Hello again! it's certainly been awhil-

*last updated November 8th*

oh, uh, whoops?

I! did not mean to take that long, my sincerest apologies! originally this was supposed to be a short chapter, but things kept getting added on and on and on- then christmas rolled around, new years, and my work was absolutely swamped.

bright side! money

down side? I had less time to write

then I came to realize that this chapter was getting just a tinyyyyy bit too big for just one chapter, so then I had to split it into two parts- the second of which will be within the month of January, this I swear!

now! without further adue, to the chapter!

chapter 11.

The moment he was able to form coherent thoughts first thing the morning after, was also the moment Izuku Midoriya sprung from his bed and dove into a notebook lying atop one of his dressers. His pen flew across the page without hesitation, desperate to jot down every single detail he could remember about not only the 'realm of the gods' but of those he saw.

A singular page was dedicated to a sketch of the clearing and those around it, with what few names he was told written down with question marks used for the others. Individual pages on the gods could be made later, once he was able to gain more information aside from a loose title and their name. A quick glance at the clock told him it was just shy of four in the morning- wait, four? When did he go to sleep?

Oh, about. . . Three in the afternoon?

". . . I was asleep for thirteen hours?!"

Thirteen hours, twelve minutes, and about ten seconds- give or take a minute or two

"H-how was I not woken up?!"

Oh! That would be me, All Might came in to get you for dinner, but I vaguely informed him of what had transpired- as well as the importance of rest afterwards. He was happy to comply and let you sleep

"I- did you tell him about Eri?"

. . .

"Goddess?"

It. . May have slipped my mind at the time

"Goddess!"

Apologies, my Vessel. Shall we go rectify my mistake now?

"I. . . don't think All Might is going to be awake, we could do that in-"

Your sensei is currently awake, lying in bed with the lights off and just waiting until the pain in his left side lessens before trying to start the day

"Why. . . do you know this?"

While you were working on your notebook, I went ahead and checked in on your sensei to see if he would be awake!

Part of him was curious as to why she wanted to check in on All Might, the other part of him reasoned that it was probably unimportant- or related to his training in some form or another. Regardless of the reasoning, he now knew that the skeletal pro hero was awake. Careful to close the notebook so as to not smudge the freshly laid ink, Izuku was quick to take leave from his room, spin around on his heel, and knock on the door just across from his.

A brief moment of silence as he waited for his mentor left him wondering if the goddess had, in fact, been wrong about her previous assessment. It was only when the quiet voice in the back of his mind began whispering its doubt about burdening All Might with yet another problem did the man in question open the door, he caught the man's brief look of surprise before it morphed into a friendly smile, just as he adopted the same.

"Young Midoriya, my boy! I'm glad you're finally awake! How are you feeling? Are you hungry? I could probably order us something for breakfast here and-"

"Er- All might? T-thank you, but we need to talk about something first. . ."

"-Ho? Well, I'm all ears! What do you need to discuss?"

"I. . . partially know the identity of another Vessel."

"What?!"

After the brief shock /and cleanup/ of his mentors spit up blood, he was quick to recount everything he could remember about traveling through the goddesses' memory, even pulling out his notebook to show All Might on the off chance he left anything out. He was midway through describing the encounter with the other vessel- how she was silently hiding behind a tree as he tried to introduce himself, until All Might interrupted him.

"If she didn't say anything, how did you get her name?"

"Oh! Her god found us shortly after I found her, he was surprised and accidentally said her name- and I think he pushed me out of the memory? That or the meeting ended just as I met him. Both are likely to have happened- though wait, the goddess was confused when we were taken out of her memory? Maybe he did push me out? But why would he do that? Did he have something to gain? Something to hide? Was it Eri? But-"

He was broken out of his mutter storm by a skeletal hand chopping down on his shoulder, a stern look from All Might had him sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, the mumble of a sorry had him nodding along.

"Right, so later in the morning when he's more likely to be there, I'll contact a friend I have in the police force- if anyone can find out more about this Eri girl, it'll be him. For now however-"

In a puff of smoke the skeletal man was gone, replaced in his stead was the all too familiar muscular form of his mentor. A hand larger than his own came down onto his shoulder, gentle and reassuring in its grip just like his trademarked smile.

"Seeing as we're both awake, how about we get a head start on our training for today, eh?"

"Of course, All Might!"

"Excellent! Just what I like to hear from my successor!"

