Chapter 12: Itsuka

"So, um. Yeah. This is Itsuka Kendo, my girlfriend. And I hope everyone can get along with her."

As introductions went, this was certainly the oddest one yet. It felt like he was trying to introduce a newly-recruited staff at a convenience store to the rest of the team. And it was a little too formal for what was obviously a rather bizarre occasion, especially when it was literally him introducing a new girlfriend to his existing girlfriends and their classmates.

Was that still something to be baffled by? He had a whole month to acclimatize to the reality of having two girlfriends. And now, not even a month into his new high school, and he'd found a third. Bonkers.

Well, if that wasn't weird enough, it was especially weirder to consider the fact that this introduction was happening in recess, right after they'd just been done with their morning classes. There had been no escaping this, as all their classmates had seen everything—literally everything—in the conclusion of heroics class. They'd even congratulated the group, both for the victory and the newfound romance between them. It had been equal parts embarrassing and gratifying.

He supposed, then, that the only right thing to do was properly introduce Itsuka as his girlfriend. And their classmates agreed, hence the sudden decision to arrange the tables together so that all forty of them were sat together. So on one side, there were literally twenty people, and twenty on the other.

It was, quite frankly, ridiculous, and he'd been worried that it wouldn't have been allowed, tampering with the arrangements and all. Lunch Rush was thankfully willing, so long as they put the tables and chairs back at where they were originally after they were done.

As expected, rather than be met with jeers and disapproval, everyone gave them a round of applause and thumbs-up.

"Very good," Monoma said, sounding extremely pleased. "It is clear to me that you have good tastes. To recognize the beauty that is our Itsuka Kendo of Class 1-B is nothing short of respectable!"

"Her being in 1-B has nothing to do with why I fell in love with her," Izuku chuckled sheepishly. "B-But I promise that I'll do right by you and take care of her."

"Hey," she bumped her shoulder against him, grinning. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"I know, but… still…"

"Naw, don't take that right away from him, girl. It's a boyfriend's job to be his lady's knight in shining armour!" Mina threw her arm in the air. "All hail Lady Kendo!"

A round of Hail! filled the room. There was much whining from the girl, a lot of teasing and laughter, and much-needed relief for Izuku as he thanked the world and the goddess of love for the good fortune thus far.

For a moment, he stopped to wonder if there was ever another person out there who'd ever been caught in this kind of situation. He could only empathize with them if that was the case, and hoped that they were doing just as well as he was.

"Actually, when'd you start liking him, Kendo?" Fukidashi asked, his head turning into a '?'. Like, literally, his head shaped like a speech box suddenly had a question mark in it. That's the most visually interesting Quirk he's seen thus far, and had him perking up like a cat that saw catnip. "I mean, it hasn't been that long since we've all gotten to know each other. Midoriya, Uraraka and Bakugou at least knew each other before we entered U.A."

"Ah, that. Um… It's a little embarrassing to say out loud."

"No, no, he's on the right track," Mina and a whole lot of other girls nodded. "We want our love talk, and we want it now. Spill the tea, sis!"

"There is tea?" Tsunotori asked, looking around the table.

"Figure of speech, girl. Anyways, Kendo-san!"

There was much reluctance on the martial fighter's part to spill the tea, as Mina put it. Still, with the sigh that she gave, it seemed like she knew there was no winning that battle, perhaps deciding that it was better to just face it now and finish it quickly than to let it fester and blow up in her face later on.

"It… It was since the entrance exam…" She admitted, blood slowly creeping up her skin as some of their classmates leaned in to listen, looking every bit like cats eyeing a canary in a cage. "Remember that time, when that mecha crashed that building and it almost toppled on us? And Izuku quickly pushed us out of the way?"

Ah, that. That had been one of the biggest frights of his life. Might have cut away a couple of years from him, in fact. He shuddered just remembering it. Mina and Kirishima looked hardly thrilled either.

"I can't fully remember all the details, but… at that time, when the bot was gradually getting closer, I remembered being dizzy while I was waking up… And then I saw him," her voice became softer, her smile almost dreamy. "He stood right in front of all of us, strengthening himself with his Quirk and wanting to make one final stand… Just to protect us…"

The round of squealing from the girls and the nods from the boys had even Izuku fighting off his own blush, though it looked like Itsuka was having the worst of it. She'd made him sound much cooler than he probably was, but to know that such a moment had left such an impact on her was certainly gratifying as it was embarrassing.

"No kidding! Midoribro was so manly that time! You should have seen it!"

