Hey, how's your day been? Are you taking care of yourself? Enjoy the chapter, cuties <33 Remember to eat and drink regularly, and if you've been sitting in the same position for a while, don't forget to stretch!

me every monday after posting: i'm gonna respond to comments today (:
me: *blinks*
me: wh- hoW IS IT SUNDAY AGAIN-

i am,, so sorry but i just have no comprehension of the passing of time lmao

Discord server, if you've been on my mind, girl, since the flood: https://discord.gg/DSBF4dP

~ 

Izuku's mind drifted to think about his mum. Nedzu had permitted her to live in an apartment on UA grounds, which set both of their hearts at ease to know she was so close by and a lot safer within the school's walls. The fact that she had been targeted in the first place was worrying enough, and they wouldn't find out the motive, or the villains' allegiances, or how they even discovered where she had been relocated to, because Tsukauchi was the lead detective on the private case and for the time being he was busy with his own case that took precedence. At least all of the villains involved in the attack had been locked up, ready to be interrogated in more detail at a later date.

He felt guilty that he hadn't really had a chance to visit her properly after the initial settling when he had explained everything about his strange situation to her, leading to many hours filled with tears and talking for the both of them. Between catching up on all the schoolwork he missed due to work study, keeping up with normal classes, rehearsing for the culture festival and assisting his friends in the performance, as well as occasionally dipping out with Aizawa to patrol as Oni, he barely had time to breathe.

Izuku glanced up as he noticed other people enter the classroom. It was the special effects team, and Ashido was at the front, for some reason wearing formalwear and dark sunglasses. Her expression was carefully neutral and she purposefully walked across the room towards him, coming to a halt just in front.

"Midoriya..." Ashido murmured without inflection, placing a palm on his shoulder. "You're... fired from the dance team!"

Izuku blinked. "Uh."

"I'm sorry!" She wailed, throwing off her suit jacket and sunglasses and grovelling at his feet. "The effects team said they needed more people! They want to make it so Aoyama can reach the whole room, but we don't have the equipment for that, so they wanted a power-type person to move him by hand."

"During the performance, I'm going to transform from a dancer into a disco ball," Aoyama explained, long eyelashes glittering as he blinked. "It's the perfect job for moi. I'd like your help."

Ashido was still sobbing at his feet, clutching onto his trousers. "I didn't want to betray my dance partner like this, but it's for the betterment of the performance!"

Izuku placed a hand on her head, giving a thoughtful hum. "We just need a rail system with a remote control, I think... It should be pretty simple to make, and it can be attached to the beams... Yeah, I should be able to make a rail system for Aoyama so it can be automatic instead of manual. Would that work?"

"Oh, thank god!" She wept, rising onto her knees to wrap her arms around him and press her face into his stomach. "Midori, you're a godsend! The show just wouldn't have been quite the same without you looking pretty at the front the whole time!"

"Ah, that makes me feel so much better!" Eijirou gave a relieved sigh, stepping forward with a grin. "I didn't want you to waste all that practise because of us."

"I wouldn't have minded either way!" Izuku assured, helping the girl to her feet.

"But, uh, I do have something else to ask," he said, pressing his palms together in a pleading motion. "Could you look over what we've got for the effects and see if you've got anything to add? You've got a super flashy Quirk, and it'd be pretty cool if you could lend that somehow to make the show look even better-"

"Sure thing, Eijirou-kun," he agreed with a laugh. "I'll need to go see if Hatsume-san has any spare materials I can use..."

*

Izuku paused outside the door to a support classroom, listening for any dangers and then knocking before entering. Hatsume was on a step-ladder next to her robot, leaning deep inside the open headpiece and talking to herself – or her baby, it was really unclear. The room had a lingering smell of smoke and melted plastic, and there were lots of oily cloths dumped on the ground, as well as random screws and bolts.

"Hey, Hatsume-san," he greeted, carefully picking his way over the things littered on the floor. "I was wondering if you had spare metal I could use? I need to make a ceiling rail system that can carry a person safely."

