Author's Note: Here we are again! You'll start to see something I've been setting up for a while here near the end of the chapter. Not gonna say much else other than that right now. But we get to see some relative downtime for the group. Enjoy!
Also, if you want to get into a place with other lovers of MHA, and specifically IzuJirou stuff, come on and join this Discord server that I'm on:
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We're only kind of crazy, and not at all a cult... except, we also kind of are. Anyway, yeah, join that!
I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's cross-posted on Ao3 as well. Leave a review if you want to. I welcome the feedback! See you next week.
"I can't believe the movie ended like that!" Kyouka exclaimed as she and Izuku left the movie theater.
"It sets it up for a good sequel." Izuku offered.
""Eh, I guess, but they did kill one of the most important characters in the movie." Kyouka said.
"Yeah, I still don't understand that one either." Izuku chuckled. "Still, I am glad that we saw a movie together. It was nice."
"Yeah…" Kyouka agreed as she pulled herself close to his arm, her hand in his. "Yeah, it was." They both walked in comfortable silence, happy smiles adorning their faces. "Hey, I-... Nakada?" She spoke, breaking the silence and correcting her almost mistake.
"Yeah, Miyata?" Izuku responded.
"I… I'm sorry for how I responded to things this morning." Kyouka said softly.
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.
"I was… I didn't react well, and I got adversarial when you were just trying to not have to talk about the big things that happened yesterday." Kyouka said. "But I'm glad you did talk about it. Bottling that up can be bad. And we're here for you. I'm here for you." She squeezed herself closer to Izuku.
"Thank you… I'm sorry I tried to keep it from you guys." Izuku said. "I just… I didn't want to make a big deal out of it until I had gone through everything for myself first."
"Well, I forgive you as long as you forgive me." Kyouka smiled.
"That seems like it's a bit unfair. You only forgive me if I forgive you?" Izuku teased.
"Fine fine, I forgive you." Kyouka conceded.
"I forgive you too." Izuku responded.
"Good! Because now we have another important discussion." Kyouka walked forward and turned around to face Izuku. "What is your favorite type of bear and the bear you'd want to run into in the wild the least?"
"Where did that come from?" Izuku asked.
"I don't know the answer to the question, and I want to know!"
Izuku thought for a moment. For such a random question, this was… strangely hard. "Well, I know that the bear I wouldn't want to run into is the polar bear. Those things are huge and kinda terrifying."
"What?" Kyouka asked.
"Yeah, look at this." Izuku got on his phone and pulled up a picture of a polar bear. "It's huge, and these things can move so fast. They're not cuddly. They will rip you apart. They're the biggest type of bear."
"You're right. They are terrifying." Kyouka nodded. "Now, what's your favorite?"
"I guess… black bear cubs? They're pretty cute." Izuku said, pulling up a picture of those as well.
"Yes, they are indeed very cute." Kyouka agreed. "Do you know my favorite kind of bear?"
"I don't. What's your favorite kind of bear?" Izuku humored her.
Kyouka excitedly pulled out her own phone, and after a few seconds of typing, she showed Izuku some pictures of a rather skinny looking and long-legged bear. "These weirdos are my favorite! They're called sun bears. They creep me out a little, but they're cute too." Kyouka swiped through some of the pictures. "And I'm bigger than them! They're typically under five feet tall. Small little weirdos." Kyouka smiled as she swiped through more pictures.
"Not much bigger, but bigger nonetheless." That earned Izuku a jack in his side.
"See? Look at this!" She showed him a picture of a bunch of different types of bears and their size comparisons. Out of all of the information in that image, though, Izuku had a problem with one thing.
"Pandas aren't bears. They're closer to raccoons."
"Sh!" Kyouka retorted. "They look close enough!"
"But they're not bears, so they shouldn't be in that picture!"
"I know that! I didn't make the picture!"
"I will die on this hill!"
"Then perish!" Kyouka said. The two of them stopped walking, looked at each other, and immediately burst into laughter.
"You're ridiculous." Izuku laughed.
"Well so are you!" Kyouka replied.
