Chapter 39: New Year! New Problems. New Solutions?
Tooru asked, "So no more incidents?"
Izuku answered back into the phone with, "Nothing out of the ordinary. It's mostly been patrol work and training in their gym. How about you?"
"Been pretty quiet here, but it's given us a lot of time to train. Ashido-chan is working on something pretty nifty, and I'm developing a super move with Aoyama-kun. I'll show it to you once you are back in the dorms."
"I can't wait!"
Midoriya looked back up at the cloudless night sky. Behind him was the skyscraper that was Endeavor's Hero Agency, his home for the last few days. He had just showered from a long day of work and was catching up with his girlfriend. This was the second time she had called; the first was on New Year's Day when the internship began.
Hagakure then asked, "So did you read any of that book you were given? You seemed pretty hyped about it."
Izuku reached into his pocket and pulled out said object. "I finished it the night after we last talked."
"And?"
Midoriya bit his lip as he pondered the question. He gave a good hard look at its title, Meta Liberation War. An autobiography by one of the most influential villains in Japan's history, Destro. And who had given Izuku this book? The current number two hero of his country, Hawks. Enthusiastically even, and out of the blue. After pursuing a villain just minutes into his internship, the number two hero hastily captured him and then provided Endeavor and the others with the piece of literature. The boy didn't recognize what the book was at first, but he quickly did within the first page. He heard that the leader of the Meta Liberation Army had written such a piece while serving time in prison, but he never had a desire to read such a thing.
"This pause is telling me you didn't like it."
"I mean, its message is good, but the methods are too radical."
"That's about what Inoue-san said too."
"Wait, you know it? And him too?"
"A few years back, he had mentioned it as a crazy book when talking with my dad over dinner. Once I heard you mention the title in our last call, I was curious about what you would think of it, so I didn't say anything. I wanted your unbiased review of it."
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "I see. Well, the idea of a free quirk usage sounds good for the public, the means of fighting violently to achieve that isn't."
"A good message, bad method. I gotcha. Still, I am surprised you are for the idea of free quirks. Things would get pretty chaotic I feel."
"At first, yeah, but I think our current society has gone on long enough that we can do such a thing. It made total sense to restrict quirk usage at the start when the introduction of quirks caused everything to go topsy-turvy. But things, for the most part, are peaceful now. I think it could work." Even quirkless, Midoriya had observed plenty of quirk suppression as he grew up. Sure he had received the wrong end of it at times, but as a whole, he felt limiting how people could express themselves wasn't the way to go about things.
"Well, maybe once you become number one you can fight for such change. You might be able to convince enough people by then." Hagakure then sighed, "Odd that such a cutie as Hawk has such views though. Perhaps this is his way of bringing about such a change. I mean, he doesn't seem like the violent type, right? You met the guy, even if briefly."
Izuku coughed before asking, "Cutie?"
"This isn't the first time I have mentioned it, you know."
"Yeah yeah, I remember." He recalled the conversation when touring Tokoyami's room back in September.
"Plus, he's a real cutie to boot," Tooru giggled.
"What? I can have a cute boyfriend and still find guys' way out of my league dreamy, can't I?"
"You hang out with plenty of nice-looking girls anyhow. Even now. I looked up this Burning sidekick you mentioned in our last call, and she is quite the looker."
Midoriya sighed before saying, "I doubt Kamiji-san would like me having this conversation."
"Ah, she already gave you her last name? On her good side, I see," Hagakure declared with sass in her tone.
"She just mentioned it after work yesterday. That's all. Nothing to it." He couldn't argue that of the three U.A. students interning there, he was her favorite, but that wasn't saying much. Burning's personality clashed with Kacchan constantly, and despite being her boss's son she gave no special treatment to Shoto. It was during dinner that she asked him to call her as such. It just seemed like a sign of respect.
"You know I am only teasing you. Don't let the training make you too serious, even when it's time off."
"Sorry, it's hard not to. This agency takes on so many jobs and cases a day. Even with over thirty sidekicks, I don't know how they do this day in and day out."
"Well, then I guess whenever we choose to make our agency, we try to avoid any busy places. Don't want to work ourselves to death."
Izuku thought hard for a moment before saying, "Yagi-sensei will probably want me to do just that, though. Gotta be number one as fast as possible in his eyes."
"You don't have to make a beeline for that, you know. Do it at your own pace."
"I don't know..."
A deep voice then came from behind the boy. "What are you doing out here so late?"
Midoriya then turned around to see the current number one hero, Endeavor, outside with him. He was suited up and had four sidekicks behind him. However, they were still inside the building and looking at them both through the glass doors.
"You're not a part of the night patrol tonight, so what gives?"
"Oh, uh, just calling a friend is all, sir." Izuku quickly spoke into his phone, "Uh gotta go. Endeavor is here." He then hung up and looked back at the hulking man.
