"Would you care to talk about last night?" Inko casually asked as she poured herself some milk into her coffee cup once Izuka descended from the stairs.

"Mom, it's nothing really," Izuka began to explain shaking her hands in front of herself as she shook her head at her mother's serious tone.

"I'm so happy! You have no idea how long I've prayed for you to come home with a boy and you're so pretty I was honestly wondering why it was taking so long," Inko gushed pinching her daughter's cheeks. "I was beginning to worry that someon- something was scaring them off, but never mind that. I'm just so excited how fast your growing as a woman!"

Izuka ignored the sting from her mother's antics and played along, glad that her mother didn't notice the bruises covering her body or how she winced whenever she moved. Her mother honestly didn't seem to catch how sluggish she was moving this morning.

"Thanks, mom. Although, Shinso's just a friend – nothing more!" Izuka laughed scratching the back of her exposed neck. She had decided to wear a bun today with a yellow All Might ribbon tied around it, the ends of it falling down her shoulders, "We're going to be training together for Yuuei's entrance exam."

"Shinso is it? What a nice name and he wants to be a hero too? That's great Izuka!" Inko said, her smile growing at the news that he still liked her despite her being quirkless. She recalled how unfavorable Izuka seemed to others once they found out that she was pursuing a career as a hero without a quirk and how others shunned her friendship because of it. Everything seemed to be turning around for her daughter and Inko couldn't be any prouder and excited of what's to come next.

"When will you be seeing him again Izuka?" Inko curiously asked hoping it would be soon so she could meet the young boy for herself too. From her window last night, he seemed cute and she could only determine how handsome he truly is in person.

Now that Izuka thought of it, Shinso and she hadn't talked about a schedule when they would meet for training. They hadn't even swapped phone numbers and she briefly panicked wondering if she'd ever see him again and truthfully said, "I'm not sure, we haven't gotten that far ahead into planning it."

"Oh," Inko said, her smile slightly falling but hope still twinkled in her eyes, "Is he one of your classmates at Aldera?"

"No. He attends Nabu middle…" Izuka replied with a frown herself. How was she going to talk to Shinso when he was all the way on the other side of town? It's not as if he would show up at her school…but then again, he was bold enough to carry her home like a perfect gentleman.

Inko faltered, almost dropping her cup of coffee as a thought entered her mind: was this another cruel joke being played on Izuku? But as she watched her daughter stare off into space with a blush covering her features, she knew this wasn't a trick. Inko sadly smiled brushing a wild curl out of her daughter's face, knowing that her beautiful daughter had been subjected to bullying but never once mentioned it. Her daughter was stronger than she gave herself credit for.

"Mom?" Izuka asked confused by her mother's worried expression, "Everything alright?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Inko asked patting her head, warmth filling her sad orbs with happiness once more. "You're Izuka Midoriya."

Izuka laughed at her sweet mother's antics, kissing her forehead, "Thanks, mom."

"Now, hurry, you don't want to be late to class," Inko scolded cutting the touchy moment short before she broke out crying from such sentiments.

"R-right!" Izuka said shuffling to her feet and coming to terms that she would see Bakugou today. She feared what cruel words he would spit at her today after their little run-in with a villain. Knowing Katsuki, he would confront her first thing today or completely ignore her existence; and it was hard to tell when it came to the hot-headed blonde.

However, once Izuka found herself sitting in her desk without a hair harmed, she gaped at the empty seat in front of her wondering what dark corner Bakugou was going to jump out of and scare her to death.

"Didn't you hear? Katsuki called out sick after defeating that villain that attacked him. He's so cool," a girl nearby gossiped at another gushing girl that Izuka recognized as Bakugou's fangirls. "There's no doubt that he's going to be a pro-hero in no time. Imagine if I was his girlfriend through it all! We'd be a famous power couple!"

Sweat dripped on Izuka's forehead knowing she really shouldn't be listening in on their private conversation but she couldn't help it. She also couldn't deny that she also agreed that Bakugou would someday become a top hero with his strong quirk; it was something she once praised when they were younger.

Looking past his scathing behavior, he was amazing. He was powerful and she reluctantly agreed that he could definitely make it as the top hero someday with that explosive quirk of his. Ever since they were children, he was the smartest, bravest, and strongest out of the group during their explorations at the park. He was the leader, charging head-first and showing off his fiery blasts to any who gave him their attention.

But that was in the past when he had also been kinder to her…when they were still friends on talkative terms who watched All Might shows together during sleepovers. She could fondly recall one time when they had reenacted a popular All Might fighting off villains video where Kacchan had once saved her from getting eaten.

