AN:
Just a little cooldown chapter before we head into the first 'official' arc of the story.
Happy Thanksgiving guys and gals! Don't blow yourselves up trying to fry a turkey!
Credit goes to Asdf0789, he's basically a co-writer on this.
Izuku woke up colder than he had been in days past. He threw off the blankets and covers and his bare feet touched the cool stone floor, causing him to recoil for a second. He grabbed his right arm, the joints aching from the cold.
Above him on the wall, the etched owl seemed to stare at him. Danger Sense didn't go off, so he figured everything was fine for now. That realization did not get rid of the feeling he was being watched.
"Cold…" he muttered, wrapping his arms around his torso. The hoodie he'd gotten in San Francisco did little to help him here.
He couldn't figure out if the temperature was due to Athena exerting her pressure, his solitude, or the dreary weather he could see through the new skylight Beckendorf helped him install.
Of course, he did have the option of staying in the Poseidon cabin but found that pointless due to Percy leaving to go back to the city. He did not exactly want to subject himself to the whims of a god he hadn't met yet.
Wait.
"I thought the weather was always controlled to be perfect in this place?" Yoichi sounded in his ear.
Izuku hurriedly threw his clothes on and went outside. He held out his hand and watched as flakes of snow fell into his palm. He looked out and saw the whole camp blanketed in a winter wonderland, save for the strawberry field.
"Hey, dude," Thalia called, trudging up to him. Thalia, bundled up in a black bomber jacket, black jeans, and heavy combat boots, trudged up to him. She held a shopping bag in her hands and a small but mischievous smile on her face. "I came to bring you these."
She shoved the bag in Izuku's hands, and he opened it to see winter clothing.
Exactly in his size strangely enough.
He pawed through the bag to see it even included a compression sleeve for his arm.
"Silena picked them out for you," she said. "Apparently could tell your measurements by eyeballin' it alone. Pretty damn creepy if you ask me, but it works out in this case."
Izuku closed the bag and scratched his head. "I appreciated it but…What's the occasion? How did you guys know it was going to snow all of a sudden?" Izuku asked. He figured he had asked the wrong thing when Thalia flinched back.
"Dude, it's Christmas!" she exclaimed. "It's one of the few days in the year the gods actually let interesting shit happen here!"
Izuku had genuinely forgotten about the holiday between being skipped forward a couple of months (or back a century and a half?) and his encounter with Athena. Vaguely, he remembered Percy saying something about it the day before, but it didn't register due to him being busy with repairs.
He was utterly torn between being surprised by the sudden weather change and being analytical about the Grecian holidays.
"I thought Christmas wasn't a thing in Ancient Greece?" Izuku questioned, his curiosity winning out.
"There was Haloa. But I suggest you don't research it. Not appropriate for a primarily teen setting." Hikage supplied.
Bruce's brows furrowed in puzzlement. "How do you know all this random shit?"
"Close to twenty years of solitude leaves you with a lot of time on your hands."
Thalia shrugged her shoulders and kicked some snow. "It wasn't. The gods decided to throw us a bone since most of us grew up without knowing they existed. Annually, they allow it to snow here today."
'Allow' she said. The Olympians really did control everything. Absently, he wondered if he and Shoto could cause a snow day.
"That's… nice, I guess?" he said, shuffling awkwardly, his shoes crunching on top of the snow.
"Damn straight it is. Now come on and change so we can head to breakfast!"
He nodded and went to get dressed. After a couple of minutes, when he came out of the cabin again, he wore a thick blue button turtleneck with a black sleeveless winter vest, blue jeans, and his usual red sneakers. A black pair of woolen gloves and a navy blue toboggan completed the look.
"Not half-bad," Thalia commented, eyeing him up and down appreciatively as they walked side-by-side towards the dining pavilion. "The blue and black goes with the green hair surprisingly well."
Izuku scratched his cheek sheepishly. "You think? If it was up to me, I would have picked out—Whoa!"
He found himself cut off due to falling into a 4-meter-deep pit, Thalia landing on top of him.
Thalia spat out a mouthful of snow and pushed herself off the dazed Izuku's chest. "Who the fuck?"
"Merry Christmas you two!"
"Didja enjoy our gift to you?"
The pair looked up to see two smiling freckled faces with curly hair hovering over the pit.
"Fucking Hermes kids," Thalia growled, standing up fully. "Julia, Cecil, when I get out of here, both of your asses are grass!"
"That's why we made the pit extra deep," Julia replied.
