A/N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry I took so long to update this story again. I've finally finished my second year of Uni and I can start focusing on writing here again. I've been working on my book in my free time since I've neglected it for a fair while through 2020-21. Thank you all for your patients, I really do appreciate it!
Toga stared absently up at the sky, laying across a wooden bench at the rear side of the teacher's dorm. With a sigh, the blonde-haired girl pulled her pigtails over her eyes and slumped her head back over the arm of the bench.
The days felt unfathomably long now that Izuku wasn't here, not that she had much experience in his company beforehand. She just wanted to spend time with him, every minute of every day. She loved his smell; so sweet and comforting.
"Good morning, young Toga." The booming voice of All Might met her ears. Dropping her arms to her sides she looks up at the smiling pro-hero.
"Mornin'." She grumbled in a bored tone, looking past him and up at the puffy white clouds again.
"How is the collar? I hope it is not too tight." He said kindly.
"It's fine. Looks kinda cool." She said, bringing her hand up to feel the collar around her neck.
"That's good to hear. I am surprised to see you out here so early, is everything alright?" He asked, walking out from the back door and sitting on the patio tiles in front of her, looking up to the clouds.
"Mmhm." She hummed. "I want Midoriya back." She stated simply.
"Oh?" All Might asked curiously. "You seem very interested in young Midoriya... Might I ask why?" He queried.
"I love him. He's perfect." She muttered, a beaming smile tracing its way onto her face. All Might raised his eyebrows in response, slowly nodding and looking back up at the clouds.
"What are you gonna do about the Big Man coming back tonight?" Toga responded, kicking her legs thoughtfully.
"I do not know..." The pro said, his smile falling a little.
"He's not as strong as before." The blonde girl informed him. All Might nodded, but the information she'd shared didn't seem to reassure him at all.
"Anyway!" He started suddenly, the smile returning to his face. "I am glad everything is to you're liking so far. I appreciate you letting us know about the League." He said kindly. Toga fired a quick smile at him, before staring back up at the clouds.
"Don't mention it." She replied. She was glad she didn't show it, but she could barely hold back her excitement inside. She was able to talk face to face with the number one hero! It was a dream of hers since childhood. He knew if she got too excited, they would probably panic since she's a former villain.
It was painful to think that she'd earned such a title for herself. Then again, when people feel like they've got nothing left, they usually go to extremes, and she was merely a victim of those circumstances. She didn't expect any forgiveness though, for the things she did when she was a villain, and those thoughts would never leave her, even though not many people knew who she was before, during, and after that stage of her life.
"Oh, by the way, Mr Cementos wanted me to come and ask you if you wanted to go to the supermarket with Ms Midnight and himself." The hulking man smiled.
"Wait, can I really go?" Toga asked, sitting bolt upright with childish excitement awakening in her stomach. It'd been a long time since she'd last gone somewhere like a Supermarket.
"Of course. You can go anywhere as long as you have a teacher with you." He replied.
"Awesome! I'll go!" She beamed, jumping up from the bench and quickly rushing inside. Immediately she saw Cementos and Midnight standing by the front door. Midnight had some bags for life folded under her arm and car keys in her hand with Cementos standing by the door.
"Oh, Toga, you've decided to join us?" Cementos asked with a kind smile.
"Yes! Please!" She beamed, skipping over to the two pros.
"Jolly good. Shall we then, Ms Midnight?" The Cement Quirk user smiled, opening the door and holding it for the two women.
"Come along." She smiled over at Toga, and the three of them started out of the dorm building towards the group of five cars parked outside the teacher's dorm.
"Thanks for letting me come with you. I've not been to a supermarket in a long time..." Toga giggled.
"Don't mention it." Midnight grinned.
It was such an amazing feeling, being treated like a normal girl for once. Her whole life she'd been alienated for how she was as a child, and she'd alienated herself for choosing such a poor path before now. Finally, though, she was free from those shackles, and she could genuinely smile again.
As soon as Midnight had unlocked the car, Toga rushed into the backseat on the side closest to her, strapping in and getting herself comfortable before the two U.A teachers even had a chance to get close. If only Izuku were here too, that would make this little trip so much more worth it.
"Mina!" Izuku called up the stairs.
"Whaaaaaaat?" Mina sang back.
"Have I left anything in your room? I don't want to forget anything." He asked as Fumika walked into the hallway with her handbag and her car keys in hand.
"What's it matter, this isn't the last time you're gonna be here!" She yelled. "But no, you haven't." She added, lowering her voice a little as she headed down the stairs, swinging her stuffed backpack onto her shoulder.
