Izuku really wished he could get a handle on his anxiety.

He knew he was early. He knew he would be the first one here. He knew Nejire had bad time management.

But still…

The boy checked his phone again.

4:12.

It was getting close to their (Nejire's) agreed upon time, and the girl was still nowhere to be found.

That was fine, though. He knew Nejire wasn't the kind of person to stand him up…

But he also knew that she was the kind of person who would definitely miss a deadline due to whatever went on when she was alone. Maybe she sent another person through a postal box? That was always a possibility.

(A small, really dumb part of him hoped that was something she only did to him, though. That was their federal crime!)

Wow. He was really losing it over this crush. One would think Izuku would be able to face reality with an objective outlook, and usually he'd agree, but for some reason he couldn't get his periwinkle-haired friend out of his mind.

It would only serve to hurt him further in the end… if his secret ever got out, that was. There was no chance he'd ever tell Nejire he liked her, and even less chance he'd tell anybody else about it, so it would be fine.

Unless he started spitting up flowers. But that was just a myth, so he should, for all intents and purposes, be–

"Izuku!"

He blinked, and suddenly he was getting swept off his feet - literally. Nejire barreled into him quick enough to send him sprawling, but the girl was adept enough to snag him out of the air and pull him into her arms before he hit the pavement.

This sort of scenario was happening a lot, funnily enough. It was almost like she wanted excuses to hug him or something.

Nejire giggled at the semi-surprised look on his face. "Fancy seeing you here, Izuku! Didya miss me?"

She was too pretty. Too close to his face. Too Nejire.

He blushed like he'd just been caught googling 'How to act cool'. "H-hey, Nejire."

She laughed at the dusting of pink that wormed its way up his cheeks. "Hey! Look at that, right on time for once! I'm not always late anymore!"

Izuku blinked, was it 4:15 now? He moved to check his phone, eyes glancing down towards his hand–

"Crap! My phone!" Izuku cried, eyes rapidly darting around the area. "I m-must've dropped it when–"

"I got it," Amajiki mumbled quietly.

Izuku and Nejire's stare both landed on an octopus tentacle that had extended out beneath them, having struck out the moment his phone was knocked out of his grasp. It slowly retracted back into Amajiki's arm, and soon enough the shy teen was offering it in his outstretched hand.

"T-thanks," Izuku mumbled, slowly reaching out to grab his phone before remembering he was sort of stuck, "U-um, y-you can put me down now, N-Nejire."

The girl hummed, almost as though she were considering declining the request, but obliged after a moment. "Okay!" She plopped down on the sidewalk, releasing Izuku as she did so (but not before ruffling his hair one more time for good measure). "Nice catch, Tamaki!"

"Yeah!" Togata agreed, offering Amajiki a hearty pat on the back that made him jump in surprise, "With those reflexes, you'll be right back on top of the class in no time!"

Nejire frowned. "I don't know about that," she teased, a small corkscrew of Wave Motion popping up between her hands, "I kinda like it up here!"

Amajiki mumbled something unintelligible as he handed Izuku his phone, but Togata seemed to catch it.

"He's right, you know," the blonde said, "Maybe it's my turn to be the leader of the Big Three! After all, I got Midoriya-kun's help with Permeation the other day! Maybe I'm his favorite of us now!"

Nejire gasped like she'd been shocked. "No!" Her big blue eyes landed on Izuku in horror. "Say it isn't so, Izuku! You didn't abandon me for Mirio, did you?!"

"W-w-what?!" Izuku cried, confused and mortified, "O-of c-c-course not! I would n-never a-a-abandon you!"

She sniffled like she was holding back tears. "Oh, thank goodness!" Nejire reached out to yank him back into another hug. "I don't think my poor heart could take it if you suddenly gave yourself away to those jerks! Especially when we haven't even finished our plans on–"

The periwinkle-haired girl was cut off by a karate chop to the back of the head, courtesy of the fifth member of their little squad. "Stop teasing Midoriya," Haya chastised, "He looks like he's about to pass out."

Nejire groaned, sticking her tongue out at the only other girl present as she released Izuku from her clutches. "You're no fun, Yuyu!"

"Nejire's right!" Togata shouted, rubbing the back of his head as well (even though he certainly could have phased through any attack Haya threw at him, it seemed like the boy just let it happen), "We're all having a good time, where's the harm in that?"

Haya rolled her eyes. "You're forgetting the fact that Tamaki and Midoriya are probably the shyest people in Japan," she reminded the two, "I mean, look at them."

Izuku knew what she meant, unfortunately. He and Amajiki looked like they were competing for the role of 'uncomfortable passerby' in the next hit Tokyo film.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Amajiki seemed more resigned than anything, and he wasn't anywhere close to as red in the face as Izuku.

Nejire pouted. "You're just jealous!" She made her way back over to Izuku, throwing her arms around him from behind and leaning into his back. He went ramrod straight at the contact and steam blew out of his ears as he felt Nejire hug him from behind, with the girl using him as a shield from Haya's stern gaze. "You're jealous that Izuku is my hug buddy and that you can't have him!"

