Echoes of Love and Battle

by snoozemoose13

Suspicious villain attacks, confusing formal invitations, their debuts lurking along the horizon. Class 3-A built their reputation from the ground up as they've fought tooth and nail to win as much as they have. But now, stakes are rising, and with life becoming more dangerous, only one question haunts every students' mind: Who should they ask to the gala?

7. Make Up Your Mind

A/N: Updating right at midnight let's goooo. Hello again! Are y'all ready for some relationship development? Oof, I am extremely pleased at how certain parts of this chapter came out. Honestly, everything from here on out is so exciting for me to write. This chapter gets a liiiiittle sappy, I won't lie, but feelings are important in a romance! As always, thank you guys so much for reading, now let's get into it, shall we?

Quick plug time: a YouTube channel by the name of Anime World reached out and created a video of the first six chapters of this story with my permission. I took the time to browse their channel and I think they're doing some awesome work at getting fanfic authors more exposure. I've found some stories to bookmark and check out on both here and AO3 (where this story is cross posted under the same title) so if you have the time, check out their channel and give the stories on there some views! Here's the link to the reading they made for my story: https/watch?v=9Ug8Mj0RTd0 =3318s

Mirror gazed down at the slightly wrinkled document, shock and wonder illuminating her eyes. Electra tensed, worrying she'd have something to say about it not being in "pristine" condition. The fact that it sat in her hands may not be good enough; she somehow always needed everything to be in tip top shape. How such expectations of cleanliness possibly arose from someone who made her living holed up in a rusted up abandoned warehouse was beyond Electra, but like most aspects of Mirror's behavior, she opted not to question her. So far, not a complaint was uttered, but Mirror flipped on Electra too many times for her to trust that on its own.

"Fabulous work." She breathed after a moment, relieving Electra of her fears. "I didn't realize you could pull through like this. You have my gratitude, Miss Electra."

A gleeful smile threatened to erupt across the blonde's face, one she quickly suppressed by clearing her throat. "Of course. I keep my promises, fair and square."

"You've proven that splendidly." Mirror bowed her head slightly towards Electra, approval shining in her dark eyes. "I don't think you realize, but what you've managed to produce is the key to our plan's success. You've done us a priceless service."

This seemed to make up for the bullet exploding on contact back in the Watanabe gym. Of course, Electra didn't dare bring that up. Mirror definitely hadn't forgotten, but at this point, best to let sleeping dogs lie. Especially after being awarded such high praise.

"How is it the key, if I may ask?" Electra carried on the conversation, fueled more than anything by curiosity. "I thought our main target was. Or did I miss something?"

Mirror smirked. "Silly me, of course. It slipped my mind how little you truly know about erythroglass."

Until three weeks ago, she didn't even know the stuff existed. All she'd been told was that some sort of glass melted in blood, Mirror possessed a rather healthy supply of it for no explained reason, and some unnamed teenager target of theirs fit into this in some way, shape or form. Granted, that's more information than most of the population knew, but Electra still felt so in the dark about everything, and everyday it became more clear that she'd been given such limited knowledge on purpose. Why? That part still remained unanswered. Perhaps Mirror worried the more Electra knew, the more she could use to betray her. A fair concern to have when making underground deals such as theirs, Electra commiserated.

Now, however, it seemed she'd been fully entrenched in their scheme. Too deep to turn back. At this point, if Electra snitched, she could rest assured she'd be six feet underground before she even knew what hit her.

Which meant she now had the right to demand certain knowledge.

"I'd like to know more…Mistress."

Ick. The back of her throat constricted, making her practically gag on the word. Mirror knew it. Relished in it, from the amused glint in her eye. Admitting submission validated Mirror as her superior, something Electra begrudgingly knew would go a long way, and though her comrade could tell she'd all but spit the title out, she'd still said it. That carried some weight, at the very least.

"Not to worry, all will be explained." Mirror assured her smugly. "In this case, we're–"

"Oh, Mistress!"

Once again, Chaotic barged into the room, practically tripping over herself. Electra barely held in the irritated sigh that half escaped her mouth. It truly began to feel like they resided with some blathering toddler constantly butting into conversations to inform their mother that they'd finally deciphered how to properly do a spin. Whether anyone realized it or not, Chaotic provided nothing of worth to their cause. At a certain point, Electra grew concerned this woman would prove herself to be more of a handicap than anything. She certainly hadn't shown herself to be any sort of asset. However, Electra held her tongue, knowing just how dear to Mirror this Chaotic woman was, for whatever reason. One word against her could be her undoing, something Electra found both terrifying and strange to recognize.

"Yes, my darling, what news do you bring?" Mirror gave her full, immediate attention to the snake woman, acknowledging her similarly to a mother endearing her child in their ridiculous antics.

"The drop spot…the drop spot is set!" Chaotic twitched with an unsettling toothy grin. "S-strike the…the fourteenth!"

"The what?" Electra frowned, looking to Mirror for clarification.

"Thank you, my dear Chaotic." Mirror patted her henchwoman's head. "Electra, one more job, and I'll tell you everything. Sound like a deal?"

Seriously? This again? How many more times did she have to shoot this godforsaken gun?

As many times as it took, she talked herself down. Biting back her gritted teeth, Electra nodded. "But of course. Anything you wish."

She thought she was about to learn everything now. She probably would have, had Chaotic not once again hijacked the conversation. Hadn't Mirror just praised her for proving herself as much as she did? Would one more job truly solidify her on this team, or did Mirror intend to keep moving the goal post until her dirty work was completed? Electra suspected the latter, bitterness washing over her.

Once this job was complete, she'd revisit what kind of benefits came with Mirror as an ally. If they didn't add up to enough, Electra decided herself glad to take on another target.

XxXxXxX

"I realized how I felt the day before the gala was announced."

Iida, Todoroki, and Deku gathered outside on the steps of Heights Alliance, sipping their coffee in the crisp spring morning. Last night left Iida too emotional, so they decided to forgo training and take him back to the dorms. Bakugo had disappeared somewhere into the night, which was another concern Deku reminded himself to address, but they'd agreed that this morning, they'd focus on everything Iida needed to talk about and let him get his feelings out in the open.

And man, did he have some feelings.

"I don't know what came over me." He stared down at his coffee. "She removed my helmet, for inspection purposes, and when she pushed my hair out of my face, I just…it all came crashing down on me."

