Okay, I'll be the first to admit this chapter isn't exactly my magnum opus or anything like that.

This chapter is literally a set-up chapter.

You think I'm exaggerating? Literally every single scene in this chapter is set-up for one future event or another. That's mostly why it's a fairly "Jump-Cutty" and disjointed chapter. It skips around a lot, as there's about a month of dead air between now and the midterms, and I don't want to waste time where I don't have to.

A/N: I'll be showing more stuff from this month, but it will time-skip in places to get us through this and into the really good bits.

Especially summer vacation. HOOOOO BOY, do I have plans for summer vacation. So look forward to that.

Also, this chapter took longer than anticipated, due to a lot of things. Unfortunately one of those was writer's block, but I pushed through.

Anyway, hopefully you still enjoy this chapter, and I promise things will AMP up as we continue into this next story arc.

…~AIV~...

Izuku slipped his finished sketch into his backpack, cracking his knuckles and stretching his fingers after his work was done. He turned back to the window nook, smiling as he saw Kyouka still strumming away.

He moved towards her, watching her scoot forward to make room for him. He sat behind her, wrapping his arms around her torso. But, Kyouka had other plans. She took his hands and moved them off of her body, slipping the pick between his fingers and placing them at the body and neck of the guitar.

"Kyouka…"

"C'mon, play."

"I've practiced guitar only a handful of times."

"So you've gotta practice more. Do you remember all the chords?"

"Yeah, I got it." Izuku began playing with no real song in mind, just getting the feeling down. It was honestly an experience he really never thought about before meeting Kyouka. Learning to play instruments hadn't been on the top of his list of priorities, or even on the list at all.

Then again, before Kyouka his only hobby was analyzing quirks in a desperate attempt to realize a pipe dream, so the list wasn't exactly that long to start with. But, it was nice, a good stress reliever.

"Hey, I forgot to ask," Kyouka spoke up. "Have you heard from Shimura at all?"

Izuku shook his head as he continued picking away at the strings, "Not since before the Hero Killer fight."

"Does everything important have to be cryptic bullshit?"

"Eh, kinda."

"I don't get it. If they can communicate with you, why haven't they said anything before? And, when they do, they decide to give you a couple flashes and then go away. What about All Might? I feel like he's done plenty to earn a conversation, especially from his supposed mother-figure."

Izuku gave a dry chuckle, "To be fair, All Might didn't struggle like I did. He never struggled with One For All."

"Because he's probably responsible for most of its power. He's been doing this for like, what, thirty years?"

"Don't get mad at him for that."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not a completely judgemental asshole."

"..."

"You're smart for not retorting, but your silence says it all."

Izuku kissed her shoulder, 'It's okay. You're my judgemental, uh…girlfriend."

Kyouka leaned her head back on Izuku's shoulder and pecked his jawline, "Uh-huh, nice save."

Izuku looked out the window and sighed, "I should probably get going. It's getting late."

"You've been here much later than this. C'mon, stay for dinner."

Izuku's brows rose, "Did you just willingly ask me to have dinner with your parents?"

"I'm not telling them about the Duo-In-Training contract by myself."

"That's fair."

Kyouka patted Izuku's hands, prompting him to release the guitar. "I'm sure my dad is already plenty suspicious of how quiet we've been up here. Let's ease his worries about his daughter's innocence."

After putting the guitar up, Izuku and Kyouka made their way towards the door before the former stopped them. "Any game plan?"

Kyouka shrugged, "I mean, we already signed the contract. So…Just tell them? I mean, unless something happened that we don't know about, I'm sure we'll catch them in a good mood."

…~AIV~...

"We got a call from the school apologizing for an incident with the locker rooms."

Oh, right. That happened.

After hearing Mika's announcement, Izuku shot Kyouka a look that screamed, "We're screwed."

Kyouka gave him a look back that said, "We'll be just fine. It's not a big deal." Kyouka turned back to her parents, and her gaze fell on her father on the other side of the dinner table.

Kyoutoku's chopsticks snapped in his grip as he grit his teeth, "Some pervert tried to spy on my daughter."

Kyouka then looked back at Izuku, this look saying, "Okay, we're screwed."

Mika patted her husband's forearm before continuing, "What happened?"

