I do not own Boku no Hero Academia nor its characters or story.

Kirishima was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and lost in thought. He had just gotten out of the hospital from the rescue mission to save Eri. During his fight with one of the Eight Precepts of Death, he had sustained some serious injuries. If Fatgum hadn't come to help him at the last minute, Kirishima was sure that he would have died. The incident made him realize that he still had a long ways to go before he could truly stand up on his own against powerful villains.

Now, thinking back on it, Kirishima began to realize that if he had indeed died that day, there would have been so much he would have regretted. He would have never achieved his dream of being as great a hero as his idol, Crimson Riot. He would not only be leaving his family, but also his friends that he cared so much about. Also, he would never be able to tell the girl he liked how he felt about her.

A sudden knock at the door snapped Kirishima out of his senses. "Who is it?" he asked suspiciously. After the Training Ground incident, Kirishima had made it a point to ask who was behind his door whenever they knocked in case a villain were behind it.

"It's me," said a familiar voice, "can I come in?"

"Sure," he replied, "the door's unlocked." The door swung open to reveal Mina Ashido, Kirishima's classmate and fellow middle-schooler. She was wearing her school t-shirt that was showing off every curve of her body and her school skirt that showed off her legs. Seeing her in that getup caused Kirishima's cheeks to turn a slight pink.

"May I sit down?" Mina asked.

"S-Sure." Kirishima responded, scooting over so that she could have room to sit on his bed.

The two of them sat on Kirishima's bed for what felt like hours, until Mina finally broke the silence. "So," she said, "the reason I came here was that you've been awfully quiet since you came back from your mission. The only thing you ever said to me since you came back was that 'you have a long way to go'. What do you mean by that? What happened there?"

Kirishima looked down at the ground as she asked this question; he didn't want her to see the fear in his eyes. "Well," he began, "Fatgum and I were trying to regroup with the others after the walls placed us in different rooms. We then ran into these two villains who were part of a group called the Eighth Percepts of Death. They attacked Fatgum first and he took a lot of damage. I decided to be the hero and went up against the bigger one. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't even scratch him. He then began pummeling me until I was nothing but a bloodied and bruised body. I thought for sure that I was gonna die, but Fatgum saved me at the last minute."

Mina had to cover her hands over her mouth; she had no idea of the pain that Kirishima might have felt about that battle. Her eyes then moved downward to see his hands clenched tightly on his knees and that he was shaking. "And then," he continued, "when I was lying in my hospital bed, all bandaged and bruised, I began wondering about what might have happened to me had Fatgum not been able to save me. I never would have seen my classmates again, especially Denki, Midoriya, Iida, Mineta, and you. I never would have achieved my dream of being a great hero like Crimson Riot. I never even told me parents that I loved them before I left for the mission. And once again, I was too weak to prevent anyone from getting hu-"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence; at that moment, Mina placed both her hands against his cheeks and turned his head to look at her.

"Now you listen to me, Eijiro Kirishima," she said in a stern voice. Kirishima was shocked by this; Mina had never used his first name before while talking to him. "Remember what I told you years ago back in Middle School?" she asked, continuing her speech, "I told you to never give up hope and to continue being stronger, no matter what the outcome. You have gotten stronger since then, and you will become stronger over time. You just have to believe that you can do it, and that there are those who believe in you."

"But," Kirishima said, "Fatgum getting hurt…"

"Heroes get hurt all the time." Mina said, "You could have stood there in fear and watched them kill him. Did you do that? Did you stand by in fear like you did years ago? No! You stood in front of those villains and fought against them, even though the odds were completely against you. Fatgum is alive today because you protected him for as long as you could. You're not the same person you were back in Middle School; you're a person who never gives up and protects those he cares about."

"BUT WHAT IF I CAN'T PROTECT YOU?!" Kirishima's outburst caused Mina to let go of his face in shock. Kirishima then wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"What if we were to go on a mission and, God forbid, you got hurt or killed?" Kirishima said into her shoulder. "I…I don't think I would be able to live with that notion. I've always liked you, Mina. You've given me the strength to not just be a better hero, but to be a better person as well. Back in Middle School, I was just some frightened nobody who felt like he would amount to nothing. But your words have helped me to push forward and follow my dreams. And if something were to happen to you, I…I..."

Mina began to feel something wet run down the side of her neck; she realized immediately that Kirishima was crying. She gave a soft smile, pulled him a bit so that she could face him, and looked him right in the eye. "You shouldn't have to worry about that," she said softly as she wiped away the tears from his eyes, "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Besides, I can hold my own. And if I do end up getting hurt or die, then you continue your dream, for the both of us."

Kirishima looked at the girl who had given him hope for all these years and couldn't help but give a small smile at her words. "Thanks, Mina." He said. It was at that moment that the two classmates realized how close their faces were to each other. Kirishima's cheeks turned a faint pink while Mina's already pink cheeks turned a slightly darker color. Slowly, the two began to lean in toward each other, their nostrils picking up the scent of the other. Kirishima caught a whiff of lavender perfume while Mina could make out a scent of Axe body spray. After a few seconds of hesitation, their lips finally connected with each other. It was small at first, but soon the two relaxed and began to deepen it. Mina placed her hands on Kirishima's shoulders while his hands touched her hips. After a while, they broke their lips apart and stared into each other's eyes.

"I guess we can't call each other horn buddies anymore, huh?" Mina asked.

"No, we can't," Kirishima admitted, "I think the proper term for us now is horn lovers."

Mina smiled at this. "I can live with that." She said as she and Kirishima rested their foreheads against each other, not wanting this moment to end.