Chapter 22: A Troublesome Midnight
"BZZZT!"
"BZZZT!"
"BZZZT!"
"Stupid alarm!" Izuku groaned as he rolled over in his bed to look at his phone.
06:00 showed on the screen in front of him, (this was sleeping in for him remember?), clicking his phone back off he rolled back onto his back and stared up into the ceiling of his new bedroom. He had absolutely fallen in love with his brand new bed. Stretching and letting out a big yawn he collapsed onto his pillow once more.
"Five more minutes of laying here wouldn't hurt?"
Izuku closed his eyes for the briefest of moments while he snuggled up his weighted blanket higher up onto his chest. He then opened his eyes again as he heard the sound of his mother saying something about coffee as she walked past his door.
"Mom never gets up this early on the weekend?" Izuku thought to himself as he looked at his phone once more to check his social media.
08:30 blinked back at him on the screen…
"BUT I ONLY CLOSED MY EYES FOR A SECOND!"
Moaning again he threw the blanket off himself and rotated his feet off of his bed, placing his hands behind him on the bed as he rotated from left to right, getting a loud satisfying crack from his spine. He then slowly trudged over to his bathroom, taking care of business before walking over to his shower.
It was then that he made the mistake that most people do when they are with a shower they have yet to familiarize themselves with. Having only played with the shower for a little bit yesterday, Izuku had the unfortunate experience of enduring the effects of Todoroki's quirk, really freezing cold water that might have come straight from the Ice Planet Hoth. Since he was being blasted from all sides (from the floor, ceiling, and sides of the shower,) with really cold water, he rapidly turned the handle all the way in the other direction to experience the equivalent of the fires of Mt. Doom of Mordor to come at him.
It was then that he heard a very loud cackling laughter from outside his bathroom door.
"HIRO! YOU JERK! STOP USING YOUR QUIRK TO MESS WITH MY SHOWER!"
Hiro-1 Izuku-0
Shortly thereafter his shower returned to a comfortable temperature, although Izuku couldn't really enjoy it because he was plotting revenge against Hiro.
Moping he got out of the shower and dried himself off, gathered his dirty clothes to take to the hamper in the closet and put on a bathrobe. Upon opening the door he saw his brother sitting on his bed, already cleaned up and dressed.
He was wearing white jeans, a yellow branded Fat Gum shirt, and a lilac stained leather jacket, that matched his eyes. Also he had a stupid evil grin to complete the ensemble.
"How did you like your morning present Izuku?"
"What did I ever do to you?!" Izuku asked angrily, chucking his dirty laundry at his brother who gagged as he got dirty underwear straight to the face.
"Blagh! Ugh! That's gross!" Hiro protested as he chucked the underwear back at Izuku who caught it. "Why did you do that?"
"Why did you use your quirk to mess with my shower?!" Izuku angrily shot back as he walked over to his closet, dumping his dirty laundry in the hamper and began to pull out and pull on a fresh pair of undergarments before Hiro walked in.
"For promising to tease me about my crush last night." Hiro answered firmly.
"But I haven't done any teasing yet!" Izuku shot back as he put on a pair of black jeans, a blue Edgeshot themed shirt, and a green leather jacket to pair up with his brother.
"But the promise to tease me is a tease in itself." Hiro argued as they walked out and headed towards the kitchen where they were met with a horrifying site. Their mom sat at the breakfast nook, with Midnight (in civilian clothes), and spread out before both of them were what Izuku called: "The Books of Eternal Evil."
"Wow! You really went to all the experts when you had these books written Inko." Midnight cheered, holding one of the books like it was a guaranteed path to enlightenment. "You must let me borrow them so I can redesign UA's program. We were planning on holding a seminar style class with all the students since we moved into dorms. Even with the precautions of having boys and girls sleep in different buildings, there is no stopping them from consensual activities. I'm willing to bet Izuku and Hiro are more knowledgeable than most of the third years and a handful of the staff. And when I mean handful, I mean Shota and Hisashi."
"Thank you very much Nemuri. I'd be more than happy to lend you the entire collection. Most parents are too embarrassed to teach their children about this. They just leave it to: this is where babies come from. They don't bother to teach their kids how to do the deed the most pleasurable way for all involved." Inko cheered as she poured herself a fresh glass of orange juice.
"Good morning boys." Midnight cheered, raising a mimosa as she greeted them, both teen boys were however still rooted to the spot, afraid to come closer. "Oh don't worry, I don't bite outside of class."
"It's more what is on the table Midnight-Sensei." Hiro choked out, staring at The Books of Eternal Evil. "I think I speak for both my brother and I in that neither of us feel comfortable eating breakfast with those out."
"Oh please," Midnight laughed, "It's just a book, it can't hurt you. Besides, call me Kayama outside of class okay? But if it really bothers you that much we can put them in my bag."
"Mom," Izuku asked, still nervous, "Do you know where Toshi is?"
"Oh. He went off to do some hero work after letting Nemuri up for breakfast." Inko explained, "He seemed rather nervous to leave after Nemuri and I hit it off the bat after being introduced to one another. Was there something you wanted to ask him about?"
