Sorry for the delay, I got a busy week. Also, I have a discord server now. Not very active rn, but if you like MHA fanfics come around and chat so that can change.

(xx)

In the end, Izuku didn't have much problem in following Konako's suggestions.

Well, Konako's plausible suggestions, he had no intention to f-f-f-… make love with Himiko. Nope, he was just going to have a fantastic night with Masutaro, Himiko, Pony and Jiro.

'Why does 'having a fantastic night' sound sexual now? I mean dinner and karaoke and I know that. Fuck you brain!' He replied. Of course, his brain did not apologize in any way.

"Izuku dear, it's almost time!" His mother called from the corridor, and he nodded, looking at himself in the mirror. He was wearing a dark green shirt, a long-sleeved black shirt above, dark grey pants and his usual shoes. It hopefully didn't look too elegant. Masuchan had teased him about dressing up to look good, but it wasn't like the other teen wasn't trying his best, and Izuku fully intended to make sure to point that out in person.

Honestly, it was still wild for Izuku to think. He had friends, plural. And they were all… so friendly. Well, he didn't have a better word to put it, but it really warmed his heart to know he had made it.

"Izuku?" His mom asked, knocking at the door, "You are going to be late."

Izuku looked at the mirror one last time. Uh, he had done that a lot. Maybe a bit too much, but he felt like it was important to be well-dressed today. Their relation might have been fake, and he might have been going out with all of his friends too, but… Well, he still wanted to make sure he looked the part of the boyfriend.

He was supposed to play into the false relationship, after all. To avoid a gang war and all that.

He sighed, glancing at the holographic UA display as he left the room. He still didn't know what to think of all… this, even after ten months. Was he doing a good thing? Was he doing a bad thing? What was he going to do long term about the Clan?

All questions he really didn't know how to answer. All questions maybe he didn't want to answer yet.

Tonight, he just wanted it to be a good, relaxing evening.

-x-

Aizawa sighed. He had really wanted a good, relaxing night, but alas, instead he was stuck with the worst period of his yearly effort to survive his role as Homeroom Teacher of the A course of UA.

The combination of preparing end of the year exams and going through his future classes for the next year. Heck, he even had to start working on the graduation of the third years.

Sometimes he really just wanted to toss Nemuri off a bridge for dragging him into the job.

The only perk was that he didn't have to get hounded by Emi Fukukado, the heroine known as Miss Joke, to go out on a 'date'. After a few years, Emi had just figured out that he was never free on the day, and she just limited herself to send him chocolate in the mail.

He took a bite of said chocolate absentmindedly – god, coffee flavored to keep him awake, the woman knew him dangerously well – and looked at the screen, his eyes aching a bit as he reviewed his future class roster request.

The way this worked at UA was rather straightforward. First, him and Vlad were submitted the definitive list of the thirty-six candidates that had passed the normal exam and the separate list of the two boys and two girls that had made it through recommendations. The file included a full list of their Quirks, Support Gear, as well a video of their actions during the exam. They then had five days to go through them and submit a list of twenty students, eighteen from the normal exam and two from recommendations, accompanied by an explanation on why they had chosen them.

Said list was then reviewed by Nedzu and three professors – this year they were Nemuri, Hound Dog and Powerloader – that discussed the two compositions, decided on the matter of doubles by going through their respective assessments, and decided on the usually two or so teens that neither side had picked up, using them to complete the two classes.

Aizawa tapped his fingers on the desk, waiting, and going once again through the various assessments of his twenty candidates, parsing through the names.

Izuku Midoriya. His Quirk had clearly great flaws, and he wanted to make sure he was capable of handling it without breaking himself apart in one shot. If he hadn't managed to in fifteen years, he needed some stern teaching on the matter.

Himiko Shimura. The odd one out of this year's exam, she hadn't used her Quirk at all, and reading its description, Aizawa could tell why. Blood-based transformation wasn't the power of a frontliner Nedzu's test oh so happily rewarded, and she had to make it through by using her weapon experience. She would be a clear Underground Hero, and Aizawa usually took those in his class, though it was never a guarantee. After all, talking with Vlad on the phone, he had mentioned wanting to train that Kuroiro kid, and Aizawa had relented from adding him to his class at all.