"Ready?" Fumika asked as Mina hopped down the last few stairs and landed heavily at Izuku's side.
"Pretty sure..." She sighed, dragging her shoes out from the shoe rack and haphazardly shoving her feet into them.
"You goin' now?" Arata asked from the living room, before a gruff grunt met their ears and he strode out into the hall to join them.
"I'll see you later then, Mr Midoriya." The large man smirked, holding out his dustbin lid sized hand to shake Izuku's again.
"Thank you for having me, Sir." Izuku replied, bowing deeply before accepting the handshake.
"HAHAHA! Sir, he says." Arata laughed, patting Fumika's arm playfully before turning and walking back into the living room.
"Oh, have fun honey, just be safe." Arata perked up again, looking out of the doorway and winking at her.
"Dad!" - "Arata!" Both Fumika and Mina exclaimed at the same time, staring at the man with shock-horror on their faces.
"What, she's growing up, honey, it'll happen eventually." He said with a surprised look on his face.
"Not yet she is not! Christ..." Fumika hissed at him, before she turned to Mina and Izuku.
Mina was a bright shade of magenta, looking between her parents, whilst Izuku stood simply staring at them.
"Am I missing something? I don't understand..." He muttered, looking over at Mina.
"No! N-No, don't worry about it, it doesn't matter." She blurted out, grabbing Izuku's hand and pulling him out the front door and onto the drive.
"Honestly, Arata, watch your mouth next time!" Izuku could hear Fumika snarl quietly before she followed the two teens out of the house towards the car.
"Why were so mad at him? He didn't even say anything bad." Izuku said, frowning at Mina as she climbed into the car, dropping her bag to the floor between her legs. Mina giggled at him and shook her head, letting out a sigh.
"You're almost too innocent sometimes..." She giggled, nodding for him to get in, which he did. Fumika was quick to enter the car afterwards, sitting in the driver's seat and closing the door behind her.
"Honestly, Mina, your Father..." She sighed, dragging her hand down her face before pushing the keys into the ignition and starting the car.
"Don't you get any ideas, Mina Ashido." Fumika stated, looking over her shoulder at her daughter with a stern expression.
"Mum, knock it off!" Mina complained, an embarrassed laugh escaping her.
"Midoriya, if I give you my phone, can you sort the GPS out for me?" Fumika asked, tapping Izuku on the shoulder and holding out her phone.
"Oh, o-of course." He smiled, taking the device and tapping his address into the search bar whilst slowly following Mina's mother out of the door and onto the drive.
"Speed up." Mina cooed, placing her hands gently on Izuku's hips and speeding him up a little, guiding him towards the car whilst he typed.
"Here you are." He stated, climbing into Fumika's car and passing her phone over the backseat, before getting himself comfortable and strapping in.
"Thank yooou." Fumika hummed, clipping the phone into a windscreen mounted holder, before starting the engine and pulling up out of the drive. Izuku did his best to shove his bag on the floor between his legs, before sitting back and sighing.
Mina and himself hadn't done anything for today, just spending time lying around on Mina's bed watching YouTube videos and having a mini karaoke session, although that was mainly just Izuku listening to Mina's beautiful singing voice. She did have an amazing voice, which surprised him since he'd never really taken Mina to be much of a singer.
Now though, it was his turn to show Mina the best hospitality he could. Meeting Mina's parents were very entertaining, albeit scary too. Her father was the one who surprised the greenette the most. For such a large, intimidating man, he wasn't very tough at all.
"So then, Midoriya." Fumika started with a sigh. "What are your parents' names? This will be my first time meeting them." She smiled at him in the rear-view mirror.
"Oh, it's just mum and me." Izuku replied with a smile.
"Oh, I apologise..." Fumika muttered awkwardly.
"It's okay, you didn't know." Izuku grinned. "Her name's Inko." He added.
"That is a nice name." Mina's mother chuckled. "I shall have to organise a day out for us all at some point if you two and Miss Midoriya aren't too busy." She thought out loud, following the route the Sat-Nav was reading out to her.
"Are you nervous?" Izuku asked softly, turning his attention to Mina now.
"What?" She said, absently. "Nervous? Not really, no." Mina replied with a shrug, even though Izuku could tell by looking at her that she was lying.
"I'm excited more than anything. I can't believe we're only meeting each other's parents now. Normally it's one of the first things ya do." The pinkette added with a small giggle.
"Well, it's not like we've exactly had the time to go through with this until now." Izuku replied, before turning from her and looking out of the window.