Kyouka rolled her eyes, "Some A-Hole drilled a hole in the wall between the girl's and boy's locker room, and a classmate found it and tried to sneak a peek at us. Thankfully, he never got to look through it. And, he's sort of a repeat offender, but he was caught this time. Mr. Aizawa really wasn't happy, so it's been dealt with."

Kyoutoku grumbled as he processed the story, "What's this kid's name?"

"What? You gonna hunt him down?"

"I might."

Kyouka shook her head as she tried to go back to her meal, "Nothing ended up happening, dad."

"Wait," Mika spoke up, contemplation on her face, "Haven't you mentioned something about a kid that annoyed all the girls in your class? Uh, Minada or something? Mineta?"

"Mineta, huh…Hm. Okay." Kyoutoku nodded, and took a deep breath. "I wanna talk to him."

Kyouka raised a brow, "What?"

Kyoutoku stood up, "I just wanna talk to him."

"Dad, it's already been dealt with."

"I just wanna talk to him."

"Dad, it's no-" Kyouka's eyes widened as she watched her father walk into the kitchen and come out with a filet knife, "Oh my God! Dad!"

"I just wanna stab him."

Mika deadpanned at her husband, "Kyou…"

"I just wanna talk to him."

"Kyou, drop it."

"I just wanna talk to him."

"Izuku handled it!" Kyouka finally yelled.

This caused Kyoutoku to stop, "He did?"

"Operative word I used was tried, dad. He never saw anything, Izuku stopped him before he could. He scared the living hell out of him, so I doubt we'll have to worry about it again."

Kyoutoku hummed in response, clicking his tongue as he turned to Izuku. "...You stopped the guy trying to perv on my daughter?"

Izuku's eyes widened at the sudden attention switch to him. Scratching the back of his head, he nodded, "U-Uh, yeah. I mean, I ju-"

"You put the fear of God into this son of a bitch to defend my daughter?"

Shifting his eyes around nervously, Izuku responded, "Well, a-and the rest of the girls, but…I…I guess so." Kyoutoku nodded, clearing his throat as he looked around the room awkwardly. He set the knife down on the table, walking over to Izuku and sighed. "Um…Sir?"

Kyoutoku stiffly raised his arms up, and slowly put them around Izuku in the most awkward hug anyone in the room had ever seen. Izuku was frozen to the spot, not sure what to do.

Kyouka just stared with a mix of confusion, shock, and horror. "Mom…What am I looking at?"

Mika shook her head, "I don't know, but I love it."

Kyoutoku gave a quick pat to Izuku's back and nodded his head, "Uh…Thanks, you know. You're a real good guy. I'm…I'm happy my daughter has you…" Kyoutoku breathed in through his teeth, his hands on his hips. "...I'm, uh…I'm gonna go over there now."

He sat back down in his chair. Izuku swerved to look at Kyouka, his arms out in bewilderment.

Kyouka just shrugged, "Welp…It looks like my dad officially loves you now. Who knew all it took was scaring the shit out of a pervert?" Then, an idea popped into Kyouka's head. "Which is actually a perfect way to soften the blow."

Mika furrowed her brow, "The blow of what?"

"Well, Izuku and I have more or less fused our careers together."

The parent's looked at one another in confusion before asking, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Izuku rubbed his arm nervously, "W-We, um, well we decided to become a hero duo. Officially, I mean."

"...Can you back out of it?" Kyoutoku asked.

"Dad!" Kyouka yelled, scowling at her father.

"What?! It's a legitimate question! You never know how things will turn out."

"You're saying we're gonna break up?" Kyouka questioned, crossing her arms.

"No! Nonono, it's just…you know…"

"That seems like a big decision to make for a couple of first years," Mika finished for her husband. She spoke gently and hesitantly, knowing her daughter's reaction wasn't going to be the best. "And, to be perfectly honest with you both, it's a big decision for a couple of only four months."

"We-"

"We're not saying it'll end," Mika interrupted her daughter before she could respond angrily, "Hell, your father and I got married only two years after meeting. A lot of people consider that early. We simply got lucky that it worked, and we hope that's how it'll work out for you two. But, at the same time, we're parents. We have to be practical, because a lot of times, our children can't. Or, well, child and child's boyfriend. But, we can see how much this means to you, and to each other. So, we won't stop you. We just need to know if it's possible to end the deal at any time, just in case."

