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Chapter Text

There was no way Mirio only had one quirk, but after the crystal clear demonstration of how his quirk worked, it all made sense now. At least to a certain degree.

Like how reactive do you have to be to make sure every single one of your body parts doesn't get caught when phasing through the ground or walls? Or how quickly do you have to think for your quirk to activate? Did it align with the average human reaction time of around 200 milliseconds? All questions Izuku would write to ask Mirio in due time.

But the questions tugging in his head were how powerful the other two were. Were Nejire and Tamaki strong as Mirio? Or were they stronger?

Tamaki seemed to be weaker, but maybe it was just his personality rather than not his quirk.

As for Nejire. Well, she seemed like a powerful individual with a cheerful personality that could fit in with the budget of being a great hero. And she had a sisterly vibe to her. Whatever her quirk was, it was bound to be strong since they were the top three of U.A. high school.

Izuku was lost in thought as he headed back to the Class 1-A dorm. After getting mercilessly pummeled by Mirio's seemingly invincible quirk, none of them wanted to do any more training afterward. In the end, Izuku was the only one who stayed late after notifying Aizawa about his plan to train some more at Gym Gamma.

As he walked down the hallway, he spotted several of his classmates searching for someone. "Guys? What are you doing here?"

Sero turned around and his eyes lit up with happiness. "We were searching for you, Midoriya! We were just about to watch a movie in the living room of our dorm and we were wondering if you wanted to watch it with us!"

Kaminari, Kirishima, and Mineta all looked at him with hope in their eyes, waiting for Izuku to confirm his decision. It was like some of his other classmates respectfully declined their invitation, so they were praying inwardly that he would accept.

"I'm sorry, guys, but I have to study." It wasn't a lie, even though it sounded like one. Izuku just wanted to dig deeper and discover more about Mirio, Tamaki, and Nejire's quirks. But his response must have been the wrong one because all four of them had mixed emotions, none of them being positive.

"Ahh! Midoriya, you party pooper!" Mineta threw his hands up in the air and glared at him. "Is it bad for heroes to have fun once in a while? Man, you guys always seem to be so focused on your studies that we have no time to wind down!"

"I get it, I really do, Mineta! But after seeing Mirio in action, I want to research more about the Big Three's quirks! It's just so interesting to me and I'm sorry you guys don't see it the way I do! Maybe next time?" Izuku offered to appease their wrath.

"Fine, we'll take you up on that, but don't back out of it when the time comes!" Mineta threatened.

"Nah, ignore him, Midoriya! Following your passion is manly!" Kirishima bashed his fists together with a smile glowing on his face. "We know you love to study quirks since you have tons of notebooks on almost every single hero! Still, it would be nice if you hung out with us…"

"Yeah, have fun researching their quirks, Midoriya!" Kaminari chimed in.

"Thanks, but I'll walk back with you guys to the dorm before retiring to my room." Izuku laughed nervously.

"Yay, that works!" Kaminari cheered as they made their way back to their dorms.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. It was hard to let people down gently, especially when they were his friends, or rather, best friends. It was like shattering the dream of a kid, except less dramatic.

Maybe he should have accepted their invitation instead of researching his upperclassman's quirks. But the nagging feeling in his chest wouldn't go away if he did, so he had to make a compromise, and thankfully, they agreed upon the terms of it.

"Oh."

Izuku's attention snapped up to Kaminari's sudden sound effect. Following his line of vision, it dawned on Izuku that Kaminari was staring directly at Nejire Hado, their upperclassmen and the one person he wanted to talk to in order to find out more about her quirk.

"Hey, look, it's our senpai, Nejire Hado!" Kaminari put his hands out and pushed Izuku a little closer to where she was standing, looking down at her phone. "Didn't you say you wanted to research the Big Three's quirks? Now's your chance to talk to her while she's standing there all alone!"

"R-Right now? I have to prepare some questions like an interview before asking her about her quirk!"

"Sound like a lazy excuse, man! Just ask her the most pressing question on your mind like what her quirk is and what it does!"

"Okay, okay, I will! Just stop pushing me!" Izuku protested.

Taking a deep breath to prepare his mind to talk to a girl, Izuku walked with a bit of stiffness.

This was the perfect chance to talk to her, so why was he so nervous? Was it because she was pretty? Or was it because he didn't expect to meet her today? Whatever it was, Izuku wished he hadn't told his friends about his plan to gather information about the Big Three's quirks.

And what happened next couldn't have gone any worse. If Izuku could go back and replay the moment, he would have blamed it on the anxious energy that flowed through his veins. "Uh... Big sister-!"

It was a simple slip-up. It really was. It shouldn't have been a big deal calling Nejire sister since it was a minor accident, but to him, it was the most ridiculous mistake he ever made in his entire life. Not even rushing in to save Kacchan's life without a quirk could top this. Though that was a good accident since it led him to receive All Might's quirk. But this was different. Way different.

Izuku froze up and felt his cheeks burn like lava from embarrassment. Nejire looked up from her phone and turned around, only to see Izuku with his mouth wide open in shock from what he just said. She surveyed the area before recognizing he was calling her sister.

"Wait, what?!"

"There's no way!"

Izuku could hear his friends talking behind him in shock. They were definitely surprised since there was no way he could have kept his sister in secret while they were in the same school. But the thing was, it was all a misjudgment.

Nejire glanced at Izuku's classmates with interest growing on her face before she flashed a smile toward Izuku. "Didn't I tell you to keep it a secret, little brother?" She said, winking at him with mirth dancing in her expression.

Izuku's heart stopped as he tried to comprehend her response to his mistake. His classmates behind him suddenly became silent and he could feel all their eyes burning his back with their laser gazes. "What...?" Was all Izuku could say as he gazed straight into her eyes, searching for any hints as to why she just said that.

But before any of them could bombard Nejire or Izuku with questions, she skipped away from the scene, leaving them with their brains shredded in a tornado of questions.

Izuku watched as the distance widened between him and Nejire. Why did she just say that? What was the point of it all? Was she trying to tease him by joking around like that?

It hurt his brain trying to find an answer to it all, especially when nothing added up. He barely knew her. He didn't even know she existed until today, which was confusing since they held big names around the school unless Aizawa thought it best to keep them a secret from them until the right time. But why? Why would she say that so casually?

Izuku was so dazed from what he experienced he didn't hear his friends calling out his name until they nudged him on the shoulder to wake him up from his stupor.

"Midoriya, is that really your sister?" Sero asked.

"Doesn't she have a different surname than you?" Kirishima pondered.

"I thought you had no siblings, but you were hiding her from us all this time?!" Kaminari shouted.

"How come you didn't tell us you had such a hottie as a sister?!" Mineta yelled.

Izuku stared blankly at their faces until horror forced him to realize they were actually buying the joke Nejire made. "No, no! Guys, that isn't it! She's not my sister, I swear! There's just no way we could be related!"

"But she just said little brother, meaning your siblings, right?" Kaminari pointed out.

"Yeah, he's right! I didn't know you guys were related! Is that why she was interested in our quirks just like you are?" Kirishima wondered as he connected nonexistent dots.

"That's true! She even has some similarities like having the same height as Midoriya! Also, when I first heard about the Big Three, I did a quick search on HeroTube, and guess what? She had horns on top of her hero costume that looked eerily similar to Midoriya's hero costume! That's definitely what siblings would do, right, Midoriya?" Sero asked as he drove his elbow into Izuku's stomach.

At this point, they were drawing conclusions out of thin air because of a joke she made. And to say they were crazy was an understatement, but Kirishima's seemed to hold some substance, even though it wasn't true.

"No, I just told you guys we aren't siblings! We aren't related by blood or anything! We're two different people that happen to have some common attributes, but that's just a coincidence! There's always going to be someone similar to you. Isn't that why friendships are formed because they're like you?" But Izuku doubted they would listen.

They seemed to believe the fake conspiracy theories that they were making up rather than trusting a faithful source.

"But she said it herself! She said to keep it a secret, yet here you are spilling all the beans!" Mineta then scrunched his face up in frustration, though it was short-lived. "Say, since you're her brother, can you deliver the message that I want to date her?" Mineta asked with a dumb sly grin crossing his face.

Izuku stared at Mineta with a mixture of disgust and disbelief. That was his primary concern? Izuku's glaring problem was some of his friends thought he had a sister.

"I'll take that as a no."

"Uh... Since we're close to our dorm, I'm gonna go ahead to my room. See you guys later!" Izuku turned around and fled.

"Wait, Midoriya!" Kirishima called out after him, but Izuku didn't turn back. "I wonder why he ran away? Is it because he didn't want any of us to find out about his sister?"

"Dunno, but let's go watch that movie! I've been dying to see it all day since it was recently released!" Kaminari exclaimed enthusiastically as he ran towards the Class 1-A dorm. "Last one there gets no snacks!"

Izuku plopped down on his bed as the scene replayed in his mind over and over again. It was so embarrassing. How could he make such a simple mistake like that? Was it because he compared her to a sister? Like Kendo Itsuka since she's the big sister of Class 1-B?

"Gah!" Letting out a breath of annoyance, Izuku smacked his pillow without activating his quirk, otherwise, it would have destroyed his entire bed.

He shouldn't have been dwelling on it for so long, but it was like one of those moments where he couldn't help but look back on his life and cringe at how stupid he was back then. In fact, it was one of those moments, and now his mind wouldn't let go of it.

Covering his face with his pillow, Izuku stared up at the ceiling while his face shifted to a bright red color. He hoped to never see her again, but little did he know just how many times he would meet her.

Chapter Text

It didn't take long before the news spread like wildfire in Class 1-A.

Izuku was sitting inside his room after school, just enjoying a moment of peace with himself when he heard the sound of footsteps shuffling right outside his door. Lowering his phone, Izuku glanced uncertainly at the door while his mind wondered who could be standing outside and for what reason.

Izuku opened the door and found some of his classmates standing outside his door. "Guys? What brings you here?"

"Er... Is it true you have an older sister?" Jiro asked, poking her earphone jacks together. "You know... Because Mineta told us all that Nejire Hado was your sister."

"Is she your secret sister or something? You mentioned nothing about her to us." Shoto pointed out.

"Yes, Midoriya! Exactly what I wanted to talk to you about! I wanted to come by myself to ask you if Nejire Hado is your sister, but some of our classmates tagged along with me!" Tenya waved his arms about as he always did, but this time it seemed more frantic than usual.

"What?" Izuku groaned inwardly as realization smashed him straight in the face. Of course, Mineta would go around spreading false information about him. "It's... It's not what you think it is!"

"Of course not. Everyone reacts differently if other people find out about their siblings or they simply don't care." Tenya nodded his head gravely. "I would also get embarrassed if I went to the same school as my older brother and people found out about the information. But there's no need to feel down about it because we here at Class 1-A accept Nejire Hado as your sister wholeheartedly!"

"Where did that wacky assumption appear from?!" Izuku asked, shock emanating from his voice. And there was no way Tenya would feel embarrassed if his older brother went to the same school as him. He was just saying it to relate to him. "N-Nejire is... Um…"

Actually, who was she?

"Ah, stuttering! A common symptom that's usually paired with nervousness about a sibling being discovered! But fear not, as class president, I will put your fears at ease!"

"Ack! No! She isn't my sister!"

"Denial! That is also a common symptom! I too would deny Tensei is my brother if people discovered him as my sibling!"

It seemed like everything Izuku was throwing at them wasn't working. They weren't accepting the fact that Nejire wasn't his sister and instead Tenya was making it worse because of his enthusiasm to comfort Izuku. Also, why did he stutter like that? It just made it even worse instead of just straight-up denying it!

"Well, if you guys don't mind, I'm going to rest in my room all day... I'm a bit tired. Just call me out when dinner is ready or something." Izuku closed the door in Tenya's face and slid down while exhaling a sigh of relief.

It was embarrassing! It truly was! What would he do if his classmates saw him meet Nejire in the middle of the hallway or something?

Outside his room, he could hear Tenya shouting as usual. "Yes, let him rest! I'm sure he'll feel better as time goes on and the embarrassment fades away! But for now, let's get dinner started! I have just the thing to comfort Izuku with the power of food; beef stew!"

"Hold up, that's your answer to calm Midoriya's feelings down by feeding him your favorite food?" Jiro asked, obvious confusion spilling from her tone.

"Not to worry because beef stew is the key to everything!"

Izuku fell on his bed and laid his arm over his eyes while the voices of his classmates faded away. With a sigh, he stared at the ceiling. He wanted to meet Nejire quickly to ask her a few questions, so he could clear up the confusion he caused.

But she was so pretty. And cute. How was he supposed to talk properly with her? Even just thinking about the prospect of talking to her made him nervous.

Hugging his pillow close to his chest, Izuku groaned at the possibility of having to meet her one day again, whether he acted on his impulse to talk to her or by accident.

And to Izuku's surprise, he met her again a few days later. She was walking down the hallway with a cheerful expression when Izuku immediately noticed her blue hair. Izuku considered going in the same direction as her to avoid confrontation but didn't act on time as she noticed him. Nejire waved her hand at him before continuing on her way to class.

Izuku tried to grab her attention to ask some questions, but his anxiety shut him down quickly. And because he was also walking with some of his classmates, it hurt his chances of reaching out to her properly.

"How come you didn't say hi back to your sister?" Shoto asked as he glanced back to see Nejire had already disappeared behind a corner.

"Erk…" Izuku glanced to the side in shame. The way Shoto worded it made Izuku feel guilty, even though he wasn't. "Would it surprise you if I told you she isn't my sister, Todoroki?"

Shoto stared at him with a confused expression. "Wait, she isn't? But everyone's been saying she is your sister."

"It's fake, Todoroki! You can't believe everything that comes out of people's mouths!"

"Does that include yours?" Shoto asked innocently, without realizing how insulting it could sound. "Though I feel like Kirishima's reason for your interest in quirks lines up perfectly with Nejire's. And I also heard from Mineta that Nejire told you to keep it a secret."

Groaning inwardly, Izuku wanted to break out of the grave he had dug himself into. If only he hadn't called Nejire sister, he would have been fine. Still, what was the difference between confronting Nejire now or later? He would have to meet her eventually since he wanted to interview her about her quirk and other stuff. He was going to have to work up the nerve to ask her all those questions, but didn't he make it easier on himself by acting like she was his sister?

Actually, who was he kidding? He was just trying to soothe himself, but it wasn't working.

Mentally hitting himself on the head, Izuku brought himself back to reality and stared at Shoto. He really couldn't fight them because they had some flimsy evidence to believe in. On the other hand, he knew the truth, but what was he to the rumors of 19 other people in his class? If that happened to someone else, it would also confuse Izuku on who to believe.

"Okay, listen to me very carefully, Todoroki. And I mean what I say!" Izuku placed a hand on Shoto's shoulder and looked him directly in the eyes. "She isn't my sister."

"Uh... Okay, but didn't Iida say denial was a symptom of someone's sibling being discovered?"

Izuku slapped his hand on his forehead as he screamed internally.

Over the next few days, Izuku couldn't tell if it was him or not, but he began to notice Nejire more and more. He would catch a glimpse of her when he walked down the hallways, when he ate with his friends at the cafeteria, and sometimes when he walked back to his dorm.

He never noticed her before, so why was it happening now? Was it because he finally realized that she existed? Or was it that weird phenomenon where people owning a blue car noticed more blue cars?

And right now, he was walking back to his dorms alone, while Nejire was right in front of him. The sunlight from the blazing star settling beyond the horizon was painting her hair in a more beautiful way than he imagined.

Though her hair wasn't what he should've been concentrating on. What he should have done was realize that Nejire was aware of his presence.

It didn't take long before Nejire whipped her head around and scanned her surroundings to search for who was staring at her. When her eyes met Izuku's, his brain kicked him back to reality. He quickly averted her gaze and looked down at his feet as his heartbeat spiked in surprise.

He didn't know what would happen next, but hearing footsteps drawing closer to him wasn't one of them. And he sure didn't expect her friend to follow her.

Izuku looked up to find Nejire walking beside him and her friend, Yuyu, shooting her weird glances. Blushing furiously, Izuku had to rein his emotions in from melting down on the floor from his nervousness. "Uh... Hi?"

"Hello, little brother." Nejire flashed him a smile that immediately hacked away at his worries, but then he remembered how beautiful she was and returned to his timid state. "See Yuyu, this is my cute younger brother!"

