Izumi was by no means unintelligent.

By all accounts, she would probably be considered a genius if she ever bothered to get tested.

Still- even geniuses weren't immune to the occasional bouts of complete and utter stupidity that came with being human.

Like completely forgetting about the fact that she would have to get a job at some point.

And that her middle school required her to present her career interests to the councillor.

Every year.

Which would be the reason why Izumi was currently pacing her room, phone in hand, while she tried very hard not to hyperventilate.

"What do you mean it's due tomorrow?!"

For a moment, the other end of the line was dead silent. "...You actually forgot?" Mitsuki asked incredulously as Izumi continued forcing herself through breathing exercises. "You? Miss 'I still remember what I ate for breakfast four years ago?'"

Izumi took a somewhat strangled breath. "Not the point!" She forced out, waving a hand flippantly and accidentally knocking a figurine off of her bookshelf. "Shit-!" she cursed, activating her Quirk just barely in time to prevent the figurine from hitting the ground.

Letting out a relieved sigh as the spike of adrenaline faded, she gently tugged the figurine to her palm as she returned her attention to Mitsuki.

"Mitsuki- I haven't even thought about what I want to do for a living. At all. I've been a little busy trying to deal with the whole-" Izumi waved the figurine in a vague circle. "You know."

"Yeaaaah, but, still-!" Mitsuki exclaimed, pausing in thought for a moment before continuing in a far more subdued tone. "You're always so organized and focused and stuff- and you're like- reaaally good at all that sciency-math stuff you do, so I guess I kinda figured you'd already decided on something?"

...It was incredibly sweet that Mitsuki thought so highly of her.

Misguided, clearly, but sweet.

"I just- I don't- Uuugh." Izumi huffed, flopping onto her bed. "I just don't know what to do Mitsuki. I mean-" The greenette cut herself off mid-sentence, taking a moment to revise her explanation into something she could actually tell her friend over the phone.

(Wiretaps existed, after all- and the phrase 'In my past life I worked in my husband's butcher shop for thirty years because I had critical internal injuries and was a damn housewife-' wasn't exactly something Izumi wanted just anyone to hear.)

"All I know for sure is that I don't want to work in an office." Izumi said finally, rolling over onto her back. "I just- there are things I want to do in the future that mean I would very much prefer working from home." She admitted, fist tightening unconsciously around the black-clad figurine in her grip.

Like maybe- if whatever fault in her systems hadn't-

Now with her entirely different genetics-

(Her toll paid and done for and not carried over-)

If she could-

Not- Not yet. But someday.

And dammit, if she could, she wanted to be there.

(Offices were stuffy and robotically stiff, anyway. She wanted no part in that.)

Mitsuki hummed quietly on the other end of the line. "Well… You're like, super sciency. And math-y." She began, her voice picking up her thoughtful frown. "Logic-brained, I think mom called it? Maybe you should start with that. I think there are a few science careers that let you work from home?" The blond offered.

Izumi let out a quiet huff. "...Maybe." She conceded, thumb tracing the edges of the figurine's white plastic cape and yellow gloves as she frowned at the ceiling. "I guess I just… want to do something I find... meaningful? I don't want to end up doing busy work for the rest of my life."

"Meaningful…" Mitsuki began thoughtfully, "Like, helping people? I know you said you didn't want to be a Pro Hero- but maybe you could do something like, I don't know… Police work? Wait no that wouldn't let you stay home… doctor or nurse is also out, they keep weird hours…" She grumbled mostly to herself.

Izumi frowned thoughtfully as her friend continued plowing through her mental- and judging by the scribble of pencil on paper- physical list of occupations.

She needed something scientific and meaningful, that would still allow her to work from home.

Immediately, anything involving large amounts of lab work was out. That would require her to be on-site far more often than she wanted.

Something fully mathematical wouldn't be horrible, but she'd be bored out of her mind as an accountant or statistician, and neither of those professions were overtly helpful to the sort of people who actually needed her help.

"Why the hell is cryptozoologist on this list? Quirked animal research was banned years ago- and is that a picture of fucking Mothman? This is a school-approved website- I fear for the children-" Mitsuki complained dramatically, ignoring Izumi's snort at her description, before cutting herself off with an excited "-Oh hey I found a thing!"

Izumi raised an eyebrow. "A thing?" She questioned, "More pictures of Mothman?"

"Nooo, no more Mothman he's dumb-" Mitsuki whined.

Izumi snorted.

"Rude." Mitsuki stated cheerily, "But anyway the thing I found was a page on Quirk Researchers."

"Quirk researchers?" Izumi questioned, brows furrowing. "Like quirkologists?"

"Nope! Not quite." Mitsuki replied, "That's like a subsection of a subsection in Quirk Research. They've got a lot of different options in here, and it says a lot of researchers choose their own subjects, specialties, and hours. Which sounds perfect for you."

It did sound perfect.

Too perfect.

"What's the catch?"

Mitsuki laughed. "To anybody else it'd be a catch- but for you?" Another laugh. "Yeah. The only 'catch' I saw was that Quirk Researchers are on-call for incidents that fit their specialty; like dealing with court stuff, villain cases, Quirk abuse cases, and some hero incidents- among other things- depending on the specialty." The blond explained excitedly, "Plus, certain specialties have to work with people who have that type of Quirk, acting like something between a Quirk Counsellor and a personal trainer."

Izumi blinked.

That.

That sounded amazing.

