Originally published on AO3, 07/20/2022. You can find all author's notes there.

FF's guidelines tell you there is an M and an MA rating but apparently not! Following guidelines, Izuku Gets A Clue (Or Does He?) has been rated M for Language.

And yes, it has been 5 years since my last fic. Enjoy.

You can't exactly get in trouble when there's no teachers around, right? That's what summer's all about. Adventure. Mischief. Something more. Music. And not just the kind that comes out of a six-string guitar…

When Ochako learned that the Wild, Wild Pussycats would be performing at the annual summer musical festival in Fukuoka, she made sure to let Tsu and Izuku know immediately. After all, tickets would sell out faster than… dang it, I don't have enough time to come up with a clever pun.

It shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did, but the moment Ochako burst into Tsu's room, an eardrum-obliterating cry that could only be Mina's told her that… yep, Momo had already bought tickets. And not just for the entire class but also the entirety of Class B along with some of the other students that tended to orbit the infamous Class A. Learning that she'd be stuck for a whole weekend with not just Mineta, but also Neito Monoma, Hitoshi Shinsou, and Mei Hatsume had made Ochako seriously reconsider. Maybe dad could use some extra help at work.

With the tickets out of the way, all that was left was travel arrangements. Sure they could all take a train or a bus down to Fukuoka but there was a sense of adventure that came with road-tripping. Ochako's dad had a van he used for his construction work but none of the three in her immediate group could drive. Sure, Ochako had a temporary permit but driving was a lot like using her Quirk. There was a certain weightlessness she'd felt when driving before, especially on those particularly bad country roads. She'd need a driving partner and she didn't trust Izuku or Tsu with driving. Tenya couldn't drive either, though he probably wouldn't have gone with the group anyway with all his responsibilities as class president. The group e-mail confirmed that Tenya had volunteered as an event organizer at the concert.

Ochako almost gave up on the road trip idea until she remembered that a certain someone had recently gotten his driver's license.

Despite all his protests, Katsuki had found himself in the driver's seat. After all the tough progress they had made with him since starting school, Katsuki started to feel like an actual part of the group that they could pal around with. Their "friendship tricycle" could finally take to the highway as a four-wheeled "friendship car."

Well… it would have been just the four of them but Izuku was adamant on bringing Kenji along. Ochako wasn't keen exactly on how Kenji Tsuragamae came into their lives. He was apparently a really good detective who had lost his job when a non-mutant-type detective with a similar skill set came into the force. He'd been hired by U.A. for a lower wage than usual and had lived on site. Things were never easy for mutant-type Quirk-havers but it was people like Izuku that made it seem real progress was right around the corner. To many people Kenji was just a really tall dog, but he could walk and talk like a man. He was a man.

On the morning of Monday, July 21st, the five set out on their journey. Almost all the other Class A students promised to meet them at the concert when they got there on Saturday the 26th. Katsuki looked forward to getting some distance from the others, especially Izuku. Ochako wondered if Kyoka would be performing at the concert. The class had been on good terms with the Pussycats since that camping trip with Class B so it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility. It wasn't just the thought of Kyoka breaking into the music world but the thought of being able to go backstage and meet all the celebrities! She probably shouldn't prod, though certainly Mina would. And if Mina was told off, chances were high Momo could still get them all backstage by pulling a few money-related strings—

"OCHAKO!"

Startled by a loud noise that sounded a lot like Katsuki screaming her name, Ochako turned her head to see… Katsuki, who looked a lot like he had just screamed her name. They both sat in the front of the van, which Ochako now realized had stalled. Katsuki's hands were on the wheel, his big, bad, nuclear eyes locked right onto her. Heat-seeking!

"What?" Ochako asked, polite enough to get under his skin.

"I asked you if you were fine to drive!"

Ochako frowned. Her? Drive? They did silently agree to take turns despite the whole 'weightlessness.' And she had been fine for most of the drive but at some point in the last hour she started getting a headache from all the potholes and long bends. Her aspirin was somewhere in the back of the van and maybe if she took it, she could drive.

She peeked into the back of the van, unsure if Izuku or Tsu had heard Katsuki—What am I thinking? Of course they heard that.

Izuku gave an apologetic look and Tsu was staring down at the board game they had been playing, her finger on her chin as it usually was. Kenji was sleeping soundly, seemingly unbothered by the OCHAKO!-shaped explosion.

"I have some aspirin somewhere in my bag, can one of you get it?"

Katsuki sighed and ran a hand through his hair. When he moved back to the steering wheel, Ochako felt an urge to look up at him again.

"You can't drive with a headache, Ochako," Katsuki said, oddly calmly.

"I-I'm okay. I'm just a little foggy."

"That's the problem… you're gonna get us all killed."

When she shot him a confused look, Katsuki gave a wry smile.

Ochako turned around again, "What do you guys think? Where even are we right now?"

Tsu finally looked up.

"Toei, I think," she said.

