Well! Only three chapters and over a hundred followers. Thank you so much to all of you readers for your support despite being absent for quite some time from this website. As always, I own nothing except this here writing. Please support the official release.

Get excited y'all, cuz as the title suggests, there is a kiss happening. Just a teensy-weensy little one.

Izuku stared up at the ceiling of his dorm room, his sanctum, his shrine adorned with All Might memorabilia in every nook and cranny. Something was clearly not right. He didn't interact with Jirou at all with no common ground aside from aspiring to become heroes and being in the same class. And yet he was opening up to her about his fears, helping her with combat training.

What the hell was happening to him? Izuku knows himself well, at least he'd like to think as such. This wasn't him. He was the stereotypical, socially awkward kid (although that has improved somewhat since enrolling in UA) and wouldn't talk to just anyone about his problems, particularly ones that are deep-seated in his heart. That is, aside from All Might or his mother Inko, although that's becoming a rare occurrence in and of itself since although rightfully so, she worries too much.

And yet he just….told Jirou. It made him feel better. Regardless of the strain caused by the training, he had fun helping her train. He genuinely had fun. Plus, he slept well with no nightmares afterwards. Getting out of bed to stretch the soreness out of his body, he looked at his phone on the desk, charging. All his classmates' contact information was on there, including Jirou's.

Today was what Izuku considers his rest day, doing stretches and light calisthenics but nothing else except ingest a hefty amount of proteins to repair the damaged muscles. With Jirou, as per her request. Again.

Could it be possible that maybe, just maybe he was developing feelings for her? But Izuku soon shook that utterly ridiculous notion out of his head. Not that she isn't an attractive girl, she is, with a great Quirk and musical talent that would put a smile on anyone's face, who somehow just by being there suppresses his nervousness and stammering considerably.

But this wasn't the time or place for that sort of thing. Anyone in their right mind would think so if they enrolled in UA. Romance and such can happen later. He had priorities and promises to keep which undoubtedly Jirou has a fair share of as well. Changing into some sweatpants and a T-shirt, Izuku went downstairs to grab some breakfast.

Most of his classmates were there already, watching TV, conversing with each other, catching up on assignments or eating. "Hey, Kirishima, you mind passing an apple?"

"No prob, Midoriya. Which one? Wait, lemme guess: green?"

"Yup."

Kirishima tossed a green apple from the communal fruit bowl on the kitchen counter which Izuku caught with his left hand. With some peanut butter and the smoothie he made last night and stashed in the fridge, breakfast was served.

Nobody was asking questions. That was a good sign. With a sigh of relief, he took a swig of the smoothie and chomped down on the apple. Figuring Jirou was still sleeping in, he ate in silence. His phone vibrated in his pocket briefly, signaling a message had been received.

――We still on for recovery methods? It was Jirou.

――We are, unless something came up on your end.

――I doubt anything will on a Sunday, but I'll keep you posted. Are we doing this at the beach again?

――It doesn't have to be. Did you have another place in mind?

――Just asking. Can we do this on the rooftop if possible? I already ate and I'm up here, so let me know whenever you're ready.

――Sure. This can be done literally anywhere. I'll be up in about half an hour.

Finishing up with the apple, he quickly washed the glass he used for the smoothie and put it on the drying rack before hurriedly going towards the elevator.

Jirou was sitting cross-legged, strumming some chords on an acoustic guitar as she hummed a tune to herself. Izuku wasn't particularly an aficionado with music or partial to a certain genre, but he couldn't help but listen intently through the slightly ajar door. He had no idea what she was playing, but it was beautiful. She was beautiful. That calm relaxed atmosphere around her, the slight smile, graceful fingers delicately dancing across the fretboard, everything. Although Izuku wouldn't dare say it out loud, not to anyone.

"Oh my god, what is this?" Izuku muttered, covering his red-hot face with his hands. Get a hold of yourself, Izuku Midoriya, and get your head on straight. You're training to be a hero. That has always been first and foremost. It's only been three days or so since you've actually even talked to this person, and you're suddenly falling for them? Life wasn't a comic book, ergo it's impossible. There was no way.

Besides, Izuku didn't really consider himself to be a significant figure. Not like Todoroki or Iida. Hell, even goofballs like Kaminari had more personality than him. It wouldn't make sense for her to reciprocate feelings like that to someone so bland. Now pity? That would make more sense. Yes, that must be it. But why would she pity someone she barely even knew? That makes even less sense now. Then――

"Dude, you plan on mumbling at that wall for another half an hour or are we gonna do this?"

"AAAAAAHH!" Izuku screamed as he felt a finger poke at his back. "O-oh, oh it's you….right, rooftop. Holy crap….Yeah, o-of course you're h-h-he-here. Um. Sorry about that, I uh, I was, well, caught up…..in my thoughts. Yeah. Caught up in my thoughts."

"I heard you the first time, Midoriya," Jirou chuckled, tilting her head towards the door. "C'mon."

God, she was beautiful.

"Sunday is rest day, you said. What do you do?"

"Um, well, uh, lots of stretching, three times a day for about fifteen minutes, and a hefty amount of protein intake. And meditating for about twenty minutes."

"Meditating? You're kidding, right?"

"I suck at lying, remember?"

"You're really not letting that go, are you? Okay. How do I do this?"

Izuku sat down on the ground with his legs crossed and motioned Jirou to do the same. With his upward facing palms on his knees, he closed his eyes and began. "Focus on your breathing. Imagine that's the only sound in the world that matters." Not really being used to sitting still for extended amounts of time, Jirou struggled at first. Izuku, who somehow noticed this with his eyes closed, provided further advice. "Imagine you're breathing not just through your nose or mouth but with your entire body, through the skin."

As she followed his instructions, Jirou slowly felt every amount of tension in her body coming loose, her body drifting off like a balloon in the air, guided by the carefree wind. It was a strange sensation, with her brain in that fuzzy area between consciousness and unconsciousness, her sense of time fading out along with every worry that has been on her plate.

Once the timer went off, Jirou was jolted back into reality, slightly discombobulated but inexplicably refreshed. Stretching her back and neck out, she stood up. "Wow. That was….actually pretty nice. Focusing on zoning out was….well, new. I kinda like it."

"Great. Sooo, what are you planning to do now?"

"I think I might wanna work on that song lyric a little more." Jirou replied, and she meant it. "It may not come out to be in the way I want it to or need it to, but…..I still feel responsible to see that it gets finished and runs its course."

"Sounds like you have your day cut out for you."

"Hey, um….would you uh, be willing to keep helping me with combat training a little more? If you can spare the time, I mean?" Jirou saw Izuku's face light up with joy and upon seeing him nod with a big smile, her heart did a sharp, half-leap in her chest. Closing the gap between him in two strides, she reached up, gave him a quick smooch on the cheek before heading downstairs with her guitar.

Izuku stood there like a statue in utter catatonic shock, the area where Jirou's lips touched him still freshly throbbing, but only in the most delightfully elating way imaginable. Several hours had elapsed before Iida and several other male students of 1-A came looking for him, worried about his absence. It took Todoroki stuffing a block of ice down the back of his shirt and a hard slap to the back of the head from a sugar-doped Satou to finally break the spell.

"Midoriya, be straight with me. What the hell happened?" Todoroki asked, after more or less dragging Izuku to his Japanese-style room, sitting him down and placing a cup of tea in front of him. "You were up there for several hours."

"It's um, well, uh….How do I say this? I was….um, meditating. Yeah. And I lost track of time."

Todoroki crossed his arms. He wasn't convinced. "Meditating while standing up turns you into a red-faced catatonic?"

"No, I――"

"Then what? I honestly thought something happened to you. It was a false alarm, but still. I won't force the issue, but just know that I am concerned. You have been kind of out of it for some time now."

Izuku scratched his head and nodded with a smile, grateful for his friend's genuine worry. He wasn't the type of guy that would blab. Besides, they had fought each other, came to an understanding, and survived death together several times. Taking a deep breath, Izuku spoke. "Yeah, about that….I was having nightmares. About what happened in that alleyway, the training camp. I thought I'd gotten over it, but I thought wrong. It's been happening for several times now and I'm a light sleeper so…."

"So that's what the bandages are from. Tiring yourself out to go to sleep again." Todoroki's unblinking heterochromatic eyes shifted its gaze to Izuku's bandaged hands. He was quite perceptive when he chose to be.

"Yeah. And, well…..Jirou saw me, and I….I told her about what actually happened with the Hero Killer incident."

"You did what?"

"I'm sorry! My mind wasn't in a good place, I had to tell someone. She won't tell anyone, I swore her to secrecy."

"I was just surprised, not angry. Don't apologize for that. I trust you, you are good judge of character for the most part. We may be semi-pros now, but we're still kids in the end. Being afraid for your life is just instincts of self-preservation kicking in, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Sorry, keep going."

"I've been helping Jirou with combat training and some techniques on efficient recovery after workouts for the last few days and we met up on the rooftop to do some meditation. After we finished, she uh….."

"Yeah?" Todoroki waited patiently.

"She…she kissed me." Izuku mumbled, taking a sip of tea.

"Oh. That was why….Oh, okay. I see. Huh." Todoroki merely raised an eyebrow, nodding slightly several times before taking a long sip from his cup as well. "What made her do that? What did you do to her?"

"I don't know and I didn't do anything….that I know of, with intention." Izuku said, almost like he was on trial, squirming uncomfortably.

"So uh, Todoroki…..w-where exactly do I go from here?"

"Midoriya, as much as I want to help you with a lot of things, you're asking the wrong guy. I've never had a girlfriend in my life, you know that right?"

"But I mean, come on. You said you have female siblings! Older ones! Can't you at least give me half a frame of reference?"

"No." He answered flatly before refilling his cup with the clay pot. "But Jirou, huh?"

"I'm thoroughly surprised as you are with this crazy turn of events."

"Well, that too, but I was under the impression that you had a thing for Uraraka."

"Wha-wait, what?! Why're you bringing her into this?!"

"I'm just saying. I don't mean anything by it. You, she and Iida hang around together a lot, but I know for a fact that those two aren't and won't be an item. I think."

"I don't know what to think anymore. Should I even ask her why she did that in the first place?"

"You're one of the most level-headed strategists of our class. I have faith you'll figure something out."

Izuku scratched his head as he finished the tea. "I certainly hope so. Thanks. For the tea and…..everything else. If you wanna talk at all, well…..you know where I live."

"Mm."

Jirou groaned into her pillow, her face burning with the intensity of Endeavor's Hellflame and red as her bedding. Things couldn't have gone any more wrong on the rooftop. She kissed him. KISSED him. Only on the cheek for a split second, but no matter how she twisted it, a kiss was still a kiss. Her toes had officially crossed that line.

She could have said that it was a kind of kiss that are exchange between friends or family like they do in America, but this was Japan and she was Japanese. It was such a flimsy excuse that even Jirou couldn't convince herself that was the case, let alone the bundle of nerves that was Izuku. Pulling out her phone, she went to speed dial and called the one person that has the highest chance of helping her out in this kind of situation. "Hi, Kyo. Nice to hear from you." That person was none other than Mika Jirou, her mother.

"Uh, hey mom. Sorry I didn't call for a while. I had, uh…lyricist's block and other stuff to sort out."

"Blocks come and go to anyone artistically inclined, dear. But….other stuff to sort out, huh?"

"Yeah. I need your help with the….other stuff, actually."

"Oh, my. Really? How exciting." Mika giggled like she was back in gossipy old high school again.

"Yeah. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, honey. Anything."

"How can you tell if…..well, if you, you know, umm….." Jirou groaned internally. The ultimate All Might fanboy's stammering had rubbed off on her.

"If you want someone as your significant other?" Mika finished the question.

"Yeah, that. I mean, I know dad always bragged about his tenacity for asking you out until you said yes after a severe case of love at first sight, but…..this is…..kinda weird."

"Weird how? Is this certain someone a girl? You know that your father and I have nothing against that, so you're free to explore――"

"Wha-no! No. It-it's a guy, okay? Someone in my class that I haven't really talked to at all until these past few days. He's helping me out with hero stuff."

"Hmmm….this boy, does he by any chance have anything to do with your lyricist's block?" Jirou's throat closed up as she tried to answer, resulting in a strange croak. "I'm going to take that as a yes. Now then, how has your interaction with this boy you've barely spoken to until recently been affecting your lyric writing?"

God, how was this woman right on the money every time? "Where're you getting all this?"

"Please Kyoka," Mika chuckled, "I'm your mother. I'm pretty sure there are some things I know about you that you don't yet know about yourself. So?"

"W-well…..I do some training exercises with them, and after a while, phrases just come to me, and it feels right. I only have two verses right now, no title, no chorus or anything else. I make some changes, but they're super minor. And it…..feels right. It fits perfectly."

"Would you mind reciting what you have to me then? Preferably with music?"

"Um…o-okay. Here goes." And so Jirou did.

For about a whole minute, Mika remained silent until she replied, "I certainly could be wrong, but….you may actually take after your hopelessly romantic father more than you care to admit."

"Oh no. No no no no no. No, this can't be happening." Jirou hugged her knees to her chest in despair. "Just because I did that can't mean I…."

"Did what?"

"I…well, erm, I uh….I….kinda…..um, kissed him. O-on the cheek." Jirou mumbled. "He probably thinks I'm a total weirdo now for doing that!"

"I'm sorry what? I didn't catch that."

Jirou fumed. "Oh stop lying, I know you have 20/20 hearing! I have your Quirk, for God's sake! You heard me loud and clear!" She could just see her mother sitting on the couch, smirking hard at her with the phone in hand.

"Well, I certainly could be wrong, but based on what I've heard, I'm pretty convinced that you have fallen for this boy harder than a Bon Jovy bass riff at Kourakuen Hall on live TV."

"What did I do to deserve this?"

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing. Quite the contrary, Kyo. I'm aware that you're at UA to become a hero, and focusing on your dream and prioritizing is important and I get it, you didn't plan for this at all. But you must understand something. Just because there is a straight, short path to being a Pro Hero doesn't mean it's the best path out of them all. There's no rule that says finding love on the way is bad or should be avoided. That shouldn't be the end-all be-all of your existence. You're a human being before you're a hero. Knowing that there's someone you care about in that way out there and to have someone care about you in the same way can change a lot of things."

"Change what? How, exactly?"

Mika shrugged. "That's for you to find out, Kyo. I'm not you, after all. Though whether you do or not is entirely your choice."

"Can't you at least give me a hint?!" Jirou begged desperately.

"Nope."

"Then…..then what do I do?"

"Tell him the truth. You're always so blatantly honest to your father, I'm sure you'll get it out of the way at Mach speed. Besides, he may actually like you. You never know, you know?" With that, the line disconnected.

Jirou sighed, tossing the phone aside and pinching the bridge of her nose. She did say that she was going to finish writing it, letting it run its course. Perhaps that would at least point her in the right direction. She began clicking her jacks together, losing herself in her thoughts, meandering through the recesses of the mind.

Honestly, writing Todoroki in as the designated confidant/wingman for Deku was a lot funnier in my head, but considering that Iida's too straight-laced for this sort of topic, Kirishima's a little too straightforward for comfort, Bakugou's too...well, Bakugou and Tokoyami's advice would probably be too edgy and cryptic to be of any practical use, he won the spot by process of elimination.

Chapter 5 is now finished, but again, I need to stock up some more chapters.

If you like what you see here, please drop a review, question, comment, whatever, and follow this to see how it ends. It'll be relatively short (hopefully)

It's cold here in the east coast, but don't catch one! PLUS ULTRA!