A/N: Hey all! Sorry for being gone again for so long, I've been kind of backed up at college, and I've been to some university open days but here I am with another chapter to my favourite story!

I've been thinking in the time I've been gone and I realised that maybe I've been making it too easy on Mina to get what she wants, so how about I throw in a little challenge for her? Sound good? Sweet, cause our challenger will make herself known towards the end of the chapter. I hope you enjoy!

The day was ending and Izuku was surprised at just how easy going it felt compared to the past week. Did he improve on his original test score? Yes and no. He threw the ball only slightly further than he had before, but this was using Full Cowling and that was a more limited version of One For All than he used the first time around.

So, in reality, it actually proved that his body had gotten stronger which was a win for him, even though he didn't really have the numbers to prove that. He had attempted quite earnestly to explain the situation to Aizawa, but it seemed he already understood and quickly put a stop to his rambling.

Some other students did stand out though with Mina being one of them. She'd used a stream of extremely weak acid as a kind of jet, which fired the ball three hundred, which was actually really impressive to Izuku considering she'd only ever fired off large waves of it before.

When she'd told him what her plan was, he was more nervous than anything, he expected the ball to be dissolved before it could even move an inch, but luckily, she'd proved him wrong. That was then, however, and now school was over, he and Mina were making their way to the leisure centre by train.

He didn't mind this too much. He would've liked to walk as a big group with the rest of his classmates, but Mina wanted to head home and collect something, so he blindly agreed and thus, here he was. Mina was quite clear that he wasn't to go in the house whilst she was getting whatever it was she was there for, but he had a sneaking suspicious it was 'girl' stuff, so he dare ask her.

"So… wait, you've never been to a gym before?" She asked with a curious frown as the train pulled away from the last stop before the city.

"Well... No... I've never really had a reason to though honestly." He replied with a shrug, clutching his P.E bag to his chest as the train rocked its way down the tracks.

"I guess you've got enough equipment at home huh..." Mina replied with a thinking tone.

"Yeah... What about you? Do you usually go?" He asked, doing his best to keep the conversation going. The two of them had been talking at every chance they got back at U.A, but now they actually had the time to catch up, they didn't have anything else to talk about and the last thing he wanted was to be sat here in awkward silence firing her glances every so often.

"Eh, sometimes. I try and go every Saturday but, obviously, it either slips my mind or I've got other stuff going on." She replied with a shrug, smiling over at him as she spoke.

"Yeah." He replied simply, chuckling a little before the two returned to silence.

Now it was Monday, and school had started up again, everyone could return to their original studying scheduled, but Izuku wanted to try and do something a little different with his free time this week. He wanted to spend more time with Mina. He wanted to spend time developing their relationship again since, after the week of being apart and working to the point it was hard to move the next morning, they had drifted apart a little, or at least that's how it felt to him.

He was hoping this wasn't the case as he really enjoyed being close with Mina and of course, she was being huggy with him this morning, so he didn't have to worry. The thing that was arousing this concern, however, was that it felt harder for him to maintain a conversation with her.

Mina had noticed this too, however. She prided herself on how well she could socialise with anyone and hold up a conversation with people who usually weren't very talkative, so Izuku for example, yet now it felt like he was the hardest person for her to talk too. Every time she saw him it felt like her insides were being hoisted up by helium balloons, his voice brought a strange feeling of comfort to her, his cute freckled face warmed her insides and whenever he wasn't around and she didn't feel like herself.

She wanted to talk to Uraraka or Tsuyu about it since they seemed to have a good hold on emotional things, but she'd not found a suitable time to talk to them about it and it wasn't something she wanted other people to hear her talking about. There was that, and she knew Uraraka might like Izuku as well, and she didn't want to hurt her friend. Something she did want to know, however, was whether Izuku was feeling the same sort of thing. Maybe she was falling for him, but she couldn't be sure, she'd never felt this way about anyone before so she couldn't put a finger on it, but some part of her was telling her that was the case.

