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“Alright team, I wanna see some warmups! Stretches first, then tumbling warmups! Hop to it!”
Shouto could hear Coach Rumi's voice before he even opened the door, using her impressive volume to hide the squeaky hinges that were a dead giveaway of his presence. Even if he didn't move silently, Rumi’s loud counting would've muffled any sound made while he sat in his unofficial designated seat. He wasn't forbidden from sitting in the upper level-seating - nothing was forbidden with his grades and the “extremely charitable donations” his father made to the school - but he would rather throat a cactus than announce his presence as the weirdo who secretly watched cheer practice every day. It hadn't been his intention to watch the team, truly, but when his options were “go home and spend time with Enji” or “stay at school and wait for his sister and her fiancé, who happens to be the cheer coach, to finish work and take him home”, he was going to pick the option that kept him away from his father every time. Besides, he quite liked this arrangement; the upper floor was nice and private, giving him all the time he could want to read or do homework.
“Alright, tumbling warmups! Kendou, Asui, go!”
Or, his brain supplied as his eye was immediately drawn towards the students on the main floor, to see them in action. Because, from the very first day Shouto hid up here, it had been impossible not to look at the cheer team practicing. They were extremely talented at their sport - it was absolutely a sport, nothing should take so much physical effort and not be considered a sport - and it was all too easy to lose himself in watching their craft. The book in hand was ignored almost immediately, Shouto felt a familiar sense of awe as the cheerleaders did their warmups, executing all sorts of flips, cartwheels, handsprings, and more across the gym floor. He wanted to say he was watching all of the cheerleaders equally, but that just wasn't true. It was impossible to give them all equal attention, all because of the supernova personified among them.
“Mina! Finish us off strong!”
Shouto's lungs stopped of their own accord, redirecting their energy into his vision to ensure he wouldn't miss a moment of it. Mina Ashido didn't even hesitate, her pink hair moving like a cloud as she tore across the floor in a series of handsprings, ending with a full aerial flip that made it look like she was floating, her smile so bright it dimmed the harsh lighting of the gymnasium. Mina was the epitome of everything Shouto was not: bright, bubbly, friendly, charismatic, and supremely talented. Wanting to be close to her, to be noticed by her, was as natural as breathing - the large friend group that congregated around her like the planets to their sun certainly proved that to be true. Shouto certainly couldn’t deny being drawn to her – opposites attract, at least on his end – and he also couldn’t deny that someone as incredible as her didn’t have time for someone as drab as himself. He was much more comfortable in a quiet study room, fighting Midoriya and Bakugou for the top of their class; Mina was meant to shine.
“Beautiful, all of you!” Coach Rumi said to the team, and Shouto found himself thinking the same thing while staring squarely at Mina's smiling face. “Now line up! We’re working on your flexibility first, then jump drills, and then we’ll get to the good stuff!
The team was on the ground in seconds, mirroring their coach as she began to guide them through stretches; though yet again, his eye was naturally drawn to Mina. Her form was nothing short of perfect, and she looked completely at ease while doing it. She made the exercises look fun, not just some tedious chore that had to be done before the aforementioned “good stuff”. Shouto lost himself in watching her, book completely forgotten by this point, only noticing that a water break had been called when half of the cheerleaders collapsed to the ground. The other half trudged over to their water bottles, but Mina? She somehow had more energy than before they started, her high spirits infectious. It was almost like she had magic powers, and Shouto almost wondered if it was possible to borrow just a sliver of her natural charisma. A tiny little bit, just enough to make him seem less standoffish and cold, to hide his awkwardness long enough to make people think he wasn’t a boring nerd.
“You dropped your book! Here, I’ll get it for you!”
A lifetime as the youngest sibling and constant victim of Touya’s pranks was the only reason Shouto didn’t jump clean out of his skin at the sudden voice next to him. Midoriya was too sneaky for his own good – that, or Shouto had been zoned out more than he thought – and had already picked up the book by the time Shouto turned to look at him.
“Thank you. Is judo practice already over?”
Midoriya shrugged, sliding into the seat next to Shouto right as the cheer team began practicing their chants and simpler formations. “Kacchan ‘accidentally’ maliciously on purpose flipped Monoma on his face, and he got a pretty nasty nosebleed from it. Monoma was being a jerk though, and Kacchan warned him, so he kinda deserved it. Aizawa-sensei said he wasn’t caffeinated or paid enough to deal with them today, so he cut practice early. But I know the truth – it’s his daughter’s first ever class recital tonight, so we were gonna end early anyway. Now I just gotta wait for cheer practice to get done so I can go home!”
