Once Monday morning came around, Setsuna, Yui, Kinoko and Reiko immediately left once breakfast had been served. Once Izuku, Pony, Itsuka and Ibara sat down to eat, the four quickly sped by, wishing each other quiet good mornings while saying it generally in the direction of the table, trying not to catch anyone's eye, before abruptly opening and closing the door. Once they were all gone, Izuku sagged a bit in his seat, feeling a bit sad at the exit of half the house, but Itsuka was quick to pat his arm, giving him a sympathetic look.
"Just give them some time," she advised him, glancing at the closed door. "They've all got a lot to think about, so it might be a while before they can start trying to become your friend again."
"I know," Izuku sighed, picking up his chopsticks, "and - and I know that it's probably for the better, if they keep their distance for a bit. It's just ... I'm don't like intentionally making people uncomfortable. It - it reminds me of bad memories."
"Bad memories?" Ibara glanced up at him, and Izuku tried to control his blush when she addressed him - the memory of their innocent kiss was still fresh in his mind, and it took every ounce of his willpower to not curl up into a ball and die inside. "Is - are you referring to how you grew up? That was what you told Setsuna - that you had a rough time growing up with teasing."
"Er - yeah. Amongst ... er, amongst other things"
Itsuka frowned a bit, poking at her breakfast while glancing at him. "You still haven't told us about that. Are you? I mean, not right now, obviously, but eventually. You'll tell us more about your past?"
"Er. I, uh ... I dunno." Izuku gulped, and turned back to his breakfast. Now that the emotion of the last few days had kind of calmed down, other than half the house trying to avoid him, he was starting to regret some of the things he said during their talk. Not what they needed to talk about, of course - he knew setting the ground rules of how this was going to go forward was important if they were going to fix the dynamic in the house. No, it was the smaller things, like Izuku confessing his feelings for everyone (which still made him wither inside from the embarrassment), and mentioning to Setsuna a small fragment of his past - which he knew would be another awkward conversation down the line.
"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to," Itsuka told him, giving him a soft smile, patting his arm, "just ... maybe it'll help if we know more about what you went through as a kid? At a later time, obviously - maybe sometime next week? Or the week after?"
"I ..." Izuku sighed, thinking about it. Now that she mentioned it, it would be weird to leave them hanging with such an intriguing topic. He saw Ibara and Pony looking at him with a bit of concern in their eyes, and he caved, knowing that it was pretty much inevitable at this point. "Okay. I - I can tell you guys more about it. But - but later, okay? It's - it's kinda a lot. And - and if I have to tell you guys, I want everyone there to hear it. I think it'll be better if everyone sat down to hear it instead of me talking to someone and them relaying it to everyone else."
"Okay," Itsuka nodded, patting his arm again, "if that's what you want to do, Izuku."
Izuku nodded, happy she understood, and quickly began scooping up his cereal to finish breakfast so they could keep going. Neither of them noticed Ibara and Pony's eyes going wider, looking between the two of them. Itsuka eventually noticed Pony's confused expression, however, and glanced up from her black coffee, confused. Izuku also glanced up, and wrinkled his brow when he saw two stares of confusion being aimed at them.
"Uh ... what's up?"
"Since when are you two on first name basis?" Ibara asked.
Izuku choked on his cereal, realizing what they slipped up on. Itsuka had a better time controlling herself, not choking on her coffee (thank god too or that would've hurt) but her cheeks went bright red, staring at the two of them with a look of surprise on her face. Neither of them had noticed Itsuka's slip up, and now they were subjected to Ibara's surprise and Pony's eyes narrowing at the pair of them, a dangerous pout on her lips.
"W-well, we got to talking and - uh -" Itsuka patted Izuku's back while he tried to recover from choking, trying to come up with an excuse while her cheeks went redder and redder, feeling more than a little endangered under Pony's judging glare, "we, uh - I thought how weird it was that - that we call each other by our first names and - and he's just "Midoriya', and I, uh -" it was truly a sight to see, the normally coolheaded Itsuka going steadily redder and redder as she tried to get an explanation out, "We, uh - uh -"
"Oh! The time!" Ibara gasped after glancing at the clock on the wall, standing up and managing to stop Itsuka's rambling (good thing too, because there was so much blood rushing to her and Izuku's faces they might pass out), and went to grab her bag. "We should get going; if we go now we can be ten minutes early. I have to speak to Juroto about the assignment Cementoss assigned us."
"Er - yeah, okay." Itsuka quickly stood up, avoiding Pony's pointed pout as though the horse girl was shooting lasers from her eyes, and grabbed her bag from the side. Izuku, after recovering from his little choking incident, grabbed their dishes and put them in the sink, sighing as he decided to do them when he got back later that afternoon. After grabbing everything, the girls and Izuku walked out onto the porch, with Ibara locking the door behind them, and they started to walk towards the school in the distance together, not noticing Momo, Kyouka and Tooru walking behind them, pausing slightly and not hearing Kyouka snigger and Tooru giggle while Momo reprimanded them quietly.
Thankfully, Izuku wasn't feeling as awkward as he should have been after the long weekend they had together. Once Sunday rolled around, Izuku and Itsuka woke up early in the morning, embarrassed that they were cuddling all night, and made the agreement not to talk about what happened with Ibara the night before. Izuku then spent the rest of his day in his room, catching up on all the homework he had to work on that he missed after a day of emotional trauma and beatdowns, and then the next day of recovering from his illness. By the time dinner rolled around, Izuku was feeling much better, to his relief, with his nose unplugged and the coughs slowly fading away. The only awkward part was going downstairs to help Ibara with dinner, which was done in silence. Izuku hadn't had the energy to talk to her about the kiss, and it looked like she didn't either, only making small talk about the weather with a blush on her cheeks.
Izuku sighed as he walked a bit to the back of the group, thinking while Itsuka and Ibara chatted about the exam Vlad King had emailed them about yesterday, and Pony feeling foreboding at the detention she would have to go through after school. He honestly hadn't planned on kissing Ibara on Saturday night - it had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but now that he had some time to think about it, he stared to lighten up on the guilt he felt. He could probably chalk it aside as a friendly kiss - but, as Izuku suddenly realized while paling, it could also open up a huge can of problems. Pony admitted she liked him too! So what was he doing, kissing Ibara?! Hell, why was he kissing any of them?! Not to mention how awful it would be if any of the other girls saw him kissing her, a day after telling them not to approach him about such a thing!
