Chapter 10: Turning Point

The big day was here; it was Sunday morning which meant it was Tooru's sixteenth birthday.

Izuku had dressed in a white t-shirt with "All M" in big green text on its front and teal track pants with a white line going up and down the side of each leg. He also had a small white backpack that had his money and the brownies he had made in it. He was currently inside his apartment staring at the door that would take him outside. Inko had already served her son a hearty breakfast and wished him good luck. However, the younger Midoriya was having a terrible case of second thoughts as he stood there frozen.

After a minute had passed, Inko approached her child slowly from the side and said with care, "I guess you are quite nervous, huh?" The boy gave a weak nod but didn't turn his face towards his mother. She then softly put her hands on his shoulders before saying, "Remember that this day is for Hagakure-san. And if you overthink your date, as hard as I know it is for you not to, it won't help. So don't think about what you two might do today. Don't think about what could go wrong. All you need to do is be there by her side and go with whatever happens, within reason, okay?" She then put a finger under his chin and raised it up before asking, "Izuku, do you think you can do that?"

Izuku gulped and stated, "I'll t-try."

"That's my boy," Inko replied as she removed her hands and opened the door.

Instead of walking forward, Izuku turned to embrace his mother and said, "Thanks, mom, for everything."

"Just be safe and make your friend's birthday a special one," Inko replied while giving her son a tight hug.

The younger Midoriya then separated from her and gave a nod before finally stepping outside. As he slowly made his way to the train station, he recalled the study session from yesterday as a way to keep calm.

Instead of lecturing at the start like last Saturday, Momo decided to gauge everyone's grasp on English by talking to each of them in the language. Of all the subjects at school, Izuku felt this was his worst. He was still really good at it for his grade level, but he always had to spend the most time studying and practicing it compared to everything else. He quickly learned it was also Tooru's worst subject as she struggled to understand what Momo was saying and what to respond back to her. The vice president was practically fluent in English and so was Tenya. Ochako and Mashirao seemed quite good at it, with a couple of common mistakes here and there.

Yaoyorozu needed to work one on one with Hagakure, so she decided to do ask Ida to lead the next exercise. After explaining what to do to the class president, Momo pressed a button on the wall, and a large monitor came down from the ceiling. Momo then turned it on and switched it to a news channel in English. She said she chose this particular station as it had the least variety of accents in the newscast, which can be jarring when trying to become fluent in new a language. The group then listened in on the morning news, and anytime they had trouble understanding what was said, Ida would pause it and explain what they meant. The hardest point of this exercise was the speed at which the people talked. Uraraka especially regularly asked for certain sections to be replayed so she could catch up. Regardless, it was a worthwhile activity that Midoriya enjoyed. He considered maybe using this practice to watch hero-centric news in English. This activity and Tooru's private lesson with Momo lasted until it was lunchtime.

The meal served was unagi (grilled river eel with barbeque sauce) with a side of amaebi sushi (large raw sweet shrimp). Both were very sweet, and Izuku enjoyed the plumpness of the shrimp. Momo again gave a face of disappointment once the meal was revealed. Midoriya wanted to ask why but felt it would be better to ask her in private if the chance presented itself.

The lesson resumed with Momo handing out a paper that focused on the common mistakes made when speaking English and examples of each. These included: the emphasis of words, exceptions to rules, homophones, idioms, not always applicable interchangeability of synonyms, the order of words, and the words unique to the five different regional dialects of it. The group then went over these common mistakes one at a time, and Tooru seemed to learn a lot from it as she was showing decent improvement as the afternoon went on. Overall, Izuku was glad that the study session went without incident, unlike last time.

Midoriya's thoughts faded as he had arrived at the subway station just on time. For a few minutes, he watched as people would enter and exit the subway train. Just as the boy was starting to become anxious at the thought that something was holding up Tooru, he was almost thrown off balance as the girl in question hugged him from behind. She had wrapped her hands around his chest, just under his arms, and her breasts were pressing hard against his back.

In a playful voice, Hagakure asked, "Did I scare ya, Izuku?"

The boy weakly replied, "A-Almost outta my s-skin, Tooru."

With a giggle she let go, allowing Midoriya to turn around and get a good look at her. Tooru had on white cutoffs with a teal sweetheart neckline top and some white snap bracelets. She was also wearing a white backpack, though it was a bit larger than Izuku's. The invisible girl approached the boy and tugged at the bottom his shirt slightly before saying with a soft chuckle, "Could you be more of an All Might fanboy?"

"Well, there's another reason I wore this today," Midoriya stated as he scratched the back of his head.

Tooru was quick to grab his left hand and say, "Tell me after we catch the train, it's about to leave!"

The two then ran hand in hand with Izuku in tow as they headed for the doors. Once boarded, Midoriya sat down and put his backpack between his legs, but Hagakure decided to stand up instead and grab onto a nearby pole. This particular cab wasn't that crowded which allowed a bit of privacy for the two while they talked.

The green haired teen began the conversation by asking, "Is it possible to ask where we are heading? Or do you want it to be a surprise?"

Tooru replied with, "I guess telling you now wouldn't hurt. We're heading to the same place we met on our first date."

A bit taken back, Izuku stated, "I was expecting something different. Not that I have a problem with going back there."

