Archive of Our Own ^beta

What would you do for an All Might action figure?

Izuku never thought he would be challenged with that question, but as he gripped the box of a new, limited series “Thin-Might” action figure, he could feel that question echoing throughout his head. 

Especially since Kaminari looked like he was not willing to let go either. 

“This is awkward,” his electrified classmate muttered, still gripping the box like it was giving him his electric charge. “Midobro, you already have so many, would you just let me buy this one?” 

For once, in his entire life, Izuku felt selfish. “But Kaminari, this is the limited run Thin Might figure!” He did his best to pull the box closer to himself, careful to avoid using any real force in fear of damaging even the box of the figurine. “They made it after All Might’s true form was revealed! There was only a thousand of these made!” 

“Wow! That is rare!” Kaminari admitted, still not willing to let Izuku take the thing he loved more than living. He even pulled the box closer to himself, keeping it dead center between the two. “But I want it too! He just looks so cool!”

“Besides! It’s going to be in my room, you can come look at it yourself if you want it! Don’t you wanna spread your collection to my room too?” 

“It’s not the same!” Izuku blurted, still holding the box. The rest of the patrons of the shop nodded along with the greenette’s outburst.

Kaminari made a stubborn noise before an idea struck him like a bolt of lightning. 

Shame how it turned out for him. 

“Ok- how about this!” he smiled brightly, although his eyes held a mischievous twinkle in them. “We’ll buy it together, each paying half. And we’ll have a bet over who keeps it!” 

Izuku perked up, seemingly warming up to the prospect. Winning a bet against Kaminari should be simple and legal, considering his impulsive nature. “What’s the bet?” 

Kaminari’s smile sharpened into a smirk. “A bet without a time limit! You’ll win if you kiss- hm... seven girls without them getting mad at you. Simple, right?” 

“If you can’t do that, you lose the figurine~ Sorry, Deku, them’s the rules!~” he added in a singsong voice, his lips split in a villainous smirk. He loved the idea even more when he noticed the rest of the customers pale at the prospect and mumble about the impossibility of the task. “Oh, and your mom doesn’t count.” 

Izuku pulled a face at the addition. “I wasn’t going to kiss my mom…” 

“Get your mind out of the gutter, man, kisses on the cheeks count!” Kaminari added, in a bout of utter idiocy.

“Oh!” Izuku said, his voice hopeful. “So any kiss on any woman counts?”

“Yep!”

Izuku mulled over the bet, visually deflating the longer he thought about it. “And it’s if they don’t get angry with me, right?” 

Kaminari smirked again. “Or I could buy the figure for myself now, if you are too chicken for the dare!” 

Izuku put up his fake brave face again. “You’re on, Chargebolt!” 

He should’ve just let Kaminari buy the damn figurine. 

Izuku had no idea how to casually talk to girls just yet —he does it, he just doesn’t know how— yet he had to kiss seven of them before he could get the Thin-Might figurine on its rightful spot right next to his latest limited edition All Might action figure.

So he overthinks. He overthinks for nearly three days before something snaps in him and he gives up thinking about it. 

But he’s spiteful and refuses to tell Kaminari that he gave up. It's petty, he knows, but he really wants that figurine.

He started thinking about it again soon after and decided that the best case was to kiss his close friends from 2-A, and not someone random.

He hoped that if they knew him, they would be less likely to hate him forever after pulling something like that. 

But that was only six girls, and he’s missing one...

Maybe Mei?

She didn’t seem to be the type to care about physical contact, considering how liberally she burst into his personal space during their meetings for his gear.

Then he regreted all his thoughts on the matter and hated himself for a second before getting a second wind again. 

This week, he finally decided, looking at his calendar and circling it. That was the week he was going to try and at least kiss his friends on the cheek. 

They wouldn’t mind that little, would they?

He hoped that this won't end up with him catching whatever illness Mineta had that made him such a sexual deviant. 

Tsuyu had a feeling the week was going to be one for the history books. If someone asked her why, she wouldn’t be able to say without shrugging cryptically. Maybe it was her period coming up, or maybe it was Izu-kun looking like he was half a hop away from designing a conspiracy board that put Todoroki’s to shame.

And she’s seen Todoroki’s one. It was closer to a human cobweb than anything coherent.

Either way, Tsuyu did her best to put the weird feeling out of her mind the moment Mr. Aizawa announced a surprise rescue exercise at Ground Beta. It was a race against both time and villains, one to simulate a worst case scenario following reports of increased gang violence.

Her team consisted of Kaminari, Aoyama, and, thankfully, Izu-kun, so she felt confident that they would be victorious and volunteered to be the team that went first.

Less than thirty seconds into the exercise, Tsuyu mentally apologized to her team for her hubris. She didn’t realize just how bad the ‘worst case scenario’ could be until just about every bit of information they were given turned out to be either false or severely understated.

What was supposed to be a simple evacuation procedure quickly evolved into a desperate fight for the lives of the civilians and themselves, all four of them scrambling for what precious few seconds they could take from the faux villains. Even Izu-kun’s countless plans and ideas had to be changed as often as Kaminari’s preference of women.

By the time Tsuyu crossed through the exit gate, she knew she looked as bad as she felt. Her costume was thoroughly trashed, numerous cuts and bruises pulsated with pain all over her body, and she took in desperate lungfuls of air for the first time in who knows how long. She lost track of time by the third collapsed building.

Beside her, Tsuyu’s team wasn’t any better. Aoyama was out cold on the ground, Kaminari was only just then returning to awareness as he sat next to their flamboyant classmate, and Izu-kun might actually need a hospital. Despite looking like he ran through traffic, Izu-kun stood tall and defiant as he stared into Mr. Aizawa’s eyes.

They had no idea if they managed to escape within the time limit.

Tsuyu took one more full breath of air as she tried to stuff her mounting anxiety as the silence between their teacher and Izu-kun grew. With her breathing back under control, Tsuyu took her place at Izu-kun’s side and tried her best to wait patiently for their final verdict. Oddly enough, she felt the urge to take Izu-kun’s hand for comfort.

She wasn’t sure if it was for his comfort or her own.

A quiet ping came from Mr. Aizawa’s costume, and Izu-kun stiffened. Lazily, their teacher fished their phone out of his pocket and checked the display. Tsuyu held her breath.

After a frustratingly long time, Mr. Aizawa slipped his phone back into his costume.

And gave them a thumbs up.

“Congratulations. You passed.”

Relief and elation flooded Tsuyu in an instant, chasing away every ounce of exhaustion and agony from her body. She didn’t think even once when she latched onto Izu-kun beside her and ribbited happily. Her heart soared when her fellow greenette returned her hug with equal gusto, hopping in place and laughing as they celebrated their victory.

And then the weirdest thing happened.

Tsuyu felt Izu-kun pause for a brief moment, just long enough for their joint bouncing to cease. Without any further warning, he leaned in and pressed his lips against Tsuyu’s cheek.

Her eyes widened. If she were any more warm blooded, she was certain her face would match Mina’s.

Izu-kun must have felt her freeze up out of confusion, and he leapt out of their embrace, his arms flailing wildly as his own face erupted into a powerful blush that almost hid the blood running down his cheek.

“A-Asui, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to-! I don’t know why I-! I’m sorry, I swear I won’t-!”

“Izu-kun,” Tsuyu interrupted. She needed to calm him down if she was going to get a full sentence out of the poor guy. “Call me Tsu.”

“Right!” Izu-kun shouted, his voice an octave too high. “Tsu!”

A part of Tsuyu wondered why he kissed her. Even with emotions running high after that frankly brutal training exercise, it seemed almost out of character for him to try something so bold. She worried he would combust if he so much as held hands, even with a girl as odd-looking as herself.

Another part of Tsuyu reminded her that such an action wasn’t an unwelcome one, despite how surprising it was.

“It’s okay,” Tsuyu croaked and offered him a gentle smile. “After everything we went through this afternoon, I would have done the same thing, ribbit.”

Izu-kun visually deflated out of relief at Tsuyu’s words, although his face only turned a darker shade of red. At least the smile he gave her was twice as bright as usual.

She paused for a moment, transfixed on his bright smile.

“In fact…” she said in a coy tone. Without giving herself a chance to back out, she leaned in and pecked him on the cheek herself, just to show it was okay for friends to do that.

Not because she wanted to do it herself. Not at all.  The kiss was purely for Izuku.

She didn’t get some satisfaction from the soft squeak Izuku let out at her actions. She would kill before she would admit to that. But the moment they shared soon passed as Kaminari groaned and toppled over. 

“Seriously?” Kaminari whined behind Izu-kun. He had crumpled on top of Aoyama and shot her friend an incredulous look. “You got lucky, man.”

