This fanfic totally blew up on fanfiction.net, and I'm really happy at all the positive reviews I've been getting, so I'm definitely going to be continuing this. I know I mentioned this fic was going to be a slow burn, but it's not gonna be one of those slow burns that'll be 100k words. It will probably hit around 5ok or 60k words, maybe 70k at the most.
Anyway, I hope this chapter is not too boring for you guys. Half of it is just girl talk. It's mostly just a setup for later chapters, though, and next chapter should be a lot better.
~+~
Mina woke up early the next morning, and at first she wasn't sure what time it was. It could've been the middle of the night for all she knew, or at least it seemed that way because the room was still dark. She figured she was wrong, though, when she walked out onto the balcony and saw Izuku running laps, the sun faintly peeking over the horizon.
She watched him for a minute before turning to go back to bed, but she stopped the moment it hit her. An idea. There was no doubt it was a bad idea because she was tired, and her head was never in the right place when she was tired. But it wasn't in the right place when she was awake, either, so she got dressed and headed downstairs anyway.
She waited outside, standing at a corner that was unsuspicious to the untrained eye, and she hoped he'd make another lap before she got antsy.
When she heard his footsteps getting closer, she leaped out from behind the building and grabbed him by the shoulders. She yelled "Midoriya!" so loud he shrieked and lost his balance. It was a girly kind of shriek, too, the kind of shriek boys liked to make fun of.
"A-Ashido! What are you doing?" He was on the ground now, one hand clutching his heart to keep it from jumping out of his chest. He was not expecting that.
Mina kept a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing, because she would be lying if she said she didn't want to make fun of him. He just made it so easy. Especially when he sounded like that, his voice so high he could've been a girl if she didn't know any better. "I can't believe you actually screamed."
He put his hands up in defense. "I-I was surprised. Did you come out here just to surprise me?"
"Yep." Mina didn't like seeing him so helpless, so she offered her hand. She remembered helping him up last night, too.
"How'd you know I was out here?"
"I saw you when I woke up. And I was going to go back to bed, but I decided I'd rather scare you instead."
"Please don't ever do that again. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack."
She narrowed her eyes and said, "I don't think I can promise that," and Izuku knew she wasn't lying.
He noticed her smile get a thousand times brighter, then, and she leaned in a little closer with this happy-go-lucky kind of expression. He started to sweat. He still wasn't used to being so close to a girl.
"Can I jog with you, Midoriya? You're fine with that, right?" Suddenly she wasn't so tired anymore, and the rays of sunlight streaming across the sky gave her motivation to run and get some exercise.
But after her sudden burst of energy began to waver, she realized how close she was to his face. He had a lot more freckles than she could've imagined, and he was still breathing heavy after his run. Her breath caught in her throat. She backed off a little.
"T-that's fine! But why do you want to jog so suddenly?" he asked.
"Because we're friends, right?"
Izuku hadn't really thought of her as a friend until she mentioned it. The first time they really talked was yesterday, less than twelve hours ago, and most of that time was allotted to dancing. But he had a lot of fun hanging out with her, so he decided he was okay with it. "Yeah, I guess so."
They started running at a steady pace both of them could keep up with, until she was out of breath and he took the lead. The February breeze felt a lot colder now that he had taken off, and she wanted to use her Quirk to catch up with him. But as she watched him in the distance, she decided that wouldn't be fair because he could've used his Quirk, too, if he wanted to. He didn't though, because someone like him wouldn't do that. So she wouldn't either.
After finishing a few more laps, Izuku stopped at the building's front entrance and waited for Mina. She showed up, eventually, but she was staggering and dropped to the ground the moment she reached him, her breathing coarse and scratchy in her throat.
"My legs feel like jelly. How do you do that every morning without dying?" she asked.
"I kind of just got used to it after a while. It's good exercise for my Quirk."
Mina felt like she lacked something. Izuku had such a big incentive, one that couldn't be touched by villains or physical setbacks or pretty much anything. She didn't think she'd ever met someone with a motivation as strong as his. Bakugo was a close second, but his heart wasn't in the right place to be a hero.
Mina sighed. "I tell myself that all the time, that training is for the best, but I don't think I have the stamina to run for that long."
