Chapter 33: Good to Be BackNotes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The last four days of the internship week had been thankfully relaxing for Izuku.
He had spent the remainder of his third night—after Stain's capture and a quick chat with his mentor—talking with Shoto and Tenya, the three students observing while the Pros handled the situation. Tenya was clearly shaken by the Villain's end, but was ultimately content with the night turning as well as it had, with his brother even counted as a contributor to the arrest. Shoto was simply happy to have some time away from his old man, as Endeavor was sure to keep grumbling for at least a few more days.
The Hosu Incident had been resolved with minimal damages, as the added presence of the Number 1 and Ingenium, now fully capable of controlling his Agency directly, had proven to be incredibly effective. So much so, in fact, that the number of eyewitnesses and cameras on the action soon had grown to be in the dozens. The three nomu had been dealt with, and the media hadn't cowered away from sharing how the Hero Killer had been sent to Tartarus by the Symbol of Peace. Stain's last words during his "fight" against All Might had been a wakeup call to Heroes and Villains both.
"Those who only act for their own sake are no Heroes at all. I may have met my end at the hands of a True Hero, but remember this, you Fakes: your time is running out, and you'll be punished for your misdeeds, as I'll be for mine."
Not what Izuku would have chosen, but he couldn't really complain. He had made sure to tell him not to sewer the connection to the League in his words, but the added weight would be sure to make some pick up their slack, for better or for worse.
Journalists on site had swarmed the Heroes soon after the capture, microphones being shoved at All Might's face in the dozens as if to hold an impromptu press conference. The Number 1 had managed to divert most of the attention to the district-wide disaster, since no one else beside the Pros had seen the students carry Stain out of alleyway. Sharing the success was better in the long run.
Izuku didn't need the additional spotlight from being attributed the Hero Killer's capture. His enemies already knew of his interference, and that was just fine. He would already be ending up on every screen of the nation for his short flight in the flying nomu's claws anyway.
The preoccupied call he had received from his mother had been met with a thousand reassurances, but there was only so much he could do to quell Inko's fears. Some of them were doomed to occur sooner or later.
After that night he had simply spent some more days training with Gran Torino, giving him some data that the old man would need later, and finally going over the 20% mark. Yagi had to take care of the aftermath of the incident for one more day before coming back to oversee his training, but it wasn't like he had lost anything. They had talked some more about [One For All] but, as they technically didn't have anything more to examine, the conversation quickly halted. Toshi only knew about [Float], [Blackwhip], and [Smokescreen], and so it would stay.
Anyway, leaving Gran's decrepit building and going back home was everything he wanted on that Saturday evening. The entrance of the dorms was a sight for sore eyes, and the warm voices welcoming him in made his heart sing.
The students who had yet to fall prey to their sleepiness were all gathered on the comfortable couches of the lounge, snacking and exchanging some tales about their first direct experience in the world of Pros. Mina had even roped in some guys from 1-B! They wouldn't last much longer, but she really wanted to spend some more quality time before starting school again. Mondays were so not her thing... but this was a Saturday night, and she wasn't tired yet!
Kaminari had just finished his follow-up to Kyoka's tale (Snatch was less boring than expected, and Gang Orca sounded hella rad) when the pinkette noticed a familiar bush of green hair walking in. Of course, she jumped to the occasion. After some quick pleasantries, she got a hold of his arm and readily brought him back to the group.
"So, Midori!" Mina fell and bounced on the sofa, bringing the greenette down with her. "How was your week?"
"It was fine," Izuku spoke, clearly tired but smiling. "I learned a lot."
Kyoka, on the couch's other side, gave him a playful nudge. "Come on, Green, you know what we mean."
"We all heard about that stuff in Hosu!" Kaminari piped up from his spot, excited despite the late hour.
"Must've been crazy to see All Might fuck-up the Hero Killer!" Awase added, just as animated.
"Language," Shishida chided while pouring tea for the frowning vine-haired girl.
