"Well, why don't we go to the movies? There is that marathon of the old superhero movies playing again," Ochako suggested, glancing at Izuku, her cheeks glowing a little more red. She knew the hero nerd would jump at the chance to rewatch his favorite series again. A week after their first date, and she was still kinda nervous around him.
"No fucking way. Thirty-seven movies is too fucking much," Katsuki said, a slight growl to his voice, "Even if the nerd can handle it, he gets too excited. He always gets wired about Iron Man and Captain America. No fucking way am I sitting through that again."
"That hurts, Kacchan," Izuku said, pouting slightly at being called out like that. "But we should choose a place where we can have fun and get to know Hatsume."
"We could always go get lunch," Shoko said quietly, watching the rest of the group from her perch on the couch arm. The group of teenagers were lounging around the Todorokis' living room, enjoying a day off. "Food is a great way to help break the ice."
"That's basically a given," Shoto said from his father's armchair, glancing over his book at Izuku. "Breakfast was only an hour ago."
Right on cue, Izuku's stomach growled angrily. He looked sheepishly as Shoko and Ochako giggled, while Katsuki rolled his eyes, giving Izuku a knowing smirk.
"How about the arcade then?" Izuku asked, "They just added that new 5-D simulation game."
"As long as I get to take another crack at your top score on Area 51 , I'm down ," Katsuki jeered at Izuku, eyes flashing competitively. Izuku smiled wide, eyebrows raised in a teasing manner.
"And it's not too expensive!" Ochako piped in, looking hopeful.
"'Chako," Shoko said, rolling her eyes, looking at her best friend. "You know you don't have to worry about that, right?"
Ochako blushed further, and poked her pointer fingers together nervously, nodding slowly, "I just don't want you guys paying for me, is all. And that'll be a great place to meet Izuku's new friend."
"So, lunch then arcade?" Shoto said, putting down the book and stretching. He looked around the room, and didn't see any objections. He nodded. "Then it's settled."
"I'll let her know!" Izuku said cheerfully, the Interface popping up in front of him, ready to compose his message to Mei.
Mei Hatsume was not one to spend time away from the workshop, as Izuku had come to learn after talking to her grandfather. The elder Hatsume had to practically drag the pinkette out by her feet when Izuku showed up to pick her up. He felt a little sorry for her as she pleaded with her grandfather to not kick her out of the shop, but smiled all the same as she huffed in annoyance as the door closed and locked in her face.
"It's not gonna be that bad, Mei," Izuku said, rubbing the back of his head as he watched her turn away from the shop and trudge towards him.
"It's not that," she said in a defeated, slightly whiny tone, fiddling with the crisp white button down shirt that her grandpa had thrown at her. "I just wanted to finish my latest baby before leaving. Why do you have to be so punctual?" She gave him a half-hearted glare of contempt, as if it was his fault. She pulled the shirt on over her head, covering her tank-top loosely, and Izuku noticed that she was actually clean for once. Elder Hatsume must have threatened to close down the shop in order for her to remove the grease from her skin and clothes.
Izuku chuckled. "Dad is always on time no matter what he's fighting. I guess it rubbed off on me," he said nonchalantly, shrugging as he turned to walk next to her to the train station.
"Yeah, well, it sucks," she spat back, huffing again and crossing her arms. "Couldn't even hook up the power modulator, let alone the tensioner…" she mumbled under her breath, throwing more glares at Izuku. "Where are we going, anyway? Your text said something about hanging out?"
Izuku grinned, and looked down at her, noting the excited look in her eyes. He'd put money down that she probably never spent time with anyone except her grandfather, and probably had a hard time making friends. Another pang of sorrow for her shot through him. He turned back to the direction they were walking, choosing his words carefully.
"Well, I'd thought we'd try lunch and then an arcade. And," he glanced over at her, "If it's not too much for you, I'd like you to meet my friends. They are interested in meeting you."
Mei's eyes widened slightly, her crosshair pupils roaming his face, her smile bursting wide. "Yes! More people to make babies for! I bet your friends are super powerful, like you! And I bet you guys will be big-time heroes! AHH! Come on! Let's go!"
