2,006The date with Nejire went terrific. It was a warm cloud of emotions that carried him to his dorm, straight through the empty common area, his classmates all resting up from the license exam, and into his room. There, he collapsed on the bed and vibed with the feels. The warmest, fuzziest feeling he had ever felt in his life. Until a text arrived from Nejire.
Hadouken: U up?
GreenMight: Ye
Hadouken: I was just gonna sleep, try to dream bout u, but figured I'd send u this. Good night again!
It was a picture of Nejire in her normal sleeping wear. Except for the shirt. The shirt she modeled was familiar. An oversized white cotton shirt with the word "sleep," which he could have sworn he wore to bed less than a week ago. Instead of chasing the rabbit hole of when he wore what shirt, Izuku chose to fall asleep with a pleasant thought of how good Nejire was wearing his shirt.
It was only early in the morning that his pleasant sleep was interrupted by a knock on his door. It took him a second to recognise the secret code. Quiet as a mouse, he opened and exchanged a nod with his fellow conspirator before following him quietly downstairs, into the shared kitchen.
"So, how did it go?" Mineta whispered to his bro.
"Your advice was good. Picking a common interest, visiting Ryukyu, and looking up Hero nerd stuff, and letting her see me in a different setting from school or home. I also tried to be relaxed, not completely successful, but the conversation did flow naturally, and I did not need the flashcards at all."
"See, I told ya. You're already friends, you'll always have stuff to talk about. Now, the big question. Did you kiss her?"
Izuku blushed deeply and looked at the floor. Mineta read the signals as well as he could.
"Something did happen. But I don't think it was a kiss… Did you two-" he gestured suggestively.
"Wha- NO! Stop doing that with your hands!"
"Then spill!"
"...I kissed her on the cheek." Mineta looked somewhere between shocked and disgruntled.
"I am disappointed with you, and kinda shocked that she let you get away with just that. Girls have their pride, you know?"
"She wasn't insulted! We just agreed to take it at our own pace. And if she ever feels like we're going too slow, we can talk about speeding up."
"Because you're socially awkward?"
"Because I'm socially awkward, yes."
"Sounds like you got it all squared away. But if you need advice, your bro is there for you, ok?"
Before Izuku could respond, some of the earlier risers of class 1.A stumbled down into the kitchen, which made the two bros shelf the debate and help them figure out what to eat for breakfast..
The next time Izuku saw Nejire was at lunch in the school cafeteria. With a determined gait, she walked right up to where he was sitting and hugged him from behind.
"I missed you!"
Izuku decided that instead of pointing out that not even a day had passed since their last meeting, he should just enjoy the moment, placing his hand on hers and leaning back into the hug.
Nejire then pulled a chair next to him and dug into her meal, while at the same time trying to ask Izuku about every minute detail that may or may not have happened to him in their time apart. Izuku hid his smile behind a sip of water. Dating really was just like being friends. Except now he got hugs and maybe kisses. Much better, but still familiar.
The Universe saw the relaxed content atmosphere, exuding from the green-haired teen. And sent a pink comet to crash the party.
"MIDORI! I finally managed to pick out our date spot! There's this cool arcade just a block from- Oh. Oh! You're the senpai he hangs out with! Hi, I'm Mina Ashido!"
"Hi! You may call me Hado-senpai. Izuku talked about you, you taught him how to dance. I've been trying to get him to show me some moves, but he hasn't budged so far."
"I wanna have them down perfectly before I use them." Izuku showed some frustration, something new to Mina, but she still tried to cheer him up.
"You're already pretty good, Midori! You haven't cracked any floor or walls, or ceiling in like three sessions!"
"I still brute force it too much. Instead of shifting weight, I force my body to change positions. It feels too unnatural."
"Oh! I can help with that! I used to do a lot of exercises for that when I was still learning how to fly! I'll book us a gym and equipment for tomorrow."
"Right, third-years can use facilities unsupervised! Please do that, then text me where and when." Mina rubbed her eyes, unable to believe Midoriya's smile. Damn, she and the senpai must be good friends.
"It's a date then!" Nejire, somehow already finished with her food, left them alone. Izuku watched her go for a second before going back to his meal.
"So, how did you guys meet?"
"She stalked me for a day, then picked me as an intern for Ryukyu because Ryukyu wanted to train a boy, and Nejire likes green. It kinda snowballed from there." Holy shit! That was more than 20 words! That was like 30 words!
"Ashido, are you okay?"
"Perfectly lovely, thank you. Now, when are we going out?"
"I can't do weekends, so I guess Friday? When are you free?"
"Oh, any time is good, but if you want me to pick, I'd say about six works for me, if we meet at the arcade?"
"Alright, Friday at six then. Text me the location, I'll be there."
Izuku took his empty tray to clean up and left the cafeteria. He was barely paying attention to where he was walking, steeped too deep in teenage thoughts, only to be surprised by a skittering feeling climbing up his body. He turned to look at his shoulder, where the face of the principal sat.
"They were not kidding. Your aura is positively terrifying." Izuku could see the fine fur standing on its ends, revealing the pale leathery skin underneath. But the mammal sat on his shoulder still, clearly not planning to get off.
"Then why are you still on me?"
"To properly function as closely to humans as possible, I felt it necessary to rein in my animalistic instinct. It does not rule me, it is merely another tool for me to use at my leisure. Now, I need you for a special project. You've been excused from the rest of your classes for the day, so please do make your way to the basement."
Izuku did so, fairly curious, and wondering if he should ask for extra credit points, which helped him pass the exams before. He decided to wait until he knew more about this task so he could negotiate an appropriate amount. When they did make it to the basement, he decided to mark it up steeply.
