of the Number Two Hero. And by far our most powerful student, and the most powerful student in our first year. No offence, Honenuki."

"None taken."

"He won our battle trials effortlessly with one stomp of his foot!" Monoma cowed, grinning viciously. "With him on our side, we'll utterly crush everyone else and prove to everyone that they've been looking at the wrong class."

"You wanna rely on Mr. 'Social Skills of a Goldish' to get us to win the sports festival?" Yuuyu asked dryly, before blinking and quickly looking back around at Shouto with a slightly apologetic look, "Er - no offence, Todoroki."

Shouto, for his part, didn't really look like he was stressed from the comment, although he did frown as he let out a small sigh and began putting his book in his bag, gathering up his things.

"The heroes won't be looking at us for our social skills, Haya," Monoma smirked, shaking his head, "they'll be looking at our quirks. And Todoroki, by far, is the most powerful one here with his ice quirk. Why, with that alone, he could probably freeze all of Class 1A in place, and they'd have to watch in despair as we soak up all the attention of the heroes that we have to impress. So yes, Haya, we'll be relying on Todoroki to help us outshine -"

"I'm not going to do that."

The entire class went still at the quiet voice that interrupted Monoma's little rant, and they quickly looked around as Shouto stood up, frowning down at his desk as he put the rest of his notebooks in his bag, and cracked his neck as he looked up and aimed an emotionless look at Monoma.

"I'm not going to be helping you with this plan," He stated coldly, with Ochako gulping a bit at the utter lack of warmth or … really any positive emotion in his droning voice, "from what you've been saying, it seems like you'll all be depending on me, so … no, I'm not interested in doing that. Nor am I interested in crushing Class 1A for the apparent crime of surviving against a few crazy villains."

"Then -" Monoma started to argue, but Shouto suddenly gave him a particularly icy glare, thankfully shutting him up.

"I'm not going to be helping any of you in the sports festival," He looked around the classroom, seeing everyone either giving him nervous stares or answering him with their own glares, "because this isn't some little playground activity. It's like that one purple-haired kid said before - none of us are here to play at being friends. This isn't some kind of team effort. I'm not going to be joining you all if you're insisting on screaming for Class 1A's blood - especially when the other courses will be coming at us with everything they've got. I have my own plans for the sports festival."

The atmosphere in the room went quite cold, with Ochako gulping as everyone in the classroom stared at Shouto while he scowled right back at them. For several tense seconds, everyone was quiet - and then, a familiar guy with gray hair let out a small huff, crossing his arms.

"As much of a jerk as he is," Tetsutetsu grumbled, "I think Todoroki's got a point. It's not manly to trick everyone, so if you guys are gonna do this thing, count me out."

"Really?" Another guy with large lips looked around in surprise at him, "I … well, he is being kinda weird about it, but I don't think Monoma is exactly wrong, is he? Maybe he's got a point, underperforming in the first round could help us out in the long run."

"Maybe, Sato," Tetsutetsu scowled, clenching his fists tightly, "but after that Kendou jerk tried to rile us up on Monday, there's no way I'm gonna try and trick her into underestimating me. I'm gonna crush that asshole with everything I got!"

At that, Ochako felt her lips thin into a line, glaring at the gray-haired boy.

"While I perhaps do not share his exact motivation, I agree with Tetsutetsu," The girl named Shiozaki shook her head indignantly, "making such horrible plans … trying to trick everyone … no, I refuse to be a part of it."

"I won't either," Honenuki sighed, "I'm out there to do my best."

"Well, yes, fine," Monoma let out an annoyed sigh, the air taken out of his sails a bit, but he still turned to look at Yuuyu as she continued to lean against the board, "but my plan is solid! You four can opt out if you want to, but you agree with me, don't you, Haya? And you won't tell those idiots you hang out with?"

Yuuyu stayed quiet for a moment, her gaze falling to the floor while scowling. Ochako felt her eyebrows raise at the brief, contemplative look on her face - and then Yuuyu let out a deep sigh, sagging her shoulders, and raised one hand to scratch the side of her head.

"They're not idiots," She was sure to glare at them, "and if they ask if we got anything planned, I'll tell them. If not … then I'll keep your little strategy a secret."

"In that case," Shouto sighed, shouldering his bag, "I'm leaving now."

Ochako blinked, and let out a quiet squeak as he suddenly turned and began to walk towards the door that she had been hiding behind. Panicking slightly, Ochako looked left and right wildly, before she settled on a plan - and that was for her to very quietly and very quickly begin speed walking down the hall, feeling herself begin to sweat nervously as the door behind her slid open.

"Do whatever you want," she heard him say behind her to the rest of his class, "I plan to win the sports festival on my own."

With that, he slid the door shut again, and Ochako felt herself continue to sweat nervously as she tried to get clear of the classroom as quickly as possible, moving away as Shouto paused outside the door and stared down at his feet.

Luckily, it seemed like he hadn't noticed her at all, letting Ochako begin thanking whatever deities above helped her get away from that scott-free as she began making her way towards -

"You were listening, weren't you?"

At the sound of the cold voice speaking up directly behind her, Ochako felt her step falter again, stiffening up slightly and feeling the color drain from her face. Against her better judgment, she slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder, feeling her stomach tighten with anxiety as Shouto looked directly at her with the same emotionless yet cold face, narrowing his eyes slightly as he straightened up.

Ochako could only stay there in terror as he turned around and began walking up to her, keeping one hand on his bag to prevent it from sliding off his arm, and giving her a suspicious glare. Every part of Ochako screamed at her to run, but for some reason that icy glare kept her frozen to the floor, as though this guy who apparently had an ice quirk had frozen her in her place - so hey, maybe he was using his quirk on her.

The closer he came towards her, the more Ochako took in his appearance - standing a good head taller than her, with white hair on one side and red hair on the other. Even his eyes, she realized, were mismatched, with one gray and the other icy blue. His expression of blank coldness made her gulp nervously as he finally stopped his approach and stood before her, glaring down into her nervous eyes.

"Who are you?" He asked in a suspicious voice, making her gulp. "I think I've seen you around before, but is there a reason you were spying on us?"

"I - uh - I'm -" Ochako stammered for a moment, feeling more nervous by the second - and also feeling like this guy was about ten seconds from dragging her into his own class to feed her to the wolves - and quickly sank into a small bow. "- I'm - I'm Uraraka, from - from Class 1A."

"That right? And why were you eavesdropping on us?"

"Er - I - I didn't mean to," Ochako, for her part, at least felt guilty about that, straightening up slightly and avoiding his gaze, "I was just walking by, and - and I heard some guy in your class call us idiots, and - uh - yeah."

Shouto carefully studied her for a moment, continuing to narrow his eyes slightly as she avoided his gaze - and then he let out a small sigh.

"I see," He nodded, and Ochako, glancing over at him, felt a tiny bit relieved that some of the coldness had left his voice, "I suppose that makes sense - I think I've seen you come out of that classroom before. And Monoma is certainly … not quiet about how he views you."

"Er … I kinda got that from … yeah."

"But I'm curious," He tilted his head slightly, still clearly on his guard, "now that you know what my class is up to, are you going to tell your own?"

"Huh?" Ochako blinked, feeling herself gulp when Shouto gave her another suspicious look. For a moment, she wasn't really sure how to answer that question - shouldn't she tell them? Class 1B was specifically making plans to throw them under the bus - and then she let out her own sigh as she shrugged her shoulders, glancing away again.

"Er … Haya is … she's a friend of mine," She explained in a small voice, "I was … well, I was gonna ask her about it later, and - and get her thoughts before I do anything."

Shouto's brows furrowed for a moment as he let out his own sigh - and then he nodded, and finally looked away from her, glancing out the window.

"Alright then," He put his hands in his pockets, aware of Ochako quickly glancing up at him, "I suppose that's fair. I can't exactly tell you not to bring your class in on this secret, seeing as my class is doing something underhanded as well - but you're lucky that it was me who caught you. You were too obvious with your eavesdropping, I noticed you listening in pretty much immediately."

Ochako let out a small grumble at that, although she wasn't that surprised - hell, her sucking at being quiet was why she was going to the nurse's office in the first place - but before she could offer anything like an apology or an explanation, Shouto moved around her, making her blink as she watched him begin to walk down the hall.

Before he could reach the end of the hallway, however, he paused, and glanced behind his shoulder at her.

"Oh," He narrowed his eyes, "and what you heard from me in my classroom? Keep that in mind. I'm planning to win the sports festival, and I will not be going easy on you."

"H-huh?"

"I said," Shouto frowned, "that if you think I will be -"

"Why are you bothering Uraraka?"

Both students blinked at the sound of a familiar voice suddenly and sharply speaking up from the end of the hall. Feeling herself gulp, Ochako leaned around Shouto to see who had come across them - and felt her eyes widen in surprise at the sight of a familiar girl standing there, glaring straight at Shouto while he likewise looked around at her, and the frown on his face turned into a proper scowl.

"You're still here?" He took one of his hands out of his pockets, letting it hang near his side, "I thought I saw you walking past my classroom when the bell rang."

"I forgot my textbook," Momo crossed her arms, glaring right at him while tapping her foot against the floor, "I was just running back to get it. You didn't answer my question - why are you bothering Uraraka?"

"Y-Yaoyorozu?" Ochako blinked, feeling a bit startled by what she was seeing - she had never seen this kind of look on her friend's face. Normally Momo would have a refined air of elegance to her, either looking giddy or serious while they were doing tests or something along those lines. But now, as she stared at Shouto, there was a look of displeasure there that took Ochako aback, glancing between both students and wondering briefly about what on earth could be going on at the moment.

But before she could even think to ask, Shouto straightened up a bit, and began to move past her.

"Don't mind me," He grumbled, "I was just speaking with … Uraraka, I believe you said her name was. Anyway, I'm pretty much done for today - I was asked to stay behind for a meeting, but that ended up wasting my time. I will let my father know that I saw you."

"Indeed," Momo huffed, flipping her ponytail as she moved to the side and let him pass. "Please give my regards to Fuyumi and your brother."

"Mm-hm."

With that, the taller boy moved past her, Momo giving him a look that … definitely didn't seem very positive, while he didn't even bother looking at her. Still, the chill emulating from him was enough to make Ochako shiver a bit.

Finally, he rounded the corner and vanished from sight, with both girls listening to the sound of his footsteps moving away until they were finally left in silence. Momo let out a small sigh as she carefully raised her hands to smooth out her ponytail, and Ochako glanced over at her -

- and blinked at the small, sad look on her face, looking a bit guilty and morose. However, before Ochako could open her mouth to ask if she was okay, Momo blinked, and looked up at Ochako in surprise as a tinge of red appeared on her cheeks.

"Oh! Uraraka, I must apologize about that," She quickly walked over and sank into a small bow before the surprised girl, making Ochako back up a little bit, "That wasn't very professional of me, and - well, I'm sorry if I made you feel awkward."

"It's - it's alright, Yaoyorozu," Ochako smiled weakly at her, watching as the taller girl straightened up and looked relieved as Ochako brushed a hand through her hair, "he was, uh … y'know, kind of a jerk, wasn't he? Er - but - well, do you know him? I - I mean, it's - it's obvious that you know him, since - well - y'know."

"I do," Momo nodded, her apologetic smile vanishing again as she sighed and frowned, raising a hand to cup her cheek, "that was Shouto Todoroki - another student who got in through recommendations. I … well, I knew him beforehand, back when we were children, but … well … let's just say that our last interaction ended up being … under very unfavorable terms, mostly thanks to his family and his recent behavior. Suffice it to say that I wasn't … exactly thrilled to see him here."

"Oh," Ochako slowly nodded in understanding, "so … you don't like him?"

"I … wouldn't exactly say that," Momo glanced down at her feet, biting her lip slightly, "despite what you saw earlier. It's just … well … it's a bit of a long story, and I'm not exactly sure if now is a good time to get into it."

"I … see," Ochako frowned a bit, but still shrugged her shoulders and tried to fix a smile on her face, "Er - anyway, Yaoyorozu, I actually need to -"

"Oh, of course!" Momo gasped, quickly nodding and moving to the side to let Ochako through, "I didn't mean to keep you - I'm actually keeping Jirou waiting right now, so I should hurry. I hope you have a good weekend!"

"Y-you as well!"

Quickly, Ochako began jogging down the hall, giving another wave to Momo as the proper girl gave her a smile and quickly began moving back towards their class, opening the door and slipping inside. Ochako herself began cursing her luck - between listening in to Class 1B's plan, Shouto confronting her and talking with Momo, she'd ended up wasting lots of time, and seriously needed to hurry.

Before she moved around the corner, though, Ochako glanced back towards where Momo had vanished into their classroom, feeling her small smile from before fade as she mentally replayed what had just happened between the two recommended students.

Honestly, she had never seen Momo act like that before, she thought as she continued to jog lightly down the hallway, adjusting her pink backpack around her shoulders. Sure, fighting against that Chimera asshole had shown her that Momo could act aggressive - but she couldn't help but feel surprised at how hostile she had appeared around Shouto, even if Momo seemed to regret it. And sure, he definitely didn't seem to be the nicest person from what she saw, but to see Momo of all people being so cross with him … what on earth was that about?

But … well, Ochako supposed that could wait for another time. Momo definitely didn't have time today to go into it, and Ochako had things to do as well. She needed to stop getting distracted and hurry.

