Chapter 57: Getting There, TogetherNotes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Around two weeks ago
Ochaco was getting ready for bed, merrily wearing her pink pajama—the one with many little, fluffy, multicolored cotton candy clouds—and humming a catchy tune she'd heard in the common room, when somebody knocked on her door.
She turned and took a few steps towards it. She wasn't expecting any visitors, having left the dorm's dinner gathering not that long ago. "Who is it?" she asked.
"Tsu, ribbit," the first voice offered.
"And Mina!" a second, livelier one, added.
She opened the door, finding the two looking at her expectantly. "Um, hi. Do you need something?"
"Ochaco, can we talk, ribbit?" Tsu asked.
"It's pretty important," Mina whispered, covering one side of her mouth even if there was nobody else there to spy on them.
"Uh... Sure, come on in," she nodded, moving to the side to let the duo enter.
Ochaco closed the door behind them and looked at her poorly furnished room. Even if she had offered it as a mostly-free space for their sleepover, she knew that it wasn't the most glamorous place, nor the most comfortable spot to talk in.
"You can take the spinning chair and the low one," she offered, relieved to have at least two seats.
"Mine!" Mina exclaimed, jumping to the chair before the desk and making it roll a few times.
Tsu shook her head with a croak as she turned the yellow seat towards the bed.
"Hey, you got to use mine last time! I love these things!" the pinkette excused her behavior with a pout.
"It's fine," Ochaco nodded. "Just don't get too rowdy with it. That thing's old."
"Noted," Mina nodded, still spinning around, but slower.
"So," she started after sitting on the bed, legs crossed, looking between her two friends, "what did you want to talk about?"
"Weeeell..." Mina started, stopping suddenly and pointing a finger towards the frog girl. "Your turn, Tsu."
"Coward," the other huffed, making the pinkette giggle.
Ochaco saw Tsu turn to face her, the girl's gaze squared on her. Despite Tsuyu's usual calm exterior, she could feel that same fire the girl had while fighting in her eyes.
"Before we start, just let us say that, whatever happens here or after this, we still want to be your friends, okay?"
"Totally," Mina added, nodding in a should-be-acting-serious manner.
"Um, okay?" she answered, unsure about where they intended to go and—to be honest—a tad worried now. "What is this about?"
"Your crush on Midori," Mina replied instantly.
"O-Oh," she stuttered. If she had a hundred yen for each time a girl with horns asked her about her crush lately... she'd almost be able to afford two pieces of mochi. Which wasn't a lot, but there was never enough mochi in her life.
She should have expected this, really, but after getting Itsuka and Pony to give her some time to think she had done just that and let the matter slip off her mind… Though the American liked to remind her pretty often with her curious glances, which made forgetting about it impossible.
"You're asking about that too?"
"Too?" Tsu asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Didn't expect somebody else to beat us to the punch," Mina hummed, sounding impressed.
Ochaco touched the tips of her fingers nervously. "Itsuka and Pony asked me about a while ago… The morning after the sleepover, while we were running."
"Ugh. Figures that I'd miss some gossip because of that stuff," the pinkette lamented.
"Nothing stopped you from going, ribbit."
"It was Saturday morning for crying out loud! I'm already trying hard to do it most days!"
"Okay, okay. Not the point," the greenette raised a hand to calm the other. "Can we ask about what you talked about, ribbit? If it's not too personal."
Well, it was personal, but it wasn't like she had to keep it a secret from people who already knew most of the story, right? Though Tsu was probably her rival in lov- her competition, she was fairly sure that the greenette wouldn't hold back something like this if she were the one to ask instead.
Ochaco quickly explained how Itsuka had gotten her out of her own head—getting from her friends the same kind of support she had received from the martial artist and the American—and, basically, open to reveal her feelings to Izuku... whenever she felt ready.
A moment that she hadn't quite reached yet, to her chagrin.
The two shared a look that she couldn't quite decipher.
"Well, this makes things a bit easier, I guess," Mina shrugged, bringing her legs up and holding her knees to her chest to rest her chin on them.
"Hopefully," Tsu hummed, turning back to Ochaco. "Okay, ribbit. The two of us also talked about this, and-"
"I like Midori too," Mina interjected. She was hiding a bit of her face behind her arms. Ochaco could still see her blush, but her laser-focused, determined eyes took most of the attention away from it.
"Y-You do?" the brunette stuttered.
- Darn, I shoulda seen it! - she mentally complained, keeping in check the urge to express it.
"Yeah..." the pinkette sighed, nodding a few times.
"W-Why didn't you say anything during the sleepover?" she asked, making Tsu stifle a chuckle.
