Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Aizawa made the announcement at the end of classes Saturday, when the students were already mentally into the weekend and statistically the least likely to be paying attention.

“Oh right,” he said, pausing with one foot already out the door. “For the first time this year, UA will be hosting a student ball the last Friday before winter break.” Twenty wandering minds suddenly zeroed in on him with laser focus, but he didn’t appear affected. “Present Mic will be sending out a full announcement later, so check your student emails for details. And…” He sighed, the first glimmer of emotion he’d shown all day. “Try not to get carried away.”

With that, he took off at a clip just barely slow enough to avoid being called a run.

Dead silence.

Then, chaos.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!” Ashido shrieked. She jumped up and spun around in place, her hands clasped in front of her. “A high school dance! How romantic!”

“Oui, amor!” Aoyama seized her hands and spun himself, allowing her to drop him into a dip with one pointed foot extended.

“Sure, ‘amor’, right” Mineta leered. “How often do we get a chance to see the girls all dolled up?”

“Don’t be gross, Mineta!” Hagakure scolded, (probably) waving her arms. “I think it could be a lot of fun!”

“Besides, it’s not just the girls getting dressed up!” Kaminari cut in. “This is the guys’ chance to strut our stuff, and I intend to show all of you up!”

“You may try, mon ami~!”

“Everyone, we must remember Aizawa-sensei’s instructions!” Iida’s deadly chopping motions drove Ashido and Aoyama apart in self-defense. “Any confessions must be conducted with utmost respect and dignity outside of school hours!”

“Class is dismissed, Prez…”

The clamor continued in that vein, no one making any move to leave with this kind of gossip material, but at least one person wasn’t participating. To the side of the classroom, shoulders hunched in unconscious habit, Midoriya was thinking of every dance or extracurricular event from middle school and remembering exactly how well they all went.

“-I just don’t see why it’s gotta be such a big deal,” Jirou was grousing, arms crossed as she slumped in her seat. Her expression was bored, but her ear jacks were winding with pent-up energy.

“C’mon, Jirou!” Kirishima cajoled. “I think it’ll be a great way for people to confess their feeling for each other! What’s manlier than that?”

“I’m a woman, Kirishima.”

“True manliness is in your heart!”

“I think you’re right, Kirishima-kun!” Uraraka agreed. “But… It sounds so hard! What are you supposed to do, just go up to the other person and ask them-”

“Tokoyami-kun, will you go to the ball with me?”

Silence again as eighteen heads rounded on Tokoyami’s desk, where Asui stood with perfect composure.

Tokoyami himself was wide-eyed and his crest feathers were ruffled. “Uh, Tsu-chan… I’m flattered, but I’m too focused on my studies right now for, uh, dating.”

Everyone’s heads whipped toward Asui.

“I know,” she said calmly. “I’m the same. I just thought it would be more fun to go together than alone.”

“Oh!” Back to Tokoyami, who looked considerably relieved. “Yes, that sounds acceptable. We can work out the details once we see Mic-sensei’s email.”

“Thank you, Tokoyami-kun. I’ll talk to you later.” She turned to hop away and was immediately intercepted by a screaming Ashido and half the rest of the class.

Midoriya stared down at his hands until a soft chuckle from his right drew his attention.

“Tsu-chan’s really gonna be the best hero out of all of us, huh,” Sero murmured, leaning in close. “She makes everything look so easy.”

Midoriya mustered up a weak smile in response, but he was sure Sero could tell his heart wasn’t in it. “Yeah…”

Chapter Text

From: Present Mic <[email protected]>
Subject: Announcement: UA Winter Formal!

Good Afternoon, Listeners!

As you should have heard by now, UA will be hosting its first Winter Formal two weeks from yesterday! The festivities will take place in the Great Hall starting at 7:30pm and will include food, music, and photo ops! Dress code guidelines are attached, but please don’t make us enforce them—this is the staff’s holiday gift to you all after a hectic year, and we don’t want to have to ruin anybody’s good time!

If you would like to bring a guest from outside the school, please notify Cementoss by this coming Friday to allow time for background checks.

Stay snazzy, kids!