"Yeah…" Izuku sighed, "But I can ask him later. Hiro and I are going to head out now."
"But neither of you haven't eaten breakfast yet." Inko protested as Izuku and Hiro nervously crept towards the foyer.
"Ummm. It's okay Inko." Hiro said nervously, glancing at Midnight. They then hurriedly rushed over to the foyer to put their shoes on and rushed into the elevator only to have the door jam as Inko jammed her hand in to stop it from closing.
"Forgetting something boys?" Inko said, looking a bit miffed.
"Umm. Goodbye mom?" Izuku guessed, and Inko dropped a pair of keys into Izuku's hands.
"These are keys to the penthouse." Inko explained as the elevator started to beep in whine in annoyance at being open for too long. "How were you planning on getting back in?"
"Sorry mom." Izuku said bowing, "Thank you mom." as the elevator continued to beep in annoyance as the doors closed much more slowly than normal, causing an awkward staring contest between the boys and Inko.
"So," Hiro asked, "Where are we going?"
"I don't know." Izuku answered, "I just didn't want to hang around mom and Midnight with those books around."
"Same." Hiro supplied back
Best Friends Group Chat
Rabbit (Izuku): Hiro and I just escaped the apartment. Our mom invited Midnight-Sensei over and they were talking like old friends and so we had to get out of the house. What is everyone doing?
Philosopher's Stone (Skyler): Why did you have to wake me up?
Engine (Iida): You should be up at a proper time of day Skyler!
Philosopher's Stone: But it's the weekend! I want to sleep in till noon!
Engine: That is highly irresponsible of you.
Iron Man (Felix): Don't mind Sky Iida. He's a grouchy drama queen when he wakes up until he has his first cup of coffee.
Coffee Mug (Alex): Did someone say coffee?
Philosopher's Stone: Great… you just had to summon the caffeine addict didn't you?
Coffee Mug: What? Can't blame me for that! It's my quirk!
Philosopher's Stone: Watch me.
Coffee Mug: I can't help it! I've told you it's part of my quirk! It is what makes me smart! But how do you like your coffee? What beans do you use? Do you use a French Press?
Philosopher's Stone: No, I use instant coffee!
Coffee Mug: HERESY! You don't dare use proper quality beans and methods?! Are you going to tell me next you don't even use properly boiled water?
Philosopher's Stone: What's wrong with microwaved water? It heats it up all the same and produces the same result?
Coffee Mug: (…)'s (stay there for a long time as he keeps typing)
Iron Man: Oh crap!
Rabbit: Oh no!
Engine: I suggest we put our phones on do not disturb for the next half hour.
Paint Pallet (Kaito): What's going on? What is Alex typing? Those dots haven't gone away for a while?
Water Droplet (Hiro): Sky said something about microwaved water being okay for coffee…
Paint Pallet: Oh shit!
Coffee Mug: Now listen here! How DARE you even suggest microwaved water is as good as water heated everywhere else! I have no idea what is wrong with you!
(50 or so messages later in rapid succession…)
Coffee Mug: Have I made my point yet?!
Philosopher's Stone: Yes! Yes! Will you just shut up already! I won't talk about microwaving water again!
Rabbit: Nezu is worse, and I had to deal with that one in person on top of Alex!
Coffee Mug: And I hope you learned your lesson that "tea is not just tea!"
Rabbit: Yes Alex, I learned that lesson, that paper he made me do in revenge took forever. But anyways, what is everyone doing today?
Iron Man: Sky and I are trapped on campus because our guardians are back in America so we don't have family to go home to visit for the weekend. We were going to head to the support studio to work on these suits we brought over that we have been working on for years. They are inspired by my favorite pre-quirk era fictional hero.
Water Droplet: That sounds interesting.
Philosopher's Stone: Took me forever to convince him not to go for a red and gold color scheme. But we are still very far from actually completing the prototype or anything like it.
Coffee Mug: Well, I'm also trapped on campus because my family is in the states as well, and I wouldn't want to go there anyways if I could. It's so boring in a town with only one traffic light that flashes red.
Water Droplet: What does flashing red mean?
Coffee Mug: Treat it as a stop sign…
Engine: Then why did they just put a traffic light up if they could save a lot of money and just put a stop sign up?
Coffee Mug: IDK. To say the town at least has one traffic light?
Paint Pallet: Well I plan on getting out of the house as soon as possible. Things aren't going too well here.
Rabbit: Why don't you come and join up with Hiro and I Kaito? We could use the company. We're in Minato.
Hiro gives Izuku a wide eyed look as they exit the elevator and start walking through the lobby in Might Tower, knowing exactly what his foster brother was doing.
Paint Pallet: That's not too far from where I am staying.
Rabbit: Want to meet up and hang with us for the day?
Hiro rapidly shakes his head at his foster brother
Paint Pallet: Putting on my shoes!
Hiro hangs his head in resignation as it reddens.
Engine: Mind if I also tagalong? My brother is becoming insufferable.
Coffee Mug: More than you?
Iron Man: lol
Engine: He is too focused about chasing down this particular villain at the moment.
Philosopher's Stone: Oh the Hero Killer?