Mina gave the other a quick glance and sighed. "I didn't know," she groaned in shame. "I needed this smug frog to make me realize."
"Again, you're welcome, ribbit," Tsu responded.
"O-Oh," she uttered. "Well... Good for you, I guess?"
"Yeah. Better than not knowing and then wondering why I've got this weird feeling in my stomach."
"Saved you some time, ribbit."
"Oh, as if you didn't get your laughs too!"
While Tsu and Mina chuckled, bantering a bit, Ochaco observed and thought.
She didn't quite know how to feel. She had told Itsuka that she'd wait to work up some courage, but in truth she was worried about the other girls that shared her same feelings towards Izuku. Tsuyu's had come as a surprise, but Ochaco would have been a hypocrite for lessening those feelings when they had been born the same way as hers, although in different heroic savings. Momo's had been clearer to see, since the two representatives and top scorers of their class were usually standing side by side, but had been laid out in such a beautiful way that she couldn't imagine them as fake. Toru's hadn't been as explicit, but neither had Ochaco's. The invisible girl's tone alone was a good indication of how flustered she had been, and that was something that Ochaco could certainly relate to. Mina hadn't explained anything yet, but she wouldn't brush aside her friend's feelings just because she happened to be a bit more easygoing than others and stumbled upon them a few days later.
But since that was the case, how should she be acting?
Ochaco couldn't lie and say that she wasn't at least a bit jealous. It wasn't just a "I've seen him first" sort of thing—or at least she hoped so—because that would have been childish and crazy. She ought to be mature enough to see that they were all girls with a crush and that there was no malice involved, not voluntarily. It wasn't like she had planned to fall either.
She also knew that she had no intentions to step back. As hard as making her move was, she had set her mind to do it. Ochaco Uraraka hadn't been taught to take stuff lying down, she had been taught to work hard and keep her head up with pride!
Ochaco didn't know if what she felt for Izuku could already be called "love," but she knew that it was one of the strongest sentiments she had ever felt. Her dad might have told her to be careful around boys, but her mom had sung a completely different song. "Fight for those you care about," she had said, making her think she was referring to the family until she had added a whispered "and follow your heart." Well, now she cared about Izuku, and she would be fighting for him and for her happiness, if it came down to it.
"So... what now?" she asked, pushing the words out and interrupting the girls' chatting. "Does this mean that we're all rivals?"
"Uh, well, I mean, that's not really-" Mina started, but Ochaco didn't even register Tsu rolling her eyes at Mina's uncertainty.
The brunette was already moving on, letting her doubts turn into words faster than she could answer.
"Are you here to tell me that you're going to ask him out first? Or to tell me to step back? 'Cause I won't-"
That must have taken the two girls by surprise, because suddenly they both looked alarmed as they raised their hands to stop her rant.
"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong!" Mina replied, shaking her hands wildly to deny her thought.
"We'd never ask that of you!" Tsu added, showing her worry plainly.
"Yeah!" the pinkette nodded repeatedly. "That'd be crazy! No way!"
"O-Oh... sorry," she said, apologetically rubbing the back of her head while looking down and equally taken aback. "Kinda assumed the worst there..."
-I'm really no good at this, ain't I? -
"We're sorry too, ribbit," Tsu sighed, moving a hand over hers to give her some comfort. "It's the second time I'm doing this, but it's hard, ribbit. Trust me, that's the last thing we want."
"Damn, now I get why you were so anxious, Tsu," Mina let out a weary groan. "My heart's beating out of my damn chest."
"Sor-"
"Don't apologize, it's our fault for wasting time," the pinkette stopped her, moving her chair closer to mimic Tsu's action. "Let's just come out and say it, okay?" she spoke, turning toward Tsuyu for confirmation.
"Yes," the greenette ribbited, squeezing the brunette's hand lightly as she took a big breath. "Look, Ochaco, we have an idea..."
Ochaco listened as her friend started to explain but couldn't stop her first reaction from being a "What?!" that would have probably woken up every girl on the floor if the other hadn't been prepared to muffle it in time.
As the pillow Tsu had pushed to cover her mouth fell in her lap, she saw the frog girl roll her eyes and Mina giggle at her surprise. But how was she supposed to not react like that?!
"Y-You- You want to share him?!" she whispered—almost hissed—at Tsu's retracting fingers. "How the heck would that work?!"
"Well, for starters, by not completely freaking out about it," Mina said with a smile as she shrugged. "Though I totally get ya, my first reaction was pretty much the same."
"Ribbit, I would be surprised if Kyoka didn't hear your confused yell," Tsu thought aloud, making the other pout.