Present Mic

“‘Stay snazzy’? Who says that?”

“A teacher, probably. Mic-sensei’s a lot different at school than he is on his show.”

“You really think so??”

Present Mic’s announcement had got out shortly after classes ended, but even hours later it was all anyone could talk about.

“Do you think the teachers will want us to help set up anything?”

“You’d think they’d have said something about that, right?”

“They did say this was a present to us!”

Off to the side of the room, Midoriya picked at his dinner and tried not to feel so alone. UA wasn’t like his previous schools. He had friends here. And yet…

“Do you think we’ll be allowed out to shop for our outfits?? I don’t have anything I can wear!”

“Hey, Vice Prez! Think you can help us out?”

“What’s got you thinkin’ so hard?”

“Huh?” Midoriya looked up into Sero’s grinning face, and his words finally registered. “Oh… I was just…wondering why the teachers decided to go to all this trouble. It’s not really something UA is known for, after all.”

Sero’s grin didn’t slip as he rested his chin against his hand, chopsticks fiddling against his bowl with the other. “Well, maybe it’s just as they said. It’s been a rough year. We deserve a break.”

“I-it could be a pretty big risk, though,” Midoriya muttered. “If it’s purely for morale purposes then that would make it a target, not to mention we’d all be dressed down and unprepared for any attack. The faculty would probably need to bring in outside security just to make sure there’s not another high-profile incident that would negatively affect the school’s reputation… Would it honestly be worth all that just for a short party for the students?” He caught himself. “A-ah, sorry Sero! Sometimes I l-lose track of myself-”

“It’s fine, man.” Sero was still smiling. “It’s just how you are. It’s not a problem.” Something passed over his face, too fast for Midoriya to read. “In fact, I-”

“Oi, Midoriya!” Kaminari shouted from across the table. “What do you think? Will the teachers let us off-campus to shop for the dance or will we have to, like, call our parents or something?”

Midoriya turned to face him. In the corner of his eye, Sero sat back with a scowl. “Probably they’ll make arrangements for next weekend,” he reasoned. “It’s a bit short-notice, so they wouldn’t expect us to already have everything we need, right?”

“I think Deku-kun’s right,” Uraraka agreed from a few seats away. “And it will give us time to- to ask people out and then coordinate what we’ll wear as d-dates-”

At that moment, the doors to the dorms burst open. Every head whipped around, and some people even leapt into defensive positions only to find-

“Hello, Class 1-A!” Hastume cheered brightly, eyes alight with more than her usual manic determination.

“Hatsume-kun!” Iida cried. “Student’s are not allowed in other dorms without proper authorization-”

“No time to talk, glasses!” Somehow, she sidestepped him entirely and ran towards the table. “Where is- There!” The students of 1-A unconsciously reeled back as she charged towards-

“Hagakure-chan!”

“M-me?” Hagakure asked. Her expression, if it were visible, would surely be bewildered. “I… What can I do for you?”

Hatsume beamed. “Go to the dance with me!”

Chaos once again. Nearby Ashido was making a noise so piercing that Jirou slapped a hand over her mouth.

“M-me?” Hagakure repeated. “You’re asking me?”

“Of course!” Hatsume said. “I’ve been in the lab all day working but I came straight here as soon as I saw the announcement. I knew I had to get in early considering what high demand you must be in!”

“O-oh! You think so?”

“I know it! I’m not too late, am I?”

“N-no!” Hagakure’s sleeves flailed in front of her. “I… I’d be happy to go to the ball with you!” Ashido’s muffled shriek made it past Jirou’s hand.

The mechanisms of Hatsume’s eyes contracted. “Perfect! I’ll- Hrk!”

Gray bands wrapped around her from neck to hip and yanked her back. “How did you get in here,” Aizawa said flatly, prowling out from around a corner.

“Eraserhead-sensei!” she cried, still beaming. “It was really very simple. I just-”

“Stop.” He rubbed his eyes. “You can explain to Power Loader.” Then he turned and started striding away without bothering to untie her.

“We’ll talk later, Hagakure-chan!” Hatsume called out behind her as she was dragged off.

