Oh.

Oh no.

This couldn't possibly be right! There was simply no way that this could be the correct answer! As much as she hated to admit it she must have made a mistake somewhere. Anywhere. Any mistake in the entire thing would have been a less glaring blow to her ego than the result she was seeing in front of her.

But all of the data that she had compiled, all of it, was right.

Every single one of her calculations, even when she skewed them to fit her own bias, was pointing directly towards that one answer that filled her with dread. While also somehow making her cheeks burn and heart flutter. More data. She hated the answer but not nearly as much as she thought she would have. That was what her calculations were missing! Her own feelings! How could she forget to take those into account?

Right. Start with something simple. Simple. What on earth was considered simple in terms of romance?

Ahh! Right! Holding hands!

Marker to the board, Saiko Intelli took in a deep breath and pictured herself holding his hand. The rough texture of his hands, the firmness with which he tackled every task mixed with his sweet and kind nature that he showed to everyone besides herself. The fiery passion he talked to her with and the simple notion of being around him that infuriated her to go even further beyond more than any hero ever could.

She made a single line all the way down to the bottom of the white board and glared at it.

There was no escaping the result. Weeks upon weeks of work, coyly gathering data and being around that insufferable man that she.

That she.

That she.

That she hated! She hated every single last thing about him. His smile. His hair. His eyes. His brain. His laugh. His. His everything! Only she didn't hate him. The results proved as much. Even if she tried to not think about it her life was just brighter with him in it. She couldn't picture him out of it. She couldn't picture him not smuggly telling her that she was wrong and then showing her why. She couldn't picture their endless arguments not keeping her up for an extra hour.

Or six.

But she could picture him as something more. She could picture him holding her hand. She could picture him smiling at her. She could picture him kissing her forehead. She could picture him holding her softly. Him running his hand through her hair, him whispering in her ear and making her laugh. She could picture all of it.

That truth, that oh so inevitable truth that she had been avoiding since highschool, if not before was finally being brought up to the forefront of her thoughts where it was strangling her attention. Looking back on her life, it was so obvious. So completely obvious. She chose to go to his highschool. She chose to be in the same clubs as him. And finally, they had chosen a college to attend.

It almost felt like she had no agency in her own life and was just following him around. But she had indeed chosen to follow him around. They were rivals after all. They both acknowledge that they both worked so much better when they were near each other.

It should have been obvious from the start.

So now, it was time for her to finally admit that she-

"No!" Saiko moved over to the final answer. Hours of work and weeks of data collection vanished with a swipe of the eraser. She stared at the newly created blank streak and glared at it. She had a new objective. A new project to work on. "I'm going to make him say it first."

There was no way that she was going to admit that she was completely and totally in love with Izuku! Not until he admitted that he was completely and totally in love with her. Because if he didn't, then it wouldn't mean anything.

XXXX

"Midoriya!"

He heard her. He really really did. But she only used his last name whenever she was annoyed. And she was always annoyed at him, so annoying her further and making her even more annoyed at him really wouldn't change much. If anything it might make her get to the point faster. Plus when she was annoyed at him and they were talking, her nose would wiggle just ever so slightly and that was one of the few times that he found her to be ever so slightly attractive.

The moment Saiko walked into his view he was drawn to her with a primal need driven by more basic instincts. And it was so easy to see why. With her soft baby blue hair, piercing blue eyes, a charming smile, a killer body that was barely hidden behind her lab coat, she was a real beauty. Indeed she would be perfect with how she looked, how smart she was, how she challenged him. Or she would have been, were it not for her completely and utterly terrible personality. She really did just make him bristle at the thought of spending time with her. Even if it was one of his favorite things.

Look, he was a complicated person. As much as he hated arguing with Saiko for so long that it regularly threatened his sleep schedule, he also kind of liked it. It felt weird if they didn't have one debate that would consume at least two white boards a week. Even weirder if she didn't try and one up him whenever he made an accomplishment. Or vice versa. There was just something so satisfying about forcing her to march out of a room, her face red from another humiliating defeat.

It so made up for all those times he was forced to concede defeat to her.

"Midoriya." Saiko said more firmly from behind him. He could feel her smug aura permeating into the very molecules of his sandwich. "Stand up. I refuse to have this conversation while you are sitting down and stuffing your face."

