Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya shivered as a gust of wind blew against him. Shoving his hands in his uniform’s pockets, he silently cursed himself for not taking a jacket to class this morning. The weather had been significantly warmer this morning when the sun was out, but by the time school had ended a thick blanket of clouds had covered up the bright blue skies, and the temperature had dropped quite a bit.

Dry leaves crunched underneath the student’s feet as he walked across the campus green, further reminding him that it was the middle of fall and that he really should be expecting chilly weather like this. Well, at least it was a short walk to the dorms.

“…So Frankenstein, huh?”

“Frankenstein’s monster. Frankenstein is the doctor’s name.”

Izuku decided to stop his internal complaining as the conversation beside him got his attention. Tenya Iida and Ochako Uraraka were walking alongside him, currently in the middle of discussion.

“Uh… Yeah, I know Iida, it’s just easier to… Never mind.” Ochako sighed lightly. “So, you’re going as Frankenstein’s monster then? I’d say that fits you pretty well.”

“You are not the first person to say that,” Tenya commented. “Is it because of my height?”

“Uh… Yeah, that’s it!” Ochako gave a rather unconvincing smile, but it seemed to fool her friend. Izuku, meanwhile, had understood her meaning.

The group had been talking about the upcoming school Halloween party. The holiday event was only a few days away, and had been a hot topic around the dorms the last couple days. Naturally, one major point of discussion had been costumes.

As he had just said, Tenya was planning to dress up as Frankenstein’s monster. Izuku couldn’t help but agree with Ochako that it was a very fitting choice for him, and not just because he had a somewhat similar build to the monster.

“What about you?” Tenya asked Ochako.

“Well, I have this old fairy costume I’m going to fix up and repurpose a bit. Figure it’s cheaper than just buying a new one.”

“If you want to save money, why not just ask Yaoyorozu to make something?” Izuku chimed in, joining the conversation.

“I, uh, tried that already. She started going on about how if she made one for me she’d have to make one for everyone, and how that might as well be stealing… You know how she is,” Ochako answered.

“Right.” Izuku remembered that Momo was pretty strict about using her powers for giving out free stuff. “Well, I’m sure it’ll be great!”

“Yep! So what about you, Deku? What are you going as?”

“Me?” Izuku pointed at himself. “Well…”

“Oh, let me guess! All Might, right? You’re crazy about him!”

“That is a sound guess.” Tenya mused, rubbing his chin. Despite the cold air, Izuku felt a slight warmth in his cheeks.

“N-No! Why does…” He sighed, hanging his head. “…Everyone’s guessed that. Am I really that one-note?”

“Yes.” Tenya and Ochako both said without hesitation. Their companion groaned slightly, his face heating up even more.

“W-Well… I’m not!” He exclaimed, lifting his head back up to look at them. “…But I haven’t decided what I’m going as yet.”

“Really?” Ochako’s eyes widened a bit. “But the party’s in a couple days!”

“I know, but just… I can’t make up my mind.”

While he refused to admit it, Izuku HAD gone as All Might for Halloween every year prior to this one. It was actually one of his favorite holidays of the year, since he was able to dress up and act like his idol without getting weird looks for once.

This year was different though. With everything that had happened since he’d joined U.A., Izuku didn’t really feel comfortable with that costume choice. All Might had officially retired, and while Izuku was his successor, he was making an effort to differentiate himself from the former hero at this point.

Besides, dressing up as All Might would just make his classmates think he was even more obsessed than they already did. No, this year he wanted to do something more, well, Halloween. Something more horror-oriented. Unfortunately, narrowing down a selection had been difficult. Every time he thought of something, he’d have doubts if he could actually pull it off, or he’d wonder if he’d buy the costume and then immediately think of something better. In other words, he’d been overthinking things like he usually did.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Ochako assured her friend, smiling. 

The trio arrived at the dorms a few moments later. Tenya and Ochako each went back to their rooms, but Izuku decided he wanted to warm himself up with a cup of tea first. Saying goodbye to his friends, he made his way over to the kitchen area and put some water into the electric kettle. As it heated up, he thumbed through the various flavors of tea that were available, deciding on a simple green tea.

“What am I going to go as…?” Izuku muttered to himself, glancing around just to make sure nobody else was around to hear him think out loud. It wasn’t often the common area was empty like this. “Maybe a zombified hero?  No, that just feels like it’d be poor taste. And Kaminari said he’s going as a vampire, don’t want to also do that… Hm…” There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with picking the same costume as someone else, but Izuku wanted to at least try and be original. Unfortunately, his indecisiveness meant that a lot of classic Halloween options had already been taken.

As he continued to wrack his brain for ideas, the sound of someone else walking into the kitchen got his attention.

“…Seriously? But I already bought the makeup and everything!”

A rather frustrated sounding Mina Ashido had just entered the room, phone to her ear as she strolled past Izuku.

“Oh, ‘just find someone else’? The party’s in three days! Who am I going to… What?” She paused, opening up the fridge and leaning down to grab a bottle of melon soda. She shut the door and turned around, leaning against it and tucking her phone between her cheek and shoulder while she opened the bottle. Her eyes suddenly went wide. “No! No I’m NOT just going to go on my own, the whole point was… UGH!” She grabbed her phone again, holding it in front of her now. “Well, fine! Thanks for waiting until the last minute to tell me, JERK!” She shouted, blowing a raspberry into the phone before hanging up on whoever had incurred her wrath.

Izuku had no idea what Mina was going on about, and part of him was afraid to ask. He slowly shut the cupboard door as Mina pocketed her phone, rubbing her temples.

“Stupid… Hm?” She turned her head towards Izuku, apparently just noticing he had been standing there. “O-Oh! Hey, Midoriya!” She stood up so she was no longer leaned against the fridge, clearing her throat. “Uh, sorry about that! Didn’t even realize you were there!” She said with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of her neck.

“It’s… It’s fine,” Izuku replied, a little uncertain what to say. “Uh… Is everything ok?” It was rare to see Mina upset like that.

“Of course not!” Mina exclaimed, throwing her arms up. “I just got totally blown off!” Izuku winced a little as Mina shouted again. Thankfully she had closed the bottle in her hand, so soda didn’t fly everywhere.

“Sorry, blown off?” Izuku fidgeted with the bag of tea in his hands as he spoke, nerves slowly starting to set in.

“Right, you probably don’t know.” Mina seemed to finally realize Izuku had no clue what she was talking about. “Alright, SO! A couple weeks back I got the idea for, like, a costume combo idea! You know, like, two people dress up to match?” As usual, the pink girl was incredibly animated as she spoke, her hands moving all over the place. “So, I asked around and got a friend of mine from one of the other classes to go in on the idea with me for the party.”

Izuku was starting to get it.

“And… Now they can’t go or something?” He asked.

“Worse! He’s still going, but he decided to ditch me and dress up as something else! Apparently, they’re doing something with another friend group they know better or something. Just… Ugh!”

“O…Oh.” Izuku was still a little unsure what to say. “That’s… Rude.”

“Right!?” Mina paused to take a drink of her soda. “I even picked up the stuff for him! And I’ve been working on my costume like all week!” Izuku frowned. “I mean, who does that?”

“Er… Can you still wear yours on its own?”

“I guess I could, but it’s just not the same, you know? Now I gotta find someone who hasn’t already made plans, if that’s even possible… Ugh, I was REALLY looking forward to this, tooooooo!” She slumped forward dramatically, a look of defeat on her face.

Izuku swallowed lightly. He knew what he should do, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to do it. While he was no longer quite as shy and reclusive as he was when he first joined U.A., he still struggled when it came to dealing with some of his classmates. Mina was one of said classmates; in fact, besides Katsuki, she may have been the one he had the most trouble with.

It wasn’t that he disliked Mina. He actually had a great deal of admiration for her; she had the sort of carefree confidence in day-to-day life that Izuku wished he could have, without the hostility of someone like Katsuki or the, uh, urges of someone like Minoru.

The problem was that Izuku was, for lack of a better word, intimidated by her. Her intensely extroverted nature was a bit of a struggle for someone like him to handle, even if he enjoyed it. He always felt worried that his mild-mannered demeanor was boring in her eyes. On top of that, well… She was a girl.

A very, very pretty girl.

Izuku wasn’t sure he’d go as far as to call it a crush, but he definitely had some feelings for his acid wielding classmate. Enough to still raise his heartrate and body temperature whenever he spoke to her, anyways. Her already cute looks were accented by her bubbly personality and nearly limitless energy, and her excessive positivity gave him a funny feeling in his stomach. He had gotten (mostly) comfortable talking to the other girls in his class, but not her.

So, despite the fact that he knew he should be offering to take the place of Mina’s flakey friend, the words just wouldn’t come out. Would going to the party with her like this be considered a date? What if started to think it was one when she didn’t, and he just made things super awkward between them?

But then again, she looked extremely let down by her friend ditching her, and Izuku didn’t want to see her like that.

“…What was the costume?” He asked Mina reluctantly. He could feel his mouth getting just a bit drier as he asked this. The pinkette looked back up at him.

“Well… I wanted it to be a surprise.” She looked at him quizzically. “Why?”

“Well, er… See, I actually haven’t uh… I haven’t decided on a costume yet…” Almost immediately, a glint appeared in Mina’s dark eyes as she stood up a little straighter. “S-So I was wondering what uh, what it was in case I wanted to, uh…” On top of sheer nerves, he didn’t want to fully commit to helping her without knowing what he would be expected to wear.

Mina bounced on the balls of her feet a bit, then looked around before moving closer to Izuku, who felt his cheeks tingling with warmth.

“Alright, well...” She spoke in a low voice. “I was going to dress up as this, like, royal demon sorceress. Wings, fangs, a tail, fancy dress, that kinda stuff. And then my friend was going to be like, my zombie servant.”

Izuku blinked a few times. He supposed demons and zombies were kind of related? Sometimes zombies got made with magic, right?

“Uh… Zombie servant? Like, he’d be chained up or…”

“Oh god, no!” Mina shook her head rapidly. “He’d be in a fancy suit or tuxedo, but like all busted up and dirty. Oh, and the makeup would be suuuuper detailed and gory, like real horror show stuff!” She pulled out her phone. “Here, let me show you what I mean.” Before Izuku could say anything else, she had flashed the phone in his face.

“Oh… OH!” Izuku physically recoiled at some of the pictures she had shown him. “That’s… That’s makeup?” Some of the photos showed people with what looked like torn skin around the mouth and cheek on one side, exposing half of their teeth. Others should what looked like gashes several centimeters thick across most of the face with very convincing dried blood and muscle underneath.

“Sure is! I’ve been practicing for the last couple weeks. Can’t quite get it like some of these, but it’s pretty darn close!” Mina sounded quite proud of herself. “So?” Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him expectantly.

Izuku swallowed again. Now he’d gone and gotten her hopes up; could he really say no? Plus, the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of the costume. A zombie in fancy clothes was a fun little contrast, and if Mina could get the makeup to look even half as good as the pictures he just saw, he’d look pretty dang scary.

“Uh… Yeah, I’ll do it!”

“YAY!” Mina leaped in the air with a shout, startling Izuku somewhat. What startled him far more, however, was the vice-like hug Mina suddenly pulled him into. “You’re the BEST, Midoriya!”

“I… Urgh…”

Izuku felt his entire face burning up as he tried to process the feeling of Mina’s arms around him.

