"Damn bitch, you live like this?"
Ochako and Izuku both stifled a laugh as Momo shrunk underneath Mina's question. They were all in Momo's room, staring at the mountain of clothes that covered most of the floor and then some. Izuku and Momo had returned to her room for some 'alone time', but he was distracted by a creaking noise coming from her closet. Before she could stop him, his curiosity got the better of him and he touched the handle, which caused the door to fly open and for him to get buried under a veritable mountain of clothes. Ochako and Mina had come running as they heard Momo's scream and had flung open the door to find Izuku pulling himself out of the pile and Momo looking absolutely mortified.
"So, let me get this straight," Mina began slowly. "You haven't done any laundry since you got here?"
Momo was blushing furiously out of embarrassment. "I took it home sometimes but I haven't had the chance recently."
Ochako's eyes slowly filled with realization. "Momo… do you... not know how to do laundry?"
Momo's face turned as red as Eiko's hair as she looked down and shook her head once.
Izuku stepped over and put a comforting hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, causing her to look down at him for a moment before averting her gaze.
"I know I could have just searched for a video or something, but I never did," she admitted. "I guess it felt silly, like it was shameful for me to not know and I just kept making excuses and letting myself get distracted. It felt wrong to learn how to do laundry when I could have been using that time to focus more on becoming a hero."
"You gotta give yourself a chance to breathe," Mina responded as she walked up to Momo and hugged her around the waist. "You can't be serious all the time or you'll burn out. We're still young!"
Momo smiled a little as she put a hand on Mina's head and ruffled her hair.
Ochako moved to Momo's other side from Izuku and leaned in, planting a kiss on her cheek. "You know all sorta stuff we don't know, so don't feel bad 'bout us teachin' you something. How about we all go down as a group so nobody thinks it's just your clothes?"
Momo sighed, her shoulders relaxing. "That sounds nice. I don't deserve you all."
"We all feel that way," Izuku admitted as he rubbed her back gently.
"And we're all wrong!" Mina declared boldly. "Now, let's fill up these laundry baskets and get to work! We have a lot to get through."
Ochako stretched her arms as she lined up on the other side of the ring from Deku, both of them in their gym uniforms. All Might was having them do quirkless sparring for hero class today and she was eager to test out everything she had learned in her internship and from Hadou's class against Deku properly. All around them, their classmates were pairing off in their own rings in the gym, but all of Ochako's focus was on Deku. Despite everything, they hadn't ever fought each other since the Sports Festival, and she was eager to prove herself. She knew that a few months of training, no matter how intense, wouldn't put her on his level, but she wanted to see how far she had come.
She leveled her gaze at him as she put on gloves so she wouldn't accidentally use her quirk. Those piercing green eyes were staring into her very soul as his fanged smirk made a fire burn in her chest. This was going to be hard, but she wasn't going to hold back.
"Are you ready?" he asked as he rolled his neck.
Ochako nodded and the two began to carefully move toward each other. She had the slight height advantage and a reach advantage with her longer legs, so she had to use that to her advantage. Miruko was a short woman, but by carefully using the reach of her legs, she was able to spar with much lankier combatants, such as Stain. Ochako just had to remember what she learned.
Deku began cautiously, making conservative jabs and swings at her while gauging her ability to react. She must have passed his test, because he soon began to come at her harder and faster. Ochako blocked his attacks, but she was quickly on the back foot, just trying to keep up with him, and before she knew what was happening, a quick sweep took her legs out from under her, and her back hit the mat.
"You've improved so much!" Deku said proudly as he offered a hand down to pull her up.
Ochako reached out and clasped his wrist as he did the same, yanking her to her feet. "But that's not good enough, is it, Defiant?" she asked with a grin.
His eyes flashed a little brighter. "Never."
"Hey, hey," she warned with a grin. "All Might said no quirks."
Deku smirked and came at her again. Time and time again, Ochako got knocked down, pinned, or otherwise beaten. Deku had years of training that she didn't have, both in technique and strength, so it wasn't much of a contest. As class ticked by, her body began to grow tired, but her spirit didn't, and neither did Deku's. Both of them were determined to win each and every round.
