Ignited Spark

by 3PeopleInACoat

When Midoriya Izuku was four years old, his quirk finally manifested - not a combination of his parents' quirks, but an entirely different mutation of its own. With the ability to blast lightning out of his body, a horrible accident convinces Izuku to give up his dreams of becoming a hero. But with the help of two girls, Izuku finds the inspiration to fight and become a true hero!

37. The Horny Beach Episode

Holy whoa.

Holy whoa.

Holy whoa, holy whoa, holy whoa.

Hand holding … was freaking awesome.

Izuku couldn't help but allow his grin to spread across his face as he walked hand in hand with the two girls on each of his sides, both of them lightly giggling at his quiet muttering. They had just gotten off the train to Chiba, walking towards Itsuka's house at a slow pace to let them walk hand in hand, having been sitting and standing close together ever since leaving the beach about half an hour ago.

They knew that they would have to eventually let go of each other's hands, of course, in case one of Itsuka's neighbors saw the happy state they were all in and inquired about it to the Kendous. But while they were walking there … well … Izuku was going to enjoy himself.

Even if it was to Ochako and Itsuka's mirth.

"Deku," Ochako giggled a bit as their conjoined hands swung in between them, although she wasn't fighting the happy grin on her own face either, "you really shouldn't be that pumped up about hand holding."

"Yeah," Itsuka chortled as well, still squeezing on his own hand gently, "weren't you and I making out like - an hour ago? Where was all this infectious joy then?"

"I mean …" Izuku shrugged helplessly, still giving both girls a happy smile, "… I was pretty nervous about what was gonna happen after that. But this? This is awesome!"

"Hand holding," Ochako snorted, shaking her head at Izuku's dorkiness, "awesome. Sure, buddy."

"Well, it is!"

"Huh," Itsuka used her free hand to pat his shoulder, smiling at Ochako over his shoulder and making Izuku blush at how close her face was to his, "well, if holding my hand gives you all the simple pleasures in life, Izuku, I'm not gonna be the one to stop your little hype train. Honestly, I'm more afraid of what's gonna happen when I eventually hug you when you're like this, though - if you're this happy with me holding your hand, I can't wait to see what you'll be like when I hug you and not let go."

"I mean," Izuku turned to give her a bashful smile, "maybe that is something we should worry about. You've hugged me a lot before, but - but never as my girlfriend. That's going to be great!"

Itsuka paused at that, her teasing smirk fading as her cheeks went a bit red at his earnestness. She then glanced around Izuku at Ochako again, who was likewise looking up at Izuku with her own smile and reddening cheeks.

"Oh, this is just great," She joked to Itsuka, "we've created a monster. A monster made of fluff."

"What have we done?" Itsuka shook her head in mock remorse.

Both girls giggled together while Izuku simply shook his head at them both, and then, they stepped around the stop sign and headed into Itsuka's neighborhood. Reluctantly, both girls let go of Izuku's hands, flashing him an apologetic look but still electing to stand a bit closer than they normally would as they walked down the sidewalk, with Izuku smiling in understanding and putting his hands in his sweater's pockets.

Together, they all began making their way down the street towards the familiar dojo in the distance, Itsuka taking a moment to stretch her arms above her head as she glanced over at both her partners.

"Okay …" She decided, putting her own hands in her track pants pockets - well, technically it was Izuku's track pants, but let's be real, he was never going to be getting these pants or sweater back, they were hers now. "… so here's what I'm thinking we'll do."

"Hm?" Izuku hummed, looking around at her.

"So, you two," She glanced between them with a raised eyebrow, "are gonna be napping for the next few hours, just so you don't crash during the party, and then I'll wake you both up around lunchtime. That way, my dad should definitely be home by then for his lunch break - he usually has an hour to himself - and you guys can help us get the barbecue in the truck. And then he'll take us down to the beach so we can set everything up before the rest of our class gets there. Just so neither of my parents - y'know - suspects anything fishy, you guys should probably stay in separate rooms."

"Right," Ochako yawned a bit, shaking her head, "we, uh … don't want anyone to suspect anything."

"Er …" Izuku glanced between both of them for a second, his giddy look from before disappearing and being replaced by a concerned expression, "… not to drag the mood down, guys, but now that we're talking about it, uh … I - I think I should point out that we - we have a problem with the whole … y'know … secret relationship stuff we're gonna do."

"Huh?" Itsuka looked around at him in question. "What is it?"

"I suck at lying."

"…"

"…"

"… ah, shit," Itsuka cursed, smacking her forehead while Ochako paled beside him, "right. You do. Crap."

"Yeah," Izuku cringed, feeling his shoulders sink, "sorry about that."

"No, no, you don't have anything to worry about," She shook her head, glancing over at her boyfriend with an understanding look, "we can just work around this. It's not gonna be a big deal, trust me."

"R-really?" Ochako squirmed a bit, looking awkward as well. "It's just … Deku really is an awful liar. Er - no offense, Deku."

"N-no, I'm with you, I agree."

"Yeah, but you're not that much better than he is, Ochako," Itsuka was unable to stop herself from shooting a smirk at her girlfriend, "seeing as you two pretty much trip over each other whenever we have to lie about One for All."

"Erk," Ochako cringed, feeling completely called out.

"Still, like I was saying, we can just … work around this," Itsuka encouraged them both, quickly moving in front of them and turning to walk backwards so they could both look at her encouraging smile, "we just have to - you know - not talk about our relationship in front of other people. As far as everyone else is concerned, the three of us are just friends. As long as we don't try to do anything romantic where someone could potentially see us, either at UA or at one of our homes, we'll be fine. As long as we keep it behind closed doors or go someplace we know no one will see us being lovey dovey."

"Er … I - I guess you have a point," Izuku shrugged, giving her an awkward smile, "but, uh … well, I guess I should ask, is - is there anyone who might suspect that something might be going on between us? Because - well - I don't know how subtle I can be when I'm - I'm around you two."

"I guess you have a point," Itsuka sighed, spinning back around so that she could rejoin their little group as they approached the dojo, "and it's not like I'm subtle either. So … well, I know that Set and Yui have been poking fun at me - they know that I kissed you once, Ochako, and they know that I was - y'know - crushing on you, Izuku. But they don't know about anything that happened yesterday, and as far as I know, they don't know that I've accepted my feelings for you, Izuku. So around them … well, they'll suspect, but they won't know anything for certain."

"And - and I'm in the same boat with Toga-senpai," Ochako jumped in, "she at least thinks that I like you two, but she doesn't have any official confirmation that I like you two - she thinks I'm in denial."

"Okay …" Izuku slowly nodded, tugging at his lip, "… and - and is that it?"

"Well," Itsuka thought for a moment, frowning, "honestly, I think Nejire's the only one who positively knows that I like you both, and - and that you two have a thing for each other. She was the one who was pushing me to confess, and she's gonna be helping us try to get some privacy today, so …"

She paused, blinking slightly.

"… actually," She said in an unsure tone, "she'll … probably figure it out pretty quickly once we - we aren't taking her hints and trying to sneak away."

There was another pause.

"Shit," Itsuka balked, her eyes widening a fraction, "I have to let Nejire know that she doesn't have to help us today. And if she doesn't have to help us, she'll figure out that we already talked. And if she figures out that we already talked, then she'll figure out … shit."

Both Izuku and Ochako gave her twin looks of confusion for a moment as she cursed, raising a hand to smack her forehead - and then they both realized what she was implying, making them both zip their mouths closed quickly.

What Itsuka was saying was true - if what she was saying was to be believed, Nejire was going to be trying to help them get some privacy for their conversation. And they knew that, with Nejire's earnestness, she wouldn't rest until they got that privacy. But now that they technically didn't need to have any privacy anymore, that meant that Nejire didn't need to help them.

And … knowing Nejire … she'd want to know why.

So that meant …

"… so …" Izuku gulped a bit, "… theoretically … could we get Hadou to stop trying to help us if we - we don't tell her? W-would she just accept that she - she doesn't need to help?"

"I …" Itsuka closed her eyes, sighing deeply as she moved back to rejoin the other two, "… imagine we can, but … I was pretty clear yesterday with her what I was gonna do with you two. So … she'd probably figure it out."

"… can …" Ochako felt herself pale a bit, "… can Hadou keep a secret? I mean, if - if she'll probably figure out why we don't need a private talk anymore, then …"

"Yeah," Itsuka sighed, nodding a bit reluctantly, "say what you will of her, but Hadou's a lot smarter than a lot of people give her credit for. And she at least knows when to keep her mouth shut about stuff, at least. So …"

The three of them paused for a moment outside of Itsuka's house, Izuku and Ochako staring forward as Itsuka kept her eyes closed.

"So …" Ochako felt herself sweat a bit nervously, "… we have a secret relationship no one knows about … with the exception of Hadou."

"Seems that way," Itsuka nodded.

"R-right," Izuku nodded a bit stiffly, staring up at the dojo before them as he gulped a bit nervously, taking his hands out of his pockets, "and … and I know that we still a, uh, a Hadou-sized hole to deal with, l-like you said, Itsuka. But - uh - when are we gonna … you know … talk about that?"

"Probably later," Itsuka sighed, turning to give him a smile, "but definitely not right now. You two just pulled an all-nighter due to stress, so you both need to go to bed before you crash. And … I probably should bring Nejire up to speed, so … probably later, we can try talking about it. All else fails, I've got stuff to do tomorrow, but we can take some time to text about it - unless you guys wanna do it in person, and in that case we'll figure out a time later."

"R-right," Izuku nodded, while Ochako likewise scratched at the side of her head, "later. So … so I guess we aren't gonna be able to spend time together tomorrow?"

"Not me," Itsuka shook her head, "knowing my parents, they'd want to have a day with me after all the crap that happened yesterday, so … I think I'll be counted out of any group activities."

"Me too," Ochako sighed, "I should probably spend time with Mama and Papa. So, uh … we'll probably see each other at dinner tomorrow, Deku, but maybe not in the morning or afternoon."

"Right," Itsuka slowly nodded while Izuku looked reluctant but accepting - and then felt a mischievous smile appear on her face as she smirked at them, "so no footsies under the table, you two."

Izuku squeaked, going a bit red, while Ochako snorted and gave Itsuka's shoulder a small shove, lightly knocking her off balance before Itsuka playfully shoved her back. With that, the three of them made their way up to the dojo, walking along the wooden porch to the fence on the other side of the house.

Slipping in through the side door, Itsuka blinked a bit as her nose picked up on a strange smell coming from within the dojo itself, along with the sound of voices chatting lightly - wait, was her grandpa cleaning something in there? In any case, the three of them quickly made their way up the stairs to the upstairs house, Itsuka poking her head in through the door. She could hear the distant sound of voices coming from within the house, so she raised her voice.

"Mom? Eri?" She called. "Are you guys still up here?"

"Itsuka?" She heard her mom call back. "We're in the kitchen!"

"Woof!"

Smiling at the sound of her dog's bark, Itsuka moved aside so that Ochako could excitedly charge in to find Gūdo, and she and Izuku took up the rear as they entered the house and made their way into the kitchen.

At the table, Tenohira was sitting with Eri and eating breakfast, with the little girl looking up from her pancakes to stare at them in surprise. Gūdo, meanwhile, quickly scrambled out from under Eri's hanging feet so that he could jump up to bark in his owner's face, licking her cheek while she giggled before she managed to get him down, and Ochako quickly moved into a crouch so that she could start cuddling the dog right on the kitchen floor.

"Hey, there, you three," Tenohira straightened up from where she was reading a bill, smiling in surprise as Itsuka waved awkwardly to her - and then did a small glance down at the clothes her daughter was wearing, making her raise an eyebrow in intrigue, "didn't know that we were gonna have a full house today, too."

"Yeah, well, we all woke up at pretty much the same time, so we decided to come back." Itsuka explained to her mom quickly, before moving down as Eri opened her arms, and the older girl immediately gave her a hug. "Hey, there, silly, you miss me last night?"

"A little bit," Eri nodded awkwardly from where she had her chin plopped on Itsuka's shoulder, "but you were tired, and I was tired, so we left you at Deku's. And Gūdo kept me company last night, so it's okay."

"Ah, what a good doggie. I bet he missed all of us yesterday, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Eri leaned back as Itsuka let her go, grunting as she straightened up and cracked her back, and the little girl looked around her at Gūdo. She blinked when she saw Gūdo suddenly stand up from Ochako's embrace, letting out a small whine as he quickly spun in a circle, and she sighed as she started getting out of her seat.

"Hira, I think Gūdo has to go potty."

"Oh, probably," Tenohira nodded at the little girl, smiling. She then glanced back up at Izuku and Ochako as the brown-haired girl stood back up, and felt her smile falter when she saw both of them blink sleep out of their eyes, yawning. Itsuka, feeling her mom glance questioningly at her, nodded and moved around the table to talk to her mom while Eri made her way over to gently pat Gūdo's back, to get the dog to follow her.

"Izuku and Ochako didn't get much sleep last night," The orange-haired girl explained in a soft voice, "they were, uh - they were still pretty wired from yesterday, and ended up staying awake all night. I thought they could nap here for a while before we head over to the beach."

"Oh," Tenohira nodded in understanding, giving the other two teenagers a sympathetic look as she stood from the table, "well, of course they can stay here for the morning - the dojo's closed for the day anyway, your grandfather's not feeling very well."

"Really?" Itsuka blinked a bit in surprise. "I thought he looked alright yesterday."

"Well," Tenohira looked a bit unsure as well, "he says that he's not feeling up to it today, so he's just going to handle someone downstairs signing his kids up for our children's program, and then he'll be spending the rest of the day cleaning."

"Oh, is that why I smelled bleach in there?"

"Yeah … not really sure what happened, but apparently your grandpa's going to be giving the dojo a good scrub. Anyway, Izuku," Tenohira looked up from her daughter as Izuku quickly stood at attention, "before you head to bed, could you do me a small favor and take Eri and Gūdo outside while Itsuka gets everything ready for you and Ochako? I'm gonna start getting ready so that Eri and I can go swimsuit shopping - would it be okay if you took them out so that Gūdo can use the bathroom?"

"Oh, uh - sure," Izuku nodded, looking around as Eri guided Gūdo around the corner towards the door that led downstairs, the dog barking a bit and trying to nuzzle her cheek while she giggled, "no problem."

"Awesome, thank you, sweetie."

"Right," Itsuka nodded, turning to smile at the still yawning Ochako, "in that case, I'll go get my bed ready, Ochako, you can sleep in there. After that, I'm probably gonna take a shower to get any more of the gunk that was in my hair out, then I'm gonna be down in the garage for a bit. Do you know when exactly Dad's gonna be back, Mom?"

"Oh, he should be back around noon, so …"

As Itsuka and Tenohira continued to chat between themselves and Ochako continued to yawn, Izuku realized that he should probably head back out to go help Eri, so he quickly turned back around the corner and back into the main hallway. Beside the door, Gūdo gave him an excited bark as he paused to pet his head, scratching his ears briefly before he turned to Eri and opened the door that led downstairs.

"So, uh - shall we?" He smiled, holding the door open for them, and watched as the little girl and the dog began quickly making their way down to the ground floor.

He followed them soon after, closing the door behind them as they made their way downstairs to the yard. He was tired, of course, but he was at least awake enough to help the little girl with letting the dog outside to do his business, and then clean up after him. As he held the door open for the both of them and they made their way onto the porch, Izuku turned to smile down at the little girl as she stood near the edge of the wooden floor with the dog, who was bending down to sniff at the stone garden below them.

"So, uh …" He decided to make some light conversation, seeing Eri glance up at him, "… are you excited to go to the beach with us later, Eri? I bet it's gonna be fun!"

Eri nodded, her smile fading a bit as she turned to look back out at the yard. She was wearing a pair of Itsuka's old t-shirt and shorts, her bare feet padding against the wooden porch as she glanced over at the old swing set. Before he could try asking her if she was looking forward to swimming for the first time, however, she looked back up at him with an uncomfortable look.

"Hey, Deku?"

"Hm?" He blinked at the worried look on her face, crinkling his brow and moving down to his knees so they were at eye level. "What's up, Eri?"

"I'm … I'm kinda nervous," She admitted to him in a small voice. He blinked a bit in surprise before he got control of himself, and tried to smile at her.

"Oh, uh … w-well, I don't think there's anything to be nervous about, Eri," He tried to kindly say, "but if you end up feeling weird around everyone, you can come hang out with me, or Occhan, or - or Ken."

"Um … no, it's - it's not that," She said in a quiet voice, "everyone yesterday was really nice."

"O-oh …?"

"It's just," She glanced around again, and then shook her head and glanced back up at him, "I'm … is … is the guy who hurt you gonna be there? And - and the guy who hurt Ken?"

"Huh?" Izuku felt his brow furrow again. "The guy who hurt me? And Itsuka?"

"Mm-hm," She nodded, giving him a crestfallen look, "the - the yellow guy, with the pointy hair. And - and the boy with - with white and red hair."

"Oh," Izuku said simply, and then he realized what she was saying, making his eyes widen, "oh, you're - you're talking about Kacchan, and - and Todoroki."

"Mm-hm," She hummed again, the sad look on her face being replaced by a look of annoyance, one that surprised Izuku, "I glared at the red and white boy at the gate until he left yesterday. That scared him off, right?"

"Oh, uh …" Izuku felt himself pale a bit - he hadn't even been aware that Eri had been glaring at someone when they had met the Yaoyorozus at the gate yesterday. "I, uh … well … I don't think Kacchan will be coming to the beach today, Eri, you don't need to worry."

"Okay," Eri balled her fists, "but if I see him, I'll give him a kick!"

… okay, was living at a dojo causing Eri to grow more violent? Izuku gulped nervously at that possibility.

"U-uh, anyway," He tried to move on from that terrifying thought, "I - I don't really know if Todoroki is gonna come either. I don't think either of them will, but - but Todoroki might. Don't know, though."

"Okay," She nodded, frowning as she looked across the yard, and then added, "I hope he won't."

"Er … hey, Eri," He gently said, not liking that tone in her voice as he lowered his hand to lay on her shoulder and gave her a concerned look, "I - I know that you must've been worried about me and - and Ken yesterday, but you don't have to worry about Todoroki, okay?"

"But …" She gave him a confused, but slightly angry look, "… but he hurt Ken. And Nej."

"Yeah, he - he did," Izuku gave her, grimacing weakly, "but - but I don't think he's really that mean. I mean … he might look mean, but - but I don't think he's all that bad. I mean, he helped Yaoyorozu yesterday, didn't he?"

"Y-" Eri hesitated at the big name, "- Yao- um - that other girl from yesterday?"

"Y-yeah, her," Izuku nodded, trying to smile, "she was being all awkward around her - her dad, but - but then he came and helped her, didn't he? So I don't think he's all that bad. Honestly, I - I think he's more sad than anything."

"Huh?" Eri blinked, her angry look fading and being replaced by confusion. "Sad? About what?"