Izuku was quietly muttering to himself the possibilities of what would happen if the girls caught them, not really paying attention to where he was going. The girls subtly allowed him to mutter to himself, not really hearing what he was muttering about now, and opened the door for him, walked up the stairs to their classroom, and left him to walk past their door to his own. Itsuka had the thought to poke him in the back of the head to get him out of his stupor, but Awase had quickly distracted her by asking about Cementoss' assignment. Izuku was about to walk completely pass his classroom, still muttering to himself about how this entire situation could backfire, when an earphone jack poked him in the back of the neck, startling him and making him turn around.
"You were about to miss," Kyouka said in a teasing manner, twirling around one of her jacks with her finger. Izuku blinked, and glanced up in surprise at his classroom.
"Oh! I didn't even notice! Thank you, Jirou."
"No problem," She laughed a bit, still aiming a teasing look at him, "just thought you'd need a hand. You seemed really distracted."
"Er - yeah, I kinda was," Izuku rubbed a hand through his hair, feeling sheepish.
"I bet you were," Kyouka smirked. "Considering the weekend you had."
"Yeah," Izuku laughed, turning around to open the door ... when what she said suddenly registered. Izuku froze with his hand on the door, feeling his eyes going slightly wider. He slowly turned to look at the girl, who was trying hard to suppress a snigger at his face, and Tooru trying to stop her giggles. Momo, meanwhile, was looking at him with a mixture of pity and humor.
"I ..." Izuku managed to squeak out. "What?"
"The ... weekend you had?" Kyouka snorted, walking past him and opening the door. "I think it was pretty busy. Wasn't it?"
"Kyouka, please, enough with the teasing," Momo chided, shooting Izuku a sympathetic look. "And - Midoriya, I know that this may be a bit strange to say, but if you need any help with what you're going through, or if you do need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. Everyone in the 1A dorms would be happy to assist you in whatever you need."
With that, the three girls entered the open door, Tooru continuing to giggle behind them, leaving Izuku as still as a statue outside, staring ahead in horror and dawning realization.
They ... they knew. There was no other explanation for what Kyouka was hinting at, what Momo was giving advise for, what Tooru was giggling for. Somehow ... somehow they knew. They knew exactly what was going on at the house. The way they looked at him, the way they were laughing a bit amongst themselves - Izuku suddenly had the temptation to throw himself out the window. How?! How did they find out?! There was no way they could, unless they looked in through the window somehow and saw something! The - the only people who should've known was Aizawa-sensei, Vlad King-sensei, presumably the other teachers, Monoma (Izuku's stomach crawled at that particular possibility) and -
- and -
- and -
Izuku blinked, realization settling in. If - if Momo, Kyouka and Tooru knew, that might mean all the girls in 1A knew. And the only girl in 1A who knew what Izuku was up with them was ...
Horror crawling up his spine, Izuku quickly entered his classroom, looking around wildly for Ochako. He finally found her sitting at her desk, chatting with Iida and Todoroki, and she turned when she heard his rather loud entrance. She looked up to see him wide-eyed and manic, staring at her like he was trying to read her mind, and she furrowed an eyebrow in confusion. That is, until she saw Mina giggling out of the corner of her eye, and then they widened, realizing what exactly Izuku was so panicked about.
Before she could say anything, Izuku quickly zoomed up to her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up. He quickly looked at Iida and Todoroki, who were taken aback by his entrance, and said quickly, "heyguyshowareyoui'mfineineedtotalktoOchakoforasecond!"
With that, turning on Full Cowling, Izuku quickly pulled Ochako with him out of the classroom, booking down the hall while Ochako yelped, unable to do anything but be dragged away. Beside them, Itsuka turned to see Izuku dragging his best friend out of sight, blinking briefly in confusion, before sighing and turning back to her own classroom - it may be better for Izuku to deal with whatever that was on his own.
Around the corner, Izuku released Ochako from his vice grip, letting her rub her wrist from the pain, but he was quick to look up at her with panic and terror on his face.
"They - they know!" he gasped, looking at her in betrayal. "How - they know about me and the girls! How - how did they find out?!"
"Er - yeah," Ochako admitted quickly, raising her hands to try to soothe him over. "I - I was gonna tell you when you came to class and - but - wait, did they tell you they knew?"
"Jirou hinted at it! But - but why?! Why did you tell them?!"
"I - I didn't tell them!" Ochako waved her arms, panicked. "Deku, I swear I would never go behind your back like that!"
"Then - then how?!" Izuku grabbed his hair in his hands, staring at her in horror. "How did they find out?!"
"How? Er, well ..." Ochako coughed, unable to stop a look of guilt on her face. "They may have ... snooped."
"Okay!" Mina slapped a hand onto the table Saturday night, quivering in excitement. "This meeting has been officially called to order!"
Ochako sniffled, still wrapped in her warm blanket and shivering slightly. It was a bit after sundown, and the girls had gathered up into the living room when Mina bombarded their group chat with pleads to meet up after returning from their run with the rest of the class. Ochako had been in her room all day, pouting and being cared for by her sweet girlfriend - and it would've been calm too, if Nejire hadn't insisted in wearing some revealing nurse outfit she had just for the occasion. Which definitely did not help Ochako when she was trying to recover from being sick. Thankfully, Nejire had to go help Tamaki with something, so she left Ochako in the care of Tsuyu, which definitely helped Ochako from getting distracted by her sexy girlfriend - god damn her and her god damn curves! Although now she was just sitting in their living room, a few blankets covering her that was not doing anything to help her stop shivering, and wondering when the medicine she just took would kick in and she would finally be able to go to sleep.
"So!" Mina turned back to the group, having to consciously stop herself from jumping up and down. "The reason I called for this meeting is due to Yaomomo and Kyouka finding out something particularly juicy today!"
"Mina," Momo said tiredly, her head on Kyouka's lap, "Midoriya was just dragged into his house by Shiozaki. It's not that big a deal."
"Wait, Deku was what?" Ochako blinked, turning to look at her. Kyouka sighed and relaxed against the couch to get more comfortable.
"We were walking to go meet up with everyone," she explained, "and Midoriya just came out of his house and fell off the front porch. He's okay, by the way, landed on the grass. But before we could go to help him, Shiozaki just dragged him back into the house. All horror movie like. She said he was okay, but it was just weird. Mina's the one making a big deal out of it."
"Of course I have to!" Mina proclaimed, jumping up and down, and meanwhile Ochako had to struggle to stay awake due to the medicine she took earlier starting to kick in, feeling her head start to droop. "Because I never even considered what might be happening in that house! Honestly, I'm stupid for not even thinking of the possibility!"
"Er ..." Tsuyu glanced around, feeling a bit lost. "The possibility of what?"
"Isn't it obvious?!" Tooru jumped in, everyone hearing the excitement in her voice. "What if he's started dating one of them?!"
