A/N: Welcome back!

She found Shouta's seat in math. He gave her a small nod as they sat, and Fujimoto-sensei passed out the quiz. Luckily, it was over the material they had studied, but she still had those questions she wanted to ask. Shouta seemed quiet- not shy but not likely to speak up- so Inko figured she'd get the ball rolling as soon as the quiz was collected. And of course, collection time was the best part.

"Everybody ready?" Fujimoto-sensei held up his hands. The whole class lifted their papers. "Pass them up!"

Collectively, they gave their quizzes a push. Kinetic Storm activated his quirk. The papers suddenly sped up and arched through the air, falling in a pile in their teacher's hands. His quirk, Energy Mix, could manipulate the kinetic and potential energy of any object. This could send a speeding object to a stop, or make a falling marble land like a brick.

"How do we feel about this one?" He asked as he shuffled the papers on his desk. They slid into a yellow folder as the class gave a mix of answers. Inko raised her hand.

"Can we go over congruency tests again?"

Fujimoto-sensei smiled. "Of course. I was going to review the quiz questions anyway. We can run through triangle proofs too." He pulled out the overhead projector from behind his desk. "Will someone get the lights?"

On the transparency, Fujimoto-sensei illustrated congruency rules. Inko scribbled down the different triangle identifiers and circled the ones that wouldn't work for a proof. She put a star by the SSA, since she'd mixed it up with the SAS on the quiz.

"With a non-included angle and two sides, there's no way to prove congruency. That's because there are two possible triangles that can be made. See, angle C could be obtuse or acute, depending on the direction of the final side." He drew out the triangle in blue, and made dotted lines for the potential second triangle in red. The angles he circled in green.

Inko was too absorbed in the proofs to check and see if Shouta was picking this all up. Hidemi was sitting next to her and scribbling furiously. Maybe they could all get together and make a study group. Or, she thought, Shouta could always get me thrown out of the library again.

The bell rang for lunch. Fujimoto-sensei shook up the spray bottle and Kyou turned on the light.

"Make sure to have those congruency tests memorized for next week's quiz. We'll go over complementary and supplementary angles again on Monday." He sprayed the transparency sheet and Inko watched the blue ink run on the screen.

Hidemi made a face as she put away her book. "All this in a month? I can't imagine what it's going to be like when we get to upper-algebra. And pre-calc… Don't get me started!"

"Not a math fan, then?" Inko grinned. She wasn't so partial to the theoretical stuff either, but she was going to appreciate geometric math while she had it. "At least Fujimoto-sensei makes it fun, right?"

They met Kyou and Kyoshi outside the classroom. "Glad you two took your sweet time," the lanky boy began, "Now we'll miss Infuser's cafeteria check. I won't get the chance to tell her how delicious the vegetable medley is."

"Try again Monday, lover boy." Kyoshi fell in step with Hidemi and Inko. They had better things to do than bemoan a missed opportunity to flirt. For one thing, the vegetable medley was delicious, and they wanted to eat while the food was hot. While they stood in line, Inko scanned the cafeteria for signs of anyone she knew from middle school. It was a habit she'd formed, drifting off while her eyes roved over the faces of her classmates. Once, she found her old friend Eri in a mob of Support students. They'd exchanged a wave and hadn't seen each other since.

She did spot Shouta sitting with some other students, but nobody Inko recognized. There was a boy gesticulating wildly in the seat across from him, and a girl with a perm dodging out of the way of a flying hand. Shouta was either listening intently or totally phased out. Inko turned back to the lunch line.

"-ko, hey Inko do you have a pen?" Hidemi pulled on her sleeve lightly. "Whoa there, space cadet, earth calling here."

Inko fished around in the mesh pocket of her bag. "Y-you're just jealous I'm a s-star." She handed Hidemi the pen. "What's the hurry?"

Hidemi chortled, apparently delighted by both joke and delivery. "I wanted to get everybody's phone number before the weekend. Kyou suggested we get together and hang out."

"Oh!" Inko watched as Hidemi jotted down a number in her planner. "Can I copy them at the table? I don't have anybody's number and I don't think I'll be able to remember it on my own."

"Sure." Hidemi handed back the pen. "Depending on the homework load in history, we might be able to catch a break. Otherwise… I think I'll be holed up at home all weekend."

Nodding, Inko picked up a tray. "We could always get together and study. If we go over the period this weekend, we can have good questions for Monday!"