/./././././././

"So. . . You're telling me, that gods and magic and all that. . . Are real?"

"Y-yes sir"

The office they were sat in wasn't what he was expecting.

When All Might had told him of a police liaison his heroic persona was in regular contact with, he wasn't ashamed to admit that he had been expecting something somewhat grand for the man's office. Walls supposedly decorated with medals and pictures of meeting important figures were instead barren, save for the sole master's degree in criminal justice just off to the left- almost out of sight from a plastic potted fern just below it. The cheap plastic ashtray was full, almost to the point of spilling out onto the desk while styrofoam coffee cups overflowed from the small wastebin just beside the desk. The room was also smaller than he expected- not to say that it was small, of course, it was still spacious! Just. . . Not as spacious as one would expect for an officer with a direct line to All Might.

When thinking of a Liaison between the number one hero and the police, the media would have one first imagine a chief, or a war veteran of some kind, perhaps even a sergeant or deputy chief. Instead, the somewhat average sized room with two /somewhat cheap/ guest chairs sat in front of a desk cluttered with unsorted papers belonging to a rather plain looking detective.

A detective, mind you, who was able to pick apart their story the near moment he sat down.

Upon expressing her desire to keep the secret of her existence to as few people as possible, especially to those who have no allegiance to them, the goddess had aided him with a basic- but still plausible story as to why they were searching for a little girl. Together they painted the picture of running into a little girl on the street, her arms wrapped up in dirtied bandages as she ran barefoot out from the alleyways- only to be whisked away by a man with near-glowing red eyes and pure white hair.

It was perfect

It was foolproof

It was

Useless.

He was midway through his description of Eri when the detective interrupted him, his eyes widened by the slightest amount as the detective informed him of his lie detection quirk, of all damn things. A quick glance to his mentor from the corner of his eye had the man sheepishly smiling at him, sweat visibly forming on his forehead. He knew- and apparently forgot to tell him in advance, wonderful.

That's fine, less than ideal, but he was positive that-

"Well. . . You see Tsukauchi. . . the thing is. . . magic and gods are real and one lives inside of my successor!"

Or All Might could just blow the whole thing and blurt out the potentially highly classified and extremely dangerous secret only a very, very select few were supposed to know. That worked too he supposed.

Your mentor and I will need to have a discussion at one point. For now, I suppose you should tell this. . . Detective Tsukauchi

It was only with the goddesses' permission /and definitely not All Might's reassurances on the detective's character/ did he begin to tell the truth about the goddess and their time together after she had found him on a rooftop and offered him a place as her 'mortal shell'. He was quick to ignore the detectives' eyes narrowing from how he described she found him- alone and depressed on the ledge of a building, instead he focused on recounting as many of the miniscule details and feelings as he could remember of that day. It was after having explained that. . . Night, and how a secondary god might be attempting to kill him that the detective asked for a brief moment to gather his notes- and to presumably regain what little sanity he could salvage from the day. He couldn't blame the man, he knew it was hard to believe- hell, there were times where even he wondered if things were real.

And it was his life!

There was another moment spent in near silence as the detective gathered his thoughts, the sounds of shuffling papers and pens only broken by the occasional coughing fit from his mentor in his struggles to breathe. Not long after the clock struck three did the detective ask him to continue, barring the provocative /but mostly embarrassing/ antics of the goddess at the hospital, Izuku continued onto the topic of his escapade into the goddesses' memory.

It was as he got to the mention of the clearing that he pulled out his most recent addition to the notebook dedicated to the divine, flipping onto the page containing his illustration of their gathering. What few names and titles he knew were provided, garnering the raised eyebrow of the detective at the mention of not knowing who the others were.

"shouldn't you be able to ask the names of the other ones from your god?"

"I-"

I wouldn't tell you even if you thought to ask, while you are my Vessel, they in turn are my kin. Unless you meet them or we face them in combat, I am unwilling to reveal their names

"She. . . Says she can't due to them being her family, and that she can only tell me their names when we meet them- or we're fighting them"

"Hmm. . . While I can't exactly enforce it, I'd be grateful to be told their names when found out"

I can accept that

"Sure!"

The meeting with detective Tsukauchi didn't take all that long after that. The exchange of contact information along with the promise of keeping the man in the loop had him and All Might leaving the police station a half hour past three. A comfortable silence hung in the air between the two as they rode back down to All Might's apartment, broken by the symbol of peace clearing his throat as they stopped at a red light.

