Izuku x Mina

Chapter 1

Mina Ashido moved at a hurried pace as she stepped off the train, grimacing a bit as she looked at the clock on her phone. She didn't even bother to say "excuse me" as she weaved her way somewhat forcefully through the crowd of people around her as she made for the exit to the station. No time to be polite; she already super late.
Thankfully the street outside was far less congested than the station, and the young heroine was able to move at a faster pace, though not nearly as fast as she could be going.
"Ugh, why did I have to go with heels...? Stupid." She grumbled as her shoes clicked rhythmically on the pavement. Part of her wanted to simply take them off and run to her destination, but she didn't want to work up a sweat. Skating there with her Quirk was also extremely tempting, but that was probably an even worse idea for several reasons.
She checked her phone again, trying to will time itself to slow down for her. 6:39, almost 45 minutes late.
The acid wielder was on her way to a reunion with her classmates at U.A. It had been 1 year since they had all graduated, and they decided to celebrate the occasion with a little party of sorts. Mina herself had been the one to suggest it, as a matter of fact.
1 year may have seemed to early to some for a high school reunion, but that was just a testament to how close their group had been. Even after being split among different classes after their first year, the former members of Class 1A had all stayed friends up until graduation and beyond. Sure, maybe some of them didn't regularly hang out with each other, but they all still had a bond they all shared. Much of that was due to all the perils they had faced together both in and out of the classroom, but it was also just the fact that most of them got along.
Unfortunately, adulthood had meant a lot of Mina's old class hadn't been in contact with each other. Everyone had gone off to continue their hero career, whether that meant going to college, sidekicking, or even trying to strike out on their own. With how much the hero world had changed since that fateful day when All Might stepped down, everyone had been quite busy. Mina herself had currently sidekicking with the pro Miruko, who was very good at making sure she had plenty to do. It was demanding work, but "Alien Queen" didn't expect anything less.
While some members of 1A that had been particularly close stayed in pretty regular contact, on the whole they had not been able to keep in touch as often as they'd like. So Mina had reached out to a few of the more organized members of their group and proposed this little reunion idea. Everyone was on board, and it didn't take long to nail down a place and time.
And here Mina was, late to the event she herself had planned. And she had nobody to blame but herself; she had been so determined to find the perfect look for the occasion that she had spent far too much time getting ready. Then there was a delay with her train due to a villain attack earlier that day, which only made things worse.
Still, all that time in front of her wardrobe had paid off; Mina was quite proud of her current look. She'd picked out a short, fuzzy sky-blue dress with long sleeves that stopped just above her hips with a white belt around her midriff with a gold buckle. Just under it was a pair of tight black shorts that connected to some equally black leggings, with skin showing between them at her upper thighs. On her feet were high-heeled boots that were tan in color. To finish it off she had picked out a pair of loose-fitting gold necklaces that went down to her chest, a couple gold bracelets on her right wrist, and a pair of triangle-shaped gold earrings.
It was both fancy and cute without looking excessive, and Mina felt it matched her unique skin tone perfectly. Definitely time well spent, even if it did make her late. Sure her old classmates wouldn't really mind if she showed up in, say, gym clothes, but she wanted to look nice for this for a couple of reasons. One was simply the fact that she loved being fashionable and getting dressed up for stuff. The other, well...
It wasn't like Mina was intending to leave with someone tonight, but she decided it couldn't hurt to consider that being a possibility. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't feeling just a little bit flirty. Why not turn some heads?
She sighed. It wasn't like she only planned this for nefarious purposes; she genuinely just wanted to see her old friends again, and that was still her priority here. But stuff had happened between when they had planned this and now, and she was feeling a bit... Wanting, for lack of a better word. It was only a fleeting feeling, but it was there.
It wasn't long before the tardy girl finally arrived at her destination. The Yayaorozu household was just as impressive as she remembered. Momo may not have lived here anymore, but her parents had been more than okay with letting her use it to host this little get-together. The "class mom", as she had sort of become known as, had handled the majority of the planning for this alongside Mina.
Following the adorable signs Momo had made to guide people, Mina made it to the front door. Ringing the door bell, she smiled as the door soon opened to reveal her fellow party planner.
