Shirayuki had several hours until her date, but her heart was already racing. Sunday seemed to take forever to arrive and now that it had, she was so excited that she thought her heart may really beat out of her chest. Ashido and Kaminari had helped her plan this date. It was going to be a complete surprise to Shinsou and she could not wait to see him.

The girl had woken earlier than usual and, to keep herself busy, she was now meticulously brushing the various cats around the house. I hope he likes what I have planned. I've never planned a date before. A wide, joyous smile pulled at her lips as she fondly stroked behind a black cat's ears. He put so much thought into the date he planned. I just hope that everything goes well.

They were set to meet up that evening to go out to dinner and Shirayuki had a few other things planned. He was supposed to show up at her house a little before dinnertime so they could walk to the restaurant together. She already had an outfit picked out and it was set out on her bed, ready for her date.

Today will be a good day, she told herself. I get to go on a date…with Shinsou. It's definitely going to be a good day! Shirayuki bowed her head and continued her task as her grandmother emerged from her own room.

"Oh! Ume, you're up early. You don't have plans until tonight."

"…I'm just…I'm excited…about my…date…" she admitted.

The old woman smiled and nodded. "You're a very good match, Ume. Your father would be happy for you." She started to walk to the kitchen, but paused. "Just don't move too quickly, alright? I remember being your age, you know. One minute you're on a date with your sweetheart and the next, you're dropping out of high school with a baby and-"

"…Grandma…?" Shirayuki stared up at the woman, a bit startled by how the woman's advice had taken a turn.

"Oh, well, you know how it is. Back in my day, if you did something like that, you had to take responsibility. Your grandfather and I had to get jobs to support your father and we were barely older than you are now."

"…I…I won't…go that far…" the girl mumbled. She bowed her head again as her grandmother walked to the kitchen and she bit her lower lip. I didn't know that. I didn't know any of that. Grandma…was really that young when my father was born? And Grandpa…? They dropped out of school to-?

A knock at the door drew her from her thoughts. Shirayuki set down the cat brush and tilted her head curiously. "…Grandma…?"

"Can you get that, Ume? I've got my hands full."

"…yes…" She pulled her mask up over her mouth and nose before going to answer the door. To her surprise, she found her red-haired classmate standing there with a grin. "…Kirishima…?"

"Hey, Yuki! Are you busy right now?"

"…not really…um…wh-what…brings you here…?"

He pushed his hands into his pockets and eased his way into the house. As he took off his shoes, he looked around and then turned to her with a grin again. "I wanted to hang out a little before your big date. That's tonight, right? Around dinnertime?" He saw her nod and he nodded back. "So what are you doing?"

It's really early in the morning. He came all this way…this early…just to hang out? Wait. Did he…climb the fence…? Shirayuki led him to the sitting room and picked up her cat brush again. "…I was just…grooming the cats…"

"Oh! I want to help! Can I try?" Kirishima seated himself on the couch and accepted the brush from her. A white cat hopped up onto his lap with an expectant meow and he followed Shirayuki's instructions on how to properly brush the feline.

"Oh my! Kirishima-kun, you're here so early! You don't strike me as an early bird," her grandmother remarked, standing in the doorway. "I was just getting breakfast started. I'm sure we have more than enough to around."

"Thanks, Granny. You're the best."

It was a bit odd. Kirishima never came to her house by himself. He was always there with Kaminari or Ashido. Additionally, something seemed to be bothering him. He smiled all throughout breakfast, but the smile did not quite reach his eyes. It was only when they were alone in the living room again that he spoke up and asked her something important.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he gave Shirayuki a rather sheepish smile. "Hey, so, I actually wanted to ask you something, Yuki. The sports festival is coming up and we both need to train, right? And you have some time before your date, still. I was wondering if you'd spar with me. There's a field where we can do it and I just really need someone to help me practice with my quirk."

"…Kirishima-kun…?"

"Your quirk is really strong. It's kind of like Bakugou's. And that's the kind of quirk that I really need to train against if I want to get better with my own quirk. So are you in? I'll treat you to lunch afterwards."

"…o-okay…I…probably need to train more, too…" She grabbed a snack bag from the kitchen, loaded with some calorie-packed treats, and the two set off.

Walking together, it was clear that something was still bothering him, but he was reluctant to bring it up. He tried to grin and be his usual cheerful self however, Shirayuki could see through it. After being without friends for so long, she had become fairly good at reading others. He was clearly bothered by something and whatever it was, he did not want to divulge the details to her yet.

