MosesArk Reborn2000
patreon
Chapter 9: The Offer
🕑 Added 2024-03-11 15:02:56 +0000 UTCBefore anything else, I want to state my respects for one of the GOATS of manga and anime, Akira Toriyama, as it was announced last week, Friday/Saturday, that he sadly passed away. Love or hate Dragon Ball, it was a trailblazer for anime, both in Japan and the rest of the world. For me, it was the first anime I ever watched as a kid in South Africa and my first taste of a 'not safe' anime; before then, my very Christian parents forbade anything they disapproved of, only for one day after school, Dragon ball was on, and my journey into weebdom and anime started. So many artists were inspired by him, including all 3 mangakas behind the Big Three, One Piece, Bleach and Naruto. The man even influenced things like Steven Universe and The Bad Guys.
So I want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Toriyama, for being such a big part of my childhood. You were gone too soon, but we know you're in a better place. I hope that we continue to keep your spirit alive, not just through your works but by taking inspiration from them to create new memories.
Line Break
Once more, the heat makes it hard to write, a fact made all the worse by the fact that a municipal problem is affecting water. Even with windows open and fans on both at home and at class, it's sweltering. Also, with my assignments of a different breed than they were last year, I can't spend as much time as I would like working on my stories, which could lead to late uploads, which I'll announce as they come.
Also, the word range has been altered from 5-6K as the ideal to 4-7K, as some chapters are turning out to be shorter, while others are longer.
Chapter 9: The Offer
Midoriya yawned into her hand as she walked. It was still early in the morning, but she had little choice as she had to meet with the principal before classes started. She was unsure if she could be excused from the home period if she took her time getting her. So, she woke up an hour earlier than usual, prepared, dressed, and ate her breakfast silently. The rest of her class was still asleep or just waking up when she stepped out the doors.
Walking down the path towards the main buildings, the absence of others gave her time to think about this, which is why Nezu wished to speak with her. The first idea was that he suspected her, but she ruled that out as she had been extra careful; even their first sit-down couldn't be it as she had merely shown her scars to someone who could understand them; that didn't make her a villain unless Nezu was unreasonable paranoid. Or would it be reasonably paranoid since she was a spy?
Was it another chat? Possible as while out of the blue and strange to ask for it before class, she had heard from others that Nezu was known to be an eccentric, one that no one could really understand or predict, not even her, a girl that had a piece to the puzzle so many others didn't, as she lacked so many other pieces, no doubt intentional on Nezu's part. Then there was the talk of what they'll even talk about. What could be so crucial in the principal's eyes that he'll do it now and not at lunch or after school like before?
She sighed as she gave him the task of trying to figure out that mystery. So, she merely followed the handy signs that directed her where she wanted to go. When she was waiting for the elevator, the stairs had a sign alerting people to the fact that they were wet. It opened up to reveal Midnight.
The pro looked just as surprised to see her as Izuku was to see the pro. “Good morning, Midnight. I didn’t expect to see you.” Midoriya greeted her with a respectful bow, and the pro and teacher responded kindly.
"Good morning, Midoriya. You as well. Are you heading to speak with the principal? This early?" Midnight asked, as most students would still be getting ready now, never mind being inside the main building by now.
"Yes, he requested my presence yesterday and said I should meet with him before classes started," Midoriya replied, which got the Rated-R heroine to raise an eyebrow.
“That's strange. I just escorted a guest up to his office. He's not the type to forget…" she mused, mainly to herself, but Midoriya heard the same thing all the time. While the girl still had questions now that she knew she wasn't the only one meeting with Nezu, she had no reason to back down.
“The only way I’ll know is if I continue. I’ll see you in class later, mam.” Midoriya bowed again as the teacher walked past her with a short laugh.
"Don't call me mam; it makes me feel old." Midnight said over her shoulder, to which Midoriya boarded the elevator and pressed the button for the 12th floor, the door silently closing as she went up. It wasn’t the longest ride, and there wasn’t any God-awful elevator music, so when the doors opened again. She walked out. It was too quiet work as the floor, mainly administration officers, was already up and running.
