Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. This ship, however, I probably do.

For Mayumi, the first sign of the future apocalypse was a text from Ashido. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she looked at her phone.

Everything's ready for the big day. Meeting now.

Suddenly more awake, Mayumi pushed herself up.

?

what do you mean meeting now?

After a few seconds, Ashido's reply went through. Today we get the three of them together. Operation Three Way is a-go. Meet me at the War Room.

Looking at those words, Mayumi shuddered. She couldn't help but have the feeling that she had unleashed a worse beast than Mei and Bakugou's hypothetical child upon the world. Then she shook herself.

Surely this was all relatively harmless… Right?

—

A couple of weeks ago…

Hitoshi sighed, looking over at Mina with a tired look on his face. The orange and blue haired girl - Sayuu, she said - was looking at Mina with a worried look as she fixed another photo in place. "This is insane, you know that?"

She grinned, eyes glittering. "Eh, probably!"

The door opened and he grinned as he saw Bakugou make his way in. The blonde boy glared at him with an intensity he privately marked as 0.3 Bakugous. "Okay, Raccoon-Eyes, Zombie, what is this shit?"

"Is this the right room?" Yaoyorozu came in next, bowing politely to Bakugou. She gave Hitoshi a kind smile which he returned.

"Sure is, Vice Rep."

"You know what's going on, Ponytail?" Bakugou demanded.

"Oh, yes! Though I sort of wonder why Shinsou is here."

He lazily raised his hand. "Mostly because I think it's going to be a trainwreck."

"Oh, you of little faith, Hitty!" Mina called.

"Hitty?" Bakugou's eyes narrowed. "Why you calling him that, Pinky?"

"Oh, that's because we're dating." Mina casually commented. He gave Mina a fond smile, shrugging dramatically.

Bakugou looked stunned. "What?! You and Zombie? When the fuck did that happen?"

"It's not like they've really been hiding it, Bakugou," Uraraka snorted.

Hitoshi spread his arms, enjoying Bakugou staring at him wildly. "It's a long story."

—

Just before internships…

Hitoshi glanced up as Ashido came up to him. "Hey, Shinsou! I have a quick question for ya!"

"Shoot."

"Wanna go out with me?"

Hitoshi stared at her with wide-eyes. "...Huh?"

Ashido shrugged. "Do you want to go out with me?"

Somehow Hitoshi choked on nothing but air. When he regained his composure, the first thing he said was, "...why?"

"You've got a good sense of humour, you like cool music and you're tall and fit," Mina grinned, leaning forwards. "And thinking back on the Sports Festival, you really meant it when you sang that song."

Hitoshi flushed slightly. He had known it would get a reaction, but he had to admit, it really fit with how he felt. Looking back at himself, he felt even more awkward about how he had just poured so much energy into a goofy song like that.

She grinned as he stared at her. "So, you gonna say yes?"

Hitoshi looked at her for a while, trying to tell if she was joking. Nope - complete and total sincerity. All of Ms. Joke's advice for pick-up lines drained away, leaving him with, "...Okay."

—

Hitoshi shrugged. "Okay, maybe not a very long story."

Bakugou glared at them both. "Wow, congrats on your brilliant achievement. Back to my question, why the fuck am I here?"

Mina giggled. "Why, we're getting Midoriya to go out with Hatsume and Melissa and might need your help!"

Hitoshi could swear Bakugou's brain broke when she said that. "...What."

Sayuu nodded confidently. "Yeah, I asked Mina to help. After seeing them talk for five minutes-"

"Five agonising minutes of three smart people not realising that they're all interested-"

"Yeah, that… Well, after that, you can guess what Mina wants to do," Sayuu nodded.

"This OT3 must be brought together!" Mina cried dramatically.

Bakugou stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "The nerd and Goggles? Together with the American? You're really gonna put them together?" He shuddered, a haunted look in his eye. "Oh god, I just imagined the kids."

Sayuu obviously had as well, but she shook the terrified look off her face. "I've been Mei's friend for years, I know this is going to either doom the world or save it with no in-between." Sayuu said grimly. "I also want my friend to be happy with her partner… or partners if Mina's correct."

