Chapter 10 - Boyship

Today was the day!

'Yes, I'm going to invite him to come and see my parents... and then, I'm going to surprise him with his birthday present!'

Mina had big plans for the day. Seeing as she and Naruto had been dating for awhile now, she wanted him to meet her parents like any good daughter would. Her mother was super excited to meet her boyfriend, and her father couldn't be more supportive. She knew that she shouldn't have told them, but she had told her parents that Naruto was the "Fox-Man" that would appear in the news every once and awhile for saving people when there weren't heroes around. Normally, she was really into being rather spontaneous with her relationship with Naruto. The two just did whatever they felt like, if they wanted to see a movie, they did that. They never really 'planned' out most of the stuff they did together, and it worked for them.

This was special though.

It was Naruto's 16th birthday, and the first birthday he would have friends for, considering he was home schooled his entire life. She was sure his uncle was awesome at planning parties, but she was sure that Naruto would appreciate more company. She wasn't really smart, or good at planning things out, but she really wanted to make this work out.

She knocked on his front door, and grinned widely to herself, almost unable to contain herself.

She was going to give Naruto a big kiss when he opened the door.

Kirishima opened the door.

"Oh, hey Ashido... Naruto, Ashido is here!" Kirishima called out, having answered the door. Mina blinked in surprise when, for one, that Kirishima was hanging out with Naruto without her. She hadn't hung out with Kirishima since the day at the beach, and she hadn't seen Naruto hang out with Kirishima either.

Kirishima was wearing a white training gi with a white belt around his waist, sweat dripping from his body.

When she took her shoes off and came inside, she saw Naruto standing in a similar outfit to Kirishima, but with a black belt around his waist.

"Oh, Mina... Did we have a date today? Come on Kirishima, don't stop now, get hard and come." Naruto raised his fists up and gestured for Kirishima to fight him.

Kirishima obeyed as his body became extremely rigid, and he ran towards Naruto, and punched him across the face as hard as he could. His fist cracked a little, and Naruto slugged him across the face in return. The two of them traded blows with little regard for their own personal safety. They weren't dodging each other in the slightest. Mina's jaw actually dropped when she went over to the couch and sat down, watching her boyfriend and friend smiling and punching each other.

'Kirishima's looking more buff now... with our school uniform on, I guess I didn't notice.' Mina knew her boyfriend was buff, but she didn't know that Kirishima had been putting on muscle. She had to admit, he was looking pretty good now that he wasn't as skinny as before. He had muscle before, but now it was so much more well pronounced.

How long had they been training together?

"So Mina, I don't think we had a date today, what brings you here?" Naruto was punched in the forehead, and he returned with a punch to Kirishima's ribs.

Kirishima's body unhardened and he was sent flying, rolling across the ground, before he stopped when he landed upside down against the wall.

"Ow... seriously, my body is as hard as steel now. This training is painful, but damn if it doesn't work... How are your fists?" Kirishima forced himself to stand up again. He looked towards Naruto, and grinned when he saw Naruto grinning.

Naruto raised his fists.

"Just fine. Your body is as strong as it will get from regular training, and you're a lot harder than my old punching bag for sure. Now you just need to find a way to stay hard longer." Naruto glanced at his fist, and saw that his knuckles were slightly purple. He grinned to himself, since he and Kirishima had been training for several hours now.

His training was working.

"So manly!"

They started to fight again, with Kirishima going more offensive than before, a new found energy after seeing Naruto's manly grin once more.

"So... how long have you two been... hanging out like this?" Mina didn't spend every waking hour with Naruto, she did have school again, and she had other friends she did spend time with. Naruto didn't have a monopoly on her time, and she didn't have one on his time. It was healthy for their relationship if they spent time with their other friends.

Friends Naruto apparently now had.

"My boy here asked me to help him work out a few days after the beach fiasco." Naruto grinned as he knocked Kirishima out of his hardened state again with repeated punches to the solar plexus. Kirishima collapsed to his knees to try and regain his breath, raising a hand up in surrender for the moment, until he had the strength to continue their sparring. "You good?" Naruto asked Kirishima as the teen started to stand up again, and nodded.

Mina looked between them with an awkward grin.

