AN: Ricardo Valencia - Just imagine Izuku and Mirio out on patrol, and they see Eri running out of the alleyway. Izuku: "Imma take her, cover for me." Mirio: "Wait, what?" Izuku: "Would you believe me if I said this isn't the first time I've seen a distressed little girl in an alleyway? Mirio: "..." And by the time Mirio recovers Izuku's several blocks away
Chaoscontrol85 - I'm sure Himiko will find some way to repay the favor.
It was getting late and Izuku was already in his pajamas when he heard his phone go off. Wheeling his chair across the room, he picked up his phone and saw the message from Ochako, telling him that she had made it home safely after her girl's night out. He felt himself smiling as he replied, and was looking forward to seeing her again under happier circumstances than the aftermath of Hosu.
Returning to his desk, he resumed watching videos on yap!Tube waiting for Himiko to arrive. She should be home soon, and he was sure she would want to talk.
It wasn't until an hour had passed and Himiko still hadn't returned home that Izuku grew concerned. Mentally double-checking, he knew it shouldn't take more than ten or fifteen minutes for Himiko to arrive home after Ochako whenever they had their outings. Even though he was fully aware that she could handle herself, he still grew worried. Standing up, he walked out to the living room.
"Mom, any word from Himi?"
"No Izu. I thought they were just out late."
"I got a message from Uraraka about an hour ago saying she was home," Izuku explained. "I thought that meant Himi would be home by now."
That caused Inko to frown. "I hope she's ok."
"I'm sure she is."
"I know she's probably just out with friends, but after everything that happened." Inko looked at Izuku's shoulder meaningfully.
Izuku felt guilt twist in his stomach as he clutched at the bandages. "I didn't mean to make you worry."
"I know, Izu. First, your class got attacked and now this-" She pointed at his shoulder. "I feel like the world's getting more dangerous, and I can't help but worry about you and Himi."
Izuku thought about All Might and felt himself flinch. "I know. But if the world's getting more dangerous, then it needs people like us… more than ever."
"I know. Just - let me worry, ok?" Inko gave her son a fragile smile. "I don't want to take either of you for granted only to wake up one day and discover that you aren't there anymore. Like-"
"-like Hisashi," Izuku said softly, crossing the gap to hug his mom.
The quiet moment was broken when they heard the door slam open. "Guess who has a girlfriend!" Himiko shouted from the entryway, unable to contain her excitement.
"That's wonderful Himi!" Inko said as Izuku released her, allowing her to stand up. "Did you and Song finally work things out?"
"How did you know it was Emmy?" Himiko asked suspiciously.
"I may have told her," Izuku admitted.
"Way to spoil it." Himiko glared at her brother.
"Considering how much you tease me about Uraraka, it's only fair!" Izuku pointed out.
"Ugh, fine!" Himiko grumbled as she knelt to remove her shoes before stepping into the apartment proper, grabbing a bag as she did so. By the time she had made it to the couch, her annoyance had been wiped away, and she was beaming again. "Speaking of Uraraka, it's her fault we finally got together!"
"Oh? What happened?"
"She made Emmy admit she liked me in front of everyone!" Himiko burst out laughing. "It was actually kind of amazing that she managed to make her crack."
"And how did you take that?" Izuku asked pointedly.
Himiko felt her face heating up as she reached into the bag and pulled out the newest member of her collection. A stuffed doll in the shape of a female scientist. From the tag, Izuku could tell it was from some anime, but he knew the source didn't matter to Himiko. To her, it had a completely different meaning.
"She ran out of the restaurant before I realized what was happening. I found her in an alleyway and well." She hugged the doll to her chest, pressing her cheek against the top of it. "I may have kissed her a bunch before we made it back to the restaurant."
"My daughter's growing up so fast!" Inko said. She had already started to cry as Izuku rushed to hand her a box of tissues.
"It's all thanks to you," Himiko said softly. "I don't think I would have met Emmy otherwise."
