Lol, I need help with Portuguese too. Hit me up if anything is wrong and I'll fix it!


Siren

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Chapter 3

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Juba Goro has seen many incredible things in his twenty-eight years of life. Powerful quirks that shook the city and rattled the very sky above them were some of them, sure, but it seemed as if the smaller things that occurred within his first years of fatherhood shocked him more than any large villain or outstanding hero ever did.

His daughter, now a year and a half old, writing things in perfect Portuguese and English just so happened to be the most recurring surprise.

"How can you be so sure this is Portuguese?" Ebisu Bunta, Goro's close friend since their middle school days, whispered questioningly while looking down at Yoko's recent scribbles of foreign languages. The child in question, was fast asleep in her crib, Goro's arm gently rocking it back and forth as he stared at her small form which had grown significantly since the first time he set her down in it. Maybe it was time to start thinking about getting her an actual bed…

"I mean for all we know, it could just as well be a bunch of gibberish." Bunta continued, "Olá m…mea..meu? N..nom…See? Can't even pronounce it. It has to be a bunch of nonsense."

Goro laughed quietly at his friend's thought process and rubbed his chin and face absentmindedly, feeling the small scratches of facial hair against his skin. He needed to shave soon, "Well, what about the English? You and I both took English classes long enough to know what some of the things she's written on the paper are."

"Bold of you to assume that I actually payed attention in those classes."

He stared at his friend in disbelief, a scoff escaping his smiling lips as he playfully punched Bunta in the arm at his comment, "Oh really? Well, then what were you so focused on you couldn't even learn simple English like a normal student?"

Bunta ran a hand through his already cropped tan hair, "At the time? Hmmmm…probably Ushio."

That earned a more serious punch in the arm, the sound of the collision much heavier as Goro put more power behind his throw.

"Ow!" Bunta silently mouthed, dropping Yoko's paper of words to rub his abused bicep "Why'd you do that?!"

Goro just smiled and continued to rock his daughter's crib, "Hm? I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

"Why you little—" He raised his arm at him and threw a punch of his own at Goro's much thinner limb, only for the fist to phase right through his body unexpectedly.

"What's the matter?" Goro teased knowingly, "Are you having a little trouble there?"

"Hey! You can't use your warping like that!"

"Why? It's not my fault Mr. Pro Hero can't land a punch." he snickered, fully enjoying his friend's troubled expression, "Maybe you should've payed more attention in class when you were a kid instead focusing on somebody else's gi—!"

The rest of his statement was lost and lodged in his throat as Goro felt a hefty hand smack him upside the head suddenly, making him lurch forward and almost fall off the stool he was sitting on. With his free hand moving up to try and ease the burning pain behind his head, he glared over his shoulder at Bunta. This time, it was him who grinned at the other's expense.

"Still haven't learned to watch your back, I see." He taunted frivolously, "No wonder why you became washed up straight out of high school."

Well, now he couldn't let him have that. A war was beginning to brew, and he was going to make sure he came out victorious. Even at that moment, it seemed as if Bunta was thinking the exact same thing, a cheshire grin spreading across his face in excitement as he held out his fists in an awkward mock boxing position - it was a bit difficult when the both of them refused to stand up from their respective stools.

"Mmmmmm…"

Both men froze at the high sound of a child's groan and looked down to see Yoko's face scrunching up in discomfort at the loss of her crib's rocking. Apparently, in his moment of battle preparations, Goro had briefly forgotten about his duties by his child's side. Immediately, both he and Bunta shushed each other, the former going back to gently swaying the cot while the latter picked up the paper of alien letters from its spot on the ground.

Once again, the conversation had gone back to its original topic, "I don't know, Goro. Maybe you just ended up with one of those rare genius babies. You did also say that she called you by your first name the first time she spoke. Most kids don't even know their parents' names until at least several years. Maybe even later depending on how they grow up."

"Well, she did practically run away from you the first time you two met." Goro murmured with pleasure, "Any child who learns to do that at a young age has got to be the smartest kid on the planet."

It really was an amusing sight to see, how Bunta had crouched down on their living room carpet to say hello to Yoko only for the child to crawl away not even a moment later. His appearance was quite amazing in its own way - his light, tan hair complimenting his brown skin and matched his golden eyes that practically glowed in the dark. It was all thanks to his quirk which came from a felinesque family, giving him not only padded palms and clawed hands but also a larger build that associated him with his more feral side. His body was made to give him the speed of a cheetah, the agility of a panther, and the pride of a lion. All in all, it earned him the hero name "Sphinx", the respect of those with similar quirks…

And the suspicions of his sole child who only seemed to look at him with cynical eyes.