"Momo!" She exclaimed as she rushed forward to embrace the taller woman, who returned the gesture in kind. "Gosh, I am sooooo sorry I'm late! I just... Totally lost track of time!"
"It's alright, most of us figured you were just taking a while to get ready or something," Momo said as they released each other. This prompted a small blush from her friend.
"...Man, I really built up a rep, huh?" They both laughed at this. "Also, wow you look nice!"
Momo was still the same tall, shapely girl she had always been, though she looked a bit thicker than she did back in high school. Mina was used to this, knowing full well that her extra weight was the result of a very specialized diet and training regimen designed to help her utilize her Quirk to its fullest potential. There was plenty of muscle underneath that baby fat. She wore a sparkling red dress that flowed elegantly with some jewelry to match it, as well as black heels.
"Thanks, so do you!" Momo responded, returning the compliment. "That blue suits you."
"Right?" Mina did a little pose, beaming with pride. Already her hard work was paying off. "You guys better not have had too much fun without me!" Momo chuckled.
"Of course not. Now come on, I'm sure you're eager to see everyone."
The pair moved for the living room, which is where the party proper was occurring. Along the way the two girls chatted about what they had been up to recently. Momo was one of the people Mina had stayed in contact with the most after U.A., so neither of them was pressed to spend a ton of time alone together. Plenty of other people they needed to catch up with.
Mina's smile only grew bigger as she entered the living room. Just about everyone else from her old class was there, all broken up into little groups throughout the room as they talked. Most were holding glasses, bottles, or little plates of food that had clearly come from a nearby table full of all sorts of snacks and drinks. Some faint music was playing on a stereo system throughout the whole room.
"HEY EVERYONE!" Momo winced as Mina shouted, unable to contain her excitement as she took in all the familiar faces. The whole room turned to see their most colorful classmate waving energetically as her legs bounced up and down a bit. A chorus of people cheerfully shouting "Mina!" and "Ashido!" echoed back.
Mina wasted no time. Within less than a minute she had a full glass of wine in one hand, a plate of fruit, crackers, and fancy cheeses in the other, and was darting around the room to personally greet everyone. Hugs were tricky when your hands were full, but she found a way to make it work. Nobody was safe from her affection.
She took the time to personally catch up with each and every person in the room. A handful of her old classmates seemed to be missing, but talking to the others revealed that they were all here, just not in the room at the moment.
Mina loved seeing how everyone had changed since high school. Kyoka had gone even further with her punk look and had even joined a band at the college she was at. Tenya was still very much a straight-edge but had become much more relaxed and casual than he once was, and naturally was also attending college. Asui seemed to have become even more frog-like than she was before but was otherwise the same girl. Everyone had grown up just a little bit, but deep down they were all still the same people Mina knew and loved.
She didn't stay with one group for too long, though she promised everyone she'd talk with them more later. There were so much she wanted to talk to them all about, but she also wanted to make sure she didn't leave anyone out.
Eventually, though, someone did make her slow down. As she was moving from one group conversation to another, a very familiar face caught her eye. She nearly dropped her wine glass as she gasped, her eyes lighting up like stars.
"OCHA!" She squealed, causing a few nearby people to jump in surprise. Ochako Uraraka immediately turned to see her, and had a similar reaction as their eyes met.
"MINA!"
The pair practically ran towards each other before meeting with a vice-like hug. Mina lifted her best friend in the whole world up a bit and spun her around a bit as they both laughed, all while keeping her food and drink steady.
Ochako was the person Mina had been looking forward to seeing here the most. The two had been besties throughout all their years at U.A., and frankly still were. However, life had kept them apart ever since graduation. Sure they had talked through texts and video calls, but it just wasn't the same as hanging out in person.
"I was in the bathroom, did you just get here?" Ochako asked as Mina set her down.
"Yep! Took a little too long picking what to wear." The pinkette said as if she was proud of that fact. "What do you think?" She did a little twirl to give her friend a full display.
"Oooo, that's so pretty! That a new dress?" Ochako asked.
"Sure is!" Mina looked the brunette over. "But seriously, can we talk about your outfit! Like, damn girl!"
Ochako was wearing a shoulder-less dress that was light pink in color. It was snug above the waist, but below it was loose and wavy like a skirt, ending just above her knees. Around the waist was a wide sash tied in a bow that was a darker pink compared to the rest of the dress. Combined with her curly, shoulder-length hair, she had a bit of a princess look to her.
