'Your dad sent a message home, call me whenever you want and I'll share it.'

Izuku had to admit, the message caught him a bit off guard when his mom had sent it. It was a rare and uncommon thing for his dad to get in touch with him at all. Usually whenever his dad made contact it wasn't through a direct message or a call; most of the time it was in the form of bank statements, his father depositing money into his parent's shared account so that his mom could take care of some bills or get them something they needed. It was a pretty regular thing, his dad was no deadbeat after all, but it was usually the only way he and his mom usually knew he was still alive and working. His dad's work, not for nothing, was pretty good; he spent most of his time traveling the Four Kingdoms on behalf of some construction companies in Mountain Glenn. His job title was as negotiator and most of his work involved making deals with various governments and businesses across Remnant to sell out skilled labor or leadership from Mountain Glenn to help with construction jobs of large importance, walls, defensive fortifications and the like, across Mountain Glenn.

Izuku couldn't say one way or the other himself but, based on his paycheck, it seemed like his dad was good at his job, he guessed? He sent money home every two weeks on the dot and never missed out. He was a provider if nothing else... and the above wasn't an exaggeration, though. Izuku really rarely ever heard one word from his dad for large spans of time, most of the time weeks upon weeks and, too often, months at a time. No calls or messages, just money sent home to help pay for him and to pay for bills. Izuku hadn't even seen his dad in a long, 'long' time; heck, he was fairly certain that if he did see him, he'd barely be able to recognize him from the photos that were around his house. He was bound to get older and change his appearance, right? Izuku knew he looked a lot different from the last time he'd seen Izuku, so the opposite might've also been true.

Heck, it was barely an exaggeration to say that if Izuku hadn't had his photos of him, he'd have probably forgotten what he looked like all-together. Now, Izuku wasn't ungrateful for what he did. He wasn't an ingrate who was about to curse his own dad for doing his hardest to provide for him and his mom. Izuku knew other kids who were way less lucky in that regard, with parents who were just outright non-entities in their lives entirely and not taking care of them at all. Sure, his dad wasn't around, but it wasn't like he didn't take care of Izuku. Heck, it wasn't even like his mom was ever too upset. She just seemed more... resigned and quiet when it came to dad's direct messages or contacts and, most of the rest of the time, barely mentioned him if Izuku didn't. It was a weird thing to see parents act that way, especially since Izuku had seen other parental relations that were a lot more loving, but... well, as long as HIS mom wasn't sad, did it really matter?

Maybe... hey, he thought it'd be nice. Heck, Izuku knew Bakugo's parents; not only were they both together, but they both seemed happy together and...

...

Okay, maybe he shouldn't think so much about Bakugo's mother.

He was still pretty scared of her.

Anyway, point was, it would've been nice if his dad was at least around sometimes, or at the very least was around more often than he was... which was rarely if ever. Still, when all was said and done, his feelings about your father more or less fell on...

In all honesty? Izuku wished he knew his dad more. Maybe it was a bit of an odd thing for a son to say; wishing that he knew his dad more than demanding it, than being angry that he hadn't gotten that chance already. However... it wasn't like Izuku didn't understand why he did it. He was supporting Izuku and Izuku's mom with his work. Really, if it wasn't for him, Izuku thought it was pretty likely that his mom wouldn't have been able to support Izuku going to a Combat School without an Aura. Izuku owed him a great deal... but he barely had a single memory of him. It hurt more than it made him angry... and there was a not inconsiderable part of him that hoped that maybe he'd get to know his father, and the work he'd so dearly dedicated himself to, more in the future.

For now Izuku just took a breath, sighed and dialed up his mom, the line having been busy for a moment before the visage of Inko Midoriya came up on his screen. Izuku could see his mother giving him a smile as she saw his face, though it was clearly a little exhausted, whether by work or something else it was unclear.

"Oh Izuku, my baby! It's good to see you again!" She spoke so enthusiastically as she smiled at him and, well, his day was already brightened up a little bit.

"Hey mom, it's good to see you too." Inko nodded as her smile softened a bit.