Very much thankfully, after those little speed bumps, it didn't take her long to reach the nurse's office on the other side of the building, jogging lightly through the halls and looking around to make sure no one else interrupted her on her path. To her relief, she didn't have anyone else impede her trip to the other side of the school, spotting Tensei and Tenya walking together outside towards the gate and talking happily while their substitute teacher held a briefcase; she also saw Aizawa walking around the grounds with Present Mic, and Eijirou jumping up and down on the roof for some reason - she'd watch, but she was kind of running out of time, so she kept jogging down the hall.

Finally, she made it to the nurse's office, skidding to a stop and panting lightly as she glanced up at the closed door. Once she had steadied her breath, she took another deep inhale, exhaling to try and get rid of some of her nerves, and raised her hand to knock gently.

"Er - excuse me?" She tried to ask in a polite voice, slowly sliding the door open and peeking inside, "I'm looking for Toga-senpai, is she -?"

Fortunately for Ochako, Himiko was in the nurse's office, looking around in surprise from her place near the beds. Unfortunately for Ochako, she, of course, happened to have barely any clothes on, as per usual.

"Oh?" Himiko looked around interestingly, her mouth spreading into a smile as she gave Ochako a good look at the very … well … risque bra she had decided to wear today, colored entirely red except for the two black buckles on each side. Not wearing a shirt while wearing her school skirt also happened to give Ochako a good look at her slim stomach, and if she were to look closely, she would be able to make out the smallest hint of abs.

Ochako froze for a moment in the doorway, feeling her face begin to heat up slightly, and then moved back so she could slowly slide the door closed, muttering a small apology under her breath. But alas, before she could close the door and then run for her life, the door was yanked back open, and Ochako squeaked as Himiko grabbed her wrist and began to drag her inside.

"Oh, you can't go running off now!" Her senpai giggled, pulling her in and shutting the door behind her, "Not when you're specifically knocking on the door for me! Don't mind me, cutie, I'm just getting changed - don't you get changed with the girls in your class too? I would've thought you're used to seeing beautiful girls in barely anything by now."

"I - I don't -" Ochako started to stammer, aiming her gaze up to the ceiling as she attempted to resist Himiko's pulling her in - and then gave up and just let Himiko guide her into the room, letting out a shaky sigh as her face went a bit redder, "- I was just - I was just trying to be polite and give you some privacy."

"Well, no need for that, sweetie pie!" Himiko laughed again, watching with mild amusement as Ochako pointedly turned to face the wall, and rolled her eyes as she fetched her shirt from the corner, "I think we've had enough interactions by now to know that shame is a feeling I've never felt. So just give me a few seconds to get all buttoned up - Recovery Girl's out visiting one of the zones, so it'll just be you and me."

Ochako slowly nodded in agreement to that, keeping her eyes straight ahead on the poster detailing a human's nervous system while Himiko giggled behind her. Thankfully, no other teases came until Himiko was good and ready, clearing her throat to let Ochako know it was safe to look, and Ochako peeked behind her shoulder to see that Himiko was now dressed in her school uniform - albeit without any socks on and her tie missing - and the older girl let out a relieved sigh as she sat down in Recovery Girl's usual seat, stretching her arms and purposefully popping out her chest - although Ochako, ready this time, was quick to glance away.

"So," Himiko put her arms down, leaning back in her seat and grinning up at her kohai, "this is a surprise. One of my beloved kohais, coming to see little old me after school? What's the matter? Have my feminine charms finally ensnared you? Come to ask me if I'm busy? Because for you, sweetie, I can make some time."

"Huh?" Ochako blinked. "Well, uh - no."

She winced at how bluntly that came out, but thankfully Himiko didn't seem to mind by the loud cackle that escaped her lips.

"Ouch! Shot down immediately! Well, in that case, Uraraka, what do you need a pretty young thing like me for? You were asking for me when you came in, after all - but just so you know," She leaned forward, licking her lips, "I usually ask for a nice little dinner before we have any fun."

"Er -"

"Although for a pretty girl like you, I'd be satisfied with WcDonald's takeout."

Ochako … was now beginning to sympathize with Recovery Girl as she pouted at her senpai, her face going redder and redder by the second. If she had to deal with this all day, she'd probably be bonking Himiko on the head too. Thankfully, it seemed Himiko was satisfied with leaving her teasing there, leaning back and waiting for Ochako to speak.

"Er … uh … okay. So, uh - Toga-senpai -"

"Aht, aht, aht!" Himiko suddenly interrupted. "No need for formalities around me, cutie - 'Himiko' is fine!"

"Rrrrrrright," Ochako slowly nodded, the situation with her face not calming down at all, "H-Himiko. I was, uh … well … I was wondering if … um … if I could ask you something."

Himiko slowly nodded, continuing to smirk.

"It's, uh - well -" Ochako struggled to find her words, lightly raising her hands to smack her red cheeks, "- I was just wondering if I could … er, or - or more accurately, if you could - uh - give me some … pointers."

There was a small pause in the nurse's office - and then Himiko raised her eyebrows.

"... 'pointers'?" Her smirk widened again, "My, my, Uraraka - how cruel of you. Getting my hopes up like this … tsk, tsk."

"I - what?"

"Oh, no, I get it now! You're not here for me." She giggled teasingly, "You just figured that I've got the experience, huh?"

"E-experience?" Ochako repeated, gulping nervously - while, yes, she was here to ask about some of Himiko's experiences, she had a weird feeling that they were both talking about very different things at the moment.

"Yeah … well, I'm more than happy to help you out!" Himiko clapped her hands happily together. "Now, the big question - which one of your cute little friends are you looking to get some … 'pointers' on? Is it your green-haired hunk, or your little orange -"

"No!" Ochako suddenly shouted, her face quickly resembling a beet while Himiko blinked in surprise. "N-no, not - not like that! They're - they're just my friends, and - n-no! I'm - I'm not talking about t-t-that! No!"

"No?" Himiko pouted playfully, shaking her head as she leaned back. "Well then, you're gonna have to be a little more descriptive for your clueless senpai - lest she get any other strange ideas."

"Er - r-right. Yes, of - of course. I'm - I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, T-Toga-senpai."

"You mean … 'Himiko'."

"R-right. Himiko." Ochako quickly nodded, trying to bring her red face back under control as she let out a shaky sigh - coming here was probably a mistake.

Still, it was too late to go back now, Ochako bit her lip lightly - and now that she was here, she was determined to get some answers. Ever since last week, what had happened at the USJ had bugged her - she tried her best to hide it, even during Tuesday while she had to hang onto Itsuka's hand while exploring the zone they'd nearly died in - but still, her thoughts of what she had said to Izuku that night kept ringing in her ears.

"I was weak, and I wasn't able to save you. But … but that's going to change. I'm going to get stronger so that I can - so that the next time any villain so much as looks at us, I can save you. Just like you saved me."

And if she was going to get stronger … then the girl in front of her was her way to do it.

"So … uh …" She bit her lip slightly, trying to find her words, "… so … I was just - you know, I was just wondering … on Tuesday, you - do you remember slipping into our classroom?"

"Uh-huh …?"

"Okay. So I was … I was wondering …" She gulped, and then looked at the floor, squeezing her eyes shut, and muttered, "… how did you do that?"

"How did I …" Himiko tilted her head, looking curious, "… what? Sneak in?"

"Yeah," Ochako nodded quickly, "how did you … get into my class without anyone noticing? My seat is - it's right beside the door, and I saw what you were wearing that day - you had heels on, but - but you didn't make a sound. I didn't even notice you open the door. It's - it should've been impossible for you to sneak up on Deku without anyone noticing. How - how did you do it?"

Once she finally got her question out, she continued to keep her eyes shut, waiting for her senpai's response. There were a few moments of awkward silence in the nurse's office, broken only by the sound of Himiko tapping her bare foot against the floor.

And then her senpai asked, with an air of curiosity, "Why do you wanna know?"

"I - huh?" Ochako felt her eyes snap open, quickly looking up at the older girl as she tapped her finger against her chin.

"I'm just wondering why you're curious."

"I - uh -" Ochako stammered for a second, not entirely sure how she should respond, but Himiko leaned forward again, catching her attention and prompting her to look up at the smirk reappearing on her senpai's face.

"You're wondering how I snuck up on you all," She raised another eyebrow, "and you came in here to ask me for pointers."

"Uh - y-yeah."

"So … before I answer your question," She giggled, "I wanna know why you're so curious. Is there … someone you wanna sneak up on?

Ochako quickly snapped her mouth closed, feeling her face go red - and yet, after a moment, she let out a small sigh and nodded. Himiko nodded as well, letting out another small sigh as she leaned back in her seat, and crossed her feet.

"So … let me see if I got this straight," She said slowly, enjoying playing with Ochako, "you want me to tell you how I'm so good at sneaking around so you can learn how to be just as quiet. Is that what I'm understanding, sweet kohai?"

"I - y-yeah."

"Hmmmm … well, this just raises my curiosity," Himiko giggled, "what sprung this on?"

"It's - it's something that I - I want to know how to do. As - for hero work."

"Oh, ho? So it's for training," Himiko smirked again, "I assumed you were some kinda combat hero, from what we heard about the USJ - charging up and attacking idiots left and right. You seem to be pretty comfortable doing that, so … why the change of pace?"

"Er - I, uh -" Ochako stammered again, feeling herself blush again - of course she'd want to know her reasons - and let out a small sigh. Biting her lip slightly, she moved over to lean against the desk near the wall, looking down at her feet and aware of Himiko watching her carefully.

"Because …" She hesitated, and then felt her shoulders sag, "… it's kinda … well, it's - it's actually because of the USJ I want to know how to sneak around."

Himiko raised an eyebrow, but kept quiet so Ochako could continue.

"Back there, I was … I was useless," She felt small tears begin to well in her eyes, although she was quick to wipe them away with the back of her hand, "I could - sure, I could fight against all those villains with what I knew, but … but when it actually mattered, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't save Deku from that hooded guy, I couldn't stand up to Slice when she held us hostage, I couldn't - I couldn't do anything. I had to be saved by Deku when he was literally beaten within an inch of his life."

Her senpai frowned a bit at that.

"But then … I noticed that …" She sighed again, wringing her hands together, "… that when you came in, you were able to sneak up on those villains before the rest of the heroes even got there. You managed to - I assume that's your quirk? Being able to - to transform into other people?"

"Mm-hm."

"And - and you being able to sneak around everywhere - being quiet enough that no one notices you're there until you want them to - that has nothing to do with your quirk," Ochako pointed out, getting some of her fire back as she straightened up and looked at Himiko, "that was all you. You were able to get through all those villains at the USJ, and attack them before anyone even realized you were there."

Himiko nodded again.

"So … so I want to know how you did that," Ochako reclarified, "and … and if it's possible, if you could - if you could give me some pointers on how to do it. I was useless back at the USJ, so the next time villains try to attack us - I want to be able to do more than I did before. I need to figure out how to be better. And - and I think that if I want to do that, I need to - I want to figure out how to sneak around so no one notices me until I want them to. Like you do."

Once Ochako was finally done with her fiery speech, she quickly quieted down, suddenly feeling a bit bashful at how passionate she had gotten. Himiko slowly nodded as she glanced away from Ochako at last, letting out a small hum as she tapped her foot against the ground and nodded to herself.

There was another moment of silence - and then Himiko shrugged.

"Well - I don't mind giving you a few pointers if that's what you want," She aimlessly tossed her hand through the air, smirking at the hopeful look on Ochako's face, "but if I am, there's one teeny little problem with teaching you anything."

"H-huh?"

"Your costume." Himiko leaned forward, nodding with a smile at the surprised look on Ochako's face. "See, the reason I can be so quiet is because I don't actually have a lot of equipment holding me down and making noise. Some knives, some thin strings, but nothing that would make much noise. You, on the other hand, are … how shall I say this … a bit loud."

"L-loud?"

"Mm-hm. I remember your costume from the battle trial, cutie - it's super cute, and super easy on the eyes, especially when I got a good look at your butt -"

"Can you please get to your point?" Ochako asked weakly, her blush returning.

"- but if you wanna learn how to be quiet? You're gonna have to do a little … redesign," She shrugged, leaning back in her seat and grinning, "like - for example, your boots. They're super big, and I don't know if you noticed, but wearing heels is kinda impractical for someone who wants to be a stealth hero."

"They're - they've got springs so I can -"

"Yeah, sweetie, I know," Himiko giggled as Ochako sputtered again, "but the problem is that when you want to be a stealth hero, you wanna be quiet. And wearing two giant boots that probably clip-clop all over the place isn't exactly gonna help you if you want to sneak up on someone."

Ochako slowly nodded at that, feeling herself begin to pout as she conceded her senpai's points - and then Himiko suddenly hopped to her feet, stretching her arms above her head and surprising Ochako.

"So in that case!" She giggled, grunting as she cracked something in her back and looked around at Ochako with a grin. "You'll have to think about redesigns so you can move around a bit quieter. That's not my job - my job is to teach you!"

"I - wait," Ochako blinked, straightening up slightly. "So - so you'll do it?"

"Of course!" Himiko laughed, running over and grabbing her wrist. "Now c'mon - training starts immediately! Let's get changed and head over to Gym Gamma!"

"Er - wait, what?" Ochako blinked, letting out a small squeak as Himiko began to suddenly pull her towards the door, reaching down and grabbing a pair of flip flops to put on her feet. "I - oh, t-thank you, Toga-senpai, but - but I do have to get home soon -"

"Nope! You've got me hyped up right now, cutie. Let's get to training."

