Tony is working on a car in his workshop, with a wrench in his hand while under the vehicle. "Give me an exploded view," he spoke while AC/DC was playing in the background at an ungodly volume.

"How could he focus when the music was that loud?" A girl asks, not expecting to get an answer.

Inko did the one thing that was not expected. "He always said that if he could hear everything going on above him then it meant he would never be able to work. That when he could hear everything and everything going wrong it would distract him to the point where he'd need to go up and fix the problems, the work he was doing be damned."

The look on her face was soft, wishful, even. This was something that she quite missed and couldn't get it back. Even the few who didn't want to admit any relationship between the man on screen with Deku had to admit that his relationship with Inko must be interesting.

"The compression in cylinder three appears to be low," JARVIS informs his father.

Tony used the wrench to motion toward a screen floating in midair depicting the underside of the car. "Log that."

"Woah, I didn't think JARVIS would be used like this," another student spoke.

Izuku glares. "JARVIS was never used." No one imagined that they'd ever be scared of Deku, but here they were. Shivering at the sight of his glare was not something they had expected. Even Bakugou couldn't deny his slight shiver, no matter how much he wanted to.

Through the glass wall into the workshop Inko is walking down the stairs while on the phone, "I'm gonna try again, right now." When she walks into the workshop after entering her access code, with a motion of her hand JARVIS turns the music down.

"Please don't turn down my music," Tony jokingly whines at her. She doesn't look too impressed with him for it, but she continues forward.

Bakugou snickers. Of course, Auntie wouldn't be impressed with him for that.

"I'll keep you posted," she hangs up after telling whoever was on the other end that and faces Tony. "You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now."

That caused many to blink. Why was he supposed to be that far away? Was that what Rhodes was talking about when he mentioned not being late? Probably.

Tony ignores what she said, instead asking his question. "How'd she take it?"

"Like a champ," Inko drawls, a small proud smile stretched on her lips. The look Tony gives her tells him that he knows what she did and doesn't care.

Most can't hold back their laughter at that. "Damn," a few mutter. They hadn't thought Mrs. Midoriya could be so vindictive. That gets them to think of the catalyst that brought the two of them together.

"Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?" Tony asks her calmly.

"Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago," she attempts to inform him, only to be interrupted.

"That's funny," he chuckles. "I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there."

Inko chuckled, shaking her head at remembering how her husband was always trying to make a joke. It was something she loved about him, and let's not forget about how much Izuku loved Tony for the same thing. She also remembered what was coming soon and couldn't wait.

Inko sighs, "Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple of things before I get you out of the door." She follows him as he begins to pack up his toolbox and clean his hands of the oil stains.

"I mean, doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?" He continues, not ignoring her but simply continuing his train of thought.

"That isn't how that works, but I can also see his point there," the teacher snickers. He was enjoying this. Never in his life had he expected to see the actual life of Tony Stark. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and he would be damned if it was wasted due to others stupidity or insecurities.

"Larry called," Inko keeps going, not answering Tony. "He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. Do you want it? Yes or no."

"Is it a good representation of his spring period?" He asks with a serious look on his face, no sense of joking.

Inko blinks, not taking his statement for the joke it was. "Um, no. The Springs was actually the neighbourhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked–"

"So?"

"Not 'spring' like the season." She notices the look on Tony's face, hers turning soft. "I think it's a fair example. Um… I think it's incredibly overpriced."

"I need it," he points at her. "Buy it. Store it."

"Why would he need to do that?" The person who asked that question got a couple of weird looks from those who knew the answer. To them, it was obvious and shouldn't have needed to be told to them, but they digress.

"Because artists don't usually get enough money for their works until after they're dead, so even if the painting was overpriced, to Tony it meant that he could help the artist by buying it at full price," Inko informed them, not taking it as an insult or offence as some of the teenagers in the room would have.

"Okay," Inko nods, following him as he continues to walk around the lab. "The MIT commencement speech…"

"Is in June," Tony cuts her off, freezing in his spot. "Please, don't harangue me about stuff that's way, way, down…"

Inko doesn't seem to care, "Well, they're haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes."

