Their Hero Academia – Chapter Twenty-Two: Mika Mineta Horns In

She watched as Daisuke Shoji pulled himself out of the pool, wearing only tight trunks that left very little to the imagination (and she had a very active imagination, thank you). His powerful arms showing off his muscles as he flexed and hauled himself up, his still wet abs practically sparkling in the bright sunshine. He twisted his head back and forth, drops of water flying from his silver hair. In spite of his powerful body, his facial features with soft and handsome, with lips that looked delicate and oh-so kissable.

Mika let out a soft gasp and heard her binoculars clatter to the ground, the noise breaking the silence.

Shoji's eyes fell on her, her hiding spot not particularly secret. "You know," he said, his voice smooth and soft, "you don't have to hide, Mika. I know you're watching me."

"I…" she began, suddenly at a loss for words.

His top pair of Extendo-Arms reached out and grabbed her, his powerful fingers surprisingly soft and gentle, bringing her close to him. One of his normal hands cupped her chin, bringing her head up to look into his eyes. She was tall, but he was even taller. "I've been watching you too."

Was this happening? This was happening. He leaned down to kiss her and…

"MIKA!"

Her eyes snapped open, staring into the grinning face of Red Riot. Slowly, she released the unlicensed body pillow. "'zat you yelling, Red…?"

"MIKA!"

It took her a moment to realize that it was coming from outside her dorm room door. "What!?"

Chihiro's voice came from the other side of the door. "Class is in thirty minutes! You overslept again!"

Well, crap. Reluctantly, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and planted her hooves on the floor. "Shoulda just let me sleep, Chi! I was about to score!"

"I hardly think that counts, Mineta," came the voice of Akaya Koda from the other side. "And it certainly is not more important than your education. Save your sinful thoughts for later."

"Oh, gimme a break, Akaya," she said. Akaya was actually one of her good friends (a fact which surprised just about everyone who knew them), but she could be more than a little sanctimonious at times. Mika supposed she got it from her mother. "All my best thoughts are sinful thoughts and you know it."

"Not even awake five minutes, and you're already an abomination," Akaya replied, though there was some amusement in her voice.

"I got mad skills, Akaya, you know that."

Speaking of sinful thoughts, as she got dressed (ugh, she really needed to go bra shopping again, she had just about outgrown these ones, to say nothing of the stress she was putting on her sports' bras…), she eyed the list of classmates and schoolmates she kept on her desk. She'd actually struck through quite a few already.

Toshi Midoriya: Taken

Katsumi Kirishima-Bakugo: Scary beyond all reason

Izumi Todoroki: Kirishima-Bakugo would kill me. Has displayed zero interest in anyone so far.

Sora Iida: Incompatible orientation and taken

Tensei Iida: Incompatible orientation and taken.

Takuma Sero: Incompatible orientation and taken

Kimiko Ojiro: Incompatible orientation? Further evidence needed. What if she's not actually hot? Remember to consult for gossip on rest of list.

Kenta Sato: Do I want those teeth near my lady bits?/very cute/easy access to baked goods

Akaya Koda: Incompatible orientation/best friend

Chihiro Kaminari: Incompatible orientation/best friend

Takiyo Aoyama: Jerk/doesn't like me/very pretty.

Asuka Tokoyami: Incompatible orientation/would try to rein me in/is this technically a threesome?

Shota Shinso: Try again when he's a year older

Daisuke Shoji: If the gods are merciful

Isamu Haimawari: Very cute/pretty sure he's scared of me/maybe he's into that?

David Togata: Think of what he could do with those fingers/unsure of orientation

Shiro Monoma: Tweenage boyfriend/can be a jerk/prettier than me/still a maybe

Kana Tetsutetsu: Incompatible orientation/good friend

The list actually went on for quite a bit more, but those first few were the ones in her more immediate circle. It had been a damn shame to have crossed Midoriya off the list, because the boy was buff as hell, and even more of a shame to cross both of the Iidas off, because Tensei was also buff as hell and she really, really wanted to take a nap in Sora's cleavage. But that was life, and there were rules to this kind of thing. And sure, she might try to sneak a peek here and there (really, outside of the locker room thing, she hadn't done anything like that in a while and that had been too good a chance to pass up), but she also did know where she wasn't wanted.