And that was what woke Ochako right up. She felt her eyes go wide and her lips thin as she realized exactly what the girls were talking about - and why it would be a very bad idea for them to poke their noses into that house. After how she saw Deku yesterday, all miserable and needing to talk to them, the girls of this house barging in to see what was happening was only going to make things worse. She tried to refocus, trying to find someway to get the conversation away from that particular topic about her best friend, but the medicine was still making her incredibly droopy, and she had to try as hard as she could to focus so she could steer this direction away from the house.
"I'm not sure why it's our concern," Momo put a hand to her cheek, looking exasperated at Mina, "if Midoriya wants to date anyone from 1B, it's his business, not ours."
"But still! Think of what could be happening!" Mina gushed, her eyes practically twinkling with delight at the very thought of it. "He could be dating any one of them, and it would be the most romantic and cute thing ever! Like - what if he was dating Shiozaki? Wouldn't they be perfect?!"
"They would!" Tooru nodded excitedly, the only one completely happy to talk about this. "Like, two green haired cinnamon buns, dating! It would be so cute! It'd be like handholding and gardening and long walks on the beach!"
"Right!" Mina nodded along with her. "Or - maybe Tokage? That'd be a good combo, right?!"
"Mm-hm! Doesn't she love to tease everyone? Can you imagine if she got in a relationship with him? He'd be bright red all the time!"
"Okay, okay," Kyouka sighed, trying to get their attention, "before you both go off to la la land, you have to also remember this is Midoriya we're talking about. The guy could barely look at a girl in the eye when we started school, and even after that he still got flustered when someone with boobs talked to him. You guys think he could get a girlfriend in the - what, the three weeks he's been there?"
"Feels like he's been there for much longer," Tsuyu mused.
"So yeah, sorry Mina, and no offense to the guy, but I don't think Midoriya can get a girlfriend in that time," Kyouka finished, leaning forward to play with Momo's hair, the rich girl giggling at the sensation. After another pause, Kyouka raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Besides that, if he's going to date any girl in that house, it'll have to be Tsunotori. She's as awkward as he is, I bet they'd be a good couple."
"I agree with that," Tsuyu put a finger to her mouth, smiling, "those two would be a very cute couple."
"Well, don't count out Kendou," Momo said fairly, "she's very kind, forward, and thoughtful - I imagine she would be a great girlfriend for Midoriya."
As the other girls laughed and started taking sides in who Izuku would pair up with well, Ochako was in hell, trying to get out of her medicine-induced confusion to get this conversation anywhere else. She already knew who Izuku was with - or the several people he was already with - and all it took was for Mina to poke her head in through a window and see Izuku in some compromising situation, and that would be game over for everyone. Of course, she did trust Izuku to come to a resolution on his own, and make sure the girls knew what to do going forward in their relationships - he had texted her before going to bed, telling her about what he had decided and receiving her stamp of approval - but if they stepped out of line even once, Ochako was dragging the girls out for a demonstration of Gunhead Martial Arts.
But right now, she really needed to make sure the girls from this house didn't make things more complicated.
"- okay, but what about threesomes?" Kyouka laughed. "Midoriya, Tokage, and Shiozaki - three green heads, pretty sexy people? I can see it!"
"Kyouka!" Momo laughed, a bit scandalized.
"No way, no way!" Tooru giggled. "Shiozaki's way too religious to sleep with anyone before marriage, right?"
"Hey, we don't know if she follows all the passages."
"I think you guys are sleeping on Midoriya and Kendou!" Mina brought up while giggling. "Those two have got enough muscles between them to bench-press a car, what do you think would happen if they got together? Beds would be broken!"
"Er ..." Ochako managed to say, intending to speak up to get the attention off Izuku, but Mina realized she was in the room, and the shipper queen immediately wheeled around to the sick girl, making her cringe as the pink-haired girl zoomed over to her, not really caring for her sick appearance.
"Ochako, did he mention anything to you? You're his best friend, he would've told you if he was dating anyone, right?!"
"I, uh ..."
"Oh, my god, is he?"
"I - Mina, uh ..."
"He might've texted her about it!" Tooru pointed at her flip phone on the table, and before Ochako could turn to look at it, the invisible girl snatched the phone off the table and flipped it open. "Let me check!"
"Ah - wait, Tooru!" Ochako tried to jump up to grab the phone back, but wooziness immediately overcame her, and she flopped onto the ground, groaning. Tsuyu let out a shocked ribbit and knelt down to help her up, making sure she didn't hit her head off the table or anything. As Ochako recovered, she immediately realized the invisible girl had gone silent, and quickly looked up to see Tooru looking at something on her phone, and she felt a lurch in her stomach - probably at the most recent entry.
"Eh? What's up, why are you -" Mina had also peaked over her shoulder, looking at Ochako's phone. The brunette girl couldn't see Tooru's reaction, obviously, but she could definitely see Mina's. The pink girl's smile faded off her face, wrinkling her brow in confusion for a second, before her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Ochako could only stare in despair as Mina continued to blink.
"... five?"
"Hm?" Momo sat up, looking curious. "Five what?"
"... five girls," Tooru whispered, sounding shocked. "He's sleeping with five girls?"
At this, Ochako finally found the strength to leap up, grabbing her phone straight from Tooru's hand and collapsing back on the ground again. She was quick to bring up her text messages with Izuku, quickly making sure she knew which text they were talking about:
DEKU
I mean, that makes sense right? Sleeping with five girls with no relationships?
YOU
Yeah that does
Oooooh, fuck. It's even worse than she thought. Ochako looked up in horror as Mina's face became stormier, looking suddenly very murderous. She obviously hadn't scrolled very far up in the group chat, so that was what she was going off of. And that did not paint a very good picture for Izuku.
"Yaomomo," Mina turned her to her roommate, who got off of Kyouka looking very confused at what Tooru said, "can you please make me a cannon? I have to visit Midori."
"W-wait, hold on!" Ochako grabbed Mina's hand, accidentally bringing all five fingers down and floating her, making her sail over them like a balloon. "There's - there's an explanation for this!"
"Girl, he's sleeping with five girls with no relationships with any of them!" Tooru proclaimed, sounding scandalized and angry. "What the hell is wrong with him?!"
"G-guys, that's not it!"
"Midoriya - sleeping with five girls?" Momo's brow wrinkled, while Tsuyu looked confused. "That seems ... very out of character."
"Guys -"
"Doesn't matter if it's out of character!" Mina said from the ceiling, trying to push off it. "If he's just using everyone to get off with, then we've gotta go over there and kick his -!"
"GUYS!" Ochako shouted, which lead to her starting to cough up a storm, hunching over and coughing her lungs out. Tsuyu was quick to hop over and help her out, looking concerned as Ochako groaned, and the other girls waited for her to finish her hacking fit, feeling concerned and a little sorry for the girl. Finally, the brunette found her words, and looked up at her friends, sniffling through her stuffed nose.