She grabbed Izuku's arm and pulled him along with a strength that surprised him. He laughed and leaned down, scooping her up into his arms. She shrieked with shock and glee and wrapped her arms around his neck as he took off at high speed, sprinting the rest of the way to the train station, Mei laughing maniacally.
The arcade was a little busier than Izuku had expected, families milling about with young children playing games, or couples teaming up on the various games that were available. He looked around as he waited at the counter, the attendant getting their passes ready.
Lunch had been quick. Introductions were made, with Mei fawning over each of the new people she had met, learning about their quirks, taking special attention to Ochako and Katsuki as their quirks intrigued her. They had picked a small noodle shop, and spent most of time listening to Mei describe her different ideas, each of them realizing that once you opened the Pandora's Box that was Mei, she was a ball of unstoppable energy.
"Oooooo, but what if we gave you something like a grappling hook?"
Mei's voice drifted back into Izuku's consciousness, and he looked back at the group, waiting at a table, Mei looking at Ochako's fingers closely. She had been coming up with ideas for all of them non-stop since they left the restaurant, each one having their quirks taken into account and getting studied by the hyper mechanic. Much to Izuku's amusement, Katsuki seemed to brush her off at first, but his tune changed when Mei suggested a containment device for his sweat. The next thing they knew, Katsuki was actually having a conversation with her like a normal person. Izuku made sure to record the entire thing for posterity, eternally grateful to Mei for the recording feature of the Interface.
"Here you go, sir. Please have fun!" The friendly attendant said, handing him 6 plastic cards.
"Thanks!" Izuku said cheerfully, turning back to his friends, and passing out the passes to each of them.
"You ready for your score to crash and burn, Deku? " Katsuki said through a wicked smile.
"You're on, Kacchan," Izuku said, his confident smile blazing to life.
"In other news, shocking new discoveries about the Musutafu Reactor Incident have come to light since it was first announced last month."
The news broadcast playing on the TV hanging from the ceiling had been mostly ignored by everyone there, the volume of the large room overpowering the small TV speakers. But Izuku heard just enough to look up from the racing game he and Mei were playing in surprise and trepidation.
"We can now confirm, thanks to anonymous sources, that there was more than one Hero on the scene of the dangerous and destructive events in the aftermath of the Musutafu Earthquake. In this video footage, it seems that an unknown Hero was assisting All Might!"
The screen showed the male reporter in front of a looping video that featured All Might, and after a gesture from the reporter, it filled the screen. The video showed the end of the bright green laser that had been Izuku, with All Might and the rest of the works looking up in shock. The camera then swung around as the building collapsed, and All Might vanished from the frame, only to show up digging through the rubble. Then there was a single frame of dark green hair.
Izuku's eyes went wide with recognition. "Oh shit…" he said quietly, glancing around the room quickly.
"If you happen to have any info leading to the finding of this mysterious hero, please…"
The Interface pulsed softly, indicating an incoming call.
"H-hey, Dad," Izuku stammered as the call connected.
Izuku was pissed. Actually, that wasn't even close to just how upset he was. Enraged, perhaps. Livid, definitely.
Regardless of the actual word, he was upset.
"I assure you, it's for the best, Young Midoriya," the small animal thing behind the large wooden desk said shortly.
Izuku glared at him for a second, before swivelling his gaze to his father, who actually managed to look a little scared. They had been talking for the last two hours, pulling Izuku away from his time with his friends.
"You agreed to this?" Izuku accused, jabbing a finger at the folder on President Nezu's desk, the plan and documents neatly arranged.
Toshinori glanced at the folder and nodded, face looking forlorn, eyes sunken and sad. "I did, my son. Nezu is right. It's for the best. You need to vanish for a while. Someone is searching for you, and we have no idea what they want."
Izuku stared at the both of them for a few seconds, as if hoping that it was some sick and cruel joke, before finally letting out the breath he was subconsciously holding, trying to keep his temper in check.