Despite how awkward and flustered she was making him, Izuku couldn't help but pause at her words. "H-h-hug b-buddy?"

Amajiki sighed. "Sometimes it's better not to ask."

She nodded in agreement. "Besides, if Izuku was uncomfortable, he'd tell me!"

That was untrue. He was pretty uncomfortable right now… though that was mostly due to the fact that they were in public and she was pressing certain parts of her against him that made Izuku very embarrassed to acknowledge.

He still wouldn't ask her to let go of him.

Haya kept up her scrutinous gaze for a moment before dropping it with a huff. "Whatever," she grumbled, seemingly resigned to Nejire's antics, "Didn't you say we were going to go get some food together? I'm starving."

"I'm pretty hungry too," Amajiki added, before nervously looking over to Izuku, "U-um, I d-don't only eat animals for my Quirk, by the way."

Togata rubbed his stomach. "Same! I kind of missed out on breakfast, so we better be going somewhere filling!"

Amajiki stared at him in disbelief. "You've been with me at the gym for the last five hours," he whispered, "And you haven't eaten anything today?"

As if on cue, Togata's stomach began to rumble angrily, causing Nejire and Haya to snicker at him. His cheeks turned slightly red, but not enough for him to look truly embarrassed. "Hey, hey, it's not nice to stare, you know!" He protested, "Just get me to somewhere I can pig out and we'll be fine!"

Haya smirked, her eyes landing on Izuku once more. "Careful, Mirio," she warned, "You might scare away Midoriya. I've seen pigs eat, and comparing the two of you would be a disservice to pigs."

Nejire's grip on him tightened. "Nope!" She shouted, "Izuku already agreed to going out with us, which means he can't run away… even if Mirio eats like a starving hyena when he's hungry!"

She giggled as she finished, looking at Izuku with large, hopeful eyes. "Right?"

Izuku would say that her actions made his face warm, but the truth was that his face had been steadily heating up for the past few minutes, ever since she had first glomped him in a hug to announce her arrival. He could probably fry an egg on his cheeks right now.

"R-r-right," he mumbled in agreement, avoiding Nejire's gaze, "U-um, f-food sounds g-g-good."

"Great!" Nejire said, "So we're all in agreement!"

She finally let go of Izuku (who couldn't tell if he was grateful or not for the loss of contact), pulling out her phone and rapidly typing something in. "I found this place that's supposed to be pretty good a few blocks from here," the older girl elaborated, "And I really wanna try it out! So let's go!"

Nejire pointed to the east, and a second later she was running off - leaving the rest of them in the dust.

"W-wait up!" Amajiki cried chasing the energetic girl, "Y-you're faster than all of us, you know!"

Togata wasn't far behind. "Food!" He roared, "Here I come!"

Izuku stared dumbly ahead as the entire group left him behind. Did they expect him to keep up with them?

Well, not all of them.

Haya sighed at her friends' antics. "We better get a move on," she said, shaking Izuku out of his thoughts as she started walking after them, "Otherwise, Mirio might eat the restaurant."

He spared a glance towards the end of the street, where the Big Three had already disappeared after taking a turn. "Um… we might be t-too late…" he mumbled, "D-do you know where we're supposed to go?"

She rolled her eyes, though it didn't seem directed towards Izuku. "Yeah, Nejire texted me the location just now," Haya explained, starting to walk slowly in the direction they had run off in, "Now c'mon. Last one there has to pay for the five of us."

Izuku nodded slowly, forcing his feet to follow in the older (and the only one of the four to actually be shorter than him) girl's footsteps. It took him a moment to process what she had said, and when that time came he froze like a deer in headlights.

"W-wait, what?!"

–

Fortunately, Haya seemed to just be teasing him too - and that was a very good thing, because by the looks of things Togata was ready to eat himself out of house and home.

Speaking of Togata…

"There you guys are!" He shouted, dramatically pointing at Izuku and Haya as they walked up to the restaurant, "We've been waiting forever for you two!"

Haya rolled her eyes. "It's your guys' fault for running off. Be lucky Nejire texted me the place before you did, or we might not have shown up at all."

"Nah," Nejire shot back playfully, "I would have gone back to pick you guys up if I had to. No way me and Tamaki are dealing with hungry-Mirio alone!"

Amajiki shuddered. "N-never take him to a Chinese buffet again…"

There was a story behind that line, surely. Even Togata looked a bit uncomfortable at the reminder of whatever Tamaki had brought up.

"Anyways, what is this place?" Haya spoke quickly, doing her best to change the subject as she peered up at the sign above the door. "Miller's? What kind of name is that?"

Nejire shrugged. "I dunno," she responded cheerily, "But it has five stars! I was talking with Lunch Rush the other day, and he said it was really good and had a really big menu! He said he worked at the place when he was younger, and that he couldn't recommend it enough!"

Togata gave her a strange look. "Is that what you were talking with him about when you stayed behind after lunch the other day?"

She nodded. "I figured if he was such a good chef, he would have really good recommendations on places to eat!" Nejire explained it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "And I was right!"

"Why are we still waiting out here then?" Haya asked, "I mean, shouldn't we just go inside instead of standing around like a bunch of vagrants?"

