Chapter Text
This was… Unusual.
Weird, odd, whatever synonym you could think of to describe it.
Mina Ashido, the romance connoisseur and expert. Every girl— occasionally guy— who needed help with their crushes would go to her for advice, and she'd put on her best business face and posh accent before pushing them and being the best wingman ever.
So it’s quite a surprise when Mina tells people that she's never had a crush before, much less a relationship. After much observation on relationships, Mina decided that she was a self-proclaimed professional. Though that didn't keep her from fantasizing every night about getting butterflies, about being giddy over some guy or girl or whoever. About rambling about said person to all her friends to the point they forcibly tape her mouth shut. But alas, she wouldn’t experience what her heart oh so desperately yearned for. Unless time would tell.
And it told.
It told her when she found herself uncharacteristically nervous around her best friend. She cursed him, Eijirou Kirishima. She cursed him for having those endearing, wide eyes. And for the way his face lit up whenever he saw her in the hallways. And for the way he always smiled with that dumb, goofy grin showing off all his shark teeth. Oh, his hair was surprisingly soft too. Mina would occasionally help him dye his hair whenever he just.. Didn’t have the motivation to, in his words. Mina found the way his black roots peeked out cute, even moreso when he didn’t notice. She wouldn’t ever tell him, though, since it just gave her an opportunity to dye and play with his hair again.
It told her when she momentarily lost her natural charm and spunk around him. It told when her throat ran dry and her face warmed everytime her talked to her. Not to mention the way her palms became sweaty and her knees weak.. Her predicament was pretty clear. To her and nobody else, at least. Mina fawned over the ‘oblivious to everybody but themselves’ trope, but she didn’t exactly predict that she’d be in the centre of that, but reversed.
And she kind of wanted to keep it that way. Imagine how embarrassing it’d be, Mina, the person dishing out advice like a pro, unable to confess to her crush? What, can’t she use her own advice? Well in her defense, it was easier to tell people what to do knowing that she wouldn’t be the person doing said actions.
Though it took her a good while before actually realising that she had a huge crush on him. It initially started when she watched him train against Katsuki again, watching him piss the other off by doing nothing. She felt her heart flutter a few times in her chest, but dismissed it as excitement fromm the battle. One thing led to another, and one fateful night…
The atmosphere was almost too cliche to be real. Her hand in his, cherry blossom leaves blowing past them like the whispers of sweet nothings they’d exchanged just before. The bright sky overcast, as they gazed longingly into eachothers’ eyes.. Eijirou leaned in-
Mina’s eyes snapped open. She checked the clock, 4:55. This was the third time this week.. She had to be up in 20 minutes. A groan escaped her throat as she threw a pillow over her face.. No point trying to sleep again.
..And ever since then, it was pretty clear what her feelings towards him. She was head iver heels.
—
“Ugh, crushes are supposed to be fun! Not.. Not stressfulI!” Mina whined to her audience; a red teddybear with a large ‘R’ embroidered into it’s torso; a gift from Eijirou. It stared at her judgementally. Mina frowned, stopping her pacing around her dorm to drop to her knees next to her bed. She stared the plush in the eye, her bottom lip sticking out as she pouted.
Mina sighed, an exaggeratedly loud noise as she pondered.
“I don’t want to lose our friendship,” Mina murmured, thinking out loud and using a finger to point and poke at the bear, almost pushing it over “But.. I don’t want us to stay as just. Friends.”
Mina frowned at the thought. Them being friends? Nothing more? No cuddling or hand holding or-
“Uuuuuuuugh. Not helping!” She used the same finger to point at the teddybear accusingly. Of course, she knew she only had herself to blame…
Despite herself, Mina started contemplating asking for advice. Though, she wasn’t sure she could really trust any others with it on the topic.. Pardon her ego, but almost all her friends were.. Pretty much pathetic when it came to romance. Which was exactly why–
“I’m supposed to be the one giving advice! Not receiving it!” Mina blurted out, grabbing the teddy with her hands and shaking it. Realising how insane she looked, Mina groaned and slunk down so that her face was hidden in her sheets. Crushes were stressful.
Unfortunately for her, someone had overheard.
Mina heard the familiar pattern of rat-tatting on her door, recognising it as Asui.
“Mina-san?”
“Tsu-chan, come in..!”
Mina winced at her failed attempt to sound enthusiastic, but oh well. She watched as the doorknob twisted and Asui entered; she really needed to have a habit of locking it. Asui’s face was hard to read, as per usual, but Mina could decipher by the way her face scrunched up just the slightest bit that she was concerned. Asui might be.. Stone-faced, but thankfully for Mina, being outgoing just means learning to read people better as she met more of them.
“Mina-san, I heard you in the hallway, and I got worried. Are you alright?”
Gods, no. I hate this.
“Doing swimmingly!" Mina raised up two finger guns to awkwardly shoot at Asui.
"I’m just… Aha, um..” She trailed off and brought a hand up to rub the back of her neck sheepishly, unable to find a proper excuse to cover up her situation.
“You like Eijirou,” Asui stated bluntly, observing Mina’s pathetic struggle; she fidgeted, her horns twitched just the slightest, and she wasn’t as sharp as usual. Asui’s eyes narrowed. “Like, like-like him.”
“Ha?”