"I … well, I"m not entirely sure," He winced a bit at the lie he told her - he knew exactly why Shouto would be 'sad', after all, but he also knew that Eri definitely wouldn't understand things like what Shouto went through, "but … but I know that sometimes, when you're feeling sad, you can - you can get a bit mad, too. That - that yellow guy from yesterday? He used to make me and Occhan feel pretty sad, and because of that, we got angry about it, too."

"Really …?"

"Yeah. But I think that - that yesterday, Itsuka - she helped Todoroki when they were in the ice. So I … I wanna give him a chance," He tried to smile encouragingly at her, "maybe he's nice when he's not being sad."

Eri let out another small hum, turning away from him to look at the ground in both confusion and contemplativeness. Izuku gave her a smile as he rubbed her shoulder, and reached around her to pet Gūdo again, as the dog had been standing there and watching their conversation with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Neither one of the trio noticed the sound of a door sliding open behind them, followed by feet padding against the wooden floor and a small gasp.

"So, uh, let's try not to worry about it, okay?" Izuku moved back just a bit as Eri reached over to pat Gūdo as well. "Even if Todoroki is there for some reason today, everyone else will be really friendly. And I bet that if Gūdo comes with us, he can get a lot of -"

"Spark?"

At the sound of a young, unfamiliar voice suddenly speaking up from behind them, both Izuku and Eri jumped a bit, the little girl quickly moving to hide behind Izuku, and Gūdo excitedly barked as he looked around, only being stopped from charging over by Izuku having his hand on the top of his head. Quickly, Izuku looked around to see a young boy standing near the open doors of the dojo, having flinched a bit at the dog's bark and taken a step back.

The little boy staring at them from the dojo's side door was young - from the looks of things, he was about as young as Eri was, Izuku realized quickly. He had curly, light brown hair, a small patch of freckles on his face accompanied by a pair of brown eyes. He was wearing white t-shirt and shorts, accompanied by a yellow messenger bag wrapped around his shoulder with a small pin that Izuku thought looked somewhat familiar but he didn't recognize at first glance. But what caught Izuku's attention, most of all, was that the little boy was staring straight at him in shock, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Oh!" Izuku blinked, manners returning to him as he smiled at the little boy and Eri continued to hide behind him and Gūdo, who continued to bark at the stranger. "Uh, hello! We didn't see you there."

"Um …" The little boy looked nervously between him and the entrance of the dojo, but after a moment, he turned back around to slide the door shut behind him. After another second, he glanced back at Izuku and gave him an awkward and shy look, and then moved to sit down on the edge of the porch, glancing down at his feet in his nervousness.

After a few long seconds, Izuku let out a small hum as he glanced between the boy sitting and staring at his feet, and then at Eri hiding awkwardly behind him. It was clear, he realized, that both children weren't exactly gonna make each other feel better with their presence - Eri, of course, for the obvious reason of strangers always making her nervous, and this boy, obviously being awkward around strangers.

So … well …

… okay, it seemed it was up to Izuku to make this boy feel a bit better, and to get Eri pumped up again. So, with an awkward smile, he let go of Gūdo's head, comforted that he hadn't charged around Izuku to bark right at the young boy, and took Eri's hand and placed it on the dog to get her attention.

"Hey, uh - Eri," He said in a quiet, kind voice, "do you mind helping Gūdo head over and do his business? I'll just be right here."

"Mm-hm," She hummed, still quite nervously, but she did as Izuku asked and gently wrapped her arm around the dog's neck, walking him out into the yard to do his business. Now that she was moving a bit away, Izuku nodded, stifling a small yawn behind his hand, and then carefully looked around at the young boy, seeing him shoot a shy look at him before quickly looking back at his feet.

Trying to fix on an assuring smile, he gently approached the boy.

"Uh … hi, again," Izuku gave the boy an awkward wave, cringing inside, "sorry about that. We, uh - we didn't think there'd be anyone else out here. We just have to help the dog with his business, and then - then we'll go back inside."

"Oh," The boy said quietly, "okay."

Izuku nodded again, wincing at how weird he was acting, and moved to stand beside the boy.

"Uh …" He pointed down to the seat beside the boy, "… do you mind if I sit with you?"

Thankfully, the boy wasn't that awkward, looking a bit uncomfortable but shyly nodding. As Izuku sat himself down beside him, the boy shot him another nervous look, and then glanced around to where Eri was patting Gūdo's back as the dog sniffed the bushes for somewhere to go to the bathroom. Once Izuku was settled back, rubbing the back of his neck, he leaned forward as the boy looked around at him again.

"So, uh …" Izuku smiled encouragingly at him, "… what's your name?"

"Katsuma," The boy answered in a quiet voice, looking back down at his shoes. Izuku continued to be patient with him as Eri stayed near Gūdo, the little girl's red eyes nervously flickering back over to the little boy across the yard.

"Well, uh, it's … nice to meet you, Katsuma," Izuku politely said, "my name is Izuku."

"Y-yeah," He nodded timidly, "Spark."

It took all of his strength not to outwardly cringe at the reminder of his … meme-ality.

"Uh … yeah," He nodded stiffly, "that's me. Spark."

"Mm-hm," Katsuma nodded again, and then glanced back up at Izuku. There was a small pause as the boy continued to look nervous - and then a small, weak smile appeared on his face.

"Y-you were really cool yesterday," He said in a quick tone.

"Huh?" Izuku blinked, taken aback. "I was?"

"Y-yeah!" Katsuma nodded, sitting up and putting his hands in his lap as he looked up at Izuku, and the older boy was taken aback by the brightness that suddenly appeared in his eyes, despite his nervousness. "You were really cool when you were swinging around the trees, in the second round. Avoiding everyone."

"Oh, uh …" Izuku felt his cheeks start to warm up, glancing away a bit bashfully and rubbing the back of his head, "… I wasn't all that cool. I was, uh - I was getting yanked around a lot of the time by Hatsume's devices."

"Yeah, but you still dodged everyone else!" Katsuma defended him from himself, adjusting himself slightly as some of his shyness disappeared. "No one got to touch you until the very end! And you still won!"

"Well, er …" Izuku squirmed, tapping his hand on the porch slightly as he glanced back down at the little boy giving him a slightly excited look - and then he glanced down at the little boy's pin again, and blinked when he finally recognized it.

"Hey, your pin -" He pointed, feeling his own grin start to come back, "- that's Edgeshot! I remember that they sold those pins at one of his appearances at HeroCon! Are you a fan?"

"Mm-hm," Katsuma smiled down at it before looking around at Izuku, "my mom got it for me. Do you know him?"

"Of course I know him!" Izuku balled his fists excitedly, happy that the little boy seemed to match his energy. "I've been keeping up with him since I was ten! I like his mystery."

"Me too!"

With that, the two boys began happily talking together about the pro hero, both of them sitting on the porch and starting to fanboy together. On the other side of the yard, Eri continued to glance unsurely at Katsuma, although the awkwardness in her eyes lessened and lessened the longer she stared at him - and unknown to her, the sight of the wide smile on Katsuma's face caused her cheeks to redden, her heart thumping in her chest. She was only distracted, however, when Gūdo finished up his business and licked her cheek to get her attention, causing her to grumble a bit.

When she realized that the dog was finished peeing in the bushes, she wrapped her arm around his neck, and, despite her uncomfortableness, proceeded to walk him back over towards where Izuku and Katsuma were chatting, Izuku raising his arm for Katsuma to look down at, the sleeve of Izuku's sweater having been pushed back.

"… did it hurt?" The little boy asked, his voice sounding small as he inspected the faded red lines on Izuku's skin. "Getting all blown up? That guy's quirk - it looked like it hurt."

"Well … yeah," Izuku nodded, sighing a bit as he rested his arm down on the porch and glanced away, "it kind of did. But, y'know - I still won the match, so it's not so bad."

"But you weren't able to move on."

"No, I - I wasn't," Izuku sighed again, unable to stop himself from pouting briefly, "but it was for my own good - I ended up getting pretty hurt, so the teachers decided to pull me out. It sucked, but … well, I understood why they did it, they just wanted to make sure I was safe. Besides, third place isn't so bad, is it?"

"No, it isn't," Katsuma shook his head, "but I bet you could've won if you did keep going!"

"Maybe," Izuku gave him another smile, "but it was only thanks to my partner that I got as far as I did, you know?"

"Oh, yeah, she - she was pretty cool," Katsuma agreed, looking around at the dojo as though a thought had occurred to him, "does - is she here, too?"

"O-oh, uh …" Izuku felt himself go a bit red, thinking of his best friend - no, his girlfriend - probably asleep by now in Itsuka's room, "… well, yes, she - she is, but - but neither of us actually live here. This is actually - er - Itsuka Kendou's home. Y-you know, the girl who won the sports festival yesterday?"

"Wait, really?" The little boy felt his eyes widen even more. "This is her house?"

"Y-yeah!"

"Huh …" Katsuma slowly nodded, looking back around at Izuku - and then his eyes trailed straight up to where Eri was awkwardly standing behind Izuku with the dog, making him gasp a bit in surprise and quickly go quiet. Izuku faltered a bit at his expression, confused, and looked around to see the little girl trying her hardest not to hide behind Gūdo.

"Oh! Hi, Eri," He smiled up at her, "is Gūdo all done?"

Mm-hm," Eri nodded quietly, moving to sit down on Izuku's other side, "he's done peeing."

There was a long pause after that, with Eri glancing once at Katsuma and then letting out a small squeak when Katsuma looked around at her at the same time, both children going red and quickly looking down at their knees. Izuku glanced between them in confusion, suddenly feeling like he was being used as a human shield on both sides, before Eri awkwardly glanced at Katsuma again while Gūdo sat down beside her.

"I'm …" She hesitated, clearly nervous, "… Eri."

"Um … hi," Katsuma shyly responded, "I'm Katsuma."

"Hi."

Izuku couldn't help but feel his heart squeeze at how cute the two of them were being, but thankfully, he knew to keep himself quiet. Eri swung her legs aimlessly while Katsuma studied his own feet, and then she cleared her throat.

"Um …" She said in a quiet voice, "why … are you calling Deku 'Spark'?"

"Erk," Izuku was barely able to stop himself from cringing.

"Um … that's what the internet was calling him yesterday," Katsuma explained in an awkward voice, "Spark. I thought it was his hero name."

"'Hero name'?" Eri repeated, confused.

"Y-yeah. Like … um … it's his super cool nickname." Katsuma winced a bit, looking like he had just said something stupid and was regretting it. "I - I mean, it's - it's the name that he uses to fight bad guys."

"Oh," She blinked a bit, "okay."

"…"

"…"

"… I call him 'Deku'."

"'Deku'?" Katsuma repeated, confused. "What does that mean?"

"I … don't really know," Eri paused as well, feeling her brow furrow, and then turned to back up at Izuku in the middle of their conversation. "Deku, what does … um … 'Deku' mean?"

"Huh?" Izuku was taken aback, being yanked back into the conversation now that both children were giving him a confused look. "Oh, it, uh -"

Before he could try to explain in a way that made sense to both children, however, the door behind them that led into the dojo opened again - but this time, it opened with a lot more force than Katsuma gave it, hitting off the wall and causing the small group to jump a bit.

"Katsuma!" The little girl standing at the door sharply said, quickly looking down at her brother as he looked around at the girl wearing red pants and a white t-shirt similar to his. "Why did you come out here without telling me? I would've come out with you!"

"Mahoro!" Katsuma looked around at her in surprise as she stomped out onto the porch, and then looked around at both Izuku and Eri, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. However, before she could demand to know who these two were, what with Eri suddenly looking scared of her appearance and Izuku looking taken aback, Gūdo let out an excited bark.

"Ah -!" Izuku squeaked as Gūdo quickly moved away from Eri and towards the little girl named Mahoro, who only had one moment to blink and realize what was going to happen before Gūdo quickly began licking at her face, the little girl letting out a squeak as she quickly tried backing away from the large dog.

"Ack!" She gasped as the dog barked a bit loudly in her face, causing her to stumble back even more. "What's with this dog?! Who - who's is he?! Get off!"

"Oh! Gūdo, stop!" Izuku quickly got up from the porch, panicking as the dog continued barking excitedly right in her face, and moved to pull him back from the little girl. Alas, the damage was already done, with the side of Mahoro's face and hair being covered in dog drool as she stood there, beginning to slowly but surely tremble with fury as she aimed her glare up at him.

And for a moment, despite her being much smaller and younger than him, Izuku felt a chill shoot up his spine at her hate-filled glare.

Thankfully for him, and both Katsuma and Eri who stared in fear as to what the little girl was about to do, Izuku's life would be spared in that moment, as the door behind them opened once again. Stepping outside, both Teko and a man with similar looking hair to the two took in the scene, the other man blinking in surprise while Teko let out a deep sigh. Gūdo let out another excited bark at the new stranger, but Teko looking sharply at the dog was enough that Gūdo knew to simply sit down on the porch, his tail wagging happily behind him and hitting Izuku's ankle several times.

"Oh! Good morning," The taller man smiled down at Izuku as the teenager attempted to keep the dog calm and avoid the little girl's murderous glare, "I see that Katsuma got a bit adventurous, huh? Can't blame him, though, signing paperwork can be a bit boring."

"Oh, uh …" Izuku quickly sank into a small bow while Mahoro whipped around to her father, pointing at the drool-covered side of her face as though she was displaying a mortal wound, "… sorry about that, sir."

"Oh, no worries!" He laughed, shaking his head. "I'm just thankful that he had a bit of company while I got everything signed."

"Dad!" Mahoro whined, pointing at her slobber-covered cheek again in anger as though he hadn't noticed. "The dog got all over me! Look at all the slobber!"

"Yes, yes," Her dad chuckled, bending over with a handkerchief and wiping some of the drool off her cheek, making Mahoro cringe and turn away while Katsuma wilted and Eri glanced between both siblings again, "that's usually how dogs are, Mahoro - the dog your mom and I used to have before you were born was always so happy to see strangers, it was hard to make sure he didn't jump up on anyone. But anyway, you two, I got you both signed up - thank you again, Kendou-sensei," He turned back to the dojo master, his expression falling slightly, "things have been a bit rough around the house, ever since … well, thank you regardless for seeing us today, I wasn't sure when I would be able to come in another time."

"Of course," Teko nodded, speaking in a slightly gruff voice, "I know the pain of losing someone you love, Mr. Shimano. If you ever need any assistance, or need someone to look after Mahoro and Katsuma while you're working, please don't hesitate to reach out."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Mr. Shimano smiled at him, "thank you. Now then, you two," He turned back to his small children, "let's start heading back home, shall we? Or maybe we should stop somewhere on the way back for breakfast?"

"That sounds good!" Mahoro nodded, and then quickly moved to scoop up her brother's hand, pulling him up from where he was sitting and beginning to drag him over to their father. As he was pulled away, Katsuma quickly looked around and waved quickly back at Izuku and Eri, with the little girl hesitantly raising her hand to wave back, and soon, after Mr. Shimano bowed to the three of them, the small family walked through the gate and around the corner out of sight.

"Huh …" Izuku looked down at Eri, smiling weakly at her, "… his sister's … wow. But - but Katsuma seems nice, doesn't he?"

"Mm-hm," Eri nodded, continuing to pet Gūdo absently while staring after where Katsuma went, "he's nice. Is … is he gonna come back?"

"It sounds like it," He nodded as Teko looked back around into the dojo, frowning as he kept the door somewhat closed, "he'll probably be taking lessons, though, but - but maybe he can spend a bit of time with us after that?"

Eri stared at the blank spot Katsuma had been in for a moment, frowning slightly - and then she suddenly moved away from the dog, and quickly ran over to tug on Teko's sleeve. The dojo master let out a small grunt, looking down at the little girl as she stepped backwards.

"Is - will he be doing … um … lessons?" She asked, sounding suddenly shy.

"Hm? Ah, you mean Katsuma," Teko nodded, turning back to her. "Yes, he will - him and his sister both, every Saturday. Why do you ask?"

Eri paused for a moment, glancing down at her bare feet - and then she nodded, and looked back up to the dojo master, her face turning determined.

"Can …" She gulped, and then suddenly balled her fists. "… I wanna learn how to fight, too! Can I - can I have your lessons, too?"

Izuku let out a small sputter of surprise at that, while Teko straightened his back and gave Eri a serious look. The little girl, for her part, was looking serious as well, balling her fists in front of her and giving a pout to the older man as though she were unafraid of him.

However, before Teko could answer, the door off to the side slid open, and Tenohira came out, holding her purse in one hand and her car keys in the other.

"Hey," She waved to the three of them, causing Eri to look around in surprise, "I'm all ready to go now, Eri. What are you guys talking about?"

Eri paused, and then looked back around at the dojo teacher. He stared down at the little girl for a long moment, and then he let out a small sigh.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," He said, in a way that meant that his word was final, and then turned around and headed back into the dojo. As the door slid shut, Eri let out a small hum, nodding surely to herself, and then quickly made her way over to go and take Tenohira's hand, the mother letting out a surprised noise as the little girl quickly put on her sandals, and then pulled the taller woman towards the gate so that they could go shopping.

"Oh, uh … okay," She looked back at Izuku, giving him a wave despite her confusion, "we'll - we'll be back soon!"

With that, she was pulled out of the gate by the little girl, and Izuku gave her an awkward wave back as he and the dog briefly stood there - and then he looked down to Gūdo as the dog looked up at him with a tilt of his head.

"That … was kinda weird, right?"

"Woof."

"I … guess that means that you don't really understand girls either, do you, boy?"

"Woof!"

"Yeah, me too, boy."

Gūdo panted happily, his tongue sticking out of his mouth.

"So, uh … talking to you and expecting you to answer back is kind of a bad sign. I should probably go to bed."

"Woof."

With that, the two of them went back into the house.

---

Okay … okay. Something was wrong here, and he didn't like it.

All Might felt himself continue to sweat nervously as he helped Inko with washing the dishes from their lunch, having finished just five minutes ago and volunteering to assist her in drying the plates and putting them away. As they stood together beside the sink, Inko silently passing All Might the wet plates for him to dry and put back in the cupboard, he couldn't help but feel himself begin to shake the longer the awkward silence went on, wondering wildly what on earth Inko might be thinking right now as she continued to wash the plates without a word.

As one might guess, lunch time had come and gone, and it had been in silence. All Might had come to the Midoriyas in nervous but high spirits, only for those spirits to be dashed by how quiet Inko had been, only informing him that Izuku had already left (although the way she had glanced at the shoe mat with a slightly concerned look indicated that there was another pair of shoes that was missing) and Hisashi had to go in to work for the afternoon and evening, so it would be just them. And then All Might's 'slight nervousness' became 'very nervous' when Inko said nothing after that, eating their food in awkwardness.

All of his attempts to make small talk ended with Inko stiffly laughing and trailing off, meaning that All Might was currently in a state of panic as he had no idea what had happened, why Inko was acting so quiet, and how he was supposed to bring it up to her. What, was he supposed to just ask, 'Say, Mrs. Midoriya, I noticed that you're giving me quite a bit of rope to leave myself hanging, why is that?' Of course not!

