Chapter 35
They couldn't make it in time for the sunset. By the time Izuku had brought Alyssa to the beach, the sun had already slipped past the horizon. He couldn't help feeling the sliver of disappointment that they had missed it, hammering in the final nail to how much of a disaster the night had been. For all of his planning, almost everything he had done had not gone according to plan. All day, he had been trying to work himself up the courage to take that final step. The sunset was supposed to be his way of creating the perfect moment and finally give him the courage to go through with it. However, all of that seemed inconsequential the moment he saw Alyssa's face light up the moment she spotted the blue horizon.
"You brought me to the beach?!" she exclaimed, bouncing excitedly in place.
"Well, you said an ideal date for you was to walk on the beach."
"I know, but that's just something everyone says on their dating profile, like 'I like seafood, men with a good sense of humor, and enjoy long walks on the beach.'"
"Oh... well, do you like seafood and men with good humor?"
"Yes," she admitted, "but that's not the point. I can't believe you actually brought me for a cliché walk on the beach."
"...It is kind of cliché, isn't it?"
"It's okay. I like cliché," she smiled softly before she took his hand and then proceeded to drag him behind her like a child trying to get their parent to hurry up.
"S-Slow down, Alyssa! The beach isn't going anywhere," Izuku said, trying to hold back the laughter building in his throat at her enthusiasm. She had such intense bursts of high energy, it was almost hard to keep up with her abrupt mood swings.
"Shut up. I've been waiting forever to go to the beach. Do not judge me for this!" she admonished him playfully, tugging him towards the ocean before Izuku dropped his hand from her grip, staring at the water's edge. The whole shore was covered in seaweed. "What's wrong?" she asked, oblivious towards the mess by her feet.
"Nothing. It's just... I had this whole plan for us to be here at sunset and the beach was supposed to be nice. Guess I can't even plan that right."
"Aww it's okay, Izuku. I don't mind. I really like evening walks, and the sun probably would have been too bright for my eyes anyways."
"Oh... I didn't think about that," said Izuku. "But the beach is all gross and covered with seaweed."
Alyssa just shrugged. "So? Just don't walk in the seaweed. High tide probably brought it in. It'll wash it out again," she waved dismissively before an idea occurred to her. "You know, you actually can do something pretty interesting at night on the beach. You just gotta look for bubbles in the sand and start digging."
"Oh yeah?"
"Uh-huh. When my dad married his third wife, they had their location wedding in Florida, so after the rehearsal dinner, he took Jo-Elle and I out to the beach that night to dig up ghost-crabs with his new in-laws. We'd use flashlights and try and catch as many as we could and put 'em in a bucket, and whoever caught the biggest crab won."
"Sounds like you had a lot of fun."
"I did... Until I realized that crabs are basically armored, water spiders with pincers that move really fast, so that freaked me out real quick when I was trying to catch them," Alyssa laughed shakily. "I guess we'd probably need a spade, bucket, and a net to really do any of that, huh?"
"That's okay. We'll save that for next time."
"Mmmm another beach date? I can't wait! Oooh I bet you'd look hot in a swimsuit," Alyssa gushed before bursting into a fit of giggles at his flustered expression. She leaned into him, giving him sort of a half-hug as an apology for embarrassing him before her fingers laced with his. Izuku loved the way that her hand fit into his, like a missing puzzle piece. Her fingers were thin but so soft and smooth. He also loved the little details, like how often he saw pencil lead smeared on the side of her right hand or ink staining her fingertips. When he mentioned this to her, he noticed Alyssa never really accepted the compliment, just going on about how her sister stole her moisturizer and she had to wash her hands so often when she painted, though she always blushed when she got one. In a way, it made him want to praise her more.
"I'd love to see your paintings sometime," Izuku said while Alyssa stared at her feet as they sunk into the soft sand.
"Really? Okay, but be prepared. I only had like an hour to paint and most of them are kinda nerdy. I don't really do the whole painting flowers, birds, and landscapes thing like everyone else."
"I'm sure they're amazing if you made them."
"Gosh, Izuku... for all of your stammering and shy energy, you can be a real smooth criminal when you want to be," Alyssa chuckled with a bashful smile.
"Cr-Criminal?"
