Children.

Okay so I realize that I've been switching Aizawa's class from morning to afternoon thru like,,,,the whole book. Idk why. So I'm making it that they're in his class during the afternoon. They'll have their attendance taken for 15 minutes in his class during the morning, kind of like a homeroom? Then gen ed classes and then hero course.

Idk why I switched around so much.

ALSO idk how I'm feeling about this chapter in comparison to previous ones. It's kinda blegh.

Enjoy~

(Y/n)'s POV

I made my way to class the next day with Mina by my side. She had spent the night in my dorm after cutting my hair.

"I'm sorry I've been acting so weird lately," Mina said.

"Weird?"

"Yeah, I've been all up in your business," she said. "I was talking to Deku and he mentioned that I shouldn't have told you. I should've let you guys work it out on your own."

"That's okay Mina. In a way, I think it turned out better. If he had mentioned it to me, I would've been caught off guard and possibly freaked. At least this way it wasn't a fight," I said. "I know you were just trying to help. Thank you for the apology though, I appreciate it." She smiled and nodded at me.

"And about the hair, I should've been a little more supportive," she said. "It's your hair and your decision."

"You were just making sure I wasn't going to regret my decision," I said. "Seriously Mina, I'm alright."

"I know, just a time like this can be hard and I haven't been the best."

"It's fine," I said, letting out a singular breathy laugh. "You don't have to worry about me so much."

"Yeah, okay," she replied. She looked at me again. "Your hair really frames your face. It just works. You look more confident actually."

"Thanks. Or compliments to the hairdresser," I said, gesturing to her.

"Where's Deku at?" She asked, glancing around. "I thought last night he said he would be outside class?"

"I don't know," I hummed, shrugging. "Maybe he's inside." We walked in the classroom solely occupied by Sero and Kaminari, which was strange because they were usually near the bell.

"Hey babe!" Sero called. He stopped looking at me. "Woah, where'd all your hair go?"

"Dang (y/n), you're looking hot," Kaminari said. I raised an eyebrow at him, smirking slightly.

"Thank you? Mina did it," I said, running a hand down it. Mina and Sero embraced and I leaned up against Kaminari's desk. I smiled at him and his face flushed slightly.

"It looks really good (y/n)," he said, nodding at me.

"Thank you," I replied.

"Tell him (y/n), he needs to let me cut his hair," Mina said, pointing to Sero.

"You would look good," I nodded and he just shook his head.

"Should Mina cut my hair?" Kaminari asked and I turned towards him.

"Nah, I think you look good with what you have now. It's actually getting long, you could totally have a tiny ponytail," I said, flicking his hair away from his face.

"Woah! (Y/n) your hair looks great!" I glanced around to Uraraka. She had walked in with Deku who just nodded to me, already having seen it. Iida and Todoroki followed.

"Thank you."

"It is very good!" Iida added.

"That was me, I did that," Mina said and I rolled my eyes.

"You suit short hair," Todoroki said.

"AGH you should let me cut your hair Todoroki," Mina said.

"I don't see why not," he replied. I watched as Sero placed an arm around Mina, a pang of jealously probably washing over him.

"So this is the final product," Yaomomo said, approaching the group. "I wondered exactly why Mina needed those scissors."

"Yeah, that probably sounded so sus," Mina said.

"I like it," Momo nodded.

"Cool!" Jirou called, "it's like mine but all wavy."

"Thank you," I replied. I received compliments as people filed into the classroom, unfortunately including Mineta. One of my favorites was Aoyama, who desperately wanted to style me now.

"Morning (y/n)!" Kirishima greeted. Beside him stood Kacchan who was eyeing me hard. He seemed kind of surprised.

"Good morning," I replied.

"Maybe pinky can finally fix your shitty hair," Kacchan scoffed, elbowing Kirishima. Kirishima refuted his playful insult, Kacchan looking back at me. I smiled, laughing along with a few people. The corners of Kacchan's lips tugged up into a slight smile.

