Jirou took a deep breath as she sat at the table with her phone held out in front of her, contemplating what to say to start off the group chat she just created. She knew that she probably had to tell the others in the Dungeons and Dragons group sooner rather than later, if for no other reason than to get ahead of the rumors that were inevitably going to circulate. She groaned instinctively as she imagined how Mina and Toru would react, before she felt a hand on each of her shoulders. With a few encouraging glances, Jirou started typing.
Jirou: Alright, so, you guys probably have a lot of questions about what happened yesterday morning.
Almost immediately, replies started rolling in.
Toru: Definitely.
Mina: Yeah, like, I literally just woke up an hour ago and apparently Mineta's been moved out?
Mina: Something about breaking into Momoyao's room? What's going on with that?
Koda: I heard about that too. Are you okay, Yaoyorozu?
Momo: I'm fine. Thank you, Koda.
Momo: To make a long story short, I accidentally left my door open earlier yesterday morning. Mineta must have deduced that and sought to take advantage of it in order to rifle through my...belongings.
Momo: I succeeded in stopping him before he could make off with anything, however.
Koda: Well, that's a relief.
Kaminari: Yeah, he was, like, cocooned in capture tape the last time I saw him, lmao.
Mina: Huh. You seem surprisingly okay with that.
Toru: Yeah, aren't you two friends or something?
Kaminari: Ehhh...I wouldn't go that far. Especially after this.
Kaminari: We got along well most of the time, but...
Kaminari: Look, you disrespect my friends, then you aren't my friend, you know what I mean? And I think of all of you girls as my friends.
Mina: Awww. =
Kaminari: I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for a while, but at this point, good riddance.
Toru: Wait, so is he expelled or something?
Momo: Not exactly. The principal believes it to be unsafe to actually expel anyone, so long as the League of Villains is still at large. Nobody wants a repeat of what happened with Bakugo.
Toru: Aha. Makes sense.
Momo: However, Mineta is no longer a part of our class.
Mina: Whoo!
Toru: Yeah!
Mina: Would it be insensitive to throw a party? Cuz I kinda wanna throw a party.
Momo: Kyoka and Kaminari have already made plans to that effect. ;)
Jirou: Common area at 5, y'all, don't miss it.
Jirou: I got Sato to bake treats for the occasion.
Mina: 0-0!
Mina: Okay, yeah, I'll be there.
Toru: Same!
Koda: Ah, I dunno, I'm not really much of a party person.
Jirou: Yeah, I figured. That's why I told Sato to bring some treats by your place before the party starts.
Koda: Aw, thanks, Jirou!
Jirou: No problem, man.
Jirou: Oh, btw, for those wondering, Mineta's apparently taking one on one classes with Midnight now.
Toru: ?
Koda: Uh, I don't know Mineta that well, but, um...isn't that something he'd like?
Jirou: See, I figured that too, but Momo seemed to think otherwise.
Momo: I'm telling you, Kyoka, you should have seen the look in her eyes when the principal asked her to do it. It was *horrifying*.
Mina: Hang on, there it is again!
Mina: You keep referring to her by her first name!
Toru: 0-0
Toru: Hold up.
Koda: Oh, yeah, that did seem a little odd.
Momo: Ah, yes. That was another thing we wanted to discuss with you all.
Toru: No way
Momo: Kyoka and I are dating.
Mina: OMG
Toru: AAAAAAAAAA
Jirou: Ugh, this is exactly what I was worried about.
Koda: Oh, wow!
Koda: Uh, is "congratulations" the right response here? I'm not quite sure how that all works.
Jirou: It works. Thanks, dude.
Jirou: Glad someone here isn't completely freaking out. =/
Mina: SCREW YOU I NEED DETAILS
Koda: Ashido, remember the table rule.
Mina: BUT DETAILS
Koda: They might not want to give details, though.
Koda: Also, Hagakure, can you please stop screaming? I can hear it all the way from my room. ;(
Toru: SORRY
Toru: I'M JUST SO EXCITED
Momo: Thank you, Koda, but I think we can give at least some details.
Mina: YES
Momo: As long as none of you bother Kyoka and me asking for details we don't wish to disclose, alright?
Jirou: And don't go blabbing to anyone outside of this group, alright? I'd rather not deal with everyone finding out immediately.
