Chapter Text
Yaoyorozu Momo, the #1 student in the class rankings after the exams. Hero Name: Creati. It most naturally followed that, for all such matters of making things, she was one of the top sources of information, an encyclopedia of knowledge on crafting whatever one’s heart could desire.
Yaoyorozu Momo, the #1 student in the class rankings after the exams. #1 Ambition: Get away with a future assassination, premeditated murder the likes of which have never been seen before (unless you were also a member of the Deku Club in this instance). It most naturally followed that, for all such matters of assassination, there was a cause.
Yaoyorozu Momo cursed herself.
“God DAMN it,” she refrained from throwing the laser pointer at the monitor, despite knowing that she could easily make another one should it actually be destroyed. “Why was I not one of the people he’s doing this for?!”
Two of the three people in question were present in the room, and could only smirk triumphantly.
“Should’ve done better, smart-ass,” Bakugo coolly taunted, a smirk plastered on his face as he leaned back in his chair, and of course it had to be him, why did it ALWAYS have to be this arrogant asswipe of a human being that doesn’t deserve my Izuku’s perfection, GOD–
Momo cut herself off and channeled a lot of her energy to not give in to his instigation, instead focusing on the meeting topic at hand. Breathe in, breathe out.
Meeting 20, Main Branch of the D.C.
“Despite some people not being worthy of it,” she pointedly glared at Bakugo, joined by quite a few of her classmates in doing so, “it appears that Midoriya has…taken to a few new skills here and there.”
“Hear, hear!” She heard Uraraka cheer in the background, about to crush the pebble in her hand that she’d planned on launching straight through Bakugo’s skull in envy.
Iida took charge next, “And…ashamedly, it appears that this new…monopoly,” he spit the word out with malice, as if the mere idea actively hurt him. “Is of access…to few.” His knuckles turned white through the force with which he was clenching his fists.
The “not including us” lingered in the air, a miasma making it difficult to breathe.
“Hey, don’t lump me in with you extras,” Bakugo taunted again, leaning further back to the point where, just maybe, somebody could get away with pulling his seat back just a little and making him fall backwards. Nobody would’ve complained other than the explosive blonde, at the least.
“How could we not have noticed, kero…” Asui groaned, an envious look in her eyes, despite it being hidden by her hanging her head in her hands. Hunched over, she was running through every possible sign that she might’ve missed, wondering what might have been.
The other present culprit decided this was her time to strike, fake yawning, “I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious, you know? Maybe you guys might just…I don’t know, don’t know him as well as you thought? Not like me, though, duhhh.”
“ARE YOU SAYING WE DON’T LOVE MIDORIYA LIKE YOU DO?!” Multiple voices hollered, and the only response they could see was two custom-made, forest-green, kind-of-mediocre quality but still treasured gloves move in a way of the person’s arms crossing.
Hagakure tapped her fingers, the movement of the gloves’ fingers up and down the only sign of it as she hummed in a satisfied tone, “Well, I didn’t say that…maybe just that he, ahem, loves me more!” She couldn’t help herself.
Meeting Purpose: Acts of Service, Gifts
Maybe I should… Todoroki began to think, before he dispelled the thought from his mind. No, no, he wouldn’t like it if I destroyed them. But maybe if it was an accident…
Meeting Subject: Midoriya’s Actions
Todoroki shook his head again to dispel another thought, but they just kept piling on, And it’s not like I can exactly just…destroy that…
As if reading his mind, Bakugo did the one thing he could have to further piss everybody except Hagakure off: Rub his stomach like a goddamn cartoon character, clearly satisfied with the meal he’d had earlier.
“Don’t. You. Dare,” Todoroki basically growled, poorly hiding his seething from Bakugo, who only cackled harder.
At this, Bakugo leaned forward, the chair legs slamming against the ground from how he had previously been leaning back, and smirked as he spat out, “God forbid somebody enjoy their dinner.”
Murder isn’t manly, murder isn’t manly, maybe murder can be manly, maybe murder can be really manly.
Midoriya Izuku
Artistry
Sato took the stage this time around, a kitchen master in his own right having the ultimate claim to complain here.
He death gripped the laser pointer in his hand, almost enough to break it but realizing that it’d only restart the cycle of destruction they had worked so hard to stop in its tracks. Clicking a button on it, the presentation moved to the first slide:
Culinary Concoctions
“There is NO reason that only Bakugo should be able to eat his cooking this often!” Sato declared, earning affirmative nods from the other members of the crowd. “Let alone having Midoriya KNOW how to make his favorite dish!”
Thoughts of delicious aromas and mouthwatering sights filled their minds, though tainted by the hatred in their souls directed at the recipient.
If only they could have some…
A month ago…
It was commonplace for the Deku Club to wonder what their item of deepest desires was doing on the weekends. After all, it was the most opportune time to strike and put in their work to win his affections, considering how he was typically occupied with heroics on the weekdays.
Most of the time, it usually ended up being one of three things: working out, spending time with his mom, or, being the target of the Deku Club, hanging out with his friends (who just so happen to be yearning after him day after day, night after night).
As a result, Friday Night typically ended up being known as “The Hunt,” the time where Midoriya would end up hounded by what was basically the entire student body in an attempt to get him to pencil in time for them.
(Note: When Eri entered the picture, this Hunt would become even more deadly, considering how much time he would always allocate to her.)
“Perhaps…perhaps we should’ve stopped him this time around,” Iida reflected, gnawing on his fingernail (a habit he would have normally advised against). “We should have…I should have done something!”
Of course, as The Queen™ of Midoriya’s schedule, Uraraka Ochako was the one to initiate The Hunt and pounced, “So, Deku-kun, do you wanna maybe hang out sometime this weekend?”
[Note: It was a well-known fact that you DID NOT, under ANY circumstance, simply ask if Midoriya was doing anything over the weekend. If you DID do so, it was a guaranteed lock-out for everyone who was trying to get a spot in his schedule, because he would then, and only then, make up an unbelievably jam-packed schedule as he thought of all the things he could get done over the weekend.
Mineta had done this once. Recovery Girl was almost unable to bring him back to the realm of the living.]
