A/N - PLEASE READ!: Hey all, I'm so sorry it's taken me almost a month to update this story, I really am! I've been getting really into Pixelmon at the moment, and with the second semester of my first year at Uni having started a few days ago, I've been somewhat distracted. Finally, I updated my stories and finally has come 'My Hero's' turn for a new chapter. Again, I apologise for the long wait.
Finally, I wanted to explain with the story theme songs are for. I added them to give this story a real anime feel, and they're also very relevant to the themes within.
Inferno by Mrs Green Apple, Gave off very passionate vibes. The song itself, I chose, because for me, related to the burning passion Izuku felt in his heart to achieve his dreams and the inferno that their friendship became (the relationship).
As for Dreamer by One Ok Rock, when you listen to the lyrics (the very first verse especially) it talks a lot about past time having no meaning, and about game time, which means the hard work the class is putting in and how they're about to take the next step in their lives after the Provisional Licence Exam.
This should serve as a big hit on what to look out for if I update the theme song again. Could give you some sneak peeks into the future ;)
P.S: One more thing. This story very recently hit 200,000 reads! I honestly cried when I saw this, but only because I've been writing it since I was in college, and I'm now at university. It's just over a year old and the amazing people I've encountered form creating this story has been amazing. The support is genuinely overwhelming and I can't thank you all enough for making this Izumina story what it is today.
I love you all an indescribable amount. Thank you, and sorry for the length A/N
The past four days had gone by quite slowly, which was a pleasant surprise for the students of Class 1-A and 1-B. However, that meant that the wait until the Provisional Licensing Exam, had been even more nerve-wracking. Now, once this day was done, it would be their time to take the next step to becoming pros.
Izuku wasn't really able to focus though classes today, although he still tried his best. It wasn't until this morning that the real intimidation of the exam had really dawned on him, and everyone had noticed. All morning he'd been tapping his pen on his cheek and drumming his fingers on the desk, his brain throwing every possible scenario for tomorrow at him.
He couldn't help it though. Everything about tomorrow tripped his anxious triggers, from whatever the tasks could be, to whether or not he'd hold his own against the other schools that would be competing. Sure, U.A's class 1-A was notorious for having incredibly powerful students, but with each passing generation, quirks were adapting and getting stronger and stronger anyway. So, just what kind of competition would reveal itself at the exam?
"Yo, Midoriya, are you feeling alright? You've been really distant all day." Jiro spoke up, startling the greenette from his thoughts. The lunch bell had just chimed out through the school, and everyone was packing up their things ready to go and eat.
"Oh... Yeah, sorry Jiro." He responded, shaking himself and dropping his pen on the desk, sitting up straight and sighing.
"You sure?" She asked with a chuckle. "You don't look it." She added, looking over her shoulder at Mina. The Acid Quirk user gave Izuku a meek wave, cocking her head and smiling sweetly in his direction.
"She's worried about you, y'know. You should tell her when something's bothering you." Jiro said as Izuku waved back at his girlfriend.
"I-I do... I'm just thinking about the exam is all..." He replied, looking up to the Earphone Jack Quirk user with an honest expression.
"No, no, I'm just saying like, in general. We're all worried about the exam, I can promise you that." She said, wafting her hand at him and smiling. "I'm surprised though, the last person I thought would be worrying is you. I thought you'd gotten out of your overthinking phase." She added, raising an eyebrow at her taller friend as he finished putting his things into his desk, closing the lid and getting up from his seat.
"Hm..." He let out a small chuckle. "No, I haven't..." He responded quietly, scratching his neck awkwardly. Jiro giggled at him before playfully punching his shoulder, turning on her heel, and starting over towards Mina, Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero.
What bothered him most about letting people know if he was worried about things, was that it always felt like they expected so much from him, or even believed in him a little too much, and the fear of letting them down always held his words back. There was always a nag in the back of his mind that all the victories he'd had up until this point were mere luck, even though he knew for a fact that it was the opposite.
