Merry Reunion

All Might sat in front of the two teens, fingers interlocked in front of his face as he observed them. On the table before him rested a notebook, very similar to the ones Midoriya used all the time to take notes on heroes. On the opposite couch, to the right of the skeletal man, sat Midoriya, with an apprehensive expression. Next to him was Bakugo, visibly annoyed and bored out of his mind.

"First of all, I want to commend your progress with the Black Whip, Young Midoriya. I didn't have the time to properly do this, given the rapid succession of events of the last few weeks." All Might complimented the green-haired teen.

"Thank you very much, All Might!" Midoriya exclaimed, bowing vigorously.

"You too, Young Bakugo. Your progress under Endeavor's tutelage is nothing short of spectacular."

"Whatever. You didn't call me here just to drop some compliments, what's the real deal?" Bakugo asked impatiently.

The man's blue eyes fell upon the notebook.

"In the end, I couldn't find everything, and it probably isn't up to the standard of your note-taking but," All Might pushed the notebook forward. "Young Midoriya, it's time for you to go ahead and take the next step."

The title on the cover read: Successors' Peculiarities - Annotations for Midoriya. Both teens held a serious look towards it. In front of them, rested the history of One for All.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't find any info on the second and third inheritors. Taking into account the times and the complex nature of One for All, there is no information about them. Perhaps they left something behind that I let slip by but…"

"Whatever! Get to the fucking point!"

"Calm down, Kacchan. This sounds very important!"

"Don't tell me to calm down, Deku!"

This banter between the two young men seemed to never get old, although if Toshinori wasn't mistaken, it was different from when he met them. There was some sort of mutual respect going on, easy to miss for the untrained eye.

"The Black Whip… I can't control it perfectly and it's not on the same level as what Aizawa-sensei or Sero can do with a quirk of that kind but it's already a great support skill to have." Midoriya added with a serious face.

"Any contact with other users since then?"

"No, not since that time the League attacked us during the joint training with Amajiki-senpai and Nejire-chan."

"Hmm, I see. And… how about my mentor?" Toshinori asked with an even more serious face. The young man nodded.

"She's still here and detached as an individual," Midoriya answered. Meanwhile, Katsuki picked up the notebook and flipped through the pages.

"So this was the inheritor who had the Black Whip, Lariat…" Bakugo said, oddly calm.

"His real name was Banjo Daigoro. His quirk allowed him to capture enemies easily and move in the air." Toshinori explained.

"Are you sure he was a user of One for All and not some random extra with a useless quirk?"

"Kacchan, this quirk is not useless. It's a very powerful ability!" Midoriya interjected.

"Any quirk is awesome to you since you were quirkless before, you shithead!"

"Still, it's a rude thing to say!"

"Young Bakugo is not wrong," Toshinori cut in. "All for One was obsessed with One for All. He went after the strongest and crushed them, stealing their individualities because no one could hope to challenge him."

The former hero seemed to look at something distant, with a somber look on his face.

"It was a period of chaos and despair. The former users went through hell to fight against his tyranny, crawling at Death's door to make sure the legacy was passed down to the next generation. In truth… they were not chosen." The blue in his eyes ignited. "During those grueling battles, all they could do was receive the power and then trust it to someone else."

He extended his hand.

"You and I, Young Midoriya, had the privilege of being chosen as inheritors."

Midoriya swallowed dry. As if the burden of the Symbol of Hope wasn't heavy enough, this only reinforced the idea of a power that carried the will of its previous users.

"Makes sense," Bakugo said nonchalantly. "Without powerful individualities and no option but to fight head-on, they all died young. No wonder they were nobodies in history…"

"Yes. Unfortunately, this is the history of One for All."

"So? What's the next quirk this idiot will unlock?"

"Be patient, Young Bakugo."

"Fuck that! I'm tired of wasting time with all that talking!" The times in which Bakugo was calm were few and short-lived.

"We can't be sure about anything related to that, but if I had to pick one… Float, my master's quirk. Midoriya, you should focus on achieving this next."

"HAH! I WIN!" Bakugo shouted, hands up in the air and crackling with tiny explosions.

Both Toshinori and Midoriya jolted in their seats, startled by the sudden burst.

