It was a little weird, still being recognized while actively holding my girfriends hand on the train, but Mina was outspoken enough that she told people to back up and give us some space. Was it really that easy?
"So... gotta take a train to get wherever we're going... where are we going?" I asked, Mina laying her head on my shoulder.
"Sshhh, it's a surprise. Just relax with the cute girl next to you and enjoy the ride." She told me, getting a little more comfortable before pulling out her phone and taking pictures while older folks stared at us. While some things changed, public displays of affection were still seen as something shameful. I didn't mind the looks, though, because it seemed she didn't either.
"You're right. It's just me overthinking the whole girlfriend thing." Came my quiet reply, staring down at the camera with a smile, my eyebrow getting turned into flames.
The ride was just more of that, telling people to give us some space and taking goofy pictures until they announced what was evidently our stop. Biichi. It was a small town I'd never heard of. Then again, U.A. was the furthest from home I'd ever traveled.
"Woah, it's so pretty here..." I mumbled, the trees swaying gently in the breeze as she led me closer to wherever we were going.
"Yeah, I guess it is. Sometimes, i forget how lucky I am to live here." She told me, leading me past a small marketplace.
"You live here? Wait, where are we going?" I asked as worry grew inside me, and she led me closer to a modest looking home.
"Is this your house? Am I meeting your parents?" There was fear inside me, different from any I'd ever known as we stopped outside the door, turning to look at each other.
"Okay, so uh, yes. I want you to meet my parents, but if you're uncomfortable, you can still leave." She told me, watching me for a moment before I cupped her cheeks with a smile.
"Right now, there's nothing more I'd like to do more than meet your parents."
The truth was I was scared. Terrified at the thought of meeting them. But it had to happen eventually, and Mina seemed so excited to introduce me, I didn't know how I could refuse.
"Great. They're gonna love you, I've been telling them all about you." She beamed, opening the door and calling out as she took her shoes off and put on her slippers before offering me a spare pair so I could do the same as she called out.
"I'm home! And I brought company!"
She took my hand, leading me inside her home and into the living room where her family was.
"Hello dear, did you have a good day?" Her father asked, hiding behind a newspaper. Weird, I didn't know people still read those.
"Mujakina, put that down. We have company!" Her mother, a woman with long pink hair and small pointy red horns, told him, slapping his knee.
"Hmm? Do we? I was busy looking at the comics." He told her as he put the newspaper down and revealing that he was a very large, round man without hair, a large antenna like thing on top of his head, with black dots surrounding it and on his arms, his entire body bubble gum pink.
"Oh! You must be Izuku. We watched the sports festival. You did well." He told me, standing and offering his hand, which was soft and gooey, like chewed gum.
"Uh, yeah, um, thank you." I bowed, and he laughed.
"Polite. Oh, I like this one, Zero." He told his wife, laughing heartily and patting me on the back hard.
"Oh, Mujakina, you like everyone. Let me see him." She spoke, standing and walking over, fear spreading through me. Her eyes were full of hatred for the world, but the softened a bit as she looked me over.
"You poor boy." She finally told me, turning back to her husband and nodding.
"You've got the official seal of approval from my wife. That's a rare thing." He told me, and I was confused. Approval? I'd just gotten here. Was I judged on my looks, or did she have a quirk that could tell her more?
"Uh, t-thank you? It's an honor to meet you both." I managed to get out, right as a pink ball jumped at me, landing on my shoulder before laughing and jumping off.
"Not in the house, you could inure yourself." Her father spoke, and the ball whined before turning into a pink boy.
"Oh, hello Junsui." I waved, and he waved back, smiling up at me.
"Mina has a boyfriend!" He sang, pointing at his sister and making a face before running away.
"Sit, tell us about yourself." He told me, and I swallowed back my nerves to do that, even as Minas grip on my hand never faltered.
