The morning after that sparring match, she noticed a note was slipped under her door. She scratched her neck and bent down to inspect it. It was blue, with a short message on it.
'Please consider sparring at a reasonable time and day and set a time limit for it. Mr. Aizawa scolded me for not being responsible enough to notice the time and to tell all of my classmates to head to bed.
-Iida Tenya'
She shook her head and picked it up. Folding it up, she heard loud footsteps nearing her door. It was only 5 in the morning, so why would someone be making a racket at this hour? (Name) stood up to open the door, but was beat to it by the person outside.
They had kicked the door open and yelled out loud, not only causing a small headache to the girl but also a heart attack.
"We should totally spar some time, (Name)!" Kirishima hovered over her, the girl dizzy and groaning from the impact of the door on her face. The red head gasped, and helped the girl sit up. He could see a red mark on her bridge of her nose. That was probably his fault.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she lightly smacked the male on the face, a smile plastered on hers. "If you wanted to spar with me, you should've just asked, you idiot! No need to parade into my room at five in the morning."
"Aren't you mad?"
"Huh?"
"I slammed the door in your face and you're not angry?"
(Name) laughed and pinched his cheek, pulling on his face left to right. "I'm not Bakugo, Kiri. Forgiveness and patience is in my vocabulary."
"What do you think you're doing in miss Saito's room, Kirishima Eijiro? Are Mr. Aizawa's rules not clear to you? He separated our rooms for a reason!" Tenya was in front of her door, his arms and hands extended as he scolded and interrogated Kirishima about his current location. (Name) and the red-head exchanged looks, the girl laughing out loud.
Standing up, she put a hand on her nose. She pat Iida's shoulder saying, "Well, you're not exactly following him either. You're on the girl's area as well, aren't you, Tenya? And how did you even know that Kiri-kun was here?"
He froze at her statement. She got him.
He then bowed at her, making various apologies and excuses. He racked his brain to make a proper sentence that didn't include 'follow', 'sparring' and 'interest'. Clearly he failed, since he was only spouting nonsense.
"It's okay, it's okay. I assure you. Now that you're up and awake, let's make breakfast for everyone." she waved her hand, beckoning them to follow her downstairs. She was already hungry when she woke up, so a delectable bacon and eggs and pork tonkatsu with orange juice and tea was engraved on her mind.
She was drooling at the juicy pork and bacon, imagining the taste of complete euphoria in her mouth as she chewed on the crunchy bits of the meat, and drinking in that tangy flavored juice, along with the relaxation the tea was able to give.
"I CAN'T WAIT!" she yelled and ran down the stairs instead of using the elevator, leaving the males behind.
"She can be really insane when food comes into the picture, especially with that ice cream cake she really likes." Kirishima sighed, walking into the elevator with Iida. He and the guy weren't very close before but ever since that incident with Bakugo, they were becoming good friends as time passes.
He also noticed something about Tenya that raised many suspicions in his mind.
"I have heard that women love eating, but I have never seen it up close. She can be a slave to food, and with her rapid intake of those ice cream cake treats she may increase weight and become slower in her actions and-"
Kirishima watched as he rambled again. He shook his head and pushed the button to catch up with the girl.
"Y'know , Iida... I've noticed something about you and (Name) recently."
That sentence alone managed to stop him from speaking any longer.
The blue haired male looked at the other, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.
"R-really?"
"Mmh, yeah. Your little interactions, your personality around her. If I would be so bold, I'd even assume that you liked her."
Iida flinched, pink dusting his cheeks as his words affected him. He thought he was keeping that secret pretty well. He's going to have to work on stealth as well.
"Wh-what? No, I do not."
"Aw, come on man! Don't even bother denying it!" Eijiro slapped his hand onto Tenya's back, making the other cough. "I see how you look at her sometimes when she's alone and reading a book. I see how you try to approach her. I saw how you looked at her while she was sparring with Todoroki. I see how you always see her as a priority."
Iida scoffed and waved his hands around. "Of course she's a priority! All of you are a priority, as class representative, it's my duty to be concerned about my classmate's well being!"
"Oh, like how you instantaneously came to her when you saw her slamming her head onto that table?" Kirishima smirked and crossed his arms. That was kind of funny. He even thought she was trying to be like him. "She was in pain!" the other defended.
'Why is he even bringing this up?' he thought. It isn't like middle school in which they could just take it easy. They were preparing to be heroes, and they shouldn't be discussing about one's interest in the opposite gender.
"Only her noggin was hurting, but you picked her up like she was dying, didn't you?" Kirishima pointed to his head and flicked Iida's. "I also saw how you clenched your fists when Todoroki came to put ice on her bruise! And I still haven't come up with a proper answer of how you caught me in (Name)'s room."
"Very observant, Eijiro." Iida gritted his teeth, covering his red face with his hands. Why was he getting embarrassed because of this? Did anybody else know about this?
"I know, right?" he beamed at him, walking out first and turning to him. "But seriously though... caring for a woman deeply is really manly, Iida. Keep it up, and she might even return what you feel."
"If you do feel anything for her past all that friends and classmates thing."
He then turned to run towards the kitchen, where the girl had already started cooking.
--- Later that day ---
"Kirishima." Iida called out to the red head, the latter turning to face him with a smile.