She walked up to the many staffers as they worked, typed on computers, wrote down notes or quietly spoke on the phones, once again following the signs till she reached her destination, the principal's office, which had an unexpected person seated outside waiting.
“Intelli?” Midoriya spoke up, surprised to see the periwinkle-haired 2nd year in U.A. of all places. For her part, the Seiai Academy student closed the book she had been reading to address Midoriya, a look of surprise to her as well.
“Midoriya?” She spoke up. The last time she had seen her, she had been covered in blood and tending to a small child in her arms. She could admit that with proper clothes on and without the dirt, she cleaned up well, but her keen eyes still picked up the scars lining her arms.
"Good morning. Might I ask why you're here? Midnight said she escorted someone here, but I didn't think it would be you." Midoriya bowed her head to her, moving to the vacant seat to her side.
"It's for my work study. I was told last night that your principal extended an invitation, and my principal thought it prudent that I at least sit down with him and discuss it." Intelli explained that it had been strange to be called to the Madam principal's office and informed of this offer. She had thought it highly unusual as schools typically didn't do such exchange programs, guarding their secrets as it went. Still, with how bad things had been and the fallout from All Might's last great horah, she supposed that the situation called for a review and overhaul of some practices.
Still, it would have been nice if she hadn't been asked to wake up over two hours earlier than normal to arrive before U.A. started the day. “Are you here for a similar reason?” she continued to speak, to which Midoriya shook her head.
"Umm, no, actually. I didn't get my license because I'm still new to the hero course relative to my classmates. I wasn't even told why I was here," she replied, only for the door to open, letting the two see the small principal with his ever-present smile waiting for them.
"Then we can discuss that inside, shall we, ladies," Nezu stated, leading them inside and closing the door behind them.
Line Break
A couple minutes later, both were seated facing Nezu's desk, the chimera having brewed them tea to drink while they talked. "Now, I believe that Ms. Intelli already knows the reason for why he’s here.”
"A work-study offer, yes?" Intelli asked him, taking a sip of her tea, noting that it was an exceptional blend.
"Correct. As for why Ms. Midoriya is here, it's quite simple, I would like you to serve under me for your internship." Nezu replied to both of them, which confused Midoriya as she had heard about work studies but not this.
“Internship? Now?” She recalled hearing the girls talking about it. Except for how they tip-toed around the topic of Hosu, most had calm internships.
"Yes, you must know that your classmates went on them after the Sports festival; it's not as intensive as a work-study, but you do need to have the experience, wouldn't you agree," Nezu asked her in return? Izuku saw an issue with that statement.
“But didn’t the others have to impress people at the festival to get offers? Is that why I’m here?” Yaoyorozu had been a little disheartened by her performance during the festival, while Tsu and Hagakure had been eliminated early if she recalled it right. But she did hear that the difference between the top students and everyone else was pretty significant, as those in the top 5 got offer counts in the thousands while those from 10thto 6 were in the hundreds.
"No, while it's ideal for student's performances at the festival to garner attention and interest, the school does provide each with a list of approved agencies. It is merely in your case that you have a look at her eye, a talent that I would like to help mould. Of course, should you refuse, you'll be given a revised version of that same list your classmates got.” Nezu slid over that same list, but it was only a single page. Didn't Jiro claim they got to offer suggestions that were at least 3?
Nezu could see the confusion and decided to clear it up. “Revised due to the situation as we need to ensure students go to trusted agencies.” Izuku looked towards the principal in astonishment; U.A. must have had some pretty high standards before all this, so for them to raise them even further to the point 2 thirds didn't make it…
Skimming the document, she noted that no pros were in the top 100s and that none were MLA aligned, which would be an issue, but also not simultaneously, as it meant she could perhaps learn more about pros outside their influence.
