I do not own these characters or the world, that belongs to our lovely author of MHA, Kohei Horikoshi. Also, cover art was a commission by me from the artist Krumbs. Follow them on if you'd like! They are extremely talented!

A/N: And here we go! Let the plum blossom festival begin! As always, thanks for any reviews/favs/follows etc. They mean a lot. Leave me some more if you feel so inclined. Have a good read…oh and the official chapter count is up to 60 plus and epilogue now, but I swear that it shouldn't exceed 62. I hope.

Forty-five

Ume Matsuri

Izuku stared down anxiously at his phone. It had been twenty minutes since he'd heard from Uraraka, which meant that she was on her way to him and could possibly arrive anytime. If UA had been her starting point, then chances were she took a short bus ride to get to the train station since this festival was on the other side of town from their school. He tried to mentally calculate how long it'd be for the bus ride and train ride before arriving out at the station that was within ten minutes of the festival. The buses usually were pretty fast, the trains even faster, but if she was dressed in kimono and wearing geta than that might make her walk from the station to the entrance he was at a bit slower. Not to mention there was the walk from the campus to the bus station…

I wonder what her kimono looks like. Maybe she decided that kimono wasn't a good idea and is just wearing regular clothes. I hope that she doesn't feel super out of place because I am not wearing a man's kimono. Maybe I should have, but that would've been difficult to lug around to Endeavors agency and then rush back to the agency to get changed…but she might be self-conscious if she's the only one dressed up. Should I have dressed up? Izuku glanced down at himself taking in his regular looking loose fitting blue jeans, tan colored sweater, and his teal and tan puffer vest, suddenly feeling painfully underdressed. He shot a panicky glance around at anyone in his line of sight and saw a smorgasbord of kimono, casual and more formal winter wear, lighter spring clothes, and even what he thought was someone wearing a yukata. Bold choice, it's still kinda cold for a yukata, he thought to himself absently.

Okay, so not everybody here is super dressy and I see some people in formal and more casual kimono so I think she shouldn't feel super self-conscious. An older woman passing by him briefly attracted his attention, specifically her pale pink hair ornaments that looked very similar to plum blossoms. He looked on in admiration at the pretty hair pins and briefly wondered if Uraraka would have any hair decorations. Would they be pink? She seemed to quite like the color pink. Wait…what was her favorite color? Did he actually not know? That was bad, wasn't it? Shouldn't he know her favorite color and favorite food? Why didn't he know these things?!

There was a gentle gust of wind that ruffled his hair and sent a few loose pink petals cascading down from the prolific amount of plum trees in and around where the festival was set up. He was briefly distracted from any anxieties he was having and struck by the beauty of watching the delicate flower petals spin and twist in the wind. Plum blossoms sure are underrated, he thought to himself with a smile.

Izuku continued to admire the falling flowers when movement nearby caught his eye. Someone was moving in his periphery, dodging in between food and merchandise stalls. He turned his gaze from the flowers and toward the direction of the movement and briefly caught sight of a shorter looking person dressed in what looked like a light brown trench coat that was a bit too big for them. The trench coat wearing person also had on a white fedora—an odd choice considering their trench coat was brown. Izuku wasn't able to see their face but thought he saw the outline of glasses or perhaps sunglasses.

The trench coat person dipped behind a stall, vanishing from Izuku's line of sight. He turned away from the street and back toward where he'd last seen the suspicious looking person. Something was familiar about them, their height or what he could make out of their hair. Should I investigate whoever that is? They were acting a little weird, he thought to himself and started to take a step in that direction but was unable to complete the action because someone who'd been walking by him happened to accidentally bump into him.

"Oof!" He said in surprise as his shoulder ran up against the other person. As the two impacted, the other person dropped something—a large piece of fruit maybe or a purse perhaps—that they'd been carrying. The dropped item fell onto the ground with a soft thud.