Hagakure then explained, "Well, at first I didn't have a place a mind. When I actually had time to think about it, I remembered how much fun we had there last time. And it's familiar to both us. I thought since it was a place you could recognize you would be more comfortable. Plus it's nearby a place I've meant to visit for a long while. But besides that, I mean as cute as your reactions are when you panic, I don't wanna have you experience what happened when I asked you to come over to my place again."

"T-Thanks for considering my f-feelings about this Tooru," the boy said with a sigh of relief.

With glee, Hagakure replied, "No problem Izuku. This is so we can just focus on spending some quality time together."

Trying his luck, Midroiya asked, "Speaking of this quality time, is it too much to ask what we'll be doing as well?"

With a sly tone in her voice, Tooru answered with, "Being a bit bolder, are we? I like it. Anyways I plan for us to look at some shops, though I wanna buy a few things this time. I've got some other plans as well but that's a secret for now."

Upon hearing this, Izuku wondered, had he put too much thought into this date? All the stress that he been storing up for today was quickly fading away as Tooru described the location and plan for the day. Sure her "other plans" was ominous, but Midoriya wasn't gonna let it weigh him down. This feeling of weightlessness upon his mind and body was something he hadn't felt since he accepted doing this date, and like his mother told him, decided to accept whatever Tooru would come up with, within reason.

"I'd be okay with that," Midoriya said after finishing his thoughts.

Hagakure cheerfully replied, "Glad you're on board with everything. Now answer me this, what was the reason you wore those clothes today?"

While grabbing his shirt with one hand, Izuku responded with, "Well, they inspire a lot of confidence in me."

"Cause your shirt says All Might, I get it," Tooru said with assurance.

Shaking his head, Midoirya stated, "That's not why. I often wore these clothes when I trained before taking the entrance exam."

Hagakure was quick to say, "Regardless you wore these clothes cause you needed the confidence boost for today, right?"

"Pretty much," the boy said as a slight blush began to creep onto his face.

After a few moments of silence, the invisible girl asked another question, "What exactly was this training you did? You've never really talked about it."

After some quick thinking, Izuku blurted out, "O-Oh, well you know, w-weightlifting and r-running, a lot. The u-usual."

In a bit suspicious tone, she said, "And you discovered you had a quirk just by doing that?"

"Y-Yep," said a jittery Midoriya.

Continuing with her apprehensive tone, Tooru asked, "And how long did you do this?"

"A-About ten m-months," Izuku stated as he sank his head into his shoulders. He thought, was she starting to have doubts about the somewhat fabricated origin of his quirk?

Leaning forward towards Midoriya's face, Hagakure said, "Was this training you did before the entrance exam the first time you ever worked out for an extended period?"

This endless barrage of questions was getting the best of the green haired teen, but he answered with a weak nod.

About a minute of silence passed before Tooru spoke up by trying to explain, "I guess that is why you never manifested your quirk before. Your body just couldn't handle it. And even with almost year of working out, you couldn't use it without thrashing your body."

Internally Izuku was leaping around in happiness at Tooru only trying to understand his quirk better, not question its origin. In a more confident voice, Midoriya stated, "Pretty much."

The pair spent the rest of their trip discussing their second study session. Hagakure was quite pleased that Yaoyorozu was able to help her so much as she hated studying the subject of English on her own.

Once they had arrived at their destination, Tooru led Izuku past many buildings until eventually, they arrived at their first shop. The boy immediately recognized it; it was the toy store that the two had met at on their first date. As they entered Midoriya was met with the smell of fabric and cotton. He soon realized this store specialized in dolls and plushies both small and large. Hagakure made her way to the back, and Izuku followed. She was standing in front of a collection of bear plushies that were almost as big as she was. They were yellow and had a triangular head and limbs. The bears wore overalls and a neckerchief of various colors.

Tooru then spoke up, "I've been saving up for one of these for a while."

A bit intimidated at their size; the boy stated, "They look kind of big, don't you think?"

"That's why I want it silly. They're so big and fluffy," the invisible girl said as she hugged one.

And expensive, Izuku thought. He had a decent amount of cash on him at the moment. Including what he had saved from the last date, his allowance from the last couple of weeks, and his early birthday present, the boy had 18,000 yen. Was this giant stuffed toy the thing he was going to buy as her gift? Scratching his chin, Midoriya asked, "So which one are you planning on getting?"

"The one I'm holding of course," Hagakure said with joy. The bear in her arms had blue overalls with a red neckerchief.

The boy asked another question, "You're not thinking of buying this today, are you?"

With no hesitation, the invisible girl proclaimed, "Yep!"

Izuku tried to argue, "But it's huge! Do you plan to carry it for the rest of our d-date?" He hoped he wouldn't have to carry it. It was less about having to carry it and more about drawing attention to himself, which would be embarrassing.

Tooru then let go of the bear before saying, "Nah, I'm going to get it shipped to my house. I know I could have just called in or went online to buy it, but I like the feeling of going to a store to purchase things. Getting everything in a box delivered to your door just doesn't have the same feeling." Hagakure then turned towards Midoriya to say, "I'm going to look around a bit to see if they have anything new in stock. It should just take me a few minutes. You can look around if you like while you wait for me." She then made her exit to his right.