"Guys, it's - it's not what you think," she managed to say, "it's - it's a lot more complicated than that."
Thankful that they at least listened to that, Ochako let Mina off the ceiling, caught by Tsuyu's tongue, and sat down to, reluctantly, explain what had been happening, as Izuku had told her. The girls listened, at first looking a little skeptical, then curious, then concerned, and finally shocked at how it had ended yesterday. At least the murderous look on Mina and (assumedly) Tooru's faces had faded away, replaced by concern for their friend.
"Wait, so - so they just used him?" Kyouka repeated, looking angry. "And then started fighting over him? Literally what the fuck?!"
"That sounds ... it's hard to believe," Momo said reluctantly, looking lost. "I thought we knew the girls over in Class 1B, it's hard to think that they were doing such cruel things to Midoriya. And letting it go that far."
"Should we - should we confront them over this?" Tsuyu put a finger to her mouth. "I mean, it really isn't any of our business, but Midoriya's my friend. It'd be weird if we just let this go."
"Trust me - achoo! - if anyone's beating them up, it's gonna be me," Ochako shook her head, frowning at the thought, "but Deku said that he did talk to them about it, and he's going to give them a second chance to make it up to him. Not - not like sex or anything, but prove that they actually want to be his friend. And not - y'know - their dildo."
"Still ..." Tooru folded her hands together, sounding unsure.
"I - I trust Deku to do this," Ochako confessed, at least sounding like she knew what she was talking about. "If he had a plan - *cough* - then I trust him. I'm - I'm probably still going to talk to them, make sure that they know not to do any of that shit again - but it'll have to be another time. I feel like I'll collapse if I go do it now. So - so for now, can we at least drop it? At least unless Deku gets in trouble again."
The girls shared another glance between themselves, but nodded at Ochako, deciding to trust her and Izuku. Ochako sighed a bit in relief, and laid down on the couch, feeling sleep start to overcome her as the medicine started really kicking in. Tsuyu had a sudden thought, and couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"I just had a thought," she giggled while Ochako began snoring on the couch, "how do you think it would've turned out if Midoriya came to stay with us? Do you think it'd turn out the same way?'
"Oh, please, Tsu," Kyouka laughed, "if he were here, and the same thing was playing out, it'd be between you, Tooru and Mina. And I really hope that it wouldn't come to what happened over there."
"... I was going to text you after the conversation, but then the medicine really kicked in, and I passed out for like - sixteen hours," Ochako grimaced, leaning against the wall while Izuku tried to calm down, "and then I lost my phone all Sunday, so I couldn't just go over and tell you - honestly, even if I did come over, I might've been tempted to beat them all up."
"Er - maybe," Izuku mumbled, leaning against his own wall while rubbing his chest. Ochako looked at him with sympathy.
"Deku, I really am sorry," she said sincerely, "I know you didn't want anyone to find out. And really, I was gonna tell you when I saw you this morning."
"It's - it's okay, Uraraka." Izuku sighed, pouting a bit. "It's - it's not exactly what I wanted, but - but I guess you did enough damage control to make sure this doesn't come back to bite me. Are - are you sure they won't tell anyone?"
"No, no," Ochako assured him, "I made sure yesterday when I woke up that everyone would keep it a secret. Mina and Tooru looked like they wanted to gossip, but once they heard what you told the girls to do, they decided to keep it to themselves. Honestly, Deku - if you really do need anything, just come to us. We'll help you."
"I ... okay." Izuku sighed, glancing up at the clock. In - in that case, should we go back to class? It looks like it'll be starting soon."
"Yeah," Ochako nodded, and the pair went back around the corner to head back to their classroom. A little along the way, Itsuka poked her head back out, shooting Izuku an inquiring look, but he only shook his head and mouthed, I'll explain later, and she nodded, shooting him a tiny smile, and headed back into her classroom, avoiding looking at a solemn Monoma on the way to her seat - if he said anything she might break and beat him up. Izuku, meanwhile, headed back into his classroom, trying hard to avoid Tsuyu, Mina and Tooru's amused glances as he felt himself go slightly red again.
Lunch finally rolled around, with Ectoplasm exiting their classroom after a hard math test. Izuku sighed as he put his notebook away, not listening as Kacchan growled something at Kaminari for being dumb enough not to study for the test, and Ochako and Iida walked over, ready to go to lunch with everyone. Izuku grabbed his bento and followed them out of the classroom, but once he looked up, he noticed the two girls waiting outside of his class, and he felt himself freeze up.
"Midoriya," Reiko nodded, getting up from how she had been leaning against the wall, Kinoko glancing up uncertainly at him. "I was hoping that we could catch you before you left."
"Y-Yanagi? Komori?" Izuku glanced between the two, a sudden spike of worry shooting into his gut at the sight of them. Neither of them looked happy to see him, looking rather unsure of themselves, but they still got off the wall and approached him.
"I was wondering if you would eat lunch with us today," Reiko asked, glancing at Izuku's friends looking curiously at them, "there's something we need to talk about."
"I, uh ..." Izuku gulped, turning back to look at the rest of the Dekusquad, but they were already walking down the hall, pushed by Ochako and Tsuyu. Iida was flinging his arms around while Todoroki only raised an eyebrow but allowed himself to be pushed away. Sighing, Izuku realized that he didn't have much of a choice, and turned to nod at the two girls, who nodded back.
"This way, we have our own spot," Reiko waved to him, and together, the three walked down the hall and outside the school building into the campus, in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. Izuku followed them nervously as they walked towards a canopy of trees, going under the shade to sit down and open their bento boxes. Both Kinoko and Reiko sat together while Izuku sat across from them, opening his own lunch while Kinoko and Reiko glanced at each other and nodded, as though this had been rehearsed and were now waiting for the ghost girl to begin.
"Alright, Midoriya," Reiko sighed, glancing up at him, "firstly, I would like to apologize for avoiding you this morning. We wanted to have this conversation then, but with you eating with everyone, we felt it was an inappropriate topic to discuss with you in front of everybody."
"Yeah," Kinoko mumbled, glancing at her feet, "we would've done this a lot sooner, but we didn't want to make it a huge thing."
"Er - okay," Izuku nodded, glancing between the two girlfriends, "so ... what's going on?"
"Well," Reiko sighed, glancing away, "we firstly want to start by saying that Kinoko and I ... we are taking a break in our relationship."
"Oh ... wait, what?!" Izuku sat forward, glancing between the two in surprise, feeling guilt start to rise within him. "You broke up?!"
