How to be a Good Wingman

Yaoyorozu frowned as her eyes scanned over the 1-A dorm common area. "Has anyone seen Kirishima?" she asked. "He was really out of it today, and I'm kind of worried."

Iida stood up and nodded seriously. "He was certainly distracted in class. As class rep, I had hoped to speak with him about this utter lack of focus, but I haven't seen him either."

"Relax, guys." Kaminari waved from the couch. "He probably started feeling sick. It's not the end of the world."

"He's been going to tutoring this week, right?" Uraraka asked, looking up from her homework. "That's probably where he went."

Ojiro shook his head. "No, I'm usually the first one back to the dorms after class, and I saw him go straight to his room."

By the window, a certain explosive blond was starting to fume, his teeth grinding in agitation as the conversation went on.

"Wait, Kirishima ditched tutoring?" Ashido asked. A look of genuine concern touched her features. "Oh no…"

"Um…" Hagakure's small voice spoke up. "I might know what happened."

"What is it, Hagakure?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Well, it seemed kind of private so I wasn't going to say anything, but I can tell that everyone is really worried, so if you think it will help…" She took a deep breath and let it out. "I was kind of late to class this morning and I saw Kirishima in the hall, listening to someone's conversation. He looked really surprised, so I walked up to see what was wrong, but he was so out of it that I don't think he noticed me. I looked around the corner and there was this couple hugging in the hall. They looked really close. The guy was squeezing her all tight and poking her cheek and stuff. Kirishima saw them and then he sort of… ran off."

"Do you know who they were, Hagakure?" Ashido asked, her frown deepening.

"I didn't recognize the girl, but the guy was Mirio Togata."

"Togata?" Midoriya blinked in surprise. "I didn't know that he had a… girlfriend…" his cheeks flushed, and he glanced at Uraraka. "I-I mean, not that it's any of my business, that's kind of personal, I'm just surprised, especially that he would be the type to have, you know, PDA on campus, that doesn't really sound like him. N-not that there's anything wrong with PDA, I just mean— "

"GOD WOULD YOU SHUT UP?!" Bakugo slammed his fist so hard against the window that it was a miracle it didn't crack. "NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR THIS CRAP!" He stood up, shoved his hands into his pockets, and started for the hallway.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kaminari asked.

"TO PULL KIRISHIMA'S HEAD OUT OF HIS ASS!"

"Bakugo!" Ashido called out to him. "Don't be mean to him! He's probably really upset right now!"

Mineta was snickering under his breath. "Karma," he said, villainously. "That's what he gets for trying to hook up with a hot second-year girl. Women are eeevil."

Bakugo paid absolutely no heed to his classmates as he stormed his way to Kirishima's bedroom door and started to pound on the door. "KIRISHIMA, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE AND STOP YOUR DAMN POUTING OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

There was no immediate response, so Bakugo started yanking on the door handle. "DON'T IGNORE ME, YOU BASTARD!"

Finally, Kirishima responded. "Come on, don't break my door." He unlatched it and cracked it open a few moments later.

Bakugo wasted no time. In that brief instant of opportunity, he shoved the door open, grabbed Kirishima by the collar, and held his face mere inches from his own. "You wanna tell me why the hell you're lazing around in your room while the rest of us are rehearsing for the school festival?"

Kirishima winced at the loud voice in his face. "Rehearsals start tomorrow, I'm not shirking my duties." He wrenched the other boy's hand from his collar. "I'm just taking it easy this afternoon, it's not a big deal."

Bakugo's temple pulsed. "Taking it easy? Seems to me like you're moping in your room over some loser hero-crutch from the second-year support class!"

Kirishima averted his gaze, a bitter frown touching his features. "That's not cool, man." He sighed. "How'd you know about that anyway?"

Bakugo was growling, practically foaming at the mouth now. "How the hell can I count on you to be my personal punching bag if you get like this over some chick?! GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!"

Kirishima jerked away from him. "I will, alright? I'm not the type to sit around crying about it forever. Just… leave me alone for one afternoon, cool? You can punch me as many times as you want in the morning." This was followed up by a half-hearted smile.

