Ryuko groaned as her alarm blared incessantly. Shifting around in her large, warm comforter and shoving a pillow over her head in an attempt to drown out the noise. It was her one day off - who the hell was trying to call her emergency number?

After five minutes of torturous wailing, where her phone went to voicemail three separate times only for the person to immediately call her back, she finally picked it up with a snarl.

"Who the hell is this?" She roared, draconic tendencies flaring up at her irritation, "This is a private number!"

"Hi, Ryuko!" The bubbly voice of her sidekick greeted, "Sorry for waking you up!"

The Heroine felt some of her irritation fade away at the sound of Nejire's voice. She could never stay mad at the girl (mostly because she never really did anything to be mad at), and Ryuko knew she wouldn't call her at the ungodly time of six-thirty in the morning without a good reason.

"Hello, Nejire," she sighed, "How are you?"

The girl offered her a nervous laugh through the speaker. "I'm good, I'm good," she responded quickly, "But, um, I need a favor. A big favor."

–

Izuku didn't know how to feel about a lot of things.

But he especially didn't know how to feel about what happened on his birthday.

Tamaki had tried to drill it into his head that what had happened wasn't Izuku's fault, but how could it not be? He was the one who was too scared to say something to Nejire about it being his birthday, the one who wasn't able to voice his displeasure at going to an amusement park, and the one who said nothing as he had a downright terrible time.

How could it not be his fault?

And then he decided to be petty and ignore Nejire the next time she texted him. He was such a loser.

His mother likely noticed too, if the worried looks she had been giving him during breakfast meant anything.

But she was at work now, and so Izuku was content to do nothing but mope around like a petulant brat for the rest of the summer - the same thing he did last year.

He was really starting to accept that he was the source of all his problems. Quirklessness was just an excuse he hid behind for being a freakish recluse.

Sometimes he wondered how his mother even–

Ding!

The faint sound of his doorbell pulled him away from his despairing thoughts. As if to confirm his suspicions, the first thing that popped into his head was to simply ignore it and pretend nobody was there - after all, they probably weren't here to see him, and he was more than content to hide in his bedroom and act like the outside world didn't exist.

Ding!

Too bad it seemed like whoever was outside his apartment seemed very keen on reminding him that it did.

He grudgingly rose from his bed, slipping on his slippers quickly as he scurried across the wooden floor to the entrance of his humble abode, where the smell of cooked rice still lingered. Before the doorbell could go off a third time, he peeked through the small peephole to see–

Nejire. Because of course it was. Who else would it be?

Izuku wasn't proud of the way he instinctively prepared to run back to his room - he wasn't exactly a fan of confrontation, among other things, and he really didn't want to get chewed out by Nejire first thing in the morning.

But he was a sucker for his friend - even if there was a really good chance she was going to yell at him.

Izuku gripped the doorknob hard enough to yank it off (if he had the level of strength that someone like Togata did, that was), turning the brass ornament painfully slow.

Nejire offered him a sad, small smile as he opened the door a smidge, nervousness shrouding his entire frame. "Hi, Izuku," she said softly, "Can we talk?"

"O-Okay…" he muttered, suddenly very self-conscious of the way he was wearing nothing but his pajamas. "U-um, do you want t-to come inside, or…"

"If that makes you more comfortable," Nejire replied gently, doing her best to assuage his nerves.

What would make him comfortable is if his birthday never happened, but he nodded anyway. Stepping back into the atrium of his apartment, he opened the door fully to allow Nejire inside. "D-Do y-you want to s-sit down, o-or–"

"I'm sorry."

Izuku blinked. Whatever he was expecting, this wasn't it. "W-W-What?"

Nejire closed the door behind her, before taking a step closer and grabbing his hands in her own (which, of course, made him blush like crazy). "I'm so sorry, Izuku."

She was talking like she had killed his mom or something, and the look on her face matched that sentiment - he couldn't see anything but remorse in the older girl's eyes. "W-What do you h-have to be s-s-sorry for?"

A small smile wormed its way onto her face. "Tamaki told me that it was your birthday on Friday," she whispered, "And that you had a terrible time with us. And that's my fault."

His blood froze the instant she closed her mouth. "H-H-He t-told you?!"

Oh no. No. He told Tamaki not to tell the others and he went and did it anyways and now Izuku was going to–

"He did," Nejire confirmed, "But only because I was being stupid and couldn't realize that my best friend was having a terrible time with me. Because of me."

"I-I-It w-wasn't y-y-your fault!" Izuku said quickly, nearly biting his tongue in an attempt to get her to stop apologizing, "I d-d-didn't t-tell anyone and–"

"That isn't the important part," Nejire interrupted, "What's important is that I dragged you around the entire day to do things you didn't want to do, and while you hated it I either ignored it or thought you were just playing around."

Izuku opened his mouth in protest, but Nejire shut him up in the most efficient way she knew how - by trapping him in a hug. She pulled on his arms gently, making her intentions clear (and Izuku could have pulled away if he wanted), but he was too busy trying to process like thirty different things to react.

Plus he liked it when Nejire hugged him, so there was that too.

After a long, slow moment, she pulled back slightly. "Is there a reason you didn't tell me it was your birthday?"

His face fell as guilt washed over his frame. "I-I w-w-wanted t-to," he admitted after what felt like an eternity, "B-but I c-c-could never g-get the m-message right. A-And e-eventually you texted m-me about g-going out with everyone, and I d-didn't want to make you h-have to c-c-change your p-plans o-or have to choose or m-make it about m-me–"

"It's your birthday, Izuku," she interrupted, "It's supposed to be about you. I would have been thrilled if you told me it was your birthday."