Izuku turned to Kyouka, almost smiling at the pout on her face. She knew they were right, and she knew this would be their reaction. The idea of losing your significant other just isn't something anyone likes to hear.

"We can back out whenever we want," Izuku responded. "Both of us have to agree to it, but yeah, we can end the deal."

Kyoutoku sighed, "Okay. That's all we needed to know. Is there anything we have to sign?"

Izuku and Kyouka's eyes widened, "Uh…"

"You already signed, didn't you?"

Kyouka smiled innocently, "Better to ask for forgiveness than permission." Both parents stared at their daughter unamused. "...Does it make you feel better if I say I also used my jacks to jab Mineta in the eye through the peephole?"

Mika and Kyoutoku respectively said, "No" / "Yes" They then both looked at one another, then back at Kyouka and simultaneously said, "A little."

Kyouka smiled brightly, "So it all worked out in the end."

Izuku then stood up from the table, "And, I think that's my cue to leave before I screw it up…I also just realized I have to tell my mom about this whole situation, so my night isn't exactly over yet."

Kyouka followed him, standing up herself, "You sure you don't wanna wait until we can do it together?"

"No, I'll be fine. Really." Izuku then bowed to Mika and Kyoutoku, "Thank you for the meal, and for taking this all so well. I-I know it's out of the blue. But, I'm very serious about it, and obviously Kyouka an-"

Kyoutoku gave a dismissive wave, "Kid, trust us. We get it. You don't have to prove anything else to us. Well, for now."

"Just keep our daughter happy, because she'll just go back to bothering us if you don't," Mika teased.

"Hey!" Kyouka complained, "It's my job to bother you, and you both signed up for my services fifteen years ago, and we all know I'm nonrefundable." Kyouka then looked up at Izuku, "That goes for you, too. Now, c'mon."

Kyouka led Izuku out the front door, closing it behind them. As soon as they were alone, Kyouka groaned and fell into Izuku.

Izuku smiled, "I think that went well."

"I guess. So…" Kyouka looked up and smirked at her boyfriend, "You ready to start our new path, partner?"

"About as ready as I usually am, partner."

"...So not really, but we'll adapt?"

"Pretty much."

"Yeah, that's about right," Kyouka agreed. She chuckled, leaning down from her front steps to kiss Izuku goodnight. "I oddly wouldn't have it any other way."

"Me neither. Goodnight, Kyouka."

"Goodnight, Izuku. Text me when you get home so I know you made it."

"You don't trust me to get home safely?"

"I don't trust the universe to let you go home safely."

"Good point." After one last kiss, Izuku made his way down the sidewalk and to the train station.

…~AIV~...

(The Next Morning: En Route to UA)

Izuku and Kyouka turned a corner as they moved away from the train station.

"Isn't it a little unfair that I can't use my quirk publicly, but you can whenever you want?"

Kyouka gave him a questioning look as she idly danced her jacks around her head, "Uh, last time I checked, I can't exactly turn my quirk off. Do you count Hagakure as public quirk use?"

"I guess not."

Kyouka's jack suddenly pointed behind them, as if she was listening for something. But, she kept up with their conversation. "Besides, it's not like I eavesdrop on people."

"..."

"Okay, I don't always eavesdrop on people. Sometimes I can't help it, super-hearing can be a bitch. You'd be surprised how much I have to tune my jacks to proper volume levels."

"Do tell," Izuku insisted, hero journal and pencil suddenly in hand.

Kyouka rolled her eyes, but smiled, "Not much to tell. Just that I have to change how focused they are. Like, I'm not gonna lie, I have to mute your mom when she cries."

Izuku tilted his head in confusion, "You can mute people?"

"It's more like I heavily focus on other random ambient noise to the point where I can't hear anything else. Usually when I'm bored in class…which I'm now realizing I shouldn't do because of hour partnership. Speaking of which, how'd your mom take the news?"

Izuku chuckled, "Actually…"

…~AIV~...

(Last Night: Midoriya Family Apartment)

As he expected, and was used to by now, Izuku was lifted off the ground in a big hug, "My baby's moving up in the world and he's in love!"

