Much like how Momo's bento box outclassed Izumi's bento box on multiple levels, Momo's house completely outclassed every single part of Izumi's entire apartment complex. By a lot. She kind of figured that Momo's family was well off, just like how Katsuki's family was well off. She was expecting a nice looking townhouse, maybe with one or two floors, a big yard, and like a car.

Or maybe one of those condo places in one of those super tall buildings.

But nope.

Momo's house felt like something Izumi would be isekai'd into living in if Katuski had actually pushed her in front of a bus. A massive fence stretched for as far as Izumi could see on either side of the street, and the tree line was so thick that Izumi couldn't even see Momo's house. The only hint of it was the driveway leading into what might as well have been a forest tended by fairy creatures.

Izumi blinked and felt two questions well up in her mind.

The first was an inner question, the kind of thing that her mouth would blurt out if it wasn't busy being opened in awe: why the hell did they walk here?

The second, she actually managed to ask.

"You live here?"

"Of course!" Momo gave her a cheerful smile that put Izumi to ease. When it came to this sleepover, Momo was excited enough for both of them, which only made Izumi all the more excited, though she was dreading that about half the sleepover was going to be about combing her hair.

When she told her mother what they wanted to do at the sleepover, she just laughed and told her good luck.

Izumi touched her hair for a moment. Was it really that bad? Sure, it technically wasn't combable, but it was still hair. She could get it cut. Kinda.

Momo pressed a button on an intercom that rested just to the side of the gate and spoke softly. "Hello, it's me, Momo. I'm here with my friend."

"Ahh, young mistress, I'm glad you returned safely, shall I send someone with—"

"Oh, no thanks, we'll walk," Momo said politely and then turned to smile at Izumi yet again.

Of course Momo would have a butler! Of course they would call her mistress! Suddenly the whole homeschooling thing and Momo trying to buy her friendship thing made a lot more sense. And the guilt Izumi felt from still using that iPod just kind of vanished. Well, mostly.

The driveway was shorter than Izumi would have thought, in part because she kind of imagined Momo taking her up a long mountain trail to some super-secret castle where she would meet some long-forgotten hero that taught All Might and then she'd become his student because she had potential, but that was just the stuff that existed in comic books. Instead, she found herself staring at a house that was so big that she had to judge the size of rooms based on the size of her entire apartment.

Lobby? Three apartments, and two more on top!

It had stairs.

Kitchen? One and a half apartments.

Dining room? Two apartments.

Bathroom? Half an apartment

Momo's bedroom? One apartment, with Momo's bed taking up nearly as much space as Izumi's entire room.

Momo's closet? Half an apartment.

"Can I jump on your bed?" was the first thing that Izumi had asked after looking around Momo's room.

"Huh?" Momo asked, confused, like the idea of jumping on a bed had never even occurred to her, which, honestly, didn't really surprise Izumi too much. Momo was a bit strange like that but strange in a good way that made Izumi laugh. "Uhh, sure?"

"Yay!" Izumi tossed her bag onto the couch in Momo's room and charged towards the bed. She jumped, belly-flopped and then sunk into the softest bed she had ever touched. Instantly it felt like sleep was wrapping itself up around her. "Oh my god, your bed is so comfy!"

The bed shook, and Izumi found herself staring at Momo as the other girl had launched herself onto the bed just like she had. "Oh, so that's why you asked."

Izumi smiled and flopped onto her back, staring up at the canopy thing that was on top of Momo's bed. "I'm so jealous you get to sleep here like every night!" She sat up and looked around the room. "Speaking of which, where am I going to sleep? It'd be kind of boring if I slept in a guest room."

"Oh!" Momo sat up, a slight smile on her face as she pushed some of her hair out of her face and looked towards her computer. "I actually did some research after we talked!"

Of course, she did.

"I can have a guest room prepared for you if you'd like, or we can both sleep on the ground, or you can take the couch, or we could go and camp in the yard somewhere."

By yard, Momo meant the Yaoyorozu National Forest.

"Or we can sleep in my bed."

"Together?" Izumi asked like there was something else Momo could be implying.

Momo nodded. "Yep, I'm told it's more common for girls to do than boys, but either way, it's fine. Besides," Momo patted her massive bed and bit her lip slightly before a smile grew on her face, "it's big enough for both of us, right?"

"But what if I flail around in my sleep and punch you or something?"

Momo shrugged. "Do you do that? And it's not like we'll be sleeping right next to each other."

"Fine!" Izumi flopped back down and smiled up at the ceiling. "We'll sleep in the same bed, but I'm holding you responsible for anything weird that happens."

"Weird?"

Izumi just shrugged. "So, what do you want to do first?"

The comb being wagged in front of her face filled Izumi with a light sense of dread.

XXXX

The first comb that Momo had attempted to use on Izumi had put up an admirable fight before it had simply submitted to her hair. But Momo was not discouraged.

Instead, she brought out the big guns.

The big, heavy, gigantic guns of chemical warfare.

"So, you've never gone to a salon?" Momo asked, her hands deep into Izumi's hair, nearly reaching the parts of her scalp where the sun didn't even reach. The fact that Momo's house had a salon chair just sitting in one of their bathrooms shouldn't have surprised Izumi as much as it did. But, here she was, wrapped in a towel after taking a relaxing bath with Momo. Her wet hair was more agreeable, but Momo wanted to tame that beast once and for all. "Like at all?"