“Ooh, that sounds great, Uraraka! When are you available?” Midoriya was basically skipping through the halls, a flowery aura surrounding him. As the two passed through, Uraraka was receiving numerous death glares from the rest of them, especially because they very actively heard him be willing to spend time with one of their rivals.
Uraraka’s heart skipped a beat as her mind thought of all the lovely things they could do together. Eat at a fun restaurant together…swing together at a playground and watch the sunset…Go to a movie theater and then go for a walk in a park…There were so many possibilities!
“Mmm, I think I could make Sunday work best, but Saturday’s also an option for me!” Uraraka chose her words carefully. She knew damn well it didn’t matter what plans she may have already had, she was ready to flake on ALL of them if it was needed in order to hang out with Midoriya.
“Ooh, could we do Saturday?” Midoriya hummed, and Uraraka almost whipped out her phone to record that sound of his. “I could make Saturday evening, if that’s okay with you!”
Uraraka gasped in excitement. Her restaurant-movie-walking-in-a-park-sunset-watching dreams were still alive! Yeah, SCREW that study session she had planned! She had some Deku to be wooing!
“Of course, Deku-kun!” Uraraka beamed, before something clicked in her head.
He’s…already got plans on Sunday?
“Um…Deku-kun?” She put a finger on her chin. “Is there a reason why you can’t make it on Sunday?”
Midoriya looked confused, before something seemed to click.
He snapped his fingers, explaining, “Ohhhhhh, that’s what I forgot to tell you guys! My bad!” and Uraraka almost had to grab him by the shoulders and shake the ever-living apology out of him because there was no way in hell that anything Midoriya did could ever be bad unless it involved getting himself hurt.
She refrained herself, remembering that there was something just as important at stake: his plans.
“I’m heading over to where Bakugo lives to ask Aunt Mitsuki how to cook!” Midoriya gave an excited thumbs up.
Now, Uraraka wasn’t just Top 5 in the Deku Club for no reason. Just as badly as she craved Deku, she knew Deku, and she knew that, even if his intentions were pure, the results could be nothing but disastrous.
“Amazing work from Uraraka!” Sero applauded, a rare action to give props to somebody so highly ranked, so dangerous a rival.
“Ooh, that’s fun!” She almost had to bite her tongue to stop her true desires from coming out, and put her hands behind her back to conceal how white her knuckles were turning. “Any reason why?”
Midoriya only shrugged, innocently turning everyone in the area into certified food critics, “I just thought it’d be fun to learn a few new dishes from her!”
“Wait…” Uraraka narrowed her eyes at the table, running through the conversation in her head again.
“A few new ones?!” She shrieked.
The implication got across just fine.
Midoriya already knew a good amount.
…
“DEKU-KUN KNOWS HOW TO COOK?!” Uraraka shrieked.
Bakugo scoffed, “You stupid, Pink Cheeks? He’s literally done it before.”
“B-But he’s usually the person who helps, not the main chef behind it! I’ve only seen him actually cook on his own for himself, and that was when you were in the kitchen babying him anyways!” Momo agreed, realizing the severity of the situation.
“...huh?” Bakugo leaned back in his chair. “...I guess you’ve never had his food before.”
“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!”
Bakugo bit back the “He’s better than me, y’know,” because of course Bakugo wouldn’t ever admit to anybody being better than him at anything, and also because silence made the extras more worried, which was always a hoot to watch as a king looking down upon the peasants.
“O-Oh, really, now?” Uraraka stuttered, already reaching for her phone. She had to notify the appropriate channels of this news, because as much as she wanted to, there were people simply better dealing with this scenario, and Uraraka couldn’t risk being in the dark about this!
“Mhm! She used to teach me how to bake and stuff when I was a little kid! She’s the best!” Midoriya praised.
“YOU’RE TELLING ME I COULD’VE BEEN BAKING WITH HIM THIS WHOLE TIME?!”
Sato whirled on Bakugo, growling, “You knew, didn’t you?”
“‘Course I did, dingus.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“...Slipped my mind, not gonna lie.”
“That’s fun to hear!” Uraraka hummed, trying to distract herself with thoughts of coming home from a nice long day of work and seeing that Izuku baked her a nice batch of brownies instead of killing somebody out of hatred for the fact that she hasn’t tried his food before.
“Yeah!” Midoriya agreed, before his mind returned to another topic. “So, what were you saying about hanging out on Saturday?”
Uraraka’s mind was completely lost in the idea of going on a pseudo-date with Midoriya (date on her side, hangout on his), though not before she sent a message in the group chat telling a few other members to spy on the cooking lesson on Sunday.
I have to do something… She thought dramatically. Before it’s too late!
A few days later…
“Are you sure they’re not going to catch us, Momo?” The vice captain of the strike team, Jirou, questioned. “It’s not like Midoriya’s so unaware he won’t be able to catch us.”
“It’s probably fine,” Momo assured her, though she wasn’t all too confident herself in any of what she was saying. “As long as we’re not too obvious, this should be a piece of cake.” She held out the blueprints that she’d definitely acquired through legal means (i.e., using her family connections to get the floor plan of the entire building). “According to this, we should be able to view the kitchen from…here!” She pointed towards a nearby window.
Through the power of stealth, Momo, Jirou, and Hagakure all snuck into a singular bush, and calmly, carefully, methodically moved together from the sidewalk to the front of the window in question.
“Mom? What are they doing over there?” A child asked their parent as they walked along the sidewalk.
“Don’t worry about them, don’t look at them,” She guided her kid away. “They’re just a few freaks in the area. I’ll reach out to a hero once we’re fully away from them, don’t worry.”
Either way, they were successful in reaching the window (relatively) undetected.
And the sight they saw was cruel and beautiful all at once. It was as though one had seen a beautiful siren being tainted by the depths of the underworld.
“Ooh, Auntie, this is really good!” Midoriya beamed, the brightness of the smile itself almost destroying the bush disguise altogether somehow.
Oh my god I just wanna kiss him so bad–
AHHHH LET ME CUDDLE HIM FOREVER–
Oh. Oh so I need him to marry me now and he can cook a beautiful breakfast in bed and then give me ten billion kisses.