Goodness, he felt like he was about to pull an Izuku and start overthinking everything again, All Might sighed quietly to himself as he continued to dry the cupwear. They were quiet for a few more minutes, All Might careful not to get any water on his button up shirt - he had the foresight of removing his yellow suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves before taking the wet silverware and plates - and as soon as the last plate of their little lunch rendezvous was finished, Inko let out a small sigh as she dried her hands on the cloth hanging from the oven.

"Er … thank you, Mr. Yagi," She said quietly, while All Might tried his hardest not to wince.

"You're - you're very welcome," He tried to smile through his cringing, "happy to help."

She then turned to look back up at him, and he resisted the urge to shrink up when he looked into her eyes, and saw the raw nervousness there.

"So … um …" She glanced over at the couch, "… would … would you like me to make some tea?"

"Ah … w-well, thank you," All Might nodded awkwardly, and took his cue to head over to the couch, leaving his coat on the chair as he sat down.

It took a few minutes, but soon, after hearing the kettle whistling, he watched as Inko approached the couch holding a tray with two cups on it, putting it on the coffee table before them before sitting down beside him on the couch. They both picked up their cups and sipped on their tea, with All Might trying to awkwardly smile at her even through the silence.

"Er … thank you, Inko," He nodded politely at her, "lunch was - it was delicious. As always."

"T-thank you," Inko muttered into her tea, and continued her staring contest with the floor. All Might stiffened up slightly, but still tried to carry the conversation a bit further.

"So … er … did you get any word from Young Izuku as to when he'll be back?"

"Um - y-yes, I did," Inko nodded, "he texted me before you - you arrived. He'll be back sometime tonight, after the party."

"Ah, well - I hope they have fun. They earned it after everything yesterday."

"Y-yes, they did," Inko nodded slowly, putting her cup down on the table, and All Might missed how some of the nervousness left her eyes, being replaced by determination, "and … I'm glad that you came over."

"Oh, ah - thank you," All Might awkwardly glanced away from her, unable to stop himself from smiling softly. He, of course, also missed how she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"So …er …" She said carefully, "… we didn't see you much yesterday. How was work?"

"Oh, it was good," All Might nodded, "fairly busy."

"Hm," Inko nodded, carefully staring at the man beside her on the couch as he lifted his cup to his lips to take another sip, "yes. I would imagine being All Might is pretty busy."

"Yes, well …" All Might chuckled, sipping on his tea while chortling a bit -

- and then what Inko said suddenly registered. Made him stare blankly at the turned off TV. And then, without warning, he choked.

"PFFFFFFT -! *cough* *cough* *cough*!"

"Ah!" Inko squeaked, jumping up as All Might's tea spat straight out into the air, and he gave in to a violent coughing fit. Quickly, she pulled a dish rag out of nowhere and quickly began to wipe up the mess on the table, while All Might attempted to get control of his coughing as he raised one hand to cover his mouth.

While he struggled to quiet down his coughing, Inko began to blabber out apologies.

"Oh, I'm so, so sorry, Mr. Yagi! I - I thought that - that it would make more sense for me to just - to put it out there, and I was - I was struggling during lunch to figure out to - to ask you, and - and I just - oh, I'm so sorry!"

All Might tried to raise his hand to assure her that it was alright, his cough continuing to fill the apartment as he fought to get control of himself. On the inside, of course, he was a different story, feeling himself begin to freak out at once.

Inko had just called him 'All Might'. Which meant that he had somehow slipped up. And that, of course, meant that he needed to do some serious damage control.

He couldn't panic now - this wasn't a situation like Ochako's, thankfully, where she confronted him with hard to disprove facts. Hopefully, Inko had just … seen something that she was doubting, and he just needed to convince her that it wasn't what she thought, despite the bubbling guilt inside his chest at the thought of manipulating her. But … but it wasn't like he could just be honest with her! Not after everything he'd learned last night or his suspicions from the last few weeks.

So, once he finally got control of his coughing, he quickly cleared his throat, using his own handkerchief from his pocket to wipe at the tea dripping down his pointy chin (which was mixed with some crimson, he winced). Turning back to Inko, All Might felt like a river of sweat was moving down his back as he tried to smile innocently.

"Er … ah … my apologies, Inko, but - but what was it you said?"

"I …" Inko hesitated for another moment, looking conflicted from All Might's reaction - and then she let out a sigh and nodded. To All Might's worry, Inko straightened up in her seat, and she turned to look him in the eye, looking far more certain than he had ever seen her.

"… I … believe you know what I said, Mr. Yagi," She said in a voice that indicated to him that this wasn't going to be an easy fight, "I … know that you're All Might."

"I - er -" All Might felt himself begin to shake as he tried to keep his poker face, a stiff easy going look on his face even as his fist clenched where it was resting on his leg, "- I - I'm sorry, Inko, but I'm afraid you're -"

"I'm not an idiot, Mr. Yagi."

The cold way she had said that caused All Might to shut his mouth at once.

"I … realize that you must have your reasons to hide this," Inko was sure to stare him in the eye as she kept that same steel-eyed look on her face, "but please don't treat me like a fool. My son might have gotten his brains from his father, but - but he got his attention to detail from me. I … I know that it's ultimately your secret, and I can't make you tell me anything, but … but I know, and I wanted to make sure you knew that I knew."

"I … w-well …" All Might found himself stuttering again, unable to do much else as he was forced to stare into Inko's eyes.

He knew, of course, that he had to find some way to get out of this, to somehow convince her that she was just imagining things. But the look in her eyes meant that she would see through all of his attempts to bluff his way out of this. And … her request for him to not treat her like an idiot … well, honestly, it somewhat stung. Because he had such respect for her …he …

… couldn't …

…

… ah, to hell with it.

With a long sigh, All Might bowed his head, shuffling a bit further away from Inko on the couch, and without warning, buffed up. Soon, the Symbol of Peace himself was sitting on the couch with Inko, the housewife letting out a shuddered breath as she stared up at him, seeing the stiff grin on his face. And then he disappeared under another burst of steam in his regular form, coughing again and holding a hand up to his mouth to cover the blood.

Inko, thankfully, quickly acted, bringing out another handkerchief for him to wipe his mouth with. Once he had gotten control of his breathing, they both fell into silence.

Finally, All Might sighed.

"So …" He said in a quiet voice, "… how … did you learn of this?"

Inko hesitated for a moment.

"Y-yesterday," She explained, "when - when you went down to help Itsuka in her match, and - and I recognized the suit you were wearing. I … I realized that a lot of … of the suits 'Mr. Yagi' wore seemed … baggy. And then I remembered that I asked you to meet with me to get popcorn for Eri, and you never came … but All Might did show up. And I … I put everything together."

All Might, for his part, merely let out a small chuckle at his own foolishness.

"Well …" He shook his head, "… I … definitely wasn't on the ball yesterday."

There was a short pause. And then Inko decided to get the obvious question out of the way.

"Does my son know?"

"… yes," All Might nodded slowly, aware of Inko staring at him hard, "he does. I … back on the day we met, I saved your son from that sludge villain, but … he ended up clinging to my leg while I was taking off, and I ended up running out of time when I had to set him down …"

"Izuku …" Inko sighed, looking disappointed in her son.

"… and I … when I became this again," All Might gestured down to his emaciated form, frowning, "I ended up telling him the truth."

"The truth?"

"Yes. Inko, I …" All Might closed his eyes and turned away from the small housewife, unable to stop the shame welling within him, "… I'm sorry that I hid the truth of my identity from you. But I am being honest when I tell you that this -" He gestured down to his skinny form again, "- isn't how I normally look. The injury that I told you about, a year ago - it was given to me by a villain that dealt me a mightier blow than anything I've taken. The truth is that … I'm down to working as All Might for about an hour a day. Soon, I - I won't be strong enough to turn back to my normal form anymore. I will be stuck like this forever."

He opened his eyes again, turning to look around at Inko and seeing the shock in her own eyes.

"I didn't want to tell you this to frighten you," He made clear, "but … but there's a reason that I kept the truth from you, from the Urarakas, the Kendous, from - from everyone. And it's why I'm asking you to keep quiet about what I'm about to tell you."

"M-Mr. Yagi, what - what's going on?" Inko shook a bit. "You're - you're scaring me."

"And I'm sorry for that," All Might sighed, "but the villain that gave me this injury - I had thought that I killed him. But now … now a lot of things are pointing to the possibility that he's still alive, and I - I can't for the life of me figure out how, and what he's up to. And the truth is … the truth is, I took on Young Kendou as my charge because I want her to become my successor as the Symbol of Peace."

"I-Itsuka?" Inko gasped, raising her hand to her mouth in shock.

"Yes," All Might bowed his head, "and with this villain possibly lurking in the shadows … I'm terrified of what might happen if he surfaces before she's ready, and I run out of time."

"Itsuka … she's your …?"

"Yes. Young Kendou is my successor. I chose her before I met your son and Young Ochako."

"Then …" Inko looked absolutely gobsmacked, looking away while tears welled in her eyes, "… when you took them and trained them on the beach …"

"I wanted to get her ready to replace me," All Might sighed, looking ashamed, "and your son … well, Young Izuku needed my help, so I gave it to him. And Young Uraraka figured out the truth, similar to how you did, and - and because of your son's trust in her, I took her on as my third pupil. All three of them, they - they're good kids, and because I know your son and Young Ochako would follow Young Kendou to hell and back, I don't want them to have to deal with this villain I'm afraid of. Had I known that he was alive before I met Young Kendou …"

I might not have given her One for All, He finished that thought in his head.

Inko fell silent when All Might trailed off, turning off to the side to stare down at the table in shock. The pro hero allowed her to think for a minute, knowing that he had dropped a pretty big bombshell on her without warning. They were both quiet on the couch for a long moment - and then Inko sighed, sniffing a bit.

"So …" She wiped her eyes, "… when Izuku wanted to try using his quirk for the first time in years … it was … because he was inspired by you?"

"I …" All Might paused, and then shook his head, smiling despite himself, "… not exactly. Your son always had the capability and the will to become a hero. I just … told him the words he needed to hear to get moving."

All Might stared down at his knees while Inko simply looked at him for a moment. And then, as All Might wondered briefly if he should apologize to her for lying again, he was interrupted by a small hand suddenly laying on his own, which had been clutching tightly at his pants leg. All Might blinked, and looked up at Inko as she wiped at her eyes again, and then turned to smile at him.

"Then …" She sniffled, and then lowered her hand to give All Might a teary smile, catching him off guard, "… I … I suppose I have to thank you, Coach Yagi."

"T-thank me?" All Might went a bit red with her hand on his, although he was quick to glance away so she didn't catch a look at it. "There's - there's nothing to thank me for, Inko -"

"There is," She insisted, and then, after a moment, she moved her hand to the compression sleeve on her arm, and rolled it down. All Might stared down at the old burn mark on the housewife's arm, his blush fading, and he looked back up at Inko as tears continued to build in her eyes.

"My son … I know that for a long time, he hated himself for this," She sniffled, "that he gave me this scar. I never blamed him, and I never stopped loving him, but I know … I know that he would see me wear this sleeve, and be reminded of what he did at the playground. I was always scared of how Ochako wanted to be a hero when they grew up, but … but it broke my heart that Izuku so clearly wanted to be with her, but he just … he wouldn't let himself. And - and I won't let you downplay yourself," She gave him a serious look, "I don't know what would've happened if - if you hadn't come to my son and lifted him up."

"I'm …" All Might hesitated for a long moment, seeing Inko suddenly straighten up and take a deep breath. However, before he could speak, her other hand came up to gently take his bony cheek, making his words die immediately in his mouth and a touch of red suddenly bloom underneath her palm while Inko likewise went red.

"If … I'm being truthful," She said in a small voice, "I'm a - a bit disappointed we weren't able to spend any time together yesterday, Mr. Yagi. Because I … I've grown very fond of you, and - and I want to spend more time with you. I … I know that you're worried about this villain, and - and what might happen if someone were to find out you're - you're All Might, but … but I don't want you to distance yourself from me."

"I …" All Might began to shake, not entirely sure what the hell was going on but not entirely sure he disliked it, "… I'm … I - I'm aware that I'm - I'm not very - uh - a-appealing in this -"

"No," Inko shook her head, smiling gently, and All Might shrank a bit as Inko slowly stood up, staring down at him, "no, I'm - I didn't - well -"

She paused for a moment, her face falling and turning redder - and then she sighed.

"Fine," She nodded to herself, "if Hisashi can somehow seduce Midnight of all people, I can do this."

"I - sorry?" All Might blinked. "Your ex-husband seduced - mmph!"

His voice was muffled, however, as Inko suddenly sat up and went in, and he found something soft and plump land on his mouth. All Might's dark eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as Inko kissed him, her other hand rising to cup his other cheek as she held her lips there.

There was a long pause as Inko squeezed her eyes shut. And then she moved back, and both of them stared at each other.

And then All Might, in a slightly trembling voice, said, "I am … very confused."

Inko was unable to stop herself from snorting a bit at that, turning away to hide her red face - and then her hand fell to All Might's bony wrist. Gently rising from the couch, she pulled him up, All Might standing stiff as a board, and she began guiding him around the couch towards …

"Er …" He squeaked, "… I-Inko, why are - why are we going to your room? Um - w-why are you closing the door? Er … Inko … w-why are you … unbuttoning my shirt … uh …?"

"Mr. Yagi - no. Toshinori. Please stop asking questions."

"… a-alright."

And thus, one could guess what happened next. And Inko was very thankful that Hisashi and Izuku were out for the day.

---

"The beaaaaaaaaaach!"

At Mina's loud cry of victory and leaping off the parking lot and into the air, the large ensemble of Class 1A and 1B watched as the pink girl soared through the air, her open shirt blowing in the wind as she held her arms up and her legs out at her joyous cry …

… and then she went straight down, with her excitement immediately giving way to panic as she tripped over her own feet and began tumbling down the sandy slope with loud comical grunts, everyone behind her wincing as she rolled down the hill head over ass, until she finally arrived at the floor of sand waiting for it, sliding onto her back and spitting out sand that had gotten in her mouth.

"Ah," Itsuka shook her head at her classmate, while Gūdo barked down at Mina's sprawled out form while tapping his front paws on the ground, his master holding his leash as she turned to the rest of the students assembled there, "well, I saw that coming. Okay, everyone, unless you wanna do an Ashido, let's just go down the stairs, please?"

Several members of Class 1A and 1B glanced amongst themselves for a moment - and then, with similar whoops to Mina's, Eijirou, Denki, Pony, Tooru, Tetsutetsu, Hanta, Setsuna, Kinoko and the guy named Tsuburaba jumped down the hill, some of them like Tetsutetsu and Hanta sliding down a bit more gracefully than Mina, and others, like Tsubuaba, Denki, Eijirou and Kinoko, tripping over their feet and rolling or sliding the rest of the way.

As the rest of the two classes shook their heads and started making their way down the beach, Gūdo let out another excited bark as Itsuka finally let go of his leash, and the dog took off down the hill as well, pausing to sniff Kinoko's hair as she sat up, before he quickly ran over to where Eijirou was standing up, moving in between his spread legs as he continued barking loudly. He then ran over towards the water, sand kicking up from how fast he was running in his joy.

"Gūdo, don't go too far!" Itsuka called out to her dog as everyone made their way onto the beach, and she whistled to her dog to come back as she headed straight towards the barbeque that she and her dad had set up a half hour ago. She was soon joined by Kyouka, who placed her speaker and player on the picnic bench beside her and started up the music.

Around them, everyone else began setting up the things for their party, excitedly talking - Hanta and Denki started getting the campfire ready for later, everyone else moving to put their trays of food down on the picnic table, and then started chatting excitedly amongst each other as they all crowded around Gūdo, the large dog more than happy to roll onto his back so that everyone could take a turn doting on him and rubbing his tummy. It was thankful that the dog was basking being the center of attention, so that many of the guys could totally pretend that the girls were showing a hell of a lot more skin than usual, making their cheeks go a bit red.

For one, only four of the girls chose to outright wear bikinis - Pony, wearing a nice red swimsuit that caused Mezo to clear his throat when she stepped near him to get to the dog, Mina, wearing a leopard-print bikini that was making a few boys like Denki and Rin from 1B awkwardly try not to stare at her jiggling chest as she laughed, and Tooru, who, while not exactly visible, was still wearing a black bikini that left enough to the imagination that the guys were awkwardly trying not to stare at the floating pieces of clothing. There was also Setsuna, wearing a purple two piece, but she was at least aware of how many heads were turning her way, with her poking Shoda's cheek and giggling when he went bright red and quickly went back to petting the dog.

Meanwhile, most of the girls were wearing a mix of the two - Itsuka was wearing a pair of cut up jeans that rode to her mid-thigh and a white open dress shirt showing her abs and the blue bikini top she was wearing (one that was making Izuku, Ochako and Nejire suddenly interested in flicking their gazes in her direction), and the other girls of the class, like Tsuyu and Reiko, were in a mix of shorts and t-shirts. The guys, meanwhile, all were wearing their swimwear with some (like Shoda and Jurota) keeping their shirts on. This, of course, didn't stop some of the girls from eating the obvious eye candy before them, with Mina giving approving nods to a few of the guys and Tooru blatantly checking out Ojirou as he bent down to pet the dog (not that anyone noticed, of course).

While everyone continued to dote on the dog and totally not check each other out, Itsuka smiled and took Eri's hand as she guided her over to where Setsuna and Tsuyu were standing with their own siblings. Sera, for her part, was giving Eri an interested look while the gray-haired girl wearing a nice red swimsuit bought that morning hid behind Itsuka's leg, but thankfully it seemed that Tsuyu's little sister was as nervous as Eri was, hiding behind her sister's long green hair while her little brother looked around the beach with a bored expression.

"So, Eri," Itsuka knelt down to Eri's height and brought her out gently to face the various green-haired people before them, "this is Sera, Set's little sister. She's a little angel."

"Yeah," Setsuna likewise knelt down to her little sister's height, being sure to put her hands on Sera's shoulders, speaking in a much gentler tone than usual, "and Sera, this is Eri. You know, the little girl I told you about when I got back home last night. Remember, you have to play nice with her, okay? She's not as excitable as you are, so no biting."

"Mm-hm," Sera nodded, "no biting. Not yet."

"Not yet," Setsuna giggled, while Eri suddenly looked nervously between both girls' sharp teeth.

"Kero," Tsuyu ribbited with laughter, before she moved to bring her little sister out from where she was unsuccessfully trying to hide behind her, "now Satsuki, please try and get along with Eri - she's very nice, but very shy. And Samidare, please don't try getting them into trouble, kero."

"Ribbit," Her older brother grumbled (or ribbitted), folding his arms together, before he stole a glance over at Reiko as she adjusted her large hat over her head and went a bit red.

While the Asuis ribbited together, Setsuna let her younger sister's shoulders go, and Sera carefully approached Eri as the other little girl continued to hold Itsuka's hand. As soon as they were relatively face to face, Setsuna's little sister smiled and reached out to pat Eri's shoulder. Jumping a bit, Eri quickly looked around at the girl before her.

"I brought my dolls," Sera informed her importantly, "do you wanna play with them with me?"

