Midoriya wasn't exactly the most artistic person in the world. Matter of fact, he was a pretty crap artist. Not that it stopped him from heeding Uraraka's request for a drawing of her in profile.

'Are you only saying it because you saw my drawing of the view from my bedroom window?' he asked, the first time she suggested my idea.

'Errr, no,' she said, trying to hide the doubt in her voice. 'I just thought it would be a good idea, to see you, erm, test out your talents.'

'Uraraka, you know very well that art isn't exactly…'

'I don't care. I just want to pose for someone who isn't Mineta for once.'

'Why me? Couldn't you have gone for, someone like Kaminari?'

'Unfortunately, he wasn't the first person to come to mind. Plus, it wouldn't be bad if you broaden your horizons, Deku. You remember the motto.'

'Ugh, fine.'

Wanting some privacy, Uraraka booked one of the art rooms in the main building, after some heated discussions with Midnight. Midoriya had spent some time waiting for her, with a blank notepad in one hand and a pencil in the other. He kept twirling the pencil around, since it not only kept him going while he was waiting but also because he wouldn't find himself muttering and going off-track. The door opened, and in walked Uraraka, decked out in costume. She had suggested that Midoriya wear his costume as well, just to even things out.

'What do you think, Deku?' she asked him, sitting down on the stool and preparing her pose.

'I think you look… cute as, usual,' he stammered.

'Cute? Is that the best you could say?'

'Look, I was lost for words, OK? What did you want me to say? That you looked as plain and average as Ojiro?'

'Somewhere, Ojiro's feeling the pain of being boring, heh heh.'

'OK, let's get to work. I guarantee that the end result will look crappy though.'

'Do you think I really care?'

About an hour and a half had passed. Most of the kids' time together was wasted on Midoriya ripping out pieces of paper out of frustration or erasing what he had already sketched. Despite his artistic shortcomings, he was still a perfectionist of sorts. Eventually, he managed to produce some fruit, right when Uraraka was getting ready to throw a chair at him.

'Uraraka,' he called out with a low tone. 'Here it is; get ready to laugh.'

He reluctantly and anxiously handed out the notebook, but to her surprise, there were no giggles coming out of her. His sketch of Uraraka wasn't exactly da Vinci-level, but it didn't exactly suck. It helped that he didn't bother with the guidelines and layers.

'Deku,' she said. 'This is… this is-'

'Embarrassing? Crap? Ridiculous?' he asked in rapid-fire succession. 'It's like I said, I'm not really that great at art, but when you think about it, I suppose I could've improved my artistic skills back then since everybody told me that it would be unlikely for someone like me to become a hero and I guess I was stubborn because I didn't listen to them, I was too concerned with…'

'Look, I think you did a great job with this one!' she yelled out in the hopes of shutting him up.

'…especially Kacchan, who probably wanted noth- wait, what?'

'I like how this came across.'

'Yeah, but it looks like something a 12-year old would draw.'

'Would a 12-year old capture the essence and attitude of their muse the same way you captured mine? Predictably, the face is a bit off but the rest of it looks fantastic. Even the shading's on point.'

'I don't know. I just did what I could.'

'Stop selling yourself short. If it was up to you, we wouldn't be here right now. You came out of this as long as you let your inhibitions go. It looks splendid.'

Out of gratitude and appreciation, Uraraka pecked a kiss on his lips. All he could do was rub his neck and blush with his eyes closed.

'Change of mind,' he said, smiling. 'I actually think it isn't that bad.'

'That's more like it.'