Cathleen Bate doesn't know how she got here.
Well, that's not quite true. It's not like she doesn't remember the trip from her hotel room to the Midoriya apartment—a trip it seems she's made every day for the past two weeks. And after that, she and Ms. Midoriya and Little Midoriya all left together. And she knows how she ended up here. Aaron pulled a fast one on her and she was lucky—so very lucky—to run into Ms. Midoriya not long after arriving in Mustafu.
But Cathleen doesn't know how it's possible for her to be so lucky. How she could have befriended someone as wonderful and kind as Midoriya Inko with such a great kid as Izuku. A few minutes is all the difference it would've been for them never to cross paths.
She adjusts her yukata. It's apparently something Ms. Midoriya borrowed from her friends, the Bakugous. Something with their work in the fashion industry has kept them out of town for a while, so Ms. Midoriya hasn't introduced them yet. That's something that they'll be doing later. It's large enough for her, but Cathleen isn't used to wearing it yet. Ms. Midoriya was polite enough to help her with it earlier.
Street vendors line the roads, selling all sorts of things. From different snack foods or small dishes of yakisoba and okonomiyaki to paper fans and phone charms. The smell wafts just above the hustle and bustle of the other people out and about in all the excitement.
"Takoyaki?" asks Mrs. Midoriya, holding up a small paper platter. She's smiling wide, holding a second set of the snack for herself. Cathleen returns the smile as she accepts the paper boat.
"These look so good!"
"They are!" says Little Midoriya, bouncing beside her. Cathleen feels a twinge of envy that he can jump around like that without knocking his own yukata loose. "The street vendors here are the best!"
"Don't worry, Izuku," Ms. Midoriya says, ruffling her son's hair. "I'll get you some too." Cathleen swallows a bit of the absolutely heavenly takoyaki.
"The fireworks don't start until sundown, right?" she says. It's a bit weird for them to start earlier, but she's anxious. Fireworks Festivals are something she does not want to miss. Ms. Midoriya chuckles.
"Yeah, they start a little after it gets dark."
The plan is to meet up with the Bakugous for dinner in a local restaurant with a good view of the streets. Mostly so Cathleen can watch the people and vendors, since she's still very new to all this. After they've eaten, they'll travel as a group back to the Midoriya apartment. They're on one of the higher floors, and close enough to the beach to see the show. The Mustafu show is launched from a barge just off the coast, so they'll get all the reflections in the ocean too. That's the part Cathleen's most excited for. She's heard only the best things about the effort put into creating firework rockets for these events. Seeing them in person is something she wouldn't miss for the world.
"Try not to spoil your appetite, kid," Cathleen says, popping another takoyaki in her mouth. Izuku levels her with a look, which is hilarious because he's like three feet tall compared to Cathleen's seven, and also because she's big. Not just in terms of height, but she's got a somewhat bulky figure. She grins back down at him.
"You're eating takoyaki," he says. Cathleen snorts.
"And I need to eat a lot."
"I'm a growing boy!" says Izuku, earning a laugh like chimes from Ms. Midoriya.
"It's true," she says. "Izuku's a little black hole. He just keeps eating and eating."
"I remember when I was like that," Cathleen says. "I think it was yesterday." Ms. Midoriya laughs that beautiful ringing laugh again.
"I was worried there for a moment that you'd scare the staff to death."
The three of them make their way down the crowded streets, doing their best not to get in the way of the other festivalgoers, laughing and eating and cheering and playing. They stop a few times when Little Midoriya spots a game he wants to play at one of the street stalls. Ms. Midoriya doesn't let him play all of the games he wants, but it still takes up a good fifteen or twenty minutes. Not that Cathleen minds. She's enjoying just soaking in the festival atmosphere. And Ms. Midoriya looks happy that her son is happy.
The restaurant is more orderly than the Hana Café. More of a diner than a family-owned place. The furniture looks fresher, booths have cushions instead of benches. There's more staff. The building isn't quite so small. Not that that makes it worse than the Hana Café, but Cathleen can't help but notice.
The Bakugous are already there, if the blonde woman waving to Inko is any indication. Her hair is short, but just as wild and spiked as that of the main next to her. Between them is a small fidgeting child. Even at age four, the boy's features are noticeably sharper than Little Midoriya's. He's inherited his mother's hair and eye colors. Blonde and a bright crimson, respectively. Kid has an air to him.
