Chapter 11

Once Izuku was discharged by Recovery Girl, he decided to check his phone, to see about a million missed texts and calls from Kendo, Kurono, 3 Unknown Numbers, The Boss and Irinaka. Izuku decided to start with the missed texts from the 3 unknown numbers, as he was pretty curious as to why these 3 random people had texted him. He clicked on the most recent one and scrolled up from the bottom text to the top. They'd sent him what must have been 100 texts just asking if he was alright in different ways, but he finally reached the top message.

"Izuku, this is Reiko,"

Huh, Izuku didn't realize how worried Reiko could get. She must have gotten his number from Kendo, which probably meant the other 2 unknown numbers were Tokoyami and Momo. Izuku continued reading Reiko's text.

"I hope this message finds you in a better state than when I last saw you. Frankly, we were all worried when you just completely shut off, but I am sure there was a good reason for it. You do not need to tell me nor anyone else the specifics of what caused it,"

"Also, Nedzu sent an email to all the students saying we had the rest of the week off, just so you know,"

"Also, nobody died, in case you were wondering,"

"Also-,"

Most of the texts after that went along the lines of 'Also, _,', so Izuku decided to just text a quick reply.

"Sorry for making you worry, Yanagi! I'm fine now, and Recovery Grill discharged me. Thanks for all the messages, but you had nothing to worry about! Again, sorry for making you worry!"

"*Recovery Girl,"

Izuku started making his way towards the exit once he sent the message, but not even 20 seconds after he sent it, he got a reply.

"Izuku, no offence, but I think everyone had every right to worry when you just stopped responding to everything we said and entered a panic attack, you don't need to apologize," The message read. Izuku became flustered when he realized how stupid he must have looked when he did that, and he quickly began typing out a reply, but before he could finish typing it out Reiko had already sent another text.

"I swear to jod if your typing out another apology I will strangle you," Well that went from 0-100 real fucking quick. Also, what the fuck was a jod?

"Sorry," Izuku replied.

"Wait,"

"Shit," Izuku hastily typed out, realizing his mistake.

"You're lucky your cute,"

"COOL"

"I MEANT COOL"

"NOT CUTE"

"COOL"

Izuku couldn't help but smile as he read that message chain, and for some reason he felt something nice and warm in his chest. He couldn't quite put a finger on what the feeling was, but he liked it. He continued walking, now exiting UA, and he kept his eyes locked on his phone.

"Autocorrect?" Izuku asked.

"Yes," Reiko texted back.

"Oh,"

"That reminds me,"

"I should add you to the group chat,"

Izuku raised an eyebrow. Since when had there been a group chat? He dismissed it, and when Yanagi sent a link to a group chat he clicked on it.

Izuku Midoriya has joined 'Midoriya Worry Group'.

Ghosty changed the group name to 'The Izu-Crew'

Ghosty: You saw nothing.

Izuku Midoriya: I'm guessing this is Reiko?

Ghosty: yep

My Chemical Crowmance: Midoriya! You haven't answered my messages! Are you well?

Yaoi Hands: You okay, Izuku? You didn't seem well when we last saw you

Chronostasis: 'didn't seem well' is a very weird way of what sounded like a full-on panic attack but sure

Yaomomo: Midoriya, has Recovery Girl discharged you?

Izuku Midoriya: Yeah, I literally just left UA.

Izuku Midoriya: Also, sorry Tokoyami, I was going to get around to it, but I ended up chatting with Yanagi.

Izuku Midoriya: Also

Izuku Midoriya has changed his name to 'Overhaul'

Overhaul: Better

Chronostasis: Real creative there, Izu

Overhaul: Pot calling the kettle black.

Ghosty: I have literally never seen a black pot

Ghosty: That quote makes no sense

Yaoi Hands: Are we not going to talk about how Izuku got distracted because he was texting Yanagi?

Ghosty: No, no I don't think we will

Yaomomo: Anyways, Nedzu did give us the week off, maybe we should all hang out sometime?

Yaoi Hands: Sounds good to me

Chronostasis: Sure

My Chemical Crowmance: I see no reason to decline

Overhaul: I'm down

Ghosty: Same

Izuku smiled as he pocketed his phone and continued walking towards the train station. Now he was looking forward to hanging out with his friends! God, it was still kind of weird to think about how he could now say 'friends' instead of 'friend', but he liked it! And so, with all bad memories pushed aside by the prospect of upcoming good ones, Izuku marched onwards with a smile on his face.

