Welcome everybody, to Episode Four of…
Fridays With the Waifus!
Joining us today is… Hinata!
Why don't you say hello to the crowd?
'Erm… I know you said this is a show, Host-san… but I don't see anybody…'
Oh, don't worry about that! They're all just past the fourth wall over there!
I'm talking to you in particular, Jason!
…Hah!
Did I get you? I picked a name out of a hat for that one!
'...What 'fourth' wall? This room is circular…'
Anyway, today's questions!
"Out of all the other waifus, who do you get along with the best?"
"How would you feel if Izuku was all grabby in his sleep while in your form?"
"How do you like the modern fashion for women from Izuku's world?"
'Well… I don't want to be rude… but…'
Oh, don't worry! None of them can hear you here!
'But… Oh, fine…'
That's the spirit!
'Ryoko and Rias are… very… Well, they're a lot to deal with.'
Mhmm, I can see that. What about Medaka? She's kind of in the same boat, I'd say.
'...Who?'
Oh, that's right! You haven't met her yet! Along with ^#(^! or )$*$& or even—Ah, that's all spoilers. You didn't hear anything anyway. I pay the censorship team very well, don'tcha know?
'R-right…'
Well, what about the next question? Is the man of the hour a demon beneath the sheets?
The pale-eyed girl's face turned bright red.
'W-what?! No! W-we haven't… And I l-love Naru—I would never!'
Huh. I think I get why Rias does this so much!
'B-besides… Izuku isn't like that! The few times he's slept while we're sharing a body, he just… passes out completely. Sometimes he even drools… I-It's kind of adorable… Like looking at a kid sleeping.'
Hmm… Seems Medaka was exaggerating in the last chapter… How about that third question, then?
'Um… From what I've seen, it's mostly similar to the civilians' clothes back home. Although some of the girls dress like the women in the east part of the village, the ones that father kept reminding me to stay away from…'
Oh? What do you mean?
'W-well… it's kind of how Rias dresses, really. Baiken too, now that I think of it. W-what's the appeal of showing so much skin?'
Well, aren't you the sweetest little thing. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised. I'd think Konoha would have special training for kunoichi that would tell you all about that sort of thing. Do you not have infiltration specialists…?
'W-w-w-w-what…? That's why they're…? O-Oh… I-I-I…'
Steam was rising from the girl's ears as she hunched forward, poking her fingers together in embarrassment. Her face was incredibly red as her eyes practically swirled in their sockets.
'B-but t-there's so m-many t-that s-show off… O-oh no… W-was f-father warning me away b-because he t-though I w-would…'
Hmm… I think I may have gone a bit far with this one. I'll have to do something about this when I send you back…
'W-what…? What d-do you…?'
With a snap of the host's fingers, Hinata had disappeared, presumably back in the watch.
Well, that's all this time, folks!
On with the show!
It was impossible. It just… wasn't how things worked.
There was no way that Deku could have a quirk. Bakugo had been born special, the only one from his part of the world that was meant for greatness from the start. His quirk only built upon that.
Deku… simply wasn't.
The boy failed at everything he tried, his timid nature standing directly in contrast to Bakugo's own… well… explosive personality and hindering his every attempt to pursue something of value. That was the first of many contrasts between them.
Bakugo had talent, Izuku didn't.
Bakugo was a fighter, Izuku wasn't.
Bakugo had a quirk, and Izuku didn't.
Bakugo was special… and Izuku simply wasn't.
If there was one certainty in Bakugo's world, it was this. There was no room for doubt, it was just how the world worked. It was why their friendship had torn apart at the seams when they were younger. Midoriya simply couldn't keep up with the blonde… but he still kept trying for so long and...
Well, that didn't matter.
What did matter was that, somehow, the boy had come barreling into the school yard at speeds Bakugo would struggle to achieve with five percent of One For All, looking like a purple blur from a distance before suddenly losing balance and control shortly before flying through the gate.
All of this added up to a suspicious, impossible, implication.
"Midoriya…" he growled, every ounce of anger he had at the very thought that his world could be upended so deeply filling his voice.
"Do you have a quirk?"
Izuku froze like a cow in front of a rapidly approaching locomotive.
He knows! How can he know?!
A pause.
Wait...
"N-no!" he denied shakily.
Y-yeah! He has no proof! I can just bluff my way out—
"Then how the hell were you moving that fast?" the blonde demanded.
"Umm… My roller skates…?" Izuku asked, more than told, as he struggled to come up with a lie on the spot.
Oh crap-oh crap-oh—that's it!
"They're a support item that I'm testing!" he exclaimed hurriedly. "I'm applying for U.A.'s Support Course, so I'm getting a headstart in making hero gear!"
"Hmm…" Bakugo mumbled, still clearly suspicious. "And they look like that, why?"
Confused, Izuku turned to look at the shoes.
Oh.
The roller skates that he'd borrowed from the waitress while chasing down the Sturm Und Drang brothers weren't something he'd actually looked at properly. He was too focused on getting back to his pursuit to really bother paying attention to their design. That was something he was regretting, now.
The skates had frills, and looked perfectly suited to a bizarre combination of skating-punk and maid-chic. The waitress had been dressed in a frilly apron, now that Izuku thought about it, and…
Oh god. It was one of those cafes…
"Uhh…" Izuku trailed off. "They were based on the style of a recent hero debut…?"
"Really...? Who?" Bakugo demanded, still clearly not convinced.
"Umm…"
The bell rang, announcing the start of classes.
"Shit, we're late," the blonde muttered. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he started walking. Glancing at Izuku, he continued. "Ah… Fuck it. It doesn't matter. I've got somethin' more important to talk about anyway."
"Er, right," Izuku agreed, happy to be past the uncomfortable topic.
Slipping his own shoes back on and placing the frilly roller skates at the bottom of his backpack, Izuku followed the blonde inside. It was… weird walking into school with the boy that had, years prior, been his best friend, and more recently had become his bully.
Even more startling was the fact that, despite the boy's aggressive personality, he'd yet to actually harass or mock Izuku today. In fact… he'd probably saved Izuku from several broken bones just now by catching him as he had.
Today was shaping up to be quite the experience.
He's lying…
You didn't have to be a genius to pick up on that fact. Midoriya was clearly lying. He'd never been good at it, even when they were kids. The idiot had been that way for as long as Bakugo could remember.
Front the stutter, to the shifty eyes, to the moments when he was clearly trying to think of something convincing to say… Deku was absolutely incapable of being a believable liar.
The question was… What was he lying about?
The green-haired teen's utter incompetence in this field had the side-effect of making it near impossible to figure out which part of his story was the falsehood. Were the roller skates actually based on a recent hero debut?
Maybe, maybe not...
Were they something that Deku had actually made himself?
Maybe, maybe not…
Was he lying from the start about them, and covering up for the fact that he had a quirk?
Maybe… Maybe not.
It was frustrating as hell, and not something Bakugo was willing to waste time contemplating.
