Just an edit I need to talk about.

Omake is for fun. Turns out, tacos are still goated.


Alright, so, this isn't bad news. Things are still okay for this story, but I felt like I didn't want to move forward without doing some edits for chapters 6 and 7. After getting a bit of criticism that I agreed with, I wanted to rewrite some of the chapters for it to be in line with the way I want to go forward with the story. Details of the edits are in the notes for each chapter, but chapter 6's is the bigger of the two. Rewriting it was a bit difficult and I procrastinated quite a bit with it, but I think what I have out now is serviceable and let's me move forward with the story.

Speaking of stories, I procrastinated editing the chapters here and ended up writing like 35k words for a story concept...ya know, like a complete dingus. I really only intended to write a little bit, but I ended up getting a surge of inspiration and energy for it...so now I have a new story that'll be getting updated regularly for like 5 or 6 chapters (basically until what I have written runs out). It's a fic about Kaminari getting help from FemIzu, using her quirk analysis and support items to help train him to become a powerhouse of 1-A. Along the way, things are going to get a bit spicy, smutty, and all that fun stuff. So if Kaminari/FemIzu is your jam and you like the concept, feel free to check it out! It's called Taming Lighting and it'll be on my AO3 profile. It's an explicit story, even if the smut won't start until chapter 5. If y'all are of age and want to read it, my AO3 profile name is 'TheForsakenRaven'.

HHDM is still going to be my main focus going forward, but I'll be updating Taming Lighting infrequently...probably from bouts of procrastination for HHDM...anyways, sorry if you were expecting a chapter update here! I wrote an Omake to, hopefully, appease y'all. I hope y'all enjoy it!


Omake

After a long day of taking care of the household, Taiki retires to his room for the evening. He manages to sit back with a gruff grumble of relief on his desk chair, cracking his aching back. He feels a small bit of light-headedness, most likely because he had skipped dinner and lunch to work to make sure some issues around the house were taken care of…He certainly isn't a young man anymore, he should really avoid skipping meals.

He's rather glad he isn't a young man anymore. He doesn't know if he could go through any more wars again, he doesn't know if he could go through losing so many of his friends again. His gaze turns to the photo on his desk as he looks back on the bittersweet memories. The photo is of him and other members of his squadron, all in fatigues and smiling like idiots…like they could conquer the world with enough time and elbow grease.

Fools.

Absolute fools.

The bitter smile that comes to his face is noticeably soft, the memories having been softened with age. It doesn't hurt as much as it used to, so he can relive some of the memories with joy in his heart, especially the borderline abusive pranks they put each other through.

They really were a bunch of idiots and he includes himself in that categorization.

He still remembers the salsa prank Gomez put Schwartz through…Schwartz was breathing fire for days after all was said and done. He's pretty sure Schwartz never ate Latin food after that whole fiasco.

Hell, he still has the scars from when Schwartz stuffed a lit firecracker down the back of his shirt.

Bastard.

A knock at his door stirs him from his memories, making him sit up straighter as he calls for the person to come in.

Izumi opens the door, a warm smile adorning her face as she rolls in a metal cart with a dinner plate covered with a cloche to keep whatever food resides under it warm.

"Hi, Mr. Taiki!"

A soft smile comes to Taiki's face as the young dragon comes into his room, "Why hello there, Young Miss. What can I help you with?"

Taiki is rather curious why she has a meal cart with her, but maybe she just wants to eat with him. He doesn't think much of it until Izumi starts explaining.

Gaining a bit of a shy look, Izumi can't help but feel a little nervous…I mean, sure, she made Momo happy with tacos, but would Taiki like the tacos? Mr. Ichigo had reassured her quite profusely and even gave her a weapon to make sure Taiki accepts the tacos.

A weapon, not a blade or gun or anything like that.

Weaponized adorableness…while he hadn't explained exactly how it works, Mr. Taiki just told Izumi to make sure he eats his dinner because he skipped out on two meals today!

Izumi couldn't help but become rather concerned after that, so she and Mr. Ichigo made some more tacos together to give to Taiki…further than that, Izumi wanted to thank Mr. Taiki for his help…well, with a lot of things. He'd helped her through her panic attacks, helped her move the stuff out of her old room, even tried to help her get a therapist…even if that last one went rather poorly. Most of all, she wants to thank him for being so kind to her.

"W-Well…I, uh…M-Mr. Taiki, I w-wanted to say t-thank you for being s-so nice to me and helping me and you works so hard that I just wanted to make sure you're eating and Mr. Ichigo said you skipped out on some meals today and…"

She hadn't known when she started muttering, but Taiki's hands are motioning at her to calm down.

A soft chuckle escapes his lips before saying, "A bit slower, Young Miss, but I believe I have the premise of what you're saying. You didn't need to do this for me, young one."

"B-but I wanted to! E-Even Mr. Ichigo agrees t-that you shouldn't s-skip meals and h-he says that y-you wouldn't t-turn down the t-tacos I helped to m-make, so here!"

Izumi manages to fumble her way through her explanation before pulling up the cloche and revealing the plate of three freshly made tacos with the milder of the two salsas on the side.

Tacos, huh?

Taiki can't help the old smile that adorns his face, showing the wither behind his gentle aging. Izumi isn't sure what to think of a tired smile like that, but she doesn't get the chance to follow up on it.

The smell hits his nose and he can't help but be warmed by the potent memories that soothe his old body…it'd be so long since he last had a taco, "Thank you, young Miss. This is very kind of you. I'm sure that it'll be delicious if they're made with love."

"They are!" Izumi nearly shouts out, nodding her head at a rapid pace with a blinding smile on her face.

That damn chef…he already knows that Taiki can't say no to the adorable dragon girl.

Izumi, gently, carefully, with great focus, picks up the plate quite gingerly, being sure to not break the plate and cause a big mess. She sets the plate down on Taiki's desk before doing the same with a glass of water.

"There y-you go, Mr. Taiki! M-Make sure t-to eat it all, p-please!"

With a rather sloppy, but still quite adorable bow, the young dragon girl makes her exit before closing his door…and accidentally putting a crack in his door from the accidental force she puts into her arms.

Taiki can hear a soft 'oops' from the other side of the door, sighing before quickly calling out for the dragon girl to not worry about it.

With silence reigning supreme once more, he looks at the tacos with a pondering look, becoming lost once more in his memories. Sighing from the stress of the day and this whole new layer of emotional complexity to deal with, he decides to dig into his meal. He gives a quiet 'Itadakimasu' before dripping a small bit of salsa over one taco.

The first bite he takes opens up a sea of color to his old memories, giving them a newer look as he slowly digs in. He…it's like he can hear their voices still and he can't help the few tears that come to his face from the restoration of his older memories from a lifetime ago. He sniffs a few times, but even he can't tell if it's from the gentle heat of the salsa making his nose run or the tears that gently flow down his face.

These are tacos, made with love and care…just like Greg Gomez would often make for their squadron, tacos that he'd never get to taste again. While the taste wasn't the exact same, everything else was…everything it represented just sings to the right part of his mind, his memories.

Dumb bastard he was, that Gomez...his old best friend, taken entirely too early.


Hope you liked Taiki getting tacos, he deserves them too!

Still expect the new chapter around November fourth (11/4), but I'll update this end note if I end up needing more time.

See y'all next time. Stay Hydrated!