This chapter was finished ages ago and I forgot to post it here. So Merry Christmas!
This fic will be continued soon. I'll have a new chapter ready in the next few days and (hopefully) return to semi-regular updates from there.
...
Nejire walked through the busy bottom-floor room of the safe house, past Gang Orca talking to a group of policemen. She slightly hurried her steps as she walked past the whale hero, but his eyes flickered to the side and noticed her.
"...the way to…excuse me, gentlemen." Gang Orca picked up some white sheets off a table and then walked over to Nejire, leaning over her and talking in a hushed voice. "A moment, Hado. Could you take these fresh linens to the infirmary? We have a few more injured coming in a couple of hours."
Nejire's immediate mental response to being treated like an errand girl was less than mature. But she had already trained herself to keep a cool head around Gang Orca. He had very early on displayed a low tolerance for her constant jabbering, as he called it. Which was less than nice to deal with.
Blank-faced, she replied with "Alright," and took the linens, heading for the stairs.
The safe house was a multi-storied brick building with narrow corridors, alcove-like rooms, and canted ceilings. After asking around everywhere, Nejire had found out that it was formerly some kind of hostel. In any case, it was filling up quickly…luckily, they were all moving out soon. At least for a time. And then they'd come back and it would be less crowded. Until they rescued and captured more people, of course. And on the cycle would go. Nejire liked the safehouse. It was nice to have a place to anchor herself. Nevertheless…her whole body was itching to do more, to help more, to stretch her legs beyond this district.
She pushed the door to the "infirmary" open. It was in reality just one of the larger available rooms in the hostel that they had crammed five beds into. Walking space was limited to a narrow aisle by the wall. In the nearest two beds, some civilians slept quietly. One of them was Nova, snoozing with her mouth slightly open, the stars and galaxies on her skin all slowly drifting to the left.
Nejire placed the stack of linens on one of the unoccupied beds, then paused for a moment, considering. She sighed and unfolded one of the sheets, deciding to go ahead and replace the ones on the unoccupied beds even though she hadn't been ordered to.
The far bed by the window was one she had forgotten was occupied. The boy that was laying there now stirred, after being unconscious for half a day.
Nejire perked up as she made the bed, looking over at him. "Midoriya-kun?" she asked in a hushed tone.
"Eughhh…" Midoriya turned over, smacking his mouth with eyes still closed. He was dressed in a white shirt and shorts, and in some feverish twisting that had come over him in the middle of the night, he'd fully untangled himself from the sheets, which now lay askew about his feet.
Nejire watched him for a moment longer as he attempted to wake and sit up, and then returned to her task for a moment, putting her back to him. She would try to be polite; he'd been through a lot. If he wanted to make conversation, he would.
"Hado-senpai? Is that you?"
Well, there it was. She turned around, giving him a chipper expression as she tucked the sheets in around the edge of the bed. "Yes, it's me. Hi."
He smiled wearily. "It was hard to recognize you from behind when your hair is so much shorter."
Nejire let out a soft snort through her nose. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I was shot in the leg and then with a weird electric net twice in a row." He groaned and ran a hand through his messy green hair. The collar of his white shirt was loose, revealing a triangle of exposed chest. "Where's my hero costume?"
"Ah. We had to strip you out of it. Sorry, I saw you naked. Well, I technically saw you in your underwear. And you weren't conscious. Though, to be fair, how did you get so muscular? Why are you so nervous all the time when you've got gains like that? What were you doing in the Hojo's place? Where have you been all this time? Who were you talking to through the earpiece? Are you here to help us? Are you going to help with the convoy-"
Nejire shut her mouth like a mousetrap, clapping one hand over it with wide eyes. She had not meant to say all that. There my mouth goes again. She watched the tired boy with fear, waiting for him to say something like Hado, I just woke up or one at a time please? or Could you leave me alone?