"Inko!" the woman drags the name out. "It's been too long!"
"It has!" Inko laughs, pulling the woman in for a loose hug. After a second or two, they pull apart. "This is Bate Cathleen," Inko nods at Cathleen.
"A pleasure," Cathleen grins with a bow.
"I'm Bakugou Mitsuki, but I'm sure you already knew that," the woman—Mrs. Bakugou—says. She looks Cathleen up and down. "Inko's told us a little about you, but damn," she lightly punches Inko's shoulder, "You didn't mention that she's such a looker!" Ms. Midoriya smiles mischievously.
"I have to keep some secrets," she says with a wink. Ah. So she hasn't mentioned Cathleen's career then. I wonder if Little Bakugou is as observant as Little Midoriya? Not quite, from the look of it. He's scrunching his brow, so he's probably having trouble placing her. Cathleen crouches down and whispers to Izuku.
"Don't tell him. I want to see how long it takes him to figure it out," she says. Little Midoriya giggles.
"Okay, Ms. Bate!" he whispers back.
"Bakugou Masaru," says the man with a smile when Cathleen stands back to her full height. He's cleaning his glasses with a small cloth. "It's nice to meet you." He pats the kid beside him. "This here is our son, Katsuki."
"Nice to meet you both," says Cathleen.
"Well are we gonna stand around introducing ourselves or are we gonna fucking eat?" Mrs. Bakugou says.
The six of them quickly fall into light conversation. Most of it is directed at Cathleen herself, things like where she's from and what's she done on this vacation so far. She answers honestly, but doesn't say anything about her actual career. Little Midoriya is practically bouncing in his seat he's so giddy.
"So, what do you do?" Mrs. Bakugou finally asks.
"I work in security," says Cathleen with a flawless poker face. Beside her, Ms. Midoriya disguises a snort as a sneeze. The Bakugous don't call her on it, at least. "It's going quite well for me."
"I'll bet," Mrs. Bakugou murmurs, eyes not-so-subtly trained on Cathleen's arms where the sleeves aren't covering her muscles.
What with the festival food and street vendors, none of them are particularly in the mood for appetizers. They order quickly, but with the festival crowd, it looks like the food might be a while. That's not too big of a concern. There's still some time before sundown. And the balcony in the Midoriya apartment provides a good vantage point on the fireworks display. Lucky them, not having to pay for reserved seating. Cathleen is a little worried about how well all six of them are going to fit, but it's probably fine.
The conversation keeps the adults occupied. The kids don't look too invested in what they have to say, but Cathleen doesn't blame them. They seem to be talking to each other instead anyway. So hopefully they're enjoying themselves too.
The sun is just starting to dip below the horizon when they finish eating. Mrs. Bakugou pays on their way out, and they set off again for the Midoriya apartment.
Cathleen can't keep the soft smile off her face. She's just having such a good evening. And in the light of sunset, she finds her eyes drawn to Ms. Midoriya. She's bathed in the fading glow of the sun and she's simply breathtaking.
An arm loosely drapes itself over Cathleen's shoulder. Startled, Cathleen turns to find Mrs. Bakugou beside her. Despite the fifteen-inch difference in height between them, Mrs. Bakugou has her arm held high to rest on Cathleen's shoulders.
"So," she says quietly. Conspiratorially. "You and Inko, huh?"
"Eh?"
"Please," scoffs Mrs. Bakugou. "I see the eyes you two keep making at each other. Don't fucking pretend you aren't a thing."
That's ridiculous! They've only known each other for about two weeks! Cathleen is not crushing on Midoriya Inko! Sure, she's nice and takes good care of that adorable little scamp of a son. Sure she's easy on the eyes, especially in the golden twilight haloing her. And yeah, she helped Cathleen with finding dresses that look good on her, and complimented her in those dresses. And she's been looking forward to seeing her each of her visits during this vacation and—
Oh.
Oh no.
Cathleen covers her face with her hands and makes a noise like a malfunctioning washing machine.
"Oh shit, you didn't know?" Mrs. Bakugou says.
"No I did not realize I had developed a crush on a friend I met on vacation two weeks ago!" Cathleen hisses. "I'm a thirty-three-year-old woman! Not some… flighty schoolgirl!"