While she did that, Intelli picked up the conversation. “As for myself, what was your reasoning for extending this invitation?”
Nezu smiled, but it was more restrained, subdued even. "I read the report about Dagobah. You performed above and beyond what was expected, what should have been expected of a second year, and because of your leadership, not a single classmate under your command was killed or sustained long-lasting injuries." He praised her but didn't make light of that hell they had been unknowingly thrown into.
Being reminded of that day, of the struggles, the cries, the pain, and the death in the dozens, wasn't a pleasant experience for Intelli. “I can’t take credit for that, not all of it. It was only thanks to the skills and training of my friends that they could carry out such orders. Even then, if not for Midoriya’s daughter being present, a friend of mine would have lost their leg.” She replied, looking at her lap in frustration as she had gone over that day in her head hundreds of times now, seeing every mistake she made, all the times she could have made a better decision that could have saved more people.
Her therapist told her that she couldn't blame herself nor hold herself to an impossible standard as hindsight was always 20/20; she couldn't help herself sometimes, especially on those more brutal nights when she couldn't sleep, when she would close her eyes and find herself back there, in that hell hole.
Nezu didn't refute her claims but didn't support them either. "But that as it may, as the saying goes, it is better to have a lion leading sheep than sheep leading lions. A good leader can go a long way to a successful operation. Hence why I offered you a work-study."
"But why me, sir? Why not one of your students? While it is not illegal, it is highly unconventional for students of different schools to work under teachers from other institutions, even if our skills are not what one would call rivals." Intelli asked, as even her madam principal had been caught off guard by this.
"Your former teacher, Siren, was a wonderful pro." Intelli's eyes widened at that reminder of her teacher as Nezu leaned into his seat and swivelled it to face the window. This gave him a commanding view of the entire campus as students flocked in for morning classes.
"I knew her quite well, you see. We had even been on the same hero team once upon a time, for years before we decided to go into teaching." Nezu recalled those days, as contrary to popular belief from his students and even his staff, he was old—close to All Might's age, which meant he had plenty of time to meet people and learn more about humans before he ever entertained the idea of teaching baby humans.
He had to keep the laugh to himself as he imagined how his younger self, even after he escaped from that dreadful lab, would have baulked at the concept of teaching humans. Working with them had been hard enough in those first few years.
But Siren…Siren was something else. "She could always keep my vindictive side in check without even trying. Her presence could calm your soul and make you want to do your best. If not for her, I might have allowed hate to consume me a long time ago and forget that there was still good worth fighting for in humans." Even now, he recalled her fondly and missed her in equal measure as she might not have been the string chicken she once was. Still, she had more than made up for that in wisdom that had only made her kind heart all the larger.
And now, that kind heart was gone, snuffed out by despicable villains and their supporters. He couldn't have helped her, but he could ensure those she guided kept to the path she would have wished for them.
Turning back to the two girls, he stated. “So, when I heard that your students were getting your chance to return to the field, I wished to honour her and our dear friendship by helping one of her students reach her full potential."
While Intelli sat and chewed on that explanation, Nezu turned his focus to Midoriya. "In your case, Ms. Midoriya, it's due to your drive and intelligence. You've missed so much schooling during your captivity, yet you're making exceptional progress in the classroom and training." Sans had their little discussion the other day, and she was an impressive young lady; her grades had been near the top of her middle school class. Now, he was expecting to see her scores jump from 19th in her class to maybe 12th.
The other reason was that he wished to be her Siren. As he saw it in her eyes, he saw that broken, angry mess she had been reduced to by Chisaki and by the failures of their system. He saw that look every time he looked in the mirror and understood more than anyone on this campus what that meant. So, he wished to step up and stop her from going down a path that had tempted him so many years ago.
"I do admit that after everything that has happened, an internship does seem like you're being out on a bike with training wheels, but I do feel that it's important to learn more about her work without the stress of the additional responsibilities," Nezu added, turning back to them.