She remained in place and stuck out a gloved hand with a screwdriver in it. "Hold this."

He automatically took it, watching as she wriggled a bit to reach deeper into the hub. She stood up straight and assessed her work, then swapped out the screwdriver in his open palm for a greasy wrench and got right back to work. Izuku waited patiently in place, becoming a mobile tool rack – or perhaps just a tool – for the intense engineer as she tinkered away, occasionally letting out ominous bouts of laughter when something clunked or clicked within the robot. Hatsume blindly handed him something else, and he glanced down at it in mild alarm.

It wasn't any tool that he could recognise. The creation looked like a Swiss Army knife, if a Swiss Army knife was made by an alien. There were lots of unidentifiable protrusions and tabs, and, most worryingly, a red light pulsed softly in the carapace. He blinked down at it dubiously, then shrugged. Strange things were the norm with Hatsume.

"Oh, wait, I needed that one," she said abruptly, holding out her hand expectantly and dropping the creation into the headpiece.

A mildly alarming puff of black smoke rose up, but she just wafted it away. Izuku glanced over as the door slid open, revealing a couple of support course students he vaguely knew. They noticed him straight away and seemingly forgot whatever they were going to do in favour of staring at him.

"Oi, Hatsume, why are you letting a hero course student in here?" One complained.

Once again, she didn't deign them with an answer. Izuku offered a wave, then took the blowtorch offered to him. Hatsume suddenly grabbed his bicep and tugged him onto the step-ladder, pulling him in close and pointing into the frightening mess of wires and circuitry inside the hub.

"Will it explode?" She asked shortly, slapping him on the back to urge him to look closer.

"Uh..." Izuku trailed off as he examined the invention, thinking over where she would've likely made mistakes.

A support student scoffed. "As if a hero student would know that. They've got muscles for brains, so there's no-"

"There," he motioned towards a couple of twisted wires. "Those shouldn't be touching. It'll make a spark down here, and trigger and explosion over here, I think."

With her arm draped around his waist, she leaned into his personal space, pressing up against him to eye up the area. After a few moments of the reticles in her pale green eyes shifting and her expression calculating, she broke into a smile and grabbed some scrap to safely partition the wires.

"That's why I keep him around," Hatsume responded, fixing up the mistake and turning to face him. "Also, your gloves are nearly done."

"Great! Thanks, Hatsume-san," Izuku chirped, hopping down the ladder.

The support course students exchanged baffled looks before grabbing what they needed and hastily exiting the room. He glanced over himself and resisted the urge to cringe as he saw all the grease and oil and dust transferred onto him from Hatsume, but was quickly distracted when she extricated herself from her baby just long enough to gesture towards a pile of scrap materials in the corner.

"Help yourself, Midoriya," she told him, then disappeared inside the robot's headpiece.

He grinned and grabbed a handful of iron girders, casually lifting them onto his shoulder and walking away with his prize.

*

"So we wanna use Shouto's ice here," Eijirou explained, pointing at the plan sheet then motioning around the gym. "Aoyama's Navel Laser will sparkle through the ice and the cold vapour and make it even prettier, you get me?"

"Oh, yeah, that'll look incredible!" Izuku agreed, padding around and observing his classmates rehearsing.

"I was also thinking about how to use your Quirk in the performance – like, by shattering Shouto's ice into pieces, so there's more things for the light to refract off, right? But then I realised that'd be super dangerous, and we don't want anyone to get hurt... Any ideas, bro?" He asked, walking after his friend.

"I probably could generate enough force to pulverise Shouto-kun's ice into snow – would that work?" He suggested with a smile, laughing as his friend lit up.

"Yeah, man! Oh, falling snow will make it so much cooler – um, no pun intended," Eijirou grinned sheepishly, then waved his hand in the air. "Shouto! Bro! Come over here a sec, we wanna try something!"

Shouto excused himself from the group and trudged over. "What did you need?"

"Could you make a block of ice for us?" Eijirou requested, clenching his fists eagerly.

