Mina never really gave too much thought to the prospect of romance. Sure, someone her age thought about it a bit, but her situation was a bit different, wasn't it? Being a student at Yuuei, Mina's efforts had been on trying to get good grades - Honestly, she was trying her absolute hardest! - And not getting killed by Villains. It was a full time commitment to any student who got into the academy, even those who weren't bombarded with attacks from Villains every other few weeks. Training and learning how to better control her Quirk, to expand her abilities and better herself - that was the true essence of what Mina tried to do, even if it never looked that way.
In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, when she finally heard about Izuku's run in with the Hero Killer, it made her stop, step back, and re-evaluate some things. Izuku was a friend, and a close one at that. At least, that's how Mina felt. Fundamentally, they were both rather different people, him being reserved and prone to stuttering and awkward hesitation, traits that led to him being rather reclusive and shy, whereas Mina was the exact opposite, being hyperactive and sociable with basically everyone. Her boundless energy contradicted alone contradicted Izuku's personality. And yet, they had gotten along so swimmingly over the past week and a bit. They'd gone from basically being strangers Izuku willing to confide in her about the things that caused his lack of confidence. He was willing to trust her with his secrets, even if they were just secrets because he was too embarrassed to admit them to his classmates.
It was stupid, Mina thought, that despite only knowing him for so short a length of time, the prospect of her maybe... Just maybe caring for Izuku a bit more than just as a close friend seemed totally inane. More than that, just incomprehensible. Almost wrong. They didn't know each other all that well at all. And yet... It wasn't entirely an unwelcome idea either. Mina wanted to know him more, but didn't want to seem pushy all the time, so she allowed him some space wherever it was required. But through text messages, face to face interacts, and watching him suddenly outperform himself once again, it became hard... So unbelievably hard to deny this sense of fondness she was nurturing for her freckled classmate.
Could it have been because she didn't want to lose her friend after making a new one so soon? That she didn't want to entertain the prospect of only now just getting to understand Izuku, and establish the friendship so recently kindled suddenly being torn away by the hands of someone like the Hero Killer, or were these the hidden feelings that she didn't know she had? Of course she hadn't wanted him to get killed in the USJ, even then managing to impress her, but that was back when they hadn't even spoken a word to on another. She would have gotten over it fairly quickly, if not left a bit shaken by his demise. Now she didn't want to even confront a possibility like that.
Only adding to her confusion was the reaction her body had whenever she contemplated this. Never before had her heart suddenly gone aflutter whenever she thought about an individual. Band members, celebrities, her favourite Heroes, of course she'd thought about those kinds of people, everyone did, but they never made her feel this warm inside. Hearing his voice after learning about the Hero Killer, seeing him when they returned... All of it added up to feelings Mina never knew she had, and never had experienced before in her life... But she couldn't deny, she liked them, and that Izuku was attached to those feelings, that he was probably the one responsible for them directly. Whenever he was around, she felt more jumpy than usual, which in itself spoke volumes as to the effect he had on her, and whenever he was hurt or in danger, she wanted to do anything to help him, no matter the danger to herself. She trusted him unconditionally, willing to risk her life if it was in his hands. And just being around him, thinking about him, made her heart beat that bit faster and made her giddy.
Could it be... Was... Was it possible that Midori Izuku was her first crush? The idea made her blush. Hard. Her pink cheeks turned a shade of lilac, standing against the normal pigments of her unusual skin colour when she thought about this. The mere fact that she didn't dislike the idea in the slightest only seemed to confirm it.
Was it wrong to feel like this for someone she'd only just begun to know? In the movies and in Anime, it took weeks, months, sometimes even years for two of the characters to feel this way about one another, and Mina felt like this towards Izuku after just under two weeks? Wasn't that wrong, even unfair to Izuku? Was it selfish of her to want to entertain these daydreams, to wonder what would happen if they were the real feelings trapped within her? This was her first crush, first time ever feeling this way, so she didn't know the answers.