“And what will this entail?” Midoriya asked.
"While Intelli will serve as more of my sidekick and be given greater responsibilities and freedoms to carry them out, you'll serve more as my assistant. Meaning that most of the time, you'll be close to me and do what I instruct of you." Nezu explained, and the two shared a look as they wondered if they should take it. It didn't sound like a bad deal; one could even call it an exceptional offer.
“So, do we have a deal?” Nezu smiled at them. The two were silent for a moment before they made their choice, with Intelli being forced to speak.
"I don't see why not. Learning from one of the greatest minds in the hero world would be eye-opening." The Seiai Academy's second-year student bowed her head in gratitude.
“I didn’t get a chance to show off at the festival, but how many people can say they studied under Nezu?” Midoriya followed suit, to which the principal clapped his paws in joy.
"Excellent! Now let's get into how your week will go. As I spend most of my time on campus, Intelli, you'll be staying here in class A's dorm, as their girls’ side has the free rooms, correct?” Nezu asked, though Midoriya wondered why he even bothered, as he no doubt knew there was plenty of space in their dorm.
"Nine rooms, including an entire vacant floor," Midoriya replied the same way.
"Excellent. It would be a prime opportunity for you to get to know each other." Nezu reached into his desk and pulled out a folded slip, sliding it to Midoriya, who picked it up and opened it. He saw it was a get-out-of-trouble slip for students caught outside during class. The chimera knew they would accept and pre-wrote this…crafty bastard. “In fact, why don’t you show her around, Midoriya. I’ve already written up a slip for you to miss homeroom.”
Pocketing the slip, she buried her nervousness at how well the principal read her actions and tried to pass them off as regular nerves. Getting up, she helped her older guests to their feet as well. "Well, why don't we use that? Would you like to see the training grounds first?" she asked, as U.A. was a large school, probably the largest in Japan.
"That would be marvellous," Intelli replied, feeling a little giddy. While she was a proud student of Seiai, she would be lying if she claimed that she wasn't eager to explore the majesty that was U.A. With that, the two girls stepped out of the office, discussing their lives since the attack, classes, friends, and goals for the future. The secondyear even offered to help Midoriya study if they found the time during their time together.
Watching them leave and then keeping his gaze on the door, Nezu's smile and eyes gave nothing away to what was happening inside his brain. Instead, he took a sip of his tea and mused to himself, “Yes, those two can do much for the world.”
Line Break
Izuku was given the last period off and her regular extra classes the following day, which confused her classmates. Still, she assured them it wasn't a big deal, even if she didn't tell them what she needed the extra time for. So, even while they sat through their last class, most couldn't help but wonder what she was up to, as she seemed rather happy when she stepped out. Midnight-sensei must have known what it was, too, since she appeared just as bemused as Midoriya had been.
When the bell rang, and they were let out, the topic of conversation, as they walked back to their dorm, was, "Was she expecting Eri today?" Uraraka asked.
“Maybe, but wouldn’t she have told us about it?” Asui replied that she enjoyed spending time with the little angel, which reminded her of her siblings. Still, they had already met her, so Midoriya would have just told them Eri was coming to visit.
“Yeah, and as adorable as she is, I doubt she would have been given last period off just for Eri," Sero added, as while they had Midnight as a last teacher, she didn’t seem like the type that would just let someone skip her class because a kid was coming.
"Something could have come up, and she needed to leave," Kirishima said, getting an annoyed scoff from Bakugo.
“Moron, she was happy when she left. If there was an issue with the brat, she would have ripped the door off and went running.” Bakugo reminded them, as Midoriya had changed, but what was always there was her strong protective instinct; it only seemed to be supercharged when it was related to that little unicorn. It was almost scary.
"Bakugo's delivery aside, I think we can conclude that it's not related to her daughter," Yaoyorozu concluded, Bakugo flipping her off when she gave him a disapproving look for his choice of words.