"Well, not exactly," Reiko confirmed, while Kinoko glanced to her right. "We had a long talk on Saturday, just the two of us, and we discussed ... well, how we used you to our advantage. It didn't sit right with either of us - the fact that we found it okay to simply use anyone, even if it was not you, like that and expect everything to be okay. So ... what we are going to do, while we are mending bridges with you, is take a bit of a break from our relationship."
"But -!" Izuku turned to Kinoko, who was sitting to the side watching Reiko explain. "But you guys don't need to break up to do that! It isn't -!"
"Are you blaming yourself?" Reiko asked, and Izuku stuttered to a stop, glancing back at her. "Do you think you are at fault for our break?"
"I ..."
"You aren't, Midoriya," Kinoko finally spoke up, scooting closer and taking both Izuku's and Reiko's hands in hers, giving Izuku a small smile, "none of this is your fault. We got - we got really caught up in the idea that we needed to add some spice to our relationship, so we brought you in without thinking. It's our fault."
"But ..."
"Midoriya, we haven't broken up," Reiko explained patiently, "we're simply taking a step back, and thinking about things. I love Kinoko, and I believe that she loves me ... but we also worked together to take advantage of you when you were in an emotional state, and that does not sit well with either of us. We ... we did have a fight about it on Saturday, but after spending the night to ourselves thinking about it, we used yesterday to discuss how our relationship will go forward. We did talk about the possibility that when we receive your forgiveness, if you ever give it to us, we - we may try going out again. But ..." Reiko sighed, pouting, "... but that would seem like we're only trying to get back into your good graces for our benefit. So ... even if you do forgive us, we'll still take some time to think it over. Don't think this is your fault, because it is not. While we are trying to fix things with you, please give us some time to think things over, and ... and if it doesn't work out, then that's fine."
Izuku glanced down at the ground, still unsure, but Kinoko patted his hand.
"We just want to be friends with you right now, Midoriya," she said, a slight mischievous look in her eye all of a sudden as she tried to change the topic away from such a sour mood, "I still remember your promise to let me grow mushrooms all over you! We need to do that soon."
"I have no idea why you agreed to that," Reiko sighed, sitting back and scooping up her food, "sure it doesn't hurt, but it definitely must be uncomfortable."
"Nonsense!" Kinoko was suddenly back to her excitable self, which, while Izuku was still feeling guilty, was a welcome sight to see - seeing her downcast and sad hurt him, so seeing her smile filled him with a slight warmth. "Sure it might look uncomfortable, but I'm sure it would be a pleasing sensation! You wanna do it now, Midoriya?"
"Er - right now?" Izuku blinked, taken aback, and then glanced around, seeing that they were in view of the windows of the school, with some students walking and talking. "Uh - normally, I'd be down, but - but I don't think people want to look outside and see a fungus zombie walking around, right?"
Kinoko glanced up at the windows too, seeing some students looking outside, and pouted. "Oh, fine. But soon, okay?!"
"Er - yeah. Yeah, I'd be happy too!"
"Great!"
"I'm glad that you both are excited to get the mushroom apocalypse started," Reiko sighed, bringing up her phone. "Meanwhile, Midoriya, I'd like you to look at this."
Izuku blinked as Reiko scooted over, showing him her phone. On the screen was a katana, wrapped up in green wrappings, with a string on the hilt. He was suddenly very interested, looking at the price.
"It's only 15,000 yen," Reiko told him, smiling down at it, "I think I'm going to get it."
"Really?" Izuku looked up, surprised. "That's awesome! I really like the green"
"Just don't cut yourself on the edge," Kinoko teased, and Reiko threw a grain of rice at her. The rest of the lunch actually passed by relatively well, Izuku having a fun time catching up with the girls after the disastrous weekend they had. It was nice, feeling like there wasn't any ulterior motives to why the girls were hanging out with him. Reiko went back and forth about ordering the sword now or before her allowance came in, while Kinoko had the smart idea to grow a mushroom on Izuku's ankle as a prank, which scared him a bit and made him throw his bento in the air in surprise, not expecting the sudden fungus on him. After apologizing and guiltily giving him her rice as repayment, they realized how close it came to class starting again, and they stood up, brushing the grass off of them, and walked back into the school.
"We'll have to go to Midnight's detention once school ends," Reiko explained to Izuku as they walked in, "but we will see you tonight."
"Yeah," Izuku smiled at the pair, warming their hearts, "see you then!"
With that, he turned and started walking upstairs, the girls needing to head to the bathroom before class began. As the two walked away, Kinoko stole a glance at Reiko, her smile fading from her face.
"You didn't tell him why we really argued," she said calmly, not accusing her of anything. Reiko's own smile fell off her own face.
"I didn't," she sighed, opening the door to the bathroom. "I was ... tempted to, but ... we don't need to put any more guilt on his shoulders than we already have."
"Hm." Kinoko nodded, not really liking the answer, but not wanting to have another fight about it.
Upstairs, Izuku reached his floor, checking the time on his phone and seeing that he had at least seven minutes before classes started again. As he turned the corner, he suddenly blinked, seeing Pony looking over her phone with a small pout. Izuku was taken aback by the upset look on her face, and walked over, not being noticed by the smaller girl until he was right beside her.
"Tsunotori?"
"Eek!" Pony jumped a bit, twirling around and looking up at him. "Mi - Midori!"
"Er - what's up?" Izuku glanced down at her phone. "You, uh ... you looked upset over something."
"Oh! Uh ..." Pony glanced down the hall, as though unsure how to answer, before she sighed and stood back a bit, looking down at her feet with a small pout. "Do you, uh ... do you remember what I said about - about how the guys in the other classes treat me?"
"Huh? Oh, you mean like - like you were fragile." Izuku blinked, then realization settled in, "Wait, do you mean ..."
"I, uh, had another guy do that to me a few minutes ago," Pony looked cross, folding her arms across her chest and glancing away, "treating me like I was some little kid. He patted my head, and called me 'super kawaii'," she had a look of disgust cross her face. "Like, I don't mind it sometimes, but when they go overboard it gets on my nerves!"
"Yeah," Izuku sighed, feeling a bit annoyed on her behalf. "It must -"
"What are they thinkin'?! Just coming across as condescendin'!" Pony began ranting in English, surprising Izuku into silence. "They come over bein' all, 'ooooh Tsunotori's soooo cute', it makes me so flippin' mad! Like, how would you feel if someone came over and started pettin' you?! I bet you'd flip out!"
"Er."
"And the last thing I need is everyone going 'ooh Tsonotori likes Disney movies, she's sooo cute, why's she being a hero, she should be like a princess'! Well, fuck you guys! I'm gonna be the most violent hero ever! I stab people with my horns! That doesn't get any more metal! And they thinkin' I'm just some princess to be coddled?! Hell no! I'mma -!"