…~AIV~...

(Present)

"...Pretty good, all things considered." Izuku never actually told his mom that love part, but she wasn't wrong.

Kyouka smiled, "Yeah, that sounds about right. What about the locker room thing?"

"She was just happy it was stopped," Izuku shrugged. "I…I kinda left out the part where I almost got into a fight."

"Because you didn't. You wouldn't have thrown a punch."

Izuku shrugged, "I wasn't exactly myself at that moment."

"I still don't see it." She used their joined hands to bring his head down and kiss his temple, "You're too soft."

"But I fight villains!"

"You don't fight villains. You defend people."

"That's so semantical I can't even begin to process that."

Kyouka nudged his side, "You get what I mean. Now, enough of that. So, midterm prep. How're we gonna handle this?"

"We should go to Mr. Aizawa before lunch and tell him our duo name. I do-"

Kyouka's jacks perked up again, and her expression turned serious, "We're being followed."

"I-" Izuku paused, but didn't stop walking or turn around to look. He kept his voice low, "You sure?"

"There's been footsteps behind ours for ten minutes. The pattern of their step, it's like…skipping or something. But, it's barely audible. They're definitely light on their feet."

"Could be another student."

Kyouka arched a brow at him, "We've been walking this route from the train station for three months. Have you ever seen another student?"

Izuku sighed, "No. What about just a citizen?"

"I doubt a citizen's footsteps would stop for a few seconds at every corner."

"As if they're watching from around it…" Izuku speculated. He slipped his phone out from his pocket, hovering his thumb over All Might's contact. "Should we risk it? UA is only a few minutes away."

"And if we're followed on our way home and they learn where we live?"

Realizing he had no counterpoints, he nodded, "Let's just hope we don't get in trouble with the police again for vigilantism. Follow my lead."

The couple kept walking until they hit another corner. Once they were around it, out of sight from whoever was following them, Izuku quickly took Kyouka by the waist and powered up his Full Cowling. Leaping up and kicking off a second-story window sill, he shot out a burst of energy from his leg, sending him above the third story of the building. He grabbed onto the edge of the roof with his free hand. Kyouka hoisted herself up with Izuku following suit.

Stepping back from the ledge, Izuku looked over the other rooftops. He could see UA not too far from their position. All Might could be there in seconds if need be. Izuku and Kyouka peered down at the ground curiously as a girl around their age rounded the corner, skipping peacefully down the sidewalk. Her wild blonde hair was wrapped in two messy buns on either side of her head, and she had a look in her eyes that made a shiver run down their spines.

But, they could recognize a school uniform underneath the large cardigan she was wearing. She skipped along down the sidewalk until she rounded another corner, out of sight.

Kyouka sighed, "Sorry. I could have sworn she was following us." Kyouka waited for a response, but she got nothing. She looked over at Izuku, who was in deep thought. "What?"

Izuku rubbed his chin as he finalized his thoughts, "There are no other schools in this area."

Kyouka's brows rose, catching on to Izuku's train of thought, "And, that definitely wasn't a UA uniform."

"She shouldn't be going this direction if she's going to school."

"Well, what should we do? You think it's a Stain fanatic?"

"Maybe. They did warn us about that, but a Stain fan would likely not be out to hurt us. Stalking doesn't project friendliness. We'll talk to All Might about it." Kyouka allowed Izuku to pick her up again as they jumped down to the sidewalk below. Once they hit the ground, the couple got back on their journey to school. Izuku's eyes suddenly widened, "Wait, if she was acting natural, doesn't that mean she knew we caught on to he-"

"Hiii!~" The couple jumped, quickly turning around at the sudden greeting. There she stood, smiling brightly at them with her hands behind her back. "You two were in those videos with Stain."

Izuku cleared his throat and stood up straight, trying to erase all signs of nervousness. "Y-Yes. We were."

"That's so cool," she giggled out. "People say he liked you two a lot."

Kyouka grumbled out, "Kinda hard to tell when he's attacking you. Who are you, anyway?"

"Just a fan." The girl's expression then turned innocent, but her eyes still had a piercing, predatory look to them. "I don't mean to scare you. I saw you guys back at the train station, but I was too nervous to say anything at first."