Izuku decided he would look around just to pass the time. Aisle after aisle the boy looked, not seeing anything of interest. He passed Tooru twice who was zipping through the aisles until he reached the last aisle, and there he finally saw something that caught his eye. In front of him were three rows of All Might plushies. They were the size of Midoriya's hand but what got his attention was their outfits. One wore All Might's debut costume, another his Golden Age attire, and the final one was in his current suit. They were a bit too cute for Izuku's usual taste, but their attention to detail was what won him over in the end. Each was priced at two thousand yen, and with all the money he had, he felt he could still possibly pay for Tooru's purchase.

Midoriya paid for the mini All Mights, and as he was about to put them in his backpack, Hagakure showed up. A bit surprised, the invisible girl proclaimed, "Oh wow you bought those? I thought you would only try and point them out to me before we left."

"I couldn't help myself I guess," Izuku said while scratching the back of his head.

Tooru then replied, "Well I'm glad you found something you wanted to purchase. I didn't find anything new for me to consider so I'll go ahead and pay for my item and we'll be off."

As the birthday girl talked to the cashier to order the bear plushie, Izuku grabbed the rest of his cash ready to pay for it.

The lady behind the counter said to Hagakure, "With shipping that should bring your total to 22,500 yen, ma'am."

Midoriya instantly shoved his money back into his backpack. As Tooru paid and gave her address for the delivery, Izuku thought, okay maybe I'll pay next time.

The two left the store, and the invisible girl was humming in happiness at her purchase.

The green haired teen asked, "So what do you want to buy now?"

With excitement, Hagakure answered, "Clothes!"

Again Tooru grabbed Izuku's left hand and led him to another store. Midoriya recognized it as the third place they had window shopped on their first date. He remembered his invisible friend's particular interest in looking at the dresses of the store. The boy's memory soon proved correct as he found himself in front of a sea of such clothing as Tooru began looking around. In their last date, the girl had thrown around so many clothing terms that Izuku couldn't keep up. She was always very vocal about what she was thinking at the moment when it came to clothing. This time around, he was getting a better grasp of what she was saying.

"I like this halter dress, but they are kinda pointless for me to wear because they are meant to expose your back, and I got nothing to show," Hagakure chuckled. Midoriya felt that this type of dress looked a bit too suggestive for his tastes. She then continued by saying, "I bet Yaoyorozu-san would like this though, she doesn't seem to have any problems showing a little skin."

Izuku always figured that Momo's leotard for a suit was so that it was easier for her to produce things for her quirk. It would help in reducing wardrobe malfunctions, he figured. Trying to better understand what she wanted, the boy asked, "What exactly are you looking for here?"

"Something to wear on our next date after our summer trip," Tooru said confidently but then sagged her shoulders before saying, "Well that's if I pass the exam."

Midoriya almost groaned but held it in. She was already planning on having another date, and here he was just trying to get through today's date. But her wanting to hang out again wasn't exactly bad news. It meant she was enjoying today, even though it was still early on.

Trying to reassure her, Izuku stated, "Don't worry. You are going to pass. These study sessions have been a big help even for me, so I'm sure it's done wonders for you."

"I hope so," the invisible girl huffed.

Trying to move to a different topic Midoriya asked, "So have you decided on anything yet?"

Hagakure replied, "I think so, but I wanna ask you what you like better." Izuku didn't like the sound of that but decided not to protest. She then walked forward and grabbed two different dresses. Tooru turned around and held them up for him to see before asking, "So any suggestions?" The first one was a dark blue and white apron dress and the other a white sundress with depictions of flowers in blue and red.

Midoriya sighed in relief internally, he thought she was gonna try them on and let him decide and was glad she was doing this instead. He liked the more conservative look of the apron dress but then considered the practicality of each dress. Izuku then explained, "I think the sundress would be a better choice. Mostly because I feel it would be more comfortable to wear during the summer compared to the other dress."

Hagakure hung up the apron dress and looked at the Midoriya's choice for a few moments before stating, "Your logic wins again Izuku. Thanks for helping."

The two then started to make their way to the front of the store to pay for the article of clothing. After passing a few aisles, Izuku could hear some younger girls chatting loudly in an aisle for cosmetics. From what he heard they were arguing over the price of the products. Tooru then gave a soft chuckle, "I'm glad I don't have to worry about makeup like most girls. Means I can focus on other things like clothes."

Midoriya was quick to state, "Cause of your quirk, right?"

The invisible heroine replied, "Yep, no need to keep up appearances if no one can even see it. Plus it would be embarrassing to have floating lipstick and other cosmetics on my face."

This topic interested the green haired teen, and he asked another question, "Is there anything else you don't have to worry about because of the nature of your quirk."

The two had arrived at the line for a cashier at this point. After a few moments of thought, Tooru answered, "My hair I guess. I can't remember the last time I needed to comb it."

Intrigued even further, Izuku asked, "What's your hair like?"

"If you're that interested why don't you feel it and find out," Tooru said mischievously. At this comment, a woman in front of them made a glance behind her to look at the two.

Midoriya was rapid to stutter in a low voice, "N-Not in a p-public place like this T-Tooru."

A bit disappointed at the last comment, Hagakure stated, "Okay then, maybe later."

The boy rubbed his temple as he tried to understand Tooru's wild suggestion. Was she serious? Or did she just wanna get a reaction out of him? How awkward would have it been if let himself feel her hair while in line? I would probably look like a pervert, he thought. But now he was very curious about the nature of her hair. Izuku only got a small hint of what it looked like during that one afternoon in the rain. The rain had collected on the top of her head and made somewhat of an outline for the top of her hair. It was impossible to tell what its length or style was.