"You're calling about your father's message, right?" Izuku nodded in affirmation as Inko reached around a bit, looking for something. "Now I know I wrote it down here... ah, here we go."

"'Inko, deal went through with Haven Academy, company's going to get a solid windfall. Can't say why, but Haven will be bringing some experts in from Mountain Glenn to do some work over some Atlesian competitors. Going to celebrate with co-workers and business partners. Boss is being coy but it's pretty clear that I've got the promotion I've been working for. Izuku got into Beacon? Tell him I said congratulations. Guess you're going to be fine with that apartment if he's going to live at the Academy. Probably going to be in Mistral for the duration of the deal to handle it. -Hisashi'"

Oh. Well hey, that was good news, right? Indeed, Izuku's mother had a bit of a tried smile as she looked at him through the Scroll screen.

"This news might've been a bit more impactful before you went to Beacon but... well, I can't say that it's not good news. Your father's been angling for this promotion for years now and it'll bring a lot more money home every couple weeks when he gets it. Hmmm, what should I do with it then..." Inko placed her hand on her cheek as she took a moment to think. "He's right that the apartment's going to be fine now. If you ever visit you'd be comfortable staying in your old room, right? I don't know what your plans are after graduating but I'm sure if you intended to move back home to work as a Huntsmen here in Glenn that I could save up some money to help you out..." It wasn't hard for Izuku to notice that his mother seemed to have moved right along from the fact that his dad, for the first time in a while, has sent home a message and now seemed to be fretting about him.

A bolt of inspiration struck him almost as soon as his mom finished talking. His smile was nice and wide as he looked at his mom, Inko Midoriya seemingly surprised by the sudden upswing in his mood.

"Hey I have an idea mom! Why don't you go on a vacation?" His mother seemed absolutely flabbergasted by his suggestion, the woman practically shifting into a minor panic at the energy he was exerting and the, to her, downright craziness of the idea.

"A-A-A vacation! Izuku, honey, I appreciate it but I really can't just go off and leave on a vacation, I mean, who will take care of-"

"I'm sure that the apartment will be fine mom, the neighborhood's really safe! Even if you're worried, you could probably ask someone to check in every now and then or pay them to clean it up while you're gone." Izuku saw Inko hesitated for a moment as he spoke up, her panic subsiding slightly as she brought a hand to her chin.

"Hmmm... yes, I suppose 'that's' true... it wouldn't be hard to hire someone to just check in every week to clean things up..." Izuku saw Inko shake her head. "But Izuku, what about you, if I just leave-"

"Mom, I'm okay, I have a place to stay that isn't home." Izuku smiled at her. "Heck, even if I wanted to stay while you were gone, I do still have my key so I'd be able to get in just fine! And you know me, I wouldn't leave the place a mess... heck, if it'd make you feel better, 'I' could take a trip to Mountain Glenn once a week to clean things up at the apartment." Again, Izuku saw some of the hesitation melt in Inko's eyes.

"... You are an adult now, I suppose I don't have to worry about the apartment being in perfect order... especially if you're going to spend most of your time at Beacon..." Inko's tongue darted out to lick her lips slightly as she glanced off to the side. "But I don't know Izuku, it seems like such a waste. A vacation for me, that doesn't seem-"

"Mom, you totally deserve it! After everything we've talked about and everything you've done to help my dream, there's no way you don't deserve some time to yourself to just relax!" Izuku actually saw Inko smile back at him with this declaration. "Hey, who knows, maybe you could even travel to Mistral to see dad!" His mother didn't really react to the idea one way or the other, instead just seeming to give the entire picture more thought as he spoke to her. Compared to her initial reaction, it was clear that his mom was giving this a lot of thought.

"... I haven't really been out of Mountain Glenn for a long time... it might be fun to get out and travel a bit with your father getting this promotion... and the bonus he's sending home..." Izuku saw his mom's emerald eyes almost shine for a moment before a smile, not so dissimilar to his own determined one, finally broke out. "You know... you've convinced me Izuku. I'll look into taking a little vacation. Hmmm, maybe Mitsuki would be interested in coming along... but she's usually so busy with her modeling... hmmm, I'll have to ask and then make plans..." Inko shook her head as she looked back at Izuku. "I can make some plans later. For now, I did call to see how you were doing and pass that on... so, how has my baby boy been?"