Instead, Midoriya just stared back at her with his head tilted curiously for a moment, and then said, "That's okay if you saw me without any clothes on. I guess you had to heal me somehow. I got muscular through training, and I'm still nervous sometimes because of stress, I think. I was in that place on the trail of a murderer who was working with the Hojos. I've been out on the streets helping everywhere I can since leaving UA. I was talking to Camie Utsushimi, who was helping me, and I can't say for sure whether or not I can help you guys with a convoy, whatever that is. There are people elsewhere who need me."
Nejire could only gape at him, stunned. He'd answered every single one of her questions in order, in reasonable depth, after only a brief pause to process them. She didn't even know how to feel about that.
"What happened to my earpiece? Is Camie here?" Midoriya asked, looking around.
"Ah, the earpiece got destroyed. Sorry. I left the bits of it on top of the washing machine where your costume is getting cleaned up. It's downstairs. And I don't know anyone named Camie. Sounds like a first name, though." Nejire couldn't help but fill her eyes with the fire of teasing, and curl her lip up a little bit.
Midoriya only blushed a little, to her further surprise. "She asked me to call her that," he muttered. "I wonder where she went. Did she leave me back there to fend for myself? No, she wouldn't have done that. I hope she didn't get captured. She had some kind of history with the family, so if they got her then she could be in real danger mutter mutter mutter…"
Nejire waved a hand in front of his nose. "Earth to Deku," she said.
"Ah! Oh. Sorry."
"No worries." A light giggle escaped her. She had no idea that Midoriya was so fun to interact with. "You can get spacier than even me, somehow. Is there anything else you wanted to know?"
"Ah…yes. Where exactly am I? What were you and other heroes doing in Kijimi, Hado-senpai? How does my leg feel so much better? Is Recovery Girl here? We're not at UA, are we?" Suddenly, it sounded like he was about to panic.
"No, no, you're not at UA!" Nejire laughed a bit, waving a hand to calm him down. For some reason, he was activating weird instincts inside of her. She could actively feel herself loosening up. "It's just a safe house outside of Kijimi. Recovery Girl is not here; she's still at the school. Your leg got healed by one of the policemen who has a Quirk specifically for bullet wounds. The net stuff wore off on its own. They also did their best with your other…scratches." She faltered for a moment, remembering being there as Mandalay took his top off, seeing all the scars covering his muscular torso…
"Oh, and we're here in Kijimi because we were assigned to it. To clean it up. To make sure those Hojo guys and the Harbor aren't taking over via mob rule and taking advantage of the civilians hiding out here. It's also an outer border area to UA, so in case any scarier villains try to come through here, we'll do our best to stop them."
"Yes, but…why were you assigned to it? I thought…all the students were confined to UA until further notice."
Except you, I suppose? You REALLY didn't like the idea of being back at the school. "Midoriya-kun," she said gently, sitting on the side of his bed. "I am not a student anymore. The year's turned. I'm a graduate."
"Oh." The boy paled. "That's…yeah. That's right. I'm sorry. That didn't even occur to me."
"It's okay." Ochako and Tsuyu's desperate request flashed through her mind again. Bring him back.
She coughed and shifted off the bed, returning to her task. "...Anyway, if you wanted to stay and help, you gotta talk to Gang Orca or Mandalay. They're in charge here."
"Oh, this is the safe house Gang Orca's in charge of?" Midoriya raised his eyebrows. "That means the convoy must be going to UA then."
"Yes. We're transporting a bunch of civilians and refugees. The streets are too dangerous to have a trickle of travel parties, according to Mandalay. We have to wait to pick up a bunch of people at once and then take all the heroes to accompany them back."
"That makes sense." Midoriya frowned. "How many heroes do you have?"
"Hmm. Ten? Twelve?" Nejire tapped a finger to her chin, looking at the ceiling. "I'm honestly not sure, a lot are in and out."
"That surprises me. You always try to find out a complete answer for everything, Hado-senpai."
Nejire looked back at him, a smile dancing on her lips. He seemed perfectly sincere. "You don't know everything about me, Midoriya," she half-whispered.
He blushed. "Ah…well. If you say so, it must be true."
She turned to finish making the other beds, still smiling, but keeping it to herself. "The washing machine is the next floor down, in the room directly beneath this one. It's noisy as heck so you can't miss it. Put your costume up to dry on the clotheslines outside. All the other belongings we found on you are on top of the machine."