As soon as they were out of sight, Ashido shook off Jirou’s grasp and seized Hagakure by the upper arms.

“A date, a real date!” she squealed. “I didn’t know you knew Hastume-chan!”

“O-only a little!” Hagakure wriggled free and her sleeves curled up in front of her as if she were covering her face with her hands. “She’s been working with me a lot to improve my costume. I had no idea she was interested in me!”

Tears swelled in Ashido’s eyes. “Her admiration grew from afar until she finally asked you out! I’m so happy for you!”

In the commotion, Midoriya took the opportunity to slip away from the table with his dishes. He deposited them in the sink and slunk along the wall to the stairs. Sero caught his eye from across the room and he returned his wave before he made his escape to his room.

Behind him, Sero elbowed Kaminari in the gut and leaned in close.

Later:

From: Present Mic <[email protected]>
Subject: Addendum: UA Winter Formal

By the way, this should go without saying, but regular school rules still apply! If you’re planning to ask someone out, please don’t break into their dorm building to do it!

Chapter Text

“Uraraka-chan, go to the dance with me!”

A myriad of suppressed emotions crossed Uraraka’s face in a delicate shudder. “…No thank you.”

“Come on,” Mineta weedled, “gimme a chance! I can show you a good time~”

“She said no, asshole,” Jirou piped up. “Or don’t you know what that means?”

“Whatever,” he grumbled. “I guess it’s too much to ask if you’ll be my date-”

Jirou didn’t look up from her phone. “Not if my life depended on it.”

Mineta groaned and slumped to the floor. “What rotten luck!” he whined. “Yaomomo and Uraraka won’t give me the time of day, Jirou shoots me down utterly, Hagakure goes lesbian-”

“I’m pan-”

“-and it’s not like you can tell if she’s hot anyway, Tsu-chan-”

“No.”

“How’s a guy supposed to get a date??” Mineta shrieked.

Only just walking in through the classroom door, Midoriya didn’t really want to get involved, but he figured he shouldn’t leave Mineta wailing on the ground near so many girls’ skirts. He swung by and picked him up by the collar to deposit him in his seat-

“Midoriya!” Mineta yelled, seizing him by the lapels of his jacket and reeling his face in close.

“E-eh?”

“You gotta be swimming in babes! What’s your secret??”

“Ehhh?”

“Don’t be greedy, share the love- hrk!!”

In an instant, Ashido had snatched Mineta away and was holding him aloft by his cheeks.

“I know you’re not making impure suggestions about our own sweet Midoriya-kun,” she chirped, grinning so broadly her eyes were slits.

“W-wouldn’t dream of it,” Mineta choked. His hands scrabbled uselessly against her wrists. “By the way, Ashido-chan, would you be my-”

The grip squishing his face grew tighter, her grin impossibly wider. “I wouldn’t date you if you were the last person on earth,” she said, voice chipper. “A messenger from heaven could drop down out of the sky in front of us and tell us we were the only chance of repopulating the planet, and I would immediately drop-kick you off the nearest cliff.”

“I get it, I get it, stop crushing me!”

“Good.” She dropped him back to the ground and turned on her heel back toward her seat. A few people chuckled, but most were too tired of his behavior to find much humor in it.

“You didn’t have to be so harsh,” Mineta grumbled. “I can take a hint.”

“Can you, though?” Sero muttered, although only Midoriya heard him. Then, louder- “You asked Uraraka out the second Yaomomo turned you down. Who wants to be treated like they’re your second choice, or less?”

“Yeah, you don’t be drinking that Respect Women Juice!” Kaminari spoke up. “They can tell.”

Mineta scowled “You’re one to talk-”

“Excuse you, I drink Respect Women Juice every day of my life! I would never treat someone like she was my backup choice or…someone just to show off. In fact…” He turned to Sero, who flashed him a subtle thumbs-up, before striding across the room and leaning against Jirou’s desk. His other hand rested on his hip and a million-watt smile stretched across his face. The classroom was utterly silent.

“How would you like to be my date to the ball, Jirou?”

Jirou looks up, her flat expression unchanging. The moment stretched on and Kaminari’s roguish grin became more strained until-

“Sure.”