Looking him up and down, Yuyu's expression said as much; she didn't agree with Nejire's statement. "Are you sure about that? I mean, where do I begin with? He has green hair, he has a different surname than you, and he is so nervous, unlike your curious self! There's no way this boy is your younger brother!" Yuyu turned to look at Izuku and gave him an apologetic smile. "No offense if you really are Nejire's younger brother."

Before Izuku could answer, Nejire pulled him in close and pouted. "He really is my younger brother! Can't you see how cute the both of us are together?"

Izuku stiffened as his face got buried in her hair for a quick second. She smelled good. Her hair carried the scent of faint strawberries. Maybe she showered in the morning, so that's why it was faint. But why was he thinking about that? She was so close to him! They were touching!

"I mean I can't deny that..." Yuyu agreed, studying his face. Yet her expression changed from curious to unimpressed as she looked back at Nejire. "Even so, I don't believe you."

"Oh, come on! Believe in me, Yuyu!" Nejire stuck her bottom lip out in protest and then shifted her gaze toward Izuku. "Hey, hey! Why don't you call me big sister for once!"

"W-What? I..." What was he supposed to say? Was Nejire joking? Should he play along? "Uh... Big sister?"

This was the best card he could play at the moment. He wasn't as flirty as Kaminari, so his only option seemed to be to call Nejire his sister, even though it wasn't true. Or maybe there was a better answer he could have said, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"There you go, Yuyu! He called me big sister!" Nejire grinned from ear to ear, obviously thankful that Izuku was playing along with the joke. "Now you can't deny that we're siblings!"

Yuyu shook her head in disbelief. "That's literally not how siblings work! Besides, you forced him to say it! From the looks of it, you guys are an only child, no offense again, but from all my years of seeing how siblings react, don't they always hate each other?"

"No, no, that's wrong thinking, Yuyu! There are definitely some siblings out there that treat each other with love!" Nejire wrapped her arms around Izuku, causing his mind to spiral from her overwhelming warm touch. "Just like my relationship with this cutie!"

Nejire reached up to gently squeeze his cheeks, causing Izuku to back his head away from her reach, but because he didn't want to hurt her feelings, he let her win.

Within a few seconds, her touch captivated Izuku. He didn't want it to end, but Nejire pulled her hand away, back to her side. She walked back over to Yuyu and waved her hand toward Izuku. "Well, I'll see you around, little brother! Make sure to eat, sleep, train, and play well!"

"Oh, okay..." Izuku muttered, but after a few seconds, added another two words that were important to her. "Big sister."

Nejire beamed at him with a lovely smile that he never knew was possible, despite seeing her smile all the time. As she walked back to her dorms, Izuku just stood there and watched her.

All that was going on inside of his mind were questions. And this all started from an accident. A stupid accident! But why did he feel happy at the same time?

Chapter Text

Izuku watched the clock tick by as it neared the end of the school day. He couldn't wait to go home. Aizawa had called off training since it was important for them to rest once in a while, but this proved to be in his favor because of his curiosity about researching the Big Three's quirks.

He told himself that he would do it, but it's been an eternity since he nabbed some time to study what their fighting styles were and what their quirks could do. He was still fascinated by his fight with Mirio, but because of his minor incident of calling Nejire his older sister, he was thrown off task. But maybe it wasn't worth it.

When the bell rang, Izuku quickly hopped out of his desk and made a straight beeline for the exit, only to be joined by Mina, who had a slight glimmer of mischief twinkling in her eyes.

"So, Midoriya! I heard you had a sister!" Mina commented as she walked beside Izuku. "And I heard she's a beauty to look at!"

"Er... I think you heard wrong..." Izuku said without a second thought, but when Mina put a hand over her mouth, he realized he had said something wrong. "No, not the part about her being a beauty! I'm talking about the part where she's my sister! I've been telling everyone she isn't my sister, but none of you guys are listening!"

"Because she hasn't disproved it yet! And no one seems to be able to elicit the truth from her! Your sister is wonderful at keeping your relationship with you a secret!"

Izuku's mind stopped working as he absorbed what she had just said. "Wait, you guys asked her if I was her brother, and she agreed we're siblings?"

"Yup!" Was Mina's only response.

Izuku let out a whimper and dragged a hand down his face in defeat. Why was she doing this? Nejire was making it worse than it had to be! It felt weird being the center of attention all the time in class since his classmates always asked him about his sister.

As for Bakugo, he seemed hell-bent on ignoring the situation. Even when some of his classmates asked him questions about Nejire being Izuku's sister, he just yelled at them and threatened to blow them up. It was so Bakugo-like. Hopefully, it stayed that way.

"But hey, if she's your older sister, how come you never hang out with her? She seems to be a charming person based on the little time I spent with her, other than the times she touched my horns, but it's whatever!"

"I-I don't know, Mina! Maybe it's because we're not blood-related?" Izuku asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Then if you guys aren't siblings, is your relationship with her like a sister? Because that also works too!" Mina responded with her finger sticking up in the air as if she was saying the most profound thing in the world.

"What...? I..." Could he do that? Do people call others sisters or brothers even if they aren't blood-related?

"Speaking of which, there she is!" Mina exclaimed as they made it out to the front entrance where Nejire was standing there talking with Yuyu.

Nejire turned her head around to see who exited the building and grinned. Her twinkling eyes latched onto his, making him blush like crazy.

"I gotta go, so I'll be seeing you guys around!" But before Izuku could slip away, Nejire hovered over to him and wrapped her arm around his neck. A squeak escaped from his lips as he felt her body press up against him. "N-Nejire?"

"Hey, little brother, how was school today? Have any fun?" Nejire asked, a sly tone echoing in her voice.

"I-It was fine! Why?" Izuku tried to pull away, but her grip was much stronger than he thought it would be. What did he expect? She was a third-year student at U.A., who had three whole years to train her body.

When Izuku stuck out his hand to get help from Mina, she stuck her tongue out and began walking away. "Good luck, Midoriya! And have fun with your sister!"

"Ah! You betrayed me, Mina!" But there was nothing he could do as Mina waved her hand at him and walked away. With a gulp, Izuku looked down at Nejire and worked up the courage to smile at her, albeit nervously. "So... Uh... Why are you hugging me?"

"Oh, come on! Your own sister can't hug you? That hurts my feelings..." Nejire pouted as the usual joyful glint faded from her eyes.

"Hey, stop teasing Izuku to death! I swear if you keep this lie up, his death is going to be your doing." Yuyu pried Nejire away from Izuku, giving him freedom from a pouting Nejire.

"That's not fair! You keep thinking this is a lie, but Izuku really is my brother!"

Yuyu raised an eyebrow at her protests. The look on her face told Izuku she was somewhat believing Nejire because she was repeating the lie so many times. Speaking of which, Nejire was escalating it a bit too much.

"Nejire? Aren't you taking it a bit too far?" Izuku asked as he tried to send secret hand signals to stop spreading the lie, but of course, it didn't work.

"Taking what too far? Showing my love for you?" Nejire asked with a goofy grin plastered on her face. "If so, you're absolutely right! It's because you are my lovely younger brother!"

It was all fun and games for Nejire, wasn't it? For him, it was fun and games until he had to explain everything to his classmates. But what if he told everyone Nejire was his sister? No, but that wouldn't make any sense at all! He knew nothing about Nejire since he never met or talked to her much, other than a few encounters here and there!

It was just going to be an embarrassment if his friends and classmates began asking him questions about her, and all his responses were just flat-out false. He didn't want to add sticks to the already quickly growing fire.

"Well, it was nice meeting you today, Izuku! As it always is! But now I have to get going since Yuyu and I made some plans! I wish I could hang out longer with you, baby brother, but until next time!"

Yuyu shook her head and placed her hands on her hips before shifting her eyes toward Izuku. "Yeah, what she said. I'll see you around, I guess. And make sure to take care of yourself."

"Yeah, I will..." Izuku trailed off as he waved goodbye to his two beautiful upperclassmen. It was nice to know Nejire cared for him, but the fact that even Yuyu cared about him caused a slight warmth to grow in his heart.

But what if they only cared for him because he accidentally called Nejire sister? What if that was the sole reason they thought about him? Did they only think of him when they saw him? That was disheartening to think about.

Still, it wasn't like he could do anything about it since he couldn't control their thoughts. And it wasn't like they even had to pay attention to him at all.

It seemed like Nejire just enjoyed teasing him. Then she moved on with her life after getting her fill of making him embarrassed. And even if he could prepare himself for how touchy she was, he still didn't know how to respond to her actions.

"Oh, Izuku! I forgot! It slipped my mind!"

Izuku watched as Nejire hovered over to where he was. What was it this time?

"Here." Nejire set her backpack down on the ground and dug through it before bringing something out. Clenching it in her fist, she held Izuku's hand up and placed whatever was in her fist into his open hand. She curled his hand back and smiled. "Enjoy the tasty treat. I'll see you around, little brother."

With that said, Nejire picked her backpack up and flew back to walk with Yuyu. Izuku stood still in shock before opening up his hand to reveal a candy wrapped in a crinkly wrapper.

Izuku couldn't help but smile as he gazed at the little piece of candy. It should have been nothing really, but here he was grinning like a fool. The warm feeling in his heart strengthened as he slowly opened the wrapper up and popped the candy into his mouth.

That was until he turned around and saw several of his classmates watching him with their mouths hanging wide open. With dread washing over him, he smiled nervously and waved his hands toward them. "Uh... Hi?"

Chapter Text

Izuku lay in his bed, kicking his feet on the edge to get rid of his anxiety by smacking the softness of his mattress. Of course, his classmates had to see him with Nejire. Especially the part where she handed him the candy.

It all went into chaos as he tried his best to explain everything, but some of them went quiet as he went into detail. Was that a good thing? He couldn't tell because they still seem convinced that Nejire was his sister.

Flipping over on his bed and rolling off, Izuku accidentally lost balance and smacked his face on the ground. "Ouch..." Rubbing his nose, Izuku poked his head up and grabbed his phone from his desk. When he opened it, he saw a few texts from his friends asking him where he was since school was about to start in a couple of minutes.

Izuku scooted over to where his backpack was and swung it over his shoulders and jumped up, only for his anxiety to come back full force with one question. What would happen if he met Nejire again?

It was draining his energy since every accidental confrontation resulted in his demise. Maybe he could use everything in his power to avoid her. It was always easier to ignore and run away from the problem.

So as the day slowly passed by, Izuku would do exactly that.

When he saw her in the hallway, he would quickly slow his pace, receiving some glares from students walking behind him. If he saw her going to her respective dorms after school, he swirled around and got lost in the crowd to escape her view, just in case she looked around.

During lunch period, he quickly grabbed his favorite lunch item from Lunch Rush and make himself at home in the supply closet where he could eat in silence. It was quite nice since he was a natural introvert, though he could quickly change into an outgoing, leading person on the field when people were in trouble. Though the supply closet should probably be locked if anyone could access it so easily.

When he finished his lunch, he quietly exited the closet and made his way back to the cafeteria.

But as he wandered about, he suddenly saw Nejire walking around with Yuyu. However, her eyes were fixated on her friend. With a frightened expression, Izuku watched as Yuyu gazed at him for a few seconds, drawing Nejire's attention toward what Yuyu was supposedly looking at.

But there was nothing other than a questionable green blur. Turning back to look at Yuyu, Nejire tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, hey! What were you looking at?"

Shaking her head and focusing on Nejire, Yuyu just smiled and changed the subject. "Nothing! But did you hear about the latest news about the upcoming beauty products that pro hero Uwabami is advertising?"

"No, what is it this time?" Nejire asked happily.

Izuku breathed out a sigh of relief as he slumped down on the ground from the corner he hid behind. That was close. He owed Yuyu for saving him.

Staring at the other side of the wall while several students passed by his vision, Izuku stayed completely still as scenarios of what-ifs played in his head. What would happen if Nejire saw him right there? Or what would have happened if Yuyu gave his position away?

"Ahh..." Izuku huffed out in annoyance as he scrambled his hands through his hair. It was annoying trying to run away from Nejire's so-called affection, and it also stressed him out when he met her through unforeseen circumstances like the past few events he had experienced.

Picking himself back up from the floor, Izuku wandered the hallway until he made it down to the cafeteria, all while his brain churned out questions like a computer. He returned the tray to Lunch Rush, who snatched it up in a quick second and cleaned it in a matter of seconds.

It felt oddly weird that Nejire was giving him so much attention when he felt like someone who was far below her level. She could technically choose anyone she wants to mess around with since she had it all. A powerful quirk, being in the top three of their school, and her cute looks.

In the end, Izuku promptly decided to avoid Nejire. It wouldn't take long for her to graduate, so he just had to hold out until then. It was pathetic, but he didn't want to face his problems head-on.

Slowly trudging back to his classroom, Izuku figured he would meet her eventually. It was inevitable, but when he got to that bridge, he would cross it. Though he didn't expect to cross it so soon.

It unfolded when Izuku was walking back home after talking to All Might about his quirk. He didn't expect it to drag on for so long, but it was already dinner time.

Izuku took his sweet time going back to the Class 1-A dorm because the sun setting over the horizon was spectacular. The clouds were positioned in such a way it outlined a fiery glint off the clouds hanging from the sky. Taking it all in, Izuku smiled at the beautiful view before he noticed something warm pressing up against him.

Looking around in shock, Izuku noticed it was Nejire Hado, the one person he didn't want to confront today. "N-Nejire?" Izuku stuttered as he gently tried prying her arms off his body. Though his fear of hurting her overruled the option to continue.

"Hello, baby brother~." Nejire sang, a cheerful smile lighting up her face. After a few silent seconds of staying in that position, Nejire peeked into his vision. "So... Can you tell me why you were avoiding me today?"

Izuku avoided her gaze and pretended to look at something else like the way the ground looked. How did she know? Did his plan to avoid her fall apart this quickly? Did Nejire realize Yuyu was lying to her?

"Not going to answer me?" Nejire pouted, but the mirth sparkling in her eyes told him she was having fun with this. "Come on, you can tell your older sister everything!"

"I-I'm not avoiding you! I swear! I just haven't met you at all today!" Izuku lied as easily as he wrote notes on heroes.

"Yeah, yeah. I can hear your alibi from a mile away."

Letting out a groan, Izuku told the truth. "I, uh... I just didn't want to get embarrassed by my friends, so I avoided you throughout the day... Not because you were annoying or anything. I just wanted some peace and quiet for a day where I don't have to meet you, but I guess now that's coming off as insulting, uh… Ignore the last part."

Izuku stayed still, waiting for a response, but when all he received was silence, he was afraid Nejire was upset at his reason for evading her. Instead, she laughed.

"That's the only reason you were avoiding me? Gosh, who would have thought it would be slightly cute while you're doing that? I had a feeling that green blur was you a few hours ago while I talked to Yuyu in the hallway, though I just chalked it up to my eyes playing tricks on me. Still, why didn't you tell me you didn't like it? I would have stopped teasing you to death! It's not like I can read your mind, so communicate with me to help me understand you!"

"Uh, heh heh..." Izuku chuckled nervously. It was that easy to stop her from embarrassing him? Maybe if he was more confident, he could have figured that out. "I didn't think you would actually listen to me..."

"Why wouldn't I listen to you? I'm your older sister after all!" Nejire chirped, giving him a wink.

"Yeah, I don't know about that... "

Nejire laughed and released him from her grip, trusting him to stay with her, which he did. "You're a funny person, you know that, little brother?"

"Yeah, I didn't know that about me. I mean, I was never a comedian to begin with…" Izuku mumbled, glancing at a second-year passing by their position. "But why do you keep calling me little brother?"

"Well, that's a bit of a funny story. It all started when someone called my older sister out of nowhere. And who could it be other than a person I met during the Big Three's introduction to Class 1-A? I was mildly perplexed and even a little embarrassed, but when I saw how you were dealing with it, I made it into a small joke and it worked for like two seconds before your classmates probably embarrassed you to death! So for that, I'm sorry, but not sorry!"

"Ah, no! You're fine, I guess!" Was it really fine, though? At least, he wasn't in a life-threatening situation. It was just a little misunderstanding that spiraled into a grand mess, but it wasn't anything too bad, right? "Then when you meet my classmates, can you tell them that you aren't my sister?"

Nejire looked up at the sky in deep thought for a few seconds while Izuku waited in anticipation for her answer, only for his face to fall in disappointment. "I don't know... What will I get to tell them the truth?"