"Um …" Eri glanced awkwardly up at Itsuka as though asking for her opinion.

Itsuka, for her part, merely gave her an encouraging nod and let go of her hand, straightening up and smiling down at her. Eri paused for a moment, and then she turned to nod at Sera in turn, and she smiled and reached down to take Eri's hand, so that she could guide her over towards where Setsuna had put down their backpack near their towels. They all watched as Sera also reached out to take Satsuki's hand as well, the frog girl looking nervous, and the three girls quickly made their way over to the backpack while Setsuna turned to grin at Tsuyu.

"I guess I'll be on babysitting duty first," She volunteered, and Tsuyu ribbited at her with a smile, "just to make sure Sera doesn't go back on her 'no biting' promise, anyway."

"Thank you, Setsuna," Tsuyu nodded at her, "I just have something to take care of quickly, kero, and then I can come back and take over."

Itsuka smiled between both of them, and then a thought occurred to her. She then turned to Setsuna and patted her shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey, Set," She dropped her smile a bit as she put her hands in her cut jean pockets, "did you hear from Yui at all? I know she was supposed to be visiting Iida, but she didn't respond to my text."

"Oh, yeah," Setsuna grimaced a bit, her own smile fading, "yeah, I talked to her at lunch. Apparently, she's not allowed to visit the Iidas - but apparently he told her to head home. Said thanks for coming to see them, but he couldn't leave the hospital room - and that was pretty much it. She wasn't feeling up for the beach afterwards, so she's gonna stick by the hospital for the rest of the day."

"Yeah," Itsuka sighed, shaking her head, "yeah. Well, let's - let's just hope that it's not as bad as it might be, y'know?"

"Kero," Tsuyu nodded in agreement, staring down at the sand sadly.

Indeed, most of the class were aware, from a text from Tenya in the group chat this morning, that Tensei was in the hospital, and that Tenya had gone to visit him. They had all sent their condolences, but Itsuka had been worried about how clipped Tenya's messages were - usually they would be punctual and all in one message, but he had seemed scatter-brained and distracted.

So she was just … hoping that everything would be fine.

"Hey, uh -" The three girls blinked a bit and looked around to see Hanta raising a hand in greeting as he approached them, looking relaxed in his exotic looking shorts with no shirt (something that made Setsuna tilt her head in curiosity) "- maybe I could help you out with babysitting duty, Tokage - I mean, I keep seeing Sera shooting looks my way, so I better go and see if she wants to play for a bit."

"Oh, yeah, totally, dude - she's been itching to play with you ever since we had dinner a month ago," Setsuna chuckled, patting him over and walking with him towards the little girls - although not before Setsuna was sure to use her hip to tap against his, making him blink and go a bit red at the barest feeling of her bare shoulder against his, "so you'd best keep your eyes to yourself for now, Tush Bro - no need to make the little girls wonder what's on my butt that's making you stare at it so hard."

"Peh," Hanta shook his head, unable to stop himself from chuckling, "I'm pretty sure you'll be the only one needing to keep your eyes to yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, dude, whatevs," Setsuna chortled. As they walked together, however, Hanta turned to glance back at some of the guys from 1B gathered around the dog - he remembered how they had hit on Setsuna and she had teased them back all yesterday, and how many of them hadn't kept their eyes to themselves with her bikini on.

So, with a small frown, he nodded to himself and stuck a bit closer to the girl beside him as they approached the little girls.

Behind them, Itsuka let out a small sigh as she turned away, content with the little kids being distracted with Sera's toys for the time being. Looking around at everyone as they continued setting everything up for the afternoon, with Eijirou and Yosetsu putting up the volleyball net, Denki trying to bounce his basketball half-heartedly in the sand, and the other girls trying to organize everything on the table, Itsuka let herself relax a bit as she spotted Izuku walking over to help with setting up the net, and Ochako standing amongst the other girls.

She then turned to look up as she saw someone moving towards the stairs up at the parking lot -

- and then she felt her lips suddenly thin.

"Hellooo, kohais!" Himiko happily greeted everyone as she hopped down the steps towards the beach, throwing her hands up in the air as everyone shouted greetings. Unlike everyone else, who were wearing either t-shirts or open button shirts, Himiko was wearing a thin black sweater with the zipper down, exposing the black bikini she was wearing beneath it as she happily skipped onto the beach, kicking off her sandals as she waved hello to some of the girls.

Behind her, Mirio and Tamaki waved - or more accurately, Mirio waved while Tamaki awkwardly studied his feet - before the two headed back to the parking lot, but despite the heaviness in her stomach seeing her senpai, and being reminded of what Nighteye had said to Izuku a few weeks ago, Itsuka kept her attention on Himiko as her eyes somewhat narrowed. She had known, of course, that the Big Three had agreed to swing by the beach for their party, due to Mina having confirmed in the group chat that Himiko was going to be making an appearance.

But now she had to focus on Himiko, feeling herself straighten up as she saw how obviously Himiko was looking over at Ochako, before the older girl licked her lips and started sauntering over, swaying her hips purposefully.

Quickly straightening up, Itsuka quickly began making her way over to intercept their senpai - she knew that it was pretty much useless to feel jealous now, but she couldn't help the way her heart was thumping nervously with Himiko obviously staring down at Ochako's butt -

- only for a hand to suddenly shoot out and stop her from moving forward, and she looked around in surprise as Tsuyu smiled up at her.

"No need to worry, kero," She confirmed to the confused taller girl, giving her a thumbs up, "Nejire asked me to run interference."

With no further explanation, the frog girl quickly made her way around Itsuka and hurried over to intercept Himiko in her stead. Itsuka watched in confusion as Tsuyu reached out to pat Himiko's shoulder, causing the older girl to stop in her tracks and look around in surprise and confusion as Tsuyu began lightly talking to her, the taken aback look on Himiko's face fading slightly as she looked intrigued by something Tsuyu said.

"Oooh!" Nejire suddenly came up behind Itsuka, causing her to jump a bit in surprise and look around at her in confusion as her friend happily giggled. "I didn't think Tsuyu would work that fast!"

"Er … Nejire?" Itsuka gave her a confused look as she turned to face her. "What's going on? Why is Tsuyu -?"

"Oh, well, I was doing some thinking this morning," Nejire confirmed, happily clapping her hands as the sash around her waist fluttered a bit - which of course caused a bit of Nejire's thigh to appear and making Itsuka quickly whip her gaze back up to her eyes, which also made her face go red - "and when I saw that Toga-senpai was gonna come, I was like 'uh, oh, spaghetti-o!' and I started thinking of ways that we could distract her from messing around with Midoriya and Uraraka! But I was kinda stumped because I didn't really know what would distract her, but when I asked Tsuyu for advice - but I didn't say anything specific, by the way! - she said that she would take care of it! Not really sure why she was so cool with hanging out with Toga-senpai, but … well, I'm not gonna argue!"

"I … well, I guess not," Itsuka shrugged, still grateful that Nejire had enough foresight to see this coming. However, before she could thank her friend for looking out for her (or maybe express guilt over how her jealousy had almost made her make a scene), Nejire's face suddenly turned business-like and professional, patting Itsuka's arm before suddenly grabbing it and guiding her over towards the stairs.

At how serious Nejire looked, Itsuka suddenly realized why she was being subtly dragged away from the group, and she felt herself gulp a bit.

"So, uh - Nejire," She tried to start, "about the - you know, the plan -"

"Yep! The plan! Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep," Nejire bounced around a bit happily, despite her serious face, "I was up all night planning!"

"I - wait," Itsuka blinked, looking around at the blue-haired girl in alarm, "all night?"

"Yeppers!" Nejire nodded, and staring a bit closer at Nejire, Itsuka gulped at the purple bags underneath the girl's eyes, and how, staring into her eyes, they looked … slightly manic, which made Itsuka gulp nervously as Nejire held up her phone, showing a lot of text in a note she had.

"So," She subtly began to shake, which only made Itsuka feel more nervous, "I was so excited about you guys talking today, I couldn't really sleep! But that's okay since I was pretty hyped up after yesterday - I thought I was gonna just pass out when I got home, but nope! Was wide awake! I kinda waited for Yuuyu to get back so I could talk to her, but … well, I ended up going to bed, and I think I heard her come in when no one was noticing, so … well … that's that! And when I was laying on my bed, that was when I thought, 'well, if I'm gonna be awake, might as well make it count'! So I went through all the possibilities and problems we might run into today, so we know what might happen and how we'll get you guys some room to talk!"

"Oh, uh …" Itsuka felt herself start to sweat.

"Okay, so we already took care of Toga-senpai, so we don't need to worry about her …" Nejire hummed, erasing something on her phone, "… so now we just need to figure out how to get Midoriya and Uraraka by themselves! Should I go over and hang out with the girls, and maybe get Uraraka alone? Or wait, maybe Midoriya will start playing volleyball, so … hm …"

"Er … Nejire …?"

"Anyhoo!" Nejire swished her fingers a few times against the screen to scroll through her plans, unaware of Itsuka grimacing weakly behind her. "So let's do a recap - Tokage and Tsuyu will be handling the kids, so we don't have to distract ourselves with Eri right now. But then there's Kirishima, who'll probably want to hang out with Midoriya … but we just gotta find an opening! Maybe we can ask Ashido to distract the guys? And then we'll go find Uraraka!"

"N-Nejire …"

"Of course, we'll have to be subtle about it, so -"

"Nejire!" Itsuka quickly grabbed Nejire's attention again so she could stop rambling, the blue-haired girl blinking when she felt Itsuka grab her shoulder, and looked around at her.

"Listen," She looked embarrassed, "there's, uh … there's actually no need for the plan."

"Eeeeh? Why not?" Nejire gave her a surprised look, still holding up the phone. "But I spent all night on it! I promise, it's super good! This way, you and Midoriya and Uraraka can meet and -"

"We already talked," Itsuka hurriedly said before she could continue, which thankfully stopped Nejire right in her tracks, "this morning. We've - we've already had the conversation. We're good, Nejire."

There was a long pause as both girls stared at each other - Itsuka with sympathy in her eyes, and Nejire blankly. And then Nejire's eyebrow twitched as she turned to look down at the phone.

"… so …" She said quietly, before looking back up at Itsuka, "… I did all that planning … stayed up all night … for nothing?"

"Er …" Itsuka grimaced again, "… yes. S-sorry."

They were both quiet for another moment - and then, slowly, Nejire began pouting at her. Itsuka merely winced again and nodded slowly, accepting her fate as Nejire let out a small, adorable hum of frustration, and then began lightly beating on Itsuka's shoulders. The orange-haired girl did nothing to resist as Nejire gave herself over to a tiny tantrum, merely going with the light punches as she accepted her mild punishment.

Once Nejire was satisfied with the 'savage' beating, she moved to sit down on the bottom stair leading up to the parking lot, pouting hard while Itsuka nodded and sat down beside her.

"Yeah," She sighed, "yeah. I'm … really sorry, Nejire."

"It's - mmmmm," Nejire shook her head, balling one fist and shaking it slightly before she put it down, "no, no. It's okay. I mean, it's not okay, but - but I'll deal."

"Y-yeah. So, uh …" She gave her an awkward smile, "… I guess I should say that I'm … dating Ochako and Izuku now? Just - just don't tell anyone."

Nejire hummed a bit to acknowledge her, still pouting as she moved to hunch over on the seat, her cheek in her hand as she sighed -

- and then she blinked.

"Wait," She looked around at Itsuka, her annoyance melting into surprise, "you guys are - you're dating?"

"Uh …" Itsuka went a bit red, flashing her a small peace sign, "… yeah. We - we are."

"…"

"Soooo … uh -"

She was interrupted, however, by the sound of Nejire letting out a squeal of happiness, her sullen mood completely evaporating. Before Itsuka could blink, Nejire grabbed her shoulders and made her squeak as she was briefly shaken around.

"Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh!" Nejire gushed happily, continuing to shake Itsuka around like a ragdoll. "That's so exciting! You guys are -? Oh, that's so cool! Is it a full - um - well, I don't really know, but tell me all about it!"

"I - uh - I - w-would -" Itsuka managed to get out through the shaking.

Thankfully, Nejire seemed to catch onto the fact that shaking Itsuka around wouldn't get her any answers, so she quickly stopped, allowing Itsuka a chance to lean back and get over her dizziness. While she recovered, Nejire trembled in excitement and balled her fists together.

"Soooo?" She giggled gleefully. "C'mon, c'mon! Tell me how it went!"

"I - okay, okay." Itsuka shook her head, unable to stop herself from laughing gently as she continued to lean back on the stairs. Nejire was quick to join her in leaning back, both girls relaxing under the warmth of the sun.

"So … well … things went pretty well once we - y'know - got over all the awkwardness," Itsuka shrugged, "we talked, I admitted how I felt, Izuku and Ochako admitted how they felt. And then we just … we decided that from now on, we're gonna try going steady. Just … take it day by day, see where it all goes."

"Ooooooh …" Nejire happily clapped her hands together, looking mystified and a bit red. "So - so you're all together now?"

"Yep," Itsuka smiled, blushing a bit in her bashfulness, "I'm dating them, they're dating me, they're dating each other. One big triangle … thingy."

"Oh, that's awesome!" Nejire looked excited for her, reaching out to shake her a bit by the arm - although thankfully not with the force of earlier. "So you guys are all dating! Are you gonna go on dates soon? What are you thinking of doing? Are you gonna go eat together? Go walk in the park? Karaoke, maybe? Wait, does it have to be everyone together, or can you guys do separate things? Or does it only count when you guys are all together?"

"I'm …" Itsuka hesitated for a moment in the onslaught of questions, feeling herself blink a bit at - well, everything that was getting thrown at her - and then shrugged her shoulders, "… well, honestly, Nejire, I - I don't really know. We just started the relationship this morning - I'm not sure how exactly it's gonna work, but - but we'll figure it out."

"I guess!" Nejire threw her hands up, still trembling with excitement. "Oh, but I'm so happy for you! Even if I'm mad that I stayed up all night trying to figure stuff out for you."

"Er … sorry, again."

"It's no biggie! Well, it's kinda a biggie, I'm very tired. But I'm also wired! Which means I'm gonna crash once I get home. And it'll be your fault. But that's okay! You guys figured it out!"

"Right," Itsuka nodded, still looking a bit worried about the purple bruises under Nejire's eyes, "just … let me know if you need to take a nap, okay? I'll cover you if you wanted to sneak under an umbrella and get some rest. We've also got a tent you can stay in, I'd just need to set it up."

"Oh, yeah, of course! But I think I'm good for now," Nejire adjusted herself on the stairs, while Itsuka sighed and fixed some of her hair behind her ear.

They were quiet for a moment, watching as Setsuna splashed Hanta playfully in the water while Sera and Satsuki helped Eri step in, the gray-haired girl wincing as water splashed on her feet. And then Itsuka let out a soft sigh.

"I, uh …" She shrugged, "… also told them about … well … our kiss yesterday."

Nejire was quiet at that. Itsuka stole a small glance at her, and while her friend didn't look … well … sad about it, her smile definitely faded a bit.

"Oh," She said in a simple voice, glancing at her out of the corner of her eyes, "and, uh … how'd it go?"

"Uh … well …" She shrugged a bit, "… they … aren't really judging, honestly. I - I mean, Izuku was a bit shocked at how many girls me and Ochako have been kissing -"

"A good shock or a bad shock?"

"- mix of both, I guess?" Itsuka went red while Nejire was unable to stop herself from giggling. "Anyway, we - we talked about it, and we agreed that there's a … well … you -sized hole that we have to eventually talk about."

"Ah," Nejire felt herself sweat a bit nervously, "and, uh … is that a … good hole or a … bad hole?"

"I'm …" Itsuka paused for a moment, not sure how to answer that - and then she sighed, straightening up in her seat and turning to smile at her friend, "… you know what, Nejire? Let's, uh - let's go on a little walk. Honestly, I'm - I'm pretty sure that it's not a bad hole, but - but we should still kinda … uh … talk strategy. Especially if I'm not gonna be blatant with Izuku about your crush on him - but I can tell you what he told us, and - and you'll know where to go from there."

"Oh, uh - right!" Nejire quickly nodded, moving to get up as well. "Yeah, let's walk and talk!"

"Right. Just, er - let me make sure someone mans the grill."

Thankfully, it didn't take long for Itsuka to get some people to volunteer to look over the now active barbeque, with two guys from 1B, Bondo and Kamakiri, being relatively close by that they could keep their eye on it so that when she got back, she could get started with their lunch. With that, the two girls began walking down the long stretch of beach, Nejire looking a bit nervous but Itsuka smiling at her in reassurance as they walked relatively close together.

Meanwhile, Ochako watched the two girls move away from the group, feeling her brow furrow a bit before shaking her head and putting her pink backpack down, having gotten some sunscreen on her. Walking back towards where Mina, Pony, Tooru, Ibara, Kinoko and Kyouka were standing around the cooler, she saw Kyouka frowning down at her phone, while off to the side, Fumikage and Reiko set up their umbrella and settled down in the shade, being joined by Kuroiro as both he and Fumikage gave each other intrigued looks.

"… man," Kyouka grumbled as Ochako rejoined the group, "looks like Yaoyorozu isn't gonna be coming today - apparently she's staying home because her dad wants to talk about the sports festival with her. She says that she hopes we all have fun."

"Oh, dear," Ibara raised her hand to cup her cheek, looking a bit saddened, "I had thought that she didn't look quite pleased during the awards ceremony yesterday. I hope that she isn't beating herself up about how the last match ended."

"Nah," Kyouka put her phone back into her hoodie's pocket, her earjacks tapping together slightly, "she probably just wants a little break, if she's gonna be staying home. I mean, I checked social media this morning and she was getting … uh … mixed opinions about her and Todoroki conceding the last match. That shouldn't mean that she's in trouble with her old man, right?"

"I don't think so," Ochako shook her head, the other girls looking around at her, "I saw her leave with her parents, Todoroki and his dad yesterday - she seemed happy that they were all going home together, anyway."

"Left with Todoroki, huh …" Kyouka's face fell a bit, glancing down at her sandals. While she went quiet, Ibara turned over to where Kinoko was standing beside her.

"So that's Yaoyorozu not showing either," She shook her head, "and Monoma, Todoroki, Haya and Togeike won't come either?"

"Monoma wasn't interested, shroom," Kinoko shook her head, "and Haya has work, and Todoroki's … uh … Todoroki. But Togeike just texted me that she'd be late - oh! Speak of the devil, there she is!"

Blinking, the small group of girls turned to see who was coming down the stairs, Ochako blinking a bit. Coming down to the beach, the girl with dark hair tied up into twin pigtails on either side of her head raised her hand in greeting, looking sullen even as she stepped into their group, wearing a pink t-shirt and shorts.

"Yo," She greeted them all with a sigh, "sorry I didn't get here earlier, traffic sucked."

