Izuku couldn't take his eyes off the license in his hands as he, Katsuki, Shinsou, and Aizawa walked back towards UA. There was no way this was real right? It had to be some elaborate dream, but if it was Izuku wasn't sure that he wanted to wake up. One glance over at Shinsou told Izuku that he was feeling the same way. "God you two are fucking saps." Katsuki said, rolling his eyes.
Izuku simply smirked at his friend and laughed. "Just because you aren't showing it doesn't mean you aren't feeling the same way Kacchan."
"Whatever nerd." Katsuki said, ruffling Izuku's hair playfully. "I knew we'd all be fine. Can't be the best heroes if we fail our fucking exams now can we?"
"Kacchan!" Izuku yelled as he attempted to fend him off.
"It's no wonder Todoroki thinks you two are dating." Shinsou added as he watched the two go back and forth.
"He still thinks that!?" Izuku said as he held Katsuki's arm away from his head.
Shinsou snorted. "Yeah, he just doesn't bring it up to you anymore. He has a whole conspiracy board on it. He's kinda obsessed."
"He has a fucking what?" Katsuki said, abandoning his attempts to fight Izuku in favor of getting information out of Shinsou.
Shinsou nodded. "Don't feel too special though. He has other boards on stuff apparently."
Izuku groaned and put his face in his hands. "He has some really out there theories…"
"Icyhot is fucking weird. Never expected that to be his hobby." Katsuki said, crossing his arms.
Shinsou shrugged. "Everyone has to have hobbies right? He makes conspiracy theories and we go out at night and beat people up. Everyone has their own thing."
Izuku removed his face from his hands and looked at Shinsou. "Has he ever told you any of his other theories?" Shinsou simply shook his head. "He has one theory that Aizawa and Present Mic are secretly a couple and that you're their child." Izuku informed him with a straight face.
Shinsou's eyebrows furrowed as he processed that. "He, huh?" Shinsou seemed to have no idea what to say to that. "Is that why he stares at me suspiciously whenever he catches me talking to Aizawa?" Izuku nodded.
The four walked in comfortable silence for some time after that. Izuku glanced back at the gates of UA confused as Aizawa seemed to completely ignore them. "Uh Aizawa? We passed UA?"
"How observant of you Midoriya." Aizawa answered without turning around as he continued to walk.
The three vigilantes all glanced at each other equally confused. "Why?" Izuku attempted to ask.
"You'll see. Just follow me." Aizawa said as he briefly turned around to make sure they were doing just that.
They all followed in silence once again. They attempted to bounce ideas off each other as to what they were doing on the way. Though none of their ideas seemed very plausible to any of them. Aizawa led them to a quiet part of the city. He walked up to a small storefront that had a sign hanging from an awning that read "Purradise: Cat Cafe and Rescue". The three looked at each other, once again confused, but followed Aizawa inside anyway.
"There you three are!" Hatsume said as she excitedly bounded up to them. Todoroki walked up behind her, far more calm and with a cat in his arms. He nodded at them as a form of greeting, a small smile on his face.
"H-hatsume? Todoroki?" Izuku asked as he looked back and forth between his friends.
"I figured you three deserved some sort of celebration after passing your exam." Aizawa spoke up as he affectionately ruffled Izuku's hair. "You three did good and I thought you deserved something nice."
"Don't go soft on us now Aizawa. People might think you actually care or something." Katsuki said, smirking.
"Maybe because I do care brat." Aizawa shot back. "Now go enjoy yourselves. You earned it."
Playing with cats was really relaxing. It helped Izuku and Katsuki to both throw off the last of the dark thoughts that had entered their minds after the fire at the exam.
Now the group of friends couldn't help but laugh as several cats all fought for a place against Shoto's left side. "They must like the heat from it." Izuku had suggested after Shoto had asked out loud why it was happening.
Shinsou sat contentedly with a purring cat in his lap. "It's like they're attracted to you. You ever have a cat before?"
Shoto shook his head. "No. My father would never allow me to have pets. He-" he paused as if thinking of exactly what he should say "-didn't want me to have any distractions from my training."
Hatsume tilted her head curiously. "What's it like being the son of the number two anyway?"
Shoto grimaced unintentionally. Izuku shot him a look of concern and placed a hand on Shoto's leg as if asking if he wanted a change of subject. Shoto shook his head. "He's… ok I suppose. He's a good hero but not a great father."
