This is a short collection of sidestories that I wrote to expand a bit without taking space in the main chapters. Consider it a sort of .5 chapter (which is probably gonna be on , but here and on Ao3 I can make a distinction). This does NOT replace the regular chapter scheduled on Friday.

(xx)

False Lovers and Pics

"You have a picture, right?" The question arrived at Izuku's ears a millisecond after he had sat down.

He looked up, to see a worrying amount of his classmates looking down at him, while he was sitting on his chair. "A what?"

"A picture. Of your girlfriend." The taller of them explained. "Look, Midoriya, it's been a week and this mysterious girlfriend of yours has been missing, so we really want to see whether we are right on what she looks like."

"I feel like that's a gross violation of my privacy."

"Come on, it's bragging points for you. You kinda need those, you know?"

"Hey!" He shouted, before sighing, "Well, it's true but…"

"I mean, you can just show us one. You should have one, as her boyfriend, right?"

"I… I guess I do, Ahahah." 'I don't have a picture of Himiko, what do I do?'

"Can we see it?"

Izuku really wanted to pull harder on the privacy card, but it sounded a tidbit unconvincing from someone like him that knew the office and home address of any Hero stationed in Musutafu.

What? He needed to investigate properly.

He tried to find a way out of it, when his professor suddenly opened the door.

"Good morning class." The professor saluted, "Sit down please."

Izuku sighed in relief, then realized that he still needed to figure out this whole situation. He had dodged a bullet here, but what if someone else asked? Or what if his classmates just forced him to? He thought for a moment, before sighing.

There was only one thing to do. With trembling hands, he discreetly pulled up his phone and started typing.

-x-

Himiko stared at her phone for a few seconds in utter disbelief.

Then that gave way to fear, as she rushed out of her room and basically slammed through Mustard's door, the hinges creaking loudly as they gave way. "Mustard!"

"Ah!" The teen shouted, jumping back, slamming the PC he was watching closed and reflexively sending out his Gas. Toga managed to jump back in time before inhaling it as he managed to get himself back under control, "What is it?! The Heroes?! The Police?! The HPSC?!" He shouted.

"Mustard! Emergency! I need your help!" She showed him the screen of her phone, "Look! What do I do?!"

Mustard carefully turned on the vent on top of his room, that sucked away the gas, and then quickly walked up to her, reading the message.

'Pls send pic. Izuku.'

Mustard paused.

He read the message again.

'Pls send pic. Izuku.'

He frowned.

He must have read that wrong, let's try again.

'Pls send pic. Izuku.'

"Holy shit…" He muttered. When did Izuku become so bold?

"I know! What do I do?!"

"Uh… I guess you need to decide if sending him a picture or not…" He pondered, "And what kind of picture."

"You think he might want a sexy picture?! I remember my classmates used to talk about it!"

Mustard frowned, pretending he wasn't thinking about what a sexy Himiko would look like, "No, doesn't seem his style. He has been very calm so far. Maybe something a bit more tame?"

Toga breathed in. "Of course. Of course. Uh… So…"

"You want me to help you choose an outfit, right?"

"Yes!"

"Why not ask Dabi?"

"He is out."

"Kurogiri?"

"Guarding Tomura."

"Compress?"

"Out with dad."

"… Shit."

He sighed and resigned himself to follow her to her room.

-x-

Izuku heard the buzzing sound of a message arriving soon after, and saw the name of Himiko at the top of the notification, so he sighed in relief. Soon after, the school day finished – wow, it had actually taken her a lot to send him the picture, maybe she was busy? – and stood back up, before the same classmates as before stopped him.

"Alright. The picture, now." One of the girls said, the boys nodding in unison. Izuku fidgeted with his phone, before finally opening the picture.

He stared at it and blushed.

Oh boy, she looked really cute. She had her black hair kept down and was wearing a black turtleneck that really… enhanced her features. It was a bit long, giving the illusion she wasn't wearing a skirt, even if the very edge of it was visible.