Didn't mean she couldn't appreciate the eye candy, though. And there was so much of it at U.A. No wonder Dad had called this the best years of his life!

She heard Chihiro pounding on the door again, as she ran a comb through her purple hair, being mindful of her horns. "Mika! C'mon! We're gonna be late!

"Okay, okay! Keep your shirt on! Or not! Best friends or not, eye candy is eye candy!"

Despite the fact that they were all friends to some extent or the other, there were definitely cliques within Class 1-A and also within the relationships they had with Classes 1-B and 1-C. Take lunch, for example. There was the usual group with Toshi Midoriya, Izumi Todoroki, Asuka Tokoyami, Shota Shinso, and now Isamu Haimawari. And there was the typical trio of Kenta Sato, Takuma Sero, and Kimiko Ojiro, who were even now filming another round of Ojiro's internet gossip show (she made a mental note to double-check with Ojiro on the gossip mill on some of her lists).

When she wasn't eating alone, Katsumi Kirishima-Bakugo could usually be found eating with Kana Tetsutetsu of Class 1-B (how she and Kirishima-Bakugo could be friends with the same person, she had no idea). The Iida Twins usually ate together, though they also sometimes ate with some of the Support Class kids like David Togata, and had also started branching out to eating with their respective boyfriends and their boyfriends' friends as well (Sora got along better with Midoriya's group. Tensei seemed rather baffled by the antics of Takuma and his friends). Shoji could usually be found eating with some of his friends from the Gen Ed classes (children of his mother's friends, as she understood it). Aoyama typically seemed to disappear at lunch and she wasn't inclined to look for him.

You learned a lot when you were checking everybody out.

Mika's own clique was primarily made of herself, Chihiro and Akaya. Of course, they were sometimes joined by…

"I've heard Class 1-B's scores at the USJ are waaaay higher than Class 1-A's," Shiro Monoma said, as he sat down at their table, his grin an irritatingly smug one. "That's just sooooo sad for you." He gave his blond hair a flip.

Mika rolled her eyes. "Shiro, don't make me put my hoof up your ass."

"I am fairly certain it does not work that way, Shiro," Akaya said. "Must everything be a competition with you? It does not suit you at all."

"Suits him pretty well if you ask me," Chihiro muttered.

Shiro laughed, a haughty sound that reminded Mika why they'd only dated for a few months when they were both thirteen. Well, there were lots of reasons, but she definitely couldn't picture hearing that on a regular basis, even if he'd been her first kiss. And that had been before puberty had finished hitting her like a ton of bricks, so she knew he hadn't even been trying to get to second base. But that was all water under the bridge. "I do know we've gotten exemplary marks, Akaya. And considering some of what your class has to work with, I wouldn't be surprised if you came in behind us."

Chihiro glared at him, her Extension Cords pointing angrily and sparking at their tips. "You're aching for a tasing, pal. We had a Pop Quiz in English today and way too much math homework to be legal and I am in no mood for you. I. Will. Tase. You."

To his credit, Shiro didn't flinch from her threat. His own Quirk was actually impressive under the right circumstances—called Imitation, he could reproduce any physical act he had witnessed and was physically capable of performing—but probably wouldn't save him if Chihiro just decided to outright tase him. "And prove that Class 1-A can't control their temper?" he taunted.

Chihiro's left Cord struck out like a shot, causing Shiro to let out a terrified gasp. Chihiro's Cord gently brushed his cheek and extruding just enough electricity to make his hair stand on end. "It'd be worth it," she said, before retracting her Cord.

Shiro let out a harrumph and flipped a comb out of his sleeve, trying to get his hair back in order. If he was still anything like he'd been back in the day, Mika was willing to bet his hair care regimen was still twice as long as hers, if not longer.