He was watching me with great intensity, ensuring that I was having a good time and wouldn't come crawling back to him rather than taking advantage of our break. That or he was trying to convince himself not to crawl back. Either way, I found immense comfort in the sharp red irises watching me, moving with me like some kind of mirroring game.

I still didn't know how I was feeling about us being friends. While for the time being it was the only option, Kacchan and I had never had the opportunity to be normal friends. There was always that overwhelming presence of romantic tension between us that kept us from that point. This time was no different. Then again, we never got to a point of full romance because we were always stopped by other things. So it remained to be seen that we were in a rut, which the space was supposed to be fixing. So my wants were out of the question now. This is how it needs to be.

"Take your seats so I can record attendance," Aizawa called. I seated myself beside Izuku, awkwardly watching our teacher. I was still so embarrassed after calling him dad yesterday. "As you know, license exams are this Friday. I know all of you have been working very hard and I expect a lot from you. Don't be too nervous, you'll all do well with the progress you've been making in class. I'd also like for you to pass forward your villain reports."

I pulled mine from my bag, taking the ones from behind me to add to mine and passing them up. I noticed that Aizawa was particularly happy looking this morning.

"Thank you," Aizawa said, waving his hand to signal we had the rest of our homeroom to ourselves. I turned in my seat towards Izuku, hearing Aizawa interrupt again. "(Y/n), could you come here please?"

Crap.

I stood up, leaving my bag at my desk to approach him. I stood there for a moment as he placed a clip over the papers so they wouldn't get separated.

"I just wanted to ask if you will be ready for license exams? I know things have been rather crazy lately and if you haven't been keeping up with training I'd rather you not hurt yourself. We could push them back a week," he said.

"What? No, no. I've studied and I've worked," I said. I hadn't been at my peak performance, but I was ready for exams.

"Alright, good to know you're ready," he said.

"Uh, what about Kacchan?"

"He'll be offered the push back as well," he said, nodding at me.

"Okay," I replied softly.

"I'd also like to speak to you about yesterday," he said.

"I'm sorry!" I blurted, causing him to pause and look up at me. "I just don't have a male role model like that and it was my mistake, I shouldn't have called you dad. I don't know how I got mixed up! I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I won't do it again." I ducked my head slightly.

"(Y/n) it's alright. I'm not mad at you," he said.

"You're not?"

"No, of course not. I'm glad you see me as a role model," he said. "It's okay if you call me that, I know you've never had that. I'd just be wary of calling me that around your friends."

"Right. You sure?" I asked. He nodded, smiling slightly. It appeared that he actually liked the fact I looked up to him like that. It was probably one of the softest things I had ever seen from Aizawa-sensei.

"You can sit down now," he said, turning back to his papers. I returned to my desk, Izuku awaiting my return.

"You get in trouble for calling him dad?" Izuku asked, a slight smirk on his face.

"Nah," I replied. "I'm his favorite so."

"You are not!" Izuku argued.

