Sorry for the late update! Working weekends is always a tiring thing to do and I ended up getting more swamped this weekend than usual so there was just...no time...
I may have to push chapter 7 to Wednesday instead of Monday too since I just haven't been able to get to it yet. Sorry about that everyone! Thank you to everyone who had favorited Siren and followed AND left a review! You guys are so sweet and actually kept me going with this! If you want to read more Siren even (even if it doesn't update on schedule here, lol) then be sure to go to the Tumblr page, welcomebackyoko, for some extra content.
Siren
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Chapter 5
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Yoko should have known being angry and staying away from Izuku would have been a difficult task to keep doing. It still pained her to think of how he would always leave her side whenever he saw Katsuki, his grip constantly slipping through her fingers. But, unlike the red eyed wonder, she at least knew the freckled boy had some kind of conscience in him; He always made sure to ask Yoko if she wanted to join them or if she wanted him to stay and play with her before running off - in which case she would refuse his offering after making eye contact with the clearly irritated blonde who watched their every move. How annoying.
Plus, given the fact that they were still living next to each other, it would have been exceedingly burdensome to avoid Bright Eyes if Yoko really wanted to. And with the boy's larger than life smile and pleasantly warm greetings every morning despite his initial treatment towards her at school, she really didn't want to.
So, when Izuku's own third birthday quickly rolled around - she had found out that the special day was only a little over a month after her own - Yoko simply couldn't say no to the small party invitation given by his own mother. Well, actually, it was Goro who couldn't say no, but Yoko still knew better than to refuse such an offering when Midoriya showed such an excited expression as she had. In fact, she seemed much more excited than what Yoko would have expected. Maybe it was a surprise party?
"Alright, Yoko-can." Goro began as he sat down and slipped on his shoes next to her in the hallway, "This is our first invite to someone else's home. Do you know what the game plan is?"
Yoko nodded and held up five stubby fingers, "Excuse self inside. Take off shoes inside. Give Izukkun present. Have fun. Have cake."
"And what did I say about those last two steps?" He questioned.
"It does not matter…if in order?"
"Yes! That's my girl!" Goro smiled widely at Yoko's small accomplishments of memorization and held up two hands happily. Yoko only stared at them for a moment in confusion before the idea that he was waiting for her to give him high fives clicked. With only a little bit of hesitation this time, she lifted her own small hands and connected her palms against his accordingly.
"Alright!" The man started up again after finishing up his shoe-work, his hand going up to adjust the glasses on the bride of his nose, "Off we go!"
With the Midoriyas living next door to them, it didn't take Yoko and Goro long to make the journey over to their front door, gifts in hand and appearances cleaned - Goro had actually managed to shave his face and convince Yoko to do up her hair instead of letting her bangs take up most of her face as they normally do. Strangely eneouh, though, after Goro knocked on the door of their neighbors' home, it was the wait time before Midoriya came to answer that seemed longer than usual.
"Goro-san." Yoko tugged on the man's pant leg after several minutes passed by with no answer, "They said here?"
"O-Of course! Well, at least I'm sure Midoriya-san said they would be having the party here." Goro scratched the back of his head.
"Hmmmmm…" Yoko stared at Goro in suspicion. It wouldn't have been the first time Goro misunderstood a piece of information. It wasn't like he did it often, just that it wouldn't have been the first time.
Either way, her look still made her "father" clutch his chest as if immense pain, his torso bending forward in a comedic display of agony, "Yoko-chan~ That face of yours is breaking Papa's heart. Do you know believe in me that much?"
Ignoring the feigned hurt that came with his words of distress, Yoko's mind couldn't help but focus on how stubborn Goro seemed to be. After three years, he still hadn't given up on trying to get her to call him "Papa".
The locks on the Midoriyas' door finally coming undone was what brought both Yoko and Goro back to reality, their proper stances returning to their original positions.
