Top pic credit: sixlightyears

"I don't know. It's like no matter what I do, I always manage to say the wrong thing." Mirio sighed, running an anxious hand through his hair.

"I wouldn't sweat it. I mean, Eri's only been in UA's care for three months. You can't expect her to transform over night. She's been through so much, and she's not even seven." I reassured lightly, leaning on Nejire's shoulder.

Mirio leaned back on the bed, tossing his phone up in the air repeatedly.

"Plus....your personality shines so brightly, Mirio. Little Eri is probably still getting used to it." Tamaki mumbled quietly, tapping his friend's shoulder in reassurance.

Nejire, Mirio, Tamaki, and I were currently relaxing in my dorm room, just trying to catch up on everyone's lives.

School started a little over a month ago, and it's been a whirlwind ever since. It was our third year at UA, which meant students were out in the field about ninety percent of the time now. Book work, gym class, and all of the usual maintenance school stuff was no longer important. It was all about getting experience with our mentors, which means that the only time we are really at UA anymore is for sleep, and the one day off we get at the end of the week.

That day off was today. So, my friends and I decided to get some snacks, put on some good music, and just catch up on everything that we've missed.

"I just hope Eri is able to adjust soon. I don't like to see her suffering the way she is. That damn bastard, Chisaki." Mirio mumbled, taking a sip of his soda.

"I hope Eri can adjust, too. Then, maybe she can give you your quirk back." Nejire reassured, resting on the bed, before she rapidly tapped my shoulder.

"Ow, ow. What?" I retorted softly, trying to shield my shoulder from her abuse.

She simply pointed to my television, which was currently on. It was turned to channel three, broadcasting a recap of the high end Nomu attack, that happened a few weeks ago.

"Man, they are still talking about that?" I mumbled, watching the cameras pan to a shot of Hawks soaring majestically through the sky. He quickly shot out his crimson wings at the high end Nomu, like the fearless boss he is.

Mirio and Nejire began cheering obnoxiously, when the camera suddenly panned to me...capturing a shot of me fighting two small Nomus.

"Oh stop it already, you two..." I groaned out, hearing Tamaki laugh softly at my embarrassment.

Mirio and Nejire quickly jumped on top of me, starting to smother my face with pillows.

"Get off!!" I laughed out, not being able to breathe from the weight of both their bodies on mine.

"Hey....guys, guys. Look." Tamaki interrupted almost inaudibly, as he pointed at the screen.

My face turned about fifty shades of red, as I saw what the hell Tamaki was pointing at.

It was a news video, clearly taken from far away. Keigo was holding me in his arms, rubbing my shoulders and whispering something in my ear.

"Wooaaah, what!!!? I haven't seen this footage before. What's going on here?!" Mirio exclaimed, leaning forward on the bed to get a better look.

"What's he saying to you?! Was it something sexy?!" Nejire exclaimed, looking at the television in awe.

"Does it look like I have any idea what he was saying to me?" I laughed out, pointing to my unconscious figure on the screen.

"Well, either way...it looks like we gotta couple of lovebirds around here." Nejire smirked, shooting me a knowing look.

"What?! No way. No way! That was just a big day for Keigo and I-" I started saying, before Tamaki cut me off.

"Keigo? Is that his name? He lets you call him by his name?! Hawks never tells anyone his name. It's like a secret with the press. They're always trying to figure it out." He pointed out, becoming very interested in my bond with Hawks.

"W-Well, he told me his name a few days after we started working together. But, for the record...he didn't actually give me permission to start calling him by his name, until a few weeks ago-"

"Yeah, he never whispered cute, little things into his co-workers ears, either." Nejire smirked.

"And he definitely doesn't look at them like that." Mirio pointed out, still studying the video of Keigo and I on the television.

"Guys, guys, guys. Come on! Keigo-I mean, Hawks is my boss. He's a professional guy.....the number two hero, for crying out loud! There's no way he'd be into me like that-" I started saying, before Tamaki casually held up my phone.

"He's calling you." He simply said.

Everyone was silent for a moment, as the phone rang....causing a heightened sense of anticipation to run throughout the room now.

"F-Fine. Let him call. I don't care. It's my day off, so I'm not going to answer it." I stated firmly, even though I really wanted to answer it.

The silence continued, as everyone blankly stared at me, before Mirio and Nejire lunged for my ringing phone.

"Hey-STOP!" I groaned, also charging full force at Tamaki.

He let out a small little peep of pain as the three of us tackled him, all trying to grab my phone out of his hands.

"Children! You're all a bunch of children!" I hissed out, grabbing my phone and sloppily shuffling to my feet.

"Just answer it!! Don't be a pussy!" Nejire exclaimed eagerly.

I sighed out in annoyance, looking down at the phone.

"Everyone, be quiet." I mumbled, causing Mirio to giggle excitedly, as I quickly swiped my phone to the right.

"H-Hello?" I answered, cursing myself for the slight voice crack that came through my mouth.

"Hey, chicky. How's it hangin'?" Keigo called out, the sound of rustling wind filling his background space.

He must be flying.

"How's it hanging, you ask? Oh yeah. It's hanging....good." I mumbled awkwardly, feeling a little unnerved that Mirio, Tamaki, and Nejire were listening to this conversation so intently.