Itsuka Kendo created the chat 'Operation: IzuReiko'

Itsuka Kendo changed their name to 'Kendo'

Kendo added Reiko Yanagi to the chat

Reiko Yanagi: No

Reiko Yanagi left the chat

Kendo added Reiko Yanagi to the chat

Reiko Yanagi: Ughh, fine

Reiko Yanagi changed her name to Ghosty

Kendo: Wonderful

Kendo: Now

Kendo: Let's state the obvious: you're down bad for Izuku

Ghosty: Fuck off no im not

Kendo: You were the most worried for him, you voted for him to be Class President, You only agreed to hang out after Izuku did, you got flustered when I said you were whipped for him

Kendo: Must I go on?

Ghosty: These are baseless accusations.

Ghosty: Anyone would be worried, he was a clear choice for the role, that was just a coincidence, and anyone would get flustered if someone said that to them.

Ghosty: If anyone here's whipped, it's you

Kendo: Me?

Ghosty: Don't think I didn't see you looking at Momo's tits

Kendo: That's completely normal for a girl!

Ghosty: You clearly had eyes that said you wanted to put your head on her tits

Ghosty: Your literally the biggest fucking lesbian in the world and you don't even see it

Kendo: *You're

Ghosty: Fuck you, I'll see you when we all hang out

Ghosty is offline

Kendo is offline

Izuku and Kurono walked into the mall, where they had all agreed to hang out. They seemed to be the first ones there, though, so they decided to just sit on a bench next to the fountain until they arrived.

"So, how's the 'Pink Devil' going?" Izuku decided to ask, which made Kurono perk up.

"Pretty good, actually. We're planning on meeting up this weekend to hang out," Kurono replied. Izuku raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you guys didn't get along?" Izuku asked. Kurono laughed.

"It took a while, but we're fine now!" He explained.

Support Lab, same day as the USJ Incident

"Hey, Clock-Kun!" Mei called out, "I need your help with something!"

"I swear to god, if this thing has at least a 70% chance to explode, I will send you to the Beyond at Bed Bath and Beyond," Kurono replied, not even looking up from his sketchpad.

"…I don't need your help with anything," Mei said.

"Well, good for you, I guess?" Izuku replied. Kurono simply smiled and looked over at the door.

"Oh, hey! Yaoyorozu and Yanagi are here!" Kurono said. Izuku wasn't sure how Kurono knew what they looked like, but then he remembered that he probably had access to student information to make costumes. Izuku didn't want to consider if Kurono was allowed to use the information for something as trivial as this, so he instead focused on what Momo and Reiko were wearing.

Momo was wearing a burgundy turtleneck sweater, along with midnight-blue skirt and black tights along with black knee-high boots, which all together gave off a kind of expensive feeling.

Reiko, on the other hand, was simply wearing a light gray hoodie and jeans. And yet somehow, Izuku liked that more than Momo's. Maybe it was because he preferred the simplicity? Or was it just because Reiko was wearing it? Would his opinion change if they swapped outfits?

Wait, he'd had a similar though process to this back when he first saw her in her Hero Costume, so he should probably quit while he's ahead.

"H-Hey! How'd you two arrive at the same time?" Izuku asked once they came over.

"Well, it turns out we're both from Aichi, and we both took the same train to Musutafu, just from different stations!" Momo explained. Reiko nodded to confirm her story. At that same time, Tokoyami came in, shortly followed by Kendo.

"Apologies for being late, I ran into a situation whilst trying to leave," Tokoyami explained, which caused Dark Shadow to appear.

"The situation was that he got stuck in a tree," Dark Shadow explained, hiding a snicker.

"Silence, Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami grumbled, which made Dark Shadow laugh before retreating to within Tokoyami. Izuku, Kurono, Kendo and Momo laughed, with Reiko seeming amused as well.

"It's fine, Tokoyami! Besides, you're just on time!" Izuku replied. He took note of what the new arrivals were wearing as well. Tokoyami was wearing a simple button-down shirt along with a vest, and some clean black pants as well. Kendo was wearing a light-blue knee-long dress, with a black jacket over the top, which was probably the most Kendo outfit that Izuku could imagine.

"So, we're all here then?" Kendo asked. They all gave sounds of affirmation, and Kendo smiled.