Before Izu-kun could respond to Kaminari’s jealousy, Mr. Aizawa cleared his throat to return attention back to himself. “Considering the nature of this assessment, the four of you performed well. We will go over the specifics of your performances later. For now, head straight to Recovery Girl’s station. And don’t tell any of your classmates anything about the exercise. Got it?”

Kaminari scrambled to his feet with Tsuyu and Izu-kun’s help, and the three of them echoed a simple, “Yes, sir.”

Maybe after a nap, Tsuyu will think about why she wanted to do more to her green-haired friend.

He hadn’t stopped screaming internally since he had done the most idiotic, crazy, and reckless thing that he’d ever done in his entire life.

Yes, that included dashing into an alleyway to throw down with a known serial hero killer. 

Even then his heart hadn’t raced like it did the moment after Tsuyu noticed that he had pecked her on the cheek. Why did his tired and adrenaline-riddled brain think that was a good idea?

Not to mention the thumping of his heart against his chest had gotten only worse when she smiled at him. A smiling Tsu was down right…

Adorable. 

Then there was her kiss back, which had left his cheek still burning after the contact had been so long ago. Had she used her mucus to ensure that he was hurt from the action? Or was it just his own nerves?

Why did he want more even if it hurt?

He turned to his locker, pausing his efforts to change out of his hero costume and slammed his forehead against the metal door of it. Kaminari cackled at his action but Izuku finally managed to relax, and turn to face his ‘tormentor’.

“That counted, right?” 

“Sure,” Kaminari huffed, crossing his arms, still looking ticked off from witnessing the interaction between the two. “Only six more to go.” 

At this point, with his head still spinning from the probable concussion Izuku had inflicted on himself, and with the knowledge that at least Tsu hadn’t minded him possibly overstepping, even returning the action... 

Izuku did something he’d regret. 

He started believing in himself. 

Tomorrow, he might even try to sneak a kiss from Uraraka, since she too was a close friend that might’ve been okay with casual physical contact like Tsu had been.

He totally didn’t wanna do that just cause.

Ochako almost cried when she heard that the class had a full day off following the absolute shitfest that happened the day before. As Midnight had revealed at the end, the exercise was designed to be nearly unwinnable by Nedzu himself, yet almost half the class had passed anyway!

She felt more than a little dark satisfaction when she heard that Bakugo was in the half that didn’t pass. As it turned out, refusing to accept anything but perfection wasn’t nearly enough to stop someone from getting absolutely obliterated. Ochako did feel bad for his teammates, though. Poor Kouda...

Truth be told, Ochako wasn’t sure how she managed to pass the exercise. Momo’s countless plans and ideas were definitely a huge factor, but it was still mostly a haze of adrenaline, instinct, and raw fury. The only thing she could remember clearly was emulating Deku in the last five minutes. Sure, breaking her arm so badly Recovery Girl couldn’t heal it in a single day probably wasn’t Ochako’s smartest idea, but it allowed Sero to stay conscious and secured their team’s victory.

Besides, the pain was completely worth it once Deku insisted that he accompanied her just about everywhere. He knew how annoying it was to be down a hand, so did everything he could to help Ochako throughout their day off. In the back of Ochako’s mind, she wondered if this was what he would be like as a boyfriend, doting on her without making her feel like she was too weak to take care of herself.

Of course, Ochako threw that thought in The Box just as swiftly as it came to her. She had gotten very good at ignoring those thoughts.

What she couldn’t ignore were the looks Deku kept sending her as their day progressed. She could tell he was distracted by something, something related to her no doubt. Every time she pressed him for the answer, however, he just waved her off, usually with the excuse that he was just concerned about her injury.

Ochako eventually decided to ask Deku again after she had gotten healed by Recovery Girl the following morning.

Once the day had progressed into the evening, Tooru had suggested the whole class have a movie marathon in the common room, one last hurrah to enjoy a job well done. The vote for a movie night had passed unanimously. Movie after movie, the whole class laughed and cried and screamed as one, depending on whose turn it was to pick the genre.

As the night progressed, more of Ochako’s friends and classmates turned in for the night, each one offering well wishes for the ones that stubbornly stayed up to watch one more movie. Curfew came and went, and the only ones left still awake were Ochako, Deku, Tsuyu, Kaminari, Mina, and Sero.

When Deku got up out of his seat next to Ochako after a touching action movie about fast cars and found family, she cursed her utter lack of exhaustion due to her arm throbbing gently.

“I’m sorry, Uraraka, but I might need to go to bed,” Deku mumbled. As if on cue, a massive yawn escaped from the poor guy. In the one moment afterwards, he looked so defeated, so tired.

Ochako carefully stuffed the first three responses she thought of in The Box before she gave her best friend an understanding smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it! You were a huge help to me all day, and you definitely deserve to get some rest!”

Deku refused to look Ochako in the eyes, yet he still looked so conflicted. “Are you sure? If you need me to stay longer, I can try-”

“Deku, it’s fine, really,” Ochako insisted. “If I really need something, Tsuyu can help me out, and we can talk more tomorrow.”

Like the stubborn mule he was, Deku hesitated before sighing. He finally returned Ochako’s smile and said, “Alright. At least let me take that to the kitchen for you.”

He reached across Ochako and picked up the long since empty cup of tea from the arm of the couch she was sitting on. Ochako leaned back to stay out of his way and totally didn’t let her eyes roam up his extremely muscular arm before pulling her eyes off his adorable freckles. “Thank you for everything, Deku. Goodnight!”

As he pulled away with the empty teacup, a miracle happened.

His empty hand reached up to Ochako’s face and gently brushed aside her bangs. His rough, callused hand cupped the side of her head as he leaned over her. Ochako’s breath caught in her throat the moment she felt Izuku’s lips touch her forehead. It only lasted a single second, but that second lasted an entire eternity to Ochako. She had no chance of pulling together a single coherent thought as her entire head was engulfed in a powerful blush.

And just like that, the moment was over, and Deku pulled away from the Gravity Heroine. “Goodnight, Uraraka.”

He moved slowly towards the kitchen, his gait casual, entirely unbothered by Ochako’s world crumpling in on itself, starting to condense into a singularity. 

The moment of stillness was broken by Kaminari whispering, “Oh no…”

Mina looked a quarter of a second away from screaming at the top of her lungs, but Sero taped over her mouth and said something about Bakugo being asleep. Tsuyu started the next movie and sat down next to Ochako.

And Ochako?

She just sat there, desperately trying to keep the lid on The Box.

That curly-haired, smooth talking bastard.  

Denki grunted, grumbling to himself as he finally returned to his own dorm room with a huff later that night. 

Midoriya had not done anything until yesterday, and suddenly he had accomplished two out of the seven kisses. Sure, he had done it with Tsuyu and Uraraka, the two women he was closest with, so there was really no risk of them tearing him a new one.

Although, it would’ve been fun to watch a frog demolish a man that could take down buildings with a punch. Denki shuddered. She was vicious when she wanted to be.

But still, it didn’t sit well with him. He felt like if he let this bet continue, something was bound to go wrong with the plan and cause Denki more pain in the long-run. He swiftly silenced that little warning. It was probably his brain trying to avoid seeing Midoriya get folded by Jirou, if the bastard even tried to kiss her.

On second thought. He really did wanna see Jirou tear Midoriya a new one.

Or maybe Yaomomo? That was going to be fun to watch. If Midobro was dumb enough to target her.

Izuku couldn’t sleep that night. He kept running the turn of events through his head over and over again. 

Uraraka wasn’t mad at him, was she? She didn’t react like she was… Was she just mad enough to not know what to do after he broke into her personal space the way he did?

He rolled over in his bed again, staring at his ceiling. He would apologise come next Monday. He knew if he tried doing it now, he would ruin what little chances he had with the rest of the five he needed to go through. If not from Ochako blowing up on him, from the others knowing he was doing something so disgusting.

Was it worth the action figure? He didn’t know anymore, but he had done too much to get cold feet now.

But that was a problem for some other time. Jirou had asked for his help for tomorrow after school, he was going to exploit that for another kiss.

He tried to ignore how evil that made him feel. And he tried to ignore how he was getting excited over the prospect even more so. 

Momo had been one of the few that managed to pass the exercise, but that didn’t give her any confidence. In reality, it made her feel even less fit to be a hero. It was Ochako’s last moment action that had managed to secure victory, while she had frozen when her plans stumbled and fell apart in the home stretch. 

It didn’t help that Ochako ended up carrying the wound of Momo’s failure for another whole day. She knew she shouldn’t think of it that way, but she couldn’t help blaming herself, especially when Midoriya himself had to coddle Ochako the rest of the day so she could be at ease. 

Neither blamed Momo for that, of course.