Mina: Got it, got it, now dish the dish, sis!
Jirou: Okay, okay, calm down.
Jirou: So, uh, after we all leveled up our characters the other night, me and Momo were talking.
Mina: Uh huh...
Jirou: And, uh, I was telling her about how all of you were teasing me about, you know, liking her.
Mina: Uh huh...!
Jirou: So, I kinda just...went for it.
Jirou: Just, flat out said I liked her.
Toru: OMG YES!
Mina: Aw, I knew you could do it!
Mina: Just needed a little bit of prodding. ;)
Jirou: A little, she says. =/
Toru: How did you take it, Momoyao?
Momo: Ah, well, I fell asleep before she sent the text.
Mina: Oh no! xD
Toru: xD
Momo: Yes, it was definitely something to wake up to.
Momo: I wasn't entirely sure that I wasn't still dreaming.
Momo: And I have to admit, I may have, uh...overreacted, somewhat.
Mina: Omg, what did you do?
Kaminari: She ran straight to the common area in nothing but her nightgown.
Kaminari: No hair tie, no shoes, none of that. I've never seen her look more disheveled in my life. xD
Jirou: Ugh, we *just* went over the table rule!
Momo: It's alright. I suppose this is as good a time as any for Kaminari to share his perspective.
Toru: Ooh, do tell.
Kaminari: Ah, there isn't too much to talk about. I was hanging with Mineta. We had just wished Midoriya luck on this interview he was doing yesterday.
Mina: Whoa, what?
Mina: Is he doing a work study?
Mina: Who's it with?
Mina: Why am I just now hearing about it?!
Kaminari: Hey, hey, easy, Idk any of that. He just said he was going to an interview.
Kaminari: Dunno what came of that. Has he not brought it up to any of you guys?
Toru: Nah.
Koda: Nope.
Mina: Nah, this is the first I've heard.
Momo: That's unusual. I would have assumed he'd tell the group he was applying for a work study, in case it affected future sessions.
Toru: Yeah.
Toru: Eh, we can ask him later. I wanna hear the rest of the story!
Kaminari: Okay, okay, jeez.
Kaminari: So, yeah, we were just chilling when all of a sudden, Momo rushed in from the stairwell, asking us where Kyoka was.
Mina: Wait, hold up, hold up.
Mina: "Kyoka?" ;)
Mina: Do my eyes deceive me? ;) ;)
Jirou: ...
Jirou: Alright, so there was *another* thing we wanted to talk about. =/
Mina: Goddamn, you go, girl! =D
Toru: THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE
Koda: Hagakure! Stop screaming please! ;{
Toru: SORRY x{
Koda: But also, congratulations! Again!
Jirou: Ugh, why do you two have to be so dramatic?
Jirou: But thanks, Koda.
Kaminari: Yeah, thanks a lot, man.
Mina: Gee, Yo Yo, how come your mom lets you have two cute partners? xD
Jirou: Stop calling me that, I swear to God!
Kaminari: Wait, Mina, you call her Yo Yo? =0
Jirou: Uh huh. All the time.
Momo: =0
Momo: This is valuable information.
Jirou: Please no.
Kaminari: Aw, I like it, though. It's cool and cute at the same time! =
Mina: Finally, my genius is appreciated.
Jirou: "Genius," she says.
Momo: It is rather cute, as nicknames go. ;)
Jirou: Et tu, Momo? =/
Mina: Ha! Now you can't possibly deny it!
Toru: Okay, I've managed to get all of the squealing out of my system.
Toru: What'd I miss?
Koda: They've all been talking about Mina's nickname for Jirou.
Mina: !
Koda: *Ashido
Koda: Sorry, I got mixed up for a second. ={
Mina: No, no, dude, it's okay! I don't mind!
Mina: Tbh, I like my friends calling me "Mina" a little more than "Ashido" anyway.
Koda: Oh! Um, are you sure? I mean, I know most people call you that, but like, Midoriya and Iida don't, plus I don't really know you that well, so I didn't wanna risk it.
Mina: Yeah, those two can be a little too formal sometimes, lol.
Mina: Go for it, man! =
Toru: Honestly, I like my first name a lot better too. "Hagakure" is super long, but "Toru" is short and sweet!
Mina: Aww! Just like you!
