Chapter 24
The Kuronomobile did a perfect skid into a parking spot outside the address that Reiko had given him, and Kurono looked at Izuku over the back of the seat.
"Are you ready, Izuku?" Kurono asked. Izuku, to be painfully honest, was not ready. He'd never gone in a girl's room before! This felt like some crazy odyssey to another dimension for him! Despite these feelings, however, Izuku nodded. Kurono smiled and set a hand on Izuku's shoulder, "Good. Now, have you got everything? Textbooks, exercise books, pens, condoms, all that?" Izuku choked on his saliva when Kurono said that last one, and Kurono seemed to relish in that fact. With a hurried goodbye, Izuku got out of the car, which Kurono immediately drove off in, leaving Izuku all alone.
"I'm starting to regret this…" Izuku muttered as he shakily made his way to the doors of the apartment complex. However, he didn't regret it because of any negative feelings towards Reiko; it was ludicrous he could even have negative thoughts of Reiko! No, he regretted it because he was dangerously nervous. What if he embarrassed himself? What if he smelled weird? What if Reiko spontaneously decided he was a piece of shit?
These thoughts continued as he made his way up the complex stairs, and before he knew it, he was outside of Reiko's apartment. He took a deep breath in and out before lifting his hand to the door and giving it a swift knock. On the third knock, however, the door opened on its own, and the apartment inside was completely dark.
"R-Reiko?" Izuku called out, stepping into the apartment. He pulled his shoes off at the door, because even if something was wrong, he wasn't going to dirty up her apartment. Looking around, he couldn't see anything, so he reached for his phone and turned on the flashlight.
Only to shine it on Reiko, who was eating a cup of instant ramen in the kitchen, wearing a baggy hoodie and what he sincerely hoped were just short shorts, as he couldn't see anything below the low bottom of the hoodie. She had a pair of headphones on as well, which Izuku assumed were playing some kind of music.
"Ah." Reiko said. She then dashed away at lightning speed, slamming a door shut behind her. Izuku simply stood there in disbelief. What exactly had he just witnessed?
"Idiot." Reiko muttered, banging her head against the wall.
"Dumbass." She hissed, once again banging her head on the wall.
"Missing link between concrete and humans." She moaned, now banging her head against the floor. Just kidding, it was still the wall. Reiko continued to do this, painfully aware of how she had just messed up. She didn't mean to spend the whole night gaming! It just…kind of happened, and she lost track of time. She supposed that was what happened when you don't let in natural sunlight.
She groaned as she realized that she could have avoided this by not wearing her headphones. Or by having that stupid door fixed. Unfortunately, her damn landlord wouldn't budge on having it fixed, so she was stuck with a permanently unlocked, constantly opening on-it's-own door. And why did she have to be such a slob? It would have been 100x better if she'd been wearing regular pants instead of literally just underwear! God, she hoped that the hoodie had hidden that fact, otherwise she was sure Izuku would hate her.
Izuku.
She snapped her head up. She had to change her outfit, now! He probably wasn't there anymore, but on the off chance that he was, she needed to look her absolute best! She tore her wardrobe open, only to deflate as she realized she only owned hoodies and tracksuit pants. Damn her and her lazy dressing style! She didn't know what was worse, only owning these types of clothes or owning these types of clothes while having a mother who literally designs clothes for a living. Hell, Reiko even knew how to coordinate an outfit! She just…never applied it on herself is all.
"Reiko, is everything okay?" Ah, that was Izuku. Reiko felt her heart beat faster at his voice. She'd probably screwed up everything, hadn't she? She sighed, figuring she should probably reply.
"Yes, everything is perfectly fine, thank you." Reiko leaned against the wall as she strained her ears for the sound of Izuku walking away, which she very much expected him to do now she knew how much of a loser she was.
"Um, once you…get changed, are we still on for the study session?" Reiko's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. He…still wanted to do this? Even after he saw her stupid, otaku self? The one that eats instant ramen in the dark and wears just a hoodie and underwear when someone is visiting? God, she really didn't deserve him.
