A/N: Hello, all. Sorry it's been a hot minute since I posted an update for this story, but my family and I went on a much-needed vacation, which includes a vacation from putting up content. But we are back now, and this story will resume its normal schedule of new content twice a month.

The only announcement I can think of right now is that this story did not win the contest to have a scene turned into a comic strip. That privilege goes to The Red Swordsman Shattered Fragment series... However, given that Saiyan Tail and Your Hero Academia came in a very close second and third, respectively, I will be doing a short strip for each one at some point. The DBZ x Fairy Tail crossover one is nearly finished, but it will only be about a page's worth of content (so it will basically be a teaser for content to come), whereas when I get to the SAO fan fiction, it will be three or four pages long. I'll be keeping Your Hero on the back burner for now, but if there is a scene that you guys want illustrated, whether it's been released already, or it happens in one of the upcoming chapters, please let me know so I can keep it in mind for when I start on that project.

Now, all that being said, let's conclude the USJ arc! Please review and enjoy.

Phase 1: Chapter 8

Heartfelt

Kurai had to spend a total of two weeks in the hospital under close observation from his doctor and nurses, due to the chance that his brain might start bleeding again if he didn't take it easy, both physically and mentally. He had severely overextended his quirk fighting against a monster that had taken All Might, the Number One Pro Hero, to defeat. Given all that, he would have expected to be bored out of his skull, but things had changed for him as of late.

Kurai had never been a particularly social person, and as a result, the only person he stayed in touch with from his middle school was Iida, who he still attended classes with. That didn't bother him, though- he was happy being friends with the young man, and he got on very well with his family, so he never felt lonely or depressed about his lack of friends.

Now though, somehow, he had found himself with a new wealth of companions, without even meaning to. There was still Iida as his best friend, of course, but often seen with his class rep these days were Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka, both eager and kind-hearted students that had an irrepressible sense of contagious energy about them. Kirishima was an incredibly eager young man that constantly sought to become as manly a hero as possible, and had been one of the first people in the class to welcome Kurai into his social circle. There was also Ojiro, Asui, Hagakure, Jiro, and Kaminari, who he didn't know as well, but had each come to visit him during his stay in the hospital.

The one person that he had expected to come see him, but hadn't, was his training partner, Momo Yaoyorozu. They had worked very well together, and had even talked at some length about their own stories on how they got into U.A. High, so it now puzzled him that she seemed to have no interest in talking to him, especially given his current state. He had thought that they might become friends, but then again, he wasn't the best at reading social situations. Maybe she didn't much care for him, and their working well together had just been a result of previous combat lessons.

However, in contrast to that, there was another person that he looked forward to seeing more and more with each day that passed. His classmate, Mina Ashido, the girl that had confessed to having feelings for him, made sure to visit him each and every day, even on the weekend. Upon her- rather heartfelt- confession, he had told her that he needed some time to think about what them becoming romantically involved would entail, though he had admitted that he was positively inclined toward the notion.

His caution was mostly due to two main factors, the first being that he hadn't known Mina for very long, and he was slow to befriend people in general, exhibited by his only real friendship prior to U.A. being Iida. The other stemmed from said friend being opposed to romantic relations with classmates and potential coworkers, due to the strain it could put on them in the field, which was especially risky for pro heroes. However, having thus far not been able to determine who his crush was, the bespectacled boy had been unable to deter Mina from continuing her amorous approach to his friend.

Having little to do in the hospital besides visits from his friends and family, he had considered these two negatives thoroughly, comparing them to the possible positives that could be born of a romantic entanglement with the girl.

She was fun, unpredictable, a social butterfly, peppy, optimistic, all of the things that he was not. Normally, he would gone out of his way to avoid such a person, but she had somehow melted his normal defenses against such people, and it had nothing to do with her acid quirk. It was nice spending time with her, be it just the two of them, or a group setting. He supposed there was a truth to the old saying 'opposites attract'.