“Thanks, Izuku!” Mitsuki smirked back at him. “Been workin’ on this one for a while. Plus, it’s something that I initially learned because Masaru was cooking this for me one day, and–Oops! Sorry, I was about to start ramblin’.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Auntie!” Midoriya giggled, a sound that almost made the three spies give away their location with sighs of joy. “Besides, it’s been a while since we were able to talk like this.”
Jirou and Momo shared a look; considering where Bakugo reigned in the Deku Club, it was odd that the two of them being alone was rare. Did something happen between the two in their past?
Regardless, they had more important things to investigate.
“Well, if you’re so willin’, then lemme talk about it a bit more,” Mitsuki ruffled Midoriya’s hair a little bit as she kept on going. “So, it actually happened when I was sick over the winter, and Masaru was makin’ something just like this, and it was heaven, kid. Seriously. Thing is, afterwards, he told me that he thought it’d be even better if I made it, but no matter how many times I did, it didn’t feel the same way it did when he made it. Even with the same recipe and everythin’.”
Midoriya hummed, clearly curious, “Did you ever figure out why?”
“...Yeah,” Mitsuki smiled gently. “Turns out, he thought the same thing about mine. Apparently, any time he tried to whip up what I made for him in return, he thought it was way worse.”
Midoriya seemed confused, though he kept chopping the vegetables anyways as he asked, “So what made it so different?”
“Took me a while, honestly,” Mitsuki only laughed. “I literally only realized it, like, a week after I proposed to him.”
“...You know, it makes sense that you proposed to Uncle Masaru instead of the other way around,” Izuku calmly remarked, before easily weaving the playfully light jab that Mitsuki was aiming at his shoulder.
“Little brat,” She chuckled. “Guess all that hero trainin’ really got you dodging well. Anyways!”
Mitsuki hummed, turning the heat up to let whatever was in the pot start to simmer before she answered, “It was love.”
Midoriya turned pink at the mention of romance, as if he wasn’t surrounded by aspiring lovers 24/7, voice shaky as he went, “L-L-Love?!”
Mitsuki laughed again, rolling her eyes as she stirred the pot some more, both figuratively and literally, “Don’t you got a little girl or guy you have your eyes on, kid?”
At this point, stealth seemed to go out of the window as all three spies put their face up against the glass, as though they weren’t going to hear Midoriya’s response anyways. Their breath fogged up the glass, and it didn’t matter. Frankly speaking, it was a miracle that their leaning didn’t break the glass in the first place and have them fall into the kitchen.
“E-E-Eh?!” Midoriya spluttered, turning more and more red. “I-I mean…”
All ears were on Midoriya.
…
“I-I don’t think I could d-do something like that unless I-I knew that the other person liked me…and I-I don’t t-think there’d be anyone like that…”
Both Jirou and Momo had to hold back Hagakure from screaming out “ME! ME! ME!” and not only give away their position, but also strike first at what was possibly the best opportunity they’d seen to interact with Midoriya in a romantic light.
“What if someone else asked you out, kid?” Mitsuki interrogated lightheartedly, shooting him a smirk.
This time, the three girls outside had their breath caught in their throats.
Though Midoriya only responded with a light laugh, “Eh, haven’t really thought about that. Wouldn’t happen to me, at least.”
Jirou was doing her best not to strangle either somebody else or herself with her own jacks, and Momo was half considering the idea of using her knowledge to create a nuclear bomb to blow something up horrendously.
“NO WAY HE ASKED SOMETHING LIKE THAT!” Kaminari shrieked, his quirk activating for half a second out of frustration.
There were numerous people pacing around the room with excess energy, including Kirishima, Shoji, Uraraka, and others. They had been muttering under their breath, but the contents of their speech was left unknown.
“Well, anyways, what’d you mean about love?” Midoriya asked, putting the vegetables in the bowl for later.
“Right, that,” Mitsuki hummed casually. “I know it sounds like it’s magic or somethin’, but I swear that the fact that it was made by the person I love makes it, like, a billion times better.”
“Huh? Is that really the case?!” Midoriya gawked, a little shocked by that ‘fact.’
“I know it is. I’ve given the recipe to other people who aren’t Masaru, and they don’t make it nearly as good as he does,” Mitsuki waved around the spatula she was using. “You should try it one day, kid, I swear.”
“Hmm…” Midoriya seemed to be a little deep in thought. “Well, I don’t think I could be trying it on the receiving end, though…”
Mitsuki smiled, ruffling his hair again as she suggested, “You don’t have to exclusively be the one on the receiving end, y’know. One of the reasons both Masaru and I love cooking is because we know we can make our food with love. Whenever I cook spicy mapo tofu for them, I always make sure that Katsuki and Masaru feel all the love I have in my heart for them, as both my kid’s mother and my honey pie’s lover.” She gave a soft smile, thinking about some memories she’d had with the two of them at the table.
“...Cooking with love…” Midoriya hummed, tilting his head as he thought it through.
“...Has anyone else had Midoriya’s cooking yet before this…?” Ojiro muttered, his mind going overdrive in his thought process, scanning through his entire memory to figure out if somebody else has had this opportunity yet.
“...No, I don’t think so,” Aoyama muttered dramatically, and eyes turned towards Bakugo with somehow increased hostility.
“So…not ONLY have you had Midoriya’s cooking in THIS state,” Momo growled as if she was actually going to commit a felony. “But you’re the FIRST one to have it at ALL?!”
“How do I do something like that, Auntie?” Midoriya asked, and Jirou felt her heart absolutely melt at the sight of his doe eyes. She grasped at her chest, letting out a silent gasp at the sight of it.
“I think you already do, kid,” she smiled. “You cook all the time for Inko, right?”
Midoriya took a moment to process her words, before the realization set in and he positively beamed, “Mhm!”
“Then you just need to put that sort of feeling into cooking in general,” Mitsuki advised. “It’ll be even stronger when you cook for somebody you love, if you ever get to feeling that way, buuuuuut for now? If you can just love cooking itself, I think it’ll get across just fine to whoever you made it for.”
