Chapter 11: A New Frontier
A long and loud sigh broke the silence of a dark room.
It was 2 AM in the Midoriya household. Izuku while exhausted, wasn't able to sleep. It wasn't because of the stress of "increased physical contact" like the night after he agreed to his second date. When Tooru kissed him just hours earlier on the forehead, it signaled to him that he didn't need to worry about her rushing things. Had she opted for the alternative place to kiss, things might have been different, but she chose otherwise. It had felt good, and more of those wouldn't be so bad. No, what was keeping him up was how excited he was for the future. Midoriya compared it to the night before going to his first day of school at U.A. The anticipation of what was to come; it made him restless no matter how much he wanted to sleep.
Izuku now had a girlfriend. Not just a best friend, but something more. He still couldn't believe he went from being without a single friend before starting school to where he was now. Midoriya had fought hard to keep back tears many times today from the happiness he was feeling. Sometimes he couldn't, but they were tears of joy so he wasn't too bothered by it.
The thought of telling his friends didn't bother Izuku that much, which he found surprising at first. Perhaps he was changing for the better socially because of Tooru, as Ochako had said the other day. Sure Midoriya had some jitters, but he felt he could handle it. He was, however, glad no one had asked on the group chat about the events of Tooru's birthday today because he was too overwhelmed to deal with it at the moment. The green haired teen was willing to tell them in person on Monday though.
And speaking of Izuku telling people of his new girlfriend, revealing it to his mother was quite an experience. She was waiting at the door when her son got home, tea in hand. He had told her by text he was on his way home when he got on the train, so that explained how she was ready for his arrival. Inko had asked on the phone how it went, and her son replied he'd tell her when he got back.
As the younger Midoriya sat down on the sofa after he arrived, he looked at his mother's face, and it gave the impression of eagerness but also of turmoil. He figured that he should start at the beginning. Minus leaving out the details on Eraserhead's surprise visit, Izuku was sure not to leave anything out as he explained the events of the day. Inko knew about her son's trips to the beach to train during the time before he entered U.A., but she never heard about the specifics of what he did. As a cover for All Might, the teen explained that a local to the area had helped him move the trash via truck.
To learn of his feats and how it lead to Tooru confessing earlier than she had planned was overwhelming for the older Midoriya. Izuku knew his mom cried a lot, he was used to it, as it's what he did a lot as well. When she said that she fainted from dehydration from crying too much while watching the Hero Festival, he believed her. But that evening was a new a side of bawling he hadn't seen before from his mother. They were tears of joy. Sure the younger Midoriya had seen a few tears of happiness when his mom was getting him ready for his first day of hero school, and she had bawled extensively when he revealed he had obtained a quirk, though that was more concern than joy. The teen was used to seeing her cry out of sadness or worry. Like when he was told he was quirkless, or when he came home with bruises from bullying and more recently his injuries from using his quirk, or sometimes when the subject of his father came up. That was the norm. This time, however, he had to embrace his mom for quite some time for her to calm down after revealing the results of Tooru's confession. Inko was just so overjoyed for her son to find such positive companionship in such a short amount of time after attending the hero academy. After everything Izuku had to endure growing up, to have another person he could rely on finally, it was just a lot for the mother to take in.
After she had calmed down, Inko asked if her son would invite Tooru over once more sometime soon. The younger Midoriya was quick to say yes, he guessed she wanted to talk with Hagakure. The two females had only exchanged hellos, goodbyes, and two hugs up to this point. It made sense that his mother would want to interact with his new girlfriend. Izuku didn't want the next visit to be the last two, which was just them talking in his room. Sure he had enjoyed their chats, but this would be Tooru's third visit, and their relationship was now at a new level.
Thinking about what to do was keeping him up, as the possible scenarios excited him. Finally, not long after noticing that it was 3 AM, a plan started to form in Midoriya's mind. After mulling over the details of it for a bit, sleep took over when the plan satisfied him.
Walking to school Monday morning, Izuku felt a bit groggy. Only a couple hours of sleep again. He could have waited to think up a plan for Tooru's next visit, but his eagerness from the night before got the best of him. Midoriya planned to reveal his new relationship status with Hagakure amongst his friends first then ask her on another date after school. As he walked inside the school grounds, he saw Mashirao talking to Koji on a nearby bench, the same one as last time.
Ojiro noticed the green haired teen's presence as he approached and said, "Morning Midoriya-kun."
Izuku replied, "Morning guys. You cheering up Koda-san again?"
Nodding the tailed teen stated, "Yep. I've been trying to convince him to come to my place so we can study together."
Koji was quick to shake his head and hands in response.
Mashirao sighed before saying, "But as you can see that's not happening." He then turned to his large friend and said, "You used to come to my house all the time when we were in middle school, what changed?"
Koda just poked his two index fingers together not saying a thing.
The tailed teen then asked, "If I copy my notes from the study sessions I've been having with Yaoyorozu-san, will you use them?"
Koji closed his eyes as he thought about the offer, but eventually opened them and gave a thumbs up.
Getting up, Ojiro stated, "Good, I'll get them copied and have them for you tomorrow."
The three teens then made their way towards class, with Izuku and Mashirao side by side with Koji just behind the pair. Ojiro gave a slight grin after having taken a couple steps and said, "So how was yesterday?"
"I'll give you the full details at lunch," Izuku stated sternly.
This comment only widened the tailed teen's grin as he said, "Ah, so one of you confessed to the other. That's good to hear."
Trying to hold it together, Midoriya responded, "W-Wait, what makes you s-say that?"
Pointing at his friend's face, Mashirao replied, "You're looking to be in a particularly good mood this morning despite the bags under your eyes. Plus, you wanting to wait until lunch to tell me about it? I figure that means you wanna tell everyone at the table else about it, so obviously, you're gonna announce good news about yesterday."
With a defeated tone in his voice, Izuku asked, "Am I that easy to read?"
"Nah, I'm just that good at this sort of thing," Ojiro stated proudly. He then gave a decent slap to Midroiya's back as he said, "Regardless, good job buddy. You finally got your girl."