He was, for a fact, attracted to the girl. Others might have been put off by the black-and-caramel eyes, the short horns sprouting out of her head, maybe even her bright pink skin, but he found all of those traits strangely endearing. Then again, his favorite pro hero was Gang Orca, a decidedly odd-looking man, so he supposed bizarre appearances made little to no negative impact on him.

As for the two negatives, he realized that best friend or no, Iida was not going to directly stand in the way of his decisions regarding his friends, much as he might want to. Not to mention that the atmosphere of class 1-A seemed to have a positive effect on one's social barriers. Meaning, of course, that it more or less disintegrated them- it just seemed to take differing amounts of time to work on certain individuals.

As the days crawled by, he began to feel bad about keeping her waiting, despite her insistence that he take his time in giving her his answer. She was his friend, and romantic potential aside, she deserved better than to be strung along by his indecision, even if it wasn't technically his fault.

I do like her, Kurai finally thought to himself during his first conscious Monday in the hospital. Just articulating it in his head made him feel as though a burden had lifted off his shoulders, but it was quickly replaced with a new one. How do I tell her?

He supposed the best way would be to just come out and say it the next time that they were alone, but he had no idea how handle himself in such a situation. He'd had crushes before, sure, but they were always surface attraction, and he had never possessed the courage to act on them.

Why is this so nerve-wracking? he asked himself repeatedly. She likes me- she said so herself! She put herself out there first! I have the easy part, so why is my heart doing jumping jacks?! Though he applied logic and reason to the situation for hours, he could not stop the dryness in his throat, the trembling in his arms, and the heartbeat that outright refused to slow down.

After all, the heart is a creature not tamed by such things as levelheaded thinking and cold calculations. It is a raging, fiery beast that is calmed by one thing alone- unconditional love. Every human being seeks that soothing embrace, even from such a young age, and though few enough are lucky enough to find it, they begin that search with reckless abandon as soon as they are able to understand what love is.

Of course, conflicting with that desire is the raw, animal terror of having one's heart broken, the part of a person's soul that wishes to remain unharmed. By venturing nothing, nothing is gained, and nothing is lost- keeping your desires locked away means safety.

These two primal entities conflict often within humans, and the mind is the battlefield on which they duel. Often in youth, the desire to love and be loved wins out in controlling the actions of the person experiencing these wants. But if the resolve to remain unhurt in the most intimate of ways stays strong during those fragile years, it becomes harder and harder for love to take root within, until there is no chance that person can ever truly love or be loved.

This battle and its potential outcomes are one of the most frightening things that people can experience, yet there is no escaping it. One of the few things we can control, however, is how quickly we act upon- or against- our desires.

Kurai decided to act sooner rather than later, lest his courage fail him, and he lost his chance to experience a new kind of love, one not familial or friendly, but that of young romance.

He was preparing to deliver the speech that he had spent the last thirty minutes working on when his door opened, and he turned toward the door after hearing a light knock to greet what he thought would be his (hopefully) future girlfriend. Instead of seeing Mina Ashido walk through the door, though, he was greeted by another familiar face.

"Hey, Hikari," Izuku Midoriya said with a friendly grin as he stepped through the door, followed by his ever-present companion, Uraraka.

"Ack!" he all but yelped, flushing a deep red as he backpedaled, nearly falling over in the process.

"You doing okay?" the other boy asked with concern. "Do you need me to call a nurse?"

"No, just…" Kurai breathed, forcing himself to calm down. "You guys surprised me."

"Sorry, we are a little early," Uraraka said with a cheery smile. "Mister Aizawa has been letting us out early so we can train for the Sport's Festival coming up."

"That's in two weeks, rats!" Kurai grumbled, his embarrassment forgotten in his annoyance. "That means I get half the training time that everyone else does!"

"I'm sure you'll be fine!" the girl said encouragingly. "The only person I can see giving you competition is Todoroki."

