Heeeey! Look who is late.

I'm sorry. But let's get this one over with, I had some trouble with it and I might come back to change it a bit.

But enjoy!

Two days after what became the USJ incident, Izuku got out of bed at the crack of dawn.

She woke up earlier from some birds hitting her balcony and Denki's sobs after Tomura disintegrated him.

And when she tried to go back to sleep, she had tossed and turned, unsuccessfully.

She hadn't had much sleep yesterday, and today didn't seem any better.

Izuku hadn't gone out the day before because of that, Ochaco or Mina had come by to bring her something to eat, but no more human contact as Chiyo had been asked to stay the day at the hospital, meaning the teenager still had the bandages on her arm.

A couple of tosses and turns later, she understood rest wouldn't come to her anymore, so she decided to take a bath.

Careful with her bandaged arm, she cleaned herself until all sweat was gone. She pulled her green dress over her white undershirt on then thick socks plus her red boots, her cloak over it all and made her way to Chiyo's office.

She wasn't used to this cold. Back home, the temperature was rarely low enough, so it snowed. And as she walked around and saw the people with clothes as there hadn't been snow covering their roof three days before, she just tightened her cloak around herself a bit more.

When she arrived at the door, the old woman was just opening up.

"Went to see how Eraserhead and Thirteen are doing at the main hospital," she had said, knowing very well the girl's curiosity as she had rushed her inside, and before Izuku could ask for more details, she continued, "Thirteen should be discharged tomorrow, Eraserhead in a couple of days."

But the look in her eyes seemed to know something Izuku didn't.

It just made the girl fearful.

After that, things went quite fast.

Chiyo told her to put her cloak on the hanger, pull her sleeve up and sit on the cot, then with her supplies set on the table beside the bed, she kissed the girl on the forehead.

Izuku had slumped a bit, still tired from her restless nights, but didn't fall over.

The old woman freed her arm from the white cloth, cleaning it to make sure the skin was completely healed.

It was, a small scar on her elbow's sensitive skin was the only thing left.

And with a clipped expression, Chiyo had sent her away.

That was never good.

The walk back had been a daze, and when her door was closed again, she quickly shut the curtains she had left open and sunk back into bed, hoping that the exhaustion would take her away from reality, but still stay clear from the nightmares.

Izuku thought she was on a roll because the moment consciousness took over, she found herself in the cage again.

This time, however, Tomura was in front of her, both on their knees, no bodies in sight.

Which, what a relief!

"You know," he said as he toyed with the hand on his face. "We will stand by each other in battle one day, and we will trust each other with our lives as we take down those who want to control us."

His voice was small, in a tone Izuku had never heard before, and she sincerely didn't know if it was worse or better.

"Why are you saying that?" She asked, trying to untangle herself from the chains that have been keeping her locked in there. And maybe get away from the pool of blood and the psycho.

"Because it's true."

"I will never fight beside you. You hurt my teach|r, nearly killed me." She shook her head, her short hair hitting her in the face as blood smeared all over her cheeks.

How did it get on her hair?

Before she could come up with an explanation, he spoke again.

"You will." He looked up at her, his crimson eyes twinkling with unadulterated glee. "You will even ask me to."

And as he spoke those words, four of his fingers closed over the golden end of his Hand-Mask. And, to Izuku's surprise and horror, he pulled it away from his face.

But before she could see it, booming knocks echoed through her stone-walled room, bringing her back to reality.

Izuku immediately sat straighter on her bed, panting as her eyes looked around to make sure that Tomura wasn't here with her.

Why had she dreamed of that?

Had her mind made that all up? No, that wasn't even a question, of course, it had, but she had never heard such a calm and collected tone coming from Tomura.

Not that she knew him for that long.

Not understanding anything, Izuku folded back into herself over the covers, trying to block the unrelenting sounds and fall back asleep. But apparently whoever was on the other side had different plans.

With a grumble, Izuku forced herself away from the comfort of her sheets, fingers trying to free her eyes from the sleepiness and from those eerie crimson orbs that still danced around her mind.

When she opened the door, it was a sight to behold on both sides.

Mina, Ochaco and Toru were the ones that had been banging at her door, the two visible ones with big excited smiles. Kyoka, with a strained look on her face, had one of her hands on Mina's wrist, the other on Toru's shoulder, her daggered earlobes wrapped around Ochaco's waist, pulling the three girls away from the door.