"Oh, uh …" Ochako looked awkward as the other girl glanced over at her, "… h-hi! I guess we didn't meet yesterday -"

"Nah, we didn't," She shook her head, sighing as she cocked her hip, "wasn't really interested in talking to anyone after that Shinsou prick knocked me into the pit, and I was sitting with one of my buddies in general studies during the final rounds. Besides, some people tend to forget that I'm there -"

"That was one time," Ibara sighed dramatically, "and I said that I'm sorry!"

"Anyway, I'm Chikuchi Togeike," The other girl introduced herself, ignoring Ibara and making the girl with vines pout at her, "met everyone else in your class during lunch, but you were a no show, I guess."

"Oh, uh … n-no, I - I had - uh - things going on during lunch."

"Yeah," She nodded, at least polite enough to shake Ochako's hand, and then glanced around at the other girls, "so what did I miss?"

"Nothing much," Kinoko giggled, "just talking about how shroomin' many no shows there are. Haya, Todoroki, and Monoma from our class, and Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Kodai from the other class."

"Yeah, well … I'm not too upset about Haya," Chikuchi sighed, looking a bit cross, "she was acting like someone pissed in her cereal after her match yesterday, so - yeah, I kinda need a break from her."

"I'm sure that losing to Todoroki didn't put her in a good mood," Ibara sighed, while Chikuchi gave her a pout, "so I would hope that you don't judge her too harshly."

"Well, hopefully you won't stick your nose in my business again, and you don't have to worry about that."

"My apologies for being empathetic," Ibara said with a slight trace of venom in her voice.

Ochako gulped a bit as she glanced between Ibara and Chikuchi, feeling a weird amount of tension there as the other girls likewise seemed to pick up on the sudden air of hostility between both girls.

Thankfully, Kinoko decided to change the topic, turning towards where Pony was being quiet and staring off at something.

"Hey, uh … Tsunotori, right?" She tapped on Pony's arm, causing her to jump a bit in surprise and look around at the group looking at her. "Are you okay? You haven't talked at all since we got to the beach."

"Oh, uh - yeah, I'm - I'm good!" She confirmed, flashing them all a shaky thumbs up as they all turned to look at her. "It's just … uh …"

They all watched her for a moment, seeing her face fall as she stared down at her hooves, and then back over to Mezo as he checked something on his phone - and then she took a deep breath, her cheeks filling with red, and jumped up and down once.

"Okay!" She clapped her hands together before turning to the rest of the girls. "Am I cute, guys?"

"Huh?" Mina raised her eyebrow. "Uh … I guess? Yeah, you're cute."

"Okay,"Pony let out a small hum of anxiety, looking down at her body. Quickly, she tapped at her slightly thicker arms, lightly slapped on her stomach to see it ripple a bit, bent down to tap on her thighs, and then looked around as she lightly smacked her butt. The other girls watched her in confusion as she continued to lightly slap her body to see it rippling - and then she nodded, a confident grin on her face.

"Oh, yeah," She nodded to herself, speaking in English, "I'm cute as fuck right now."

With that, she spun on her hooves in the sand and began making her way over to where Mezo was standing near the barbeque, not wearing anything on his top other than his mouth covering, and then tapped on his arm to get his attention.

"Shouji-kun, " She batted her eyelashes, "I'm, uh, I'm in the mood for ice cream. Wanna come with me?"

"Hm?" Mezo blinked. "Oh, uh - sure, Tsunotori. Let's go, then."

Together, the two of them turned away from the barbeque, and started heading their way towards the stairs. The girls near the cooler of drinks allowed their jaws to drop as Pony kept her head high, strutting a bit as Mezo followed her up the stairs, and soon they were out of sight, both of them hearing the distant sound of Pony beginning to chat with her friend as her hooves hitting the ground faded away.

"… wait," Kinoko felt her eyes widen, "did … what just happen, happen?"

"I … think so," Kyouka looked shocked as well, glancing around and seeing Mina beginning to tremble in excitement, "did … did Pony really just …?"

"Goddamn," Chikuchi cocked her hip again, unable to stop herself from looking impressed, "girl knows what she wants."

"Oh my gosh!" Mina finally squealed, holding her hands up to her mouth to prevent her shrieks from echoing around the beach, and was soon joined in her excitement by Tooru shaking her. "Pony really just said 'fuck it, I'm getting my man!' I had a feeling that they had a thing for each other!"

"Wow!" Tooru giggled excitedly. "That almost reminds me of how I asked Mashirao out! I wasn't gonna take no for an answer!" There was a pause, and then her voice became a bit shaky as she realized how that might sound. "I mean, I would've if he did say no, but - but you guys know what I mean."

"Oh, yeah, I know what you mean, girl," Kinoko giggled mischievously, looking around the group with a wide smirk, "you think we can get some of the guys to get off their butts and start asking us out, too? I'd love to sneak to the pier over there and get some quality time, if you know what I mean!"

"I - Kinoko!" Ibara gasped, aghast as she wheeled around and stared at her in shock. "That's vulgar! And sinful! Please don't tempt the poor boys of this beach with your sinful body!"

"Oh, please," Chikuchi chortled, drawing the vined girl's attention, "it ain't sinful if a guy and girl decide to get touchy together, Shiozaki. You should probably stop looking around at other people's 'sinful' bodies if it bugs you."

"I - you know that's not what I meant, Togeike!"

Mina giggled a bit nefariously while Ibara continued to lecture an unimpressed Chikuchi, and as the pink girl began looking around the beach eagerly, Ochako felt dread begin to creep up her spine, which seemed to be the same feeling Kyouka got as well as Mina's black and yellow eyes swept around.

"Er …" Kyouka awkwardly began to edge away from Mina's evil eye, and Ochako quickly nodded as she followed her away from the group before the evil pink shipper could think to get her hands on them, quickly heading over towards the bench where some of the food was. While they pretended to look over the veggie tray, Ochako absently raising a carrot to nibble on, Kyouka sighed and looked around at her.

"Oh, uh … yo, Uraraka," She said in a slightly awkward tone, while Ochako glanced at her, "so … you said that Yaoyorozu's … she was good yesterday? When she left?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Ochako nodded a bit, "I mean, she was kinda … well …"

She paused for a moment, not entirely sure what to say at the moment - honestly, she was aware of how awkward Momo had been around her dad yesterday, which had set off a few warning bells in Ochako's head from how weird Daikoku was - but she knew that making Kyouka unnecessarily worried at the moment would probably put a damper on the joyous mood around them. So she shook her head and looked around at her friend.

"… I'm … sure she's fine," She confirmed to her, biting her lip a bit, "I bet she's just … disappointed that she had to concede her match against Itsuka and Hadou. You know that it's - it's probably not how she wanted yesterday to end."

"Yeah," Kyouka nodded slowly, "yeah. You're right. It just … you know … sucks. Kinda wish she was here."

There was a pause as Ochako hummed and picked up another carrot to munch on. And then Kyouka blinked, and her cheeks went a bit red.

"T-to have fun," She clarified quickly, not looking up at Ochako at all as she quickly turned her head away, and Ochako glanced at her in confusion, "you know, after - after how stressful yesterday was. Y-yeah."

"Er … right," Ochako nodded a bit unsurely, "yeah."

With that, she walked away from where Kyouka was nervously fiddling with her earphones, getting the sense that her friend probably wanted a bit of alone time before she could try mingling with the crowd again.

Looking around the beach as everyone continued chatting with each other, her eyes briefly searched for where her girlfriend was, and then found her walking along the water while still talking to Nejire, the blue-haired girl excitedly chatting with Itsuka while the orange-haired girl tucked some hair behind her ear and smiled. It was pretty clear, from where Ochako was standing, that Itsuka was probably talking to her about what had happened this morning, due to the redness on Nejire's face.

Still, Ochako felt her face fall a bit as she saw how closely the two of them were walking together, and let out a small sigh as she turned away.

She … knew that it was pointless to really get jealous at this point. She knew that Itsuka wasn't the kind of person to just - you know - go off and do something she knew would upset her and Izuku. It was just … jealousy wasn't something that could be so easily overcome, Ochako frowned. Sure, all her thoughts of Itsuka and Izuku together weren't very negative anymore - in fact, the thought of them together filled her with a bubbling happiness that made her smile even in her dark mood at the moment.

But deep down, she knew that the problem wasn't just that she was possibly jealous of Nejire getting closer to her partners. The problem was … well … the problem was that unlike her other two partners, she didn't know Nejire all that well.

Nejire wanted to get closer to Izuku and actually made efforts to do so, and she had all yesterday to start crushing on Itsuka due to them working together. But really, Ochako and Nejire … they didn't have much of a relationship, she thought with a frown, compared to what the blue-haired girl had with her boyfriend and girlfriend. All that had really happened between them were two fights, one at the battle trial and yesterday during the second round, and that was … pretty much it.

They hung around the same group, had interactions together that was pretty nice, but … but nothing like what Nejire had with Izuku and Itsuka. No alone time, no attempts to befriend each other outside of their group, nothing like that.

And that … made Ochako insecure. That Nejire had a better relationship with Izuku and Itsuka than her, and that the two of them were pretty much strangers to each other. And naturally, her thoughts … kind of drifted into the paranoid idea that Nejire could possibly be …

… she'd possibly be … a better fit for Izuku and Itsuka than she would.

But she remembered Melissa's words from last night. She knew that her friend was right. These thoughts of Nejire being better for Izuku and Itsuka … they were stemming from her poor self-esteem. And she … needed to do what made her feel pretty, what made her feel good about herself. So … so Ochako had to do something about these mixed feelings for Nejife, she decided then and there.

It was pretty clear, from this morning, that their new relationship had a big Nejire-sized hole that they would need to address. So she had to get a better grasp of the curious creature that was Nejire Hadou, to know what exactly her friend was looking for with her two partners. To see if, maybe, they would be able to avoid any unnecessary drama between them. Because she didn't want there to be drama with Nejire! She wanted everyone to get along.

In any case, then, she'd … have to get Nejire alone at some point to talk to her. Just … not right now, she grimaced as she glanced around and saw all their classmates around them. Preferably in some private setting, and not when Itsuka had to talk to Nejire about where she might possibly fit in with the three of them.

But for now … her eyes trailed to Izuku, her thoughts of last night coming back to her now that she was reminded, and raised one hand to the back of her head to feel her hair. Shaking her head and trying to dispel those thoughts for now - Izuku was still busy over near the volleyball net with the guys, and she could see Gūdo sniffing something near the water. Ochako quickly started making her way over towards the dog, wanting to make sure that he wasn't sniffing at something he shouldn't.

As she passed by Tsuyu and Himiko sitting on one of the towels near the water, the frog girl became aware of Himiko's eyes wandering to Ochako's back as she quickly made her way towards the dog - and then she snorted and looked back to Tsuyu as the frog girl sat beside her on the towel.

"So," She smirked, "'running interference on me', huh?"

"That's pretty much what Nejire asked me to do, kero," Tsuyu shrugged, completely unashamed of her bluntness, "Kendou wants a bit of alone time with Midoriya and Ochako at some point today, and she thinks that you'd probably interfere with that. So I volunteered to distract you for a while - hope you don't mind helping me look after the kids."

"Nah, I'll admit your sibs are adorable, so I won't be a blatant flirt for the day," Himiko shook her head, pretending to sniffle, "well, that, and it looks like those two are flirting, so we don't wanna traumatize the kids too much."

"Kero," She looked around at where Setsuna and Hanta were with the kids beside the water, Setsuna rubbing Hanta's arm up and down while the taller boy cleared his throat and went a bit red, "yeah, Sero's crush on Tokage is pretty obvious, and Setsuna clearly doesn't mind showing what she likes about him. I wonder if she's noticed how deep his crush actually is."

"Really? And you'd know that … how?"

"I am pretty quiet," Tsuyu pointed out, smiling froggily, "which means that people don't tend to notice that I notice things."

"Hmph. Well, anyway," The blonde senpai waved her hand nonchalantly in the air, "as much as I'd love to see my sweet kohai blushing and getting all flustered with each other, I suppose if Kendou wants a bit of alone time to smooch up to them, I shouldn't get in the way."

"I'm surprised," Tsuyu raised an eyebrow, "I get the feeling that you enjoy going out of your way to antagonize Kendou. Why give her a break now?"

"Oh, well, her frustration is always so cute!" Himiko giggled mischievously, adjusting her black sweater on her shoulders. "I love it whenever she glares at me, fills me with joy. But …" She let out a long, suffering sigh, "… I suppose for today, I'll let her have her fun. It'll be business as usual come Monday, though."

"How kind of you, kero."

"Still," Himiko then turned her eyes to Tsuyu, making the frog girl blink a bit at the gleam in her senpai's eye, "I'm surprised that you've committed yourself to spending all day with little old me. Something I should know about?"

"Well, kero," Tsuyu shrugged, although her cheeks did go a bit redder, "it's not like I had any ulterior motives to help Nejire out."

"Is that so?" Himiko then leaned over, being sure to angle herself as much as she could so that all it would take would be for Tsuyu to glance down to see pretty much her whole chest - she had chosen to wear her special black bikini, of course, to give Izuku and Ochako nosebleeds of their own. But she didn't mind allowing Tsuyu to get a peek.

Which … Tsuyu did, a brief flicker in her eyes and more red coming to her cheeks making Himiko's catlike grin widen.

"Well," She licked her lips, "it seems to me that at least someone likes what she sees. And truth be told, froggy girl …"

Himiko's eyes slowly moved down to her underclassman's lips, seeing a bit of Tsuyu's tongue sticking out from the side of her mouth, and without a moment to hesitate, reached out. Tsuyu, for her part, did nothing as Himiko gently brushed her finger against the smooth, slightly slimy tongue presented to her, and kept her large eyes on Himiko's mischievous ones as her finger slowly rolled Tsuyu's tongue along her finger.

"… there's a part of me," Himiko batted her eyelashes, "that always kind of wondered what that tongue of yours can do. And where … you can put it."

There was a long pause as Tsuyu stared at her senpai, both girls sitting still on the towel as the sounds of the party went on around them …

… and then she said, in a blunt voice, "Sorry, Toga-senpai, but I'm not that easy, kero. You would have to buy me dinner first before you'd see 'what this tongue does'."

"Aw," Himiko pouted a bit but still shrugged her shoulders, moving her hand away from her tongue and sitting back as Tsuyu turned to reach into the small backpack beneath her feet. She turned to look out at the water again while her kohai fished for something for a moment, before she found what she was looking for with a small ribbit, and lifted out a piece of pen and paper.

Himiko's eyes then returned to Tsuyu as the frog girl took a moment to write something on the piece of paper, which made the blonde girl crinkle her brow in confusion, hearing Tsuyu let out a small hum as she thought. After a few moments of scribbling, Tsuyu let out a satisfied 'kero' and dropped the pen into the bag, ripping the piece of paper off the pad, and then turned back to Himiko while holding it out.

"Here, kero."

"Uh …" Himiko glanced between the paper and her kohai, "… and what's this again?"

"My order for dinner tonight, kero," Tsuyu revealed, and a small, coy smile appeared on her face as she stared straight into Himiko's yellow eyes, "I believe you're going to go to one of the restaurants close to the beach and pay for it."

Himiko stared at her for a long moment, her brain slowing down as she realized what Tsuyu was doing - and then felt a wide grin spread across her face.

"You and I," She giggled, impressed despite herself, and took the piece of paper from her to put in her own backpack, "are gonna have so much fun. When are your sibs supposed to go home tonight?"

"After supper, kero," Tsuyu went a bit red as she sat up as well, "my dad will be coming to pick them up. I've been told that I can stay as long as I want as long as I text my mom when I should be coming back."

"Oh, Tsuyu, baby," Himiko got to her feet and spun around, flaunting her butt to her kohai while the frog girl gulped a bit up at it - from where they were sitting and how close Himiko was to her, her bikini-clad butt was pretty much in Tsuyu's face, "if I have it my way … you won't be going home tonight at all. But one step at a time, I guess - let's go play with some froggy babies, and then I'll figure out what we'll be doing tonight."

"Er …" Now it was Tsuyu's turn to be caught flatfooted, glancing up at Himiko's hungry face and feeling herself begin to shake.

"Oh, and by the way?" Himiko fluttered her eyelashes, and Tsuyu shivered as Himiko opened her mouth and pointed at it. "My gag reflex? Practically non-existent. Keep that in mind for later."

With another wink, she twirled around and started heading towards the small group of kids, being sure to sway her hips for Tsuyu. While Tsuyu went even redder but quickly stood up to follow her, trying to bury her currently very inappropriate thoughts on where she'll be pushing her tongue down at some point tonight, they passed by the group of guys sitting in a circle near the volleyball net, all of them looking troubled or at least solemn.

"So Baku-Bro's out of the hero course, huh …" Eijirou stared sadly down at the sandy ground, while Izuku sighed and nodded, "… damn. I mean, I - I don't wanna stand up for him, or say that he didn't deserve it, but … damn."

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, frowning, "I … can't really say that I'm sad to see him go."

"Nah, man, why should you be?" Yosetsu shook his head, frowning and sitting back. "The guy's had a hate boner for you for god knows how long, and beat the shit out of you yesterday in front of an entire crowd? I'm glad the fucker's gone."

"Jeez …" Denki looked troubled for a moment as he nervously played with his basketball, attempting to dribble it in the sand again, "… so like - he's got no chance of coming back? At all?"

"From how he described it, it - it seems like it," Izuku confirmed.

"Man. I mean, I'm not defending him, he deserved to get kicked, but - whew."

"Well," Honenuki shrugged as he sighed, "what's done is done. I didn't get much of a chance to interact with him, but …"

"But he came off as a tool," Tetsutetsu growled, slamming his fists together, "so I'm with Awase. Good riddance."

"Okay, let's try not to bring the mood down, Sir Tetsutetsu." Shishida patted his classmate's shoulder, getting his attention. "Indeed, perhaps Sir Bakugou's expulsion from our course should be discussed, but not while we're angry about it, it'll only lead to us going in circles about how much we dislike him. Besides, we are here to have fun, so let's not bring the mood down any more than it already is."

"I … yeah," Tetsutetsu sighed, nodding, "you're right, man. Sorry, guys."

"It's all good," Eijirou clapped Tetsutetsu's other shoulder, before glancing around at the other guys from Class 1B, "so, uh … I guess Todoroki's a no show either, huh? I mean, I'm not really all that surprised … would he even show up anyway? I kinda got the impression yesterday that he doesn't really like anyone."

"I … well, normally we'd say that," The guy named Kaibara agreed, frowning, "he can definitely come off as an asshole. But … I don't know, man, after he just gave up the last round yesterday, it's like … it's like he suddenly dropped all the jackassness we're used to. He was dead quiet when we got back to class and left without a word."

"Well," Shoda shook his head, looking concerned, "I suppose we should leave it when we see him on Monday. I'm not entirely sure what happened in the last match, but … well, it might be that Kendou and Hadou might have given him a bit of a - a humbling, right? Since he came out from the match all bloody."

"Man," Tetsutetsu teared up at the reminder, balling his fist, "I seriously gotta apologize to Kendou when I can - I thought she was kind of a jerk when we first confronted her class, but she's manly!"

"Tell me about it," Eijirou sniffled, "Kendou's a man's man."

