"Hey Yuyu, I have a question."

–

Izuku sighed as the bell rang out, signalling the start of the school year.

Another year with Kacchan…

His first year of middle school had come and gone, and it wasn't much different from his time in primary school. He got beat up, was mocked for being Quirkless, and had no friends.

Business as usual.

"Hey Midoriya," a feminine voice called out, "Can I sit here?"

Izuku blinked in confusion at the sound of someone actually talking to him - and laughing at him did NOT count, okay? He looked up to see who it was, and froze in shock.

Koeru Kyoko. One of the most popular girls in his grade, and for good reason.

She was friendly with everyone - well, everyone except him - and was considered one of the prettiest girls by most of the male members of his class (though they tended to use far more crass terms), and for good reason. With short yet cute violet hair and an expression that oozed positivity, it was hard not to like the girl.

And she was talking to him. Asking if she could take the seat behind him.

"S-S-Sure, K-Koeru-san!" Izuku said, shocked and delighted. Was this his chance to make a friend?

Koeru smiled at him. His heart soared. "Thanks! Say, have you done the homework Akita-sensei assigned us yet?"

"Y-Yeah!" He tried not to sound too enthusiastic. "Um, d-did you need it?"

"Yes, please! You're a lifesaver!"

Izuku quickly glanced around the room, making sure no one saw the interaction. Whenever anyone so much as looked at Izuku the wrong way - i.e., with any modicum of friendliness or pity - they tended to be reminded of just how much of a freak he was, and that staying FAR away from Deku was for the best.

But no one seemed to care about Koeru talking with him.

That was when he should have realized that he was being played.

Izuku sighed as he looked around the lunchroom. Even the outcasts didn't want him sitting with them. Even though he may have made a friend, it seemed like the rest of the school was just the same–

"Midoriya-kun! Over here!"

He froze as he heard Koeru calling out to him, and his eyes zeroed in on her position at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. She patted the seat beside her, and Izuku had to pinch his arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"You good?" Koeru asked amusedly, watching the way he sat down slowly, "You know, I've never seen you in the lunchroom before, is there a reason for that?"

He missed the way she hid a laugh at the question, still too busy processing that she was actually interacting with him. "U-Uh, well…" Izuku mumbled, "I usually j-just eat out in the courtyard."

She frowned. "That's no fun! You should eat here with me from now on!"

"R-Really?"

Izuku hated how damn eager he sounded.

"Leave him alone!" Koeru said sternly, staring down Bakugou with an unflinching glare. "You're being so cruel!"

He sneered, explosions in his hands as he looked past the imposing form of Koeru to glare at Izuku. "You're lucky your girlfriend was here to protect you this time, Deku."

Koeru didn't respond, so Bakugou stomped off. The moment he was gone, Koeru was fretting over his wounds. "Are you okay, Izuku?"

This was the first time she had used his first name. And the first time someone had stood up for him.

It was too good to be true.

"I-I'm alright, K-Koeru-san," Izuku sniffled, "T-Thank you…"

She smiled at him, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Call me Kyoko."

His heart was doing backflips now. Was this what being in love was like?

If it was, he never wanted this feeling to go away.

Kyoko had told him to meet her here in fifteen minutes, but Izuku couldn't help himself. She had blown him a kiss at the end of class, telling him to show up behind the school at three. Was he supposed to be patient?

His life had gotten so much better over the past week. Kyoko was awesome, bullies were starting to leave him alone, her friends were starting to open up to him, and now it seemed like maybe, just maybe, she liked him back?

He was ecstatic. So sue him for being a little overexcited - he even ran to the corner store and bought some flowers! Things were moving kind of fast (even for him), but he wasn't about to complain.

"Deku's here already?"

He froze at the sound of a voice that was decidedly NOT Kyoko. He spun on his heel in surprise, coming face to face with what seemed to be half his class - or half the guys, at least. Tsubasa, Kotoro, Mitsugo, and a few others were all blocking the exit.

"H-Hi?" He squeaked, only to be met with cruel laughs.

"Deku even bought flowers!" One boy jeered.

Another was howling. "This is too good to be true!"

Izuku was starting to worry. What was going on?

"I– I have to go," he said suddenly, a cold fear creeping up on him. "I d-don't think–"

Kyoko stepped through the crowd, meeting his eyes easily.

There was nothing but disgust waiting for him.

"Ugh, seriously?" She sneered, "Flowers? You're embarrassing, Deku."

He wilted like the roses in his hands at her words, recoiling at her use of the rest of the school's nickname for him. "I-I t-t-thought–"

"You thought what?" She cut him off viciously. "That I liked you? That I was your friend? You're even dumber than I thought."

Somewhere in between the cracks in the pavement, Izuku's heart fell - broken beyond belief at her callous indifference - no, at her active hatred of him. What was going on?

As if on cue, Bakugou walked through the crowd next. "Well, well, well," he sneered, "I guess our April Fool's prank went a little longer than it was originally planned. Tough luck, Deku!"

