One for All and Eight for the Ninth

by Midoryia-Uzumaki13

W hen Midoriya Izuku received All Might's Quirk, he wasn't expecting it to come with a bunch of ghosts. Or for it to grant him greater empathy with certain new female friends. Well, at least now he has a few teachers giving him advice better than "clench your buttcheeks and yell SMASH!" (Not my story)

34. 34

Chapter 34: It Took 16 Years, but He Finally Had a Happy Birthday!

Nejire greeted Izuku the way he'd come to expect it: tackling him at high speeds. And, as he'd come to expect, she had questions for him, "Izu-kun! Happy birthday! Are you feeling good? How was training Melissa-chan's new Quirk? Why is your Hero outfit scuffed? Do-"

"Had a friendly spar with a friend of Melissa's earlier," Izuku interrupted. "Lost by a hair, but I learned something really useful. So, you never told me what you were up to yesterday…"

"Oh yeah!" Nejire said, as if she just thought of it. "Ryukyu asked me to go to a bunch of booths and network with a lot of other Heroes while I was here. It's fun! They answered a whole bunch of her questions. Some of them answered mine! Not as much, but it was pretty good!"

Grinning madly, she then took out a small rectangular package, "And while I was doing that, I was able to get this for you!"

Izuku took the package, almost as if it was going to bite him. Old habits were hard to kill.

"We decided to give you our gifts one at a time, after Melissa-chan said she was going to give you hers first thing! Come on, I wanna see your reaction!" Nejire said, practically bouncing in place.

Izuku smiled, tamping down the years of fear, opening the wrapping, showing a plain, leatherbound book. He opened it, unsure of what to expect.

He opened it up to a two-page spread of enormous words, reading, "To Kyuseishu, I look forward to hearing of your exploits! The Monster Hero, Godzillo."

"Wow! Melissa and I passed by Godzillo before, but I thought it'd be rude to ask for an autograph, he almost certainly gets swamped with requests…" Izuku said, smile wide as he turned the pages, seeing that the book was filled with similar autographs from Heroes from across the globe, all addressed to his Hero identity.

And Izuku finally returned the favor to Nejire, rushing up to glomp her. "This is wonderful, Nejire-chan-senpai! All these Heroes… and they all addressed me by my Hero name…" he sniffled, then got out a handkerchief. "I'm going to be a mess by the time the day is through."

"We planned for that," Nejire said, ruffling his hair and reveling in its fluff.

Izuku broke the hug and flipped through the book, "Is there a reason why Pankration called me a lucky bastard?"

Nejire shrugged, "Dunno. Told people this was a gift for my boyfriend who's a fellow Hero student. Maybe he thought this was the kind of gift he'd have wanted when he was our age?"

"Okay, nobody tell her, this is hilarious," Daigoro whispered telepathically, as a few of the vestiges snickered along with him.

Looking at the utterly gorgeous third-year student, Izuku knew the real reason. And, honestly, he'd agree with Pankration on that one.

Nejire then grabbed Izuku's wrist, "So, there's an obstacle course ride for people who can fly with their Quirks! I got some reserve tickets yesterday, let's go!"

Izuku smiled as he tried to keep up with the hyperactive girl, letting himself be dragged along in her wake.

As Nejire cheerfully bade him goodbye, Izuku found himself tackled by yet another beautiful girl with limited worries about the concept of personal space.

"This is just my life now," Izuku said as he embraced Mei in turn. "And I couldn't be happier."

"Well, you ain't seen nothing yet!" Mei shouted as she pulled out an attache case. "Melissa-senpai got your arms, I called dibs on your legs!"

He noticed a few people staring. Some might not have spoken Japanese and thus could understand the declaration. But enough appeared to, so Izuku began to blush, "M-Mei-chan! Phrasing!"

"Come on, Izuku, there's no need to be embarrassed," Mei rolled her eyes.

"But… but what if a potential investor overheard and took offense?" Izuku decided to try a different tactic.

It worked, because Mei shot up like she touched a live current. "Okay, so try to reign myself in while in public. Got it," her tone became deadly serious. "So, for your birthday, I decided to give you the greatest gift of all: the gift of exposure! As the first customer of Hatsume Industries, you'll get to show off my newest… invention to the world!" Mei said, managing to catch herself.