His eyes landed on his feet. "B-But you seemed way h-happier about your c-celebration than anything I w-would have done for my birthday… y-you'd probably just be b-bored of w-w-what I had planned–"

"I would have loved it because I would have been with you," Nejire said simply, shutting him up immediately, "I like spending time with you because of you, Izuku, not because of what we're doing. I couldn't care less about what the activity was - if you had a good time, I'm sure I would too. I don't have any excuses for acting how I did on Friday, but I was like that because I thought you were having a good time, too. The idea that you didn't enjoy the trip didn't even cross my mind, and I'm really sorry."

Oh man. She was going to make him cry again. "N-Nejire…"

"I know I can't go back and fix what I did," she continued, "But if you'd like, I want to try and make it up to you, if I even can."

"Y-Y-You don't have to–"

She pulled him in for another tight hug. "I want to." Nejire ran her fingers through his hair, her other hand rubbing small circles into his back. "If you let me, that is. I'd understand if you were upset at me still–"

"O-O-Of c-course not!" Izuku practically shouted, taking both of them by surprise, "I-I mean, I already t-t-told you that I d-didn't think it was your f-fault, I-I'm not upset at you at all!"

Nejire frowned, and suddenly he felt like he said the wrong thing. "Not everything is your fault, Izuku."

He winced. That was something he still struggled to accept sometimes. "I-I know, b-but–"

"No buts." She said, taking on a pseudo-stern tone. "This was not your fault, got it?"

Izuku gulped. "G-Got it."

"Say it then."

"T-this was n-not my f-f-fault?"

Nejire stared at him for a moment, her composure cracking as a few muffled giggles escaped her. "We'll work on that," she decided, "So will you let me earn your forgiveness?"

"I'm s-still not upset a-at you," Izuku stammered, "E-even if I was, I would have f-forgiven you already."

"Does that mean you're gonna let me make it up to you?"

"Y-You don't have anything to–"

Izuku cut himself off this time. Had Nejire spent the last few minutes trying to get it through his thick skull that it wasn't his fault?

Yes.

Was she clearly trying to cheer him up and make things 'right' (whatever that meant)?

Yes.

Would this likely mean they would be spending a lot of time together today if he agreed?

Yes.

Did he want to spend time with her?

Yes.

So why the hell was he trying to say no?

"…I-If you r-r-really want t-to," Izuku stressed, noticing the way Nejire's smile was threatening to split her face in half, "U-um, I'm in your h-hands."

Her gigawatt grin was so bright, it threatened to give him permanent blindness. "Great!" She clapped her hands together enthusiastically, "I promise you won't regret it, Izuku!"

She gave his outfit a once-over. "You might want to get changed, though…"

Izuku looked down and suddenly remembered he was still in nothing but his pajamas.

His Present Mic-themed pajamas that his mom had gotten him three years ago.

The scream of embarrassment he let out might have been heard on the other side of the globe.

–

Izuku had no idea where he was.

But that was mostly because of the blindfold Nejire had requested he put on the moment they stepped off the train. It was weird and slightly jarring to walk around… wherever they were, but he trusted the older girl.

The fact that she was guiding him along by holding both of his hands helped.

He hesitated as she guided into a building, the tell-tale sound of a bell chiming as they walked through the vestibule at the entrance. Izuku hoped she took the blindfold off soon - he didn't want people to think she was kidnapping him or anything.

It was like Nejire read his mind. "Hold still," she said suddenly, reaching around behind his head to untie the blue bandana over his eyes, "And… ta-da!"

Izuku blinked as his sight returned to him, only to blush as he realized how close Nejire's chest was to his face. She pulled back quickly, a hopeful smile on her face as he looked around in confusion. "...Is this an art supply store?"

Nejire's head shake just perplexed him even further. "Not just any art supply store," she began, "Look!"

She tilted Izuku's head towards the sign to his left, and he blinked in shock. "H-How did you–"

"Know this was where you come to shop?" Nejire finished, giggling at Izuku's flabbergasted look. "Funny story… kind of. Remember when we first met, and I kind of totally destroyed your backpack?"

"Y-Yes?" Izuku squeaked, very lost already.

She tapped her fingers together bashfully. "Well, while I was busy recollecting all the papers and notebooks that I may or may not have caused to fly away," she continued, "I noticed some of the pages were drawings! You're a really good artist, by the way. Anyways, I also saw that one of your notebooks was actually one of those brand-name sketchbooks that sell for higher prices, but I didn't know the name of it."

To say he was surprised would be an understatement. "Y-you remembered all that?"

Nejire shook her head instantly. "Nope! My memory is good, but not that good!"

Oh. Nevermind, then.

Seeing the confused look on his face, Nejire decided to elaborate. "I remembered the drawings," she explained, "And that you were really good at it - but not the name of the sketchbook or anything, so I asked Yuyu! She's into some of that artsy stuff, and she told me that they aren't really sold in most shops, and this was the only spot in Musutafu either of us could find with them here!"

Izuku blinked. "I see…" he said slowly, "B-But, uh, why are we h-here?"

"Well," Nejire replied coyly, twirling a strand of light-blue hair between her fingers, "I was doing some research, and I saw that they were having an art workshop today! I thought you might enjoy it if we went to see what it was like!"