"Good point!" Togata replied instantly. "I'll go get us a table!"

Amajiki was quick to follow him, practically hiding in his shadow. "Why aren't we all just going together…"

"Boys," Haya said fondly, shaking her head as she followed them inside, "Those two are something else…"

Nejire made to follow the three without a second thought, and Izuku realized this was probably the only chance he'd get all day.

"N-Nejire?" He said quickly, mouth moving faster than his brain, "Um, c-can I ask you s-s-something?"

She stopped in her tracks, spinning around on her heel to face him with a curious look in her eyes. "What's up, Izuku?"

Nejire spoke about as easily as she could, but Izuku still felt a ball of lead sink into his gut as he thought of what he was about to say.

He took a deep breath. "U-um, n-n-not that I t-think you w-would," he began awkwardly, stumbling over his words (as he was prone to do), "B-but, ah, y-you didn't t-tell any of them about me being Q-Quirkless, r-right?"

She must have realized that the question was eating at him for a while, because her body language instantly shifted. "Of course not!" Nejire shook her head fervently. "I wouldn't share personal stuff like that without your permission."

Izuku let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "I'm s-sorry," he mumbled, "I d-d-didn't mean to, um, a-accuse you or anything. W-would it be better i-if, uh, I k-k-kept it s-secret? I d-don't want to c-c-cause any problems…"

He rubbed the back of his neck, beyond uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. Unfortunately, it was kind of a necessity. He didn't want to accidentally alienate Nejire from any of her friends or–

Of all the ways she could have responded, a hug should have been way higher on his list.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Nejire whispered in his ear, holding him tightly, "It's up to you whether or not you want to tell them about it. I get why you would be hesitant, but Mirio, Tamaki, and Yuyu are some of my best friends, and they would never treat you differently because of your lack of a Quirk."

Izuku hesitated. He'd seen some of the 'nicest' people in the world change their tune really fast just because of something as small as his extra toe joint. "B-but if they d-did…?"

Nejire's eyes hardened. "Then they wouldn't be my friends," she declared, making Izuku's eyes go wide.

"B-but–"

"I wouldn't be friends with people who looked down on others based on things out of their control," she said sternly, "Especially something as stupid as whether or not you can shoot energy out of your hands or turn your arms into clam shells."

Izuku sniffled. "N-Nejire…"

She hugged him a little tighter. "Besides," she whispered in his ear, "I said they were some of my best friends. Who did you think my other one was?"

Damnit, was he really about to start falling even harder for her? Why did she have to be so amazing? He was nearly ready to call her the perfect person.

"Y-you're my b-best friend t-t-too," he stammered, "B-but, um, I-I'm sure y-you knew that a-already…"

She giggled at his antics. "I kind of figured," she admitted, "But it sure is nice to hear you say it!"

Nejire bopped him on the nose for good measure. "Now, no more being sad, okay? We're here to get some food, and that's what we're going to get!"

Izuku wiped at his eyes (though no tears had fallen). "R-right."

After a moment she walked through the door of the restaurant, Izuku hot on her heels as she glanced around for her (their?) friends.

"Over here!" Their eyes caught Togata, who was eagerly waving them over from a booth in the corner of the building. The pair were quick to make their way over to the others, who seemed completely unbothered by their tardiness.

"Did you guys get to order anything yet?" Nejire asked, immediately reaching for a menu (provided by Haya) as she slid into her seat. Togata sat on one end of the booth, followed by Amajiki, who was doing his best to melt into the seat, then Haya, and finally Nejire. The entire seat curved around the edge of the wall, making it so that if nobody else was sitting in it he could have slid in and out of it from both sides.

And now, Izuku. He probably would have chosen to sit further away from Nejire if only because he didn't know if she'd think he was too clingy, but Togata didn't look too willing to make any room on his side of the booth, so he settled for a spot next to his bubbly friend at the edge of the group.

"No," Haya replied, "We got seated and were promptly forgotten about. Mirio's ready to have a conniption."

"Am not!" The buff blonde shot back, pouting like a petulant child (not that Izuku would ever say that to his face, "I'm just offended that they would ignore high-quality paying customers!"

Amajiki gave his friend a side-eye. "They were probably just waiting for the rest of us to show up. Also, it's really busy here. Can you not see that? We're lucky that they recognized us from the Sports Festival, otherwise we would probably still be waiting."

Sure enough, the place was bumping. It wasn't to the point that Izuku would think it was packed, but it was definitely close to rush hour for the restaurant. Waiters and waitresses flew around the building, tending to the needs of as many hungry patrons as they could. It seemed like a miracle they even got a table, all things considered - even with the four Heroes-in-training being relatively well known.

The place seemed almost like a chain restaurant based on looks alone, although it certainly wasn't any brand Izuku was familiar with (and he doubted the world-renown Lunch Rush would allow himself to be caught working for anything less than the highest-quality kitchens in Japan). The aroma around the building was pleasant and airy, smelling strongly of broth and cooked vegetables, though the smell of oil couldn't be ignored either. It didn't seem very fancy, and since the rest of the group wasn't wearing anything beyond jeans and a polo shirt donned by Togata he didn't feel too conscious about his clothing choice for the day.