Before he could decide if showing it was a good idea, Kazua, a glassed girl with a telekinetic Quirk pulled the phone from his hand and turned it around.

Everyone stared at the picture.

Everyone then stared at him.

"… You lucky son of a bitch."

"What."

"How did he manage that?!"

"I guess the guys that bet on her being cute win." They handed back the phone to Midoriya, "Alright, you win this round, Midoriya."

He stared at them as they left the class, talking to each other in whispered breaths about his love life.

"What just happened?" He asked himself.

He went back to look at his phone, the picture still open. He blushed again, and immediately typed a message before closing it.

-

'Thank you, see you soon.'

Toga sighed in relief. He liked it. "Thank you Mustard!" She said, turning around and giving him a thumbs up.

"No problem. Now, if you will excuse me, I have an appointment to go back to."

"Ew. Gross."

He paused, then realized what she was thinking, "N-No, it's not what you think! It's a normal, not homework folder-related video!"

She stared at him, but he seemed genuine enough. She let him go – not that she had any reason in particular to stop him anyway – and stared at her picture. She looked pretty cute in it, she had to admite. Sexy too, she supposed. She couldn't really judge herself, and she was entirely covered by the turtleneck, but that was something guys liked, right?

Her hands went back to the chat with Izuku, and she hovered on the message she had typed. The send button was right there.

'Send me one too.' It said.

She blushed a bit. Maybe it was dumb? She wasn't really sure what it meant to exchange pics like those? There was nothing explicit in them, right? Friends did send each other pictures from time to time, right?

-x-

Izuku stared at the screen.

'Send me one too.'

'Alright Izuku, calm down! It's just a friendly request. She might need one too, right? I mean, she wouldn't have anyone to show it at right now, but…'

He took a deep breath. Alright, he was being dumb. It was just one picture anyway. He could take a selfie right now and be done with it. He took a deep breath and after finding the right pose he took a single picture.

And then immediately delated it. "She was nice enough to take a good pic of herself, I can't just send a random one!" He said out loud, before slamming his hands over his mouth. He looked at the door, and trembled in fear as the doorknob slowly moved.

As the shadow of death by embarrassment walked into the room.

"Oh Izuku, you are sending Himiko a picture of yourself?!" His mom asked, and he choked on his words.

"H-How did you…"

"I remember very well the days of young love, dear."

"I-I'm not… It's just… We are only…"

"You better dress well." She said with a wink, and walked back out, though Izuku suddenly felt very much under watch.

"… What."

-x-

Himiko heard the telephone ring and grabbed it with trembling hands, wondering what kind of pic Izuku had sent. 'I mean, not because I'm worried, we are friends, but he might have misunderstood the kind of picture I wanted. Oh god, what if it's some almost naked pic?' Her mind thought for a few moments about the image of Izuku's abs, and for a minute longer over the image of said abs sliced open and dripping blood, before she shook her head and just opened the picture.

She sighed in relief as she watched Izuku in a normal brown shirt and blue jeans smiling at the mirror and flexing his arm with the free hand.

She smiled.

She looked at the pic again.

'Nothing weird if I…'

She set her new background quickly, and sighed in relief.

What a day.

-x-

Izuku sighed in relief as he received her answer, a simple 'Thanks.' He scrolled back up to the picture of Himiko.

And a moment later he set it up as background of his phone.

Entirely because it was what a boyfriend, even a false one, was supposed to do.

Definitely.

x—x—x—x

False Lovers and Something Funny Happened on the Way to Izuku's House

"Do you think Izuku will like this?" Mustard asked, showing Himiko a copy of Stain's gear. Himiko shook her head.

"We need to focus on the Heroes, remember?"

"But Stain is so cool…"

"Heroes, Mustard." She repeated, and he sighed, putting back the costume, "Alright, so, what do you think fits best?"