"You can do that from your room. Your school has made it a high priority that all students be under constant supervision."
Midoriya looked down as he said, "Yes, sir. Just wanted some fresh air too." This was a lie, however. The room he stayed in had thin walls, and the last time he was on the phone with his girlfriend, it had kept up Bakugo. This was his solution, but it seemed to have backfired. "I'll be going now."
The boy began to walk back inside, but Endeavor held out a hand to block him and said, "Before that, I have something to ask you, Midoriya-san."
"Uh, sure. Sir. What do you need?"
"How is Shoto as of late? That boy never tells me anything, no matter how much I prodded him during his first term. I figured him interning under me would provide a better opportunity, but he's only been all business with me." The hero looked as serious as ever, but his tone was softer than usual.
Even on the first day, Izuku had noted his aura had changed a lot since he last saw Endeavor during the Sports Festival. And him asking such a question further cemented to the boy that the man was changing for the better, even if he was still very rough around the edges. Midoriya took a moment to think of a response until he explained, "It's been subtle, but I feel Todoroki-kun has changed a lot. He used to avoid anyone outside of hero training, but he tries to be a part of things now. He's really become a part of the class 1A family in the last couple of months."
The older Todoroki breathed heavily in relief before giving a slight wave of his hand and stated, "I appreciate your perspective. Now get to bed. I have a lot planned for you and the other two tomorrow. You're going to need all the rest you can get." The sidekicks then came outside and began to follow the hero as he made his exit down the street.
Izuku then shouted, "One more thing, sir!"
Endeavor halted but did not turn around. His subordinates almost slammed into his back.
Midoriya took a few steps forward and said, "He was really worried about you, you know. The day you took down that Nomu with Hawks. Half the class was watching what happened live on TV."
There was silence for a few moments, but then the man said, "Shoto is lucky to consider you as a friend Midoriya-san." He then resumed his walk.
Izuku then felt his phone vibrate and looked to see what it was.
Blank: We're not done talking. Call me whenever you are free again.
I guess I can continue the call in the lobby, Midoriya thought as he went back inside.
Ida cleared his throat. "Before we begin eating, I have something to ask you all."
Everyone at the table stopped themselves before digging in to hear what their class president had to say. They had just sat down for lunch on the first day of the third term.
"Considering everything that happened between us last term because of TAC and especially that night of Ochako's birthday, I feel our friendship has grown enough for us to address each other by first name.
Uraraka sighed and shook her head but said nothing.
Hagakure shrugged before saying, "You know, if you felt that way, you could have just called us as such, and it would have been no big deal, Tenya-kun."
Ochako nodded. "That's what I said. Though I didn't expect him to bring this up today."
Tenya crossed his arms as he argued, "I didn't want to make it awkward. Especially if someone didn't feel it was time yet."
Mashirao chuckled. "Instead, you made it awkward by asking it outright."
Uraraka patted her boyfriend's back as he slumped forward in defeat.
"Well, regardless, I think it's a wonderful idea, Tenya-kun," Yaoyorozu said as she clasped her hands together.
Hagakure instead brought an arm to her chin as she said, "On the note of us being so close, hey, Momo-chan and Ochako-chan, wanna do another sleepover this weekend?"
Momo laughed before saying, "Getting straight to the point, huh, Tooru-chan?"
"Can you blame me? Besides, I want to hear how both your internships went over the break and share how mine went."
Ochako looked deep in thought as she said, "Who's room would we have it in?"
"It was my idea, so obviously, we have it in my room!"
Mashirao then spoke up. "Just don't stay up too late. Momo still has the group study for the class on Sunday morning."
Tooru playfully said, "Now you sound like Tenya-kun. Don't play coy Mashirao-kun. You just don't want your alone time with Momo-chan interrupted."
Ojiro's face lit up red, and he looked away in defeat as he said nothing, which got Yaoyorozu to chuckle softly.
Hagakure continued with, "I promise not to keep her up too late gossiping about how terrible a french kisser you are."
"I can offer advice on such a subject if you need Mashirao-kun," Ida explained. Uraraka barely held in a laugh upon hearing this.
"No need, Tenya-kun. I am already a great kisser!" Ojiro didn't notice the attention he was garnering from the surrounding tables.
Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow as she stated, "I wasn't aware we had done such a thing yet."
"We haven't." Mashirao quickly corrected himself. He coughed before saying, "Whenever we get around to that, I bet we'll do amazing."
"I was just joking earlier, but man, I didn't think you were so behind compared to the rest of us," Tooru said with sass.
Ojiro was firm as he answered, "The rest of you had plenty of months of head start compared to Momo and me. Besides, we don't need to be part of the relationship arms race you and Ochako-chan have engaged in since the beginning."
Both girls adjusted awkwardly in their seats, knowing full well that he was 100% correct in that second statement.
