Tenya Iida fixed his collar once more as he sat upright in the restaurant booth bench. His menu lay untouched next to a second menu to his side.

"'Scuse me?" His waitress addressed him.

"Hm?" Iida snapped his head up to make eye contact.

"You ready to order yet? Are you waitin' for someone?" She asked.

"Oh, no not yet. Yes I am. She shouldn't be much longer." He assured her.

"Alrighty. Just flag me down when she gets here."

Tenya nodded and picked up his phone. But then he quickly set it down as he heard a familiar loud feminine voice. "IIDA!"

Looking up again, he was face to face with none other than Mei Hatsume. She was wearing a light blue dress that stopped just past her knees, large black motorcycle boots, and her pink hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail.

"Hatsume! Fancy running into you here." The tall man gave her a nod but kept his face straight.

"I'll say. So you're Ingenium, right?" Mei asked as she sat herself down across from him.

"Um... Yes. That is my hero name." He frowned.

"It's also your profile name on Hero Together." Mei added as she held up her phone displaying their match and private chat that scheduled this very date.

"You... You're MechMadam?!" Tenya gasped in horror.

"Ye-up!" She smiled wide. "Technically the app is meant for single pro-heroes, buuut all the Support nerds in my area are, well... I'm getting ahead of myself here. But I assumed it was you because I think I remember you calling yourself that in high school."

"Y-Yes..." He was at a loss for words. He did not expect this blind date of his to be her. ANYONE BUT HER!

Mei was dense, but even she could notice his disinterest. "Well, gotta admit this is more your fault you're stuck with me tonight." She shrugged.

Tenya glared at her.

"I mean I literally had photos on my profile." She explained.

"None of them were of you!" He showed his phone and scrolled through her profile. "Just pictures of your inventions!"

"I'm right there in one!" She pointed to a photo of a strange contraption wrapped around her head.

Tenya planted his palm in his face. It cut their argument short and Mei leaned back. "Alright, well, I'm sorry I surprised you."

It's not like he had a reason to dislike her, he just did not find himself with a girl like her. So his heart sank when he heard the pain in her tone. "It's alright. I can call the waitress over if you like."

Mei's smile returned. "I know one thing about this date I was excited for: the food. I rarely go to places like this but I hear it's delicious!"

The corner of his lip curled up into a small smile. "Well, you're in luck. My brother once saved the owner's son from a villain attack and now gets meals for free. He gave me one voucher for tonight."

"I was gonna ask you, what's it like being the new 'Ingenium'?" Mei questioned as she rested her head on her arm, while her other hand held up her menu.

Tenya stared at her briefly. "Well, I have been Ingenium for years now. But now that things have finally settled in society, and work has slowed down, I felt that I should take a page from the Midoriya's and distract myself with a new responsibility. As Ur- Ochako puts it, I 'need a dating life'."

Mei smiled. "I understand how you feel."

"You do?" He raised one of his pointed eyebrows.

She nodded. "After UA, and the war, I thought I could just drown myself in my work. And it has worked out a lot for me. But... the war shook me a bit. I just find it funny how in the years that followed so much death and destruction, there was a massive increase in births in Japan. Everybody trying to find solace in a significant other. I laugh at myself knowing I fell for it too..."

"What do you mean?" Now Tenya was curious. He had never seen this side of Hatsume before. She was always obsessed with her inventions and trying to catch attention. She was opening up to him. So soon?

"I thought I could distract myself from reality. But the war really got to me. One of my classmates died. I didn't even know her." Mei sighed.

"Then...if you don't mind me asking, why did you wait so long to do this?" Tenya asked.

Mei's face turned almost as pink as her hair.

They were interrupted, or saved, from Mei's perspective, by their waitress who made her way back around.

"Are y'all ready to order?" She asked.

"YES!" Mei shot up in her seat. "I'll have the crab and salad."

Tenya frowned, but gave her his order. She smiled and excused herself. "It'll be right out, folks!"

He then turned his attention back to his date.

"Sorry to vomit all that deep stuff on you." Mei frowned, twirling one of her thick pink locks of hair.

"It's no problem with me, Hatsume." He smiled. "That war... It did a lot of things to a lot of people. I know loss myself. If you want to share with me, you are always welcome to."

"It's not so much about the war anyways... A few weeks ago I reached out to Ochako, totally forgot she's married by the way, and asked her about you."

Tenya's face warmed up. "Me?"

She nodded, her blush returned. "I know we don't have the best history, but you're like the only guy I remember from high school that isn't taken or weird."

"Okay." Tenya frowned. Her blunt deduction for choosing him wasn't the most romantic thing he's ever heard.

She picked up on this in his eyes and sighed, slinking in her seat. "Here's the thing, Iida: When I was at my lowest, I saw you. On television. It was just a brief moment. Midoriya was off fighting some villain and the news camera caught a glimpse of you carrying two children out of a collapsing building. You were genuine. Selfless. I don't know what it was but something just...clicked. Like a machine that wasn't working right and I found the missing piece."

"This isn't referring to one of your inventions that self-destructs, is it?" Tenya asked.

She shook her head. "No. And for the record, I worked out those kinks before I graduated so I'm way past that."

Tenya smiled. "Hatsume, you're more than the girl I knew in high school. I see that now." He gently placed his larger hand over hers on the table. "Thank you for coming tonight."

Mei smiled back. "Thank you. It's nice to be out of the workshop."

"What hero agency do you work for? Or are you licensed with a tech company, perhaps?" He asked.

"Actually I've been freelance for a while. Another reason why I started dating now. So I guess we have that in common. Things have slowed down."

"Surely your talents would always be in high demand. With new Quirks being developed every generation, many people need support items, and the minds that make them." Tenya explained.

"I know but..."

He rolled his eyes and breathed through his nostrils. "If you can prove to me that you can make something without blowing it up, or using me as a volunteer, you're welcome to license with the Ingenium agency."

Mei's smile grew big and wide again. Tenya swore he saw stars in her yellow crosshaired eyes. "You mean that?!" She asked excitedly as she bounced up and down in her seat. Why did he find that so adorable?!

"I do." He smiled.

She leapt over the table and hugged him tightly.

"Ma'am!" Their waitress yelled as she stood there holding their plates.

The couple ate their dinner together and Tenya enjoyed being with her enough to walk her home afterward.

"You really don't have to walk with me. Most people can only take me for so long." Mei snickered.

"Well, it is a nice evening and I figured I would give you the honor of an unofficial Ingenium escort to your residence." He responded.

"I am honored." She smiled and grabbed his hand.

The feeling of her fingers laced with his felt comforting. "Say, would you like me to carry you?"

Her face turned bright red now as she turned to say something but stopped. "...Eh?"

"I can travel faster than the train, if you want." He offered.

Her realization put a big smile on her face. But this was more like the smile he was used to seeing from her: a look of crazed determination. Reaching into her dress pocket, she pulled out her iconic maroon goggles and slapped them on her head over her eyes. "Like I'd pass up that opportunity!"

Tenya couldn't help but laugh a little. He used to be intimidated by her, especially making that face, but now, it was cute. Dare he even admit, sexy.

He scooped her up in his arms and tapped a device on his ear. On command with a beep, a small blue visor folded itself up and over his eyes.

"If you want, I can make your whole helmet do that." She offered.

"Maybe let me do the favors tonight and we'll see." Tenya shivered at the idea. One step at a time with this girl, for sure.

They sped off at great speeds as his engines kicked on. The lights in the city blurred past. It was, in its own right, very romantic, even though it was short. Mei broke her attention from the view to Tenya and quickly planted a kiss on his cheek.

Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.