Toru: =}
Koda: Well, alright then. I'll try to remember that.
Kaminari: So, do you wanna hear the rest of the story, Mina, or are you just gonna keep flirting with people? ;)
Mina: Pfft.
Toru: Story please!
Mina: Yeah, I wanna hear the rest.
Kaminari: Alright, so Momo's asking where Kyoka is, and as far as I knew, she hadn't come down to the common area and was probably in her room, so I told her that.
Kaminari: Girl immediately booked it back up the stairs and at this point I'm thinking, "Okay, something's up. I better go check on her." I looked at Mineta, and he had this look in his eye. I could tell he was planning something, so I told him flat out "Don't try anything, man," and went up the stairs after Momo.
Jirou: Narrator: He tried something.
Momo: xD
Mina: Omg, yes. xD
Kaminari: So I finally get up there, the door's open, and, uh...well, I'll let the girls share the rest if they want.
Mina: 0-0
Toru: 0-0
Jirou: I really don't want to, tbh. Momo?
Momo: I will only say that it was nothing scandalous.
Momo: But that our mutual feelings for each other were made...extremely evident.
Mina: Aww. Was it romantic? ;)
Jirou: Eh...
Momo: I'm...not sure I would call it that, personally, but it was...relieving.
Jirou: Yeah. Felt like this huge weight was lifted.
Mina: I'll say. It was almost painful to watch you two sometimes. Did you seriously not know until last night, Momo?
Momo: Unfortunately, yes.
Mina: Jeez. Well, I suppose we all got our blind spots.
Momo: ...Indeed.
Mina: So, what happened next?
Kaminari: Well, I was about to leave the girls alone, but Momo realized she had left her door open earlier, so she wound up heading back upstairs. She kinda gave Kyoka a look on her way out, which I didn't pay any mind in the moment, but looking back on it...
Mina: Omg, you knew, didn't you? xD
Momo: ;)
Toru: Wait, so you knew that Jirou liked Kaminari and that he liked her, but not that she liked you? How's that work?
Momo: Admittedly, there was a fair amount of second-guessing involved.
Momo: In retrospect, it was pretty obvious, but before today, in spite of the evidence, I wouldn't have considered it a likely enough possibility to act on with complete confidence.
Jirou: I definitely didn't think it was likely, even when I actually went for it.
Kaminari: Same. I figured Kyoka would hit me in the face with her jacks if I tried to ask her out.
Jirou: I wouldn't have hit you in the face. =/
Mina: I mean, you do hit him in the face a lot.
Jirou: No I don't!
Momo: I've counted at least five separate incidents which I have been made aware of over the course of the year.
Jirou: ...Point taken.
Jirou: But I'm not doing that anymore, I promise.
Kaminari: It's true. I made her promise me that. ;)
Toru: So, you really are both dating Jirou now?
Jirou: Uh, yeah.
Momo: Indeed.
Kaminari: Last I checked.
Toru: Okay, just making sure because now I think I might have to let out some more squealing.
Jirou: Oh my God. =/
Mina: Pfft. Can I join you? I've been resisting the urge for a while now.
Jirou: Ugh, why did I let you guys talk me into telling them again?
At that moment, both Momo and Kaminari, who were sitting in chairs adjacent to Jirou, moved closer, such that their heads rested on both of Jirou's shoulders. Jirou sighed, blushing profusely as she responded to the reminder.
"Ah. Right."
Her partners both giggled as Jirou looked down at her phone, trying to keep herself together. She found herself briefly distracted as she read the latest text in the group chat.
Koda: Midoriya's gonna have a bad time scrolling through all this when he comes on.
"Huh, yeah," she remarked out loud. "Where is he anyway?"
Izuku walked from the train station to the Heights Alliance dorm building in a daze, still playing through all of the events of the last two days in his mind. Saturday had been bad enough. Being accepted as an intern to All Might's sidekick would have left him bouncing up and down with joy under ordinary circumstances, but the look of contempt in Sir Nighteye's eyes...Izuku knew he wouldn't soon forget it. In those eyes, it was like Izuku could see everyone who had ever told him, with or without words, that he wasn't good enough; that he'd never accomplish anything; that he was too dumb and too stubborn to face reality. That he would always be nothing but a worthless, Quirkless loser. Becoming All Might's successor, starting to really get the hang of One for All, had given him hope that all of those people were wrong about him; that he could amount to something. That belief was what drove him to accept Nighteye's offer anyway, even if it was all just to drive home how much better Nighteye's sidekick, Mirio Togata, would have been as a successor to All Might. Izuku had allowed himself to think that this internship could still be a valuable learning experience. He had been optimistic.