Bakugo ground his teeth in rage. Finally, he took a step back and turned away, shoulders heaving. "Fine. Do whatever the hell you want, see if I care!"

Kirishima sighed again, then finally retreated into his room.

Bakugo stood in the hallway, positively seething with negative energy for a solid minute. His fist clenched and unclenched, his muscles strained. "Dammit, Kirishima… DAMMIT!" He turned around and kicked the door so hard that it cracked.

Then, the blond raged back into the common area. His classmates kept their mouths pinched shut when they saw the look of murderous intent on his expression. He stomped through the room and to the door.

"Bakugo, where are you going?!" Kaminari asked.

"NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!" He slammed the door behind him.

Most students had returned to their dorms by now. In fact, curfew was in less than ten minutes, after which, the campus would be patrolled for late night wanderers. Bakugo couldn't care less about this, though, as he strode with purpose through campus. His objective clear, he pushed his way through anything and anyone that stood on his path. Straight through the center of campus, along the dorms, all the way to where the second-year dorms were located.

A girl was scuttling off to one of the buildings, but she was apprehended by the raging hero first. She squawked in surprise when he blocked her path and cast his glare down on her. "Hey, get the girls from the second-year support class out here RIGHT NOW!"

She squeaked in terror, nodded, and disappeared into one of the buildings.

Bakugo waited, his shoe tapping impatiently on the ground while he muttered a slew of curses.

A few minutes later, a group of girls emerged, none of whom he recognized. "WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THE HAIR CHICK?!"

They glanced back and forth at each other, all mumbling in surprise. Finally, one of them stepped forward. A girl with braided hair and silver eyes. "I'm… um, Kanzashi."

"Of course, you are," Bakugo scoffed, as if one look at her confirmed that she was exactly the type of girl Kirishima would be moping in his room over.

Her eyes widened. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?!" he asked. Well… more like roared.

Some of the girls giggled, a couple of them laughed uncomfortably. The two girls nearest her narrowed their eyes and muttered to one another.

"Um… I'm sorry, what?" Her voice was incredulous.

"JUST ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!" His blood was boiling. He'd have given anything to blow something up. Kirishima was going to pay for this. If he didn't let him pound him to an unidentifiable pulp tomorrow, then he'd murder him for real this time.

"Listen…" She tugged on her braid, awkwardly. "It's not that you're not… um, cute in your own way…" the look she gave him suggested that there was absolutely nothing she found cute about him at all, "but you're not my type."

"I'M NOT ASKING FOR ME, YOU DUMBASS HERO-CRUTCH! DO YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND OR NOT?!"

She looked at her two friends. One of them whispered something into her ear, and she nodded slowly. Then, she addressed Bakugo again. "I… no, I don't."

"What about that quirkless exhibitionist? Mario or whatever?" Bakugo was finally cooling off some, but not much.

"Mirio? Togata?" She stared dumbfounded at him. "What? No, no way! We're neighbors, it's nothing like that!"

Bakugo stared at her for a long moment, then suddenly turned away. "Good," he said, as he started to march off.

"Wait!" The girl ran after him. "Bakugo… That's your name, right? From Class 1-A?"

He ignored her and picked up the pace.

"Are you asking me this for… Kirishima?"

Bakugo froze. Then, without looking back at her, he shouted "JUST KEEP YOUR GRUBBY HANDS TO YOURSELF OR I'LL MURDER YOU!"

Finally, he walked back to the dorm, officially shunning any further attempts at conversation by the older girl. He again ignored his classmates in the common area and forced his way to Kirishima's door.

"KIRISHIMA!" He bellowed. "That stupid girl you like is single, so stop screwing around and get your act together before you seriously piss me off!" He kicked the door once more for good measure—widening the crack in the wood—before going to his own room. He hadn't opened the door yet when Kirishima popped his head out of his room.

"Wait, Katsuki, did you talk to her?"

"Let me make this clear, Kirishima… I'm never getting involved in your personal drama again as long as I live, and the only reason I did this time is because we have a concert to put on and I'm not gonna let you make me look bad!"

He slammed his bedroom door shut behind him, leaving Kirishima confused and alone in the hall.