The most likely situation was that the idiot had finally hit puberty and had a thing for maids that he took a bit too far, and he was getting all flustered because he didn't want to admit that.
There was no way Deku could have a quirk after all this time…
He just couldn't.
So the blonde shifted the topic to the reason he'd actually been waiting at the gate for the last thirty minutes over. He'd been doing so for the past several days, waiting for Midoriya to appear for school so he could have a talk with the boy and be done with it. Of course, the boy chose these exact few days to play hooky, or catch a cold, or whatever the hell he was doing.
Bakugo was good at many things… but patience was not one of those things.
October was nearly over now, and it had been almost three weeks since he'd spoken with Baiken. He'd avoided speaking with Izuku to contact her—there was no way he'd give in first in this game of chicken—but waiting until she gave in was no longer an option.
All Might had stuck his nose where it didn't belong, again, and now the situation had gotten even more complicated...
—FLASHBACK—
Training with Kirishima was a… special kind of exercise.
"Why…! Won't…! You…! FIGHT?!" Kirishima shouted angrily.
Carefully calibrating a normal explosion, Bakugo launched himself up and over the boy's slightly-better-than-sloppy punch, taking great care to make sure the concussive force pushed the boy's quirk to its limits without shattering the hardened layer.
"You know why!" Bakugo yelled back. "The old man threatened me with doing a thousand full-force explosions if you land a hit! There's no fucking way I'm going to break my arms to make you feel better about yourself, spike-teeth!"
The red-haired teen growled in reply, charging forward brainlessly and tried to ram Bakugo with his mildly sharpened shoulder.
"Not going to work, dumbass!" Bakugo exclaimed, using another carefully calibrated explosion to speed up a crouch, following it with another to spring to the side—
Kirishima's leg came out of nowhere—he fucking feinted?!—his surprisingly armored shin bare centimeters from the blond's nose. Reacting purely off of reflex, Bakugo supercharged an explosion with One For All, pulling out his current maximum of one percent and flinging his opponent away with far more concussive force than he could get out of his personal quirk without pushing his sweat glands to the limit.
The redhead's eyes widened into dinner plates as he bounced and tumbled a couple dozen meters away, impacting against a trash mound with the memorable 'crack' sound of his quirk shattering from repeated punishment. Groaning, the boy gave a thumbs up before letting himself sit there limply to catch his breath.
As for the blonde himself, he was doing everything he could to not cry out in pain.
He clenched his teeth and fists like vices so that this pain would overwhelm the horrible ache that echoed from the bones in his arms. Using both of his quirks at the same time was still a work in progress, and using it off the cuff like that assured he wouldn't be able to properly regulate the ratio of energies, leading to his current agony.
"Bakugo…" 'Mr. Yagi' said slowly, a note of tired disapproval in his voice as he stepped into the cobbled together arena the two teenagers had made out of trash for their spar.
"What?!" the blonde bit out indignantly, the pain steadily fading. "You told me to not let him touch me, and I didn't!"
"What else did I tell you?" the gangly man demanded, kneeling near Kirishima to check him for serious injury and finding nothing worse than a few bruises and the tell-tale cracking of his skin that came from pushing his quirk beyond the breaking point.
"Ugh…" Bakugo groaned in annoyance, looking away somewhat sheepishly. "'Don't shatter the little chickadee's quirk like an eggshell…'"
Scratching the back of his neck, he continued.
"He's fine though, so why does it matter?"
Standing back up from his examination, the taller blonde smiled a bit wider than usual, clearly amused. "I'm quite sure I phrased it differently, but that's good enough, young man."
Putting his hand on his incredibly pointy chin, the hero continued.
"I believe that means you owe me two thousand full-force blasts at the ocean."
Bakugo's eyes narrowed as his usual scowl deepened. "Are you trying to kill me, you old fart?!"
"Well… there is an alternative…" the man said leadingly.
"...Go on."
"You have yet to make any progress with your lady friend—"
Kirishima sat up, eyes wide open and a massive toothy grin on his face.
"BAKUGO HAS A GIRLFRIEND?!"
"—correct?" 'Mr. Yagi' finished. "You could do something to further your relationship, instead of waiting for something to happen. Take another step in your interactions with the girl, and I'll let you off the hook!"
Suddenly, the spiky-redhead was standing next to Bakugo, radiating the special kind of energy that siblings the world over emit when they discover their brother has a girlfriend. A knowing smile, a perfect mix of teasing and genuine excitement for a buddy, was plastered on Kirishima's face.
"Is she manly?!" the boy asked excitedly, pumping his fist in the air while using his own special version of the word 'manly.'
Bakugo took a lazy swipe at the teen, fire in his eyes as he shouted a reply.
"The fuck does that mean, spikey-teeth?!"
"Boys, boys…" 'Mr. Yagi' tried to interject.
"She's far more of a woman than you could ever handle!" Bakugo continued, ignoring his mentor. Then he paused, realizing what he sounded like by saying that. "Besides! She ain't my girlfriend!"
Kirishima stopped, visibly confused.
"Then why did mister—?"
"Because he's an old bastard that can't keep his nose out of my business, that's why!" Bakugo shouted.
"There's no need to—" The older man tried, again, to interject.
"Seriously…?" Kirishima said, turning to face the aforementioned 'old bastard' with a look of befuddled disgust. "That's… not very manly…"
"Now, hold on. I'm just trying to get my student to socialize a bit more, young Kirishima," 'Mr. Yagi,' deflected. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but I believe you're the only friend he has, young man."
The redhead turned to stare at Bakugo, a look of deep sympathy on his face.
"Bakugo!" the boy called with a sniffle. Comical tears sprung from his eyes as he held his arms outward and took a step forward. "I never knew you had it so bad! Friendless and alone for years, but you kept pushing on anyway?! It's so manly I could cry!"
"No, no, no… Get the fuck away from me…" Bakugo said in warning, stumbling back a bit as Kirishima kept approaching. "I am not a hug per—"
"C'mere!" The teen exclaimed, leaping forward at the blonde.
Bakugo let off a tiny explosion, intending to rocket himself away, but slammed into a solid object behind him.
What the fu—
All Might had moved behind him when he wasn't paying attention, a perfectly cheery grin on his face as he looked down at the shorter blonde knowingly.
YOU SON OF A—
Kirishima impacted Bakugo forcefully, his hardened arms wrapping around the muscular boy in a hug; though a better name for it would be accidental asphyxiation, given how tightly he was squeezing the blonde. He felt like his face was turning blue, the lack of oxygen slowing his thoughts to nothing more than swears and protests.
...
Once… that… was over with, Bakugo was confronted with something that was somehow worse.
"Dude, you have to go for it!" Kirishima declared.
The blonde didn't respond, choosing instead to glare at All Might. The tall man was still smiling that infuriating way, watching events unfold.
"She's perfect for you!" the redhead continued.
