The profession known as cooking was just a simple matter of applied mathematics. Everything could be boiled down into ratios, from the quality of ingredients based on the molecular strains in each one, to the duration and force of stirring and mixing the ingredients. Everything had a small piece in a much larger equation that could be tuned to give the answer Saiko sought.

A chocolate so perfect that Izuku would confess after just one taste, if not from the scent alone.

That was part of the reason why she had insisted on both of them doing this in the lab. There were numerous other reasons why she wanted to do this with Izuku nearby, from keeping an eye on him, to making certain that their controlled conditions were the same, and even just that nagging desire to be near him despite how much he pissed her off had some sway in this request. But it's contribution was negligible at best.

And, in theory, the act of cooking together was inherently romantic, so the act of making romantic chocolates for each other with romantic intent should prove to be extraordinarily romantic. All she had to do was keep calm, make sure that she didn't get too worked up about Izuku making her chocolates and try not to stare at him too much.

Which was something that she thought would be easy. It was just like any other silly, petty, and completely useless competition that they found themselves in. Or so she thought. But then Izuku cheated. Right now he was doing that completely and utterly detestable act that made her entire body feel like it was about to explode with her desire. It was such a coy and clever act that she almost thought there was a completely innocent intent behind it.

But no. Izuku was a deliberate man. This was calculated. And nobody rolled their sleeves up like that! A slow, folding motion that fully displayed both of his muscular forearms, it was pure flirtation! He was desperate to get her to confess that meant that she could use it and then she could freely touch those arms and have him hold her in them and-

"Something wrong, Intelli?" Izuku asked, that smug look on his kissable face pissing her the fuck off!

With a breath to calm her outward emotions, Saiko turned to her ingredients. Two could play at this game. It wasn't as though Izuku was the only one that came with weapons. And she knew just how to use them against him. "Not at all, Midoriya. I just realized you are correct."

His eyes went wide for a second, then narrowed dangerously. "About what?"

She threw her arms back causing her lab coat to drop slightly, revealing the cute sleeveless top she had selected, it was a soft baby pink that hugged her figure the fabric was like that of a sweater with rigids built in and a slight turtleneck. Judging by Izuku's face, the sweater had its intended effect of luring Izuku's gaze onto her.

Now for the finishing touch that would leave Izuku drooling. That extra polynomial of femine charm that would turn the equation of seduction from linear to exponential! She grabbed her long blue hair, and pulled it into a high tight ponytail. This simple act showed off so many parts of her, the act of grabbing her hair was nearly a stretch, showing off her slender form, the hair itself falling into place, the exposure of several areas that Izuku rarely got to see, armpits, nape of the neck, and even showing off the jewelry she wore in her ear.

It was the perfect trump card against Izuku.

Izuku turned away from her, now focusing on his chocolate making process. His ears were red, and he had a grumpy look on his face. Of course he would. It was only natural, he had attempted to sway her with his strong muscular arms by rolling up his sleeves. And she countered by removing her lab coat, now if he were to do the same he would look like a fool.

The first victory of the day was hers!

"Is something wrong, Midoriya?" Saiko asked, leaning over to him and nearly brushing her shoulder against his.

She caught a single green eye peering at her, his cheeks were ever so slightly pink. Did her little maneuver truly have such an effect on him? Perhaps if she were to do it more often then Izuku would cave sooner. No, that would diminish its effects, she needed to be careful with this and bring it out at the right time to make Izuku drool.

"Lace."

Lace?

Why would Izuku be saying that simple word? Why did he look so distrubed by it and. And. And. She brought a hand up to where her blouse dropped. The fabric was a bit loose here so that she could have a full range of movement. It didn't take long for her to feel what Izuku was talking about. Somehow her shirt had gotten snagged on the black lace bra she was wearing and exposed the patterned when she brought her arms up.

"Oh," she muttered, turning towards her own chocolate. Her face felt flushed. It wasn't the first time she had accidentally exposed her underwear to Izuku, but the context of the situation made it just that much more embarrassing. It would appear that her ultimate weapon did have a drawback. "Please pretend you didn't see that."

Izuku simply nodded.

XXXX

Like hell he'd ever forget something like that!

Sure, it was immature, pointless and he had seen more than that, hell he'd seen her in a swimsuit last summer when they were testing a water based experiment, and that was still burned into his memory. Sure he had classified it as a moment of lust and reminding himself that Saiko was more than just an annoying know it all that refused to leave him alone, she was a beautiful woman that refused to leave him alone.

A beautiful woman that plagued his dreams with sweet whispers and that made his heart thump in his chest. A beautiful woman that he just couldn't stand losing too. As much as he liked to see her smile, he couldn't stand her smiling because she beat him.

Which was why he was going to pull out all the stops. He had rolled up his sleeves partially to distract her, it wasn't the first time he had done it, and it wasn't the first time he had caught Saiko sneaking glances at the action, but he had also done it to prepare himself for whatever she was going to throw at him.

But the tossing of her lab coat, the stretch into the ponytail, and that oh so brief flash of her black lace bra. Black lace. Did her panties match? What was her cup size? He had resisted the urge to attempt to calculate that number using only observable data if only to give himself that small satisfaction of knowledge. But that would be giving her a victory.

Even if she didn't know about it, he couldn't give her that.

So he was going to win this little chocolate making game they were playing, and he had a secret weapon. But first, information gathering.

