"Hey, wanna play a game with me?"

It took seven words to snap him out of his daze and two moments of silence to register her voice. It had taken him a second more to realize he wasn't hidden from this girl's eyes, and though his mind would like to believe she was here to boost her ego, she didn't seem to have a dislike towards him.

"Huh?" he mouthed, ceasing his working hands piling books inside his bag, and staring up at her, in his defense, he didn't know how to talk with girls, and none approached him, much less look at him.

"You know, like truth or dare?" she nervously smiled, not used to social interactions as much as him.

"Um... Yeah- sure." he had no idea why he had said yes without thinking it thrice, he did feel guilty for making her wait for a simple 'yes' or 'no'. The least he could do was help her out somehow.

"Oh! Really? You'll play one game with me?"

Now that he gets to look at her, he can see how delicate and fragile her features are, despite looking dull prior seconds ago, her face had brightened and her lips spread into an unsure smile. His heartbeat quickened.

"Y-Yeah, I don't mind." she was his classmate, and he had been caught staring at her a few times by kacchan, earning a crude response he still recalls, 'Two loners end up together, man, such a good love story.' Perhaps, it gave him some hope.

"Alright!" she quickly sat down beside him, pulling a chair close and pressing her lips together while she thought of something, "Okay, truth or dare?" she asked with a grin, and he felt his cheeks and ears growing warm. "T-truth."

"Is it true that you like me?" that choked the breath out of him, and he completely lost hold of his words, struggling like a fish out of water. He felt embrassessed she had to find out this way, and it would have been a little too hopeful for him to think kacchan wouldn't spread a rumor about his crush.

But, this wasn't how he had imagined it going, he couldn't predict her response if he did confess the truth, and lying while asking for the truth would leave a bad taste in his mouth.

So, he took in a hurried breath and anxiously answered, "yes." it sounded shaky and strained to come from his mouth, but from what little he could tell, she had smiled and laughed, not in a mocking way, a genuine laugh that he had gotten for being honest.

She looked him straight in the eye and said.
"Well, I guess you could say I have a crush on you too."

It had seemed like a miracle the more he thought about it, sitting so far behind her in class watching her every movement, not paying a lot of attention to what was already escaping his mind since morning, he couldn't believe that someone liked him and that happened to be the only girl he had his eyes on since kindergarten, they never talked though before yesterday.

They were just classmates their entire life and suddenly, she comes up to him and shares his feelings it almost saddens him to know that it happened right as their middle school days were ending and they wouldn't be in the same class anymore. He wanted to know her but all he ever knows is the rumors he had been too interested in to eavesdrop on.

He startles himself upon hearing the bell ring, dropping his pencil and failing to catch it before it fell, unfortunately for him, he had attracted some attention to himself. Hers included, and he couldn't slow down his pounding heart, he had to nervously smile as he bent down to retrieve his pencil from the ground.

The next second his gaze lands on her she's already up on her feet and walking toward him. He had nothing prepared.

"Oh- um uh hey!" he didn't know how to act around her, and she even though taken aback by his high-pitched greeting, stopped in front of his desk. Then, she smiled, "Yello, wanna have lunch with me on the rooftop?"

He gulped, "Y-yeah, okay."

"Great! I'll be right back!" she rushed back to her desk and he had a quick minute to let out his held breath and regain himself, he was going to have lunch with her, he reminded himself stiffly reaching out to fish out his bento. Forcing himself to stand up on unsteady feet.

"You got everything?" she asked immediately after he caught up to her by the entrance of their noisy classroom, he softly muttered, "y-yup."

Without warning, she quickly latched her free hand around his and quietly dragged him away, the warmth in their hands distracting him as they raced up the stairs he nearly trips the more he attempts to focus on the moment right before his eyes and the way she held his hand so tightly, butterflies churned inside his stomach and his chest had gotten heavier.

They reached the top breathlessly and she chuckled, "hehe a good exercise." izuku was sure he was going to faint with how much he was denying himself some oxygen and ease.

Allowing him some time to gather himself, she patiently waited with her bento in hand, "We should train together to increase our stamina, it's not like sitting around 8 hours in class is going to make us stronger."

Izuku looked up and nodded, standing up straight as she opened the door, or at least tried to, but to no avail, it wouldn't move. She groaned, "It's locked!" rattling it a bit, she stepped back.

Crestfallen she banged her head against the door and staggered him into action, "hey it's o-okay we can just go back and have our lunch in class, or the cafeteria, if you want."