"…Yes, that would be quite an excellent idea, Izuku." Reiko replied. She then immediately dove into her closet and went through her shirts and hoodies. Gray, Gray, White, Gray, Black, Pale Blue, Gray- wait, pale blue? That could work! Her mother got that one because she said it matched her eyes! And then there was the matter of pants. And what a selection she had! Just kidding, it was all black. Wait…there! Navy blue jeans! Jeans were considered classy, right? She just hoped Izuku liked it.
Using her quirk, she practically ripped the hoodie she was wearing off of her at Mach 3 and pulled the new hoodie over her head before jumping on her bed and using her quirk to pull her jeans on as she jumped off, landing shakily on her feet. She patted herself down and marched over to the door and carefully ripped it off its hinges.
No, literally, she ripped it off its hinges.
"…Oops." Reiko stated as she stared at the fruit of her passion. Izuku stared at the door as well, a blush on his face.
"Hot…" he muttered. Reiko elected to ignore that comment and simply put the door to the side.
"Er…you may now proceed into my living quarters." Reiko said, looking to the side nervously as she turned and walked into her room. Her eyes flashed in alert as she realized it was all a mess, and with a panicked swinging of her arms she created a tornado of the discarded clothes, chips packets, ramen cups, and all manner of random objects and sent them flying into her closet, which she shut right behind it. She then levitated her Math and English textbooks and notebooks over to a small table she had in the middle of her room, before promptly plopping herself down on a pillow. Izuku, meanwhile, was simply looking at her room.
"Reiko…do you like horror?" Izuku asked. Reiko blanched as she remembered suddenly all the horror movie posters she had in the room. Idiot, idiot, idiot! She should have taken them all down! Liking horror movies as a girl is so weird! This is totally gonna make him hate her even more!
"…yes." Reiko whispered, praying that if she was just quiet enough, he'd forget all about it.
"That explains so much!" Izuku exclaimed, eyes sparkling, "I was wondering why your hero name was Emily, but it must be from that horror movie from that poster on the wall!" He pointed at the poster in question, which showed a promotion of an old film called The Exorcism of Emily Rose, "Jeez, it kinda makes me feel pretentious about naming myself after my goals and ideals when you just chose something you really enjoy…" Reiko looked at Izuku in shock. He…didn't think she was weird for watching horror movies? That was by far the most unexpected result from today, she was sure of it.
Izuku sat down on the cushion next to Reiko, and he stretched for a moment.
"Alright, what're we studying?" Izuku asked.
"I-I require assistance with the demon that masquerades itself as algebraic fractions." Reiko replied, voice dripping with contempt as she even thought of the very concept of algebraic fractions. Izuku smiled sympathetically and began opening her textbook.
"Yeah, algebraic fractions are a bitch-and-a-half. C'mon, I'll help you figure out the process." And so, they began to study.
"Er, Momo?" Kendo said as she turned to the beautiful girl beside her on the rich mahogany table, "Where's the toilet?" Momo let out a small 'oh!' and stood up, beckoning Kendo to follow her.
"I'll show you!" She replied, walking at a moderate pace to allow Kendo to walk beside her. Kendo had been expecting a large house, but this was just insane. The roof was massive, and she figured that even the room they were working in would fit her entire apartment. It made her feel poor if she was being honest.
Momo turned onto a corridor, and Kendo took note of a line of portraits along the wall. It seemed to show the Yaoyorozu family through the years, and the first one seemed to be the latest, showing a 15-year-old Momo with her mother and father. Her mother looked very much alike to Momo, except the matriarch Yaoyorozu had her hair cut short and wore glasses, and Kendo could see that her eyes were golden but she and her daughter had the same thin, intelligent eyes. Her father, on the other hand, shared fewer similarities with Momo. He had shorter brown hair with white streaks on the sides, and his eyes were larger, but shared his daughter's dark gray eyes. Actually, Kendo swore that the patriarch of the Yaoyorozu family was familiar, but she didn't know how. She figured the man just had an unfortunate face and moved on.