"Perfect for us to have a head start in running away!" Cecil followed up with, not missing a beat.
Together, the siblings kicked snow down on them when they ran off. Izuku watched Thalia spout out a rather creative string of swears that would give Bakugo a run for his money as she tried to jump up and grab the edge of the pit just to slip back down due to the slickness.
Laughing, Izuku floated up and grabbed Thalia with Blackwhip, who was still cursing up a storm. The moment he went over ground level, she immediately froze and went limp like a small kitten caught by its mother. Meanwhile, the two Hermes kids paused in their tracks, staring at him, eyes wide.
"Crap, I forgot he could do that!"
"Run away!"
"You're going to pay for that. I hope you're prepared!" Izuku yelled while smiling. He flew up in the air and dove, making sure to grab some snow off the veranda of the Big House. Thalia screamed as he dragged her along in his efforts to catch up to the tricksters who were making a mad dash to their cabin. He manipulated the tendril and brought her into his arms.
"You asshole!" she screamed, pounding on his chest." What in Hades' name are you thinking bringing me up here? Are you trying to kill me?"
Izuku blinked and realized what he had done. "I was thinking we can pay them back?" he said, smiling while holding up a snowball with Blackwhip.
Thalia's blush intensified upon seeing how he carried her and his innocent smile. It was pointless to be angry with him. How could he know what she was afraid of?
She sighed and grabbed his shoulders to climb on him, maneuvering her way to where she clung to his back. She then reached over and grabbed some snow off a nearby branch. "Fine, we'll rain hell on them. If you drop me, I'll kick your ass too."
"I'll always be there to ensure you're safe as long as you're with me."
Thalia was suddenly glad he couldn't see her face. Maybe he did come from a world of superheroes. Only a comic book character could say a line that cheesy. Even worse, it affected her because of how many she read.
Blackwhip wrapped around her waist like a safety harness, causing her to gasp lightly. He then took off as if he were shot out of a cannon.
He zoomed past Kaina, who was going for breakfast, bags in hand, sending her falling on her butt, his wake causing a pile of snow to land on her. She stood up and brushed the snow off, shouting a few choice words at his back.
"I like her style," Thalia said appreciatively while laughing.
It took him seconds to catch up to them and then together he and Thalia pelted Hermes' children with snowballs bomber-style. More strains of Blackwhip provided more snow to launch. However, it wasn't completely one-sided, as Julia and Cecil eventually recovered and started firing back at them.
Right when Izuku prepared to swoop down and put an end to the impromptu war, a rogue snowball sniped him in the head. He turned to see Kaina peering at him over the top of her sunglasses, one hand tossing another snowball up and down while the other was shoved inside her jacket pocket.
"You gotta learn to watch where you're flying, Izuku~."
"Oh, you want some too!" Thalia shouted from his back. "We'll serve your ass on a platter next after we're done with these two morons."
Blomph*
Thalia's head snapped back from being nailed by Kaina. Down below, Julia and Cecil were howling with laughter. A round of static electricity coursed through Izuku's skin and, for a second, he feared she'd bring down a lightning bolt.
"Thalia are you—"
"It's on, Nerd Rope! Izuku, we have a new target!"
"Her hair does remind me of the candy…" One of the vestiges said.
Izuku happily gave a mock salute and sent tendrils of Blackwhip out in multiple directions, digging up snow and hurling it at their opponents, who responded kindly. Eventually, the campers from the other cabins got dragged into the brawl and Izuku found himself having to weave out of the way of everyone to keep Thalia and himself from being hit. Things got intense when Beckendorf and Nyssa produced a Snowball Gatling gun and Kaina revealed she could use her quirk to launch snow.
He was forced to use Smokescreen when everyone got the idea of ganging up on them. Kaina and the Apollo campers were way too accurate and leading with their shots.
Things got more complicated when the Hunters third-partied and attacked everyone in sight. For Izuku, they had actual malice behind their throws, allowing him to evade more easily.
The hero and the demigod were having so much fun that he forgot about his worries and she, her fear of heights.
It came to an end when Chiron came out of the Big House and told them to get a move on to the pavilion.
"That was pretty cool!" Thalia admitted, then slugged Izuku in the shoulder, making sure to send a jolt of electricity through her punch to get the point across. She laughed from watching his hair stand up making him look like an electrified Christmas Tree.
"What was that for?!" He whined, wincing and rubbing the point she punched.