Akaya buried her craggy face in a massive hand. "Is it too much to ask that you two get along for one meal?"

"He started it," Chihiro said, crossing her arms.

Mika just gripped her horns and banged her head on the table. "As hot as it would probably be to see the two of you fight, I've got to agree with Akaya here. Which is probably a first somebody should write down somewhere."

Then again, she and Akaya had always ended up in the crossfire of the rivalries between the former Classes A and B. Granted, only Shiro's dad was really interested in making it a rivalry anymore, something he'd passed on to his son. Everyone else had settled in for friendly competition at worst and true friendships at best. But as the only kids with a parent in each Class, it could still get a little awkward sometimes.

"Of course, I can be the bigger person and cease these barbs," Shiro said, making it clear that that was, in and of itself, a barb. "Especially for you, Mika." He made a kissy-face.

"See? You're more than just a pretty face, Shiro."

And boy, was he pretty. She generally preferred… oh, who was she kidding, her type was "breathing." But either way, she did like buff guys and her class had SO MANY of those. But Shiro was a more wiry build, while still being strong. And so pretty. She could just get lost in those eyes…

She became aware of Chihiro snapping her fingers in her face. "You went away there, Mika."

"I was in my happy place, Chi."

Chihiro made an exaggerated look of disgust. "In public, Mika? For shaaame."

Akaya looked up from her hand. "I am saying extra prayers for all of you."

Mika gave her a flat look. Akaya was about as different from her as was possible to be, both in appearance and personality. But behind those somewhat fearsome rocky features was a truly gentle soul who would go out of her way to harm no one. Akaya was a girl of strong morals and convictions. Mika was… not much of that, really. Oh, certainly, she wasn't some criminal or pervert (well, not a criminal for sure), but she definitely had a lust for life. And she might possibly be a degenerate reprobate. But outside of Chihiro, Akaya was probably her best friend. Class A-B girls had to stick together, after all. Didn't mean she wasn't kind of a stick in the mud, though.

"You know you love us, Akaya."

A smile came from the massive, moss-haired girl. "I do at that."

"Even Shiro?" Chihiro asked.

"Even Shiro," Akaya said.

"You all do know I'm sitting right here, don't you?"

The final day at the USJ had actually managed to pass without incident. Or at least, without any fake Villain attacks. Mika hadn't exactly acquitted herself well during that, though she'd managed to hug Kirishima-Bakugo, so she was still counting that as a win. And sure, all three of their teachers had talked to her about being more responsible, taking things more seriously, and keeping her mind of the job in front of her instead of her classmates, but she was certain she could do both. They were either married or old or married and old! What did they know about the lusty youth of today? How was she supposed to concentrate when everyone around her was so ridiculously good looking and dressed in very tight clothing?

So it definitely wasn't her fault.

Last weekend, she'd spent any time not doing homework (Maybe she should have spent a little more time on that. She hadn't done particularly well on her last Literature paper) with Chihiro hanging around the campus and checking out the students in the various other Classes. It had added several reams to her notes of people worth trying to seduce or hit on, though she admitted she didn't know a lot of names yet. So many of them were written down as things like "Really Hot Tall Guy from 1-C" or "Business and Management Girl with Blue Hair and Big Boobs." She'd figure out names if it became important.

This weekend, however, she was going home. With her mom's birthday on Monday, the weekend was the best time for her to celebrate it with them. So she'd quickly packed up a few things (yeah, probably should have done that ahead of time too) after class and took the train to Eisley City, outside of Tokyo, where her family lived. It was a nice day, so she walked from the station.

When she got to their apartment building, there was construction going on not far up the street. They were all big guys, but one of them was even bigger than the others, with arms that were wider than she was. He must have had some kind of strength enhancing Quirk. You saw that a lot in construction work these days.

"Hey!" she shouted, getting their attention for a moment, before they went back to ignoring her "Are you guys working hard? Hey! Hey! Pay attention to me! Attractive woman worth catcalling over here!"