"What are you talking about?! You won't get anything in return for causing me so much trouble!" Izuku cried out, trying his best to keep his composure around her, but failing ever so slightly while she flashed him a smile. But after giving it some thought, Izuku tried to compromise. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout like that, but maybe we can work something out?"

Nejire stared at him, waiting for him to spit out some solutions. "Is this the part where I offer something beneficial for both parties or is this where I wait for you to say some?"

"S-Sorry!" Izuku apologized. "But I know nothing about you, so I don't know what to suggest! Is there something you have in mind?"

"Well, there is one thing! Can you call me big sister again?"

Izuku must have expressed his lack of excitement because she burst out laughing. "I don't wanna…"

"Nah, I'm just joking about all of this, but you really are funny!" Nejire exclaimed. "But it'll mean the absolute world to me if you called me big sister again! As for me, I'm going to do what you say and stop teasing you because I feel like your poor heart won't be able to handle it."

"Hey, I'm not that weak..." Izuku protested.

"Your red face tells me otherwise."

Izuku covered his face with his hands as her giggles reached his ears. "Thanks for pointing that out… Big sister… Are you happy now?"

Nejire's face lit up with joy as she relished the few seconds he called her big sister. "I think I am!"

Even through the embarrassment, Izuku also laughed, albeit for a few seconds.

Chapter Text

It wasn't a problem at all. It really wasn't. At least that's what Izuku kept telling himself, but now the number of people thinking he was Nejire's brother was worrying.

First, some boys from Class 1-B came up to him and performed an actual interview with him. They asked him a dizzying amount of questions about Nejire and his life with her, making his brain spin from all the voices overlapping each other. If it wasn't for Class 1-B's sister, Itsuka Kendo, his brain would have fried.

"Stop asking him so many questions and prying into his private life! If you guys want to know more about Nejire, then go ask her yourselves!" Kendo expressed her empathy by flashing him an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. I guess these guys are just curious about one of the most popular students in U.A. high school."

"No, I get it... It's fine." Izuku feigned a smile but mouthed a quick thank you to her before heading off to his class.

Then on his way to lunch, some of the second-years came up to him to ask if he was truly the sister of Nejire. Luckily, a girl who interestingly wore cloud-shaped earrings. She quickly introduced herself as Mawata Fuwa before she politely told them to get lost.

Finally, at the end of the day, while walking home from an exhausting training session, he stumbled upon Mirio and Tamaki, who were searching for him. And Izuku guessed it correctly. They were trying to ask him questions.

"So, Midoriya! I heard Nejire Hado is your sister!" Mirio elaborated further, causing Izuku to smile awkwardly. "You know, the only girl in the Big Three group?"

"Er... Yeah, I know her. But she isn't my sister, Mirio." Izuku responded.

Judging from Mirio's surprised reaction and Tamaki's indifference, Izuku figured Mirio was in the dark about the fake rumors while Tamaki somehow already knew Izuku wasn't Nejire's sister, which was pretty obvious.

"I know, surprise...!" Izuku trailed off as he yawned. He was ready to go home after dealing with all the people that came up to him to ask ridiculous questions.

"Wait, so Nejire was pulling my leg when she told me you were her brother?" Mirio asked with a perplexed expression.

Tamaki let out a sigh of disbelief, one that contained a rich amount of frustration. "And you're figuring out that just now? How could you not tell Nejire was joking around, as she always does?"

"Seriously? She was?" Mirio let out a laugh while he rubbed the back of his head.

Within a few seconds, his laugh died down and an awkward silence replaced it. Izuku glanced around the area much like Tamaki, wondering what to do next until Mirio broke the silence again.

"So... Is she actually your sister or not? You know, just to clarify."

Izuku breathed out in miserable defeat. It was hopeless, and it seemed like Tamaki shared the same sentiment because he smacked his palm on his forehead.

On the same day, after Izuku ate dinner and closed himself off in his room, he heard a knock at the door. Cautiously opening it, he found Shoto standing outside with the same nonchalant expression he always wore. "Um... Yes? Did you need something, Todoroki?"

"No, I don't need anything. But your sister needs something."

Izuku winced as he heard the word sister for the hundredth time today. It was getting old quickly. He couldn't wait for the truth to spread from Nejire's mouth because anytime he tried to deny it all, it only got worse. "Alright then, what does she need?"

"Well, Yuyu told Nejire, who met me, to tell you to say that they both wanted you to come over to Nejire's dorm room. And if you don't listen, Nejire will hug you to death?"

Izuku groaned as he looked over his shoulder at the notebook sprawled over his bed. Sometimes, he wondered if Nejire actually wanted a younger brother like him just to tease the ever-living life out of him.

Izuku shrugged his shoulders and stepped out of his room with a smile. "Then I'll be back later tonight, depending on how long she holds me hostage."

Shoto looked at him with worry reflecting off his face. "Your sister is going to hold you hostage? Should I call the police?"

"Gah, stop taking things so literally!"

Izuku stood right outside Nejire's room with an unfathomable amount of reluctance shooting through his mind. This was ridiculous. What was he doing here?

The moment he stepped through the front entrance of Class 3-A's dorm, everyone dropped what they were doing to ask the same question everyone's been asking him since the accident; is Nejire really your sister?

It was so weird being the center of attention, but now he knew he wasn't too fond of it despite the dream of being a great hero that was going to bring tons of attention to him was coming soon.

"Ahh... What am I doing here? The situation only got worse... At this point, the entire school thinks we're siblings." Izuku ruffled around with his hair in agitation, fighting an internal conflict with himself, whether to leave or stay. Though maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"Oh, you're here."

Izuku traced the sound to its origins and found Yuyu standing a few feet away from him with a board game in her hands. "Y-Yeah! You guys wanted to see me? Er, I mean girls, not guys!"

With a snicker, Yuyu dismissed his mistake with a wave of her hand. "It's fine. You don't have to be so stiff around me though. I'm not like Nejire, where I'll tease you to death or lie about being siblings."

Izuku laughed nervously before he shoved his hands in his pocket. He wasn't being stiff, he just didn't know Yuyu enough to continue any long conversations with her. It was slightly awkward since Nejire seemed to be the catalyst for both of them to even acknowledge each other.

"So you wanna join us in playing this board game? I wanted to invite you over because I thought it would be a better way for us to get closer and break the tension between all three of us or whatever."

"Sure? Was that all you called me here for?" So it wasn't Nejire who requested to see him. But at the same time, she told Shoto to tell him he was needed in her dorm room as soon as possible.

"Yeah, besides, Nejire nagged me, saying she was bored, so I thought of this wonderful idea to call you over and play a board game with us... Well, you can guess what happened next. Her face said it all. The joy was overflowing from her eyes."

So Nejire requested to see him. Of course, she did. What did he expect? "I can imagine that." Izuku chuckled, imagining how the scene could have gone.

"Yeah, she was like a little kid that was promised candy, so in the end, I told Nejire to go over herself and tell you. Did you meet her? Because I thought she would come back inside her room with you, but you took a while."

"No, she met Todoroki, who relayed the message to me."

"Of course she did..." Yuyu sighed but shook her head with a smile. "So do you wanna play a board game with us?"

"Sure!"

Yuyu grinned at his response and opened the door, where they both saw Nejire talking to someone on the phone while floating around and eating a cookie. From there, they all stopped and stared at each other as the voice from Nejire's phone rambled on.

"You made it, Izuku!" Nejire shouted, scrambling around to float right-side up.

"Uh... I sure did!" Izuku responded.

Finishing up the cookie, she landed on the ground while telling the person on the other side of the phone goodbye. "Did you bring the board game, Yuyu? Did you? Did you?"

"Yes, I did, sheesh. Now calm down." Yuyu replied, huffing in slight annoyance as she placed the board game down on the pink carpet Nejire overlay her room with. They followed suit and sat down with her.

As they set up the board game, Izuku looked around the room. It was a lot more girly than he thought it would be. Still, he was expecting it to be normal. Not filled to the brim with hues of pink and blue.

The curtains on the window were pink. The bed was majestically colored with different shades of blue and purple. And the bamboo drawer to store her clothes was painted green. However, the lamp next to her bed looked oddly average compared to the other furniture stationed inside the room.

Being inside a girl's room was way different from what he imagined it would be, but there wasn't anything that blew his mind out of the water. Izuku took a glance at the selection of make-up and rapidly changed his mind.

Nejire took a glance at what he was staring at and smirked. "That's all Yuyu's make-up there because she's into that kind of stuff, and I dabble into the trending stuff a bit to keep up with her. And sometimes, she lets me use them!"

Yuyu nodded her head while studying Izuku. "Maybe we can put some make-up on Izuku for fun or something."

Nejire's eyes lit up as she stared at Yuyu for relaying her thoughts out loud. "You're right! I feel like we can experiment with all those products we have there on him!"

"Uh, please don't…" Izuku squeaked.

"Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to scare you like that!" Nejire exclaimed, a smile adorning her face. "But you guys wanna place a bet on this game we're playing? Whoever loses has to buy the winners some candy!"

"Eh, that's it?" Izuku asked, worried she was going to add on more if she won.

"Yup! Now come on, roll the dice, baby brother!" Nejire placed the dice in his hands.

"Can't you call him Izuku now? You know, since he's not your brother?" Yuyu asked, looking at Nejire while Izuku shook the dice in his hands, blessing it by whispering some incoherent words.

"Nah, I prefer calling him whatever I like! Besides, I already called him Izuku!" Nejire responded, sticking her tongue out at Yuyu, but winking at Izuku.

Izuku ignored Nejire while he rolled the dice onto the board, accidentally knocking down their character pieces. "Ah." Was all that left Izuku's mouth as Nejire laughed out loud.

"Hey, who said you could knock our character pieces down?" Nejire asked, pinching his cheek gently.

"Haha, it was a mistake, sorry..!" Izuku apologized as he quickly set them back up.

"Yeah, I know! I just think it's funny to tease you to death!"

"I figured."

A smirk lit over Nejire's face as she scooted over to where he was sitting, while Izuku glanced over at her with a worried look on his face. When Nejire got close enough, she rested her head on his shoulder.

The moment of silence between all of them was interrupted when Nejire opened her mouth. "Does this make your heart go boom boom?"

"B-Boom boom...? What does that mean?" Izuku stuttered, looking at Yuyu, who shrugged her shoulders.

"What do you think it means?"

After a few seconds of scrutinizing her question, Izuku understood it. Unfortunately, it wasn't for the better. "That my heart is beating fast because you're doing some kind of romantic action?"

"Bingo!"

Izuku's heartbeat drastically shot up upon confirmation that he was correct. Did she like him? As in romantically? But there was no way, he wasn't worthy enough to be liked by someone so beautiful and cute.

"So… If you know that, why aren't you reflecting it?" Nejire asked, a mischievous smile growing on her face.

"Er... What do you want me to do?"

"To put an arm around me, goofy!"

Izuku hesitated for a few seconds before he slowly wrapped an arm around her. The warmth of her wrapped around his body as if someone had hugged him. It felt nice, though it was short-lived because of Nejire's sudden outburst.

"Now, let's continue to play the game! We don't have all night since we have school tomorrow!" Nejire rolled on her turn and also ended up knocking some of the character pieces down, causing everyone to laugh at her folly.

When the game soon ended, Nejire floated out with him from their dorm to escort him back to the Class 1-A dorm. "Hey, do you want me to give this picture to you?"

"What picture?" Izuku asked, looking over at her phone.

On the screen, it showed Izuku, and his arm wrapped around Nejire. "Gah, did Yuyu take this picture?"

"Yeah, I asked her to do this so I could keep this as a souvenir of you when I graduate soon!"

They both stared in silence until Izuku broke the quiet atmosphere. "Yeah, can you send it over to my phone? It looks nice."

"Score! But for us to do that, we'll have to exchange contact information."

"Oh, that's right."

Chapter Text

It happened out of the blue yesterday when Nejire flew up to his dorm room and asked him out on a date to a nearby park. Nearby, as in she could fly them there at high speeds within ten minutes, so it was still quite the distance.

She wanted to make up for his suffering for the last few days at U.A. high school, so she opted to pay for everything. But the funny thing was, it didn't solve the future issues he would have to endure and fix.

Still, there was no chance he was going to deny the date as long as he was away from the people who were keen on prying into his private life. It was a nice getaway like a vacation with one of the most beautiful girls in his school, that is.

Pushing the nervousness in his chest away, Izuku wore the appropriate attire for the occasion like a green polo shirt and khakis. There was no need to get embarrassed about it. She was a human being, just like him. A special human being that was cute. She was the epitome of prettiness.

Izuku looked at himself in the mirror before throwing his hands up in the air. Wasn't he looking a bit too fancy?

Rolling up his clothes in frustration, Izuku threw them on his bed as he dug around his closet, looking for a better selection of clothes. Soon, Izuku settled for a white shirt and cargo shorts.

Satisfied with his choice of clothes, Izuku grabbed a sun hat and fixed it on the top of his head. With one more look in the mirror, Izuku smiled and grabbed his phone before jumping over the railing from his dorm room. He wasn't allowed to do this, but it didn't hurt to do it once in a blue moon, right?

Izuku landed on the ground and sprinted over to Class 3-A's dorm, expecting to see Nejire out there waiting as she told him she would be. But to his utter surprise, he found Yuyu standing outside.

"Yuyu? Where's Nejire?" Izuku asked as he looked at the door, hoping she would suddenly pop out and surprise them both.

"About that... Because it's a date, Nejire said she has to look her absolute best, so she's taking way longer than she has to, just to choose her best outfit for you. Consider yourself lucky because she usually has her perfect outfit ready to go on any occasion." Yuyu said with a wink.

With a small blush painting his face, Izuku laughed nervously. "Yeah, I understand. I was struggling a little too."

"Were you now? Well, I guess it should be expected." Yuyu went quiet for a second before asking a question. "Is this your first date?"

"Yes? Why? Should I be worried? Should I do something to impress her? Is there something girls want boys to do during dates?" Izuku asked all at once, unsure what to expect from his first date.

"Woah, slow down there, Izuku!" Yuyu smiled at him to comfort his nervous state. "You don't have to worry about a thing. Just be yourself and you'll be good. I'm sure she likes your company. That's why she asked you out in the first place."

"True, but even if you say that I'm still nervous."

"Who wouldn't be? Just have fun and you'll be set! Well, good luck! I'm going to drag Nejire out of her room because this is just ridiculous." Yuyu said, rolling her eyes, but smiling at Izuku.

Izuku watched as Yuyu disappeared inside the Class 3-A dorm. For someone only 17 years of age, Yuyu sounded smart and composed. It was a wonder to see the two of them be so different, yet still be best friends. He thought most people were friends because they shared the same interest and their personalities aligned, but maybe he was wrong.

Sitting down on the steps, Izuku looked up at the clouds passing by him and let out a sigh. It was a beautiful day to go out and enjoy what nature had given them. But Nejire was taking long, even though Yuyu had gone to check up on her. Just as he was about to close his eyes and meditate on how to improve the use of his quirk, he heard a voice.

"Boo!"

Startled, Izuku looked up to see Nejire standing in front of him. The smile planted on her face was filled with mirth. "Oh... Hi!"

"Hello, Izuku! I'm sorry I took so long, but do you wanna get started?"

"Yeah, I do..." Izuku trailed off as he inspected Nejire.

The yellow dress she was wearing reminded him of the color of sunflowers and the white flowers stitched across her clothing were a shy contrast to the luxurious yellow color. From his perspective, the summer hat she had plopped on top of her head made her look like a princess. Yet the pair of shoes she wore contradicted her elegant attire. It was just a plain pair of white sneakers. But it still didn't take away anything from how beautiful she was. Her choice of clothes reflected the embodiment of summer as clear as day.

And wrapped up neatly with a green cloth were two rectangular objects. Izuku could only guess they were bento boxes for their meal when they got hungry from all the walking.

"How do I look?"

That one question kicked Izuku out of his trance. There was only one thing to say to her, "Breathtaking..." Izuku commented, unable to say anything else.

Nejire giggled and took him by the hand, leading him to wherever she wanted to go. "I also noticed you chose the same thing to wear as me."

"A dress?"

"No, silly! I'm talking about our sun hats!"

"Oh, I should have known..." Izuku laughed as he adjusted the hat with his free hand while his face warmed up in embarrassment. What a great first impression on his date, aside from the time he called her older sister, but it seemed like Nejire wasn't one to care about such tiny mistakes.

"Are you trying to copy me? Is that why? I never knew my younger brother loved me so much that he wanted to copy my style!" Nejire cooed as she patted Izuku on the head.

