Izuku never thought he'd find Jirou and Yaoyorozu kissing on the couch in the common area. They chased chaste kisses and rubbed the tips of their noses together, laughing breathlessly all the while. Izuku's cheeks burned. He would often see them holding hands and hugging, but he never saw them behaving unabashedly lovey-dovey. He had only seen them kissing one time before by accident, and they had been equally as flustered as Izuku upon realizing they'd been caught. But now—

"Oof!" He hadn't even noticed Uraraka until she literally tackled him to the ground.

"Deku! You've gotta help me!" He couldn't help but glance back at the kissing pair, and his blush deepened; they didn't seem to notice anything beyond each other.

"What… What's going on?"

"I don't know!" Seeing Uraraka overcome with panic snapped whatever embarrassment Izuku felt in half. "There was this new kiosk in the mall and they were selling chocolates. And this nice old lady handed me this sample bag—" she yanked a small cellophane bag, tied with a purple tag and filled with chocolates, out of her purse and nearly shoved it up Izuku's nose "—and said they'd make me show courage in the face of love, or something like that. I thought she was just kidding! She called it 'Chocolates from Cloud Nine' for All Might's sake!"

He saw a cryptic poem written in white on the tag:

They will not fog the brain

With a love that is untrue.

They'll make your feelings clear as rain

And, with a gentle hand, guide you.

"But then when we got back and Jirou and Yaomomo had some and then they started smooching and haven't stopped since!"

A feeling of total weightlessness washed over him, and the most unfortunate thought crossed his mind: all this midair fumbling and tumbling suited the gravity of the situation. "Uraraka, wait! You're making us float!" Izuku didn't need an aerial view of Yaoyorozu tapping her pointer finger gently against Jirou's nose and eyes and cheeks. He fought valiantly against the urge to fling his arms up over his face. "We have to take them to Recovery Girl."

Uraraka immediately released them, and Izuku found himself relaxing at the look of determination he found on her face, as solid as the ground beneath his feet. "We can't carry them across campus." Because everyone and Monoma would see. "And we can't just leave them here like… this." Because there was a strong chance that all the other groups would return soon.

Uraraka levitated them into Izuku's room. While neither of them seemed to notice any changes, he clearly heard Jirou's embarrassing murmur of, "I feel like I can fly when I'm with you, Yaomomo."

They hightailed it over to Recovery Girl's office and explained the situation, only to realize that they'd left the bag back in the common area when she asked for a sample to analyze.

"We have to destroy those chocolates after this!" Uraraka declared as she grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "They'll bring humanity to its knees in days. I just know it."

"I wouldn't say it quite so dramatically," Recovery Girl said. "It sounds like it amplifies feelings that already exist, as opposed to creating them out of thin air. I should be able to make a counteragent easily."

"Humanity, Deku!"

Izuku wasn't sure how much of what Uraraka could fall under mere paranoia vs. a real possibility. Not until he stepped into the common area and noticed Ashido near a pouf, cradling the bag of chocolates with one hand and throwing a single piece as hard as she could with the other.

"Go long, Bakugou!"

"Die!" Izuku watched in stunned horror as Kacchan propelled himself into the air and snapped the block of chocolate right out of it.

"Kacchan, don't eat that!" The desperation in Izuku's voice tasted raw and helpless, doubly so when Kacchan, still high in the air, looked him straight in the eye and bit down vengefully.

"Is something wrong, Midoriya?" The grin fell from Ashido's face. "You look pale."

"How many of those have you eaten?"

"Bakugou's the only one who's eaten any so far."

"And it's delicious, you stingy bastard."

"No, it's not that! I need to take those things to Recover Girl. There's something wrong with them." There was no way they'd take him seriously if he said those chocolates were spiked with a love potion. "Please, Kacchan, spit it out." He didn't want to see Kacchan longing to kiss anyone. He didn't know if he could handle hearing Kacchan say something like, "I feel like I can fly when I'm with you." Forget the chocolates, that alone might truly bring humanity to its knees.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kacchan demanded.

"Just spit—!" Izuku saw the chocolates begin to take effect in the way Kacchan's eyes widened, in the way the color drained from his face. His reaction, the complete opposite of Yaoyorozu and Jirou's, who were blissfully unaware of everything beyond each other. A single thought slipped through Izuku's mind when he saw the look on Kacchan's face, a naked shock he hadn't seen since their last real fight: They'll make your feelings clear as rain.