"Did you hear that, shithead?! I can already fly with my explosions! Now you have to learn from scratch while I get better in the Hero Work. That means I'm ahead again!" He shouted with a wide grin crossing his face. Bakugo's confidence was at an all-time high right now.

"That's bad, you're right! I better do something to not fall behind…"

"Dream on, nerd! There's no way you're gonna pass me again!"

"Then I just have to work even harder!"

"Are you listening?! You won't make it, die already!"

"Are you going to insist on that…?"

Once again, the former hero watched the two young heroes and had a good feeling, despite the rather aggressive tone of their "talk". After all that time and the clashes between both of them, they were finally seeing each other eye on eye. Bakugo would never admit it out loud but he recognized the progress Midoriya has achieved. As for Midoriya, he walked out of the shadow of doubt cast by his childhood friend. There were still many kinks to iron out but Toshinori could see it already. These two would play great roles in protecting the future and carrying the flame of hope for the next generation.

"Screw you, Deku! While you fucked around with your hoes I trained and got stronger!"

"Oi, take that back! And I've got stronger too!"

"Like hell! I got even more!"

"Then I just have to train even more, I won't lose!"

"Drop dead!"

"I refuse!"

"Ahem!" Toshinori cut their exchange of shouts, it was already quite late in the night. "That will be all for now, we shall discuss this again when a new development occurs." And with that, he pushed the two young men out of his office.

They walked back to the dorms in silence, ruminating the topics in their minds, when the blondie stopped in his tracks. Midoriya quickly noticed, looking back at his childhood friend.

"Kacchan?"

"Oi, Deku…" Bakugo had a serious look on his face, staring intently at Midoriya. "Those quirks… one of them is for attracting girls, isn't it?"

The question came out of nowhere, and it was so out of character that Midoriya was at a loss of reaction.

"Eh?"

"A quirk, you dimwit. In the bundle of One for All, one of those quirks attracts women, doesn't it?"

"No? What makes you think that-"

"It has to be it! How else would a loser like you get so many bitches on your dick?!"

"Oh, so this is what it is about…" Midoriya shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kacchan, this is all-natural charm." He said. Midoriya was genuine in his response, but he also had a smug look on his face.

"Damn shithead… whatever! Don't go thinking you're better just because you fought some bigger villains. If I wasn't stuck dealing with extras, I would have curb-stomped those blood fanatics alone!" Bakugo said, shoving his hands into his pockets and stomping past Midoriya. "I'm ahead of you, Deku. If you sleep, you'll never catch up."

So this was Bakugo's way of congratulating him, Midoriya thought. He knew the guy for long enough to get what he really meant. Even if reluctantly, he recognized Midoriya's power, and that was a challenge to try and surpass the hot-headed blond. One that Midoriya was more than happy to accept.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said, clutching his hand into a fist. He was more motivated than ever.

"Oh, right. Get it together and do something with that blood-sucking bitch. It's a pain in the ass to watch."

"Don't worry, I've got it dealt with already."

"Heh, sure…" Bakugo said, going ahead. Midoriya stood still for a while longer. Inside his head, he had a little chat with the seventh inheritor of One for All.

"What do you think, Nana-san?"

"I don't know, this is news to me too. I was the first to really put up a fight against All for One, but even that wasn't enough at the time… When the time comes and you awaken my Quirk, I'll give you all the help I can."

"Thanks, Nana-san. For helping me, and for your sacrifice."

"Haha, no need to thank me, sweetheart. That's what heroes do…" Her voice faded as Nana's presence faded to the back of his mind. He came to be very fond of the clear ringing of bells as she did so.

"You guys are late again?"

"If you don't help out, no meat for you."

Sero and Kaminari spotted the two as they returned to the dorms. The common room was busy with everyone rushing to prepare the place. The year was almost ending and the students decided to throw a little party to celebrate. The main dish was a hot pot, a perfect choice for a cold night. The two teens joined the rest of them to help prepare the place and food, and soon enough, the table was ready and everyone sat around with glasses in hand, cheering for one year together as heroes in training, as well as the success of their internships.

And as expected, the girls from 1-A seized the opportunity to be glued to their dearest boyfriend. The scene was rather comical, Midoriya sitting in the middle of the couch, with a bowl in hand, surrounded by the girls, shoulder to shoulder. Meanwhile, the rest of the boys sat across them, "admiring" the view with half-disheartened smiles.