"I - wait -"

Alas, Ochako wasn't able to protest any further, seeing as Himiko tightened her grip on Ochako's wrist, and ripped the door open, determinately stomping out of the nurse's office with Ochako in tow and ignoring Ochako's sputters of protest. As she quickly began attempting to keep pace with her senpai, Ochako only had one thought pass through her mind as she was pulled towards her doom.

Oh, god, Ochako gulped, why do I feel like I'm getting into something I shouldn't be?


Ooooooooh, this is a bad idea.

Izuku let out a small, shaking sigh as he stared into the mirror of the changing room, glancing down at his current attire. At the moment, he was standing in the small changing room of the beach that Nejire had taken him to, and feeling like he was about to die as he stared down at his currently shirtless body, his pair of dark blue swimming trunks and … pretty much nothing else.

He could tell that Nejire was still getting ready, feeling his face flush a bit as he heard Nejire's happy humming through the thin walls, and knew that once he was prepared, he would be meeting her out on the beach with the rest of their stuff.

And … he definitely, definitely wasn't prepared.

With a groan, Izuku quickly reached over for his white t-shirt, grabbing it and quickly yanking it over his head, feeling his cheeks continue to burn. Oh, god, it was actually happening, and he definitely wasn't ready for this. Nejire was going to come out in a swimsuit, and he knew that his heart wasn't going to be able to handle it. He could barely handle her in her hero costume, and that thing covered her from neck to toe! Albeit showing off a lot of curves that made his face feel super hot. How was he going to handle it if she came out in a one piece?

… or a two piece?! A - a freaking bikini?! Izuku quickly smacked himself in the face the moment he got one of his arms through the hole of his t-shirt, praying that Nejire had chosen to wear a school swimsuit that wouldn't make his heart explode out of his chest.

The walk over to the beach had been … well, at least Nejire didn't seem to pick up on his awkwardness, happily chatting with him as she guided him back to the train station and then onto a train that he normally wouldn't take, one that would lead them to the northern side of Musutafu that they were going to train at - a nice little local beach that no one was currently on, with gentle blue waves washing up onto the shore, and wide enough that they could easily do a few laps on.

It was pretty ideal, nothing that he would really complain about - they would probably be able to get a decent day of training in. Just … why they had to do it in their swimwear, Izuku had no idea. But … well … oh, god, he didn't think he'd be able to leave this changing room.

He let out a small whine as he sank down onto the bench, raising his hands to brush some of his hair back. No matter what he did, no matter how many times he ran his dad's words from this morning through his head, he couldn't shake away the nervousness. He couldn't help but feel like he was a bit trapped - there was no way he could just bail out on Nejire now, not now that he was this far. He felt like a coward, someone who couldn't even face a pretty girl without panicking, but …

… but he was so scared he was going to mess something up. Nejire was his friend, and he had very few of those. He was frightened that he was going to do something that would make her hate him, and would split their friend group apart. He was going to say the wrong thing and make her uncomfortable, or he wasn't going to pick up on something she said and make her annoyed with him. No matter what he thought, he couldn't help but think -

"Midoriya?"

Izuku let out a loud squeak of terror at the sound of Nejire's voice suddenly coming from the door, and quickly whipped around in horror. Luckily for him, the door had been only opened a crack, and he could make out the sight of her finger pushing it open, and a swish of long blue hair through the small opening.

"Are you okay in there?" She asked in a sing-song voice, "I can hear you muttering about something or the other - do you need help? Or maybe you're writing notes in there? Which would be kinda weird since there's not much in there to write notes about, but maybe a thought came to your head? What're you thinking about? Heroes? I think it'd be heroes since you like thinking about them, but which one?"

"I - huh?" Izuku felt himself blink, taken aback by the onslaught of questions, and then quickly shook his head, feeling his cheeks go red. "O-oh, n-no, Hadou, I'm - I'm fine. Just - still getting ready."

"Okay!" She giggled, making Izuku's heartbeat quicken a bit, and she pushed her fist through the slightly open door to give him a thumbs up. "As long as you're okay! I'll just be waiting out here with my stuff! I'll set up an umbrella from the stand so none of our things gets cooked in the sun. Just take your time, though! I'll be out here looking at the water!"

With that, she slipped her hand back out the door and let it slowly shut behind her, and Izuku heard the sound of her bare feet walking away from the changing room, hearing her hiss and mutter "Ouch!", presumably from walking across the hot concrete ground.

With a small sigh, Izuku looked back down at his bare feet, the thoughts from before beginning to come back to him - and then he shook his head again, and raised his hand to smack himself again.

What was he doing? He tried to chide himself - he thought he had this resolved this morning thanks to his dad. Don't treat this as something to panic about. Approach it as just hanging out with someone he spent every day with. He'll be fine. As long as he tries to act like himself, pays attention to her, and makes sure she has fun - he'll be fine.

Nejire was his friend. He was just … overthinking everything. As long as he didn't look at anything below the neck … he'll be fine. Just stare at her face. Her adorable, beautiful face.

… okay, he was still screwed. But he couldn't exactly hide in the shower stall forever.

With a small grunt, he managed to get back up from the bench he had been despairing on, brushing himself off slightly, took another deep breath as he moved around it, and began walking towards the door, holding his bag now containing his uniform under one arm. It was going to be okay, he kept repeating to himself, ignoring how warm his face felt. It was going to be fine. Nejire wasn't going to be wearing anything provocative. She was going to be fine. He was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine.

With that in mind, he reached out to grab the handle for the door, and with a deep breath, before he could think about it anymore, pulled it open and stepped outside. Wincing slightly as the bright sun shined in his eyes, Izuku shielded his eyes for a moment, walking down the concrete sidewalk and towards the beach, letting out a few winces of pain from the hot concrete beneath his bare feet and feeling relieved when he felt himself step on sand, and slowly, his eyes began to refocus as a familiar blurb of blue hair came into view.

Blinking slightly, he lowered his hand, seeing Nejire turn around to look at him -

- and immediately, Izuku realized that he made a giant mistake coming out of the changing room.

"There you are, Midoriya!" Nejire giggled, giving him a small wave as she stood up from her spot underneath the umbrella where she had put her bag, "I was wondering if I'd lost you for a minute there!"

Izuku felt his face immediately explode in a large blush, quickly whipping his gaze towards the ocean as she approached him. His greatest fears had been realized - Nejire had chosen to wear a bikini. And not just any bikini, but one that showed off a lot more skin than he was anticipating.

Stealing another small glance at her, Izuku felt himself gulp. The swimsuit was, at the very least, a nice aqua color, with a bit of white frilly stuff on it. And, thankfully, the bottoms she decided to wear had a small mini-skirt with the same white flannel. So at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been. And - and she looked cute! Very … very …

very … cute.

Izuku felt himself begin to shake as he took in more and more of Nejire's appearance, with the girl absently tying her hair up into a ponytail and not noticing him looking at her as she softly hummed to herself. She was … well, Izuku had expected it somewhat, but he found his gaze flickering down to her midsection, feeling like his face was on fire from how much he was blushing at the moment. He probably should've expected it from how many times he'd seen her in her costume, but Nejire was pretty … well … fit. Her stomach was somewhat slim, but not unreasonably so - he could make out the sign of abs on her stomach as she unconsciously flexed.

Against his better judgement, Izuku's gaze flicked up a bit of a ways, feeling himself gulp. The bikini top did a good job of hiding the top of her chest, but it was only now that he realized how … uh … healthy she was. And even if some of the white frilly stuff hid it well, he could make out the slight hint of her cleavage, something that made him automatically trail his eyes down -

- and curse himself as they settled on her mini-skirt. While it did hide her some of her lower body, it was still … mini. He could make out the small hint of bikini bottoms, and then his gaze flickered down to her long, slender legs, her thighs jiggling a bit as Nejire hopped up on her tippie-toes while doing up her hair, and making Izuku feel particuarily weak in the knees.

So yep, Izuku's fears were confirmed. Nejire was hot. At the current moment, her chest was the biggest problem, with Izuku now looking away as he repeated a mantra in his head as though it were a prayer.

Don't look at her boobs, don't look at her boobs, don't look at her boobs, don't look at her boobs, don't look at her boobs ...

"Okay!" Nejire finished tying up her hair, clapping her hands together and seemingly ignorant of how Izuku was sort of having a hard time looking at her as she looked around at him, stretching and bouncing up and down on the sand, "So here's what I'm thinking, Midoriya - this beach is about half a kilometer long, so if you want, we can do a few laps here and back! It's okay if you wanna leave your stuff here with mine, no one's really around at this time of day, and there isn't anything important in my bag - wait," She suddenly blinked as something came to her, "my school uniform's in here, so if I lose that I have to go back in a bikini. Huh. That's not really ideal, is it? But let's not worry about that! No need to curse our luck! But hey, hey," Her eyes trailed over to him, blinking, "are you gonna take off your shirt? It's really hot, y'know, and this is a beach! You don't have to wear it here!"

"H-huh?" Izuku blinked, glancing down at his white t-shirt with the kanji for 'sheets' written on it (something that he was unknowingly making Nejire suppress her small giggles at the pun) and then quickly shook his head, his face feeling hot, "O-oh, no, I'm - I'm good with leaving it on, if - if that's alright."

"Ehhhh …?" Nejire slowly nodded, although she had to fight down the disappointment in her voice, "It is, Midoriya, but I just thought I'd say that it's okay, anyway."

"Er - y-yeah. Just, uh … can … I ask a question?"

"Hm? Oh, sure! I mean, I always ask questions, so it's only fair if you have something you wanna ask me! What's up?"

"Why … are we wearing swimsuits?" His face went even redder, glancing down at his bare feet, "I - I would've thought that running around in our tracksuits would be better for exercise … n-not that I'm complaining! I was just curious."

"Hm," Nejire slowly nodded, looking playfully casual as she leaned on one leg and popped her hip out - something that made Izuku automatically avert his gaze from her and blush even more than he already was as she thought, "well, that's a good question, Midoriya! I guess if I had to give you a reason why we're wearing swimsuits …"

"Uh - uh-huh?"

"… it's because I wanted to!" She admitted, giggling a bit when Izuku looked utterly flabbergasted at that. "But we're wasting time now, Midoriya! Let's get running!"

With that, she suddenly wheeled around to face away from him, pointing up at the sky, and Izuku blinked somewhat as her vibrant blue hair whipped around from the force of her turning around. He found his eyes trailing back to the end of her ponytail, moving around in the air before falling to the small of her back -

- and then, automatically, his gaze went a bit further down, and got a very good look at her butt. It was still hidden by the skirt, of course, but the skirt itself was short enough that Izuku got a … pretty good picture. Enough of a good picture that Izuku was starting to feel woozy, and whipped his gaze away as Nejire turned back around to smile happily at him.

"Well? C'mon!" She giggled, and began to move away from him at a light jog. With a small noise of confusion and surprise, Izuku quickly took off after her, stumbling only a little bit, and watched as her blue hair bounced around as she ran, seeing it trail around her - her -

DON'T LOOK AT HER BUTT, DON'T LOOK AT HER BUTT, DON'T LOOK AT HER BUTT -

Needless to say, as Izuku managed to catch up with Nejire and tried to keep his eyes laser focused on the end of the beach, not looking at her at all in fear of noticing anything other than her hair bouncing, he knew that this was probably going to be the most difficult run he'd ever been on.

For the first few minutes, at least, Nejire was pretty comfortable with doing their run in relative silence, the sound of their feet kicking up sand filling the air as they ran together. Izuku desperately attempted to keep his eyes locked ahead and not look anywhere at her as they kept the same pace, Nejire likewise slowing down a little so they could run side-by-side. Soon enough, they reached the end of the beach together, Nejire tapping on a rock near the edge, and together they turned right back around so they could return to the spot they left, Nejire's long blue hair bouncing around as she ran, and Izuku, against his better judgment, attempting to only look at her from the corner of his eyes, which might be all he was capable of at the moment.

Finally, they managed to jog back to their little set up, Izuku panting a little bit but not feeling all that tired as he reached down to sip from his water bottle, while Nejire seemed … completely and utterly unwinded, letting out a happy little hum as she reached for her own water bottle. Together, they took a deep drink of water, Nejire letting out a little satisfied gasp as she finished swallowing, put back on the cap, and dropped the bottle onto the sand.

And then she nodded, putting her hands on her hips, and said, "Mm-hmm. This isn't working."

"H-huh?" Izuku blinked, looking around at her in confusion as he put down his own water bottle, and tried as hard as he could to keep her face as the only thing he was focused on. "W-what is? Or - or what isn't?"

"Our run!" She shook her head, pouting a bit as she looked around to pout into the distance. "We aren't talking to each other, I forgot to bring any music for us to listen to - nothing like that! We need something to keep our spirits up, Midoriya, or else it's gonna be like that time Yuuyu tried out for track and field and came back in like - 60th place!"

"Er - what?"

"Yeah, she didn't want to do any clubs after that, even though it kind of confused me. Like, she could have done something like an anime club! Or a drama club! But nope, she likes running, but hates it being a competition, the runners suck, something something something, she hates school. I'm not really sure how she reached that conclusion, since track and field is a bit different than school, but hey, it's probably not my place to ask. But anyway! Back to what we were talking about! Our run! No music!"