The sight itself, was familiar to see, and Yoko could tell tha Toro was preparing to greet Izuku's mother with as much buoyancy as he normally gave her. However, he ended up freezing alongside Yoko at the sight of the stranger who actually opened the door.
"Ah…" Was the first thing the foreign identity said as he lay eyes on them, "Can I help you?"
He was an average sized adult, Yoko would say, practically the same height as Goro with a matching frame as well. Although, his hair was dark and messy, holding a disheveled shape she found strangely familiar.
Wait a minute…is this…?
"Oh! Wait a second!" The man exclaimed, his expression suddenly so hyper, "You two must be the neighbors Into told me about."
He held out a hand towards Goro then, a smile plastered on his face ,"I'm Izuku's father, Midoriya Hisashi. It's nice to finally meet you two!"
"Midoriya Hisashi-san!" Goro instantly echoed gleefully while shaking the man's hand, "It's good to meet you too! I'm Juba Goro."
"Yes, I've heard." Hisashi laughed pleasantly.
It was remarkable how one could miss the tiny similarities the man before them shared with is son that, in turn, made up most of Izuku's signature characteristics. The freckles that traveled across the boy's face like a small universe only dusted his father's face like an old can of spray pain. Meanwhile, the viridescent hue was obviously a trait Izuku inherited from his mother as Hisashi's own hair color stayed a dark and rather normal shade of brown, almost black. The only really characteristic the man had that could make anyone recognize him as Izuku's father was the messy mop of hair that lay on top of his head.
"Inko's told me how you guys have helped her out and kept Izuku company whenever they both needed it." Hisashi said as he stood straight, "For that, and as someone who hasn't been able to take care of his family at home, I am eternally grateful. Thank you so much, Juba-san!"
Following his words of gratitude, he bowed in front of them, catching Goro off guard than Yoko as he stuttered nervously at the sudden praise, "No no! It was nothing! Really. In fact, I think Midoriya-san and Izuku-kun helped up out a lot more than we did. So really, we should be thanking all of you for just being here, Midoriya-san. Eh…I mean Hisashi-san. I mean…uh…eh…"
Izuku's father laughed at Goro's small struggle, "Hisashi is okay, Juba-san."
"Oh, then please, call me Goro."
"'Goro', huh? I like it."
Suddenly, in the midst of her quietly curious thoughts, Hisashi's eyes concentrated down on Yoko; the depths of his own green orbs twinkled softly as he smiled softly at her. Okay, maybe there was something else Izuku took after him.
"And you…" He began, "You must be—"
"Yokkan!"
Izuku's recognizable high voice cried out in delight as he poked his head out right behind his dad's leg, making everyone turn their attention towards him and his charming elation, "You're here!"
Yoko smiled at the boy's amazing timing, "Hi, Izukkun."
The boy with bright eyes looked at Yoko oddly then, a set of gears working inside his head until a switch seemed to flip in his brain, making him gasp loudly. Doing his best to be quick on his feet, he leapt from behind Hisashi's legs and stood in front of Yoko to block her from his father's sight.
"Otou-san!" He blurted with his arms out as if to protect the bluenette, "Don't look! Yokkan no like her face!"
Oh. So he had noticed her hair was up.
Yoko bit her lip at Izuku's attempts to cover her up and prevent a similar situation that happened at the nursery school to occur again. Slowly, she looked up at Goro as if to silently say "Hey, I didn't say it.", but instantly felt her face burn at his slightly disappointed look.
"Come on." His dark eyes seemed to say, "Please just bear with it for it today."
Yoko held back a heavy sigh and looked back towards Izuku's defensive position with a renounced gaze. She had to admit that what he was doing was very kind of him - it would have been even better if he showed this much enthusiasm to protect her in front of the red eyed wonder - but, just for today, she couldn't allow herself to relax behind those walls.
"Izukkun." Yoko said while tapping his shoulder, "It's okay. Face okay today."
Izuku's eyes widened at her statement, "Really?"