Midoriya grinned a toothy grin which reached his eyes and made them absolutely glimmer, a beautiful light that Hagakure would never even dream of deflecting.
Then, he prompted Mitsuki to say something that dropped all three spies into the deepest despair, “Then can you teach me how to cook something so I can make it with love like you do, Auntie?”
“...You’re a good kid, Izuku,” Mitsuki complimented before clicking her tongue. “How about this? This way, you’ll be able to actually see how your cooking affects someone.”
“Hmm?” Midoriya wasn’t following.
“How about I teach you how to make that spicy mapo tofu I was talking about earlier? It’s Katsuki’s favorite,” Mitsuki offered, and just for a moment, her status changed in the eyes of Momo.
Whereas she had previously seen Mitsuki as an asset, a tool she could use as a way to try getting close to Izuku due to her knowledge of him since he was young, she had become something else.
A monster. Why didn’t she see it before? She was Bakugo’s mother! Of course she would be rotten to the core like he is!
Momo was taken out of her thoughts by Midoriya gasping, “I’d love to! Ooh, it’d be so fun to see him try it! I hope he’ll like it!”
Momo’s greatest fears were confirmed when Mitsuki laughed, a knowing laugh that was too aware of what was going on, and she hinted, “I think he’ll like it more than you might think, Izuku.”
Make him UNLEARN that recipe!
“How the hell is he going to unlearn a recipe, dingbats?!” Bakugo cackled, feeling just how good it was to be on the other side of all this hootenanny (as if he WASN’T already, the bastard!)
“I don’t know, and I don’t care!” Iida retorted, taking a page from the classic ‘nuh uh’ strategy of ages past. “If anything, I’ll have Hatsume find a way to do something about it!”
“And if THAT doesn’t work,” Jirou smirked haughtily. “I’ll just make sure he ends up cooking way more for me instead! He’ll be learning so many dishes for me he forgets about your stupid spice addiction!”
“THAT’S MY JOB!” A cacophony of hopeless romantics joined together as one.
“ORDER!” Iida called out.
“Screw your stupid order, Prez, we’ve got some beef to settle between men!” Kirishima argued, rolling up his sleeves and already activating his hardening. “I’ll show Blasty over here what a real dingbat looks like!”
A random voice muttered just loud enough to be heard, but not recognized, “Not real manly to ignore the fact that Midoriya’s also learning how to make stuff for other people other than food, you know.”
Kirishima gasped a manly gasp as he conceded, “You’re right, brochacho! Who said that!”
“Ahem,” perhaps the smuggest voice one has ever heard in their lifetime spoke up. “You heard me. It’s not real manly to ignore the fact that he’s doing something even more time-intensive than cooking, especially since it’s for me!”
If Kirishima were not manly, he would turn to violence on the spot. Luckily for Aizawa’s sanity (or unluckily considering the fact that he had to deal with this class on the regular), he was very mantastic.
There sat the culprit herself, Hagakure Tooru. Despite having to bear witness to the horror that was Midoriya actively choosing to learn to cook something for Bakugo, it was almost comical how easily she was able to turn the tides and make it so she not only reaped the benefits of her own actions, but also Bakugo’s inaction!
“I think I can talk about my victory here!” Hagakure bragged haughtily, standing up and strutting to the front of the presentation. She snatched the laser pointer/clicker from Iida, and did everything but actually push him down into a seat. “Don’t worry, I’ll put in allllll the detail I have!”
She pressed the clicker to the next slide.
Crafting Creations!
“So, first off, it was, like, two months ago!”
Ahem. Two Months Ago…
“Hey, Hagakure?” Midoriya meekly went up to her, twiddling his thumbs before hitting the classic ‘pressing index fingers together’ pose.
[Note: It is important to know that, somehow, Hagakure got a picture of Midoriya doing this despite the fact that the conversation just started. Do not mess around with the picture-taking master.]
She smiled at him, because of course she did when it came to Midoriya, “Y’know you can call me Tooru, right?”
“Ah, sorry!” He lightly blushed in embarrassment. “I-I really need to get more used to doing that.”
Uh, yeah you do, Izuku, Hagakure mentally agreed. You’re gonna be calling me that a lot when we get married, you know.
She shook off the remark before she could let it out and spill the beans, instead asking, “Anyways, what’s up, Midori?”
“U-Um…can I…ask you for a favor?”
Cha-ching! If she was visible at the moment, Hagakure would’ve had dollar signs all over her eyes. A favor from Midori?
Like…one where I get to ask him to do whatever I want?!
“YES!” She blurted out excitedly, a little too loud compared to what was appropriate for the situation. She watched Midoriya awkwardly smile at her, and her heart absolutely fluttered.
“S-So, y-you know how to knit, r-right?” Midoriya started, and Hagakure nodded. “And…you know how m-my hands aren’t…in the best condition?” It was an obvious question, but the way that Midoriya seemed like he almost wanted to hide them away, Hagakure didn’t blame him for asking.
“Though, y’know, I wouldn’t have minded if he just wanted me to hold his hands to warm them up!” Hagakure sighed dreamily, earning glares from everyone else.
“Just tell the damn story,” Bakugo demanded as if he wasn’t just being as smug as she was when it was his turn.
Hagakure nodded again, taking the time to appreciate how adorable his voice sounded while also letting his words soak in, “I…I was doing some research online to see if there were any ways to help out with hand function that’s not too labor-intensive, and I c-came across knitting.”
Hagakure’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, as she figured out where this was going.
“There are so many ways to do it!” Momo yearned for the opportunity that was instead blessed upon Hagakure. “I could’ve given him hand massages, damn it!”
“Ooh, I’ll write that down so I can offer that to Midori later!” Hagakure gloated. “Y’know, since I’m the person who ‘saved his hands,’ right?”
They couldn’t prove it.
But damn did they know she was wearing a shit-eating grin.
She bit her lip, weighing the options. On one hand, this was a prime opportunity to spend time with Midoriya, and even teach him something!
On the other, she was an avid crafter; she knew just how much it could have the opposite effect he wanted, considering the wrist pain she’d get from all her time knitting, crocheting, what have you (as long as it involved procrastinating math homework, she was in).