Himiko paused. It was one thing to say 'Oh yeah, not that' and another to find something that fit well. She stared at a series of All Might parkas but then shook her head. Izuku was a great All Might fan – maybe a bit too great – he would totally own every single one of those.

So maybe another Hero. "Should we buy Endeavor merch?" Mustard asked suddenly, "I mean, number 2 Hero and all…"

"No, Endeavor merch is too cheap, it makes it sound like we were buying him cheap stuff."

"Mirko?"

"What could we buy?" Himiko raised an eyebrow.

"I mean you could put this on." He showed her a costume of the Pro Hero, complete with fake ears and tail, "I'm sure he would like it…"

Himiko went bright red, "Mustard!"

"What? I'm just saying, it's a Christmas gift. It should be at least a bit romantic, right?"

"But we are just friends!"

"I know, but you are supposed to pretend to be more than that, right?"

"I'm not dressing like a bunny girl!"

"Every party needs a pooper…"

"Why are you so hellbent on this?!"

"Well…"

-x-

Two weeks earlier

"Say Deku, who's your favorite female Pro Hero?" Mustard asked, taking the opportunity now that Toga was busy in the bathroom.

"U-Uh? Ah, uhm…" Izuku looked away and said something under his breath.

"Come oooon, I won't judge. Is it Mandaley? Or maybe Ryukyuu?" He paused, "Don't tell me it's Uwabami!"

"… Miruko." He whispered just a bit louder.

"Oh. Oooh." He chuckled, "Well, thick thighs and all that, I can see that…"

"M-M-Masuchan!" Izuku stammered, bright red.

"Well I'm just saying, that sounds like it would shatter your pelvis but maybe it's worth it…"

"Masutaro!"

-x-

"I guess I'm just a good friend." He put the costume back on, "I just think Izukun would like it. But, if you don't want to do that, how about…"

"Hands up, this is a robbery!" A voice suddenly shouted, accompanied by the sound of various pairs of shoes bursting into the store. Mustard and Toga looked up from the shelves and toward the entrance. Three people had walked in, dressed with black masks and identical black clothes. One of them was taller, with a clearly mutant appearance that made him look somewhat like a grey-skinned cow with a single, large eye, while the other two were more unremarkable, a pair of women with their hair moving independently, one keeping them in long dreadlocks while the other had two enlarged ponytails.

"Alright, put the money in. Martial Hair, take care of the kids. Needle hair, the door." The larger Villain shouted.

"Yes boss!" The other two replied, one rushing forward and the other moving toward the two utterly unimpressed teens. "Alright, give here all the money, kids."

"Uh, no?" Mustard shook his head, "Seriously, what's your Quirk? Something with your hair? And we should be scared of that?"

"What, you want to…" She paused, and looked to his right, "Where did the girl go?" She asked, noticing she seemed to have vanished.

"I'm right here."

A breath on her neck.

A feeling of bloodlust.

Sharp, shining fangs.

Deep grey eyes that seemed to shine gold for a split second.

Martial Hair had barely a second to register all that before the hilt of a knife hit her in the temple and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

Himiko grinned, "Do you think I can…"

"Not now Himiko!" Mustard pointed behind her and grabbed the girl, dragging her out of the way as the large villain with one eye and a bull head rushed toward them, before hitting the wall and making it collapse.

Mustard pulled out his gun. "Is that a gun?!" The other villain, who had rushed in hearing the commotion, suddenly shouted.

"N-No, it's a Projectile Launching Multifunctional Support Item!" He shouted back mechanically, while putting in one of his knockout bullets. Curse his 'dad' and his 'safety precautions' for not having a single bullet in the gu- the support item. "Himiko, the girl- Oh." Mustard stared as the grey dreadlocks slumped on the ground along with the rest of the woman's body, while Himiko pointed forward.

"Alright kids, now you made me angry." The horned man said, standing up, "I will-" He paused as a bang sounded through the room. He looked down to his chest, completely exposed, and saw the needle of the tranquilizer, the purple liquid rapidly entering his body. "Oh, fuck me." He mumbled, before collapsing, unconscious.

