"Akane, can you and Izuku deliver something to Doctor Tofu on your way home?"
Izuku, who was currently reading through his accursed math book, having planned to continue reading all the way to school, raised his head, while Akane stiffened at the question.
Kasumi held up a book titled "Ki and the Human Body's Pressure Points".
"I borrowed this book from him, and I'd like to return it."
Izuku would have expected Akane to immediately agree, but instead she suddenly seemed bashful again.
"Could you… Um… Do it yourself, Kasumi? Today's just… Uh… Not too good for me."
Did… Did she, or did she not want to go see him? She had seemed so happy to meet him yesterday, but now when her sister practically handed her the opportunity on a plate, she hesitated and pushed it away.
Regardless though, if she wasn't going to do it, somebody would have to, since Kasumi couldn't.
"I'll do it."
He reached forward and took the book as she now pushed it in her direction with a smile.
"Thank you dear."
Nonchalantly, he pushed the book into his bag, before closing it, then resuming his reading into the infernal mysteries of math and equations.
He thusly missed the glare Akane was leveling in his direction.
He was still holding the bag in one hand, the book in the other, when Akane suddenly declared it was time for them to go, then grabbed the back of his collar and with truly enormous speed and massive strength she dragged him off of the floor and speed first out of the Dojo, and then through the streets at such high force that his feet didn't even touch the ground, instead his entire body was almost horizontally straight in the air.
It was, in fact, so consistently straight that he still could have read his book if he wanted to.
He made the choice to close it though, somehow having gotten the feeling Akane MIGHT have something to say… Which turned out to be a good decision.
As they passed a house, there was an old lady that for some reason that Izuku could not begin to understand, was throwing water on the driveway from a small laddlebucket.
There was probably some cultural reason for it, which he had forgotten at some point… But the fact of the matter was that it meant his legs got splashed with water… And subsequently his curse kicked in.
Conveniently enough, as he currently was hanging behind Akane, he didn't have to stretch his body to readjust his clothing. It did it just fine on its own thanks to the friction and pull.
Akane sped through past the school gates, but rather than through the courtyard into the doors of the school she did an immediate U-Turn into the right wall beside the gate.
Where she then quickly hoisted Izuku up into the air and readjusted so he slammed into it back first, and not particularly gently at that.
"Listen Izuku, why don't you keep your big mouth shut?"
"About what?" He said, not exactly super annoyed, but not exactly happy either.
He could tell looking at Akane's face that she was upset, but he could not honestly fathom why.
"Don't play dumb! You volunteered us to go cause you wanted me to go see Doctor Tofu and… Were you always this tall?"
It was only now, belatedly she realized he'd changed genders again, as her eyes in shock went down to his breasts.
Then, as if to check that it had indeed happened, she ripped open his shirt.
"When… When did you…"
She had a bizarre look on her face as she stared at Izuku's rather ample bosom, but Izuku honestly didn't care too much about that.
He had… Other things on his mind.
"Um… Akane...?"
Behind her murmuring began.
In particular the words "Big" were used in a lot of different, but related ways.
It was then, too late, that Akane suddenly remembered there was usually a pretty large number of guys waiting for her at the gates of this school each morning.
She snapped around in a defensive stance, putting herself between Izuku and the boy's'… Though her relatively short height compared to Izuku's female one, meant that Izuku's now open chest was actually situated just over her head.
"What the Hell are you guys looking at!? Did you guys get brain damage after yesterday!? So who's first today!?"
However, rather than attacking, one of the guys stepped forward with tears in his eyes.
He actually looked kinda solemn… Though that wasn't too hard when he was one of the few who was actually looking at Akane's face rather than what was behind and just above it.
"Akane… We shall no longer challenge you!"
"That's right!" One of the other guys called out.
"Instead we shall swallow our sobs… And give our approval to your engagement to Izuku!"
The random guy who Izuku did not know seemed genuinely choking down his tears as he continued.
"Though your great beauty and phenomenal strength has been a guiding light that has kept our hearts aflame with motivation, we CANNOT stand in the way of your relationship! If it is Izuku you have chosen then we have no choice but to give up!"
Another of the guys, a guy with boxing gloves, who seemed far less actually in tears the the main guy, also noted:
"Not to mention how he easily beat Kuno… Twice! Kuno was Furinkan's greatest fighter!"
"And the biggest pervert!" Another chimed in.
"There is no way we can challenge Izuku for your hand… And so as Kurogiri said, we have no choice but to give up!"
The lead, overly emotional guy, now identified as Kurogiri, nodded.
"Farewell Akane Tendo! And may Izuku bring you as much joy and hope in your coming years as your amazing strength has given us through our time here!"
After that, the gathered crowd began to disperse, some with a goodbye of their own, some with a wave, some a nod, and some just slinked off with a dejected look on their face.
"Well… I… Guess that solves that problem."
