Chapter 44!

I needed to release these chapters together for the best flow since it's in the yuri collection.

Enjoy, more notes at the end!

Inside Joke

*Izumi POV*

It was late into the night when she arrived home.

She had taken her usual 'detours' after leaving her underclassman's house and the cool night air wrapped around her as she took her careful steps towards her own home. The greenette could hear something barely tickling her ears and the sound grew louder as she made the approach. Taking a deep breath, she extended her hand before the familiar realization washed over her like a cold wave.

They were fighting...again.

Izumi could hear them from outside and her left hand began to tremble as she hovered it over the handle. The shaking began to run all the way up to her shoulder and she stared blankly at the quaking limb before retreating as silently as possible and making her way back to her bike. The greenette popped it over to neutral and began her long walk. She always did this so they wouldn't know if she was leaving or getting back and after a while, when she was comfortable with it not being obvious that it was her, she started up the engine and took off.

Izumi didn't make it very far before she needed to stop, her left was still shaky, and without even getting off her motorcycle she let her quirk spring from her afflicted arm. The green-ish black tendrils whipped around she Izumi let them run loose to wrap around things or the like. Playing with her quirk also helped her relax but as she retracted it she realized it wasn't going to be enough. The green haired girl tiredly glared down at her left before digging around for her cigarettes and quickly lighting up. Her unresponsive fingers eased as they found the familiar material against them and the taste and smell of smoke clung to her.

She kept trying to kick the habit but it was the only thing that fully pulled that edge off of her. It had been done out of curiosity and she'd stolen a hidden pack from her dad when he'd forgotten about it but Izumi had quickly found herself addicted. The first time it had given her a headache but she couldn't help but try again eventually and that time she'd found it helped her relax and clear her head. The greenette was always careful to use fresheners so her parents didn't find out but she had needed these reprieves more frequently as of late.

"Aren't you two tired of fighting?" Izumi whispered to herself.

It was usually about the same thing and if it wasn't then it stemmed from it.

Dad wanted her to be a hero and Mom didn't.

The Business Course had only been a compromise and even then her dad was always trying to push the envelope on it. He wanted her to work at the best possible place and was always pressing for her to meet more and more important people in the hero business. Even then, she was sure that her dad was still hoping for her to become a hero.

Izumi kind of understood where he was coming from though.

Apparently one of his grandpas had been a well known hero but died before his time and a few of their family members desperately tried to honor him by trying to be heroes as well. However, their quirks never quite reached to that level and they ended in a supporting role through management. While it was tough for them to accept, everyone of them that tried was very proud of what they were doing in carrying on that legacy and her dad was no different. He himself had been in the Business Course during his high school days, though not at U.A, and was also working at a hero agency even now. Then when she was born he wanted her to naturally follow in the family's footsteps. Izumi knew how proud of his family her dad was and that he wanted her to have something to be proud of as well, to have something they shared and carried on, and she probably would have been fine with that.

However, her quirk was much stronger instead and she supposed her dad made the assumption that Izumi would also be fine with or wanting to be a hero. Maybe he was right, Izumi had no clue how it could have turned out, but what had ruined it for her was the fighting. Mom was against it and Dad would always try to convince her endlessly. Her mom would always said she didn't have to but at the same time it wasn't actually about Izumi. It wasn't, 'You don't have to because you can do what you want,' it was instead aimed at her dad for making all these decisions. Mom seemed to just hate that he was pushy and that was that.

Izumi herself had no say, she was too young to really get it at that time, and all she knew back then was that it made them fight. It continued over and over and she was stuck in the middle of both their arguing and following this uncertain, in between, path and now she just felt nothing about it. It wasn't all bad but it was just fine. Her internship was nice enough, school was okay, when she was out of the house it was alright, and there wasn't more to it. Izumi sighed, discarding the burnt away cigarette, and she squared everything away before she was off once more. It was only her and her motorcycle riding off into the night.

She just didn't feel like she belonged anywhere.

Though the faint fragrance of coffee sat with her.

Notes and Stuff

Izumi's quirk is indeed Black Whip in this fic.

I went back and forth on where to and if I would post this based on this chapter and where it might take the story direction. I think I'll try to post more of the stuff I'm on the fence about in the future.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!