Chapter 7: Someone…that I actually Know
"Over here is fine, Aizen-sama."
Yaoyorozu Momo, heiress of the Yaoyorozu empire, turned her gaze away from the tinted window where she had been steadily counting down the numbers of blocks in her head as her driver took her to her intended destination.
With only a slight dip of his head confirming that he had heard her, her chauffeur and personal body-guard, Aizen, expertly maneuvered the sleek blackBentley Continental GT into a nearby street, turning into a parking lot for a series of commercial district shops ranging from books to flowers boutique for special significant events.
Momo knew all of this, of course, having meticulously planned out the entire route a few days before the designated hangout date for hours on end.
Keeping the engine idly, Aizen met her gaze through the rearview mirror.
"Are you certain you would be alright by yourself, my lady?"
Aizen's tone was all professional but it didn't hide the tiny nugget of concern he has for her safety.
Her chauffeur had been a part of her life since childhood, and Momo gave him a small warm smile unlike the usual ones she would give to the public at her parent's social fundraiser events.
"I'll be fine," she assured him once more again, as well as for herself.
It wasn't often that Momo would find herself allowed to venture out on her own without any additional assistance; whether it was with her parents or with one of the plethora of caretakers residing on the clock from her mansion in Aichi Prefecture, she was never found alone outside of home for safety reasons.
Today, though, was different.
She was aiming to become a Pro-Hero someday and couldn't afford to allow herself to remain perpetually stuck in the shadows of her parents' influential far reaches throughout Japan and beyond.
Grabbing her mini Rosso Corsa Chanel purse, which paired exceptionally well with her short sleeve scarlet evening gown and black strapless heels, Momo stepped out of the car. The cold frost nipped at her face, and she pulled tightly on the faux fur coat that had been gifted to her by her father for her birthday.
She was almost tempted to produce a pair of earmuffs with her quirk but quietly refrained from doing so.
After all, the walk to the restaurant thankfully wasn't too far away from here.
Rolling down the front window of the driver's side of the car, Aizen peered up at her through his rim glasses with dark brown eyes cool and collected as was his quirk, Complete Hypnosis . With a simple touch or glance, he could alter and control the five senses of any person he so wished. It had made him an excellent body-guard and one of Momo's beloved martial art teachers.
"You look amazing as always, my lady," he said, dipping his head respectfully at her.
Giggling slightly into her hand, as it was unbecoming for a woman of her status to show her teeth so crudely, Momo gently shook her head, the tips of her long dark ponytail brushing against her neck.
"Thank you, Aizen-sama," she replied, "I will be out for quite a while so I hope you don't mind."
"Nonsense, my lady." Aizen pulled out a small iPod touch and air pods from one of the cabin spaces beside him. "I have downloaded a substantial amount of podcasts to keep me company for the night."
Momo clapped her hands in delight.
Anything involving educational productive lessons were a sure favorite of hers despite it not being something common within her own age demographic.
"Oh! You must let me know what you think of this week's Cementoss podcast on his take on The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. I feel that his analyzes on how women are still treated in today's society based on the narration of the prose was informative and something I never considered as a part of…"
She paused abruptly, realizing to her chagrin that she was rambling.
Again.
Her chauffeur took it all in stride, though, simply nodding his head once more to indicate that he had heard everything. Unlike most of her classmates, he had thought of her ramblings as an endearing quirk of hers.
"Of course, my lady. That will be the first one I will listen to then."
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Momo bid Aizen a goodbye, adjusting her coat once more as she trudged delicately through the icy slush left on the sidewalk.
The streets of Roppongi were brimming with life for all sorts of attractions, from street vendors to gentlemen's clubs. Some of the male hosts standing in front of the latter gave Momo an appreciative leer, eying her dressy outfit up and down in a show to get her attention but she paid them no mind, keeping her head up high and posture strong as she continued onward to her intended destination.
It was a bit unfortunate that she had been born with a more… mature physique compared to her peers.
Her quirk, Creation, allowed her to create any non-living objects no matter the complexity so long as knew the atomic configuration of said object. In return she would use the lipids from her body to create the materials, burning through her fat storage faster than the average person.
