AN: Thanks for reading and leaving reviews, everyone!
Fortunately for the three students, there were no more sudden revelations and soon they began adjusting to the new normal. Although they thankfully hadn't been pulled into the vestige realm by accident, they all grew comfortable with the fact that something was happening to One For All. And that no matter what was going on, they were caught up in the middle of it.
It was both scary and exciting!
And so while they waited to see what happened next, they returned to their normal routines, enjoying their break with friends and looking toward the next school year.
Well, almost normal. At Izuku's suggestion, they have been sharing food more frequently, to ensure that whatever passive bond was building would continue to grow.
"Something wrong with you Midoriya?" One of the beach cleanup volunteers asked. "Normally you don't leave this early."
"Ehe," Izuku laughed nervously as he rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I've actually got plans this morning!"
"What, like a date or something?" Another volunteer chimed in. "Who's the lucky person?"
"D-date?!" Izuku squeaked out, his cheeks heating up as his mind drifted to his two best friends. His hands quickly shot out in front of him as he waved them defensively. "I-it's nothing like that! There's just… All Might!"
"All Might?" The first one asked curiously.
Izuku deflated as he let out a soft sigh. Well, no use in hiding it.
"The limited edition All Might figure commemorating his 40th anniversary as a hero comes out today! It's gonna be in high demand so I need… want to make sure I'm at the store early so I can get one."
"I didn't know you were an Otaku!" A third voice chimed in.
"How'd you miss it?" The second voice asked. "Half the time he's here he's wearing All Might shirts! And heroes are the only thing he talks about!"
"I guess you're right…"
"Don't worry about us," The first volunteer said as he flexed his arm. "We're almost done anyways and can handle it from here."
"Thank you!" Izuku said, bowing deeply to his fellow volunteers. "I promise I'll stay later tomorrow to make up for it!"
"We'll hold you to that," the third person said with a laugh. "Go on, get out of here."
Bowing a second time, Izuku slowly backed away from the group before he turned around and raced back home. After a quick shower and change of clothes, Izuku grabbed the phone off his desk.
"Geez, they've been busy this morning," Izuku said awkwardly as saw the notification for a dozen unread messages in his group chat. While it made sense that Melissa was up early, it was rare to see Ochako up early on her days off.
Izuku felt himself smiling as he unlocked his phone and pressed the button to bring up the chat.
Melissa: Good luck today Zuku!
Melissa: There's 40,000 figures across Japan, there should be plenty available!
Melissa: But if you luck out, remember I can always use I-Island's prototyping equipment before I come back!
Ochako: Why are you up so early?
Ochako: Oh right. Izuku's action figure.
Melissa: I think it's cute :)
Ochako: That's because you're safe on I-Island! I had to listen to all of his plans yesterday.
Izuku felt panic creeping up his spine as he read Ochako's message. "M-maybe I went a little overboard after all…"
Melissa: I'm sure it wasn't *that* bad.
Ochako: Risa. Have you *met* Izuku?
Melissa: lol, fair point!
Melissa: Also, hi Zuku!
Ochako: Good luck today! I hope you don't have to resort to all those backup plans!
Izuku smiled at the message. Even if the gravity girl was exasperated by his hunt for All Might merch, he knew her support was genuine and that she meant what she said.
Ever since the incident with the vestige realm, Izuku couldn't help but feel more aware of his two best friends. He's spent so much time around them and learned so many things about the two girls, but it feels like ever since that morning he saw them in a new light. The way Melissa's face lit up when she was talking about her support gear or going back to I-Island. The way Ochako looked when she got into her competitive mindset…
Was this what a crush felt like?
He's never really seen anyone that way before. Not with how he was treated at Aldera. He just kept to himself and did his best to avoid dealing with the school bully - the same one that the school turned a blind eye to. And then he met All Might, and his focus has been entirely on becoming a hero…
Except it wasn't, because he still found time to hang out with the other hero fans at school. Even if they mostly spoke between classes and stayed after school, it felt nice to find people who shared his interests. And then there was all the time he spent with Ochako and Melissa.
Izuku sighed as he felt a familiar guilt eating away at him.
