𝐇𝐨𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬||𝐈𝐙𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀

shampoo

    "Oh," She flexed her hands uncomfortably. "Well, I'll let you get back to that. I just came to drop off the hoodie, y'know." She rested it on the side of his bed. She began to stand up when-

    "Mina, wait," He called. "You know a lot about hair, right?" She turned around to look at her friend. She frowned.

    "I mean, yeah. What's this gotta do with anything, though?" Mina shrugged.

    "Could you help me? You're always going on about how I need to fix my hair and such. I could use it,"

    As much as she wanted to, a voice in her head whispered no. She stood her ground.

    "Izuku," She said softly. "Doesn't this go against what we set in place?"' He made an 'oh' sound, and his cheeks flushed. It was an amusing sight to see.

    "Thought so," She laughed a little. "I can give you tips, though. You have any detangling lotion?"

    He made a fidgeting motion with his hands before saying, "No,"

---

    Mina came back in tow with her hair bucket of hair supplies. Together, they worked on the mess that was Izuku's hair. Well, not really. Whenever Midoriya requested her assistance, she'd always refused. He understood, of course, but Mina couldn't help but feel bad for turning her friend down.

    Things had to be this way.

    If anything, she was surprised at how well she was taking this. Things were like before.  There was a time when the silence between them felt too loud. She'd clear her throat and make a joke about how he was finally getting good at dealing with his hair. He'd laugh along, and the conversation picked up.

    "Hey, Midoi-" She caught herself mid nickname. "Izuku." She sighed. His little nickname had gone too.

    "Are we still studying together tomorrow? Before the break,  you said we would, but, " She tilted her head and made a small gesture. "Y'know,"

     She did want to study with Midoriya. Staying away and giving each other space isn't what they agreed on. She thinks- no, she knows she can do this. This impromptu hangout is going better than she anticipated.

    She wanted to stand by Izuku.

    Izuku did too, but not in that way, and it's okay.

    "I mean," He grabbed one of Mina's scrunchies to secure the section of hair. "I don't see why not. I can bring O-." He caught himself. " I mean, Iida and Todoroki around if it makes you feel better."

    "Yeah, that'd be cool. Can I bring Kiri too? I owe him."

    "Of course, of course." He nodded. "Now,  is my hair moisturized? I did what you said and..." the conversation trailed back onto the topic of Izuku's hair.

    She gave in eventually. Not because she wanted to, but Izuku had no idea what he was doing. She sighed as she told him to come over to the bed. He gave her a look but obeyed. She made him sit on the floor and, she sat on the bed.

    "First off," She huffed. "You're using way too many products. How is your hair not detangled?" He shrugged.

    "I just did what you told me," He mumbled.

    "Then you weren't listening," She spat. "Hand me your combs."

    She spends the rest of the afternoon platting and twisting his hair. Her hands ran through his head nicely as she parted sections in his hair. She would tug on it, but gently.  Her fingers worked quickly to finish twisting the remains of his hair.

    "There," She shook her hands. "Your done, Izuku." He looked into the mirror and admired his twists.

    "Do I go out with these in or-"  He gestured to his head.

    "Of course not," She snorted. "You undo the twists when you're ready. Then you have to retwist your hair and tie it down when you're going to sleep."

    "How do you do that every night?" He sat back down on the bed, eager to know about Mina's hair routine. "What happens if you don't?"

    "Then your hair gets tangled and dry in the morning." She shrugged. "You get used to it."

    "I would pull you out to get products for your hair. By the looks of it, you have a curl pattern similar to mine." She reached out to touch his hair but pulled her hand back. In theory, it would have been fine since Mina was doing his hair a minute ago. However, this was out of affection. Affection is off-limits.

    "You have something to get to, though," Her lips curled into a smile as she watches Izuku light up with worry. "Relax, you're not going to be late, probably." She chuckled at her last comment. She watched him scramble across the room to get ready. She even tossed him the hoodie on his bed.

    Before he left, he turned back to the pink-skinned girl on his bed, "Thanks again, Mina!" He gave her a warm smile before leaving her alone.

---

A/N: Short chapter until maybe this next one or the finale to part 2. That's coming in 3 chapters at the time of writing this!