"Y-Yeah… Anyway… We were… Wait… Did you… Was your shirt open for that ENTIRE THING!?"
"Yeah?"
"BUTTON IT UP!"
Akane snapped around, a clear, faint blush on her face, as Izuku began to do just that.
"Why can't I know ANY guy who isn't a pervert?"
"...You were the one who ripped it open to look at them."
Izuku didn't see what sort of expression she had, but she very clearly flinched at that assessment.
"A-anyway! We were talking about Doctor Tofu…"
Her voice steeled itself as she turned around, and distinctly looked Izuku in the face and not on the now covered mammaries below.
"Why did you volunteer despite me CLEARLY not wanting to!?"
"...Because Kasumi needed someone to do it? I didn't ask you to come along, you know."
She suddenly got a dumbfounded look on her face.
"But… You don't know the address!"
"Yeah… Because you dragged me with you before I could ask her about it."
She, again, looked at him dumbfounded.
"You… You really weren't planning on taking me along…"
"Why did you even assume that?"
"Because that's what Nabiki does when-"
She halted abruptly and turned around.
"Nevermind… I'll give you the address. Just… Later."
I
"Wow… Things really move at a breakneck speed here."
Inko said absently, looking over the news on the phone Soun had thoughtfully provided her with.
"We haven't been here half a week, and already Izuku is taking on the local martial arts elite. That usually took us a month or two."
"Just like the good old days! Right Soun?"
"Indeed!"
Her husband's old friend declared.
"Two vagabond martial artists traveling the land on the eternal road to martial excellence!"
Both of them got a far off look, complete with a smile… Though in her hubby's case that made him look like he was having a stroke.
"It's… A rapid development, that's for sure… But who was this Kuno boy anyway? I thought the name sounded familiar, but…"
"Oh right, you weren't really deeply involved with the martial scene back then. I could name his father, but you would not recognize the name... However, you probably recall his wife, the boy's mother! She was the insane Ninja with the obsession with the Victorian west!
That did ring a bell.
"Oh right… The lady with the… Wait… If she is Kuno's mother… Wasn't her husband the one who dressed like an old school feudal lord, only with that bizarre, massive frock around his neck?"
"The very same!"
"You see Inko dear… During her trip to the west where she got obsessed with the Victorian era, she also converted to the cross… And when she came home and eventually married her master, Kuno, he in turn converted, and adopted a look that was in fashion for a very short period of time during the medieval period during the Sengoku Jidai, when Japan was on good footing with European traders and missionaries… The European frock around the neck the wealthy and powerful used to wear back then."
Ah, her hubby… If there was a question of some weird or obscure detail about Japanese history or culture to be asked, he always had the answer.
Also, it explained something else.
"...Sounds like they were both kinda insane."
"Oh yes, the husband, no less than his wife!"
Hisashi nodded.
"Frankly, I think it's a genetic disorder… The Kuno's are known to find brides and grooms from their Ninjas from time to time. Probably started from them, and was bred into the Kuno's over the years.."
That was also a question…
"Why… Why DO the Kuno family have Ninjas at their beck and call?"
Both men shrugged, with a nonchalance like she had just asked about the weather.
"I don't know. They just… Do. Though the younger Kuno's father was not actually the overhead. That would be his Uncle, the then contemporary Kuno's brother. He's the one with the actual ninja clan as a whole serving him."
There had been a time in her life… When Inko would have been flabbergasted about talking about actual, real ninja clans with roots dating back to the Sengoku Jidai.
That time had passed.
Honestly, compared to the INSANITY she had seen overseas, the prospect of something as relatively mundane as clans of assassins and spies was downright down to earth.
"Sounds like the son got that disorder too."
"Indeed…"
Black flames suddenly ignited around Soun's body, not too dissimilar to a Super Saiyan aura from dragon ball.
"However! No such thing, or previous fraternization between our families will save him if he dares to come here again! If he does, I shall deliver a beating the likes of which this Dojo has not seen since we buried the thing in the corner!"
Both Inko and Hisasha stiffened immensely at that… But before any further comment could come, the doorbell rang.
Soun's black flames went out like a snuffed candle.
"Oh, pardon me, I must go greet the visitor."
He got up and headed to the entrance.
The voice of the visitor was heard quite well across the halls of the Dojo, for he was not exactly quiet.
"Ah, Master Tendo! Excellent! You were the man I was looking for! We must discuss your daughter's ruffian betrothed!"
"Yes…"
The loud sound of knuckles being cracked, somehow echoed far, far greater than the visitor's voice.
"I suppose I shall deliver my discussion upon you."
I
Kasumi sighed as she heard the distinct sounds of a brutal, brutal beatdown below.
She needed not actually watch what was happening to know who it was, because Nabiki was currently enjoying the sight from a balcony with a full view of the entrance.
"Shouldn't you be at school? You don't have much time left to make the trip all the way to Yuei."