But Mina wasn't the kind of person to allow herself to become crippled by insecurities, by indecision and uncertainty. Her very nature forbade that. So, she decided to tackle her issue head on, to see if she could try to figure out these emotions - With reckless energy and enthusiasm, and by taking the problem by the horns. Not hers, in this case though.
"Midori!" This marked the first time that Mina had greeted Izuku with a hug, and it was certainly a greeting he wouldn't have expected from anyone other than Mina, and even then, it had caught him off guard. It wasn't necessarily unwelcome, just a surprise to Izuku, given everything that had happened to him over the last week.
Gran Torino, The Hero Killer, learning how to use One For All, Full Cowl... He'd been practically swimming in drama and training for the last seven days of workplace experience, though he wondered if it was even appropriate to call it that. He'd worked under a Pro Hero, sure, but at no point had they ever done something even remotely close to a normal Hero's day of work. Still, he'd worked hard, and come forward in leaps and bounds, so he couldn't complain about that.
Right now however, he found himself tensing up, struggling to even remain upright as Mina had basically thrown her collective body weight onto the unexpecting teenager as she had jumped to hug him, her cheeks pressed rather firmly against his own, doing nothing to help the composure he was struggling to contain in the first place. The crimson appeared on his cheeks before he even knew what was going on, making his face hot. His eyes were suddenly wide open, and for a second, he thought he was being attacked by something, only realising it was Mina by the pink skin that was wrapping itself around his neck.
Mina had snuck up behind him before she had pounced, aiming to scare the living daylights out of him. When she'd learned that he'd had a run in with the Hero Killer, and that message during their weeks experience was basically an SOS, she had been thrown into a state of absolute panic. Once she was able to get through to him, she'd never been happier to hear his voice in her entire life. Even the USJ invasion didn't come close.
So this was her little version of revenge. Scaring the crap out of him in retaliation for scaring the crap out of her. So, she'd waited until the day had ended before she'd put her plan into action. Uraraka and Iida were there also, walking either side of him. Not ideal, but Mina had planned this quite honestly silly little idea far too much and way too ahead of time to let their presence stop her. She'd charged right on ahead and basically invited herself for an improv-piggyback ride as she wrapped her arms around his neck, calling out his nickname in a high pitched squeal.
"Aaah!"
"What - Ashido, what is it you think you're doing?!"
She didn't hear the surprised yelp she'd been wanting to from the She certainly got a shriek of surprise and frantic arms flailing from Uraraka, and a quick demand of her behaviour from Iida, but from Izuku, she didn't even hear anything. Instead, she felt a set of hands in her arms, trying to pry her off. Quietly, she heard Izuku speak. "A-Ashido... Oxygen... Can't breathe..."
Realising her grip had been way too tight around his neck, Ashido quickly let go of the gasping boy, allowing him to reclaim the air she'd restricted him from gathering. She leaned over and patted him in the back as she did so, the smile not quite gone from her lips. "Sorry, Midori~!" She apologised a bit too cheerfully as she held onto the last letter of his abbreviated name for a couple seconds longer than she needed to.
Once Izuku had regained some of the colour back from his previously blue face, he found himself with his cheeks redder than they normally were. He faced Ashido with a mixed expression of anger, happiness, embarrassment, with a small hint of curiosity. He struggled to get his words out, part in due to his neck still needing time to adjust to the sudden changes of pressure on it, and partly on due to his normal awkwardness. "A-Ashido-san, w-what was that f-for?"
"It's still Mina." She reminded him, her hands now behind her back, and as she did so, she leaned in closer to his face with a smile. "That's just my little way of repaying you for scaring me like you did with that message." Once she finished her little comment, a bit closer to Izuku's face than she had ever been excluding the hug she'd given him about fifteen seconds ago, she stood upright, and turned to face their class president. "Iida, about your brother... I'm really sorry."
