'21:32PM'. Mina's parents had been asked to work late nights again leaving her to make her own dinner after her bath. Contrary to many of her classmate's beliefs, Mina was actually a good cook. Of course, she couldn't exactly make a buffet sized verity of food, but it was enough to keep her interested. She wasn't a bad house sitter either, she did her best to keep the place clean for her parents just to make their life a little easier, although she really didn't enjoy it.
Now though was her bath, her private time to unwind and rest. If she had her way, she'd have one every hour of every day but unfortunately, gas isn't free. She quickly checked her phone to see if there were any messages from Izuku, but there weren't. There was, however, the photo they'd taken together back in 'Caspers'. That cute, green-haired boy was like a different person today. It was a good feeling.
But she didn't want to risk dropping her phone into the water, so she set it back down on the toilet seat a laid back in the bath, sinking up to her shoulders and closing her eyes with a sigh. Ever since she'd gotten home and even on the train journey back, she'd been messaging Izuku.
They didn't really talk about anything worthwhile, mainly whatever it was that came to their mind first, but for whatever reason, she couldn't seem to get her mind off of him. Every time he replied to her she would get excited and fuzzy and it was such a great feeling.
Her whole life she had been bullied and ridiculed by girls, but more so boys, about her appearance. It never really affected her now, she had grown up and developed a thick skin towards people who made fun of her for her appearance or her Quirk. Now wasn't much different, sure she got on well with Kirishima and Kaminari, but they'd never really done anything like herself and Izuku had. Izuku was the only guy who'd really treated her in a way that made her feel respected. He spoke to her so kindly and he'd done so much to make sure she felt happy.
The main thing that made her feel this way was what had happened when they went to the restaurant. Obviously, her friends cared about her, she knew that, but Izuku was the first guy who looked like he really, really cared.
After she admitted her reasons for speaking to him in the first place, he still treated her like a friend, he still cared about her feelings and he forgave her. Something about that made her heart flutter. She could feel her body becoming hot and flushed, even though she was already hot from the bath and her mind was buzzing with thoughts of her new friend.
As she thought about this, the warm and consolatory feeling she got from just being around Izuku, she gently traced her right hand down the side of her body, the feeling of her skin against her fingertips as she pictured the adorable, caring, nerdy boy she'd met up with, edging her hand down to her lower region with a heavy, lustful sigh.
"Izuku Midoriya huh?" She muttered before slowly closing her eyes.
Gasping for breath Izuku collapsed onto his bed, wiping away sweat with his T-shirt. He'd done push-ups and sit-ups until his body simply couldn't handle any more, he wanted to do his best to catch up on the training he'd missed for the day, but this was the best he could do so late.
His lungs felt tight and his eyes were sore. he'd managed to get the training he wanted to do, done, but he had been distracted the entire time, distracted by Mina. The pink-skinned Acid user had been glued in his mind since she left his sight.
She exceeded his expectation on how fun she'd be to hang around with. He'd always been a little interested in spending time with Mina, but he never realized it'd be as much fun as it was. Not a second went by today where he felt bored or where he regretted meeting with her, there was something about her that made him feel... Happy. And that was when his mind fell back to planning some activities for tomorrow.
He had tried brainstorming whilst he trained but he couldn't focus on one and the other at the same time. Now though, he finally had some free time to think of stuff to do. Part of him wanted to try stargazing as he'd never actually done that before but, when he thought about it, asking her would be awkward and it'd probably come across the wrong way; More like a date than a hang-out with a friend.
There was always bowling too, but he was never much good at it mostly because he'd only ever been twice before, and both times were when he was too young to bowl without using the barriers and the ramp.
He also felt like Mina would royally show him up since bowling seemed like she'd be good at. Still, he couldn't focus, he was too tired from the crazy day he'd just had to be thinking about the one tomorrow.
It was like doing a maths exam and following it up with a harder maths exam; it was demanding the first time, but the second was going to put you out. With a heavy sigh, he rolled onto his bed and lay staring at the ceiling. The beautiful, bubbly Acid Quirk user stuck in his mind. His opposite that he felt just as close to as he did with Uraraka and Iida. It made him feel warm inside to think about unless it was all the chocolate from earlier.
Now though, he just wanted to sleep and dream of the day he'd had. He knew he was going to sleep like the dead, but he wanted to sleep like the dead with a happy heart and mind and thanks to Mina, he knew that was just what he was going to do.
