A/N: Hey guys! It's been about two weeks since I posted my A/N (which I highly recommend reading if you haven't already and would like an explanation on the unusually long hiatus), and although this chapter is short, I finally have it out! This is probably the shortest chapter I've written, and I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, but this is solely meant to be a bridge chapter between the previous one and the next so that the jump between them doesn't seem so awkward. Also, school is starting for me in less than a week, and with a very, very busy schedule during the fall, updates might be rare and sporadic. Things will clear up in the winter, though, and I should have my posts more organized. Hopefully by then I'll almost be done with this fic! Anyway, thank you all for your patience—it really does mean a lot to me—and enjoy the chapter!
~+~+~
This was the first time in a while where the week didn't go by in the blink of an eye—and no, it might've been okay if it was simply due to excitement, but that was definitely not the case. Time just seemed to drag on, each day getting longer and longer until Mina ultimately reached her end goal: freedom. But as it stood now, being only Friday, she'd have to sit through a whole weekend, so for now she'd just have to do what she did best and make the most out of the moment.
Those who'd been forbidden from attending class (deservingly, they'd admit, since they did break the rules, but what made their lives miserable was knowing they'd have to make up all the work at a later date) gathered around the kitchen counter to grab something quick to eat before returning to their necessary chores. Mina, as per usual, was in way too merry of a mood, and decided this was the perfect opportunity to make everyone some sandwiches. Random, she knew, but she was hungry, and it just so happened that there was a leftover jar of Marshmallow Fluff in the fridge. She went a little overboard with the fluff and a little light on the peanut butter (fluffernutters had always been her favorite), but she had a feeling everyone liked them that way anyway.
Even Izuku, who was super strict about his calorie intake, managed to get his hands on one of her sugary creations. She made his with a little extra peanut butter just because she knew he'd like it like that, and extra peanut butter equaled extra protein!
She ended up sneaking a spot next to him as well, maneuvering her way between his seat and Kirishima's, and the smile she'd been wearing since the morning only grew wider. He was the thing that'd kept her together this week—through thick and thin, through each and every time she felt like giving up, he was always in the back of her mind, pressing her to go on. If he wasn't there she wasn't sure what she would've done, since he was surely the only reason she could be in such a good mood despite the depressing circumstances. They'd never had the chance to spend this much time together, the chance she'd always needed to truly sort out her feelings, not without Uraraka getting in the way or their classmates keeping them separated, and Mina absolutely loved it. She loved the way it made her feel, the way he made her feel, and she realized for what must've been the very first time that he was the person she wanted to spend forever with.
Suddenly her face set fire, and she hurriedly shook off the butterflies that'd been fluttering around in her stomach to keep from seeming suspicious. This was a big thing to realize.
Once she learned to think straight again, she glanced around the room to make sure no one had noticed her peculiar behavior. Thankfully nobody did.
Mina, Izuku, and a few of their fellow classmates ate in blissful silence while Kirishima tried his best to finish his food fast so he could get back to work. Others struck up a conversation. Bakugo was a bit behind, so he had to grab a snack instead of sitting down with everyone else. They were all a little grateful for his absence.
Kirishima, who'd been unusually quiet for the past few minutes, finally perked up with something to say. "Hey, how's everyone feeling about Final Exams?"
Mina froze.
Final Exams?
What Final Exams?
The ones Mr. Aizawa had said to very meticulously prepare for because they pretty much determined their grades for the entirety of the third semester?
She hadn't forgotten, had she?
Holy. Freaking. Crap. She had.
They were... When were they again? Monday? They started on Monday, and she hadn't even studied yet!
"Final Exams? What? I... I totally forgot!"
Izuku glanced her way, eyes filled with concern. "Um, Ashido, they start next week. You know that, right?"
Everyone else seemed stunned that she'd neglected to notice the most important test of the year sneaking up on her. She whined and held her head in frustration, angry at nobody but herself. But because she was petty, she still took it out on her friends. "Why didn't you guys tell me?"
"We thought you knew!" Sero shouted.
"You know I don't pay attention in class! Why didn't you set up something, like a group study sesh?"
Kaminari crossed his arms. "C'mon, Ashido. 'Cause that's boring. This is your fault. Don't blame it on us."
