A/N - I'm back y'all!

Anyway, it feels like we have reached the end of an era, so to speak, now that Horikoshi has finished My Hero and Jujitsu Kaisen will be finishing within the coming weeks. I know there's been a bunch of controversy (and a bunch of memes) over how MHA ended, but I prefer to remember the story for all the great moments it gave us, while also giving us all the canon material we fanfiction writers could work with . . .

. . . Speaking of material, it's time for the next chapter, which you can read below . . . Enjoy!


Chapter 30: Dawn of a New Day

The sun was shining brightly as it slowly appeared over the horizon, signaling the arrival of a new day. In the Onizaki residence, the master bedroom was dark and silent. That was until the sun's rays started pouring in through the gaps in the curtains.

One gap allowed for some of the sun's light to hit the room's occupants right in their sleepy faces, both groaning in disgust when they realized what was happening.

"Jush, I thought you closed all the curtains before you came to bed last night." Ice Mist mumbled as she turned her face further into her soft pillow.

". . . Hmm, must have missed one," Incision sleepily mumbled as he tightened his hold around his wife's waist, pulling her even closer into his chest. ". . . Sorry about that."

"You're forgiven," She sleepily murmured as she felt his lips along the skin of her neck, his facial hair scratching against her flesh in the way she absolutely loved. "Especially if you keep that up."

"If only. . ." He sighed, speaking into her skin. "Unfortunately, I still have a class to teach Yukiko."

"A class that doesn't start till 11, Jushiro," She reminded him as she finally opened her eyes to find her husband looking down at her with an amused expression on his bearded face.

"Hm, fair point my love," He told her, smirking slightly. "Except for the fact that I told my students that I would get to campus by ten to offer them any last-minute advice for the papers that are due on Monday. . . A lot of them took me up on that."

"Your students must really love having you as a professor huh?" She asked, trying to appear annoyed, only to fail at the sight of his smirk turning into a full blown smile.

"Hey! You don't get a high rating on by not being there for them, do you?"

"No, you don't. I assume it would have the opposite result," The heroine conceded, smirking in return as her eyes started telling a different story, one that her husband was very quick to notice.

"Ok, what's up?" He asked as he tucked a strand of her lavender hair behind her ear. "Those beautiful eyes of yours are telling me that there is definitely something on your mind, and I would like to know what it is."

"Well, if you're so curious to know . . ."

"And you know I'm definitely am. . ."

"You see, I've been thinking about what Shizuna talked about during our call last night. The part about developing a stronger relationship between the agency and U.A.," She admitted, giving Jushiro her undivided attention.

"Hmm, a fair enough thing to do considering the proposal her boss is suggesting."

"What do you think of it? You were pretty silent when I explained it to you yesterday."

"I was still gathering my thoughts at the moment . . . And if you want my honest opinion, I don't think it's a bad idea."

"You do?" His wife asked, interested to hear more.

"This is a proposal that could prove to be beneficial for both sides, and I can understand why the principal would suggest it in the first place. Knowledge is power after all," He explained, shrugging slightly. "And sure, the Hero Commission will possibly take issue with it, but that's honestly a them problem . . . The Commission may be the overseers of everything hero, but that doesn't mean that we should be so heavily reliant on them as an intel source. Not to mention how shady they can be sometimes. . ."

"It shouldn't, but the Commission loves to be relied on very much," She sarcastically grumbled, her face scrunching up slightly at the thought. ". . . It's their way of flaunting their power I guess."

"Well, yes, but soon enough, all that power is gonna catch up with them . . . An organization like that is too big to not have some skeletons in their closet," Jushiro mumbled, shaking his head. "Anyway, what does Sachiko and Daiju think of the idea?"

"You know my brother! Daiju was all for it from the jump," Yukiko smirked as she recalled the eager grin that creeped onto her sibling's face during their chat. "But Sachi definitely wants more info before she decides on anything, and yet she does seem partial to it."

"And you?" Her husband asked as he let her go, allowing her to sit up. "What do you think Yuki?"

"Well, I think. . ." She mumbled, her face turning serious. "This is a partnership that's worth pursuing. At the very least, it doesn't hurt for the agency to have a stronger relationship with one of the top hero schools in the country."

"True . . . And you're not worried about any potential backlash that could come from such a decision?"

