Chapter Text
Chapter 19: Those Heart-Pounding Days of Youth!
Another day of heroic learning was set to begin for Class 1-B. However, in a change of pace, Izuku and Ochako were the first ones there.
'Huh, that's odd.' Izuku thought as he tried to remember why exactly Tenya and Yosetsu were running late. The two started to place their bags on their desks.
"Looks like we're the first here," Ochako stated as she walked towards Izuku.
"Seems like it," the greenette said as he took his books out of his backpack. "I never noticed how big this classroom is—"
KABEDON!
Before Izuku knew what had happened, he was pushed back to the wall, and Ochako slammed her hands against the wall, trapping him. He looked at the brunette and saw a rather...hungry look on her face.
"O-Ochako?" He felt his face burn up with how close their faces were. But before he could say anything, Ochako shushed him by placing a finger on his mouth.
"We got some time to ourselves. We should make the most of it. Right, I-zu-ku?"
Izuku couldn't believe this was happening! The kindest and most badass girl he knew was flirting with him! Looking at him with such a flirtatious look in her eyes and closing in for a kiss. Izuku puckered his lips, ready to kiss her...but then, he felt like the world turned and...
BONK!
"Owowow!" Izuku groaned as he clutched his head. But when he blinked his eyes open, he wasn't in the classroom. He was in his dark room; his bed covers dragged down with him onto the floor with him. Izuku saw he had also knocked his phone from his night table and picked it up, seeing that it was 4:30 in the morning.
It was there, lying on the floor and staring up at the ceiling, that Izuku processed what had just happened.
He'd had just dreamt about Ochako. A dream that looked straight out of the pages of a shoujo romance manga. A dream where they were about to kiss.
Izuku put his hands over his tomato-red face before screaming into his palms.
'Well, no denying it now.' Izuku thought to himself. Looking back, he couldn't believe how long he'd ignored or overlooked his feelings. How his heart would skip a beat just by looking at her. How the very thought of her smile made his heart flutter. And how the image of her punching something was burned into his brain, which was one of the most beautifully awesome things he had ever seen.
There was no shadow of a doubt; Izuku Midoriya had a stupidly huge crush on his friend Ochako...and had no idea what to do with that revelation.
One month and Three Weeks until the Sports Festival.
"So that's the upgraded design, eh?" Power Loader said as he looked over Izuku's schematics on his laptop while the two sat in the Support Lab. "It's definitely more intimidating and a bit on the chunkier side."
"Well, I figured a bulkier design would allow us to add a thicker layer of Titanium Alpha over the critical joints," Izuku explained, taking a bite out of a candy bar as he did so. "And it would make a cockpit roomier as well. Especially for the new motion-capture controls."
"The armor's doable before the Festival. But changing the control design...that's gonna take a while to test and get all the kinks worked out. I'm talking, like, way after the Sports Festival." He saw his student pout at this. "But that doesn't mean we can't start working on it right away. Gives you time to figure out the right fighting style for it."
That made Izuku smile. As it was right now, the Mo-Cap program was limited by the time it took him to input the commands via the controls. If Striker had a control scheme more akin to something like Gekitohja, then his movements could be instant. As for the fighting style thing...
"Don't worry." Izuku got up and took a boxing stance. "Gunhead-sensei's been putting us through the wringer." He did a little shadowboxing to demonstrate. "I'm sure to find a fighting style that'll fit me and Striker just right."
Izuku got to work developing Striker's new fighting style, asking Rin for a sparring match during Gunhead's class. The greenette threw a punch, but Rin hit it away with his right arm before sweep-kicking at Izuku's ankles, causing him to fall onto the matted floor.
"Nice try, but your movement made it a bit too predictable."
"In that case..." Izuku got up and grabbed Rin's left wrist with his left arm. But Rin retaliated with a chop to his sparring partner's wrist, causing Izuku to flinch and let go. And then, with speed exceeding Izuku's, Rin grabbed Izuku's arm and tossed him over his shoulder.
"Better. But you need to work on your speed." Rin commented before helping Izuku up.
"Right!"
"Okay, now try deflecting one of my punches."
The two boys got ready to continue their practice. Izuku braced himself to deflect Rin's punch, but again, Rin was too fast for him, his fist moving past Izuku's raised forearm and punching him in the face. Izuku tumbled a bit, falling to his knees before getting back up. "Again."
"Right." Izuku took up his stance again. This time, when Rin threw his punch, Izuku managed to at least begin to deflect. But again, Rin's experience meant he was faster, once again knocking Izuku down.
