"I AM HERE!"

Togata strutted into the building with unparalleled confidence after throwing the doors open, swagger on full display as he walked up to the front desk.

The cashier gulped, no doubt intimidated by the blonde's massive frame and the fact that he walked in like he owned the place. "Can I help you?"

His grin made him look like a knock-off (or perhaps rebooted) version of All Might. "Yes!" Togata boomed, "I would like to purchase a lane for me and my friends! And perhaps some bowling shoes for all of us!"

Haya swatted the back of his head. "Stop being so dramatic," she huffed, glaring daggers into the back of his neck, "We're just going bowling. And you're not even that good at it!"

He shrugged his muscular shoulders. "If at first you don't succeed," Togata recited, "Try again. And I'm pretty sure I'm still better than Nejire at least!"

The aforementioned girl pouted. "Not true!" Nejire protested, "You haven't beaten me at bowling in over a year!"

Togata smirked. "Only because we haven't even gone bowling since our second year," he teased, "I don't think you realize how bad you are at this."

Nejire sniffled. "Izuuu!" She cried, "Mirio is bullying me!"

Izuku's face became flush with warmth as she wrapped her arms around him, and he did his best to comfort his not-really-upset-but-still-a-little-miffed girlfriend to the best of his ability. He returned her hug gently, rubbing small circles into her back as she huffed. "I-It's okay," he tried, "That just means you'll have to m-make him eat his words now, r-right?"

She nodded into his hair. "You're right!" Nejire exclaimed, "Mirio, I'm definitely going to beat you today! It'll be so one-sided that I'll make you regret ever touching a bowling ball!"

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Nejire!"

Nejire didn't bother responding. Even though her mood was raised significantly by Izuku's comforting presence, she didn't bother releasing him from their hug. Instead, she took the opportunity to sneak in a kiss on his temple while no one was looking. "You're such a sweetheart, Izu~."

"O-Only for y-you…" he mumbled, unable to fight the goofy smile that blossomed on his face at the look she was giving him.

He was really bad at flirting.

But she didn't seem to mind.

Nejire giggled. "Darn right," she whispered, "And I'm all yours. Just don't go around cavorting with other girls now, okay?"

"I w-wouldn't dream of it."

The cashier watched their group with a dumbfounded look. "So do you want to rent out a lane for one hour or two…"

Tamaki sighed, lamely realizing that he'd have to take the social reins for the moment. "T-Two, please."

He nodded slowly as he pulled out the rental shoes.

Why did he always have to get the weird customers?

–

Izuku sat down on the plush, U-shaped couch in front of their lane, having already entered his name into the display screen. As far as bowling alleys went, this seemed about as generic as they came - not that that was a bad thing. It had a TV screen hanging above the lane that would keep track of their scores, a table in the space between the couch and the bowling ball recollection machine, and a kitchen for customers to order food to their lane if they wanted to.

Togata had already gone to order enough food to feed a family of ten. Sadly, that wasn't even close to surprising anymore.

Nejire plopped down beside Izuku, throwing her legs over his own. "This is nice and comfy!" She said cheerfully, "Are you gonna have any of the food Mirio ordered?"

He fidgeted slightly, and not just because Nejire was wearing shorts (and therefore giving Izuku a very good look at his girlfriend's soft thighs in his lap). "I don't know," he said awkwardly, "I feel kinda bad about not helping to pay for any of this…"

"You paid for your portion," she reminded him, "And it's not like anyone other than Mirio wanted the food! Just tell him thanks and have some of the fries!"

Izuku shrugged non-committedly. Talking to Togata was not on his list of things he wanted to do anytime soon. He knew it wasn't fair to the guy, especially since he had never so much as looked at Izuku the wrong way and had been nothing but friendly, but he couldn't help how uncomfortable the blonde made him now - it was impossible for him to differentiate between Le Million and All Might now.

"I'm back!"

Speak of the devil.

Togata quickly typed in his name to finalize their lane, before leaning back and sinking into the couch between Tamaki and Haya. "Someone please remind me that they said to go back in twenty to get the order, I'm almost definitely gonna forget."

Haya rolled her eyes as she stood up, moving over to grab her bowling ball to start them off. "If you didn't have us to think for you, I don't know how you'd be able to remember to put clothes on before walking out of the house in the morning."

He offered her a cheeky grin as he stretched out on the couch. "That's what friends are for, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Tamaki agreed, sighing slightly, "But if you can't even remember to get food maybe we should be a little more concerned."

The pink-haired girl snorted as she stared down the lane, her stoic facade cracking slightly at Tamaki's jab. She refocused quickly, however, and the bowling ball flew out of her hand in no time at all. It sped off down the lane under four watchful pairs of eyes (Tamaki was too busy setting a timer on his phone), but Haya could only sigh as it slowly swerved to the left and barely clipped the edge of the pins.

"Damn," she sighed, "Only two? I'm better than that."

Her second attempt didn't go much better. A big fat five to the left of her name was all she received for her efforts. "That sucked."

