792Izumi was many things—talented, energetic, heroic, caring, dense, a loving girlfriend, beautiful, and hot as hell—but none of that was helping her dance, and that was the best possible way to level up her already formidable quirk. For most heroes, training their quirk just meant improving the basic parameters of their quirks and reducing the downside. For Momo, that meant increasing the amount of energy her cells could store and convert while trying to come up with creative moves and uses for her quirk.
Most heroes didn't have the next step of their development already planned out for them. Sure, they would train super moves or other techniques, but those weren't the same as what Izumi was doing. There was a common misconception about Momo's own quirk, Creation, that her teachers, a few pro-heroes, and even Momo herself at one point had about her quirk, in that she would be able to create more just by getting fat.
The truth was both a blessing and a curse. Her fat cells were different because of her quirk; they didn't so much as store fat as they stored matter as energy. Like many quirks, it tended to treat the laws of physics as more of a suggestion. This meant that actually putting on weight was incredibly difficult, so she had to instead train her cells to store more and react quicker.
At least, that was what a recent U.A. medical exam had told her.
Which was why her own quirk training consisted of stuffing her face and making random objects.
Though, right now, she was far less concerned with her own training, instead just electing to snack a bit while she watched Izumi trip over her own two feet.
Even though the next step of Izumi's development was clear as could be, that did not make the task any easier. The complicated hand and finger gestures that made up Izumi's quirk were now being applied to her whole body, forcing her to create a precise dance that could literally end with an explosion if she did it incorrectly.
"Gwack!"
Which, with how often Izumi was tripping on her own feet, was bound to happen eventually.
Most people would have stopped hours ago, but Izumi possessed a certain kind of stubbornness that for Momo was both a headache and a charm.
With a happy sigh, Momo walked across the U.A. gym and stared down at her girlfriend. "You doing okay?"
Izumi gave a great big pout that looked completely adorable on her, if it wasn't for the fact that Izumi was currently drenched in sweat to the point that her sports bra—a hero in its own right—could be seen through her white workout shirt. Even her normally straight and crisp hair was starting to curl under the pressure and moisture.
"No!" Izumi kicked her feet up. "My feet hurt! My legs feel like jello, I think I'm developing a rash to the pads, and more importantly," Izumi placed both hands on her own chest, which, thanks to the resilience of the sports bra, looked far more compact than normal. "My boobs hurt!"
Momo couldn't help but laugh at that last bit as she extended a hand down towards Izumi. Izumi grabbed it and nearly pulled Momo down to the ground before they both stood on the cushioned mat. "Maybe we should try a different approach?"
"Like what?" Izumi ran a hand through her long hair, cringing at the many knots that had developed in her hair. "I feel like I haven't made any progress with this." She pointed towards the board that had Nezu's eldritch scribbles posted on it. Apparently, that was the dance Izumi was supposed to do. "Like, I get what I'm supposed to do, but like," Izumi flailed her hands about. Her quirk activated, and she cast a quick spell that bathed both of them in a cool breeze. "It takes a lot of practice to memorize that stuff with just my hands and arms, but with my whole body? That's just, guh."
"Well, I might actually have an idea for that." Momo offered with a wink as she grabbed Izumi's hand and brought it up to her lips. She kissed Izumi's knuckle softly, her cheeks feeling a bit of sting as she was vaguely aware that there might be others in the gym that might have some opinions on their relationship. While they weren't trying to keep it a secret, public displays of affection weren't exactly on the agenda. "Why don't we learn how to dance first?"
"Huh?"
Izumi was smart, but sometimes, she could be really stupid.
Momo sighed. "I mean, do you know how to dance?"
"I can wiggle—" Izumi blinked and looked at Momo with wide eyes. "Wait! You said 'We', right?"
"Yes, we can call it a date and—"
"Oh!" Izumi grabbed both of Momo's hands and her eyes were sparkling like she had just thought of the best thing ever, or seen Momo with one or less layers of clothing on. "Wait, we can get Setsuna, Nejire, and Itsuka to come too! It'll be so much fun! Momo! Have I ever told you, you're like the smartest person I know!"
Momo sighed and watched Izumi skip over to their bags, eager to dig for their phone. "And you're the densest I know." Momo muttered to herself before she smiled. Izumi was fully capable of thinking romantically, and could do amazing heartfelt gestures from time to time, but there were times when flirting with her was like trying to flirt with a brick wall. And they were both stacked, so it made sense. That was a bad joke. Momo shook her head and chased after Izumi. "That sounds like a lot of fun, Izumi! Why don't you see if they have any good ideas on what class to take?"
"On it!"
