A/N: Hey all! I just wanted to start this chapter off by thanking you all for reading this story! I've received some reviews giving me some corrections for Quirks I'd gotten wrong and some names I'd messed up. It is helpful and probably more so than you can imagine. I also wanted to update you on the upload scheduled for this story.
What will happen is every time I finish a chapter, I'll upload it. There won't be a set day for updates and I'll just do them when the chapters are completed. I hope that will be alright! :D
Mina and Izuku had been walking for a fair while now. Izuku had been pretty one-track-minded so far, looking out for the restaurant 'Caspers' amongst the other shops, stalls, and bustling groups of people. Mina, on the other hand, she was constantly distracted by everything; stuffed animals, video game shops, music shops and everything else in-between, she was clearing having the time of her life even though they hadn't really done anything yet.
Izuku was more than happy to let her drag him around since so far, every shop she'd brought him into had led to him finding something that perked his interest. Be it All Might figurines he'd not seen before, training equipment that could be more helpful in fine-tuning his muscles. No matter where it was or what it was, there was something that made him glad he'd followed her.
Now though, they were finally at the place they'd originally planned to come to the city for: 'Caspers Ice-cream and waffle house'. Izuku was feeling excited. He'd never been to a restaurant that specialised only in deserts. It made sense to him as to why Mina would be her so often; The walls inside were all made of black marble, flecks of holographic glitter scatter across each polished tile.
A disco ball sat slowly revolving on the ceiling and all the booths, tables and other seating was constructed of purple leather and black painted wood. It felt like an attack on his senses, the smell especially. Since all he could pick up was freshly baked waffles, melted chocolate and every other kind of sweet foodstuff you could think of, his nose felt like it was about to catch fire from overworking.
Then there was the music, pop songs that were currently popular blared out of hidden speakers to the point you could hear the place before you saw it. Mina took a deep, exaggerated sniff of the sweet-smelling air and let it out with a loud and heavy sigh.
"Oooo do you smell that!" She said quite loudly, turning and beaming up at her slightly taller friend with twinkling eyes. He chuckled to himself nodded.
"Yeah, I can smell it." He replied, a small buzz of excitement awakening withing him as she skipped off ahead, and into the restaurant without waiting for him, or even looking to see if he'd sped up.
He quickly increased his pace to a jog and headed into the building where he found Mina already talking to a member staff, who she seemed to know quite well.
"Here he is!" Mina beamed, pointing to Izuku as he made his way inside. Her sudden exclamation on his entrance caused a few curious customers that'd overheard her, looked in his direction, and the girl Mina was speaking to also looked past the pink Acid Quirk user's shoulder with her eyebrow raised.
He immediately felt his cheeks heating up and wanted to walk straight back out of the place without hearing a word from anyone. But he couldn't do that, he couldn't just bail on Mina, not after she'd been nice enough to invite him out to eat with her. Instead, he did his best to ignore the eyes that were focused on him and headed silently over to Mina, not taking his eyes off the floor.
"Come on then." The girl smiled, nodding for the two to follow her and leading them off into the small restaurant and to a booth for two. Mina had probably already told the girl what was going on, so Izuku just followed her like a lost puppy.
"Here you go, I'll just grab ya some menus." She smiled, pointing to their booth before heading back off to the 'bar'.
"I love this place so much!" Mina squealed to herself, sitting down heavily in one of the seats with Izuku sliding in opposite her with a little less haste.
"Do you know what you want already?" He asked, trying to make some sort of conversation to ease the awkward feeling he had in his stomach.
"Nope! I can never decide what I want when I come in here. What about you?" She replied, firing him a quick smile over the top of the menu.
He quickly looked down at his own, overly decorated menu the waitress had given him and scanned over the rather bizarre named dishes, eventually settling on something called the 'Oreo Overload.' A large waffle covered in melted Nutella and crumbled pieces of Oreo. If he was being honest, he was actually pretty excited to try this out, he'd never heard of anything so sweet in his life and honestly, it made his stomach grumble even more, which was embarrassing because if Mina heard it, he knew she'd not let him live it down for as long as she knew him.
"Yeah, I know." He replied, closing the menu, and pushing it off to the side of the booth. Mina slammed her own menu down on the table with a face wonderment and exasperation.