"It's a song... 'Smooth Criminal'? You know," she then stopped to shimmy her shoulders a bit and sang something in English. "Michael Jackson."
"Oh... W-Well, I w-was just trying to be honest."
"I know. I love that about you," she smiled, keeping her eyes forward while Izuku felt like his heart was going to beat straight out of his chest. "But for real, you've never heard of Michael Jackson?" He shook his head. "Really? He invented the moonwalk. How about 'Thriller' or 'Billie Jean'? Ringing any bells?"
"Nope. Sorry."
"Wow, I had thought everyone had heard of him. Maybe it's a cultural thing..."
"Do you like him?"
"I mean, yeah, he's got some good tunes and his game on the Wii is fun, but my mom's the real Michael Jackson fan. She learned to dance to his music with her college friends back in the eighties- you know, back when big hair was cool and MTV still played music. She was really sad the day she found out that he died."
Izuku's heart softened at the way Alyssa's dark eyes became all wistful and melancholy, similar how she was the last time they been out together. "I'm sorry to hear about your mom. I forgot to say that the other night. You and your family must have gone through so much."
"It's not that big a deal," she waved off, putting up that wall that he always saw her do when it came to things like this. "Seriously, it's fine. I think the only really scary thing about my mom's cancer was the surgery and rehab, and once we were past that, everything else was fine."
"Okay..." Izuku offered, "But you know, if you want to talk about it, I'm always here to listen."
"...Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," and that was all that she had to say on the matter. The rest of the evening had been them talking about many things. Some of it about their daily lives and some of it being utter nonsense, like how they ate their pizza and which version of Tween Titans was better, original or remake, all while Alyssa was swinging their arms between them. When she wasn't invested in something else or thinking too hard, Alyssa could be a real chatterbox, talking about everything under the sun- or moon, in this case. Izuku felt so comfortable with her, like he could talk to her about anything.
"...I'm telling you, Tween Titans has not been good since 2006," she announced with fervent ardor. "Any spin-off of it afterwards is just out-of-character, head-canon, money-making fluff."
"Yes, but you could argue that the comics that followed the TV show were supposed the original successors to the series."
"I suppose that's true, though actually getting your hands on one of them is a feat only done through searching on Amazon and eBay, and it's way harder now that the TV spin-off series shares the comic-book name," she said before grumbling. "Like seriously? Who was in-charge of the marketing for titles?"
"I have no idea," Izuku shrugged. "But you know, I actually do have some of the original issues."
"Shut up, you do not!"
"I do."
"Could I borrow them?"
"Sure."
"Cool- wait, seriously? I was just kidding. You'd let me borrow some of your Tween Titan comics?"
"Absolutely," Izuku said before adding, "but only if you let me read your comic first. We'll do a trade."
"Ah, I should have known there was a catch," she admonished herself. "How about this: I'll show you some of my watercolors, and then you can just give me all of your Tween Titans Go! comics and I'll just keep them with me forever."
"Hey, that's not a fair trade," he chuckled.
"Oh really? I'm letting you violate the privacy of my art sanctuary, a world of my most hidden thoughts and desires," Alyssa declared, putting on theatrical airs. "You best recognize that I will be seeking compensation for that. I mean, I'm entering my comic into NatsuComi because of you."
"Wait, so you're really going to do Comiket this year?"
"Yeah, I managed to talk myself into it, though I doubt I'll do very well. So very few people make it big at Comiket, and they're local. I'm already at a huge disadvantage."
"But that's what makes you unique! So many mangakas draw the same things in the same way. They'll have to pay attention to the big, beautiful foreigner drawing superhero comics," Izuku gushed, causing Alyssa's face to ignite. "I'm sure you'll do great, and if not, you can try again next year or in December for FuyuComi. At least you can say that you tried."
"...Gosh, Izuku, you are seriously the nicest, most positive person I have ever met," Alyssa said with a bemused chuckle before sighing. "There's really no use arguing with you, is there?"
"Nope." He smiled before giving Alyssa's hand a squeeze, feeling his face grow warm as she squeezed it back. She tilted her head back, looking up at the night sky and humming softly to herself. "Sure is a nice night to stargaze. The moon's barely bigger than the Cheshire Cat's smile."
