When Emi woke up in the morning, she felt more refreshed than she'd felt in a long time. The first thing she did was text her parents letting them know how yesterday went. She reached over and turned off the fairy lights now that the sun was out before climbing out of bed and going to her dresser. It didn't sound like anyone else was stirring around the dorm, so she put on some workout clothes to go the gymnasium to get a morning workout in.

The walk across UA's campus was beautiful. Emi couldn't imagine that she was here, in her mother's home and attending school. It felt like a dream come true and she had thought about pinching herself just to prove it. She paused outside the gym doors to take in the scenery around her before heading in, preparing to make herself sore and exhausted.

However, Emi opened the door to find Kirishima sparring with a punching bag. Well, a pillar of concrete he was using as a punching bag anyways. He hadn't noticed her walk in, so she walked over to the benches and sat for a moment.

It was impossible not to watch him spar. Especially since he was shirtless. Even though his entire body was hardened Emi could still see beads of sweat rolling off him. His usual spikey hair was hanging in his face and plastered to his forehead. Each punch he threw chipped away more and more of the concrete he was focused on.

Kirishima paused to take a break, letting his hardening go and reaching down to grab a towel to wipe the sweat from his face. He panted heavily, his shoulders rising and falling with each breath. Even without his quirk his body rippled with strength, like every inch of him was made up of pure muscle.

This time, it was Emi who hadn't noticed that he saw her.

"See something y'like?" His voice snapped her out of my trance. Her cheeks flushed immediately like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. He couldn't deny that the look she gave him made his own cheeks start to flush as well.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare." Emi rubbed the back of her neck and stood up from the bench. He walked over to her, still sweating and panting. "That just looked really hardcore, and you were so focused."

Kirishima chuckled, wiping with the towel again. "Are you an early bird too?" He asked her. Emi nodded. "Well, typically it's only me or Bakugo in here this early. Sometimes we spar together. Other than that, you'll find the gym pretty empty this early in the morning."

"I can come back later if you want." She offered, but part of her flushed at the thought of watching him spar again. "Or I can be your sparring partner today since I don't see Bakugo around."

The latter offer caused Kirishima to throw his head back and howl with laughter. "As much as I appreciate it, it's very rare that someone can handle being my sparring partner. If you hadn't noticed that pillar of concrete could barely handle it." He jerked his thumb behind him, but she didn't bother to look. He really didn't want to risk hurting anyone to spar, let alone her, but he'd never really had anyone offer before.

Emi didn't respond to his statement, only reached inside her backpack for her supplies. When she pulled her hand back out diamond began to spread across her skin. His mouth formed an 'o' in surprise as she let the substance spread over her body, leaving only her face normal. "Did you know that diamond is the strongest substance on Earth?" Emi said, placing her hands on her hips. 

Surely this would be enough to withstand his strength. And if not, she'd try something else.

"Woah, that was amazing." He gasped, coming closer to inspect. Kirishima started to reach a hand out to touch her but paused. "May I?"

"May I what?" She teased him, causing him to roll his eyes. "Yes, you can touch me."

Trying to ignore how close he was to her, his hands reached out and found her shoulder, jerking back at the sharp contact. "Holy shit that's sweet." He stated before moving to her bicep, poking every so slightly. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Go ahead, try and hit me." Emi told him before taking a slight step back and bracing herself. But he only shook his head. "Oh, come on, I pull out my biggest trick and you can't even throw a punch. Just one, in the stomach, just to test it out. Please, Kiri."

Again, the nickname caused some kind of reaction inside of him. Even he wasn't sure why it struck a chord. But he furrowed his brows, and he let his right hand harden. She grinned at him, forcing him smiling back. "Okay, but you asked for this so don't come crying to me." He warned, pulling his hand back into a fist.

His hardened fist connected with her stomach, and Emi was overjoyed to only feel a mild impact at the contact. Is this what it's like to have an equal? When she didn't say anything immediately, he dropped his quirk and grabbed her shoulders.

"Did I put too much strength behind it? Are you hurt?" He questioned quickly, his eyes scanning her face for emotion. Oh fuck, he knew he shouldn't have tested it. Knew he shouldn't have let her bait him. Before another question left his lips Emi shouted with joy and grabbed his shoulders.

"This is amazing, Eijiro! I've never had a sparring partner before for close combat!" Emi hollered. He was stunned at her excitement. They stood there for a moment, hands on each other's shoulder before she grinned at him. "I can't even begin to express to you how happy you've just made me Eijiro Kirishima."

With that, a grin spread across his face as well. She had taken the punch like a champ, and he felt a sense of pride in her capabilities.

After the initial excitement calmed down, they were diving into sparring. With rules per Kirishima's orders. If he pushed too hard, she had to shout the word 'tasty'. Emi wasn't sure why he picked that specifically, but she didn't care because she wasn't going to use it.

This was the hardest sweat she'd worked up during a sparring session. Emi decided to stay in her diamond form, since right now that was the only guaranteed substance that could withstand his quirk. It also seemed affective at providing impact against him when she struck. With each hit she landed, he would smile at her and nod.

"If you're ever facing an opponent like me, even if they're entire body seems indestructible, go for the weaker parts of their body." Kirishima explained to her, pointing to his stomach, calves, and back of his arms. "Anywhere there's muscle that can be impacted by a strong punch. Even better if you can use your quirk to slice through the exterior."