"Then come back later." He took another bite without looking at her. Something that would only make her all the more annoyed. "Like tomorrow. Same time so I can tell you to leave again."

Okay. So as bad as Saiko's personality was, he really didn't help make her less of a raging bonfire. If anything it might be at least partially his fault she was like this. But there was no way he was taking the whole blame! She was like this ever since they met in middle school!

"No." She said curtly. "This is something that cannot be delayed any further now please. Midoriya. Stop eating your sandwich. Stand up and look at me."

Well she was bossy today. Normally that only happened when he did something to really piss her off. Or when she was going to apologize about something that really pissed him off. Saiko might be arrogant and prideful but she could swallow that pride when needed.

With a sigh Izuku stood and looked down at his ever so reluctant partner in crime. He swallowed so that his jaw wouldn't drop and rolled his shoulder to keep himself from blushing when he saw her. Seriously why did she have to be so completely breathtaking? She wasn't just a natural beauty, she was a natural beauty that knew how to make herself more beautiful with proper make-up, hair style, accessories, and just keeping herself healthy.

Completely unlike the few other women they both worked with.

Today she had a pair of atom shaped earrings that she had forced him to buy her during a contest at their highschool festival. A small tear shaped pendant she had worn since the day he first met her hung on top of her light pink blouse that complimented her light hair and contrasted with her black mini skirt that hugged her hips and those long grey leggings she wore. Her black heels only gave her two extra inches of height Which made the distance between them three inches as opposed to five.

All in all she looked like a model or actress playing the role of the pretty young scientist. Only she was the real deal.

"What is itIntelli?" He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her.

Her eyes went wide and she looked at him up and down before she shook her head and regained her trail of thought that he in all likelihood had disrupted. "We need to have a talk."

Oh joy. What did he do to set her off this time? Was she going to lecture his caloric intake again? It was fine, he was going to the gym more and was currently attempting to increase his muscle mass. Was it petty that he was going out of his way to make sure that he was just as attractive as Saiko was by working out and making sure that he was physically fit?

Maybe. But it was a good kind of petty.

"Well?" he prompted again.

Saiko shook her head and rolled her shoulders closing her eyes for a moment and taking in a deep breath. When she opened up her eyes once more he felt a tingle run down his spine with those piercing dark blue eyes of hers that were so perfectly designed to lure in men such as himself.

"You. Izuku Midoriya!" She took a dramatic pose like from a manga her finger poking him in the chest. "You are completely and totally in love with me!"

He stared at her, mind trying to simultaneously process the gibberish she just said, while at the same time saving her overly dramatic pose to make fun of her for it later. That and it was kinda cute.

"Intelli. Did you hit your head or something?" He asked blinking at her.

Her face went red, all dignity gone. "What? No! I can assure you that you are in love with me Midoirya!"

"Oh yeah?" He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her. "What makes you think you can do that?"

"I can prove it! With science!" She turned towards his white board, hips swaying with every single step and luring him towards the way she made that labcoat swish. "During this past week in advanced quirk physics you made 312 glances towards me in class! Coupled with that your heart rate increases when I'm around to a level of moderate exercise. And-"

"You're projecting on me aren't you?" He asked moving beside her on the white board. "If you're gathering all this data then there is only one possible conclusion Intelli! That you were worried that you were in love with me! And once you found out you were you decided that you would try to put the blame on me."

"Hardly!" She turned towards the board and began to write more numbers. "Do you recall when they forced us to dance during the last expo? I remember your heartbeat Midoriya! I thought it was oddly high at the time so I decided to investigate your feelings towards me. And the numbers don't lie! You are in love with me."

"Ha! You're just trying to cover up after yourself Intelli! And no doubt your science was skewed from your own personal bias! Here let me prove it with science!"

It didn't matter if he actually was in love with her. There was no way in hell that he was going to admit that to her! He was going to make her confess to him! But first.

"I'm going to prove that I don't love you with science!" They both shouted at once.

AN: Holy shit. This. This was so amazing to write! Its kind of a mish-mash of Love is War and Science Types in love but also just blended into something wonderful. Guh. I love it.