"Thank you…Hado-senpai. For that and for saving me, I mean. But…also? Could I ask you one more thing?"
Something in his voice made her pause and turn back around. "Hmm?"
Izuku Midoriya swallowed nervously and pointed to the side of his own face. "Is…is this…from Dabi?"
Her smile flickered. She cast her eyes downward. "...Yeah," she answered.
"I…I apologize…for letting that happen." He bowed his head.
That shocked her. "Huh?"
"My arms and legs were blown out at the time. I wasted all my power on Shigaraki when he was just going to regenerate anyway, and there were still so many of you that needed to be kept safe. If I'd just thought of doing something sooner…"
"What, using your crazy whips out of your mouth?" Nejire crossed her arms and stared at him, one hip strutted out to the side. "Don't you dare apologize for that, Izuku Midoriya. You kept fighting every way you knew how until the end. And so did I. It didn't kill me, see?" She pointed at her own burn scars. "I'm still here."
"Ah…yes, I suppose…"
"Good. I'm glad you understand." She turned around and tucked the last corner of the sheets, and then headed for the door. "Feel better soon, Midoriya. I'll see you downstairs in a bit?"
"Ah…maybe."
Then she went.
To inherit the power of so many who came before you, and be a target of the most frightening people in the world…all at his age. He must be feeling so cornered. But what was more worrying was how much guilt he seemed to carry with him all the time.
Even so, he's so nice to talk to. She could have spent another half an hour in there asking and answering questions with him. Unfortunately, there was more work to be done.
Bring him back, said Tsuyu's voice again. Nejire pushed it away.
…
After searching through some rooms and closets, Izuku managed to find a hair dryer. He took his costume out of the washer and spread it out on top of the machine, plugging in the hair dryer and running it all over his outfit.
As he spread the hot air across it, he thought of Camie doing the same thing to him, only with her mouth. When she put the illusion on him. His cheeks heated up. I really can't afford to think about this…
Why not? asked Yoichi Shigaraki inside his head. The first user's voice was soft.
Well, you know…it's…wrong. And a waste of time otherwise.
There's nothing wrong with it, kid, Daigoro Banjo put in. You're just a teenager, that's all! It's perfectly healthy to get a little worked up sometimes.
I confess I do not understand it, said Hikage Shinomori, but it does not seem wrong to me.
Are you asexual? Izuku asked.
I suppose so. It made retreating into the woods to power up One for All much easier. No attachments.
Izuku was troubled. Was that what he would have to do as well?
Ah, said Nana Shimura. That's what you're worried about. Her voice was filled with something like thick guilt.
Izuku continued to use the blow dryer. You loved a man once, he finally said to her, after a long pause. The rest - the consequences of that decision - they left unsaid.
Ninth, Yoichi put in, you cannot be the best hero without following your heart. The heart is from where all your best qualities stream out.
I don't love Camie, Izuku said, so I can't call it following my heart.
Do you think you deserve to? asked the second user. Izuku did not deign to answer that.
The noise of his drying must have drawn attention. The door opened to his side, and a familiar voice said, "It's not very heroic to waste our limited electricity."
Izuku looked at the woman standing in the door, smirking with her hands on her hips. He might have gotten flustered before, but he was too hurried for that now. "I'm sorry, Mandalay." He returned to his task. "I don't have time to let it dry on a clothesline. I have to go soon."
"That's not the best way to dry either. Your costume will end up all wrinkled."
"Well, wrinkled is better than filthy, anyway."
Mandalay sighed and entered the room, walking over to Izuku and patting him on the back. The top of her head only came up to his eyes. "You need to rest for at least another day. You were shot in the leg."
"It was healed, apparently. I can walk just fine, ma'am."
He could feel her worried eyes searching him. "I have been shot before, Midoriya. You need to at least do some easy walking around today to make sure nothing lingering is wrong. Why the rush?"
"You know why."
"Midoriya…Shigaraki and All For One may not even be ready to make moves again yet."