It meant that she had to tether between the line of constantly eating to maintain her energy-consuming quirk, but also not put on too much weight that would be considered unsightly for her delicate figure as told by her mother.
All well meaning, of course, but had sparked one too many heated arguments between them when it came to applying her quirk for heroism. How can Momo be expected to save people if she had so little fat on her?
Oh well.
Questions to consider for a future Momo.
Sooner than expected, she arrived at her destination: A Hot Pot restaurant on the second floor of a commercial store that specializes in Shabu Shabu. Momo had judiciously looked at the menu before arriving here, wanting to ensure she knew everything there was to know about the cuisine so as to impress her new friends with her knowledge.
She even went as far as to dine at a three star Michelin Shabu Shabu restaurant with her parents last week somewhere in downtown Tokyo just to complete the full experience of eating said food.
Inside, it was a welcome respite from the cold, the air deliciously warm and the decor in tune for the holidays with swaying red lanterns and glittering complex snowflake origami that was undoubtedly created by someone's quirk.
After informing the hostess manning the front desk that she was waiting for her friend, Momo took a seat by the window, observing the rustle and bustle of the streets below.
The intended time Midoriya had sent to her via text message was around 6ish and a quick glance at heriPhone 30 Pro Max revealed it to be half past 5. She had some time to wait, and used it as a way to gather up all of her thoughts into one neat organized line in her mind.
Midoriya…
The thought of the smirking green haired teen sent a light blush blossoming over Momo's face, turning her usual milky white complexion into a pretty pink rose. If she hadn't been persuaded by her Mathematics professor to join the National Japan Mensa Gifted Youth program, she would have never met someone she was starting to consider as one of her closest friends.
A rarity given how superficial people can be once they know who she was.
Incredibly smart, resourceful, and a wealth of knowledge, Midoriya Izuku had been quite unlike his plain unassuming appearance when Momo had first met him. One witty comment on the type of tea she had been drinking, Imperial Golden Tips, and how it had reminded him of a certain Pre-Quirk sci-fi movie, and two of them have been inseparable ever since.
Not to say there haven't been others that she hasn't also met at the Summer program.
Ida Tenya, the straight-forward younger brother of the well-known, more easy-going Turbo Hero: Ingenium, was one such person. Then there was Sekigai Kashiko, a well-mannered girl that exhibited great leadership skills for her young age. And finally, Intelli Saiko, a pompous but highly driven girl who had lofty ambitions quite similar to Momo's own.
Together, they have become a sort of Breakfast Club , another popular Pre Quirk era film that Tony, as Midoriya liked to sometimes be called, had referenced more than once on the occasion.
Lost in her thoughts, she had almost missed the ding of new arrivals entering the restaurant. A boy and a girl roughly around her age if she was to guess based on their appearances.
Catching her eyes first was the boy; tall, lanky, handsome, and with thick black hair jutting haphazardly out from a zig-zag patterned headband in spiky waves.
He was dressed more casually than what was warranted for a business casual attire; black slacks and a loose brown collared shirt button halfway with a nice pair of thick, durable worker boots that reminded Momo of the sulfur mines she had visited a few times with her father in Indonesia for his work.
With sharp angular gray eyes, and an even sharper scowl on his face, he made for a sort of slightly imposing figure that might potentially curse Momo out for staring at him for far too long then what was deemed acceptable so she swiftly turned her attention onto the next person standing beside him.
Another girl with dark ebony hair with the front fringe dyed a blood red, or salmon pink in a few hidden places. She was dressed the complete opposite of her male companion; a black form fitting dress, with burgundy stockings, and black ankle length boots all covered by a short white puffer jacket.
A pretty spider pendant, with a single ruby placed onto its center, dangled over her smooth unblemished neck.
Momo wasn't as well versed in Arachnology as she was in Biology, or Chemistry, but she knew that it could only be one particular species that was on the girl's neck.
A Black Widow, or Latrodectus, as was its genus name.
Cerulean dark eyes suddenly met hers and the girl cocked her head to the side, gaze cool and observant as they stared at each other from across the waiting room. There was a deep familiarity to her posture, a sort of quiet confidence that bespoke decades of experiences in kicking butt and looking good while doing it.
Something Momo secretly had wanted to achieve sometime in her life.