Before Midoriya knew it, Hagakure had paid for her dress and was leading him outside of the store. He was so caught up and pondering about her hair he forgot to offer to pay for her dress. He didn't even pay attention enough to find out its price. Honestly, he should have checked it before they even got to the cashier.

For the next couple of stores, the pair merely window shopped. They were visiting stores they had skipped from their last date, but nothing in particular, seemed to interest the invisible girl. After they left a shoe store, Tooru checked her phone and then proclaimed, "Oh hey it's past noon already. You ready for some lunch?"

Now that she mentioned it, Izuku was a bit hungry, so he replied, "Yeah I could go for a bite. Where to?"

"It's a bit of a walk, so follow me," the birthday girl stated while grabbing his left hand.

For about ten minutes the two made their way towards an unknown location. Midoriya asked multiple times for some hint at where they were heading, but Hagakure simply said for him to be patient. She did take out her phone a few times to confirm if they were heading the right way. The boy could have tried to take a peek at their destination whenever she brought out her phone but decided that they would be there soon and it wasn't worth the backlash if he was caught. Finally, a park came into view, and the two entered.

Izuku wondered, was there some street cart here that served food? Tooru then suddenly veered off the main path and stopped at a bench not far from the turnoff.

The invisible girl took a seat and started reaching into her backpack. She took out some Tupperware before saying, "I thought today we could just have something a bit simple to eat." She pulled out some sandwiches from the containers before continuing, "I hope you don't mind some ham and pepper jack cheese sandwiches my mom made."

Izuku sat next to her before stating, "Sounds good to me. But I know something that would go great with this."

As her bracelets came up to her face, Tooru proclaimed, "You didn't!"

"I sure did," Midoriya happily replied as he pulled out the brownies from his backpack.

Hagakure asked with curiosity in her voice, "What's in these?"

The boy explained, "It has caramel of course but it's also got bits of coconut, and the nuts are pecan."

Sounding satisfied from the description; the invisible girl stated, "Sounds yummy."

The two ate their lunch with little interruption. Izuku made sure to bake enough so that Tooru could take some home, just as last time with the donuts. After she put them away in her pack, she asked, "So wanna have a feel of my hair?"

Midoriya had already forgotten about the offer; he was too busy enjoying Tooru's reaction to the treats. The boy groaned as he said, "Do I have to?"

"If you wanna find out what my hair is like then yes," Hagakure huffed.

Izuku looked around to make sure no one was looking. Since they were off the main path, there weren't that many people and no one was currently walking towards them. Curiosity was getting the best of him. After grunting, he replied, "F-Fine I'll do it." Midoriya raised his hands towards her face but paused before getting too close. Second thoughts were running rampant in his head already.

Hagakure was quick to say, "Here let me guide you." The boy felt the invisible girl's hands grasp his and led it towards the side of her head. Once he felt it, she let go and stated, "Go ahead Izuku."

The green haired teen first softly gripped her hair a few times, the texture was a bit rough. He then brought his hands down to behind her neck and noticed there was nothing there and instead was touching skin. Tooru giggled a bit at the touch of her neck, and Izuku quickly brought his hands off her.

The birthday girl then asked in a playful tone, "So, how was it?"

Still a bit stunned at what he had done and just learned, Midoriya took a few seconds before he replied, "I-I didn't expect your h-hair to be so s-short."

Tooru explained, "Long hair needs a lot of upkeep, and since mine can't be seen, there is little point to having it so long."

Izuku replied, "Must be hard to cut."

"It is, but my mom has gotten pretty good at it. Especially now that I like to keep it short," the invisible teen responded.

Intrigued, Izuku asked, "When did you start getting it cut so short?"

Hagakure needed a moment to think but eventually said, "Not long after I started school. I noticed most of the boys had short hair, and they never had to worry about it. I just told my parents one day that I wanted it short too, as I started to get annoyed at having to worry about mine all the time. My mom was against the idea, but my dad convinced her otherwise, eventually."

Midoriya was starting to get a bit of an idea of his friend's looks. Unkempt, short hair and no make-up, probably not the best sight, but it wouldn't be a look anyone would ever see, so did it really matter? Tooru might never get to see what she looks like again as her quirk didn't seem to have an off switch. The thought made him a bit somber because of her plight. He already had voiced his thoughts on his friend's lack of physical identity the first time they talked in the nurse's office. And he was feeling the same in this situation.

Tooru asked inquisitively, "So anything else?"

Her question broke Izuku's train of thought. The boy took a few moments to think up another question, and said, "Do you not use conditioner when you wash your hair?"

Hagakure responded bluntly with, "Nah. Again, no need to use it if my hair can't be seen."

"I mean your hair felt kind of rough. You don't need to use it each time you wash, but at least it would be a lot more soft to touch," the boy tried to explain.

With a bit of sass in her voice, Tooru responded, "Oh, so you want it to be soft. Is that cause you want to feel again in the future?"

Midoriya tried to say, "N-No, I j-just-."

The invisible girl put a finger on his lips to interrupt his rebuttal and said, "Again just teasing you Izuku. But maybe I'll take your advice to heart after I think about it some more." Hagakure then removed her finger and got up. She stated, "Well, I'm ready to continue with our day, you with me?" One of Tooru's wristbands came to Izuku's face, and he nodded before grabbing below her wristband to hold her hand and was pulled up.