And heavens, if Mina wasn’t exaggerating, the accident had even let Ochako get the affection from Midoriya that she deserved. Far more than I do, Momo thought dejectedly. A sigh slipped out of her, accidentally drawing the attention of the other occupants in her room.

“Hey, Yaomomo,” her punk-inclined friend finally spoke up, her face laced with clear concern. “Are you still getting hung up on the rescue exercise?”

Momo’s eyes fell to her lap. She couldn’t lie to Kyouka, but she knew what her friends would say.

Tooru bumped her shoulder against Momo’s. “Aw, Momo… You can’t let that get you down. That stupid rescue training was sooo unfair! What happened during it couldn’t be your fault!”

“Yeah!” Mina cheered, smiling brightly. “And you passed anyway! Ochako even said your team couldn’t get nearly as far without your big glowing brain! Be proud of that!” 

“But she broke her arm because I froze up. She was severely injured because of my failure.” Momo could almost hear Ochako’s piercing scream two days later.

Kyouka rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. “You can’t hoard the blame, dude, that’s Green’s thing. But, I figured you'd still be like this, so...”

“I called in a favor.” She sent off a text to someone and slipped her phone back into her pocket, ignoring the looks the other women were sending her.

“Who did you...?” Momo muttered, slightly worried who Kyouka might’ve summoned. 

“Oooh! Is our favorite ice prince coming?” Tooru asked, wiggling excitedly at the thought. Momo couldn’t fathom why Kyouka would’ve ever done that.

Kyouka looked at Tooru like the invisible girl had insulted Deep Dope. “...You ok? Did you get hit in the head during the exercise?” 

“MEANIE!” their bubbly classmate whined jokingly, before giggling slightly and letting herself tumble back into Momo’s massive bed. Mina reached over and pet her head in a faux display of comfort. 

“Just shut up,” Kyouka huffed with a smile and leaned back, coiling her jack around her finger in an idle motion to help herself calm down. “And don’t tease him too much, he’s doing a solid for me.” 

“Is it Kaminari?” Mina asked, earning a pillow to the face, courtesy of an angry Kyouka. 

“Like I’d ask that dunce to help out with something like this!” 

“So you thought abou-”

Mina’s retort was cut off by a series of three precise knocks on the door to Momo’s room.

A male voice called out in an exaggerated posh accent that even Aoyama would turn his nose up at. “L-Lady Yaoyorozu? A-Are you in there?”

“That’s not Kami,” Mina mumbled, earning a tired eye-roll from Kyouka.

Not Kaminari indeed. Momo racked her brain for who could possibly be at her door. None of her classmates spoke that way and definitely didn’t refer to her by the title 'Lady'. Even her maids back at the estate called her 'Madam'.

Interestingly enough, a passage from one of her romance novels came to mind, the one about a modern adaptation of a fairytale romance.

Whoever they were knocked again, just as elegantly as before, and called out a little louder. “Lady Yaoyorozu?”

The voice sounded so familiar, yet the tone was throwing Momo off. It almost sounded like…

Tooru rolled off the side of Momo’s bed and bounced up to the door. “Welp, no point in making them wait any longer!”

Before Momo could protest, Tooru threw open the door.

Midoriya was at the door, standing stiff as a board with a tray of still steaming tea in front of him. When he spoke, it was clear he was attempting an excessively pompous accent, despite his furious blush and choppy stutter. “Ah! Haga-! L-Lady Hagakure! Is m-my dearest, most f-fair Lady Yaoyorozu a-available?”

For a moment, Momo’s mind overlapped Midoriya with the knight from the adapted tale. A valiant knight in shining green armor, eagerly professing his love for the princess and vowing to destroy the horrible monsters that plagued her dreams. She couldn’t help but feel her lips quirk, starting to enjoy this adaptation of the knight being shyer than the lady he was professing to. 

“Eeyup,” Kyouka called out, deadpan, with a little disappointment present in her eyes as she glanced from Momo to the door.  “Come on in, Green, she’s right here.”

Momo ignored Mina’s excited vibrations and shifted to the edge of her bed. The moment Midoriya noticed her, he respectfully tilted his head to look beyond Tooru and his face split into a brilliant, if incredibly nervous, smile.

Part of her enjoyed how Izuku that was.

Tooru stepped back to allow Midoriya into the room and he approached Momo with stiff movements. “Oh, m-my dearest Lady, I am in, in awe at y-your d-divinity, for, for you only grow m-more b-b-beautiful with each p-passing moon." Midoriya dipped his head as a respectful bow, which coincidentally hid his beet red face.

Momo felt the corners of her lips turn up further at the utter absurdity of Midoriya attempting such an exaggerated role. If the knight in her tale had acted as Midoriya did, he would have been laughed out of the court. But she wouldn’t change a thing about what was going on, even if Mina had that mischevious glint in her amber eyes at the sight. 

Unfortunately for all of them, Kyouka had decided to be a killjoy. "Cut the act, Midoriya. I told you that you couldn’t pull this off..."

"Sorry, Jirou," Midoriya groaned and visibly deflated. He shot the punk girl a genuine apologetic look before he turned around and walked to Momo's desk.

"What?! Noooo!" Mina whined and shook Kyouka. "Kyouka, why? You threw him off his game!"

Kyouka’s jack rushed out to threaten to stab Mina in the shoulder warding off the tactile pinkette. "I won’t make him make a fool of himself for something that doesn’t even help the issue, Pinky. It’s not fun watching him make a dumbass of himself."

“You don’t say that about Kami!” Mina teased, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“Cause that dunce is a dumbass,” she sighed, curtly cutting that argument off and collapsed onto Momo's pillows. "Why did you even agree to this, Green, you looked ready to explode with embarrassment… no need to force it."

Midoriya shook his head after setting down the tray of tea. "I couldn't just let Yaoyorozu feel down, not while I could at least try to cheer her up. The embarrassment would’ve been completely worth it if it worked."

Momo's cheeks heated up, and she suppressed a very familiar smile. Izuku's stubborn compassion and incredible determination has always fascinated her, and she often found it difficult to hold onto her worries when he was there to support her.

"Awww," Tooru cooed, "How sweet! But hey, I thought he was doing so well with that. Yaomomo was smiling!"

Kyouka made a grumbling sound but didn’t argue against that. 

Momo looked away from Tooru to hide what little blush she had on her cheeks. "I will admit that I was amused by his act," she said, careful to avoid sounding too eager.

Midoriya paused for a moment before turning to look at Momo. "Really? I mean…" He cleared his throat.

Suddenly, he struck a dramatic pose, one Momo was certain she had seen Aoyama perform previously. "My d-dearest Lady Yaoyorozu, your kind words have touched my very soul and, and sent my heart soaring! It soars straight into the heavens!"

Tooru burst out laughing and clapped at Midoriya’s renewed performance. Momo would have followed suit, but she knew she had a role to play as well.

The green-haired knight took a step away from her desk and gestured to the tea theatrically. "Please, accept this humble gift that I have brought. Only the finest tea in the land, the only one worthy of your m-magnificent splendor!"

Momo ignored the laughter of her friends around her and watched Midoriya select a cup of tea and bring it to her. Drawing on her etiquette lessons, Momo accepted the tea in a dainty fashion and tasted it.

Acting or not, Midoriya could hardly be called a liar. Momo hummed contentedly as she savored her favorite brand of tea in, interestingly enough, her favorite teacup. The heat from the tea rose from her chest and colored her cheeks. "Good Sir, your tea is of an exquisite quality. My handmaidens would be humbled by your talent."

Midoriya's smile brightened and he dipped into a very low bow fit only for a performer. "I am unworthy of your kind words, Lady Yaoyorozu, and I humbly accept your praise!"

Momo set her cup of tea on her nightstand, unwilling to be distracted from her act. "Raise your head, Sir Midoriya, and know that I speak not lies, but truths from the very bottom of my heart."

Izuku did not rise from his bow, but he did raise his head and lock eyes with Momo. His eyes sparkled with wonder and adoration. "Truly, m-my Lady? I yearn only to be of great service to you, for you are deserving of all that you desire."

Without waiting for a response, Izuku stepped forward and knelt before Momo, gently taking her hand in his scarred ones. Momo's heart beat faster at the tenderness of the action. "I beg of you, Lady Yaoyorozu, please do not be scared to inform me of your wishes."

Slowly, Izuku closed his eyes, raised Momo's hand to his lips, and kissed it. His soft lips whispered nothing but undying loyalty to Momo, and her face erupted into a powerful blush. She didn't dare pull away.

Far too soon, Izuku raised his head from her hand and smiled up at her. His expression held nothing but heartfelt adoration, awe, and a fierce dedication to the woman he had just kissed. "Make your decree, and I shall reshape the world in your image," he whispered.