Izuku fell to his knees in despair, eyes watering like a leaky faucet. All this was… a prank?

The crowd roared in approval as their leader smirked. "I knew it would be funny if we got someone to pretend to be your friend, and you fell for it hook, line, and sinker!" The blonde laughed, "I mean, seriously? You thought I would leave you alone just because Koeru told me to? As if!"

He whistled appreciatively. "But damn, I didn't think you had it in you, hot stuff!"

Koeru batted her eyelashes at the boy, blushing slightly at the praise. "I knew you'd like it if I went along with it for a bit longer," she swooned.

Bakugou cackled. "Damn straight!" He stomped over to Izuku, yanking him up by his hair and getting scarily close. "Let this be a lesson to you, Deku. No one is ever going to love a Quirkless loser like you, and the sooner you get that through your thick skull the better. I'm honestly doing you a favor, teaching you this lesson before you get hurt for real!"

"..."

Every time he tried to say something, nothing of value came out. He was so shocked that he couldn't even open his mouth.

The rest of what he said went in one ear and out the other. The beating he received barely even registered in his mind, even as many of his classmates went overboard as a result of being denied the chance to pummel him over the past month.

All that he could think about was how right they all were.

That was the first time Izuku realized he could never be loved by someone else.

–

"What is it, Nejire?" The pink-haired girl sighed, "Are you going to ask me about the plans for your beauty pageant dress again?"

Nejire shook her head fervently. "No, nothing like that!" She sighed. "It's just…"

–

The next day, Izuku's voice was practically gone. With all the screaming he had done the night before, it wasn't that much of a surprise.

Nor was it a big shock that he woke up on his bathroom floor - even if it gave his mom a hell of a fright when she got home early that morning.

Thankfully, she didn't question it. Izuku being weird was the furthest thing from anyone's mind today, and for good reason.

All Might was retired. Done for. His time had passed.

And Togata was his successor. Both literally and figuratively.

Briefly, Izuku wondered how exactly All Might could pass along a Quirk, but he soon realized it didn't matter in the slightest. All that mattered was that he–

Nope, that didn't matter either. Who cared about what one Quirkless child thought about being a Hero?

All Might certainly didn't. And why should he? What did Izuku even have to be upset about?

It wasn't like he'd be a 'worthy' successor in any sense of the word. What did he have that Togata didn't? Absolutely nothing. Why would All Might consider him as a successor?

He wouldn't. He had no reason to. Izuku had nothing to offer. No Quirk, no heroic spirit, no power, nothing. There wasn't a single reason Izuku deserved anything All Might had to give, much less when compared with Togata. He had no reason to even be on the man's radar.

So he should just shut up and stop throwing himself the world's most miserable pity party. All Might was right, and Izuku was wrong. He couldn't be a Hero, and he should just be realistic. It was his fault all these things happened to him, after all. Izuku was at fault for allowing his delusion to fester for so long.

That didn't do much to quell the ever-growing bitterness in his heart every time he thought of the man.

It wasn't even fair of him to think that way, though. All Might didn't know better. All Might shouldn't have to know better. Izuku was less than the pebbles beneath the man's boots. What right did Izuku have to act like this?

None whatsoever.

Still…

Even thinking about Togata was enough to make Izuku miserable. He was like the polar opposite of Izuku - tall, outgoing, popular, friendly, had a perfect family (from what the boy had told him during their gym sessions, at least), an amazing Quirk, supportive friends, the admiration of all, he could go on and on and on and on. Izuku, up until, like, four months ago, had none of that, and the only thing they both had in common now was that Izuku had four more friends than he did before - and if it weren't for Nejire having terrible time management, he'd still have zero.

Togata got everything he could have needed to succeed and more. Izuku got nothing.

It shouldn't have been a surprise to see which one of them All Might chose to be his successor.

Life wasn't fair.

But Izuku knew that - he'd known that since he was four years old.

Izuku didn't get nice things because he was Izuku.

Bakugou was right.

He was just a Deku.

And that was all he'd ever be.

–

"How do you know when you're in love?"

–

He could tell his mom was worried, and honestly?

Izuku didn't blame her.

He had barely touched his breakfast, lunch, and now dinner, too preoccupied with wondering whether or not to see if he could reach terminal velocity from leaping off the roof of his apartment building.

Taking it to the grave would probably be the best way to make sure he didn't accidentally reveal All Might and Togata's secret, after all. Even if he really didn't want anything to do with, well, either of them to be honest, Izuku wasn't looking to bring the downfall of Hero society about.

He didn't think he'd ever be able to look at his 'friend' the same way ever again, though - not that Togata deserved that treatment. He hadn't done anything to deserve Izuku's animosity, having been nothing but kind to him since they met (ignoring the whole following-him-home thing that one time), but he was a petty little loser and his brain couldn't stand the idea of things just being normal between them anymore.