"My boy, I'd just like to say that. . . I'm sorry. . . I'm not exactly the best at keeping secrets from my trusted allies, you understand, right?"

I'm severely doubting in his abilities at both keeping secrets and apologies thus far. Too many people knowing of my existence has never ended well.

"O-Of course All Might! It's just. . . The goddess is really stressing the importance of keeping her and her family's existence a secret. S-she says that if a lot of people knew, it would be a bad thing"

"Oh? How many people can know before something bad happens?"

I don't know, I don't have the information I need to calculate, and until I do I hold little desire to increase the number of people in the know.

"She says she doesn't know, and that because of that she doesn't want to tell anyone else about them"

"I see. . . What about if someone figures it out on their own?"

They can make their assumptions, the majority of the time they're not entirely accurate and thus, tend to be fine. But we cannot confirm their theories unless they're absolutely correct.

"I- wait, we can't confirm their theory unless it's right? How does that work?"

To confirm something they already know isn't detrimental, confirming something they only suspect is less so. Say for example, a person knows a creature lurks in a dark room in front of them. They know of the danger already and have mentally prepared, but to confirm of a creature in that very same dark room to a person who only suspects it? They're going to panic; they're going to be scared- they won't be in their right mind. And-

"They'll make a decision that might hurt, or even kill someone. . ."

Correct.

"Wait, Young Midoriya, what's this about killing?"

"B-basically the goddess said it would be bad to tell people who only think they know about her, but if they're right on their theories we can tell them they're right"

"I see. . ."

'Should I warn him about Nezu?'

The tiny voice in the back of his mind /of which many would claim to be a sense of self-preservation and warning of danger/ made the symbol of peace pause, if only just for a moment, before shrugging as the light turned green again.

'I'm sure it'll be fine, what's the worst that could happen?'

/././././././././././././

Deep within the confines of his own office, the intrigue of a certain rodent-like principal was piqued as an unexpected email found itself sitting within his inbox. a quick glance at the headline and its sender had him grinning ear to ear.

"An urgent matter? Oh ho Detective Tsukauchi, what have you sent for me to play with today~"

. . .

It was well into the evening- beyond when school should have ended, that Shouta Aizawa was forced to find the rodent that called himself his boss for an important matter regarding his class for next year. Namely, if the suspension on his suspension privileges would be removed or stubbornly remain in place- it wasn't his fault his class this year had zero potential for heroics.

It was only logical that those with no potential to take heroics seriously were removed, but he supposed it was also logical to only move them down to GenEd, as opposed to suffering the PR nightmare that would've been an entire class being expelled on the first day. He didn't like it, but it was the logical choice, better than dealing with angry parents and vultures at any rate.

a swift single knock had him opening the door to Nezu's office, the rodent in question madly cackling to himself as he typed a metaphorical /or possibly literal/ hurricane on his computer, the contents of which were a mystery as the monitor was turned to face away from the door. As silently as he could, the erasure hero was careful in backing out of the room, closing the door as softly as physically possible least he garner the attention of the beast.

His question could wait until later, until after whatever scheme the rodent had wrapped himself up in was done.

/././././././././././././

He didn't know how long he had been pacing around in the confines of his room, only knowing that he lost track sometime around the half hour mark as his mind desperately tried to come up with a solution. A quick glance at the alarm clock above his headboard told him it was just past two in the morning, he blinked, had he really been agonizing over this for over two hours?

Yes. You have, and it's made it VERY difficult to sleep.

The goddess had appeared at some point during his pacing, cross legged and seemingly content to just watch him while she sat on his bed. If he was to guess, that had likely been an hour ago, and while the act of rubbing her tiring eyes against the sleeve of her red flannel pajamas /where did she even get those?/ had been cute- he knew that it wasn't just for show.

It was surprising to learn that while situated within their vessels here on earth, gods and goddesses needed to rest, to build up something called divine energy that was normally supplied by the realm of the divine. The goddess had explained its concept like a phone /once learning what those were/ where the more her abilities were used, the more often she needed to rest and regain energy. At the time, she had been quick to reassure him that while she would be unavailable during her rest, her power would always be within reach- just slightly less fine-tuned and controlled than he would normally expect.

He didn't fully know what that meant for his healing factor, but he hoped he wouldn't have to find out anytime soon.

