Strolls in a week late with a Valentine's fic. "This is still relevant, right?"

"Are you doing okay, Mina?" Hagakure asked, leaning over to check on her friend.

"Yep!" Mina replied, lying through her teeth. "Never better!"

She was seated in the UA cafeteria, trying and failing to enjoy her lunch. Her problem wasn't that the food was any less delicious than normal, but that her stomach refused to stop tying itself in knots.

The source of her consternation was twofold. Part of it was the box of handmade chocolates that was burning a hole in her backpack. Satou had spent several long hours in the kitchen with her over the past week showing her how to craft the delicious treats, but it had still taken her four attempts to get them right. They were oddly shaped, a bit streaky in places, and a little saltier than she had intended, but they were also filled with all the affection she could muster. Mina hoped that would be enough to make up for the chocolate's shortcomings.

The rest of her nerves came in the form of a green haired boy sitting on the other side of the cafeteria, excitedly discussing their upcoming hero class with his friends.

Mina wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but somewhere along the way her friendship and admiration for Midoriya had turned into something more. She hadn't even realized that was what had happened until after the culture festival.

A fond smile crossed her face as she remembered the awkward encounter that had started it all.

"Um, A-Ashido? D-do you have a minute?" Midoriya asked, shuffling awkwardly from foot to foot.

"What's up Midori?" Mina asked, looking up from the textbook she had been pretending to read, and the poorly disguised magazine inside it that she had actually been looking at.

"I-I was wondering if you could teach me some more dance moves? I-If you have time, that is! I don't want to keep you from studying."

She raised an incredulous eyebrow at him, but didn't contradict his statement. If he wanted to think she was actually studying, and not goofing off, that was up to him.

"I can," she said, closing her book, "But I gotta ask, what brought this on? Got the boogie fever?"

He chuckled awkwardly before replying. "N-no. There was a… uh… a thing during the culture festival. And the stuff you taught me helped me out of a really tight spot. But… I can't help but think I could have done better if I'd had just a few more moves. So I was wondering if you could help me with that?"

A surge of warmth shot through her at his words. She wasn't quite sure what "thing" he was talking about, but the idea that her dance moves had actually helped him out in any way was amazing. It made her feel like an actual hero, and not just a kid playing pretend.

"I'd be happy to help you, Midoriya!" she said, a smile breaking out across her face. It transformed into a mischievous grin a second later as a thought occurred to her. "I do have one condition though…"

"What's that?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"You've got to call me sensei while we train!"

He coughed in surprise, which only made her grin wider, but recovered quickly. A second later, he stuck his hand out for her to shake.

"It's a deal, Ash- Sensei."

The title sent an odd thrill through her, and made her sit up a little straighter as she tried to live up to her self-imposed responsibility.

"Great! How's Friday sound for our first session?"

"That works for me."

"Okay. See you then. Oh, and wear something you can move around in. We're gonna have fun and work hard!"

"Will do!"

When Midoriya finally stepped into the classroom that Mina had reserved for their dance practice, her jaw dropped in shock.

He was dressed in a pair of tight fitting green yoga pants that were a little too short for him, and a red tank top. Even his ever present red sneakers had been replaced with a pair of mesh running shoes.

It was the complete opposite of what he usually wore. Aside from his school uniform and hero costume, Midoriya usually favored loose, baggy clothing that accentuated his plain appearance. Now he looked like he had stepped out of some European club.

"Holy crap Midoriya!" she exclaimed, her mouth already moving before her brain could rein it in, "What's with the outfit?"

A look of panic crossed his face as he stammered out a reply. "I-Is it not right? You said to wear something I could move around in, so I asked my mom, and she lent me her old dancing outfit, but the shirt didn't fit, so I had to borrow one from Kirishimia, and he said it looked good, and Uraraka did too, so I thought it would be okay, but I'm so sorry if it's not, and—"

"Midori, breathe!" Mina interrupted, stepping forward to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You're perfectly fine. I was just surprised to see you in a different outfit than usual. Honestly, you look pretty good in it."

She wasn't just saying that to make him feel better either. Underneath the baggy clothes and awkward demeanor, Midoriya had been hiding quite the impressive physique. Everyone in their class was fit, of course, but Midoriya seemed to have taken it to the next level. His muscles bulged under his skin as he scratched his head, and the tank top rode up enough to give Mina a tantalizing glimpse of the stomach beneath.

She shook her head in an effort to clear her mind. A few muscles shouldn't have been enough to distract her. Kirishima's costume left him almost entirely shirtless, and that had never gotten to her before. It was probably just the surprise of seeing the normally timid Midoriya in such a flashy outfit.

"Um, t-thanks," Midoriya said with a small bow, "Y-you look nice too."

She snorted. Her own dance outfit was well worn and a bit stained in places. Still, it had been rather cute at one point, and she supposed that was still true, if one was as fashion illiterate as Midoriya.