Kacchan bolted.

"Bakugou! Midoriya, what's going on! Is it dangerous!"

"No, it's not… Uraraka and Recovery Girl can fill you in. Please take that to them." Ashido nodded and ran for the main door. "And tell everyone not to eat anything called 'Chocolates from Cloud Nine'!" He sprinted off after Kacchan. All the way down the hall and to the left.

Izuku didn't expect Kacchan to run to the bathroom of all places, but that didn't hinder him from rushing right in. Kacchan stood hunched over one of the sinks, his back facing Izuku. He looked up at the sound of the door opening, his red eyes catching sight of Izuku's reflection, yet he didn't turn around, didn't even tell Izuku to get out. He just stared.

Butterflies swarmed his stomach and crawled all through his arms. He could feel them twitching, itching to hide his face. Izuku took a deep breath. "Are you OK, Kacchan?" Kacchan slowly raised his eyebrows. The butterflies fluttered. "Of course, you are. What kind of question was that? Now Kacchan is going to think I was patronizing him.

"Maybe he didn't even eat enough for it to have any real effect. Kacchan has always been incredibly strong. Even when we were kids. He might not even need to see Recovery Girl. It still might be a good idea, in case of any lingering side-effects."

He rambled on, unaware that Kacchan had walked over to him until he heard a whisper coming from directly in front of him. "Deku." Kacchan never let his name fall gently from his lips, his voice laced with a dew of courage. Izuku backed up until he felt the chill of the tiled wall. Kacchan kept pace with him. Not crowding him, but not leaving enough space between them either.

He threw his arms up over his face.

"Deku."

It was ridiculous of him to react this way. Kacchan wasn't going to say something as corny as, "I feel like I can fly when I'm with you." Especially not to him.

"Look at me." When Kacchan tapped his fingers against the thrumming pulse of Izuku's wrist, the butterflies went haywire. Izuku still looked up at him through his fingers, gingerly meeting his gaze. It didn't blaze with the determined fire that Izuku knew belonged there. It didn't shimmer with that mushy serenity like Yaoyorozu and Jirou's did. Instead, Izuku found it muted, strained with sadness. "You remember the incident with that sludge asshole?" Even if he didn't sound like it.

Izuku lowered his arms and nodded. He could never forget that day.

"You remember when I told you to take a swan dive off the roof."

Clear as rain. "I… I never held that against you." Izuku clenched his jaw when Kacchan's frown deepened.

"I held a lot of minor shit against you."

Izuku wanted to leave. Out of all the possible outcomes, he never anticipated that these dumb chocolates would dredge up the bitter, old hatchet they'd finally buried. At least, Izuku thought they had. "A lot has happened since then. You don't have to say anything."

"I'm sorry." Pained happiness; the only way Izuku could describe Kacchan's expression once he uttered his apology. Izuku could see it in the tightness of his smile, in the warmth in his eyes. "I've wanted to tell you that since—" Kacchan drew a deep breath. "Since the day I said that. If I was even half a man, I—"

"Kaachan!" His fingernails bit into his palms how hard he clenched his fists.

"—I wouldn't have said it at all."

"Even if you did cross the line." He paused briefly, not wanting to sound choked up, not wanting to burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. "I never held that against you."

Ah. There it is. That look of thorough adoration Izuku had expected from the get-go. He just didn't expect it to be aimed at him. "I know." The butterflies ebbed away, as if soothed by the caramel silk of Kacchan's voice. "But it's a start."

"What do you mean?"

Kacchan shrugged. "A better start," came his reply, unhelpful until he tapped three fingers to his lips in a quick kiss and held his hand out to Izuku. A better way to start over, he realized. More so than a screaming match or a useless fight. Starting over because of years of sharp anger and stinging tears and chasing after a friend who he couldn't understand how he lost for a long time. All because of an outstretched hand.

He didn't grab Izuku's hand, nor did he try to persuade Izuku to take his. He simply waited for Izuku. And he thought about how Kacchan cried during their end-of-term exam, where they fought tooth-and-nail against All Might. How showing Izuku any type of vulnerability had sickened him to the point of tears back then. Now, the careful (if a touch sad) smile on his lips appeared… beautiful. Kacchan looked beautiful in love.

Kacchan might kill me if I called him beautiful, he thought, laughing in quiet huffs.

Izuku took his hand. "A better start."