So… Warm…

There was a high-pitched whistling sound. Izuku briefly thought his temperature had risen so high that actual steam was shooting out of his ears, but he quickly realized what it actually was.

“Oh!” Mina seemed to also notice, as she quickly released him. Whirling around to hide both his crimson face and the goofy smile stuck on his face, Izuku set to work pouring his tea. Not that he needed to heat up anymore.

“Alright, I’ll go grab the costume in a bit so you can try it on, okay?” Mina asked.

“Uh… S-Sure, that sounds g-good!” Izuku’s voice nearly cracked as he spoke. “I’ll just be h-here!”

“Cool! I’ll be down later. And seriously, thanks SO MUCH!” Mina exclaimed before Izuku heard her exit the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, he nearly collapsed onto the counter.

“God… Get it together, Izuku. It was just a hug,” he muttered. “Not like she ki…Mmph!” He clamped a hand over his mouth, desperately trying to push the thought out of his head before he could visualize it.

What had he gotten himself into…?

The days leading up to the party felt like a blur. Izuku was able to focus on school for the most part, but whenever he thought too much about the party a knot began to form in his stomach. Said knot would only tighten further anytime he saw Mina. He was simultaneously extremely excited and extremely nervous.

Mina had brought him the costume shortly after their conversation in the kitchen. It was as she described: a tuxedo with a lot of wear, tear, and dirt stains. She had supposedly bought a normal costume tuxedo at the store and modified it herself. The work was impressive; it really did look like it had been buried underground for some time. In fact, Izuku couldn’t help but wonder if it actually had been buried. He certainly wouldn’t put it past Mina to do something like that.

The tux was a surprisingly good fit for Izuku; whoever Mina was originally planning to go to the party with must have been built pretty similarly to him. He still couldn’t believe the guy had just bailed on Mina like that, especially with so little time before the holiday. Izuku couldn’t imagine leaving a friend hanging like that. 

Granted, from the way Mina had described her costume, it would have worked perfectly fine as its own thing. But she clearly wanted the zombie butler to complement it, and Izuku was happy to oblige her. Even if he was a little scared.

He hadn’t told anyone else about his plans, mostly because it seemed Mina wanted to surprise everyone. If someone asked him about his plans, he just told them he “had it figured out” and left it at that.

By the time the day of the party arrived, Izuku was feeling downright anxious. As soon as classes ended, he hurried back to the dorms (with a jacket this time). Mina had told him to wait for her in the common area. The party didn’t start for several hours, but it was going to take a long time to apply Izuku’s makeup.

As he sat on one of the couches waiting, realization began to sink in. He was going to likely be alone with Mina for a good amount of time, and she was going to be spending most of that time working on his face. As in, making direct contact with him.

He blanched slightly, taking a few deep breaths.

“You’ll be okay, you’ll be okay… Just don’t make it weird…” He mumbled to himself, trying to psyche himself up. He really shouldn’t be freaking out this hard about something so trivial. So what if Mina’s hands were going to be all over his face?

…

“You’ll be okay,” he repeated to himself.

Other members of 1A started trickling in to the dorms, some already in costume. Izuku greeted them and made some small talk where he could. Before long, Mina arrived.

“Hey!” She greeted. “You ready to become a zombie?”

“Uh… As much as I can be,” Izuku answered with a slight nervous chuckle.

“Great! Follow me,” Mina said before heading off towards the girls’ side of the dorms. Izuku’s eyes widened as she did.

“W-Wait! Where are we…”

“Uh, to my room, duh.” Mina said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s where I got all my makeup tools.”

“B-B-But I… I can’t be-

“Oh relax,” Minx interrupted, rolling her eyes. “If anyone sees us I’ll tell them what’s going on. Now come on! I don’t know how long this is gonna take!”

Izuku tried to keep his cool as he slowly stood up. Taking a few breaths, he looked around to make sure nobody was watching before starting after her. The two stepped into the elevator, which seemed to take ages to start moving in Izuku’s eyes.

“Oooooh, I can’t wait for tonight!” Mina cheered, clapping. “We’re gonna look AWESOME!”

“Heh… Y-Yeah…” Izuku gulped. “Awesome.” Mina looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You good there, bud?” She didn’t seem to notice the rosy tint Izuku’s cheeks had taken on since they’d stepped into the elevator. He nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The corner of Mina’s mouth twisted upwards.

“You nervous about being alone with me in my room…?” She asked coyly. Izuku coughed as she hit the proverbial nail on the head, earning a small giggle from his companion. By the mercy of some higher being, the elevator opened before he had to answer. Mina didn’t press him further as she stepped out and unlocked her bedroom door, ushering Izuku inside.

What was that just now? Surely Mina wasn’t…

Shaking his head quickly, Izuku dismissed whatever thoughts were able to form in his head and followed Mina inside.

Chapter Text

It took a second to adjust to the sensory overload that was Mina’s room. Izuku had only seen it once before, but it had left quite the impression on him. The various purple, pink, and black patterns that covered everything from the bed spread to the lampshade were just as vibrant as he remembered. The only difference was that this time, there was a large cloth on the floor in the middle of the room with one of those tall chairs you’d see movie studios use on it. There was also a small table to the side of the chair.

“Have a seat!” Mina gestured toward the chair as she walked over to her desk. Izuku took a moment to get his nerves under control before wordlessly sitting himself down. He watched Mina rifle through her desk drawers, taking note of the mess of random junk that seemed to fill them. How was she able to find anything in all that?

“There… And there… Aaaaand there!” Mina said to herself as she pulled out various objects that Izuku vaguely recognized as tools for makeup. She moved like a blur as she moved to and from her desk and the table next to Izuku, setting things down on it.

“Wow, that’s… A lot,” Izuku commented, feeling slightly distressed as the pile on the table grew and grew.

“Like I said, it’s a pretty complex job,” Mina said, now opening up a laptop and typing something up on it. As she set it down on the table, Izuku noticed the video that had come up.

“Zombie makeup tutorial… W-Wait, didn’t you say you practiced this?” He asked, looking up at her with concern.

“Yeah, on myself. It’s a bit different working on someone else’s face. Besides, those were just mock-ups, this is my first time using the actual costume makeup.” She caught his look. “Hey, don’t worry! That’s why I’m gonna have the video playing.”

“R-right.” Not the most assuring thing she could have said, but given how excited she had been for this, Izuku felt like he could trust her to do a good job.

“Alright, get comfy!” Mina said as she picked up a brush and began swirling it in something. Izuku wasn’t sure if that was possible at this point; it was taking most of his willpower to keep calm, and Mina hadn’t even started yet.

The pinkette walked up to him, now directly in front of him. The chair’s height made it so he was just under eye level with her. She started playing the tutorial video, then turned to look at him with a wide smile.

“You’re not gonna recognize yourself by the time I’m done,” she joked, snickering. “Okay, now hold still…”

Izuku closed his eyes as the makeup brush was brought to his face. He twitched slightly as the bristles tickled his skin.

“Ticklish?” Mina seemed to have noticed his reaction to the brush. He could practically hear the smirk on her face.

“Uh… A-A bit,” he admitted.

Not even three seconds later, he regretted saying that as Mina suddenly rapidly started rubbing the brush against his cheeks and nose.

“H-Hey! What are… Haha… Wh-What are you…?” Izuku struggled to speak as he involuntary laughed. He opened as eyes and sat up as he felt Mina stop. “What was that for?” The amateur artist had her free hand to her mouth, trying and failing to stifle her laughter.

“Sorry, sorry! Just couldn’t resist.” She lifted the brush to his cheek again. “I’ll slow down, ok?” Izuku narrowed his eyes a little, but he could feel a smile in the corner of his lips. Leaning back in his chair again, he let Mina continue.

“What’s this for, anyway?” He asked out of curiosity, trying to avoid any awkward silences as much as possible.

“Sort of a base layer. The idea is to get your skin to look paler and more, well, dead,” Mina explained. Izuku nodded, closing his eyes again to let Mina run the brush over the middle of his face. “Thanks again for doing this, by the way,” she said as she did.

“Oh, don’t… Don’t mention it,” Izuku mumbled. “Like I said, I didn’t have any plans yet anyways.”

“Well, still. I really appreciate it.” Mina paused to apply more makeup to the brush. “Honestly, I was a little surprised you didn’t have a costume already lined up. You usually plan ahead for stuff.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Izuku asked. Mina shrugged slightly.

“Well I mean, for schoolwork and stuff. You’re always super prepared for tests, and ‘Raka tells me you usually get your homework done like first thing after school,” she explained.

“Oh, yeah… That’s true.” Izuku didn’t like having homework looming over his head, so he tried to do it as early as he possibly could. From what he understood, Mina was almost the complete opposite of him in that regard.

That was another reason Izuku hadn’t spoken to her as much. He understood he came across as, well, a huge nerd. Considering how little Mina seemed to care about her grades (though she had apparently improved them a bit after the kick in the pants she got at the end of the first semester), he figured she wouldn’t be interested in a lot of the things he liked to talk about.

That wasn’t to say he thought she was stupid. She had gotten into the top hero school in the country, after all. And what she lacked in grades she more than made up for in practical work. She was one of the classes better combatants, and the various ways she was able to utilize her Quirk was nothing short of remarkable in Izuku’s eyes.

Academics just weren’t as much of a priority for her, which again made Izuku worry she’d find someone like him a bit boring. He didn’t exactly have many hobbies, after all.

“I’m kinda jealous, honestly,” Mina said as she went back to brushing. “Like, I wish I could stay focused like that.”

“Huh?” Izuku looked at her, a little lost.

“With school, you know? I just get distracted, you know? Half the time I just kinda, uh, forget about homework. Or exams.” Mina suddenly paused, eyes opening up a bit more. “Wait, we don’t have any coming up, do we?” Izuku blinked.

“Uh, no.” Huh.

“Oh, phew!” Mina ran a hand over her forehead. “Was worried for a second there… Anyways, uh… What was I saying?” She stopped again to think. “Oh, right! See? My mom always used to say I’d forget my head if it wasn’t attached.” She knocked on the side of her head as she said this, sticking her tongue out slightly. Izuku chuckled lightly; she was as goofy as ever.

“So, you’re jealous then? Of what?” He was finding it slightly easier to relax.

“Well, folks like you and Momo. If I had, like, half the focus you guys had I could avoid a lot of problems with Aizawa. I honestly don’t know how you do it.” The way she said it, she almost seemed impressed. Izuku felt himself blush a bit; compliments were still not something he was completely used to.

“Well, er… Maybe try writing down reminders? I sometimes forget stuff too, so I try to make sure I write everything down,” Izuku suggested as Mina apparently finished the first coat. “I’ve got a planner app in my phone, and sometimes I even set reminders as alarms and…” He trailed off, as it seemed Mina had stopped listening. She was going through more tools and makeup, trying to decide what to use next.

Of course. He finally starts opening up and the first thing he talks about is planning work.

“Ah, there it is…” Mina said to herself, apparently finding what she needed. She turned back to Izuku, grinning. “I can’t believe I never thought of that! Can you show me what app you use when we’re done here? That sounds SUPER useful!”

“Oh! Um… Yeah, no problem.” Guess she had been listening after all.

It seemed Izuku may have had the wrong idea about Mina. At least in regards to why she had some trouble with school. Seemed it was less lack of interest or work ethic and more lack of, well, attention span. Which… Made sense.