While Bakugo was… constrained… The hero had taken the time to describe the blonde's awkward relationship with Baiken. Everything about it!
He'd had more than enough time, too, since Kirishima seemed to think that Bakugo 'needed' a 'good hug' and Bakugo couldn't escape from the boy's strong grip without seriously hurting him to get through his quirk.
I will get you for this, All Might…
"Seriously, she even beat you in a spar!" The boy kept rambling. "That's like catnip for a fighter! It's so manly!"
"She got lucky…" Bakugo growled, ignoring the… twisted accuracy of the redhead's ridiculous statement.
Kirishima blinked, halting his rant for the moment. After a moment, a knowing smirk found its way onto his face. Clearly, the idiot had an idea.
"Oh really…?" he asked with exaggerated disbelief.
"Yes!" the blonde confirmed angrily. "I let my guard down because she took a big hit—"
"Prove it!" the redhead interrupted.
"...What?"
"I said… Prove it!" the boy elaborated. "Ask her for a rematch! You can even make it a bet! If you win, she has to go on a date with you!"
"Why the hell would she agree to that?" Bakugo responded.
"If she wins, she gets her sword back!" Kirishima added.
"I am not making a date with me into a punishment, spike-teeth," the blonde stated.
"A duel for the hand of a girl… with the girl herself?!" the other teen continued, ignoring Bakugo entirely. "That's so awesome! It's a MAN'S ROMANCE!"
It… did have a certain appeal to it when put that way—
Oh, fuck, what am I doing? That idiot's corrupting me with his stupidity!
"If I may, my students…" 'Mr. Yagi' interjected, stepping into the conversation he'd been listening to shamelessly for the last few minutes.
Kirishima turned toward the man, eager to hear what he had to say, while Bakugo's glare promised unholy retribution if he said anything to make the situation worse.
"While, normally, I cannot in good conscience condone gambling… particularly among minors..." the hero began. "I believe that young Kirishima may be onto something… and this is a rather innocent bet."
"Heck yeah!"
"From what you've said about this young woman, she sounds like a rather feisty girl… We've even spoken about this before," 'Mr. Yagi' continued.
"Yeah, your little 'tsundere' theory," Bakugo grunted.
"Well… The best way to a tsundere's heart is through her interests…" the man explained. "If you can get her to think of you whenever she considers her hobbies or pursuits… you've already won."
Did… Did he just give actual advice…?
"And she is a fighter!" Kirishima added. "She beat you after all, so fighting has to at least be her hobby!"
"I told you, it was a—"
"Lucky hit, yeah, you said that already!" the redhead interrupted. "Doesn't matter! She still won."
The audible grinding of the blonde's teeth threatened to halt the conversation briefly, but the other teen barreled on anyway.
"Besides! If you win, she has to fall for you!" Kirishima declared. "After all, it worked on you already!"
Bakugo's eye started to twitch a bit, smoke leaking out of his nostrils and his ears while tiny explosions sparked from his trembling fingertips.
"Well, that is if you win…" the boy continued nonchalantly. "Maybe she'll get another 'lucky hit' in and—"
"ALRIGHT, ENOUGH!" Bakugo shouted, a few proper-sized explosions sending sand billowing into the air around them. "I'LL FUCKING DO IT, SO SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I START STRESSTESTING YOUR QUIRK WITH A CROWBAR AND A CAR BATTERY!"
"There's no need to be so angry, young Bakugo…" 'Mr. Yagi' began. "We're just trying to help you—"
"What would you even do with a crowbar and a car battery...?" Kirishima wondered. "It's two completely different ways to—"
"KEEP TALKING AND YOU'RE GOING TO FIND OUT!"
—FLASHBACK END—
And now, here he was… struck with indecision.
On one hand, he'd given his word, and that mattered. Once Bakugo said he would do something, he did it. He knew he had… issues… but he was not a coward.
Yet, on the other hand… he didn't want to do this.
He hadn't made the connection before, but after waiting so long for a response from the girl and being strong-armed by All Might and Kirishima… he finally understood himself a little better. Throughout his life, there was one thing that frustrated him more than anything…
No one could keep up with him.
He'd always been surrounded by people that praised him for his talents, his hard work, his dedication to his dream, even when he acted the shitty way he did… but no one had ever managed to challenge his pace. How was he supposed to grow, to be the best hero he could be… if he didn't have competition? What worth did his achievements have if he didn't have to fight others to get there? Was an easy victory even worth having?
Within his generation, he had no equals.
His 'friends' at school were nothing but hanger-ons that worshiped the ground he walked upon like the side-characters they were. Most people were either like this to some extent, hoping to get something out of his potential and attach themselves to his name, or they were ambivalent to his existence. They were worthless wastes of time that did nothing to chase their own dreams.
Kirishima was a surprise, honestly, in that the boy actually had the drive to keep pressing forward despite his weak quirk. He lacked the raw talent to be Bakugo's equal… but he could respect the redhead's dedication in spite of that, even if he'd never admit it out loud. It helped that the boy didn't spout hollow paise, ever.
There was one person, though, that had well and truly pissed him off, disappointed him, beyond anyone else. Though it was only now that Bakugo had gained a bit of self-awareness that he was able to understand why.
Deku.
Back when they first met in preschool, they'd been quick to get along. They both had the same dream, so they were meant to be friends… rivals, even… but that all began to slowly disappear when Deku didn't get a quirk.
At first, Bakugo held out hope that the boy could catch up.
But… he was still quirkless by the time they hit middle school, cementing the fact that he would be useless for life. Bakugo was certain of it. He'd actually researched it just to be sure. After a certain age, the chances of developing a quirk were only just above zero so as to account for one in a trillion exceptions…. Yet, even still, the idiot kept going…
Unfortunately for him, reality wasn't that forgiving.
No amount of research, urban legends, or homemade remedies helped him develop a quirk. For a while… Bakugo could respect his stubbornness, even if he mocked the absurdity of it.
Eventually though… the idiot gave up.
Oh, he kept on talking the good talk, saying all the right things. He was going to be number one! Be just like All Might! He was going to be a hero, and no one was going to stop him!
...But he never actually did anything anymore. He just kept writing in those stupid notebooks of his and hoped that something would happen to give him talent, give him a chance, give him what he needed… rather than having the drive to make it happen no matter what.
He was delusional… and it hurt to see.
It was too much for Bakugo, and... and he snapped; destroying their friendship and leading to whatever the hell kind of shitty relationship they'd had for the past several years in junior high school.
This was probably why he managed to get along with Kirishima, honestly. Even if the boy was only a few steps above Izuku in talent… he kept going and put in the real work needed to cross the gap between useless extra and noteworthy side-character. He was determined to keep going, too, and Bakugo could almost see the boy being a peer, even if he wasn't Bakugo's equal…
Eventually, anyway.
All of this… This epiphany about his values… It made Bakugo hesitant to pursue Baiken.