“Why do I have a feeling that was Bakugou’s revenge for Monoma calling him a nerd during calculus today?”
“Kacchan doesn’t get revenge, he gets even,” Midoriya said, sounding far too used to Bakugou’s antics, “Anyway, are you staring at Mina again today?”
Shouto’s face turned red so fast, it almost felt like he was on fire. It was a conscious effort to keep his voice carefully controlled as to not betray his feelings. “I am not staring at her. I am watching the entire team.”
“Sure, right, and it’s a complete coincidence that over half of that time is spent looking at my cousin? I noticed you watched her for a solid 64 minutes out of 90 minutes during Tuesday’s practice.”
“…your observation skills frighten me, Midoriya.”
“Thank you! I’m really good at spot the difference games,” Midoriya chirped, his jovial grin turning into something more subdued and pensive. “You could just talk to her you know-“
“Absolutely not.”
“Oh, come on! I promise she won’t bite you or anything, and she’s really nice!”
Rolling his eyes, Shouto pointedly looked away from his friend and back at the gym floor. The cheer team had begun practicing their stunts, forming impossibly small human towers and launching their brave fliers into the air - Mina was a flier, and a damn good one at that. Always in the center, always doing more advanced, risky stunts than her teammates. She was fearless.
“You’re required to say that, she’s your cousin.”
“You of all people know that you’re not required to like your family. And you know I don’t lie! I promise that it’ll go well if you talk to her!”
Oh, he knew she'd be nice. She wasn't an asshole who would be mean to his face - but Shouto knew that he missed social cues and subtext like it was his job. He refused to run the risk of annoying her, and being unable to read her cues that told him to get away. Not wanting to answer, Shouto gave his full focus to the cheerleaders, his heart racing when he realized the team was practicing basket tosses.
The girl of the hour was standing in the middle of a smaller group of students, crouching down and holding their hands out for her to stand on. He inhaled sharply as they threw Mina high into the air, time moving in slow motion while she flew upwards. She kicked a leg up high, right next to her face, and held the pose just until she began to descend while lying horizontally. What had Shouto's heart falling out of his ass, however, was when Mina began spinning much faster than she should have. She passed the usual first spin in a flash, spinning not just twice, but a jaw-dropping three times.
It was like the world snapped back into full speed the instant the others caught her, the cheer team erupting into loud cheers and screams of congratulations as they rushed towards her. Mina looked positively radiant, whirling around and launching herself at- at Kirishima.
Kirishima, her absolute best friend. A guy cut from the same cloth as Mina. Relentlessly positive, encouraging, strong fearless - everything Shouto wasn't. He felt oddly numb as Kirishima lifted her up in a princess carry and spun around, their faces so close it looked like they might kiss at any moment. He shouldn't feel jealous, because he had no right to - everyone knew they were close, and there were constant rumors of people spotting the pair on dates, holding hands, kissing. They were a perfect match, and Kirishima was exactly the kind of person Mina needed.
“That's why I can't talk to her,“ Shouto mumbled, barely loud enough for Midoriya to hear him over the cheer squad's celebration, ”I can't compete with that. It'll only hurt worse if I try.”
“But you never know unless you try! I can set up a super natural meeting - me, Mina, and Tenko are going roller skating Sunday, Tenko's bringing his boyfriend, so it won't be too weird if I invite you as a friend!”
“That's even worse, actually, you know my brother is dating Tenko. If Natsuo saw me being so pathetic, he would never let me live it down,“ Shouto grimaced and shook his head, ”Just...I don't want to talk about it anymore. Please.”
Midoriya looked like he wanted to say more, but thankfully didn't push the issue. The rest of practice passed in a blur, with Shouto watching but unable to focus on anything. Before he knew it, Rumi announced that practice was over, and the team had already started to disperse. Midoriya left first, giving Shouto a sad smile and a soft goodbye, and made his way down to the court. Mina spotted him quickly and rushed over to him so they could go home - not before Kirishima hugged her again, however. Shouto waited in terrible silence until the rest of the team left, only standing once Fuyumi burst into the gym, rambling about losing track of time. He still felt terribly numb as they made their way to the car, barely managing a grimace when Rumi shot him with a rather odd look.
“You know what, it's been a day,” Rumi announced before he could think about deciphering that look, “I need ice cream ASAP, you two good with that? I'm buying.”
“Oh, yes please! Gosh, it's like you read my mind and knew I needed something sweet. You would not believe the day I had!”