Nabiki waved her off.
"I'll go when daddy is done beating Kuno up."
"Can I assume the reason he's here, right as Furinkan's about to start classes, is because of a letter asking him to come here or the like?"
"Mhhmm… Maybe…"
She sighed.
"I assume this will just be the beginning?"
"Like you would not believe… I have saved up SO much stuff on the guy over the years… Just in case."
"I can imagine yes. Some never do get over being rejected."
Nabiki did not freeze or stiffen the way Akane or Izuku would have, but Kasumi knew her far, far too much, not to see through the usual fake nonchalance as she shrugged.
Then again, she had been there when Nabiki came home pouting, and angrily talking with their mother about the stupid boy who had turned her down.
Not a true first love being rejected, with all that came with it… But it had mattered to her. Much more so than many other things that came later.
She had worn a cute and adorable expression back then… A far cry from the woman she was becoming.
Finally though, the sound of Tatewaki Kuno being slammed into the wall opposite on the street from their gate, and their father closing it, signaled that it was over.
"By the way… I noticed the book you sent with Izuku."
"Yes? What of it?"
"The pressure points book… I'm guessing you don't need it anymore?"
She shook her head, suddenly feeling a bit sad.
"No… I had hoped… But that has passed. I moved on."
Nabiki nodded. Then stretched, arms up and behind her back.
"Later sis."
And then she was gone.
Kasumi sighed again, then went to pick up the empty back of chips she had left behind.
The girl was REALLY angry about Kuno's lie.
How much of that was due to her old wounded pride finally being allowed to reign loose and unchained, and how much it was her new wounded pride of being humiliated before her new boyfriend, she did not know.
Regardless, she did not envy the young Mr. Kuno going forward.
I
Izuku landed some 29 meters away from the pole he'd launched himself from.
He could probably have done better too with a bit of practice, as he had the capacity.
He just hadn't done the basics of gym physicals in Japanese school in ages.
Some were useful, and some were so esoteric that he had never encountered something like them as serious training before.
As it was though, this being the final exercise of the day, before the next part of gym(Girl's baseball), Izuku quickly headed over to the grass and sat down with the rest of the boy's who were now going to have to wait until the girls' part was over.
He couldn't help but think that this seemed a rather inefficient method of doing gym, when the guy next to him suddenly spoke up.
"Man… Seeing you vault two dozen feet off of that thing reminded me of how I thought it would be to actually start using Ki."
Izuku looked at him, surprised, but not entirely unwelcome of the sudden talk.
"How… Old were you then?"
"9…"
"That's…"
Izuku quickly focused to sense his Ki.
"That's way too late. If you want to train your Ki, then before the age of 8 you need a strong, powerful base of Ki reserves, whether you were born with it, or trained for it. Without that foundational base when you get older, you will never achieve the truly great heights."
That was, incidentally also the biggest reason why almost all societies on earth had failed to produce consistent Ki users, even if they were founded by one.
The things that separated those who did, from those who didn't, was always being able to produce Ki growth in their children at an early age.
The guy took it in stride.
"And in one bit of dialogue, you just explained the problems with my Ki better than my entire family ever did in years."
"I'm… Sorry?"
"It's alright." I gave up on the dreams of soaring through the air ages ago…"
Another guy jumped into the conversation.
"Sooo… You and the Tendo sisters… How far have you gone yet?"
Izuku just stared at him.
"It's the third day."
"Actually it's the second day since you came here."
"No, I mean it's the third day since I met them. Not to mention…" he blushed, realizing the connotations. "We're gonna be married next July."
At least he assumed so… His parents had suggested it would be then, though he didn't actually know the date of Akane's birthday. The wedding wouldn't actually happen before both of them turned 16.
"Ah, waiting for the day when you can pluck all 3 flowers at once in a sea of debauchery huh?"
Izuku, again, just kept staring at him.
"Is that… All you think about?"
"Hey, you're the one who's engaged to the 3 most pretty girls from school. You're the weird one out, here!"
The reactions of the other boys were a bit mixed.
Some rolled their eyes at the brazenness of it, but not all of them, instead nodding, or making other such gestures they agreed with, or understood his point.
Izuku for his part just shook his head, then turned it and just looked at Akane.
She was… Pretty.
Really pretty.
He hadn't really thought about it so… Brazenly before, but looking at her playing baseball in a set of bloomers and a t-shirt, it was hard to deny.
She wasn't anywhere close to the mature beauty of Kasumi, or Nabiki's… Charms… But she was still one of the most beautiful girls in the class, even if she couldn't really compete with her sisters in looks.
Well, except for her gorgeous mane of blue hair, and her huge but-
There Izuku froze, blushed, and did his best to bury those thoughts deep, deep down, all in rapid succession.
He was thankfully distracted from further thoughts on Akane by… Several of Akane's friends suddenly occupying the other, still open spots around him in the grass.