"They're very close, huh?" Sero thought out loud.

"It can't be helped. They got used to being close all the time, so the internship must have been hard." Kaminari said, taking a few strips of meat for himself.

"Tch, bunch of mushy idiots…" Bakugo murmured.

"Don't be jealous, bro. Your time will come too!" Kirishima said, trying to hype his friend, but it apparently had the opposite effect as the explosive teen began to shout about how he wasn't jealous.

"Well, it's highly unorthodox but at least they're happy." Iida, being the strict guy he was, couldn't fully accept this whole harem thing, but one of the things he learned in his internship was how to be flexible. With that and for the sake of his friends, he was willing to look past the far-from-normal relationship.

"I'm glad the cold war has ended between them. It was like someone's head was gonna drop any time…" Tokoyami said, remembering when the girls were fighting over the green teen. This had taught him a lesson: never mess with a woman's heart and its desires.

"The heart of a woman… houses a cruel storm"

"Indeed, Dark Shadow."

"You can say they're more civil now, though every time Midoriya gets close to some other girl, they still get visibly mad. Remember when Hatsume started to befriend him?" Ojiro said, bringing back more scary memories.

"And when the girls from 1-B started to get along too, right." Sato followed the memory lane too.

"Oi! Stop with that depressing talk, you'll spoil the food!" Mineta complained, chewing his meal in frustration and muttering "why him?" between bites.

"It doesn't taste different to me," Todoroki said casually, staring at his bowl intently.

"I didn't mean literally, you airhead!"

"I'm just glad I didn't have to hear anything. I kind of owe one to Hatsume." Shoji said, shivering at the idea of inadvertently catching on to their "intimate noises".

"Man, don't even remind me, I still have that image in my head," Kaminari whined, alluding to when they caught Midoriya and his girls butt naked. "But I gotta admit that's a major brag, right, Aoyama?" He jokingly elbowed the French teen, but no response came.

"Aoyama?"

Aoyama seemed lost in thought, watching the green teen and his lovers as the girls fed him in turns.

"Oi, earth to Aoyama? Wake up, my dude."

A snap of fingers in front of his face got Aoyama's attention.

"Oh? Ah, yes. Midoriya-kun must be very happy. To be surrounded by so much love, c'est magnifique~" He said, giving a wink to his friend.

"Hmm… Do you think he's going to date more girls?" Todoroki asked casually, catching the weird looks of his friends. "What?"

"What's with that question out of nowhere?" Sero asked back.

"It's a simple question."

"Can we NOT talk about shitty Deku for a minute?!"

"Does it bother you that much?"

"Fuck off, hot and cold!"

"Uh, guys," None other than Midoriya called out, getting their attention. "You don't have to stay all the way there, you know…" He said, pointing at the gap between the boys and where he was.

The girls didn't seem to fully agree on having their alone time with Midoriya reduced in favor of the group activity, but they also seemed a little guilty for excluding the boys like that.

The boys looked at each other for a moment, then answered together.

"Nah."

"Don't worry about us, Midoriya-kun, you can enjoy your time with your maidens," Iida said, giving him a thumbs up, much to the girls' delight.

The boys wouldn't simply barge into Midoriya's quality time with his girlfriends, what kind of friend does that?

"Oh, right, didn't the guys from 1-B say they would come too?" Kirishima asked, already excited to challenge Tetsutetsu to a match.

"Kodai-san said they would bring an extra couch." Tokoyami pointed out.

"They should be here any time now," Kaminari looked at his phone, and sure enough, the door opened and a loud voice called.

"Hey hey hey! I've heard there's a party and warm food in here. Mind if we join?~" Tokage led the class, entering first.

"Ah, you've finally arrived. Please take a seat and make yourselves comfortable!" Iida said, being polite as usual.

As if taking his words literally, Tokage made a bee-line to where Midoriya was, quickly waving "hello" as she passed by the boys, jumping on the emerald teen's lap, and following with a long French kiss.

"Hello, Izu. Did you miss me?~" She said, batting her eyelashes with a wide smile adorning her lips.

"Hello to you too, Setsuna," Midoriya answered, surprised with the calorous greeting.

"Setsuna! That's not fair, I was going to say hello first!" Right after the green-haired girl came to Komori, with puffed cheeks framed by her hair.