"Well, what other reason could there be for her to get out early and look really happy about it?" Kaminari asked.
“Late birthday present?” Mina suggested, which made Bakugo want to knock her over the head for that stupid-ass reply.
“It’s October, her birthday’s in July, and who the hell would send something this late?" he asked them, but while Mina took offence to that, she did catch onto something: that out of all of them, Bakugo knew when her birthday was.
"You sure know a lot about her, Bakugo. Is there something you want to share?" Mina approached him, pocking at his side with a teasing smile.
“Up yours, Alien-rip off.” Bakugo swatted her aside, getting her to gasp in outrage.
"You take that back!" While Mina and Bakugo argued for the rest of the way back, the class let them exhaust themselves, keeping pace as they made their way to their dorms. When they reached them, they entered the front and saw that the lights in the common area were on.
"The lights are on," Sato noted.
“She must have got here before we did,” Uraraka assumed as they walked up to the door, the brunette opening it for the group to enter. “Hey, Midoriya…”
Uraraka's greeting was cut short when they saw that it was, in fact, Midoriya inside, dressed in casual clothing, but she wasn't alone. A guest sat beside her on the couch, sharing a cup of tea. Said guest didn't look like a student they had seen around campus and was dressed casually. However, in contrast to Izuku's more 'girl next door' look, she wore a white button shirt with slightly puffy sleeves and a blue and pink vest skirt combo, with her legs covered by white stockings, the look finished off by a blue and pink beret.
"Oh, hi, guys!" Midoriya waved at them from the side of this unknown. Still, if he was here and Midoriya was so comfortable with her, she couldn't be dangerous.
“Whose the new girl?” Mina asked as the class filtered in, closing the door behind them to keep the heat in.
“Is she single?” Kaminari asked, getting jabbed by Sero, who could only roll his eyes. While most didn't recognize her, three of them, Shoji, Yaoyorozu, and Jiro, did. Asui thought she looked familiar, but seeing how their first and only encounter prior had her near cold-induced hibernation, she didn't recall her face all that well.
“Yaomomo, isn’t that?” Jiro asked Yaoyorozu, who in turn nodded.
“I am,” To dispel their confusion, Intelli spoke up as she placed her tea down. Getting up, she addressed the gathered students, but her eyes locked onto Yaoyorozu out of the bunch.
Walking towards the heiress, she reached out for Yaoyorozu to shake. “I don’t think we were properly introduced last we spoke. I am Intelli Saiko, second year at Seiai Academy for Girls."
"Hold on, wasn't she the girl you beat to get to the second exam round?" Kirishima asked as he recalled Yaomomo's group talking about how they went against a group from that school.
Wincing slightly at the reminder of her defeat, Intelli nodded. "That she did completely caught me off guard, but it was a sobering learning moment. I thank you for reminding me to always consider the human element." Despite her loss, to her junior no less, she bared no grudge, having accepted her loss and, to some extent, admired her despite the age difference.
Seeing that she was sincere, Yaoyorozu returned the favour by shaking her hand. "Yaoyorozu, Momo, and please, it was just the right thing to do. Not giving it my all to help my friends pass just came naturally to me."
To that, Intelli chuckled, releasing the handshake. “It’s what a proper heroine would have done, even in an exam setting. That’s part of why I’m here?”
“To talk?” Shoji asked, not so much weary as he was confused.
"As of the moment, yes, but for the grand scheme, no. I accepted a work-study with principal Nezu, and I'll stay in your dorm for the duration." Intelli explained, this being when Midoriya got into the conversation, having got up from her seat.
"I was given permission to leave class and help her move her things in. I'll also be working under Nezu, but as an intern rather than as a work studies student," she explained, filling in gaps for her friends and classmates.
“Well then, allow me to be the…second to welcome you to our dorms and class. I hope that you enjoy your time here.” Yaoyorozu corrected herself, realizing that Midoriya would have been the first to welcome her, as the green-haired girl had even prepared them tea, it seemed.