He glared at her, then turned to Yaoyorozu. "What about you, Ponytail? Why the hell are you getting involved?"

Yaoyorozu smiled brightly, slightly flushed. "Well, it's quite romantic… especially since you think that all of them are involved."

"You're all nuts," Bakugou stated flatly. "I already knew Pinky'd replaced her brain with natto, but you guys have crossed the line into insanity with this."

"So… you're gonna give up on getting them together?" Mina asked with a seemingly innocent pout.

He snorted. "Yeah, of course I'm giving up. This is the dumbest plan you've ever come up with, and that's saying something."

Mina heaved a sigh as he stomped off to the door. "I guess he couldn't do it, after all." Next to her, Yaoyorozu's eyes widened and she made a cutting motion across her throat.

Bakugou stopped. "...What."

"Obviously you're no relationship master like me! Guess I'll have to find somebody better at relationship stuff to assist with Midoriya," Mina continued blithely, ignoring Yaoyorozu's look of dread. "At least we found an area where even the great and powerful Bakugou failed. He just couldn't cut it."

He growled like a feral animal. Various muscles in his face twitched. "The funny thing is, I know you're playing me."

"Am I wrong?" Mina grinned at him.

He visibly spasmed then glared at her. "But you're damn right I'm gonna make sure the nerd gets with them now!"

Hitoshi just sighed. This was going to be… interesting. Trust his girlfriend to know exactly how to needle Bakugou in the right way. She grinned. "So, the mission to get Midoriya, Hatsume and Melissa into a triad is officially on the go! I call it…"

Before Bakugou could object, Mina shushed him. Dramatically, she turned to the portable corkboard she had set up in the middle of the room. Turning it around dramatically, she grinned at their expressions.

"What the fuck is that shit."

Hitoshi had to agree with Bakugou's blunt assessment. In the centre were three photographs of Midoriya, Melissa and Hatsume. Pieces of string were connected to messily scrawled bits of paper and other photographs of the group, usually two or all of them interacting with each other. More notes were attached to crude scribbles and diagrams, including one of the four card suits. And at the top, the name of this plan was laid out.

"...Operation Three-Way!" Mina finished. She grinned. "As for what this is specifically, this is part of my Shipping Chart for everybody in the school."

Sayuu looked stunned. "When did you…"

"None of that now, we're in a war meeting! Are you guys with me?"

Hitoshi sighed, raising his hand. Sayuu had a look on her face like she was regretting her plans. Yaoyorozu hesitantly raised her hand as well. Finally, Bakugou let out a sigh as explosive as his Quirk. "This is going to crash and burn, but fuck it."

"Great!" Her face turned serious. "Now, this is what we're going to do…"

—

Now…

Mayumi looked over her instructions, then sighed. Well, she had come this far. She might as well see it through. The only semblance of hope she has was that Mei would, maybe, realise independently that she was interested in them both romantically.

"Hey, Mei!" She came up to Mei, only to see the normally exuberant girl staring at a piece of machinery pensively. Mayumi frowned, "So… what's up?"

Mei turned around, managing to regain some of her energy. "Hey, Mayumi! I'm… well, I was down fairly recently, but I think I've worked it out!"

Mayumi's heart skipped a beat. Had Mei finally figured it out? Keeping her voice level, Mayumi pressed. "What are you talking about? Are you talking about the Exam-"

"Nah, nah, got that and my I-Island Expo project in the bag! Nah, it's just something that's been bugging me for a little bit!" Mei grinned, before looking off to the side. "See, for ages I've been thinking about Izuku and Melissa. Like, almost as much as I think of new designs."

"R-really?" Have you figured it out, Mei? It sounds like she's not interested in Bakugou, at least…

Oblivious to Mayumi's inner thoughts, Mei continued. "Yeah, thinking about them a lot! I mean, I've been looking at their muscles a lot - and wow, I mean, I'm buff from building so much stuff, but Izuku and Melissa are BUFF - and I want to see them without their shirts on, and that figures into my thoughts a bunch as well. And they've got fascinating eyes, I've been lost in them for what feels like hours-"

Mayumi smiled while Mei rambled about their mutual friends with a flushed face. Well, it sounded like Mei had finally figured out she was attracted to them. About damn time, in her opinion. "So, do you want my help with-"

Mei shook her head. "Nah, I don't need any help. I just figured it out! At first I thought I was sick since I kept getting hot and my stomach twisted when I thought about talking to them, but then I realised that was dumb!" Mayumi stared at her friend, beaming- "I just really want to build my best friends their own Support Gear!"