Kaminari’s hand slipped and his chin smacked against the desk on his way down.

“Oh come on!” Mineta cried, but the rest of the class was cheering.

“You mean it?” Kaminari asked as he scrambled back to his feet.

“I said it, didn’t I?” Jirou’s voice sounded bored, but there was a hint of pink on her cheeks.

“Right! Cool cool cool!” Kaminari gave her a double-thumbs up as he backed away, nearly tripping over his own seat. “I’ll talk to you later?”

“I guess.”

“I’ll talk to you now!” Ashido yelled, her previous pique forgotten as she dove across Kaminari’s desk to grab Jirou by her forearms. Kirishima reached up to pat Kaminari on the shoulder as she started chattering.

“Another one off-limits,” Mineta sighed. “You gotta get in early to have a chance to score with a chick-”

“What did I say about disrupting class?”

In a heartbeat, everyone was in their seat with hands folded across their desk. Aizawa peered over his own desk for a moment longer, then peeled himself out of his sleeping bag and stood.

“As an addendum to the previous rule,” he said slowly, “any student found harassing others, whether during school hours or not, will face disciplinary action.” His gaze didn’t rest on any one student, but everyone knew who it was directed at. “Is that clear?”

“Yes, sensei,” everyone chorused. No on dared to look back at Mineta.

That seemed to be enough for Aizawa for now. “Good. Pass your homework assignments forward while I take attendance…”

---

Despite Aizawa’s threat, the upcoming dance remained on the entire school’s lips throughout the whole day. In the cafeteria during lunch, Midoriya witnessed three different couples get together and another two break up, and none of them involved anyone he knew.

“It sure is busy today!” Uraraka said.

“Hmm?” Midoriya looked up from his lunch. “Oh, yeah.”

Iida wasn’t sitting with them today. As soon as Mineta remembered the girls in 1-A were not the only girls in the school, he’d taken it upon himself to chaperone him for the sake of the class and school’s reputation.

“Deku-kun…” Uraraka chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before pressing on. “You’ve seemed…down lately. Is everything alright?”

Uraraka really was a wonderful friend. As someone who still wasn’t completely used to having any friends at all, it caught Midoriya off-guard sometimes.

“Thanks, but I’m fine,” he said, pasting a small smile on his face. “There’s just been a lot going on, I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” She eyed him a bit longer before seeming to accept his word. “Isn’t it at least a little exciting, though?”

Midoriya was saved from having to come up with an answer by a tray slamming down on the table across from them.

“Mind if we sit here?” Kaminari asked, already sliding into a seat.

“Why bother asking if you’re gonna do what you want anyway?” Sero laughed, still standing.

“Oh no, please sit!” Uraraka said. “Although…” She faced Kaminari as Sero settled in next to him. “I would have thought you’d want to spend time with Jirou-chan?”

“She had some thing with Mic-sensei,” he explained. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk to later. Maybe forever!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Sero laughed.

“Can you blame me? I got a date with the coolest girl in the whole school! No offence, Uraraka-chan…”

“No, I think it’s sweet!” she said. “And it’s a good thing you asked her already. I heard from Ashido-chan that a girl from 1-B wanted to ask her too!”

“Mushroom girl, right?” Sero said. “She told us too. She seems cool.”

“Not as cool as Jirou!” Kaminari crowed. He had a goofy, smitten expression on his face. “Guess that’s one thing Mineta was right about—you gotta get in early to beat the competition!”

“I know,” Sero said. Kaminari patted him on the shoulder, but didn’t press him further.

“She says Sato and Kouda decided to go together too since neither of them are interested in dating. People are pairing off quick!”

They went on like that, and Midoriya cast his eyes downwards. They weren’t trying to be cruel—he knew what that looked like. Still, he’d rather not spend his whole lunch period hearing about what other people had.

Keeping to himself until worked until he was forcibly drawn into the conversation by Kaminari.

“What about you, Midoriya? You must have had loads of girlfriends in middle school.”

Midoriya choked on his water and flushed. “M-me??”

“Sure!” he said. “Or…was it loads of boyfriends?”