 Mina began working on the specifics of Izuku’s makeup mask. The plan was for to make him like he had an exposed jaw on his left side like some of those pictures he saw, a huge wound on the top left of his head, and a nose that had torn away. The “wounds” would all look old and festered, and a lot of the skin around them would have to look partially rotted. He’d also need work done around his eyes to make them look sunken in.

All in all, very gross. So much so it honestly made Izuku a bit queasy. But he wanted to look scary, and this was definitely going to help fulfill that goal.

“So, if you thought I had a costume planned already, what did you think I was going as?” Izuku asked as Mina continued to work. Something told him he already knew the answer.

“All Might,” Mina answered plainly. Izuku sighed loudly, slumping a bit. “Woah, hey, I need you to hold still! What’s wrong?”

“That’s what everyone else said,” the zombie-to-be muttered.

“Well I mean, can you blame them? You name your attacks after him, your Quirk’s kiiiiinda like his, not to mention your room…”

“Y-Yes, I get that!” Izuku stammered, letting his artist get back to work.

“Why does that bother you?” She asked. “I mean, everyone was asking me if I was dressing up like an alien, but I’m not upset about it.”

Izuku had to admit, he had guessed that himself.

“Well, I just…” He started to say. “…No, it’s stupid.”

“Oh, don’t be like that!” Mina crouched down slightly so she was eye level with him. “Come on, talk to me Midoriya. What’s up?” Her voice sounded a different, almost calmer in a way. After a moment of hesitation, Izuku sighed.

“I just, well…” He looked down, not wanting to keep eye contact for too long. “I guess it’s just how certain everyone was. It’s like, they don’t think there’s anything else I’d possibly want to go as.” He paused. “I guess I really don’t talk about much besides heroes, huh?”

“Wha? No, that’s not true! You like talking about… Um…” Mina stopped, putting a finger to her chin. “Er… Training?” Izuku grimaced as she was obviously struggling to think of anything else.

“See? And that’s still kind of related.”

“And? So what?” Mina put her hands on her hips. “You’re a passionate dude, why’s that a bad thing? I’m the same way about certain stuff.” Izuku looked up at her again.

“Yeah, but it’s different with you. You’re… Not boring.” He could easily name some of the things Mina was into, yes, but she at least had a variety of interests.

“Oh my god, you are not boring, Midoriya.” Mina laughed lightly, rolling her eyes. “Sheesh, ‘Raka was right. You’re too hard on yourself.” She set down her makeup brush. “I mean think about it, dude. You’re one of the best students in the top hero school, you’ve gone toe to toe with multiple villains and won, and you haven’t even finished your first year! And you think you’re boring?” She paced back and forth in front of Izuku as she went on. “Not to mention you pretty much broke the law that one time, then there was that time you got in trouble for sneaking out at night and getting into a fight with Bakugou, and on top of all that…” She stopped pacing, beaming as she put one hand on her hip. “You’re going along with some crazy girl’s weird Halloween idea. And you don’t even know her that well!”

Izuku took a moment to collect his thoughts. Taking a step back and really thinking about it, his classmate did have a point. He was apparently had just gotten so accustomed to the craziness of the past year that his frame of reference was incredibly skewed.

“…I’m getting too used to how weird things are at this school,” he admitted out loud. Mina laughed.

“I’ll say!” She paused. “But seriously, why don’t we hang out more? Like, we have the same best friend for crying out loud!” She went back to pick up her tools and resume zombifying Izuku. “I mean, I know we hung out a bunch at the culture festival, but that was only a couple days.”

“Uh… Guess I just thought you weren’t super interested in talking to me…” Izuku felt himself blush; it was clear he’d assumed a lot about Mina that wasn’t necessarily true. To his surprise, though, rather than chastise him about it she gave him a worried look.

“Aw, did I really make you think that?” She pouted somewhat dramatically. “Shoot, that’s not it at all! To be honest, I kinda thought you didn’t want to talk to me much.”

“Huh?” Had Izuku really given off that impression. “R-Really?”

“Yeah, I mean… You never say as much to me when we’re all hanging out together, and whenever I catch you on your own you always need to go somewhere.” Mina began working on the large head wound as she spoke. “Just started to figure you found me annoying, I guess.”

“O-Oh.” Well now Izuku just felt bad. “S-Sorry! I don’t think that at all! I just, uh, well…” He gulped slightly, not wanting to give the real reason he tended to avoid talking to her one on one.

“Nah, I think I get it now. Guess we were both just getting the wrong signals from each other, huh?” She laughed again. “Guess we’ll have to make up for lost time tonight then, huh?”

“Er, r-right!”

They were both quiet as Mina continued, the only sound coming from the video on her computer. Izuku was struggling to think up more small talk, and it seemed like his artist was trying to concentrate a bit more than before.

“Hey, turn your head a bit please?” She asked. Izuku obliged. “Thanks.” These sorts of interactions went on for a while, and the whole was starting to almost feel therapeutic for Izuku. It was almost like getting a haircut, in a way.

“So uh, where did this whole idea come from anyway?” He finally asked. Mina was a creative sort, but this was still pretty elaborate.

“I saw a drawing of the idea while I was browsing around a couple weeks ago, and I thought to myself ‘Oh that is PERFECT for Halloween’! I mean, I’m already like halfway to demon queen. Just needed to find a suck-er, volunteer to be the butler!” She giggled at her little joke, winking at Izuku as she said “volunteer”.

Izuku didn’t say much, instead trying to not to dwell on how cute he found Mina’s laugh.

As time went on, the nervous boy couldn’t help but notice the pink girl flashing him quick glances. At one point he caught her gaze, and she stared at him almost expectantly before smiling softly and going back to work. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“Soooooo… Sorry if this is personal, but I just want to make sure,” Mina suddenly said. “You and ‘Raka aren’t a thing, right?” Izuku let out a bird-like sound at this, face lightning up like a stoplight.

“N-N-No, no w-w-we aren’t,” the words stumbled out of his mouth. There was absolutely a time Izuku thought he had feelings for his best friend, but as time went on he realized he just considered her, well, a best friend. And apparently, she had gone through a similar thing with him. “Wh-Why?”

“Oh, just nosy. Making sure ‘Raka’s not keeping secrets from me, that’s all.”

More time passed. At some point Izuku’s legs started to feel stiff, and they took a break. Mina refused to let him see her progress, though. 

“Not until it’s done,” she said, wagging a finger.

Soon the nose and eyes were (supposedly) done. As far as Izuku could tell, all that was left was the jaw. Unfortunately, it was tricky for Mina to “draw” on him there without causing his head to move. This led to something Izuku had been subconsciously dreading the whole time.

“Ah…!” He let out an involuntary cry as the girl placed her hand on his left cheek, holding her thumb right under the jawline.

“Gonna have to hold this for a bit,” she said as she got to work. Izuku barely heard her, as he was completely focused on the warm feeling on the left side of his face. He hadn’t expected Mina’s hand to feel so… Soft.  

“Wow, you’re really warm, dude,” Mina commented. “You feeling okay?”

“Uh, f-f-feeling fine!” Izuku stuttered.

“You sure? Because you’re kinda shaky.” His classmate turned her head to look at him. Her eyes caught his, and for a moment neither of them said a word. Mina’s face had a peculiar expression on it; it didn’t seem like she was worried about Izuku, despite her earlier comments. Suddenly, a light smirk appeared on her face.

Izuku’s breath caught in his throat as he felt Mina’s thumb lightly rub back and forth against his jaw.

Her expression was similar to the one she had given him back on the elevator, when she had commented about being alone in here with him. What was she doing?

“You not used to being this close to a girl, Midoriya?” She asked in a softer voice than usual. He stared wide-eyed at her, unable to find words. The atmosphere in the room had completely changed; there was an almost electrifying sensation in the air that send a tingle up Izuku’s spine.

“N… Not really…” His response came out much higher pitched than expected, earning another lovely little laugh from Mina.

“Well, there’s gonna be dancing at the party so… You probably should.” She finished the sentence in a sing-song voice, winking at him once again. Then, without another word, she went back to working on the mask. Her thumb stopped its movement, and Izuku couldn’t but find himself wanting.

What in the world just happened? That look she gave him, the way she spoke, that touch… Did… Did Mina…?

“H-Hey, what was-

“Shush. I need to focus,” his question was quickly interrupted. “Relax, we’ll have plenty of time to chat later…”

It took a great deal of effort, but Izuku managed to calm himself down whole he processed the last few minutes. Even someone as oblivious as him could tell Mina had just flirted with him, and he wasn’t entirely sure how to handle that.

Did she like him? As in, like him? Or was she just being playful? He didn’t want to make any assumptions, but he couldn’t help but smile at the thought of someone actually being interested in him that way.

He pondered this new development for a good while, and before he knew it Mina let go of his face (much to his dismay) and stepped back.

“…I am good,” she bragged, crossing her arms with a proud smile on her face.

“Is it done?” Izuku asked excitedly, having almost forgotten why he had been sitting here this whole time. “Let me see!” He quickly stood, stretched a bit, and walked a few steps toward her desk’s mirror.

What he saw staring back at him make him recoil in horror… But in a good way.

Izuku looked positively gruesome. It wasn’t quite as good a job as some of those pictures he had seen, but it was pretty darn close. As planned, it looked like a huge part of his scalp had been torn out, leaving bloody muscle, sinew, and even a bit of brain exposed. He reached up and touched it, involuntarily wincing as he did. The makeup around the fake wound made his skin look somewhat gangrenous.

His nose was similarly horrific, looking like it was ripped clean off it you weren’t looking at it from a profile. Above the nose, his eyes were surrounded in a thick ring of black eyeliner, helping to complete the illusion of undeath.

But the real eye-catcher was the exposed jaw. Izuku had to open and close his mouth a few times just to make sure it was still there. The painted teeth were blackened and rotted, with dribbles of blood surrounding them as if he had just, er, eaten.  All in all, a rousing success… So much so it kind of frightened Izuku. He had to stop himself from envisioning what the sort of scenarios would lead to his fake injuries.

“Wow,” he said in an awestruck voice. “I look…”

“Terrifying?” Mina asked, sidling up next to him.

“Yeah… Er, you don’t think it’ll be considered too extreme, do you…?”

“Pfft! You really think U.A. is gonna care about something being too extreme?” Mina clapped him on the bag, laughing.

“…Good point.” Izuku had definitely questioned the school’s methods on more than one occasion.

“Alright, let me get some pictures! Then you can help me with my costume!” It wasn’t going to be quite as elaborate as Izuku’s, but Mina’s costume required a bit of prep work as well.

“Sure thing.” The ghoulish boy paused, thinking. “O-Oh, um, Ashido? I uh… I was just wondering…” He cleared his throat as he tried to get his question out. “About earlier, when you were uh… Well… Are you… Are we…” He looked at the floor as he spoke, fidgeting with his hands.

“Hm?” Mina looked up from her phone, raising an eyebrow. Izuku looked up again, his eyes meeting with hers once again. He couldn’t help but think about how pretty they were. “Are we what, Midori?”

The nickname gave him pause. He opened his mouth to finish his question, but then closed it.

As much as he wanted confirmation about what was going on between them tonight, for some reason it didn’t feel appropriate to just ask outright. Mina was clearly playing some sort of game with him here, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to play along a little.