He didn't have the heart to tell her that he knew exactly what she was talking about, and he had already taken it before - several times, in fact. It wasn't anything bad, per se, but the instructor was some middle-aged starving artist who didn't seem too invested in actually teaching any proper techniques. Most of what Izuku had learned about art over the past few years was self-taught or from online sources.

But it was clear that she was trying really hard to find something he'd enjoy - and it was true that drawing was one of the few hobbies he still bothered holding on to, so…

"Sure," he shrugged, "It sounds n-nice."
The older girl looked like she was trying (and failing) to contain her enthusiasm at his acceptance. "Great!" She practically shouted, quickly taking Izuku by the hand and dragging him off to one of the corners of the store. They passed a few aisles in the process, with Izuku's eyes briefly lingering on a set of oil pastel pencils - they looked really good, but the price was way out of his range, so he was quick to fix his gaze to the back of Nejire's head instead.

They stopped in front of a small circle of around twenty easels in the corner of the store, each one affixed with a large piece of blank drawing paper. There were three others occupying some of the seats in front of the easels, all grouped together and whispering amongst themselves as the instructor's eyes flickered over to their approaching forms like a pair of hungry sharks.

"Welcome!" He said jovially, "Are you here for the class?"

Nejire nodded eagerly. "Yep!" She agreed, "Me and my friend here want to learn!"

Izuku just let her do the talking. Things were a lot simpler that way, and he didn't have to drain his already very meager social battery.

The man stroked his dark-grey beard as he took in her words. "Wonderful! Take a seat anywhere you like." He swept his arm out towards the circle. "The fee is fifteen-hundred yen each!"

It was fairly cheap, all things considered, but Izuku still would have hesitated at the price.

Nejire did not. She handed over the bills without a second thought, and then waited for Izuku to pick an easel before plopping down at the one directly to his left (and not-so-subtly scooched her station a little closer to his, but no one cared enough to say anything).

The teacher waited a few minutes to see if there would be any other customers joining them, but did not look deterred by the fact that their numbers only grew by a young single woman. He cleared his throat quickly, clapping his weathered hands together to grab the group's attention.

"Now then!" He began, a serene smile on his face, "My name is Mr. Ross, and I am happy to have you here. Welcome to my art workshop! I hope that by the end of our time together, I'll be able to impart a few techniques of mine onto your young minds, and help preserve the beauty of–"

Izuku's mind quickly tuned the man out. There was nothing wrong with his speech, but he'd heard it several times in the past, and it was mostly jargon beyond the first few sentences. Nejire seemed absorbed by it, though, so he pretended to pay attention for her sake.

"-There's a million things in the world you can draw," Mr. Ross continued, "Are any of you here experienced artists?"

Two of the children in the little group of three raised their hands confidently. Izuku didn't want any extra attention (and didn't think his projects were very good, to be completely honest), so he stayed silent.

He nodded at them. "Very good! I'm always happy to see some veterans of the craft among us. I'm sure that even though you know most of what I'm going to say, there will be something in all my words you can take inspiration from." His eyes fell on Izuku, Nejire, and the lone woman. "If any of you need assistance, don't hesitate to ask!"

Mr. Ross's eyes turned towards the blank easel in front of him. "A good way to start drawing is by drawing what you want to draw," he explained, "There's no point in doing something that you don't enjoy. So to begin, I'd like for each of you to think of something that makes you smile, and sketch it out onto the canvas. Don't worry about accuracy or mistakes, as there is bound to be a bit of discord between your mind and your hands as you work."

If Izuku was a rude person, he would have rolled his eyes at the man's words - kind of like how the group of kids across from them did. There was nothing wrong with drawing what you liked, it's just a hobby, after all, but it was a bit cheesy to just say 'something that makes you smile'. Also, discrepancies between what you imagined drawing and what you placed on the paper were just the results of not having enough practice. He could remember the point where–"

Nejire poked him on the nose. "You're starting to mumble," she giggled.

His face flushed. "F-For how l-l-long?" He whispered back, already fearing that he'd ruined her little plan.

"Just now," Nejire informed him, blue eyes landing on her blank canvas and the charcoal pencils sitting on the ridge of the easel, "I figured you'd rather me tell you right away."

He sighed in relief, a tiny amount of the tension that had suddenly emerged in his bones dissipating at her words. "Yeah, t-thanks," he replied gratefully, a shaky smile finding itself on his face as Izuku turned back to his own easel.

Something that made him smile, huh? There weren't a lot of things that could do such a thing these days, and he wasn't going to draw a bowl of katsudon.

"By the way…" Nejire shifted her station again, angling her easel away from Izuku so that neither of them could see each other's papers. "No peeking until we're done!"

A weak laugh bubbled up from his lungs. "O-Okay."

And now he had a really good reference sheet. His mind was made up on what he'd draw before Izuku realized it.

He really hoped Nejire didn't want to see what his finished product looked like.

The charcoal pencils were nice because they required almost no pressure to get a good amount of coloring onto the page, but he didn't bother with those first. Instead, he traced a quick, low-quality outline of Nejire's head and hair that consisted of a few large circles and triangles, as well as a few lines across them for reference. This was second nature to Izuku by now, and he'd had plenty of practice sketching out Heroes in his stupid little notebooks over the years to become well-versed in headshots - among other styles, of course.

Also… as brutally embarrassing as it was to admit, this wasn't the first time he'd drawn Nejire. That honor went to the image she had burned into his mind of her blasting through the first round at the Sports Festival with her Nejire-Comet move. It was too cool not to draw!