"If they sense me lingering in one place too long, that may be enough for them to decide to. They want to make things as hard for me as possible." All For One implied as much in that mansion video. The very first villain he'd caught out here, a few days before Muscular, had been injected with a tracker that led back to a remote mansion in the woods. He'd accompanied Endeavor and a few other heroes inside, only to receive a personal message from AFO and then an explosion to the face.
Ever since…not a single defeated enemy had given them any leads. AFO meant for me to find that guy first. And then no one else. He wanted me out on this mission afraid from the start.
"They're making things hard for you," Mandalay said softly, "and you're letting them."
He turned off the hair dryer and looked at her. An auburn-haired curvy woman in her mid-thirties with narrow eyes and long eyelashes. She was wearing a tanktop and the skirt from her hero costume, which had a weird effect on him. He'd meant to look at her firmly and make a point, but for a moment, staring into her eyes, he forgot what it was.
Mandalay smiled, a bit coyly, and took a slow step backward from him. "Cat got your tongue?" she asked.
"Ah…umm…are you the only one here?"
"The only Pussycat?" Mandalay nodded. "The others are assigned elsewhere where their talents will be of more use. I'm using my voice for enemy confusion and rescue, and my close combat works nicely for these mob types."
"Seems I still need a bit more training on fighting a bunch of guys at once," Izuku muttered.
"Well. I suppose you're most used to taking down massive titans in one on one fights, and refusing to let anyone help you." Mandalay crossed her arms. "What were you doing around here?"
"Suspected the Hojos of working with the person who murdered a Shiketsu security official and attacked the school. Didn't get any leads, though." Izuku's costume was dry, so he began to try and flatten out the wrinkles with his fingers.
"Do you fancy yourself some kind of detective now, Midoriya?"
"Only intermittently. I have other work to do. Very soon, I might add." He looked up at her again and fought to suppress his blush. "Could you…g-go out while I change?"
Mandalay clearly found his discomfort a little amusing. "I saw you in just a towel once before, do you remember?"
"Uhh…yes." To be honest, I think about you and the summer camp in a fantasy capacity more often than I'd like to admit. God, he really was down in the trenches with these thoughts, wasn't he? Even when safe at UA he'd been less distracted than this.
"Don't put on your costume right now, Midoriya. Please. You need to rest for just a little longer. Could you do it for an old woman's peace of mind, at least? I'm sure your mother is worried sick about you."
The topic of his mother made him realize how serious she was. Her eyes were almost begging. "You're not old," he muttered.
She laughed musically. "Well, for that I thank you. I do care about you, Midoriya. We all do. If you're so antsy about needing to help, I don't really know what to say to change your nature. But…we could use your help tomorrow with the convoy."
"Hado-senpai said you had ten or twelve heroes available to help."
"We have eight. There's a lot of civilians here that need to get back to UA."
"I can't go back to UA, Mandalay. That's the last place I want to go. I need to get back to my investigation, and my patrols. That's how I can help UA. There's still someone targeting schools out there, and I can't decide if they're connected with All For One or not. I'm not sure which outcome I like less."
"You don't have to go all the way there. You don't have to be spotted if you don't want. Just…help us along some of the way, will you? Please?"
Izuku stared into her eyes. He was pretty sure it was the baser part of his brain, the part that was attracted to her, that made him say "Alright." As if that would make her look at me in any way other than a boy in over his head.
Mandalay's smile was relieved. "Thank you, Midoriya. Can I give you a hug?" She opened her arms.
"Uhh…yeah. I g-guess."
She stepped forward and wrapped him into an embrace, nestling her head on his shoulder for a moment. "You smell better than you did when you pulled you out of there, at least," she mumbled.
Izuku hugged her back somewhat stiffly, his heart racing, certain she could feel it. Her ample chest was pressing against his and sending butterflies to his stomach. When she pulled away, he was simultaneously relieved and committing the entire experience to memory.
As she stepped back, she smiled and looked into his eyes a moment longer, then exhaled awkwardly and gave a short nod of her head. "Okay," she said in a somewhat higher voice. "I'll leave you be. There's a bit of food downstairs for you. Eat it or face my wrath."