The drive to the Midoriya residents didn't take nearly as long as any of them expected. It was only five minutes by car, excluding the heavy traffic that they would normally have experienced.
"Is this the place?" Fumika asked, stopping the car in one of the roadside parking spaces and looking up at the blocks of flats to their left.
"Yeah, this is where I live." Izuku replied with an awkward chuckle, retrieving his bag from the floor and leaving the car, waiting for the two Ashido's to follow.
"Have you ever been here before, Mina?" The woman asked.
"It's the first time I'll be going into his house, yeah." She responded.
"It's not quite what I expected." She muttered at her daughter, who looked back at her with a frown.
"It's just him and his mum. Cut him some slack." She said sharply.
"Oh, that is not what I meant..." Fumika replied quickly as the two followed Izuku up a winding staircase towards where his apartment was. It took them a fair while to reach the second to last level, where Izuku lived, and by the time they reached it, Fumika had fallen behind a little bit, breathing heavily as she pulled herself up the stairs.
"Jesus... You used to walk this every day, Midoriya?" She asked with a sigh, heaving up the last few stairs and catching up to the two teens.
"Every day." He chuckled anxiously, before turning and knocking on the door.
However, he'd barely even touched it before it was quickly yanked open, to reveal Izuku's mother. She was a rather portly woman with a very sweet face and neat attire, with her green hair tied back in a neat bun and a beaming smile on her lips.
"Oh, my baby! You've finally come back!" She cried, pulling Izuku into a firm hug. "I missed you so much, I've been so worried." She squeezed him a little tighter causing the One For All Quirk user to wheeze a little.
"Let me get a look at you." She ordered, stepping back and cupping his head in her hands, scanning over every detail with the critical eyes of any loving mother.
"Uuuugh, you've gotten so big and strong..." She whimpered, almost sounding like she was going to cry.
"Mum, it's only been a few weeks." Izuku chuckled awkwardly. She quickly let go, patting her thighs with her hands and sighing.
"Oh, I know... I know..." She muttered, before realising that Mina and her mother were standing just behind him.
"Oh goodness! I apologise, I didn't see you both there. You must be Miss Ashido, and I'm sure you are the Mina I've heard so much about." Inko then turned her attention to the two with a warm smile.
"We are. It's great to finally meet you, Miss Midoriya." Fumika perked up, reaching her hand out to shake the other mothers
"You too, Mrs Ashido." The greenette woman returned the gesture, accepting the taller woman's hand, before turning her attention to Mina.
"And of course, we can't forget about you." She grinned at Mina, looking over her carefully. Mina shifted uncomfortably. Was she going to say something about her skin, or her eyes maybe? This was her first time meeting the pinkette, and there was no doubting that she wasn't at all what Inko expected.
"You're such a beautiful young girl. What a lucky boy you are." She grinned. Mina's cheeks quickly began turning a light shade of lilac, and she fired her mother a glance before she and Izuku shared a shy laugh.
"Please, come in! I'll make up some green tea." Inko clapped her hands, before turning on her heel and bustling back into the flat. Izuku turned to look at his girlfriend and her mother before letting out an awkward laugh.
"Make yourselves at home." He smiled, leading the two into his home, removing his shoes and tucking them neatly against the wall beside his mothers. Mina and Fumika copied, before continuing deeper into the apartment behind Izuku.
"I can't express how happy I am to finally be meeting you. Izuku never stopped talking about you when he was here." Inko chatted whilst rummaging around the kitchen.
"Oh, did he now?" Mina asked with a giggle, walking past Izuku and pecking his cheek and she and her mother knelt down on small cushions that Inko must've set out beforehand.
"You're more than welcome to sit on the sofa. Izuku and I are quite alright down there." The greenette said over her shoulder.
"Oh, no, we couldn't do that, but I am very flattered." Fumika replied, that same flattered feeling clearly showing on her face.
"I love her already." Mina whispered over at Izuku, who set his bag down beside him and settled on the sofa closest to her.
"I'm glad. She's been so excited to meet you, almost as much as I have trying to get you here." Izuku laughed before Inko quickly returned with a tray of four green teas in quaint little china cups.
"Aaah," She sighed, placing the tray gently on the table and sitting beside her son.
"Thank you, Miss Midoriya." Fumika grinned.
"Oh please, call me Inko. No need for formalities here." The woman smiled happily.
"So, your name is Mina Ashido, right?" She asked, turning her attention to her son's partner.