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. But what am I supposed to do?" she whined.
Kaminari shrugged. "You're gonna have to figure it out. I mean, honestly, I wouldn't have expected any less from you in the first—"
Kirishima slapped him on the shoulder to shut him up, and Izuku, feeling empathetic about her current situation, offered his condolences. "I-I can help you study. I need to go over some topics anyway. Whatever you need."
"I know you don't want to do that, Midoriya. Besides, it's already too late. There's too much for me to remember."
Izuku furrowed his eyebrows, partly out of anger and partly out of pity. "Well we can at least try."
"He makes a good point," Kirishima said.
Mina lifted her head from the table, still moping. She gave Izuku a look, one filled with suspicion and uncertainty. "Really? You'd do that? Even while we're still on house arrest?"
"Yes, Ashido. I'd be happy to."
In no time flat her frown flipped into a smile, and her eyes lit up like nebulas in the night sky. She wasn't sure what to do with the excitement of finally finding hope, and so, pleading for his comfort, she turned toward Izuku. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so, so much, Midori!" she squealed, leaning over her seat and wrapping her arms around him.
He froze, embarrassment through the roof, wondering whether or not to push her away. His friends were watching right in front of his eyes, and they were the type to tease.
"Um, A-Ashido..."
As realization dawned across her face, Mina tried to keep her cool. She'd reacted too swiftly, done something she might regret. "Sorry for surprising you, Midori, but I'm just so happy!" she squeaked, slithering her way away from him and sitting up straight, and she wouldn't have looked her classmates in the eye if her life depended on it. They were definitely looking at her funny; she could tell. "How about tonight? Let's meet here at seven once we finish our chores."
"Okay," he said. "And don't forget your books."
"I won't," she promised, and it was officially set in stone.
~+~
It was already dark by the time Izuku made it downstairs. There, sitting in the same seat as earlier, was Mina, waiting for him.
When she waved him over he immediately noticed how prepared she'd come, the backpack tossed over her chair chock-full of books and binders. Part of him thought she wouldn't have taken this seriously.
The moment he sat down was the moment they got to work, and as much as he wanted to talk all night and into the next day and then into the next and maybe even endlessly (he had a lot of things he wanted to say to her, a lot of little things), he knew how important it was that they study. Algebra II was first on the list of topics they needed to cover.
"So in order to find the base ten logarithm of 1,000, we have to figure out what power of ten equals that, which, in this case would be—"
"I'm sorry, Midoriya, and I know how frustrating this seems, but I barely even know what a logarithm is."
"But, Ashido, we've gone over it three times already."
Mina twiddled her thumbs, looking nervously down at her notebook. She could feel Izuku's aggravation through his words despite how hard he tried to hide it, and she didn't blame him because she was aggravated too. This was simple, yet she couldn't even get this right. "I know, but it's super confusing, and I'm too stupid to figure it out!" she said, and it felt less like a statement and more like something she should've admitted a long time ago.
He sighed, catching himself before calling her out on that last line. She wasn't stupid, and she knew that. But he couldn't blame her for feeling that way. "No you're not," he said, the greens of his eyes sullen. His hand was close enough to hers to where he could've reached out for it if he wanted to, but he thought that might make her uncomfortable. "You just need a little push in the right direction. Let's try something easier. How about equations and inequalities?"
"Talk about inequalities," she said, partly ignoring his previously mentioned advice, "look at how big your hands are compared to mine. Like, jeez, how'd I never notice?"
Truth was, she had noticed. She just wanted an excuse to touch him. And with their hands so close, she could easily slide her fingers under his, lifting them up and pressing their palms together.
She giggled, and she was glad when she realized she wasn't the only one blushing. Was it because it was her whose hand he was touching, or was it just because of the bad joke?
"What the hell? Your hand is literally, like, twice the size of mine," she said, trying to lighten the mood even more than she already did before. He bent the tips of his fingers over hers and cracked a smile as soon as she tried to hide her amusement, which lead to them both breaking out in a much needed fit of full-fledged laughter.
Mina couldn't explain why, but it all felt so natural.
He was feeling the same thing; even Izuku, the densest of dense, couldn't have missed it—it was so cut and dry.
They were more than friends, but less than lovers.