Kyouka didn't need to listen to her heartbeat to know that was a blatant lie. "I'm really sorry, but we're going to be late to school. So if we can jus-"

"Is he really with the League of Villains?" Izuku and Kyouka looked at one another, then back to the girl.

"Why do you ask?" Izuku responded.

The blonde shrugged, swaying on the balls of her feet, "Everyone's been talking about it, but no one knows for sure. Just interesting, don't ya think?"

"Well…we don't know. We just fought him, that's all. He didn't tell us anything."

The girl peered at them in disbelief, "With as preachy as he is? He must've said something."

Kyouka sighed, "Besides about how bad heroes are? No, not really. But, seriously, we've gotta go or our teacher will be up our asses."

'Hmm…I guess I'll just take my chances. It should be fun either way.' The blonde turned around and began strolling away. "Okay! Thanks, guys! By the way, you two are real cute together. I wish I could find that kind of love."

Izuku and Kyouka watched as the mystery girl finally left their view, leaving them alone once more.

Kyouka pursed her lips and nodded, "So, on a scale of 'Creepy' to 'Locking my door and windows tonight', I'd say that's a 'Call the police'. You?"

"Just about. At the very least it's definitely something to worry about. I'm sure All Might will tell us what we can do about this."

…~AIV~...

(Fifteen Minutes Later: UA Teacher's Lounge)

"Well, uh…Nothing."

"The hell do you mean, 'nothing'?!"

"What exactly are we supposed to go after her for? Being interested in the most popular crime case of the last decade like everyone else? Honestly, you two are just lucky no one on the trains have recognized you. And, so she creeped you out? I lost count of the amount of creepy fans I have twenty-years ago." Toshinori then pointed at Izuku, "Not you."

Kyouka chuckled, "You haven't seen his room."

"Kyouka!" Izuku cried out.

"I won't question that, but my point still stands," All Might said. "We can't do anything, especially without a name. We can't check for a criminal record without a name."

Kyouka sighed heavily as she tugged on one of her jacks, "So we might've just met a soon-to-be League recruit, and we can't do anything?"

"That's a serious accusation to make, but…yes. We warned you that this sort of thing might happen. If this is the only instance we get out of the Stain debacle, I'd count us as very lucky. If you see this girl again, let me know. I know you'll want to investigate yourselves, but we also don't need any more vigilante charges to miraculously get out of. Okay? For now, focus on preparing for midterms. You two may be smart, but study hard. Especially…" Toshinori leaned back in his chair with a smirk, "now that your grades reflect each other's."

"Well, there goes that surprise."

Izuku immediately went into panic mode, "I-I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner. If this affects anything with your plans for me, I-I didn't mean to-"

'Whoa, hold up!" All Might quickly dismissed Izuku's train of thought, shaking his head. "Kid, you're still way too focused on what I want for you. Which would be fine, if you would just realize that what I want for you is whatever the hell you want. And, of course, the same goes for you Young Jirou. But, I get a strong feeling you didn't need to be told that…and you honestly probably didn't care."

Kyouka fired a finger gun at her teacher, "Bingo."

"Now, tell me, what's Japan's future top hero duo called."

"Alright, get this," Kyouka paused for dramatic effect, "We are: AMP."

"...Kinda boring, isn't it?"

"Hey!" Kyouka bit back, "Our name is perfect, thank you very much "

All Might raised his hands up in defense, "I'm just saying it doesn't have like, pizazz, you know?"

"As a forty-something-year-old man, I need you to never say the word 'pizazz' ever again."

"I'm gonna."

"And we're gonna keep the name."

"Alright, alright, forget I said anything. But, I will say this. While I'm sure you've already been doing this, at least on some level, you are now each other's consultants. Of course, you'll still have me, Aizawa, your parents, all that. But, you two are each other's closest direct line for everything. I'll monitor everything I can, but you two need to learn how to be each other's guidance, both in and out of combat."

Kyouka hummed in response, a little impressed, "You know, you're getting better at teaching."

"What can I say? Apparently I was born for this, I just needed to realize it." Toshinori boasted, throwing his arms on the back of the couch. Toshinori's movement caused something to just slightly fall out of his pocket. A small book with the title, "Teaching for Dummies" in bold on the front. Toshinori simply stared awkwardly at his students as he slowly took the book and placed it in the inner breast pocket of his suit jacket. "...You'll forget you saw this."

