Villain Name: Bombshell
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Quirk: Ticking hair
Description: Any strand of hair that is removed from her body may be detonated within a twenty-four-hour timeframe at her whim. The tons of force behind the explosion decreases in negative correlation to the intensity of fear she feels when the hair was detached. This effect is negated if the hair comes in contact with water (H2O). Furthermore, setting off more than five within a minute results in a ten-minute recharge time.
Additional Notes: She is useless in stealth due to the constant ticking emitting from her hair.
Investigator: Naomasa Tsukauchi
Breathlessly, the paper was handed back to the awaiting officer. It was closing in on midnight, sirens of police cars flashing through the streets in warning as curious onlookers were quick to be swatted away by detectives. With this new information, Izuku sat back in thought. The ex-symbol had rushed on scene as soon as he saw the red and blue lights. His leave from his job in a few days from now when he went into surgery did not deter him from making the most of it until then.
The situation at the major telecommunications company was dire, the perpetrator holding near hundreds of people hostage with no negotiations of money possible. She was unshakable in her proposal of keeping the entire phone service shut down until the CEO returned from an overseas meeting. The earliest he would make it was two days from now. With hundreds of hospitals, police stations, and hero agencies backlogged in response to half of their communications being taken away, the city couldn't afford to wait that long.
Making eye contact with Tsukauchi, the detective appeared amused by the hero's mumbles. Izuku was quick to slave off the embarrassment, his analytical mind coming to a solution almost immediately.
"We need Earphone Jack."
"That girl…? Her abilities are so unmatched to Bombshell that it's not even funny." One of the uniformed officers within earshot was quick to rebut. Tension now broken, many others in the vicinity stepped up to announce their disagreement with this poor decision. Considering that they would have to put in a special request to contact her, thus worsening the communication line further, any hero they brought on site had to count. They weren't like Izuku, who happened to be passing by."We already know where that damn woman is standing. The backlash from her explosions would overpower Earphone Jack in a second."
Another office, this time female, quipped with her own suggestion. "Wouldn't someone with a water quirk be more efficient?"
"I agree. If resources allow, a hero such as Fumikage would also be efficient at knocking her out before she has a chance to detonate anything-"
"501, put the request in. We're calling in Earphone Jack." Having long earned the detective's respect, Tsukauchi's compliance to the hero's suggestion was quick and efficient.
"But sir-"
Tsukauchi turned on the uniformed man, the first one to have protested against Izuku's idea. "Every second, another person is at risk of dying in this city. That number got a hundred times higher because of this situation. Would you rather comply with these orders, or would you disobey out of your own stubborn distrust for a man who's been keeping you and your family safe for ten years?"
Caught red-handed of his true intentions, the police officer straightened. "The first option, sir!"
"Then show some respect towards Quirkless and let us do our jobs."
"Yes, it won't happen again, sir!"
Making a sharp turn towards the task force monitoring the cameras, Tsukauchi landed a supportive hand on the silent hero's shoulder, sending a nod his way, before continuing down the deserted road. Izuku relaxed at this. It was these types of times that he was glad to have a friend like All Might's old acquaintance working for law enforcement. It wasn't so much losing the benefits or cordial business, but more that a glance containing no malice was comforting once in a while.
With tired eyes and hair unkept, the sound girl arrived on scene within half-an-hour. She ran towards the familiar green silhouette to see the peculiar sight of the hooded man crouched on the floor and filling in a line of Styrofoam cups with the hose offered by the firefighters on stand-by. Without question, she accepted the bag from him and helped line them up.
"What's the situation, Izuku?" Without looking up from their jobs, the addressed passed along a copy of the same paper for her to scrutinize.
"It's a hostage take-over. The villain has the ability to detonate any hair that detaches from her body, until either twenty-four hours pass or the hair is doused in water."
The woman paused the slightest bit. "That's dangerous."
Izuku nodded. "Yeah. She hadn't mentioned it in her threats, but I'm ninety-nine percent sure that she has hair planted all around the building. Her quirk isn't meant to make her intimidating in a one-on-one fight, but give her an advantage in a backhanded way. If I had gone in to try to knock her out, she would've set one of them off as soon as she saw me."
"And submerging the building in water is too risky, anything vacuum sealed would be missed." At seeing her ex-classmate's affirming smile, she cracked her shoulders in preparation. "I'm on it. You write down the locations that I give you. This ticking quirk of hers will be her downfall."
The following hour was agonizing but looming worst-case scenario of being caught on their heads, the heroes and police force worked as quietly as possible. Gathering intel on the number of bombs, the same number of police officers were sent onto the fire escape and snuck around the upper floors with nothing but a cup of water as a weapon. The hostages were being kept in a room on the first floor, the bored Bombshell leaning back on the desk as she watched a hockey game on the help screen. One by one, Earphone Jack used the sound of dying clicks to inform the ex-symbol when another hair was successfully deactivated until Izuku was left crossing out the last item with a relieved sigh.