The rest of the hallway was lined with these portraits, and in each one they all got younger. Momo looked less mature, her mother had longer hair and no glasses, and her father's hair regained its natural colours. However, Momo stopped again when they reached the portrait where Momo was presumably five. This one was noticeably wider than the others, and at first glance you couldn't tell why. But a closer look revealed that in the widened part something, or someone, had been painted over, erasing them from the painting.
"Hey, Momo?" Kendo called out, making her crush friend stop in her tracks and turn around, "What used to be in this portrait?" Momo raised an eyebrow and looked at the painting with Kendo.
"Whatever do you mean, Itsuka?" Momo inquired. Kendo pointed at the painted-over portion, and Momo looked again, this time humming.
"I'm not awfully aware, I'm afraid. I shall ask mother later tonight!" Momo declared. And with that, the two began walking again. And yet again, that same question came to Kendo's head.
Where had she seen Momo's father before?
"And that is how you do algebraic fractions," Izuku concluded, as Reiko finally managed to do an equation on her own, "Good job, Reiko! You'll Detroit Smash this exam when the time comes!" Reiko blushed and smiled slightly.
"Thank you, Izuku, your explanations truly exceed those drabbles that Ectoplasm-Sensei labels as teaching." Reiko replied, which made Izuku snort. It had been surprisingly natural for him to step into the role of a teacher, and either he was good at it or Reiko was just great at learning, because she got the hang of it in only 30 minutes! Izuku didn't know if that was a good time frame, but he'd consider it as such. Izuku stretched his arms and closed the math textbook.
"Hm, we should probably take a break now," He stated before he turned to Reiko, "What do you want to do?" Izuku noticed Reiko's eyes glide across the room and over to a dark corner, where Izuku could see a PC setup. He remembered how Reiko said she liked gaming at the mall, and an idea clicked into place, "Do you wanna play some games?" Almost immediately, the pale girl hopped up and practically teleported into her seat, booting up her PC and logging in. Izuku just shook his head in amusement and stood up to go over to her.
Izuku only barely saw a flash of a website, getting to 'Archive of' before Reiko swapped tabs to a different window. Due to Izuku's horrible knowledge of video games, he had no idea what this was, but if her were to guess he'd say it were some kind of launcher. The title at the top declared that the game was called Halo Eternal.
"This is a superb game, in my objective opinion," Reiko started explaining as she clicked the launch button, "It is quite antique compared to its successors, but a vast majority of the community deems this installment in the series as the unobjectively superior version to perform in." Izuku hummed as he watched Reiko load into the main menu. It showed a man in green armor with a yellow visor standing in a helicopter of sorts, and the bay was open to show what looked like hell, with flames and demons and general chaos.
"Would you by any chance be interested in learning how to play?" Reiko asked, turning to look at Izuku. Izuku smiled confidently and nodded. He would never turn down the chance to learn! Reiko got up from her chair and gestured for Izuku to sit in it, which he did. He looked at the keyboard and mouse, and Reiko guided him to the campaign. Izuku grinned as he loaded into a new save. He was gonna kick so much ass!
Izuku got his ass kicked and was now pouting as he watched Reiko blaze through the level, slaughtering demons as Master Doomguy.
"It was an honest attempt." She attempted to console Izuku as she looked up at him, still doing just as well while not even looking at the screen. Izuku just pouted harder.
"I died in the first 30 seconds." He countered. Reiko flinched as she remembered how Izuku had screamed as he was taken out by the very slow and basically useless Lesser Demon, the demon that you literally had to let kill you if you wanted to be killed by it. Well, she was at least thankful that he'd unlocked that achievement for her.