Now, they were only childhood friends of the past and she secretly hated herself for still admiring how steadfast Bakugo was to pursue his goal of becoming a pro-hero. Somedays she wished she hated him for being so much stronger and better than her, but she could never bring herself to feel that way about him.

Her mother once told her that she was too nice to be angry at such pointless things which she could never change. Katsuki had a quirk that he kept growing and training with, and she didn't; it didn't help that she was also female and lacked muscle. According to basic logic, he was going to be stronger than her whether she liked it or not.

Sighing, Izuka propped her head on her desk. At least she had lucked out of receiving Bakugou's fiery glare today and she didn't know how much good had come from him getting trapped in a slime villain until she found herself standing in front of Shinso.

"Izuka," he stated her name like a greeting and she almost turned to look behind her because surely, he wasn't on her school grounds for the sole purpose to seek her out.

"Shinso? What are you doing here?" She asked wide-eyed, secretly pinching her arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming and hadn't accidentally overslept because kami, it was just rare for her to have a good day. First Katsuki called out sick and now her new friend was here at her school naturally fitting in despite his different colored uniform.

Unlike her black blouse and skirt, he was wearing navy and it nicely complimented his hair but brought out his dark under eyes and made him appear tired. Surely, a lighter shade of that uniform would've helped him appear livelier like the sky blue he had on yesterday.

"Did you happen to get dropped off at the wrong school?" Izuka blurted out without filtering her thought first and she faintly blushed for letting that slip once she registered what she had just said.

Shinso bit his tongue; she was just too funny and he was afraid that if he laughed, she would take it the wrong way and get offended. He didn't want to risk losing his new friend over a stupid misunderstanding.

"No, we had an agreement to train or have you forgotten me already after a single night?" He teased her watching her puppy eyes widen some more; he didn't think her big eyes could grow some more. At that moment, he could briefly comprehend why that blonde idiot saw her as weak.

She was thin and way too pale. He would take it upon himself to train her until she didn't look so vulnerable. A tan and some self-defense moves would surely keep males like that arrogant blonde away and prove she could take care of herself.

Izuka fiercely shook her head alerting him that she couldn't forget such a thing so easily. "Of course not! B-but you want to train right now?"

"Why not?" Shinso asked. Honestly, he hadn't planned to train with her today and just discuss their schedules to come up with a meeting time and place, but deciding that the sooner they began training then the faster they'd both progress. He wouldn't mind this change of plans if something good was coming out of it.

"The sun doesn't set until a couple more hours thanks to the daylight savings time change," Izuka concluded agreeing with his reasoning to decide to train at this very moment, "I think I know of the perfect place to train!"

Shinso was about to admit that he was only joking for today, but Izuka cut him off saying, "It's hardly inhabited with a park nearby and we can train in peace without having anyone bother us. I-I would prefer if no one from school knew that I was training and on the plus side, it's close by."

"Very well, you can lead," Shinso said, surprising Izuka a bit. His mind wandered off to a very specific schoolmate who'd have no trouble telling them off if he witnessed them training; and oh, the rumors that blonde, big-mouthed, idiot would say to the rest of her class. He himself was known as a freak and knew how troublesome rumors could lead up to Izuka being picked on. She was already quirkless and she didn't need to give them any more reason for them to taunt her.

Izuka didn't miss a beat as she grabbed his hand and strung him along beside her. She had never been the leader before at anything; always tailing behind Katsuki when they were kids and then just hiding amongst the crowd during school. It felt foreign to her to be the one in charge and as she led Shinso into a secluded beach, she couldn't help but beam at the fact that she rather liked the feeling of being the frontrunner.

"What's with that grin? I do hope it doesn't get wiped off once we begin our regimen." Shinso said eyeing the junkyard beach around him as Izuka daydreamed in a corner, "I won't go easy on you and it seems that our first task is to make some space to train. What a shame the beauty of the sunset will be wasted in this dump."

"You know, I always wanted to pick up all the trash," Izuka sighed with a sad smile recalling one of her mother's stories of how she would bring her as a baby to play in the sand with her father but now, all that was left was now littered with empty cans and plastics. "I was once told that Dagobah beach was so beautiful...a place where everyone can leave their worries behind and just relax."

As he stared at her absentminded features, Shinso couldn't help but compare restoring the potential beauty of the beach with bringing out Izuka's own. He knew that what she lacked in quirk power she would have to make up in some other way and with a glance at her tiny frame, he knew that others in the exam would take advantage of that. She needed something to help her endure the exam until the end and that meant she needed to build her strength to avoid getting crushed.

A plan formed in his head right at that moment and he knew it was fate for it would get tackle two birds with one stone, "Then, that shall be the first thing on out training regimen. We'll clean the beach until it's accessible for the public to enjoy again."

