I-Island: Finale
The two girls glanced at each other as they were left to their own devices after Wolfram's escape with David Shield, trapped against a wall because a big hump of metal had been launched right at them.. Their heavy hitter, Izuku, was down now, knocked out cold. What were they going to do?
Well, they both knew they sure as hell weren't going to give up now. Not when they were so close to achieving what they set out to do. Mainly saving Melissa's dad and kicking the piss out of villains.
"Here." Reiko bit out, "Let me try something." She shut her eyes for a moment and focused, the metal trapping them to the wall glowing with a soft pink glow at the action. It was heavy, however she did lift a dragon during her internship, and this little piece of metal was nothing compared to that.
Within a meager few seconds, Melissa and Reiko found themselves free and, relatively, undamaged. Izuku had managed to take the brunt of the villain's attack for them before said villain made off with Melissa's father, lucky for them, however now he was out of commission. That left them with a problem.
What to do now?
"I should be able to shut down the security system from here." Melissa quickly approached a nearby console while Reiko tended to Izuku, noticing that none of the damage on his person was too bad, at most he would have a couple of bruises.
"So peculiar, just how durable does your quirk make you…" She mumbled before she caught and quickly chided herself and propped him on the wall, "Rest for now, please." Reiko was quickly by Melissa's side.
The computer monitor swapped between dozens of different screens as Melissa typed away, a look of fierce concentration on her face.
"What do you require of me?" Reiko asked.
The Shield quickly typed away, "If you can somehow hold them off from leaving, they're probably taking a helicopter out…" She responded without looking, clearly focused on her task. "Just hold them there until I can get you some help."
"Some help?" Reiko asked.
Melissa glanced at her, a look of determination in her blue eyes, "Yes, now get going!"
"God, how many more stairs are there?!"
"A lot, and if I hear you complain one more time Kaminari, so help me I will shove my jacks so far up your–"
"SHHHH!" The two, Jiro and Kaminari, stopped bickering as Yaomomo silenced them. "I swear, you two are like an old married couple." The two squawked but Yaomomo silenced them again. "A moment please."
They heard noises, strange noises, angry noises.
Someone was… arguing? With someone else, but both voices sounded the same. And… they kept contradicting each other…? Arriving at a small alcove near the top floor of I-Island tower, the collected group saw a man in a black and gray outfit arguing with no one.
The man was yelling at himself, stating a positive opinion on something only to then recede that opinion and yell back at himself twice as fierce compared to before.
"Is… he okay?" Kaminari pointed at him, "He looks crazy." He spoke a tad too loudly as the man turned to them.
"Who are you?!" He screamed before pausing, "Hey, you're those kids from UA! The stupid ones that fought villains, somehow didn't die, lost to a much cooler guy from that other stupid class, and then… well nothing happened after that!"
"Yes… we are." Yaoyorozu pushed Kaminari back before he spoke again, a little worried about the state of sanity of whoever stood in front of them., "Now who are you? And what are you doing here?" Her voice held a little bit of suspicion in it.
"I'm no one important!" The man replied, but after a moment's pause they realized he wasn't going to contradict himself, "Guess you can call me Twice. My name's Jin!"
The now named Jin – or Twice? They weren't sure – then shook like a leaf in the wind, "Are you here to arrest me? I haven't done anything wrong! I'm a completely law-abiding citizen! No I'm not!"
Todoroki nudged Iida with an arm, "I believe this is what people call "nuts" but I'm not sure."
"You know, I'm proud of you man." Kaminari smiled.
"Thanks?"
"My friend was captured!" Twice suddenly yelled and drew everyone's attention, and he once again didn't contradict himself.
"Your… friend?" Jiro asked before glancing at Yaomomo and then back at Twice, "This girl, is she kind of small with blond hair?"
"Yes exactly!" Twice pound on Jiro and grabbed her by the shoulder, "Have you found her! Did you kidnap her?! IS SHE OKAY?!"
"Woah, dude!" Kaminari stepped up and pulled Twice off, "Hands to yourself, and she's alright, just a couple of floors down!"