So not so much a distraction as a detour to focus on another part of Akane.
"Uhmm… Hi?"
The girls, who had apparently decided to take advantage of the fact there were a few girls who weren't needed to play, all looked at him with rather eager faces.
"Yo! So, Izuku, we've been wanting to ask you some things, and now that Akane can't really stop us…"
"It's time to spill the beans!"
One of the others said enthusiastically.
"On… On what?"
"On all the JUICY stuff Akane won't tell us! Is it really true that you and she have been engaged since you were four?"
"Well that's… It's a bit more complicated than that. See, there was actually a second engagement as well, to some French guy, who had the option of marrying any of the 3 daughters of Mr. Tendo."
The girls just stared at him.
"Wait… So there was a SECOND guy Akane might have ended up engaged to!?"
"Y-Yeah… But the thing is the guy and his family never bothered to make contact to actually arrange that marriage before the final date, so it effectively became null and void… Thus, my engagement became one where I would marry all 3 rather than the 2 girls that were not chosen."
"Wow… That's… I CAN'T believe Akane NEVER told us about any of this! Did she know all that stuff?"
"Well… I've known it since I was four… So… I guess?"
The girls again seemed flabbergasted, and the boys listening in seemed interested as well, if not emotionally invested in it the way the girls were.
"Oh man… So you were the backup then? The guy Mr. Tendo wanted to take care of the girls who didn't end up as the main bride to this… Guy in France? Who was he anyway? Some other martial artist?"
Izuku shrugged his shoulders.
"No idea. I've never seen or met him. But… That's not quite accurate of Mr. Tendo's perspective… He actually wanted to marry me off to all 3 girls from the get go, but the whole other engagement predated mine, so he was only able to marry me off to 2 daughters. The whole 2 becoming 3, was a legal clause on the off chance that… Well exactly what happened did happen."
"Man… Mr. Tendo is such a weird guy… Why do you guys think Akane kept all this such a secret?"
Several of the girls who Izuku still didn't know the names of, shrugged.
"Pride maybe? I mean… Izuku's a real cutie and hunk, but she still doesn't seem all that keen on it. Sorry, Izuku, no offense to you, but… That's just how she is."
"Yeah… I know."
"I mean… There is Doctor Tofu… What's your take on that? You know about all that, right?"
"Yeah… But… To be completely honest, I don't really see that going anywhere… Regardless of what I do, or don't."
That much was true enough.
Even if he was as charitable as possible, and Tofu was actually 24 or something, rather than the late 20's Izuku had clogged him as, that still meant an age gap over twice that between himself and Kasumi's.
He had seen this kind of crush before during his travels.
His mother had a term for that, called "Precious love"... And Izuku had NEVER seen it go anywhere.
Even if he was not in the equation, he could not see it going anywhere.
The girls and several of the guys seemed impressed by that.
"Man… I mean… I don't think you're necessarily wrong, but… You have no doubts? At all?"
"No."
"Well you got confidence at least…"
One of the other girls, the only one who hadn't seemed all that impressed with Doctor Tofu chimed in with a line that just Izuku completely by surprise.
"I still think she's gay… Though I suppose that would make her marriage to Izuku kinda convenient all things considered."
"What?"
Izuku just stared at her in complete shock.
The others were not impressed.
"Yeah, yeah, we heard that theory before. I don't buy it. I have seen how she talks about Tofu… She HAS a type… But not the kind with knockers."
"I don't know… I've seen how she looks at Hinako-Sensei. She could just be jealous of those boobs, like the rest of us, but it could be something else too."
Izuku had never really listened in on girls talk before… At least not teenage girls(He had plenty of time listening to the talk of older women), and so he had an image of those kinds of discussion as less… Crude… Than their male counterparts.
If so, he should have been here a year ago when Nabiki and her two girl pals had still been around. Their talks and how unashamedly they talked about anything under the sun would have knocked his socks off.
"Is there… Any other reason you'd think she was… Into girls?"
"Well there is the fact she has hated almost every boy we've ever seen her interact with… Though that could just be because of Nerima being utterly full of perverts. Like… This school is bad, but the town isn't much better."
"Come on, we're not that bad." the guy Izuku had talked with earlier chimed in.
"Sure you're not… Except for the way every single guy drools over Hinako-Sensei… Well, except for Gosunkugi, but… Well he's Gosunkugi. The fact he isn't an open pervert isn't exactly enough to make up for all the weird crap he pulls. Actually the fact Izuku doesn't just drool in her classes is a HUGE point in his favor."
"She's… Not that good looking."
All the girls, and boys, turned to look at him in disbelief.
"I mean… She's a pretty woman, but…"
A light went off in the boy's head.
"He's comparing them to Nabiki and Kasumi. How predictable."
Izuku immediately blushed.
What he'd actually meant and thought was that he didn't understand how Hinako's beauty was actually distracting in class.