"Well, judging by those looks Inko keeps throwing you whenever you aren't looking, I'm willing to bet the feeling is mutual." Mrs. Bakugou licks her lips. "Didn't know you were into MIL—"
"Do not!" Cathleen says. Mrs. Bakugou howls with laughter, earning glances from the other four in their little party. It takes all of Cathleen's self-restrain not to turn bright red right there. She briefly considers using New Order on herself just to be safe, but she'd rather not take that risk.
Once everyone goes back to their own conversations, Mrs. Bakugou quietly says, "You really care about her, don't you?"
How does Cathleen answer that? How does she summarize how Ms. Midoriya makes her feel? How she made her feel when she showed her that she can look radiant without sacrificing her strength? How her laughter warms Cathleen? How the kindness she shows her son touches her?
Her silence must be enough, or whatever is written on her face, because Mrs. Bakugou hums knowingly with a look in her eye like she's read Cathleen like a book.
"Thought so," Mrs. Bakugou says. "That already puts you a step above that bastard Hisashi."
"The one who left after Izuku was born?"
"Oh, she told you?" Mrs. Bakugou blinks. "Yeah, that was him. I don't know how, but I'm sure he knew about the pregnancy before Inko and that's why he left. Fucker." After taking a moment to recompose herself, Mrs. Bakugou turns back to Cathleen. "You gonna do anything?"
"Like what?" Cathleen whispers back. "I live on a different continent! It's not fair to start something and then leave in another two weeks!"
"Long distance relationships are a thing," says Mrs. Bakugou. "Masaru and I sometimes have to spend time apart 'cuz the fashion industry's pretty fucking ruthless."
"That's still the same time zone!" says Cathleen. "I'm ahead of here by seventeen hours!"
"Why don't you ask her about that?" Mrs. Bakugou says. "Because if you don't discuss this shit with Inko, then all you're doing is giving excuses. You a coward, Bate?"
Cathleen can't come up with a response to that before Mrs. Bakugou slides her arm off of her and effortlessly joins in the conversation between her husband and Ms. Midoriya. Cathleen says nothing for the rest of the trip back to the Midoriya apartment.
Cathleen can't get the talk with Mrs. Bakugou out of her mind. Nor can she keep the beating of her heart out of her ears every time she sees Ms. Midoriya smiling as she talks with her friends. They're back at the apartment now. Izuku and Little Bakugou are both playing around on the floor with action figures while Cathleen, the Bakugous, and Ms. Midoriya have wine and wait for the show to start. It's getting dark, but there's still a little while left.
And Cathleen cannot focus to save her life! What is she supposed to do with this realization? Not only are there the problems she gave to Mrs. Bakugou, but Cathleen is Star and Stripe! A Pro Hero! A top-ranking Pro Hero! Being in a relationship with Cathleen is dangerous! And they'll hardly be able to see each other! It's not like Heroes earn vacations all the time! Cathleen earned this month mostly by not taking any vacation before now!
And then there's Izuku! He's only ever had Ms. Midoriya. How would he feel about her suddenly having a romantic partner? Would he feel like she's infringing in their dynamic? Resent her? Feel like she's taking all his mom's attention?
Something tugs lightly on her yukata, pulling Cathleen from her spiraling thoughts. She looks down to see Katsuki staring up at her with intense red eyes. Izuku sits a few feet away, still playing with his toys.
"What's your Quirk?" asks Little Bakugou. Cathleen smiles coyly at him.
"That's a government secret," she says. Technically, it's a military secret, but same thing really.
"No it's not!" Katsuki says, rolling his eyes. "Tell me!"
"It is too a secret," she says, smile tugging the tips of her mouth up further.
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Katsuki!" the boy's mother calls. He straightens, looking over at her. Softer, Mrs. Bakugou says, "If she doesn't want to tell you, she doesn't have to. Quirks are personal information." Little Bakugou scoffs.
"Bet it's not as cool as mine!" he says. Katsuki moves like he's trying to shove his hands into his pockets, but his yukata doesn't have any. Realizing his mistake, he scoffs again as he stalks back over to his parents.
"Oh?" says Cathleen. "You've got a cool Quirk?"
"Yeah, it's the coolest!" Little Bakugou says, holding up his palms. His mom swats him lightly on the back of the head, getting more hair than skin. Just enough to get his attention.
"No explosions in Inko's place!" she says. Little Bakugou rolls his eyes but lowers his hands again. Cathleen raises an eyebrow.
"'Explosions?'"
"Uh huh!" Izuku says. "Kacchan's Quirk lets him make explosions from his hands like 'boom' 'pop!' It's so cool!"