The teens were just a hallway away from class, but a soft voice from behind the pair made the two stop and turn slowly. "I aspire that your rapport with Hagakure-san is vigorous and protracted." It was Koji. It was the first time Izuku had ever heard his voice. The voice was bit raspy as if he needed water, but Midoriya figured it was because he talked so little.
Putting a hand on the large teen's shoulder, Mashirao stated, "That's a very kind thing for you to say Koda-san." The tailed teen then darted his eyes to Izuku and then with the emphasis on his free hand, pointed from below his waistline towards Koji.
Oh, he wants me to encourage Koda's behavior, Midoriya thought. Getting the point, he said, "Yes, thank you Koda-san. I'll be sure to make Hagakure-san happy."
After giving a slow nod, Koji then walked past the two to get to class.
As Izuku watched Koda put distance between the pair, he asked, "What just happened?"
"I told you he could speak, it just isn't very often," Ojiro said as he shrugged.
Turning to his tailed friend Midoriya asked with more emphasis, "Yes, that I understand, but why now?
Mashirao closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he thought for a moment. Eventually, he pointed upwards after opening his eyes and explained, "Koda-san likes cute things. Like a lot. He probably sees you and Hagakure-san together as a cute couple. Hence him wishing you luck with her."
The green haired teen asked another question, "But how would he know we look cute together? He hasn't seen us interact outside of school."
More time passed as the tailed teen thought of an answer. "Since he doesn't speak, he reads more into things by observing. Even subtle body language probably speaks volumes to him about a person. He probably learned more than enough about you two just from your small interactions in-between classes, even considering Hagakure-san's quirk," the tailed teen explained with care in his voice.
"That's amazing," Izuku said with wonder in his voice.
Ojiro quickly replied, "I know right? It took me some months to see this habit of his in our last school. If he wasn't so nervous about everything I betcha he'd be a great hero if he put such an emphasis into his hero work. But fixing this kind of problem will take time I suppose."
Koji reminded Izuku of himself before he met Tooru. Of being socially awkward and letting it hinder his potential as a person, and eventually as a potential hero. Of course, Midoriya's social standing with others was nowhere near as low as Koda's as he refused to speak most of the time, but he could still relate to the large teen's problems. He then felt determined that at some point he wanted to help Koji with his issues. He was a pal of Mashirao's, and it just seemed like the right thing to do anyway. Izuku considered helping him during the summer camp training.
The pair arrived at their classroom and Midoriya breathed deeply. Just have to get through morning classes, then comes the reveal, he thought.
Before Izuku knew it, it was lunchtime. He made sure that he and Tooru were the last ones to arrive at the lunch table. The green haired teen told her as they left the classroom after the bell his plan. Hagakure was quick to agree and made sure to follow her new boyfriend in the lunch line. The two waited a bit for Momo, the last one not at the table, to arrive before making their approach.
The pair then sat down, and Izuku slowly made the announcement. Tenya was quick to vigorously shake his hands to congratulate him, Ochako was on the verge of tears, Momo gave a soft squeal of glee, and Mashirao just kept a sly grin on his face since he had already figured it out that morning which annoyed Tooru.
Once Uraraka had calmed down she asked for the details of the date. Before Midoriya could respond, Hagakure said that she'd explain it later to her. Yaoyorozu also stated her interest in the subject, but she too was shot down by the invisible girl. She explained that it felt too personal to discuss over lunch and asked Izuku to not say anything as well for now. The green haired teen found this odd, as Tooru was usually quite open about such things with her friends. While it would have been embarrassing to him, he wouldn't have said no if they had asked him to explain how their day went.
Before the end of lunch, while everyone else was distracted by their chats, Izuku whispered to Tooru, "Hey do you mind meeting me after school too so we can talk?"
She answered back in a low voice, "Is everything alright?"
Midoriya gave a quick nod before saying, "Yeah, I just wanna propose an idea to you. And this isn't exactly the time or place to ask such a question."
Hagakure finished her drink before responding, "Okay, let's met under that pretty tree like the last time we had a chat." The boy remembered back to that day, which was a week after their first date. It was then that he found out her logic behind having their initial meeting at the table they were currently sitting at and had suggested to her the wearing of bracelets to better understand her body language in particular attire. He agreed and mentally prepared himself for what was going to happen soon.
Izuku was again the first to arrive at the bench. As he and Tooru left class 1-A, his girlfriend said she needed to quickly use the bathroom and asked him to go on ahead. Again the shade of the Japanese maple tree was appreciated as Midoriya sat down. Summer was in full swing now, and the teen could see the dark red samara fruits on the tree were almost fully grown. After making this observation Midoriya instead turned his thoughts to the task at hand. He replayed the main points of his plan over and over in his head, so when the time came, he could easily tell it to Hagakure.
After a few minutes passed, Tooru came into view. Once she arrived and sat down, the invisible girl asked, "So what's this idea you wanna propose to me Izuku?"
"Well, I thought we could do something different together since we are a couple now," Izuku said with confidence.
Tooru leaned towards her boyfriend and said with sass, "Look at you trying to be in the lead for once." She then gave a short giggle before asking, "So what are you suggesting we try?"
After taking a deep breath, Midoriya asked, "Would you like to work out with me this Friday?"
Hagakure seemed to be taken aback by this and said, "Izuku I don't think I would be able to keep up with you in your type of training. Your quirk seems like the type that just requires you to lift heavy weights and stuff. That's kind of not my thing."
Izuku shook his head and replied, "I do more than just that, but only during the week. I only plan for us to jog together because I usually take a break from training on the weekend so I wanna keep it light."
Tooru remained silent for a bit as she pondered about the proposal.
To further entice his girlfriend to the idea, the green haired teen stated, "We could then come over to my place and have dinner after the run if that's okay with you."
With immediate interest, the invisible girl asked, "Are sure you're okay with me staying over for so long?"