Ida sighed, knowing full well it was true as well. He then turned his head to Midoriya and asked, "Is everything okay, Izuku-kun? You haven't said anything yet about the proposal."
Everyone looked at the green-haired teen at this, startling him somewhat. "Oh, sorry, I am all for it. Thinking back, I am surprised this hadn't happened last term. I'm just a bit distracted today, is all."
Yaoyorozu tilted her head as she said, "Is it concerning Aizawa-sensei?"
Midoriya nodded and sighed. Their homeroom teacher had been absent, said by All Might to have left for an emergency.
Ojiro leaned back into his chair and said, "It can't have anything to do with what happened at the end of last year. My dad mentioned everything should be cleared for sensei now that he stepped in."
Tenya placed a hand on his chin. "While good to hear on that front, whatever it was seems quite personal to Aizawa-sensei. I learned that Present Mic-sensei is also absent today."
The fact didn't help Izuku feel any better about the situation. He then stated with concern, "And they are good friends, as much as sensei doesn't show it."
Ida then proposed, "Perhaps I could get in touch with All Might-sensei and see if it's anything that we should be worried about. That's the best I think we can hope for at the moment."
Midoriya bowed his head to his class president. He was already planning to do so but appreciated his friend would do this for him. "Can you have All Might-sensei contact me whenever Aizawa-sensei gets back?"
"Uh, sure thing Izuku-kun."
Izuku took a deep breath as he stared at the building in front of him. It was the faculty dorms. He had been standing in front of it for minutes and arguing internally why he had come this late. The boy had only received a text from All Might about twenty minutes ago that his homeroom teacher had returned. He turned around wondering if he should just wait till tomorrow.
"You need to worry about yourself more than us adults, Midoriya-san."
Midoriya spun around and noticed Aizawa had stepped out from the dorm's entrance, wearing his typical get-up.
"Sorry sensei, a force of habit."
The teacher kept approaching and then came to a stop a few meters away before saying, "Yesterday, a classmate's brother was held hostage right in front of you. Yet me being absent for one class on the first day of the third term concerns you more. You need to set your priorities straight."
The final night during the internship had been an experience, alright. It was supposed to be over. Shoto's older sister, Fuyumi, had invited them all to the Todoroki household for dinner. Izuku met the eldest son of the family, Natsuo. The meal itself was tense as the family drama was heavy in the air. Afterward, not long after beginning to walk home, Natsuo was captured by the suicidal fueled villain. He had done it to get Endeavor's attention, as he wanted to be killed by him, and only him. The number one hero hesitated but thanks to the help of the interns, the villain was captured alive, Natsuo was safe, and no one else had been harmed.
Trying to think of another argument, the teen said, "Well, when the TAC meeting was canceled too, I grew even more concerned."
Eraserhead walked past his student as he said, "I didn't want to burden All Might with both lessons today." He turned towards his home but stopped halfway up the steps and took a seat. "We can talk, but not for too long, it's late enough as is."
Midoriya came over and sat to the man's right. Now that he was up close, he could get a good look at his face. And he looked terrible. More so than usual. "That bad, huh?" Izuku thought to himself.
"So how did you find out? All Might I am guessing."
"He only mentioned you had to leave due to an emergency. I had asked for him to text me when you got back. For the morning, I was worried if it was because of what happened on the night of Ochako-chan's birthday. Mashirao-kun mentioned at lunch that shouldn't be the case though."
Shota noticed how his student was addressing his other students but then sighed before saying, "I would have preferred that to what happened." There was a pause, and the man looked at his student perplexed. "Not going to ask what it was?"
Midoriya rubbed his hands together to keep warm as he answered, "Well, I figured it might be too personal to ask."
"How so?"
"You...look like you have been crying sensei."
Aizawa looked upward and closed his eyes, "That obvious, huh? That does explain why Eri-san was so concerned about me when I put her to bed, though." He then brought his head down and rubbed his eyes for a few seconds before saying, "Well, your assumption is correct. I don't want to talk about it." The teacher then looked at the boy and said, "But you do have the right to be told something else."
"Something else?"
"It's Eri-san. Her quirk is acting up. To the point that her horn hurts. The big three brought it to my attention, not long after I got back."
"Does she need to go back to the hospital?"
Eraserhead shook his head. "It means her quirk training needs to start a lot sooner than planned. With the assistance of All Might, we will begin next week."
"Is this on top of her normal schooling that began today?"
"Yes, but we'll be sure to be gradual with it at first, but she needs both. She's woefully behind in academics compared to others her age." Aizawa then stood up and stated, "But enough about me. How was your internship?"
Midoriya got up and looked around. He raised his right hand forward, and a moment later, a black tendril reached forward a couple of meters to grab something. It then returned to the teen's hand before dissipating. He then turned back towards his teacher and opened his hand to reveal a small rock.
Shota placed a hand on the side of his head as he asked, "So you've mastered it? That was quick."