"To be honest, some in the media may question it a bit, mainly due to the family connections of course . . . As for the Commission, they shouldn't have such a strong issue to it. They like promoting strong heroes after all, strong marketable heroes. They should be pleased that one of the most well-known agencies in the country wants to have such a strong partnership with such an elite hero school."

"This is the kind of stuff that the Commission should be dreaming of," Jushiro agreed. "But you know someone will have an issue."

"If anyone has an issue with this, then that's their problem," She continued as she stretched out her back. ". . . Maybe they have some controlling tendencies that they need to be careful of."

"The Commission itself has shown that they prefer things done a certain way," Jushiro pointed out, his words causing his wife to frown slightly.

"They do prefer their own set of standards . . . But in any case, everyone's gonna have an opinion, regardless of what we choose to do," She mumbled. "We don't have to go into this full throttle. . . It's probably best that we build on it as time goes on."

"This partnership is definitely not a bad thing, but I do think we should be patient with how we go about it," Jushiro advised. "We can start talks now and start ramping things up when the twins are closer to graduation."

"That sounds like a plan. . . Plus, the less we make this publicly known, the less that outside actors will try to interfere," Yukiko theorized as she flipped the covers off her body. "But first things first, I need to hear more of U.A's reasoning for bringing this idea to us in the first place."

"Then you know what you have to do next," Her husband declared as he too slipped out from their bed covers. "As for me, I have a date with our shower . . . Care to join me?"

"You know, it's very tempting. . ." She admitted, trying hard to ignore the alluring gaze her husband was giving her. "But one of us should check on the twins. You know, see how they're mentally doing after having quite the day yesterday."

"Hm, you got me there," He admitted as he slipped out of bed and walked over to their shared closet. "Raincheck then?"

". . . Hm, I'll have to check my calendar," She teased him, remaining vague as she slipped her house slippers on and left the room.

Walking down the hallway to her kids' rooms, the matriarch poked her head into both to find that neither were there, though both their beds had been made before they left. Moving downstairs, she stopped at the kitchen doorway to find her son in front of the stove making pancakes, but Yukino was nowhere to be found.

However, the open sliding door on the other side of the room hinted at where she could be.

"Morning Mom . . . Yukino's by the pool training her quirk again," Daisuke explained, only needing a quick glance at the woman's face to know what exactly she was wondering.

"Good to know . . . Have you two been awake long?"

"Only for the past forty-five minutes or so," He mumbled as he flipped over a couple of flapjacks. "Figured I get an early start on breakfast."

"Well, that's definitely nice of you, and much appreciated," His mother admitted as she admired the stack awaiting consumption right next to him. ". . . Pancakes have always been one of your favorites."

"And why wouldn't they be?" Her son asked as he looked over at her. "They're light, fluffy, easy to make . . ."

". . . And when you were little, they were your go to comfort food whenever you were sad or upset," She added, watching the pout appear on her son's face. "It was always why we stocked up on it during grocery runs until you finally managed to cook them from scratch yourself."

"I guess it became one of my emotional crutches," Her son admitted, though he did appear reluctant to do so. ". . . A delicious one at that."

"I won't say anything against that. Everyone should have a comfort food," Yukiko agreed as she approached her son. ". . . You just have to be mindful about eating it in moderation though."

"Yeah, overindulging really would ruin the taste for me, now would it?" Daisuke bemusedly asked as he took the pancakes off the griddle and added them to the stack.

"Pretty much . . . Anyway, Dai, how are you feeling? You know, about yesterday?"

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it," Her son mumbled as he quickly whisked up the remaining batter in his bowl before pouring out the next batch. "It's not every day that villains attack your hero school . . . We asked Dad this already, but did anything like what happened during your first year of high school?"

"No, nothing of the sort actually . . . All the crazy stuff usually happened out in the field during the work studies," She calmly explained. "Despite the massive pedigree it holds, the most U.A. had to deal with back in my time were cyber-attacks and the occasional trespasser, and those never got that far to be truly problematic. The security was just that good . . . Until yesterday, an actual physical attack on campus was practically unheard of."

"Well, in the end, they failed . . ." Daisuke mumbled, but he looked unsure as he spoke. "No one died, the villains weren't able to kill All Might. . ."

"Daisuke, you know your father and I raised you and your sister better than that," Yukiko was quick to say with a knowing expression. "That was a black and white answer, and you know that everything that happens is black and white, especially not in heroism."