He stood still and Emi put all her weight behind a punch to his stomach, followed by a swift back kick to his calf. He almost buckled after the kick but quickly steadied himself since he had been prepared. Even though he'd known it was coming, her physical strength continued to surprise him.

"Why don't you pull your hair back when you're sparring? It seems like it's just getting in the way right now." Emi pointed it out randomly, having had the thought on her mind for a bit. He shrugged, pushing his hand back through his hair. "Here, c'mere." He walked over to her confused, until she pulled a spare hair tie out of her pocket and reached up. "Let me pull it back for you."

Kirishima's pulse raced. Emi's hands grabbed a tuff of the front of his hair, pulling it out of his face and securing it with a hair tie. She was so close, the heat from her body radiating onto his. Keep calm, idiot, she'll hear your heart pounding.

"There, feel better?" She asked, and he did. His forehead started to cool off from the relief of not having sweaty hair plastered to it. Emi still stood close, looking up at him.

What did they have, four maybe five inches in height difference? He had gotten a little taller over the years but looking down at her... she seemed much smaller than him.

And yet, she had landed quite a few punches that he knew he was going to be sore from later.

"Kiri?"

That goddamn nickname. Did she know what it did to him? Every time she called him that it was like every thought flew out of his head.

Sure, he'd had crushes before. Many in fact. However, this crush had hit him fast and strong. From the moment they'd walked into the gym and saw her destroying her surroundings, covered in crystal and stone, her energy had collided against his with force.

"Uh, yeah. Much better. Thank you." Damn, he finally found the words to respond. She probably thought he was stupid. Suddenly he was thankful that his hardening didn't show the blush creeping up on his cheeks. "Less talking, more punching."

"Actually, I think I need a break. Staying in one form for too long eats up my energy like a bitch, and it has been a little over an hour since we started sparring." She told him, and immediately the diamond exterior on her body started to crumble off.

God it was like watching her undress in front of him. 

"Maybe we should call it for today, we can go back to the dorm and rest for a bit. I got to admit, I'm a bit wiped too." Kirishima was almost never truly wiped from sparring sessions, but he also never had a partner that could give and receive the same amount of effort he put in. She nodded before walking over to grab her bag. He let his quirk go, praying the heat had left his cheeks.

"Hey! Maybe we should convince everyone to go swimming at the pool today!" Emi suggested excitedly.

"Yeah, that sounds awesome to me!"

______________

Of course, the rest of the class happily agreed to hit the pool. Once everyone had time to change into swimsuits and apply sunscreen, they were all supposed to meet in the common area. As Emi applied most of her sunscreen, she realized she'd have to ask one of the girls to help her get her back, so she left her room with most of her belongings to go down the hall to Uraraka's room.

She stood at Uraraka's door knocking for a minute but got no response. A debate went off in her head. Does she go downstairs and ask if Uraraka would do it, in front of everyone else? Does she see if any of the other girls are still in their room?

"Emi?" She turned to see Kirishima. She had forgotten that Uraraka's door faced the top of the steps, which he'd seemed to be getting ready to go down. "I think Uraraka's downstairs already."

Kirishima was still feeling flustered from their sparring session earlier, and here she was standing in the hallway wearing a bikini top with a towel wrapped around her waist. Was the universe testing him? He tried not to let his gaze leave her face but every instinct was telling him to look elsewhere.

"Of course she is." Looks like that made the decision for her. "I was hoping she'd put sunscreen on my back, but it feels a little weird to do that in front of everyone. Maybe it's just a me thing though."

Kirishima laughed before coming closer to her. "It's definitely just a you thing, Emi. But if you want, I'm the only one up here so I can help if you're comfortable with that."

"Um, sure. I guess I trust that you're not a pervert or anything." She joked, holding her sunscreen out to him before turning her back.

Why did he suggest that? Now Kirishima was really going to have to control himself. Could he do that?

He paused for a moment, taking in the small scars littering her back. More importantly, the tattoo running down her spine. Shit, she has a tattoo. That just makes things worse for him. The tattoo had different gemstones one after another, from the nape of her neck all the way down to...

The rest disappeared under hem of the towel, and Kirishima mentally punched a wall when he realized.

"Are you going to put sunscreen on for me or do I need to go ask someone else?" Emi asked, and heard Kirishima clear his throat. He didn't say anything before she felt cold hands meet her skin, causing her to jump. "Fuck, that's cold sunscreen."

Kirishima was painfully aware of the feel of her skin. He had to keep telling himself to focus on applying the sunscreen effectively so she wouldn't get burned, but thoughts of her began to rise to the surface.

Her skin was so soft to the touch. It was warm, and seemed to invite his touch the longer he moved his hands. When he ran his hands over some of the scars, they were smooth, completely healed. How soft was the rest of her skin?

"Thanks, Kirishima. I think that'll do." Emi said suddenly, causing the fog in his brain to lift. She turned and smiled at him, taking the sunscreen from his hand. "I owe you one."

He could only stand there, brain malfunctioning while she walked down the stairs. Once she was out of earshot, he let out the breath he was holding in.

It's just a fucking crush.

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