As Mina thought to herself, she kept her eyes on the greenette teenager sat beside her. Her heartfelt like it was skipping beats when she thought about how she felt and of course, Izuku had noticed.

"Are you okay?" Izuku perked up, a small and curious smile on his face. Quickly she smiled back and pushed these feelings to the back of her mind.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Aaare you... Okay?" She asked, falling a little on her words as she came back to her senses.

"Yeah, I'm good. We're almost there now." He replied with a smile before turning and pointing out of the window. The city station was in view now and it brought a small feeling of ease to the Acid Quirk user.

The rest of their time on the train and a little of their walk to the leisure centre was in silence. Both Mina and Izuku had attempted a little small talk, pointing out little things that may have been of interest to the other, but for the most part, they were stuck in awkward silence. Mina felt terrible for not speaking to him much, but she couldn't take her mind from the feeling she had when she saw him. Izuku didn't really seem to mind though since he was smiling all the way there.

"Are you okay Mina? You seem a little out of it today." Momo perked up, unbuttoning her school shirt as Mina dropped her skirt to the floor.

"What? Oh sorry, I was stuck in a daydream." She lied with an awkward chuckle, folding her uniform, and pushing it into a small locker before beginning to change into her P.E uniform.

"Yeah? Looks like you'd seen a ghost." She replied with a jokey laugh.

"Nah I'm alright, just thinkin'." She replied with a shrug. Momo seemed satisfied with this answer and to Mina's relief, disengaged from the conversation.

She couldn't keep acting this way about something like an inkling that she may be falling for a boy. The first boy she'd ever fallen for; an adorably awkward, talented, admirable, freckly teenager that had made her feel more like a giddy young girl than anyone else ever had before.

No, it was no use, no matter how hard she wanted to ignore this feeling deep in her being, she simply couldn't. She needed to try and get Tsuyu alone and talk to her about it, because if anyone could bring a little more sense to this feeling, it was her.

Normally Mina would be able to ignore a strange feeling such as this one, but for whatever reason, the feeling that she was- No, that she had fallen for Izuku, was one that she couldn't push out of her mind. Usually talking about these things would help clear her head, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be so simple this time around.

She knew she was falling for him now; she'd had time to really dwell on it and it all made sense, it was more obvious than anything else. Yet she still couldn't convince herself that she really felt that way. Her biggest fear would be convincing herself that this feeling really was love, because the last thing she wanted, was to tell Izuku and then realising she didn't really feel that way.

Even though she'd never experienced love before, it didn't take a genius to realise they were falling in love with someone, so why was this feeling of doubt so strong? Maybe it was the horrible feeling that she would hurt the person she felt closest to, or maybe it was because she feared being rejected.

Izuku was a person who prioritised important things, his studies, his training, and his friends. He was a person who liked having plans and knowing obsessive amounts about anything and everything, it was one of the many things she admired about him so much. She didn't want to ruin that for him, after all. She loved him for who he was and the last thing she wanted was for that to change.

"Hey Deku-Kun!" Uraraka called, grabbing Izuku's attention from his current bench press exercise.

"Oh... Uraraka-San, hey." He replied with before going back to pressing a twenty-five KG dumbbell in each hand.

"Have you noticed anything... Weird, about Mina recently?" She asked, firing a glance over her shoulder to make sure the pink girl in question wasn't in earshot.

"No... Why?" He asked between presses, straining his burning muscles against the downward force of the weights.

"Well... I don't know, she's just been really absent today, like somethings bothering her." She replied, squatting down beside him with a pondering frown on her face.

"I haven't really noticed, sorry." He replied with a genuinely apologetic look on his face.

"Don't worry about it, I'll talk to her later anyway." She replied with a smile, turning, and wafting her hand at him before pushing herself back up and jogging off towards Momo, Tsuyu and Jiro, who were all stretching on the yoga mats at the back of the room.