"Er - r-right," Izuku slowly nodded, trying to both stay on topic with Nejire and trying to understand how Yuuyu thought 'I hate track and field' equals 'I hate school'. "Er - I do have my phone in my bag, and - and I might have some music for us to listen to -"

"Yeah, but then it'd be wobbly! And you might accidentally drop it in the ocean, and not only will you not have music, you won't have a phone at all! And that's a big no-no to me, Midoriya, phones are important. So …" Nejire let out a small hum as she thought, tapping her finger against her chin for a bit as she looked up at the sky - and then she suddenly smacked her fist into her palm.

"I got it!" She announced. "Just running around without doing anything is boring! In that case, we need to spice it up!"

"Er - spice it up?" Izuku asked, feeling suddenly nervous, "What, uh … what do you have in mind?"

"We can play tag!"

"…"

"…"

"… sorry?" Izuku tilted his head in confusion, "T-tag?"

"Tag!" She confirmed, giggling. "You know, that game where people chase each other around? You touch them, they're 'it'? Have you ever played that game?"

"N-no, I - I know what tag is, Hadou -"

"Great! So in that case, let's do it!" She cheered while Izuku let out a noise of surprise and alarm as she slapped his shoulder. "Okay! Let's make the rules. Ummmmmmm … okay! So rule number one, my hair doesn't count! You have to actually touch me if you want to tag me!"

Izuku had several issues with that rule.

"Rule number two! Uh …" Nejire faltered then, looking away so she could think - and then she shrugged her shoulders. "… I guess that's it! Only the one rule! So let's play!"

With a giggle of joy, Nejire quickly ran over, and Izuku's gaze automatically flickered to her, feeling himself squeak in slight terror - oh, god, how did she get to him so fast?! - only for her to suddenly tap him on the chest, making him sputter as she laughed and suddenly took off in a sprint. Izuku sputtered as he whipped around to stare at her in shock, feeling his jaw drop.

"I - what?!"

"Tag! You're it!"

Izuku continued to stare at her in shock as Nejire slid to a stop some distance away, smiling widely as she patiently waited for him to chase after her. Izuku quickly closed his mouth, straightening up slightly as he glanced left and right - and then, after a moment of hesitation, cleared his throat as he took a step forward. And then another one, and then began moving in a light jog, moving straight towards Nejire as she grinned widely.

He was still a little confused as to what was going on, and feeling his face redden again as he was pretty much forced to look at her - and since she was a good distance away, he found his eyes briefly scanning her entire body as he gulped - and yet, the joyful smile that crossed her face as she realized he was playing along made some of his hesitation that had been plaguing him disappear, and he began to hurry his pace.

As he neared her, Nejire slowly began to back up, as though she were about to take off running, and Izuku felt a small smile appear on his face as he reached out, intending to tap on her shoulder -

- only to let out a yelp of surprise and stumble as Nejire suddenly took off into the air with her quirk, making Izuku nearly trip over his own two feet and wipe out in the sand. Sputtering, he quickly whipped his gaze up, his eyes widening in shock, as Nejire giggled and floated in the air above him.

"Ah, that would be too easy!" She teased him, yellow spirals of light coming out of her feet as Izuku stared up at her in surprise and exasperation. "Did you really think I'd just stay still? C'mon, Midoriya, you've gotta be faster than that!"

"I - okay, but -" Izuku felt his brow scrunch up in confusion, straightening up and looking at her in the face as she giggled above him, "- you're flying now. How am I supposed to tag you?"

Nejire's giggles faltered, feeling herself blink - and then asked, in a confused tone, "You … jump?"

Izuku stared blankly up at her for a moment, and then took a deep breath, lowering himself slightly, and then jumped up, throwing his hand in the air in an attempt to hit her foot. As expected, she was flying too far above him to even think of reaching her, not even managing to touch her toe as he fell back to the earth.

She blinked again as Izuku fell back onto the sandy surface, straightening up and shrugging his shoulders in a 'what can I do' kind of way, and she felt a small tinge of red cross her face in embarrassment as she began to slowly float down to the ground.

"Er - right, Midoriya, you're right," She sheepishly muttered, tucking some of her hair behind her ear, "I completely forgot about - y'know. I was just kinda excited, y'know? Thought we could play a bit of tag, but I completely forgot that you can't exactly jump -"

SMACK

Her apology was stopped, however, by the feeling of a hand smacking her foot the moment it got close enough to the ground. Feeling her words trail away, she looked down as Izuku smiled nervously up at her, beginning to slowly back away before he completely turned around and began sprinting down the beach.

Nejire felt her jaw drop open, completely shocked that he had tricked her - and then a bright smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, no, you don't!" She shouted, and with that, began flying at alarming speeds after him, her arms stretching out. Izuku glanced behind his shoulder at the sound of her blasting after him, and let out a yelp as he narrowly ducked underneath her attempt to smack his back with the palm of her hand, making her fumble a bit in the air - although she recovered much quicker than he expected, with her blasting backwards and trying to swat at him, causing him to quickly roll out of the way.

Oh, well this was going to be … Izuku felt himself gulp as Nejire rotated back in the air and flew straight at him with an almost evil look in her eye … something interesting.


"Order number 194?" The cashier behind the counter called, putting the tray of fast food down and looking around.

"Oh, that's me!" Itsuka smiled at her, showing her receipt, and then reached out to take the tray, "Thank you so much!"

With her food in hand, and her stomach growling a bit as she turned around, Itsuka began making her way over to where Setsuna and Yui were already sitting side-by-side in a booth by the window, not even bothering to wait for her as they began tossing french fries into their mouths, making Itsuka roll her eyes but still smile at them as she put her tray down on the other side of the table and slid inside.

To be honest, though, she wasn't really all that surprised that they had ended up coming here - Setsuna usually had cravings for fast food that demanded her to drag Itsuka and Yui with her, and Yui usually helped peer pressure Itsuka into it. It was more of a surprise that it had taken them this long to text home to tell their families that they were eating out - Itsuka would've suspected that they would do a fast food run when they were done with their second day of school.

Well, whatever - it'd been a while since the three of them had hung out, after all, so Itsuka didn't mind having to do a few more sit ups than usual.

"Ooooooh, yeah, baby, that hits the spot," Setsuna groaned in delight as Itsuka unwrapped her own burger, Setsuna already taking a big bite out of her food while Itsuka cracked her neck, "I haven't had french fries in freakin' forever - things have been so hectic lately I haven't even been able to sneak out to grab food."

"Now, Itsuka," Yui raised an eyebrow, "what do you say to the nice girls who have dragged you out for food?"

"Thanks for making me have to do extra reps tonight," Itsuka snorted, giving them a teasing smile while Setsuna let out a mock gasp and Yui shook her head in sarcastic disapproval.

"Well, that's some gratitude, isn't it, Yui? If it weren't for us, you wouldn't even be having a burger right now. You'd be stuck with - what is it your grandpa makes your family eat?"

"Traditional Japanese cuisine," Itsuka giggled, "at least it's healthier than a burger."

"Oh, don't give me that - c'mon, you gotta admit that it gets tiring to eat rice all the time," Setsuna shook her head as well, "it's not like your grandpa lets your dad cook burgers more than once a year, right?"

"Excuse you," Itsuka smirked, "it's more like - three times a year. I've got two more opportunities to eat burgers at home."

"Pfft," Setsuna snorted, taking a bite out of her cheeseburger, and, after swallowing, shook her head, "I don't know how you survive on all that classic Japanese food your grandpa insists on having. I'd have thought you'd eventually put your food down, like 'Goddamn it, Grandpa, I want cheesy bread!'"

"Oh, yeah, I'll stand up to my grandpa," Itsuka shook her head, "if I ever wanna have my head kicked off. I'm good with just sneaking fast food, thanks. Besides, it's not like that 'classic Japanese food' is bad, Set."

"But still! Burgers and pizza! Think of what you're missing out on, Ken!"

"Hey, we do order pizza! Like - once a month. Unlike you, Miss 'If I Don't Eat A Box Of Pizza All By Myself Every Week I'll Die''."

"Madness," Setsuna shuddered.

With a giggle from Itsuka and an eye roll from Yui, the girls settled back to eating their food in silence, Setsuna sipping on her milkshake and Yui dipping one french fry in her ketchup cup at a time. They were comfortable with eating quietly, Setsuna and Yui snorting at Itsuka letting out a satisfied groan as she ate her burger, causing her to flash them both the finger, until at last, all three of them were finished, letting out satisfied noises (and Setsuna suppressing a burp, flipping off Itsuka this time when she laughed).

Once their trays were put on the side for later, Yui let out a hum as she finished sipping on her soda, putting it down on the table and looking over at Itsuka.

"Anyway," She tapped her fingers on the table, "now that we got that out of the way - back to what we were talking about back at school."

At that, Itsuka's satisfied smile fell, straightening up as she reached for her own drink.

"Right," She nodded, "about … Ochako."

"Mm-hm." Setsuna nodded as well, "I guess it's time for interrogation."

"Interrogation?" Itsuka blinked, glancing between both of her friends worriedly. "Is something going on, guys? I mean - I don't see why you didn't want her to come with us, but is she -"

"Oh, wait, no, Ken, everything's fine!" Setsuna quickly caught on, waving her hands in the air while giving Itsuka an assuring smile. "Uraraka's awesome! We love hanging out with her. It's just … well …"

"We just thought that what we wanted to talk to you about her wouldn't be something you … really want to have in front of her," Yui shrugged.

Itsuka felt her brow furrow at that, leaning back in the booth and raising her drink to her lips.

"Okay … so what's going on?"

"Well … alright, I guess there's no point beating around the bush," Yui decided, frowning slightly, and she leaned forward, "so - Itsuka."

"Yeaaaah …?"

"Did something happen between you and Uraraka?"

Itsuka paused at that, staring at her friend in confusion, with her mind not really catching on to what she was asking. And then she asked, in a confused voice. "Like … what do you mean?"

"Ah, fuck it," Setsuna muttered, shaking her head and tossing her hair behind her as Itsuka began sipping on her drink, and then said, in an equally blunt voice, "Ken, we've been wondering if the reason you've been hanging out with Uraraka so much is because the two of you have been making out."

"PFFFFFFFFFFT - *COUGH COUGH COUGH*!"

What then came from the other side of the table was a series of ragged coughs as Itsuka choked on her drink, holding her hand over her mouth as a bit of soda came out of her nose. Both Setsuna and Yui watched in surprise and amusement as Itsuka attempted to get control over her coughing, leaning forward to grab some napkins to cover her mouth, glancing between both girls in terror as her face began to glow red.

"Ah," Setsuna slowly nodded, smirking, "so we'll take that as a yes, then?"

"I - *cough* - I'm -" Itsuka managed to clear her throat, shaking her head slightly as she lowered her hand, and gulped a bit as her face continued to glow hotter and hotter by the second, "- what?! I - I don't know what you're - I -"

"Oh, yes you do," Setsuna giggled, Itsuka's face growing more and more terrified as she realized too late that she had been pretty much lured right into a trap, "I asked you if you and Uraraka have been up to something … not exactly platonic, and the fact that you tried to deepthroat your straw when we asked is pretty much all we need to know that something between you two definitely happened."

"I - n-no, it -" Itsuka sputtered out, getting control of her coughing enough to clear her throat and put down her drink, raising one hand to fan her red face, "- we didn't - I didn't -"

"You didn't?" Yui raised an eyebrow, and Itsuka froze up, realizing her mistake, "You're saying that you two didn't do something … but you did?"

"I -" Itsuka hesitated again, glancing down at her empty tray for a moment as she tried to figure out what to do - and then she let out a defeated sigh, sagging her shoulders slightly as she raised a hand to scratch the side of her head, her face continuing to feel like magma was slowly flowing into it as she glanced away from both her eager best friends.

Maybe … well, she knew that trusting these two with anything relationship-related would just result in lots and lots of embarrassing questions, but … maybe talking about what happened between her and Ochako could help her out with how flustered she felt about it? At this point, anytime Itsuka had tried to think about kissing Ochako this week resulted in … well, very unproductive thoughts, mostly due to how flustered and confused she felt about it. And hey, while Setsuna and Yui would probably blow whatever Itsuka tells them out of proportions …

… well, if she couldn't trust these two, who could she trust?

"… okay." She breathed out, nodding slowly, before whipping her gaze up to glare at both of them. "You tell no one what I'm about to tell you."

Both Setsuna and Yui nodded at once, leaning forward eagerly as Itsuka glanced down into her lap, her blush still burning furiously.

"So … uh … something … might have happened," She muttered, feeling suddenly bashful, "and … well …"

"Was there tongue?"

Itsuka squeaked at Yui's intrigued question while Setsuna snorted in amusement - and then Itsuka let out a small grumble, crossing her arms across her chest and looking out the window as her best friends' eyes widened.

"My, oh my, Ken!" Setsuna squealed. "So bold!"

"There wasn't - I - okay, fine." Itsuka growled a bit, tapping her foot against the floor, "Ochako and I - we - we kissed."

Setsuna and Yui nodded slowly, looking more and more entertained by the second.

"When? Where?"

"Back at the USJ," She muttered, which made both Setsuna and Yui blink, "during the invasion. We - we barely survived the trap those assholes set for us, and we just - we had a moment to calm down, and she was just there, and - yeah. We kissed. O-or," She hesitated, blushing even more, "if - if we're talking specifics - I kissed her."

"Okay," Yui slowly nodded, tilting her head slightly as she leaned forward, "so - speaking of specifics. Was it hot?"

"Oh, my god," Itsuka groaned, but Setsuna merely shrugged her shoulders.

"C'mon, Ken, you know that was gonna be the first question to come out of her mouth. And to be honest … yeah, I wanna know too. So - was it hot?"