Twice seemingly deflated in relief, "Oh, that's good…" The man stilled before leaping for the staircase, "I'm coming Toga!"
The room was silent for a moment, "What a weird guy…" Todoroki muttered, "Well, anyways, let's go, the top isn't much farther and they might need help…" The rest of the group blinked at Todoroki for his disregard of such a strange man but followed nonetheless. Todoroki was right, they didn't have much time and their friends may have needed help.
"Todoroki's right." Yaomomo glanced at the small group, "Iida, go with Todoroki up ahead, you two will be the fastest overall, we'll get there as soon as we can."
"Got it." Todoroki nodded and generated a wave of ice to skate away on.
Iida blinked, having never seen Todoroki take anything so… well he was going to say seriously but that didn't work. Earnestly, he supposed would do. "Be safe you three, we'll be just up ahead." Iida took a running start and his engines roared to life before he took off, sprinting down the hall and up a set of stairs.
Yaomomo sighed, really hoping she was just being extra precautious for nothing.
Reiko wasn't one for swearing, in fact her choice of vocabulary and dialect was partly because it was fun and creative, which left for more interesting ways of stating anger as opposed to cursing. But, oh lord – Ibara would be mighty upset with her – she was pissed.
"Come… on…!" Her teeth were clenched so hard, they were almost going to crack.
Wolfram and David had been hefted onto a helicopter, just like Melissa had predicted, and It was taking Reiko all of her strength just to keep the thing in place.
The blades continued to spin as their tug of war pulled the vehicle a bit closer to the tower. The side door opened and Wolfram's face was filled with annoyance as he stared down at her, "Damn kids, always getting in my way!" Wolfram raised an arm and a piece of metal raised from the tower before shooting towards Reiko.
She let a tiny little swear pass in her head as she tried to control both the coming metal and the helicopter, but as she felt the vehicle slip away for a moment she redoubled and focused her efforts on it instead. 'Well, I suppose I shall be seeing the heaven bara is always describing…'
It felt surreal.
And cold?
"NOT SO FAST!" A pillar of ice intercepted the metal, protecting Reiko and allowing her to once again tug the helicopter back towards the tower, "Are you alright, Yanagi?"
"I suppose if the conventional definition is being "thrown out the window" then yes, I am alright." Reiko clicked her tongue and brought her arms down, lowering the copter's altitude by a bit, "If only I could bring down this wretched helicopter!"
The ice that was protecting them was cracking and it was taking all of Todoroki's concentration to hold it in place, "I'm generating as much as I can, it's just barely keeping it back!" He yelled before taking a knee as frost covered his upper body, "Iida, where the hell are you?!"
"Enough playing around kids!" Wolfram slammed both hands down and in response more metal pillars came down on Todoroki's protective ice, shattering it and heading straight for the duo. "You're dead!"
"RECIPRO–" In a blur, Iida appeared, grabbed, and dragged both Todoroki and Reiko out of harm's way, "BURST!" The metal crashed into the ground and kicked up a large dust cloud, sending the group of three flying and into coughing fits once they had landed.
Todoroki sighed, "What took you so long?"
Iida brushed his side, "When I had gotten to the computer room where Shield and Midoriya were, Midoriya's Black Whip was coming out. I tried to get near him wake him up but the quirk reacted and hit me."
The group got up as the dust cloud departed, letting them easily see the helicopter that was getting higher and higher as they could do nothing. "We were so close." Iida cursed.
"He can't get away, someone has to stop him." Todoroki looked down at his hands as fire birthed on his left side to kill his earlier frostbite. "But that's too high for even my best glacier, and I still can't aim that well with my fire yet."
"And he's out of my range." Reiko's eyes narrowed on the vehicle. So close to the finish, and they had all messed it up.
"But, he's not out of mine, Young Yanagi." The group flinched and looked behind them, seeing the towering form of Japan's Number One Hero and the world's Symbol of Peace, All Might. "Everything's fine now, students, why you ask?" All Might's grin stretched before he disappeared in a flash and burst of wind, appearing right above the helicopter and pulling a fist back, "BECAUSE I AM HERE!"