"Totally. I thought this would be something interesting for us to try and do together," the green haired teen stated with a smile.
Now with a cheerful tone in her voice Hagakure said, "Sounds fantastic. But you could have asked me this at lunch you know."
"I guess I could have, but after seeing your reaction to the girl's requests to know the specifics about our date I thought you wouldn't be in the mood for them to gossip about my proposal if they heard about it," Izuku tried to explain.
"Oh, that's different. It would have been embarrassing to talk about our date in front of the other boys, especially that teaser Ojiro-san. I do want to tell the girls though. It might inspire Uraraka-san to be more bold with Ida-san," Tooru said with her last comment being in a mischevious tone.
Midoriya gave an awkward chuckle as he stated, "Wouldn't that be something?"
Hagakure, however, remained silent as she leaned back on the bench more.
The boy was compelled to ask, "What are you thinking about?"
"Trying to figure out how I can tell the girls without the presence of the guys. The only idea I currently have would be in the locker room, but the time we spend there is too short to discuss everything I want to say, and I don't want the other girl's in our class to listen in. Ashido-san is usually a wonderful person to be around but she can be such a pain sometimes when she prods Uraraka-san and me with questions," the invisible girl huffed in frustration.
As Tooru continued to ponder her possibilities, Izuku too began to brainstorm as well. As he thought of scenarios, he found the idea that she wanted to keep their status as a couple a secret to the other females in his class besides his close friends was comforting. A few minutes passed of pondering before he proclaimed, "Why not a sleepover between you girls? That should give you plenty of time to explain our date and give you a great opportunity to further bond with them as well."
Hagakure raised her arms in excitement as she replied, "That sounds perfect! Thanks, Izuku." She then hugged her boyfriend, and lucky for him they were at the far edge of the campus, so no one was around. Midoriya returned the embrace, and the two stayed together for about a minute before Tooru moved to separate. She then apologized, "Sorry, I know you probably want to keep this relationship on the low outside our main group of friends. I should have controlled myself."
"It's fine, there isn't anyone out here after school hours," the green haired teen stated as he tried to reassure her.
Still, with concern in her voice, the invisible girl replied, "Yeah, but what if someone did see us?"
Scratching the back of his head, Midoriya responded with, "Well, I guess if word ever got out then class tomorrow would definitely be i-interesting."
With a confused voice, Hagakure said, "Sounds like you would be okay with it. Sorry, that just sounds odd coming from you Izuku."
Midoriya explained, "I'd be stressing out for certain, but I think for the most part our classmates would be supportive of us minus a few exceptions."
"Firecracker and that perverted purple blob probably," Hagakure said bluntly.
Again after giving a shaky chuckle, Izuku stated, "Well, I think Mineta-san would probably just be jealous. And Kacchan either wouldn't care or-". He stopped his sentence as he started to really think about. What would Bakugo do if he found out about his relationship with Tooru? Not being bothered seemed like a typical reaction, but would he be angry? Well, he was always angry but would this fact make him more than usual. Midoriya's relationship with Hagakure wouldn't impede with Bakugo's aim to be the number one hero, so why would he care? But the possibility of his childhood friend, as the person he now loathed, being the first in class to have a girlfriend might get to the explosive quirk user. Being number one in everything was his schtick, after all, so even this might bother him.
Before Izuku could continue pondering this subject he felt a poke on his cheek. The source of the jab asked, "You're muttering at light speed. What gives?"
Midoriya cupped his hands over the hand Hagakure used to poke him with as he said, "S-Sorry, I was just contemplating the possible reactions Kacchan would have if he ever found out."
Tooru quickly pulled her hand from the green haired teen's and proclaimed, "Why are you worried what he thinks? Screw his feelings on the feelings that we share."
A bit startled by her physical reaction Izuku tried to explain, "He's still a classmate of ours and like it or not, it concerns me what he might do since there's a possibility it could be negative, for both of us."
"Ignoring whatever he does is what I'll do, that's for sure. Even if he congratulated us, which I know he won't cause he's an asshole," Hagakure said with agitation in her voice.
Midoriya gave a long sigh before stating, "Either way, let's just keep us under wraps for now. And if we get found out we get found out, as a-awkward as that would be."
"If you say so," Tooru stated with a huff.
It was Tuesday morning, and Izuku was currently in class. All Might was giving a brief history lesson about pro heroes. He was covering the transition period of the quirked being considered vigilantes to the government setting up a hero program to better regulate quirk usage by the populace as the population became more quirked than normal.
It truly was a fascinating topic, but Midoriya had other things on his mind. He had ended his talk with Tooru on such a sour note yesterday against his wishes. The green haired teen felt he should have known better than to continue to show concern for Katsuki in front of her. It was one of the few things they ever disagreed on. But that didn't stop him from being curious about the subject. But this for sure cemented the idea to avoid speaking of Bakugo anytime soon in front of his girlfriend.
On a more happier note, Izuku was successful in getting Tooru to want to come Friday. Hopefully, if everything went to plan, he could give his mom the one on one time he wanted for her and his girlfriend to have. It still bothered Midoriya what subject matters the two could discuss, but his want to please his mother outweighed his apprehensiveness.
The bell rang for lunch, and the class made their way out of the room, except for Izuku. All Might erased his notes on the whiteboard and once finished, he turned around to see only his successor was left in the classroom. Intrigued by his presence, the hulking hero cheerfully asked, "Got something on your mind, my boy?"
"Yeah, there was something important I wanted to tell you," Midoriya explained with seriousness in his voice.
With haste, All Might replied, "Well make it quick then, I got a teacher's meeting to attend."
Not expecting this, Izuku responded with, "Oh, well I need a bit more time than that to talk to you about this."
With a slight tilt of his head, the number one hero asked, "Mind swinging by the teacher's break room then after school if it's going to take some time to tell me?"
Excitedly, the green haired boy responded with, "That should work."
As All Might made his way to the door, he proclaimed, "See you then my protege!"