In reality, Izuku had noticed this. Ever since they returned to school after the internships she'd been acting slightly off. Her aura felt tamer and her face wasn't as bright and smiley as it normally was. Maybe something had happened at home or maybe it was something he wouldn't understand, but it was clear that she wasn't feeling herself. Was he wrong to not ask her if she was okay after she showed so much concern for him? Maybe that was what had upset her.

With a heavy sigh, Izuku used the dumbbells to hoist himself up before gently dropping them on the floor either side of the bench, leaning forwards on his knees and rubbing his face. It did make sense that she'd be bothered by that, and to think he'd been so cold as to not even have it cross his mind to ask. He had to talk to her the next chance he got, he just had to.

They were all planning to use the pool after this so maybe he could get her alone and really have a heart to heart with her. He knew it wasn't his place to pry on her private life and he didn't really have any intentions of doing so, but he didn't want to go by without even trying to see if she was alright. She was one of his best friends after all.

Right now though, he wanted to focus on training his body as much as he could with the time they had. So, as opposed to working on his stamina with cardio exercises, he wanted to focus on building his muscle and thus increasing the percentage of One For All he could use with Full Cowling. Of course, he wasn't too sure how much work he would have to do in order to gain a few more percent, but he was willing to do whatever it took to get stronger and rise to the top.

So, he wasted no time packing away the thirty-five-kilogram dumbbells and moving off towards the pull-up bar. Fifty of these, one hundred push-ups, one hundred and fifty sit-ups, back to the bench press for twenty more reps there and finally he would end off with ten minutes on the rowing machine on the highest difficulty. To many, this would sound like overworking, but for Izuku it felt like just enough. Even so, the training regime he had been following since receiving One For All had worked quite nicely for him.

Not only had he gained more control over his incredible Quirk, but he'd also managed to increase his size quite well. His arms were no longer thin and frail like when he first came to U.A. His legs didn't look like toothpicks and his face had become more mature and masculine, according to his mother at least. He felt as strong as he looked, the muscle on his arms was impressive and most quietly found it somewhat attractive and his legs looked quite powerful too. But, as happy as he was with how he looked, he knew he had to get stronger if he was going to be everything All Might expected of him.

It was strangely motivating to think about, knowing that the number one hero and his idol was really rooting for him. There weren't many people Izuku's age who could have that honour. Even stranger to think about was how close Izuku felt to All Might. He felt like an old friend at this point and it was heart-warming to think about. Most people have an outlook on famous people that they'll be careless about their fans, brushing off their dreams because they're just normal people. All Might, however, was the exact opposite, and that showed just how much of a hero he was.

It would be nice to swim for once, it wasn't often Izuku had the time to do such an activity. His mother was often busy with work and he had hero school to attend, so as of recently they haven't had much time for leisure. This was why Izuku wasn't going to take this for granted. Although he felt like he wanted to train more, he knew it would do him better to let his body rest and rebuild his muscle before he went and tore them up again. This wasn't a problem though because secretly, Izuku just wanted to have a day of doing nothing, even after recent events.

Another thing was the fact that he wanted some time to think, to dwell on something that had been burning in the back of his mind. Or rather, someone. Mina Ashido. The usually bubbly, frantic, and humorous Acid Quirk user had shown up to train with the others, but she barely did anything. She stretched out with the other girls of the class, did a few exercises like rowing, push-ups, and running on the treadmill, but she'd done it with a face that only looked half present. She's been really absent today like something's bothering her.'

Uraraka's words echoed in Izuku's mind as he sat in the hot tub at the backside of the pool. "You were right." He muttered with a sigh, turning his gaze down to the bubbling water he was sat in. Currently, he was the only one in the pool area. Most of the boys were busy whipping each other with their towels and comparing stature over getting changed. As for the girls, Izuku knew they were slower at getting changed because they were the same in P.E, although he didn't want to know why that was.

"Mind if we join you Deku-Kun?" Uraraka perked up, grabbing the greenette's attention from staring down at the swirling liquid. When his eyes fell on the two girls, he quickly looked back down at the water again with a boiling flush coming over him. Tsuyu was dressed in her usual skin-tight, green and white stripe tankini and shorts, but Uraraka was definitely trying something new.