…And there go my hopes of Mei figuring it out. Mayumi looked at her awkwardly. "So… Why do you want to make them stuff?"

"Oh, just to keep them safe, that kind of thing! I mean, they're my friends, of course I want them to have the best stuff in case somebody tries to hurt either of them! Especially Mastermind!" Mei's smile turned brittle.

"That's-"

"If Mastermind tries to hurt either of them…" Mei glared. "All Might himself wouldn't be able to stop me from destroying him."

"Well, that's… Great!" Mayumi's smile twitched. "Say, on that note, I've got a great idea for a Baby we could make together."

Mei snapped out of her funk. "Really?! What are you planning?!"

"We can't talk about it just in public - otherwise one of the other classes could do some 'industrial espionage.' Maybe Mastermind has an agent inside U.A itself."

"I wouldn't put it past him!" Mei giggled. "Oh, working on a Baby with my Bestie… This is gonna be great!" Her smile turned into a frown. "Though I'm a bit upset that I'm not doing it with Izuku or Melissa…"

Then she shook herself. "Must be because I became such good friends with them! Don't worry, Mayumi," Mei's limited social repertoire mistaking Mayumi's despairing look for something different, "They're only my U.A Besties! You're still my Best Friend slash Minion, and if you want to work with me after we graduate you'll be my future Vice President at Hatsume Industries!"

The small part of Mayumi that wasn't frothing mad over Mei's inability to work out she was crushing on two of her friends at the same time felt touched at this unorthodox display of friendship. When she'd first met Mei when they had loudly cheered on a giant robot, the pink haired girl had just assumed that she would work with her in future. "Yeah, we'll talk in Study Room Six during free study. No way anybody could overhear us then."

"Alright, Mayumi! Together, we're gonna be unstoppable!" Mei strode away, only to start when Melissa came by. "H-hey, Melissa! Nice to see ya!" She seemed to be unaware that she was blushing, or looking closely at Melissa's bare arms, muscles corded along them like beads on a wire.

Mayumi left her best friend to chat to one of her crushes, the pair of nerds seeming to not realise that they were interested in each other physically. Once out of earshot she shook her head, then tapped her earpiece. "Portal 1 to Ship Captain. The Gadgeteer will be in the Coop."

"Excellent work, Portal 1. Keep an eye on her, and make sure that she goes there." Mina cackled. "Everything is going according to my design… Eh? Oh, right, class!"

Mayumi frowned. She just had to hope that this would work…

—

Izuku hummed cheerfully as he went down the hallway. He was on top of his studies and schoolwork, he had studied for his finals coming up, his latest heist was planned and timed for when he was taking exams…

He even had something for the I-Island Expo!

The only relatively dark spot in his life was his attraction to Melissa and Mei despite being Mastermind. But that was a problem he solved by figuratively locking those feelings in a box and repressing them in an emotionally healthy and stable way. Besides, they were going to have a study party at Melissa's place later, where Mr. Yagi would be watching!

As he walked down the corridor, he saw Kacchan walking to the study room him and his friends usually used. "Hi Kacchan!" He gave his best friend a grin, which faltered when he saw Kacchan's uncharacteristically nervous look. "Are-are you okay, Kacchan?"

For his part, Kacchan stared angrily at him, then sighed. "I'm fine, nerd. Just…" His face twitched convulsively. "I want you to design some new Support gear for me."

Izuku's face lit up. He practically shook with excitement.

—

Katsuki knew this was a terrible idea as Deku grabbed his arm, an unholy fire lighting his eyes up. "O-oh, this is so good! What kind of gear were you thinking? Me, personally, I was thinkingthatyoucoulduseahelmetwithsomelasersightssoyoucanaimyourexplosionsmorepreciselyormaybeportablegrenadesorastillsuitlikeinDunesoyoucanminimizesweatlossandampupyourexplosions-"

Yep, this was the worst. He slammed a hand over Deku's mouth as he continued babbling. "Alright, enough talking. I ain't talking about it now when other people can hear about how cool it is."