"He got grabbed by a damn nomu man! Ask about that first!" Mineta huffed to the black-haired guy.
"Ah, right, sorry," Awase pleaded, a tad contrite.
Kendo nodded at the smaller student's words. "Mineta's right. How are you?"
"I'm fine now, don't worry. But regarding Hosu... yeah, I've been better. Stain was... a lot," the boy said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I can only imagine," Honenuki sighed, crossing his arms.
"Was it frightening?" Shiozaki asked, somewhat distressed.
"A bit," Midori gave a shaky nod. "It gave me a scare for sure. One second I'm there, the next I'm flying in a monster's claws, and then I'm falling as Stain kills it. I almost didn't stop my fall because of the shock."
"Ugh, that must have sucked," Denki grimaced.
"Ahah, yeah," he chuckled, trying to ease some of the tension. "I wasn't hurt, but I'd rather not do it again."
Kyoka hummed and Mina commented with a laugh. "Zero stars, would not recommend!"
"It's a relief to hear you weren't hurt, sir Midoriya," Shishida said, his tone impeccable. Mina wondered how did he manage to keep those manners... Was it to balance the beastly side? Must be tricky.
"Seems like you paid the price of training with the Number 1," Itsuka grinned.
"For sure. It was fun, but it's good to be back." Midori took a biscuit and moved his head around to look at the rest of the group. "But enough about me. How was your week?"
As his eyes fell on Honenuki, 1-B's resident skeleton responded, "It was nice. I managed to score an internship with Wash."
"The Laundry Hero? How was he?" Mineta asked, curious.
"He's a great guy, and incredibly chill too," he answered, adding a few details about his stay.
"Oh, then maybe you can answer a question I've had since forever: How did you understand him? I can never guess what he's saying," Denki looked somewhat confused, which Mina could agree with. Wash's speaking habits were a mystery.
"Yeah, you'd never guess it. Truth is, everybody in his team is wearing earphones to hear what he's really saying. But that's not the best part." Honenuki's teeth morphed into the scary version of a smile, seemingly trying to contain his laughter. "All that 'wash wash' everybody hears is just the way he found to censor himself. That man swears like a sailor under that goodie-two-shoes act."
After a moment of stunned silence, Mina, Denki, and Awase snorted and started cackling like madmen. Shiozaki and Shishida had the exact opposite reaction.
"I can't believe it!" she let out with frustration as the boy shook his head with a sigh.
"It's true," Honenuki reiterated. "I've heard insults I had never thought possible. Man's got a talent."
"Keep it down, you lot," Kyoka chastised the laughing trio, making them slowly come to a stop.
Midori chuckled. "Expect the unexpected, I guess. How about you, Shiozaki?"
Glad to be leaving the irreverent discussion, the girl seemed to get back her sobriety.
"My time with Kamui Woods has been truly enlightening. We were fortunate to be chosen by him."
"You were with Sero, right?" Denki inquired.
"Oh, yes, I was. I dare say we both enjoyed the experience. I believe myself to be much more attentive than I was a few days ago, and Sero hasn't shied away from training either."
"Yeah, he's not that lazy," Mina agreed. Their classmate was a pretty chill guy, but he still worked hard.
The conversation moved to Awase and Mineta, who had both gone with Rock Lock.
"Mr. Takagi was super great with us," the black-haired teen started. "He brought us on patrol every day after training, and we even got to help!"
Mineta rolled his eyes a bit. "It wasn't much. We just had to keep our eyes on a couple of perps until the police arrived."
"But it was still great! He taught us some interesting stuff," the other said before biting a snack.
"Like what?" Kaminari asked.
"It'll be better if we show you during training," the short boy replied with a smirk.
"You both stayed at his agency?" Honenuki changed topic, having slept at Wash's building for a week.
"Nuh-uh," Awase shook his head, having his mouth full. "He works alone, so the place was just an office. He brought us to his house instead."
"We shared the guest room," Mineta added. "Takagi tries to keep a good work-life balance. When he's off the clock, he's off the clock. Unless there's a real emergency."
