Cubicity

Chapter 15: In the Open

It was a hot summer Thursday afternoon in the busy part of a shopping district.

Izuku was making his way through the crowds of people getting ready for the summer break. The final exams were over, and he was ecstatic that Tooru and everyone else in his class had passed the written portion. However, Mina, Denki, Rikido, Eijiro, and Hanta had failed the practical part. But once again their homeroom teacher had played his class like a fiddle. Everyone was going to the summer school trip regardless of the results; he just wanted his students to push themselves beyond their limits. Of course, there still was a catch. Those that did fail were still going to have remedial lessons during the trip. Midoriya knew that for his five classmates would loathe the extra schooling, but at least they would still be going on the trip.

So why was Izuku out shopping?

Aizawa had given his students a packing list, a huge one. Hagakure suggested to the class to use their day off on Thursday to go shopping as a class to get everything. Almost everyone was up for the idea except for three students. Bakugo didn't want to go because well, he is Bakugo. Todoroki couldn't go cause normally he visited someone on Thursdays. And finally, there was Koda, which Midoriya later found out the large teen had told Ojiro he didn't like being in large crowds.

Izuku had left early, as he hoped to catch Tooru before the rest of the students came. Knowing her, she would want to be there first since it was her idea. And when he arrived at the meeting place he was happy to learn he was correct. Sitting on a stone bench was none other than Midoriya's girlfriend. She was wearing a white t-shirt with no sleeves that had dark blue stripes going horizontally and short jeans. Hagakure also had on white snap bracelets and looked to be happily swinging her feet judging from the up and down motions of her shoes.

"Morning Tooru," Izuku said cheerfully as he approached the invisible girl.

Tooru's body turned towards him and she said, "Hey there Izuku! You're here early."

"Same can be said for you," Midoriya said with a shrug.

Hagakure argued, "Well, I planned the event. I should be the first one here! So what's your excuse?"

"I just wanted to talk with you. And I guessed you'd be here early, so I came early too," the green haired boy explained with a soft smile.

Tooru tilted her body slightly before asking, "Why? We chatted for a long time on the phone on Tuesday. Is there something you forgot to mention?"

There was something.

Tuesday was the practical portion of the exam. After school, the two had a long phone conversation about how they did. It was the first time they had a voice conversation on the phone, everything up to that point had been through text between the two. It wasn't Izuku's first time on the phone with a girl, as Ochako had called him after his fight with Stain to ask if everything was alright. She found the boy's method to call for help by just pinging his location as odd, and after she found out what had happened, apologized that she understand it's meaning. Midoriya guessed that from there Uraraka contacted Ida to try and comfort him. Talking to her before had helped him feel more comfortable talking to his girlfriend this time over the phone.

Either way, while the two talked about the exams there was something else that he wanted to discuss. After dinner with Tooru's parents on Sunday, she seemed off during his departure. She didn't seem like her cheery usual self. Hagakure also only hugged him as he left. Lately, she had been sneaking him kisses as they parted. Was it wrong to assume for him to recieve a kiss? He wouldn't have questioned it if it was such a short hug. But during their chat on the phone everything seemed normal, and because of this Midoriya just put the thought in the back of his mind. But now that enough time had passed and that he had another opportunity to speak to her face to face, he felt compelled to ask about it.

"It's less about forgetting to mention something and more I was scared to ask," Midoriya said slowly. He had an idea what was wrong and was being hesitant because he felt it was his fault.

Hagakure shifted as she asked, "Is everything okay Izuku?"

Izuku looked down at his feet as he said, "I'm not sure. You aren't mad at me because of telling your parents what happened during our dates, are you?"

"Oh. That," Tooru replied before giving a long sigh. She remained quiet for a few seconds before she continued with, "It was kind of embarrassing. I hadn't told much to them because I know my dad would tease me about it and my mom would ask too many questions if I said everything in detail. But I'm not mad at you specifically; I was just frustrated a bit I guess. How could you tell?"

Midoriya tapped his chin as he explained, "Well you just seemed a bit down just before I left. And I didn't expect such a short hug from you. It just felt off to me."

Hagakure responded in a teasing voice as she asked, "Oh, were you expecting a nice kiss on the cheek from your lovely girlfriend? Does Izuku feel our farewells need to be more intimate from now on?"

Izuku turned a shade of crimson at this and groaned slightly. He felt her hand grasp his shoulder as Tooru got up to say, "It's okay to be selfish sometimes with me Izuku. If you wanted a kiss you just had to ask."

Midoriya slowly nodded as he said, "Okay, T-Tooru." That wasn't exactly what he had hoped for from discussing this but he couldn't argue that he somewhat liked her forwardness about it. His girlfriend shouldn't always be the one pushing the boundaries of their relationship, the boy hated to admit.

Hagakure stood up and then stated, "In the end, I think it was best that you told them. I think, your explanation won over my mom, cause she isn't asking a million questions about you anymore as she did before. Though my dad always seemed to be okay with you, which I really don't get why. Though as lazy as he is he might just not care enough to bother protesting our relationship."

Upon hearing this, Izuku remembered back to their dinner with his mom the weekend after they became a couple. How Tooru was surprised to learn that Inko had been very knowledgeable about their interactions when she tried to tease what they had done together. It did make sense now, as she had told so little to her parents. Midoriya was glad that Mr. Hagakure was so accepting of him. Otherwise, she might have never gotten permission to come over to his place as often as she did if it was instead up to just her mother. And going by what happened when he helped Mrs. Hagakure with the dishes, even she was okay with them dating now.

"That's good to hear," Izuku said as he brought his head back up.

"Well, it's almost time for everyone to show up. We probably shouldn't be seen here together if we wanna keep us a secret," Tooru explained as she looked at her phone she pulled out from her pocket.

Midoriya replied, "You're right." He thought a moment before continuing with, "I'll just go and find a bathroom nearby. Hopefully by the time I come back someone else from class will show up. If not, I'll keep my distance until someone does."

Hagakure then got up and gave her boyfriend a quick peck on his forehead. She then said, "Good idea. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun today even if we can't be together. See you in a bit."

Izuku was glad it a short kiss from his girlfriend. It probably didn't look as such to all the passing crowd. Otherwise, he might have fainted from embarrassment. As Midoriya wobbled his way to find a bathroom he could hear her giggling at catching him off his guard once again.

Midoriya walked out of the temporary investigation headquarters with Detective Tsukauchi just behind him. It had been a long day but what he saw in front of him as he left the building brought a smile to his face.

"You sure do find yourself in trouble with villains often, Midoriya my boy," All Might said as he appeared out of the darkness of the night.

Izuku gave an awkward chuckle at the statement; he did seem to have bad luck in this regard.

The pro hero was in his true form and walked up to pat his student's head as he said, "Well I'm glad to see you are safe. Sorry I wasn't there to save you, my boy." He then looked over at his detective friend and said, "I hope he was helpful with your investigation."

Tsukauchi replied with, "Midoriya-san's testimony does paint the picture that the League of Villians isn't exactly unified. Hopefully, we can find their headquarters soon so we can maybe take advantage of this opportunity."

As the adults chatted, Izuku's thought back to the events that occurred today. His plan worked, Fumikage and Kyoka were there talking to Tooru when he was done using the bathroom. Eventually, all the students that had agreed to show up had arrived and after some discussion split into separate groups based on what they needed to buy. Somehow Midoriya and Hagakure found themselves alone again. She laughed at their situation but said it would be best if they just caught up with separate groups.

About a minute after Tooru left, Izuku was approached by none other than Tomura Shigaraki. He had been told in detail of who he was by All Might at one of his earlier meetings with the pro hero. The man was wearing his all-black attire that the boy remembered from the last time they met but with a hoodie. The villain was able to get close to the hero on training by faking that he wanted an autograph because of seeing him during the Hero Festival. Before Midoriya knew it, he had a palm over his neck and was at the mercy of Shigaraki. The crazed leader kept his middle finger from touching the boy's neck, so as not to activate his disintegration quirk. He then threatened to kill Izuku and as many innocent bystanders as he could if the boy denied having a chat with him.

After agreeing to his demands the two sat down on a bench. Tomura then spoke of being irritated by the aftermath of Stain's rampage. The villain invasion of the U.A. and the releasing of the Nomu in Hosu that he did, paled in comparison to what the Hero Killer was able to accomplish in the sense of causing a movement amongst the people of Japan.

It surprised Midoriya that the two weren't truly working together but then again they probably only tolerated each other cause of somewhat similar goals.

Shigaraki then asked his captive what made him so different from Stain.

It took the boy a few moments, but Izuku answered that while he didn't accept what either had done, he could at least understand why the Hero Killer did what he did. Stain wanted a better society, one that wasn't policed by fake heroes that worked for the betterment of themselves than of the people they were supposed to serve. Midoriya knew that while most heroes did not act this way, he couldn't deny that the current system was flawed and did promote some pro heroes to act this way. The Hero Killer, however, saw a beacon in the current hero industry and it was All Might, the ideal true hero. It was something that the boy could agree with.

This revelation made Tomura finally realize it was All Might that was the source of his current troubles. Both Izuku and Stain were products of the number one hero, and his conviction to kill the pro hero was rejuvenated because of this thought.

Midoriya thanked the stars that Hagakure showed up at this point wondering what was going on. Shigaraki surprisingly let his captive go and apologized for not knowing that he had company. As Tooru went to help Izuku up, as he had fallen gasping for air after being let go, the villain started to make his way into the crowd. The successor to One for All asked what All for One wanted before Tomura could leave. The villain stated that he didn't care what his master wanted and instead threatened Midoriya with death the next time the two met.

Hagakure was quick to call the police about what happened. From there, despite a closing of the mall and a search by local pro heroes as well as the police, the supposed head of the League of Villians was never found. Izuku and Tooru were brought into questioning by the police, and by the time all this was over for the boy, it was nighttime.

All Might placing his hand on Midroiya's shoulder brought the boy back to the present. The pro hero then said, "That does sound like useful information, I'm glad Midoriya-san was of some help in your investigation." He then let go his pupil's shoulder and walked forward a bit to sit down on the stone steps that lead to the building. Toshinori motioned for his successor to join him and the boy plopped down beside him. As Izuku took off his backpack, his mentor asked, "Mind giving my student and me some time alone, Tsukauchi-san?"

The detective gave a nod and made his way back inside.

Confused at this, Izuku asked, "Why did you ask him to leave?"

"Because I doubt he'll be interested in what I want to discuss with you," the skeleton of a man said as he itched the bottom of his chin.

