"Yo̡u̮ a͈re ͈wa͔t̹c͖h̗i̟n͕g̪ qu̠i̜t͖e̢ ̗int̖ently͜~͖"̰
Izuku internally scoffed as Nana attempted to tease him over his intense look as Momo maneuvered to the goal zone of their speed test.
First thing back and the hero class was testing their new limits. UA never changed, but he never wanted it to.
Maze of pipes in an industrial zone. Slippery metal, unstable footing. Even Tomoyo would struggle with getting there fast.
"O̯r ̮ṷsed̡ t̺o̤, ̬s̞h̗e m͓i̟g͕ht̩ d̼o͕ bet͎t̥er no̘w̺ ̺th̠a̘ţ ̜s̯he̝ ͕has͓ t̡r̠ai̪ne͚d̮ i͓n t͖he̖ i̖nt̘e̹rn͕ships.̻"
He hummed in thought, focusing on Momo once more.
She had spent a week under Nighteye and it was showing, unlike everyone else she seemed much more aware of her surroundings, each step taken with purpose, her body moving as efficiently as it could through the layered maze.
"H̗e͢r suit̮ ̭is am̦aẕi̜ng͍ ͇to͎ ștare͚ a͈t͕, ̢i̼snͅ'̖t̩ ̭i͉t?"
He didn't even validate that with a response.
"Woaaaah," Hakagure chimed from his side, leaning onto his crossed arms. "Look at Momo go!"
The next few moments took the breath out of Izuku.
Momo generated two climbing picks from her thighs, releasing them during her steps forward, the added momentum shooting them forward and up enough for her to grab out of the air, using both to grip onto the ledge in front of her and kicking off the wall, the momentum giving her enough leverage to pull herself up with ease.
He blinked slowly, a smile breaking out. "She's starting to use the full extent of her quirk."
"You mean adding the momentum of her limbs?" Katsumi grumbled, trying to keep herself from smiling. "It's annoying how versatile it is."
"Oh hush Ms. 'I can fly'," Hakagure muttered hiding behind Izuku's frame. "Like your quirk isn't stupid versatile."
"Not my fault it's the best quirk out there!" Katsumi cackled almost egotistically.
"Well, in theory, you could think of your quirk to be the best-considering your educational background, I have no doubt your quirk was the best of the bunch-I am inclined to point out that Izuku's quirk..." she paused to rake her eyes over his body as if she were appraising him. "...is likely the best. Just based on genetic luck, of course," she finished quickly from the side.
"He doesn't fucking count," Katsumi grumbled, looking back to Momo.
Izuku's eyes landed on Ochako who was looking greener than usual as she used her quirk to hop from pipe to pipe, keeping herself above the ground, but seemingly the angles she was taking were causing her greater discomfort.
He could barely hear her grumble 'this isn't as easy as running on the three-pointers' over the feed.
"Oop, it's done!" Hakagure cheered, seeing Mina beat Momo by a second. "Guess even with all of her tools, she is still a little slower than Mina"
"I mean, by a second sure," Izuku muttered with a tilt of his head.
"Next group!" All Might hollered from her spot, echoing to their location even as she stood a good 500 meters away.
"Your turn." Katsumi sneered, "try to beat my time, will ya?"
"As much fun as it will be seeing your reaction to getting beaten by him, Midoriya's movements will be slower- probably, you are lugging around what? 150 kilos of support gear alone?" Saiko mumbled scanning his hero suit up and down.
"Give or take," Izuku chuckled, his helmet clicking around his head with a hiss. "Not really an issue though."
"...Is it me or did he sound smug about it?" Hakagure muttered with a huff and a pout.
"..." Katsumi squinted, looking back to the screen, "He's gonna pull some stupid shit."
Her face broke into a smile.
Honestly, it was endearing how he acted like a kid with a new trick to show off every now and then.
"F̡i͓v͢ę pe̥r͉ce̲nt? "
Five percent.
Nana chuckled in the back of his head. "Tim̦e͙ to̖ g̪o̝ F͇ ̳Ą ̫S͉ ͈T͓ "
How did you- nevermind.
Momo sighed stretching a bit as she caught her breath.
"Nice going, High-Class," Katsumi nodded leaning on her hip, "still haven't beaten my time though."
"I'm not gonna beat you in speed, Ms. 'Nitro'." She sighed with a relaxed smile. "Just happy I did as well as I did; Madam's training really helped!"
