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“Hey! Midoriya! You got a package!” Kirishima yelled into the common room, his hands filled with various letters and packages intended for his classmates. Izuku cocked his head to the side, confused as to who could be sending him a package on Valentine’s Day. He already had plans to see his mom tomorrow.
“Thanks, Kirishima.” He walked over to his friend, his confusion deepening when Kirishima winked at him. He grabbed the package and looked at the sender: Melissa Shield!
Melissa and Izuku kept up their friendship after meeting on I-Island. The two would regularly email each other with updates on their lives and their work. Since starting a new year in college, Melissa’s emails had become less frequent, but she still made an effort to keep in touch. Which is why Izuku was so puzzled as to why she would send him a package.
“Maybe she was working on some support items…” Izuku mumbled out loud to himself.
“OR maybe she’s sending you a care package! It is Valentine’s Day, after all,” Kirishima chimed in with a cheeky grin. Izuku felt his cheeks warm with the suggestion.
“I highly doubt that,” he replied, opening the package. “We just email back and forth, that’s it.” There was a note on top of some crinkly paper.
Dear Deku,
Hope you’re well! Sorry I’ve been terrible at emailing— college is kicking my butt! I’m learning a lot, but it’s still time consuming. I hope this box of treats makes up for my belated responses! It’s almost Valentine’s Day here so I sent a variety of treats we love in America. Share them with your friends and enjoy! I’m working on a new item that might be useful for you. I’ll send you my write up and blueprints for it next week when I finalize the design.
Talk to you later!
Melissa
Izuku places the letter to the side and dug into the box, pulling out boxes and bags of sweet treats. There were Kit-Kats, lollipops, red and pink jelly beans, chocolate shaped like hearts, peanut butter cups with bright red wrappers, and more. He pulled out a bag of some hard, pastel looking hearts.
“Conversation Hearts,” he read out loud. “Huh.” He squinted at the little hearts, barely able to make out the writing on the candy. “Call me?”
Kirishima’s loud laughter broke him from his intense translation job. “Call me?? What are these things?” He grabbed the bag from Izuku’s hands. “Oh man, is this even English? Crazy 4 U.”
The two were so immersed in the conversation hearts that they didn’t hear Mina walking in.
“Hey guys, what are you up to?” Mina peeked over Kirishima’s shoulder. “Whoa! Look at all this candy!”
“It’s Midoriya’s. A college woman sent it to him!” Kirishima answered before Izuku could, his eyebrows wagging. Mina gasped and clung to his arm, an eager light to her eyes as she stared at Izuku to confirm.
“That makes it sound much more scandalous than it is…” Izuku started, uncomfortably scratching the back of his head. “Melissa Shield from I-Island gave me a bunch of American candies.”
“Giri-choco or Honmei-choco?”
“What?! No! She didn’t specifically send them for Valentine’s Day. She wanted to send me candy and it happened to be around Valentine’s Day.”
Mina arched an eyebrow. “Suuuure, Midoriya. Anyways, the girls were going to give out our chocolates after dinner tonight. You guys better be there!”
Kirishima raised his fist triumphantly. “Yes! Gotta love obligation chocolates!”
Izuku chuckled. “Sounds good. I can’t wait! I’ll bring down these candies for everyone to try too.” He gathered up the treats and walked into his room, blissfully unaware of the interrogation that was about to go on.
“Alright, spill. How close are Izuku and Melissa?” Mina demanded, her finger stabbing Kirishima’s chest.
He put his hands up in mock surrender. “I don’t know! All he said was they email, didn’t seem too serious.”
Mina shook her head, clearly unconvinced. “I saw the pictures of her! She was gorgeous and he saved her—a girl’s gonna go crazy over her hero.”
“Listen, if I remember her correctly, she was a total gear-head like Hatsume! Besides, some American college girl isn’t going to settle on a hero-in-training . She’s gonna wait until he makes a name for himself.” He flashed her an easy smile, unworried about his classmate’s romantic life.
She pouted slightly. “I guess so..”
“Why’re you so interested in this anyways?”
Mina flashed him a bright grin— a grin he was all too familiar with. “Oh no,” he exclaimed, covering his eyes dramatically. “You’re playing matchmaker again.”
She giggled evilly. “It’s only because they’re both too dense to notice!”
He rolled his eyes, his voice tired when he spoke. “Who are the lucky victims this time?”
“Oh you’ll see!” She replied, clapping her hands together happily.
He shook his head and moved to leave, calling over his shoulder as he walked away. “Just don’t forget all your extremely “successful” attempts back in middle school!”
“Those were practice!! This is real!” She called back angrily. “Kirishima, I’m going to melt your hair gel if you don’t take that back! Kirishima!”