She WAS a beautiful woman, that was true enough… But Izuku had met plenty of other, equally beautiful women during his travels.
He had trained under several, and generally not let their beauty get in the way of what they had to teach.
Apparently, being in an actual school gave you a different perspective.
The girls seemed amused by the misunderstanding.
"Aww… That's adorable~"
The girl who thought Akane was gay nodded.
"Even if one of them is Nabiki, that is pretty sweet of you… I don't agree… But it's sweet."
Izuku was starting to get a sense that it might not be Akane who was the one in this group into girls.
Any further thoughts on the subject though, was cut short by Akane hitting him in the face with a baseball at truly massive speed.
Whether it was intentional to stop his gossiping with her girl pals, or an accident as she vehemently claimed afterwarss, was a question said girl pals would never get fully clarified.
I
It was a most peculiar day for Tatewaki Kuno.
Firstly, his manservant Sasuke had suddenly informed him that his family had arranged for a match for him.
That was not surprising… They had been trying that for literal years. It was inevitable that sooner or later, they would succeed… Despite Sasuke's looks.
As such, he had been forced to inform his master that he would now have to engage in traditional courting, then consummation of his marriage, and would not be returning to his active duty at the mansion until his first child had been born.
Kuno, in his usual style, had sent him off without too much thought on the matter.
He had survived his childhood without the Ninja, and he would survive a year or two as a teenager without him.
He would have thought nothing of it… But in hindsight it had only been the out of nowhere event that began a rather bizarre day.
Following that, he had gotten a message, which he had later realized must have been a forgery of some kind, to get him to come to Tendo Dojo not long before School started to discuss the matter of Izuku Midoriya.
That it was a forgery, he had realized as Mr. Tendo, seemingly without any logical reason, had acted uncharacteristically viciously and beaten the tar out of him.
He had concluded that this must have been due to another false message of some kind delivered to him on his end to enrage him.
The logical conclusion… And the one he had settled on, was that his sister had been responsible.
This was a mistake, for as it turned out, he had been set up, and after entering her room, he had found himself with a large number of her belongings destroyed by what he had surmised with his well trained eye, was a Bokken.
He had then been paralyzed by her and as often happened when he annoyed his sister, thrown into the pond to serve as Mr. Green Turtle's chew toy, until the paralyzing poison wore off.
After lumbering out of the pond, he had then come to find not only had his image collection of Akane been destroyed physically, but his harddrive had been wiped as well.
Then he had discovered all the security cameras on the mansion, as well as their contents had been stolen.
It was a very bad day.
But it was late in the day, when the WORST blow BAR NONE came.
His father called him up and informed him he would be returning to the school at the end of the school year!
In hindsight, out of all the horrible things that had just befallen him, and would continue to do so, this was mayhaps the only good thing.
For the ONLY thing that could possibly have distracted Kuno from focusing on vengeance on whomever was responsible, and actually studying for his grades well enough to succeed despite his coming bad luck, was the prospect of failing, and spending his next year once more at Furinkan with his father.
Ironically enough, out of all of the things Nabiki would put him through, this one step, setting in motion Principle Kuno's return, would as such, backfire on her, as without it, it was likely she would not have had to see him ever again during her school years.
Such was the turns of fate.
I
"I can go alone, you know?"
He'd offered that 4 times now.
The answer from Akane was the same as the last time.
"No."
She'd given him a rather big bruise(Which was much more impressive than their classmates had thought) and a bit of a neck strain with that ball, and whether it was intentional(Whether calculated or out of embarrassment) or an accident, she was clearly feeling very, very guilty about it.
So guilty, she had decided she was going to lead him to Doctor Tofu himself… Whether he wanted to or not.
Not that Izuku actually needed the good doctor.
A good night's sleep would have served him just fine to heal it off.
He'd healed up just fine from WAY worse.
Every single actual duel with Ryoga had left him with bruises upon bruises, and cuts and scrapes galore.
Akane wouldn't hear of it.
Apparently she was afraid the bruise would get infected or something… As if he was going to deliberately dunk it in sewage.
Finally though, they reached what Izuku read on the side of the building was an acupuncture clinic… So apparently Tofu also worked as that too.
The building was notable for one other reason.
A giant Panda was lying on the side of the entrance napping.
"Mr. Midoriya!? What are you doing here?"
Izuku's father snapped awake and got up, then looked around, then popped his hand in the other like he'd just recalled something, before holding up a sign that read: "Came to pick up Izuku. Got tired and fell asleep."
Izuku immediately felt a spike of alarm that vastly overshadowed his bruise.
"You didn't have another episode did you dad?"
The panda, clearly got an annoyed look, and pulled out another sign that read: "Yes boy, I had a stroke, as you can no doubt tell by my horrible, awful and despairing writing."
Akane, though, suddenly had a similar look.