"To meet the eyes of a titan and falter not is a sign of valour not oft found in our times as of late."

"Fancy, Tokoyami-kun. But I agree with you on that one."

Manly. Hah. Yeah. Not like he hadn't been shaking in his boots or anything. Actually, no, the fear had been so great that his brain's receptors had been completely overwhelmed. At that point, it turned from pants-wetting fear to complete catatonia, and he'd been just about ready to meet death head on.

A good thing that he's managed to come out of that whole ordeal alive. Praise be All Might's Quirk and his insane dating sim powers (guh).

"Then how about the other two?" And like that, the heat seeking missiles had found new targets. Ochako and Katsumi froze under the newfound pressure of their classmates' grinning expressions, Tokage grinning toothily in anticipation. "How'd you two lovebirds end up falling for this guy here, eh?"

"T-That's…"

"None of your business!" Katsumi barked, slamming a fist on the table. "I wouldn't tell you even if it would kill me other—"

"Okay. Then Midoriya?"

"I've loved Katsumi since we were children," he answered, too quickly for even Katsumi to cut in. She gawked at him, but he pressed on, his answer nothing short of sincere. "But I've always held back from telling her because, at the time, my Quirklessness made me hesitant to say a word to her. But then we got into a life-threatening accident, and afterwards, I decided to be forwards with her and confessed to her."

People slapped tables, seats and even themselves, giggles loud and excited. Izuku was pretty sure he was dying on the inside—he's been experiencing that feeling pretty occasionally as of late—so how he was able to keep himself seated upright still was beyond him.

And again, somehow, it was Katsumi who was doing much worse than him, growling menacingly at their classmates to threaten them to shut up. It failed considerably, what with the flustered look on her face. She literally might just explode, Quirk notwithstanding.

Tsunotori waved her hands in the air. "Ocha next, Ocha next!"

"L-Let me say it!" Ochako quickly piped in, and he allowed her to do so. "For me, it… It was sort of like a 'love at first sight' sort of thing. I-I mean, I didn't fall for him right away, but at the time, I just felt something… special… A-And after that incident that Izuku mentioned, he sort of just, um, confessed to the both of us at the same time…"

"And that's my dawg!" Kaminari whistled, reaching over to smack him on the back. "Really went all in, eh, buddy?"

"I-It wasn't on purpose! I just… couldn't choose…"

The height of foolishness and greed, really. And it should have gone completely wrong—perhaps ending with both Katsumi and Ochako slapping him in the face and leaving him forever—but that, somehow, things just went well because of… reasons.

A part of him did dread the idea that it was purely his meeting with Ai and him receiving her blessing that enabled such an outcome. She was the goddess of love, after all; perhaps she had a hand in manipulating their emotions and favourability towards him that allowed them to open up their hearts in accepting such a thing. No sane person would have been happy to a three-way as they were.

After all, what had he done to deserve their love, even? He was Deku—a plain, boring, creepy nerd who was too much of a hero fanatic who'd just scare people off with his mutterings. And he was Quirkless. People wouldn't want to be near him for fear of catching his disease.

But here he was. A boyfriend to three girls. And all of whom had fallen in love with him, and vice versa, by his own actions. All outcomes that Lady Ai had, time and time again, reminded him that she had never once manipulated whatsoever. That he alone had won their hearts because of who he was and what he alone had done.

She didn't know just how much of a relief that was for him.

"Man. Makes you think if Midoriya's gonna' land himself even more girlfriends down the line…"

"Don't jinx it, please," Izuku whimpered. He did not need that worry on his head right now.

"Well, we've seen how well you've been treating Uraraka and Bakugou, so we're confident that Kendo's in good hands," Honenuki said. "So yeah, keep doing what you're doing, bro."

That was without question. He'll love her just as much as he loves the others.

School came to a close with the final ring of the bell. Students from all the courses began the arduous process of packing away their stuff and getting ready to leave, chattering loudly with one another either to complain about the homework load or geek out over a hero that made the news.

For Izuku and his classmates, their conclusion of Math class was a much needed relief. Ectoplasm's reminder of them to finish their homework left a couple of them to groan, though they relented to his instructions in the end, knowing better than to challenge their teacher on something like this.

Izuku just about finished packing up his stuff before he got a message on his phone. He pulled it out, grinning at Itsuka's profile pic popping up, whereby she stood under a tree with her dad's bike nearby, protecting her from the rays around her.

Itsu: Just got doen with classes.

Itsu: *done

Itsu: How bout u?

Izu: Yeah, we just finished too.