But, of course, the universe could never allow him to be optimistic.
He ran through every second of the incident in his head. When he had first bumped into Eri, a little girl fleeing from some dark figure in an alleyway. When he saw up-and-coming crime lord Kai Chisaki standing over him as he tried to comfort her. Their conversation. The bandages on her arms and legs. The way she refused to let go of him...until Chisaki moved to take off his gloves, a deadly sign Izuku had noticed far too late. Watching them walk deeper into the alleyway, deeper into the darkness. And, of course, that same look in Nighteye's eyes as the hero berated Izuku for his arrogant idealism.
It would have been easy to dismiss the look Nighteye gave him if Nighteye were simply wrong. If he was just a jerk who delighted in causing him pain, like all of the kids who had made fun of him in the past. Izuku wasn't sure that that wasn't the case, to be honest; he had seen a hint of bitterness in those eyes as well. Perhaps Nighteye had hoped to be the successor himself?
Izuku shook his head, driving away such thoughts. For as much as he had revered the legendary hero, Nighteye didn't seem like the type of hero who would want All Might's power for himself, and all of the fame and infamy that came with it. And even if he had, Izuku couldn't write off Nighteye's criticisms as nothing more than simple jealousy. The hero was right; acting rashly could have led to Eri getting hurt, not to mention Izuku, Togata, and a lot of other innocent people. They all could have been hurt or killed, and it wouldn't have accomplished anything. A part of him wondered if he could have done something, if both he and Nighteye had underestimated their capacity to help Eri. But, he knew that, whatever his feelings about leaving Eri behind, Chisaki was too powerful for Izuku and Togata to deal with safely. He knew this. He couldn't argue with this.
So why did it still hurt so much?
"Ow!" he cried out as he slammed face-first into the front door of the common area, having been far too lost in his own muttered thoughts to focus on where he had been going.
Oh. That might have been why.
"Whoa, dude, you okay?" he heard someone ask, their voice muffled by the door. He mumbled something in response, too busy clutching his face in pain to think clearly. The door opened, and he was led inside by something wrapped around his arm like a rope. As the door closed behind him and he began to get his bearings, he saw that one of Jirou's jacks had pulled him into the building, causing his eyes to widen a bit. He forgot how strong those things could be sometimes.
"Hey, Midoriya, you made it!" Kaminari called out, waving from across the common area. Izuku moved to wave back before he noticed that Kaminari appeared to be tossing a purple stress ball up and down for some odd reason. As Izuku looked around, he began to notice other things: a bunch of identical purple stress balls sitting in a large bowl, cupcakes with alternating purple and yellow frosting, red cups filled with lemonade, a lemon cake with white frosting, and what appeared to be a piñata crafted in Mineta's image which Momo was trying (and failing) to hang up onto the ceiling. Once Kaminari had made it over to him, Izuku looked at him, then Jirou, then back to him.
"Uh...what's going on?" he asked, more confused than he had been in quite some time.
"Mineta's eviction party," Jirou replied immediately in a deadpan tone before drinking a cup of lemonade. "Mineta's not invited," she added, smirking.
This only confused Izuku further, causing Kaminari to cut in. "Dude, did you not see the group chat?"
"What group chat?" Izuku replied.
Kaminari was about to answer before he stopped, looked at Izuku, and grinned, shooting him with a pair of finger guns. "Ah, I see what you're doing. Forget I said anything." Before Izuku could say anything else, Kaminari spotted Kirishima coming down the stairs with Bakugo in tow, and quickly moved to join them. Jirou rolled her eyes and cracked a wry smile as Kaminari ran off, before turning to Izuku.
"You have no idea what Denki's talking about, do you?"
"Nope."
"Figured," she replied, blushing a bit as she realized her slip up. She looked at Izuku's face. "You sure you don't want an ice pack or something? I could have Momo make you one in, like, two seconds."
Izuku shook his head; the pain had largely faded by that point. "Nah, I'm good. What's this about a group chat? Mineta getting evicted? And did I hear you say 'Denki' earlier-?"