With a punch let loose, dispersing the wind right above and in front of the helicopter, the vehicle's altitude dropped, and Wolfram looked livid.
The vehicle landed at the same time as All Might.
"Finally decided to stop running, villain?" The pro flexed his muscles as an added threat.
"Not so much." Wolfram sighed, David hiding right behind him, the case in his hands was open and empty, "When you have a bug that's constantly annoying you and getting in your way, you crush it." In Wolfram's hands was a device that looked like it could be adorned to the head, and that's exactly where the villain put it, causing his body to grow and his skin to turn a light red in a burst of power, "That's precisely what I'm going to do to you All Might! Crush you like the bug you are!"
"Ha Ha! I haven't heard that line in a while!"
"DIE!" Wolfram lifted his arms into the air, David let out a scream as the tower began tearing apart and he was lifted into the air by bundles of scrap.
"That one I hear all the time!" All Might charged into the sky, only for pillars of metal, ones much larger than before, to come crashing down on him and driving him away from Wolfram, "This metal won't delay your demise, Villai–OOMPH!"
A pillar crashed into All Might's side before another collided with his shoulder and another hit his back and another wrapped around his legs and another got his arms, over and over again. 'What?! His quirk didn't seem this strong before, is it that device he put on his head?! Is it somehow making his quirk stronger?!'
All Might's body locked up before he flexed, shattering the metal around him, "Nice try, but it won't be that easy you blasted evildoer!" He needed to save David and beat Wolfram, but he didn't have much time.
It was always a battle against his time limit. Damn thing.
"Oh, I know it won't be that easy!" Wolfram lifted an arm into the air and All Might waited. But no beam followed Wolfram's command. That was until the ground beneath All Might shook and fell under him. From all angles, the pillars that made the structure of the tower began to wrap around All Might.
He punched and kicked in retaliation but found only the dull gray of the steel overtaking his vision. "You've gotta be kidding me!" He lowered his knees and pushed up, soaring into the sky and blasting out of the trap, only to see a large bundle of soar right into his injured side.
"Crap!" The pro yelled as he coughed up blood and landed on the ground with a thud.
His body hurt, and he could feel One For All diminishing as the seconds passed by. His planted hand couldn't help him get up, he couldn't get up, why was everything hurting, why wasn't he getting up?!
"Take this, All Might!" Wolfram yelled and sent as much scrap and collected steel and other metal as he could at the Symbol of Peace.
Everything was… blurry…
"...zu…! …ke!"
His head was banging, thumping against his temple.
"...me…n…!"
Things seemed so far away, but so close as well.
"NINE!"
Air flooded his lungs and his eyes shot open.
Izzuku expected to find himself within I-Island's largest tower, gearing up to get Melissa's dad – who for some reason was working with villains to steal his own technology– back. However, that was not where he found himself at all.
Instead, he found the color black filling the majority of his vision, beautiful blinding stars seemingly light years away. And a very happy looking bald man in front of him.
"I knew ya had it in ya, kid!" A grinning Daigoro smiled and clapped Izuku on the shoulder, "Black Whip's pretty wicked, ain't it?" Though, after seeing that Izuku didn't look amused, the smile slipped off of Daigoro's face, "Alright, you're in'a bit of a pickle, I know!"
Izuku didn't respond, as he couldn't. He lacked a mouth.
"And yeah, that metal manipulation guy seems pretty strong, but you've got One For All and Black Whip to help you out!" Daigoro threw an arm around Izuku's shoulder, "You've got all the power you need to take this asshole on, and you've got the heart of a lion inside you to push forward even when you're at your limit! Black Whip is yours to command now, just make sure to not let your emotions overpower you, alright?" Daigoro grinned down at the latest successor of their shared quirk, "Winning in the face of fear is the real definition of courage, kid! Show me you've got that valor!"
Izuku couldn't respond, but he felt he didn't need to. His eyes lit up in a way that showed him smile and gratitude for Daigoro. Before he knew it, he was awake.
Reikoi's eyes widened as a pillar of metal came crashing down towards the Number One Hero, the man lying prone on the ground and struggling to get up. She had no choice as she lifted her arms, the metal gaining a pink glow as it slowed. "Push it back!" She commanded herself.