"Ack! Hey! I wasn't!" Izuku shooed her hand away from his head, but as always, she won in the end. There was just no escaping her. It was like fate lured him into this and he couldn't run away from it, no matter how hard he tried.

"I'm so happy you love me this much, brother!"

"Yeah, I'm glad you love me too," Izuku replied with a look of meek satisfaction on his face.

Izuku stepped out of the taxi while Nejire thanked the driver for the safe trip to their destination. He was sure she was going to fly them to the stunningly pretty park, but she got them a taxi instead.

Still, maybe flying would have been better because the amount of cologne the driver used was absurd. Coughing to get rid of the choking scent, Izuku fanned his hand in front of his face. Hopefully, they didn't have to take another taxi ride back home.

"I agree with you," Nejire admitted after the driver skidded down the parking lot and screeched as he exited. "Next time I'll just fly us out on our next date or whenever we have time for one! Sound fair?"

"Please do," Izuku muttered, his attention focused solely on ridding the horrible stench of cologne from his clothes and Nejire handing him the bento boxes into his hands.

Nejire secretly smiled to herself at his cute reaction before holding his hand and leading him to the little booth to pay for their entry fees. After she paid for their entry into the park, Izuku grabbed a map placed inside of a small shelf nailed on the side of the booth and put the bento boxes down on the ground. But as he opened it, he noticed a curious presence peering at the map with him from his peripheral vision.

"So... Where do you want to go first? Should we visit the waterfall first? Or should we go to the river with the bridge built over it?" Izuku asked, trying to appeal to her interests more since he was more aware of her now.

"It depends."

"Depends? On what?"

"Depends on where you want to go!"

"Oh..." Izuku whispered. If she was giving him the right to choose, he wanted to go to the first place that jumped out to him. "Then can we go to the waterfall?"

"If that's what you want! But first..."

Izuku looked over at her, expecting the next words to spill out of her mouth to hold some importance. Something like a request to do something special. But what she said next wasn't what he was expecting at all.

"I'm asking you to call me big sister once again! That's all I ask! I miss you calling me that!"

Izuku grimaced, making Nejire stick her bottom lip out. "Shall we start our date, Nejire Hado?"

"Hey, hey! That's not what I asked!" Nejire cried out as she patted him on the shoulder multiple times.

Izuku laughed as he blocked her gentle smacks. This was already off to a great start.

Chapter Text

Izuku walked down the trail with Nejire as he watched her surveying the beauty nature provided for them. Just like a little kid finding out snow for the first time, Nejire had the same expression on her face.

They had gone to the top of the waterfall and back down already. The only thing he could see interesting about it was the way the water curved down and spiraled down crooked paths. Sometimes, it felt like he could play a game with it. Whenever an object floated down the route the water raced down, his eyes followed it until it dropped into a lake below.

The other thing that captured his attention was the moss waving under the shallow crevasses the water had dug out into the rocky cliff. It was a wonder how they had grown, but knowing how tenacious moss was, it made sense. Yet it was weird. Maybe he could search them up on the internet when he got home.

Still, it was a sight to behold. At least for the first part, until he realized it was just the same thing over and over. Not that he didn't like nature, but he'd instead do something a little more fun, a little more interactive. Was Nejire's enthusiastic personality influencing him?

Nejire turned around and frowned, slowing her pace down to match his. "Are you okay, Izuku? You're walking a bit slower. Should we rest or something?"

"No, it's fine! I was just thinking, that's all... But why would you think that?"

"Just my intuition! Besides, I'm a third-year, so my stamina is ridiculously high and I fear you first-years aren't as high stamina as me, but I guess you seem fine!" Nejire exclaimed, settling down to walk right next to him.

"I'm… I'm pretty capable!" Izuku said as he lifted his arms and flexed his biceps in exaggeration. She was pampering him, wasn't she?

"Oh, Izuku, I know!" Nejire laughed as he blankly stared at her. "I'm just teasing you!"

"Y-You know, I'm beginning to think the part where you said you were going to stop teasing me to death was a lie…" Izuku pointed out. Nejire said she would stop teasing him, right? Or did he hear wrong? Maybe communication wasn't the key here.

"Exactly! It's just fun to tease someone who is so susceptible to being flustered by everything I do, but maybe I ought to turn it down once in a while." Nejire pondered as she put her hand on her chin. "Still, no harm in having a bit of fun, right?"

"Until it goes too far…"

"But how could I not with you? You're so cute!" Nejire linked her arm with his and smiled. She raised her sun hat a little higher than it usually sat on her head to get a good look at him, but when he lowered his sun hat, she giggled.

"Er… Switching the topic here, but can we have something to eat? I'm getting hungry…"

"Aww, he's hungry~." Nejire teased, reaching out to touch his hat and reveal the blush sitting on his face.

"Eek, wait!" But of course, Izuku was too late.

"See, you're so cute! Don't you think so?"

"I guess so…" Izuku was in the spotlight one too many times, but he didn't dislike it.

Nejire giggled and pointed up ahead. "Once we reach that river or something, we can eat from our packed bento boxes!"

Nejire held onto his hand as they made their way to the river. The leaves from the trees floated down to the river as they touched the liquid and caused waves of vibrations to echo around themselves until they dispersed into the expanse of the water.

They stationed themselves underneath a tree with enough shade to protect them from the sun. Using the cloth that wrapped the bento boxes, Nejire spread it over the ground for them to sit on.

Izuku tugged at the loose corners of the cloth to straighten it out. When Nejire patted the spot next to her, Izuku slowly made his way to the available area. Upon sitting down, she handed him his portion and smiled.

"Eat well, brother!" Nejire exclaimed, a pretty smile on her face until realization hit her. "Oops, I meant to say Izuku!"

Chuckling at her correction, Izuku opened his share of food and admired the colorful array of food planted in each space that separated each one from another. It was cute, but it didn't feel like Nejire was the one who constructed the meals for their trip today. Or was it? He couldn't tell, but maybe asking her was the way to go.

"Did Yuyu make this?" Izuku asked, trying his best to look innocent just in case he hurt her feelings.

Nejire stopped chewing on her food and swallowed it down before puffing her cheeks out. "What? You thought I didn't make it? That's so mean of you! I'll have you know I made the whole thing with no one's help!"

Izuku laughed while he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, sorry! I was just wondering! But was that why you took so long?"

Nejire deflated and began mumbling the truth to him. "Well, Yuyu helped me make them cuter since she was more skilled in that area of expertise where she can carve some cute designs with a small knife, but don't get the wrong idea! I did most of the work like buying all the necessary ingredients and preparing them and generalizing what needed to go where! I just needed help from Yuyu since I couldn't do the small stuff I wanted to do because of my lack of skill and because I was doing too many tasks at once!"

Izuku looked up at the sky as he repeated the concluding part of her last sentence in confusion. "Performing too many tasks at one time? How does that happen?"

"Don't ask! Even though I enjoy cooking regularly, if I tackle too many assignments at once, I end up panicking! Just enjoy the food I prepared for us!"

Izuku laughed again, noticing the cooked salmon flaking away at a single swipe. She did a phenomenal job, even though Yuyu aided her in small ways. "I wouldn't worry too much, Nejire… It turned out great…" After a few seconds of silence, he looked over at her. "But I just want to know what mistakes you made that forced you to get Yuyu's help-"

Nejire cut him off by playfully smacking him on the shoulder while a small red blush appeared on her face. "I said don't ask!"

Nejire followed Izuku, who was deciphering the map's locations until they arrived at their destination; a lake with cherry blossom trees planted along the borders. From there, Nejire searched for a suitable spot they could look at the lake while he buried his head in the map, also looking for one.

The cherry blossom trees weren't supposed to be in season until next year during spring, but the park had planted ornamental ones to make up for the lack of color during autumn.

Nejire excitedly pointed at a spot they could sit down on, ruining Izuku's quest for the perfect area, where they could enjoy the view. The map wasn't accurate with the destinations since most of them led people to watchtowers they had to spend a few extra yen on to access. Izuku shrugged his shoulders and folded the map away into this pocket before joining Nejire down by the ledge.

He noted the beautiful gold, bronze, red, and orange leaves falling from the cherry trees, gently kissing the water with every gentle wind that passed by. It almost reminded him of the time when he would go out with his mom during the autumn season to view the scenery of leaves spiraling down from the sturdy branches. It was soothing to be nostalgic for the old days, but now he was spending it with someone very special.

Distracted from drawing in the stunning sights, Izuku didn't notice what Nejire was doing until something warm and soft radiated from his shoulder.

Peeking out from the corner of his eyes, he froze up once he realized she was leaning her head on him. It all seemed so natural for her from his point of view, but it was a nerve-wracking experience for him.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down while Nejire yawned. "I… I thought you had lots of stamina, Nejire."

"Of course I do! Don't doubt my amazing stockpile of stamina! Though... I can still get tired because I'm still human." Nejire responded with her pretty signature smile. "Unfortunately, I can't extend the pool of energy to last my whole life. But even on the downright horrible days, I can keep an upbeat attitude and utilize my quirk well! That's what makes a hero so great and dependable, right?"

Izuku stared at her and blinked twice in surprise. She was right. They were both training to be amazing heroes, and that was their primary goal. It's been a wild ride so far with all the mishaps he's gone through, but he realized just how little he knew about her or her ambitions. This was his chance to get an idea of who she was by asking her some questions.

"Hey, Nejire… What are your ideals of a great hero?" If he asked this question, was it possible to unlock a new perspective that revealed the thoughts of a different person on what a hero was supposed to be?

"Honestly, I don't know…" Nejire responded after entertaining the question for a few seconds in her mind. "It's a tough question that has a lot of angles on it, but I think the first and foremost ideal that comes to mind when I was a kid and typically idolized them was how fearless and dependable they were! Like when All Might always appeared on TV day after day, I always wondered how he always smiled despite the bad days he experienced!"

"True…" Izuku looked down at the bottom of the lake and noticed some fish hanging around the shore where some kids were throwing pieces of bread into the water.

"Then I placed myself in that situation and realized it was hard to adapt to. So I concluded that to be a great hero, you must be a sacrificial pawn, who offers your life up to save and keep the peace in society. People always sought the work of the hero because it's popular, but I think it is one of the most demanding jobs in the world since you have no clue if you could die any day of the week." Nejire laughed to break the tension. "But that's just me rambling my ideals and stuff like you wanted me to! I didn't mean to bring the mood down!"

"That's some next-level thinking…" Izuku muttered as his brain whirled around. His idol, All Might, risked his entire life to chase his goal and establish himself as the symbol of peace, so everyone could live a life in peace. And he succeeded.

"What about you, Izuku? Can I hear your thoughts on what your ideals are?"

"It's almost the same thing as you, except without all the thinking. I just wanted to be a hero like All Might, a symbol of peace and someone who could always smile despite the horrible circumstances that can tower above you. When I was younger, I would always watch a clip of All Might saving hundreds and saying everything's going to be fine because he's there. Just the mere presence of him was enough to instill a sense of security that everything was going to be okay, and that to me was so awesome!" Izuku rubbed the back of his head nervously as he realized the rampage of words he was going on. "So I want to be someone like him is all I'm saying. Does that feel childish?"

Izuku found Nejire staring at him with a twinkle in her eyes. It was obvious to tell that she was gushing at whatever he had just said.

"That sounds like something a younger brother would say! And that matches you!" Nejire giggled as she bumped her shoulder against his. "No wonder your hero costume has those cute bunny ears on top of your head!"

"Oh." Izuku started as his face suddenly turned into a deep shade of red. "Oh… Please ignore that part of my hero costume… It's embarrassing, but since everyone was so easy to bond with, I forgot about it…"

"How could I ever forget something so cute, like you or those bunny ears? Now I want to see you wearing it!"

"B-Back to the topic at hand!" Izuku said, trying his best to steer the conversation in a different direction that wouldn't constantly put him in the spotlight. "Actually, a new topic! What are you going to do when you graduate?"

"Ooh… Good question." Nejire said as she squinted off into the distance. "I have no clue! There's a strong chance I'll stay with Ryuko, but I feel like I learned a lot from her already and if I travel to a different hero agency to become a sidekick there, I could learn a lot more things, but I'll miss Ryuko!"

A drop of sweat trickled down his neck as he realized just how difficult of a question he had asked her. "Er… Forget I ever asked that question."

"No, there has to be an answer for this one! Believe me, I'll find the answer with your help!" Nejire exclaimed confidently while pointing a finger in his direction.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure you will-" Izuku trailed off as he shot her an expression of confusion. "Me? W-What did I do to deserve this?"

"By stating the question in the first place! Now help me devise a plan to think about my future!" Nejire tugged on his arm to beckon him for his help. "You still have at least two and a half years to understand my position and if you're still having trouble by then, I'll give you a hand!"

Izuku's eyes widened in shock as he stared at her. He felt like his brain was short-circuiting from the fact that she was willing to stick around him for years.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, but maybe this is what Izuku deserved for saying he didn't want to take a taxi service back home.

"Ahh! Nejire, please don't kill me! I still need to live until I see myself become a great hero!" Izuku yelled as they shot across the sky on their way back home.

"No worries, Izuku! I have us covered!" Nejire yelled back as they charged down to Izuku's dorm room, where Yuyu was.

Nejire had texted Yuyu earlier to make sure she was there to open the balcony door to Izuku's room. Being the amazing friend Yuyu was, she listened to Nejire's odd request and wiggled her way into the Class 1-A dorm, and asked for permission to unlock the door to Izuku's room with a screwdriver.

With that task accomplished, Yuyu proceeded to wait, though not for long as Nejire dove through the balcony door and crashed into Izuku's bed, causing the legs to snap with a tremendous crunch.

Nejire had her face down in Izuku's blanket while Izuku was sprawled out on the side of his room, eyes spinning in circles from the sudden stop in momentum. As for Yuyu, she was on edge from the sudden appearance of her best friend and Izuku dropping in with no prior warning.

Nejire lifted her head from his bed with a joyful smile planted on her face and laughed. "We made it back in record time compared to the taxi cab!"

"N-Nejire, why did you do that?" Yuyu said, her eyes suddenly flaring up in anger. She made her way over to where Izuku was to make sure he was okay. He seemed fine, but she had to know for certain.

Minus the repair costs going to the bed, everything was surprisingly fine. Thankfully, he would live to see another day.

Chapter Text

Izuku climbed into his repaired bed on a Saturday night, aiming for a healthy amount of 8 hours before the sun rose, preventing him from accruing any more rest. Maybe he should've gotten blackout curtains to ensure his sleep goes uninterrupted, but in the rare case his alarm doesn't wake him up, he wasn't going to risk it.

Izuku didn't know when it happened, but several gentle knocks on his window woke him up from his sleep. He sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes as he pulled back the curtain to find Nejire floating outside his window.

With wide eyes, he looked around his room for no reason, partly because he was still paranoid that someone from his class would catch him hanging out with her in the middle of the night, but there was no one. Of course, there would be no one in his room. Still, if they caught him with Nejire in the middle of the night, it would seem pretty suspicious.

Izuku opened the sliding door connected to his balcony and flashed her a nervous smile while glancing over at the time on his All Might-themed alarm clock. "Uh... What are you doing here, Nejire? It's about one o'clock in the night..."

"Izuku, I have something super cool to show you, so follow me! I know it's late at night, but I'll somehow make it up to you!" Nejire sounded excited. Besides, Izuku couldn't deny that he was interested in what Nejire wanted to show him, even though it was late at night.

"I'm not sure anything could make up for my sleep..." Izuku muttered as he rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned. He thought about changing his clothes but finalized his decision to not keep Nejire waiting.

"How about I sleep with you tonight?" Nejire offered, not a single thought behind the question. Just her seemingly pure innocence.

"S-Sleep with me tonight?" Izuku asked, caught off guard.

"Oi, not that type of sleep together," Nejire said as she eyed him with a twinkle of mirth shining in her eyes. "I'm talking about just sleeping in the same bed together, not the other type!"

"R-Right, of course!" Izuku exclaimed as a big drop of sweat rolled down his neck and his back. Of course, he would misinterpret everything when Nejire was next to him. Still, how was he supposed to construe the true meaning behind her words when there were multiple explanations for her offer? "But please, don't phrase something like that in the first place!"

"How else would I capture your attention?"

"What?! There are so many other ways to do that!"

"Nah, we call this special technique the N.A.G. method! The Nejire Attention Grabber!" Nejire chirped triumphantly.

"What a ridiculous name for such a nasty technique!"