Back in his room, Izuku was doing homework when he heard a knock. He opened the door surprised to see Ochako Uraraka standing there. She was wearing her backpack, two tumblers in her hands
“Uraraka! Hey! What are you doing here?”
“Deku! Sorry for interrupting, but I was hoping I could look over your math notes. I was doing the homework and I must have copied something down incorrectly because I just can’t get this problem set figured out. I brought you hot chocolate to sweeten the deal!” She gave him a cheesy grin, holding out the large insulated cup. Izuku chuckled at her cute offering. His stomach felt like it was full of butterflies and he couldn’t quite figure out the cause. Nonetheless, he was more than happy to help Uraraka out.
“Oh course! Come in!” He graciously accepted the hot chocolate and stepped to the side to let her in.
She sat on the ground, leaning her back against the edge of his bed. Izuku blanched, convinced he had already insulted her.
“Uraraka! Please, sit at the desk!”
She giggled. “I’m okay! I usually sit on the ground when I do my homework. I like to spread out a bit.” She demonstrated by laying out her textbook, notebooks, and pencil case around her like a half circle. “See!”
“I guess,” he mumbled. He paused a moment, second guessing himself before grabbing his notebook and sitting down next to her as she opened up her textbook and got her questions ready.
He took a sip of the hot chocolate while he waited for her. The creamy warm drink had the perfect balance of the sweet and chocolate and it warmed his body pleasantly; he wasn’t positive that he didn’t moan in delight. “Mmm! Uraraka, this is amazing!”
Her cheeks grew rosier as she tried to hide her sheepish smile. “Thanks! I learned from my mom. She would always make hot chocolate when she got home after a late shift. Sometimes I would wake up and she would make some for me, too. I guess it kind of became our thing, ya know? I always feel better after drinking a cup.”
Izuku looked down at the dark, thick liquid. He didn’t know why, but he felt grateful that she shared this memory- and tradition- with him. “That’s really sweet!”
“Well don’t thank me yet! You haven’t seen how terrible I am at these math problems. You’re probably going to need another hot chocolate by the time we finish!”
He laughed loudly, appreciating her quick wit. “I’ll hold you to it! Now let’s see what you’re having trouble with.”
They went through the homework quickly, Izuku’s explanations making perfect sense to Uraraka. He sipped his hot chocolate and scrolled through his phone as she finished up, enjoying the company and casual conversation she provided. While she still occasionally made him nervous, their natural chemistry comforted Izuku in a way that he had never experienced before growing up. It was different hanging out with Uraraka one-on-one than with Iida, Todoroki, or even his mom, but he liked being near her like this.
“Ah! All done! I was worried I was going to have to miss the chocolate exchange tonight!.” Uraraka turned to look at him and smiled gently, her gaze so fully on him that it made him feel like she only had eyes for him. “Thanks for the help, Deku.”
Izuku could feel his cheeks warming as he stared at her pretty face. “Y-yeah! No problem! Anytime!”
He noticed her eyes flickering to the box on his desk, her eyebrows furrowing in curiosity. “What’s that? Did someone send you a package?”
Izuku turned around to look in her direction. “Ah, yes. Melissa Shield. She said she felt guilty for being so busy lately so she sent me some candies from America. I was-“
“Oh, you and Melissa are still that close?”
He blinked, taken aback by her interruption. “I-uh. We-we email a bit; try to keep in touch. We haven’t been emailing as frequently since she started this new semester. But we try to talk regularly.”
“I see. That’s great.” She looked back down at her homework and started to pack up her things. “I should probably get going. I need to finish up a few things for my chocolates.”
Izuku started to inwardly panic. He definitely messed something up, but he had no idea what! “I was going to share the candy tonight! There’s some interesting ones I think you’ll like. Some have marshmallows, so it’s kind of like a mochi!”
He ran a hand through his unruly hair, his chest feeling unpleasantly tight. “We-we just talk about her research mostly, and my training. She’s kind like Hatsume, obsessed with support items.”
Uraraka continued to pack up, giving a noncommittal hum in response to his hurried explanations. She zipped up her bag with a no-nonsense finality. “Melissa is very pretty, isn’t she? And very smart. I can see why you would want to keep close with her.”
Izuku frowned, confused by what she was saying. “I guess…?” He shrugged, trying and failing at finding something to say to make it better. “You don’t have to leave just now though, do you?”
She gave him wide smile but didn’t look him in the eyes, and for some reason, that concerned Izuku the most. “Sorry! I really do need to finish my chocolates. Time flies when you’re having fun.. doing math homework. Hahah... But I’ll see you after dinner though! Thanks again!”