As somebody who grew up forever bearing the title of "Second Place" just behind Bunta, it was an absolutely glorious feeling to actually see someone not fond over him from the very get-go.

Although, it would have been nice if she didn't look at him the same way as she did his best friend.

"Oh please." Bunta rolled his eyes, "If keeping her distance from me is what makes her the smartest kid, then why does she do it to you too?"

Ah. So he noticed it too.

Goro's breath hitched in his throat at the whispered statement, his face morphing into a childish pout as Bunta's words stuck him where it hurt, "So you think she's staying away from me on purpose too, huh?"

Abruptly, he let go of Yoko's crib, startling Bunta and making him somewhat dive for the cot - Yoko's paper of fancy languages was lost, yet again, and had fallen back to its spot on the floor - in order to continue its rocking motion to keep the child it held asleep. Goro himself just dismissed the vivacious save and covered his face with his hands in sorrow.

"I don't understand, Bunta." He mewled, "What if Yoko-chan secretly hates me? I don't think I can handle that kind of rejection."

"Oh, come on!" Bunta sighed, "Of course she doesn't hate you. I was only teasing! You're her father who has been taking care of her all by yourself for over a year now. Even if she wanted a reason to hate you, she couldn't possibly do so once she knows all of that."

He switched his hands on the crib, making his left hand take over the job Goro had abandoned while his right patted his shoulder and comforted the same man distressing over the inner feelings of his daughter.

Goro appreciated the gesture, he really did. After everything he's been through the past year and a half, he was eternally grateful that Bunta was still around to help him out when he needed it, even if Yoko always eyed him from across the room. However, as the days with his daughter increased, he couldn't deny the strange behavior she kept exhibiting towards everything.

As she grew, she was able to sit up by herself, crawl, pull herself into a standing position, and was even able to walk slightly as long as she held on to something. But, she rarely tried to talk - the only times Goro ever really heard her speak after her first words was whenever he caught her voicing some hiragana characters, in which case she would instantly fall silent after he showed even a little bit of excitement towards seeing her develop - she never cried anymore, and with both Bunta and himself, she acted as though she was resistant on getting close to them. Sometimes, it made Goro wonder if Yoko was even 'all there'.

Then, he finds her either solving his old rubix cubes or wanting books teaching katakana or practicing perfect Portuguese and English with crayons and all of his previous questions are thrown out the window, replaced by dozens more that are just as impossible to answer. If he was to be honest, it was starting to drive him a bit crazy.

Bunta squeezed his shoulders in another sign of reassurance, "You're a good parent, Goro. And I know for a fact that Ushio is happy she chose you to be the father of her child."

"Oh no." Goro chuckled, dragging his hands down his face, "You aren't allowed to say that. You can say so many things but that is off limits."

"But, it's the truth!" Bunta insisted. He tried to keep his voice low while simultaneously showing his genuine feelings, "You are a great father."

Goro just smiled in defeat at the statement, his hand going up to tap the one Bunta kept on his shoulder as support. The both of them sat there in silence then, neither one finding anything else to say as they stared at Yoko in her crib. She really looked nothing like Goro, her blue hair and light skin completely different from his own darkened features. But, she didn't really look too much like her mother either; While Ushio had indigo hair herself he never remembered her having any pretty little scales or delightfully deep blue eyes that reflected the color the sea.

She was already her own person, little bits of both him and her mother coming together to create someone completely original. Someone completely new. And, thinking about the things she was already capable of accomplishing now, Goro could only continue to wonder what kind of individual their little Yoko would decide to become.

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Juba Yoko was two years old now.

Juba Yoko was two years old and the scales on her body were spreading.

Sitting on top of the sink in the sole bathroom located in their apartment, her tiny bottom fitting inside the round basin, she stared at her reflection in the large mirror. Cautiously, almost fearfully, she brought her fingertips to her cheeks where her first - and, at the time, only - few scales had resided on her face, the slightly rubbery texture grazing the pads of her skin as she did so. Then, as if she was following a path drawn on her, she moved her digits upwards and around the outer corners of her large eyes until the elastic grain of her scales stopped completely just before the base of her forehead. She repeated this process of memorization, back and forth, until the rubbery texture began to wear off in an odd way, making her want to rest her hands back in her lap once again as she glared at her likeness in the mirror.

It was an absolutely detestable image, in her opinion.