He was broken out of his musings by the pointed cough of the goddess, a quick glance over to her had him immediately looking away, least he panic even further under her annoyed glare. Right, he should probably get back to his original topic of late-night panic, shouldn't he?

His phone appeared hovering in front of him, open to the last text message he had received just as he was about to sleep, open to the very message he had been agonizing over for the past two hours.

Izuku, it's literally a yes or no question. Will you accept your paramour's invitation to the winter festival tomorrow or not?

"I-I don't know! Is it a friendly outing? Is Tokage coming as well? Are we going as a c-couple? On a d-date?! What if I treat it as a date and she doesn't?! What if it is and I don't treat it like one?! Should I bring flowers? Chocolates? Do I pay for dinner? Should I ask All Might for advice- wait, has he even dated? Would he even know what to do? I-"

Annnnnnd sent!

"WHAT?!"

He was quick to turn back around to the goddess to see his phone being held in between both hands, her index fingers rapidly typing something he couldn't see. With a panicked cry he rushed forwards, landing belly first on his bed as the goddess floated up and out of his reach. He flipped onto his back just as she let his phone drop back down to him, the device landing squarely on his chest.

The phone was still open to his and Itsuka's conversations, which was good.

What wasn't as good was his heart kicking into overdrive as he read and reread the texts the goddess had sent.

'Hey Izuku'

'Want to go to the winter festival tomorrow night?'

'Sure! I'd love to go tomorrow'

'It's a date ; ) '

Was there a word to describe a bottomless pit mixed in with butterflies in your stomach? Of your heart hammering inside your chest from not only the anxiety of waiting, but also in faint hopes that the person would never see or respond to what you said? To laugh off the text as his sleep deprived state not knowing what it was doing? Was it wrong of him to hope it wasn't too late to delete what the goddess sent and go back to agonizing over this for another two hours?

The checkmark on the text that indicated it was read told him that yes, it was too late for him to delete the goddess' message.

Or was it?

A quick glance to the alarm clock told him it was close to three in the morning /technically two forty-nine, but it was still close!/, a time where most individuals would be asleep- a time he knew Itsuka was usually well into her journey to dreamland. It was entirely possible she had yet to see the text herself- instead, there was a chance she had accidentally left her phone open and the message read automatically. There was a chance he could still fix this- a chance to delete the goddesses' message and text her something else! There was a chance-

Text bubbles briefly appeared on Itsuka's end of the conversation, before disappearing entirely, then appearing again.

It was a good thing he was already lying on his bed, otherwise he could've fainted from the sudden rush of anxiety to his system. Even if it was gone a moment later as the goddess snapped her fingers.

Relax, my dear vessel. I'm sure your paramour is just as nervous at taking the next step in human mating rituals as yourself.

"l-it's not that, I just. . . I doubt she's going to want it to be a date. . . I don't think she would feel that way about someone like me anyways. . ."

Someone like yourself? I am afraid I do not follow- I personally, fully believe you would be a fantastic mate!

"Seriously?"

He looked up into the shining gemstones that were the goddesses' eyes before looking away- turning his body in a way that had him facing the wall.

"Barely anything has changed since the sludge villain incident, what? Nine months ago?. . . I'm behind on my training, I have little to no practice with the secondary aspect of your power- hell, I barely understand how to even throw a punch! What do I have to show since then? A blown-up home? A dead mom? I. . . Nothing's gotten better since then. . . I'm still weak. . . I'm still useless. . . I'm still just a Deku. She deserves more than just. . . Deku"

His vision swam in an ocean of his own tears at the same time his lungs burned, struggling to take in any amount of air, hindered only by his own choking sobs towards the end of his outburst. His breathing was slow to get under control, but once it was an uncomfortable silence hung in the air between the two- or at the very least, he thought it was uncomfortable.

His thoughts were proven to be misleading as the goddess appeared in front of him, a wave of pure calmness and relaxation flooding his system the moment her hands took hold of his cheeks- forcing him to stare into her eyes. Any trace amounts of tiredness that had been present were gone from her eyes, instead, her heartfelt crimson stared into his disheartened emerald.

Izuku Midoriya. Believe me when I say that a person's worth is not reliant on what abilities they may be born with, nor is it determined by what they may learn through their given years. The worth of a mortal is reliant on their heart- their determination, their kindness, their love. All of these traits and more are what make a hero- and what make you more worthy of that title than any of those that tormented you. Do you understand me?