"Yeah," Katsuki said, "we've been driving for about three and a half hours. About halfway to Nagoya."

"Why do you wanna stop driving now?" Ochako asked.

"Because my hands are sweaty. And I can't drive on an empty stomach."

"You'll be fine to keep driving after we eat, then?"

Was it that bad? Katsuki thought for a moment longer. They had all week to get to Fukuoka so sitting a while wouldn't be too bad. The others wanted to see stuff along the way anyway. Katsuki would've preferred leaving on Thursday. He wasn't tired but he also didn't want Ochako to think she'd gotten out of their deal. She could eat, take the aspirin, and drive them through Toyota. He didn't know how she'd feel about driving in a big city like Nagoya but they'd get there when they got there.

There wasn't much to see around Toei other than some places to walk around. There was an unimpressive waterfall… eh.

Katsuki looked up again, his eyebrow raised.

"We'll get some food and look around," he said, "then we're heading to Toyota."

Izuku looked over at Kenji. Would they get kicked out of an establishment for bringing him along? He didn't want to leave him in the van, then again, someone should probably stay behind to look after everything. Izuku hated having to make these kinds of decisions. If others couldn't accept Kenji as a person, they could all just—

"I know it sucks, but Kenji has to stay here."

Izuku looked up to see Katsuki twisted around in his chair, facing him. Izuku could only twist his face. He rubbed his neck and looked over at Kenji again, who was now sitting up. Right now he was wearing an extra large aqua T-shirt and cargo shorts, something that Momo picked for him. He was huge, well over two meters tall, and wide enough to carry all four of the students in his arms.

"I have stuff packed," he said, "I can keep watch."

Tsu's eyebrows narrowed as she kept looking down at the board game. She turned to Izuku.

"You can go outside with Kenji, Izuku," she said, "I'll stay."

Izuku didn't say anything. But Katsuki did.

"You're going with us, froggy, Izuku can stay if he wants."

"Ribbit?"

"It's okay, Tsu," Izuku sounded sad but accepting, "I'll stay here with Kenji."

"Okay."

Without much ado, the others left the van. Izuku realized now how hot it was in the car without the air conditioning on. He wondered how Kenji could take it with all that fur.

"We just have to make it through the week," Kenji said, "then it's relaxation for this Dalmatian."

"I thought you were a Beagle."

"Yeah, but Beagle doesn't rhyme with relaxation… also since when am I Beagle?"

Izuku's eyes widened when he realized what he had just said.

"Uh, I-I mean you don't look like a Dalmatian, you look more like a Beagle!"

"I'm sure Tsu's parents just love you."

"I've never met them," Izuku felt relieved to change the subject.

Kenji lifted an eyebrow, "Hmph? They never thanked you for the whole theme park thing?"

As a matter of fact, they hadn't. The incident at the theme park had been a little over a year ago now. It was the second time Izuku really got to have a big hero moment but… no one really talked about it. He knew how traumatizing it was for everyone but he couldn't help but feel a little sad that no one, especially Tsu, brought it up much. The fact that her parents never thanked him for saving her life that day was what really ate at him. Whenever he remembered it, it had felt like he was right back there again.

Every opportunity he got, he would be a hero. No matter how little recognition he'd get.

But a little more attention would be nice…

"You're doing that thing again where you think," Kenji must have said.

"Oh! Action!" Izuku jumped up way too fast. His head spun.

Kenji didn't budge, but he did grumble. Even though it was Izuku's idea to bring Kenji along on the road trip, it was Toshinori who suggested that Kenji look after Izuku when he wasn't around. Toshinori had not made it clear whether he was going to make it to the concert. Ever since the theme park incident, he'd been feeling under the weather so it was never a guarantee with anything. There were rumors that Endeavor and Hawks would be at the concert, so…

"What was that?" Izuku looked around.

It was pretty bright outside, being only about 9:30 AM, so Izuku wasn't completely freaking out from a weird sound. Kenji had heard it too. In fact, he'd heard it before Izuku did. He smelled something too. It wasn't any of the others.

Getting out of the back now, they found themselves in an empty lot occupied by a recently abandoned warehouse. In such short time, the trees that once harmoniously lined the lot overtook it with their roots. The air was nice. An unmarked blue truck had idled about a yard from the van. There was no driver. Kenji sniffed the air.

"Hm… no one's around."

Izuku looked up at the sky: partially cloudy. Then down at the ground: grass grew from between the cracks in the asphalt.

"D-does Toru drive a blue truck?" Izuku reached for anything to get his nerves off.

"I don't think Toru drives," Kenji answered calmly.

Does he not care? Izuku thought. He didn't want to peer into the window of the truck and knew if he even tried, Kenji would stop him or scold him.

And then Kenji approached the truck.

Izuku's eyes widened, his arms shook, a pit formed in his stomach. Oh no…

Izuku could see from just the back of Kenji's head as he looked into the back of the truck that nothing was afoot. Kenji shrugged and turned back around.

"Nope," he said, "no one's here. Just a crate."