"Don't count out Kacchan," Izuku replied. "He might be a jerk, but his quirk and his control over it are nothing to laugh at. I would know, having had to fight him."

"Eh, I'm with Uraraka," Kurai shrugged. "Yeah, he's got skill and power, but his temper is his biggest weakness, and it's easy to exploit. But speaking of controlling a quirk…" He met Izuku's eyes as he said, "Heard you broke your legs last week."

"Y-Yeah…" the other boy stammered. "I saw the villains moving to attack All Might after he was messed up from fighting Nomu, and I just moved in without thinking. Fortunately, the other pros showed up before I got hurt any worse."

"We can't rely on luck every time, though," Kurai muttered. "I wanna propose a trade, Midoriya."

"Bwuh?" his friend said blankly, Ochaco looking on with a mixture of confusion and interest.

"You were able to control your quirk a lot better after I told you about my focusing method, right?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," Midoriya nodded. "I still hurt myself a bit, but it sure was better than having broken bones."

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you've spent a lot of time studying pro quirks and how they work, yeah?" Kurai continued. Again, his friend answered in the positive, so he said, "Okay, then I want you to study my quirk, and see if you can help me figure out how to use it without almost killing myself every time I need to use my ascended power. In return, I'll help you to better control your own quirk so you're not a glass cannon anymore."

"A-Are you sure?" Izuku asked, his eyes wide. "I mean, I know a lot about quirks, sure, but I'm not a doctor…"

"All the doctors ever tell me is not to exert myself that hard again," Kurai said with a dogged shake of his head. "I refuse to believe that I have this power, but can only use it at the cost of risking death each time I do use it. You've helped reinforce that idea by the efforts you've exerted to better control your own abilities." Extending a hand out to his friend, he asked, "So, how about it, Midoriya? Sound like a fair trade?"

"I can't promise success," the boy answered as he gripped Kurai's hand. "But I will promise to do my best, Hikari."

"I can accept that," Kurai grinned. "Thanks."

"Do you know when you get out of the hospital so you can start being training buddies?" Ochaco giggled.

"If all goes well, Thursday or Friday," Kurai answered as they released their grips. "By the way, do you know if Iida is coming by today?"

"He said he was going to do some training with Ingenium since he's town until tomorrow morning," Izuku answered. "He did tell you that he said 'hi', though."

"Got it," the recovering boy nodded. "Did you bring my school work, then?"

"No, Ashido said she would bring it at around four," Uraraka replied, her short brown hair waving as she shook her head from side to side.

"But there is someone else who wanted to see you," Izuku said with a bright grin as he glanced up the clock. "He said he'd be stopping by right about now…"

As if on cue, the door burst open to admit a heroic mass of muscle topped by golden hair and a smile so perfect it would put dentists out of a job. "I am here!" All Might declared loudly, nearly giving Kurai a heart attack in the process. "Come to see my heroic student on his way to recovery!"

"Not if I get another surprise like that," the boy grumbled under his breath as he kept himself steady with the railing on his bed. However, he honestly couldn't be mad that All Might had taken the time to visit him. Raising his voice so that he could be heard, he said, "I'm surprised to see you, sir, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a pretty cool surprise."

Behind All Might, Izuku and Ochaco departed, saying that they would come back when their teacher left.

"HAhaha!" All Might guffawed. He was dressed in a yellow suit and blue tie instead of his hero attire, but Kurai figured that the man had to take the stuff off at some point. "I'm just glad to see you doing so well, young Hikari! I'm told that you put up quite the fight against those dastardly villains! That was pretty risky, but all things considered, you did quite well!" Flashing another million-dollar smile, the giant man added, "Take pride in what you did, saving your classmates' lives from the League of Villains, especially in the face of something that many pros would have run from!"

"Thank you, sir," Kurai said with a short bow. "That means a lot, coming from you- both as my teacher, and as a great hero."

