Chapter Text
You’ve just finished reading the final chapter of My Hero Academia, and honestly, you’re not sure how to react.
There’s this strange feeling of emptiness, because even though you loved it so much, already, you can feel the story’s absence. It’s hard to believe that after all this time, it’s finally over. You just got so used to it being part of your life over the course of so many years, that now, the fact that it’s over hardly even feels real. You’re happy yet sad at the same time. The whole thing is rather bittersweet, admittedly. You’re torn between how you should even process it, and for a while, you just sit there with a blank expression.
So… now what?
The rest of the day seems to pass in a blur. You do your best to study and prepare for your upcoming exams, but you’re very clearly distracted. You can’t focus at all. You just keep sighing and mentally recounting the entirety of My Hero Academia’s plot, thinking back to specific moments and where you were at in your life back then. You were so much younger when you first began keeping up with this series. Now you’re eighteen, in your first year of university, and the nostalgia is hitting hard.
Try as you might, your focus keeps on dwindling over the course of the next several hours, so you eventually give up on studying and start looking up all kinds of BNHA-related content online. You rewatch some of the viral fight scenes, you chuckle softly as you recall some older memes—essentially, you’re just having a hard time letting go. You’re still in denial somewhat. Denial over the fact that it’s actually over.
“I knew it had to end eventually, but I wish it could’ve gone on for way longer,” you mumble.
It’s obviously pointless to complain. It’s not like it’ll change anything, and besides, now that you’re an adult, you’ll need to be more mature. You can only imagine how your friends will tease you when they see how much you’re fixating on this. You wish you could pretend like it doesn’t bother you at all, but you’ve never been very good at hiding your emotions.
It’s going to suck for a while, isn’t it? At least until you move on and direct more of your focus towards other things. Yeah. It’s just part of growing up. Learning how to let some things go.
The problem is… you don’t want to let go.
And although you haven’t yet realized it, this obsession will inadvertently give rise to many other forms of obsession in the not-so-distant future.
You yawn, glancing towards the screen of your phone. It’s late. You’ve been scrolling mindlessly for hours instead of studying. You’ll have to do a better job of focusing tomorrow. Knowing you, though, that’s much easier said than done.
Despite how exhausted you are, you still aren’t quite ready to go to bed yet. You just keep on going down the same rabbit hole, further and further until your eyes are barely even holding themselves open anymore. Honestly, you’re so tired you can’t even remember half of what you’ve done over the past hour. Everything’s starting to blur together.
Just as you let out another yawn, suddenly, your computer screen changes. Something just popped up in front of the tab you had open. Some kind of… installation prompt?
“Lovesick Protocol?” you mumble, wiping your blurry eyes. “What the…?”
Embarrassingly enough, you don’t remember if you downloaded it or not. You even installed it at some point, apparently. The pop-up is telling you that the installation was successful and the program is ready to launch. You downloaded a bunch of files earlier while you were browsing—cute fanart, funny memes, and you must’ve saved countless screenshots as well—so you can’t actually recall at what point you downloaded this program in particular.
It clearly has something to do with My Hero Academia though, based on the program icon. Maybe you found another one of those fanmade games again and decided to try it out. You’ve done that at least several times before.
Decision-making skills sufficiently fried from how exhausted you are, you make the absolute worst decision of your life.
You launch the program.
You don’t even question it at first, because given your track record when it comes to all things My Hero Academia, you just assume you’re the one who downloaded this file all on your own. You don’t even stop to entertain the very real possibility that an unknown file might have maliciously invaded your software.
You should, but you don’t.
Within a few seconds, you find yourself staring at a different screen, with cute bubbly pink lettering and an overall aesthetic theme.
[Welcome to Lovesick Protocol, a My Hero Academia dating simulation! Are you ready to romance your favorite characters and become part of the storyline? If so, get ready for a hyper-realistic experience that you’ll never be able to stop playing!]