"Hm…would you perhaps like to try multiplayer? I have no qualms with letting you speak to others through the mic as I play…people generally prefer a gamer guy to a gamer girl anyways." She added solemnly. Izuku considered it for a moment before nodding and giving his approval. Reiko quickly left the campaign and loaded into a multiplayer lobby, handing Izuku the mic, "Oh, and just so you know, it can get quite intense." Reiko mentioned. Before Izuku could question it, they loaded in, and there was instant yelling. Izuku could barely decipher half of it, but the stuff he could decipher was…colourful, to say the least.
"Y'all are trash."
"Game hasn't started yet, dipshit."
"SHUT UP EVERYONE."
"Justinian the Great. Do you agree?"
"Darling, if you poke my boob one more time, I will not hesitate to grab the strap-on."
"Is that a woman?"
"Fuck off, bitch, I'm here to kick bubblegum and chew ass, and I'm all out of ass."
Izuku stood there in shock as he listened to what everyone was saying. Reiko looked at him with sympathy in her eyes, as if to say 'sorry'. Izuku just sighed and turned on the mic.
"How do you do, fellow gamers?" He asked. There was immediate laughter from everyone. He turned the mic off and looked at Reiko.
"Why is everyone so mean?" He asked. Reiko just shrugged.
"Izuku, I assure you that within two hours you shall be as corrupt as they are." She replied. Izuku rolled his eyes as Reiko was placed in the Master Doomguy team.
"Yeah, right. I'll never stoop to their level!" He declared.
1 Hour Later
"YOUR LIFE IS NOTHING! YOU SERVE ZERO PURPOSE! YOU SHOULD KILL YOURSELF…NOW!" Izuku yelled as Reiko dominated the field. It hadn't taken long for him to get into the zone, and with Reiko's insane gaming skills, everyone was downright terrified of them. The only person who even came close to their skills was '(Un)holy Vine', who seemed to have a fondness for threatening to use a strap-on on her boyfriend. Unfortunately for their opponents, (Un)holy Vine and the Izuku-Reiko Confederation were on the same team, meaning they had lost exactly zero games.
Suddenly, the screen went black, and a moment later the menu screen popped up along with a pop-up message.
"You have been banned for harassment." Izuku read out loud. Oh fuck, had he done that? God, Reiko must think he's such an idiot! He just got her banned from her favourite game! To his surprise, however, she simply giggled.
"That's quite the accomplishment. I do not recall ever hearing of someone being banned for harassment in this video game, which means your words of hatred were so despicable that they were too harsh for even this community." Reiko said. Izuku sighed but felt a little better after what Reiko had said.
"Still, I feel kinda bad for getting your main account banned." Izuku replied. Reiko just shrugged.
"Have no worries, I highly doubt the ban shall last anywhere near a period long enough to frustrate me," After she said that a loud rumble came from her stomach, and she blushed, "…I do believe it is time for lunch," Izuku followed Reiko out into the kitchen, only for Reiko to pause and turn to look at Izuku, "What are your opinions on instant ramen?" Izuku raised an eyebrow at that but still responded.
"Not overly fond of the stuff, why?"
"Hm…fuck." Reiko replied, looking worried.
"…Don't tell me you only have instant ramen?" Reiko could only nod in response, and Izuku sighed, "Alright, do you have any ingredients?" Reiko's eyes went up, and she put her chin in her hand.
"Well, mother always endeavors to make sure that the kitchen is stocked with ingredients so that grocery shopping is not something she must consider after the conclusion of her business trips. Nothing short-lasting, she only purchases white rice, noodles, stock, nori, and some other products, many of which are frozen to prolong their life span," Reiko replied, before her eyes became downcast, "Er, but I find cooking to be a skill that eludes me…" she added, looking embarrassed.
"You can't cook?" Izuku asked incredulously.
"…Correct." Reiko confirmed. Izuku let out a long sigh before clapping his hands together with a grin.
"I guess I'll just have to show you how!" And without any further warning Izuku got to work, before stopping and turning to Reiko sheepishly, "Um, where are the ingredients?" Reiko guided him over to the cupboard and freezer, and Izuku nodded as he saw the contents of each of them, "Alright, I can work with this. I think I saw some pork in the freezer which we could use for Katsudon." He muttered as he opened the freezer and rummaged for a bit before pulling out the pork.