Masutaro Sako was an obvious choice. A ranged quirk that hit indiscriminately meant he had to be there to make sure training was safe.

Pony Tsunotori, Kyoka Jiro and Hiryu Rin. Those three were admittedly mostly an add on. His justification was being interested in their teamwork with Midoriya, and seeing if it had been a fluke or if they were actually capable of teaming up repeatedly and with others, but he had acknowledged he didn't have further reasons to present for their addition to his class. If Vlad wanted to pick them up, he was ready to step aside.

And on the file went, listing them all and finishing with his two spots for the recommendation students, Shoto Todoroki and Setsuna Tokage.

In that moment, he reloaded the mail and saw the one he was waiting for.

"Let's see who will make me suffer this year…" He sighed, opening it and moving past the wall of text Nedzu had typed to download the attached file.

"Recommendation: Shoto Todoroki and Momo Yaoyorozu." He nodded. Frankly, he didn't have real preference between the two girls, so that was fine.

Rest of the class…

He nodded. Mostly what he had asked for, with a few switch arounds that were expected. Nothing outrageous, so he put the file away and sent a mail to inform the Principal the mail had arrived promptly. After that, he switched off the PC, collapsed on the couch and immediately fell asleep.

He had the strangest feeling the coming months were not going to be kind to him, which maybe was unfair to the kids he didn't even know but just sounded like a good assessment.

-x-

Izuku waved at Himiko and Masutaro as the two waited for him outside of their house… base… bar… Whatever it was.

"Evening Izuku!" Himiko saluted, and he did the same.

"Hi Izukun." Masutaro added in a far calmer tone, shaking his hand in a firm grip that Izuku returned. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah, sounds cool." He said, almost mechanically extending his arm to Himiko, that locked her own with his. Masutaro snickered. "Come on, you know why…"

"I sure do, Izukun. Just know that I will take a picture the day you have your first public handholding."

"Do I look like a degenerate?" Izuku asked, and Masuchan laughed. Izuku smiled. He didn't actually get the joke behind handholding being lewd, but Masuchan was more into internet culture where it had been apparently considered funny for over a century.

The internet was weird.

"I don't get it." Himiko said, "What's so weird about handholding? It's just two people holding hands together."

"Oh really?" Masutaro grinned, "Then why don't you two do that?" He asked.

"M-Maybe we will." She said, moving her hand toward Izuku's, before pausing to stare at the other teen again. Izuku, meanwhile, was between glaring daggers at him and asking him for mercy, knowing he would probably die of embarrassment. He didn't know which emotion was stronger in his eyes.

Whichever it was, it did not deter the teen. Maybe he was a villain, after all. "Alright. Do it."

"I will."

"I'm waiting."

"I told you, I will."

"I told you, I'm waiting."

"I-I'll do it…" Her hand hovered above Izuku's, almost but not quite touching it. Then she just huffed and returned to the position they were holding before, their arms interlocked but the hand firmly in their respective pockets. "Fuck you Masutaro."

The teen burst out laughing, while Izuku turned to her, "Uhm, sorry about that…"

"No, Izuku, don't worry, it's not you, Masutaro is just dumb." She sighed, "And I was being dumb too. We are just pretending after all, right?"

"R-Right, of course." He nodded, and the trio continued to walk.

They reached a small restaurant that included meat in the menu, since Izuku had long figured out it was Himiko's favorite food and Masutaro liked it too, and looked around, before Himiko tugged his jacket.

"Izuku, by the way, uhm, I should…" She put a hand in her pocket and started to pull out something, when a cheery voice interrupted her.

"Hey boss!" The voice of Pony Tsunotori was surprisingly easy to hear above the crowd, despite its high pitch, "We are here!" She said, waving and marching forward, followed by Jiro, who in her usual laidback tone – the same one she had used in the few messages her and Izuku had exchanged – walked up to them with a smile.

"Good evening boss. Here." She tossed him a small bag of chocolates. Izuku held his breath for a moment before noticing that no, they were normal giri-choco. Smiling he looked back up at the girl.