Nejire smiled. "Being a celebrity is pretty cool!"

Togata just huffed. "Whatever."

Nejire took the opportunity to nudge Izuku in the side, grabbing his attention immediately as she leant over to whisper something in his ear. "Mirio gets really hangry sometimes," she said quietly, giggling all the while. "Just ignore him."

Izuku spared the boy a brief glance, pausing in his reading of the menu to observe. Sure enough, he was frowning, which was slightly unnerving because he'd never seen anything other than a smile on his face. "I-I see."

Nejire was right, though. The menu was big. Four pages full of nothing but entrees, as well as one for the appetizers and two for desserts. It had a distinctly American taste, but there were plenty of Japanese dishes on it as well. He was kind of curious as to what their kitchen looked like to be able to support so many options, but there was always something to blissful ignorance with these kinds of things.

He'd seen enough of that Pre-Quirk show, Kitchen Nightmares, to know that he definitely didn't need to see the inside of any kitchens for the rest of his life.

Also, the prices were pretty cheap. That made Izuku (and his wallet) happy.

A tall silver-haired boy in what Izuku assumed to be the restaurant's standard waiter uniform strode up to them. His eyes were narrowed, the centerpieces of thick, jagged eyelashes, and it looked like he had a permanent scowl on his face.

"Hello," the boy greeted, his voice sounding as though he had gargled gravel rocks for a better part of the afternoon, "Welcome to Miller's. My name is Tetsutetsu, and I'll be your waiter for the evening. Can I get you started with some drinks?"

He was clearly doing his best to be nice, or at the very least polite, but Izuku couldn't help but feel a tad intimidated by Tetsutetsu's stature. He looked like he could shoot his arm out and grab him by the neck at any moment.

"I'll take a strawberry milkshake!" Nejire said immediately.

Haya looked completely unsurprised by the girl's choice. "Lemonade for me, please."

"Two root beers!" Togata practically shouted, garnering a strange look from their waiter, "Also, can we order our appetizers now, too?"

Tetsutetsu shrugged as he scribbled away on his little notepad. "If you guys are ready to order those, sure."

Togata grinned. "Great! I'll get the onion rings, the pretzel nuggets, and the mild chicken wings." He looked towards Amajiki eagerly. "Your turn, Tamaki!"

The boy looked affronted as he was called out. "Um…" he began awkwardly, "I'll have matcha tea, and, um, the littleneck clams, a plate of California rolls, and the fried calamari."

The waiter stared at the two boys for a moment, as though he was trying to figure out if they were being serious or not, before merely nodding at their requests. "Okay," he said slowly, "Got it."

His eyes turned towards Izuku, who resisted the urge to shrink back. "W-water is fine." He didn't really want to order an appetizer, but since everyone else did… "Uh, I'll also take the fried yakitori, please."

Tetsutetsu just looked thankful for a normal order. "Would either of you like to get some appetizers as well?"

Haya looked contemplative. "I'll take a house salad with balsamic vinegar as my dressing."

"I want pretzel nuggets too!" Nejire said happily, "But I want them with cinnamon, please!"

Tetsutetsu shook out his arm as he finished writing down the last bit of Nejire's order. "Alright, got it. I'll go get your drinks now, and I'll be around in a bit to get your entrees."

The boy walked away, but he did so in a very noisy fashion. With each step he took, it sounded like he was stomping as hard as he could with steel-toed boots - it was especially odd because he was merely wearing dress shoes, but the world was full of oddities.

"He seems nice," Haya hummed, "Didn't seem too disgusted by your eating habits, either, Mirio."

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly as the girl poked fun at him. "They could have sent us a literal dog to take our orders and I wouldn't have cared, as long as I get something to eat I'll be happy."

"Oh, yeah?" Nejire asked, eyes alight with amusement, "How many main courses are you planning on getting?"

Togata just shrugged. "Probably two, maybe three." He patted his arms. "I'm a growing boy, after all!"

Haya scoffed. "If you grow any more we're going to have to get you a custom desk from the support department to fit your overgrown butt in. It's like you're trying to shape yourself into the next All Might."

She was promptly ignored. "Hey, Tamaki." Togata nudged his friend. "Do you think I should get the Mighty Burger or the Hawk Sandwich?"

"I think I have no idea how you can eat that much greasy food and not get sick," he mumbled, "Would it kill you to eat something like a grilled salmon every once in a while? At least me and Nejire have excuses to eat like raccoons."

Togata rolled his eyes. "It's my cheat day."

"Every day is your cheat day, Mirio!" Nejire said between bouts of laughter, "It's a miracle we have Lunch Rush at U.A. - I think he's the only person I've seen get you to eat vegetables!"

He gave the girl a blank stare. "I literally just ordered onion rings."

"Those don't count!" She protested, "They're fried! That's like saying french fries are vegetables."

"I mean they are potatoes…"

Haya rolled her eyes. "You're unbelievable sometimes, y'know?"