"That was for dragging me up in the air all of a sudden." Thalia's voice went quiet, to where he could barely hear. "...It freaks me out."
Izuku blinked and slowly processed what she said. "Are you afraid of—?"
Thalia quickly covered his mouth with her hand. "Don't say it out loud! I'd lose a lot of street cred being a daughter of the sky god who flies everywhere."
She then released him and Izuku looked her over curiously, regretting he lacked a notebook and a pen.
He decided to ask the first question that popped into his mind after putting two and two together. "Can you fly?"
This time, Thalia couldn't hide her blush, and her eyes swam around in a panic. "I've never tried…"
Izuku put on a warm smile and offered his hand. "After breakfast, would you like to try? I won't let you fall."
"Let me think about it," Thalia said, still unsure but still taking his hand anyway. "How about we eat first?"
—X—
All around the pavilion, the remaining campers were enjoying a special Christmas breakfast and exchanging gifts. At the head table, Chiron wore an ugly Christmas sweater depicting a centaur using a bow to cause a literal shooting star. Beside him, a bottle of eggnog replaced Mr. D's Coke. Though judging from his disgusted face, it held no alcohol. Fittingly, he wore a sweater depicting the Grinch.
At Athena's table, Kaina wordlessly opened the bag and put a watermelon on the table followed by a various selection of mochi and a small Japanese Christmas Cake. Izuku stared confusedly at the one thing that did not belong.
"Merry Christmas," she said unceremoniously while rolling the watermelon at him. "It's seedless, so don't get your hopes up too high."
"Tsutsumi, this is a summer gift," Izuku pointed out, still accepting the fruit gratefully.
"I wasn't allowed to get wine or sake… so a watermelon will have to do."
"I don't see how a watermelon substitutes for—"
She cut him off with a hard glare. "I suppose I should count myself lucky that the guy with all the eyeballs took me to the store in the first place. He also put in an express order for me yesterday; not like we could do anything else with that weird money we found."
Izuku started to question the last part, but found himself cut off again.
"If you want, I could get the Hermes kids to get some booze." Thalia chimed in.
Kaina leaned forward on the table, a curious gleam coming off her sunglasses. "I remember you saying that the other day. Hmm… Let's say I'm interested."
Thalia nodded and reached for the box of mochi, popping one in her mouth. "Oh yeah. Mr. D probably wouldn't care if they snuck it in at this time of year. If anything, we could make an excuse we're celebrating Haloa. He'd buy that in a heartbeat."
"There's that holiday again," En commented.
"All we have to do is cut that cake in the shape of—"
"-Can we not defile Christmas please?" Izuku frantically waved his hands. He did not need whatever image Thalia was trying to put in his head.
"Why go to the kids when you could ask the father?"
Izuku jumped out of his skin from the pure shock of a new voice appearing right next to him, sending him flying into the air where he bumped into the pavilion's ceiling. He felt a rope lasso itself around his ankle and pulled him back down to his seat.
"Huh, and I thought only Zeus and Apollo kids did that."
Izuku turned his head to see a man dressed in a brown postal worker costume stuffing a rope back in his satchel. His salt and pepper hair sat tied back in a short ponytail and his caduceus was held firmly in his hand. The twin snakes at the tip wriggling and writhing but never leaving the staff.
"Lord Hermes…" Thalia's holiday cheer had evaporated in an instant, replaced with clear disdain.
Hermes' grip on his staff tightened, and the snakes glared at the daughter of Zeus. "Can we bury the hatchet for today, little sister?" Thalia remained silent, and the god gave a dejected sigh, his shoulders sagging. "Guess not… Moving on, I have a message for you."
He reached into his satchel and produced a bundle of papers, which he then handed to Izuku. Izuku briefly glanced over the documents and then back to Hermes, a small frown on his face.
"Official papers regarding your stay with us," Hermes addressed the two former heroes, trying not to look at Thalia. "Some key notes are: An Olympian will meet with you at least once a week for a check-in unless something extraneous occurs, such as a quest or a battle. You may reside in the greater New York Area or the Eastern Seaboard as long as you inform us. We must be notified regarding any new developments with your quirks. Especially you Izuku, I read your file. Lastly—"
Hermes coughed, and his eyes shifted warily. "If either of you happens to conceive any children, we have to be notified."
Izuku's face went hot, and he buried it in his hands. Across the table, Kaina looked away in embarrassment. The vestiges were snickering at them. The snakes on Hermes' staff were also chittering mockingly. He silently wished a meteor would hit him right there and then.