"So, did my words bring out the real feelings you have for the girl?" he smirked, chuckling at himself. "I hope that you'll tell me the origin of your crush on her. I'm dying to know how she caught your attention, Exit Gate Iida."
"Not here." he looked around and saw the girl with Todoroki, who had a bag of ice cream cakes in his hand, the female jumping up to hug him. Kirishima leaned over to look at what he was staring at, and smiled.
"Alright, alright. Back at the dorms then?"
He agreed.
-
"Do you remember when we were tasked to choose names for our hero personas?" Iida asked, and Kirishima nodded. He remembered choosing "Red Riot" as his name, as homage to Crimson Riot. He was so proud of that name.
"I recall her writing Imane at first, which she explained to be her supposed name. But later on changing it to Wan." Iida pushed up his glasses, some light reflecting off of it. "Oh yeah! Mina even said that 'Wan' sounded like a boy's name." Kirishima scratched his head. He noticed that it was quiet in the dorms, since everyone was still out and about at this time of the day. It felt a bit lonely, but it was better to keep Iida's secret between them.
"She then explained that 'Wan' was the very first person to control all four elements, and since her parents always told her to remember where she came from, she would always think back to him, and not where she was born or what her motives where." he noticed a small smile on his face as he thought about that time. "She said, 'He's the reason I have these powers, he's the reason why I'm able to help people and contribute to the safety of humanity and the world.. He helped a lot of people using his powers and I want to do that, too. The least I can do for him is to honor his name by protecting and fighting as though I am him'."
"That was a great reason behind her hero name. But Miss Midnight asked her to at least put in a feminine name to avoid confusion, so she added Imane after Wan, which might be heard as 'One Imane'. I was impressed and caught captive by her kindness and her gratefulness to the person Wan, and she reminds me of myself. I came to U.A. because I want to be like my brother. I saw some similarities between us and I saw how powerful she can become." he clasped his hands together and leaned on his elbows. "Not only that but she's very beautiful. Her affection towards her friends and her patience and her bravery are very admirable. Her love for simple things such as food and ice cream cakes show that she's not very materialistic. She's simple and I like that. It took me a few days to realize what I felt. I must have been very clueless as to what I was feeling towards her."
Iida looked up to see Kirishima's reaction, and to his surprise he was shedding a single tear.
"So..so honest...So manly!"
"KIRISHIMA DO NOT CRY!"
--
"So what were you doing when I kicked her door open?" he asked, tossing the tissue paper right into the mouth of the trash can. "I wanted to ask her if she saw my note. It is important for her to be reminded of the rules Mr. Aizawa has set. I don't wish for her to get scolded because of my ignorance."
"I'm so tired!" a voice suddenly came from behind them. They turned their heads to see (Name) and Todoroki walking in the common room together. Their uniforms were dirty and the girl looked like she was sweating a lot.
"Hey, (Name), Todoroki." Kirishima waved over to them, his eyes on Iida as he greeted them. "What happened? You look beat up."
The girl acknowledged them, and Todoroki gave a curt nod.
"Mr. Aizawa asked us to stay after class to clean up the classroom and the courtyard of the dorms because we stayed up last night. Didn't you guys see us?" (Name) walked up to them and jumped over the couch, laying down next to Eijiro. "Uh, we were talking." he replied, looking over at Iida. He was sweating, too.
"What about?" she caught Todoroki by his shirt, preventing him from leaving. She dragged herself up by pulling on his arm and stood beside him.
"Just man stuff. You know, the usual." Kirishima shrugged, feeling the eyes of his blue haired classmate boring a hole into the back of his head. "You shouldn't listen in, it's not your style."
The girl hummed and blew a raspberry at him, jumping onto Todoroki's back, his hands immediately holding onto her legs. "Whatever losers. Bring me to my room, bestie! I'm too lazy to walk."
"..No." he gently let go of her thighs and set her down. He pat her head and apologized with a low voice. "Sorry. I want to eat first. Go on ahead to your room, I'll visit later to play video games with you." He walked away and towards the kitchen to grab some food.
(Name) pouted and slowly walked towards the elevator.
"Iida! It's your time to shine! When the opportunity comes, take it!" Kirishima whispered and elbowed the person next to him, and Tenya complied, standing up and walking over to her. "If you're as tired and lazy as you claim to be, then allow me to carry you to your room, Saito-chan!"
"No, you don't have to. I can't keep abusing my friends' kindness. Shoto keeps on buying me Ice cream cakes, and bears with me all the time. He's always there for me and I shouldn't take advantage of that. I can't do that to you too. Go back to Eijiro-kun and talk about whatever men talk about. I gotta go shower and change anyways." (Name) smiled at him and pat his hair softly, like Todoroki did to her earlier. "Thanks for the offer anyways, Tenya. Always so ready to help.". She walked inside the elevator and closed the door, Iida watching as it took her to her floor, his face flushed pink from her use of his given name.
As he walked back, Kirishima spotted him. "Back so soon? Did she reject your offer?" he asked and waited for him to sit down on the couch. "Yes." he replied, light glinting off of his glasses.
"In the most understanding way possible."
"Are you crying?"
---
So! Iida likes you because you have some similarities with each other, where as Todoroki likes you because of your personality.
Two down, three more to go.
I wonder who's next?
See you soon!