Note: this chapter (probably) includes an image, which can only be shown on the Ao3 version of this fic. Sorry about that!
Izumi holds the last orange slice between her teeth, pulling off the rind in a clean piece and tossing it (along with a few other bits of garbage they've stockpiled over the past few days) into the nearby trashcan, making sure the recyclable waste goes in the corresponding section. With a flick of the head, the slice falls perfectly into place.
Namely, into her mouth.
She brushes the water from her hair, grinning through a mouthful of pulp. Ironic how it's been sunny for the past week, yet just when they finally have a genuine reason to be happy is when the storms finally set in. They didn't realise until now just how uncomfortably warm it's been!
They could probably stay under this bus shelter until the weather dies down. They probably should. They don't have the best quirk in the world just so they can not use it, though! With little more than a thought, she's changed into the perfect wet-weather outfit: pink, green and black windbreaker, black shorts, and some matching green rain boots.
Okay, maybe the shorts are a bad idea. It's the middle of summer though, and it's not like she can't just change into pants if she starts to feel the cold.
She wonders again how people can possibly manage their lives without this kind of convenience. What Izuku carries around every day would barely fit into a suitcase, let alone a rucksack. And that's not even mentioning all the things they've been carrying around since the exams...
They'll have to test if storing too much at once causes their brain to short-circuit more easily - after the headache they got in Nedzu's office with just a few shifts (albeit including their unpracticed teleportation-shift), that seems pretty likely. She pulls out Notebook No. 0 and jots that down for later, humming as she spots a spelling error and corrects that too.
She puts the book and pen away with a flourish. She thinks they've earned a day off training; now's the time to have fun!
Yes, she's putting off the meeting with Kacchan. He can wait a few hours.
Jerk.
Okay, so she ended up training anyway. Force of habit. At this point it'd be more effort not to train.
That's fine, as long as she's having fun. Which she is.
Besides, usually training has a distinct goal in mind. This is more of a nebulous, whimsical approach, which is usually less lucrative unless they're in a very particular mood, but at the same time is infinitely more fun.
So far she's split sticks in half lengthways and width-ways; separated the bark of a twig from the rest of it; stored a branch from two centimeters away (not exactly useful in a fight, but someday they could probably steal weapons straight out of enemies' hands); fashioned a big branch into a cane (the grain of the wood makes it difficult to visualise splitting it, so the detail is less fine and more chisel-tipped than she'd hoped). She even does a few things that don't relate to sticks, like tree-climbing!
Oh, wait.
Tree-climbing's fun. Better yet, it's good for finding a dry place to sit. Where benches fail, nature prevails.
...Why are benches never made under shelter, anyway?
She pulls out their phone from storage, and immediately it pings; apparently it doesn't have internet service while it's in there, which makes sense and is something they really should've thought about earlier. Maybe they should carry it on their person(s), but that would mean fiddling around with it whenever they change forms...
They'll think on it.
10 days ago
Froppy: How do you think you did?
Froppy (edited): I'm pretty sure I passed
Froppy: The robots weren't very strong, they broke when I threw them at each other
Froppy tried to poke you, but you were offline.
8 days ago
Froppy: I'm getting worried. Message me when you see this, alright?
3 days ago
Froppy tried to poke you, but you were offline.
Aw, crud. Now that she thinks about it, she vaguely remembers getting a message right as they got home on the day of the exam. They must have stored the phone out of habit and forgotten about it.
Froppy must be worried sick!
She rubs the rain droplets from the screen and hastily types out a message.
Tsu has been waiting for this moment her whole life.
Sure, she can function just fine under the hot, dry summer sun. For the most part at least. It's a similar level of discomfort to the average person walking around in heavy rain, she thinks. Inconvenient, grating, but not exactly deadly as long as she's careful.
The exams did not help.
But now... rain! Lifeblood of frogs everywhere! A glorious day of greys and greens and climbing trees awaits! She can't help but ribbit in anticipation.
Her parents have even taken today off work - one of mom's friends has a forecast quirk, so they've set up plans to spend this lovely day with Sami and Satsu. She loves them all, she really does, but it'll be nice to finally have some time to herself, without having to worry about some responsibility or other.
She starts out simple: jump onto tree, jump off tree. No point getting hurt and wasting the rest of day in a heap on the floor.