Yoko had been keeping track of her appearance everyday after realizing that the fishy resemblance she already had was, in fact, taking over more skin than what she was comfortable with - the plates on her shoulders now reached behind her over the tops of her shoulder blades while the ones on her thighs were beginning to crawl down towards her knees. As a result, her desire to cover as much of her scales as she could only grew, though actually doing so has shown to be quite a difficult feat for a toddler such as herself. Already, she had quarreled with Goro about buying her shirts and cargo shorts instead of frilly dresses and wanting to keep growing her bangs out long so that she could hide the scales on both her body and her face, respectively.

She felt as though Goro wouldn't understand the exact reasoning for why she wished for such odd requests, but she still did her best to make it abundantly clear - using her babbles and most likely broken Japanese - that the purpose behind it all was extremely important and absolutely had to be followed. Unfortunately, even with this, he still didn't understand.

"Yoko-chan?" She could hear Goro's voice call from behind the bathroom door, making her instantly freeze, "Yoko-chan where'd you go?"

Not wanting him to find her just yet in her time of insecurity, she scrambled out of the basin of the sink and carefully hopped off the surface so her feet came in contact with the cold tiled floor. Then, she promptly opened the cabinets just underneath the counter and climbed inside, quickly shutting the doors behind her just before the much larger entry to the lavatory unbolted.

"Yoko-chan?" Goro called again, this time the sound bouncing off the walls and echoing a bit in the small space. She squirmed a bit as she heard his large footsteps pass by her hiding place and pace around the rest of the room trying to look for her - she had startled at the sudden sound of him pulling back the curtains of their shower - but did her best to keep as still as possible during his endeavors.

It wasn't until the sound of his footsteps faded away and silence consumed the air that she dared peak outside of her safe haven. She waited a couple more moments, the lack of noise that would have come from Goro shutting the bathroom door shut again throwing her off, but eventually reached forward and opened the cabinets a crack to peer out.

That tiny opening was all Goro needed, much to her chagrin.

"Found you!" He exclaimed happily as he yanked both cabinets open and exposed her presence to the world. The action did more than just catch her off guard, forcing her to jump back on instinct only for the metal pipework of the sink to dig into her side and make her choke on her frightened yelp. Luckily, though, she recovered quick enough and dashed out of her hiding space past Goro's insistent hands that made a grab for her capture.

"Yoko-chan! Wait a minute!" She heard him holler behind her, but she only ignored him.

With the soles of her small feet slapping against the hard wood flooring, Yoko ran down the hall of the apartment, Goro's own strides right behind her in a fiery chase. The only other places for her to escape to were either the living room and kitchen, neither one of them holding too many spots for her to keep herself in. However, if she could just create a diversion, something to knock Goro off guard or even distract him - it didn't have to be all that grand either - then perhaps she could make it back down the hall she came from and lock herself in her room.

It was an imperfect plan, one she wasn't sure would even work. But, it was all Yoko had on her at the moment, and she was more than willing to do anything to simply get away. She knew she would have to act fast too as she still wasn't too used to moving so quickly and agile-like with the small body she continued to possess.

"Wait right there, Yoko-chan!" Her pursuer commanded just as she hid behind the side of their living room's couch. She poked her little head out from the side once she did so, staring right at Goro as he approached the piece of furniture from the other end carefully. His arms were held out in front of him, making it look as if he was trying to catch a wild animal instead of a misbehaving toddler. Even his eyes seemed to say 'Stay calm. It's okay. Good girl. Good girl…'

"Come here, Yoko-chan." Goro tried again, a nervous laugh bubbling up his throat, "It's okay."

She shook her head at his insistence cautiously and watched as his face fell at her response, "Yoko-chan~!"

Again, she whipped her head side to side, putting a bit more effort to show how unwilling she was to being caught - She was sure Goro already got the gist of her feelings from the beginning, though.

The both of them continued to stare at one another at their respective positions, neither one making an effort to disturb the uncomfortable standstill they found themselves at in fear that the chaotic results would not be in their favor. Eventually, however, it was Goro who decided to sacrifice his chances, his body lunging forward with a might yell towards his child. Unfortunately for him, Yoko had maneuvered out of the way just in time making him trip over his own footing at her quick thinking and slide face first into the floor, knocking over several stacks of DVDs and toy block pillars that had been left around by the both of them.

The sound of Goro's body heavily colliding with the ground made her heart beat faster and, for a moment, she stumbled in her steps back towards her room. Thankfully, the adrenaline coursing through her body kept her going, and she was able to reach the brown door of her room before Goro could even stand back up completely again to get back to chasing her.