"Oh you know, I've been alright. Things are still going great at Beacon! I'm making more new friends, including this senior of mine who's a pretty nice guy. Things with my team are going great, well, for the most part I think. My grades are good and I'm making a lot of progress." He saw his mother pridefully nodding along as he laid all this out. She seemed to be bursting with pride and happiness as he laid all this out and he couldn't help but feel good himself. Still, he remembered how... distraught his mom had started off this phone call. "So what about you mom? How are you doing? Is everything fine at home? Do you want me to come back and visit soon?" It had been a while since he'd been home and, even he'd admit, he was starting to feel a little homesick.

"Oh Izuku, I'm doing just fine, and I do even better whenever I get the chance to talk to you. Things have been a little quiet since you've gone out to Beacon, but I've tried to make up for that by having some guests over every now and then, plus I've been busy with work." Inko smiled gently as she looked at him. "But yes, the apartment and I are doing just fine Izuku, you don't need to worry about it or me." As she considered his last question he watched as his mom furrowed her brow a bit, bringing a finger to her lips as she considered something. "Well, now that you've mentioned it, I guess I was wondering what your plans for Color Week were." Izuku blinked in surprise as she brought this up.

"Color Week? Mom, don't be crazy, Color Week isn't until-"

Week after next.

'HOLY WOAH THAT SNUCK UP ON ME!'

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Izuku slapped his forehead in embarrassment as Inko just chuckled.

"I know that you always went to the festival toward the end of the week every year, but... well, now that you're a student in Beacon, and almost a man grown, I wasn't sure if you still planned on doing so. I could make sure that your room is ready for you if you do come in though!"

"Well, I guess now that you mention it, I do have a couple ideas." Izuku sheepishly scratched at his cheek as he admitted this, his mother just smiling as she nodded expectantly. Honestly, it was a bit of a change of pace for him; he'd never really 'done' much of anything for Color Week before. Yeah he went to Toshinori's Festival and left a letter at his statue every year before meeting him, but to him Color Week had always just been a week off of school that he used to get some extra studying and work in while also taking time off from school. The idea of having friends, lots of friends, to hang out with over the week... it was kind of new and unnerving, but exciting.

That did raise the question though; who would he ask along? There was his team, obviously, but he had no idea if they'd have other plans. Izuku didn't know if anyone would go home over the week; Izuku knew it was something people did over long holidays, but... well, Color Week was only one week, so Izuku couldn't be sure if the same would apply here. So he'd just assume that everyone he counted as a friend as possibly staying. So that was Weiss, Pyrrha and Nora, Team RSBR, Team TABY, Coco, Velvet and, Izuku guessed at this point, Mirio. He blinked slightly as he realized that's 14 people that he'd potentially ask along to join him for Color Week, if all things went well and they didn't have plans of their own.

When the Heck did he make so many friends?

"I was thinking of maybe asking my friends if they'd like to come to see Mountain Glenn, considering most of them have probably never been... maybe take in the Festival when Toshinori's holiday hits?"

"That sounds wonderful. I'd be more than willing to make some room, maybe get some futons and bedrolls out to help. How many were you thinking of asking, darling?"

"... Well, there's potentially 14..."

"... That's a lot of friends, Izuku." Izuku's mom sounded stunned and he could only nod in agreement... that's when he noticed the panic in her eyes. "It isn't like with your team, right?! It's not all girls that are your friends, right?! My baby isn't running around with over a dozen young women-"

"Mom, no, it's okay! Not 'all' of them are girls!" Izuku quickly rushed to reassure Inko, his mother just sighing in relief as he stepped in to put a stop to her panic attack. He did a quick count in his head... "I mean... it's only like... 9 of them are girls..." Izuku saw his mother nearly choked but, thankfully, she didn't go into a full on panic. Instead she just seemed very nervous as she looked at Izuku through the Scroll.