"Are you serious?" Izuka turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling with mirth and he couldn't help but nod in reassurance feeling the need to make her happy while she said, "You sound like a hero already Shinso!"

He briefly wondered who in their right mind wouldn't blush from such a compliment?

"It's nothing like that really, it's just that picking up this trash will help us build endurance and strengthen our muscles for what may come on the test."

"Alright!" Izuka said snapping the purple-haired boy from his trance and rolled up her sleeves. "So where should we get started? This is so exciting!"

Shinso stood dumbly, slightly distracted by how brightly Izuka's face was glowing from joy until he finally found the sense to mutter back a reply, "Maybe, we should just work on this corner for today."

"Okay!"

"Izuka?" Shinso asked staring down at the girl sprawled on the floor with a frown as she stared up at tri-colored sunset from her sandy spot. He had only been gone for a few minutes to fetch refreshments across the street where there stood a tiny liquor store.

"How is it that we only managed to clear up so little?"

Shinso glanced back behind him to survey their hard work for today. They had managed to get rid of the small pieces of trash first, like cigarette buds, cans, and loose plastic. Afterward, they had moved onto bigger articles consisting of spare tires that had somehow wandered outside of the junkyard along with anything they could easily carry or move alone and together.

Although it sounded like much, many of these items were stacked upon one another and getting rid of a little bit of the clutter didn't seem like much to the eye. Izuka stared at the ocean waves hypnotized by the twinkling blue shimmers every time it crashed against the water's surface. Something about its relentless rhythm called out to her in clarity reminding her that even the ocean never stopped moving despite how it appeared lifeless on paintings.

"Well, we've only been here for about three hours," he said trying to comfort her as he handed her a chilled water bottle and reclined next to her on a clean little part of the shore.

"Yeah, you're right. I just guess that I thought we could do it all today, but it takes time and effort to see the result of your work."

Shinso nodded, just watching her sadly down her drink out of the corner of her eye wondering what he could say to make her feel better.

"You know Shinso," Izuka said turning to him unexpectedly in a cheery tone surprising him from how quickly she recovered from her sadden mood. "At least this means that we get to hang out more seeing as this might take lots of time to clean it all up!"

Izuka couldn't stop thinking about the oceanic waves; it didn't take breaks and the noise it made inspired her to want to continue her task, "So? Should we get back to it?"

"We did all we could for today," Shinso said cutting her encouragement to clean short. "We shouldn't push ourselves when we're not ready to take on the big trash out yet. The point is to strengthen, not hurt our bodies and just like you said, it takes time to see progress."

"R-right!" Izuka said blushing in embarrassment for getting ahead of herself.

"Come on, let me walk you home before your parents worry."

"There's no need Shinso," Izuka replied.

Shinso tilted his head at her wondering if anything he said about wanting to be her friend stayed in her head, thus wanting to make sure she made it home safely. Or, maybe, she's too nice thinking that this was troublesome for him. He could easily believe the latter seeing that she always seemed to find new ways to surprise him.

"I'll be perfectly fine walking home alone. I do it all the time."

"I don't want you to think you can't take care of yourself, I have no doubt that you'd be able to find your way out of any bad situation, but I would really like to join you just to make sure a situation like that doesn't arise," Shinso replied extending his hand out for her to reach as he stood and watched her with hope that she'd accept his help because that's what friends were for right?

"Okay," she said grabbing onto his outstretched hand and letting him help her onto her feet with a soft smile, thankful that she had finally found such a kind friend.

However, Shinso doubted his feelings and actions were friend-based as his palms grew sweaty upon her touch.

Bakugo nervously clenched the plastic bag thus, creating rustling sounds which grated his ears in frustration but he pushed it all away and channeled his anger by knocking at the door instead. He shouldn't be here, he shouldn't have bought her this stupid blue book that had caught his eye in the store because now he was obligated to give it to her and she was the last person he wanted to see.

If he turned now, he could still make a run for it; but he wasn't a coward. He wasn't like her when she had run away from him and into the darkness like an idiot; who knows what danger – or pervert – lurked in the lightless corners of the streets at night.

"Katsuki?" Inko asked snapping Bakugo from his thoughts.

She looked tired sporting her typical lackluster braid, but her face seemed too awake as if she was still up expectantly waiting for someone to arrive. He wondered how he hadn't noticed her crack open the door nor the bright lights that shined in his face from answering his knock. It was as if she was nearby, prepared to open the door with how quickly she had answered him.

"Are you looking for Izuka?" She asked glancing down at the bag in his hand and reminding him why he was originally there for again.

Bakugo blushed under her scrutinizing gaze feeling like a fool for showing such emotions as he muttered back, "Yeah, is she home?"

"No," Inko deeply sighed in worry opening the door further, "Izuka went out and hasn't returned. Would you like to come in and wait for her with me?"