"You are welcome, young Hikari!" All Might replied with an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "Well, I know this was a short visit, but I should let you kids catch up, and allow you to recover from your ordeal! Farewell!" With that, he turned to leave, muttering, "I hope that wasn't a media circus gathering outside…"

"Wait, All Might!" Kurai said impulsively. "There's… something I need to ask you."

"Hmm?" The pro turned back to face him, a puzzled look on his broad features.

"Do you…" he hesitated, unsure if what he was about to ask was appropriate or not.

"Is everything all right, young Hikari?"

Kurai was surprised by the genuine concern in his teacher's voice, but it encouraged him nonetheless. "Do you remember the fight against the Penta-Gram Family?" he inquired solemnly. "About ten years ago?"

"That's not a battle I'll forget in a hurry, young man," All Might answered gravely. "Too many good men and women fell that day."

"I know, sir," Kurai said sadly, his eyes falling to the floor. "I guess I really wanted to know if you remembered a funeral you attended- that of lead Detective Hogo-sha."

"Yes, I remember him," the blond man nodded. "A good man, a great hero in my book. Saved Endeavor's life, as I recall."

"Left behind a wife and son," Kurai added, surprising his instructor.

"How did you-?!" All Might paused, bewildered. "Wait, are you the lad from the funeral?! His son?!"

"No sir, but close," Kurai replied as he met those darkened blue eyes with his own brown ones. "He was my uncle, sir. The boy you talked to was my cousin, Shukin. I just wanted to thank you for giving his death meaning, sir. Without you, those yakuza scumbags would have gotten away, and I think that would have made his loss all the worse. Sorry to spring this on you, sir, I just never… had a chance to say so before now." He sniffed, surprised at the tears pooling his eyes. "He is a large part of why I decided to become a hero. That, and your efforts to save my family after he was gone, however small your own contribution was."

"Young man, I have seen few men as brave as your Uncle," the hero told his young charge. "You should be very proud of his courage, and that you share blood with him. I am glad to know that his sacrifice was not in vain, if it helped set you on a path that honors him."

"Thank you, sir," Kurai said with another bow to his instructor.

He was surprised when the towering man returned the gesture and replied, "The honor was all mine, young Hikari. I wish you a speedy recovery."

All Might left soon after, ushering in Ochaco and Izuku once more before taking off in a hurry, apparently having noticed the gathering crowd of media outside the hospital doors being held back by the police detail that Kurai's father had assigned to the building. It was under the pretext that there were victims of the USJ incident still recovering inside the building that allowed him to post a detail as he had, but Kurai had laughed at the notion, knowing that he was the only person left from that encounter that had yet to be discharged. His father was worried about him, and while the gesture was touching, it was only now that he was beginning to appreciate it- dealing with the press would have been way too much stress on top of everything else.

Mina! Somehow in visiting with All Might, he had forgotten that he was supposed to be getting a confession of his own prepared.

"Crap!" he muttered out loud, startling his friends. He reddened instantly when he realized that he had interrupted something that Midoriya was saying, and further, that he hadn't even been paying attention to what he was saying in the first place. "Uh… sorry."

"Are you still having a hard time focusing?" Uraraka asked worriedly. "Do you need someone to come check on you?"

"Yes? No!" he muttered. "Gah, stupid headaches…" He sat down on the bed heavily, saying, "I'm having trouble figuring something personal out, but I don't think that my recovery has much to do with it… probably."

"Do you need help?" Midoriya offered kindly. "I can keep a secret, I promise."

"Me too!" Uraraka added enthusiastically. "I know I can come off as super-go-lucky, but I know how to keep my mouth shut if someone asks me to."

"Probably a good trait to have as future pros," Kurai chuckled wryly. "I don't really know why I'm saying this, but… I've always had a hard time trusting people, but you and a bunch of our other classmates are starting to just kill that particular habit of mine."

"So you'll tell us?" Izuku asked with a friendly grin.

"Only if you swear to secrecy, especially from Tenya," Kurai sighed heavily.