"Oh my, I'm sorry!" The person exclaimed and stepped away from Izuku with a little bow of apology. Izuku immediately felt bad for having bumped into the person since it appeared to be a frail little old woman, who was so short she only came up to his shoulder! She looked ancient; her skin was so wrinkled it practically hung on her face; her eyes so narrowed with age he wondered if she was actually able to see through them; her back seemed to have a perpetual hump in it and one of her prehistoric hands loosely gripped a cane. She wore a very traditional kimono and aside from looking like she might've been born when the dinosaurs had gone extinct, she had the face of someone who was kind.

"Oh no I'm sorry ma'am, I should've been paying more attention," Deku apologized and knelt down to pick up whatever it was she'd dropped. Now kneeling, he saw that what she'd dropped looked like a large sumo orange that was only partially peeled. He gingerly picked it up and turned the unpeeled part to face him but nearly dropped it in a panic as he realized that the way the innocent looking orange had been peeled made it look quite like, ahem, the fairer sex's private parts. Quickly averting his eyes from the provocative little piece of fruit, he stood and woodenly held his hand out toward the old woman. "You're uh, vag—er the uh, orange. Here take it."

"How thoughtful of you! What a nice young man you are to pick up my orange. I honestly didn't even realize that I'd dropped it when we bumped into each other! When you get up on in the years as I have, the ability to keep a grip on things dwindles," the old lady said with a slight blush in her ancient cheeks.

"Uh yeah, haha," his voice was tight and his cheeks burned with embarrassment. It was just a fruit, dammit! Stop being perverted about a stupid fruit! "Not sure if you uh, well, like still want it since it fell on the ground."

"It's still good, I think. If you ever grow as old as I am my dear boy, dropping a bit of food on the ground really isn't that big of a deal anymore," the old woman said with a smile revealing what looked like only half a dozen remaining teeth. How old was she?!

"Oh, okay, um, yeah," Izuku stuttered and handed the orange over to her, steadfastly avoiding looking at the suggestive side of the fruit.

"Thank you! You enjoy the plum blossoms now, and enjoy the smaller crowds! Can't enjoy Sakura season anymore because it's popular across the world and folks from all over come out in droves to see them," she said and began trundling away, leaning heavily onto the cane.

Deku watched her fading figure with a blank face, his mind preoccupied with the sumo orange and its disturbing similarity to different depictions he'd seen of female anatomy. Now that the orange was in his mind, his thoughts inevitably began drifting to the book he'd been stupid enough to read. Different passages from the writing opened up in his minds eye and he felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment at their recollection. Why, why had he decided to read that damn book?!

Honestly, he hadn't thought it'd be any good or well written. If the owner of said book was Mineta, well then, chances were it was more smut than anything else…but oh how wrong he'd been. It was a book all about pleasuring a female partner and even came with step-by-step instructions at the end! He hadn't anticipated finding it interesting let alone enjoying it or the fact that he ended up speed reading it and had finished it late in the morning before the start of classes. Izuku had found that he wanted to take notes on what the author was detailing—notes seemed like a logical step to gaining mastery on a subject he was interested in—but why take notes when he most certainly wasn't going to be doing that…not anytime soon anyway. Right. Right?!

Even with just standing there in crisp early March air he couldn't dismiss the blush in his cheeks as he recalled the suggestive contents of the book, nor could he entirely banish the slight tightening he felt in his pants. Not good! Stop being a sex obsessed pervert! Uraraka will probably be here any minute and if you start off with the beginnings of a boner, well this is not going to go well. Get it together Izuku!

To try to distract his thoughts from that wretched little book, Deku slapped both his cheeks. A few people passing by shot confused looks in his direction, likely perplexed as to why he was slapping his own face, but he paid them no attention. He had to focus! If he didn't get his hormonal urges under control now then he'd probably be sporting a hard on during the entire festival and he really didn't want that.