A rough cube of ice formed on the ground between them. Izuku stared at it in consideration, then picked it up and threw it into the air. He raised his hand and angled the shot towards a wall, tracking the movement of the falling ice and then unleashing a flick towards it. Green flashed and a stream of air pressure rocketed across the room, and the block was obliterated instantly, exploding into flakes of snow that whirled around in the disturbed currents and slowly cascaded towards the floor.

He shook out his hand with an excited smile. "Oh, that worked really well!"

"That was so manly, dude!" Eijirou yelled, sticking out his tongue to catch a snowflake. "This is gonna make the performance so much better!"

Izuku glanced across the room as his classmates cheered for the snow, completely breaking formation in their excitement to go and play in it. Ochako, Tsu, and Ashido were hopping around, twirling in the light snowfall. Ojirou was swinging his tail to disturb the air and send wafts of snow into Kaminari's open mouth. Tokoyami had his arms crossed and pretended to remain disinterested, but Dark Shadow was out and playing.

Shouto made another cube and nudged it towards Izuku with a foot.

Well... They were supposed to be rehearsing, but a quick play break would be nice.

*

Izuku jiggled the wrapped box in his palms, smiling down at it. The paper was custom-made by Momo, covered in cats, paw prints, yellow goggles, and glinting red eyes over black paper with light grey stripes. Tsu had expertly tied a yellow ribbon around it, making a pretty bow on top. Inside sat a couple of gifts he had ordered online and collected ages ago, and then been very careful to not let his teacher see when they went together to pick them up. Thankfully, it didn't seem like Aizawa really cared all that much, and merely loitered nearby and glared at anything that moved, giving the boy ample time to shove the boxes in his backpack.

He ran his fingers over the smooth wrapping paper and grinned again, cradling it to his chest and lifting his head to check he wasn't going to bump into anyone in the school corridor on the way to the teachers' lounge. A few other students passed him by, and they offered each other awkward smiles of acknowledgement. Izuku continued padding along, humming a little tune to himself to fill the silence as his gaze drifted over to the windows that looked out across the pretty campus. His green eyes snapped back in front of him when he saw the very familiar figure of his teacher at the other end of the corridor.

"Sensei!" Izuku exclaimed excitedly, blinking when the man hurried his pace instead of stopping. "Wh- sensei, wait! That's mean! Wait for me!"

"Go away, Problem Child," Aizawa called back, hastily turning a corner.

"I've got you a gift!" He yelped, speeding up into a jog to try and catch up.

"That's why I'm leaving," the teacher responded, doing his best to flee without wasting too much energy.

Izuku sped up, a flicker of emerald around his ankles, and a second later he was standing in front of his teacher with one hand on his hip, playfully glaring. "I don't know why you even bother to try and escape me, sensei. We both know I'm faster than you."

Aizawa deflated with a sigh, hands shoved deep in his pockets as he glowered. "I don't want the present, Midoriya."

"Tough," he said and stuck out his tongue childishly. "We all worked hard to put together something nice for your birthday."

"Shh," Aizawa hissed, eyes narrowing into cautious slits as he glanced around them. "Why did you have to tell them it was my birthday, kid? There's a reason I don't tell anyone."

"Hey, I didn't tell anyone anything," he defended, holding out the box. "I just suggested we should get you something as thanks for putting up with us-" He grinned sheepishly- "...Well, mostly me. Just take it, sensei. You know I'm not gonna give up until you do."

The teacher stared tiredly at the gift for a long time, then heaved another sigh and lazily took it from the boy's grasp. His black-coffee gaze flitted up to look at Izuku, who gave an eager smile and urged him on with a nod. Aizawa reluctantly unfurled the bow and collected the ribbon in one hand, then started picking at the corners of the tape until he could cleanly peel it off and open up the wrapping paper. He tipped the gift to one side so the box could slide free into his palm, and Izuku helpfully retrieved the wrappings so the man could have both hands free.