"Like it? It was on sale!" Mina laughed.
"Of course it was." even if Ochako was making decent money with her current sidekicking job with 13, she was still quite the penny pincher.
The went on like this for several minutes. There wasn't too much they needed to catch up on, as they talked to each other very frequently. They were simply happy to be with each other in person after so long.
As they were both refilling on snacks, A mop of green hair across the room caught Mina's eye.
"So how's your better half doing these days?" Izuku Midoriya hadn't been in the room when Mina arrived. She was actually a little surprised he wasn't with Ochako when Mina spotted her, and she was even more surprised that he was all the way across the room talking to some other people.
When Ochako didn't answer, she turned back to face her with a mischievous grin.
"What? You two still too shy to-huh?" Her smile dropped as she saw Ochako's expression. Rather than embarrassed and flustered like Mina expected, her face looked a bit sullen as she stared down at the table. "...Ocha?"
The brunette still didn't say anything, instead looking back up at Mina with that same expression. Black eyes widened in shock.
"No..." Mina put a hand to her mouth as she felt her chest tighten. "P-Please don't tell me you two-
"...We did," Ochako interrupted with a small sigh. "We... Broke up."
Mina whirled around as she folded her hands together and put them in front of her mouth. She shut her eyes and inhaled sharply, then turned around and opened them again. Lowering her hands, she stared at Ochako with a very calm expression for a moment.
Then, she suddenly grasped her friend by the shoulders as her attempt to not freak out failed miserably.
"You BROKE UP!?" She shrieked, practically shaking Ochako. "B-But... Y-You were so... With him... And you two were... WHAT!?" Mina's brain was doing loop-de-loops trying to figure out how what felt like the most perfect pair could have split up.
"M-Mina, listen-
"Did he dump you?" Her dark eyes narrowed. "He didn't cheat on you, did he? I swear, I'm going to go over there and-
"Mina." Ochako cut her off with a surprising amount of authority as she gripped her emotional friend's shoulders. "Please, calm down. It's not like that." The pink girl stared at her for a moment, hung her head a bit and took another deep breath as she relaxed her hold on Ochako.
"Okay... Okay... I'm calm, I'm calm, I'm SO NOT CALM!" Her head snapped back up as her grip tightened again. "How long? Why didn't you tell me? This couldn't have just happened, I..." Realizing she was getting worked up again and that people were probably starting to stare, she stopped herself and let go of her friend.
"...You good?" Ochako asked wearily. Mina took a few more deep breaths, forcing herself to relax a little. For real this time. She nodded.
"I'm... Super sorry, I just... God, really?"
"Yes, really." Ochako looked to the side and rubbed the side of her head. "I actually didn't tell you because I didn't want you freaking out like this..."
"I... Okay, fair I guess... But still!" Mina was a little hurt.
"Also, it's... It's actually been less than a week."
"...Oh. Well, that makes a lot more sense then." The pink girl blinked a few times. "...But seriously Ocha, if he did anything-
"Relax, he didn't. Come on, you know Izuku." Mina winced slightly hearing her call him that instead of "Deku". Granted, "Deku" was his hero name now, so it was maybe more casual to say "Izuku".
"Well... I mean, he kept one hell of a secret from all of us for awhile there," Mina pointed out. Ochako let out a small laugh.
"Okay yes, but that's a bit different. He would've told us about One for All sooner if he could have." Mina still remembered the day the truth about Izuku's bizarre Quirk came to light. It was quite the revelation, and it had taken a long time for her to wrap her head around the idea of Quirks being passed on.
"Yeah, you're right. So, uh, what happened then?" Mina felt she was close enough to Ochako to ask this kind of stuff.
"Well... I actually was sort of the one to break up with him."
Mina went bug-eyed at this.
"Wha..." She had to stop herself from having another freak-out. "You're kidding!"
Ochako had had a crush on Izuku for years before finally working up the courage to ask him out. And that was after more than a little "help" from Mina. It wasn't until just around graduation that they finally became an item. How could this have happened?
"I... I just..." Mina shook her head. "Well, what do you mean 'sort of'?" Ochako took a sip of her drink.