He spoke stiffly, clearly still uncomfortable to some degree. Deku suspected Iida hadn't done a lot of thinking about this predicament which felt in character given everything that had happened over the course of the last couple weeks with him. No matter; he was allowed to be confused and overwhelmed by his feelings. He just hoped talking about them would relieve him in some way. Whether this thing with Hatsume went anywhere or not, he couldn't carry on like this forever.

"Did you say anything to her then?" Deku asked gently.

"I couldn't bring myself to." Iida swallowed, his face pensive as he fit the timeline of everything together. "Truthfully, it took me quite a while to settle into this wave of…emotions. I inherently rejected them, forcing myself to focus on our demonstration and the gala. But all the while, this nagging nipped at my brain, reminding me of all I was suppressing."

"Is that why you've been so uptight lately?" Todoroki shifted to face Iida. "Because of these…feelings?"

Iida sighed heavily. "Unfortunately, I believe that to be the case. In fact, I think I obsessed so much over compensating for my desires that I lost myself and my sanity practically entirely."

Deku stared off into the distance, mulling over Iida's attitude and actions over the past couple weeks. This revelation certainly explained a lot. The uptightness, the outbursts, the dedication to avoidance when confronted with observations of his behavior. In fact, the only point Iida seemed somewhat normal had been that time in the support lab when Hatsume buzzed around making repairs to his suit. That was when he'd made actual eye contact, stood the most steady, and even stayed composed enough to give Deku genuinely helpful advice on how to use his new gear.

"Not entirely." Deku remarked offhandedly after a moment. "In some ways, Hatsume seems to bring you back down to Earth."

Iida stiffened. "Does she?"

"From what I can tell, yeah." Deku shrugged. "I mean, you were calm that day in the support lab when Ochako and I visited."

"Oh, right." Iida smirked, shaking his head. "When I forced poor Hatsume to construct five different repairs on my costume. I truly can't believe I did that."

"Yeah, what were all those crazy upgrades for?" Deku asked with a slight frown.

"...An excuse to see Hatsume."

"Ohh." Deku and Todoroki realized in unison.

Out of all the guys in their class, Iida was the last one they'd pegged to do stupid things for a girl's attention. Then again, nobody ever thought of Iida as someone who wanted female attention. He always seemed so devoted to maintaining order as class rep, a relationship didn't seem like something he'd make the time for. Tinkering with his costume to outlandish degrees all so a girl would flit and flutter around him struck Deku as…kind of funny, to be honest.

"Wait, so you tried to make your arms as fast as your legs just to see Hatsume?" A chuckle colored his tone. "Iida, that could have gone terribly, what were you thinking?"

"What? Why are you laughing?" Iida's face heated up, his robot arms chopping at full swing. "It's not like I was wasting time or resources, those upgrades could have turned out to be really useful to my career!"

"You would have looked like a rag doll!" Deku insisted. "Or shot forward like a bullet so hard you'd break the sound barrier!"

"That's not a bad thing! I could…save lives with that kind of speed!"

Iida's anger only added to the humor. Unable to help himself, Deku doubled forward in laughter, picturing his friend dashing down the street while his arms flailed beside him at the exact same speed. Seriously, how did no one consider that to be a danger? Aside from being hilarious, of course.

"Midoriya, are you okay?" Blank faced as ever, Todoroki watched Deku crack up at essentially his own joke, all while Iida grew more and more red in the face.

"Sorry, guys." Finally, his laughter subsided. He sat up straight, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Oh, God, it's just hilarious that you made that kind of excuse to see Hatsume when you could have just…talked to her."

At that, Iida let out a laugh of his own. "Just talk? To Hatsume? Please, she doesn't have the time for that. She's always so busy working on the next big thing, and she can't let a single idea go to waste. Idle chit chat would never fall on her radar, she's simply too smart for that."

His eyes lit up a little as he spoke. A small smile played at his lips, something he tried to hide behind a cough. Deku didn't call him out, but seeing his friend light up while he described this girl made him happy to see. Happy, and frankly, a little giddy.

"So how did you guys end up kissing?" Todoroki, thankfully, didn't notice the subtle changes and opted to get the conversation back on track.

Iida's eyes widened for a second, as if he'd forgotten they knew about that. Once he recovered from his shock, he cleared his throat and continued.

"Well, when I learned about the gala, I became a nervous wreck. Everything began piling up all at once. Suddenly, the responsibility of ensuring we presented well rested on my shoulders. Then the quirk demonstration got added, not to mention my family's all but guaranteed presence at the event, all while I spent every spare moment daydreaming about that mop of messy pink hair…"

Deku's face broke into a smile. "Iida, you've really fallen for her, haven't you?"

Defeat slumped Iida's shoulders, as if a weight had been lifted once Deku said that. "I suppose I have."

"Well, that should be a good thing, then!" Deku exclaimed brightly. "Especially now that you've kissed. I mean, admitting your feelings after something like that shouldn't be a problem. Right?"

Iida's eyes widened, staring down at his knees. Deku faltered; maybe things with the kiss hadn't gone as well as he'd assumed. Maybe that's why Iida was having such a hard time coping with the fact that it happened.

"Actually, I fear it only complicated things." Iida's tone shifted somberly, confirming Deku's fears. "Before this, I was planning to ask her to be my date–strictly for business purposes–but now…"

"Business purposes?" Todoroki asked. "What does that mean?"

"Hatsume's brilliant." Iida stated, matter of fact. "She deserves to be seen by sponsors and investors more than anybody. This is the networking opportunity of a lifetime, something that support course students don't get to see nearly as often as us in the hero course do. If anyone's earned the right to an opportunity to rub elbows with the higher ups, it's absolutely her."

"Ah." It clicked for Todoroki. "So, the original plan was to ask her under the guise of presenting it as a networking opportunity?"

"There was never a guise." Iida corrected him shortly. "She deserves this. I had no intention of pushing any ulterior motives. I can't deny I care for her, but advancement of hero technology is something Hatsume would be an invaluable asset to. I'd be remiss as a class rep to use this chance as some sort of ruse for romance."