"I didn't say it was a bad thing. In fact, I enjoy it a lot." Izuku said with a wide smile on his face.
"I-..." Kyouka stuttered. She felt her face start to get warm.
"You're really cute when you're flustered." Izuku said.
"Wh-Where did this confidence come from?" Kyouka asked, taken aback.
"Because I lo-" Izuku stopped himself. "I like you a lot."
Kyouka saw her opportunity. "What was that? You stopped yourself"
"Oh that? It was nothing." Izuku scratched the back of his head nervously.
"Really? Nothing? Then why is your heart beating so fast?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Izuku looked away, flustered.
"Where's that confidence now?" Kyouka smirked. "Oh well. It sounded to me like you were about to say that you loved something. Now what that could be, I'm not sure. Oh well." Kyouka shrugged. "If you're still trying to figure out what that is, then that's fine." Kyouka grabbed Izuku's hand and began to walk faster towards the train station. "But right now, we should get back and get ready for the festival, don't you think?"
"You're right. Let's go." Izuku pulled himself together enough to follow his girlfriend to the train. The train ride and walk back to the warehouse was rather uneventful, but once they got back and Kyouka left to get her yukata and change, Izuku sat down at the table with a smile on his face.
"Did you have fun on your date?" Inko asked.
"Yeah, it was… it was a lot of fun." Izuku said.
"How was the movie?" She sat down across from him.
"It was alright. We went and saw some action movie. It was okay, but it set up for a sequel pretty well." Izuku explained.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Remember that even with all of the things that you have to do, being a vigilante team leader and everything, it's still important for you to spend time with the people that are important to you."
"Yeah… It was nice. Tonight will be nice too." After a few seconds of comfortable silence, Izuku spoke again. "What all happened here while we were out?"
"Well, I took Himiko to go and get a yukata earlier. I think Fumikage is going to like it a lot."
"You think they…?"
"Oh, come on. You and Kyouka are together and Mei and Hitoshi are together. When there are only two single people in a group, the chances of something like that happening go up. Plus, he's this dark brooding guy, and she's almost an actual vampire." Inko said. "I'm not sure yet, but it might happen. Who knows?" She shrugged.
"Alright, so that aside, what else happened?" Izuku asked.
"Well, Mei and Hitoshi were cute until Mei decided that they needed to go and get food, despite me being here and being willing to cook, but they left a little while ago. Mei said that she thinks she figured out the process for extracting quirk stuff from the blood, it just needs to happen now." Inko said.
"That's great. Do you know whose blood sample she's using?" Izuku asked.
"She mentioned something about sleep bombs, so maybe Midnight?"
"It's a good thing that Mei decided to put gas filters in our masks when she designed them." Izuku said.
"Yes, she's very smart." Inko said. "Now, are you going to wear that to the festival, or are you going to change?"
"I can't change now! Kyouka is in the room!" Izuku's face lit up.
"Well, we do need to talk about that fact – you two sharing a room – as your mother. But, pushing that aside…" Inko trailed off.
"I'm done." Kyouka said. Izuku turned around, and his jaw dropped. "What?!" Kyouka asked.
"Sorry, you're just… you're really pretty…" Izuku stuttered. If he was being honest with himself, pretty was an understatement. The white yukata with a purple floral pattern on her just… entranced him.
"Well… Thank you…" Kyouka blushed. "When… When are we going to leave to go there?"
"Well, everyone needs to get changed and ready." Inko said.
Fumikage walked out of the small hallway, dressed in mostly dark colors. "I am dressed and ready to go."
"Alright, well, Izuku, if you want to go and change, you can now." Kyouka said. Izuku nodded and left for his room to change clothes.
"Now, Kyouka, let's you and I have a talk, yeah?" Inko said.
Before Kyouka could answer, however, Himiko yelled from her room. "Inkoooooooo! Can you help me with this? I've never worn one before!"
"Alright, I'm coming!" Inko yelled back. She looked at Kyouka. "Our talk will just have to happen later." She smiled and then got up and left to help Himiko.