"Th-Thank you very much!"

"Eh, you have to sweeten up your employer sometimes." She said with a shrug, before tossing another bag at Masutaro.

"Uh, me too?"

"Sweeten up your employer's friend too." She added, a grin on her face and winking at him as Izuku put the chocolate in one of his pocket, before continuing, "So, boss, what's the plan?"

"Oh, I guess we are going in, eating some dinner, and then going to a nearby karaoke." He said.

"Uhm, actually, boss, is it a problem if I brought a friend?" Pony asked, "She should arrive any minute now."

"Oh, no I guess it isn't a problem, I'm sure one more is fine." Izuku replied, awkwardly looking at Himiko, who was looking suspiciously at the horned girl.

He glanced at Jiro, who was however as surprised as he was, and then at Masutaro, who didn't seem to have figured out anything more than him. He considered who this friend could be, knowing the American didn't have friends in Japan- 'Oh fuck.'

"Hello guys!" Melissa Shield appeared from the crowd, waving as she approached the five. "Thank you for having me!" She added, in perfect Japanese.

"Sup." Mustard said, and Izuku noticed he had absolutely no clue of why this was a problem. In fact, he was most likely the only one that knew, it wasn't like David Shield went around publicizing the fact he wanted Melissa to marry him.

No, he just told him and then sent his daughter to his same school.

That smart son of a b- "Hi Melissa." He said, stopping his thoughts to greet the girl, "I didn't expect to see you today."

"Oh, sorry for this, I called Pony to see if she wanted to hangout and she said you were going out, so…"

"Didn't you ask me to tell you if I- mghfgh." The horned girl mumbled as Melissa put her hands over her mouth.

"So, shall we go?" She asked with a smile, and Izuku slowly nodded. Well, so much for the relaxing night.

-x-

Himiko took a deep breath as she sat down at the table. The restaurant Izuku had picked was a simple place, with tables surrounded on three sides by benches with cushions to sit on and separate rooms. Pretty nice, but she couldn't really enjoy with the blondie around.

Himiko wasn't dumb. She knew that her arrangement with Izuku depended on him not finding another girlf- a girlfriend. She knew that the weird friendship deal they had going was fragile. If he 'cheated' on her, her father wasn't going to let it go.

She didn't care about a gang war in Japan, or anything like that, but she liked the time she spent with Izuku and Mustard. They had become her friends, and she wasn't going to lose that. Mustard liked her despite knowing who she was, and Izuku… Izuku had told her about his Quirklessness and hadn't hated her for her Quirk. He was so great…

She felt a small dot of bloodthirst and discreetly opened the small thermos she had in her jacket, drinking just a sip of the liquid. Dammit, why did it have to happen now? There wasn't anything that would make her want to suck blood.

She shook her head and put the thermos away, looking back at the other five.

Mustard was discreetly looking at her. He made a gesture she didn't understand, putting his hands together to form a heart.

Oh, right, the chocolate. She had wanted to give it to Izuku earlier, but then the other girls had arrived.

That made her look at the three. Izuku had decided to sit next to her – bless him, so the three girls were sitting next to each other. The closest was Jiro, who was currently showing Izuku something on her phone. Himiko leaned closer.

"… And I think you should really listen to Deep Dope's second album, boss. There is a single called 'Yakuza Sons and Daughters', and it's sooooo good." She was showing him a playlist, and when Himiko leaned in she noticed and moved the phone to show it to her too.

"Isn't that a bit on the nose?" Izuku asked.

"I mean, it's a good song. The fact it feels personal is just a nice bonus, isn't it?" She asked, "Come on boss, if we can get a common ground we might know each other more."

Himiko coughed, and Jiro blushed, waving her hand in front of her face and taking a polite step away, "I-I mean, not for any particular reason, but I mean, we have to hang out together for years, it would be nice to know we have some common ground. With you too, Himiko!" She added, "I will send you the link to the playlist too."

Himiko stared at her, but she seemed genuine. "Sure."

"Actually!" Pony interjected, leaning forward from her seat on the opposite side of Izuku, "I was thinking, we should have a group chat, right?"