After all, what were the odds she wouldn't be like everyone else? The girl had done decently enough in their spar, landing a couple hits on him and 'winning' because he got cocky… but that wasn't enough to prove she could keep up with him, much less be an equal… Someone to challenge him and help him be better like he so desperately wanted.
In all likelihood, she would just be another disappointment… and given that Bakugo was considering her as a potential girlfriend—stupid as it sounded—not just a friend or a rival… he wasn't sure he was willing to risk an even more extreme version of that familiar kind of disappointment.
Somehow, though… he still wanted to. It was stupid and illogical and All Might was probably getting to him with his ramblings about 'enjoying' this part of his life and making friends for the sake of it… The man truly seemed to want what's best for Bakugo, or at least, what he thought the blonde needed.
"I'm proud of you young man… This is how a hero acts."
When the man said those words, recently… He'd felt something besides anger and frustration with the world for once. It was a special feeling, completely different from the empty praise he'd gotten all his life, but the blonde knew he wanted to experience it again. To make All Might proud again… To earn the faith the hero placed in him…
...Which means I need to give this a real shot, don't I?
Opening his mouth with a sigh, Bakugo spoke.
"I need you to send Baiken a message."
"..." Izuku remained silent.
"You gonna say somethin', or did your joyride scramble what little brains you have?" Bakugo continued.
"What do you want me to say, Bakugo?" Izuku replied tersely.
The blonde's eyes narrowed, his arms tensing a bit, but his fists remained in his pockets and his feet continued walking toward their classroom.
The idiot really had grown a spine, talking to him like that...
"I don't fucking know!" Bakugo replied. "Just something more than that!"
"Just… tell me what you want her to hear," the green-haired boy sighed.
Bakugo's arms loosened, his shoulders slumping mildly as he took another step.
"Tell her…" the boy began, trailing off. "Tell her to meet me at Dagobah beach."
"What, so you can harass her again?" Izuku demanded instantly.
The blonde whipped around, a deeper scowl than normal on his face.
"How the fuck would you know? I didn't 'harass' anyone!"
All he'd done was talk to the girl and catch her when she tripped! How anyone could consider that 'harassment' was beyond him.
"Y-you…" Izuku stuttered, an odd expression appearing on his face for a moment. "Just… nevermind."
Bakugo stared for a moment longer, before twisting back around and continuing.
"Whatever…" he said dismissively.
The two faded into silence for a long few seconds before either spoke again.
"Tell her that if she wants her stick back, she can fight me for it," Bakugo stated. "If she loses though… She owes me a date."
There. I did it. Happy now?!
Izuku stopped walking.
The blonde glanced behind him, raising an eyebrow at Izuku before continuing without him.
"Just make sure you tell her!" he called. "Dagobah Beach! Sunday, a week from now!"
There… still wasn't any response.
What's gotten into him…?
Bakugo paused, turning back around to face Deku, a multitude of insults and degrading statements on his lips… It would be so easy to fall back on old habits…
"Tell ya what, Deku… You wanna be a hero right? Well, jump off the roof! Maybe you'll be born with a quirk in your next life!"
Bakugo blinked, his own words ringing in his head as he stared at the green-haired teen, who was spacing out for some reason… but that didn't matter as much right now.
I… never did apologize, did I...?
"De—Midoriya…" the blonde said, stumbling partyway into the habitual nickname.
The other boy smacked his own cheeks lightly a few times, shaking his head forcefully before refocusing on Bakugo.
"Y-yeah…?"
"I'm…" the blonde trailed off, hesitant to do something so far beyond what he was accustomed to being.
"This is how a hero acts…"
Taking a deep breath, the teen pressed on through his discomfort.
"I—"
"Tell her that if she wants her stick back, she can fight me for it," Bakugo stated. "If she loses though… She owes me a date."
Izuku stopped walking.
W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what?!
The taller teen glanced behind him, raising an eyebrow at Izuku before continuing without him.
"Just make sure you tell her!" he called. "Dagobah Beach! Next Sunday!"
It's Friday today, so that gives me… a bit over a week. I need to beat Bakugo in a week. When he's actually going to take me seriously!
Izuku started to hyper-ventilate a bit.
And if I lose… I need to…
The green-haired boy's face did something new! Instead of the familiar crimson of embarrassment, he started to turn green as he felt a bone-deep sense of disgust wash over him.
Ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew—
"De—Midoriya…" Bakugo said, cutting off Izuku's downward spiral.
Smacking himself a few times to refocus, the teen looked back at the blonde. He just needed to last until the end of the conversation, then he could get his head on straight enough to handle his exams. It should be easy enough. After all…
What could Bakugo possibly do to make this any more absurd of a day?
"Y-yeah…?" Izuku stuttered, still off-balance from the other boy's challenge.
"I'm…" the blonde trailed off.
Is he… hesitating?
The teen visibly took a deep breath before continuing.
"I—" the boy began, cutting himself off.
Sighing, Bakugo turned away.
"I can't do this..." he muttered. A moment later, he continued more audibly. "Forget it."
"Err… Okay…" Izuku mumbled in confusion.
Taking advantage of the resulting lull in conversation, Bakugo turned away and stomped off in his usual manner, leaving one last comment as he left.
"See you around, De—" he said, cutting himself off for the third time. "...Midoriya."
Rounding the corner, the blonde disappeared from Izuku's sight.
What's with him lately...?
Shaking his head, the freckled boy kept moving.
Well… I guess it wasn't that big a deal anyway.
Scratching the back of his head idly, Izuku made his way up the stairs to his classroom's floor.
Oh well. I've got more important things to worry about right now...
…
Izuku walked out of class, hours later, in a completely different mood than he walked in.
I PASSED!
He felt like cheering, and was struggling to not dance as he moved. His smile was obnoxiously wide as he made his way to his destination.
Though he didn't have his scores in quite yet, he'd breezed through the math test. It was almost certain he'd gotten a perfect score, or just beneath that. It was more than enough to impress his teacher and avoid getting kicked out of the class.
The exams for his other classes hadn't gone nearly as well, but given that his Medaka-aided study time had exclusively focused on math, that was to be expected. Speaking of which, taking so many tests one after the other had made one thing perfectly clear to Izuku about Medaka's absurd ability to learn.
It wasn't going to be a way to skip through all of his studies, but it would still help him a lot.
The things that had seemed obvious while in the purple-haired girl's form still made perfect sense, but took genuine effort now that Izuku was back in his own body. Though he didn't have an exact handle on the ability's limits, from what he could glean so far, there were a few rules that constrained her.
For one, the girl couldn't actually copy quirks, merely replicate the skills associated with them. Combined with her absurd athleticism, this meant that there were still a lot of things Izuku could duplicate successfully in her form, especially if he had equipment—like the roller skates—but she wasn't going to become some kind of terrifying quirk hoarder.
Secondly, none of the skills she copied would stay with Izuku when he returned to his own body. Case in point, his sudden inability to skate after losing the transformation this morning.
The last rule was less a rule, and more a description of how her learning worked.