"Yes. For Izukkun's birthday. Face okay today."
Bright Eyes blinked at her words for several moments, making Yoko wonder if he really understood what she told him. Eventually, however, his wide smile returned on his face and he grabbed both of Yoko's hands in his and threw them in the air.
"My birthday!" He cheered joyously and making Yoko smile once again in return.
"Yay." Her voice didn't hold as much thrill as her neighbor's did, but she couldn't deny the nice feeling spreading through her body that came with making Midoriya Izuku smile.
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"I was part of an internship program in America for a while, but then they eneded up wanting me to go back for more after my work there previously. That's why I'm now stationed in New York." Hisashi explained at the Midoriya's kitchen table after Izuku blew out his candles, "I was able to come back home for a while to stay with my family and celebrate Izuku's birthday, but they'll probably need me back by next week."
Yoko could hear Goro hum in response - he was intrigued by the man's reasoning for his absence - while she continuously tried to wipe the frosting off of her piece of cake. She had found out a while ago that the rich icing on pastries didn't taste as great as she remembered them being in the before and she rarely ate any of the creamy glazes anymore. Izuku, on the other hand, didn't seem to sense any odd tastings at all as he happily stufffed his cheeks with his delicious chocolate cake that was made in the shape of the digging hero, Captain Mole.
"How long will they keep you this time?" Midoriya asked her husband gently, her concern hidden within the syllables of her words.
"Not that long this time, I'm sure." Was Hisashi's answer. However, with the adults' sideways glances towards their son, Yoko could only assume that there were a bit of lies laces in those sentences. She just didn't have the heart to point them out.
"Hey, Yokkan! Yokkan!" Izuku unexpectedly called loudly even though they were sitting right next to each other at the table, "What's Captain Mole's saying? Do you know?"
Yoko shook her head. She, in fact, did not know.
"Don't give me any dig-atude!" Bright Eyes howled with oomph while making his voice deeper to try and replicate the pro-hero's motto of sorts.
Wow, that's….kinda lame.
It did remind her of something, though.
Quickly, while the adults clapped for Izuku's amazing voice over work, Yoko slid out of the seat of her chair until it was just her legs dangling. Once the balls of her slippered feet successfully, and safely, hit the floor, she hurried over to where Goro sat on the other side of the table.
"Goro-san!" Yoko whispered, tugging on the hem of his shirt. Once his attention was captured by her, she cupped her mouth to voice anyone else from knowing the information she passed on to him, "Present!"
Thankfully, with Goro being her partner in crime for this mission, he understood right away what she wanted from him. Standing up for a moment and separating himself from their companions, he made his way over to the stack of things both he and Yoko brought over, pulling out a single, small wrapped gift from the already minuscule pile.
"Here you go, my Ariel." Goro said as he handed the surprise over for her to deliver. For good measure, he patted her on top of her head, being sure not to mess up her ponytail as he did so.
Yoko simply nodded shyly at the words of prose before diligently heading back over to her seat where Izuku was waiting next to her.
"Izukkun. Present." Yoko declared with the wrapped gift held out towards him. Izuku's chocolate covered face immediately beamed at the sight and he dropped his fork in excitement at the news.
"Present for me?" He asked even though he had already taken the gift from Yoko and was beginning to tear at the brightly colored paper.
From the sidelines, Yoko saw as both Hisashi and Midoriya watched their son open his gift, their smiles filled with love and adoration for their ever grown gson. It struck Yoko once again how soon the father was to leave his family as well as how long he had already been absent from Izuku's life thus far - he was never around since she's known them, that was for sure - and she wondered how special a single gift opening must have been for them.
"WOAH!" Izuku's voice exclaimed, bringing Yoko back from her thoughts.
There, clutched in Bright Eye's hands, was a small drawing Yoko had taken upon herself to do of Bunta in his hero costume - and a pretty terrible one at that. The heavy shapes and uncoordinated coloring pretty much looked like that of a potato. Curse her small inexperienced hands. In the corner, too, was a message written in fine black ink followed by a large autograph given by the tom cat hero, Sphynx.