All Momo could do was stare. The knight, the hero, at her feet had stolen her breath right from her lungs. Exactly like the princes from her stories.

Suddenly, the boundaries between the story and reality started fading back in. Anxiety spilled into Izuku’s posture, his performance crumbling in the process. But if she was being honest, Momo didn’t mind it one bit. 

“W-Was that too much?” he asked quietly, as if she could summon anything but adoration towards him at the moment.

“Oh- Midoriya, no… it was perfect,” she hummed, not knowing what else to say. “Thank you, for everything.” 

His worry washed off, and Momo got another dazzling smile that made her heart feel lighter. “I’m glad- but uh… I’ll leave you to your friends. Mr. Aizawa asked me to help with Eri for a while, so… I’ll see you at dinner.” 

With that, he rose to his feet and gave her one last smile before leaving her room, closing the door gently behind him. 

It was only then that Momo realized her friends were being unusually silent. She blinked and looked over to them.

Tooru was practically vibrating, clearly desperate to perform her version of a brilliant smile but not willing to draw attention to herself just yet. Kyouka was still staring at the door, a sharp blush decorating her cheeks. And Mina had the widest, most mischievous grin Momo had ever seen.

"Soooo… you and Midori, huh?"

Ah. That explained everything.

Ashido slammed her tray of food on the lunch table with way too much force than necessary. “Guys, you would not BELIEVE what happened yesterday!”

Bakugou groaned, “Here comes trouble…”

“And make it double?” Sero added with a smirk, earning him a kick under the table from his explosive friend.

Denki couldn’t help but chuckle at his friends’ usual antics, but Ashido, for once, wasn’t amused. Instead of immediately digging into her lunch, she glared at the two boys that interrupted her. “I’m being serious here! A very reliable source has informed me that Mido-Momo is a thing! And by source I mean me because I watched it happen!”

Denki froze mid-bite. “Whuh?”

“Yes!” Ashido squealed, almost vibrating in her seat. “So get this, Yaomomo was feeling down about the rescue exercise the other day—”

“That exercise was bullshit…” Bakugou grumbled and stabbed his chicken with a vengeance.

“—so most of the other girls, myself included, hung out in her room to help cheer her up. Kyouka had the brilliant idea to ask Midori for help. You know how he gets when someone other than him is upset, right?” When the other members of the BakuSquad nodded, Ashido continued. “So of course he pulled out the big guns for our dear goddess Momo, all hail.”

Kirishima swallowed his bite of beef before speaking up. “What’d he do? Give her an inspirational speech on how cool she is?”

Ashido slammed her hands against the table, earning an ‘Oi!’ from Bakugou. “Even better,” Ashido said. “He put on a show! He showed up with a bunch of tea and acted like he fell right out of a fantasy novel, butchered half his lines, snapped some poses that looked better on Aoyama, and then he kissed her goddamn hand!”

“He WHAT?!” Denki shouted. He didn’t notice that he had stood up until Sero pulled him back into his seat.

Ashido leaned in closer, and her void-like eyes sparkled with excitement. “You heard me. He knelt down in front of Yaomomo, kissed her hand, and professed his undying loyalty to her. You should have seen it, it was soooo romantic!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Bakugou barked and pointed his chopsticks at Ashido. “You really expect us to believe that—” For some reason, when Bakugou’s eyes flicked over to where Midoriya usually sat, he cut himself off and did a double take. Confusion washed over his expression and he craned his head to search the noisy lunchroom.

Denki looked over to the DekuSquad’s table. Uraraka, Iida, Shouto, Tsu, and Shinsou were all present. Where was Midoriya?

Bakugou clicked his tongue. “…Fuckin’ finally. Was wondering when the nerd was gonna grow a spine. Thought it’d be Cheeks, though.”

Denki’s attention snapped onto Bakugou and swiftly followed his gaze.

There. At a lunch table across the room, pouring over a notebook, was Yaomomo, Jirou, Hagakure, Ojiro, and Izuku fucking Midoriya.

Denki suddenly wasn’t very hungry.

“You want an electric sword?” Mei questioned, trying to visualize the gear. “Like- a stun baton or…?” 

“Like lightning with a handle!” the blonde she had made some gear for before explained, wiggling his fingers while making cracking sound effects with his mouth. Like that description made that gear any more feasible to build. 

She grumbled and tried to think of stuff that would keep lightning arcing a long time across the ‘blade’ of the sword. Maybe some tesla-coil trick? “How much current can you discharge passive-” 

That's when Muscles walked into the room, wearing his fixed-up gear. Her previous thoughts died before they fully left her mouth as manic energy filled her, her feet already guiding her to her best partner, a cackle escaping her lips on the way. “Midoriya! I knew my babies would look good on you! How do they feel?” 

The greenette laughed, rubbing the back of his head while patting the new side armor pieces she had added. “They feel great, really they do- but you didn’t need to go all out.” He smiled down at her, a comfortable one he had started wearing after being in her care for so long. 

She felt like she could build an entire planet when he looked at her like that. 

“Just repairs were fine,” he explained, in the way he did that always made her feel appreciated, something bubbling in her chest at his tone. “My old costume was perfect already!” 

“Perfection is the enemy of creation!” she hissed, in mock annoyance. Izuku laughed lightly, shaking his head good-heartedly at her outburst. He completely understood her, in more ways than anyone else could. The thought made her heart thump in a pleasurable rhythm, making her smile wider and poke him on the chest with mock aggression, continuing the fun back and forth. “I mean it, Ten Million! And besides, if you're here, that means something is wrong, right?” 

His face soured, and for a moment, Mei was fearful that she had said something to offend him with her teasing words.

“Or do you want more gear?” she offered, her smile drooping unintentionally.

There was a grumble behind her, but she didn’t care what her classmates had to say.

Izuku’s hand landed on her shoulder, gentler than those muscles should’ve been able to do if she had felt them up right. “Oh, no no, the stuff you added is perfect! I feel light as a feather and they support me alot, I just wanted to, uh…” 

He coughed, blushing slightly, and now seeing him get like that when she wasn’t feeling him up felt different.

Better. 

Weird. 

“I wanted to thank you Hatsume,” he chirped, and then leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks for taking such good care of me for so long! Sorry if I don’t say it enough!” 

“Ah,” she breathed out, the worry that was building up inside her subsiding and getting replaced with- something she didn’t understand. 

She paused, taking stock of what was happening. Her heart was beating out of her chest, Izuku was blushing even more, and she was sure there should’ve been more in her peripheral vision, but she could only see him . 

Izuku muttered out a quick apology and turned around to leave her lab. 

Mei didn’t let him. Her hands caught him by the new gloves she made him and pulled him back, catching his face by his squishy cheeks, staring deep into his green eyes. 

She didn’t know why she was doing that, but something in her gut was screaming at her to do something. She knew that when she invented from the gut, she created amazing things, even if they exploded and needed further iterations from her head. 

So; she listened to her gut once more, hoping Izuku wouldn't be the thing to explode this time. 

Her face crashed into his, their lips smushing uncomfortably, teeth pinching the sensitive skin between them. And then she pulled back robotically, panting softly as she felt something spike through her senses and brain, down to her gut. 

“You’re welcome,” she breathed, her voice sounding weird to her own ears, breathier and more feminine, skin feeling hot like she was standing over a furnace, and the back of her neck feeling like she had used an arc welder for too long without grounding herself. 

Izuku looked back at her, and she could see him feel the same things, along with his eyes dilating unnaturally. Maybe hers were doing the same, now that she thought about it.  

Thinking about that triggered something in her and ideas started flashing through her brain as her rapidly beating heart pumped more blood to her head than she could take. “AH! I KNOW!” She let go of his face and whipped around to her desk. “CAPACITORS!” 

She rushed to her workstation, starting to rapidly sketch on the blueprints, even as her insides burned with something she didn’t quite understand. But she wasn’t going to waste her sudden influx of inspiration by thinking about that. 

“Thanks, Izuku!” she called out, not even turning from her workstation, her hand almost blurring and the pencil in her hand starting to heat up with friction. She didn’t know how, but she knew this burst of inspiration was thanks to the green-head she regarded so highly. 

Maybe later, she could repeat the experiment again after this flood of inspiration faded.

And maybe, after the burning sensation on her cheeks stopped, she could allow herself to let Izuku see her face again.

“What the fuck was that, Midoriya!?” Denki cried, the moment the heavy steel door of the support workshop closed behind them. 

The greenette continued staring into the empty space in front of him, not even attempting to resist Denki dragging him out of the lab. “You dating her or somethin’? What gives!?”