"That's enough." Rin saw Kendo approaching them with an angry look on her face.
"What? We're training." He responded stoically.
"It looks more like you're knocking him down over and over again." She looked down at him. "Midoriya, do you need a bandage or something?"
Izuku scowled but shook his head to get rid of that. "Kendo, it's fine."
"But-"
"A hero needs to be able to take a punch and get back up," Izuku said as he looked at Rin. "Again."
Rin nodded and threw a third punch. This time, Izuku actually managed to deflect it, surprising Kendo and earning a smile from Rin.
One Month, Two Weeks, and Six Days until the Sports Festival.
"Lord above, I know I haven't talked to you in forever, but please, grant me the resolve to make it through the next half hour without me making an ass out of myself."
If there was one thing the Class 1-B didn't expect when they went to change in the locker room, it was Mineta sitting on a bench and praying with such intensity that it would make most priests jealous.
"What's up with the little guy?" Sero asked.
"Dude sounds like he's on death row," Kaibara commented.
"Well, today's gym class involves swimming," Yosetsu said, throwing in his two yen. "And knowing Mineta, he's probably gonna go crazy when he sees the girls in their swimsuits." Though honestly, he couldn't blame the guy.
"Not sure why. These things aren't exactly glamorous," Kamakiri said as he examined the swimsuits that he and all of the boys were wearing. A simple pair of dark blue spandex trunks that weren't even that tight.
"You think that matters to a perv like him?" Kaibara said. "Oh, that reminds me: You guys better not—"
"We won't gawk at Tsunotori," Kuroiro said with a smirk.
"Shit, I'm really that predictable, aren't I?"
"Yup."
Kaminari, however, chuckled at the boys, getting their attention.
"What's so funny, blondy?" Kamakiri asked.
"You guys got Minoru here all wrong," Kaminari said with a smirk. "See, Minoru's actually hoping he can stay on his best behavior...because he doesn't want his crush to think badly of him."
"HUH?!" All of the boys exclaimed. Fukidashi was so surprised that his word balloon head turned into a red exclamation point.
"That's right. See, a few days ago, Minoru and I were messing around by a stairway during our free period, tossing peanuts and trying to catch them in our mouths-"
"Kaminari, you two should have been using that time to study," Tenya exclaimed, raising his arm and chopping the air. Kaminari just gave him a flat look.
"It's also rude to interrupt someone when they're telling a story, Prez."
Tenya was taken aback for a moment before lowering his arm. "My apologies," he said, a touch embarrassed and ashamed. "Please, continue."
"Thank you. So I threw a peanut, and Minoru tripped when he tried to catch it. Dude almost fell down the stairs, but then a giant mushroom popped up out of nowhere and caught him."
"Oh, I think Kacchan mentioned that one of his classmates can do that."
"Komori." The boys turned and saw Mineta with a dumb, love-struck look on his face. "Her name's Kinoko Komori...and she has the prettiest eyes I've ever seen."
"Ya." Kaminari put his open hands in front of his chest to simulate the image of big breasts. "And apparently, they were so pretty that Minoru didn't even realize how stacked she was until he saw her again later that day."
"I mean, those are great too, but Komori is just so... so..." Mineta just gave a happy sigh. "She laughs at my dirty jokes, thinks my puns are great, and she's great at her own mushroom puns, too. We even traded some ideas for costume upgrades."
"Damn, seems like you've got a good thing going on, little dude," Yosetsu said.
"Yeah..." Mineta's expression turned deathly serious. "...and that's why I can't screw this up! In middle school, I got caught stealing a girl's bloomers, and that ruined my social life. I can't let my base urges get the better of me." He then bit his backpack strap out of frustration. "And it's not easy. I'm gonna be exposed to the girls in swimsuits for a whole hour! How am I supposed to stay calm?! Hell, I found a peephole leading to the girl's locker room over there, and it's taking every bit of willpower I have not to peak!"
The boys glanced at where Mineta pointed, seeing the corner of a poster had been flipped over to reveal a small hole. Kaminari, Yosetsu, and Sero shared a look that Tenya had caught.
"Don't even think about it." He warned. The trio said nothing...and then instantly tried to bolt. "Izuku, Kirishima, Kaibara!"
"On it!" Izuku grabbed Yosetsu by the wrist, Kirishima put Sero in a choke hold, and Kaibara locked Kaminari into a Boston Crab.
"Come on, dude!" Sero pleaded.
"Nope, not letting you do this. We're supposed to be heroes-in-training!" Kirishima proclaimed.