That was what he told himself to cope with the fact that he had some really creepy habits, at least.

As Izuku worked, he occasionally spared Nejire a glance - sometimes to make sure he was getting her features right, which could be difficult when working in black and white only, but also to see how she was doing on her paper. She had started strong, but whatever she was drawing quickly became too much for her to handle.

"Mister!" She called out, grabbing his attention away from the lone woman, "I need help!"

His wrinkled face crinkled in amusement at her enthusiasm. "Of course." He nodded at the woman before making his way over to Nejire - only to barely hold in his laughs as he saw what she was drawing. "I see that you've gone for a very… interesting approach here!"

She ignored the instructor's platitudes, gesturing wildly at her paper in a panic. "How can I fix this?"

He leaned forward to get a better look, wincing slightly at… whatever it was that Nejire had done. "Well, I would recommend going for a less detailed start, but it may be too late for that…"

Izuku tuned them out, feeling a little bad about eavesdropping on Nejire's struggles. It was pretty easy, though - when he got in the zone, whether that be while drawing, muttering, or doing anything else, he got pretty bad tunnel vision. It worked out for him this time though, allowing him to give his undivided attention to the portrait of Nejire he was working on.

He was very glad she could not see his paper, but he couldn't help but wonder what in the world she was drawing for her to need the instructor behind her for the vast majority of the class. As Izuku filled in lines and went to work shading, Nejire was pleading with the man to teach her a year's worth of art lessons and cram it all into a single drawing.

Of course, after a half-hour passed and the workshop came to an end (without any of the man's promised techniques being shared), he was bound to get his answer.

But first, he had to roll up his own paper - he could already see Nejire's eyes flittering over to his easel, and there was no way he could allow that.

"Done!" She said proudly, her hands stained with charcoal dust, "Thanks for the help, mister."

Izuku briefly wondered if Nejire already forgot the instructor's name. "Of course," he said, "I'm always happy to help foster the artistic talents of an eager learner. Why don't you share what you've created with your friend? I'm sure he'll be delighted."

He gestured towards Izuku, and suddenly Nejire's seemingly infinite level of extrovertedness hit its limit - not that Mr. Ross noticed, what with immediately returning to flirt with the woman he was with for every moment not spent teaching Nejire over the workshop.

She let out an awkward laugh as the two were left to their own devices. "Oh, I don't know if you want to see what I drew!" Nejire rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "I'm clearly not a very good artist, haha!"

Izuku gave her a strange look. "If you d-don't want to s-show me, you don't have to," he stuttered. It would have been a bit hypocritical of him to judge her for her decisions as he tried to hide his own page from her.

Still, he was a curious person - it was going to nag at him a bit, but he could deal with that.

Nejire sighed at the accepting look on his face. "Promise you won't laugh?" She asked.

Now he was a little more confused than before - but he still nodded anyway. "W-Why would I laugh?"

The girl could only shrug embarrassedly as she turned her page around - revealing a portrait of Izuku.

Oh. That was why.

He felt his face heat up involuntarily - the red in his cheeks was intense, like molten lava just beneath the surface as he stared back at a, uh, very creative interpretation of how he looked.

For what was probably Nejire's first attempt at drawing another person, it wasn't too bad. A lot of the proportions were, uh, interesting, and he could see exactly where she had struggled, but if this was how she saw Izuku then Nejire had a very… flattering view of him (ignoring the little details like how one of his ears was nearly twice the size of the other or how his eyes didn't line up or the abomination that was his hair, among other things).

He did not know how to respond.

Nejire noted his lack of a response, blushing in embarrassment as she quickly rolled her page up. "Okay!" She said quickly, "Your turn! Show me what you drew!"

Izuku couldn't say why, but the thought of showing her his own drawing after seeing what she had created became ten times more embarrassing. "I-I'm g-good!" He replied shakily, "U-Um, you d-don't want to see what I made!"

She shook her head, shooting down his proposal instantly. "Nope! You saw what I drew, so now I have to see what you drew!"

Great. It wasn't like he had a good counter-argument - what could he even say?

With a sigh (and a healthy dose of shame), he unrolled his paper at a painstakingly slow pace in the hopes of getting Nejire bored and changing her mind. She did not - in actuality, the fact that he was taking so long seemed to make her more eager than before.

Izuku huffed. He could already tell she was going to make fun of it (or him). "N-No laughing, right?"

Nejire fought to keep a straight face. "Promise."

She was going to laugh.

Oh well. He'd embarrassed himself in front of her how many times now? What was one more line on that list?

Nejire froze as he turned his paper around in his hands, eyes widening as she realized that he had drawn her in the same way that she had for himself. Of course, there may have been a slight quality difference between each of their handiworks, but Izuku was polite enough to not point any of those things out.

Her mouth curved into an o-shape, and Izuku was ready to beg on his hands and knees for forgiveness until he realized that–

Nejire.

Was.

Blushing.

He had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. And then he did it a second time.

Nejire didn't notice - her eyes were still transfixed on his paper, and the portrait he had made of her as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"You think I look like this?" She asked, her voice slightly lower than usual. Izuku jerked his head up and down in the most painful nod he'd ever forced himself to do, and Nejire's eyes briefly flickered upwards to meet his emerald orbs. "You're a really good artist, Izuku."