It was honestly kind of romantic, in their strange way. Never would she have ever thought that sparring could be considered a date, but she would be lying if she said it didn't feel that way. 'Dinner and a movie' just sounded so droll compared to 'supper and a spar'.
Ochako had been learning as much as she could as Deku beat her, and had begun to quickly adapt. She was no longer caught off guard by his misdirections and was more adept at keeping her feet grounded against him. Now that she wasn't quite so off-balance, she was ready to try something.
As he took a step toward her, she surprised him by moving into his space, giving up the spacing she had up until this point worked so hard to preserve. As he tried to back up so she couldn't use her height to leverage him, she responded with a flurry of motion from her legs, catching his foot with her superior reach and sending him crashing to the ground. Ochako maintained her momentum and wound up on top of him, each of her hands pinning down one of his arms as she pinned his legs with her own.
There was silence as they both took a few moments to comprehend where they had ended up. Deku was on his back, Ochako pinning him down, with her face only a few inches from his as her hair hung down, tickling the sides of his face as they both panted slightly.
"That was one of Miruko's moves," he said softly, a proud smile growing across his face.
Ochako smiled back. "I'm still practicing it, I'm not nearly as fast or coordinated as her, but I'm trying."
Her eyes traced over his face before she cocked her head a little. "Hey, are your horns bigger?"
Deku smiled. "Yeah, almost an inch longer each compared to the start of the semester. As I've trained my quirk more, they've grown larger. Who knows how big they'll be once I've fully mastered my power."
"I look forward to helping you every step of the way," she said softly.
They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments longer before Deku whispered, "I love you."
"I love you, too," she replied immediately as she leaned in a little closer. Her heart began to beat a little faster as her smile grew; she wanted to kiss him right then and there, as he was pinned underneath her, but this wasn't the time or place. After another few seconds, she let go of his arms and stood back up, pulling him to his feet as well.
"Suffice to say, I'm impressed," Deku said as the tinges of green blush disappeared from his face. "That means I'm not going to go easy on you anymore."
Ochako's smile vanished as her face paled. "Wait, that was going easy?"
Deku's eyes flashed once and his fangs glinted in the sun as he smiled widely.
Mina and Tsuyu were taking a quick water break while they sparred, each of them feeling the burn from their exertion. They were also both watching Midori and Ochako fight with distinct pleasure.
Ochako was doing alright for a while, but after she actually managed to pin Midori once—and stay on top of him for a little too long to be an accident—he seemed to flip a switch. Maybe he was going easy on her before, but now he was dominating her more than ever, showing her just how far she still had to go to catch up.
With an emphatic smack, Ochako's back hit the mat as Midori cut her legs out from under her and hit her in the chest with an open-palmed strike. He followed through, pinning her down and hovering his face over her own in a reversal of her earlier move. Mina couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were both still smiling.
"I'm envious, ribbit," Tsuyu said flatly.
Mina grew a smirk and raised an eyebrow as she looked over at her sparring partner. "Oh yeah? You want to be pinned down by Midori~?"
Tsuyu turned to look at Mina and blinked once. "Yes."
Mina began to laugh, but before she could say anything, Tsuyu spoke again.
"And you do, too."
Mina sputtered a little, not used to being called out like that. "How did you know?"
Tsuyu did something Mina hadn't seen much of at all: she smiled. "I didn't. Thanks for confirming it, though."
Mina began to laugh even harder. "Oh, you will be mine , little frog. Just you wait. You'll join us yet."
"I'm looking forward to it," Tsuyu replied as she turned back to watch Midori and Ochako spar again. "But wait until after finals. I want to focus on that first."
Mina rolled her eyes playfully. "Ugh, you're so responsible."
"I'll make it up to you later," Tsuyu said, taking a drink of water.
"Oh?" Mina asked, leaning in. "How~?"
"Hey!" Hadou's voice came from behind Mina, making her jump. "No slacking! Break's over!"
Tsuyu smiled again at Mina as she put her water down and returned to the ring, decidedly not answering her question.
Several weeks later, Izuku and the rest of his class were being led by Aizawa into one of the gymnasiums UA housed on its expansive campus. The early summer sun was beating down through the windows as they all lined up in their hero uniforms before their teacher and—to Izuku's curiosity—the president of UA himself.