"It worked though, didn't it? It worked when I kept nagging you about me being your older sister!" Nejire pointed out with a laugh.

"Ugh... I have no objections." Izuku replied as he laughed along with her.

Izuku didn't know why Nejire needed to carry him in an embarrassing position, but being carried bridal style was something he should've expected. It was an easy position for her to carry him in, just like the time they came back from the date at the park.

Luckily, the view as they flew over the city was incredible. The city lights illuminated the dark atmosphere in the sky. The bright specks down below would travel and flicker from the cars and traffic lights, changing constantly with every second that passed by.

Izuku absorbed every detail he could get until his eyes hurt. There was probably a big reason light pollution was considered a bit of a problem, especially nowadays with heroes who took to the sky to catch criminals or villains roaming the street during the night. But where there was a problem, there was also a solution to it, like using goggles or shades to block the harsh light from entering their retinas.

It reminded him of a certain someone who was currently carrying him. Nejire Hado was a flying hero, but knowing her, she would most likely operate during the days.

Speaking of Nejire, Izuku wondered what she was going to do in the future. Was there a possibility that he could be a part of her future when she graduated from U.A. high school?

He wanted it, but did she? Nejire had a close relationship with him, but that was mainly attributed to his blunder when he called her big sister by accident. They were close enough to be called friends, but was it greedy to want something a little more than that? To see something beautiful bloom between the two of them?

Now that he was next to her and neither of them was speaking, his mind rushed around with questions slapping him across the face every other second. Izuku never thought he would be serious with this, but here he was, thinking about things that shouldn't be concerning at the moment since he still had the League of Villains to worry about and mastering One For All.

There was so much to do, but little to no time to accomplish them while dealing with the mess that Nejire had left for him to face, but he was somewhat immune to it by now. And he didn't mind it too much anymore since he's been avoiding them. But giving it a thought, there was a chance he could ask her to train with him.

Or something along the lines of that. He never fought someone of her caliber, so maybe there was something to learn from her. Or he could just invite her to Gym Gamma with Bakugo to train while she does whatever after he gets permission from Aizawa.

Nejire led him to the edge of a tall building and helped him sit down on the ledge while she sat beside him by snuggling up close to his body.

Izuku's body went stiff as he continued to keep his eyes focused on the city. It was quite a beautiful sight to see something he's seen every day on the ground in the sunlight transform into a different scene during the nighttime. And this was from the view of a bird, so it was a perspective he never considered.

He glanced over at Nejire and quietly mustered up the courage to ask her a question that was important to him.

"Uh... Nejire, do you want to date?" Izuku asked. He wasn't sure how to articulate his feelings well towards Nejire, the person he loved, but maybe telling it to her straight was the best idea.

He had little clue about romance, but there was a general idea from watching other couples around him as he performed hero work and some at school. How did relationships come to be? There must have been a mutual agreement between the couples he saw, and if he was a man as Kirishima truly said he was a while back, then he was going to be the first one to start it.

"That was a long time coming!" Nejire exclaimed a few seconds later, popping his thought bubble. She looked down from the building they were on and slowly leaned her head against his shoulder and let out a content sigh. "Honestly, I wasn't sure you were going to ask me and I was going to have to ask first, but imagine my surprise right now! And I accept, but with a condition that I can call you brother once in a while!"

"Then no," Izuku stated right away without a second thought.

"I'm just joking!" Nejire laughed at his quick response, but let the silence return to their conversation.

"But why are you glad? Like any reason?" Maybe he should have seen her reason from a mile away, but his racing heart was beating so quickly that he couldn't concentrate.

"Come on, Izuku! Don't let me spell it out for you, though I wouldn't mind." Nejire looked into his eyes and then back down to the lights sparkling down below. "Well, for one reason, you're cute! Second, your reactions are top-notch, but I guess those are just superficial reasons. Honestly, I'm not sure what made me attracted to you, but there's just something about hanging out with you that makes me feel like myself. Usually, people see me as this perfect person, but their perception of me is just wrong! I'm a human just like them and I don't like how I have to follow their standards! You know what I mean?"

"And I'm one of them that doesn't make you feel like that?"

Izuku didn't expect to be a person Nejire relied on to feel normal again. Still, he couldn't blame her. It was hard being the center of attention all the time. He felt it multiple times when his skill of being a selfless hero shone through, but he couldn't imagine the pressure on Nejire when it was like that for her every day.

"Yes! Yuyu, Mirio, and Tamaki are exactly like that too! But there were a few people I noticed from your class that had already judged me in their mind, but what were their names?" Nejire scrunched her face as she went into deep thought.

Izuku looked up at the sky and scrutinized every person in his class; only two names came up out of all 20. "Kaminari and Mineta?"

"What do they look like?"

"One of them is an electric wizard, and the other is a hanging vine of grapes." If they had heard Izuku define them in such a way to Nejire, they would have buried him in insults. Luckily, he could get away with it because of their absence.

"Yeah, those two!" Nejire said before a perplexed expression crossed her face. "Wait... Is Kaminari actually an electric wizard?"

"No, but I felt like that described him pretty well," Izuku answered, a smile planted on his face.

"That's a great way to describe him!" Nejire pointed out with a laugh. "Anyway, we should go back to our dorm rooms to get some sleep. I know we don't have school tomorrow, so what do you say we go out on another fun trip?"

"I might have to spend the rest of the day tomorrow fighting all my classmates and tell them I'm dating you when you come over, so we'll see what happens... Do you want to help me fight them tomorrow instead?"

Nejire giggled as she sat up to look at him. "It's a deal! And afterward, we can visit a sandwich shop with Yuyu! Or we can go there all by ourselves because I want you all for myself." She said slyly.

Izuku felt the temperature in his face rise as he rubbed the back of his head. "I choose the latter."

"Yay, sandwich shop! Here we come after beating up some of Izuku's friends!"

"Wait, we're not trying to beat them up or anything!"

"Don't worry, Izuku! I can beat up anyone who bullies you!" Nejire threw out a few punches mixed with her quirk out into the sky in a demonstration of her abilities. The yellow spirals fizzled out after they traveled a few meters.

"I-I didn't mean to literally fight them!" Izuku repeated himself, hoping to get his message across to her.

"Oh, then I'll mentally beat them by insulting them!"

Izuku dragged his hand down his face. She was doing this on purpose, but he didn't think he wanted it any other way. Hanging out with an oddly optimistic person was nice.

Chapter Text

Nejire flew around Gym Gamma as she used her quirk to propel in a random direction, while Izuku freaked out momentarily as Bakugo whooshed around and released an enormous explosion his way. Then several concentrated blasts that resulted in his special move being named as he glared at Izuku.

"AP Shot: Auto Cannon!" From the palm of Bakugo's hand, a flurry of weak shots scattered throughout the area.

"Ah! Kacchan, calm down!" Izuku sprinted around the area until he hid behind his girlfriend, causing Bakugo to stop shooting and click his tongue in annoyance.

"You know, Izuku! When you said we were fighting your classmates, you said it was going to be a mental battle until their morales shot down, but to think we're actually fighting one of them!" Nejire mentioned as she waved her hand at Bakugo, who crossed his arms and frowned.

Izuku nervously chuckled as he looked down at the ground. He never said they were going to fight any of his classmates, but it seemed like she still believed they were, which made it hilarious since they were technically performing that very action right now by training with Bakugo, but she was misunderstanding his intent!

They were supposed to go to the sandwich shop with Yuyu, but she said she was busy and locked the door to her dorm room, which was a little odd, but they left her to her own devices. And while Nejire was attempting to break into Yuyu's dorm room because she couldn't accept such an outcome, Izuku asked Bakugo if he wanted to train with him.

His invitation was accepted, albeit with a grumpy answer. And that was when things went a little out of hand. His classmates swarmed him for an update on Nejire. It was unavoidable with the way they bombarded him with a tornado of questions, but thankfully, Bakugo gave him a hand by releasing explosions in front of their faces, causing Izuku to freak out from his rash behavior.

But now that they were training in Gym Gamma and something didn't feel right. Bakugo seemed to release all his anger onto him as if he did something wrong. Maybe his presence was ticking Bakugo off or something.

"No need to try and kill me, Kacchan!" Izuku exclaimed as he angled himself away from Bakugo, walking around them. It was like Bakugo was a shark hunting its prey.

First, he almost died from Nejire crash landing on his bed and now Bakugo was out for his blood. His chances of becoming a great hero in the future seemed to be slim. If he wanted to make it to his third year in U.A. high school, he was going to have to make a magnificent effort to keep his head low, but with how much attention he was attracting these days, his chances were looking grim.

"Shut up, Deku! I want to know how you did it!" Bakugo shouted from across the gym as he pointed his hand at Izuku with fire dancing menacingly in his eyes.

"Did what? Why are you asking such mysterious questions when we were supposed to train?!" Izuku asked as he fled the area just as Bakugo zipped past Nejire, who closed her eyes from the wind whooshing past her face.

"How did you get a girlfriend before me!?" Bakugo asked, his expression threatening to detonate the building. "I didn't even think a nerd like you was capable of that!"

Nejire pouted as she floated around in the air. "Hey, hey! Don't call my boyfriend a nerd! He's kind and cute!"

Bakugo glared at Nejire but said nothing. Instead, the crackles in the palm of his hand did the talking for him. At least until it fizzled out as his shoulders drooped down. "Damn... This nerd is better than I thought..." He muttered under his breath.

Izuku stared at Bakugo with wide eyes. "D-Did I hear that right?"

"Shut up!" Bakugo yelled as he unleashed an explosion that tore through the gym, blasting a hole in the side of the gym.

Izuku gaped at the destruction Bakugo had left in his wake. It was quite scary to think how little time Bakugo needed to charge up some of his massive explosions, but it was also done in the vicinity of his girlfriend, which wasn't a problem since she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but something told him a remark from her was coming.

"Uh oh, looks like little Katsuki has anger issues~!" Nejire began as Bakugo turned his head around to deadpan at her. "Maybe you need an older sibling in your life! Do you want me to assume the role of your older sister just like I did for Izuku?"

"I'm going to ignore that question, but if I were in your position, I would have blown Izuku up if he called me an older brother or something," Bakugo commented grumpily as he sat down in the middle of the gym with wrath overflowing from his body.

With the ways his eyes were darting around, it was obvious to pinpoint the adrenaline and fear coursing through his veins. He was probably thinking that it wasn't a good look to be wreaking havoc so soon when the house arrest wasn't even that long ago.

Which was exactly what Izuku was thinking. They were known for stirring up the pot of trouble, so there was a good chance Izuku was also going to be dragged into the mess for coercing a reaction out of Bakugo when that wasn't the case!

Luckily, most of the problems could most likely be solved through the ingenious quirk that Cementoss possessed. At least, that was the plan Izuku was formulating inside of his head. With his fingers crossed, Izuku prayed Cementoss wouldn't report the damage done to Gym Gamma over to Aizawa because that would spell disaster for the both of them in no time.

"You know, that's funny! I didn't know you had a humorous side to you since I've always seen you go rawr and blow everything up! It was pretty messed up when they put a muzzle over you and chained you to a block of cement at the end of the Sports Festival!"

Bakugo's expression lit up with interest for a second before he looked up at her, smiling down at him. He frowned but decided to see what Nejire was all about. "It was repulsively informal! I didn't deserve that, nor did I deserve first place with that unsatisfying end when that half-and-half bastard forfeited the match! I threw that medal away after I got back home because of how disgusted it made me feel!"

"What?! You did? You should have given it to me, Kacchan! It's a collector's item! They change it every year to keep it interesting!" Izuku cut in, only to be told off by Bakugo.

"Shut up, Deku! You weren't invited to this conversation!"

"I'll invite him! Come on in~!" Nejire sang as she waved Izuku over to where she was standing.

Bakugo crossed his arms and muttered something incomprehensible under his breath while glaring at Izuku as he made his way over to Nejire, who extended an arm out to pull Izuku closer to her. He blushed from the sudden contact but smiled through the embarrassment.

"Look at how cute he is! Right, Katsuki?"

"No."

Nejire blinked twice as she looked at Izuku, then back at Bakugo. "I beg to differ."

"What she said-" Izuku started, but was cut off by Bakugo.

"Shut up, Deku!"

He was treating him with contempt and talking normally to Nejire! In what universe did this situation exist?

Several minutes later, it all boiled down to square one, where Bakugo chased Izuku around Gym Gamma as he used One For All to avoid everything. All the training that Izuku was going to earn was transforming into the skill of elusiveness, rather than honing the precision of controlling All For One, which he arguably needed.

After their training session, Cementoss would come over to check up on them, and much to his surprise, he would find the beloved gym he had built destroyed from the ground up. Gym Gamma simply didn't exist anymore until the heartbroken teacher built it from the ground up again as Gym Gamma 2.0.

Izuku followed Nejire and Yuyu to the sandwich shop they were supposed to meet up for lunch at dinner time. Yuyu had been researching something for the past few hours, but she wouldn't let them in on whatever she was planning, telling them it was a secret that she wanted to share while they ate.

And so, after they ordered their food, they sat down at a table while fending off some enthusiastic fans, which wasn't too much of a problem since they were satisfied after a few photographs and autographs. Once the commotion died down, they continued their conversation.

"So Yuyu, what's the exciting plan you wanted to share with us all?" Nejire asked as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Before summer truly ends this year, I was thinking of going to the beach. I know it's already September, but the temperature still gets hot every once in a while. And I want to enjoy my last year here before we graduate in the spring, so what better way to do it than celebrate early on a trip to the ocean? We can have a barbeque there and enjoy some tropical drinks that aren't filled with alcohol since we're not of age yet." Yuyu listed off as she went through several more ideas that appealed to Izuku.

He wouldn't mind going to the beach with Nejire and Yuyu. It sounded like fun with the way Yuyu excitedly explained her plans to them in full description, causing Izuku to feel an identical sentiment. And it seemed like Nejire shared the same notion as her eyes twinkled with joy.

"We have to bring Mirio and Tamaki since they were with us from the beginning! We can also build sandcastles with buckets, play beach volleyball, and bury someone in the sand! How fun would that be?" Nejire gushed, matching Yuyu's enthusiasm beat for beat. Then she wrapped an arm around Izuku as he was taking a bite of his meal, causing him to look at her with wide eyes. "And of course, Izuku will come with us!"

"That's a given." Yuyu agreed, smiling at Izuku. "It would be a little lonely without the little brother of the third-year group around us for the celebration."

Nejire gasped as she pointed frantically at Yuyu. "You said it! You said the thing!"

"C-Calm down, Nejire! It was just a metaphor because he always hangs around us now as if he was a younger brother!"

"You don't have to feel so shameful, calling Izuku your younger brother! Come on, let it flow free!"

"I'm about to flow freely away from this conversation."

Izuku watched them both with interest as they bickered around. Somehow, it was more entertaining to watch than some of the daring hero rescue videos he watched in the past. Maybe because it was occurring in real time, but he quietly stared at them as he took another bite of his sandwich and a sip of his raspberry fruit juice.

"Hey, is it okay if I invite some more people on the trip to the beach, Yuyu?"

"What?" Yuyu asked, suddenly perplexed by the change in topic. "What's with this sudden question when we were talking about Izuku being a younger brother to us both?"

Izuku accidentally took a noisy sip, grabbing the attention of both of them as they stared at him. Nejire reached over and hugged him as she laughed. Izuku yelped as he tried to free himself from her grip. But as always, it was futile.

As long as the trip to the beach happened sooner than later, he was fine. If only he knew what Nejire would surprise him with when they arrived at the scene on the beach.

Chapter Text

This was not what Izuku expected on the day they visited the beach. It was a feeling mixed with dread and excitement, but more dread than anything else because his classmates were all there at the beach when they pulled up to the sandy shoreline that met the endless waves of blue water.

"N-No, Nejire! What is this? When you said you were going to invite some more people, was this it?" Izuku's heart began to beat faster and faster as all the unfortunate situations flashed through his mind in an instant. "You know, maybe we could turn the car back around and go home."

Yuyu was busy driving the car, so she said nothing, but with the way her eyes rolled, it was obvious to tell what she was thinking. Nejire had gone and done something unnecessary.

"Izuku, today is going to be a great day! We can't turn back now!" Nejire explained as a smile crossed her face. "Besides, I'll be the one to protect you from any harm today from your classmates! As your older sister metaphorically, I shall grant your classmates no passage to you!"

