All Because You Are My Hero Chapter 3: Act 3: Dance lessons with Mina, a my hero academia/僕のヒーローアカデミア fanfic

AN: First of all- LANGUAGE WARNING. Mina and Bakugo use a couple words more inappropriate than what I've had in here so far (but only like twice). Secondly, for videos of the dances I used to inspire the ones I tried to describe near the middle of the chapter check the bottom notes for a link to them (but put in youtube's url first and add what is given at the bottom since the full thing disappears)! Describing dance movements is the hardest thing ever let me tell you lol. Also, I work all weekend and have a 25 page paper to work on, so I'll be updating later than by usual 5-7 day estimate. As it is enjoy the chapter, and a special shout out and thank you to Ranoshi for gifting me several kofis. I really appreciate it! =)

Izuku's spirits had started off high the next morning.

For starters, Sato had offered to make pancakes once most of the class was awake. Nearly everyone (Bakugo said he could make superior ones) had enthusiastically taken him up on the offer. With the help of a few classmates, they gathered in the kitchen barely half an hour later to see various plates stacked with a variety of pancakes and an assortment of toppings. There wasn't enough room for everyone to sit at the table, so much to Iida's distaste it was decided they could take to eating at the work tabe the living room as well. Izuku couldn't have been happier eating a stack of chocolate chip pancakes next to Eri, who ate apple-cinnamon pancakes with a look of pure bliss on her face. Even Bakugo had been in a rather good mood; he had found cumin in the cupboard and doused his "mediocre" pancakes with it. Sero and Kaminari had looked upon the sight with horror, cradling their own syrup-drenched plates protectively.

After that there had been some downtime before Aizawa and Mirio would arrive. They decided collectively to curl back down in the living room to watch a movie of Eri's choice.

"Can we watch another Disney movie? I've seen Frozen, Tangled, and Moana so far and I really enjoyed them."

"You haven't seen the Lion King? Guys we have to watch that one! It's the best!" Kirishima shouted.

Uraraka sent him a death glare. "We are not making her cry this early in the morning. Pick something less upsetting, like Mulan."

That had begun a debate over which movie was the least upsetting, several pointing out many sad events that took place in the movies or arguing that the older Disney movies were bad rolemodels for her.

"Belle fell in love with an animal, shithead!" Bakugo yelled at Sero while setting off sparks. "You want the little brat to think beastiality is okay?"

"He's not an animal! And oh my gosh, man, you just spoiled the romantic element of the movie."

"How the hell is that a spoiler? It's called Beauty and the Beast for fu—"

"Language!" Yaoyozoru cut in.

In the midst of all the arguing, Todoroki had taken liberty of putting a DVD in on his own. It was only after the preveiws for remastered versions of the decade or two old Disney movies began that his classmates turned towards him confused.

"Todoroki-kun?" Izuku asked from where Eri and he sat next to each other on the couch, Iida to his left and Uraraka and Tsuyu next to Eri. "What did you pick?"

He turned his dual-colored eyes to the group and answered without a hint of emotion.

"The Little Mermaid."

"Can we ask why?" Jiro was curious like the rest of her classmates.

The boy's face became serious, eyes narrowing at the question.

"I like Ariel. She doesn't let her father boss her around. Also," he said offhandedly, his face back to normal, "I enjoy the music."

Nobody had dared to say anything after that.

The movie was just ending when Aizawa and Mirio had arrived, the two patiently waiting as Ariel and the prince got married. Once it ended Izuku and his classmates bid Eri goodbye. Mirio thanked them for having her, leaving after a tiredAizawa beckoned him to follow. As they left Mirio could be heard telling Eri about how he liked The Little Mermaid too, but never to do what Ariel did and change herself to earn someone's love. It was funny when Eri said she hadn't noticed that in the first place, causing Mirio to try and stear the conversation to something else while Aizawa just sighed.

He did not get paid enough for his job.

Once the trio had gone, Jiro and Mina made sure to remind everyone that now that their fun time was over. It was time to get back to work preparing for the festival. Jiro hadn't even given Izuku a second to himself before he was dragged upstairs to her room to record the songs like they'd planned.

It had taken roughly a couple hours, but the playlist for the festival was complete. There were three flashdrives with all of the tracks and instrumentals in order of when they were going to be played, and separate documents for sheet music and lyrical text.

