sorry i didn't post. extremely busy this weekend. next chapter will be abt the bakusquad. pls enjoy <3
The pair got back from studying early. It was still light out. Oddly enough, Mina didn't want the escapade to end, so she offered to go for ramen with Midoriya.
"Come on," She whined. "It'll be fun. Besides, I'm paying. You have to go now!"
Midoriya was reluctantly dragged along, but he didn't regret the trip, neither did Mina. It certainly was money well spent in her book. The restaurant was around the corner from the school. It was mostly filled with support, and business students went there to eat after classes.
They didn't talk much at first. Mina and Midoriya both ordered and waited quietly for the meals. In the meantime, Midoriya pulled out a sketchbook from his bag with some pencils and an old kneaded eraser. He flipped through the pages looking for a blank one. Each page was filled with detailed graphite drawings and barely legible scribbles on the side of the paper.
She studied him carefully. The way his brows furrowed when he was applying to shade or when he would brush eraser marks off the paper. It was fascinating
She finally decided to speak up.
"What' ya working on," She said calmly, still looking at the drawings. Midoriya jumped a little in the seat when he heard her voice but settled down quickly.
"J-just some sketches and notes," He started. "N-nothing for class, just something I do in my free time."
"I see," She pursed her lips, the pink girl's eyes were still glued to the book.
"Do you want to take a look?" He mumbled, sliding the book towards her and turning a shade of pink.
"Wait, really!" She beamed. "Of course!" She eagerly grabbed the sketchbook and held it in her hands.
"Are you sure, though?" She put it down to look at Deku. "Jirou gets kinda annoyed when I go through her sketchbook."
"No, no," He reassured her. "It's okay. My mom always said I should share my analysis anyway." He pushed the book towards her and nodded.
She frowned but began to flip through the book slowly. Each page was of a different pro hero, drawn and shaded realistically. You could see the eraser marks, and dark lines that refused to budge, but to Mina, that gave the sketches character. The effort was clearly shown throughout the work. On the side of the drawings was a rough summary of a hero's abilities, weaknesses, and the way they fight in battle. The attention to detail in each caption was very well done.
"Deku, this is..."
"I'm not a creepy obsessive stalker, I swear!" He said at once. Mina tilted her head in confusion. "It's just a fixation of mine." He said finally.
"Deku, I wasn't gonna make fun of you for this," She frowned. "This is pretty damn good if you ask me. The drawings on their own are really advanced." She flipped to a page of Lady Nagant and flipped the book to show him.
"This is amazing, Deku!" She smiled. "Look here!" She pointed to one of his captions on the page. "I didn't know any of this stuff! If you weren't gonna be a pro, you should definitely be a quirk analyst because..." The pair continued talking and going through the sketchbook, even after the food came and while they walked home together. Most of it was Midoriya blushing and uttering 'thank yous' as Mina continued to praise his work. Regardless, they enjoyed the time spent.
---
Mina planted herself on her bed with some ice cream she stole from Momo and an episode of Saiki. Freshly showed and tired, she began to open the bin up and stick a spoon in while she flipped through the episodes. She went with something from season 1, where Saiki was chastising a classmate.
Though Saiki was a comfort show to her, it couldn't always be used as escapism. Saiki and Mina shared characteristics. Saiki didn't seem bothered by his features, but Mina was. She didn't have the power to make everyone look similar to her so she wouldn't feel like an outcast. Mina was stuck with what she had.
Maybe she should find a new comfort show.
She sighed, tossing the empty ice cream carton into the trashcan beside her bed. She paused the Saiki K episode and got up to get her hair things.
Mina kept her creams, combs, and moisturizers all in a box. A box her mom made for her. She pulled it out, sat it on the bed, and unpaused Saiki K. She worked diligently, detangling and platting the hair on her head. Every once in a while, her hands would hit her horns, and she would bite her lip in pain. She finally finished, though, and so did Saiki K. She slapped her silk bonnet on and nestled into bed with the thought of passing her Algebra test on her mind.
---
A passing grade was a 70 or higher, so that was the goal. After Midnight finished teaching, Mr. Aizawa came to pass out all tests and papers graded that day. The quirk history essay from 3rd period, the Algebra test from 2nd, and the human with a quirk model from 5th. She did decently, with two '80s stacked on the model and essay. All that is left was the Algebra test she and Deku studied so hard yesterday. Aizawa passed it with test scores down, just like all her other math tests.
Reluctantly, Mina lifted up the paper. However, the first digit she saw was a 6 instead of a higher number. Mina let the assignment fall onto the desk and didn't bother to look at it again. It didn't make sense to see the rest of the score. She'd gotten something in the '60s, a lot higher than her previous grades. Regardless, she failed.