"Has he had one? Multiple? Is that why he came to Tofu's?"
"He's had… A few. Two. In China. When we crossed back into Japan, we had to give him a floating raft to hold onto as we swam… Just in case."
"...A raft. For support with swimming… For hundreds of miles."
"Yeah, he's not as strong as he used to be." Izuku said worryingly, eyes still on his dad.
The panda in question pulled out yet another sign: "Can we FOCUS!? You came for a reason, yes?"
Oh right.
"You wanna come with us? I guess we'd have to introduce you, but…"
The panda shook his head, but rather than signifying him declining, he instead held up another sign reading: "I met the fellow earlier. Nice enough guy… although no catch compared to you lad!"
This annoyed Akane greatly.
"Well forgive me, if I call you just a bit biased Mr. Midoriya!"
She then, leading Izuku by the hand, stomped past him and up the stairs… Where they ran directly into the owner.
"Oh, Izuku-Kun and Akane-Chan! What brings you here?"
"An… Injury on Midoriya's face Doctor Tofu…"
Yes… She definitely had not thought this through, Izuku was immediately able to tell, just looking at her.
Well that, and her calling him Midoriya. Like there was no bond between them at all.
That… Annoyed him for some reason he quite wasn't sure about. It… Wasn't technically wrong. Despite their engagement, they were not that close…
Maybe it was being reminded about that fact that annoyed him.
"I'm going to assume that would be Midoriya the younger, and not the father? Not much resemblance is there?"
He guided Izuku to a chair, and sat him down, before asking in a kindly voice:
"So, what's the injury? It's to the face, I can see that… And neck as well…"
"Baseball injury…"
He nodded.
"I have a balm that should do wonders for both, I'll be back in a jiffy."
Then he left the room, whistling a calm but cheerful tune.
It was as he was rummaging in the room over, that a phone he had left on the table rang.
"Ah, blast it… Could you guys take that for me?"
Akane moved to do just that, but Izuku's father, with much greater speed snapped it up and answered, phone to his ear.
Then he just stood there, phone at his ear for a moment, before he pulled out a sign: "I forgot panda's can't talk."
"Then why did you answer!?"
Akane snapped the phone out of his paws.
"Yes? Oh… Yeah it's me…"
Her tone, which had for a moment been full of powerful annoyance, went down a few steps, losing its energy.
"Alright… Okay… See you…"
She then hung up.
"I'm going home." She suddenly declared in a bizarrely lifeless voice.
A part of Izuku kinda felt annoyed by the fact that after dragging him here, she immediately left… That part was immediately squashed by the tone of her voice.
"You okay?"
He quickly followed her out as she had begun walking, suddenly completely without her usual energy.
"It's nothing like that." She declared in a lifeless voice that told him that she was anything but okay.
"So why do you want to leave?"
"Nobody wants me here…"
"I do. And I'm sure doctor Tofu-"
The girl silenced him by snapping around, and shoving him up against the wall, hand over his mouth.
That said, the only reason it worked was because he didn't expect it.
There was force behind it… But nothing he could not have easily overpowered. Nothing like earlier today.
"Shut up."
This time there was emotion in her voice.
It was not anger though. It was sadness.
"There is… A girl Doctor Tofu likes… She's coming right now…"
Akane's hand just sank then, down to her side as her face was downturned.
They just stood there, boy and girl in silence, Izuku having no idea what to do with this particular bit of information.
Then…
"Good afternoon!"
Izuku felt a pang of energy go through him… Then… Surprise.
An old, old tiny lady in a Kimono with a walking stick walked in.
"Not… Quite what I expected, but… Okay."
"That's NOT her!"
"Oh? Is… Is this not Doctor Tofu's?"
The old lady asked in a creaky voice.
"Oh… My sight isn't what it used to be…"
"Oh, oh no miss, this is doctor Tofu. We were just… Talking about someone else… I think."
"Ah…"
The old woman suddenly smiled in the same way Kasumi sometimes did.
"Talks of love huh? Well, don't let this dinosaur stop you. I'll just wait in the clinic's restoroom dear."
How she had figured out there was love talk involved he had no idea.
Once more, the two of them were left in silence.
Izuku was the one who broke it first.
"Do you… Actually want to go? I… Won't stop you or anything… But I wasn't lying earlier. I do want you here."
That was absolutely true… In large part because he could tell she really needed someone's shoulder to cry on.
Akane did not cry though.
Instead…
"...It's Kasumi."
"...What?"
"The girl Tofu likes… It's Kasumi."
She finally raised her eyes and as she looked at him, they were… Strange. Both sad, kinda guilty, angry and yet just… Miserable.
"You… You just came… And then… You blew everything over… And you… You just don't see it or care…"
"I… I care."
Akane's eyes got a glazed over look.
"Doctor Tofu… Has liked Kasumi for a long time… He never knew she was engaged… It was… All pointless wasn't it? It was never gonna go anywhere…"
He understood the implication in her words.