Izuku gulped. Was that a good or bad thing? Was he in trouble? Was she complimenting him, or threatening him? "W-Well, um, it's n-not like it's hard to make you look good–"

He slammed his hand over his mouth fast enough to make his face hurt, completely and utterly mortified at the fact that he had just said that out loud. Nejire stared at him for a moment, seemingly shocked, before bursting out into quiet giggles.

It took her a while to calm down.

"Are you going to keep that picture?" She asked suddenly, catching Izuku off guard.

He shrugged. "U-Um, I wasn't planning on it– n-not that I wanted to g-get rid of it! I-It'd probably just be c-creepy if I did so–"

"Can I have it?" Nejire probed.

He threw his hands forward faster than humanly possible. It was like the paper had burnt him. "S-S-Sure!"

She gingerly grabbed it out of his hands, their skin briefly connecting and sending a jolt through his already shot nerves, and gently rolled it up alongside her own drawing. "Thanks," Nejire breathed out, "Now, come with me. I want to get something."

"H-Huh?"

Nejire grabbed him by the hand again - but this time, she interlocked her fingers with his, nearly giving Izuku a heart attack and killing him on the spot. He was in no position to do anything but sputter and rasp like a faulty engine as she led him back towards the entrance, only to suddenly stop in front of the display of oil pastel pencils he had been eying up earlier.

"Do you want these?" She asked suddenly, "I saw you looking at them when we came in."

Izuku shrugged with the little power he still retained over his body (he was still trying not to freak out about how soft Nejire's hands were). "T-They're nice, but way too expensive for m-me."

Nejire hummed as she eyed the price tag. "Nah," she decided, "That's pretty cheap. Can you grab them for me? I'd do it myself, but…"

She squeezed his hand. "My hands are a little full at the moment."

Oh God, she was going to kill him. The girl knew exactly what she was doing - she even gave him a cheeky grin!

He gulped. "B-But I–"

"It's your birthday," Nejire reminded him, "Or, well, make-up birthday. Money is no object!... And I got a pretty big bonus from winning the Sports Festival. It brought the agency a lot of publicity! And that was thanks to you! So in reality, it's kind of like your money!"

"I-It's definitely not," Izuku said hurriedly, "B-But, ah, t-thank you. This is very nice."

She smirked at him with a vicious glint in her eyes that made her look really hot. "I am pretty nice, huh?" Nejire asked rhetorically, "Maybe you can make it up to me by drawing me with those fancy new pencils next time."

He choked on his spit.

The cashier was going to have a field day with them.

–

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry that bag?" Nejire repeated for the fiftieth time, "I can hold it for you!"

Izuku shook his head. "I-It's not heavy," he (also) repeated, "It's just a box of pencils."

"And the drawings!" She reminded him.

"T-Those aren't heavy either!"

They had been on this topic for the better part of the last fifteen minutes, having been discussing it since their latest departure from the train. At least she hadn't brought the blindfold back out this time - but that just told Izuku that their destination wasn't going to be one he was familiar with.

And that made him a little nervous.

Seemingly sensing his anxiety, Nejire squeezed his hand again - she still hadn't let go since she grabbed onto him back at his art supply store for some reason. He hoped his palms weren't sweaty, and that his hands weren't too warm for her or something.

Her hand was nice and cool, but he could practically feel the thrum of her Quirk beneath her skin. It was an interesting sensation, and made it feel like Nejire was practically vibrating in place.

"We're almost there," she reassured him as they turned a corner on the sidewalk, "You'll love it!"

"L-L-Love is a s-strong word," he hesitantly laughed, "Um, where a-are we–"

Before he could finish, the pair bumped into somebody - nearly taking all three of them to the ground.

Okay, that was an exaggeration. Nobody fell and nobody was close to falling (aside from Izuku, what with him being the smallest one of the three, but Nejire was easily able to keep him steady), but he figured he might fall over in shock when he realized who they bumped into.

"R-Ryukyu?!" / "Ryuko!"

The Number Nine Pro Heroine. The Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu.

Also known as Nejire's current employer.

The woman smiled at the pair - or rather, smiled at Nejire. "Hello, Nejire," she greeted calmly, "Fancy seeing you here on your day off."

Nejire laughed as though the two were sharing an inside joke. "I know! Crazy, right?"

Ryukyu's smile turned deadly. Clearly whatever it was that Nejire found amusing was not a shared joke. "Indeed."

The woman was in her standard getup. A long silk dress flowed down her body, red hugging her body like a second skin with a large part around her thigh. Halfway down her calves, her boots caught up with her dress to cover a good portion of her legs. A tiny headpiece that resembled a bat's wings was tied into the back of her hair, and her signature claw-themed mask covered the right half of her face.

All in all, she looked really cool.

And now she was looking at him.

Her eyes softened a tad at the awed look in his eyes. "And I don't believe we've met before," Ryukyu continued, "Are you, perhaps, one of Nejire's friends?"

"Uhhh…" Izuku replied dumbly.

He quickly realized what he was doing, panicking slightly at the prospect of making a fool of himself in front of the Heroine - though based on the amused look she was giving him, he may have already been too late. "Y-Yes!" Izuku practically shouted, before wincing at how excited he sounded, "U-Um, I mean, yes? My name is M-Midoriya Izuku."

Ryukyu's eyes widened slightly as he introduced himself. "Midoriya…" she repeated, "That name sounds familiar. Are you the one who helped Nejire with her Quirk's new developments?"