From what Izuku could tell, while in Medaka's form he gained her impeccable memory—it was probably eidetic—and though he wasn't any smarter per se, he seemed to make the connections he normally would at a faster rate than normal, bolstering mental traits that he already had and making the learning process much faster, but also making it so that the things learned while in her form would be subject to his own body's normal memory.
Essentially, anything he learned in her form would only be retained as well as he would retain any information that he learned at an incredibly rapid rate—fading after a day or two if it wasn't refreshed and truly memorized.
Even if it wasn't as absurdly useful as it had seemed originally, it was still an incredible tool to have in his toolkit, and it would really make studying for school easier, freeing up time for his other—
"Oh, Midoriya, there you are!" A familiar voice suddenly exclaimed.
Startled out of his thoughts, Izuku let out a grunt of surprise and turned to face the direction of the sound.
"Togeike?"
The girl had popped up behind him, a lollipop sticking out of the corner of her mouth and her hands in her jacket pockets.
"Where the hell have you been?" she asked. "Tsutsutaka's been going nuts with you missing for the past few days."
Her hand snaked out, latching onto Izuku's forearm as she started walking quickly, dragging the green-haired boy along with her.
"Now that you're here though, he'll finally stop being such a drama queen," she continued.
"Er, I can walk on my own, you know…." Izuku interjected as he struggled to maintain the exact right pace to not stumble into the girl.
"Yeah, don't care. You're not going anywhere if I've got a grip on you." Togeike stated. "I am not putting up with another minute of his artistic insanity."
The girl turned the corner sharply, limiting Izuku's options and accidentally forcing him to bang his shoulder into a locker.
"Seriously, he's just a ball of anxious energy, since he doesn't have his 'model!'" the girl exclaimed, giving Izuku a not-so subtle glare.
"Ssh!" Izuku whispered. "Not so loud! Please, it's a secret!"
The girl let out a little 'hmph!' of annoyance and ceased her contemptuous glare.
"'All he does is write everywhere or sit and chew the eraser of his pencil," the girl ranted. "I'm pretty sure he started speaking to his fabrics yesterday, but he denies it whenever I try to confront him about it."
The girl sent another glare over her shoulder.
"Umm… Sorry…?" Izuku mumbled uncertainly.
He can't be that bad… can he…?
"DAMNIT!"
Izuku jumped in his shoes, the red sneakers only staying on his feet because of how tightly they were tied shut. The sound had come from just within the door to their right, which was—rather conveniently—the entrance to their clubroom.
"Oh god, he's getting worse…" Togeike groaned.
The girl stopped suddenly, her hand resting on the doorknob as she turned to stare at Izuku.
"You're going first," she stated with the same tone one would use to say that the sun is bright or that instant coffee was the elixir of the gods…
Izuku didn't have a problem, everyone else had a problem, since they didn't see the glory of instant coffee!
"...Okay?" Izuku asked, more than told, nodding his head in acceptance.
Though he was still somewhat sure the girl was playing it up, the situation was Izuku's fault in the first place, so he would play along as a way to pay for the inconvenience he'd caused.
The brunette nodded grimly, lifting a hand up for a visible three-count.
"Do we really need—" Izuku began.
The girl cut him off with a glare and lowered a finger.
I'm starting to think she's the drama queen…
A second digit fell.
Especially with how she… r-reacted… to 2B.
The last finger fell.
"Hey Tsutsutaka!" the girl called, yanking the door open forcefully.
Inside the clubroom was a sight straight out of a horror movie. The walls were covered in diagrams and measurements, scribbled over each other haphazardly in the shaky handwriting of a madman. Sitting in the center of the room, surrounded by papers—many of which were crumpled—and various colored or patterned fabrics was Agoyamato, his pompadour starting to unravel and fall into disarray. His hands were resting on his large chin, fingers stretched towards bloodshot eyes… which shot up to look at the sudden light unblinkingly.
For the briefest of moments, Izuku expected the taller boy to growl at him, but then the boy blinked.
Once…
Twice…
And then…
"Midoriya…? Is that…?" he muttered, his voice hoarse.
Near instantly, the burly boy was in front of his green-haired clubmate, thick arms embracing the boy tightly. Dramatic tears were leaking onto Izuku's shoulders as the boy's hold shook with each over-the-top sob.
"N-never do that again!" the boy exclaimed. "I need you for the show!"
Completely bewildered, Izuku glanced at Togeike for help.
"I told you!" the girl stated smugly. "He's a big baby!"
Turning back towards the still crying teen, Izuku awkwardly patted him on the back.
"Uh… T-there, there…?"
…
A few minutes later, after the distraught designer had calmed down, the three sat inside their compact clubroom.
"Oh, I have so many ideas, but I need to get measurements of each of your forms so I know what I'm working with!"
Izuku scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Err… Right… About that…" he began sheepishly.
I came to school as Medaka, so there's no way the cooldown is done…
"Once I get information on each body, I can narrow down my ideas and decide which one is best for the show!" Agoyamato continued excitedly.
Sighing, Izuku started fiddling with the watch absentmindedly, fidgeting as he tried to figure out a good way to tell the clearly excited artist that no, Christmas had not in fact come early… He would need to be a good boy and wait until tomorrow.
Click!
Blinking, Izuku glanced down.
Multiple things went through his head as he gaped at the now standing watch-face. His first thought was to be thankful he didn't need to explain his way out of the situation, while his second was to wonder that maybe his 'me' training was finally paying off!
His final thought, of course, was dread that he would need to use his quirk again in such an embarrassing situation. If last time was anything to go by… Togeike was not going to be fun to be around.
"—Suffice it to say, we should get started immediately! We only have three weeks to prepare!"
Sighing from what he knew was inevitable, Izuku activated the watch, bringing the familiar flash of green to the room.
'Oh! Hello Izuku-san!' Hinata said in surprise. 'Is this the fashion club Ryoko's been talking about?'
She's been talking about—?
"Ugh… Why am I even surprised anymore…" Togeike groaned in disgust.
"Umm…" Izuku mumbled, Hinata's gentle voice expressing the freckled girl's confusion quite readily.
"Shut it, Little-Miss-Yamato-Nadeshiko*," the brunette ordered, grabbing a measuring tape from Agoyamato's workbench and approaching Izuku.
"Hmm… Elegant robes and flowing patterns for this one, I'd say…" the tall boy mumbled, scribbling a few notes on his pad. "Perhaps some flower patterns…? Lilac would suit her… Oh! Silk is an absolute must..."
'O-oh… I don't know… That does sound beautiful but… Isn't it a bit much…?' Hinata commented shyly. 'I-I know father would approve, but that sounds really e-expensive. Are you sure he can afford all those materials, Izuku-san…?
I… I wouldn't worry about it. He's really dedicated to this. He probably already has all the materials he needs.
Togeike took a few moments, getting simple numbers like height, neck girth, shoulder width, arm length, and so on, gradually making her way downward until—
"Arms up!" she ordered.
