Chapter 26: Attraction

How in the world was Izuku so adorable but stunningly handsome also so at the same time? It was like a paradox. Asta thought it as he watched Izuku babble on about a breakthrough of whoever was behind this Heroes' Afterlife. Yuno was handsome in that beautiful man kind of way. Noelle was beautiful, gorgeous and many other adjectives that espoused her beauty. Izuku had an adorable face and a good, confident personality and generally was attractive.

Realizing his own crush was never a good thing. It was easier to hide it with Yuno because of their rivalry. And it was easier to hide his affection for Noelle behind the veneer of friendship and comradery. According to his seniors, he never actually was any good at hiding his feelings, but luckily Yuno and Noelle were both oblivious.

Izuku's freckles were six in total. His green hair looked soft. He had a good smile and warm eyes. Izuku was fit as heck. Why would Asta like Izuku? Izuku was also kind, intelligent, and fun to be around all the time.

"Is there something on my face?" Izuku asked, confused.

"No, keep going. I'm just thinking that you are gonna piss someone off," said Asta, laughing. "And maybe we all get to fight an enemy again."

"Oh, that would be exciting," said Izuku, smiling. "But I don't think everyone would appreciate having to come out of dead retirement."

"You know full well no one would mind in the slightest," said Asta.

Izuku chuckled. "Oh, true, true. But I'm not trying to anger anyone. I'm just trying to figure out what the heck this place really is!"

"Just be careful. Let me know if we're going to be investigating at the port or any place else," said Asta.

"We, huh? That's a good idea," said Izuku. "Do you want to visit the port? I bet we can see something on the shipments!"

Asta grinned. "That sounds fun. We never went to the port when we lived at the Nameless Town because everyone always stopped us."

"I'm sure it's fine, we won't get in trouble," said Izuku.

The port was a few kilometers outside of the Nameless Town. It was a small port town, similar to what Asta had seen in Clover. The sea seemed to be endless and felt artificial like the sun and any weather. There was a strange lack of seagulls that made the port feel unreal. Asta followed Izuku as they walked through the port town of old heroes being fishermen. There was a small dock where there were small fishing boats.

"Where do we start?" Asta asked.

"I don't know. The cargo ship isn't here, so maybe we can ask around…" Izuku started. He began to mutter.

Asta snickered. He patted Izuku on the shoulder. "You're so funny."

The port town wasn't very big. They spotted Gintoki and Ace there, arguing over fishing, but decided not to bother either of them. The pirate and samurai tended to drag you into their nonsense and today, Asta and Izuku were on a bit of a mission.

Truly, there wasn't much in this town.

"Why hello! Are you two investigating?" A young black-haired and blue-eyed man approached them with a grin on his face. "Kudo Shinichi, detective at your service! Are you looking for the person in charge of this place too? I've tried for ages. But I always wind up getting sent back to the forest outside of the Nameless Town."

"I'm Asta," said Asta. "This is Izuku. So, Shinichi, a detective huh? What do you know?"

"Probably as much as you. There's definitely someone in charge of this place. Maybe a God, a Kai, or someone, but they don't want us getting out, mainly because we're all classified as "heroes" meaning "troublemakers," said Shinichi, sighing. "The shipment is the key. I'm certain of it."

"How many times have you-" Izuku asked.

"78 times," said Shinichi. "It's maddening. When I was alive, I solved hundreds of cases-murders, thefts, threats of bombings, uncovering secret organizations who experiment with various drugs, you named it, I dealt with it." He seemed very upset, scowling. "But this! I can't solve this."

Izuku and Asta shared a look.

Izuku said, "That many times, huh? Is there a crew on the ship?"

"Nope. Whoever is in town unloads it. It leaves when it's empty and everyone is off-board. I've done some crazy things to get on that moving ship," said Shinichi. "But like I said, I always get sent to the forest before I can do anything."

Izuku hummed. "That means that they really do want us to stay put, whoever it is. I'll have to think about this some more."

"Do you want to see my research?" Shinichi asked excitedly, as he grabbed Asta and Izuku's arms and dragged them without them answering to a small fishing shack. Inside it, there were books and papers everywhere with maps pinned on the walls.

Asta sighed fondly as Izuku looked so excited. Research and planning wasn't Asta's strongest suit, but he'll do it for Izuku.

After spending hours with Shinichi, Izuku finally took some pity on poor Asta's brain and departed from their new friend's place. They stopped at the Nameless Town to visit Naruto and the others. Naruto and Hinata were glad to see them and fed them some ramen. Asta chatted amicably with Hinata about his farm, while Izuku ate. Shinichi had some good ideas, it was clear he was a very good detective with a lot of experience.

"Met Shinichi, have you?" Naruto asked. "He's very curious. Way more than anyone I've ever met. Except maybe you."

"He's very inquisitive," said Izuku, glancing over at Asta, who was laughing at something Hinata said.

Naruto snorted. "The afterlife is weird. People who should have never met do meet and relationships form."

Izuku looked at Naruto confused. "What does that mean?"

"Just like I said," said Naruto, grinning fox-like, as if he had a secret.

Izuku shook his head. Naruto was very weird sometimes.

As they entered their Aozara home, Izuku watched Asta call out "We're home" and run to the kitchen to make a snack before they went to sleep. Izuku smiled fondly. Oh, he's so cute sometimes. Huh? Oh. Do I like Asta more than a friend?

"Izuku, do you want muffins or biscuits with the tea?" Asta yelled from the kitchen.

"Muffins," Izuku replied. It made sense what Naruto said. Izuku had often found himself admiring Asta and his incredible physique and his cheerful, positive, hopeful personality. Asta did have darkness in his heart, but that was from his years of self-doubt that he had to overcome.

Admiration turned to love again, huh?

"Should I say something…?"

"Izuku! Tea's warm! Muffins are coming soon. Will you set the table?" Asta yelled from the kitchen again.

"Coming!" Izuku finished cleaning up the shoes and went to the kitchen to help.

Notes:

Cameo:
Shinichi Kudo from Detective Conan/Case Closed

Let me know what you think.