"What! You already decided! What the-th-h-How!" She blurted. Izuku couldn't help but laugh at her and rested his head in his hand, preparing for the inevitable wait that would be Mina deciding what dangerously sweet dish she wanted.
"Are you normally this indecisive?" He asked, attempting to crack a joke she might have found amusing.
He didn't actually know if this would offend her or amuse her, but he'd assumed that, by the way she'd joked about him, he could joke about her, with some classic Midorya reservation thrown in. Mina gasped, clapping her hands to her mouth, and letting out a fake offended gasp.
"Rrruuude!" She sang before laughing at his attempt at banter. It was a bit of a confidence boost for him, knowing he could make someone like Mina laugh at one of his remarks. Every time he tried to be funny with Iida and Uraraka it usually ended in either Iida telling him quite blankly that it wasn't funny, or Uraraka laughing purely out of sympathy which imaginably, was a bit of a stump to his confidence. Of course, there were times when he'd managed to make his two friends laugh but it wasn't a common occurrence.
"Here, you help me." She smiled, hopping up from her seat and scooting in beside Izuku, pressing him against the wall as she attempted to sit next to him. She clearly hadn't thought much of it, but Izuku looked like he was about to start steaming. Her sudden action was clearly one he hadn't expected or been ready for and as a result, his whole body tensed up and he looked straight at the wall instead of the menu she was trying to get him to look at.
"Midori? Hey Midori! You're supposed to be helping me." Mina said jovially, nudging him lightly in the ribs and jolting him from his flustered trance.
"O-Oh right, Sorry..." He muttered, doing his best to ignore his instinct of pulling away.
"What do you think?" She asked, pointing to one of the ice creams called 'Bubble-gum Blast' and then to a waffle dish called the 'Crunchy Cascade'. All the names were cheesy and didn't seem like they had much thought put into them.
She then looked up over her shoulder at him, careful not to catch his chin with her small horns. Her expression was patient and innocent and it caused him to shift awkwardly, his cheeks heating up again. She was cute when she looked like that, her soft and crazy hair hiding her black and amber eyes and she looked up to him with a smile. He nervously gulped and averted his gaze to the menu, reading the descriptions of both items.
"What about the Bubble-gum Blast? It sounds like something you'd enjoy." He replied, leaning over a little and pointing to the picture of the luminescent blue and pink ice cream, covered in sprinkles, gummy candies, chocolate sauce and with two Cadbury flakes protruding from the mass.
Strangely enough, it reminded him a little of Mina, the bright pink ice-cream being her skin, the yellow gummy candies being her eyes, the sprinkles as hair and the two flakes as horns. It was an odd observation that even he was surprised he'd noticed, but it caused him to chuckle and that it turn, piqued Mina's interest.
"What's so funny?" She asked, getting up and going back to her own seat and Izuku looked down at the table to hide him smiling.
"Oh nothing, it's just that ice-cream kind of reminds me of... Of you..." He stuttered, trying to stop laughing whilst also hiding the embarrassment that he'd been caught.
She raised an eyebrow at him, but a smile was already spreading across her face and she averted her gaze down to the desert he was talking about, cocking her head and looking at it with a sideways expression.
"Pfff ahahah! You know what... I see what you mean. I'm glad I remind you of a desert." She replied with a laugh, shaking her head, and looking back up to him with a slightly flirty expression. "Am I really that sweet to you?" She asked.
Anyone with half a shred of sense would be able to see and hear that Mina was joking. But Izuku wasn't like everyone else. Sure he was smart, he could be funny if he wanted, he could take a joke pretty well and he was a good guy all around, but when it came to humour like this, be it from someone he'd just met, like Mina, or someone he'd known for a while, like Uraraka, it turned his face into the same shade as blood. So much so that Mina could have sworn she'd seen steam rising from the green-haired teenager.
"What! I-I... T-That wasn't what I... I didn't-." He started babbling like his brain had lost the ability to form a coherent sentence altogether, simply just throwing words out at her to try and defuse the situation he'd made up for himself.