"Mmhm." Mina hummed sweetly. "Just call me Mina though. It'd feel weird if I made you call me Ashido." She added quickly. Izuku couldn't help but laugh a little at her. It was very clear from how she was acting that she was feeling nervous.
She wasn't sitting in the same relaxed way she usually would. Instead, she was sitting very straight with her legs crossed and was holding her skirt securely between her legs. He'd never seen her act this way before, but that was part of the reason he found it so amusing. His happy go lucky girlfriend putting on airs and graces for his mother, of all people.
"Very well, Mina." Inko giggled, nodding at the girl before relaxing back on the sofa, taking her son's hand and holding it firmly.
"So, tell me about school! What are the dorms like? It's all very interesting to me but this young man never lets me know what's going on." She started after taking a small sip of her tea.
"I barely have time to myself mum... I'd call you if I could..." Izuku replied defensively.
"I know dear, I'm only messing." She replied with a giggle, before turning to Mina.
"It's... Hard?" The pinkette replied with a shrug. "Considering this is the only time off we've had over the summer, that says a lot, doncha think?" She asked rhetorically.
"Really? The only time off?" Inko asked.
"Well, they are trainee heroes now, Inko. Got to keep busy if they're going to be saving Japan." Fumika replied with a smile, rubbing her daughter's shoulder.
"I know... It's just hard to get used to now. Izuku was a very late bloomer for his Quirk, so neither of us have had much time to adjust." She replied. "Which, now we're on that subject, how are you doing with your training dear? All Might is taking care of you the way he promised, I hope." She looked to Izuku, changing the subject to something that'd clearly been on her mind for a while.
"He has been. I'm a lot stronger than before." Izuku replied with a proud smile.
"Oh, you must show me what you can do. The only time I've seen you in action was the Sports Festival, which... Well, it wasn't ideal..." Inko muttered, taking another sip of her drink.
"The fact you're working so hard on school got me inspired to try train my Quirk too." She added excitedly.
"Really? That's great!" Izuku beamed, his face lighting up.
"It's not much, but I can lift heavier things now..." Inko explained, before looking over her shoulder for something to use as an example.
"My Quirk is, from what I've seen, a magnetism sort of Quirk. I normally can only pull small objects towards me..." She started, before becoming very focused and holding her hand towards the kitchen.
"The biggest thing I've been able to move is this..." She said, carefully lifting and pulling a potted plant towards them.
"Not much? That's the biggest thing I've ever seen you move before." Izuku beamed proudly.
"You wait, eventually she'll be pulling you out of the dorm to come home for dinner." Mina said jokingly, which got a laugh out of the four of them.
"Don't give me any ideas." Inko said in a quiet but obvious way, grinning between them. "What about you Fumika, and Mina, of course." Inko inquired.
"My quirk is called Concentration. I can create a stream of liquid-..." Fumika started, forming a single tube of what looked like a semi-translucent liquid. "And control whether it's acidity and how it moves." She added, making the small stream do some sort of strange dance in her palm.
"How interesting!" Inko stated. By the look of curiosity in her eyes, Mina could tell that Izuku wasn't the only one in the family who had a great interest in people's Quirks.
"Mine's basically the same, but only Acids, and I can't control its shape the way mum can. I can either make it strong enough to melt through steel or weak enough that it'll only tickle if it touches you." Mina explained, dropping a small amount of the iridescent white liquid from her fingertip, into her palm.
"How cool! I hope I can see you both working together one day, I'm sure your Quirks would work quite well together." Inko beamed. Upon hearing this, Mina's attention peaked a little more.
She could've sworn she'd mentioned something like that before to one of the teachers, but it was a while ago. Now the honeymoon phase of their relationship was well and truly over, sure, she didn't feel any different about him than she had then, but she was able to think more realistically about the future and things similar.
A hero team with Izuku would be amazing, but there was a chance that they weren't together when that time came. There was no telling what the future had in store for them, and as positive as she wanted to be, there is always a small chance things don't work about between them.
"Are you alright, Mina?" Izuku asked softly. "You've been staring into space for a while..." He added quietly.
"Wha-... Oh, yeah I'm okay, sorry... Just thinking-." She replied, before the ringing of Izuku's phone startled the four of them.
'I am here! I am here!' The voice of All Might chanted out.
"It's Uraraka. Sorry, can I take this?" He asked, looking between them.
"The Gravity girl? Of course." Inko smiled, before turning back to Mina and Fumika. Mina, however, kept her eyes on Izuku, watching as he got up from the sofa and walked away. What would Uraraka be calling for?