Her training with Ryukyu had helped her push her quirk to new weights, to new heights, but even so… "It's too… much!" She had never attempted anything close to the weight of all this metal!
The Dragon Hero's weight didn't come close! And even then, her mentor only let gravity affect her, this weight was actively pushing back as Wolfram's quirk was boosted by whatever Quirk Amplifier David Shield had made!
Her arms were shaking, she had never taken on such an amount before, it was too much for her to handle. Her legs and arms began to buckle, as if she was holding up the weight of the giant pillar with her own arms, as if she was Atlas holding up the world, she was shaking like a puppy and pain began to sprout from her head.
"Come…. On!" Her voice was strained and the pain in her head grew and grew, blood was freely flowing out of her nose like a running shower as she tried to push back against the behemoth of steel. "Gah!"
The pink glow around the pillar dissipated and Reiko fell backwards. "Yanagi!" Todoroki ran and caught her as the pillar descended onto the Number One Hero, "All Might–"
Before he could finish, a green streak passed right by her face, climbing into the air and countering against the mass of metal, a resounding yell of "SMASH!" Rang throughout the night sky as Wolfram's attack crumbled to nothing in the face of Izuku's attack.
Iida looked on in wonder as Izuku landed, All Might right by his side.
"Iida!" He turned to see everyone else, Melissa included, covered in dirt and grime and with their dresses and suits ripped beyond repair. "Is Yanagi alright?" Yaomomo crouched down, looked at, and took hold of the girl, "And what about Midoriya, he rushed here before any of us."
"Where's my dad?!" Melissa asked, desperate after not seeing him anywhere.
Iida could only raise a shaking finger, and pointed to the boy who now shined as bright as a star, right next to their Symbol of Peace. "Midoriya is up there, the villain still has Shield's father captured!"
"Midoriya's gonna take that guy head on?!" Kaminari couldn't believe it.
Todoroki, for once, grinned, "Of course, that's what he does!" The rest of the 1-A students looked on in shock as their teacher and classmates glanced at each other, a look of amusement passing between them.
"Hey, All Might…?" Izuku rose to his full height and raised the percentage of his quirk until it stung his bones. "Mind if I help you out with this one…?" His eyes raised and stared into Wolfram's, "I've got a bone to pick with this guy."
"HAHAHA, that's a lot of spunk, Young Midoriya!" All Might looked at his student, "But are you sure about this one?"
More amalgamations of steel and scrap bending and fusing together before coming down at them. "I've never been more ready, All Might sir!" Izuku clenched a fist.
The pro's grin stretched even more, "Then, let's go!" Two stars, two sets of One For All, burst off right then, shining brighter than ever before, and they began fighting back with everything they had. "I've got the right, Young Midoriya, but be careful!" All Might yelled.
"I'll cover the left, and don't worry, if I hurt myself anymore then both Recovery Girl and Reiko will have it out for me!" Izuku joked before jumping into the air and dodging between pillars.
Thanks to the Full Gauntlet he could use higher percentages of One For All, without breaking himself or risking breaking the gauntlet, which allowed him to tear apart all of Wolfram's beams.
The villain sent attack after attack down at the two, but Deku and All Might dodged and weaved between each of the pillars as they destroyed much more, too fast for anyone else to be able to see. Izuku was simply a blur of lightning, while All Might simply couldn't be seen.
The students looked on in awe, one particularly large hunk of metal came towards them, but a green star intercepted the attack and shattered it to pieces.
"Izuku!" Reiko yelled despite how tired she was as the tower started crumpling. "Take him down!" The students hid behind rubble, knowing that there was nothing they could do but all of their voices carried through the air, cheering on Izuku and All Might.
Wolfram cursed, "Damn you! Get out of my way!" Pieces of the tower gathered around Wolfram, protecting him like a shell, "Or else I'll make you!" The tower mended around and the biggest mound was towards the students.
"Young Midoriya, step back!"
"No way, I'm coming with you!"
