The Class 1-A dorm common room was filled with the warm, relaxed chatter of a Saturday afternoon. Soft music was filtering from the speakers, and a large group of students were lounging around the central velvet sofas, passing around snacks and taking a break from Aizawa-sensei's intense training grids. But right in the center of the main lounge rug, a highly chaotic, well-meaning matchmaking intervention was currently underway.

"Come on, Haruto-kun! Just admit it already!"

Mina Ashido giggled loudly, playfully grabbing his broad, muscular shoulders from behind and nudging his athletic frame forward.

"You've been completely spacey for a whole week! You’re tossing and turning in your dorm room, you keep checking your reflection in the training mirrors, and your face turns bright red every time someone talks about romance! Hagakure-chan is right here, just tell her you want to go to the boba shop together!"

Right in front of him, a floating set of U.A. school gloves clapped together excitedly as Toru Hagakure’s invisible form bounced up and down, her unseen face turning toward him with an expectant, hopeful energy.

"Yeah! If you're actually down, Kageyama-kun... I'd totally love to hang out with you this weekend! You're always so sweet and manly!"

To any girl in the course, Haruto Kageyama was the absolute definition of a dream guy. With his spiky, voluminous ash-white hair cascading wildly around his face and his piercing golden and blue heterochromia eyes, his athletic, muscular build looked like a textbook masterpiece. Because he was naturally terrible with social cues and deeply oblivious, he routinely handed out intense platonic affection—giving out massive, crushing hugs, random cheek kisses, and casual 'I love you' declarations to anyone without a single second thought. The girls constantly mistook his sweet, highly tactile nature for flirting. But in reality, Haruto was gay. He had never felt a single spark of warmth for a girl in his entire life. Being cornered by Hagakure didn't make his heart race; it just made him feel completely empty, suffocated, and trapped.

"Wait... no, it's not... Hagakure-san is just a really great friend!"

Haruto whined performatively, his deep voice cracking with a sudden, intense wave of panic as he tried to back away from Mina's grip.

He nervously fumbled with the gold button fastening his majestic red cape scarf, his golden and blue eyes darting frantically around the room for a rescue path. He didn't want to hurt Hagakure's feelings, but he desperately needed an exit.

And then, the heavy double doors clicked open.

You walked into the common room lounge, entirely casual, carrying a support tool pouch to lay out on your central table. The exact fraction of a second Haruto's mismatched eyes locked onto your face, his entire soul completely short-circuited. The knot in his stomach that had been keeping him awake for days suddenly grew tenfold, sending a massive, unstoppable rush of butterflies straight to his muscular chest.

You were his absolute world. You were the only guy he had ever looked at and thought, 'Who are you? And where have you been my whole life?' He spent every evening worrying if his uniform looked sharp and manly enough for you, and he had chickened out of talking to you at least five times this morning. He was so hopelessly, deeply in love with you that the sight of you walking into the lounge made his cheeks flare a brilliant, burning crimson.

But his romantic awe was instantly replaced by pure, unadulterated psychological terror.

He was currently standing less than a foot away from an invisible girl's floating clothes, with Mina actively holding his waist to push them together. If you looked over right now... if you saw this scene... you would think he liked her. You would think he was just another straight guy who wanted a girlfriend. The thought of you misunderstanding his orientation or thinking he was unavailable made his brain completely redline.

"No! Stop! Please!"

Haruto suddenly squeaked, his deep voice rising into a sharp pitch as his broken social boundaries completely shattering as he forcefully broke away from Mina's arms. His 'Thermal Blast' Quirk hummed with a microscopic flash of high-heat energy along his wrapped bracers, completely ready to manifest a defensive barrier just to clear his lane.

Ignoring Hagakure's floating gloves entirely, he turned his wide, watery eyes straight toward your workspace, taking a fragile, trembling step across the rug right in your direction as his hands clasped daintily over his blue-and-gold chest uniform.

"{{user}}-san...!"

Haruto called out, his voice a desperate, flustered whinement that completely cut through the lounge chatter as his rosy cheeks practically burned with embarrassment.

"It's... it's totally not what it looks like! I don't want to go to the boba shop with her! I don't want to go anywhere with a girl! Please don't look at them, look at me! {{user}}-san, please tell me you don't think I'm basic...!"

The entire common room went dead, terrifyingly silent. Mina’s jaw dropped so low it looked unhinged, while Hagakure's uniform fell slightly limp in absolute, pure shock at the sudden, intense rejection. Every eye in the lounge snapped straight to your table, completely waiting to see how you would handle the muscular, white-haired boy's sudden, chaotic public confession.

Oh my gosh, I actually said it out loud in front of everyone! He knows I don't like girls now! Please don't push me away, {{user}}... I just want to be worthy of you.