"I know, and trust me, you and Dad raised us well," He conceded, his words bringing a smirk to his mother's face ". . . I guess I just wanted to fool myself there for a second."

"You were doing yourself a disservice then," She said point blank as she picked up a pancake from the top of the stack, not even remotely bothered by its lingering heat. "Yes, there were few injuries, and no one died, not even All Might, which was the villains' main goal."

"Um, yeah . . ." Daisuke mumbled, looking up to see his mother rip a piece off her pancake before popping it into her mouth.

"The villains may have failed in their immediate goal, but they almost certainly succeeded in sending a message."

"A message?" He asked, more curious than anything else. ". . . And what message would that be?"

"Now, now Dai. You won't learn if I just give you the answers on a silver platter," She admonished him, smirking as a bemused grimace crossed his face. "Think about it. Unseen benefits can happen amidst defeat after all . . . What exactly could that message be?"

"Well, you did say it yourself. A physical attack on U.A. was basically unheard of until yesterday . . . The fact that they were even able to get in should be enough to send shockwaves everywhere." Daisuke mumbled, piecing things together in his head

. . . And then it dawned on him. "Villains would see U.A. as vulnerable."

"Exactly my dear son . . . Though, I think U.A. doesn't have to worry about a repeat attack anytime soon," She mused as she headed for the sliding door. "The staff will certainly beef up the security measures, and the villains likely won't try for a repeat for quite some time, if they ever decide to do so."

"Well, if they follow that line of logic that is. . ." Daisuke countered. "Someone could be bold enough to try again sooner than expected."

"And that's what the beefed-up security measures will be for." Ice Mist predicted as she entered the backyard, finding her daughter sitting by the pool. Usually serving as a place for exercise and leisure, the pool also served as a training ground for mother and daughter both, and that was what the latter was doing now, shifting sections of the pool between solid and liquid with a blazing speed that the mother barely saw from her girl.

"Hmm, I remember when you first started using your quirk . . . You were trying to shift an ounce of water in a paper cup after doing it by accident the first time. Now look at you . . ." She reminisced; her tone nostalgic as she stepped closer to the pool. "Your shifting time is practically instantaneous."

"Don't forget precise too . . . but the amount I can create on my own still needs work," Yukino admitted as she shifted the ice sections back into water.

"Is your current limit still your current weight, correct?" Her mother asked, having not kept track in a while

"It is, well, was, to be more specific . . ."

"What do you mean by that, Yukino?"

"Well, I have been slowly passing my limit," She admitted as she flexed her fingers. "It's just not the most comfortable of experiences, but I've managed."

"Fair enough, but you're not being reckless with it are you?" Ice Mist asked, her face getting serious as her tone turned sardonic. "I've been in your shoes before missy, so don't try to downplay it with me . . . Increasing one's limits is always a strenuous experience, so I hope you're being careful."

"I am!" Her daughter remarked, knowing that one of her mother's biggest pet peeves was anyone training recklessly. "I promise you that I am taking my time with my training. I'm not moving to the next stop until I am well and truly sure that I'm comfortable with what I've learned so far."

"And that's all I can ever ask from you," Yukiko admitted as she hugged her daughter from behind. "As long as you're aware of your limits and what you should properly do to overcome them, you'll be fine . . . So, how far past your previous limit have you gotten?"

"I . . . actually want to keep it a secret for now, but trust me, you'll definitely know by the Sports Festival." Yukino sheepishly admitted, much to her mother's chagrin.

"Fine, be like that. I'll let you have your fun," The daughter couldn't help but smirk in the face of her mother's pouting, knowing that she didn't really mean it.

She knew her mom was eager to see her progress, both her parents were, actually. However, thanks to their work, they couldn't pay as much attention to their children's training as they would all like. Yukino knew it wasn't entirely their fault and had long accepted it, having learned to understand the negatives of hero life from an early age. She was still proud of her parents nonetheless and knew that they were proud of her and her brother all the same.

Plus, the genuine surprise on her parents' faces when she revealed a brand-new skill to them was always its own reward.

"Aw, don't be like that Kaa-san. You know you get a kick out of it when I display a new skill," Yukino smirked as she let the woman guide her back to the kitchen. "However, I will say, again, that I just wish it wasn't so taxing on the body."

