"I'm in heaven…" Uraraka's smile was blinding as she munched on the mochi she had been offered as an appetizer.

"… Is she crying?" Fuyumi whispered to Shoto, both noticing the teary look on her face.

"She really likes mochi." Shoto replied.

"… Well I won't judge." She said. So this was Ochaco Uraraka. Fuyumi had talked a bit with her brother on the phone. He thought he might have a crush, but he clearly wasn't sure. To be fair, Shoto had been so sheltered growing up that he couldn't be blamed for having confusing feelings on the girl. Best Fuyumi could do was help. With that in mind, she gave him a subtle thumb up before turning to the girl, "So, Uraraka, how is the work study going?"

Uraraka finished munching on her mochi, pulled more on her plate, and then smiled, "Ah, really well! Mister Todoroki is teaching us a lot." She said, raising both fists, "I'm getting combat training from Burnin' and Kido. They think I can do a lot combining my Quirk and hand-to-hand."

"That's great!" Fuyumi smiled, and then she subtly kicked her brother's leg.

Shoto didn't change expression, and she kicked him again.

He moved a bit to the left.

She rolled her eyes and kicked again. Shoto frowned, moving further away. He still didn't say anything.

Fuyumi sighed, stood up, and dragged him back where he had started. "Say something!" She whispered in his ear.

"… Sorry you didn't have enough space, I will move?" He tried. Poor, poor Shoto, he was really trying. Fuyumi sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and leaned in to whisper again. "Say something to her. Like we said."

Shoto blinked then coughed in his fist. "Right." He whispered, "Thanks sis."

"Don't mention it." She replied, before turning back to Uraraka, who was now back at eating mochi and humming in delight while doing so, explaining how she was missing everything Shoto and Fuyumi had said. She sighed in relief. "So, you were saying you are training with Burnin'?"

"Yes she is!" Burnin' shouted from the kitchen, "Fuyumi, sorry to interrupt, but can you help a moment? The oden is coming good, but the Katsudon meat worries me!"

"Sure! I'll be right back." Fuyumi bowed apologetically to Uraraka, stood up and walked to the kitchen. She sent a look to her brother, who just frowned trying to figure out what she meant. Fuyumi sighed. Alright, she'd be in the kitchen for five minutes. It wasn't like Shoto could screw up in that time.

-x-

Shoto Todoroki didn't know what to do. With Fuyumi gone in the kitchen to help Burnin', he was left alone with his dad and Uraraka.

His dad seemed deep in thought, looking at Todoroki and then at Uraraka alternatively, before going back to brooding. Shoto shook his head. He was probably thinking about the time they were wasting here when they could have been hunting the Hero Killer. His phone buzzed in that moment, and he stood up, looked at the number and left the room, leaving the two teens alone. Really, the only reason they were there today was that Fuyumi had insisted and Endeavor had promised Uraraka mochi for her internship.

… Thinking about it, was it right for the Number Two to bribe someone into interning for him?

He glanced at Uraraka, eating the mochi like it was the best thing in the world.

'Maybe.' Todoroki sighed. What was that thought? Was he really in love, like everyone seemed to imply or outright say? 'I mean, maybe. I don't know. It's possible it might be a coincidence that my heart beats faster every time I look at her. The heart attack was also a plausible explanation at first, but now it seems a bit too convenient. Could it be her Quirk? I'm not sure what zero gravity does to a heart…'

He knew rationally that the simpler explanation was most likely the right one. It still didn't make it any easier to accept.

'Well, I should at least try to figure out what she thinks of me.' He decided. He had talked with Fuyumi over the phone. According to her, the main thing to figure out if there was any chemistry, besides the obvious sharing of any interest – which they had covered, thanks to the fact they both wanted to be Heroes and neither of them was a big fan of Endeavor – was offering simple compliments, stuff that could be passed off as nothing exaggerated, and hope she returned the compliment.

Shoto nodded. It made sense. 'Alright, a compliment that is objective…' He thought, before settling on one. He used to always say it to his mom and, more rarely, to Fuyumi, when he was little, so it had to be fine to say to girls in general.

"Uraraka?" He said.

"Mh?" She asked, putting a mochi in her mouth, "Whasht hup?"

"You are really pretty." He said. There, that sounded innocent enough.