"Sure, problem child," I mocked and he pout in my direction.

~~~

I headed for the gym, knowing I had missed the last 2 days at least. I went to tug up my hair, realizing that I couldn't anymore. I settled for bringing half of it up so it would at least be out of my face. I saw a few kids already working out and I settled for the treadmill. My flexibility and my strength were still strong, but my endurance remained to take a hit when my gym visits lessened. I had a few weights and I could stretch in my room, but I relied on the treadmills and track for my endurance.

I hopped up on the treadmill, my feet on the solid edges as I turned it on. I started with a walk for around a minute before turning it up. I was running at a good pace now when I clicked on my music. I listened, staring at the wall for a long while as I ran. I was beginning to grow tired and my breath was heavy, but I bumped up the speed a singular notch. I was waiting for the sweet spot when my legs began to burn.

A hand reached up and shut off my machine, causing me to nearly wipe out as I stumbled off the machine.

"What the—" Kacchan was stood there, still in his school uniform. "What are you doing? You could've made me fall!"

"I never got to tell you that I liked your hair," he said.

"And that constitutes scaring the shit out of me?" I said, wiping off my face. I was already sticky with sweat so that my bangs stuck to my forehead my clothes getting caught on the curves of my body.

"And I wanted to say you looked beautiful," he said.

"What?"

"Raindrop, I don't want distance because I want you more. I want to be honest with you," he said. I felt my clammy skin prickle up with goosebumps. My heart was nearly beating out of my chest.

"I—but you said that—"

"Who out there is better for you than me," he said. "No one. I'm not confused anymore. I know exactly how much I need you."

"I—"

"I want to tell you what I'm feeling."

"Well that's great," I said. "Y—"

"(Y/n), I love you." I felt my legs nearly give out from underneath me.

"Wait, what?"

I stumbled suddenly and I let out a yelp as I gripped the handles of the treadmill, my feet finding the edges. I quickly shut off the treadmill, trying to catch my breath. I glanced around at the few other students who were now looking at me strangely. I gave an awkward smile towards some of them before stepping off and hunching over. I was nearly heaving, not realizing that I had turned the machine up another 2 notches.

Had I really been daydreaming like that?

Of course it had been, it wouldn't be that easy. That was ridiculous. Of course, it was odd to now think of where it had been stemming from. That was the most direct version of Kacchan that I had ever seen. He knew exactly what he wanted and what he didn't, he wanted to express to me. It was obvious that I wanted more communication from his end.

Wasn't it I who asked for the truth when the Kirishima incident had been brought up to him? I picked up some weights to squat with, going light for today, 16 kg in each hand.

As nice as hearing Kacchan day he wanted and needed me was, not to mention the excitement his return would bring me, I didn't particularly like the version of Kacchan who was so open it changed who he was. I knew Kacchan well, he was the type to know little things about the people he cared about, but he would never let you that he knew anything or cared about you. Of course with me that was different. Hearing Kacchan say 'I care about you' was still weird, so he would just show it far more.

Kacchan was always looking to prove himself, working to beat and become the better version of himself. He would go above and beyond with things he cared about, which was why his efforts to make sure I felt appreciated were so high. They were just unconventional. He showed things to prove himself, rather than saying it and I knew that. I actually kind of liked it, seeing as his actions especially spoke louder than words.

"Why aren't you taking the extension?" I glanced up, nearly dropping the weights. I set them down, standing up from my squat.

"Because Kacchan. I can handle it," I replied, shrugging him off. I continued working.

"You're not ready. You nearly fell off the treadmill earlier."

"Because you—" I stopped and grumbled to myself. Why was he always so overprotective? He was so concerned with my success, sometimes I felt like he was just trying to make me look better so he didn't look bad.

"Because what?"

"You distracted me."

"Well that's because I'm always on your mind? How is that going to go with your exam? Thinking about me, and then boom you fail. Is that really what you want?" He asked.

"Well if you want me to do good then get out of here!"

"If you want me to leave then just make me." I groaned, picking up the weights again.

"I will!" I retorted, but when I glanced up he was gone and I was still holding a squat. It had to have been at least a few minutes here by how bad my legs were burning. I also had to have said my last thing aloud, because people were looking at me again.

I just gave up on the gym, having done enough running and squatting today. I left, heading for the locker room. This time, my daydreaming had led me to an overly protective almost unintentionally mean Kacchan.

Kacchan could be mean sure, but it only made me irritated. It wasn't all that bad. He too was a very protective guy, but it seemed that I wanted less of his protection and more of his support. He wasn't completely the version of him that I had just spoken with and he wasn't completely the first either. His personality had strong tones of both and many more characteristics, and in my opinion the mix was just fine.

So I didn't exactly know what my brain was trying to tell me.

The only thing about him that I considered he should work on is his relationships, seeing as that's new territory for him. That had nothing to do with his protective nature or his openness. Maybe it was just a reminder that he wasn't these one-sided characters and those pieces of him squished together was what made that Kacchan that I liked so much. I exited the locker room with my bag.

"Hey, Kiri said you would be here," Kacchan called. I paused staring at him for a long while, keeping my protective distance. Was this another snippet. "Why the fuck are you looking at me like that?"

"Am I still in the locker room?"

"No? You just walked out, are you doing okay? What's with your face?" He asked, scrunching up his.

"I—nothing." He eyed me before continuing.

"I just got a text from my dad. You remember those pictures from a while ago, with the outfits? I took you to my dad's studio. They're supposed to come out in a magazine tomorrow."

"Wait seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah its a smaller magazine, you don't have to worry," he scoffed.

"Wow, that's so cool," I murmured. "Well thanks for the heads up." He nodded. It oddly wasn't so saddening or awkward anymore. Of course, the thought of daydreaming about Kacchan all day while we were apart proved to be an issue. Friends was something I couldn't change right now, so I guess I'd have to deal with it.

"Hey water bitch," he said and I glanced up. I was leaning up against the wall and he had one hand planted firmly on that wall above my head. "Your hair. You look cute." I felt my face flush slightly, my skin growing warm.

"Thanks, you too." I realized that my response didn't make very much sense, which caused him to shake his head in amusement. He was cute, but his hair was the same.

"You're such an idiot," he teased. "If really suits you, I'm glad you did it."

"Thanks Kacchan, that's really nice," I said, smiling at him. He brushed the hair out of my face, cringing slightly when he felt how sweaty it was. I smirked, struggling to keep my head from leaning into his hand. He paused for a minute before continuing on with something else.

"You should also know I saw Aizawa's biggest fan yesterday." Right. Joue.

"That's great Kacchan, did she help?"

"Yeah, she did," he replied. I nodded, not pressing the subject anymore. I didn't need to know what they talked about, that wasn't my business. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Uh, sure," I replied, tugging my falling bag back on my shoulder.

"Why do you like me?" He asked. I stopped, awaiting the moment his question would sink in for him, but he just patiently awaited my answer, half trapping me against the wall. He really wanted to know.

"Oh. Uh, well you're just smoking hot. I couldn't resist," I said and he smirked slightly.

"Haha, very funny. But for real."

"For realsies. Okay." I glanced at the floor. "Despite the fact we used to hate each other, I really get you Kacchan. I really do, and I genuinely think you do too. You're sweet when you want to be, you're strong, intelligent, I could go on. You're just...you're really good at being you and I've always wanted to be your friend at least, ever since were were kids. You were admired to say the least, despite anything you did to push me away."

"Thank you."

"Uh...you're welcome? For what?"

"For liking me," he said and I felt my face begun to flush. I stared up at him for what seemed like the longest time, the wall cool on my back while the rest of my body was burning up. He was always so intense.

"It's whatever, I don't even—tch," I muttered, glancing away all flustered. I was beginning to act like him.

"I'm just trying to see things from different perspectives. I like yours," he said, pouting slightly to offset the strangely anti-Kacchan behavior.

"Well. I tell it like I see it," I said.

"Good to know. I'll let you know when I finally put together why I like you. It's not exactly the most cohesive right now," he said.

"You're being really forward," I replied. "Is this another day dream?"

"You day dream about me?" He asked, a smirk on his face. His thumb and index finger grasped my chin and forced me to look up at him.

"What? No. That's ridiculous. As if I would ash for brains, that's so bold of you to assume," I scoffed, tugging my head away.

"We were literally dating you fucking dumbass, don't be so damn defensive." He had a point, and yet simple stuff like his fingers on my chin just seconds ago was making me feel like I had to hide my obnoxious crush on him. I wanted to kiss him so bad, but now I had 2 reasons not to.

"It's embarrassing," I muttered.

"What, that you just can't stop thinking about me? How could that possibly be embarrassing?" He said, his voice sarcastic.

"I take back why I said, you're an ass," I pout, pushing him away from the wall and starting my walk back to the dorms.

"Whatever slip n slide."

~Caly