Removing her ear from the wall, Jirou gave him an encouraging smile. "You know what to do, Izuku."
Making eye contact with his friend in acknowledgement, he was quick to shoot past in a bolt of green lightning. He made quick work of climbing the fire escape to the second floor, skipping into a window before entering the hallway, and finding the stairs moving downward. Hopefully, if what Jirou had told him was true, he could take advantage of knowing the villain's location to knock her out. With the threat of the entire building collapsing cut into one-tenth of what it was, he could charge in to deliver the final blow with renewed confidence.
But, as great as renewed confidence was, Izuku thanked his obsessive overanalyzing. Because sure enough, as soon as he crossed the threshold of the room where Bombshell was, three strands of hair tied to the door sill dug into his calves and tripped him up. As soon as freckled nose met ground, the distinct whoosh of one of the three hairs detonating sent him sprawling into the opposite wall in sheer pain.
And god, if he hadn't called Earphone Jack earlier, then this is about the time when the entire building would've crumbled in on itself from the force of meticulously placed explosions. The chain reaction would've been devastating, continuing until there was nothing left of him nor the hostages but dust. Bombshell, at the disturbance, made a move to do just that, but when her snaps yielded nothing, she threw her popcorn on the floor in distaste.
Izuku sprung to his feet in an instant, the blood streaming down from his temple forgotten. At this display, Bombshell snatched up a handful of cut hair from her back pouch, poised and watching his every move. There was no trash talk, no begging for mercy, and that, that was what tipped the ex-symbol of hope off that this villain was no push-over.
At every step he made to the right, her left arm raised the slightest bit. At every twitch of his finger, her foot lifted a millimeter off the ground. They were subtle things that no one watching would catch. To the terrified eyes of the hostages on the carpet adjacent, it appeared that the two were simply staring each other had that familiar splash of dread sinking into Izuku's stomach. She was good. This, this could end up as another failure.
He swallowed, self-doubt washing over, but bolted upwards with One For All before he could back down in nerves. The retaliation from the woman was instant. It had to be, for it only took an instant for Izuku to aim a strike at her from behind. No normal speed could've dodged it. Bombshell seemed to acknowledge that, for she twisted the slightest bit to redirect the hit to her side, latching onto Izuku's sleeve the slightest moment before careening into a desk and tumbling to the floor.
"What? I thought you said you were going to fight me!"
Izuku flinched, the familiar voice of a blond echoing in his head. That's right, he couldn't give her time to recover like he had for Katsuki. Before she could collect herself from the floor, he side-stepped past four chairs to go for the final blow.
Only for an explosion to go off right on the sleeve of his left arm.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
He screeched, unhindered. The force of the blast was small, but enough to send his arm bending in a direction that it shouldn't have been behind his back. All he caught was the glimpse of a smirk, before the woman tossed out two more strands above his head with a double-snap. "Deux!"
The poor ex-symbol was sent crashing down, the force of two explosions enough to create a crater on the dirty tiled floor of the office. Body beaten but confidence at an all-time high, the woman wasted no time in using the last of her five bombs to blow Izuku backwards into a window separating the room from the hallway. Shattering glass littered the air, its sound deafening and causing the hostages across the room to scream.
And then, silence.
Bombshell stood up, dusting off her outfit. She coughed, splatters of blood not discouraging her. "Ha, so it's true. Arm injury or no, the mighty symbol of hope really is obsolete." Ecstatic at the thought of a new hostage to add to her collection, she approached the hall just in time for the door to unhinge and be sent careening into her form.
Izuku, beaten but not down, held his right fist up where it collided with the door. His left arm was a mess, scratched in patterns leading all the way up to his elbows. It was bent backwards, unusable. The pain was excruciating, enough to make anyone else pass out, but to Izuku, was a familiar sting that he wore every other week while in his first year at Yuuei.
Cursing, Bombshell peeled herself from her spot on the wall to reach into her jacket and pull out a gun. She was out of detonations for the next ten minutes, sending bullets in the hero's path. However, with heightened senses, Izuku dodged them with practiced ease. He was within striking distance within a few seconds, smashing an uppercut into her chin before clawing at her shirt and twisting around to send her flying into a computer. From the backlash, a speaker came wiping through the air and nearly hit one of the younger hostages in the face, shattering into pieces on the wall behind her instead.
The little girl curled in, crying.
A realization washed over Izuku. Oh no.
The sobs had him rushing to untie the hostages as quickly as he could. They couldn't keep fighting here. Bombshell wouldn't care, but the sheer level of destruction was beginning to threaten the lives of the innocent as well. An aching feeling in his chest told him that more hostages were scattered about the first floor, all hidden beneath desks or wedged into lockers and told to keep quiet. That feeling only spread as Jirou went on to confirm it a few minutes ago.
Finally clearing out the room, the police would start trickling in to help as soon as they saw the first group of people running out by the front entrance. Izuku made to sprint into the hall, but stopped.