Hidemi made a disgruntled noise. "I'm more worried about completing the handout. Good questions or not, all of these 'John's are hard to keep straight. I liked national history better last year."

They followed Kyoshi and Kyou to the table. Hidemi passed over her planner and let Inko copy down the phone numbers. "Put yours in too, that way I'll have the full set."

"Collect them all." Kyoshi commented before spearing his broccoli.

"But wouldn't that be great?" Hidemi's hair sparkled as she flipped through the pages of her planner. "If the whole class gets super close-knit and we all become best friends and can work together and hang out on the weekends? And then we'll grow up and become young professionals and go out to dinner as a group and-"

She trailed off, looking up at the ceiling dreamily. "Who's the space cadet now?" Kyou chimed in, but he seemed to be considering her wild fantasy. A big group of adult friends. The whole class doing the kinds of things their parents did only once in a while. With a class of UA students, it was bound to be a riot.

"Sometimes I wish we could all live here." Hidemi came back to earth. "Then it'd really be like a big family. I mean, the Takenakas kind of already do that, but I'd want to have sleepovers with a group. We could play truth or dare and Fujioka could use her quirk to tell if you're lying…"

It sounded like a dream. "Well, if a bunch of newly-graduated singles need places to live, I bet the apartment complexes start ramping up their advertisements." Kyoshi eyed the address book. "I doubt everyone makes it to the same place, but if some of us find jobs in one region, we could try and book places nearby."

Hidemi wasn't going to let his realism rain on her parade. "Some of us could even be roommates… And if the apartments next door were other sets of roommates…"

They headed off to history next, their minds not focused on the past but the future.

-\\/-

She floated the wooden spoon toward one hand while she balanced Izuku on her hip with the other. The noodles were nearly ready, but she felt more productive stirring them anyway.

Her son's eyes were locked on the rising steam. He seemed captivated by the experience, awed with the new sight as infants often were. If he was still hungry after his own dinner- or if the smell of new food made him fussy- she had a jar of mashed melon handy.

The noodles were done. She could feel that much through the spoon. Izuku wouldn't like the next part, but it was better to have him in his high chair than near the boiling water. Inko turned off the boiler and balanced the spoon on top of the pot. It was more of a cooking habit than a concern for the spoon, but even with the heating element off the pot wouldn't boil over.

Izuku liked the high chair about as much as she'd expected, but she was prepared.

"Look Izuku!" Inko crouched down to scoop up the plush toy from where her son had dropped it earlier. "Who's here to light up the darkness?"

Doctors said that bright and contrasting colors were good for developing babies' eyesight. Personally, she was glad Izuku liked the Bright Light Hero toy. If only her old teacher could see this now… He'd probably recommend other toys. Shirota always seemed to produce new and unusual hall-passes.

While Izuku was distracted, Inko strained the noodles and got out a bowl. She'd already chopped vegetables while Izuku was playing with his squishy boiled yams. Before she could mix up dinner of her own, however, the door chime went off. Inko's stomach growled in response.

"I'll be right there." She called through the house. Inko picked the Neon plushie back up off the floor. "You behave for a second Izuku. Mama's going to get the door."

She brushed her hands off on her apron, looked through the peephole, and unchained the door.

"Paging Doctor Mom!" Hidemi Yokomizo waved her fingers in greeting. "Your favorite nurse has an emergency on hand."

Inko pushed the door all the way open and gestured her friend inside. "I hope it's not too serious." She giggled. "I've got my hands full already." Her eyes drifted to the cardboard box on Hidemi's hip. It was sealed tight with packing tape, postage marks, and a second layer of tape where the first had failed. She recognized it immediately. Hidemi noticed the attention shift and chuckled.

"It's that time of year again. But this one's a little bit different." She held up her free hand to forestall the expected interruption. "I didn't look inside, I swear, but it's the outside that's significant this time. I promise."

The pair of them walked into the kitchen where Izuku was happily gnawing on the Bright Light Hero's foot. Hidemi poorly held back a snort.

"Is that Shirota? Oh my gosh, Kyou would have a fit." She set the box down on the table and leaned down in front of Izuku's chair. Inko glanced from the cutting board laden with veggies to the rapidly cooling noodles. Had Hidemi eaten? Would there be enough for the two of them? Did she care for carrots in any capacity?