His eyes widened. "Uh-huh," Deku breathed.

Katsuki rolled his eyes at Deku's antics. "Meet me at Study Room 6 after lunch. I gotta get to class."

Pausing to wipe Deku spit off his hand, he stomped off, pulling out his phone. "Alright, Pinky-"

"Tsar Bomba, you can't just call me that!" Pinky whined.

"I don't give a shit. The Nerd's going to be there. Don't fuck this up."

"Ugh! You've got no sense of drama, Bakugou…"

That was his part of the plan done, at least. The others had better not be wasting time.

—

Katsuki glared at Pinky like she was nuts. "Fuck that, I'm not doing that shit!"

Zombie laughed like he was a hyena, the traitor. He shook a finger at Pinky. "You saw what he was like with Ghosty, right?" That only made Zombie laugh harder.

Pinky steepled her fingers. "Do you have a better way to get him to go into a classroom with you? You said-"

"-That as soon as he hears 'new Support gear' that his frontal lobe disappears, I fucking know what I just said," Katsuki grumbled.

Sayuu gave him a sympathetic look. "As somebody who also grew up with an inventing maniac, I know what you're going through. But as Ashido said, do you have a better way?"

He thought about it, then his fist clenched. "...No," he eventually muttered. "Only other way to get him to go somewhere without questioning it would be to promise merch. All Might merch."

No way Katsuki was giving up any part of his collection to get Deku locking tongues with Goggles and/or the American.

"So, that's settled," Pinky grinned. "Good, good." She absent-mindedly stroked Zombie's head like it was a cat. "Once they're all together…"

Her giggles soon turned to chuckles. "...Then we can proceed with the plan."

—

Melissa looked up from her book as Yaoyorozu came closer. Homeroom was just ending and the rest of the class was starting to move out under Aizawa's watchful eye. "Hi Yaoyorozu. What brings you here?"

The Vice President beamed at her. "Oh, not much. I was just wondering… Are you going to the Expo this year?"

Melissa's eyes shone at the mention. "Of course I am! I couldn't miss out on attending! My father and I have been working on a variety of projects - I know he's been working on something big-"

Yaoyorozu smiled. "I shall certainly be keeping an eye out for that. In fact…" she hesitated. "...This is confidential, but my parents are also planning to present something for the Expo this year."

She gasped, eyes wide. "Really? That's - that's huge news!"

Once she heard Yaoyorozu's family name she had kicked herself for not immediately recognising her - after all, the Yaoyorozu family had made several major investments into I-Island. The business itself focused more on supplying the best in their field with the right materials to succeed rather than creating anything, so whatever they were planning…

Even if Yaoyorozu had misheard, it would be interesting to talk about the Expo with somebody who had experienced it firsthand. "I'd love to talk about it."

Yaoyorozu beamed. "Fantastic! Obviously I don't want to talk about it too openly, so how about we talk at Study Room Six?"

Okay, obviously this is a set-up for Number Nine.

I'm not feeling any danger from this - which I guess is a good thing.

Maybe this is an attempt to get her to date a girl or boy. I reckon it's gonna be Midoriya.

On the one hand, the kid doesn't have a Quirk or combat training. On the other hand, he is quite feral. All for One would have a reasonably difficult time trying to kidnap him…

Aw, you like the kid, Leader!

Melissa nodded with a huge grin. "That sounds like a good idea. Were you thinking about talking during our study period?"

Yaoyorozu hesitantly nodded. "Yes, of course."

When Yaoyorozu left, Melissa hummed. "Yaoyorozu Corporation making something for the Expo… That's new. I wonder if Mei or Izuku would-"

She cut herself off, flushing. "No, you-you can't have a crush on them. It's too dangerous."

But the thought remained. Melissa was fully aware of her feelings for the pair of them - she had thought that Izuku was cute the day they first met at the beach. As for Hatsume…

She had decided to go into the labs at a slightly different time to do some work on her Full Gauntlets and Greaves. Melissa walked up to the door to the Support Lab, with a firm smile on her face. Getting back to work in a lab like this was going to be great! She reached for the handle-

KABOOM!