"Yes, ma'am." His stomach growled on cue, causing her to giggle.
"Alright. See you later, Midoriya." She turned to leave.
"Ah, Mandalay…I'm sorry I didn't speak to Kota before I left UA. I left him a letter instead."
She turned her head up and over her shoulder, her expression distant. "That's alright, Midoriya. It seems you boys communicate your feelings best indirectly."
And then she was gone. Izuku felt confused in a few more ways than one.
Nana, can I ask you a honest question?
Of course, kid.
Was she flirting with me?
Nana did not respond. Izuku had no idea how to interpret her silence.
…
He got some food in him and then took to exploring the safe house, walking slowly up and down the staircases, making sure his leg was all fine like Mandalay had suggested. He saw a few vaguely familiar faces of both police and the heroes that were around. They only gave him looks that could have meant anything. No one spoke to him…until he went back downstairs.
In the entryway, Gang Orca was looming, talking to Nejire. In fact, they were arguing. Some personnel rushed by escorting injured civilians toward the stairs. Tamaki Amajiki, Suneater, was helping them. Izuku had not seen him in a long time. When the pointy-eared boy noticed him, his eyes widened for a moment, and he awkwardly said, "H-hello, Midoriya," as he passed by.
"Hey, Amajiki-senpai." Izuku suspected Tamaki might be the only young hero more visibly anxious than himself. Talking to him had a curiously confident effect on Izuku. "Do you need any help?"
"N-nah, we got it. Thanks though. Take it easy, m-man."
Izuku refocused his attention in the noisy room to the main source of the noise, which was Gang Orca and Nejire's argument.
"...jabbering on about things that aren't relevant. I can't afford to have you wasting my time."
"We found out what time they'll be by the docks!" Nejire insisted, pumping her fists in front of herself. Even when arguing, she had a brightness in her eyes. Her scarred side was to Izuku, and her facial tissue was clearly stiffer than before. She used to be so animated. Now, it was all in her eyes and body language only.
"One nugget of knowledge is not worth all the other stuff you spewed. You are not to interrogate the captives again. Understand me? Know your lane, Nejire-chan, and this will all go smoothly-" Orca took notice of Izuku. "Ah, Deku. It's good to have you here."
Izuku felt Nejire's gaze on him. She didn't seem that openly bothered about Gang Orca talking to her like that, but his sudden switch to politeness threw even Izuku off. "Is there a problem?" he blurted, not intending for that to be what he said.
Nejire's mouth opened a little in surprise. Gang Orca seemed slightly taken aback. "No, no problem, Deku. We just have a way of running things here. I know you've got your own mission to attend to, so…feel free to rest here until you return to it."
Izuku narrowed his eyes. "I actually intend to help you out with your convoy tomorrow."
"Oh! Excellent. We could really use you. Though…" He watched the civilians disappear up the stairs. "The infirmary is going to be full. You'll have to move rooms, and we're honestly pretty full…"
"Midoriya could sleep in Amajiki's room," Nejire put in.
"No…all the damn rooms in this place are too small for even a normal sized person." Gang Orca ground his teeth. Nejire lowered her head, as if ashamed for making the suggestion. Izuku's annoyance grew.
"This is a post-Quirk hostel. Surely you have a mutant-sized room you're using, sir." He did not mean to make his voice so testy. What's gotten into me?
"There's a girl in there using it. Then again, it is fairly spacious…I have the night watch tonight, so if you wanted to use a corner of the floor in there…" Gang Orca tapped his chin. "Though, she is a girl, and cannot be moved anywhere else."
Ah, right. "Is this girl Iruka Kitsune?"
"Ah. You know her."
"I rescued her. All Might said he was bringing her to this safe house."
"Would she trust you to sleep in the same room as her?"
"I can't speak to that, sir. We only briefly met. Obviously I would say this about myself, so take it as you will, but I am trustworthy."