"It happened right after we almost died."

"But was it hot?"

There was another pause in the booth - and then Itsuka let out another groan as she slowly lowered her head down into her arms, blushing something fierce while her best friends leaned forward excitedly again.

"It … kinda," She mumbled, "it was - it was kinda hot. I … we were kinda coming down from all the - y'know, adrenaline - and she was right there and I wasn't even thinking and - and one second we were just fine, then the next second, I'm shoving my tongue in her mouth."

"Oooooooooooh," Yui clapped her hands together.

"I just - I thought she was going to shove me off, but then - but then she just started kissing me back," Itsuka buried herself further into her arms while her face remained flushed, "and we just spend the next fucking - like, ten seconds trying to get my tongue acquainted with the back of her throat."

"Did you touch her butt?"

"No."

"Did she touch yours?"

"No," Itsuka said, sounding a bit annoyed by that, "I didn't touch her butt or her boobs or her - or her anything. I was just - one of my arms was broken, so all I touched was her hair."

"…"

"…"

"… and fuck me, her hair was so soft," Itsuka groaned again, shaking her head slowly while she buried it further in her arms, "like - what the hell is her conditioner! It was so freaking smooth!"

"Oh, my god," Setsuna sniggered, "the bi panic is real."

"The what panic?" Itsuka straightened up, glancing between both of them while she tried to fan her face. "Is - is that what's going on?"

"Hm?" Yui tilted her head. "What do you mean, Itsuka?"

"I … okay, if either of you mention this again, I'll destroy you," She was sure to glare at them both, with Yui nodding and Setsuna crossing her heart, "but … I … well, I've been thinking about what happened, and … and Ochako is …"

Both girls leaned forward while Itsuka trailed off, looking uncertain.

"… you guys," She said in a quiet voice, sounding suddenly unsure, "… how did you … uh … realize that you liked girls?"

Setsuna and Yui felt themselves blink at that, glancing over to stare interestingly at each other - and then Setsuna grinned, knowing where this conversation might be going as she leaned back in her seat and took another sip of her milkshake.

"Well …" She said slowly, thinking for a moment, "… I couldn't give you a definite date … I've always thought girls were pretty … but if you're asking when I actually figured out I was bi? I was watching some news report on Miruko on TV. She did this thing where she wrapped her legs around his head, and I was suddenly struck with the thought of: 'God, I wish that was me'. So yeah, I always thought girls were cute, but Miruko was definitely my bisexual awakening."

"Back in seventh grade for me," Yui shrugged, "you guys remember when Mina wore those tights for her break dance during our sports festival?"

"Yep."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me."

"Mm-hm. Instant bisexual awakening."

Itsuka let out an amused snort, shaking her head and raising it slightly to look up at her friends as they gave her an interested look.

"So …" Setsuna gave her a small grin, "… is that what happened last week, Ken? Are you bisexual now?"

"I … I don't know," She admitted in a guilty tone, pouting a bit as she finally raised her head up and leaned back in her seat as she pouted, "I mean, does that even count? I mean - I'm not sure if I'd be having this exact same reaction if it was a guy I kissed. So - I don't know. Maybe?"

"I mean," Yui shrugged, "it might not even be that either. You could just be pan."

"I … maybe?" Itsuka gave her, sighing and shaking her head, "It's just … god, it wasn't how I expected my first kiss to go, y'know? I expected it be like - on a date or something, I don't know. Something romantic, like a fireworks show - something I'd remember for the rest of my life. And instead, I lost my first kiss after I nearly got fucking killed, and just happened to shove my tongue down one of my best friends' throats."

"Huh?" Setsuna raised an eyebrow at that while a vein in her forehead twitched.

"Excuse me?" Yui did not look amused by that.

"You both know what I mean. I expected my first to be something … romantic, and instead, all I got out of my first kiss is just making my friendship with Ochako awkward." Itsuka pouted at that, staring down at the table while clenching her fists slightly, "We haven't even really talked about it yet. We tried, but - but Izuku ended up having a nightmare in the middle of our discussion and … well, we just … never brought it up again after that."

"What?!" Setsuna looked at least shocked, her jaw dropping slightly as Itsuka glanced over at her. "Oh, c'mon, Ken - you gotta at least talk to her about it. From what you've said about it, you can't exactly pass it off as a friendly kiss, can you? What if she's still expecting you to talk to her about it?"

"Besides," Yui raised an eyebrow, "that doesn't exactly match up with what we've seen. You said you've messed up your friendship with Uraraka, well … from the amount of times we've seen her checking you out, I'm not sure about that."

"I - wait, what?" Itsuka blinked, looking over at her in surprise.

"Yeah," Setsuna grinned, "Uraraka's been so busy looking at your ass, I'm surprised it's Midoriya walking into lampposts and not her."

Itsuka felt herself falter there, glancing between both her best friends - was that even possible? Ochako checking her out? She felt her cheeks redden a bit at that as her heart suddenly found itself beating a bit faster in her chest -

- but then her mind flashed back to last Friday night. Back to the sight of Ochako cuddling Izuku to sleep.

And she felt herself sigh.

"… look guys," She frowned, glancing off to the side, "I … I don't know if she wants to talk about it. Her checking me out just might be … I don't know, it might just be something she's done before and - and now we're just noticing. I mean - you check me out all the time, Yui, that doesn't mean you wanna - I don't know, hold hands with me and walk off into the sunset together."

"Er …" Yui raised an eyebrow at that - while yes, Itsuka had a point that Yui didn't exactly want to do romantic things with her, the idea of holding hands wasn't exactly something she was thinking, but Itsuka clearly did.

"I just … I think she just wants to forget it ever happened. And - and honestly, I don't blame her. I just kinda kissed her out of nowhere, and … and I think we both know that it was a mistake. I shouldn't have just …"

"Ken …" Setsuna began to lightly reprimand, not liking where this conversation was going, but before she could, Itsuka shook her head.

"… besides," She laughed quietly at herself, "what am I even supposed to say? 'Hey, I know we kissed, but we're all good now, right'? Or 'hey, sorry about trying to suck your soul out of your mouth with mine'? Actually trying to talk about it would just probably make everything even more awkward. I think the only reason we're good now is because we're just … pretending that it didn't happen."

"I mean," Yui raised an eyebrow, "didn't you two pretty much hold hands during our entire lesson on Tuesday?"

"We were going back to the USJ for the first time," Itsuka reminded her, "we just … kinda needed the comfort. And it wasn't for the whole time."

"I … well, okay, I guess that makes sense," Setsuna gave her, still frowning a bit, "but -"

"But nothing, guys," Itsuka shook her head, playing idly with her ponytail, "I said what I said, guys. Me and Ochako are fine as we are. We're just friends, and we're gonna pretend that kiss never happened. And it's better that way - it's obvious that she's got a thing for Izuku, so what am I supposed to do? Ask her if she wants to make out until she gets together with him?" She scoffed at herself, leaning back and staring out the window again, "No way."

Both Setsuna and Yui fell silent at that, staring blankly at their best friend for a moment as Itsuka idly bit her lip. And then Yui, in a blunt voice, asked, "Then what about your crush on him? Are you just gonna let that go?"

Itsuka continued to stare out the window for a moment, letting out a sigh as she opened her mouth to refute that - and then what Yui said suddenly registered to her. She felt herself go still, her eyes widening a fraction and her mouth hung open -

- and then, slowly, she turned to look at her two best friends, blinking rapidly.

"… what?" She blankly asked.

"Uh …" Yui raised an eyebrow, glancing at Setsuna unsurely before looking back at Itsuka, "… your crush on Midoriya. Ring a bell?"

"My … what?"

"Girl," Setsuna sagged her shoulders, staring at Itsuka in both disbelief and exasperation, "you're seriously not telling us you don't have a crush on him?"

"I … what?!" She suddenly squeaked, her cheeks, which had been calming down slightly over the last few minutes, exploding in red again as she gave them a look that told them that they had completely flabbergasted her. "I don't - I no, I - I don't have a crush on I-Izuku! I - where did that even come from?"

"…"

"…"

"… you have gotta be shitting me right now," Setsuna's jaw dropped, "seriously? You haven't even noticed?"

"I - noticed what?!"

"How about the fact that the first time we met him," Yui leaned back in her seat while picking up her cup, "me and Set were flirting with him, and you looked like you were trying to to glare a hole through our heads?"

"What? That -" Itsuka hesitated, looking more and more confused by the second while her face burned, "- that didn't happen. D-did it? N-no, it didn't."

"Oh, yes it did," Setsuna nodded, smirking a bit, "I was pretty much clinging to him, and you looked like you were trying to manifest a laser eye quirk so you could blow my head off."

"I -"

"And then there's at school," Yui pointed out with sipping on her drink, "Hadou keeps hanging off him, and you look like you're about to jump across everyone's desk to punch her in the face."

"I'm not - I don't wanna punch Hadou!" She weakly protested. "I just - I glare at her because she - she makes him uncomfortable!"

"Yeaaaaaaaaaah, no. Not uncomfortable. Unless you count 'horny teenage boy' as him being uncomfortable."

"I mean," Setsuna giggled lowly, "not that I blame him. You actually look at Hadou when she's in her hero costume?"

"I do," Yui let out an appreciative hum, "and god-damn."

"Guys," Itsuka said sharly, while both girls turned to smirk at her red face, "I - look, I just - I don't have a crush on Izuku. That's -"

"'Izuku'," Setsuna suddenly pointed out, which definitely didn't help with Itsuka's now glowing red face, "we never discussed that, did we? Such a sign of closeness, isn't it, Yui? 'Izuku'."

"Mm," Yui nodded in agreement, "it's very cute when she calls him that, Set. 'Izuku'."

"I call you both by your first names," Itsuka tried to justify herself, scowling a little bit, "that doesn't mean I have a crush on either of you. And - and I also call Ochako by her first name! I don't see -"

"You kissed her, though," Yui pointed out helpfully, while Itsuka let out a small groan and held her hand over her eyes, "something similar happen between you and Izuku, Itsuka?"

"Look," Itsuka tried to emphasize her words, biting her lip slightly as she lowered her hand, "I don't have a crush on Izuku. We just - I - I don't. There's no way. He likes Ochako, and - and Ochako likes him. I'm not interested in -"

"So you're saying you'd be cool with us asking Midoriya out instead?"

Itsuka felt herself pause at that, blinking, and Setsuna's smirk widened as she realized that they had her.

"Y'know, I think that is what she's saying, Yui," She leaned over to rest her head on her friend's shoulder, watching Itsuka's face carefully. "Ken over here is saying that she doesn't like him, so I think it's alright if you or I take Midoriya home with us. And I mean, like, not just to hang out."

"Mm," Yui nodded in agreement, "as in taking him up to our rooms?"

"Yep! I mean, can you imagine what he'd do if he had two bombshells like us alone?"

"Mm … probably not much," Yui admitted, although her eyes were also watching Itsuka for her reaction, "he's a nervous guy, after all. Shy. But I imagine we can teach him a few things."

Itsuka began to scowl.

"Oooooh, like what, Yui? I'm curious. I mean, I doubt he knows much about kissing," Setsuna was sure to put emphasis on that word, "so I think we could teach him a lot about how he can put that mouth of his to work."

"Mm," Yui slowly nodded, closing her eyes as though she were imagining it, "like how to kiss our lips … our cheeks … how to nibble our earlobes …"

"Our necks," Setsuna pretended to moan quietly, "trailing kisses down our throats … our collarbones … our -"

"Guys," Itsuka suddenly snapped, glaring at them both, "stop. I know what you're doing, and it isn't working."

"What isn't working, Ken?" Setsuna giggled. "The fact that you don't seem to like a girl giving Midoriya attention? Someone giving him attention that isn't you?"

"No," Itsuka was sure to lean forward, frowning, "but this - this thing where you're trying to make me jealous enough to confess something - it isn't going to happen. I don't - I don't have a crush on him. Even if I did, there's no way that anything's going to come out of it, because I know - I actually know - that Ochako likes him. She's probably been in love with him for years now, and - and what? You guys are trying to tell me that I should snatch him right from underneath her nose?"

Both Setsuna and Yui paused at that, glancing between each other while Itsuka settled back in her seat while pouting - and then Setsuna let out a small sigh, raising her head off Yui's shoulder.

"I … guess not, Ken," She at least had the sense to look guilty about that, brushing some of her hair behind her ear, "sorry, sweetie. We shouldn't have … you know, tried to make you jealous."

"Mm." Yui also nodded, her eyes turning downcast, "that was a dick move."

Itsuka paused for a moment, glancing between both girls - and then she let out her own sigh, her scowl disappearing and leaving a sad look on her face as she reached out to put her hands overtop her friends.

"Well … it's not like I've been acting any better," She pointed out, "sorry about being kind of a jerk."

"Nah, we've been pushing you pretty hard," Setsuna shrugged, "but … well, okay, can we be real with you for a second?"

"I … sure."

"You said you don't like Midoriya," Setsuna raised an eyebrow to show that she doubted it, "fine. In that case, we won't bother you about it again. But … I think we all know who definitely does like him."

"Yeah," Itsuka nodded in agreement, "Ochako -"

"Hadou."

Itsuka felt herself blink, her words fumbling to a stop as she looked around at Yui. The stoic girl, for her part, merely leaned back while brushing some of her hair out of her face.

"Itsuka," She sighed, "it's obvious that Hadou's been circling around Midoriya almost as much as you and Uraraka have."

