Domestic Heroes: The Early Moments
5th Moment: The Muse of a Child Hero
Izuku sighed in content as he relaxed in his bathtub, enjoying the warm water and smell of strawberry from the bathbomb Ochako used while setting it up. He had just come back from a rather messy mission Mina and another friend of his, Minoru 'Grape Juice' Mineta, and really needed to get clean. The miniature hero with sticky hair left to join an agency overseas shortly after graduation, but sometimes came back to visit his family. He was in the middle of visiting Izuku, who was doing some side work for Gran Torino at the time, when both got roped into assisting Izuku's acid-creating partner in apprehending a villain that suspiciously looked like the sludge monster that Izuku first encountered in middle school. It wasn't the same one, oddly, but a villain that was able to manipulate mud and used it as a thick and slick set of armor, much to the annoyance of the trio. The villain was also surprisingly nimble despite being in a suit of wet earth, evading air blasts, acid waves and hairballs quite easily. In the end, they managed to subdue the mud man by having Minoru lay so many sticky hairballs on the ground that the villain had a hard time to move around, forcing it to jump to where Mina was hidden and allowing her to slime the target in a special acid that ended up hardening the mud, allowing Izuku to land the final blow and break the armor, revealing a weak and tired old man. The mission itself was actually quite exhilarating for Izuku, though he did wish he didn't end up covered head to toe in hardened mud, slimy acid, and sticky hair by the end of it.
"At least I managed to get most of the hair and mud off of me before I came home. Ochako would've been really upset if I made a mess of the floor after she just finished cleaning it," Izuku muttered to himself as he sunk deeper into the tub. His girlfriend was still on recovery leave after her rather dangerous mission a week ago and spent her free time cleaning their apartment and dote on Eri, who was staying with them for a few days while Aizawa was away to handle a kidnapping operation. It was honestly cute seeing Ochako be so motherly to the white-haird child, and there were some moments where he couldn't help but imagine her acting as such to a child that looked like her but with his hair and freckles. A thought that would always leave him in a blushing mess whenever he realized what he was imagining.
Their combined adorableness is going to be the death of me… He thought as he got up from the tub, feeling clean enough, and proceeded to dry himself before putting on his usual lounge garb that Ochako set aside for him near the sink. Dressed much more comfortably, he left the bathroom and made his way to the kitchen to grab a snack when he spotted his little visitor sitting on the kitchen table with a stack of papers beside her, coloring pencils on hand, and a look of serious concentration on her face. It was such a cute and bright sight that Izuku's heart, and face, couldn't help but clench almost immediately. An act that certainly caught the attention of the horned child.
"Mr. Deku? Are you ok? Your face looks really funny," Eri, dressed in a cute light blue nightgown with a snowflake design, asked.
"I'm fine, Eri. I just...saw something I wasn't exactly prepared to see," Izuku said after taking a moment to calm himself, smiling at the confused red eyes that were staring at him. "What are you doing, by the way? And where's Ochako?"
"Ms. Ocha is in her room. She was playing and cleaning with me all day and wanted to take a little nap. Mr. Mikan is with her and sleeping, too," Eri explained, causing Izuku to shake his head.
"She can take werewolves and living, boxing matchsticks with ease, but leave her alone with house duties and babysitting and she tuckers herself out quick. I guess she hasn't completely recovered from her last mission…" Izuku said to himself before turning to Eri with a smile. "Thanks for telling me, Eri. And by the way, you don't need to be formal here. You've known me and Ochako for a long time and Mikan really likes you. You can drop the Mr. and Ms. for us."
"Oh…I know. It's just…a little hard for me to not say Mr. and Ms., sometimes. Mr. Aizawa said to always be polite to people, and..."
"I get, Eri. I was the same way when I was younger. It took me a very long time to stop being so formal to my friends. Even now I still slip up sometimes," Izuku confessed with a chuckle, getting a giggle out of Eri, before walking closer to her. "So you're drawing now, huh? How many pictures have you made yet? Can I see?"
"...I didn't make anything yet," Eri confessed, causing Izuku to look at her oddly. "I was trying to draw while Ms O… I mean, Ocha was asleep, but I can't think of anything. I haven't drawn anything lately, either. Is… Is there something wrong with me, Deku?"
"Huh? Oh, there's nothing wrong with you, Eri! Really! You just...lost your muse, is all! There's nothing for you to worry about!" Izuku assured in a frantic manner, letting out a quiet sigh of relief when her worried expression was replaced by one of confusion.
"My...muse?"
"Yeah. Your inspiration. Something that gives you the drive to work on your art. A lot of artists and writers have muses that help them make their works, and you're no different. Maybe the reason why you haven't been able to draw anything is because there hasn't been anything that inspired you to draw," Izuku said calmly as he sat down beside her and gave her a gentle smile.
"Muse… Inspiration… Do you have anything like that, Deku?" Eri asked, her eyes bright with curiosity.
"Well...muses are usually exclusive to art, but it does also mean inspiration. I guess you can say that people like All Might, Kacchan and Ochako would be my muses. They're my main sources of inspiration when it comes to being a hero, so that probably works," Izuku explained as well as he could, scratching his face with a single finger as his smile turned more sheepish.