With a concerned look, Midoriya asked another question, "And what do you want to talk about?"

All Might turned his head to his student as he replied, "I just wanted an update on you and Hagakure-san if you don't mind."

This question both confused and comforted Midoriya. He was happy that his idol was interested in his well being outside his hero work, but the timing of the inquiry felt off. Izuku then hesitantly said, "Is this really the time and place to ask this?"

The number one hero pulled out a red phone from his pocket and pointed at it as he explained, "I called Tsukauchi-san and asked him to call me when he was done talking to you so I could personally speak to you. During our chat, he mentioned your girlfriend had taken what happened to you this morning pretty hard. Today was quite traumatic for both of you to experience. She is a big part of your life now, so it's best that things are well between you two. I might not be able to offer the best advice about the bond you two have, but I still would find it insightful to know if everything is or isn't okay in your relationship with her. If that's okay with you of course."

The man's logic made sense to Midoriya. If the two were having a troubled relationship, then it would probably affect his hero-in-training duties. Plus Tooru did have a bit of an episode once the two had been separated from the other students by the police. She felt that if she hadn't come back then he might not be alive right now. The whole ordeal was terrifying for the boy, and it really hit once his girlfriend showed up. Perhaps once the adrenaline wore off, his brain finally caught up to how close he was to dying.

The two had embraced for a while, as Izuku tried to calm her down in the police station. They needed to be interviewed for their accounts of what happened, but separately. Eventually, Hagakure became placid enough to go ahead with it. She went first, and after about half an hour she walked seemingly more cheerful than before. She gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek and said she was feeling better now. Her father showed up not long after that to pick up his daughter. Midoriya, however, stayed for hours as he gave his account to various police and eventually Tsukauchi himself, who took him to a different building before talking with him. He kept quiet about his All for One question to Shigaraki until the detective showed up, which the man appreciated from the boy.

"It's alright, I understand. However, everything is fine, really. Tooru was just really shocked by what happened. I mean she thought I could have died. But after Tooru talked to the police she seemed better," Izuku responded back to All Might.

The pro hero put away his phone as he stated, "That's good. Though make sure to check on Hagakure-san once you get home. I suggest you call her to reassure her you are okay."

Midoriya replied, "That's a good idea. Thanks, sir!"

"Glad to help," the skeleton of a man said while giving a thumbs up. He then crossed his arms as he continued by saying, "Has anything else happened between you two since you told me about becoming a couple with her?"

Izuku then explained the time he invited Tooru to exercise together and the dinner they had with his mom. Toshinori liked the idea of the two working out together and suggested he continue the activity when they could. The boy also briefly mentioned his visit to his girlfriend's home just days before. All Might found Hagakure's father as quite odd but liked his explanation of why he was okay with Midoriya dating his daughter. While the discussion was brief, the boy felt a lot better afterward. Was this another reason why his mentor wanted them to discuss this? To lift his spirits after what happened? Either way, it had worked.

With this boost in his mood, Izuku felt more confident to ask, "Um, is it okay to ask how I did during the practical portion of the final exam with you?" The pro hero had been his obstacle for the exam, after all. And while he had passed, he felt it was by the skin of his teeth. Midoriya just wanted to hear from his mentor how he did.

"Well, first of all, I hope you were able to figure out the point of the final exam for you and your classmates," All Might said while holding up an index finger from his right hand.

Izuku did, especially after staying behind to watch the monitors that were displaying his other classmates that were still participating in their exam. He had asked Recovery Girl if he could watch the results with her after being healed. She agreed and the two spent time together going over what they observed. Midoriya soon learned that the pair-ups were predetermined for a reason as he watched. Tokoyami was pit against Ectoplasm as he could easily exploit the student's close combat weakness of his quirk. Asui was paired with the Dark Shadow user to able to support his weakness. Principal Nezu was Ashido and Kaminari's opponent as the two had the lowest grades in class and their obstacle was to test their intelligence against the crafty rodent. Koda and Jiro had sound based quirks, which were countered entirely by Present Mic's thunderous voice. He could go on and on with examples.

Izuku then answered with, "The exams were to see if we could overcome situations that focused on our faults."

"Precisely, and your fault, of course, is your relationship with Bakugo-san. You two really are the worst team when together," the skeleton of a man said while shaking his head.

They were, Midoriya thought. His partner was none other than Katsuki, and they were like oil and water at the start of the exam. Their objective, as the same with all the other participants, was either to escape the arena or attack their assigned pro hero and cuff them within the time limit. Even when wearing specialized gauntlets that were designed to half All Might's speed and power, Izuku knew it was a futile effort to face him directly and tried to flee. But with Katsuki, that drive of his need to be number one meant he only wanted to attack his idol. Only after being almost knocked unconscious and being saved plus getting a pep talk by Midoriya did Bakugo finally reluctantly agree to work together with his partner.

The number one hero continued by stating, "But I saw decent growth between you two that day. Sure you two barely managed to make it through the exit gate in time but you passed, and that's all that matters to me."

The words raised the boy's spirits even more. But he was curious about one more thing and asked, "Were you the one that chose Kacchan as my partner for the exam?"

The pro hero shrugged before saying, "No. Your homeroom teacher made all the decisions regarding that, but I would have done the same thing if I had the choice."

Both of them then heard Tsukauchi's voice from behind them, "Midoriya-san your ride should be here shortly."

At this, All Might stood up and brushed off pants before saying, "Well is there anything else you wanna say before we part ways, my boy?"

Izuku thought back to earlier when All Might first greeted him today.

Sorry I wasn't there to save you, my boy.

Of course, the pro hero couldn't have saved him; he wasn't there. But it made Midoriya think of how Shigaraki hated how the populace could be so happy, thinking that All Might could save anyone or everyone. Izuku then asked, "All Might, was there ever a time you really couldn't save someone?"

That question.

Even two days later the answer All Might had given to that question was still swimming in the teen's head. However, he had other issues affecting him at the moment.

Izuku was currently physically exhausted but sleeping.

It was late Saturday night, and he was in a cabin deep in the woods for their summer school trip. Because of Midoriya's run-in with Shigaraki on Thursday, it was decided to move to a different location to ensure the safety of the students as the school administration felt they would be targeted. Izuku and his classmates had spent a better part of the day fighting dirt creatures made by Pixie Bob and her quirk Earth Flow. She was a pro hero from a four-person hero team known as the Wild, Wild Pussy Cats. They had agreed to help train the students for the trip despite such the short notice. After a massive meal and some time at the hot springs, everyone went to bed to rest for their true training regiment that would begin tomorrow.

As Izuku dreamed, some of the words of All Might's answer to his question kept fading in and out.

Sure. Plenty of times...

...That's why I stand and smile. I'm the symbol of justice. For the citizens, the heroes, and the villains I need to light the way for all of them.

This statement resounded inside the successor of One for All. Various instances flashed in and out of his head; Ochako during the entrance exam, All Might during the villain invasion, Shoto at the Hero Festival, and Tenya during his encounter with Stain. In each of these, he was able to rescue them. The thought of not being able to save them was almost making nightmares of such possibilities creep into his mind. But Midoriya was adamant about not letting such dreams occur and instead kept his thoughts going back to All Might. Was there anyone that the number hero couldn't save while on the field? Anyone close? Were their deaths still affecting him today?

Izuku's dreams came to an abrupt end as he felt something poking his face. He stirred a bit, and it stopped. But within moments it happened again. With a grunt, he opened his eyes and looked around. It was mostly pitch black minus some light coming from the window from outside lights. As Midoriya sat up and his vision became clear the realization of what was going on made him freeze. It felt somewhat nostalgic, but it wasn't a feeling he wished he was currently having. In the tiniest of whispers, Izuku said, "Tooru, please tell me you aren't here right now."

A few seconds pass, and there was no answer.

Midoriya sighed in relief but then he heard, "Sorry I am."

The boy's heart leapt up to his throat, but he kept his composure as not to wake the other guys sleeping in the room. He struggled to speak but eventually stated in a soft voice, "W-We can't t-talk here T-Tooru."

"I know, I wanna chat elsewhere. I'll meet you outside," Hagakure replied in a hushed tone.

Izuku slowly got out of his bed and tried to arrange his blanket as if it looked like he was still in his bed. He then began to make his leave, making sure to be as quiet as possible as he stepped over and between his male classmates.

During his sneaking, the boy recalled what had happened the last few days, as it could explain why this was currently happening. After coming home from talking with All Might and Detective Tsukauchi, Midoriya called his girlfriend just as his mentor suggested. But she didn't answer. On Friday, Tooru told him she went to bed early as the reason why she missed his call. The two didn't get the chance to talk much since it was a short day at school due it consisting of only one short class and the closing ceremony afterward. Again Izuku tried to call her that night but got no response, even a private message via a text yielded nothing. On the bus ride earlier that day, he sat with Tenya, but the chatter on the vehicle was too obnoxiously loud to hold a serious conversation even if he did want to sit next to Tooru.

It started to worry Midoriya, but he figured he would have plenty of time to talk to her once they got to their destination. But their first day in the beast forest didn't provide any chances to chat. The bus ride was stopped short and they were forced to trek the rest of the way so the Pussy Cats could evaluate the abilities of the students with Pixie Bob's earth beasts and the journey to their cabins had taken a majority of the day. During dinner, everyone was too busy stuffing their faces with food. And finally, trying and speaking with Hagakure during their visit to the hot springs just wasn't gonna happen.

Izuku arrived at the exit and slowly opened the door. He stepped out and waited until he felt a tug on his shirt to close it. With his thoughts from before still fresh in his mind, and having calmed down somewhat, the boy asked softly, "So, are you here because we haven't been able to be alone for some time?"

Tooru said in a quiet tone, "Uh-huh."

Midoriya tapped some fingers on his temple as he asked, "Then why did you not answer my call or even text yesterday? Remember, we exchanged numbers in the first place to prevent things like this happening again."

"I'm sorry Izuku, but I just felt what I needed to say, should be to your face, not over the phone. If I had answered your call or text it would have been impossible not to bring it up, which just wouldn't have felt right to do," Hagakure answered in a sad voice.

As curious as Midoriya was to what was troubling his girlfriend, this was hardly the place to have a long conversation about it. He then stated, "Alright, then. I'm sure you have a place in mind for us to chat. So lead the way Tooru."

"Will do," the invisible girl replied in a bit more of a merry tone.

Izuku then felt her hand grasp his left hand and pull him forward. The two walked past a few hallways until they were almost behind the complex. As the two rounded the last corner, Izuku ran into something and nearly toppled over backward. It immediately came apparent that he had bumped into Tooru's nude backside and almost said something in response. But what stopped him was what he saw in front of him.