There, leaning on the counter, Bombshell was eyeing him. Gone was the jacket hiding her form, her belt and shirt pockets open to reveal a multitude of guns. But that wasn't what scared Izuku. He'd dealt with the most well-armed of villains in the past, some sporting tanks and others shooting missiles. No. What scared him was the amused gleam in her eye.
"I'll tell you something interesting, Quirkless." The woman, despite being bloodied in several places, seemed ready to pounce at his first movement. "Your little friend outside may have helped in ridding the building of most of my hair. But she missed a few. I can't blame her, they are my last resort after all."
Izuku froze.
Bombshell giggled. "You're just as smart as I heard! That's right. I'd say in oh, about another two minutes, I'll be set to blow them all up at once. That means this building will go WOOOOSH and SPLAT!" She imitated the sounds with an almost childish tint to her voice. It was such a contrast to how she was in battle, it sent a chill down the hero's spine.
"So, how about it? Would you like to risk these two minutes and see if you can knock me out? With sedatives, it would be easy to make sure I'm unconscious for the next twenty-four hours." She licked her lips, guns at ready. "Oh, I suppose you can't do that. There's no way the combined efforts of the police could find all the crying Easter eggs I hid in this building in that short amount of time. At least, not without your super speed helping them." Making a show of checking her watch, she grinned. "Tick tock, make your choice."
And, and Izuku was stuck.
…Win, or save?
The options swirled in his head in what seemed like hours but was in reality, only a few seconds. Without a second thought, he powered up One For All and ran out of the room.
Leaving behind an amused woman, ducking under cover in preparation for her escape.
"That fool."
Out in the main hallway, the police were swarming in an organized mess, all splitting off into random directions to search for any more hostages. The booming voice of Tsukauchi over the public announcement system informed anyone who was still hidden to make as much noise as they could so that they would be discovered. Clanging desks, horrified shrieks, and banging doors polluted the building but made for efficient signals. Izuku himself was in the fray, collecting bodies in his right arm as the police passed them off to him and escaping the building in the blink of an eye. He repeated the process several times, a looming terror building up in his throat as time trickled down.
His fears, luckily, were unfounded. Tsukauchi, keeping time and counting down on the speaker, only reached ten before everyone was evacuated from the building. They proceeded to relocate bystanders in preparation for the inevitable explosion that would destroy the company. But, the employees were safe and that was all that mattered.
Meeting up with Earphone Jack who confirmed that no more hostages were in the building, Izuku sighed in relief. "Kyouka-san, thank you so much."
But the woman was frozen, earbud still inserted in the brick and eyes blown wide.
That made Izuku's smile drop. "What's wrong?"
"I-Izuku, when I heard what Bombshell told you, I assumed that I missed a few ticks due to the heartbeats of the hostages blocking them out." She searched one more time before giving up, retracting her ear.A slow realization was setting in. "But I still don't hear anything-"
A loud boom.
Both heroes' heads shot up to a horrifying sight. One of the hostages, a mother carrying her boy by the hand, exploded into bright light on the spot. Those surrounding her were blown back, one man hitting a parked car and setting off the alarm. But the beeps weren't what drew everyone's attention. It was the mother's upper half, completely gone as her body from the waist up squirted out a fountain of blood.
Green eyes raked over the scene.
Izuku felt bile rising in his throat.
No way.
The child, having landed a few feet down the road, slowly looked up in abject confusion. "Mommy?"
Another boom.
This time, neither hero had to look to realize what was happening. Another hostage, he couldn't stomach to figure out who it was, blew up in a rain of carnage. The screams were instant, hostages scattering in fear of their own life of who had a hair tangled into their clothes or body next. Distrust permeating in the air, friends rushed to push other friends away as parents left their children on the sidewalk to protect them. Police ran about in forceful commands but were quickly trampled over in panic.
And Izuku, the symbol of hope meant to bring light to those who have lost all meaning in believing, couldn't do anything about it. He watched, only watched as inevitably, another three victims were made known amidst the chaos. Shouts of police being commanded to apprehend Bombshell before another ten minutes passed were made as citizens were pushed towardshoses and fire hydrants to deactivate the bombs.
All of it was white noise. Even as the hero was rushed to the hospital by Jirou to relocate his arm and patch up scratches, Izuku could only replay the scene of horrified citizens overcome by despair. Even as their distress was replaced with the beeps of a machine inserted in his wrist, he could only hear their screams when he closed his eyes. Even when, hours later, he was discharged and taking the subway back home with his hero costume in a dirty bag, there was nothing but the wretched pain of a jackhammer being aimed at his heart.
And, strangely enough, one question echoed past everything.
What would Kacchan have done?