"Jirou, can you help me with this?!" Momo called out in a panic, clearly having trouble keeping the piñata from falling on top of her.
"Coming!" Jirou replied, eagerly taking the opportunity for an exit. "Check your messages, don't tell anyone outside the DnD group, if you do I'm leaving and maybe murdering you, cool? Cool." With that, she departed, leaving Izuku with little more information than he had had before the conversation started.
Realizing suddenly that he hadn't had anything to eat or drink since breakfast, he decided to sample some of the snacks that had been laid out. As he cut himself a slice of lemon cake and drank a cup of lemonade, he idly glanced around the area, trying to distract himself from his thoughts. He nearly choked on his lemonade when he saw Midnight of all people leaned up against a wall further down the hallway to the laundry rooms, casually partaking in a slice of lemon cake herself. His troubles were temporarily replaced by a new series of questions, and he soon found himself walking over to the R-rated hero, who flashed him her (quite literally) trademarked smile.
"Oh, hey, Midoriya," she said, taking another bite of her cake while pointing at Izuku's plate. "Mmm. You made a good choice, this cake is exquisite."
Izuku couldn't keep himself from sweating nervously. From his point of view, out of all of his teachers, Midnight was uniquely terrifying, for a number of reasons.
"U-um, Miss Midnight-?"
"Half-tempted to ask Sato who taught him how to bake. For personal reasons."
"Miss Midnight, w-what are you doing here? What is all this about Mineta being evicted?"
Midnight paused mid-bite, somewhat confused. "Wait, did you not know? You live right next door to the little scamp, how did you not notice him being moved out yesterday?"
"I...was busy," Izuku replied hesitantly. "I had a lot on my mind, I guess." Without thinking about it, he muttered, "Although the fact that he didn't try to hurt me in some way was kind of weird."
"I'm sorry, what?" Midnight asked, having to hold back a laugh. Realizing he had said that out loud, Izuku promptly changed the subject.
"S-so, he was evicted yesterday?"
Midnight nodded. She'd play along for a bit. "Mhm. Got busted Saturday morning for breaking into Yaoyorozu's room and trying to make off with her clothes. Nezu didn't think it was safe to actually expel him, so now he's my little side project."
Izuku blinked. He didn't like the sound of that. "S-side project?"
"Yup. He's receiving instruction separately from the rest of you guys in 1-A, under my supervision. Nezu thought I would be...uniquely suited to make him into a productive and non-misogynistic member of society." She giggled with a kind of eagerness which left Izuku even more uneasy.
"S-so this party...was it Ashido's idea?" he decided to ask.
Midnight chuckled, giving Izuku a look which he couldn't quite read. "You'd think, wouldn't you? But nah, I think it was Jirou's. She's the one who's been managing everything, from what I've seen." She chuckled again. "Didn't seem like much of a party planner, but...I suspect she had some help," she said, glancing towards the girl in question as she, Kaminari, and Momo succeeded in setting up the piñata. Izuku followed Midnight's gaze briefly before daring to ask another question.
"And y-you're here because...?"
"Hm? Oh, I was grading papers. Got bored. Went out for a walk, saw Yaoyorozu with that silly piñata, walked in, and hey! Lemon cake." As she spoke, she took one final bite, evidently pleased with the dessert before deciding to switch gears. "So, anyway, what's this about Mineta wanting to hurt you? Sounds serious."
Izuku began blushing, sweat continuing to accumulate as he hastily came up with an explanation.
"Ah, uh, i-it's not, don't worry. He, uh, he was just mad that I was, ah, hanging out with Ashido, that's all." Izuku sighed in relief. It wasn't technically a lie.
Midnight, however, simply smirked. "Really?" she asked. "Sounds serious~." At this, Izuku only reddened even further, causing Midnight to laugh.
"W-what gives you that impression?!" he asked, half-panicking and barely managing to get the words out. Midnight, still clearly amused, managed to calm down enough to answer.
"Well, whatever that was, for one. Also, between your hair and your face, you're kinda looking like a ripe tomato right now, kid," she said, chuckling as the mental image that analogy generated moved to occupy a permanent spot in her brain. The comparison then became even more accurate, which made Midnight a bit more sympathetic. "You know, I'd wager you got a better shot than you think," she said, glancing off to the side with a smirk on her face.