"One of these is going to Mina for the dance team, another for Todoroki on the staging team, and I'm keeping the last one just to have a physical backup with me at all times. I've put everything on the flashdrive on a cloud account and emailed the link to everyone on the band team though, in case they lose their sheet music or want to listen to the songs on their own time. As it is, I'm going to meet up with them before and after dinner so we can practice playing the music. We'll try adding vocals in tommorow."

"Okay," Izuku said. Jiro seemed to have everything taken care of. "If you guys are going to be focusing on playing instruments tonight then, should I work with the dance team?"

"That'd be a good idea, yeah."

It had alsolutely not been a good idea.

"Midori! I'm having Aoyama go over the routines with the dance team outside while we head over to the gymnasium."

"Um, why are the two of us going there to practice? Shouldn't the whole team be practicing together?"

Mina feined dissappointment.

"Jiro didn't tell you? We've got oursleves a one on one practice session tonight to help you with your stage presense."

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "My stage what?"

"Stage presense! You know, like moving around on stage and working in some body movement in leui of serious dancing so it won't interupt your singing? You're not just going to stand next to Jiro while you sing." She said as if the idea of him singing in place was a ludicrous idea. "If she weren't playing guitar on top of singing I would have made her join in on the lesson, but as it stands we need to get you to loosen your body up so you can jump around on stage like me!"

"Um, is that really ness—"

"It is absolutely nessecary!" She cut him off, giving him a once over before nodding. "The shirt and shorts you're in are as good as anything to wear while practicing. I guess this means you're ready to go! Grab some water bottles for us while I fetch my wireless speaker from my room, please and thank you. I'll meet you at the dorm enterance in five."

Izuku wasn't able to get a word out before she turned on her heel and left, leaving him standing in his doorway as he remembered the two minutes of relaxing he'd gotten in after recording fondly.

Several minutes later…

"Let me just get my phone synced with the speaker," Mina said brightly. She kneeled down next to where her speaker was placed at the front of the stage, the device facing back towards them so they would be able to hear the music better. "I do have to warn you though, Midori, we're going to be practicing to music faster and more geared towards the pop or dance genres than yours. We won't be doing any singing at all at the beginning either, because I want you to focus on learning some common dance and stage moves used by a lot of singers."

Izuku nodded, having accepted his fate on the walk to the auditorium. It also helped that only the two of them would be practicing, so he was less self-concious of making a fool of himself.

She stood back up a moment later. Turning to him, clad in short, loose shorts and a vibrantly colored tank top, she picked a playlist labeled "dance until you're dead". The music began to play just as she was setting her phone down and out of the way.

"Before we begin," the girl said as she motioned Izuku to walk with her to the center of the stage, "I want you to do something for me."

"What is it?"

Mina grinned, eyes sparkling mischevously. "I want you to stop thinking and copy every move I make while we practice. I don't care how weird you might think the moves are. I don't care if you'll never use them for the rest of your life, much less for the festival. My job is to get you to loosen up, get your body moving, and make sure you know the bear minimum of how to dance. We're going to begin doing it the only way I know how. So, Midori, do you know who is singing this song?"

Izuku seemed to be caught of guard be the question. It was too easy a question.

"Yes. She's popular beyond belief in America. This is Britney Spears."

"Wrong!"

"What? No, I'm n—"

"It's Britney, bitch!"

"I don't underst—"

She put a finger to his lips and shushed him. "Stop thinking and monkey-see monkey-do from now on. Go!"

With music from the early 2000s filling the auditorium like background music of a training montage, their lesson began.

"We'll start off easy with some stationary moves. Remember: watch closely, copy, and memorize them. Later I'll just call out the names of the moves I've taught you."

"O-okay."

From then on Mina would move or strike a pose, say the name of what she called it (stating it was simpler than some of the terms actually used), and kept doing it until Izuku got it. They did indeed start with some easy ones. He learned what she called "northeast", "northwest", "southeast", and "southwest". Basically she would raise her arms diagonally as if her head were the needle pointing north on a compass. Izuku got all of the movements down and commited to memory within a couple minutes.

Next came various arm motions incorporating his torso or head. She taught what she called the "tummyache and headache". This involved splaying a hand flat on her stomach with her right hand and bringing her left hand to her temple. Then there was the "migraine", which was just him putting his hands on either side of his head like he was having a breakdown. She taught him to "look up, down, left, right", which meant him turning his head and looking in the directions the moves said. There was the "neck roll", which called for him dramatically lolling his head around his shoulders.