"That makes sense." Deku put in encouragingly. "But hey, even now, I'm sure you can still ask her and remind her of–"

"No, I can't!" Suddenly, Iida's voice quivered, his eyes welling up again. Deku's eyes widened, him and Todoroki exchanging confused glances over the random change in emotions. Iida sucked in a breath, continuing to look downwards, as if ashamed to keep talking. "Because it's…not that simple. It never will be again. I can't take back anything that happened, and now that there's too many feelings in the mix, neither one of us can do our jobs properly, I've…God, I've gone and ruined a huge opening for her, all because I couldn't control myself!"

All this over a kiss felt a bit dramatic, even by Deku's standards. Then again, Iida never let his guard down, especially when it came to romantic endeavors. Something like this must be rattling for him, and since he had no experience with it, it made sense that he was struggling.

"So you kissed her? And…that's all?" Deku raised his eyebrows, suspicion in his tone.

"No, that's not…all." Through his tears, Iida smirked a bit at the memory. "We didn't stop for quite a while. And then we just kept going and…well, nobody was there, we were in a more secluded corner, and I just…we…"

He trailed off, allowing Deku to put the pieces together while Todoroki…blankly sipped his coffee.

"Whoa, wait, right there in the support lab?!" Once it dawned on him, Deku's jaw dropped. "Iida, that's a ballsy move, you–"

"Keep your voice down!" Iida hissed, gaze darting around to make sure nobody heard him.

Deku sat back and shut his mouth. Clearly, this was the part of the story Iida hesitated to tell them, something he didn't want to become widespread. Understandable, given the weight Iida obviously held for the situation. The last thing Deku wanted was for Iida to regret opening up, especially about something so major.

When Iida confirmed the coast was clear, he continued. "I didn't mean for it to happen like that, it just…I don't know, she does something to me, I guess."

"That part I do understand." Deku patted Iida's shoulder with a chuckle. "When you meet that one person that just…does it for you, it's like there's no stopping it. You know?"

"Is this about sex again?"

Iida spat out the coffee he'd tried to take a sip of.

"Todoroki!" Deku scolded him, once again taking stock of their surroundings.

"It was last time everyone started talking in code." Todoroki said simply. "Is this something people normally can't openly talk about? Maybe we should create a word for it."

Where's Bakugo to scream the things nobody wants to explain when you need him?

"Okay, no, we don't need a word, but yes, Todoroki." Deku sighed. "This is about…that."

"Oh. I see." Todoroki patted Iida's shoulder. "Well, good job on that."

…Why?

"I certainly hope I did a good job." Iida suddenly looked stressed, his eyes widening. "Lack of experience makes the process quite an intimidating one. If I'd had more time to prepare, I'd have done significantly more research."

…Why, again?!

"Okay, so, not to pry, but when did all that happen? Yesterday?" Deku cut in, hoping to refocus the conversation.

"Correct."

"And you guys didn't…talk about it or anything?"

Iida scoffed. "If only. Neither one of us knew what to do once we'd…finished. I had no idea what to say, at least. So I got my repairs, and…I left."

"Without even talking to her?" Todoroki sounded surprised, but in monotone. "So you don't even know how she feels?"

"Ugh, don't make it worse." Iida covered his face in embarrassment. "I just…I froze! What do you talk about after…that?!"

"Oh, well, Ochako and I usually cuddle for a minute before–"

"Rhetorical question, Midoriya!" Iida's eye twitched.

Yeah, that's fair.

"And then you ran to the gym and began crying and punching everything?"

Well, when Todoroki phrased it like that, it made him sound pathetic.

"...Yes. That's actually exactly what I did." No point in lying, Iida thought resignedly.

His demeanor and attitude about all this made a lot more sense from this point of view. Running away from a person seconds after losing your virginity to them had to be a pretty embarrassing situation, on top of the issues he'd already created for himself thanks to his affection for Hatsume. It made sense he wanted to avoid it, suppress it, and soldier on through it.

"Okay, so then I guess the real question is, what do you want to do about it from here?" Deku turned to Iida fully. "I mean, you can't just sit on all these feelings forever. And now that you and Hatsume have actually…gone for it, you have to say something. Even if it's just a one time thing, you should establish that with each other, at least."

"The alternative is a conversation, though." Iida squeezed his eyes shut. "I haven't the faintest idea what I'd even say to her, let alone how to confess what I feel, and that's in addition to everything else going on here…Midoriya?"

Deku jumped a bit. "What?"

"How did…you and Uraraka…start?"

He frowned. "What do you mean? We've told you the story. Don't you remember?"

"I remember you admitting you liked her." Todoroki put in. "And that you guys had gotten together."

"Yes, but you never told us what you said, specifically." Nervously, Iida lifted his eyes to meet Deku's. "I know something like that is deeply personal, but…maybe it could help me…figure out what to do in this situation?"

When Iida put it like that, Deku found it hard to refuse. His friend was desperate, in need of guidance that, from an objective perspective, only Deku could give. Out of Iida's closest friends, Deku was the only one who'd managed to lock down a serious relationship, making him the most experienced. Besides, it's not like he was embarrassed about how he and Uraraka first started out.

Well, he was embarrassed about the fact that he was a damn nerd about it.

"It…well, we were hanging out one day, one on one." Deku looked down at his shoes as he recalled the story. "We'd been sort of back and forth on confessing our feelings for a while, neither one of us wanting to say anything, but a lot of tension had built up, so the two of us were kind of sitting in limbo waiting for the other one to–"

"We don't have all day, Midoriya." Todoroki cut him off bluntly. "Get to the point."

"Right!" Deku blushed. "Sorry. Well, I kind of…called her pretty, and she asked if I meant it. I told her she was honestly the most beautiful girl in the world, as far as I was concerned. Then she got embarrassed, and I got embarrassed, and after a moment she…kissed my cheek. I moved to kiss her cheek, too, but, well, we kind of stumbled and…ended up fully kissing. By accident."

Iida nodded for him to go on.

"Well, we talked a bit about it, but not too much. Honestly, I think both of us were just shocked something was actually happening." He smirked, pink still tinging his cheeks. "I think we let that build up for almost too long, in hindsight."

A brief lull in the conversation allowed Deku to soak in the memory of that first kiss. Remembering how it felt to finally unlock that part of himself and not only admit his feelings, but actually explore them. It was freeing, not having suppress or deny what his heart so desperately tried to tell him for years. Acting on it only added to the euphoria of it all, basking in the sweet bliss of knowing that she, too, had fallen for him, fighting the same battle against her own heart. That's what compelled him to actually say something when the opportunity presented itself.