"We both know she wasn't in the building," Mina huffed before turning back to her. "Anyway, back to the important stuff. Ever heard about polyarmor- No, wait- po-ly-am- Okay, got it- polyamory?"
Tsu let out a sigh and nodded along.
Ochaco's brow furrowed as she thought hard. The word felt somewhat familiar, or at least the two parts sort of were. She doubted—and hoped—that it had anything to do with polynomials apart from the root that meant "many."
-And amor should be about love, so…-
"Um, not really, but is it, like, multiple people love or something?" she hazarded a guess.
"Pretty much," Mina confirmed.
"The practice of romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the consent of everyone involved," Tsu explained word for word as Momo usually would. "It can take a lot of forms, but that's the general umbrella term, ribbit. Such a relationship involves just as much honesty, communication, and love as a monogamous one, though of course the complexity of being with multiple people shouldn't be underestimated."
Mina seemed genuinely impressed by the other girl. "Damn, Tsu, you studied the part this time. Was that word for word from a wiki?"
The greenette gave her the stink eye, her croak neither confirming nor refusing the conjecture. "When I agreed to 'no more improvising,' I meant it, ribbit."
Ochaco was more than a bit baffled by the sudden encyclopedic info dump, but took advantage of the interjection to speak. "A-And you think something like that would work? I mean, for real, for all of us?" she asked, gesturing towards the walls that led to Toru's and Momo's rooms.
Whatever plan Mina and Tsu were concocting, they shouldn't forget about the others.
The frog girl followed her hands with her eyes before nodding. "I believe it would be worth trying, yes, ribbit," she replied with an even tone.
"We gotta talk it out, like, a lot, but it seems like a good solution, right? Everybody gets what they want," Mina added happily.
Ochaco frowned a bit at that. Up until a second ago, what she wanted was something with Izuku, with the knowledge that somebody else might not get the same happy ending. She didn't want the others to suffer, of course, but that wouldn't deter her from trying to get ahead. After a calming breath, she tried to set aside her competitiveness and look at the matter more objectively.
Now, this new proposal was interesting, and it could potentially let them avoid the chance of somebody—or all but one—getting hurt by a rejection… but would they all be satisfied by that? What if somebody wanted to stick to a more traditional monogamous relationship? What if it ended up straining their friendship? Somebody might just say "yes" and go with the flow because they didn't want to be left behind, only to be hurt more later when things took an even worse turn…
Trying to keep an open mind, Ochaco voiced her doubts to the two, who nodded along.
"Good points. I asked the same things when she told me," Mina turned to Tsu.
"I do not have all the answers, ribbit. Nobody does. But what we can do is to be as clear and straightforward as possible. We have to talk to everybody else, especially Izuku, and see how things are. I don't think any of us would try and burn all bridges because of this proposal, ribbit. I hope that our friendship is stronger than that. And even then, talking can only make things clearer. Maybe we can smoothen things out and make things easier. Maybe we won't, but at least we'll have already taken some steps forward without being at each other's throats for no reason," the greenette calmly offered her own perspective. "Chances are that nobody will have a problem with it, ribbit."
-Doubtful, but there's no harm in hoping… - Ochaco though.
She wasn't completely sold on it, but it didn't sound terrible. Yes, it was unusual, especially for someone from the boonies like she was—she had barely seen same-sex couples in her hometown, never mind something like this—but not in a bad way. They were already a peculiar group of students, so was this that outrageous? And even if things didn't work out, they would learn something from their mistakes, right?
"So, what's the plan?" she asked, deciding to go along to see where the idea would go. "You said you studied for this, so do you know how to make it work?"
"Ah," Mina scratched her cheek with her finger, wearing an apologetic expression, "to be absolutely, completely, and utterly honest… We don't have a perfect plan for it."
Seeing Ochaco's eyebrows being raised further, Tsuyu intervened. "What she means is that there isn't a foolproof way of making things like this work, ribbit. We will have to talk it out with all the interested parties to see where everybody stands, making things very clear so that nobody misunderstands," she explained with calculated calmness. "As I said before, honesty and communication should come first."
Mina agreed eagerly. "Oh, and I think we've got some people we could ask for advice if we wanted to. I've got one, and also Tsu knows some people that are making it work, right?"
Tsuyu nodded again, but with less enthusiasm. "Yes, but that's not too relevant now. What works for them might not work for us, given that they are a group of four, while we would be… way more, ribbit. I can ask for some help, but I'd rather not divulge everything about my personal life to my neighborhood's gossip chain."
"Mm, yeah, right, it's not anybody else's business."