Izuku sighed before replying, "I wouldn't call it perfect. I can apply the strength of One for All to it, but it only lasts for a few moments. With it, I was able to stop a few cars that had been launched in the air yesterday."
"Impressive nonetheless." Eraserhead then looked back at the faculty dorm, and his face turned to mild shock. "I think it's time for you to head back home, Midoriya-san."
Midoriya looked to his left to see Principal Nezu looking at both of them with a faint glare. He then gulped and stated, "That sounds like a good idea, sensei."
"Good afternoon Midoriya-san," Power Loader said as he opened the sliding door to the studio.
"Same to you, sir," Izuku stated as he walked inside.
Maijima leaned in close to the student as he whispered, "Careful with Hatsume-san today. She's in one of her moods."
Midoriya looked over to see Hatsume at her desk. She had one arm resting on the counter, another holding up her head.
"Uh, thanks for the warning."
"So did your friend's birthday go alright?"
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck as he responded with, "Plenty of surprises."
"Is that good?"
"Mostly."
Power Loader shrugged. "Okay, then. Anyways, I'm glad you're here today. Maybe you can lift her spirits. It's usually a lost cause for me."
"I'll try my best," Midoriya stated before going over to his friend. Once he arrived, he placed his backpack on another table before saying, "Afternoon."
With little effort, Hatsume replied, "Hey."
Izuku took a gander at her work. In front of her was a square piece of cloth with some wires running through it on one side. They were hooked into a battery. To Mei's left was a petri dish that looked to have nothing in it. Her left arm was lying on top of a notebook. The handwriting was all in chicken scratch and wasn't readable at all.
"What's all this for?"
"Your girlfriend's secret project."
Midoriya took a few steps back before saying, "Oh, uh, I shouldn't see this, then." He didn't want to ruin Hagakure's surprise if he could avoid it.
Hatsume lifted the hand that was keeping up her head and waved it slightly as she said, "You're fine. Not like there's anything that can be spoiled since it still doesn't work."
"That hasn't stopped you before."
Mei leaned back into her chair as she stated, "I've spent all winter break trying to get this functioning. Even Maijima-sensei is stumped."
"Hagakure-san said there was no rush. She knew how complicated an order this would be," Power Loader said from across the room.
Hatsume's face scowled upon hearing this but said nothing.
Midoriya thought for a few moments before saying, "You wanna make amends with her by completing this, huh?"
"Yeah. This seemed like the perfect solution, but I'm falling flat here. I wanted to avoid asking for help, but once I hit a brick wall, I was forced to ask sensei, to no avail, of course."
"There's always the option of contacting the people who originally made the suit," Maijima stated. He was now beside the desk, grabbing some supplies from a cabinet.
"You know that will take months to do, considering this is just a student and a complex low priority request."
The teacher shrugged. "Better than twirling your thumbs like you have these last few weeks."
Mei looked away and grunted.
Power Loader looked at Izuku and mouthed, "Told you." He then went back to his workbench.
Midoriya looked back at his friend and asked, "Can I help in any way?"
"Not like you could." She waved her hand again as she said, "No offense."
"I understand. So you want me to assist you in any other projects?"
Hatsume got up, looked at her visitor as she said, "I'm just not in the mood today, Midoriya-kun. Sorry."
This was serious, Izuku thought. "It's okay. We all have our off days." He reached down and grabbed his backpack before saying, "If anything comes up, just leave me a text, okay?" He didn't mind. Considering all the time he had skipped out on her, this seemed like nothing.
Mei looked at her visitor with confusion as she stated, "Well even if I did make a breakthrough, it's not like I can tell you what I did."
"Just knowing you're in a better mood is all I need to know," Midoriya said with a beaming grin.
"Uh, okay," Hatsume said as she shrugged.
Izuku looked at the clothes in front of him. "What am I going to do with these?" he thought. Before him was a Santa outfit. Midoriya had been given this to wear during the Christmas party. Everyone had one, even the students in 1B, to his knowledge. It was something the class reps had thought up to do, with assistance from Sato and Sero as well. Each outfit was the same, minus the pom pom at the top of the hat. They were customized for each person. Either they were about their quirk, looks, or personality. For example, Izuku's resembled his hair pattern, and Tooru's had no pom pom at the end of hers to reflect her quirk Transparency.
The issue for Midoriya was what use did he have for it now? He didn't want to get rid of it, but it also felt weird to hold on to it just for one day of the year. Then there was the fact Izuku was most likely going to outgrow it. What then? Keep it solely for the memory? He then wondered, maybe I should ask the others what they plan to do with theirs?
Why was this happening now? Midoriya had decided to do some Spring cleaning. In January...well whatever, his room needed a good deep clean, as he had lived here for nearly half a year already. The Santa costume had been the last article of clothing he needed to go through. Izuku was mostly checking to see if everything still fit him or if he still liked everything in his wardrobe. There wasn't much, especially when compared to his girlfriend, but he was okay with that.
