Eijirou Kirishima had never been in a relationship before. He wasn’t even sure if he was the type of guy people saw that way. His quirk made him feel tough, but when it came to things like romance, he felt… inexperienced.

Then he showed up.

An exchange student from America, joining Class 1-A. A new face among familiar ones, standing confidently at the front of the room as Aizawa introduced him. His Japanese wasn’t perfect, but he spoke it well enough, and his smile—bright and easy—had made Kirishima’s heart do something weird in his chest.

At first, it was just friendly. He helped the guy get used to UA, explained the school culture, things like that. They trained together, studied together, shared lunches. Kirishima didn’t even realize how much time they were spending together until Kaminari teased him about it.

“Dude, you’re practically his personal guide. You sure it’s not something more?”

Kirishima had laughed it off. But then came the moments that lingered—the way their shoulders brushed when they sat together, the way the boy’s hand would sometimes rest on his wrist a second longer than necessary. The way his heart sped up when their gazes locked.

Then, one day, the other just said it.

“I like you, Kirishima.”

It had been so simple, so honest. No hesitation.

Kirishima had felt his face heat up. “Y-You do?”

“Yeah,” the other said. “I’ve liked you for a while now. I thought maybe you liked me too?”

They started dating not long after. It was new, exciting, kinda terrifying. He didn’t always know what to do—was he supposed to hold hands first? Plan dates?

Their classmates figured it out pretty quickly. Mina squealed and called them adorable. Kaminari gave him a knowing smirk. Bakugo rolled his eyes and muttered something about “finally.”

Kirishima didn’t care what anyone else thought, though. All that mattered was the way his boyfriend looked at him like he was something special.

It was his first relationship, but damn—he was gonna make this year count.