At least they all agreed on that. A few old memories from her hometown suggested that she would have to be careful about being public with this kind of love life. Big cities might show a more modern side of their society, but a few miles from those everything was as traditional as it had always been. Like Midnight had said in one of their first lessons, a Hero could never be too careful about their public image. Would something this progressive help a budding career in their trade or undermine it? There was so much they still had to learn about…
Ochaco went on to get more answers, and Tsu was glad to oblige. In extreme synthesis, they would all be dating Izuku—if he agreed, though Mina had giggled a "Come on, what boy wouldn't jump headfirst into that?" at the thought—sharing instead of competing, while also, possibly, dating other members of the polycule—another term she'd have to remember.
The brunette was a bit surprised by that last part. "You mean that you'd also date Mina, everybody else, and… me?" she asked as a tad of traitorous red appeared on her cheeks. The thought of being liked that way by more people hadn't crossed her mind yet. She hoped that her surprise hadn't come off as distaste.
The frog girl kept her serious gaze up, though her mouth formed a soft smile. "If they'll have me and I like them too, sure, ribbit. You already know I'm bi, but I might also be the only one."
"I dunno yet, but it might be fun to try," Mina hummed, having started to spin on her chair again. "I mean, it's not like we have decided anything yet, so it all comes down to what we want to try. We're all cuties, so I'd be down to explore," she added with a smirk and a sly wink.
"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched, ribbit," Tsu chastised lightly. "Remember, we ar-"
"-aren't playing, yeah," Mina deflated a bit, but nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood, but you're right. We'll have to see what everyone's comfortable with first. Better safe than sorry."
Tsu let out an agreeing croak. "Yes. Sorry if it seems like we are rushing things, Ochaco, but we've been thinking about this for a while. You don't have to decide anything yet, ribbit."
"Yeah… I'll probably have to think about that too…" the brunette said, pushing her fingers together.
She had never given much thought to anything regarding relationships before Izuku, as they had never really been something she could afford both timewise and moneywise, but the idea of liking other girls wasn't off-putting, no. Actually, it filled her with a sort of thrilling anticipation, if a bit muddled by the apprehension she still couldn't shake off.
She caught Mina giving her an inquisitive look she couldn't quite place before showing a big smile.
"That's all we ask!" the horned girl said, visibly happy. "So, to be clear, would you be willing to join us in asking Midori and the others?"
"And, again, you can also say that you have to think about it, ribbit."
Ochaco looked down at her hands for a few seconds—wondering how nice it would be to have somebody holding them both—before raising her head.
"Yeah, I think I'm okay with it. Let's see how it goes."
Mina probably couldn't beam wider, while Tsu made that adorable, if rare, smile of hers.
"Ribbit, thank you, Ochaco. Your trust means a lot to us."
"Yeah! You won't regret it!"
As the two said their goodbyes, wishing her a good night with a big hug, she hoped that Mina was right.
If this meant a happy ending for everybody, then she wanted this to work as much as them.
With her evening's last hurdle overcome, Mina let herself fall on her bed with a bounce. Whipping out her mobile phone and unlocking it in one move, she opened the chat she wanted and started typing.
VenusPink: Mission accomplished!
VenusPink: She's in, easy peasy
She filled a third message with a few party poppers and sent it before giggling to herself.
The messages moved slightly up as a small cloud with three bouncing dots signaled that she would be getting an answer sooner rather than later.
Mina had expected Itsuka to try and fail to sleep early again, and she had won the silly bet with herself.
BestFist: I'm glad, that's already a nice weight off my chest. Thank you for the heads-up.
She pouted at her friend's lackluster response, but Mina had long since figured that the redhead wasn't the kind to fill walls of text with emojis. She would have to manage without.
VenusPink: No biggie!
But it wasn't like she couldn't enjoy this a little.
VenusPink: As for the other thing…
VenusPink: Your chances are looking good, girl
The other replayed in an instant.
BestFist: Really? Did she say anything?
"Hook, line, and sinker," she tutted with a smirk.
VenusPink: Nah
VenusPink: She isn't sure yet
VenusPink: Buuut I think it's looking good!
BestFist: …
BestFist: How can you be sure?
VenusPink: Gave me really good vibes.
BestFist: … That's all?
VenusPink: Don't underestimate my love intuitions!
Nevermind that her reputation had just taken a big hit because of the smug froggie, that one mistake was just the exception to confirm the rule! She was still the queen of love, or her name wasn't Queen Venus!
Having had her share of fun, she turned serious for a moment to try and reassure the other girl.