"Well... It was kind of mutual, I guess? I mean, I was the one who decided we should stop seeing each other, but after talking it over a bit he agreed it was for the best."
"...I see." Well, that made it somewhat better at least. Still, Mina could feel her heart sinking into her stomach. She had been so happy for her two friends when they finally got together. It was a project she had been working on for over a year, and to see that it didn't end up working out was disheartening, to say the least.
"If it makes you feel better, we're still friends... Though we're giving each other some space before we really start talking again." This news cheered Mina up a bit.
"Well, it's something at least." She sighed. "So what went wrong?"
"Well, it's... Complicated." Of course it was. "I guess after the first few months, the whole 'I'm really dating him!' thing kinda wore off and just... I don't know." Ochako's eyebrow furrowed as she seemed to be thinking. "I guess I started realizing Izuku was, well, a real person and not..." She trailed off.
"Not the perfect guy you made up in your head?" Mina finished, this starting to sound way too familiar.
"Yeah, that. He's still a wonderful person, but just..." Ochako sighed again.
"I know what that's like," her friend said quietly. "Or well... I know what it's like to be on the other side of that."
The pink girl looked back to where she saw Izuku. He was talking to a few people, though Mina was focused on one in particular.
Eijiro Kirishima, her oldest friend here... And her ex.
"Huh?" Ochako followed her eyes. "Oh... Right."
Eijiro had confessed to Mina partway through their last year at U.A. Mina had expected he had feelings for her for some time, but was waiting for him to work up the courage to ask her out himself. She had accepted, of course; she had begun developing feelings for him once she suspected he liked her.
Mina didn't regret dating him anything. In fact, the two of them were still very good friends. But at some point after they had graduated, their relationship begun to get shaky.
It was sort of both their faults. Eijiro, much like Ochako with Izuku, had put Mina on a bit of a pedestal for years. She had been something of a role model to him ever since middle school. And again, like Ochako, he realized she was in fact a real person. Which meant she had some flaws.
Flaws such as perhaps being a little too clingy. Or thinking waaaaaaay too soon about things like marriage and kids. Or even little things like, say, snoring.
It didn't help that he could sometimes be a bit too bullheaded about things. Long story short, they both realized at some point that if they didn't stop dating, they might start hating each other. This was a little over two months ago, and Mina had been single ever since.
"It wasn't just that, though," Ochako continued, causing Mina to stop reminiscing and look back at her. "To be honest... I'm sure Izuku ever really liked me like that."
"What?" Mina scoffed at this notion. "Come on! Why would he have dated you if he didn't?"
"Well... You know how much he hates upsetting people. I think he mostly said yes to make me happy." She shrugged. "Just... I could start to tell, you know?"
As much as Mina didn't want to admit it, agreeing to a date just to make someone happy was definitely something Izuku would do. The guy had never dated anyone before anyway, so he might not have even realized that's what he was doing.
This whole thing stank, but in the end it just seems like it was destined to not work out. Mina would just have to accept that.
"To be honest, you're taking it worse than either of us did," Ochako joked, trying to lighten to mood.
"Hey, I worked really hard to get you two together!" Mina huffed, crossing her arms.
"I know, I know. And I still really appreciate it." Ochako rested a hand on her friend's shoulder, smiling as she gave a look Mina couldn't quite read. "It must've been tough for you." The pinkette raised an eyebrow at these words, then smirked.
"Heck yes it was! It took months for you to be able to talk to him without floating!" This earned a small laugh from Ochako.
"Right..." The two were quiet for a moment.
"So..." Mina played with her wine glass. "You're alright, then?"
"I mean, I'm definitely going to hold off on any serious dating for a little bit but... Yes. I'm fine." Ochako frowned. "...Honestly, I think Izuku's still a bit upset though. Not at me, but... He just seems a bit out of it. He's walked off suddenly once or twice, and one time was when we bumped into each other."
"Oh no!" Mina's face fell a bit as she looked at Izuku as well. "Poor guy... But I thought you said he agreed you guys should break up."
"He did. But still..." Ochako looked at Mina again. "Maybe you can talk to him?"
"Wh-me?" Mina whirled around. "Like, about the breakup and stuff?" Her brunette friend shrugged.