---
"The worse part about it is that I told Momo if I failed, I would have to buy her ice cream!" Mina sighed. The pair walked back to the dorms, Mina venting about how poorly she did on the test. "I asked for ice cream last night, and Momo got kind of annoyed since I always ask for ice cream. She said if I passed my Algebra quiz, I wouldn't have to worry about repaying her. I got a sixty-something, though." She kicked the rock next to her in frustration.
"Mina," The invisible girl sighed, "I don't understand why you won't just look at the grade and see what you got wrong. Maybe the 6 was a second digit, and you didn't score in the sixties."
"Does it matter, though?" Mina asked. "I most likely made a bad grade. You can't even relate, though. You passed your math test!"
"With Tsuyu's help!" Toru butted in. "Besides, you had Midoriya. How come you didn't pass?"
"I don't really know. We studied fine yesterday. It doesn't matter, though. Deku and I are going to work again today. Who knows? Maybe even spar, kill 2 birds with one stone."
"Deku? Tohru asked. Although she couldn't see it, she felt like her friend's eyebrows raised. "Why call him by his hero name?"
"It's more of a nickname to me," The pair were nearing their, dorm, and Mina ran up to open the door for her friend."Besides, some of his friends call him that."
"Ochako and Bakugo call him that," Tohru corrected. Mina slipped off her shoes and rested then by the door. The flats next to her stopped moving. Surprisingly, she didn't see socks either.
"No socks today? Mina questioned.
"Nah, I was rushing today." Hagakure hummed.
"Anyways," Tohru said in a low whisper, contrasting her high voice. "Doesn't Ochako like Midoriya? She won't say, but it's pretty obvious."
"Maybe, I mean," Mina huffed. "I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff."
"But Mina, you always pay attention to those kinds of things!" Tohru wailed.
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"I do not!" The pink-haired girl stuck out her tongue. "Anyways, Tohru, I don't know what Ochaco's crush has to do with me!"
---
Midoriya was waiting outside the gate for Mina again, still wearing sweats. Mina didn't put much thought into her look today either, a simple t-shirt and jeans. However, she pulled her hair up today, and her yellow horns stuck out. She walked forward to meet her classmate, already thinking of all the things she needed to talk about to her classmate.
"Deku!" She tapped his shoulder. He jumped, then calmed down when he realized it was just Ashido.
"Oh, It's just you." He sighed. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry, sorry," She apologized. "Shall we get going? It's a long walk to the study hall. He nodded, and they walked together.
"So, Midoriya, how did you do on the test today?"
"An 89, I missed questions 12 and 13. What did you get, Ashido?"
"I failed," She awkwardly laughed. "And call me Mina, since your letting me use the nickname Deku.
"Okay, M-Mina, He stuttered. The new name was unfamiliar on his tongue.
"I don't know," She said simply. I took a peek and saw a 6, so I'm assuming a 60 something."
Midoriya slid his hands into his hoodie and looked down on the smaller girl. "Why didn't you look at the whole sheet? You could have gotten a good grade. Maybe the 6 was the second number. " He started. "Also, did you study last night?"
"Well, no," She muttered. "I studied with you, though."
"Ashido," Deku started. "You can't expect to"
"Mina,' She corrected him.
"Sorry," He sighed. "It feels weird to say."
He tried again. "Mina, you can't expect to study once and get the concept automatically. That's not how studying works. Especially for a test the next day."
"You sound just like Tohru," Mina pouted. "She wouldn't understand, though. She passed her test, I didn't."
"Personally," Midoriya started. "You're pretty smart, Mina, you just need to study more. Did you bring your test paper?"
She nodded.
"Great. We can go over what you missed today."
---
At first, the pair studied quietly. Not necessarily working, more like Midoriya tutoring Mina. It seemed like he didn't mind. Then they started talking, talking about school, math, each other, and interests.
The pink-skinned girl struggled to hold back her laughter. "I can't believe you watch Saiki K! It's so unlike you!
She smiled. "I'm glad, though. It's nice to have someone to talk about the show with."
"I even have some manga of it," He mumbled.
"No way!" She exclaimed. "I've been looking for the manga everywhere! All the stores around the school are sold out. After we're done studying, can I go back and see?"
"I mean sure-" He started.
"Thank you, Deku!" She beamed. She tackled her classmate into a tight, brief hug. He seemed startled at first. Still, he hugged her back at last. She pulled back and got a good look at her friend. "We can go after we spar," She sat back on her knees and watched Deku prop himself up on his elbows.
"We're sparring? Now?" He asked, the red in his cheeks gone down. Deku still seemed a bit dazed.
"Yeah, why not?" She yawned. "Gym Gamma should be open now. Also, It's not like we're studying or anything right now." She got up and stretched her arms, offering a hand to the green-haired boy. he grabbed it, and she pulled him up with ease.