"It's okay, Yuyu!" Nejire said encouragingly, "It's still five more points that Mirio is gonna get!"

"Har har," The blonde grumbled, "We'll see about that. Your turn, Tamaki!"

He nodded slowly, taking Yuyu's spot coolly as he mimed throwing his nine-kilogram ball. On the third swing he let it fly silently, the ball practically gliding over the waxed planks as it demolished the rows of pins like they weren't even there.

A crappy animation played on the screen above them as he got a strike, and Izuku was suddenly reminded of the best part of bowling.

"Nice one," Haya complimented, paired immediately with Nejire's shout of 'Great job, Tamaki!'.

Even Izuku was impressed (or at least impressed enough to admit it). "Congrats."

The shy teenager shrugged. "T-Thanks," he mumbled, "But it's nothing special."

Nejire nodded in agreement. "That's true," she agreed, "But only because you're probably going to have, like, six or seven more!"

He blinked. "T-Tamaki's really good at bowling, huh?"

"Yep!" She leapt off the couch. "But now it's my turn! And I think that I'm overdue for a strike myself!"

"Good luck with that," Haya snorted.

"G-Good luck!" Izuku said earnestly.

She huffed. "I'm glad someone believes in me!" Nejire stuck her tongue out at the only other girl in their group before batting her eyelashes at Izuku. "I'll make you proud, Izu!"

And with that, she launched her bowling ball down the alley…

Straight into the gutter.

Nejire fell to her knees in despair. "Darn it…" she whined, "Why couldn't we have gotten bumpers?!"

"Because you like rolling your ball into them instead of aiming for the pins," Haya said drily, "Maybe try and aim next time?"

She scampered over to where her bowling ball had returned, quickly yanking it up and narrowing her eyes at the pins downwind of her. "Hiyah!"

Once again, her bowling ball was sent flying, and Izuku couldn't help but wince at the way it landed in the gutter - only to bounce back out immediately and barely collide with the left-most pin in the back of the pyramid.

"Only one…"

Another crummy animation played on the screen, and it did nothing to make Nejire feel better as she returned to her spot beside Izuku, head hung low in shame. "That sucked…"

"I-It could have been worse!" He tried, scooching closer and patting her awkwardly on the shoulder, "At l-least you got one, right? Maybe you just need t-to warm up?"

His wonderful girlfriend sighed despondently. "Maybe…" Nejire mumbled, "C'mere."

"What–"

Nejire pulled Izuku into her lap, breathing out softly as she wrapped her arms snugly around his torso. She buried her face into his dark green hair, and his face erupted into color as he realized she was giving his curls little kisses.

"N-N-Nejire–" Izuku choked out.

She hummed. "What?" She asked in between kisses, "Is something wrong?"

"I-It's m-m-my turn…" he whispered, split between feeling embarrassed and totally loved. It would have been nicer if they were alone, of course, and not in the middle of a bowling alley with their friends, but part of Izuku was learning to not care about that.

She heaved out a sad sigh. "Fine…" Nejire relented, releasing him from her embrace, "But after your turn you're coming right back and letting me hug you, okay?"

His cheeks burned as he nodded. Imagine trying to tell him this time six months ago that anyone, let alone someone as incredible as Nejire, would want to hug him (among other things)?

It was almost too good to be true. But Nejire seemed to take plenty of enjoyment in reminding him that while it may have been good, it was definitely, absolutely, one-hundred percent true.

The fact that Izuku had the lightest bowling ball out of all of them was a little embarrassing. It was a six-kilogram ball, which was only marginally lighter than Yuyu's seven-kilo ball, but it was still kind of sad.

He also wasn't very good at bowling - he could aim down the lane well enough, but he wasn't exactly a pro at keeping his hand straight or rolling the ball very well.

Still, getting four pins on the first go-around wasn't the worst start in the world. Doubly so when he got another three on his second attempt.

Togata nodded approvingly as they swapped spots. "Not bad, Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku tensed. "T-Thanks," he said quickly, eyes darting away before he had even passed the blonde.

Lucky for him, it seemed like nobody noticed the way he was completely and utterly incapable of facing the older, taller, cooler, better-than-Izuku-in-every-way teen, meaning he wouldn't have to explain his actions anytime soon.

Of course, that was what it seemed like, but there was always someone in their little group who would catch things like that - even if Izuku himself didn't notice.

Yuyu frowned at the way Midoriya flinched away from Togata, but held her tongue. Something had clearly happened there, but there was no rush in figuring out what. She trusted Midoriya and Mirio to work things out between themselves - and if she needed to step in, she would.

He made his way back to Nejire in no time at all, melting into her arms almost immediately as she wrapped him up in another hug. "How come you're better than me at all my hobbies?" She complained, "First mini golf, now this?"

Izuku shrugged. "I think I just got l-lucky," he mumbled, "And it's n-not like it's all your hobbies… I'm p-pretty sure that you'd mop the floor with me if we ever sparred for some reason."