"Er …" Izuku felt himself sweat drop a bit.

"Well, uh … anyway," Tsuburaba suddenly cleared his throat, causing Izuku to glance at him as a blush appeared on the Class 1B boy's face, "speaking of Kendou, uh … Midoriya, you'd probably know more about this than anyone else, so … I have a question."

"Huh?" He blinked a bit, "oh, uh - sure. What's up?"

"Is, uh - you know - Kendou single?"

There was a pause.

"Huh?!" Izuku squeaked at once, feeling his gut clench in anxiety and … okay, maybe more than a little jealousy.

"I - well, I mean, come on!" Tsuburaba tried to defend himself, glancing over at where Itsuka was standing near the water with Nejire, and Izuku fought down the urge to reach over to cover his eyes when he saw them wandering down the long dress shirt she was wearing. "You see her kick all kinds of ass yesterday, and you tell me that you're not at least curious?! She's hot, and awesome!"

"Well, uh …" Yosetsu looked awkward for a moment, and then he sighed, "… I'm … not gonna lie when I say that Kendou's pretty, but - but Yaoyorozu is where it's at, guys. I mean … come on."

Unknown to him, Kyouka straightened her back from across the beach and whipped around to glare wildly at him.

"Well, if we're talkin' about looks, sure, Yaoyorozu takes the cake," Denki chuckled, scratching the side of his face as a blush appeared, "but it's gotta be between Hadou and Uraraka for the cutest girls in class, right? Right after Tsunotori."

"H-huh?!" Izuku squeaked.

"Man, I wish we had as many hotties as you did," Tsubuaba shook his head sadly while Denki patted his shoulder sympathetically, "I mean, Hagakure's taken by Ojirou -"

"I'm … not exactly sure if I should be sorry for that," Mashiro looked awkward from where he was standing near the group.

"- and Komori's seriously sexy but fucking scary, and Shiozaki would probably shake the Jesus out of us if we try to hit on her. Haya's definitely gay as hell, and … honestly, Togeike scares the shit out of me enough to know that I shouldn't poke around that part of the class."

"Uh …" Tetsutetsu let out a small noise, causing Izuku to whirl around and stare in horror at the small blush on the brash boy's face, "… I mean, I'm not gonna say Tsuburaba's not thinkin' 'bout somethin' perverted, but … y'know, when it comes to Kendou, I'm not gonna lie that -"

"Uh, hey, guys!" Eijirou suddenly cut into the conversation, staring in slight panic at the way life was draining from Izuku's eyes the more and more the other members of the group were talking about girls, and realizing that he needed to quickly change the topic before his friend might do something stupid - and before he said something stupid, what with him glancing over at Mina and feeling his cheeks go red. "Just realized that we set up the volleyball net but never started playing! C'mon, let's make up some teams!"

"Oh, uh - r-right!" Denki quickly nodded as Eijirou pushed him up - while feeling disappointed that the topic of girls was suddenly finished, wanting to maybe ask Izuku for some advice on how to ask Ochako out on a date - but he still got the message and stood up. "C'mon, guys, let's do this!"

Quickly, the boys got up and started heading over towards the volleyball net, some of them deciding to change the uncomfortable topic by wondering what would happen now that Katsuki was out of the class, and 1A was down to nineteen students. On the ground, Izuku sighed and slowly stood up, trying to stretch his back a bit while fighting down the uncomfortable tightening in his gut.

Shaking his head, he tried to ignore the jealous feeling in his chest - he knew that Tsuburaba and Tetsutetsu didn't know that Itsuka was actually dating him, and that Denki was just being innocent, thinking that Ochako and Nejire were cute. But still, he wondered if this was how his girlfriends felt whenever he had hung out with Nejire, before they started dating. So … he should probably do something nice for them both.

Sighing, he brushed some of the sand off of his shorts, taking a moment to glance around him at the other people on the beach playing around - and then he blinked when he glanced over and saw Ochako making her way over towards him with Gūdo at her heels, the dog barking happily and running along with her to see what was going on. Meeting her eyes, Izuku smiled, feeling a bit of red touch his cheeks as she approached him.

"Oh, uh - hey, Occhan," He smiled as she stopped just short of him, trying to keep his voice light and act like he wasn't about to start shaking at the sight of his best friend, "what's up?"

"Not much," She shook her head, giving him a small smile - even if her eyes were a bit downcast, which made him blink a bit, "I just … saw Tsunotori and Shouji head out for ice cream, and … and was wondering if you wanted to come with me? So we can - uh - get ice cream, too?"

"O-oh," Izuku blinked, feeling his blush continue to burn on his cheeks while she gave him a hopeful look - while ice cream with Ochako would normally be something he'd jump on at once, there was also the small fact that she was blushing quite a bit as well, meaning that they both were remembering that going out to have ice cream together might not be considered as … well … platonic as it once was.

Still though, with the way she shyly looked at him, he felt his heart skip a beat, and he still nodded, trying his best to remain brave.

"Y-yeah, of - of course, Occhan," He gestured awkwardly towards the stairs, "let's - let's go. Or, uh … are we waiting for I-Itsuka, too?"

"Er … no, she's busy," She looked around to see Itsuka and Nejire walking together over towards where Eri was playing near the water, the little girl running along with the two other girls while Tsuyu's brother walked over to where Fumikage, Reiko and Kuroiro were relaxing under their umbrella, "and, uh … well … there was … actually something I wanted to show you."

Blinking, and feeling himself blush a bit more - she wanted to show him something? What could it be? - Izuku still nodded, and proceeded to follow Ochako towards the stairs that led up to the parking lot. Behind them, Ibara and Chikuchi continued to argue beside the cooler, while the other girls walked together in hushed giggles and headed over to the volleyball net, while Kyouka shoved Denki out of the way to start serving while Mina and Tooru joined the other team. Behind them, Itsuka let out several overdramatic yelps as she stepped into the water with Eri, the little girl giggling and holding onto her hand, while Nejire happily sprinted straight into the surf and disappeared into a wave that completely took her down. Himiko and Tsuyu, meanwhile, helped Satsuki and Sera swim around in the water, while Hanta and Setsuna sat near the firepit, Setsuna giggling mischievously and Hanta clearing his throat and looking flustered.

Once they started heading down the street away from the beach with Gūdo walking alongside them, however, it became apparent that Ochako's … request to show him something was the true reason they were leaving for ice cream, not the other way around. Izuku, of course, didn't mind, seeing as Ochako moved some of her bangs behind her ear, and he caught a look at something he didn't expect.

"Huh …" He frowned, reaching out to gently pull at the pink strands of hair on Ochako's head, careful not to pull too hard to hurt her, "… yeah, those - those are in there."

"I know," Ochako nodded a bit nervously, allowing her brunette hair fall back and hide the pink strands as she glanced at him, "I noticed them last night, and - and thought that they just got there from someone today, like - like somehow, Hatsume's hair got in mine. But - but nope, they're in my head."

"That's … weird."

"Yeah. And … well … after I found them, I had a little look around the rest of my hair to see if there's - if there were any more."

With that ominous statement, she awkwardly smoothed back some of the hair on the back of her head, and Izuku let out a small noise when he spotted, along the sea of brown hair, more pink strands. They weren't very noticeable amongst all of Ochako's brown hair if he wasn't looking for them, of course, but looking at them standing out on the back of her neck … well …

"They're … not everywhere," Ochako made clear, although the worry in her voice made Izuku frown, "but it's - I think they're starting to grow in."

"Huh …" Izuku furrowed his brow again, allowing Ochako to let her hair fall back into place to hide the pink strands. Admittedly, he felt a bit stumped by this - he'd known Ochako for years at this point, having grown up and seen how she'd changed as they both went through puberty, but seeing strands of pink hair when both her parents had brown hair as well was … well … something he was a bit confused by.

"Do, uh - do you know if there's any quirks in your family that give your family pink hair?" He inquired. "M-maybe on your mom's side?"

"Nah," Ochako shook her head, frowning, "all of my grandparents had brown hair. Hell, my great, great, great, great grandfather was bald! So, y'know, I don't exactly think I'm inheriting pink hair from him."

Despite himself, Izuku snorted a bit at the joke, while Ochako smiled at him.

"So," She shrugged, "I guess … it is what it is?"

"I mean … well, no, but I'm sure there's an explanation to this," Izuku shook his head while sighing, "I just … can't think of one right now."

Ochako shrugged a bit but still gave him a grin, scooting a bit over to bump her shoulder against his. "Well, I … I bet you'll think of one."

Izuku faltered a bit at her cute smile, and cleared his throat awkwardly, glancing away with a blush. They passed by Pony and Mezo as they walked back to the beach, Pony sporting her own small blush as she trotted a bit closer to her friend while licking her ice cream, and as soon as they were a bit of a ways away, Izuku glanced down at Ochako's hand swinging back and forth.

After a brief moment of debating whether or not to do it, Izuku gulped, taking a moment to glance around as though afraid someone was looking at them. And then, before he could figure out if it was a bad idea, he reached out to gently take her hand in his.

"Er -" Ochako blinked, glancing down at how he took her hand, and her blush deepened as she glanced up at him, "- Deku?"

"I, uh … well, we are alone," Izuku awkwardly scratched his cheek with his other hand, looking away from her, "and … we probably won't have much time to do the, uh … the lovey dovey stuff today. So … uh …"

Ochako stared at him for a moment - and then she let out a small giggle, glancing away with her own blush. She worked her hand so that instead of him simply holding it, she could interlace their fingers, making Izuku blush a bit more as she kept one pinkie up to prevent him from floating off, and they walked down the path together towards the ice cream shop, Gūdo trotting happily beside them.

"Honestly, it … I don't think it feels all that real yet," She admitted quietly with a soft smile, "that we're t-together."

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, still blushing, "It's like … it's like a dream I'm still waiting to wake up from."

"But it's - it's a good dream, right?"

"Yeah," Izuku nodded at once, and despite how flustered both of them felt, they both shared a smile, "a really … really good dream."

They both hid their faces from each other as their embarrassment briefly overcame them.

"Just, uh … just a shame Itsuka isn't with us right now," Ochako pointed out, giggling, "I'm sure she'd be flirting hardcore with us both right now."

"Yeah …" Izuku nodded slowly, his blush burning deeper, "… yeah. Didn't really realize that she'd be … um … so confident when it comes to that kind of stuff."

"Oh, yeah, totally. It kinda took me off guard how forward she is."

"She's - okay, I'm not gonna lie, she's probably gonna kill me eventually if that's how flirty she is."

"Oh, you aren't alone, Deku," She giggled, "when she was going off on us this morning? I thought I was gonna have a heart attack!"

"I know!"

"Yeah!"

"…"

"…"

"… she's … really hot when she's confident," Izuku admitted in an embarrassed voice.

"Oh, I knooooow," Ochako groaned, holding her other hand over her eyes, "she's fucking - god."

"Y-yeah," Izuku chuckled a bit at his childhood friend - his girlfriend, he remembered with a blush - and then cleared his throat, "she's … she's almost as hot as you are."

They both went quiet for a moment. Ochako went redder again as she glanced off to the side - but the way her smile slipped made Izuku blink a bit, automatically thinking that he had done something wrong.

"Er - I'm - I'm sorry if -"

"No, no, you're fine," Ochako shook her head, looking back around at him with a small smile, "it's just … well, I - I know that you're trying to make me feel better about myself, Deku, and I really appreciate that. And it's something that I have to work on. But it's just - it's a bit hard to really … believe it."

"I - I get that," Izuku frowned, "and - and I know that I can seem really annoying with it, but - but I don't want you to feel like you aren't anything less than beautiful, Occhan."

Ochako let out a small sigh at that, unable to stop herself from smiling bashfully as she briefly hid her face from him again. Alas, before she could figure out a way to respond to that, they both rounded the corner, their eyes moving towards the stall where the server was making ice cream cones for …

… for both Mirio and Tamaki, both of them standing there and about to turn and see the two of them holding hands. So, before either could blink, Ochako threw their hands up as she quickly let go of his hand, and Izuku was quick to spin around awkwardly so it totally didn't look like they had been a lot closer than two best friends usually would be.

Alas, before Izuku and Ochako could panic and get out of there, Mirio turned towards them when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and his beam widened.

"Oh hey! 'Sup, kohai!" Mirio turned to give both of them a grin, his blue eyes alight with excitement as Gūdo barked and ran over to him, and he quickly knelt down to start scratching the dog behind his ears. "Sure is a beautiful day, huh?"

"Oh, uh - hey, Togata-senpai," Izuku managed to get out, relieved that neither of their upperclassmen seemed to have noticed their hand-holding, but then he felt his brow wrinkle as he thought of something, "I'm - I'm glad you came, too. But, er - is it okay for you to be here? Don't you have your sports festival tomorrow to get ready for?"

"That we do! But us Big Three have been training non-stop together, so we decided that we deserve to relax a bit before the big day," Mirio grinned, accepting his ice cream cone from Tamaki while the other older boy continued to study his feet, "so we aren't doing anything too big today - just so we don't accidentally overdo it. That's why Toga's here instead of back at the school right now - they wanna give her a break from helping Recovery Girl today so she could be ready for tomorrow."

"O-oh, cool."

"Yeah. So," Mirio gave him a grin as both he and Ochako lined up to order their own cones, taking a lick from his ice cream while Tamaki bent down to pet the dog as well, "how are you guys doing? Tired from yesterday?"

"I … guess you could say that," Ochako chuckled a bit awkwardly, nodding as she glanced at Izuku ordering them both ice cream cones, "yesterday was kinda … a lot."

"Yeah, I get that," Mirio nodded, smiling gently down at her, "I didn't even make it past the first round during my first sports festival, and I was exhausted the entire day afterwards. It's crazy! Still though, I thought the second sports festival was always a bit better than the first - since we were already kind of expecting the teachers to throw something crazy at us."

"Y-yeah, I guess so!"

"Anyway, Uraraka - gotta say," He patted her shoulder carefully, probably aware that it would be bandaged at the moment, "you taking that hit yesterday for Midoriya was inspiring. You both were awesome out there."

"Oh, uh … t-thank you, senpai," She blushed a bit at the praise, while Izuku turned back to smile at Ochako as well.

"Y-yeah, she was amazing," He praised her as well, which made Ochako blush even more and hold up both her hands to her face as though trying to hide it from both beaming boys.

"Anyway, senpai -" Izuku turned back to Mirio, "- you said that your second year was more predictable than the first? What exactly did you guys do?"

"Ah! Well, there was the first round, which ended up being a big 'king of the hill' style race. Man, was that stressful! But thanks to my training …"

While the two of them talked more about the sports festival, Ochako stood back and let them chat a bit, with her turning to give their order to the smiling man behind the stand and pay for it out of her purse. While Tamaki continued to pet Gūdo while totally pretending not to be glancing up at how Mirio's shirt was open, Ochako felt her phone suddenly vibrate in her shorts, making her blink.

Once she was finished paying for their ice cream, she reached into her pocket to pull out the phone and see who was messaging her.

ITSUKA

hey, where'd you two go?

don't tell me that you eloped without me ?

Ochako was unable to stop herself from snorting a bit.

YOU

oh, yeah, totally, we eloped without you

made sure you did your confession and everything before we ran off

sayonara, itsuka, we'll send pictures from hawaii

ITSUKA

you're so mean

T_T T_T T_T

YOU

lol

nah, me and deku went to get ice cream

well, he's chatting with togata-senpai rn, so technically i'm the one getting the ice cream

want me to bring you something back?

ITSUKA

ice cream dates without me, ouch

nah lol i'm good

but maybe you could bring back a regular vanilla cone for eri?

i'll pay you back

YOU

gotcha

and nah, i got enough pocket change to pay for her, it's all good

c u soon

ITSUKA

knew there was a reason i liked you, so reliable XD

3

Blinking at that last emoji, Ochako felt her cheeks go a bit red, clearing her throat and smiling bashfully while putting her phone back in her pocket. Well, Izuku had one point, she supposed - Itsuka was probably going to eventually kill him with her flirts.

Him and her both.

---

"Eraser? Is that you, Eraser?!"

At the loud voice calling his name behind him in the hall, Aizawa froze. His eyes widened in horror behind the gauze on his face, feeling himself begin to shake in horror at the person he knew was approaching him quickly. For a brief moment, he debated running as fast as his still recovering legs could take him - an immature tactic, sure, but he had a headache that had been building up all day long and he knew that talking to her was only going to make it worse.

Alas, it was too late, as a yellow gloved hand suddenly took his shoulder, and he was forced to look around at the most insufferably annoying person in Japan - and yes, he was including Present Mic in that.

"Well, would you look at that!" Miss Joke laughed, her smile widening and her eyes twinkling mischievously. "I heard you ranting at those kids from the booth, and I just had to come and see you! Gosh, it's been years since we've seen each other in person!"

She took a moment to laugh some more, throwing her head back - and then her expression turned serious.

"Okay, let's go get married."

"No."

"Pffft!"

While she cackled some more, Aizawa sighed and closed his eyes, cursing the gods for forcing him to interact with this woman before he went and got some ibuprofen. It was bad enough that today had been pretty rough - what with Midnight being cold towards him despite being in an otherwise weirdly good mood when she had arrived that morning to watch the sports festival rather than referee it, and then there was the fact that Mic kept looking disappointedly at him as well during their commentary today (which meant that he probably knew what he and Midnight had argued about) - and now he had to deal with his negative thoughts on how he treated Izuku and Ochako yesterday … well …

… in any case, he wasn't in a good mood. An already bad mood that was about to plummet even more.

"Oh, c'mon," Joke sniggered as she gave him a sneaky look, carefully poking his wrapped up cheek, "I can see the sexual attraction in your eyes. You looked at my chest, didn't you? C'mon, c'mon, all it takes is a ring on my finger and you'll have a house filled with laughter and joy!"

"That sounds like an actual nightmare," Aizawa grumbled, beginning to walk away while muttering under his breath. Unfortunately for him, it became apparent that Joke wasn't done tormenting him, quickly skipping up to walk with him as they went down the hallway.

The second sports festival of the weekend had just concluded, with all the second year students down on the field in the midst of their awards ceremony, this time hosted by Best Jeanist to give All Might a break for the day. He could see the tall and lanky pro hero in jeans on the first stage podium, wrapping the gold medal around Mawata Fuwa's neck, so that meant that the festival would soon be over and everyone would be leaving again. And then it would be one more day, and then that would be it - back to normal.

Something that Aizawa couldn't possibly wait for - at this point, he was so tired of being around people he just wanted to find the nearest storage closet and nap.

"So," Miss Joke put her hands in her oversized pants as she flashed him a happy grin, "you seem like someone peed in your cereal this morning."

"Don't you have other people to annoy right now?"

"Aw, c'mon, what's up with the coldness? I still remember that night," She shivered to herself, closing her eyes happily as she wrapped her arms around herself, and Aizawa groaned, "when you whispered sweet nothings in my ear, telling me all of your problems -"

"Whatever you're about to say never happened. All that ever happened between you and me was a make out when we were both drunk. Which I heavily regret."