"Yo, broccoli kid, who ya doing? Are your pubes green too, punk?"
It was after the "special classes" that Izuku dutifully scrubbed his hands for the past five minutes. The mud from the clones felt sticky and uncomfortable between his fingers. Still, it felt better than blood, bones, and obliterated organs. Nezu had him take on five clones of the USJ Nomu, and his objective was to kill them all. Then again. And again. And again. The rat explained why, too.
"It is my understanding of human psychology that mental obstacles like this are not resolved with one therapy session. It's something that requires time to work through. Also, Hound Dog is available to you if you need him."
Maybe he did need to start seeing a therapist. But he didn't know if it should be Hound Dog. Something told him that having his therapist a few floors above the combat room where he had just killed several beings—clone or not—was not a good idea. He should be taking care of something else instead. After drying his hands with a towel, he headed toward the teacher's lounge and politely knocked on the door. It was Midnight who opened it.
"Hello, Midoriya. How can we help you?"
"I was told about work studies and would like to know how to apply for one."
"I see. Yes, I'll print the forms for you. Do you know who you want?" She fiddled with her phone, and Izuku heard the printer in the room start printing. Convenient.
"No. With Ryukyu away, I'm not sure who I should ask, or how."
"Well, you're friends with the Big Three, ask them about it. However, if you do see Mirio, tell him his Hero Art project can only be delayed for one more week at most."
"I will, thank you for your help, sensei."
He received the freshly printed forms and decided to look for either Miro or Tamaki. He also briefly texted Nejire to ask if she had left already. It turns out she was already looking for Tamaki, who seemed to be dodging everyone all day. He was curious, especially since he had just run into the man in question, trying to become invisible.
"Have you ever tried to eat something from a quirked animal?"
"Huh?"
"Sorry, but it seems like you need to get your mind off some things." The boy shriveled further, and Izuku barely caught a mumbled "Maybe.".
"So, did you ever try?"
"Once, through the U.A. I was delivered a tail from a lizard that could grow its claws ten times longer than others. I ate it, but could only turn my body parts into those of a lizard. No Wolverine claws for me."
"Sad. Now, hear me out. What about-"
"Human doesn't work." After an uncomfortable period of silence, Tamaki looked at his junior to find him gazing stonily in disbelief.
"What?" he asked shyly.
"Did you eat human meat?"
"Well, I'm gay, aren't I?"
The joke came so suddenly that Izuku had no chance and let out an audible snort that evolved into laughter. He had to wipe a tear from his eye, and upon looking at his friend, he saw him looking very pleased with himself.
"Alright, on that note, I came to ask you, how do you secure a hero for work studies?"
"Well, usually a recommendation from a teacher goes a long way. But if you want, I could ask Fat Gum."
"You would do that?"
"Yep. He talked about choosing a work-studies candidate from the U.A. If I put a word in, you'd get picked for sure." Izulu looked at him strangely, and Tamaki got the idea of what he was aiming at. He turned his head, but Izuku could still see the fluster.
"I can talk to people. Just… not that many."
"Ok. I appreciate it, man. Saves me the trouble. I was gonna ask Mirio, but he works with Night Eye and…"
"Yeah. Hate that guy."
Again, Izuku was surprised. It seems like Tamaki had more sides to him than the shy introvert. And based on the expression on his face, he meant it, too.
"He said some mean things to me when we met, but I thought you'd like him."
"Why?"
"... I don't know. I guess mainly because Miro seems to adore the man."
"I thought he was alright. But now…" The elf boy seems to struggle between saying what he wanted, which might include some profanity, or putting on airs to not besmirch the reputable hero too harshly.
"You can say curse words. I grew up with Kastuki Bakugo, I can take it."
"I won't. Just thinking of him makes me tired. He is so obsessed with making Miro stronger, making him perfect. And I don't know why."
"He's trying to remake Mirio into another All Might. As close as possible."
"And I've said to both of them, Mirio is not All Might. He is his own person. But all the prick had to say was how Japan needs an All Might. Mirio… said nothing." Tamaki paused and turned some thoughts over in his head.
"He's trying to keep the status quo. When All Might retires, he will try to swap Mirio in, and hope life will keep going as it is."
Izuku could see it. He hoped his friend was wrong, but that was copium talking. From his limited impressions of Nighteye, the man probably envisioned a future he didn't like, but instead of fighting to change it, he fought to maintain the world as it was. Izuku could understand; it was hard to break patterns. When coming home, he had to actively remind himself to greet his mother and talk to her, rather than just retreating to his room. He still flinched when his phone buzzed with a text, as he rarely received any throughout his years of having one. And don't even get him started on phone calls. Change was hard and miserable. But would the world be better for it?
"No."
"No?" The older teen looked confused.
"I'm not letting Mirio waste away like All Might did." Izuku stood up, determined, and offered his hand.
"I don't know what world All Might and Nighteye came from before they built this one from scratch. But it's not perfect. Sometimes, it barely seems worth fighting for. But Mirio is. He's worth more than just keeping the world as it is. And I would fight both of them on this, for him. How about you? Would you fight for Mirio?
Tamaki took his hand with a determined gaze and let the smaller teen pull him to his feet. They strode across campus, with Nejire joining them along the way, intertwining her hand with Izuku's. Two-thirds of the Big Three and Midoriya were on their way to storm the Night Eye agency to win back their friend.
I've been sitting on 90% of this chapter for well on two years, and at this point it won't get any better or bigger. Creative well has been squeezed dry by my job and lack of interest in MHA. I still pushed and read the manga to the end, so I feel I should maybe try to wrap this thing I've gone and done, made over six years ago. I ask no permission, nor forgiveness. This is my rock to roll.
NP out.