Even if she didn't know the specific area of research she would go into-

A small smile tugged at the corners of Izumi's lips as she raised her fist into the air, smile widening into something more excited as she stared at the heroically-posed figurine in her grasp.

"Mitsuki… I think I want to be a Quirk Researcher."

Mitsuki cheered.

Izumi had dreaded puberty.

The more… biological aspects, she'd been prepared for. She knew pretty much everything she needed to about dealing with bras and periods- even if she was a bit out of practice with the latter.

(She had not been prepared for that many brands of tampons and pads. Sure Quirks messed with everything but that was still a lot of brands.)

It was the more… emotional… aspects, that she'd truly dreaded dealing with.

Of course, now that she'd finally reached it- that dread had turned into existential horror and a large helping of shit she did not want to be dealing with, dammit.

It had been subtle enough at first that she hadn't quite noticed- sure she'd been paying more attention to her classmates lately, but that was normal, right? It wasn't out of the ordinary if she happened to learn a few more names this year than the last- it was just the influence of Mitsuki and a school setting pushing her to be a bit more open to making friends, right?

Of course, that particular delusion had been thoroughly shattered upon the first outdoor gym class of the year.

She'd actually choked on her water when she realised she'd been staring at several of the more… built teens in her class.

Hormones.

Hormones meant checking people out by accident. Hormones meant teen drama. Hormones meant crushes.

Izumi did not want to deal with crushes.

She'd had them before, the first time. Just a few- never serious and never anything that led to dates.

Except for Sig.

She had spent over half her life with that man. The highs, the lows- and even the catastrophic.

She'd loved him.

She'd loved him so damn much- and now-

Now she wasn't sure she'd ever see him again.

She was the only reincarnation she knew of. The only living reincarnation, anyway.

(Izumi visited Trisha's grave at least once a month. The woman had been her great grandmother in this life, and the mother of her students in the last.)

(Flowers and a peaceful place to rest were the least she could give in return.)

If she had interpreted that message correctly, there were others. Or at least, there would be others.

Still, the fact remained, no matter how cold and damming.

If she ever did meet another reincarnation in this life- one that she'd known in the last-

The probability it would be Sig-

...If it wasn't zero, it was close.

Even so. Even still.

She wasn't certain she could let go.

Bare feet slid over the soft mat, movements precise and unflinching.

Izumi turned carefully. Precisely. Exactly.

And within seconds of her burly opponent meeting her extended arm-

He was unceremoniously hurled halfway across the room.

(Specifically into a stack of towels and spare mats a few of the dojo's students had taken to setting up for events such as this.)

Relaxing out of her previous stance, Izumi gave the sprawled and groaning body of her opponent an unimpressed look, effectively ignoring the sound of scattered cheers from her classmates and choked gasps from the judges.

Honestly, what did those other dojos teach their students-?! Clearly it wasn't anything competent, let alone useful.

The referee coughed awkwardly, looking pointedly away from the dazed teenager. "Ah. The winner of this match is Midoriya Izumi, from Matsuoka's Academy of Martial Arts!"

With a huff, Izumi turned and walked back to her seat and the cheerfully waving form of Mitsuki, a trail of whispers humming behind her like particularly annoying flies.

"What the hell, she's tiny and she just chucked him out of the ring!"

"It's got to be a strength Quirk. There's just no way-"

"Don't be stupid, she's in the non-physical Quirk division."

"Her sensei probably bribed the judges!"

"Excuse you were we watching the same fight?"

The humming of whispers grew louder as she settled back into her seat; silently accepting Mitsuki's offer of a fist-bump.

"Damn, why is such a cute girl such a hardass bitch…?"

"Better her than the ragey one…"

"OI! CAN IT!" A voice snapped, instantly drawing attention to its owner: a completely androgynous young adult with a fluffy teal undercut and a disappointed scowl. "This is a competition, not a gossip-fest!" They stated firmly, "And if you continue to insult my students, I will personally report you to your parents- and see to it you receive a suspension from the next competition!"

The whispers stopped instantly- the entire crowd returning their attention to the mats as they pointedly refused to make eye-contact.

(They knew full well that that threat would be followed through.)

This was Matsuoka Zhou: sensei and owner of Matsuoka's Academy of Martial Arts- and Matsuoka-sensei was not one to sugarcoat.

If they said you'd receive a suspension- you would. End of story.

Izumi rather liked them. They were sensible.

Unlike many of the students in this competition.

Immaturity. Honestly, Izumi knew she had the advantage of a full lifetime of knowledge, but would it kill these people to behave professionally at a competition?

Mitsuki bumped izumi's shoulder with her own, startling Izumi out of her darkening thoughts. "You were getting kinda murder-faced." The blond noted, smiling.

"Ah." Izumi said, blinking as she straightened in her seat, shaking off the scowl from her face. "Sorry."

"Nah, you're good." Mitsuki replied cheerily, tossing an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Haters gonna hate, and all that." She said, "Ya just gotta skate away from the bullshit, ya'know? Ignore the shitty shitheads!"

Izumi snorted. "Shitty shitheads?"

"Well their personalities are clearly shit, so their heads must be full of the stuff!" Mitsuki chirped slightly-too-loud. Several of the teens who had been whispering earlier flinched at her harsh assessment.

Izumi just shook her head fondly, a soft smile on her face.

She'd never really cared about 'haters-' as Mitsuki called them- but then again, she'd never really had any before.

Probably because she just didn't give a shit about their opinions.

(Although, she had to admit, it was fun rubbing her first-place medal in their faces.)