"So… I disappear for a couple of years, stay on I-Island with Uncle Dave, and train until the entrance exam for UA," Izuku recounted, deflating slowly as he talked. He looked up at his father. "What about you and Mom?"
"We stay here. I need to maintain my presence," Toshinori said sadly, his heart breaking at his son's anger and disappointment. "But we will be visiting at least once a month, if not more. And you'll still be able to talk to your friends," he added, hopeful that it would help soften the blow.
"Yeah, while they get to graduate and hang out together, I'm stuck on the floating hockey puck," Izuku said sardonically. "When would I leave?"
"Well, you need to test out of high school before you go, which I'm quite positive you will be able to do, given your grades and test scores, but I would say about two months. Finish high school, at the very least." Nezu interjected, prompting a sideways glare from Izuku.
"Fine," Izuku retorted. He looked pensive for a second before looking between Nezu and his father. "I don't like this. Not at all. You haven't given me a choice in the matter," Izuku said sullenly.
"Izuku." His father's stern voice made him look up questioningly. "I know how you are feeling. You want to fight this head on. You want to prove yourself. You want to prove that you can handle anything thrown at you."
Izuku blinked. Toshinori's gaunt face was drawn back, a look of determination and a challenge in his eyes.
"But you need to realize that by not going you aren't just endangering yourself, but your friends and your family. You need to vanish to get the heat off of you, lest you be discovered as my son and my heir," Toshinori said with conviction. "You don't want anything happening to me or your mother, do you?" he finished with a knowing smile.
Izuku felt like a truck had hit him. Of course he didn't want his friends or his mother or his father to get hurt. A flash of a memory of his nightmare ran through his mind, Ochako disappearing into the sludge and the pain it caused made him quell it immediately.
He looked up at Nezu, resignation etched onto his face.
"Okay. Two years training, then. Keep a spot for me in the entrance exam," Izuku said, trying to sound confident in the face of such a low blow.
Nezu nodded, smiling brightly. "But of course, Mr. Midoriya. I can't wait to see you back here."
The last two months had passed by in what seemed like the blink of an eye to Izuku. Nezu had arranged for him to test out of the remainder of his classes, which had taken place spread out over a couple of weeks. With school out of the way, the only remaining obstacle was a convincing semi-public reason for him to leave.
Enter David Shield, long time friend of All Might, inventor extraordinaire, and one of the many council members on I-Island, the world's top research facility for quirks and related technology. When he posted that he was in need of new research interns, Izuku's application, provided by Nezu as well, was moved to the top of the pile. The decision was unanimous after seeing Izuku's perfect test scores and recommendations from top heroes, including All Might himself.
Of course, David had known Izuku since he was born, but no one outside of All Might's inner circle knew that truth. Even Izuku's friends didn't know, so the announcement of his internship was quite the surprise to all of them, especially Ochako and Mei.
While Mei had been ecstatic to hear that he was going to intern with the David Shield and begged to go with him, Ochako had been much more reserved. A week after he had broken the news, they met up for their fifth date, just coffee and a casual walk around a local park in the early morning. Now that it was October, things were beginning to cool down, and Ochako was bundled up in a heavy coat.
"It's just so far, Deku," she said, watching the clouds drift by as they sat together on a comfy bench in the park. Izuku had pulled her close to him, and adjusted his body temp a bit higher for her own comfort. She sighed as his warmth seeped into her chilled legs and side.
"I know. But at least we'll be able to talk every day," Izuku replied. "And it's not like I won't be coming back. The internship is only for two years. After that, I come back and then we all go to UA together."
Ochako was silent for a minute. He looked down at her, noting her pensive face. "Two whole years," she said softly. "I don't know, Deku. It's a long time apart." She looked up at him curiously. "Will you be able to handle it?" she asked.
Izuku smiled, "You know it's not a full two years, right? There is the yearly expo, and Mom and Dad said that you are free to travel with them whenever they make the trip."