"I hope so as well, but what I've seen has only made that hope stronger," Intelli replied, as Mina and Hagakure got an idea that made them smile like little devils. However, one would be forgiven for not noticing Hagakure's smile.
"Hey, if you're going to be in our class and staying in our dorms, then there is something we need to inspect first," Mina said, walking up to the temporary transfer.
“And what would that be? Midoriya didn’t inform me of any inspection.” Intelli looked towards Midoriya, but the girl was just as lost as she was.
“We gotta check out your room!” Mina and Hagakure yelled, and Intelli took a second to process that statement before her face turned red.
Line Break
"Are you sure this is proper…I've never shown my room to many people, never mind boys." After she had claimed down from such a statement, they explained that they had shown off their rooms to the class when they moved in, both as a means to judge who had the best taste in décor and to help ease tensions after the shitshow that was Dagobah.
Intelli could understand that, applauding it to some extent as she recalled many nights spent watching subpar movies with the girls to keep people calm enough to sleep, but that was the crux of it: Girls.
She had only attended girls-only schools since the 1stgrade. She barely interacted with boys outside of family and the occasional friend's brother, but she could say she didn't have any guy friends. She had heard showing a boy your room was meant to be something only close friends did, and she didn't even know half their names!
Mina got that and made sure that Intelli didn't feel like she had to do this; if she wanted to back out, she could, but that didn't mean she wouldn't encourage her. One big reason why Intelli could be hesitant to show off something like her private space was their resident pervert, who wasn't with them. "Don't worry, Mineta's locked up nice and secure. If he gives you any trouble, just tell Midoriya about it. He’s scared shitless of her.”
Midoriya had waved and smiled at the boy and asked him to remain downstairs while they did this, and as pale as a ghost and sweating like a pig, he was more than happy to comply.
"As he should," Midoriya giggled, Sero and Kaminari moving away from her a little, still a bit unnerved by that laugh and how casually she could threaten violence. But as they didn't want to be her second and third Mineta, they kept those thoughts to themselves as Intelli opened the door to her room.
Those who had fought against her had expected her to be close to Yaoyorozu regarding wealth and upbringing, which they perhaps might have thought would be reflected in her room. Instead, they were met with a room that was much more normal than their class rep. It was still fancy and clean; her pink and white sheets covered a sizable bed, but it was still only slightly larger than most of theirs, with the room having space for her desk and bookshelf, the latter filled with books on strategy, tactics, people and resource management and communication skills.
Then, there was a make-up table with a large mirror and a standing screen with flowery patterns. It was a room straight out of a princess movie, a princess who happened to be an avid reader and studious learner.
"Wow, I was expecting a bigger bed," Sero spoke up, confusing Intelli as her bed was already huge.
"My family might be well off, but we're certainly not rich. And besides, who in their right mind would bring such a bed? These are student dorms but luxury apartments." She asked them, not noticing how depressed Yaoyorozu got at the reminder that her bed, which she thought was average size, took up more than 80% of her room floor space. In contrast, Intelli's took up half that at best.
"I thought they'd be bigger…" The heiress muttered to herself as Jiro comforted her, though she found that weird.
"There, there, Yaomomo." With that settled, the girls decided that another way to welcome their temporary dorm sister was to give her a little mark-over, which meant both kicking out the boys and dragging Midoriya into it as they hadn't addressed her lack of fashion sense either.
"Should we step in? Midoriya didn't look all that happy, did she?" Ojiro asked. Izuku looked like a cat being taken for a bath, so they dragged her and Intelli off to Yaoyorozu's room.
"If she wants help, she'll scream or fight her way out. Come on, it's time we get started on dinner." Todoroki replied, as he suspected this was something that Toru really wanted to do, so he didn’t want to step in unless necessary. With that, Aoyama, Kirishima, and he went down to start dinner without Midoriya, as it was their group's turn to cook.