Thalia was the first to speak after a couple of awkward moments of silence. "Dude, I can't believe you said that."
"Blame Athena, not me!" Hermes quickly and hotly defended himself. "She just pawns off her dirty work on little 'ole Hermes like everyone else. Why do I have to give the birds and bees talk to an adult woman and teen who's almost legal age himself? Do you think I want to do this? Yeah, no. I have no business in other people's sex lives—That's Aphrodite's job. Screw who you want, I say. A wider variety of powers will make things entertaining for me. Fuck miscegenation. I'm here so I could at least show my face to my kids for Christmas."
Rant over, the messenger god let out a breath and slumped his shoulders. He tried to maintain some semblance of dignity by resuming his postal duties. Digging in his satchel, he produced a medium fragrant-smelling parcel, set it on the table, and then slid it over to Kaina.
"Wow, they weren't kidding when they said 'express mail'," Kaina said, amazed. "I half-expected this the day after tomorrow. That's why I got the Watermelon."
Hermes put on a shit-eating grin, leaned on a nearby pillar, and blew on his nails. "Lady, I'm the best at what I do. That's why they call it Hermes Express," he said, completely cocksure, chuckling to himself. "A trip to Japan is child's play to the messenger god. The problem was moreso getting my hands on this bad boy. Next time, put in your order around August like everyone else, okay?"
Between the smell of the package and the context of the conversation, Izuku pieced together the puzzle. "Tsutsumi did you get…"
"KFC?" Hermes finished for him. "Yeah, she did. Merry Christmas, kid. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy the brief time I can see my children."
The moment he finished his sentence, Julia ran over with unnatural speed and latched onto his back. The god took it in stride as he walked over to greet his son. "Oh, I need you to sign those papers and hand them back to me by the end of the day!" He called over his shoulder before fully turning his attention away from the trio.
Thalia growled as she watched him go. "Strange that he picks now to act like his fuckin' kids exist."
Izuku cringed at the strong language she used. It honestly made him worry a fight might break out, given the way the raven-haired girl stared daggers into the god's back. Thankfully, curiosity appeared in her eyes as they shifted to Kaina when she opened the package, revealing a bucket of chicken featuring Colonel Sander's likeness in a Santa suit.
"It's a tradition back in Japan. KFC is very hard to get a hold of for Christmas." Izuku hastily explained before she could ask.
Thalia shrugged, clearly not understanding, but she didn't let it stop her from grabbing a leg.
"Mind explaining how he peed in your Cheerios?" Kaina unhesitatingly asked. Internally, Izuku cringed again at the bluntness.
The teen angrily took a bite of the leg as if it personally offended her. "Percy has a grudge against Ares. I have mine against Hermes."
"Clearly."
Seeing no way out, Thalia grumbled and swallowed her current mouthful. "That guy I fought on the mountain when you two showed up, Luke Castellan, was his son." The resentment in her voice was palpable. "They're both pieces of shit in my eyes, just on different sides of the conflict, but Luke wouldn't exist without Hermes."
"Call it a woman's intuition, but I sense some scorn there," Nana commented.
"Why?"
"Long story short: Hermes used to hang around Luke and his mom a lot—A lot for a god, anyway. His mom was blessed with slight prophetic powers, so she thought she could be the next Oracle of Delphi. Problem: The Oracle of Delphi is currently cursed. No one can take her spot. Luke's mom thought the curse had worn off; it didn't, and she went blind and crazy. Hermes abandoned them shortly after. Luke decided he wanted to kill the gods, betraying everyone–Including me!"
A jolt of electricity flew off a spike of her hair, destroying a nearby lightbulb and sending some campers cowering. Mr. D yelled at them to knock it off.
"Well, then…" Bruce said, encapsulating Izuku's personal thoughts. Nana innocently whistled, happy she was proven right.
Kudo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…"
"Ain't that the truth," Banjo said in agreement.
"No love lost between the two of you I see," Kaina said in dripping monotone sarcasm, staring Thalia dead in the eye as she bit into her food.
Izuku's nervousness and hesitancy to speak combined with Kaina's purposeful ignorance created an awkward silence that fell over them. Thalia's eyes flicked between them, becoming cognizant of how she came off. "Didn't mean to ruin the festive mood…" she said, looking back down at her plate.
Izuku waved her off. "It's okay. Christmas isn't that big in Japan from a government standpoint. I'm happy that Kaina thought of getting me anything at all. I just wish I had something to give in return."