She blushed slightly, "I'm still getting over the fact that our parents basically predicted that we'd get together. I'm not about to ask them to go to I-Island with them," she said sheepishly, hunkering down into her scarf and jacket to hide her embarrassment.
Izuku chuckled, "Yeah, I can still hear my mom yelling with joy. You know my mom had a bet with Aunt Mitsuki? I guess she won."
Ochako giggled, and glanced at her watch. Izuku noted that it was a new smartwatch, but said nothing.
She sighed and sat up straight, but didn't get up, still soaking up his extra heat. "Well, if we are going to do this today, then we better get moving. I gotta go home and do some more studying, but I'll meet you all later."
Izuku leaned down, meeting her gaze, and they shared a tender kiss, Izuku's breath steaming in the chilly morning air. She smiled as they broke the kiss, and stood up quickly, walking off towards the train station, while Izuku watched her leave.
It was the last day before he had to leave. They were going to hang out as a group one more time that afternoon. He knew he would miss them all sorely, having been with them for as long as he knew them, and the long lead time wasn't helping. He just wanted it to be over with already.
A text from Shoko broke him out of his reverie, the Interface pulsing at the notification. The display flipped up with a thought, and he smiled and rolled his eyes as he read her plea for help from the boredom of studying. At least he didn't have to deal with that anymore; he certainly didn't miss schoolwork. He sent a reply in the affirmative and stood up and stretched before heading off to rescue Shoko from the doldrums.
The muffled yelling coming from the Bakugo household was something almost endearing to Izuku. His friend always fired back with everything that was shot at him, and it was always a pleasure to watch Mitsuki Bakugo knock her son down a notch or two. As Izuku and Shoko stood on the steps outside the house, they shared an exasperated smile as Mitsuki yelled back before she opened the door.
"Hey kids, come on in," she said politely, smiling wide as she gestured them in. "KATSUKI, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE! YOUR FRIENDS ARE WAITING!"
"SHUT UP, HAG! I FUCKING KNOW!" came back the retort, followed by an explosive door slam.
Izuku and Shoko just smiled and waited in the entryway, nodding hello to Masaru as he moved quietly into the living room from the kitchen.
"DON'T CALL ME HAG, BRAT!" Mitsuki fired back up the stairs, turning back to the two other teens. "So, heading to the mall for one last hang out, right?" Izuku and Shoko nodded, still smiling politely. "I heard that it finally reopened. 'Bout time, too." Mitsuki turned around, looking at her butt. "It's just about time for me to go get new winter clothes." She glanced back, smirking at Izuku's faint blush and rapid glance away. Shoko giggled at his reaction, earning a wink from Mitsuki.
There was loud stomping from the stairs, and they turned to see Katsuki's thick black boots stomping their way down.
"EASY ON THE FUCKING—" Mitsuki started to shout, coming to an abrupt stop as Katsuki's face was brought into the light.
His eyes were in a tight scowl and surrounded by a flawless application of dark eyeliner, brushed on smoothly with no apparent smudges or blemishes. The effect made his already serious and catching eyes look even more pronounced, the ruby red of his irises popping out vividly.
"What?" he snapped, glancing from Mitsuki to Shoko to Izuku, all three of them in their own surprised silence.
"Where," a low growl from Mitsuki rumbled out, her eyes squinting in rage, "did you get the eyeliner, Katsuki? " she asked, a hint of venom in her voice now. "That better not be mine."
Katsuki froze, almost all of his rage melting to give way to blank confusion. Countless thoughts churned behind his scarlet eyes before they widened. For the second time in his life, Izuku saw an emotion cross Katsuki's face: fear.
"N-no," he managed to stammer out, his voice a mix of growling in anger and wavering in fear, before he took another step forward, and the fear vanished. "NO!" he roared back, "LIKE I'D EVER STEAL ANYTHING!" Izuku recognized the stance Katsuki had shifted into. Defensive, ready to move at a moment's notice, like a cornered animal baring its fangs as it desperately searched for an escape route.