They two flew together, both pulling an arm back as the gigantic beast of metal came boring down on them. "DOUBLE–!" All Might started, "DETROIT–!" Izuku continued as he poured a good 90% of One For All into his arm, knowing Melissa's gauntlet would save his arm from being destroyed.
Wolfram pushed as much power as he could into his power and quirk, feeling the strain of both on his body and mind. "I'm going to kill you!"
"SMASH!" They collided with the pillar, stopping its momentum and started to push it back.
Wolfram cursed and tried to force the heroes down with his quirk, but he found that he was easily being overpowered by the two. "What the hell are you?!" His muscles bulged and his clothes ripped as he poured all of his mental and physical strength into his attack.
"We're…!"Izuku grit his teeth and pushed his power even further.
"HEROES!" All Might's smile seemingly shone.
The pillar exploded and the two carried on even further into the air.
"No matter how tired we are…"
"We must always push through…!"
Wolfram scrambled to gather everything he could as a hasty shield between himself and the heroes.
"We will always push through!"
"To go beyond our limits!"
Black Whip exploded out of Izuku's arm and wrapped around his already covered wrist, adding extra padding to his punch. "So everyone can have a better tomorrow!"
"For that, we'll go beyond!"
The students looked on as the two stars melded into one and reached the hellish blockade that was surrounding Wolfram. They punched through the shield and yelled with all of their hearts, "PLUS ULTRA!"
Wolfram tried enhancing his body with the additional quirk that had been gifted to him, but the two heroes pressed even harder into his defense. Black Whip and One For All, with the additional power he could bring out thanks to Melissa's Full Gauntlet, allowed Izuku to pour more power into his attack then he had ever done before. More than he had even used during the entrance exam and apprehension test. "This… is my strongest–" All Might fell away and smiled as his pupil continued on, knowing that whatever happened in the future he had an excellent successor to carry on for him, "SMASH!"
Izuku clenched his fist, still feeling the familiar weight of the Full Gauntlet there as he fell to the ground. "Black Whip!" The quirk coiled out of him and shot out to catch David and Wolfram. He let out a sigh of relief as he landed on the ground.
"Izuku!" He shuffled on his feet before having to brace himself as Reiko tackled him into a hug. Luckily, they didn't fall over, but his body hurt. Reiko peeled away and looked over his body, "Is everything alright, did you injure yourself again, how is your arm, how did Black Whip work out, did it hurt you–"
She was silenced by his giggles, "Maybe you've been hanging out with me too much, you're the one going on ramblings sprees now."
"Yanagi, you shouldn't be moving so much right now." Yaomomo chastised her, "Your body is still suffering from quirk overuse."
Izuku's eyes widened and he gently grabbed Reiko by her arms, "You overused your quirk?" He trailed her body and found little bits of dried blood under her nose, "Are you alright? How's your head? How much blood came out of your nose? Did blood come out of anywhere else?"
"Izuku, I'm alright." Reiko smiled at his worries, "But, we should really wrap that villain in something more secure."
He glanced back to see his Black Whips, still holding Wolfram and David in place, slightly flickering, "R-Right, my control still isn't the greatest, and keeping two of them out is kind of straining…"
Melissa was fretting over her dad, who still clung to consciousness, so Izuku let that Black Whip retreat back into his arm while he kept the one around Wolfram still active. "What are we going to do with him?"
"Don't fret, Young Midoriya." All Might grinned, picked up the villain, and swung him over his shoulder, "I'll take this evildoer to the authorities!" All Might looked at the man before plucking the quirk amplifier off his head, "Better get rid of this though…"
With a simple clench of his fist, the device was destroyed.
"We'd better get going now–"
"GAH!" Jiro clutched her head as muted shouts came from the comms that Yaoyorozu had created, "Shit, someone needs to head down and help out Uraraka! That girl woke up, she was a villain!"
"What girl?" Izuku asked as lightning sparked around his body again, "I'll head down right now."
Todoroki and Iida locked eyes, "What did that guy call her?"
"I believe he referred to the girl as Toga." Iida answered.
Izuku flinched, "What is Himiko Toga doing here…?" His voice was hollow as he asked his question, but he didn't wait for a response, instead rocketing towards the stairwell so he could head back into the tower, "IIDA! WITH ME!"