Complying, the pale-eyed girl raised the subtly defined limbs, exposing her torso for measurement. Togeike wrapped the tape around the other girl's now accessible chest, pulling tight around over her blazer.
"Ow!" Izuku winced. "D-do you need to tighten it so much…?"
Togeike gave her a dull-eyed stare.
"It's this or you strip down completely," she said blankly. "It's the only way to be reasonably accurate."
"O-oh…" Izuku mumbled, a slight blush on her cheeks as she looked away.
Letting out a snort of annoyance, Togeike returned to looking at the measuring tape.
"Seriously, it's just not fair…" she mumbled. "Bigger than the white-haired one, and with hips that are still respectable…"
'Ooh! Is Izuku getting measured…?' a familiar voice asked teasingly, sounding like it came from over a hill. 'I want to join! I'll win the pageant for you, Izuku~'
The pale-eyed girl instantly felt a burst of panic from Rias' voice being present, particularly because of her current circumstances.
Nonononono—Wait, I'm safe. She can't do any—
PAIN!
Izuku's mind went completely blank, her body tensing up to perfect stillness as something she couldn't recognize through the sudden migraine forced its way into her head. The energy she'd grown familiar enough to feel while transformed burned like magma in her veins, shifting and twisting into a new form and exchanging its own qualities with that of its predecessor.
Then, just as quickly as the pain had arrived, it disappeared. She could think again.
'Hello Izuku! It's been a little while!' Rias exclaimed, her voice sounding perfectly normal in its proximity.
"OH COME ON!" Togeike shouted as the force of Izuku's transformation overwhelmed the tape-measure, tearing it from the girl's grip and flinging it to the ground.
Blinking the spots out of her eyes, Izuku noticed red hair trailing over the corners of her vision.
"Huh…?"
"What the hell are these?!" Togeike shouted.
Without any hesitation, the girl reached forward and groped Izuku's now far more sizable chest.
"Ah~!" The redhead moaned, leaning into the grip through reflexes not her own.
Everything in the room stopped.
Agoyamato stopped scribbling notes and ideas—his pencil paused a bare centimeter from his notepad—Togeike froze, her hands still pressing into the other girl's chest. That just left… Izuku. And surprisingly...
Izuku's face wasn't red.
No, instead all the blood had drained from her already pale skin, giving her a plastery-color that still managed to be attractive because of Rias' features. Her mouth hung open slightly, plush lips trembling a bit from utter horror, while the rest of her body was completely tense.
She hadn't even meant to make the sound in the first place!
"C-c-c-c-can w-w-w-we p-p-pretend t-that d-didn't h-happen…?" she mumbled, utterly mortified by the situation.
With the initial moment over, blood slowly began returning to Izuku's face, instantly gravitating into her cheeks and giving her an exaggerated blush normally only possible with makeup.
'U-FUFUFU! FUFUFUFUFU—U-FUFUFUFU…!' Rias giggled incessantly. Seriously. She wasn't stopping. It was getting to the point where she was starting to gasp for breath. 'U-FUFUFU— UFU… U-FUFUFU...!'
Togeike's mouth worked up and down, but nothing came out. Slowly, the brunette retracted her hands, lowering them to her sides as she began to blush slightly herself.
"Hmm…" Agoyamato mumbled, already back to scribbling notes. "Reds and deep purples for this one, I'd say…"
Tapping his pen against his chin, the boy continued.
"Perhaps something of a slightly gothic style…? Can't go too far, Midoriya can't pull off the attitude to manage that, but… Hmm…"
"Seriously…?" Togeike asked, staring in bewilderment at the tall boy. "How can you just go back to work after… after that! I thought teenage boys were—"
"Some of us have something called self-control," Agoyamato cut her off. "Something you might want to work on, given how you groped our model because you were annoyed and surprised, hm?"
The brunette gave him a narrow-eyed glare and turned away in a huff.
"I have plenty of self-control, thanks," she muttered under her breath.
Reclaiming the measuring tape from the floor, the girl started taking some measurements, repeating the same process as before, though she muttered some nasty things under her breath after measuring the redhead's chest.
"Ninety centimeters! Ninety! You're a friggin' G-cup with your band size!" she grumbled. "And you're probably still growing too!"
'Fufu… Don't worry, Izuku! You'll catch up to my wonderful J's…'Rias whispered in Izuku's ear.
…J-J-J-cups…? H-how?!
'Fufufu…' the girl giggled in lieu of answering.
"Urgh…!" Togeike groaned, channeling much of her frustration into the sound before she could continue.
She got all the way down to measuring Izuku's current leg-length when—
'Oh, is this where everyone is? How fascinating!' Medaka's voice rang out in the distance. After a few moments, she continued, though her tone took an uncharacteristically 'catty' air when she shifted to addressing Rias. 'Though I appreciate you helping Izuku with his confidence, I'll be the one winning this fashion show, you red-haired harlot!'
Wait, stop, don't—!
It was too late, and Izuku's world faded back into mind-numbing pain. This time, it was somehow worse. It was everything the now purple-haired girl could do to stay upright, swaying in place as she coughed into her fist.
Is that…?
A few specks of blood covered her slightly shaky palm when she pulled it away.
"Ah, another one!" Agoyamato commented joyously. "Though I appreciate the enthusiasm, Midoriya, could you wait until Togeike is done with your measurements?"
M-Medaka…?
'Yes?' the girl asked, popping up in her ghostly form a bit behind Agoyamato, posing identically to the boy and using her fan like a pen against her flat palm.** As expected, no one noticed her presence.
I… Wait… You all share my senses, right…?
'Absolutely!' the girl declared. 'It's part of why being out here with you is so addictive for all of us!'
Then… D-didn't you feel… that just now?
Izuku wobbled in place slightly, feeling an odd sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Togeike grumbled and started the measuring process again, moving from head to toe. She muttered some annoyed comments about the freckled girl's 'ridiculous ahoge,' as well as her bust.
'Feel what, exactly…?'
"Eighty-nine?! What the hell is with you, Midoriya?! This is just ridiculous!"***
'Hah! Take that, you purple-skank!' Rias' voice called in the distance. 'I win! Which means—'
Izuku's eyes widened with apprehension.
STOP! DON'T—
'Enough!' a third voice interrupted. 'Can't you see what you're doing to the boya? Seriously it's—Oh shit.'
PAIN.
It returned a third time now, completely overwhelming Izuku's senses and easily surpassing either of the previous two shifts. Once it was over and the now pink-haired girl's ability to think returned… she noticed she was on the ground, her vision blurry, and a small trail of blood leaking from her nose and mouth.
"Owwwww…" she groaned deliriously. "Did… did anyone get the plate numbers of tha' bastard that 'it me…?"
"—idoriya!"
'Shit… Sorry, boya. I didn't mean to take their spot 'n make this worse…' Baiken said, sounding apologetic for the first time Izuku could remember.