One of them, a guy with a large, single eye, fixed her with a stare. "How old are you, kid?"

"Kid?!" she repeated. "I'll have you know, I'm…"

"A high school student," another of them, with bright green hair, said.

"What makes you think that?" she shot back.

"You're wearing a U.A. uniform," the eye-guy said.

"It could be for fetish reasons!"

"Don't you have somewhere to be, kid?" a third, a big furry guy with a tiger-head, said tiredly.

This was obviously going nowhere. And what fun was that? And how had she run into the world's only civilized construction workers?

"Fiiiiiine," she whined. "Be that way! Have fun being civilized!"

What was the world coming to when a hot thing like her couldn't get catcalled?

When she got to her apartment, Mika could hear the sounds of the television coming from within. Which was odd. Her parents should still be at work. It was possible one of them might have taken off early, but not especially likely either. They were both dedicated to their jobs as Pro Heroes.

Hesitantly, she opened the door. "If you're robbing us, just know to stay out from under my bed, okay? Nobody wants to be looking under there…"

She peered into the living room to see someone sitting on the couch. Whoever they were, they had grey hair, big pointed ears that stuck out to the sides, and horns that were thicker and more curved than her own. They also appeared to have the English subtitles turned on on whatever it was they were watching. From his basket by the door, the family dachshund, Hot Dog, looked up sleepily, saw that it was Mika, and then went back to his doggy dreams.

A smile spread its way across her face as she recognized the "intruder". "Granny!" she exclaimed, slipping easily into English. Her granny could speak Japanese just fine (her accent was kind of hilarious though), but since English was her first language and Mika could speak it quite well (just don't ask her to take any tests on it), she deferred to it when possible for her granny's sake.

Rebecca-Lynn Tsunotori, formerly the American Pro-Hero called Cow Lady, turned and rose from the couch and her face spread into an equally big grin. "Well, look at you!" Granny said. "Your mama sent me pictures of you in your school uniform, but now I get to see it in person! You look so grown up!" She crossed the room quickly, sweeping Mika up in a big hug that threatened to crush her ribs. In spite of her age, her granny was still quite strong.

"Granny! Can't… breathe…!"

Granny laughed and set her down. "Sorry, Darling. You know me, I don't get to see you often, so I get pretty excited…"

"It's all right," Mika assured her. "I didn't know you were coming! Are you here for Mom's birthday?"

"'course I am," Granny replied. "Couldn't let my only little girl go celebratin' her birthday with her mama halfway around the world!"

"You ever think of just moving to Japan, Granny?" Mika asked. She knew Granny had been alone since Grandpa Tsunotori had died a few years ago. She said she kept herself busy, and she did do a bit of writing, some speaking, and made a few Hero-Convention circuits, and, of course, she had her friends, but still, she knew Mom worried about her. "You could stay with us!"

That got a laugh out of Granny. "Aw, shucks. It'd be nice, but I'm too much an American girl to ever relocate." She gave Mika a wink. "Besides, your daddy and I would kill each other inside a week."

That was probably true. According to Mom, Daddy and Granny had never gotten along especially well. Both Granny and Grandpa Tsunotori had pretty badly objected to her parents dating in the first place, given the reputation Daddy had already amassed. But he had grown significantly as a person over the years (which he attributed completely to Mom's help) and these days he and Granny mostly settled for trading verbal barbs.

"Oh, Granny," she said.

Granny fixed her with a stare. "Now, I think I heard you saying something about what's under your bed…"

Eeep. She'd forgotten she'd said that. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said. "That was Japanese. You must have misheard me."

"My Japanese ain't that bad, kid," Granny said, crossing her arms. "But fine, if you don't wanna talk about that, how's school going?"

Double eep!

"Oh… it's, ah…."

Fortunately, she was saved by the door. It opened and both of her parents walked in. "Mika! Mom!" her mother exclaimed, rushing over to pull them both into a hug. Her father followed close behind, though he only had a hug for her.