The youngest of the Iida family quickly activated his engines, following after Izuku as quickly as he could.
All Might didn't have any time left, his friends were in danger. Why was Himiko Toga on I-Island? And apparently she had an accomplice now? "That doesn't make sense, from everything Eraserhead told me, she's a solo act. For her to suddenly be paired up with another person would go against how she operates…"
"Midoriya what's going on?!" Iida just barely caught up as she shot down a flight of stairs, passed the security room, and into the tower proper. "Is there something dangerous about this girl?"
Passing another doorway, Izuku glanced at his friend, "Himiko Toga is a wanted serial stalker and killer. She's been evading police and hero capture for over a year."
Iida looked shocked and almost tripped, "W-What?! And we– we left her alone with our friends!"
"I know!" Izuku clicked his tongue and pushed One For All to 20% across his body, "I'm going on ahead! Meet me there!" With a single leap, he shot far ahead of Iida.
The walls seemed to blur together, and with the security system shot all the lights were off, leaving only the light of Izuku's Full Cowling to illuminate the area. Hopping off and on to wall after wall left Izuku wary, he could only hear his heart beat in his ears.
"Please Monoma, be okay!" He flooded his body with even more of his quirk, not caring for the strain he was starting to feel. "Please! Monoma!"
A single glint of silver in an open corridor alerted Izuku to the presence of a killer. Himiko Toga was standing over Monoma with a knife, while Uraraka was already bleeding on the wall of the corridor.
Izuku powered through the hall, lifting a fist and sending it right for Toga's head.
He made contact.
What he didn't expect was for her head to explode into gray goop. "W-What?!" He crashed into the ground and tumbled before righting himself, "What was that?!"
Monoma cursed, "Damn, I thought that 1-A girl and I were going to die here…" His hand strayed to his side where a large gash could be seen. "Looks like we got lucky." Monoma chuckled before his eyes fell into the back of his head.
"No!" Izuku rushed and caught him before his head smacked the ground. He quickly glanced at Uraraka to see she had similar gashes on her leg and arm. "Black Whip, help me out!" The quirk followed his command, but not without consequence.
Izuku felt the strain, his bubbling frustration and anger at his friends getting hurt almost pushing the power out of his control. But he reined it in. He needed to, or else they would bleed out and die.
"Midoriya!" The sound of Iida's engines came to his ears and the boy drifted to a stop next to him. "W-What happened to them?!" He shouted, seeing both Monoma and Uraraka covered in what he assumed was their own blood.
"Himiko Toga attacked…" It was easy for Izuku to see the anger on Iida's face, similar to the anger he had during the Stain attack, but slightly more reigned in. "Tell Yaoyorozu to meet me halfway on your comm. I'm heading back up with them."
"Got it."
The next days passed in a blur.
Monoma and Uraraka had been administered to one of the hospitals on the island while the authorities took in Wolfram and examined the tower for anything else that might have been stolen by Wolfram or Himiko Toga and her accomplice Twice.
David Shield had also been arrested for his efforts in the attack. That was something that, while everyone knew was just, felt bad about because their newfound friend Melissa had taken it hard.
Izuku tried to muster up a smile as he walked into Monoma and Uraraka's hospital room, the two were heavily bandaged around their wounds. "Hey guys." He moved out of the doorway to allow the rest of 1-A, and Reiko, through. "How are you holding up?"
Monoma grumbled while Uraraka smiled. "Eh, it could be worse!"
Yaoyorozu sighed and sat next to her, "You are much too chipper for someone that got attacked by a villain."
"Yes, speaking of…" Iida took a seat in the corner of the room, "The authorities believed they have discovered what the villains took while Midoriya and All Might were dealing with Wolfram…"
Monoma sat slightly more up in his bed.
"Certain files appeared to have been copied for a USB drive shortly before the villains escaped." Todoroki's monotone voice spread throughout the room.
Uraraka grimaced, "What were the files…?"