"Dude, it's way too easy to freak you out." Mina laughed, resting her head in her hand and shaking it whilst trying to suppress her giggles. "You know I'm joking right?" She added, still beaming and trying not to laugh at his complete hysteria of a response.
She knew she'd get this reaction, which is mainly why she did it, but she hadn't expected it to work this well. Izuku stared at her as if she'd just grown a second head, frozen with an expression of both confusion and embarrassment.
"Come on dude, you gotta let loose a little, don't be so tense." She smiled, leaning forwards and pushing his shoulder lightly before sitting back and rolling her shoulders with a goofy grin. He still sat looking confused with his mouth slightly ajar before giving up and sitting back in his seat with a sigh.
She let out a small giggle before grabbing her wallet from her back and getting up from her seat, starting down to the bar.
"Oh, just a sec Ashido!" He blurted without really thinking. Grabbing his own wallet from his pocket and holding his hand out at her. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder with a smile.
"Yeah?" She asked sweetly, turning to fully face him and waiting as he sat and processed what it was, he'd just done.
"At least let me give you some money towards it." He stuttered, opening the wallet, and grabbing out enough money to pay for what it was he wanted to order.
"You don't have to Midori; I don't mind getting it." She replied with a wider smile, turning back to the bar, and going to walk away.
"Just take it." He insisted, getting up and quickly jogging down to her, grabbing her hand and pushing the notes into it.
Even he was surprised with what he'd just done but he didn't regret it. Like hell he was going to let her pay for it all on her own.
"S-Sorry... I just... Just take it. I'd feel bad making you pay for it all" He stuttered, feeling guilty he'd just shoved money into her hand so forcefully, but he probably would've felt worse letting her buy his food as well as her own.
However, her reaction wasn't what he'd expected, and, in all honesty, he should've known she wouldn't be upset at him. He was just so used to Bakugo literally blowing his top at the slightest kind gesture Izuku made to the point that he expected it of everyone. A habit he'd have to do his best to grow out of in his own time.
"Oh Midori, your too thoughtful sometimes." She giggled, patting his right cheek gently before holding up the money he'd given her and smiling. "Thank you though." She added, winking, and turning away again, heading over to the counter where the same girl who'd taken them to their table was stood waiting for her.
He felt anxiety awaken in his stomach when the two started giggling and Mina nodded over her shoulder at Izuku. The waitress glanced up at him too before laughing and leaning back against the desk, shaking her head.
He sighed to himself and retreated to their booth, not looking at anything but the wall. His own reflection was looking back at him thanks to the glistening black marble. So far, although he'd not really made it obvious, the two hours they'd already spent together had been a lot of fun.
He felt comfortable around Mina already. He felt like he could make a few of his bad jokes, fanboy out even when he didn't mean to and become an unintentionally flustered mess without her being bothered by any of it. If anything, it made him feel a lot better about the whole situation.
Mina too enjoyed it when he acted this way but, if she were being honest with herself, she only asked Izuku if she could walk home with him on a whim. Of course, she'd seen him around in their classes and she admired most of the things about him, but she only asked him because she didn't want to have to walk home and get the train alone.
She saw him alone in class, knew that he was an easily flustered and awkward person and wanted to use it to amuse herself on the way home. However, she'd quickly realised how wrong she was to use that as an excuse.
Of course, she'd only really know him as a friend for not even a full day and his anxious, easily flustered personality was a good way to amuse herself, but there was more to it now. In the few hours she'd known Izuku, she'd learned a lot about him that she hadn't known about at first. Uraraka had told her that he was a nice and genuine guy, even if he was a nervous wreck most of the time, but thanks to today she'd been able to experience it first-hand.
He was kind; She'd seen that when he offered to pay for her bus ticket and helped her find a way home. Even just now when he handed her the money to pay for his own food. He had no reason to do it and it wasn't beneficial to him, yet he still did it, just because that was the kind of person he was. He was funny, even if some of his jokes were bad.
He was cute, in general, when he got flustered and when he fanboyed to himself when he thought she wasn't looking. Then finally, he was someone she really admired. Although he was nervous, flustered and a little bit all over the place at times, he could also be a fearless, formidable and a downright amazing fighter and Hero candidate when it mattered.