"Oh, is this about Mina?" Uraraka asked innocently, causing Kurai's heart to accelerate to an alarming pace.

"You-?!" he gasped. "Does he know?!"

"Wait, what is this about Ashido?" Izuku asked, confused.

"No, Iida doesn't know, I promise!" the girl said quickly, looking over at the machine registering his heartrate. "Please, I didn't mean to scare you, Hikari!"

"Oof…" the boy groaned, forcing himself to calm down before a nurse was called in to check on him. "Between you guys and All Might, I might end up needing a triple by-pass before my stay here is over." Looking straight at Uraraka, he asked, "Did Mina say something?"

"Not really, but it was kinda obvious from how much she worried about you," the girl answered with a charming smile. "Seriously, it's like you're all she can talk about whenever she texts me. 'How is he? Is he doing okay? Is he allowed to go home yet?' Pretty sure I get those messages every time I've come in ahead of her. Multiple times, too."

"Oh…" the boy said, flushing scarlet. "But, uh…? How'd you know it was her when I asked you to keep it secret from Tenya?"

Here, Izuku's eyes registered recognition as he connected the dots. "So that's why he's been asking us if we know about any classmates that you've gotten especially close with!" he exclaimed. "But, I don't get it. I haven't ever seen you and Ashido together during school. You're usually hanging out with Iida and us."

"We've hung out a couple times outside of school…" Kurai admitted, still embarrassed at someone else figuring things out. "She wants us to be an… item? Dating, she wants us to date. Exclusively."

"Aw, that's so great!" Uraraka cooed. "She's so nice, and you're really cool, Hikari!"

"Doesn't it all seem a little sudden, though?" Midoriya pointed out. "We've all only known each other a couple weeks, right?"

"Keep telling myself that," Kurai mumbled. "But… the more I try to come with reasons not to date her, I keep finding more to say that it'll be a good thing."

"So when are you gonna tell her?!" Ochaco asked excitedly, practically bouncing up and down as she demanded details.

"I was going to today- I thought that she'd get here before anyone else," Kurai answered. "That's why I was so surprised to see you guys walk in instead of her."

"Oh, that makes sense now," Izuku muttered. "I thought you acted kind of weird when we came in, but I just thought it might be a side effect of the aneurism, or maybe some of the medications they've been having you take. There's also the fact that you have to stay in here all day that could make you more jumpy, plus all those monitors probably don't help with getting a solid night's rest. Not to mention there's the possibility that some of us might have to deal with some kind of PTSD from now on, which raises a whole new set of problems for us to-"

"Midoriya, please stop it!" Kurai shouted to be heard over his friend's newest mumbling spree.

"Sorry!" the green-haired boy yelped. "I forget I'm doing that out loud sometimes!"

"Aw, don't worry about it, Deku," Uraraka said kindly. "There are way worse habits to have, you know! Plus it's great that you have all that knowledge so you can be a better hero and help out Hikari!"

"Oh yeah!" Izuku remembered. "When do you wanna start training together?"

"Soon as I get outta this place," Kurai replied. "Since the Sports Festival is coming up in two weeks, we've got a lot of work to do. I think they'll let me walk around outside in the courtyard starting tomorrow, so we can at least get you practicing on keeping better mental control of your power."

"Sounds good!" Izuku said excitedly. "Thanks so much, Hikari!"

It was about an hour between the times that the pair of students left and when Mina came to visit. Those sixty-odd minutes were some of the tensest of Kurai's life to date. I can face down Nomu and career villains without breaking a sweat, but talking to one of my classmates? No, that's the hard part!

Her arrival was heralded by a few light taps on his door, which had him instantly sitting bolt upright in his bed. "Come in," he called, trying not to let his voice tremble as he did.

This time, to his relief, the person he had been expecting to see came through the door with a bounce in her step, and an irrepressible smile. "Hey!" she chirped as she came in, carrying a large bag full of what he assumed were school books.

"Hey," he replied, trying to smile, but only managing a slight twitch of his lips. Why is this so scary?!