"I remember that…I told her I didn't care what happened from there on out." He continued, half to himself. "But she deserved to know someone thought of her as nothing short of the entire sun, moon, and stars. That I went to sleep every night daydreaming about the way she blushed when she got an answer wrong in class or how her giggle echoed through the cafeteria at one of Kaminari's jokes. She meant so much to me, and even if she didn't feel the same, and I never got to kiss her again, I'd be just fine knowing someone finally told her how beautiful she really is."

Todoroki and Iida stared at their friend. He and Uraraka hadn't been together that long, and while their relationship certainly warranted the girls' label of "adorable," neither one of them ever considered just how deep the bond ran between their two friends.

"In the end, it's all about how you feel." Deku concluded, turning to meet his friends' gaze. "Iida, you're a smart, amazing guy, and it's obvious you feel a lot for Hatsume. Just put what that feels like into words and speak from your heart. I promise you, there's no way you won't succeed, even if she doesn't feel the same way. Does that help?"

Iida shifted his gaze downward, shame washing over him. For weeks, he'd let his struggling affect his friendships to an almost irreparable degree. In fact, the only reason the friend group hadn't fallen apart was that Deku and the others were such caring, patient, understanding people. So much so that after Iida had finished his breakdown, they stood by him, buying him coffee and letting him vent before giving him spectacular advice on how to deal with his problem. Deku and Todoroki were absolute gems, the absolute best kind of friends Iida could have possibly asked for.

Friends he didn't deserve.

"Before I do any of this, I need to take a moment to apologize." Iida settled back down on the steps between his two friends, resting his hands on each of their shoulders. "I took my emotions out on both of you, it would seem. I…can't begin to explain how…sorry I am…."

Tears welled up in his eyes again, causing Deku to clap an arm around Iida's shoulders.

"Don't worry about it." He reassured him calmly. "I knew something was bothering you, and that it wasn't personal at all."

Iida still seemed upset, clearly pulling it together to try and say something else. Deku, understanding his struggle, reached over and patted his shoulder.

"We're friends." He promised, looking between Iida and Todoroki. "Nothing's ever going to change that."

"Yeah." Todoroki gave Iida a small smile. "Never."

Iida's eyes couldn't withhold the flood anymore. Bowing his head, the tears flowed like waterfalls, a few sobs choking through.

"I've been such a horrible friend to you, Midoriya." He stammered between sniffles. "All because I was projecting and snapping and…frankly, jealous of the fact that your relationship is going perfectly, and I…I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Iida." Deku slung his arm around Iida's shoulders again, pulling him in for a side hug. "You're still an amazing friend. Friends fight, they go through things, they talk, and they come out stronger. Right, Todoroki?"

"Huh?" Todoroki jumped, as if being awoken from a daydream. "Oh, right. Of course."

Deku kept his arm around Iida for a second, letting his tears subside. After a moment, Iida leaned out of the hug, a smile on his face replacing the expression of agony he'd donned moments before.

"Thank you." He turned and touched Todoroki's wrist. "Both of you. I truly can't believe I'm lucky enough to have found the most amazing brothers in arms."

Todoroki squeezed Iida's hand briefly. "We're here for you, Iida. Always."

XxXxXxX

"Midoriya, your chin."

"Hm?" Deku looked up from his lunch to face Shinso, who sat across from him. Upon eye contact, Shinso wiped his hand across his chin.

"You got curry on you." He explained as he did so.

"Huh?" Deku still didn't seem to understand. Thankfully, Uraraka did, producing a napkin and grabbing her boyfriend by the jaw.

"Here, I'll fix that." She gave Shinso a smile. "Thanks for pointing that out. You got stuff on your chin, babe."

"Oh, shoot, thanks Shinso, I never would have noticed!" Deku chuckled, his eyes flashing between Shinso and Uraraka.

"No problem." Shinso returned to eating, careful not to stare at the couple in front of him.

Despite having been part of class A for a year now, every now and then, a wave of awkwardness hit Shinso in the socializing aspect of things. Not to a detrimental point; after all, he'd certainly made some good friends. But sometimes, his classmates got caught up in moments with people they'd grown closer to simply from having known one another for longer, and he didn't know what to do when those came up. He never took it personally, he just felt weird sitting there.

He briefly considered joining the conversation happening next to him, but somehow, that felt equally as invasive as watching Uraraka scrub Deku's face. Pony and Shoji seemed to be in their own little world, and from the sounds of their discussion, Shinso would have no idea what they were talking about even if they took the time to explain it to him.

"So, this is called a tiefling, they're super cool!" Pony pointed to something in a huge book from the seat next to Shoji. He nodded at her, fully engaged with what she had to say.

"Oh, I like this one a lot." Shoji echoed Pony's enthusiasm, though more subdued. "What do you find cool about them?"

Pony flipped her blonde waves over her shoulder, as if preparing for her answer. Shoji's eyes lit up in amusement. She'd now made that motion three times when elaborating on something; that meant she always tossed her hair back whenever she got really into whatever she was saying. For some reason, Shoji felt compelled to take note of that. The same way he'd picked up on her biting her lip the two times he'd seen her get nervous or how high pitched her voice climbed when calling out her attacks during gala practice. Her mannerisms…interested him.

"So, technically, this is a race of half demons, BUT!" Pony held up a finger to emphasize her point. "These are not the product of half demon and half human unions. They're a fully evolved race, product of deals between a bunch of nobles and demons thousands of years beforehand. So tieflings are created when two tieflings get together, and if a tiefling were to have a child with, say, an elf, then that child would simply be half elf, half tiefling. Actually, that sounds like a really cool combo, now that I think about it…"

She quickly jotted something down in her notebook. Shoji kept his eyes on the book, reading the brief summary it had to offer about tieflings and their abilities.

"What have you guys got there?" Uraraka pointed to the book quizzically.

Only now did Pony realize that their table was occupied by other people. Somehow, the moment she and Shoji sat down to talk D , everything else around her simply melted away. Guess that's what she gets for having hyperfixations, she thought grimly. She shifted her gaze to Shoji hesitantly, silently asking if she should actually explain it to Uraraka..

When they first got to talking about it, Pony mentioned something about being made fun of for playing this game in the States. Apparently, stuff like D had been designated as "just for nerds" at her old high school, making Pony a subsequent target for relentless bullying. Thus, Shoji could understand why she wasn't too keen to start openly talking about it with people she didn't know super well.