After setting the outfit aside to decide its fate later, the memory of Christmas did make Midoriya look to his nightstand. There, a particular matryoshka doll stood. It was modeled after him in his hero uniform, as Deku. He had received it as a gift from Momo, and the rest of 1A received one as well during Christmas. Izuku reached over and opened it to reveal a single wrapper of chocolate remaining. The doll was just the first surprise; they had all received treats inside. He had received mint chocolates. Unlike most of his peers, however, Midoriya did not consume them all that night. But now only one remained.
Izuku closed the doll and placed it down, but before he could unwrap his final treat, he saw his phone on his nightstand light up.
Alien: Good evening, Midoriya-kun!
The icon was that of a typical small green alien, but pink. Yep, this was Ashido alright, Midoriya thought.
All Might: Evening. What's up?
Izuku was astonished at how large and fast the responses that came next were.
Alien: Hey, I was wondering if we could chat for a bit.
Alien: I've been thinking about talking to you since the term began, but considering what happened on Sunday, I was like, best leave him alone for a bit. But then the week dragged on and on, and it got harder not to say anything. Then tonight I was like, hey it's Thursday night, we used to practice on Thursday nights. It wouldn't be weird to ask to chat again if I texted you tonight.
Midoriya wondered if the girl honestly could type that fast or had the message already typed in advance. Either way, he began typing a response.
All Might: Is this about the last payment?
Alien: Yeah.
All Might: Well, I am in the middle of Spring cleaning, so I don't know.
Alien: But it's January.
Alien: And almost nighttime.
Alien: On a school night.
All Might: I'm not lying!
Alien: I believe you.
Alien: Just saying how nonsensical you doing such a thing right now is.
Izuku stopped for a moment to realize his situation wasn't that logical. It was more a spur-of-the-moment thing since he was bored. Either way, he needed to respond.
All Might: Heh. I can be a bit unorthodox with certain things sometimes.
Alien: Seems so. Anyways, give me a minute.
All Might: For what?
However, he got no response. What was Ashido up to, Midoriya wondered. He then shrugged and began to put away his clothes. After putting away all his shirts and pants, he heard his door open.
"Wow, this really does look like a deep clean," Mina stated with her arms crossed. As she studied his room, Izuku inched closer and closer to his bed. By the time she looked back at her friend, he was lying belly down on his bed. "What're you hiding, Midoriya-kun?"
"N-Nothing." He cursed himself for not putting this away first. Though it's not like he could fathom that she would come straight to his room and not even knock to come in.
"Sounds like a whole lotta something." Ashido then pushed him aside and sighed. "Dude, it's only boxers."
"It's still my underwear!"
"Yeah, and boxers are like smaller, thinner shorts. It's not a big deal."
Midoriya covered his face as he stated, "It is for me."
"Man Hagakure-chan must have a handful dealing with you if you're like this with something so harmless."
Izuku groaned before saying, "She doesn't see it as a bother." Tooru did, most of the time, act quite mature when dealing with the freakouts he felt.
"Okay, okay, sorry to be judgemental." Mina then looked to his right side and gathered the socks that were laid on the bed. "Where do these go?"
"Wait. You want to help?"
"Well yeah. It would be pretty rude for us to chat while I watched you work. Besides, it looks like you need help. Otherwise, you are going to be up till midnight from the look of things."
Midoriya gathered his boxers and said, "Well, if you insist." After putting away his undergarments, he regulated Ashido to empty and clean his bookshelf while he began to dust his figure collection and shelves. Once they had started their tasks, he asked, "So you want to gossip basically?"
"Yep. The romantic potential of our class is through the roof!"
Izuku felt he had an idea of what Mina wanted to focus on. "So you want to talk about Mashirao-kun and Momo-chan, huh?"
"What? No. I mean sure it was a surprise but I've had plenty of time to prod her with questions since Christmas. She's like an open book compared to Uraraka-chan and Hagakure-chan."
"That open?" He couldn't see Momo spill the beans about everything.
"Well, not literally, just comparatively. Yayorozu-chan didn't answer everything I asked, but it more than satisfied my curiosity. Still, Ojiro-kun being the one she liked was a surprise for me."
"Had others in mind?"
"I mean, he was on my list, just not at the top."
"You have a list?"
"More of a mental note. Not like I write any of this down like maybe you would."
Midoriya ignored the comment and instead asked, "So who did you figure?"
"Todoroki-kun. Then Jiro-chan but then I heard she took the boys to a concert, so I dropped that idea. Kendo-san and Awase-san from 1B followed that. I even had Tokoyami-kun above Ojiro-kun."
"Why him?"
"Oh well, all the girls love Dark Shadow!"
Oh right, Izuku thought. Tooru mentioned the ladies fawning over the quirk during the summer training trip.