The girl turned back to her companion, and then spoke in what Momo presumed was in a deliberately loud voice, a soft musical pitch in her tone that carried far across the quiet room.
"Midoriya said to wait here, correct?" she asked, not as a question but as a statement.
Momo's ears perked up.
Midoriya had mentioned that he was inviting a few of his friends from Junior High to their little dinner social event; a boy that liked to wear headbands as part of his everyday attire, and a wide-eyed manic pixie girl with long pink dreads.
The boy at least matched the first description almost impressively well, but the girl did not.
Unless Midoriya had confused her dyed red hair for pink, but that didn't seem likely to be the case. Still, Momo rose up to her feet, dusting imaginary dust mites off from her impeccable outfit.
"Yep!" The tall, lanky boy had responded to his friend's question in a deep baritone voice quite unlike what Momo had imagined it to be. It held a rough drawl to it that was common from those living in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Currently, he was occupied by whatever it was on his phone. "Said he should be here within half an hour or so, give or take."
The girl looked back at Momo expectantly, and she took her chance.
Social interactions and proper etiquette had been instilled onto her since birth by her parents and Headmistress, but interacting with those around her own personal age group had always been a source of unpredictable difficulty for Momo.
She was often told by her classmates that she spoke too formal and old-fashioned than what was deemed necessary, and her tendency to over-explain every single detail wasn't always appreciated by them.
Approaching the two teens, Momo cleared her throat hoping to gain their attention.
She already had the girl's; a twinkle of amusement in her cerulean dark eyes as she nodded to Momo in silent greeting, but the boy was still entranced by whatever he was doing on his phone, the sound of high-pitched animated female voices filling the surrounding air.
"Uhm, excuse me?" deciding to start the conversation by easing into a familiar topic, "I couldn't help but notice you had mentioned someone by the name of Midoriya? It wouldn't happen to be Midoriya Izuku, now, would it?"
The girl didn't respond save for a quick quirk of her brows to show that she wasn't all that surprised that Momo knew of the person they were talking about, but the boy simply made a noncommittal sort of grunt from the back of his throat, still highly engrossed on whatever was on his phone.
Undeterred by the lack of responses, Momo continued onward, bowing in a respectful manner that her Head Mistress had taught back in her grammar tutoring lessons.
"Then it is a pleasure to make your acquaintances. I am Yaoyorozu Momo."
The girl let out a small hum.
"Kodai Yui," was all she said.
Finally, the boy tore his gaze away from his phone, gray eyes growing wide in evident surprise as he fully took in Momo's elegant appearance.
"Holy fuck."
The crude language had Momo gasping slightly behind her gloved hand. She had grown up without hearing such debauchery in her homelife.
"You're beautiful."
She hadn't been expecting that as well.
It wasn't the first time she had been told she was beautiful. It was a daily occurrence in her private school, Niamosa Private Academy, but it was mostly done in a leering type of manner where it was quite clear what the underlined intention had meant.
Here, the boy stared up at her (and he wasn't too short compared to most men she had met before, nearly reaching up to her nose) as if she was a Goddess descending from the highest peak of Mount Olympus, cladded in a radiant, flowing white toga and ready to bestow her unlimited knowledge onto the common folks below.
It was…quite a thing to witness firsthand, she must admit.
The girl, Kodai Yui, gave him a rough nudge into the upper ribs of his torso that had even Momo wincing in sympathy. That had to have hurt.
"What the–!"
"Sorry," Kodai said, not looking the least bit apologetic for her friend as she kept her composed quiet gaze onto Momo, "but Awase here gets pretty stupid when he's around pretty girls. Part of his quirk."
A deep blush had erupted over Awase's face like a volcano, and he sputtered complete nonsense, trying desperately to regain his composure to no avail.
Kodai shook her head, managing to look both amused and unimpressed at the same time.
Coughing loudly into the fist of his left hand, the boy offered Momo his other hand in greeting, averting his wide gaze down to his Worker boots that Momo now noticed was dirtied by a bit of snow and icy slush from his walk over to here.
"I'm really sorry for the blunder," he said, the blush almost disappearing completely by the time he spoke. His gray eyes suddenly rose up to meet her own deep onyx once more and the deep blush returned back with a vengeance. "I'm Awase Yosetsu. Nice to meet you."
