A/N: I am, unlike most would believe, Alive.

been busy with college, then with the corona BS, and recently started doing drawing comms that take up most of my time- and honestly, the muse for writing just wasn't with me. and didn't want to hammer out a sub-par chapter due to it

Now, I got some inklings of the muse back in me, so hey

I'm back!

"I love youhhh~" Katsumi mumbled against Izuku's back, nuzzling against the nape of his neck and hugging tighter against his neck as he gave the woman a piggyback ride back to the dorms with a soft smile on his face.

"̫I ͕do͖n't know͙ wh̤a̱t'͓s ͢m̱o̡r͕e ͓i͟mp̪res̟si̱v̡e̤," Nana mumbled, breaking the moment created by the setting sun and the calm spring breeze. "T̤h̞aț yo̝u͓ ͙m̳anaged to ̼k̰n̟o̗c̘k̳ he̼ṛ out̨-̙ ̟o̤r̭ ͚i̙t̬ ̩t̳o̖ok͚ l̼o̬n͎g̫e̘ŗ ̪t͔o g̢et̥ e̩v̮e̺ṟyțh̰i̟n̘g o̡ut o̜f h͈e̡r ̰t̘han t̠o w͓a͟sh ̠her a͟nd̡ ̲ḍre̼s͈s̱ her̨ c͖o̼mbined." ͚

For once can you not?

"N̦ah.̖"

"Midoriya?"

His body tensed before his brain caught up with real-life once more, recognizing the voice. "Saiko?"

The tall woman looked back, not sweaty but with clear signs of tiredness in her gait. He figured she must've been working out- now that he thought about it she wasn't in the group with All Might in the earlier class either.

How did I not-

"̠You͉ ̝we̩re͢ z͢oned̺ ou͜t̻ ͕th͖i̥nk͜in̦g abo̢ṳt̢ h̨ow t̼o impr͔ov͎e͢ yo̭uͅr fi͉g̫htin̤g̝ ͓p͎rowe̘ss̢, r̺em͖e̳m͎be͕r?"

Rig-

His eyes focused on a certain clump of lilac hair, the owner looking back at him with fear in her eyes.

" You."

Saiko flinched, getting between the two on instinct, seemingly only remembering the events of the sports festival at that moment. "Midoriya, don-"

He blinked, then sighed, the sudden tension leaving his shoulders as he relaxed, as much as he could with still carrying the dazed Katsumi on his back. "Sorry, that came out rougher than I intended-"

Both girls seemed to relax at the switch of tone, Hitsuki still refusing to leave the shadow of Saiko even with the tension dropping between them.

"Good to see that you are taking steps to better yourself," he mumbled, looking away and readjusting Katsumi on his back, the woman mumbling softly against his neck. "I'm sure it feels better than to look down on others too."

His tone was ruder than Saiko had expected but not as aggressive as she feared. Funny, she never imagined Izuku to be the type to hold a grudge.

Then again, it was foolish of her to think he would be perfect enough to let that go.

Note to self: never get on his bad side.

Ochako yawned, stretching slowly from her spot in Izuku's bed. Mei was already awake and tinkering with something on his desk as their boyfriend slumbered in bed. His head was being petted by an affectionate Momo, with Mina playing with her phone on his chest, and Katsumi sprawled on his legs, still deep in her own sleep.

It was weird how easily Mina had slotted in, not creating any friction between anyone like what she feared would happen eventually. But no, all they had was this cozy feeling every morning as the group woke up slowly before some lovey-dovey stuff.

They were all dorks, weren't they?

Izuku hummed and slowly woke up, hands rubbing Mina's head with a soft grunt. "Stop shufflin'" he mumbled, head falling back down like the act of waking up didn't really stick.

Mina giggled, leaning into the contact with a sigh and laying her phone down, finding the minute affection more entertaining than the game that had her attention just moments ago.

Ochako chuckled under her breath, slowly slipping out of bed and really stretching, from the tips of her toes to her hands, leaning down and stretching her back. It had become second nature to her after she saw how vital being flexible was in martial arts, Gunhead drilling it to her how important it was for not only for more precise attacks, but also for keeping her joints strong against pins.

She blushed at the memory of how useful increased flexibility had helped her in that hospital room.

"Mmn~ Izuku…"

The three coherent women in the room flinched, suddenly locking their gazes on the mumbling- and moving Katsumi, groggily crawling next to Izuku and leaning on his left shoulder, the space Ochako had vacated, messing with his curls.

So far the softest moment the two had shared between them.

As if clockwork Momo's hand smothered Mina's mouth, muffling the coo the pink-skinned woman started to let out mere seconds before, protecting the still-sleepy duo as they fell back asleep in each other's arms.

A soft click echoed, three eyes darting to Mei holding her phone, clearly taking a picture of the adorable sight with a wide smile on her lips

Momo mouthed 'send me a copy'.

Ochako rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips.

Weekend mornings were the best.

Shoko's eyes didn't leave the two at the breakfast table, almost glaring at Katsumi being more… touchy was probably the right word.