"Er - Tsunotori?"
After Izuku's small interruption, Pony took a few seconds to breath after her mini-rant, panting slightly, then her eyes widened and a blush exploded on her cheeks as she realized what just happened.
"Oh, shi - I mean, Midori, I'm sorry! I always speak English when I get super mad, it just slips out!"
"Er - it's no problem. Honestly -"
"No, no, I shouldn't have done that," Pony pouted, looking to the side as a pang hit Izuku in the heart at the sad image. "I'm here trying to be a hero, I should be able to speak Japanese. I shouldn't be slipping into my language so much."
"I don't think ..."
"A-anyway!" Pony tried to brighten up, giving him a smile. "During class, I had an idea, Midori!"
"Er - yeah?"
"After what happened Friday, I was thinking about how I can make what I did up to you," she explained, "and I've decided that I'm going to be your best friend!"
"My ... best friend." Izuku nodded, showing that he understood and praying that Ochako somehow didn't somehow get Kyouka's earphone quirk and is now planning Pony's brutal murder.
"Yeah! So I was thinking ... if you wanna, of course ..." Pony cleared her throat, a small blush on her cheeks, "I, uh ... I really like watching anime. I try to do it all the time with the girls, just to unwind and have something to watch. If - if you want to - and it's completely up to you! - we can - we can watch a show together?"
"Watch ... like, just me and you?"
"Yeah! Like - we just sit back and watch something neither of us have ever seen before! It'll give us something to talk about, right?"
"Er ... yeah," Izuku nodded slowly, warming up to the idea the more he thought about it. "It'll be something that we can talk about, or - or bond about. Watching something we both like or dislike can open up a lot of conversations."
"Yeah!"
"I - yeah! Sure, let's do it!"
"Great!" Pony nodded excitedly, bouncing up on her hooves. "It, well, it can't start tonight, since I'm going to be in detention, but -! But soon! Okay?"
"That - that sounds good."
"Great!" Pony nodded excitedly, then glanced over at the clock and felt her eyes widen. "Whoop, I said I'd return something to Manga! I'll see you later, Midori!"
With that, she quickly made her way back to her classroom, jogging. Izuku watched her go, feeling at least a little better about having something to bond with her over now - the idea of watching something and talking about it with her made him feel good, knowing that it would be a topic that didn't include what they did together. However, there was another part of him that didn't feel okay with what she said before, and it filled him with sadness.
"I'm here trying to be a hero, I should be able to speak Japanese. I shouldn't be slipping into my language so much."
Izuku frowned at that thought, and the implications behind it. Did that mean - did that mean that Pony was insecure about her language? Whenever she struggled with her homework Izuku was happy to help her out, but ... did it go deeper than that? Izuku thought about her mini-rant, how more comfortable she was speaking in English while complaining, and then her embarrassment when she reverted back to Japanese. Was she struggling? Izuku sighed, feeling a bit lost.
The more he thought about it, actually, he noticed something he hadn't before. All of Pony's Japanese - at least, the parts where she would talk to the others - they always sounded a bit ... unsure. Like, she was second guessing everything she was saying. Was it because she was unsure? The occasional slips into English - was it because she forgot how to say something in Japanese? Was she ... was she embarrassed? Izuku felt a lurch in his gut for never picking up on it - of course, Pony wouldn't be a hundred percent comfortable talking exclusively in Japanese, she was raised in America! How did he never notice, why didn't he do something to make her more comfortable?!
Was there anything he could do? Obviously he didn't mind helping her with her homework when she needed it, and thinking about it a bit more, she did seem to have a good grasp at Japanese after being here for a year, but ... but it seemed like all that would be doing was conditioning her to talk in Japanese. She shouldn't feel uncomfortable talking in her own native language! But Izuku was a bit lost at how to comfort her ... until he glanced down the hall and saw the familiar back of a teacher with long blonde hair poking over his head.
Izuku's thoughts ground to a halt, then reassumed, thinking. He wanted to do something that would make Pony more comfortable, show that it was okay to speak English. If he wanted to do that, he'd need to ... and the only person who could help him out ...
Knowing there was five minutes before the first bell, Izuku quickly ran down the hall, following the teacher, and called out.
"Present Mic-sensei!"
"Midoriyaaaaaa!" The teacher immediately turned around as he heard Izuku call out to him, as though waiting for Izuku to call him out. He quickly assumed a pose while pointing at his student as he ran up to him, a wide smile on his face. "How can I help you, listener?!"
"Hey, I was -"
"Oh! Maybe it's about the English report I gave?"
"Er - no."
"Or some hero training?!"
"No."
"... maybe it's about how you wanna be on my show?! I can squeeze in some time for one of my students!"
"Er - that sounds great, but no."
Present Mic sagged, the wind taken out of his sails as he slumped over. "Well, there goes all the cool stuff we could talk about."
"Er - thank you for offering, Present Mic-sensei, but there was actually something else I wanted some help in," Izuku took a deep breath, feeling his face blush somewhat, and asked, "I was - I was wondering if you could help me learn how to say something specific. In - in English."
"Huh? My bike?"
"Yeah," Izuku nodded, walking away from the school at the end of the day back to the house. "I talked to Pony about doing something with her on our own, and I kinda got to thinking - maybe I could start doing things with everyone? For friendship purposes?"
School had ended a few minutes ago, with everyone relieved to be let out for the rest of the day. As Izuku left, he had been met by Ibara and Itsuka, who asked to walk home together. The rest of the girls had already been picked up by Midnight, who took them to her own classroom to start their detentions. While Pony, Reiko and Kinoko had bid them bye, Yui and Setsuna hadn't been able to look at them - apparently, they had avoided everyone all day, keeping to themselves. The guys had been a bit confused, but Itsuka asking for them to not bother them made them back off. Monoma himself was in a mood, growling under his breath and stalking out of the classroom the moment the bell went off.
"Hm," Itsuka thought as they walked down the path with Ibara, who was putting away a water bottle in her bag, "yeah, that does sound like a good idea. So you wanna find out how my bike works? Like - how to build your own?"
"Er - maybe?" Izuku shrugged his shoulders, adjusting his backpack on his shoulders. "I was thinking - maybe if I found out more about your hobby, you can find out more about mine? Like - hero study, and stuff. And we can bond over it."
"Yeah ... I think I know what you mean," Itsuka nodded, smiling slightly, and decided to get some teasing in. "Just so you know, though, I'm gonna work you to the bone. You'd technically be my assistant, and I work hard. I'm afraid you won't be able to keep up"
"I'll keep that in mind," Izuku laughed a bit, the thought of him being forced to work hard by Itsuka funny to him. He turned to Ibara. "I was - I was also thinking, maybe we could garden together, Shiozaki? I can find out a bit more about how you maintain it!"