"That usually happens when you practice," Her mother agreed. "I was the same way when I was your age. Turning liquid and ice into mist was hard at first, but I sucked it up, handled the practice like a big girl, and well, look where I'm at now."

"You've certainly made a name for yourself. You managed to make something as harmless as mist into quite a powerful weapon, especially when you learned to solidify it too," Yukino mused as her mother unwrapped her arms from her shoulders, leaving just her hands there.

"Oh, you should have seen me the day I realized I could do that. I don't know who was more embarrassed by my reaction: me or your father."

"Can I choose both, and is there any photo evidence of said reactions?"

"Hey! Don't get cheeky with me now missy."

"I meant no harm Mother . . . And to think, some people had the audacity to say you should have retired to focus on motherhood when they found out you were pregnant."

"Nothing is more annoying, and makes a person more spiteful, than a bunch of old coots trying to tell me what to do," Her mom grumbled, shaking her head at such foolishness. "Anyway, I want you to be a good hero, but I want you to be the hero that you want to be, whatever it may be, and I mean that for both you and your brother."

She paused then, suddenly wondering if Daisuke was listening in to their conversation.

With his level of hearing, she wouldn't put it past him. "But that won't happen if you push yourself when your body or mind isn't ready for it yet. Trust me, your body will thank you for it, as long as you listen to it."

"And I will Mom," Yukino reassured her. ". . . And thanks, for the reminder."

"I wouldn't be a good mom if I didn't remind you to take care of yourself from time to time, eh 'Kino?" The matriarch said in return, smirking as her daughter's face scrunched up at the old nickname. "C'mon, let's head inside before your father grabs most of the fluffier pancakes."

"I heard that!" Her husband yelled from inside the house. When the girls reentered the kitchen, they found father and son already sitting at the island, where the plates, cutlery, and pancakes were already set.

"Well, at least you waited for us, well, this time," Yukiko mused as the two took their seats, smirking slightly as her husband tried to look a little put out at the dig, only to fail miserably at the attempt.

"Not my fault you were slow the last time pancakes were served," Jushiro cheekily mumbled, narrowly missing a bit of water to the eyes, courtesy of his wife. "I still stand by what I said."

"You are playing with fire dear husband."

"I like getting burned sometimes, sue me."

"I will, for subjecting us to your pillow talk at the breakfast table," Daisuke mumbled, much to the adults' amusement as their children grabbed pancakes for themselves. "Keep that talk in your bedroom please!"

"Duly noted. . ." Jushiro mumbled as he looked over at his son. "So, kiddos, since school is canceled for the day, do you have any plans?"

"Well, besides stocking up on snacks for tomorrow's history project meeting, I don't really have much to do," Daisuke admitted as he poured a generous amount of syrup on his stack.

"What about you Yukino? Do you have hosting preparations to deal with too?"

"Not this time Dad. Yaoyorozu is hosting our first meeting tomorrow at her house."

"House? More like a grand mansion if you want to be more specific."

"You've been there before Mom?!" Daisuke almost exclaimed as he and Yukino turned their sights on the woman.

"A couple times actually, though none of them were recent visits." She answered innocently enough. "It was for charity events both times . . . The Yaoyorozus definitely love their European architecture."

"It's amazing that they don't get lost in there every day." Jushiro added, further mystifying their children.

". . . Huh, can't wait to see it for myself then," Yukino mumbled as she reached for the butter. "For now, I think I'll just walk around for a bit. Maybe hike around Sekoto Park . . . Haven't been there for a while."

"That park has always been good for hiking. . . It's amazing to see how much has regrown since that inferno years back," Yukiko mumbled, shaking her head. "The media talked about that one for days."

"Hmm, you'll be heading past the Todoroki residence if you're gonna go that far," their father mused. "Maybe Shoto would like to tag along. . ?"

"Hmm, I'll text him. See if he's interested."

The rest of breakfast was a light affair, with the quartet talking about small topics in between bites of their breakfast. Once all the food was eaten and the dishes cleaned and put away, the family went their separate ways.

While their parents finished getting ready for work and Daisuke headed for the store, Yukino started her walk to the Todoroki manor. She had texted Shouto to see if he was interested in joining her on her excursion, but he never answered.

Curious, and a little concerned, Yukino resolved herself to stop by his house to see if he was doing okay. Though she didn't visit Shouto's house as often as he did hers - partly because his place was more out of the way than hers, partly because Shouto never really invited them over unless he was sure Endeavor was out of town for a few days - she knew the way well enough.