"Uh-huh..." Izuku nodded, only he wasn't looking at the moon. If he was, it was how it shimmered off of her glasses or how the moonbeams shone through her hair, outlining her Rubenesque silhouette. His eyes adverted forward, staring at the darkening landscape before he realized it was starting to look familiar. He was starting to recognize the area now, spotting the graffiti of ai-ai gasa and discarded Tic-Tac-Toe games along with the gazebo at the end of the pier in the distance. The love umbrella still had the faded names of Ani-kun and Padome etched underneath it.
"Where are we anyways?" Alyssa asked, eyes snapping back towards the coastline. "You never said what beach we were at."
"It's called Takoba Beach."
"What, like Dagobah?"
"What's a 'day-go-buh'? Is that like a couch?"
"No," she giggled, "it's a jungle planet from Star Wars. It's where Luke trained with Master Yoda to become a Jedi."
"Oh." Izuku smiled at the irony. Well that seemed strangely appropriate.
"Is this where you wanted to take me? The pier?"
"Sort of," he admitted as he lead her up the steps before they stood under the gazebo. He always wanted to stand on it, never having been here himself. He was always jogging on the beach or moving trash or meeting with All Might in secret to talk about his training and discuss incidents outside of UA. It was nice, for once, to sit back and enjoy the view. He leaned over the edge of the railing, looking out towards the horizon where the sky as still light enough that there was still a dividing blue that separated the sea and sky. Out here, he could forget himself and really appreciate all his hard work.
"Thanks for taking me here, Izuku. This place is beautiful, and it's so peaceful here too. Listening to the hiss of the sea, it's like the whole ocean is one big, living organism, breathing in and out with the push and pull of the waves. I could probably spend hours just staring at the coastline alone, if you let me," she relaxed, looking more calm than he had ever seen her.
"I'm glad you like it," he smiled, watching the way her eyes danced over the horizon before they grew heavy with deep thought. He wondered objectively what she was thinking about before he turned his gaze back over the beach and continued. "You know, this place didn't always used to be like how you see it now. You wouldn't believe it by looking at it, but up until about a decade ago, this whole beach used to be covered in mountains of trash."
Her eyes which had grown hazy with relaxation, snapped back to his, pupils blown wide with interest. "Wow, really?"
"Yep. Cardboard, trucks, old refrigerators- a whole junkyard of garbage. Trash would either wash up onshore because of the currents or people would just dump off their garbage here and run."
Alyssa wrinkled her nose. "Ugh! That's disgusting... but I guess I understand the mentality of it. I mean logically, what difference would it make to add a little more to an already huge trash pile if everyone else is doing it? Other than make an even bigger mess that no one wants to clean up, obviously."
"Yeah I had the same idea... but thankfully it just takes one person to change that. A lot of people say that this whole beach was cleaned up by an environmental organization or the government decided to step in, but actually it was done by just one person."
"What? No way. All that trash by one person? That's insane."
"Probably," Izuku chuckled. "The thing is I didn't take you here to tell you all this. There was another reason why I wanted to bring you here on our date."
"You're not about to give me some big romantic spiel about the trials of relationships and propose to me, are you?" Alyssa asked with a bemused expression.
"WHAT?! NO! I just-!" Izuku sputtered while Alyssa burst out laughing, waiting patiently until she was done to clear his throat. "Y-You were sharing things with me about what you did as a kid, and well... I wanted to share something with you."
"...Okay?"
Izuku took a deep breath and then began. "When I was a kid, all I ever wanted was to be a hero. Everyone told me that I couldn't do it, that a weak, Qui- useless nobody like me could never dream of becoming a pro-hero. But then I met All Might and everything changed," Izuku swallowed before he continued. "He told me that before they were celebrities, pro-heroes were public figures that were worked for the people, that service was what really mattered. That I could become a hero because of my will and determination to act. This beach was where I took my first steps on my way to becoming a hero. I used to meet with him here and train everyday."
"That's amazing but why would All Might have you train on a beach covered with garbage?" Alyssa uttered before she paused at his barely contained poker face. Then the gears started to turn. "...You were that guy, weren't you?" Izuku conceded with a shrug and a shy smile. "Wait, so you're telling me that you cleaned up this entire beach by yourself?"