"Great! So, how are we gonna do this? Are we gonna stick together, or are we gonna split up, or-,"

"We should split up. Yaoyorozu and Itsuka can be in one group, Izuku and Yanagi in another, and Tokoyami and I in the last group," Kurono blurted out. Momo raised an eyebrow.

"That was, uh, very quick, Kurono-Kun. Why those groups in particular?" Momo asked. Kurono laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I wanted to go with Tokoyami because I barely know anything about him, and Izuku and Itsuka already know each other pretty well, so if we do it this way, we all get to hang out with someone we don't know as well!" Kurono explained. Suddenly, Izuku realized what Kurono was trying to pull, and he looked over to Kendo in fear. Surprisingly, she was also looking slightly afraid at the idea that Kurono was pairing them up with their respective cru- well-liked friends (except for Tokoyami, unless he's gay and Kurono is as well and he's playing 4D Chess or something).

Momo, not being able to think of anything better, sighed.

"Alright, sounds fine. We'll meet back here at 12:30?" Momo suggested. Izuku looked at his watch and found that gave them nearly 2 hours of just wandering. Oh god, he'd be alone with Reiko for an entire 2 hours! He looked to Kurono for support, but all he got was a fast smirk before Kurono left with Tokoyami.

"W-Well, let's go, Yaomomo!" Kendo exclaimed, turning and walking away with Momo following behind her.

"Where shall we go, Midoriya?" Reiko asked, which somehow startled Izuku.

"Oh, uh, I'm fine with going anywhere you want to go, really," Izuku replied. Reiko hummed and turned.

"Very well, there was a shop I have wanted to visit for quite a while now. This is an excellent opportunity to peruse it," Reiko stated. And so, they continued in silence as they walked through the relatively busy mall. Izuku prodded around in his mind for something to talk about, but all he could land on was-

"I, uh, like your outfit," Izuku mumbled. 'Gah, now she's going to think I'm a weirdo! God damn it, Izuku, you dumbass!'

"Hm? Ah…it's not that impressive, I just grabbed them from my wardrobe w-without thinking," Reiko replied, looking slightly flustered from the compliment, "I like your coat, the fluffy collar is quite beautiful," Now it was Izuku's turn to be flustered, and he instinctively turned his head away.

"Th-thanks, but I still think your outfit is cool," Izuku replied.

"Are…Are they in a cycle of complimenting the other, getting embarrassed, getting complimented by the other and getting more embarrassed?" Kurono asked as he peaked around the corner at the two lovebirds. Meanwhile, the actual bird beside him was looking confused.

"I was under the impression we were going shopping?" Tokoyami asked as Kurono snapped a picture of Reiko and Izuku both looking flustered.

"Yes, I'm shopping for blackmail, it's something I'm very good at!" Kurono replied. Tokoyami sighed.

"What a mad banquet of darkness," He muttered.

Finally, Izuku and Reiko got to their destination, and Izuku was surprised to see that it was a video game store.

"Do you like games?" Izuku asked as they walked inside. Reiko shrugged.

"I won't deny that I am partial to them, no," She replied. Izuku hummed. When had he last played a video game? He actually couldn't even remember; usually he was either studying, researching quirks, or messing around with Kurono. He actually didn't think there was even a console in the entire compound.

"So, what games are popular nowadays?" Izuku asked. Reiko shrugged.

"I don't know, I prefer to play older games. Thankfully, you can find many at this establishment, from what I've heard," Reiko replied. Izuku tried to find something relevant to that.

"So, you play, uh, minesweeper?" Izuku tried. The look of exasperation on Reiko's face seemed to say that she did not play minesweeper.

"When was the last time you played a video game, Midoriya?" Reiko asked. Izuku laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, good question?" He opted to reply. Disbelief immediately washed over Reiko's face, and she facepalmed.

"Good lord, you must have had a depressing childhood. First you say you're used to getting yelled at, then you say you can't remember the last time you played a video game. Just what environment were you raised in, Midoriya?" Reiko moaned.

"Uh, sorry?" Izuku replied. Reiko sighed.

"It's…fine. Perhaps I should pick out a video game you could try if we ever have the chance to hang out in my dwelling," Reiko said. Izuku spluttered when she said that. 'S-She would be alright with having me over at her house?!' Reiko seemed to notice what she said as well, and she blushed.