"About me? I'm kind of boring... Uh, I collect All Might merchandise and memorabilia. I live with my mother in Musutafu. And... my goal in life is to be the kind of hero who always preservers." It was a little awkward, but unless it was part of becoming a hero, talking about myself was kind of weird.
"You're right. You are kind of boring." Her mother told me, and I froze up. I was just trying to be modest. Was i really that boring?
"Tell me about that quirk of yours. One of my hobbies is keeping track of all the unique ones i can, and yours is definitely unique." Her father pressed, and I felt embarrassed.
"Uh, it's called Evolve, and the stronger I get physically, the stronger my quirk gets, evolving and getting more powerful. I actually spent most of my life thinking I was quirkless, until I started working out and crushed my doorknob by accident. It's also why during the sports festival I could float and use those black tendril things. Oh man, I still need to update my quirk registry... maybe I'll wait until I've got a handle on them... would I get in trouble if I waited?" I told them, my words slowly becoming a mutter until Minas words reached my ears through the haze.
"Come on, I want to show you something." Mina told me, pulling me along as I waved goodbye to her parents.
"Door open! I was fifteen, too, once!" Her mother called, both our faces turning bright red.
"Got it!" She called back, taking me to her room, which was a little messy, and I could see a bra on the floor, looking away from it with a blush.
"Crap, if I knew I was bringing you back here, I'd have cleaned up first." She muttered, shoving everything in her closet and shutting it.
"Anyway, come look at this." She told me, opening her window and crawling out of it. After a second, I followed her, finding her sitting on the roof, her hometown looking even more beautiful from this high.
"Woah..." Any real thought was impossible, since with her on one side and a view of the town from the other, I couldn't turn my head without seeing something beautiful.
"Yeah. I come up here when I just need to relax and empty my head." She told me, holding her knees close and staring out at her little town.
"Well, if that's the case, then what are you thinking about right now?" I pondered, feeling her grab my hand.
"Wondering how I got to you before other girls. You're like, the perfect guy." She confessed, and I laughed a little. Perfect? Me?
"What? You're kind, sweet, caring, smart, handsome. Like, I won the boyfriend lottery." She continued, and I shook my head.
"I never thought there would be someone like you who would want me. So I give you ten thousand reasons to not let me go." I replied, and I had to admit it was stupid and cheesy, but as long as she wasn't a musical lover, I didn't have anything to worry about.
"Oh my god, did you just quote "Dear Even Hansen?" She laughed, and I cringed.
"Yes, but only because I didn't know what else to say." My face burned a little, and she kissed my cheek.
"That's why I like you. Sometimes, you say something really nerdy and cute, or you just say something sweet without meaning to." She whispered, leaning her head on my shoulder, a few minutes passing in silence.
"Your family is pretty cool. I'm glad your dad wasn't one of those scary yells at boyfriends' kind of dads. I probably would have cried." I just wanted to see her smile. Instead, she buried her face in my shoulder and sighed.
The two of us say there in comfortable silence for a little while until we had to go back inside.
"I should go before over staying my welcome..." I yawned, my words sluring a little as I did.
"Come on, let me walk you to the station." She grabbed her coat off the bed, walking out into the hall with a stretch, and we stopped in the kitchen where her father was cooking.
"Thank you for hosting me, Mr.Ashido. You and your family have been wonderful." I bowed to him, and he laughed.
"You don't need to thank me. I've enjoyed your visit. Come again soon, Izuku." He told me, picking me up in a bear hug that.
"Daaaaad, let go. He's gotta catch the train." Mina told him, and the large man set me down.
We turned, her mother standing there with the look of hatred on her face again, but she nodded.
"You are welcome here again. Do not be a stranger, Izuku Midoriya." She told me, and Mina just pulled me along.
"Bye Junsui, see ya." I waved to the boy, who waved back, the All Might toy in his arm before Mina and I were outside, and she sighed.
"I'm so sorry about my family. They can be a little much, I know." She apologized, but there was nothing to apologize for.