A My Hero Academia dating sim. Yep. That sounds like something you’d download, alright. You’ve actually tried out a few similar kinds of games in the past before, and as far as pure design goes, so far, this one definitely stands out above the rest.
Once again, without even thinking twice, you proceed further and click yes.
[Just to confirm, are you absolutely sure you’re ready to get started?]
“Why is there a second confirmation?” you frown, absentmindedly clicking yes again, not realizing that was your very last chance to back out.
Now, you find yourself looking at a different screen entirely.
It’s only after you’ve read the message in full that you start to get a terrible feeling.
[Excellent choice, [Name]! A thrilling, fun-filled world awaits! Let’s get started right away!]
Wait, what? I never entered my name. How does it know my name—
You let out a brief, panicked gasp, recoiling from your computer in a hurry, but by that point, it’s already too late.
Your bedroom now lies empty, and you are nowhere to be found.
You feel unbelievably nauseous. You can’t even begin to describe the sensation in full at first, because you’re too busy trying to keep up with how your head is spinning, and how you can’t even see clearly.
Everything is dark for several moments, with only the uncomfortable sensation that lingers for far too long. It’s as if you just went on several rollercoasters in a row or something. Which doesn’t make any sense, since last you checked, you were in your bedroom sitting at your desk.
Wait. Sitting… at your desk?
“U-Um, excuse me! Are you alright??”
Your eyes widen the second realization hits you. You were too disoriented at first to even remember, but now it’s all coming back to you. That strange program that opened up out of nowhere, which you didn’t even have a vague recollection about but you foolishly clicked on anyway. The fact that it somehow knew your name before you even typed anything in. And now?
Now, you’re lying right on top of some random guy.
You shift backwards slightly so that you can adjust your point of view, and sure enough, there’s someone pinned underneath you, almost as if you fell onto him. How is that even possible, though? You’re supposed to be in your room. You were in your bedroom, late into the night—yet all of a sudden, you’ve fallen onto someone and it’s midday?
Worse yet is the realization of what exactly has just transpired. You didn’t want to immediately jump to such an extreme conclusion, but by this point, it’s practically impossible to deny.
As it turns out, the random guy isn’t a random guy at all. His appearance is shockingly familiar. Even more so when paired with his blushing freckled cheeks and his timid way of speaking.
…so, when that weird program mentioned a My Hero Academia dating simulation, it was being literal?
The person you’ve somehow landed on is none other than Midoriya Izuku. Unless you really are losing it, you’re not sure what else to think. You’re not in your room anymore, after all. It’s not even the same neighborhood, for that matter. Not even the same time of day. Not to mention that the program seemingly installed itself and somehow knew your name, despite the fact that you never inputted it.
Is this VR or something? But that wouldn’t make any sense. It launched as a regular program directly from my computer…
Your mind is racing right now. You’re just so stunned, so frozen, that you haven’t even been able to budge a single inch. As far as you know, VR uses small vibrations to simulate some sensations, but even then, it’s nothing like this. This is simply too realistic. You feel the same as you usually do. You feel every fiber of your body, the slight breeze in the air, the heat of the sun above you—you feel like you’re actually here.
Technology isn’t supposed to have reached the point of total immersion. And again, you were literally just in your bedroom. Using an ordinary computer, not some novel piece of tech. The most plausible explanation is that you’re lucid dreaming or something along those lines, but you feel tempted to discard that theory right away. Something tells you it’s not that simple.
And scarcely a moment later, when some kind of screen projection pops up, your worst fears are confirmed.
[Successful world launch! Congratulations on starting a new adventure! You have just met your first love interest!]
── ✦ ── ❖ ───
[ LOVE INTEREST UNLOCKED! ]
NAME: Midoriya Izuku
AGE: 18
PROGRESS: 0 Hearts Earned
AFFECTION: 0%
── ✦ ── ❖ ───
…wow.