"How's my little girl?" Daddy asked. "Are you keeping away from all those perverted boys at school?"

"Oh, Daddy," she said, rolling her eyes. "I've been taller than you since I was twelve. You know I'm not so little anymore." Mika had seen pictures of her dad in High School, and while he was about a foot taller now, that still made him the shortest one in the family by a long shot. She also was definitely not responding to the question about boys. As if she'd limit herself to only a portion of the population anyway.

She knew he was just overcompensating for his own behavior during his High School years, but she was hardly some doll in need of protection from the opposite sex. She was more than capable of seeking them out on her own. Not that that really seemed to work. Which made no sense, because she was, frankly, gorgeous and would be an amazing catch.

But that was all beside the point.

"Doesn't matter," Daddy said. "You're always gonna be my little girl. No matter what. Or no matter who I have to protect you from."

Daddy thought he was scary, but he really wasn't. She still very clearly remembered him trying to intimidate Shiro when he'd shown up to pick her up for their first date and how badly he'd failed at it. Mom had been trying so hard not to laugh. She'd managed to keep it together until they'd left, but had later confessed she'd lost it the second they'd been out the door.

"Hello, Minoru," Granny said, shifting to Japanese. Daddy actually spoke good English—Mom was a good teacher for that—but she wasn't going to give him the upper hand in a conversation. "Still short, I see."

"Hello, Rebecca," Daddy replied, evenly. "Still going grey, I see."

"Oh, you two," Mom said, clearly missing the hostility floating in the air. "It's so great to have everyone together! And don't listen to Minny, you look great, Mom."

"Women in our family have always aged gracefully, Pony," Granny said. "But I hear congratulations are in order for you? Number Seven Hero in Japan?"

Her mom nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! I jumped eight places in one go! There's been a lot of attention. It's really been kind of embarrassing."

Daddy just smiled that same smile he always had when thinking about or talking about Mom. It was actually really sweet. "We're all proud of her." Daddy wasn't particularly high ranked, not even in the top one hundred, but he was oddly popular with children and he was happy with that.

"Shinso would not shut up about it," Mika added. "He let me know and just kept babbling on. I think he knows more about your Hero-Stats than I do." Shinso talked so much, she often wondered how he remembered to breathe. Maybe it was a side effect of his Quirk. But if he didn't need to breathe as much, she could definitely think of better uses for that than just talking. Not that she thought that of him, given that he was still just fourteen. She had some standards after all.

"Minny and I just need to get changed and freshened up," Mom said, "and then we can all go out and have a nice dinner! I promise we won't be long."

Daddy gave her a grin and a playful swat on the rear. "It'd be faster if we showered together," he said, which earned him a glower that he missed from Granny and a laugh from Mom. Mika just rolled her eyes. It was a good line, but nobody wanted to hear their dad say that.

"Oh, Minny," Mom said, still giggling. "You are incorrigible!" Which Mika had long ago learned was code for "I like this idea, but you shouldn't say it in from of other people."

Family. Whatcha gonna do?

Dinner—the place was slightly fancy, but not spectacularly so, which was nice because it meant she only had to get a little dressed up—was actually going reasonably well. Daddy and Granny had managed to only trade a handful of barbs, most of which hadn't been too venomous. He may have married her daughter, but he did have a solid record as a Pro-Hero, which she couldn't harp on.

"So," Daddy said, telling the story of how he and Uncle Denki had been fighting bank robbers with electric Quirks of their own earlier that day, "I said to Denki, "I dunno why they've gotta steal money… if they wanna buy stuff, they should just charge it!'"

That got a groan from Mika, but Mom broke into a braying laugh. Even Granny managed to crack a small smile.

"Too bad he didn't get it," Daddy said. "He just looked at me and said, "They've got to buy electronics before they can charge them up, dude.'" Daddy just shook his head. "I swear, sometimes, I think he really did fry his brain back in school."

