5.

Hospitals were easily one of Michael's least favorite spots to visit. The clean, white floor and walls offered no distractions from the sterile monotony. He would go mad in here had it not been for the small TV fixed to the wall in front of him. Midoriya lay unconscious in the hospital bed next to him. The green-haired boy was in much better shape than he had last seen. Scars littered his hands and arms, but they were no longer mangled. A quick look at his own arm showed him that he hadn't gotten out without a scratch either. Multiple lines of scarring ran across and wrapped around his left arm like coils. He traced his fingers across the likely permanent addition to his body and thought of the fight.

The jaws had snapped down on him, and he was sure his bones shattered. All he could think to do was go for the face with his free hand and bite as much as possible. There was no telling how much venom he poured into each dose. Somehow his thrashing brought them both to the ground. From there, the villain started his death-roll, and it was all he could do to go with it in hopes he didn't lose his arm. Without the combat care Yaoyorozu had given, he most likely would have bled out long before the heroes had arrived. By the time rescue had come, he was barely alive from the blood loss and had no recollection of the actual evacuation. He would have to thank her somehow. The creation user was easily the only reason they managed to hold against the wave of goons.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the gentle creak of the door opening. A short elderly woman in a nurse uniform came in with a clipboard and gently shut the door behind her. "You two are making a bad habit of visiting me like this. You're both far too young to have to endure these kinds of injuries, and I'm too old for my heart to handle seeing it." She said as she walked to Midoriya and kissed his forehead.

Midoriya shifted in his bed and mumbled something before settling back in. The lightest of the scars and remaining bruises faded away into nothing. The deeper scars had remained, and the boy jerked awake, panting and looking around the room. Michael gave him a slow wave and said, "Welcome back to the land of the living, Midoriya. How'd you sleep?"

The green-haired boy took a minute to take in his surroundings and looked to Michael. "Uhh. I slept fine, but I'm really sore. Hey, what happened to your arm? Are you okay?" He asked with a worried look in his emerald green eyes.

"I'm alright. Just my shoulder is making a funny clicking noise when I do this." He said as he raised his arm all the way up with a barely audible pop.

"Is Aizawa sensei okay? Thirteen? What about everyone else?" The boy asked in near panic at the thought of his classmates being hurt.

"Calm down, son. Aizawa and Thirteen are in critical care but are alive and stable. You'll also be happy to know that the two of you are directly responsible for the well-being of your fellow classmates. Your classmate's reports on the situation directly mention the both of you doing all you can to protect each other despite sustaining serious injuries. Which is why I'm not too upset at having to fix you up this time." Recovery Girl said with a sad smile.

She took the time to scribble on her clipboard and sighed heavily as she tore two pages off. "You are both cleared to head home and report to your respective classes tomorrow. Your clothes and possessions are in the drawer. Please let this be the last time you visit me for a while." Were her words as she left the room shaking her head.

"So, where do you stay? We might can walk and talk a bit about all that." Farron said as he stood up out of bed and grabbed his things.

"Um, yeah, okay. I live in the Musutafu area. It's a fairly short walk from here." Said Midoriya as Farron handed him his things.

Pulling out his phone, he rolled his eyes at the dead battery icon. The two took turns using the restroom to get dressed and walked out of the hospital in silence. It was a few minutes before either had said a word. Taking a look at the boy with green hair, Michael finally broke the silence. "I saw you before I was put all the way under. What happened that made you look like that?"

"Well, there was this huge thing called a Nomu. It was killing Aizawa sensei, and Shigaraki was coming for Tsuyu. Despite his injuries, Aizawa had disabled his quirk, and I acted before I could really think. My body couldn't handle it." he answered as he kept his head down.

"If the entrance exam was an indicator, then I'm willing to bet that it's not the first time it's happened. Am I right?" He asked.

"Uh. Well, yeah, I guess so. I had to do something, though. I couldn't let Shigaraki do that to her."

The two walked in silence for a few moments before Michael grabbed Midoriya's shoulder and stopped him. Cold steel slits stared deep into warm emerald oceans until Farron's stare slowly morphed into a grin. "You are something else, man. Insane most likely, but I'm glad you use it for good." The taller boy said with a hearty smack to Midoriya's back.

The two continued their walk, both with smiles on their faces. "Well, what about you, Farron? I couldn't help but notice those scars on your arm are fresh." Izuku said with a curious gleam in his eye.

"I did the same as you. The fucks had us surrounded, and I had to make a choice. Either take control of the situation and do what I could, or panic and be taken control of. I got lucky with who was warped with me, though. Yaoyorozu has unlimited utility, Jiro is a natural at crowd control, and Kaminari has a powerful and hard to counter quirk. If anything, it was me who put us in the most danger." He said with an aggravated sigh.

"What do you mean?"