"Listen up," Aizawa began as they all stood at attention. "As you all should know, finals are coming up in a few weeks. To that end, UA has leveraged some of its influence to give you all a very important opportunity."
Izuku nodded. Finals were looming closer every day, and he was proud to say his hoard was working harder than ever.
"That's right," Nezu continued. "This year's students, especially your class, have gained the interest of many in the hero world, and we have used that to your advantage. This process has taken over a month of effort by myself and the rest of UA's administrative staff, so, as your professor said, please take full advantage of it!"
Izuku was wondering what 'it' was. Nezu had an undeniable flair for the dramatic, it seemed.
Nezu paused, seeming to savor the looks of confusion, curiosity, anticipation, and excitement on the students' faces. "We have managed to schedule twenty pro heroes to be here today to each have a one-on-one session with one of you!"
Gasps and cheers of disbelief rumbled through the class. Izuku's eyes went wide as realization washed over him. UA was so cool.
Nezu smiled and continued. "Unlike the internships, where you all picked where you would go, albeit from a pool, this time, the heroes were the ones who chose you all. We worked with who we thought would be a good fit, but in the end, each of you were chosen by someone who is impressed or otherwise interested in you and what you have to offer. Take pride in this, and do well, as if this is successful, that will provide momentum for us to continue this in the future!"
Izuku's eyes filled with awe as he wondered who could have chosen him, but he didn't have much time to ponder, as there was a sudden crash from the back of the gym. The whole class whipped around to see the metal door blown off its hinges and crashing into the ground in a heap of crumpled metal.
"URARAKA!" Miruko shouted as she stepped through the door frame, her signature smirk plastered on her face.
Ochako jumped nearly a foot in the air as murmurs began to circle around the rest of the class. Mina and Momo looked at each other and began to giggle, but Izuku turned to look at Nezu, who was watching passively with that little smile of his.
Nezu turned to look up at Izuku with a glint in his eye. "She asked if she could do that."
Izuku began to smile as well as he turned back to see Ochako quickly hurrying over to meet the much shorter pro hero. "You've better have kept up with your training, Kit," she warned.
"I have!" Ochako said quickly.
I made sure of that.
Miruko's smirk grew. "I'll be the judge of that. Come on, no point standing around! Follow me!"
The two almost ran out of the gym as the rest of the heroes started trickling in, each one drawing new gasps and exclamations, although some more than others. Heroes famous and less-so came in single or sometimes in groups as students gradually paired off with them.
But everyone stopped when Endeavor walked through the door, even the other heroes.
Endeavor hadn't been seen since the Hosu incident over a month prior and the rumors had been relentless ever since. Some claimed that he lost his arm, some claimed he was dead, some claimed he had become a villain, while others claimed he had lost his quirk. Nobody was tactless enough in 1-A to ask Shouto, not even Kaminari, so even they didn't know.
The number two hero looked… different. His presence was so much less than it was the last time Izuku had seen him; he no longer carried himself in the same way. It was clear that Hosu had changed him. Diminished him. His instincts still grumbled a little, but the fury wasn't there like it had been last time. Something gave him pause. He had lost twenty or thirty pounds of muscle, and he looked far gaunter than he had previously, as the flames that surrounded his face cast shadows on his features. The most jarring difference was the massive burn scar that covered the side of his face in a grim parallel to Shouto's own scar.
He shared a silent look with his son, who quickly followed him as he turned and left the gym.
Shouto knew it was going to be awkward when his father arrived that day. After he had 'rebelled' when he had picked Purifier for his internship, and he knew there was no way his father would let him get away with it a second time. He doubted UA resisted at all when Endeavor told them he wanted to be the one to train Shouto today.
He looked at his father's back as he walked in front of him, leading him to wherever they were going. He was still a mountain of a man, by any metric, but he was still far from what he used to be. It was still better than it was, but there was nobody who could look at Endeavor and not see that he was a shadow of his former self.
Shouto still shuddered a little whenever he remembered that first time he saw him at the hospital.
He was standing there with Natsuo and Fuyumi outside of their father's hospital room. The doctor closed the door and adjusted her glasses as she looked down at the three Todoroki siblings with a grim expression on her face.
"Your father is in no mortal danger," she began, hoping to alleviate some of their worry. "He is being heavily medicated and is unlikely to wake up until tomorrow, but he will make a full recovery physically."
