The thought of winter break brewed in Izuku's mind with each passing day, but what stood at the forefront of his mind was the idea of dating Nejire Hado. It was an odd one to think about. All the doubts in his mind clashed with a clatter of symphonies and created marvelous arguments about why he shouldn't ask her out. Meanwhile, his heart told him to go for it.
And so it led him to a stalemate. An analysis paralysis.
At some point, Izuku avoided Nejire whenever he could. Sometimes he couldn't, but he didn't let it deter him from enjoying his time with her.
However, he also didn't let it distract him from the fact he was overthinking every minuscule detail about the next step in their relationship. Should it go in that direction.
Izuku sighed as he walked to U.A. High School in the morning. For now, he was walking alone to Class 1-A. It was his own choice. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before a certain someone joined him.
When Izuku heard footsteps match his pace, he turned and found Ashido following him. Izuku winced and looked ahead, despite their eyes locking a second ago.
"Midoriya! How is my favorite little kitten?" Ashido asked, reaching to touch his cat ears.
"I'm... I'm doing fine." Izuku said, shirking from her hand.
Had it gone a few more inches, she would have touched his ears.
Izuku stopped walking. Ashido imitated his action.
"Um, what are you doing here?" Izuku asked.
"What? A person who's interested in your relationship with Nejire Hado can't be interested?"
Izuku groaned inwardly. A rumor of this magnitude couldn't be kept a secret. And it wasn't like Nejire was visiting him in secret. Still, wasn't the girl's side of the dorm on the opposite side? It was unlikely for Bakugo to spill the beans to the girls of Class 1-A. Or was it?
"How did you know?"
"That you two are dating?"
"Ack! No, not that! H-How did you know about my relationship with Nejire? Don't tell me it was Nejire…"
"Nah, of course not! I learned this from the rumors going around Class 1-A! Why do you think I know everything about your relationship? How she knit custom winter cat hats for you, and how you took care of Eri one Saturday afternoon with Nejire? Or that she keeps hanging out with you in your room?"
The more Ashido shared, the more Izuku's jaw dropped in disbelief. If it wasn't for the limit established by the range of his mandible, it would have dropped to the center of the Earth.
"W-Why do you know all of this?" Izuku asked.
"How do you think?"
"Stalking?"
"Bingo!" Ashido exclaimed, winking.
"Really?!"
Ashido giggled. "No, that would be a horrible breach of privacy! I said I would protect you as the leader of the Midoriya Protection Squad, not stalk you, dude! Otherwise, we would have to rename it to the Stalking Midoriya Squad, which carries a negative connotation! But I do have my sources." She said, waving her phone in the air.
Izuku's eyes flickered, following the waving phone for several seconds. The urge to jump, driven by his cat-like instincts, almost consumed him. If it wasn't for the strength of his humanistic component, Izuku would have been powerless to stop himself.
When he shook his head, he snapped out of his instinctual stupor. In the background, his mind was working overtime. It didn't take long before his brain connected the dots. Suddenly, Izuku realized how Ashido knew the specific details of his relationship.
"Nejire told you everything?" Izuku asked.
Wasn't it the other way around? He thought Ashido was the one providing Nejire information, but it seemed to be a mutual relationship. In retrospect, he should have known.
"Yup, you betcha! Our friendship bloomed when she was interested in my horns and touched them! We traded phone numbers and kept in touch, so of course I texted her when you got cat ears! Figured she would be interested… And I was right on the dot! Then our friendship grew exponentially over the past couple of months!" Ashido exclaimed.
Izuku nodded his head. Yet there was one little observation Izuku couldn't help but notice.
He remembered Nejire poked Ashido's horn aggressively, but she touched his cat ears with affection. Did that, perhaps, mean something?
Despite his efforts to banish them, Izuku couldn't shake the thoughts, only to have Nejire's joke about proposing to replace them. It was difficult to dispute. Maybe something was there.
But he wasn't one hundred percent positive. He wanted to hear Nejire say yes to the next step in their relationship. Straight to his face.
Or vice versa, if he was going to be the one confirming her feelings for him.
What a nerve-wracking time to be alive.
"So, um, what else do you want to know from me?" Izuku asked.