"Thanks. But enough standing around. Are you ready to get started?"

"Yes Sensei!" he replied instantly. As he did, his entire demeanor changed. His spine stiffened, his shoulders went back, and he even raised his eyes to meet her gaze with one of steely determination.

On the one hand, she should probably tell him that she had meant the "sensei" thing as a joke. On the other hand, he had taken it in stride, and telling him now would probably just start things out on an awkward note. So she decided to just let it go, and enjoy her new title.

"Alright! You've got the basics down, but it's time to put that to the test! I'm going to teach you how to six-step!"

"How was that?" Midoriya asked, panting heavily from exertion.

"Hmmmm. Almost, but not quite," Mina replied, shaking her head.

He'd done well at first, but as their lesson had progressed, Midoriya had begun to struggle more and more. His sense of rhythm was good, and he was definitely fit enough to pull the moves off. He just had a hard time flowing from one move to the next.

"You're still putting too much weight on your wrists," she continued, pointing to the offending appendages, "You need to let your legs do the work instead."

He sighed, then clambered slowly to his feet to try again. He had an impressive amount of stamina, but dancing like this worked out a completely different set of muscles than combat practice, and it was obvious that he was feeling the burn.

"Sorry," he muttered, so low she almost missed it.

"What are you sorry for?"

For a second, it didn't look like he was going to reply. Then he let out another sigh, his excellent posture disintegrating into a defeated hunch.

"For being a bad student."

"Hey!" Mina said sharply, giving him a swift chop to the head that would have made Iida proud. "None of that! It takes one to know one, so I can totally say that you're not a bad student!"

The attempt at humor did bring a small smile to his lips, though he still looked hopeless and defeated.

"Sorry. It's just hard when I'm giving every move my all, and nothing is working."

Mina nodded in commiseration. She opened her mouth to try to comfort him, then stopped as a thought occurred to her.

"Hey, Midori, when you say you're giving every move your all, did you mean that literally?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't let you down by not giving it my best."

She clapped her hands together, startling Midoriya with the sudden sound. "That's it! That's why you can't get it!"

He looked at her in confusion, forcing her to explain her thought process.

"You're treating it like a punch, and putting too much strength into each move. But it's not about strength, it's about balance and dexterity. If you put too much power in, you'll throw your balance off."

His look changed to one of incredulousness, but she forged ahead anyways.

"Okay, I know it sounds weird, but just trust me. Stop trying so hard, relax, and just let your mind go blank. I promise it'll work!"

He shrugged, then got into the starting position she had shown him. He closed his eyes, took a series of slow, deep breaths like he was preparing to dive into a pool, and then began to dance.

Mina had to bite her lip to keep from shouting in triumph. His moves were far from perfect, but that one change had improved his technique so much it was hard to believe that he was the same person who had been struggling with these same moves just a minute ago.

"That was awesome Midori!" Mina said as he hopped back to his feet, "You totally nailed it!"

A broad smile filled his face, despite the blush in his cheeks. "T-Thanks. I had a good teacher."

Before she knew what was happening she had crossed the short distance between them and pulled him into a tight hug. It definitely wasn't the best hug she'd ever had, Midoriya was far too sweaty and surprised for that. At that moment, however, Mina didn't care in the slightest. She enjoyed his warmth against her, and the way his arms came slowly up to pat her gently on the back.

Then her brain kicked back in and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She quickly broke the impromptu embrace and stepped back to a reasonable distance.

"Hey, great lesson, but I've got to get going. Have a nice weekend!" Mina said hurriedly, grabbing her bag and dashing out of the classroom before Izuku could say a single word.

'What the heck was I thinking?' She thought furiously as she dashed down the hallway 'Just grabbing him out of the blue. At least it was Midoriya, so he won't think I'm in love with him just because of a hug.'

She stopped dead in the hallway as her heart skipped a beat at the thought of Midoriya falling for her.

'I-I don't… I mean, he's sweet, but we're just friends, and… oh god, I think I like him.'

"— to Mina! Earth to Mina!" Hagakure said, waving her chopsticks in front of Mina's face to get her attention.

"Huh? What's up?"

"You've been staring at Midoriya for, like, 10 minutes now. I'm kinda amazed he didn't notice."

Mina quickly glanced at the clock to find that Hagakure was right. Lunch was nearly over, and her window to give her chocolates to Midoriya was rapidly closing. She wouldn't have another chance until classes ended for the day, and Mina wasn't sure she could wait that long without going stir crazy.

Sterling her resolve, she rose to her feet and slapped the table dramatically.

"I'm going to do it!" she declared, hoping that stating her intentions aloud would help to quiet her nerves.

"You've got this!" Hagakure cheered, as the pink girl grabbed the box of chocolates and marched across the cafeteria.

"And that is why I believe that Valentine's day is a ridiculous and old fashioned practice that should be phased out as soon as possible," Iida finished his rant with a satisfied nod.