"So, what kind of chocolate are you going to make?" He looked at her hands carefully mixing her cocoa powder mix. There was cocoa butter too, as well as milk, some sugar, and salt. "Milk chocolate?"

"How observant of you. Remember, the goal is to impress each other; I choose milk chocolate to satisfy your tastes." Saiko spoke soft, but sharp, oh so very sharp. Her blue eyes sent a chill down his spine when she looked at him, and that coy smile of her enhanced her already appealing look all the more. The sleeveless sweater look was a good one for her. "And I see that you have aimed for my preferences and went with a Dark Chocolate. But it will all be for naught."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" He narrowed his eyes at her. That damn smile of hers. Why didn't he have something like that for when he knew that he was going to win? It felt unfair. Maybe he should start throwing his shirt off and flexing when he won, no doubt Saiko would enjoy that.

It'd be fair revenge for putting the image of her in black lace underwear in his mind. Every fiber of his being wanted to see her like that in person, not just in his imagination. That would come in time though. Once she was forced to confess to him, and they dated, and they learned to tolerate each other, then, perhaps they would even go that far.

Saiko smiled and continued to stir her chocolate concoction, adding in some more of her ingredients in perfectly measured proportions. "Simple, I'm making it. And well, yours, is uhh, how to put it? Subpar?"

Never mind, he could never fall for such an arrogant and spiteful woman!

"We'll see about that!" He grabbed his own ingredients, and tossed them into the bowl. Cooking was not an exact science, something being not exact made it interesting, and just like a steak could be made in a dozen different ways with different seasoning. It wasn't that he was throwing caution to the wind. He had a plan after all.

The chocolate was melted, making the entire lab smell both bitter and sweet all at once. While his own dark chocolate smelled wonderful and was based off of his mother's own recipe he had to admit that Saiko's did smell absolutely wonderful. It almost made him feel like a kid at halloween again. Though this time he wasn't dressed as All Might.

He smiled when his chocolate was fully prepared. Now for the finishing touches.

A large amount of food had to be shipped to I-Island which made fresh fruits difficult to come by. However, there were several scientists that kept small private gardens, and they were often willing to part ways with some of their stock for a few chores. Once the tray was fully prepped Izuku brought out his secret weapon.

"Strawberries?" Saiko asked as he pulled out a fresh batch of ripe strawberries that were bursting with color. He had a few last night. They were sweet, juicy, with that slightest bit of tang that was bound to mix with his chocolate perfectly. "What are you planning, Midoriya?"

"Not just strawberries." He pulled out an orange and winked at her. Among Saiko's weaknesses in life was her fondness of oranges. He remembered her seeking out the oranges in highschool while she sipped on her tea. "Oranges too."

"My." She rolled her eyes sarcastically. "How thoughtful, though I worry that your chocolate will simply spoil such wonderful fruits."

"We'll see, it'll be better than your plain-"

Saiko reached down and pulled up something he hadn't expected. Peanut butter.

Damn. That was good. That was real good.

Saiko tapped on the lid and raised an eyebrow at him. "You were saying?"

"You're a hypocrite."

"Oh, absolutely. Now then, let's finish this business, unless you'd rather just confess to me now." She placed a careful finger right above her heart and fluttered her eyes at him.

He rolled his and began to bathe his fruit in the chocolate he prepared.

When everything was finished they both ended up with a modest plate of chocolate. And Saiko continued to play dirty. Despite her perfectionism, she had a single mark of chocolate placed upon her cheek. He didn't see it when it appeared, but he knew she placed it there on purpose in order to make herself look cute. And it did. How could that slight imperfection just make her look so adorable, especially with how it brought out the blue in her eyes.

"Well then Midoriya, shall we begin the final test?" She gestured to her milk chocolate with peanut butter inside. They look professional, with just the right texture on the chocolate so that it almost shined.

"Right then, you go first." He pushed his plate towards her, the chocolate covered orange slices and strawberries did look quite good. And from what he tasted he had done his mother's recipe justice. The chocolate should bring out the best of the fruit.

"Trying to make me seem eager?" Saiko asked nudging her plate towards him. "No, you will go first."

What? What was she talking about? That was so petty! But then if he ate her chocolate then he'd be eager about her cooking and, guh! Now this was a competition?

"You know." A dull tired voice dragged their attention to the back of the lab room where their permanently tired lab mate poured yet another cup of coffee for himself, the smug look he wore was nearly as bad as Saiko's but all in all, Hitoshi Shinso was actually an alright guy. "If you two are trying to prove that you two are in love or whatever the hell you are doing, you could always just feed each other the chocolate. That works right?"

Feeding. Saiko. Chocolate?

He looked at her. Her ears were red. As red as his felt. She looked twice as adorable at that moment as her zealousness was overcome by something else. She bit her lip, and grabbed one of her chocolate pieces and held it up for him. And he did the same.

They both moved slowly, matching the others pace as they slowly moved that bite sized piece of chocolate towards the others mouth. He felt Saiko's lips brush against his finger as she took a bite of the chocolate covered strawberry, his own lips touching her finger.

Did that count as a kiss?

Saiko's chocolate was good. Really really good. Even the peanut butter was amazing and just made him want to melt.

He could see her swoon slightly at his own chocolate, eyes fluttering and a soft but silent moan spreading through her body. His chocolate was just as good as hers it seemed. But at the same time. He couldn't admit that.

And she wouldn't admit that his was amazing either.

Results: Inconclusive, both of them wanting to do this experiment again.

AN: This is so fun to write.