"That sounds like a good idea." Jiro nodded, "A chat for all six of us called the Criminals of UA, since we are that?"

"Please don't remind me of that…" Izuku sighed, "And there is also Hiryu Rin in our year and Yuyu two years above." He pointed out, "So it's not really a chat for all UA students from… less than honest families." He paused a moment, "Also considering the way this is going, I wouldn't be surprised if there were like, ten more people in our class that are actually criminals."

"True…" Jiro pondered, "What should we call it then?"

"The League of Villains?" Mustard asked, and Himiko snorted, the other girls doing the same.

"A bit edgy, don't you think?" Pony asked politely.

"It's reeeeally edgy, man." Jiro replied, "Not that it's unexpected from a Villain gang, you always go for childish names."

"What, are you saying you can come up with a better name?" He replied, "You Yakuza can't even come up with a good alias for yourself."

"Hey!" Izuku shouted.

"Izuku, you are a great friend, but you Hero names suck." The teen replied, and Izuku gasped, bringing a hand to his chest in an exaggerated way, feigning sincere pain.

"How could you…" he murmured, though Himiko could tell he was faking it.

"I can and I will, All Might Junior."

"C-Come on…"

"Mighty All Man."

"I…"

"Small Might."

"I hate you…" Izuku mumbled, blushing madly, and Himiko moved closer to him.

"I-I think they are good names." She said, shooting a glare at Mustard, who just stared at her for several moments before shaking his head.

"Th-Thank you Himiko." Izuku replied, "But, uhm, to stay on topic, does anyone have a better name?"

"Uh, I have one." Melissa said, "What about The Green Valley Chat?"

"That's… pretty good." Jiro replied, before pointing to Mustard and Himiko, "But they aren't in the clan."

Melissa looked at the two, the eyes behind the glasses jumping from Mustard to Himiko, "But she is going to be." She said, and it sounded almost like a question to Himiko's hears. It wasn't, but it clearly was supposed to sound like one. She stared the girl.

"Of course." She replied, grey eyes locking on aqua blue, "Me and Izuku are going to get married." She replied, ignoring Izuku's stiffening and her own mad blush. 'It's to keep my friends, it's to keep my friends, it's to keep my friends…' "I love him."

For a single moment, there was a deafening silence, as everyone turned toward her at once, eyes wide.

Then Himiko shot up from her seat, ignoring everyone's eyes, not even looking at Izuku as she rushed outside, "I-I need to go get some fresh air!" She shouted.

She heard Mustard excuse himself to follow her, and didn't bother to stop him. He was her bodyguard, after all, of course she would follow her.

Had she gone too far? Would Izuku find it weird? It was dumb. So, so dumb. She didn't even really love him, not in that way, but… What if he misunderstood?

-x-

Mustard looked at the room. Himiko had freshened up by going to the bathroom, but after returning back to their table she was far, far too tense. The rest of the dinner went on with stilted conversation from her part, even when the others relaxed back to their normal behavior. She hadn't even given him the chocolate.

'Alright Mustard, think like Compress explained. Assess the situation first. Do you know the issue? Can you compare it to anything you know?' He looked at Izuku, sitting surrounded by girls, and nodded, 'Alright, harem manga, got it. So, next step… What do I do?'

Mustard started thinking. Every harem story had male side characters for the MC to interact with, so let's assume that was him. He was not a rival – no chance in hell he wanted to get between Himiko and Izukun, that ended with either Himiko stabbing him or All for One making him explode. So, not a rival, which meant he could be the wingman.

So, what would a good wingman do? He pondered that as they left for the karaoke, Himiko pointedly walking close but not too close to Izuku.

He looked at the other three girls. Melissa was clearly the rival in this instance. Frankly, the girl was a bit silent, only talking from time to time, but she had never sounded hostile. Still, it was clear Himiko considered her the main rival.

Pony was Melissa's friend. No way he could bring her to go against the rival. BFFs in harem manga didn't work like that. So that left…

"Hey, Jiro." He whispered, "Can we talk?"

"Sure." She moved closer to him, "What is it?" She asked.

"Have you noticed Izukun and Himiko are a bit… tense?"