Izuku leaned against the window in defeat but found some relief in his somewhat horrible situation. He's been avoiding his classmates for a while, but deep in his mind, he knew he had to eventually meet them someday to explain everything. This was just crossing the bridge earlier than he expected, so nothing too significant.

And maybe if he got it out of the way early, there was a bright future ahead of him where he could spend more time with Nejire and enjoy it without checking his surroundings every three seconds for his classmate's presence. That would be the dream for him, but with the way adrenaline rushed around his body, he doubt it would be easy.

Still, slow and steady did it.

As they slowed down and entered a parking spot, Izuku stepped out of the car and helped Yuyu and Nejire carry their belongings to the beach like an umbrella, a water cooler filled with water bottles, plastic buckets to build sand castles, and a volleyball.

Nejire walked close to him as they made their way to a section where Class 1-A and the rest of the Big Three took over. When he took his first step into the sandy terrain of the beach, he could feel the grainy, yet smooth texture of the sand running through the spaces of his toes.

The smell he associated with the beach wafted through the air. It was salty enough that he could stick his tongue out and taste it. It's been a while since he visited the beach, but it felt nice to experience the familiar feeling.

His friends had already set up chairs, a grill, towels on the sand, umbrellas, and other equipment fit for the beach. They were already running around and swimming in the ocean while some of them stayed behind to take care of the food preparation like Bakugo, who growled at anyone failing to meet his high expectations.

Momo stayed with him as she checked the slivers of meat, cooking off on the metal grate while Bakugo threw some vegetables in a small corner of the grill on top of a sheet of aluminum foil with some intense force.

As seagulls swooped down in their direction, Mineta and Kaminari jumped up and down frantically to ward them away from their food for the day while Koda laughed a little at their antics until he commanded the birds to stay away from their spot.

Izuku's stomach flipped around as he neared the party. It was his friends. What was the worst that could go wrong? He had Nejire with him, and she could disprove everything for him.

"Hey, hey! We made it, though we were a little late from the traffic!" Nejire announced as they met up with the rest of the Big Three and some members of Class 1-A. "Hello, everyone! Or at least the ones who are present!"

They greeted her back and welcomed Izuku and Yuyu to the beach party. Within a few minutes, they had all separated to tend to their own entertainment, except for the ones who immediately inquired Izuku about Nejire's situation.

"Come on, Midoriya! Spill the beans! We haven't seen each other in so long, outside of the classroom, and I want to know what's happening with Nejire and you! You always be running away, so maybe I should melt the door to your room next time!" Mina cried out as she wiggled around with anticipation. "I need to know everything about the situation with your sister or whatever she is to you right this instant!"

"N-Nothing is happening!" Izuku protested as he realized more people were gathering around where he was. Mostly the people that were curious about Nejire being his sister, which was mostly everyone from Class 1-A, except for a select few and the Big Three. It was horrifying to see they were still this interested in his circumstance, even though he had been doing his best to avoid them. "Uh... Hi?"

Kaminari and Mineta shoved their faces right into his and barraged him with questions while the others also joined in, albeit with less commotion than the former two.

It wasn't until Iida smacked them both gently on the head and berated them for their actions did they stop. The rest followed suit as they stared at Iida with anticipation.

Iida gave Izuku a warm smile as he adjusted the straw hat on his head. "While we would love to hear everything about your sister, we will respect your personal space! We talked about it with each other and we didn't want to bother you too much with it, but it seems like the saying is true. Curiosity killed the cat, so forgive us for prying into your private life!"

"I'm not!" Mineta shouted as he pointed a finger at Izuku accusingly. "He has such a beautiful sister!"

Izuku reeled back in disgust as Mineta's smile contained hints of creepiness. He was a first-class pervert and no one could beat him in that aspect. If there was anyone who could surpass him, there was a higher probability to get struck by lightning. "But she's not my sister..."

"But he's my brother!" Nejire chirped as she swooped down from the sky and landed right next to Izuku. She gently leaned against his shoulder and let out a giggle as she surveyed all their expressions. Izuku's reaction was the funniest one out of them all with the way the color drained from his face and his mouth hung wide. "Metaphorically, that is, not literally!"

"Ahh, Nejire! You're supposed to say the opposite, not confirm their suspicions!" Izuku cried out.

"Oh, right!" Nejire used one arm to pull Izuku closer to her and pointed at him with her free hand. "Class 1-A, Izuku is not my brother! You heard it here first, so now the misunderstandings can stop! Let the weird, rampant ideas come to a screeching halt immediately! Okay, bye! I want to touch the waves!"

Nejire disappeared as quickly as she arrived, leaving all of them confused at her demeanor, though it was short-lived as they all began shouting at Izuku like news reporters who wanted to get an important scoop for their headlines.

"O-One at a time, please!" Izuku exclaimed as he ran away from them without using his quirk. If he ended up injuring one of them, he would feel at fault.

Somehow, it worked as they all stopped chasing him down and all looked at him with expectation. "Uh… Someone can speak now." Izuku mentioned as he looked around at them.

"You know, I feel like I heard you already claim Nejire wasn't your sister a while ago. Aw man, now I feel bad for thinking she was your sister... Accept my humble, yet manly apology because it takes a real man to say they're wrong!" Kirishima said, speaking for the rest of the class as they collectively nodded their heads.

"I can't believe it was all a misunderstanding from the beginning!" Mineta shouted as he dragged his hands down his face in disbelief. But within a second, he whipped his head around to stare at Izuku with a mischievous smile. "But could you still put in a good word for me to her? I would love to get to know her personally."

"I think we heard enough out of you, Mineta! We don't tolerate such behavior here! And as the class president, it's my duty to put a stop to your misconduct!" Tenya smacked Mineta on the top of the head again.

Izuku laughed nervously as the rest of them said they were sorry. He would be lying if he said it was fine, but in reality, there was some relief to know that all the misunderstandings could finally end. "It's not a big deal... I can see why you guys thought we were siblings, but Nejire isn't my sister. I can probably provide some evidence that we aren't related, but don't blame me if I can't find any."

Jiro put a hand on her chin as she referred to a memory from some time ago. "I have a feeling that Iida made it worse when we confronted him about Nejire being his sister that one time… Though, it sounds like Mineta did the most damage when he spread the rumors initially."

"I remember that…" Shoto murmured as the conversation from the first time he talked to Izuku about Nejire being his sister popped into his head. "So we really should have taken Midoriya's words at face value."

Izuku nodded his head rapidly, hoping to get his point across to them as efficiently as possible. He wanted to meet up with Nejire again to spend some more time with her and enjoy his time at the beach with no worries.

"But what happens if it turns out you guys are actually long-lost siblings?" Sero suddenly brought up, causing Izuku to deadpan at him. "What? I saw some stories where two long-lost siblings find each other through miraculous means! Maybe a blood or DNA test could prove you're not siblings!"

Shoto stared up at the sky in deep thought with a goofy expression as his face went through an emotional roller coaster. "I can see that happening..."

"N-No, guys! We're not going to create a new misunderstanding! Don't let your minds run wild with these new crazy assumptions!" Izuku had thought wrong. Their belief was still stuck in the portrayal that Nejire was still his sister! "Ah, Nejire, help me!"

Nejire perked up as she heard her boyfriend calling out to her. She flew over to where he was and settled right beside him with a grin on her face. "Here to save the day! What did you need, Izuku?" Nejire asked, pumping her fist up into the air.

"Can I cash out on the coupon for beating them up now, or is it too late?"

It didn't last as long as Izuku thought it would, which ended up being a good thing as he enjoyed his time at the beach with his classmates from then on. The misunderstanding cleared up by the time Nejire used her legendary communication skills to dispel any remaining rumors. The part about her communication skills was a lie, but they cleared up the misunderstandings fairly quickly.

Currently, he was playing volleyball with some of his classmates. Nejire was on his team, along with Bakugo and Yuyu.

Nejire dove toward the ball as Kaminari sent it over the net from the opposite side. She got it up into the air and used her quirk to stop herself from sliding harshly on the sand. "Somebody get it!"

Bakugo positioned himself under the ball with his hands raised in the air. A few seconds later, the ball followed the rule of gravity and fell to the ground where he stood. "Deku, kill them!" He shouted as he sent the volleyball his way.

Izuku jolted in surprise for a second, causing a delay in his jump. "What?!" He cried out.

Izuku still managed to hit the ball, but only on the edge of it. It bounced against his fingers and crossed the net to the other side. For a second, it looked like it wouldn't make it, but the angle proved them wrong as it landed on the edge of the line they had drawn on the sand.

Iida raised his hand in the air and pointed at Izuku's team with a whistle in his mouth. The shrill shriek made its way to their ears as he deemed them worthy of a point. "A point for Midoriya's team! Wonderful job!"

"This is so rigged! How come Midoriya and Bakugo are on one team? And he even has his girlfriend over there along with her friend!" Kaminari raged as he flicked bits of sand at Iida, who waved his arms around in panic and then pointed at him incessantly while activating the whistle countless times to signal a foul.

"Not true because you guys have an athletic Todoroki, Momo, and Kirishima! You have equal amounts of firepower compared to this team!"

"Blah..." Kaminari mumbled as he walked away from Iida, realizing Iida was correct in his statement.

Iida raised his hands in the air and blew his whistle to get everyone's attention. "Remember, keep this game fair and square! No use of quirks to aid with spiking unless it can save you from face-planting in the sand! Now let the game begin!" Iida yelled as he sat back down on a camping chair before he took a sip from his drink stationed in the cup holder.

Izuku walked past the line and caught the ball as Bakugo chucked it in his direction. "K-Kacchan, calm down! We're supposed to be on a team together!"

Bakugo glared at him with a venomous expression. "Next time you chicken out like that, I'll bury your head in the sand, Deku. Now, give us a good serve."

Izuku didn't know what came over him, but he decided to poke fun at him by mumbling something under his breath. "You're scary when you're nice."

Bakugo perked up immediately as he whipped his head around to stare daggers at him. "Hah?!"

"Nothing, sorry!" Izuku waited for the whistle to blow from Iida to toss the ball up in the air and give it a good smack, sending it flying to the other side.

Todoroki saved the ball from landing in their zone by using his arms to deflect it up into the air. Momo set it up for Kaminari, who tried to spike it but ended up getting blocked by Nejire, who laughed triumphantly with her arms still raised in celebration.

Nejire turned around to look at Izuku and smiled. "Did you see that, Izuku? I beat the electric wizard!"

"First target down! Now we just have to beat the cluster of grapes known as Mineta!" Izuku joked along with her.

Nejire's eyes lit up as she stared at Izuku, then her eyes twinkled with a dangerous, mischievous vibe as she turned around to look at Mineta, who was building a sandcastle with Tokoyami. "Absolutely! Just you wait, Mineta! We're going to teach you a lesson that'll stick with you for life!

Mineta didn't know whether to feel honored or horrified. He pointed at himself as a wide grin grew on his face. "Teach me a lesson? I'll gladly accept!"

There was probably a lesson to learn from the past sins he had committed, but today wouldn't be the day. Luckily, he still had time to change his ways.

Chapter Text

As the sun moved through the sky, Izuku enjoyed the festivities his friends had planned for the day. He spent some time building sandcastles with the buckets Yuyu and Nejire had brought for their trip until the waves swallowed the grandiose structure of unstable sand into the floor of the ocean.

Sero used his quirk to tape the sandcastle back together, but the tape deflated with the sandcastle, leading them to mingle with each other in a sad pile of sadness. The waves of the ocean laughed at them as another crest crashed upon the shore where the remainder of the sandcastle finally washed away.

Sero picked the tape up and rolled it into a ball before he threw it inland where Ojiro was. "Well, there goes the sandcastle we were working hard on. Maybe we could create a moat around the castle to protect it while I tape it up to keep it stable."

Ojiro frowned as he found the white ball of tape next to him on the towel he was sunbathing on. He picked it up with his hand and raised an eyebrow at Sero, who flashed him a bashful smile. Sero clapped his hands together, signifying a plea to Ojiro to trash the ball of tape for him. Ojiro nodded his head and laid back down to throw it away later.

"You know, I think the tape is the least of our problems..." Izuku mentioned as the cogs in his brain turned. "We could probably build the castle further away from the rising tide of the ocean and make a moat as you said, but add several more moats around it to truly counter the waves unless we dig the first one deep enough."

"Good idea! I should bounce more ideas off you to understand what goes on in that brain of yours, so I can become as smart as you!" Sero grabbed the buckets and ran a few meters up the beach while Kirishima and Izuku chased after him along with Aoyama, though he took his time.

When Kirishima made it to the area where Sero was, he held up his finger as if he had been struck with a great idea. "Maybe we could dig a vast pit in front of the castle we build in the shallow part of the ocean for the water to gather! Then move the sand we dug up to make a shield around the castle!"

"T-That sounds like a bad idea!" Izuku exclaimed, unsure how to convince Kirishima otherwise. "I'm not sure we should cause a big scene just for a sandcastle when we're going to leave it alone by the end of the day!"

Kirishima smiled, flashing his pointy teeth in Izuku's direction. "Exactly! Once we leave, we have to wait until springtime to come back to the beach since it's still early September! We must live before we run out of pleasant weather to play around in! So, off to the excavation project!" He yelled as he ran off to the beach with one of their buckets.

Izuku was about to prevent him when he heard Yuyu calling his name. "Ah, yes? Did you need something from me?"

Yuyu waved a credit card in the air as the sunlight glinted off the surface. "Why the formal tone? I'm sure we're close enough to be best friends at this point. Anyway, since we won the little volleyball match, Nejire and I were thinking of treating our team to some drinks at the beach bar, provided they're not alcoholic."

Izuku found himself looking for Nejire the moment he heard her name. It's been a little while since he saw her, but that was because he was spending time with his classmates after avoiding them for so long. He didn't think he would miss their company to this extent, but it seemed like Nejire understood because shortly after the volleyball match, she disappeared to spend her time with Yuyu.

"Er, I was thinking of..." Izuku trailed off as he looked behind himself to see Sero shooting him a thumbs-up and a wide grin.

"No worries here! We're going to prevent Kirishima from digging straight down to the middle of the Earth!"

Izuku watched Sero and Aoyama chase Kirishima with buckets of their own. He couldn't tell if they were being serious or anything, but his only hope of them being safe was now in responsible Iida's hands. "I'll take you up on that offer," Izuku said as he turned around to face Yuyu.

"Sweet! Follow me." Yuyu flipped the credit card that was between her fingers into the palm of her hand. "Also, I was lying about the part where I was treating you guys; it's all Nejire because this is her credit card. It's so you can have some revenge on her for bringing all your friends to the beach without telling you."

Yuyu's laughter drew out some chuckles from Izuku, though it was short-lived when he discovered it truly was her credit card when Yuyu handed it to him. Nejire's name was written on the back of the credit card in plain silver letters.

"M-Maybe I could pay the expenses of my girlfriend in place of our orders?" Izuku suggested.

Standing still in her tracks, Yuyu studied him for a few seconds before words came tumbling out of her mouth. "You're such a nice little brother. Metaphorically, of course." Yuyu added as she reached out to pat him on the head.

"Uh... Thank you?"

"Don't mention it," Yuyu responded with a smile. "Anyway, she can afford a few drinks here and there. Her hero work studies pay her generously, especially since her skill level towers above others. Speaking of which, I should probably get around to lecturing her about the way she spends her money. She needs to learn to restrict herself, but that's out of my reach with all the impulse purchases she's been doing lately."

"Hmmm… I haven't seen her buy much when I spend time with her." Izuku tried to dig through his memories to see if there were any instances of her spending like a cash machine, but he came up empty. The purchases she did for him seemed normal enough.

"Well, it happens more when we go shopping together."

"I should have seen that coming," Izuku said, a chuckle escaping his lips.

As they made their way over to the beach bar, Izuku noticed two people were already there. One was his girlfriend and Bakugo, who wanted him to kill his classmates to score a point for their team. Or did he mean the ball? However, he used a plural version of something singular, so interpretation was up in the air for what he truly meant.

Nejire was busy talking Bakugo's ear off as she cheerfully engaged with him in a conversation while the bartender cautiously stared at them. It wasn't until Yuyu approached the area and told the bartender they were underage and only wanted to order juices did the bartender's expression soften.

"Izuku, you made it! I've been waiting for you, and so was Bakugo!" Nejire exclaimed as Bakugo clicked his tongue in annoyance, his arms crossing over his chest in disapproval.

"Were you really?" Izuku asked, a smile growing on his face while Bakugo stared up at him with a disgusted look. "I'm glad."