Aizawa glanced over at the group curiously as Shoto spoke. He knew he'd have to be careful about what he said. "It could be worse though, so I guess I can't complain."
A small look of understanding passed through the group. "My mom was a really nice person." Izuku suddenly spoke up, hand still firmly placed on Shoto's leg.
None of them had expected Izuku or Katsuki to ever talk about their parents. Even Katsuki looked like he was surprised at the sudden admission. None of them spoke for fear of Izuku losing confidence and not continuing.
"She would always be there for me when I needed her. Whenever I came home with a scrape from falling she would always patch me up and calm me down. She'd sit down and watch the news with me so I could catch glimpses of hero fights." Izuku paused, taking a deep breath to collect himself. Shoto glanced over at Aizawa again to see him much more obviously paying attention to the conversation. "She'd always make snacks for me and Kacchan when he would come over. And it was always cool to watch her use her quirk around the house. She could attract small objects towards herself. It was really helpful for small things around the house." Izuku finished, a sad smile on his face.
Shoto unsurely lifted his arm to drape it over Izuku's shoulders. Izuku leaned into his side, a thankful look on his face. "My parents were pretty much complete opposites." Katsuki suddenly spoke up. His gaze was locked on the floor as he continued. "My mom was just like me. People would always say we looked a lot alike as well. My old man was the quiet type but the two balanced each other out or whatever. They probably loved Deku just as much as they did me. Our moms were friends before we were even born so it was natural that they introduced us to each other as soon as they could."
"Yeah we grew up together. We've just… always been in each other's lives I guess." Izuku added.
The slightly sombre mood persisted for a little while longer. "Know that we're always here if you guys need to talk ok?" Shinsou said, glancing between Izuku and Katsuki.
"Yeah fucking whatever Eyebags." Katsuki said, finally looking up.
"What he means is thank you Shinsou. All of you thank you." Izuku said as he leaned more heavily into Shoto's side.
"You're always there for us, of course we want to return the favor. We are friends after all." Shoto said, looking down at Izuku. Izuku smiled at him in return.
The conversation drifted to much happier topics after that. "So Todoroki." Shinsou started with a mischievous look on his face. "Have any new theories?"
Todoroki's face lit up as he launched into an explanation about how Mina, a girl from his class, was secretly an alien. Katsuki simply groaned and turned his attention to the cat that had been starting to approach him. Izuku sighed from his place still leaning against Todoroki's side idly petting a cat with one hand. Shinsou was smirking while Hatsume seemed genuinely interested in what Todoroki was saying.
"There's also the fact that she wanted her hero name to be Alien Queen. Clearly she was hinting at it." Todoroki explained.
"Maybe she wants you all to know but can't tell you." Shinsou contributed.
Todoroki placed his free hand on his chin. "You might be onto something…"
Izuku groaned. "Why are you encouraging him Shinsou?" Shinsou only smirked in return.
"Ooo speaking of hero names what did you two pick?" Hatsume asked as she looked back and forth between Izuku and Shinsou.
Izuku beamed and fished the provisional license from his pocket and handed it to Hatsume. "Deku huh? It suits you!" she said handing it back.
"So you did end up going with Deku for your hero name then?" Todoroki asked as he curiously glanced at the licence in Izuku's hand. "I remember you telling me during the sport's festival that you wanted that to be your hero name."
Izuku nodded his head excitedly. "Yep! Just felt right. I'm surprised you remembered Todoroki."
Todoroki simply hummed in response. "What about you Shinsou?" Hatsume turned her excited gaze to him.
Shinsou fished his own license out of his pocket and showed it to her. "The name wasn't my idea originally. We all kinda bounced ideas off each other. I hadn't really put much thought into it before this." he admitted.
"Bakeneko?" Todoroki said as he looked at the card. "I think it works well."
Shinsou rubbed the back of his neck nervously and chuckled. "Thanks."
"Shinsou really wanted to stick with our unintentional animal theme but still distance himself from his vigilante persona." Izuku explained. "It was actually Kacchan who suggested the name."
Katsuki looked up from the cat he'd been petting to glare at the group. "I only suggested something cause you idiots were taking way too long to think of something yourselves. We didn't have all fucking day."
