A bright, breezy morning in Japan. Autumn was about to begin, and the temperature was gradually declining day by day. From scorching heat to a calming coolness, it was a truly peaceful time. With schools starting once more, everyone was a little bit busier, the roads were a bit louder, and the city slept a little bit earlier. Perfect for an upcoming celebration, one that Ochako would be treated to on her birthday, which was only a week or so away.
"Okay Eri, me and Ochako are leaving, we've both got morning lectures. I'll be there to pick you up, and try not to break anyone's bones this time?" Izuku joked, ruffling Eri's hair as they put their shoes on.
"Oh for god's- Izuku why the hell did you do that?!" Eri ferociously asked, trying to fix her now ruined hair.
"Oh come on, it's not like you have an after-school date with Kota, calm down."
"It's not funny, Izu. Anyways, who do you think is coming to Ochako's birthday? I mean, there'll be...uhh... 7,8,9... 12 or 13 people?" Eri asked, doing a quick head count.
"Well Uncle Masaru will be busy, but Aunt Mitsuki will definitely come. Himiko could have rotations that day, but she'll probably come too. But now that you mention it, that's a lot of people. I definitely can't pay for all of that, and it would be unfair on Aunt Mitsuki, especially considering..." Izuku replied, his mind wandering to someone else.
"Considering what?"
"Nothing, just that, I thought we could invite some other people from UA, but like I said, that's too many people. We'll have to ask Ochako. Speaking of, where is she?"
"I'm here! Sorry I took so long!" Ochako yelled, running down the stairs, as she frantically fixed her top, not realising a plain white t-shirt and a red bra wasn't exactly the most modest combination.
Blushing slightly, Izuku averted his gaze, "Uhh, Ochako, you might uh, want to wear a jumper..."
"Why? Is it cold?" She asked quizzically, confused about Izuku's suggestion.
"We can see your bra through your t-shirt." Eri bluntly stated, prompting Ochako to look down and blush profusely, "I- Oh goddamn it- I swear I'm not like that- Uhh, I'll be back-" She said, stumbling over her words, and in general, as she fumbled her way up the stairs, changing into a yellow t-shirt.
"Well, that couldn't have gone any worse whatsoever." She thought to herself, as she came downstairs, catching a glimpse of Eri grinning at Izuku, before stopping.
"Okay, are we all ready to go?" Ochako asked.
"Y-yeah, let's go. You'll be fine walking, right Eri?" Izuku asked as well, a tinge of concern present in his voice.
"Absolutely not, I'll need to be carried all the way there like a princess or a bride, my delicate feet weren't built for such an arduous task" Eri replied, using the most sarcastic voice possible.
"You have to be able to get a groom to be married Eri, that's not possible for you. Anyways, I'll see you after school." Izuku stated, his expression deadpan, whereas Ochako stifled a laugh.
"Are you implying that I'm ugly?! How dare you! You may have gotten mum's hair, but I got her beauty." Eri said, trying to sound as sophisticated as possible.
"You got her gender."
"You're an asshole."
"Tell me something I don't know."
"You're wrong about me being ugly."
"I said tell me something I don't know, not something that's delusional."
"Well you definitely didn't get mum's humility."
"And you definitely didn't get her looks"
"And you did? You look like an overgrown piece of broccoli!"
"Just shut up and go to school, I get tired enough dealing with you in the morning, it's too bad I have to see you again in the afternoon" Izuku apathetically said, as he stopped at the diverging path in front of their house.
"Yeah yeah whatever, see you soon you cruciferous vegetable cosplayer!" Eri yelled, before going on her own path to school, looking behind her to see Izuku flipping her off. Smirking, she carried on walking, excited and dreading another day of high school.
Izuku and Ochako took the same train as usual and somehow sat in the exact same seats as last time, a welcome coincidence to be sure.
"So before we get to our lectures, I just wanted to ask. How many people do you want at your birthday? Nejire found this restaurant/Izakaya place we can go to where they've got a private booth, and Aunt Mitsuki will probably come and help to pay for us. But Eri and I were talking, and there are already 12 or 13 people that could come, so I just thought I'd ask." Izuku inquired, as they passed the main entrance.
(A/N: An Izakaya is like a Japanese pub if you've ever been to one in the UK, or anything similar in the US. They're present in a lot of anime and are a generally loved place by Japanese people. They have great food and a lot of cheap alcohol, so uh, if anyone wants to give me a plane ticket to Japan, now is the time.)
"That's a good question. Uhhh, I'm not too sure. Since it's my first birthday away from home, I wouldn't mind it if there were a lot of people, but it also seems like it could be really hectic and expensive. Have you gotten confirmations for who's available? Or called to ask for a reservation?" Ochako replied.