Uraraka gasped. Unfortunately, the mochi took that as an invitation down her trachea and promptly lodged itself there, most likely laughing madly in vengeance for his fallen comrades as Uraraka started to suffocate.

"Uraraka?" He said, standing up, realizing what was wrong.

"Can't… Breathe…" She said with strangled breathes, "Killed… By what… I love…"

He rushed to her side. Luckily, his dad wanted him to be the perfect Hero, so he had given him instructions on how to react to that. He started by slapping her in the back, but when that proved to not be enough and she started to turn slightly blue, he grabbed her putting his arm around her abdomen, right under her chest, and give quick abdominal thrusts in the Heimlich Maneuver.

The good thing was that the slaps and the maneuver worked, the mochi being expelled from Uraraka's throat and the girl taking a deep, gasping breath as air flew back in her lungs.

The bad news was that the back slaps and the deep gasp were loud enough they made Fuyumi and Burnin' rush in from the kitchen, while Endeavor returned from his phone call, to find Shoto holding Uraraka from behind, the girl panting and quickly changing color to a deep red as she realized what this looked like.

For a moment no one said anything, before Burnin' gave a thumbs up.

"Damn, the little boss is forward."

"It's not what it looks like!" Uraraka shouted.

Shoto frowned. "It's not?" He asked, confused. Uraraka had almost suffocated, she shouldn't try to deny that.

He wasn't sure why she immediately turned crimson red.

"Shotoooo!" his dad shouted, "I understand a young man's necessity, but please don't do it at the dinner table."

"… But where else would I do this?" Shoto asked. Uraraka started to sway, seemingly going dizzy, while his dad coughed in his fist and Fuyumi covered her face with both hands, mumbling something.

"W-Well, son, I… Ahem, I understand, I was quite the forward man…"

Fuyumi coughed in her fist, but for some reason her cough sounded like, "Bullshit, mom always said she was the one on top. Figuratively AND literally." Odd.

"Weird coughing, sis. Do you need some water?" Todoroki offered.

"She might, but first you'd have to let go mochi girl." Burnin' pointed out. Shoto blinked. Oh, he was still holding her lower chest. He let her go. That turned out to be a mistake.

"I-I have to go to the bath-" Ochaco started, shooting up from her seat. Unfortunately, Todoroki was still standing above her, so her head and his jaw met, Shoto getting sent staggering back even as Ochaco mumbled some excuses and ran out of the room, the teen grabbing his stinging jaw.

He turned to Fuyumi, who was just staring at him. He slowly stood back up, and gave her a thumb up. "I complimented her like you told me to."

Fuyumi turned around, took off her glasses, delicately put them in their case, looked straight at the wall, put both hands on it, and started throwing headbutts at it. "Five! Minutes! Five! Minutes! Five! Minutes!" She shouted.

Shoto glanced at his dad. Then he changed his mind before the man could react and turned to Burnin', who shrugged, raising both hands to shoulder height. "I don't know boss. Your sister is a weirdo."

Fuyumi roared.

-x-

Uraraka watched the tap fill with water, and the moment it was full slammed her face into it, letting the cold water cool her down.

She then stood back up, panting. "Oh gosh…" She murmured, wiping her still reddish face dry. "Ok, Uraraka, calm down. That was nothing. He just saved you from suffocating."

'You are really pretty.'

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" She shouted, thankfully muffling it with the towel before she could embarrass herself more.

She looked at her reflection, the hair having moved to show the scar on her forehead, where the Villain had hit her during the USJ. She was glad she kept her hair long enough they covered that, or her parents would have freaked out during their last visit.

Thinking about it, that had been her first time really talking with Todoroki.

'Did he mean it as friendly compliment gone wrong? Or is he…' She shook her head. No, of course Todoroki was just being friendly. He was just very sheltered and didn't know how to express that. That had to be it.

It had to be it, right?

"Are you ok, mochi girl?" Burnin' asked, knocking at the door, "The food will get cold."

"I-I'll be there in a second." She replied, breathing in and out. "Alright, let's go out there Uraraka. Come on. You were the Vtuber TsukyMoony for crying out loud, it's not the first time someone calls you pretty. Granted, it's the first time they call Ochaco Uraraka pretty, but it's Todoroki, he is probably just too sheltered to know what a crush is anyway."