-x-

"You did what?!" Izuku shouted.

Himiko and Mustard looked away, coughing in their fist. "You don't have any proof."

Izuku pointed at the tv screen. "Yes, it's a quite fascinating story. Two young teens managed alone to stop a robbery that was being committed against a Hero Merch store in Musutafu by three known villains, an E-rank man known in the circles as Minotaurus and two F-rank women, sister criminals by the name of Martial Hair and Needle Hair."
"That could have been anyone."

"When interviewed, the cashier said that the two, a boy and a girl in their teenage years, knocked unconscious both villains using a knife and a gun." He paused, "Pardon me, that was a misquote. She said 'a Projectile Launching Multifunctional Support Item that looked exactly like a gun'. Sorry for the mistake."

Izuku slowly turned toward them. Mustard coughed, "In my defense, it was self-defense."

"In my defense, they were Villains! Shouldn't we get a praise for this?!" Himiko pouted.

"Oh yeah? Then why did you run away immediately?"

Mustard coughed in his fist, "Not… immediately."

"What?"

"W-Well, the cashier said she wanted to give us a reward, and asked us to pick something nice, since we were already browsing."

Himiko nodded, "Yeah, and we decided, 'Well, let's use it to get Izuku a gift he surely doesn't have!' and she said yes!"

"Is that what's in the large box that you two were carrying walking in?" Izuku paused, then suddenly seemed to realize, "W-Wait, is that a gift for me?" He said, stammering a bit.

"Surprise!" They both said, pointing to the box.

"D-Don't you two 'surprise' me! I'm not ignoring the fact you two just committed a crime of Vigilantism. I will give you a lecture-"

"Quick, Mustard, use the gift to distract him!" Himiko shouted.

"On it!" The boy pulled the box open and the figure inside out.

"On the risks of aaaaaaaaa-" Izuku's mouth fell wide open, "Oh my gosh, is that- but it's worth- but you- but-"

"I think we broke him." Himiko commented.

"He is drooling." Mustard pointed out.

"An exclusive collector edition Top 10 of the Year showcase with all the top 10 Heroes in a 1:6 scale! They only make a thousand of those! A complete set is worth over six hundred thousand yen!" Izuku stared at it, enraptured, "Did she really give it to you both just for that?"

"Yeah, she said that she would just say it got destroyed in the fight and get some extra insur- ouch!" Mustard stopped when Himiko elbowed him in the side.

Izuku wasn't even listening to them, staring wide eyed at the figures of the top 10. All Might, Endeavor, Hawks, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, Crust, Miruko, Yoroi Musha, Ryukyuu and Gang Orca, each depicted while using one of their attacks with extreme detail. Izuku's eyes gawked at each pro figurine and at the stand, that was designed like a series of palaces, each taller than the previous one, culminating with All Might standing at Izuku's height. He was panting slowly, unsure of how to even move the figures but knowing full well those were getting a spot in his room even if it meant throwing away his bed and sleeping in a futon- 'I shouldn't! I shouldn't, they got this from Vigilantism. But it's so cool! But it's bought from a crime! But it's so cool!'

"Izukun." Mustard put an arm around his shoulder, "I can guess what you are thinking. I'm not carrying this out of your house, bringing it here was already a hassle. Keep it or sell it, this is your Christmas gift from your friend and your girlfriend."

Izuku blushed. Right, this was a Christmas gift from his friends. It wouldn't be nice to throw it away. Right?

And I mean, they had done Vigilantism, the only crime that most people agreed was not much of a problem. And it was probably self-defense anyway.

Uh, Izuku could make up a considerable amount of good arguments for breaking the law if he thought it was for a good cause. Like justifying his friends' actions.

Or keeping the coolest figure on the market.

He sighed. Yeah, he couldn't work his own mind out of this. "Well, I guess…" He run to his room, "I should give you your gifts too." He pulled out two packets, "I didn't know what to get you so I asked some people. Open it."