Momo and Tsuyu were on both sides of Kyoka, hands raised in an attempt to calm them down.

But as the door was pulled open, all six girls froze, words dying on their tongues, hands raised over their heads ready to knock again, eyes bulging at the sight of the mess that Izuku was.

Wrinkled, messy, sleepy, and maybe a bit sweaty really didn't give anyone the idea that she was okay.

"Wow, you look worse than yesterday," Mina said, surprised.

Izuku didn't give the pink girl an answer, just went back inside her room to flop on her comfy bed. "What are you guys doing here?"

"You asked us to accompany you yesterday to replenish your wardrobe, but as you were quite tired we decided to postpone it, aren't you well enough yet?" Momo explained, following her inside the room.

The three that had been hitting her door without a second thought seemed to catch on to the words. Guilt, then, washing over their faces.

But the greenette wasn't really paying attention.

Yeah, she had asked for their help, and Izuku was grateful that they gave her a whole day to replenish her energy, that hadn't been because of those nightmares, but did this have to happen so early?

"What time is it?" Izuku asked as she looked at the curtains she had closed when she arrived earlier.

"Nearly twelve," Ochaco answered as she opened Izuku's closet and Tsuyu opened the curtains, letting the sun drench the room.

"Already?" Izuku was standing in a second, all traces of slumber ripped from her body.

Her sleeping cycle had been thrown out the window a long time ago, and apparently, she was getting it back any time soon.

"Yeah, so… are we going?" Toru asked, her clothes jumping in front of Izuku, then the greenette's clothes were pulled straighter, the invisible one taking care of her messy appearance.

All five other pairs of eyes landed on her, Hope gleaming on them.

Izuku sighed but nodded with a small smile, indulging her friends' desires.

Maybe it would get her head out of the nightmares.

After that, Mina grabbed one of her hands, Toru took the other, while Kyoka pushed her out the door.

It was decided, this was one of the worst ideas Izuku Midoriya ever had. She had made so many of those, she was sincerely impressed.

But soon enough, meaning, after a bag of food was handed to her by 'Mama' Ochaco, Izuku relaxed, letting herself enjoy her friends' excitement.

The teenager sincerely didn't know where she would be without Ochaco being there to save her ass.

"So… what do you intend to buy?" Momo asked with a small smile and a cock of her head.

"Uhm… I have to get more tunics and leggings, and maybe a couple of vests. And I was hoping we could find some kind of special gear for my quirk," Izuku listed, but then it hit her, she might not have enough money.

She pried her hands from the girls' tight grips and ruffled around the bag Ochaco had given her, taking her bag of coins out.

She quickly counted and deflated a bit.

"I might not have enough to buy the gear though."

Ever since Izuku got to Yuuei, she didn't need to buy anything. The food, room and training were all given, 'the desire to save people should not be thwarted by the likes of money, my girl!' the King had said once, so they were only expected to keep the place clean, and make due with what was offered.

But the money her mother gave her when she left had dwindled a bit, as she had to buy more supplies on her way here.

"Yes, you won't be able to do much with that small amount," Momo agreed, but her smile only grew. "I would be glad to buy it for you!"

Izuku choked on her own spit. "I can't accept it, Yaoyorozu-san, it's too much! I will just have to make sure what I'm buying is essential."

"Oh it's nothing really, and call me Yaomomo."

"Believe it, Midoriya," Kyoka cut through her new wave of excuses. "Yaomomo is so rich she doesn't know where to put the money."

With a sigh, Izuku didn't argue anymore, but she was mentally going to count how much she got, not wanting to abuse her friend's goodwill.

Or she might just buy it herself anyway.

"You are the princess from Carmeda, that's why you are rich, right Yaomomo?" Ochaco asked, which the black-haired girl nodded as they walked down the stairs.

"I heard stories from travellers that Carmeda is the richest Kingdom in Creslia, well… at least ever since Mitra fell, and that it's full of merchants and innovations!" Mina said with a cheer and zero tact.

"Yes, it is true, but I'd rather be the princess of the second richest Kingdom if what I heard about Mitra is correct."

Momo Yaoyorozu was a clever girl, Izuku had to give to her.