That got Nejire to laugh, even if it was only momentarily. "I don't know," she teased, running her hands up and down his arms, "You're pretty strong now, Izu. Might give me a run for my money. There's only one way to find out, right?"

He shuddered beneath her gentle touch. "I'm g-good…" he replied shakily, "I'd rather, um, s-sit like this than, uh, get f-folded like a lawn chair…"

"You sure?" Nejire asked, blowing on his ear, "I can be very gentle…"

And then she nipped his earlobe. Thank God Togata finally took his turn, because otherwise Izuku was going to burst into flames.

"Power!" He shouted enthusiastically, chucking the ball down the lane. Togata only had a moment to relish in the way it sped off before his smile turned to horror as, just like Nejire's before him, his bowling ball rolled straight into the gutter. "No!"

She cackled in delight. "Yes! Serves you right, Mirio!"

"You really shouldn't be surprised," Haya added, "It's not like you didn't use bumpers last time either, dude."

As Togata tried again - only to wail in despair as he got another gutterball - Izuku couldn't help but shake the feeling this wouldn't be much of a competition.

–

"Strike," Tamaki mumbled.

That was the fifth one.

It was only the sixth round. He had more points than the rest of them combined.

At least, Izuku thought that he did. He didn't really understand how points were calculated in bowling.

He was in a respectable third, around ten points behind Haya. Her lead was growing, though, so he didn't have much hope in passing her again.

The only real race was for not last - Nejire and Togata each had less than thirty points to their name, and it seemed like the only thing keeping them in the game was the fear of losing to the other.

"Wow!" Togata said loudly, crumbs flying out of his mouth as he stuffed his face, "This pizza is great! All the food here is!"

Well, maybe not Togata. He was a little preoccupied now.

Tamaki recoiled in disgust as he sat back down, with Haya hurrying to take her turn (and, more importantly, get away from Togata). "C-Close your mouth," he urged, wincing, "Please."

Togata rolled his eyes, but obliged nonetheless. "Party pooper."

Nejire hummed. "These fries are pretty good," she agreed, "Want one, Izu?"

Izuku shrugged, briefly putting down his soda to allow Nejire to feed him - he knew his girlfriend well enough by now to know that was her intention. "Okay."

By the time he turned to face her he was blushing like a maiden, unable to conceal his bashfulness, while Nejire had already begun to wave a french fry in front of him. "You know what I'm gonna say, right?"

He opened his mouth. "Aah…"

Nejire giggled, placing the fry in his mouth. "Have I told you how adorable you are, Izuku?~"

Izuku quickly chewed the single french fry, deciding to finish his food before responding. "Y-Yeah."

She hummed. "I guess I have…" Nejire gave him a brief peck on the cheek while no one was looking. "But only because I really like telling you that. Your reactions are so cute."

He felt his face heat up again, but instead of trying to hide it Izuku just inched a little bit closer to her. As embarrassing as it was to admit, one of his favorite things about Nejire was how… affectionate she was, for lack of a better term.

Actually, there were better terms. Cuddly, touchy-feely, tactile, but most of those words made him even more awkward. In a good way, though!

Nejire was more than happy to reciprocate his actions, leaning into his side and cooing happily at the contact (and the big, shaky grin on his pink face). He felt the tension seep out of his body, and all of a sudden it felt like the two of them were the only people–

"Midoriya," Haya repeated, shaking Izuku out of his wonderland, "It's your turn."

He let out a quiet 'eep' in surprise as he realized how distracted he had become, something that garnered a snort from Togata and a sweet smile from Nejire. "S-Sorry!" Izuku stammered, "I just, um… sorry."

She waved off his apologies. "It's fine, Romeo." Haya smirked at the way he somehow became even more flustered at that nickname. "Just take your turn and you can go back to canoodling with Juliet in no time at all."

Tamaki put a finger to his chin in thought. "Wouldn't it kind of make more sense for Nejire to be Romeo and Izuku to be Juliet?" He wondered aloud, "I mean, she's definitely the more, uh, a-assertive of the two…"

Izuku felt his soul leave his body at their teasing. He wasn't surprised in the slightest when he threw two gutter balls in a row.

As Nejire stood up to take her turn (but not before offering Izuku a consolatory hug, of course), Togata wiped away the last of the grease on his face from polishing off his pizza. "Anyways!" He began, "I almost forgot to tell you guys, but Nedzu told me we're gonna be meeting the underclassmen next week!"

Tamaki blinked. "Why?"

"I don't really know!" He exclaimed, "But he said that we're supposed to meet 1-A and 1-B before the work studies program starts, give them some inspiration, raise their spirits, something like that."

He shot a glance towards the pinkette on his other side. "Not Yuyu though. Said it was 'A job for the Big Three and the Big Three alone!'."

She snorted. "Great. I'm glad I don't have to deal with some of those kids. I feel terrible about their situation, but…" Haya pursed her lips. "Some of them seem, well, really unqualified. Didn't almost all of 1-A just fail their licensing exam?"