"I know you loved it. Anyway, why can't I act as your confidant now? I bet all you need is a smooch through those bandages and -"

"Shut up."

"Ha, ha, ha!" Joke threw her head back and laughed while Aizawa glared ahead. "But seriously, you're acting like that time you got stabbed. Y'know, when you were being a little bitch all the way to the hospital? 'Grr, grr, I'm so tough I can rip this knife out of my stomach no problem, uh oh, I'm bleeding to death?! That doesn't normally happen when I yank sharp objects out of my body!'"

"Why is it that I can't have a moment of peace in my life?" Aizawa growled under his breath as Joke sniggered.

"Okay, okay," Joke calmed herself down enough to flash him a genuine smile, "making fun of you aside. What's up? What's got your panties in a twist?"

Aizawa merely glared ahead for a moment - and then he let out a tired sigh, and looked away. As much as he hated to admit it, Joke was someone he had been comforted in talking to about his problems before, and despite her idiotic nature, she wasn't someone to soften her words around him. So … well …

He shook his head and stopped stomping down the hallway, moving over to lean against the wall. Joke quickly took the hint and joined him, leaning against the wall as well as she gave him an interested look.

"I … messed up yesterday," He admitted, and Joke felt her eyes widen.

"Oh, shit, really? You must've screwed up real bad, then, if you're admitting that you did something bad. You never do that."

"Yeah, yeah," He shook his head, "all I know is that I treated two of my students terribly to help a third one, and that third one just got expelled, so I basically just got those two students maimed for nothing. And when one of my friends tried to call me out on it, I pretty much spat in her face. So yeah, I'm not exactly in a good mood right now."

"Ah," Joke raised an eyebrow, "so you being a shitty teacher meant you did a shitty job?"

"I thought you were trying to comfort me?"

"Nah, I know you probably wouldn't want that," She pointed out with a small smirk, "you wanna sulk and hate yourself and not actually do anything to improve yourself. That's how you usually are, isn't it? Every day's a pity party day for Eraserhead."

Aizawa grumbled, a bit pissed off by that but knowing that he couldn't really argue.

"So, uh, you know Eraser? Teacher to teacher advice?" Joke shook her head and leaned back a bit more against the wall. "You should probably apologize to those two students. Like, no excuses, nothing like that. Just explain why you did what you did, say you screwed up, and apologize. And then after that, make sure you never do it again. And then apologize to your friend for being a dick."

"If it was only so easy."

"It actually kind of is. I do it all the time when I make a mistake with one of my kids and they call me out on it. Just … you know, you kinda suck at admitting when you're wrong."

"I'm aware." Aizawa closed his eyes. "And contrary to your belief, I'm not interested in pity parties."

"Oh, I'm not pitying you," Joke laughed, "I know how much of a fuck up you are, remember? We worked together for two years, knew each other top to bottom … knowing what makes us tick … every crevice, every shape, every -"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, woman."

"I did miss your quick retorts," Joke dramatically sighed, and then shook her head and looked back at him, "anyway, I'm not just here to flirt and give you advice. I was actually looking for you, Eraser, because I wanted to let you know about something I heard at Ketsubutsu."

"Ah, yes," Aizawa shook his head, his tone becoming dry, "how is it at a Hero Commission school?"

"Oh, repressive, authoritarian and dystopian. But that doesn't matter right now," Joke's voice suddenly turned serious, "I heard something from one of my sources, on the underground network, and something one of my kids thought they saw when they were patrolling. Apparently, there's been rumors going around that villains are disguising themselves as Shiketsu students."

That, of course, got Aizawa's attention. Blinking, he looked around at his former partner as she kept her hands in her pockets, giving him a serious look.

"Shiketsu?"

"Yep. Not just any villains, teenage ones." She shook her head, cocking her hip a bit as they stood near the wall and heard the distant cheers of the crowd as the awards ceremony began to wrap up. "Rumor is that some of Shiketsu's students were mugged, and all they stole were their hats. That way, villains can roam around wearing costumes and people will think they're heroes out on patrol."

"That right?" Aizawa's gaze turned serious. "And where would they be?"

"There's rumors that there's a few kids out in Musutafu and Hosu, wandering around. They'll flash a fake hero license and everything. But so far, no hero's been able to stop them and double check the license."

Aizawa frowned underneath the gauze for a moment, and then turned to look down at his own feet, thinking. There was a long pause as Joke allowed her old partner to mull it over - and then he nodded.

"Hosu," He said in a quiet voice, "that's where everyone's investigating the Hero Killer."

"Yep."

"Think there's a connection there?"

"If I'm being honest? No," She shook her head, her gaze turning forlorn, "I heard about Ingenium. I know you two were friends, Eraser, so … I'm sorry."

"It is what it is," Aizawa said in a slightly sharp voice, clearly warning her not to go any farther with this topic, "I'll have to keep my eye on his brother, but for now, I'm not gonna dwell on it. Anyway, what you were saying …?"

"Right, right. And … no, I don't think these kids are connected to the Hero Killer," Joke frowned, "whoever the Hero Killer is, they had to have gotten Ingenium, and he's a top hero. No way that a kid could overwhelm him."

"Right. Well," He shook his head, "I'll be heading to Hosu during internships anyway - I've got Endeavor and Ryukyu wanting me there just to be safe while they look into their own investigations, and I have a student who'll want to intern with me and knows how to keep quiet. I'll keep an eye out for these Shiketsu wannabes."

With that, he turned on his heel and began walking away down the hall. Joke watched him leave after a long moment, being surprisingly quiet and straight faced for once as she stared after him. Once he moved out of sight, and she saw the crowds of heroes begin to exit the stands, she let out a long sigh and started walking away as well, joining the massive entourage of heroes in leaving the arena.

As she walked with the crowd, she pulled out her phone and began texting.

YOU

he's going to hosu during internships

if you wanna shoot your shot, that'll be your time

LEADER

thank you, mj

i'll come up with something

---

About three hours after the sun had set, with all the students of Class 1A and 1B gathering around the campfire to start cooking marshmallows or grilled cheese sandwiches, all of the adults came back to the beach so that they could pick up the youngest and take them home. As per the agreement, the older kids could stay at the beach until their own individual curfews, but the little kids would have to leave at nine o'clock on the dot so that they could get home, washed up from playing in the ocean all day, and then head straight for bed.

Still, it broke Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka's hearts that Eri was looking so disappointed that her new friends had to leave, with the little girl holding both Satsuki and Sera's hands as their parents arrived to pick them up. Still though, she at least accepted Itsuka's insistence that Sera could swing by the dojo to play with her again, causing Eri to give Sera a big hug while Sera rubbed her cheek carefully against her horn.

"Ah, Midoriya, we meet again," Setsuna's dad chuckled as he ruffled Izuku's hair above the hugging girls, glancing around to see Itsuka and her dad finish putting the barbeque in the back of his truck while Gūdo climbed into the passenger's side of the car, "so good to see my long lost son again."

"Er … hey, Mr. Tokage," Izuku smiled a bit awkwardly as the taller man and his wife moved around their parked car to tease him, "it's nice to see you both again."

"Aw, he no longer getssss embarrasssssed around ussss," Setsuna's mom looked sad, scooping Sera up so that the little girl could wrap her arms around her mother's neck, "sssssso dissssapointing. Anyway, where'sssss Sssssetsuna?"

"Oh, she's, uh … I think she's still down on the beach,' Itsuka pointed down at it, looking unsure, "I think I saw her around the campfire, but … uh … well, I'm not really sure where exactly she is right now."

"Ah, no matter," Setsuna's dad waved his hand, "she knows that she'll be grounded if she breaks curfew. Now then, let's get our little one home soon - she'll probably need to take a bath after swimming in the ocean all day."

"Yeah," Hakushu chuckled as he patted Eri's slightly stiff hair, letting out an exaggerated sniff and pretending to crinkle his nose, "you definitely need a bath, Eri - pee-whew, you smell like salt."

"Okay," Eri nodded, and then looked back up at Itsuka as she stood near them. She walked over and hugged her leg, which caused Itsuka to giggle and pat her hair. "Are you gonna be back tonight, Ken?"

"Yep," Itsuka smiled, "not really sure when, but … well, no matter what, when you wake up tomorrow, I'll be there. Even if you end up falling asleep alone."

"Okay."

With that, Eri allowed Hakushu to pick her up, with the little girl giving a small wave to Satsuki as she was led over to her own car by her dad, who allowed both Asui siblings to get into the back before they started driving away. Finally, with the three cars moving out of the parking lot of the beach and out of sight, Itsuka let out a long, tired sigh as she stretched her arms above her head, grunting when she heard a small crack, and then looked back over at Izuku and Ochako as they stood side by side.

"So," She put her hands down, giving them both a small smile, "I … guess we just gotta hang out with everyone until it's time to clean up. Can't exactly go to do our own thing until everyone's gone and the fire's out."

"Well," Ochako moved to look down at the fire, seeing the distant shapes of everyone hanging out and having fun around the fire, "I guess we can go down and make s'mores, right? I haven't had s'mores in forever."

"I guess so," Izuku chuckled as Ochako wiped at the side of her mouth where some drool escaped, but then glanced over and saw Itsuka's face turning serious, walking to the edge of the parking lot and staring down at something, "er … Itsuka? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," She sighed, and then pointed, "but I just saw something moving over near the pier."

Blinking, both Izuku and Ochako looked around as well, feeling their brows furrow. It was hard to make out, what with the moon not shining as brightly tonight, but the pier out near the water stood out as perfectly normal - that was, until they saw a distant shape - or what looked to be someone's shadow - moving around out there. Feeling their brows furrow, they both turned to look back at Itsuka, who sighed and tossed her ponytail behind her shoulder as she squared them both up.

"So I guess I'm gonna have to be the one to make sure nothing's going on," She sighed, looking around at them both with a weak smile, "you, uh - neither of you don't have to come with, if you don't want to."

"O-oh, no, we'll - we'll come," Ochako quickly nodded, balling her fists while Izuku looked determined as well, "just to make sure it isn't something serious."

Giving them both a smile, Itsuka then began to lead the way, both of her partners quickly coming up behind her to back her up as they made their way back down the steps. Walking along the beach, waving to the occupants around the campfire where Eijirou and Mina were making s'more sandwiches together and Tooru was giggling while feeding a nervous Ojirou one of her marshmallows, they soon approached the pier, walking up the concrete ramp towards the small patio at the end.

They walked quietly and slowly, just in case there was something there that they didn't want to know that they were approaching. However, as they approached, Itsuka felt her brow furrow - she couldn't quite see what was going on, but she thought she heard … well … the sound of grunting, and - and gagging?

Feeling her brow furrow, Itsuka tried to look through the darkness at what she was seeing on the benches, squinting slightly - and then her eyes adjusted to the lighting at the same time Izuku and Ochako's did, and they all let out small squeaks as they realized what they had walked in on.

So … in that moment, all three of them had forgotten that … technically, among this group were some particularly attractive people. People who had hormones, who were attracted to other people, all that jazz. They had also not realized, up until now, that a lot of their classmates weren't at the fire, having disappeared a little while ago. They had just … never realized, up until that moment, what they could possibly be doing.

And … well … to put it simply, Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka had just stumbled head first into the make out spot on the beach.

On one side, to their shock, Mirio had Tamaki leaning against him while he likewise leaned against the railing, their blonde senpai's face buried in Tamaki's neck while he held his face in his hands, with none of them being certain if his muffled noises were of embarrassment or pleasure - maybe a mix of both, honestly. Beside them, on the other hand, Pony was far more blatant, straddling Mezo's lap on the bench while his large arms covered her like an oversized blanket, and she kept her hands on his face where she had pulled down his mask to his neck and was kissing at his mouth. And judging from how she cooed when Mezo used two extra hands to rub at her horns … well … they could tell that she was enjoying herself.

On the other side of the pier, on the other hand, Hanta and Setsuna were … well, making Pony straddling Mezo look positively PG, with Setsuna pinning Hanta against the railing with her arms so tight around his neck it looked as though she were trying to strangle him, while Hanta blatantly grabbed both of Setsuna's asscheeks so tightly it looked like he was trying to bury his fingers in her flesh. On their left, Ibara, who had been surprisingly argumentative with Chikuchi all day, was looking a bit too happy with that very same pigtailed girl on her knees and kissing one of her thighs, with Ibara rubbing through her classmate's hair to praise her.

But it was beside them that Izuku, Itsuka and Ochako found their attention falling to, and making them all go bright red - Himiko, sitting in Tsuyu's lap similar to Pony with her black sweater pooled on Tsuyu's legs. Himiko letting out several happy noises and breathing deeply through her nose as Tsuyu's long tongue continued to slide into their senpai's mouth, a slight gagging noise sounding as Himiko's throat began to bulge -

- aaaaaand that was about the time that the trio snapped out of their stunned silence, and immediately realized what was going on here was a bit too intense for them.

At once, Itsuka grabbed both Izuku and Ochako's hands and yanked them away from the couples making out without a care in the world, Izuku quickly covering his eyes with his hand while Ochako's eyes snapped straight up into the sky, as though she could pretend that she hadn't just noticed what was going on there. They quickly fled the pier as fast as they could, not even heading over towards the fire as they disappeared into the darkness.

Once they finally stopped in the parking lot, they all panted, holding their knees with their hands as they bent over and tried to catch their breaths from fleeing the scene, Izuku's face scarlet and Ochako being pretty up there while Itsuka stared - and then she let out a long sigh, a giggle unintentionally leaving her lips and causing the other two to look around at her.

"I … whew," She nervously chortled, "that was … huh."

Izuku and Ochako glanced at each other, and then began nervously giggling as well.

"I mean …" Ochako shrugged a bit, looking embarrassed even talking about it as Itsuka sighed and went over to a few of the backpacks along the edge of the beach, "… can we really judge them? I-it's not like we didn't make out on the beach earlier today."

"We can't - woman," Itsuka gave her a deadpan look as she grabbed Denki's basketball, bouncing it against the ground, "I am absolutely sure the extent of us kissing was just pressing our lips together, we didn't even use tongue. What they were doing was … well … a little bit more than just making out."

"I … I think I'm gonna have nightmares," Izuku shivered, rubbing his eyes while both girls snorted at his reaction, "I - I don't think I ever wanted to see … well … anyone in our class doing that. Especially Toga-senpai and …"

Both girls giggled nervously again, still shuddering along with him when they remembered the state their senpai had been in.

"I …" Itsuka looked back at the pier and gulped, "… honestly, I didn't think Tsuyu had it in her."

"I mean …" Ochako shrugged, smiling weakly, "… I can probably imagine that tongue can - y'know - do a whole lot worse than just -"

"Girl, no," Itsuka shook her head while she dribbled the basketball a bit more, "we do not need to think of what Tsuyu can do with that tongue other than what she can do in class with it. What she does with her - uh - body parts in her private times is her business, not ours."

"'Private'," Izuku muttered, shaking his head and trying not to glance back at the pier where quite a few of their classmates were … well … enjoying some 'privacy'.

Itsuka continued to dribble Denki's basketball on the concrete, humming as she practiced with one hand. Izuku watched her for a while, feeling his anxiousness from what he had seen fade the longer he stared at her. She had, at one point, gone to switch her relaxed gear with a white t-shirt and shorts, meaning that she looked relaxed and … honestly, quite cute, something that made him blush. Ochako, meanwhile, had her hair fixed up into a messy bun on the back of her head, and was glancing between them both, a soft blush on her cheeks.

And then, mischievously, Itsuka giggled and looked around at Izuku.

"Hey, heads up," She said playfully, and bounced the ball towards him. Izuku yelped but still managed to catch the ball, almost fumbling it for a moment while Ochako giggled, and once he had his hands on it, he quickly turned to pout at Itsuka while she smirked.

"Little warning next time?" He was unable to stop himself from chuckling, bouncing the ball back to her. Itsuka caught it easily, sending him a small wink that made him blush, and then tossed the ball over to Ochako, who was at least ready for it and caught it easily before bouncing it over to Izuku.

From there, the three of them tossed and dribbled the ball between each other, and Izuku found himself chuckling whenever Itsuka bounced it through her legs to Ochako or Ochako would accidentally land all five fingers on it before quickly undoing her quirk. It wasn't like … well, it wasn't like they were doing anything overtly romantic or charming, but Izuku couldn't help but feel his heart beat happily at Itsuka and Ochako's small giggles as they passed around the basketball, playing together in a way that felt simple, yet something that he'd treasure.

Finally, after about ten minutes of passing the ball between each other, they heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and they paused their small game to look around. Jogging up to the parking lot, Nejire blinked as she looked around at the three of them, and her smile widened.

"Hey!" She waved to them, walking over in her sandals as she kept her sweater on and zipped up so that her bikini top was covered. "Was wondering where you guys were! Thought that you guys had went to the pier, but then Kaminari went there and freaked out and a lot of people came back, and … well, we kinda figured they were up to no good, since Toga-senpai was glaring at everyone -"

"Yeaaah," Izuku winced.

"- but then I heard dribbling and came up to see you! Wait," She blinked, glancing between the three of them, "am I interrupting something? A talk? Ah, man, I wish we were still going with my plan, because then it would've been perfect! Or wait, would it be annoying that we waited all day? Maybe?"

"No, no, we aren't talking," Itsuka shook her head, smiling, and then bounced the ball towards Nejire, who quickly caught it with surprise, "just hanging out. C'mon, Nejire, come bounce the ball with us."

Nejire blinked a bit, but then beamed and nodded. From there, the three girls started bouncing the ball between each other, while Izuku took a step back to head over to where his backpack was so he could go through his phone and check his messages.

"So," Nejire glanced between Ochako and Itsuka, smiling happily, "what were you guys talking about?"

"Honestly, we weren't really talking," Itsuka shrugged, smiling over at Nejire as she bounced the ball to Ochako, "just … y'know, bouncing the ball between each other."

"I mean, that's not too bad! Sounds fun! But hey," She glanced between both girls, smiling happily, "I'm curious, super curious! Since you guys are - y'know - going out, do you think you'll be going on dates soon? What were you thinking? Where would you go?"

"Uh …" Ochako felt herself sweat a bit - between her mixed thoughts of Nejire earlier, and the blue-haired girl's wide, curious smile, she felt herself shrug, "… honestly, I - I don't know. Maybe … something simple?"

"Simple?" Itsuka asked, looking intrigued as she smiled over at her girlfriend. "Like - I don't know, a dinner? A movie?"

"I … yeah," Ochako slowly nodded, smiling, "dinner and a movie, that - that sounds pretty simple. Of course, we - we got midterms and internships and all that stuff, but - but just hanging out and going out for a movie sounds - it sounds good."

"It does!" Nejire happily agreed, looking between both girls in delight as she dribbled the ball. "It sounds really simple, really cute! And then, hey, maybe we can get together and talk about a few things. Like dates! And karaoke! And dinner!"

"Oh, well -"

"Or maybe One for All!"