"An admirable decision. Sir Shishido was interesting to intern with, but he has been rather headstrong about his work," Shishida said, nodding along.
"Well, he kinda has to, as he's married and all," Awase pointed out, his smile turning wider. "His wife was very kind, and they just had a baby too!"
"Oooh, sweet," Mina cooed.
"It resembled Takagi so much it was scary," Mineta said, looking as if he staring into the void.
"But at least he was quiet," the other chuckled.
"Good for them," Izuku commented. "Rock Lock doesn't take interns very often, and he has made for himself a sort of pragmatic and blunt public image. It's good to see that he's a family man under that thick skin."
"Heroes are people too," Kendo smiled, turning to the beasty boy. "Other than... 'dedicated,' how was the Lion Hero?"
Shishida crossed his arms in thought. "I would dare say that he is a very hot-blooded individual, but that would be only scratching the surface. Despite his perceived arrogant disposition, he's shown sensibility, compassion, and a tactical mindset. He saw many similarities between himself and my new forms, and was ready to assist me to his full capabilities," he explained, showing a content expression.
"Would you look at that, he can smile too," Awase joked, making the larger friend dissimulate with a fake cough.
"Seems like a cool dude. Gang Orca has a darts target with his face on it the agency's relax room," Kyoka smirked.
Shishida raised an eyebrow. "Ah, so that wasn't just a one-sided feud. Sir Shishido had a punch bag with distinct whale-ish features."
The chuckling trio started laughing again, Mina holding her stomach for good measure.
"Uh, who would have thought that the eleventh and the twelfth would have that kind of rivalry?" Honenuki pondered, picturing the duo.
"Well, they have Quirks representing two of the greatest predators on Earth," Mineta pointed out.
"But lions and killer whales do not even share the same habitat," Shiozaki pondered, wondering about the strange phenomenon.
"Not everything has to make sense, Ibara," Kendo patted her back. "I don't think many of these rivalries would anyway."
"Do you know more?" Mina piped up, excited by the prospect and trying to connect the dots. "You were with Ochaco, weren't you? Who's Ryukyu rival?"
Itsuka looked a bit uncertain about speaking before Izuku interjected. "It's not that hard to guess, since there are lots of theories about it on the net. You could get the same answer from Momo and Tsu, by the way."
Kyoka snickered. "So it's Mirko? Damn, a rabbit versus a dragon?"
"Yeah," the redhead sighed, "they seem to be very good friends, but Ms. Tatsuma warned us about Mirko's... 'combative tendencies.' She's very competitive and, in Ryukyu's own words, 'frankly too much sometime.'"
Midori grinned. "Just hope that it hasn't rubbed off on Momo and Tsu."
"Are you joking? I would pay to see those four fighting!" Kaminari commented before being stung by a jack. "Hey! A spar is a spar!"
"It would be freaking great," Awase agreed, barely censoring his swearing, "but who knows when we'll get a chance to do something like that."
"Oh, I don't think we'll have to wait that long," Izuku said with a knowing smile.
Shiozaki lightened up. "You're thinking about performing an extra training session?"
Mina could see that Honenuki was listening intently, probably hoping to catch up with their classmates. She couldn't deny that the prospect was tantalizing.
- I wouldn't mind another go at his coaching... or at Midori in general, - she smirked before rapidly changing train of thought and shelving the memory of his abs for the comfort of her room. Better not to get lost in those daydreams in the middle of a conversation.
"That too," the greenette confirmed. "But I think our teachers will surprise us soon."
"Dude, I'm always surprised," Kaminari sighed, followed by a quick, "He's talking about training with 1-B, man," by Mineta.
"It would certainly be interesting," Shishida hummed. "I look forward to your prediction coming true, sir Midoriya."
"I'll ask Vlad King on Monday," Kendo added with a smile.
"It'll be easier than asking Aizawa for sure," Kyoka huffed, "the man's indecipherable when he wants to be."