“Uh… I forget.” It was an obvious lie, and he could tell Mina didn’t believe it for a second. But she simply smiled that sly smile of hers and held up her phone.

“Says ‘brains’!”

Chapter Text

“Come on! We’re gonna be late!” Mina exclaimed, her heels clicking against the ground with each hurried step she took. Izuku couldn’t help but be impressed at how fast she was able to move in her current getup.

While her transformation wasn’t quite as extreme as his, it was still impressive. Her skin was a dark shade than normal, more magenta than pink. She had special contacts in that masked her yellow irises, making her eyes completely black. Black eyeliner and eyeshadow helped accent the look. On the right side of her mouth, a single fang poked out from her top lip.

The most notable facial change, though, was the horns. Mina had sculpted a pair of large, black pointed horns that curved out and along her head before pointing up slightly at the end. They went over her actual horns, fastened to her head with a putty-like material that was covered by her hair. Most of the prep work had been centered around getting them on; Izuku had to hold them in place for several minutes while the adhesive dried.

Her outfit was an elegant, flowing, laced black dress with pink and purple accents that went down to just above her shoes, parting in the front below her thighs. Its sleeves widened past the elbows, the fabric hanging loosely from her arms in an almost flame-like pattern. A matching witch-like hat sat on her head in between her horns. 

Much of her back was exposed, which was necessary for the black, batlike wings she wore. A matching black tail with a spade-like tip could seen through the gap in the front of her dress, alongside fishnet leggings and high-heeled black boots. To complete the look, she had a good deal of jewelry on, most of which had black (rhinestone) jewels as the focus.

All in all, a very convincing demoness. The outfit definitely gave the sort of “noble sorceress” feel she was going for. The two of them certainly made quite the pair.

“Aren’t we already a little late?” He asked as he tried to keep pace with the energetic girl. She did a 180 to face him, continuing to walk backwards as she did.

“We’re still just fashionably late, not late-late.” The way she said it made it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Uh… What’s the difference?” Mina looked at Izuku like he’d grown an extra head when he asked this.

“What do you mean ‘what’s the difference’? It’s-Ah!” Before she could explain, she let out a cry of surprise as her heel caught on something, causing her to lose her footing. She started to fall backwards, but Izuku was able to react before she hit the ground.

There was silence as the both their brains caught up to their bodies. Mina was arched back, arm fully outstretched as Izuku grasped her hand left hand with his right. She looked up at him, and him down at her, as they stayed in that position for a few seconds.

As realization dawned on Izuku, he felt a prickling warmth in his cheeks. Clearing his throat, he helped Mina to her feet.

“Haha, whoops! Guess that’s what I get for trying to walk backwards in heels. Thanks for the save, dude!” Mina said. Then she gave a wry playful smile. “You’re such a good servant.”

“S-Servant?” Izuku asked, then remembered what she was talking about. “Oh… Right. Um, well…” He debated whether or not to play along. “Th-Thank you, m-m-mistress,” he squeaked out, feeling silly saying it out loud. This only made Mina’s smile widen, and Izuku swore he could see the color in her cheeks change slightly even with the makeup on.

“Mistress, eh? I could get used to that-oh.” She paused, looking down. “Uh, Midoriya? Your hand?”

“Hm? OH!” Izuku nearly jumped as he looked down and realized he was still holding onto Mina’s hand. “AH!” He let go, quickly pulling it back to his side as he felt his breathing start to accelerate. “S-Sorry…”

“…For what?” The softer tone Mina asked that in made Izuku’s stomach do somersaults.

“Um… L-Let’s just go.”

Mina didn’t say anything, but he could practically feel the teasing smile on her face as they continued walking.

Even if he was almost certain this had turned into a date, Izuku just couldn’t bring himself to make a move. He was still trying to come terms with the idea that a girl, let alone Mina, might have any kind of romantic interest in him. He desperately wanted to question her about it, but it just didn’t feel right asking. At least, not just yet.

The party was being held at one of U.A.’s many gyms. The muffled sounds of music and merriment could be heard as Izuku and Mina approached the doors to the facility. A few faculty members were just outside the door, stopping people just to verify that they were U.A. students. Once he and Mina were cleared, Izuku took a deep breath.

Even before this weird situation with Mina, he had been a little apprehensive about this party. Huge social gatherings like this were very outside his comfort zone. If it were just his classmates that’d be fine, but this was the whole school.

Still, the timid boy was trying to get better at dealing with these sorts of situations. After all, he was going to have to deal with tons of fans by the time he went pro. And with all the insanity he and his class had been through this year, a fun night out like this was just what he needed. Even if he’d probably feel drained before the end of the night.

This apparent date he had gotten himself into added to his anxiety, but it also gave him more reason to want to be here. He just needed to try and loosen up a little. If he could face down things like Muscular or Gentle, he could surely handle this.

…Right?

He opened the door, holding it for Mina like the gentlemanly servant he was, and stepped inside.

“…Woah,” he said to himself as he took in the sight before him.

The gym had received one spooky makeover. Halloween-themed décor hung from the walls and ceilings, such as cobwebs, bats, ghosts, witches on brooms, and much more. The lighting had a green-blue hue to it, and there was clearly a fog machine running somewhere. That or someone with a fog-based Quirk. Music Izuku was pretty familiar with hearing around this time of year played loudly over the gym’s speakers, though not to the point that you’d have to shout over it.

The place was already packed from students from every class and grade level. Faculty members likely acting as chaperones could be seen here and there keeping an eye on things. Izuku didn’t immediately spot anyone he recognized, but he was sure he’d find them soon enough. As he scanned the room for any familiar faces, he took note of what there was to do.

There was a large set of tables for various snacks and drinks on one side of the gym. Near that was a large section for party games and activities. The center of the gym seemed to be the dance floor, and was where the largest group of students were. Aside from that, it seemed people were simply mingling.

“This is so cooooool!” Mina echoed Izuku’s thoughts. “They went, like, all out on the spookiness!”

“Yeah.” Izuku nodded slowly. “Uh, so what do you want to-

“Woah, sweet costumes!” He was cut off by a random student as they passed by the pair.

“Thank you! Yours looks good too!” Mina shouted after them, waving. Izuku didn’t really have time to take note of what they had been wearing. “See?” Mina grinned as she turned to look at him. “Already getting noticed.”

“Well… You put a lot of work into these, and it really shows,” Izuku commented. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the idea of getting attention like that all evening, but he supposed he’d have to get used to it.

“Aw, thanks! That’s sweet of you to say.”

“Oh my god, that looks so real!” Another student Izuku didn’t recognize had walked up to the two of them. She looked a little older than them, and was dressed as what Izuku guessed was supposed to be a victim in a horror movie. She had regular clothes on, but they were covered in fake blood and she had a hat on that made it look like an axe was embedded in her head. Her comment seemed to be directed at Izuku.

“Oh, uh… Thanks. Uh, she did all the work though.” He pointed at Mina, not wanting to take all the credit here. Mina simply smiled with pride.

“Well it looks awesome! Can I get a picture of you guys?” The older student asked, taking out her phone.

“Huh? Well, uh-

“Sure thing!” Mina answered for him, getting up beside him. Before Izuku could say anything else, the girl took her photo.

“Thanks! So are you guys like an evil bride and groom or something?”

Izuku heard Mina start giggling as he coughed loudly to stop himself from babbling like an idiot.

“No ma’am, I’m a witch and he’s my minion!” Mina corrected her.

“Ooooh, got it. Well, thanks again!” The girl walked off, and Mina turned her grin back at Izuku again.

“Haha… That’s funny how she thought we were a c-c-couple, huh?” He rubbed the side of his neck while he spoke, his eyes darting around. Eventually they met Mina’s again. Her black orbs narrowed ever so slightly, and her smile relaxed a bit.

“Why’s it funny?” Her question caught Izuku off guard. 

“Well it’s just, y-you know… Because we’re not… I mean we aren’t… It’s like…” He looked around again as he tripped over his own words, trying to find something to give him an out.

“Yes?” The question almost sounded genuine. Izuku found himself drawn to the demoness’s gaze again, as if spellbound by her. She looked like she was expecting something from him.

Internally, he was yelling at himself to just say what was on his mind. She had been giving him signs all night, so why was he still so scared to even suggest this was a date? Was he seriously this much of a wimp when it came to girls?

For a second, he swore he heard Mina let out a small sigh as the silence between them grew longer.

“Ashido? Is that you?” By some miracle, a familiar voice called out. Izuku turned to see what looked like a vaguely human-shaped sheet that seemed to be floating next to them.

“Hagakure, hey!” Mina turned to face the floating bedsheet, then did a double take. “Uh… Is that your costume?”

“Yep!” The invisible girl bounced a bit. “Figured I’d go with a classic! Look!” The sheet lifted slightly revealing, as expected, nothing. “See? Nothing underneath! Spooooooooky, huh? I’m like a real ghost!”

Izuku blinked. Wait, if she was completely invisible right now, did that mean she was…?

“Wait, are you… You know…” Mina seemed to have the same thought, looking a bit panicked.

“What? Oh, oh god no! I’ve got my hero costume on. It’s waaaaaaay too cold for that!” The fact that that was her main concern didn’t sit well with Izuku. “But like, wow! That costume’s so cool! I love the dress! And the wings! And the horns!” Toru proceeded to list off basically everything else on Mina’s costume.

“Well hey, it’s not just me.” Mina gestured toward Izuku, who Toru hadn’t seemed to notice yet.

“Oh, who’s-AAH!” The sheet suddenly flew up into the air, then slowly floated back down and landed on the floor in a heap. Izuku watched two ends of it bunch up and get pulled upwards before the whole thing was lifted up and over its unseen wearer again.

“I-I-Is that M-Midoriya?” The bedsheet asked, shaking slightly. Mina was practically doubled over with laughter.

“Uh… S-Sorry, did I scare you?” Izuku asked, obviously knowing the answer.

“N-No, not at a-a-all!” The bedsheet was not a very good liar. “Uh… Wow, that’s… Okay, Midoriya, that’s WAY too much!” The sheet started flailing as Toru shouted.

“He got you good, huh?” Mina said, clapping her friend on the shoulder. “What do you think? Made him myself! He’s my personal zombie butler.” Toru relaxed a bit, the sheet turning slightly towards Mina.

“Made him? Wait, are you two, like, together?” Izuku tensed up as the sheet rapidly turned back and forth towards him and Mina. This was the last person he needed to be asking that. Mina opened her mouth to answer.

“Well, we’re-

“O-Of course not!” Izuku blurted out. It took a few seconds to realize what he’d said. “Wait, no, I mean… We are! But we’re not… Well I mean kind of…” As he flailed around trying to find the right words, he noticed Mina’s smile had dropped. Her posture had slumped a little, and her eyes somehow seemed duller than they were just a moment ago.

Izuku felt his heart sink as everything around Mina seemed to go out of focus. Of all the things he could have said…

“Um… E-Excuse me for a second, I’m going to…” He looked past Mina, eyeing the snack table. “H-How about I get use some drinks?” He offered, already walking towards the table.

“Yeah, sounds good.” Mina’s voice had a little less energy to it. Thankfully Toru seemed to be reading the room, and stayed quiet.

Izuku weaved through the crowd of partygoers, daring to take a look back towards Mina. She was staring at him, still wearing that same expression.