With that, Nejire tossed the ball to Ochako - but all three girls froze when those three words left Nejire's lips. Nejire, for realizing her slip up in front of Izuku and Ochako. Itsuka, for completely forgetting that, oh yeah, Nejire did technically overhear stuff yesterday. And Ochako, completely taken off guard, let the ball hit her right in the face, not even noticing the pain as the ball dribbled away.

However, before they could freak out, Izuku suddenly spoke from his spot near the wall.

"Oh, no."

"I-Izuku!" Itsuka squeaked, quickly whirling around to see Izuku facing away from them, while Ochako let her jaw drop more and Nejire covered her mouth as though she had just let slip a state secret. "I - I can - I can explain, guys! She - she didn't -"

"No, it's -" Izuku suddenly interrupted, her, his voice shaking, "- it's Ingenium-sensei."

All three girls blinked, straightening up, and their panic at Nejire casually saying the name of Itsuka's second quirk slipped away. Together, they walked over to where Izuku was hunched over his phone, and they quickly looked over his shoulder, Ochako on his left, Itsuka on the right and Nejire moving on her tippie-toes to look over his shoulder -

- and at the headline they saw, all three of them felt their eyes widen.

VICTIM OF THE HERO KILLER - POPULAR PRO HERO INGENIUM IN COMA!

In a shocking statement from the Hero Public Safety Commission, the Number 18 Hero, Ingenium, has been confirmed to have been attacked by the villain known as the Hero Killer, and is currently in a coma.

The pro hero was admitted to Hosu General Hospital Friday afternoon, having been attacked by the Hero Killer while the Idaten agency was conducting a search in the Hosu district, and while authorities have confirmed that Ingenium had life-threatening injuries, he is currently not in any danger. However, inside sources have confirmed that Ingenium is currently unconscious, with no word as to whether or not he will be waking up anytime soon. HPSC official Yokumiru Mera made the official confirmation this afternoon on the status of Ingenium during a press conference.

"The Commission has discussed the status of Ingenium's agency with his family," Mera told reporters, "and Tensei Iida's parents will be stepping out of retirement to keep the agency's sidekicks employed while their son recovers from his wounds. We have no other current comment from the family, and would ask that you respect their privacy."

In the press conference, it has been confirmed that the Hero Killer's investigation will be taken over in a joint-investigation by the HPSC and Endeavor's hero agency. There is currently no comment on the current status of the investigation.

The article went on and on, but for the four on the beach, neither of them really read through it. Izuku put down his phone, his eyes swimming with tears, and both Ochako and Itsuka looked horrified while Nejire fell silent.

"Ingenium-sensei … he's in a coma?" Ochako looked completely taken aback, looking away. "I … oh, man …"

"Poor Iida …" Nejire looked shocked as well.

"Have - does anyone have any word from him?" Izuku looked back at Itsuka, but she shook her head, her face falling as she picked out her own phone.

"I know Yui was going to try to go to the hospital the Iidas are at," She frowned, "but … well, I didn't hear back from her at all today. So maybe …"

The four of them were quiet for a long moment, their hearts clenching at the thought of what Tenya would be facing right now - his brother, someone that he admired greatly, was in a coma that the doctors weren't sure he would be waking up from. The pain he must be feeling … it would be unbearable.

And the fact that Tensei … who helped them after what happened at the USJ, who stayed to help and comfort them during their interviews with the police … who stayed with them for the week to make sure they were alright … and who they had just sent a message wishing him good luck just yesterday …

Their moods completely plummeted, together, the four of them turned back to the stairs, and headed down to the beach again. If not to share the news, then … just to let some of their friends know what had happened.

As they vanished out of sight, however, they didn't notice the pair of brown eyes watching them from the darkness of the parking lot, allowing the illusion around her to fall and reveal herself. With a sigh, she carefully moved to the edge of the parking lot and scanned her eyes around the teenagers at the fire pit, or some of them walking along the shoreline, and let out a disappointed sigh. As she tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear, she then used her illusion quirk to vanish again, disappointed she wasn't able to find anything, and headed off into the night.

---

"Well, well," Hawks was unable to stop himself from smiling a bit dorkily as she got off the elevator, "you look like shit."

Letting out a small growl of warning to the little shit, Nagant decided to ignore her 'kohai' and stalked her way over to the main office of the HPSC building, feeling her rampaging headache continue to plummet her mood as she finished strapping the new belt of her costume on. Due to the HPSC wanting their heroes to look formal, Nagant had been given a new uniform, far different from her old hero costume - which was a good thing, because if she had to wear that thing again she'd probably vomit all over it.

Now, she was wearing a purple sleeveless dress, with her old white zip-up boots, and a metallic utility belt for her to store her bullets. Her hair had grown enough from the shampoos and treatment the HPSC had given her that it was now down to her neck, giving her enough hair to work out in the field. So all in all? Lady Nagant was ready to get back out in the field, as much as she didn't want to.

With a short sigh, she walked with Hawks into the president's office, cursing her hangover - that, or she was still drunk, she sighed - and took a moment to look around at the other people in the large glass office. On the side, the guy she remembered being named 'Sol' was leaning against a bookshelf, puffing on a cigarette as he aimed a smirk at Nagant while she chose to ignore him. On the other side, a woman in a green cloak was folding her arms together and leaning against the wall and glaring down at the floor, while beside her, a man in a white trench coat spoke into a communicator in his ear, scratching at the scar on his cheek.

And behind the desk, Nagant felt her eyebrow raise as the HPSC director continued to sip on her tea, adjusting the small monocle that she had put on her left eye. Around her, what looked to be golden mathematical equations swirled around her as she kept her eyes closed, clearly thinking as she put the cup of tea down on the table beside her.

"We've released the information about Ingenium, sir," She spoke to the laptop open on the computer, showing nothing but a screen that said SOUND ONLY in purple letters, "and I've officially received word from Ryukyu. She wants Lady Nagant to join her investigation in Hosu."

"Excellent," The deep voice said on the other side of the screen, sounding deeply amused, "and you accepted, of course?"

"Indeed, sir," Kanshi nodded, "with the explanation that Nagant is to work as a sniper, not on the front lines. That will give her ample time to find the Hero Killer in Hosu and exterminate him."

"Seems to be a dumb plan to me," Touya said off to the side, lounging on the chair near the bookshelf and smirking at his boss, "you sure your tea wasn't spiked?"

"Oh-ho?" Kanshi giggled, looking around to her subordinate. "How do you mean, Sol?"

"The fact is that you're just going off my theory," He shrugged, "Stendhal might be the Hero Killer, or he might not be. Things are leaning that way, but I don't have an official answer yet. All I know is that I came back to Ingenium on the ground and Stendhal was doing first aid on him. All he knew is that he looked away for a single moment and the Hero Killer attacked them both."

"Slashing at Ingenium's back, crippling him," The woman in green read from the report, "and then stabbing him several times. Stendhal paralyzed, unable to see the attacker or move at all, and was knocked out by a kick to the head. The doctors looked over him - there was a bruise there. Could it have been a self-inflicted injury?"

"I'm leaning that way," Kanshi nodded, standing up from the desk, "Stendhal is our lead suspect. He's been in Hosu and has been following the Hero Killer around for months. Wherever he goes, the Hero Killer strikes. Touya, my dear, you've been hunting the Hero Killer as well - it fits, doesn't it?"

"My boys were looking for him," Touya scowled a bit, "but whoever the killer is, they're a slippery bastard."

"Stendhal fits," Kanshi shrugged, "and on the off chance I'm wrong, then we'll just add him as another one of the Hero Killer's victims. Nagant here won't mind that, would she?"

Nagant merely scowled, while the green-cloaked woman turned to give her a look of dislike.

"And why are we allowing her to make the kill?" She asked in a blunt voice, causing Nagant to turn to glare at her as well. "I could just get rid of him right away."

"It's an example," Kanshi explained in a patient voice, as though to a child, "and as much as I trust you to get the job done, Beros, you're loud. I need this to be quiet, so we know that the Hero Killer is taken out. If Nagant fails, then we'll be trusting you to do the job."

"Ah," Beros nodded, "then that means I'll need to prepare myself for her failure."

"I'm too drunk for this," Nagant growled, "just tell me the job and let me fuck off back to my hotel room."

"She's drunk?" Touya scoffed, "Well, I feel so much better about letting her have the job, then."

"Kid, you'd be drunk too if you had to deal with the grating sound of all your voices."

"Then why don't you -"

"Oi," Nagant snapped, "I know that you seem to like to get off to the sound of your own voice, but why don't you shut the fuck up while the adults -"

"That's enough of that." The president said airily, but with a steel under her voice to make it clear that she'd had enough of their bickering. The group went quiet, with Hawks hanging back and keeping quiet while the mercenary in white merely glared between them all, and then Kanshi sighed.

"Nagant has been eliminating the Commission's enemies since before many of you joined us," She informed the group, "she'll get the job done, I guarantee - she has far too much to lose if she doesn't."

Nagant merely exhaled, glaring at her feet.

"Now then, we'll continue with our plan - Sol and Wolfram will be officially working with the 'Hero Killer Strike Team' that Endeavor is forming," Kanshi told them, "to divert their attention from Stendhal, so Nagant can pin him down. Wolfram, you'll be having your mercenaries scour for any vigilante interference, and Hawks will be looking over the skies with Beros to track down Stendhal. As per our agreement with Ryukyu, Nagant, I have submitted your name in the UA internship pool, to lessen suspicion on you. I want this clean and done before the night is over. Dismissed."

With that, the group left, with Nagant and Beros shooting each other glares as they stomped out, followed by Wolfram, then Touya, then Hawks. Finally, Kanshi was left alone in the room, and she sighed as she moved to sit down.

"Well," Her master chuckled over the line, "that was dramatic."

"Children, sir," She dismissively waved her hand, "they'll do what we need while we work."

"Indeed. With my political campaign officially announced, All Might's attention will be secured on me while we run a test in Hosu. How many heroes will be there during Ryukyu's investigation?"

"Her, Miruko and Nagant," She confirmed, "and whoever they choose as interns. The strike team for the Hero Killer will have Endeavor and his sidekicks, and Sol. And then we can run the High-End test."

"Excellent," All For One chuckled over the line, "you've done good work, High General Intelli. With so many powerful heroes lurking in Hosu at the same time, it's smart to test our High-End against them all. And then … we will begin work on the Vessel project."

With that, the line went dead, and Kanshi let out a long sigh as she leaned back, closing her eyes and taking off her monocle as she sipped on a bit of her tea. Alas, before she could spin her chair around to stare out the window, her intercom beeped.

"Madam President," She heard her secretary say, "your little brother's here."

"Ah," She blinked, smiling, "then send him in, please."

Hearing a confirming noise, Kanshi merely leaned back in her seat, careful not to wrinkle her white suit. It took a moment, but then the doors to her office opened, and her little brother strolled in with a smirk, Kanshi returning the smirk as she set her teacup down on the table.

"Well," She giggled, "isn't this a surprise? It's the weekend, I'd have thought that you'd be at home right now with our parents."

"Well," Neito Monoma chuckled, "I was feeling restless after yesterday. The girl I told you about was throwing a party between our classes, and I refused to go on principle."

"Ah, of course, of course," Kanshi giggled as she stood up and moved around her desk, wrapping an arm around her half-brother's shoulders, "in that case, want to sit down and have some tea while you tell me about it? I was watching yesterday, but I'd love your thoughts on this Kendou and Hadou that yanked you around."

"Of course," Monoma frowned at the memory, "I'll tell you all about it."

"Good," Kanshi smiled, "that's a good boy."

---

On Monday morning, rain continued to beat on the umbrellas of Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka as they walked up the hill towards the school, all three of them quiet as they made their way up the mountain towards UA. All three of them had been a bit nervous when they had stepped out of the train station and into the rain as it poured on them - they were, of course, all subconsciously reminded of what had happened that day on the USJ, as this was the first day since then that rain had poured down this hard. But thankfully, with the three of them moving together, they could try and ignore what they were all thinking of when some thunder rumbled in the sky and made Izuku flinch a bit.

They were quiet, of course, not because of drama or anything like that, but due to the fact that the train ride there had been a bit exhausting - all three of them had been recognized on the way, causing them to be swarmed by people congratulating them on their victories or likewise praising them. Izuku, for his part, was a bit embarrassed - a lot of people were throwing out the names 'Spark' and 'Sparky', much to his mortification, while Itsuka and Ochako didn't make it any better by smiling a bit at the nickname.

Still though, they had all thankfully gotten to school early, with Ochako surprisingly being the one that wanted to get there the fastest, as it had been her texting them late last night that she wanted to get there earlier being the reason they were awake a lot earlier than usual.

As they walked up the hill, Izuku let out a small yawn.

"Man …" He shook his head, "… it's still morning, but I'm already tired."

"Chin up," Itsuka smiled at him from under her own umbrella, the three of them trying not to walk side by side and accidentally get each other wet, "once we get to school, you can nap at your desk until the first bell. Not like Aizawa can judge you much - er - well, he probably can, but not without feeling like a hypocrite."

"Yeah, I guess."

"So," She decided to change the subject as they approached the school gate, "like I was saying yesterday, Nejire - she doesn't know anything about One for All, except for what we discussed with All Might in the nurse's office. I just … kinda forgot about it, in all the excitement on Friday. Seriously, sorry about that, guys."

"No, it's - it's fine," Ochako shook her head, trying to smile kindly at her, "it's just … well, what exactly are you gonna do now that Nejire knows about it? Are we - are we gonna tell her about it?"

"Oh, uh - I was thinking -"

"Midoriya! Uraraka! Kendou! Good morning!"

The three of them jumped a bit, their eyes widening, and quickly looked around. Running quickly up the mountain behind them came, of all people, Tenya, wearing a long green poncho and rain boots as he sprinted as fast as he could.

"Why are you three walking so slowly?!" He barked as he sprinted past them. "You're going to be late!"

"L-late?" Ochako stammered, but still quickly followed her friend as she, Izuku and Itsuka quickly hurried their pace. "But - but we're early, aren't we?"

"UA students should always arrive ten minutes early!" Tenya lectured the three of them. "Even if we are still going to be early regardless!"

Shaking their heads at that logic, the three of them still hurried their paces to get out of the pouring rain, following Tenya through the school gates and into the campus. It didn't take them long to get up to the three doors that led inside, all of them sighing a bit as they shook the rain off of their umbrellas as they walked in.

Izuku's eyes, however, stayed on Tenya as the taller boy moved to the lockers, taking off his rubber boots and putting them inside the locker.

"Hey, uh … listen, Iida," Izuku said gently as Ochako and Itsuka put their umbrellas in the stand, "about -"

"If you're going to ask about my brother," He interrupted him, taking off his hood and looking around at him, "there's no need for you to worry. Kodai informed me that she told you about why I left Friday - but regardless, I apologize for worrying you. Things will be alright."

With that, he turned to walk off, taking off the green coat as he moved away from them. Izuku still looked concerned - while Tenya's tone had been light, the way he had barely managed to smile put him off. Behind him, both Itsuka and Ochako exchanged a worried glance, and moved to either side of Izuku to stare off after their friend.

"I … guess he's just … kinda brushing it off," Itsuka said, sounding a bit put off, "I'd have thought that - y'know - he'd be more … uh … broken up about it."

"Are you kidding?" Ochako gave Tenya's retreating back a pitying look. "If what had happened to him happened to me, I'd be taking a few days off. I can't believe he actually came to school today."

"Well …" Izuku bit his lip, "… I … guess everyone grieves in their own way. If Iida's is to - y'know, come to school and act like everything's normal - I guess we can't judge him."

"No, no, we won't judge him at all," Itsuka shook her head, "let's just … be careful around him, okay? I can tell that he isn't okay, no matter what he says."

Both of them slowly nodded, and then began making their way up the stairs while Tenya went … wherever he was going to go. As they walked up to the classroom with their bags, Itsuka turned to Ochako and gave her a soft smile.

"So anyway," She hurried up the stairs to catch up with the two of them, walking in between them, "is there a reason why you wanted us to come early? Unless it was just to have some quality time together."

"Oh, uh … well, I can't tell you yet," Ochako gave her a soft smile as they walked up the stairs to where their homeroom was, "let's just drop off our bags, and then … I don't know, maybe I'll give you a hint."

Both Izuku and Itsuka glanced between each other, but shrugged, willing to entertain Ochako as she led the way to class. Soon, they were outside of Class 1A, Ochako turning to smile at both of them as she absently slid the door open.

"So," She shrugged her shoulders as Itsuka adjusted her backpack, "let's drop our stuff off, and then I'll - well - I'll go make some texts."

"Okay," Itsuka smiled as she moved around Ochako, "then let's do that, and we can start solving the mystery of why you wanted to … wake up … so early …?"

She trailed off, however, and Izuku and Ochako blinked when they saw the easy going expression on Itsuka's face fall, and being replaced by surprise as she looked into the classroom.

"Uh …" Itsuka felt her own jaw drop as she pointed into the classroom, "… am I seeing things, or is that Melissa?"

Blinking, both Izuku and Ochako whipped around to look in the classroom, Izuku in surprise and Ochako in shock. Indeed, sitting where Katsuki used to sit, arms on the desk and wearing the UA school uniform, was Melissa. She had turned slightly to see all three of them staring in shock at her, and she let out a nervous giggle as she raised her hand to wave.

"Uh … hi, guys," She weakly said, "surprise?"

All three of them sputtered for a moment, but luckily their surprise was short lived. Quickly, they all made their way inside, heading straight towards the desk Melissa was sitting nervously in, and soon they were around her, Izuku and Itsuka with their jaws dropped but delight evidenced in their eyes, and Ochako in surprise.

"M-Melissa!" Izuku squeaked, rubbing his eyes as though he were seeing things. "Is - you're really here!"

"Yeah," She nodded a bit, smiling, "I'm really here. In the flesh. Uh … voila."

"I - but why are you here?" Ochako gaped. "I - I thought you were going to surprise them differently!"

"Surprise - wait," Itsuka looked around at her girlfriend in surprise. "You knew Melissa was going to be here?"

"We, uh - we chatted Friday night," Ochako shrugged sheepishly, explaining, "and she let me know. She - she was gonna be here all weekend studying to enter UA as a foreign student. I - I thought that she was gonna surprise you two. That's why I wanted to come a bit earlier, so we could see her before classes."

"Oh, wow," Izuku turned to smile at Melissa as she continued to look nervous, "so - so that means that you must be enrolled in the support class now!"

"… yes," Melissa stiffly nodded, "and … no."

"Er … yes and no?" Itsuka tilted her head, confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Melissa gulped, "that I was … supposed to be in the support class, and I'm enrolled. But … I'm not. I - I think that there was a bit of a mixup."

"A … mixup?" Izuku looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean …" Melissa gulped, "… I was … supposed to be applying for the support studio. But I think … uh … Uncle Might must've mixed some things up. Because, uh … I got here, and I started doing tests … and halfway through, I … realized that I was …"

There was a pause.

"… Uncle Might … he … enrolled me in the hero course."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I'm …" Melissa gave the three of them a weak grin, "… your new classmate?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… huh?" Izuku squeaked.

"Excuse me?" Itsuka blinked.

"Sorry?" Ochako asked.