Izuku felt their stares as they walked outside, burning hotter than the sun. She knew it would come up at some point, but not this soon.

"Is it true, Izuchan? Are you the daughter of the Nameless King from the stories?" Tsuyu straight out asked.

Izuku let the morning sunlight hit her face for an instant before answering. "I am."

"So is your mom, like, The Lost Princess?" Toru inquired.

"Yeah, but I only discovered it a month ago. Mom hated talking about her past."

"Understandable." Kyoka nodded.

"The stories did say that she was taken away, but I was so sure she, you know, lived happily ever after with the Knight," Ochaco admitted with pinkening cheeks.

Izuku smiled at that. "Yeah, me too." The smile fell a bit. "She told me she was scared all the time. For her family. For Mitra. For herself. For me. Until his Majesty came and saved her."

"Wait!" Pink hands stopped Izuku's motion. "'His Majesty'? As if in, his Majesty, King Yagi?"

Izuku's green eyes jumped around their shocked faces, then she slowly nodded, brows furrowed.

"Oh my- I knew there was something more when he mentioned your mom!" O back exclaimed with a sudden jump.

It took an instant for Izuku to understand, but when she did, her face split in a conspiratorial smile as the memory of the sweet look on Toshinori's face when they met. "Right?"

All girls chuckled at that.

"Well," Momo said when they fell silent, "when his Majesty told us about it, I thought about how brave it was of you to want to fight your father. So, if you need us, just ask, yes?" Momo took the hand Toru had been holding and squeezed.

"Hell yeah, we are helping! Won't be letting a sister go down without backup!" Mina pressed against her side.

Izuku's eyes pooled a bit, but nodded, not trusting her voice to express her happiness.

"But, like, does your mom still have something from back then?" Toru asked, her dress swooshing around to indicate she was walking backwards.

"The sword I have is the one she stole when fleeing, and she still has the jewellery that she escaped with and all, it's in my room."

"You have her jewellery?!"

And after that, it was one question after the other about it. Even though Izuku didn't know what they were talking about half of the time.

It went on until they arrived at the market in the centre of the town.

"We totally have to get you things that match with the jewels!" Mina said with an unhinged look in her eyes that made Izuku fear for her friend's sanity.

"Sure…"

The pink girl's expression came back to normal as the rest of the girls looked around, carefully picking up the clothes. Ochaco had told them about what she found in her wardrobe, and they all came to the consensus that Izuku wouldn't be the one choosing the clothes.

She agreed, she simply didn't have a sense of fashion, but Izuku did expect them to ask her if she would at least use them.

"Izuchan?" Mina asked in a calm tone Izuku didn't know she could use, apparently, today was the day people started changing their voices. "His Majesty's birthday is coming soon, are you going to buy him anything for your exchange?"

Izuku's brain stopped for a second, suddenly asking herself 'what day is it?'

"April the fifteenth," Mina answered, meaning Izuku had asked that out loud.

"Oh, no! I have five days to buy him something, but I don't have any ideas! And he will totally know if I wing it!"

Her fingers tangled in her hair as panic gripped at her mind. Izuku stared around her, trying to find anything that would save her from the fact that she had forgotten her best friend's birthday was coming up.

It had become a tradition for the two childhood friends to give each other their birthday presents on Katsuki's birthday. Eijiro used to too, but he forgot about it half of the time and only got them weird presents, so they had decided to free him from the excruciating task of getting a gift.

And now Izuku was the one who forgot!

Mina stopped her spiralling mind by placing her hands on her shoulders. "Relax, Izuchan, I got you covered."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when you said you wanted to get some gear for your quirk?" The pink girl asked with a cheeky smile, but Izuku only nodded, way too desperate to try to decipher the girl's intentions. "Well, his Majesty was being grumpy about his old braces, saying they were getting lax around his arms or whatever, so when we go buy your gear, you can buy him a new pair!"

Izuku did remember she hadn't seen him wear his braces, which was kind of dangerous with his powerful quirk.

"That's a brilliant idea, Minachan!" Izuku thanked her when the thought clicked, hugging her tightly.

She was saved!

Katsuki was very picky about his things.

They had to be useful and should last long, so buying him anything that could be easily replaced wouldn't do.