From there she showed him what else he could do with his arms while singing. She had them out on either side of her, saying moving the arms like that while singing and moving the head in some direction was simple but looked good. She showed him raising them slowly up would be good for building tension of a song, and bringing them back down could be good for dramatic or strong points in a song. She also showed him the "hug" as she called it, which meant him hugging himself. The "left and right sweep" followed after; this consisted of him sweeping either his right or left arm out in front of him. On top of that there was "pointing", meaning he was supposed to put his left hand on his hip while pointing forwards with his right arm. He learned the simple "hip" maneuver that was just putting his hand on his hip. She added onto it by telling him to move his hips from left to right in a snappy motion, calling it the "hip snap".

"Now we'll focus on the legs!" She said brightly after a few songs had passed and many moves had been learned. "This will require moving, so how about you stand so you're beside me? It'll be easier if we're facing the same direction."

So they continued, Izuku copying Mina's every move.

First they started with what she dubbed the "restless leg". It was the easiest move yet, simply requiring Izuku to bring his heel off the ground repeatedly. There was the "spin" which was literally just doing a 180 degree turn in whatever direction went before it. "Forward" and "backward" meant walking (or running depending on the mood of the song, according to his teacher) in either direction stated, "to the right" and "to the left" being the other commands. The "around town" was basically bringing their hips around in a circle. Then came the "knees" and "ball"; Izuku was told to literally drop down to his knees on the first move and to add curling forward (bringing his head down and bending forward at the waist) at the second move. "Left knee" and "right knee" were just dropping down onto the designated knee. He learned "slide" next. It was basically stepping in whatever direction specified but doing so slowly and dragging the non-leading foot rather than picking both feet up. "Shimmy" was bringing one shoulder up while bending down slightly in the opposite direction (which required a bent knee) only to alternate shoulders back and forth. "Twirl" was spinning while also having his arms form a diamond shape above his head, palms facing outwards."Jump" and "skip" were both self explanatory.

Then they got to what Izuku could only describe as oddly specific moves.

"Phone" was pretending a hand was a phone. Not that weird, right? "Clothes" was a move that resembled his ripping his clothes off. That he was more embarrassed about but repeated anyway. He was even fine with "sashaying" which he could only describe as a supermodel walk, although Mina looked more like a tiger on a prowl. He still did it, of course, but when it came to Mina having him do "pelvic thrusts" he drew the line.

"Mina-kun, this is a family friendly show. Nobody better be doing those moves." He stated with a blush, trying to look anywhere at her smirking face.

"Oh I was just having a little bit of fun! It's good to get out of your comfort zone anyway. Speaking of, you're doing really well so far. Think you want to try your hand at dancing a song with me while I yell out the names of the moves we'll be doing?"

Izuku took a moment to grab one of the water bottles he'd grabbed from the dorm, handing a second one to his personal dance coach without a second thought. She smiled at him gratefully.

"You really think I'm ready?" He asked once he'd drained half the water bottle.

Wiping the water trailing down her chin away, the girl gave him a knowing look. "You're ready to practice, yes. And practice makes as close to perfect as we can get in such a short amount of time. You're actually pretty good at moving your body, Midori. I think you're just a little scared to do it."

"Well, yeah. I don't want to look silly in front of anyone."

"Tell me something," Mina said with a hand on her hip. "Do I look silly when I dance?"

"Of course not!"

"What about our classmates? Do they look stupid when they dance?"

"None of them look stupid!"

"If we don't look silly or stupid, then what do you think we look like when we dance?"

"Amazing," Izuku answered honestly. "You all look so talented when you move. I know how much work it takes to dance like you do, and it's really cool to watch..." At Mina's pointed look he trailed off. He sighed as the moral of her question set in.

She placed a palm on his shoulder, the moment tender despite "If U Seek Amy" playing in the background.

"I really wish you could see yourself like you see your friends. You're great at so many things, but you can't get it through those thick curls of yours," her hand moved to pet those curls affectionately as if to make her point. "Anyway, enough with the sappy stuff. Let's get back to dancing! I know just the song."

A moment later, Izuku and Mina were standing a few yards apart while facing each other, waiting for the desired song to start up the filler one she'd chosen ended.

At the semi-familiar tune of "Toxic" started, the real practice began.

"Baby, can't you see? I'm calling. A guy like you should wear a warning. It's dangerous; I'm fallin'. There's no escape. I can't wait I need a hit; baby, give me it. You're dangerous; I'm lovin' it. Too high, can't come down. Losing my head, spinning 'round and 'round. Do you feel me now?"

