Mission Midoriya || A RuthTheNerd MHA fanfiction||

Chapter Ten: We Can Explain?

Ryo was mildly upset with her brother.

That, of course, was an understatement. She was annoyed, irritated, and completely vexed. If not for the students who had staked out in the bathroom in search of the snack thief, she would've beaten him to a pulp. Tired and unwilling to make a scene, she'd dragged her brother inside and tossed him on the futon. He didn't have any trouble sleeping after that.

The next morning was a dramatic one. Usually, she and Toshi would stay inside an hour or two after waking to be sure the students were out, but Aizawa knocked on the door of their room and demanded their appearance outside. She had expected that one of the students would leak their sightings, but she hadn't expected Aizawa to let them off easily. 

"They know now, there's nothing I can do to change that," he said flatly, putting on his boots. "They'll be awake any minute. It's your problem now."

Toshi squinted and leaned over to his sister. "What happened to 'we don't need more problems?'"

She harrumphed and tilted her head away from him. He had caused this fiasco and she wouldn't be responsible for cleaning up after him. She wouldn't succumb to his stupid jokes, either.

The two of them sat down on the couch in the common room, each with a muffin in hand. Toshi inhaled his in an instant, but she nibbled on hers as slowly as she could, despite the warm, buttery texture and tempting chocolate chips that were nestled inside of it. Her anxiousness wouldn't let her eat. She wasn't worried about the students' reactions, but more so the students themselves. Last night, she'd seen Jiro, Kaminari, and Mina- three people who were adult heroes in the future. Ryo knew for a fact that the day before, she'd seen her own dad while retrieving her notebook. That could only mean one thing.

"So, these are the thieves?" asked a disembodied voice. Ryo jerked her head up to see a girl with long green hair and curious eyes. Behind her, more teenagers filtered into the room, staring at the twins. Ryo squirmed under the gazes that were burning at her back, and Toshi shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Neither of them had an available response. Luckily, the question wasn't for them.

"Yup! Saw them last night," Mina replied from across the room. She was straightening out her tie with the help of yet another recognizable figure - Momo Yaoyorozu. She didn't look too different from her future counterpart, still retaining her dark onyx eyes and trademark ponytail. Jiro was dusting lint off her skirt beside her and giving Toshi the evil eye.

"Yeah, so did we," she added, her tone even. Another girl hopped into the room with glee, and Ryo's vision tunneled. 

Light brown hair. Rosy cheeks. Wide, warm eyes...

"No way," Toshi muttered in awe.

No way indeed. It was definitely their mother, except for the fact that she was their age and a lot less scary looking. She wore the same uniform as everyone else and looked ready to start her day, despite the bags underneath her eyes that suggested she hadn't been sleeping well. Ryo felt a pang of sympathy, even though she didn't really know this girl like she knew her mother. They were the same person, but people change when given time. The Ochako she was looking at now hadn't hit that change. Not yet.

A floating outfit sat down next to them, and Toshi twitched when it said, "You're the ones stealing our food?"

Ryo shrugged and pointed a finger to her brother. "Him."

He recoiled in outrage. "Me? You ate two days ago!"

"...And I said I would stop. Did you?"

"That is so besides the point, Ryo."