"I had been running front-line defense to keep as many away from them as possible. They did a great job of taking down any that got past but still. One big bastard managed to get me real good, and even though I won, I made a mistake in the most critical moments. It took Yaoyorozu out of the fight to care for me and left us at half power. We got lucky." He explained as he rubbed the newest additions to his body.

"Maybe, but who knows what would've happened if they had to face who you did." Midoriya said in hopes of consoling him.

"Give your classmates more credit. They would've made it one way or another." Farron said with a laugh.

Midoriya gave a soft laugh and looked up to see a road sign. "This is uh, This is my street."

Michael read the sign and committed it to memory. Apartments lined the road, and Midoriya had started walking down it before turning to face him and saying, "Thank you for keeping me company and our classmates safe. I hope you make it into the Hero course, Farron."

"Your classmates, Midoriya. I still have a little ways to go before that. Oh, and call me Michael." He said as he waved to the boy.

"Oh, uh, well then. Thank you. You can call me Izuku then. I'll see you tomorrow, Michael." He said before he ran to an apartment.

Memorizing which apartment, Michael continued back down the road to his house.

He walked the mile in silence. The setting sun burned the sky a mix of dark reds and purples as he walked. He stopped in front of his small house and checked the mailbox. It was empty as always, but old habits had made sure he checked it anytime he was near it. His parents were fond of online shopping, and they had eventually gotten him in the habit of checking it repeatedly over time. He wasn't sure why this was one of the only habits he didn't shake when they passed. Shaking his head, he made his way inside. The house was pitch black as usual. The lights worked just fine, but he just preferred to keep what he could off. It saved on his electric bill too.

Plugging his phone into its charger, he began the process of making coffee. Shigaraki would need to answer for a few things, and he wasn't sleeping until he got them. A french roast would be his choice for tonight. A button press was the last thing he did before walking over to his phone and hitting the power button. This time, the phone chimed as it began its startup process. The smell of coffee began spreading through the house, and finally, his lock screen came up. Typing it in, he was immediately blasted with a barrage of notification sounds. Mina and three unknown numbers had sent him messages throughout the day. Tapping on Mina's number, he read the message to himself. "Michael, Omg. Please call or text me when you get this! Idc what time just please let me know you're ok."

He smiled at the words and decided to call before he contacted Kurogiri. The first unknown number's text read, "Hey man, it's Kaminari. Ashido gave me your number, and I just wanted to thank you for saving our asses today. I owe you, one dude."

The second number read, "Hey Farron, it's Jiro. I got Ashido to give Yaoyorozu and me your number. We really appreciate what you did out there in the USJ today, especially with that creep at the end. Hopefully, we'll see you in the hero course soon."

He didn't notice the small smile that was slowly growing on him as he tapped the final unknown number. "Good afternoon, Farron. This is Yaoyorozu. Ashido was kind enough to give your number to Jiro and I. I wanted to thank you for all your help today in the USJ. You know how to take charge of a bad situation, and I look forward to working with you in the future. If you should ever need something, then please just ask."

He reread the messages a few times and was only interrupted when his coffee machine beeped. He swiped back over to Mina's number and let his thumb hover over the call button. A look at the time let him know it wasn't too late, and he finally relented and pressed it. He fixed his coffee as it rang, and after only three rings, he heard her voice say, "Michael?"

"Hey, what's up, Mina?"

"Oh my god, are you okay? Yaoyorozu and Jiro told me what happened, and I saw you get carried out on a stretcher. You were covered in blood, and your arm was a mess."

His new scars began to itch at the mention of them, and he finished making his cup before saying, "I'm fine. Just got a few small scars to show for it. Are you okay? I never got to see where you ended up."

"The portal guy didn't get me, Uraraka, Shoji, and a few others. We all worked together to get Lida a way out to warn the school." She said with a shaky voice.

Michael set his coffee down and furrowed his brow. "Mina, are you okay?"

"Thirteen… Thirteen tried to stop him, and he opened some portals. Her black hole was used against her, and it almost killed her. All I could do was sit there and watch, Michael. It took watching Thirteen almost die for us to do anything, and it took all of us to subdue one villain." She said, now sobbing over the phone.

Michael dumped his coffee in the sink and made his way to the door. "I'm coming over."

"What?"

"I'm coming over there now." He said, slamming the door behind him and stepping out into the cool darkness.

The wind had picked up as he jogged down the road. He had vaulted the gate and started walking to her door when it opened. The light coming from inside silhouetted her but failed to hide the tears in her eyes. She stepped outside and off the porch when he finally got within arm's reach and brought her into a tight hug. Warm tears began to seep into the front of his hoodie as she cried into his chest. The two stood locked together in the dark, and she slowly calmed herself down, and he gently rubbed her back. She finally took in a deep breath and looked up to meet his eyes. Silver and gold locked onto each other before she finally said, "Sorry about getting your hoodie all icky."