"'Night, night…" Izuku mumbled, her eyes drifting shut.
Deep within the inner workings of the 'Waifutrix' was a Room.
It rested on the border, the bridge, between the mind, spirit, or soul—whatever one wished to call such a nebulous thing—of its wielder, Midoriya Izuku, and the pocket-like dimensions that held the spirits of its inhabitants.
It was a nexus… a hub.
The Room was accessible from each of the personal mini-dimensions of the watch's inhabitants from one side, while the other stretched off into the 'crack' between Izuku's mind and the timepiece. Splitting the two halves of the Room was a thick barrier, opaque but still colored enough to diminish the view of the opposite side.
At first, the Room hadn't even existed to begin with, but the repeated use of the watch had stabilized its connection to its wielder, allowing for the Room to come into being.
On one side of the barrier, the one leading to Izuku's own mind, was an old television—the type only seen in pawn shops nowadays—and a wooden bridge that extended into the light emanating from the 'crack,' extending past the walls of this side of the Room and arching perilously over an endless void.
On the other side was a normal couch, intended to seat five people with ease, along with a curved wall with a number of doors decorating its surface. Six of the doors were visible, each a different color—Sun-like Orange, Crimson Red, Pale Purple, Aggressive Pink, Synthetic White, and Bluish Purple—while the remainder were indistinct and out of focus. These extra doors seemed to shift and blur across the wall, making their presence inconsistent and preventing any onlooker from counting their number.
Suddenly, there was a flash of green.
Hinata appeared above the wooden bridge, her sandalled feet hitting the material with a 'clack.' She was positioned a few meters from the beginning of the bridge, the distance between her and the 'crack' measuring much further than the distance between her and the barrier.
Her eyes were out of focus, seeing from a different perspective than her own as she stood there. While she was able to move around, she seemed unable to take a single step in any direction.
Behind her, the television flickered to life, displaying a small club room covered in innumerable scribbles and diagrams.
"Oh! Hello Izuku-san!" Hinata said in surprise. "Is this the fashion club Ryoko's been talking about?"
Time passed, the pale-eyed girl experiencing Izuku's interactions with his club for a few moments, until…
On the other side of the barrier, the Crimson Red door burst open. The girl that emerged quickly approached the opaque border and squinted at the old screen on the other side, trying to make sense of what was happening.
"Ooh! Is Izuku getting measured…?" Rias asked loudly, her voice only partially crossing through the barrier because of her volume. "I want to join! I'll win the pageant for you, Izuku~"
Raising her hand up to the see-through wall, she pressed her fingertips to its surface, slowly pressing through forcefully. The thing resisted her, stretching inward as she kept pushing, until suddenly, her arm slipped through.
The Room shuddered, the lights flaring up briefly before stabilizing again.
Hinata's presence on the bridge flickered, disappearing in an instant. Rias was now standing in her place—half a step backward from where the previous girl had been.
"Hello Izuku! Miss me?" the redhead asked, her eyes and body just as dull and constrained as Hinata's had been.
Speaking of which, the pale-eyed girl was now standing where Rias had been on the other side of the barrier. Startled, she glanced around herself, kunai in her hand as fast as she blinked. After a moment, she realized what had happened, replacing the weapon in her thigh pouch and taking a seat on the couch. While it was hard to see the television through the barrier, it wasn't impossible.
Although that's probably a good thing. Ryoko-san would be here all the time if she could watch, and I'm sure Izuku-san has a hard enough time focusing with one person in his head.
Another few minutes passed, with Rias enjoying the benefits of being 'on the other side' this time instead of Hinata.
The sudden bout of giggling surprised her, since all she could tell from the television was that Izuku was being measured, but it was still odd to see Rias double-over with her odd way of laughing.
After that, it took another few minutes before something interesting happened.
The bluish purple door opened, an unfamiliar face stepping into the Room. Hinata had met everyone else in the watch, mostly due to Ryoko's influence, but she hadn't met this girl yet.
"Oh, is this where everyone is? How fascinating!" The girl exclaimed, glancing around.
Her gaze settled on Hinata briefly, giving her a friendly smile and nod of greeting before turning toward the barrier. Her expression gained something of an edge as she stared at the redhead on the other side.
"Though I appreciate you helping Izuku with his confidence, I'll be the one winning the fashion show, you red-haired harlot!" she declared, stepping up to the opaque wall and raising her fist in preparation.
Oh, it sounds like they've met already…?
The limb lashed out with shocking force, passing through the barrier with only a little bit of resistance.
Again, the Room shuddered. This time, it lasted for much longer, the lights flickering on and off for several seconds while cracks formed on the planks of the bridge and the surface of the barrier.
Once the trembling stopped, Rias stood in front of the barrier, a bare meter from the couch Hinata was sitting on. In the redhead's place on the other side of the barrier was the new girl, eyes just as dull as she experienced Izuku's perspective.
"Oh, heaven!" Rias grumbled. "That nasty little—"
"Is there some kinda party goin' on out here?" a comparatively deep voice cut in. "I can hear the rumblin' from inside.'
"Oh, hello Baiken-san!" Hinata greeted without turning her head, having reflexively activated her eyes to assess the sudden noise.
The woman had stepped out of the aggressive pink door, a large jug of sake hanging from her one arm by a red rope. She made her way to the couch, vaulting over its back and taking a seat at the center of the soft furniture. Both her legs were on the couch, with one of her feet flat on the cushion such that it walled off her right side.
"What're you lot up to?" she asked, taking a swig from her jug.
Rias stayed where she was, staring intently through the barrier at the television screen and cupping one of her ears to try and listen to the muffled audio it emitted.
"Izuku-san's club is measuring each of us so that he can model for a competition they're partaking in," Hinata explained.
"What kinda competition needs 'em to measure…?" Baiken commented, idly tapping the hollow material of her canister.
"A… costuming pageant, I think it was called? I'm not sure I heard properly before," Hinata replied.
"Ugh… Who the hell cares about that crap?" the woman groaned, leaning back on the couch. "As long as it fits and it works for your purposes, what does it matter what your clothes look like?"
Hinata glanced the woman up and down, stare—examining her… unique way of dressing.
"...What?" Baiken asked, her visible eyebrow raising.
"Um… Nothing…" Hinata mumbled, turning away shyly.
I'm not sure you have room to talk about fashion being a waste of time, Baiken-san… Not with how over-the-top you're dressed… Why would any woman want to show off their chest without any support…?
"Hah! Take that, you purple-skank!" Rias shouted suddenly. "I win! Which means—"
The girl's finger reached toward the barrier, which trembled and flickered just from her mere proximity. The thing seemed so terribly fragile, now. A pale shadow compared to the stout wall it had been mere minutes prior.
Baiken was on her feet in an instant, having realized what was happening and crossing the distance in a blur, latching onto the redhead's hand before she could make contact.
"Enough!" The woman shouted. "Can't you see what you're doing to the boya? Seriously it's—Oh shit."