Yoko wasted absolutely no time shutting the only entryway to her chambers, welcoming the sound of the loud bang that came with her slamming it closed with both of her hands. Sadly, she wasn't tall enough to reach the lock of her door effortlessly, but was quick-witted enough to begin dragging things over to block the entrance from anymore unwanted visitors, starting with her chest of dolls and toys.

'This won't be enough!' She thought after eyeing the small trunk. Turning around she began to frantically look for something - anything - else to plaster against doorway…

Only to be snatched up by Goro the moment she did so.

"Gotcha!" He proclaimed happily, completely dismissing the whines and shouts of disapproval that immediately came from his child upon her capture, "I finally caught you!"

He was out of breath and Yoko could see from the corner of her eye while trying to break free that his body was still trying to catch up to him after his obvious warping through her walls. She also noticed a large red mark on his forehead and that his glasses were crooked now on the bridge of his nose, showcasing the battle wounds he had received during his fall minutes before the conclusion of their epic chase.

The resulting appearance was actually quite impressive considering the fact that all he was doing was running around in pursuit of a two-year-old. Nevertheless, she honestly couldn't care as all she was focusing on was how to become a small Houdini and magically escape the clutches of her so called "father".

"No!" Yoko cried while kicking and punching repeatedly. Her attacks only really kissed the air between her and Goro, though, since he was smart enough to hold her out at arms length amidst her struggling, "No! No! No!"

All he could do was look at her pleadingly, "Come on, Yoko-chan~. It's just a small haircut. Don't you want people to see your cute face?"

"Nooooo!"

Goro sighed wearily, not even flinching or complaining about the way she was beginning to claw at the hands that held her still. In her defense, her bangs hadn't even grown that long yet - she actually wished they were much longer - and the rest of her hair had only reached to her shoulders at that point. But, she still wanted to keep her scales from being exposed to the outside world. If doing so meant she had to continuously run away and fight off Goro's grooming attempts, then she was prepared to go about this same routine of cat and mouse everyday.

"Yoko-chan, please." He began again once she finally began to tire out and her attacks became weaker. It was difficult to keep going while she was begin kept in the air, after all, "We don't have to cut them today if you don't want to, but before they get too long we should—"

His words were cut off at the sound of a knock resonating off their front door, surprising them both. For a second, a kind of mutual understanding was exchanged between them as they looked at one another with equally confused and somewhat alarmed expressions towards the unexpected change of events.

As if the past five minutes of intense wailing and deterrence - all one sided on her end - never happened, Goro maneuvered himself out of the room, pulling his child close to his chest and carefully moving her chest of toys out of the way to leave since couldn't warp with her as luggage. It wasn't that much of a walk from her room to the front door, but before she could prepare herself in Goro's arms, he had already unlocked the latches and slowly opened the entrance to see who it was that had decided to pay them a visit.

"Ah!" Came the startled voice of a woman just outside the threshold of their apartment. She was a petite thing, both in height and in stature, with hair the color of dark moss half up in a bun behind her head. Her widened eyes were also of the same color as her shoulder length tresses and shined with a mixture of what seemed to be worry, angst, and bewilderment. Whether it was because of Goro's still ruffled appearance - he must have thought of that too because he removed one of the arms holding her up to try and fix his glasses at least - or something else, she didn't know, but it actually made her want to dig her fingers into her "father's" shirt as she tried to put as much distance between them as possible.

"Hello! Can I help you?" Goro asked politely with a smile.

That seemed to bring the strange woman back on track of things, "Oh! No no! I'm fine, thank you! I just…I…" She blinked several times at her stuttering self and shook her head quickly as if to remove any other bumbling thoughts, "My name is Midoriya Inko. I live just right next door, you see, and I couldn't help but hear a lot of crashing and yelling just now."

Yoko could literally feel Goro's arms stiffen as his whole body froze in guilt. Yep, they were busted.

The woman named "Midoriya", though, kept going on, her senses not at all picking up on Goro's awkwardness, "I just wanted to make sure everything was all right," she concluded.

Goro simply smiled meekly, hefting his child higher up in his arms, "Well, thank you for taking the time to come and check up on a neighbor, Midoriya-san, but I think I should apologize for everything. My daughter, Yoko, isn't all too fond of the concept of 'grooming', you see…"

Immediately, Yoko glared up at the man unappreciatively, 'Really?' she thought, 'You're really going to put most of the blame on me?'