"Wanna see how much his training affected him?" the blonde muttered with a smirk, "I saw a little of it with Stain but not that much, he spent most of it paralyzed on the floor."
"Then he got up and headbutted her to the ground though," Mina added while stretching her legs next to them after the race. "That was somethin'."
Katsumi shrugged.
"So it's- Sero, Iida, Tsuyu, Midoriya, and Aoyama?" Hakagure muttered with a huff. "Guess we know who's gonna be last."
"Tough group for the Frenchie," Katsumi grunted.
Ochako huffed leaning on the wall, stomach still churning from using her quirk and jumping around erratically last round. "That- wasn't a good plan."
"Ochako, your hubby's up!" Mina teased hopping next to her and helping to her feet. "C'mon, I'm sure you wanna see his muscles rippling as he runs!"
"Mina please-" the brunette managed to wheeze as she was pulled onto her feet, "I'm gonna-"
Whatever protest she was gonna give died in her throat as she bore witness to the green lightning surrounding Izuku. The chaotic arcs she had grown used to slowly wrapping around his frame like coiled snakes, almost organically ebbing and flowing around him.
Ochako's mouth felt dry, licking her lips as she leaned against an even more surprised Mina "That's different."
"He's doing that?" Momo muttered with shock, eyes wide open. "I thought that took time to charge- wouldn't that cost him the start?"
"Normally, sure. But if he is doing that…" Katsumi squinted. What are you planning, Deku?
"You said you saw him during the Stain thing, was he doing that?" Hakagure mumbled, a hand on her chin.
"Nope- he did have lightning when he was paralyzed but- nothing like that," Katsumi mumbled.
"And go!"
Izuku's form lurched forward with speed neither the observers nor the camera-drone expected, kicking off the ground with the utmost precision and power, shooting forward in the perfect 20-degree angle to skim over the maze of pipes, his arc ending and restarting feet finding the precise stepping points and shooting him faster and faster with each addition to his momentum.
"...Well then." Saiko coughed into her hand as the camera drone zoomed forward to try and catch up to his rapidly retreating form. "Seems like he just proved my hypothesis incorrect."
Mina had flashbacks of his run in the first test Aizawa had given them. The moving force of nature that was Izuku had somehow added even more power to each motion, pushing him well past that could be imaginable.
"It's like a combination of Tsuyu's moves and Tomoyo's…" Ochako mumbled, blinking as if she wasn't believing her eyes.
Momo's eyes were focused on his path, the pipes he was bouncing over.
Even after crashing with the force of 300 Kilograms striking at them, none were damaged. "He's… either holding back, or the piping in the test area is stronger than it looks too."
"What do you-" Katsumi noticed the lack of damage herself, "Oh, now he's just showing off!"
Hakagure laughed heartily at the sound of Katsumi's foot meeting her mouth.
Missed seeing him in action like that.
Izuku panted next to All Might, beating everyone there by a good margin. Five percent was still not as easy to sustain as he would've preferred but it was well worth the effort.
"W̩o͟ṳld̟'̮ve̠ b̡e͍en͎ ̩f̟a͉s͔t̗e̮r ͜i͉f y̠o̳u̢ ju͎s̫t ͅg͖a̼ve ̳i̬t͕ your al̗l̘ w̜h̗e̖n̥ yo̹u͜ kic͜k̼ed ̭o͍ff."̳ Nana pouted inside him.
Well, it's a test, I doubt I would've gotten good grades if I did collateral damage.
"Good job, Young Midoriya! You are getting-" All Might's smile stretched a little wider, "leaps and bounds ahead with your use of your quirk!"
He groaned. Of course, the dad jokes were only gonna get worse now that she was dating his mother.
She is dating my mom.
All Might- is almost my-
He only broke out of his comatose trance when Tomoyo tapped him on the shoulder for a job well done, taking him out of the land of pure insanity.
"So," Doi broke the silence of the changing rooms, focusing on the much taller new student, "you didn't really show off your quirk in training, what is it?"
"Oh," Saiko turned to face the shorter blonde, her sports bra swaying with the motion, "mine has to do with IQ amplification- processing power of my brain- doesn't really help with physical activities such as this-"
The blonde seemed lost for a moment before it dawned on her "Oh- so like Aizawa, you are essentially quirkless when it comes to physicality?"
Saiko felt taken aback for a second before the blonde smiled brightly. "Man, you probably trained hard to get in! Kiri! Don't you think so?"