Or romantic if her mother had a word to say about it- maybe Fuyumi too.

She blinked, zoning out looking at the ceiling. Those two really did like romance books, wondering if they thought about stuff like that consistently.

Maybe about her and Izuku? She could imagine the two imagining romantic scenarios with him and her-

She was taken out of her trance by Tomoyo's hand on her other shoulder shaking her "Shoko- Shoko you are cooking Kaminari"

She blinked, noticing the heat on her cheeks, and her left side close to igniting. "Oh- sorry, zoned out."

Doi wheezed. "The weather is hot enough, I don't need this on top of it all-"

Shoko looked down slightly ashamed with another soft apology.

Doi chuckled awkwardly, patting her on the shoulder. "It's alright."

"Hakagure."

The invisible woman flinched at the sound of Cementoss uttering her name, her focus suddenly locking back to the class rather than Katsumi making googly eyes at the backside of Izuku's head.

"Can you read the next passage? If you are done zoning out that is."

She mumbled an apology, and read out the passage.

Worrying about the sudden change in demeanor in a classmate was probably not the best idea this close to the midterms.

Kyoka's eyebrows furrowed as she heard another dreamy sigh coming from her left. She had heard it every so often during classes for the day but couldn't place the voice. As far as she could remember, nobody in their class sounded like...

A soft giggle shook Kyoka's belief as she hazarded a glance over at Katsumi. She had been quiet most of the morning, but now she was… smiling? The normally brooding blonde looked bizarrely happy, the happiest she had seen her since Green gave her that hug at-

Wait.

She noticed Izuku picking up a pencil that Katsumi had "dropped" and returning it to the woman next to him in the desk circle that they had constructed. The reading discussion for the article that Midnight had assigned wasn't that engaging so…

Another giggle followed by Izuku's nervous chuckling and- was she swooning over him?!

Kyoka looked around at the various expressions of the other women in the circle, ranging from bemused to jealous to adoring.

What the hell is going o- Oh.

Ohhhh…

She could feel herself blushing, and was trying hard to not burst out laughing.

He fucked the angry out of her.

"Mina." Izuku almost grumbled, looking down at the woman in his lap. "You know I can see you messing with your phone right?"

The woman whistled, acting like she didn't hear him, earning an amused huff from Momo, and a tired sigh from Tomoyo.

"If you don't focus, the tutoring won't help, Ashido."

The pinkette sighed, putting her phone on the desk, "I knowwww- but I think I get it now so it's boring me."

Katsumi cackled from her spot next to Eiko, the red-head looking up from her own studies at the sudden intrusion. "You think you got it? Pinkie you need to be sure."

"I am!" Mina protested, almost bouncing on her spot- much to the worry of Izuku. "I'll show you Baka-gou! Ask me a question!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"NEVER!"

Izuku chuckled as the study session slowly turned to chaos, everyone laughing and the tension built in the room alleviating.

Maybe it was what they all needed to have instead of one last cram session, the exams were the next day after all.

Time really seemed to fly in UA.

"P̺r̩o͎b͎a̳bly͈ th̻e̱ schedule, ̭it ̞alwa̧y͜s f̱ee̻l̯s̫ ̞lik͇e ̡t͇i̤m̱e̟ s͢pe̜e̹d̤s u̜p ̬w͍h̞e̜n̤ y̥ou stic̱k̢ to̧ oneͅ.̟"̨

Probably?

"Hahahaha- we are so fucked," Doi mumbled, sounding dead inside towards the end.

"Speak for yourself, sparkplug," Jirou mumbled, spinning a pencil on her jack. "Actually don't, I think you got this- more than usual at least, but that's not a high bar to pass is it?"

"Why do you have to be so mean yet encouraging!" Doi barked back like a partner in a comedic duo. "I don't know how to feel now!"

"Th̜e̮ ̮an͚s͍wer is̤ ̤D̨" ̠

Shut up. Izuku huffed internally, trying not to break the silence of the examination. That's cheating.

"͟F̨i̩ne̩,̳"̘ Nana huffed back, the sounds of shuffling papers echoing in Izuku's mind before a resounding 'plap' like a folder being dropped on a table followed it. "F͍o͜r̜g̬ot ho̠w b͜o͟ṛing̖ t̺e̮șts͖ ̤w̝er̹e.ͅ"̫ ̰

I'm trying to get a good grade here, please stop.

"̰No͇pe͓~̬ ̢g͎o̘nna ̠ḅo̫t̝her y̦ou̮ ̬t͔il̨l ̬the ̼t͜ime̺ is ̦ove̗r̗!"

God.

Fucking.

Damn you.

He felt her snort and chortle, before feeling her scheming.

He hated that sensation

"O̩k͟ fi̖n͓e̠, I̝'l̼l̫ ͍l̤ea͖v͇e you a̗l̺onȩ ̮buț ͙on ̜on̰e co̢n͟t̨ition~̬"

He gulped.

Mina sighed, her shoulders drooping after the exam was over and the class was allowed to go to the dorms, the physical tests were gonna be held the next week, so thankfully she didn't need to deal with that stress on top of everything else.

But it still stung that she probably flunked the written tests again.

At least she thought she did. Everything felt uncharacteristically easy- like they always did when she took a test she didn't have a good handle on the topic.

Stupid brain, why couldn't you just be smart?

Part of her hated herself for shrugging off the last day of cramming now, after it was too late to change anything.

"Mina? You alright?"

Izuku's voice took her out of her trance, the larger man looking down on her with worry in his eyes and shoulders- at least that was a worry off her back, he wasn't mad at her for yesterday.

"Mhm- maybe?" she mumbled, trying to fake a smile- only to be interrupted by a hug from the larger man.

After the initial shock subsided she hugged back slowly, giggling lightly. "Did I really look that down?"

"Doesn't look right when you're not at least a little hyper, yeah," he chuckled, pulling her off her feet much to her amusement and excitement, her heart beating harder in her chest.

"Mmmn- sorry exam woes," she mumbled, pushing her face against his chest more. "It'll pass in a bit."

"You know-" Momo's voice made her flinch, had she always been there? "We could go through the questions- I doubt you did that bad."

Ochako winced mumbling an 'I guess that might help?' half-heartedly.

Mina blinked. Just how many people had she missed in her funk?

"That's a good idea," Izuku mumbled, still holding her tight, "if anything it'll help us study better for the finals."

" But thats 2 months away," Mina groaned, punching his chest lightly, "don't drag me into your nerd-out!"

"Too late~" Izuku shot back, literally carrying her to his room with a mock cackle that made Mina's heart soar.

Maybe nerd-out's aren't that bad…

"Wait what…?" Mina blinked slowly, looking at the tally of the questions- she wasn't sure if those were actually the answers she had filled in but-

From the looks of it she had done better than she ever had before, that wasn't saying much coming from her but the margin was huge.

Izuku blinked next to her, then smiled slightly. "Better than you expected?"

She crashed into him, arms wrapped around his neck with a happy laugh, her body and mouth moving faster than she could think. "Can I kiss you?"

She started blushing before he could answer, the shock slowly dawning on her. But before she could pull away he laughed, rubbing his nose against hers gently. "Didn't think you'd be the type to ask."

Is that a ye-

He leaned in and answered her unasked question, giving her a soft, chaste kiss on her lips with a smile. "Glad to see you hyper again."

Mina felt like there was steam coming out of her very being, cheeks feeling warmer than ever.

She didn't think his lips would've been that soft- but now that was the only thing she could think of.

"I think you broke her, Deku," Ochako mumbled, poking Mina's elbow from the side.

As if that turned her on, Mina pounced forward, kissing him back with ferocity and laughter with more than enough instances of thanking him for all the tutoring.

Izuku chuckled, hugging her back tightly, his hands roaming her back mumbling 'its fine' and 'no problem' when she let him get a breath in.

Momo chuckled next to the two, Katsumi huffing with what almost amounted to pride.

She finally pulled back, laughed, and nuzzled his chest like an affectionate cat. "Thank you, you glorious, tall dork!"

Izuku panted, petting her head with a wheeze of laughter. "I told you it's fine- besides..."

He scratched his cheek, unable to find the words "...we should probably worry more about the physicals, right?"

Mina froze in his arms and deflated against him. "Oh right- still got more examsss…"

Everyone chuckled lightly.

The common room was tense as everyone had their breakfast.

As it was expected, it was the day of the physical examinations- and in true UA fashion, they were not given any information on it.

"Re̙me͈m̡be̥r̤ ̠yo̻uŗ ̭pro̟m͎is̬e̢ after͟ the e̻x͚a̢m͕įn͈a͕t̖io̹n͜s͓~" Nana cooed in his head, the sensation pulling the tension right out of his shoulders and making him relax.

I still can't believe you got me to agree to that

"Neit̙hͅe̢r ̞c͉an ̧I̟~ ̬i̟t'̤s g͉on̠na ̟be ̡f̨u̩n͙!"

He groaned internally, shaking his head. The rest of his class perking up at the action.

"Everything alright Midoriya?" Tomoyo questioned, chopping with her left arm.

"Yeah- just worried over nothing, we all are," He smiled, getting up from his seat and stretching out his arms. "I'm sure we all can handle the test, we are worried over nothing."

Eiko jumped up with a holler. "He's right! Worrying about it is not manly at all!"

Hana sighed. "Well, yeah we are women so-"

Eiko laughed pulling her friend to a noogie, causing the woman to laugh along.

"Yeah, well I'm sure there is nothing they can toss at us that we can't overcome!"

Izuku gulped, looking at the buff blonde and the pale blue-haired beauty next to her.

"1A! Your test will be combat training!" Mira laughed, raising her fists in preparation, getting into a fighting stance.

"Come at us!"

A/N: sorry for the shorter chapter, just trying to get back to the swing of things