And once he started being weird to Togata, it was only a matter of time before the teen got tired of him - and so would Tamaki, Haya, and Nejire.

And then he'd be back to square one - no, actually he'd be in the negatives, because now Izuku would have undeniable proof that it really was his fault that he didn't deserve anyone's attention or pity or kindness even though he should have known that already so he'd be basically required to do the world a favor and–

"Izuku?"

He blinked. "Y-Yeah?"

His mother frowned. "Are you okay? That was the third time I called your name…"

Izuku smiled, but both of them knew it wasn't real by the way it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm f-fine," he said, "Really."

Her bottom lip quivered, and Izuku was wracked by guilt. He even lied to his own mother. What a horrible son he was. She didn't deserve to have to put up with him.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" She tried, "I-I know I haven't always been the greatest mother, but I love you, Izuku. I love you so much."

"I love you too, mom." He said with sincerity, "You haven't done anything wrong. I couldn't ask for a better mother."

Not that he could ask for anything in the first place. He didn't deserve his mom, or anything, for that matter.

And that was true. With how shameful he was, it was a miracle his mother even bothered to stick around.

His father sure didn't.

If anything, his words seemed to only make things worse. And he wasn't quite sure why.

He was finally getting it through his thick skull that he didn't matter, after all. Why was this a problem?

A knock on their door took Izuku by surprise, but his mom merely sighed. "I understand if you don't want to talk to me," she whispered, and the way her voice cracked made him feel so much worse, "But would it maybe be easier if you talked to one of your friends?"

The door opened unprompted. Izuku's heart fell.

His mom had called Nejire.

–

Yuyu blinked in surprise - whatever she was expecting, it wasn't this. "How do you know when you're in love?" She repeated slowly, "What brought that question on? And why are you asking me?"

Nejire looked uncharacteristically vulnerable. "I don't know…" She mumbled, "I've just been thinking, I guess. And I mean, you've had boyfriends before, haven't you? I just want to know what it's like."

–

At least she was tactful enough to lead him outside and away from his mom. Nejire had taken him to a local park that he'd never been able to remember the name of for many reasons - not the least of which being the fact that he'd been forced to avoid it over the years due to how often Bakugou frequented it.

That happened to a lot of his favorite places over the years. Izuku would find somewhere, enjoy the solitude, and then one day someone from school would see him and Bakugou would make sure his safe-space was removed in swift fashion.

He eventually gave up on having places outside his home to call his own.

Nejire was as friendly as ever. Her hand was intertwined with his own, leading him slowly down a worn-out dirt path as Izuku put up no resistance. Normally he'd at least have the decency to blush at her actions (as he had done all of yesterday), accompanied by plenty of stammering and stuttering and bashfulness, but for some strange reason it was like none of that mattered now.

It was like his realization last night had given him the final wake-up call he needed. No matter how desperately he had fought for things to be different in the past twelve years, no matter what he did or who he met or how hard he tried, he'd never be anything more than a Deku.
Not even Nejire could change that. His infatuation with her was just as pointless as he was, after all. If she never saw him again it'd probably only be a matter of time before she forgot about Izuku entirely.

The idea that anyone would love him, much less someone as incredibly amazing and perfect as Nejire, was complete and utter horseshit.

And the sooner he accepted that, the sooner he could… could…

Well, Izuku didn't know yet. Maybe he'd kill himself, maybe he'd run away, maybe he'd cut all ties with Nejire and the others and force them to realize how worthless he truly was and allow everything to go back to the way it was before he met her.

It really didn't matter.

She was uncharacteristically silent as they walked, which was both a blessing and a curse. It meant he didn't have to try and act all happy and positive (Nejire would see right through it, at any rate), but it also meant he was left alone with his thoughts, which was never a good idea. She hummed a soft tune as they walked, and her eyes constantly landed back on him, but seemed content to leave it at that.

For now.

There were a handful of other people out and about, what with it being a public park and all, but they were generally far and few between. And unlike Izuku, they all seemed very happy.

It must have been nice.

It was nice and warm, even with the soon-to-be setting sun lazily hovering just above the edge of the treeline, so when they passed a pop-up ice cream stand he wasn't really surprised by the way her eyes flickered over to the cart like a moth to a flame before shooting back to him.

"Do you want to get something?" Izuku asked quietly.

Nejire pursed her lips. "Do you?"

He shrugged. "I'm fine either way," he mumbled, "You can get something if you want…"

A simple 'I don't care' would have sufficed as well, but she didn't deserve an attitude from him for no reason.

She hesitated, eyes lingering on Izuku for far longer than before. "Okay," Nejire finally said, "Let's go."

Izuku followed alongside her like a lost puppy, which really was all he was to Nejire. She was just nice enough to let him stick around for a while, which spoke more to how unreasonably patient she was than anything about him.

She stepped up to the vendor calmly. "Two mint-chocolate chip cones, please," the girl ordered, briefly separating from Izuku to take out her wallet and pay.