Oh, knock it off, Mina. It's been long enough for that shit not to bother you anymore. The pink-skinned girl snapped mentally. Uraraka was their close friend. She had no reason to feel so annoyed when she spoke to Izuku. It was uncalled for.
"Hello?" Izuku asked happily as he walked down the hall and into what was his bedroom. It was empty now and felt quite unsettling to be in.
"Deku! H-Hi... Sorry, I know this is kinda weird since we don't call often, but I just wanted to talk..." The Zero-Gravity Quirk user responded sheepishly.
"T-That's okay, it's good to hear from you. Is everything okay back at the dorm?" He asked curiously.
"Mmhm, everyone's been sitting in the common room watching TV. They keep mentioning how odd it is not having you or Mina here." She replied with a giggle.
"Haha, yeah it's odd alright... I kinda miss the dorm and you guys." Izuku replied, rubbing his neck awkwardly.
"I-... W-We miss you too." Uraraka stammered back. "How's it going? Have you met Ashido's parents?" She asked curiously.
"I did, they're awesome. Her dad is scary though." He replied simply.
"Wow, that's so cool! I can't believe you're finally meeting each other's families..." Uraraka said excitedly, although Izuku could hear what sounded like disappointment in her voice too. She always seemed to get a bit like this when talking about him and Mina.
"What've you been doing today?" He fired back, trying to change the subject.
"Umm, not much really... I think the boys are going to cook dinner today though. Todoroki and Kirishima are in charge of that, and Sato's going to make everyone cookies for dessert." She explained.
"Aaaah, Sato's cookies are the best..." Izuku complained loudly before the two shared a laugh.
"I'll save some for you if you like." She giggled.
"Heh, I'd like that," Izuku responded with a timid grin before the two fell into an awkward silence.
"H-Hey, Deku?" Uraraka finally spoke up. Te greenette hummed a sound to show he was still there.
"I was wondering... This coming weekend, could we hang out somewhere? Maybe go get food together? It's been ages since we last hung out together, just you and me..." She said slowly, almost as if she was scared to suggest the idea to him.
"Uhhh, yeah sure! I don't see why not. It'd be nice for us to hang out one-on-one. Only seeing you in school feels weird. One day we should organise a day out with the whole class, like the time we went to the pool!" Izuku responded, fondly thinking back on those memories at the pool. The place where Mina had first kissed him.
"Yeah that would be awesome! But, yeah, you're up for doing something together this coming weekend?" She asked.
"Of course, I'd love to!" Izuku said enthusiastically.
"Great! I can't wait. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing now. Thanks for answering, Deku." Uraraka said softly. Something about her voice always made him feel butterflies. Maybe it was how soft it sounded?
"Okay. Thanks for calling me. See you tomorrow." Izuku smiled.
"Bye-bye!" Uraraka sang, before hanging up and leaving Izuku alone. Just him and Uraraka hanging out for one of the only times since he'd known her. That thought was very exciting indeed. He'd always wanted to just spend some quality time with her; she was his first-ever real friend, after all.
"This is really happening, huh?" Aizawa asked, looking into All Might's room from the doorway as the number-one stared at his reflection in the mirror.
"So it would seem..." All Might muttered, folding his arms and sighing as he turned to look at Aizawa directly.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright alone? You're not who you used to be, Toshinori." Aizawa spoke up, his tone full of concern.
"I know that, but I do not have a choice. Even if I did, I would do this anyway." The blonde hero replied. "All I have to do for now, is wait. As soon as All For One makes a move, the police will notify me, and from there..." All Might added, before pausing and sitting down on his bed.
"God only knows what might happen..." He grumbled.
"Honestly, I'm more worried about Midoriya. He knows this is happening, and I know that once he sees you're in trouble, he'll try and help, as stupid as that is." Aizawa stated, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"That boy is not that foolish, Aizawa." All Might said sternly.
"I wouldn't be so sure. You forget how he rushed off to save Kota? He almost got himself killed." The Erasure Quirk user argued sternly.
"This is quite a bit different than that. Whether he's my successor or not, this is no place for him to get involved." He replied.
"He knows this is going to happen. As soon as he finds out you're fighting that beast, you know for a fact that he's not just going to sit around and watch it happen." Aizawa continued arguing.
"This is not his fight." All Might grumbled. "One day, it will be, but for now, it is nothing to do with him." He added pushing himself up from the bed and letting out a heavy sigh.
"I must go and eat. I'm going to need all the strength I can muster if I am to win against All For One, one last time." All Might stated, before turning and walking past Aizawa and out of the bedroom without another word.