"Nope. Don't start that. I'll be damned if we have two people moping. We have nine grand in USD and who knows how much in Wadōkaichin," Kaina said, shutting him down. "If anyone deserves a gift, you do. I wouldn't be alive without you."
Thalia stuck her pinky in her ear and cleaned it out. Occasionally she felt like she was watching a badly dubbed movie or anime. Or an 80s anime movie. Kaina said 'Drachma', but her lips failed to match the syllables. There was some mist fuckery about—Probably for a good reason. Knowing her luck, it'd sort itself out, eventually.
She saw Izuku looking down and elbowed him, garnering his attention. "It's Christmas. I already brought down the mood enough. The last thing we need is you moping over getting a present."
Thalia swallowed her fear, allowing it to sink like a rock to her stomach as she prepared for the next words she was about to say. "How about… you take me flying?"
The older teen's face lit up with excitement. "I promise I'll take it slow!"
"Mind if I join too, or is this a private session?" Kaina said with a smirk.
"Wait, you can fly too?"
"Kinda. It's probably better to show you than to tell you."
Now she was curious.
—X—
Now that they were on the edge of the forest, Thalia was starting to regret her decision.
Mist passed through her lips as she took deep breaths to calm herself down. She tried to focus on the satisfying crunch of the snow under her boots that made her feel all-powerful. Finally, her sight landed on the two backs walking in front of her.
"Leading me out like this makes it look like you're plotting to kill me~" she snarked, trying to distract herself with humor. She got the intended effect when Izuku froze up like a popsicle, no temperature necessary.
Kaina, on the other hand: "Please. You should be more concerned about that if you couldn't see me."
For emphasis, she flexed her arm and briefly it turned to a high-powered sniper rifle, then back to a regular human arm.
"Wicked…" Thalia muttered.
"Did you really fall for that?" Kaina questioned Izuku, who had a haunted look across his face. She went over to his side and poked him. "She's just afraid."
"Hey, don't put my business out in the open like that."
"Oh, sorry…" Izuku muttered. "I guess this is as good a place as any to start."
"How do you fly?" Thalia asked.
Izuku and Kaina looked at each other, and then Kaina stepped forward. "I can't speak for him, but for me, I just imagine I'm going up a staircase." She demonstrated by doing exactly that. Thalia watched in amazement as the women climbed nothing. "Once I get high enough, I can glide across the air if I choose to. But I don't have free movement like he does."
Kaina glided across for a bit, then fell, Izuku instinctively catching her like a princess and putting her down. Thalia ignored the twang of envy at how in sync they were when Izuku started speaking. "My ability is called 'Float' in comparison to her 'Air Walk'. In addition, my abilities are based on my emotions. 'Blackwhip' comes from my anger. 'Float' is based on my joy and sense of freedom."
"That's very similar to Starfire and Raven from DC," Thalia said.
Izuku blinked in surprise. Inside his head, one of the vestiges coughed. "Hm. Never thought of it like that. But I wanted to say that I feared my powers at first. I feared hurting someone with Blackwhip. I feared leaving the ground."
He then took a deep breath and floated up into the air. He flipped and twisted while moving up and down. Unlike Kaina, his movements were smooth and formless, as if he had turned off gravity and given it the middle finger. He then let his quirk go and fell to where he was slightly taller than Thalia.
He gently wrapped Blackwhip around her waist and waited for her instruction. She timidly nodded and Izuku lifted her up, taking her hands in his before adjusting her to where she was on his back like earlier.
Now that there wasn't a target to direct her anger, Thalia started to think about how the ground was slowly getting away from her. She wrapped her arms around his neck like a scared cat, which she supposed anyone who saw her would describe her as one.
Thankfully, he stopped once they were about level with the height of the cabins in the distance
"I won't go higher than this for the first time," he said. "What helped me is that I was with my friends. I trusted my friends Uraraka, Sero, and Tsu to catch me if I fell."
"I'm sorry but, I don't know who they are."
"Oh…I'm sorry," he apologized. "Uraraka was the girl you saw in my entrance exam."
"The floaty one with the chipmunk cheeks?"
"Yep, her quirk is called Zero Gravity. She can make herself fly easily. I believe she does it by—"
"How about we get a move on?" Kaina said, walking up to their height and preempting Izuku's rant. "The longer we sit here, the more she starts to think about it."
Izuku nodded and they started to move. Of course, he went at a leisurely pace for both her sake and Kaina, who could walk to keep up.