It went over his head, but Nejire's worries were just cemented by the fact that he didn't even offer to pay.

Izuku always offered to pay.

They were done in no time. Nejire offered one of the cones to Izuku, and as much as he didn't want to, he took the ice cream. She had paid for it (and clearly expected him to take it), so he muttered out a quiet 'thank you' as he accepted the gift.

Nejire frowned. "Let's go sit down," she suggested, pointing to a free bench a couple-dozen meters away, "My legs are killing me."

"Okay."

–

"I don't know if I'd call any of those relationships love," Yuyu mumbled.

Nejire looked at her with wide eyes. "You would date someone even if you didn't love them?" She asked, "What about that Touma guy?"

Her face flushed. "Do not remind me of him…"

–

Izuku's eyes looked out towards the treeline from their spot on the bench, slowly licking the ice cream cone Nejire had given him. He wasn't very hungry, nor was he in the mood, but if he went and threw it out he'd basically be spitting in Nejire's face.

He already kind of was, to be honest, between the silent treatment he was giving her and the fact that he wouldn't (couldn't) meet her eyes. No need to do it twice.

Nejire was similarly slow in eating her ice cream, though her gaze was more or less fixed on Izuku. Her free hand hovered over his own, having been laid to rest limply against the bench, and after a few more moments of indecisiveness she reached out and grabbed it.

Aside from a split-second of tenseness in his body, at her actions, Izuku didn't respond. What was he supposed to do, say thanks?

She was only doing it to try and make him feel better. She probably hated touching him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Nejire asked, voice barely above a whisper as their eyes fell on a small group of children playing tag in the field in front of them.

Izuku frowned slightly. "About what?" He countered, "Nothing's wrong."

Maybe she would have believed it if his body hadn't betrayed him, voice peaking at the end of his claim.

Nejire ran her fingers through his own, squeezing slightly. "I don't think your mom would ask me to come see you over nothing, Izu."

A pit settled in his stomach. He hated how he always had to make people worry about him. Now Izuku was even less hungry than before.

His gaze landed in his lap. He had nothing to say.

"I can't force you to share," she continued, "But it's good to talk about these things, sometimes."

His mind traveled back to the time Nejire had found him after Tsubasa - he winced at the memory of the boy and his horrible fate - and his cronies had taken their time beating the snot out of him. She had something similar then, did she not? And hadn't Izuku only grown closer to his friend since that day?

But Nejire said sometimes. Not now. Izuku couldn't exactly say 'Oh, I realized All Might had a Quirk that he could give to other people and I'm upset that he didn't give it to me even though I have no right to complain because I'm completely worthless and undeserving. By the way, Togata's been lying to us, he's All Might's successor and has his Quirk now.'

And no, he did not mumble that out loud.

He sighed. Even if it did bother him, it shouldn't. He couldn't blame All Might or Togata for his life turning out the way it had - Izuku had no one to blame but Izuku, and that was a fact.

What was he even upset about? Aside from the All Might thing, he kind of felt… numb. Numb about the realization that everything was his fault, numb about the fact that he'd never be able to change who he was, and numb at the fact that he deserved this for years of hopeless faith in a world that had no want or need for him.

So, yeah. Kind of hard to portray that to Nejire.

His eyes flickered to hers, and he immediately regretted it. There was nothing in her blue orbs other than compassion and worry for Izuku, and it made him sick with guilt all over again. Didn't he owe it to her to at least be somewhat honest?

"…I found s-something out that I probably s-shouldn't have," he mumbled, curling in on himself slightly, "And I d-don't know what to d-do."

"What did you find out?" She asked immediately (and predictably). As great as Nejire was, she was a sucker for knowledge.

He let out a bitter laugh. "I d-don't think I c-can tell you… and I don't t-think you'd want to know."

Nejire frowned. "You can tell me!"

"T-That's not what I m-meant." Izuku shook his head. "I c-can't tell a-anyone."

"Oh…" Nejire nodded slowly in understanding. "Did you accidentally discover some crazy government conspiracy or something?"

He gulped. "It's p-probably worse."

She cringed. "Yikes, that sucks." Nejire looked slightly more apprehensive now. "Are you… able to talk about why it's bothering you, at least?"

"...N-Not really."

Well, maybe he could have. But he wasn't about to dump that nightmare on her.

Nejire scooted closer. "Well," she decided, "Even if you can't talk about it, that's okay. I'm here for you either way, Izu."

She pulled him into a side-hug.

Izuku hated how much better she made him feel.

–

Yuyu sighed. "But… well, love is hard to describe, Nejire. It means different things for different people."

"What was it for you?" Nejire pleaded. "I mean, help me out here!"

"..."

She was never going to stop, huh?

"At first, nothing is different."

–

They stayed on that bench for a while.

Izuku appreciated her presence. He knew he wasn't very good company, but Nejire didn't seem to mind.