It was near the end of lunch at the group table. Tooru had yet to bring up the idea of the sleepover to the girls. Izuku wondered, was she nervous to ask them in front of the guys? Maybe she was going to ask them on a different day? Or perhaps just not at lunch, like possibly over the phone. He realized, at that moment, he still hadn't invited Momo to the group chat and needed to add her soon. Regardless, his friends were discussing All Might's lesson that just happened. Though at the moment it was more arguing it seemed.
"I'm just saying I find the idea of vigilantes as cool, nothing more," Mashirao tried to argue.
Sternly, Tenya replied, "And I stand by the fact that it's a dangerous path for a hero to go down, and we shouldn't see it in any positive light. Being at the edge of the law won't do anyone favors. It's a fragile line between a vigilante and a crazed villain who justifies his actions 'for the greater good.' Just look at the Stain if you want proof of such an instance."
Ida's words got Ojiro to drop the subject and drastically changed the mood in the air at the table. Thankfully Tooru spoke up after a few moments, "On a more happier note, I got a proposal for Uraraka-san and Yaoyorozu-san."
The girls looked to their invisible friend with perplexed looks. Tenya stopped drinking his orange juice. Mashirao seemed a least somewhat intrigued. Izuku tried to look surprised despite knowing what was about to be said.
With a jolly tone, Hagakure asked, "How'd you two like to come over to my place for a slumber party after our next study session?" Midoriya felt Tooru's right arm wrap around his neck as she pulled him in and stated, "I'll be sure to give you all the details of my date with Midoriya-kun if you come." This statement instantly got the girls to agree to the idea. Izuku felt he had been used as bait here but was okay with it regardless; it made Tooru happy, so it was worth it.
With a slightly agitated tone in his voice, Mashirao asked, "What's wrong with all of us having a sleepover?"
"Sounds like a logistical nightmare for one," stated Momo bluntly.
"And there's no guarantee all of our parents would be ok with a co-ed sleepover, no matter who's house we stay at," Ochako added.
Ojiro gave a quick grunt after hearing the girls' logic.
Tooru seemed happy seeing this and said, "See? No boys allowed, just us girls. Too bad Ojiro-san."
This comment got the tailed teen to stand and proclaim, "Oh yeah? Well us guys will just have a slumber party of our own!"
Both Izuku and Tenya responded in unison, "What?"
Mashirao continued by saying, "Yeah, and it's gotta be better than whatever you girls end of doing!"
A chuckle from Tooru came as she said, "Okay, this is childish even for you."
While raising his tail, Mashirao proclaimed, "I'm serious here!"
Ida then spoke up and asked, "And I'm taking you wanna do this at your place then, Ojiro-san?"
"Nah, it's gonna be at yours," Ojiro was quick to say.
Tenya adjusted his glasses as he stated, "Is it now?"
"Look, I'll explain why later," Mashirao stated as he sat back down.
Before anyone could say anything more on the matter, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
Izuku was laid back on a couch in the teacher's break room after school.
All Might was late.
Midoriya had done his routine entrance ritual with the doorknob earlier but got no response, until Cementoss opened the door. The pro hero knew about the procedure and was surprised that the student knew about it. He let the boy in, explaining that he had seen the hulking hero on the phone just minutes before. Once Cementoss had gotten the food he warmed up out of the microwave; he made his leave.
As he sat there waiting, Izuku was still trying to grasp what had happened at lunch. A sleepover with the guys? At Tenya's house? Why not Mashirao's? Was this again something to do with Ojiro's past? If so, what was it about his home that would reveal details? It was a lot to comprehend. Midoriya wasn't against the idea of going, in fact, he was elated to do the activity. It was only the circumstances of Mashirao wanting to do it was bothering him. The green haired teen knew his tailed friend was competitive, and probably didn't want to be one-upped by Tooru, but he felt there was more to it than just that.
A click came from the door to the room, and Izuku saw All Might in his true form come through the door with steam surrounding his body. This made him sit up as the man entered the room.
In a wheeze, the skeleton of a man stated, "Sorry for being late. I got an interview to do for a news station later this week. The director at the station keeps calling asking me pointless long-winded questions, but I just have the guts to ignore them." He coughed before saying, "Literally." The teacher then plopped down on the sofa opposite to his successor.
With concern, Midoryia asked, "You sure you're going to be okay?"
After clearing his throat, All Might replied, "All a part of the job kid, nothing I can't handle. But enough about me, what is it that you need to bring to my attention?"
"Well, a lot's happened since we last talked," the green haired teen said.
This got a raised eyebrow out of the pro hero, but he remained quiet.
Izuku continued by saying, "I've been spending a lot of time with Hagakure-chan, and just two days ago was her sixteenth birthday."
Midoriya then gave a brief description of the day's events. When it came to his approach towards the beach he left no detail out, well minus the kiss to the forehead he had received from Tooru and the personal details he had learned since meeting her.
At the end of his tale, Izuku said, "And so we're a couple now, and I just thought I should tell you since you've been such a pivotal person in my life, even though we've only personally known each other for about a year."
During the entirety of Midoriya's story, All Might remained silent, only giving slight reactions. A nod here, a surprised expression there. But at the end of it all, he got up and stood over his successor. In a puff of smoke, the man assumed his muscled form and lifted Izuku up and brought him into a hug and proclaimed, "Congratulations to you and Hagakure-san. You did good Midoriya, my boy."
This statement got a few tears from Izuku as he returned the embrace to his mentor.
"Still got to work on you crying all the time though," the hulking hero stated after a few moments. He then put the boy back down. And in yet another blast of steam, All Might returned to his true form and sat down next to his student. While Midoriya tried to wipe away his tears, his teacher, while breathing somewhat heavily between words, said, "How ironic that she confessed to you at the very place you received my gift. Truly inspiring."
"Yeah," Izuku said after a sniff. After clearing his throat, the boy continued, "Can you believe I even wore my training clothes that day too?"