"If you keep working at it, you'll get stamina eventually. It took me a while to get in shape, too. I could never run like this before I got into U.A, so don't quit now." He smiled, and Mina had one of those moments where it was impossible for her not to smile. But if she did smile it would be embarrassing, so she tried to keep a straight face.
The sky was getting brighter, and the stars that were visible a few moments ago had vanished in the morning light. Her classmates would be waking up now. "This sucks. I wanted to dance before breakfast!"
He shrugged. "It's too late now, but maybe we can after class."
"Okay. You still need a lot of work, Midori," she said, flicking his forehead. It felt customary for her to do that, natural.
"Midori?"
Oh, God. She hadn't even realized she called him that.
"I-I can call you that, right? As a nickname? I think it suits you. Don't you think it has a nice ring—"
"U-uhm, that's fine. If you want to call me that, I guess."
She was glad Izuku didn't mention anything more about it because it was embarrassing, and it kind of just slipped out. Was it weird for her to call him Midori? It just seemed like a weird nickname to call someone. Oh well, she probably wouldn't be using it anyway.
Inside, some of their classmates were making breakfast. Most of them were still in their rooms, though, getting ready. The few who were already downstairs swiveled their heads when the two of them walked in, and Izuku even noticed Kirishima raising an eyebrow.
It must've been strange to be walking around with Mina, seeing as they never would've done that before yesterday, and he felt like the center of attention until she said she forgot her phone upstairs. He wasn't too keen on being the center of attention unless he was saving peoples' lives.
His phone buzzed in his back pocket. It was Uraraka. Hey I was wondering if maybe we could talk?
He swallowed down his doubts. He didn't want to talk to her because he wasn't sure he'd be able to form a sentence, but at the same time he did because he wanted to know where they stood relationship-wise.
Sure. I'm over on the couch and no one else is over here.
Izuku spent the next five minutes waiting for her, and when the elevator doors finally opened, he let out the breath he'd been holding. She was already in her uniform and avoided any greetings from her classmates before sitting beside him. She was so close their shoulders were almost touching.
"I-I know we haven't really talked since yesterday, Deku, but I've just been wondering what we are a-and stuff like that."
Uraraka wouldn't face him, her head turned to the window. He thought about resting his hand on top of hers, but he didn't know if that would make things awkward, so he didn't. "O-oh, you're talking about our relationship."
"Yeah. I really, really like you, Deku. And I want to be your g-girlfriend. But you could probably assume that since I asked you to the dance," she said, getting quiet suddenly like she realized where they were. And then she took his hand in hers, and he realized he shouldn't have been worried over what was considered awkward or not because her fingers were gentle and soft, and he was about to have a girlfriend. For the first time ever.
He composed himself. "I want to be with you, too, U-Uraraka. But I think we should maybe wait a little?"
"Okay. For how long?"
"How about until after the dance. I know it's over a month away, but it might be good to wait until our second year to be together. And, well, final exams are coming up."
She almost reached over and took his arm, but she remembered half the class was right behind them, their voices hushed by the sound of pots and pans clattering.
Her shoulders fell as she let go of his hand. "Yeah, I agree."
But she didn't agree. She wanted more than anything to hook his arm around hers and to be with him now—today and tomorrow and every day after that. But he was right. They were aiming toward becoming pro heroes. They should at least finish their first year at U.A. before thinking about romance.
"But w-we can still be friendly, right? And after the dance, we can be together, right?" Izuku listened to the way her voice rose suddenly, almost as if she was pleading. He nodded.
She was playing with her hair, weaving it between her fingers carefully, and that's when he noticed the grin she was wearing, wide enough that she could've been the happiest girl on the planet. He wasn't sure he could've smiled like that because he was so nervous.
He wanted to stay and talk to her, his future girlfriend, but he remembered he was still in gym clothes, and his stomach rumbled whenever the smell of breakfast wafted through the room. So he headed upstairs.
He pulled out his phone on the way up, hands shaking against the screen, and he thought about texting a friend about what just happened. Telling Iida would be waste, because he would just tell him to focus on his studies more even though he was focusing on his studies enough already.
Instead, he opened Mina's contact and hit message. The screen was blank, void of any texts they may or may not have sent. He couldn't remember texting Mina before this, but he couldn't say for sure because he usually didn't remember trivial things like that.
He stared at the keypad for a second and didn't type anything, and then he laughed at himself and tucked his phone back into his pocket. He couldn't bare the weight of her knowing something like that, especially since word spread fast enough on its own.