"Yeah, it's the strongest Quirk there is!" Katsuki says. "And I'm gonna be the best Hero! Better than All Might!"
"That's a pretty tall order," Cathleen muses. "No Hero has ever come close to being better than All Might."
"I'm not short!" says Little Bakugou, stomping a foot. Ms. Midoriya laughs again and oh no, the tips of Cathleen's ears turn bright red as her heart beats loudly in her chest.
"That's not what she means, Katsuki," Ms. Midoriya says, ruffling Katsuki's wild hair. He puts out his lip petulantly and shakes out his hair with his hands. "She means it will be hard."
"Maybe for the extras, but I'm awesome! It'll be easy for me!" Little Bakugou says.
A loud bang echoes through the night, startling all of them. The six of them look at each other and rush out onto the balcony. The firework star is still hanging in the air, sparks falling slowly.
Cathleen has seen fireworks before. Of course she has. She's American, she sees them every Fourth of July whether she wants to or not. Not to mention any other holidays that inspire people to bring out their own rockets.
But she's never seen fireworks like this.
Red sparks shoot off in all directions, gracefully falling back down into the ocean below, streams of light trailing behind. The ocean waves ripple the reflection, turning the bold lines of the burst into a single vibrant stain.
And then more rockets fire off, joining the first. Brilliant emeralds, sea blues, deep purples, stunning colors of all kinds light up the pitch-black sky. Rockets explode in bursts of color and shapes, some stars, some images, some flower petals in a variety of colors. Some modeled after Heroes and their iconography. There's even an 'I Am Here!' firework.
For an hour, they stand their transfixed at the pyrotechnical painting. Strokes of fire paint the night, the reflections in the waves below only adding to the majesty of the display. But eventually, the show reaches its conclusion. The whistles and pops and bangs stop.
"That was incredible," says Cathleen. "You do that all the time here?"
"Depending on where you are, yeah," Mr. Bakugou shrugs. "There are some places that do shows every day for weeks."
"Those are the places that usually demand our services," Mrs. Bakugou grumbles to her husband. He laughs good-naturedly and pulls her in closer to him.
"Pfft. None of those explosions were as cool as mine!" Katsuki says, but Cathleen can see the wonder in his eyes. Mrs. Bakugou snorts.
"Sure they weren't, you little menace."
It's growing late by this point. Both of the kids are yawning regularly, and none of the adults are far behind them. The Bakugous give a polite goodbye while Cathleen helps Little Midoriya put his toys away.
Soon enough, it's just the Midoriyas and Cathleen herself. She stands on the balcony. Mustafu at night is beautiful. The near-total darkness with lights from the buildings piercing the shadows. It's almost like a painting.
Ms. Midoriya slides the balcony door open and steps out beside her, a simple jacket over her yukata.
"Izuku's just gone to bed," she says quietly. "He put up a brave face, but today really wore him out."
"All the fresh air," says Cathleen. "That's what my parents said about me."
"My parents said the same," Ms. Midoriya says. They stand there in comfortable silence for a few moments.
"I can't believe my vacation is already half over," Cathleen says softly. Ms. Midoriya smile wistfully.
"It's only been two weeks, but it feels longer," she says. "You've really made an impact on Izuku. I can never thank you enough for helping him that day." Cathleen looks at Ms. Midoriya's face, glowing softly in the moonlight as the woman stares out over the city.
"Ms. Midoriya—" she starts.
"Inko."
"Huh?"
"Call me Inko," Ms. Midoriya says, face gentle.
"I—Inko, I—" Cathleen tries to swallow the heart in her throat. The words won't come out. "You can call me Cathleen."
"Thank you, Cathleen," Ms. Midoriya—Inko—says, overstressing the word as she tests it on her tongue. She reaches a hand over, placing it on top of Cathleen's larger hand on the railing.
"Inko?"
"I had… an enlightening talk with Mitsuki," she says. Cathleen stills. "And it made me realize some things…"
"Did you?" squeaks Cathleen, a seven-foot-tall woman covered in muscle. Inko smiles knowingly.
"I had wondered if she had a similar conversation with you. That woman…" Inko shakes her head with a fond sigh. "So, Bate Cathleen… would you like to go out for coffee tomorrow?" Cathleen's brain comes up empty. Her earlier denials scream at her, but those thoughts are muffled by clouds of joy.
"Yes," Cathleen says. "I think I'd like that."