"Sorry sorry, but you should have walked faster then. I couldn't help myself~" Tokage pulled Midoriya closer by his waist, flaring up the short brunette even more.

"Setsuna, manners." Kendo joined the group after greeting everyone, shaking her head at her friend's antics.

"Hai hai, I got it. Hey girls, how are you all?" Tokage got up from his lap, finally acknowledging the other girls.

"Doing good. I can see someone is very happy tonight, huh." Uraraka, who sat on his left side, answered the lizard girl.

"Can you blame me? I haven't seen my dear Izu in so long…" She said, making a dramatic arch back with one hand on her forehead. "It's also been an awful long time since we last fucked."

"T-Tokage! Please show some restraint!" Shiozaki jumped into the talk.

"What are you talking about? You were horny too."

"T-that's not entirely true!" Shiozaki was slowly gaining a red tinge to her cheeks.

"I was pretty horny," Kodai added with a raised hand and her usual flat tone.

"Eh, honest as always… Sorry girls, tonight is just for eating together. Very unfortunate, I know, but it can't be helped…" Jiro said, pointing at the hot pot on the center table.

Even if they couldn't get more intimate time, spending the night close to their favorite person was already pretty good. The girls from 1-B fixed the second couch and huddled around Midoriya. Uraraka was still in her rightful place next to him, and Komori claimed his lap. As the girls took turns feeding delicious meat and vegetables to the emerald child, the boys from the second class joined the others in contemplation of the scene unfolding.

"It's… quite the view, huh?" Kaibara thought out loud.

"Sorry for Tokage being, well, Togake." Fukidashi said, a sweat drop appearing on his "face".

"Don't worry, we kind of got used to it." Kaminari dismissed him, offering bows so the guys could eat too.

"Must be tough watching it every day." Shishida pointed to the mushy group across the room.

"It could have been worse. Plus the internships got everyone pretty busy lately." Sato said, filling his bowl with meat.

"I think it's quite amusing to watch." Once again, Todoroki managed to get everyone's attention. "What?"

"Amusing is not the word I would use," Honenuki said.

"Well, I think they look pretty cute, you know, when they're just sitting together…" Koda chimed in.

The boys glanced at them again. It was now Tsunotori's turn to sit on Midoriya's lap, while Ashido and Tokage disputed the vacant space on his other side. Uraraka still monopolized his left.

"I kind of envy him, but at the same time, not really," Tsuburaba said, getting the nods of everyone in agreement.

"It should have been me… it should have been me… it's not fair…" Mineta still mumbled under his breath.

"Dude, chill." Nirengeki scooted away a bit from the purple midget, trying to avoid the miasma of envy coming out from that ball of frustration.

"I swear, if I hear one more word about that fucking nerd I'm gonna blow you all up!"

"Haha! For once we agree, 1-A! Not to mention, I can guarantee I'll get myself an even bigger and better harem– mmmm?!" Monoma was silenced by a piece of tape, slapped into his mouth.

"Kendo said I could do that if you started the rival rant," Sero explained nonchalantly.

"Oh, she told me I could knock him out too," Tetsutetsu added, doing a karate chop in the air, which made the blondie flinch by instinct.

"Isn't that a bit cruel?" Kaminari asked Rin.

"Nah, he can handle it."

"Mmm– ouch! It's definitely cruel!" Monoma said after removing the tape.

"Then stop acting so goofy, idiot," Kamakiri said, prompting the others to snicker.

"Hmpf! Laugh all you want, next year we'll definitely take the lead! Don't underestimate class 1-B!"

"Humu, I'm looking forward to seeing how far you all can go, Monoma-kun. Let's all give our best next year too!" Iida said, raising his cup.

"You fucking extras will eat my dust!" Bakugo shouted, unexpectedly prompting a collective roar of enthusiasm from the other boys.

"Yosh, I'm all fired up! Kirishima, arm wrestle!" Tetsutetsu jumped up, with Kirishima quickly doing the same. In just a minute there was a circle around the two hot-blooded heroes, cheering for their respective classmates. Across the room, the girls watched in amusement.

"Hehe, they sure are a lively bunch," Ashido commented.

"Well, boys will be boys. With Kirishima and Tetsutetsu in the same room, it's impossible to have silence." Tsunotori added, putting a vegetable in Midoriya's mouth.