"Shit. No, I haven't. Alright, I'll speak to the others then. I kind of just assumed that most people would come, but Nejire, Tamaki, and Mirio could very well be busy, as well as Himiko. I'll ask those three, and I'll speak to Nejire about the booking. If you could ask Ashido and Asui, that would be helpful." Izuku stated, before seeing his building, "Okay, I'll see you in the common room! Bye!" He said, waving goodbye to Ochako, who reciprocated, as they both walked to their first ever UA lectures.
Meanwhile
As Eri walked into her homeroom, she saw Kota sitting on his own. Typical of her friend, but she still felt bad for him.
"Hi Kota!" Eri called out, walking up to him and sitting on his desk.
"Oh hey Eri, how are you?" Kota asked, looking up at Eri.
"Yeah, I'm okay, people are still talking about last week's incident, but oh well." Eri replied.
"What do you mean?" Kota asked, not entirely sure what Eri meant.
"Well, I beat up those two guys. The other girls make fun of me, or people in general are scared of me" Eri replied, trying to elaborate.
"Trust me, there's nothing scary about you" Kota replied, a slight smirk on his face.
"Oh yeah? You want me to break your jaw as well?" Eri snapped back.
"Try it if you're that confident."
"I just might, but I'd rather not embarrass you."
"Thanks for your kindness. Anyways, fuck what the others say. Once they hear why that was the case, I'm sure they'll support you" Kota pointed out.
"I especially don't want that. People pitying me? Hell no. I just hope everyone forgets about it." Eri replied, grabbing her water bottle from her bag and taking a sip.
"I doubt people are gonna forget it by today. They will eventually though. Anyways, moving onto a topic that's less boring, how is it with your new roommate?" He asked, keeping an eye out for their homeroom teacher.
"It's been really fun! She's quite nice, in fact, it's her birthday soon, so we're planning that at the moment."
"Oh? Where are you guys going?"
"An Izakaya a friend of ours found. It looks really nice, and we can have our own private booth."
"Jeez, I wish I was invited to that party, it sounds fun" Kota replied, a hint of jealousy present in his voice.
As Kota said this, an idea formed in Eri's head. Unfortunately, she wouldn't get a chance to discuss it, as the homeroom teacher had arrived.
"I'll see what I can do" Eri stated, before jumping off Kota's desk and sitting on her own.
After a surprisingly quick couple of hours, both Izuku and Ochako were done with their lectures, and Izuku found himself walking back to the 1-A common rooms with a familiar face.
"So, how was your first lecture?" Momo asked, adjusting the straps of her bag as she walked.
"It was a lot of fun! Dr. Kayama's a really good professor, even if she is a little bit eccentric." Izuku replied, smiling at her.
"Eccentric how?"
"Well, she's... I don't know how to describe it, she keeps giving everyone these odd stares and looks. If I didn't know any better I'd say she's doing it to hit on us, but like, there's no way that's true. I guess it's just something she finds amusing." Izuku replied.
(A/N: Technically in the original canon Midnight is an Art History teacher, but well, I thought it would be cool if she taught the psychology degree, and because I couldn't think of any of the main characters who would be taking an Art History course. Anyways, on with the story)
"Yeah, that's probably the case. In any case, I've got my lecture in a couple of hours, but I wanted to chill in the common rooms a bit anyways, since I do live on campus, and it's always fun to spend time with someone you know!" Momo replied enthusiastically, her demeanour quite bubbly and upbeat.
"I'm sure yours will be fun too. So how is it living on campus?" Izuku asked.
"It's fun yeah! There's always a lot of people around, so there's never a dull moment, but on the flip side, I kind of miss the peace and quiet of my own home" Momo replied
"Oh yeah? What was that like?" Izuku asked, still oblivious to her status.
"Well it was kind of boring since my parents were always working, so I spent a lot of time on my own, or playing sports in the garden with the coaches whenever I had classes." Momo replied, still finding Izuku's lack of knowledge intriguing.
"It's such a relief that he doesn't know who I am. He looks at me like a normal person, unlike everyone else here. I kind of don't want him to know, it's fun to be normal"
"You had sports lessons in your house? Jesus what are you, some kind of secret millionaire?" Izuku jokingly asked.
"Well that's an understatement." Momo said without thinking, realising her mistake right afterwards, as she looked at Izuku with a worried expression.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Izuku asked, his tone a bit more serious after seeing Momo's troubled expression.
"I-" Momo began, before letting out a long sigh, "Have you heard of Yayorozu Industries? Or any of its subsidiaries?" Momo asked.