A few more messages exchanged, a promise to meet outside at the gates made, and he walked with his classmates out of the room. There, they met up with some of the 1-B students, and after a bit of time talking to one another, they bade each other farewell and split off to go their separate ways.

"You guys often go on dates together, right?"

Itsuka's question had the three of them blushing somewhat. "U-Usually," he answered. "But we do make time to hang out with everyone, obviously. In fact, Mina's decided that we should try for something to do together."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Movie, by the sound of it. That's still in the works. I suggested fishing, but most of the girls weren't on-board."

"Lame, all of 'em. They don't understand the thrill of a good catch," the blonde clenched her fist, huffing. "Send your hook in there, wait for the dumb fish to take the bait, and pull 'em in! And now you've got a bounty of your own!"

"Most people enjoy fishing for the calm. Katsumi's more in it for the catch than anything else."

"Can't stand that waiting shiz. I mean, I get that there's no way you can nab a catch immediately all the time, but that sure sounds boring to just sit around and wait for the sucker to bite."

Her blasé insult of the hobby had him picturing Uncle Masaru crying into his hands. That man enjoyed fishing in his youth and occasionally brought him and Katsumi to join him. She had somehow taken after his passion and gone about it the completely wrong way, seeing it as a challenge of sorts. Never let it be said that she wasn't competitive whatsoever.

He looked to Itsuka just as she shook her head, a mirthful smile on her face. "Well, I think it's fine to enjoy our hobbies in the ways we want to, right? Nothing wrong with being different."

"Precisely! You win a point, Ponytail Two."

"Ponyta—Who's Ponytail One?"

"Yaoyorozu-san."

"Ah, right. Also, you give everyone nicknames?"

"Only 'cuz I can't be bothered to remember any other faces," she admitted with a shrug. "I mean, I know what their names are—Izuku's been on my ass about that for years. It's just a habit at that point."

"Then what's Izuku's nickname?"

"…I don't give him one."

"Aww, that's sweet," Ochako giggled, just as the blonde tensed. "That's special in its own way, don't you think? Giving everyone else a nickname but remembering the name of the one guy special to you… Kyaa!"

"S-Shut up!" She growled, blushing up a storm.

"She technically calls me Izu from time to time. As for other nicknames, I've usually been called Crybaby or Deku, though those had always been intended as insults by our old classmates," he'd said it casually, though he was quick to catch onto the hostile expressions crossing their faces. "Not like any of them bothered me, though! Trust me, they're pretty dumb."

Really, kids were dumb. And him as a kid had been especially dumb to have allowed those names to hurt in the first place, though he'd grown out of it. Plus, Katsumi had always been such a good support pillar in school that he'd managed to shrug off those insults most times.

And back before they graduated from their old school, even when they just threw the name around as commonly as saying words like 'I' and 'Hello', he'd… well, maybe there'd be one or two instances where he'd feel bad, but nothing to the point of feeling like complete trash. Repeated exposure tends to dull the impact of one particular thing, as science has often proven.

"Well, everyone's a dick. They can all go die in a ditch."

"Kacchan, no."

"I wouldn't agree with Katsumi's harsh declarations most times, but I'd say it's fair here."

"Ochako, no!" Despite himself, he couldn't help but laugh, and that helped bring back the smiles on their faces. "We're learning to be heroes. We've gotta' save people, not curse them with such terrible fates. Alright?" They gave a chorus of Yes, Izuku in return, Katsumi begrudgingly so. "Great. So uh, what do we do now, by the way? We've just been walking around town."

"Oh, right. About your dates," the three looked to the newest addition of their group. "I was wondering. How do you make plans? Do you, like, have a group chat or something?"

When she said that, Izuku actually paused mid-walk. And so did the other two, forcing Itsuka to a halt as well.

"We… don't have that," he said. "We just text one another."

"Guess that works too."

"No, Itsuka is right. We should make a group chat!" Ochako piped in. "It can be for the four of us! Our own little place to chat! I mean, we have a chat for 1-A and a joint group chat with 1-B, but that's always been for school. This can be our personal group chat. Where we can just chat together and not have our info be made public to other people," she then began listing down with her fingers. "Like plans for dates, sharing some cute personal photos, more plans for dates… Plus, it's just really cute!"

"That does sound good," Izuku hummed, hand on his chin. "I mean, it'd be convenient for making plans to go out together. It helps keep all our chats isolated in one group, which makes it less of a headache. Imagine having to read through three different DMs."