"Seriously, Yosetsu?" Izuku asked, feeling a bit disappointed in his fellow super robot otaku.
"Can you blame a guy?" His expression then turned into a smirk. "If it makes you feel any better, I promise I won't look at Ochako."
Izuku's face turned bright red. "W-W-W-Why would you-"
Unfortunately, in his fit of embarrassment, the greenette let go of Yosetsu's wrist, and the guy rushed to look through the peephole. But what he was met with wasn't the forbidden fruits, but rather, a green eye staring back at him.
"AGGGHHH!" Yosetsu jumped back. And from the sounds coming from the other side of the wall, whichever girl was peeking in did the same. "Someone's peeking in on us!"
"You just tried doing the same," Honenuki said. And pretty much all the boys had a good idea which girl was the peeping tom.
"Tokage! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Tenya shouted.
"Hey, you don't know it was me!" The guilty party said from the other side of the wall. "For all you guys know, it could've been Jiro or-OUCH!"
"Don't try to frame me, you perv!" The punk girl's voice shouted from the girl's locker room. Soon, they could hear the sound of Kendo chastising Tokage as well, along with Ochako, Tsunotori, and Hagakure laughing.
A few minutes later, Tokage was grumbling, nursing the spot on her shoulder where Jiro jabbed her. The punk girl, Yanagi, and Hagakure were sitting next to her on the bench while Ochako, Kendo, and Tsunotori were stretching. All seven girls were dressed in swimsuits that were the same color as the boy's swimsuits, though they obviously covered their torsos.
"Way to ruin the fun, Jiro."
"Oh, please. With how you react to guys flirting with you, you probably would've died of a nosebleed if you actually saw something."
"Naw, I saw someone's butt," Tokage said with a proud smile. "And don't act like you aren't interested in any of the guys. I mean, Yanagi probably knows what I'm talkin' about."
The silver-haired girl flinched at that. "W-Whatever do you mean?"
"Come on, Yanagi," Hagakure decided to get in on the gossiping. "We've all seen how you've been looking at Kirishima like a lost puppy."
Jiro didn't say anything, but she silently agreed. With her super-hearing, she often heard small things some of her classmates whispered (accidentally on her part, as it is sometimes hard to block out sounds when bored from one of Ectoplasm's math lessons.) So she often heard Yanagi sighing and whispering the word "Wonderful" whenever she looked at the redhead.
Yanagi's pale skin took on a reddish hue, bringing her hands to her face in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. "Ever since the USJ, I have found myself captivated by Kirishima. His smile is like a brilliantly warm fire, and I am but a lowly moth entranced by its radiance."
"Oh, you got it bad, girl," Hagakure commented.
"You guys sure you don't want to stretch?" Ochako asked.
"We're good," Jiro replied.
"Whatever," Kendo said as she continued her stretching. "You want to gossip about boys and cramp up? Be my guest."
"Ah, Kendo!" The girls saw the boys arriving from the pool, with Tenya walking towards the trio. He was wearing the same swimsuit as the rest of the boys but was also wearing a light blue swimming cap and goggles on his forehead. "I noticed your pre-swimming stretches. A great idea, as expected of my vice president!"
Kendo said nothing, finding her gaze drawn to Tenya's bare torso. After a moment, Tenya's expression changed to one of concern. "Are you feeling well?"
That snapped the orange-haired girl out of her trance. "Y-Yeah, just fine!" she blurted out, quickly doing some shoulder stretches in an attempt to save face.
"Very well," Tenya said, seemingly taking Kendo at her word. "I'll see if I can get some of the boys to do the same."
Kendo sighed as Tenya walked away but then saw the knowing smirks on both Tsunotori and Ochako's faces. "Not. A. Word."
'STEEL YOUR WILL, MINORU!' Mineta mentally chanted himself up, staring at the pool patio and gritting his teeth. 'DON'T OGGLE THE GIRLS! DON'T GIVE IN TO TEMPTATION! OR ELSE KOMORI WILL THINK YOU'RE A FREAK!'
Kirishima saw the intensity with which Mineta was focusing and gave a thumbs up out of respect.
"So, what do you think Kan-Sensei's gonna have us do?" Ochako asked, chatting with Tenya, Yosetsu, and Izuku a bit before the class started.
"Oh...probably just some standard..." Izuku's face was red as he tried to avert his eyes. "...swimming exercises." Every time he looked in Ochako's direction, his eyes would wander to get lost in her adorable face, or his face would get warmer at the sight of her curvy yet muscular body. 'AGH! I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK!'