-And was immediately flung back by a wave of heat, sound and smoke, along with a person flying into her. Coughing, Melissa tried to push herself up, only to stop short when she felt another girls… assets pressing into hers.

"Whoops! Well, I know what not to do!" A gloved hand pulled off a pair of goggles, revealing a pair of bright yellow crosshairs framed by pink dreadlocks and a manic smile she had last seen dragging Hagakure away to fit her for Support Gear.

Melissa was suddenly aware that the other girl was wearing a fairly thin tank top compared to her own school uniform, and that in an effort to block the blast, her hand was now cupping a… part of her.

"S-sorry!" Melissa half yelped, trying to pull Hatsume off of her. "I-I really didn't mean to-"

The pink haired girl stared, then her grin somehow became even more manic. "Sorry?! Don't say sorry about this! This is brilliant!"

Laughing, Hatsume grinned. "Not every day that Melissa Shield of I-Island comes to the labs!" Her eyes zoomed in on the Full Gauntlets. "Oh? Are these the Babies you're working on?"

"B-babies?"

"Yeah, your inventions! They're basically like my children, after all!" Mei grinned at Melissa. "I want a run-through of what these Babies can do!"

Somewhat distracted by talking Support Tech, Melissa managed to get her flush under control. "Yes! These are the Full Gauntlets - I designed them to withstand the full force of my Quirk!" Well, technically All Might's Quirk, but also hers!

Hatsume grinned. "Carbon fibres, right? Have you considered-"

The rest of her time in the lab was spent talking shop with somebody who not only could keep up with her, but was cute.

A lot of Melissa's dreams had involved the smell of motor oil and singed fabric. It wasn't the most romantic smell ever, but it was uniquely… Mei.

Melissa shook her head again. "No, no thinking about that," she murmured. It was selfish of her but she wanted her two closest friends to be safe no matter what.

—

"Ship Captain, this is Princess. Gunboat is in the Coop. Over!"

Mina steepled her fingers, the glasses she'd bought for this exact occasion shining. "Good, good… In which case, report back to base camp, Princess."

Leaning back, she giggled to herself. "All according to cake…" she cackled.

Without looking, Hitoshi reached over and smacked her. "First of all, that's not the right phrase. Second, you're getting a bit carried away," he snarked in response to her glare.

Rubbing her head, she grinned shamelessly. "Maybe a little. Still!"

She pushed up her glasses. "This plan will work, I'm sure of it."

—

Beaming, Izuku threw open the door to Study Room Six. "Okay, Kacchan, I'm ready to talk about-"

His train of thought screeched to a halt as he saw who was in the room with him. Confused, Izuku looked at his closest crushes friends in U.A with a happy look on his face. "Oh, hey. Where's Kacchan?"

Mei gave him an odd look. "What do you mean, where's Kacchan? Sayuu called me here with a design for a really cool Baby she wants to make together."

"And Yaoyorozu asked me here because she wanted to talk about the I-Island Expo." Melissa frowned. "Did we all get the wrong room?"

Izuku's instincts screamed at him. He turned around at lightning speed-!

The door slammed shut, then the distinct sound of locks slamming into place sounded. "W-what's going on?!" He cried.

A speaker crackled, and a familiar pink face with black eyes and horns appeared on a nearby TV screen. "Sorry you guys but this is for your own good!"

Izuku frowned at her, even as he quickly ran for the door. Was that Ashido? "W-what do you mean, it's for our own good?"

Melissa ran up to the door, trying to pull it open. No good - you'd need superhuman strength to pull it open or destroy it, and neither Izuku or Mei were willing to risk that. "You-you locked in?! Why?"

Ashido sighed. "Unfortunately, I have to resort to drastic measures like this. Alas, you won't open this door easily!"

Mayumi poked her head into the camera's frame. "This really is for the best, guys."

—

Mina grinned behind her screen as she watched the three of them stare at the door. Melissa stepped up to the television, a confused look on her face. "What are you talking about, Ashido?"