Another thing she really admired about him was that, unlike Bakugo, Izuku had a powerful Quirk but he didn't shove it down other people's throats, he was tolerable and kind to everyone, no matter how well he knew them or how they treated him. Obviously, she didn't understand why he did this; when people like Bakugo treated him like shit and walked all over him and his only reaction was to pretend it'd never happened. He took the hate, the insults, the cruel treatment and brushed it off like it was nothing and to her, that was amazing.
When she really thought about all of this, she felt horrible, cruel even. She was so shallow and careless when she first spoke to him and her reasons for talking to him in the first place hurt her to look back on, but that was just how she was. However, this whole experience made her want to change that. These thoughts that hurt her were ones she didn't want to feel again. She stared down at the floor as she stood in the queue and felt her stomach churning with guilt, humiliated at her own previous actions.
Izuku noticed this and immediately felt concerned for his friend, her happy and energetic smile had gone, and she looked like she was about to either be sick or cry. Part of him wanted to go over to her and see if she was okay but another part of him knew it was better just to wait until she got back, the last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to her when she clearly didn't want any. The sudden worry he felt towards her caused him to start to fidget, tapping his fingers on the table and watching her out the corner of his eye.
Something was definitely up; he'd never thought he'd see her looking so troubled. With a deep breath, he looked back down at the table and sighed, turning his attention back towards his scared hand. He could only stare at it, amazed that using a Quirk could be so dangerous. He'd only ever thought about what Quirks could be used for and how strong they were, but he'd never thought about the repercussions of using these powerful Quirks.
Then, the sudden shuffling of the seat opposite him pulled him back out of his thoughts. Mina had returned with a small plastic table number and a slightly more smiley expression.
"I have returned!" She announced, smiling at him as slouched back in her chair. Izuku would normally have smiled back and welcomed her but he was still concerned with how she looked earlier. Of course, there was just an off chance that she'd drifted away in her own thoughts, but something in him disagreed with this judgement.
"Hey, Ashido..." He started quietly, leaning forwards from his seat and on the table, keeping his eyes on his hands.
"Hmm?" She hummed back with a small smile.
"When you were queuing up... Just now... Were you umm... Okay?" He asked gently, looking up to her with a calm and concerned expression. The moment his emerald eyes locked with her amber ones she felt her resistance to admit what she'd felt, melt away. She did her best to maintain a smile and gave him a confused expression.
"Oh, no-Yeah I was fine! Still am!" She beamed, eyes closed and gleaming teeth on display as she tried to avoid telling him how she was really feeling.
"Ashido." He repeated. His stutter had vanished now, and she knew, straight away that her attempts to hide how she'd felt had failed. Izuku might not have been able to pick up on how people were feeling or what sort of emotion they were trying to portray very well, but he wasn't one to overlook the face of someone who needed to vent.
"You can talk to me." He smiled, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly and firing her a reassuring smile. That smile, that nerdy yet sweet smile broke right through her barrier.
She was even surprised at herself for how she was feeling, normally she wouldn't even bat an eyelid at thoughts like this, let alone let it bother her but for some reason, this felt different. She felt like she'd lied to him and there was something about that thought that made her uncomfortable. That and another thing was that she didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him the truth. She could always lie and make something up, but that would probably hurt him more than being told the truth judging by the kind of person he was.
"Well, I just felt a little guilty." She muttered back, resting her head in her hand, and looking down at the table.
"Oh? How come?" He asked. His voice was soft, just by his tone she could tell that he wasn't just asking for the sake of it, he was genuinely and honestly concerned and that hit home to her.
"Promise not to be upset?" She asked slowly. She wanted to lay it on him as gently as possible so he wouldn't be hurt by what she was about to admit.
"Why would I be?" He asked sweetly. She looked up to him from the table and watched as his expression faltered a little. He felt anxiety and dread begin filling his stomach but did his best to remain calm for her.
"Well, I... I was just thinking that when I first spoke to you I didn't... I only did it because I wanted someone to amuse me when I walked to the station. You just happened to be there, and I decided that you'd be good to keep me occupied." She admitted. There was no way she could really break this news to him without sounding horrible.