"Mr. Toshi, Mr. Kacchan and Ocha…" Eri repeated slowly as she focused on her blank papers, as if taking in what Izuku had said, before turning back to him with an expression that was quite serious for a young child like her. "I… I think I know what my muse is, Deku. I know what I want to draw, too."
"That's great, Eri. I'm happy for you. I'll let you focus on your drawing then. Let me know when you finish, ok? I can't wait to see it," Izuku said sweetly, giving the girl a gentle head rub and soft kiss on the top of her head before leaving her to her devices, jumping at the sight of a certain woman smirking at him when he rounded the corner in the living area. "O-Ochako? I thought you were taking a nap!"
"I was until Mikan woke me up. Little guy needed to use the litter box so he made me get up so he could go. I was gonna tell him to wait until you were done, since his box is in the bathroom, until I noticed you talking to Eri," Ochako explained while pointing a thumb over towards the bathroom, where Mikan was limping proudly towards them with a bit of toilet paper stuck on one of its back paws, before she pressed a finger on his chest and gave him a teasing stare. "So… I'm your muse, eh? Up there with your favorite hero and your childhood friend, even. Boy, don't I feel flattered. Say, you up for a little drawing right now? I don't mind being your model for it. It'll be just like old times."
"Oh don't remind me of the truth or dare incident during our third year, Ochako. That was such an embarrassing game… And I had to use an entire notebook for that darn dare…" Izuku grumbled as his cheeks flared, groaning slightly when Ochako started to laugh a little too loudly for his liking.
"What do you have to be embarrassed about? Your drawings of me and the others were super good! All those years working on those hero notebooks gave you plenty of practice doing portraits and stuff like that! You should really hone that skill of yours. I bet you'd be an awesome artist if you did," Ochako insisted while nudging Izuku's stomach with her elbow.
"Doing sketches of people for analysis and making actual pieces of art are two entirely different things, Ochako. I'm ok at it, but I'm not amazing," Izuku insisted while looking away bashfully.
"Hush! Your art is great! I think it and the others think it! Heck, even Eri will love it if she sees that art notebook. In fact, I think I still have it stashed away somewhere. I'm gonna go look for it!" Ochako exclaimed, her giddy mannerisms surprising Izuku and putting him in a panic.
"Wait, no! Don't show Eri my notebook!" He called out to Ochako as she rushed away to their room, following her frantically and leaving their bewildered cat alone in the hall.
"Deku? Ocha?" Eri's soft voice called out, followed shortly by her head peeking into the hallway from the kitchen. "Mikan? Is everything ok? Where did Deku and Ocha go?"
"Mow," The cat chirped as it used its tail to point at the door that led to Izuku and Ochako's bedroom, where a multitude of shouts, laughter, and other noises were heard.
"Mmm… They must be busy now that Ocha is awake. I'll leave them be," She said to herself before walking up to the cat and picked it up. "Do you want to see my drawing, Mikan? Deku helped me find my muse and I really like how I made it. It's not done yet, but it should still be ok to see."
Mikan chirped again, causing Eri to giggle as she made her way back to the kitchen table. Once there, she climbed back on her seat and set the cat on the table before showing it her art, who meowed in possible approval. Giggling once more, the child resumed her work, humming happily as she did so. After a few more minutes, she paused to check her progress, nodding proudly to herself for her success, before being called out by a very happy Ochako. Curious, she grabbed Mikan from the table and made her way to the couch, where she found her hosts waiting for her with a notebook in hand. She was confused at first, but when an oddly depressed Izuku told her it was his own book of art, she became very eager and practically dove into it, much to the amusement and horror of her respective hosts. Not long after Eri started gushing to Izuku about his work did he leave the room in embarrassment, leaving behind the girls and cat to shift through the book that was his impending end. He made his way to the kitchen, hoping a snack would calm him down, when he came across something that made him still in shock.
There, on the table, was Eri's current work: A drawing of him, his older friend Mirio, Ochako, Aizawa, and a few others as well. The ones that have helped her grow to become the happy and cheerful child she was now. It was then that Izuku learned that Eri's muse, her inspiration, was them. Was him. That fact made him tear up a little. He was already aware that Eri looked up to him, but seeing physical proof of it still made him feel emotional. Laughing to himself and spirit freed from embarrassment, he went over to a nearby fruit basket by the counter and grabbed a few apples for himself and the others to enjoy. If he was going to be Eri's muse, then he's going to be the best muse as possible…
...Even at the price of her seeing his less than stellar artwork.
Author's Note:
Hello, Heroes. Hope you enjoyed this cute little chapter of the Domestic Heroes prequel. I had a bit of fun with this piece, especially at the end. Also, I would like to apologize in advance for any inconsistencies between this and the actual Domestic Heroes. It's been some time since I've done work on the series and there are bound to be some mix-ups as a result. Hopefully it doesn't deter you all from enjoying my work. Next chapter's gonna be a bit more on the serious side, but still with enough classic fluff that you all love. Look forward to that. With that said, thank you all for enjoying my work. I wish you all a wonderful day and I will see you tomorrow for the next chapter.
Until then, farewell. And remember: Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!