A floral black and white, body-hugging skirtini that showed a little too much skin for Izuku's heart and mind to handle. It wasn't that it made him uncomfortable or that he didn't like how it looked on her. On the contrary, it looked amazing on her. It was more so the fact that it turned him into a mass of blushing red when he looked at her.

"O-Of course! G-G-Go right ahead!" He blurted, clutching his knees tightly and not daring to avert his eyes from the water as the two girls slid into the hot tub. Tsuyu let out a very relaxed 'ribbit' as she sunk down to her shoulder in the water, closing her eyes and resting her head back against the rim of the hot-tub whilst Uraraka scooted around to sit beside her awkward friend.

"Isn't this great?" She asked with a beaming smile, sighing, and relaxing into the tub.

"Mm... Mmmhm." Izuku hummed in response, firing her a glance before looking back down at the water.

"What's up? Don't tell me you've gone all blank too." She complained with a pouty expression.

"No, that's not it..." He replied, doing his best to drown the feeling of anxiety that was so strong in his stomach as he looked up into Uraraka's hazel orbs. "D-Did Ashido-San speak to you?" He asked, trying to take his mind from Uraraka's swimsuit. This question made the Zero-Gravity Quirk user freeze up and swallow nervously. She hadn't spoken to Mina, but she did hear Mina talking to someone else.

*Earlier, in the girls changing rooms*

"Momo, can I talk to ya quickly?" Mina perked up gaining both the Creation and Zero-Gravity Quirk user's attention.

"Of course." The black-haired girl replied with a calm smile.

"Have you... Have you ever gotten a weird feeling in your chest that kind of burns a little when you think of someone?" She asked in a surprisingly sombre manner considering it was Mina who was asking. Uraraka slowly began folding her skirt as she intently listened in on the girl's conversation.

Momo paused for a few seconds before letting out a giggle and continuing to change into her crimson swim dress.

"I have actually. Why do you ask so suddenly?" She replied with a questioning expression.

"Well, I just wondered what feelin' you'd call that..." Mina replied with a shrug, pulling off her underwear and retrieving a sky-blue monokini from her backpack.

"Hmm... I suppose you could call it love?" She replied after a short pause. This replied made both Uraraka and Mina tense up with shock and the Acid Quirk user dropped her swimsuit to the floor with a wide-eyed expression.

"Love huh?" Mina replied with a chuckle.

*Return to present time.*

"N-No, she's been really quiet today." Uraraka lied after a few seconds of weighing up whether or not she told her best friend the truth.

"I see... I don't really know what's up with her... I'm kind of worried I may have said something." He replied with an awkward chuckle.

"Have you said anything to upset her?" Tsuyu piped up, opening one of her eyes with a curious frown on her face.

"Wha- No! No of course not!" Izuku exclaimed, waving his arms around in a panic.

"That's alright then." Tsuyu replied simply before closing her eyes again. She had a point, he hadn't said anything that could've upset his friend, so there was a high chance he wasn't the one who'd upset her.

Then again maybe no-one said anything, maybe Mina was just having an off day or is worried about something back home. That was always a possibility and the most likely scenario, but Izuku being Izuku couldn't help but focus on the worst.

"Heya!" A sudden, excitable voice announced as Mina flung her arms around Izuku neck and hugged him tightly, pushing her boobs into his back which made him tense up completely and almost do what goats do when they get startled. Freeze up and sink to the bottom of the tub like a rock. His face was the reddest it had ever been before, and his expression looked like he was dead.

"Ashido, you seem bubblier than earlier." Tsuyu spoke up, bringing herself back up from her resting position as Mina slid down into the tub close beside Izuku, almost touching him.

"I know, sorry. I didn't mean to worry any of ya, I just had somethin' stuck on my mind for a while." She replied with an awkward smile, rubbing the back on her neck. "More importantly, are you okay Midori?" She asked, turning away from Tsuyu and towards Izuku who looked like he was about to pass out.