She closed his door and Izuku flopped on his bed, burying his head into his pillow to muffle his groan of frustration. He heard a knock and almost Full Cowled to the door.
“Urar— Aoyama ??l
“Midoriya!” The annoyed looking blonde exclaimed, pushing his way in without an invite. “You are denser than these walls.”
“But the walls are thin.”
“Exactly, espèce d’imbecile !”
“What?!”
Aoyama threw his arms in the air. “Uraraka! You two are having a pleasant time and then you have to go on and on about Miss Melissa?”
Izuku frowned, feeling defensive about the situation. “I didn’t go on and on! She asked me about the package, and I told her the truth. What was I supposed to say?”
“You talk about how you try to regularly email her, you don’t offer a compliment about Uraraka’s beauty when she makes a comments about Melissa’s looks and brains, and you compare her to Hatsume- the woman who has groped you more than any human on this earth!”
Izuku’s eyes widened in shock and understanding. When it was laid out like that…
“Oh crap.”
“Midoriya, you need to show her you appreciate her. If I have to watch you make googly eyes at her one more time, I’m going to join The League of Villains.”
“Googly eyes!?”
Aoyama sighed dramatically, an arm covering his eyes as he flopped to Izuku’s bed. “You both are the most obtuse people I have ever met. This is why you belong together. Let’s come up with a plan...”
Dinner came before Izuku knew it. He sat with Todoroki and Iida, the girls deciding to sit separate from the guys for whatever reason, Izuku wasn’t sure; probably Ashido or Hagakure’s idea. He kept trying to catch Uraraka’s eye, but she was busy talking and laughing with her friends. At least she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.
They moved to their common room, many of Izuku’s male classmates excitedly talking about what chocolates they were going to get while eating some of the American candy Izuku had brought down.
“I gotta say, Japanese Kit-Kat’s are better than Americans. Just plain chocolate? C’mon, Americans, I thought you were all about the choices, here!” Sero remarked while Tokoyami and Shoji nodded in agreement.
“Alright, gentlemen, are you ready for some chocolate?” Ashido’s voice was heard before she was seen as the girls walked in holding large bags filled with chocolates.
“Here, catch,” Jirou deadpanned, tossing out store bought candy to the boys.
“Aww, not homemade?” Kaminari pouted.
“Be thankful you’re getting anything, Pikachu!” She responded, jabbing his cheek with her ear jack.
“Trust me, you didn’t want her homemade batch, ribbit .”
“Tsu!”
The girls handed out their candy to the overly grateful boys. Besides Jirou, each girl had packaged their candy in individual bags for each class member. Deku graciously accepted his candy from the others, waiting seemingly forever for Uraraka’s candy. Finally she faced him, a deep blush covering her face. Izuku was thankful for the commotion in the room distracting everyone from the two of them.
“I, uh... I made you something a little different than the rest of the guys,” she explained, her attention focused entirely on taking as long as possible to retrieve the candy from her mostly empty bag. She shakily handed him a box wrapped in red paper.
“Uraraka?” His eyes flickered between her and the box, unsure if she actually intended to give him this gift.
“Open it, silly!” She said with a nervous smile, her cheeks still blushing.
He opened the box and gasped. Inside were large, delicious looking chocolate truffles. They were clearly homemade, none of them completely symmetrical, but they looked mouthwatering nonetheless. Izuku felt himself blushing, not used to such a clear display of affection but enjoying it all the same.
“Uraraka, I… I don’t know what to say! No one has ever made me chocolates before. I.. wow! They look too good to eat! Thank you!” He bowed his head repeatedly, keeping his hands steady so as to not jostle the box.
She giggled, relieved at his positive response. “I wanted to make you something special. You.. mean a lot to me...”
He looked up and saw her; her pretty blush, her teeth worrying her bottom lip, the way she simultaneously kept averting her gaze but also couldn’t stop looking at him. All of it made Izuku feel like his heart was going to beat out of chest.
After the longest 5 seconds ever, Izuku finally remembered his gift for her. “Oh! I have something for you too!”
“But it’s not White Day!”
He blushed as reached into the bag he had placed by the couch. Inside was a plastic bag that contained some sort of chocolate creation. He thrust it into her hands with a slightly shrill “Happy Valentine’s Day!”
She opened the plastic bag, a wide grin stretching across her face as she looked at the chocolate. It was a chocolate bark with pastel candy hearts decorating the front. Phrases like “U R Cute,” and “Hug Me” stood out amongst the many candy hearts that made up the treat. She looked up at Izuku, his deep blush accentuating the nervous look on his face.