The good, the bad, and the Midori.
She thickly swallowed the pain down as her shoulders tensed, recalling that she was relatively normal (or, as normal as somebody in the Deku Club could be). She was not somebody who decided that pain was just the body’s suggestion, not a signal to stop.
If I let him do this irresponsibly…he could do something horrible to himself!
The urgency of the situation hit her as she tried explaining, “W-Well, if you’re worried about hand f-function, wouldn’t knitting risk making it worse?” The gain she would get from being able to teach Midoriya how to knit couldn’t possibly come close to the misery she would suffer should she realize that her work led to his suffering.
“Oh, I did look into that!” His eyes brightened a little, as if somebody had asked a question directly relevant to a presenter’s research, one that would allow them to yap about a small detail that they really wanted to highlight. “I remember reading that it could start to hurt if I do it improperly or for too long at a time. Admittedly, I don’t think the second one is too much of a risk for me, though.”
Hagakure had to agree with that; Midoriya was such a busy bee that knitting just couldn’t become for him what it was for Hagakure, something she spent so much time on compared to what would probably be more so a “winding down for the night” activity for Midoriya, and since he was somebody who took his sleep very seriously, he wouldn’t sacrifice it just to knit. At least, she didn’t think he would.
“I am glad you had a good head on your shoulders!” Iida congratulated, clapping twice for effect. His sentiment was shared by the rest of the class, who nodded enthusiastically.
Hagakure only laughed, “C’mon, guys, don’t give me too much credit. Just imagine if you were asked to teach Midoriya something that could hurt him if he takes it too far.”
[Note: Three people puked within five seconds of even conceptualizing such a nightmare.]
Midoriya’s voice became a little softer, and this time, he very much did put his hands behind his back, and his feet were swaying to side to side (a sight that made Hagakure want to claim her man, by the way) as he continued, “Buuuut…I w-was hoping if you could teach me how to knit?”
There it was. The crowning jewel for Hagakure. Yet, it was still dangerous due to the aforementioned risk of harm.
“Midori, I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” Hagakure made her feelings as clear as possible, while still maintaining the softest voice she could to make sure he didn’t feel like he was being lectured.
“Now, MIND YOU, I was just expecting him to sort of take it like a good boy,” Hagakure explained, putting both her hands on one of the tables for emphasis.
[Note: The phrasing of Midoriya taking anything like a good boy did, in fact, produce the reaction one would expect from these horndogs.]
“But that’s when he saved all of me from drowning in my losses and gave me all the greatest gifts in the world!”
“...Then h-how about I-I only k-knit with you, Tooru?” Midoriya prompted, though he realized how intimate (in his eyes) such a situation would be and turned red midway through. “T-That way, you could teach me how to knit and make s-sure I don’t hurt myself?” He seemed uncertain, but Hagakure was back to having dollar signs in her eyes.
“YES!” She belted out again, clamoring to get up from where she was seated, gently grabbing his hands in hers to preserve their safety, but still conveying her excitement nonetheless.
“R-R-Really?!” Midoriya gawked, though a smile was coming to his face nonetheless.
Her response was only emphatic nods, and Midoriya took this as the best form of “Yes” he could imagine.
“And here’s the kicker!” She flexed, slapping her bicep excitedly.
“T-Thank you, T-Tooru-sensei!” Midoriya beamed one of the brightest smiles she’d ever seen from him.
Tooru-sensei….
Tooru-sensei…
Tooru-sensei…
Deku Club Rankings (Overall) Update:
Hagakure: 17th →11th
A month later…
“E-Eh?” Hagakure blanked at the sight in front of her. She knew these colors. She knew the color combo that was associated with them.
And she knew just who made them. After all, she was his sensei, after all.
“I-I’m s-sorry they’re not v-very good, b-but I…I wanted to make something f-for you since i-it’s the first thing I’ve ever made!” Midoriya explained hastily, from his bowing position as he held out the gift in front of Hagakure.
In front of Hagakure’s eyes, her very two own peepers, her eyeballs, her windows into the soul, her optic receptors, were a pair of very clearly amateur-level gloves.
With the distinct colors of turquoise, chartreuse, yellow, and pink on them.
Hagakure’s hair color.
“Y-You…” Hagakure’s voice was becoming watery as she reached out to touch them, though flinched away for a moment as if she was afraid of them burning her. “Y-You made t-these for me…?”
Midoriya looked bashful, but raised up from his bowing position once Hagakure did eventually pick up the gloves and spoke, “Y-Yeah…You’ve b-been helping me this entire time learning how to knit and we’ve been hanging out a lot because of it, and I-I thought it’d be nice to, you know…thank you for it.”
He kept going, starting to spiral a little bit into his mutter storm, “A-And, y-you know, I thought that gloves would work best b-because I know that you wear them all the time, even outside of your hero outfit s-so that w-we can see…”
Hagakure was breathless as she whispered, “A-And you made it my hair color…?”
Midoriya nodded, still a bit bashful as he explained his reasoning, “I-I thought it’d b-be nice to have something that matches! P-Plus, y-you’re always really vibrant and e-energetic, so I thought that using b-brighter colors would fit that…”
Midoriya started fiddling around with his hands, and he shut his eyes tight as he forced the admission out of him that he had wanted to say but always was too shy to, “A-And also!...”
He paused, realizing that the force he’d used was not enough to get the whole thing across, and fear started to cross his face.
However, Hagakure was having none of that, gently asking, “Can I…give you a hug, Midori?”
“E-Eh?!” Midoriya’s fear turned into an instant blush. “W-Why would you want that?”
She beamed, though her voice was still soft so she didn’t startle him, “Because I love these, silly billy!”
Shock quickly found its way through Midoriya, completely unexpecting something like that, but he nodded nonetheless.
Screeches roared throughout the entire 1-A dorms, to the point where Jirou had to cover her ears to tolerate it despite the fact that she, too, was part of the monstrous noise.
“YOU HUGGED HIM?!” They all shouted in unison, and man, if they were united in training the same way that they were when it came to Midoriya, they probably would’ve beat 1-B in the training match without losing a single member.