Mina agreed. Aizawa was great at making himself clear when he needed to, and abso-fucking-lutely unreadable every other time. They'd have an easier time asking the question to a wall. Ms. Kayama was a lot more forthcoming.
Though, it wasn't like Midori had been wrong before... Yep, she was already excited at the prospect of a joint lesson.
She became even more excited after the boy began his next phrase with a "Oh, right. There's something I wanted to do tomorrow, and I'd like your help..."
Setsuna stretched her arms as she waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor, scratching her back in points that some people couldn't reach with ease. Her new sweater was on the itchier side, so she would enjoy every benefit of being able to split herself apart.
As the door rolled open, the girl was invested by two things: the smell of cooking, and too many loud voices for a Sunday morning. Okay, she had slept in, and it was almost midday, but still.
She turned the corner and located part of her clique by the closest couches, either lounging, playing or chatting.
Itsuka saw her first, inviting her over as the group gave their variations of "Good morning."
"Nice of you to join us at this early hour, Setsuna," the redhead jokingly said.
"I missed my bed," she pouted, falling down on an empty spot. "Majestic didn't have weighted blankets."
"Poor cold lizard," the other teased, getting a giggle out of Pony and a probably amused hum from Reiko. "Got enough warmth in the tank for surviving the day?"
"Guess I'll manage," she shrugged, turning an eye to the other side of the floor, but not actually seeing anyone in the kitchen. "What's Midoriya cooking?"
Seeing the greenette at the stove had quickly become a daily sight, so it felt like a safe assumption. He didn't always cook for everybody, but he did so more often than not. Setsuna wondered how he found the will to do that so frequently.
"Not him," Pony shook her head lightly.
"Uh?"
"Midoriya's been out for hours. I think it's Sato, Asui, Ida, and Todoroki in there," Itsuka added. "Why, hoping to grab a snack?"
"In my defense, his cooking rocks," she said, levitating her hands as if caught red-handed. "Would you blame me if I was hoping for a Sunday feast?"
"You have to admit that Greeny knows his stuff," Kamakiri abruptly joined the conversation from his spot before the television, kicking off a series of interjections.
"But he said something about having to take care of someone," Kaibara, lazily sprawled on an easy-chair, yawned out.
"Midoriya had to see someone in the teacher's building," Shoda helpfully provided between moves of his chess game against Shishida, the match being closely monitored by Yui.
She frowned a bit. "We've back for less than a day and he's already in trouble?"
"He assured us that it was nothing of the sort," the beastly giant affirmed.
"It was probably something representative-related. Yaoyorozu went with him," Honenuki said, not looking up from his book.
"Dude, what about the others?" Awase asked, looking away from the fighting game match between him and Tsuburaba as his character got blasted away. "Half of their class was there."
"Who cares. They were probably going to beg Aizawa to cut them some slack on their unfinished homework or something," Kuroiro snickered, taking the controller for his turn.
"Somehow I doubt that," Setsuna replied, rolling her eyes.
"Right, the man can be scary as hell. I wouldn't put myself before that glare of his even if they paid me," Tsuburaba groaned, giving up his place to Kamakiri.
- Tell me about it, - she thought, keeping her shivering in check.
"They'll be back for lunch anyway," Itsuka offered, ending the fruitless discussion and looking at their classmates. "On topic, we should start helping out too. Any volunteers?"
A few grumbles exited the laziest of the bunch, but ultimately a good part of the group got up to deal with the chore, being received by Ida with a hand motion and a loud greeting. The bluenette directed them to different tasks, being corrected by Asui multiple times as the boy had more experience guiding a studying session than a kitchen.
Setsuna found herself standing beside her fellow green-haired gal and pal.
"Ribbit, you're good at this, Kamakiri," Asui said, her face unreadable as she looked at the blade wielder.
"You're damn right I am! It's just following some dumb instructions!" the boy snorted as he cut apart apple after apple. She was sure that he was hiding how happy he was at someone new complimenting his cutting skills. "I've tried making spheres before, this stuff's a fucking cinch."