If Kacchan were there, if he were the one with One For All and in Izuku's shoes, he wouldn't have run off like that. Kacchan would've stayed and fought, at least enough to apprehend her. Just like he did at Izuku's wedding to save Kirishima and Ashido. Just like he did in Atsuko's parents' wedding when everyone shunned him as a barbaric animal, he stayed just to prove them wrong. No- if Kacchan were there, not as the one with One For All and in Izuku's shoes, but beside him…
Izuku was no symbol of hope, not on his own.
With this new revelation in his head weighted down by the heaviness of his heart at not saving anyone, Izuku limped to his penthouse in lagging steps. He took the elevator up over twenty floors, the relaxing music doing nothing to sooth his worries. It was now close to 6am, the hallways peacefully quiet. He walked past the pool in the garden, the jacuzzi sitting peacefully empty before reaching the stain glass door leading up to his home. Scarred fingers went to twist the key into the lock.
As soon as the door swung open, a chorus of 'SURPRISE' assaulted his ears.
Izuku, in shock despite his earlier depression, nearly tripped over the umbrella in the entryway.
There, newly jumping out of underneath tables and closets, stood the entire old class of 1-A, 1-B, his mother, and All Might. They were smiling up at him, faces bright with streamers that he hadn't noticed when he passed his windows hanging from the ceiling in rainbow colours. A surprise engagement party was the last thing the green-haired hero expected to run into. At the corner stood a cake with the words 'congratulations on your marriage,' long melted among various other cooked foods that had gone cold.
How…how long were they waiting for him to return home?
Being the first to notice his appearance and demeanor, Uraraka stepped up to him with concern lacing her brow. "Izuku-kun…?" He looked at her, green eyes distance. She seemed to understand right away. This was a conversation they had often; a topic which came up whenever he was unable to save someone. Whenever someone had to die. A comforting smile cracked onto rosy cheeks. "Rain check?"
"I…" he snapped his mouth shut, looking around at the expectant faces of his friends and family. The only one who was missing was Jirou, the girl most likely having to leave to report to the police about what happened. She most likely hadn't had a chance to tell anyone about his complete failure. With a new smile born on his face, Izuku shook his head. "No, I would love to have this party." He beamed brightly at the others in the room. "Thank you!"
At his approval, the room erupted into cheers once more. Iida, who had a party blower from the very beginning, blew into it with spastic gestures of his arms. Tokoyami was in a dark corner but didn't hesitate to lift up a bottle of soda with a nod. Monoma was another story, purposely standing in the middle of the room and making controversial topics about Izuku making him wait, only to be punched into the ground by Kendo. Izuku joined his friends in genuine relief, glad for the distraction when a large hand came in to ruffle his hair.
"Nope, haven't grown since I last saw you!"
Izuku gaped. There, in a short tie and a patterned suit, stood a shrinking man with crinkles in his eyes and a familiar chocolate-coloured cane. "M-Mister Natsume? I-… thank you for coming!" The hero went to bow repeatedly, own injuries forgotten.
"Oh, come now. That's not needed." The man laughed, hurrying to straighten the green mess up. His chuckle faded to a small simper. "I'm afraid I'm the only one who showed."
So everyone from Atsuko's side of the family was invited as well. Izuku knew his friends wouldn't be so bitter as to throw an engagement party without including them as well. But the idea of none of them accepting the offer except this very man in front of him didn't come as a surprise. "I see."
Mister Natsume snorted. "Ah, who needs them? Sit by the couch and relax. We all have tons of gifts and you aren't rejecting any of them out of courtesy, you hear me?" He made a point to poke at the ex-symbol's stomach with his cane, causing the victim to laugh as his friends joined in on ushering him to the pile of wrapped boxes in the living room.
The presents were honestly, amazingly overwhelming for Izuku. Being the symbol of hope once upon a time, he would receive gifts like this all the time while at the hospital. They were piled high, a multitude of expensive knick-knacks next to the best-bred flowers and expensive candy. It was ironic then, that it was these gifts, the hand-made or carefully picked ones that were meant for Izuku Midoriya and not Quirkless, that made him want to cry.
His mother had predictably packed house supplies in her present, you could never have too many. However, the thing about them that had Izuku quirk his mouth and All Might flush in flattery was that most of them had the symbol of peace himself etched on them with motivational 'I AM HERE' fonts. Asui had been really thoughtful, her gift being the largest and housing a big aquarium tank complete with a few coral reef decorations. It was to decorate his new home with Atsuko, she stated. When it came down to Aoyama's turn, Izuku was not too affected to rip open his gift just to see an empty plastic cylindrical container covered with glitter.
"…What is it?" Surprisingly, it was the ever-silent Kouda who had the gall to ask.
"Anything you want it to be!" Sparkle.
Mineta had gotten him a year's subscription to married life magazine. It seemed a little too normal and thoughtful for his tastes, until Asui managed to drag it out of him that it contained an erotic section on page forty-seven. Izuku made a note to kindly leave it in the garbage later where it would be 'safe.' The old class 1-B didn't lag behind either, Shiozaki sporting an impressively blooming cactus for him to take care of while Kendo passed along practical tools like pillow cases and curtains with matching colours.