“I used some of the chocolates and candies Melissa gave me to make that for you. She said to share it with my friends and you’re my closest friend.” He gulped, his anxiety skyrocketing before she could respond. “Aoyama helped me melt the chocolates! I’m terrible at that. And Todoroki used his quirk so it could set up in time.”
Uraraka’s shot over to where Aoyama and Todoroki were standing, not too far off from where she and Izuku were exchanging gifts. Aoyama gave an obnoxious wink and Todoroki offered an unenthusiastic thumbs up. She laughed and looked back at Izuku, whose blush had now spread to his ears and neck. It made her heart grow even fonder for the boy in front of her.
“Deku, I love it! It really means a lot to me. I’m sorry if I seemed weird about Melissa earlier…”
Izuku cut her off with a wave of his hands. “No! I get where the confusion was. I should have been more clear about our friendship; she’s like a big sister to me, if anything. Um.”
He timidly pointed at the candy in her hands before continuing. “I picked out those hearts especially for you…”
Uraraka furrowed her brows as she looked closer at the hearts, quickly translating the English characters while her heart sped up with each meaning understood.
Be Mine
U R Cute
Hug Me
Kiss Me
4 Ever
I’m Yours
My Girl
Love You
Say Yes
She gazed up at Izuku in awe at his “hidden message” and the thought he put behind them. She wasn’t too sure what expression she was making, but clearly Izuku took it as a positive and continued, a new confidence in his voice.
“I want to be more clear about how I feel about you. Uraraka Ochako, I think you are the bravest, kindest, cutest, most selfless person I know. I’m lucky to have you on my team for hero work and my best friend in school. But I want to take it further. Uraraka, will you be my girlfriend?”
She let out a watery giggle, her eyes tearing up slightly at the unexpected confession. “Yes! Of course!” She threw her arms around his neck, drawing him in for a big hug.
A shiver ran through Izuku when he felt her warm body squeezing him. Besides his mom, he had never experienced such close context to someone in a non-life-threatening situation before. He stiffly returned the hug with his own arms encircling her waist, relishing in her touch.
Too quickly she released her hold on him and he was surprised at how he already missed their embrace, but was excited at the prospect of more hugs in the further. (So many more.) “Sooo you forgive me for being so stupid earlier?”
She lightly punched his shoulder, the corner of mouth amusedly quirked up. “I suppose you’ve made it up to me,” she teased. “And I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. I should have just asked.” He could see the flicker of emotions— happiness, relief, excitedness, anticipation— and it made him grin like a happy idiot. Why hadn’t they been more honest before?
She broke off two pieces of chocolate, one for each of them, and he happily accepted it. They ate the treat, chocolate and candy hearts crunching in their mouth. There was an odd taste; something akin to antacids..?
“How do you like it?” Izuku asked, trying not to grimace. The candy hearts were cute, but tasted awful.
“It’s good!” Uraraka quickly replied with an eager nod to her head, one hand covering her mouth as she chewed. He got the distinct feeling she was hiding what she actually thought. They were suddenly interrupted by their classmates shouts.
“What the hell is this shit?? It tastes like chalk!”
“Ew! Americans actually eat this!?”
“Wait! I believe this is what one eats after they have consumed too much candy. Giving your partner the gift of indigestion relief, how romantic!”
“I think we ate decorations, guys.”
Izuku and Ochako looked at each other before bursting into laughter. Looks like they weren’t the only ones...
“I think I might try and preserve this; at the very least, save the candy hearts,” Uraraka said.
“I think that’s a good idea. Those hearts will probably last forever.”
She took his hand in hers, squeezing it before looking up at him, a soft smile on her face. “Good. I hope they do.”
Ashido saddled up next to Kirishima, munching on some candy, a look of smug satisfaction on her face. He laughed and rolled his eyes. “What are you so proud about?”
She pointed at Izuku and Uraraka. “Look at them! Matchmaker Mina strikes again. They look like a pair of blissfully happy tomatoes.”
He quickly turned to look at her, slightly laughing in disbelief. “Those two?! How did you “match” them? Just push them slightly together? Midoriya and Uraraka were a “when” not “if.”
Crossed her arms and pouted. “Hmph! I’ll have you that I helped with those truffles! Plus I knew she liked him ever since first year. This has been a slow burn matchmaking process.”
Kirishima chuckled, laying his arm across her shoulder. “Alright, Pinky. Congrats on the new couple. But maybe next time go for a couple with more pizazz, more personality--”
“Jirou and Kaminari!”
Kirishima sighed in defeat. He plucked the candy from her hand and stuffed into his mouth as he walked over to the other guys.
“Kirishima! Wait! You could help me!”