"Don't worry, no one here will make fun of you." He reassured her gently.

Shoji had yet to steer her wrong on that. So far, they'd sat down and discussed her hobby twice, and both times he listened, engaged, and asked a plethora of questions she'd been all too happy to answer. It felt validating, knowing that she didn't have to hold back for fear of him calling her weird or dorky. This made her feel she could trust him, at least.

"If you say so." Smiling, Pony turned to face Uraraka. "It's called the Player's Handbook, it's for a game my friends and I used to play back in the US. Shoji asked me about it and, well, there's kind of a lot involved, so I've been teaching him for the past few days!"

"Few days?" Deku exchanged a surprised glance with Uraraka. "It takes that long to learn about it?"

"Honestly, I'd say even longer." Pony ran her fingers down one of the book's glossy pages. "I didn't really know all the ins and outs until I started playing. There's just so much you can do with it."

Shinso craned his neck over Shoji's shoulder to skim the page they'd opened up to.

"So, is this a character in the game or something?" The picture of a purple-skinned woman caught his eye.

"Hm? Oh, no, not specifically. These are guidelines for building a character in the D world, and this is the section on which races you can play." Perking up, she pointed to the picture. "This is a tiefling, and they're probably my favorite race!"

"Oh, because they have horns?" Deku asked good naturedly.

"Yeah!" Pony pointed to him excitedly. "Somehow, most people don't get that. Anyway, what makes them interesting is–"

"Pony, dear, whatever are you doing at this table of mediocrity?"

One day. Shinso just wanted to go one goddamn day without being forced to endure Monoma's smug, singsongy tone invading his ear. But life wasn't fair, as Aizawa had taught him. So if he wanted this parasite gone, he'd have to take matters into his own hands.

"Hm?" Pony glanced up at him. "Oh, I'm just hanging out with Shoji, no biggie."

"Hanging out? With yet another random man?" Monoma cocked an eyebrow. "Suppose that's typical behavior from you. I just hoped even your standards rose a bit beyond someone of…his status."

Slut shaming and racism in one statement is crazy. But Shinso expected nothing less from the phantom thief of decency.

"Pack it up, psycho." Shinso glared up at the blond. "We're just trying to eat."

"Oh, Shinso, I didn't even recognize the bottom half of your face!" He was greeted by Monoma's shit eating grin. "It's so nice they let you off the leash for a little bit! They gonna take you out for a run after you finish eating, too?"

"Hey, man, that's uncalled for!" Deku snapped.

"Babe, settle down." Uraraka gently held Deku's arm, eying Monoma nervously.

"Aw, Mr. Popularity cares about his pet, that's adorable!" Monoma remained grinning ear to ear.

"Leave him alone." Shinso's voice dropped to a growl.

Monoma leaned in, bending over until he stood nose to nose with Shinso, forcing that maniacal expression right in his goddamn face. His hot breath brushed against Shinso's chin, the strong scent of spearmint catching in his nostrils. Well, at least Monoma took a mint before imposing himself on everyone.

"Make me, watchdog."

For whatever reason, that tore the envelope. One moment, Shinso sat, eyes narrowed, the next, he'd tackled Monoma to the ground, rearing his fist back to strike. Monoma, of course, didn't take that lying down (figuratively speaking) and grasped Shinso's raised arm by the wrist. Then, in a twist Shinso never saw coming, the blond wriggled his legs out from underneath him, interlocked them around Shinso's torso, and flipped him on his back, completely flipping their positions. Keeping his grip on Shinso's wrist, Monoma pressed his forearm against Shinso's chest.

"Oh, so you're all bark and no bite then, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows down at Shinso mockingly. "All that training and you still couldn't make yourself useful."

Instinctively, Shinso jabbed his left fist at Monoma's jaw, landing a hit that he repeated a few times before Monoma swung back. He clocked Shinso in the lip, halfheartedly, without significant strength behind it. It actually took Shinso by surprise; did this guy want to actually hurt him, or was he genuinely not strong enough to?

"Both of you stop it!" Deku tried his best to intervene, grabbing Monoma's arm and getting thrown off almost immediately.

At this point, the fight caught the attention of everyone in the lunchroom. Kendo barreled towards them, dragging Tetsutetsu by the hand, and Iida hollered something about running to fetch faculty. Great, now detention loomed on the horizon in addition to getting punched by Monoma, of all people. This day could not get any worse.

Meaning he didn't have anything to lose.

Turns out, all that training did come in handy, despite the earlier claims about Shinso's uselessness. Monoma took enough measures to protect his face, but he'd left his torso wide open. Perfect. Shinso saw an opportunity to exploit this and rammed his knuckles into Monoma's stomach, using his forearm to push him back slightly.

"Oof!" The blond hunched forward, winded. The second Shinso felt Monoma's fingers loosen around his wrist, he yanked both his hands back, bringing them together with newfound strength. Monoma's head bowed forward, wide open for Shinso to strike, and strike hard. Time to teach this crazy bastard a lesson, once and for all.

"Hey, come on, guys!" Shoji finally got down next to them, successfully linking his arms around Monoma's waist and pulling him upward.

This, unfortunately, gave Monoma the ability to now use his legs, which Shinso noted were leaps and bounds stronger than his arms. Just as Shinso sat up, his jaw was met with the bottom of Monoma's (impressively polished) right sneaker.

"Ow!" He fell back, cupping his jaw.

"Monoma, enough!" Kendo roared, smacking him across the face. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Get off me, you Octo-freak!" Monoma had already become preoccupied insulting Shinso's friends. Again.

"Don't call him that!" Shinso jumped to his feet, balling up his fists.

"Shinso, stay calm." Shoji ordered him gently. "Midoriya, a little help?"

Deku dutifully put himself between Shinso and Monoma, facing Shinso with wide eyes.

"Shinso, it's done. Stand down before this gets ugly, okay?" He held both his hands up, pleading with him as he spoke.

Admittedly, if anyone else stood before him, Shinso might not have settled down as quickly. But of course, Deku, of all people, had to be the one putting himself in the line of fire to hold him back. Shinso briefly wondered if Shoji asked him to help on purpose, though Deku also was the next closest person to the fight so maybe this was a mere coincidence. Then again…ugh, damn all this overthinking.