"Of course you'd have to crush on both of your best friends," Izuku whined. "They'd be better off dating each other. At least then they wouldn't have to deal with my indecisiveness…"
As he blinked and saw the time in the corner of the phone, he realized he'd been staring at his phone for far too long without responding. With a strangled cry, he sent a simple message thanking them (how original, Izuku!) before shoving his phone into his pocket.
He had to get to the store!
"Stop right there!"
Izuku was dragged out of his thoughts by the voice of Slugger! The local hero who had really stepped up in the wake of Death Arm's retirement.
Looking up, he quickly scanned the streets of Tatooin looking for the hero, and quickly spotted him. There, less than twenty meters away, he was pushing through the crowd chasing after a large muscular man with an almost horse-like face.
"Why don't you make me?!" The man spat back, and Izuku saw him adjusting his grip on something.
Curious, Izuku checked his phone. There was plenty of time to get in line for his All Might figure, he could afford the few minutes it would take to subdue the villain… Hands already reaching for his bag, he joined the growing crowd watching the scene unfold.
From his vantage point, Izuku watched as the hero sped up, closing the distance as he held his arm out and manifested his signature bat in his hand. The villain glanced back and saw the hero approaching before he redoubled his efforts to get away.
It may have worked, too, if he didn't find himself hit in the face with two jets of water.
"Please stop sir, you are only going to make this more difficult on yourself," The hero Backdraft said.
Sputtering in surprise, the criminal slowed down just enough for Slugger to close the gap, hitting the villain square in the chest with his baseball bat.
"Ow!" The criminal cried out as he dropped the purse to clutch his stomach in pain. "That hurt!"
"Serves you right," Slugger replied. "Now are you gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?"
"Why would I make this easy on you?" The criminal growled. "Damned heroes…"
Izuku heard gasps around him as the villain grew larger and larger, causing nearby civilians to flee from his massive form until he towered over the nearby buildings.
Once he grew to his full size he let out an angry roar as he punched a building and knocked the corner off, sending debris falling and forcing Slugger to dodge. Turning around he kicked a park scooter, sending it flying toward Backdraft and forcing him to hide in an alleyway.
But Izuku's attention was elsewhere. There, in the middle of the road, a little boy had tripped and fallen in the chaos of everyone fleeing from the now-giant villain.
Oh no! Izuku grimaced, his eyes darting up to the villain. If he isn't paying attention when the heroes fight back…
By the time Izuku came to a decision he found his body was already moving, carrying him forward to the child. Ignoring the protests from behind him – whether it be an officer or civilian he couldn't tell – he raced forward. Skidding to a stop next to the child, he bent forward and scooped them up into his arms, grabbing the young boy in a bridal carry.
"Got you!" Izuku exclaimed.
He barely had time to straighten himself out when he jumped with a very unheroic yelp from the force of impact as the villain's now-massive shoe landed less than a meter away. Deciding that he'd rather not see what the villain was doing, Izuku held the boy close to his chest as he started running…
…only to suddenly feel something massive collide into his back, knocking him aside as if he weighed nothing.
Both Izuku and the boy screamed as Izuku tightened his grip. Taking a risk he wrapped his arms and back in Full Cowling, hoping that his long-sleeved shirt would hide most of it as felt the ground racing toward him. The air was knocked out of his lungs as he hit the ground, but grit his teeth as he used the momentum to keep rolling forward, carrying himself and the child away from the villain to the best of his ability.
"What the–" The villain looked down in annoyance only to see what he'd done. "Oh– oh no!"
"Lacquered Chain Prison!"
From the rooftop of a nearby building, Kamui Woods announced his arrival as his limbs turned into dozens of branches. They shot forward, taking advantage of the moment of weakness to ensnare the villain, binding his limbs and preventing him from moving.
"I've got you now villain!" The hero announced as he strode towards the edge of the roof. "Give up!"
"I surrender!" The villain exclaimed as he looked at the hero in fear. "I didn't mean to hurt those kids!"
"I'm glad to know you have some morals left," The hero said as he hopped to the ground and watched as the villain shrank to his normal size.
Meanwhile, a dozen meters away Izuku loosened his grip on the boy. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yes," the kid said in an unsteady voice as he looked up at Izuku. "That was–"
"Ren!" A woman called out as she was rushing forward. "Oh thank the kami you're okay!"