Everyone lets out a small laugh at Inko's statement. They still weren't used to her speaking like this. Bakugou had always said that she was sweet and liked everyone. He didn't know as much as he let on. That gave the look Deku gave him when he had told people that a whole new light.

Tony snickers, picking up a screwdriver from the table to point at her. "Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me."

Izuku blinked. "Wasn't that dad's hacking and programming code?" He looks at his mother who nods with a smile. "So he was joking around with that one."

Inko takes a file out from under her arm, holding it out for Tony. "I need you to sign this before you get on the plane."

At this point, Tony gets a confused look on his face. Turning back to her he asks, "What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"

"As a matter of fact," Inko smirks at him. "I do."

Tony chuckles while shaking his head faintly. "I don't like it when you have plans."

"Why doesn't he like it when you have plans?" Someone spoke, narrowing her eyes at the man.

Inko ignores her, letting the chaos begin.

Inko never loses her smirk but a playful glint flashes in her eyes. "I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."

"He forgot your birthday?" Bakugou screeched. That was unheard of! One could never forget Midoriya Inko's birthday! It was not possible! When he looked at Inko he expected her to be upset over it and having to watch it once again. Instead, he is shocked to see a soft, nostalgic look in her eyes while she smiles. That was not what he had been expecting.

"It's your birthday?" Tony looks startled. He almost drops the pen he was still holding after signing the documents.

"Yes," was the simple answer she gave, never losing her smirk even when it turned softer.

The look on her face was filled with understanding and that was what confused most. What was there to understand? He forgot her birthday, there was nothing else to it.

"I knew that," Tony's face says otherwise. "Already?" He questions. He hadn't expected it to come so quickly. The look in his eyes tells her that he knew it was coming up but hadn't realized how fast time was flying.

"Why aren't you mad at him?"

Inko turned to the girl who asked to see a scowl on her lips. From that look alone, Inko could tell that she had a partner who had forgotten her birthday or an event. "Because I knew how busy he was, and therefore how stressed he was during the weeks leading up to it. He never forgot unless something was stressing him out to the point where he didn't realize the date."

That explained a bit of what was going on, but that didn't stop some from being upset over the small slight. Why? No one knows. After all, it wasn't them in the situation on screen, so why were they so pressed?

"Yeah. Isn't that strange?" Inko plays along, knowing that he didn't mean to forget. "It's the same day as last year."

Izuku giggled. "I forgot that you liked to joke with him like this." His eyes begin to mist over when he speaks. "It's been so long that I guess it slipped my mind."

Inko felt terrible about that. Sure, she wasn't the reason Tony died but that didn't mean she wouldn't feel bad. In her mind, if she had been more stern then maybe Tony would have stayed home. But knowing him, that would make him want to go out more. He was stubborn and wanted to help people; something she loved about him very much. Knowing Tony that would have made him furious with himself for not being able to help. She couldn't let him feel that guilt. Misplaced guilt that would have come due to someone else having to do the deed to end things. He would never have forgiven himself for the death that came from him not being there, even though it wasn't his fault. He would have seen it that way.

"Well," Tony sighs, understanding that he made a mistake even if it wasn't an intentional one. "Get yourself something nice from me."

"I already did."

Tony looks interested. "And?"

Inko's face softens, "Oh, it was very nice."

"Yeah?"

"He looks so hopeful and yet he wasn't even the one who bought it," someone chuckles. They could see how much Tony adored Inko, so to know that even when he forgot her birthday.

Inko could see the adoration clear as day. How had she missed it back then? No, she hadn't missed it, she simply didn't want to think about it when she was only his assistant. Now that she has the experience of seeing that look daily for about a decade when they were only dating was enough to tell her why she had ignored it. She was worried about getting accused of not knowing anything and only being there to be like many others. Bimbos who only wanted two things from Tony; money and sex. It was sad but true.

"Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome, Miss. Potts…" He watches her for a few more seconds. "Okay." After that, he heads up the stairs out of the workshop to begin his journey to his plane.