"I had no idea how nice a guy you really were... I'm thankful you agreed to meet with me because, well I do really want to be friends with you. What you did for me yesterday and what you'd said this morning, even you simply being here with me proves how wrong I was to act the way I did. I was just scared to tell you about this because I didn't want to hurt you." She added.
She couldn't look at him, she was ashamed. A few seconds of silence passed and there was no reply, no kind of stutter or sound that he was trying to reply. Instead, he'd sat there and listened to everything she'd had to say and felt nothing but sympathy and understanding.
He'd grown up with people intentionally doing this to him, using him for entertainment before dropping him like an unwanted food wrapper, but this was the one case he could understand. He had never really spoken to Mina before yesterday, but he knew, just by looking at her, that this was the kind of person she was. Never really thinking and just doing, living for the moment. However, now she seemed almost opposite to the girl he was with only a few minutes ago.
The pink-skinned, sclera eyed, Acid Quirk using teenage girl, that bolted from one activity to the next; was always bubbly, smiley, and laughing, had lost that energy. Her smile had gone and instead was a face that looked ridden with guilt and shame, but that wasn't what he wanted. The Mina he'd spoken to yesterday was not the same one that was sat here opposite him. He wanted her to get that smile back, to bubble with her overzealous energy and to laugh at his misfortune.
"Don't apologize Ashido." He replied compassionately, a tender smile on his face and reassuring in his eyes.
"No, I want too. It was wrong of me." She replied earnestly.
"Ashido, I mean it. I kind of suspected it, to be honest." He replied timidly, shrugging, and chuckling awkwardly. She looked at him with an expression of both amazement and hurt.
"I-I didn't mean it badly! Sorry..." He added quickly, waving his hands in a panic, and desperately trying to calm whatever her reaction would be. She couldn't help but smile at this. Something as simple seeing him becoming a flustered mess cheered her up, but it didn't solve the problem.
"What I'm trying to say is that... I know you didn't mean any harm by it. I want to be friends with you too and... The fact that you apologised is enough to show me that you regret what you did... I just want us to move one from it. I want you to be the smiley girl you usually are" He admitted with a nervous smile. He still sounded like he was afraid of what her reaction would be, or that he was afraid that what he'd said would upset her. Mina, however, was smiling just as broadly as usual.
Everything he'd said made her feel a thousand times better and again she wanted to hug him, but she knew better than to embarrass him in front of all these people. Sure, it'd be hilarious to watch him grow redder than red and flap around like a fish out of water but no, this time she just wanted to savour the moment of him showing his caring side.
"Are you sure it's okay?" She asked, doing her best to get all the reassurance that she could before returning to her usual self and making the most of the time they still had to spend together.
"I promise it's fine." He smiled, not taking his eyes from hers.
"I'm glad... Oh, oh! Look! Foods coming!" She beamed suddenly, making him and a few of the customers sat nearby jump. Instantly her upset and distress disappeared, and her trademark smile returned to her face as a surprisingly large portion of the dishes they ordered, were carried over by the same girl as before. However, Izuku's attention wasn't on the food, but on Mina. He was surprised by how bothered she seemed by what they'd just talked about. He expected her to be the type of person to either not bring it up, or just talk to him about it over text, but not face to face.
It made him happy though; Happy that she felt she could confide in him, that he could make her feel better and bring her bubbly, beaming smile back. Her apology and seeing her being herself again was all he really wanted to see, there was nothing he hated more than his friends looking distressed or upset, especially not someone like Mina.
"Hey Midori, get over here, let's get a photo!" She suggested quickly, waving him over to her side of the table. At first, he hesitated, he'd ever really enjoyed having his picture taken because he could never really smile for a photo. However, this time he was just smiling. A natural, content and happy smile and it was all thanks to her. He was smiling like he meant it.
"O-Okay." He replied in a tone that sounded like he'd given into his want over his anxiety and made his way over to Mina, scooting into the free space she'd left and waited patiently as she grabbed the large glass of well-designed ice-cream and held it between the two before posing. She stuck her tongue in the ice-cream's direction, winked, and beamed at the camera all at the same time and Izuku couldn't help it. When he saw what she was doing on the screen he burst out laughing and that's when she took it the picture.