Mustard nodded first, opening his own and his eyes went wide. "How did you know?"

"Well, at first I asked literally everyone. Your dad, Dabi, Tomura, Stendhal… But none of them had an actual answer so I just asked Kurogiri. He had a list of your fifty favorite titles."

"Creepy. But I'm really glad right now. Look at this, a collector edition of Bakemonogatari! I really wanted this! It's a 21st century classic!"

"I'm so glad to ear that! I was so worried I picked the wrong one, with all those titles!"

"… Oh we are totally watching them all eventually." He grinned.

Then Himiko spoke, "Uhm, Izuku, what are those?"

"Oh, that?! Yeah, as I said, same thing, but everyone agreed you'd love those, and I thought, wow, they care so much about her Hero gear! I figured it was the right thing to buy." He smiled, "I just ordered them online."

Himiko stared transfixed at the set of combat knife Izuku had bought her. Each of those was slightly different, but they were all meant for combat, she could tell. Stain had showed her his own knives enough she could see he would approve. "I… Thank you Izuku." She kept staring at them, "Those are great." She mumbled.

"You… Don't like them?"

"No, no, I love them, it's absolutely the right gift, I was just surprised!" She pulled one out and swung it a few times, "Thank you Izuku, really."

"Oh, don't worry about it. You guys still gave me the best gift I could wish for." He smiled.

Himiko and Masuchan smiled back. And Himiko ignored again that twinge of bloodlust she felt in her chest.

-x-

"Well, that went well." Mustard frowned, as they jumped out of Kurogiri's portal. All for One had called to tell them they would be coming back through it instead of taking the train, until the interest in the store robbery died down, "But you know, you never actually told me what you took from the store owner."

"What do you mean, we got the figures…"

"No, I got the figures, you got a bag that you immediately put away and have been hiding in your backpack." He pointed at it, "What's in the box?"

"It's my business!" She replied, rushing away. Mustard looked at her go, puzzled, and turned to Dabi, who was standing nearby to monitor their arrival.

The man just shrugged, raising his open palms. "Women."

-x-

Himiko locked the door behind her and pulled out the bag she had bought.

No, received. The store owner had insisted they took it, since it was a cheap thing anyway. And again, extra insurance money.

She looked at it.

Why did she buy it?

'I think Izuku would like it.' Mustard's voice whispered.

She shook her head.

No, she definitely just bought it as a disguise. Nevermind she could literally turn into anyone, a disguise would be a lot less obvious.

Yes, definitely that.

She nodded and pushed the Miruko costume under the bed.

Definitely just for practical reasons.

-x-x-x-x-

False Lovers and Online Entertainment

Izuku, Mustard and Himiko were relaxing on the couch of Izuku's house after another long day of studying. Masutaro yawned, scrolling on her phone, and Izuku was doing the same, while Himiko was reading some manga he had slipped with his books that she insisted Izuku couldn't see.

Suddenly, Masutaro frowned.

Then gasped.

Then his eyes went wide.

"What?" He whispered in a shaky breath.

"Masuchan?" Izuku asked, pausing his reading of the latest Hero news.

"No. No, no no no!" He shouted suddenly, madly scrolling up and down on the phone, "It can't be!"

"Are you ok? What is it?! A villain attack?!"

"No, no, this is far, far worse!"

"Oh my god, did someone die?! Is All Might ok?!"

"… First, the fact that your mind immediately went to All Might scares me. But second, no!" He turned the screen towards him, "Look!"

Izuku looked at the Reddit post.

'Independent Vtuber TsukiMoonie announces her retirement to 'pursue other goals in life'.'

He read it again.

And then again.

Then he turned to Masutaro. "Masuchan, this is about a Vtuber retiring."

"Yes! Isn't that a tragedy?! She was so nice and cute! Her avatar had this amazing design with the moon floating around her head, and she was nice! And cute!"