"I'm glad you two finally worked it out," Izuku said to his sister, a smile of his own on his face. "You two are good for each other."
"Yep!" Himiko smiled fondly. "We really do so much for each other. Even if it causes us to butt heads a lot."
"Is that going to change now that you're dating?"
"Nope!" Himiko's smile morphed into a smirk. "We already talked about it and agreed that it would be too weird otherwise. We like each other because of how we are."
"You two are going to confuse everyone at school." Izuku teased.
"Fine by me! It's not our fault if they can't understand us!" Himiko exclaimed dramatically.
"I guess not."
While Inko began pestering her daughter with questions, Izuku gave his sister a goodnight hug before returning to his room. Collapsing on his bed, he grabbed his phone and looked at the message log for Ochako. It felt strange, thinking that she might like him back. He tried to type out several messages, deleting all of them before giving up and burying his face in a pillow.
"Why is this so hard?"
After a few minutes, he decided that he didn't need to rush things. Like Himiko and Emily, they'll figure it out in their own way. Nodding to himself, he typed out a simple message.
Good night Uraraka-san. I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!
With a smile on his face, he set the phone down, before he turned off the lights in his room.
Himiko woke up the next morning still clutching the stuffed doll that Emily had chosen the night before. With a smile, she released her grip on the doll before stretching out. Looking at the clock she saw it was almost 6:30 in the morning, and time to get ready for school.
As she stood up she noticed something on her window. An envelope. Curious, she padded over to her window and opened it, grabbing the envelope and tugging at it until the tape pulled free, and pulled it inside. Sitting in her chair, she opened the envelope and peered inside.
A two-toned piece of paper and a vial of blood.
Feeling a twisting in her stomach, Himiko unfolded the piece of paper, one half blue, the other pink. In clear letters was a location in Mustafu, and a time later this week. The note simply ended by saying "You know what to do."
Himiko pulled out the vial of blood next and examined it, a smirk forming on her lips. It looked like Kaina wanted to talk to her, and had given her a ready-made disguise to meet her with.
Setting the vial down, she reached across her desk to her case of vials and extracted an empty one. Very carefully, she transferred the blood from the test tube to one of her reusable vials, before throwing the now-empty tube in a tray with her used syringes and other equipment. Placing the vial back into her case, she closed the lid before looking at the note one last time.
Ever since her talk with Nezu, she had been waiting for her next opportunity to talk to the former hero. Sure she had the number tucked away in the back of her desk, but she had always been afraid to call it and waste the opportunity. But a chance to meet in person? That was the opportunity she had been looking forward to.
Getting off the train, Izuku and Himiko spotted Ochako and Atsuko waiting for them, the two girls talking. Waving her hands, Himiko ran up to her friend, while Izuku walked up to his friend and smiled.
"Hey, Uraraka."
"Morning Deku!" Ochako gave him a bright smile. "You look much better than when I last saw you!"
Izuku unconsciously put his hand on his bandaged shoulder. "Yeah… I'm not in a hospital bed for starters."
"Exactly!" She gave him a more serious look. "How is your arm, anyway?"
"It still hurts, but it's getting better," Izuku admitted. "I'm probably going to have to take training easy the next few days."
"Let me know if I can do anything to help, ok?"
"I will." Izuku smiled at his friend, enjoying the sense of warmth her smile gave him.
The four fell into an easy pace as they finished the short journey to school before the first years and second years split up to head to their respective homerooms. Izuku pulled open the door and the two saw the chaos inside as their classmates were discussing their internships.
"Why did I choose Mt. Lady again?" Minoru whined in one corner while Denki was trying to comfort him.
"It couldn't have been that bad, could it?"
"She is a slave driver!" Minoru shuddered at the memories. "I never felt so exploited in my life."
Off to one side of the room, Izuku was surprised to see Bakugo covered in bandages, bruises evident on his face.