Her acting as silly as usual with an 'attack on the senses' ice-cream and Izuku laughing, an adorable face that was all someone needed to see to know he was having the time of his life.
"Aww look at your lil' face." She giggled, putting her desert back down on the table and pointing at him in the photo. He felt a blush beginning to develop on his cheeks, but his smile didn't falter.
"Make sure you send that to me." He requested, pointing to her phone before heading back around to his side of the table. She nodded enthusiastically in response and with that, quickly did what he'd requested and the two of them started on their desert-dinner.
Izuku, being the slow eater he was, took quite a bit longer to eat his food that Mina, who'd simply wolfed it down brain freeze or not. Finally, the two had finished their food and were back on their way through the concrete jungle that was Tokyo city. After doing what it was Mina had planned, they had both drawn blanks as to what to do next. She'd led him into shops she wanted to go to and he asked to head into the shops and stalls he saw something interesting, but now they were truly out of things to do and had ended up sitting on a bench together beside some fountains. They'd set their photo together as their home screens on their phones and spent a little longer laughing at each other, but now it was silent.
"Sooo... How was today then?" Mina asked with an awkward sigh. Izuku chuckled and looked down at her with a smile.
"I really enjoyed it, thank you." He replied bashfully.
"I'm glad ya did. Sorry, we haven't done much; I didn't realize how fast we were gonna be in an' out of Caspers." She replied with a laugh.
"That's alright. Do you have a time that you have to be home?" He asked. He didn't want her to think he was asking because he wanted to go home, in fact, it was the opposite, he'd easily spend another few hours out with her, but he didn't want to keep her if she had to be home.
"Not really, but I'll probably head off now. You coming to the station with me?" She asked, bouncing up from the bench and pirouetting on her heel, beaming down at him from where she stood. He wasn't sure why, but seeing this beautiful girl smiling down at him in the sunset made his stomach churn with nerves. At least, it was the same sort of feeling, but it also felt different; something he couldn't ever recall feeling before.
"Sure, if you want." He stammered, getting up and following her as she led him back the way they'd come.
"Well, would I have asked if I didn't want you to?" She asked rhetorically. Izuku looked at the floor and chuckled at himself feeling embarrassed.
"Hey Midori, there was something else I wanted to ask ya." She perked up as they made their way towards their train station.
"Oh?" He asked, looking up to her with a nervous expression.
"Would yoooou wanna hang out again tomorrow?" She asked in a sing-song voice, smiling up at him with a hopeful expression. Inside she couldn't help but hope he'd say yes although, if he didn't, she wouldn't blame him. After all, today was meant to be his day of rest and instead, he'd come all the way out here with her, gone into every single shop she wanted to go into and still managed to enjoy himself without a single complaint.
She watched his reaction as she asked this and slowly but surely, the timid greenette developed a very light crimson tinge in his cheeks and began fiddling with his fingers, not looking up to her.
"Well, I mean... Yes, I would love to hang out again but... I wouldn't want to be a bother by just following you around..." He started, rambling like he often did with everyone when they offered to do something nice for him.
"You overthink thing a lot huh..." She laughed, feeling a little concerned that he would ramble himself to death. "I'm the one asking you if you wanna hang out again, why would ya be a bother?" She giggled, firing him a reassuring smile.
"O-Oh well... I just assumed-." He started before she held her hand up to stop him.
"Midori just, stop talking." She said in the nicest tone she could. He promptly shut himself up and looked a little worried that he'd upset her. "Just, do you wanna meet up or not?" She asked with a smile, shaking her head and giggling.
"Yes..." He replied quietly, looking at the floor with a humiliated blush on his cheeks.
"Good, I look forward to it. Make sure you come up with some ideas on what we do this time though. Kay'?" She asked with a sweet smile, putting her hand reassuringly on his shoulder.
The walk to the station had been much more mellow than their time in the city. After five hours of bouncing from shop to shop and gorging themselves on ice-cream and waffles, this calm walk in the now descending sun was a more welcome setting than the city.
Mina had offered up her earphone to him again and for the majority of their walk, the two had spoken about the occasional pointless topic; like what they'd be up to when they got home, what their favourite foods were, about the different fights that happened at the U.A Sports Festival. Simple small talk just for the excuse of being able to speak to one another.