She waved a finger, then remembered that they couldn't see her. "Don't worry, we just want to talk with you guys. And I wouldn't try to break out! If there's one more explosion on school grounds that isn't in the Support labs and they're involved, then Midoriya and Hatsume won't be able to use the school labs!"

"NOOO! WHY?! I'M TOO YOUNG!" Hatsume sobbed. From the expression on her face, it was like she was being asked to kill her firstborn child. Midoriya had a similarly distraught expression on his face.

"How-how did you even get this kind of authority in U.A?!"

Next to her, Yaomomo and Mayumi looked at her with curious expressions. "...I was wondering about that myself…" Yaomomo said quietly.

Mina grinned. "I asked Principal Nedzu nicely, that's all!"

Earlier…

Mina bowed politely to the Principal. "Can I please use campus facilities to spy on Midoriya, Hatsume and Shield and make sure that they're suited to be in a threesome?"

The Principal who could have been a rat, mouse or bear steepled his fingers, looking at her intently. "...Young Ashido, doing that would be a gross misuse of school facilities! Abusing facilities meant to keep students safe like this could greatly upset several valued members of staff, not to mention cause considerable chaos!"

"...And?"

He suddenly grinned, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Well, you've twisted my arm! I suppose in these circumstances, I would have to authorise the use of said facilities for this purpose. Just one thing." Mina suddenly froze in outright terror as the Principal's eyes bored into hers like a diamond tipped drill. "I'll be making sure that's all you will be doing. Is that clear?"

"P-perfectly!" Mina laughed nervously.

"Excellent! Good shipping, Ashido!"

She shook herself. "Nevermind that! Anyway, I've been watching all three of you for a while now, and I have devised a cunning plan!"

Midoriya gasped, staring at the camera in the room with wide eyes. "W-what kind of plan is this?"

Mina grinned. "Why, for each of you to confess your feelings about each other, that's what!"

—

Mayumi gave Ashido a deadpan look. "Your big plan is to lock them in a room together so they confess? That's…" She struggled to find the words.

"Fucking stupid." Bakugou found them.

Yaoyorozu frowned. "While I disapprove of your language, Bakugou, I must agree. That seems… a bit coercive."

Ashido hummed neutrally. "Trust me, this is Old Reliable in the Shipping Index. I got a couple of people in school together thanks to this!"

When they remained sceptical, she sighed. "Look, I know it isn't the best method - I would prefer to have gotten them together in a way that made it seem like it's all their own idea. But if they haven't blurted it out now - like I thought Mei would - then they need a push to get the ball rolling. I'm 95 percent sure that this will work."

—

Melissa stared at the screen with Ashido's smug face in shock. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me!" Ashido sighed, shaking her head. "Talk about how you really feel!"

Izuku chuckled awkwardly. "W-what, like we-we have a crush on each other? Hahaha, that's-that's totally wrong-"

Mei stepped up, nodding. "Yeah, wait a minute! I don't think I have a crush on Izuku or Melissa! Just because I think about their muscles a lot, and want to see them without shirts on, and think about them about as often as I think of new pieces of technology…"

She trailed off, looking at her and Izuku. "Oh!"

Then she flushed bright red, manic grin frozen on her face as her eyes flitted between them. "Oh."

…Wow, did she seriously just realise that she was interested?! I take it back, my Hero You're not the most oblivious person a bearer of One for All ever romanced.

And you're lucky you're cute, Yoichi.

Please, Hero. I'm adorable.

Told you! Didn't I tell you she was interested, guys?

Ugh, you certainly did, Banjo.

Melissa sighed, massaging her forehead. A mild headache had just started upon hearing Mei's inadvertent realisation that was sparking one of her own. "...So, this is all because you think we each have crushes on each other?"

"It's not just that - it's that at least two of you knew and pushed your feelings aside despite it hurting you."

Melissa froze. Dimly she was aware that Izuku had also stopped his objections, looking at Ashido's image with a worried look on his face.

Ashido continued talking, a frown on her face. "One question - you had those feelings for a while now. Why not act on them?"

Slightly awkwardly, Melissa cleared her throat. "I…"

Her well reasoned arguments seemed to disappear.