"Not that I have anything against the couple. It was just a very left-field pick for me." Mina then tilted her head to the side as she asked, "Is that a make-up brush?"
"Oh, this? Yeah, I use it to dust my collection. It's delicate enough not to scratch paint but firm enough to remove most dust. Unless a figure has it very dirty, this is all I need to do." He then placed his now clean All Might statue and replaced his make-up brush with a smaller one. The next figure was quite tiny. "So then you want to talk about my Christmas date?"
"Nah. You gave me enough info at the Christmas party on how she enjoyed her gift. Have you started practicing any more with her, though?"
Midoriya shook his head before saying, "No. She wants us to start next week. I think she wants to settle back into school first, is all." He looked back at his friend before asking, "So the triple date then?"
"Wrong again. Uraraka-chan was kind enough to fill me in. I think she was open to telling me since it was her birthday and all. Though she wouldn't tell me what Hagakure-chan gave her as a present."
"Yeah, I have no idea what it is either."
Ashido emptied another shelf as she said, "I wanna talk about others in the class. Remember?"
"Oh. You mean Jiro-chan and Sato-kun."
"Yep yep. Though let's focus on the former since I have a better idea of what's going on."
Izuku raised an eyebrow as he asked, "And what do you think that exactly is?"
Mina gave a sly grin as she stated, "I feel Kaminari-kun has been making some moves on her, and Koda-kun is struggling to keep up." She then shrugged before saying, "Poor Jiro-chan is oblivious to it all, though."
Kaminari is pursuing Jiro? Since when? Wait, this is just an outside perspective of what's going on, Midoriya thought. Even though Koda wants to pursue Jiro, his efforts have been purely for just friendship for now. And it seemed to be the same for Kaminari. Maybe there was more to this. "Have you seen anything recently?"
"Not really. Just summarizing what I think is happening." Her eyes lit up as she asked, "What are your thoughts?"
"Oh me, uh..." It's not like Izuku could reveal everything he knew about Koji. Perhaps if he just conveyed it as what he felt over confirming the details. "Well, I think they are all just friends. Koda-kun might have a crush on Jiro-chan but is too afraid to pursue her, is all."
"So, he's happy just to be her friend?"
"I think so." It wasn't like Koda was making any strides towards moving forward, Midoriya figured.
"And Kaminari? What about how he feels?"
Izuku shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen him flirt with Jiro-chan, and he's usually very open about his intentions. Though, I wasn't there when they were at the concert together. So who knows how he would act in that type of environment." From the sound of it, nothing had happened. However, Koda's perspective of what happened was all Midoriya had to go on. Something might have been missed that wasn't told to him.
Mina then said, "I hope that it becomes a love triangle. The possibilities it presents are quite exciting!"
"I don't know, that sounds like a lot of drama."
"Exactly. The good stuff!" Ashido then stuck out her tongue afterward
Midoriya knew she was just half-joking, but still, the talk did make him wonder about Koda-kun. Perhaps he needed to talk to his large friend once more to see if everything was okay.
The bell rang. Classes are over. And since it was Saturday, there was quite a rush for the students to leave. In the end, Izuku and Tenya were the last to exit. Tooru had dragged her two friends away with a lot of speed. Tonight they will have their make-up sleepover. Mashirao left in a hurry to do some training with Rikido. They had been working together a lot since the start of the term. Izuku attributed this to them having interned together over the winter break.
"Guess it's just us today," Ida stated.
Midoriya nodded as he held the door open for his friend. Once they exited, he asked, "So if you don't mind me asking. Did Ochako-chan still overall enjoy her birthday despite what happened?" It was a question that had been on his mind since that day. She looked and acted fine as always, so he had put off asking. However, now this opportunity presented itself.
"I worried about that question as well, but if anything, it made it that more exciting for her. I was quite taken aback by it all."
"I guess I was worrying about nothing."
Tenya chuckled before saying, "We both seem to do a lot of that."
Izuku sighed, "Yeah, too much."
Ida then cleared his throat before asking, "So have you been keeping up with the news?"
"About what?"
"About the incident we just talked about."
Midoriya stopped in his tracks and pulled out his phone as he stated, "They finally reported on it!? Where?"
"You can put that phone away; there hasn't been anything."
Izuku pocketed his phone as he asked, "Then why bring it up?"
"I figured there would have been some news of Landslide's capture, just with our involvement not being mentioned."
"Like with Stain."
"And our rescue of Bakugo-kun." Tenya crossed his arms as he stated, "However, it seems we stumbled upon something they don't want anyone to know about."
Midoriya went ahead and held open the exit to the building as he stated, "Which makes it unsettling?"
"Very much so. I have a feeling this might come up again at some point. This seems too big just to be forgotten about."