"Not in a single day, but overtime, the mess got easier and easier to manage. My job was to haul trash every day until I restored the coastline. I had to work harder than most people. My body was really weak and I was already behind all of the other applicants, and with the UA High School entrance exam only ten months away, I needed to get stronger really fast. Finally on the day of the exam, I finished cleaning up the entire beach with hours to spare."
"You did this in less than a year?" she gaped at him, as if seeing him for the first time. "Holy crap, dude! I can't tell if you're lying to make yourself look better or exaggerating your story to make a point."
Izuku's face fell somewhat. "I'm not lying and I'm not exaggerating. Every day for ten months, I moved every single can, car, tire, box, and cabinet off of this beach. My point though is that it was really hard in the beginning, but I did it. I didn't stop, no matter how many times I wanted to give up, until the whole beach was clean. Anytime I feel down on myself, I come here and see where my starting point was," Izuku continued, face full of determination. "I've seen you and your work. You're stubborn and passionate enough that if you want something badly enough, you'll do anything to achieve your goals. I think your comic is your beach to clean, and I... well, I want you to share my starting point," he declared before he realized how cheesy that sounded, "you know, if you want."
Alyssa didn't say anything for several seconds, just processing what he had said, her eyes flitting towards him and then the beach. "Well... that definitely wasn't the proposal I was expecting. For a second there, I thought you would have segued that into officially asking me to be your girlfriend."
Izuku paused for a few moments, letting her words sink in... and then felt like the biggest moron on the face of the planet. "Oh my god, I am such an idiot! That would have been so perfect! I can't believe you just let me ramble on about my training days for so long!"
"I was curious where you were going with the story." The pro-hero buried his face in his hands, wishing to crawl under the biggest rock he could find before he heard Alyssa's tinkling laughter and felt a hand touch his shoulder. "It's okay, Izuku. I get the gist of it. You wanted to show me a place that was special to you, right?"
"Y... Yeah..."
"Mission accomplished. You get a gold star," she beamed, though he couldn't tell if she was patronizing him or not. "Do you still pick up trash here or are you done with that now that you're a big time pro-hero?"
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a sheepish smile. "Sometimes... usually when I have spare time or I'm going to visit my mother. Normally, I come here to pick up trash on the weekends."
"Whoa... My sister would love you for that. She's a big advocator for stuff like cleaning up the environment," Alyssa said before clapping him on the shoulder. "Seriously, though, great work! This place is beautiful, and the water's so clear, you can see the sand at the bottom." She hummed something reminiscent of a song that he couldn't place before staring up at the sky. Her eyes crinkled at the horizon for a moment before they went wild. "Oh my gosh, look over there!" Alyssa pointed, nearly knocking him over with her hand as she gestured towards a dark patch of sea. At first he couldn't see it, but once he relaxed his eyes enough, he noticed the little shimmers of bio-luminescence floating in the water.
"What is that?"
"It's a bloom of moon jellyfish!" Alyssa squealed, barely containing her zeal behind the railing. A huge cluster of tiny white and purple blobs bobbed in the shallows, only able to see them glimmering underwater when the waves were calm over the area they were located in. "I've never seen them in the wild before. They're so many of them... I didn't think they even showed up this early in the year. They don't normally like cold water."
"Maybe the water is warm enough for them now."
"Or clean enough," Alyssa added. "Jellyfish are super sensitive to ammonium and bacterium in the water. Maybe all of that cleaning you did made the water safe for them to show up again." She smiled at him, one of those earth-shattering, heart-stopping smiles, and it was then Izuku knew that this was his moment. Using the railing for balance, he raised himself up so that he was nearly at her height, mere inches away from her face before Alyssa looked at him with abject horror and suddenly took off in a brisk jog down the pier. Izuku sagged back onto the rail, still uncomprehending on what just happened.
Why was she running away? Did he scare her off? Was it too soon? Was it his technique or had he read the room wrong? American relationships were supposed to be faster and more intimate than Japanese relationships. Maybe she was shy and didn't want to kiss him yet. But all signs pointed to that moment being the perfect opportunity for him to kiss her! Every single rom-com he had ever watched said so; even the card he had written down said so! 'Be sure to seal the deal by kissing her by the end of the date. Create romantic opportunities to kiss her. If all goes well, you two should have real chemistry.'
Then he paled in realization. Oh god, what if she accidentally read that card and knew what he was up to? Ugh, his life was over! Where had he gone wrong?