Tamaki nodded. "I think, uh… only, like, six of them passed? Seven? Something like that. All of 1-B got their licenses, though."

Togata winced, standing up to take his turn as Nejire returned to - in her words - the best seat in the building. "That's rough. But, well, they have been through a lot. I mean, losing a classmate must have been really hard, and then having another friend kidnapped…"

Izuku did his best to not react to the blonde's words. He'd be shocked if Bakugou considered any of his classmates 'friends'. Even Tsubasa, someone who had known him for nearly as long as Izuku, was barely above himself in Bakugou's eyes.

And barely above 'completely worthless' didn't amount to much.

He twitched uncomfortably at the memory of Tsubasa, briefly squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to block out the screams that… thing had let out as it attacked that helicopter in Hosu.

Izuku still had nightmares about it.

"–But yeah!" Togata continued, walking back after knocking down five total pins across his two attempts, "If our kouhai need a little pick me up, then it's our job to do what we can to help!"

Haya frowned. "I get that kind of thinking, but…" She trailed off uncertainly. "You remember the one with the explosion Quirk, right? Or Endeavor's kid? How about that blonde who could copy Quirks? It seems like none of them have the right temperament to be Heroes, and that's just from what we could see during the Festival."

He shuddered at the mention of Bakugou–

"Ooh!" Nejire clapped her hands together in excitement. "I can't wait to meet all our new kouhai! I can't wait to meet the meteor girl! Or the pink girl! She was really cool! Or the shadow bird guy! Sentient Quirks are so cool, I hope that one is! And that they let me talk to him! Or the one they had to chain up to the podium! I wonder why they had to do that?"

–and then he completely froze up because oh fuck Nejire wanted to meet Bakugou.

That was… not good. In fact, that might have been the second worst thing Izuku had ever heard. He shuddered at the idea of her actually wanting to meet Bakugou, and then at the realization that that was already happening, and then the thought that she might actually like Bakugou and oh no that thought completely ruined his life because what if she wanted to bring him around with her friends like she had done for him and–

A hand squeezed his forearm. Izuku nearly screamed before realizing that it wasn't the blonde himself, and that Bakugou wasn't even here.

It was Nejire. And she was looking at him in concern. Was he that obvious?

"Are you okay?" She asked subtly, eyes on anything but Izuku and voice low enough to pass beneath Tamaki and Togata. "What happened?"

Even though she wasn't directly looking at him (so that no one realized she was fretting over him yet if he didn't want them to know), Izuku could see the concern in her eyes.

"I-It's nothing," he whispered back, pulling her hand off his bicep and taking it in his own, "I'm f-f-fine."

Izuku tried to smile for her, and her lips quirked up at the edges in response, but both of them knew it was fake. Nejire laced her fingers through his own, humming happily at the way he immediately squeezed her hand.

"Yuyu!" She called, catching the girl's attention immediately, "Do me and Izuku a favor and take our turns for us! I need to ask him about some coupley stuff!"

She rolled her eyes. "So?" Yuyu shot back, "You can ask it in front of us. We don't care."

Nejire frowned softly. "Okay…" she replied, "If you really want to hear us talk about how much of my boobs Izuku thinks I should show in public–"

"Yuyu will take your turns!" Togata said quickly, already moving to cover his ears, "We don't need to hear that! Have fun! La la la la!"

Izuku wasn't much better, looking at his girlfriend in a mix of confusion and horror. "W-W-What are you–"

"Thanks be right back!" Nejire said quickly, pulling Izuku along to the far corner of the building. "That was funny!"

Now that they were alone, Izuku's flustered look died down slightly. "W-Why do we have to talk about, uh… t-that?"

She shook her head playfully. "I was just making up an excuse to talk to you alone for a second," she explained, a teasing smile slowly worming its way up her face, "But if you do want to talk about my chest, or maybe look or touch, all you have to do is ask nicely, Izu~..."

"M-M-M-Maybe later!" He said quickly, trying not to pass out from the teasing or sneak a look at her boobs now that Nejire had said something so risque about them. The look in her eyes made it clear that while she was teasing him the offer was genuine, and Izuku couldn't tell if that made things better or worse.

His beautiful, amazing, perfect girlfriend giggled at his response. "If you say so~," she sang, "But for right now, I want to hear about what's bothering my sweet boyfriend so much."

Izuku's mood was dragged back to Earth pretty quickly at her words. "It's really nothing important," he protested, "I don't want to–"

"You aren't burdening me, or bothering me, or troubling me," Nejire said, listing off all the possible responses Izuku could have given her, "I want to hear about what's upsetting you, and then I want to deal with it so you don't have to worry about it, and can instead worry about normal things like feeling me up later or trying to get second place in bowling today, okay?"

He choked on his spit. Leave it to Nejire to go from one-hundred to zero to one-hundred in no time at all like that.