"Yeah," Setsuna nodded, "eventually, Hadou's gonna stop with this teasing stuff and eventually scoop in to snag him up. And we all know Midoriya - he hides it well, but the dude's probably so starved for affection there's no way he'll be able to resist."

Itsuka felt her lips thin at that.

"Mm," Yui sighed, "there's no way Midoriya isn't gonna reciprocate, and soon enough Hadou's gonna have him wrapped around her finger, and that means you and Uraraka are gonna be left out to dry."

Setsuna leaned forward a bit, looking unusually serious, "So at this point, Ken, you've got two options. Either you bite the bullet and ask out Midoriya - because we can tell you want to - or you sit around and let Hadou ask him out."

Itsuka stayed quiet at that for a few moments, glancing off to the side while Setsuna and Yui leaned back as well, both of them deciding that they'd pushed Itsuka enough tonight, and let her think. They watched her face curiously, seeing it look conflicted for a few moments, before that fell into a more contemplative look - and then she let out another small sigh, shaking her head, and moved to grab her bookbag beside her, slinging it over her shoulder.

"… I need to think," She muttered, shaking her head, "privately. Just … please don't mention this to anyone, okay? Izuku or Ochako, or - or Hadou. Just … I need a little time to think."

"I … guess, Ken," Setsuna nodded, at least fine with that.

The two girls watched as Itsuka slid out of the booth, letting out a small grunt as she cracked her back a bit, and then patted Setsuna's head as she moved past the booth. With that, Itsuka dumped their trays of trash into the bin, and gave them a small wave as she walked out the door and onto the street.

"… we probably pushed her a bit too hard," Yui said, a small frown on her face as she leaned forward, and Setsuna sighed.

"No, we definitely did," She gave her, sipping on her milkshake again, "but if she doesn't get her head out of her ass, she's a hundred percent gonna set herself up for failure at this rate. Did you see how quick Hadou pulled him out the door today? There's no way in hell that she isn't crushing on him."

"I'm envious," Yui pouted, "all that booty, all for himself. Bastard."

"Well," Setsuna's smirk suddenly returned as she looked around at her friend, "I have a feeling you're not actually complaining. Speaking of boys - what's up with you and Iida?"

"Hm? Oh. Iida. Yeah, I find him attractive. Just kind of feeling it out right now. So if you hit on him, I'm shaving your head in your sleep."

"Jokes on you! I think I look good bald."


With a pathetic grunt, Izuku fell onto his back in the sand, letting out several loud pants as he raised a hand to rub against his eyes. At the moment, the sun was setting in the distance, casting the entire beach into shadows as the sky turned an orange and red color, with clouds distantly gathering in the distance, and giving him quite the beautiful view - not that he could quite enjoy it. He was currently laying on his back near the water, wincing at the cold water brushing against his hand as it seeped up and down the sand and desperately attempting to catch his breath.

It had been unfortunate for him that Nejire's quirk, as it relied on her stamina, meant that she could keep up a chase for a very, very long time. They had spent the last two hours playing a non-stop game of tag, Izuku having to duck and weave through her attempts to tag him out or him attempting to jump up to tag her. At the moment, Izuku felt utterly exhausted, his legs too weak to support his weight, and in desperate need of water.

That, plus he was pretty much covered in a layer of sweat, and his t-shirt was now uncomfortably clinging to him. So in the end, he did somewhat regret not taking off his shirt at Nejire's inquiry when he had the chance.

With a small grunt, he turned his head towards the building, where Nejire was jogging over with both of their water bottles. As she wasn't as tired as he was, she had been the one to volunteer to grab their empty water bottles and fill them up at the refill station a bit of a ways away. Izuku watched as she hummed and put her bottle under the water first, playing with her hair as she waited for it to be refilled. Watching her for a moment, Izuku slowly blinked, and sighed as he turned to look back up at the sky, trying to catch his breath.

The game of chase had been … well, it had been exhausting, but it had also been fun in its own kind of way. He wasn't sure if he should be proud of how many times he managed to tag her, despite how flustered he felt about actually touching a girl, but … well, maybe he should be. Towards the end of their game, he had even somewhat forgotten about how nervous he felt around her, having too much fun chasing her around either when she was on foot or when she was in the air.

Although now … well, he couldn't help but remember her choice of clothing at the moment, feeling himself blush. Glancing back around at her, he went red as she bent over a bit to fetch his own bottle on the ground, removing her own bottle once it was refilled. He knew that he shouldn't look -

- and yet, he couldn't help but stare at her for a moment, seeing how pretty she looked under the setting sun, and feeling his face grow hot.

Okay … well, one thing was clear, he blushed. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't help but look at her as he laid there, feeling his heartbeat quicken in his chest and his stomach twist a bit as he stared right at her butt. He felt a bit guilty, and like a pervert as he checked her out with her back turned, and let out a small sigh as he looked back up at the sky, biting his lip.

At least he didn't do anything bad during their game of chase. Like - like accidentally touching something he wasn't supposed to. He only touched her arm, and her foot, or her leg or her back. So he was technically fine! Just … he had to be careful so he wasn't caught staring at something he wasn't supposed to.

About a minute later, with him still staring up at the sky while he attempted to slow his breath, he heard the sound of footsteps in the sand next to him, and before he could look around, a water bottle appeared over his face, making him blink.

"Whew! That was great!" Nejire giggled happily, putting the now refilled water bottle down on his chest as she moved around to sit down beside him. As Izuku sat up and cleared his throat, thanking her under his breath as he fiddled with the top of his bottle, Nejire took a second to stretch, grunting when she cracked something. "I gotta say, I'm surprised that I got tagged so many times! You're really fast! I mean, I guess you've always been fast, since you were really quick during the entrance exam, but I was flying that whole time and fighting robots, so I didn't notice! But anyway, whoof," She suddenly waved her hand in front of her nose, her nose scrunching adorably and looking embarrassed, "I stink! I haven't sweat this hard since Yuuyu nearly figured out I stole her soda from the fridge! Try not to smell me, okay?"

"Er … okay, Hadou," Izuku slowly nodded, sighing as he likewise got a small sniff of himself and grumbled, "but, uh … I don't think you have anything to worry about. I think I'm pretty much in the same boat."

Nejire nodded at that, her eyes flickering to him as he grabbed the bottom of his shirt, and lifted it up to wipe at his face. His eyes were covered by the white cloth, of course, so he had no idea that Nejire's gaze flickered down to his abs as he wiped the sweat off his face, her face going pink as she licked her lips slightly, and then quickly looked back out at the water as he uncovered his face again, grabbing his water bottle on the side for a desperate drink.

Once he had chugged the cool water gratefully down his throat, unaware of Nejire glancing out of the corner of her eye at how he gulped down his drink and going slightly pink, Izuku let out a satisfied gasp as he put the bottle down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Thank you, Hadou, that - that really hits the spot."

"Y-you're welcome!" She smiled happily at him, inwardly cursing herself for the brief stutter, and sat back so she could stretch her legs out. "Anyway, this was super fun, wasn't it? Getting chased around? I haven't played tag in forever, so I thought it'd be a bit of fun for our training. So, uh - this was a good use of our time, right? I think this got us both kind of ready for the sports festival, I dive-bombed you a lot, didn't I? I guess we could count that as us training - especially if you and I end up fighting in the final round!"

"I … guess so."

"Hey, but wait, hold on," She suddenly blinked as she realized something, "does that mean I technically gave away some of my strategy? Flying around and dive-bombing people? Oooh, now I hope we don't end up fighting! You're gonna know what's coming! That'd be unfair!"

Izuku was unable to stop himself from chuckling a bit at her look of panic, shaking his head and giving her a small smile.

"I'll … try to, uh … consider that if we end up fighting, Hadou," He gave her, seeing Nejire look around at him with an adorable pout, "plus, wouldn't you just … I don't know, blast me out of the arena with your quirk?"

"Oh! I didn't consider that!" She gasped as though she had forgotten that there was more to her quirk than just flying, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, I think I'll be fine. I'll be able to kick your butt even if you know what I have planned!"

Izuku laughed at that. "Y-yeah. I bet you can."

"Hm? Oh, that's not to say I don't think you can beat me!" She quickly rectified, reaching out and patting his shoulder. "Don't be so pessimistic, Midoriya - I bet you can kick my butt a lot better than I can kick yours! Oh, but - wait, actually, that reminds me of something I wanted to ask you!"

"Er … yeah?" Izuku blinked a bit at that, seeing Nejire straighten up and look around at him with a smile. "What's up?"

"I was wondering," She raised one of her fingers in the air, grinning happily as she looked him right in the eye, "if you've looked at my butt at all since we've gotten here."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… well, Midoriya?" She pressed, "Have you?"

"…"

"Midoriya?"

"… what?" Izuku managed to squeak out. Gone was the small, relaxed smile on his face, his laid back posture, everything. He was sitting up straight as a board, his face gone completely red, and his jaw was hanging open so widely he was looking like he was some kind of goldfish. Nejire, for her part, merely giggled and leaned forward.

"I asked if you looked at my butt!" She repeated her question, seeing Izuku continue to stare at her in horror and not feeling any reason to change up her questions. "I'm just curious, because I kinda had to think about which swimsuit I wanted to bring for today, and I decided on this one because it was one of my more unrevealing suits. I was tempted to bring my nice black one, but it's still a bit too chilly for that - do you know how much skin I would have to show? A lot! And it'd really show off my boobies, too!"

"Ugh - uh - gah -"

"Oooooh, but speaking of my boobs!" Nejire gasped, looking down at her chest and not noticing Izuku looking like he was about to have a complete and utter meltdown. "I also wanna know if you've been looking at them too! I wore this suit because the top covers me up a bit more, but I can kinda see the top of them if you look close enough! But hey, you're not answering my questions, Midoriya - did you look at my butt? And my boobies?"

With that, Nejire finally looked back up at Izuku, feeling legitimately curious - but then blinked at how red Izuku's face was, looking like it was about to start emmitting steam. For a moment, she wondered what would happen if she cracked an egg over it.

"Hey, are you okay, Midoriya? Your face is super red."

"Uh ghgah … umguh …"

"Ooooooooooooh," She suddenly realized, slowly nodding in understanding, "I see what's going on - you're scared of what I'll do if you say you did look at my boobs?"

"Unahgah … mungugh …"

"Well, you don't need to worry!" She raised her hand into the air, pointing up at the sky, "If you did check me out, it's totally okay! I'm very okay with you looking at my butt! Yuuyu says that it's cute, and she knows a lot more than I do, so it's … it's all … okay …"

She trailed off, however, when she noticed that this did not alleviate Izuku's sudden stress, rather making him begin to sway back and forth a bit as though he were on the verge of passing out with all the blood in his body rushing up to his face. Nejire's smile faltered as she watched him sputtering for a moment, her shoulders lowering slightly as she watched him get more embarrassed by the second - and then she suddenly cleared her throat, glancing away.

"… I made this awkward, didn't I?" She said quietly to herself, her smile completely fading away, and turned her gaze down to the sand beneath her. "I'm sorry Midoriya, I - I asked you the wrong thing. I always do that."

"I - huh?" Izuku finally managed to squeak out coherently, his melting mind managing to squeak out a coherent word at last, and he felt himself blink as Nejire let out a small, sad sigh, and brought her legs up to wrap her arms around.

"I'm sorry," She repeated, looking suddenly ashamed of herself, "I always do this kind of thing - I got too comfortable and asked you something that wasn't really appropriate. My old classmates always used to make fun of me and shout at me to stop talking when that happened, and - well, sorry, I shouldn't be making any excuses. I made you uncomfortable, and … sorry."

"I - t-that's -" Izuku started to stutter out - and then something she said registered to him, making him pause and blink. "W-wait - what?"

"Hm?"

"M-made fun of you?" He managed to get out, feeling the heat on his face begin to cool off as Nejire glanced away from him, and his heart began to beat a little bit faster. "What - what does that mean? Were you - you were made fun of? B-by your classmates?"

Nejire took a moment to remain quiet, her gaze flickering out to the water rushing towards them on the shore and then slowly retreating back into the ocean. Izuku's gaze flickered down from her face to her hand, noticing, for the first time, one of the hands she had on her knees was clenched, and he came to the realization that he may have just asked her something personal.

However, before he could get out an apology, Nejire sighed softly.

"I guess …" She muttered to herself, "… since I'm always asking stuff about you … I should tell you stuff about me, right?"

"Uh - not if you - not if you don't want to, Hadou," Izuku felt a sudden wave of guilt rise within him, "I'm sorry if -"

"No, it's okay!" She shook her head, giving him a much smaller smile than before, but at least she was smiling, he thought to himself, "It's only fair - plus, I should probably get this off my chest, huh? Only Yuuyu really knows about it since we grew up together, but - yeah. Yeah, it's story time."

Izuku felt his brow furrow at that, leaning back slightly on his hands - and then, with a small gulp and a tinge of red crossing his cheeks for the uptenth time that day, scooted a bit closer, ready to jump back the moment he thought she was uncomfortable. Fortunately (or unfortunately for him), Nejire didn't seem to mind, giving him another smile as she likewise scooted a bit closer. They weren't touching, of course, but now they were clearly sitting together, turning to look out at the ocean together as Nejire got her story ready.

For her part, she seemed to be rather resigned to what she was about to tell him, letting out a small sigh as she frowned, and leaned forward so she could better wrap her arms around the top of her knees, resting her chin on her arm.