Engine: Oddly enough he has put that particular villain off to the side and Endeavor's hero agency was more than willing to take up the slack. He's chasing after a brand new villain that appeared this week. Flame something was his name.
Paint Pallet: (…'s keep cycling back and forth)
Rabbit: Haven't heard of a new fire based villain coming out this week that evaded capture.
Engine: We can talk more about it in person.
Hiro: Everything okay Kaito? Your dots haven't gone away.
Paint Pallet: Blackflame… The new villain's name is Blackflame…
Coffee Mug: How do you know that Kaito…
Paint Pallet: (…'s keep cycling back and forth)
Rabbit: Kaito…
Water Droplet: Everything okay?
Paint Pallet: (…'s keep cycling back and forth)
Paint Pallet: My cousin was one of his victims… She is still shaken by what she experienced…
Paint Pallet: (…'s keep cycling back and forth and none of the other boys are willing to say anything while the dots are there for the minutes it takes Kaito to type his response)
Paint Pallet: I don't want to talk about it guys… I just want to get out of the house and away from this… stuff that is making the house so terrible.
Engine: Have no fear! The three of us are here for you to make you forget what is going on!
Rabbit: That's right! Meet up with us! My mom's boyfriend gave us enough pocket money to take care of all of us! So don't worry about not being able to afford anything!
Water Droplet: (…'s stay there for a while he figures out what to say) We care about you Kaito…
Paint Pallet: Thanks guys…
Rabbit: Guys. Meet Hiro and I at the All Might Diner in Minato. Hiro and I will reserve us a booth.
"Hiro…" Izuku said softly, looking at the broken expression on his foster brother's face. He pulled him into a hug and felt him press into him. "Kaito himself wasn't hurt by the villain."
Hiro then involuntarily thought back to various instances were he witnessed inhumane torture and abuse of the other boys he grew up in the orphanage. Trying not to wince as he watched boys aged from four to seventeen endure punishments from being forced to humiliating positions, to be forced to deliberately injure themselves, or get whipped publicly in front of everyone.
"Physically." Hiro whispered as they pulled apart, "But experience has taught me that emotional trauma, even second-hand, is far worse than physical pain can ever be."
"We have to be there for him just how Tenya and I were there for you when you confided in us the abuse you were suffering in that unnameable place." Izuku said, looking his foster brother directly into his eyes and placing his hands on his shoulders. "We need to take his mind off everything that is hurting him so he can enjoy his time away from school."
"Izuku…" Hiro said softly, considering his thoughts, "I was hoping on telling Kaito exactly why I'm living with you as a foster brother, but… how do I do that and cheer him up? Won't it bring it back down?"
Izuku's previously pumped up face fell.
"I don't know Hiro…" Izuku sighed as they walked around a pair of slow walking tourists whose heads were in the sky and began crossing a street.
"That is something I can't help you with. That's something you have to figure out yourself. Not because you have a crush on him, but because it is your story and you know it best. But I promise not to tell any of the gang. I'll have to think of creative ways to dodge the question. Have you not told anyone yet? I thought I overheard you during move in day that you were going to tell your other friends Fukidashi and Bondo. I know Kirishima and Ashido have kept their promise of when they found out at the mall before we moved into UA, but we know Ashido is a blabbermouth. I don't think she would tell anyone on purpose, just on accident and then feel terrible."
"It… never came up." Hiro said as they came to another stop as they came across another crosswalk. The All Might Diner on the other side. "We've hung out a couple times in the evenings this week, but I was afraid to bring it up and they didn't push it."
"You know…" Izuku said after they crossed the street and were at the front door of the diner, "You won't be able to avoid telling them off forever. Eventually someone is going to put it together. It would totally be in the Business Course curriculum to cover what happened at the orphanage in some sort of hero management discussion given it is still recent events."
Izuku then took a big breath before exhaling as he opened the door.
"The question is… Do you want Kaito and/or the rest of the crew to find out in class… or from you personally?"
It was about fifteen minutes after sitting down in a sparkly ruby red padded booth that Kaito and Tenya walked in. Both brothers were nursing milkshakes topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. Hiro a cookies and cream stuffed with brownie bites topped with rainbow sprinkles and Izuku a mint chocolate chip.
"I swear Tenya if you are going to make a comment about having too much sugar in the morning you can stuff it." Hiro said as he watched Tenya open his mouth and begin to put a finger up. The boy in question closed his mouth and then mutely sat down next to the window and across from Izuku with Kaito sitting across from Hiro and the waitress came up to them.
"Are you young men ready to order?" the busty waitress asked, causing Tenya and Izuku to avert their eyes as they got an eyeful of cleavage.
"I'll take the stuffed French Toast, eggs scrambled, and bacon with orange juice." Izuku said extremely fast and determinedly looking at his menu.
"I'll also have the same!" Tenya said also as quickly and also determinedly looking at the menu.
"I'll have cupcake pancakes with extra rainbow sprinkles." Kaito ordered, his gloomy look lightening up a little bit at the embarrassing attitude his two friends were displaying at just the site of an overly inflated chest that had nothing on Hadou or Yaoyorozu. "I'll also have bacon and orange juice with my eggs over hard."