"Pardon my prodding, but will it not take quite a while for the pork to defrost?" Reiko pointed out, only to go silent as Izuku used his quirk on the pork, instantly removing any ice from the pork, putting it at room temperature.
"I'd carbonize it, but that's outside of my skill range." Izuku added nonchalantly. And so, after pulling out the rice, breadcrumbs, some spring onions, and other assorted ingredients, Izuku got to work cooking while teaching Reiko simultaneously how to cook. The rice part was easy, just chucking it in a rice cooker with some water and letting it cook on its own. After that, they moved onto the pork. Izuku let her pound the meat using her quirk, allowing it to be flattened in an instant almost (he could have done it with his quirk, but he wanted to include Reiko).
After crumbing and cooking the pork came the onion, which was pretty simple and allowed Izuku to teach Reiko how to use a frying pan, which went surprisingly well in her opinion. After that, however, came to cutting the pork, and needless to say, Reiko was terrified.
"What's wrong?" Izuku asked as Reiko hesitated with the knife.
"It's just…I have this horrible fear that I shall cut my own appendage off via this blade." Reiko replied, hands shaking slightly. Izuku thought for a moment before snapping his fingers in epiphany. Reiko yelped as Izuku got up behind her and gently grabbed her hands, guiding them himself.
"Just let me show you…" Izuku said as he lowered Reiko's hands. Her left hand held the pork in place, while the right hand sawed through it, cutting it into a strip. It was kind of awkward, as he could just barely see over her shoulders when he stood on the tips of his toes, but it was…calming. He felt himself relax as Reiko's scent permeated his nose. She smelt not of flowers or mint, but of ramen and…dusty books, if he had to wager a guess. It wasn't orthodox, but neither was Reiko, and that was what he loved about her.
Wait.
Loved?
Did he-
Izuku mentally slapped himself in the face. How the hell had he never realized once before that he liked Reiko romantically? No wonder Kurono and Kendo had been looking at them like that! But…nah, surely not…there was no way Reiko felt the same way about him, right? She was amazing, with a cool quirk and amazing personality, and that wasn't even mentioning her gorgeous appearance and ability to look amazing in anything she wore. No way someone like Reiko would like someone like Izuku. Izuku, who couldn't even play a video game. Izuku, who couldn't even tell her how he met Kurono. Izuku, who killed his own mother. There was no way that she could ever feel the same way about someone like that.
The two continued on with the katsudon, both with blushes on their faces as they refused to meet the others eye. Finally, they finished, and they both sat down to have a bowl. Reiko took one bite of the pork, and her eyes snapped open in shock, chewing absent mindedly as she looked into space. When she finally finished it, her mouth gaped open.
"…It's fantastic." Was all she said before she began eating with gusto. Izuku watched her eat with a sad smile. Yeah, she didn't deserve a loser like him for a boyfriend. And he definitely didn't deserve a goddess like her as a girlfriend, let alone just a regular friend.
His heart skipped a beat as he imagined the two of them as a couple, but that feeling managed to make him remember something he'd done the other day.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Izuku stated, catching Reiko's attention, "I had a theory as to how your quirk works!" That made Reiko's eyebrows rise up in interest, and Izuku continued his explanation as Reiko ate, "So, you know how you think your quirk is just regular telekinesis, yeah? Well, what if I told you, it wasn't?" Izuku looked around for a moment before shaking his head excitedly, "Er, just try it on me, okay? Are you ready?" Reiko, of course, was not ready, but she still did as Izuku asked, and he just barely levitated off the ground; it seemed Reiko could hold him in place but couldn't freely move him.
"What exactly are you suggesting, Izuku?" Reiko asked, putting him down with a sigh of relief. Izuku's eyes seemed to grow in size as he got even more excited.