A sudden chuckle came from All Might but it soon turned into a fit of coughs. After wiping a dribble of blood from his mouth, the skeleton of a man replied, "What a riot indeed." However, his voice changed to be more serious as he said, "While I truly am happy for you both, there's still the matter of our little secret. I understand that she is your girlfriend, and having such a partner means you need to be more open to one another but under no circumstance should you reveal anything about One for All."
Midoriya was quick to say, "I understand. I made sure not to say anything too questionable during my explanation about my training."
All Might put a hand on the boy's head as he said, "About that, did you really say it was your uncle that had helped you during the clean-up?"
Confused by his words and the gesture, Izuku responded with, "Yeah, it was all I could think of at the time."
A short grunt came from the pro hero, and a smile started to form on his face. "Uncle Toshinori, I like the sound of that," he said as ruffled the boy's hair.
Toshinori? The green haired teen suddenly realized he didn't know what his mentor's actual name was. He was tempted at that moment to ask about his last name but was more focused on the latter part of what All Might had just said. Did the pro hero just admit that he saw himself as a parental figure to his student? It comforted him regardless.
"Oh and one more thing. You already know that I am open to help you with anything if you need it, but I'm afraid I'm quite inexperienced when it comes to dating women. You'll need to look elsewhere if you need advice about any troubles you might have with your invisible girlfriend," the skeleton of a man stated awkwardly.
This statement surprised the successor to All Might. Had his mentor truly only focused on his inheritance of One for All plus being the number one hero of Japan and never tried to develop a deep relationship with someone? Sure, he wasn't obligated to find someone to settle down with, not everyone finds or wants someone to date or marry, but the boy felt his idol was quite lonely regardless. Because of the secrecy of his quirk and the high profile lifestyle he lived, the hulking hero didn't seem to have any real friends, just co-workers, and acquaintances. It felt depressing to Midoriya, but he couldn't think of a way he could cheer up All Might after revealing such a thing. All the number one hero had was him, it seemed, and the best he could do to respect that bond they had was to keep his most guarded secret.
Regardless of what he thought, eventually, Izuku replied, "I'll keep that in mind, sir."
Sitting in front of the air conditioner unit at his house, Izuku was trying to cool off. He had just finished his daily training routine and was sweating bullets. He knew taking a shower right away would have been the smart thing to do, but he wanted to enjoy the cold air a bit before washing up. Just as he was about satisfied with his body temperature, he noticed his phone receiving a message. However, upon looking at it, the boy realized it wasn't a message; it was an invitation from Mashirao to join a new chat group, called the bro squad. He also noticed Tenya was invited as well. Baffled at the reason it was created, and the terrible name, Midoriya began to type a response.
All Might: Seriously?
Lion: What?
All Might: Is this necessary?
Glasses: Minus the group name, I think it's a good idea. There might be scenarios where we need to talk with just us guys.
Lion: Thank you Ida-san, however, the name stays.
This comment got a chuckle from Izuku.
Glasses: Fine, it's not that important. However, could you please tell me why we have to have this sleepover at my place?
Lion: Sorry to put this on you. You're right, I should explain myself.
A minute passed before a response came.
Lion: My dad is very sick. It's a lifelong kind of thing, and it's really depressing to be around sometimes. I didn't want you guys to feel sorry for my family and me if you came over to my place.
Midoriya thought, whatever could this sickness be? What he had observed of his friend's father last week wasn't just a cold as he initially thought, it was something much more severe.
All Might: What does he have?
Lion: I would rather not say.
Izuku was torn upon seeing this. He understood it was a personal matter, but he was concerned about the well being of his tailed friend and his father. Midoriya hoped that maybe he would learn more at the sleepover.
Glasses: That's fine. Private matters of the family are between you and your loved ones.
All Might: Sorry I asked, didn't know it was that bad.
Lion: It's okay. Thanks for understanding you two.
Glasses: And I am to guess you chose my place over Midoriya-kun's because you didn't want him to worry?
Lion: Pretty much.
Midoriya felt he would have been okay with them coming over. He had Tooru over twice, and soon she would be over again. But he understood his friends were only looking out for him and began typing.
All Might: Thanks for looking out for me.
Lion: No problem, don't wanna stress you out and all.
Glasses: Well now that I understand your reasoning, let me discuss with my parents about you guys coming over this weekend. I'll update you as things develop.
Lion: Thanks so much Ida-san!
All Might: I hope they say yes!
It was now Friday, and both Izuku and Tooru were on the train towards the former's household. There they would change out of their uniforms and go to a local park where Midoriya liked to jog. He had asked Hagakure the day before to bring some work out clothing to change in to, and as embarrassing as it was to say, she could use his shower to wash up after their run. They were currently holding hands, and Tooru was humming some recently released popular pop music tune that Izuku vaguely recognized.
As they waited in silence, Izuku thought back to two days before. Tenya was able to confirm at Wednesday's lunch that the sleepover could be done at his place. He and Mashirao were both excited at the news, and the other girls didn't mind minus Tooru. She later told Izuku that she was a bit peeved that Mashirao wasn't joking about his plans for the boys.
Midoriya remembered Hagakure saying that day after lunch:
Ojiro-san always has to try and tease me about something. He's like the annoying twin brother I never had.
Izuku had to agree somewhat that the relationship between the two seemed quite similar to what his girlfriend had described. It made him wonder if he hadn't bonded with Tooru, would Mashirao have instead been the one to bond with her, and maybe they would dated or become a couple. The thought was rapidly shaken out of his head. It shouldn't concern him now, he was with Hagakure, and that's all that mattered.
After getting off the train and walking some, they arrived at an empty house.
"My mom is doing grocery shopping, but she should be back by the time we're done jogging," the younger Midoriya explained to his girlfriend.
Inko had told her son that morning her plans for the day. The thought of the two being alone in his house did bother the boy, but since they would be leaving quickly, he was able to cope with it. They both then changed, Izuku in his room, and Tooru in the bathroom. He wore the same outfit he wore on their last date, and she wore a white athletic t-shirt with black shorts that had white stripes along the sides. Midoriya walked out of his room to see Tooru putting on some black sweatbands to her wrists.