Over the course of the next hour, everyone got back and changed into their festival attire, and soon, Inko began to drive everyone to Musutafu. The area by the forest nearby to Izuku's former house was already decorated up to the nines. Each member of the group slowly exited the car and began to walk towards the festival.
"Have fun, you kids. I'll be at home preparing the sleeping arrangements for tonight." Inko shouted.
Everyone waved goodbye before turning back towards the woods. Stands lined the lit pathway through the open woods. A mixed aroma of cooked meats, fried foods, and grilled vegetables invaded the noses of everyone in the group.
"Go out and have fun, everyone." Izuku said with a smile. "After we eat, let's meet in time for the fireworks. Meet around the lake in the center of the trees. You'll be able to find Miyata and I, I'm sure." He gestured to Kyouka to remind them that it's time for aliases.
"Alright, Nakada. Let's go look around and get some food!" Mei pumped her fist into the air.
A number of kebabs, bowls of yakisoba, and takoyaki balls later, Izuku grabbed Kyouka's hand and walked away from the others.
"Why are we moving away from them?" Kyouka asked.
"I've spent so much time recently with everyone. Today, it was nice with just the two of us. Maybe I want to be with my girlfriend a bit more. Alone." Izuku admitted.
Kyouka giggled. "I like the sound of that." The two of them walked around the festival, listening in on various conversations and making fun of them.
Standard fare.
For about twenty minutes, that was all it was. The two of them snacking on more food, spending time staring at the stars, and listening to the people and their conversations.
Such paltry conversations like someone's boyfriend cheating on them, a recent promotion, or the rare talk about what happened in Kamino the day prior. Those conversations were not what truly caught their attention, however.
Kyouka heard it first. A familiar voice, but the man it belonged to, she couldn't place it. "What do you mean you're not coming?"
She turned to see one of the people she saw last night when they rescued Bakugo on his phone about forty or so feet away. One with tall spiky red hair. Kyouka nudged Izuku and gestured to the kid with her head. He turned his attention towards the man… er, kid…
"Bakugo, come on. Sulking won't do anything. You gotta get out there again." The kid said. A few seconds passed before he spoke again. "I get that you're sad and angry, but you gotta get out again! Staying in your room all day isn't manly! We're going to have school again soon, you don't want to miss that, do you?"
Now Izuku and Kyouka were fully paying attention to this conversation, especially after Bakugo's name was mentioned.. "Not… coming back? What do you mean you're not coming back?! Back to the school? How could you do that?" More silence from his end. "Bakugo, you're not worthless! You- Gah, he hung up on me…" He put his phone in his pocket and shook his head.
With a single look to Kyouka and a nod from her, Izuku got up and walked over to the kid. "Hey there. I know that eavesdropping is not the best thing to do, but my girlfriend has a quirk that helps with hearing, and we really couldn't help but overhear you say 'Bakugo.'" Izuku said. "He was the kid that was taken by the villains, right?"
"Yeah, that's right…" This kid was clearly not the most comfortable talking to Izuku.
"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Nakada Oda. It's nice to meet you. I saw the news broadcast." Izuku put his hand out to shake.
"Eijirou Kirishima. It's nice to meet you too, Oda." Kirishima said, shaking Izuku's hand. That seemed to ease him.
"Do you know him?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah, I'm his friend. I'm in his class. Or… Was, I guess." Kirishima said.
"Was?" Izuku asked.
"He's leaving UA." Kirishima said.
"And how do you feel about that, Kirishima?" Izuku asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I think that things could have been avoided if things were done differently. He didn't have to lose his…" Kirishima tightened his hand.
"I'm sorry if this is difficult for you." Izuku said.
"It took so long for the heroes to get there and get into action. And even then, they didn't save him. The Societas Requiem vigilante group did. It seems like they've been more heroes than some actual heroes have at some point. Vigilantes. Not heroes. And yet, who am I to judge them? I went that night trying to save him too, but we couldn't without causing problems. We don't have licenses… I won't be able to do anything for another few years. I want to help people now." Kirishima sniffled softly. "Sorry, I barely know you. I guess I just haven't been able to talk to anyone about it."