"W-Well... I can certainly put up your guy friends. 5 people will be a bit of a squeeze but I would be able to put enough bedrolls around for them, plus the couch. Your... female friends-" Izuku noted that your mother very purposefully avoided using the word 'girl friends', "-well, there's that hotel that's not too far off from our apartment. It isn't ritzy, which might be a problem for your Schnee friend, but it could easily put them up if you're all in town." He took note that this isn't a request or a suggestion... well, it was a suggestion, but more in the 'I'm suggesting you 'don't' arrange a sleepover with 6 young men and 9 young women, Izuku' than a 'I wouldn't advise' suggestion.

"Well, I mean, a lot of them might have their own plans so I wouldn't worry about it too much. We'll see how it shakes out." Inko nodded as he tap his finger to his chin. "Hey mom, do you know what Mountain Glenn's gonna be doing for Color Week? Anything new or out of the ordinary?" Inko just thought for a moment before she shook her head.

"No, sorry honey, it's looking like a pretty typical week. Most businesses and hang outs will probably arrange little themed events for each of the days and then everyone's gonna be closed while the Festival kicks off with all those vendors and street attractions opening up. It'll be a pretty typical week up until the festival, as usual." Izuku nodded, having figured that, as he give his mom a smile.

"Well thanks mom. I'll give this some thought; I guess I have plenty of time before I really have to knuckle down and make plans. Thanks for talking, mom." Izuku watched as Inko's face lit up, his mother just giving him a kind smile.

"Of course Izuku, I'm always ready to talk to you darling. It'll probably be a few weeks before I go anywhere so if you want to visit or talk, don't hesitate okay?"Izuku nodded, though his mother just waved before he closed his Scroll. "One last thing Izuku; given your father's promotion and how well you've been doing at school... well, I think I'll go ahead and start depositing a little more money in your account at the end of each week." You flinch a bit, surprised, as you quickly raise your hands.

"Hey mom, you don't have to do that, I mean, your vacation-"

"Izuku, darling, I'll have plenty of money for a vacation even if I kick a little extra into your account every week. It'll be fine; you're part of this family Izuku and... well, you deserve to get something from your father's work." Izuku smiled slightly as his mother said this, nodding his head in agreement.

"Okay mom, if you insist."

"I do insist." She said with a bright smile as she waved. "Take care honey, I'll talk to you later." With that the call ended and Izuku pocketed his Scroll. Around a half hour later, he got a message confirming that his mother has deposited the money in his account.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I hope I'm not interrupting!" Izuku looked up slightly as he turned his Scroll off and put it to the side, having concluded his discussion with his mother just a moment before. Pyrrha had just walked into the dorm, Izuku's partner looking a little worn out as she had a towel wrapped around her shoulders and dabbed it at her forehead. It was clear she had just come back from some exercise or another and hadn't expected anyone to be in the dorm room; honestly, that had been his reason for taking the call with his mother here as well. It seemed like a reasonable spot that would've stayed relatively secluded and quiet on the weekend. Still, Izuku just smiled at Pyrrha as he shook his head, placing his Scroll back in his pocket.

"No, it's fine. I actually just got done with my call. You didn't interrupt anything Pyrrha." Pyrrha gave a slight sigh of relief as she smiled, walking into the dorm room as she continued to dry off her forehead with her towel.

"That's good. You don't seem to take these calls too often so I didn't want to step in and stop you. I'm guessing it was your mother, right?" Izuku chuckled slightly as he sheepishly scratched at the back of his head. Her guess was right on, though that wasn't much of a surprise; about the only person he really talked to over a Scroll at this point in time was his mom, so it had become a bit of an expected thing for the rest of Team MNVW.

"Yeah, that's right. Got a bit of an update from home that she wanted to share so I thought I'd take my call here. Figured no one would be in this time of day, right?" Pyrrha chuckled in time with him, sheepish as she nodded her agreement.