"Yeah, that's right, little doggie!" Monoma, upping his voice to its usual deranged level, continued kicking his feet in attempts to break free from Shoji. "Get back to the kennel where you belong!"

Why dog jokes specifically? What about Shinso convinced Monoma that he'd been demoted to some sort of lackey position amongst his classmates? Was something he did giving him that impression?

"You're acting crazy, man! Get ahold of yourself!" Tetsutetsu snapped.

"He can't." Shinso glared directly at Monoma. "Don't know if you know this, but psychopaths are historically devoid of empathy."

"They avoid what?" Tetsutetsu blinked back at Shinso.

"SCREW YOU, SHINSO!"

Somehow, Monoma broke free from Shoji. Before Shinso fully processed what happened, Monoma tore between Kendo and Tetsutetsu, shoved Deku out of the way and knocked Shinso square in the nose.

Again, with all the force of a raging mouse.

"Is that all?" Shinso laughed. "Come at me like you mean it next time!"

He punctuated his sentence with a hard punch. Or, at least, a punch he intended to be his strongest yet. Somehow, as his fist launched forward, the bite behind it…weakened. He couldn't quite understand why; the full force just deteriorated in the air leading up to Monoma's face. The hit still landed, clocking Monoma square in the jaw, but the blow didn't land nearly as harshly as intended. Weird. Was someone's quirk slowing both of them down? No, that couldn't be right. Nobody he knew of possessed a slow motion quirk.

"Hey, break it up!"

Oh, no. Shinso knew that voice.

Suddenly, All Might and Aizawa stood between them, arms held up in a position ready to grab either boy should they make another attempt to fight. Kendo, Shoji, and Tetsutetsu stood down, but lingered in case they needed to intervene.

While Monoma lunged against All Might and Deku holding him back, Shinso immediately locked gazes with his mentor, who'd chosen to stand in his path likely on purpose. Disapproval, anger, and disappointment shone in his eyes, all coming together in a stern, cold glare. He seemed to be asking Shinso what happened while simultaneously scolding him for taking part. Humiliated, Shinso cast his eyes downward, shrinking back under the scrutiny. What excuse could he possibly make for all this?

"Enough!" All Might finally subdued Monoma, who stumbled back, grunting still. "What's going on here?"

"It was Monoma who started it!" Deku exclaimed. "He walked up to our table and–"

"Oh, sure." Monoma wiped the blood trickling from his lip with his sleeve. "Of course they'll believe A class, what else is new?"

A twinge of hurt in Monoma's tone caught Shinso's attention.

The teachers requesting answers helped put into perspective the realization that nobody here had come to Monoma's defense. In fact, pretty much everyone immediately swarmed in to chastise him, obviously assuming he'd started the fight. Worse yet, Aizawa and All Might both clearly held biases for class A, which Shinso had become more than privy to having joined them from the outside.

Damn. Despite his unhinged ambiance, Shinso couldn't help but feel...kind of bad. More than anything, in an understanding way. No wonder Monoma seemed upset; everything about this situation stacked up horribly against him. And yeah, he'd been the one to come up and start berating their table, but ultimately, Shinso threw the first punch. That much was undeniable. No matter what else happened, that part needed to be said.

Once Deku finished his retelling of events, All Might turned to Monoma. "Is this true, young Monoma?"

"No, it's not." Shinso stepped around Aizawa, facing All Might. "I mean, I don't know what else Midoriya said, but he's wrong about Monoma being responsible. I tackled him first, and that's when the fight really began."

"Really?" All Might raised his eyebrows.

"Honest." Shinso promised. "I mean, I only punched him because he started calling me a lapdog, which I think–"

"Let's take this discussion up to Principal Nezu's office." Aizawa ordered, stepping up behind his mentee. "However it started, it's clear you boys were fighting, and that warrants strict disciplinary action."

Of course. Shinso wasn't surprised or disappointed; more than anything, he felt humiliated. For letting Monoma push his buttons, and for letting Aizawa down. Neither one of those things sat well on his conscience. Plus, now he had to deal with whatever punishment Nezu forced on the two of them, which frankly didn't sound pleasant.

"Yes, sir." Shinso mumbled, trailing behind Aizawa.

As they trekked off toward Nezu's office, All Might rested a hand on Deku's shoulder. Deku looked up at him quizzically.

"Meet me in the lounge in about five minutes, okay?" He whispered before following behind Aizawa, acting as if he were also attending the meeting in Nezu's office.

XxXxXxX

"So, now Camie Utsushimi has gone missing?" Deku's eyes widened.

Having wasted no time, Deku packed up his belongings and bolted to the lounge the second All Might summoned him. Uraraka didn't question him beyond asking if he'd gotten in trouble, which he assured her he hadn't. He worried that he didn't come off convincing, however, because All Might's tone indicated he came bearing ill news. Arriving at their meetup proved him unfortunately correct.

"Indeed." All Might exhaled heavily. "Take a look."

He held out his phone, a news report from earlier in the day already pulled up. A lavender skinned reporter spoke into a microphone in front of the Wisteria agency, where caution tape and police once again invaded the scene.

"-and it would seem another young hero in training has gone missing, Miss Camie Utsushimi, also known as the sidekick Maboromicamie. This is the second disappearance in the span of two weeks and is creating a troubling trail on which authorities have found scarce leads."

"She was in a photo with Nagase…" Deku's voice trembled. "This…this can't possibly be a coincidence!"

"Agreed." All Might took his phone back, perplexed. "Two people with clear ties to Megumi Nagase. And yet, we've got no information on who the devil this girl is."

"What does Tsukauchi have to say about it?" Deku asked.

"Not much, so far." All Might rested his forehead on his hand. "He's gotta keep his findings to himself for now. Whole police confidentiality thing. Obviously, I'll hear from him soon, but what I can confidently say is they're definitely hot on Miss Nagase's trail."

That's no surprise. Who exactly was this girl? Familiar face, someone close to now two missing people, a student from Shiketsu High who somehow hasn't made it big in the industry. How did she manage to fly under the radar, while seeming so…prominent? It bothered Deku to no end at this point.

"I just hope they can find her before something bad happens." He proclaimed glumly. "Right now, things are looking pretty grim. You don't think…I mean, so far it looks like both Utsushimi and Watanabe are still alive, right?"

"It truly is difficult to say." All Might sighed.