The pair made their way out of the park and back to the mall area of the town. They resumed their window shopping but again nothing interested either of them. Midoriya did notice something as they walked around each store. Earlier he had seen the swimwear shop from the last date, the one Hagakure had teased about trying out some swimsuits. They kept passing it between each trip, and after the fifth time, he finally got the urge to ask while pointing to it, "Tooru do you wanna go here."

The invisible girl sighed as she stated, "Is it that obvious?" Izuku gave a slow nod, getting a small grunt from Tooru. She then said, "Yeah I wanna buy a new swimsuit because I recently found out I can't fit in my old one anymore." With disappointment in her voice Hagakure continued with, "But I really can't, so let's just move on."

Standing in front of his invisible friend, Midoriya asked, "Wait, why not?"

There was a pause before she replied, "I don't have the cash. I spent most of it on the bear plushie and sundress. I probably should have waited to buy the plushie."

Izuku was quick to proclaim, "I'll pay for it!"

Trying to say no, Tooru said, "Izuku you don't have to-."

For once the boy interrupted her and stated "I want to Tooru. As a gift."

The bewildered girl replied, "A gift? But weren't the brownies we had earlier already a gift?"

"It's your birthday Tooru; you deserve more than just some treats. I wanted to buy you something before coming here, but I couldn't think of anything. So I saved up some cash and decided I would just pay for something for you today. I was ready to buy that big plushie for you earlier until I heard about its price, cause that was a bit more than I had," Izuku explained.

Tooru asked, "Are you sure? You don't have to do this Izuku."

Giving multiple nods the boy responded, "I'm quite sure. Here." Midoriya reached into his backpack and pulled out all of his money.

Shocked at the amount she was given, Tooru stated, "Izuku I don't think I need this much."

"It's fine, spend as much or as little as you want. I don't need it," the green haired teen said as sincere as he could.

The birthday girl sighed before stating, "If you insist. But do you wanna come with me in there?"

Inko's words echoed through Izuku's head at that moment.

All you need to do is be there by her side today and go with whatever happens, within reason, okay?

...within reason...

Midoriya's heart was already doing laps at the thought of being surrounded by the female swimwear as Tooru possibly tried them on. He finally slowly stuttered out, "I-I'd prefer n-not to."

"That's fair; they are swimsuits. This might take a bit though, I haven't looked into getting a swimsuit for a while," Hagakure tried to explain.

Holding up his hands, Izuku said, "That's fine, take your time." He looked to his side and saw a bench by the building. The boy pointed at it as he continued, "I'll just take a seat over here while I wait."

As Tooru made her approach towards the store and Izuku plopped down onto the bench. He exhaled loudly once she was out of sight and closed his eyes as he laid back. Midoriya wished he could have followed her into such a store. But naughty thoughts kept plaguing his mind at the mere thought of it. The boy sometimes hated being a teenager, with his hormones running amok in his head. At least it wouldn't last forever, right?

As Izuku waited, he pondered on ways to minimize such thoughts so that he could handle future situations such as this. As he racked his brains, a revelation eventually crept into his mind. Wait a second, isn't looking at clothes on a hanger just like if Tooru was wearing it? Sure it would be floating and be filled instead of flat, but it still held true. And it's like Tooru said earlier about the halter dress.

I like this halter dress, but they are kinda pointless for me to wear because they are meant to expose your back, and I got nothing to show.

Since she had no skin to show, what was the point of getting so worked up about it? Sure, her being nude meant there was nothing at all, and it was the principle of her being naked that made Midoriya uncomfortable. But this was different; she was still wearing something. The thought of her in a bikini did make him a bit uncomfortable at the moment, but since thinking this all over, he felt he could handle such a thing. With a rise in confidence Izuku stood up and opened his eyes ready to enter the store but what he soon saw in front of him made his jaw drop.

Standing in front of him was none other than Shota Aizawa, dressed as he always did at school. In a bored voice, his homeroom teacher stated, "Glad you finally noticed me Midoriya-san. Mind if I take a seat?"

Trying to keep his composure the green haired teen replied, "A-Aizawa-sensei? W-What are y-you doing h-here? And how l-long have you been s-standing here?

Slightly annoyed, the man replied, "I'm the one who asked a question first here, don't be rude, it's not like you."

Shaking his hands a bit to calm himself, Izuku responded with, "O-Of course sensei, take a seat."

"Thank you," Eraserhead said in his usual deadpan voice as he sat down. Midoriya then joined him and looked at his teacher in confusion. Shota then continued, "Now to answer your question; I'm here because I live nearby. I saw the pair of you about an hour ago and have been following you ever since. Once you two separated and you sat down, I approached and stood here for about a minute. I thought you were sleeping for a bit, and I almost wanted to sit down next to you to jolt you awake, but then you stood up and now here we are."

Even more perplexed, Midoriya said, "You live in a place like this?" Izuku knew that his teacher disliked public displays when he was out on patrol. Such a busy environment seemed very out of place for such a person to live.

"Yep. No one would expect me to live in such a lively place like this. Keeps people away and guessing," Aizawa stated as he rose his arms towards the crowds of people in front of him.

The boy asked, "Then why are you telling me?"