Mina didn't waste a second. One after the other she called out commands like what she'd taught him, telling him to flow from one to the next naturally as he could. They mostly stayed in the same place though, but Izuku knew they would be moving as time went on.

She began throwing in some new movements, combining ones she'd already taught him and having him perform some moves that involved him lowering himself to the ground. He was a bit slow on the uptake at times. Moreover, many of his movements were a bit choppier or slower than he liked.

"It's getting late to give you up. I took a sip from my devil's cup. Slowly it's taking over me. Too high, can't come down. It's in the air and it's all around. Can you feel me now?"

As they went on, he improved. His body felt more at ease moving quickly from one position to the other. It helped that he was actually enjoying himself, a smile lighting up his face as he started being able to keep up with Mina's expert movements. He was even able to copy some of her original moves.

At some point Izuku wondered if they could do this again sometime when the stakes weren't so high. Dancing was a great and fun way to exercise, it seemed, and it was a nice skill to have. Some of the moves gave him ideas for fighting maneuvers as well.

"With a taste of your lips I'm on a ride; you're toxic I'm slipping under. With a taste of a poison paradise, I'm addicted to you. Don't you know that you're toxic? And I love what you do, don't you know that you're toxic? With a taste of your lips I'm on a ride; you're toxic I'm slipping under. With a taste of a poison paradise, I'm addicted to you. Don't you know that you're toxic? And I love what you do, don't you know that you're toxic?"

They had been moving across the floor for some time now, still facing each other but often several yards on either side of one another. Now they came back together. Mina directed him to do the "knees" while throwing in a "neck roll" with a successive "headache".

"Intoxicate me now, with your lovin' now. I think I'm ready now, I think I'm ready now. Intoxicate me now, with your lovin' now. I think I'm ready now."

The music came to an end with the two of them breathing moderately heavy. Izuku quickly stood back up, straightened his back, and rung his hands together as he looked at his teacher expectantly.

"How was that?"

"Don't look so terrified! It was really good for your first time, Midori. Do you think you could have come up with a pattern of moves to perform if I hadn't chosen them?"

Izuku looked at the ground for a moment before tilting his head thoughtfully. "I think so? I mean, I probably would have found a few choice moves that went with the various segments of the song and added a few moves in as the intensity increased."

"Good! Later I'll have you pick a song and compose your own dance routine using what I taught you along with your own additions of course. But before you can show me your improvisation skills, you first need to pass my own personal test."

"And what it that exactly?" Izuku asked, part of him fearing the answer. When Mina smirked he knew his fear was warranted.

"You and I are going to raise the difficulty of the dance we'll be doing by upping the general speed or beat of the song. We're going to go fast, and there will be movements we haven't practiced since they're a bit too risky for our target audience, but you're going to do them for the sake of better flow and to build your self-confidence. It's going to feel embarrassing and awkward at first but trust me; if you can keep up with me I'll know that you're capable and no longer in need of my teaching. Also it'll be fun! I'm even going to go through the moves with you beforehand while the song is on repeat before we take it from the top. Okay?"

"Okay."

And so began the most awkward half an hour of Izuku's life.

To be fair many of the moves were similar to what they had learned before. On the other hand, there were so many other ways to move the body that made Izuku want to blush just watching Mina. She was bursting with self-confidence and moved with purpose, which Izuku did admire her for, but knowing he would need to repeat her movements in order to be free from this dance lesson...

Well, he was just glad it was only Mina that would witness what was about to follow.

"Think 'sexy'!" She berated him at one movement where he was supposed to run his hands from his waistline and up his torso, throwing his arms out languidly afterwards. "And unlike the other dance moves I taught you before today, you want to move with more of a flow and less sharply. Here, watch me one more time."

"No, Midori! Wiggle your entire body more and then work yourself up into shaking your upper body. Also, when you jut your hip out to the side, do it with more power."

"Okay, it seems you've gotten a hang of all of the movements. You're just doing them hella awkwardly. Move with confidence, like an animal on the prowl! Pretend you're trying to attract a mate with your sexy moves."

Izuku nearly screamed into his hands at that comment, but thankfully controlled himself and only groaned while his face turned red instead.

Finally, after they had another short break to grab a drink, Mina played the filler song that would come before the one they had been practicing to on loop. As the tune of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" came to a close, Izuku and Mina took to the center of the stage facing where the crowd would be in less than a week's time. They stood three two yards apart this time since they would be moving in sync together.