"Like I give a damn about the hoodie. I'm worried about you."

"Why?"

"You needed help."

She looked down to hide the blush before wiping her tears off with her shirt. "It's getting cold out. Do you wanna come inside or something? My mom made tempura, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind a guest." She said as she gestured to the still-open door.

He wanted to decline at first, but he relented and said, "Yeah, sure. I love tempura."

The two broke apart, and she guided him inside before stopping at the door. Taking a breath, she called out to her mom, saying, "Hey, mom! We got a friend of mine visiting. Is that okay?"

A few seconds passed in awkward silence until they heard an answer come from inside. "Sure, hon. I'll make an extra plate. Bring them on in!"

Slipping out of his boots, he walked behind her as she made her way around to a dining room. A table was set with five plates, and three had people seated behind them. One was a tall, broad man with curled horns on either side of his head. He seemed surprised to see Michael walk in. A much shorter woman sat next to him and had very light pink skin with black hair. Finally, a little boy with three horns on his head looked at him and Mina with a devilish smile. Michael quickly gave a low bow and said, "Good evening. My name is Michael Farron, and I'm a fellow student of your daughter at U.A."

"Hi, I'm Mina's mother, Aiya Ashido. My husband is Rei Ashido, and our little boy is Kaori Ashido. It's nice to meet you. Please take a seat." She said as she gestured to the two open seats next to each other.

With a quick nod, he made his way to a chair and pulled it out for her. It took him only a moment to realize the implications of his gesture, and he fought back the mild embarrassment. Taking her seat, the cold-blooded boy gently scooted her in and sat down on his own. "Thank you for having me here tonight." He said, looking at both adults.

Switching from forks and spoons to chopsticks was as easy as switching his visions, having grown up with using both. "Well, you're certainly welcome. It's good to see our little girl is making… friends?" Ms. Ashido said with uncertainty that didn't go unnoticed by the two students.

"Friends, mom. Just friends." Mina said quickly, trying to defuse the situation.

Rei didn't seem convinced, and Kaori simply grinned as they all began to eat. It was only silent for a few seconds when he asked, "Farron, I can't help but notice you look foreign and carry an accent, but your Japanese is perfect. I don't mean to be rude, but why is that?"

"Parents were both in the United States Marine Corps. They happened to be on deployment when I was born, so I hold dual citizenship. Mom loved it here, so my life was split between living here and back in the states." He explained before popping some fish in his mouth.

The lightly fried breading enhanced the taste, and he internally sighed at the flavor as he slowly chewed. "So I take it that you're in the hero course with our daughter then?" Mina's mother asked politely.

"No, not yet, at least. I'm currently in the General Studies course, but I'm working on transferring into the hero track."

"Well, from what she's told us, you did a great job for someone not in that class. So what's your quirk?"

"Well, it's called Cottonmouth. It mainly has all the snake's abilities it's named for, but it takes certain things from other snakes too. The main perks are the active camouflage, thermal vision, and venom production, but there are some other bits to it." Michael said as he made a point to yawn, showing off his white mouth and fangs.

"Well, how aren't you in the hero course with a quirk like that?" Asked Rei.

Shrugging, Michael said, "Robots the size of a small house don't exactly care about venom. It was just a test with no way for me to do well in."

The family and guest finished their meals in relative silence from there. Only a few comments about mundane topics were heard as they continued eating. Mina had been silent the entire meal. Michael helped gather up the dishes and was going to help wash them when Aiya stopped him by the sink and asked, "Do you like her?"

Taken aback by the blunt question, he took a moment to think. "As a friend, yes, as something more… I think so."

"Hmm. You know she's been worried sick all day about what happened. Honestly, we thought she was inviting Toru." The woman explained as she calmly cleaned each dish I caught sneaking glances at you the entire meal. I won't interfere with whatever relationship you two have, but I expect you to be honest with her about how you feel."

"I'm not going to hurt her if that's what you're worried about."

"Good. Now you should probably go talk to her. She's been waiting all day, and any longer wouldn't be fair to her. Last door on the right." She said as she pointed out the kitchen.

He nodded and wordlessly made his way down the hall. Stepping in front of the door, he raised his fist and hesitated. He knew a relationship with her outside of school would make his job that much more complicated, and the stakes were potentially lethal. He had to make a choice. Play both sides of hero and villain, keeping her and her class safe and happy while actively helping the league. His other option was to walk away and play it safe, shutting out his personal feelings and maybe a shot at something more. He stood frozen in his indecision. Doubt and worry clouded his mind as he weighed the options in his head. Finally, he decided by gently knocking on the door. A few tense moments passed before he heard Ashido say, "Come in."

