"Wh - What?"

"Nothing."

"Y-You're just staring at me."

"Is it bothering you?"

"I-It's... Making me kind of u-uncomfortable..."

Of everything that had happened to her, or could have happened to her at Yuuei, this wasn't one of the things that Itsuka had seen herself getting into. Fighting against Villains was something that she could easily see herself doing, but this wasn't something that she had offered much particular thought to.

Given the kind of school that Yuuei was, and what it was designed to do, this mundane sort of thing shouldn't have been outside the realms of possibility for her. It shouldn't have been. Somehow though, it just hadn't clicked. The kind of place that Yuuei was was just so outlandish, so surreal, and so filled to the brink with quirky people with quirky Quirks compared to the rest of society that sometimes she forgot that she was even in the same world since enrolling.

Plenty of things that had already happened were things that she just hadn't expected to happen though. Like being made the Class President. Becoming her groups Class President, informed by virtually everyone in her class that, despite not knowing her for too long, they felt that she was the best person for the job, was something that had surprised her. It was something that she took a huge amount of pride in. It was something that she hadn't ever expected to happen to her. There hadn't even been a vote for it. The majority of the class just turned to look at her, already apparently considering her to be the leader of the group.

Fighting Villains at this early stage in her life was another thing that she hadn't expected to be doing. That was supposed to come later, when she was actually an officially registered Hero, with her license and her training, when she actually made her official debut. The Training Camp during the summer break was the first time she had come into real combat. And she'd gotten that taste of fear that reminded her of how real this all was. It had made her stronger from it, and more driven than ever before.

What she hadn't ever expected, while attending the nation's proudest and most accomplished school for people to train into Heroes, was to be out on a date.

At this stage, with everything that had gone down in only half a year, doing something so simple that most teenagers would do just seemed dull on paper. How were they supposed to go back to the regularities of life when something like experiencing a Villain attack? Classes seemed so dull afterwards, but they'd had to force themselves to focus, to attain the grades that they needed to pass their tests, to get through their classes, and be good students, even if it did feel, at this point, like it was going to be the most boring thing in the world.

That was what had surprised Itsuka the most about being on a date with Izuku. The fact that, in spite of everything that had gone down, she was actually having fun. That simple things were actually amusing, and fun to her right now.

"Sorry." She apologized, though she didn't entirely mean it. The smile on her face wasn't one that she was going to be able to get rid of anytime soon, since the green haired boy's awkwardness amused her so, and he didn't seem to be able to just relax for five seconds.

When people asked her when exactly she had started to like Class 1A's legendary Strength Enhancement Quirk user, she would reply that she didn't know, that it had just sort of happened some time, and she couldn't exactly pin it. That was a lie though, mostly to spare her the embarrassment of admitting how long she'd felt this way. In truth, it had been a pretty one sided crush for quite a while now. Since the Sports Festival, in fact.

Back then, about seven months ago, there wasn't a single person who could claim that the green haired boy hadn't completely stolen the show, even if he wasn't able to make it past the quarter finals. Placing first in the Obstacle Race without even using his Quirk was impressive enough. He'd already attracted quite a bit of attention in that regard, particularly when it then came to the Cavalry Battle, but nothing was definitive back then.

What had caught her eye, as well as the eye of virtually everyone in Yuuei, the country, and the whole planet for all they knew, was the way he had fought that guy in 1A with the fire and ice Quirk, whom Itsuka couldn't remember the name of right now. She knew that he'd eventually ranked second after defeating Izuku, but that was about all she remembered. She hadn't heard the name spoken aloud in some time.

He was tough though. It was one hell of a powerful Quirk, though Izuku's Quirk was just as powerful, if not more so. That fight was... There was no other word to describe it.

It was jaw dropping.

Amazing. Bewildering. Awesome. Other words that could just not do justice to the sheer veracity and tenacity that Izuku had shown in that entire fight. Of course, both fighters had been putting everything that they had into it, in a back and forth brawl, but it wasn't even slightly deniable that, of the two of them, Izuku was the one that captured the attention of the crowds. His Quirk was bizarre, shattering his own body whenever he used it, but that sure as hell didn't stop him from unleashing strike after strike, attack after attack, again and again and again.

There was something about that fight too, something that was going on between the two of them. The two kept yelling at one another, something about the other guy's fire aspect to his Quirk. No one really knew, but Izuku seemed to be impassioned by it, determined to get his point across.

Looking at him right now, it was difficult to even begin to suspect that such a power resided in his system. Nothing about him even began to indicate that he was capable of such feats. The mere dichotomy of that alone was enough to make people pay attention to him, and the way he was, soft, humble, kind and encouraging to all of those around him, made it nearly impossible for lots of people to take their eyes off of him, when this stark contrast was considered.

Itsuka certainly hadn't been able to.

Being in separate classes, it was nearly impossible for them to interact. They hadn't had a single class together until the second semester, and even then it was just for the Hero Training two or three a week. The one subject in which everyone was too focused on for socializing, and only for a few hours every single week. Only once the pair of them had been teamed up for a retrieval exercise did they actually get a real opportunity to speak. They two of them got along incredibly well. From there, Itsuka couldn't really explicitly say what it was that she had fallen for about him, his kindness, his intelligence, his compassion and his drive, they all played a part in making him a wonderful person who genuinely seemed to care for other people and wanted nothing more than to become a Hero.

She honestly had grown to admire him, so much for the kind of person that he was. From then on, when the two passed one another in the cafeteria, around the school, or on the way back to their dorm rooms, they would chat and exchange waves, even if they were only brief occasionally. She'd developed an honest crush on him in no time at all.

He was honest, he was open, he was kind, and he was serious, more serious than anyone that she knew, about becoming a Hero, focused around saving people and protecting those who weren't capable, instead of so many that she knew who did it for the money, the fame and glory, or to use their Quirks against Villains without consequence. All sorts of reason for wanting to become a Hero were valid... But Izuku's honesty made him shine all the more.

About seven weeks after, Itsuka had finally gotten the nerve to ask him if he wanted to go out on a date. Well, ask was a strong word for it. In spite of the confident person that she was, she hadn't ever actually gone on a date before, or ever been asked out herself, never mind her asking someone else out. It was more a prolonged drawn out awkward stammer that mirrored the curly haired boy s usual persona around pretty much anyone he barely knew. She was as nervous as he always seemed to be when she asked him out. He himself technically hadn't answered, but the two people he always hung around with basically shoved him up front and center and answered for him that yes, he'd be up for it.

Which was how the two of them were even here in the first place. In her head, that was a good sign. If he didn't want to be here, he could have just not come. His friends might have pestered him, but they couldn't force him to go on the date if he was really uncomfortable with the entire thing. If he was here now, he had to, at the very least, be willing to see how this went.

In all honesty, she wasn't entirely feeling herself. Everything about the current situation felt like

"You've uh, never been on a date before, have you, Midoriya?" She asked, shooting a glance over to the right to avoid looking directly at him.

By the suggestion of Shiozaki, Itsuka had brought Izuku to a café right on the outskirts of Musutafu, in a more naturally preserved area of the city. They had needed to get a train to even get here, and while, to her credit, the Vine Quirk user had recommended a nice, peaceful spot, it did feel like a bit much, particularly for a first date, to go so far out of the way for such a trivial, singular type of place. If you got on a train, you were either travelling, or preparing for a full day out, or at least, that was how Itsuka's mind worked in that regard. It almost made her feel like she had been overdone it just to have what amounted to a short brunch at this point.

"Um, no." Izuku admitted, looking down at the table as he did so.

Itsuka made a small smile with her lips at that, and allowed herself to relax, just a little bit. She was actually relieved. "Well, that actually makes me feel a little better."

"W-Why?"

"Just good to know that I'm not the only person who has absolutely no idea what they're doing."

Both of them then looked at one another, and smiled, before they both burst into a small series of laughs at their own awkwardness and embarrassment towards one another. For the orange haired girl, it was an odd feeling. She wasn't used to being so nervous and fluttery around people, being rather calm and down to Earth in her responses and interactions towards people and various situations. She usually was fairly certain in the things that she did, and was careful when approaching them.

This wasn't anything like she'd experienced though. In a way, she was having fun with not being on top of things.

It was weird.

But it was fun.

This is more an experiment than anything else. Just a short date story... Of which I'm really bad at. This is pretty much the reason I don't do a lot of short stories. I'm better at development over time than short snippets. It's why I don't do a lot of one-shots. Very sorry that it's just a short thing. We see next to nothing when it comes to Itsuka, even less than we do with Mina (Yet somehow she's more developed? The fuck, Kohei?)

Itsuka and Izuku is honestly a ship I wouldn't mind seeing some of. Of course, It doesn't even come close to comparing to Izumina, but I reckon that this pair could be cute as well. Sorry that it's so short, but again, it's just something that I wanted to get out there, so I could stop thinking about it, see what you guys thought, and maybe open up the possibility to do more of it in the future. Preferably when I'm not swamped in work.

Right now, this is only a oneshot, and I don't plan on doing more with Itsuka and Izuku's ship. Maybe in the future, but right now. Sorry if I just turned everyone into massive Itsuku shippers.

Hope you somehow managed to enjoy this, and I'll see you next time. See ya!