"Always with the logic," Katsumi snorted. "Whatever. Sure, I'm down for it. Might as well make one now."

"Izuku, you can make the group! All in favour, say aye!"

It was a unanimous decision for him to be the 'admin' of their group, which meant he had to add all three of their numbers to the group chat. He wasn't sure what to name it at first, so he set it to To Be Decided (real original, Izuku) first. The girls giggled at that, and everyone quickly typed their messages—Yo; Hi; and Good evening—respectively into the group.

"Now we just need a group photo, and we're all set."

"Then we should look for a good place for it!" Ochako's words made him pause, just as he was about to turn on the camera app. "I mean, this is something special, so we should make it even better, don't you think?

Ah, yes. The human nature to pour all their resources, time and energy into matters that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, but because it held sentimental value, it made it deserve that much work.

Plus, he supposed it wouldn't be wrong to go the extra mile for their group photo. Even if they took photos that wouldn't make the cut, it'd be nice to make some memories.

"I guess that's our mission for today, then," he grinned. "Let's get to it, girls!"

As they'd already left the school, they began the walk down the neighbourhood in search of suitable backdrops. There wasn't much to see here, though they still took the opportunity to snap a few photos together, with Izuku even making time to snap some of their surroundings. There'd even been a white cat who graced them with its presence, making for a prime subject of photography. And petting, obviously. The girls wouldn't miss out on that.

Afterwards, the four of them traipsed through the city, enjoying the sights and trying out different places. Different lighting, different backdrops, different colours. And with such a degree of importance to them, he wouldn't want to saddle their first ever group photo with drab colours.

There were plenty of places that they visited. They took a photo at the urban fishing spot Katsumi took them to the one time, they had a short visit at a café for cakes and pictures, and there was even a park where they collectively grouped up at the foot of a slide for a pic.

After another picture taken, he showed his phone to the girls, who all Ooh!-ed in awe. "Man, these are some really good shots, Izuku!"

Insults were easy to brush off. Compliments, not so much, as he found himself rubbing the neck with a sheepish smile, minor of a praise as it was. "It's nothing. I've always been a bit of an arts kid when I was younger. That and a mega Quirk geek. Mix the two, and I've always loved drawing heroes and figuring out how their Quirks work."

"A keen understanding of a Quirk's strengths and drawbacks just means you're even better equipped to counter them in any situation. That's pretty insane."

"Maybe. I just really love studying Quirks. And as for the photography bit, my dad had a polaroid that he usually uses to take photos of the outdoors. So I've sort of picked up a bit of it from him."

Not like he was exceptional at it like his father. Still, one's bound to be pretty good at something if they've done it for a long time, and he was happy to say that he's certainly above amateurish at this point.

"Wait!" Ochako's sudden outburst caught all of their attention. "I just had an idea! What if, instead of taking a pic somewhere in the city, we go somewhere else? Something more… nature-y."

"Nature-y?"

"Yeah! Like a forest or something. I bet we could find plenty of neat places to check out!"

"This isn't a group pic for an expedition group," scoffed the blonde, making her shake her head.

"It doesn't matter! Look, this is a special occasion, and I think we should at least give ourselves the opportunity to try someplace different than usual. Plus, even if it doesn't work out, at least we'd still have made memories together, don't you think?"

She wasn't wrong there. This was a special occasion, and having something to look back on—something that was different from the norm—would make today feel even more memorable. After all, this was for something that was certainly one of the biggest things in their life (romance simply takes a big chunk of a teenager's life, really, when compared to many other aspects), sort of like how people would want to keep photos of their class post-graduation to look back on such an important moment in their life, so he wanted to be a good boyfriend and make it feel special for the girls.

Still, if they were to go for something non-urban… well, he knew of a couple of places. His work with other people often took him to places a little further from Musutafu, and he was familiar of some actually beautiful places. He'd even had the opportunity to visit a cave one time to collect trash from the area left behind by careless tourists.

But it wasn't entirely plausible in their case. He doubted they'd be allowed to go too far, and even if there were places that were in reach, perhaps it would have been doable if it was accessible by train (which feels a little difficult with how little time they had after leaving school), or better yet, if one of them knew how to drive. That was unfortunately not plausible here, so… wait.

He looked to Itsuka first, the girl noticing his sudden staring. And then he looked off in some random direction. And then he drew the dots, connected them—and voila!

"Oh, I've an idea," he slapped his fist against an open palm. "Itsuka, what if we…"

He walked over to whisper into her ear, wholly aware of the staring they were getting from the other two. Still, they opted not to pry and watch them quietly, curious to know what was being exchanged between them.