He couldn't pinpoint the moment the effect of the chocolate melted away, but he knew it had once Kacchan drew back, coughing into his hand to hide the bright pink blush coloring his cheeks. "Those damn things cursed or something? Was it a Quirk or am I gonna have to beat the shit out of a witch?"

If the effect indeed had a timer, like Izuku presumed, he couldn't help but wonder what else would have happened if Kacchan had another block or two. "Kacchan." His eyes flickered to the floor. "When did you get All Might slippers?" And not the cheap knock-offs that were a blasphemously wrong shade of yellow.

"Eh? Don't just change the subject."

"I was just wondering—"

"You have fourteen pairs of these exact slippers," he deadpanned. "Tell me why that happened." Izuku wasted no time in explaining what Uraraka told him, and how they wound up having to leave Jirou and Yaoyorozu kissing in his bedroom.

"With all the All Might posters in there?" Izuku bit his lip to keep from laughing at Kacchan's scandalized tone.

"They were pretty out of it."

"It makes you barf up what you're feeling."

Elation thrilled through Izuku when he didn't deny it. He knew Kacchan wouldn't; he wasn't made of cowardice. "We don't have to talk about what… happened, you know?"

Kacchan's face twisted in a sudden flash of bared teeth and flared nostrils and a dangerous hiss of, "You think I can't own my own damn words?"

"Hang on! I didn't mean it like that."

In the blink of an eye, Kacchan visibly deflated. "Stick out your hands."

"Huh?"

Kacchan straightened up and rolled his eyes. "Deku." He might not have said it in that wonderfully foreign whisper, but he liked hearing Kacchan say his name nonetheless. He obliged, and Kacchan dropped something that Izuku mistook for an odd paw print with All Might's insignia on it at first.

He realized how wrong he was when Kacchan spoke. "You got those steel bastards that strengthen your kicks. Your punch is pretty solid, but you can't go wrong with brass knuckles." Izuku's jaw dropped. "Don't look at me like that! You haven't completely tamed that borrowed power, right? Those will give you such a big ass edge, you can use it to slice-and-dice any villain to pieces!" He hadn't realized that Kacchan had been planning to give him a Valentine's Day gift.

He slipped his fingers through the loops and gripped it firmly. Comfortable, natural, and bound to hurt like a bitch. "This is really cool, Kacchan. Thank you."

Kacchan's cheeks turned pink again. "Get that sappy look off your face, nerd!" He wanted to tease Kacchan a little, say that he looked quite nice with a sappy look on his face. He followed Kacchan out instead. They needed to get back and make sure no one else accidentally ate any of those crazy chocolates. Izuku couldn't handle another bathroom confession today.

The only love potion infused chocolates that made it back to U.A. that day was the ones Uraraka bought, thankfully. After Recovery Girl examined them, she determined that Izuku's assessment of them had been correct: the more you ate, the longer they lasted. She prepared an antidote for their classmates nonetheless. By the time she finished, the effects had long worn off, and the two of them decided to peruse Izuku's collection of All Might merch to pass the time.

They had been grateful to both him and Uraraka for helping them out. They also grew more confident in showing their affection for each other. Between butterfly kisses in the corridors and them feeding each other lunches, Izuku thought they were smuggling in those chocolates in by the barrel.

That, of course, wasn't the case since they never found the old lady who sold those chocolates. Not a trace of her kiosk or chocolates either. Another unfortunate thought crossed Izuku's mind when he heard that she had essentially vanished: the old lady took everything with her back on her flight to cloud nine.

He and Kacchan kept what happened to themselves, no matter how badly Ashido begged to know the identity of Kacchan's "secret crush". Although, judging by the insufferably smug look on her face, she might have figured it out when Izuku asked Kacchan to watch one of the old hero movies he'd collected over the years. And so Friday night at 7 P.M. became their movie night.

"You have the special edition of 'All Might: I Am Here'?" The very first movie ever made about their Number One Hero. It had been titled All Might at the time of release. "And it came with the—?"

"Ultra-rare holographic poster of All Might?" And Izuku didn't want to brag, but: "Still in mint condition."

"And this seriously has—?"

"You know it. Actual footage of All Might saving everyone."

"And kicking a ton of villain ass!" Kacchan grinned proudly. "You better not be late, nerd."

"We're watching it in my room, Kacchan!"

There was only one thing Izuku needed to do, and that was to figure out what to get Kacchan for White Day.

The End