"Yeah, I can tell, but what can you do? She just said out loud the l-word, that's a big deal."

Mustard nodded. It was, even if he knew rationally that Himiko didn't mean it. He wasn't as good as Compress at reading people, but even if she wasn't neutral to Izukun anymore, she still wasn't in love with him. And even if she was and he was dead wrong, she wouldn't be admitting it like that.

It would probably involve a knife shoved somewhere in Izuku's abdomen, truth be told.

"So, I was thinking we should give them a chance to clear stuff up. Here is the idea…"

Jiro listened, and to Mustard's relief gave a solid thumb up to the whole plan.

-x-

"From shadows we'll descend upon the world, take back what you stole…" Pony sung into the Karaoke machine. At first, the girl had been quite nervous, but then she had found out the machine included songs from American singers, including from some western anime she liked to watch.

Izuku smiled, not knowing the lyrics but encouraging his bodyguard. She clearly was having fun, and looking around, the others seemed to be having fun too. Jiro had surprised everyone by pulling off an excellent cover of Deep Dope's "Yakuza Sons and Daughters", and yeah, it was a good song actually.

Melissa had gone for Livin' la Vida Loca, which had been a really fun ride even if the girl wasn't that good.

Mustard had chosen some band only him and Jiro knew, and according to her at least he was 'better suited for other jobs', which he had acknowledged.

And now, Pony finished her song, before stepping off the stage, jumping from it rather than walking down the three steps. Not that it really mattered, as Izuku realized, it was his turn.

Before he could though, he heard a cry of surprise, and a startled gasp. Turning, he saw Melissa's pants covered by the distinct sign of a cola having fallen on them, and Pony flushing, a puddle of the liquid coming out of a plastic glass she had clearly hurt accidentally.

"I'm so sorry Mel! I didn't think it was that far on the edge…" The horned girl was saying, as Melissa just smiled politely.

"Don't worry, Pony, it's not a big deal, I can just handle it until we get home."

"Actually…" Masutaro interjected, a bit too smoothly if Izuku knew him enough, "There is a shop nearby that sells cheap clothes. It shouldn't be that far, but I can accompany you there. Better than spending the rest of the night with the pants like that."

"That would be great…" She admitted, thinking, "Well, sure, if it's not too far."

"Oh, no, we should be there and back in… ten minutes, I think."

"Make it twenty." Pony joked, "Mel always takes a long time to pick clothes."

"I do, yeah. But that sounds like a good idea." She nodded, standing up, Masutaro doing the same, starting to head for the door, when Jiro spoke up.

"Uh, maybe Pony, you should go too, right. Miss Shield is still important for the Clan, and we shouldn't let her go alone, right?" She asked, looking at Masutaro, "Especially with someone from another gang."

"Like I would try anything…" He mumbled, but Pony seemed to disagree on the honesty of the young Villain.

"Oh, right! Yeah, I should do that. Take care of the boss." She said, standing up, and following the other two. Izuku caught Mustard winking towards them. Izuku wondered if it was for him or for Himiko.

The moment the door closed behind them, the three remaining teens looked at each other, before Jiro nodded, "Well boss, it's your turn, no reason to wait, right?"

"I… suppose. But I don't know what to sing."

Jiro smiled, "Oh, I know exactly what you should choose. Follow me." She basically half dragged him to the stage and went through the list, before smiling and putting the mic in his hand. "Here, this one is perfect," She said, before leaning close, "Just don't chicken out boss. Do it for your girl." She whispered, before walking down the stairs.

"What do you me…" He started, before staring at the title of the song and getting one last wink from Kyoka before the music kicked in.

'I don't know why, but I feel like this is your fault, Masuchan…' He thought.

-x-

Mustard looked down at the phone, when it buzzed with a message, 'Picked the song. Don't worry, it's a good one.' He read, and smiled.

The plan he had come up with was simple. First, make sure Melissa gets her clothes dirty. Second, offer to accompany her to the cheap clothes store down the road. Third, have Jiro suggest Pony accompanies her to protect her from the 'bad Villain'.

And fourth, make Izuku sing a good song and… well, that was still underway.