His message to the ginger elicited an expression of surprise, one that had him wondering if she'd be against his idea. He was prepared to apologize for even bringing it up. However, there was no hesitation when her head snapped towards the other two, a bright grin on her face. "We've got a place!"

"Wooow… So this is your house, Itsuka? It's wonderful!"

Wonderful didn't do it the justice it deserved, though Itsuka definitely looked pleased by the brunette's genuine compliment. Ochako had a keen appreciation of traditional designs such as this, so it was no surprise to see her with stars in her eyes as she took every little detail in.

Jambu wasn't here today, currently helping out at a restaurant from what Itsuka told him. Her family were out as well, which meant that they were the only ones here. She always has her house keys with her at all times, so there was no trouble getting in here.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't be here long enough for the girl to properly tour the area since this was only a pitstop. Why they'd opted to come here was at Itsuka's behest, who seemed oddly pumped to take them to their destination. And yes, she did mention wanting to be the one behind the wheels, so to speak. And that meant only one thing…

She brought her around the house and to the back where the garage was. Izuku hastened to reach her side, gently tapping her hand. "Hey," he whispered. "Are you sure you're okay with this..? I thought you'd be uncomfortable telling others about… you know. You don't need to rush it."

"I was. And I sort of still am," she smiled back. "But I'm okay. They're your girlfriends, and so am I. If I'm willing to share my secrets with you, then I'd be just as happy to share mine with them."

The absence of fear in her tone, that which she had presented to him just a few nights ago, was enough to give him calm. Izuku opted to trust her in the end, allowing her to lead them to the garage.

Rounding the corner, both Katsumi and Ochako gasped at the sight of all the inventory and the motorbikes. The faint scent of grease was ever present, but Izuku no longer found it all that distracting as before. Though short of a night that he'd worked with Itsuka here, he'd acclimatized to it much faster than he would have expected.

But nothing here could have been any greater than the great bike awaiting them, that which their ginger-haired friend walked over, swiping the keys from a tray table, and brought to life with a twist and turn of the ignition.

"Remember that spot that we're going to? Well, we'll be heading there with this."

"Yo, what? This is yours?!"

"My dad's, originally. He gave it to me as a gift."

"Uhh. Is this legal, or..?"

"Technically, it isn't," she sweat-dropped, turning off the ignition. "But I never bring this out often. I mostly spend my time sitting here and maintaining it rather than take it out for rides. I just enjoy the feel of cleaning out the components than anything else. But hey, ask Izuku's opinion on whether or not my riding's reliable."

"She's a safe driver. Driver? Rider?" He shrugged, smiling. "I mean, I'm still alive, aren't I?"

His words made them roll their eyes. "Gee, would've never known," he chuckled nervously at Katsumi's dry response. "So, I guess we'll be taking this together, then."

"Yeah. I've got helmets for everyone, by the way. Oh, and you can just leave your bags here. No one's gonna' come in here and steal anything."

"Hah. If anyone steals Izuku's bag, he'll chase them to the depths of hell," he wanted to argue that he wouldn't… but he definitely would. He still had his notebook with the sketches of his girlfriends. Neither heaven nor hell would separate him from his artwork of his lovers.

Putting that aside, there was a fresh new problem to contend with. And that was the fact that there was four of them, and only one bike.

Oh, for sure, it was a pretty big one. But if he did the math right, it could probably fit only three of them. And by three of them, it'd have to be Itsuka, Ochako, and either he or Katsumi since the two of them were pretty big. And that was if they'd even be able to get it moving in the first place and not have it weighed down too badly.

Of course, being the giga nerd that he was, he spotted the solution right away. And it was standing right in front of him, being all cute and adorable that she was, tilting her head when he voiced out his crazy idea.

"Use my Quirk on us so that it doesn't drastically weigh down the motorcycle..? Huh. That actually does make sense!"

"Of course, if it gets too dizzying, you're free to cancel and have Itsuka stop driving to give you time to recover. And even if you can't use your Quirk afterwards, maybe we could continue the journey regardless, albeit a little slower."

"I think it should be fine! If it's just the two of us for, what? A couple of minutes? I'll probably be able to manage it," she nodded. "So long as we aren't moving too fast and I don't, like, move my head too much and just control my breathing. That's doable."

"And Itsuka here can't be de-weighed because there still needs to be something to hold down the bike and keep it moving as stable as possible."

"That's the basic physics behind it, yeah."