He felt his face go redder. “N-no, n-neither. Not th-that, uh, either would have been bad! Just I, uh, wasn’t very popular in middle school…”

“That’s hard to believe,” Sero put in through a mouthful of rice. “You’re nice and smart and have a really strong quirk. Anyone with eyes would be able to tell you’re gonna be a great hero when we graduate.”

Was it possible for someone without a fire quirk to spontaneously burst into flames? Midoriya didn’t want to be the one to find out. “No, Kacchan wouldn’t-” He looked down. “My quirk came in really late. So it wouldn’t have…made me popular.”

“Huh.” That didn’t sound derisive. Midoriya risked a glance up to find Sero looking contemplative. “Is that why you still have trouble with your quirk sometimes?

“Y-yeah…”

Sero rested his chin against one hand. “Y’know, that just makes you even more admirable. You’re doing the same thing as the rest of us with less practice.”

“He’s right!” Uraraka chimed in. “You have a strong work ethic! I really respect you for that!”

UA really couldn’t be more different from middle school. “Th-thanks…”

It wasn’t such a bad way to pass the time after all.

Chapter Text

Even though the dance was a ways off, Midoriya knew he wouldn’t begin to feel comfortable about it until he had a plan. He’d long ago accepted that’s just how he was, although it was still embarrassing to get caught brainstorming aloud with others, so that evening after dinner he settled down in his room and got to work.

There was probably no avoiding putting in at least some appearance. Plenty of people had made it clear it hadn’t even occurred to them that he might not go—skipping out would undoubtedly raise questions he didn’t want to answer. Also…he did want to go, strange as it was to admit it to himself. It would be nice to experience something normal with friends, and he couldn’t imagine many of these classmates looking down on him for being dateless.

That was another thing that was unavoidable, no matter what Mineta thought. It wouldn’t be very smart to take romantic cues from him anyway. This at least removed the pressure of coordinating outfits like he’d overheard Ashido discussing with Hagakure. His one brown suit would surely be sufficient, although maybe he could pick up a few accessories to spruce it up. Ashido would surely be delighted to help him, or Yaoyorozu. Maybe a headband…?

He was so caught up thinking that he didn’t hear the knock on the door, at first soft, then gradually increasing.

“Deku-kun? Are you alright?”

He shook himself and dove across the room, stumbling over a pile of clothes he’d get around to washing soon.

“Uraraka-chan!” he cried, opening the door. “Sorry! I was, uh, a bit lost in thought.”

“It’s fine,” she laughed. “I wondered if it might be something like that. Do you mind if I come in?”

“Oh, of course!” He stepped aside, casually kicking the heap of laundry behind the open door as he did. Seeing the laughter in her eyes as she came in, he wondered if she noticed anyway, but she didn’t say anything about it.

For a moment, they stood awkwardly in the middle of Midoriya’s room while dozens of tiny All Might’s looked on.

“Did you need-”

“I was just-”

They stopped talking at the same time and waited for the other to go on, but the stalemate was broken by someone else.

“Midoriya-kun.”

They both looked over to find Todoroki standing in the doorway. As in most cases he looked extremely out-of-place and utterly unconcerned about it.

“Oh. Hello, Uraraka-san.” He surveyed them a beat longer. “Are you busy?”

“Oh, no!”

“Please come in, Todoroki-kun!”

They scrambled to make room and wound up seated side-by-side on Midoriya’s bed while Todoroki stood in front of them.

“I’m glad to see you both here,” Todoroki said seriously. His hands were clasped behind his back and he looked like he was about to give a presentation. “I was hoping you could give me some advice-”

“Midoriya-kun!”

Once more, all eyes turned toward the open door. This time it was Iida who stood there, eyes widening as he took in the crowd.

“Todoroki-kun! Uraraka-kun!” he cried. “It’s good to see you all! I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I most earnestly need your advice!”

“That’s why Todoroki-kun is here!” Uraraka chimed in.

“W-well, of course I’ll do my best to help you, but I don’t know how much use I’ll be…”

“People like you,” Todoroki pointed out.