Ashido, Kouji, and Aoyama had been given the task of painting the plain cardboard box, and they sure delivered. It was a chaotic mess of colours and designs with glitter sprinkled over it and rhinestones glinting in a line on the edges of the box flaps. Aizawa made a strange sort of noise that could've been a stifled snort before peeling the tape off and opening the box to warily peer inside. His face softened minutely as he sifted through the contents.

"Momo-chan suggested the teas – there are lots of different ones, and several are good substitutes for coffee," Izuku informed him, leaning forwards to point them out. "Everyone chipped in to help buy you that little chocolate box, because what's better than eating all your sorrows away with junk food, right?"

Aizawa let out a huff of breath, gingerly picking up a small device. "A music player?"

"Yeah, Jirou-san suggested that! We all compiled playlists of our favourite songs for you to listen to, if you want, because listening to the type of music someone likes is a really good way of getting to know them." He grinned up at his teacher. "Plus, it goes really well with my gift of headphones."

"Headphones...?" Aizawa muttered, reaching into the box and carefully lifting the headphones, only to visibly die a little inside as they were fully unveiled. "Midoriya. No."

"Midoriya, yes!" Izuku cackled, eyes squinting shut as he laughed harder at his teacher's utterly disappointed expression.

The headphones were all black, with big yellow paw prints on each earpiece, which likely would've been simple enough for Aizawa to actually appreciate them. Unfortunately for Aizawa, Izuku loved to buy practical things that doubled as gag gifts because he enjoyed watching the souls leave his friends' bodies when they saw his wonderful presents, so...

The headphones had cat ears on top.

"No," Aizawa repeated, completely disgusted. "I am not wearing these."

"You-" Izuku tried to choke back his laugher, without much success- "You, ah- you don't have to wear them in public, sensei, it's- ha, it's okay-"

"You're my own personal nightmare," he said flatly, putting the headphones back in the box with a rustle of tissue paper and then closing the flaps.

"You're welcome," the boy wheezed out through tears. "Aren't you gonna- ha- try them on?"

"Absolutely not," Aizawa grumbled, turning around and starting to speed-walk away.

"Sensei, no, where are you going," Izuku giggled, trotting after him with his arms still full of wrapping paper and the ribbon.

He walked faster, rushing through the corridors with a death-glare that had other students scattering in terror. "To hide this so I never have to see it again."

"Okay, then," the boy snickered, still following behind with a huge grin.

Izuku could barely stop laughing to himself the entire journey across campus to the dorms. Any time he managed to calm himself down, he caught a glimpse of his teacher's exasperated face and it set him off again, and by the time they reached Aizawa's dorm room the boy was doubled-over and clutching his stomach, in pain from laughing too hard.

"You're way too easily amused," Aizawa commented as he opened the door, the corner of his mouth quirking in a faint smile.

"I can't help it!" He laughed, tears blurring his vision and spilling down his aching cheeks. "Your face... Ah, it was perfect-"

The teacher stepped inside the room and carefully placed the box down on his desk, hand lingering for a moment as he brushed his fingertips over the rhinestones. Izuku gulped in a breath of air, stumbling forward and placing the slightly crumpled wrapping paper next to the box, but twisting the ribbon around his wrist for the time being. He straightened up and sniffled, chuckling a bit as he wiped his tear-stained face with a sleeve, blinking to try and clear his vision as he forced himself to sober up.

"Hey, can I- uh- oof, hold on a sec, I've gotta..." Izuku caught his breath, patting at his stomach and huffing. "Whoof, okay, I'm good. Can I tie your hair back with this ribbon, sensei?"

"No-"

"Hear me out!" He cut in, raising his palms placatingly. "If you wear it, then the class will know you got the gift, and you don't have to acknowledge it! Pretty please?"

Aizawa glared at him for a moment, then relented with a roll of his eyes, lips pulling back to show a hint of teeth in a sharp smile. "If you can reach, you can tie my hair up."

"Oh, wh- I hate you," Izuku whined without any malice, already glancing around the room.