"I brought your school stuff like I said I would," she told him as she dropped the bag by his bedside. "Also, mine, cos you know, I wanted to study with you. Is it still cool if we do that?"

"Frosty," he managed to joke, which set her to laughing.

"Oh man," she giggled. "If this is how you start your studies, I might just become a believer in hittin' the books."

"Do we really have that much work to do?" he asked doubtfully.

"No, Mister Aizawa is actually taking it a little easier on us for some reason," Mina answered as she started pulling out textbooks. "Whether it's because of the attack on the USJ, or the upcoming sports fest, he's giving us extra time to train our combat skills. He's even letting us use the testing grounds to work out after class."

"Yeah, Uraraka and Midoriya were telling me about that," Kurai nodded. "They stopped by about an hour ago."

"Yeah, Ochaco said that they were," the pink girl nodded as she pulled out a math book.

"So why all the luggage?"

"I didn't wanna bring all your stuff over here more than once, so I just decided to go for broke," she answered as she continued rummaging through the bag. "I think that's it… Okay, Mister Ectoplasm assigned us a few math problems that I really shouldn't be having such a hard time with. Midnight wants us to read chapter three by Wednesday… Oh, and Present Mic wants us to translate a song of our choice from Japanese to English…"

"Us?" Kurai asked.

"Yeah, we can do the assignment in pairs if we want, but then we have to turn in a total of three songs, instead of just one apiece," she nodded, looking thoughtful. "I volunteered to partner up with you since you weren't allowed back in school yet."

"Thanks," he said, touched by the gesture. "But do we need to translate it word for word, or does he more or less want us to write cover lyrics?"

"At least one needs to be word for word in order to prove that we understand the assignment, but if you do one or two of the other ones as a cover that matches the rhyme and meter pattern, then he'll give you extra credit," Mina replied. "There's a band called Radwimps that I like…"

"Oh yeah, they featured their music in that classic movie, 'Your Name'," Kurai nodded. "Great film, largely because of their music."

"You're just as big a nerd as Midoriya, aren't you?" Mina laughed, making him shift uncomfortably in his bed. "Oh come on, it's kinda cool that you know that much trivia and know how to be a great hero already."

"Still got a long way to go on that last one…"

"Seriously, are you two long-lost relatives?" she laughed again. "I'm starting to think that me studying here isn't gonna happen unless you stop making me laugh."

"Actually, before we get to that…" Kurai said, his heart beginning to race again. "There's something else that we… No, something that I should say."

"Okay…" Mina said, immediately on edge. "Did you, uh…? Make up your mind, then?"

"Yep…" He tried to tell her what he'd been wanting to say all day, but for some reason, his tongue was suddenly in knots. Curse my inability to have a conversation with a pretty girl! he seethed silently.

While he was wrestling with himself, Mina sagged a little bit and mumbled, "I get it. I guess it was too much to hope that the first guy tha-"

"Stop right there!" Kurai exclaimed, a little louder than he had meant to, and startling the poor girl. "I, uh… I'm not good at these things. Words. Fitting them together, making sense… Good gravy, how am I botching this so badly?!"

"I'm confused now…" Mina said slowly. "From your words, it seems almost like you wanna tell me that you like me back, but your face says 'ragefest'. What's happening?"

"What you said!" he burst out. "No, wait! I'm mad at me, not you, but I do think you're really nice, and pretty, and fun, and I'm… just ruining this whole thing aren't I?" He paused, his face blank. "This is not how I saw this going."

"Me neither…" Mina said, her cheeks turning lilac. "The first time I met you, I thought you were so cool and collected… I still think you're really cool, and now that I know you're really a giant dork, it makes you way cuter."

"Ack!" he said in a strangled voice, feeling as though his face was on fire. "Is everyone out to kill me with embarrassment and surprises today?!" He thought the heat in his face might actually trigger another aneurism.