"They're awesome, don't worry."
She smiled, hugging me for a moment before we set off to the station, waiting for a few little while before the train got here.
"See you later, Pinky." I told her, sticking my tongue out at her as the door closed.
The ride back felt shorter, putting in earbuds to ignore people, hurrying home to find my mother laughing in the dining room, a skinny blonde man in the chair I normally sat in.
"Oh, uh, Al- uh..." and it occurred to me I didn't know All Mights real name.
"You don't recognize me? It's me, Mr. Yagi." He told me, laughing awkwardly.
"Not when you're sitting in my home. It's kind of weird." I admitted, and he laughed.
"Fair enough, kid. Come sit down. This is important." He told me, and i wondered what he could want that he'd come to my home to speak about.
"Did I do something? I don't think i did, but you're making me nervous." I asked, and my mother shook her head.
"No dear, just sit." She was calm, and I sat down, looking at them.
"Son, you know your father and I aren't as close as we used to be. Well, about a year ago, we agreed to officially separate while your father pays child support. Well, a few months ago, I met Toshinori in the grocery store, and we hit it off and got some lunch, and it's, well I haven't been this happy in a long time." She told me, and now that she mentioned it, I could see it. She had been happier, crying less over little things.
"Okay, so let me work through what you just said. You and dad got divorced nearly a year ago without anyone telling me?"
It felt selfish, being this angry with them both, but no one told me that my parents had split up or that my mentor had started making moves on my mom? And no one told me?
"Son, you're father, and I haven't seen each other in over a decade. It was only a matter of time, honestly." She tried to console me, but I shook my head.
"I don't care if you guys split. Dad sucks. But you didn't tell me? And you got with my fitness coach?" I can't even blame you for that since I never introduced you to him, but he didn't tell me either. And you!" I turned to him, pointing as a black tendril slowly grew as I looked at him.
"Did you even tell my mom what you do? Who you are? And the quirk? Did you think this through?" I was shaking, and I didn't know if it was my angry or something else, and I didn't care.
He looked ashamed, and I knew all I needed to, even before he spoke.
"No. No, I haven't." He confirmed, looking at my mom, who looked concerned.
"Do it now, so she knows the risk. She deserves that much." I told him, and he sighed, buffing up.
"I am here to admit that i have been hiding secrets from you." He told her, quickly switching forms.
"Oh..." My mother managed to get out before clearing her throat.
"That's a discussion for later. Right now, son, I want to know how you feel about all of this. It's a lot to take in all at once." She told me, and I felt my anger slip. How did I feel about this?
"I don't know. I'm not mad at the fact that you're dating and happy. It's the fact that you didn't tell me anything about you and dad or him until he was sitting in the dining room, with no warning or anything." I sat back, sinking in my chair a little.
"Kind of cool, I guess. My mom is dating All Might." There was still a storm of emotions i needed to work through, but I smiled to them for the time being.
"Good. Then I suppose you have a choice to make now, Midoriya, kid." He spoke, looking at my mother.
"One more person in the loop?" I asked, watching him nod.
"Short story, All Mights quirk can be passed down, and he chose me to be his successor. Long story, I met All Might, and you remember how he told me I could he a hero? Well, I was training hard, and he decided that since I wanted to be a hero so badly, even without a quirk, I was worthy to inherit his. So... I trained even harder and got it." It was a crappy explanation, but it was better than nothing.
"Of course you were worthy. You're a true hero at heart. You'd have to be stupid not to see it." She told me, patting my arm, much more calmly than I would have guessed.
"Well, dinners about ready, and I've got your dietary meal as well, Toshinori. Why don't we all just enjoy this evening and worry about the rest of the details later?" She asked, and I got up to help her, mostly because sitting next to All Might was awkward now.
Throughout dinner, i was quiet, helping with the dishes once we were finished before excusing going to my room, falling on the All Might matching bedding, thinking about how unusual my life had gotten as I fell asleep.