Think about English homework. You've always got a lot of it because you aren't great at it. Think about negative verbs. They're weird. Past, present, and future tense. Yeah, that's better. Think about that, not Uraraka's milky white thighs exposed and my hand running up along her inner thigh and up to the juncture between them—STOP! Just stop thinking that! She literally could be here and these thoughts are awful and objectifying her, which I refuse to do. I'll think about her kimono and what it looks like. I wonder if it'll be pink. Will it have cherry blossoms? It's a little early for cherry blossoms but I'm sure it'd still be in season. Maybe I can pick up one of the fallen flowers and tuck it into her hair, that'd be nice. Flower petals are really soft, delicate, dainty…vaginal. NO! No, no, NO! Don't start wondering if the feel of flower petals is what labia feels like. Not her labia! Just stop thinking about lady parts right now—but there's the well known rumors about Georgia O'Keeffe and her famous floral paintings and their similarities to a vag—enough of that! Stop thinking that right NOW!

Deku spun around, feeling panicky now that his thoughts seemed wildly out of control. He pressed his hands up to the sides of his head, as if applying pressure to it would halt the nonstop flow of horny teenage boy thoughts. As he turned, his eyes briefly swept over the space between him and the street ahead of him and suddenly halted when they caught sight of the very person that had made his thoughts spin wildly out of control.

There was a torii gate that essentially marked this entry point of the festival and the beginning of numerous flowering plum trees. The street on the other side of the torii gate bustled with people and the occasional bicycle or car. There were throngs of people making their way across the sidewalk, either coming from or arriving at the festival or just going about their business. The air seemed to continuously dance with many fallen petals, whispering that spring was on the horizon. There was a cacophony of street and people noise and copious scents of tantalizing festival food teasing culinary delights; these were all details that faded into the background for Izuku, now that he saw the auburn-haired girl standing under the red torii gate.

His stomach flipped into his throat and his heart skipped a beat. He felt like his eyes might start tearing up at the sight of her he was so awestruck. Deku took in the sight of her kimono dotted with red and white flowers and inlayed with smaller golden ones. She had a bright red, large flower in her hair that drew his eye and he desperately wanted to surge forward and touch it, to feel what the petals felt like. Her eyes were tinged with something akin to nervousness and searched over the crowd; searching for him.

Izuku took a step forward, barely realizing he was even moving, drawn to the her like a moth to the flame. He took another step forward and her searching eyes suddenly met his and he felt like he might melt into a puddle at the simple act of their eyes meeting.

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, wow…she's just so pretty, beautiful, stunning! I've never seen Uraraka in a kimono before and I don't think I've ever really seen her in that much red but I like it! She looks really good. No, she looks beautiful. I wonder if I move forward if she'll let me hug her or hold her hand or…kiss her even. I'd really like to touch her hair, caress her cheek. I think I just want to be near her…

"Deku!" Uraraka's soft voice cut through his thoughts and the threat of turning into a puddle abated. He blinked slowly, still feeing slow and awestruck by her.

"Ura—er, Ochako, uh, hi!" He said, stumbling on her name, still not entirely comfortable using it.

Uraraka smiled broadly at him and moved forward. As she moved toward him, Deku realized that she wasn't alone, Asui was with her. Like Uraraka, she too wore a kimono that was very pretty, but it didn't really compare to Uraraka's…or at least he didn't think it did, though he was most definitely biased…but wait, why was Asui here? Weren't they just going to go to the festival together?

A stab of doubt shot through his stomach as he began to wonder why Asui was tagging along. Had…had the dynamics of their relationship somehow changed? What did this mean? Had he missed something?! While his thoughts began to broil with turmoil and doubt, Uraraka had managed to cross the distance between them and now stood just an arm's length away from him.

"Hey Deku," the soft murmur of Uraraka's voice kissed his ears like bubbles on his skin, drawing Izuku out of his anxious thoughts.

"Hi," he echoed and once again felt like he was rendered immobile by the sheer beauty he felt she radiated…had she always shined this brightly? Why hadn't he noticed it before? No, I think I've always known. She smiles wherever she goes and she tries to make others smile. She's always been able to light up a room just by walking into it. I think I've always known; I've always been able to see that glow in her, the beauty of her soul…it just feels different now, like I'm seeing sunshine or the stars for the first time, really seeing them, seeing her…

"Ribbit."