"Because you're not dumb, and you know what would happen if I found out you told anybody," Aizawa said as he turned slowly with a creepy smirk. This sent a chill down Izuku's spine but before he could say anything his homeroom teacher asked, "So, how's your day been with Hagakure-san?"

After exhaling, Izuku responded, "P-Pretty good, I guess. It's her birthday today, and I thought I would celebrate it with her."

Eraserhead shot him a finger as he stated, "Then why are you out here alone?"

Midoriya said, "O-Oh, well she's currently shopping for a s-swimsuit."

Not impressed with the answer, the teacher replied, "And?"

Izuku tried to explain, "Well at first it made me uncomfortable, but I did decide to go in there when I stood up earlier, that is until I saw you."

"I see. Sorry to say this but I need you to stay here a while," Shota said while adjusting himself on the bench to get more comfortable.

A bit apprehensive, the boy asked, "W-What for?"

"Just gotta ask a question," Aizawa said lazily.

Midoriya thought, was he in trouble? Was dating against the school code? He knew some hero academy forbade it but never heard U.A. banning it. Either way, it would be for the best to comply with his teacher, so he stated, "If you must sensei."

Crossing his arms, Eraserhead replied, "Good. Now, what was your reason for coming out here last time?

Izuku then asked, "Last time?"

"Yes, when you were with your two other friends," the teacher said while holding up a peace sign.

Finally getting what he meant, the boy responded, "Oh, that. We were just on a double d-date."

A small grunt came from the man as he stated, "And is that all? Did you notice anything off about Ida-san and Uraraka-san?"

A bit confounded at these questions, Midoriya said, "Yes, sir that's all it was. They both only came to help support me since I was having trouble with the whole idea of being alone with Hagakure-chan." He then took a deep breath before asking, "Is there an issue with what we did sensei?"

In a bit more serious tone, Aizawa explained, "I'm not inclined to answer that in detail but let's say at the time I just found this all suspicious. Especially after those two kept coming back here."

This last comment got Izuku's interest, and he asked, "Wait how many times have you seen Ida-kun and Uraraka-chan together here after our double d-date?"

"Twice, and it might have been more but I just didn't run into them. Regardless, it seems I over thought this situation. I guess my students were just enjoying each other's company," Shota stated in aloof tone.

Silence followed for a few moments before the green haired teen asked another question, "If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing while we were sitting at the curry cafe?"

The teacher poked his forehead a few times before explaining, "Oh, that? I was thinking of getting some sunglasses at the time. Because my wounds from the villain invasion were still unhealed and the specifics of my quirk, bright lights were painful for my eyes during that period. I didn't want to wear my signature goggles, as it would just alert people to who I was when out and about in public. I considered getting a pair of sunglasses at that store since it was nearby, but then I realized how stupid I would look in them. As I left is when I noticed you four watching me in the distance."

"Sorry, that it seemed like we were suspicious Aizawa-sensei," the boy said as he tried to apologize.

Waving a hand slowly, Eraserhead replied, "It's fine. I just wanted to figure this all out once and for all. You being by yourself made things easier. Your other friends never separated on their dates."

The two sat there for a minute and watched as people walked by. Izuku eventually worked up the courage to ask, "We're not in trouble because we've been d-dating, are we?"

Shota got up as he stated, "Midoriya-san it's fine if you're dating a fellow student, as long as it doesn't interfere with either of your grades or hero work." He then turned around and further explained with seriousness, "Hagakure-san's grades have been rising slightly since I noticed you two interacting with one another. And I think I know who she has to thank for that."

Midoriya tried to say, "Well, actually we've been-."

Aizawa held up a hand before interrupting, "No buts. You've been a positive influence on her, even if indirectly. The same goes for your two other friends. You kids in 1-A have gone through a lot these last few months, more than a typical semester at U.A. should be. We all have different ways of handling stress, and this seems to be your way of dealing with it. So as things are now, this doesn't bother me."

Eraserhead took a few steps forward but stopped and said, "Be sure to keep today's conversation just between us Midoriya-san. See you in class tomorrow." He then walked forward and eventually disappeared into the crowd.

Izuku then took a couple of deep breaths while trying to wrap his head around what just happened. He thought, what the heck was that about? What suspicious activities did his teacher assume he and his friends were doing? Was Eraserhead just overthinking everything, just as often as Izuku did? No, he also seemed more level headed than he was. So for him to go this far into trying to figure out what they were doing meant the subject matter was very grave. But what could that be?

A slight cough brought Izuku's attention to his side. Tooru was standing next to him and said with concern in her voice, "You were muttering again, everything alright?"

Midoriya explained, "Y-Yeah, just overthinking about things, a-again. Did you find anything that interested you?"

"I did, and it's in my backpack," Hagakure said as she put a hand in her pocket. She then gave the boy some cash and stated, "And here's what's leftover of your money, I only spent about seven thousand yen."

Izuku didn't bother to check what was left as he put the money back into his backpack, he trusted her. After zipping up his pack, Midoriya asked, "So where to next?"

The invisible teen gave a long sigh before saying, "To be honest, I think I've done enough shopping for today. I got one more place I want to go through, but again, it's gonna be a bit of a walk to get there."

Midoriya then asked, "I guess you want this to be a surprise like going to the park?"

"Yeah," Tooru stated as she grabbed the boy's left hand.