"This is it," Mina said. Her voice was soft and serious, but when she turned to give him a thumbs up her eyes were bright and filled with pride. "Give it all you've got, okay? Dance like there's someone out there you want to blow away."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright!"

They got into their starting position a second before the music began, and then they were dancing.

"Lately, I've been stuck imagining what I wanna do and what I really think. Time to blow out. Be a little inappropriate, 'cause I know that everybody's thinkin' it when the light's out."

Neither of them could hear anything other than the music as they danced in sync, the sound of the front doors of the gymnasium opening lost as they moved.

"Shame on me, to need release, uncontrollably..."

Izuku and Mina moved their hands away from their hips simultaneously, going into the practiced arm movements as easy as adding a skip to their step. As they moved into the chorus for the first time the music played over the sound of gasps of surprise from the other side of the room.

"I-I-I wanna go-oh-oh all the way-ay-ay- taking out my freak tonight. I-I-I wanna show-oh-oh all the dirt-irt-irt I got runnin' through my mind, whoa-oh. I-I-I wanna go-oh-oh all the way-ay-ay- taking out my freak tonight. I-I-I wanna show-oh-oh all the dirt-irt-irt I got runnin' through my mind, whoa-oh."

They got off of the floor, eyeing each other as they went into the next wave of moves. He pushed the small part of him that was mortified having rolled his body in such a suggestive position, the hip movements included, away. He needed to keep up with Mina if he wanted this to be over with. He also couldn't deny that dancing was growing on him.

"Lately, people got me all tied up. There's a countdown waitin' for me to erupt. Time to blow out. I've been told who I should do it with, to keep both my hands above the blank-blanket when the light's out. Shame on me, to need release, uncontrollably..."

The part that was coming up was Izuku's favorite. He found the slower, more languid movements were easier for him to get lost in; he felt less self-conscious and that lack of worry allowed him to slip his eyes shut along with his dancing partner as they continued.

"I-I-I wanna go-oh-oh all the way-ay-ay- taking out my freak tonight. I-I-I wanna show-oh-oh all the dirt-irt-irt I got runnin' through my mind, whoa-oh."

And then things became very animated, forcing Izuku to open his eyes as his brain and body worked a mile a minute to perform the moves the best he could. For a moment he was so focused he felt as if he were using his quirk to keep up.

" I-I-I wanna go-oh-oh all the way-ay-ay- taking out my freak tonight. I-I-I wanna show-oh-oh all the dirt-irt-irt I got runnin' through my mind, whoa-oh."

They slowed down again, arms and head hanging down as they did a few subtle movements until the chorus returned.

"Shame on me (shame on me), to need release (to need release), uncontrollably (uncontrollably-lably-lably-lably-bly-bly-bly-bly-bly)."

Then it was just the two of them turning towards each other, running past one another before spinning around and pointing an arm in the air as they circled the other. A lot of fast turns, arm sweeps, jumps, and shimmies were thrown in before they finally came to a rest before each other.

"I-I-I wanna go-oh-oh all the way-ay-ay- taking out my freak tonight. I-I-I wanna show-oh-oh all the dirt-irt-irt I got runnin' through my mind, whoa-oh! I-I-I wanna go-oh-oh all the way-ay-ay- taking out my freak tonight. I-I-I wanna show-oh-oh all the dirt-irt-irt I got runnin' through my mind, whoa-oh!"

The ended with their fingertips touching, opposite arms thrown out in front of them while the one not reaching out was bent at their sides. Their chests heaved as they took in air they desperately needed after such a work out. Even with the sweat sticking to their skin after all of their hard work, smiles blossomed on their faces as they gazed at each other feeling accomplished.

"Looks like you're ready, Midori."

"Thanks, Mina-kun."

His mouth was open to say more, but before he could another voice cut him off. Unbeknownst to them they had received visitors just after they had begun their final performance.

"What the fuck?"

Heat hotter than what he'd experienced at the Sports Festival courtesy of Todoroki's left side crawled up his body. He didn't need to turn towards the entrance to the gymnasium to know who that voice belonged to. Not that he could have forced himself to turn that way anyway; all his mind could scream at him was that Bakugo had seen him dance promiscuously to a Britney Spears song. Would he ever be able to live that down?

Probably not, his brain supplied unhelpfully.

"Midoriya, my dude, you've got moves!" Kaminari's voice started from across the room.