He shook the greener student by his shoulders before giving up and sighing. “Honestly, that shouldn’t even count. Hatsume practically isn’t even a-” 

“Isn’t even a what?” Midoriya growled, snapping out of his stupor. His green eyes glowed, and Denki remembered that the man he was dragging along could make him meet his maker as easily as he breathed. He doubted Midoriya would actually kill him, but he didn’t want to take that risk. Especially with the resident powerhouse glaring at him like he was about to make stocking stuffers from his intestines. 

“Is- isn’t… someone from a hero class! Right!” Denki held up his hands in surrender, electricity crackling between his fingers as his quirk reacted to the immense fear he was experiencing. “I thought you would only go for hero course girls! Since you are a hero nerd and all!” 

The dangerous light in Midoriya’s eyes faded, and Denki released a relieved breath. “Only three left now?” 

Midoriya hummed, giving him a stink eye still. 

“...What if we upped the bet?” Denki offered, his eyes shifting dangerously. “Since you are doing so well, after all.” 

At that point, he just wanted to see Midoriya get rejected, even more than he wanted to keep the Thin Might figurine. Rigging the bet wasn’t very heroic, he knew, or even ‘manly’, as Kirishima would say. But he really had no other choice. He just hoped Midobro would take the bait. 

“I’ll do your share of the chores for the next month if you get kisses like that from the last three!” 

Midoriya looked at him, and Denki swore he could see the greenette battle about the pro’s and con’s in that fluffy green head of his. 

“ All my chores?” 

“Yes,” Denki confirmed, hoping that would be enough to get the boy to agree. 

Midoriya hummed and pinched his bottom lip. “...Fine, you're on.” 

Denki cheered in his head, but didn’t let Midobro know just how badly he had fucked up. He reached out a hand for the greenette to shake.

Midoriya took it after a second of hesitation, sealing his fate. 

Denki couldn’t believe that Midoriya was such a fool. 

The others could say what they wanted about Bakugou, that guy knew how to cook. It was difficult to convince him to cook for other people, however. Sometimes he screamed about forcing his classmates to learn how to cook for themselves, sometimes he yelled about not being anyone's bitch, and sometimes he just roared without any human words.

After Saturday classes had ended, however, the yappy pomeranian was grumbling and cursing incessantly as he whipped up an early dinner for the Baku-Squad, thanks to something that Kirishima had promised him. Kyouka had no idea what sort of deal the two had, but she didn’t pry once Bakugou mentioned that she was included in it.

All the main members of Bakugou’s posse had already gotten their meal and were talking about nothing particularly interesting, while Kyouka leaned against the wall just outside the kitchen area. Meat sizzling, curses, and laughter mixed together into an almost pleasant white noise, causing Kyouka’s mind to drift.

Something was up with Green that week, if the rumors floating around Class A were to be believed. Rumors Kyouka could at least partly confirm if his act the previous evening was any indication.

Heat rose to Kyouka’s cheeks when she recalled Midoriya’s look of self assuredness the moment he had kissed Yaomomo’s hand. The adoration and conviction his voice held forced the lines to play on repeat in Kyouka’s head all night long. Distantly, she wondered how it would feel if he had said those words to her instead.

Of course, there was no way in hell that would happen. For the first time since she had met the guy, Green seemed to finally be making moves on the best looking women in the class. Considering who the guy was, it wouldn’t take long for him to finally get a girlfriend and Kyouka could focus on being a hero. Just because he was taken didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be an awesome classmate.

“What about you, Jirou?”

Kyouka blinked back to awareness. That’s right. Kaminari and his friends were talking about something… About romance, judging by the look Mina was giving her. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. What about me?”

Sero’s nigh permanent smile softened into something more casual. “Kaminari here was just wondering what makes a good kiss, and he wanted your opinion.”

Kyouka groaned and shot the dumbass a dirty look. “I told you I’m not interested, Taserbrain.”

The moron looked hurt for a moment before swiftly waving off Kyouka’s anger. “Nonono, not that, I’m keeping my promise, honest! I’m just curious if you knew any good tips on how to make a girl feel—” He cut off his innuendo before it even began, literally swallowing his words.

Good. He’s learning.

“What Kami wanted to ask,” Mina said in Kaminari’s place, “is if you knew a thing or two about making a girl swoon.”

Kyouka rolled the question over in her head. Why would he ask her for what amounted to dating advice? Kyouka made a face and asked, “Wait, why me? Literally anyone else could probably give you better advice. Hell, Mina’s right across from you, romance is her thing.”

Mina sighed and leaned over, resting her head on Kirishima’s shoulder. “You would think so, but spoiler alert! I’m at a loss too. Sure, I love seeing everyone be passionate and adorable, but I don’t know enough about the specifics to help.”

“The specifics about what?”

Kyouka’s attention snapped onto Green, who was walking away from the showers towards their little group. He was wearing one of his stupid joke t-shirts, this one labeled ‘tank top’, and Kyouka’s eyes drifted towards the prominent scar on his bicep. No, wait, tricep, she thinks. Biology sucks.

“Midoribro!” Kirishima called out with a toothy smile. “Maybe you can settle this. Do you know what makes a good kiss? Like, is it the teeth, or… ?”

“H-Hey, come on, leave Midoriya out of this,” Kaminari stammered. Kyouka noted that there was a little bit of fear laced into his tone. “You know how he gets when we tease him about this kinda thing.”

Green tilted his head, a light dusting of red coloring his cheeks. “Definitely not the teeth, unless you want to bite someone. Which, I mean, that can be part of making out, but kisses themselves are actually a lot more about the moment leading up to, uh, lips touching.”

He’s actually talking about this? Kyouka raised an eyebrow at Green.

Despite the blush that highlighted his freckles, Midoriya resolutely continued his explanation. “A kiss can have so many different meanings, like a few more colorful words in English—”

“<Fuck> being the best <fucking> one,” Bakugou interrupted without turning away from cooking Kyouka’s food.

Green sighed sharply. He continued to walk closer to the group until he stopped right next to Kyouka, a minty scent tickling the edge of her senses. “Yeah, what Kacchan said. Unlike that word, each type of kiss needs a different approach. You wouldn’t need any kind of build up to kiss your mom as thanks for driving you to school, for instance.”

“More passionate kisses, however, would look very different depending on who you’re going to kiss,” Midoriya explained. “Some people prefer a gentler approach, affectionate touches and loving words, generally making sure your partner knows that the kiss means something important before you do it. Others like it when you take a stronger approach.”

The only warning Kyouka got was the blush on Midoriya’s cheeks darkening to match her costume’s face paint. Before she could think about why he suddenly got so embarrassed, he stepped in front of her and firmly planted his left hand on the wall beside Kyouka’s head.

Kyouka’s heart stuttered and a powerful blush erupted onto her face. She had absolutely NO idea what Green was doing, nor could she pull together a coherent enough thought to protest it. He loomed over her, his nervous expression melting away along with the room around her. His smile was small.

Just for Kyouka. No one else.

Without looking away from Kyouka’s eyes, Green continued, “They like to see you be confident about your actions, so they can’t doubt whether you mean it or not. They like it when you show them that you’re strong enough to overpower them, but you respect them enough to avoid doing so. They want to know that your strength is theirs.”

Damn this bastard and damn his adorable emerald eyes that see more than Kyouka could hear. Nothing escaped his piercing, analytical gaze. She felt totally bare with his attention firmly on her.

Her eyes fell to Izuku’s t-shirt, but all she saw was his scarred right hand. His crooked fingers touched the bottom of Kyouka’s chin, and she knew she would remember that feeling for months. She knew those same fingers could obliterate a glacier without any amount of effort, yet there they were, pressing against her chin with an almost featherlight touch. He coaxed Kyouka to lift her head and lock eyes with him again.

Kyouka was certain he could feel how hard her heart was pounding. His smile widened, and that damn look, the one he gave Momo, returned to his eyes. Kyouka wondered when she would wake up from the dream she was clearly having.

She dully became aware of how his warm breath was tickling her skin, too lost in his eyes to notice just how close his face had gotten. But now, she just wanted to lose herself to what she finally realized was happening. 

Her eyes fluttered closed.

His lips met her own, and a shiver raced down Kyouka’s spine. She didn’t dare breathe, savoring the pure taste of Izuku while it lasted.

She didn’t want the moment to end. One of her jacks reached out and wound around Izuku’s neck, pulling his head even closer to her own to deepen the kiss.

Izuku pulled back, disconnecting the two of them. A small part of Kyouka screamed at her to grab his head and pull him back in. She couldn’t do it. Not yet.

His goddamn face broke into such an adorable goddamn smile that Kyouka couldn’t help but return. God, her entire face was burning so brightly.

Izuku pushed away from the wall and turned to look at— 

Oh shit, the rest of her friends saw that. Kyouka’s jack snapped away from Midoriya’s neck and she whipped around to put her back to them. Christ, she’ll never be able to live this down.