The door swung open again, and more familiar figures joined the party.

"We've got quite the rowdy bunch here. It's good to be young, isn't it?~"

"Oh, Nemuri!" Midoriya almost knocked Tsunotori from his lap as he turned to the door. Hearing her voice was such a pleasant surprise he almost ran there to greet her.

"Hi, Honey!~ How is my precious darling doing this fine night?~"

Before he could even answer, Kayama cupped his cheeks and locked him into a deep kiss, putting Tokage's previous act to shame.

"I'm… fine…" He said, a little dizzy.

"Oi, we're here too, you know?"

Midoriya poked his head around Kayama there were Takeyama and Hatsume.

"Move, Nemuri. I want a welcome kiss from my sweetie too!" The blondie bluntly pushed Kayama aside, doing the same motion of her friend, but with less intensity. "Hey there, Sweetie– ow! Hey!"

Before she could finish her line, Hatsume pushed her aside via hip push, then the pinkette jumped straight into kissing. It should be noted that Tsunotori was still sitting on his lap so all that time she got to look very closely at some pairs of mountains. But since Hatsume wasn't as tall as the two pro heroes, her large chest ended up smothering the short blondie sitting in Midoriya's lap. In the face of this injustice, she pushed the two apart.

"Hey now, where's my welcome kiss?"

"Mine too!" The other girls said in unison.

"Well, it can't be helped…" Midoriya scratched his head, quickly being pulled into a queue of kisses. Of course, Uraraka was first.

After everyone had their little taste of the emerald teen, Kayama insisted on having him sit on her lap, with a little protest from Uraraka. Komori was back on his lap, one perk she shared with Tsunotori for being so small.

"Oh, right. Ryuko asked me to say hello to her." Kayama said, hugging Izuku closer to her body and resting her chin on his head.

"Did she?"

"Well, not with these words. When I told her about this little party she sounded like she wanted to come too, but unfortunately, she still has to work at the agency. What a shame…"

"Being a top ten hero is really hard…" Yaoyorozu thought out loud, getting nods from the girls in agreement.

On the other side of the room, while the two hardening heroes disputed the fifth match, some of the boys watched the ever-growing group of beauties gathered around Midoriya.

"Man, I still don't believe Midoriya scored with Kayama-sensei. And Mt. Lady too, for that matter." Kaminari said as he sipped his drink.

"Ne, do you think he has more chicks elsewhere?" Tsuburaba asked him, to which kaminari shrugged. Honestly, at this point, he wouldn't be too surprised if there were more girls.

"Nah, my man can't just pull every girl around him, right?" Sero said. The three of them agreed, doing a bottom-up with their cups.

"Hello everyone!~" The three of them spat their drinks, as the same thought crossed their minds.

"No way!"

Bustling in like a beam of sunshine, Nejire waltzed into the room, greeting everyone with a bubbly smile. Behind her, Togata and Amajiki followed.

"Ah, Nejire-senpai. So you managed to come, ribbit~" Tsuyu said as the bluenette approached the couch full of girls.

"Hai, it took some convincing from our homeroom teacher, but she couldn't say no to this smile! Just kidding~" Nejire said, showing her thousand-watt bright smile. It did feel like it could convince anyone to go along with her.

Her eyes quickly scanned the scene in front of her, until she stopped at Midoriya. She beamed another smile, humming happily with hands behind her.

"So that's how it is, huh…?"

"Senpai…?" Midoriya was confused, having Nejire staring at him like that.

"Nothing~" She said, not giving a hint of sadness or any other negative emotion. "Everyone looks to be having lots of fun together. I really wanna join in~"

Nejire's presence seemed to acquiesce the overall clinginess of the other girls, as she took a place among them and immediately started to fill in on all of their internship experiences, curious and bubbly as always. Meanwhile, on the other side, Amajiki and Togata socialized with the rest of the boys.

"Heheh, Nejire is already at home. Yosh! We can't fall behind, Tamaki!" Togata gave a rather strong slap on the raven-haired boy's back, quickly picking a bowl full of meat for himself.

"How are things going for you, Togata-senpai?" Todoroki asked.

"Mmmf mmf mmf mmmf–"

"Not with your mouth full, Mirio…" Amajiki was always amazed at how much food his friend could chow down at once.