Once they were at the field, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and stood facing him. She squared her shoulders and widened her stance the way that Bakugou had showed her, frowning to herself and lowered her mask since it was just her and her close friend. She was grateful that he had taught her the proper stance for her quirk, but at the same time she was always reminded of that day in the forest with him. How close he had gotten to her. How scared she had been.

Kirishima stood across from her, putting a good amount of distance between them. "Okay! I'm going to start by just hardening before you send a blast! I'll move a little bit closer after each blast and then we'll change it up! Sound good?"

"…a-alright…!" Shirayuki's muscles tensed as she saw him activate his quirk. Focus. Okay. Calm lake. Sunshine. Kittens. Coffee. Cookies. Friends. Shinsou. Focus. Her crimson eyes narrowed and heat began to form in her right arm. Lifting her hand, she braced herself and released a blast. She felt guilty about firing at her friend and she had been apprehensive about it, but she knew that she needed to trust in his ability to protect himself.

After repeatedly sending energy blasts at her friend and realizing that he could, in fact, protect himself from them, she felt much better. By the time he reached her and the blasts were at close range, Shirayuki's confidence was growing. "…you're…not hurt…?"

He dusted off a little bit of dirt and beamed, showing his incredibly sharp teeth. "Nope; I'm fine! Just a few scorch marks. Your aim is awesome, Yuki! I thought you'd be too afraid to actually hit me!"

"…Bakugou-kun…helped me…" she admitted.

"That's pretty cool! You guys both have a lot of fire power; I'm actually kind of jealous." The redhead turned to look back to where he started. "So you're okay, right? You're not shaky? Your blood sugar is alright?"

She nodded once. "…I…ate enough at breakfast…and it was recent enough…so…I'm fine…"

"Alright! I'm going to go back and this time, I want you to shoot before I harden. Hey! Don't look so worried, Yuki! I'll be fine! I need to work on my reaction time so I need to be able to harden before you shoot at me. Just maybe don't go full power, okay?" He leaned down when she hesitated and put a hand on her shoulder. "Yuki? You okay with that?"

"…y-yeah…I guess…" Shirayuki nodded and her hands curled into fists. "…I…I can do it…if it'll help you, Kirishima-kun…" Her mouth shifted into a wide smile as she thought about helping her friend get stronger.

To her surprise, his face flushed for a moment and he leaned back. Turning his head to the side, he smiled. "You know, I'd die for that smile. Okay, let's do this!"

Wait…what? She watched him jog back to his first position and her smile faltered. The girl took a deep breath and steadied her stance once more. Okay. Kirishima-kun is strong. He has good reflexes…doesn't he? He can do this. Heat rushed to her right arm as she lifted it and she released a blast.

He lifted both arms, hardening them seconds before impact. Gritting his teeth, he slid back a few inches from the hit, but received no damage. "Whoa! Did you see that, Yuki?! How'd it look?" he called to her.

Summoning forth a bit of courage, she cupped her hands around her mouth. "It…it looked awesome, Kirishima-kun!" Her face was burning red from raising her voice, but the bright smile on his face made it worth it. Okay! I can do this! She shifted her legs back to position and prepared to release another blast.

By their third round of practice, both teenagers were trying to run while using their quirks to defend themselves. He would harden and rush at her, making the girl use her blasts to try to fend him off. She would send blasts of energy at him, forcing him to abruptly to harden wherever she was aiming at to keep himself safe.

Collapsing into the grass, the two shared some of the snacks that Shirayuki had brought with her. She was trembling and her blood sugar was really low, but the session had been exhilarating. "…you're…really good with your quirk…"

"Are you kidding?! Yuki, you were awesome today! I mean, you're always pretty awesome, but you looked so cool with your mask off! And those blasts were really powerful!" The redhead saw her blush and look down at the grass beneath her. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head as a frown tugged at his features. "You're awesome, you know."

"…I'm not…awesome…Kirishima-kun…you're awesome…" she argued. "…you're…brave…and cool…and-"

"Can you stop? Please?" When the girl looked over, she saw him bowing his head and wearing a deep frown. "I just can't…hear that right now, okay?"

"…are you alright…Kirishima-kun…?"

He ruffled his hair, releasing a frustrated growl before looking at her. "Yuki, I didn't want to interfere, okay? You're my friend and I really want you to be happy. I don't want to upset you. But I really didn't want you to start going out with that guy from 1-C! We're just first years! You should wait for that kind of thing!" As he spoke, his face started to turn red. "Why couldn't you just wait?"

"…Kirishima-kun…?"