The city of Musutafu was unusually quiet for a Thursday afternoon. Normally the city was alive with the sound of its citizens pouring from their office buildings, flooding the streets for their lunch hour in desperation to escape the confines of their cramped workspaces. On this particular day however, there were only a handful outdoors, walking sluggishly beneath the hot sun as the occasional car passed them by. Most had opted to stay indoors where it was cool and air conditioned. The city was quiet on this hot summer's day.

The cool water was refreshing. He sat at the edge of the pool with the legs of his jeans rolled up as his feet gently kicked back and forth in the water, though the sun had never much caused him to overheat. They had been the first two to arrive. Yaoyorozu had disappeared into the girls' locker room to change, leaving him to assume his current position and savor the rare silence.

She joined him not long after, asking where his swimsuit was. He explained how the chlorine in the pool would dry out and irritate his skin.

"You don't mind if I jump in, do you?" A rhetorical question as she was already several steps into the pool. "The sun is scorching."

He heard a soft 'splash' as she dived beneath the water. Her hair floated freely along the surface until she submerged deep enough to pull it under. After several seconds he heard her subsequent reemergence followed by the steady trickling of water falling from her hair as she whipped her head back, wiping her hands up her face and raking her fingers through her raven locks, pushing it back and out of her face.

"Are you sure you won't join?" She asked, wading her way over to him. "It doesn't have to be for long. Just until the others arrive." Slipping one of her hands into his, she let her feet lift from the bottom of the pool, using him as an anchor as she floated in place. "It's not much fun alone."

He didn't respond, but after several seconds consideration he slid forward and allowed himself to slip, fully clothed, into the pool. Yaoyorozu made a small noise of surprise, about to mention how this would surely ruin his clothes, when she noticed the aureate light surrounding his body, though barely visible beneath the sun's rays. Smiling, she took both his hands and pulled him further into the pool to where their feet would no longer touch the bottom.

Languidly kicking her legs to keep afloat, she noticed (L/N)'s complete lack of movement. Neither standing nor swimming, he just sort of hovered there. It looked so odd that it bordered on funny.

"It's no fun if you're just going to use your quirk." Yaoyorozu laughed. "Why don't you actually swim? Enjoy the weightlessness of it."

Color rose from his neck and settled in his cheeks. He turned his head down and away to hide the color. "I... don't know how."

"No one ever taught you?"

His lips pinched together as he slowly shook his head.

"Hey, it's nothing to be embarrassed about." She said, taking note of his physical behavior. "Here, let me teach you. You'll need to stop using your quirk to support yourself."

"What if I start to sink?" He did his best to keep the fear from his voice because damn did he feel pathetic right about now. Sixteen years old and still afraid of the water.

"Don't worry, just hold onto me so I can help keep you afloat." Since he did not move, she took his hands and placed them on her shoulders while supporting the undersides of his arms. "We'll start with your feet first."

Despite the water, her skin was warm under his touch. This much physical contact with someone was unfamiliar. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but his mouth had suddenly gone very dry.

"Just relax. I've got you." Yaoyorozu said, mistaking the cause of his apprehension.

"I don't think this is..."

"Hey, trust me." She said. "Okay?"

Inhaling deeply through the nose he pinched his eyebrows together and allowed himself to release his own weight. He felt his body slip beneath the water, but Yaoyorozu tightened her grip on him and kept him afloat.

"See, that wasn't so bad." She smiled. "Now try kicking your legs in a circular motion, nice and gentle, one right after the other. Good."

With a few more simple instructions and a couple minutes of practice he started to get the hang of it. Momo loosened her grip as he got better at supporting himself, eventually just holding onto his hands as he continued kicking beneath the water.

"Okay, I'm going to let go now." She said. "When I do, I want you to start moving your arms back and forth like your cleaning a table. Don't go up and down or you'll start to bob, okay?"

"O-Okay?" He said questioningly.

"Don't worry, I'll be right here."