"Yeah, yeah I'm amazing, but don't stop yourself from buying anything that makes you remember him!" She pointed out, and Izuku nodded, calmer already.

She would get him the best braces ever, and he wouldn't yell at her!

Well, he would, it is Katsuki Bakugo after all, but he wouldn't be pissed.

"Izuchan! I think we got everything!" Kyoka's voice reached her a couple of minutes later from the other side of the shop they had stopped at.

"Well, here I go!"

It took them three hours for them to decide on which clothes Izuku would be getting, meaning that it took two for Izuku to try on all the clothes while the six others would approve or not, varying from tunics to dresses to leggings and a very uncomfortable corset that Toru had chosen that everyone agreed to not take with them.

Then it took a whole other hour of Momo trying to convince Izuku to let her pay.

In the end, Ochaco made her float then dragged her away from the shop while Momo paid.

After that, she was dragged to the place where they sold gear, and there they met Hagiri Majima, a short man with claws.

"Hello girls, how can I help you?" He greeted them.

This time, the girls let Izuku speak. "Hi, I'm Izuku Midoriya. I'm here because I need some gear to stop or at least help with the drawbacks of my quirk."

The man came closer and motioned with his hand for her to proceed.

"My quirk gives me super strength and speed, but I can't control it very well yet, so it breaks my bones, but I was wondering if you could make some kind of braces for my arms and hands."

Majima stared at her for a long while, pondering her request.

"Aren't you a teenager? Why wouldn't you be able to control your own quirk?!"

That made Izuku immediately blush, and the others giggle. "I'm… a late bloomer," she said, shyly.

"Well." He huffed. "You want a brace glove?" He resumed to which she nodded emphatically. "Okay, I don't have one of those at the moment for you to test, but I could make one up for you, I'll need your measurements and design."

"And what about the price?" She asked, concerned.

He stopped the backwards motion he was making for a second, "I suppose you are in the Hero Course?"

She nodded again, showing him the paper Aizawa had given her, and everyone else, proving she was.

"This will be going on their tab, then."

That made her sigh. Great, at least she wouldn't have to worry about money.

She would have to ask Toshinori how to earn some over here as she didn't intend on exploiting her friend's kindness.

After that, she gave him the measurements he needed, they worked up a design, and her part was done.

"Well, it should be ready next week. It's a pleasure to meet you, girls!" And he started walking away.

"Wait!" Izuku nearly shouted, spooking not only her friends and the man but also the passersby.

"I… actually need something else."

He came back their way, leaning on the stand between them.

"You see, this friend of mine's birthday is coming up, and I want to give him a present, but I didn't know what to give him, but Minachan told me that he was needing some braces, and I was, 'you are a genius', and-" Izuku mumbled, until a pink hand landed on her shoulder, effectively shutting her up.

"Another couple of braces then?"

"Yep," Mina answered for her.

Then they did the same thing for Katsuki's braces: design, measurements, which Mina had painstakingly investigated for Izuku to have them memorised.

At the end, when Majima offered to put it on Yuuei's tab, Izuku had refused, she wanted to buy his gift on her own.

With some of the money she had, she bought the braces, he told her it should be ready Tuesday, one day before Katsuki's birthday, and with that all seven girls walked back to the castle, each holding one bag with Izuku's clothes.

"Do you think he will like it?" Izuku asked in a small voice, suddenly nervous.

Mina gave her one big smile. "Oh, he is gonna love it! You can trust me!"

Izuku sighed, really hoping Mina was right.

When they arrived back at Heights Alliance, they found the boys in the common area joking around.

Well… Eijiro, Denki and Hanta were joking around.

Katsuki was glaring at them fiercely, surprising Izuku that they were even alive.

Shoto was sitting at the kitchen table with a frown on his face and a letter on his hands.

Tenya was waving around for them to calm down.

Yuga was trying to get their attention, shining like a star.

And Minoru had been yelling about where the girls were.

The only ones that seemed to be calm and normal were Mashirao, Mezo and Fumikage who were dealing with the dragons.

Rikido and Koji, who were both in the kitchen preparing something.

And Hitoshi was nowhere to be seen, like most days at this hour. He only woke up when he was hungry.

But when the girls entered the room, Silence fell over the space.

Kyoka, on her usual sassy way, raised one of her eyebrows and asked, "what stupid thing have you been talking about, Kaminari?"