Izuku swallowed heavily. "It's just…" he began hesitantly, unsure exactly how to explain what was bothering him. He shot her a grateful look as she reached out to hold onto his other hand. "You remember when I told you that I was Quirkless?"

"Mhm."

He took a deep breath. "W-Well," Izuku explained, "How about when I said that someone from my middle school threatened me and the r-rest of my class into not applying?"

Her eyes hardened slightly, though they held all the warmth and love in the world for him and him alone. "Mhm."

"T-They made it into the Hero Course at U.A.," he blurted out, "And they probably shouldn't even be there. They're– He's horrible to people, me especially, and I– since T-Togata said you guys were meeting all of the freshmen I got w-worried that you'd want to talk to them or you wouldn't realize who it was o-or worse you'd like them or the o-other way around and–"

"Breathe," Nejire whispered into his ear softly, having stepped forward to embrace him, "Breathe, honey. I've got you."

A sharp breath wracked Izuku's frame, and he wrapped his arms snugly around her in turn. "I-I'm okay," he mumbled into her soft shirt, "Thanks, Nejire."

She planted her lips squarely on his cheek, lingering for a few seconds to remind Izuku how much she loved him. "Of course," she hummed, "Anything for you, Izu."

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she processed his words. "Actually," Nejire began, "If you tell me who exactly this bully is, I'm sure I could get his butt kicked out of U.A. for you."

Izuku froze. "W-What?!" He gasped, "I d-don't even go to U.A., w-why would you get him kicked out? I c-could be lying, or o-over-exaggerating, and it's n-not like your school c-cares about some random kid–"

She shushed him with another kiss. Of course, his cheeks didn't do the talking for him, so she had to lock lips with Izuku to get him to shut up this time.

It worked very well. She kissed him a little longer than was strictly necessary, though there were no complaints from him whatsoever.

"If he bullied others, he isn't a Hero," Nejire said simply as she pulled away (though her face stayed very close to his own), "And he doesn't belong at our school. Especially if he bullied, threatened, or hurt you, Izuku. I can't speak for the rest of your classmates, or him, but if he was willing to hurt someone as precious and kind and caring as you, then he's completely undeserving of the privilege of being a Hero. Say the word, and I'll get his butt kicked to the curb faster than I won the Sports Festival."

His heart was beating out of his chest. Did Bakugou's fate really rest in Izuku's hands? Could he really ruin the boy's fledgling career, just like that? Nejire certainly seemed to think so.

And that was a difficult thing to consider.

So he didn't.

"I'll think about it," he said quickly, stowing it away for later, "I don't want to talk about him anymore today… I'd rather spend it with you."

For the first time, Izuku made the first move in kissing her - on the lips, that was. He'd been able to get away with sneaking in little pecks on her cheek or jaw before, but he'd never had the courage to actually give Nejire a real kiss before.

Until now. He wasn't even sure what compelled him to act this time, but it probably had something to do with how beautiful she was, how much he was totally in love with her, and how completely and utterly unparalleled the way she treated him was compared to anybody else in his crummy life. Or a mix of all three. He just hoped she didn't–

Nejire gasped in surprise against his lips, but it only took her a moment to realize what Izuku had done. She wrapped her arms around his face, one cupping his cheek and the other gripping the back of his head and getting lost in his curls, and what Izuku had originally intended on being a brief (if tooth-rottingly sweet) moment quickly turned into Nejire trying to suck his soul out of his body.

It still ended too fast - that was, it had to end at all - with both of them breathing heavily as Nejire gave him the biggest shit-eating grin Izuku had ever seen. "You, hah…" she panted, "You should kiss me more often, Izu~..."

He nodded slowly. "I really want to, now…" he breathed out.

She looked like she was half-considering kissing him again, but a spark of… something flashed through her eyes. "Izuku?" Nejire began, quieter, "Can I ask you something?"

Izuku tilted his head to the side. "Of c-course," he replied immediately, "You can ask me anything, Nejire."

Her smile grew at his words. "I know, I know," she chuckled, before getting slightly more serious.

"If you could go to school at U.A. with me, would you?"

Izuku blinked.

That… wasn't what he expected. "W-What?"

"It's just a hypothetical," Nejire hummed, "But if you could, would you? I know I'd rather have you around me all day instead of the bottom-feeder jerks that like to go after you. We wouldn't even have to go out far to meet up - we'd both be on campus! When it got cold we could cuddle up together under a pile of blankets, when it was hot we could spend a day at the pool, and when it stormed we could huddle up in bed together and stay nice and warm!"

"N-Nejire…"

She looked at him with big, hopeful eyes. "Well?"

His heart melted. "Y-You're only going to be at U.A. for half of a year until you graduate…" he mumbled, "A-And t-there'd probably still be bullies, a-and it's not like I even could get in…"

"I still have like eight months left until I graduate," she reminded him pointedly, "And if I can keep you from getting harassed at your current school, I could do it at U.A., too. We could spend even more time together, and I could show you all my cool teachers and classmates who I'm sure would like you a whole lot. Besides, it's just a hypothetical."

For some reason, Izuku didn't think it was as abstract of an idea as Nejire was acting. But even so…

"If I could," he mumbled, "I would. Just to be with you even more… even if you'd probably get s-sick of me from me being around so much."

Nejire beamed. "I could never get tired of you, Izu~..." She leaned in close to his ear. "How about after we're done here I come over to your place, and I show you just how true that is? You can even–"

BANG

"What the FUCK?!"

She leapt away from Izuku like a bat out of hell at the sound of something breaking, immediately followed up by Haya cursing loud enough for both of them to hear from across the building.

"What the–" Nejire cut herself off in shock as her eyes landed on their lane, where Togata was frozen mid swing–

Except his bowling ball wasn't in his hand. It looked like it had been launched through the wall on the other side of the alley, and it was clear who the culprit was.

Tamaki and Haya looked just as shocked as he was. The shy teen had extended a hand, as if he thought he could have been able to reach out and stop Togata from doing… whatever that was.

And call him crazy, but it looked like something was moving underneath Togata's arm. Maybe it was the distance, maybe he had finally snapped, but it looked like his skin was… wiggling, like there was a snake writhing just beneath the surface.

"What happened?!" Nejire asked incredulously, staring at the bowling ball-shaped hole in the wall in shock, "Mirio, did you–"

"Yeah," he muttered, eyes wide in shock. He had an almost haunted look on his face, though it was quickly shifting to horror and guilt. "I– I didn't mean to– I thought that–"

"What the fuck…" The employee behind the counter groaned, "Why does this shit have to happen when I'm here…?"

That seemed to shake Togata out of his stupor. "I'm so sorry!" He said immediately, bowing at a sharp ninety-degree angle and pulling out his wallet. "I don't know what came over me! I–"

His rambling apologies continued on for a while.

"I'm gonna go get my manager," the worker sighed, "I don't get paid enough for this."

Togata nodded slowly. Izuku didn't think anything could get the blonde to leave his spot in front of that desk.

"Tamaki," Nejire asked incredulously, "Did he seriously just chuck a ball into the wall for no reason?"

Tamaki shrugged nervously. "I guess that's one way to describe it…" he mumbled, "I don't know. E-Everything was fine, we were having fun, then Mirio kind of… froze up as he took his turn. The next thing I knew it was like the bowling ball was shot out of a cannon. Mirio didn't even blink until Yuyu started shouting at him."

Izuku frowned. Something weird was going on with Togata, and he wasn't just saying that because the guy had inherited All Might's Quirk and was the man's successor…

But it wasn't his place to say something.

…

Plus, he didn't really like thinking about the whole All Might-Togata thing. It made him depressed. Instead, he filled his thoughts with the girl to his left who made him feel like he was the only one in the world that mattered and sent his heart-rate skyrocketing.

She caught his longing gaze after a moment, and instead of blushing or looking away Izuku found the courage inside himself to smile bashfully at his wonderful girlfriend.

Right answer. Nejire's smile made him melt in an instant.

He was so in love…

But was that really such a bad thing?

–

Nejire hummed a happy little tune to herself as she, Mirio, and Tamaki waited outside class 1-A's homeroom door. She was so excited to meet them!

Well, she was kind of excited to meet them. She did have a job to do, after all - namely figuring out which one of them was the one who had tormented her precious, adorable, amazing Izuku. He had been strangely tight-lipped regarding any extra details about the guy who he had told her about at the bowling alley (even her patented Nejire-kisses weren't enough to make him tell, and she gave Izu a lot of Nejire-kisses yesterday), but he had admitted to a little bit of what this prick had put him through and oh boy if Nejire wasn't a Hero-in-training she'd currently be wanted for murder based on what Izuku had told her.

As it was, she had to settle for beating the snot out of them when she figured out who it was and reassuring Izuku that she was never going to let those things happen to him again. The worst part was that she knew he didn't tell her the worst details of the bullying (despite her pestering her sweet, caring, bundle-of-nerves of a boyfriend for the better part of the weekend), so she couldn't comfort him about those parts that were clearly eating at him, but Nejire figured she did a pretty good job at it either way.

They did a lot of cuddling. And hugging. And kissing (Nejire's favorite by the way, she loved Izuku's lips). And–

The door swung open. "That's our cue!" Mirio said excitedly.

They marched into the room in tandem, more than comfortable with the nineteen pairs of eyes on them - well, except Tamaki, but that was kind of expected with how he had reacted to 1-B - as they smiled and stood in front of the freshmen. Her smile twitched at the way more than one of the guys' eyes found themselves looking somewhere lower than her face, but that was okay.

She'd just punch them into a building in a few minutes, and most would be forgiven. Only one guy was allowed to look at her like that, and her little cinnamon roll wasn't here right now.

Nejire didn't think the students realized that she was doing some staring of her own, though. She had a lot of questions floating around in her head looking at these guys, and she wanted some answers!

"Students," Kayama-sensei introduced, "These are the three third-year students who stand at the top of all U.A. students - also known as the Big Three. If you'd like to introduce yourselves–"

"Sure thing, teach!" Mirio interrupted eagerly, "What's up, everyone? I'm Togata Mirio. Nice t'meetcha!"

Tamaki shuddered. "I can't do this," he mumbled from Nejire's side, "I can't imagine all of their faces as potatoes…"

She giggled. "Come on Tamaki!" Nejire urged, "You need to have the heart of a lion, not a kitten! You know, even though you're human, you know what I mean?"

She turned to face 1-A, who were still staring at them, although most of their gazes had gone from awe to confusion. "This is our kitten Amajiki Tamaki," she began cheerily, "And hi, my name is Hadou Nejire! Why are you wearing a mask?"

The boy - at least, Nejire assumed it was a boy - blinked in confusion as she suddenly walked towards him. "Are you sick?" She continued, "Or do you think it makes you look cool? It does, but that's a weird reason!"

He made to answer, but her attention was already stolen by someone else. "Ooh, you! Pink girl!" She pointed dramatically at the girl with pink skin and horns, who in turn suddenly looked very confused. "If your horns break off do you think you can grow them back? Your hair looks fluffy too, is it? I have a friend who–"

Nejire cut herself off again. This time, her attention landed on the only one she recognized from before the Sports Festival. "Oh, you must be Todoroki, right? Yeah!" She smiled at the silent, unmoving figure in the back of the class. "How'd you get that big burn mark on your face? Or how'd you get that cool robot hand? What happened to that? Can you shoot lasers out of it? Or maybe a flamethrower? How about a tiny hand inside of the robot hand? Why are your eyes two different colors?"

She felt a little bad about the way she made him flinch with the hand question. If Izuku was here, he'd probably remind her that people usually felt bad about their prosthetics and scars being exposed like that. Yuyu would too, but she'd hit Nejire and that was a lot less nice than her boyfriend gently correcting her.

But it was too late to stop her now. The Nejire-train had left the station.

"Mineta are those balls your hair or what? I don't get it! And can you stop looking at me like that?"

"So you're a tree frog and not a toad, right? You're too cute to be a gross toad!"

"Why'd they chain you up at the Sports Festival? Are you part Pomeranian? You seemed really angry even though you won!"

That last guy set her off. He looked mean with a capital M. In fact, he looked like he was ready to start screaming at Nejire the moment she looked at him. The spiky blonde hair and messy uniform didn't do much to dissuade her from those thoughts. Maybe he was the one who hurt her Izu? Nobody in 1-B seemed to fit the description, they were all really nice! Except for that Monoma guy and that green sword guy, but they seemed pretty okay after Tamaki beat them up. Speaking of Tamaki, didn't Mirio say he–

"As you can see," Kayama-sensei began now that Nejire had finally stopped pestering everyone, "These are our top students. In fact, Togata here is, in all seriousness, probably the closest thing we have to the next Number One Hero without All Might. Endeavor included."

That got some reactions from people. Mostly gasps and wide eyes, but there was one student who seemed a little more… hot-headed.

"Bullshit!" The spiky blonde roared, "There's no way that this plain-faced, goody two-shoes jock is anywhere near the level of All Might!"

Nejire caught the way a few of his classmates flinched when he opened his mouth, doubly so when he slammed his palms against his desk.

Kayama-sensei's eyes narrowed. "I would appreciate it if you treated your seniors with a little more respect, Bakugou."

He sneered, but wisely held his tongue.

Mirio just laughed. "That's okay, Midnight-sensei!" He laughed, "I know that Nejire is more than strong enough to defend our honor!"

The red-haired guy - Kirishima, Nejire remembered - blinked. "You aren't going to fight us yourself?" He asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion, "But Midnight-sensei just said that you were, like, the next All Might?"

"Yeah, but fighting you guys wouldn't be very fair!" Mirio shrugged lazily. "Well, it won't be very fair this way either I guess, but Nejire is a lot nicer than me! She probably won't beat you up too badly."

Nejire smirked. "Yeah!" She agreed, "You guys can all fight Mirio if you beat me in a spar… but I don't think that's gonna happen!"

The original plan had been for Mirio to fight them, since Tamaki had gotten his turn against 1-B and Nejire didn't usually care for beating up her kouhai, but since Mirio was currently having trouble with his Quirk they agreed that the best way to not accidentally maim a freshman was to have Nejire stand in for him instead.

Plus, the girl was kind of itching for a fight. She remembered that Kaminari jerk, and how he had tried to drive Izuku away from her - not cool! If they didn't immediately become a couple after that incident in the park, she'd probably be holding a grudge!

As it was, he'd have to settle for it being resolved on the battlefield.

Based on the half-worried, half-lecherous looks the blonde was giving her, he knew what he was in for.

–

Screams echoed around Nejire in horror as she attacked, with her kouhai all fighting desperately in vain to keep her away from them.

This was fun!

Kaminari shrieked as Nejire suddenly flew in front of him, already preparing to discharge enough electricity to kill a herd of elephants, but he was way too slow. Nejire picked him up with one dainty hand and threw him into the arena's wall before he could even blink. That would teach him to look at her like that! Only Izuku had that right!

Mineta screamed in horror as she threw him into his friend next. Nejire didn't like perverts very much.

A wave of ice was launched at her, courtesy of one Todoroki child, but a single blast of Wave Motion was enough to turn it into snow cone fuel. A second, weaker blast was enough to send the boy with the robot hand into dreamland.

None of them offered much of a challenge. They were all far too slow, far too weak, or both, unfortunately.

Kirishima was kind of tough! He was probably the strongest one 1-A had, and was able to survive a direct hit from her! That earned him some respect, especially since he was still able to move afterwards! The second hit knocked him out, but it was the thought that counted.

One by one they all fell, and Nejire was able to pick out each and every one of their flaws as they were defeated.

Sorry Yaoyorozu, but you're too slow!

I'm not going to respond to you during a fight, Shinso! You can't only rely on that!

Koda, you need to be more proactive! If you got some ants to attack me, that might've been the only way to beat me!

Tokoyami, you seem really traumatized. You need a therapist or something.

She sighed. It ended far too soon for her likings - her kouhai should have at least put up a fight!

But… Kayama-sensei hadn't called the fight for her yet. Did she forget about one of them–

"DIE!"

Nejire blinked in confusion as she turned around, only to frown as her face was met with Bakugou's palm.

"Die?" She repeated slowly, jerking her head out of the way and yanking his arm forward, "What kind of Hero says die?"

He screamed like a feral hog as his plan was foiled - even the Sports Festival winner wasn't quick enough to set his explosions off in time. They popped futilely against the air as Nejire held his wrist away from her, and he couldn't do anything to prevent the punch in the gut she gifted him.

"!" He wheezed in pain as Nejire dropped him unceremoniously against the ground, struggling to pull himself up. "I'll– I'll kill you!"

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You'll kill me?"

He nodded savagely, spittle flying from his mouth as he lunged forward with sparking palms once more. "You're done for–"

Nejire threw him into a wall too. Maybe even a little bit harder than she did for Kaminari.

What kind of person acted like this? And he wanted to be a Hero? Nejire was shocked he was even allowed into this school. No wonder the villains wanted him to join them - if he acted like this all the time, she could see why they thought they could flip him to their side.

Nejire sighed angrily. She could tell that her judgement was being kind of clouded, but could you blame her?

It looked like she had found exactly who Izuku was talking about.

And she wasn't very happy. This probably wouldn't be the last time she had to deal with him.

–

Urami Ito was not a very forgiving person. He still remembered exactly how it felt when that bitch had slammed his face into the pavement hard enough to see stars, even all these months later.

How fucking Deku of all people found a woman like that to defend him, he'd never know.

What he did know was that now Deku was off limits, what with his whore of a bodyguard and her friends protecting him constantly whenever classes let out. Whether he bribed them, did their schoolwork, or whatever the hell it was, all that mattered was that Deku was trying to weasel his way out of his place as a bottom-feeder, and for some reason those U.A. assholes were defending him.

And that pissed him off.

But if there was one thing that Urami was, it was patient. He'd never forget the humiliation that blue-haired bitch had put him through that day, and the moment he got his chance he'd ruin both of their lives.

It took a long time, but his chance had come.

He'd seen the tabloids. Shitty news sites like 'The Times of Tokyo' and 'The Musutafu Inquirer' had started picking up on the fact that the bitch (who was apparently the fucking winner of the Sports Festival) had been seen in public with Deku, doing shit like holding hands and hugging and all that stupid junk, and they were leaving no stone unturned in their quest to find out more and more about her new 'boy-toy'.

This type of shit usually made Urami sick - who gave a fuck about some crappy celebrities and their pointless hobbies?

But he wasn't about to complain this time. Because now the exact reporting that made him sick was giving him the chance to ruin Deku and the bimbo's life.

Urami strode into Deternat Daily News with a proud smile on his face. He knew their reputation for going after Quirkless establishments, and he knew they would love what he had to say about Deku and the bitch.

He walked up to the first reporter he saw - a woman with blue skin and lavish clothing. "Excuse me," he began slowly, "I have a scoop you might be interested in…"

—

A/N: Okay, it's been a while, but to make a long story short I got sick, got even sicker, got sent on vacation, had my flight delayed by three days, got home and immediately sent back to work, and then decided to spend my time writing something else lol. But hey it still took less than two weeks to write this, so lucky you guys. Big thanks to my beta readers for not letting me put out the first draft that is always worse than the final product.

A bit more fluff, we finally see Bakugou, and a hint that the bad times are about to come back. What more could we need? Angst? Say no more!

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

(P.S. This is not the last time Nejire and Bakugo fight. Think of this time as like an appetizer for the real thing - it's going to go a lot differently when Izuku is in the line of fire, that's for sure.)