"Your consideration is appreciated, Ashido." Iida thanked Mina in his regularly formal way, bowing in gratitude, far more rigid than Mina's had been. The entire class had shown the same concern for him during lessons, so it only felt right for Mina to give him her condolences in a more personal manner. "The Hero Killer is now behind bars. I'm thankful we were able to deliver justice."
Izuku nodded in his agreement, and in spite of his friend's declaration, and still being as flustered as he had been when Mina had hugged him, finally allowed his tense body to relax. The green haired student was fumbling around to re-straighten his uniform and to compose himself. He might not have been so red had she done that when he was alone, but now he knew he had to answer a plethora of questions that was destined to come his way.
Already, Uraraka was looking at the two with confusion and curiosity. Since she had a tendency to say whatever came into her head, she didn't really think twice about bringing up something she'd noticed. "Midori?" Her eyes darted between the pink haired and skinned girl, whom had discarded her grey jacket along with the red tie and stuffed in into her bag as she liked to do, leaving her in just the white shirt of the top half of the uniform, and the still neatly uniformed, fumbling Izuku.
"Yep! It's my nickname for him!" Mina cheerfully informed Uraraka. "Like how you and Bakugou call him Deku. I think it's a lot cuter!" Not once did she stop beaming as she spoke, each of her words expressed with energy and affection. Izuku had been reduced a blushing mess once again.
Uraraka looked a mixture of both happiness and surprise. Since she and Mina had a fairly good relationship, the development didn't seem to bother her at all. Instead, she returned the smile Mina was giving and replied, "I didn't know you two were on such good terms!"
"Nor did I." Iida agreed, looking over at Izuku, displaying an equal level of interest. "Is this a recent development?"
"J-Just after the Sports Festival. Ash... Mina-san missed her train..." Izuku reminded himself to use the pink girl's first name through clenched fists and a bite of his bottom lip. Him doing so made Mina beam, and gave Uraraka and Iida a shock that he was willing to use her first name, given his polite and respectful personality. He recounted the events that had transpired, how he and Mina had taken the subway together, and how they had met one another on the following Saturday. He left out the fact that they had had run ins with Overgrow and his two former schoolmates, which Mina didn't miss on, but she didn't bring it up.
Eventually, once he was done explaining things to his friends, and the situation seemed to have calmed itself down, Uraraka had invited Mina to walk with them to the subway station so they could catch the trains together. Accepting in her enthusiastic manner, Mina alongside Izuku, the gap between them smaller than the gaps between anyone else. Izuku couldn't avoid that same unique and pleasant scent that Mina had, once again on her person, and that cute, pretty smile that she displayed at nearly all times. Occasionally, their hands would brush together, and one of them would rush to apologise to the other, the other insisting that really, it was no big deal, but it happened so frequently that Izuku had to wonder if this genuinely was a series of accidents. The prospect of it not being so made him blush beyond all regular levels, so when he managed to work up the nerves to look at the slightly shorter girl, and when she'd always lock eyes with him and smile again, his body would heat up even more.
Of course, none of these were even slightly accidental. While these were always the normal things Mina would do, she caught herself taking notes on how certain things that were happening were making her feel, between conversations with the green haired boy, and Uraraka and Iida, of course. The smiles, the glances, and few seconds of skin contact from her very deliberate efforts, everything just made her feel happy. Just happy, whenever she was around Izuku. It felt familiar like their day out, and new and exciting sensations that she'd never experienced, but longed for more. Part of her felt guilty for using him as what basically amounted to a series of experiments to test her own emotions, but she wasn't going to deny that making him flustered like this was fun in itself.
Once they made their way to the subway station, Uraraka and Iida broke off, heading towards their respective stations that would take them to their residency as quickly as possible. Neither Mina nor Izuku had really paid all that much attention to their friend's reactions whenever the pink girl did something vaguely flirtatious. If they had, they would have seen what was a look of concern, and a face that wasn't quite sure what it thought, but was amused nonetheless. A rarity for Iida, especially these days.