VenusPink: Trust me, I've got a good feeling about it. She had this look when she was thinking about it on the spot… I dunno, call it a hunch, but I'd bet on it
The chat remained silent for a minute before the redhead answered.
BestFist: Alright, I'll take your word for it. Thanks for testing the waters, Mina.
She smiled at the phone with fondness.
VenusPink: Just doing my part!
VenusPink: Gnight!
Looking at Itsuka's reply she set the mobile aside and sank under her covers.
They were getting closer, and she could hardly wait.
Around a week ago
"Momo, we've got a problem," her invisible friend said as soon as Momo had closed the door behind the apparently floating pajama.
"I know," the ravenette replied, turning the key and putting on some light music—not to set an atmosphere, but to prevent further accidents. She didn't want a case of eavesdropping to turn out like Toru's latest one. Better to be safe than sorry.
Momo turned to her desk, grabbed her kettle, and poured them two cups of tea. It was good that she had expected the visit, which had led to her preparing more than her usual share—something to keep her mind active just long enough to review her notes or get through a few book chapters before sleep. Now she could be a good friend and a good host.
"Uh? You know?" the other asked, sounding slightly confused, as she took the cup offered by Momo. "Mina and Tsu came to you too?"
She nodded as she took a seat on her bed in front of Toru, who had chosen to sit on her chair with her legs crossed.
"Yes, though it was Tsuyu and Ochaco for me," she amended before taking a sip.
It made sense. Although they were all close, Momo had spent as much time with Ochaco as Toru had spent with Mina. The heiress' theory about Tsuyu being the one to think of the plan in the first place was all but confirmed to be the truth.
"I suppose we had the same conversation about-"
"Izuku and the polything, yeah," Toru confirmed, cutting her off. "But why didn't you come tell me if they got to you first?" she asked, her tone uncertain but not truly accusatory.
"It's not as if I didn't wish to," Momo sighed apologetically, "but I didn't want them to pick up on anything before we could talk, just the two of us. Had I told you before their presentation, your reaction would have been influenced by it, and we both know how terribly perceptive Tsu is."
"But I'm invisible…" Toru said with what was probably a pout.
"And that makes you very vocal about things, Toru," Momo pointed out with a light smile. "It's part of your charm, but it does plenty to indicate how you feel without filters."
The bubbly girl had come to know enough about her own tells to accept the heiress' words with just a huff. Momo couldn't know if Toru was blushing, but her fussy hums were a clear indicator of flustering.
"Fine, you're right. I guess it would have been very suspicious if you ran to my room immediately after the fact," Toru added, sagging in her seat.
"I'm glad you see my point," she nodded gratefully. "So, how did you answer them? Did you bide your time?"
"Basically, yeah," Toru shrugged. "I said I'd think about it and to keep me posted if they were going to make a move or something. Didn't want to make it look too easy, ya know?"
Momo nodded. "I do."
"What about you?"
"I told them that I saw their proposal's appeal, but that I wanted us all to look more into what a relationship of this magnitude would entail. I would look for sources, and they would try to contact those 'acquaintances' they said would offer insights on the subject."
"Smart and careful. It suits your style," her friend giggled.
"It was just the best course of action I could think of in the heat of the moment," she confessed, though she appreciated the compliment. "And I was actually pleasantly surprised by how seriously they all seemed to be taking this whole affair. Was Mina the same?"
"Yeah! She made a few jokes to keep the mood light, but nothing dumb," Toru confirmed happily, a grin in her tone, before adding a, "Seems like a good sign, doesn't it?"
Momo hummed in assent, equally pleased by the discovery.
They both remained silent for a moment as they drank, relieved by the fact that they had most likely bought themselves enough time to decide how to tackle their current circumstances.
"Still, what do we do now?" Toru questioned, leaning towards seriousness once again. "Do we just… tell them everything? Go along with it? Wait and have Izuku explain?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" Momo sighed deeply. "I… I don't think we should lie to them, not even by omission. I don't wish to keep secrets from our friends, especially if we are to engage in something that would require as much trust in each other as we share doing Hero work."
"True, it wouldn't feel right. I'm with you on that," Toru hummed, rocking a bit on her chair. "Besides, I'm pretty sure they'd discover it anyway soon enough. Wouldn't make much sense to try and lie to their faces."
"Coming clean would be the best choice, yes," she agreed with a nod.
"So we tell them everything?"
"We…" Momo bit her lower lip before shaking her head. "No. I don't think we have the right nor the obligation to share Izuku's part."
