The car ride to the airport had been long, but in Ashido's philosophy, any motion sickness is worthwhile in the end as long as everyone gets to their destination safe and sound. Not everyone in her old class had been able to ride along, and those who did got lucky with their schedules, which resulted in less than six people in her company. Not the ideal number of participants for this reunion. Then again, Midoriya insisted he tagged along no matter what. Ashido admired his benevolence—and in fact, he may just be the only person required for assembly today.
"I haven't seen them in forever," Midoriya had confessed, although that bit wasn't necessarily a secret. TV and long-distance phone calls were generally his and everyone else's only source of connection to them in America.
To his beloved, dearly missed friends—
"Hey, there they are!"
Mingling in the crowd ahead of them were two of the most beloved, cherished, and noble people to Class A. Dropping her bag, sighting the crowd, the starry-eyed, teenage Eri explodes into a rainbow of emotions—first surprise, then excitement, and finally adrenaline—a smile beaming brighter than the sun itself. She makes a quick beeline to the cluster of familiar faces, unwavering in her pace, arms extended like she means to shove them.
"Guys, guys!"
The word is like a trigger—a cuteness bullet pierces them through their chests, Uraraka and Ashido falling victim to it, squealing in unison. The sight of Eri is a shock, Midoriya presenting his reaction with no restraint; clasping his hands together as if he were about to be reunited with his long lost daughter.
Eri has her long, silver hair styled into two buns, similar to Sailor Moon's trademark style. It's been forever since she last stepped foot in Japan, although that didn't really seem to be the epitome of her concerns—neither for the other missing face of the pair. Yet it isn't hard to locate him. His appealing features sticks out like a sore thumb among the crowd.
That is to say, Mirio Togata has a face so unforgettable that he legitimately had trouble carving through the airport without being asked for an autograph or picture every five seconds. Jirou had been kind enough to help him speed things up to reunite with everyone, but not after giving Togata her own 'welcome back' hug.
"Eri Eri Eri!"
Had Ashido not been a totally mature adult woman, by now she'd be dead from fatal cuteness.
Immediately the girl collapses into a group hug, her main target being Midoriya, the touch bringing a long lost warmth surging through her bones like heaven itself. Togata quickly joins them, hollering something about being a POWERRR!-ful hugger.
Six years gone by like the wind—
Eri and Togata are finally back.
"You've grown so much!" Uraraka says to the girl, marveling at just how tall Eri has grown over the years. She must be eating well.
When the oversized hug breaks Eri steps back to soak in everyone's appearance.
"Whoaaa…" Her eyes are glittering like disco balls. "You all look so cool…! That's so cool, so cool! You're all so cool!"
"Aaa are we really oh stop you're so flattering Eri but I think you're so adorable don't be so modest about it seriously!"
Seeing Eri for the first time in six years must have really put Uraraka in a tizzy...
Togata places a hand on Eri's shoulder. "To be honest I barely even recognized you folks! Lil' Eri and I probably would have been searching for another hour if your face wasn't so memorable, Midoriya."
"My face?" Midoriya asks, touching his complexion. "What do you mean?"
"Your freckles!" Togata's sun-bright smile hasn't changed. "I saw ya from a mile away cuz'a those things!"
"He has a point," Ashido adds, "without your freckles I don't even think you'd be Midoriya anymore! Or Deku! Those really hold your identity, kind of the same way my hair is what makes me Pinky!"
Jirou smirks. "I think it's more than just your hair color…"
"Speaking of which—Midoriya, Uraraka—congratulations on your engagement!" Togata beams, pointing at the blushing couple. Even now they can't seem to hide their embarrassment no matter how madly in love they are.
"Eeee!" Eri's bouncing like her heart's about to explode from happiness—though that alone nearly has everyone else exploding from cuteness. "You're getting married! I'm so happy to see you guys again…! I missed you so much!"
"We did too!"
"Hmmm?"
Ashido glosses over Eri's outfit until her eyes travel to the floor—notably, Eri's shoes.
"Eri, your shoes don't match your outfit at all…"
Little red shoes…
That look suspiciously similar to—
"Oh, yes! I got these because they match Deku's!"
Bullet hell—arrows of sugar, spice, and everything absolutely adorable puncture them all like Cupid had gotten his hands on an arrow machine gun.
At this point they'll be dead before they get out of here!