"Indeed, seems we both figured wrong this time around." With that Pyrrha set her towel into a bag of dirty clothes that the girls set aside; one of them would probably take them out for cleaning sometime soon. Izuku's were kept separate and he was expected to do his own. Frankly, he was more than happy with that arrangement, all things considered. "So how are things back home in Mountain Glenn? Everything going alright?" Izuku smile as he nodded.

"Oh yeah, things are going fine. Mom wasn't so much calling about home as she was our home. You know, wanting to talk about a few things going on." Friendly as Izuku's was with his team, his dad seemed like a bit of an awkward topic to bring up with them at this point. Plus he wasn't sure how great his mom would feel having other people know about 'that' particular kettle of fish so he decided to just keep it to the side. Pyrrha hummed slightly as she nodded, the young woman preparing herself some clean clothes.

"That's good, that's good. You know, as much as you talk about your background, you don't really bring up Mountain Glenn itself that often." Izuku blinked slightly as Pyrrha said this. "You talk about its history but I don't think I've ever heard you talk about what your home was actually like or anything like that." He nodded slightly as he thoughtfully placed his hand on his chin. Well she wasn't wrong; Mountain Glenn itself hadn't really come up a lot as a topic of conversation. It seemed like most people were more interested in what Mountain Glenn represented than what the actual city was like. In all honesty, talking with his mom had gotten him a might bit nostalgic over Mountain Glenn...

"Is that something you're curious about, Pyrrha?" Pyrrha seemed to jump a bit as he suggested this, the young woman just chuckling nervously.

"Oh? W-Well I suppose I have thought about it a bit. Like I've said, I haven't traveled much outside of Mistral so I don't really know what a lot of the world is like. I've seen a bit of Vale but, from what I've been told, Mountain Glenn itself is quite interesting too." Pyrrha blushed as she shook her hands. "Not that you'd need to talk about it if you wouldn't want to."

"I wouldn't mind Pyrrha. If you're really interested I'd be more than glad to tell you some stuff about Mountain Glenn." There was a genuine smile and a light of excitement that came over Pyrrha's face as she quickly took a seat on her bed, causing Izuku to chuckle a bit as he scratched his chin. "Well, let me think here..."

Izuku nodded to himself, before beginning with, "Well I guess there's no better place to start than with Mountain Glenn itself."

Pyrrha nodded along as Izuku stroked his chin. "Well alright so let's start with the obvious; while Mountain Glenn used to be a lot bigger because so many people were being moved out of Vale in order to populate it, the attack kind of knocked the population down a bit and we haven't quite gotten back to where it used to be. Still, 49,000 people isn't much to sneeze at..." Pyrrha's continued to move up and down, though it isn't enthusiastic. Izuku could only imagine; between her having seen Vale and living in Mistral, she was more used to populations closer to the hundreds of thousands, if not the millions. "Mountain Glenn was built for 'a lot' more people, so with the numbers being so low we've all just kind of spread out, at least in so far as we didn't go beyond the new wall. Generally that means that a lot of people in Glenn live in these... well, it's kind of hard to call them suburbs but, pretty cozy neighborhoods, I guess."

"Then there's the... I 'guess' downtown area? That's where my mom and I live. That's where most of the tall buildings still are, where most of the business is still done and where the rail system ends up ending. Don't get me wrong, it's 'nothing' like Vale, Mountain Glenn proper would fit inside of Vale a few times over and if we all squeezed in together as tightly as the people of Vale do, we'd fit inside of Vale at least a dozen times over." Pyrrha's brow furrowed slightly in concentration, it was clear she was doing her best to imagine a town that small. She had been born in a city and that's where she lived most of her life, so it was no surprise. "It's a nice place... most of the destroyed buildings were either fixed up, if they were standing well enough to be fixed, or knocked down and replaced with new ones. There's actually been a lot of emphasis on renewal in Mountain Glenn these past few years: now that most of the hardcore engineering's been taken care of as far as defense goes, a lot of people in Mountain Glenn have been turning their eyes towards making the city look nice again. At this point it's pretty clear where work's been done and where work hasn't, it's been making for a bit of a patchwork system where really old buildings that survived the initial Grimm Assault and the new, 'renovated' ones are standing next to each other... but it's lifting people's spirits to see that we're finally moving beyond just trying to play catch up in case another attack ever happens."