"Huh?" Izuku asked, preoccupied with his own embarrassment. Before he could respond further, a familiar voice called out to him, immediately diverting his gaze away from Midnight and towards the common area. His eyes widened slightly when Mina came into view, wearing short jeans and a stylized black top with the word "acid" written on it in bright, colorful letters. She was waving to him enthusiastically, her bright smile on full display, and for a brief period Izuku was too busy smiling back to even think about looking away. However, as the pink girl began moving towards him, he was provided with something to snap him out of his trance.
"4, 5-wow, 6 whole seconds of awestruck silence," Midnight said, still smirking and causing Izuku to start blushing once more. "You've got it bad~, huh?"
Izuku couldn't quite manage an articulate response, and as Mina came within earshot, she definitely noted the same resemblance that Midnight had earlier.
"Man, dude, where have you been all weekend?" she asked. "I missed you." As Izuku began stammering in response to that heartfelt statement, Mina grinned before glancing at Midnight. "Almost as much as I missed seeing that look on your face. Seriously, what the heck were you two talking about?"
Midnight chuckled before Izuku could compose himself. "Oh, nothing much. I was just complimenting Midoriya here on his excellent taste."
Mina chuckled somewhat awkwardly in response, beginning to form a hypothesis about their conversation. "In cake?" she asked, hesitating slightly.
Midnight took a second before replying. "Yup."
Izuku, at this point growing somewhat cross with the carefree teacher's presence, got himself together enough to try and get her to go away. "H-here's an idea, w-why don't you help yourself to another slice of cake, miss Midnight?" he suggested, in an embarrassed and exasperated tone which only served to amuse Midnight even more. Never before had she been told so politely to shut the hell up.
"I like the way you think, kid," she said before walking away from the pair like a model on a runway, and doing exactly what Izuku had suggested. Mina watched her go with a perplexed look on her face, while Izuku took the opportunity to take a deep breath, centering himself just enough to immediately do something stupid.
"I-I like your outfit," he said, before immediately regretting it and blushing again. Mina turned towards him and smiled, although part of her brain remained fixed on what Midnight had said to him earlier.
"Thanks! The letters are supposed to be kind of a pan flag deal, but in like a tie dye thing, you know?" As Izuku looked at the letters again, he could see the traces of cyan, yellow, and magenta mixed in amongst the white letters. He couldn't quite hide his surprise; he hadn't noticed that about this particular shirt of hers before.
"It looks nice on you," he said, not quite sure how else to respond. Mina smiled a little bit brighter.
"Thanks," she said again, more softly this time, before chuckling a bit. "Your outfit looks nice too, but...I dunno if it's what I'd wear to a party, personally."
"Huh?" Izuku asked before looking down. He had just remembered that he never took off his hero costume before he left Nighteye's agency for the day. "Oh. Right. I-I should probably change."
"Yeah," Mina agreed with a slight smirk. "You mind if I walk with you and wait in the hallway while you do that?"
Izuku began blushing a bit more. "I-I'm probably just gonna turn in afterwards. It's...it's been a long day, and...I don't quite have the energy for a party or a hang out right now. You should stay here, have fun with the others."
Mina's expression softened into a look of understanding, with traces of concern. "Is it something you can talk about?"
Izuku winced. That was the hardest thing about this. "Not really, no. Agency policy, we can't disclose anything without authorization, so-"
"Gotcha, gotcha." For a moment, nothing more was said, before Mina held out her hand. "C'mon. The others will still be here in a couple minutes. Besides, I've, uh...I've been wanting to talk with you about something for a few days. If that's alright?"
Izuku hesitated for a moment before taking her hand in his. "Yeah. Yeah, that's fine."
Mina smiled at him, a little bit of her usual brightness returning, but also...the slightest trace of lilac in her cheeks. "Cool," she said, before leading him through the common area and towards the elevator. As the pair walked, Izuku glanced around, and to his relief, nobody seemed to notice them. That relief proved to be short-lived, however, as he spotted Midnight with another slice of lemon cake, which she put down in order to give him two thumbs up. Izuku grumbled slightly and looked away, thankful that Mina didn't seem to notice their teacher at all. Only when the elevator doors closed did Izuku dare to speak.