What a deadly weapon Eri is…
"She picked 'em out herself!" Togata rubs Eri's head as she giggles. "Was gonna jus' get 'er some plain black ones but the red really was a good choice! I couldn't say no!"
What's more, Midoriya might actually melt from cuteness—he's already holding his chest like he's having cardiac arrest and squashing his face up.
From behind Midoriya, Kaminari has a look of curiosity, studying his late senior. "Togata, you sound different…"
"Oh, finally!" Jirou exclaims, "I thought I was going crazy, thank you for saying that! You sound like a hick, Togata!"
Ashido had noticed it too, and is also a little glad someone finally decided to point it out.
"Do I?"
"Yeah…" Uraraka says. "I thought you sounded kinda weird, too."
"Did you pick up an accent while you were over there?"
"Huh…? I guess I must've… I'll most likely grow out of it if I watch what I say, at least before the festival. I had a buddy over there who spoke like that… must've rubbed off on me."
"I always thought it was just a weird trend." Eri doesn't seem to have any trouble speaking—perhaps she had been more aware than Togata.
With Togata announcing the topic, a glimmer of light flashes in Ashido's eyes. The Summer Festival is quickly approaching—only less than a week remains until the joyful celebration is upon them. Hawks's long-awaited adult pandering, combined with Eri's arrival, and the deadline of her initial goal with her former classmates—
Their goal to seal the red string of fate between Camie and Bakugou has yet to reach its conclusion.
Things have been going wonderfully so far, Camie is well on her way with the partnership hand-in-hand, and Bakugou is tolerating her presence more each time they're together. Ashido figures she'll pick out one or two more ideas before setting the bird free from the cage.
After all, now that Eri is here, she is dying to see how Camie is with children.
Ashido sent countless messages to Camie over the past few days, yet all of them have yet to be answered, weirdly enough…
"Eri," Ashido begins when everyone gets their hellos and welcome backs out of the way, "how are things over in America?"
"Good," Eri presses her finger against her cheek to mull her words. "I want to study medicine, so I'm not going to be a full-fledged hero…"
She then looks at the lot, like she's waiting for a negative reaction to her untimely decision, but she's reassured with words of praise and felicitations. It almost surprises her. A long time ago she, or perhaps even her past self, couldn't fathom the thought of not becoming a wonderful hero in this day and age… the move to America may have played a role in her many loops of making up her mind, but she came to an agreement with herself on this.
With her quirk and all…
She doesn't mind it one bit.
"But I want to go into a program that'll let me work with heroes, like an assistant or something… Aizawa told me about something like that once."
"Oh," Togata looks as if he's remembered something important. "You just reminded me. Eri and I are goin'—I mean, going to visit Aizawa for a few days."
"He said he has a present for me!"
"Yup. Feel free to come by whenever, guys, sorry to say this on short notice. We'll pick this up another time! I'll message y'all—shoot, I mean, you all when Nejire and Amajiki meet up with us for the festival. Is that alright?"
"Absolutely! Uraraka and I will probably stop over someday this week before the festival, and anyone else who feels like coming along," Midoriya says.
"I like the sound of that! I need to catch up with the ol' hothead—I sorta missed Bakugou's spark, believe it or not."
With all said and done, Ashido waves them goodbye, giving little Eri one last hug before watching that little cuteness hazard trot off with Togata. They need to get unpacked and settled before fully fleshing out their arrival in their homeland. Recalling past festivals, Ashido knows for a fact that Eri will be hogging the candy apple concessions at the event, and what's more, an adorable yukata to tie it all in!
In order to fully enjoy her time at the festival, everything needs to be set in motion with Camie and Bakugou—this project cannot fail at its apex!
Though, it's strange.
Really strange—Ashido checks her messages once more, and Camie still hasn't even looked at a single one.
u good? lmk whats goin on i wanna know how things are going with bakugo :))
She includes smiley emojis, but in reality she is the opposite. Ashido sends the message with confliction-pinched brows.
Did something happen? Camie's usually quick to respond, being glued to her social media and all…
"…"
Ashido briefly considers giving a call… but decides against it.
Patience is one of the most important key factors in this quest—it's taken weeks of effort and preparation to get Camie and Bakugou to where they are now. Even just a simple "ok" would be fine to at least let Ashido be aware of her safety, though…
Make an excuse to call to let Camie know of Eri's arrival, or to check on the current plans for the festival…
…
Oh, forget it, this is driving her insane.
Ashido's finger hovers above the call button when—
An incoming call appears—