A giant shadow creature was flexing its muscles in the what little light the waning crescent moon was giving. Below it sat Fumikage reading a small booklet. He was sitting in the middle of a small courtyard that was behind the lodgings. The half-bird-half-human hadn't noticed their presence yet, but his quirk, Dark Shadow, did almost immediately. Izuku didn't recognize the quirk at first as he was so used to seeing it much smaller and less intimidating.

"Looks like I have potential opponents tonight," said the dark apparition in a deep voice. It sounded so different from the cute, playful tone that Midoriya was used to hearing from the quirk.

The statement from his partner got Tokoyami's attention, and he rapidly closed his book. As he stood up and put it in his pocket, and then asked, "What are you doing here Midoriya-san?"

Izuku guessed that his dark and brooding classmate was merely refining his quirk. It was the strongest in low light, which meant it had to be during the night. Most of their training was during the daylight, so it made sense why Fumikage was out here. But whatever reason Fumikage was out here, he needed to answer him.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to i-interrupt your training T-Tokoyami-san. I was just t-trying to find the b-bathroom," Midoriya tried to argue.

In a low growl, Dark Shadow stated, "You lie. I sense another in the darkness with you."

Izuku panicked and thought, wait he can sense Tooru? Perhaps the quirk gained the ability of heightened sense in the dark of the night? But what about her would give her presence away?

In a confused tone, Fumikage said, "There's someone else here? Who could-." He stopped abruptly once he noticed Midoriya's hand somewhat extended forwards. After a few seconds Tokoyami slowly said, "Oh."

After slamming his a fist into its open palm, the shadow crow stated, "Regardless who it is, it just means it's another person I get to fight!"

Izuku began pulling Tooru back towards him. He did it gently at first, so not to pull her into his arms, and embarrass the both of them to oblivion, but she did begin to step back with him he felt.

"Look I promise I'll let you slash up some dead trees in a bit, but you can't attack them Dark Shadow. They're my classmates," Fumikage said while clasping his head with one hand.

The shadowy apparition groaned and said, "Fine, but they better be some big trees." With that, the quirk dissipated and returned to its owner within a few seconds.

Tokoyami rubbed his temple as he began to breathe heavily. He then approached Midoriya and said, "Sorry about that, still have a lot to work on with my quirk while in the darkness. It's hard to calm him down once he gets going." He then looked at where Tooru was standing and stated, "Evening Hagakure-san."

"H-Hi there," Hagakure said in a shaky voice. She then cleared her throat and asked, "How'd Dark Shadow figure out I was here?"

Fumikage rested his back against the building and crossed his arms before answering with, "Everything about my quirk strengthens in the absence of light, including his senses. He probably picked up the scent of whatever shampoo or body wash you used when bathing in the hot springs today." He then looked back at Midoriya and asked, "So, what's the real reason you two are out here?"

Izuku breathed in and out heavily before answering with, "Hagakure-san woke me and told me she needed to discuss something important with me. She wanted to talk in a more private setting though and while she led me there we ran into you." He didn't think lying would help him at all at this point.

Fumikage stayed quiet for a few moments before saying, "Well you two are good friends so I won't get in the way of that. Though sneaking into the guy's room at night," he then coughed before continuing, "in the nude, must mean it's pretty important. I must say I'm a bit impressed you went along with it Midoriya-san."

Midoriya gave an awkward chuckle and then said, "Y-Yeah still trying to p-process this." He then tried to change the subject and asked, "So Tokoyami-san, what was that you were reading?"

Fumikage scratched his beak as he replied, "It's a book full of poetry I've accumulated over time. If I have dark thoughts, it strengthens Dark Shadow. It's not as much as being in the darkness does, but it's still noticeable. While experimenting, I found out reading dark poetry helps me calm my quirk. So I try and memorize as much as I can so maybe I can use it in the field if it's nighttime."

Curious, Tooru asked, "What do you mean by dark poetry?"

The question seemed to bother Tokoyami, but he eventually answered with, "This is embarrassing to admit, but I was in the middle of reading The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe when you arrived."

The irony was quite funny to the two. Midoriya understood, however, that this was not the time or place to laugh, but Hagakure couldn't help but giggle. Her soft laughter got the poetry reader to sink his head into his shoulders. Again trying to change the subject, but this time as not to anger Fumikage further, Izuku stated, "You seem to be taking me together with Hagakure-san well. You're not going to mention this to anybody are you?"

Tokoyami explained, "I'm not. Consider this as thanks for inviting me to your group during the second event of the Hero Festival. If I hadn't grouped with you and your team, then I might have never made it to the tournament event and got third place overall. And besides, knowing you Midoriya-san, I doubt whatever you two are planning on doing will be anything questionable. That's just not the kind of guy you are."

This statement surprised Izuku, but before he could thank him, Fumikage stopped leaning on the building and said, "Though I would appreciate you keep my training a secret. I wouldn't want our other classmates knowing I am into dark themes, like the poetry. It was embarrassing enough just telling you." Tokoyami then proceeded to pass by the two and said, "Don't stay out too late."

After Fumikage turned the corner of the building, Tooru said, "That went well."

"Almost too well," Midoriya stated. He was glad that Tokoyami was thankful for his invite during the cavalry battle, but it still felt off that Fumikage would be okay with him walking around with a female student, a naked one at that, at night. Perhaps there was more to this? Or was he overthinking the situation again?

"Well regardless, we're in the clear, so let's go," Tooru said as she pulled her boyfriend to move forward. She led him beyond the courtyard towards a shed that was hidden by a few trees. Behind the shed which had a bench overlooking a decent sized pond lined with small boulders.

Hagakure then spoke up and said, "I looked around for a place where we could talk in private before coming to the boy's room, and I felt this would work." She tried to pull Midoriya over to sit on the bench, but he resisted and stood still. The invisible teen asked in a confused tone, "Is everything okay Izuku?"

Izuku wanted to chat; he wanted to know more than anything what was bothering his girlfriend enough to ignore his phone calls. But there was the problem that she was still nude. Taking Tooru's hand while she was in such a state and being dragged around was already pushing his limits. The boy's resolve to learn what was troubling Hagakure was outweighing his shyness of that situation. But now she wanted to have them sit next to one another on a bench? Sure Midoriya was able to somewhat tolerate her nudeness in the nurse's office which felt like forever ago cause of the distance between the two. But sitting down and trying to talk about a potentially heavy subject to a nude, albeit invisible, girl right next to him?

The boy's brain was just frying at the thought. And an impulse solution came to mind because of his panicked state. Izuku let go of Tooru's hand and took off his shirt. He then held his shirt forward while looking away and closing his eyes before stating, "W-Would you p-please put this o-on? I-I'll be d-distracted if you're not c-clothed Tooru." As embarrassing as his upper body bare in front of her was, it still wasn't anything to the concept of sitting next to his nude girlfriend.

"Is that all? Okay then, that's an easy fix," the invisible girl replied as Midoriya felt her tug away his shirt. After a few seconds, he heard Hagakure say, "All good. Now come and join me Izuku."

The boy opened his eyes slowly to see his plain white T-shirt sitting on the bench. It was a bit big for her, so it hid her curves well and went below her hips, to Izuku's relief. He then made his way over and sat down to the left of her.

"I understand this seems a bit drastic for me to drag you out here but I just really wanted to talk about this with you face to face," Tooru said in an uneasy tone.

Midoriya asked, "Before you start, did you really go to sleep early on Thursday and miss my call?"

Hagakure responded with, "I did, sleeping just seemed like the easiest solution to forget worrying about you at the time. But I probably wouldn't have answered you anyway if I had stayed up long enough to get your call. I just felt so uncomfortable about what I wanted to say."

Izuku asked slowly, "So what is it?"

Tooru hesitated for a few moments but then explained, "I should have just stayed with you that morning, Izuku. I mean that's why I came back to find you, cause I wanted to be with you no matter what the others think of us. I want everyone to know that I love you and how great you are. But I realize that having everyone else learning about us being a couple might be too much for you right now. And I don't want a repeat of what happened in the rain that one day. Seeing you like that really tore me up inside, even if I seemed like I was playing it cool the whole time. So I've been wrestling with myself these last few weeks on if we should be upfront with our class about us or continue the way things are longer. In the end, I feel I'm the one who's being selfish here."

Izuku crossed his arms and sighed. So this is what's been eating her, he thought. Midoriya was glad that she was not blaming herself for arranging the shopping trip as the reason why he had encountered the villain. But this was a troublesome predicament. He knew that their relationship couldn't remain a secret forever.

When Izuku thought about it, already a decent portion of the class knew about it. There were all their friends in their group. Koji had also found out even before he told his good friends. Fumikage might suspect them as well now. He couldn't deny that it would be quite stressful to both announce being with Tooru and the aftermath that would occur. But it was going to happen, perhaps sooner rather than later would be for the best. However, now wasn't the best time to do this. The next week was going to be hell, Midoriya guessed. Having to juggle whatever their training was going to be on top of having to deal with the fallout of saying he had a girlfriend to his class just didn't seem feasible for him to be able to manage.

"You okay Izuku? You are being oddly silent for once," Tooru asked in a worried voice.

Izuku replied, "Sorry, I've just been thinking about what you said. I'm not entirely against the idea of our class knowing about us. But I don't think right now is the right time. We're all going to be busy with whatever Aizawa-sensei has planned for us, and I don't think revealing our relationship this week would be the best idea."

Hagakure groaned before stating, "You're right. Sorry for being pushy about this."

Izuku reached over and put a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder and asked, "Why don't we reveal that we are in a relationship the first day we come back to school after the summer break?"

Cheerfully, Tooru asked, "You mean it?"

Midoriya made a fist with his free hand as he replied, "Of course I do! I think that will be enough time for me to get over being stressed about the whole thing." He also thought the two could get closer during this time. Izuku's birthday was next week, and she also wanted to go to the beach with him at some point over the break. Doing such things were bound to boost his confidence, right?

Tooru leaned in towards the boy, but he quickly scooted back with his hands up defensively and said, "T-Tooru you shouldn't h-hug me right n-now."

"Awww, but it felt like the kind of moment where we should," the invisible girl whined.

She was in nothing but a white t-shirt and Izuku was shirtless. Them embracing right now would have been too much since very little would be between them, Izuku thought.

Hagakure then said suggestively, "How could you deny a hug from your girlfriend after showing off such a body to her, you tease. I got a decent preview when Ojiro-san sent that picture of you boys during the sleepover, but the real thing is so much more, dazzling."