As usual, the worst part of exams, or any kind of trail, was meeting the expectations of those who matter, and in Izuku's case, it was All Might, his mother, and all of his friends.
Then again, after all the times he felt like he'd fallen short of what people thought he was capable off, he'd been proved time and time again that those were the wrong feelings to have. He just needed to have a little more faith in himself. Honestly, the thoughts that one day he'd have to fill All Might's shoes was the main reason he was thinking so much about this kind of thing.
No, he couldn't keep thinking about it so much. He liked to believe that if there was even a negative future approaching, that he'd have the power to change it, but this was one point where the future didn't matter. Whatever happened, it was inevitable that the embers of One For All that remained within All Might would, one day, perish, and when that day came, Izuku would be ready to work even harder and make his mentor proud.
Taking a deep breath, the greenette pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and followed the last of his classmates out of the room, starting down the hall towards the cantine.
What Izuku had to remember, was that he had the number one hero at his side since day one, which was much more than what the other students of his class had, so if anything, he was at an unfair advantage. Of course, he'd had his quirk for only a few months, whereas everyone else had theirs for years, which is where the playing field became more level, but even so...
The paranoia of making himself either look a fool or doing even more damage to his body was his main cause for concern at this point. This was his chance to prove just how much stronger he'd gotten since the Sports Festival, but if everything went sideways, he'd be stuck with the 'Liability' reputation Aizawa had labelled him with.
"So, about the exam..." Mina whispered in his ear. A small yelp escaped the One For All Quirk users lips and he quickly stepped away from the girl, clapping his hands to his mouth.
"You think you're ready?" She asked after allowing herself a small giggle.
"I-I... Yeah... Yeah, I think so..." He responded all at once, which only seemed to amuse the pink-skinned girl more.
"At least someone is, cause I sure as hell ain't." She responded, letting out a troubled sigh. Izuku was taken aback by this response, and for a moment, just stared at her.
"You... Aren't? Why?" He asked, his tone full of concern. Mina hesitated for a moment, screwing up her face and sighing again.
"It's more the theory side of things that I'm worried about. If there's anything in this exam that's written questions, or even puttin' em into practice, I don't know how well I'll do with that. You forget that, until the Final Exam, I never used to have very high grades." She explained with a small magenta hue to her cheeks.
"Well... Maybe, but this is our Provisional Licence Exam, don't forget. Lots of this test will by physical, which is why we've been training so hard for it. If there was going to be theory work involved, they definitely would've told us, and given us more time for in-class studies." Izuku responded thoughtfully, the two of them speeding up their walking pace to catch up to the rest of 1-A.
"Yeah, and that might be true, but you know what Aizawa is like." She responded, raising her eyebrows at him.
"But this is serious." He stated, gently rubbing her back for reassurance. A small smile came across her face, and she looked down at the floor in defeat. He was right, even though there was a small part of her that refused to believe him.
If it so happened that there was going to be a theory element to the exam, she was hoping that it would be solvable by acting on what felt like the right thing to do, because that's what hero work was. There were ground rules of course; basic requirements to follow, and there were some elements that you had to know, but from what she'd experienced so far, a good portion of it was acting on your better judgements.
"Hey, Midori..." She started after a few moments of walking in silence. "When we get back to the dorm, would you be able to go over some stuff with me? It doesn't have to be a lot! But, y'know... Just in case." She asked hopefully.
"Sure, whatever you need." He responded the warm, goofy smile she fell in love with every time she saw it.
"Thanks." She grinned, slowly slipping her hand into his, hand holding it tightly.
In Mina's mind, there was never really much cause for concern. All her life she'd tried to keep things carefree and easy-going, but the more time she spent at U.A, the more that part of her fell away.
If she wasn't thinking about whether her grades would be up to par, or if she was putting in enough work, she was thinking about incredibly personal things between her and Izuku. Things like the villain attack, and how it had all gone too quiet since it had happened. She knew her boyfriend was on their list of targets because he'd told her, and from what she'd seen of Shigaraki Tomura in the past, there was no way they were just going to give up.