You seriously thought you were losing your mind a second ago, immediately jumping to the conclusion that you just met Midoriya Izuku, of all people, but lo and behold, you were right. It is him. Against all odds, you’re face to face with one of the characters you’ve adored for ages.
It shouldn’t be possible, yet it feels so undeniably real. You’ve been isekai’d or something… right? Because if you’re not dreaming, then what is this supposed to be? The sensations are far too vivid, far too identical to real life. Even the slight discomfort of lying on top of Izuku, while he blushes and remains still from embarrassment beneath you, feels just as if you’d actually landed onto someone.
In light of this revelation, of course you don’t know what to do. Of course you’re completely stunned, lost for words.
[LAUNCHING: Introductory Character Quest for Midoriya Izuku.]
──► [Mission 1/3: Make a good first impression.]
A good first impression?
Well, you’ve pretty much already botched that. More like, you’re still reeling from trying to process everything, and it's a miracle that your brain is even functional right now.
“I-I’m okay,” you answer weakly, having finally remembered that he asked you a question earlier. At last, you manage to adjust your position and get off him, then you stand up on shaky legs, offering an equally shaky hand out. “Um… what about you? I didn’t mean to fall on you like that. I’m really sorry.”
Izuku remains collapsed onto the ground for a moment longer, just staring up at your hand, but eventually, he grabs onto it.
Before he’s even regained his bearings, you see another screen pop up.
[Mission completed! Current mission progress: 2/3]
Seriously, just like that? All you did was offer him your hand and apologize (rightfully so) for falling on top of him and dragging him down to the ground with you. You’re not even sure how exactly it happened, but it must have been some absurd accidental trope that triggered the moment you manifested into this world. You’re amazed that’s what constitutes a “good” impression. Then again, Izuku is notoriously kind, so that probably has something to do with it.
“I’m fine!” Izuku insists, although even now, his face is still bright red.
Probably because you were pressed against him for… honestly, who even knows how long you were stuck in that position.
“Um, I was really worried,” Izuku continues, clearly rather timid as he glances around, struggling to meet your gaze. “You just collapsed against me out of nowhere. You looked like you weren’t feeling well. Are you sure it’s okay for you to be standing up? Are you lightheaded at all? Dizzy?”
Thankfully, it sounds like he thinks you fainted or something. A pretty ridiculous way of fainting, all things considered, but this whole situation is ridiculous—not to mention overwhelming—so you’re choosing not to read into it too much.
More importantly… this is actually happening? You’ve been in shock for the most part, so it didn’t even fully set in right away, but this is for real?
“No, I feel… alright,” you lie, because truly, you can’t even begin to describe how you’re feeling right now. Your mouth is dry and your heart is pounding relentlessly, but by some miracle, you manage to keep your voice steady. “I feel better now, I mean. Thank you for helping me. That was really kind of you. Without you, I might’ve accidentally hit my head or something.”
You’re basically on autopilot right now, just making polite, respectful conversation—the same way you would’ve thanked any other stranger if they’d bothered to care about your wellbeing. If it were anyone else, maybe they would’ve just brushed it off, then carried on their way without thinking much of it.
But this isn’t just anyone. This is Midoriya Izuku.
Of course your appreciation, your acknowledgement, means the world to him.
“Y-You don’t need to thank me!” Izuku reassures, hurriedly shaking his head. In spite of that, however, his cheeks redden even more, and his expression slowly brightens.
[Mission completed! Wow, look at you go! You cleared the mission without even seeing it first! The mission was: Make Midoriya Izuku smile. Current mission progress: 3/3]
You know you should be looking out for yourself right now—trying to figure out how to get out of here—but the fact that you’re actually interacting with someone who, by all accounts, you shouldn’t be able to speak to, makes a smile rise to your lips as well.
Whatever happens next… you’ll be able to find a solution, right? You’ll be able to handle it, one way or another. There has to be some kind of explanation for this. Some kind of way out.
There has to be.