The next morning was an early one as usual. With his bandages finally off and his arms feeling better than best he wanted to start really training, even if only a little. Jogging his usual route, doing push-ups until his arms felt as numb as before and sit-ups until he felt like his breakfast was about to make a bolt straight for the 'main exit' was what he'd settled on doing. He was somewhat happy to be able to train like normal again, although it was pretty uneventful compared to yesterday. By the time that was all over and done with, Mina had sent him a message of which he hoped would explain her idea for what they would do for the day.
"Good morning Midori! Hope you've got some cool ideas for our hang out today! :D" Was what she'd written.
He could almost feel her energy radiating from the text message just from how it was written. However, there was a little dread that came with reading it too. It showed that she had as little of an idea about what they would do as he did. Again, there was always his option of bowling, but he was a little cautious of getting his ass handed to him, wrapped and bow-tied by her.
"I mean, we could always try bowling..." He regrettably replied. He didn't want to give off the impression that he hadn't given it any thought, because he had, he was just worried by the outcome of suggesting something she clearly would excel at.
"Oh my god, that's such a good idea! We could go get dinner or somethin' after too!"
At least she likes the idea... He muttered to himself, sighing and shrugging. The idea of getting dinner was one that made him smile but also feel a little flustered. What if people from class saw them? He could only imagine the kind of rumours that would get around the class, especially if someone like Toru saw them.
That was like giving a private celebrity story to the biggest news agency in Tokyo; by the end of the day, the whole country would know. "Of course, if that's what you'd like to do." He replied polity, putting his phone upon his bedside table to get ready.
He wanted to go a little more casual this time, he didn't really go as 'carelessly' as he intended the first time around. He rummaged around his draws and finally found some clothing that looked 'good' at a stretch. Black jeans and a cream colour, long sleeve T-shirt that both hugged his muscles a little tighter than expected. Then again, he brought all of these clothes before One For All and the thought of it being passed onto Izuku had even been conceived. He didn't bother with a hoodie because when he really thought about it, it wasn't going to be cold when he was running around with energetic Mina Ashido in a bowling alley.
One he was satisfied with his minimalist efforts, he retrieved his phone and headed to the kitchen to tell his mother about his plans for the day.
"Good morning mum." He greeted, stretching as he strolled up beside her.
"Izuku, good morning son." She replied. The short, somewhat tubby woman beamed up at him, before going back to making a cooked breakfast for the two.
"So... Mina wants to meet up again today." He reminded her.
"I knew she would. What do you have planned?" She asked, doing her best to hide her excitement, which she failed at as usual.
When he first told her, he'd started talking to Mina she was happy, to say the least. She acted as if he'd said he was getting married, and it was unsettling. If she was acting that way at being told he was merely talking to a girl, then when he actually does manage to get married, he was afraid she might actually have a heart attack. Then again, he kind of expected that reaction from her, because she did the same when he introduced her to Uraraka for the first time, and that was far beyond embarrassing.
"Well... I was thinking of going bowling and she wants to go get dinner or lunch afterwards... Depending on how long we are actually playing for." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
When he told someone about it and said it aloud it sounded more like a date than meeting up with a friend. The mere thought of it brought his cheeks out in a bright crimson blush and he looked down at the floor before his mother could notice.
"Oh, that does sound like a lot of fun. I wish your father had taken me to do some of this stuff when he was around." She replied enthusiastically. Izuku chuckled awkwardly before vibration and a small chime from his pocketed phone caught his attention.
Without really waiting to see if his mother had anything else to say her took his phone from his pocket and wandered over to the sofa with a fond smile on his face, falling into the sofa heavily with a sigh.
"Mum and dad said it's chill for me to be out pretty late again. What time were ya thinkin' of meetin'?" She asked. He could almost see her face, beaming at him with eyes closed and gleaming teeth on show with a goofy amount of joy thrown out on display.
"Maybe oneish? That way we would be able to go and get dinner. Only if you want to of course!" He replied, adding his little seek for approval at the end of his message. "Yeah, dude o'course! I was kinda hoping to see ya a little sooner, but I'll live, see ya later!" Her reply made his heart flutter a little bit.
He knew she was an excitable person but, to be excited enough to see him to the point of wanting to see him sooner. An inconceivable thought in Izuku's mind, he just couldn't see it. Then again, that's probably because he'd never met anyone like Mina before. It was half ten now so he wouldn't have too long to wait anyways.
"Izuku, breakfast is ready!" His mother announced with a happy smile, gently placing two plates down at the dining table and taking her seat with a sigh.
"Oh, thanks, mum..." He stuttered, a little startled by his mother's sudden outburst of usual happiness he took a moment to gather himself before heading over to her leaving his phone on the arm of the sofa.