She breathed in. Right. Right, right, right, he probably didn't know. She sighed. 'Alright, Uraraka, calm down, go eat that dinner, and don't mention ever again what happened.'

She stepped out of the bathroom and Burnin' smiled. "Ah, here you are, mochi girl. The little boss was getting worried."

"I… Sorry."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Gotta admit though, I didn't expect him to be the handsy type."

Uraraka yelped.

-x-

The rest of the dinner was delicious and, thankfully, suffocation-free. As much as she wanted to talk to Todoroki, though, Ochaco always failed to look his way during the whole dinner. His sister, bless her, managed to make it easier by entertaining her with embarrassing stories on her father.

Granted, Ochaco wasn't sure Endeavor appreciated his daughter telling his interns about the time he accidentally set the kitchen on fire trying to make dinner, and the subsequent ban Burnin' and Fuyumi gave him from ever cooking again, but it was a really welcome distraction.

So much a distraction that, when Shoto intervened to ask for more soba, Uraraka managed to give it to him mechanically, forgetting her embarrassment. They both realized a moment later, and Shoto coughed.

"Uhm, sorry for earlier." He said. Fuyumi, Uraraka noticed, seemed oddly satisfied.

"Wh-What? No, no, you helped me. I'm the one that's sorry, I reacted way too harshly."

"… Right. Uhm, so you are still… ok with me, right?"

Ochaco chuckled, "I'd be a very shitty teammate if I stopped talking to you after you helped me, right?" She wanted to give him a pat on the back or something, but the boy was too far, on the other side of the table, so Ochaco settled for a wink, "We are still cool."

"We are? I can turn off the AC-" Fuyumi leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Oh. Yeah, we are… we are cool." He nodded, and Fuyumi and Burnin' both snorted, Fuyumi patting her younger brother on his shoulder. His dad had the decency to cough in his fist and look away.

Ochaco chuckled.

Yeah, Todoroki's history was sad, and she did not forgive his father – she had half the mind of floating his dad again and pretend it was a training accident – but Todoroki was really cu- nice, weirdness and all.

She shook her head, and they went back to talking. The weirdness put aside, it was a very good dinner.

-x-

Izuku leaned back on the bad. "They do what?!"

"Shut down Quirk temporarily. Or they will, once the formula is refined. Couple months of testing, they said. He also mentioned permanently taking Quirks, but I think that's just him boasting." Isana said.

Yeah, probably, since taking away Quirks permanently sounded like science fiction-

Wait, no, Himiko's dad. He could do that! And if a Quirk could take away Quirks…

"What if it's not?"

"More of a reason to stay on their good side." Isana replied, "Mind you, I'd love to also take over production, but it's too dangerous, especially because we don't know the materials required to make the drug."

Ah, it made sense. That was why his dad and Isana both were trying to deal with the Hassaikai in a friendly way? He supposed if they had the prospect of a monopoly over the distribution of such a useful drug, it made sense. The Clan had the larger market in Trigger dealing, according to Pony and Jiro, so if this drug was the opposite, it would make more money to- 'Wait why am I thinking about this from the Clan's perspective?!' He shook his head. "I don't like this."

"Oh? Something the problem?"

Izuku bit his lip. Several, but trying to put it from a Hero perspective wouldn't appeal to Isana, not to mention he had to try and sound like he wanted to be the heir of the clan with his cousins. Ugh, what a mess… "Uhm, I mean that having a bullet that ends Heroes' career is extremely inconvenient. With all the trouble I went through to form a whole host of future Yakuza Heroes, it'd be a problem if they were all removed." 'That makes sense, right? Maybe I should lay it a bit thicker?' "I have plans for them, after all." He said, trying to sound like a proper Yakuza.

For a moment there was no response, "Mh… It is troubling, and is not like we can ask the Hassaikai and every other criminal in Japan to not shoot them. I will have to check if they plan to make a cure. If that is the case, the problem should be gone."

'The problem is that they are making an anti-Quirk drug, not if they sell the antidote!' Izuku wanted to shout, but he sighed instead. "Yes, thank you. Also, just to ask, but how important is it for your own plans that the Hassaikai's drug gets on the market?"