"Dude, what happened to you?" Eijiro asked, standing in front of his desk with Mina.
"What kind of crazy villains did you face?" Mina asked.
"He was interning with Mirko, I imagine she goes against some crazy powerful villains!"
"I bet one of them did it!"
"I'm not talking about it," Katsuki grumbled.
"Come on man! You've got to let us know what you faced!"
"How about I explode you instead?" Bakugo threatened, small explosions coming off of his hand, but it didn't quite have the bite it usually had behind it.
Finally, Izuku noticed Tenya talking with Shoto and Momo, his arm still sitting in a sling.
"Thank you for your concern, but I will persevere! This is nothing compared to what my brother had to endure!" Tenya noticed Izuku and Ochako standing in the doorway and waved them over. "Midoriya! Uraraka!"
"Morning Iida!" Ochako said as the two walked over.
"Good morning everyone. Talking about your internships?"
"Indeed!"
"We were discussing Hosu," Shoto explained.
"You all were there, weren't you?" Momo asked. "I'm kind of jealous. Nothing exciting like that happened to me."
"I wouldn't call disaster clean-up exciting," Ochako admitted with a sad look on her face.
"It is much scarier in person than it is through the cameras." Izuku pointed out, before indicating his and Tenya's injuries. "Not to mention painful."
"That-" Momo's face turned red from embarrassment before she bowed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply-"
"It's ok Yaoyorozu," Shoto assured her. "I understood what you meant."
"My time with Yoroi Musha was enlightening, but not in the way I was expecting," Momo admitted. "He gave me quite a few things to think about in how to use my quirk and how to face villains. But ultimately his district was quiet and I didn't receive a lot of field experience the way others were able to."
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get your chance soon enough!" Izuku encouraged her.
"Indeed! UA would be negligent in their duties if they didn't ensure we had enough real-world experience before it was time to graduate! Your time will come!"
"Thanks." Momo gave the four a soft smile.
"Talking about internships, kero?" Tsuyu asked as she came up.
"Yeah!" Ochako smiled at her friend. "It seems like Hosu was the most exciting thing to happen to our class."
"I'm not surprised, kero."
"Did you see any action Tsu?" Izuku asked, excitement in his eyes.
Tsuyu gave him a small nod. "We had to deal with a band of smugglers. It was scary but Selkie made it look so easy!"
"I didn't see that one on the news," Momo said.
"It was likely considered a local incident, not large enough to make headlines across Japan," Tenya explained. "Why don't you tell us about it?"
"It started when we received a distress call, kero…"
Lunchtime rolled around and Izuku sat with his friends when he saw an unexpected pair walking over. Shoto was talking with Momo as they approached his table, instead of walking to their usual isolated table off in the corner.
"Mind if we join you?" Shoto asked Izuku.
"No, I don't mind. Any objections?" Izuku asked his three friends.
"No, kero."
"Nope."
"We would be honored if you joined us!" Tenya said as he shifted down.
"Thank you," Momo said as she sat down next to Shoto. "I know we haven't spoken much outside of classes, but we both were hoping to rectify that if you will allow us."
Shoto merely gave a noncommittal sound, but the meaning was clear to Izuku. He looked at his friends questioningly before turning back to the two recommendation students. "I'm willing to give it a shot."
"Indeed! It would be an honor to learn about you too, as well!" Tenya said.
As they settled in, suddenly Tenya seemed to notice something. "Midoriya, is your older sister in a relationship with Song?"
"Hrm?" Izuku turned to follow his friend's gaze and saw Himiko and Emily holding hands, his sister pulling her girlfriend along to the counter where her specialized lunches are prepared. "Oh yeah, they got together last night."
"Y-yeah they did!" Ochako said, a little too loudly. "It was super cute!"
"Kero." Tsuyu looked at her friend with a neutral stare. "Did she tell you how it happened?"
"Yeah." Izuku turned back to the table. "I'm happy for her."