Bakugo dwelled on the thought that she was somewhere alone this late at night; it slightly angered him that she did such silly things like this. Truly, nothing about her had changed since they were little. She was a constant forgetter and there was one year when she just slept on her desk all day; no wonder she had gotten the lowest scores that year. And she was always too trusting and he hated how easy it was to take advantage of that innocence.

"It's nothing urgent. Sorry for bothering you."

Inko stared at the blonde boy strangely. She knew he had something on his mind with the way he kept peering down at the bag in his hands. She wondered what exactly he had in there and was very cautious because this wasn't any boy. Katsuki was Izuka's first friend ever who ended up leaving her daughter behind and it was so rare to see him around any more…last time they had hung out was in elementary.

Something had obviously happened for their friendship to come to an end, but Izuka was never one to gossip and shut herself in her room whenever she asked about the topic. Inko had come to learn to not mention Izuka's past with the blonde-haired boy and they both somehow pretended that it never happened except for when they see Bakugo's mom at the market who still seems unaware that their children no longer associate with one another.

Now, here he was standing in her doorstep out of the blue taking extreme care to not blow up what he had wrapped in his possession.

"Very well, Katsuki, do take care," Inko replied with a glimmer of hope that he'd change his mind, but as she began closing the door, she frowned seeing the young boy turn around with a slouch and walk away. It didn't help that she was still oddly curious to what he was carrying and why he was seeking her daughter after all this time. There used to be a day when she could have sworn that they'd be inseparable and in a relationship right now.

"Where are you Deku? Making me come all the way here for nothing." Bakugo muttered under his breath in anger, "Hurry up and come home so you could stop wasting my time."

His patience was running thin and he didn't appreciate wasting such a nice day where he could have been working out his physique. And he was not going to waste another day coming back here; so, he was going to wait for her. Which is a much better plan than having to wait under the watchful eye of Deku's mother who would make the situation awkward and probably jump to conclusions because that's what his snoopy mother would do.

He didn't even understand himself why he went ahead and bought her a notebook after that joke she pulled claiming that she was trying to save him yesterday.

Bakugo was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice her approaching and he honestly would have wished that he went straight home instead. But he wasn't a coward, and he put his hesitance aside in exchange for taking a step towards her and that's when he also noticed that she had company.

Why did his observation skills stop working now of all days? Quickly, he ducked under a nearby bush praying whoever she was with wasn't from their school and hadn't seen him because this would tarnish his reputation.

"Izuka?" Inko asked startling the two teens outside of her door with owl eyes as she blinked at who she guessed was Shinso, "Is this your friend?"

The lights seeping from inside revealed to Bakugo that the boy next to Deku was the same purple-haired person from last night's attack and he couldn't help but cover his face with a scowl. Hadn't they only met yesterday and what the hell were they doing out so late?

"Y-yes, this is Shinso; Shinso, this is my mom," she replied with a light blush not daring to look at Shinso's face in hope that she wasn't putting him in such an awkward position. Hopefully, this wouldn't jeopardize their friendship, she just didn't know what to do properly in a situation like this; it's not like she had experience bringing friends home.

Shocking the girl, Shinso gracefully bowed before her mother and introduced himself as if it was second nature to him, "Midoriya-san, it's a pleasure to meet you. I apologize for how late I kept Izuka out, it seems that we lost track of time and it slipped our minds to call you about our whereabouts. We didn't mean to worry you."

"Shinso! There's really no need for," complained Izuka but her mother's wide smile left her forgetting just what she was going to say next, "…that. Mom?"

"It's so good to meet you too!" Inko said teary-eyed, "Please excuse me, it's just so nice to finally have one of Izuka's friends over although it is late already; you must come some other time to eat dinner, I insist."

As Bakugo witnessed all this, he hated how casual Izuka acted around him already. Not only that, but Shinso's actions confirmed Bakugo's hunch that he should hate the purple-haired moron; he was so well-mannered it was suspicious and he didn't like how easily he won Inko already. He was too proper for his tastes and the opposite of himself.

With a grunt, he turned around tuning out their conversation and escaped his hiding spot. He couldn't stand how ruined his day had become because of Deku. Why couldn't she just be home alone today out of all days?

But no, she had to be out with a boy. The same boy who had saved her from the slime monster that he could have beaten up by himself if he was already at Yuuei. He hated how everything had turned out and needing a release, he blew up the bag in his hand along with the contents inside until it turned into a heap of ash.

He was definitely going to train and not waste another day thinking about Deku and her silly choices in friends. It's not like he was a threat to his own non-existent relationship with the girl. Besides, knowing her, their friendship wouldn't last seeing as how he didn't attend the same school as they did.