Alone with Mina once again, Izuku let out a sigh to calm himself and his nerves before he turned to face Mina. Their journey here still burning in the front of his mind, he wanted to open with a series of questions as to what everything she had done was in the name of, but when he went to interrogate the girl, the casual smile she still wore caused each word to catch themselves in his throat. He eventually decided it would be smarter to just go home, get a shower, and assume everything had been accidental. "W-Well, I guess I should get going to my station too, Ashido-san."
"Mina." She reminded him once more. The way she kept informing him was making her sound like Tsuyu more and more, she thought. Hell, she'd accept the usual Mina-san at this point. Pushing the comparison between her and her frog-form friend, she responded with something that she knew would probably throw Izuku for a loop. "And uh, well... D'you mind if I travel with you again Midori? I kinda have a few things I wanna talk about, I-if that's cool." Was she stuttering? Did Izuku and her just switch verbal ticks?
Izuku's face quickly shifted, becoming serious and inquisitive, but concerned as he always appeared to be. His stutter was gone suddenly as he spoke. "Why, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"No, not... Nothing's wrong, it just..." It was a rare sight for Mina to struggle to find words. Usually it'd be a task to get her to calm down for five seconds so she'd stop talking, her being unsure of what to say was a sure-fire way of knowing something was bothering her.
It seemed that Izuku noticed this, and without really thinking about it, he reached over and grabbed her hand. He reassured her with a soft smile, one that usually gave her great comfort. "Okay then. Come on, we'll grab my train."
Unaware that he'd made the girl blush just a bit, Izuku led her through the crowds of the subway station once again, just like he had done the first time she'd come along with him, just a week ago, even though it felt like forever and a day. This time, they actually made their way there with plenty of time remaining before the train whisked them away to the province Izuku lived. The green haired boy politely held his arm out to allow Mina to take the revered window seat, which she readily accepted. It wasn't until they were sat down that Izuku actually let go of her hand.
"So... What's up?" He asked, as soon as he'd reclaimed his hand, and rested it on his armrest casually. He was clearly ready to listen to whatever it was that Mina had to say, something she wasn't sure if she should be grateful or distressed for.
She went over in her mind again how ridiculous it was to think like that about Izuku. Just under two weeks, two weeks! That's how long they'd been friends for, and she was feeling like this about him?
They'd faced danger together against Overgrow, yes... But that couldn't be enough of a catalyst, could it? He'd shared his shame to her, and it had made her grow to appreciate and admire him all that more, but she wasn't that shallow to just fall for someone because he did something impressive!... Or continuously impressive...
A small bead of sweat ran down her forehead as she thought about how much less trouble she'd have to deal with if she just darted out the open train doors right now and made a run for it. Hop on her train, pretend she'd never said anything, maybe avoid this whole -
"We are now leaving the station. Please keep the entrances and exits clear."
Her hands gripped on the edge of her arm rests, and a very small amount of her acid actually melted the right plastic coating, the one closest to the window, so no one could see it. The one on the left, the one Izuku was watching, turned a dark violet. On a regularly coloured human, it would turn white, but Mina's pigments declared otherwise for her. 'So much for that plan.' She glanced at Izuku, who was still patiently waiting for her, letting her take all the time she needed to take.
Being nervous just wasn't something Mina was used to being. She almost didn't know how to act.
"I um... This is a bit more awkward than I thought it would be..." She sheepishly said with an awkward laugh, trying to stall for a bit of time. "Sorry, I'm just..."
"Don't worry about it, Mina." Her darkened eyes widened slightly when she heard him use her name. No honorifics. No formalities. No anything like that. He was here. He was her friend, she could be comfortable when talking to him about anything.
Anything except this.
"Take all the time you need." He added on with a smile. That smile...
"Th-Thanks..." Damn it, why had she allowed herself to develop a crush on the cutest damn nerd in all of freaking Yuuei? Wait. Shit. She'd allowed herself to think he was cute now! Not that she was going to deny it but...
'Damn it brain, stop messing with me!' She furiously yelled inside her head. As if to make it up to her, her mind came up with an idea to help her get this conversation going at a normal rate. "The... The Hero Killer..."