Hatsume lit up like she had an idea. Everyone flinched back unintentionally. "We should make some cat themed babies for your hero costume!" She said as she grabbed Shinsou's hands. They all swore they could see literal sparkles around her as she expectantly gazed at Shinsou.
"Uh, sure?" He said. He did not seem sure at all.
"Great! I'll draft up some ideas and see what you think!" Hatsume said, finally letting go of Shinsou's hands. The group all shared a collective laugh at Shinsou's discomfort.
The rest of their time was fairly peaceful. They all enjoyed each other's company and that of the cats. Aizawa had fallen asleep with several cats piled on top of him. Several pictures were taken for later use. Izuku also spent most of their remaining time there at Todoroki's side. Neither seemed to notice or mind the closeness.
When it was finally time to leave they all tried to push the responsibility of waking Aizawa up onto each other until Katsuki had enough and did it himself. He was careful to remove the cats, who had all mostly moved on at this point, before popping off a couple small explosions in front of his teacher's face. The whole event ended in Katsuki being wrapped up in Aizawa's capture scarf on the floor and several pictures being taken for blackmail later.
As Hatsume and Todorki left Aizawa turned to the remaining three. "You three ready to head back? I'll walk you."
Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Ugh you really don't need to."
"I think Bakugou has surpassed his human interaction limit for the whole week today." Shinsou mused.
"Oh shut the fuck up Eyebags!" Katsuki yelled, but there wasn't any bite behind his words.
Izuku shook his head fondly. "Don't worry about us Eraser. We can make it home just fine."
Aizawa eyed the two quarreling boys and turned back to Izuku. "Is Shinsou staying with you two tonight?"
Izuku nodded. "I don't think he's spent a night at his house for weeks."
Aizawa nodded back at him. "Good. I'll see you three tomorrow alright? No patrol tonight." He narrowed his eyes to make sure Izuku got the message.
Izuku gave him a wonky salute. "Got it. See you tomorrow Aizawa."
With one last hair ruffle from Aizawa Izuku collected his friends and they headed home. Shouta watched them go. He really had gone and gotten himself attached huh?
The next day classes were normal, if a bit boring, for the three. A normal day of classes at UA, even with Katsuki in the hero course, couldn't compare to the excitement they'd been through yesterday. Shinsou leaned back in his desk, eyes closed. Izuku and Shinsou currently had some free time and had already completed their work. "Aizawa said he wanted to talk to us after school. I wonder what about?" Shinsou mused.
Izuku looked up from the notebook he was writing in. "I'm not sure. Maybe something about, uh you know. Now that we have licenses."
Shinsou hummed. "Maybe, but he only asked for me and you to see him right? If it was about that he would have wanted Bakugou to be there too."
Izuku tapped his pencil on his chin. "Yeah you're right. I'm not sure then."
With the mundaneness of their classes and the anticipation of finding out what Aizawa wanted to talk to them about the day practically crawled by. Finally it was the end of the day. Izuku and Shinsou waved goodbye to Katsuki, Hatsume, and Todoroki telling them they'd meet them at the apartment once they were done. The two rushed to the teacher's lounge and knocked. They heard Aizawa tell them to come in not long after. It seemed like Aizawa was the only one there at the moment.
"Go ahead and sit down you two." Aizawa said, gesturing to the chairs that were around the room.
"What is it you wanted to talk to us about Aizawa?" Izuku asked as he took a seat.
"There's a trip coming up for the hero course students. I've gotten permission from the principle for you two to come along. Not only will you get to train with the rest of the hero course but you'll be tested against them. It'll help the rest of the facility make the decision to transfer you two or not." Aizawa explained as he handed the two sheets with information about the trip on them.
"Seriously? How'd you manage to get us permission to come?" Shinsou asked as he skimmed over the sheet.
Aizawa crossed his arms. "Pretty easy to convince the principal when you two have provisional licences before most of my class. He's a little too interested in you in my opinion but at least that means he'll be on your side."
Izuku supposed that would be helpful for convincing him. He looked back down at the sheet. He would finally get to meet the rest of Katsuki's class! As much as Katsuki complained about them he knew that the seemingly always angry boy actually liked them. If they could get past Katsuki's walls they had to be good people.
Izuku and Shinsou looked at each other and smiled. "What do we need?" Izuku asked, a large smile on his face.