Shouto was content to listen as his sister rambled about her students' antics that day, and he certainly wasn't going to refuse free ice cream. All the movies said it was a great way to heal a broken heart...even though he didn't technically have his heart broken. But it still hurt a lot, so he was more than happy to order two scoops of strawberry ice cream. And if the color of the ice cream reminded him a little too much of Mina's hair, sending a sharp spike of pain right through his chest, then that was between him and the cruel god that gave him feelings in the first place.
Shouto was high. He had inhaled too many chemicals in the chemistry lab, or Touya had spiked his cereal, or something. He had to be hallucinating, because that was the only explanation for what he was seeing. That being one Mina Ashido leaning against his locker, eyes skimming the crowd of students like she was looking for someone. He almost considered walking away when his eyes locked with hers, and he was sure he was seeing things when her eyes lit up in recognition.
“Todoroki! Hi!”
And now he was hearing things too. He would have to have a serious talk with Touya about making sure he laced their father’s breakfast with mood stabilizers, and not Shouto’s. Being high at school might seriously impact his ability to perform well in class, and he had to be in top condition if he was going to beat Midoriya and Bakugou for valedictorian.
“Todoroki! Over here!”
Or maybe it wasn’t a hallucination…Shouto wasn’t entirely convinced this was reality, but the least he could do is be cordial, even if this was a drug induced Mina-shaped mirage. It wouldn’t kill him to say hello.
“Hello,” he said in quite possibly the most monotonous voice ever, and immediately mentally asked for a higher power to kill him. Mina was a saint though, responding to Shouto’s painfully flat voice with more enthusiasm than he deserved.
“Hi Todoroki!” she chirped, moving aside so he could get into his locker, but stay in her sights. “How was your day today?”
“It was alright. I think Bakugou is sick, he only threatened Midoriya once all day. Although he did threaten me twice when I told him to stay away if he’s contagious.”
Mina’s grin was as lovely and jovial as ever, even more so when it was aimed at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him not yelling at Izuku, maybe someone finally tamed the beast!”
“I think it’s more plausible that someone is impersonating him or has him under mind control.”
“You know what – he does give off major ‘can’t be tamed’ energy. If I was impersonating him, I think I’d do something crazy. Like tell everyone they’re super smart, awesome, and he loves them sooo much!”
Shouto couldn’t help but smile ever so slightly – the image of Bakugou being nice was rather funny – and it took every ounce of his strength to not keel over when Mina’s smile brightened even more.
“As fun as it is to plan for the Bakugou bodysnatcher plot, I actually did come here for a reason.”
Shouto’s eyebrows raised of their own volition. Mina was fiddling with her backpack straps, very similar to the way Midoriya would nervously wring his hands together, and she almost sounded timid. It was very out of character for her, and he wasn’t sure that he liked it that much. He tilted his head as a gesture to continue, thankful she was able to correctly interpret his intentions.
“I need you to tutor me for history class!”
That…was not what Shouto was expecting at all. “Why me?”
“Why? I mean, you’re like, super smart! You always know the answers to the questions in class, and you finish tests and homework way before everyone else! You’re the best person to help a lost cause like me!”
“You- you know I’m in your class?”
“Duh! You’re one of the top 3 in our grade! Plus, you’re one of Izuku’s friends, and that’s not even mentioning all that pretty boy swag you’re rocking with!” Her eyes looked him up and down, and Shouto fought tooth and nail to not erupt in a full body blush. “But that’s not important right now! Please please please tutor me? Just for the stuff we’re doing on the next test!”
She didn’t need to ask again, not when Shouto knew he’d do anything she wanted from him. He had barely nodded once before Mina squealed in delight and grabbed his hand, dragging him all the way to the library. Every move she made was filled with confidence, completely sure of each step as she guided him to sit at a table in the back corner. And, in a move that shocked Shouto more than expected, she didn’t sit across the table from him. Instead, she pulled out the chair right next to him, even going so far as to scoot her chair closer to his. Shouto made a conscious effort to keep his breathing even, covering up his own words by sinking into his new role as a tutor.
“Is there anything specific you need help with? I don’t want to waste your time by reviewing anything redundant for you.”
“Is everything specific enough,” Mina said, but her strained smile didn’t match her joking tone, “I need some help with the stuff we did last week – I was gone for a couple days, and I’m awful at trying to teach myself. Not to mention, I’m on thin ice with Coach after the stunt I pulled at practice yesterday.”
Shouto nodded and flipped back in his notebook, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit confused by what she said. Mina, seeming to notice his confusion, grinned like the Cheshire cat and nudged his shoulder with hers.