"So, dinner huh?" Inko asked, raising an eyebrow at Izuku from across the table.
"I-It's nothing like that mum." He muttered timidly, a small blush appearing on his cheek as he focused on his food.
"Oh?" She teased.
"No." Izuku replied quietly, poking at his eggs. He could only imagine what Mina would say if she had heard his mother saying something like that. Either she would completely stop talking to him or just never let him live it down.
Either way, their meetings were nothing close to dates... Were they? No, he couldn't think like that, if he started thinking so stupidly, he would surely burn this friendship to the ground before it could even finish being built. He just wanted to see Mina and get away from his mother teasing.
"Is she a nice girl?" She asked, changing the subject as he cut up her eggs.
"Yeah, she's great..." He replied simply before eating a forkful of his food.
"I see... Will I be able to meet her? Ochaco and Iida too, at some point" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Maybe... If I have a chance, I'll try." He replied half truthfully. It would be nice to have Mina and his mother meet each other, but he didn't want her saying anything to his new friend that could put her off. His mother was the kind of person who wouldn't really think about what she was saying. Mina may get a laugh out of it, but he'd rather not risk it.
Finally, one o'clock had rolled around. The two hadn't specified a set time that they were meeting even though they had plenty long enough to do so, so Izuku decided just to get there as close to One as he could and wait for Mina to arrive. It wasn't like they had anything important to be doing for the rest of the day, so he wasn't too concerned with how long it took Mina to get there, even though he'd rather not be sat around alone.
He'd only been waiting at the Outer City Train Station for a few minutes and already his stomach was bubbling with anxiety. This time though, he wasn't exactly sure why. It wasn't like this was the first time the two of them were meeting and he wasn't feeling anxious himself about it. Yet still, he felt like he was about to be sick.
Then again, just thinking of Mina when he was at home earlier had given him the same feeling. He'd told his mother about it and she told him that he was probably just excited, which he agreed with. Thinking about it, Izuku had never really done anything like this before so she was probably right.
Then the sound of a train pulling into the station pulled him from his thoughts. Quickly he turned and looked over his shoulder at the large locomotive, scanning along the cockpit for some sign of what train it was and spotted. 'X-73', Mina's train.
With a heavy sigh, he adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and headed onto the platform to wait for her, his excitement steadily growing the closer he got. He didn't have to go out to meet her, and it was a little harder to get there since people were flooding on and off the train, but it was a polite thing to do.
He pushed his hands into his pockets and leaned up against a wall once he'd managed to get through, scanning along the carriages for his pink-skinned friend.
"Midori!" She called from the opposite direction that he was expecting. He turned towards the back of the train and spotted her running towards him with a beaming smile before jumping in and landing right at his side, her face only inches from his own.
"Hello!" She beamed. Immediately, all his confidence, if you could call it that, went straight out of the window and a red tinge quickly faded onto his cheek.
She was also dressed in short... No, short-shorts and a dark grey hoodie with magenta swirling patterns up the left side. She looked cute considering how thrown together her outfit looked, it was the sort of thing you might expect someone to wear if they were going to spend the day lounging around the house.
"Hey, Ashido... Y-You look nice today." He smiled, panicking a little at the sudden closeness of the girl. He cringed when he complimented her, it sounded so strange when he thought about it, he worded it the same way a middle schooler would've complimented their crush.
"Aww shucks, ain't you the sweetest thing?" She beamed putting on a western accent and pushing his shoulder lightly. "And its Mina, remember?" She reminded before spinning on her heel and skipping out of the station. He had wanted to call her 'Mina' but he couldn't bring himself to do it, it just didn't feel right yet.
"Come on!" She called, waving for him to follow her as she headed down the stairs and into the street. Izuku quickly shook himself and jogged after her, doing his best to keep up. Surprisingly, Mina was faster than he was, sprinting at least. That was probably due to her more naturally toned body, but it was still impressive.
Lucky for them the bowling place wasn't too far from the Train Station, so they didn't have too far to go before the fun stuff could begin. Mina had made it more than obvious on their walk here that she was excited, quite enthusiastically yelling it at Izuku as she jogged off ahead of him.
Finally, though, they had arrived. The place was big all things considered. It had about fifteen lanes, an arcade and a bar and to Izuku, it seemed like a bit of a mishmash of everything. Mina on the other hand was more than happy, she loved bowling, arcades and snacking whenever she wanted, so this was her ideal place.
"Come on, come on, come on!" She chanted, grabbing his hand, and bounding towards the desk, dragging Izuku behind her like a rag doll.