"Oh uh, sorry Asui—er Tsu. Hi! Didn't know you were coming along," Izuku said, a blush now coloring his cheeks as he scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Don't worry Deku, ribbit. I was just riding over with Ochako," the dark-haired girl paused briefly to look questioningly at Uraraka. "You good Ochako?"

"Yes. I guess we'll see each other later…um let me know if you need anything," Uraraka agreed, a touch of uncertainty in her voice.

"Asu—er, sorry, Tsu, sorry, are you sure?" Deku asked, not really wanting to give her pause but also feeling obliged to make sure that Asui was in fact okay with going off on her own. Crowds could be scary when you were on your own!

"I'm sure, but thanks for checking Deku. Ribbit, have fun Ochako," Asui said with a smile pointed at Ochako before she disappeared into the crowd, leaving both Izuku and Ochako alone.

The two stood somewhat awkwardly, still facing each other but not really looking at one another. A silence started to grow between them.

Say something, don't make it weird and don't be awkward! You two are here together so say something before it is too quiet, Izuku commanded himself internally. But what do I say? Should I take her hand? Should I talk about what nice weather we are having, no that's stupid. Dumb idea. Uh…talk about English homework? No, no. Even dumber…maybe mention the book—ABSOUTELY NOT!

A warm hand suddenly closed around his, forcing him out of his head with startling speed. He blinked in confusion and surprise as he glanced down at their hands, now entwined as one. A heat started to rise up in his cheeks and he felt the beginnings of a shy little smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. I really really like her. A lot.

"Should we got get some food?" Uraraka asked, her voice quiet, a delicate blush starting in her cheeks.

"Uh, sure, yes!" Deku agreed with a wooden nod. The two began to merge into the crowd, hand in hand.

They passed by several food vendors selling everything from Takoyaki to candied apples. As they made their way from stall to stall, hands still entwined, Izuku started to feel a strange sense of elation and anxiety. Elation that he was here with her and that she'd taken his hand all on her own and that this was like a real date. Anxiety because he didn't really know what he was supposed to do. What did one actually do on a proper date? You could always talk about the book you rea—STOP! He had physically refrain from slapping himself at that thought. His inner dialogue really needed to stop being so intrusive. Did Uraraka have these kinds of thoughts? Well, she didn't read the book, so probably not, a nasty little laughing voice answered his internal question. He practically gulped down a howl of frustration at the persistent little intrusive voice that kept jabbing him with reminders about that damn book!

"Do you want some crepes?" Once again Uraraka's cheerful voice saved him from his inner lecherous monologue. Was this how Mineta's mind worked?

"Oh uh, yeah, sure," he replied only half aware of what she had actually asked him. His eyes focused on what she was pointing at and he took in the little tented stall that showed images of several different types of crepes and cremes. "Uh, what kind do you think you want?" Wait. She wants to get crepes, together?! That's like official date stuff; stuff that people who are real boyfriend girlfriend types…I mean, clearly this was or is a date but now it's like…the real deal.

"Strawberry, I think," Uraraka replied with an adorably shy smile. He felt like his heart might melt or burst into flames or maybe even just stop at the mere sight of her.

"I think I'll get a strawberry one too," Izuku said as he stepped forward to order and pay for the crepes. Before he could break free from Uraraka though, he felt her tug on his, stopping him. "Uraraka?"

The blush that had been light and delicate before intensified. "We…we can share one if you'd like."

He wasn't entirely sure why but her insecure tug on his hand and the bashful expression on her face made him break out into a bright smile. She's so cute!

"Uh, yeah—sure!" He again attempted to move forward to place the order but another tug on his arm stopped him.

"You don't have to pay for me Deku, I can always get it!"

"No, it's okay. I've got it. I want to." Izuku let go of her hand and proceeded with ordering the strawberry crepe.