"Mom!" The boy's head shot up at the sound. He scrambled off of Izuku, giving him a chance to sit up from his position on the ground. "This guy saved me!"
"I saw!" The woman turned toward Izuku and bowed deeply. "Thank you very much! I don't know what would have happened if you didn't step in!"
"I-it was the least I could do," Izuku said. He tried to put on his best grin. But in practice, he looked as if the woman had pointed a loaded gun at him.
Fifteen minutes later, Izuku sat on a stretcher as he was checked out by paramedics. He had some light bruising and one scrape on his arm that needed to be bandaged, but ultimately his shirt and pants suffered the worst of it.
"You're good to go," The paramedic said as they repacked the medical supplies.
"Thanks," Izuku said softly as he hopped off the stretcher. As he grabbed his bag he stiffened at the sound of his name.
"Izuku Midoriya, is that you?" The hero Slugger asked as he approached.
"Yeah!" Izuku said in too high of a pitch. "That's me!"
"What you did was very brave today, but foolish." The hero crossed his arms and looked down at him. Even though his face was hidden behind a mask, Izuku didn't need to see his eyes to feel his glare. "You could have gotten hurt! Or worse!"
"I'm sorry sir," Izuku said softly. "I just saw Ren out there and acted."
"I get wanting to help, but you entered a live combat zone! If anything went wrong–"
"From where I was standing, if he didn't act that young boy would have died." A high-pitched voice came from behind him.
"And who are you to judge the situation?" The hero asked, spinning around and looking down at the newcomer.
"Am I a dog? A mouse? Or a Bear? It doesn't matter, because I'm the principal of UA!" The bearlike creature announced. "And I'd like to think that watching hundreds of heroes grow up has taught me a thing or two."
"You're UA's principal?!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Indeed I am," He said to Izuku before turning toward Slugger. "Now then, I've administered many tests to students over the years, and one thing we teach our students is situational awareness and on-the-fly analysis. I dare say that if you were my students and this was an exam you three would have failed."
"But! We had the situation under control!" Slugger protested as he found himself on the back foot.
"Then what was your plan to rescue that child?"
"I- but the child is safe, isn't he?" Slugger protested weakly.
"Precisely. Because of this young man here."
Slugger looked like he wanted to protest, but the principal's face was an unreadable mask as he watched the hero with unblinking eyes. Finally, he turned back to Izuku. "Fine, he's right. But next time think about what you're doing - if you weren't so lucky you could have ended up getting hurt. Or worse."
Izuku swallowed nervously as he looked up at the hero. "I understand, I'll keep that in mind."
"Good." Without another word the hero turned and stomped off, leaving Izuku alone with the mysterious creature.
"Thank you," Izuku said, bowing to the creature.
"No need to thank me," The creature said dismissively. "You shouldn't be punished for saving a life, after all!"
"Are you really UA's principal?"
"Indeed I am!" The creature gave a dramatic bow. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Principal Nezu of UA High."
"So cool!" Izuku exclaimed. "I'm gonna apply there next winter!"
"Oh really?" Nezu said mysteriously.
"Mhm," Izuku nodded vigorously. "It's my top school!"
"I'm glad you have such lofty ambitions," The principal replied. "I look forward to seeing you at the entrance exam next year – and perhaps after, if today was anything to go by."
"I won't disappoint you!" Izuku promised.
He reached into his bag for his notebook, hoping for an autograph when he saw his phone, the screen a kaleidoscope of colors as it announced the time.
The store had opened ten minutes ago.
Feeling the blood drain out of his face and acid pool in his stomach, Izuku looked at the principal apologetically. "S-sorry. I'd love to talk more, but I've gotta go. I'm late!"
Izuku's pace finally slowed down as he whipped around the corner and laid his eyes on his favorite hero shop. As his eyes scanned frantically for any signs of a line, he felt his stomach fall.
"I'm too late!"
Taking a moment to steady his breathing, he crossed the street and entered the store anyway, hoping for some sort of miracle.
"Oh, Midoriya," The clerk recognized him instantly as he entered. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Sorry." Izuku sighed as he heard the door close behind him. "I umm… got caught up in a villain attack on the way here."
"I know," the clerk replied, "I heard it on the news as I was setting up this morning. Now let me get your order."
