Was it weird that Nejire woke up with an absurd craving for ice cream? And a very specific flavor at that. Her husband was fast asleep, his soft breaths the only signs that he was actually alive. He had been through quite a long day, and it would be pretty selfish to wake him up for a whimsical craving for ice cream. Besides, they had tons of ice cream in the fridge, but not the flavor that she wanted. Her eyes trailed to the electronic clock beside the bed, and she almost cried seeing the time.
2:16 AM. There was no way she could wake Izuku up for something as little as this, when she knew that he was completely beat up, and still had a full day of hero work later that day. She'd just be a bother, yeah, she should let him rest. So why? Why was she shaking him awake? Why was she going against her rational mind and doing the exact opposite of what she was thinking of? Izuku to his credit somehow had the cognitive ability to give her a response – although heavily laid with sleep.
"Huh …? Nejire …?" he asked, squinting his eyes as if he couldn't see who was next to him.
"Sorry for waking you up Izu …" she began with an apology, looking down at her hands that were twiddling on her lap. "I uh … I want ice cream"
He stared at her as if what she said hadn't fully been registered in his brain, in truth they hadn't really. His brain was still rebooting, but it didn't take long. "Ice cream …?" he asked surprised. "We have tons of ice cream in the fridge …" he stated, with a confused look on his face.
Nejire nodded in agreement, but … "We don't have the flavor I want" she said.
Flavor? Was it that time again? When one of her random cravings popped up completely unannounced? He was pretty used to it, but never at this time of the day. This was new.
"What flavor?" he asked, hoping it wasn't something that they would have trouble finding.
"Salted caramel …" she began. Izuku didn't even need to hear the last part to know he had his work cut out for him. "… with pistachio sauce" she finished.
He sighed. He would ask if she could wait till daybreak, but that would not be a really good idea. For one, she must've thought about this for a while if she decided to wake him up at this time of the night. His wife wasn't really one to have patience. And again, she'd be pretty sad if she didn't get what she wanted, and he didn't want to see her sad. He sighed again, giving her a tired smile.
Nejire really knew she was being childish waking him up like this, but she couldn't help it. Her cravings had become quite prevalent as of late. She wasn't expecting Izuku to know what to do, or how on earth he'd get what she wanted, but then she went ahead and woke him up. She was starting to feel bad.
"Okay, I'll go find you your ice cream" he said, rolling off the bed and onto his feet, shaking off the cobwebs of sleep that lingered in his eyes.
Her eyes widened slightly. "You're actually serious?"
He nodded. "Yup. I wouldn't want you all sad because of some ice cream, it's too small a reason" he replied with a shrug.
"Then I'm coming with you" she said in an attempt to get off the bed, but was stopped by Izuku who gently held her in place.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're supposed to be resting"
"I wanna come with you. If you're gonna go looking for it I might as well go along" she answered, seeing that his facial expression didn't change. Maybe she could try another way. "I haven't really done much in the last few months. I wanna get some exercise in"
Izuku gave her a look of 'really?', but just let her win this round.
Nejire smiled to herself, gently getting off the bed with some help from Izuku. Lately she did need some help doing certain stuff, as her belly was now almost three times the size it was a few months ago. She slipped on a pair of slippers and a long, fluffy coat, and followed Izuku who had also put on a sweater. Luckily they didn't live too far away from a string of convenience stores. Izuku helped her into the car and got in himself, starting it and making his way towards his wife's craving – and some sleep at last.
The first store was open, but they didn't have what she was looking for. Heck they were all out of ice cream altogether. Izuku almost screamed, but kept his cool and headed for the other one. He made his way to the other one, but they also didn't have Salted Caramel … another eye twitch. Defeated he returned to the car and started it again.
"They're also out. I'll check the next one, don't worry" he reassured.
Nejire looked down, rubbing her protruded belly. She could see how much he was straining himself, and felt increasingly bad about making him go around to find something that he probably wasn't going to find that night. They stopped again and Izuku went to ask, but came back again, and apologized.
"Izuku, let's just go home. Sorry for all the trouble …" she said softly.
"But your ice cream" he began.
"It's not important. I was inconsiderate, and I woke you up, even after knowing you had a long day" she said sniffling. "All because of some dumb craving … and now I've ruined your sleep" she finished, wiping the tears from her eyes.
In all honesty, Izuku could never really get used to the mood swings that came with pregnancy. One moment she was okay, and the next she would be bawling her eyes out, or be irate at little to no provocation. All he could say was, respect …
"Please don't cry honey. You know I don't like it" he said, wiping her face for her.