“Damn it,” the flustered zombie mumbled to himself as he turned back around. Why couldn’t his brain and body just cooperate? This was supposed to be a fun night out, and he was already screwing it up. He could feel some very familiar thoughts starting to seep into his head, ones that had haunted him most of his life. Those little voices that constantly reminded him how worthless he was, and how he was wasting his time trying to amount to anything.

“No,” he said to himself, shaking his head before those thoughts could fully set in. He’d been slowly learning to ignore those voices, to push them back into the corners of his mind where they’d stay quiet. “You’re overthinking and overreacting, Izuku. Come on.”  He smacked the side of his own head a few times.

Mina was clearly a little hurt by what he said, but not so much that he had ruined the night. He could salvage this, he just needed to cool his head for a minute and figure out what to do.

Mumbling to himself, he started filling a plate with various snack foods on the table, and poured himself a drink front the punch bowl. He stood by the table for a bit, nibbling on his food as he tried to think of how to approach things.

“Is that you Midoriya?” Another familiar voice roused him from his internal dialogue. “Holy crap, it is! I hardly recognized you, man!” He turned to see Denki Kaminari and Koyka Jirou had joined him. The former was dressed as a typical vampire, while the latter was something Izuku didn’t recognize; she wore a green and red striped sweater, dark pants, a brown hat, and most notably a single glove on her right hand with long, metal blades on the fingers. She also had some makeup on that made her face looked as if it had been badly burned, though it wasn’t quite as elaborate as Izuku’s.

“Oh, hey guys.” Izuku greeted them with a small smile.

“Damn, dude, you went all out!” Denki exclaimed, laughing a little as he looked back at Jirou. “You’re making Jirou over here look bad! Haha-Ow!” One of Kyoka’s jacks smacked the back of her friend’s head. “What was that for?” The girl ignored him, stepping closer to Izuku.

“Wow… That almost looks professional,” she commented as she looked him over. “And you even got the suit to look all messed up. Just, uh… Wow. Gotta be honest, I was not expecting this from you.” She admitted.

“Haha… Yeah, I guess it’s a little… Odd for me, huh?” Izuku smiled sheepishly, feeling himself blush. “So uh, what are you dressed as?” Kyoka almost looked offended for a half second.

“Um, Freddy Krueger?” She said it like it was obvious. “You seriously don’t know who that is?”

“Hey come on Jirou, not everyone’s as into horror stuff as you,” Denki pointed out. He then turned to Izuku. “She’s going as a killer from these old western movies. He uh…” He snapped his fingers a few times. “That’s the one that kills campers on Friday the 13^th right?” Kyoka rolled her eyes.

“Oh my god, were you even listening earlier? No, that’s Jason. Freddy’s the one that kills people in their dreams, remember?” Izuku looked around, a little unsure what to do.

“Oh right, right.” Denki nodded.

“Anyways,” The apparent horror buff turned back to Izuku looking slightly apologetic. “Sorry, I just figured with that costume you were a horror guy. I actually don’t recognize, is it from something or did you just make it up?” She asked.

“Er, well… I actually didn’t come up with it myself,” Izuku answered. “Actually, I didn’t even make it. This was all Ashido’s idea.”

“Ashido?” Both Kyoka and Denki asked in unison, slight disbelief on their face. Izuku cleared his throat lightly.

“Yes, it’s uh… Well she and I are sort of doing this paired costume thing. See, she’s like this demon witch and I’m supposed to be her… Undead… Servant…” He trailed off as he saw the bewildered looks he was receiving. “…Sh-She needed s-someone to wear this since the guy who was originally going to cancelled, and well… I didn’t have anything in mind yet so… Here I am.” Once again, he was glad the makeup hid his blush so well. The pair in front of him glanced at each other.

“Ashido made that?” Kyoka asked with surprise.

“Are you two dating!?” Denki shouted at the same time. Izuku gripped his drink a little too tightly, crinkling the cup a bit. Luckily it was mostly empty.

“N…” He stopped himself. “Maybe? I… I don’t really know,” he answered, sighing as he relaxed his grip.

“What do you mean ‘I don’t know’? It sure sounds like a date to me!”

“Kaminari, knock it off. It’s not our business,” Kyoka said, threatening another slap with her jack.

“No, it’s… It’s okay.” Izuku leaned against the table, looking down at his drink. “Honestly, I think… No, I know it’s supposed to be a date. Like, we never said it was but…” He nearly fell over as Denki suddenly walked up and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Alright, Midoriya! I wasn’t sure you had it in you! But damn, Ashido of all people… I’m kinda jealous!” Izuku shrunk down a little, not entirely comfortable with this conversation. Kyoka rolled her eyes, muttering something about boys under her breath. “So wait, why are you over here by yourself?” The vampire asked, looking around. Izuku winced.

“Well, uh…” He sighed again. “I, uh, kinda messed up.”

“…Oooo,” Denki backed away a bit, sucking in air through his teeth. “Uh… Sorry…” Then, after a beat, he asked, “So uh, what’d you do? OW!” He jumped as Kyoka smacked him again.

“Really?” She asked as she glared at him. “Come on man, mind your business already?”

Izuku briefly considered slipping away, but then another thought occurred to him.

“Uh… Actually, if you guys don’t mind…” He hesitated, feeling a little silly about what he was about to ask. “Could… Could I ask you guys for some advice?”

“Advice? Um…” Denki smiled awkwardly, scratching the side of his head. “Sure, dude.” Kyoka looked a little more surprised by the question.

“Er… Yeah, no problem.” Izuku took a swig of his punch.

“Well… Like I said, Ashido and I never officially decided this was a date.” He started. “B-But, she’s… She’s been giving pretty clear signs that’s what she wants it to be all evening.”

“Soooo what’s the problem?” Denki asked. Kyoka stayed quiet.

“Well, I just… I mean, she’s been flirting, and I know she wants me to flirt back, but I just… Can’t.”

“Why not?” Denki crossed his arms, leaning back. “Sounds like she’s clearly into you.” He leaned in, smirking. “And it reaaallly sounds like you’re into her.”

“Of course I am!” Izuku paused, startled by the suddenness of his response. “Ahem… I-It’s not like I don’t want to, but every time she starts trying something I just… Freeze up. And I get scared if I play along, I’ll say something really stupid and mess it all up.”

“Is that why you’re over here?” Denki asked. Izuku shook his head.

“No. Well, not exactly. I think I’m starting to annoy her… And then when someone asked if we were together, I sort of panicked and said we weren’t. She… Seemed a bit hurt that.”  Izuku looked up at the ceiling. “I’m just not sure what to do… I-I’ve never dealt with a girl being interested in me before.”

There was a brief silence. Izuku looked over at Denki, who seemed deep in thought.

“Uh… Sorry, you kinda lost me a bit dude.” He shrugged. “I dunno, she likes you, you like her, just… Get in there and woo her? What’s the problem?” Izuku blinked. Had he even been listening? “I could give you some lines you can use on her, would that help?”

“Oh yes, because you’re such a lady’s man,” Kyoka finally spoke, walking up to the two of them. She pulled Denki aside. “Why don’t you grab some food? I’ll catch up in a bit.” Izuku had been wondering why Kyoka wasn’t with her girlfriend. Seemed she hadn’t arrived yet.

“Hey, I’m great with the ladies!” Denki cried in a defensive tone. Kyoka’s jacks started to move towards him. “Alright, alright, I’m going!” He looked behind her at Izuku. “Seriously, let me know if you need some material!” He gave a thumbs up as he walked over to the snacks a few meters away. Kyoka took his spot next to Izuku.

“Honestly, I don’t know why I put up with him sometimes,” she muttered. She then leaned against the table like her classmate was, turning to look at him. “So, you’re scared to actually try and make a move, huh?” Izuku honestly felt a little relief that Kyoka seemed to be offering some actual advice; she was the one in a relationship, after all.

“…Basically, yeah. I know, it’s dumb.”

“Nah, not really. I was pretty scared on my first date with Momo. Was worried if things went poorly, we’d stop being friends, let alone girlfriends. I’m guessing you’re feeling the same?” Izuku thought.

“Hm… Yeah, I guess so. I mean, we aren’t as close of friends as you and Yaoyorozu were, but still.”

“Mhm.” Kyoka nodded. “Now, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m guessing you’re not exactly the most romantic guy? Worried you won’t be good at the whole dating thing?” Izuku chuckled. Kyoka was another classmate he didn’t know quite as well, but even she could tell that much.

“Yeah, I’m… Well, like I said, I’m have no experience with this sort of thing. And Ashido is…”

“Ashido. Trust me I get it.” Kyoka laughed a little. “Here’s the thing: She wouldn’t be interested in you if she cared about that kind of stuff. Hell, she might even like that you’re inexperienced and awkward; some people find that sort of thing cute.

“…I guess.” Izuku said quietly, blushing. She did seem to enjoy getting reactions out of him.

“Plus, I think you’d have to be like the worst flirt in the world to get Ashido of all people to stop liking you.” The slasher pointed out. Izuku chuckled.

“Yeah, probably.” He had to admit that was something he hadn’t considered. Then he frowned. “I’m just hoping it’s not too late. I mean, she wasn’t mad or anything, just… Like I said, annoyed.”

“She’s probably sick of waiting for you to make a move.”

“So why not, er, d-do it h-herself?” Izuku stammered, feeling his stomach flutter as he envisioned Mina being a little more… Direct.

“See, this is kind of what happened with me and Momo at first. She had to initiate everything, and eventually she started to feel like I wasn’t interested in her. Ashido probably wants to feel, well, wanted. You know?” Kyoka smirked. “I’m sure you like it when she flirts with you, right?” Izuku looked away.

“Er… Y-Yeah, it’s… Nice.” He recalled the feeling when Mina had touched his cheek. That wonderful, fuzzy sensation had been simply wonderful.

“Yeah, it is. So imagine how she feels when you refuse to do the same for her.”

Well, now Izuku just felt selfish. And after all the work she’d done for these costumes…

He finished his drink, then stood up straight. A flash of determination shot through him.

“Looks like that’s what you needed to hear,” Kyoka said. Izuku nodded, looking at her.

“It was, thanks.”

“No problem. Hey, mind if I get a picture of you?” The horror fan pulled out her phone. Izuku smiled, nodding again. It was the least he could do for her. He posed like a proper zombie while she held up the phone.

“Alright, and… Got it. Again, awesome costume. I’ll need to see Ashido’s at some point… But I’ll give you some time alone first.”

“Uh, heh… Thanks. Anyways, I did promise mistress I’d bring back some… Uh…” Izuku trailed off when he realized he had accidentally said “mistress” instead of “Ashido”. Kyoka raised an eyebrow. “Uh-I-I mean… Er… L-Like I said, I’m supposed to be her s-s-servant…” The more he tried to explain, the worse he was probably making it sound.

“Hey. Whatever you two are into, you’re into,” Kyoka held her hands up, backing away. Izuku scrambled to explain himself, but decided to just drop it with a sigh. He had more important things to worry about.

Filling up a pair of cups, he made his way back towards Mina. This time, he’d do things right.

Chapter Text

“…And so that’s what’s been going on,” Mina finished explaining to Toru. After Izuku’s sudden departure, the invisible girl had asked what the deal with him and Mina was.

“Oh… Sorry if I said something wrong,” Toru’s sheet sulked a little. “I was just excited.”