Denki, who had been bowed at the waist, pushing his face into Katsuki's space, straightened in a second, a smug smile on his face. "I feel bad that you assume I said anything! But it's nothing, just a little secret I learned about his Majestic Explosion, right Bakugo?"

If looks could kill, Denki would be seven feet under with the glare that Katsuki directed his way.

"Come on, bro, that ain't manly!" Eijiro tried, fidgety.

In an instant, Izuku understood.

He let something slip.

Typical Eijiro 'Big Mouth' Kirishima.

"It might not be manly, but it sure is funny!" Hanta said.

"What are you guys even talking about?" Izuku asked, picking her bags from the other girls, keeping Minoru at the corner of her eyes as he made his way towards them.

"It's just their moronic talk, Deku," Katsuki spat, getting up and placing his cape back on his shoulders, bumping it hard against Denki's chest, making the other blond to flinch. "Went shoppin' I see, finally decided to get somethin' that ain't ripped at the fuckin' seams?" he remarked, picking the rest of the bag with a huff. "Come on."

And with that, he left towards the stairs.

"What got into him?" Ochaco wondered out loud, but Izuku didn't know.

The greenette shrugged, thanked the girls and quickly followed the explosive blond before he started yelling.

When she got to her hallway, Katsuki was leaning against the wall, his face set in a frown, like most of the time, but this one made her conclude that he was in more profound thought than usual.

She decided not to say anything, just pass the one bag on her right hand to her left, and open her door.

He quietly followed, and both of them placed her bags in front of her wardrobe. She would take care of them later.

Katsuki hanged his cloak, leaving him on his winter tunic then sat at her desk chair as Izuku flopped backwards on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"I sometimes hate those morons," Katsuki admitted with a click of his tongue.

"Oh, only sometimes? I swore you wanted to strangle Eijiro just the other day." The laughter on her voice earned her another click.

"He just doesn't know when to shut up!"

Izuku hummed in agreement.

Everyone who knew Eijiro for long enough knew to not tell him any kind of secrets. He would just spill it without intention.

That conclusion made her worried about her father's issue. It would be problematic if he told someone outside the castle about it.

"How's your arm?"

"Fine, I'm sure that if Shuzenji-san could, she would ban me from the Hero Course, though."

"Anybody would, dumbass. Who can be so much of an idiot to get hurt by their own quirk?" He said after a scoff.

"Kacchan," she said, glancing at his general direction, as he simply hummed. "Your mean side is showing."

"Oh, shut up!"

Izuku giggled at that. It had been some time since they last talked like this.

"But did you want to talk about something, or was I just your scapegoat?" Izuku wondered out-loud.

"Totally a scapegoat, but-" he let out a growl that made her sit up slightly.

Katsuki, who had been hunching over, got up, then plopped beside her on the bed.

They had slept beside each other a million times, had woken up tangled just as many. But for some reason, the way their bodies touched from their shoulders to their knees made her blush.

Izuku's mind started racing, what was he doing? Did he do this on purpose? But why would he?

"Deku!" She startled out of her brain, whipping her head towards him.

'Why was she even thinking about this?' is the real question.

Katsuki was further away now, and if she wasn't still a bit shocked, she might have noticed his own blush.

"Did ya even pay attention to what I said, shitty nerd?"

Izuku bit her lip around the sheepish smile, face red.

The blond huffed. "I fucking said that, at the end of Spring, the old hag is heading up this way, and I bet she will bring Auntie with her."

Izuku sat up straight then hunched over him in her excitement. "Really?"

But without even letting him answer, she jumped out of her bed and started muttering something incomprehensible to Katsuki. Which was a feat all in on itself.

But it wasn't the happiness that was there before.

Her voice was full of fear.

"Hey! Calm the fuck down! Mutterin' for a lifetime ain't gonna do shit!"

"Yeah! But there are so many things that could happen when she arrives!" Izuku exclaimed, her hands flying about.

"'If' she comes," he interjected, now leaning his upper body on his forearms to take in her panicked state easier.

"Oh come on, Kacchan, you know your mom! She wouldn't leave my mom there on her own!"

Izuku's face was set on a frown, worry plastered all over.

His scowl deepened. But the greenette was right.