Izuku tightened his grip and said with full confidence, "Alright, let's go then."

A bit taken back, the invisible girl replied, "What? You're not gonna ask me where we are going?"

"I couldn't get you to say anything last time, plus if it's anything like before, then I think I can handle it," Midoriya explained.

Overjoyed at his enthusiasm, Hagakure proclaimed, "Alright then! To the final location!"

Tooru wasn't kidding about it being quite a walk, after twenty minutes Izuku was able to see where they were heading to in the distance. They were currently walking on a hill overlooking the vast of blue ahead of them; it was the ocean. As they approached he wondered if his friend intended to try her new swimsuit here and now, but it seemed not likely once he pondered more about it. Usually, one washes newly bought clothes before using them.

As they got closer, the area looked more and more familiar to Midoriya. He couldn't put his finger on why.

The pair crossed the final street and walked through some dense trees before standing on the concrete barrier before the beach. There was a decent amount of people swimming and sunbathing in the early summer sun.

Tooru happily said, "It's so nice to see this place spotless and with people again after so long."

Izuku looked back and forth, and it finally came to him where he was. With a mix confusion and excitement, he proclaimed, "This is Dagobah Beach?!" It was where he had trained in order to be able to handle One for All. To think he could have already forgotten about the place in such a short amount of time. The boy was just here back at the start of March to meet with All Might when he had learned he had passed the entrance exam.

A bit taken back, Hagakure asked, "Wait you know of this beach?"

Midoriya felt he had to tell the partial truth at least and replied, "Yeah, it's where I did my training for the U.A. entrance exam."

Confusion in her tone, Tooru said, "What? This place was a dump for years until recently. Why would you come here of all places?"

Wrestling with about whether to hide the truth or not, the boy eventually blurted out, "W-Well, I was the one who cleaned it up."

"You're joking, right? That's impossible to have done it by yourself," Tooru argued.

Trying to give more credibility to his claim, Midoriya responded, "I-I wasn't a-alone. I-I had h-help."

The invisible teen then asked, "From who?"

This is where Izuku had to draw the line. He couldn't reveal it was All Might, no matter what. Instead, he slowly stuttered, "M-My u-uncle."

Tooru was quick to ask another question, "And how did your uncle help with all of this?"

The green haired teen too a few breaths before explaining, "I would drag trash to his truck, and he would drive it to the local dump."

Hagakure, still with a perplexed voice stated, "I'm still having trouble believing this."

The two remained silent as they both tried to think of something to say.

Midoriya spoke up first by asking, "So, how do you know of this place?"

"I used to come here with my family all the time to swim during the summer. I've had some great memories here as a kid. But then it got trashed, and we stopped coming. I heard it got cleaned up some months ago and wanted to come and see it for myself once summer came around again. And I wanted to show it to you cause I want us both to come here sometime during our summer break to make more memories," Tooru explained with melancholy.

Izuku took a few moments to let her words sink in before replying, "I see. Sorry if it sounds absurd if I cleaned this place up, but I truly did. It took me the full ten months of my training to do it. Almost every day I was here hauling loads of junk off this beach. And when I wasn't here I ran my heart out to focus on my leg muscles."

More calmly than before, the female said, "Ok, even if what you're saying is true, then why did you come here of all places?"

Izuku thought back to the words All Might had told him the first day of his training; they were etched into his soul. Almost word for word at like his mentor said back then, the boy stated, "So many heroes today only want fame and glory. But being a true hero is all about volunteer work." Midoriya exhaled a bit before continuing, "To tell you the truth I never came here before my training, but I knew of its existence and why it had become so trashy. My uncle and I wanted to bring back this beach's beautiful ocean view because it was the right thing to do."

Tooru stood there not saying a word after everything Izuku had said for a few moments. She then suddenly started to walk down some stairs towards the beach.

Midoriya raised his voice as he followed, "Wait! Where are you going?" Once he had his feet on the sand, he turned to see his friend leaning on the barrier.

The birthday girl stated with softness, "You really know how to woo people Izuku."

Midoriya sighed in relief; he thought Hagakure was still angry at him.

Tooru then said with difficulty, "I never expected to ask this today. I thought I would just see how things went and go from there."

Not following what she meant, Izuku stated, "Ask me what?"

Tooru exhaled before asking gradually, "Izuku, would you like to be my boyfriend?"

Midoriya knees buckled at her question, and he fell on his behind.

Tooru was quick to come to his side and knelt down before saying, "Woah there take it easy. I know that's a lot to process."

"J-Just give m-me some t-time to t-think," the quivering boy said as he scooted backward through the sand and laid his back on the barrier. Hagakure then sat down where she had kneeled and took off her backpack. Midoriya did the same and tried to calm down by breathing deeply. The big question had been asked, and it wouldn't have if he had just kept quiet to her about cleaning up the beach. But in the end maybe this was for the best, as Izuku honestly hated lying, even the half-truths he told were still hard to swallow. But he needed to focus on Tooru's proposal. Of course, she had to be one to ask, Midoriya didn't dare to try such a feat anytime soon. But that didn't matter; he needed to answer.

Trying to buy more time to think, Izuku asked, "W-What do you see in m-me that makes me b-boyfriend material?"

The invisible girl shifted in her position in the sand before explaining, "What do you want me to say? Something boring like how you're brilliant, heroic, or how cute your antics are? I mean those are excellent qualities and all, but there's so much more to you than just that."