Toru let out a pensive hum for a few seconds. "Well, it's…" Her arms uncrossed as she huffed in defeat. "Yeah, not really our place to say all of that stuff. Like, I don't think that he'd be against it, but he also hasn't said that we could share it…"
"I don't believe that he'd hold it against us either, but I feel as if his story should be heard directly from him. As much as I'd like to portray myself as a good public speaker, I wouldn't be able to portray his condition in the proper manner."
"That too. They kinda need to hear it from him, no going around that… So, what about our parts?"
"We should say whatever we are comfortable with," Momo said as she thought of the specifics. "How our approaches weren't subtle nor planned beforehand, or how and when they took place."
"Yeah… It was kind of a mess," the invisible girl conceded. "Tomorrow?"
Momo thought for a moment. Would their revelation sour their collective effort ahead of time?
"I believe it might be better to wait until we can be sure that a discussion with Izuku is sure to happen," she said, still pensive. "Letting them know that there is something we can't say and then leave them in the dark for weeks sounds like a petty sort of torture."
Toru winced slightly, her arms crossing. "But… it may still take a while.."
"Regrettably, yes," she admitted. "However I do hope to get everything sorted out soon enough. Perhaps we could reveal our involvement just before the discussion, so as to not leave them without answers for too long."
The invisible girl hummed, her clothes shifting on the chair to try and find a more comfortable position.
"How do you think they'll react?" Toru asked somewhat anxiously. "I mean, they're all trying to make everybody happy, and we just went for it without thinking of anybody else… I- I don't want them to think that we were trying to get ahead and set them aside-"
Hearing the note of deep worry in the girl's voice, Momo rapidly left her cozy spot on the bed.
"Toru, no, they'd never think that!" she interjected.
Or at least Momo hoped so. She too was—admittedly—scared of how their friends might take the news, but she had enough trust in the others to believe that they would at least give them the benefit of the doubt before judging them. She wasn't sure—one hundred percent certainty just wasn't feasible in the chaotic world outside of textbooks—but she wanted to believe in the strength of their bond. Crying over spilled milk wouldn't serve them in any way, and freezing over something that had yet to come to pass was something that she was learning to avoid.
She had to stifle her fears and reassure Toru that they would be alright, if only because she also needed reassurance. Two heads were better than one.
Resolute on not letting her friend spiral, Momo placed a hand where she imagined one of Toru's would be. Feeling the invisible girl's fingers under hers, she gently held them as she started to talk calmly, trying her best to be reassuring.
"Toru, please, listen to me. Our friends are some of the nicest people alive, and we both know it. Haven't they shown us to be caring, understanding, and forgiving?" She noticed a small nod and kept going. "Do you think that somebody like Tsu, Mina, or Ochaco would shun us because we made a mistake?"
She noticed the pajama's collar shake as the girl sniffed lightly. "N-No."
"Then believe in them, because I'm sure they'll believe you," Momo said with a smile and a light squeeze of her hand. "We can't take back what is already done, and even if I could, I wouldn't. Do you regret it?"
This time Toru's headshake was faster and her tone much more resolute. "N-No. I might be scared of how things are going to go, but I- I wouldn't take it back for the world."
The future was uncertain, and they had chosen to travel a harduos path. One day they'd have to face the music, but tonight they could enjoy what they had.
"That makes two of us," Momo commented, truly happy to have somebody to share the weight of their choices with. Would she have been able to be this strong if she didn't have this urge to help her friend? Perhaps not.
A tissue and a few reinvigorating gulps of tea later, Toru found her cheerfulness again.
"Thanks, I really needed this chat. Was panicking a bit," the invisible girl confessed with an exhale of relief.
"Me too, but it's nice to have somebody who gets what it's like," she responded.
"Gotta have each other's back, right?" Toru giggled, clenching one of Momo's hands with resolution. "Yeah, we're gonna get over this together, and then we're gonna give our answer to Izuku and live happily ever after dammit!"
"We will," the heiress agreed with a smile. She surely hoped they would.
Toru got up, her sleeve showing how she was stretching her arms. "Aight, I'll leave you to your notes then."
"Oh."
Then, as Tsuyu's words about doing a bit more than simply sharing Izuku watered the seed that had been planted earlier, an idea took shape in her brain. They could cheer each other up when things looked grim, but did things have to stop there? Why, if they could become even happier?
Toru was likely making some progress with Mina, while she was spending quite a lot of her time with Kyoka—her best friend's style and the way she carried herself were downright captivating to watch, an unexplored territory of rebellion and freedom she'd never tasted before leaving her family's home. But if Mina, along with the others, wanted to take part in their happiness, and if there was a chance that the same could happen with Kyoka…
It didn't feel wrong to test the waters with somebody she already had that peculiar connection with.
So, she spoke.