"YEAH! Really manly! You took on those bots without a quirk! That's amazing!"
That made the taller woman swell with pride. She never got used to being complimented over the hard-earned success she had in the practical examination. "Yeah, it was hard to get in, but I'm here. And I think I'm on the way to becoming a better hero."
"Indeed!" Tomoyo added with an aura of maternal pride. "Hope you all studied for our upcoming examinations, for all of our paths to be better heroes."
Mina and Doi flinched, then looked at each other with determined expressions. They both knew who they had to ask for help.
Izuku sneezed on the other side of the wall.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Momo turned to face Saiko, "Izuku wanted me to convey a message, Aizawa Sensei asked to see you after classes- something about 'starting your training'?"
"Oh that glorious man- I should go thank him after this," Saiko said aloud much to the confusion and irritations of the others.
"...I don't like the tone of that, beansprout." Katsumi hissed slamming her locker closed. "Since when are you and Izuku so close?"
"Oh!" Saiko's mouth turned to a smug smirk, looking down on the shorter blonde. "I've decided that I want to get intimate with him. Hope you don't mind."
Mina grumbled inwardly as a fight broke out.
Maybe she should just stop fucking around and really toss her hat into the ring too. And have him wrap his strong arms…
She bit her lip.
Maybe I really need to do that already.
"You̞ ̨ha̞ve ̙b̯ee͟n ͈goin͈g thr͉o͎u̪gh̞ thos̤e͇ for̝ ̗h͢ou͜rs͈ n̹ow-͔ " Nana almost whined, "th͖e̲ a̩m̱o͚unt ̪of̯ pu͇r͜e̻ ̧thi̟r͎st y̫ou ha͜v̼e̜ ̯b̦e̜e̫n r̰e͔adi̙ng̭ ͢i̟s ̱scar͇i͚ng ev̟e̼n m̪e̞-̠ "
Izuku groaned, tossing another letter from the pile he had amassed after the sports festival to the side. It was a formal apology from Mt. lady- followed by some pin-up pictures of the heroine in… more than her hero suit.
He wasn't gonna accept how good she looked in a dress out of her hero suit dammit.
"Bṳt̝ I ẉill. H͍e͎ṟ ̥mask̻ ̝doe̻s͚ her͉ ḓir͈ty, ͉y͈ou͜ s̺hou͙ld ̲ge̥t M̱ei͇ ͔to̡ ̳d̜e͜sign̜ ̩h̲e̮r͟ a̞no̮the͚r ọne!͓ ͎S̠om̹ething͓ ͜t̩o̦ b̮ri̭ng ̺o̡ut t̝hose ͈e͓y̥e̤s͓ ͉o͖f̰ hers!"ͅ
Shut.
He sighed, leaning back on his chair and breathing out to calm down. At least she hadn't sent panties or something. He still didn't know what to do with the few he got.
"F̠ling̝ em'̢ to̜ tḩe ̦mo̯on w̟i͖th the͎ ̧h̰e̯l̘p of Oc͟hako̡?̞ Co̱u͚ld̮ ̻ḅe ̮ą fụn ̖bo̩nding͇ e̬x͔p͖eri̗e̜nc̭e̦."̦
Ha, ha.
He turned to look at two letters sent by the Pussycats. He respected the rescue hero team and was honestly kinda scared at what he might find in the two.
Nothing like meeting his heroes to destroy them.
"Y͕o̘u w̰ere p̻ut͚t̘ing tͅh̳e̻m͚ ͚on̲ too high of a ͢p̟edestal̦, to ̭be̥g͚in wit̜h͎,̯ ̣t̟he̞y͔ ̗ar̗e jus͕ṭ ̙h̥uman ͢to̲o̧ ̻y̦o̟u k͓n͈o̖ẉ. W̨i̯țh n̢ee̮ds̳ ̹an̝ḓ…"̦ he felt the ghost of a sensation of his earlobe getting nibbled, "De̲s̻iͅres̰~"͜
God- fucking- stop that. He grumbled, carefully opening the envelope from the team as a whole. He didn't like the aura the one from Pixiebob was generating.
The neatly folded letter felt heavy in his hands- unlike the others that felt like thinly veiled booty calls of women that had been looking for someone like him. This one-
This one felt like it had emotion behind it.