"Not you too, Yuyu!" He groaned, "Tamaki, back me up!"

The shy teen shrugged. "If I eat a chicken nugget I can still grow talons, so…"

Togata smirked. "See? Tamaki gets it. Clearly I'm right!"

"You only got one of us to agree with you," Haya replied coolly, "Which means that at best we're tied."

Nejire shook her head. "Nuh-uh! You guys are forgetting about Izuku!"

To be honest, he had kind of forgotten about himself, too. Their conversation flowed so easily, it was clear that they were all good friends. With each passing moment, Izuku was starting to wonder more and more why Nejire had even invited him; she and all of her friends were cool and fun, he was not.

Izuku just didn't belong here.

Togata snapped his fingers. "That's right!" He exclaimed, before quickly pointing at Izuku (who let out an 'eep!' in surprise), "Onion rings - are they a vegetable or not, Midoriya-kun?"

Before he could respond, Nejire popped into his field of vision, taking his hands in her own. "You agree with me, right Izuku?" She punctuated her question by giving him a sad look, complete with puppy eyes and a stuck-out lower lip.

"U-u-uh– u-um…"

His face erupted into a blaze of crimson, like a matchstick struck suddenly.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "This is clearly coercion," he groaned.

Nejire turned to stick her tongue out at him. "Don't care!" She returned to giving Izuku a sad, hopeful look less than a second later. "Now, Izuku, my dearest friend and companion, you agree with me and Yuyu that onion rings aren't vegetables, right?"

She giggled at the awestruck look on his face. There was no way he didn't look like an idiot right now. "U-uh, w-well," he tried, stumbling over his words, "I-if it was just the onion they were frying, maybe it would count, b-but since they p-probably, ah, douse it in flour, breadcrumbs, and o-other stuff, I guess I'd say no?"

Togata sighed, deflating like a balloon. "Traitor," he grumbled, though there was no real bite to his words, "At least Tamaki always has my back!"

Nejire simply stuck her tongue out at him. Again. "You're just jealous Izuku is smarter than you… and that I'm his favorite!"

Before Togata could retort (or Izuku could pass out from all the blood rushing to his head), their waiter returned, six glasses resting upon a black serving plate that sat atop his right hand. "Let's see…" Tetsutetsu took his time with each glass, eyes narrowing as he tried to remember who ordered what. "Matcha tea for… you?"

Amajiki nodded slowly, accepting his beverage quietly. The waiter's eyes shifted to Togata. "...Two root beers?"

"Yep!" Togata reached out and grabbed them, one at a time, from his hands. "Nice!"

Before he was even able to move on to Nejire and her milkshake, the blonde had completely drained one of his glasses, which disturbed everyone at the table immensely.

Tetsutetsu tried his best to ignore it, instead placing the glass of water at Izuku's side. "This was yours, right?"

He nodded quickly. "Y-yes, thanks."

"Which means the lemonade is yours, then," he finished, handing the last glass on his plate to Haya before sliding it under his arm, "Your appetizers will be out shortly. Now, can I take the rest of your orders?"

"Yeah, I think we're ready," Togata began, cracking his knuckles as though he were about to do something other than order a disgusting amount of food, "How about a Mighty Burger for me, as well as the Hellfire Nachos - I'll take the mashed potatoes as both of my sides."

Haya and Amajiki both looked vaguely ill as Togata ordered such a large quantity of food, and Izuku didn't blame them. Tetsutetsu gave the older boy a look that made him think their waiter thought they were all insane. "...Okay. Who's next?"

"...Me," Amajiki said after a moment, "U-um, is there any chance that for your shrimp pasta you use pistol shrimp?"

Tetsutetsu stared at him like he grew a second head, before remembering he was a waiter and that kind of thing wouldn't earn him a very nice tip. He forced a smile onto his face, but it didn't look very authentic. "I can check, if you want?"

The smile that Amajiki received seemed to do the opposite of what it intended to do. "...Nevermind. I'll just have the lamb chops."

If he realized he was alienating his customers, he didn't show it. "Great. What about you, ma'am?"

Haya hummed as her eyes fell back onto the menu. "If I asked you for recommendations on the gyoza, would you have any?"

The boy's gaze turned thoughtful, shrugging after a moment. "Well, I like pretty much everything we make… but people really like the vegetable ones with chicken."

She nodded at his words. "I'll have that, then. Nejire?"

Nejire perked up at her name being called. "I'll have the yakisoba! Can I also get it with potatoes?"

"Sure." The boy's eyes finally landed on Izuku. "And for you, sir?"

Izuku felt a little awkward about someone older than him (or at least looked older than him) calling him sir. "I'll, um, t-take the oyster ramen."

Tetsutetsu nodded. "Alright, got it. Let me know if you need anything else, and I'll be back shortly with your appetizers."

He bowed his head before stepping back gracefully, still making that loud clunk with every step he took as he returned to the restaurant's kitchen.

Haya gave Togata a semi-disgusted look. "Your gluttony scared him this time, you know."

Togata looked affronted. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

He decided to ignore the fact that he had already drained his second glass of root beer, pushing them to the side as he eagerly awaited his pile of appetizers.