"Not that much? It's fine if it does and fine if it doesn't. The Clan will manage." He paused, "You want it off the market, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Mh… I can give the Heroes a tip, but they probably won't be able to intervene. We have no Heroes in the Top 10, so they won't just take their words for it. We'd need someone that high for them to take seriously a farfetched story like this without the drug on the market."

"We don't?"

"Nope. All Might is out of the question, Endeavor is suspiciously clean, Hawks is a mystery, Best Jeanist is terrified of… a certain person, Edgeshot dislikes the Yakuza, Miruko is Miruko, Crust is All Might junior-"

"No he isn't!" Izuku shouted. He was All Might juni- I mean, Crust was a good Hero but definitely not All Might junior! Yeah, definitely that.

"… As you say boss. Anyway, Yoroi Musha is too easy to bribe-"

"He is what?"

"Easy to bribe."

"I- Nevermind."

"Ryukyu works with the Triad and Gang Orca… Well, we had a thing going, but there were disagreements."

Izuku put aside the fact Gang Orca was once connected to the Hassaikai, because he was not touching that can of worms, and asked the question. "So… If we had a member of the Top 10 on our side, we could get them to intervene on flimsier evidences?"

"I guess? But it's not like a Top 10 Hero will just fall in our lap. Trust me, we tried. The Triad lucked out with Ryukyu because she went broke after a big fight early in her career destroyed half a ward, and she was deemed at fault for the damages."

"Oh! You mean the Battle of Mimubano Ward against Swamp Lord?"

"… You are really well informed. Man, you must have been planning this take over of the Hero society for a long time if you know those Heroes' histories so in depth." The man chuckled, "I suppose I should expect Hisashi's son to be an ambitious man."

"… Yeah sure, why not." Izuku sighed, "Well, thank you Isana, I'll let you know if I need something else."

"Sure. Nice to have you in the business, kid."

"I'm- Thanks. Err, by the way, today I might have fought a member of your group."

"Oh. Did you win easily?"

"Yes."

"A goon then. No problem. Now, if you got a lieutenant arrested, I might have asked for compensation, but if someone just gets roughed up, that's on them."

Izuku nodded, "Do you have a lot of Lieutenants?"

"Yeah, a good number. We call ourselves the Zoo Villains as a cover, but to keep up the appearance I need a whole bunch of minions that pretend to be interested in the whole 'Mutant takeover of Japan' thing." He chuckled, "Some of them ham it up a lot. Anyway, I will let you rest. Good night, boss."

"Night, cousin." He replied, and closed the phone.

'If we had a member of the Top 10…'

Izuku typed in another number. "Hello, Hiryu?" He asked, once the call was answered.

"Midoriya, what a nice surprise. How are you?"

"Good enough. Hey, I wanted to know, we never decided on a deadline for our bet, did we?"

"Ah, I expected you would bring it up eventually. I figured you'd do it sooner. So, when do we want to set it?"

"As soon as possible."

"That confident I haven't beaten you, uh? You might be in for a surprise, Midoriya."

Izuku gulped. Right, if Hiryu won, Pony… "Yes." He lied, "Suggestions?"

"How about a month?"

"Two weeks."

"Three. Let's not be unreasonable, Midoriya. I did start at a disadvantage, since you were allowed to include your fiancée's bodyguard in your numbers."

"If you are beating me, shouldn't you be fine with a short timeframe?" Izuku asked.

"… I shouldn't underestimate your intellect, I suppose."

'No, that was an obvious question!' "W-What can I say, it comes with the job."

"Well, Midoriya, I will agree on three weeks and no less."

Izuku sighed. End of May then. Still better than potentially months, assuming he won. "Deal."

"Excellent, may the best win."

Izuku smiled. Alright, all he had to do to get Ryukyu on his side was beat Hiryu.

… By recruiting more people in the Yakuza.

… So that Ryukyu joined the Yakuza and became an asset of the Green Valley Clan.

… Alright maybe he should have considered this whole thing a bit more.

'Well, shit.'

-x-

Tsuyu had been called many things in her life. Confusing, confident, a bit scary, legs for days – then again, the last one was Mineta, and she had kicked him out of the field for that. Mister Aizawa had been very understanding of her mistaking her classmate with a football – but she wasn't sure anyone besides Mineta found her attractive.