Mitsuki Bakugo was a super-protective woman.

"And when she comes, where will she stay? Will it be safe? Would my father try something? What would she say about One for All? Would it affect-"

"Izuku!" He cut through her rambling.

"Sorry…" She placed her shaking hands over her face. "It's just… she was s-so sad wh-when she tol-told me ab-about all of this!" She sobbed.

Katsuki had grown a lot, personality-wise, since he first met Izuku, but he still didn't know how to deal with her tears.

Sometimes he would yell at her to stop crying, others he would just stare at her, unknowing what to do.

But he knew he couldn't do any of those, so first Katsuki got up, then with indecisive hands, he carefully touched her arms, and to his shock and confusion, she slammed herself against his chest, now full-on crying.

Speechless like every time it happened, Katsuki let her cry herself out, slowly making circular motions with his right hand as his left one held her close, both of them heating up with his quirk for extra comfort, or at least he hoped.

He really was horrible at this. Not that he would ever admit to being bad at anything to anyone.

Minutes passed, but neither one of them paid it any mind, only letting go of each other when Izuku stopped crying.

"Sorry."

"What are ya apologisin' for? It's not like I've never seen ya cry, nerd."

She simply shrugged, her eyes hidden behind her green locks.

Izuku felt weak for breaking like this in front of him.

However, she'd rather it be Katsuki than anyone else.

But, oh how he didn't let anything slip past him. That made him a great warrior, but it did make it hard for her to keep her easy-to-read emotions from him as he moved her head, so she was facing him.

"Ya haven't slept, have ya?" He asked simply, his face set in a worried frown.

"It's nothing."

"Oh please, Izuku, don't give that bullshit!"

She averted her eyes again before taking in a deep breath.

"I'm having nightmares every time I fall asleep."

"And ya didn't think to say somethin' about it?"

"What can anyone do about it, Kacchan!" Her big green eyes stared at him, hoping for anything that would liberate her from the torment.

"Well, ya could… I don't fuckin' know!"

"See." Izuku took his hands from her arms and walked around him towards her bed to sit.

The blond stared at her exasperated by this pessimistic Izuku that he didn't know.

"If ya gonna act like that, shit ain't gonna get better, nerd," he scolded.

Izuku cocked an eyebrow at him.

Was Katsuki, the boy with the sourest mood she ever had the pleasure (displeasure?) t meet, giving her advice about her rancid temperament?

She quickly glanced outside to make sure the sun was still there.

"Uhm, the old man nags me about opening up or I'll self-explode, or some shit," he explained, one of his hands on his neck.

"Since when do you listen to what Uncle Masaru, or Auntie Mitsuki for that matter, says?"

"Ever since they decided to let me take part in the tribe's meetin's, smartass!"

"But what do you even want me to do!"

He rolled his red eyes at her, then placed her desk chair in front of her and sat down.

"What are the nightmares about?"

When Izuku was ten, she had been running through the woods around Olind, her hometown. It had been a beautiful summer day, and she was really trying to go the day without having anyone call her Quirkless. But when she had reached a clearing that she and the boys used as their secret hideout, she found a faun and its mother.

Their eyes had locked, and the fear in the deer's orbs was so abundant that all Izuku had done at the time was slowly back away.

She supposed she had had that same look two days ago when she first saw Tomura.

And she was pretty sure she had it now too.

"Wh-wha...?"

"You heard me."

She shook her head, hugging herself at the feeling of suddenly being too exposed.

Katsuki must have seen the terror that was purring out of her because he sagged on his chair.

"Fine, don't do it, but ya have to get it the fuck out at some point!"

She nodded, thankful.

Then he put the chair back on its place, took his cloak and headed for the door.

"If ya ain't talking I'll be heading out, I still have to kill those three stooges." He opened the door, then glanced at her and smirked. "Sleep some, and punch whatever appears on its ugly face, 'kay?"

Izuku giggled and nodded as he closed the door behind him.

When she was sure he was gone, her smile fell, the image of Tomura and her on their knees, blood everywhere flashing on her mind.

Yeah, it would take some time for her to get rid of that.

So, what do you guys think? I had half a mind to take that last part out, but then it just felt too little of Katsuki... and I do love my sweet and explosive boy.

But do give me some feedback, those give me life.

Good day everybody!