Midoriya blushed furiously from her statement, which got a laugh from his girlfriend. After she calmed down, she said, "Anyway, I can't wait to tell everyone that day Izuku!"

"Y-Yeah, me t-too," Izuku said nervously. She can really be a handful sometimes, he thought. Trying to change the subject away from himself being shirtless, he asked, "So how was today for you? I'm pretty beat myself."

Tooru groaned before saying, "I felt useless. I mean what was I supposed to do against those things?"

Midoriya thought, well she wasn't wrong. Hagakure wasn't able to do anything but dodge and flee the dirt beasts made by Pixie-Bob from what he could observe. But in an attempt to cheer her up he said, "Well your quirk just isn't fit for a combat situation like this was. It might have been different if you had your suit with you. I'm sure if you had it you could have been more helpful."

Tooru sighed as she responded, "Yeah I wasn't exactly willing to shed my clothes to be completely invisible. I don't think running through a forest for hours upon hours in the nude would have been fun. At least if I had my hero costume, I could have gone up ahead and avoided those dirt monsters to find a quick path to the lodgings and bring that info back to all of you." Her tone changed almost immediately as she stated, "But man was that delicious dinner and the refreshing hot spring worth all those hours of hardships we endured."

"Wish I could have enjoyed the hot springs longer," Izuku said in disappointment.

Curiously, Hagakure asked, "What? Did that perverted purple blob cut short the boy's bath time?"

Midoriya recalled being in hot springs just hours before. Mineta yet again was up to his perverse ways and used his quirk to climb the wall that separated the hot springs by gender. He would have made it to the other side if it wasn't for Kota, a young boy who was Mandalay's nephew. Izuku found out later that Eraserhead had warned the Pussycats of Minoru's behavior and the young kid was told to guard the barrier between the genders.

Midoriya then shook his head before explaining, "No, it wasn't that. Well not exactly. That boy who pushed Mineta-san off the wall ended up falling off himself. I caught him but he was out cold, so I brought him inside to Mandalay. I talked for a while with her and Pixie-bob after that. By the time I left it was time for bed for all of us."

"Oh. That explains how he vanished. We girls just thought the kid climbed back down quickly cause he saw all of us naked. From our angle, it was kind of hard to see what he was doing. Ashido-san yelled out thanks to the boy, and he looked over to us before vanishing," Tooru explained.

That explains Kota's nosebleed, Midoriya thought. He then asked, "The girls were okay with him seeing you all naked?"

"Izuku, the kid, looks like five years old, it's not a problem," Hagakure said bluntly.

Izuku guessed it was okay then, but still found it weird that the girls didn't care, he felt he would have been out for days if he saw such a thing as a little kid. His girlfriend then spoke up, which interrupted his thoughts on the matter, and said, "It was pretty funny though when he nailed you in the junk when he got here."

Midoriya cringed at the memory of what happened earlier in the day. When he tried to greet the boy, Kota punched him below the belt. It wasn't until he talked to the Pussycats after bringing the boy to them, did Izuku learn why. Mandalay revealed that her cousins were the boy's parents, and they were both pro-heroes who died protecting civilians from a villain. Midoriya recalled hearing in the news about a hero called Water Hose and his partner that suffered such a fate. Were those heroes the parents' of Kota? Since he was so young, to try and understand such a terrible event, somehow he felt his parents profession in heroics lead him to be alone. And to see such an act get praised by other pro heroes made him grow a disgust for them. Mandalay felt that Kota only tolerated the Pussycats cause he had no one else to look after him.

Izuku shook his head back to the world outside his head and then replied, "That really hurt Tooru, I don't see how you can see that as hilarious."

Tooru argued, "Izuku look at your muscles, there's no way a little kid like him could hurt someone as strong as you."

"Then you just don't understand what it means to be a guy," Midoriya said while rubbing the temple of his forehead with his left hand.

Hagakure shrugged as she stated, "Guess not."

Izuku could only sigh but then asked, "So anything happen with you girls or did you go to sleep as fast as us guys did?"

The sleeves of his shirt rose as Tooru responded with, "Actually we had some visitors from class B!"

Midoriya gave a puzzled look as he asked, "Wait, what? Who?"

"Just some of the girls. Kendo-san, Shiozaki-san, and Kodai-san if I remember right. They brought us some snacks and Ashido-san was quick to invite them in. Then we just talked for a while," Hagakure explained.

Izuku then asked, "Did you girls talk about anything in particular?"

His girlfriend gave an awkward chuckle before replying with, "I know it sounds cliche but it was about boys."

"O-Oh, sorry I asked then," Izuku stated with a slight blush.

"It's fine, really. It was really pathetic anyways," Tooru argued. Her boyfriend had a look of confusion on his face from this comment. This spurred Hagakure to correct herself by explaining, "I meant the conversation, not you boys. Ashido-san started it by asking if there was anyone amongst us girls that would date any of the guys in our class. She was quick to throw the question to me and Uraraka-chan. We both assured her and everyone else that we only saw you and Ida-san, respectively, as good friends." She cleared her throat and continued by saying, "We might have had to lie about you two a bit to throw her off of us."

Midoriya sighed as he stated, "It's fine Tooru. I'm sure whatever you said was to keep up the illusion that we're not a couple. I am curious what you and Uraraka-chan said though."

The boy saw the shoulders of his T-shirt sink as the invisible teen said, "Well I said dating you would be boring. Because since you are obsessed with All Might, you'd just wanna have dates that involved doing nerd stuff about him."

Izuku chuckled as he stated, "I mean you're not wrong. Who knows what I would have chosen to do during our date if Ida-kun hadn't given me the advice he did."

Tooru responded with, "Perhaps. Uraraka-chan stated that dating Ida-san would also be a drag because it would probably just be study sessions. None of the other girls said anything else though. Which was the pathetic part of it all. Though it looked like to me Yaoyorozu-chan wanted to say something. I have no clue who she would be interested in though, do you?"

Midoriya knew exactly who the class vice president was possibly thinking about. But he lied when he said, "Maybe she wanted to defend you and Uraraka-chan's assertion that you two weren't interested in dating me and Ida-kun. But Yaoyorozu-san held back perhaps because it would come off as being too defensive about it would look more incriminating?"

Hagakure gave a grunt of approval before stating, "You know Izuku, you might be right. I hadn't thought about it that way."

Izuku then rubbed his eyes and said, "It's getting late Tooru, we should probably head back to bed before anyone else notices we aren't in there."

"You two are too late for that I'm afraid," said a deep menacing voice to their left.

Both teens stood up rapidly, and Midoriya held out his right hand for his girlfriend to grab, which she did. A tall and well-built figure then made his way slowly around the corner.

Once he made his way into the moonlight, Izuku gasped, "You're the pro hero Tiger!"

The man was wearing pajamas and was missing his signature cat helmet that the boy was used to seeing him have. Tiger's nightwear had a white background but had small cute looking tigers scattered throughout his clothing. He also had on a reddish-orange nightcap and a pair of white sandals. Seeing a well-built hero in such clothing seemed a bit ridiculous to the two teens.

A baffled Tooru asked, "Who?"

"He's another member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats! They're a four-member hero team. We only met two of them today," Midoriya explained excitedly.

Tiger coughed before saying, "While I'm glad one of you know who I am, that doesn't excuse what you two are doing out of bed."

Izuku's joy quickly turned to dread. Oh right, we're in huge trouble now, he thought.

Hagakure spoke up and asked. "Um sir, how long were you listening to us?"

"Long enough," the pro hero said. The man then leaned forward to get a better look at the one who asked the question. "My what an odd quirk you have little missy," he said in a surprised tone.

Tooru replied awkwardly with, "Thanks, sir?"

"You're welcome. But to answer your question though I approached you two once you separated from Tokoyami-san," Tiger explained.

Hagakure asked with concern in her voice, "He's not in trouble like we are, is he?"

The pajama-wearing hero shook his head before responding with, "That nightly exercise of his has been approved by your homeroom teacher. He won't be punished like you two will soon be."

Izuku gulped at those words but then asked, "But how did you know we were awake?"

The pro hero answered with, "You seem well informed about my team boy. What is Ragdoll's quirk?"

"Oh, that's Search! It allows her to observe and track up to a hundred people at once just by looking at them," Midoriya explained happily. But then he realized what she did and facepalmed. However, this sprung another question from him, "But wait we haven't seen Ragdoll today? How did she mark us?"

Tiger cleared his throat before explaining, "Ragdoll and I stayed in our lodges today, but we observed your class's arrival from inside our place. One of the main reasons Eraserhead brought you here was so you all could be monitored for your safety. She tagged all of you then as all she requires is visual contact. During the day Ragdoll has been assigned to keep track of all of you at all times. And at night she wakes up hourly to check if everyone is safe. This does put a burden on her sleep, but by now she can power through it. On the last hour, Ragdoll detected you two near Tokoyami-san. She woke me to see what you were up to. I caught sight of you three as you went your separate ways. And I arrived at this shed when you started talking about whether or not to reveal your relationship to your peers."

Izuku's face went crimson at this. He had hoped that the Tiger hadn't heard that part. Tooru then asked, "Why did you let us talk for so long before confronting us?"

"Once I got a grasp of what was being discussed I decided to let you two talk it out. I'm not so rude to interrupt a couple's quarrels. Besides you two sound quite precious together. Only when Midoriya-san declared that it was time for bed did I feel it was necessary to step in," the pro hero explained while scratching his chin.

Hagakure then cheerful replied, "Well thank you for letting us figure things out."

"While I appreciate the praise, you shouldn't be thanking me, who knows what kind of punishment Aizawa-san has for you once I explain to him what has happened tonight," the pajama-wearing hero said.

Tiger seemed like a more forgiving man, so in a desperate attempt to lessen their punishment, Midoriya asked, "Can't you just discipline us, sir?"

The pro hero wagged his index finger from his left hand as he answered with, "His students, his discipline." The man then turned his back to the teens and continued by saying, "Hagakure-san if you would please give Midoriya-san back his shirt so I can escort you both back to bed."

Tooru replied with a dull, "Yes, sir."

Izuku awoke to the feeling of exhaustion. Was it because of the sores he still had from yesterday while fighting the dirt beasts? Was it because of the late night visit from Tooru? Perhaps cause it was early? It was also only a little bit past five o'clock in the morning. Or was he simply just not used to sleeping in his new bed for the week? He did toss and turn a lot last night.

