Chapter 2
(y/n) = your name
(l/n) = last name
The interview went off without a hitch, and by Wednesday afternoon (y/n) was officially the newest Assistant Publisher for Quills Publishing. The work week flew by, as she spent the entire week with her nose stuck in a manuscript and a blue pen tucked behind her ear. On Friday, (y/n) left work early, and drove down to a small ice-cream parlor on the nicer side of town. As she got out, she spotted Izuku, sitting with two other kids around his age.
As she snuck up behind him, she lightly shoved his shoulders. "Boo." She gave as a greeting. Her nephew responded by dramatically shrieking and looking in her direction with a somewhat terrified expression on his face He's so… jumpy and nervous. Before she can properly greet him, or even apologize for spooking him, the kid with glasses across the table spoke up. "Excuse me ma'am, but it's extremely rude to just frighten strangers. I think it would be best if you apologize for your quite immature behavior." His arms were moving about him in such a chaotic fashion it was hard to tell whether he was a human person or not.
"Ahh! I-Iida, no, it's okay. This is my Aunt (y/n)." She smiles and waves at the kids. The one apparently named Iida abruptly got up from his chair and made an exaggerated bow in apology that she rather awkwardly informed him wasn't necessary. Iida, and the girl who had been introduced as Uraraka, turned out to be good kids. (y/n) sat and chatted with them for a bit while waiting for Izuku to finish his ice-cream. When he finally had, (y/n) stood up and stretched. "Alrighty, Kiddo. You ready to hit the road? Got everything you need for the weekend?" Izuku seemed to brighten at the mention of the upcoming event. "Yep!" he exclaimed, motioning to a duffle bag that was sitting on the bench next to him. Iida and Uraraka stayed on the bench as Aunt and nephew made their way to the car on the other side of the lot. "It was nice meeting you, Miss (l/n)! Bye Deku!" the girl cheerily waved "Y-yeah. Bye, Uraraka." Izuku called back, as his cheeks grew almost as rosy as those of the girl he was speaking to.
Once the car was making its way down the road, (y/n) decided to poke some fun. "Well she was cute, don't you think?" Izuku blushed and looked out the passenger window. "Yeah, very cute." (y/n) took a second to look at his expression through the window reflection. Adorable. "I'm glad you have such nice friends. That's something I never had growing up." The boy looked back at his aunt "why's that, Aunt (y/n)?" The woman in question shrugged. "Well, for one thing, I'm quirkless." She said it so matter of fact, he almost thought she'd said something else. "You are?!" It was a shout, and he hadn't meant it that way. (y/n) winced. "I am. It never bothered me, the things I wanted to accomplish in life didn't need a quirk to be fulfilled, so I never really thought of myself as incomplete or disabled. Others didn't feel that way though. Especially not your grandparents. They used to…" She trailed off, looking back at Izuku who seemed more than a little surprised "You know, never mind. That's not something we need to get into." She really didn't want to think about her parents right now. "Does… Me being quirkless, Is that a big deal for you?" (y/n) asked, uncertainly. "N-No! Not at all, I'm just, surprised. It explains a lot though." She laughed heartily
"oh? What does it explain?" she asks, eyes back on the road as the puts her right turn signal on. "Ah…just...me being quirkl-err, my quirk being so late to develop. If quirklessness runs in the family, then I guess that'd make sense." (y/n) nodded a bit. Things were quiet in the car until they got to the next stoplight. "Hey, Izuku," The kid turned toward her in an inquisitive manor "you wanna see a real quirk?" (y/n) then proceeded to cross her eyes, before letting one pupil move all the way to the other side of the eye, and then doing the same thing with her other eye. The boy laughed "gross! How do you do that?" She shrugged "It's just pure talent."