“Whatever. I’m going to watch some TV.” Bakugo turned, leading the rest of the boys off. As this happened, the girls reached Yaoyorozu's room and shoved the two guests inside.
“Okay, now that we have them here, what do we do with them?” Hagakure looked over the two and saw two extremes in fashion: one bland, the other safe.
"I'm not sure I need this," Midoriya said, looking towards Yaoyorozu, who looked bemused by this if her giggles were any indication.
“Midoriya, honey, you have terrible fashion sense.” Mina flatly told her.
“I-I do not!” She rebutted that she had a good time picking out her shirts, shorts, and everything.
"You wearing a shirt that says 'pants,'" Asui pointed out, with Midoriya, despite liking the shirt, blushing a little at how bland Tsu made that sound.
“It’s meant to be a joke…” She muttered.
"Well, it's not a good one," Asui replied, direct and blunt as usual. This only made the girl deflate more as Mina scooped her right back up and leaned close.
“Come on, live a little. Don’t you want to impress dark and brooding Tokoyami? Knock his socks off?” She asked while wiggling her eyebrows, which turned Izuku into a human tomato with how fast red her face got.
“I don’t like him like that!”
"Such passionate denial only digs your grave, Midoriya." Mina giggled, like a snake that had trapped her.
“You hang out with him more than any other boy.” Uraraka pointed out, giving an apologetic smile when Midoriya turned to her, betrayed that she would so casually share that information. She didn’t grasp that it was an open secret among the class.
“He’s helpful…”
"So are Ojiro and Shoji, and you don't spend nearly as much time with them as you do Tokoyami.” Hagakure pointed out that those three were, along with the spoken Kota, the least problematic boys in class or the ones who had no enemies, as Uraraka couldn't stand Todoroki.
It had got a little better before the exam but got even worse once they learned why he and that Yoarashi dude were out of the fight for so long; they didn't know the details, but boiled down, it was little more than a dick measuring contest.
"And it's mutual. I can tell he wanted to apologize to Eri for scaring him because of his appearance. Still, she apologized for being scared of him, and it was super cute!" Mina gushed, as she had thought it was sad that Eri's experiences with that Overhaul jerk left her so affected by anything bird-related. Still, then she surprised and warmed her heart when she worked up the courage to apologize; she even drew their resident edge lord a picture to apologize, which she was damn sure he hung in his room, framed by the only natural light he had aside from his desk lamp.
“It was!” Hagakure cut in.
"And after that, I've heard you've face-timed her with Tokoyami present; the two even share a love for apples. After that, it was love, I tell you!" Where did she hear that? Izuku made sure that she didn’t advertise that! As she thought about that, she missed how Jiro looked away.
“L-love?!” Izuku stuttered, her face redder as she tried to picture that; she…she didn't love Fumikage; he was just a friend! Wait, when did she start thinking of him as Fumikage, not Tokoyami.
“Midoriya’s questionable fashion sense and apparent crush aside,” Midoriya made a hurt sound when Intelli just said that without pause. “What cause is there for me to be here? I feel that I dress appropriately.”
“And that’s the issue, girl! You just make the benchmark and don’t try. You have the goods; you should work and own that.” Hagakure told her, as Intelli dressed like Yaomomo, cute but highly conservative.
Intelli leaned her head to the side, looking perplexed. "I'm confused. What 'goods’ are we speaking of? Is this because my father works in the shipping business?”
“Oh, sweetie, we have much to teach you.” Mina giggled, as she hadn't thought they'd have another one. It seemed like the heavens were smiling on them tonight.
“Jiro?” Midoriya turned to the music lover as the rest of the girls got a little too close.
"Just go with it. It's fruitless to stop them once they get going, and besides," Jiro smiled, sealing Izuku's fate as Jiro got up to join in the fun. “It’s fun not being their target for a change.”
And we're stopping here. I hope you like this. If you did, please like the story and leave a comment. The next chapter will be uploaded on March 25th.