“Aw, you’re fine,” Mina insisted, waving a hand in front of her. “Wasn’t your fault.”

It’d be a stretch to say Mina was mad at Izuku, but she was definitely starting to feel a little frustrated. She figured he’d have to ease into things, but the fact that he was still refusing to treat this like the date it was clearly supposed to be was starting to lose its charm. Part of her wondered if he wasn’t actually into her like she thought he was, and he had been going along with her antics just to be polite.

Mina had been being playful and vague in order to gauge Izuku’s interest. Had he responded negatively or even neutrally to her flirting, then she would have dropped it. It would’ve been disappointing, sure, but at least she’d know. However, that was not at all the vibe she had gotten from him.

“I can go yell at him, you want,” Toru offered. Mina laughed, shaking her head.

“Tempting, but no.” She knew that wouldn’t solve anything.

“Maybe you just need to be more direct?” Her friend suggested.

“Maybe… But I don’t want to make him uncomfortable, you know?” As tempting as it was to be more assertive with her feelings, Mina didn’t want to risk scaring Izuku off. She knew how intense she could be, and that she could be a little overwhelming for people like him. Now granted, Izuku had that same kind of intensity (it was one reason she had developed her little crush on him), but that side of him only seemed to come out in dangerous situations. Not that she minded his usual demeanor; that weird combination of shy and passionate really struck her fancy.

She was honestly surprised he seemed to reciprocate her feelings; she’d always figured he’d go for someone less scatterbrained than her. Heck, until tonight, she hadn’t even been sure he really wanted to be friends with her with how he tended to avoid her. Though from their conversation earlier, it seemed he had been worried she didn’t want to talk to him.

“Hey, I’m back.” The sound of Izuku’s voice made her perk up a little. She turned to see the zombified student holding two cups. “Sorry that took so long, I ran into Jirou and Kaminari.”  He offered Mina one of the cups.

“Thanks! And don’t worry, you’re good. They like your getup?” Izuku nodded. Mina couldn’t help but notice something different about him, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“Uuuuuuh… I’m gonna go find… Uh… Bye!” Toru waved underneath her bedsheet before “floating” off. Mina laughed, shaking her head. Nice to know her friend could read the room.

“I like her costume. It’s simple but like, it just works, you know?” Mina commented as she watched the ghost leave.

“Yeah… Uh, hey, mis-er, Ashido?” She turned back to Izuku as he spoke up. “Look, I just wanted to say, um…” He looked at his shoes for a moment, sighing. “I’ve been a pretty crappy date so far, huh?”

A small jolt went through Mina as she heard the word “date”. Her eyes widened for a moment, then relaxed again as a huge smile slowly crept onto her face.

“Maybe a bit. But… We only just got here,” she said in a low voice, closing the distance between them slightly. Izuku looked up, looking slightly relieved.

“You’re not upset, then?” Mina threw her head back and let out a small laugh.

“Again… Maaaaaybe just a little.” She spoke coyly. For a second Izuku’s face fell, but it quickly perked up when he realized she wasn’t wholly serious. “So… How’s my servant gonna make it up to me?” Even if she couldn’t see it, Mina could tell whenever Izuku was blushing just by his expression.

“Uh, well… What would you like to do…” Then he said in almost a whisper. “M-Mistress?” Mina put a hand to her lip, giggling. She was loving this little roleplay they had going on, especially given the effect it had on him.

“Weeell, let’s see.” The demoness tapped a finger against her chin, looking around. Her eyes were drawn to the dance floor, but it felt just a little too early for that. Besides, it seemed Izuku was just finally starting to get comfortable; even if she knew he could dance, that was likely a little too much too fast for him. And it was way too soon to go find a nice quiet place to… “chat”. She still wanted to party and show off her handiwork, after all. Which left…

“Wanna check out the games?” Izuku gave a content smile, nodding.

“Sure! I think I saw they even had some prizes for some of them.”

“Oo! Perfect, you can win me something then!” Mina said half-jokingly. She offered her hand, wanting to test the waters again. Izuku looked at it with some reluctance, but then inhaled deeply and took it with his own. Mina couldn’t help but squirm with glee as he did, an involuntary squeak escaping her.

“R-Right this way.” Izuku seemed to enjoy by her little display, given the silly little smile plastered on his face. Even with all the gore, he certainly wasn’t the scariest zombie around. Definitely the cutest one, though. She was glad the makeup didn’t fully mask those adorable little freckles of his…

Hand in hand, the pair crossed the gym to where a collection of booths and tables were set up. There seemed to be a variety of activities such as face painting, apple bobbing, fortune telling, and trivia. As Izuku had noted, a few stations seemed to be giving out little novelty prizes. These looked like typical carnival games, like tossing rings on bottles or knocking cans over with a ball, but with Halloween flair. Most of them charged money, likely to raise school funds.

As Mina tried to decide what to do first, she spotted a very familiar face at the apple bobbing game. A very hairy Eijiro Kirishima was just lifting his head out of the water, clutching a fruit between his pointy teeth. He took it out of his mouth and held it triumphantly, lifting his head back and letting out a loud wolf-like howl.

“Wolfman. That makes sense,” Mina said to herself. Eijiro had gone for the more classical “hairy human” look rather than a full wolf face. What surprised Mina, though, was that his hair was its natural color rather than the red she had gotten so used to seeing. Then again, red fur probably wouldn’t have looked as good. She also noticed Fumikage Tokoyami next to him, who was dressed as tengu warrior, complete with one of those red long-nosed masks and a prop katana. Again, Mina wasn’t too surprised.

“Kirishima! Heeeey!” Mina shouted, waving enthusiastically. The two boys looked over, Eijiro smiling and giving an equally energetic wave. Mina turned to Izuku. “Let’s go say hi real quick, then find something to play.”

“Okay,” The zombie agreed, walking up to his classmates with Mina. “Hey guys.”

“Honor to you.” Fumikage bowed deeply.

“Evening, you two… Uh, wow.” Eijiro did a double take when he saw Izuku.

“Pretty scary, right?” Mina put a hand to her chest. “My handiwork.”

“No kidding? Well it looks great. Both your costumes do.” Eijiro gave a big thumbs up. Fumikage nodded in agreement.

“Thanks! Same to both of you,” Izuku said. “Uh… That sword isn’t real, right?”

“No, a real one would have been too expensive,” Fumikage answered. Mina and Izuku both glanced at each, apparently both having noted his primary concern was price rather than danger.

“So…” Eijiro gestured at the couple with his hands, one still holding the apple. “Can’t say I was expecting this.”

“Expecting what?” Izuku asked, tilting his head. Eijiro gave him a look that said “really?” before he caught on. “O-Oh… Uh…”

“Hey, I’m happy for you two!” He smiled, crunching into his apple as he turned to Fumikage. “Hey, why don’t we give these lovebirds some alone time, eh?” He joked. Mina felt a small blush, which meant Izuku was probably steaming under his makeup.

“Very well.” The masked boy nodded to Izuku and Mina before leaving with the teen wolf. Before he left, though, Eijiro suddenly stopped next to Izuku, pulling him aside. Mina watched the taller boy whisper something, then point in a direction. Izuku mumbled something with a sheepish smile, and Eijiro clapped him on the back. He gave one last wave to Mina before walking off.

“…Sooooo,” Mina said as she glided over to Izuku, hands arms behind her back as she grinned mischievously. “What was that about?”

“Uh… Just gave me an idea for what game to try. You want to check it out?” Now Mina was even more curious.

“Lead the way!”

Izuku took her past a few stations, arriving at one with a very tall machine that was painted to look like a screaming ghost face with a very wide mouth. There was a round plate at the base of the machine, and a small object that ran up the middle of it where the ghost’s open mouth was up to a bell. To the side of the machine was a hammer.

Mina crossed her arms, smirking. Of course Eijrio would suggest a strength test. Probably told Izuku to ‘show off his manliness’ or something like that.

“Oooo, gonna show me how big your muscles?” Mina teased, deciding to take things a little further as she slowly rubbed one of Izuku’s upper arms. She bit her lower lip slightly as she noted how firm yet lean his bicep felt.

“Ack!” He reacted about how she expected to the escalation. “Uh… Well, th-there are p-prizes, and I-I figured this would be easier to w-win…” Oh he was just precious sometimes.

“Riiiight, okay.” She winked, letting him go. “Well, go on then!” She gestured toward the student running the station. Deciding not to justify himself further, Izuku walked up to the booth and paid the fee.

“Alright, one swing. And uh… No Quirks please.”

“Er, I figured,” Izuku said as he picked the hammer up. He did have the exact sort of Quirk to cheat at this, but Mina knew he’d never do that.

She watched with anticipation as her date stood in front of the machine, testing the hammer in various ways. She could see his lips moving as he thought out loud (Another thing about him she thought was cute). Finally, he spread his legs a bit and raised the hammer up, then swung it down.

It wasn’t exactly surprising that he was strong enough to hit the bell, but that didn’t stop Mina from letting out a loud cheer when a loud “DING” rang out.

“WOOHOO!” She cried, clapping as Izuku silently pumped a fist. She practically skipped over to him as he set down the hammer. “Gosh, you’re soooo strong!” She cooed. Izuku hid his face a little.

“W-Well, I’m sure you could do it too,” he muttered. Mina simply smiled in response. She was absolutely certain she could crush this game, but she didn’t want to spoil Izuku’s moment.  “So uh.” The strongman gestured towards the prizes. “What do you want?”

“Hm…” Mina took a moment to consider he choices. There were various Halloween-themed knick knacks, such as fake props, masks, and stuffed toys. “Oh!” It didn’t take long for something to catch her. “That one!” She exclaimed, pointing excitedly at a small, fluffy vampire bat plush. The attendant brought the bat over and handed it to Izuku, who in turn handed it to Mina.

“Aw, you’re the best!” She squealed, looking down at her gift. “Aw, look at his itty bitty fangs! Isn’t he cute?” She asked, holding him out to Izuku. He chuckled, appearing to enjoy how much Mina was enjoying her present.

“Yeah.” He then paused, glancing at his shoes as he shuffled his feet nervously. “But, uh… N-Not as… Not as cute as you,” he said just loud enough for Mina to hear. She gasped, eyes widening as she put a hand on her cheek. Someone else might have called that line lame or corny, but Mina could feel a tingling warmth in her cheeks.

“Eeee!” She squeaked, shutting her eyes as a huge smile crossed her lips. She suddenly stepped forward, wrapping her arms around one of Izuku’s and clinging onto it as she snuggled up against him, nearly smacking him with her horns. This action caused her date to completely lock up and start to make sounds she didn’t realize a human could make.

“Uh… Rgh… Nrk…” Slowly, she felt Izuku relax a little, though he was still rather tense. “Wh-Where to next?”

The couple spent the next hour perusing the various party games. Izuku started having trouble keeping track of everything they had done by the end of it.

They had played a game where there was a paper cutout of a headless zombie on a wall. The objective was to pin its head on the body… While blindfolded. Izuku had failed quite spectacularly, nearly dying of embarrassment when he somehow got the head between the body’s legs. Mina, meanwhile, placed it perfectly.

“Well, I do have experience making zombies after all,” she joked, gesturing to Izuku.

They had done a tarot reading (mostly at Mina’s insistence). Neither of them intended to take it that seriously, but when “The Lovers” came up for their future card that quickly changed. Mina squirmed with glee as Izuku nearly had a heart attack.