The real meaning.
My feelings were pointless. It was never gonna go anywhere.
He just had no idea what the hell he could say to that.
She… Was right.
The words he'd said so flippantly her friends suddenly came back to him.
It WAS never gonna go anywhere.
Neither her's… Nor Tofu's.
Izuku did not know what Kasumi's thoughts on Tofu were… But she had made it very, very clear to him, that she had no future plans that did not involve seeing their engagement through.
This entire love square… If one could call it that… Was not gonna evolve past its current stage.
It… Started to sink in.
He… He had always just taken his engagements for granted.
Even as a child, when he'd courted someone else, he'd done so with the rather childish and misguided belief that most girls would not have a problem with being the "Third wife".
It had been stupid, and childish, and completely removed from the reality of the world… But he had worked within that framework that he would get married to Akane and/or her sisters.
It had never occurred to him to really seek a life outside it.
It was just his life.
How okay he had been with that prospect had depended on how old he was, but it WAS his life.
It had never occurred to him to try to run away from it.
Akane… She had wanted to.
She had wanted something else.
Something she would not have… Whether he was there or not.
His presence… Just proved to her that it WASN'T gonna go anywhere
He… Wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Or Tofu's feelings for that matter.
He could… Sympathize with the man… Kasumi was a beautiful woman with a charm he… Rather liked.
But the fact was, he did not know Tofu.
Neither as a person, what interests he had, dreams he might have for a future with Kasumi, or how he would take it.
He… He was a stranger, who unwittingly or not was going to kill his romantic dreams.
He hadn't even considered that as a possibility.
The worry he's ever had was whether the girls would accept him or not.
Now two of them had… But even if Akane did not follow her sisters, her own romantic dreams were…
"Are you two… Alright? You've just been standing there for a while."
Both turned, but neither in shock, toward doctor Tofu who was sticking his head out the door.
Wordlessly both then came back into the room, where Akane plumped down on Tofu's patient bed, and Izuku back on his chair.
"Now then… Let's see that wound."
He peeled off Izuku's bandaged piece of cotton.
"Hmmm… The impression of the baseball… Akane hit it, right?"
He had such a lovable and carefree smile as he said it, completely at odds with the little depressing talk that had been going on outside his room just now.
"How… How did you..?"
"With an impression that deep, and a bruise that big… Who else?"
Both of them just stared at him, each with their own reaction at his uncanny ability to tell such things, Izuku genuinely impressed, Akane with horror at him recognizing her handiwork on sight.
Izuku, though, also had a comparison.
"Man… Just like Shampoo..."
Akane's expression became one of bafflement as she turned to look at him instead.
Tofu was also a bit surprised, but not really to any immense heights.
"Shampoo?"
"She was an… A Chinese Amazon I knew once. She also liked to throw things at me at high speeds."
"Hey! Y-You could easily have dodged that if you just paid any attention to what was going on around you! Also a… A Chinese Amazon named "Shampoo"? That's the stupidest joke I ever heard!"
Tofu disagreed.
"Actually it's very much on brand. The group who many outside China call the "Chinese Amazons" do indeed have a cultural naming convention related to personal cleaning products. I once met one such called "Soap"... But as for the baseball… Akane really did throw that?"
An awkward silence followed as Tofu scratched the back of his head.
"I… Was just joking."
Izuku stared at him with a look that could have been the picture to put alongside the words "Seriously?" Over how badly timed that joke was, while Akane was suddenly blushing furiously.
Tofu, eager to try to sweep this under the rug, went over and put a hand on Akane's shoulder.
"Ah, but so what, what's wrong with being a bit active?"
Hisashi responded to that remark, by pulling out a sign: "Well, if she can't master her Ki, she cannot grow stronger, no matter how active she is."
"Still, even if that is true, being active is still healthy for you!"
The next sign read: "If she could masster her Ki though, she would be able to heal much quicker and be more healthy."
"Will you PLEASE shut up!?"
Tofu sighed, though truthfully, Izuku had no idea what in the world his father was suddenly thinking with these. It was hard to read his intent sometimes without his vocal tone.
"Now then…"
He went back over to Izuku, and began looking over anew as he began applying something.
"Hold still, I'll have to apply the disinfectant first."
His father's next sign said: "Just saying it as it is. Just like Kasumi. By the way Izuku, pull back your head. NOW."
Izuku, without even questioning why, did just that, as behind him, Kasumi opened the door and walked in.
Tofu's hands immediately jolted, as he suddenly got the most idiotic expression on his face imaginable.
Izuku wasn't quite sure what exactly Tofu would have done with his hands on his face and head had he not removed it, but something good probably was not it.
Regardless, he suddenly felt very, very weary of the man whose presence he still couldn't feel.
"H-hello Kasumi."
She smiled in return.