"So … about me," She sighed again, "I … well, I guess I should start by saying that I was … so I wasn't really … well, I wasn't really popular back in middle school."

Izuku felt his heart thump in his chest. He had a feeling that he knew exactly where this was going, and he really didn't like it.

"So, uh … so basically, I grew up in the Akita prefecture," Nejire decided to explain from the beginning, "it's a super nice little neighborhood! My next door neighbors are really nice to me. I met Yuuyu back when we were in preschool, and she was so nice to me - she called me the cutest thing in the galaxy, you know! She wasn't at all like how she is now, all sarcastic and angry. But - but don't think I don't like her like that! I love Yuuyu, even when she's being mean! She's been my best friend forever."

"Er - right."

"Mm-hm! Just wanted to make sure you knew that in case you got any bad ideas. But, uh, anyway, Yuuyu was my best friend … but …" Her eyes turned downcast, "… but other than her … no one else really … liked me."

"You … you were bullied?" Izuku felt his own hand close into a fist.

"No, not - not really, just … people didn't like talking to me," She explained sadly, staring down at her knees as the water from the ocean washed around the both of them, "they thought I was annoying, and super loud. I mean, I know I don't really have a filter, but every time I came up to someone to talk to them, they were like, 'no! Shut up, Nejire!', or 'guys, don't talk to her!'. Or when someone new transferred to school, they would point at me and say 'she's hot but annoying'! You know, stuff like that."

Izuku took an uneven breath, staring down at his feet as one of his hands clenched into a fist. She said it wasn't bullying, but … well, it definitely sounded like it, and it was making him feel pretty angry on her behalf.

"And then one time, when everyone else but Yuuyu didn't like me, I just kinda … well, I just did what everyone wanted me to do," She frowned, "I shut up. I stopped asking everyone questions, and just … kept it all in. I thought that maybe, hey, if people didn't like hearing me talk, then I just wouldn't! Then maybe they would like me. But it didn't work. They just thought I was being all cold and haughty, like -" She suddenly morphed her face, trying to look super serious for a moment. Izuku felt himself blink at the look - she looked, admittedly, rather cold and haughty, unlike what he was used to, before she shook her head and regained her usual curious but still sad look. "- like that!"

"I - I see."

"But I wasn't trying to be haughty, or look down on them! I just thought that if I kept quiet, people wouldn't try not to avoid me, or maybe they'd pat my shoulder and ask me if I was okay since I hadn't talked for a while. But it just … it made everything worse." A small tear welled in her eye, startling Izuku as she let out yet another sigh. "I was … kinda sad back in middle school. I couldn't win at all - either I talked and everyone thinks I'm annoying, or I didn't and everything thinks I look down on them. Things seemed to be … no matter what I did, I always ended up being … really sad."

At that, a small silence finally fell on the beach, Nejire taking a second to reach for her water bottle and drink, and Izuku stared at her in shock and sympathy. For him, his heart was hammering slightly in his chest, and he could tell that his breathing was uneven as moisture welled in his eyes - but strangely, it wasn't from sadness on her behalf.

Rather, he instead felt himself shake at the thought of a younger Nejire, sitting by herself, looking sad and lonely while everyone just tried to ignore her or talk about her behind her back. Thoughts of her walking down a hall alone while everyone insulted her. Yuuyu being her only friend, trying to defend her from the bullies. Nejire sitting alone, wondering what she did wrong while crying.

It … well … it reminded him of …

… of what he had to go through back at Aldera. Everyone being against him, only having one friend to defend him from the bullies, trying to keep quiet so no one noticed he was there.

For the first time that day, Izuku looked Nejire properly in the face. Knowing now what she went through, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of kinsmanship with her, knowing that she went through the same thing he did. He slowly closed his mouth, and nodded slightly.

"Hadou, I'm …" He hesitated, and then closed his eyes and exhaled, "… I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Mm-hm." Nejire slowly nodded, but then a smile crossed her face. "But it's okay now. You wanna know why?"

"I - sure. Why?"

"Because I'm here now." She let out a small giggle, "I'm here with you."

He felt himself go still at that, shaken out of his angry thoughts, and glanced back up at her as she likewise turned to look at him. A smile was back on her face as she leaned against her arm, her blue eyes never leaving his, and Izuku felt his heart skip a beat at the look of … well, he had no idea what to make of that look, but it made his stomach twist slightly.

But not in an uncomfortable way.

"When I came to UA," She explained to him, "I was kinda afraid that the same thing would happen to me, y'know? That everyone would think I'm annoying and tell me to shut up - and it kinda does, now that I think about it, since Aizawa-sensei's always telling me to be quiet - but you know, it's okay if it's him because he's the teacher, and he tells everyone to shut up! But anyway, I was kinda afraid that since Yuuyu was going to be in a different class than me, I was gonna go through the exact same thing that always happened. Heck, I even thought that I could - y'know, do my whole quiet thing and make everyone believe I was all cool and collected from the start."

"I - so what changed?" Izuku asked, feeling himself go red again as she brushed some of her hair out of her face.

"I … kinda met you." She confessed, going a bit pink herself as Izuku squeaked quietly. "It sounds super corny, doesn't it? But - y'know, this might surprise you, Midoriya, but - but I think you're actually the first friend I've had since I met Yuuyu - waaaay back in preschool, so it's been a while! And - and honestly, Midoriya, I'm really happy I met you. You don't think I'm weird for asking a lot of questions, and you actually answer some of them, and - and that makes me feel really happy."

"I …"

"And it's … kinda why I asked you to train with me today," She tapped her feet against the ground, "because I wanna get to know you better."

Izuku stayed quiet at that, unsure of whether or not he should answer, or if he even could with his heart pretty much beating out of his chest, Nejire scooting a bit closer, and looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"I wanna get to know everyone better," She made clear, "but I wanna know more about you especially. I wanna be your … I wanna be your friend. And not just any friend - I wanna be someone you can trust. I know that you probably like Uraraka and Kendou waaaaay more than you like me - and that's okay! You've known them way longer! - but I wanna get to know you better! I wanna give you hugs without you blushing, like you have been all day - that's why I asked you about looking at my boobies and my butt, I kinda think that's why you're so red."

"Erk," Izuku winced, utterly called out, but at least Nejire didn't seem to mind.

"And I wanna be able to talk to you for hours! Either at school, or if you call me at night so we can talk on the phone! I wanna be someone you can think 'I'm sad, I need someone to talk to', and you immediately think of me! I know that I sound really silly right now," She shook her head, "but that's what I want. I wanna be your friend."

Finally, silence fell on the beach once again, with Nejire finally saying her piece and deciding that now was a good time to stop talking, flushing a bit and looking back out at the ocean. Izuku, for his part, had no idea what to say to what she had just confessed - still feeling his heart beating rather quickly in his chest - and let out a small, shaking sigh as he likewise looked back out at the ocean.

"I … Hadou -"

"Oooh, what's this?"

Both teenagers blinked at the sound of a voice above them - one that they didn't recognize. With a squeak, Izuku quickly whipped around, his eyes widening in shock while Nejire likewise whipped around in alarm - and both of them trailed their gazes up at the sight of someone neither of them recognized, leaning over slightly to stare down at them with a curious smile.

"Isn't it a little cold to be sitting around in swimsuits?" The girl raised her eyebrow, smirking. "Like, jeez, I'm freezing my butt off right now and I'm pretty much fully covered! You two got my respect."

"I -" Izuku managed to sputter out, feeling his face go red again - seriously, what was it with girls today?! This girl was at least more covered up than Nejire was, but that wasn't saying much, seeing as she was wearing a rather skintight, black costume that showed off all of her curves, and made him gulp very nervously - but then his gaze shifed upwards to the hat on her head, and he felt himself blink.

"W-wait - is that a Shiketsu hat?"

"Oooh, you know Shiketsu?" The new girl giggled, reaching up and tapping her strange, policeman-like hat as she winked down at him, her large lips curling slightly. "Yeah, that's right, cutie - I'm just on patrol right now. But neither of you are answering me - why're you just hanging around on a beach?"

"Ooooooooh!" Nejire hopped up, smiling widely at the new girl as she straightened up, "You look so cool! I really like your catsuit! Really form fitting! Does it have anything to do with your quirk?"

"Nah, brah," The girl giggled, while glancing down at Nejire's getup and nodding in approval, "but I gotta say, sweetie, you're lookin' pretty rocking yourself! Like god-damn!"

Both girls seemed to briefly forget Izuku's existence as they complimented each other, while Izuku took that chance to rub his cheeks slightly, sitting up from his spot and glancing around the beach - and felt himself blink at how dark it had gotten. Had they been talking for so long they completely didn't notice the sun going down? Jeez, no wonder this girl had asked what they were doing - they probably looked like they were doing something sketchy.

With a small grunt, Izuku started to get up, grunting slightly from how stiff his back felt, and felt his gaze trail down to the ground -

- and that was when Izuku's eyes fell to the sand itself, and he felt himself blink.

While it was pretty dark, he could somewhat make out the imprints of feet on the sand. He saw Nejire's footprints, moving to where she had sat down, and he saw his own leading to where he had been initially laying down … but he didn't see footprints for this girl. It was as though she had just … appeared out of nowhere.

And there was a sudden odor that reached his nostrils, making him recoil back. Something smelled - but what -?

"Anyway, you two," The Shiketsu girl giggled, gesturing with her thumb back towards the road, "you should probably think about getting out of here soon, kapeesh? I've heard that there's lots of villains lurking around lately because of some other dumb group, so you don't wanna be caught out here on your own."

"A - villain group?" Izuku repeated, feeling himself be shaken out of his brief confusion while Nejire blinked.

"Mm-hm. Don't worry, though, I'll still be patrolling around - don't want my teach getting upset with me - so I'll be sure to be on the lookout. But still, you two should get going soon. Don't want anyone thinking you're out here sneaking some …" Her lips curled into a smirk, "… alone time."

"Sure thing!" Nejire saluted her, and the Shiketsu girl giggled at her before turning around with a small wave - but not before her gaze fell to Izuku, who was staring at her in confusion. When their eyes met, the girl raised an eyebrow before a smirk appeared on her face, flicking some of her long blonde hair behind her shoulder, and then turned fully around to walk away from them, being sure to sway her hips slightly as she left.

Feeling himself blink, Izuku went a bit red, clearing his throat awkwardly while Nejire's gaze flickered between the retreating girl and Izuku's fluster, and a small pout appeared on her face.

"Er - a-anyway, Hadou, should we -" He coughed a bit, glancing at her and seeing Nejire quickly wipe the pout off her face, "- I think she's right, we should - we should probably think about getting out of here soon."

"Uh - right!" Nejire quickly nodded, grinning. "I didn't even realize how dark it was getting! We still gotta go get dinner!"

Together, they both quickly began walking over towards their stuff, Izuku grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulders while Nejire grabbed the umbrella and popped it out of the sand. While they gathered up their stuff, Izuku stole a small glance at his friend, and then let out a small sigh.

"Er … hey, Hadou?"

"Mm? Yeah, Midoriya?"

"I was just …" He hesitated again, and then shook his head and straightened his shoulders slightly, "… I just wanted to say, about … you know, before … about what you told me."

Nejire paused at that, keeping her back to him while he slowly nodded to himself, trying to hype himself up.

"I just wanted to say that I … I think I understand," He told her, feeling himself blush again, but tried to power through the awkwardness, "I'm … I'm really sorry to hear about what you went through back in your old school. Me and Occhan, we - we kinda went through something similar. I - I know that I shouldn't be comparing our pasts, but -"

"Wait, what?!" She suddenly looked around at him, surprise on her face. "You did? But why? You're both so cool!"

"I, uh -" Izuku scratched the back of his head sheepishly, letting out an awkward laugh, "- well, t-thank you, Hadou. It's, uh - it's kind of a long story, but … but I guess you could say that a … a lot of people didn't think the same way you did. A-anyway, I just wanted to say that - that if you ever feel like that again - like you're annoying people, I - I swear, you're not. And if anyone ever tells you that you are, I … I'll …"

Nejire waited for Izuku to find his words, seeing him trail off and glance off to the side - and then he sagged his shoulders.

"… I was gonna say I'll fight them, but they'll probably kick my butt instead," He mumbled while going red, "but … but what I wanted to say is that … well …"

"…"

"… I … really like talking to you too, Hadou," He confessed, going even redder and speaking even quieter than before, but at least a small smile appeared on his face, "and … and if you wanted to be better friends with me … then … then I wouldn't mind that. I - I want to be better friends with you too."

For a few seconds there was silence, with Izuku slowly shrinking into himself and looking more and more embarrassed by the minute as he stared down at his feet. Finally, he managed to muster up the courage to glance up at Nejire, seeing her staring at him with her mouth opening slightly, blinking in shock - and then a massive smile appeared on her face, and a giggle escaped her lips as she suddenly looked away, reaching up to play with her hair.

"That - wow, that - that's really nice to hear!" She managed to giggle out, stroking her hair a bit more awkwardly than she usually would as she looked away from him. "I - um - okay! I - I - yeah! Then I guess we've gotta get to know each other even better from now on! Hey, can I give you a hug?"

"A - wait, what?" Izuku felt himself go still, his eyes widening in horror. However, before Nejire could think to act on her impulse, she blinked.

"Wait, I'm just wearing a bikini," She realized, looking down at herself, "and you'll probably die if I hug you."

"I - uh - yeah," Izuku nodded in shame.

"Okay! In that case, I won't hug you right now. But later tonight, I am! And I won't let go until you hug me back!"