"That sounds nice." Pyrrha offered, smiling slightly as she seemed to have found an in to actually converse about all this. "I can't say I understand it entirely though; Mistral actually makes a big deal of 'not' knocking down old building. A lot of upper class people, especially artists, want to preserve... hmmm, I guess what they'd call 'Mistral's Historical Charm'. The city's beautiful for it but it can make it a bit of a pain to get around." Izuku nodded in understanding as he offered a slight smile.

"Well, I can understand why people would want to preserve a place like Mistral but... well, there's really only two ways most people in Mountain Glenn want to preserve memories about our history. The defensive works that have been going up or going down these past few decades and by honoring Toshinori for saving the city. As far as everyone's concerned... the old buildings and, eventually, a place we call No Man's Land is... well, it's just kind of unpleasant to look at day in and day out."

"I can imagine."

"Anyway, the city expands out until the... suburbs, I guess? Hit the wall. Unlike here in Vale with the recent expansions, our living space doesn't reach outside the Wall. After the Wall it's No Man's Land and then the wilderness." Izuku crossed his arms as he racked his brains. "So that's Mountain Glenn itself... what else can I tell you about..."

"You said you lived in the downtown area, right?" Izuku nodded as Pyrrha folded her legs up slightly. "Well... tell me about where you live? What's it like?" Izuku blinked a couple times as he laughed somewhat nervously.

"I dunno, I don't think it'd be 'that' interesting..." Pyrrha shrugged as she gave an earnest smile.

"I think it would be. My family's either lived in the lower rungs of Mistral or we've been riding high on my celebrity. I've never really lived in what some people might consider a 'normal' house or apartment. So I'd be interested in hearing about it." Izuku, still feeling slightly sheepish, scratched his cheek.

"W-Well, okay, I guess that's fair." Izuku offered with a slight cough into his fist as he looked to his corner of the room. "Well, my mom and I live in this apartment complex in the city. My father actually does pretty good work so we make a good amount of money, so the apartment is really nice; it's on the top floor too so we get a good view of Mountain Glenn." Izuku counted out the rooms in his head. "So... there's my room, my parent's room, the kitchen and a living/dining room, plus two bathrooms for each bedroom, so it isn't lavish or huge or anything. It's pretty simple and kind of just meant to house... us." Izuku coughed a bit as he looked off to the side. "As far as furnishings go... well, I'd say it's pretty nice. We've got no fancy art or anything hanging off the wall, but we've got some good furniture, some nice appliances... a big TV in the living room and I even have a computer in my room.

Izuku just shook his head, "That's really all there is to it. I mean, you're looking at how I decorate my part of our dorm room so you pretty much have a good idea of how I decorated my room. Yeah, it's just... nothing too special." Pyrrha nodded and, though couldn't imagine why, she did seem interested in what he described. Either that or she was faking it tremendously well.

"You know, now that you've brought it up, you've talked a lot about your mom but not a lot about your dad... it sounds like he makes pretty good money for you all if you live in a nice sounding place like that though. What's he like?"

Izuku involuntarily sweated a bit as this came up, scratching at the back of his head as he took a moment to think this through.

Izuku blanched a bit and, for a moment, but he thought about dancing around this...but Pyrrha had always been honest with him, so...

"My father... well... my dad isn't exactly around much." Pyrrha blinked for a moment... before her face went pale, as if thinking she'd inadvertently stepped on some kind of land mine. "No, no, not like that! My mom and dad aren't divorced or anything!" Immediately color flowed back into Pyrrha's face as she breathed a sigh of relief, causing him to chuckle as he sheepishly scratch the back of his head. "No, it's nothing bad like that. You see, my dad's a salary man for one of the larger construction companies based in Mountain Glenn. After I was born my dad's work started taking him further and further away from home and for longer periods of time... it's kind of gotten to the point where I barely see him at all, if ever. I honestly think the last time he and I were in direct contact was a couple years ago... maybe longer now, actually." Pyrrha developed a frown.

