A/N: Before I begin this chapter, I want to say RIP Queen Elizabeth II, April 21, 1926-September 8, 2022.

The waves of the Pacific Ocean gently lapped against the hull of the Oki Mariner, and Selkie and his valiant crew stood alert, ready to take on the mission that had been presented before them. According to intel from the CIA, a Russian Oscar-class submarine had sunk somewhere off the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture. What made this notable was its payload: one Status-6 "Poseidon" Oceanic Multipurpose System vehicle. Better known as the "tsunami bomb" in the popular discourse, this unmanned underwater vehicle was capable of vast destructive power, and Selkie's crew had been given one task: retrieve the bomb before the Russians did. Also present among the crew was Tsuyu "Tsu" Asui, being accompanied by Deku and Todoroki, who had each been given a bit of a crash course in scuba diving as a condition of volunteering for this mission.

"Thanks for volunteering for this," said Tsu. "Your help means a lot to me, ribbit."

Deku smiled. "You're welcome, Asui! We're only too glad to help!"

"I told you to call me 'Tsu'."

Deku rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, right, sorry!"

"Anyways, what made you two want to come along with me?"

Todoroki gestured to Deku with her thumb. "Well, it was mostly Deku's idea. We had nothing better to do, so he convinced me to come along with you."

Tsu nodded. "I see. By the way, Todoroki, can I ask you something?"

Todoroki smiled. "Sure!"

"You've become a lot happier since the Sports Festival. Did using your fire power make you that happy, or was it something else?"

"It wasn't just the fact that Deku made me feel better about the 'Hot' portion of my Quirk. You see, when I finally used my fire, I also found the courage to come out to you, Deku and everybody else. That, and the fact that you and all the other girls gave me your support meant A LOT to me."

Tsu smiled. "Well, I'm glad! Besides, one of my best friends is transitioning, so I can totally sympathize with your reasoning, ribbit."

"Thank you! And Asui…"

"Please, call me 'Tsu'."

"Right! You may call me 'Shoko'!"

Tsu nodded. "Ribbit."

"Come here!"

Todoroki gave Tsu a big hug. Tsu gasped and blushed when she felt Todoroki's voluptuous chest press against her head, but she nevertheless returned the hug. Even if she did find the whole experience to be a touch awkward, she would much rather have had a warm, friendly Todoroki than one who was cold as ice and not approachable at all. Even so, the little frog girl felt the need to speak up about something…

"Shoko, I'm glad you're happy, but you can let go now, ribbit."

"Oh." Todoroki let go of Tsu and smiled awkwardly.

"Now hear this:" said Selkie. "We're just about at the area where the submarine is. Sirius, Mick, get the retrieval harness ready. Midoriya, Todoroki, Asui, prepare to dive."

"Right!"

Sirius and Mick threw a retrieval harness attached to a rope over the side of the Oki Mariner, after which Deku, Todoroki and Tsu dove into the water. Deku, Todoroki and Tsu grabbed the retrieval harness and began their descent into the depths of the Pacific. To find the submarine, Tsu was using a waterproof Geiger counter that Deku managed to scrounge from Mei Hatsume, so it was mainly Deku and Todoroki following Tsu's lead. As they went deeper and deeper into the water, Deku and Todoroki couldn't help but be hypnotized by the various forms of aquatic wildlife that inhabited these depths, so much so that Tsu had to gently tug at the harness to snap them out of their trance.

Finally, after diving so far, they found the submarine, K-715 Severnaya. When they approached the submarine, Deku aimed another one of Hatsume's toys – a wrist-mounted cutting torch – and started cutting open the area where the bomb was on the submarine. He would have to hurry, for Tsu tapped him on the shoulder and pointed her finger off in the distance. Todoroki had taken notice as well, and one thing became clear to them: the Russians had found the submarine, too. Breaking from his cutting job, Deku readied an APS underwater assault rifle, while Tsu got a speargun ready. The Russians attempted to fire at them, but Todoroki blocked their shots with her ice. Using the ice as cover, Deku opened fire on the Russians, hitting two of them, while Tsu used her ability to secrete mucus to mask her thermal signature from the Russians and sneak around them. In doing so, she plugged one of them with her speargun, which caused a bit of a panic. Knowing that the Russians' attention was divided, Todoroki shot a blast of ice at them, freezing a couple more. Though the Russians were superior in numbers, the trio from the Oki Mariner had better training, and it was this training that enabled them to wipe out their opponents and get back to cutting open the submarine.

One thing that Deku had to be careful about when using the torch was that he didn't accidentally cut through the bomb and set it off. Fortunately, his care paid off, and he was able to cut away enough of the Severnaya's hull so they could reach the bomb. Because it was heavy, Deku and Todoroki had to work together to lift the bomb up just enough so that Tsu could get the harness underneath it. Fortunately, their teamwork paid off, and because the crew of the Oki Mariner was observing them through special CCTV mounts, they knew that the bomb was ready to be transported to the surface, so they brought it up carefully yet quickly, with Deku, Todoroki and Tsu supporting the harness so the bomb wouldn't fall off. Fortunately, they managed to get back to the surface, but Selkie had bad news for them…

"Ladies and gentlemen, look over there!"

Selkie pointed off in the distance, where they saw a Russian Udaloy-class destroyer.

"Attention Japanese ship: this is the Russian Navy destroyer Friedrich Engels. You are hopelessly outgunned, and you cannot get away. Surrender now and hand the Poseidon to us, and we shall allow you to live. Do not test us."

"Midoriya, what's your plan?" asked Tsu.

"Shoko, can your fire or ice reach that far?" asked Deku.

Todoroki stroked her chin. "I might. I'd feel better if Tsu used her tongue to launch me at the destroyer so I could get a better shot, though.

"All right, I can do that, ribbit."

Tsu stood behind Todoroki.

"Ready, Shoko?"

Todoroki gave a thumbs up. "Ready!"

With one more "ribbit", Tsu wrapped her tongue around Todoroki and hurled her at the Russian destroyer as hard as she could. Fortunately, this got Todoroki close enough, and…

"FLASHFREEZE HEATWAVE!"

With this single attack, Todoroki blew the Friedrich Engels to kingdom come before splashing down in the water. In short order, the Oki Mariner showed up, and Mick threw down a life ring to her, which she grabbed onto. He then pulled her up, and Deku and Tsu came over to her.

"Wow Shoko, that was impressive!" said Tsu. "No matter how many times I see you in action, you never fail to amaze, ribbit."

Todoroki smiled. "You can thank Deku for that. Had he not made me feel better about my Fire half, I would never have unlocked such immense power. Then again, the support from you and the rest of the girls revived my esprit de corps."

Deku blushed. "Shoko, I didn't know you knew French!"

Todoroki wrapped an arm around Deku. « Je suis un étudiant de plusieurs langues. »

"Hey, mind if I get a picture of you two?" asked Tsu.

"Go ahead!" said Deku.

"Please do!" said Todoroki.

"OK then."

Deku and Todoroki continued to wrap an arm around each other, while Tsu snapped a picture of them with her phone. Overall, it was another great day for peace, love and teamwork.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.