Only recently had she really felt like something back was looming on the horizon. An ever-growing feeling of dread deep within her being that screamed for her to be on high alert. There were times she'd gotten up in the middle of the night and felt as though someone was looking at her through the window as she walked to the bathroom.
The extreme feeling of paranoia that flared up in her sometimes was making her worry even more. Was there something wrong with her? Usually, she'd never been worried about these kinds of things, because she knew U.A was a secure place, especially after the attack. Then again, if U.A was so secure, would there have even been an attack in the first place?
These thoughts had been plaguing her mind ever since she had first learned the truth about Izuku. But, after the Training Camp, she simply hadn't felt herself. Knowing that one day her boyfriend would have to fill All Might's shoes, and with the probability of facing against the most powerful villain mankind has ever seen, unsettled her greatly.
Sometimes she wondered if she was simply overthinking things as Izuku used to do, which also wasn't like her at all. Izuku himself didn't really seem that bother about the whole thing and considering it was his life that this future might effect, she was a little stunned.
Perhaps the most annoying part of all this crap that had been infecting her brain, was that every time she found reassurance for herself, or was given it by Izuku or one of her friends, her brain would always find a way to shoot it down again. She just wanted to go back to how she used to be, carefree and fun, but when she wasn't even sure what was changing her mindset in the first place, how was she going to do that?
The only idea she'd had, was knowing that Izuku could win against a villain without any problems. When he'd first told her about how it was in fact him, Todoroki and Iida who'd defeated Stain, she felt like her confidence had returned to her, because after everyone Stain had killed, it was Izuku who'd run after Iida without question, and won the battle with very minor injuries.
But, when things turned against him; when he was told that, in reality, all the work he'd put in really hadn't made him much progress, and after he was almost killed by Muscular, the doubtful feeling had returned. Was she unsure of his abilities? No! No that couldn't be it... Izuku had the quirk of All Might, and he was getting better and better at using it... She wasn't doubting him, was she?
"Ashido!" Cementos barked, startling the pink-skinned girl from her thoughts. "I understand it's towards the end of the day, and you've all be working very hard, but that doesn't give you an excuse to slack off." He said, his narrow eyes looking across the class at her sternly.
"S-Sorry, Sir..." She muttered, clearing her throat and resting her head back in her hand, looking up to the blackboard. What had gotten into her recently?
"Right... So, as I was saying..." The Cement Quirk user sighed, turning back to the board. As he spoke, Mina's eyes turned to her greenette boyfriend, who fired her a glance as he jotted down notes in his notebook. 'The key to any relationship is good communication. If something is bothering you, you have to tell him straight away, otherwise, the problem will never be resolved.'
Her mother's words echoed in her mind as she turned her attention back to the blackboard. Izuku and herself had talked about their problems before, but recently she'd found herself keeping them under lock and key, not wanting to bother her partner with things that may only cause him more stress. But, as her mother said, things will only get worse by leaving them to fester.
After school, she'd take him to one side, and be honest with how she was feeling. Not only did it feel like it was affecting the kind of person she was, but now it felt like it would start effecting her and Izuku's relationship. She had to say something, she just had to.
The last few minutes of class felt more like hours as she patiently waited for Cementos to dismiss them, but finally, the wait was over, and the awful feeling inside her could be put to rest.
"Miss Ashido, could you stay behind with me for a moment?" Cementos perked up as everyone packed away their things, his voice was soft and concerned. Mina stopped taking her things from her desk and looked up at him from over the lid.
"Yes Sir." She sighed, closing the desk lid and sitting back in her chair, a defeated expression on her face. Her attention turned to Izuku as she waited for everyone to finish packing, and leave. As he packed his things into his backpack, he fired the occasional concerned glance back at her, confusion clear in his eyes. Now it'd be even more painful wait until she could talk to him, and get these horrible feelings clear of her conscience.
Letting out another disappointed sigh, Mina turned her eyes towards the ceiling, resting her head back on her chair and folding her arms. It wasn't long after this that the class began clearing, and everyone headed back towards the dorm, even Izuku eventually did, after almost being dragged off by Uraraka.
"So, Miss Ashido, talk to me about what is bothering you." The blocky teacher started, stepping out from behind the lectern and making his way towards her desk, his hands behind his back.
"I... I don't know... I've just been a little distracted recently." She responded simply, sitting forwards and resting her elbows on the desk.
"With what? It must be quite important if it's distracting you from your studies." The Modern Literature teacher smiled, his tone half-serious. Mina felt a small smile creep onto her face as Cementos pulled out the chair of the desk in front, turned it to face her, and sat down with a heavy groan.
"It's just a bit of everything I guess." The pink-skinned girl replied with a shrug.
"Everything?" Cementos pressed on.
"I'm worried about the exam, and about Izuku. I'm worried about whether I'll be able to hold my own against the more capable people I know're gonna be there." She explained.
"Midoriya is your boyfriend no? I heard it mentioned in the staff room a while ago, from All Might." Cementos said thoughtfully. Mina let out another giggle and nodded; a very All Might thing to do, in her opinion.
"Well, that has a very simple answer. As strange as it might be to hear from your teacher, love will do that to you. When I was your age, I was in a similar situation. I won't bore you with the details, but I was thinking the very same way I believe you are." Cementos explained with a smile on his blocky face. Admittedly it was a little strange to be talking to her teacher about these things, but if he understood, then she wasn't going to turn down his advice.
"All I did was express to her these worries I had, and talk them through with her. It's the best thing you can do in this situation. Then, as for the exam, I'm sure I won't be the first to tell you that there will be countless scenarios they could present to you. Your quirk might not be suited to some, but the one's in which it is, will be the ones you excel at. That is the most important thing to remember about the exam." The Cement Quirk user explained calmly, smiling through every word.
"Okay, I understand." Mina responded simply.
"Good. Don't let these little things distract you from your studies. The largest feeling problems often have the simplest solutions, just remember that." He smiled, sitting up in the chair and resting his hands in his lap.
"Go on, go back to your dorm and rest up for tomorrow." He said warmly.
"Yes Sir. Thank you." The Acid Quirk user replied, bowing deeply when she'd gotten up from her seat, before picking her back up from the floor, pushing the last of her things into it, and making her way out of the classroom without another word.
"Is everything alright, Mina?" Izuku's voice cut through the silence of the now-empty corridors. She felt herself jump a little, and looked up towards the direction of his voice.
Leaning up against the wall by the window, was Izuku and Uraraka, who'd been patiently waiting for the girl, just far away enough so they wouldn't be eavesdropping on her's and Cementos's conversation.
"Midori! You scared me." She exclaimed after spotting them.
"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to." He responded quickly, Uraraka giggling away as he did.
"You two were waiting for me?" She asked, cocking her head inquisitively and making her way over to them.
"He insisted on waiting for you." Uraraka responded, still quietly giggling. Mina slowly nodded, smiling back and stopping once she'd reached the two.
"So... What we're you and Cementos talking about?" The brunette asked, softening her tone a little. Mina took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh.
"Nothing really interestin', just some stuff I've had on my mind recently." The sclera-eyed teen replied, firing a glance as Izuku, who had a guilty expression on his face. Uraraka seemed to have noticed this too, and she drummed on her thighs awkwardly.
"I see, well it's personal, so don't tell us anything you don't want to." The brunette smiled, before gently placing her hand upon her greenette friend's shoulder. "Come on, we'd better head back. I hear Tsu and Jiro are cooking for us tonight, and Tsu knows an amazing curry recipe!" She beamed, before turning on her heel and skipping away down the corridor.
Mina and Izuku stayed still for a moment, staring at each other awkwardly before a smile broke on her face, and a giggle escaped her lips.
"She's right, Tsu does make a crazy good curry." She grinned, before taking Izuku's hand in her own and starting at a run after the Zero-Gravity Quirk user. "Wait up Uraraka!" She hollered, Izuku stumbling behind her as he tried to get his footing. Whatever Cementos has told her in there had seemed to cheer her up a little, and that made something inside him finally feel a little more at ease.
"Oh, Midoriya, Ashido, Uraraka... I was starting to wonder where you'd disappeared to." Todoroki said with surprise as the three friends entered their dorm building making a bit of a ruckus, more Uraraka and Mina giggling away that Izuku.
"We were waiting for Mina to finish speaking to Cementos, sorry if we held anything up for you guys." Izuku apologised as the two girls ran off towards the kitchen. It already smelled like things had started cooking, but only very faint, and the four girls in the kitchen could just about be heard laughing away with each other through the hubbub of the other students in the common area.
"No need to apologise. I was just going to make a drink, maybe cola. Do you want anything?" The Half-Cold Half-Hot Quirk user asked with a smile, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder, in the direction of the kitchen.
"Yes please, the same as you, if that's alright." The greenette responded. Todoroki smiled, nodded, then turned and made his way towards the kitchen, whilst Izuku started into the common area. Everyone had already gotten changed into the pyjamas or other, more comfortable evening wear, and Ojiro and put some videos of previous Provisional Licensing Exams up on YouTube for them all to see.
Izuku didn't say anything to them as he entered the room, pushing the button on the lift to the boy's rooms and waiting silently as the elevator opened almost instantly. Again, without saying anything, Izuku entered the lift, pushed the button for his floor, and leaned against the back wall of the lift as the doors slowly closed, and he began his ascent.
He was actually feeling surprisingly relaxed now, considering it was the evening before one of the most major exams of his first year, but that was probably because, after giving it some real thought, his life had been so hectic up until this point, so this suddenly didn't feel as terrifying. From May, to what was now mid-August, so much had happened, and it felt like time had flown by at breakneck speeds
In mid to late May, was the Sports Festival, and that was where Izuku's real journey in the first year, began. After this, came the internships where he studied with Grand Torino, then after that, himself and Todoroki had a run-in with Hero Killer: Stain, after going to Iida's rescue. After Stain was the beginning of His and Mina's relationship, in early June.
Their relationship in and of itself was one of the biggest events of Izuku's life, not quite as amazing as All Might passing his power onto him, but a very close second place. Following this was the announcement of the Final Exams, Momo's Study Session, then the Final Exams themselves.
His encounter with Shigaraki Tomura followed this, along with the Forest Traning Camp and the attack from Muscular and the other villains that had destroyed their week of training. Izuku was hospitalised after this due to his horrific injuries, which he only recovered from thanks to Recovery Girl, and during this time, he had All Might and Aizawa personally come to his house and request his return to U.A.
And finally, he'd said goodbye to his mother, and along with the rest of U.A, left home to live in the brand new dorm buildings of U.A High School. They'd trained and studied, creating Ultimate Moves and mentally coming to terms with one of the final major events of their first years first semester, which finally brought them to now. The Sixteenth of August.
It was terrifying when he looked back on it. Three months felt like mere weeks, and his life had changed an astounding amount in that time. The more he thought about it, the more nauseous it made him feel. It was only recently that he realised they'd worked through the majority of their summer break, but he dared bring that up to the others, for fear they may riot.
Thankfully, once the Provisional Licensing Exam was over, they would have around two weeks of the Summer break left before their second semester began, and even though it was only a small amount of time compared to what summer breaks usually were, Izuku was incredibly grateful to have that time off.
He had a lot of hope for the second semester, however; hope that he'd be able to spend the holidays, out of school, and with his mother and Mina. His journey through the beginning of his first semester was so close to its end, and the climax that had once seemed so terrifying, suddenly felt simple compared to what had come before.
He couldn't think about it any more, and as the lift finally came to a stop, he forced the thoughts out of his mind, as it was starting to make him feel slightly 'lost in his own brain'. When he had the chance, however, he wanted to share this fact with Mina, and see how it made she'd react.