"Good afternoon, Doctor."
The man turned… Sheepish.
Kasumi then turned towards Izuku and gave him a smile as well.
"Hi Izuku. Did you deliver the book?"
"We… Were going to, but… We were kinda sidetracked. Akane hit a baseball into my face."
Akane gave him a glare, but Tofu laughed.
"Indeed, it was quite the big mark, right Izuku?"
He then prodded Hisashi instead, who simply looked at him like he was insane.
"So… Um… What brings you here?"
"Oh, I had a message for Izuku, and since I knew he was here, I decided to come in person."
That piqued Izuku's interest.
"A… Message? From who? School?"
"No, a lady calling herself Hatsume Mei."
Izuku immediately perked up, though he quickly curbed his enthusiasm when glancing at Akane, who he could clearly see was not having a good time.
"Oh, Mei-chan, that's great! I… What did she want then?"
"Who… Who is she?"
Akane's voice lacked it's usual power and confidence, and for that matter, it's anger.
"Mei? Oh, her family is… Well they are a clan of scientists, that my family made an exclusivity deal with back during our travels. For my Hero career I mean."
His father held up a new sign: "Not that we had much of a choice. We traveled the entire world, and we found a grand total of 3 scientist groups interested in studying Ki. The Hatsume's are the only one in Asia."
"Oh my that is quite an interesting development, right mister Hisashi?!"
This time it was Akane he mistook for someone else.
The girl did NOT appreciate it.
"Well… The girl seemed more interested in knowing what Hero school you plan to go to Izuku, than anything else. She seemed to suggest she would contact you further there."
He nodded.
Tofu, though, suddenly asked Betty if she could go fetch some cookies and tea for their guests… Then about 7 seconds after seemed to at least recall that the woman in question was dead, and promptly went to make them himself.
"He's as amusing as ever, I see."
Kasumi had a warm smile as she looked after the… Well currently fumbling doctor.
Akane put on a false smile.
"You think so? He's never this way… When you're not around sis."
"Really? That would be interesting to see."
"Well, I must be going, later!"
Before Izuku could even make a peep, or argue against it, Akane had suddenly run on out.
Kasumi looked after her, puzzled.
"What's with her? We could have all gone home together. Did something happen to her at school Izuku?"
"No… Well… She was a bit guilty for braining me with that baseball… But… I just think she didn't want to be around here right now… With Tofu I mean."
"Really? And here I had always thought she didn't… Well, she is more discerning than I gave her credit for then."
Izuku wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that… But before he got to ask, Tofu came in with brownies and cacao.
I
It was not the… Worst little get-together Izuku had been part of, as they munched on brownies and cacao, though his dad snoozed off again during it… Not a good sign.
That said, it was awkward.
However, the true awkwardness was saved for the end… When, as they were about to leave, Kasumi dropped the big bombshell.
"By the way, Doctor Tofu… I have not introduced Izuku to you yet."
"Oh, no need, I met him and Akane yesterday! I knew him by his name."
It was kinda undercut by the man, trying to casually drink an empty cup.
"I thought so, yes… However, proper introductions are always a good thing."
She then positioned herself so she had an arm around Izuku's waist(in the process making him suddenly feel much, much smaller), and squeezed him close to her body.
"This is Izuku Midoriya. My betrothed."
It was… Interesting to see Tofu go from bumbling, to suddenly completely, and startling awake.
"Your… betrothed… I… I see… I assumed the two girls he would marry would be Akane and Nabiki. I… Was wrong then."
It was again, an… Interesting experience, watching Tofu suddenly seem very much the experienced and on alert martial artist Akane had said he was… While his voice was absolutely filled with nothing but despair.
"Not entirely. It's a bit complicated… But there was always a possibility that all 3 of us would marry him if certain terms came to pass. They did."
"I… I wish you luck in your marriage…"
Kasumi smiled, but… It was a sad smile.
"You have been a good friend to my family Tofu-San. I hope you can remain so… But if not… I understand."
"I… Do as well… Have a nice trip back home… Mrs. Midoriya."
He gave a very polite bow, to which the 3 gave ones in reply, if not quite as deep.
As they left though, Izuku couldn't help but notice that Kasumi was not really letting go of him, if she might not be keeping him as close to her as she had in the doctor's clinic.
"I… I guess you knew then."
Kasumi, in sharp contrast to her usual attitude, did not reply in words. She just squeezed him tighter as they walked.
I
Tofu leaned back in his chair.
The sun was shining outside.
It was a bright sunny day, and he still had patients to see.
And yet…
It was not his first defeat to another martial artist… But the young man named Izuku had defeated him in a way that none other ever had… Without even throwing a punch.
He would… Have to think about all of that… Tonight. He could not deal with it today.
He had to get through the day, before he could actually afford to take it in.
That it was over. Just like that.
Now he had to answer the question that great Kasumi did not.
What, now?