Since he didn't know much about music, instead the teen had just given Jiro some indications, mentioning that the ideal song was a love song about being in love with a Villain or something like that. She had winked and agreed that she knew exactly what to choose.

He smiled, 'Man, this stuff is easy.'

-x-

Izuku took a deep breath. He knew that song, even if he didn't quite know the lyrics by memory.

The world post-Quirk was one that had looked back at the pre-Quirk age with interest. Due to the Dark Age losing much of the pre-Quirk medias, every song that had made it past had spiked in popularity again. Some were meme song that had survived on internet platforms. Some had survived in virtue of their importance.

Others, like Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max, had just lucked out. It was a nice song, to Izuku at least, but yeah, just luck that it wasn't lost.

He took a deep breath as he read the first lyrics, and his eyes were basically forced to settle on Himiko, since he could tell Jiro had picked the song for a reason.

"Oh she's sweet but a psycho, a little bit psycho…"

-x-

Himiko looked up, confused, before turning to Jiro, but she just pointed to the karaoke machine.

"At night she's screaming 'I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind.'" Izuku sang, even if calling it singing might have been a bit too much.

The song went on for a few more seconds and Himiko wondered if it was some bad joke, since it only talked about a girl being crazy.

She was about to stand up when that changed.

"She'll make you curse, b-but she a blessing. Sh-She'll rip your shirt within a second…" Izuku continued, stuttering a couple of times, and Himiko froze.

It was dumb, to get so flustered over a song that, she knew, Izuku hadn't even picked himself. It was just a song that sounded fun to sing, or maybe a joke Jiro was playing on the two. She turned to the girl to ask for an explanation.

Except she was gone too.

"She's poison but tasty, yeah people say 'run, don't walk away'." Izuku continued to sing and, Himiko noticed, he now had his eyes closed, cheeks red even if he refused to stop. Which proved he knew the song by memory. Odd, she'd have guessed that he only knew All Might songs.

Logically, she knew that he was doing because he was convinced that Jiro was still there, and that she could tell him to just stop.

"No, no, you'll play alo-o-ong, let her lead you o-o-on."

But maybe she could just enjoy Izuku's karaoke. Nothing bad with that, friends went out for it all the time.

'We are just friends. I can tease him a bit afterwards, and we can laugh at it.'

She nodded. That was all she was doing. Liking the song was just a bonus.

-x-

Izuku opened his eyes once the song finally, finally finished, face red like a tanned tomato as he stared at the room.

Only to see Himiko alone, also red like the cloak of a matador – 'Alright brain now you are really struggling for metaphors, just say she is blushing.' "Uhm… So, was it… Good?" He struggled to ask, because he still couldn't believe he had sang the whole song only to his friend.

"Ah, uhm, yeah, you are a good singer? I think. I don't really know." She laughed awkwardly as he slowly sat back down, pointedly on another couch. "So, uhm, that was… Nice. I didn't think you would know it by memory."

"I- Y-Yeah, I know, it was… really fun, and lucky I guess. My mom used to really like this song, she said dad would play it for her all the time. Well, that raises questions actually..." He looked at her, "N-Nevermind. Do you want to go next?"

"I think… Maybe I'll wait until Jiro returns? She probably knows a good song, right?"

"Yeah she… She seems to really know music." Izuku nodded, before grabbing a bottle of water and starting to drink from a glass.

For a few minutes, neither of them spoke or even looked at each other, before Himiko finally broke the silence. "So, about earlier… I'm sorry."

"About what?" Izuku asked.

"Well, I-I didn't know how to keep the lie going and… I probably made you uncomfortable, right? I said I lo- I said something I shouldn't have said, it was… too much." She gulped, "I don't really love you, Izuku. Not in a romantic way. You know that right?"

"O-Of course." Izuku replied, and he didn't notice the weird feeling of pain in his chest, "I-I mean, this is all for the benefit of the clan. Isn't it? We are… false lovers, or something like that."

"Yeah, we are." Himiko nodded, "We totally are."

They both looked at each other, "But we are friends, right?" Izuku finally asked.

"Yeah." She nodded, "Of course Izuku. You, me and Masutaro… We are friends."