Deku's eyes grew misty. All Might's heart ached at the sight; this poor young man wanted to save everyone so badly, even these people he hardly knew. He wasn't aware of the deeper operation simmering underneath these cases, the underlying danger that posed a profound threat to the public known as erythroglass. Seeing Deku's distress, he felt compelled to bring it up, mention it in passing, at least, but the words got stuck in his throat.

No. He clenched his hand, as if punctuating the orders to himself. Deku shouldn't know about it, at least not yet.

"I don't know who's heard about the newest disappearance, so I think I should tell Kacchan and Todoroki about this." Deku pulled out his phone. "Would that be okay? I mean, they might know she's missing, but maybe they know some of Camie's friends who could be involved or have more intel. They know Camie better than I do, and they had closer ties to Shiketsu's students, so they'll be great information sources."

"It'd be good to keep them in the loop." All Might agreed. "I'm actually surprised news about her disappearance spread so quickly. Tsukauchi typically doesn't let information like this slip until he's had more time to investigate. Sounds like Camie hasn't been missing longer than forty-eight hours."

Deku raised his eyebrows. "Wow, and the news has already hit all the mainstream outlets?"

"Reporters these days are on top of it, I guess." All Might shrugged. "Between technological advancements and social media, that's not surprising."

Deku returned his gaze to his phone, quickly finishing typing whatever message he was writing. Before Deku even sent the text, however, the door to the lounge slammed open. All Might jumped, rising to his feet when he took in what he was looking at.

"Kacchan?" Deku stood up as well.

Bakugo's entire arm trembled, his fingers clasped tight enough around the doorknob to drain the color from his knuckles. Crazed, puffy eyes stared back at them, twitching and streaming with fresh tears to cover the already dried tracks running down his cheeks. Teeth clenched, he whipped his gaze toward Deku, pain cracking his voice when he spoke.

"Is it true?" He growled. "It's not, isn't it, right? Tell me it's bullshit!"

"Kacchan, what are you talking about?"

"About Camie!" Bakugo cried, his words blending into a sob. "They're saying she's gone missing."

"How did you–?" Deku looked down at his phone in shock. "I didn't even finish writing this message, you–"

"Look, I haven't heard from her in two days, and that girl can't stop talking for longer than two minutes even in her sleep!" Bakugo's voice came out in gasps and growls, obviously fighting through his emotions just to speak coherently. "If anyone knows the truth, I know it's you, All Might!"

His hand swooped forward as he spoke, pointing toward All Might accusingly.

"Now explain all of this to me, and tell me…i-it isn't…true…."

Deku scrambled from his seat just in time to catch Bakugo, his knees finally buckling beneath him. Quickly, he pulled his friend into the room while All Might closed the door behind him, figuring he wouldn't want anyone else to see him like this.

"Kacchan, what's wrong?" Deku tried to help him onto the couch, but Bakugo had none of it, staying planted, slumped against Deku. "This is so…unlike you.…"

Tears streamed from Bakugo's eyes and down his face, but he refused to let his emotions take control, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. He was on a mission, and he would let nothing deter him, from the looks of it.

"I need to know." His voice shrank, practically breaking. "Please, one of you…tell me she's okay…"

"'C' stands for Camie." Deku realized aloud. "Kacchan…"

Oh, now it all made sense.

All Might raised his eyebrows, remembering the brief conversation the boys had in this same lounge not too long ago. Just three teenagers bickering about nonsense, Bakugo covering up what was obviously a secret relationship. Everyone pieced together he'd found someone, but hearing who it was, knowing she'd been reduced to pixels on a digital "missing person" poster, seeing how devastated Bakugo fell at the prospect of losing her, potentially in the worst way possible….

All Might averted his gaze. His breath caught in his throat. This situation had officially become too much for him, and though he'd force himself to recover, he needed a moment to process.

"Yeah, it does, alright?!" Bakugo jerked out of Deku's grip to stagger to his feet. "There, you did it, you damn nerd, you've solved the mystery! What do you want, a fucking medal? Huh?!"

Shaken, Deku sat back a little. "Oh, my God. She's…no wonder you've been so off these past couple days."

Bakugo screamed all the time, making it borderline impossible to tell when he actually felt something behind his outbursts. Luckily, Deku knew his friend well enough to be able to tell how much this affected him. The trembling, his tears, all of it added up to one episode of absolute hysteria from Bakugo. All Might based his assumptions off Deku's reactions, which led him to realize Bakugo currently hung by a thread.

Not a good situation to be in.

"Look, Kacchan, I'm going to be honest with you, but…I think you should sit down–"

"Don't patronize me!" Bakugo snapped. "Tell me what you know before I kill you right here, right now!"

Empty threats of death spewed from this child's mouth practically hourly. This time, however, All Might got the sense that he wasn't entirely joking. He demanded answers, and wouldn't settle for a second of time wasted.

"The news has it right." All Might intervened. "Young Utsushimi is missing. No one's been in contact with her for two days now."

Fresh tears sprang to Bakugo's widening eyes. Now that he'd heard it from All Might directly, he couldn't pretend it was bullshit anymore. Horror struck his entire being at the reality of the situation.

"What leads do we have?!" Bakugo demanded. "Any suspects? Come on, tell me where they are, I'll blast them all to hell until we get the truth!"

"Kacchan, settle down–"

"No, let him." All Might held an arm up to silence Deku. "Bakugo deserves his anger."

"You're damn right I do, now what's the plan?!" Flames flickered across Bakugo's fingertips.

"First off, we need to get you in touch with the police." All Might stayed calm despite the brewing storm in Bakugo's hands. "I can relay any information you have if you don't want to talk with them for now, of course, but you will have to speak to them directly eventually, so it's best we get that over with."

"Fine by me." Bakugo's fingers curled into fists. "As long as I get to kill the bastard behind all this, I'll talk to whoever I have to."

"Maybe we shouldn't voice something like that to law enforcement, Kacchan." Deku stammered meekly.

"Don't tell me how to live my life, nerd!"

Clearing his throat, All Might pulled his phone from his pocket. "I'll put out a call to Tsukauchi. You two…please try not to kill each other."

"Sure, All Might!"

"Drop dead!"

Sounds about right.

The instant All Might left, both boys shifted their gazes toward their shoes, an awkward silence filling the room. Yelling at each other was one thing, but a conversation that neither one of them wanted to have loomed on the horizon, keeping both of their mouths completely shut.