"Alyssa, wait!" Izuku called after her. He had to apologize for whatever it was that he did to make her run away from him.
After following her for a few more meters, Izuku was about to activate One for All when Alyssa stopped and knelt down in front of a pile of kelp. She then sprinted towards the waves before reaching down into the foaming water and running back to the pile. Something wasn't right. "What's wrong?" His eyes followed her concerned gaze at the clear, deflated saucer lying on the sand in front of her.
"One of the moon-jellies washed up onshore," she cooed sadly, dribbling the rest of her handful of water onto the ground in front of her. "Poor pretty baby."
Izuku's brow scrunched together. That's what that thing was? On land, they looked more like sea-snot than the graceful visages they appeared to be in picture books.
"It doesn't look very good. Are you sure that thing's still alive?"
"I can't just leave it alone! It will dry out and die by morning. They can't survive outside of the ocean longer than forty five minutes," Alyssa announced before sprinting back towards the waves to scoop up another handful of ocean water and pour it on top of the gelatinous creature.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Get some more water. I'm going to try and see if I can get it back into the water without touching it." Instincts kicking in, Izuku nodded and took off towards the ocean. The water was so cold compared to how warm the evening was, it was almost like holding a tray of ice cubes in his hands. He dunked the handful of water on top of the washed up jellyfish, moistening its bell but doing nothing to budge it from where it lay suction cupped on the ground.
After scooping up a few more handfuls of ocean water with no success of washing it back into the waves, they both stopped, realizing their efforts were in vain. Even the pathway they had dug had only filled with ocean water or washed away, solving one problem and creating another. The jellyfish floated in the mini tide-pool, unmoving and still. Was it even still alive? Was all of this for naught?
"It's no good. I hoped that all the water would at least give it enough liquid to move, but the surf is too strong right now. Jellyfish can't really control where they go and it'd be nearly impossible for it to stay in the water this close to shore." Alyssa then began pulling off her socks and tennis shoes before stuffing her socks into the shoes.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to pick it up and carry it out to sea."
"But it's a jellyfish! It'll sting you!"
"Don't worry. Moon jellies are one of the few species of jellyfish that can't hurt people. Their sting doesn't affect us," she explained as she tied the edges of her shirt dress into a small bow behind her back and tugged up the pant-legs of her skinny pants up past her knees.
"Are you sure that it's a moon jellyfish?"
"It is. You can tell by the little crescents on its top. Trust me. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't." Alyssa then dug her hands into the sand underneath the jellyfish and scooped it up before flipping it over in her hands.
"Be careful!"
"Don't worry. They're really fragile so I'll be super delicate with them." Alyssa offered him a reassuring grin before it morphed into a grimace. "Eww, it feels all gross and slimy," she said disdainfully at the squishy sensation before smirking and holding the jellyfish out towards him. "You wanna touch it?" He blanched at the clear, white gelatin blob in her hands.
"Wha-? No!"
"Oh come on. He doesn't bite," she held out her hands further towards him, causing him to retreat a step back. "Don't tell me that Deku is afraid of a little baby jellyfish?"
"I'm not afraid of it," he pouted indignantly. "I just don't want to touch it."
"Come on. One poke won't kill you."
His lips pressed together, nervously eying the alien creature in her hands before carefully prodding the outer layer with his finger before he met slimy, rubbery resistance. It was a lot less scary up-close, resembling more like she had a large clump of petroleum jelly slathered over her palms than a sea creature that could inflict pain via tentacles. It was like some sort of extraterrestrial being, barely bigger than a sand-dollar, and yet she had it gently cradled in her hands like it was a baby polliwog she had just rescued from a tide pool. Was this girl not afraid of anything?
"See? It doesn't hurt."
"Yeah, but... weren't you worried about it drying out?"
"...Oh right!" Dipping it for a fresh scoop of water from their mini trench, Alyssa cupped the jellyfish into her hands and began treading further out into the water, this time the ocean almost coming up to her knees as it rushed in. "Ah-! Cold! Cold! Cold!" Alyssa shrieked as her feet dipped into the wet sand. Once she was sure she was far enough out and some careful maneuvering, Alyssa held the jellyfish out towards the sea like an offering and placed the creature gently back into the water. "There you go, little guy." She watched the invertebrate float there for a few seconds, praying that it was still alive before it began bobbing in the water, aimlessly being pulled by the currents. "Go check further down the shore! There might be more!"
