I sat in the chair of our conference room feeling somewhat nervous. This is a chance that I don't want to miss out on. It's fine if I do… but this would be an early chance to become a big-time pro hero!

Noguchi sat down in his chair, which would soon belong to someone else. "Good evening, my employees. As you know, today is my last day of work after putting in 27 years at this agency."

He was about to continue on, but one of my partners from the back started clapping. The rest of us followed suit to give him the respect he deserved. "Thank you. Anyways, it pains me to tell you that I did not end up giving the job to someone in this office."

Despite this being a major disappointment, I felt relatively unphased. The sadness of missing out on the position (as she thought she had a fair chance of getting it) was balanced out by not having to feel the fear and anxiety of waiting for an answer.

"We had an outsider apply for the position as well, and his qualifications were so great, that I simply could not refuse him the opportunity."

Wow… who could have such great qualifications as to beat out everyone internally?

"The new owner of this agency, now returning to Japan after a five-year absence, please welcome Izuku Midoriya!"

Everyone applauded as he opened the door and walked into the room, with a gentle wave and a bright smile showing as he entered the room.

My eyes widened when I heard his name and saw his face. "D… Deku?"

Wait… the person who called me three months ago and asked about the position… there's no way!

"If I am correct, then you and Uravity have met before."

"You are right," he told my former boss with a smile. "We were classmates back at UA!"

"It's… it's nice to see you again! It's been a long time!" I had a mix of emotions, but at the moment, excitement was the leading one.

"It's nice to see you too, Uraraka." He reached out his hand for a handshake, which I accepted, but my excitement quickly faded and turned into confusion.

I know we're in a workplace setting… but where are we now? Is this how we'll talk outside of work?

Will we talk outside of work at all?

"Hey, I remember you," one employee said from the end of the table. "You won the UA Sports Festival years ago!"

"Yeah, and in such dominant fashion! Nobody stood a chance against you! Not even Uravity!"

Light cheering began in the back, but Deku signaled them to stop and jumped to my defense. "Hey, have some respect for her too. She's a strong hero in her own right!"

"We know, Midoriya," said Noguchi. "Which is why I am happy to announce that Uravity is being promoted to the new assistant head position!"

I stood out of my seat. "Really?" He nodded his head, in which I responded with an immediate bow. "Thank you so much! I won't disappoint you!"

"I am also giving you the task of introducing Deku to this new office. He hasn't been to this agency before nor has he been in Japan for five years. Would you be okay with that?"

I nodded my head, feeling conflicted emotions as I did so.

Deku sat down in the chair next to the person across from me, and the meeting went on with some basic reports and statistics that I don't really remember.

The entire time, my mind was aflight. I couldn't seem to get it to land.

Deku… why? Why were you gone for so long?

You left without a trace, without a word, to anybody in our class!

No doubt, I'm a little excited. I missed Deku, and I got promoted. So I'll be in charge of more things regardless. But… am I supposed to pretend like we were never close?

"Now, I will be off," Noguchi said. "But Deku will be staying if you have any questions to ask him. Have a great night, everyone!"

Deku was a minor celebrity here in Japan for a short period of time due to his legendary performance at the Sports Festival. And when I say legendary, I mean legendary. I was his second round opponent during that Sports Festival, but to put it shortly, the match did not go my way.

All of the employees rushed up to ask him a series of questions. You'd think this was a meet-and-greet, not a new boss.

"Deku, how was All Might as a teacher during your time at UA?"

"Deku, were you really the strongest in your class?"

"Deku, did you leave UA because there was nothing more for you to know?"

I instead opted to follow Noguchi, who I had some questions to ask.

Running down the sidewalk, where nobody was around, I managed to catch up with him.

"Boss!"

He turned around, not expecting anybody to follow him. "Uravity?"

"Hey! Do you have time?"

"Sure! I'm just walking home. What is it?"

"I… I thank you for the promotion. It really means a lot to me and I will try my best."

"No worries, Uravity. It pains me that I didn't give the job to you. Ultimately, I established that position because I would have given it to you had it not been for the appearance of Deku."

"Yeah… about that… why did you give the job to him?"

"Well, he was perfectly qualified for the job. Went to UA, a notable hero, and look at how young he is! He's still got decades ahead of him. At least if he works as long as I do," he said with a laugh.