"And what will I be showing off, Mei-chan?"

"These!" Mei said, producing a pair of high-top boots. They were the first shoes he'd been given for a long time that wasn't in the signature red shoe that fit a Quirkless foot.

The company that produced his shoes, Primordial Tech, was one of the few that not only catered to the needs of the Quirkless in this day and age, but was founded, run, and largely staffed by Quirkless people. Of course, the prejudices of the day meant that they were often shut out of the supply chain, hence why they had to make do with limited options, namely that they only had one supplier for their various shoe options and they all came in that same shade of red.

"That's going to change," Mei responded, and once again Izuku facepalmed when he realized that his internal monologue once again became external. "Heard from our girl Momo that Primordial Tech's getting a few new partners after your standoff against Longnose McWidowsPeak. Wasn't even her or her parents' doing, the suits that overheard you realized that there was a market that had unique needs that weren't being considered. And their PR reps realized that if they just waltzed into the arena without acknowledging your one 'for us by us' company, that'd just hurt them. So they'll have more options and a few companies will get some goodwill!"

"That's wonderful!" Izuku said happily. The idea that he, however indirectly, was going to be helping other Quirkless people made his heart soar. He removed his current shoes and tried on the new ones. They fit like a glove, and the soles seemed to elevate him more than his previous ones had. And while they weren't the same uniform red color, there were red highlights, so he felt like he wasn't abandoning his roots by wearing them. "They look and feel great! But they're your babies, so there's no way there isn't more to them…"

"Indeed! Click your heels together twice!" she said expectantly.

Izuku did so and his new shoes expanded. Metal covered his feet and the soles were covered in jagged metal that would grip any surface, mess up anyone he kicked, and ruin hardwood floors. His shins were engulfed in protective greaves that provided protection in both interlocking metal plates and a cushion of protective gel. The plates had some patterns resembling crocodilian scales. They were topped with kneecaps that felt unbelievably solid. He tapped his knuckles on one and the recoil actually stung.

"Behold, my newest creation in foot protection!" Mei cackled with glee. "An improvement on several of my previous babies, this includes a hovering function to provide backup if you have any trouble while flying. In addition to upgraded versions of your original Iron Soles and my Electromagnetic Soles to improve movement. Your feet are now officially lethal weapons!"

"Fantastic!" Izuku stated. "You have a name for them?"

"Yup! These include ALL of my prior shoe babies in there, so I decided to combine your Dad's name with an English word for leg protection. These are your All-I-Gaiters!" Mei said, proudly.

"So THAT'S why there's a scale pattern," Izuku mused. "Mei-chan, I love them! Thank you so much!"

"Another satisfied customer!" Mei grinned. "Now, you've gotta break them in and I've gotta show them off, so let's take a walk around the support companies' displays!"

Part of Fumikage was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"If she was going to stop by now, she would have," Dark Shadow whispered in his head. "I think she's just like us."

"She isn't just like us," Fumikage responded. That much was clear. It was more pronounced now that he was here.

He'd felt the slings and arrows that a heteromorphic individual faced. On top of that, his Quirk's living shadow aesthetic disturbed people, causing some to label him a villain in waiting. He'd undergone his fair share of ostracism from his peers. When several of his peers began to create more wild and dramatic personas, he took to it like a fish to water (or, as some of his old friends would say, like a bird to the sky).

By the time Fumikage was ready to apply for U.A., he was the only one of his friends to still cling to it. For the others, it was a phase, a passing interest. For him, however, finding a way to own his monstrous, dark appearance and Quirk felt empowering. They never denigrated him for it, but they always subtly conveyed that they found his affectations childish.

Which was why Reiko was such a breath of fresh air. Shihai Kuroiro from 1-B was as well, but he spent more time with Reiko, she got him, he could speak to her the way he wished without a piece of him feeling self-conscious about it…

But she wasn't tied to her persona the way he was. She could probably shuck her verbiage and spooky aesthetic with little to no difficulty. Her Quirk had no real heteromorphic traits, and despite her more exotic name, many telekinetic Quirks operated under similar parameters.