"S-so, uh, what's this I'm hearing about a group chat?"
"Hm?" Mina said, evidently distracted for a second. "Oh, yeah, Jiriou's dating Momo and Kaminari."
Izuku's eyes widened a bit as he let out a chuckle. "Huh! Wow, that's...I mean, I thought Rona and Alis were being a little flirty back at the bar, but I wasn't expecting that."
Mina giggled a bit. "I don't know how they didn't figure out they liked each other before now. They've been lowkey flirting with each other for almost as long as I've hung out with them."
Izuku chuckled a bit before a question occurred to him. "And just to be clear, Yaoyorozu and Kaminari aren't-"
"Probably not, yeah," Mina interrupted, chuckling. "If they were, they would've said so, plus..." She made a dramatic show of putting her fingers to her temples and concentrating with her eyes closed, as if she were trying to move something with telekinesis. Izuku couldn't help but crack a smile at her before she stopped and shook her head. "Nope, can't imagine it."
Izuku found himself chuckling along with her for a moment before he thought of something else. "You know, a group chat would be useful for the campaign. We could use it for, uh, updates and stuff."
"Heh. Yeah," Mina agreed. "You...are still thinking of running a session this Friday, yeah? I'm sure everyone would be cool with you waiting a bit, if you aren't up to it."
Izuku paused, considering the question. He didn't want to disappoint her and everyone else in the group, but...
"I dunno," he admitted. "I dunno. I...I'll need to think about that."
Mina nodded, her concern returning. "Got it. Just, uh, let us know what you decide, you know?"
"Yeah, no, yeah, I'll...I'll do that." As Izuku spoke, the elevator doors opened, and he looked down the hallway for a second before turning around. "Well, uh, this is where I get off."
"Yeah," Mina agreed, for once at a loss for words. As Izuku turned back around and stepped out of the elevator, in a moment of impulse, she held her hand over the door, preventing it from closing. "Wait," she called out, desperate to say something. Izuku, a little confused, turned around again, looking at her quizzically.
"Y-yeah? What is it, Ashido?"
For some reason, she found herself feeling a little upset about that, just enough to where the already-thin filter between her thoughts and her words dropped entirely. "You can call me Mina, you know," she said, smiling slightly while blushing a deeper shade of lilac than Izuku had ever seen on her face.
"Y-you sure?" he asked, blushing himself. A part of his brain felt like he knew where she was going with this. The rest of his brain didn't want to believe it.
"Y-yeah," she replied, somehow more embarrassed now that he was embarrassed, and feeling the need to deflect a little. "I-I mean, to be honest, Ochaco probably wouldn't mind it, either. Think Momo would be fine with it; her family name's pretty long anyways. Toru definitely doesn't mind, she couldn't care less. And, you know, Tsuyu's been asking you to call her that since we met her, s-so..." She let her half-stammering sentence end somewhat abruptly, leaving a brief awkward silence between the two of them.
"Uh...okay, sure, Ash-um, Mina," he said, blushing a bit deeper as he caught himself. Even if he'd almost slipped up a few times in his head, saying it aloud would still take some getting used to. "I-I'll have to ask the other girls, just to make sure," he added, not sure how else to continue the conversation. Eventually, after another pause, he asked, "...Is that all you wanted to say?"
Mina's eyes widened ever-so-slightly at the way Izuku asked that question. It sounded as if he was anticipating something. Had he been expecting her to ask what she wanted to ask? Was he hoping she would? She was ordinarily pretty good at reading people, but she never could tell how much of Izuku's nervousness around her was him being interested or just him being nervous around girls in general. After hearing Jirou's stories earlier, she had figured that a direct approach would be more effective than what she had been doing, so if he really was expecting it, then…
Then...
"I...we like you, a lot," Mina said. "You know, everyone in the DnD group, I mean. Plus the, uh, the Midorisquad, heh, obviously. Really, pretty much everyone else in 1-A except for Bakugo are pretty chill with you, from what I can tell. And...you know, I know you said you actually can't talk about whatever is bothering you, but still...we're all here for you. I just...I wanted to remind you that, you know, me and a lot of other people really care about you. Okay?" She paused to look at him, the concern in her eyes causing a curious effect on Izuku's part. That same warm and fuzzy feeling he had experienced before felt even more intense, to the point where his chest felt constricted because of it. It had been a hot minute since he had experienced anything like that, and when he began crying right in front of her, Mina naturally became even more concerned. "Midori?" she asked, a part of her worried she had said something wrong, and yet he seemed to be...smiling? As she took a step closer towards him, he held out a hand, taking a second to breathe.