"My… order?"
The clerk gave him a knowing smile before disappearing into the back room, only to emerge with a bag. And poking out of the top of the bag was the limited edition All Might figure. "Now I don't do it all the time, but I've got a special program for heroes where I set aside some limited edition items for them on request. After all, with their schedules they can't really stand in line for hours like you can."
"That's so cool!" Izuku exclaimed before he realized what the man was saying. "But… I'm not a hero?"
"You may not be yet, but this morning you certainly played the part of one." He gave Izuku a warm smile.
"I…" Izuku felt tears building in his eyes as he looked at the clerk. "Thank you!"
A few minutes later Izuku exited the store with his prize in hand. Unable to keep the smile off his face, he pulled his phone out to announce his success… only to see he had another twenty messages waiting for him.
"Ehehehe…"
"Thank you for calling," Melissa told her friends through the video camera.
"Of course!" Ochako smiled back.
"I'm sorry I worried you," Izuku apologized once again.
Melissa chuckled and shook her head as she smiled at him. "It comes with our future careers, remember? Unless you think we're gonna have a video call like this every day when we're older."
"Eh?!" Izuku's face lit up as he processed her implication, before shaking it vigorously. "I mean r-right! We'll just… trust each other. Yeah!"
Melissa laughed lightly until she was betrayed by a yawn. Looking at the corner of her screen, she saw it was almost 1 AM. With a sad sigh, she looked at her friends. "Well, I guess that's my cue to go. See you all in a few days?"
"Yeah!" Izuku said as he recovered. "Good night!"
"Talk to you tomorrow!" Ochako promised.
"Night," Melissa gave her friends one final smile before disconnecting from the call. Wheeling back in her chair, she closed her eyes and stretched her arms before reopening them, her vision locked on her computer where her friends were moments before.
"Of course it happened," Melissa whispered. "It was only a matter of time."
She was in the lab working with her dad to test the next generation of her armored suit when Ochako called to let her know Izuku was on the news! After having a mild panic attack, Melissa quickly found a live stream and watched a replay of the villain attack in which Izuku got involved. She felt a brief bout of fear when she saw the green sparks of One For All dancing along his face. He was lucky he didn't get hit with any vigilantism charges!
But he eventually called and apologized to both of them, saying he was so caught up in the morning's events he just forgot to check his phone. She wanted to be mad, but she couldn't be. Not after everything he went through.
And of course, hours later she couldn't deny the truth. Not only was she crushing on Ochako, but she couldn't deny her crush on Izuku anymore, either.
Except there were several major problems she was facing. The first, and most obvious, was the time on the corner of her computer screen. While she wasn't going to live on I-Island forever, her plans never involved staying in Japan. She was going to be an international hero! Sure, long-distance relationships could work. There were several scientists on the island whose families lived in their home nations, after all, and they periodically traveled to meet them. But those were already established relationships!
Second was the fact that she was going to be graduating years ahead of either of them. She's about to start her second year at UA, and they aren't even out of middle school yet! By the time they get to UA, she'll already be a senior!
Besides… she's seen how Ochako looks at Izuku. No matter how hard the gravity girl would deny it, her feelings are written all over her face when she thinks nobody's looking. And more recently, she couldn't help but notice how Izuku returned those glances with ones of his own. Sure, Izuku may have given her a few similar glances but she's been ignoring them, pretending she wasn't gonna inevitably fall for him but well…
"Congrats Mel," She gave the computer a broken smile. "You're like the dog who keeps chasing cars. Now that you've got a bumper in your mouth you don't know what to do."
She sighed as she turned off her computer. She knew the answer, even if she didn't like it.
"It'd be for the best if I just… let them date each other instead. It's only a matter of time until one of them finally asks the other out." Grabbing a pillow, she let herself collapse onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. "I'm just happy knowing them and being their friend."
Taking off her glasses, she placed them on the nightstand before she turned to her side.
"Besides, I know me. This'll eventually pass and I'll… find someone else."
As she closed her eyes, Melissa tried to ignore the fact that unlike her previous crushes, telling herself those words hurt.
AN: It's been nice spending the week at home, but I'm actually looking forward to going back to school next week. Is that weird? ~SupportGrrl47