Ashido sighed. "Lemme guess - you thought it would be awkward and wreck your friendship with the others if you said anything. Is that right?"

"Yes! T-that's exactly it!" Melissa managed to force out. She wasn't… exactly lying, just telling part of the truth.

Izuku seemed to shrink in on himself. "T-that's also how it happened. I-I-I-I just didn't want to act on them since they felt a bit w-weird?" He shrank away. "P-please don't stop being friends with me because I'm i-interested in you guys. I-I'm sorry for being attracted, it won't happen again-"

"Sorry?" Mei suddenly spoke up. "Why are you being sorry?"

She came forwards,m looking Midoriya in the eyes intensely. "Midoriya, you're ridiculously smart and cute - not to mention ripped! And honestly? I like you for that!"

Midoriya spluttered, flushing strawberry red. While he squeaked, Mei turned to Melissa. "And the same to you as well, Melissa! I mean, you're the only person who's our age who can actually keep up, and you're hot to boot! But more than that…"

Her demeanour shifted slightly. Mei's confident grin was replaced with something infinitely more awkward and teenage. "...You guys are just… good friends. I guess I like you guys so much because I can always talk to you and you just… get what I'm talking about."

Melissa hesitantly smiled at the pink haired girl, before nodding. "Honestly, I feel the same way, Mei."

"...I get it, too," Izuku mumbled, a slight smile on his face.

Melissa was barely aware that Ashido was there as the pink girl spoke. "Alright, now we're all on the same page. You guys all feel the same way about wrecking your friendships, yet didn't realise that the others were interested. So many people do this, it's ridiculous."

Mei chuckled at that. "Wow, I can't believe that I didn't notice myself!"

"Ah-ah-ah, none of that. Getting back to what's important - how did you expect to ask somebody out before this?"

"I'd present them with my latest and most tested Baby yet, with some flowers!" Mei rattled off immediately.

"I-I'd give a piece of Support Gear with chocolates." Izuku nodded.

"Support gear… with a really cute card!" Melissa nodded.

Ashido looked slightly stunned. "You guys have Support Gear on the brain huh…" She sighed at that. "Look, talking to you guys, I've found a new, revolutionary means of sorting out this problem. It's called… talking."

Mei let out an 'oh!' of understanding. "Right, gotcha." She turned to Melissa, who started. "Wanna go out with me?"

"Freaking finally," Ashido grumbled.

Upon hearing those words, Melissa's genius brain short circuited. "I - uh - huh - mememe, what?" Melissa burbled.

Mei grinned, looking at Izuku. "And that goes for you, too, Izuku! I mean, all three of us together just makes the most sense!"

Dimly, Melissa was able to see through the haze her brain was throwing up to look at her other best friend/crush. The green haired boy looked like he had been pole-axed by that question, which… was honestly how she felt.

Maybe it was selfish, but she could afford to be selfish, just this once. Couldn't she take this small bit of happiness?

"I - uh…" Melissa briefly trailed off, then saw Ashido looking on expectantly. Then she nodded firmly. "I-I want to go out with you. And Izuku, if he agrees."

Upon saying those words, it felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest. Some weight so heavy that even Uncle Might wouldn't have been able to lift it. Melissa felt like she was about to fly, especially seeing Mei's dumbstruck expression. She recovered, obviously, but the overconfident girl was obviously shaken up by that.

And that left Izuku, staring at his friends. Melissa really, truly hoped that her other friend would say 'yes.'

Izuku momentarily brightened. Okay, Izuku, this is it! I can use this as an opportunity to bury my crush in the dust! All I have to do is say no and I'm free!

Sure, it would hurt his friends and crushes. But they would be fine! It wasn't the end of the world. He mustered up his strength and willpower-

Then he saw Melissa and Mei in front of him, as if for the first time. Melissa was beaming at him, and Mei was grinning at him in that particular way that meant she was nervous. Except for them, the classroom felt like it dissolved into pink mist.

"Y-yes," forced its way out.

Wait, that's not what I-

Any objections he may have had were forced out when Mei and Melissa both hugged him at full force. "Okay, Izuku, I've never had a boyfriend and girlfriend before, but we're gonna make this work!" Mei grinned.