Setsuna wasn't inclined to agree; the fruit didn't seem to want to be cut in a straight line, much less into a bunny shape.
"I give up, I'll just make the slices for the cake," she grumbled, changing knife and starting to chop the thing to release the accumulated stress.
Asui offered an understanding ribbit before turning towards the boy again. "The cuts are fine, but please stop swearing so much now."
Kamakiri stopped for a moment to look at the frog girl, and even Setsuna turned her head, curious. "What? Want to lecture me on swearing? Never heard you say anything about that before."
"Yeah, that's new," she agreed.
Asui had never seemed like the type to care about that stuff. Unlike their fifth and last greenette, Ibara, who kept glaring at them for using bad words.
The shorter girl shook her head. "Usually it's not a problem, ribbit. Today's different though, because we have a guest coming."
The irritated teen huffed. "I haven't stopped swearing in front of All Might, Frogger. What's so important about this guy?"
"Not a guy, ribbit," she corrected.
"Midoriya might try to murder you if you swear in front of her," Todoroki said in passing as he moved with still steaming dishes, the vapor clouding the lizard girl's view. The ice-cold seriousness on his face as he spoke made her wonder if he wasn't actually joking.
- Wait, does Todoroki even know how to joke? -
"Heeey, we're here!" Pinky's voice came from the front of the building as the door opened, making them turn their heads towards the incoming 1-A members.
For just a moment, Setsuna wondered if Midoriya had somehow gotten taller in a single week. Then her vision cleared, and she took in how the disheveled cascade of forest green that was connected with the boy's own hair belonged to another person entirely. There was a little girl on the boy's shoulders, and she was the cutest thing. Her lizard brain tentatively dubbed her "Smallest Green."
Curiosity won over the members of Class B, making those present try to congregate around their guest as Midoriya got her settled by one of the tables.
Nobody managed to get as close as they wanted though, being interjected and kept at a safe distance by Kirishima, Shoji, Kaminari, and Tokoyami. Jiro preceded any question by curtly explaining that they shouldn't overwhelm the girl, complementing the quick talk with not-so-subtle glares.
Those actions only increased Setsuna's interest, and the others seemed to share her thoughts.
"Who's she?" Kaibara cut to the chase, directing the question to the other class.
"Midoriya's sister?" Pony asked, trying to sneak a better look, soon followed by a "I wouldn't judge a book by its cover, but it does seem plausible," by Reiko.
"See? I told you that's the first guess they'd take," Sero looked smugly at Kaminari, who grumbled something about being lucky about not betting anything.
"They do look alike," Honenuki conceded.
"Nah, she's not his sis," came the helpful voice of Hagakure. "The story's weirder than that."
"I would call it a fortuitous coincidence, but we'll have time to speak of that during lunch," Yaoyorozu offered, smiling as she came closer to the group. "You can introduce yourselves now, she's ready to meet you all. Just, please, refrain from any foul language as long as she's here."
"Fine, warning received loud and clear," Kamakiri snorted, giving the other guys a sharp look. "You'd better stay in line. If I can do it, so can you." Tsuburaba and Awase seemed to understand the threat, the latter even mimicking putting a lock on his mouth.
"Oooh, you big softie," Setsuna teased with a side glance, reveling in the fact that he couldn't swear to vent. The teen glared back but took it in stride.
"Come on," Setsuna found her arm being grabbed by Itsuka, the girl dragging her forward to interrupt the disturbance.
- Smart. I would've kept going at Kamakiri until he blew up, probably, - she admitted to herself.
They approached Midoriya, who was holding the child on his legs to keep her at table height. Whatever he had just said, the kid had responded with a few nods, turning towards them with a shaky smile and adorable big eyes. She was holding a child-sized notebook with one hand, keeping it firm on the wooden surface, and a colored pencil in the other.
"H-Hi, I'm Eri," she said, het tone portraying both timidity and eagerness. "What's your name?"