Speaking of Nejire…

"I have bad news."

Izuku turned to look at her. "Did I do s-something wrong?"

"No!" Nejire shouted, quickly turning a few of the heads around her before realizing how loud she had gotten. She coughed into her fist. "No. Um, it's just that…"

She deflated slightly. "Class 1-A and 1-B, the freshman Hero courses at U.A., were attacked by villains a few days ago at their summer training camp, and one of them was kidnapped. As a result of that, and the, um, rescue attempt that happened last night, the principal decided to turn U.A. into a boarding school. We have dorms now, we live on campus, and we're supposed to only leave in case of emergencies, or, in the case of Hero students, for our internships and related obligations."

Oh.

So this was it then.

He should have known better to have gotten so close to her.

Izuku knew he wasn't allowed to have nice things - apparently, friends were included in that arrangement.

The worst part was that there was nothing he could do about it.

Again.

…

Actually, no.

The worst part was that it wasn't even something he could be mad at Nejire about. It would have been easier if she said she hated him, if she spit in his face and left him in the dirt to rot like garbage.

Izuku couldn't even blame himself this time. There was only one person who really held fault this time, huh?

Why did Bakugou have to take everything from him? He hadn't even heard from the boy in over a year, and now the only good thing that had happened in Izuku's life was about to disappear forever.

All because Bakugou got kidnapped by villains. Because someway, somehow, it always had to be Izuku who got the short end of the stick.

He should have expected as much by now.

"Izuku?"

She reached out for him. He jerked back, practically on reflex.

"O-Okay," he mumbled, trying to ignore the semi-hurt look on her face, "Got it."

It wasn't hard for her to figure out what he was thinking.

"We'll still be able to hang out!" Nejire said quickly, attempting to reassure him to the best of her ability, "Third-years get a lot more leniency with this kind of thing, and Nedzu knows we have a lot of responsibilities!"

She was just trying to be nice, but empty platitudes meant nothing to him anymore. "Okay."

His ice cream was starting to melt. Izuku just wanted this to be over.

Nejire frowned. "I'm sorry, Izu…"

"It's f-f-fine," he whispered, throat tight, "Not like it's your f-fault."

He wasn't going to cry. He wasn't going to cry. He wasn't going to cry.

And he didn't. But it was close.

Izuku took a deep, shuddering breath. "I s-should go," he mumbled, quickly rising from his seat, "Y-You've probably got a lot to d-do with packing a-and I–"

Nejire reached out to stop him, gripping his hand softly. "Stay," she requested, "Please. At least for a little longer."

The wind left his sails immediately. He slumped back down in defeat. "Okay."

She hesitated at the miserable look on his face, before deciding to slide over to Izuku's side and hug him.

It ended far too soon.

"Feeling better?" Nejire asked with a smile, clearly still concerned.

He nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah," Izuku mumbled, "Thanks, N-Nejire…"

Of course, going from a worm to a content worm wasn't much of a difference. He did feel a little better, but it didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

She toyed with one of his strands of hair for a moment. "Of course Izu. I'm happy to help."

Unconsciously, he leaned into the contact. Nejire was more than happy to keep playing around with his unruly mop if he didn't mind.

For a while, at least. She did stop eventually. Izuku nearly whined at losing the feeling of her fingers running through his hair, and he immediately wizened up.

He coughed into his fist. "S-Sorry."

Nejire ignored his apology, and he didn't blame her. She had a conflicted look in her eyes as she looked between Izuku and the sunset. "Izu," she began slowly, "About yesterday…"

"Huh?" He blinked in surprise, before remembering the moment they had been sharing on the beach before Mirio showed up. "W-What is it?"

He dimly realized that they were just as close now as they were yesterday. His cheeks flared up instinctively.

She sighed. "Sorry about leaving you hanging at the beach," Nejire apologized, "It wasn't very nice of me."

"I-It's fine!" He shook his head quickly. "I m-mean, um, you were worried about T-T-Togata, so I understand w-wanting to w-wait to tell me, uh, w-whatever it was you wanted to say…"

The older girl spared a glance up at the crimson sky, smiling softly. "I think now is a good time to say what I wanted, don't you think so?"

She had an indescribable look in her eye. Izuku had no idea what to think. "Y-Y-Yes?"

Nejire giggled. "I was hoping you might say th–"

"Woah!"

Nejire and Izuku leapt away from each other in surprise as their tranquil scene was suddenly disturbed. A boy who had seemingly been riding his skateboard around the park had tripped and faceplanted right in front of the bench the two were sharing, letting out a pained groan as he laid in the dirt.

"Are you okay?" Nejire asked suddenly. "That looked like it hurt!"

The boy rolled over onto his back (with Izuku dimly realizing that he wasn't wearing a helmet or any sort of padding), and it was then that he finally got a good look at the teen.