Hagakure put a hand on her chest, defensive, “I’m not sorry that he decided that the first thing he wanted to make was gloves for ME! So, too bad, so sad!” If they could see her face, they would’ve also seen the tongue she was sticking out at them.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Hagakure squealed as she embraced him quickly, still holding the gloves in her hands.
And she treasured that hug, damn it! It wasn’t too often that Midoriya hugged people, and she was 100% sure that she was going to take advantage of that whenever she could!
Of course, the hug was a little longer than would normally be acceptable, buuuuuut at the same time, Midoriya was also not the type of person who’d received a lot of hugs growing up, so this was something he was soaking up like dry concrete on a summer day soaking up water.
Then, it hit her.
“Oh! Sorry, Midori, what were you going to say?” Hagakure very reluctantly pulled away from the hug, almost screaming her lungs out at the loss of contact between her and Midoriya. The thought of He smelled so good… lingered in her mind.
“O-Oh, yeah!” Midoriya scratched a little at his chin, glancing away for a second as he awkwardly chuckled. “I-I…This is really, really selfish, and I don’t know if someone’s done it b-before, but…”
He gulped, and looked at her with the most beautiful, the most adorable, the most wonderful, the most sublime, the most stupendous smile the world had ever been graced with and wishfully spoke, “I-I w-was hoping that this would be your first piece of f-fan merch…?” He trailed off near the end, but the message got across.
Fan merch…
“F-Fan?!” Hagakure squeaked out, her entire face becoming hotter by the second.
Midoriya nodded, this time speaking with all the excitement of his hero-fan form, “Mhm! I haven’t really made many things for other people if we’re not talking about cooking, but–”
Bakugo interrupted Hagakure’s recollection of events with a haughty laugh, “And if he is, then you’re all late to the party, suckers!”
“T-This is the first piece of, l-like, clothing I’ve made, s-so I wanted to make it a-as hopefully your first piece of fan merch!”
Hagakure’s mind blanked at the thought of it.
And, holy fuck, was she holding back every cell in her body from taking a lot of Midoriya’s firsts right then and there.
“A-And, if you’d let me, I-I’d be glad to make you some more!”
The most comical record scratch sound ringed throughout the common room despite nobody having the means to cause it at the moment.
“WHAT?!”
He needs to use his new ability for good!
“No, absolutely the hell not!” Sero declared, fromping about as he went up to the projector. “We can’t have this be the main point when THAT’S what we just heard! We didn’t even know about this before!”
He edited the presentation right then and there, fixing the note up.
Midoriya’s FAN MERCH SHOULD NOT BE MONOPOLIZED!
The sentiment was shared by everybody except for one key aspect of the fact that it should be monopolized by them individually instead of getting rid of the monopolization.
They all glared at the custom-made gloves that weren’t just made by Midoriya, but made in a specific way so that it was entirely for Hagakure! It matched her damn hair, for crying out loud!
However, just before the group could all clamor to destroy Hagakure (and not the gloves because, frankly, nobody could bring themselves to ever bring harm that Midoriya fucking Izuku made, let alone the first of these somethings they could make), they heard footsteps barreling down the stairs.
A pink blur raced on by, scrambling to put on their shoes, and suddenly, all the aggression was on them.
“MINA!” Jirou shouted out, catching her attention.
“Sorry, guys, the shower took longer than expected, I gotta hurry!” She quickly explained, tying her laces in record time and bolting out the door before anybody could catch her.
If a dentist were in the room, and none of these people already had dentists of their own, he would’ve felt the money pouring into their pockets the way 1-A were gritting and grinding their teeth hard enough they might be shattering sometime soon.
For the most dangerous perpetrator of all had just rushed by them to meet with none other than Midoriya himself for another goddamn lesson.
Because, with Midoriya, the initial intention to learn how to cook more was just because he wanted to cook. With Midoriya, the initial intention to learn how to knit was to help manage his hands better. The intentions did not initially involve learning how to cook for Bakugo or to knit for Hagakure.
But for Mina?
The initial intention was for her.
Breakdancing Hangouts!
Two weeks ago…
See, part of the grandiosity of the offense was how recent it was. It wasn’t something that had time to simmer, for them to begrudgingly accept.
It was something that absolutely slapped them in the face, because they had to watch it go down.
Even worse? She wasn’t even in top 10 conversations! It was as if you were to ask what somebody’s undisputed GOAT of media is, and they straight-up looked you in the face and told you “Yeah, it’s gotta be My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute!” and you just had to refrain from backhanding them on the spot.
Now, Mina didn’t deserve that level of stray. She was one of 1-A’s greatest friends, she was always there to cheer them up, to support them and be there for them, and they were proud to be there for her when she needed it, too.
But the point still stood!
For it was so brazen, so bold, so spontaneous that nobody could be prepared for it. It was like Kaminari’s reaction to All Might of all people going “6…7? What’s that, Young Midoriya?”
(He may have electrocuted Kirishima and Sero, who were unfortunate enough to be near him at the time.)
What could have possibly warranted such a reaction as intense as comparing Mina to My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute?
(Nothing to a normal person, by the way.)
“Hey, Mina?” Midoriya had asked one day in the common room, while everybody was hanging out. He had been out and about doing groceries for some recipes he wanted to try out (luckily for himself and not for BakuBitch™) –
“HEY!” Bakugo defended himself from the label he’d been given, though to no avail.
Regardless, Midoriya had just come back from groceries and was working on putting them on the shelves, a duty that was basically promised to him because he loved organizing, and to take away from that would probably mean great amounts of rank loss in the Deku Club.
Everybody’s shoulders tensed except for Mina, who was talking to Hagakure, Ojiro, and Tokoyami. She, instead, smiled brightly at him, and clearly noticed the fact that everybody else was listening in as discreetly as possible.
“Hi, Midori!” She spoke in a lighthearted tone to him, being as welcoming as possible. “What’s up?”
“So, while I was listening to music–” Jirou’s ears perked up, thinking of all the ways she could have an ‘in’ if she used music to her advantage. “While looking at groceries for soba–” Todoroki almost stood up and proposed to him right then and there. “When I came across this fun looking group of guys who called themselves A-ReShi Crew. You ever heard of them?”