Izuku took a deep breath. "You are desperate because a Vtuber is retiring." He slowly said.

"Not a Vtuber, my favorite Vtuber!" He shouted back, before looking away, "I thought you would understand man! Don't you see the similarities between Vtubers and Heroes? How they both bring smiles of joy to our hearts in the dark of the night?"

"Ew."

"How they both are beloved by people all over the world, that stare at a screen with happiness waiting for All Might's signature 'I am Here' and TsukiMoonie's signature 'Hello Moonpeople'?"

"Is that really a catchphrase?"

Masutaro took a deep breath, "Izuku, I expected you to understand, but clearly, you need to see for yourself. Today, you are going to discover TsukiMoonie."

"Do I get a say in this?"

"No."

Izuku whimpered and got carried out of the room by his friends, headed for his computer.

Himiko, alone on the couch, lazily turned the page of her manga.

"Boys are really, really dumb sometimes." She muttered, before blushing at a kiss scene.

-x-

Izuku looked unimpressed at the screen. The Vtuber in question had a, he supposed, rather cool design: her hair were colored bright blue, and a large moon like object orbited around her head. The chat seemed pretty active, though he had seen videos of far more frequented chats in various memes on the net. From the look of it, this was a rather minor Vtuber all things considered.

"Hello Moonpeople!" She said in a high-pitched voice. "How is the day?"

The show went on like this, with her playing some rhythm game with All Might beating some drums on a tempo and talking about her day, her future and discussing the end of her career.

She was rather cute- 'Dammit!'

About an hour later, Izuku sighed. Alright. He could understand the sadness at losing an idol, even if it was more of a pop idol than a Hero. She had been funny and entertaining during her time on air.

"Alright, Masuchan, I get it, can we…" He paused, "Are you crying?"

"No." The teen sniffed, "I just have something in my eyes."

"Yes, tears."

"You wouldn't get it man…"

Izuku paused, thinking at All Might, whose retirement was more and more imminent if he was to be believed, and put a hand on Masuchan's shoulder.

"No, I totally get you, Masuchan. I'm sorry I made it sound like this was dumb. She is your idol, and you have every right to be sad she is retiring."

"Izukun…" He took his hand, "You are a great friend."

The two shook their hand, their friendship reinforced by the common hardship of losing their idol.

Or maybe they are just dumb teens, who are we to judge?

-x-

The girl leaned back on her chair, sighing. She shook her head. Her one year career as a Vtuber, from fourteen to fifteen, had been fun. Sure, she had to lie a bit about her age, but it was all for fun, right? No one would ever figure out that she had been TsukiMoonie, and the memory of a low ranking Vtuber would soon vanish.

Uraraka smiled, looking at the fifty thousand yen she had managed to save.

Not much, but it would help her mom and dad paying her future rent and the school books.

Definitely not something that would come back ever again in her life, but it had been fun.

But now she could focus on being a Hero, and that was all she would do, putting together the money to finally repay her parents. With a sigh, she closed for the last time the TsukiMoonie account.

-x-

Mustard leaned back on his seat, sighing. It was dumb, but he really missed the Vtuber. She had been his first waifu after all, dumb as that term was. Although, considering there were actual 2D people around the world thanks to Quirks, maybe it wasn't after all.

He sighed again, shaking his head. Well, waifu or not, he would miss her.

Pity they would never meet in person, though maybe it was better this way. He was a dangerous Villain, after all. Absolutely.

Granted, one that had never done anything villainous, but still, TsukiMoonie had mentioned that she was planning to try for some Hero school. But of course, what were the chances to meet at UA?

He chuckled. As if the universe would ever align so perfectly.

(xx)

So yeah, just minor stuff. This is all still part of the MFLA plot, but at most you might see mentions back at it in the main story. I guess the fact that Uraraka was a Vtuber might come into play later...

Well, we will see, hope you liked them, see you Friday for the regular chapter.