Gang Orca huffed. "Well, I believe that well enough. You've grown, Deku. I remember when you were a little shrimp, bravely attacking me at the license exam. Having seen you in action now, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if that fight had continued…"
Izuku glanced at Nejire for a moment, who was watching this unfold. Then back to Orca, right into his eyes. "If we heroes ever gain enough free time again, I'll be happy to have a rematch. Just say the word, sir." He backed away coolly. "I'll go talk to Kitsune-san. Though I do not know the way…"
Gang Orca opened his mouth, and Nejire jumped in brightly, "I'll show him!"
Orca nodded. "Good. Was just about to suggest that. I'm far too busy. As you were, students." He walked out of the house.
Izuku looked at Nejire again. He'd only ever noticed her from afar as someone who was genuinely disposed to be happy, but upon closer look, there was something else under the surface. Or did that just come from Dabi, too?
She definitely took note of his staring, but just waved him along with her shoulder. "C'mon."
He followed her, somewhat mentally behind. "Ah! Umm…Hado-senpai, does Gang Orca give you a hard time?"
"Let's just say we aren't very compatible." She pouted. "It's fine, though! I'm just gonna keep doing whatever's best for the group. That's why we were trusted to be out here."
"He did call you a student, though. And you've graduated. That's disrespectful."
"You were slow on the uptake for that too, Midoriya-kun," she teased.
"Y-yeah, but…you don't have to stand there and take it if you don't want…"
"Life's too short to get all upset about these things. I'm stuck with him for this mission but it may be that I never have to work with him again! Which is fine! So it goes, and all that! Anyway, I think Iruka-chan will be happy to see you."
"Ah…you know her? How long has she been here?"
"'Bout a week. She hasn't shut up about you and how you saved her from some guys harassing her."
"Ah, y-yeah…they were just scared, I think…since she's so big…"
Nejire pouted again. "That better not be how you think of her all the time."
"N-no! It's not! I don't think of her much at all! I m-mean, no that's not…ugh. Sorry. I really didn't expect to see her again. I've had other stuff on my mind."
Nejire's face softened. "I get it, Midoriya-kun. You don't have to explain yourself. But…go easy with her, alright? If you're gonna sleep in her room, I mean."
His face reddened.
Her grin of mischief crept back. "I didn't even mean it like that, kouhai, but if that's how it is, then that's how it is."
"Well, how did you mean it?"
They climbed further up through the hostel than Izuku had yet been. "I mean…" Nejire waved her hand. "I think she respects you a lot. You gotta live up to that image she has in her mind."
"Hado-senpai," Izuku muttered, "You're telling me nothing I don't already know."
Nejire stopped on a landing. She stared at him with a worried expression. "What convinced you to come with us on the convoy tomorrow?" she asked.
"Erm…not what. Who. It was Mandalay."
Her eyes twinkled. "I see. Well, Iruka-chan's room is just here." On the landing, she pushed a tall door open.
Inside was a very tall room, but also a very narrow one. Everything was arranged in a line, with the bed at the very back. Sitting on it, tilting her head back with her eyes closed, was the mutant girl Iruka. "Miss…" Nejire called softly as she gently opened the door further.
Iruka tilted her head down and opened her eyes softly. Izuku's heart skipped a beat. She's really cute, too! I'm drowning in this nonsense! "Hrmm?" she murmured. Then, she noticed Izuku.
"Ah! Deku-san! You…you're…" She scrambled up, eyes wide, and hit her head on the ceiling. "Ah!" She cried out in pain, ducking back down and rubbing her ears.
"Are you okay?!" Nejire had activated her Quirk to float across the room to her, but Izuku moved first, using Nana's power. He reached her head and checked behind her ears as she rubbed them. "Okay, everything seems fine."
"Ugh…" Iruka seemed to wilt. Her eyes looked at him shamefully. "I'm usually more careful…but this room is actually so nice, that I got too comfortable…I'm too used to having to hunch over…"
"I'm glad you found a place to be comfortable," he told her honestly.
"Yeah, it's just…my posture can get really bad, so…" Her ears twitched as she sat back down on the massive bed. Izuku floated down to stay level with her.
"Girl, I know how that is." Nejire had joined them, smiling wide. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "And yours are even heavier than mine!"
