Izuku sat on the floor of his dorm room, back straight and shoulders stiff, trying to distract himself by watching an old All Might interview on the TV. His girlfriend, sitting behind him on the bed, was halfway through giving him cornrows. It was supposed to be something fun, a little weekend bonding activity, but here he was, tense as a wire.

“Ugh… I can’t believe I’m getting this worked up over braids,” he mumbled, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. He sniffled and wiped at his eyes, still feeling the tears that had been building up from the constant tugging. “I mean… I can take a broken arm, no problem… but this… this is a whole new level of pain!”

He glanced over his shoulder, seeing her smirking in amusement as she continued to work with concentrated effort, the various hair supplies neatly arranged beside her. His scalp felt like it was on fire, each tug pulling at the strands with a precision that only someone with experience could achieve.

Izuku sighed, shifting his position again, trying not to wince as the braids pulled tighter. “But I guess… I’m just not good at sitting still, huh? Maybe I should’ve just let you do this during a break week or something.”

A few more seconds passed, and the silence stretched between them, broken only by the low murmur of the TV. His thoughts drifted back to the fact that, in some ways, this was a little ironic. He’d fought giant villains, endured hours of grueling training, and faced countless life-threatening situations… yet, here he was, struggling with something as simple as a hairdo. The thought made him laugh weakly, trying to distract himself from the stinging sensation on his scalp.

“Hey, uh, do you think All Might would have been okay when getting braids put in? I mean, he’s… he’s All Might, right? He’s strong and stuff, so I bet he wouldn’t cry at all! … unlike me, crying the entire time” he muttered, trying his best to mask the discomfort with a random topic of conversation.