This threw off Midoriya's train of thought, and instead of pondering an answer to the whole situation, he had his full attention on Tooru now.

Hagakure continued with, "Sure what you said earlier inspired me to ask today instead of on another date, but there's something about you that no one else has done around me that convinced me that you'd be the one I would eventually ask to be my boyfriend."

Izuku was slow to ask, "And what p-part of m-me is that?"

"It's how you interact with me, despite the nature of my quirk," the birthday girl replied softly.

Midoriya could only give a perplexing look as he tried to understand what she meant.

Hagakure explained with merry in her voice, "When most people talk to me about my quirk, it's usually about how it could be useful in both heroic and everyday things. No one asks how it changes my lifestyle compared to most everyone else. But you felt sad because of me not being able to know how I look, you noticed and asked about my underwear situation, and today you were curious about my hair and even went as far as to feel it to know more."

Izuku mulled over everything his friend said as she stayed silent for a minute. Sure the bit referring to her lack of panties when wearing a skirt did make him blush, but regardless everything she said was entirely accurate. But he felt bad that he was the only one that would ask such questions.

Tooru cleared her throat before continuing her explanation, "Then there's how you look at me physically. Most guys just stare at my boobs, I mean I can understand, I don't have a face they can focus on. Even Ida-san and Ojiro-san are guilty of this sometimes, but I don't make a fuss about it since everyone does it. But Izuku, you almost always look at my face, even though you can't see anything. To me, that means you see me with respect and acknowledge there's something worthwhile there to look at."

Midoriya was floored by this statement. He thought he was just being considerate by always keeping his eyes towards where Hagakure's face would be, never did he expect she saw that as such an honorable quality as she just described. Her explanations did tell the green haired teen that her question wasn't on a whim, it was a big deal for her.

Tooru then inched closer towards the pondering Izuku, which made his heart and mind start to race. She then put her hands on his shoulders and stated, "So what's your answer Izuku, I want, no, I have to know!"

Izuku continued to stare into where Tooru's eyes would be if she were visible. A part of him was saying no, merely on the basis of the stress it would bring. But a much bigger part was thinking the opposite. She wanted an answer so badly, and he wanted to please her the best he could after everything she just revealed. Midoriya's eyes started to water as he worked up the courage to answer. After a sniff, he stated, "I-I w-would g-give anything to m-make you h-happy Tooru. S-So my a-answer is y-yes." Once he finished, tears started to flow.

Hagakure chuckled before replying, "Still a crybaby even after saying something so wonderful, that's the Izuku I know and love." She started to lean her body towards the green haired teen. In a panic, the boy closed his eyes expecting the worst. He felt her grab his shoulders and braced for what was about to come. But instead, the green haired teen felt a wet peck on his forehead. He opened his eyes in shock; he was expecting a kiss on his lips, not his temple. That wasn't so bad, Midoriya thought, despite being as red as a tomato. Tooru then took her hands off from his shoulders and leaned back to her previous sitting position.

Izuku began to wipe his tears away as he said, "I-I guess this m-means I kind of got you t-three gifts today, huh?"

"I think us becoming a couple is a gift for both of us silly," the birthday girl giggled.


So there you have it, the pairing is officially a couple now. It only took ten chapters and over 75,000 words to get to this point (cutting out all my author note rants). *cackles like a madman*

As mentioned in earlier author notes, I like to read slow burn relationships in fics. So, of course, I was going to write one as well. Originally, a part of me wanted to wait until after the Katsuki rescue arc for them to get together, but I felt the aftermath of that arc would better serve as an obstacle for them to have overcome together. And with all the baggage that arc brings, it didn't seem practical for Izuku to be stable enough to want to start a relationship with Tooru at that point. Plus I'm sure you readers are quite thirsty for 'advanced fluff scenarios' between the pair. So here's your bone. SAVOR IT!

Finally got to use Eraserhead again, though last time was forever ago in chapter four and he just as a cameo. We'll be seeing more of him a lot more in the future once the secondary theme of this fic kicks in. I plan for him to work with All Might eventually, as I like their conflicting personalities of logic vs. justice. But again, it's going to be some time till we get to that point in this story.

At first, I went with English localization of Dagobah Beach, which was Takoba Beach. After a couple of chapters, I switched back to the original as it was a lot more ionic because of it's reference to Star Wars, the planet where Luke trained with Yoda. Though the full name is the Dagobah Municipal Beach Park, and that's kind of a mouth full.

If you didn't get the reference, the giant bear plushy Tooru bought was the one on her bed when the students were showing off their dorm rooms in chapter 99 of the manga. The colors of it are made up and will be adjusted when season three of the anime airs (It just got confirmed, and I feel they'll end season 3 with the Deku vs. Kacchan round 2). We never got a good look at all the all figures of All Might that Izuku had in his room, so I'm just going to go with that the small ones we see in chapter 98 are the ones he bought this chapter as well.

As short as the summary was about the second study session, it felt a bit ironic. To discuss studying English between Japanese kids, in a story that is originally Japanese translated into English, and this fic is in English, but of course, they are speaking Japanese (hence why I prefer that I keep the honorifics in, even though I know some people prefer they weren't). ;p

Chapter eleven will be about the date's aftermath, the third study session, and another group activity I want the group to experience. Expect to see it on October 16th!