As they once again descended into an in-depth discussion criticizing the blonde's eating habits, Izuku couldn't shake the feeling that he still didn't belong with them.

–

The four of them stared at each other for a moment, before returning their shell-shocked gazes back to Togata. A half-fascinated, half-horrified look sat atop each of their faces as they watched him stuff his face with gusto, practically shoving his head into his bowl of pretzel nuggets before alternating to scarfing down onion rings, and then proceeding to shear the meat off the bones of several chicken wings - only to start the cycle over again.

This had been going on for the past five minutes. He also had two new root beers at his side, one already nearly empty.

The only one of them to even touch their own appetizers so far was Amajiki, and that was just so he could summon a clam shell to shield himself from the horror show unfolding right next to him. Togata didn't even look human.

"It's like a car crash," Haya muttered, eyes wide and nose scrunched up, "It's so bad, but I can't look away."

Nejire had picked up one of her own pretzel nuggets, fingers immediately becoming coated in cinnamon, but it sat suspended in her frozen hands as she slowly became more and more enamored with Togata's actions.

Izuku was at least polite enough to try and look away. He poked at his yakitori, but he had sort of lost his appetite as a result of Togata, to tell the truth.

Eventually Togata leaned back, patting his stomach contently as he let out a small burp. "Ooh, that hit the spot!" He practically sank into the booth. "Man, I can't wait for that burger, though!"

Amajiki turned an interesting shade of green at his words, slowly pushing his sushi back towards the center of the table.

Haya shot him a dirty look. "Look what you're doing to us."

Togata rolled his eyes. "If you can't handle me at my hungriest, you don't deserve me at my most satiated," he replied, "Which means that you should accept me, flaws and all."

Nejire slowly picked at her pretzels, trying her best to tune out the two of them. "Hmm, these are pretty good," she hummed, "What about your stuff, Izuku?"

Now that Togata had finished eating, Izuku was able to find his stomach. Lucky for him, it wasn't half bad. "I-It's good too," he replied quietly, "U-um, the chicken is really t-tender."

Her eyes lingered on his yakitori as he described it - something Izuku was quick to take note of. "D-do you, uh, want s-some?"

The gleam in her eyes was unmistakable, a playful edge to it. "Well…" Nejire began slowly, "As long as you're offering!~"

Her chopsticks darted out like a pair of vipers, nabbing one of the yakitori off his plate with deadly precision (even though she could have simply picked it up by the skewer). "Yay!" She cheered happily as she took a bite of the fried food. "Thanks, Izuku!"

"N-no p-p-problem," he mumbled.

Her eyes fell back onto him. "Do you want one of my pretzels now?"

Izuku froze. Sharing food… wasn't that a thing couples did–

"I-It's o-okay!" He said quickly, voice reaching a pitch far too high to not show his embarrassment, "Y-y-you d-don't n-need to o-offer t-t-that!"

She cocked her head to the side. "You sure?" Nejire asked, "It's only fair."

Togata's eyes widened imperceptibly. "Well, if you're offering–"

His hand was batted away quicker than Izuku's eyes could track. "Not for you!" Nejire hissed, "I still remember the last time I offered you food!"

Togata put his hands up in surrender. "Geez, fine!" He grumbled as he dropped back to his side of the table, "You accidentally eat a girl's ice cream one time…"

While Izuku was distracted with the blonde's showy complaints, Nejire took the time to drop one of her pretzel nuggets on his plate. By the time he looked back down, it was far too late to call her out.

That didn't mean he wouldn't try, however. "Y-y-you r-really d-don't have to–"

As soon as he opened his mouth, he was cut off by the sound of their waiter's return. His body was preceded by the sound of clanking that rang out as he approached them, with a second waitress helping to set down the large dish he was carrying their meals on onto a small stand.

"Let's see," he began quickly, thanking his coworker before turning back towards the five of them, "The Mighty Burger and Hellfire Nachos were yours…"

Clearly he remembered Togata on the third go-around. The boy was practically drooling as the food was placed in front of him.

"Lamb chops for you…" Tetsutetsu placed them in front of Amajiki. "And the gyoza was yours, right ma'am?"

Haya looked a little ticked at being called 'ma'am' like an old woman, but hid it very well behind her polite smile. "Yes, thanks."

He nodded quickly, before depositing one bowl in front of Nejire and one in front of Izuku. "And your yakisoba and ramen. Please enjoy," he encouraged, voice grating against Izuku's brain as he clasped his hands together, "And call if you need anything else."

Just as quickly as he arrived, Tetsutetsu disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the restaurant's dining floor. Maybe he was moving fast to avoid having to witness Togata massacre another plate of food.

Speaking of Togata…

"Thish ish sho ghood!" He cried, inhaling the burger in front of him, "I'm sho happy we came here!"

Amajiki once again did his best to shield his food from the mess that was his friend. "I hope you don't eat anything for the next three days," he mumbled, "Or you go on an ironman tomorrow. Otherwise you're probably going to gain thirty pounds."

"Dhon't care!"