"Er, let's just get some games and then leave, before things become any more awkward," Reiko suggested. Izuku was thankful for the idea, and the 2 quickly got some games and left without any further incident (although Izuku did accidentally bump into a guy with black and gold hair who looked surprisingly similar to Aizawa, minus the stubble and about half his age). Izuku and Reiko sat on a bench in comfortable silence. They were there for a moment before Izuku came up with an idea.

"Hey, wanna get some ice cream?" He suggested.

Itsuka was not a lesbian.

I mean, that was stupid! Sure, she'd never had any crushes on guys, but that was because she was too young, or the guys just weren't interesting! Reiko was being stupid, calling her a lesbian! She was probably just trying to get back at her for teasing her about Izuku!

Although she couldn't deny that Momo was pleasant to look at.

But she was not gay for her, or anyone. Itsuka Kendo is a straight girl who likes guys.

.

.

.

Ok, maybe she's a little gay for Momo, but that was only, like 28% of her! 28% isn't the majority, therefore Itsuka is not gay.

What was she doing again?

Ah, yes, she was sharing a milkshake with Momo after pretending they were a couple so they could get a discount. She was never gonna tell Reiko about that, otherwise that'd just add more fuel to the dumpster fire that is her shipping of her with Momo. And if she somehow did manage to find out…well, she was also getting Kurono to get any cute photos of her and Izuku, so she had a backup plan just in case.

"Are you alright, Kendo? You look like you're thinking about something," Momo pointed out. And if Itsuka felt her heart squeeze from Momo showing genuine worry towards her, then she was just having a heart attack. Because Itsuka Kendo . .

"I-I'm fine!" Itsuka replied, smiling. Momo hummed and drank some more of the milkshake. It was coffee flavored, something they apparently both liked. And if that fact made her happy, that was just because she was excited to have a friend to drink coffee with, because ITSUKA KENDO IS NOT A LESBIAN.

"I wonder how Izuku and Yanagi are going?" Kendo said, trying to keep her mind off the subject of her own sexuality. Momo sighed.

"Well, anyone can tell they're in love with each other and don't know it yet. I feel jealous, honestly," Momo replied. Kendo raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you jealous?" She asked. A nervous look came over Momo's face and she looked down, not making eye contact with Itsuka.

"Can…can you keep a secret?" Momo asked.

"Of course," Itsuka replied almost instantly. Momo took a deep breath in and looked up at Itsuka, and she couldn't help but be aware that her cheeks felt hot when she looked into her beautiful eyes.

"I'm, uh, attracted to girls. That is to say, I'm a lesbian," Momo stated, "But…I've never met another lesbian, and the chances that anyone I like is a lesbian are-,"

"I-I'm also a lesbian!" Itsuka blurted out. Wait, what? She wasn't a lesbian, she was- oh, fuck it, she was a lesbian, and a hopeless one at that. She couldn't deny she was probably just as whipped for Momo as Reiko was for Izuku, and that flutter she felt in her chest as excitement appeared on Momo's face proved it.

"Oh, how wonderful! I've never had anyone else to talk to it about! We must meet again some other time, just the two of us! We can have tea, or cake, and we could talk about cute girls we saw, and-," Yeah, Itsuka was fine with being a lesbian.

Snap "Yep, that's going in my blackmail collection," Kurono said as he put away his camera. Tokoyami was now even more confused.

"I…I thought we were blackmailing Yanagi and Midoriya? Didn't Kendo pay you to get blackmail material of them?" Tokoyami asked. He was grateful they had at least stopped at Hot Topic to do some shopping, and Kurono was more than happy to pay for Tokoyami's things as an apology for forcing him to tag along with him. Kurono turned to Tokoyami and gave him a smile.

"Well, yes, but Yanagi also asked me to get blackmail material of Itsuka and Yaoyorozu! I'm playing both sides, so I always come out on top!" Kurono explained. Tokoyami sighed. Honestly, he didn't think he had many more 'what a mad banquet of darkness's in him anymore, they had all been soaked up by Kurono's bullshit.

"Yare Yare Daze," Tokoyami muttered.

"Why am I unsurprised that you bought Boo-Berry?" Izuku said as he and Reiko sat where they first met up at the entrance of the mall.

"And why do I find myself completely unsurprised that your favourite flavour happens to be choc mint?" Reiko retorted.