Neither of them got their faces painted, but one of the students doing the painting had spotted Izuku and wanted to use him as a model. Obviously, he couldn’t bring himself to say no. Mina didn’t seem to mind waiting around for him, and even gave some pointers. A couple partygoers wound up getting paintjobs that looked similar to the zombie butler, though not nearly as detailed.

The pair continued getting compliments on their costumes throughout the night; every few minutes someone wanted to get a picture. Mina was more than happy to oblige, clearly enjoying all the attention, but Izuku found himself struggling a little. He enjoyed all the positive feedback, and he was happy to see Mina’s work getting the appreciation it deserved, but he could only handle so much. Thankfully Mina seemed to notice this, and would make sure to find a less populated area every so often just so he could recharge.

Of course, this was only an issue with strangers. Izuku was more than happy to talk to any classmates he and Mina bumped into. It was fun seeing what everyone had dressed up as. Some wore more traditional scary costumes, like Tenya’s Frankenstein’s monster costume (he of course insisted on correcting everyone who didn’t call it that). One stand-out was Momo, who was dressed like an onryō ghost. She had a pure white kimono with fake bloodstains, and her long, unkempt hair covered most of her face. Izuku and Mina didn’t even realize it was her when she creepily walked up to them without a word.

Not everyone went with traditional, though. Tsuyu Asui had dressed as a poison dart frog, which meant she had simply put on a blue shirt and pair of pants with black splotches on them, and painted her face blue. And Hanta Sero had dressed as that old spider-themed fictional superhero from the time before Quirks.

The most confusing costume had been Minoru Mineta’s; it seemed to be a cardboard box he had cut holes out of for his face and arms, and drawn some grapes and written “juice” on. When Izuku went to inquire about it (Mina opted to avoid Minoru), his classmate had explained he was a juice box. The reason for that costume quickly became clear when Izuku watched him walk up to a female student from another class.

“Hey girl, want to take a sip of me? I even come with a straw…”

Izuku winced as there was a loud “thunk” and a cry of pain from Minoru, who collapsed to the ground. Unsurprisingly, the girl had not taken that question well and had kicked the perverted student in his “straw” as a response.

Izuku briefly wondered if Minoru would even be able to stand back up without help in that costume, but decided he’d be okay and slowly backed away, returning to Mina.

“Do I even want to know what he said?” She asked, smirking as she looked past him at the twitching box on the ground.

“Uh… No,” Izuku said, shaking his head. “So, where to next… Mistress?” He winked as he said this. Mina giggled, wrapping her arms around his like she had before.

After Izuku’s first little attempt at flirting, the floodgates had opened. Mina had taken it as a sign that it was okay for them start acting more like a couple, and while it definitely took Izuku some time to get used to all the physical contact, he was able to settle in to it. This was a date, after all, and he wanted to start treating it like one.

They had continued playing their roles, mostly in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. Some small part of Izuku got a funny feeling whenever Mina would talk to him like he was her servant, but he decided not to think about it too hard. He was just happy he could have fun with this little game of theirs without feeling weird about it.

“Well, we could finally hit the…” Mina trailed off, her black eyes glistening when she spotted something. “Wait, what’s that?” Izuku turned to where she was pointing, noticing something he hadn’t seen before tucked away. From what he could tell, it appeared to be a photo booth.

A small tingle ran up the boy’s spine. Based on Mina’s expression, that was clearly what she wanted to do next.

“Come on, come on!” She bounced in place a few times, then started pulling him along. Izuku gulped, feeling actually nervous for the first time in a little while.

Him and Mina, in a small space together. Alone. With a curtain covering them.

Despite his nerves, he didn’t protest as his demonic mistress dragged him over to the booth. Nor did he complain when they stepped inside and pulled the curtain closed behind them.

“Alright, let’s see…” Mina muttered as she sat down. Izuku joined her, brushing up against her slightly due to the lack of room. His date started fiddling with the screen in front of them. “Oooo, look at all this!” She exclaimed as she scrolled through various options for filters and backgrounds. Izuku could see the gears spinning in her head, and knew he was going to be in here a while. Not that he particularly minded.

He took a deep breath. While he had gotten used to having Mina around his arm and was even willing to try a few lines on her – some more successful than others – he was still just a little anxious about further escalation. Especially since his proverbial social battery was starting to run low.

“Here, why don’t you pick something, and I’ll pick something?” Mina suggested, turning to him.

“Sure, that sounds good.” Izuku decided that dwelling on those thoughts wouldn’t help the situation, and started looking through the screen. He wound up going with a black and white filter, so they’d look like they were in an old-time horror movie, and Mina went with no filters for her set, but a Halloween-themed border.

“Okay, ready?” Mina scooched closer to Izuku, looking at the camera. “Say ‘brains’!”

The chain of photos started printing out. Izuku’s black-and-white set was first. The first photo showed the two teens smiling. The second had them both making “scary” faces, with their hands held out with curled fingers. The third had them making sillier faces, with Izuku crossing his eyes and Mina sticking her tongue out. The fourth was similar, but now Mina had her head turned and was smiling at Izuku.

The fifth and final photo in the set was of Mina kissing a shocked looking Izuku on the cheek.

“Hrk!” Izuku sat up straight, eyes bugging out as he tried to process the sensation of Mina’s lips on his cheek.

“Mwah!” She made a loud, exaggerated smacking sound as she pulled away, giggling with delight. Izuku turned to stare at her, mouth slightly agape. He hadn’t expected that to be so, well, sudden.

“What?” Mina asked, feigning ignorance. Izuku couldn’t stop the smile from creeping onto his face as he turned back to the screen.

“You really are a little devil…” He muttered, getting the next set ready.

“The cutest devil!” Mina suddenly pounced on him, snuggling against him as she rest against her head against his shoulder. Izuku barely had time to mentally recover before he noticed the camera about to take the next photo.

The first picture was of them both smiling again, though Izuku’s smile looked a little forced. Mina hugged Izuku’s midsection and continued resting on his shoulder. The second one was about the same, but Izuku had noticeably relaxed more and put an arm around Mina. The third showed him planting a kiss on her forehead, with Mina’s eyes squeezed shut and a much happier face than before. The last two were almost identical, with Izuku now resting his head on top of Mina’s as they both wore content smiles.

They both stayed like this far a while, occasionally nuzzling one another. Izuku felt weirdly calm despite having just kissed and been kissed by a girl for the first time. Something about the feeling of Mina’s warm embrace just soothed him.

After a few minutes, he felt Mina’s weight shift as she sat up a bit. She looked at him without saying a word, locking eyes with his. Once again Izuku found himself entranced by those two her gaze, spellbound by her beauty. He felt her hand gently caress his cheek, her thumb rubbing his jawline like she had done earlier that afternoon. Her eyes narrowed, and it felt like her face was getting ever so closer to his. It took a second to realize that wasn’t just a feeling, both of them were almost involuntarily inching closer and closer to one another. Izuku’s eyes managed to break free of Mina’s gaze for just a moment as he glanced down to her lips, which suddenly looked incredibly inviting. His heart pounded as his mouth suddenly felt very dry.

Then, just as it seemed they would fully close the distance, there was a shout from outside.

“Hey, are you guys done in there?” A voice Izuku didn’t recognize immediately brought the couple out of their stupor and back to reality.

“Oh, damn it,” Mina muttered, pouting. “Uh… Yeah, we’ll be right out!” She took the photos, giving Izuku an almost apologetic look before stepping outside.

Had they really just done that? Izuku hadn’t been expecting himself to go for a full kiss this soon, if at all; he was still shocked that he had managed to work up the courage to give her that little peck on the forehead. He began to suspect if Mina really was some sort of sorceress. It certainly felt like she had put him under a spell just now.

Feeling a weird mix of relief and disappointment, he got up out of the booth. A pair of unknown students had clearly been waiting their turn for a few minutes now. Izuku tried to ignore the looks they gave him and Mina as they entered the booth.

“Man, what a buzzkill,” Mina grumbled, still annoyed the moment had been ruined. “Well… You pick next. What do you want to do?” They had been alternating like this all evening.

“Well…” Izuku thought. They had played just about every game they had wanted to, and they’d had plenty of candy and snacks. Which meant all that was left was…

Izuku looked at the largest group of students in the gym, and gulped. Well, it would certainly cheer Mina up.

“…How about a dance?” He asked, holding out his hand. Mina’s whole body seemed to light up as she beamed.

“Thought you’d never ask.” She took his hand.

Had Mina not taught him dancing earlier in the year, Izuku never would have even dreamed of attempting something like this. There were few things he could think of that were more distressing for someone like him. However, he felt comfortable enough with his skills to not make a complete fool out of himself, and he knew how much Mina loved to dance.

They stepped onto the dance floor, quickly settling in to the groove. Mina was obviously much more talented than Izuku, but he was able to recall her lessons and get into the rhythm. Neither of them had a particular routine; they simply moved to the music, which was quick and upbeat.

“Hey, did I ever tell you how your lessons saved my life?” Izuku asked, now having to shout a little.

“Wait, what?” Mina got a little closer. “Did I hear that right? Saved your life?”

“Yeah! You remember how that villain attacked the culture fest?”

“God, don’t remind me! You had us all worried sick when we found out after!”

“Well, I kind of incorporated some of what you taught me into the fight. It’s… A little hard to explain!”

“Woah, really?” Mina looked momentarily stunned. “Like capoeira?”

“Well, not exactly, but kind of like that.” Izuku had looked up if any sort of dancing/fighting hybrid styles existed after the fight, and had discovered that.

“Alright, you have got to show me sometime!”

As they continued to dance, Izuku’s mind wandered back to his little encounter in the photo booth just moments ago. He swore he could still feel a warm, tingly feeling on his right cheek where Mina had kissed him, and his heart fluttered as he recalled the feeling of her laying against him, holding him close. The fact that he had actually kissed Mina in there, no matter how briefly, still amazed him; such a notion would have terrified him just a few hours ago, and yet he had done it. And now that he’d had a taste of actual romantic intimacy, he couldn’t help but want more.

 Just… Maybe not in the middle of a crowd.

Unfortunately, it seemed someone was listening to his thoughts and decided to play a prank, because a few moments later Present Mic’s voice boomed over the speakers.

“Aaaaaalright, boys and ghouls! Gonna need the solo acts to clear the stage for a bit, because this next number’s for couples only!”

The crowd started to disperse as the “solo acts” made room. Izuku swallowed as he looked at Mina, who had sparkles in her eyes. He should be excited for this, but there was one small problem.

As a much slower, more mellow tune started, Mina approached him with an expectant look.

“Well?” She asked. A second later, realization flashed across her face. “Oh, wait… We never went over this kind of stuff, did we?”

“N-No, no we didn’t,” Izuku answered, looking around as other couples had come together and started slow dancing. The more freeform stuff he could get, but this ballroom style dancing was unknown to him.

“Hey don’t worry, it’s not that tough,” Mina assured him, holding out her left hand. “Here, I’ll show you.” Deciding to trust her, Izuku took it with his right, bracing himself mentally as Mina put her right arm around his back, resting her hand just under his left shoulder. Mina nodded. “Now put your left hand on my shoulder,” Izuku did as instructed. “Good, now just follow my lead.”

He felt Mina pull on his back as she started to move, and he instinctually followed the tug.