"I'll have the chicken and waffles with my eggs over medium and bacon, with orange juice to drink too." Hiro ordered, collecting the menus from the two embarrassed boys, and mocked them as soon as the waitress walked away. "Seriously you two? A couple of tumerous milk bags is all it takes for you two to jam up?"
Izuku shot him a filthy look and picked his words carefully.
"Just because you are immune to them doesn't mean you have to right to pick on us who do." Izuku replied, his teeth clenched and face still red, and to Hiro's horror, Kaito raised his eyebrows at Hiro as if he clearly understood what Izuku was insinuating.
"Actually it does give us the privilege." Kaito answered, "You will not deny us the fun of picking on you for finding a pair of gross milk bags interesting."
Ba-Dum!
Ba-Dum!
Ba-Dum!
Hiro's heart pounded and felt his body temperature rise up rapidly as though he had fallen into a volcano. He began sweating and his pants felt a bit tighter and he noticed his breaths started to come more rapidly. His legs began to vibrate and tremble slightly.
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
He actually began to feel his heartbeat inside his chest. He felt a numbing sensation go throughout his body and his brain began to fog over.
His crush was also interested in men! He had actually stood a chance! Or more, there was at least the possibility of him being attracted to him. What should he do? Should he just blurt out the fact that he was gay to the table right there right now? What was he supposed to do?
"Hiro?" Tenya asked, voice full of concern, "Are you okay? You're shaking and you're sweating. Are you having a panic attack?"
Quickly struggling to come up with a passible excuse, he took a very long sip from his glass of ice water, only to choke on it.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay." Hiro stammered out, his red face clashing with his periwinkle blue hair and lilac eyes. "I just had a random thought back to before I was living with Izuku, you know… at the orphanage."
He hoped the lie would pacify Tenya and Izuku, but unfortunately he forgot that both of them knew his past and exactly what he went through. Kaito's eyebrows again rose up at the mentioning of the orphanage? Did he know the story?
"Do you want to talk about—" Tenya started but Hiro cut him off.
"I'm working on it with Dr. Maruki, but I don't want to talk about it now. We are supposed to be helping—" He looked at Kaito and his face reddened a bit more, "Helping Kaito forget what is going on in his life."
It was Kaito's turn to redden. At least he managed to think of a reasonable excuse for his body's unusual reactions. He was just grateful that this happened in a place where he was wearing pants. If this happened in a bathhouse, he wouldn't have been able to explain away his erection which was starting to get very uncomfortable in the form fitting white jeans he was wearing.
"Um… so…" Hiro began to speak, a clear stutter in his voice that was due to him checking out his crush's outfit: blue jeans, a plain grey undershirt, and a blue and lavender plaid unbuttoned shirt on top. "I didn't know you were a fan of plaid Kaito…"
It took all of Izuku's self-control not to snort. He remembered his promise not to tease him in public. He was finding it extremely difficult at the moment and was grateful for the excuse of the waitress bringing the milkshakes that he and Hiro ordered in advanced for Tenya and Kaito, orange creamsicle and cotton candy. However, he couldn't help but think throughout the meal of ways to relentlessly tease Hiro once they were alone back at Might Tower. He had to get revenge for the shenanigans he pulled this morning.
"So what did Midnight-Sensei do to make you want to get out of the house so fast?" Tenya asked as they exited the diner after paying.
"She was talking loudly and excitedly about what Izuku and I rightfully call The Books of Eternal Evil!" Hiro said quietly while shuddering.
"Not those books!" Tenya gasped in horror. Inko had once pulled the books out at Izuku's insistence to get back at Iida for something. It was a prank that Tenya had never forgiven him for the countless nights of lessons that he was forced to endure because he was too polite to say no.
"Books of Eternal Evil?" Kaito asked confused, the only one at the table who didn't understand what the other three were talking about.
"We do not speak of the evil within!" Tenya hissed.
"I'm afraid Kaito is going to find out what's within the tomes." Hiro said, full of fear.
"But why!?" Kaito asked completely frustrated, "What makes a pair of books so scary? And why am I going to find out what is in them anyways?"
"Because Midnight… borrowed them from mom." Izuku explained causing Tenya's eyes to widen in horror, "Said she was going to use them as the base for UA's new program that according to her, was in need of updating. I'm afraid every UA student will be subjected to the tomes."
"Well then if all the UA students are going to learn what is in the books they can't be evil then?" Kaito surmised as he took a long drag on his milkshake.
"You have no idea what you are talking about!" Hiro hissed, "No one deserves to be traumatized like that!"
"UA doesn't traumatize their students though." Kaito replied, but then Izuku reminded him of the entrance exam he just took and how he had to patch him up. Their argument went back and forth until their food was finally finished and Izuku finally got up and whispered what was in the books in Kaito's ear, only for him to turn ashen faced.
"They wouldn't!" Kaito said as they left the restaurant.
"We have Midnight as a freaking teacher!" Izuku shot back, "I doubt even Nezu could stop her!"
"What if we fake being sick?" Kaito suggested as they gathered at the entrance to an alley.
"You can never fool Recovery Girl." Izuku moaned, "And I won't give you a free pass as her assistant."