"ahem– It's doing fine! My quirk hasn't returned yet but I'm still training!" He said, giving a thumbs up and a grin.

"That's good to hear, senpai. I heard that Aizawa-sensei is also making some progress with Eri-chan. That gives us more hope, right?" Iida was next.

"Yeah, it's slow but it is progress. But with everything that happened, Aizawa-sensei decided to give her some time to rest. Poor her, but she's giving her best!"

"Hoo, you staying that positive is really admirable, senpai," Kuroiro commented. Not that he wanted to bring the man down, but he didn't know that many people would be in the same situation as Togata and still keep all that energy.

"Of course! A hero must always smile in the face of adversity, that's what I think!" He said, chewing another piece of meat. "That hotpot is really great! What's your verdict, Tamaki?"

All the eyes fell on the elf-looking teen, who was in the middle of drinking his soup.

"Erm… it's pretty good, the meat is not chewy, and the vegetables and mushrooms go well together. It's perfect for a cold night." He said calmly, doing his best to project his voice so everyone could listen properly. Amajiki still had a hard time dealing with people and being in the spotlight, but thanks to his friends, he was coming out of his shell.

Conversely, the boys looked quite amazed, slowly clapping the more in-depth analysis.

"As expected from Amajiki-senpai. With a quirk like yours, of course, you would have a more refined taste." Sero said.

"Not really, I mostly eat street food…" Octopus was a very useful animal in his arsenal and takoyaki was too good to be passed on.

"It's kinda like how you wouldn't expect Sato to know how to bake," Tokoyami added, getting the attention of the tall teen.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"No no, if we follow that logic, the one who shouldn't know how to cook is Bakugo, haha."

"Say that again to my face, Spark Plug!"

"Hahahaha! It's good to have some hidden talents! Right, Tamaki?!" Togata gave some rather strong slaps on Amajiki's back. It was good to see his friend having fun with other people like that. Then, something else came to his mind.

"Oh, right? Where's Eri-chan?" He looked around for the little gray-haired girl.

"She said she was coming down but that was a while ago. Should we check– ah, there she is!" Kirishima got up but as soon as he looked at the stairs, Eri came into view, dressed in a comfy lilac sweater with a fluffy turtleneck.

"Oh hi there, Eri-chan– Hm?" Togata immediately turned around to greet her, but he froze up when he noticed who had come along with the little girl.

In fact, everyone seemed to turn into statues at the sight of Toga Himiko being dragged by the hand down the stairs by the little girl. The cold weather was a perfect opportunity to use her oversized cardigan but she decided against it this time, opting for a simple black long-sleeve shirt and gray sweatpants. She seemed rather… troubled with her entrance, especially when she looked up and saw all the eyes upon her.

"Erm, come on, Eri-chan. As I thought, this wasn't a good idea…" The blondie was reluctant to even come down the steps all the way, but the little girl next to her looked up with those big puppy eyes of hers.

"You really can't?"

Himiko was lying on her bed as usual, looking at the ceiling and being bored out of her mind, when she heard a soft knock on the door. She ignored it the first few times, but around the sixth, she decided to check whoever was so unoccupied to come and mess with her. Upon opening the door, she didn't see anyone, but that was due to the person being below her field of vision.

"Eri-chan?" Himiko squatted to get on Eri's height. "What's up, something wrong?" It was weird to ask this. She didn't think the kid would come to her of all people if something was wrong, but she couldn't think of another reason.

"Umm…" Eri fiddled with the hem of her sweater, looking at the floor for a moment. Then, with a deep breath, she looked up and said it. "Himiko, do you want to eat hotpot?"

"Huh?" She was confused. Did she mishear things? "Hotpot, you say?"

"Yes. Everyone is helping to prepare. I don't know what it is, but Momo-chan said it is very yummy and warm." Eri shook her hands as she explained, seeming quite excited. "So, do you want to come too?"

"Ah yes, everyone was talking about it. Sorry, Eri-chan, I can go."

"You can't?"

"No, unfortunately."

"Why not?"

"Eh?"

"Why not?"

"Uh, well…" This was rather tricky to explain.

Actually, it wasn't. No matter how much "good" she did, Himiko doubted they would ever accept her as a fellow hero, let alone a friend or even an acquaintance. Yes, she liked to play the part of the obnoxious girl, but after her last chat with Izuku, she didn't want to abuse whatever goodwill she might have earned from him.