“So yeah,” Midoriya said as if he hadn’t just obliterated Kyouka’s composure. “Pay attention to your partner, what they like, how they feel. Find an approach and stick with it, but be prepared to change your plan if they seem uncomfortable. Beyond that, a lot of it is going with the flow. You’ll figure it out.”

Kyouka heard Green walk past the table, probably heading towards the elevators. With him leaving her behind, she thought she could have a few moments to breathe and slow down her heartbeat.

“Oi, Jacks, food’s ready,” Bakugou barked.

And this asshole wants her to sit down with the most cutthroat romance-minded woman Kyouka had ever met? Absolutely not. “I’m not hungry,” she said in a rush. Her voice quivered, easily betraying how wound up she still was.

“Like hell you’re not!” Bakugou roughly jabbed Kyouka’s arm with a bowl, causing her to yelp. “I didn’t make all this shit just for you to snub my work. Eat, dammit!”

Without a word, Kyouka yanked the bowl of food out of Bakugou’s hands and raced for the stairs, making a beeline for her room. Maybe later, with much louder music to drown out the world, she just might confront the fact that Izuku didn’t forget about her.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat,” Izuku breathed out, leaning on his door, “was that!” 

He cupped his head with his hands feeling the warmth of his own cheeks. This was officially the first time he had initiated a kiss and he had rambled so hard to hide his own embarrassment. 

At least Jirou didn’t seem to mind, considering how she had returned the kiss. 

His face burned even hotter and he could feel himself sweating at the recollection; the skin where her jack touched felt warm and electric. 

He had enjoyed the contact of their lips, and enjoyed her kissing him back like that even more so.

And the way Jirou looked at him… he didn’t deserve that look. He was glad that she had enjoyed the contact enough to look at him that way, at least. 

He only hoped when she saw him next, her jacks wouldn’t start squeezing around his neck a lot less intimately. 

“Two more… Then I can call this done and apologize…”

“You ok?” 

Denki almost jumped when Ashido’s shoulder bumped onto his, knocking him out of his trance, staring at where Jirou was just standing a few… minutes ago? He really didn’t know how long he had been in a trance.

If the way Ashido was looking at him was anything to go by, it had been considerably longer than a few minutes. “Huh? Yeah, no, I’m fine, guess just very disappointed?” 

“Want me to melt Midoriya for stealing your crush?” she offered with an impish grin. “Or do you wanna zap him yourself?” 

“Huh?” He shook his head, finally getting the rest of his head working again. “Wha- me with Jirou? Nah.” He shook her off, ignoring her joking huff of hurt. “Didn’t we tell you about that?”

“Right, riiiight,” she mumbled, waving off her earlier implications. “Then why are you so disappointed, No-meo?”

“Ugh.” He grimaced, leaning onto the table. “That curly haired bastard’s been beating me at a bet- I thought at least Jirou would pummel him…” 

“Yeah, no.” Ashido giggled lightly. “No way she’s doing anything after Green made her feel that loved, I could see her heart picking up the…” 

She paused, blinking and looking back at Denki. “...What the fuck was that about a bet?” 

“I dared him to kiss seven women!” he admitted, tossing his hands in the air. “All over this stupid Thin-Might figurine.” 

Ashido’s mouth hung open. “You dared him for an All Might action figure?” 

“Yes!” 

“And you thought you were gonna win ?” 

“I-” Denki blinked. “...Yes?” 

“You utter fool,” Ashido hummed, leaning on her elbows. “So I’mma assume that's why Greenie is finally acting up and starting to give us girls some affection…” 

“Some!?” he barked back, thankful that the rest of the BakuSquad had left them. “He’s been on a spree!” 

“Good for him,” Ashido replied coolly, evidently enjoying how heated Denki was getting. “And good for Ochako, too! Did you know he finally kissed her on the forehead? That was soooo cute!” 

“Ashido, I watched him do it, you were next to me!” 

She waved him off again. “So how many left?” 

“Ugh, two,” he admitted, no less sour about the situation. 

“Wonder who the lucky girls are gonna be!” 

His eye twitched. “Are you not even bothered that he’s kissing that many people for a bet?” 

Ashido hummed in thought at the question, but shrugged it off. “I’ve watched him do this… three times now? If he’s that loving and affectionate every time…” 

She smirked slowly. “This is more than just a silly bet.” 

Denki groaned and slammed his face onto the table.

Tooru felt ready to cry. Probably the worst part about that feeling was the fact that she had no idea whether she wanted to cry sad tears or angry tears.

Love was in the air that week, what with Midoriya of all people finally making moves on Tooru's friends. It even got the best of Ojiro, who had asked Tooru out on a date once classes let out for the weekend.

She had been so excited to finally be noticed like that, even by Ojiro! Tooru had designed her outfit very carefully for her date: a sundress that was almost form fitting, cute sandals that went above her ankles, bracelets and rings on both hands, even a wide brim sunhat and matching sunglasses, all color coordinated perfectly! This was the most visible she had felt in her entire life!

Tooru pulled her phone out of her purse and checked it yet again. The same damn text read the same exact way it had five minutes ago. No matter how many times she checked her texts, nothing changed. Why would it, after all? It wasn't like Tooru's entire day hinged on this one stupid date or anything.

Oh wait. She told Mr. Aizawa that she would be gone all day. So yeah, her day did revolve around this godforsaken date.

Tooru sighed heavily and hung her head, allowing her sunhat to fall toward the concrete. What did it matter anyway? Tooru was used to being unnoticeable and unimportant. Dammit…

Before her hat could touch the ground, a startlingly familiar strand of black energy shot out and caught it, cradling it gently despite how it writhed chaotically. The invisible girl followed her hat with her eyes as it was reeled in to the only person capable of producing that dark energy.

“Are you okay, Hagakure?” Midoriya asked as he knelt in front of Tooru, holding her sunhat in his hands. Concern was easily apparent on his face as his eyes settled somewhere close to her eyes. He was always the one that came closest to actually making eye contact with her, and he never stopped trying to get better.

Any other day, she would have been giddy to see the one guy that could pick her out in a crowded room. As it stood, Tooru just didn't have the energy to care.

She looked away, not that Midoriya could see with her sunglasses hooked into the collar of her dress. "Why are you here, Midoriya?"

The green haired man sat down next to Tooru, miraculously on the same side that she was looking, and offered her hat to her. "Partly because I needed a new set of pens after Todoroki stole every one I owned for a prank."

Tooru blinked and accepted her hat. "Todoroki does pranks?"

Midoriya shrugged before letting his gaze wander onto the mid-day crowd around them. "Sort of. It was Uraraka's idea. You know how she gets with Kacchan."

Tooru couldn't help but smile a little. Deep down, she envied Ochako's fearlessness in regards to the most volatile guy in the class. Their little feud was good for both of them, she liked to think.

"Wait, only partly?"

Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Y-Yeah. Part of why I'm out here is because Uraraka succeeded. Kacchan's extremely mad right now, and I don't think it'll be good for anyone's record if I stuck around."

Tooru giggled, just a little. "Yeesh, I almost wish I could have seen what happened. Instead I…"

That's right. She cancelled everything. For the stupid, stupid, stupid date…

"Hagakure?"

For a moment, Tooru considered holding her tongue. It would be so easy for her to jump to her feet and bounce around excitedly like she always did. It wasn't like anyone could see her expression, so faking happiness was as simple as brightening her voice and wiggling around a little.

But Tooru wasn't okay. If anyone could make the day better, it would be the man sitting next to her.

She turned away from Midoriya, keeping her eyes on the faceless crowd around them. "Ojiro asked to go on a date with me today."

"Oh." He seemed surprised. "I want to say congratulations, but… did something happen on the date?"

"That's just it. It didn't actually happen. He was supposed to show up seven minutes ago. And he cancelled—" she checked that damn text again— "ten minutes ago."

Midoriya didn't respond, so Tooru continued, the floodgates cracking wide open. "And I get it, really. Things happen, and of course he would pick his martial arts sensei over me. He's known her forever, and we only just met less than two years ago. It's… it's fine, I get it."

Midoriya scooted a little closer to Tooru, their legs almost touching on the stone bench. "Is that an 'I'm about to get kneecapped by Recovery Girl' I'm Fine, or—?"

A surprised snort escaped from Tooru. "Wh- what?"

Midori shrugged, an anxious smile on his face as he kept watching the crowd. "It was either that or put money in the ‘I'm Fine’ jar, and I can't afford that."

"You actually have one of those?"

Tooru laughed when Midori nodded. Of course he would have an ‘I’m Fine’ jar. She knew their teachers could only hope it was more effective than Bakugou's swear jar.