"What are you-" Izuku asked, before cutting himself off, as the tidal wave of realisation crashed into him, leaving him with a lingering feeling of stupidity.
"How the hell did I not even- I'm the dumbest man alive"
"You're the heir to the family business then? And that's why you're doing a business degree, right." Izuku said, the gears in his head finally turning, as it all fell into place.
"Uh, yeah... I honestly found it endearing when we first met, I thought you were just kidding around and that you were pretending not to know me. Everyone I spoke to in this first week has instantly realised, and they've all looked at me like royalty, or that I'm inherently better than them because I come from money. You were one of the only people who looked at me like I was a normal person, and you treated me that way. It was nice, but the cat's out of the bag now, so what can we do?" Momo explained, letting out another sigh.
"Well I'm glad my stupidity was endearing, it's good to know I don't have to be as smart as you to impress you" Izuku commented, not knowing exactly what to say, "Look, I'm not gonna view you any differently because of your family. You are who you are, that's a fact of life, and I still believe that even after figuring this all out. It's really not that big of a deal. If you'd like, I won't mention it, since well, if you didn't say anything I'd probably make a bunch of jokes about you being rich. But if it bothers you, I won't say anything, just... don't feel like you have to act differently because of who you are. If you do that, then you're not showing people who Momo Yaoyorozu is." Izuku replied, putting his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"Thanks Midoriya, that's... really nice of you. Who knew you were such a sweet talker~?" Momo teased, trying to lighten the mood.
"Please, call me Izuku, I don't mind. It honestly feels weird to hear my second name, even if it is what most strangers would call me by." Izuku said, brushing off Momo's compliment, mostly because her alluring tone left him a bit flustered.
"Well then go ahead and call me Momo." She stated, before averting her gaze to the common building, "Well we're finally here. I need to head to the toilet quickly, so I'll see you in a second, okay?" She said, opening the door for Izuku.
"Sure thing yeah, I'll try and stay downstairs, but if not, I'll just message you to say where I am." Izuku said without thinking, forgetting that he'd only known Momo for a week.
Seeing her opportunity, Momo's eyes lit up, "Well to do that you need what most people call a phone number that corresponds with my phone. It's something you might have missed being the world's shortest dumbass" She bantered, before pulling out her phone.
"Really? Height jokes? That's a low blow, literally. But yeah, if you would be so kind as to give me your number." Izuku replied, rolling his eyes at Momo's comment.
"Sure thing." Momo said, as she put her number into Izuku's phone, before giving it back to him and walking to the restrooms. As she did, Izuku messaged Ochako, before sitting down on the communal sofa, waiting for either one of his friends.
As lunchtime rolled around at Aldera High School, Eri found herself scrambling through the halls, not used to this many people packed so densely in a tight space. Luckily, her suffering was brief, as she got to the canteen, the space opened up, and the horde of students was able to disperse.
She once again looked for Kota, having some difficulty when trying to locate him, Luckily, she found him, this time sitting with some of his friends.
"Hey." She said, tapping him on the shoulder, as Kota and the others looked at her.
"Hey, how was Physics class?" He asked, shooting a glare towards all of his friends, who were snickering and grinning.
"Pretty easy, kind of boring. I was just gonna say, if you wanna come to that party, I can ask my brother about it?" Eri suggested.
"I mean, y-yeah, go for it. It'll be fun to meet all of your other friends." Kota replied, feeling the stares of his friends, even if he couldn't see them.
"Can we get an invite as well?" One of them asked, trying to hold in his laughter. Eri simply looked at him and laughed, before waving goodbye to Kota, and sitting with some of her new acquaintances, excited at the prospect of Kota meeting everyone else.
As Izuku scrolled through his phone, he received a message from Eri, which was unusual, considering the school's strict phone policy.
Eri:
Can Kota come to Ochako's party?
Izuku:
Uhhh, sure? I mean, we'll have to see, but yeah, if there's space he can come. Why are you on your phone? They could take it off you.
Eri:
Well I've already gotten in trouble, so I clearly don't care about the rules.
Izuku:
True, you're basically a hardened criminal at this point.
Eri;
Anyways, that's all I wanted to ask. I'll see you later, bye!
Izuku:
Bye!
As Izuku put his phone down, he looked around once again, before seeing Momo coming down the stairs, and towards him.
"Okay I'm back! So, what are your plans for the rest of the day? Do you have any other lectures or seminars?" Momo asked, sitting down next to him.
"I don't, so I'll probably chill here for a bit, and then I'll go and pick Eri up" Izuku replied, putting his phone in his pocket as he spoke.
"Eri's your younger sister, right?"
"Yeah, she is. She's 14"
"I see. It's nice that you two are so close, I always grew up wishing I had a sibling" Momo said, her tone slightly wistful.