On tree, off tree.
On tree, next tree, off tree.
Soon enough she forgoes the ground entirely. Tree to tree to tree. Occasionally the forest wears thin and she vaults over a bush or kicks off a nearby fence or building.
...Whoops! She didn't put enough force into that one. She's not too stubborn to take a loss when she's going to land badly, so she carefully lets herself lose balance and fall, rolling to a stop with just a slight strain in the shoulder to show for it.
Instead of dwelling on the misstep, she plans her next attempt. The tree closest would absorb all the force in her jump - she's learned the hard way the importance of a sturdy platform - so should she use that one over to the left?
Half of the trunk has been reduced to ash somehow - a quirk, maybe. Looks like one good kick would do it in.
The one on the right then. She crouches and leaps, (literally) shrugging off her shoulder's complaints but logging them in the back of her mind for later.
A ping rings out before she lands, and she fumbles a little. What's that?
...No, seriously, what-
Ah. Half-Might must have finally replied!
She sticks to the trunk and crawls hurriedly upward to nestle into the crook. What could have kept them from replying so long? They usually reply within a day, but it's been over a week and she's just now hearing (well, seeing, but same difference) from them. Something must be up, right?
A moment ago
Half-Might: I'm so sorry! I thought I failed when I got the first message so I wasn't really ready to discuss it, and I guess my phone died after that and I forgot about it ('°A°)
She ribbits in amusement. Even through messages they get their nervous personality across, to the point where it's endearing.
Froppy: You passed, then?
Half-Might: Sort of...?
Sort of? What's that supposed to mean? You know if I don't see you at UA I'll have to- she deletes the half-written sentence when he clarifies.
Half-Might: I passed the practical, but I overused my quirk which affected my brain, so I failed the written
Half-Might: Principal called me in to offer me a recommendation, but the exams for that passed so I'm getting assessed on the Sports Festival instead, with a temp spot until then
Half-Might: Plus I have to do another written test, ugh
Half-Might: Even brain-dead I still almost passed, being fully conscious feels almost like cheating Orz
They don't seem too worried about it at least.
Froppy: It's a bit funny how you were so worried about the practical, but it was the written exam that you failed
Froppy: How many points did you get? I got 25 villain points and 30 rescue, 55 total
She's quite proud of that. She has always wanted to be a rescue hero, and her hero points were solidly above average, even when she was focussed on earning villain points. Yes, her villain score was lacklustre, but that's something she can improve on in the future, now that she's made it to UA.
Half-Might: Yeah it was aI got 139 in total, 62 rescue
She blinks, then rolls her eyes fondly as Half-Might hastily edits out the first part. Of course they'd be worried and then wind up as Midoriya Izuku, highest practical score in the history of UA. And of course they wouldn't even think to mention it.
She works out their villain score in her head.
Froppy: 77 villain points?
Half-Might: I guess that means I got 77 villain points
Half-Might: Yeah
Half-Might: I forgot so I had to work it out
Froppy: :)~
Half-Might: (\_/)
Half-Might: (○・w・○)
Emoticons usually halt the conversation, so she waits a few moments for 'Half-Might is typing' to appear, and happily pockets the phone when it doesn't.
Still, she doesn't feel like jumping around again right after sitting down for so long. Maybe she'll just take a walk.
That sounds good. This bout of good weather can't be wasted just training all day long.
Alright, she's put it off long enough. Leaving Kacchan - Bakugou, remember to call him Bakugou- no wait, don't call him anything until he mentions his name! - leaving him waiting for any longer is a free ticket to oblivion via Nitro Express.
...
Well, the only way to move forwards is to take a first step, right?
She knocks on the door.
The second swing of her fist doesn't make contact.
"It's about friggin' time, bag-girl," Kaccha-Katsu- the Unnamed Blond Boy grumbles, an open door between them. "What, are you more scared of me than that god-damned villain?"
"No, I just had more time to process it this time," she snarks automatically. She takes a deep breath when his grin widens (he's smiling, he was just joking! He can joke?), and her heart settles from 'running a marathon' to 'just finished last in a marathon'.
"Come on." He vanishes from the door and, having known him for their entire life, Izumi takes that as her cue to follow.