"He sends home money to take care of me and our apartment too, so don't think he's being negligent or anything. He just... thinks his job is very important and does what he can to get ahead in the corporation. So... it's kind of hard to answer your question because I don't really see him that much."

The pause after he finished just sat, a sort awkward fog, as Pyrrha's frown seemed, if not to grow, deepened.

"Well... I'm sorry to hear that, but it does sound like your dad is doing his best to work hard and take care of you, so... that's good."

Izuku often had to remind himself that, despite Pyrrha's celebrity, that she could be just as awkward intense social situations as he was. She seemed to realize her situation, and pulled the tips of her frown upward, which slowly developed into a real warm smile, as she continued, "I... can't really say I know the feeling myself. It's been a long time since either of my parents had to work. Not like 'first memories' long time but years at least; when I entered Combat School when I was young it was pretty clear that I was going to be a good fighter, after all. Before that both my mom and my dad worked hard to make ends meet. After my career took off though? They both quit their jobs and spent more time with my siblings and I... or, well, they did when I wasn't busy with work myself."

"They were always pretty thrilled about the money I was able to bring in, and they took good advantage of it; we moved to a more upscale neighborhood in Mistral, my parents started going to these art exhibits and chatting with other Mistrali Upper class citizens... they just really took to the lifestyle." Izuku smiled, this sounds like it was a really good thing for Pyrrha and her family. Pyrrha actually even chuckled as she scratched her cheek, almost a complete mirror to his earlier action. "Haha... sometimes, it even feels like they might enjoy my celebrity more than I do..."

...

If this was such a feel good situation, then why did this pause feel so awkward?

"Anyway!" Pyrrha suddenly exclaimed, drawing Izuku out of his thoughts. "Anything else about home you'd like to talk about?" Eager to move on from this topic as Pyrrha was, Izuku nodded as he stroked his chin.

"Well... there is Birch Academy, the Combat School I went to." Pyrrha nodded somewhat enthusiastically as she listened in. "It's actually a pretty nice campus, Birch, so long as you're looking at it from the right perspective. It's one of the few fully operating buildings outside of the Wall and it's right near the edge of the forest, so from one angle you've got this really nice look at it placed against the backdrop of the Wilderness around Mountain Glenn..."

"But from other angles?" Izuku nodded as he sheepishly scratched his cheek.

"It can be pretty bleak; looking at from other angles puts Birch in the same line of sight as No Man's Land, which means that a lot of the rubble and broken down buildings that haven't been reclaimed, knocked down or whatever pretty much dominate your line of sight when looking at Birch. Training there, and training to be a Huntsman... it's pretty much a constant reminder of why the profession is so important and how much Mountain Glenn actually owes to people like Toshinori. You grow up in the shadows of what could've been, I guess you could say."

"It sounds... pretty dreary, yes." Pyrrha admitted as she placed her chin in her hand. "Sanctum Academy was built in one of the more historic districts of Mistral, so the area around it looks pretty nice. Grimm training isn't as common there because it isn't so close to our forests, but given that Sanctum really pushes for Tournament participation, being 'in' the city made that easier." Izuku looked off in the direction, vaguely, of where Mountain Glenn would be.

"Yeah, it's not like Birch was a great school for every category either. You've probably heard by now that Birch isn't necessarily a great fighting school, the sorts of Huntsmen who would've specialized in that who lived in Mountain Glenn previously... well, they gave their lives in the assault before Toshinori could arrive. That doesn't mean that Birch is bad all around; if you're looking to learn about Grimm patterns and biology or looking to really get into a field of engineering to construct better walls, traps or anything really, you really can't go too wrong with Birch at this point. Heck, the school's reputation for engineering's been so great that Ken Ishiyama, The Cement Hunter, decided to take up a teaching position in Birch rather than Haven." Pyrrha nodded understandingly.

"I don't know much but I had heard that; it was the talk of the town in Mistral back when it happened."

From there the conversation just turned into a little bit of small talk here and there about their respective homes. They hadn't intended to go on too long, they had wanted to do some other training... but just spending time talking with his partner, it was pretty nice all things considered.