Nejire nodded for him - he was too busy freaking out over the fact that the Number Nine Hero in Japan knew who he was (All Might didn't count). "Yep!" The girl agreed readily, "He's behind all of it! We're even working on some new stuff now, too! All thanks to Izuku!"

"I-I-I wouldn't say it's a-all thanks to m-me–"

"Very impressive!" Ryukyu gave him a once over, nodding slowly. "Anyone with an eye for Quirks like that certainly has my respect, especially with the way Nejire talks about you."

Izuku gulped. He was so out of his depth. "Nejire t-talks about me?"

Her grin turned predatory as she glanced at Nejire - who was starting to fear her boss as she went off script. "All the time!" She chuckled at the surprised look on his face, as well as the nervous one on her sidekick. "In fact, she even told me that you just had a birthday!"

He looked at Nejire in confusion. "You t-told your boss about my b-birthday? But you've only known about it for–"

"Yes– No– I mean–" She babbled in shock. "That part is unimportant!"

Ryukyu let her underling stew in the hot water she found herself in, her draconic side relishing in the girl's (admittedly rather light) comeuppance, before chuckling. "Anyways," she continued, "She also told me you were a huge fan!"

Her distraction worked perfectly - turning Izuku back into an awkward mess. "U-Um, well, I d-don't know about h-huge fan–"

"You don't have to be shy about it!" Ryukyu laughed, before pulling a small folder out of the black bag hanging at her side, "Do you have a phone, by any chance?"

Izuku nodded quickly, already fishing around in his pocket for it. "W-Why?"

"Give it here," she said, offering the manilla folder in her hands to him in compensation, "And hold onto this for me real quick."

He was powerless to do anything but follow her orders, and a second later Ryukyu was behind them, camera app out as she swung an arm around Izuku's shoulder that made him blush in shock. "Say cheese!"

"Wha–"

The bright light of the camera's flash stunned him for a second, and Izuku was left blinking the stars out of his eyes as Ryukyu returned his phone. "Nice to meet you, Midoriya, and happy birthday, but I'm in a bit of a hurry!" Her eyes immediately shifted towards the blue-haired girl who was still struggling to figure out where her plan had begun to deviate, "Nejire, I better see you in the office tomorrow bright and early!"

Before Izuku could blink the Heroine was already sprinting past them, leaving himself and Nejire in the dust. "U-Um, Nejire," he began slowly, turning towards his friend, "W-What just happened?"

She winced. "I, uh, may have told Ryuko about how I messed up your birthday, and asked her to meet you and give you an autograph," the taller girl explained sheepishly, "But I think I may have irked her a bit with how I asked. I didn't think she'd act like… um, that."

Izuku looked down at the manilla folder in his hands. "T-Then this is…"

"Probably an autograph," Nejire finished, "Um, it might not be the best thing to open in the middle of the city, so let's actually head on over to my agency now! I wanted to show you around!"

He hesitated again - and not just because the thought of being in a Hero agency made him feel more than a little nervous, for multiple reasons. "I-I'm sorry!" The fact that Izuku was apologizing seemed to take Nejire by complete surprise. "You didn't have to do this! R-Ryukyu seemed k-kind of upset at you because of this, y-you shouldn't get in trouble because of–"

"I'm not going to get in trouble," Nejire corrected gently, "And even if I do, I don't care. I wanted to do this, remember? If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked for my boss to show up on her day off and do this for you, y'know?"

Why was Nejire so amazing? The world may never know, but what Izuku did know was that he was probably getting close to crying. "S-Sorry."

Nejire waved off his apology without a second thought. "Nothing to apologize for!" She said easily, "Um, you do like Ryuko, right? As a Hero, I mean."

Even if she didn't outright say it, Izuku could figure out what Nejire was asking rather easily - if she was the Hero that crushed his dreams.

"Y-Yeah," Izuku agreed, "Ryukyu's really cool. Dragon is an awesome Quirk."

She beamed. "I know, right?" Nejire gushed, "We can talk more about it on the way to my agency - they're fine with me giving you a tour, by the way - but I've seen her do some crazy things! Her fire-breath is out of this world!"

Nejire led him away by the hand again. Izuku didn't even think about pulling away.

–

When Izuku asked Nejire if it was okay for him to choose their next destination, she was happy to go along with it.

She became slightly confused when he took her to a grocery store.

Her confusion was cleared up when he asked if she would be okay with him making them dinner - though it took all of his willpower to say that with a straight face.

Cooking wasn't always something Izuku enjoyed doing. It originated from a simple necessity to be able to care for himself when his mother was absent, working late nights and lots of overtime to provide for the two of them. It meant Izuku had to become independent to a degree, and that included doing a lot of the basic household chores that would not normally fall on his shoulders.

But cooking wasn't like doing laundry or polishing furniture. While there was a certain amount of monotony to it, he could enjoy the fruits of his labor in a much easier fashion compared to the other options. And Izuku liked seeing the happy face of his mother after he made something particularly good for her, so there was even more of an incentive to improve himself. He had been doing it for so long now that his mom liked his food even more than her own now.

He just hoped Nejire thought so too. And that he wasn't too weird for asking to do this - especially since cooking a meal for someone wasn't usually something friends did for each other…

Izuku shook his head, curly green hair falling into his eyes slightly as he stirred the egg slowly around the pan. Thinking like that wouldn't do him any good whatsoever. It wasn't like Nejire would ever go out with him, let alone see him as anything more than a friend. He was lucky enough as is.