Compared to Yaoyorozu in particular, she wasn't sure about her chances.

Now, Tsuyu wasn't a shallow girl. She could tell Bakugo, the current cause of her thoughts that was walking next to her as they followed Best Jeanist on patrol, wasn't exactly conventionally attractive either, so she figured she had a chance. Oh, he was built like a brick wall. Like, you could grate cheese on those abs. Like, it had some of the most developed pectorals in the class. Really, he was just a full serving of- b-but most of her class was, that wasn't an achievement. Definitely. Nothing particular.

No, what she found attractive about Bakugo…

"Ohi, what are you looking at?!" The teen shouted, pointing a finger toward two teens loitering in a corner, who quickly scattered, "Yeah, that's right, out of the way."

… Yeah she wasn't sure.

She had tried to talk about it with Hakubo, her best friend…

-x-

"Oh my goooooooood!" Hakubo shouted, "You have a crush?!"

"It's more… attraction really!"

"Details." The inexpressive snake girl chuckled, "But about time, girl. I was starting to wonder if you were into me."

"Hakubo!"

"What? It was a legitimate question. Though, I'd have to say no, I'm not interested in girls myself." She replied, "But I'm willing to help… if you help me back."

"Help you back?"

"Yup. I think we have a similar problem. There is this guy called Romero Fujimi…"

"Oh?" Ashido raised an eyebrow, "And how is he?"

"A loudmouthed, always angry guy with a strong Quirk." She sighed, "I don't know who to ask…"

"… You know Hakubo, I think exchanging notes could work. But uh… What do you like about him?"

"I'm not really sure… What about you?"

"Well our kiss was pretty good-" Asui's mouth clamped close too late.

"Your WHAT?!"

-x-

After that there had been no way to go back on subject, and she had to explain a lot of details that no, she hadn't confessed or anything, and yes, she had started being interested after the kiss.

Now Hakubo called her 'le horny frog' on their chat, which was not accurate! Normal kisses aren't horny! And she didn't plan to use her tongue, the blasted thing was just too long!

"Froppy?"

She looked up toward Best Jeanist.

"Sir?" She asked, thankful for the fact her expression barely changed.

"I asked if you think you can help the girl." He said, pointing to a girl that was trying to recover her cat, stuck on a tree, "Pay attention during the patrols, Froppy. I understand it's easy to get bored, when nothing happens, but we as Heroes have to be vigilant."

"Yes sir." She said.

"Also, if you don't do it, Bakugo will."

"Is that a bad thing?"

They turned toward the girl. "Stop fucking crying!" Bakugo was shouting, "It's stuck on a tree! It's not like it got caught in a bear trap!"

"You tell me." Jeanist said with a sigh, "You know, I think he is trying to calm her down."

The girl started crying louder, attracting several worried looks, "The fuck are you all looking at."

"… Or maybe he is just an ass."

'Ass.' Froppy's eyes wondered down before she could stop herself at Jeanist's comment, before she controlled herself. Yeah, Bakugo definitely had an ass… was an ass! He was an ass!... Who also had an ass.

'Bad Froppy. You aren't 'le horny frog', don't let Hakubo's word get to you!' She thought, before quickly jumping up the tree and retrieving the cat. The girl immediately rushed to her, taking it back. The cat meowed.

"No problem, have a good day." She said, waving, as they both walked away, returning to Jeanist's side.

"Tch, crying like that."

"She was just worried for her cat…" Tsuyu pointed out.

Bakugo sighed. "Look, I get it. But if she reacts like that, what will she do in a real emergency? This was just her crying for a cat, but if she gets hurt and cries the same, what happens if someone prioritizes the crying girl over someone more hurt and saves her first, when she could save herself?"

Tsuyu blinked, tilting her head. That was… fairly well put, even if she disliked the method, "Is that why you got angry?" She asked.

"Eh, fifty-fifty."

"What's the other fifty?"

"I find crybabies fucking annoying." He said, walking on.

Tsuyu nodded. Alright, at least now she could put 'intelligence' on the list of positives.

Maybe 'ass' too, those jeans were seriously well fitting- Goddammit Hakubo!

-x-

Bakugo glanced at Tsuyu. 'I wonder what she is thinking.' He thought, 'I bet something really deep. She is always looking so attentively at everything.'