Izuku's eyebrows narrowed as he heard that name. He leaned back in his seat and let out a sigh that he couldn't decide if it was of exasperation or dread at hearing that lunatics alias again. "Yeah? What about him?"
"I just... I saw your message that you sent out... But I just... I thought it was a pocket dial or something. I didn't realise you were actually facing him until it was done..." She remembered the day rather clearly. Heator had shown her how to use her Quirk to melt little studs in walls so she could use anything as an improvised ladder. She'd displayed it just earlier today, even though against Sero, it'd been about as effective as entering a brick into formula one racing. "I uh... I just... Why didn't you tell me about it?..." As she finished the question, the train began to move, knocking both students back a bit due to the sudden momentum.
Izuku blinked.
"I - I mean!" She quickly added, "On the phone, a-and even here... You didn't say much about it... I-I just thought... Y'know, since Overgrow, and your Quirk... That you might have told me?" God she sounded pathetic, didn't she? She sounded like a little sister wanting to know why big brother Izuku was playing with the big kids and not her anymore.
"Well... Me, Iida, Todoroki... We kind of got ordered not to indulge too much..." Izuku honestly answered. Though it was a complete slap in the face, had they been made celebrities due to their efforts in defeating Stain, they would have had to be punished for using their Quirks without Provisional Licenses. Same for what happened to Overgrow. But... "...I didn't tell you because... Well, I didn't want to worry you. I-I thought that you might be busy with your workplace experience, s-so..."
Mina was gobsmacked. Only Izuku.
Only he could face an infamous serial murderer, be confronted with the prospect of being brutally and violently killed, fight the terrifying psychopath, end up hospitalised, and still think that he would be inconveniencing others if he told them what happened. The one time where anyone on this earth could be forgiven for being that tiny bit selfish, for thinking about themselves and wanting to talk to someone about it, to vent and admit their feelings and worries, confess their fear and not be judged, only Izuku would chose not to use it because he thought Mina could be a little too busy to talk. She was amazed. Absolutely amazed. Heator could have gone to hell for all she cared, she would have dashed away to talk to him all night if he'd asked!
"Midori... You..."
That was it.
That was where her fondness for him had grown from. This was why she'd developed these feelings. It had all started with Todoroki. The red-and-white haired naturally gifted strongest member of class 1-A. He was at war with himself, for years as far as everyone in 1-A knew, refusing to use his fire powers because they were inherited from his father. He wanted to deny that lineage, that bloodline, that relationship itself, because of everything his father had supposedly done. He refuse to ever break the vow he'd made, to never use his fire side.
Izuku could have beaten him. He could have used his Quirk and sent him flying out of the ring, if he'd kept his damn mouth shut, he could have overpowered Todoroki. Frostbite claiming him, Todoroki had become weaker as the fight went on, with Izuku gaining the upper hand. Blast after hit after dodge and after strike, bones shattered or not, he was still winning. But he'd challenged Todoroki to challenge himself, to question his own oath. To think of himself as himself. Your power is your own, no one else's. That was what he'd said. And he'd made Todoroki use his left side. He'd done it. It cost him the match... But he'd done it.
Overgrow was next... There was no reason for him and her to fight that Villain. Fighting him would have only resulted in trouble for them were they caught in the middle of the fight by anyone other than Kamui Woods. The selfish thing, the thing Mina wanted to do, was to run, to let a Pro handle the situation. But Izuku... He refused. He couldn't just let it happen... Not while there was something he could do about it... And his determination, his dedication... It had inspired her, and before she'd known it, she was doing a forward-moving backflip in the air, with arms secreting as much acid as she physically could as part of his master plan.
And now, The Hero Killer, and Iida?...
That was why she'd fallen for him.
He was the most selfless, most courageous, and Heroic bastard she'd ever met in her entire life. He was so selfless, it went full circle, and went right back around to being selfish. How the hell was anyone supposed to compete with someone so damn altruistic?...