Cooking was especially nice because it required his more-or-less undivided attention, which meant his thoughts were less oppressive than usual. It meant he wasn't currently freaking out over the fact that he was cooking for the girl he had a not-so-little-anymore crush on, or how he knew he was trying to impress her despite this being a day about him by cooking her favorite food, or–

He slowly stirred the rice. As easy as it would have been to prepare it with a rice cooker, he preferred to do it by hand (and he was trying to show off, as if what he was doing was any sort of impressive).

Nejire sat at his kitchen table, watching his movements with rapt eyes. She was fidgeting with excitement behind him, and Izuku had a funny feeling she had figured out what he was making already. Out of politeness she stayed quiet, but there was no doubt she was ready to eat.

Lucky for her, omurice didn't take very long to make.

The hardest part was plating it all, because he had to turn around and keep Nejire in his vision as he threw on the last touches to the steamy omelet and rice. There was no doubt in his mind that if Izuku wasn't so focused on not tripping during the two-second walk from his counter to his table that he'd be blushing like crazy again.

"H-Here you go," he said, "Um, s-sorry I made you wait."

Her laugh was like music to his ears. "I should be saying sorry for having you make me food, Izuku!" She giggled, "I mean, dinner and a show! Wow! And how'd you know I love omurice?"

"Y-You talk about it all the t-time," he pointed out bashfully, "A-And I remember from the second time we met, y-you, uh, said something about not wanting to miss out on it."

Nejire took a bite before responding, and as soon as the meal hit her mouth her pupils dilated to what was probably an unhealthy degree. "Holy crap!" She squealed excitedly, cupping her cheeks in her hands and kicking her feet up underneath the table, "This is so good!"

Izuku felt his face heat up as he watched her reaction. Too cute!

"I-I'm glad you l-like it," he replied shakily, letting out a sigh of relief as she dug in with gusto.

"Like it?" Nejire asked, having the decency to swallow before continuing, "I love it! I didn't know you could cook, too! I feel kinda bad that you made this for me, though!"

"D-Don't be!" Izuku replied quickly, putting his hands up in protest, "I l-like to cook, it, ah, helps me r-relax…"

Any semblance of calm he'd received from preparing the meal was long gone now, though. Just watching Nejire enjoy herself made his heart beat at what was certainly an unhealthy speed.

She tore through the omelet at a speed that would put Ingenium to shame. "This is the best thing I've ever eaten," Nejire decided after finishing, "And it's not even close. I've had food from Ryuko's private chefs before, and they would feel ashamed if they tried this!"

His eyes scanned her face for any hint that she was joking, or at least overexaggerating, but aside from the big smile on her face (which was more or less always there) she seemed dead serious.

The eye contact did not last long. As soon as his face started to heat up again he dropped his gaze to his lap. "Oh, I d-don't know about all t-t-that…"

Nejire shook her head. "My taste buds, my rules!" She said sternly, "And my taste buds say that this was super-duper good!"

An awkward laugh wormed its way out of his vocal cords. "If you s-say so…"

Izuku poked at his half-finished dinner. What was he supposed to do now? Were they done hanging out for the day? It had been nice, but he kind of wished that she stayed a little longer…

"Want to watch a movie?" Nejire offered, "We never finished that, uh, what did you call it? Ice Age?"

It was like she could read his mind.

Again.

Izuku was starting to wonder if she had a second Quirk that allowed her to do that to him every so often. Also, wasn't it his house? Why was she offering to watch a movie with him? Their relationship was so strange - not that Izuku minded, of course.

"Um, I rewatched that series a few weeks ago," Izuku admitted, "B-But, um, I r-remember you asking me about my favorite movie? When we went to the m-mall? We can w-watch that, uh, if you w-want… you might n-not like it, though."

She shrugged. "I'm sure I'll like it!" Nejire said easily, "I mean, you seem to have a pretty good taste in movies!"

"I-If you say s-so…" Izuku stood up slowly, moving towards the cabinet that held all his pre-Quirk movies. It seemed like she had made the decision for him. "D-Do you like s-sci-fi?"

–

Izuku did not, in fact, expect Nejire to like science-fiction movies. The genre had kind of died out after the Dawn of Quirks, though the stagnant technological developments as of recent had brought it back to life over the past few years.

But as they sat together on his loveseat (with a blanket draped over them at Nejire's insistence), Izuku didn't think he'd ever seen her so enamored.

"Wow," she breathed out slowly, "Can you really grow potatoes with–"

Izuku coughed into his fist. "T-Technically yes, but, um, I don't know if Mars's soil would actually work for that."

Nejire nodded in understanding. "How about the little robot he found earlier? What was it called again?"

"Pathfinder and S-Sojourner," he reminded her, "They're real. Um, I think they're s-still there, but who knows? It's been over two-hundred years, after all…"

"And those super scary dust storms?"

"Real, as far as I c-could find."

The Martian. A really old movie, but Izuku's favorite nonetheless. The red and orange backdrop was accentuated by the slowly setting sun outside, barely visible behind the thick curtains that his mother had hung on their windows many years ago.

She slowly absorbed all the information he had offered. "Awesome," she sighed, sinking even further into the couch that they shared, "How have I never seen this before?"

"I-It's from 2015," he mumbled, "There aren't exactly a l-lot of copies left."

Her large blue eyes flickered towards Izuku's form at his words. "Then how did you find one?"