"Yeah." He nodded back, "So… I guess that's what it is. We are friends, but we also have to keep up this whole… lovers thing. It's to save Japan."

"Well it's also to save ourselves…" Himiko grimaced, and Izuku wondered if this was the first time she thought of that. It was one thing to think that Japan was in danger, and another to think you are, but it was true. If a full war blew up, Izuku and Himiko wouldn't be safe. She shook her head, "Let's not think about it."

"Yeah, better not to. So… What should we do now?"

"Maybe wait for the others? It's my turn next, and I guess I will have to sing."

"Right." He nodded, "It was a bit unfair of me, right? To go on the stage when only you and Jiro were here. Maybe you should sing now, before they come back."

"What, do a little private show? No thank you." She chuckled, and Izuku smiled, "I think I can handle a bit of weirdness. I'll just pick a non-committal song, shout in the mic for three or four minutes and call it a night."

"I suppose. But… I'm glad you are ok, and I want you to know, if this whole thing makes you uncomfortable, you shouldn't push yourself. We are in this together. If you feel I'm doing something wrong in portraying our relationship… Well, you can tell me."

Himiko nodded. "Uhm, actually, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What do you think of Melissa Shield?" She blurted out, before she could stop herself.

"Melissa?" Izuku thought a moment, "I mean, she seems ok? I haven't talked to her much, but for what I did she seems like a good person."

-x-

"I'm scum." Melissa muttered in English.

"No, that's not true!" Pony replied in the same language, waving her closed fist up and down, "You aren't doing anything wrong."

"I'm trying to break them up."

"But they aren't even in love in the first place!" Pony pointed out, "I-I mean, they aren't, right? My mom told me that and you said the same."

"I know, but… It's so awkward. Dad just told me I should look into marrying Izuku, because my future will be a lot easier with the Green Valley Clan's help. And I agree but... I don't know, Izuku is nice, I might even admit he'd make a nice boyfriend, and he looks good…"

"Oh yeah, you can probably grate cheese on those abs he is hiding."

"How do you know he has… nope, don't answer. He is with Himiko, and she sounds nice too! I don't want her to be sad!"

"Again, fake relation Melissa, you said it."

"But are we sure it's fake?"

"I…" Melissa spotted Pony hesitate, before the horned girl pouted, "Well, make up your mind! Is it or isn't it?"

"I don't know! Dad says so, your mom says so, even Aunt Nene said so, but then I come here, and she just goes and says she loves him. Was that fake?!" Melissa sighed, "Every time I'm around him, I can't even decide how to speak to him. Dad made it sound easy, just go there and make him want to marry you if you feel like you can fall in love with him. But it's not. I never tried to find a boyfriend before!"

"Yeah, you were busy building costumes, right?"

"Right!"

"Don't just admit that!"

"You were the one that asked!"

"It was a rhetorical question!"

"I gave you a rhetorical answer!"

"Don't steal jokes from the internet!" Pony pointed at Melissa, "Look, Melissa, you know I'm your BFF. If you think they are actually together, my suggestion is to not do anything."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. You aren't scum, Melissa, but only a bad person gets in the way of a good relationship. So here is what we will do instead. We will start looking into them to figure out if they are together or just pretending to be. After that, you can decide what to do."

Melissa nodded. Pony was right of course. She was being dumb. "Also, you need to talk to him more."

"Wh-What?"

"Look, right now it's painfully clear you are agonizing over something, and you know who else can tell? Himiko! Have you seen how she looks at you?"

"B-But I don't know how to approach her."

"Talking to her would be a good start!"

Melissa bit her lip. Yeah, she really hadn't even tried, had she? "You are right."

"Of course I am. I'm a genius." Pony proudly said.

"I thought I was the genius."

"You are the mech genius. I'm the love genius."

"But you never had a boyfriend before." Melissa pointed out.

"… I'm a rhetorical genius." Pony replied, blushing a bit as Melissa chuckled, "A-And at least I had my first kiss."

"It was at a Spin the Bottle game."

"It still counts!"

"Yeah, I'm just saying, not really love genius to get that far." Melissa chuckled again as Pony blushed, "Well, anyway, we got the pants we wanted, we can go as well."