"Y-Yeeeah... I'm fine." He wheezed in response which caused Mina to laugh and grab him again, pulling him into another hug.

"Ooooooh, what am I gonna do with you if ya pass out in a hot tub huh?" She growled playfully with a laugh. Uraraka had done her best to hide it, but ever since Mina and Izuku had begun getting 'this' close; hugging, leaning, being all cuddly and other such things, she'd been feeling stirred up and somewhat agitated. She knew she had a crush on Izuku, she'd had a crush on him ever since he'd saved her from the zero-point bot during the entrance exam.

If this was the case though, then why had she not taken the chance to tell him already, especially now that window of opportunity was growing ever smaller. It was because she admired him so much and she knew what all of this meant to him.

She wanted to tell him how she felt, but she knew how important studying and being a hero was to the teenager and all she wanted was for him to be happy. But then again, she also wanted to be happy. She had her own goals and her own ambitions, but she also had her desires, and one of them was Izuku.

His strength, his determination, his personality, his attitude, she liked all of it and she idolised him so much for the person he was and the last thing she wanted to do was take that away from him, to ruin his chances of becoming who she knew he could be because of a silly feeling she had. But she wanted to give in, she wanted to tell him how she felt, she wanted to be as close to him as Mina was, she wanted him. She was prepared though, prepared to take this as another challenge life was going to throw at her and she was ready to compete to get what she wanted, just as she always was.

Maybe letting Mina have Izuku would make him happy though, maybe he liked Mina back, but she wouldn't know unless she tried to tell him. If he did like Mina it would be okay; Uraraka was prepared for that turn out anyways.

As long as she had Izuku as a friend and it didn't affect their current relationship, she would never have a reason to complain, although no doubt it would hurt her. But when could she tell him, how would she tell him, would she even end up telling him? These questions were racing around Uraraka's mind as Mina and Tsuyu laughed as Izuku's expense and he tried to cool himself off after almost passing out. Why did love have to be so hard?

"Come on, you have to go!" Kirishima ordered, patting Izuku's shoulder hard as the two boys, along with the rest of class 1-A stood atop a tall, looping water slide. Izuku was eager to go down the snaking expanse of plastic, but it had been years since he'd last been on one and when he had, he was only about six, so it wouldn't have been this substantial.

"I don't know... Are you sure it's safe? What if I go out over the edge?" He asked, looking back at his red-haired friend with an expression of concern.

This must've been heard by Bakugo, Kaminari, Jiro and Tokoyami, because the blonde-haired Explosion Quirk user began laughing out loud at his rival.

"Pffft, like hell ya will! Come on, I'll go with ya!" Mina volunteered, bounding forwards with a beaming smile on her face.

"I mean... Okay?" Izuku chuckled, watching as the pink-skinned girl began smiling widely and quickly rushed over to him. A few whispers and laughs came over the group that remained on top of the slide, even Iida gave a little chuckle which surprised Uraraka.

"Okay, now I'll sit here..." Mina explained, pushing Izuku forward a little and sliding in behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"And we're ready! Kirishima! A boost if you please, my good fellow." She exclaimed excitedly, turning to the Hardening Quirk user who smirked back at her.

"You got it boss!" He yelled, before a sudden push sent the two teenagers speeding down the dark blue slide.

"HOOOOLYYY SHIII-"

"WOOHOOOOO!" Mina interrupted as the two screamed over each other.

"Isn't this great!" She called over the wind rushing in their ears and the water splashing around them. A sharp corner, then another and another, Izuku couldn't find a chance to reply to her.

"This can't be safe!" He called quickly grasping Mina's hands that were clasped around his waist as they sped towards the pool. Such a simple action that made Mina's world feel like it was going five times slower. Even though it wasn't the place or the time, there was an urge deep in her stomach that she found almost impossible to ignore. She wanted to kiss him.

But the sudden impact of water quickly pulled her attention back to reality.