"I'm on it!" Izuku called back before he started scanning the beach for more gelatin lifeforms. "I see two more over here!" he shouted, spotting another clump of jelly in the sand. This one was much bigger, about the size of a charger plate and the faint color of lavender. Izuku thought for a moment about picking it up with Blackwhip, but the Quirk wasn't great with picking up small objects. Chances were he would probably drop the jellyfish or squish it in the process. Experimentally, he netted his fingers together like he would for playing Cat's Cradle to test his theory as small strings of Blackwhip netted together in a small basket, a miniature version of Blackwhip Net as he gently lifted up the jiggling jellyfish. The large saucer wiggled in the air but didn't slip out of his cat's cradle. "I got this one!"
"I got the baby!" Alyssa yelled, running back towards him before scooping up and effortlessly flipping the smaller jellyfish in her hands like a pancake before looking over to him as they jogged towards the ocean. "Whoa! How are you doing that!?"
"I umm... I told you, my Quirk is a bit weird," Izuku explained in a rush before carefully extending Blackwhip out over the water before dumping the invertebrate with an unceremonious plop.
"Well, that's way more effective than what I've been doing," Alyssa observed. "Okay! From now on, you're in charge of the big fellas I can't get or can't touch. If you see anything that doesn't look like a moon jellyfish, do not touch it without a Quirk. Look for the crescents!"
"Got it!" Izuku never thought his date would suddenly turn into a sea-wildlife rescue mission, but that was what it became. For the next half-hour, Alyssa was running and picking up jellyfish while Izuku spotted more and dug them out for Alyssa to grab, somehow getting over his fear of touching the jelly creatures. After about another ten minutes of this, Alyssa was panting and trudging up out of the water, thoroughly winded from the effort.
"I think... I got them all," Alyssa breathed out. Her hair clip had come undone, causing her hair to pool over her shoulders and stick to her rosy cheeks before blowing back in the breeze. Her arms and legs were decorated with droplets of saltwater while her hands pruned from the water and jellyfish residue. According to one of the many American colloquialisms he had learned from her, Alyssa looked like a 'hot mess.'
She dragged her feet as she stomped through the waves that pushed and shoved her back like a rowdy crowd of people, trudging up the incline towards the shore before she stumbled at a particularly large wave that struck her back, giving Izuku only seconds to catch her and reestablish her balance. Water rushed over their feet, pulling at the sand and water caught around their ankles. Utilizing the force of the waves and the strength of his arms that he had used to keep her steady on the incline, Izuku pulled her forward and gently pressed his lips against hers.
Out of all the unplanned things that he had gone through today, this was the one Izuku had regretted the least. Not really sure what to do, he forced his eyes to shut and held his lips there for a few seconds while the rest of her turned rigid, her lips soft and plump against his. Upon pulling back, he realized that she still had traces of the ice cream they had shared on her lips. Those lips parted into a small 'o' as she took as step back into the water to reestablish her footing, bubbles burbling up from her weight on the sand as she lifted her hand to her lips.
"Umm..." Alyssa uttered, absolutely flummoxed by his actions. "Can... can you do that again? I umm... wasn't really all there the first time."
Izuku's heart, already thrumming in a flurry of fear and panic, nearly burst at her words and almost exploded again the instant he leaned forward to grab onto the back of her neck and felt the impact of her lips against him. Her hands rose to grip onto his shoulders, lips parting and coaxing against his as he wrapped his free hand around her waist to steady her against him. He could feel tinges of warmth and electricity spark from the soft brush of her lips while the icy hand of the ocean rushed over his feet and into his shoes, but he didn't care. He didn't care how numb his toes were or if his new, limited edition Might-E brand shoes were becoming waterlogged. Suddenly, he didn't feel so cold anymore.
Standing on the slanting sea sand, neither of them noticed that Alyssa's feet had started to sink into the sand until they were almost suction-cupped around her ankles, pulling her backwards with every retreating tide. Then she broke away from him and let out the most petrified, blood-curdling squeal as she started flailing and stomping around before stumbling into him. Given that his arms were still wrapped around her waist and still riding the high of her kiss, Izuku was powerless to stop her from tripping into the slant of the shore and sending them both crashing onto the sand. Fun fact: wet sand, even if it hasn't been touched by the waves in awhile, is not as soft as dry sand.