"Nah, it's gotta something more than that." Yosetsu, for once, did not wear any kind of headband. "Last week, he had us running with weights on our wrists and ankles. The week before that was G-Force training. And earlier that week, he made us hold ourselves up between two walls for as long as we could. He's probably got something crazy swimming regime planned for us today."
Tenya nodded in agreement. Since the start of the semester, the Blood Hero was making good on his promise to make sure Class 1-B was as physically capable as possible. Not just those who signed up for Gunhead-Sensei's Martial Arts Course.
A moment later, Mr. Kan walked out to the pool, clad in a pair of red & black swimming trunks and a whistle on a string around his neck.
"One of the worst things that a pro-hero can encounter is suddenly finding themselves in bodies of water. Sinking evil lairs, river rescues, flooded subway tunnels, you name it. So, it's in every hopeful hero's best interest to be able to swim." He looked at his class. "If anyone here doesn't know how to swim, raise your hand."
Yanagi, Koda, and Jiro raised their hands. "All right, you three will have to partner up with someone to help teach you the basics. As for the rest of you, you'll be going through a series of exercises to gauge your swimming ability, among other things."
"Oh, it's like that test we took at the start of the semester!" Ochako reasoned, getting a confirming nod from Kan.
Tenya volunteered to help out Koda, and Hagakure volunteered to help out Jiro. Which just left Yanagi by herself until...
"Don't worry, Yanagi," Kirishima exclaimed, a toothy grin across his face. "I'll be happy to help you out."
"...oh...okay," Yanagi replied, trying her hardest to hide her growing blush while Kan explained the intended exercises for the period. First would be making sure his students knew how to dive properly in emergency situations.
"I call this one the 'Shamosaurus Splash!'" Tokage said from on top of the high dive platform.
"Tokage, don't!" Kan warned as he and the class watched. "That's a bad i—"
"Geronimo!" The dino-loving girl leaped off the high dive to perform the mother of all belly flops. She landed with a splash, water spraying high into the air. The pool was quiet for a moment, then Tokage's arm floated to the surface. Then, her foot. Then, her leg. Slowly but surely, all of the scattered pieces of Tokage's body floated to the surface, having apparently been broken apart by the force of her ill-advised belly flop.
Takage's head floated along like an apple ripe for bobbing, a dazed and pained look on her face. "...ow."
Kan just sighed. "Someone help me scoop her out."
After Yosetsu and Yanagi had helped him do just that, Sero took him to the diving board.
"Let me show you guys how it's done." Sero placed his hands together and bent his knees. He leaped hands first in an arching motion, breaching the water's surface with barely a splash. He came up and gave a smile and thumbs up while the class clapped like the audience of a tennis match.
As the rest of the class continued their diving exercises, Kirishima was helping out Yanagi, holding her hands as she paddled with her legs.
"Okay, you got a good rhythm going," Kirishima said before letting go of the silver-haired girl. "Now, let me show you the right technique."
Yanagi said nothing for a bit as she looked at her swimming partner. "...your hair."
Kirishima paused, realizing the water had undone his hairdo, and it now lay flat and straight at about chin length. "Oh, yeah. Pretty lame looking, huh?"
Yanagi shook her head. "It looks nice." But she realized what she said, turning her head to keep Kirishima from seeing her blush. If she hadn't turned her head, she would've seen the redhead looking surprised and having a light blush on his face as well.
The next exercise was testing their lung capacity by seeing how long they could hold their breath underwater. Out of all people, Mineta was the one who lasted the longest. As for why?
'Focus, focus!' Mineta chanted to himself as he held his breath underwater. His eyes almost wandered to look at Ochako and Yanagi's chests (the silver-haired girl went up soon afterward), but he closed his eyes with extreme intensity. 'Don't give in! Focus on the exercise! Become a better hero! SO KOMORI WILL THINK YOU'RE COOL!'
But eventually, Ochako and Mineta came back up for air. Kan clicked the stopwatch he was holding to test their time. "36 seconds."
"Woohoo!" Mineta said, wobbling a bit as he stepped out of the pool. Ochako stepped out, looking a bit impressed with herself.
"Didn't know I could hold my breath for that long."
"Yeah," Yosetsu said before pointing to his cheeks. "I wonder why."
Izuku, Tenya, and Ochako were confused for a second before they got what he was getting at. Izuku and Tenya held back chuckles while Ochako got wide-eyed.
"...no one tell Kacchan. He'd never let me hear the end of it."
One Month, Two Weeks, and Five Days until the Sports Festival.