"I'm sorry!" Mina giggled. "I really am! But here I was preparing myself for the worst, and you go and say the opposite of what I expected, and the way you do is just too funny!"

"Kill me," he begged as he buried his head in his hands. "Get Nomu in here and kill me before I slowly die of embarrassment."

"Can't do that," Mina grinned as she moved closer to his bedside. "I have a very strict policy against allowing my boyfriend to die."

There was smoke coming out between his fingers, Kurai was sure of it. "I am really bad at this," he said, muffled by his palms. "I am probably going to be the worst boyfriend to ever exist."

"Meh, I wouldn't know," Mina shrugged. "I've never dated anybody before. This is gonna be all new for me, too. Also really fun and exciting, I think." Slowly, gently, she pried his hands away from his flustered face as she sat down next to him. "Hi there."

"Hi…" he said slowly, a nervous grin on his face. "So, uh…? Is that it? Are a thing now? I have no idea how this works."

"Yes, silly, you're my boyfriend, I'm your girlfriend, yadda yadda," she giggled as she kept his hands in hers'. "Congrats, we're gonna be dating each other from now on."

"Oh," he said dumbly, prompting another laugh from her. "Uh… what now?"

"That depends," she said mischievously. "Do you still want to study, or did you wanna do something else?"

It took him a couple of seconds to register the implications of what she was suggesting, and when it did, he immediately fainted.

"Oops," Mina said, surprised. "Didn't expect him to do that." Smacking herself in the face, she grumbled, "Nice one, Ashido. You finally get a boyfriend, then you rush things, and now he's broken. …At least we're in a hospital."

He didn't take long to wake up, but when he did, he was pale as a sheet, a stark contrast to the tomato shade that he'd been exhibiting up until that point. His eyes flicked open to scan the room, immediately seeing Mina's horns sticking out over a history book, though he could see nothing of her face, the way that she was holding it.

"Uh…" he began, causing her to visibly tense up. "I messed up again, didn't I?"

"…Not any more than I did," she said in a very small voice. "Sorry, Kurai. I got way ahead of myself."

"Little bit," he agreed, though he did manage a small smile, in spite of himself. "I know you're a go-for-broke kind of person, but… Yeah, didn't expect that."

"I've only got movie stuff to go off of," she admitted bashfully, still hiding her face from him. "I always thought that people start off these kinds of things with a big ol' kiss, but I guess I forgot that you're more reserved when I got caught up in the moment."

"Reserved, yes," he nodded. "Opposed to getting a kiss from you? Not really- you just took me by surprise, and on top of everything else today- and last week, I guess- I didn't know how to respond. So, my brain just decided to cop out. Sorry…"

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," she said, peeking over the edge of the textbook at him. "I'm the one who rushed things. But… It is nice to know you aren't opposed to… that." He thought that she might have been blushing, but it was hard to tell.

"Maybe some other time?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah, that sounds good," she nodded, thumping her horns on the pages on accident. "Argh, stupid things…"

"I like 'em," Kurai said without thinking.

Mina froze in place. "Eh?"

"Uh… Your horns?" he said cautiously, not sure if he was about to really step in it, or if she was just surprised to hear somebody compliment them. "I think they're kinda cool- really completes your look."

"You do?" she asked, the book lowering just a little bit more, allowing him to fully see her wide eyes. "My horns are… cool?"

"You're talking to a guy whose favorite hero is Gang Orca, so yeah, I think they look cool," he nodded, feeling a little more confident about his compliment since it seemed as though she was taking it as such. "You've got a really unique look, Mina, a good one. That's just part of it, but it's impossible for me not to notice."

"No fair, you said you weren't good at this!" she complained jokingly as she lowered her book to show that she was, in fact, sporting a heavy blush. "Everyone else just either tries to ignore my horns or calls them freaky, but here you are calling them cool, and saying that I look good!"

"Was I not supposed to say that?" Kurai asked, confused. "This is getting me all turned around again…"

"No!" she said urgently. "No, it was nice to hear. Thank you, Kurai."