It seemed like Hidemi was still one step ahead all these years later. "I'm sorry to drop in without calling. Don't worry about food or tea or anything." She smiled when Izuku wrapped his pudgy fingers around one of her own. "I've got to get downtown for a family dinner, but I wanted to drop this off before the weekend." Hidemi waved her free hand at the counter. "Get to your dinner. Pretend I'm not even here."

Considerate as the excuse was, Inko felt a little bad about not first offering tea. That mysterious little box had robbed her of all her manners.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like tea? I only put the kettle on a few minutes ago but…"

Hidemi cut her off with a smile. "No, it's really alright. Call me nosy, but I only have time for the big reveal. Think of it as a reward for all my restraint so far. Hasegawa made me swear to spill all the details since I wouldn't take a little peek myself."

It was Inko's turn to grin. She dumped the veggies and sauce into her noodle bowl and sat down at the table. "Alright. But don't embellish it. I'd hate to get a call about my 'secret American boyfriend' again."

Hidemi pushed the box over as Inko used her quirk to fetch the safety scissors from on top of the cabinet. "It was an honest mistake. It'll never happen again."

Inko turned the box around to get a look at the postage. Her eyebrows rose as she read. There was no cartoon eagle, no American postmarks at all. She double-checked the address.

"This shipped from inside the country!" Inko looked up to find Hidemi wiggling her eyebrows.

"Maybe this means he's back." She jiggled the Bright Light toy in front of Izuku again.

Inko readied the scissors, almost hesitant to slice through the domestic postmarks. But, Hidemi would have kittens if she didn't hurry up. Taking one scissor blade between her fingers, Inko cut down the packing tape and freed the box flaps from their adhesive prison.

It was packed to the brim with peanuts, as usual. Even if Hidemi had used her quirk on the box, she might not have gotten very far. Inko pushed aside as many of the foam puffs as she could without spilling them all over the table. Goodness knows what would happen if Izuku got ahold of one.

Under the packing peanuts, there were two bundles of brown paper. Inko lifted the first, smallest one out and unwrapped it. She couldn't help but to laugh out loud. Inko lifted the star-shaped, star-spangled glasses to her face.

"How do I look?"

Both her friend and her son dissolved into giggles. The glasses were outlandish, but so much fun Inko was tempted to wear them shopping.

"You look like a pop idol. If I had a pair of those, I'd never take them off." Hidemi was grinning, but her comment wasn't mocking. The glasses sure were loud, but not necessarily an eyesore. "What's with all the stars and stripes? Doesn't he always send you a flag-themed something?"

Inko set the glasses gently on the table. "My birthday is on the same day as American Independence Day or their Flag Day or something. I forget which; he thought it was funny when he found out. Now I have stars-and-stripes sunglasses!"

"Quick, open the rest!" Hidemi was entertaining Izuku by making his high chair tray disappear. "I don't want to keep you from your dinner long."

"And I don't want to keep you from yours!" Inko slid out the second paper package. It had a softer feel than the first, and it upset many more packing peanuts. She peeled the paper back to reveal a knit beanie, dark blue and embroidered with white stars around the bottom. It was subtler than the glasses, and considerably more practical.

"Practi-gal and Muscular Man save the day!"

"I'm sure you can come up with something better sounding than that!"

Her thoughts returned to the present as Hidemi reached out to feel the material. "American themed everything this year. But it's really nice. I bet it keeps your ears warm."

"I bet it does." Inko set the beanie next to the glasses and started drawing the stray packing peanuts back. "And you'd think he'd list a return address since he sent it domestically. I never get the chance to send him anything in return."

Hidemi took her hand back from Izuku and pushed her chair in. "Maybe he'll look you up now that he seems to be back in the country. Who knows?" Inko got up to follow her to the door.

"Yeah. I'll be sure to tell you if I hear anything." She opened the door and Hidemi walked out into the hallway. "And we need to get together for lunch sometime. I know I've been all over the place with Izuku."

"That'd be great." Her friend grinned. "We can compare notes on the phone. I know how hard it must be to get out with a new baby. We'll do lunch sometime, and I'll make sure Hasegawa doesn't go postal about your package."

They said their goodbyes through giggles at Hidemi's little joke. Inko returned to her son and her noodles and the box full of packing peanuts. So, her dear old friend was back in the country. But goodness knows where, or for how long.

She chewed her noodles. Izuku chewed her old homeroom teacher's foot. What a wild Friday night.