"How does it even work? Half the time those two are arguing with each other!"
"That's just how they are."
"I will admit, after seeing her in class, it's hard to imagine Song in a relationship," Momo said, trying to join in. "She just seems so… driven."
"Don't you remember Midoriya from those two movie nights?" Tsuyu asked.
"How could I forget?" Momo admitted, appearing to grow a little paler.
"Do you frequently spend time with the upperclassmen girls?" Shoto asked in confusion.
"Only the two times," Momo admitted.
"Tsu and I go out with them every couple of weeks," Ochako explained. "But that's because I spend so much time with Midoriya already."
"You do?" Shoto asked in surprise.
"Uraraka and I do homework together." Izuku quickly explained. "Since she lives alone, mom invited her over after the USJ and it just became a routine. Usually, Himi is doing her homework with us as well."
"So this is what normal socializing is like." Shoto mused, a look of deep concentration on his face as everyone stared at him awkwardly.
"You mean to tell me you've never had a normal social life?" Tenya asked incredulously.
"Most of my life was spent training," Shoto explained as if it was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
"I insist, we must fix this!" Tenya formed a palm with his open hand and gently tapped his cast with it. "Midoriya, are you free this Sunday?"
Izuku's eyes slid over to Ochako for a brief moment before focusing on his friend. "I don't have any plans yet, no."
"Then it is decided! We will take Todoroki for a day of socializing!"
"What about us?" Momo awkwardly asked Ochako and Tsuyu, feeling left out.
"I guess… Do you want to get to know Midoriya's older sister and Song outside of school?" Ochako asked with a wide grin on her face.
Momo watched as the two upperclassmen walked to their table, both balancing a tray with one hand as they held hands. She couldn't help but admit that getting to know more students would help broaden her horizons further. Coming to a decision, she looked back at her two classmates and offered them a polite smile. "That sounds wonderful. As long as I'm not imposing."
"Nope! How about it, Tsu?"
"Sounds like it will be entertaining, Kero."
That night, as Izuku walked Ochako back to the train station, he gathered his courage. He still wasn't ready to ask her out. Not yet. However, he knew he wanted to spend more time with her and get to know her outside the context of school or even their evenings spent studying in his living room.
"Um, Uraraka?"
"Hmm, what is it, Deku?" Ochako stopped and looked at him curiously.
"I know we see each other every day, but I was wondering if you wanted to take the scenic route home sometime this week?"
"Scenic route?"
Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "Well you see, it's a bit of a walk, but there's a lot of nice parks between our apartment and UA. I was thinking one day maybe we could, well, walk home instead of taking the train?"
Ochako stopped and slowly turned towards Izuku as she placed her hands behind her back. He was worried that he might have done something wrong until he realized that she was smiling at him.
"That sounds wonderful Deku!"
Izuku couldn't help but match her smile. "How about we do that on Wednesday? Since we won't have physical training we won't risk being worn out then."
"What? The future number one hero is afraid of a little walk after a day of training?"
"I- well-"
Ochako broke into a fit of giggles. "I'm kidding! That sounds great."
The two resumed their walk until they reached the train station, where they gave each other a goodbye hug.
"Goodnight Deku."
"Goodnight Uraraka."
"...Ochako."
"Hrm?"
Ochako pulled back to look at Izuku's face, and he saw the blush on her cheeks slowly spreading. "I'd like it if you called me Ochako. I mean, I've been calling you Deku practically since school started! And I spend so much time with your family it just… feels right."
"O-oh. Ok." Izuku paused for a moment, mentally trying her name out in his head before speaking again. "Goodnight Ochako."
Ochako gave him a warm smile as she resumed hugging him, before finally pulling away. "See you in school tomorrow!"
"Yeah… see you tomorrow Ochako."
As he did every night, Izuku watched her run down the ramp into the station before he turned and began walking home, unable to keep a smile off his face. Even if he didn't know what he was doing, he knew that they'd figure it out together.