Back at the apartment, the two worked at opposite ends of the dining table. One on math homework, the other on a manuscript. "Ug! This is just a gross line; can you believe this? 'Sounding throaty, like a dog before it barfed' who uses that as a simile?" (y/n) complained to her companion. He looked up, with a bit of humor "I guess that one isn't making it to publishing, is it?" Izuku stated. "Yeah, no shit." (y/n) agreed, tossing the rather lackluster writing piece to the side. "Alright, well. No more of that. Wanna help with dinner?" she asked as she got up to turn on her stereo. A jumpy melody came on and (y/n) began do dance around her kitchen space as she pulled out some pots and pans. "Is dancing required if I help?" Deku asked timidly. (y/n) nodded back as she pulled some chicken breasts out of the fridge. "Singing, too." She said, swaying rhythmically as she got a box of chicken breading mix down from the cabinet. "Why does it matter? It isn't like anyone's going to see you." She said, smacking the box in her hand like a tambourine.
Deku gave an easy smile at that "I guess you're right." he said, picking up a wooden spoon from the counter as he began to sing into it. (y/n) smiled "There we go!" she handed him the pot and a box of mac and cheese "You can handle making this, right?" "I-I think so, there's directions, r-right?" She nodded as she continued to prance around her kitchen. "How old are you, fourteen? Fifteen? When I was your age, I'd already learned how to cook, sew, change a flat tire, fix a sink, change a car battery, all kinds of stuff." She said, grabbing her nephew's hand and twirling him a few times as the music played around them. "Of course, I didn't have much choice but to learn. Not like anyone was around to help me." Izuku stopped "not even my mom or your parents?" (y/n)'s dance lost a bit of it's enthusiasm as she said "ahh. That's a story for another time, I think." Deku didn't know what he'd said that made her close off, but his aunt had gone quiet. "Could... you maybe teach me all those things?" he asked to recover the mood that had been suddenly dropped. (y/n) looked over her shoulder at the boy she was only just getting to know, but already adored so completely. "Sure, Kiddo. We've got every weekend from now 'till eternity, right? That's plenty of time to teach you everything I know." The song changed to a happier and more upbeat one, and suddenly her mood was back. Soon they were just two idiots, making food and dancing their butts off.
The aroma from the fried chicken filled the kitchen and excited Izuku's stomach. They'd spent the prep period laughing heartily and singing along to the stereo. At one point he even dipped (y/n) and made her laugh so hard she snorted. When his mother had first told him, he might be spending the weekends with this aunt he never knew he had, he'd been a little reluctant. What kind of person doesn't talk to their own sister for fourteen years? While that question is still in the air, he's starting to really like the idea of getting to know this new member of his family. She was fun, and silly, and radiated a sort of motherly kindness that just put him at ease. He wondered Idly, if he hadn't been so dead set on being a hero, or if he'd accepted his quirklessness the way (y/n) did, if perhaps he would have ended up being like her. Sarcastic, Unashamed, and Easygoing.
Just as he thought that, a rough knock was heard at her door. (y/n) put a hand on his shoulder. "Stay here, Bud." (y/n) answered the door with a smile on her face, despite seeing her less than pleasant neighbor on the other end. He seemed a little worse for wear, what with the dark circles under his eyes. "Hello, I don't think I ever got your name the other day." she said, a little passive aggressively. "…(l/n)."
"..Uh, no, that's my name." he ignored her. "Turn that music off. I'm trying to sleep." (y/n) was flabbergasted. "… It's five-thirty in the afternoon." He shrugged. "Look, either play good music, or shut it off." Offended, she said "I am playing good music. I'm sorry If your tastes are so skewed. Maybe, instead of complaining about someone playing their music at a normal God damn hour, you fix your apparently, fucked, sleep schedule." He raised an eyebrow at her, perhaps he hadn't expected to her to have such bite.
"Fine." He scoffed. "Have it your way." He turned to walk back through his own opened door "And what does that mean?" he gave her a grin, or what she assumed was supposed to be one. As he disappeared into his apartment. What an absolute freak. (y/n) thought as she closed her door.