“That kick twist triple basket toss I did! I know you saw me do it, I can see you watching us practice from the second level, so you know I killed it! That’s technically a level six stunt, but Coach wants us to keep all our stunts at level five and under cause ‘safety’ and ‘competition age category regulations’. I’m in trouble ‘cause she overheard me saying I wanted to try a six and told me not to, but I’m not good at listening! It’s why I’m bad at school - I really do fit the ditzy cheerleader stereotype!”
The joking tone was back, but Shouto didn’t believe it for a second. He felt a fire in his chest, swelling until it overflowed and spilled from his mouth.
“That’s not true.”
Mina eyes snapped over to him, and even Shouto was mildly shocked by how stern his own voice was, but he couldn’t find it in himself to tone it down. He had to make sure she understood him. “You’re not dumb. And you’re certainly not a ‘ditzy cheerleader’. No idiot could do the things you do for cheer.”
“Cheer isn’t that hard-”
“Because you’re good at it. You know I watch your practice sessions, and I can’t even remember half of the chants and choreographies you do. I admit I don’t know much about the levels for competitions, but I know you have to calculate height of tosses, total rotations, and even the different categories of stunts you can do. And you remember all of that.”
“Okay, yeah, but it’s way easier to remember movements than book stuff! Everyone knows that!”
Shouto shook his head sharply. “I don’t. Mina, you are incredibly smart, and you won’t let yourself see it for some reason. Just because ‘traditional’ studying methods don’t work for you, doesn’t mean you aren’t intelligent. You’re incredible, and I won’t let you believe anything else.”
“Gosh, Todoroki…” Mina mumbled. Shouto noticed that her face was a concerning shade of red, but she was quick to recover. “Alright then, Mister Smart Guy, what studying method do you think I need then?”
“Simple. You need to incorporate cheerleading into your studying.”
A short giggle burst from her, a hand flying in front of her mouth to help regain her composure. “And how do you propose I do that? I didn't think they had any cheerleading in the Meiji Restoration.”
“I can't confirm if that's true or not, so you'll just have to make your own chants. Like the ones you do for cheer, with the complicated moves to go with it,” Shouto moved his hands in small circles and clapped silently, in a poor imitation of what the cheer squad did. “You said it's easier to remember things when you have movement involved, so involve movement that's already familiar to you. It'll make memorization easier for you.”
She looked skeptical, but her hands were already moving in tiny recreations of cheer choreography. “So you're saying I just. Take a chant I already know and change the words.”
“Exactly. Choose one first, and then we can rework it.”
“Okay, how about...Heroes, heroes, let's go! H-E-R! O-E-S! Heroes, heroes, let's go!”
“I like that one, it's one of my favorites. I think it would be best for memorizing a small piece of information, like...like the oath that Emperor Meiji signed in 1868.”
Mina's brow furrowed for a second, her movements and voice slightly more hesitant than they had been before. “I'll give it a shot. Um…One, eight, six, eight, charter oath! C-H-A-R! T-E-R! One, eight, six, eight, charter oath!”
She might have started out unsure, but even Shouto could tell when it clicked for her. She had that spark in her eye, the same one she got when learning a new routine during cheer practice.
“Oh my gosh, this might actually work! Do another one!”
She didn’t even have to ask, because Shouto was already on the move, pointing out a small list in his notes. “The three institutes to promote modernization.”
“Oh that’s easy! I can do Go, Fight, Win! Modern- stuff- go! Manufacture, build some stuff! Transport, we want a bus! Education, learn some stuff! Modern- stuff- go!”
Shouto had never had so much fun studying in his life. Mina's enthusiasm heightened with each fact memorized, and her excitement was contagious. She was right in the middle of teaching him the motions for their “peasant uprising chant” when his phone buzzed violently to life, hard enough that it would've fallen to the ground had he not stopped it.
“Oh. It's already this late- my sister is texting me. She's ready to go home, and she thinks I fell asleep waiting for her. Your coach is texting too, she says if I don't get to the car in five minutes- huh. This threat doesn't seem physically possible...I'll have to let her try it out on Touya. He’s rather bendy. Like a spaghetti noodle.”
“Aw, but I was having fun!” Mina pouted (which looked unfairly endearing) and grabbed Shouto's arm before he could walk away, “Thank you, Todoroki! I might actually pass the make-up test, and it's all because of you!”
“You’ll pass with high marks, I’m sure of it. Nothing less than an A.”