"Let's say that my presence will spoil the taste of the food. We don't want that, right?"

"But… doesn't food taste better when you eat with friends?"

"... Where did you hear that?"

"Kirishima-kun told me. So, you can't?"

"Erm, it's a little complicated but I'm not friends with everyone, Eri-chan. The truth is… I've made some very, very bad things and I can't just be friends with them like that."

"But you saved me from the bad guys."

"Yeah, but let's say it will take a lot more saving than that to be their friends." It pained Himiko to admit that out loud, but that was an undeniable fact.

"So I have to save them to be their friend too?"

"What? No no, it's just me they have a problem with, you don't need to worry about that, Eri-chan." Himiko patted the girl's head. The last thing she wanted was to make her worry about proving her worth. Izuku would come after her neck again.

"So you can't go?"

"Erm…"

She couldn't resist those big ruby-red eyes and quivering lips, and now here she was, being dragged by the little girl across the common room with everyone staring daggers at her. Once they were right at the center, Eri took a moment to think before speaking.

"Umm… everyone," She furrowed her brows, trying to remember exactly what Aizawa taught her to say in this situation, and then her face lit up like a light bulb. "Congratulations for one year completed!"

Both classes and extra guests cheered. The cuteness of Eri completely offset having to look at Himiko. Naturally, the gray-haired girl walked up to Togata, who picked her up and tossed her in the air, earning a timid but warm smile from her. After that, she walked to the other side where the girls huddled around Midoriya, still towing Himiko along. If looks could kill, she would be dead ten times over, but at the very least Eri was acting as a shield for the time being.

Tsunotori gave up her "seat" so Eri could be close to Midoriya, ignoring the teensy feeling of envy deep within. Eri wanted to taste one of every option available, which made the emerald teen happy. Her appetite grew more and more, a good sign of progress. However, as happy as he felt, he couldn't ignore the girl sitting far in the back. Or maybe he could let's try it out–

"Fimifo, a'en'f you foin' fo eaf?" Eri asked with a mouthful of fried tofu.

"Eri-chan, don't talk with your mouth full." Yaoyorozu said sternly.

"Fowwy- ~gulp~ Himiko, aren't you going to eat?"

"Huh, me? I'm fine, Eri-chan, don't worry…" She waved it off with a smile, but she couldn't deny it all smelled delicious and made her hungry. Himiko was determined to not be a nuisance to Midoriya, at least not today.

This seemed to dishearten Eri a bit. Noticing this, Midoriya let out a sigh, picking up one last bowl.

"Here, you gotta eat too." He offered the bowl to the blondie, not quite hiding the annoyance in his voice.

"What? No no, I'm good, I really am–" She was cut off by the audible growl of her stomach, making Himiko's cheeks even redder than usual. "Umm, I'll help myself then, ahaha…" She said, accepting the bowl with a wavy smile.

She was glad no one here had a laser eyes quirk but that didn't stop her from feeling the metaphorical heat. More than that, the food was delicious and warmed her up. Add to that Eri's kind gesture of dragging her out of her room and Midoriya of all people offering her food, and Himiko felt cozier by the minute. She could also get used to this foreign fuzzy feeling which was kind of different from the giddiness of seeing people covered in blood.

"So this is how love really feels…" The words escaped her lips like a whisper, involuntarily and for her ears only, as she stared at the soup in her bowl. Or so she thought because in the next moment, she looked up and a pair of navy blue eyes were looking right at her cat-like yellow ones.

"Eh?! Y-you are–"

"Hmm, I think we were never properly introduced. Hi~ I'm Hado Nejire, but you can call me Nejire-chan~" The bluenette extended a hand while beaming her thousand-watt smile.

"Hi, umm, Toga Himiko…" She wasn't sure what was the meaning of this but Himiko decided to tread carefully while in the vicinity of so many people that wished for her death.

"Ne ne, how does your quirk work? Do you really have to drink blood? Who do you like? Does it taste good? Because I bit my tongue once and it didn't taste very good, but maybe yours taste better? Do you drink your own blood? Do you have a preference for type? Is Deku-kun your type? What is getting back to school like? Do you have a crush on–"

"Oop, hold on a second. Nejire-chan, remember to breathe when speaking." A hand pulled the eager bluenette away from Himiko.

"I am breathing though, Mirio," Nejire whined and the tall teen tried to remove her from Himiko's personal space.

While that scene unfolded, the rest of the group watched this weird interaction between the ex-villain and their senior. Her yellow cat eyes wandered away from Nejire and stopped at Midoriya, seemingly asking for directions, or perhaps it was permission to talk to that bubbly girl. Midoriya just shrugged and focused his attention on the girls around him. She then looked at Eri, who responded with a reassuring nod.

"S-senpai, I don't really mind. I myself tend to be pretty, uh, forward, ah haha…" That comment didn't go by without some eye-rolls from the girls. They could confirm that.

That seemed to ignite Nejire's enthusiasm even more, having found a kindred spirit, in a sense. So she was back to her hail of questions at Himiko, leaving Mirio to let out a sigh and walk back to the other group, shaking his head. If you didn't know better, you would think Nejire was talking to a plain normal high school girl, instead of a sadistic assassin. Then again, she looked more normal than usual. She fixed her messy buns and unruly hair, and despite the perpetual blush crossing her face and the fangs, she didn't look as crazy as before. Those were all things that Midoriya noticed, watching her talk to Nejire from the corner of his eye. Perhaps…

"... perhaps she really changed a bit…"

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

Uraraka looked at him with a raised eyebrow, then glanced at the blondie and bluenette.

"Deku-kun, you're not thinking about–"

"No, I told you, it's not like that. I just…" Midoriya trailed off a bit so Uraraka waited for his response. She couldn't help the slight frown on her face, though. "Maybe she's a little different now, for real. That's all I'm saying."

The brunette glanced over at them again, then let out a heavy sigh.

"I still don't like it, but maybe you're right."

"Change is good, right Deku?" Eri asked, looking at him from her place on his lap. She seemed to understand the gist of this little talk.

"Umm–"

"Yes, this change is good, Eri-chan." Midnight answered before him, patting the girl's head. Eri apparently trusted Himiko to some extent, and while Kayama wasn't eager to praise the blond devil, she had to admit the change of ways on some level.

Before they realized it, Nejire had already dragged Himiko into the circle, bombarding everyone with questions about their internships and the like. The talk derailed into all kinds of gossip, with everyone having a good time, Himiko included. On the other side, Mirio observed with a warm smile.

"Hah! Nejire is already feeling at home~"

"She sure is." Amajiki nodded.

"But I wonder, why is Midoriya over there?" He pointed at the emerald teen.

"Oh, didn't you know? Midoriya is the Harem King!" Kaminari announced, getting the attention of both seniors.

"Harem King? Midoriya?" Not that he thought poorly of his friend, but Mirio didn't think such a title would fit him.

"It's shocking, but it is the truth. Every girl over there, safe for Eri and Toga Himiko, are mutual girlfriends of Midoriya." Tokoyami said, looking at the merry group on the other side of the room. "Well, I suppose Nejire-senpai doesn't count either."

"For now, at least. I would be cautious if I was you, senpai." Sero told the tall blond teen, who seemed lost in thought for a moment. Then, he burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha! No no, I don't like Nejire in that way." He waved a hand at the thought.

"Wait, for real? I thought one of you guys would be dating her." Awase said, rather incredulous.

"She's a good friend and we go way back together, but we're just that. Right, Tamaki?" Mirio gave a rather strong tap on Amajiki's shoulder, but the raven-haired teen seemed lost in thought.

"It's true then…" He mumbled something that Mirio didn't get, so he gave another tap on the shoulder.

"Tamaki?"

"Eh? Ah, well… Isn't it, like, manga stuff?"

"You'd think that, but he scored even with pro heroes. Honestly, I still don't get it." Fukidashi shook his balloon head.

"I don't know if she's into that, but it definitely would make Nejire curious. Hehe~" Mirio said, picking another bowl full of soup and meat.

"I wonder…" Todoroki observed the group of girls circling Midoriya, and the blue-haired senpai in particular. She looked pretty happy to be there, but he didn't know if this was just herself or something else.

Unknown to them, the bluenette felt giddier than ever on the inside, her chest filling with excitement.

"Harem King, huh… this will be very interesting!"

End of Chapter