She turned around once she noticed his presence and said, "You ready to work up a sweat Izuku? I wanna go at a brisk pace!"
Surprised by her eagerness to go so fast, Izuku asked, "You want us to sprint in this weather?"
Summer was in full force at the moment. The dry heat would tire them out quickly, so he was just planning a nice slow but decently long jog.
"We gotta push our limits if we wanna pass the final exams in two weeks! You know, Plus Ultra and all that jazz. The hot weather will just be that much tougher on us to push us," Hagakure proclaimed with zest in her voice.
Motivated by her words Midoriya responded, "Okay, let's do it!"
The pair then left the house and made their way to the park nearby that Izuku often worked out at. Fortunately for them, some clouds did roll in during their walk, and there were small breaks from the heat from the temporary shade they would provide. The two began their jog moderately fast, but after a few minutes Tooru sped up, and Izuku struggled to keep up. After two laps around the park at this pace, Hagakure stopped at a water fountain to get a drink. Once Midoriya caught up he stood under a tree as he tried to catch his breath.
Tooru approached her boyfriend after the drink and stated, "That was a nice warm-up. Ready for the real deal?"
Flabbergasted that the jog had just been what she described, Izuku said, "Are we going to be full on sprinting now?"
The invisible girl then asked, "Have I been going too fast?"
"Yeah, that speed is too much for me for just a jog. I knew you were quick Tooru, but jeez," the green haired teen explained been large breaths.
Tooru was quick to respond, "Why not just use your quirk for a boost? You'd zoom past me with it I think."
"You know I can't publically use it for something like running for exercise," Izuku stated in a whine.
His girlfriend's rebuttal was, "I doubt anyone is gonna notice you running faster. So go ahead and use it."
"Tooru, my veins glow red, and I give off bio-electricity when I activate Full Cowl, it will be obvious I'm using a quirk," Midoriya argued.
Hagakure grunted and said, "I need a challenge Izuku! How do you suggest I push myself if I have to stay at your pace?"
Midoriya leaned against the tree behind him as he thought a possible solution. Eventually, he spoke up and said, "Well, why don't we make it a competition? We run as fast as we can, and the first one to stop from exhaustion loses? That way we can push ourselves without hindering one another cause of our different speeds."
After a few moments to ponder the suggestion, Tooru said, "I would be okay with that. You ready to lose?"
While clenching a fist, Izuku stated, "You wish!"
Midoriya lost count how many laps they did and how many times he got lapped. Tooru was surprisingly the first to quit, though her boyfriend was almost ready to give as well at that point. Midoriya rounded a corner to see Tooru sitting on the ground breathing loudly.
"Looks like you win in the end Izuku. I might be faster, but you have the better endurance it seems," the invisible girl huffed.
The green haired teen sat down next to her and said between breaths, "I was about at my limit. Another lap was all I had left in me."
The two sat there for a few minutes to catch their breath before finding a water fountain to quench their thirst. While Tooru drank, he noticed something odd. Midoriya was drenched in sweat, yet when he looked at Hagakure, there wasn't a drop of liquid on her skin. It would have been quite obvious that she was sweating, it would be floating liquid all around her invisible limbs and face. But there was nothing.
After taking a drink himself, Izuku asked, "Hey Tooru, were you holding back at all today?"
A bit taken aback by the comment, Tooru replied, "No. I gave my all when I ran just now. I want to push my limits, remember? Why are you asking?"
"Well, you're bone dry. It looks like you didn't shed a single bead of sweat from our run," Midoriya explained.
"Oh, that. My quirk makes my sweat invisible. Everything about me is invisible: my hair, sweat, tears, drool, blood, you name it, you're not going to see it," the invisible girl explained.
Surprised by the revelation, Izuku said, "I had no idea." He paused before asking, "Wait, even your blood can't be seen?"
"Yep. It makes cleaning up wounds a huge pain," Hagakure said with agitation.
This fact got the boy to think back to the day after school that he told Tooru and Mashirao about everything that had happened with the Hero Killer. He remembered when she had become distraught about his well being. Izuku didn't remember seeing tears. He thought she had wiped them away before he could see them, but they must have been there all along, but they were just invisible. With this fact in mind, it would mean that it might be hard to tell his girlfriend was not only hurt physically but mentally. Midoriya wouldn't be able to tell if Hagakure was ever in bodily harm or crying just from looking at her. Just another complication he would need to be aware of when interacting with the invisible girl, he thought.
After collecting his thoughts, Izuku said, "That does sound troublesome."
"Well anyway, mind if we start heading back to your place? I'd love to take a shower now," Tooru stated.
The boy then saw one of her sweatbands be brought up towards him. He grasped in front of it to grab her hands, and it indeed felt wet from her non-visible sweat. After giving a smile, he said, "Sure, let's go."
The two arrived back at the house with no sign of the boy's mother. It somewhat concerned Izuku, but he remembered it was Friday afternoon. It would probably be quite busy where ever she was at this time, it was rush hour after all at the moment. The boy insisted that Tooru shower first, which she had no problem taking the offer.
While Hagakure washed up, Midoriya grabbed the most recent edition of his series of notebooks to pass the time and not think about his girlfriend being nude in his bathroom. This one was almost finished, as it cataloged all the quirks he had observed since he began U.A. and he was nearing its final pages. However, he already had two pages dedicated to Hagakure and turned to her section. There was plenty of room still left to write the new details he just learned, and he began jotting them down. Izuku kept thinking and writing until he heard the bathroom door open. He turned to see Tooru in a white and dark blue striped t-shirt with white shorts, and she now had on dark blue snap bracelets.
"Your turn, stinky," Hagakure teased.
Midoriya nodded and closed his notebook before grabbing the pile of fresh clothes at his side. Just before entering the bathroom he stated, "My mom should be home any minute, help yourself to anything in the fridge if you're thirsty."