When she finally reached the large residence, she found the place eerily quiet. Checking her phone to see that Shouto still hadn't answered her texts, let alone read them, Yukino walked past the front gate and up the walkway to the door. She rang the bell three times, but after getting no signs of a response, she was willing to concede defeat.

"Maybe he's sleeping in," She mumbled as she turned to leave, almost missing the sound of footsteps approaching from inside. ". . . Or, maybe not?"

She turned her head just as the half-and-half teen slid the door open, still dressed in the white t-shirt and gray lounge pants he slept in the night prior, clutching his cell phone in his left hand. Still looking a little sleepy, he tried to apologize, only for Yukino to wave it off before he could get a full sentence out.

". . . Well, at least you got my message," She said for a start after noticing that his phone was open on his messaging app. "Look, if you still want to sleep some more, you're more than welcome to it. I'll just go on my own."

"Thanks, but I want to take you up on your offer," He declared as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. "I need to get out of this house for a while anyway."

Yukino could hear the bitterness in his tone from a mile away, but she knew it was not directed at her. Truthfully, there was only one person in the world that could generate that kind of emotion out of him, and the less said about him, the better.

"Are you the only one here?" She asked as Shouto moved aside to let her enter the genkan.

"Yeah . . . Fuyumi still has work, and the old man left before sunrise," He mumbled as she slipped off her sneakers, failing to hold in the yawn that slipped past his lips.

"Again, are you sure that you don't want to sleep a little bit longer?" She asked as she watched him, again, rub the sleep out of his eyes. "It looks like you still need a few hours."

"I'll be fine Yukino," Shouto reiterated as he led her down the hallway, watching from the corner of his eyes how much her gaze was taking in their surroundings, with a critical gaze at points.

He couldn't blame her. With how sparsely decorated parts of the house were, you had to do a double take to make sure people were actually living there. "I just . . . I had an argument with the old man last night."

"That's nothing new with the two of you . . . I guess USJ was the focus this time around?" She asked as they passed the barely used living room.

"It was a part of the . . . discussions, yes," He conceded as they reached the kitchen. "He pretty much interrogated me; wanted to know everything I could remember from yesterday."

"Typical," She groaned as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess he couldn't even bother to act like a concerned father for five minutes and ask if you were okay first?"

"Showing concern has never been Endeavor's strong suit," Shouto grumbled as he walked over to one of the cabinets. "Not when there's escaped villains to go after and all."

"The police and the teachers will both be doing their own investigations into what happened yesterday . . . You think he'll muscle his way into one of them?" Yukino asked as she leaned against the fridge.

"Didn't sound like it. . . More like he wanted to know what the ringleaders looked like so he could know for later . . . To tell you the truth, most of our argument was about the upcoming Sports Festival."

"The Sports Festival?" She repeated as she watched him pull out a box of cereal, an organic brand that was supposed to have plenty of health benefits. Though Endeavor, strangely enough, had a bit of a sweet tooth, the sentiment did not stretch to breakfast foods. "Won't the school cancel it, or at the very least, postpone it in light of what happened yesterday?"

"Cancel it? No, it's not the school's style . . . Postpone it? Most likely," Shouto predicted as he plucked a bowl from a different cabinet shelf. "He wants me to increase my training; stop my 'rebellion' and use my fire . . . The usual complaints of course."

"And that's all?" Yukino asked, noticing how tense her friend still held himself as he set his items on the counter.

"Well, it's actually not," He admitted, slightly lamenting the fact that she was so perceptive. ". . . You were mentioned, quite a bit actually."

"Me?!" Yukino asked, surprised at the admission. "How come?"

"He. . ." Shouto started saying, only to trail off when he started to really remember the details. "He said something about you that didn't sit well with me."

"Hmm, he says a lot of stuff that doesn't sit well with people, and yet too many are afraid to call him out on it . . . Gratefully, you are not one of those people," She concluded, thankful that he was offended on her behalf, though she wished the conversation that led him to be so defensive hadn't happened in the first place. "He can never be called a smooth talker."

"Ain't that the truth," He grumbled, shaking his head. "I've long had to grow up hearing him say his . . . opinions about people, but when he started talking about you, I simply had enough and just had to let him know it."

"What exactly did he say?"