It was Saturday morning and most students were eating breakfast in the cafeteria. Some had yet to adjust to dorm life and complained about not being able to wake up in their own beds to spend the weekend at home. But most of the kids had gotten used to weekends on campus. They got to keep spending time with their friends, were privileged to Lunch Rush's cooking, and still had most of the amenities they would have had at home—video games, tv, the outdoors. And there were always supervised trips off campus.

Some Class 1-A students were eating an early breakfast. Among these were Eijiro, Midoriya (who always wolfed down breakfast before disappearing into the forest to train), Iida, Tokoyami, and Todoroki. Most of the others preferred to sleep in and catch the later breakfast rush.

Eijiro was picking at his food, his thoughts elsewhere. He was in a better mood than yesterday, after Katsuki's random outburst at his door late last night.

That stupid girl you like is single.

He'd heard gossip this morning about a crazy first-year making all the girls from the second-year support class come outside in their pajamas so he could yell at them.

I guess I jumped to conclusions about Kanzashi and Togata.

They had just seemed so close. The way he was hugging her, and their faces so close to each other, and the name he heard said so affectionately. Kinuchan.

He'd never had a crush on someone before. And he'd never felt jealousy either. But at that moment, in between classes yesterday morning, he'd been so jealous that it made him feel sick. He wanted to be the one holding her against his chest. He wanted to be the one touching her hair. And he wanted the privilege of calling her by some cute nickname derived from her given name. The overwhelming desires and sick sense of envy he'd felt were too much to bear.

So, yeah, he'd ditched tutoring and hid in his room. He'd just needed time to deal with all these new feelings before he figured out what to do next.

"...shima…" someone's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Kirishima, look alive. You have a visitor."

He blinked and refocused his vision in time to see Tokoyami pointing to his left. Eijiro's eyes followed his line of sight until they found her.

It was Kanzashi in casual clothes, approaching with her tray of breakfast food. He'd never seen her in anything but her uniform, so this sight alone made his heart nearly pound out of his chest. He'd never noticed or cared about girls' clothing until that moment. He had no idea that a simple tank top and earrings could suddenly make a girl look even cuter than before.

Then there was the fact that she was approaching him. There was no doubt about it. She was looking right at him, determination set in her eyes that made his head spin.

He was so surprised that he instinctively jumped to his feet. He would have knocked his chair over, if Tokoyami hadn't reached out in time to catch it.

Kanzashi raised an amused eyebrow as if to say "Really? Another chair?" and smiled brightly at him.

"Kanzashi!" he said. "You're here!"

She giggled. "Of course, I am. I'm your tutor after all." She gave the exact same response she'd had during their entire week of tutoring. "And since you didn't come to our session yesterday, I had to come find you. Do you want to fail your classes?"

He blushed, then slouched back into his seat, embarrassed. "Sorry about that," he gave a quiet chuckle. "I… wasn't feeling up to it."

"That's no excuse to slack off," she said, but her voice wasn't chiding. Instead, she was all rosy-cheeks and smiles. "We'll have to make up for the missed session on Monday."

"Yeah, I guess we should," he agreed.

A silent moment passed between them. He scanned her over once more, eyes traveling down the length of her pink braid to the ribbon she was wearing.

"Kanzashi," he said suddenly, "about yesterday. I have to tell you— "

"You know what I like about you, Kirishima?" she interrupted, her smile turning gentle. He swallowed hard as she continued. "I like how straightforward and honest you are. Not many people are courageous enough to wear their hearts on their sleeves like you do. I know that I'm not." She looked away, her eyelashes batting as this odd confession came out.

"Kanzashi- "

"I'm not good at talking about how I feel," she interrupted again. "So, I wear my emotions on my hair, not my sleeve. You know that." Her fingers gripped the tray in her hands a little tighter and she let out a shaky breath.

"Are you talking about how your hair changes color?" Of course, he'd paid enough attention to know this already, but he still had no idea what caused the change. Sometimes her hair was blonde, sometimes red, black, blue, or pink. Often combinations of these colors. "It changes because of your emotions?"

Her cheeks took more color. He marveled at her hair and it's sakura pink hue. It was pink a lot of the time he was around her.