As she walked towards the support lab, Ochako was a bit on the grumpy side as she held a bento she bought from the cafeteria. Izuku practically rushed to the support lab as soon as the lunch bell rang, apparently having just thought of something just before class ended, and he wanted to get on it ASAP. Ochako figured it would probably be helpful to bring him lunch so he wouldn't forget to eat.
This wasn't the first time she had done this. Izuku had been super-focused on fine-tuning Striker for the Sports Festival. Not that she could blame him. Between her usual training with All Might and Gunhead's martial arts class, Ochako often ended the day with a few sore muscles.
But the fact that she was bringing Izuku lunch wasn't what had gotten her in a bad mood. It was more due to a recent discovery she had learned; mainly that a good chunk of their classmates (and even some from 1-A) thought that she and Izuku were dating!
The first she heard that was during a sparring session with Ashido. When Izuku helped Ochako up after falling before going back to sparing with Kirishima, Ashido gave a mischievous smile and said that Ochako was lucky that her boyfriend was in the same class as her. Naturally, the brunette tried to correct her, surprised that someone would mistake Izuku for her boyfriend.
Moreover, as it turns out, that was something that a few of their classmates just assumed. It definitely explained Mineta's choice of words back at the USJ. Tokage and Hagakure teased Ochako about it a few times (though that was pretty much expected from those two), and even today, Kaminari teased Ochako, saying Izuku's a lucky guy to have a cute girl like her bringing him lunch.
This confused and annoyed Ochako because she and Izuku weren't even dating! And it's not like Izuku was her only guy friend! She was just as close with Kacchan, Tenya, and Yosetsu. And she was friendly with a few guys in her class, like Kirishima and Mineta.
Though as she was walking towards the support lab, a thought occurred to Ochako. She thought back to some of her interactions with Izuku and how they differed from her other male friends.
Out of everyone she knew, Izuku was the one she felt the most comfortable around. Yeah, when it came to more private, feminine stuff, she obviously talked to Mei and, more recently, Tsu about that kind of stuff. But everything else? The first person she went to was often Izuku.
Which, on some level, made sense. Ochako didn't really have a lot of close friends back in Jakuto. Mostly due to her own hesitance to go out with anyone and her concern about her family's money. Not to mention that middle school students weren't exactly friendly to chubbier girls with a weird laugh and a weird Quirk like her. And by the time she got into shape to handle One for All, she was already enrolling in U.A.
So Izuku, this awkward yet kind boy she met on the beach, was her first real friend. His muttering was a bit weird at first, but she got used to it pretty quickly and even found it a bit endearing. It was pretty cute how excited he got about anything related to heroes and super robots. He was always up for talking about Thirteen and coming up with ways her gravity quirk might actually work. And he never made fun of her 'round face' or padded fingers. Of course, she was the most comfortable around him.
'Everyone's just full of it.' Ochako thought to herself as she finally reached the support lab. And just as she expected, Izuku was working on something.
"Okay, so the tank treads would probably need to be nixed. Maybe I can use a Dom-like hover system. Though that might increase the..." Izuku muttered to himself as he looked through various books and web pages on different kinds of tires. He had been in the middle of tinkering with Striker's design when he was hit with sudden inspiration for a different project. Plus, no one was in the support department's first-year lab at the moment, so the quietness (well, relative quietness as he had some lo-fi music playing in the background) helped him focus. Until...
"There you are." Izuku snapped out of his muttering and saw Ochako walking towards him, bento in hand. "You almost missed out on lunch."
"What can I say? I had a sudden burst of inspiration, and you know what they say, you've gotta strike while the iron's hot." Izuku admitted with an awkward smile. Ochako just rolled her eyes and handed the boy his lunch. Izuku's eyes lit up when he saw the bento's label. "The katsudon special! That's my favorite, how'd you know?"
"I just kind of noticed you'd always go for whenever Lunch Rush made it," Ochako said. "And I figured. Wouldn't want ya passing out during Mr. Gunhead's lessons."
"You're a lifesaver, Ochako," Izuku looked up at her, smiling ear to ear. "Thanks a bunch!"
DOKI!
'...okay, that ain't fair.' Ochako felt her face heat a bit. And who would blame her?! Izuku's big green eyes, his freckles, and his smile were just too cute! In a totally platonic way, of course!
"Sooooo...whatcha doing, exactly?"
"Well, I've been trying to come up with a way to increase Striker's mobility," Izuku explained as he began to open his lunch.
"Do you really need that? Striker's pretty tanky as is," Ochako commented.