With another deep breath he nodded his head. She let go and he started moving his arms as she had instructed, but without her presence he suddenly felt adrift and began to panic. His rhythm faltered and his feet stopped moving. The feeling of the water overcoming his chin caused him to lunge forward, desperately searching for her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, desperately clinging to her. With a few deep breaths and the guarantee that he was no longer sinking he was finally able to regain his composure. However, now that his mind was no longer preoccupied with the threat of drowning, he suddenly became very aware of the position they were in. Having dropped partly beneath the water, his head was now level with her chest and his arms were wrapped a bit lower than her waist. He panicked again.

[My Hero Academia]

The rest of the girls arrived about fifteen minutes after two. They'd decided that afternoon to grab lunch before heading over, but despite numerous phone calls and texts, no one had been able to get a hold of Yamomo to let her know. And they wouldn't have been late if their waiter hadn't screwed up the bill and gave them someone else's. They hoped she wouldn't be too upset.

Hurrying to change, the five girls made a brisk pace for the pool where they saw Yaoyorozu lazily floating in the water.

"Ahh, we're sorry we're late Yaomomo!" Ashido cried as she ran out the doors. "Please don't be mad at us!"

"Hmm," she turned her head at the sound of Mina's voice, smiling in greeting as she saw the others approaching. "Oh, hello everyone!" She called cheerfully.

"We met up for lunch." Jiro explained. "I tried calling but you didn't respond."

"Oh, I must have forgotten to turn my phone on. I'm sorry I didn't answer, but I hope you all had a lovely time."

"It would have been better with you there." Hakagure said.

"Have we kept you long?" Ururaka asked. "Oh, I feel awful."

"Don't worry about it." Yaoyorozu laughed and lifted her hand above the water and flicked her wrist dismissively. "(L/N)'s been keeping me company."

"(L/N)'s here?" Ashido frantically started scanning the area for the boy, eager to drink in the sight of him shirtless. She was left disappointed when she found him sitting at the edge of the pool, fully clothed and...

"Why is he soaking wet?" Jiro asked.

Momo rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, he slipped into the pool on accident." She laughed with a blush. "I hope you don't mind that I invited him."

"I don't mind, ribbit." Tsu thoughtfully placed a webbed finger on her chin. "I'm more surprised that you managed to convince him to come."

"When did you invite him, anyway?" Ururaka asked.

"Wait," Mina jumped into the pool with a splash, her head popping up next to Momo's. "Do you have his number?" She gasped, dramatically grabbing her friend by the shoulders. "Give it to me! Pretty please!"

"Stop shaking me Mina, I don't have his phone number." Yaoyorozu said as she tried to pry her friend's hands from her. "I just bumped into him yesterday, is all."

"Come on, Ashido." Jiro sighed exasperatedly as she waded her way into the pool, grabbing the pinkette by the arm. "Leave her alone."

Yaoyorozu sighed in relief, thankful that the group had finally changed topic. It was getting dangerously close to broaching on them questioning her relationship with (L/N), which, while completely innocent, would undoubtedly cause more drama. And while she really loved Mina, the girl could be a little... much.

Tsu then suggested they all do a bit of a warmup before entering the pool. She said that loosening up the muscles helped to prevent the vasoconstriction caused by the water pressure. The six girls were going through a series of stretches when Kaminari and Mineta surprised them by diving through the doors, followed closely by the rest of the male members of their class. Apparently Midoriya had convinced Aizawa to allow them to use the pool for endurance training. They promised to keep themselves to one side of the pool as to not disturb the girls.

As the boys got to training, Ururaka produced a volleyball she'd brought from home and suggested a game of toss. Positioning themselves around the pool, Ochako sent the ball into the air with a well-aimed set, tossing it to Jiro who passed it over to Ashido. (L/N) in the meantime was about ready to leave. The arrival of the rest of the class had been an unwelcome surprise, and they were already starting to get rowdy. Besides, the chlorine was starting to dry and cause his skin to crack. He was just about to get up to leave, but a misaimed pass had the ball sent flying straight for his face. A handful of people yelled at him to 'look out', but it was too late. With a heavy smack, his head whipped back as the ball hit him square in the nose.