…~AIV~...

(After School: Kyouka's Room)

Kyouka rummaged through her closet, grabbing her workout clothes for training. She and Izuku had split up to change clothes at their respective homes before training at the beach, and then would spend the rest of the evening studying for midterms at Izuku's place.

Kyouka had insisted that it be at his place. Not just for Inko to have her son home more, but for Kyouka to also sustain her own relationship with her.

Izuku had spent plenty of time with her parents, but Kyouka had only really spoken to Inko a small handful of times. As far as Kyouka could tell, things between mother and son were much better. But, it couldn't hurt to see how things were in person. She promised herself that she'd do what she could to support Izuku in this, and she wouldn't fail in that regard.

Picking up her backpack, Kyouka made her way downstairs and into the kitchen to fill her water bottle. Passing by her parents, who were both preparing dinner, Kyouka made her way to the fridge.

"I'm going to be gone for a while, so don't wait on dinner. Izuku and I have to study for midterms, so we're going to his place."

Kyoutoku snorted, "So he's not mooching off us for once. Ow!" Kyoutoku rubbed his side where his wife had jabbed him with her jacks. "It was a joke! I swear you're more protective of him than Kyouka."

Mika smiled, "Ha! Not possible. Our Kyouka practically turns into a rabid dog if someone dare hurt her precious little 'Green Bean'."

"Hey!" Kyouka reprimanded, her finger aggressively pointed at her parents, "You've got a lot of nerve using my nicknames. Speaking of which, said Green Bean is waiting for me, so I'll see you guys later."

"Hold on, honey. We need to tell you something first. It's about our summer plans. Your father and I are producing and hosting a music festival in Nagoya in July. It's just for new and upcoming talents and such. We figured it would just be the two of us."

"You guys are vacationing without me?"

Mika scoffed, "I'd hardly call it a vacation. We'll be plenty busy during it, and afterwards we'll have business meetings and such for all the new deals made. You can come if you'd like, but we figured you didn't want to spend most of your time in a hotel room like previous years. I'm sure you want Midoriya to come, but we'd have to run it by his mother first."

"Well, we…" Kyouka froze, a realization dawning on her. A whole week alone with the house completely to themselves? It was an introverted teenage couple's paradise. "Actually, you two have fun."

"You're sure?"

"Yep! Absolutely!" Kyouka said excitedly, backing away towards the door. "We don't wanna intrude, so you two just have a good time!"

Kyoutoku peered at his daughter, "This isn't permission to have Midoriya stay over."

"Of course not. I would never. When have I not been the perfect daughter?"

"Give me a minute, I'll make a list."

Kyouka grabbed her back, picking up the pace as she neared the door, "What was that? Can't hear you!"

"Coming from you, that's literally the worst fake excuse you could have possibly used!"

"Bye! Love you!" Kyouka rushed out the door and away from the house.

…~AIV~...

(One Hour Later: Dagobah Municipal Beach Park)

Izuku swung his arm around in a circle, stretching the tired limb, "Okay, I think that's enough for now. Good job."

Kyouka grabbed her towel from her bag and threw it down on the sand. With an exhausted groan, she laid down on her back to rest in the setting sun before they had to leave.

Throwing her arm over her eyes, Kyouka said, "The only solace I'll get out of any of this, is that I can probably beat my dad in arm-wrestling now."

Izuku laughed as he laid down next to her, allowing her to rest her face on his shoulder, "I think your dad already struggles enough with the power balance in your house. That might destroy him."

"It'd still be pretty funny." Kyouka propped herself up on her elbow, looking down at Izuku, "Speaking of my parents are producing a big music festival this summer in Nagoya. And…"

"And, what?"

Kyouka smirked, flicking her eyebrows up, "I'll have the entire house to myself for a week. I sure would get lonely, that is, if no one comes over and keeps me company…"

Izuku immediately looked concerned, "...If your dad finds even a single strand of my hair in the house when they come back, I'm a dead man."

"What's he gonna do? Ban you from the house? As if my mom would let him."

"I'm just saying I think I'm too young to die."

"We waived our right to say, 'I'm too young to die', when we began calling it school."