Fuyumi nodded along. Her maternal nature made her care for all of them, even including their father.
"However, his quirk is another matter."
Shouto's eyes narrowed as his hackles raised for some reason.
"Your father was subjected to an incredibly large dose of the drug known as Trigger," the doctor continued. "It is a quirk-enhancing substance, but it has some side effects, especially when consumed in large doses in short periods of time. I am trying to find a way to put this gently, but…"
"Don't," Natsuo said flatly. "Just tell us the facts."
The doctor eyed him over, then nodded. "Trigger amplifies the quirk factor, unnaturally so, and sometimes, what is called, 'peaks' the quirk factor. This occurs when someone ingests a large quantity, or when someone's quirk is already near its natural limit. In your father's case, both were true. A peak occurs when Trigger amplifies a user's quirk past what their body and their quirk factor can handle, and thus irrevocably damages the quirk in the process."
Fuyumi gasped as Shouto's eyes went wide.
The doctor took a deep breath and continued. "With quirk therapy and time, your father will be able to regain some of what was lost, but his quirk will never be the same again. It is difficult to say what the damage is, but preliminary scans show that the damage may be at 30% or even higher. We cannot say for certain until further testing."
The three Todoroki siblings stood there silently as the doctor looked them over.
"I am sorry for this," she said softly. "We are doing all that we can, I assure you. Please, let us know if we can do anything for you. You may go in and see him if you wish, but please, do not touch him or any of the equipment." With another nod from Natsuo, she reluctantly turned around and left them.
The three of them looked at each other and it was Shouto who worked up the courage to turn the handle and lead the others into the room.
His father was lying there in that dark room, wires and tubes connected to him as he slept. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he didn't feel fear or stress looking at the sleeping form of his father. There was no chance of him waking up and yelling at him or his siblings.
While he didn't feel fear, he felt something else. He couldn't quite put his finger on what the twisting, wrenching sensation in his stomach was, but it was definitely unpleasant.
"Shouto…" Fuyumi whispered. "H-his face."
He couldn't take his eyes off of it. Scarring the left-hand side of his father's face was an unmistakable burn scar in the rough shape of a hand. It was like he was looking into a macabre mirror and he couldn't tear his eyes away.
The days and weeks after his father awoke were dark indeed. He was only able to hear about most of it from Fuyumi, as he had to return to UA to continue school, but his father had first reacted very predictably.
With anger.
Fuyumi had told him about how his father had burned nearly everything in his home gym and was shouting himself hoarse in rage and frustration, but after the flames—both metaphorical and not—had died down, he fell into a deep depression. She told Shouto that she didn't see him for a week straight, and the only proof she had that he was still alive was that the food she placed outside of his room was sometimes half-eaten.
Eventually he slowly returned to something that could resemble normalcy, but Fuyumi said that he was a different man. He was far more subdued, far less aggressive, and far, far quieter. When he finally emerged from his cave, he looked like hell, even worse than he did now. In the intervening weeks, he had regained some of his muscle mass, but Fuyumi had told him over the phone one night, that it seemed like there was more than just his quirk that wasn't coming back.
Back in the present, after several minutes of silent walking, they arrived at another large gym, much like the one they had left the rest of 1-A in. He led Shouto inside, revealing a blank, open space for them to practice and train, and as usual, he wasted no time turning around and beginning to order Shouto around.
Or at least, that's what Shouto thought would come out of his father's mouth.
"Shouto," he began quietly, in a tone he had never heard him use before. "Before we get started, I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you."
That was something he never would have expected to hear. Shouto genuinely didn't know how to respond.
His father's eyes were almost empty, but there was a faint trace of emotion in the back as they looked down into Shouto's.
"And, I know you probably don't want to hear this from me, but I wanted to be the one to tell you this. I asked Fuyumi not to say anything." He took a deep breath and averted his gaze downward. "Your mother is coming home."
Shouto's eyes flew wide as the words flowed over him like a cold breeze. "W-what?!"
Izuku's worry about Shouto was tempered as he saw a couple familiar faces walk into the gym. His father and Ryuko were chatting happily to each other, but stopped as they saw Izuku and Mina running toward them.