Izuku and the girls were much better at tuning him out the second time around (though admittedly, he had a pretty good reason for that). Haya took a quick bite of her gyoza, humming in delight at the taste. "Lunch Rush really does have good taste," she admitted, "I'll have to thank him for recommending this place to you, Nejire."

She nodded her head in agreement. "Totally! You think he still comes here sometimes? You think he knows the chefs? This soba is so good! Izuku, how's your oyster ramen? You know, I didn't take you for someone who ate oysters!"

He frowned as he looked down into his bowl of noodles. "I g-guess the chefs didn't either…"

Nejire blinked. "Huh?"

She peered to the side in confusion, a look that was further augmented when she saw his bowl. "I don't see any oysters in that ramen."

Izuku sighed. "Me neither."

Why wasn't he surprised at this point? It felt like this kind of thing only happened to him. He didn't even like oysters that much - they were fine, but he only ordered them because, according to Togata and Amajiki, they were a superfood and very good sources of protein.

And the cooks didn't even put them in his meal.

He picked up his chopsticks and tapped them against the side of the bowl, with Nejire's brow furrowing at his actions. "Aren't you going to tell Tetsu-whatever his name is?"

Izuku just shrugged lamely. "I-It's not a b-big deal," he mumbled, "I c-can still eat it…"

Plus, he didn't want to bother his waiter. He hated to judge someone on their looks, but the guy was just a little scary-looking. It felt like if he glared at Izuku hard enough he could turn him into a pile of dust.

She shook her head. "Yes it is?" Nejire asked in disbelief, "They messed up your order! It doesn't matter if you can still eat it, it's not what you paid for!"

Amajiki gave them a strange look, the first of the other three to notice their side-discussion. "They messed up M-Midoriya's order?"

In response, Nejire merely picked up his bowl despite his (admittedly weak) protests, showing it off to the rest of the group.

Haya raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you order oyster ramen?"

Izuku's eyes fell into his lap. "Y-yeah…" he trailed off slowly, "B-but it's fine! I d-don't want to cause a scene, or anything–"

"Waiter! Waiter!" Nejire shouted, spotting Tetsutetsu out of the corner of her eye, "Tetsutetsu! Silver guy!"

"N-N-Nejire!" Izuku whisper-shouted, "W-w-what are you d-doing?!"

Alas, it was far too late. The idle chatter that had been a comforting constant since they entered the building was gone in an instant. Tetsutetsu's head whipped around at her calls, and in no time at all he was standing in front of them again. "Is something wrong?"

She nodded sternly, putting on a mean face. "Yes!" Nejire said, her voice carrying a significant amount of weight as she shoved Izuku's bowl into his view, "My friend here ordered oyster ramen, but as you can see, there aren't any oysters!"

Their waiter narrowed his eyes as she spoke, but his face went pale at the sight of his oysterless noodles. "Crap…" He had a less-than-pleased look on his face, but it seemed directed at himself more than anything else. "I knew I forgot something!"

He gave Izuku another forced smile. "I'm, uh, v-very sorry about this, sir. I'll go and get this rectified right away for you."

Before he could blink their water was gone once more, a significant amount of urgency in his steps as he rushed to the swinging double doors that signified the kitchen's entrance.

"See?" Nejire asked him, nudging Izuku's shoulder with her own, "It's no big deal, right?"

His face turned so red it looked like a malfunctioning traffic light. "Um– I– you–"

Haya flicked Nejire on the head. "You broke Midoriya, great job."

The girl blinked. "What?" She repeated, "I helped! I didn't break him?"

She shook her head. "It was something he just said he didn't want to make a big deal about, and then you went and shouted loud enough to catch the attention of the entire building. Real slick, Nejire."

Nejire looked like someone had just told her Santa Claus wasn't real. "But I–" She cut herself off abruptly as she looked at Izuku's crimson cheeks, realizing the weight of her actions. "Oh. Um, sorry about that–"

"D-d-don't apologize!" He said immediately, only to blush even harder at himself for interrupting her, "U-um, i-it was v-very kind of you to d-do that, N-Nejire. I r-really appreciate it."

And Izuku meant that from the bottom of his heart, even if it embarrassed him quite a bit. He punctuated his words with a wobbly smile, though he was sure it looked even worse than their waiter's attempts at one - but clearly that didn't matter to Nejire.

Just as fast as that look of guilt had crossed her face at Haya's admonishment, it was gone the moment she saw Izuku's smile. "Aww, Izuku!" Nejire cooed, pulling him into a side-hug, "See, Yuyu? You don't understand our relationship! I helped!"

Haya and Amajiki shared a look (Togata was still too busy with his food). "Whatever you say, Nejire."

"That was super cool, though," Togata added, slowly shoveling the remains of his burger into his mouth, "Sticking up for Midoriya-kun like that. You sure you aren't his big sister or something?"

Izuku's face went pale as Nejire's turned contemplative. "S-s-s-sister?!"

Haya rolled his eyes. "If only," she snickered, "If anything, they're acting like a couple, except Nejire would clearly wear the pants in that relationship."