And, in a rare sight, Mina’s attention went from pleasing Midoriya to the fact that he knew of A-ReShi Crew, and she gawked, “Have I heard of them?! They’re taking Japan by storm, Midori!” She was basically bouncing up and down at the moment in excitement, a level of energy that Hagakure knew she mainly saved for talking about Midoriya.
Hagakure whispered to Ojiro, “Are they important…?”
Mina whirled on Hagakure faster than a human eye could register and screeched, “YES THEY ARE!”
Midoriya smiled at the sight, and continued, “Great! I’m glad you do, because they reminded me of you a bit.”
Mina’s attention once again switched, this time from the fact that Midoriya knew A-ReShi Crew to the fact that something reminded him of her.
Oh I could die happy now…
Deku Club Ranking (Overall) Update:
Mina: 24th → 12th
“T-They did?” She gawked again at him.
He nodded, and scratched the back of his head nervously, “I-I kinda realized that I-I’ve been getting into a lot of things that other people like recently…”
That was true, but he was mainly getting into them because it helped him out. It was definitely the case for knitting and learning new recipes, at the very least.
“A-And I realized that b-breakdancing isn’t really something I’d found myself interested in before,” he admitted, but Mina knew where he was going. After all, it was A-ReShi.
“But when you saw them, you got really excited, right?” Mina preened. “Did you see that and say something like–” she whipped out a pair of sunglasses from nowhere and slapped them onto her face. “That’s Rad!”
“Yes, I did!” Midoriya seemed excited. “S-So, I…I was hoping y-you could h-help me get into breakdancing a bit? I-I was thinking about how cool it looked, and then I realized that I know you like breakdancing, but also that I actually don’t know as much about you as I’d like to know…?”
He seemed a little embarrassed in admitting that, but all that registered to Mina was that he wanted to know her better, and he was asking her to help him get into something she loved.
“S-So, yeah…” He trailed off, the fire in his conversational skills dying out a little bit. “I-I was hoping I could breakdance with you and get to know you better…?”
Suddenly, Bakugo’s special dish made for him and Hagakure’s gloves still felt great, but…lackluster.
Because Mina FUCKING Ashido just got asked to breakdance JUST to know her better.
One Week Ago…
Despair had fallen over the rankings between 6th and 15th.
Fear had washed over the top 5.
A new sheriff had come into town.
And her name was Mina Ashido.
Deku Club Ranking (Overall) Update:
Mina: 12th → 6th
It was a commanding lead between her and 7th place, which currently was Hatsume.
For the first time in the Deku Club’s entire history, somebody had been within striking distance of the Top 5. Such a barrier wouldn’t be broken until the Great Destruction (Later Depicted in Meeting 48: The Fall), but it let them all know something.
The Top 5 were not infallible. It was possible to dethrone the greats.
If only it didn’t have to be MINA ASHIDO WHO SHOWED THAT–
Ahem.
It would’ve been one thing for Mina to more or less take a large chunk of Midoriya’s gym time away from others. As great as an opportunity was to get close to him, it was still salvageable because it didn’t take up the entire gym session. In other words, people like Uraraka, Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, Todoroki, Shoji, and others were still able to use it as their own time to spend with Midoriya.
Granted, the fact that she had a guaranteed slot there now was not ideal. But, again, salvageable. Just a little assassination here, or a little slander or libel there, and boom! It’d be all fine and dandy again!
But the fact that that wasn’t all was the bigger issue here.
For it wasn’t just in the gym that Midoriya and Mina were involved together when it came to breakdancing. It was outside of it, too.
And it fucking SUCKED because allllll anybody else could do when it happened was watch.
They didn’t have the breakdancing expertise that Mina had, and she had enough social skills to deflect anybody’s requests to join in on the breakdancing sessions that were just between her and Midoriya.
They didn’t have the breakdancing knowledge or enthusiasm that Mina had, and no matter how hard they studied, they could never hope to match the level of ball knowledge that Mina had on breakdancing, whether they be as popular as A-ReShi’s moves or as niche as knowing the alleyway where people visited to honor A-ReShi’s rise.
This was her impenetrable fortress. Her main weapon, her biggest defense.
So, whenever Mina just walked up to him and hit a crazy move that the others knew they couldn’t replicate, they had to basically sit in the goddamn cuck chair and watch as Midoriya took it as a signal to also hit a crazy move that Mina had taught him!
Whenever Midoriya had an interest in a particular breakdancing group or style or move, his first instinct wasn’t to go to somebody else who was trying to get into it, like Jirou or Ojiro or Aoyama. No, his first instinct was to instantly talk to Mina about it.
Mina this, Mina that, god, everything was about MINA!
And they weren’t going to stand for it anymore!
If they couldn’t beat her in breakdancing, they were going to beat her in other ways!
Starting with fighting!
See, they knew Midoriya, and they knew his drive to become a hero quite well. They knew how much he liked learning from other people how to fight, and the inspiration he’d taken from others. They’d seen him use moves that looked eerily similar to Gran Torino’s, how his style of movement sometimes takes inspiration from Bakugo, hell, how he started using Miruko’s kicking style in addition to his regular shoot style?
It was the perfect way to get in and carve their own defense against Mina!
So Ojiro walked up to Midoriya to start it off, as he was the one in their class best known for sheer fighting technique. Being a full-on martial artist would do that to you, of course.
“Hey, Midoriya,” Ojiro started off, having a full attack planned.
And, then, Mina strutted into the room with one earphone in, spun around a few times, and ended with a sparkle, capturing everyone’s attention in the room as she cheered, “Woo!” Normally, it would’ve been a welcome sight, because it was Mina being excitable as usual and happy about music. It was very her, so to speak.
Of course, this was not a normal situation. Because it caught everyone’s attention.
Everyone’s attention.
Including Midoriya’s.
“Oh, Mina! Have you heard of this new guy, Everyone’s Idol Goro?!” Midoriya squealed in excitement, and Todoroki could only think yeah I’m gonna make you squeal alright– (#1 In Thirst for a reason, if you couldn’t tell.)