"Hi, Eri, I'm Itsuka," her friend said, crouching a bit to get on the girl's eyelevel. "And this here is my friend Setsuna."
The girl hummed, taking in the information and starting to scribble in her notes. "I-tsu-ka... It's close to Izuku!" She spoke slowly and then fast, turning to the teen behind her.
He chuckled with a "They sound very similar, yes."
"And Se-tsu-na..." the kid went back to spelling, but the way she frowned a bit made Setsuna rush to ease the burden.
"It's spelled like this," she moved a finger to trace the characters on the page, having the pencil follow just behind. When the kid finished, she grinned and continued with a "But you can just call me Set, if you'd like."
Those leafy eyes turned to her as she now had her full focus, the green orbs examining the contours of her face with a surprised expression.
"O-Okay," Eri smiled as she kept looking. She seemed to gather some courage before speaking up. "Your hair is beautiful, it's just like Izuku's!"
Well, at least the girl knew how to recognize fellow members of the club.
"It really is," she beamed, "and yours as well!"
"T-Thank you." Eri's face brightened at the compliment, and Setsuna could feel her heart melting with every passing moment.
Midoriya and Kendo were thanking each other about organizing and prepping lunch, so she had the little treasure all to herself!
"Do you wanna meet the others?" She pointed to the group with her thumb, making the kid look over.
"I-If they're Izuku's friends, yes. Are they nice?"
Setsuna nodded, speaking loudly enough to be heard by the morons. "I assure you that they're nice, and if they scare you, I'll just bite them!" she grinned, showing some teeth to mimic a predator. The kid must have had some incredible resistance to jump scares, because she didn't even flinch.
Receiving an approval, the lizard girl started helping the process, telling Reiko and Pony to approach.
She didn't know if it was her being a child, the meek way she acted, or her having green hair that moved her... Everything Eri was just made her brain scream "must protect at all costs."
Though another part of her brain was loudly shouting something along the lines of "Get Ibara, Asui, and Kamakiri here! We need a group photo! Green-haired supremacy!", but those thoughts could wait a bit.
"Did you enjoy today, Eri?" Izuku asked as the kid settled under the covers.
She hummed in response, showing a content smile. "It was great. Can we do it again soon?"
"We will," he reassured as he tucked her in.
"I want to see another movie. It was good. At one point I thought it was sad, but then it was nice again, and Mina said it was a... happy..."
"Happily ever after," he provided. A good ending for a kid's fairy tale.
"So close, and yet so far..." the voice stirred up, making Izuku tense to stop himself from flinching. It wouldn't ruin his time with Eri, no.
"Yes, that," she nodded before looking at him with a request. "Can you read me a story that ends like that? Please?" She sounded as if she was asking for the world. He was happy to oblige.
"Alright, alright," he chuckled, getting up to choose a book.
He pulled a stool to sit by her, close enough to show pictures whenever they appeared.
"Can you make the light?" she asked, her tone almost pleading.
He smiled kindly, nodding as he turned off the small lampshade on the bedside table, sinking the room in darkness. A moment later, Izuku let [One For All] dance around his body, just above its invisibility percentage, filling the space with a gentle green hue, the light moving in unpredictable flashes.
It didn't take long for Eri to close her eyes, lulled to sleep by his voice and the color she loved.
Notes:
Posting this today since I might not be able to tomorrow.
Just a light chapter before we get back to some training. There's a big chunk (a month or so) of free offscreen days here, since the Exams should be the next big thing. We'll be filling that space...
Up next, some schedule changes for our students!
Wash swearing like a sailor was inspired by Zarconath's "Revolution in Green". Go give it a look if you like Quirk analysis, shenanigans, IzuKyoka, and a story which is getting more and more surprising.
I also want to thank TheSeaofSphere for helping me in editing the previous chapters. I'm making some small changes (Ex: sensei -> professor/Mr. ; Quirks' names inside [] ), though there's no need to go back and reread the whole thing. Just know that, if something feels different, it's probably that.
I love interacting in the comments, so feel free to leave one and speculate.