"Fair point. But, I'm still not sure."

Kyouka frowned, "You're actually considering not spending a week alone with your girlfriend?"

"I'm doing my best to keep my rational side of the brain in the discussion."

"How's that working out for you?"

"I'm failing miserably."

Kyouka kissed Izuku's cheek, sofly patting his shoulder, "I'll expect you there to tell my parents goodbye and accept all the threats my dad will rain upon you."

They both chuckled, the warm sand beneath them becoming comfortable. Kyouka leaned down, about to press her lips to Izu-

~SCREEEEECH~

"AH! WHAT THE HELL?!" Kyouka covered her jacks and rolled off of Izuku. Both of them looked up to see All Might standing a few feet from them with a whistle in hand.

"This doesn't look like training to me."

"All Might? What are you doing here?" Izuku asked, stunned.

"I told you. I'm going to be a far better teacher than before. Midterms are less than a month away! It's time to prepare! Now, both of you, run the length of the beach five times!" All Might took a deep breath, preparing to blow into his whistle. It was then slapped out of his hand by one of Kyouka's jacks.

Kyouka stood up and brushed herself off, "We just finished training. You're too late."

"Oh…I see. You two don't happen to have a schedule for training, do you?"

Izuku shrugged, "No specific times. Just evenings after school, mornings on Sunday. Saturday is our rest day."

"Well, when we can," Kyouka chimed in. "If the day hasn't already flung all its stupid crap at us. Also, I feel like you shouldn't be buffed up right now. What if someone comes by?"

"Hardly anyone ever comes here! Besides, this form is far more inspiring!" Toshinori yelled proudly, his hands on his hips.

"What I'm saying is, I doubt any of us is gonna want you popping up at random on any given day."

Toshinori popped out of his hero state, "Aw, c'mon, you were the main supporter of me being a better teacher!"

"Do you wanna see what he and I were just about to do, which happens on a regular basis at this beach?"

"Okay! Okay, I see your point. However, I will REQUIRE weekly updates on your training and any questions you have, and I shall still be checking in from time to time. But, uh, I'll call ahead. Just in case. The rest I'll provide at school…And when it comes to One For All, well, I have to be completely honest with you kid," All Might said, turning to Izuku, "You're already approaching territories outside of my expertise. Like I told you, I haven't had these cryptic messages from it before. You breaking your bones was already new ground to tread, but now all this 'echoes' stuff is just completely out of my realm."

Izuku nodded in understanding, "It's fine. It's been quiet since Gran Torino's place. No voices, no images, nothing. I have a feeling I'm on a need-to-know basis with One For All."

Kyouka scoffed, "Would you mind telling it that we would rather have the help now instead of when everything has gone to shit and we're knocking at death's door?"

"I-...I mean I could try."

"...I think that's the first time you haven't picked up on my sarcasm since like the first time we met."

Izuku shook his head, "No, no I know you were being sarcastic, but…I mean it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

Toshinori shook his head, "It can't be that simple."

Kyouka crossed her arms, "You're still just jealous that they're talking to Izuku and not you."

"What?! No! That's no-A little. But, that's not the point. It's like you said, they seem to not like helping unless it's completely necessary."

Izuku rested his arms on his legs and shrugged, "Shimura connected with me when it wasn't necessary. Well, sort of. I guess our problem with Gran Torino was there, but there was no life-or-death involved. So, unless One-For-All intends on becoming my personal couples' therapist, I don't see why they would reach out if they didn't want to. Or, Shimura at the very least might give me something."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try," Kyouka said, nodding along. "Anything to help us fight the League would be better than the nothing we've been getting. It's not like UA will help us in that department either."

Toshinori scoffed, "I'm sure UA will help you plenty, I'm sure."

Izuku and Kyouka looked at one another with questioning looks before the latter turned back to her teacher, "I mean, have you never noticed UA doesn't actually teach us how to fight? Like, any sort of defense classes, weapons training for our gear, all that stuff?"

"I…" Toshinori furrowed his brow as he fully processed that thought. He then looked down at the ground, his eyes widening, "Oh my…Wow, we don't. Holy shit, we don't. I…I need to make a call."

Kyouka chuckled as Toshinori scrambled for his phone as he walked away, "Well, that should be interesting."