That beaming smile was back on her face, almost making Shouto think the sun was shining directly on him. “Deal. Nothing less than an A. You’ll be the first person I tell! Hurry and go, before Coach unleashes her wrath on you!”
He did not want to know what Rumi’s wrath looked like, and the slim chance of it was enough to have him in the parking lot in record time. His mind, however, was still in the library; thinking about how easy it was to talk to Mina, thinking about her promise to tell him how her test went. If he was brave, he would’ve told her about all the things his brain liked to say about her. If he was brave, he would’ve asked about her phone lockscreen, about the picture of her and Kirishima she had as her background. But he wasn’t that brave. He was perfectly happy with the little acquaintanceship he and Mina had now. He didn’t need anything more, he was perfectly happy with whatever attention she would give him.
“TODOROKI!”
Shouto was going to have to have a serious talk with Touya about being completely sure their father's medicine was in the right bowl of oatmeal. This was the second time in a week he was having a potential hallucination. It wasn’t hard to know which bowl the mood stabilizers went into: Shouto wanted enough sugar in his to kill a bear, and Enji’s had to be the saddest beige color to reflect his sad, beige heart.
“TODOROKI, TURN AROUND!”
Actually, that sounded a little bit too real. Shouto turned around to look behind him, and barely had enough time to steady himself before a pink blur was crashing into him, arms wrapped around him in a hug.
“Mina?”
“I did it! I did it!” she squealed. Squeezing him tight, she released him from the tight grip, intertwining their hands while she bounced around. “I had my make-up test today, and you were right!”
His heart felt like it was lodged in his throat, terribly delighted by the situation and refusing to calm down. “You mean-”
“I GOT AN A!” Mina was bouncing in celebration, energy radiating from her. “It's the first time I ever got an A! I can't believe it- thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Good lord, she was so cute, and it was doing terrible things to his heart. The handholding wasn’t helping - Shouto hoped his hands weren't too cold. Or too sweaty. Or both.
“I knew you could do it,” Shouto managed to say after far too long, “You earned this victory after the hard work you put in.”
“Only because you helped me figure it out! We should go out after practice to celebrate! Izuku told me you like ice cream, or we could go out for dinner if you want? It’s on me, of course, since I’m the one asking you on a date!”
What. Shouto felt his brain pause, reboot, and get confused all over again. Maybe he was hallucinating after all.
“You mean, like a f-friendship date?” And now he was tripping over his own words. Could he get any more pathetic?
“I meant it as a date date. Romantic. But if you just want it to be a friend thing, I can do that!”
What.
“But- but what about Kirishima?”
Mina’s nose wrinkled and her head tilted slightly. “What about Eijirou?”
“Aren’t you two together? Dating? Romantically?”
“Oh god no,” Mina’s face was curled up in disgust, so severely that it almost looked like she’d get sick, “Eijirou and me are not a thing. Ever. He’s like…an annoying brother who got significantly less annoying after he graduated from middle school emo to high school jock. Plus, he’d be the first to tell you that he likes his men manly, blonde, unfairly good at everything, and with severe anger issues.”
“What, like Bakugou?”
“Specifically Bakugou. Half the time me and Eijirou hang out after practice, I have to listen to him cry about how ‘manly and amazing’ Bakugou is! Besides,” she paused, smiling at him so softly, it made Shouto think he might melt, “It’s about time he gets to listen to me talk about my crush. How I like boys who are super kind, stupidly smart, have the coolest split dyed hair, unfairly pretty eyes, and are so awkward my cousin has to tell me my crush isn’t one sided.”
Oh. Oh.
“You like…me?”
“I don’t know, is your name Todoroki Shouto?” Mina giggled, “Yes, I like you. I’ve liked you for a while, I was just nervous about approaching you and making myself look dumb.”
“You aren’t d-“
Dumb, Shouto wanted to say, but suddenly found himself dumbstruck as Mina stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. He opened and closed his mouth a few times without managing to make a sound, only stopping when Mina placed a finger under his jaw.
“You, me, after practice, date?”
“Yes please,” he replied, voice barely above a whisper, the ghost of her soft lips lingering on his skin, the world seeming brighter the longer she looked at him.
“Cheer me on during practice today, okay?”
He nodded so fast his neck popped, and he would do it a thousand times over if it would make Mina laugh like that again. She darted up and kissed his cheek again, rushing off toward the gym before he could even think to react. He took a minute to regain his senses, running after her the moment he could move his body again.
He had never been more excited to watch cheer practice. And, like always, it was all because of the walking supernova, Mina Ashido.