He made to argue, to point out how people like Bakugo could and would be able to become great heroes with their quirks- with their naturally born abilities. But a look from the goddess had him remain silent- an uneasy feeling was quick to make itself known in the back of his eyes, as if her own were glaring straight into his soul.

I said, Do. You. Understand. Me?

A feverish nod had the uneasy feeling dissipate almost immediately, just as the goddess smiled reassuringly at him. Warmth instead replaced the feeling as the goddess pulled the blankets of his bed up and over him, the urge to sleep returning tenfold to his body as his All-Might themed pillow was moved to just under his head.

it was at times like these, late into a night of overthinking and panicking, that he forgot that his main benefactor for confidence and motivation was a god with near limitless control over his immediate surroundings.

Unfortunately, my power is not limitless. But that is a discussion for another time, for now, you need your rest. You can read your paramours response in the morning.

Wait, Itsuka responded?!

Not yet, but you're not staying up until she does!

Any further arguments on the matter were cut short as, with a snap of the goddesses' fingers, another wave of relaxation crashed into him at full force. All but knocking the viridianette out like a light.

Hopefully, things wouldn't be as bad tomorrow.

/././././././././././

'Great! It's a date!'

"No, too much. . . rhymes"

'Awesome! Looking forwards to the date!'

"No, that comes off too strong"

'Sweet, can't wait for it! ; )'

"Does that make me sound desperate?"

'Date night? Don't forget the flowers~'

". . . No, just. . . No"

It was with a mixed groan of annoyance and tiredness that Itsuka flopped back first onto the comforter overtop her bed, her left arm draping over her eyes while her right held onto her phone- still on, still open to her message thread with a certain Izuku Midoriya. It had initially taken the viridianette two hours to respond to her text, time in which she could and should have spent sleeping so she could get up for training on the beach tomorrow. Instead, she had spent that time agonizing over what his response might have been, if he had even seen it, and what his theoretical response might mean between the two.

". . . Are you still awake, set?"

"Hard not to be with how loud you're texting"

The agitated voice of one of her best friends, bless her heart, was almost immediate with her response. The other greenette in her life had decided earlier that day to spend the night after a long evening of what was supposed to be homework, only for the night to devolve into the two of them crafting up a way for her to ask out Izuku- in a platonic way, of course. She may be attracted to his hard-working ethic, his selfless dedication to cleaning the beach, the freckles that formed diamonds on his cheeks, and his slowly forming abs- but that didn't mean she wanted to ask him out!

.

.

.

Okay, maybe it meant that a little.

It was with her supposed cries for help on the matter /I.e, a single question about helping her ask him to the winter festival/ that Setsuna had stepped in, proclaiming that with her help in the ways of dating, he was 'as good as got!'. One large cheese and pepperoni pizza, some coffee, and several refused first drafts later, the two of them had come up with her initial text. In Setsuna's words, it kept things open and casual with the possibility at hinting that it could be a date or could be between two friends. She expected that he would respond right away- or failing that, respond at some time in the early morning while the two of them were training together. Instead, just as she was beginning to drift off to sleep, she heard her phone's text notification go off.

"Dude, just text back that you can't wait, and the details can be hashed out during that make out session-"

"Muscle training and sparring sessions-"

"-Whatever, but you two can probably talk about it tomorrow- and let me get some sleep!"

"Oh- right. Sorry set!"

With a flick of the light switch /courtesy of the floating detached hand of Setsuna/ and the promise of leaving the details of the outing for future Itsuka to deal with, Itsuka was finally able to wrap herself up in a cocoon of blankets. From there, sleep was to come easily, naturally, and was welcomed in a warm embrace with loving arms.

Hopefully it would be less stressful to plan the date tomorrow.

/./././././././././././

It was in the early hours of the morning that the goddess of life and death materialized on the sands of Takoba municipal beach, her hair swaying in the gentle ocean breeze- one that wasn't poisoned by the decaying stench of garbage as it had been just mere months ago. Gone were the mountains of waste that hid the sun behind their filth, the broken and forgotten appliances that went unloved and unused, the vehicle tires that she honestly didn't see anything wrong with at a glance- but hid unknown dangers within. Instead, the sand that felt soft between her toes was clean, the water a pure and sparkling blue, and the sunrise?

Just as beautiful as she remembered it to be with her first vessel, thousands of years ago.