He felt his eyes start to roll into the back of his head at the girl's words, nearly missing the way Tetsutetsu returned to quickly place his now oyster-filled ramen back in front of him. His eyes briefly lingered on Togata's two plates of entrees (or, rather, the scraps that remained of said entrees), but he said nothing as he departed once more.

"You guys are crazy," Amajiki mumbled quietly, "...But if anything, I'd say they're like a case of opposites attracting."

Nejire looked at Izuku in confusion. "What are they even talking about anymore?"

He never felt so small. "I-I-I d-don't t-think I w-want to know a-anymore."

"I don't know, you two–" Togata's eyes landed on Izuku's bowl. "Hey, Midoriya-kun! Mind if I borrow one of those oysters? You sure got a lot there!"

If looks could kill, the boy would currently be six feet under courtesy of Nejire. "Absolutely not!"

She grabbed Izuku by the shoulder, pulling him close to her side, while doing the same with his bowl of ramen. "I'm not letting you ruin another innocent person's meal like you have for me and Tamaki so many times before - especially not Izuku's!"

"I'm not ruining anything!" Togata cried in protest, "I'm just asking him if he would be willing to share! He could have some of my nachos if he wanted!"

"Yeah, right!" Haya had a dark look in her eyes. "Like Midoriya would want to eat something that turns your body into a walking biohazard - I've literally been watching that sauce on those chips dissolve your napkin every time you go to wipe your face! Stop trying to swindle the kid!"

As they once again descended into an in-depth discussion criticizing the blonde's eating habits, Izuku couldn't shake the feeling that he still didn't belong with them.

But he sure was happy that he was there.

–

Izuku sighed as he layed in his bed, playing with one of the pencils he had stolen from his desk. The oyster ramen from earlier had really hit the spot, so much so that he was thinking about laying down and taking a nap. It felt like his blankets were trying to entice him into just resting his head for a moment, the warm embrace only doubling down on the satisfaction in his stomach from their meal together. Tetsutetsu sure did earn himself a decent tip.

Well, he did finish all of his homework earlier - mainly because if Nejire invited him out somewhere again he didn't want any excuses for him to decline, but if it meant he could now take a nap, who has Izuku to deny his body what it wanted?

As he slowly curled up under the covers, he couldn't help but think about how lucky he was to have met Nejire. Thanks to her, he had made a friend (or, maybe, a few? Haya was nice, and Amajiki and Togata were keen on giving him their phone numbers after their first day at the gym), he wasn't getting beaten up at school anymore, and he was even starting to become a little bit less than just skin and bones… even if that wasn't quite as direct as the other things he could attribute to her.

But it was still sort of jarring. Did they think of him as friends? Izuku was starting to hope the answer was yes. He knew Nejire did, and maybe Togata, but the others seemed less interested in hanging out with them - and he couldn't blame them. He didn't really it in with their group (what with being two years younger than all of them and going to a completely different school), he was awkward and didn't say much even when the topic was directly about him which probably weirded them out and what if they didn't want him to come back again or worse Nejire didn't want to hang out with him once she realized that he was just a–

"Izuku!" His mom's scream yanked him back to reality quicker than anything else in the world could have done. "Hurry! Get in here, quick!"

Izuku shot out of his bed like a bat out of hell, nearly tripping over himself as he rushed to his door - and then actually tripping over himself as he stumbled into the living room. "What's going on–"

His mother was sitting in the living room, eyes wide as the television played out a scene of fire and destruction in front of them. It was centered on a major city, that much was sure, but it didn't look any sort of recognizable to Izuku - in fact, it looked more like a scene out of an apocalypse movie than anything else. "I-is this a movie or something?"

"No."

His mother's voice was fragile and shaky - it was clear she'd been crying.

"It's Hosu. Right now."

"We're here in Hosu right now where less than an hour ago the city was set ablaze by the criminal group known as the 'League of Villains'!" A reporter screamed into her microphone, barely audible over the sound of the blades of the helicopter they were seated in. "Multiple unidentified villains have been seen canvassing the streets, while firefights have broken out at several points! Heroes Miruko, Endeavor, Manual, and others have all been dispatched– holy shit! What the hell is that thing? Amaya, get us out of here! It's coming straight for–"

His mom started screaming the moment the camera started shaking, with something impacting the helicopter hard enough to knock it off course and send it spiraling out of control.

When a warped, vile, evil creature flew straight up into the camera's view with melted, yellow skin and an exposed brain, and Izuku saw the unmistakable wings on its back that he knew could only belong to one other person, regardless of their color now, he started screaming, too.

—

A/N: Another chapter in the books! We're slowly moving the relationships along, it just takes more time now that Izuku has to make friends with more than one person (and the other third-years aren't throwing themselves at the challenge of opening him up as hard as Nejire is), but that's okay. There was also a little bit of a hint as to what next chapter will be pertaining with the sneak peek we saw in the ending.

Also the recurring 1-A & 1-B characters appearing with their part-time jobs is quickly becoming one of my favorite gimmicks in this story. Originally it was just going to be Satou for the one off at the ice cream parlor but I'm having too much fun imagining them forced to work a job to pay for tuition lmao I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do.

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought! See you next time!