A silence permeated the room, and it was Reiko that broke it, "Blueprints for the Quirk Amplifier that David Shield had designed." Her words brought up unease in everyone. Toga was most definitely now a part of a villain group, one that Twice was also in, and if they had the ability to create a Quirk Amplifier…
"Well– Let's not think about that for now." Izuku tried to muster a smile, "After you two get cleared later today we're all going to be heading off the island. They're going to be trying to bump up security now so they're kicking everyone that's not a scientist back to the mainland."
"A shame." Yaoyorozu frowned, "I-Island is truly wonderful."
"Yeah, I'm missing out on all that cash being a waiter would get me." Kaminari bemoaned, though that just earned him a jab courtesy of Jiro.
Reiko nudged Izuku, "Would you like to go see Shield one last time before our departure?"
Izuku sent her a tired smile, "I'd like that. Want to come with me?"
"Of course." With that, the two bid their friends farewell and made their way to Melissa's workshop.
I-Island was quiet now. A far cry from what it had been just a couple of days prior. It was sad to see a once thriving place fall away to mute, and ever worse to experience. At least, that's what Izuku thought about it.
After all, his chance had been ruined.
He couldn't ask Reiko out now, could he…?
Her finger barely graced his hand. A silent question was shared between them.
Can I hold your hand?
Izuku took hers in his.
Always.
With their hands intertwined, they continued the rest of their trip to Melissa's workshop in a comfortable silence. By the time they arrived at the place, they were surprised to see it was… barren.
All of Melissa's trophies and Support Gear designs were stripped from the wall and packaged into boxes that littered the room. Some were closed, others were open and looked like they could still fit more things. Within the middle of the room was a bumbling Melissa that was traveling here and there, closing some boxes before shoving as much as she could into others.
"S-Shield…?" Izuku probed but it was as if the older girl hadn't noticed them at all.
Reiko sighed and lifted a hand. Melissa halted in place with a pink glow surrounding her clothes, a tell-tale sign of Reiko's quirk.
"H-Huh?!" Melissa yelled before looking at the doorway, "Oh! Midoriya, Yanagi, nice to see you two." The glow disappeared and Melissa landed comfortable on her feet. "What brings you here?"
"We wanted to say bye." Izuku smiled sadly at her, "We're leaving later today, and we don't think I-Island is going to be accepting visitors anytime soon."
Melissa frowned a little before a tiny grin slipped onto her face, "Except this isn't bye."
Izuku and Reiko looked at each other before looking back at Melissa, "What?" The American giggled before pulling out a small disk, "That's the disk we got when we were accepted into UA."
"Yeah." Melissa pocketed the device, "My dad knew Nezu personally, having completed a course study under Powerloader for a bit while in Japan when he was younger. I asked for a transfer so I could study on the mainland and…" Her eyes strayed to the compacted form of the Full Gauntlet on Izuku's wrist, "I saw the way you fought Wolfram and I know my gear helped.
"But I want to do more…" Her eyes locked onto them, "I want to become your guy's personal support technician." Melissa spoke with a solid determination.
The two students were surprised, but they were happy. "I would not mind having someone as skilled as yourself look over anything that could assist me in the path of heroics." Reiko smiled slightly, "Though…" Her eyes drifted to Izuku, "He already has a technician, though perhaps you could work together."
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, "It would be nice having stuff that doesn't blow up on me the first time I try it like with Hatsume's stuff…"
Melissa looked startled but didn't press. "Well, I'll talk with whoever Hatsume is and see if we can strike up a partnership!" She grinned before looking back at her boxes, "Anyways, it's best you guys be off, I've gotta pack the rest of my stuff!"
With that, they said their goodbyes with a promise to see Melissa later at UA and made off to their hotel room with smiles on their faces.
They had just finished packing their belongings when Toshinori came in, handing them tickets for the plane back before heading off to his own room to gather his things.
Izuku had just closed his luggage when Reiko fumbled onto the bed. "You alright, Reiko?" She didn't respond, instead opting to float a pillow above her until the glow disappeared and it flopped onto her face. "Something bothering you…?"
The pillow fell to the side and Reiko sat up.
Her hair, for once, wasn't nicely combed and instead was poking up at parts, she huffed and brushed her bangs to the side, allowing Izuku to see both of her eyes. She looked… frustrated. "It is…nothing."