The entire walk home, Izuku and Mina hadn't stopped smiling but now the train station was in view and a small twinge of dread had awoken in their stomachs. Mina had tried to walk a little slower just as an excuse to spend as long as she could with Izuku, but it was all about to end no matter how hard she tried. However, they still had the train journey to go which would allow them, if only a little more time, to enjoy each other's company.
But the train journey went faster than they thought, the phrase 'time flies when you're having fun' could finally be taken in a literal sense. The half-hour journey had felt like about ten minutes and before they knew it, Izuku was stood with Mina waiting for her train to arrive.
"Welp, that was fun." Mina sighed, breaking the awkward silence and smiling up at him. Izuku looked a little shocked at the sudden break in silence but quickly calmed down and fired her a calm smile.
"Yep... It was pretty fun." He replied with an awkward chuckle.
"Buuut, there was one more favour I wanted to ask from ya..." She replied. Again, like all the times she'd said she wanted to ask him something, his face turned into an anxious mess.
"Oh? What's up?" He muttered.
"First off, please stop acting like I'm gonna bite ya head off. I might look scary but I'm not, last time I checked." She replied with a laugh.
"You're not scary..." He muttered, too quietly for her to hear clearly, but she'd heard him all the same.
"What was that?" She asked curiously. Immediately Izuku's eyes went wide and he held his hands up in a panic.
"N-Nothing! I didn't say anything!" He blurted in a panic. She was tempted to tell him to chill out like she had countless times already today, but then again, she found it too amusing to stop and so let him continue his flustered stuttering.
"Aaanyy waaaaay..." She sang, rolling her eyes and trying to get his attention back to what she was trying to tell him beforehand.
"I wanted to ask you; We're friends, aren't we?" She asked. His fumbling and incoherent babble quickly stopped, and he averted his attention back to Mina with a curious expression.
"Yeah..." He muttered. Mina looked down at the floor.
"Ashido..." He started, edging his hand towards her shoulder with concern in his voice. Quickly she held up her hand and caught his arm just before it contacted her, looking up to him with a crooked smile.
"That's not my name. You said it yourself, were friends, so stop calling me Ashido." She started, moving her hand down his arm and taking his crooked hand gently. He looked like he was about to melt, his face looked like a traffic light, but she didn't pay it any mind.
"My name isn't 'Ashido'. It's Mina." She smiled, rubbing the back of his scared and damaged hand with her thumb before letting it go as her train pulled into the station.
"You can do that for me, right? Come on, let me hear you say it." She requested in a slightly mocking tone, putting her hands on her hips, and cocking her head with a mischievous expression.
"M-Mina..." He muttered, leaving anxious gaps between what he was saying. She drew herself back and beamed at him.
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it? We're friends, so try and remember. Kay'?" She smiled, bouncing on her toes before spinning on her heel and skipping off to the train. "Thanks for hanging out with me today! See you tomorrow!" She beamed, waving from the door of the train before disappearing into the carriage.
"Yeah... Tomorrow..." He muttered, raising his hand and giving a meek wave, staring at where she'd been standing as the announcer informed whoever was on the platform about the train's departure, and the locomotive slowly started down the track.
His mind was racing at about a thousand miles a minute, he couldn't believe what it was he'd spent nearly six hours doing. Slowly he took his eyes off the train that was now speeding into the distance and looked down to his crooked hand, the hand she'd held.
"Mina..." He repeated. Saying her name brought a strange feeling of calming and happiness and a smile spread across his face. "See you tomorrow Mina." He whispered, smiling back up at the train before turning on his heel and taking a seat on the platform bench. It was another twenty minutes until his train would arrive, so he wanted to spend some of that time reminiscing the first time he'd ever really 'hung out' with a friend.
When he woke up this morning he felt pessimistic of the day ahead, he was worried that he'd be a bother to the pink acid user, but he'd very quickly learned that it was, in fact, the latter. She'd made it clear at multiple points throughout the day that she'd enjoyed hanging out with him, even in he was a stuttering, fumbling, blushing mess most of the time. She enjoyed the person he was and that was a pretty big confidence boost for him.