He left his hand on hers for a few extra seconds before reality set in and he took it away. He looked her in the eye, which they'd been doing nearly the whole time they'd been down here, but this time he looked a little more serious, and her heart skipped a beat. "And, for the record, you know you're not dumb."
She breathed. She thought he'd say something else.
"I know," she said, hiding her hands in the sleeves of her sweater. "But I can be sometimes."
And there it was, that awkward atmosphere that'd interfered with whatever was going on between them, an undeniable realization hanging heavily over their heads. It was best left unsaid, but they both knew what the other was thinking: We can never be more than this.
At least not with Uraraka around.
And even if Uraraka was gone, it'd all be too fast. Izuku would look like an ass.
Thank God they were alone. Everyone else was in the other room studying and hanging out, Uraraka included, and unless they willingly turned their backs to the TV, which was surely more interesting than whatever they were doing, they wouldn't be seen.
So would it be wrong for her to shoot her shot?
But then again, their classmates were close, this wasn't the right time, and it'd only make the reality ten times harder to handle if she heard it from Izuku himself: We can't.
So she stayed quiet and studied equations and inequalities, occasionally looking up at Izuku's freckled face whenever she began to miss it. They laughed a bunch, and another thing
that was left unspoken was that they couldn't be too obvious about how much fun they were having, or somebody, Uraraka in particular, would notice.
Eventually, once they'd gone over everything they needed to learn for math, science, and English, Mina began to doze off in the comfort of her own arms. She leaned her head against the granite that coated the countertop and used the last of her energy to mutter the words, "Wanna go to the beach with me?"
He stopped in the middle of stuffing his books into his backpack. "But, Ashido, Finals are coming up."
She groaned, mad that he'd questioned her. Was it okay to fall asleep now, without even giving him the answer he needed for closure? Curfew was approaching and everyone else had already headed upstairs, but she couldn't seem to stand up or even try to pick a fight with her overwhelming exhaustion. "Friday. When they're over. It doesn't have to be just us. I can invite other people... if you want..."
"We don't have to. Invite other people, I mean," he said, resting his head in his hands and glancing out the window sill like he didn't want to give into the reality, "but we probably should."
He simply got a snore in response, and when he realized Mina was falling asleep, right there on the kitchen counter, he figured she hadn't heard him.
"Ashido."
No response.
"You awake?"
Nothing.
And so he smiled, resting his head on the table, and all of a sudden they were at the same eye level. This felt so much more... intimate. And Mina may not have realized, but he was admiring her. He wasn't sure what prompted him to do this, and it was a somewhat risky move since he could easily be seen by someone if they decided to come downstairs, but he wasn't going to stop.
Was he catching feelings?
Probably, and with the amount of trouble that could spell, it certainly wasn't a good thing.
But he couldn't help himself. She was just so stunning, so unique—everything about her was an enigma, mysterious but in a good way.
But shouldn't he reconsider? Feelings meant a lot, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to tackle that head-on. But then he realized: he'd practically been flirting with her today, and lately he'd been starting to see Uraraka as more and more of a hindrance and Ashido as more and more of a pleasure to be around.
Even all through this week, she was his most important person.
His face lit up as it dawned upon him that he really was catching feelings, feelings feelings, for another girl.
Not another girl. Mina Ashido. He was catching feelings for Mina Ashido.
He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one else was around, and when he realized they really were alone he admired her some more. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with these feelings in the far future, but for now this was fine.
It wasn't long before he was asleep too.
~+~
It was already a little past curfew when Kaminari and Kirishima snuck downstairs for a late night snack. They spotted two of their classmates in the corner of the kitchen sleeping across from each other, and, wanting to investigate a little, they walked in their direction.
"Should we wake them up?" Kaminari asked.
Kirishima smiled and shook his head. The peaceful expression Mina was wearing and the slight upturn of Izuku's lips made him think otherwise. "Don't. They're in the middle of a good night's sleep."
~+~+~
A/N: I hope you guys liked that! Again, thank you all for your patience. And sorry if I messed up any of the math stuff, or bored you with it—I haven't studied Algebra II yet. Next chapter will be really, really exciting, I promise. It'll probably be out in around two weeks since I'm starting high school in a couple days, but it'll definitely be worth the wait!