"Hopefully a good interesting. C'mon." Izuku got up and grabbed both of their bags, packing away their things for the trip home. "All Might, we gotta go. We need to study."

Toshinori turned back to them, muting his end of his current phone call, "That better not be a euphemism, I expect top scores!"

Kyouka groaned in disgust as she walked away. Izuku blushed, but couldn't help the laugh that escaped his throat.

Izuku caught up to Kyouka, his arm making its way around her to rub her arm, "I mean…to be fair, at one point during the evening, that's probably where we would have ended up."

Kyouka scoffed, "Would have? As if we're still not gonna."

"True. But, studying first. Then, the other studying later."

"How about the other studying is our break from regular studying?" Kyouka asked, smirking up at her boyfriend.

"How many breaks are we talking about here?"

"How many do you want?"

"...Oh boy."

…~AIV~...

(Some Time Later: Midoriya Family Apartment)

"Mom, I'm home." Izuku and Kyouka walked into the living room, coming into view for Inko to see them from the kitchen.

"And you brought company!" Inko quickly wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and happily made her way over to Kyouka, sweeping her up into a hug. "It's so good to see you, Jiro-Oooh…"

Inko removed her hands from the teen, her palms now sticky from Kyouka's post-workout sweat.

"Y-Yeah, sorry, Mrs. Midoriya. I probably should have said something," Kyouka blushed sheepishly. Raising her bag up, Kyouka nervously smiled and asked, "May I please use your shower quickly. I brought my own clothes and soap."

"Of course! First door on the right," Kyouka thanked her, heading down the hall away from mother and son.

Izuku set his own bag down, "Sorry I didn't say anything, but I figured it would be a nice surprise."

Inko kissed her son's forehead, making her way back to the kitchen, "She's always welcome here. In fact, I'd be happy if you brought her around more often."

"Well, we have to study for midterms, so she'll probably be around more often. I'm going to use the bathroom when she's done, then we'll be working in my room for a while." Inko then peered at her son silently, a brow raised. Izuku sighed with a deep blush, "With the door slightly ajar, I promise."

Inko chuckled to herself at her son's reaction, but then grew more serious. "While I have you here, there is something I needed to talk to you about. I called you father the other day, and…He said he called you while we were at the hospital in Hosu, but you didn't pick up."

Izuku looked away, idly rubbing his chin, "I-I was gonna pick up, but…I took too long."

"And you didn't call back."

Izuku sighed internally, "...I guess not."

Inko took a deep breath, nodding to herself as she walked back over to her son. "Well…Do you want to talk to him?"

"I-I…You see…" Izuku froze on the spot. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this situation. The only thing he could really think of, was to be honest with her. That's what they were trying to achieve, wasn't it? To be more open and trusting with one another again. So, Izuku took the gamble. "...No. No, I…I don't. N-Not now, anyway."

They both stood silently for a while, neither exactly sure how to continue the conversation after that. Izuku was searching for any kind of negative emotion from his mom. Anger, disappointment, just something. But, she just seemed to process what she heard with a despondent nod.

"I understand, Izuku. Believe me, I really, really do."

Izuku's eyes widened at the unexpected response, "You do?"

"I do. Which is why I'm not going to push you to speak to him." Inko took Izuku's hand as he was walking by, kissing the side of his head, "Just think about it, honey. Okay? Maybe in time, we'll…I mean, you'll…You know."

Izuku nodded solemnly, "I know, mom. I will."

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Izuku watched as his mother went back into the kitchen, humming a tune to herself and leaving her son to go back to his business.

That…was not what he was expecting.

But, he couldn't help but feel relieved that the topic was quick to pass, at least for the time being. He was actually so grateful that Inko also saw that their entire situation was a complicated one. Izuku also couldn't help but notice his mother's little slip-up in the conversation, saying "we'll" and quickly switching back to "you'll".

It seemed he wasn't the only one harboring things about Hisashi.

But, it would have to wait. He needed to focus on everything that was about to be thrown his way in the coming months. He didn't know how things would end, but he did know that the stress never seemed to end.

Hopefully summer vacation would be far less taxing.

…~AIV~...

A/N: Also for anyone interested, I'm gonna write more Persona stuff. Been missing it.