After a moment of laughter, the damn text crawled to the surface of Tooru's mind. Midori must have noticed, somehow, because his expression quickly became concerned all over again. God, how perceptive was he?

"Alright, you got me. I owe money to the ‘Fine’ jar," Tooru sighed. She leaned against Midoriya, resting her head against his shoulder. "I just… today was supposed to be special. A whole day for us, for me and for him. I got permission to be out all day for this, and Ojiro just… vanished. At least he had the courtesy to tell me he was gonna stand me up instead of letting me wait here for an hour or something."

As Tooru spoke, she felt Midoriya wrap his arm around her, pulling the invisible girl into a sideways hug. He was always so strong and yet so kind, and Tooru had dreamed of what it felt like to be embraced by him. At least today wasn't a total failure, Tooru thought with a bittersweet smile.

The two hero students sat side by side in silence for a minute, with Tooru savoring what little amount of Midoriya's affection she could get. Oddly enough, he hadn't said anything to cheer her up.

Instead, he looked completely lost in thought, his lips moving subtly as he muttered silently. "Midoriya?"

She felt him startle, yet he didn't bother to remove his hand from her other shoulder. "You know, we don't have to write today off," he said cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

Midoriya looked down at Tooru and looked directly into her eyes. His smile was small, yet breathtaking. "You still deserve to have a special day today. I'm not Ojiro, but, if you'd let me, I'd be more than happy to accompany you anywhere you want."

Holy shit. Did he just ask me out?

"Really?" Tooru leapt to her feet and gripped Izuku's shoulders, desperately trying to contain her body's excitement. "Really-really, you'd be my date for today? All day?"

His cheeks swiftly turned crimson, and his eyes slipped down to his lap for a moment. Frustration washed over his face for a second before he forced himself to look back up at Tooru, determination filling his emerald eyes. "Really-really. Today is… T-Today is o-our day."

HE TOTALLY DID!!!

Tooru couldn't help but squeal at the top of her lungs and her energy body was filled with so much positive energy she just had to jump and wiggle around to work it out. She pulled Izuku off the bench and hugged him as tight as she could. "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!! Ah, our reservation! Come on, we can't be late!"

Hand in scarred hand, Tooru raced off towards the restaurant she had been dying to try since the start of the school year.

"Ah! Hagakure, my arm!"

"Just call me Tooru!"

Tooru knew that she and Izuku had probably stayed out a little too long on their date, but the truth of the matter was that she didn't care. Her wallet was empty of yen, her heart was full of love, and all she could think about was every little thing Izuku did to make her feel special and visible.

Even walking down the path towards the dorms, Tooru felt full to bursting with energy, skipping and bouncing around as she recalled her favorite parts of their date. The entire time, Izuku kept his eyes on her, only on her, and he stumbled on a slightly elevated brick just inside the UA Barrier.

She wanted to ask why he angrily muttered "Not this time, Nezu," as he regained his balance at the last second, but Tooru figured that was a story for another time.

Eventually, the two hero students finally made it back to the main entrance of Heights Alliance. Both of them stood there, staring at the familiar door, though neither truly wanted to open it just yet.

Tooru stamped down her energy, stuffing both her need to move and her anxious need to hide. It was time to be serious. "Hey, Izuku? I wanted to thank you for today."

Automatically, Izuku waved off Tooru's thanks. "Ah, it's really no big deal. I'm really happy you had fun! I mean, I also had a lot of fun, it was amazing being out with you, and I experienced a lot of firsts today, thanks to you, so—" Izuku cut himself off with a forced cough.

Tooru giggled at his nervous antics. God, he was so cute. "I'm glad! Although, it's hard for me to say today has been perfect. It's missing just oooone more thing~"

Izuku blinked owlishly at her before folding into his usual thinking pose. "One more thing? Dinner is coming up, but Kacchan's cooking tonight, so we don't want to miss that. We attended all of the events you had planned, and even bought several new stuffed animals for your room."

Tooru hiked the plastic bag higher on her shoulder, shifting it so it sat comfortably. "Keep guessing! You're close."

His face scrunched up in intense concentration, clearly hamming up the performance. "I don't know, Tooru, there's only one more thing I can think of that you would be missing."

"And that is?"

Izuku looked up at Tooru again and his brilliant smile sent lightning down her spine. He knew exactly what Tooru was talking about.

Instead of responding, Izuku stepped closer to Tooru and gently lifted her sunglasses off her face. His eyes shined with such adoration and compassion, and she couldn't look away even if she wanted to. He folded up her sunglasses and hooked them into her collar, as he had seen her do that morning.

Tooru had to suppress her shudder at the bold action. His hands were so close to her bare skin. A week ago, Tooru knew it was a gamble whether or not Izuku would even attempt to touch her in her hero costume.

She liked this Izuku much better.

Especially when his hands rose up and cupped either side of her head, his thumbs brushing against her cheeks before they settled next to the corners of her mouth.

Izuku looked deep into Tooru's eyes. When she smiled, she knew he felt it, and his own smile brightened.

"This," he whispered, and leaned in.

When Tooru first started exploring her sexuality and the idea of romance, she quickly realized that her partners could never be sure of where Tooru's lips were to kiss her. They would always be off, just a little.

Unless they were Izuku. When his lips pressed against her own, they were flush with each other, perfect. He knew exactly what she looked like.

Izuku could see her like no one else did.

Tooru threw her arms around Izuku's neck and deepened the kiss, desperate to cling to the feeling as long as she could.

It could have been seconds, or it could have been hours. Tooru didn't know, nor did she care. All she cared about was that it didn't last long enough.

The door they were supposed to walk through opened suddenly. Kaminari poked his head out and said, "Hey, I heard you two were… home…"

Izuku startled at Kaminari's voice and the kiss was broken. A whine slipped from Tooru's throat, missing the perfect contact the instant it vanished. The instinctual reaction caused Tooru's cheeks to ignite and she kicked herself for sounding so damn needy.

Izuku and Kaminari stared at each other for a solid five seconds. Izuku broke the silence first. "What?" He didn't remove his hands from Tooru's face.

Kaminari looked between Izuku and Tooru and back again before slowly retreating back into the dorms. The door closed with a quiet click.

Tooru cleared her throat. Izuku froze and swiftly removed his hands from her and took a step back. "Sorry," he said automatically.

"D-Don't worry about it!" Tooru stuttered, waving her arms around as if she could scare off the awkward air that surrounded the two. "I mean… wow, that was easily the best kiss I've ever gotten."

Izuku's face flushed and he hid his entire head in his arms. "Th-Thanks. I'm really glad I did well. You, uh, you definitely deserved it."

The two stood outside the dorm, allowing the silence to calm the both of them for a few more moments. 

Once Tooru managed to calm her racing heart, her mind settled onto one thing that kept nagging at her curiosity. "Hey, Izuku? You’ve been really different this week, especially the last few days, if Mina’s been telling the truth. Why is that?"

At first, Izuku didn’t respond. He looked away from Tooru, preferring to stare down the path they had just walked together down. In a voice that betrayed more than a hint of anxiety, he explained, “I don’t want to lie to you… This whole thing started as a bet. I had to kiss seven women to win. I thought we were friends, the six of you and Hatsume, so I… I was hoping that you wouldn’t be too mad when I did it. I’m so sorry.”

As Izuku hung his head in shame, Tooru couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t adding up. Stealing kisses for a bet sounded like such a Mineta thing to do, (and she made a mental note to kick his ass for making Izuku feel like a playboy,) but his kiss a few moments ago felt much more passionate to Tooru than anything connected to a simple bet. Much more personal and, dare she think, intimate.

Tooru stepped closer to Izuku and leaned down in front of him, hoping to catch his eyes. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain everything else you did for us.”

Izuku blinked in confusion, his watery eyes drying up as he did so. “W-What do you mean?”

His attention stayed on Tooru’s eyes when she straightened up and took another step closer. “If this was still just about winning a bet, you wouldn’t have gone through an entire act for Yaomomo.”

“That was different. I had to—”

Tooru touched Izuku’s lips with a single finger, silencing him instantly. “You didn’t have to follow Ochako around like a lost puppy. You didn’t have to play out one of Kyouka’s fantasies. Most importantly, you really did not have to go on a date with me. Today was absolutely the best day of my life, all thanks to you, and that’s not something you would do if this really was all just for a bet. So again, why? Why did you make all of us feel so special?”

A blank look washed over Izuku’s face. “I…”

Before Izuku could respond, the front door swung open again and Mina bounced outside. “I thought I’d find you two here! Come on, slowpokes, the food’s getting cold!”

Tooru jumped, having completely forgotten about food. “Oh shoot, that’s right! Come on, Izuku, it’s dinner time!”