In her efforts to stop Rias, Baiken hadn't paid full attention to the momentum her hair would undergo… resulting in it smacking into the now fragile barrier with a light 'slap.'
The opaque wall shattered.
Instantly, the purple-haired girl was standing in Baiken's place, glancing around in surprise as the one-eyed woman appeared on the bridge...
The bridge that was fragmenting and crumbling more and more with every second.
"Shit… Sorry, boya. I didn't mean to take their spot 'n make this worse…" Baiken muttered, her eyes as dull as any of theirs would be in her position.
The room shook, the light winking out entirely as several colored doors opened at once.
"What's going on?!" Medaka shouted over the sound of the Room's trembling.
"I don't know!" Rias replied, just as loudly.
"The bridge, it's—" Hinata began, gesturing at the other side of the broken barrier.
A powerful suction yanked on each of the spirits, pulling them from their varied positions toward their matching doorway. The force was so strong that none of them even had time to react before they were pulled away. Each door slammed shut behind them with a terrible 'slam!'
Over on the bridge, several planks fell away into nothingness as Baiken's form started to flicker back and forth between each side of the shattered barrier. After several long moments, the pink-haired woman solidified on the door side of the Room. Glancing around her, she made a connection.
"Oh, this ain't good."
Slowly, the Room's shaking finally began to subside.
The lights didn't return, and the bridge had fallen into a terrible state of disrepair. Cracks ran across its foundations while holes riddled its walkway. It looked like it had been left unused for several decades and been worn down by nature.
The barrier, however… had returned. It's opaque surface seemed… sickly, in its shade, and it was barely a hair's thickness… but it was there. Of course, there was a bigger problem here.
Baiken's door wouldn't open.
It wouldn't budge, nor would any of the others. The Room seemed… devoid of the energy required for her to leave, yet she also wasn't on the bridge with Izuku—presumably because the freckled teen had run out of energy to sustain a transformation.
Sitting down on the couch and taking another sip of her drink, the pink-haired woman let out a discontented sigh. Sinking further into the cushion, she chuckled quietly, an old poem she'd made in one of her rare quiet moments coming to mind. Baiken wasn't usually the type for such things, but it seemed… appropriate… for such circumstances.
"Troubles unending,
The cost paid for all great strength;
Is there no other way?"
The woman sat there for another few moments, comfortable in the eerie silence.
"...Crap. That's too many syllables..."
OMAKE:
Life in the Watch Pt. 2
Living in a sprawling manga store was a dream come true for Rias Gremory.
The girl was an unrepentant Japanophile—not a 'weeb,' thank you very much—and had a particular fondness for Japanese pop culture. Sure, traditional stuff was awesome as well, like all the festivals, samurai dramas, and poetry, but her favorite thing about Japan was manga… along with the anime and games that resulted.
So living in a multi-story building, filled with nothing but manga, anime, and related content—as well as comfortable places to consume it—was awesome!
…But something still bothered her about it.
For instance… How was she here?!
She had no memory of coming to this place, nor any events that could lead up to it. She was just living her life as the heiress to the Gremory family, arguing with her parents about how interesting the humans were and avoiding the embarrassing doting of her successful brother. Her peerage of fellow devils was mostly full, and they all were attending a human highschool in Japan because she thought it would be fun…
But none of that information helped her find an answer.
Burying her worries and curiosity in the hoard of endless manga and the sheer fun to be had by teasing Izuku was the only reasonable response, in her mind. What else could she do about the situation, anyway?
Despite how much time Rias spent reading or watching, she never seemed to run out of content to consume, which was amazing but also somewhat tiring. Doing any one thing forever would eventually get boring…
The girl stood up suddenly, startled by a sudden awareness of something new in her domain.
A crimson red door had appeared on the ground floor of the shop, standing in place of the locked front entrance and demanding her attention.
"Fufufu… Isn't this interesting…"
Approaching the new fixture, the redhead reached for the handle. Pulling it open, she—
To be continued…
OMAKE END
*The term 'Yamato Nadeshiko' is a Japanese phrase referencing their traditional concept of the ideal woman. The general idea is a demure lady, beautiful in a noble manner without being haughty or arrogant. As such, it's a fun little joke at Izuku's expense that's also a mostly accurate description of Hinata herself.
**I didn't realize this while reading Medaka Box, or writing the prior chapter, but what Medaka does with her fan and posing is actually loosely based off of the Japanese performance art of 'Rakugo.' Rakugo is somewhat comparable to western stand-up comedy, with the main differences being that it has no audience participation and is focused entirely upon the comedian telling a story—using a fan and cloth as props. What Medaka does with her posing is, though more over the top, very similar to Rakugo performances!
As a fun addendum, Rakugo was actually invented at roughly the same time as stand-up comedy, despite being on the other side of the world! Rakugo as it exists now came into existence in the middle of the Meiji period (1868-1912) while the first documented example of a 'Stand Up' comedian performance was in 1911. Cool, right?
***Fun fact! Medaka and Rias are the only characters on the entire roster who's wiki pages have their 'personal' measurements! Even more interesting is the fact that the numbers are nearly identical! Medaka's bust is one centimeter smaller, while her waist is one centimeter wider and her hips three centimeters smaller. After noticing that entertaining difference, I had to make a joke out of it!
Edit: I modified the description of Rias and Medaka's sizing within the chapter to reflect the fact that Izuku is a bit younger than they are, and still has some room to grow. I actually had to research how bra sizes work for this and do some math, and god was that a nightmare. My sympathies to the women out there that have to deal with that mess to find comfortable clothing. I had to give up on being perfect because there isn't a canon band-size for either girl, just chest measurements, which makes it impossible to actually get an accurate number. So, what follows is my loose estimates based on what I could find.
Anyway, for reference, Rias' bust size is 99cm, while Medaka's is 98cm. This places the both of them solidly in J-cup territory by Japanese standards (H-cup by American), while Izuku's version of their forms is 90cm and 89cm respectively, putting her in G-cup range for Japan (and E-cup for America.)
I feel ridiculous having actually spent time on this, but my perfectionism led to spending about thirty minutes of my life on this, so here we are…
AN:
Another Friday, another chapter!
We're finally seeing some strong development with Bakugo's character! Unfortunately for him, it seems to be two steps forward, one step back, but alas, becoming a better person is hard.
Izuku's gotten into quite the predicament now, and so soon after his recent problem! The guy needs a break, honestly, but he's kind of out of luck for now.
On a more serious note, I just want to say this:
In case you were worried, I don't plan to ever get any more sexually graphic than the extent I reached in this chapter. There's been a somewhat steady increase over time with Rias-related shenanigans, but this ballpark range is roughly where I'll cap out.
As always, I'm on the lookout for more Fridays With the Waifus questions, particularly for Medaka, 2B, and Ryoko this time, so please leave your suggestion in the reviews or directly message me with them if you prefer!
That's it for today, so I'll see you all next Friday!