"Of course! You're my one and only!" Nejire stood up and opened her arms up to signify to Izuku that she wanted a hug.

Izuku reluctantly opened his arms to give her what she wanted. It was embarrassing when Bakugo had his eyes glued to him like an owl, calculating its prey from an undetectable distance. He was fine with Yuyu's presence, but performing a flirtatious action in public just wasn't his style. But how could he say no to his girlfriend?

Just as Izuku leaned in, Nejire's patience ran out, so she closed the distance quickly by giving him a tight embrace. He squeaked in shock while a rosy blush colored his face. "N-Nejire, that surprised me!"

"You were taking too long," Nejire responded with a laugh. "Besides, it's been a while since I spent some quality time with you!"

"Weren't we watching a movie together yesterday?"

"Yesterday isn't today. Today is today, and I'm not satisfied with the time I spent with you today, despite how fun the trip has been so far!"

"Fair enough." Izuku agreed as he flashed a nervous smile towards Bakugo, who crossed his arms over his chest with a venomous glare.

"It was getting good until Deku had to show up and ruin everything. First, he interrupted the fun with his presence. Then he fumbled the incredible volleyball set I introduced for him." Bakugo mentioned, stepping into the conversation with his signature brash tone and snarky remarks.

A drop of sweat rolled down Izuku's head with an odd swiftness to it as if it sensed Bakugo's anger increasing. "I don't think that's very fair, Kacchan! We still won the volleyball game by a small margin!"

"Thanks to me."

"Y-You can't attribute all our points to yourself!"

"But I just did."

Nejire laughed at their bickering while Yuyu ordered her drink and asked for a tab just in case they ordered multiple drinks. Yuyu glanced nervously at Bakugo as he heated up and threatened to blow Izuku up if he didn't shut his mouth. Nejire took notice of this when Yuyu gently tapped her on the shoulder with a panicked expression.

Nejire gave her a thumbs-up and stepped in between the two of them. "Right, let's not blow anything up! If Bakugo gets aggressive and attacks you, I'll be the one to protect you, Izuku! Though I remember Bakugo blowing everything up at Gym Gamma, so sorry for not protecting you then!"

"I'll blow him up at Gym Gamma again when I get the chance."

"Thankfully, I'm quick to evade everything," Izuku murmured.

"Hah?!"

"Nothing!" Izuku exclaimed to no avail as Bakugo began chasing him around the beach with a variety of explosions popping off around the beach while Izuku scurried in fright.

"Disaster averted!" Nejire exclaimed pridefully towards Yuyu as if she had successfully defeated a villain. "The beach bar is still up and running!"

Yuyu groaned as she dragged a hand down her face in embarrassment. "I actually thought you had the situation under control for a second, but I guess this also works."

Izuku stood in the ocean with the sun dipping towards the horizon behind him, creating an orange hue to streak across the water brilliantly. The colors of the sky showered the land, entrusting its natural tinctures to paint the sand into itself.

The waves of the ocean circled his legs as he felt himself sink into the grainy sand when the tide receded. Wiggling his toes around in the sand, he buried them in the sand and relaxed. There was something meditative about it all when he was just relishing the wilderness for what it was.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Izuku turned his head around to see Nejire standing next to him. "Yeah... It's lovely."

A few seconds of silence passed by while the shade of the sun continued its downward travel to the other side of the Earth. From the shore of the beach, he could hear the chattering of the others in the background as they cleaned up the mess they had made from their stay. And somewhere in the mix of it all, Bakugo could be heard yelling at someone.

"Anyway, it's time to go home."

Izuku nodded his head but took the time to vocalize his internal thoughts. "I wish we could stay here longer..."

"You and me both." Nejire agreed with a giggle. "But you know, there's always next year when we come here. Just the two of us."

"But wouldn't you have graduated from U.A. high school by then?"

"That doesn't mean I won't have some days off!" Nejire responded by nudging him with her shoulder.

Izuku laughed at her reaction. With her plan in his mind, there was no way he was going to miss the event. Perhaps they could experience the world a bit more when everything settled down, but for now, he had to concentrate on his studies and the League of Villains. Or whatever life decided to throw at him, but he was ready for it because he had Nejire by his side.

Until the end of the year, but that was better than nothing.

Chapter Text

Izuku couldn't help but feel a little anxious when he found out the news of the joint training mission he was taking part in with Nejire Hado. It was something Aizawa had agreed to along with All Might and Principal Nezu when Nejire requested it.

The third-years had a little more power in this type of thing because they allowed it to go through with no objections, provided Nejire take responsibility for Izuku. She happily obliged, but the day the training mission fell on was a Sunday when they were supposed to rest.

The reason they chose Sunday was that it didn't interfere with any of their classes, leaving the others out of it. That meant Izuku was going to be spending a hefty amount of time with Nejire all by himself. He saw no problem with that, but the anxiety flipping pancakes inside of his stomach told him he was in for some mild trouble.

Izuku stepped outside with his hero costume and fidgeted with the hood, trying to the ears of it in a more comfortable position. He was also told a pro hero had agreed to take them under her wing as long as they didn't cause any unnecessary altercations or suffer from any injuries throughout the whole day they were with her.

"Maybe this was a bad idea to agree to," Izuku muttered as he softly chewed his bottom lip.

It would have been better if he had some time to rest, but when the opportunity to spend some quality time with his girlfriend appeared, there was no way he was going to say no. Still, maybe they could have spent it in a more mild manner like watching a movie or staring at the stars.

Izuku shook his head in disbelief at his thoughts. He was a hero, so that meant he had to be ready to take on anything with a smile, no matter what he went through.

Izuku made his way over to the Class 3-A dorm, but along the way, Nejire must have also been looking for him because she suddenly plummeted from the sky and landed next to him with a touch of graceful elegance. "Izuku! How are you doing?"

Izuku flinched in surprise as he stared at her. "T-That scared me!"

"Did it really?" Nejire asked, circling him with her hands behind her back and a cheerful expression sitting on her face.

"Well, I don't know how else you would expect me to react..."

"With overflowing happiness upon meeting your extremely cute girlfriend! And now you'll finally get to see me in action! We'll be jailing a ton of bad guys today, so get ready to be tired by the end of the day!"

"I'll be ready when the day is over."

Nejire giggled at Izuku's joke and leaned over to hug him. The warmth from her body traveled over to his, encapsulating his body with her love. It was a wonderful sensation, but one that instilled a sense of embarrassment within him from the chance anyone was looking in their direction.

They still hadn't disproved the rumors of Nejire being his older sister around the entire school, but with the help of his classmates, perhaps there was a chance.

"Uh... I have to ask a question."

"Go on."

"Do you know who the pro hero is that's monitoring us today? I heard it was a female, but they didn't give too many details or a name."

Nejire put a finger on her chin as she looked up at the sky in thought. "I heard it's supposed to be Rumi Usagiyama, otherwise known as the Rabbit Hero: Mirko. I was hoping it could be my work-study mentor Ryuko, but she told me she would be busy today since she was collaborating with Uwabami for an advertisement on her latest beauty product. I'm surprised she accepted, but it seems like it was because she owed Uwabami a favor."

"Uh oh..." Somehow, that didn't sit right with Izuku. The hero who rarely assisted others agreed to watch over them today? What strings did the teachers at U.A. high school have to pull for this one to work?

"Uh oh is right, but I doubt she's going to be doing anything other than just keeping an eye out for us as she passes by the prefecture today and moves to another tomorrow. She isn't one for babysitting anyone if I remember correctly..." Nejire mused as she turned to look at Izuku. "But that just means we can spend more time together!"

"This feels more like a date rather than a team-up between us to save people's lives."

"Haha! Of course not! What makes you think that?" Nejire asked as a small blush painted her face and averted his gaze.

"I-I knew something was fishy!"

Izuku approached Mirko with equal parts caution and enthusiasm in the area they were supposed to meet. She was the revered hero who expressed her thoughts freely and protected the country with little to no effort while acting a bit like Bakugo, but more on the lighter side. She was the rabbit hero he had researched a ton about when he was younger and now he was meeting her in the flesh!

Mirko turned around to see both of them walking over to her. Nejire raised her hands in the air and waved them, causing a vicious smile to appear on Mirko's face as she did one wave of her hand and dropped it next to her side. "About time you two slowpokes showed up! I was just warming up before the morning started and I thought it was already lunchtime by the time I saw you guys, but imagine my surprise when the time said nine o'clock!"

With a bewildered expression, Izuku stumbled through his introduction. "Uh... Sorry? But it's an honor to work with you, so thank you for your patience!"

Mirko stared at Izuku as if he had grown a second head, but nodded her head. "I guess it's forgivable, but today is not the day I babysit two high school students from U.A., so if you'll excuse me, I have a country to protect! I'll be keeping an eye on both of you today just so Aizawa doesn't scold me later!" Mirko shouted as she jumped away from view as quickly as they met her.

"Well, that's as far as introductions go I guess," Nejire said as she raised a hand over her eyes to shield her vision from the sun, watching Mirko hop away to whatever vicinity required her help. "That means it's up to us to help her with whatever!"

Izuku rubbed his stomach as it growled softly and looked at Nejire with a sheepish grin. "I-I forgot to eat some breakfast."

Nejire giggled as she reached over to ruffle her hand through his soft hair. "Anything for you."

After the small breakfast they feasted on, they were back out on the streets. It was a peaceful day with no interruptions. At least so far.

Glimpses of Mirko were rare as she only checked up on them once so far in three hours they patrolled the area. She could be seen hopping around at times, but that was the bulk of her appearances.

The only breaks they got from their somewhat monotonous patrol were when fans of them would crowd around them. The audience they garnered would grow and dwindle, depending on the attention they received, but they dispersed rather quickly since there wasn't much to do other than receive autographs, take photos, and idolize them.

It so happened when the crowd dissipated, they ended up at a nearby park where Nejire invited him to sit on a bench facing towards a lake.

"Shouldn't we be looking out for villains rather than sitting around?" Izuku asked, breaking the silence that had settled around them.

"Oh... True, but a couple of minutes wouldn't hurt, right?" Nejire asked though a nervous expression sat on her face as she looked around for any trouble.

"Yeah, I guess."

Izuku glanced over at Nejire, who gazed at the activities sprouting across the lake like people fishing, people running and cycling around the trail, and ducks quacking as they fought each other for food some passersby were feeding them. She looked like she was at peace, which was something contrary to what he was expecting from her.

Thin strands of hair brushed up against her face as the wind gently clashed with her. She looked really beautiful at that moment, though he would be lying if he said she wasn't every second of the day. But something about this particular instant in time, hanging frozen in the air, changed his perspective.

He didn't have the time to process just how quickly his life was passing by him, but now that he was, the weight of all his memories flooded into his mind. All the entertainment he experienced with his girlfriend felt worth it. It just felt right knowing she was willing to stick by him when it all originated from an accident.

He would probably remember this more often than not, but maybe that was a good thing. Even though some parts of his journey got a little embarrassing, it added a little taste to the adventure.

"Izuku, what do you think of this so far?"

"Eh? What do I think of what so far?"

"What do you think about our relationship so far? It's a bit of a funny question, isn't it?" Nejire asked, her eyes glued to the lake, switching over to stare at him.

Izuku's mind entered a state of dysphoria and hysteria combined. Why was she asking such a question? Was there a hidden meaning behind it? "A-Are we breaking up?"

"Of course not! Did I make it sound that scary? Sorry, if I did!" Nejire exclaimed as she pondered the wording of her question. "But I was just wondering if you were feeling happy? I know I can be a bit of a pushover sometimes with the way I act... Maybe a little too much! But I want to know if you liked how this relationship has played out so far."

Izuku suddenly noticed as a couple walked past them. He studied them, but he couldn't tell if staring at them was going to provide him with any answers.

It felt weird, seeing how there were many relationships around the world, but he never took the time to consider if they were both happy in a relationship. Was there ever an awkward phase with a relationship that forced it to fall apart before it took off? If the communication between a couple was incoherent, then there could already be problems.

Was he happy with how things were panning out? The only answer he could find within himself was a resounding yes, but he was still a bit skeptical.

"You know, I haven't thought about that... But I guess now is a good time as any to start. So um..."

What was Izuku supposed to say to her in this situation? He thought everything was going fine, but if he told her that and she said she didn't like it and pointed out some blatant mistakes he was unaware of, then he felt like his whole world was going to end up crumbling apart from top to bottom.

He's been enjoying his time with her, despite some of the exaggerated situations she put him through. He felt like a sole person stepping onto the stage with a spotlight shining on him, but in hindsight, it was slightly amusing.

"Hypothetically, what would you say if I said yes?"

Nejire smiled as she leaned over to get closer to him. "I would agree with your answer because I feel at peace around you. Even now. I was sure something would change if we started dating, but so far, it feels like everything has evolved for the better! I still get to be myself without having to compromise anything."

"That's a good thing, right? Or does that mean nothing's changed between us?"

"Well, the part where I stop calling you little brother or baby brother stopped, but I'm going to guess that's beside the point. But no, nothing's changed between us and I like that." Nejire rested her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh of relief. "I love you."

Izuku stiffened up just as he was about to put his arm around her. That was something he didn't expect to hear from her at that moment, but it made sense. "I-I love you too!"

"Lighten up, Izuku! I ain't gonna bite!"

"Um... I'm not sure if that's a threat or not."

Nejire laughed as she gently hit his chest with a playful attitude. "Don't worry, it's not."

Silence drifted over them while they continued to rest. It wasn't until Mirko slammed down right next to them did they realize just how long they were sitting there.

"What are you two lovebirds sitting around for in the middle of your training session!?"

"Ah, sorry! It won't happen again!" Izuku yelled in a panic.

"There better be a good explanation for this."

Unfortunately, Izuku didn't have a good explanation for her. But hopefully, Mirko could forgive them for having their sentimental moment.

Chapter Text

Izuku felt the attitude of U.A. high school change as graduation grew near for the current third-years, which included Nejire, Yuyu, Mirio, and Tamaki. At least the ones he knew, though the others were all going to graduate, their presence would be missed much more than the others. Especially Nejire and Yuyu.

Ever since their last trip to the beach, time seemed to fly by like a blur, and it was already spring. It was a lot to take in, but Izuku wouldn't want it any other way. He couldn't wait to see Nejire, Yuyu, and the others grab their diploma and fly off into the real world to become heroes, but on the other hand, he wished they could stay two more years until he graduated on his own.

Izuku tapped his pencil on the math sheet he was working on and sighed. If all the memories he made could stop being so nostalgic, maybe he could finish all this homework he was assigned, which was due tomorrow. Still, it wasn't a bad thing.

Actually, it was! He was going to be left alone for the next two years without Nejire. How was he expecting to survive without someone at his side always pestering him and helping him enjoy every second of his life?

"Oh, no... Nejire's spoiled me." Izuku muttered as he buried his head in his arms with a groan.

Izuku rested his head on his arms and stared at the All Might posters and merchandise in front of him. He lifted his hand to fix their positions. It's been a while since he touched anything on his desk and it spoke volumes with the way some of them were shifted from their original location.

It didn't take long before he dove right back into his homework. When he finished up, he stood up from his seat and walked over to the balcony to take a breather, but when he pulled back the curtains, he found Nejire outside, staring at the stars all by herself with a comfy jacket over her to protect herself from the chilly nights.

He jumped in shock but quickly recovered as he opened the sliding door to his balcony. "Nejire, what are you doing here?"

Nejire turned around to see him standing there with a perplexed expression planted on his face. "Hey, hey! That's no way to treat your girlfriend and soon-to-be future wife!" Nejire responded, diverting from the original question with a teasing remark.

"W-We're going that far?"

"Of course! We have to plan for our wedding soon!" Nejire laughed as Izuku stared at her in disbelief. "Anyway, back to the question at hand! I wanted to let you know I am hosting a sleepover in my room and you're the only person invited because you're my boyfriend! And that's other than Yuyu, but that's beside the point!"

"Er... That still doesn't explain what you were doing outside my balcony, almost like a stalker."

"Hey, don't lump me in the category of a stalker!" Nejire exclaimed as she gently slapped him on the shoulder while he held back his laughter. "I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the stars looked while I flew here, so I took a few minutes to look up at the heavens, but that was when you stepped onto the balcony. It was merely a coincidence!"

"Oh... That's nice to hear." Izuku responded as he leaned on the railing next to her to look up at the stars, winking down at them from above. "So what's this about a sleepover, though?"