Izuku was incredibly intrigued with this kid. "No worries at all. I understand that talking to people is important. It's part of what I do for a living."
"What do you mean?" Kirishima asked.
"I talk to people. I'm an informant." Izuku said, keeping in line with his alias.
"What is an informant doing here?"
"Why wouldn't an informant be here? I like to relax sometimes too. And besides, in public is the best place to get new information. We heard what you were talking about, after all." Izuku explained.
"Why bring this up now?" Kirishima asked.
"I may have some information that will be of help. Why don't we talk, you and I?" Izuku asked, gesturing towards a rather empty area of the woods along the small lake. He motioned to Kyouka, and she joined them.
"Her too?" Kirishima asked.
"I'm not going to leave my girlfriend alone, am I?" A rhetorical question. There was no need to answer it, and Kirishima knew it, so he accepted it.
"Fine. Let's talk. What information do you have?" Kirishima began walking next to Izuku.
"I think you're going to like this information." Izuku smiled.
"Welp, Nakada and Miyata went off somewhere else." Mei said. "Let's go and have some fun, you guys!"
"Yeah!" Himiko threw her fist in the air.
"We wanna go this way?" Hitoshi asked, pointing in some random direction.
"Sounds good to me." Mei said, shrugging.
"Let's goooooo!" Himiko said as she speedwalked through the crowd, grabbing hold of whoever's hands she could.
"Ack!" Mei said as she and Fumikage were pulled forward. She managed to grab Hitoshi's hand before they were pulled too far apart from each other.
Himiko sped them from stall to stall, looking at all of the different foods and crafts.
As they were speeding through the stalls, Hitoshi pulled them to a stop.
"Eh, Narahiko?" Mei asked as she turned around.
"Look at what that stand has. If that's what I think it is, then that's huge." Hitoshi pointed at one of the random stalls along the pathway.
Mei activated her quirk and zoomed in on the stall that Hitoshi was pointing at and gasped in disbelief. The stand had a good number of masks hung up along the frame. They ranged from a good number of different franchises and real life inspiration as well. There were a lot of Stain bandanas, but that's not what either of them were looking at.
In this stand, there were a few – not a lot, but a few – masks… of theirs… There were Societas Requiem masks. Snake Eyes, Heartquake, NightHawk, Mastermind, and Overwatch. All of them except for Himiko, which was fair considering that she wasn't a part of the group whenever they made their debut on screens. Maybe they should make another appearance… Maybe with the fact that the heroes didn't save Bakugo, but they did? That would be good. It would definitely help them.
Wait, what was she thinking about? Why was she thinking about work? This was time off! She didn't want to think about anything related to the group's job or mission right now. She just wanted to spend time with her friends and boyfriend.
That didn't stop Hitoshi and Mei from going up to the stand to look at the masks, though, and shortly after Himiko and Fumkage realized they were gone and looking at said stand, they joined as well.
"Excuse me, sir." Mei said, getting the attention of the man behind the stand. From what she could tell, the man had some kind of animal quirk. "Can we look at some of those masks?"
"Of course, young lady! Which one would you like to see?" The man asked.
Mei smiled. "Could I see one of the Overwatch masks?"
"Of course, child! Are you a fan of this group?" The man asked as he took one of the masks down and handed it to her.
"Something like that." Mei said.
"Anything for you folks?" He asked Hitoshi, Fumikage, and Himiko.
"I'll take a Mastermind mask." Hitoshi said.
"I would like a NightHawk mask." Fumikage said.
Himiko looked slightly downcast. "I'm good, thank you."
"Alright." Mei thought. "We have to make an announcement soon."
"That'll be 6,000 yen for the three of them." The man said.
"Sounds good enough to me." Mei said, handing over the money.
"Wonderful choice. Do enjoy the festival!" The man said. "Oh, and the one buying the NightHawk mask, your face looks like it would fit in just perfectly!" Fumikage just nodded in response.
"Wait, real fast. I have a question for you." Mei said as she started to put the mask on.
"Yes?"
"What's your opinion of this Societas Requiem group?"