He chuckled to himself as he exited the lift, swinging his backpack off his shoulder and into the crease of his elbow, retrieving his keyfob from the front pocket and holding it up to the lock on his door. The round scanner let out a small beep after around a second, and the door clicked open, allowing him inside.
He took a deep breath of cool air as he entered his room, before letting it out with a sigh. Turning on his light, he gently set his bag down beside his desk, and proceeded to strip out of his uniform, freeing his body from the tight and stuffy formal prison. His scars had felt unusually irritated today, especially the large one under his compression sleeve. He couldn't wait to finally have the sleeve off and let the skin get some air.
After turning his uniform the right way around, folding it, and gently placing it in the top draw of his bedside table, Izuku sat down on his bed and gently rolled the compression sleeve down, and off his arm.
Almost instantly he felt his right elbow fall a little limp and weak, but that was probably because it really hadn't been very long at all since he'd first sustained the injury. He had hope that, after a few more weeks, the scars would be less tender, and his elbow would have recovered a little more. He wasn't expecting much, however, because he knew perfectly well that he'd be stuck with a compression sleeve for the rest of his life, but any progress was better than none.
Carefully he ran his nails over the long, stretched looking patch of skin on his right arm, scratching away the uncomfortable itch that had been bothering him all afternoon, before putting the compression sleeve back on, and moving over to his main chest of draws to find some comfortable evening wear. He wanted to spend a little time downstairs with his classmates, before coming back here for an early night. He wanted to be as prepared as possible for the exam tomorrow.
He didn't look very hard before deciding on what he wanted to wear this evening. A pair of semi-tight blue jeans and a black, short-sleeve T-shirt. He retrieved these two items from their draws, and changed into them, before giving himself a once over in the mirror. It was strange, just how much he'd changed since the start of U.A. His muscle mass had quite noticeably increased, and he'd gone from a scrawny timid teen to strong, well-built trainee hero.
It gave him a small boost of confidence, which was something he was glad to have at a time where he felt a bit of self-doubt, and after giving himself an approving smile, he turned away from the mirror, retrieved his keyfob from his desk, and pulled open the door to leave.
The sudden gasp of a female voice, however, quickly made him let go of the door, and he stumbled back at the sharp sound of someone who wasn't himself. Standing with her hand raised, only inches away from where the door had been, was Mina, her sclera eyes wide and her pink-skinned face pale with shock.
"J-Jeez Mina, you scared me!" Izuku exclaimed, clapping his hand to his chest and leaning his free hand on his knee, letting out a shaky sigh.
"You scared me!" She responded loudly, before a goofy smile crept onto her face and she let out a sweet giggle.
"I was just about to head back downstairs- Did you need something?" The greenette asked, composing himself and standing up straight.
"Yeah, I came up here to talk to you about some stuff... Could I keep you here for a little longer?" Mina asked, before inviting herself into Izuku's room, which he didn't mind.
Closing the door, he watched as the Acid Quirk user strolled into his room and over to his bed, sitting on it quite heavily and letting out a sigh.
"Is... Everything alright, Mina?" He asked curiously, letting go of the door handle and making his way towards her, bundling his keyfob up in his fist as he took a seat at her side.
"Not really..." She muttered, her sclera eyes twinkling with faint tears as she stared at the carpeted floor. Suddenly all the happiness and relief he'd been feeling, vanished, and nothing but concern filled his being.
"M-Mina, what's wrong? This isn't like you..." He started softly, slowly moving his hand towards hers.
"Exactly!" She exclaimed suddenly, lifting her hands and slapping them back down on her legs. She still hadn't changed out of her school uniform, but by the look of distress on her face, it seems she simply hadn't had the will do. Izuku withdrew his hand again. Maybe she wasn't really in the mood for something like holding his hand right now...