"I'm good. I'm good," he said quickly, wiping at his eyes with his arm before taking another couple of breaths. "I just...it's a little hard to believe it sometimes. You know?" Mina's expression softened. She did know, at least some of it, anyway. His wobbly smile said more than any amount of words could convey, and seeing it in that moment, Mina found herself wanting to hug him more than she had ever wanted to hug a person in her entire life. Still, she didn't want to risk making him uncomfortable, so instead she simply laughed a little and smiled her usual bright smile.
"Believe it, buddy," she said, causing him to laugh a little himself. The two stood in silence for a moment, both too distracted by each other to speak. Eventually, when the awkwardness started to settle back in, Izuku spoke up.
"I, uh, I'm gonna go turn in now, but...thanks. I...I think I really needed to hear that today."
Mina smiled back at him. "Don't sweat it, Midori. See you in homeroom tomorrow?"
Izuku couldn't help but chuckle at that, and, in fact, he actually felt somewhat confident in that particular moment. "I, uh, I haven't known you to be the type of girl who looked forward to homeroom," he said, doing his best to hide his nervousness with his replication of a calm, confident smirk. Mina couldn't quite hide her surprise, or her blush. Izuku Midoriya was honest to God trying to flirt with her. Not wanting to be caught too off-guard and feeling a little more daring herself, she decided to reply in kind.
"Yeah, well, I used to hate homeroom, but...then I remembered that you were in it," she said, her smile becoming somewhat flirtatious. "So now I figure it's actually pretty sweet." The two chuckled for a couple seconds before they both looked away, rubbing their shoulders and hoping the other person didn't notice their ridiculously visible blushes. "A-anyway, see you then," she finished awkwardly.
"Y-yeah, see you," Izuku said, while Mina moved her hand from the door and allowed the elevator to close, leaving Izuku no other option but to return to his room and evaluate what had just happened.
As soon as she was sure he was out of earshot, Mina immediately began giggling with a giddiness appropriate for a schoolgirl, bouncing up and down a little in the elevator. She still felt concern for Izuku's well-being, and it was for this reason that she ultimately didn't say what she had been planning on saying initially. All the same, however, there were still things to celebrate here. She could now say, without much room for doubt, that Izuku liked her back. The fact that he even attempted flirting with her proved it, not to mention everything else she had noticed. Of course, now was most certainly not the time, she knew that. He was clearly going through a lot. Best to give him some space, let him come to her when he was ready. For now, though, she could allow herself to jump around a bit.
Or so she thought, at least, before the doors opened mid-jump, revealing Jirou, Momo, and Kaminari all looking at her with varying degrees of amusement. Back on the ground, Mina chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head and averting her gaze as all three of them grinned a little bit wider. In her head, Mina sighed with some slight annoyance. They totally knew.
Izuku's thoughts as he got settled into his room for the first time since he woke up were far more muddled. Everything from before was still there; the guilt, the regrets, the voices in his head telling him he was nothing but a failure. And yet, now...now the thoughts didn't exist in isolation, at the very least. Now they were joined by other thoughts, by mental snapshots and potentially irrational hopes he wouldn't dare speak of. And when he finally settled down to sleep after hours of catching up on homework, it was not nightmarish recaps of the day's horrors which greeted him, but pleasant dreams about a pink-haired girl more beautiful than anyone he'd ever met. And for some time, he slept peacefully, experiencing some brief respite.
At least, at first.
Agh, finally, this took forever.
I agonized a lot over this particular chapter. I wanted to cover a lot of the big relationship stuff, but I'm also conscious of the fact that this is supposed to be a Dungeons and Dragons fic, so I wanted to strike a good balance to where I could cover what I wanted to while leaving room for more DnD shenanigans in the next chapter. Dunno how good of a job I did, especially with the text convo; that took me so much longer to push through than the rest of this, and I honestly couldn't even tell you why. Still, in the end, it's done, and hopefully y'all enjoy it. Let me know what you think, have a fantastic night, and take care.