The boy then entered his bathroom and turned on the water to let it fill the tub. He had decided to take a bath over a shower to buy more time for his mom to get home. Just before he was getting in, he heard voices through the door and figured his mother had returned. Perfect. Now he could take a long bath to give them some alone time, even though the subjects they might discuss did give him some worry. Izuku hoped whatever they discussed wasn't embarrassing for Tooru.
After the boy felt enough time had passed, he finished up and changed into a light green sleeveless shirt and light brown khaki shorts before walking out of the bathroom. Inko was busy making dinner in the kitchen.
As Izuku came into view, his mom said, "Afternoon honey." He saw that her eyes were red, probably from crying. She and Tooru probably had a moment, the boy guessed. She then got closer and whispered, "Thanks for inviting Hagakure-chan on such a short notice, I just wanted to talk to her after everything that had happened."
The younger Midoriya was glad his thoughts were correct on his mother wanting to speak to his girlfriend. "No problem mom," the green haired boy said as he continued walking to see what Tooru was up to. The person in question was laying on her back on the sofa and reading his notebook. He gulped and asked, "Find anything interesting?"
"Gotta say Izuku if I didn't know you so well I would say this would be quite creepy," Tooru said in a serious tone.
This got an awkward chuckle out of the boy.
She then continued, "I do like your new entry about me though."
Midoriya had hoped she hadn't seen that part of the notebook. He replied, "I just had to write about it since it was still fresh in my mind."
Hagakure then stated, word for word a few sentences he had written, "Transparency not only makes her tissues invisible but everything else from her body. Have observed sweat as being transparent after strenuous activity, could see no liquid but felt the wetness of her skin. Subject has stated that other parts of the body like tears, saliva, and blood are also invisible. This fact point supports the theory that her quirk is at the cellular level and does not degrade even when expired, otherwise, her hair, fingernails, and technically her top layer of skin would be visible as they are made up of dead cells. This can also be seen as both positive and negative attributes for her prospects as a hero. This better hides her presence if winded or hurt from combat. However, it also means teammates would not be able to tell if the subject was fatigued or in need of medical assistance visually." She then sat up and teased, "I can continue if you want."
Izuku sat down and responded, "I think I'm good, thanks."
A voice made them both turn around as they said, "That does sound creepy."
Inko was standing in the hallway with oven mitts on her hands.
"Mooomm," the younger Midoriya whined.
The older Midoriya shrugged and stated, "What? I just put the sauce in the oven and wanted to see what you two were up to. I know you're really into heroics honey, but what you wrote sounds like you have her in a laboratory doing tests."
Izuku sighed as his face went crimson and the two women laughed at his embarrassment.
An egg timer rang in the distance and Inko quickly left to attend whatever she had set the timer for.
With his blush fading, Izuku asked, "So what did you and my mom talk about while I bathed."
"That's between us females," Tooru said with sass in her voice.
The green haired teen didn't expect to get a straight answer, but he also didn't think he would be totally shut down.
The look of disappointment on her boyfriend's face did get Hagakure to say, "Well it was nothing too embarrassing. She mostly just thanked me for being such a good friend to you. And I know I've already told you this, but your mom is just like you as you've described. She's a big crybaby like you."
Midoriya sighed and replied in a sarcastic tone, "Thanks for the complaint."
"What? It's okay to have a good cry every once in a while. Better to let it all out than to hold it in till you explode," Tooru explained.
Izuku couldn't argue with that logic, but All Might's advice about his quickness to shed tears still rebounded in his head even days later. Plus he felt it made him look pathetic.
Hagakure then said, "We talked about some other things, but that's strictly between me and your mom, sorry."
Happy with what he was able to get out of his girlfriend, Midoriya responded with, "I understand. Thanks for telling what you could to me."
The two spent the rest of their time before the food was ready talking about their other classmate's quirks that Izuku had written in the notebook. They mainly focused on their close group of friends, and Mashirao's pages got Tooru to question about the tailed teen's dad. In the journal, the boy had noted the older Ojiro's quirk in relation to his son. This made Midoriya reveal to Hagakure what had happened that afternoon he met Mr. Ojiro. He didn't reveal the man's sickness that he had observed or been told by the younger Ojiro by text. The boy felt like he couldn't tell his girlfriend about it as he lacked the full details about it, plus he wanted not to disrespect his tailed friend's privacy.
Dinner went quite well. Sure Izuku had invited Tooru on Friday so she could stay later and it wouldn't interfere with school since it was on the weekend. But he also brought her so she could try his favorite food, and she did like it. As they ate Tooru made it her mission to try and embarrass Izuku in front of his mom by talking about their previous interactions. But she was quick to find out that everything she said was already known by the older women. Izuku instead tried to talk about his study sessions at Momo's house. Their third session would be tomorrow, and he hadn't yet discussed them in detail with his mom. Tooru was quick to jump at the opportunity to talk about it, as it was doing wonders for her studying and confidence for the final exam. Once dinner was finished, Inko left the two alone as they were about to say their goodbyes to one another.
The two were currently standing in front of the now open door that exited Izuku's apartment. Tooru then said, "I never saw you as the type to be so open about everything with your mom."
Trying to explain, Midoriya stated, "I needed to vent my stress on how quickly we moved in our relationship somehow. And telling my mom helped me cope a bit."
With a soft voice, Hagakure then asked, "Does it bother you that we progressed this quickly?"
After giving a few moments of thought, Izuku replied, "I think I was stressing out more because of my lack of social skills. Plus this was on top of just getting a quirk and everything that's been happening at school. I'm sure if I was normal it wouldn't have been such a problem."
"Well, I'm glad you aren't normal Izuku! I wouldn't have asked you to be my boyfriend if you were," the invisible girl proclaimed cheerfully.
With a blush, the green haired boy stated, "T-Thanks Tooru."
Midoriya then felt hands grab both of his own. "I like this back and forth ritual we have between us you know?"
Baffled at what she meant Izuku asked, "What do you mean?"