He crashed into his father with a big hug as Mina stopped just shy of doing that to Ryuko, who instead just beamed up at her and ruffled her soft, pink hair.
"Hey, hey," Hisashi said as he gave Izuku a hug with his one arm. "You act like you weren't home for dinner last weekend!"
Izuku grinned sheepishly as he released the hug. "It's always good to see you, both of you. Especially in your hero uniforms. That'll always be cool to me."
Ryuko laughed as she reached over and gave Izuku a hug as well. "Never change, Izuku."
"Don't worry, I won't let him," Mina said with a goofy grin.
"See to it that you don't!" Ryuko responded. "But hey, I'm not just here to give hugs and ruffle hair. Have you been practicing those moves I showed you?"
Mina nodded furiously, to the point that Izuku was worried she was going to sprain something. "I've been looking forward to showing you! Come on!"
Ryuko laughed harder as Mina ran out of the gym. "You don't even know where we're going!" Ryuko called as she followed her.
Izuku and Hisashi looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh themselves. He turned around as he heard someone approaching, and looked down to see Tsuyu gazing up at them.
"Oh, Miss Asui," Hisashi said kindly. "It is good to see you again. How have you been keeping up?"
Tsuyu smiled just a little bit. "I'm doing well. It is good to see you, too, sir."
At that moment, a broad shape appeared behind Hisashi, causing Izuku to look up from Tsuyu. The intimidating form of Gang Orca stepped through into the gym, causing Izuku's eyes to sparkle.
Hisashi turned around and grinned up at the number ten pro hero. "Looks like they'll let just about anyone in here!"
Izuku rolled his eyes.
Gang Orca let out a dry laugh as he reached out a hand and shook Hisashi's with friendly vigor. "UA needed someone to keep an eye on you."
Izuku looked down and saw Tsuyu staring up at Gang Orca with the same awe she had when she first saw Hisashi.
To her surprise, Gang Orca looked down and met her gaze. "Ah, you must be Asui, yes?"
She nodded slowly.
"Great," he said firmly. "I'll be training you today. Hope you're ready."
"You, sir?" Tsuyu asked, disbelief in her voice. "Really?"
Gang Orca laughed again. "Absolutely. Believe it or not, I've heard a lot about you from this old dinosaur here." He thumbed at Hisashi, who acted like he had just been wounded. "I wanted to send you an offer after the festival, but my schedule didn't allow for it at the time. Are you ready?"
Tsuyu nodded emphatically and hopped after the imposing pro as he turned and gestured for her to follow.
As Gang Orca left, Kaminari approached Izuku and Hisashi with that dopey grin that often lived on his face.
"Hey, Mr. Stormclaw, sir! It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm-"
"You must be Kaminari," Hisashi said with a fanged grin. "I've heard a lot about you from Izuku."
Kaminari looked like he had just seen an angel. "Y-you know my name?! I m-mean yes! I am Kaminari! Denki Kaminari! Although on the hero circuit, I go by Chargebolt." He grinned widely up at the pro.
Hisashi glanced over at Izuku with a slight look of disbelief. "You're just like Izuku described."
"Super cool and suave?" Denki said confidently. "Midoriya, you're too kind. Tell you what, I've been practicing some of my moves and I think they would impress even you, sir."
" Really ?" Hisashi said with distinct interest. "Well, I'm looking forward to you showing me. No time to waste, eh?"
Kaminari's confidence cracked. "W-wait, now? Today?"
"Of course!" Hisashi responded with a sly grin. "After all, I'm here to train you."
"R-really?" Denki squeaked.
Izuku stiffened up. "Wait, you're here for him? Then who's training me?"
Hisashi's jovial attitude froze over in an instant. He stood tall and put a hand on Izuku's shoulder, his eyes trying to convey how serious he was being. "Do your best, son. I'm proud of you, alright?"
Before Izuku could respond, he felt his quirk recoil and hiss like a cornered animal. Looming in the doorway behind his father was a tall, muscular man, whose golden eyes were staring straight at him with a grim, almost disdainful intensity.
Izuku took a half step back as his eyes went wide.
"U-Uncle Hatsuo?"
Purifier.
Notes:
Sorry for the long delay between chapters. Something something unprecedented times, something something escalator.