"Well, I know lots of kids are talking about them. I did a bit of research on my own, and I made these masks hoping for some people to buy them. You're not the first tonight to get some. I think they look cool." The man explained.
"And their views?" Hitoshi asked as he also put his mask on.
"I don't think they're as dangerous as the HPSC makes them out to be. It's probably just a fad that will end in a few weeks or months. I'm not completely sure what their views are, but they're good for money." The man said, shrugging.
"Alright, well thank you for answering our questions." Mei said. She smiled at the man and then realized that she was wearing a mask, so he couldn't see. "Alright guys, we should probably find Miyata and Nakada." Mei said. She walked away, and the others followed shortly after.
Once they were out of the approximate hearing range of the people around them, the four of them turned to each other.
"We have merchandise?" Hitoshi asked, shocked.
"You know what that means, right?" Mei asked.
"We're… famous?" Himiko asked.
"Well, yes, but that's not our main goal. It means that we're able to reach people and make them think about us as a group." Mei said.
"That is quite the boon." Fumikage nodded. "We are on the way towards changing the world."
"We need to find those two fast and let them know." Himiko said with a smile.
"What information do you have for me, exactly?" Kirishima asked.
"I know some people who know the people in the Societas Requiem group." Izuku said.
"How? Wait, informant. Duh." Kirishima shook his head. "But why does that matter?"
"You said that you want to make a change now, correct? I can get you into contact with them. I know my channels of communication, so there's a high likelihood that if you wish to reach out to them now, they'd respond. I can spread the word. What do you say?" Izuku asked.
Kirishima thought for a bit. "I'll take their number if you have it. Or you can give mine to them. I… I can't make any decisions right now, but I… if you can get me into contact with them, I would appreciate that. I want to help people…" He clenched his fist.
"I will pass on the message, then. Your phone number, please?" Izuku took his phone out of his pocket. Kirishima gave Izuku his information, and then took a deep breath.
"I can't promise anything right now, but if the heroes couldn't help him and the people from Societas Requiem can… They can change things…" Kirishima said. "If you'll excuse me." He turned around to walk off.
"Of course. And Kirishima, I'm sure that if you decide to join them, they would be lucky yo have your help." Izuku said.
"Thank you." Kirishima said over his should as he walked away. He had a lot to think about.
A bit after Kirishima had walked off, Kyouka and Izuku heard Himiko's voice call from behind them. "Nakada! Miyata!"
The two turned around to see Himiko as well as three masked figures. The masks looked… familiar… Then Izuku pieced it together. Those people were Mei, Hitoshi, and Fumikage in their vigilante masks. Izuku rushed up to them and harshly whispered, "Are you guys crazy? Wearing those in public?"
"Chill out, dude. There's a stand that's selling them." Hitoshi said casually.
"And how dare you think these somewhat cheaply made masks even compare to my babies!" Mei exclaimed.
"Well why'd you buy them if yours are better?" Izuku asked.
"For the fact that we have merchandise now. This is big for us." Mei said.
"I can see why now." Izuku nodded. "Why doesn't she have one?" Izuku asked while pointing at Himiko.
"We haven't had a public appearance since she joined." Hitoshi whispered.
"Ah…" Izuku said. "We should probably do that, shouldn't we?"
"We can do one talking about the Bakugo situation." Hitoshi suggested.
"That would work. Let's talk about work later. We have a festival to enjoy." Izuku said.
As if on cue, the sound of an explosion sounded from a small raft in the center of the lake. Seconds later, the trail that followed the small projectile into the air faded, and it exploded into a myriad of small red orbs.
Several other reports were soon fired off with large colorful explosions following. The night sky was lit up in vibrant hues of reds, blues, purples, greens, and more. The smell of gunpowder wafted across the lakeside.
It… oddly smelled like when Mei was tinkering and it went wrong. But it was still oddly comforting.
The six of them settled into a comfortable position on the grass. This was… nice.
Izuku had a lot to think about moving forward. Two prospective members, a new announcement that they had to put out for people to see, and a group of people who now know that Izuku wasn't going to be taking their side.
But that was for another time. Now, they just had to sit and enjoy the show.