"You're... You... You're... You're like the most... Amazing person I think I've ever met." Mina couldn't help herself from saying it, but bizarrely, she didn't feel even slightly embarrassed in saying it. She meant it, well and truly. There just be wasn't anyone else she could think of. Even All Might didn't come close. All Might was a Pro, he was expected to do everything he did... But Izuku... He was a student, like her... There was nothing that said he should have to these things. He just did.
But he did it anyway. How couldn't she be inspired, and admire this boy?...
Izuku suddenly went up like a Christmas tree, his face going scarlet red and his eyes shot wide open, revealing his green iris' even more. His stammer came back like he'd been hit over the head with it, fumbling over his words and trying to formulate a coherent sentence. "That - Th - That... I - You - Wh - H - Huh?!"
The Acid Quirk user just smiled at him, nervousness gone. She'd been approaching this wrong, she thought to herself. She'd been trying to do this like she'd seen in the movies, in Anime, in anything else. But Izuku... He wasn't a conventional sort of person. And neither was she. There wasn't any sort of reason to do this than the way she would have done in normal circumstances. These realisations come forth, she found herself able to relax, and interact with him normally... Well, as normal as she could when it came to this guy.
"I - I - I - I - I - I - You - Th - That's a - a little much, i - isn't it?" He managed to sputter out, still redder than his own blood was. His hands had become a waving mess, unable to decide if he was supposed to be grabbing his face, brushing away the heat on his face, hiding himself, or whatever the hell else he could do.
"Nope!" Mina cheerfully responded, flicking his forehead lightly. "Humble, Heroic, selfless, supportive, and we haven't even finished our first semester yet. Speaks for itself, don't'cha think, Midori?" She chimed his nickname again, savouring the sound it made. "I've only really known you a few weeks... And well... You're the kinda guy I wish I'd known my whole life..."
"M-Mina-san..."
"I mean..." Mina remembered all those sweet words, all that help he gave her when she needed it. "I'm just... I guess I'm trying to say, I'm really glad I met you, Midori."
Izuku seemed to wrestle with something as he stared, rather intensely, at the back of the seat in front of him, still so red, his freckles had basically disappeared. He bit his lower lip, and went even redder. Along with this, he began to mumble something, but he was quiet so Mina couldn't hear. When he finally stopped, he looked at her with a fierce fluster.
"Y-You... You can call me I-Izuku i-if you want..." He offered through a dry throat and a face so warm that Mina swore that the condensation on the window was because of him and him alone. No one called him Izuku. The only person who he was close enough to comfortably call him that was his mother.
That in itself spoke mountains as to his feelings for Mina at this point. But...
"Nah. Your first names kinda plain."
"H-Hey!"
She laughed. "Midori-kun's cuter!" Punching his shoulder lightly before resting her head on it, careful not to whack him in the face with her horns, she made herself comfortable. "But... Izuku feels closer. Maybe just when we're alone, 'kay?"
"I-if that's what you w-want..."
"Okay... Izuku." She smiled, knowing full well the effect it would have on him. She liked it. His first name. Sure it was plain, a bit like him... Or how he looked at least. But it was earnest. It was personal. And it was hers to call him.
They kept going on the train in a comfortable, happy silence, Mina not moving her head from her comfortable Midori-pillow. The muscles in his body, when relaxed, made him a lot cushionier than someone would think from looking at him, so he really was like a pillow for Mina. She was close to him, both figuratively, and literally, and it gave her great comfort. It made her truly happy, really relaxed, just... Content was the best word to describe her right now. Content. At some point, Izuku's arm ended up around her neck, keeping her warm and close to him, and he rested his head gently on hers, avoiding her skull-based extremities as he did so.
Looking up at him, she could see his face. Well, just a little bit of it, his freckled cheek and his eyes, and the corner of his mouth. He was still as red as a beet was, and she could feel him shivering, probably out of his inexperience being in such close proximity to other people. But his eyes were half closed, indicating his relaxed state, and his lips were ever-so-slightly curled up, indicating a weak, shaky, but definite smile.