"Now, pick me up without your quirk!" He ordered. Reiko blushed, and she hesitated for a moment before obliging, getting out of her seat and picking up Izuku. To his delight, he was lifted about as high as he was when she used her quirk, and once she put him back down, he practically hopped around in joy, "I think I might be right!" Izuku grabbed a crumpled-up piece of paper from his pocket and a pen from the bench, and he began to scribble on the paper, "You aren't just lifting things with mindpower…what you're actually using are simply invisible extensions of your hands!" He concluded, presenting Reiko a picture of what he was imagining. It showed a rough stick figure of Reiko using her quirk, except on the box he'd attached a pair of hands which had been drawn lightly and attached at the other end to Reiko's hands, creating the illusion of invisible arms.
"So, what I understand of this theory is that my quirk acts essentially as a phantasmal extension of my upper limbs, and that if I were to increase my muscle mass, I may possibly be able to lift even larger objects?" Reiko questioned. Izuku nodded, and Reiko sank back into her chair, "Wow…that is…quite the bold hypothesis…"
Suddenly, Izuku felt his phone vibrate, and he pulled it out to see an incoming call from Kurono. He answered it.
"Hello?" Izuku asked.
"Oh, Izuku! You're stuck at Reiko's for the night!" Kurono exclaimed happily, which caused Izuku to choke on his own spit.
"W-What?" Izuku replied after he got his choking under control.
"Due to some unfortunate problems with the train tracks, the train nearest to Reiko's apartment is out of order! Not only that, but the Kuronomobile is-."
"Hello, Kurono's Friend! We blew up the train tracks!" Mei Hatsume called out over Kurono's side. Izuku and Kurono both went silent. Then, all of a sudden-
"You WHAT?!" Izuku yelled. It was too late, however, as Kurono ended the call without another word. Izuku sat there frozen, phone still to his ear as he processed what had just happened.
Kurono had just COMMITTED AN ACT OF TERRORISM.
He was now stuck at Reiko's until tomorrow.
"Is everything quite alright?" Reiko asked. Izuku gulped and looked at Reiko.
"We've…I…Kurono…" Izuku spluttered, before finally finding the right words, "The trains are out of order and the Kuronomobile is in for repairs, so I'm kinda stuck here until tomorrow?" Izuku explained. Reiko stiffened at that, and Izuku sighed internally. Yeah, he expected that. Who wouldn't be upset at having to deal with him for a full day more than expected?
So, in other words…this has turned into an improvised sleepover?" Reiko summarized.
"It would seem so." Izuku replied, and as he did so he silently cursed Kurono and his ridiculous plots. By far, this was his worst idea yet, and there was no way that this could end in any way that was imaginably good.
Extra
"Babe, I gotta head out somewhere with Mei." Kurono stated as he went to leave Ibara's apartment. Ibara didn't take her eyes off the game, but Kurono could tell she was raising an eyebrow.
"And where might you be taking Mei?" She asked, skepticism running deep in her voice.
"The…train station…yeah…" Kurono spoke charismatically and believably. That is, if the person he was speaking to had the social intelligence of a corpse, which Ibara decidedly did not.
"Really!" Ibara said in a tone that Kurono didn't exactly equate with happiness, "And where will you go after the train station?" A bead of sweat dropped down Kurono's brow, and he smiled nervously.
"Uh, back here?" He answered. Before Ibara could interrogate her boyfriend anymore, Mei suddenly burst in through the door.
"Hello boyfriend and girlfriend! Kurono, are we ready to go blow up the train tracks?" She asked innocently. The room went dead silent, and Kurono felt himself die inside as Ibara actually turned away from the screen, and his soul left his body as he saw her furious glare. Her hair began to extend towards Kurono, who immediately grabbed Mei and booked it.
"LOVE YOU SEE YOU LATER!" He yelled before slamming the door behind him, leaving a frustrated Ibara alone with herself. He knew he'd pay for it later, and his less-than-public parts screamed in pre-emptive pain as knowledge of exactly how he'd pay for it came to mind.
Oh well, a small price to pay for matchmaking.