Before she can really regain what bearings she had, Mitsuki intervenes, teeth bared in her son's direction as she peers out from the living room. "Oi, brat. You're not even at UA yet and you're already bringing home girls? Leave it a few years before-"
"Shove it, hag," Unnamed Blond Boy grits back. Izumi can't imagine speaking like that to their mother. Apparently Mitsuki (Unnamed Blonde Lady) agrees with the sentiment, because she's up and dragging him by the ear in an instant. "Ow! Quit it!"
He makes to elbow her in the stomach, but she catches it and Izumi is treated to the funniest sight she's ever laid eyes on.
"Stop hitting yourself!" Mitsuki cackles.
Maybe a small snort of amusement escapes her, because Katsuki gives her a glare of utter betrayal, forgetting for a moment to fight back. The inevitable result sends her halfway to the floor in hilarity. The ensuing shouting match takes her the rest of the way.
No matter how this meeting turns out, it was worth it.
When Katsuki arrives - five minutes after his mother sent Izumi up to his room - she covers her mouth to try and muffle her involuntary giggle at the sudden reminder.
"Fuck right the hell off, bag-girl," he says snidely, crashing onto the unoccupied half of his bed with a loud thump.
In this instance, the color red does not make him seem more dangerous. In fact it's almost cute, in the same way a crocodile with a pet name could be considered cute.
She's almost tempted to keep him embarrassed for as long as possible, just to see how bright his blush can get, but she's pretty sure he... tolerates her right now, and she wouldn't want to damage that. Brash as he is, Katsuki's esteem is something they can't help but strive for.
And come to think of it, this is an opportunity!
"So spill," he abruptly cuts into her thoughts.
"Huh?"
A deep breath. "Where. The fuck. Have you been."
Uh oh, that one wasn't even a question. He's getting mad.
This is suicide.
"I failed the exam," she says bluntly. The less information he has, the less chance he has to call her out.
"UA only publishes the passing grades," he fills in by himself. They only publish the passing practical grades, but she doesn't correct him. "Why'd you fail?"
"Couldn't think straight. My quirk takes a toll on my mind."
He snorts, all respect for her draining away. "Sounds shitty to me. What kind of hero can't think for themselves?"
Hey! That's just rude!
She echoes that thought aloud, thinking quick. Something to regain his interest... "It's not usually a problem, it's just because the robots were bigger than I'm used to teleporting-"
"Teleporting?"
Hook, line and sinker.
Actually, that makes her feel like an anime villain. Bleh. No thanks.
"Oh! I can teleport things, as long as I'm touching both the object and the place I want to send it," she says technically-truthfully. She can do that. Among other things. She picks up a pen from his stationary-laden desk in demonstration and stores it, quickly releasing it with the other hand. "The bigger the object, the more it messes with my concentration. I got stuck in a bad situation during the exam, so I ended up losing concentration too early."
She automatically looks down in shame at that. They didn't actually fail because of it, but it's still something that shouldn't have happened. Still, she forces herself to look at-
He's staring!
"Sucks," he says shortly, like he isn't a second away from judging her value. "What're you doing about it."
And there's the question, isn't it?
They haven't done anything. They collapsed at the finish line, were gracelessly dragged over it by Principal Nedzu, and they've still done nothing about it.
Katsuki isn't rushing for an answer. He's letting her think.
She needs to.
What to do?
It's a while before she feels ready to answer. It's something they've been half-planning ever since they read about it, but it stopped seeming so important after the talk with Nedzu.
"I'm gonna be a vigilante," she says with newfound resolution.
"How?" Katsuki asks.
The grin makes its way onto her face before she can stop it. His follows.
He opens the door. Finally, they're home! It's been such a long day between two meetings, a 'meeting' and an apologetic texting session... he's just about ready to head upstairs and collapse, after dinner of course.
They still need to message Nice Girl at some point too, but that's fine. As long as today they're just free to roll over and die.
"Oh, Izuku!" his mother calls. Thank the world he doesn't have to cook today. He doesn't think he could-
Wait, what?
"Come again?" he asks weakly.
She sighs in mild exasperation. "We've got a guest over to dinner today, Izuku," she repeats. "Honestly, pay some attention!"
He follows her into the dining room, and a droopy, bright blond shock of hair comes into view.
Oh, come on! That's just not fair!