Izuku's expression turned serious. An expression Ochako recalled from his big comeback to the Gen Ed students. "That's true. But based on what Kacchan has told me, his class has some real powerhouses. And if they're as skilled or as powerful as Fukidashi or Honenuki, then I need to make sure the rebuilt Striker is as strong as he can possibly be."
A few minutes later, Ochako left Izuku to finish lunch and work in peace. But as she left the laboratory, she found herself thinking more and more about the boy. She found herself feeling...strangely drawn to him.
Yes, he was cute. And endearingly dorky. But he was also determined and willing to put himself at risk to protect people, as he did with Mr. Vlad during the USJ incident. And behind all that nervousness and stuttering was a young man determined to prove with worth as a hero.
There was no denying the beating warmth in her chest. A warmth that only the robot pilot could cause.
Their classmates might've been wrong about her and Izuku...but now, Ochako could see that maybe they were on to something.
Later...
"Kacchan, back away and heal!"
"No way! Dude's about to get stance brok—FUCK!"
Katsuki growled as the words 'YOU DIED'appeared on his laptop screen once more.
"Miquella is mine and mine alone."
"Fuck you, ya incestuous bloodguzzler!"
Izuku sighed. "That's the fifth death in a row." Playing the Century Edition of Elden Ring was supposed to help them relax and take a break from all the schoolwork and sports festival prep. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Izuku and Katsuki hop on the game in co-op, Katsuki on his gaming laptop, and Izuku on his PlayStation. And between Izuku's Lightning Huntsman and Katsuki's Battlemage, they often beat the more difficult bosses in 2-5 attempts.
Mohg, Lord of Blood, was taking them 18 tries and counting. Turns out playing a hyper-aggressive hammer mage fighting in close combat was a bad idea against a demigod that can build-up blood loss at any range.
Katsuki grumbled, feeling like this boss was made to personally piss him off. But he noticed Izuku lying down on his bed, a far-off look in his eyes. No way he'd get that way over a game.
"Okay, what's been eating you?" Katsuki asked. Izuku gave his friend a confused look. "You look like something's been eating at ya for two days. What's up with that?"
Izuku had to give it to his old friend; he could read him like an open book.
Izuku sighed. "Two days ago, I realized I have a huge crush on Ochako."
"...you just realized that?"
It was at that moment that Izuku was glad he was already lying down. Because Katsuki's nonchalance completely floored him.
"Y-You don't sound surprised."
"Izuku, you and Roundface have been disgustingly cutesy around each other for over a year." However, Katsuki thought that at least Izuku had good taste. Sure, Roundface could be annoying and scatterbrained at times, but she had drive, which put her in his good graces on principle alone. "So, are you gonna ask her out?"
"W-What?!" Izuku's face turned red. "I can't do that!"
"Why the hell not?"
"The Sports Festival is getting closer and closer. I can't distract Ochako with a confession! And I can't distract myself with...with a rejection."
"Dude, I doubt Roundface would reject you. Ya can't be a coward about this shit."
"Big talk coming from you, Kacchan."
"Huh?"
Well, Izuku already let one cat out of the bag. Might as well let out another one. "You've been crushing on Mei for years, and you haven't said anything to her."
Katsuki dropped his controller in shock.
"...how long have you known?"
"Since 7th grade, when you gripped the edges of your desk so hard, you left burn marks when Takahara gave Mei some Valentine's chocolate."
"T-That…I-I…" It was surreal seeing Katsuki stuttering for once. "T-This is just a temporary crush! I just haven't been around a lot of girls besides Crazy-Eyes and Roundface."
"Uh huh," Izuku said with a neutral expression, not amused by his friend being a tsundere. Izuku might've been too scared to act on his crush, but at least he was honest.
A few minutes later, Katsuki was walking the lamp-illuminated streets of the neighborhood, laptop case in hand and a scowl on his face.
He meant what he said! The only reason his heart acted weird around Crazy-Eyes was because of her close proximity to him for most of his life! Because she got ridiculous curves around the time he started going through puberty! It would pass as he interacted with more girls! And there were plenty of attractive girls in his class.
Tsu, Racoon Eyes, Ponytail, Sister Viney, Shroom Head, and Stoic. Katsuki would have to be blind so as not to see the girls in his class as cute/pretty. Though, unlike Bug-Eyes, he didn't obsess over it.
However, a sudden realization made Katsuki stop at a street corner. None of the girls in his class made his chest all weird and warm, like Crazy-Eyes seemed to do naturally. Sure, he had been impressed by some of the feats a few of them pulled off during training, but they never made him feel…mushy.