"What did you get, Izuku?" Midoriya asked when the boy seemed to freeze upon realizing just how large the gift he was holding was.
Unable to hold back his enthusiasm anymore, Izuku flipped the picture over and showed it off to his parents, "IT'S SPHYNX!"
Both adults leaned forward to take a better look at the potato photo, Hisashi even squinting his eyes before simply reaching across the table to hold the photo himself. Feverish for his parents to read the message made out to him, Izuku hopped off his seat and ran over to their side, his feat bouncing in anticipation.
"To Izuku," Hisashi read, "Thank you for being Yo-chan's friend. You're a good kid and I hope you have a great birthday! From…Sphynx!"
"You got a pro-hero's autograph, Izuku!" Midoriya reiterated once her husband had finished.
"Autograph!"
Both mother and son cheered animatedly at the amazing present, the two of them exceedingly stimulated by the drawing that had been touched by an actual hero.
Hisashi, however, still seemed more than just a little bit surprised, "Wha…how on earth did you manage to get something so…so…cool?!"
"Oh, uh…He's actually an old friend of mine from middle school." Goro explained sheepishly, "He stops by out place every once in a while and Izuku-kun is always happy when he gets to see him up close."
"Ebisu-san is very nice in person though not at all what you would expect." Midoriya added with a still hyper Izuku now in her arms.
"What? You got to meet him too, Inko?" Izuku's father responded in utter betrayal, "Man, that's not fair! I want to meet a pro-hero in person too!"
"Sphynx!" Izuku hollered once again as his arms reached for his gift.
Hisashi, handing his son back his new treasure, couldn't help but ask, "Who did the drawing?"
"Well, the autograph idea was actually Yoko-chan's" Goro answered. He came up from behind Yoko in her chair and placed a hand on her head again, "I think she wanted to make the gift more meaningful by drawing Bun…er, Sphynx instead of using a professional photo. Every time he offered to sign one instead, she would refuse him bluntly."
Yoko caught Midoriya's stifled laugh at the story and she - her eyes filled with mirth - smiled at her, "Aw, well that was very sweet of you, Yoko-chan. And the drawing is absolutely gorgeous!"
Okay, now that was a lie. And Yoko knew it too.
Still, as she continued to watch Izuku stare at his signed drawing in euphoria, Yoko's heart filled with relief and happiness.
He liked his gift. He loved his gift. He was happy.
Yeah, there really was nothing better than to see Izuku smile.
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As Yoko suspected, the day Hisashi had to leave to go back to America was a hard day for the Midoriyas.
"Otou-san really leaving?" Izuku asked for the thousandth time, his lip coming out in a pout that transpired the simple emotion of wasn't the only one to feel that way either, his father looking down at his son with the same dimmed eyes.
Both Yoko and Goro were told of their neighbor's departure day and had promised to at least say good-bye even though he left early in the morning. Despite their ruffled looks and baggy pajamas and their messed up sleeping schedules, the two of them were able to keep their vow. Although, Yoko now felt as if they were only intruding on a family moment.
"I know you don't like it when I leave like this, Izuku." Hisashi said as he knelt down to his son's level, "And, trust me, I don't like to leave you or Okaa-san behind. But, I have to do this. I have to go so that you can have a future. So that you can be whatever you want to be. Do you still want to be a hero?"
With tiny sniffles, Izuku nodded.
"Well, then I'll make sure to hold onto that future for you. You just make sure to be the best hero you can be and protect Okaa-san, okay? Promise?"
Izuku rubbed his eyes wearily, both from lack of sleep and the tears that threatened to stream down his face, and replied with a heartbroken, "I promise."
Hisashi, satisfied with his answer but no so much still of his working conditions, then moved his focus onto Yoko. The unexpected gaze coming from the Midoriya head startled her a bit and she unconsciously tugged at her long bangs in her sleepy state.