Izuku beamed at her, starry-eyed. "You're just like a big sister, Kendo-san!"
She blushed, happily nodding.
A couple dozens of gifts later, and Izuku was overflowing with feelings of gratitude for having such an amazing group of family and friends. It made him forget. Forget the screams of the citizens as they ran for their lives. Forget the looks of disdain that the police shot him now that he wasn't helping them raise their reputation anymore. Forget the sinking feeling he got in his stomach as the context of what these gifts were for began to dawn on him. As everyone dispersed into the patio outside to begin setting out plates, he forgot a lot of things.
But, no. Izuku shook his head. It would be easy to forget, but he wasn't going to.
Just as he stood up to follow everyone else out, a hand landed on his shoulder, making the jumpy man turn around in bewilderment. There stood All Might- Toshinori. It took another second of looking at his expectant gaze to finally notice that there was a small gift bag being held out to him.
Green eyes shot down to it in confusion. "All Might, you already gave me something."
The retired hero successfully pushed the bag into his protégé's bruised arms. "I know, that gift is for Young Bakugou. You told me that he sported an impressive collection of DVDs at his home, didn't you? I still had some unopened signed merchandise from that series that I thought would be better use with him. I even found a new dog collar that his puppy would like."
Izuku couldn't help it, a small puff of laughter escaped. "Yes. Both angry blonds would like this." Finally accepting the bag, peering down at the wrapping paper resembling colours of All Might's old costume, he relaxed. "Thank you."
"It's no problem, my boy. Perhaps this will convince Young Bakugou to give us a chance, huh?" There was a double-meaning behind that question. Usually this type of teasing about his crush would be enough to set the hero's face ablaze. But today, today Izuku only felt the burning touch of gratitude. He took a breath, pausing.
"Not that. I mean…" he looked up at his mentor again, "thank you for looking after me all this time. I'm…" Memories of nasty break-ups, hesitant feelings, and broken hearts all leading back to the comforting words of his idol flashed through his head briefly. Mixed in all of that was a blond girl with butterfly knives an extension of her being. Manipulative but sweet coos accompanied by a crazed lovely glance his way sent the bile rising back to his throat. "I'm sorry for wavering so much up until now."
Toshinori faltered, his grin lowering at the guilty sheen of emotion emerging past wet tear ducts. But unlike before, there was a strength hidden behind those eyes that wasn't there a month ago. Seeing this, he chuckled. "Young Midoriya, you've done more than I could ever hope for." Briefly landing a palm against Izuku's bruised arm, he continued. "Good luck on your surgery. I'll be cheering for you!"
Izuku nodded, the spark set into a flame.
He knew what he had to do.
The mentor and student went to join everyone else at the patio. By now, the dishes were laid out in neat arrangements. The familiar scent of his mother's cooking became the new smell dominating the garden as the party went to watch the sunrise with a sense of peace. Mouths watering, a few of the students went to dig in before having their hands smacked away by an irritated Iida.
"First!" He announced, voice booming. "Speeches! We must give our well-wishes to the groom before we can eat!"
"Aw," Mineta looked at the fried chicken in disappointment.
"NO COMPLAINTS!"
Mister Natsume erupted into chuckles, his amusement over this band of friends never failing to get a laugh out of him. He raised his glass filled with lemon tea. "Well then, I suppose I should go first. I'm quite good at speeches."
"We know," everyone at the table groaned.
"I'll make it short this time, I promise!" His eyes scrunched seriously. Before moving on, he made a gesture of moving his raised glass towards the spot Izuku was sitting as if in an offering. "What can I say? You're like another son to me, Izuku-kun. Ever since you and Atsuko were just toddlers in my backyard and getting into mischief, that's been true. I don't believe that will ever change."
At this, the ex-symbol shook his head furiously. "Thank you, again, for coming. It's nice to know that not everyone um…" He censored himself by looking to his friends very quickly. "You know."
It seemed that Mister Natsume understood though, smiling. "I can't bring myself to hate the man who's giving Atsuko the world. Let my cranky dad or nephew talk bad about you all they want. If you weren't there for her ten years ago… I don't want to picture what would've happened to her."
This was it.
Izuku swallowed as the table burst into applause for the older man's blessings. No one noticed his discomfort, moving on to the next person in the table which happened to be an excited Uraraka.
Before she could open her mouth however, Izuku stood up. "Can I…" Scarred fingers went to reach for his sleeve to fidget with but stopped. He shook himself out of it. Dislodging his anxiety, he looked everyone staring at him in the eye. This is what Kacchan would do. "I want to speak next, if that's all right."
The guests quieted down, his best friend of over a decade giving him a thumb up. "Of course, Izuku-kun!"
Izuku nodded, watching Uraraka sit down and all attention turn back to him in anticipation. He took a deep breath, held it for the briefest of moments, before letting it out. That still didn't help to cease his natural aversion to public speaking though. "Um, wow. I'm a little speechless here."