That was quite awhile ago, and she was only now hearing about it.

"How could I not? This dude saved my life, and rode on a flying shark, before he swam us back to shore. You're so damn manly! Anyway, Naruto and I have been training like this since then." Kirishima jumped back into the training and he was punched in the nose for it.

That would explain why Naruto and Kirishima had more bruises on their bodies lately, if this was what they were doing for training.

"The stronger Kirishima's body gets, the harder he is able to make his body, and by breaking him over and over, he can train to hold his hardened body longer... and I'm increasing my pain tolerance, and training my body to stand up to heavy hits." Naruto took one to the jaw, before he throat punched Kirishima. Hard body or not, that one hurt if the gasp of pain meant anything. Naruto winced as he punched Kirishima again, and knocked him clear over the couch Mina was on, and behind it.

Kirishima popped up behind the couch.

"Ow! That hurt... I'm ready for... I guess this is it... looks like I'm at my limit now." Kirishima tried to harden again, only for his body to refuse to do it. He had reached the end of his stamina for the moment. He was going to need to take another break before he could do it again. "I'm sweating up a storm, can I use your shower bro?" Kirishima asked, even though he was already heading towards Naruto's room.

He had a private shower.

"Yeah, you can wear some of my old clothes, I've kind of outgrown some of them. Want to go clothes shopping again Mina soon?" Naruto asked her with a sorry smile.

Mina tilted her head.

Naruto hadn't grown, had he? Standing up, she walked towards him and compared herself to him. He was only a few inches taller than she was when they met each other months and months ago, so raising her hand above her head, she measured him.

"... When did you get so tall?" Mina had never noticed that Naruto was taller than when she met him. They hung out so much, she guessed she just never noticed the changes in his height before. It was surprising though when it was brought up that her boyfriend was still a growing guy. Most Japanese guys stopped growing earlier than their foreigner counterparts... but it would seem that wasn't the case for Naruto.

Naruto walked over to a wall next to the kitchen, and he grabbed a knife, before he leaned up against the wall and curiously put the knife just above his head.

"Looks like I'm about 180cm now... so 5'11"... but closer to 6 feet..." Naruto hadn't measured himself for awhile now.

Mina looked at him.

"Hey Naruto, my birthday is on the 16th, want to come to my house and play some games with me?" Kirishima came out of Naruto's room, looking slightly moist, but clean again. He had taken a super quick shower, and was wearing Naruto's older clothes.

Naruto paused.

"... Ah... today is my birthday... I'm 16 now... without my uncle here to remind me, I actually forgot." Naruto had Kirishima hanging off of him instantly.

"Dude, we totally need to order a pizza and watch bro out!"

"Actually... that is why I'm here. Do you want to come to my house?" Mina asked Naruto, and Kirishima raised his hands up in surrender.

He knew when he was being a third wheel.

"I'll wash these and bring them back tomorrow after school, see you tomorrow Naruto. This third wheel knows when to take a hike." Kirishima left Naruto and Mina alone when he walked out the front door. Mina actually sighed in relief, before she smiled at Naruto.

"You know, I would be willing to train-"

"So, you were saying earlier?" Naruto unintentionally interrupted her. She frowned for a moment, before putting a smile on her face.

On second thought, her Quirk was too dangerous, she didn't want to turn her Acid against her boyfriend, even if it was only for training. Naruto and Kirishima both had Transformation-type Quirks, so it was more natural for them to train together, even if Naruto wasn't using his Quirk.

She grabbed his hand with her own.

"Lets go to my house, and celebrate your birthday with my family. I'm a little surprised your 16... usually people start U.A. at 15." Mina spoke, and apparently she hit a raw nerve.

Naruto leaned forward, depressed.

"... My uncle is my teacher, but he's not good at it... and he's always busy. I learned most of what I know by himself to be honest... so I'm not the smartest around... let me get changed and we can get out of here." Naruto told her with a self-hating laugh. She laughed at him, since he just admitted he was dumb (she was stupid too, so she could sympathize with him), but she stopped laughing when she saw that he sent her a hurt look for a second.

She would apologize the second he was done changing.

Then, they would go to her house for cake.