"I'm coming!" He exclaimed, trying to speed up and not trip over as she pulled him off towards the bored, tubby looking guy behind the desk.
"Hello! Do you have any free lanes for two people?" She asked with a beaming smile. The man's expression didn't change but instead, he slowly nodded.
"What size shoe are ya?" He asked, sounding like he'd rather be anywhere else.
"I'm a size seven." Mina smiled, kicking off her trainers and putting them up on the counter.
"Nine..." Izuku muttered, following Mina's actions, and putting his shoes alongside hers. The guy didn't say anything but tucked their trainers in one of the small lockers and handed them the two pairs of bowling shoes.
"One game or two?" He asked blankly.
"Two." Mina replied quickly.
"One-Thousand, nine hundred and eighty Yen please." He grumbled. Tapping some buttons on the till without even looking at it, Mina quickly pulled one-thousand yen out of her wallet and Izuku added the same amount from his own and finally, after a debate of whether or not they would share the change, to which Izuku finally agreed to, they began their game
So, did Izuku get his ass kicked? Yes, he did. However, for his first-ever game, he did well in Mina's opinion.
"So, how was that for game one?" She asked after taking a sip of her blue slushy as Izuku looked down at the floor with a mix of happiness and embarrassment.
"I-It's really fun but... Well, I'm pretty bad at it huh." He muttered with an awkward chuckle.
"Pfft, nah! Your actually really good considering how long it's been since you've last played." She replied with a giggle. running her fingers through his hair and ruffling it. She was presently surprised by his hair; it was really soft and super puffy, like a brand-new teddy bear. She kind of wanted to keep petting him but she didn't want to embarrass him, as nice as it would be to carry on.
"You ready for another game then?" She asked, rubbing her hands together and skipping over to the control panel.
"Yeah sure." He replied quietly, getting up from the row of chairs and strolling over to her.
"You can go first this time." She smiled, patting his shoulder before backing away as their next game began.
Two names appeared on the board now, but they weren't what Izuku was expecting. One of them read 'Strawberry' and the other 'Lime', which puzzled the freckled teenager a little.
"Hey, Ashido..." He started as she drew herself up from the control panel with a smile. "What's with the fruits?" He asked, pointing up towards the screen that hung above the lane.
"Oh! I thought it'd be cute to put us as fruits, you know, after our hair colours." She smiled innocently, petting her own head of frizzy pink hair.
"Oh... Cool." He muttered, before putting on a warm smile, which she returned.
Izuku had been doing his best to watch what Mina did as she went after him and tried to copy her, but the problem with his plan was that Mina was very unorthodox. She danced her way towards the ally and threw the ball with an exaggerated spin.
There was no way Izuku was gutsy enough to try anything like that mostly because he'd probably forget to let go of the ball. He took a deep breath and stared down the centre pin. If Mina could do it then so could he, how hard could getting a strike really be anyway. Then he took a step forwards, then another, faster and faster, drawing back his arm and about to let it fly.
"Mina!" A voice cried. Izuku stumbled and his hand slipped out of the ball, sending it down the alley with a heavy slam, almost losing his balance himself.
"Toru! Hiiii!" Mina sang as Toru threw herself at Mina for a hug, a pink hoodie and jeans suspended in the air in front of Mina.
"Hello, Midoriya." She smiled, turning in boy's direction and probably waving at him, judging by the way her hoodie sleeve was moving back and forth slightly.
"Hi, Hagakure..." He replied in a bit of a grumble, sighing, and turning away from the ball that had quickly made its way into the gutter.
"What's got you down?" She asked, hopping over, and putting two invisible hands on his shoulders.
"You scared him, and he missed his shot," Mina replied for him, trying not to laugh as an X appeared in the first box of his score chart. He quietly sighed and sat down with a smile although inside he was a little frustrated.
"Oh, I'm sorry Midoriya." She replied sweetly, carefully reaching towards him and patting his head to make him feel better.
"Oh i-it's fine, don't worry, I've got loads more attempts anyway." He replied quickly, not wanting her to feel bad for something so petty.
"Anyways, what are you two doing here!" She yelled, turning back to Mina making all Izuku's worried disappear, clearly, she wasn't bothered in the first place.
"Me and Midori are out for the day, why else?" Mina asked, walking past her invisible friend, and grabbing on of the balls after spinning a few for their weight numbers. The use of his nickname made him break out in a blush, looking away from Toru quickly and down at the floor.
"Oooooh, I seee." Toru cooed in replied in a teasing tone.