"Mina, what have you been teaching him?" Jiro sounded stressed, her face pink. "Those moves are not what we talked about you helping him learn yesterday! They're not audience appropriate at all for—"

"Relax, Jiro! I taught him what you wanted; that last routine was just for fun."

The members of band team were making their way towards the stage with their instruments in tow, but Izuku couldn't bring himself to greet them at their arrival. He was too busy looking pointedly away from them as he struggled to keep himself from fainting. Even after the talk with Mina he couldn't help but feel completely foolish having danced as animatedly as he had without knowing there had been others watching him, judging him. How was he supposed to face them after—

"That was amazing!" Kaminari reiterated once more when he reached the edge of the stage. "I can't believe you went from being a passable dancer to keeping up with Mina in just a few hours."

A few hours? Had they really been dancing for that long?

"What can you say?" Mina gloated. "He had a great teacher."

"The fact you incorporated your quirk was creative too," Tokoyami added.

Wait, he did what? He thought he felt the power of One for All at some point during the routine, but he thought he was just imagining it.

"I agree," Yaoyorozu said. "Perhaps you could incorporate the glowing effect your quirk produces while performing one of your songs? It could be symbolic."

That was definitely a thought to think about.

"Either way, you did look great up there, Midoriya." Jiro complimented. "I know it took a lot of hard work and guts, so congratulations."

Izuku slowly turned his head to look at them, green eyes wide with disbelief.

"Aw," Mina cried dramatically while throwing a friendly arm over his shoulders, "you guys broke Midori with your words of encouragement! At least he'll finally get that he looks damn good dancing. I swear, he was blushing at every move earlier today. He only freaked out this time when you all surprised him by announcing your arrival."

Jiro shrugged, a sheepish look on her face. "Sorry about that. We wanted to practice some of the songs in here to see how the room alters the sound so we can plan for it accordingly. Do you guys still need the stage?"

"Nope! It's all yours now. Midori and I worked hard today, so we'll finish up with what we were going to do originally tomorrow."

"Okay, just make sure not to work him too much. Tomorrow evening I want him to join us to practice singing the songs he'll be performing along with the band. If he's exhausted he won't be able to sing as well."

Mina flashed a grin. "I'll be sure not to be too rough with him," she said while holding up her littlest finger. "I pinky promise!"

She was met with a couple groans, but Izuku's attention was on Bakugo. The blond was regarding him in a way he hadn't noticed before since he'd been too shy to look in his general direction. As it was now, it seemed like he wanted to say something.

When the rest of the band team began bringing their equipment up on stage, Izuku found himself nonchalantly offering his childhood friend help.

"Need a hand with that, Kacchan?"

Red eyes practically glued him to the ground. After a tense moment, Bakugo grunted.

"Grab the cymbals, nerd. I assume you know where to put them."

They worked in silence for a few minutes. It didn't take much time or effort to set up his drum and accessories, and while Jiro and Kaminari worked on getting a couple portable speakers set up Izuku found himself standing adjacent to Bakugo as he set up his music on a stand.

"So..." the greenette started, "how is practice going so far today?"

"Fine."

"Jiro and I tried to make the sheet music easy enough to follow despite a lot of the songs having complex parts. I'm sure they aren't trouble for you though."

"They aren't."

"Do you like all of the stuff I added to 'Peace Sign' and 'Singing to the Sky'? I made sure to make it cool and challenging like you wanted. The other classes won't know what hit them," he commented brightly. "The crowd will sure be amazed too."

"Duh."

Izuku bit his lip, a wave of sorrow hitting him as he finally got the picture. Bakugo didn't want to speak with him right now. He guessed that was all he needed to come down from the high dancing with Mina had created.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll leave you to practice then. I'm pretty tired after dancing for so long anyway." He said, voice sounding more off than he wished. He tried to keep his energy up so his friend wouldn't notice his change in mood, but it was hard with how perceptive the blond was. As he turned away, fully intending on leaving without looking back, he felt a calloused hand grip his wrist tightly.

Looking over his shoulder, Izuku's heart skipped at the intensity of the gaze Bakugo was giving him. All he could think about was how warmth was traveling up his arm from where the hand gripped his wrist. It was making him dizzy.

"You looked good earlier, Deku."

Was there cotton in his ears? He couldn't have possibly heard correctly.

"Um, come again?"

"Like hell I'd repeat myself!" Bakugo barked, his face dusted pink from what could be rage or perhaps something else. He released his wrist and faced forwards once more. "Now scram so I can warm up. Also make sure you eat something; you and Pinky missed dinner like the over-dedicated idiots you are."