She was the one who kept telling him 'No', after all. All he had to do was listen and leave her alone, but nooo…

"Oh? How old is she? Little Yoko-chan?" The Midoriya lady asked a little too excitedly, her gaze focusing on her suddenly and catching her off guard.

"Do you want to tell her how old you are, Yoko-chan?" Goro inquired while looking down at her in his arms. It only made her uncomfortable, being stared at expectantly by the both of them when she still wasn't even used to handling one single adult yet.

In the end, after an eternal moment - she was sure the whole ordeal only really lasted a couple of seconds - Yoko turned her face away and dug it into Goro's shoulder, a soft but very clear "No" escaping her lips and answering the question crudely.

"Haha…I'm sorry." Goro nervously excused while rubbing her back in circles, "She's probably still a bit agitated from out little scuffle earlier. But, she just recently turned two."

Yoko could practically hear the Midoriya lady's smile widen on her face, "Wow! How exciting! I actually have a son of my own who will be turning two in about a month, also!"

"Really?!"

"Yes! His name is Izuku."

"Woah! Would you look at that. Such an interesting world we live in, huh?"

Well, Goro was definitely not wrong there.

Yoko stayed there in the man's arms silently, an unconventional third wheel while a heated and perpetually joyful discussion between the two adults brewed. Maybe it was a parent thing to be so enthusiastic about any opportune moment to talk about your child, because she knew for sure the tiny things both Midoriya and Goro were talking about wouldn't have sounded interesting in the slightest to those who lacked a younger generation.

"Okaa-san?" A new, much softer and higher voice came in, revealing an additional presence in their odd circle.

Curious, Yoko looked back over her shoulder towards the lady named Midoriya and her eyes followed the woman's own gaze as she looked down in surprise at a young boy tugging at her skirt.

"Okaa-san?" The little boy tried again, "Is it computer time yet?"

Straightaway, the woman's entire self softened and a fond smile eased its way on her face, "Oh, Izuku! I'm sorry. Did I make you wait too long?"

"So this is the young Midoriya! Izuku, right?" Goro quizzed playfully as the boy's mother reached down to lift her child into her arms. Unlike Yoko, that Izuku kid seemed much more eager to be a part of new meetings with complete strangers.

"Midoriya!" He announced with a happy fist thrown up in the air, "Midoriya Izuku!"

Yoko stared at him in his triumphant introduction, the other two adults watching him reacting with Ooooo's and Aaaaaa's and cheers that would not doubt encourage him to do even more. It was cute, she had to admit, especially when his appearance contained the deadly combination of soft, unkept, viridescent green hair and a galaxy of freckles that sprayed across his rounded cheeks just under his large, bright eyes.

"These are our neighbors, Izuku." Midoriya explained clearly before suddenly stopping all together. It must have occurred to her that she hadn't even asked Goro for their full names yet. Actually, she hadn't even asked Goro for his name at all the more Yoko thought about it, "Ummm…"

"Juba Goro is my name." He established quickly, holding out his large hand towards the boy, "But, you can call me Goro. Nice to meet you, Izuku-kun!"

Without missing a beat, the Izuku kid grabbed Goro's hand with both of his tiny ones and stared at their connecting appendages with a wide smile as if that was the proper way to conclude a handshake.

He looked back up at the man, his bright eyes shining with the natural merriment that came with making a new friend, "Goro-sa!"

"Yes!" Goro laughed heartily, "There we go! You got it! And this one right here is…"

He looked down at Yoko expectantly, his face silently asking her to at least try to interact when such a delightful kid was involved. And he was such a dear. Even if the orbs that lowered to stare at her did come with a strange and curious intensity. Seriously, having eyes like that should have been illegal. She wasn't even sure her own eyes were that big.

"No." Was all Yoko said as she tore her gaze away and tightened her grip on Goro's shirt. All he could do was sigh, disappointed but not surprised.

"Don't be rude, Yoko-chan. Izuku-kun only wants to say hi."

Again, she shook her head violently, barely even allowing Goro to finish reprimanding her before her already evident response escaped through her actions.

"Yoko-chan~!" He whined. The woman named Midoriya laughed anxiously in front of them as she watched the entire scene play out, unsure of what to do or say herself to get her to at least look at them for more than three minutes. Not like she would have done it anyway even if the woman did decided to involve herself.

However, much to Yoko's surprise, it wasn't the mother who ended up trying to break past the barriers she held up.