Melissa beamed at him. "This is new territory for me as well but if you're willing to help…"

There were a million logical reasons that Izuku should have just held his tongue. But surrounded by his two new g-girlfriends, the only thing he could say was, "O-okay," as they held him and each other. At first hesitantly, then more confidently he wrapped his arms around them.

This is definitely a mistake. I'm being incredibly selfish, this is going to blow up in my face so bad…

Strangely enough, he didn't care.

—

Mina steepled her fingers, grinning as they hugged on screen. "Ah, I love it when a ship comes together."

Next to her, Hitoshi grinned. "I guess when you're right, you're right."

"They just needed a push in the right direction, that's all!"

Hitoshi just shrugged, looking over the chart again. His eyebrow raised. "This is… really thorough. Did you seriously predict all of this?"

"Eh, most of it. I am a shipping expert after all!" Mina crowed, a smug grin on her face. "Not to brag but I've got working plans to ship anybody in our class with anybody else of compatible orientations."

"No way you could get Bakugou together with anybody, though." Hitoshi snorted.

"Oh?" Mina reached over to the Shipping Chart. She pulled it over, gesturing for Hitoshi to pull up a corner. "Couldn't I?"

Eyebrow still raised, Hitoshi pulled on it, and it unfolded, revealing… "What."

Mina beamed, photographs of Bakugou and Uraraka on full display. "Yup! Don't think I didn't notice this!"

Extra pieces of paper with scribbled diagrams unfolded from the corner. Hitoshi grabbed a couple of them to look at closer, then turned back with wide eyes. "You… you're already planning on how to get them together?"

"Uh-huh!" Mina beamed. "I had them pegged from the first time he actually referred to her by her family name. I've been working on them for a while now. It's just a matter of getting him to show her his softer side!"

"And… What about Jirou?" Hitoshi gave her a worried look. "I mean, Jirou's a hard sell for anybody…"

In response, she unfolded another part of the Shipping Chart, revealing everything. As he stared at it, she preened. "Yep, all under control! I've been subtly influencing Yaomomo for a bit, and soon enough, she'll take the initiative!"

The idea of Yaomomo going up to Jirou, then boldly initiating a kiss on a suddenly flustered Jirou… it warmed her heart just thinking about it.

Hitoshi was suitably impressed, flipping through the pages of notes she'd made. "Uh-huh, uh-huh. You are truly a master of shipping. Just one quick question."

"What is it, Hitoshi?" Mina beamed at her boyfriend.

"You know that finals are in a week, right?"

Her smile froze. "...Ah."

Hitoshi stared at her, then facepalmed. "You forgot, didn't you."

"Well… we've still got a week, right? If I need to, I can always cram for it like mad?" Mina's smile twitched.

AN:

As you can see, I am not dead! Just trying to get back into writing, which is hard with everything else that is happening.

Also, also, HOLY FUCK WHEN DID I GET 1500 MINIONS ON SPACEBATTLES?! I look away for five seconds and this happens. I might even have to make an official post about it later.

In all seriousness, when I started this project a year and a half ago, I did not expect to get such a response. 'How many people are going to read this,' I asked myself. Well, I have an answer.

Thank you for your patience with me, and I hope that you'll continue this ride and see it through to the finish. The ending may be vague and subject to change but I do have an ending planned. I refuse to leave this unfinished. Heck, this shipping bit was unplanned.

Back to the plot at hand, who expected this? There we go, I added an official ship. There, done. Hopefully it makes sense, almost. In all honesty, the shipping part of this has been surprisingly hard to write. A combination of never having written anything like this before and procrastination has plagued this chapter, but I am ready!

Honestly, for the most part most of the Ship stuff is going to be in the background, if that's okay with you guys. Depending on how people/I feel, more shipping stuff will appear in later chapters. Most of this might be in omakes, if that would please ya.

Huge thank you to Banchoking and the guys on Discord for helping me edit this garbage, and to Darken for taking some time to help me get to grips on the ships. Your help is appreciated. Likes and comments fuel the engine that keeps me going in these dark times, please keep my fuel levels up.

Next time… it's time for their examinations!