"Relax," Hagakure chirped. "It's just us."
"I'll do my best- to relax, I mean." Everyone laughs at this utter Izuku-like statement, even Todoroki chuckling a little under his breath. The commotion cut off into stunned silence when Izuku suddenly made a one-eighty, losing all nervousness. He eyed all of them once again, sincere but unshakeable. "Really, everyone. I can't express how many 'thank you's wouldn't even begin to cover what you guys have done for me. I know I haven't been… the easiest to be around these past couple of years, but here all of you are with me at this table right now to celebrate my happiness. You are my closest friends. I can't imagine life without any of you."
Feeling like he spoke all of that in one breath, he took a new one. "Which is why you deserve the full truth."
"Atsuko Natsume is her name. We first met when we were three years old. As Mister Natsume probably hinted at, we were attached at the hip since the very beginning, doing everything together." Lifting up a shaky hand to grip at his spoon, he squeezed it as a balance point for his rushing panic. Nerve relaxed, he continued. "Until one day when we were seven, it was raining. I begged my mom to take me to the library because Atsuko forgot her umbrella and her parents were too busy to drive her you may have known, I was bullied a lot as a kid because my quirk presented so late and I was labelled as quirk less."
"One of the bullies recognized me as we passed the park. Normally, that would've been fine. I would've let them say whatever they wanted, but then they turned their attention to my mom." Inko seemed to take a sharper breath at this, recognizing the tale. Izuku sent her an apologetic look but otherwise didn't answer her pleas to discontinue for his own sake. "They called her a useless widow, for not even being able to give me a quirk. Something came over me then. I snapped and punched the kid who said that until his nose was broken. No one ever talks about my mom like that. The parent, who came back after buying drinks, saw the scene and called child services on me."
"The case was cleared after a day. After all, my mom wasn't doing anything wrong to raise me. But because of the incident, Atsuko was left alone at the library until nightfall." Mister Natsume faced him with rapt attention, eyes wide in shock. He hadn't heard of any of this. "As soon as I was released, I rushed to her house to apologize and explain everything. Do you know what she did?"
Not a single soul at the table expecting this story, no one spoke.
Izuku continued, face neutral. "She told me that instead of worrying about myself all the time, I should've considered her feelings then slammed the door in my face. The next day, when I tried to talk to her again, she left on a two-week trip to Canada. I was scared. I thought I lost my only friend because no one else I knew ever looked at me as anything above trash. When she came back, I cried in relief. I cried so much. She asked me if I learned my lesson, I nodded, then she gave me a kiss on the cheek. That's how we became a couple."
At his voice going silent as indication that the tale was over, hesitant laughs rang out around the table in strained tones. As if they were recalling a funny story about drunk friends after growing up. The only ones who stayed silent were All Might, a contemplative look on his face, and Todoroki, eyes widening the slightest bit.
"That," Izuku gestures to all of them and their masked discomfort, "is what I mean about the full truth. From the very beginning, Atsuko and I gravitated towards each other. For me, it was her beauty and loyalty. For her, it was my kindness. We've grown since then, but that part about us hasn't changed. We love everything about the other without any question."
He looks over to Todoroki then, who upon realizing what Izuku was trying to say, nods. "And for that reason, I'm not marrying her."
Quiet.
Then, suddenly Uraraka shot up from her seat in confused anger. "Izuku, you can't be serious."
"I…I am. I'm not apologizing for this decision, Ochaco-san." Faltering only for half-a-second, the hero found his ground to stand on again.
But she wasn't letting this go. "How- How dare you decide that without Atsuko!"
Not missing a beat, Aoyama piped in. "Well, she's the one who ran off at the first drop of a hat. Did Midoriya even have any obligation to her after that?"
Brown eyes redirect their disbelief towards the other man. "You too, sparkly? Izuku, don't you see? This is your chance at happiness. You can't let this end in disaster."
Tetsutetsu chimed in, his booming voice stating his opinion. "I agree with Uraraka. It's proven that communication and perseverance is key!"
"Yeah. Midoriya, if you both love each other, isn't that enough?"Surprisingly, it was Mineta who joined in with an insightful comment.
Todoroki, a tick to his brow at hearing this, can't hold it in anymore. "No. It's not enough." Flashes of white hair, eyes holding the world's love before corrupting into uncensored hate the next second blinded his vision for a split second. "Don't you think that Izuku knows this relationship better than anyone here and has the best insight on what to do?"
Silently observing the entire time, Tokoyami added his own objective comment. "Perhaps, but they say that when you're a part of the relationship yourself, your feelings may blind you from making proper judgements."
"That sounds like something a little class-A worm would do." Monoma sneered.
Momo, who was seated beside the ex-symbol of hope, gave a concerned glance. "We just don't want to see you hurt again like in high school, Izuku-"
"EVERYONE, BE QUIET!"