"Yeah, sort of. You're good at cheering people up, you know? And, well..." She paused. "Just think about it, okay? It's probably not a good idea for us to talk about it."
"Yeah, definitely not." Mina and Eijiro did the same thing back when they split up. A solid week or two of not really talking, just to give themselves time to adjust. "Tell you what, if I think he's acting funny I'll talk to him, okay?" She probably would have done that anyway.
"Thanks." Ochako smiled softly. "...Wow, completely killed our mood, huh? This is supposed to be a party!" She poured herself a fresh glass of wine, offering to top off Mina's.
"Yes please!" Mina didn't intend to go too crazy tonight, but a little buzz wouldn't hurt. They clinked their now filled glasses and looked around the room, trying to think of something to say in order to change the subject.
"Oh, so did you hear?" Ochako finally spoke. "Mineta's dating someone now."
Mina's jaw dropped.
"Shut the hell up." Her response prompted laughter from Ochako. "You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. Trust me, I though the same thing too." Minoru had learned to control himself around his classmates a bit more over the years, but he was still very open about how perverted he was. To hear that he was in a relationship was... Almost scary.
Mina frowned. Every guy she had talked to so far was seeing someone. She was obviously happy for them and planned to grill them all for the juicy details later, but she had been hoping to find someone she could flirt with a bit. Hearing Minoru of all people was spoken for made her wonder if any of the guys here were still single.
Well okay, she knew one of them was now, but...
"So who's the 'lucky' girl?" Mina asked, trying to not think too much more about that topic.
"Remember Tokage?"
"...Oh wow, that makes total sense." That girl was about as dirty as Minoru was. Mina shuddered a bit as she imagined the sorts of things they likely had done together.
Granted, she wasn't exactly an innocent flower herself. The fact that she had planned for the possibility of going home with a guy tonight proved that, even if it wasn't her primary goal.
Going back to the single life wasn't so bad at first, but over the last few months Mina had felt more and more dissatisfied. She was still very much an independent person, but there were benefits to having a boyfriend that she missed. That feeling of companionship, that knowledge that here would be someone there for you whenever you needed them, and, well, sex.
Mina wasn't ashamed to admit she really missed that last one. But it wasn't just the act itself she missed (though it did feel nice), but rather the feeling of doing it with someone you cared about. Someone you knew and had a connection with, at least on some level. It was why she didn't like the idea of just hooking up with some random stranger.
At the same time though, she was a little nervous about dating again. After how she'd messed things up between herself and Eijiro, she was scared to fully commit to someone right away. She had taken things a little too far too fast in that regard, what with talking about when, not if, they'd be getting married and how many kids they'd be having. She had just been so enraptured with the idea of finally finding love that she didn't really stop and think things through.
It was a bit of a paradox. She wanted to be with someone that mattered to her, yet she was hesitant about making a commitment. That's why tonight had presented a unique opportunity.
These people had been through so much together over the years, and Mina felt a special connection with them all. If there was someone she could feel comfortable with taking home for a one night thing, they'd be here. Maybe something more would come of it, or maybe not. Frankly, Mina was okay having a friend with benefits for now.
"Mina?"
A hand waving in front of her face drew the pink heroine from her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh jeez, sorry." She shook her head.
"You all good?" Ochako asked with a hint of concern in her voice. Not wanting to discuss her weirdly specific romance problems, Mina nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine just... I was picturing Mineta and Tokage together, and well..."
"Ew! Don't put that image in my head!" Ochako made a face of disgust.
"Well you shouldn't have told me they were dating!" A random thought popped into Mina's head, and she put a hand over her face. "Oh god, I just remembered that video we saw once of that lizard eating a grape and now-
"STOOOOOP!" Ochako pleaded. "Oh god, ew, ew, ew, ew!"
"I can never watch that again... Ugh..."
After taking a few moments to calm down and change subjects to something a bit less gross, the pair decided they should find others to talk to. Mina eyed the group Izuku and Eijiro were still in.
"I'm gonna go say hi them, haven't spoken to anyone over there yet. You want to come?" Ochako looked.
"Uh... No, I probably shouldn't."
"...Right, right. Well, I'll find you later, okay?"
"Sounds good!" The two girls hugged each other again before splitting off.