"Nope!"

"Not even for a haircut?"

"Most of my haircuts happened in our kitchen."

Momo made a confused noise, probably coming to terms with the fact that people had their haircuts in the kitchens. Wait until she finds out that they eat there too! "Is that why your hair is so, uhh, damaged? It's almost like parts of it were burnt noodles."

"Ahh," Izumi opened her mouth and thought about Katsuki's favorite way to pick on her. Explosive noogies. She probably should have punched him a lot harder. Maybe he was why her hair was so messy? "Uhh, remember those not so nice friends?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry." The sincerity in Momo's voice put a smile on Izumi's face. Momo's head appeared from behind her, and she smiled at her through the mirror. With her hair down, Momo looked really mature, almost like she should be her senpai. "But don't worry!" Momo grabbed an expensive-looking bottle of stuff, and her smile grew again. "I'm going to make sure that your hair is going to be healthy, beautiful, and loved."

Izumi could only watch as Momo dumped a healthy glob of the honey-like goo on top of Izumi's still wet hair, her fingers diving in deep again, making Izumi's eyes roll at the sensation. The rubbing was delightful, delightful enough that she could easily ignore that the shampoo stuff Momo had put onto her hair smelled far more expensive than it should have.

"I'm going to lean you back now so we can wash your hair better, alright?" Momo didn't wait for her to respond before the chair leaned back, and Izumi was spun towards the small water basin that stuck out of the wall.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Yep! My mom's stylist taught me a—ahh!" Momo let out a light shriek as the small hose squirted her in the face. "She lets me help, but I don't think I can mess your hair up more than it already is."

"Is it that bad?"

"Umm," Momo looked her in the eyes, sucking on her bottom lip. "Yes."

"I'm in your capable hands then."

Warm water, cold water, shampoo, conditioner, rinsing, combing, drying, and washing again, it felt like Momo was trying to cook some kind of hair-based pasta.

"Sooo," Izumi smiled and let her mind wander. "Have you thought about what kind of a hero you want to be?"

"Huh? Type?" Momo asked, confused, "Like, general, crime, rescue, or specialist?"

"No, no, no, I mean, like your hero name! And your costume! And like, who you'd want to intern with!" Izumi leaned back slightly to look up towards Momo, who was way too engrossed with her hair. "I want to intern with someone like Ryukyu!"

"Oh, I see! Umm, well, the reason why I want to be a hero is kind of because of All Might, but I don't think he takes interns, so I'm not really sure, I mean, I'd like to go for one of the better female heroes, like Suzu-Samurai, or even Mrs. Joke, but I think they're both going to become teachers next year. But, as for my hero name, I've actually been thinking about calling myself Creati."

"Creati?"

Momo nodded. "Yeah, well, my quirk is called Creation, and I just thought that if I call myself Creati, it'd show off what I can do. Which will hopefully be to create whatever it is I need to save people."

"Oooh, oh, wow! That's so awesome! What about your costume? What do you want to look like?"

"Hmm, well, I need to expose my skin to use my quirk, so, umm, I hope to have something that's still a bit on the modest side despite that, but, umm, yeah."

"Oh! Are you going to have a boob window?" Izumi flailed her hands in the air like she was somehow describing what she was talking about. "Only, like it'd go all the way down to your stomach! Oh! You could just wear a bikini or—"

"No."

"Aww, fine,"

"Well, what about you? Do you have a name?"

Izumi twisted her lips and let out a long sigh. "I'm not really sure, I mean, my quirk basically lets me make spells and stuff, but I'm not really sure, I had a list, but then that list kind of got destroyed."

"Oh, Well, if you're going to be a wizard or a witch—"

She poked Momo on the nose. "I'm not a witch."

"Well, if you're a wizard then, why not go with something like Merlin?" Momo offered with a pleasant smile. "He was the wizard in the legend of King Arthur and is someone that everyone knows about."

Izumi blinked. "Merlin."

She tasted the word on her lips.

Felt it with her tongue.

And heard it in her mind.

A smile spread across her face. "That's perfect, Momo! I'll be Merlin, the Wizard Hero!"

"Great, we can make your hero costume be a robe! And with a big hat! Oh, and we can give you a big bushy beard!"

"Yeah!"

Their laughter echoed throughout the bathroom.

With her hair thoroughly washed and then softly dried by Momo's hands, Izumi felt better than she had in a long time. Bit by bit, her untamed, frizzy, nearly wild hair had been transformed. The still damp tangles fought against Momo's fine combs, but they didn't have the strength they once had.

The tangles, the split ends, the knots and the frazzle were all worked out. Eventually, it started to resemble her mother's; a bit shorter, but straight, silky, and smooth.

With a light hand, Izumi ran her fingers through her hair for the first time in years. It felt so good to be able to do that. Her hair, it felt light, it felt right.

Her cheeks hurt from smiling as she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't even look like herself anymore.

Somehow, it felt like a connection to Katsuki that she didn't know she had, had finally been broken.

"Momo," Izumi smiled despite the tear that had fallen down her cheek. "Thank you. So much."

Momo just hugged her from behind. "My pleasure. Let me do it again sometime; I was right; you really do have amazing hair."

AN: I tried really hard not to make the hair washing lewd.