Uncle Denki was famously dense. There was one late night talk show that even had a regular segment dedicated to dumb things he had said. But if Chihiro ever asked, she would completely deny watching any of it.

"So, honey," Mom said, changing subjects, "how's school going?"

"It's, ah, it could be… it's all right?" she tried. "Having some trouble with some of my classes, but Akaya's been helping me."

"Oh, good," Mom replied, though her tone indicated this was a subject that they would be revisiting later. "And how is Akaya? I haven't seen her or Ibara in forever."

"She's good, Mom. Pretty much the same as always. Not much rocks her." That got a snicker from everybody. Puns were always good for defusing tension. And questioning her academics was definitely tension.

"What are you having trouble with, sweetie?" Daddy asked. "I always did well in school. If you're having trouble, I'm sure I can help."

"I cain't see how you had the time to do well, given all your other activities," Granny said. "Just one of the mysteries of the universe, I reckon."

To his credit, Daddy bristled (she could see the balls on his head twitch) but didn't respond to that. "Your grandmother does have a point, as much as it pains me to admit it. If there's some boy or someone trying to play kissy-face and distracting you…"

"Relax, Daddy," Mika said. "It's not that. Trust me." Which was technically true. "Just… need to double down on some of my papers and studying. Chihiro's having trouble too, so hopefully Akaya can lift us both up a little."

"Are there any boys you like?" Mom asked, apparently satisfied with the explanation for the moment. "Or girls?" She'd never been anything less than honest about her interests, though Daddy only ever seemed worried about boys. He probably just had a blindspot when it came to her growing up.

She made vague hand gestures. "Eh, maybe. There's a few cute guys and some cute girls, but everybody's still really settling in. Though the Twins are dating now-Tensei's dating Sero and Sora's dating Midoriya—so there's hope for me yet."

Mom smiled and shook her head. "I wouldn't worry about it too much," she said. "I didn't start dating your father until nearly the end of our first year. Give it time."

Daddy actually looked a little embarrassed. "Actually my first date ever was with your mother. It was the longest conversation I'd ever had with a girl without getting smacked and I kind of panicked and asked her out."

Mom leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. "It all worked out though," she said. That got a soft harrumph from Granny, though neither of her parents noticed.

Still… there was something to be said for how it had all worked out for her parents. She could tell they were clearly still very much in love, despite having been married nearly twenty years. They were lucky. Daddy's mom had been married four times already and was probably on the prowl for husband number five. If she was honest with herself, that kind of love was something she very much wanted… She just wanted to have some fun before that happened. Was that so wrong? Why did the universe keep conspiring against her in that regard?

Maybe she really ought to clean up her act a little bit after all… On the other hand, that bus boy over there was awful cute…

Decisions, decisions!

Mom snapped her back to reality. "Is everything still… safe, at school?" she asked. "We're still seeing the Quirk Virus pop up, but no one's had any major leads in the Hero community."

Granny frowned. "I've seen plenty about it on the news in America too. It's been mostly isolated cases, but it's there."

Mika shrugged. "Nobody in my class has come down with it," she said. "I mean, it's not something I'm real worried about… other than what happens if someone I care about does." Which at least wasn't a problem for her family in particular. All of their Quirks were Mutant-types. But the thought that someone could just lose control like that was a scary one all the same.

"They're doing the best they can," she added. "If there was anything big, they'd let us know."

The adults seemed satisfied with that. Cases really were pretty isolated still, but the worry was there. The only thing they could do would be to try and live as normally as possible.

Later, when a celebratory cake had been brought out and Mom had blown out the candles, Mika asked, "So what did you wish for, Mom?"

Mom shook her head. "I didn't need to make one," she said, looking around the table. "I've got everything I need right here."

Granny smiled at that, happy in the moment. And Daddy raised his glass. "To our family!"

They raised theirs in return. "To our family!"

Okay, maybe she didn't have a boy toy or a sidepiece or anything like that. But she had one of the best families in two countries, and maybe that was enough.