The Dancer

Eijiro Kirishima stretched his arms out and smiled a toothy grin, deciding that this wasn't a bad way to wake up.

Ashido was still asleep near him, her pink fluffy hair sticking out in different directions on her pink and black pillow. Her usually glossy lips were back to their natural gloss-less state, and were slightly parted as she breathed through her mouth. She was just as beautiful as the day he had met her so many years ago.

He never told Bakugo, knowing the guy would call him a 'fucking sap', but he had definitely admired Mina Ashido ever since middle school. She was able to dance away everyone's problems, she was super outgoing, courageous, and pretty much everything he had wanted to be back then. She even had a flashy quirk that was perfect for hero work, unlike his boring and dull one. It hadn't been until he watched her stand up to a bully for a younger student, that he realized just how better suited for hero work she was than him. She had done the most manly thing he could think of, had been a true hero, and helped those in trouble.

The guy had been huge too! Eijiro had been too scared and powerless to intervene, and hadn't done a thing, but not Ashido. She tricked that bully into leaving those kids alone.

From that day on, Eijiro had recreated himself as the hero he dreamed of being, inspired by her. He studied and trained, watching interviews of his favorite hero over and over. He dyed his hair, he smiled more, and it wasn't until years later that he realized he wasn't faking it. He was finally manly enough to become the hero he dreamed of becoming, and it was all thanks to the pink, dancing, smiling woman sleeping in a mountain of pink fuzzy blankets.

So of course he wasn't surprised to see her at UA in the top hero course. Though it had thrown him off balance when she recognized him instantly, pointing out his hair and flashing her trademark smile. She had remembered him, even though he had been dull and boring. Even though he hadn't been flashy, or worth noticing. She had still remembered.

Ashido's eyes started to open and Eijiro panicked, shooting up from his spot on the floor and diving straight into Sero and Kaminari, who were sitting on the couch playing video games. They shouted in protest as he interrupted their game, but he ignored them and grabbed one of the controllers, staring straight ahead at the screen.

"Aaaaaahhhhh, mornin' boys!" Ashido chirped, stretching her arms above her head as she sat up, her stomach showing slightly in the process.

The other guys just nodded in greeting, not taking their eyes off the game as they trash talked each other. Eijiro copied them, not daring to look at her.

"So, whatcha boys up to?"

Eijiro coughed before answering, nodding to the screen. "Ahh ya know, just some morning games! Nothing like a manly competition between men, heh, right guys?"

The guys on either side of him rolled their eyes, but agreed, saving him from awkwardness.

"Hmmm is that so?" Ashido giggled. Eijiro jumped as she leaned over him from behind the couch, putting her arms around his shoulders. He felt his ears and neck heat up as she turned the controller around in his hand, before pulling away. He spun around and smiled sheepishly at being found out. Ashido simply sent him a playful wink before heading to the kitchen for her morning coffee. He watched her as she went, getting lost in her sleep tousled figure, before falling off the couch in surprise when the front door was slammed open with a 'bang!'

"What the hell do you mean you don't have a water bottle?! What hero in training doesn't even have a damn water bottle?!"

"It's not my fault someone threw it out!"

"That was your only one? You're telling me right now that you kept fucking vodka in your only water bottle before hero training?! How the hell were you planning to stay hydrated, you idiot?!"

Eijiro stared at the bickering duo from where he landed on the ground in shock before quickly recovering, popping up and shouting "MORNIN' GUYS!"

Olivia jumped in surprise, almost crashing into Ashido, who was walking past her to the couch. She winced and apologized, while Bakugo responded with a "Too damn loud, Shitty Hair." as he stalked into the kitchen and angrily put together two protein shakes.

Ojiro walked past them, having already woken up and showered before returning to the living room.

"Good morning everyone!" Ojiro greeted the group before noticing his friend. "I'm glad you're back Olivia! How's your arm?"

"She's a fucking cripple incapable of changing herself, that's how the damn thing is." Bakugo grumbled under his breath, slamming the second protein shake in front of Olivia with a pointed look. Ashido squealed, confirming to Eijiro that he hadn't just imagined that coming out of Bakugo's mouth.

"Is that where you ran off to this morning after sleeping in the living room? I knew it!" Ashido jumped up and down, almost spilling her coffee on Sero in excitement. Sero looked up nervously from the TV screen, keeping an eye on the drink above him.

"What did you just say, you pink skinned freak?!" Bakugo roared, hands crackling at her menacingly.

"So you did bond with the class!!! Aww, that's so sweet, Katsui!! Who knew you were such a softie?!" Olivia grinned maliciously, apparently showing no value for her life by poking the already angry bull. To Eijiro's surprise though, instead of letting an explosion off near her face like he would have anyone else, Bakugo instead stalked out of the room with an angry 'tch'.

"Did you see it?!" Ashido hurriedly whispered, leaning towards him while standing in front of the couch. Eijiro gulped nervously before refocusing, shaking his head no. "His ears were pink!! I knew it!!"

Eijiro looked at her in confusion. Ashido sighed exasperatedly before taking the controllers out of Sero and Kaminari's hands, motioning them all to huddle in. They protested loudly at first, but leaned in anyway, used to their best friend's antics.

"I think Bakugo has a soft spot for Olivia!" Ashido quietly squealed. All three of their mouths fell open in shock as they turned to stare at the redhead animatedly talking with Ojiro in the kitchen, drinking the protein shake. "Eeek! Don't all look at her, you idiots!" She panicked, whacking Kaminari and Sero upside the head.

"Ow! Not fair, Mina! You can't just say something like that and expect us not to look!" Sero gasped, looking at her with big eyes.

"Yeah, man! Plus, no way our Bakubro has a soft spot for anything, let alone a female! The guy hasn't even realized he's part of our group yet!" Kaminari whined, fixing his hair frantically.

Eijiro stayed silent though. Had he been so absorbed in bringing Bakugo and himself into Ashido's group that he had missed something?

"Hmm I don't know, man. We'll keep an eye on it, how 'bout that?" Eijiro compromised, clenching his fist in determination. The rest of the group nodded determidly, following suit.

"Right!" They choroused.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ojiro asked curiously from inside their huddle.

They all screamed in surprise, falling off the couch. Eijiro groaned as he hit the floor for the second time that morning. What was the point of a hardening quirk when you still ended up all unmanly-like on the ground, just from being caught by surprise?

"Er, n-nothing, heh, don't worry about it man!" Eijiro grinned sheepishly, pushing Kaminari's foot off of his chest.

"Alright, if you say so." Ojiro chuckled, helping them up. "Oh, and if you see Olivia, can you let her know she's making lunch since she didn't buy me any yesterday? I forgot to tell her when I saw her."

"S-sure thing man!" Kaminari piped up, scratching his head nervously.

"Y-yeah! We'll like, go tell her now! Right boys?" Ashido chuckled anxiously, sending them all a pointed look.

"Right!" Eijiro and Sero nodded enthusiastically.

"Right now? But I wanna play-" Kaminari winced a little as Ashido subtly pinched him, "Um yeah, right! For sure! Later, Ojiro!"

They all scrambled away and made their escape up the stairs. Sighing in relief, they broke off to head to their own rooms and freshen up before they visited Olivia's.

Little did they know, they had left behind a thoughtful Ojiro, with an equally curious expression on his face.