"O-okay, Kacchan. I will."

"There's some leftovers in the fridge with your name on it," the blond added as Izuku began to walk away. "Don't waste them. If you do, I'll set your ass on fire."

Izuku paused in his departure, knowing immediately that Bakugo must have saved him some of what he'd cooked for dinner. The act of kindness sent butterflies scrambling erratically in his stomach. A smile not unlike that of a lovesick girl enveloped his face.

"Thanks."

Bakugo pointedly ignored him. Izuku didn't care though; he was already floating on cloud nine.

Later that night…

Izuku found himself sitting in the lounge working on his music that night. He knew he should be thinking about the news ways he was learning to use his quirk after the training he'd been doing with All Might, but something had been nagging him to work on his music ever since dinner. He had gotten some homework done after dinner though. Seeing that along with everything else done throughout the day as an accomplishment, he found himself situated with his laptop and ear buds in the common room.

It was nearing eleven at night, but since it was Saturday their curfew was extended to midnight instead of ten. Nearly everyone took advantage of the additional free time on Saturdays. This meant the common space was generally filled, and tonight was no exception.

The lounge was filled with fellow students as if gravitating together was natural after their bonding session the night and morning prior. Some, like Jiro, Yaoyorozu, and Kaminari, were relaxing after all the practicing they'd gotten done throughout the day. They sat on the couch watching A Silent Voice at a reasonable volume; they didn't want to disturb those studying at the table nearby. Mina and Kirishima were trying to get their homework done for the weekend early so they wouldn't have to worry about scrambling to finish it Sunday night, and Uraraka and Hagakure joined them soon after. A few others had also joined watching the movie (Tsuyu, Tokoyami, Sero, Ojiro, and Aoyama). Shoji sat in the corner reading, and Todoroki was sitting with Iida in the kitchen brewing tea while discussing further modifications to their hero costumes. Izuku didn't know where Koda, Mineta, Sato, or Bakugo were, but he assumed they were busy doing their own thing.

That was until the latter suddenly sat down on the couch beside him, the inches of space between them somehow feeling far too wide.

"Kacchan?" The greenette asked more than greeted, pulling an ear bud from his ear while pausing the program he was running. "Um, thanks for the leftovers earlier. I can't believe you remembered how much I love kastudon. Anyway, uh, how are you?"

The blond grunted. He seemed like he was debating on answering when he suddenly leaned over, his shoulder brushing Izuku's as his eyes fell on the computer screen.

"You working on more music?"

Izuku nodded. He pulled out the other ear bud and smiled, pointing to a few layers of sound files placed one on top of the other.

"Yep! Mina-kun wants me to pick some songs to practice dancing to tomorrow, and there was one I started a while back that I thought would be fun to design a dance to. I was planning on recording a rough version of the lyrics before going to bed tonight. Now listening to it though, I don't know if I'll be able to."

"Why not?"

Blinking in mild confusion, Izuku had to ignore the surprise that came with Bakugo seeming to be genuinely interested.

"Well, there are some parts I have to sing pretty loudly in order for the right notes to be hit. I don't want to wake up anyone else on the floor though. I think I'll just have to make a dance to the instrumental without words."

Bakugo made a noise as if contemplating something. A moment later, Izuku found himself without a laptop before being yanked off of the couch by his arm.

"If you're so concerned about being too loud, then record it in my room right now while most of the idiots are still up. Even if anyone else on the floor comes upstairs before you're done they're used to a bit of noise."

"Yeah!" Kirishima shouted from where he sat at the table nearby. Was everyone eavesdropping? "Baku-bro shouts at me at all hours of the day, and he shouts at germs whenever he brushes his teeth too. We're all used to noise, so feel free to sing to your heart's content."

"Shut up, shitty-hair!"

"Excuse me, but could you both quiet down?" Jiro spoke up. The movie was currently paused, and several students were looking between Bakugo and Kirishima impatiently. "We're half-way through the movie, but we can't hear it with all of the yelling."

Kirishima apologized immediately, going back to his homework, while Bakugo responded with a quick "whatever". It was then Izuku was ordered at a regular volume to follow his childhood friend.

"Um, Kacchan, I don't know if recording in your room is a good idea."

"Why the hell not?" He raised his voice just as they were out of the shared living space.