"Toru, would you mind staying for a bit longer?"
"Uh?" The girl's tone didn't hide her surprise. "Um, sure, if you want me to. Though I don't know if I can help with…"
Momo noticed that she was probably pointing at her notes, so she hastily closed them.
"N-No, it's not about those. I just wanted to know if you would like to take it easy here, since tonight it's just us…" She pointed a finger at the bed, keeping it from shaking. "Not for the whole night, of course, just a few minutes… If it's alright with you."
For a moment, the heiress would have paid any price to be able to glance at the other girl's reaction and quell her own doubts. Then Toru nodded, her cheerful "Sure, I'd love to," giving her solace.
Only after a good twenty minutes of simply lazing in bed side by side—one reading, one scrolling through her feed, both comforted by the closeness—did they separate and bid each other goodnight.
Momo could say that her experiment had been a nice success that they would soon have to repeat.
- Oh, come on! - Setsuna thought when someone knocked on her door as she was cleaning her teeth.
Although she enjoyed many aspects of communal living, it was safe to say that being an only child hadn't prepared her for it in the least. Getting interrupted during the most bland everyday tasks could get annoying.
She hurried up to clean her mouth of the aftertaste of dino chicken nuggets before spitting, rinsing, and throwing her still wet toothbrush in the glass by her sink.
The knocking repeated while she was getting out of the bathroom, Setsuna yelling a "Just a sec!" to buy herself some time. She finished putting on her baggy nightshirt as her head and hand flew over to turn the handle.
The door opened to reveal an unusually assorted trio.
"Hey Prez, Pinky, Tsu, what's up?"
"Hey, Set. We'd like a word," Itsuka started.
"If it's not too much trouble tonight, ribbit," Tsuyu added. "We might take a while, and today you didn't look so good after training."
- Yeah, waking up thrice over two nights does that to you, - she mentally grumbled at the recurring nightmare that had recently tormented her.
Her face scrunched up a bit. "Damnit, do I still look that tired?"
"A bit, yeah," Mina confirmed sympathetically. "We can come back tomorrow if-"
"Nah, you're good," she interjected with a shrug.
It wasn't like going to bed early had done her any good lately, so what was a night more?
"Come on in, make yourselves at home, have a comfy seat, shoot whatever you've got to say. Maybe you can take my mind off things while you're at it."
"Oh, that one's easy," Mina piped up, getting in first and being followed by the others.
"Let's just get to it. I was planning to wake up early," Itsuka pointed out, choosing to stand over by her desk.
Tsuyu croaked approvingly, sitting right in front of Setsuna on one of her purple pouf seats, still fitting perfectly in the room's color scheme.
Mina wore a wide smile as she started. "So, we hope you might be interested in our little plan…"
And, oh boy, wasn't she interested.
A few days ago
Nemuri smiled as she pocketed her phone, having answered positively to her mentee's request for a meeting to discuss something private. The girl was lucky: the Heroine was almost done with the papers she had to grade and had no other tasks set for the afternoon.
Ashido hadn't gone into specifics, but the teacher had an inkling of what she might wish to talk about. It was unlikely that anything related to their studies would require her direct input. Questions about their Modern Hero Art History curriculum or further suggestions for her training wouldn't require the secrecy she had asked for. Knowing that Ashido wasn't currently fearing for her grades, as those were steadily on the rise, she could take them off of the list of possibilities. The message itself had also felt a bit off, lacking Ashido's usual lackadaisical style of wording, which made her think that things could be more serious, or at least important to her.
That still left some other options, but Nemuri's instincts made her lean towards the most obvious one: relationships.
It was all too common for students—some boys, but mostly girls—to come to her for advice on how to interact with their peers on a more intimate level. The indisputable reputation she held as the R-Rated Hero had everything to do with it, of course, but she had also done her fair share of helping in her previous years to deserve the student body's trust.
When she had first started her career as a U.A. teacher, an impressive number of students had come to her for relationship advice. Some had even mistakenly thought of her as the school's counselor, something that she promptly had to amend—Inui still joked about those times. But the frequent requests, each subtly different from each other, made her quickly realize how ill-equipped she was to deal with those requests: Her advice wouldn't fit everybody, if any. So, she had taken some of her free time to study the subject and, although she would never get a degree, Nemuri could comfortably say that she wasn't just running on her own limited experience anymore.
Now she could offer good pointers and prevent her students from making the same mistakes she'd made in the past. There was little that could surprise her. Moreover, her studying had also helped in her own private life, so she considered it some of her best spent effort.