He opened her door and was surprised to see how her room looked. The walls, ceiling, and the carpet on the floor were all pink with black trim at the corners. A few horror movie posters decorated the walls, and LED lights hung from the ceiling, casting a golden glow through the room. Finally, his eyes fell on her, sitting on her bed with her knees tucked in and hiding her face. "Hey." He said as softly as he could.

"Hey." was her answer as she stole a peek at him.

"Can we talk a bit?"

The girl simply patted the spot next to her on the bed, and he slowly made his way over. He sat down and instantly felt how fuzzy the black covers were in his hands as he got situated. Uncertainty crept into his mind again before he said, "Your parents seem nice."

"Yeah."

"Your mother and I talked a bit in the kitchen." He said before being met with silence from the girl.

"She told me that you've been worried sick ever since you got back from the USJ. So what is it that you're so worried about?"

Mina sat quietly before answering a soft, sad voice, "I'm no hero, Michael. I already told you how it took watching Thirteen almost die before I did anything. I already told you that all of us that weren't scattered were barely able to just hold him."

"That's not your fault."

"How!" She almost yelled.

"You still did something when most anyone else would've been frozen. I'm willing to bet Thirteen told you to let her handle it, and when she failed, it took time to process that it was your turn to be heroes." He said calmly as Mina now stared at him with narrowed eyes.

"That still doesn't change how we all barely won against that thing." She said bitterly.

"Was that your first time working together as a group?"

She looked at him in silence before nodding her head. "Then what makes you think that you'd all be working seamlessly together?"

"Fine, then what about everyone who was scattered? There is no telling what they had gone through, and none of us were there to help them." She said with tears threatening to spill from her black eyes. He couldn't help but notice her eyes shimmering like black diamonds and the dim golden light that reflected off them.

"That's something you had no control over."

"That doesn't matter. I heard the stories from them, and then I heard what happened at the mountain zone. I heard what happened to you and what that bastard threatened Yaoyozoro and Jiro with! How he used Kaminari as a hostage! How you, beat him down with a baton! All I saw at the end of that nightmare was you and Midoriya in stretchers, half dead and dying as I could only stand back and watch."

Mina was completely in tears as Michael pulled her in close and let her cry into his shoulder. Michael waited until her breathing started to even out before asking, "Why were you so worried about me?"

The silence was only broken by the occasional sniffle as she sat beside him. Her head rested on his shoulder, and she'd dry her eyes with her sleeve every so often.

"Why are you so worried about me now?" asked Mina, as she held back more tears.

It was his turn to sit quietly before wrapping an arm around her side. "I just… I like you a lot, and seeing you like this bothers the fuck outta me. So… here I am, I guess." He said as he looked away from her in embarrassment.

Mina shifted in her spot, putting him in a tight hug and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "Good. I kinda like you a lot too." She said as she readjusted her hug.

"You're gonna be a great hero one day, Mina."

"So will you, Michael."

The boy turned and returned the hug with both arms. They sat quietly, hugging one another in the dim golden light of the LED strips hanging from the ceiling. The two had sat there for what seemed like hours when he noticed her softly snoring. Slipping out her grasp, he gently set her down and slid the covers over her. Padding over to the door, he switched off the golden lights and left the room in darkness. The lights throughout the house were off except for one in the living room. Rei Ashido was sitting with a newspaper in hand on a leather recliner. He merely shifted his black eyes up before saying, "I thought you may be staying the night. I was actually about to give up and turn in for the night."

"Tomorrow is a school day. We both have a lot we're working towards, and it's a bit early for all that." Michael answered.

A brow raised as he set the newspaper aside and focused entirely on the boy. "So you are dating then?"

"We are now."

"I have a few American coworkers. The ones that have daughters back home all tell me the same thing. If the boy should hurt their daughter, then a shotgun or such is always the father's weapon of choice. However, I couldn't and wouldn't need to resort to that. Do you know why?"

Michael narrowed his eyes at the man before relenting and asking, "Why?"

"My daughter's quirk is Acid. I wouldn't even need to help hide a body."

The two stared in a silent deadlock before they both started chuckling. They calmed down a few moments later, and all was quiet again before the father said, "Have a goodnight, son."

"I'll try. You have a goodnight as well." He said as he slid his boots on and stepped outside.

The wind had picked up, and Michael shivered as the chill bit through his hoodie. Shoving his hands in his pockets and swapping to his thermals, he jogged back to his house. Stepping inside, he found his phone still on charge and the coffee cold in the pot. A quick glance at the clock revealed it was only a quarter until midnight.

At this point, he wouldn't be sleeping if he insisted on confronting Shigaraki. He cursed and set his alarm for tomorrow as he undressed in the dark. Tomorrow, he said to himself as he laid down. The day had taken more out of him than he thought as he had passed out before a minute had passed.