There would be plenty of time for one on one time with Izumi soon enough. Their summer was practically full of it: first there was I-Island, which pretty much meant that they'd be sharing a room for a full week, then there were a few planned trips to the beach, as well as Izumi's birthday party. Plus, in previous summers, Izumi had more or less just stayed with Momo full time.
"Do you have any ideas?" Izumi bounced up, phone still in her hand. She winced slightly as she ran a finger along the strap of her sports bra.
Momo smiled and struck a dancing pose, one arm holding an imaginary partner while the other was wrapped around their hand. She had been trained to dance with a taller partner, but she could adjust towards Izumi's height. "I was taught how to waltz when I was a kid."
"Oooh, that's super fancy, but do you think it will—"
Izumi's phone buzzed several times in quick succession, and she took a glance and saw their "Super Hot Babes + Inasa" group chat scrolling super fast. From her own bag, Momo heard her phone vibrating as well, and it wasn't stopping. "Oh, Nejire and Setsuna responded with a bunch of hearts and other emojis, so I think they're down. Itsuka says she's down, Inasa said to have fun, and now Setsuna is saying he's joining in. And…"
Izumi blinked at her phone and then looked at Momo, and then looked at her phone. "Sometimes, I'm not sure if I should punch Nejire or kiss her."
Honestly, Momo felt the same for Izumi and Nejire. Fortunately she had infinite free kisses for Izumi, and butt slaps might even be on the table as well. "What's she saying?"
"Well, uhh, oh god, Setsuna's so into it. Wait, Itsuka agreed? Oh god, I feel sorry for Inasa." Izumi muttered as Momo's phone continued to explode in her bag. After a moment, Izumi extended her phone towards Momo with Nejire's message dead center.
Nejire-Chan!: Pole dancing!
Nejire-Chan!: Think about it! Izumi needs to learn how to dance with her broom, sooo…
Momo stared at the message for a long moment. She didn't want to give Nejire the credit, but… "She's kind of right."
"So you agree?" Izumi's face lit up and she grabbed Momo's hands. "This is going to be so much fun!"
XXXX
What on earth was she doing here?
Itsuka looked around the classroom; most of the walls were mirrors, allowing her to make awkward eye contact with literally every single person in the room without even trying. A dozen or so poles were all evenly spaced through the room with a meter wide circle of pad at the base of each one. Most of the poles were occupied by some of the hottest girls she'd ever seen, and they were all wearing the same basic workout gear that left their stomachs exposed.
It didn't help that Nejire was currently wearing a matching light blue work-out ensemble that was catching Itsuka's eye hard.
Then there was Izumi and Momo who, like always, were lost in their own little world. Both of them looked excited, but they had no idea what they were doing.
Setsuna hadn't stopped smiling.
Which left Itsuka feeling like she was by far the most out of place person in the room. Which was saying something, since she was standing next to the six foot something muscular bald man in an impossibly loose tank-top and yoga pants known as Inasa.
It wasn't like she needed to learn how to dance, it wasn't like she even wanted to learn how to dance, especially not pole dance of all things. So why on earth was she even here?
For her friends?
Well, yes, kind of.
Itsuka glanced in front of her as she watched Nejire bounce around without a care in the world. As important as her friends were, she was pretty sure there she was mostly here for Nejire. She didn't know the when, how, or why, but she was pretty sure that the respect she had for her senpai had developed into something like a crush.
It could just be that in their friend group, only she and Nejire were single, but at the same time, she wanted to get closer to Nejire.
"Alright Class!"
A pair of women walked into the classroom. One was exceptionally tall and had a pair of horns sticking out of her head, the other was…
"Sensei?" Izumi asked before Itsuka could even registar the other woman.
It was Midnight, their art history teacher.
Midnight snapped her finger and pointed at the girls before she placed that same finger on her lips, shushing them. "I won't tell if you won't?"
Were… were they in trouble for being here?
It was just a dance class, and they checked for I.D. at sign up.
They even applied for school credits!
"Now then, we have some beginners today, so why don't we start with some of the basic movies before we spice things up, hmm?"
Nejire and Setsuna took the the pole like a fish to water. They were effortlessly able to twirl, twist, and spin around on it like it was second nature. Momo spent more time on the mat than actually dancing and had one of the teachers all but hovering over her, while Izumi was just having a great time doing it.
Inasa started rough, but quickly got a hang of things.
As for Itsuka…
She had no idea it would be so fun.
AN: Technically not coming back to writing but one of the users that had been harassing me about this fic "YouKnowWho" posted a smilely face and I really didn't want that piece of shit to think they've won.