Boy, don't you worry, you'll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied - Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Aizawa grumped at us, the whole class was practically lying on the pitch, trying to remember how to breathe after a brutal work out thanks to Bakugo mouthing off. I looked to the left, Deku rubbing his leg while he tried to listen to Aizawa. Tsuyu to my right, croaking lightly.

"Dismissed." Aizawa finally gave up on us, and watched as we lurched away back to the locker rooms and a very welcome shower.

Mina slowed to wait for me, her horns almost looking dejected. "You and Shoji-kun doing anything special tonight?"

"Ugh," I moaned. "Thank goodness he just wants to take me to that showing of Rashomon tonight. To be honest," I looked around for Shoji, and found him father back, talking to a few of the other boys, "I was a little afraid of going out with him after seeing his room. I'm not sure what to expect from a minimalist of that caliber."

"At least he doesn't seem like the pervy type. Though Mineta seemed to think he is. They say animals recognize their own." She giggled, "It might be better if he is, so at least you have that to look forward to. That movie is only a million years old." She fake snored and I groaned again.

Tsuyu stood guard at the girl's locker room door, holding it for us. We stepped though, and started to peel out of our suits. "It's been fun going on so many different dates, though, no matter how odd they seemed at the time. I had no idea how different each guy would be. From Koda to Kaminari, it's been really cool, getting to know everyone better."

Mina smiled, pulling me into a sweaty hug as we scampered toward the showers, "I knew you were just sitting in your room miserable. I'm glad to be of service!"

As we left the locker rooms, I peeled off from my friends toward the large shadow waiting by the outer doors that could only be Shoji.

"Shoji-kun," I smiled and snugged on a jacket, "I think I'm ready. Do I need anything else?"

He shook his head, "No. Have you seen the movie, Uraraka? It's one of my favorites."

I shook my head, "I don't generally do black and white films, but I'm looking forward to it!" I rushed to assure him, though all he did was shrug. Well, judging from what I knew about him, which was still not a lot considering we all live under the same roof... He was a minimal kind of guy. I could still picture seeing him after Bakugo had been taken from the 'retreat', and he looked upset, but not as scared as the rest of us. That was probably helpful when training to be a hero.

I trailed alongside him, just enjoying the walk away from campus and downtown where all the movie theaters were. Except the longer we walked the more I realized we weren't going to a regular theater. I wasn't surprised in a bad way. I knew, in the back of my mind, that a movie that'd come out before my parents were born wasn't going to be playing at the local multiplex. Instead, we were walking toward the older part of town.

First we stopped at a takoyaki stand, where Mezo paused to extend a mouth stalk to order several sticks. The worker handed us a few extras, and Shoji thanked him politely, and we sat at one of the stall's tables. I dug in, starving after our longer training today. That's when I saw something I'd never thought to see: Mezo grew a mouth on his bicep, which greedily ate his skewers. Had I honestly never seen him eat without his mask?

"I know you have a mouth under there," I remarked. I distinctly remembered seeing him scream during a practice, and it was the mask that had moved, not an extra mouth, though that did seem to be his preferred way of communication.

"Do you?" Mezo's mask moved in small increments, "I thought I'd completely gotten away with everyone knowing that I make the mouths and ears and extra noses."

"I don't know how many others have noticed, but I saw you shout once. No extra mouth."

He nodded, "I just like wearing it, they're really quite comfortable you know. And I think that the other mouths talking or eating makes me seem more mysterious."

"You don't really need that to be mysterious," I smiled at him, "I mean, you're no Bakugo to go mouthing off about every little thing you like or dislike. Heck, for talking, you're not even a Todoroki, and sometimes I think he has a daily word limit and is determined not to breech it." I laughed, "Compared to you though, he's a positive chatterbox."

Another mouth stalk emerged, "Sorry, I could try being more verbose."

"Nice word usage." I chewed my last takoyaki ball and swallowed, "You don't need to be, if you don't want to be, though. I was just thinking earlier that your quiet nature makes you seem cool. Like nothing rattles you to the point where you can't use your quirk to do whatever you need to do with it. I wish I were that cool, actually."

He stood, his mouth stalk making a creepy smile, though I knew it was meant to be neutral. He held out his hand, and I took it, letting the large teen pull me to my feet. We continued on to the movie house, light conversation flowing between us now that he'd let his guard down. And after our conversation, I started to watch his eyes. They were the truest tell of his opinions and feelings.

The movie wasn't too long at just over 90 minutes, and the artsy crowd gathered there had put on an impromptu market afterward. Small tables and even wandering hawksters turned the little movie house into a tiny microcosm of a Kenji-style street fair. I happily gawked at pretty little things while Shoji soaked up the ambiance.

Later, walking back to UA, I felt dead on my feet. It had been a long day followed by a brutal practice and then a date that, while fun, had put me in a sleepy trance. Shoji ambled along, seemingly unaware of my near zombie state. He stopped just before we got back to our dorms. He pulled his ID out with one dupli-hand while his natural one was holding a small object.

"Thank you," he said, his eyes twinkling in the security lights. "I just wanted to say that I liked what you said last week to Sero about how love could change the course of history." He looked away, then back, "I know everyone else laughed it off, but..." He shrugged, and held out a trinket, "He was right. The way you think, it's unique and refreshing. You're cool enough."

"You want me to keep talking?" He handed me a small blown glass star and I stared up at him.

"Yeah." He turned to swipe his ID as I examined the little star. "Good night, Uraraka, and keep reaching for the stars."

AN/ Rashomon was on a list of minimalist movies. Never seen it, probably couldn't, I hate black and white movies. Though it sounded kinda cool. Okay, my husband and I decided that yeah, he could eat with the extra mouths. XD Kenji is a neighborhood in Tokyo that sounds like hipster paradise Portland to me. Next, the one I was waiting for: Bakugo. How will my favorite love interest fare? As always, thanks Dreams for all the help! Please go read her story: Muse Academia XD ALSO: To the guest that commented, thank you! I couldn't reply personally, but nope, I don't need ideas anymore. But if you have an idea for a pairing, you never know what might happen outside this fic, so mail me!