“Watch my feet if you need to,” she said. Her “student” took her advice, staring at the floor as he somewhat awkwardly tried to follow her movements. He was clumsy at first and nearly tripped up a few times, but as he quickly started to get the hang of it.

It was a fairly simple pattern, moving in what was essentially a square that occasionally turned. As he grew used to the movement, the dancing novice was able to focus more on other things, such as the feeling of Mina’s hand holding his.

“See? You got it,” the demoness said as her partner felt comfortable enough to look back up at her. She had a much gentler look to her than usual, despite her wicked appearance. Her dress flowed about as she elegantly moved about the dance floor, never taking her eyes off Izuku’s as she did. “Graceful” was admittedly not the first word he would use to describe Mina, but right now…

“…You’re beautiful.” His eyes widened slightly when he realizes he said that out loud, but only for a moment. Mina giggled softly, then suddenly let go of his shoulder and lifted his other arm with hers, doing a quick twirl that made her dress fan out.

“I know,” she said, winking as she hooked her right arm around him again and pulled him in close. “But it’s nice hearing it from you.” She paused. “You’re pretty easy on the eyes yourself, you know.” She waggled her eyebrows. “You know, for a zombie minion.” Izuku joined her in a laugh, though he felt his cheeks blazing. It wasn’t often he was complimented on his appearance.

They were both quiet for a moment as they continued to stare at one another. Then, once again, Izuku noticed Mina start inching closer. His breathing quickened as her eyes slowly started to close and her lips parted. She was so close now…

Before she her lips could meet his, though, she collided with Izuku’s forehead. Opening her eyes, she saw that he had lowered his head to intercept her.

“Um… S-Sorry…” He mumbled. As much as he wanted it, the idea of getting his first real kiss right in the middle of all these people was simply giving him too much anxiety. He’d accomplished a lot today, but he still had his limits. “I… Er… J-Just not right here, o-okay?” He dared to look up, seeing a hint of disappointment in Mina’s eyes. However, it quickly vanished as she gave him a warm smile.

“Alright, I understand.” She opted instead to pull him in, resting her head on his shoulder as they continued to dance. “…Later, then?” Izuku felt goosebumps when she asked that.

“…Yeah.”

Closing his eyes, he held Mina close as they continued to dance.

Mina hummed to herself as she entered her room. Tonight had been, for all intents and purposes, an absolute success. Izuku had proven to be a wonderful date, it had just taken a little time for him to come out of his shell. She had to remember to thank Kyoka later; she had spied Izuku talking to her just before he stopped acting so afraid.

Setting the toy bat on her desk, Mina turned her head back towards the door. “Alright, ready?”

Izuku nodded, walking over to the seat that was still in middle of Mina’s room and sitting down. Mina starting pulling various bottles of liquids out of her desk, as well as a few packages of special wipes.

With the festivities over, it was time for the part of the night Mina was looking forward to least: Removing Izuku’s makeup. It pained her to have to unmake her little masterpiece so soon, but she knew from experience that leaving makeup on overnight was not a good idea.

“Get comfy, this’ll take a bit,” she said as she brought her supplies over to the table beside Izuku. Mina could tell just by looking at him that he was exhausted, so she wasn’t surprised at how quiet he was being.

His reluctance to kiss her had been the first sign that he was starting to hit his limit for the night, and it only grew more and more apparent from there. She wasn’t upset or anything; the poor guy had clearly stepped well outside of his comfort zone tonight, so she had understood why he was wearing out.

“Hey, thanks again for tonight,” the pinkette said as she started applying cleansers. “It… Really means a lot to me. I know big parties like that aren’t really your thing.”

“Well… I’m trying to get better about that. Being a hero means dealing with crowds all the time, you know?” Izuku explained. Mina hung her head slightly, shaking it as she chuckled.

“So even this was like training for you, huh? Man, you really don’t have an off switch huh?” Of course he’d view this whole thing like that.

“H-Hey!” Izuku’s look hardened for a moment. Then he sighed, slumping his shoulders a bit. “…I guess not.” He suddenly sat up straight again. “Uh, th-that’s not to say I was just doing all this for that reason!” He stammered. Mina laughed again.

“I know, dude. Don’t worry.” She began wiping his eye makeup. “I mean, you had fun tonight, right?”

“Of course!” Izuku answered without hesitation. “Uh… You did too, right?”

“No, it was horrible.” Mina’s voiced dripped with sarcasm. “Seriously, though, yes I did.” She paused, her face growing more serious. “I… I honestly needed this, so again, thank you.”

“Huh?” Izuku opened his eyes to look at her as she finished clearing his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well…” The demoness sighed. “With everything that’s happened recently, it’s just… It’s just nice to have a night where we can just be normal, you know? Well, as normal as we can reasonably be, anyway.”

“Oh… Yeah.” Izuku looked down a little. “It has been a weird year, huh?”

“Ha, that’s certainly one way to put it,” Mina said in an amused tone. “But like, just the fact that we’re in these dorms and not at home…” She trailed off.

“Yeah, I… I know.” Neither of them spoke for a moment.

“But hey, we all knew this job was going to be dangerous.” Mina realized she was killing the mood. “We’re just getting to the danger a little sooner than most people.”

“Still,” Izuku started. “It is nice having a night to just… Relax,” he admitted. “I know that sounds silly coming from me since…”

“You don’t ever relax?” Mina finished, smirking as she started wiping his face off. She noticed his face warm up as she said this.

They continued to chat about less serious subjects as Mina worked. Eventually, she found herself staring at a completely un-zombified Izuku.

“And there you go!” She stood up, bringing him over to a mirror. “Welcome back to the land of the living!”

“Huh… Is it weird I was starting to get used to the zombie look?” Izuku asked half-jokingly as he looked himself over. Mina laughed, trying not to make it too obvious that she was staring at his face. Now that his face was back to normal, she was reminded just how cute he really was.

Izuku proceeded to help Mina remove some of her costume’s accessories, namely the wings and horns. The rest she was able to quickly take care of on her own. Her makeup was much easier to remove, and soon she was back to her usual self as well. As she looked herself over, Izuku cleared his throat.

“Uh, well… I should probably get back to my room then…” He gestured to the door with his thumb. Mina glanced at him.

“Aw, you don’t wanna hang out a bit longer?” She sat down on her bed, then patted the spot next to her. “Not like we have class tomorrow.”

“Er, yes, but…” He paused as their eyes met for the umpteenth time that night. Then, he quietly walked over and sat down next to her. After a few seconds, he leaned against Mina, resting his head on her shoulder. She rested her hand on his pant leg, and he placed his over hers as she slowly moved it back and forth. Laying her head against his, she closed her eyes and let out a happy little sigh. They stayed like this for a few minutes, neither of them saying a word.

“…So, um…” Izuku finally broke the silence. “I… I need to ask.” Mina moved her head off him as he sat up to look at her, still holding her hand.

“Yes?” She asked. Her date looked down.

“Uh, well… Th-That other guy… Were you and him… I mean, did you…”

“Huh?” Mina tilted her head, confused. “Other guy? What?” What on earth was he talking about?

“You know, that guy you were… You were originally going to do this with.”

Mina blinked rapidly as the wires crossed in her brain.

“Hm…Heheh…” Izuku looked at as she started to laugh. “Heheh… Hahahaha!” Unable to contain herself, she clutched her stomach with her free hand as she doubled over with laughter. She had completely forgotten…

“Wh-What’s so funny?” Izuku asked with bewilderment as Mina’s laughing fit continued. Slowly, she calmed herself as she sat up. She wiped a tear from one eye as she caught her breath.

“Oh… Oh boy… Um, so!” She turned her body slightly so she was facing Izuku, letting go of his hand and clapping hers together and putting them to her lips. “Confession time!” She pointed her clapped hands down towards him, taking a breath as she blushed. “There… Was no other guy.”

“What.” It was more a statement than a question. Mina involuntarily giggled.

“Yeah, uh… That whole phone call you heard? Nobody was on the other line.” She started playing with one the curls in her hair. “…Never had plans with anyone else.”

Izuku stared blankly at her, looking like his brain had temporarily shut off. He suddenly snapped back to life, rapidly shaking his head.

“W-Wait, then… But… Why… You… HUH!?” Mina rocked her head back and forth, looking at the ceiling.

“Well, I figured if I just straight up asked you out, you’d get nervous and turn me down or something. Soooooo… I tried a different approach, with ‘Raka’s help. Figured if you thought I was getting left out in the cold, you’d step in to help. You know, since you’re just nice like that.” The former zombie was still trying to process what she was saying.

“So, that was-Wait, Uraraka was in on this!?”

“Ha… Well, she knows you better. She was actually the one who told me you were all alone in the kitchen the other day. That was honestly the tricky part, getting you by yourself.” Mina looked back at Izuku, having to hold back laughter as she saw the ridiculous expressions he was making.

“But… But I… And…” He slumped, down, deflating somewhat as he shut up for a few seconds. “S-So, you… You tricked me into a date…?”

“Well, when you put it that way it sounds kinda bad.” She paused, smirking. “Devilish, you might even say.” Izuku glanced at her, his face a mix of confusion, frustration, and… Relief?

“So… I was always your first choice?” Mina took a moment to realize what he meant.

“Oh, absolutely.” She rubbed the side of her neck, realizing her plan may have had a slight flaw. “Sorry if I made you feel like you were just a rebound or something… You’re not upset, are you?”

“Well…” Izuku seemed to be thinking, which almost worried Mina. Surely he wasn’t actually mad about this?

He turned to look at her, not saying anything. Then, in what was perhaps the biggest shock of the night, he suddenly leaned forward and kissed her.

“Mmm!?” Mina’s eyes bugged out as she was, for once, completely taken by surprise. She barely had time to register the feeling of Izuku’s lips against her own before he pulled away, his face beet-red.

“Th-That answer you’re question…?” He asked in a somewhat higher pitched voice. Mina stared dumbfounded at him for a few seconds. Then, her lips twisted into a sinister smile as her eyes narrowed.

“It sure did… Now…” She suddenly pounced on him like a large, pink cat. “Come ‘ere!” She tackled him onto his back, straddling atop him as she pulled him into a much deeper kiss. Her hands grasped at the sides of his head as she let herself get lost in the euphoria that had begin to wash over here. There were a few muffled noises from Izuku, but they slowly quieted down as his tense body relaxed. Mina grinned as she felt his arms wrap around her and his lips push back against hers.

“Mmmm…” She hummed as they started to open-mouth kiss, hands rubbing each other gently. The soft, pleasurable sounds from Izuku only spurred Mina on as she continued to deepen the kiss.

After several minutes of making out on the bed, the two pulled apart to catch their breath. Mina licked her lips, still savoring the taste of her date’s lips and tongue. Their faces were deep shades of red and magenta respectively.

“Hey… So…” Mina said between breaths. “You’re still kinda… Dressed like… My servant…” The makeup was gone, but the tux was still on. Izuku stated at her, seeming to mull something over in his head. Mina kept quiet, wanting to see how he’d respond.

“I guess so…” Then, his face turned a shade of red so dark Mina was almost worried, and a wild smile crossed his lips. “W-Well… H-How can I… S-S-Serve you then… M…” He gulped. “Mistress?”

There was a fire in Mina’s eyes as a truly devilish grin formed on her face.

“Well…” She lowered herself towards him again.

Izuku did not return to his room that night.