Regardless, Midoriya knew today was going to be terrible. Judging from everyone's mood that morning, no one saw his departure from the boy's lodging yesterday night. He did get a quick nod from Tokoyami in passing but that seemed to be it. What the boy honestly was dreading was what punishment was Aizawa going to give him. Would his homeroom teacher be silent or upfront to his classmates about it? Izuku feared the latter.

As Midoriya went to wash his face in the bathroom to help wake himself up, an idea formed in his noggin. After drying his hands, he pulled out his phone and started typing.

All Might: Morning, all. So whatever happens today, please keep Tooru and me being a couple a secret if you can.

A minute passed before a response came.

Lion: Dude, what did you do?

Bubbles: Is everything okay?

Blank: Are you sure about this Izuku?

All Might: It's just a precaution, but it's best it's mentioned now as if things head south then it will be hard to talk to you all later about.

Encyclopedia: So, what happened?

Glasses: If you want us to help Midoriya-kun then you should be upfront about it.

Izuku hesitated for a few moments to answer but slowly began typing. However, a new message popped up which made him stop writing his message.

Blank: I sneaked into the boy's room yesterday and dragged Izuku outside to talk with him. We needed to work out some stuff, and we did, and everything is better now. But one of the Pussycats found us, and we are expecting to be disciplined this morning by Aizawa-sensei.

A few seconds passed before Midoriya wrote a text.

All Might: Basically.

Encyclopedia: Thanks for telling us Hagakure-chan.

Lion: Jeez what a mess. You should have waited until later during our stay here Hagakure-san. I'm sure some alone time between you two could have come up at some point.

Bubbles: I'm just glad you two were able to work out whatever was bothering you.

Glasses: Hmm. Well just hope our homeroom teacher is merciful in whatever punishment he concocts for you two.

Blank: I hope it's not making us go to the remedial classes.

Lion: Oh man, that would be terrible.

Encyclopedia: Aizawa-sensei is calling us over now. It's best we all get here quickly. Good luck you two!

Glasses: Best not be late to further anger Aizawa-sensei.

Bubbles: Whatever happens I'm sure you'll get through it. You two are strong together!

Lion: Hoping for the best.

Tooru: Thanks, everyone!

All Might: Yeah, thanks. This is making feel a bit more confident about this morning.

Izuku put away his phone and sighed in relief. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, he thought. Midoriya then left the bathroom to join his classmates. When he arrived, everyone looked quite tired and mopey. His homeroom teacher was on the ground laying in his signature sleeping bag, looking more annoyed than usual. The sight still bothered the boy, but he also could already guess the source of his foul mood. The two members of the Pussycats that were absent yesterday were greeting the class while they waited for the rest of the students to show up. After a few minutes, Aizawa got out of his sleeping bag once he noticed everyone had come and dusted himself off.

"Before I go over our training regime for the week I have an announcement to make," Shota said in a serious voice. He crossed his arms as he explained, "The reason the Pussycats are helping us this week is specifically for Ragdoll's Search quirk. With her assistance, I feel I can monitor your safety efficiently despite the dangers that have come about these last few days." The homeroom teacher groaned before continuing by saying, "However that means I require you all to behave yourselves. And last night there was a break in curfew amongst two of you."

Izuku started to break into a cold sweat, and when he looked to his right, he saw Tooru start to sag her shoulders.

"Midoriya-san and Hagakure-san front and center please," Eraserhead stated bluntly.

A few gasps and whispers could be heard as the two made themselves to their teacher.

The pro hero gave the two of them a stern look before saying, "For whatever reason, these two decided to stay awake and leave their lodgings last night. Thankfully Ragdoll's quirk sensed their movement and Tiger was able to end their meet-up. The punishment for this shall be that you will clean all the dishes at dinner for the remainder of the week. And they better be spotless or you both will be joining the other students in the remedial classes."

The two responded with a dejected tone, "Yes, Aizawa-sensei."

Shota then returned his gaze to the rest of class 1-A and stated, "Let this serve as a warning to you all. We're here to better yourselves as heroes. And we are expecting the possibility of being targeted by villains this week. So please don't put your safety at risk over something as trivial as what happened last night between these two." He asked in a more quiet voice, "Now could you two step back? I would like to explain our training for this week to everyone."

Midoriya was laying on the ground, his entire body felt it was on fire.

It was mid-afternoon at this point and the quirk enhancement training was pushing him to his limits. Aizawa had earlier stated he felt his students had grown in knowledge and techniques since starting the hero course. However, their quirks hadn't changed much. This theory of his was confirmed when he asked Bakugo to demonstrate his quirk. The pro hero threw him the same ball from the strength trial on the first day of school. The explosive quirk user was happy to oblige but the results were surprising, it had only gone a few meters further than three months ago. So the focus of this week was to go back to the basics, quirk enhancement.

Tiger came over and towered over Izuku. The pro hero then said, "Giving up are we?"

The pro hero was training only power based quirk users like himself. Later, when class 1B arrived, two students joined Izuku. The first was Jurota Shishida. He was a large and tall teen that was covered in fur. He wore rectangular glasses and had large canines that jutted out from his lower jaw. The other was Sen Kaibara. He was more Midoriya's height and his only distinguishing feature was his shaggy short black hair.

Tiger would spar individually with each of them until they tired out and then would have them do intense stretches as they waited their turn to fight with the pro hero again. Fighting the only combat member of the Pussycats was unreal. In most instances, he didn't even need to use his quirk to dodge each attack that Izuku threw at him. The boy tried to push Full Cowl to 8% like when he arm wrestled with Mashirao but it only lasted for a few moments at a time. Tiger would sometimes use his quirk to counter this. His quirk, Pliabody, allowed him to stretch or flatten his body to effortless dodge his barrages.

This exercise had gone on for hours and was making Midoriya slowly question his sanity and limits of his body. He was glad however that all of his classmates were doing this type of training. It made them so occupied with the grueling exercises that none of them had approached Izuku to ask about his time with Tooru from yesterday. He hoped his girlfriend was having the same luck as he was having at the moment and wondered what kind of training she was going through. However, the thought of dinner and sleeping in his lodgings tonight was giving Midoriya a sense of dread. But that was later and currently, he was trying to focus on his aching muscles.

Izuku groaned and sat back up slowly before saying, "No, sir. Just give me a second."

"That's the spirit," the hulking hero said as he offered something to the exhausted boy. It was a bottle of water and he quickly grabbed it to take a drink. "You deserve a small break by now, enjoy it while it lasts," Tiger said in a haunting tone.

Midoriya looked around and saw no sign of the others that were being trained by the pro hero. Now curious, he asked, "Are the others on break too?"

"Shishida-san is, but Kaibara-san needs to push himself further before he's earned such a break," the hulking hero explained as he took a seat in the grass beside the boy. He then continued by saying, "You know, I feel Hagakure-san and you got off rather well considering what you did and who dealt the punishment."

Baffled at what Tiger was saying, Izuku asked, "What makes you say that?"

The pro hero started to pop his fingers and wrists as he explained, "Cleaning dishes is simple busy work and besides, you two can use the alone time while washing the dishes to stay in touch during your time here. To be honest, I think that's why Aizawa-san decided on this particular type of punishment."

Izuku pondered, Eraserhead being thoughtful to Tooru and him? That didn't sound like his homeroom teacher at all. But hearing Tiger's logic did make the boy wonder the possibility. As Midoriya thought about it harder, he drank the rest of his water. Why was this member of the Pussycats being so nice to him? Yeah, the pro hero was beating him to a pulp currently but he, even going back from last night, was being considerate of Tooru and his situation.

Tiger then spoke up which broke his train of thought, by asking, "You ready for another go Midoriya-san?"

Full of confidence despite his muscles screaming at him to stop, Izuku stood up and proclaimed, "Yes sir!"

Izuku came to dinner a bit wary of what to do.

Training was over for the day, and both classes had worked together to create enough curry for all to eat. Minoru and Denki had been nagging Izuku as he tried to help prepare the meal. He kept on telling them that Tooru was just worried about what happened to him on Thursday and just wanted to check on him if everything was okay, but they didn't seem to be buying it. Once the food was made he saw Kota walking away on his own and used it as an excuse to escape his two classmates.

Once he caught up, the exchange between him and Kota went south pretty fast. Midoriya learned that the boy not only hated heroes but quirked society itself from talking to him. He attempted to tell his own story, as a lie that it was a friend, of being quirkless yet looking up to heroes. Izuku tried to explain that rejecting everything would just be an endless cycle of pain and hatred to Kota. But the young kid was having none of it. Seeing no other way to argue his point, the teen left the plate of curry he brought and left.

Now that Midoriya was back at the complex and had grabbed a plate of food for himself, an old predicament came rearing its head back into his life.

Where was he going to sit?

During yesterday's dinner, his group of friends decided to just mingle with their classmates for once, as there really wasn't a table they could exclusively sit at. Izuku looked around to find Tooru was seated with Mashirao and Ochako on the ground on a tablecloth a bit away from the benches where the rest of the class was. His tailed friend was giving a stern look over at his classmates, and Uraraka was busy talking with Hagakure. He thought, joining them probably wouldn't be for the best.

Kaminari soon approached and said, "Hey, Midoriya-san we got plenty of room over at our table. Why not join us?"

Midoriya gave a long sigh and then replied with, "I'd rather not Kaminari-san, you're just gonna ask me with more questions about Hagakure-san."

Kaminari crossed his arms as he stated, "Well maybe if you just spilled the beans about the truth then I wouldn't have to-" He was interrupted as he started vibrating before collapsing at his feet. As he fell, Jiro was revealed to be standing behind him, holding a bowl of curry and her plug earlobes were raised to where Kaminari was standing.

Kyoka looked down at him and said, "Would you give it a rest Kaminari-san?"

Denki could only groan in response.

Jiro shook her head in disappointment before looking up and asking, "Mind joining me Midoriya-san? I'll be sure to keep riff-raff like this one from bothering you if you're okay with that."

Her offer threw Izuku off, but it seemed like the best option at the moment, and he responded with, "Sure, Jiro-san, and thanks." He followed Kyoka to a covered walkway by the lodgings. She sat down and then patted the space to her right. Midoriya hesitated a moment but took a seat by her.

Before taking a bite of his curry, as he was starving by this point, Izuku asked, "Why are you doing this for me Jiro-san?"

"Cause whatever happened last night between you and Hagakure-san is none of our business," Kyoka stated bluntly before finishing her bowl of curry. She didn't have much left to begin with. After finishing her bowl, she set it down and continued by saying, "And I guess this is my way of saying thanks for helping Koda-san the week before our finals."