"Touché," Izuku replied. He took note of how Reiko smiled slightly from the interaction. By all means, it wasn't big, but to Izuku it was brighter than even the sun. Reiko glanced over at him, just in time to catch him staring. He blushed and looked away.

"Anyways, um, how did you and Kurono end up becoming friends?" Reiko asked. Izuku was thankful for the subject change. But he was not thankful for the fact he was now treading on eggshells. He really didn't really want to reveal the fact he was connected to the Yakuza, because he was worried that if Reiko found out she'd immediately stop hanging out with him. So much for proving that a good hero can come from anywhere if you're too afraid to even tell your own friend about it!

"Uh, we were…raised together! Yeah!" Izuku technically wasn't lying, as they'd been raised by the boss for years now. Reiko hummed.

"So, he's like your adopted brother or something?" She asked. Izuku's smiled nervously.

'Er, no, it's kind of complicated?" Izuku said. Reiko was silent for a moment.

"Midoriya, you're clearly nervous about this, so I'm going to stop. You don't need to tell me whatever events occurred to bring you two together, so do not feel as if you must force yourself to," Reiko stated. Izuku was painfully aware of the fact his jaw had dropped, but he was genuinely surprised she had backed off.

"You're…you're just going to stop?" Izuku asked.

"Mhm," Reiko replied.

"But I thought you wanted to know?"

"Oh, believe me, I am incredibly interested as to why you two became friends,"

"But you're not gonna keep questioning me?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't want to either,"

Izuku held back what must have been an industrial amount of tears as he looked at his friend incredulously. Just what had he done to deserve someone so kind and gentle?

"I…thank you," Izuku said. Reiko was once again silent, but she seemed to be contemplating something.

"Would you perhaps like to-," Reiko started, but she was interrupted by someone else.

"Hah? The fuck are you dumbasses doing here?" The angry voice of Katsuki Bakugou growled. Izuku had to hold in a groan as he looked around to see Bakugou in all his ugly glory.

"Shopping," Izuku stated simply. Somehow, this pissed off Bakugou.

"Tch, sure. Listen, I don't know who the fuck you are or where the fuck I know you from, but I fucking swear I'll find out," Bakugou snarled.

"Could you please leave us alone, Bakugou-Kun? We are simply hanging out and are not looking for trouble," Reiko asked. Bakugou looked at her, sizing her up for a moment before walking away whilst grumbling.

"What on earth is his problem?" Reiko asked.

"We used to know each other when we were younger but then I, uh, moved away, so to speak, and now he doesn't remember me. He'd probably remember if I accidentally called him Kacchan though," Izuku explained. Reiko seemed confused.

"Why would you not inform him of your past relation?" She asked.

"Because he was a bully and I really don't want to find out how he's gonna react if he finds out how we know each other," Izuku blurted out.

"Hm, fair enough…heh," Izuku was slightly startled when he heard Reiko chuckle. His confusion grew when she started to quietly giggle as well.

"I'm sorry, but did you truly used to call that beast 'Kacchan'?" She asked between giggles. It was at this moment that Izuku realized that Reiko's giggling was one of his favourite sounds on earth, and he would do anything to hear it for the rest of his life. Unconsciously, he found himself smiling brightly, his mood already even better than before Bakugou arrived.

"W-We were like, 6!" Izuku replied.

"Hey-o, Daddy Kurono in the house," Izuku jumped when he heard Kurono from behind him, and he spun around to see him and Tokoyami. Weirdly enough, Tokoyami seemed to be a mixture of confused, worried and guilty; eh, it was probably nothing.

"A-Ah! Kurono, Tokoyami, you're back!" Izuku cried. Kurono laughed.

"Yep! Oh, right, Yanagi, here's what you ordered," Kurono said, pulling out a manilla folder and handing it to Reiko. She looked in it, nodded and took it, but not before paying Kurono with what looked like 10 000 Yen.

"What the…," Izuku muttered. Tokoyami caught his eye.

"Don't question it. Just don't," Tokoyami stated, and Izuku decided to just take his word for it because honestly that sounded way easier. Not long after, Momo and Itsuka appeared as well, and the 6 of them began making their way to their separate train stations. Once Izuku and Kurono were alone, his aura changed to one of smugness.

"So…Izuku and Reiko sitting on a bench, F-L-I-R," He didn't get far before Izuku slapped him in the face.