In short, there was a chance that she could tell him she had grown up, and thus he should leave her alone. And at this point, his heart wouldn't be able to endure that.

He mused on this while waiting for Reiko after her restroom break. Back home in Japan, there were plenty of people who disapproved of someone who looked like a baseline human being involved with a severe heteromorph, but most were subtle about it. Odd looks and tones of voice were typically the worst he and Reiko would receive if they went on an excursion together. Not to mention, the actions of villain groups like the Creature Rejection Clan made openly disparaging such a pairing socially unacceptable.

Here, among an international crowd? While he was glad no one in a Hero costume outwardly looked at the two of them with disgust and said disparaging things in languages they couldn't understand, plenty of other people did. It hurt when a baseline-looking person acted in that manner. It somehow hurt worse when a heteromorph did.

His thoughts were interrupted when Reiko rejoined him, the two of them silently acknowledging each other. The two of them began walking around when they noticed a table containing Izuku, Tsu, and Eri. They would have left them to their meal, but Eri noticed them, smiled her infectious smile, and waved over to them, "Aunt Reiko! Uncle Fumi!"

Eri would probably end up the most spoiled girl on the planet. They couldn't resist walking over to greet their class representative, one of his paramours, and their foundling, subdued smiles on their faces.

"It is a pleasure to see you, little child of light," Fumikage said to Eri. "How do you fare this day?"

"I'm having a good day, Uncle Fumi! I finished my lunch, so Papa Izuku and Mama Tsu let me have an apple for a snack!" Eri said cheerfully.

"Hooray!" Dark Shadow cried out, appearing from Fumikage's stomach. "That's the best!"

"Yes, Aunt Dark Shadow!" Eri agreed. And once again, Fumikage and Dark Shadow pledged that they would die for this child if it came to it.

"Midoriya-kun, is there perhaps an ill wind blowing on this day?" Reiko asked. "Otherwise, I am uncertain why you would be wearing a scarf…"

Izuku stammered, trying to find the words, before Tsu outright stated, "Ribbit, it's a present. I made it for him, ribbit." And Fumikage took a closer look at the scarf. It was mostly green and blue, depicting lily pads on water, with patterns resembling the wearer's Blackwhip knitted in.

"It's Papa Izuku's birthday!" Eri cheered, causing Izuku to blush.

"Ah," Reiko nodded. "I wish you the best on this auspicious day."

"Your presence has tempered all of us," Fumikage concurred. "And we wish you the best for the rest of the year."

Izuku's eyes watered, but he kept the tears from spilling, "Thank you both so much."

"I assume you are spending your day with each member of your Ennead?" Reiko asked.

There were blank stares, before Tsu asked, "Our what, ribbit?"

"Ah, that's what the two of us call your group," Fumikage said, mildly embarrassed. "We have neglected to tell you that."

"It is a Greco-Egyptian term. It means 'the nine', and is used to refer to the most important deities of the Egyptian pantheon," Reiko explained.

Izuku and Tsu looked at each other, then Tsu put her finger to her chin, "You know, ribbit? It might be easier for our group to have a name. And I like it, ribbit."

"Yeah, it has a nice ring to it," Izuku said. "Maybe we could even create an 'Ennead Agency' or something after we graduate. It sounds nice…"

"We are glad to aid you whichever way we can," Reiko said.

"We'll leave you to your festivities as we stalk the outskirts of these festivities," Fumikage said.

"Bye, Aunt Reiko, bye Uncle Fumi, bye Aunt Dark Shadow!" Eri cheered and waved. "Enjoy your date!"

Both of the spooky members of 1-A stopped dead as they were waving at Eri. They were silent for a bit, then they dashed off. They could hear Eri asking if she said something wrong and her two green-haired parental figures reassured her, but they didn't stop until they were further away, and in an alleyway that was largely out of sight.

"Well, one can expect such musings from a child," Fumikage mumbled, trying not to blush. "Now, I was hoping to see-"

His words were cut off when Reiko grabbed his shoulder, "Tokoyami-kun… is… is it true that you like me?"

Fumikage sputtered, "I… what?"

"Jiro-san overheard you boys talking to each other in the lockers a while back," Reiko said. Her tone was… different. Less verbose, and her voice seemed smaller… "Ashido and Tokage pestered her into broadcasting your conversation and we heard you say you like me…"

Oh… oh, no. His deepest darkest desires were spread to the class at large. How could he ever live it down… She would…

Wait a minute, "That was months ago," Fumikage realized. "You… you didn't say anything to me… you weren't… mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" Reiko asked. "I mean, I never thought anyone would like the creepy ghost girl. I thought maybe you weren't really interested, but you gave the boys a name so you wouldn't be teased? Or maybe Dark Shadow was teasing you…"

Fumikage was flabbergasted, "Yanagi-san…"

"Oh, we're finally having this conversation?!" Dark Shadow popped out, excited. "No, Yanagi-chan, Fumi likes you a whole lot! He thinks you're really pretty and he likes talking to you about all kinds of stuff! I like you a lot, too! You're really nice to me, and fun to be around!"

Fumikage's black feathers were tinged with his luminescent red blush. But, for once, he didn't stop Dark Shadow. He looked at Reiko, who was looking at him in thrilled disbelief, like she could scarcely believe it and was so happy she was hearing it. He sighed, "My shadow speaks the truth, Yanagi-san. I am indeed fond of you."

"Why?" Reiko asked, "I mean, I'm too tall and skinny, and my hair's all stringy and my face looks creepy, and I'm not as strong or as cool as you, and my Quirk's not as awesome or interesting as yours…"

"Yanagi-san, what are you talking about?" Fumikage was shocked at her statement. "You have a wonderfully ethereal beauty to you, you're amazingly powerful, and your Quirk is amazing! You're so strong, and… And you don't have to waste your time on a weird bird boy with a scary talking shadow Quirk like me… But you do, and that makes me really happy."

Now Reiko was blushing like mad, "Wait… you haven't asked me out because you thought you weren't good enough for me ?!"

Before he could respond, Dark Shadow interrupted with, "Fumi's scared 'cause all of our old friends stopped doing the whole dark and creepy thing, and they thought we were weird for keeping it, but it's what makes us happy. And even if we stopped leaning into it, we'd never escape it entirely."

"Tokoyami-kun…" Reiko trailed off, then said. "It… it makes me happy, too. And maybe I look more normal than you do, but I didn't exactly fit in either. This feels right to me. I want to keep it up. And even if I feel like I want to stop in the future, I'd never want you to stop if you didn't want to. It feels right…"

Fumi's heart began to take flight. He stood up straight, and his tone was the one he normally took, "Reiko Yanagi-chan, mistress of the macabre, the way you strike fear into the hearts of villains makes mine beat with reckless abandon. Will you join me as I revel in the darkness?"

Reiko seemed to blink back tears, but she stood up straight as well, and replied, "Fumikage Tokoyami-kun, emissary of the night, I would love nothing more. Let us expunge the world of evil from the shadows, that the populace may revel in the light."

As they clasped their hands and walked into the street, Dark Shadow retreated into Fumikage's body, grumbling, "Finally!"

"That was an experience," Izuku said, a little exhausted.

Momo, from her spot next to him, looked apologetic, "I'm sorry, I had hoped that the VIP section of the Expo would be enjoyable for you…"

"Oh, it absolutely was," Izuku reassured her. "It was just… a lot to deal with. High society isn't something I'm used to…"

Momo pursed her lips and nodded, "I shall have to teach you, along with everyone else. I'll be damned before I let any of my paramours flounder."

"Hey!" came a cheerful voice in their heads as Yui walked towards them, her face as calm and stoic as usual.

When Yui joined them, Momo let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding back, "So, Izu-kun, your next gift is a collaboration between Yui and myself."

"She did most of the heavy lifting, though," Yui said, smirking ever so slightly.

Momo blushed, "Nonsense. You knew exactly how to make this work. I would never have been able to do it without you!"

Izuku smiled warmly, "Don't worry about who gets credit, please."

"To be fair, your full gift from us is waiting back at your apartment. Your mom hid it in a closet," Yui said. "This is just a sample," she held out a wrapped package.

Izuku opened it, excited. The box was completely plain, and he opened it.

Staring back at him, in miniature, was himself.

"I… you made an action figure of me…" Izuku was shocked as he sat down on a nearby bench. He began to inspect what he realized was an incredibly high-quality action figure of himself. It was well articulated. It had swappable accessories, including his new Ultimate Gauntlets and the All-I-Gaiters. There were tendrils of Blackwhip that could attach to his arms, back, and legs. There were Laser Discs that ranged from hand-sized to shield sized. His head could swap out his hood and rebreather mask with his hair, and there were a few swappable faceplates, including one of him with unshed tears and one of him imitating All Might.

"I wasn't too sure about those, but Yui insisted…" Momo blushed as Izuku looked at those faceplates.

"You say that as if you didn't squeal in happiness upon seeing them," Yui teased. "Momo wanted to make them herself, but she didn't know the kinds of things that go into making good action figures. So we collaborated on a whole set."

"... What," Izuku could barely process it as Momo took out a tablet and showed him the pictures. The first was the figure in his possession, alongside one that was in a box made to resemble an actual action figure line.

"Yui is responsible for designing the box art," Momo said. "I've never truly created 2-D art with my Quirk before…"

He scrolled through the gallery. The next was Ochako, rendered in just as much detail as himself. Then Mei, Momo, Tsu, Toru, Melissa, Nejire, and Yui. Then the other fourteen members of Class 1-A, then Mirio and Tamaki, then Eraserhead and Nezu, and, finally, Inko and Eri. The last picture in the gallery was a spread of all of those boxed figures paired together with their unboxed versions.

"The collector's dilemma. Do you open it and pose them the way you want to, or do you keep them in the box and preserve them," Yui shook her head. She was speaking from experience.

"We decided to let you have it both ways."

"I'll admit we went a little overboard," Momo said, blushing lightly.

"This… I can't imagine the time and effort that went into this…" Izuku said, utterly gobsmacked.

"It was good Quirk practice," Momo said. "And once we worked out the basics and had a few test runs, the finished products took very little effort."

"I may have several of the better prototypes in my possession," Yui said smugly.

Izuku placed his gift gently on the bench and took both girls into his arms, shocking them a bit with his forwardness. Izuku cried out of the overwhelming emotion it produced. Momo and Yui simply let the feelings wash over them. Some of it was negative, like the fact that part of him was still astounded that anyone, let alone women as wonderful as them, would go so far for a Deku like him. But those feelings were merely part of the mix, and he was overflowing with joy and thankfulness and validation.

"Soon enough, some company will make figures like these. This will just be a taste of things to come," Momo said firmly.

"Think of this as the most limited run of them all," Yui said.

"How do you girls somehow keep getting more perfect?" Izuku said as he dried his tears.

"Trade secret," Momo said. "I'll take this back to our hotel room, I'm certain you don't want to lose it, and Yui has something she wanted to show you."

"A support company has built a mecha," Yui said hungrily. "They're letting people on a list test drive it. I got our names on that list."

Izuku's eyes bugged out, "Wow. Sold! We'll see you later, Momo-chan!"

Momo smiled as Yui carted Izuku off. Before she left, she chose to look at a different photo gallery she had saved for herself.

While creating these figures, she had thought about providing their boyfriend with a few villain figures, hoping to provide him with some catharsis by allowing him to defeat his foes in plastic effigy. The bond discouraged her from giving him those figurines.

But Yui had kept a set, and it included several figures of antagonists they had fought. It included Tomura Shigaraki, the four Nomus he released at the USJ, Overhaul, and, on a much pettier note, Minoru Mineta and Katsuki Bakugou.

She chuckled as she thumbed through the various tableaus they had created of the nine of them beating several shades of hell out of them.

"Do you have any idea what those sirens were?" Toru asked Izuku when they were on their own. They were mostly window shopping at the Expo's various storefronts.

"I got a text from Toshinori-sensei," Izuku replied. He was carrying two plushies that Toru had given him as his present. One was a green rabbit, resembling the "ears" of his Hero costume. The other was a rainbow colored chameleon, representing herself. He absolutely loved them. "Apparently, that was shortly after he confessed to my mom. And mom… set off the island's flood warning system…" he scratched the back of his head.

"Forget the toe joint," Toru shook her head. "If you could have found a way to weaponize that, no one would have called you Quirkless!"

Izuku laughed, "There are worse Quirks out there."

"I knew a guy in school who had wings coming out of his back, but they were only the size of a normal bird's. Like a pigeon or something. He said it was more uncomfortable than anything else," Toru said.

"One classmate in middle school could just shoot his eyeballs out a bit," Izuku added. "He could pop them out of their sockets and pull them out about thirty centimeters, then the optic nerve would reel them back in like a tape measure."

"Ew," Toru giggled. Then she realized, "Was he one of the guys who gave you shit?"

Izuku scratched his cheek. "I mean, I was kind of at the bottom of the social ladder, so probably? I don't remember him doing anything noteworthy, so I think he was just one of the people who ignored me?"

"Ugh, that's just the worst," Toru grumbled. "Jerks treating you like you're not there… Though, I guess in your case, that wasn't actually the worst you got."

Izuku shivered, "No, it wasn't."

"How did that explody-boy's Quirk actually work, anyway?" Toru asked.

Izuku's history with Bakugou was suddenly unimportant. Izuku had a Quirk to dissect, and he was on full blast, "It's really cool! His hands can sweat out nitroglycerin, and he could produce sparks to detonate it whenever he wanted! It's actually a really neat combination of his parents' Quirks. Mitsuki-ba-san can produce glycerin, which she most often uses to keep her skin moisturized. Masaru-ji-san, meanwhile, sweats nitric acid from his hands. He can't produce it on demand like Katsuki could, nor did he have the ability to spark it, but by rubbing his hands together, he could create minor explosions! He could've easily become a Hero with that Quirk, with the right effort."

Toru froze for a second, "That…" she thought for a second, and telepathically said, "That sounds a Hell of a lot like what Todoroki told us his sperm donor did with his mom…"

"Technically, he only told me, you were spying," Izuku clarified, his tone grateful, but not grateful enough to stop his pedantry.

Toru ignored that, "Bomb-Boy's old man didn't coerce his wife into anything, did he?"

Izuku laughed. Toru seemed incensed, but Izuku said, "Sorry, it's just… Masaru-ji-san is one of the most passive, nonviolent people I've ever met. He never wanted to be a Hero, he doesn't like the idea of fighting people. Mitsuki-ba-san pursued him . I remember Mom telling me she said he was 'too adorably awkward to pass up.'"

Toru chuckled, "Well, a woman after my own heart, I guess…" Izuku blushed at that, causing Toru to laugh again, "Thanks for proving my point. But yeah, that was a lucky combination that the splodey boy got. Though he… oh… oh gods…" and Toru descended into laughter, practically falling over.

"What, Toru-chan? Are you okay? What's so funny?" Izuku asked, his face torn in confusion.

Toru couldn't speak, but luckily, thanks to the bond, she didn't have to, "He probably can't pleasure himself without risking blowing his dick to smithereens! No wonder he was so pissed off all the time!"

Izuku blushed at the crude way she phrased that, stammering for a bit. Then his brain caught up to him and realized that Toru had a point, that was probably a legitimate concern for his former tormentor. And slowly, he began to giggle, and join her in the belly laughs.

This apparently let the vestiges know that they could lower their telepathic walls and reveal that they, too, found the imagery funny as hell and were laughing so hard it threatened to kill them a second time.

The last scheduled part of the day was certainly not the least.

Dinner with Ochako was great, as it always was, but she seemed really nervous throughout. She was a blushing and stuttering mess, the way they both were the first times that Mina and the others insinuated that they were dating.

Finally, Izuku said, "Occhan, you don't need to be so nervous. It's just me."

Ochako nodded, "I know, but this is your first birthday since we've been together, and the other girls are doing so much and I didn't have much to work with and I want to make this special the way you make me feel special and I-"

"So this is what it's like on the other side," Izuku said, interrupting Ochako's stream of consciousness. "Occhan, if you have a plan that you want to follow, I'll do it, but you look so distraught right now that I can't help but be worried…"

Ochako sighed, "All right. W-Well then," she took out a small jewelry box, "Happy birthday, Izu-kun!"

Izuku looked at the small box and its contents. Inside was a ring, gunmetal gray and made of simple steel. There was a laser engraving of his Hero name on the exterior.

"It… it's not much…" Ochako said, "B-but I wanted it to be special. I have one myself." She showed that she indeed had a similar ring, only with her name on it. "It's a promise ring. I know we're too young to actually g-get engaged, but I wanted to show you how s-serious I am about you."

Izuku was flabbergasted, rendered completely speechless, so struck by emotion that he wasn't even forming proper tears. He hoped that he was using their bond to properly convey exactly how much this meant to him. He took a closer look, and the interior was also laser engraved, stating that they were bound on the date of the entrance exam. "I… this is wonderful, Occhan. Where did you get this?"

Ochako's blush somehow increased, "W-well, I asked Mei and Power Loader to make it. And it doesn't look like much, but it's still s-special to us. The rings are steel, but the steel came from… from the Zero Pointer. The one you destroyed the day we met."

Izuku leaned back in his chair, taking in the full force of that. He finally said, "Occhan, this is the best present anyone's ever given me."

"Even One for All?" Ochako said telepathically, still blushing, but now beaming with happiness.

"As much as I'm glad I have this Quirk? Close second," Izuku said. "And before I get any comments, I'm well aware that none of this would have been possible without you, but logic doesn't apply here."

None of the vestiges said anything in response. Apparently, they realized that arguing with a boy in love wasn't a worthwhile pursuit and that rationality had no place here.

At their silence, Izuku began to tear up and said, "You know, if I had a little more self-confidence and a little less shame back then, I'd have proposed that night when I first had you over for dinner."

"There's… there's a good chance I'd have said yes," Ochako muttered.

"Well," Izuku said, putting the ring on his finger, "better late than never."

"I'm so glad that the Expo went off without a hitch, Professor Shield," Izuku bowed to the man at the airport.

David Shield sighed, "You managed it earlier, did you have to backslide like that?"

"Goodbye, Grandpa Dave!" Eri gave David a hug.

"Well, at least one of us made progress," Izuku chuckled.

"I'll come to see you as soon as possible, Dad," Melissa added.

"Nice meeting you, little bro," Star and Stripe said, having New Ordered herself into fluent Japanese earlier. "I trust you'll take good care of Mel, right?"

"I'll go Plus Ultra, Star-nee-san," Izuku somehow managed to say that without having a heart attack. "I've had plenty of shovel talks, I'm aware of how forfeit my life is if I disappoint my girls."

"Bye, Aunt Star!" Eri said, causing Star to struggle not to cause an international incident by taking the girl herself. She settled for a big hug.

"Have fun on the flight home, Eri!" Star replied.

"I will. We went on Grandpa Might's plane on the way here, we're going home in Mama Momo's plane!" Eri said happily.

"Oho?" Star felt a little playful, "How many Mamas do you have again?"

"Eight!" Eri said proudly, naming them and counting them off on her fingers.

Star grinned at Izuku proudly, "You really are my little bro…"

"Eh?" Izuku tilted his head in confusion.

Switching to English, Star replied, "[Another of All Might's disciples with a harem.]"

"[WHAT?!]" Izuku and Melissa cried out.

"[Yeah, my whole squadron and I are dating]" Star said with an enormous grin. "[They're the best. I wish they could have come, but this was technically business and I couldn't scrounge up the right number of invites anyway…]"

"[Oh wow]" Izuku said. "[Well, I wish you the best with them.]"

"[Same here, kiddo]" Star playfully punched Izuku.

"[We're going to have to board…]" Melissa said, clearly stunned by this conversation and wanting to leave it be. "[Talk to you soon!]"

Final goodbyes were said. Now it was back to U.A., and soon enough, the Summer Training camp…