Midoriya gave her a confused look as he continued eating his curry. As he tried to chew faster so he could swallow so he could respond to her, Jiro instead spoke first by saying, "Though I guess I should thank Ojiro-san as well at some point. Either way, if neither of you had come to his rescue that day, then he might have never been stable enough to help me pass the practical portion of the exam. Remedial lessons would have been the worst."

Izuku thought back to when he watched his classmates during the exam on the monitors with Recovery Girl. Koji and Kyoka were against Present Mic and from what he could tell, they were struggling early on. His voice quirk was just too much for the two to handle. Jiro's quirk was left useless, and Koda had no animals to assist him, well except insects. But his entomophobia was preventing him from using his animal voice quirk to command the bugs. It wasn't until Koji noticed that Kyoka's ears were bleeding did he do something. She was using her earphone jacks to cancel out as much as Present Mic's quirk as she could. It motivated the animal speaker to command the surrounding insects to subdue their opponent. And since they traveled through the ground to confront the pro hero, the one weakness of his quirk, they were able to pass as the bugs subdued Present Mic.

Izuku swallowed his food before saying, "It is nice to see Koda-san coming out of his shell since I've met him." He had observed Koji make good progress the last two days.

Yesterday Midoriya saw Koda immediately try and use his quirk to calm the dirt beasts, even if it failed as they weren't actually animals. For him to speak in front of the rest of his classmates must have been a big step forward for him. And then there was Koji's training today. It startled Izuku to hear the large teen's voice from across the training grounds. He thought Koda was in trouble and was about to leave until Tiger stopped him explaining the situation. The pro hero stated that the large teen's quirk could use some range to it, and it was decided the best course of action was for him to yell repetitively to get used to speaking louder.

"To be honest, it was easy to forget his existence in our class at the start for me. But you're right, Koda-san is changing for the better," Jiro said. She then put a finger around one of her earphone jacks and twirled it a bit before asking, "Speaking of which, do you mind if I ask you some questions about Koda-san?"

The girl's inquiry seemed misplaced to Izuku, as Mashirao knew Koji better than he did. But then again, he thought, Kyoka wouldn't know that. Despite his hunger, the boy placed his bowl of curry to his side before saying, "I'll try to answer the best I can, but no promises."

Jiro crossed her arms as she said, "Fine by me, as I got no clue what to do next so I'll take any advice that I can." She then sighed before continuing by explaining, "I've been trying to help Koda-san with his anxiety issues, but haven't had much success. He thanked me after our exam for motivating him to act against Present Mic-sensei. It surprised me to hear him speak during the practical, and even more so afterward. I mean I wouldn't have passed if it wasn't for him and yet he is thanking me? So I wanted to pay him back somehow. Talking to him since hasn't helped though, he just shuts down and leaves within seconds."

Midoriya placed a hand on his chin as he said, "Koda-san has always been very shy from what I've been told. And he usually only tries to interact with people that animal-related quirks. And well, you're quirk isn't like that. Plus you're a girl." He felt the last part might have come off as a bit blunt, but it needed to be said. Izuku then continued by saying, "If you've been trying to talk with Koda-san since our exam then it's way too soon to give up just yet Jiro-san. Progress is going to be slow and it's going to take more than just a week with him to make any headway."

Kyoka groaned and then responded with, "I know, but when will I know I'm making any progress?"

Izuku thought for a bit before he explained, "Well, first of all, if he stays longer to listen to whatever you have to say would show if you are making a breakthrough. Maybe start off with simple stuff instead of just trying to have a full-blown discussion, that might feel less intimidating for him."

Jiro then said, "Good idea. Have you noticed anything else about Koda-san as you became friends with him?"

"Well when he first spoke to me, the vocabulary he used was quite, expansive," Izuku replied.

Kyoka pointed upwards with an index finger from her right hand as she stated, "Oh, so he does that often? I thought it was just something he was doing in front of me."

Midoriya nodded as he responded with, "It's a habit of his. But once he becomes more comfortable with you his speech becomes more normal."

Jiro then looked to go deep in thought at these words. With her occupied, Izuku grabbed his bowl of curry again and began eating. As he ate, he started to think back to the day on the roof when he and Mashirao helped Koji. The boy remembered the thought of wanting to help the large teen with his social problems. In the end, it seemed Kyoka was more assertive than he was in this fact. This got Midoriya to give a short chuckle after swallowing some food.

This seemed to annoy Jiro, and she then asked, "What's so funny?"

Midoriya put down his spoon in the bowl of curry and put up his free hand defensively before stating, "Sorry, it's just that what you are doing is kind of what I planned to do for Koda-san."

"And what made you want to help him? And don't say it's just because you two are friends," Kyoka said while pointing at the boy.

Izuku explained, "Well, he reminds me of myself before I came to this school. I mean Koda-san has it a lot worse than I did, but I still feel I could relate to his troubles. Plus he's a friend of Ojiro-kun from their previous school. With all that in mind, it just felt right to want to help him, like you do."

The boy's explanation seemed to calm Jiro. She then stated, "I guess I can see that. But then again you've come a long way because of Hagakure-san."

Her words got a soft groan from Midroiya. She was right, but he hoped to avoid talking about her if possible.

Kyoka then asked, "Hey now, I don't care about whatever business happened between you and her yesterday night. But you can't deny being friends with her has helped right?"

Izuku looked down at his curry for a few moments but eventually gave nod.

Jiro then said, "Good. Anyways it looks like everyone is finishing up out there. You probably should join Hagakure-san to start cleaning things up. Later." She then grabbed her bowl and got up to leave.

However, before she left Midoriya asked, "Wait, Jiro-san. How did you figure me and Koda-san were friends?"

"Oh, that's easy. The only time Koda-san stayed around to hear what I had to say was when I talked about you. I just mentioned the fact I was surprised you and Bakugo-san were able to work together and pass against All Might-sensei. I mean, Koda-san didn't say anything, but I did get a nod from him," Jiro replied. She then took her leave.

Izuku sat there for a few more moments until he saw his homeroom teacher start to make his way towards his direction with a scowl on his face. The boy scarfed the rest of his food and went over to the angered Eraserhead.

Midoriya had cleaned dishes with his mom for many years. Ever since he could reach the sink, he's tried to help Inko. But washing the aftermath of a dinner for almost fifty people was something he wasn't ready for. It didn't help that Hagakure didn't seem to be the best at it.

The two were inside the Pussycat's lodging, and it was a shared living. The pro heroes had their respective rooms, two on the first floor, and two on the second. And on the first floor they had the living room with a kitchen. Since they were away from their classmates and the adults were in their rooms, the two had the privacy to talk to each other. Maybe this was Aizawa's plan all along like Tiger suggested, Midoriya thought.

"I bet this is happening to me because of all the karma for me never helping my mom with dishes," Tooru complained as she struggled to clean a pan that had burnt food particles at the bottom.

Izuku then asked, "Do you just want me to do that pan Tooru?"

"I might as well get the practice in now; we got to do this for another five days. And I'd rather not have you do all the hard work, I'm the reason we are even doing this," Tooru said with a long sigh.

Midoriya was quick to argue, "But I agreed to go with you Tooru. And besides, I should have remembered about Ragdoll's Search quirk. So I think I share equal blame here."

"If you say so Izuku," Hagakure stated as if she felt it was still mostly her fault.

After completing some more plates, Midoriya asked, "So how has your training been?"

"Terrible," Tooru said bluntly. She dropped a plate into the drying rack with a clank before explaining, "First, Ragdoll had me spar with her. And since she can sense me even if I'm completely invisible it was a total shutout. I've never had any real combat training minus learning to dodge. Then there was this diabolical obstacle course she made me do. It had me bending in ways I never knew my body could do and had leaking paint everywhere that kept me on my toes at all times. Ragdoll would make me go through it as fast as possible with getting as little paint on me as possible. And of course, I was a slippery mess. Thank the stars she let me shower before coming to dinner."

The pro hero's training regimen for his girlfriend made sense to Izuku. Her quirk was constant; there was nothing more to do with it to strengthen it. There was that light technique that he observed from her father, but he was sure Tooru didn't want to focus on that right now. Considering that, Midoriya was glad that Ragdoll was sparring with her. If there ever were a time Hagakure faced someone with a quirk that could track her, then she would benefit from learning how to fight.

Izuku was a bit curious about how it might have looked like to see his girlfriend have paint on her. He wondered if she ever did something similar to know, at the very least, what her body shape looked like.

"Izuku I think that plate is plenty clean by now," Hagakure said in a worried voice. He looked down and noticed he was still holding the same dish that he had been washing when Tooru explained her training for the day.

"Sorry I got lost in thought again," Izuku apologized as he put the plate on the drying rack.

Curiously, Tooru asked, "You thinking about our classmates suspecting us being a couple?"

Midoriya lied by saying, "Y-Yeah, today was a bit more s-stressful because of all the questions. Though I guess I'm lucky only Mineta-san and Kaminari-san are bothering me about it so far."

"Yeah, Ashido-san has been the same for me. Asui-san, I mean Tsuyu-chan, has just been giving me stares all day. I think she wants to ask about it but is holding back, which means a lot when you consider how she is usually very forthcoming about what is on her mind," Hagakure explained.

Midoriya grabbed more dish soap and applied it to his sponge before stating, "I saw you with Ojiro-kun and Uraraka-chan at dinner. What was that about?"

Tooru took her hands out of the sink she was working in and started shaking her hands to get the water off. She was wearing gloves, and so was Izuku, but she had water droplets and soap on her wrists still, which gave a faint outline of her arms. Hagakure then leaned against the counter and answered with, "It was Uraraka-chan's idea. She saw me leave the bathroom after my shower and asked if I would be okay with sitting with her on a tablecloth she brought. That way I could be away from everyone else during dinner. Ojiro-san saw what was going on and came over to help keep the boys away if need be."

Hagakure then walked over and brought a glove up to poke her boyfriend in the shoulder and asked, "I saw you walk over with Jiro-san. What was that about?"

Izuku was glad her question sounded of being intrigued, and not of anger. He then explained why Kyoka had asked him over and what they discussed.

Tooru seemed quite engrossed as he described what happened. She then cheerfully said, "Well, that's nice that you both want to help Koda-san. If you need any help I'd be happy to assist."

Midoriya wasn't sure how his girlfriend could be helpful in this, but he replied with, "Thanks, Tooru."

Hagakure then returned to her busy work, and the two remained silent for a few minutes until she asked, "So do you think we can keep our secret for the rest of the trip?"

"We have to try at least," Izuku answered with a sigh.