He couldn't have been much older than Izuku, if at all. It was hard to tell from the way he was sitting on the ground, but he also looked to be somewhere around Izuku's height, if not a little taller. He had medium-length shaggy blonde hair with a black line that looked something like a lightning-bolt running through it. He donned a pair of ripped jeans and a leather jacket, and Izuku thought he looked like he would have been more comfortable back in the 21st century.

"I'm all good," the boy said smoothly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "I guess I was so distracted by your beauty that I forgot how to ride for a minute."

Nejire and Izuku blinked in confusion.

What?

The boy, now seemingly fully healed from his little tumble, leapt to his feet enthusiastically as he tried to smooth down his hair. "My name's Kaminari Denki!" He greeted, clearly attempting to be suave, "What's yours?"

He was clearly just trying to talk to Nejire. It wouldn't shock Izuku if the blonde didn't even realize that he was there.

She smiled at the boy, though the girl was definitely still a little lost. "I'm Hadou Nejire," she replied, before turning to him, "And this is Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you, are you sure you're okay?"

Kaminari wilted at her question slightly, only to immediately perk back up. "I'm good," he laughed, "Promise!"

His gaze landed on Izuku for the first time, and he fidgeted underneath the boy's eyes. Who was this guy? "Are you two siblings?" He asked, almost immediately turning back to see Nejire's response.

Izuku choked on his spit. Nejire just laughed.

"Nah, but can you imagine that, Izu?" She teased, "No, we're just friends."

She hesitated as she said friends. It was brief enough for it to miss Kaminari, but Izuku certainly noticed.

What did that mean? Why would she think about whether or not to say that? Did she not want this random guy to know they were friends? Was she embarrassed to be around him in public now? Is that why she took him to the least-populated park in the city?

His mind was running a million miles a minute.

Kaminari just laughed again. "My mistake!" He said earnestly, before stepping a bit closer. "But can you blame me? You definitely give off a mature-older-sister vibe!"

Izuku's brow furrowed. What was that supposed to mean?

Wait… was this guy flirting with Nejire?

Nejire looked lost too. "Huh?"

Kaminari must have realized that whatever he tried to say didn't land, as his face quickly erupted into a blush. "Damnit, Mineta…" he whispered, before shaking his head. "N-Nevermind! Say, um, do you like Heroes?"

She lit up. "Of course!" Nejire said happily, "Why?"

Kaminari smirked. Izuku guessed that he thought he had found his 'in'. "Well you're in luck," he not-so-subtly bragged, "Because you're looking at the next great U.A. alumni - the Stun Gun Hero: Chargebolt!"

Nejire gasped. "You go to U.A.?!"

"Yep!" He said proudly, "Class 1-A! We survived a villain attack, you know! Twice!"

The girl was delighted. "Awesome! I didn't realize you were one of my kouhai!"

His eyes widened. "You go to U.A. too?"

"Duh! I won the third-year Sports Festival!" Nejire was ecstatic. "Nejire-Chan, at your service!"

Kaminari's jaw dropped. "Wow…" he breathed out, "You must be crazy strong then, huh?"

She smirked playfully. "Maybe…" Nejire hummed, "But most of that is thanks to Izuku here!"

Nejire gestured to him, but Kaminari didn't even bother looking his way - instead, he just nodded along at her words. "Cool, cool," he agreed easily, "Say… you wouldn't happen to have any tips for your kouhai, would you senpai?"

"Sure! What kind?" She asked excitedly.

As Kaminari began to ramble about homeroom teachers or something, Izuku began to feel more and more out of place in the conversation. He hadn't said a single thing yet, clearly to Kaminari's approval, and even Nejire seemed enamored with the boy so far.

Was he being replaced already?

Or… was Nejire enjoying the attention Kaminari was giving her?

His heart sunk at the thought. Sure, she seemed to just be being friendly, but he was being kind of obvious. If Nejire didn't appreciate it, wouldn't she say something?

After all, she wasn't saddled with the same social anxieties that Izuku was. So if she was having a problem, she'd say something.

And she seemed more than happy to let Kaminari prattle on. The guy wasn't even being subtle with the glances he was giving her.

The final straw was when he realized Kaminari was giving him a 'get lost' gesture with his hands, trying to wave Izuku away like a fly. He was demonstrating his Quirk - some form of electrical manipulation - with his other hand, making sure Nejire wasn't taking her eyes off of him to see what he was doing.

Izuku swallowed thickly. Okay.

He wasn't needed here.

Nejire probably wouldn't even notice if he left. She had more than enough entertainment from Kaminari as his flashy, fancy Quirk and his status as a Hero student to keep her invested.

He stood up and walked away as quickly and quietly as he could, completely unaware of the way Nejire almost immediately picked out his absence, or how she and Kaminari's conversation derailed right after.

Izuku just wanted to be alone.

(He didn't. He really didn't. He was so tired of being alone.)

–

"Love is… weird," Yuyu admitted, "Soon, you realize that you really want to be around them. And when you have to be apart, all you can think about is how much you want to be with them."