Done with her work, the woman waited in one of the small offices reserved for such occasions; it was good enough for good privacy, but with a camera to ensure that no inappropriate behavior would take place. The chairs wouldn't be as comfortable as her own sofa, and the tea wouldn't be of an amazing blend, but they would manage.
Only, when the door opened and she counted as many as seven uniforms, hearing as many greetings and thanks, she realized that she still hadn't seen it all.
"I should've chosen a bigger room. And brought more cups," she clicked her tongue as the girls awkwardly stepped in.
Tokage. Kendo. Ashido. Asui. Uraraka. Yaoyorozu. Hagakure.
None of them had taken the only chair, instead standing all around it. They weren't here as a simple support group, were they?
Taking in the slight redness of shyness of their cheeks, the nervous tics, and the apparent reticence to start talking, Nemuri gathered that this case would be a tough nut to crack.
"I must confess, this isn't what I expected for a 'private chat,'" she sighed dramatically. "I might have to check if my vocabulary is up-to-date."
Some of the girls chuckled, her joke somewhat lowering the tension hanging in the air.
"Sorry, Miss Kayama," Kendo apologized, ever the leader. "We thought that it would have been better to explain everything in person."
"Condensing our whole situation in a simple text would have required us far too long, and it wouldn't have been nearly as exhaustive," Yaoyorozu specified with the same strain in her voice.
"I can only imagine," Nemuri uttered, admittedly more than a bit baffled. "So, before we begin, are you sure that you're fine sharing this predicament of yours and whatever it might entail with me? I can't help you without knowing, but I hope you've already discussed it among yourselves."
Nemuri loved to gossip, but sticking her nose in an argument only to later have the students regret her involvement wouldn't do.
Uraraka was the first to nod, but Hagakure was the one to speak up. "Y-Yeah, we are."
"We wouldn't know who else to ask, ribbit," Asui stated, looking calmer than the others.
"Not while inside the school's walls, at least," Tokage pointed out while gazing out of the window.
"And we- Well, I thought that you'd be the best person to ask," Ashido explained. "I mean, you're Midnight, and you're the only one I know in a relationship with multiple people, so…"
"Mina!" Uraraka whispered through her teeth.
Nemuri blinked. She could almost hear the sound of a record scratching inside of her head.
A lot of magazines tried to pair her with this or that Hero or Heroine, whoever would cause some scandal—not enough to get sued over, but still being bothersome—and sell more copies. But, to her memory, she'd been outed by paparazzi for a non-monogamous relationship only once, namely before she could break off things with the Midnight Boys. Her current relationship had been kept so under wraps that nobody but their closest friends knew about it.
Still, her mentee had spoken as if she was sure of it. Which meant either that Ashido had been referencing that old romance of hers and didn't know about the breakup, or that Nemuri herself had been careless while having the girl stay in her apartment during their internships. The latter was far more likely, seeing as they had held a little party there after the Sports Festival and ended up spending the night… They'd cleaned up nicely, but maybe they'd forgotten something, and it wouldn't even be that weird, knowing her lovers.
- Oh, Zashi won't stop laughing when he hears that… And I can already hear Sho groaning. -
Now, she could deny the claim, and her students would probably believe her word. It wasn't like any proof would have been substantial, as it could also be explained by being friends with her colleagues.
But these girls were clearly looking for somebody with that particular life experience and somebody familiar they felt like they could trust. Betraying that trust from the get go wouldn't feel right for a multitude of reasons.
In the end, it wasn't even a choice.
Nemuri sighed. "It's not a problem, Uraraka. Ashido hasn't said anything wrong."
As the rest of the group looked surprised by the revelation, Ashido's face brightened with a happy, victorious smile. "Vindication!" she tried to yell, her voice being muffled behind the hands of Kendo and Asui.
"Keep it down!" one hissed as the other croaked.
Chuckling at the spectacle, Nemuri shook her hand to have them calm down. She'd been far more chaotic when she'd been their age, so she couldn't really hold it against them.
"No worries," she assured again before looking at the girls one by one. "Just, please, keep it under wraps for me, will you? It will be our little secret, just like what we'll be discussing in a second."
"Of course," Yaoyorozu agreed without hesitation.
"My lips are sealed," Tokage smirked, two fingers zipping her mouth closed.
"We won't tell anyone!" Hagakure confirmed with a light movement, followed by more nods and hums.
"Mm, I'll take your word for it," Nemuri ended with a wink.
The Heroine settled more comfortably in her own chair, expecting for their story to be a long one. "So, who'd like to start?"
The entire group turned towards Uraraka, who bashfully looked down before nodding.
She'd been right. They were lucky she had the entire afternoon off.
Notes: