Disclaimer: Of course I don't own My Hero Academia, its characters, or the franchise.
Story: Izuku ends up enjoying a fan convention, only to surprisingly run into and befriend none other than Sir Nighteye. Not that she knows that. Mirai on the other hand finally found a kindred spirit, albeit someone young. These two end up traversing a friendship full of fanboyism and fangirlism, all the while tip toeing around the awkward 'other' tension between them, even when All Might himself enters the equation…
Set as an AU genderbending fic, canon-rewrite.
Spoilers: Probably the whole series, at least up to the Overhaul arc.
Warnings: Age disparity, underage, cursing and sexual situations…
Pairings: Fem!Izuku/Sasaki Mirai (Sir Nighteye)

A Fan's Guide to Heroics
Chapter Three: Smart Talk

Here in Tokyo for a delivery! Wanna eat lunch together?

Mirai glanced at his phone and smiled to himself as he saw the text from Izuku. It was his lunchtime and though he usually ate in his office (and on a rare occasion in the break room), he thought he wouldn't mind eating out. Izuku was around after all and since she'd come all that way, there was no way he wouldn't miss the chance to see her.

"Sir, it's time for lunch? Do you want us to pick you up something from Wacdonald's or Cantina?" Awata asked him, poking her head into his office.

He cleared his throat and gripped his phone, trying not to glance at it.

"No, I'll be fine. I will be meeting someone for lunch," he informed her.

"Ah, business calls, huh?" she said sympathetically. "Well, enjoy your lunch still!"

She left and Mirai wondered if it was too strange to think he might have a social life and have personal connections after all.

Then again, he couldn't think of a time where work wasn't his focus.

Grabbing his bag, he rummaged around for his hair dye and colored eye contacts, hurriedly heading to his room to fix his disguise quickly so he could set out to meet her.

Izuku glanced at her phone, seeing Mirai's text back, asking where in Tokyo was she. After answering him, he sent a location of a restaurant and she raised her eyebrows.

Hakushu Teppanyaki? That place was pretty pricey…But she was hungry and it was his treat, he said, despite her being the one inviting him to lunch in the first place. Making her way to the restaurant, she texted him when she was there and quickly received a reply that he was inside.

When she went in, she looked around until she saw him waiting at the counter table and she grinned, trying to sneak up on him. At last minute though, he turned and poked her forehead, giving her a bland look.

"Nice try," he said dryly. "But it's not so easy to sneak up on me."

She pouted and took the seat next to him. "I swear I'll get you one of these days," she promised.

A small hint of a smile showed on his face before it was back to the usual serious look Mirai always sported.

"So you were making a delivery?" he asked her. "I didn't know you did deliveries."

"Rarely," she shrugged, taking the menu from him and flipped through it slowly. "But it was at TBM Studios and that's where Present Mic does his radio show. Excuse the fangirl in me if I wanted to personally deliver their commission and hopefully see a glimpse of him."

He chuckled quietly. "Of course, of course. Never underestimate a fangirl."

"Or fanboy," she poked his shoulder and he rolled his eyes.

"Did you get to see him?" he asked and she immediately brightened.

"Oooh, yes! He even signed one of my notebooks! I also met Ishibashi Hikaru, who is even cuter in person," she giggled. "He's part of Bridge Rock of the Yappa Kimagure Rock show," she explained and he looked like he vaguely recognized the name of the musician and of the show. "He's the one who commissioned me for a painting of Mogami Kyoko in her new role."

He seemed taken aback. "I didn't know you did commissions outside of Heroes."

Izuku closed the menu, having decided on what she was going to order. "It's my main focus, given that most people who contact me are Hero fans. But I do other subjects as well —celebrities, crime recreations for the police, original characters, anime and other shows, and even a few Villains," she admitted.

"I want to be surprised that there are people who ask for some sort of merchandise of Villains, but I'm not," he scowled. "Of course there are those kind of people…"

Izuku awkwardly cleared her throat and then gently nudged him as their waiter came to them.

"I'll have the beef tataki and the thinly sliced kobe beef," she ordered and Mirai glanced at his menu briefly, "The Kansai-style mixed okonomiyaki please."

"Um, speaking of commissions," she started hesitantly after the waiter left, looking to him. He watched her patiently and she scrambled for her bag and took out her tablet, turning the screen on and getting it ready. "I just wanted to ask you a few things."

Mirai looked at the initial sketch on screen, already impressed and feeling giddy about how it would look. He wondered if he could have a copy of that sketch to be able to admire.

"First off, on Nighteye, should I do his regular 7:3 hair part neat or should I have it unkempt?" she asked, all business. "I'm basing this off of this scene," she pulled up the image, which was nostalgic for Mirai as he remembered that day. "His hair is off here, you see? So do you want authenticity or do you just want the Nighteye figure to be exact as he is? Same issue with All Might; his eye lines are two inches off from the way they usually are back then in that battle, probably due to the strain of the aftermath, which affected his face."

Mirai blinked, considering that. He hadn't actually thought over all the details or realized there was a lot of thought that had to go into this at all. But…

"Authenticity," he decided. "I'd prefer that over something picturesque. It makes it more true to life, than if you were to just readjust the scene to keep the two in perfect order."

Izuku nodded, making a tiny note in the corner of the screen, saved her work and then put it away.

"Great! Work over, now let's eat and enjoy! Say, have you seen the new book on All Might coming out?"

Mirai couldn't stop grinning as they chattered and then watched their chef cooking their food on the grill together.

Izuku, back home now, went to her bed and let herself plop face down on it. She tiredly took her bag strap off of her shoulder and shoved the bag away from her, trying to get relaxed before she had to do anything else. It had been a long day; a good day, but really long.

Her phone rang then and she grumbled as she fumbled for her cell in her pocket. Finally getting it out, she answered it after she saw the Caller ID.

"Hey, Okaa-san," she greeted happily, though she was obviously still tired. "How's it going?"

"Okay, so far," Inko answered her back warmly. "Are you doing okay home? Or are you at your loft?"

"Loft," she answered. "I had a recent commission I'm working on. Is Dad doing okay?"

"He's a bit stressed, but he's doing alright. What about school? Have you been working hard? I know Aldera has been really rough."

Izuku grimaced. "Yes, I have been," she lied, having not attended for at least a week. Besides, her…other schooling had been doing much better.

"Just keep doing your best, Izuku. Middle school will be over soon enough and then it's a fresh start in high school."

"…Of course, Okaa-san," she muttered.

They talked for a few more minutes before they hung up and Izuku rolled over onto her back. She tried not to think about school and instead thought over on her day, smiling to herself as she remembered her lunch date with Mirai.

That had been fun and she had had a really good time with him. She didn't remember a time where she had gotten along so well with someone and had so much in common —not since she was a child and still 'friends' with Katsuki, before her Quirkless diagnosis.

Remembering that, her smile died down. She wondered how Mirai would feel and act towards her if he knew she was Quirkless? Would he be the same as Katsuki and everyone else? Or would he just ghost her and pretend they never met? She didn't know which would hurt more…

Her phone vibrated, alerting her to a text and she miserably went to read it. She couldn't help her lips twitching up a bit at seeing it though.

Today was nice. Will you be free tomorrow?

She bit her lip, going through tomorrow in her head. She sent a text back after, wondering if she really had the time.

I'll be in Tokyo, but I'll be busy in the morning. Lunch date again?

Izuku flung an arm across her face and blushed.

Mirai stared at his phone, blinking at the reply. His cheeks burned and he was pretty sure his face didn't look like its normal sternness at all. He was pretty sure he looked nothing like himself.

He quickly texted an affirmative and then planted his face in his hands, feeling completely off and not sure what to do with himself.

"…I'm off back to home, Sir —are you okay, Sir?" Mirio was at his door, looking at him concerned and Mirai had no idea what to tell him.

"…Yes, I'm fine, Togata-kun," he said, glad his voice was steady and the 2nd year wouldn't question it. "I was just…thinking about something. Tomorrow, I'll reevaluate how your Quirk Control is and then you can have the rest of the day off or you can work with Bubble Girl and Centipeder on organizing a few files."

His intern smiled brightly and mock saluted. "Yes, Sir! See you tomorrow then!"

Mirai inwardly smiled, thinking this boy would definitely go far and would be perfect for Toshinori to pass the torch and One For All to. Now if only he could convince Toshinori to retire and find a successor…

The next day found Mirai waiting on a text from Izuku about lunch, having already left the Agency and was starting his car. Unfortunately, she hadn't replied at all and he was getting worried. He was hoping she was just busy and not feeling like he was pressuring her or annoyingly contacting her too much, but if he was irritating or being creepy —

Hey, I'm so so sorry! Turns out I have two more classes. They switched them to today, so I'm going to have to skip lunch if I want to get to them :( Please eat well for the both of us! Reschedule for tomorrow?

Mirai was certain she wasn't making an excuse, but it did bother him that she would have to skip eating. If a class traditionally took an hour, then two hours of lectures without having gone with lunch wouldn't be good. How could she even concentrate being on empty?

I could drop you off something for you to eat? Skipping a meal, especially when you have to learn, won't help you.

He hoped he wasn't being invasive or pushy, but as a newfound friend, he didn't want her to suffer.

Would you mind? I'd appreciate it!

Mirai smiled and then told her to text her location, receiving it after. He put his car on Drive and then followed his GPS, following the directions to the address.

Stopping and parking in front of a huge connection of buildings, he glanced again at his phone and read the area's location —Meijirodai International Village. He wondered about the area as he text Izuku he was there, only to be startled a few moments later at a knock on his window. Seeing her there, smiling widely, he smiled back and indicated for her to move back as he opened his door and stepped out. He grabbed the bag of food he'd gotten from a Wacdonald's and held it up for her.

"It's not much, but I wanted to hurry and get this to you, so you can eat quickly and have a little something to hold you over while you have classes," he said, curiously looking around.

She pointed to the buildings he had been first curious about. "That's Meijirodai," she told him, opening the bag and shoving a hand in to quickly eat some fries. She licked her lips and hummed happily. "That's housing for Todai students. I have a place there in case I need to crash there after a late night at the school or a break in between classes."

Mirai paused and went through that quickly in his head. "You go to the University of Tokyo?" he asked in surprise and once again impressed.

She gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah? I never mentioned it when I said I had to go to classes?"

He shook his head, even as she finished off the fries in record time and then went for her burger. He reopened his door.

"Do you want a ride? I could take you over to the university's campus?"

"No, it's okay," she said after she swallowed a bite. "It's not far from here and parking is horrible. Actually, I was wondering if you want to attend my last two classes with me? We could eat for real afterwards, though it might be a late lunch or early dinner. Unless you have to get back to work?"

"I settled everything back at my work," he said immediately, mind already whirling over the offer. "I would love to go with you."

She beamed at him. "The first one is actually a seminar. After that though, is an actual class."

"I can take your book bag, while you eat," he offered, taking her bag. "I ate on the drive over, so I'll be fine."

Izuku led the way and he wondered what sort of classes was she taking. He had never asked about her studies or asked what school she was going to, only finding out now that she was apparently attending the prestigious Tokyo University, the number one university in Japan. It spoke even more about how intelligent his newly made friend was.

It was only reiterated and reinforced as he sat through the seminar stiffly, in shock and uneasy (and more than a little embarrassed to feel stupid) to not understand anything.

Everything was going over his head and he inwardly admitted he was a bit intimidated, more so as he realized the young girl next to him was focused and listening intently, and was meticulously writing down notes.

Mirai had always thought he was a smart man and he had never questioned it before. He was questioning it now.

When the seminar was over and they were walking out, he didn't think he could ever feel like he was dumb until now.

"Sasaki-san, is everything okay?" she asked, noticing his quietness.

He flushed red. "Yes, I'm fine. Just…I didn't understand anything."

"That's okay," she told him. "I don't expect you to. Not that I think you're dumb or anything! It's just…Mathematical Sciences isn't exactly the type of subject people easily get. I'm a math person," she admitted, rocking on her feet nonchalantly. "And science! I find them fun, though most people probably wouldn't. My favorite thing is analyzing things and people, you know? Especially Quirks, which is actually my next class."

He felt a bit better after what she said, but he was intrigued by that last part.

"Quirks?"

She grinned enthusiastically.

Quirk Analytics was her favorite class. It looked like it would be Mirai's too, who looked enraptured and like he was actually enjoying himself. He looked a lot more at home and at ease in here, where he had looked blank and maybe a little lost after her seminar.

She participated in the debate with the other students, spoke out theories on Quirks and then they did a round table discussion about Quirk Singularity, which was an old scientific Quirk theory that might have more of a basis than had been accepted back then.

After class, she piled out with the rest of them, with Mirai by her side.

"You looked like you enjoyed that much better," she grinned and was rewarded by one of his small smiles.

"I did actually," he admitted easily. "It was interesting to see what people thought about Quirks, how they came about or even breaking down individual Quirks to strengths and weaknesses."

"That's probably my favorite part, especially since I'm majoring in that and because I've been doing that since I was young and filling up tons of notebooks with Quirk Analysis about Heroes and some Villains," she gushed excitedly.

Mirai's eyes lit up. "Have you? Do you mind letting me see some of those notebooks?"

Though surprised at his interest in her little hobby, she agreed to it without a thought.

Started 12/17/22 – Completed 12/19/22

A/n: Happy New Year's, everyone! Here's some more cute geek fluff XD

Quick Points:

1. See them Skip Beat references, my people? Also Cantina from Kitchen Princess, and Wadonald's is a nod to the McD reference in Hikaru no Go.

2. Hakushu Teppanyaki is real restaurant in Tokyo, Japan. So is Meijiroday internation Village, which really is housing for Todai students.

3. I like to headcanon Izuku as a Todai student a lot~

4. I do too much unnecessary research, even for fanfic XD

5. I am Izuku's total opposite. I hate math.