Mitsuki was more than used to her son's almost hostile tone and stepped towards him to put more pressure into her words. "THEN WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET IT? IT SURE AS SHIT ISN'T YOURS, SO WHO—"
"FUCK OFF, HAG!" Katsuki interrupted and took another step towards his mother, the two nose to nose as both refused to show weakness towards the other. "I'M NOT A FUCKING THIEF, AND YOU DON'T KNOW JACKSH—"
"I THINK IT LOOKS GREAT!"
Izuku blinked in surprise, and looked down at Shoko beside him. He had never heard her yell before, hell, she never talked at a level above normal conversation. Teachers had given up on calling on her to read because no one could hear her, so to hear her interrupt the howler monkeys that were the Bakugos was something new entirely.
"I mean…" her voice small again, now the center of attention, everyone's eyes on her. "It's way better than anything I could do."
Mitsuki was the first to snap back to reality. "Well, of course it looks great. It's fucking perfect." She gestured to Katsuki's face, "He got the feathering right, and the shade is a match for his eyes."
Katsuki's eyes grew wide as his mother continued, staring back at her in shock. Shoko nodded, and nudged Izuku in the side. Izuku glanced between the three of them, utterly confused and bewildered.
"Uh, yeah! Looks great!" he said shortly, smiling and giving Katsuki a thumbs up, earning an eye roll from Shoko.
"It's pissing me off, that's how good it is," Mitsuki said finally and turned her attention back towards Katsuki. In a much calmer, yet still stern voice, she continued, "So, Katsuki, where—"
"It's mine." If Izuku hadn't been staring at Katsuki, he might not have recognized the unsure and rushed statement coming out of him. Unbidden, a mental image of a shaking Katsuki glaring at a broken sandbag came to the forefront of Izuku's mind. "I bought it myself. That's what the package last week had in it."
Mitsuki hummed. "No wonder you were so secretive of it. Solves that mystery." In a quieter tone, more to herself, she added, "Dammit, looks like I owe Masaru a hundred yen…" She turned away from the teens to join Masaru in the kitchen. "Go have fun. Be home on time, brat. You have your finals next week."
"I know, Mom, " Katsuki said as he walked down the rest of the stairs and pushed past Izuku and Shoko, who waved goodbye to the Bakugos and followed after their friend.
The calmer duo shared a look behind Katsuki's back, both of them catching the subtle twitch of the explosive blonde's fingers, as though he was trying to keep his quirk under control. While both of them had questions for their friend, all three of them knew no one would get answers today. Instead, Izuku and Shoko resolved to put the event behind them and focus on the afternoon ahead.
Izuku followed his friends into the newly reconstructed shopping mall in the center of Musutafu. The massive complex had seen significant damage from the earthquake just a couple months prior, and was finally open to the public again, now that repairs were complete.
"Woooow," Mei said in awe, her eyes zooming all over the place, taking in the many shops, "this place is huge! I bet they have a great place for tools!" She made a mad dash for the map in the entrance way, scanning over it rapidly.
"Mei," Izuku called after her exasperatedly, "we're here to hang out and get stuff for winter!"
"B-but," she whined sadly, turning to look at him with huge puppy eyes, as if Izuku had shot her dream down and stomped on it.
"Nope, no, not fair," Izuku said, shaking his head and waving his hands as the rest of the group laughed.
"Well, I'm gonna find some stuff. Catch you losers later," Katsuki said gruffly, turning towards one of the department stores. Izuku and Ochako watched him go, before glancing at each other and shrugging.
"I'm going to go find some skates and a jacket," Shoto said shortly, taking off for one of the sporting goods stores.
"And then there were four," Izuku said, a little sad that his friends just left like that. He was looking forward to spending time with everyone before…
He squashed that train of thought with a grimace. This was supposed to be fun and happy, not bleak and depressing. He forced a smile onto his face, and glanced back at Shoko and Ochako, both of them planning out their trip through the mall, maximizing their time by hitting specific stores in a certain order.
"Well, I guess I'll come with you," he said to Mei who had moved next to him, looking around some more.