"Yokkan!" The Izuku kid said passionately, completely unphased by her inability to willingly communicate. Stunned by the out of the blue moment of her pseudo name being called, as well as the way it was butchered by him, Yoko jerked her eyes forward and ogled the way the bright eyed child reached a hand out to her, "Let's play! Computer time together! Hero watching!"

His squeaky voice was much more lovable than any other kid she remembered hearing in her past life and it was absolutely criminal for him to use such a weapon on herself. Nevertheless, his entire proposition did not sound pleasing to her whatsoever - she had barely gotten used to the mere fact that the strange oddities the people around her lived with were called 'quirks' before the idea of being a hero as a professional career knocked her down once again - and Yoko found herself doing her best to shy away from Izuku's friendly gesture.

"Noooo…" She whimpered while keeping her eyes on the freckled boy. It was almost hypnotic how his bright orbs blinked at her reaction in confusion, sucking her in and keeping her in a spotlight she was never comfortable with being in. As soon as his expression changed, however -his smile transforming into a small and sad pout when the realization that she didn't want to be around him sunk in - she was able to ultimately look away again, nuzzling her face back into the fabric on Goro's shoulders.

"Izuku, maybe today isn't a good day to have Yoko-chan come over." His mother instructed, a light scold hidden in between the lines of her good-natured words.

The boy merely pouted some more, "But…computer time with Yokkan…"

"I know, sweetie, I know." She continued, "Yoko-chan probably just isn't feeling well today."

"I'm sorry, Midoriya-san." Goro spoke up, a hand coming up to rest on Yoko' s back as she lied her cheek in the dip of his collar. At that point, there was no telling what exactly he was apologizing for - the ruckus they made in their apartment, her attitude, her inability to want to be near anyone… Really, there was just too many things piling up on her tab - and yet, he still felt as if saying something about it would help the situation she had gotten them both into.

The woman named Midoriya only smiled at his words, "Don't worry about it, Juba-san. Now that we know we're neighbors, there will be plenty of time for playdates in the future. Right, Izuku?"

"Okay!" Came the quick and chipper reply. Well, that little dispirited moment of his didn't last long, did it?

"So I guess we'll see the both of you around, Midoriya-san?" Goro asked, bemused.

"I hope so! It would be nice for Izuku to have someone nearby." She answered with all honestly. In her arms, and with impatience slowly starting to take over the emotions he felt, Izuku patted her shoulder and pointed back towards their own apartment next door.

"Okaa-san?" He started, "Computer time?"

Both Goro and Midoriya laughed, "Yes, you're right, we should go now." The woman faced Goro and Yoko properly, her small frame bending forward a little ways in a minuscule bow that didn't dare disturb the position she held her son in, "It was nice meeting you, Juba-san. You too, Yoko-chan!"

"Nice meeting the both of you too!" Goro gladly reiterated, his own torso angling downwards to mimic the respectable action.

With a small wave, the mother named Midoriya turned and began the short trek back to the apartment that was adjacent to their's, her son still close in her possession. It really was a small distance - literally only a couple of steps if Yoko were to try and physically measure it - and Goro had already moved to shut the door of their own home closed as there was no reason to check and make sure the nice woman got back safely. Regardless, and just before their front door was completely shut, Izuku still tried to give Yoko one last parting gift.

"Bye bye, Yokkan!" His voice echoed down the hallways, reaching her ears just as their heavy door fastened itself to its locks and making Goro chuckle at the boy's last minute farewell.

She stared at the once opened entrance where both Midoriya's had previously stood before them, the Izuku kid's words repeating themselves in her head in an unnecessary fashion. There sincerely was no point in her thinking about such a fleeting expression nor was there any need for her to answer back since the appropriate time to do so was gone now.

In spite of that, Yoko still felt herself staring at their front door, the image getting further and further away as Goro walked deeper into their living quarters to continue on with the day. It wasn't that she believed she wouldn't see them again - they lived right next door, after all. It would have been impossible not to - but just that maybe she really should have said something back. She probably wouldn't have felt as guilty as she did now if she simply relented.

And so, Yoko discovered her gaze to be hopeful, as if the two year old mind that intermingled with her much more developed side was trying to convince herself that the Izuku kid would suddenly come back into her field of view.

"Bye bye…" She whispered eventually, her being still somewhat drawn to the space their neighbors had left behind. The response was incredibly late and not at all what she thought she had wanted to say in retaliation. But what ended up hurting the most about it was that, in a very cruel sense of irony, in that single moment she had actually wanted to be heard, there was no one there to listen.

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New Tumblr is welcomebackyoko~!