~
Mina was in Hagakure's room, curled up in a ball in her friend's blankets as she peeled the newly added layer from her skin, trying to tear the whole thing off in one swift motion instead of in little flaky pieces. But she was making a mess anyway, and her friends were having the same problem. She reminded herself to stop buying this brand.
"Finally." Mina sighed as she glided her hands over her cheeks—soft as a baby's.
"You said it. Those things were a pain, ribbit," Asui groaned, dropping the remains of her face mask in the trash. The girls nodded.
Hagakure shrugged. "At least the boys will think we look nice."
"Speaking of boys . . ."
Mina shut up right then before it was too late, but it was too late anyway because she already caught everyone's attention. They waited for her to continue, but she just giggled because she couldn't spit the words out, her cheeks turning lilac when she realized she couldn't turn back. Not that she minded not being able to turn back.
She glanced at Uraraka, who was giving her the stink eye. "Mina!" she whispered loudly. A little too loudly. It took a second before Uraraka realized her mistake.
"Oh my gosh, Ochako. Is there a boy we don't know about?" Hagakure said, her voice shrill with anticipation.
"N-no! Mina's making stuff up. I really don't know what she's talking about."
"Does it have to do with Midoriya?" Jirou asked.
"N-no. I-it has nothing to do with him!"
Mina watched from afar as the girls circled Uraraka, trapping her like a game of cat and mouse. Eventually, once she was completely cornered, she folded and told them the whole story. From barely being able to keep her feelings under wraps all the way to asking Izuku to the dance. And then she told them about something that not even Mina knew, about something that happened yesterday morning.
She tried not to lose it right then, tried not to go off the rails and swoon, but finally, finally, there was a romance blossoming between her classmates, something Mina had been hoping for since the very beginning of the year. And better yet it was a romance between two of her friends, one of them being the girl she talked to most often and the other being the boy she wanted to get to know better, because over the last few days she rarely felt happier than the moments they spent laughing at his horrible dance moves.
It wasn't weird for her to hang out with him even though he was with Uraraka, right? She got nervous for a second, but she relaxed when she realized Uraraka wouldn't care, especially when she had no reason to be worried.
"I'm so happy for you," Mina said, sneaking in and giving Uraraka a hug. Uraraka pushed her away, though, because she wanted to peel off the rest of her face mask. She did that and then said she needed to charge her phone, only to realize she forgot the charger in her room.
As soon as she was gone, everyone's eyes shot to Mina. And at first she was a little confused on why, but as they stared, their gazes unwavering, it hit her.
"So, Mina, which one of them told you they were a thing? Because you've been spending a lot of time with Midoriya lately."
Mina's smile fell at Jirou's accusation, and she started laughing that awkward kind of laugh, the kind of laugh that was only there to fill the silence. "Guys, please. Midoriya told me. So what? We're friends."
"Why are you two suddenly so close, though? I've never seen the two of you together until recently," Yaoyorozu said. She sounded concerned.
"I'm just teaching him how to dance, because he can't. Like, at all." She almost laughed, but she took a moment to collect herself. "Will you guys please get off my case?"
"Why isn't Ochako just teaching him?" Hagakure asked.
"Because she can't dance either!"
Yaoyorozu raised her hand. "I'm the one who's teaching her. You may not believe it, but I've been to quite a few ballroom dances."
"I'm just surprised Ochako is okay with you teaching him. She's totally the jealous type," Jirou said, laying back on the bed and curling one of her earphone jacks around her finger.
"Obviously she's not going to care, because she has nothing to be jealous of. We're friends. Besides, he's not even my type. He's a nerd, and there's no way I could fall for someone like that."
Nevermind falling for him, just liking him in the first place was impossible. He was an All Might fanboy, someone who spent his very minimal free time collecting action figures and hero posters.
And Mina was glad it was impossible, because she would be doomed, unbelievably and inescapably doomed, if she ever caught feelings for Izuku. Especially since he already liked someone, and she liked him back.
To flee the allegations being forced upon her, she glanced out to the balcony. The curtains were open, letting her see the one person she really wished she hadn't. Not right now. He was training as always, and Mina felt like he could hear everything they were saying even though he couldn't. But her face got hot anyway, cheeks turning a faint shade of lavender.
"Is he out there, ribbit?"