"Then, let's just go home. I think I'll wait till morning …" she said, looking calmer than she was a few moments earlier.
Izuku looked at her a bit amused at how quickly she stopped crying, and chuckled. She pouted at his sudden amusement, knowing that it was probably at her expense. Izuku drove back home, carrying her back to bed, and watched as she fell asleep.
"Well, now the real work begins …" he said to himself, making sure that his wife was asleep. She was out like a light.
Of course he was going to get her ice cream, even if it meant spending the nights combing the streets for a store that would have it. Quietly he left the house and took off into the night sky. He made his way farther into the city, past the point where she had given up. He found one and dropped in front of the doors. He took a second to pat down his hair which had been disheveled by the wind. There was a young man, around his age inside, possibly younger probably working a night shift at the register. Izuku made his way in and greeted, then straight to his mission.
"Salted Caramel?" the man asked.
"With pistachio sauce…" Izuku added, as if repeating someone else's words. The man shook his head, indicating a no, then his eyes widened in shock.
"Wait! You're Deku!" he half-yelled in realization. "What are you doing out here at this time of the night looking for ice cream?" he then asked, looking confused.
Izuku sighed, a bit thankful that the man wasn't one of those crazy fans. Not that he didn't cherish them, but at a time like this they were the last people he wanted to run into.
"Yeah I know … well my wife…" he explained, telling him all that had happened earlier, and how he really needed to find some.
The young man thought for some moments, and then said something that Izuku really hadn't thought of. "Why not ask any of your friends? They may know a place you haven't tried"
Izuku's eyes widened, and he face palmed. Why didn't he think of that? With that he made pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. Who should he ask? Kaachan was definitely a no-go area, he loved his sleep even more than his hero ranking, and Shoto was a 50/50. He spent a few minutes there, pondering, then settled on who was probably the best pick of them all. And to his great fortune, he picked up. His voice sounded groggy, like he was asleep.
-Hello? Midoriya, why are you calling at this time of the day? Did something happen?
"Sorry for bothering you Shinso, but I need your help for something…" Izuku began. Shinso grunted a response.
-On the contrary, you may just have saved my life … I fell asleep dangling from my capture tape. I've been tailing some crooks for a while now, and my eyes are killing me …
Izuku chuckled a bit. Shinso really liked living on the edge, kind of like Aizawa. "So um, do you know where I can find some ice cream? Salted Caramel specifically" he asked. Shinso took a few seconds to answer, understandably so.
-You called me just for ice cream?
"Yeah, it's Nejire …" he explained. Shinso sighed over the phone, and responded.
-Salted Caramel right?
"With pistachio sauce" Izuku added.
-That's pretty specific … I know a place …
Izuku sighed in relief, until Shinso spoke up again.
-It's in Shinjuku …
Izuku could've cried then and there, but was still grateful regardless. "Thanks man, I owe you"
-It's no problem Midoriya, happy to help.
The call ended, and Izuku turned to the cashier with a bright smile. "And thank you. Honestly I don't know how I didn't think of that"
The man blushed at the compliment, it was too much for him that Japan's number 1 hero was praising him. "I'm happy I got to help you. And I hope your wife delivers safely" he said with a smile.
Izuku waved to him, going outside and charging One for All through his body, before taking off again into the sky. Off to Shinjuku …
/Later/
The sun's rays broke through the windows, lighting up the room slightly. The alarms sounded, making her stir from her sleep, and she reached out a hand to turn it off. Nejire never got up this early, and she never turned off the alarm herself, which meant that Izuku wasn't there with her. With that thought she opened her eyes and sat up, wondering where he could be. She didn't have to wonder for long, as said person stumbled into the room, with a tub of ice cream in his hands, and a smaller bottle of … pistachio sauce?
She gasped, covering her mouth in surprise. She was sure she fell asleep, and told Izuku to let it go. Did he really spend the whole night trying to get her ice cream? Izuku's eyes were heavy and clouded with sleep, and after making sure she got her treat, he fell down into the bed and passed out, muttering something about pistachios. Needless to say, he wasn't going to work that day …
A/N: Man … pregnancy ain't easy to deal with. Huge respect to all expecting moms out there, and to all the tired dads who work to keep them happy. You guys are the MVPs
This is the end of the story, thanks for all the feedback, reviews. It's probably my last work on this platform, not sure, but we'll see. If it is, then it's been fun. Farewell!