At the voice, normally so tender and soft, taking on the sharpest edge that no one would imagine from it, everyone snapped their mouth shut. They all stared, dumbfounded at the source of the yell. Indeed, Inko Midoriya swallowed, a little shocked at her outburst herself. Moving her sight around-the-world once, she caught Izuku's eyes. "…Is this what will make you happy, Izuku?"
Without hesitation, her son nodded. "Yes."
Hearing this, Toshinori brought everyone's attention to him then. "Clearly, not everyone here sees eye to eye, but we cannot deny that young Midoriya will not change his mind. I think we all need some time to let this new information sink in. For those of you against his decision, please leave now so you will not say something you will regret."
With a huff, Uraraka made her departure no secret as she went to gather up her jacket from behind her, slamming down her glass as brutally as anyone had ever thought they would see from her. Mineta and Satou were quick to follow, disappointment apparent in their demeanors. Izuku looked towards his other two close friends, Iida and Asui, as they hesitantly gave the empty seat where Uraraka once was worried glances.
Eyes softening, he gestured towards the door. "Tenya, Tsuyu, it's okay."
Iida made to leave his own chair, bowing in apology to chase after the frazzled girl. Asui wasn't as lacking in composure, giving Izuku a 'have a nice morning' before leaving. Soon enough, everyone was gone except for Todoroki, Aoyama, Momo, Shinsou, All Might, and Inko, the party of around forty guests diminishing to six in the blink of an eye.
Shoulders slouched, Izuku feels like crying. "That was a disaster."
"I've seen worse."
And okay, no one can really blame the poor hero for almost getting a panic attack right there. He whirled on where the voice came from, not noticing that its occupant had yet to leave. "M-M-Mis-Mister Natsume?! You're…"
"Not dead yet, kid." The man jokes, cane resting against his lap.
Izuku gulped. "I…I'm not going back on my decision. I know you must hate me. Atsuko is a beautiful and strong person, but I can't be the person she needs."
Unexpectedly though, instead of raising any protest, the older man only shakes his head. "Not going to lie, I was surprised when I heard the story of how you two came to be. You know, ten years ago, I thought I was living the dream. I had both a lovely wife and daughter, I was getting ready to celebrate 20 years of marriage, my hero career was finally taking off, and I was surrounded by tons of friends who stuck around this old coot for who he is. Kind of like what your friends are to you."
"Not anymore." Todoroki speaks then, voice bitter and not noticing the worried look Momo gives him.
"But with what happened, I had eternity to think." The chocolate-like cane was raised to knock into his head a few times. "A lot of those friends suddenly dropped off the face of the earth because my much-higher ranking wife was gone from the equation. I lost sponsorships. My daughter stopped talking to me completely. Before I knew it, all I had left was my hero career and a nice can of beer."
Looking at Izuku with a wrinkled smile, Mister Natsume says his next sentence with as much sincerity as he feels. "Don't end up like me, boy. I wouldn't wish that on you and especially not on Atsuko."
Izuku, feeling tears growing at the ends of his eyes, replies back with equal sincerity. His voice is wet, but posture strong. "You're a good father, Mister Natsume. You're a good hero too."
"If you say so, it must be true!" He breaks out into laughter then, the acceptance radiating from him relaxing the rest who've grown stiff at the table in an instant. If Atsuko's own father could come to understand Izuku's choice, then the others would as well. Seeing the older man wiping tears from his eyes, Izuku pretends that they aren't tears of sadness, that they are actually tears from laughing too hard. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I promised a local orphanage that I'd make a surprise appearance."
Making to leave on his cane, the ex-symbol of hope was quick to bound to his feet and help the man across the lawn. He collected Mister Natsume's things in his arms, helping him cross over the larger steps back into the penthouse before the two of them are taking the elevator to the first floor and staring out at the road. "I'll drive you home."
"Nonsense," the older man waves Izuku's offer off. "You've had a stressful day, Izuku-kun. Relax a bit. I already booked a taxi here, they should be driving up any minute."
Sure enough, not even five minutes later, the familiar checkered pattern of the city taxi entered the circular pick-up zone of the building. Double-checking the license plate, the man makes to accept his bags from Izuku before opening the passenger door.
Just before getting in, he turns to him with a mischievous spark. "You've met someone, haven't you?"
"I… huh?" Freckled cheeks flushed red.
An amused laugh escaped him. "I know the look of young infatuation anywhere, boy. How long do you think I've been alive?"
To his surprise however, instead of devolving into a muttering mess, instead of becoming flustered, Izuku's posture straightened, tone absolute in his voice. "It's not infatuation."
At hearing this, Mister Natsume can only shake his head with a fond smile. That, that right there, was the side of Izuku that he wished Atsuko could've brought out. Without another word other than a pleasant goodbye, he practically tumbled into the car and was driven off to the sight of the ex-symbol waving at him from the distance.
As soon as the vehicle was naught but a dot in the distance, a difficult kind of numbness overtook Izuku. It permeated, the worst of the impact over but heart still hurting from its after effects. Taking that feeling with him back to the ride up, to the mindless activity of unlocking his penthouse, Izuku shut the door gently.
Not being able to stop it if he wanted to, shaky eyes gravitate towards the pile of gifts and balloons pushed into the entryway. The guilt, the disappointment that he's been chucking at his friends like an asshole all hit him at once then. He should feel horrible. He does, but it doesn't prevent the lightness that came like a weight had been lifted off of his against the front door, he slid down, limbs jelly. In a daze, he wipes open his phone to a familiar page.
'we need a new baker'
'maybe cancel the water show'
'Deku, what did you do?'
'i grew some balls'
Trusting Katsuki to understand the sentiment behind the sentence, Izuku silenced his phone. He didn't want to hear the growing nothingness of more than half of his friends refusing to contact him for the next few days. It was much better to just silence the device and pretend that was the reason why. Curling into himself, Izuku released ten years-worth of emotion into his pantleg.
Inko Midoriya is the one who found him then, a small ball of sadness and relief. "Oh, Izuku." She fell to her knees beside him, arms wrapped around her baby in an instant.
"Mom." He croaked out.
"It's okay." She tightened her hug, her own regrets for not objecting to this marriage, this whole relationship, sooner rising to the surface. "I'm so proud of you."
It was a freeing moment for both of them, one broken by a certain sparkly man sliding in from the kitchen with a confident gleam. "Don't mope, Midoriya! Shinsou is setting up some old reruns of your favourite All Might cartoon, Yaomomo is making some hot tea, and we still haven't eaten your mother's lovely meal."
"Now look me in the goddamn eye and tell the truth, Deku. Where do you want to sit?"
"At home. I want to sit at home, with hot tea, watching reruns of my favourite All Might cartoon, and eating my mom's cooking."
And Izuku, after crying his eyes out, after feeling the crushing despair at his own failure, laughed at the coincidence of the entire turn of events. He laughed for a reason completely unfathomable to anyone else in the world but a certain red-eyed blond who, if he was here, would roll his eyes and call him an idiot. His reaction had Aoyama and Inko sending each other befuddled glances before accepting it. Anything to raise the freckled hero's spirits was good in their books.
The rest of their small group doesn't waste time in settling on the black couches. Todoroki makes himself a seat in the back with Momo on one side of him and Izuku on the other. All Might, insisting that he doesn't want people to see his dark acting past, slithered up next to his student on a separate chair to avoid attention. Inko is near the front with Aoyama, enraptured by nostalgia of when Izuku would dress up as a tiny All Might and run around the house, sharing stories that had the now grown man squeaking in protest to the laughs of everyone else.
About an hour later, a doorbell interrupts them in the middle of passing along meals in their lap. Izuku excuses himself, going to answer the ring just to freeze in shock as a sheepish Iida and Asui make themselves known. The two apologized immediately for leaving. Not that they needed to, Izuku forgave them right away.
"And Ochaco-san… is she…?" He risked a jump.
To his disappointment, they both shake their heads. Izuku pretends it doesn't affect him, and invites them both inside to join in on their marathon instead. Asui made a comment about this being much better than the romance film they had scheduled, Iida blushing red and agreeing with his gestures.
About thirty episodes into their one-hundred-episode marathon, everyone starts settling into their seats. Inko is the first one to knock out, her insistence on staying up like she could back when Izuku was three causing her son to bring her to his bed, insisting that she rest. All Might takes the couch that she was in, dozing off himself soon after. Momo, Shinsou, and Aoyama were quick to follow, their own sleepiness from helping to plan the surprise engagement party finally catching up to them.
Soon enough, it is only Izuku, Todoroki, Iida, and Asui who are still awake, watching the symbol of peace as he went in for a rematch with one of his seventeen arch nemeses. The latter two both volunteered to gather blankets from the closet so they could wrap their friends up. Waking up with a sore back was awful. They ventured to the second floor, leaving Izuku and Todoroki alone to enjoy the cartoon.
Todoroki broke the backdrop of their snoring friends. "Iida tried contacting Natsume-san the other day."
The ex-symbol, now ex-groom, didn't look at him as he spoke. "Ah, did he? How was she?"
"He wanted to invite her to the party since it's her wedding. She hung up as soon as it was brought up though. The others have all agreed not to mention it to you."
He hummed. "Breaking oaths now, Shouto-kun? That seems unlike you."
"Izuku."
The addressed smiled. "Right, I know. If any of this means anything to her, which I know it does, she'll come back. We just have to be patient."
The hot-and-cold hero looked at him funny.
"What's wrong?"
The strain on his face morphed into the smallest smile, easy to miss to anyone who didn't know him very well. "Nothing. You've just seemed more sure of yourself lately."
Gathering the dirty plates into one pile, Izuku smiled back, knowingly. "Talking to Kacchan all the time does that to a person."