"Then what about you?" Katsumi quirked a brow at him. "How're you gonna' follow us?"

His initial thought was to pursue them from behind with the power of «One For All»… but uhh, he wasn't really in the mood for that. Sure, the trip to the vantage point wasn't going to take that long, but he doubted he had the energy and motivation to throw himself into such an endeavour.

Instead, as he allowed his gaze to linger across the room, he eventually found himself spotting a particular object in the corner of the garage. He jogged over to it, lifting it off the ground before setting it back down in front of the girls.

They stared at it, then at him, then back down.

And then it was Ochako who broke into giggles first, the other two grinning along.

"Seriously?" Katsumi half-huffed, half-laughed. "Dude, you're really going to sit in this tiny ass thing?"

"I wouldn't mind. Plus, this sidecar looks pretty cool," it was a slick black colour with iron accents, with the tyre currently attached to the right side. Everything about it felt hardly oriental in design. "If I'm not wrong, this is from Britain too, right? Same as your dad's bike?"

"It is! It's by an old British company that makes sidecars for bikes," her smile eventually made way for an expression of surprise. "Hang on a minute. You can tell?"

[You've done your research on your girlfriend's hobby—what devotion! You gain 1 in Wisdom!]

"I mean, after you told me of your bike's model, I looked it up just for a bit of research. For curiosity's sake, really," he then pointed to a logo engraved into the metal, where English letters were arranged to spell out the company's name. "And I stumbled upon this name, so I guess I just recognized it."

"Mmhm. You got it in one. Well then, we'll take a bit of time to fix this to the bike, and we'll be good to go!"

"Ooh, ooh! I want to help too! This sounds fun!"

"Sure, sure," Itsuka laughed happily. "I'll be doing the most amount of work, but you guys can help out. It'll be a quick job that way. Izuku, help me get the tools?"

He saluted back. "Yes, ma'am."

The power of teamwork and love had been good enough to earn them the win against Todoroki's group in the battle trial back then, and it had only gotten better now, the four of them working together to assemble the bike-and-sidecar combo. It was like a surgeon and his team handling an operation, only that, rather than dissecting a patient, they were assembling a vehicle.

And the process wasn't just about slapping together the two things and calling it a day. Itsuka was meticulous, pulling out a long metal ruler and a ninety-degrees iron bar to measure lengths and assess different angles. She was even testing the strength of the rig for the attachment of the sidecar to see if the whole bike could tolerate it, bouncing lightly on the rig and causing the whole bike to shudder.

"Without getting too deep into it, adding a sidecar means you've got to look out for four different measurements. It's about making sure that, once the whole thing is put together, there's no awkwardness or imbalance in the structure while moving."

"How about what you're doing now?" Ochako asked, curious.

"Looking for any movements in the joints. Wanna' make sure everything's fitted properly, or else it'll just come loose while we're on the road. In fact, Katsumi, can you tighten this bolt here?"

"Sure thing."

Afterwards, the assembling began. Tools were passed between hands, pieces were put into position, and not once did he miss his opportunity to snap a few photos of their group, just so that they had plenty of moments to look back on. He had to bite back the urge from cooing at how focused his girlfriends looked, Ochako especially concentrating on Itsuka's every comment intensely.

And the process went incredibly smooth. Granted, there were a couple of moments where his childhood friend looked ready to blow up the engine out of frustration, or when Ochako had accidentally tightened a joint too much, but with the fact that there weren't as many accidents as could have been, it was just a miracle for three people absolutely clueless on the matter. Itsuka's firm and patient guidance and timely interventions helped immensely.

By the end of it, with greasy palms and a light sheen of sweat on their faces, they stepped back to admire their handiwork, Izuku's ride now fitted to the right side of the bike, ready to host a passenger.

"Finally, it's done..! And in record time."

"Right? And it's all thanks to Itsuka!" The girl in question blinked in surprise, Ochako grinning happily her way. "You really knew your stuff. If you weren't here, we'd probably have gotten stuck at the second step. Or even broken something!"

"Ahh… It's nothing. I mean, my dad's taught me these things for a long time now. It's been my entire world growing up," she rubbed the back of her neck. "And yeah, it's not all that girly, but—"

"But it's so cool!" Ochako's interruption caught her off-guard. "I mean, this isn't the kind of thing anyone would be really good at. That whole time, it just felt like you knew everything. I'm sort of surprised by how difficult it was."

"And who cares about how non-girly it is? I fish, for crying out loud. Ain't that an old man's thing?"