"Damn Ashido," He looked at his hand n astonishment. "You're stronger than you look."
"It's Mina," she spat, annoyed. "And I'm the fittest girl in our class. What did you expect?"
"Sorry, Mina," He apologized, putting emphasis on her name. It earned a smile from Mina.
"Good, now let's hurry onto the gym. I wanna get this sparring session in. Don't worry, I'm not gonna force you to run like last time," Mina stated, holding the door open for Midoriya. "Unless you want to?"
"No, I think I'm good. Thanks," Midoriya giggled awkwardly.
"Fine!" She rolled her eyes as Midoriya passed through.
---
They ended up running to the gym, much to Midoriya's dismay. Well, Mina ended up running to piss him off. he didn't want to be left behind, so he found himself running with her. She snorted when she looked to the side to see an out-of-breath Midoriya trying to match her pace.
Regardless, they made it to the gym, all in one piece. All the other students had left, with only an hour left on curfew. Noone wanted to be caught on grounds with Aizawa lurking.
They tossed their stuff down and began stretching.
"So, how are we doing this. Any rules?" Mina asked. She was in a split on the floor, her nose touched her knee effortlessly.
"No quirks." Midoriya started counting on his hands. "Simple hand-to-hand combat. If your down for 5 seconds, you're out." he looked up to see his classmate on the other leg.
"Sounds good to me," She hummed. She sat in her split for a while before diving for her knee again.
"Y'know Deku, If I didn't know better, I'd say your having a nice time staring. Like what you see?" She teased.
"N-No! It-t's not l-like that!" He yelled. "It's just I'm waiting on you! There isn't anything else to do, so I'm waiting! i wasn't looking at you like that, I swear!"
Mina laughed. "Relax, Deku, your fun to tease. I'm wearing my jeans and shirt anyway. There isn't anything to see." With that, she got up and faced her friend.
She moved first, dashing towards him.
Mina doesn't think. Mina just does. So when Midoriya saw Mina turn away from him instead of attempting to land a hit on his face, he was taken back, to say the least. He turned and readied his stance again to see Mina running towards him again. She didn't change direction or slow down. She slid her leg to Midoriya's legs to brace herself from crashing. He moved out of the way in time. With nothing to break her fall, she almost fell back.
Now Midoriya was on her tail, running to catch up to her. She could likely outrun the green-haired boy, but not for long. It wasn't an ideal fight either to just outrun your opponent. She turned tail, hoping to be able to brace his attack and overpower him. His punches didn't land at first. She dodged all of them with relative ease. Even cracking a smile every time he missed.
Mina went to a kick to his abdomen, surprisingly, he caught her leg with his hands. He pushed her leg up, flipping the horned girl. Luckily, she landed on her feet. She goes for a simple swing to the head, and he quickly dodges with a cocky smile.
Perfect.
She swings her right leg under his to trip him. It sent him stumbling back onto the mat.
"Looks like you got too cocky, Deku," She said with a mocking voice as she slowly walked over to him.
With a smirk of satisfaction, Mina propped herself down onto Deku. She wiggled around, making sure he couldn't move his legs. Then she grabbed his arms and pinned them to the floor.
"1...2...3..." She counted mockingly. He broke free of the grip and pushed her chest, sending her back to the floor. He slowly crawled on top of her. His knees were on her legs and his hands pinned her arms down.
"4...5" He finished Mina's counting. He let go of his grip and moved his legs so she could sit up. He was still on top of her. He moved his hands by her head.
Mina was silent. Not sure of what to say. One minute, she was in full dominance and winning the fight. Now, Midoriya was on top of her, and she just lost. He had a firm grip, and firm, but soft hands. In a way, he was still gentle when he had her in his grasp. He sat up, allowing her some room. She awkwardly scratched her head.
"I didn't expect to lose," She said quietly. " A good fight, though. Damn, Midoriya."
"Yeah," He managed. "You were pretty tough, Mina."
"Thanks for using my first name. I was worried I was going to have to remind you forever." She grinned.
"It's still a little weird to me," He admitted. "You don't even use my first name."
"Well, what is your first name?"
"Izuku,"
"Hmm, okay," She said at once. "Izuku?"
"Yeah?"
"Nothing, just testing it out,"
---
They piled out of the ice cream store. 3 boxes. Midoriya ordered this time. He got himself Mint Chocolate Chip with extra chips, Mina got some strawberry ice cream and a simple box of vanilla for Momo.
"By the way, Mina," he started.
"Yeah?"
"You made an 86."
sorry i didn't post. extremely busy this weekend. next chapter will be abt the bakusquad. pls enjoy <3