"First you asked me to come to your place after the Hero Festival. Then I asked to come a second time. You then proposed celebrating my birthday together. Next came me confessing to you. And now we did all this today, of your suggestion," Hagakure explained slowly.
Surprised that he hadn't noticed this, Midoriya then asked, "I guess that means you wanna ask me to do something with you?"
The invisible girl replied with a serious tone, "Yeah, but I want you to be honest about how you feel about this. No saying yes for my sake, say yes because you wanna do it."
Izuku responded with, "Okay, I promise. Now, what is it?"
After a few moments, Tooru said slowly and with care, "Wanna come and see my folks next Sunday?"
Izuku's breathing started to pick up at this comment.
The invisible girl was quick to say once she saw his reaction, "Sorry. Forget I asked. This is still too soon I guess."
Midoriya was rapid to argue, "N-No it's okay, I wanna see your f-folks."
"Izuku, you're a terrible liar. It looked like your heart was about to leap out of your chest when I asked," Hagakure said bluntly.
"I mean yeah, I'm stressed just thinking about it, but I think at this point I'm more interested in meeting your family then what could happen if I go," the green haired boy tried to explain.
The two then gave quick responses to each other.
"Are you positive?"
"Very!"
"One Hundred percent?"
"Maybe ninety percent."
"Please be honest!"
Izuku hesitated for a moment and then took a step forward to hug Tooru. He then said, "Okay, maybe around eighty, but who cares about a number. I want to go to your home and meet your parents Tooru."
Hagakure was quick to embrace him back. After a few moments, she moved her head back and then placed a kiss on her boyfriend's right cheek. Midoriya's heart began to race. But not because of Tooru's kiss but because of something else. From this position, Izuku was able to see her back bra strap through the neck hole in her clothing, which almost instantly had him jump back.
"What's wrong? You had no problem when I kissed you on your forehead on my birthday," Hagakure asked in confusion.
Midoriya responded with a stutter, "S-Sorry, last time I-I expected it was c-coming."
After sighing, Tooru replied, "Regardless, I did that for saying yes to my proposal." She then said in a softer tone, "And for the hug. I was wondering how long it would be until you would do that to me. As much as I like our embraces, I was getting tired of just be initiating them."
Izuku gulped before responding with, "Y-Yeah I thought it wasn't f-fair to you to always to b-be the one to do i-it."
"Well besides that, it will be a real treat to see how you interact with my parents, I gotta admit," the invisible girl stated. She then parted from her boyfriend and turned to open the door. Before making her leave, Hagakure said, "I'll see you tomorrow at the study session Izuku."
"Yeah, until then Tooru," Midoriya replied.
After his girlfriend left and after closing the door, the teen made a mental note that whenever they kissed in the future, he would need to keep his eyes shut or look elsewhere if he wanted to keep his sanity in check.
This chapter initially was going to be much longer. I wanted to have the third study session and the sleepover to be a part of it, but two problems came up. The first one was thematics, once I started further brainstorming and writing both those scenes I realized how Mashirao centric they were. And since that's the central theme of chapter twelve, I decided to move them there. The second was lack of time; I woke Sunday with only 7k words written as I had been doing something that put off working on this chapter. That reason will be explained in the next paragraph. I wanted to give enough time to go over and edit the chapter, so I cut it off after Tooru's third visit since I work all day this Monday. Plus it was nice to end on the tease of visiting Hakaure's parents. Chapter thirteen will cover the aftermath of twelve, the last study session, and the trip to Tooru's house. Fourteen will focus on the results of the Final Exam and cover an altered shopping trip before the summer training scene from the manga. From there the way things are looking, going from my outlines, we'll probably get to the U.A. dorms by chapter seventeen. After that, a lot of things are up in the air with only major plot points I've jotted down. Either way, just wanted to give ya'll a heads up when I mostly skip over the Final Exam, School Trip, and Hideout Raid arcs and instead mainly focus on their in-betweens and aftermath.
From October 3-13, I did large grammatical edit updates to the already posted chapters (a chapter a day, minus chapter 8 which took two). It grinds my gears that I skip over such apparent errors even after re-reading a chapter for the umpteenth time. As I did the edits, it left me little free time to work on chapter eleven, so in the future, I'll probably spread out my edits so not to conflict with the current chapter. A few extra lines of details were added here and there as well, the only significant additions were to Tooru's second visit to Izuku's house in chapter eight (added over a thousand words) and to a small scene (now proper length) in chapter nine (the one on Sunday just after the first study session). For the Tooru visit, again there were subjects I wanted the two to discuss at that time, and I forgot to mention because of poor planning on my part (that chapter was kinda just written with little pre-planning). For the Sunday scene in nine, I forgot to mention something important there and to do a phone scene with Ochako, don't know how I forgot about it, I wrote it my outline.
The bit about "everything about Tooru is invisible" is a change I'm making from the manga. We see her drool in chapter 99 of the manga, even if it was just used for comedic effect, and I feel like we see her sweat at least once in the manga, but I'm not 100% sure if that ever occurred. Regardless it's a detail I thought that would make more sense with her quirk. It's always interesting to think up ways that Tooru's quirk would make things inconvenient for her in her normal life. I've only got a few more to share that I've been able to think of, and I hope you agree with my reasoning behind them when they get revealed in future chapters. If you have any ideas about potential problems she might face being invisible, shoot me a pm, I'd love to have more opportunities for Izuku learn more about his girlfriend. The whole work-out scene exists because I wanted a scenario where Midoriya could learn about this fact about Hagakure naturally than just asking more about herself.
Hey, got some more use from Koda this chapter! And he spoke! Ok only one line, but it sure was a mouthful. We will see Koji again next chapter as we get to learn more about his relationship with Mashirao. It's always fun to use characters that we know so little about. Fleshing them out is still a challenge that's a joy to try and tackle. I hope I get to use more of class 1-A and even 1-B classmates as things progress but I want to keep their inclusion as natural, not forced, hence why we haven't been seeing them at all minus a passing mention or two, as they haven't been needed.
Chapter twelve will release the day before Halloween!