"I feel like I'm going crazy, Izuku." She stated, the first small tear falling down her cheek. That was the first time he'd heard her call him by his first name in a long time, and it awoke a little concern considering the circumstances. Had something happened that he'd completely and foolishly overlooked?
"Ever since the Trainin' Camp I've been worried sick about you, and... An' about everything!" She started. "I'm always thinkin' about whether you're safe or not; I'm always thinkin' about whether the next time you use your quirk could be the last time. Do you realise how painful it's been for me? To watch you go through all of this pain, and not be able to do a damn thing about it?" She asked rhetorically.
Of course, he knew... Or at least he liked to think he did. Ever since he first shared his and All Might's secret with her, he knew that things would be incredibly hard for her to process. But, perhaps it'd all become too much for her, and that thought broke his heart to shards. Was she breaking up with him because he'd unknowingly neglected her feelings?
"Every time you run off to fight or to save another life, without even caring if it'll put yours in danger... Do you even think of how I feel?" She asked, her tone quietening a little and becoming even more serious. Of course, he had. There wasn't a day that had passed through everything he'd done where he hadn't wondered how it'd made her feel. But she always seemed so bubbly and happy, that he never thought to ask about it.
"I have but... I haven't done enough to see how you really feel... I know that now..." He muttered, looking down at the floor. He felt too ashamed to look at her.
"That's not all though. I'm worried about how I fit into all of this. I always worry about if I'll hold you back, or if that, once all this is said and done, if our paths will even lead us in the same direction. I know it's probably hard to tell all this because I don't talk about it much, but you never really asked either, so I just kept it out of your way." She explained, drumming her hands on her legs and looking away from him, out of the window.
"I won't let our paths lead us apart..." Izuku muttered. Mina fell silent, sniffling as she wiped away the tears from her eyes. "If it wasn't for you, I don't know how long I would've lasted, and I mean that. When I worked myself half to death, you led me back to sense... And when I felt lost and alone, thinking I wasn't good enough for the position I've been given, and for the people around me, you reassured me that I was wrong." He listed, not looking away from her as he spoke.
"I regret never showing you how I really feel, b-but I'm always so scared to show affection to you, or tell you how I'm really feeling, because even though I know, deep down, that it could make you happy, my anxiety convinces me that it won't." He added, beginning to get a little teary-eyed himself, being the cry baby he'd been his whole life.
"In my eyes, you're exactly what I was missing, and without you, I don't know how I would manage..." He said, almost inaudibly. His face was burning hot, and he felt like he must've been glowing red, but he meant what he'd said with all his heart.
"I-I don't know if you feel this way too... But... I mean it..." He croaked, letting his eyes fall back to the floor. She hadn't seemed to react the entire time he was speaking, and the more he said, the more pointless it felt.
"You have to ask me if I feel the same way?" She asked quietly. Izuku's attention peaked at this phrase, and he looked back over to her with a curious frown.
"Of course I feel the same way... I've never felt more strongly about anything in my life..." She added, speaking up a little and turning to look at him. "Can we please, just agree on one thing going forwards?" She asked, turning her self to face him, crossing her legs and tucking her skirt down to keep herself hidden.
"W-What?" Izuku asked, nervously swallowing saliva.
"Can we be honest about how we're feeling from now on? If something is bothering us or affecting us, can we promise to tell each other?" She asked, looking straight into his minty eyes with her sclera ones with such seriousness.
Acting on impulse, Izuku placed his hand on her cheek and brought her face towards his, gently putting their lips together for a kiss. Mina didn't resist at all, kissing him back almost as soon as contact was made.
"I promise." He said after pulling away from her, holding her hand tightly. Moving forwards, they couldn't keep these things to themselves. He always knew what it took to make a healthy relationship thanks to his mother's advice, but after all that'd happened, he'd foolishly allowed it to slip his mind.
Well not any more. Starting from now, he wasn't going to let anything come between them, no matter what it was. She was worth as much as the quirk that'd been so graciously given to him by the number one Hero in the world. Priceless and irreplaceable, and no matter what happened, nothing in the universe would change that.