He looked up and noticed that he was at the turn that would lead back to his house if he went one way and to the Hatsume residence the other way. Katsuki took a deep breath and began to walk to the Hatsume house. Sure, the old bag would get on his ass for coming home late, but this was important.
A few minutes later, Katsuki arrived at the Hatsume house. And lo and behold, the garage door was open, and Mei was working on something at her table.
As Katsuki approached the house, a strange feeling came over him. It took a moment to identify, but he came to the startling realization that he was...nervous. Katsuki couldn't remember the last time he'd been genuinely nervous about anything.
Mei was engrossed in whatever project she was working on, blind and deaf to the world around her. He could probably turn around right now, and Mei would be none the wiser.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Katsuki fought the urge to slap himself. 'How the hell can I call myself the future Number 1 Hero if I can't even do this. I can do this. I need to do this.' With that, Katsuki swallowed his nerves and stepped forward.
"Hey."
"Oh, Kacchan!" Mei turned around, allowing Katsuki to see she was working on some kind of boot. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"
"Just thought I'd drop by," Katsuki said, placing his laptop case on the floor and then looking at the workbench. "Fancy looking boot."
"It's a hover boot!" Mei exclaimed, lifting her goggles to her forehead. "I'm going to finish this baby tonight and get to work on its siblings tomorrow." Her face lit up in a bright smile. "I got a good feeling about these cuties! They're gonna knock the socks off of any support companies watching the festival!"
And it was at that moment that Katsuki realized why his heart was always so weird around Mei. She was loud, had a tendency to accidentally blow stuff up, and was a bit lacking when it came to understanding personal space….but she also cared about everyone she deemed as friends; she was absolutely brilliant. And the thing that Katsuki felt drawn to the most was this…her passion. No matter how many times an experiment blew up in her face or how many jerks called her crazy, Mei's passion for building next-gen support gear was only matched by his own drive to become a hero to surpass All Might.
It was that passion that, even from an early age, drew Katsuki to her like a moth to a flame. In fact, it was drawing him close right now. With how bright her smile was, how determined her eyes were, and Izuku's words echoing in his mind, Katsuki couldn't really help himself.
Mei's golden eyes widened as Katsuki kissed her on the cheek. Her face felt warm, feeling his lips on her face and then retracting. He turned away, and Mei could see him gritting his teeth and a blush on his face.
"T-There was a smudge on you—" But Katsuki's half-baked excuse was silenced by Mei grabbing his face with both hands, turning his head, and smacking her lips against his own. He was surprised by how soft her lips were, how oddly comforting the faint smell of motor oil was. Katsuki closed his eyes like Mei's were, placing his hands on her waist and kissing her back.
Eventually, the two separated, hearts fluttered as red eyes looked into golden eyes, and Mei smiled once again.
"That was better than I imagined."
"….when did you start imagining that?" Katsuki asked in a surprisingly quiet tone. Mei thought about it for a second before answering.
"Since about 5th Grade."
"That long?! Why didn't ya ever…well…"
Mei pouted and blushed. "Well, you were so focused on getting into UA, and I thought these…mushy feelings would go away. But they never did because….because you're you, Katsuki! You're the most determined boy I know! You never hesitate to speak your mind! You're foul-mouthed, but then, out of nowhere, you can be sweet as hell!" She then began to clench her gloved hands together. "You're amazing, and I guess I thought you'd need a girl just as amazing as you instead of—"
"Don't act like you're not amazing, Mei!" Katsuki interpreted her by grabbing her hands. "You're the smartest girl….no, the smartest person I know! You've built shit I would probably never think of! Hell, you made my support gear a hundred times more badass than my original design! So don't you dare sell yourself short!"
Mei looked at Katsuki with wide eyes before giggling.
"W-What?" Katsuki blushed.
"You called me Mei instead of 'Crazy-Eyes.'"
"….so?"
"It's just nice."
"…yeah, it kind of is." Katsuki gave a genuine smile back at Mei, the two feeling light as feathers as they pressed their foreheads together.
One Month, Two Weeks, and Four Days until the Sports Festival.
"YOU GUYS ARE DATING?!" Ochako shouted, looking just as wide-eyed as Izuku, seeing Katsuki and Mei walking hand-in-hand to meet them at the train station.
"No need to make a big deal out of it, Roundface," Katsuki said with his usual neutral expression. At least until Mei kissed him on the cheek, making him crack a small smile.
"Two of my best friends are kissing each other! Of course, it's a big deal!" Ochako got in Mei's face. "You gotta give me all the details!"