"So…" Deku finally couldn't take it anymore. "How long have you and Camie–"

"Three."

"What?" Deku frowned.

"Three months, damn it!" Bakugo snarled. "She…we sent some memes back and forth on and off for a long time, and then she got into a bad raid with her pro mentor, we talked about it, and…that was that."

"Wow." Deku raised his eyebrows, unable to resist smiling. "That's such a sweet story–"

"No, it isn't! Shut up!" Bakugo covered his face with his arm to hide the blush he felt warming his cheeks.

Deku opened his mouth to contradict him, cut off by the sound of the door opening.

"Okay, so–why is his face red?"

All Might immediately turned to Deku sternly. He was met with wide eyes, Deku clearly scrambling to come up with some sort of explanation.

"Nothing, he just has…the plague, why'd you come back so fast?"

"What?" Shaking his head, All Might opted away from sidetracking. "Oh, I just called Tsukauchi. He didn't have a lot of time to talk, but he took down Bakugo's name and contact info. Someone will likely be in touch soon. Are you okay to handle that, young Bakugo?"

"Yeah, whatever." Bakugo stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Whatever…gets her back faster."

He kept his expression soured, refusing to allow the wave of tears welling in his eyes to spill over. Deku swallowed his concern, knowing if he acknowledged Bakugo's pain, he'd likely get suplexed. All Might shared his judgment, opting to ignore his student's distress.

"We'll find her, Kacchan." Deku stated after a moment, not looking him in the eye. "I promise we will."

Still not making eye contact, Bakugo sniffled ever so slightly. "Thanks, man."

XxXxXxX

Kirishima captured Mina's lips in another fierce kiss, pressing his chest against hers. She reciprocated his energy, wrapping her bare legs around his waist. He relaxed on top of her, both of them sinking into his bed blissfully.

"Mm, I already want it again." She murmured into his lips.

"God, same." He groaned softly. "I'm so damn tired, though."

"I can wait, if you need." Her eyes twinkled up at him mischievously. "I'm pretty patient."

A good-natured chuckle escaped his throat. "Baby, I love you, but no, you absolutely are not."

"I mean, can you blame me?" Her eyes drooped a bit as she ran a hand up Kirishima's abs, biting her lip. "Look at what I'm working with here."

Grinning, he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "What you're working with? Have you looked in the mirror lately? I'm dating a literal alien goddess. There's no way I could ever measure up."

"You're wrong. Don't say that." She cooed, sitting up to give him another kiss.

This time, they went slowly. Kirishima savored the feeling of her lips on his; the small rush it sent through his brain, how his heartbeat quickened upon contact, her soft, curvy body intertwining with his, bringing up thoughts he'd been trying to avoid for sleep's sake. At this point, the effect she had on him was nothing short of euphoric, almost like a drug high. No, that didn't feel right. No drug could possibly compare to this by a long shot.

"I love you." She pulled away just a bit, keeping their faces close.

His hands rested on either side of her face, cupping her jaw and squarely looking her in the eye.

"I will always love you more, Mina." He murmured.

"Uh-uh, no way." She shook her head, giggling. "I'll always love you a million times more."

"No, me." He peppered her face in playful pecks before she protested. "But also, I really gotta use the bathroom."

Mina grinned and rolled her eyes. "No, I forbid you."

"Uh, this is my room, Alien Queen. I call the shots."

"Uh, I am your queen, so you actually don't."

Jesus, she was so adorably impossible. Shaking his head, he leaned down and gave her one more deep, drawn out kiss.

"You're right, for most of the time. But right now, give me a minute, yeah?"

Feigning frustration, Mina sighed and gave him a smile. "Okay. Don't keep me waiting, though."

"I thought you said you were patient." He kissed her again, quickly, not wanting to get sucked back into the moment. "Be a good girl, now."

"Hmmph." She pouted. "You can't say something like that and then just walk away!"

"Watch me."

A peck on her forehead, the quickest detangling of limbs, and he'd disappeared into the bathroom before she could get a word in edgewise. Rolling her eyes, she settled back down into the pillows, smiling down at her phone as she opened up Instagram, eyes falling on the first post in her feed.

A picture of a couple who appeared to be in their forties dressed in black and crimson business attire popped up. Mina glanced at the account to find a meme page that sometimes posted news shared the story, with an article copied and pasted in the caption. She was about to scroll when the headline caught her eye.

Yaoyorozu Family Endorses Suneater for "Rising Star" Sidekick Award

The esteemed Yaoyorozu family, known for their influence in both the business and hero communities, has officially publicly backed Tamaki Amajiki, the pro-hero Suneater, as their top pick for this year's coveted "Rising Star" Sidekick Award.

During a press conference held at the Yaoyorozu family estate, Mr. Mitsutaka Yaoyorozu expressed his admiration for Suneater's exceptional skills–

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Mina jumped, her phone thumping onto the bed out of her hand. The noise continued, sounding slightly muffled. After a moment of searching, she realized it had to be coming from Kirishima's phone.

Oh, his gym alarm, she realized with a giggle. He never turned that thing off, even on rest days. Why he felt the need to work out at ten at night, she truly couldn't piece together. It wasn't hers to question.

But she could stop the incessant beeping.

For some reason, Kirishima stashed his phone under his pillow tonight, but Mina initially thought nothing of it. Nor did she fully realize that his alarm title had been changed from "Gym Time" to "Go Time." Truthfully, nothing struck her as odd until she opened his lockscreen to discover his phone was now password protected.

…What?

Since when did Kirishima add a pass key? Why didn't he tell her about it? And why did he not make the code her birthday or their anniversary?!

Not a single code she tried worked. On top of that, she now noticed a fingerprint scan on top of the passkey. Anxiety welled up in her chest as she pressed combination after combination. True, it might not mean anything, but she couldn't stop the pestering thoughts wondering what he possibly needed to hide so badly that he'd install this much security out of the blue. More importantly, who was he hiding things from? The only person who saw his phone half as much as he did was her.

Did that mean he'd been keeping something from her specifically?

A text message popped up from an unsaved number that only made everything ten times worse. The notification preview she somehow could scroll down and access, though after reading it, her stomach dropped hard enough to make her wish she hadn't.

Unsaved: Hey call me once Mina leaves. Meetup at drop spot tonight.