"You'd sell out your own friend!?" Kaito yelled in shock at the betrayal.
"Hey! If I had to deal with it, then so do you!" Izuku shot back, jamming his finger into Kaito's chest. "So what do you want to do now? It's only 11 in the morning."
"Ummm. I don't know." Hiro replied mutely looking at the floor and shuffling his feet, "I don't know anything that is down in this part of town."
"We could always go to the local quirk park that I used to practice my quirk." Tenya suggested which caused Hiro to turn a look at him.
"I thought all the quirk parks were shut down?" He asked looking flabbergasted.
"The only one left in the country and it is not far from here." Iida explained as he started leading the group through the city.
"I'm not surprised you weren't told about it Hiro." He added in a short whisper so the others wouldn't hear as they walked through the masses. "That and if you are a minor you need a parent to sign you in unless you have a student ID at a hero school, which everyone here has now."
"But I'm a part of the business course." Kaito piped up as they walked past a bunch of annoying salesmen, "I doubt my ID would do much good."
"I'm not to sure Kaito." Hiro supplied as they descended into the subway to take it a couple of stops to the park, "I think that might not make a difference given that they are clearly up to something, given you had to take the hero course entrance exam, and you did pretty well."
"You say that," Kaito sweatdropped as they went through the turnstiles, "But I passed out and had to be rescued by medical bots before the exam was finished. My score wouldn't have been good enough to get into the hero course."
"But for someone who just normally brings paintings to life you were able to kick some butt." Izuku cheered, clapping him on the back as they got onto the platform rather quickly and waited for the train. "Besides, I doubt they were expecting few if any would qualify for the hero course, and Skyler and Felix were the exception who naturally had quirks that could help them ace the exam. None of you trained up your quirks for combat really. The fact that you did as well as you did shows your potential."
They eventually got on the train and had to wait till they were off to continue talking thanks to social norms that meant it was rude to talk on the train. Eventually they reached their stop and the entrance to the park was right outside of the station.
The four of them went on up and waited in line at the entrance given they were currently at capacity. Eventually after a couple hours of waiting in line where Hiro nervously thought about how he should talk with Kaito about his crush on him, they were called to the ticket booth.
It turned out that they didn't have to pay admission because their tuition covered an annual pass to the quirk park. It also turned out that Kaito could indeed sign into the park on his own despite not being in the hero course, proving that their theory that someone high up did have a plan for Kaito.
The quirk park was staffed by upper year hero course interns, sidekicks, and pros who volunteered their time to make sure there were no serious accidents or in case someone's quirk got out of control they could deal with the situation. It just happened when they were led to a corner of the park that they were greeted by a familiar someone.
"Kohai!" a voice called out
"Oh Please! Not her! She has yet to get back at me!" Izuku thought to himself as a torrent of blue came towards the group of boys.
"Come on!" Nejire cried out as she poked Izuku, "It is almost as if you are upset to see me Midoriya!"
"That's because I know you are going to use this an excuse to get revenge on me!" Izuku thought to himself as he gulped, "Nothing of a sort Hadou."
However Nejire just giggled, "So were is dear Reiko? Or is this a boys day out?"
"Boys day out." Hiro answered, "We had to get out of the house as soon as possible when we woke up and saw our mother and Midnight acting like they were BFFs. We couldn't tolerate being in the same zip code as them."
"Ooooooooohhhh…." Hadou went as she finally understood what was going on, "So who here has been to a quirk park before?"
"Only Tenya." Kaito supplied looking nervously at the bluenette, having heard tales of her love of pranking people from Hiro and Izuku. Not to mention of the recent prank war that had begun between Izuku and Hadou in particular. The last prank resulted in a bunch of laughs when Izuku discussed how he managed to use his quirk to twist her hair into a bunch of knots that took her forever to get untangled.
"Well," Hadou sighed, "As much as I'd like to supervise Midoriya one on one…" Izuku gulped in fear and crossed his fingers behind his back, "He, Hiro, and Iida are all in the hero course and have some idea what to do their quirks. So sadly that means I'll be spending most of my time watching you Nakamoto. What can your quirk do exactly?"
"Well my quirk is called Art." Kaito answered, "It allows me to control artistic mediums."
Nejire stood there in a moment thinking, "Well… I'm afraid I still don't follow."
"Well I can make paintings come to life and animated?" Kaito tried, "I can also make clay and stone sculptures come alive."
"I'm afraid I still don't follow." Nejire said, much to the confusion of all the other boys present, "Where is the limit?"
"Limit?" Izuku asked which got him a karate chop to the head from the RA.
"Izuku!" She called out pouting, "I'm surprised you haven't asked this!? You are a bigger quirk nerd than I am! I'm surprised you haven't gone completely bonkers over this? Don't you see his quirk has the potential to outstrip all of your quirks put together combined!?"
"Wait what!?" Izuku cried out flushing and Kaito himself looked flustered himself.
"I'm sorry Hadou." He cut in, "But how can my one quirk outstrip the three quirks that Midoriya has?"
"Wow…" Nejire sighed and put her palm up to her face, "You boys are really thick."
"That's not a nice thing to say!" Tenya objected but she cut him off.