“Indeed!” Iida agreed. He strode in and shut the door behind him—Todoroki shifted to sit in front of Midoriya’s desk to make room. “Midoriya-kun was my first thought, but Uraraka-kun, your perspective will also be invaluable! You see, there is an individual whom I greatly admire and would like to ask to accompany me to the ball! But I am not certain how to approach him effectively, so I hoped that you might be able to provide some recommendations!”

Uraraka’s eyes were wide and sparkling. “Iida-kun, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you, and I would love to help you, but…I’ve never gone on a date with anyone.”

Iida looked stunned. “But you’re such a charming and intelligent young lady! I was certain-” He flushed, remembering his manners. “I apologize, Uraraka-kun, I did not mean to insinuate-”

“It’s fine, Iida-kun,” she said. “I didn’t want to try to date anyone in middle school because I was studying so hard to get into UA. And since starting here it’s always been so hectic!”

“I’ve never dated anyone either,” Midoriya confessed.

“Huh,” Todoroki said. “I also thought you might have some tips.”

“You too?” Uraraka cried. “Well, I’m certain we can still figure something out! We have Deku-kun on our side, and there’s no strategy he can’t figure out. We’ll have the perfect confession formula in no time!”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Midoriya mused. “I don’t imagine there’s any singular formula that would work in all cases for something like this—everyone’s different, you know? It’s more likely that we’ll need to figure out personalized plans based on the individuals in question that play up your strengths. Iida-kun’s penchant for large gestures, for example, and Todoroki-kun’s straightforwardness. Even the two of you are so different that I doubt you’ll be able to utilize the same strategies. Maybe if you’re both interested in the same person, but I hope that’s not the case…” He blinked and realized everyone was staring at him raptly. “O-oh, I’m sorry, I completely forgot-”

“Don’t apologize, Midoriya-kun, that was quite informative!”

“Yes, all my sister said was to bring flowers.”

“Flowers! That is an excellent idea!”

“Large gestures,” Uraraka murmured with a smile as Iida whipped out a small notebook and started scribbling furiously. “See! I knew you’d be great at this!”

Midoriya felt himself flush. “It’s not that big a deal,” he mumbled. “It just makes sense that something so personal would have to be personalized…” He looked up. “When were you planning to confess? It would be good to have time to plan, but you don’t want someone else to get to them first.”

“You’re right.” Todoroki stood and bowed. “Thank you for your assistance. It was very helpful.” With that he turned to leave.

“Wait!” Uraraka cried. “Are you going to confess now?”

“Yes,” he said. “Midoriya-kun is right. I don’t want to waste too much time and miss my chance. And I’m not very good at romantic things, so I should just be straightforward with my intentions.” He frowned a bit as he left. “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to find some flowers, though…”

“Wow,” Uraraka said after he’d closed the door behind him. “Who do you think it could be? Yaomomo?”

“Maybe,” Midoriya said, although he didn’t think it was likely for reasons he couldn’t quite pinpoint. “Or maybe Inasa-kun from Shiketsu? He can’t go see him right now though…”

“Please, we must respect our friend’s privacy and not speculate about personal matters!” Iida cut in. “Perhaps you’d be willing to discuss a few more ideas with me? I want to be absolutely clear the sincerity of intentions!”

---

It turned out they were both wrong.

“How?” Ashido demanded the next morning, hands slamming down on their classmate’s desk. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re a great guy, but Todoroki is a total dreamboat!”

Red-faced, Ojirou sunk down in his chair. “W-well, he asked me and I said yes.”

“Obviously you said yes, who would turn down the hottest and coolest boy in the school! If I didn’t have my own pretty and talented crush I probably would have gone for him myself!”

“I’m gay,” Todoroki put in tonelessly.

“Eh?? I thought for sure you were bi too, with your ice and fire!”

“I don’t think it works like that…”

“No, it definitely doesn’t.”

“-one less opponent, and the most formidable too!”

“Your worst enemy is yourself, Mineta…”

Across the classroom, Uraraka caught Midoriya’s eye and flashed him a thumbs-up. He smiled in return and then repeated the gesture toward Iida, who nodded once and turned back to his plan-filled notebook.

It was turning out to be an eventful day.