"Yes, but he was a high school dropout! He left UA!"

"Does that make him a bad hero?"

"N-No… he's amazing. But the fact that he did… does that… did it..." I somewhat struggled to communicate my feelings. "Does it mean anything to you?"

"You seem upset. What does it mean to you?" I stopped in my tracks when he said that.

"I… well…"

"I know it must've been a personal and difficult decision, but you were classmates with him, right? Don't you know why he left?"

I thought about it, and looked down sadly. "No… I don't."

"Oh. I assumed it was because of-"

"Well, yeah, it was probably that. But he never talked to me about it. He never talked to anyone about it. He just… left. Papers signed, no longer a student after the Sports Festival. Just like that."

Noguchi looked inquisitively at me. "You seem upset about it. Were you two connected at the time?"

"Well, yeah. We were classmates. But… it was more than just that. We were… well…"

"Were you dating?"

I looked up immediately, my face feeling like it was just set on fire. "NO! No, no, no, nothing like that!"

"What was it?"

"We were… we were best friends. He helped me with my homework, we hung out after school with the little free time we had, and he inspired me a lot to work in the hero course. When he left, I got really angry, and it made it hard to motivate myself anymore. But eventually, I got over it."

Noguchi smiled at the last thing I said. "Are you sure you didn't like him at all?"

"I… yes! Why won't you stop talking like that?!"

"Okay, sorry! It's just… there's clearly some unresolved feelings on your end."

"Well, what about him? Did he express anything to you about me being here?"

"No, not outwardly. But don't you think you're in prime position to get some answers?"

I thought about that in silence. Noguchi continued.

"Now, don't get me wrong. It is a work setting, so don't peer too far into his private life. But if you want to see him again, not only is he back in Japan, he's right next to you! Take the opportunity and work alongside him. You'll both probably learn a thing or two from each other, both in hero work and in life, and I have no doubt that you'll run this agency better than I ever did."

I looked up at him in shock. "No way, Noguchi! Nobody will be able to run this agency better than you!"

"Well, for the sake of Japan, I hope you can. That's why I entrusted you two with the agency. Because I know you two can do better than I did and I know you two will make amazing heroes."

I smiled and happy tears started to well up in my eyes. "Boss…"

"I'm not your boss anymore. Just your friend."

I ran in and hugged him. He was an old man, but he was still fairly tall and I hadn't grown a whole lot since high school, so it was like hugging my dad. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome, Uraraka. Talk to me anytime if you need advice."

"Will do." He started to walk away. "Hey, I just remembered something."

"What is it?"

"His hero name… Deku? Don't you think it sounds weird?"

"He told me it sounds like 'You can do it!'"

"He did?" He… he remembered?

"Yeah. Is that all?"

I paused. "Y-Yeah. That's all. Goodbye, Noguchi."

"Goodbye, Uraraka."

Unsure on how to face him for the first time in years, the fact that he remembered at least came as a relief to me. At least he took something with him from Japan. My heart started to beat a little faster.

If I'm being honest, he took more of my heart with him when he left than I am willing to admit.

Walking back to the agency, the sun was starting to set and I wasn't even sure he would be there. But there he was when I returned, analyzing the old office of Noguchi, which was now his to fill.

He didn't bring any of his own belongings to fill the place with, yet he remained looking around at the empty space. I wonder what he's thinking about.

I opened the door to the agency, which he immediately heard. Seeing him turn around towards me with a familiarly freckled face, I invited him to talk with me with a smile.

"Hey, long time no see, Deku!"

"Uraraka! I thought you were gone for the week," he said looking surprised.

"I apologize for stepping out so early. It's nothing against you; I just had some questions for Noguchi."

"Well, if you wanted to just leave early, I would understand that."

With that, the tone of the conversation went from casual to serious in an instant. "Deku…"

"This… this whole thing probably came as a shock to you. And… I'm sure you're upset with me for taking the job from you. And for leaving." Although he was talking slowly and somewhat struggling to get it out, it looked like he wanted to keep talking, so I let him go on.

"I… just want you that… that… I'm sorry I left UA. I just… I couldn't… I-"

"Deku, it's alright," I said before he could finish. "It really hurt. That much I can say. And your loss was really missed at UA. But I forgive you."