Izuku pouted as he put his stuff down and sat next to her, "I know it's not nothing." He prodded her hand with his own, "If something's bothering you then I want to help. You're one of my closest friends."
Reiko's face scrunched weirdly at the mention of friends.
Suddenly, everything made a lot more sense to Izuku.
"H-Hey, Reiko…" The girl perked up at Izuku, his face flushed so much that he looked like a tomato, "I know now might not be the greatest time but…"
"Is there something you require attention with, Izuku?" She asked with a tilt of her head.
"I…" Izuku's eyes couldn't focus on one particular spot, but he sucked in a quick breath and let it out before giving her his full attention. "Would you… want to dance..?" He stood up and held out a hand for her.
"Dance? Right now?" She asked, slightly perplexed.
Izuku gulped and nodded, fishing out his phone and playing a slow song, "I… was looking forward to the ball and I wanted to dance with you." He admitted with a small blush. "So… will you dance with me?"
Reiko smiled lightly and placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up off the bed and closer to him. "I've never really done this before… so I'm sorry if I step on you…"
"It's alright, I have never partaken in dancing with anyone either." Reiko's giggle reached his ears.
They swung here and there around the room, taking small steps to make sure they didn't step on each other. "You've never danced before? Not even in junior high?" Izuku asked.
Her head found its way onto his shoulder, "All of my peers thought I was too strange to invite to events like parties. I don't blame them, with my speech and how I position my hands because of my quirk. I look like a ghost."
Izuku clutched her just a bit tighter, "Well… I think you look cute–" He cut himself off and tried to gulp, but his mouth was too dry to do so.
Reiko blushed and looked up at him, "Cute?" She stepped back and saw his blush.
He nodded, "Yeah–" He scratched his cheek, "I've thought that for a while now… every time you tilt your head you look adorable, or when you put your finger on your chin to think, or when you accidentally scare me I think you're cute.." Izuku's blush spread throughout his body, causing him to look more like a strawberry. "But it's not just that…
"I know I can always trust you. You've always stood by my side. You saved me at the USJ, you were on my team during the cavalry battle, you helped me after I passed out against Stain." Izuku smiled. "And I–" She pressed a finger to his lips and looked down.
"S-Stop…please…" Her composure was broken, her regular speech pattern abandoned. Her heart? Absolutely fluttering. "You cannot just come out and say things like that…"
"B-But it's the truth!" Izuku countered.
Reiko's head shot up and he saw the blush covering her milky white skin, painting her a cute pink. It was a very beautiful contrast with her light blue eyes. "I… am unused to such compliments."
"I can…change that." He spoke softly but with a strong confidence, "I-If you'll let me–! I-I don't want to… overstep." Said confidence slowly left until he was a blubbering mess.
"What are you implying, Izuku?"
The air around him was tense, his lungs were tight, his chest wouldn't move. But he couldn't stop now. Breathlessly, the words came out of his mouth, "I really, really, like you Reiko Yanagi." Saying it felt so right, so perfect, "I have for… a while."
The room was silent, save for the music playing, and Izuku scrunched his eyes shut. However, a pair of cool hands gripped him by his cheeks and he gently opened his eyes to see Reiko smiling. "You are quite the strange one, Izuku Midoriya."
"Is… strange good?"
"I like strange." Reiko threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him close, and all Izuku wanted to do was stay here for a while. He didn't even care if they missed their flight. "Though, being dangerously reckless isn't."
"R-Right." Izuku stammered. "I'll try my best."
Reiko lightly smiled and just pulled his closer, "That's all I ask."
END
Woah, okay, I don't know how to feel about this. I love the last part, and I've been wanting to get to it for a while. Reiko and Izuku are officially an item. Though, no kissing as of yet. I want to build up to something like that.
And with that, I-Island is officially over and they will be getting to the training camp soon!
I'm not going to lie, that seems like it's going to be rough to write, as I've been thinking of a bunch of things I want to happen and change, but just know that Bakugo isn't the one that's going to be kidnapped!
Jay out!