"Don't let Uncle Masaru hear that, Kacchan. I don't know what he'll feel about that…"

"I-I ain't calling him old!" She retorted, huffing. "Whatever. Look, everyone's got their own hobbies. Just enjoy it. If others are gonna' call you weird or whatever, screw 'em. Better yet, why don't you tell them to do what you did, if not better?" Her grin turned savage. "Bet you they'll turn tail like the cowards they are."

Again, Katsumi's method of motivating others required a touch of gentleness. And yet, it was effective as ever, Itsuka's expression eventually melting away into a warm smile. "Thanks, girls," she said, sincere. "I appreciate this."

"Eh, it's whatever. Now come on! Let's get moving! I'll sit at the furthest back."

"Then I'm the middle? Makes it sound like we're a sandwich," a sandwich of equal cuteness and beauty, he'd wager, though he managed to shut both his brain and his mouth up from saying the cheesy flirting out loud.

It didn't take long for Itsuka to roll the bike out onto the road proper, the other girls coming back with helmets for all of them. Izuku accepted the one offered and carefully sat himself in the sidecar. It had enough leg room that he didn't need to hug himself to be smaller, and so he allowed himself to relax while the girls climbed onto the bike properly.

Afterwards, Ochako applied «Zero Gravity» on herself and Katsumi. The initial concern that the two of them were just going to float away ended up being unfounded when Ochako just held onto the ginger tightly, prompting Katsumi to do the same, albeit with some grumbled about how too touchy it felt.

After waiting for a couple of seconds, Itsuka finally revved the engines. She checked a few more things before looking over her shoulder. "Everyone ready?"

"Yeah!"
"Yah, let's get moving."
"Ready, Itsuka."

Behind her helmet, the ginger grinned before looking ahead once more. With a twist of the throttle, and with a loud Then off we go!, the group of four sped away, childish laughter carried by the wind.

Okay, so the sidecar looked cool. Did it feel as cool to sit in it? It… sort of was, honestly.

Granted, he probably appeared as a baby sitting in here compared to his girlfriends, who were all having a lot of fun howling to the wind even as Itsuka went a little slower than he remembered. It was probably better that way—there's twice as many people here, and they'd much prefer if no one got injured because of this trip.

But yeah, he was having fun sitting here. Partially because he got to listen to the girls just have fun, and also because he got to take pictures during the ride, grinning to himself as his phone's gallery was slowly filling out. He'd definitely need to share these later in the group chat.

And so, he simply enjoyed the short trip as it was. The girls held on as Itsuka made the climb. It was a different experience altogether to have this ride in the day, getting to see brighter greens and the blue expanse rather than the dark, gloomy inkiness of that night. And with the birds awake, their song in the air was a pleasant thing to listen to.

Eventually, they reached the vantage spot, Itsuka coming to a slow halt. Everyone took off their helmets, and Ochako was the first to gasp in wonder, hastily leaping off the bike (and quickly undoing her Quirk—Katsumi almost fell off her seat, which prompted him to quickly catch her before she hit the ground) and running to the rail.

"Wait, this view is incredible!" She shouted, turning her gaze towards them. She was smiling so wide. "Guys, check this out!"

"Geez, you're being too excited," Katsumi grumbled, putting down her helmet and joining the brunette. Despite herself, there was a gleam of awe in her eyes. Since it wasn't nighttime yet, the trees around them were a rich evergreen that stretched far around, light bouncing off of glass from windows in the distance. "Sheesh. Talk about a sight to remember."

"Right? And it ain't too hot at the moment. We could just chill here for a bit, don'tcha think?"

"We could do that. Let's take the photo first, though. We came here for that, after all."

So it was that Izuku took up the duty of human selfie stick, extending his arm up in the air as they grouped up against the railing, the city far behind them. They shuffled a little, adjusting their positions until all of them were in frame and properly showcased their surroundings. He thought about holding Ochako a little closer, but felt that might have been a little—

"Hmm. We're still a little far from one another..." Ochako hummed, only to brighten up. "Okay! Everyone, hug Izuku!"

"E-Eh?" Katsumi blinked. "Why?"

"One, because I want to," a little too honest there! "And two, we're kind of spaced out. We need to get even closer!"

How Ochako was so brazen in these sorts of things was honestly incredible. The other two were predictably embarrassed, but knowing that someone had to be brave, he opted to shrug with as convincing of a smile as he could give. "I-I don't mind. Only if you girls want to—"

Izuku didn't have a chance to finish his words before Ochako backed up into his chest, sending fire into his face. "Hey!" Not to be outdone, Katsumi latched onto his left, growling at the brunette. "D-Don't think I'll let you one-up us!"

"R-Right!" A little hesitant, and a little slower, she gently hugged his right, effectively boxing him in like a pincer formation. "Is this okay?"

"Y-Yeah. We're all in frame," how he hadn't shut down was beyond him. He pushed through the embarrassment, doing his best to smile at the camera. "Alright, on the count of three. One! Two! Three!"

Snap!

Immediately, he lowered his arm and pulled out the pic for their group to properly judge. This single moment had been caught and frozen in time, their smiling faces staring at the camera with a flare crossing down diagonally from the top corner. Nature surrounded them on all angles, and a land of concrete civilization sat far away behind them, bright and alive. And though there was a flush on all their faces, there was no mistaking the joy radiating off their expressions that it had him wanting to put this in a frame for eternity.

In his opinion, the photo was already perfect. The scenery was immaculate, everyone had put their best faces forwards, and the exposure and angle all worked out. None of the colours were too sharp or faded, seemingly the right amount of equilibrium.

Still, that was how he felt. The real judges were the girls, so he waited patiently for them to give the decree. And judging by the grins on their faces…

"Yep! This looks good!"
"Right?"
"Obviously. It's Izu we're talking about here."

The easy agreement between them had him laughing easily. "Guess it's settled then. Looks like we've got our brand-new group."

"But we should pro'lly change the name," Katsumi hummed. "To Be Decided is just ridiculous. We've already had enough time to figure it out, don'tcha think? And nothing cheesy," she added with a stink eye sent Ochako's way. In turn, she stuck her tongue out at her. "Seriously. I don't want to open this group and have to roll my eyes every time I look at the name."

Everyone hummed, eyes finding their shoes as they fell deep into thought…

Before the group collectively shrugged.

"Meh, we can always think about that later."

"Right? I'm just looking forward to relaxing right now."

"If only we had a blanket to roll out. Then we could have a picnic right now…"

"That'll have to be for a future trip," Izuku chuckled, walking over to a spot near a tree and brushing away some leaves with his hands. "In the meantime, guess we'll just have to make do."

"Hey, we can live with that," Itsuka giggled, sitting beside him with Ochako happy to take his other side. Katsumi shook her head as she sat opposite of them. "Well, today turned out quite well, huh? Plenty more things to look forward to, though."

"And we'll be doing all of that together! Right?"

"Obviously," he took Ochako's hand in his, relishing in the way she squeezed back. "Wouldn't want it any other way."

"Yeah. And… thanks, everyone," everyone looked to Itsuka when she said that, her smile soft but filled with so much warmth that it was almost impossible to look away from. "It's still a little surreal to be so upfront about my hobbies with people outside of my family, but for you three to have accepted me so easily… Makes me feel so silly for worrying about it in the first place," she shook her head. "I'm really… really glad that I got to share this part of myself with you."

"W-What're you being so mushy about?" Their resident tsundere hissed, going red in the face. "You're a part of us… 'Course we'd be okay with whatever."

"I know. But thank you, still. And someday, I'd love to learn all sorts of things about you too."

"As Izuku once put it, we've got plenty of time for it! So I'm looking forward to it as well, Itsuka!"

"Right!"

[Harmony between your girlfriends is a happy life indeed! You gain 1 in Charisma and 1 in Wisdom!]

It really did make for a good life. That fear of sharing such an intimate part of herself with other people was something he understood too well, most notably when it came to his absurd love of heroes and Quirks. Too many had there been people who regarded him as creepy for it.

But his parents had accepted it, and so did Katsumi and her parents. And so had his friends, and even now, his girlfriends.

That simple act of being accepted for all his quirks was just… well, it was unlike any other great feeling in the world. And knowing that Itsuka had managed to open herself up here as well made him happy.

'There was no way Ochako and Katsumi would have ever been weirded out by another person's hobbies. Ochako has always been accepting of other people, and Katsumi simply doesn't mind anything. It just makes sense for them to have been fine with Itsuka in the end.'

And truly, it was the beautiful smile on his girlfriend's face that made it all worth it. What he would do to keep all of them happy forever.

And so, as they watched the sun set, they traded pictures, laughter and kisses, with even more adventures planned. But those, it seemed, would have to be for another day.

Author's Notes:

Tried updating earlier today at literally ten in the morning. It is now eleven at night.

Literally, the website was broken in some way, and for all the tabs that I could access, I couldn't go to 'Manage Stories' to update this chapter. Welp.