Engines- A Kami-Iida Story

Chapter 10

“Mina! Mina wait up!”

Denki ran after the group, tripping over his own feet. He had never been the most graceful, but he managed to trip his way through the halls of UA. He eventually caught up to them, and they all stopped to turn to him.

    “Yes, my dear lovesick friend?” Mina said, with a cheeky grin on her face. She never was quiet about these kinds of things, but getting all of the girls of class 1-A to vote to go to a pride parade? That had to be one of her more extreme plans. 

    “How did you even plan this? Did you know about the trip plan?” I asked. 

    “Well, Momo has some powerful family members who may have talked to Principal Nezu about interacting with the public. Turns out, being rich can get things done!” Mina said, playfully punching Momo in the arm.

    “Well, it was something that my parents already wanted to change. They know that the public opinion is very important and being in the public eye helps to improve that.” Momo said sheepishly, as if embarrassed at her own wealth. 

    “That’s a long way to go to just help me get together with someone.” I said, looking around at the group. Why would they do something this elaborate?

    “Who said you two are the only ones we’re trying to get together? We have some other couples who may not even know it yet.” Mina said, winking and gigging. She always was the matchmaker type. Never seemed to find someone for herself though.

    “So.. what about you Mina? You going to find someone for yourself?” I said, looking at her and tilting my head slightly.

    “Oh I already have.. Nevermind that. We have to go get stuff together.” Mina said, turning to go and taking off. Before I could say another word, they were gone. Damn, what did that mean? Oh well, girls are just confusing. I still have things to do. So I headed back to my dorm, and went to work on the project, putting any idea of pride out of my mind. I couldn’t let that distract me from the project.

Iida’s POV

    A.. pride parade? I’m in no way against it, but I may get asked if I am part of that community. What would I say? I don’t want to tarnish the Iida name, but I don’t know how my family would react to me coming out to them. I don’t really know how the public would feel about a pro-hero being gay? I don’t know if there were really any others, so would I be the first? That may lead to a lot of controversy about UA and the teachings of the school. I don’t want to cause that, so maybe I should figure things out before then. To do that, I need to go to someone who knows feelings better than anyone else: Uraraka. I began making my way to the girl’s dormitory. I have a mission to complete before Friday.

-Time Skip Cause I Ain’t Writing Him Walking-

    I knocked on her door, and waited quietly. The door opened to show Uraraka in street clothes, with both Mina and Jirou in the room behind her. Dang, I didn’t think she would have guests over. I’ll have to come back another time.

    “O-oh sorry Uraraka, I see you have company. I’ll talk to you another time.” I said, turning to leave, until she grabbed the sleeve of my uniform. 

    “Actually, you were just the person we wanted to talk to! Come on in, take a seat!” She said, giggling slightly and pulling me into her room. I shut the door behind me, and looked down at the other two girls. Jiro had relaxed and was laying on the rug of Uraraka’s dorm, and Mina had sat on her bed. I looked around, and decided to sit down in a chair she had next to a small desk. 

    “So, Iida. Rumor has it that you might be gay. Are the rumors true, engine boy?” Mina said, smirking at me from across the room. 

    “Uraraka did you tell her? I trusted you.” I said, shifting my gaze to her, while she shifted nervously. 

    “I did, but I promise I had a reason! Just go along with it. I would never tell someone unless it meant helping you.” She said, gesturing wildly. She does seem to feel bad about it.. Maybe she has a reason for telling Mina. I’ll see, but the trust between us has definitely been damaged. 

    “So, engine boy, is that a yes?” Mina said, leaning in my direction.

    “Well.. I don’t know. I think? I have never experienced attraction to females, so I wouldn’t know if I had ever truly felt attraction.” I said, plainly and clearly. Where was she going with this?

    “So you’ve never really had any experience with a girl or a guy?”

    “Correct.”

    “Jiro, you ready?” Mina said, turning back to Jiro.

    “Sure, whatever. Might as well help someone else have a gay awakening.” She said blankly. Ready for what? What could Mina possibly be planning? What the-

She kissed me. 

    I panic quickly and push her away. Why did she do that? What the heck was the point of that? Does she like me? Does she think she can make me straight? Does she-

    “Hey, Iida. You okay?” Jiro said, snapping me out of my trance. 

    “Don’t think too much about it. I’m gay, so I have no feelings for you. The purpose was to see if you felt anything. So.. anything?” She said, looking blankly down at me. How is she so casual about this? She just kissed me. Was that my first kiss? No, it didn’t mean anything. 

    “W-well.. I just feel uncomfortable. You are nice, but I could never ever see us like that.” I said, looking to the side. 

    “Well there’s your answer. So who’s the lucky guy?” Mina said, patting Jiro on the back as she flopped back onto the ground. 

    “Well, the person who brought up these.. Troubling feelings of mine was Kaminari.”

Jiro did a double take, and burst into laughter. 

    “That idiot? With you? I mean that’s really your opposite. But I guess I can’t judge.” She said, shaking her head in disbelief.

    “I don’t know either.. But I do like him. I think I know that now.”