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When Izuku first saw Shouto and Mina hanging out outside of school, he'd thought he was seeing things.
He hadn't really taken it seriously — sure, he thought he'd seen familiar red and white hair and suspiciously bubblegum-pink curls together in a craft store, but maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe it was just a trick of the light.
The second time he saw them, though, he did a double-take.
Shouto's eyes met his over a game cabinet at the arcade, and they both froze. Izuku, hesitantly, after a beat, raised a hand and waved. Shouto just blinked back.
Mina, blissfully unaware, grinned and pumped her fists into the air, squealing as she wrapped herself around Shouto and lifted him into the air as far as she could. The half-and-half teen didn't even seem shocked, either — it certainly wasn't the first time it had happened.
Izuku just blinked and walked away. He wasn't sure what he'd seen right then, but he also wasn't sure that he wanted to know.
The third time, he wasn't even surprised anymore. he didn't really know what to think, but he didn't find it to be a bad thing at all; Mina was bright and colorful, and Shouto was, well, to put it nicely, dull at times. Izuku thought that they complimented each other quite nicely.
He'd caught them at a cat cafe, sitting leaned over their homework with sparkly gen pens in their hands and a unicorn hairclip in Shouto's hair. One of the cats batted playfully at Mina, and she picked it up with a coo. Shouto looked at her like she hung the stars in the sky.
That was when Izuku decided to pack it up and leave, but he's pretty sure that the two had the exact same coffee order, too — a heinous mixture of sugar that would make any sane man shudder, but no one had ever claimed that Mina and Shouto were sane.
The fourth and final time he caught them, he'd given up on subtlety at all. Izuku just walked up and dropped down next to them, flashing a wide grin as he opened his own notebook.
The other two didn't question it at all. Mina just tapped her lips with her pen before jabbing it at the page filled with their homework problems. "Ooh, you've got number five done, can you help me with it? I keep asking Shouto but he won't stop telling me that I can figure it out myself."
The other teen gives her a disgruntled and unimpressed look. "All I said was to try a little bit, you fibber. Don't lie to Izuku like that."
Mina just pouts, tapping her pen against the paper, now. Izuku finds it vaguely soothing, knowing that they can banter like this — it makes him relax a bit against his chair, and he finds himself explaining numerals, imaginary numbers, and Pythagoras' Theorum to Mina with ease.
The other two are very good learners, after all, and Izuku is a very good teacher at the small price of a chocolate croissant, which Shouto is happy to buy with his father's credit card.
He leaves with Mina's number, a smile, and an invite for next time.