"No." Mina replied quickly and sternly. "Don't get any ideas." She ordered. She sounded kind of intimidating although the other two knew she wasn't being too serious.
Then, whilst she was addressing Toru, she let her ball fly, dead straight down the alley without even seeming like she was trying and hit a strike.
"Oh my god ahahaha! Midori did you see that!" She beamed, turning to him and pointing down towards the now struck down pins. Izuku was amazed, to say the least, he'd put all this thought into his throw, and he screwed it because of Toru, then there was Mina who nailed it without even trying. It was clear now; he was going to get floored again by the Acid user. Then again, it was all in good fun at the end of the day, he was just competitively spirited.
"Yeah, that was awesome!" He replied with a smile, trying to hide his embarrassment as best as he could. "Don't you get to go again?" He asked, immediately regretting it since it put him at an even bigger disadvantage.
"Oh damn, yeah I do." She exclaimed, quickly heading back to the dispenser leaving Izuku with Toru.
"She's fun huh?" She whispered as the two watched her let the ball fly down the alley.
"Yeah I guess so... I like her." He replied before his body froze completely. Why did he say that to Toru of all people? She could completely twist what he'd said to mean he actually 'liked' her.
"Aww, that's cuuute." She cooed as Mina headed back over to her, pushing her hands into her pockets.
"What's cute?" She asked, stopping beside Izuku with a curious smile, nudging him lightly with her shoulder.
"O-Oh nothing, Hagakure was just saying!-" Izuku began quickly, firing the invisible girl a pleading glance.
"Your outfit, it's cute." Toru replied in an innocent and smiley tone. "Well I better get back to my parents now, so I'll see you later." She said in a joyful tone before skipping off towards the arcade.
"Huh..." Mina hummed with a curious frown, watching after her before turning to Izuku.
"Anyways! It's your turn again!" She beamed, patting his shoulder a little too hard, jolting him forwards slightly.
"R-Right..." He replied quietly, only half listening before heading over to the dispenser. Why did he say that to Toru? Did he like her? No, of course he liked her but not in the way Toru might assume he did.
There was something that made him think differently, however, and that was how he felt every time he thought about her. His stomach buzzed a little and a smile always made its way onto his face without him realising it. She may be his opposite, but he felt closer to her than most. Maybe this was just another thing he was overthinking.
And so, bowling went about as well as Izuku assumed it would. He did do a little better than before which he was happy with, but he was still a little way behind Mina's final score. Once that was over, Mina decided she'd drag him around a few of the arcade machines. They tried 'Dance Legend 4', which Izuku wasn't very good at. Then they tried out a shooting game which he actually managed to win, but that was because Mina got distracted by a claw machine, which they also attempted, but like many other patrons, got scammed by.
Now though, they were off to find somewhere to get dinner. For much of their walk so far Izuku's mind had been stuck on the same thought as before after speaking to Toru. He knew he was overthinking it, but part of him just couldn't settle for that conclusion. He wondered if it was just excitement of having someone new and fun to hang around, but even he wasn't sure. Was it normal to feel this way towards someone?
"Ooooh, that was soo fun!" Mina squeaked again as they rounded another corner and towards the 'Go! Sushi' restaurant they were planning on eating at. "You did well too." She added smiling over her shoulder at her.
"Thanks... But you still kind of hammered me at it." He muttered with a small smile, scratching the back of his head.
"So? You had fun didn'cha?" She asked, smiling, and raising an eyebrow at him.
"Oh no, yeah I did, it was awesome but... Well anyone with a soul is going to feel bad about losing." He replied with a chuckle, firing her a more reassuring smile than before.
"I know but still, it gives us an excuse to do it again huh." She smiled, spinning on her heel and grabbing him by the shoulders, looking up to him with her bright, smiling sclera eyes. He looked back down at her, unable to move his gaze out of her black and amber orbs, smiling awkwardly back at the Acid Quirk user.
"Sooooo, stop being so hung up and have a little fun! For me." She smiled, adding 'for me' with a slight flirty tone that instantly brought his cheeks out in a hot, rosy blush. "Aww, made'ya blush." She smiled, firing him a wink and lightly pushing his shoulder before carrying on towards the restaurant. He watched after her for a few seconds before jogging to catch up.
A/N: Hey all! I'm really sorry for the shorter chapter and the late ass update, I've been ill and also brainstorming some funky ideas for this story. The next chapter will be a really fun and interesting one but for now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are excited for the next one! Support has been amazing with almost 6000 reads already and the reviews have been supportive, constructive and helpful so please send me a review and let me know if you enjoyed :3!
-ElliottChap