They passed over Dryads who were playing their daily games with the Satyrs by luring them in for a kiss, then transforming into a tree, so the poor fool smacked into them and ended up buried under the snow that fell from their branches.
The Naiads were ice-skating over the frozen part of the sound.
The sparse campers who remained for the holidays were out and about making snowmen, doing snow angels, or sledding all under the watch of a pair of adult demigods who had volunteered to stay over the break. While Beckendorf didn't need it, Thalia appreciated the sentiment.
When they flew over Chiron, the centaur looked up at them, smiled, waved, and then returned to his paperwork.
Thalia marveled at the unique view of the camp that was being offered to her. Is this what Percy experienced while riding Blackjack? She closed her eyes and felt the wind whip around her body and hair. It whispered to her, waiting for her command to let her fly on her own.
It terrified her.
Yet it gave her a sense of power, being able to see everything at once. To know everything.
She quickly opened her eyes and gripped Izuku tighter, burying her chin on his shoulder, content on just enjoying the view as they went on a lazy lap around the whole camp.
"Ain't half bad, is it?" Kaina called from her side, no longer walking but gliding. Thalia could only nod in agreement. "It's liberating once you get used to it."
Thalia felt rather than see Izuku's body move in agreement. Every muscle she could feel under his clothes moving powerfully like a well-oiled machine. "I feel the same way. I don't have to worry about collateral damage to property or worrying about the best route to get somewhere."
The woman stared at him with a dead expression. "Not exactly what I meant, but okay? You truly have hero work on the brain 24/7, huh?"
"To be in service to others–What a joy!" Kaina recoiled and lost some altitude at the genuine conviction in Izuku's voice.
The two ladies met eyes, and an unspoken communication passed between them.
Never let someone take advantage of him.
"But no seriously," Izuku's voice dropped and became more somber. "Hero work keeps my mind off anxieties. I don't think about how easily my quirk can hurt myself or others. It's a deep rabbit hole to go down."
And here she thought she was the only one with insecurities. She might be messed up for thinking this way, but it made her feel better that this guy, stronger than any mortal she'd ever seen, still had a human side. He got scared, and he got worried, just like she did. She hugged him tighter, trying to convey some comfort as he started to fly again.
They came to a stop right at the boundary—above her namesake tree. Izuku's gaze was hard-focused outward toward greater New York. Thalia peered around at his face and saw a mixture of unreadable emotions.
"Kinda reminds you of Tokyo, doesn't it?" Kaina said, nostalgia laced in her voice.
"There isn't a mountain in the background, but I get the point. The city is huge."
The older woman glided around Izuku's other side, ethereally as if an invisible string pulled at her body. "I mentioned it the other day but, c'mon–let's get an apartment in the city. We've got the cash and have the clearance you've been waiting for. We can pretend to be normal for a bit."
"That sounds better than living in the girl's dorm by myself, mind if I join you?"
The words slipped out before she realized it. Damn her ADHD mouth.
Both the hero and the assassin paused, realizing she existed. Might as well keep going.
"I don't feel like staying in the dorms if Annabeth isn't going to be there and I don't want to be at camp for too long," she said, trying to keep the bitterness and memories of Luke out of her voice. "No one around to talk about all this paranormal shit with. Besides, the rent is over a thousand in Manhattan. If we divide it three ways, we can pay about four hundred a piece."
"Aww, what the hell? I'm for it. See, Izuku? Now we've found a roommate." Kaina swung by and happily laced her arm around Thalia's neck. "And I particularly like this one."
Izuku twisted them away in an attempt to turn his back, but with Thalia attached to him, the gesture was awkward. Kaina covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
"…I'll think about it." His voice cracked at the end, trying to stuff down the panic from the prospect of living with two women.
"That's all I ask."
For anyone confused, Izuku is wearing one of his civilian costumes from Ultra Rumble while Kaina is wearing her winter casual from a sketch Horikoshi did in Vol. 32.
Anyway, I feel Christmas is too big of an event to just gloss over, and it allows us to get a look into the start of how Izuku and Thalia's relationship functions. Spoiler, she's a main character for the most part. I mean c'mon she fits the 90s superhero comic book theme. Vague downer past, love/hate relationship with most of the main cast (both hero and villain), rough edgy look, lack of control over her powers due to a mental block? Craves power in some form being her fatal flaw? She checks all the boxes.
As a matter of fact Asdf0789 compared her to Jubilee.
Anyways, please comment and review I love reading what you guys say.