"You sure about that? I thought you'd sound a little more excited on your day off. What, ya miss me that much already?" He teased, laughing slightly at his own joke.

What an idiot.

"Hah. Keep dreaming, bird boy." I mumbled, fighting the smile that wanted to make its way onto my face.

"Believe me, I will." He quickly countered, causing my cheeks to blush.

Mirio and Nejire widened their eyes in excitement at his words, being able to hear him through the phone.

I quickly gave them the middle finger, continuing my conversation with Keigo.

"Anyways, what do you need?" I replied, trying to get to the point of why he called me. He must need me to do something for him, when I get back to the office.

"......hm? Oh!-right, what do I need? Well....I was just calling.....to ask about those annual proposal papers I'm supposed to fill out. You printed them out, right? Where....did you leave them?" He asked simply, not saying anything more.

Nejire, Mirio, and even Tamaki were all giving me looks like I was an idiot.

"What?" I mouthed out to them cluelessly, holding my hand up in confusion.

They began mouthing things back to me, aggressively trying to tell me how I was fucking something up.

"Yoo-hoo! Did I lose you?" Hawks asked curiously, bringing my attention back.

"Huh? What? No! I'm here. Uh....right, the proposal papers. The ones giving you access to confidential information in the city of Kyushu? I put those on your desk yesterday, before I left. I showed you, remember?" I questioned, wondering why the hell we were having this conversation again.

"Ohhh, yeah. Now, I remember. Okay, chicky. Sorry, not sorry that I bothered you on your day off. Later!" He quickly chirped out, before hanging up.

"You're an idiot!!" Nejire exclaimed, laying on the floor in exasperation.

"Ari, Ari, Ari." Mirio sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

"That's unfortunate." Tamaki whispered, shooting me a gentle look of pity.

I looked at all of them, completely dumbfounded.

"What are you guys talking about?! He was calling to ask where I put something! How is that cute and romantic in any way?" I countered.

"He was calling to talk to you. He didn't give a flying fuck about the papers." Nejire chuckled, realizing I was seriously clueless to this whole thing.

"Huh? But, he asked-"

"He only asked that question after you pretty much blew him off. It was obvious, even hearing the conversation from over here, that he was just making up an excuse." Mirio pointed out, popping open a bag of chips.

I furrowed my brows in confusion, mulling over their words.

I did personally deliver those papers to Keigo, yesterday. I always put his stuff on his desk. So, there'd be no possible way he wouldn't at least check there first.

.....so, does that mean he could have made up an excuse to talk to me? I guess so.

"What are you implying?" I asked, already full well knowing what they were implying. I just wanted to hear their confirmation for myself.

"Ari.....Hawks is into you. He likes you. It's pretty obvious." Nejire stated, giving me a hopeful smile.

"And I'm pretty sure, you're into him, too." Mirio said, raising his brows suggestively.

"What? Me..." I involuntarily scoffed, before my mind traveled back to Keigo.

Did he really take time out of his day to call me? Just cause he wanted to? Man, he sounded so cute on the phone. His usual chipper voice always seemed to brighten up my day, no matter what mood I was in. Actually, just being with him in general brightened up my day. I looked forward to going to see him. I looked forward to talking to him. I wanted to be close to him. My heart would beat just a little faster every time I saw him.

Ugh. Fuck.

No. No. No.

Attraction. Attraction and harmless flirting were supposed to be fine. But, feelings....getting feelings for him was not okay.

But, it looks like it's too late for that now.

I like Keigo.....I have a little school girl crush on him.

I'm an idiot.

"Uh..." I muttered out, covering my cheeks as I realized they were heating up.

"We all knew it, Ari. No need to be embarrassed. You talk about the guy all the time. It was bound to happen eventually." Tamaki reassured softly, hugging a pillow to his chest.

"W-Well-okay, so what? Even if I like Hawks, there's no way he'd like me back. There's no way he'd go for me. The guy's a natural flirt. He could literally have any girl he wanted, with a snap of his fingers! I think he already has. I mean, some girl named Kiara is always blowing up his phone! That's probably his girlfriend!" I countered, feeling slightly annoyed at the thought.

Great. Here come the feelings. The attachment for him I've been trying to avoid.

"Did he say that Kiara is his girlfriend?" Nejire asked.

"Well, no but-"

"Then, how do you know? Maybe Kiara is like his sister or something?" She said, trying to give me some hope.

Huh. I guess he never technically stated that Kiara was his girlfriend. He always seemed really uninterested in her whenever she called. He never picked up the phone.

Sensing I was lost in thought, the trio spoke up now.

"Look. I don't care if I sound cliche right now. Ari, you only live once. I mean, ever since the Chisaki mission, I've been trying to live with that mindset. I almost died. I would have, had you and Tamaki not carried me out of the yakuza house. Anyways, not the point. My point is, go for what you want. Be young. Live. Tell Hawks you have feelings for him. You're an amazing girl. He'd be a fool not to like you back." Mirio encouraged, popping another chip into his mouth.

Tell Keigo I have feelings for him? The thought alone sounded terrifying to me. What if it made things awkward? What if he didn't feel the same way?

....but what if...he did?

Why shouldn't I try?

I sighed softly, feeling my heartbeat pick up at what I was about to say.

"You're right. Why shouldn't I go for what I want? I'm going to tell him. I'm gonna tell Keigo I have feelings for him."