Oh, how much Izuku wanted to say more about what was going on, but he knew better. Instead, he asked, "Have you asked Mashirao-kun? He might have been informed by his dad over the break, considering he was involved."
Tenya shook his head as he stated, "I feel like if there were anything important revealed, Mashirao-kun would have mentioned it to us by now. He hasn't said anything since mentioning that Aizawa-sensei is in the clear at Monday's lunch."
Midoriya pondered otherwise. Perhaps, Mr. Ojiro had told his son but wanted it to remain a secret. He couldn't see the detective completely stonewalling Mashirao of information considering what happened. Still, even if he knew something, it wouldn't have been the whole story. Even Mashirao didn't know everything; he would at least know the bigger picture of what was going on.
Ida poked his friend's shoulder, bringing him out of his deep thoughts. "Izuku-kun, it would seem we have a visitor."
Izuku looked up and almost jumped. Speak of the devil, he thought.
Many meters ahead sat Gou Inoue in a wheelchair. He was waving at the two boys. The man was wearing blue jeans with a grey hooded jacket. His wheelchair had a side pocket on its right with something in it. Izuku guessed it was a laptop.
Tenya asked, "Should we go over there?"
"Yeah, I know him. He's a family friend of the Hagakures."
"What is he doing here?"
"Absolutely no idea." Izuku wondered, just what he was doing here by himself. It couldn't be to visit Tooru. They wouldn't let a non-family member of a student onto school grounds during times like these.
The two walked over to Gou, who then extended a hand. "A pleasure to meet you? Uh..."
"Ida. Tenya Ida. I am the class president of class 1A and a good friend to Izuku-kun."
Inoue finished the handshake before saying. "I'm sure he gets you into a lot of trouble."
"I manage," Ida stated as he tilted up his glasses.
What's that supposed to mean, Midoriya wanted to say but decided now wasn't the time. Instead, he asked, "What brings you here?"
"My services have been requested by your faculty. It looks like U.A. could use a security update." Gou then turned his head to Ida, saying, "I'm a programmer."
Ida cupped his chin with a hand as he asked, "Ah, like Tooru-chan's father. Is that how you know each other?"
"You're correct, Ida-san. We go way back from that background." Inoue then clasped his hands together as he asked, "Anyways, I've never been on this campus before. Would you mind showing me to the teacher's office, Midoriya-san? I'm sure you would know the quickest way there for someone like me. Even if most places are wheelchair access friendly, it might take me a bit to find the right way. I don't want to be late for my meeting after all."
"I would be happy to Inoue-san." Midoriya figured this was the perfect opportunity to catch up with him and see if what he was saying was true.
"I'll leave you to be then. Thank you for your help in keeping our school safe," Ida stated with a bow.
"My pleasure."
Once Tenya made his leave, Izuku asked, "Would you rather I push your wheelchair for you?"
Gou shook his head, "Nah. This is an amazing arm workout. Besides, you know I'm not actually injured. It would be selfish to ask you such a thing knowing that."
"But you were at one point, yes?" Might as well prod for some information Midoriya figured.
"My legs? Yeah, but that's not something to be discussed today. So where to?"
Izuku motioned Gou to follow. Once they were inside, he asked, "So, what's the real reason you are here?"
"What? My cover story wasn't that convincing?"
"Considering the circumstances and the time frame since we last met, it's hard to believe you are here strictly for tech business."
"Fair enough. Well, telling you shouldn't be too much of an issue." Inoue then gave a nervous grin as he said, "I'm here to speak with All Might."
"Huh!? What for?"
"A secret side project, according to Ojiro-san. He wouldn't tell me anymore beyond that." Gou's face looked dreadful.
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I don't know, man. It's freaking All Might. I've been doing this vigilante stuff for many years, kid. I have seen a few famous heroes here and there, but nothing on this level. And I have to talk with him for a few hours? It's nerve-racking."
Perhaps this was a move by Detective Ojiro to have All Might more acquainted with what the Vigilante Task Force did, Midoriya thought. It was odd to him that he wasn't invited to this, if that was the case. Either way, Izuku couldn't reveal his relation to the former number one hero just yet. He wasn't sure if his mentor would bring it up, as he didn't know the whole nature of what this meeting could entail. So he instead tried to comfort the man by saying, "I'm sure if you disclose anything he asks, everything will go fine. He's not that intimidating." I mean, he can be, but not usually, Midoriya noted.
"Yeah, but I'm a vigilante. Not exactly on the good side of heroes, even if he is retired."
Gou has a point, Izuku thought. All Might did have mixed feelings about the career choice. "On that note, try and not argue it's superior to his line of work or anything. Oh, and don't mention doing stuff along the line of 'the ends justify the means.' Those are the only things I think that could be said that would anger him."
"Thanks for the tips. A second good reason I ran into you, being one of his students," Inoue stated with relief in his tone.
At that point, the duo had arrived at an elevator.
Gou asked, "This it?"