And, of course Mina knew, responding with detail, “Yeah, he’s the guy who’s starting to use this new stuff in his matches, right? He called it, uhhh, what was it again…oh, yeah, Breaker Style!”
Midoriya nodded with glee, glad that she caught the reference and continued, “I was thinking, if he can do stuff with breakdancing in fights…”
Mina’s eyes widened, hype filling them.
No.
NO.
NO!
Despair washed over everybody that was present.
She caught the gist, gasping, “Then we can, too!”
Midoriya nodded, “Y’think the two of us could work together to try using that Breaker Style ourselves?!”
Mina agreed heartily, and with just as much flashiness and excitement as Mina entered the room, the two of them exited.
Leaving one ignored Ojiro.
And one miserable class.
And once again, the gap between Mina Ashido and the Top 5 shrunk.
Breakdance? More like BREAK HER DAMN LEGS!
At this point, many of them were becoming more and more defeated by the second. They’d just been hit by a malicious one-two combo, hearing about Midoriya’s cooking and knitting skills not going to them.
Then, after all of that, they were once again hit, but with the most horrendous knockout uppercut the world has ever seen instead by having to relive that cruel memory of seeing Mina invade another route that could be used to get closer to Midoriya.
They didn’t even know what to say, either, because what could they do?! This was like taking Midoriya on in hero trivia, or taking Todoroki on in conspiracy theories, or, hell, taking Shigaraki on in skin dryness!
A voice cut through the air, “Hellspawn.”
Their heads whipped around to see Aizawa standing there, a cup of coffee at, what was it, 4 p.m.?
“Don’t tell me what the hell this meeting is about,” he drawled out, and in his voice was just a hint of pleading, as if he knew he couldn’t stop them from having these meetings but wanted to distance himself as much as he could.
Multiple mouths shut closed.
“I came in here to ask you about one of your previous meetings,” pain seeped into his voice. No rational person could blame him, either, because if Aizawa could’ve wiped any information of this from his mind, he sure would’ve by now. “In fact, your literal previous one.”
Concern flooded into them, and despite the fact that it would’ve normally been considered an attitude, Momo basically commanded the information to come out, “What did he do.” Here, “He” meant Midoriya, of course.
Aizawa held back a deep sigh at the disrespect, having become more resigned than anything. God damn, these kids did make him proud, but God if he could ask for anything, it’d be for less of…this.
“Check the news.”
Without another word, he left.
Phones were whipped out and opened in record time, and multiple different news apps were opened to scour as much information as possible.
Then, they came across the article.
“NEW! U.A. Heroes-In-Training Pinky and Deku Take Down Wanted Arsonists with the Power of Funk!”
No…
The article was quickly projected so that everybody could see it without all clamoring over one phone, showing a picture of Midoriya and none other than Mina fucking Ashido hitting a celebratory pose together, which was, to be fair, appropriate given the fact that nothing was actually burned down.
A few lines from the article stood out to them.
Our very own Ko Hattori had the chance to interview Deku about the incident, and here’s what he had to say!
“Hattori: So, Deku, we got to see you use a few new moves today. What’s the deal?
Deku: Oh, I’ve been getting into breakdancing here and there, and Mi–Oh, sorry, Pinky helped teach me a ton, and we’ve been working on weaving it into our fighting styles to add some more variety!
Hattori: I see, I see.”
They skipped a few more lines to see the even greater offense.
Hey, readers, did you notice the fact that Deku accidentally started to refer to Pinky by her first name instead of her hero name? And did you see that look in his eyes?
We think something juicy might be going on between these two up-and-coming heroes!
The phone shattered, Momo having destroyed it with a newly made sledgehammer.
“My apologies,” she cleared her throat calmly, though the sledgehammer was still held with white knuckles. “I’ll remedy that for whoever’s phone that was.”
It didn’t matter who that phone belonged to, though.
This whole time, Midoriya was taking inspiration from Mina.
Perhaps it would be appropriate for Mina to take inspiration from Midoriya just this once.
Final Decision of Meeting 20 (Artistry): Shatter Mina’s legs so she can’t breakdance any more, or infect Midoriya with her presence instead of ours.
Omake: Just a Bit Too Late
Before the trailing team heard the interaction between Mitsuki and Midoriya…
“So, why’d you even wanna learn how to cook more food anyway? I would’ve thought you’d be just fine with what you know already, honestly,” Mitsuki admitted with a little shrug, absentmindedly chopping away at some vegetables to put in the pan.
“Hmm,” Midoriya tilted his head a little, more so figuring out how to word what he wanted to say than his reason. “Well, there’s somebody in my class, right?”
Mitsuki nodded, biting back the teasing remark at the tip of her tongue; as fun as it was to tease Izuku, she knew that doing so while he had a knife in his hand may not have been the smartest move. Besides, she was definitely still planning on teasing him later on.
“I thought it’d be nice to treat them to some dishes that are both packed with nutrition and flavor! They usually just have a lot of calories and different structures to supplement their quirk in their meals, but…that can’t be fun, you know?” Midoriya started rambling a bit. “I mean, even when I started making more meals that fit my exercise and diet needs, I still wanted it to taste good. There’s no reason to make food unenjoyable on purpose if you can help it.”
Mitsuki heartily agreed. After all, she’d definitely gotten to the point where she would not let herself return to her dietary habits back when she was in college.
“So, yeah, I thought it’d be nice to make them a few dishes to help break that sort of monotony in their food!” Midoriya finished with a smile, and at this point, Mitsuki couldn’t help but ask the question on her mind:
“Who is this person, by the way?”
Midoriya readily responded, “Her name’s Yaoyorozu Momo!”
Mitsuki hummed, taking the answer lightly. Admittedly, she couldn’t quite place the name, so there wasn’t a lot for her to respond to there. Shrugging, she decided to move on in the topic.
*rustle*
“Are you sure they aren’t going to hear us, Momo?”
Mitsuki’s head whipped around to see what was going on, asking Midoriya, “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“...no, I must’ve just misheard something,” Mitsuki brushed it off, missing the dark purple and black tufts of hair that were barely peeking out of a newly present bush.