"He, of course, believes that as his . . . masterpiece, anything other than first place during the festival would be a travesty, well, in his eyes at least," He admitted, his tone sounding a tad biting as he prepared his cereal. "In short, he says I must crush all my competition, especially you Yukino."

"Me?" She asked, her eyebrow going up slightly. "And what reason did he give for singling me out?"

"Your quirk," Shouto admitted as he approached the fridge. Yukino slid out of the way, giving him a free path to the carton of milk waiting inside. "He sees your quirk as the most problematic one on my path to a Sports Festival win."

". . . Because I can use any ice that you create to my advantage, and since you continue to not use your flames purely out of spite, he believes you'll be a sitting duck if we ever have to go against each other," Yukino concluded, shaking her head in understanding. "You're not weak Shouto. Far from it in fact, and I hate to admit it, but your old man actually makes a fair point."

"Even if it is a good point, he didn't have to belittle you while saying it," The half-and-half teen grumbled, his words making Yukino's eyes widen slightly. "He even considered banning me from seeing you or Daisuke outside of school until after the Festival concluded at one point."

"Let me guess: He thinks the less contact you have with us, the more you'll focus on the training for the Festival?" Yukino asked, shaking her head as Shouto started eating.

"Pretty much. . ."

"Pfft, like that's going to do any good. You tend to do the opposite of whatever he tries to order you to do these days . . . Plus my own parents would be suspicious of such actions anyway."

"All fair points that I didn't think of at the moment, if I'm being honest . . . If it weren't for Fuyumi speaking on my behalf, he probably would have gone through with it, somewhat."

"Again, there is no way you would have abided by such orders in any case. You're too stubborn for that, and you would have found a way around it eventually." She admitted as she took the milk carton back to the fridge. "But still, I never thought Endeavor's opinion of me was so high he would see me as such a threat for you."

Shouto couldn't help but smirk at the level of sarcasm Yukino used in her words, having long perfected the skill of sounding so cordial, yet so biting at the same time. It would have been something he really would have missed if his old man had truly gotten his way, even if it was supposed to be temporary.

He could still remember how he felt when Endeavor first voiced the idea.

For a second, he thought the man had been joking, but then he remembered that his father was too serious a person to ever bother with a comment that was barely witty. Shouto had been annoyed for most of their . . . discussion up to that point, but the idea of being forced to not see his friends really turned on his hot button.

Endeavor was never really a fan of the concept of friends, especially in regard to Shouto, who he believed should always spend his time training above all else, but that never stopped the Onizakis, who managed to worm their way in at the very end.

Hell, the only reason that Endeavor never put an end to their friendship was because he knew the twins' parents since high school and somewhat respected them, their mother especially, but now that he thought about it, Shouto could notice a shift in his father's thinking in regard to his friends, and it wasn't really a good shift either.

HIs old man was starting to see the twins less as the friends that he could tolerate for his masterpiece of a son, and more as rivals on Shouto's path to success, especially Yukino, whose quirk was one of the few in Class 1-A that would give the half-and-half teen a run for his money if he faced them in a battle.

Hell, the Trial of Battle and their previous training spars before that proved that enough for him.

Endeavor condescendingly said as much when they talked the night prior, but it still rubbed Shouto the wrong way, especially when he could detect the bitterness and dislike mixing in his tone. If it weren't for Fuyumi running interference when she did, their talk would have gotten way uglier in two seconds flat.

In short, no one talks bad about his friends straight to his face and gets away with it.

And speaking of one of his friends. . .

"Hello!? Earth to Shouto Todoroki?!"

"Huh?!" He stated dumbly, his eyes widening when he realized that his friend's violet eyes were mere inches from his face.

Actually, her whole face was, and as soon as that realization popped into his brain, his whole face started flushing red.

"Are you okay?" She asked, sounding unsure as she watched her friend look off to the side. "You kinda zoned out on me here for a bit."

"I'm fine. I just . . . remembered something, that's all," He mumbled as he stuffed a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"What did you remember?" She asked, refusing to comment about his flushed face.

"That . . . you have very pretty eyes."

That was not what Shouto intended to say, but it was the first words that his brain allowed out of his mouth nonetheless.

As soon as he said it, he faintly felt both sides of his quirk activate, his mind scrambling to save face and say anything else to make the sudden awkwardness between them. . . less awkward. Yukino didn't help matters by remaining so silent, her face equally as red as his as her mind remained blank.