"Not to brag, but it's pretty fun. Anyways, I've got a question to ask you" Izuku asked, thinking back to Eri's prior question.
"Go for it." She replied, turning to face him properly, instead of craning her neck.
"So have you met Ochako Uraraka?" He asked.
"Your roommate, right? I think I've spoken to her once or twice yeah" Momo said, a subtle hint of jealousy ever so present in her voice.
"Well it's her birthday next week, and some of us are gonna go out to celebrate. I thought you might want to come, you could meet Eri, maybe meet some of our other friends?" Izuku asked.
"Sure! I'd love to come, I mean, as long as she doesn't mind?" Momo replied, instantly jumping at the opportunity, although it wasn't obvious to anyone but her.
"She won't, and I think... yeah! She's right there." Izuku pointed out, looking at the entrance, as he saw Kaachan and Ochako walking in together, "Hey you two! Over here!" He called out, getting both of his friend's attention.
"Hey Deku, how was your lecture?" Katsuki asked as he sat down next to Izuku, with Ochako sitting next to Momo, being the furthest person from her roommate.
"It was good yeah. How about you? You and Ochako had a joint intro class, right?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah, it was an Intro to Physics class. It was pretty basic, but it was helpful, considering I've forgotten some stuff from school" Katsuki replied, before leaning forwards, "Uh, hi. I'm Katsuki Bakugo, I don't think I've met you yet." He said, looking at Momo.
"It's nice to meet you Bakugo. I'm Momo Yaoyorozu." She replied, extending her hand, giving the blonde-haired boy a handshake, as she turned around to face Ochako.
"So, Uraraka, I heard it's your birthday soon! Are you excited?" She asked, her tone still as upbeat as ever.
"I am yeah, it'll be really fun to spend it with some new friends." Ochako said, a subtle hint of aggression hidden in her voice as well, as she knew just how close Momo and Izuku had gotten.
"Well, I hope I can add to that fun since Izuku asked me if I wanted to come. I thought I'd double check with you, since well, it is your party." Momo said, gaining the attention of Katsuki.
"Izuku?" He asked, surprised to see that she was calling his best friend by his first name, despite the fact that they just met.
"Oh I- Uh-" Momo stuttered, catching a glimpse of Ochako's surprised expression in her peripheral vision, as she looked to Izuku, hoping he could help.
"I'm really not used to people calling me Midoriya, that's all." He stated, which was enough for Katsuki, and after a couple of seconds, satisfied Ochako's need for an answer as well, although it did slightly tick her off.
"Well I'd love it if you came, it'll be fun to have some new people to spend time with" Ochako replied, mostly truthfully.
"Is she really just his friend? I mean- I don't care, nope, not one bit. Besides, I live with him, so I have an advantage. Again, not like I care at all, nah, I don't care. Nope. Nuh-uh." Ochako thought to herself, trying to reason with her own feelings of jealousy.
"Oh that reminds me Deku, I spoke to the Big Three, and only Nejire can come. Tamaki's got to see family, and Mirio's got work, so yeah. Camie's coming though" Katsuki interjected.
"Hmm, alright. So then that's... eleven people then." Izuku replied.
"Eleven people?" Katsuki asked, confused as to how Izuku got that number.
"Me, Eri and Ochako. Ashido, Asui and Nejire. You, Camie and Aunt Mitsuki, make nine. I just invited Momo, so that's ten. And Eri wants to invite Kota, so that makes eleven." Izuku explained, seeing Kaachan's face of confusion shift from a look of understanding.
"Well the old hag might not come, but she's already said that she'll pay for the whole evening. She's come into some money, so she said to treat it like a bonus." Katsuki replied.
"Are you sure? I don't want to put any more stress on her for the money" Ochako asked, leaning forward so that she could see the boys.
"Yeah, don't worry about it Ochako, it's fine." Katsuki said reassuringly, before turning to Izuku, "So that's nine people then. We'll tell Nejire to make a booking, and we'll make a group chat to decide on the timing. Also, you forgot to count one person." He pointed out.
"So what if I forgot Himiko?" Izuku said defensively.
"It's mean, Deku. She's not that bad. Anyways, speak to Nejire about it. Camie and I are gonna go for coffee in half an hour, so I'll see you later." Katsuki said, getting up from the sofa.
"Dinner at my place with some Heroes Justice?" Izuku asked.
"We playing with a wager?"
"You know it"
"Bet. I'll see you at seven in the evening then. Bye!" Katsuki said, waving to everyone before walking out, as the remaining trio got swept up in small talk once more, enjoying their time at a brand new university, with brand new friends and situations to match...