He shrugged lamely. "The Martian is based off of a book of the same name," he explained, "And I found the b-book first. I really liked it, and started asking around online if anybody had a copy of the movie they were willing to s-sell. It took me like, um, six m-months, and the only person willing to give their copy up was American, w-which is why it's in English."

"That's cool!" Nejire said, eyes flickering back towards the movie. Currently, Mark Watney was driving his modified rover towards the Ares IV MAV for his one chance at escaping the Red Planet. "So what part is your favorite?"

Izuku blinked. "Huh?"

"What part is your favorite?" Nejire repeated, "I agree it's really cool and good, but why's it your favorite movie?"

Oh. She asked the one question he was hoping she wouldn't.

Nejire must have noticed the way he tensed up underneath their blanket, because a moment later her gaze landed on him once more. "You okay, Izuku?"

He let out a shaky breath. "Y-Yeah," he whispered, "I'm f-f-fine."

It had been so long since he thought about the why. It was such a stupid reason, too - one that showed just how pathetic he was and had just about nothing to do with the movie in the first place.

The girl frowned at his words, scooting closer to him until they were touching shoulders beneath the blanket. Izuku hardly noticed - at least, not until she wrapped an arm around his torso, trapping him in a side-hug. "Did I say something wrong?"

"N-No!" Izuku cringed at how loudly he had shouted. "S-S-Sorry. You didn't s-say anything. I-It's just, um…"

He sighed, slouching forward as he willed the cushions to swallow him up. "T-The reason it's my f-favorite movie d-doesn't have a l-lot to do with the movie itself."

Nejire took the opportunity to scooch closer again, and now she was practically hugging him from behind. "That's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Izuku didn't want to. But he felt safe with Nejire, like she wouldn't mock him if he told her the truth. "R-Remember the scene earlier, where it shows the world reacting to f-finding out Mark was alive?"

"Mhm." Nejire nodded, her head practically on his shoulder.

He took a deep breath. "W-Well," Izuku began slowly, "Um, w-when I f-f-first saw it, all I could t-think about was how the w-whole world suddenly came together for him, a-and everyone on Earth was w-worried, and how t-they all wanted him to s-surivive, and make it home, b-but he didn't even know it."

Izuku wrapped his arms around his knees, pulling them up to his chest. "H-He was alone. H-He didn't have a-a-anyone, a-and he just kept going, because if he gave up that was it, and he'd never get to hear about how everyone cared so much about him but c-couldn't tell him."

"I-Izuku…"

He took a shuddering breath, taking the time to wipe at his misty eyes as he continued. "W-When I was younger," he whispered, voice barely audible to the girl at his side, "Sometimes I-I'd… I'd pretend that was me. That I was on Mars, and everyone around me really cared about me, and they just couldn't say it yet. That one day everyone would be nice to me again, and that I'd matter, and people would just t-treat me like I wasn't a f-f-freak again."

"...T-There were some b-bad days I've had in the past," he admitted, "A-And– and some really bad ones, t-too. Sometimes, telling myself that lie was a-all I could do to make myself feel better, to k-keep going when it felt like the entire world wanted me to just g-g-give up."

Izuku didn't even realize he was crying until Nejire started wiping his eyes for him. When he felt water droplets landing in his hair, he realized that she was crying, too. "I-I'm sorry–"

"Don't," Nejire whispered, "God, Izuku, d-don't apologize–"

A guttural cry erupted from her throat. She pulled him closer to her, to the point where Izuku was sitting in the taller girl's lap as she squeezed him tight enough to crush his ribs. His arms found their way behind her in no time at all.

For a while, neither of them said anything - not that Izuku would even know what to say.

"I– I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Izuku," she whispered against his hair, causing green and periwinkle to intertwine, "But you're not alone anymore. I'm here for you, your mom is here for you, and all our friends are here for you. I know it's selfish, but I don't want you to feel that way ever again."

His heart tightened in his chest to an impossible degree. "I– I d-don't feel like t-that when I'm with you," Izuku admitted.

Her arms gripped him even tighter as Mark Watney launched into the Martian atmosphere to be reunited with his crew. "Then I'm not going anywhere," she decided tearfully, "You're never going to have to feel like that again, Izu, and I'll make sure no one can hurt you again."

Warmth blossomed in his chest at her words, and despite the awkward and embarrassing situation he had wound up in there was nowhere else he'd rather be in the world right now. Nejire made him feel safe, made him feel important, and made him feel like he mattered.

Izuku wished this moment would never end. His heart ached at the thought of her leaving, even though logically it was only a matter of time until she had to go home for the day.

But that didn't matter; he'd relish in this feeling as long as he could, and a small smile blossomed on his face as he melted into her embrace.

…

Oh, fuck.

Izuku didn't think he had a crush on Nejire anymore.

He was in love with her.

That wasn't good.

…

Wait, what did Nejire just call him?!

—

A/N: For the record, I have not watched The Martian - I did enjoy the book quite a bit, though I haven't read it in a hot minute. If his little speech doesn't accurately portray what happens in the movie, then he got a bootlegged version of the movie that just so happens to be the exact same plus the scene he described. I'm pretty sure something like that happens in the book anyway.

I'd also like to give a huge shout-out to my beta writers, Helia and Lugia (Helia also made the cover, if you're reading this on FFN)! They help a lot with the quality control of the story and I'm always bouncing ideas off of them for advice, which means the chapters are better and more fleshed out and I'm not writing the worst angst imaginable right now (that comes later).

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought of the chapter! Merry Christmas, and see you next time!