Izuku Midoriya wasn't just a pro hero; he's a teacher too, meaning he knows how to keep an audience interested and focused, which makes this whole scenario of him being utterly distracted by a particular interviewer more ironic.

His arms ached faintly from both the patrol earlier in the morning and the more recent villain takedown, but nothing hurt badly enough for him to not answer the post-incident press. He was getting good at this part: calm voice, firm posture, honest answers. The camera loved him. Japan loved him. Trusted him.

But apparently, fighting villains and teaching students meant absolutely nothing when face-to-face with a pretty interviewer. They had a tablet in one hand and a microphone in the other. Their voice was even, polite, and neutral, like a true professional, but Izuku barely registered the first question.

All he could see were their eyes. They had that kind of presence that didn’t need to shout. They just were, and Izuku Midoriya, Symbol of Peace 2.0, savior of countless lives, children's and teens' favorite hero ever. “Deku,” they said again, gently this time. “Many lives saved after your heroic deed just minutes ago, but what about the collateral? What are your thoughts on the increase in quirk-related property damage this quarter?” He blinked then straightened. “I—uh, yes, right. Sorry, could you repeat that?” They nodded with a tiny smile. “Of course.” Gosh, that smile.

He focused. Or tried to. Their lips moved, and he heard words, but his brain translated none of them. The way they tilted their head slightly while listening to his fumbling answer was almost worse than any villain’s quirk. He caught himself mid-sentence, completely off-track from the actual question, and stammered, “Wait— I don’t think that was what you asked.”

They gave him a look. Calm. Amused. “You were close enough.”

Izuku let out a breath. He tried to remember he was a pro hero. Tried to remember anything useful, but all that came to mind was how the light attached to the videographer's camera caught their hair and made it appear as if they had a halo circled around their head. “You seem distracted,” they said during a lull between questions. It wasn’t teasing. Just curious. Izuku’s mouth went dry. “No, I just— uh… It's been a long day.”