Izuku's jaw dropped. Iruka blushed so deeply that it seemed she might explode. Her eyes darted to Izuku. "Nejire!" she cried, aghast.
"Ah, sorry, sorry…I just thought it'd be funny!" Still smiling a little, Nejire tucked a swirl of her shorter blue hair behind her ear. "My bad."
"Anyway…" Izuku coughed. "It's good to see you again, Kitsune-san."
"It's good to see you, too, it's just…" The mutant girl's blush began to fade. "Why are you here?" Her head tilted curiously.
"I'm gonna be helping the convoy tomorrow. We're gonna get you and the other civilians safely to UA."
"Ah. That's nice. Tomorrow." Iruka closed her eyes again and leaned back. "I hear UA has even better rooms for people like me. That'll be nice."
"Yes, Kitsune-san…ermm…how did you know it was me, when I came in? Last time you saw me, I was masked and in costume."
"Oh, umm…" Her eyes shot open wide again, and she looked at Nejire. "I, uhh…"
Nejire bounced. "She asked to see a picture of you! And I showed her one! From you dancing at the culture festival, remember?"
"Just to know how you really looked! I was just curious!" Iruka protested, waving her arms in front of herself.
To Izuku, this was a thoroughly novel experience. He wasn't entirely sure how to process any of it. "I…I understand," he said quickly, averting his eyes. It was pretty mortifying, because he knew the exact image Nejire would have pulled up. It was on UA's social media.
The two of them were unable to look directly at each other now. Nejire seemed oblivious. "Oh! Midoriya, we forgot to tell her why we even came up here! Sorry, Iruka-chan. There's no more room in the infirmary for Midoriya and he has to stay another night. And this room is the only one big enough!"
"Eh…huh?" Iruka squeaked. "You're making me leave?"
"What? No! No, of course not, silly! Midoriya's just gonna be staying here with you!"
The mutant girl swayed. It seemed as if she might faint.
Izuku scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry to intrude, Kitsune-san. If you're not comfortable with it, I'll just go on the roof. Or just stay up. Maybe go on a patrol and come back. It's nothing I'm not used to-"
"No," Iruka interrupted, firmly, after gathering herself. "No…no, you need rest. You should stay here, Deku. With me. I mean, umm…" Another nervous squeak escaped her. "I'm fine with it. Is what I meant to say. I trust you."
Izuku cleared his throat. "Well…thank you. For having me."
He awkwardly moved to the end of the bed and set his things down. He could feel Iruka's eyes on him and, oddly, Nejire's as well.
How much of her bubbly obliviousness is an act? She seemed to create chaos on accident sometimes, but also sometimes on purpose. If I only had time to figure it out. He'd never admit it aloud, but he'd had a mild crush on Nejire from a distance ever since the work studies, and it had ballooned up a bit after the cultural festival. He suspected he wasn't alone in that, though, considering how beautiful and popular she was…
"Okay!" Nejire clapped her hands and floated back toward the door. "I'll leave the two of you to it! I'm in the room directly below so let me know if you need anything." That seemed to be mainly aimed at Iruka, so Izuku didn't make eye contact.
"Bye, Nejire."
"Bye, Hado-senpai."
"Bye!" And off she went. The door shut.
Iruka laughed nervously. "She's…a handful."
"Yeah…" Izuku coughed. He could feel the OFA users grinning at him on the inside. Stop enjoying this. He'd made a promise to Mandalay to stay here, though…and that meant sharing this room with Iruka Kitsune.
He looked back at the mutant girl. She noticed him staring, was wide-eyed for a moment, and then closed her eyes and smiled. She was just…cute. And big. And cute. The whole situation was making his heart race, not least of which due to her behavior toward him as well. I never had time for this but now I'm stuck here!
Izuku sighed. It was going to be a long night.
…
In order to make Lady Nagant more of an ongoing player, I've made it so the canon AFO mansion video scene happened before the Muscular fight, and the heroes were led to it by some other villain they captured. This also sets up how anxious and on edge Izuku feels throughout his crusade.