"Yeah I know, but you already know my position on this whole deal," Tooru said in a slightly annoyed tone.

Midoriya brought his hands out of the sink defensively and responded with, "I'm sorry, but I just wanna reveal it a later time if we can."

Hagakure brought her hands out of the sink as well. She then intertwined her fingers with his and stated, "It's fine Izuku, at least I have a date to look forward to for us to be open with our class about us now."

"Thanks for understanding Tooru," Izuku said as he removed his hands from hers and hugged her. This surprised the girl, but she returned his embrace. He then said, "Sorry I'm being so stubborn about this."

"I'd rather you be truthful about how you feel then let me steamroll over you with my views Izuku," Tooru said softly in his ear.

A voice brought both of them to look in the direction as it said, "Oh you two really are quite precious." It was Tiger; the top of his head was peering over the couch in the living room. Just as the night before he looked to be wearing his tiger pajamas.

Hagakure awkwardly responded with, "Oh hello there sir. I'm guessing you've been eavesdropping on Izuku and me since the beginning again?"

The pro hero brought up his two index fingers and poked them together a few times before stating, "Yes and no."

Midoriya gave him a baffled look as they separated from their hug.

Tiger then coughed before saying, "I mean yes I've been here for quite some time, but I'm not alone."

The other members of the Pussycats came out from the behind of the couch with guilty looks on their faces.

Midoriya was quite close to fainting from the embarrassment of it all. While the hero team happily approached the two, he then dreaded what would happen tonight in the boys lodging. Tonight's hell had just begun.

Izuku was in the boy's bathroom staring at his reflection in the mirror. He and Tooru had finished the dishes just minutes before. After the Pussycats stopped teasing him and his girlfriend, he explained what his training regime was as they did the last of the cleaning. They had to get the all-clear by their homeroom teacher before they could go to their cabins for the night. Midoriya had taken a detour to the bathroom to calm his nerves before heading to the boy's lodgings. As he stood there, he thought that at the very least Ida and Ojiro would be there to help him if it got rough.

Izuku then noticed the door open and Fumikage head poke into the bathroom. "There you are Midoriya-san," he said in relief. He stepped in and closed the door behind him before stating, "Some of the guys are getting restless that you still haven't returned."

"Yeah, I figured," Midoriya said in a groan.

"You might as well get over there now and just to get it over with," Tokoyami suggested.

With a sigh, Izuku nodded and replied with, "You're right. Staying here any longer isn't going to help."

Fumikage gave a thumbs up as he said, "Good luck."

Midoriya gave a shaky thumbs up as well, which got a small grin from the bird-headed student. They both then left the bathroom and made their way to the boy's lodging. It was loud even from outside the door. Which didn't help Izuku's thoughts on the situation, but he opened the door regardless. His entrance made the room go silent as all heads turned towards him.

Kaminari broke the silence by saying, "Finally, I started to think you were gonna run away with Hagakure-san or something."

"No just cleaning pots, dishes, and silverware for everyone here takes a while," Midoriya explained as he walked on over to his futon.

Mineta walked on over to Tokoyami and asked, "Where did you find Midoriya-san?"

"Bathroom stall," Fumikage replied bluntly. He then walked away from the short teen as not the be bothered.

Izuku looked around to see no sign of Tenya, and his anxiety started to skyrocket. Mashirao approached him and said, "Ida-kun isn't here right now I'm afraid."

Midoriya asked quickly, "Why?"

"He mentioned having a meeting tonight with the class reps from 1B to plan something fun for us to do tomorrow evening just after dinner," Ojiro explained.

Izuku groaned as he laid his head on his pillow. He thought, maybe if he just tried to go to sleep early then he could just ignore the others. But he then saw both Denki and Minoru walk over and sit by his side.

Mashirao then walked over and stood in-between the two and his friend. "Come on guys, let Midoriya-kun sleep. It's been a long day for all of us."

"Not until you tell us more about what happened last night," Mineta demanded.

Midoriya sat up on his futon and said dryly, "I already told you Hagakure-san was still upset about what happened Thursday and wanted to talk about it."

"And that part we believe Midoriya-san, but we both think you are more than just good friends we with her," Kaminari explained.

"To be honest I agree with them too," said Sero from the other side of the room. He then got up to join the others.

Kirishima walked into view and said, "Yeah something fishy is going on between you two."

"Excusez-moi, but I also feel there is a strong bond between Midoriya-san and Hagakure-san," Aoyoma said as he entered Midoriya's field of vision while in an odd pose.

Izuku started to break out into a cold sweat at this point. He looked around to see if anyone else was about to join in. Katsuki had his back turned away from everyone as he laid on his side. Shoto was busy reading a book. Fumikage had his eyes closed and was leaning on the back wall with Koji at his side. The large teen had a concerned look on his face but was also clasping his throat with one hand. Izuku guessed all the yelling had left him with a sore throat. Mezo was making his futon. Rikido looked somewhat interested in what was going on as he sat legs crossed on his futon observing the carnage.

Mashirao grunted then spoke up by asking, "And why would it matter if there was?"

Midoriya froze at the statement. He thought, what was his tailed friend doing?

Mineta went on a rant as he said, "Cause of all of us to get a girl in our class, it being Midoriya-san is blowing my mind if it was true. I mean no offense but the guy was a bumbling mess when he first came to our school. I mean yeah he's changed a bit since then but to have a girlfriend before any of us? That's crazy!"

Ojiro rubbed his temple as he replied with, "That's such a stupid reason."

"Come on man, you should be bragging about it if she is your girlfriend. I know I would," Kaminari stated proudly.

Midoriya covered himself with his blanket as he asked, "Can you guys just leave me alone already."

Mashirao then asked everyone in front of him, "Are you guys really gonna drag this out for our entire school trip?"

"Hell yeah," Mineta said with a fierce yell.

"I just gotta know," Kaminari said as he clasped his hands together as if praying.

"I'm too curious to let this go," Sero said as he placed a hand on his chin.

"Agreed Sero-san," Kirishima stated with a nod.

"I just have a burning desire to see this through," Aoyoma said as he wrapped his arms around himself.

Bakugo could he heard growling from the other side of the room, which some of the boys looked over to see.

Ojiro, on the other hand, looked down at his friend still wrapped around in his blanket and gave a long sigh. He then said, "Sorry Izuku but this is for your own good."

Midoriya only wrapped himself tighter into a ball when he heard this.

The tailed teen said angrily through his teeth, "Fine then, Midoriya-kun and Hagakure-san have been a couple for a while, you happy?"

A few seconds of silence passed before Hanta asked, "Um, shouldn't Midoriya-san be the one to tell us?"

Mashirao pointed downwards at the ball of a blanket as he answered, "He's obviously not in a state to say such a thing, so I said it to just get this whole charade over with. Five more days of this nonsense would have been too much for him if you include this intense quirk enhancement training we are doing."

Denki stood up and asked, "Wait, you said for a while. How long is a while?"

"I'm not answering any more questions. You got what you wanted now back off," Ojiro stated before kneeling down in front of Midoriya. He then said, "Sorry to have to say it for you but I think it's for the best."

Izuku slowly popped his head out from the blankets. His face was red, and he was holding back tears, but he said, "It's o-okay, at l-least it's b-been done. T-Tooru wanted e-everyone to k-know anyways."

Minoru then brought himself beside the tailed teen and proclaimed, "But I have so many questions! Like what's it like to date an invisible chick? What's kissing her like? Does she enjoy voyeurism? DOES SHE ACTUALLY HAVE FLOATING PANTIES!?"

Mashirao raised his tail and glared at the fresh-picked hero as he stated, "I said no more questions. We clear."

The short teen gave a soft grunt and slinked away.

The other boys that were curious about Izuku's relationship with Tooru were gossiping away about if they noticed any early signs of this new development.

Izuku did his best to drown it out, but something did get his attention as Denki went over to speak with Katsuki.

"Hey Bakugo-san, I thought you'd be at least a bit more interested in Midoriya-san being Hagakure-san's boyfriend."

In a low hiss Bakugo responded with, "And why the fuck would I care who Deku is swapping spit with."

"Don't you want to be number one in everything? I mean he got a girlfriend before any of us," Kaminari said with a shrug.

Katsuki stood up and made a fist as he yelled, "I only want to be number one hero you brain-dead bastard. I don't need some bitch weighing me down." He then laid down and pulled his blanket over him and continued giving off a low growl.

Bakugo's response seemed, expected, Midoriya thought. What was he working himself so much about in wondering how he would react?

The door suddenly was opened by Ida. He looked around to see a couple of the boys huddled together, Ojiro standing over Midoriya who was rolled up into his blanket like he was in a cocoon, and Bakugo cursing under his breath at the other side of the room. He adjusted his glasses before saying, "Okay something happened. Somebody better fess up."

Kaminari made his way over to his class president and asked, "Hey Ida-san, did you know Hagakure-san is Midoriya-san's girlfriend?"

Tenya slowly brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose as he gave a long and drawn out sigh.

Tiger was effortlessly dodging Izuku's barrage of punches under the blaze of the afternoon sun. The boy collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, but Full Cowl remained activated for a few seconds before dissipating.

"This is good, you're maintaining it longer, even if it's just for a few more seconds," the pro hero stated as he picked up the boy to his feet.

Training had been going a bit different today. Yesterday was just a gauge of what his limit was, today Tiger wanted him to refine Full Cowl. He knew of Midoriya's desire to try and push 8% Full Cowl to be usable, but instead, he wanted his student to focus on maintain 5% for longer periods.

Izuku recalled what the pro hero said at the start of training for the day.

"If you work on your base then your ceiling will be that much stronger!"

As the hulking hero dusted off the boy, he stated, "You've made good progress today Midoriya-san, but I feel that something is off about you. Is everything okay?"

"Just a lot happened last night, sir," Izuku huffed.

Tiger poked his chin with his index finger as he said, "Oh is that about what my teammates and I did while you and your girlfriend were cleaning the dishes? Sorry if that was embarrassing for you both, but I just had to show the girls how you two were together."

"No, it was after that," the green haired boy said after shaking his head.

Now, even more, intrigued, the pro hero asked another question, "Mind telling me what it was?"

"Well, the rest of my class knows about T-Tooru and me now," Midoriya said as he hung his head.

Tiger crossed his arms as he stated, "I see. Then I guess it wasn't done willingly based on your tone."

Izuku wasn't angry at Mashirao, in the end, it did diffuse the situation that night since Tenya wasn't around to maybe stave off the guys' relentless questions. It didn't stop him from feeling flustered about the whole situation, however. Midoriya then replied back, "Yeah but I think it will work out. You heard Tooru both times; she wanted to be open about our relationship."