"E-eh?" Ibara jumped, whirling around with a blush. "I ... perhaps."
Izuku blinked at the blunt statement, a bit taken aback, before remembering why she was looking so awkward, a small bolt of guilt shooting up his gut. Itsuka noticed the awkward air, and sighed, rubbing a hand through her hair as she decided to get this out of the way.
"Is this about the kiss?" She asked, and Ibara froze, staring at her in horror. Oh, crud, she didn't know Itsuka was awake, right. Before Ibara could continue, Itsuka decided to just go forward. "I - yeah, I was awake, Ibara, but - but you guys don't need to worry, I won't tell anyone. Besides ... look, it was a - a moment of weakness, right?"
"Er - right," Izuku muttered, a blush on his cheeks. Ibara didn't answer, looking away.
"Listen, girl," Itsuka reached over and patted Ibara's head, minding the thorns, "I know that you guys - it wasn't some sexual thing that you two were doing. It was more like ... a romantic kiss? Maybe? Anyway - You guys don't need to feel so guilty. It was just a kiss."
"... perhaps," Ibara sighed, glancing away. "It's just ... after the entire speech that I needed to regain his trust, I ... I felt weak for one second, and the next I was kissing him. It - I do not want Midoriya to come across as a hypocrite - and the fact that you saw it only makes me feel worse about it."
"Hey," Itsuka said softly, smiling, "don't worry about it, okay? I understand."
It took a few seconds for Ibara to respond, before she sighed and nodded, shooting them both a smile.
"Thank you, Itsuka. And Midoriya ... perhaps we can start gardening together. I would be happy to show you how to set up your own garden - you might even be able to raise up some tomatoes, something for you to eat."
"Er - really?" Izuku was taken briefly out of his small stupor, watching the two girls talk about the kiss as though it were the most casual thing in the world, but quickly shook himself out of it, smiling. "That's great!"
After agreeing to put aside the kiss, the trio made their way back to the house, starting to set up for dinner. While Itsuka sat at the table, doing her homework, Ibara and Izuku got to work in the kitchen, a bit relieved that the awkward air had been dispelled somewhat. They worked together to make dinner, talking about the upcoming exam (Izuku was confident he could succeed on his own, but Ibara was a bit anxious about it). Once dinner was finished, they put some away for the girls to have after they were done with their detention, and sat around talking about anything in general, ranging from school work to heroes to some parts Itsuka ordered to even movies. Soon, Ibara and Itsuka decided to take their showers, and Izuku went out for a run.
An hour later, Ibara sighed as she wrapped her robe around her, sitting down in her room. She had just gotten out of the shower, her hair wrapped up in a bun, and was now ready to work on her homework. Itsuka had decided to go to bed early, so now she was on her own working. She had heard the girls return from detention, but no one visited her, letting her work a bit later into the night ... at least, until she heard someone knock on the door.
Looking around, Ibara was curious who was visiting her at two in the morning, not really wondering why she was up so late anyway, and stood up, suddenly aware that she was still only in her robe, completely naked underneath. For some reason, Ibara didn't really mind, deciding to just open the door anyway. Standing at the door was Izuku, who grinned at her awkwardly as she opened the door a bit wider.
"Er - hey, Shiozaki," he gave her a small wave, a bit red. "Can - can I come in?"
"Midoriya?" Ibara blinked, but then recovered and smiled back. "Of course." She waved him in, letting Izuku walk into her room and look around with interest while she closed the door, not really aware as she automatically locked it.
"Is there something I can help you with? Maybe with homework?"
"Oh, no, I finished that already," Izuku dismissed, waving his hand, until he turned back around and approached her. Ibara gulped when he stopped just short of her - he was standing strangely close, but she wasn't feeling anxious or nervous - rather, a shot of excitement ran through her as Izuku gave her a small smile.
"I was ..." Izuku sighed, brushing a hand through his hair as he smiled nervously at her, "... I was wondering if we could talk about our kiss."
Ibara blinked, going still, and she felt some redness come to her cheeks.
"Ah," she said weakly, looking away. "Yes. Of course."
"I'm ... sorry that I made you feel awkward about it," Izuku looked sheepish, glancing down at the ground, and Ibara felt some pity in her chest as she reached out and took his hand.
"It's - it's okay, Midoriya," she said earnestly, making him look up with a smile. "It was just a one time thing."
"It was?" Izuku looked slightly disappointed, and before Ibara could ask what that was about, she was stunned when Izuku suddenly wrapped his arms around her back, bringing her closer. Ibara gasped as she was suddenly pressed to Izuku, looking up to see his face barely a few inches from hers. She should push him away, or shove him off, or anything, but instead, she felt herself go still as Izuku began subtly walking her towards her bed, the back of her legs meeting the mattress.
"I don't want it to be a one time thing," Izuku confessed, glancing down at her lips. "I was wondering if we could continue where we left off."
"I ..." Ibara tried to say, trying to protest, but once again words failed her, unable to look away from his beautiful green eyes as she was gently sat down on her bed. "I - Izuku, I ... I can't. It's - it's not right."
"Is that right?" Izuku asked, smiling down at her.
Ibara stared up at Izuku as he gently pushed her back first onto the bed, staring at her with the love and adoration in his eyes, stunning her. He was quick to spread her legs so he could kneel in between, laying down on top of her with that look of seduction in his eyes. Automatically, Ibara's legs curled around his body, as though they had a mind of their own, and she glanced down at his lips, feeling a strange hunger overcoming her.
"If it's not right, why does it feel so good?" he asked, smirking down at her, and without warning dipped down and pressed his lips to hers. Instead of feeling shocked, or horrified, or shoving him off, Ibara couldn't help the moan escaping her lips as she wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing him even closer to her as her hands went up into his hair, grabbing it and squeezing. Her vines spread throughout the room as Izuku pushed aside her robe, exposing her naked form, and then without warning pulled his own shirt and shorts off in a matter of seconds, exciting her as she finally got to look at his naked body, those abs that she had caught a glimpse of only briefly before.
Izuku then dipped back down and kissed her neck, making Ibara cry out as his teeth teased her, and she felt his hands begin exploring, grabbing her meaty thighs and rubbing the skin, and she could already feel his erection poking her entrance, making her pant. Izuku resurfaced from her neck and took her bottom lip between his teeth, chuckling as he began lining up his cock to her entrance.
"This ..." Ibara gasped out, her hands rubbing against him, "this is sin."