"Th̦ḙre ̡yọu̼ ̱g͜o͢, p͚u̱tt͙in̳g̜ ͖t̹h̩ęm͙ on͉ a̩ ͖p͟e͢d̩e̝staͅl̖ ͢ąg̢ai̢n,̥ eve̪n̖ ̨bef̖o̳re yo͉u rea͍d̺ i̮t."
"Fine," he huffed aloud, carefully unfolding the paper, noticing the picture attached to the bottom, behind the page. He fought the urge to look at the picture right then and there- but considering the track record, he decided to skip on that before he could guess the content of the image.
He was not about to look at something lewd. Again.
"Izuku Midoriya, we, the Wild Wild Pussycats, owe you a great deal of thanks.-"
Ok, that wasn't a start he was expecting. Could it be about-
He blinked, remembering Tiger's situation, his heart thumping a little harder on his chest.
Seriously? Is it about...
He went back to the letter.
"I am not quite sure how much you know about this but Tiger was born in the wrong body, for the lack of a better phrase. It has been causing him great discomfort through the years, damaging his mental state steadily. But with your reveal at the sports festival, we found new hope.-"
" Oh, " Nana mumbled in his head, somber and muted. "Th̻at̞'ş… w͎o̦w̝.̤"̺
Izuku felt like he had a death grip on the paper. He had known about it, but he didn't know it was that bad. Then again, he knew how it felt to look like he was in the wrong body- He was scared to imagine how it would've felt if he was truly stuck in the wrong body.
" He had to stay in his circumstances, for the fear of damaging his quirk. After all, he too wanted to be a hero. And he believed he was giving the greatest sacrifice by remaining the way he was. But, it was eating him from the inside out. Now, after your show, he knows he doesn't need to bear that, and can truly be who he is. "
Nana felt choked up in his head. "I kn̤o̺w I j̤ok͙eḓ ͈a͇b͍o̟u̘t c̲ha̪ngin̜g̡ th̲e w͍o͍r͙ld th̝at dayͅ ̹bųt- "
He nodded gently. We really changed someone's world…
" He, well, the whole team, now has the courage to go through with the operation- so he can be who he is supposed to be, so from all of our hearts, thank you."
He let go of the breath he was holding, looking at the bottom of the page
"Signed, Mandalay, Pixie-Bob, Ragdoll, and Tiger."
Beneath the signature, there was a sketch of four cats laying on a patch of grass. Peaceful and serene, with the implication of a gentle breeze with the grass leaning to one side.
It was, in a word, adorable, adding to the overall emotion behind the letter it was getting to him.
He unhooked the paperclip, pulling the picture previously hidden by the letter. It was a picturesque sight of the four heroes laying under a tree, gentle breeze ruffling their hair.
He turned the picture around
P.S. Don't share the drawing of the cats. -R
"Th͇a̡t̤ ̜w̧as̙ ͕too̳ w͉hol̯e̹somȩ a̝nd͜ I͓ am ̼m͍a̲d that͓ ̰I̲ ͈a̫m ̗t̡h̠is ̠i̞nt̻o ͟it.̝ "
He smiled lightly. He never thought he could help in such a way, but he was happy he could.
Mina stood before the door that felt… bigger than it ever did before, weighing her options.
Confess, truly and maybe you get in, or don't and you definitely won't.
She didn't know probability that well but she damn well knew even a six percent was more than an absolute zero.
Not to mention it was starting to get this weird pit in her stomach when the new girl made it so clear what she was gonna do.
Good thing Izuku had asked to be alone after classes, his girlfriends relaxing on the couches of the common room.
Maybe I should ask them first…
"Mina?"
Hakagure's voice broke her out of her trance, her head snapping to her approaching invisible friend. "What are you doing here?"
"I- uhhh…"
She really didn't have an answer to that, and she could feel Hakagure squinting at her even if she couldn't see her.
"Was gonna ask if Izuku could help me study!" She quickly lied hoping her friend would just let it go.
"Momo was planning on holding a study session downstairs- don't you wanna join that?"
"I- uh-"
Hakagure got closer than she ever did before, Mina feeling the heat from her face against hers, "Or do you wanna do stuff with Izuku?"
Her face turned lilac instantly. "Tooru!"
"Hehe! Did I hit the nail on the head?"
Mina's hand found its place on her shoulder. "Well, why are you here then, huh!?"
It was Tooru's turn to grow quiet, "I uhh-"
Mina too pushed forward, her bust pressing against the other woman's. "I'm listening."