"And you, Yoko-chan," Hisashi began, "I am glad Izuku is able to have a friend like you. I hope you look after my son too while I'm gone, okay?"
The man brought his hand out and ruffle Yoko's bedhead playfully. Once he was done, she looked back at him through her own manually disheveled locks and nodded her head in assurance.
I promise you.
Hisashi continued to stare at Yoko even after her pledge to him, his smile and knowing eyes making it seem as if he found something on Yoko she wasn't aware of yet. Did she have something on her face? Was it drool?
She moved the back of her hand up to rub the corner of her mouth only to find nothing there.
"You know, Yoko-can, you should wear your hair up more ofter." Hisashi stated, "I like seeing your face and smile."
Yoko stared; It was a saying she got all the time from both Goro and Midoriya, and the familiarity of the uncomfortable words made her read out for Goro's pant leg on reflex. However, as she goggled at Hisashi's orbs, she could tell that, from him, it was a bit different. Like he wasn't trying to convince her, but simply attempting to have her understand. Yoko had to turn away.
The man stood then after Yoko's wordless dismissal and the farewells continued down the line; Goro shook hand with him again while Midoriya received a tender hug that lasted long enough for Izuku to want to sneak in between his parents' legs and hug them both.
And then, while he waved back at them over his shoulder, he descended down the stairs of the apartment complex.
And then, with Izuku calling out to him over the balcony, he entered the taxi waiting to take him to the airport.
And then, just as quickly as he had come, Midoriya Hisashi was gone.
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It was two weeks after Hisashi's leave, during another small heat wave of Japan's summer, that something peculiar happened to Yoko. Or, how she would remember it; something truly horrifying.
She couldn't clearly recall how exactly the event had occurred, really. Just that one moment she was reading in the nursery center - her blue eyes followed Izuku's form as he chased after the red-eyed wonder occasionally - thinking about how the heat was making her need water soon, and the next, she was sitting in a very wet puddle, the moisture already soaked through her clothes and the carpet.
Yoko was naturally taken aback by the strange phenomenon - 'Did something spill nearby?' she had thought - but, what made her stop and realize something was, indeed, wrong with the whole picture, was how the scales on her face had hardened up and jutted out of her skin like a parasitic barnacle.
"Aaaa….aaaa…!" Her voice had rose at the sudden awareness. Her hands had tried to push the hardened scales back in where they were before, but to no avail at the time.
"Ah!" Another voice then cried out, "Fish Face peed!"
Yoko's head whipped around instantaneously at that comment, though she wasn't able to find the source of the lie. All around her, making her skin pale, dozens of eyes froze and glued themselves onto her position and the large puddle that was slowly increasing beneath her. Seeing their expressions rise into faces of amusement, Yoko did her best to yank as much of her hair as she could over her face.
Don't look at me.
Don't look at me!
DON'T LOOK AT ME!
And, strangely enough, with hiding her rough scales her number one priority, Yoko found that in doing so, the blunt edges had disappeared and returned to their original form. To make sure of what she had felt was really real, she quickly ran her fingers across her cheeks and had welcomed the rubbery texture of her scales she had grown used to the past three years.
Sighing, Yoko had closed her eyes in relief; Thank goodness. Her nightmare was over.
But, another one quickly rose from the shadows to continue her torment.
"Look! She peed herself!"
"It's all wet there!"
"Ew gross!"
"Fish Face just peed~"
With her face now growing hot at her classmates' reactions to the hug misunderstanding, Yoko tugged on her hair harder willing the echoing chants to go away just as the hardness of her scales had. Unfortunately for her, the voices continued to repeat around her, making her sit through a completely new kind of hell.
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Soon, after a very embarrassing parent-teacher meeting the same day, Yoko found herself to be extremely parched on the walk home. More so than she had remembered earlier that day.
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Tumblr is welcomebackyoko~ ^^