Izuku wanted to just sigh and get back in the van but curiosity overtook him. He wanted to see the crate. He wanted to see what was inside the crate. He wanted it to be something villainous that he could expose and be paraded around for. He—

"Should we call somebody?" Kenji said.

Izuku looked around. The only phone around was Katsuki's cellphone, and he'd had it with him when he left.

"M-maybe we should just wait until the others get back?" Izuku tried betraying his nervousness despite never being good at it. Maybe this time…

"Would Toru really follow us all the way here?" Kenji was never one to scare someone like that so Izuku wasn't sure if he was being serious.

"W-what if it's…?" Izuku turned pale. No… anyone, anything but her.

"This is none of our business anyway, Izuku," Kenji turned back to the van, "forget I said anything."

Izuku didn't want to forget. He knew this would bother him all day. All week.

"WE DONE HERE?"

Izuku jumped and immediately settled.

"Kacchan!"

Katsuki looked around, at the two idiots, at the truck. His eyes wandered up to the sky.

"We should go," he said, "I know you all wanna see shit but I wanna get my ass to the beach as soon as possible. By Thursday."

He did that thing again, where he clenches his teeth and holds his fists close to himself. Had they all been talking about him? Oh no… what did they say?

Honestly? Tsu would've preferred traveling with someone else rather than Katsuki. Out of the three students, she tolerated him the least. She was probably giving him a hard time about a lot of things. Including Izuku. The last thing they needed right now was Baku Rage.

"Sure," Kenji finally said.

"Nagoya it is, then."

They all got back in the van but not before Izuku stole another glance at the truck.

What exactly was that sound? If it was the truck pulling up, where was the driver? How'd they left so quickly? What was in the crate?

Part of being a hero was being a little bit of a detective. Kenji embodied that. His heightened senses made it the perfect job for him. They should've stayed behind. He should have spoken up. What if there was something dangerous in the crate?

"Izuku?"

He looked up to meet Tsu's eyes. Almost immediately he looked back down at the board game.

"Nothing, nothing, just tired."

"You were doing that thing again, ribbit."

Kenji's ear perked up, "That truck we saw… it kinda zoinked him out."

"Zoinked?" Katsuki was tip-top focused on the road but that really got to him.

"Shook," Kenji said.

"Right."

"It's fine," Izuku whispered and smiled tiredly.

It probably wasn't a lie that he was tired. They'd all gotten up earlier than usual for this trip and just jumping right into it without breakfast had not exactly been the best idea. Izuku had to live off the snacks Kenji had packed. All Izuku's bag could fit was clothes. There was a serenity to traveling light that the other's probably didn't understand.

As Toei disappeared behind them, so did the thought of the truck.

It was probably nothing.

Ochako kept her eyes on the narrow forest road. It only showed so far ahead before bending. She would never be able to drive this road with a full stomach. Once they were out of these mountains, she might take over. Finally her eyes left the road and went to the rear-view mirror. Seeing Izuku, Tsu, and Kenji together put an instant smile on her face. She could be there if she didn't need to tie down Explodey McMurderface.

"You said we'd 'look around,'" she started but didn't continue.

"I'm in a hurry, I changed my mind."

Ochako's eyes widened. Why was he in a hurry all of a sudden? Then her eyes narrowed.

"What did you do?"

"Just cause I'm in a hurry doesn't mean I did anything! Jeez, cheeks."

Ochako leaned forward a bit and only faced Katsuki slightly. She whispered.

"What do you think got Izuku all freaked out? That truck?"

Katsuki raised an eyebrow.

"What? You wanna go back there and find out?"

Ochako didn't care really, she could. But now with how fast they were going down the road, every second of saying nothing would make it less and less worth it. Forget it.

"No," she said, "I was just wondering what was up. And you…"

"We'll spend the night in Nagoya and go to the lake tomorrow. If we don't make it to Fukuoka by Thursday we can at least be there Friday morning. We want as much time with the others as possible, right?"

"Yeah, but we also wanna sightsee. That's part of a road trip, duh."

He could take it. He could take it. He did take it, and softened up a bit. It wasn't safe to drive while being Katsuki Bakugou. Wait…

"We'll have to drive about four hours to Osaka tomorrow," he said, "we'll check out Kyoto a little bit. But we're leaving early."

"Then we're checking out Himeji Castle," Ochako reminded him. Reminded him? Did he even know what everyone else was planning?

"Wait," Katsuki focused on the road again, "is anyone meeting us in Osaka?"

Ochako looked like she was searching for an answer.

"No," she found one.

Katsuki tried to think if there was anything he forgot. Oh yeah, a guarantee that they'd be up to schedule.

"Can you guarantee we'll be in Hiroshima by Wednesday night?"

"Yeah."

Anything else?

"Ochako," he started. She looked up.

"Are you okay to drive tomorrow?"

"Of course," Ochako smiled and Katsuki already felt… better. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Then he looked in the rear-view mirror.

Oh… right.