"Hm?" she hummed questioningly, looking up at him, "Oh, I'm going with 'Chako and 'Ko. They said something about new clothes."
"Yup!" Ochako said, turning away from the map, eyes glinting with excitement as she looked at him expectantly, "and you're coming with us."
The tone in her voice definitely made it seem like he had no choice in the matter, but as he had already decided to follow them anyway, it didn't bother him.
"Whew," Izuku said facetiously, mimicking wiping his brow, "I don't know what I would have done instead."
Ochako smirked back at him knowingly, and he grinned, guffawing at his lame joke.
"Well, good," Shoko said, walking over and grabbing his hand in a rare bold move, pulling him along as the three women began heading towards their first destination. "We need a bag holder. And we all know that you won't get tired."
Izuku's chuckling stopped and a drop of sweat fell from his brow. Just what had he gotten himself into?
A really good time.
That's what he had gotten himself into. He couldn't deny it. The girls were fun to hang out with. Ochako was lovey, Mei was hyper, and Shoko was calm enough to keep the others in check. They walked from shop to shop, each girl stopping at their preferred location, with Izuku fawning over the tech shops with Mei, the two nerds geeking out over support items or cool new ideas, leaving Ochako and Shoko to stand outside bemusedly, watching them with knowing smiles.
More than once, Mei had to be dragged out of a store because she refused to leave some new tool until she had learned everything she could from it. Not that Ochako and Shoko were much different, much to Mei's dismay. The outfits that Mei was used to consisted of tank tops and grubby overalls. Those dresses and shirts and other girly things were beyond her.
But Izuku couldn't help but enjoy the show as they tried on different clothes, appraising each one of them in turn, each girl giving him a thankful smile for his input. Soon enough the bags started piling up, and Izuku took on his task as baggage handler. It wasn't until the fourth store that Izuku noticed something that had been bothering him for a bit.
"Ochako," he said in a low voice, leaning down to talk in her ear. She glanced up at him as she placed a plastic card into the card machine, the attendant bowing as the transaction completed. "How are you paying for this? You are normally saving your money and shopping the deals." Izuku said, glancing down at the designer clothes she was buying without a second thought.
Her face flushed red, and she glanced over at Shoko and Mei, making sure they were focused elsewhere. "Well, um…" she faltered. "Mom and Dad's business is doing really well. You know, the earthquake and all that." She glanced back down at the plastic card in her hand. "They are giving me an allowance now, and… well… I can get nice things now."
She looked up at him, a worried look on her face, "But I don't want you to think that I'm going to stop being a hero because of it!"
Izuku cracked a smile and chuckled softly, "I wasn't thinking that at all!" He picked up her latest bag, "If anything, this means that you can just focus on being a hero without having to worry about the money. That must be freeing," he said thoughtfully, glancing down at her as they started walking out of the store.
"Yeah, I guess so," she said softly, "But I don't want it to change anything!" She started waving her hands, "I'm still me! My parents are just in a really good place right now."
Izuku smiled and nodded, "I bet being best friends with the number one, two, and three heroes definitely helped a bit."
Ochako stopped and looked surprised. "I… didn't think of that. I thought that because they were local, people were picking them." Her face fell slightly, "I was hoping that they were going to be sought after because of that."
Izuku grimaced at her sudden sadness, "Ah, that's not what I meant, Ochako. I know Dad recommended them, is all. He talked to Mom about it a couple weeks back. It's not like he has any say in what people choose."
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his pictures, stopping on one of her parents' business cards.
"He was giving out their cards to businesses he was helping," he explained.
Ochako's eyes widened, a small smile forming, "Oh, that's way different then. With his recommendation, then people would definitely seek them out."
Izuku nodded, "Yeah, exactly!"
She smiled brightly up at him, and reached up, pulling him down for a long kiss.
"Come on, love-birds!" Mei called out, interrupting them brashly, "Up next is the food court!"
Right on cue, Izuku's stomach rumbled loudly, prompting the girls to laugh as Izuku grinned in exasperation.