She didn't answer his question. Instead, she awkwardly balanced there on her toes, letting her gaze fall on the table where her friends were waiting for her. She finally looked down at him, though not at his face. She was unable to make eye contact as she spoke again. "I know you saw me with Togata."

He fidgeted and tugged on his shirt, immediately self-conscious as the unpleasant memories from yesterday resurfaced. "Yeah," he said, honestly. He didn't see the point in playing cool. Not after his best friend had practically broken down her dorm last night to get a straight answer about her relationship status. "The truth is, Kanzashi, I— "

"If you saw me with him, then you must have seen my hair," she said quickly.

"Well, yeah, but…"

"And if you saw my hair, then you already know how I feel about him. And… how I feel about you too, Eijiro."

He was speechless. He stared at her, mouth agape and eyes wide. The sound of her voice uttering his first name was like the ringing of a gong in his skull. He didn't know how to respond, didn't know what to say or how to think.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" She smiled at him and gave a small wave, not even giving him an opportunity to respond. In the next moment, she was hurrying away, with a shy glance back in his direction before she sat with her friends.

Eijiro slid all the way down in his chair and clutched his hand to his chest, dramatically. "I think my ribs are about to break."

"Ah yes, young love," Tokoyami nodded, seriously. "The angst and tragedy of it all is like an abysmal darkness consuming one's body and soul."

"What? No way, man." He was grinning ear to ear. "No angst or darkness here. Good feelings all around."

What did she mean about her hair, though? He considered this, playing the last week over in his mind as he tried to make sense of it. Her quirk must cause her hair to change colors with her emotions, but he didn't know which emotions were associated with which colors. Around him, her hair was usually blonde or that shiny pink color. Yesterday, when he saw her with Togata… her hair had been dark blue…

Did that mean…? Was it safe to assume that her hair was pink around him because she liked him? Or was that too much to hope for? But she said he would know how she felt about him based on her hair color…

That had to be it. When she looked at him and blushed, it was the same shade of pink as her hair. When they sat close to each other in the study hall, when their hands touched… She did like him! She had to!

She basically confessed to me, right? Oh no, but I haven't told her how I feel! Instead I just dipped out of tutoring and probably hurt her feelings. Plus, I made myself look like an insecure and jealous baby. Great… now I have to tell her how I feel, too! Then, maybe I can call her by her first name!

Kinuhana… Hana… I want to call you Hana.

He wasn't even thinking about his next steps or the possibility of dating or being a couple later. He was too preoccupied with that simple, shimmering concept. The idea that he could say her name out loud to her and watch the way she reacted to it. The thought of hearing her say his own name again and again. That was enough for him. That was beyond enough for him. A secret treasure like dazzling jewels.

Kinuhana Kanzashi. She likes me too.

Eijiro. Eijiro. Eijiro…

Hana sighed. She'd been doing a lot of that lately. Especially since Saturday morning, when she said his name for the first time.

What was I thinking?

She almost regretted it. It was way too forward. She didn't even ask if it was okay to call him that. It was a whim. But all regrets vanished when she remembered his reaction. His face had lit up with such immense joy that it was now etched into her memory, like the after-effect of a bright light on her eyelids.

But what now? She used it once, did that mean she should start saying it every time she talked to him? It would be rude not to, right?

She was waiting for him in the study hall, her heart in her throat. What if he didn't show up again? What if he didn't understand what she was trying to tell him on Saturday morning and he just thought she was weird?

I should have just been straightforward about it instead of making it a puzzle for him to decipher. He can barely decipher math, let alone whatever nonsense I spewed about my hair.

She hoped he understood.

He walked through the doors only five minutes after she'd sat down. His red eyes landed on her immediately and his face lit up with the biggest pointy-toothed grin she'd seen so far.

She made an act of standing up and purposely tipping her chair over. "Kirishima! You're here!"

He didn't miss a beat. His eyes sparkled with amusement and he replied, "Of course, I am. I'm your student, after all."

She tried to withhold a giggle as he walked up and righted her chair for her. "Now I know why you laugh at me every time I knock a chair over," he said. "It's adorable."

She felt heat touch her cheeks. "You say too much, you know?"