And being leaned on his, Mina could hear his heartbeat, currently rocketing at 130 bpm. Her own heart was probably close to that as well, though she hadn't counted that one as accurately. Was he... Was Izuku feeling the same way as she was?... Was that what that meant? Mina entertained the idea fondly as she sighed softly.
The announcer suddenly declared that the stop they were at now was the last one before they ended up at Izuku's stop, meaning that this comfortable silence, this comfortable warmth from the boy she was leaned against, would soon be over. But she didn't want it to be over...
'Screw it.' Mina thought to herself. After this, it wasn't like she'd lose anything... And if she didn't try, she wouldn't gain anything. More than that though... She didn't want this, right here and now, whatever it was, to be a one-time thing. She didn't want this to be nothing else but a fond memory that she shared with him, and something she tried to artificially recreate with him later sown the line throughout their time at Yuuei. Weirdly, she wasn't nervous about asking.
Without looking up at him, she launched the question.
"Hey, Izuku... You wanna hang out Saturday? I owe you a hangout favour anyway..."
Izuku remained silent, for just a few seconds, but Mina felt his heart rate increase. He became warmer than he already was. When he responded, he did so alongside a small nod. "... Yeah... I - I do want to..."
"One in the afternoon outside Yuuei again?"
"Yeah..."
And that was it. Just the question had provided the answer, just as the train came to the destined, dreaded halt. Reluctantly, Mina pulled herself away from Izuku, the air cold without his warmth to accompany it. She blushed, wondering just how hard she'd fallen for this guy in such as short space of time.
They walked off together, standing next to one another for just a small amount of time, neither one of them really sure how to say goodbye. Neither of them particularly wanting to say goodbye.
"I... I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, Mina-san..."
"Looks that way, Midori-kun..."
"...You want me to walk you to your station?" He suddenly offered with a shy smile. It was just a way to temporarily extend the time they could spend together, and Mina knew that.
But she appreciated it nonetheless. "That'd be nice."
Close proximity meant that it wasn't a very long extension of their time, but it was an extension, one neither of them hated at all. These feelings, these thoughts Izuku had, they were all new to him, as they were to Mina. They almost felt rushed... But he liked them all the same. He wasn't aware that Mina felt the same way... But he liked to think she did.
Depressingly, the train was actually on time for once, meaning now was the time for Mina to go. For real this time, but he could see her hesitation, her clenched fists. 'Does she feel the same?...'
"Hey." He said warmly. "You'll see me tomorrow. And Saturday." That damn warm smile, yet again!...
She did it then. The hell with caution or even really hiding it now. Mina steeled the nerves that were telling her to board the train right the hell now. She turned to face Izuku, and tightly gripped his shoulders, her knuckles turning that unique shade of purple they did, matching her cheeks. "Saturday! 1PM outside Yuuei!"
"Y-Yes!" The confused green haired students suddenly rocketed into attention, his eyes widened in surprise.
"It's a date then, Midori-kun!" She told him, before pulling herself closer to him, and after throwing her arms around his neck, planting the biggest kiss she'd ever given, seen, or heard in her entire life on his cheek, just atop his now invisible freckles. The affectionate display lasted only a few seconds, but it was more than enough to send Izuku into a near paralytic state. Of there was ever a better example of has stopped working, he'd forgotten it years ago.
Mina quickly let go, and after shooting him a wink from her black right eye, skipped her way onto the train.
Izuku didn't move for a long time after that. Not when her train left, and not even when the next one came. His brain was processing what had just happened to him - the first kiss he had ever, ever received from a girl. It wasn't something he was even slightly able to comprehend had just happened right there, just a short while ago. And it had been Mina. Mina had given him the first kiss he'd ever received in his life. Mina!
He stood there for so long comprehending it, eventually, someone dropped some coins at his feet, mistaking him for some sort of public performer.