"Well, you see, I thought it would be a great idea for us to hang out one more time before we graduate within a week. Things have been getting busy for us third-years as we integrate ourselves with society and the hero agencies we signed up with."

"That's right! How have things been going with that?" Izuku asked as he headed back inside his room to gather some of his belongings to take over to Nejire's room while she plopped down on his bed.

"It's great! Lately, I've been working with Ryuko closely as the day we leave U.A. grows closer, but I have also been looking into working with Hawks because we both can fly and I feel like he can teach me something I never learned before, which is something I look forward to! Perhaps I could also look into joining The Lurkers team and learn from three top pro heroes at once!"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Izuku muttered as the gears in his brain spun around rapidly. So far, he's been training with Endeavor for the past hero work studies, but he also wanted to go in the direction Nejire was heading by training under a myriad of different heroes who could teach him valuable lessons about hero work. It would be an ingenious idea to expand his horizons.

"I can't wait to graduate and go out into the real world, but I'm scared to see what's waiting out there for me. I just hope U.A. high school prepared us enough to tackle the reality of it, but if not, I hope the heroes I work under can help me through it!"

"Yeah..." Izuku responded though he stopped listening when Nejire said she couldn't wait to graduate.

Nejire glanced over at Izuku as a sly smile crossed her face. "Are you gonna miss me?"

"It would be weird if I said no."

"Well, don't worry about it! I'll visit you with Yuyu and text you whenever I get free time!"

Izuku nodded his head. That comforted him even if only a little, knowing she would still interact with him through the next two years until they came up with a plan after he graduated from U.A. high school.

Izuku was inside his sleeping bag to avoid Nejire's efforts to paint his nails with fancy colors and put some makeup over his face to beautify him like a model. This situation was something straight out of a nightmare.

"No, Nejire! Leave me alone!" Izuku howled as Nejire rolled him around in his sleeping bag until he was pressed up against her bamboo drawer with no room to escape.

"Never, we have to see what you look like with make-up, Izuku! Isn't that right, Yuyu?" Nejire looked over at Yuyu, who buried her face in her hands and looked down at the ground in shame. "I'm sure Yuyu agrees with me~!"

Yuyu deadpanned at her last sentence. "Even though I came up with the idea a few months ago, I think I'm going to have to agree with Izuku because he looks uncomfortable right now." Yuyu flashed Izuku a thumbs-up to show she was backing him up.

"Aw, man... What a party pooper." Nejire mumbled as she crossed her arms across her chest and pouted. "I bet Izuku would have looked beautiful like I do. Though I lean more towards being a natural beauty."

"I think he's already cute enough with no enhancements on his outward appearance, but I guess my opinion doesn't matter." Yuyu vocalized with a laugh.

Izuku stared at Nejire, who continued to pout in their presence. "Well... Maybe we could do make-up for me just one time. But only that!"

"Yay! Come here, Izuku! We have no time to waste!"

Izuku suddenly felt a shiver go down his spine. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

Nejire flew over to grab the wide array of make-up and held some of them close to her face and smiled. "Too late!"

She was determined to paint his face and probably make him look like a clown, but Izuku was fine with that if he got to spend quality time with his girlfriend. It wasn't long before she stepped foot into the real world, but it was sometimes fun to tease her a bit by rejecting her hilarious requests.

Still, it was a bummer she graduated long before he did. If he could turn back time to a specific moment in time, it would be the time he called her big sister by accident.

Nejire dipped the eyeliner in the small glass vial after she shook it to ensure it was mixed up. Black liquid coated the tip of the eyeliner brush as she wiped some of the excesses down on the edge of the bottle before she gently swiped it across Izuku's eye while he patiently stayed still.

"How does it feel to be beautiful, Izuku?"

"Well, we're only beginning, so I don't feel much yet. If I have makeup, will girls surround me and fall head over heels for my good looks?"

"Absolutely not because I will be the only one falling head over heels for you, and if they do, I'll... Um, I'll fight them! Though it probably won't be a good look for me when I'm a pro hero. If someone does flirt with you while you're in your second and third year at U.A. high school, text me because I'll be there in the blink of an eye to fend them off!"

Izuku laughed when Nejire dipped the brush back in the bottle to perform the same to his other eye, so she wouldn't smear the eyeliner across his face by accident. "I will, don't worry!"

"What about you, Yuyu? You'll be there to protect Izuku from any unwanted attention too, right?"

Yuyu took a good second to stare at Izuku before she answered. "Of course, anything for our little brother. But don't quote me on that when I'm busy!"

"Yay! Izuku's two older sisters are here to rescue him from any trouble he faces, especially other girls!" Nejire held up a bottle of sparkly pink nail polish. "Now for the star of the show!"

Izuku watched Nejire swish the soft ends of the brush on his nails. A cool sensation wrapped itself around his fingertips and traveled its way down to the base of his fingers as his nails turned from a dull color to a cheerful pink.

"And now the finishing touches!" Nejire exclaimed as she gently applied the glossy lipstick over his mouth. "I would like to apply foundation on your face, but I don't know how it would react with your skin, so I'm going to avoid it for now."

"That's good. I wouldn't want too much make-up on me."

Nejire stuck her tongue out as she finished up. "And done~! You look beautiful now!"

Nejire held up a mirror for Izuku to study the odd person staring back at him. No matter how much he tried to change his mind into liking it, he found himself grimacing at the abhorrent reflection staring back at him.

"I don't know if I like it..."

"Yeah, maybe I went overboard on some of the stuff like the eyeliner and lipstick."

"I look like a clown."

Nejire burst out laughing as Yuyu stared at her with a nervous smile crossing her face. "Sorry, Izuku!"

"Since I dabble with make-up constantly, maybe I should have been the one to do it," Yuyu mentioned, but it was too late now for Izuku.

Nejire took one more good look at Izuku as an evil grin formed on her face. "Nah, he looks better this way! Time to take a picture, so I could set this as my wallpaper and wake up to it every morning!"

Izuku gazed into her eyes in shock as his heart sunk to his stomach in dread. "P-Please don't!"

It didn't take too long to rid himself of the debauchery painted over his face. Just a little patience did the trick. Izuku rubbed his face with soap and washed it with water after using some oil-based cleaners to remove the makeup.

Izuku took the time to brush his teeth just in case he fell asleep while Nejire and Yuyu stayed up longer than he wanted to, but he doubt they would, considering they had school the next day. They joined him a second later while Nejire poked him in the face multiple times to tease him.

Nejire finished first and rushed out of the bathroom, taking Izuku by surprise. When he stepped out of Nejire's bathroom after he finished brushing his teeth, she was already in her pajamas, waiting for him by making herself at home in his sleeping bag.

Nejire poked her head out to look up at Izuku. "You know, your sleeping bag is comfy. Or is it just me?"

"I think it might just be you because I chose a pretty cheap one from a nearby store."

Nejire patted the sleeping bag for a few seconds to confirm his words, but couldn't make her verdict. "Makes sense, but it still feels nice and fuzzy."

Yuyu approached both of them with her hands on her hips and pointed at Nejire. "Hey, we should get to sleep before we wake up like zombies tomorrow for school."

"I forgot we have school tomorrow… But I think I'll sleep with Izuku tonight." Nejire responded.

"Oh..." Yuyu let her arms fall to the side and shifted her gaze to Izuku. "You okay with that?"

Izuku's heart raced around. Even though they spent months together, he still found it hard to calm himself down at the prospect of being so close to her. "Y-Yeah, that's no problem! She's my girlfriend, after all!"

"Yay! Yuyu, you can claim my bed for the night while I bring my own sleeping bag next to Izuku's!"

Yuyu gave Nejire a thumbs-up. "Don't stay up long. Apparently, we're training first thing in the morning because we have some heroes dropping by to unload some bombs of knowledge on us. They also want us to sign some contracts with the government and whatnot, so get a good night's rest."

"Yes, mother!"

"Oi!"

Nejire laughed at Yuyu's reaction while Izuku put a mouth over his mouth as muffled laughs echoed throughout the room. Yuyu shook her head at the two of them and turned off the light without warning.

Yuyu flopped down on the bed with the help of the minimal light shining through the window's curtains as the moonlight waged war on the fabric blocking it. "Good night, you goofball. And good night to you, Izuku."

They returned the farewell while Nejire made her way over to her closet, shuffling around to find her sleeping bag with the help of the sole light, hanging from the ceiling of the closet.

Izuku walked over to his sleeping bag and entered it. Staring up at the ceiling, Izuku let out a content sigh and watched as Nejire dragged her sleeping bag over to his position after turning the lights off in the closet. She grabbed an extra pillow for Izuku and herself as she settled beside him with a smile.

Nejire shifted her body closer to him and unzipped the side of her sleeping bag to free her arms enough to hug him. Izuku dare not say anything just in case he incurred Yuyu's wrath, but a squeak escaped his lips.

After a few seconds passed by, Nejire muttered into his ear. "You know, I'm gonna miss you when I graduate…"

Izuku was about to respond but realized the significance of her words. Why did he think Nejire's graduation was only going to affect him? Nejire was also disconnecting from his presence when she left.

He was going to be alone, but if Nejire was also going to suffer, it told a different story. His perspective on this matter involved two people who wanted to stay together while the world pushed them away. But it wasn't with the power of force and they could still meet up, but the visits were going to be infrequent compared to the times they spent together while Nejire was still here.

"Yeah… I'm going to miss you too."

Nejire cuddled with him as Izuku freed himself to put an arm around her. It felt natural at the moment to do, but there was still a sense of melancholy between them as their feelings came to light and the memories they made passed by their minds.

Suddenly, Nejire broke the silence with a simple question. "Hey, hey. Have you ever kissed anyone, Izuku?"

"Um... My mother?"

"Do you wanna try it with me?"

"Uh..."

Suddenly, Yuyu's voice echoed throughout the room. "Don't make me come down there and knock you guys out to sleep!"

Nejire giggled at her friend's threat while Izuku dove under the protection of his sleeping bag. Nejire did that on purpose, didn't she?

Chapter Text

In a flash, the day when the third-years graduated arrived quicker than Izuku could have imagined, but it was to be expected. Everyone was invited after school to watch them walk the stage that was borrowed from the Sports Festival stage, but this time they had transformed it to match the atmosphere of celebration.

A wooden podium was in the center of the stage Cementoss had created while colorful flowers and red poinsettias decorated the borders of the platform. The path to the center where they would receive their diploma was laid out with a white strip of cloth, spanning across the entire stage while green shrubberies stood pridefully, knowing the important job they served on an important day.

Rows and rows of chairs were lined up, surrounding the stage while the stands were filled with family members and anyone willing to join the celebration of the third-years. Class 1-A was in the front row, holding up a sign spelling congratulations with the combined effort of all twenty students. How they got Bakugo to agree was beyond Izuku, but it was nice to see he respected them.

At least to some extent. His face of anger told anyone near him he didn't want to be stuck here for the next two hours, watching some unknown side characters graduate.

And it was as Bakugo predicted. The long and monotonous process of their names being called to acquire their diploma and add it into their possession of substantial evidence they were ready for hero work or just the regular world proved to be a drag. But it seemed like many people didn't care as each name called was met with a roar of cheers and thunderous clapping.

When Nejire's name was called, Izuku was almost falling asleep, but a nudge from Sero sitting next to him did the trick as he straightened his posture and looked around himself in bewilderment.

Izuku automatically held up his own specially made sign high in the air to support her without a second thought. As Nejire crossed the stage, she looked toward Izuku and pointed both her fingers at him and then made a shape of a heart with her hands to proclaim her love for him.

It seemed like some males sitting around his vicinity got the wrong message as their eyes turned into the shape of hearts from her cute action. They didn't understand it was directed at Izuku and only him.

Izuku blushed as he lowered the sign down a little to cover his face, but Sero put a hand underneath his elbow to coax him into raising it higher, which he complied with.

When the slow ordeal of calling names and nonstop speech after speech was over, the third-years surrounded their teachers and thanked them for their hard work. But after that was when chaos overtook the stadium as the audience and the third-years met each other for the first time that day.

Izuku was pushed and dragged along with the crowd as the flood of people quickly thinned out into small groups, each brimming with joy and congratulations for their accomplishment.

Izuku looked around himself and discovered no one next to him, causing him to sigh. This was a silly thing to do when it was supposed to be Nejire and Yuyu's special moment. Maybe in an alternate universe or something, he would treat her to a nice restaurant after her graduation rather than holding a sign and waiting for them to meet up with him. But that was just his anxiety speaking to him.

Or maybe it was because he just wanted them to stay longer with him. It was just wishful thinking on his part, but how great would it be if they all graduated together, so he could join them immediately in the next chapter of their lives?

Izuku lowered the sign next to his side and looked up at the sky, only to see Nejire gunning straight for him. He panicked and held his hands up in fright to defend himself, but she still crashed through the sign and into him. "Oomph!"

Izuku barely had time to process what happened as he fell on his back with Nejire on top of him. He swore he could see stars circling his head tauntingly while the sign he had in his hand for defense had snapped in two. He dropped the pieces on the ground and let out a small laugh.

Nejire lifted herself, bursting out laughing once she heard his mirth reach her ears. "Perfect landing by yours truly!"

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

Nejire puffed her cheeks up and began poking him in the chest. "What's that supposed to mean? I'd like to know, Izuku."

"Nothing! I'm just glad you're here!"

"You better be! But that's beside the case because I finally did it! I finally graduated from this boot camp of a school and transformed into a wonderful, beautiful grown woman who can inspire millions to become heroes!"

Izuku watched the cheerful expression on her face permeate the entire stadium. There was just something about her smile that shone brighter than all the people celebrating their achievements. Nejire was the most important person to him, so he could chalk it up to that reason, but she was always like this as far as he remembered.

"Here."

Izuku's thought popped and faded into the sky as Nejire took the pink flower pinned onto her kimono to place it in his hair, behind his ear. "Ah."

Nejire giggled as she patted him on the head. "No need to be so surprised. Soon you'll be walking across that stage and joining me. And I'll be there no matter what happens, so rest assured, I'm still your dependable older sister!"

Izuku adjusted the flower to his liking, making it more comfortable to sit on his ear. "And I'll be waiting."

Nejire beamed at him, but she held up a finger up to express a statement in her defense. "But if I don't show up, don't blame me! You know how busy hero work will be since I'm going to be part of a top-ten hero agency, right?"

"All I hear are excuses."

Nejire slapped him on the shoulder, but the smile on her face told a different story. "You've grown quite cheeky over the months, but I'm all here for your development! Now, how about a kiss for your extremely cute girlfriend?"

Izuku's mind transported him back to the sleepover when he had her first kiss with her and stiffened. It was after Yuyu yelled at them to sleep, but the warmth of her lips and the blissful feeling he experienced still lived on in his memory. It was a special moment between them, but he didn't know if he could handle another one.

Thankfully, Yuyu arrived at that moment to save him from the impending kiss that Nejire was about to actualize as she leaned forward to plant one on his lips.

"N-Nejire, don't go flying off like that...!" Yuyu paused as she looked at the two of them for a few seconds with a stunned expression. The look on her face told them everything she needed to know about what was going to happen next. "Were you guys about to kiss?"

"Of course!" Nejire replied simultaneously as Izuku did.

"Of course not!" Izuku exclaimed as he glanced over at Nejire in slight shock.

"I feel like I'm getting conflicting answers here," Yuyu said.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter! I already kissed him before~!" Nejire sang as she pulled Izuku closer to her body and beckoned for Yuyu to stand next to them. "We should take a picture of us all together, so we can have something to look back on when we're older and have a good laugh! I want to remember these exact moments years from now!"

"Luckily for you, I came prepared." Yuyu pulled out a collapsible selfie stick and stretched it out to its max with Nejire's phone attached to the end of it. With the photo snapped and embedded in the database of a phone, their memory of Nejire and Yuyu's graduation would be stored safely forever. "All that graduation stuff got me hungry, so who's ready for some ramen or sushi?"

"I am!" Nejire exclaimed, holding her hand high in the air.

Izuku timidly raised his hand to add an order to her request. "One for me too!"

"I'll treat you both to a spot where they serve both. But Nejire, I expect some payment back because I know how much money you make from your status."

"Aw, come on!"

Izuku put a hand up to his mouth to hide a chuckle as Nejire pulled him into the joke. Even if it felt like the end of an era for them, it was only the beginning for them with the number of years they had in store for them down the road. This was just a step down the right path and to many more memories they could cherish.