"But you said that's what you like about me!"

She smiled shyly and looked away. "W-we should get started. Since you skipped out on Friday, you better prove to me that you know the material."

He gave her a look that said there were other things he'd prefer to talk about than math, but then gave a brief nod and pulled his homework out of his backpack.

Thirty minutes later, Hana closed her textbook. "That's everything," she said. "Honestly, there's nothing else to teach you. You've got the material down. I think we can stop our tutoring sessions."

He looked at her with disappointment evident on his face. "What do you do in the afternoons?" he asked suddenly. "When you're not tutoring me, that is."

She played with her braid for a moment before answering. "Well… I usually just go back to my dorm and sew or knit… I'm pretty boring."

"No, you're not!" he argued. "I pretty much just go to my room and work out."

She was immediately inundated with the image of him shirtless, covered in sweat, and weightlifting in his dorm room. The thought was so unwarranted that it made her gasp and look away. "O-oh."

"Do you wanna hang out with me sometimes after school?" he asked.

"And do what?" she said, face burning now.

"Whatever you want!" he said, grinning. "We could walk, watch tv, play games, or I could even sit with you while you sew. It'll be fun!"

She couldn't imagine that it would be much fun for him to sit next to her while she played with string, but the fact that he said this made shivers run through her body.

"You really want to spend your free time with me?" she asked, a little incredulous.

"More than anything," he admitted.

She cleared her throat. "I have to think about it," she said, even though everything in her body was screaming YES!

"Since we still have thirty minutes left of our tutoring session, how about we go on a walk around campus and I'll convince you to hang out with me."

"Someone's confident," she noted. "What if I end up saying no?"

His face fell a little. "Then, I— "

"Come on," she stood up. "You have thirty minutes to make your case," she smiled and held her hand out to him. "It'd better be a good one."

The crestfallen expression on his face immediately vanished. He looked at her hand as though she'd just offered him jewels. He reached out and took it before rising to his feet beside her.

His hand is so rough… The hands of a blossoming young hero, who ripped and tore and fought his way to victory in the battles he'd endured.

For a moment, he didn't let go. His fingers tightened around hers, flexing as though experimenting with the way their palms felt pressed against each other. And she was too shocked to pull away, even though she had been the one to offer her hand in the first place.

He was the one who finally let go. His hand dropped, and he awkwardly played with his gelled hair to hide the tremble in his fingers.

"Well, for one thing," he said, "I'm probably the chillest guy you could hang out with." He picked up his bag, then walked with her and held the door to the study hall open. "That guy you met on Friday, my friend Bakugo… He might be an uptight hot head, but I'm like the opposite. The yin to his yang, you know?"

"That's a relief," she giggled. "Your psychopath friend isn't my type."

This statement hung in the air, carrying with it the implication that maybe he was her type.

He's rubbing off on me. I don't know how to shut my mouth anymore. I keep saying these embarrassing things…

"The point is, I'm cool. I'm more of an 'anything goes' man. Whatever you want to do, I'm happy."

"Really? What about baking? Cooking and cleaning?"

He laughed. "I bet we could even make chores like that fun."

"Baking is not a chore," she huffed. "It's a fun hobby."

"Then, teach me how to bake! You're really good at teaching me! You could keep being my tutor outside of the study hall!"

She blushed as they walked outside, into the cool air.

"You say the most embarrassing things…" she groaned. "Okay, what are some other reasons I should hang out with you?"

"Well…" his eyes scanned around them, taking in the darkening shadows of buildings and streetlights. "I could protect you! I promise on my honor as a man to be your shield! If it's to take a late-night walk, or go to the store, or get on the train… I won't let anyone mess with you."

"Such a gentleman," she mused.

"Yeah, that's right." He puffed his chest, proudly. "So, you know I'll respect you and do stuff like giving you my jacket when it's cold."

Hana giggled. "This is sounding more and more like a proposition to date me, not for casual hang-outs."

"Maybe it's… kind of both."

She stared at him, her eyes wide and mouth agape at his words. He blushed and chuckled. "I-I mean… I'm just saying that I'm a good guy to have around."

Hana twirled her hair as her heart fluttered in her chest. "When you put it like that, it's hard to say no."