-x-

"And here we go, another mugger caught…" Daigoro yawned.

"What, you are getting bored?" En asked.

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, it's nice and all that the kid is getting a good experience, but this is really basic stuff, investigation aside."

"Well, it's not like big Villain events happen all the time. Toshinori put them in their place." Nana said proudly, the other Vestiges rolling their eyes.

Daigoro yawned again, "Yeah, yeah, Symbol of Peace and all that. We were inside of him for forty years…"

"Phrasing, Daigoro…"

"But we did get our share of good fights. I just wanted something a bit bigger."

"Unlikely." Shinomori replied, "But one can hope."

"You should hope nothing happens!" Yoichi shouted, "That's the whole point of One for All, making a world where the Villains are all small time criminals."

"Wasn't the point of One for All beating All for One?"

"… Look I had five years to come up with a new goal for my Quirk, I'm not giving it up." Yoichi replied.

"Well, we are back to the old goal, and I'm really bored, so…"

"Stop hoping for a big Villain attack!" Yoichi shouted.

"No."

"Ugh, you are the worst. What did you find in him, Shinomori?"

"Don't look at me, I chose him because he was the only person nearby when my body decided I had to explode that had a chance to take your Quirk!"

"Yeah, that was weird- wait a minute, you said you chose me for my bravery and heroism as Lariat!"

"… I'll be honest, I made that up and crossed my fingers." Shinomori admitted.

"You are an asshole, Shinomori."

"Don't insult your elders."

"You are ten years younger than I was when I died!"

"Sorry, I only hear 'gugugaga'."

Daigoro groaned, "Bored AND insulted. Fucking hell…"

The Fifth user sighed. Yoichi was right though, he shouldn't hope for it. And it was unlikely anyway. The USJ was a one time thing, but what were the chances of a repeat?

-x-

"Alright, listen everyone!" Stain shouted, the exhausted Villain having sat all over the enormous Gym All for One had provided before leaving. "Tomorrow is the big day. Are you ready?"

"Can we postpone?" Someone shouted, "I'm really really tired!"

"Tough fucking luck, sonny."

"… I'm fairly sure I'm older than you."

"I'm fairly sure I can plant my sword up your ass with enough strength it comes out of your mouth if you don't shut up. Which will it be, potential shish kebab?"

There was no answer, so Stain continued. "Anyway, you already know the team division, we went through it earlier. I made a print-out outside the room for anyone that needs it. For once, Handjob's plan doesn't seem to have been made by a total wanker-" he frowned, grumbling. He was even more disappointed that no one else seemed to catch his slip, "So good luck. You better put your training to good use, and the come back for more?"

"Do we stop training if we are arrested?" Someone asked.

"… You'd end up in jail."

"That sounds like a good deal right now."

Stain's eyes focused on the crowd, "Try to get yourself caught and I promise I will-"

"Yeah yeah, shish kebab, I got it. You suck man."

"You will thank me when you are strong enough to fight a Hero. Might be grueling training now, but it will make you higher tier. Maybe you can even aim for B-Class."

"Not A?"

"A-Class is for dangers to the Hero society. That's up to you. I can only give you strength. You have to find your own conviction."

The people in the room nodded. Stain felt pleased for one, as did Mini-Stain and Mini-Stendhal. Maybe this lot wasn't out of trouble yet.

'Well, now it's up to his plan. He better not mess up his part, or it will be for nothing.'

He was really curious about how the following night would turn out.

(XX)

Todoroki eventually will have to abandon the "heart attack" theory. But not today!
Honestly Todoroki's first experience with love must be weird, considering he is the most sheltered boy in the story. Like, you suddenly feel attracted to another person. But what does that mean?! What do you do?!
Fuyumi is trying. God knows she is trying.
Her dad is... trying too? Maybe?
Burnin' is trying to push them together

Izuku stared into the Yakuza, and the Yakuza stared back at him. The finger of the Monkey's Paw curled and he got information but had to get deeper in. Add here another ominous comment.
Man, I'm glad this story is ultimately a comedy or I'd feel bad about this.

Tsuyu is not horny.
She is just appreciating the view.
And anyway the jeans are to blame. Damn you Best Jeanist, you and your agency's dress code.