"So the answer is no, you didn't get any chocolate today," Tsuyu said, addressing the question that had set Iida off in the first place.

She, Iida, Uraraka, and Izuku were seated at their usual table near the edge of the UA cafeteria. They had finished with their food several minutes ago, and were now waiting for their next class. Given the season, their discussion had naturally turned to the subject of Valentine's and romance.

For Izuku, Valentine's day had always been depressing. He had spent year after year watching his male classmates brag about how many chocolates they had received while the girls giggled in groups, daring each other to give homemade chocolates to the guys they found cute. Izuku, meanwhile, had sat forlornly at his desk, wishing for even a single friendship chocolate to magically appear. No one was ever brave or foolish enough to give him one, however.

So it was with great surprise and elation that Izuku had received friendship chocolate from nearly every girl in the class. The candies may have been low quality (with the exception of Yaoyorozu's ridiculously expensive imported candy bar), but to Izuku they were the most delicious treats he had ever had.

There was a small part of him that was disappointed in the lack of one particular person's chocolate, but he refused to acknowledge it. He was being selfish, thinking that Ashido would consider him a close friend after such a short time, and he was being completely ridiculous if he imagined receiving anything more than friendship chocolate from her.

"Tsuyu, Iida, I think it's time for us to head back to class," Uraraka said, drawing Izuku back from his thoughts. Her gaze was focused across the cafeteria, and a small, knowing smile graced her lips.

"An excellent suggestion, Uraraka!" Iida said happily, "Taking extra time to prepare for our next class will only improve our performance!"

"Whatever you say, kero," Tsuyu said, rising to her feet and grabbing his arm, "Come on, Iida. Let's make ourselves scarce."

Izuku tried to rise with them, but Uraraka shoved him back into his seat before he could finish.

"Not you. You're staying here right here," she said forcefully.

"Wait, why am I…" Before he could finish, Uraraka had walked off, leaving him alone and extremely confused. Thankfully, he wasn't alone for very long.

"H-Hey Midoriya!" Ashido said, walking up to his table. Instead of taking a seat, she stood just to his side, with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Oh, hello Ashido. Are you feeling okay?" he asked, noticing that her usual pink complexion was much paler than usual.

"I'm fine. Just a little under the weather. But that's not important. There's… there's something I want to ask you."

He was a little surprised at how circumspect she was being. Normally she just barreled forward without much thought for the consequences. Whatever problem she was having must have been very important. He turned his full attention towards her words as he nodded for her to continue. Her training and advice had been incredibly beneficial to him, not to mention how much he enjoyed spending time with her. Helping with her problem was the very least he could do.

"Okay…" she said, swallowing loudly. Then, she brought her hands, and the package they held around and thrust it towards him. "I wanted to give you these, and to ask if you wanted to go see a movie this weekend?"

The package was small and covered in heart-patterned wrapping paper, with a small bow wrapped around it. A small white tag in the upper corner had his name on it, with a small heart in place of the dot on the I.

His brain ground to a halt as the implications of the present, and the question she had just asked registered for him.

"A-A movie? This weekend? Like… Like a d-d-d-date?"

Her cheeks burned lilac as she nodded, her eyes firmly fixed on his feet.

"W-W-W-With me?"

Another nod.

"I-I, uh, I would l-love to."

Slowly, her eyes rose to meet his once more as a wide smile bloomed on her face. Her eyes seemed to shine, turning her irises to liquid gold, and she began to bounce on her heels with excitement.

Izuku felt his heart skip a beat at the sight. He had noticed long ago that she was pretty, but in that moment she looked more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen before.

"Great!" Ashido said, clasping his hand in hers as she thrust the box of chocolates into his grasp, "I'll text you after class and we can pick something out!"

With that she spun on her heel and marched out of the cafeteria, leaving Izuku to slowly melt down as the fact that a pretty girl had just asked him out finally registered.

Mina, meanwhile, made it all the way out of the cafeteria before she let out a shriek of excitement and elation and ran off to tell Hagakure about everything that had just happened.

Author's note: Thank you so much for reading. Your enjoyment means the world to me. The idea for this fic came to me the day before Valentine's, but my crippling addiction to Monster Hunter kept it from coming out in a timely manner. Sorry not sorry.

Love IzuMina, MHA, or just anime in general? Come join the IzuMina discord server and meet some cool people! Leave a comment or send me a message asking for a link if you'd like an invite!

Edit 2/21/20: I've had several people asking if there could be a follow up to this fic, which has got me thinking. Normally I just do one shots, but I usually do established relationships with those. No guarantees, but I am considering a second chapter to this involving their subsequent movie date. It will have to wait until after IzuMina week (March 22-28th) though, as that's going to take most of my attention for the next month or so. If you'd like to see a follow up to this, leave a comment and let me know, or just shoot me a message on my Tumblr.