–

Izuku stared out at the calm waters of the lake silently, taking refuge at the water's edge. He was hidden from the rest of the park's prying eyes here, having waded through some seriously tall grass to find this space. Less than three feet behind him the grass shot right back up to shoulder-length, and there was barely room for two people if they were sitting shoulder to shoulder.

But that wasn't a problem for Izuku.

Because he was alone.

Just like he always had been, always was, and always would be.

He hated being alone. So much.

But that was just how it was for him.

Izuku had a lot of thoughts flying around in his head as he stared out at the purple sky. Not a lot of them were good ones.

"There you are!"

Izuku flinched as Nejire's voice made its way to him, with the girl quickly moving to occupy the tiny space between his left side and the grass. He moved to the side, and Nejire let out a quick 'thank you' as the situation Izuku imagined earlier came to fruition.

They were close. Really close. And even then, his right arm was still brushing up against the reeds.

"What happened earlier?" She asked, "Why'd you get up and walk away? It took me forever to find you!"

"Sorry," he muttered, "But, um, Kaminari wanted me to."

Hey, he didn't know the guy, and he'd probably never see him again. Izuku had no qualms about throwing him under the bus if it meant Nejire was any less mad at him.

She tilted her head to the side. "What?" Nejire breathed out, confusion clear as day on her face. "Why'd he want you to leave?"

Izuku's heart fluttered at the simple gesture of taking his word as is - just the fact that she accepted his word as truth, instead of possibly questioning whether or not he would really say that, made his stomach do backflips.

And that was really sad. But he was really sad, so who cared?

Unfortunately now he had to address her question, and Izuku wasn't really looking forward to this conversation.

"B-Because," he explained, voice low, "That guy was flirting with you, Nejire. He wanted me to leave s-so he c-could talk to you alone."

Nejire blinked. "Oh," she said, a glint of… something in her eyes. "Oh."

Her whole demeanor suddenly shifted. "I guess that was why he wanted my number, and why he got all weird when I went after you…"

Izuku gulped. "D-Do you want to go back?"

"No." The sheer amount of resolve in her answer took him by surprise. "And now I'm pretty glad I didn't give him my number, too. I can't believe I didn't realize that he was into me, he is so not my type."

She wrinkled her nose, as if the thought of Kaminari being interested in her made her sick.

"Oh." Izuku was happy about that information, but he tried not to show it.

Jealousy was an ugly color, after all.

Nejire was silent for a moment. "Flirting, huh?"

Izuku stayed silent. Her eyes flickered over to him briefly, and he had no idea where Nejire was going with this.

–

"...Your heart flutters when they smile, and you can't stop yourself from smiling around them, either. You can't help but imagine what it would be like to be a couple, and if you already are, then you can't help but imagine what comes next."

–

"What's your type, Izuku?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the question. "W-What?"

Nejire shrugged, but it was clear she was struggling to keep a straight face. "You know what I mean, right? What do you look for in a girl?"

She definitely noticed the way he winced as she repeated the question. "O-Oh, um…" Izuku laughed nervously as he struggled to figure out an answer - at least, an answer that wasn't just 'You'. "I-I'm not very p-p-picky, hah, b-but, um, girls aren't r-really interested in g-guys like me, anyways…"

The periwinkle-haired girl rested her head on her hand as she stared at him. "Guys like you?" She questioned.

Izuku shrugged lamely. "Yeah…" he trailed off slowly, "Guys like m-me. I'm n-not very tall, or strong, I h-have a p-plain-looking face… Things like t-that. Being Quirkless doesn't help much, either…"

The small smile that was residing on Nejire's face slowly fell away at his words. "I don't know about other girls," she began coyly, "Here, let me tell you about what I look for in a guy."

He froze. There was a ninety-nine percent chance that he was about to have his heart crushed.

"First off," Nejire began slowly, "I want someone who can keep up with me when I talk, even when I'm spouting off a million questions per minute. That's pretty important to me, but I have a bunch of other requirements too. I'm a pretty physical person, so they'd need to be okay with plenty of hugs and hand-holding, among other things. I'd also want them to be smart. Like, making my head spin with how smart they are… Oh! And he'd need to be a good cook. I'm really bad at cooking, so if we ever got together he would have to be happy with making most of the food."

He gulped. Call Izuku crazy, but that kind of sounded like–

"I-I'm s-s-sure you'll f-find someone l-l-like that," he tried, "I m-mean–"

"I wasn't finished."

His breath hitched. "O-Oh," he squeaked out, voice distorted.

She hummed happily. "He should be friends with all of my friends, so that they were our friends," Nejire continued, "He'd have to like Heroes, because what kind of boyfriend wouldn't support their girlfriend like that? Quirks too, because I need all the help I can get with Wave Motion. A younger guy, too - I'd like it if they were, I don't know, two years below me in school? I'd also want him to have cute little tics, like maybe he mutters a lot or blushes at the slightest praise, that would be adorable! I'm also pretty picky with my looks, so… I think he would have to be decently fit, but I'm not looking for a musclehead or anything like that. Pretty shy, but open with me. Communication is important!"