Speaking of her, the girls didn't find out until this morning. The guys spread the word as the students met up in the morning. Mina and Tsuyu were quick to congratulate Izuku, and the former apologized for bothering him and Tooru with questions about them. Kyoka just gave a nod as she passed by. Tooru while happy about it all, couldn't figure out if she should thank Mashirao or chide him for revealing their relationship at first. In the end, she gave Ojiro a quick hug and thanked him. The chatter was then ended quickly by their homeroom teacher growing annoyed with the increased volume of his students.

"Hey, Midoriya-san if there's anything you want to ask about hero work during our breaks together I'd be happy to answer your questions," the pro hero said while tossing a water bottle to the boy.

Midoriya spent a minute drinking his water to think up of a question to ask, and just as he finished his bottle an idea popped into his head. He placed his empty bottle down before asking, "Can you tell me how the Wild, Wild Pussycats started?"

Tiger gave a thumbs up as he answered with, "Sure thing." He then sat down before explaining with, "Our team has been friends since our hero academy days. It took us a bit, but a year after graduating, we formed our unit. The whole idea was Mandalay's, so we made her our leader. I spent some time in Thailand in our early days but other than that we've been together for over a decade now. I might be the only actual combat member of our team, but we specialize in mountain rescues anyhow. Again that decision was Mandalay's doing. I actually rather enjoy this take on my hero career, as I get to help people more directly and it's less dangerous for my team and me. Not to say I wouldn't give my life at a moment's notice for them, but I can't deny I like the low-risk, for my teammates at least, rescue mission we usually partake in."

By this point, Izuku had taken a seat in front of the pro hero and then asked, "So what's it like to be a part of a team like yours?"

"Different than most," the hulking hero replied. He then crossed his arms before explaining further with, "Hopefully you've already noticed by now that hero teams are uncommon. Solo careers are the popular direction most heroes take once they get their footing in the industry. Even then, most heroes teams have a leader who is much more powerful or popular than his comrades, who are usually inexperienced, interns, or just support quirked heroes. That leader gets almost all the fame and glory that come with the job. And that's fine and all, everyone's got different ideas and goals on what they want to do as a hero. But I like the idea of all of us being equals. Mandalay might be our leader, but we all share our salary and credit for everything. It's a nice feeling I guess. Though because we are so close, the thought of one of us getting injured or, worse is a much larger concern in our type of team. It's one thing to lose a partner; it's another to lose family." Tiger gave a somber face after finishing but quickly shook his head before asked, "Why did you ask me this Midoriya-san?"

Midoriya responded with, "Well our hero course at U.A. hasn't gone into the specifics of hero teams yet. So I thought who better to ask than a member of a pro hero team that has been in the business for as long as you have sir."

"I'm flattered," Tiger said with a grin. He then got up and continued by saying, "Well I do believe I should go check up on those two boys from 1B. Just rest a bit here until I return, then we'll return to the pain." The hulking hero gave a wink before making his leave.

Midoriya was glad that Tiger was his trainer for the week, as he was strong and quite knowledgeable. But it did make him wonder, would he ever get to train with All Might like this again? The two had only had brief interactions since his ten months long training with the pro hero before the entrance exams. As grueling as it was, Izuku missed those days he spent with his mentor. Maybe when he returned to school after the summer break, he would ask if he could have private lessons with the number one hero. The boy quickly got up and started stretching. Midoriya knew the pro hero had asked him to rest, but he wanted to push himself to improve Full Cowl so he could impress All Might of his progress when he got back.

Another dinner meant another night of Izuku and Tooru cleaning the aftermath. Today the food was stew which thankfully meant a bit less cleaning needed to be done. The two had mostly remained silent as there was so much to do, and because they were afraid to be listened in on by the Pussycats. However, as they finished cleaning all the bowls, Ragdoll came out of her room to grab something from the fridge and swore that her teammates wouldn't bother the two today.

After the pro hero left, Tooru asked, "So how did the guys take the news?"

Izuku explained the events that lead up to the reveal and then up to Tenya's arrival. After the class president had been told by Mashirao what happened, he figured saying anything more on the matter to his currently wrapped in a blanket friend wouldn't help. Instead, he went over to lay in on Minoru and Denki for pestering Izuku. Once things had calmed down, the five that approached Midoriya congratulated him on his relationship. The dynamic duo also apologized, tho in Mineta's there was a hint of jealousy. After that, it was lights out and the long day finally ended for them all.

After Midoriya finished his explanation, Hagakure then asked another question, "I know Ashido-san is gonna ask about this, so it okay if I talk about our dates and stuff with her tonight?"

"Go ahead, I mean if you are comfortable with it I don't see why not," Izuku responded as he dropped another pile of spoons into the sink.

Tooru then cheerfully stated, "Okay thanks. I just wanted to be sure. I wonder if this will be as fun as when I told Uraraka-chan and Yaoyorozu-chan during our sleepover." She then continued by saying, "Sorry that your plan to reveal us after the summer break fell apart the same day you made the promise to me."

Midoriya sighed before saying, "It's fine. At least we can just try and focus on our training for now."

Hagakure then asked, "You're not worried about the guys pestering you anymore?"

"I think at this point as long as I have Ojiro-kun and Ida-kun with me they can strive off the guys for the week. I'll deal with the rest of it myself when I get back to school," Midoriya replied as he placed a couple of spoons on the drying rack.

Hagakure then teased, "So no telling the dudes how our dates went then?"

Izuku bluntly answered with, "Nope." This got a chuckle from his girlfriend, but he didn't join in as he was quite serious. He was quite alright with just Mashirao and Tenya being the only ones to know. Telling the others was just not going to happen anytime soon, if at all.

The two finished their second time of punishment hastily. Tonight there was going to be something special, that the class presidents had thought up for fun. The two were eager to see what it was as the Pussycats came to inspect and okay their handiwork. The hero team then left but not before reminding them to go outside and participate once they finished.

As they were drying off, Tooru asked, "Hey Izuku did you ever figure out what you wanted to do for your birthday?"

Izuku froze, he totally forgot about that. It was going to happen just after the trip was over. Between being held hostage and this training, he hadn't been able to brainstorm of what to do.

The boy's reaction told his girlfriend everything she needed to know. She then asked another question, "Might I offer a suggestion?"

"Go ahead," Midoriya said rapidly.

Hagakure then replied slowly with, "If you remember back to our trip to the beach during my birthday, I said I wanted for us to go there again. Why not go there to celebrate your birthday?"

The boy's brain halted for a second before slowly going what was happening. The beach. As in swimsuits. As in Tooru in a swimsuit. On his birthday as well? It sounded like a match made in heaven. Izuku could already feel his cheeks becoming hot from the oncoming blush, but he replied with, "That s-sounds like a w-wonderful idea T-Tooru." Even he couldn't deny wanting to see his girlfriend in a swimsuit.

In a worried tone, Tooru stated, "You sure? I mean if the image of me in a swimsuit is too-,"

Izuku interrupted her and said with more confidence, "It's fine Tooru. I want to go to the beach with you!"

"Alright then, glad that's settled. Now let's go see what Ida-san and the rest of the student council have cooked up for us," Hagakure said as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand and pulled him outside the pro hero's lodging.

As the two made their way to forward, Izuku had a smile on his face, and thought, I hope the rest of the trip works out for all of us.

So yes, their relationship is now known to everyone. Keeping it a secret for longer would have gotten tiresome (and unrealistic, they were able to keep it under wraps for about four weeks and any while longer would have felt off), plus I felt doing it here would give reason to have scenes at all at this point in the story. It got me an opportunity to use a lot of characters from class 1-A though, which have been mostly absent in this fic. It is a struggle to juggle them all, so I might as well give the major stuff to the minor characters (Fumikage, Kyoka, and Koji by mention). We already have a good idea of what the major characters are like because of their significant presence in the manga, so why not expand on ones that have little screen time?

I wanted to add on to the scene between Izuku and All Might as to continue my take on the pro hero's interest in his successor's well being outside hero work. The guy is a father figure to Midoriya; it makes sense he would want an update on how things are progressing with Tooru. Plus it's fun to have the two talk about things besides schoolwork or heroics (minus Izuku asking about how he did on the exam, which just was used as a way to summarize it).

Tooru's late nightly visit was also fun to write, as I haven't done her sneaking in to spend time with Izuku since chapter four. I felt it was best to have Tiger confront them because he would be the one training with Midoriya, which gave me more of a reason for the two to interact the way they did during those two break scenes of theirs. It also was a catalyst to use Fumikage and Kyoka (and Koji again by mention). It somewhat foreshadows Tokoyami's rampage in the forest battle, and I've wanted to use him for some time. Jiro was used to build on Koda's development since the final exam but also because I could see her finding her classmates hounding on Izuku as getting on her nerves.

Deciding on the reveal had me at three options: predictable, unpredictable, and random. Tooru felt too predictable as the one to say it, but if I had chosen that choice she would have said it in the girl's lodging, and Mina would have spread the word the next morning. Izuku was the second option, but I didn't think he would be ready to speak about it to all the guys, so I scrapped it. The random choice is what I chose (thanks to some advice from Random Useless Info on FF.net), and it was of course Mashirao. Seeing Midoriya stressing out over it I felt would have made Ojiro want to do the "taking off a band-aid" scenario. Might as well rip the band-aid off quickly and deal with the pain but have it be over with versus the more extended option of slowly peeling it back. Mashirao probably wouldn't have considered the possibility if Tenya was there, hence why I came up with a reason to why he was absent.

And yes I know, there are a lot of scenes in this chapter (10 total). But I wanted to cover most of the school trip as possible in one chapter. I could have made this a two-parter, probably splitting either after Tooru's nightly visit or after Aizawa dealing out the punishment. But again I wanted to resolve the hidden relationship hook this chapter brought, as I felt if I extended it out it would have been a tedious drag to you readers.

The next chapter will be a doozy comparatively for the pairing to this chapter. Sixteen will cover summaries of the forest battle and hideout arc, and will mostly involve alterations to two scenes that will be between and after these events respectively. 

And before I go I must say posting on Wattpad has been interesting as now I have more views here than on Ao3 (7k vs. 6.1k, which is still nothing compared to my FF.net views at 156k). However, this was posted here nearly 3 months later than Ao3 (6 months compared to FF.net). One reason might be that I uploaded everything at once (at the time I only had 9 chapters). Or maybe fics don't get as easily buried here. Who knows. ;p