"I was looking forward to having lunch with you on the rooftop but seems like my plan was faulty." she moaned turning her pouting face back to him, she carried on, "I do have a backup plan though, what about we sit down here by the stairs and... Have our lunch?" she didn't sound sure about her idea, but he didn't dislike it, so he happily nodded. To cheer her up.

It seemed to help, both created some distance between them while they sat by each other, opening their boxes and grabbing their utensils, they started to dig into their meals.

"What's your favorite food?" she asked all of a sudden, and he still had some rice in his mouth before he could reply, "Katsudon." she was trying to make him comfortable, perhaps she could tell he was feeling uneasy.

"Oh! I see, I like... Many things, too many to name but I guess I like tasty things more than anything."

"Like?" he asked, "Tough question," she replied, taking another bite of her lunch, she slowly chews it in her mouth, staring aimlessly at the top window on the wall. To him, it looked like she was deep in thought. She didn't blink, and abruptly she had drawn herself back into reality.

"You okay?" he found himself asking, and like most people, she faces him and smiles, "Yup, of course."

He didn't expect it to turn awkward, he didn't come prepared, and running on autopilot had its drawbacks.

"Have you ever thought how a kiss would feel?"

Izuku widened his eyes and swallowed his food before he coughs it up, she noticed and scrambled to justify, avoiding his eyes as she speaks, "That was inappropriate of me, I'm so sorry! I um... Have seen couples kiss in movies so I was just curious."

"Ooh! Y-yeah," he replied, turning bright red but the next thing she said had shivers climbing down his spine.

"D-do you... Want to try it?"

They both stopped, and her friend had flushed bright red so much so that she could see his ears had gotten red too, "I mean if you want to, of course!"

It had to be a dream he was sleeping through, she couldn't be asking if she could kiss him or not, she just could not be. "Um-uh I-i..." and his mind had failed to form a coherent sentence, he can't think of a better way to communicate other than to give a meek nod.

"Are you sure?" she gasped, rapidly blinking her eyes as if she couldn't believe that her idea had been accepted without judgment.

Again, he nodded.

Carefully, she shifted close, stuck her hand on the dirty stairs, and leaned forward, and izuku backed himself into the wall and floundered to maintain eye contact, looking back and forth between her and the staircase. He shut his eyes once she had gotten closer, waiting for her lips to connect.

He heard her giggle, and his mind forced him to open his eyes to look, she was fondly smiling at him. Then she touched his lips and slightly press down on them, leaning in more, she took the lead and slowly moved her lips and izuku couldn't describe the feeling, their lips were touching and he thought how rough it would feel for her to kiss his cracked lips but, with how soft it felt, he forgot his worries.

She was kissing him with so much care, he felt compelled to snake his hand around her head and pull her in, and with much contemplation, he rested his hand on her shoulder, placing his hand into her silky hair, he did exactly what he sought to do.

Pull her in, and have his first kiss.

Then, she parted her lips and she looked at him, mouth slightly gapped and how utterly under her control his gazed-over eyes seemed. He looked so out of it.

He smiled, then out of the blue, three words escaped his mouth, almost like he couldn't contain them, in a tender and gentle tone, he said, "I love you."

--

He came home with her number and her fleeting kiss still lingering on his redden lips, his phone already out and his fingers itching to write a text as he's sitting on his desk, still mulling over the feelings washing over him every time he thinks back to their kiss, with so much care for him expressed through one action.

He shouldn't text her this late.

He should probably get some sleep and stop thinking about what he ended up saying, and how she kissed his cheek after hearing that, still smiling.

The sight of her played on repeat in his mind, dismantling everything he observed about her, her eyes, her lips, her face, he shouldn't be thinking this much.

At the thought of her, his phone rang.

He glanced at it and quickly shot up at the display of her name, he ran to his door and locked it, pacing back and forth picking it up before the call ended.

"Hey! I'm just calling to ask if you are doing okay, you were so out of it after lunch, I got worried, I'm so sorry for putting you through that." his shoulders loosened, realizing she was just like him.

"Oh- no, I'm fine, great actually--" he paused, anxiously giggling to himself, "um, I'm good I was just uh-- overwhelmed I guess I mean in a good way."

"Oh! Oh! Um..." she goes quiet, and izuku finds out that he's very good at making things awkward for himself. He didn't know what he was bound to say under such pressure.

"I guess I was too, I didn't expect you to actually... Well, um never mind I shouldn't give you more heart attacks today." she laughed, "I think I've given you more than enough for a day."

Izuku smiled to himself.

"Well, good night then. See you tomorrow, bye."

"B-bye."

Maybe, he should practice more on his social skills.