A lightbulb went off over Nejire's head. "Oh!" She gasped, "And he'd need to have soft, fluffy, curly green hair that I could play with for hours, along with cute little freckles and the prettiest emerald eyes I've ever seen."

She had a mischievous little smile on her face, but the blush on her cheeks was unmistakable. Her eyes were as serious as he'd ever seen them, though, a faint glow emanating from within as Izuku felt the entirety of Wave Motion's energy bearing down on him.

"Do you know anyone like that?"

Izuku wasn't breathing anymore. He wasn't even sure he was alive.

"You– I–" Izuku stuttered like a faulty printer as his face turned red enough to make him look allergic to compliments. "T-T-That's p-pretty s-s-specific."

Nejire nodded. "Yeah, I guess it is. But I don't know," she sighed, "Maybe they wouldn't like me back…"

Her right hand, which had settled on Izuku's back some time during her description of her ideal guy, reached around his shoulders. Her left snaked up his face, cupping his chin to force Izuku to meet her eyes. Their noses were touching, and if Izuku wasn't as red as a steamed lobster before he certainly was now.

He was trapped between a rock and a hard place, if both the rock and the hard place were Nejire.

"What do you think, Izu?" Nejire whispered, biting her bottom lip, "If you were in that guy's position, what do you think he would say if I told him I was in love with him?"

Izuku mustered up every last bit of courage that remained in his body. If there was ever a time he needed it, it was now.

He met Nejire's eyes as confidently as he could. Emerald green met sapphire blue.

"I think he would have to finally admit that he's been head over heels for you for months, Nejire."

Izuku had never seen Nejire's smile as wide as it was until that moment. Her laugh was the most perfect melody he had ever heard.

"I was hoping you'd say that, Izu."

The next thing Izuku knew, she had closed the gap between their faces.

Their lips were touching.

Izuku had no idea what he was doing anymore.

But he tried his best. If the pleased hum Nejire let out against his mouth as they kissed was any indicator, he was doing a pretty good job, too.

It ended far too soon for either of their likings.

He gasped for breath at they finally separated, only to immediately start blushing again as he realized that not only had they just kissed, but also that was his first kiss, and oh my God he had just kissed Nejire–"

"You're mumbling, Izu."

Nejire stared at him with half-lidded eyes and a sweet grin that made Izuku's heart melt like hot chocolate. "Um…" He struggled to find the right words. "C-Can you blame me?"

He immediately winced. That was stupid, even for him. "S-Sorry–"

She laughed as she placed a finger against his lips to prevent his apology. "No," Nejire agreed, leaning in close to his ear, "I can't. I'll let you in on a little secret, Izu."

"That was my first kiss, too." The girl giggled at the way his body went ramrod-straight at her words. "You better take responsibility for stealing my heart, okay?"

Izuku nodded so quickly his head nearly flew off his shoulders. "I w-w-will!"

He knew he sounded unbelievably eager. He didn't care.

Nejire tapped a finger against her lips in faux-confusion. "I don't think that's the right thing to say now, is it?"

"H-Huh?" Izuku blinked in confusion, until reality hit him like a ton of bricks. "Oh."

He sure was glad she kissed him. Otherwise there was no way in hell Izuku was going to be able to say this without passing out.

In fact, he was shocked that he hadn't already passed out. But he would take what he could get.

"W-Will you go out with me?" He tried, "And, um, be my girlfriend?"

Nejire smiled. "I'd be honored, Izu."

And then she leaned in and kissed him again.

He couldn't be happier to kiss her back.

Izuku had been through a lot in his short, miserable life.

He had been told by everyone to give up.

He had been beaten down, mocked, bullied, and told to kill himself.

He had his dreams completely and utterly shattered, with not even the faintest of scraps left to cling on to…

But now there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

All thanks to Nejire.

He loved her.

And by some miracle, she loved him too.

Despite the fact that it was almost completely gone from sight, the sun had never seemed as bright as it did now.

–

Yuyu watched as her friend walked out of the room, a small smirk on the pinkette's face at Nejire's determined look.

"Go get him, Nejire."

—

A/N: In the words of the Joker:

Here… we… go.

Three chapters in three days! They were long ones, too. Hope that doesn't diminish the quality of them.

And also that I did the inevitable justice. We all knew it would be soon - Nejire wasn't going to let things hang like that!

A special thanks must go out to my wonderful betas once again, Lugia and Helia, for having their last three days include… checks notes…

Christmas Eve (A chapter)
Christmas Day (A chapter)

The day after Christmas (A chapter)

So, yeah. Big thanks to them! Especially for having to sit through my writing lol.

But yeah! Really hope you enjoyed this one! Let me know what you thought!
And see you next time!