"Well it is true because none of you have seen it yet." Nejire groaned as she then took in a deep breath before speaking once again.
"Can anyone tell me what the true and unequitable definition of art is?"
That had all four boys stumped, and not being able to come up with an answer, decided to ask for the answer.
"The answer is that art is whatever you want it to be." Nejire explained, "That means if Nakamoto is truly correct with the definition of his quirk, than with proper training, he could control anything he sees as art. That literally means anything or anyone."
"You can't be serious?" Kaito stuttered, "You have to be exaggerating! I had a difficult time in that mock entrance exam we had to take this week! There's no way I could possibly control anything!"
"For most quirks Nakamoto that is most certainly the case." Nejire said with a smile, "But I'm officially no quirk expert, you'll have to talk to Nezu during one of Midoriya's and I's meetings. However, if your description is accurate, you have one of the most broken and powerful quirks to have ever existed."
"Holy shit…" Tenya said which broke the mood as everyone immediately turned to look at the boy who everyone thought would never say a curse word in his life.
"I think that is our cue to split up." Nejire chuckled, "You three can go over into the corner and do some sparring. I'll spend some time alone with Nakamoto."
Hadou didn't turn out to be the best teacher to learn from. While the other three boys were doing fine on their own. A hilarious incident where Hiro iced up Iida's engines causing him to crash hilariously into Izuku as he lost control in panic was about the only rest that he got from Hadou's training.
She kept on having him try a whole bunch of stuff that he had never attempted before. She had him try and make the grass grow in certain formations among other things such as trying to influence her with his quirk into a similar effect like Shinso, but to no avail.
In the end after several hours of little to no progress he began to regret coming along to the park because there was little that he learned that he could control with his quirk apart from his golems were taking less effort and energy for him to create now with practice. Hadou wished for him to go further but Izuku stopped her, reminding her that she would have to answer to Recovery Girl if she pushed him beyond his limits.
"Listen Hadou, it is time to call it a day." Izuku sighed as he took a napkin that was in his pocket from when they got lunch at the takoyaki stall that was in the park and gave it to Kaito so he could wipe his nose, "Do you really want to be my mate on Recovery Girl's shit list?"
It was then that both of Izuku's and Hiro's phones began to go off and they checked them.
SUPER AWESOME LOVING FAMILY GROUP CHAT!
Spoon (Inko): Boys! I think it is about time you both head on home! I'm starting to cook dinner and I want both of you to be here for the first time we are inviting guests over. Don't worry, you can both go up to your rooms when dinner is done.
Water Droplet: Can we bring a friend on over?
Spoon: Of course Hiro! As long as their parents approve them spending the night or have them pick them up.
"Why is your mom's picture a spoon?" Kaito asked as he saw the chat go on.
"Because whenever I misbehaved as a kid she would use her quirk to smack me with a spoon upside the head." Izuku explained with a shiver, "She never wants me to forget."
"But why a spoon?" Tenya asked dumbfoundedly.
"You don't know the terror of the spoon." Izuku said shakily as he remembered being chased around the old apartment with the Spoon of Doom following him and smacking him.
"It's just a spoon though…" Nejire chuckled until Izuku grabbed her and shook her.
"Never underestimate the terror the spoon is capable of!" he cried out as he shook her.
"Great, all I need to keep Izuku at bay is a spoon now." Tenya chuckled.
"It doesn't have the same effect with you Tenya." Izuku snorted, "You have to be my mom, and pissed for it to work."
"Then I fail to see how I should be afraid of the spoon." Tenya smiled, "Sounds like you are being a bit overdramatic."
"You should be afraid of the spoon Tenya." Izuku muttered darkly as they finally reached the exit of the park where everyone was crowding to head home to get dinner. "You should be afraid of what I will do to you in revenge for telling my mom my secret."
"That you have a crush on Reiko?" Nejire supplied as they went through the turnstiles.
"HOW DID YOU KNOW?!" Izuku cried out and the rest of the group chuckled.
"It is the worst kept secret in the whole school." Nejire chuckled, "I think there is now a betting pool among some of the students for when you finally start dating?"
"WHA-WHA-WHAT NOW!?" Izuku stuttered, totally not having a freak out or panic attack.
"Oh, my aunt and uncle says I can come over for dinner and spend the night." Kaito said to Hiro who merely nodded.
"Did my foster brother just ask his crush to come over for dinner?! And he is spending the night while I was being teased for Reiko!?" Izuku thought angrily, "And now I can't tease him at home because his crush will be with him all the time!"
(Time Skip)
"You guys weren't kidding when you said you were living in Might Tower." Kaito said when they walked in front of the imposing tower.
"Wait till you see our bedrooms." Izuku said causing Hiro to blush at the thought of showing his crush his bedroom.
They walked through the lobby and went past the security guard to the private elevators and slotted in their keys allowing them to access the penthouse. A two minute elevator ride and then they were going through the front door.
"So high up are we?" Kaito asked as he nervously as he took his shoes off and looked at the huge two story living room ahead of them.
"Umm." Hiro stuttered, "Well this is the penthouse. All Might doesn't like living in here because it is too big for just one person, and he lives on a lower level. Toshinori was one of his favorite assistants and so he gave him this apartment to live in when official functions aren't being held."