"I - huh?" He squeaked, feeling his face burst into flames again, but before he could squeak out a protest, she reached out to take his hand in hers, making him freeze.

"Now let's go! We've gotta have dinner soon, before my curfew! And we can't do that if we stink!" She shook her head, beginning to lead him over towards the changing rooms while holding the umbrella under her arm and her backpack in her other hand. As they walked, Izuku trying not to die from the feeling of Nejire's soft hand in his, the girl suddenly slowed, clearly thinking to herself.

"Actually, speaking of that," She thought for a moment, "that Shinketsu girl from earlier."

"H-huh?" Izuku blinked, looking around at her. "W-what about her?"

"She kinda smelled, didn't she?" Nejire asked in a stage-whispered, giggling slightly, and Izuku felt himself go still before he let out a small sigh, trying to suppress his own awkward smile.

"I … wasn't sure if I should've commented on that," He admitted while blushing, and Nejire laughed.

"No, no, I noticed it too! But she was also wearing a lot of leather, and it was really hot today," She did point out fairly, "and I don't think heroes really do deodorant breaks, do they?"

"I … guess not? Maybe?"

"Well, I think so! Anyway, let's get going, Midoriya! I'm taking you to a really cool monjayaki spot I know - I can actually make us dinner!"

Together, they walked together towards the changing room, Nejire finally letting go of his hand so she could approach her own door, and Izuku let out a weak sigh as he reached out for his door -

- and then Nejire suddenly said, "Hey, Midoriya?"

Izuku paused in his attempt to enter the changing room, blinking, and looked around at her. Nejire herself paused at the door, staring at it for a second, before looking around at him.

"You, uh - you never answered my question," She pointed out, tucking some of her hair behind her ear, and he wasn't able to see that her cheeks went pink again, "about if you looked at my boobs. Or my butt."

"I - huh?" Izuku balked slightly, feeling suddenly terrified at the question like before - but then, as he stared into her face, he felt himself go still. Nejire wasn't looking angry, or accusing - she appeared to be curious, and maybe a little bit awkward. Izuku stared at her for a moment - and then he let out a small sigh as he looked down at his feet.

"I …" He hesitated again, and then closed his eyes, "… might have … looked at your butt a - a little bit. I'm sorry."

There was another small silence - and then he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening up. Feeling his eyes snap open, Izuku glanced up at her, seeing Nejire begin to enter the dressing room while looking back at him, and there was a small smile on her face.

"Okay," She nodded, smiling at the surprise on his face, "that's good, Midoriya. That's really good! Thank you for letting me know!"

With that, she shut the door to the changing room, leaving Izuku staring at it while his jaw pretty much hit the ground - and he then promptly felt his mind crash.

Good? Checking her out is 'good'?! What does that even mean?!


Well, that was … awkward.

Outside of the fast food place, Itsuka let out another soft sigh as she raised her hands to her cheeks to smack some of the blush off her face, moving onto the slightly empty sidewalk and beginning to walk down the street towards the bus stop around the corner. By now, the streets of downtown Musutafu were pretty much thinning out, with only a few people walking up and down the sidewalk, but Itsuka didn't mind - at least, she had a bit of room to walk by herself as she sighed and tossed her ponytail behind her shoulder, feeling her mind begin to think.

She knew that it had been kind of rude to just walk out on her best friends like that, and was already going to text them on the bus with apologies for her sudden exit, but … well, that conversation had honestly taken a turn she really hadn't liked, and she needed some time to think everything over.

Setsuna and Yui thought she had a crush on Izuku. The mere thought of her crushing on her training partner was enough to make Itsuka snort to herself, shaking her head as she walked down the empty street. God, she knew she'd been spending a bit more time with him and Ochako lately, but to assume she had a crush on him? That was absurd!

Sure, she - she liked him, but it was only as a friend!

Not to mention that she had spoke the truth about Ochako, Itsuka bit her lip slightly. Her thoughts from last week hadn't changed at all - she knew that Ochako liked him, and there was no chance in hell that Itsuka wasn't going to become her biggest cheerleader. From how Setsuna was talking, it sounded like Itsuka should've been sweeping in to get the guy for herself, but - no, there was no way that was happening. She already stole Ochako's first kiss, there was no chance she was no chance in hell she was gonna steal Izuku from her as well.

Although … now there was Nejire to consider, Itsuka scowled slightly as she stared straight ahead. As much as she didn't like to admit, Yui's words from earlier were ringing around in her ears. Nejire was … well … much closer to Izuku that she liked to admit. So maybe …

… wait, no, that made much more sense now, Itsuka realized. Her kneejerk reactions to whenever Nejire invaded Izuku's space - was that because she thought Nejire was honing in on Ochako's property? Not - not to say that Izuku was her property! Itsuka quickly shook her head, feeling guilty about thinking that of her friend. No matter what, Izuku wasn't entitled to anyone. While she wanted to get those two together, in the end, Izuku still had a right to say no if he didn't feel that way about Ochako

But … but she had a feeling he did, Itsuka sighed to herself. There was no way those looks that those two had shared before, what she had seen, the hugs they had shared, how comfortable Izuku felt with Ochako … there was no way that two people who just considered each other friends would do that kind of stuff.

And … and she would help him get there. That's what she should do, as their friend. Help them realize that their crushes on each other were reciprocated.

So Setsuna and Yui's claims that she liked Izuku was ridiculous! Ridiculous, and completely unsupported by anything! Sure, she had called him hot back during their battle trial, but that had been sarcastic!

… hadn't it?

Itsuka felt her brow furrow at that, pausing in her step as she briefly went still. She had called Izuku hot in an effort to distract him while she tried to escape out of that room … but … but when she thought about it a bit more …

… well … it … it's not like Izuku was bad looking. Not at all! He was a little plain, sure, but 'plain' in the sense that he didn't have any engines on his legs, or sharp teeth, or anything like that. So it wasn't like Izuku was … it wasn't like he wasn't attractive.

He was. He was good looking.

He was nice to look at.

Izuku was … hot.

… hot.

He's hot.

Oh, god, she had thought it, Itsuka let out a small groan as she quickly began walking down the street again, her eyes on the ground and her face feeling like it was on fire again. She admitted to herself that Izuku was hot. So … what? Why did that matter? Why was it making her heart beat so fast in her chest?!

She was allowed to think that her friend was attractive without it being weird! She thought Setsuna and Yui were good looking. Tenya was good looking, in a stiff, stick up his ass kind of way. Momo was very attractive. Nejire was cute. Ochako was sexy.

In a cute way! Itsuka's eyes widened in slight panic. Ochako was sexy in a cute way! Wait, no, she wasn't - she's not sexy at all! She's - beautiful? Cute? Literally anything but sexy!

Itsuka let out a long groan as she held her hands up to her eyes. She could think of her friends, think they were attractive, and her heart would keep beating normally. So why was it that when she thought of Izuku, acknowledging that he was attractive, her heart would suddenly start hammering? Why was she thinking of his stupid, hot face, that nice billion-dollar smile, and felt herself begin to smile in turn? Why was she -

- oh.

Oh, no.

She wasn't … Itsuka felt herself pale, coming to a stop in front of an alleyway while feeling her eyes widen in horror. Oh, no … she wasn't … starting to …

… she didn't have a crush on him, did she?

No. No, no, no, no, no. She quickly shook her head, raising her shaking hands again to smack her cheeks. No, that was just - that was just Setsuna and Yui putting the idea in her head. There was no way in hell that she was crushing on one of her best friends. It was just - no way, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!

She was not crushing on him, no, no way, no how. Setsuna and Yui were just messing with her head, and she was unfocused now.

Besides, what about - what about Ochako? She knew that her friend was in love with Izuku already, and there was a high chance he felt the same way about her. It was so obvious that a blind man could see it. So what was she supposed to do here? Just steal Ochako's first kiss and then fall head over heels for the guy she has a crush on too? Go 'hey, Ochako, thanks for making out with me, now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go make out with your crush too'?

No. No, that was not going to happen, Itsuka shook her head, straightening her shoulders. She cared about Izuku as a friend, and the relationship - no, the friendship she shared with Ochako even after their kiss was way too important to her than the supposed crush she had on Izuku.

So that would have to be it. Something that Setsuna and Yui were trying to put in her head.

And she also had to consider … they knew about One for All now. They knew about her real responsibilities - to replace All Might one day as the Symbol of Peace and the Number One Hero. There was no way that she would be able to … even if she wanted to, a relationship was pretty much out of the cards for her.

So no, she would push these thoughts of a crush away, she resolved with herself, nodding slowly. Get her best friends together … and then get back to what she was supposed to do. Master this new quirk, and become someone everyone could -

BAM

"Ah! Itsuka let out a sudden cry of surprise as something small collided hard into her side. Because her thoughts were elsewhere, she hadn't heard the sound of something approaching her from within the alleyway, nor did she have time to brace herself as she was knocked off her feet, and found herself being carried down to the ground by whatever had just crashed into her, letting out a grunt of pain as she fell to the ground hard.

"Ow, ow, ow …" She tensed, letting out a small groan as she rubbed her side where she had had landed, and tried to sit up, her eyes trailing around to see what on earth ahd just hit -

"Help me …"

Itsuka felt herself falter, however, at the sound of a low, tearful voice quietly speaking. It sounded … young. As though …

Looking around, she felt her eyes widen at the sight of who had just slammed into her, and was now clinging tightly onto her school uniform, shaking and hiding her face against her. The little girl was wearing a raggedly hospital gown, a few holes in it, but what Itsuka found her eyes focusing on was the wrappings around her arms and legs, looking dirty and tightly fastened around her limbs. She was barefoot, her feet scratched and bloody from running across the pavement, and her long, messy pale hair covered her face.

Finally, she looked up, and Itsuka stared into her large, doe-like eyes, tearing up as she desperately clung to the older girl, the horn on the top edge of her forehead lightly digging into Itsuka's blazer.

"Please …" The little girl begged, holding on fast while her voice was on the verge of breaking, "… please help me …"

"Oh," Itsuka let out a small gasp, quickly sitting up. Her hands automatically reached out, tempted to take the little girl by the shoulders, but the way she flinched away made the older girl stop.

The longer she stared down at this little girl, though, the faster her heart hammered in her chest - god, she looked so terrified, tearing up and glancing back at the alley she had apparently came from.

"Hey," Itsuka said softly, sitting up slowly so that the little girl could be sat up on her knees, her red eyes turning back to stare up at her with tears in her eyes, "are you okay? I'm really sorry that I got in your way - are you hurt?"

The little girl merely stared up at her as the tears finally began sliding down her cheeks. It was then that Itsuka realized how hard the little girl was trembling, and she suddenly felt something … weird run through her. As though she had the sudden urge to protect this little girl.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," She quickly adopted a much gentler, kinder voice, the kind of tone that she used when Gūdo was just a puppy and was scared of her, "you don't have to be afraid of me. C'mon," She slowly climbed to her feet, the little girl's hands still clinging to her blazer as she smiled kindly down at her, "why don't I help you up? We both took a pretty bad -"

And that was when Itsuka heard it.

The sound of footsteps moving down the alleyway.

Feeling her eyes widen, Itsuka quickly snapped her gaze up into the dark alleyway, feeling the little girl's hands tighten their grip on her as she whipped around, staring fearfully into the darkness. Itsuka didn't see anyone at first, only the sound of feet meeting the pavement - but Itsuka's senses were screaming at her to run away. Slowly, she felt her feet turn slightly away while hesitantly reaching down towards the little girl, and finally, she looked away from the dark alley and down into her face.

The sight of the little girl staring in horror down the alley told Itsuka all she needed to know - whoever was coming down that alleyway right now was bad news.

And then, as her gaze flickered back up, she saw a white shoe suddenly appear from behind the alley wall. And Itsuka acted.

Grabbing the little girl and lifting her right up into her arms - and feeling alarmed at how thin and light she was in her grasp - Itsuka bolted. Before whoever was coming out of that alley could even poke their head around the corner to have a look, Itsuka was already running at full speed down the street, her arms wrapped protectively around the little girl as she hurried away. The little girl, perhaps unsurprisingly, clung tightly to her, her thin arms wrapping around Itsuka's neck as she ran … really nowhere in general, just away from that alleyway.

If Itsuka had been paying attention, she would've noticed a flicker of teal lightning moving around her, and that her legs were moving a lot faster than she used to. She suddenly felt a strain in her body as she ran so fast a passerby yelped as her hair was blown about by Itsuka speeding past her. But instead, Itsuka concentrated on getting away from there, feeling like if she slowed down or hesitated for even a second, something awful would happen - to either her, or to the girl she had in her arms. But either way, there was no chance in hell she was going to slow down.

As she sprinted down the street, she became aware of the sound of quiet sobbing coming from her shoulder, and she glanced down to see the little girl pressing her face against her, and Itsuka became aware of the feeling of something wet there.

"I'm sorry … I'm sorry …"

That same, weirdly protective feeling flared within Itsuka again, making her blink - and she raised one of her hands to hold the back of the little girl's head, rubbing it up and down her mangled locks to comfort her.

"I've got you," She muttered, "I've got you."

Eventually, she ran around the corner and completely vanished from sight, not sure where she was running but knowing she had to get away. If she had been looking behind her, she would've seen a tall man suddenly storm out of the alleyway, keeping to himself in the dark, and a pair of yellow, enraged eyes flickered around, searching for something and finding nothing.

And a growl escaped his lips, concealed by the beaked mask he wore around his lower face.