"I need some stuff from my room, first of all, and second of all I don't know if I'm comfortable recording with you there li—"

"Oh, so you can record in front of earphone girl but not me? Tough luck, nerd." The blond had them exit the staircase only after going up one flight. "Which room is yours? We'll grab your stuff and then head up to my room."

"I guess I can grab my headphones and mic," Izuku acquiesced. "But, Kacchan, can I ask why you care if I get it done or not? I didn't think you really cared about anything I do, unless..." He trailed off as he unlocked his room, turning to meet red eyes with a grin slowly forming on his face.

"You want to hear me sing, don't you?"

His statement was met with a shove, sending the shorter tumbling onto his butt on the floor of his room with a small yelp. Once he collected himself he couldn't help but laugh at the enraged yet embarrassed look on his rival's face.

"Like hell I want to hear your crappy voice, Deku! It just pisses me off that you do all of these things for others but won't go out of your way to do something for yourself. Now hurry up and grab your music shit. Looking at your creepy All Might shrine for a minute longer is going to make me hurl."

Izuku shook his head. As he got up to grab what he needed, Bakugo stepped into the room and surveyed the décor with a look of disinterest. They were both silent for several seconds as Izuku debated if he needed anything else. Just as he was about to say he was ready to go, however, he noticed Bakugo walking up to his bookshelf.

"I can't believe you kept this junk."

His voice was soft, much more so than Izuku remembered hearing. It was only when the greenette turned around to see why his friend was so subdued that he realized why.

Bakugo was holding an old All Might figurine from their childhood, and his eyes were glued to a small picture frame that held a photo of them from preschool.

They were poised with their opposite arms in the air and fingers forming peace signs, large grins on their faces as their arms closest to one another were swung around each other's shoulders. The picture had been taken a few days before Bakugo's quirk had manifested. The toy on the other hand had been a present given to him by Bakugo himself. It was his favorite toy as a kid, holding sentimental value because it had been given to him by his best friend.

"Of course I kept them," Izuku answered as he made his way to stand beside the other. "The toy was a gift, and that picture reminds me of good times. I would never get rid of either of those things."

"I don't understand you."

"Huh?"

The blond turned, frustration radiating off him as he glared at Izuku.

"Why would you keep this stuff all these years even though I bullied you? I was unfair to you, treating you like shit when all you were trying to do was reach out to me. I misunderstood your intentions for over ten years, Deku! What kind of hero treats someone like I did, regardless of the reason? Maybe the villains were right to assume I'd be a good addition to their dumb team. I act—"

"Don't talk about yourself like that, Kacchan. You're not a villain, and nothing about you is villainous."

"Really?" Bakugo said incredulously, a hand gripping the All Might toy tightly. "I told you to jump off of the roof. How is that not villainous?"

Izuku shook his head. "A villain would throw someone off of a roof; a person who made a mistake would tell someone to jump."

"Some huge ass mistake. I knew you were too stubborn to ever give up on your dream as a hero, so you wouldn't have thought about it anyway, but that doesn't mean what I said was okay."

"No, it wasn't. You know that though, don't you? And you'd never tell anyone else to do that?"

"Not someone who isn't a villain, I guess."

"Kacchan..."

"Okay, fine. I wouldn't say something that shitty again to anyone."

Izuku sighed, a weight seeming to leave his shoulders. This was progress.

"You know," the greenette continued gently as he took the toy from the other, "you never once stopped being my friend. I promised I would throw away this toy if I thought we would never be able to stand side by side. I kept it, because I was waiting for you to finally realize I wasn't trying to belittle you and your accomplishments."

"If I were you I would have given up on my sorry ass long ago."

The smile Izuku sent at the blond caught him off guard. "When have I ever given up on anything or anyone? Besides, giving up on you would have been like giving up on a part of myself."

For a moment they both stood there frozen.

Oh no, what did I just say? Izuku thought. I bet that sounded really, really weird. What if I've scared him away for good? Things were finally getting better too.

Then, as if Endeavor had finally admitted his undying love for All Might (aka Hell had frozen over), Bakugo laughed.

"Seriously, Deku? You're such a goddamn sap."

"W-wait! I didn't mean it like—"

"Whatever. Just grab your stuff and let's go. We don't have all night."

In order of appearance:

Toxic by Britney Spears (Dance: watch?v=tLRp-2eIZLE )

I Wanna Go by Britney Spears (Dance: watch?v=ZLf2Mssk9bs )

Mentioned:

If U Seek Amy by Britney Spears

Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears