"Shinsou? W-What are you doing out here?"

"I saw you have an existential crisis trying to walk over to Bakugou's table and I think I almost collapsed into myself from secondhand embarrassment."

Uraraka kicked the dirt in annoyance "You don't need to sugarcoat things…" she said, sarcastically.

"Sorry...but it was hard seeing you so shaky when it came to talking to Bakugou…"

"But why are you helping me? You got into the hero course, isn't that what you wanted? I thought you were all business?"

Shinsou sighed "During the Sports Festival, Midoriya opened up to me and told me that he was rooting for me to become a hero. Not many people said that to me before and I feel like that I should pay that kindness forward. And seeing how you're Midoriya's friend, I figured that I should help you."

"Oh...that makes sense."

"And to be fair, I kinda know the gist of what you feel like."

"You do?"

"Let's just say that I could write a book about crippling self-esteem issues"

Uraraka nodded "Yeah...uh…"

"But I'm better off because I have some friends that will help pick me back up when I'm down and I want to do the same thing for you."

Uraraka smashed her fist into her open palm in excitement "That's it!" she yelled

"Good to see that you're receptive to my idea-"

"You could use your quirk to brainwash me into talking to Bakugou!"

"Well...uh...that-"

"What do you think?" Uraraka smiled as she crossed her arms in triumph "Pretty smart idea, huh?"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Shinsou practically yelled

"Wha…?"

"Do you know how unethical it would be to use my quirk for romantic purposes?! Even though this is way different than the usual creepy requests that I get, I'm still not going to do it! Besides, I can't get my victims to do complex tasks like what you're asking for…"

Uraraka groaned in defeat "Dang! I thought that was a good idea too! What else can we do?"

"I was thinking more of talking things out so you could gain some confidence."

"Hmm, that's a pretty good idea!"

"Well...I'd say is better than trying to brainwash you to get you to spill your guts."

"Hey! I thought that was pretty smart!"

"No...it was just creepy."

"Pfft! Look at you giving me advice! I didn't know you were such a romantic, Shinsou!"

Shinsou scratched the back of his head "I'm not that smart when it comes to romance either I guess...I'm good at giving advice but not applying it."

Uraraka clasped her hands in excitement "Ooh! Who do you like? Is it someone I know?"

"It's...someone that a lot of people in 1A are acquainted with…"

"Oh! It's one of my classmates?!"

"No…"

"Who is it then?"

"H-Hatsume…"

Uraraka scrunched her face in confusion. Did she hear that right? Hatsume? What could he possibly see in her? Uraraka then began thinking back to all those times she became jealous of the mechanic every time she got her hands on Deku. She was really attractive whenever she wasn't covered in dirt and grease. Hell, she was attractive when she was covered in dirt and grease!

"I see...when did your little crush on Hatsume start?"

"Uh...when she made my Voice changing mask." Shinsou's felt his cheeks heat up as he began talking about Mei "She was just so excited about doing the things she loved...she was all smiles and laughs and I couldn't help but smile and laugh with her. No other person thus far made me genuinely smile like that."

Uraraka felt her heart melt as she heard him describe Hatsume. It seems that underneath all the world-weary cynicism was a regular teenage boy. She never saw Shinsou genuinely smile like this. Sure, she'd seen him have that weird and creepy smirk but this was different. He actually looked friendly!

"Oh. My. God! That is the cutest thing I've ever heard! It's like you're the main character of some romantic movie!" Uraraka giggled "But did you have to choose Hatsume as the girl you fell for?"

Shinsou huffed in mock annoyance "yeah, and you chose Mr. Personality to have a crush on."

"Hey! Bakugou isn't that-"

"Before you finish that sentence, do you really mean what you're gonna say?"

Uraraka opened her mouth to respond before closing it again.

"Well...what do you say?"

Uraraka groaned in defeat "Okay, you got a point. Bakugou isn't the type of guy women usually fall for. He isn't sweet, gentle, or understanding...like, at all."

"Instead, he's rough, kinda douchey, angry-"

Shinsou noticed Uraraka glare at him and he sighed "But despite all of that crap I can tell that deep down, there's a hero under all that."

"We should really go back in the caf before we get in trouble for hanging out in the halls"

Shinsou nodded "Agreed"

The two of the entered the cafeteria once again and sat down on the table Shinsou was sitting. Even though he made some friends like Ojiro, Midoriya, and Kirishima, Shinsou still preferred to eat alone. The fact that Uraraka, who herself was "school famous" (or rather, infamous) for gaining the attention of Bakugou sat next to her did attract some rather gossipy hens.

Some of whom were Uraraka's own friends

"Hey look!" Mina pointed at the two "Is that Uraraka talking to Shinsou?"

"I guess it is." Momo said "Good for Uraraka for attempting to branch out."

"Do you think she' hanging out with him because she feels bad that he eats alone?" Should any of us hang out with him since he's new to the hero course and probably has no friends here? Mina questioned.

"He actually has some friends." Tsuyu corrected "Shinsou is fairly close with Midoriya, Ojiro, and Eijirou. He just likes eating alone. I don't think Uraraka knows that and is trying to keep him company and he's probably too polite to ask her to leave."

Mina chuckled "Oh man, that's hilarious!"

Even though the girls' suggestions were logical, they were still wrong. Granted, "Uraraka and Shinsou teaming up to give each other advice to win over the people they were attracted to" was a hard scenario to imagine.

"Okay, the fact that we know that Bakugou at the very least thinks your attractive is a good thing."

Uraraka smiled "Yeah...it kind of is…"

"Now we gotta find out what makes Bakugou attracted to you. Got any ideas? I don't know about him as much as you do."

Uraraka frowned "Well...I don't really know actually. I'm not as shapely as Yaoyorozu or Ashido. Hell, I kinda have a muffin top going on whenever I wear tight jeans…"

Shinsou became uncomfortable with the way Uraraka was speaking about herself "Hey, don't say that. Come on, think about it- You got Bakugou to like you. He's like the most elitist person in the school with the way he talks about how nobody is on his level. The fact that he said anything positive about you means that you're a lot better than you think you are."

Uraraka twiddled her thumbs "I guess…"

"And besides, you're fingers look like paw pads."

"What?"

"Paw Pads! Like you have kitten paws. That's something to be proud of, I guess…"

Uraraka looked at her "paw pads" in confusion "Is it?"

Shinsou shrugged "a lot of people are fond of cats"

"Well, I'm not sure about-" she was cut off by the sound of the bell, indicating that lunch was over and that they had to go back to class."

"Damn, we just started talking too…" Shinsou cursed

"Wanna meet up after class ends?" Uraraka asked "I feel like I could talk to you since you're a lot more objective than my friends."

Shinsou nodded "Sure, that sounds good."

Uraraka beamed at him "That's great! I want to talk to you about Hatsume too! I don't think it's fair if you just help me out!"

Unfortunately for them, their conversation was watched by a lot of people with great interest. Unlike Uraraka's friends who were just curious about why they were hanging out; These people were forming malicious theories in their minds. Rumors about Uraraka and Shinsou becoming a thing were starting and it would only be a matter of time until Uraraka became the subject of gossip about dating Shinsou while "leading Bakugou on"

Tenya Iida felt a paper ball hit the back of his head and chose to ignore it. He was the class representative and it would be uncouth of him to get angry at the such a minor annoyance.

And then another paper ball hit the back of the head

And then another

...and then calculator hit the back of his head.

Iida clutched his head in pain "What in the world-"

"Psst...Four Eyes…"

Iida glared at the blonde who simply shrugged "What? I wanted to get your attention."

"Next time start off with whispering before throwing a calculator at my head, Bakugou"

"Yeah, whatever…"

"So, what do you aim to discuss?"

"You saw Uraraka getting chummy with Brainiac during lunch?"

"No, I was too busy eating my food…"

"Well, Uraraka started chatting up that guy from outta nowhere!"

"So?" Iida could see any problem with this

"So!? Isn't it weird that they started randomly hanging out?"

"Not particularly. That's how friendships are formed, I suppose."

"Aren't you a little worried, Four Eyes? That fucker has brainwashing powers…"

Iida narrowed his eyes in confusion "What are you sugge-Oh God! You don't honestly believe that Shinsou was using his quirk to charm Uraraka, do you? That's absurd!"

"All I'm saying is that I don't trust that guy."

"Bakugou, we both know that Shinsou's quirk doesn't allow him to have conversations with the people he brainwashed and we also know that he has nothing but noble attentions. Honestly Bakugou, your jealousy is making you even more irrational than usual."

"I'm not jealous, you jackass! I'm just worried about her."

"You shouldn't be. What you should be concerned about is finally asking her out on a date."

"Again, I only find her hot, Four Eyes."

Iida sighed "Whatever you say, Bakugou…"

Uraraka and Shinsou were at an outdoor training area, discussing more about their respective crushes and how to approach them.

"So, you got any idea of what Bakugou sees in you?"

"I've been thinking of it for a while and I think I do…"

"What is it?"

"I think he liked my tenacity I showed in our fight in the Sports Festival. After that, he started calling me by my first name."

"Good grief, Only Bakugou could fall for a girl after fighting her."

"I don't think it's like that. I guess it started off as respect and it slowly started forming into a crush."

"The Sports Festival was a while ago. What took you so long to figure it out?"

Urara scratched the back of her nervously and kicked the dirt "Guess I never really noticed. For a while, I was crushing hard on Deku and it gave me tunnel vision. Deku became my world for an embarrassingly long amount of time."

"Wait a minute, you went from crushing on Midoriya to crushing on Bakugou? That's like changing your favorite food from cotton candy to ghost peppers."

Uraraka giggled "Yeah...I guess it is kinda crazy once you think about it. Well, not as crazy as you falling for someone as out there as Hatsume. Do you have any plans to talk to Hatsume?"

"I don't really know what to do. She seems to be solely focused on machines. I don't know what to say to get her attention."

"If it means anything to you, I bet that she would be pleasantly surprised. I mean, most people talk to her just to use her expertise on gadgets to help them. If you talk to her and tell how you feel, you'll probably be the first person to talk to her just to talk to her and not help yourself and I guarantee that she'll remember that."

"You really think so?"

"Of course I do! Once she realizes that you want to get to know her instead of just using her gadgeteering genius, she won't know what to do!"

"Wow...thanks for the faith"

Rather unexpectedly, Uraraka enveloped him into a hug

"What are you doing?"

"Hugging you silly!"

"Why?"

"I hug all my friends!"

Shinsou smiled at her kindness and hugged her back. It was good to have someone who he could talk to about his crush on Hatsume. That fact she had a similarity "unattainable" crush made him feel like they were kindred spirits. Her positivity made him certain that they could both win the admiration of who they were aiming for.

Unfortunately for them, they were being watched. A bunch of students that thrived on drama followed them after spotting them leave together. In their eyes, this was the juiciest gossip imaginable and they snapped several pictures of their "romantic" hug. Soon, the school would be flooded with pictures Shinsou and Uraraka out on a "date."