"Holy shit." Izuku thought to himself, "That is a better lie than I could've thought of and I wanted to ask him this morning how to handle the situation when it came up."
"Oh." Kaito went as he finished taking his shoes off, looking a bit uncomfortable at being in such an expensive home.
The three boys followed the noises of the laughter and clinking wine glasses coming from the kitchen and attached dining room.
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
"REIKO!?" Izuku called out in shock as he was caught face to face with his crush.
"IZUKU?!" Reiko called out, also in shock at seeing Izuku.
"What are you doing here!?" both of them asked at the exact same time.
"I live here." Izuku replied in a high pitched voice.
"Oh.." Reiko squeaked, "Uh… I mean… That makes sense. I'm here because my dad's girlfriend apparently I guess is friends with your mom."
"Dr. Shiho Yamato!?" Izuku panicked, his face turning bright red.
"Yeah…" Reiko sighed, "She is a… a colorful person…"
"I know…" Izuku gulped, "From… very… very… personal experience."
"Shit! She's probably also thinking that her dad's girlfriend has probably seen me naked…" Izuku thought in fear as he tried to beg his second brain not to react to that thought.
Meanwhile Hiro looked like he was struggling not to laugh, but that stopped when Izuku shot him a look that screamed, "Oh you really want to go there? Your crush is standing right next to you."
Thankfully before Hiro could acknowledged that he understood the non-verbal message they were greeted by their parents and dates, along with Midnight.
"Oh, Izuku." Reiko said as they were led over to the dining table where the food was starting to be set, "These are my twin brothers, Yu Yanagi and Ren Yanagi."
"Twins?" Izuku asked, "Fraternal?" he asked as he noticed that both of them looked different. Both of them wore glasses and had stoic expressions, but that is where the similarities ended. Yu had grey hair and grey eyes in a bowl cut, but Ren had black hair and black eyes.
"Yeah they are fraternal but have different personalities." Reiko explained before either of the twins could open their mouths to explain, "Nothing fazes Yu and he is always calm, but he has his moments where he is a total Chad. Ren on the other hand is always socially awkward, but can get scary when you try and take his food away."
"Are these the twins you dropped a cake on?" Izuku asked, causing both twins to wince as they were forced to relive the memory.
"Yes and they deserved it." Reiko said coldly.
"You don't have to tell him why you did it." Yu said calmly, but still nervous.
"Please don't." Ren added.
It was clear though that both of the twins wanted to talk to Izuku alone but they were all told to sit down at the dinner table. Much to Izuku and Hiro's chagrin, Inko had created seating assignments and had Hiro sit right next to Kaito and Izuku was next to Reiko.
The whole dinner conversation was full of his mom bragging about him and Hiro to the entire table which made his face flush red and his body temperature rose from sheer embarrassment. What made it worse was that Midnight who still hadn't left was asking all sorts of embarrassing questions too!
He kept dodging the questions by continually putting food in his mouth, but then they would wait for him to swallow before answering, so that technique was a flop. He was forced to answer all sorts of embarrassing questions that made him quite uncomfortable. Clearly Midnight was getting revenge for him and Hiro ditching breakfast.
Reiko wasn't spared at all as Inko, who knew that she was Izuku's crush, began digging for information. It got bad enough that Izuku asked his mom to please stop badgering her, and that awarded him a small smile form Reiko that made his heart flutter when he saw it.
Eventually everyone had finished eating and began to start to do the dishes.
"I wish we had four dishwashers back in the dorm." Reiko sighed,
"Why?" Hiro asked, "None of you girls can cook."
That got him a dirty look, and a reprimand from Inko in the form of a dish rag being thrown in his face. However it was then that Reiko's father, Ryuga Yanagi, the doctor who treated Hiro, and later him when he over did it with his green aura they day before they took him in, tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey Midoriya?" he said in a low voice, "Do you know somewhere where we can talk in private?"
"Shit." Izuku thought to himself as he gulped and shakily nodded as he slowly trudged to his private office that All Might had given him.
"So you have a massive crush on my daughter." It was a statement, not a question. Nervously, Izuku sat down behind his desk because he didn't think he could stand for this conversation and shakily nodded.
"Y-yes Mr. Yanagi." Izuku stuttered out.
"That much is obvious." Ryuga chuckled which actually helped set Izuku at ease. He clearly wasn't going for the: Don't mess with my daughter approach which is what Izuku feared. "Tell me what you find attractive about my daughter."
"Well… you see." Izuku nervously began and went on after an encouraging nod from Ryuga, "I think I first became attracted to her when we first met at the UA Entrance Exam sir."
"What happened then son?"
"Well… I've been given a lot of praise because of the number of quirks I was born with sir… It's just never sat well with me… the fact that I'm given all the praise when there are other people with quirks that are overlooked never seemed fair. She was the first girl I met that agreed with the philosophy that people shouldn't be praised for over powerful quirks… and I think… I think… think…"
It was this point that he felt that his face once on fire and he was shaking so much that if Ryuga had not known it was nerves, he would've thought that Izuku was suffering from some sort of seizure.