She heard the words, but her brain momentarily paused as it tried to absorb this new piece of info.

At this point, their only saving grace was that neither of their siblings were there to witness it. Shouto wasn't sure whose reaction would be worse: Fuyumi's gushing, Natsuo's shock, or Daisuke's smugness.

Daisuke may have been in the lead, but all three would be bad and embarrassing in his eyes.

"I. . ." Shouto managed to say after taking a moment to finally find his voice. "I'm sorry. . . That was awkward. It just slipped out."

"That. . ." Yukino breathed as she started to fuss with her braid. "Out of all the things you could have said, I did not expect that at all . . . But honestly, I'm not mad to hear it."

"You're not?" He asked, too stunned to say anything else.

"Why should I be?" She asked in return as she pried his cereal bowl from his hands. It was only when she did that he noticed that he had activated both sides of his quirk on the unfortunate thing, which embarrassed him even more. "Shouto, you gave me a compliment. That's not something bad. It's actually a sweet thing for you to say . . . I'm sorry if my reaction wasn't the best. I was just surprised by it, that's all."

"Oh, I see. . . I'm glad I could surprise you then, and there's no need for you to apologize," He mumbled, half unsure, half bashful as he watched his friend dump what was left of his breakfast into the trash. "I was still eating that."

"Oh yes, I'm sure that your poor excuse of a cereal was that much more appetizing after being half-boiled and half frozen over," She chided him as she approached the sink. "Trust me. I'm doing you a service by saving your taste buds here."

"As if my tastebuds need saving," He said out of reflex as he followed her. "At least let me clean my own dish."

"Fine then," Yukino conceded as she handed it over, moving away from the sink so that Shouto could take over. ". . . Was that cereal any good though?"

"Not in the slightest, no," He admitted, sighing tiredly as he quickly cleaned his utensils.

"So, I did save your tastebuds, somewhat. . ."

Shouto couldn't help the childish huff that passed his lips as he looked up at Yukino's amused expression. He wanted to be irritated with her, but couldn't, his stoic face crumbling in the face of her beaming expression.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Her voice was light as they continued their little stare off.

"Not really. . ." He conceded as his stomach grumbled, cutting into their conversation. "Besides the fact that I'm still hungry."

"Well, since I did throw away your sorry excuse of a cereal, I'll buy you something while we're out. My treat." She offered as she moved for the doorway.

"I'm gonna have to take you up on that offer then," Shouto mumbled, trying to sound contrite as he watched her move away.

"I was kinda banking on it . . . Anyway, I'll meet you outside. Your house. . ." Yukino mumbled as she looked over her shoulder. "It always feels a little cold to me whenever I come here, and not in a temperature kinda way., you know?"

"Yeah, I don't blame you for thinking that," Shouto admitted as he watched her leave. "If only you knew the whole story Yukino."


A/N: Alright, a few things . . .

- If any college student has ever used a certain professor rating website when deciding which classes to take, you understand the reference.

- As you can probably guess after reading this, the Onizakis are not the biggest fans of the Hero Commission, despite the success they have seen as heroes under the hero system the organization helped implement and maintain. An organization as big and successful as that must have some dark skeletons in their closet (which was proven true in canon with Hawks and Lady Nagant's entire situation as an off the books assassin because her quirk was, unfortunately, perfect for such a role). They do respect some of the work the Commission does, but the family does not blindly trust the group. At most, they regard the organization with a healthy dose of suspicion, and that will get explored more as the story goes on.

- Just a reminder, to stay on trend of how each generation's quirks are supposed to be more powerful, or at least, more advanced, than the previous generation, Yukino's quirk is essentially a more advanced version of her mother's. Ice Mist's main ability is the complete manipulation of mist. She can turn any liquid, both in its default and frozen forms, into mist and manipulate it to her heart's content. She can also conjure mist out of thin air. However, she can't do the same for solids and gas. However, Yukino does not have that limitation. She can shift between the three phases of the water cycle and manipulate the forms in as many different ways she wants. Her main limitation is the amount of water that she can conjure up on her own.

- If you all remember, Sekoto Park is an important part for a certain Todoroki's backstory in canon. Is he showing up soon, you'll have to read the next chapters to find out.

This has been SandsnakeQueen, signing out!