While Mei was giving Ochako all the details she desperately craved, Izuku and Katsuki were speaking quietly to each other.
"Were you nervous?" Izuku asked.
"A little bit, yeah. I thought I screwed up a good thing," Katsuki then looked at Mei excitedly, chatting with Ochako, smiling at his girlfriend's exuberant energy. "But it was worth the plunge."
Izuku began to think, looking at Ochako. His chest still got warm just looking at her enthusiastic smile. But….it didn't feel like the time was right. While Katsuki was a hard worker and would no doubt train his ass off for the festival, he also had a natural talent that would doubt let him juggle training, schoolwork, and being Mei's boyfriend.
But Izuku didn't have that luxury. The Sports Festival wasn't just a chance for Izuku to leave an impression on some professional heroes. It was also his chance to show all the naysayers that he deserved to become a hero. And so, he made a stern yet quiet declaration.
"I'll tell her after the Sports Festival."
Katsuki smirked and draped his arm around Izuku's shoulders. "I'm gonna hold ya to that, so no pussying out."
"Right!"
Epilogue: Bloody Fog
"So it's just gonna be the two of us?"
"Yup. My folks are on an anniversary trip," his date said, staring at him with those deep blue eyes. "Hope that's okay."
"No! Better than okay!" Takeo hoped he didn't mess up as the handsome lad led him back to his apartment. So far, the third-year high school student was having a pretty crappy day.
After months, he finally worked up the nerve to confess to his crush. Unfortunately, Michi wasn't into athletic guys like him, and he rejected him in the middle of homeroom class, so everyone saw his rejection.
So when class let out, Takeo decided to drown his sorrows in ramen, going to a local favorite stand. But he happened to sit next to another teenage boy. He introduced himself as Sai, and he was the highlight of Takeo's day.
He let him vent about the courage it took him to confess and the sting of rejection. Sai comforted him, saying Michi was a fool to reject him. Then the flirting started, with Sai complementing Takeo on his physique (Takeo bragged that it's what years of baseball got ya.) And then, Sai invited him to his apartment.
Takeo figured, 'Why not?' A random hookup might be just what he needed to get over Michi. Plus, it helped that Sai was pretty hot.
Dark, almost blood-red hair reached the middle of his neck. It contrasted with his bright blue and somewhat mischievous eyes and pale skin. His current outfit of a black t-shirt, jeans, and loafers gave the impression that Sai was a bit on the skinny side.
(Honestly, it looked comfier than Takeo's school uniform.)
The two boys entered Sai's apartment. It was rather nice. Nothing out of the ordinary, but Takeo didn't see any pictures of Sai or his family. If only Takeo had paid more attention to this detail.
"Want anything to drink?" Sai asked as Takeo took a seat near the kitchen counter.
"I'll take a melon soda if...if you got...got it." Takeo suddenly felt lightheaded. "Is...is there some kind of gas leak in here?"
"No, that's the anesthetic gas kicking in," Sai held his hand up, showing a small bit of white fog emitting from his hand. "You've been breathing it in since you walked into the apartment." Takeo tried to say something, only for Sai to interject. "Hey, I'm doing this for your benefit. It'll make this next part less painful."
All of a sudden, Takeo felt a sharp sting in his neck. He looked down and saw a bloody knife sticking out of the front of his throat and the sound of feminine giggling before the blade was pulled out. He fell to the floor, grasping his neck as he felt his mouth filling with blood. He looked up and saw a teenage girl in a high school cardigan smiling down at him, her fangs showing, her pale blonde hair in two messy buns, and her yellow eyes looking into his soul.
She licked Takeo's blood from the knife and let out a sound like she had just eaten some delicious ice cream. "You always pick out the best for me, Saitokins."
"Only the best for you, my dear Himiko."
As if this situation couldn't get more messed up, Takeo saw the girl, Himiko, turn into featureless grey sludge for a second and then turn into...him. Himiko was now a nude and pretty much perfect copy of Takeo. From his messy brown hair, his athletic figure, and even the dimple on his upper thigh. It was like looking up at a mirror.
Himiko began to feel up her new body, cooing at the sensations. "Oh, it's been a while since I've gotten to taste someone this fit."
Saito looked at the transformed Himiko, his eyes gazing at her as if she were the most magnificent thing in the world, placing his hand on her face and smiling.
"You always pull it off way better than anyone else."
"Oh, you."
And so, the last thing poor Takeo saw before he died was the sight of the boy with blood-red hair making out with a naked duplicate of himself. Just the latest victim of a pair that would soon become infamous among the citizens of Japan.