"Alright." Pony smiled, "You won't have problems for showing up with the wrong pants back home, right? How is that guy you are living with?"

"First of all, he isn't a 'guy', he is a Pro Hero and a teacher. And for how he is…"

-x-

Melissa walked into the house of his temporary guardian and hit something with her feet, thumbling to the ground. She looked down in the dark corridor, noticing a pile of something on the ground.

"Why would he leave trash in the middle of the corridor?" She asked, turning on the lights.

"Watch out who you call trash." A deadpan voice said, and she stared in disbelief at Mister Aizawa, completely cocooned in a sleeping bag.

"M-Mister Aizawa?"

"You are home late." The man commented.

"I was at my cousins' house- Why are you sleeping in the corridor?!"

"I have classes tomorrow." The response was given in a monotone, deadpan fashion that made Melissa question for a moment if she was the insane one in finding this weird.

For a moment.

"And?! You also have a bed!"

"This is more efficient."

-x-

"A character. At least I convinced him to use the bed eventually…" She ignored her confused look, "Very nice though, even if he doesn't look like it."

"Well, if you say so. Anyway, we should go back, the boss is waiting."

"Right. And… Thank you, Pony."

"Well, what are friends for?"

-x-

The rest of the night went easily, much for everyone's relief. At 10 PM, they left the karaoke club, after having agreed that 'Green Valley Chat' was going to be the name for the time being. Kyoka also complained about having to chase off some guy that had been spying on them, which for some reason earned an eyeroll from Mustard.

Himiko in the end sang some song called 'Heart of Sorrow' that once again only Kyoka knew, but she did a good job. Izuku, after that, decided that after all everyone else had sang publicly, and had finished the night with his own execution of 'All Might for All', a song that, in hindsight, was telling a lot, wasn't it? He wondered if All Might had worked on the lyrics or just agreed to its publishing, since after all lines like 'the flame of the past burn in the heart of those that follow' and 'For those that will follow the path is clear, inheritors of the flame of heroes past' were so on the nose he doubted the singer could have come up with it on their own. Maybe-

"Ah, Izuku." Himiko said, suddenly stopping. They were at the station, everyone except Masuchan having already left on their train after telling each other they would see them back at school, "I was almost forgetting something important."

"What is it?" He asked, and then his eyes went wide as she gave him chocolate shaped like a heart in a small packet, "Uhm, those are…"

Honmei-choco, Izuku could tell. He looked at them, then up at Himiko. She looked at him too.

And then they both snorted and started to laugh. "I was so worried." She said, "I thought you would read too much into it and…" She couldn't stop laughing. And Izuku perfectly understood. When they had left on this group date, or whatever it was, they had been so worried because it was a Valentine dinner, and now… It felt so dumb.

"I was so worried it would be Honmei, and now that it is, I- I just don't care after what happened." He replied, before putting them away, "Thank you Himiko. Really. You are a great friend."

"Same for you." She bumped him with an elbow, "You better pay me back on White Day though."

"Sure!" Izuku replied, and Masutaro grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Or you should pay me back, since I paid for them." He murmured in a good-natured tone, before letting him go. Izuku chuckled, then looked up at the train entering the station.

"Well guys, that was fun. We should do it again, without all the… drama and stuff."

"True." Himiko nodded.

"Yep, that was really tiring." Masutaro smiled, "See you, Izuku!"

Izuku walked inside the train and waved back again as the train left the station. He sat down and sighed, taking out the chocolate Himiko had given him and eating a piece. It was really good.

He ignored how warm it made him feel.

(xx)

Don't ask me to write a romantic chapter for a while, it's fun but draining and I get a lot more worried about how it comes out. My beta kept sending 'awww' though when he got to read the final result, so it should have come out fine.

So, we reveal where Melissa is staying (or more like confirm it), and get a bit more of her motives. Melissa is a good person, she isn't going to try and push herself between them if they have an actual relation. If it's a fake one, on the other hand...

The l-word was spoken, but right now it's still false love. Can it become true love? Only time will tell.
Or me, I could tell you right now, I just won't.

UA is soon baby.