The desk wouldn't take his weight, and the bed was too far away. He reluctantly pulled out the office chair and wheeled it closer, then cautiously stepped onto it and let out a nervous squeak whenever it twisted. Aizawa was watching closely, clearly ready to act the second the kid slipped and fell, but Izuku was far too smart and talented for that and used all his experience as a Pro Hero just to keep his balance on the chair, as god intended. The boy lightly grabbed his teacher's shoulder to steady himself, then started running his fingers through Aizawa's hair to comb it back into a ponytail. There were the usual amount of knots and tangles that he worked around, and he unfurled the ribbon from his wrist to carefully tie back his hair, leaving strands loose at the front to frame Aizawa's face.

Izuku twisted the yellow ribbon into a little bow, then hopped off the chair to admire his handiwork. "There, perfect! You look really pretty, sensei!"

"Pretty," Aizawa echoed drily, turning around to face his student. "Am I allowed to leave now?"

"Mmhm, if you want," he confirmed, rolling the chair back under the desk and padding after his teacher as he left the room.

"Good, because you made me late for a meeting," Aizawa said, locking his door and starting to leave, then pausing to glance over his shoulder. "But... Tell your friends 'thanks.'"

Izuku grinned fondly, raising his hand to wave. "Sure thing, sensei. Sorry for interrupting you – have fun at the meeting, I love you!"

*

Izuku swung his yellow backpack over a shoulder and yanked on his new gloves as he sprinted across campus. Most of the stalls had been set up, with a few people sorting out the final few details as he dashed past, dazzled by all the colour. He left school and launched down the street, running down the mountain and nearly getting hit by a few cars as he crossed some roads in town.

The cashier gave him an odd look when he busted in, sweaty and panting, but he merely flashed a sheepish grin and searched the aisles for the things he needed. He brought them to the check-out, unzipping his backpack and placing the ingredients for a toffee apple at the bottom and coiling the length of rope on top. Izuku shrugged his bag back on and bid the confused cashier a hasty farewell before stepping outside and relaxing when he realised he was on time.

Just as expected, a tall figure in a long beige trench coat and a short figure in a pink shawl were exiting the hidden teahouse next to the store. Izuku paused just before they could bump into each other, offering an automatic apology and glancing over at the building.

Plan one: stall and distract, and hope that they'll remain for long enough that there's no time to breach UA.

"Ah, it's good to see new customers in the teashop!" He exclaimed, beaming up at the man. "It doesn't get nearly enough credit for the incredible tea it serves, right? Have you tried the Golden Tips Imperial?"

The stranger was successfully interested and fully turned to face him, still keeping his intimidating loom. "A person of taste! Few young people nowadays appreciate good tea. This is the only place nearby that sells that type of tea, which is such a shame. It's nothing like the store-brand blends that have little taste."

"Right?! I can only really afford the cheaper brands of tea, so it's always a treat to have something like Golden Tips Imperial," he remarked with a grin.

The small woman tugged on her companion's coat. He tensed and cleared his throat.

"It's rude of me to leave a conversation so soon, but I'm afraid I have somewhere to be. If you'll excuse me, young man." He stepped forward and continued walking down the path. "Come, let us go, L- Honey..."

"Honey?!" She squeaked, then recovered herself. "Yes, I'm Honey!"

Plan two: be a general nuisance and try to keep them from moving too fast.

"Oh, I'm heading this way too! What a coincidence!" Izuku bounced forward and settled into step with the man. "Can I ask what your favourite tea is?"

"Young man, you'll have to be more specific! Different blends go with different situations, so it would be too ridiculous to say I have an overall favourite," he scoffed as if the very idea offended him.

"That's a good point, actually! But, anyway, since I can't afford to have tea that often, and – like you said – the ones you buy in stores are never really as good as fresh-brewed tea in a café, the tea I like most is probably chamomile, especially with lavender and honey!" He deliberately manoeuvred himself in front of the other two, slowly trudging backwards as he spoke to force them to reduce their pace. "I have anxiety and I overthink a lot, so it's often hard for me to relax or get to sleep, so I make myself a cup whenever I need to calm down. Plus it always tastes super nice – the sweetness of honey, the scent of lavender... It's really delicious."