"Does that mean…?" His eyes lit up.

"Of course, I'll hang out with you," she said, softly. "I was never going to turn you down."

He beamed at her words.

"But… listen," she stopped walking. He paused beside her, expression waxing curious as her tone got more serious. "You don't… really know me. Don't get your hopes up, you might be… disappointed."

She'd been here before. She knew how quickly the tables could turn… would turn once he knew her a little better and knew her quirk better.

"Disappointed?" He laughed, genuine and pure. "No way. Trust me, no matter what kind of person you are under that shell, I've weathered worse. My best friend is the psychopath, remember? You can't get rid of me that easy! I'm nothing if not stubborn as a rock."

"Is that supposed to be a witty reference to your hardening quirk?"

"It made you laugh, right?"

She giggled. "I… really hope you mean that. The part about liking me for who I am."

"I do like you for who you are, Kanzashi." His voice got quieter, as they stood in the fading sunlight together. "I like you. I really like you."

It had been obvious, of course, but hearing him say those words… like they were a sacred secret, a holy revelation… it made her heart skip a beat.

"You like me too, right?" he asked.

"What, are we in middle school?" she scoffed. "Are you asking if I like like you, first-year?"

"Yeah, I am," he said, with no sense of embarrassment at all. "You said that I would know by your hair, right? And I know that when we're together, you get a lot of pink in your braid. That means you're embarrassed, and you're embarrassed because you like me."

"Y-you really need to learn that calling people out like that is really embarrassing and rude, "she said, with a pout.

"C'mon, Kanzashi, just tell me the truth," he begged. "Am I your type?"

"You can't just ask me that!" She gripped her bag tightly in her hands.

"Then… can I ask you something else?"

She blinked at him. This boy was so… strange. He was never truly dissuaded, he just rolled with anything that was thrown his way. Tenacious, she thought. Stubborn as a rock.

"What is it?" she asked, cautiously.

"Can I…" he suddenly bowed his head before her, hands at his side. "Can I please call you by your first name?"

"H-hey, don't bow!" She flailed her arms in protest. "You don't have to be so dramatic about it!"

He straightened up. "Please, Kanzashi?"

"I don't care what you call me," she said nervously. "Just don't make a huge deal out of it." Then, gentler, "my friends call me Hana-chan, but you can call me whatever you'd like, Eijiro."

He blushed. "Then… I'll call you Hana."

It was just a name, just her name, and yet… The air from her lungs was wisped away with it, snatched from her without hesitation.

Say it again, she thought, shamefully.

"Hana…" he repeated. Then, he stepped a little closer. "Will you tell me the truth now, Hana?"

She squinted her eyes shut. "S-stop! You're too young to be talking like that, first year!" Then she looked at him and spoke quietly. "I can't answer that yet, okay? Not today."

He looked like he might press the matter further. Most meathead jocks would definitely have pushed her until she was uncomfortable but… Eijiro Kirishima was different. He was a jock, for sure, but he cared about his grades, and his heart was tender—his feelings strong. And something about him was so mature for a first-year. It was as a result of all the attacks from villains on Class 1-A. Those experiences had grown the little first-years into something stronger, more complex than she'd ever seen in a younger student. Sometimes, when she looked into his eyes and saw the pain and suffering he'd endured, she felt like she was the lower classman, and he was the one who should be tutoring her.

She felt that way now, when he smiled sincerely at her and gave a nod. He was respecting her boundaries, even though childlike excitement was practically oozing from him.

"That's cool," he said. "You don't have to tell me. How about for now we just spend some time together?"

She nodded. For some reason, this sentiment moved her subconscious enough to make tears spring in her eyes. She sniffled before wiping them away.

"Fine. Come over to my dorm tomorrow, I'm going to teach you how to sew. Don't look at me like that, I know your clothes get ripped up in training all the time and you can't always rely on someone to fix them for you!"

"Alright," he laughed. "I'll be there."

She smiled. "Thank you, Eijiro. I'm really glad that I met you, and that 13 made me tutor you."

"Don't thank me," he chuckled. "But for what it's worth, I'm glad I met you too, Hana."