"Well, that's about it. I don't need to ask if you two are dating or not since I got my answer from Nejire already."
"What did she say?"
Ashido winked and put a finger to her lips. "She told me to keep it a secret. But it's obvious you two aren't dating. Like, come on! So obvious! Ignore what Bakugo said because he's just one jealous boy! Anyway, I say Nejire's one lucky girl! She's spending time with someone this cute! A cute kitten!"
"R-Right. Speaking of which..." Izuku said, trailing off as he saw Nejire fly above them.
Nejire had a hand above her eyes, in search of someone. When she noticed the two of them from the sky, her expression brightened. Nejire circled them before swooping down and landing beside Izuku.
"Hey, hey. What are you two talking about?" Nejire asked, glancing between the two of them.
"Oh, you know. Just hero stuff and how we can improve ourselves before winter break comes." Ashido lied as easily as she breathed.
"Really? Can I join this conversation?"
"Sure, but, I'm sorry! I have to finish the rest of my homework before Ectoplasm sensei catches me! I'll be going first!" Ashido exclaimed, rushing ahead.
As she passed Izuku, Ashido tapped him on the shoulder to wish him luck before sprinting away. And so Izuku was alone with Nejire, who stared at him with interest.
"Um... Hi. It's been a while since we last saw each other, right?" Izuku asked.
Nejire smiled. "Too true. I'm starting to think you're trying to avoid me on purpose. Am I right?"
Izuku panicked as his cat ears perked up in shock. Nejire's astute observation made it impossible for Izuku to hide his intentions. His cat ears reflecting his emotions without his authorization confirmed it, eliciting a giggle from Nejire.
"Well, it's not like I'm avoiding you on purpose. School is picking up again and things are getting a little hectic."
"Right, right… But that won't matter in about two weeks because of winter break!"
"Yeah, I was thinking-"
"Did you want to spend it with me?" Nejire asked, cutting him off.
Izuku stopped mid-sentence. He stared at her as shrill alarm bells rattled in his head. It was a noisy cacophony. "W-What do you mean by that?"
"Let me turn that question around on you. What do you think I mean by that?" Nejire asked with a mischievous smile.
Izuku opened his mouth but closed it as they neared the school. A million different interpretations popped into his mind, but none of them were things he wanted to say, so he opted for something simpler. Vague. Ambiguous. "Spending time with each other?"
"Cha-ching! Right on the money! Except I was leaning toward something more amicable between the two of us. I've been wanting to go on a ski trip during a winter break for the longest time, but I never had the chance to... Did you want to join me and see what it's like?"
Was that an invitation to a date? The prospect of being alone with Nejire for winter break seemed like a dangerous situation for him to be in. Especially when she was the most beautiful girl in U.A. High School, confirmed by the beauty pageant.
Still, it was a chance! A chance to ask her questions he had in his mind! Right?
"H-How long?"
"Well, I don't know if we're going to be visiting our family over winter break, but we'll see what happens for that. How about the first week of winter break, discounting the weekend? Just the weekday, so five days at a ski resort? That's complicated now that I say it out loud, but I think you understand the gist of it. It'll be fun! And we can always adjust if things come up! So what do you say?" Nejire exclaimed.
"I don't think we're doing anything important at U.A. High School unless the holidays work differently around here. Now, that I think about it, does it?"
"No, it's pretty standard for the usual winter breaks of other high schools. I know because I've been here for three years!" Nejire said.
"I guess I could use that to relax for the first time in a while and we probably deserve that break after all the things that went down."
"More like you, since your class is labeled as the troublemakers of this school," Nejire said with a giggle. "But I jest. And I didn't hear you the first time around. So what do you say? Want to join me?"
"I don't have a choice, do I?"
"Well, now that you've given me the power, nope!"
Author's Note: Friends, I bring good news to you! I got my dream job! I'm working for a huge medical company! Unfortunately, this means I have to return to full-time since I was part-time, searching for a better job. But yay!
This won't affect the weekly schedule for the story! I have been hard at work, editing everything and I'm a couple weeks ahead of schedule!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter! The next couple of chapters are going to be the start of something very special so I hope you stick around for the ride!
With diligent love from your favorite writer, Out4Lunch!