You know, sometimes I forget just how peaceful the mortal realm is, it's. . . Quite nice.

The sudden masculine cry from behind, moments before her current vessel came flying through her, did little to ruin the feeling of nostalgia the goddess currently felt. Even when her view was briefly obstructed as Izuku Midoriya stood back up and charged through her again to continue to brawl with his paramour. It was duos third spar this morning- the first occurring sometime around seven when their beach quota for the day had been fulfilled, yet the boy had still thus far failed to properly gauge when his paramour was /somewhat obviously/ baiting him with a feinting move.

She had little doubt in her mind that, if she were to turn around, she would witness her vessel attempt to retaliate with a valiant right hook- one of which she knew he copied from a certain brat, only for it to be blocked as his legs were swept out from under him.

The startled cry, crash into the sand, and his sputtering as sand got into his mouth were all the confirmation she needed on her hypothesis.

"You're getting better! But you need to work on your footwork more- and focus on your opponent's entire body, just because someone mainly fights with their fists doesn't mean they're just limited to that"

The reading of body language is an important skill to learn, the tensing of muscles, the minute changes to a person's expression, even their posture can give away their thoughts and feelings. It's an incredibly useful ability both inside and outside of combat, you'd do well to listen to your paramour, dear vessel

Izuku took a moment to lay in the sand and absorb both Itsuka and the goddesses' critique, his breathing heavy and slow as he took the time to attempt and regain what little breath he could. After what felt like an eternity /when in reality, it was probably a minute or two/ he sat up, running a hand through his hair in a vain attempt to clear the lingering sand from the clutches of his green curls, but to no avail. A hand courtesy of Itsuka was thrust into his field of vision, one that he was all too happy to take with a smile as she pulled him up and onto his feet. He was quick to look away from Itsuka as a warm smile graced her lips, his nerves getting the better of him as he remembered their texts from the previous night. Thankfully, he was able to disguise it as trying to brush the sand off his back.

"Thanks, I'll definitely try working on that when I get home, shall we call it a day? It should almost be time for. . . Itsuka?"

A quick glance back to the big fist user had his eyebrow slowly rise, an unspoken question on the tip of his tongue as he watched her stand slightly off to the side facing away from him, the faintest dustings of pink visible on her cheek as her hand rubbed up and down her arm. Why was she standing like that? Was it something she saw? He couldn't see what she was staring at, her eyes partially hidden by the bangs of her hair- nor would the goddess give him any hints as he looked to her for help, only for her to shrug in return.

"S-so. . . I-Izuku. . . my dad. . .may have found out about me going out somewhere with a guy. . Together. . . With it just being the two of us. . . and like the over reacting jerk that he is. . . well. . . he demanded to meet you before we go to the festival!"

It took him a moment to process her fast paced words- and briefly wonder if that was how it felt like to be on the other end of his mutter storms, only to blink as he realized what she had said. Her. . . Dad wanted to meet with him? That didn't sound so bad, in fact, that sounded perfectly fine- great even! It would be like when he was little and would hang out with Kac- with the Bakugos!

I'm not surprised she's nervous, meeting the parents of one's paramour is usually a tense and nerve-wracking affair. After all- if he doesn't approve of you, he might forbid her from seeing you!

Alright, less like seeing the Bakugos than he thought- were his hands sweaty? Was he sweating? Maybe he should go home, get dressed up a bit, oh but he would need to take a shower first-

Itsuka was already on him, preventing his escape as her hand intertwined with his before leading him towards the exit of the beach. She drew him close- almost to the point of being side by side and he could feel the tension leave his body at her continued touch. His nerves skyrocketed as her grip loosened, only to slowly ease away as she simply adjusted her grip- allowing them both to be comfortable while still holding hands.

The warmth of her smile as she glanced at him spread throughout his body, sending shivers down his spine as the two left the beach.

He didn't know what this feeling was, but he knew he didn't want to lose it.

Just make a good impression on her father, and I promise, you'll never be without this feeling.

Happy holidays and Happy New Year!

I'm not gonna lie, this chapter's been done for like, a day or three at this point- i've just been trying to find the time to edit and upload it! work has been a killer but! with the holiday season coming to a close /for now/ I should be able to find a lot more time to upload and write- certainly enough time to get the second half of this done within january.

And then! we hit UA! for reals this time!

I shall see you all next time!