"Chamomile is always a good comfort tea," the man agreed uneasily, trying to sidestep the human roadblock without being rude. "Forgive me for my impoliteness, but may I ask where you're headed?"

Okay, he's getting suspicious. Time for plan three: subtly elicit concern and maybe try to appeal to Gentle's past heroic nature.

"I'm headed home. I've got the ingredients to make a toffee apple, and I've got a rope – it'll just be me, myself, and I!" Izuku responded happily, pausing in place to do a little excited wiggle. "One last taste of sweetness before I pass out, you know? No better way to go!"

Both strangers shared a glance that was probably concerned, but impossible to tell since their faces were covered with sunglasses and masks. His statement had been startling enough to make them halt, which was a win for him.

"Too much sugar isn't good for you," the man said after a long silence. "Perhaps try Rooibos tea – it's naturally sweet, can be drunk hot or cold, and there's no caffeine. The flavour is delightfully herbal: I'd highly recommend it. Pardon my curiosity, but what's the rope for?"

"Oh, you know," Izuku mimed tying a knot, then pretended to get distracted. "Hey, look, our gloves are kinda similar! They've both got the, um... knuckle things; I don't know what they're called. My gloves are a bit chunkier though. The palms match my colour scheme, too – isn't that cool? Oh, but yours are purple, which match with your partner's. That's so cute! Are you a couple?"

Plan four: divert and distract – overwhelm them with questions and topic changes.

"We, um- yes, we are," he blustered, watching as the boy spread his hands to display his gloves. "Those are... a very unique style. I must admit that my speciality lies in tea and not fashion, but they look remarkably unusual. Where did you... get them?"

"A friend made them for me! She made a whole line of things inspired by hero outfits and support gear. I really like both of your hats, actually. Really matches with your outfits super well!" Izuku tilted his head innocently. "Hey, where are you guys headed? Maybe we'll be taking the same routes – won't that be fun?"

"I apologise, but we're on a very tight schedule," the man commented, stress bleeding into his tone. "We're... headed for an important meeting at UA. It would be rude to be late."

"Ah, UA? You must be really special people! Are you heroes? Are you gonna be teachers there?" Izuku continued walking backwards, staring at them with childlike wonder.

"It's not something I'm privy to share-"

"So few people are allowed on campus there after all the villain attacks..." He continued, glancing over his shoulder to check where he was going. "Wait, isn't it the culture festival today? I wish I could see it, but it's been closed off to the public this year, which is a shame. Still, it's to keep the kids safe, and that's what we all want, right? Gotta protect the heroes of tomorrow!"

"...of course," he responded uncomfortably. "But, we really must be going. We'll have to hurry, now. It was nice meeting you."

If he didn't have a strict time limit, Izuku could've continued bluffing all day. As it was, he absolutely loathed the thought of making his friends worry or potentially letting Eri down. The boy came to a halt, clutching at the straps of his bag and smiling pleasantly at his two companions as they were forced to stop again, clearly getting more frustrated at his insistence.

"C'mon, there's no need to say goodbye so soon!" Izuku chirped, then dropped his playful facade in favour of a predatory smile and a lower tone. "After all, Gentle-san, I'm a student at UA."

~

"Hatsume was on a step-ladder" - she never knew her real ladder (i'm sorry i was just proofreading and the jschlatt in my brain instantly said the joke-)

"her pale green eyes" - i've since been informed that hatsume's eyes are supposed to be yellow, but given that i don't like the idea of her with yellow eyes, they're staying pale green out of spite lmAO

FANART

By merii_deshu on Instagram

(i had to take a screenshot bc i couldnt download it so the quality's probably butchered bUT!! ADMIRE THIS BABY BOY!! HE'S SO SPARKLY AND WArm what a good little lad!)