"I- I… came for a hug, ok?" She puffed, her shoulders sagging. "He gives the best hugs and I felt bad after not doing that well on our hero exercise!"
Mina felt bad over that. "Hey- it's fine, sorry for pushing- I guess I got embarrassed."
"It's fine- I'm sorry for teasing you too…"
"You still wanna see if he would let us in?"
"Why not? I wanna see if he does give these 'best hugs' you speak of."
"Didn't he hug you before?"
Izuku sighed, letting the letter down and picking up the other one, one with Pixie-bob's name written on top with a heart-shaped paw print on it that made his stomach churn.
"..̰.I̤ ̟am ͎sc̢aͅre̼ḏ.͎"̳
I shouldn't open it…
"̬We ̬c͜a͟n'͟t̫ ̻ch̲ic͢k͜en̰ ͔ou̟t̺ ̲now, ̪com̥e̗ o̜n!"̫ ̭
He sighed and conceded curiosity overtaking him too. "Let's get it over with."
He opened the envelope, sighing in relief that it wasn't a pile of lewder pictures that spilled out, but another neat letter.
"̘Aw̗www̢,̧ ̡w̺er̼e yo̪u͚ h͜opi̦n͇g̱ f̡or ͖tͅḩa̬t̬ ̫ins̘t̰e̢ad?"̫ ̺
He ignored that question.
He unfolded the letter to see surprisingly cutesy handwriting from the blonde of The Pussycats.
" Hello Izzy! Can I call you that? I hope you don't mind- I'm guessing you already read Mandalay's PR-speak letter from us, but I wanted to send one of my own to really tell you how thankful I am!"
...I don't trust this.
"O̱h r͎ela̱x,̦ ̢Ịzu̠k̥u̹,̘" Nana mumbled, "wha̬t̮'s̹ t̰ḫe͍ ̣w͕o͜r̗st̨ ̨s͜h̟e coulḓ'͜v̖e̖ s̬ent?͔"
He didn't trust her smirk in his head either.
"I'm sure you are smart enough to figure out we couldn't really take on interns as we are busy with Tiger's transition- Even as much as I would love to get to test my quirk against yours in a hands-on spar~ Oh well, maybe some other time~"
"̨I͙ l̞ikẹ her̼.̳"
You would.
" If you need any thoughts for a cold night, well… hope you enjoy the picture attached~ Mail me one back if you do, you have no idea how ho-"
He averted his gaze with a wince.
"̫O͎h̰ ͅI r͢e̟al̞ly l̟ike̮ ̣he̬r~ ̩y̹o̫u͍ sho̤u͎l͓d sen̲d͙ s̝o͔m̦e͎t̡h͚i̢n̬g̦ b̼ac̯ḵ!͢"
Nana- I won-
A loud argument got his attention away from both the letter and the more than horny backseat driver in his head.
It sounded like Mina and Hagakure, but he couldn't quite figure out what they were saying, slowly getting up from his desk he approached the door to his dorm and opened it
Only to have both Mina and Hagakure knock on his pecs.
"Uh?"
Mina looked lost for a second, before pulling her hand away while Hagakure kept her hand on the surface, feeling his chest. "Seriously, how are you so hard yet soft at the same time?"
He came to his senses after the comment, "Oh- hey you two, how can I help?"
"I…" Hagakure pulled her hand away, "I kinda wanted a hug, if that was ok?"
"Oh, sure," his free hand found its way on her head petting her gently, "were you bummed about the test?"
"Ugghhhh- don't remind me, I did terribly on it." she mumbled, leaning into the contact with a soft mewl, "Thank you though…"
"I keep telling all of you, not everyone's gonna excel in everything; you shouldn't take it to heart," he muttered, pulling her closer and wrapping his arms around her gently, the woman cooing at the physical affection and contact.
Mina felt like she wanted to do that with him too, till the day she died.
Wait… what is he…
She leaned closer to see what his hand was holding, neither Izuku or Hagakure noticing her swiping the letter and the attached imag-
It was a picture of Pixie-Bob wearing a swimsuit that left really nothing to the imagination and posing with a seductive look that made her blush-
Even the heroes are- THAT'S IT.
"Izuku!"
Her sudden increase of volume got the two friends cuddling out of their trance, Izuku's eyes locking into hers.
She gulped as she stared into those green eyes that took her breath away every single time.
"I love you!"