He chuckled and shook his head at Tooru’s renewed bubbliness. “You should change before you eat, though. Kacchan would explode if he saw you get food stains on a dress that nice.”

“Ooh, good point. I really don’t wanna mess this up. Let’s go, Mina!” Tooru grabbed her best friend’s hand and rushed inside the dorms, making a beeline for the elevators.

The moment the elevator doors closed, Mina whirled around and grabbed both of Tooru’s shoulders, her eyes sparkling with intrigue and mischief. “Okay, girl, spill! What happened today that allowed you to call him Izuku?”

The memories of her date rushed back to the forefront of her mind, and she couldn’t help but wiggle out the energy that came with them. “So, it all started when Ojiro stood me up…”

By the time Midobro walked into the dorms, the food had already cooled, and Bakugou was ready to kill the curly haired bastard, so Denki was feeling good about himself. 

That was until Midoriya noticed Ojiro of all people, and then suddenly even Bakugou steered clear of the guy. Denki didn’t know what the martial-arts freak had done but…

He feared what his significantly stronger classmate would do to him given the chance. 

So Denki didn’t try to start shit with him either, avoiding him fully and just hoping that he would fail with the last girl silently. 

Murder isn’t heroic, Izuku repeated in his head for the umptienth time, trying to shake off the urge to let out a 20% kick on Ojirou’s head. The ‘honorable’ martial artist had been more than happy when he saw him. Even after what he had done to Tooru. 

He tightened his fists, and let a breath out. It didn’t matter. Izuku himself had helped her feel better and had gone on a date with her in his stead. And considering the guy had cut off the date three minutes before it was supposed to happen…

Izuku was certain that he did a better job than the tail-having bastard ever could. 

He winced and tried to shake off the rage bubbling again. The last thing he needed was for Blackwhip to activate on its own because of that. 

“Why…” he mumbled softly, remembering what Tooru had asked him. Why am I so mad about this…

And why did I work so hard to…  

He did what he was born to; he overanalyzed.

He could’ve probably stolen kisses from the girls a lot easier than he had done so, and Tooru was right. Even if it would’ve been scummy as hell to do so, he could’ve just kissed her when she was sad…

He shook the thought off. That was more than scummy, if he had done that he’d beat himself up instead, thank you. 

But… thinking about that he noticed something more.

He had enjoyed it.

Not just the kisses, but making the girls feel loved…

His heart beat harder in his chest, remembering all the expressions he had gotten after kissing the girls. The look of adoration and contentedness…

He shook his head once more, hands on his head as something stuck to his conscious mind. 

One more .

This time, it wasn’t about the bet.  

Mina stared hard at Tsuyu, as if that was going to make the frog girl even flinch. “Spill it, Frogger.” 

Her stoic friend tilted her head, a finger on her chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Mina-chan, ribbit.” 

The pink-skinned girl tossed her hands to the side, gesturing towards the rest of the girls of Class A, along with Mei, sitting in the Heights Alliance dorms. “How was your kiss? Tell meeeee!” 

Tsuyu looked at her, and if Mina was a betting girl her eyes would convey smugness if they were just a little more expressive. “Just a simple, impulsive kiss on the cheek.” 

“Guh!” Mina made an exaggerated flinching sound and clapped a hand over her heart. “Too cute!” 

Tsuyu ribbited with a soft giggle. “He was pretty cute, looked at me like I was gonna kick his fine butt for that.” 

“Really?” Kyouka butted in, face slowly flushing red as she recalled her own experience. “He was pretty bold with mine…” 

“Yeah yeah!” Mina cheered, wiggling a bit- a habit she took from Tooru. “He’s been getting more confident, and it’s so good to see!” 

“I’ll say,” Tooru hummed, fanning her face with a fan Momo had made for her. It was fun to have props. “He took me on a date, it was so thoughtful!” 

Mei looked between the girls. “...Aren’t we supposed to be fighting over the guy?” 

Tsuyu, Tooru and Mina looked at her. “Do you want to?” 

Mei shrugged and went back to tinkering with the new gear in her hands. “I don’t care as long as I can do the thing with his mouth again.” 

Ochako cleared her throat. “Dibs.” 

The girls looked between each other. “...For?” 

Ochako shot them a determined look that reminded Mina of how she was before the first sports festival. “Dibs.” 

“Thanks for the clarification, Ocha-chan,” Tsuyu hummed, a smile in her voice, even if it wasn’t on her face. “But… Mina-chan, did you get a kiss yet?” 

“Oh- uh,” Mina huffed, wilting a bit. “I don’t think he’s gonna do something like that with me.” 

Tooru huffed, gently punching her on the arm. “Is this about your quirk again?” 

“Eeeehhhh.” She grimaced, rubbing her arm. “I can’t blame him for that, Tooru, no one wants to risk acid burns for me.” 

Momo cleared her throat. “...That is ‘bullshit’, as one might call it.” 

“Dude, you are a catch, ” Kyouka added, ignoring the rest of the girls cracking up at the sound of Momo swearing. “If Green doesn’t see that, I think we are all wrong about him.”

“Agaiiiiiin,” Mina whined, waving her arms, “it’s not his fault if he doesn’t wanna. Hell, no one does. Even my own parents are wary about kissing me on the cheek.” 

A voice behind her spoke up. “Why, because your skin might be a little acidic?” 

Mina didn’t register whose voice had asked that, only leaning against the couch to look at the source. “Yeah!” 

She blinked, looking up at Izuku in his tight sports gear. “...Midoriya?” 

He smirked, and leaned down without hesitation, his lips gently pressing against hers, his hand cupping her chin and urging her to kiss back without worry. 

And her body did exactly that, even as her brain struggled just what the hell was going on. Her hands latched onto his fluffy green hair and a whine escaped from her lips and into the kiss, her body savoring the contact like it was a drop of water in the desert. 

Before she could comprehend it, he pulled back, smiling softly down to her. “They're missing out. You taste amazing.” 

Mina blinked, still dazed from how good that first kiss felt. Her cheeks burned like Todoroki had used his quirk on her. 

“...Holy shit, Green, I didn’t know Mina could turn that shade of purple! You completely broke her!” Kyouka laughed, breaking the moment and making both Izuku and Mina remember that they weren’t alone. 

For a moment, it looked like Izuku was going to run away with fright, green lightning dancing across his skin. Then it dropped off, Izuku calming down. “...Sorry?” 

Ochako got off her seat like a predator on the prowl, clearly tossing The Box™ within herself open. “Deku…” 

Izuku’s lightning kicked back into gear. “Uraraka…?” 

She shot him a serene smile. “I am going to kiss you now. I don’t know when I’ll stop.”

Mei shot to her feet. “Me first! I need the inspiration!” 

Momo made a huffing sound. “There is more than enough Midoriya to go around.” 

Mina could see the fear building in Izuku’s posture as the statements started filtering out. 

“Ya better run, cutie,” she cooed, flipping over the couch and looking him deep in the eyes as she heard the rest of the girls start getting off their seats behind her. 

“Cause we’re gonna gobble you up!~” 

Izuku took a single step, then shook his head, something in his eyes sparking and igniting something new, his feet twisting and anchoring him in place. 

“Y’know,” he breathed out, smiling. “That doesn’t sound half bad.” 

That's all he got to say before his breath was stolen by a passionate kiss from Mina.

“I’m a dumbass,” Denki whined, resting his head on the cafeteria table. 

“The first step to solving an issue is admitting it,” Sero sagely said, trying hard to not laugh aloud. “No but seriously, what’s up?” 

He pointed towards the new polycule in their midst, Midoriya and the girls of 2-A mingling and laughing happily and so clearly in love, Ashido trying to feed the man a french-fry that was more ketchup than fry. “I did that.” 

Mineta made an inhuman sound. “You DARE point at the holy being that is Midoriya?!” 

The others at the table blinked, and promptly ignored the midget that had decided that Izuku was ‘God’ because he had achieved the ‘harem’ route.

“No but seriously,” Kirishima added, swallowing a piece of meat. “How would you be the cause of that?” 

“...I had a bet with him about an All Might action figure.” 

Bakugou burst into laughter at that. “You utter fucking dumbass!” 

Denki groaned and dug his face harder against the table. “I know!” 

Suddenly, Bakugou stopped laughing and choked on air, before bursting into louder laughter, slapping the table. “OH! It gets worse for you, Spark-plug!” 

“I doubt that,” Denki groaned and slowly raised his head, trying to get a glimpse of what gave Blasty such mirth.

The girls of 2-B were looking towards Midoriya’s group. Some were blushing, and many of them whispering urgently to the others.

Kodai and Tokage looked hungry. 

Mineta started praying to Izuku harder. 

Denki wished he’d never seen that goddamn limited edition 'Thin Might' action figure.