"Gah! H-H-Hoooohhh my god..." Izuku panted, trying to catch his breath before laughing. "That was awesome!" He announced, throwing his arms in the air as the two began treading water, even Bakugo was laughing along with the other. It was nice to see him somewhat getting along with his old friend.

"R-Right! I told ya you'd like it!" She beamed, paddling over to him again and grabbing him for another hug.

"Wanna go again?" She asked with a smile, holding him close by the shoulder and looking his straight in the eyes.

"Sure!" He laughed, turning to swim away before Mina quickly span him around again.

She didn't know what she was doing or why she was doing it, and before either of them knew what was happening, she kissed his cheek. It was quick but it happened and the buzz that followed was an incredible one. Mina felt like she was being shocked by Kaminari's 1,000,000 volt move and Izuku looked pretty normal, besides a slightly miffed expression.

"W-Wait... Did you just... What?" He asked with a completely puzzled expression on his face as Mina giggled and fired him a wink.

"Are we goin' again or what?" She asked with a sly smile before pushing off through the water.

"Dude, she just kissed you..." Kaminari muttered, putting a hand on Izuku's shoulder as the two stared after the girl.

"Y-Yeah... Aaahahahah..." Izuku chuckled in response as the realisation set in and he let himself start sinking deeper into the pool.

"Midoriya! That's not safe!" Iida cried shortly after recovering from his journey down the water slide, quickly pushing into the water and down to rescue his friend.

"Mina, I saw that! You just kissed Midoriya-Kun!" Toru exclaimed. The hovering bikini shocked Mina a little as she hadn't noticed it at all since she'd got into the pool area.

"Oh, did I?" She asked with a giggle before continuing past her invisible friend.

"Wha-Wait!" Toru called after her friend, quickly jogging to catch up to her. "I didn't know you liked him, why didn't you say anything?" She asked, sounding a little offended as the two made their way up the stairs of the slide again.

"Well, because if I tell you everyone would find out." Mina replied with a laugh.

"Hey, that's mean! I'm not that bad!" Toru argued, an invisible hand pushing Mina slightly. The pink-skinned girl scoffed a laugh in response and raised her eyes at her friend.

"Well... Okay, maybe I'm not the best at keeping secrets but come on! You and Midoriya-Kun don't even have that much in common." Toru argued again, her bra turning sightly to show she was now pointing back to the greenette who was being carried to the edge of the pool by Iida.

"I know." Mina replied with a giggle. "It's one of the reasons I like him so much." She added with a small lilac blush on her cheeks.

Toru was silent for a little bit after this, pondering over what she should say in response to what Mina had said. It didn't really make sense to Mina either, but having someone who's personality was opposite to hers was something that made her all the more attracted to Izuku because they fuelled each other so well.

Mina was mischievous and outgoing, Izuku was, for the most part, safe minded and reserved. His awkwardness made her laugh and her laugh made him happy; Seeing him happy made her happy and it was just an endless loop. They may be almost complete opposites but if anything, it made her like him even more. He was just one of those people.

He was awkward and timid mostly, but when it came to his studies, his friends and his training he was incredible; he was outgoing, he was determined, he was humble, he was powerful and he was never afraid to help anyone no matter who they were or the danger it could put him in. It was both worrying and incredibly admirable but most importantly it made him, him.

It made him the Izuku Midoriya she loved.

A/N: There we have it; chapter 9 is all done and dusted! I really hoped it lived up to your expectations and that you enjoyed! Mina finally seems to be realising she's falling for Izuku and it seems he's slowly beginning to reciprocate these feelings, but what of Uraraka? Well, we'll just have to see what happens, won't we?

If you enjoyed this chapter then please, please let me know with a review! They are incredibly useful and you're all so encouraging and kind. After a review I've read about being a little too close to the canon universe I plan to put my own spin on the story from here on out. I want to really begin fluffing up the Izu-mina ship whilst also progressing along the timeline accordingly, so it'll be fun to see where this goes.

Anyways, I'm glad you joined me again for this chapter and I hope to see ya in the next one! Take care!

-ElliottChap