He looked down looking unsatisfied. "But I never talked to you or anyone else! It was really ignorant of your feelings. And of everyone else. Iida, Bakugo, Todoroki… and-"

"Deku." He looked up at me. "I know. And I can tell you're sorry. Although I don't understand why you did it completely, I forgive you. But now, we've got work to do together. So chin up, okay?"

"Uraraka… how can you forgive me so easily? Is… is this really okay with you?"

"Yes."

I cannot lie. It hurts. A lot. There's no denying that.

But I want to learn more about you. I want to know what you were thinking when you left. I want to know why you felt like you didn't have a choice.

I want to know a lot of things.

But now isn't the time for that. I want to ensure that we're close enough and prepared to talk about an emotionally taxing topic. If we do that now, the work environment will be weird for both of us.

My phone rang. It was my mother. Nowadays, I've started to help my parents' construction company get back up and working. By the time I was a third-year at UA, the company had died. But after my second year working as a sidekick, I asked if I could help them start it back up.

They agreed after a LOT of convincing, so I was now helping them with some minor tasks. It's funny to me. Even though I'm a full-fledged hero, I'm still their little girl who they don't want to use.

As much as it annoys me, I respect it. And I love them.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. I'm late for something."

"Oh, okay. Well, it was nice seeing you again, Uraraka. I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise, Deku." I walked towards the door, but stopped before I left.

I didn't want to leave on a bitter note… but I don't know what to say. I do have something to ask though...

"Actually… I think I do have a question for you."

"Sure. Anything." My stomach twisted a little at that moment. I'm not exactly sure why.

"Honestly… I've been keeping up with you while you were gone. I know you became a sidekick very soon after you arrived in America. I also know you became the number 7 hero after running your agency for only a single year. Honestly, I think you definitely deserve the job more than I do."

Deku looked surprised. He seemed complimented, but also almost a little embarrassed.

He blushed a bit and put his hand on the back of his head. Yeesh… did he change at all since high school? "T-Thanks… but... what's your question?"

"Did you keep up with any of us after you left?"

I could see the shame in his eyes when he looked away for a bit.

It seems he understands that he hurt us.

But… how could he have done that knowing what impact it would have on us? Did he not care? Or did he have another reason for doing so?

"Yeah… I did. I… I know Kacchan is in the top 15 already. Iida's taken up his brother's name as Ingenium. And you… you're the already the assistant head at a former pro's hero agency."

"Did you get the job here because I was here?"

"W-Well, no… but… I found the job because of you, in a sense."

My face lit up immediately after hearing that statement. "What?"

"I… I occasionally will pop onto the agency websites. That's how I kept up with Kacchan and Iida and them. I was checking up on Noguchi's website when I saw he was retiring. After looking at the position seriously, it seemed like a good opportunity for me. I'm sorry if I took that from you."

"N-No, it's okay. I'm glad that this is a good spot for you. And I'm glad that I get to see you now at work."

Based on his behavior back then, he acts as if he wanted to abandon his life here…

Yet he still kept tabs on me? And Bakugo?

"You really are?"

"Yeah. Deku… I missed you. We all did."

His lips started to shake and he looked down, visibly flustered. "I… I missed you all too."

I was delighted to hear that, but it took me everything I had to hold back my heart from making me scream out the obvious question.

Then why did you run from us?!

I wanted to ask. Uncertainty will cloud this relationship until I have answers. But I can't force it out of him. I don't want to ruin our reunion before it starts.

I remembered that I had to work with my parents.

"Deku, I know it's tough, but the past is behind us. We'll get to know each other better as time goes on. And that's why I'm glad that you're here." I looked up at him and smiled.

"Regardless of what happened, we finally get to see each other again. We'll cross the bridges that need to be crossed when we get there. It's good to have you back."

He started to tear up, but before the waterworks started, he wiped his face and sniffled.

He's barely changed at all… which makes things more difficult. "Thank you so much…"

"Make sure you don't cry on the job though, Deku," I said jokingly while punching his shoulder. I went to the door to go back to my parents. "I'll see you next week!"

"R-Right! Have a good weekend, Uraraka!"

I turned around and smiled, feeling better about the whole situation. "You too, Deku."