A short while later the two were seated on a nearby bench, a large flowering plum tree behind them. The tree must've been at least a decade old, possibly older with how large it was. It's impressive and expansive branches stretched out over where the pair was sat, shedding a steady drop of tiny delicate petals over them.

Uraraka was looking up at the flowering tree in between taking bites of the crepe before passing it to him, a look of wonder on her face. Izuku glanced her way and felt like the image of her seated beside him in her kimono, a bit of whipped crème on her nose, and fluffy shoulder wrap was so pretty that he wanted to take a picture of it. He pulled his phone out of one of the pockets in his vest and without even thinking about it, snapped a photo of her.

The sound of the camera shutter sound made Uraraka's gaze drop from the plum tree and toward Izuku, a look of surprise on her face. Oops, I guess maybe I should've asked before taking her picture. Did I just make it weird? He thought to himself anxiously as his own cheeks started to burn with worry.

"Sorry, I should've asked," he said apologetically, eyes lowered, as he handed his phone over to her, ready for her to delete the photo if she wanted.

The sound of Uraraka laughing made him look up. He was surprised to see that she was shaking her head at his offered phone. Had he not made it weird? Was it okay that he took a picture of her? That was allowed?

"It's okay Deku. I was just surprised is all. You can take pictures of me, I don't mind," she said and smiled at him. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she turned to him eagerly, "In fact, we should take one together!"

Take one together. That thought alone was enough to make his heart skip a beat or two and he was certain his face must be pinching up as if he'd been sucking on a lemon. He was so on board with that idea!

"Right!" He said a little too enthusiastically. Izuku scooted closer to her and leaned in just slightly, not enough to actually be touching her, but enough to be included in a selfie together. "Ready?"

"Wait, no, we should be closer," Uraraka said and scooted closer so they were fully touching. She then leaned her head over onto his shoulder.

Izuku stared nervously at the image reflected in his camera's phone, acutely aware of the redness in his cheeks and his now awkward posture in comparison to Uraraka's. Just relax, relax. You've already kissed her, and like done some boyfriend girlfriend stuff so stop being so nervous…but it's a picture and a picture is proof and photo evidence that we were here together in a not plutonic setting and the strawberry crepe is 100% visible in this shot so it CLEARLY looks like we are sharing, he nervously thought to himself as one of his thumbs accidentally brushed over the trigger for the picture. The sound of the camera shutter startled him enough that he nearly dropped his phone. Stop being so nervous! He commanded himself and let out a quiet breath to try and center himself. Just relax.

Uraraka continued to rest her head on his shoulder, her shoulder and hip pressed against him. With a deep breath, Izuku cautiously leaned his own head in her direction. Very gently, he rested his head against hers. His thumb brushed over the trigger twice, taking photos that were more natural but still portrayed Izuku with bright red cheeks and wide eyes. He took a third photo; this time managing to smile and not look so nervous. He was certain that Uraraka probably looked amazing in every photo he'd taken thus far.

He was about to take another photo, feeling a bit more relaxed, when Uraraka suddenly shifted closer to him and turned her head so that she faced his cheek. Izuku felt his heartbeat sputter wildly in his chest as he felt the soft petal like whisper of her lips on his cheek. He somehow ended up taking at least a dozen photos and he wasn't honestly sure if it was intentional or a nervous twitch of his thumb.

"Uraraka," his voice was an uncertain whisper. He was both loving this and feeling intensely anxious.

Uraraka pulled away from him and gave him a shy smile. "Deku calm down! It's okay. It's just us here, nobody else. I can tell you're nervous and I am too but I want to have a good time with you so I'm going to do my best to make that happen, for both of us, but that's harder to do when you're so nervous. Talk to me. Sometimes talking helps you relax, so talk to me." Warm chocolate eyes bore into emerald greens and something in that loving gaze made the anxiety and uncertainty that he'd been feeling evaporate.

No, he didn't have a clue what he was doing. He'd never been on a date before and he had zero experience with girls. He was a nerd and fanboy at heart, but Uraraka knew all of that about him and even knowing all those things, she still liked him. On Valentines Day he'd looked at the aurora borealis with her and they'd kissed and since then they'd kissed even more and even hidden under a desk together! While they were both new to the whole romance thing, they were still at their core friends. The dynamic was different yes, there was mutual attraction between them and the beginnings of something deeper than simple friendship that was blossoming between them and realization all by itself was kind of scary. He was so preoccupied with them being a girl and a boy who liked each other that were on a real date with one another, that he'd forgotten that romantically linked or not, they were and always would be friends. It didn't need to be this hard.

I think if I keep reminding myself that this is Uraraka, Ochako, not some scary girl I'm going out on a date with, but the girl who is my friend and also kind of sort of my girlfriend too, then I can be less nervous. I should just enjoy this time with her. I'm scared about not knowing what to do and I'm stuck in my head a lot, but this is Uraraka, my Uraraka, and she wants to be here with me. She is wearing a pretty kimono and sharing a strawberry crepe with me and taking cutesy couple photos with me. I think, I think I want to kiss her. Yes, I want to kiss her. Right now.

"Izuku?" Her voice saying his name, his first name, pulled him from his inner thoughts and he again focused on the pretty girl in the kimono who sat beside him, almost nose to nose with him.

She said my first name! The thought was like liquid silk for his soul and at that moment he felt his stomach was full of hundreds maybe even thousands of fluttering butterflies. Without hesitation, he leaned forward, one hand reaching out to cup her cheeks, the other precariously holding the crepe, his phone dropped in his lap as he pulled her into a kiss. She was still for a moment, surprised by his abrupt change, but she adjusted quickly and leaned into the kiss.

The tip of his tongue tentatively touched her lips, seeking entrance which it was almost immediately granted. Izuku's tongue flicked briefly over the edge of Uraraka's lower lip before a tentative sweep across her tongue. She tasted like strawberries. No, not strawberries, something stronger—ambrosia, she tasted like ambrosia. He was eager for more. His hand moved from cupping her face to her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She did not resist and delicately brought her own hands to his jawline, drawing him in.

He felt a thrill of excitement as Uraraka's tongue darted forward to brush over his. All he could think of in that moment was that he wanted to taste more of her. What would her skin taste like? Would it be sweet like honey; salty with sweat? That line of thinking, however, took off like a wildfire and in seconds his thoughts were back to the book.

If you think her lips taste like ambrosia, what do you think another set of lips she has will taste—oh no! Bad thought! Go away book thoughts! Oh no! My pants are too tight! He thought in a panic and was on the verge of pulling away from her in alarm when an irritable foreign voice interrupted his thoughts for him.

"Get a room you two! This isn't a place for teenage trysts. Damn kids." The vendor from the crepe stall was glaring at them. Izuku and Uraraka immediately separated, faces bright red.

"I'm so sorry!" Uraraka said in a rush, bowing in apology where she sat.

At the same time the crepe fell from Deku's hand to the ground as he dramatically bowed and said, "Please forgive our behavior!" Great job Izuku, that poor vendor probably thinks you're a pair of horned up teenagers trying to get it on anywhere, chided an inner voice.

"Quit pissing over yourself, kid. Just remember you're in public, so best to keep tongue battles to a minimum," the vendor sighed heavily and then said, "now go on and enjoy the flowers, and each other, I guess."

Izuku slowly returned to his previous position. He looked down at his fallen crepe and felt a twinge of regret over having let it fall onto the ground. Seeing it on the ground made him remember the suggestive sumo orange that he'd picked up for the old woman, coloring his cheeks in red. The feel of Uraraka's hand on his drew him out of his embarrassment and he turned to look at her.

"Sorry. I dropped our crepe," he said forlornly.

She smiled radiantly. "That's okay Deku. We can get some more food later, but this time I'd like to buy it for us."

The blush in his cheeks only intensified but the adoration he felt for her surged. "Okay."

Still smiling, she stood and held her hand out to him. "Come on, let's go enjoy the festival together."

He reached out and took her hand.