"So you fell for my daughter for her personality and her views…" Ryuga answered with a hum and a pause, "Do you at least find her attractive?"
"Of course!" Izuku cried out before he could stop himself and his face flushed even more if that was possible and he covered his mouth with both of his hands as he began to rock in his chair back and forth. He just admitted to his crush's father that he thought she was hot!
"Of course you do." Ryuga, "How could you not? I helped make her!"
That had Izuku turning more red as he covered his face at the words his crush's dad was saying.
"Does he have no shame?"
"Well you better ask her out." Ryuga chuckled as he got up, "I'll make sure the twins don't harass you at all for dating Reiko. To be honest, I've been cool with you dating her since we met in the hospital when you healed Hiro. To do something for the betterment of those you care most about is a quality I can't help but admire. Now it is time you ask my daughter on a date. I'm afraid she won't be available till your next weekend though. We have plans as a family tomorrow."
He then opened the door and gestured Izuku to walk out of the office and Izuku slowly walked out, his legs feeling like they were made out of a combination of lead and gelatin. Every step he took towards Reiko took conscious effort.
Left Leg
Right Leg
Left Leg
Right Leg
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
His head began to feel light, he felt the butterflies in his stomach intensify as if he was going on a roller coaster. His senses became hyperaware as he continued to walk towards Reiko who was sitting by herself in the living room, her brothers nowhere in sight. He heard Hiro and Kaito walk upstairs to one of the free bedrooms on the second floor to show him where he would be sleeping.
He felt every heart beat pound inside his chest. He slowly walked towards the woman who he has had a crush on since he laid eyes on her.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! How am I supposed to do this without looking like an idiot?!"
His heart now felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He felt like his face and the rest of his body was on fire. His nervous system was in overload, he felt like he was going to lose automatic control over his breathing. Scared that a panic attack was going to happen any second. Scared that when he opened his mouth that his voice would fail him.
It took all of his mental control to maintain his outward exposure, which he wasn't doing the best of jobs. His inward feelings on the other hand was like Chernobyl when the staff realized the reactor was in meltdown.
"U-u-u-u-u-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh um-um…" Izuku began to stutter as he walked within a few paces of Reiko. She looked at him right in the eyes and Izuku nearly felt his heart nearly burst out of his chest and knees buckle.
Deciding it was too dangerous to remain standing he sat down next to Reiko. She was wearing a pair of white jeans and a generic looking purple long sleeve shirt.
His eyes followed her legs, up to her pelvis, up to her stomach, lingering for a moment on her breasts, and then he made eye contact again. He immediately hoped that she hadn't noticed him checking her body out.
For a brief moment he stared at her. Her hair was pulled back, so both of her sapphire eyes were on full display. The bags that were normally there from lack of sleep were also missing. This was the first time Izuku actually recalled seeing her wearing makeup. She was beautiful. His breath was caught in his chest.
"Is everything alright Izuku?" Reiko asked, a look of concern on her beautiful face. Izuku then blushed, completely flustered.
"U-u-um…" Izuku began, his voice not responding to his brain's commands. Inwardly cursing himself, wishing he could pull a control-alt-delete on his voice and make it cooperate.
He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath through his nose till his lungs were at capacity. He held his breath and counted for five seconds before slowly exhaling through his nose once more. He looked at Reiko once more who started to look concerned, and counted again in his head.
"One… Two… Three… Four… Five…"
"Will you be my girlfriend Reiko?"
He instantly saw Reiko's eyes widen in shock, her face flushed. He watched her pupil's dilate after he said the words that had been haunting his dreams for the past couple weeks.
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
His heart pounded as he waited for her answer. His mind raced in thoughts and doubts if she said no. He lost mental control over his restraint on his legs. They began to shake showing his nerves. That was until Reiko placed a hand on his knee, making his heart jump at the contact.
"Of course I'll be your girlfriend." Reiko replied softly and Izuku felt all his fears and anxiety melt away as a broad white smile formed upon his face. He pulled her into a hug. His heartbeat finally began to slow and his muscles relaxed. A euphoric and calming feeling spread from his heart through to his arms and legs.
Click!
Both teens immediately looked up and saw Midnight with her phone out. She had just taken a picture of them hugging right after Izuku asked her out.
"What did you do that for Midnight-Sensei?!" Reiko called out, anger on her face.
"My baby boy is all grown up!" Inko cried out, as she rushed in and figured out what had just happened.
It wasn't long afterwards that things descended into chaos where Midnight ended up apologizing for her actions. Claiming that she only took the picture to prove to the betting pool that was going on that they were actually dating now, which only angered Reiko even more.
After everyone had left, Inko and All Might apologized for Midnight's behavior and All Might himself offered to sick Nezu on her. That was an idea that Izuku thought he might take up on.
Kaito retired to his guest room first before anyone else. Hiro, he looked a little upset that he couldn't hang out with him as much as he wanted. Izuku told him not to worry about it and that he would have all day tomorrow to hang out with him.
Izuku retired himself not long afterwards. Relaxing in his bubbling jetted tub, he thought how nice it would be to share the bath with Reiko. When his second brain reacted to this thought, for the first time, he didn't complain.