"Not quite. It's the closest elevator to the office, though," Izuku answered as he pushed a button to call for the elevator.
"Appreciated, kid."
Once they stepped in, Midoriya asked. "So what of Landslide and Mr. Switcheroo?"
Inoue grinned brightly as he replied, "Singing like canaries. They have been a big help to our efforts these last two weeks."
"Any idea why none of this has been reported?"
"That's on Ojiro-san and his superiors. I've always been a fan of us just outing the organization to the public, but my opinion of that has gone on deaf ears for years." The two then stepped out of the elevator. "But enough about that, how's Hagakure-chan? She's been pretty excited about her hero work and some new gear she's getting."
Izuku was hoping they could talk more about the incident, but at least he got something out of asking. He then asked, "Has she been calling you?"
"Yeah. Too much. I thought the initial call about why I'm a vigilante was going to be the end of it, but man, she really won't let this go."
"Sounds like you are not saying much."
"I can't. I hope to one day, but I can't right now. I'm surprised Ojiro-san let you both know in the first place." Gou sighed before saying, "Anyways, about my question."
"Oh, hero work? Yeah, Tooru's working on a super move with a classmate of mine during our last internship."
"Yeah, I know. The laser bending thing."
"She has been calling you a lot since then." Hagakure demonstrated that in Monday's lesson. Her light control had improved, and it allowed her to redirect Aoyama's Navel Laser. Limited in usage, but it showed that her refraction abilities weren't limited to just light in her body anymore.
"Like every other day sometimes, but anyways what about these suit upgrades? I haven't really heard much about that."
"Well..." Izuku paused for a moment. He thought, I guess it won't hurt since I don't know any of the details. "Hitting a snag. The student engineer assigned to it is stumped at what to do. Even her teacher is lost for thought. So it might take a while."
"Oh, really?" Gou then cupped his chin with a hand. "Maybe I can do something about that."
Midoriya stopped walking, "What? How? You are just a computer programmer."
"Yeah, but I know people. If she's having a problem with gear, then I know just the one who could help her out."
"Well, she doesn't exactly know there's a problem. She is keeping the details from me as a surprise. I just happen to be good friends with her mechanic for the project, that's all."
"So she told you," Inoue stated with a sly grin.
"Only about the trouble of producing the upgrades. Nothing more."
Gou leaned forward and put a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Leave it to me, Midoriya-san. I owe you guys anyways for helping us capture those two."
Welp almost made the deadline. The double whammy of Persona 5 Royal's release on the 31st and two new Transformer figures coming in the mail on the 1st are what did me in. Sorry about that. :(
Anyways some commission stuff first. To start, I had a piece done for this year's IzuMina Week. It was Day 5's prompt (March 27th), Color. I commissioned goblintiddies (heck of a name eh?) on Twitter for it. Part 1 of my MHA x Persona 5 Royal commission, once again done by Anush_arts on Twitter, was released on the 31st. Part 2 should be done hopefully in the next few weeks (as it is quite complex). I already put in an early request for a MashMomo piece for Ojiro's birthday, however, it's already done! Safri on Twitter did it in about a week but of course, his birthday ain't until the end of May. Still, I can at least tell you it will be a two-page comic. :3
The first scene's placement was the biggest issue for me when I started writing. Should I do it the night the internship began? Or maybe on the final night. I eventually chose the middle as I didn't want the scene to be too much of a canon info dump. It's best to spread those out if you can. With the second scene, we finally get the crew on a first name basis, a long time coming. And for the 3rd scene, as juicy as Aizawa's sorta-recent revealed backstory in canon was, It's not something he would be willing to tell his students about just yet.
The next two scenes kinda swapped places as I wrote. I figured Mei's scene would be longer than Mina's. I mean I figured both would be short, but the latter's got bigger and bigger as I wrote/edited it. There was just so much popping in my head that I wanted to use. ;p
Did you expect to see Inoue again so soon? I know I tease a lot of elements and even with certain reveals don't settle on them too long. However, I felt it would be a disservice to just shelf him for a while considering what happened in the last chapter.
So chapter 40. Can we just take a moment to look in awe at that number? Jeez. Anyways, a big focus will be the return of the TAC meetings. Expect two in the next chapter as well as meeting our mysterious mechanic that Inoue knows. From there 41 will focus on Valentine's Day and 42 on the return of a certain character I haven't used for quite some time. :3
One last thing before I go. This fic is being translated to Russian!? MrBanan, on this website, has offered to translate the entirety of Cubicity to FicBook, a popular Russian fanfiction site. So if any of you happen to speak the language and would prefer the fic in your mother tongue, you have that option. Eventually. I am sure it will take some time to translate all of this. For everyone else, it provides yet another person to check for errors in my work so you all can all read a better product!
Stay safe and healthy. I'll see you again in May! Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to continue diving in Persona 5 Royal. :)