Always having a fast recovery rate, Izuku righted himself onto his hands and checked to see how Alyssa was fairing. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did one of the jellyfish sting you!?" Izuku exclaimed before he noticed the fist sized white colored crab scuttle away and scurry into the waves.
"Sp-Spider..!" Alyssa trembled, shuddering as the eight-legged crustacean near her feet bobbed through the water before re-burying itself in the sand. A few seconds passed between them, Alyssa looking wide-eyed and perturbed from the whole experience. Then Izuku burst out laughing. He laughed so hard, his ribs creaked from the strain, finding it utterly hilarious that this tall, larger-than-life woman, who could touch a jellyfish, was terrified of a tiny little crab.
"Wha-? It's not funny!" Alyssa slammed her fists into his arm, taking her pounding and half-hearted assault with a grain of salt.
"I'm s-sorry, it's just- y-y-you-you're afraid of a c-c-crab?" He fought for breath, wheezing out laugh after laugh until he was crying tears of joy, a whole night of emotions coming to a boil.
"It looked like a spider!" she scathed hotly. Finally after he felt like he could breathe again, Izuku sat up and let out a soft, satisfied sigh. "You okay?"
"Yeah... He didn't get me. He just wriggled under my foot when I stepped on his hiding place," Alyssa mumbled, unable to look him in the eye. "Sorry for knocking you over."
"It's okay. I don't mind."
Her face flushed again, trying to keep the smile off of her face until it wrinkled in disgust. "Ugh, I think we landed in a pile of seaweed," Alyssa said, picking off a dried out bit of dark yellow string that was stuck to her arm.
"Here. Let me help." He started picking off the green sea-hairs and algae that clung to her back before she snickered. "What?"
Alyssa pointed towards her own head. "You actually have some in your hair." He lifted up his hand searchingly and she giggled. "Hold on, I got it." Her hands combed through his messy, green hair before picking off quite a few long strands of kelp to join the discard pile next to them. "Guess I should call you 'seaweed head' instead of 'freckles,' huh?"
She held his gaze for a moment, her joking tone fading as dark eyes bravely shifting up towards his. His eyes were already closed by the time she met his lips in another kiss. The sensation was mind-blowing to him. Not just because she initiated it, but because she wanted to kiss him. Not Deku, not her mystery hero, Him. Izuku Midoriya- and quite a lot, if the pressure and frequency of her kisses had anything to say about it. Izuku could feel his back getting soaked by the damp, cool sand as his hands held her close, carding through the ponytail that had just become undone from the hair-tie that had held it up. Grains of sand were on his hands now, leaving traces of it on her back like sexy hand-prints before he felt her break away.
"What? What's wrong?" he asked, breathless and wondering why she had stopped.
"Nothing, just... suddenly understanding Anakin's opinions about sand." He stared blankly at her for a few seconds. "Nothing. Nevermind." Then she leaned over and resumed kissing him again. This girl was going to be the death of him.
Author's Note: References today are Michael Jackson's the Experience and, shocking very few people, Dagobah (Takoba Beach Municipal Park) from Star Wars, along with Anakin Skywalker (Ani-kun) and Padme Amidala (Padome). Oh my god, freaking FINALLY they kiss! GOD, a whole year I waited to write this! I also know way more about jellyfish than I ever needed to know.
Also, went to go see the new My Hero Academia movie for the premiere on October 29th. LOVED IT! Although (minor spoilers) I wish they wore their stealth outfits longer than the first four minutes of the movie. That was kinda a let down and made it come off as a bit of a shameless cash-grab... but thankfully, I do not care. The costumes were cool, the animation was amazing, the lessons and themes were clear-cut, Bakugou was hilarious, Izuku was adorable, and I loved seeing him use Blackwhip with the 360 camera views like Spiderman. I also liked the new character, Rody Soul (pronounced 'roady' apparently) more than I expected. Who knows? Might do a fic for him. He and his family deserves some love. Highly recommend watching the movie twice just so that you can go back and watch other characters in the background because you will want to.