"Like I said, Ibara. If it's a sin ..." Izuku whispered, using his other hand to rub her cheek while his cock began pushing in, "... then why does it feel so good?"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Ibara gasped as her eyes flew open at the crisp hour of five in the morning, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling as the alarm beside her continued to beep loudly. She quickly turned it off, red in the face as she threw her hands over her eyes, groaning. What was she thinking?! She got one kiss with Izuku and now she was seducing him?! What was she thinking, letting him into her room to -
- to -
- to -
Ibara blinked, wrinkling her brow. Did ... did Izuku come into her room? Press her against the bed? Kiss her and undress her and -
- oh. Oh, no. Oh, no, that was a dream. She only dreamed it. Ibara almost wanted to sigh in relief, until another thought entered her mind, making her freeze up. Wait. Wait, wait, wait. She - she had a dream of Izuku coming into her room and seducing her. A dream that almost felt real. The feeling of his lips and body on her, his hands, the feeling of his hair in her hands ... it felt - it felt like she actually did it. And - and what he was about to do before she woke up. And the disappointment she was feeling that her alarm interrupted it.
She ... she had ...
... she had a sex dream. About her crush.
Ibara wrapped her vines completely around her head, blocking out all sound, and let out a scream.
After several days, Izuku was relieved that everything was somewhat going back to normal - well, not exactly, but better than before. Setsuna and Yui still avoided everyone, but at least Reiko and Kinoko, while still going through their own problems, were more open to trying to work things out, being sure to talk to him on their breaks between classes and heading towards detention, which began in earnest once the week got started. Izuku, for the most part, was just relieved that he could sit back with the other girls and just relax. He spent some more time with Pony, trying to figure out some new things to do - she and Izuku settled on watching some random comedy anime, laughing about all the stupid jokes and avoiding looking at each other if anything slightly fanservicey came on. Besides giving them something to watch, it also gave Pony and Izuku something new to talk about, excited to actually be watching something they both enjoyed. Izuku's side project with Present Mic, meanwhile, was slowly coming to fruition, with Izuku reciting what had been written down by the teacher every night until he felt he was ready, reciting it in front of a mirror every night.
Meanwhile, Izuku and Itsuka made a small schedule to exercise together, the orange-haired girl wanting to make sure they had some new things to bond over. Itsuka also took the time to start exercising with Izuku with the rest of the Dekusquad, only being met by slight suspicion by Ochako (who got a dope slap from Tsuyu for being dumb). Besides that, she made sure to bring him outside to see her bike more often than necessary, showing him how her bike worked, in an effort to bond with him more (Izuku quickly taking notes behind her as she talked made her much more excited than the situation really demanded). She also took the time to have him go under the bike to point out some parts, acting oddly like a stern teacher.
The only problem was Ibara, who for some reason couldn't even look him in the eye anymore without blushing - Izuku really, really, really hoped that he didn't do anything wrong. He knew that he was making the girls put in extra effort to make it up to him, and he was determined to make sure that they worked hard for it - but he was afraid that, despite Monday seemingly fixing their situation, the kiss somehow still made her awkward. He was tempted to ask her more about it, but he forced himself to calm down, and just give her some time to figure things out for herself.
But Izuku had a new problem, laying in his bed Thursday night while staring at his ceiling. The girls had gone to bed early, Ibara not able to look him in the eye while Itsuka decided to get some homework done. He had heard the girls come back from detention (they usually appeared two hours after school ended - he wasn't sure what Midnight was making them do, but obviously it seemed efficient, if Pony's small pout on her face had anything to say about it). As he laid down on his back, however, Izuku couldn't help but feel ... off.
He had noticed recently that his hot showers took a bit longer than he was used to - just standing underneath the hot water, feeling a bit comforted but still weirdly conflicted. He noticed that his anxiety was also strangely acting up - not about anything in general (hell, even the upcoming exam that Aizawa talked about in class didn't bother him that much). He was also having a bit of difficulty sleeping lately. He was ... he didn't really know what was going on. Was he just feeling anxious for the sake of anxiousness? Or was there something going on that he wasn't picking up on?
As he thought more about it, he suddenly heard his phone vibrate on the sidetable, put down to charge once he got into bed. Glancing at the time and seeing that it was around ten, Izuku wondered who was messaging him now, and grabbed it, bringing it up so he could unlock it and see who just texted him.
MISTRESS ;P
hey
can we talk
Izuku blinked, staring at the text message for a few seconds before it registered. Mistress -? Oh! It was Setsuna. She put that as her nickname on his phone after they had sex for the first time - wait. Wait, he was getting distracted, Izuku realized as he sat up, staring at the message in worry. Setsuna - she wanted to talk to him? She had been avoiding everyone all week, either keeping to her room or leaving before everyone got up. She wanted to talk to him now? Presumably alone? Oh, god, now he was feeling incredibly nervous, almost tempted to roll over and go to sleep - but crap, it was already in read, she knows he saw it. Izuku sighed, feeling nervousness crawl all over him, but steadied his nerves, and wrote her a message.
YOU
Sure!
what about?
MISTRESS ;P
meet me outside
Oh, crap. Izuku groaned, feeling a sinking in his stomach - this could not possibly be good. But - but maybe it could be? Izuku blinked, leaning forward on his bed and thinking. It was more communication than he had from her all week - maybe she wanted to finally come out and talk to him about what's been bothering her? Maybe needing some time to think, and now she wanted to go over it with him? As much as he was afraid of going downstairs and speaking to her, he knew that it would be better than letting her stay in her room at all times of the day to avoid them. He may have had problems with how she used him these last few weeks, but he meant what he said during their talk - he didn't hate her. He couldn't hate her.
Izuku sighed, and quickly got off of the bed, walking to his closet to put on some socks. After making sure he looked somewhat presentable, thankful that he had a shower before this, he quietly opened his door and snuck downstairs, wincing slightly as he remembered the last time he snuck downstairs was to Setsuna's floor - but to visit Yui. But there wasn't time for Izuku to wallow down pleasant and unpleasant memories, heading straight down to the bottom level. He still felt incredibly nervous, wondering what she wanted, but Izuku shook those fears aside - now wasn't the time to get cold feet.
Finally reaching the bottom stair, Izuku looked into the kitchen and living room, and winced slightly when he saw Setsuna by the door. She was bent down and putting on her shoes, a frown on her face. She was dressed in black leggings and a t-shirt, her hair tied up in a bun. She looked tired, but she looked up when Izuku stepped down into the living room, and her frown only deepened, a dead look in her eyes when she saw him walk towards her.
"Hey," she muttered, glancing back at the ground.
"Er - hey." Izuku gave her a weak wave. "You - what did you wanna talk about?"
"Outside," she motioned with her head, turning back to the door and opening it. "We're not going far."
"Er - okay," Izuku gulped, slipping on his red shoes. "Let's go."
Setsuna nodded, and Izuku followed her out the door.