"No," she lied.
"Anyway, Mina, that's where you're wrong. Sure, you might have a type, but do you even know what your type is? Have you ever been in love?"
"No. Of course not. I'm sixteen," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Exactly. So your type could be anyone. Even guys like Midoriya," Hagakure said, trying to prove her previous point.
"Guys, I'm never going to fall for Midoriya. I'm just not."
"That's what I said back in junior high. I was wrong. Very, very wrong."
"Wait, Toru, you've been in love?" Jirou asked.
"Uhm, I don't know. I think so. Maybe."
"With who?"
"A boy in my junior high school."
Mina perked up, her jaw dropping all the way to the floor. "Tell us the details. Now."
"Okay, so this was in my last year of junior high, and there was this boy in my class who I was friends with. You guys wouldn't know him. Anyway, we were friends, but I don't think he ever looked at me the way I looked at him because I'm invisible."
"But how did you, like, fall for him?" Mina asked. She watched Hagakure tense up, and she wondered if she would be blushing if she wasn't invisible.
"W-well, it just kind of happened. Suddenly I couldn't really think of anything else besides him. But we were close friends by that point, so I decided to keep my mouth shut. And then he got a girlfriend, and I cried a lot when I first found out. But I'm over it now. I don't talk to him anymore."
"So it wasn't magical and amazing?" Mina said.
"No. Well, it was at first, and then it was painful, and I kind of wished it never happened."
There was a silence as Hagakure really appreciated the looks on their faces. "What's wrong, guys?"
"I just can't believe you were in love and didn't tell us until now," Jirou said.
"I didn't really want to remember it."
She felt desperate hands reach for her shoulders, then, and looked up to see Mina only inches from her face. "How could you not tell me, Toru? This is, like, insane! I thought Ochako was the only one who had been in love."
Mina felt a little betrayed by her friend, especially since love was the thing she did best. Or at least she liked to think so, but apparently two of her friends had been in love and she didn't even know it.
"Mina, please leave her alone. She is clearly uncomfortable." Yaoyorozu got between the two of them and pulled Mina away.
"As I was trying to prove with that whole story, it's easy to fall in love. So don't get too ahead of yourself, Mina."
"Yeah, whatever," she mumbled. "Anyone else have a love story they haven't told me?"
They heard the door click and fixed their gazes onto Uraraka, who had her phone charger in hand. "Sorry I took so long. It was hidden under my bed and I couldn't find it. What are we talking about?"
"Nothing of importance," Yaoyorozu said.
"The bad face masks still, ribbit."
Everyone, especially Mina, thanked Asui for the quick excuse.
Somehow they got on the topic of boys again, and Mina was grateful because none of the girls ever talked about boys. She thought they were just scared to get made fun of or something, like everyone would think their crushes were ugly. But that was the thing about crushes: they were often so strangely personal that no one else could wrap their heads around them.
But the sad part of it all was that none of them even had crushes. They just didn't have love stories in the first place. It wasn't like she could talk, though, because she only had two boyfriends during the entirety of middle school. Both relationships ended in regret, and both relationships lasted less than a few months.
"So, ribbit, who do you guys think is the cutest boy in class?" Asui asked.
Mina pondered over it for so long she wasn't even sure what the question was anymore. She tried to think of someone, really, but she was at a total loss. Sure, she thought plenty of the boys in their class were cute, but none of them really struck her as exceptional.
The only person she could think of was Izuku and his freckles and his pretty eyes, the lively green ones that stood out against everything. She noticed them that first night when she caught him dancing in the dark, and she guessed she was thinking of them now because she hadn't really been around any other boys since then.
She shook it off and thought about simply saying Kirishima, but she didn't want to set off any sparks in her friends' minds in the wrong direction. She hung out with Kirishima enough as it was, and there was no reason to make people think they liked each other.
She gave up agonizing over it and just ended up saying Todoroki or Bakugo or someone like that. She didn't bother to remember who it was, and she certainly wasn't going to when she woke up the next morning. So she tucked herself into her sleeping bag and nestled between Jirou and Yaoyorozu, falling asleep sometime after midnight.
~+~
Again, sorry for the boring chapter. Next chapter will not only explain the title I gave this story, but it will also serve as a way to build up Izuku and Mina's relationship, so there's that to look forward to. I'm really excited to write it!!