"You're welcome," he said with a nervous smile. "Should we, uh… get to studying?"

"I guess," the girl said heavily. "I've been trying to focus on this stupid history reading, but my brain isn't cooperating."

"Well, then I guess we'll call this our first study date," Kurai said as he held out his hands. "Lemme see my math book, and we'll get to work on that. Reading we can do separately just as well as alone, but you said that you were having issues with mathematics. Let's see if I can't help you out in that department."

"Okay…" she grumbled, reaching for the requested item. "But once you get outta here, you're taking me on a real date, got it, buster?"

"Yes ma'am," he smirked. I guess that wasn't so bad after all.

Kurai: Any more cheese in that chapter, and I'd have thought this was a double-cheddar pizza.

Mataras: That's disgusting.

Deku: Huh? That seems pretty harsh for your own writing.

Mataras: No, I mean a double-cheddar pizza sounds nasty.

Kurai: You have something against yellow cheese?

Mataras: I prefer mine with mozzarella and provolone.

Kurai: While I could have a debate with you one the matter, I think we have other things to discuss...

Mataras: Fair enough. So, the USJ arc is over, and now it's time to move on to the Sport's Festival! How are you feeling about that?]

Deku: I guess I have better control over my quirk, so it won't be quite the same that it was in the original canon.

Kurai: Plus, throw me in the competition, and who knows what will happen? ...Even thought someone nerfed my training time.

Mataras: Hey, I'm not the one who threw himself at the big monster.

Kurai: No, you threw me at him!

Deku: Hang on, guys... Let's wait until the festival to start throwing punches, okay?

Mataras: What place do you think that Kurai will get in the race? Taking all bets!

Kurai: I don't have to take this!

Mataras: Ow! No quirks backstage!

Kurai: Try and stop me!

Deku: Uh... Looks like they're going to be a while... I guess I should tell you all that the next chapter will be called 'Full Cowling'. Wait, already?!

Mataras: It'll make sense, soon!

Kurai: Foot doesn't twist that way! Foot doesn't twist that way! Augh!

Mataras: Now it does!

Deku: Oh, jeez! I should go stop them before something really bad happens... Uh, see you next time, guys! Go Beyond!

Mataras: Plus ULTRA!

Next time on Your Hero Academia...

"Well, we need to start taking a practical approach sometime soon," Kurai shrugged as he walked over to where he and Izuku had left their water bottles. "The Sports Festival is less than a week away now. If we don't step it up, both of us are going to be regretting it."

"Somehow I don't see you having a problem in the competition," Izuku laughed nervously. "After all, you were able to keep up with a villain that almost got the better of All Might…"

"Nearly at the cost of my life," Kurai reminded him as he tossed his partner his water bottle. "I need better control of my power, too. Otherwise, it'll be a close call against people like Todoroki, maybe even Bakugo. So, I say that now we've reviewed some of the basics of unarmed combat, we move on to fighting with our quirks. Besides, we're cleared to go to Recovery Girl if we get hurt during this session, so we can experiment, just a little. I'm not saying go a hundred percent at each other, but all the same, let's kick it up a notch."

"O-Okay," Izuku stammered nervously before taking a sip from his bottle. "You're the one who has more combat experience, I guess…"

"Yeah, being a police officer's son, you learn self-defense isn't exactly an option," his friend grinned. Taking a moment to quench his own thirst and douse his head with some water to cool off, he then put his bottle back and approached his training partner while Izuku put down his own container. "So, let's see how you throw a punch while using your quirk."

"All right," Midoriya nodded, taking up the karate fighting stance that Kurai had shown him, setting his left foot forward just a bit while settling into a slight crouch. His fists came up, the right one in front of his heart, and the left held at shoulder height at a sharp angle. A red line of veins lit up his right arm as his brow dipped with intense concentration, drawing Kurai's eye to the limb while he settled into his own stance in preparation to block the incoming attack.