Smoothly recovering from her shock, Momo extended her own hand, shaking it with Awase, a little surprised by the strength laden within his firm grip.
One can tell a lot about a person's lifestyle based on their hands, her father had often reminded her, and Awase had a hard worker quality sort of hands, rough with tiny calluses dotting the edge of each of his fingers.
Quickly, Momo deduced that his quirk must have something to do with his fingers.
"So…"
Awase finally let go of her hand, using it now to comb through the unruly black spikes of his hair.
"You said you're Yaoyorozu, right? Like the Yaoyorozu, the highly influential industrial enterprise that creates support items for heroes and civilians?"
Repressing the urge to sigh as it would be seen as unfeminine like, Momo managed to aim a polite but strained smile at Awase. As always, her surname would always be a tedious source of contention for her when it came to interacting with anyone who knew of her parents' vast wealth and fortune.
She was forever grateful for the lifestyle that was granted to her by them, but it never made it easier when dealing with the constant stream of jealous and scathing snide comments she would sometimes receive from others when they thought she wasn't listening.
"You are quite correct in that assumption, Awase-san."
Kodai shot her friend a warning glance, but Awase paid her no heed.
Instead a spark of what looked to be excitement had ignited in his gray eyes, and he stopped readjusting the zig-zag patterned headband over his forehead for the tenth time within a minute.
A nervous tick? She couldn't help but wonder.
"That's so cool!" he exclaimed, "Both of my parents work for one of your subsidiaries, the Yaoyorozu Shipbuilding & Iron Works , in the Niigata Prefecture. Your company really gave my hometown a much needed boost after the coal mines had shut down production almost a decade ago."
Oh.
Momo blinked, surprised by the admission. As the future successor of her parents' enormous enterprise, she had personally made sure to know each and every single of the companies that made up the Yaoyorozu conglomerate.
She knew of the one Awase was talking about.
A business opportunity that her father oversaw as another place to potentially expand his ever-growing empire. The coal mines there had been one of the main sources for Japan's fuel for decades until a terrible mining accident, that may or may not have been quirk related, had occurred, killing over a dozen of miners that had been working underground at the time of the terrible incident.
Since then, the mines had been cordoned off due to safety issues which had resulted in a dramatic decline in the surrounding areas that had relied heavily on it for employment.
To hear that her family has helped bring back a part of a neighborhood into its former glory was refreshing to know, and her once strained smile grew into something a little more completely genuine as she regarded Awase in a new light. Sure, he might be a little rough around the edges, but he had a good heart it seemed.
And something Momo, herself, greatly appreciated in a hero.
"Would you mind telling me more about your parents' work?" she asked, taking the seat next to him, making sure to tuck her legs primly beneath her long dress. "I haven't been to Niigata Prefecture in some time, and I would love to learn what it has to offer."
Awase was all the happier to chat with her, while his friend, Kodai, silently listened to their conversation with a slight smirk on her face that she specifically aimed only at her male companion.
They talked well until Midoriya and the rest of his friends arrived thirty minutes later, and for once in quite sometime in her life, Momo didn't mind rambling on about her time exploring the rural outskirts of Japan to a captivated audience.
She found herself smiling a little at that.
Hatsume Mei knew she was incredibly late.
It was a bad habit of hers, right alongside not bathing for days on end and substituting a healthy sleep schedule and proper nutrition for working on one of her numerous 'Super Cute Babies.'
Her parents, both brainiacs, caffeine addicted, lovable fathers, had also understood her need to follow the beat of her own drums. Gently reminding her from time to time when she had to interact with reality and be a proper human being once again.
Mei always knew she was a little different from the rest of her peers.
From the ripe young age of four years old, she was already set in her dreams of becoming the world's best renowned inventor, creating groundbreaking inventions and support items for Pro Heroes everywhere to use in combat or rescue operations.
So, set in her ways that she was, that Mei had even tried her hands on creating some blueprints of her own one day in Kindergarten. Taking all the blue crayons and markers from the art supply drawer for herself and scribbling her messily written notes and crude drawings onto a whole package sheet of copy printer paper in one go.
Her fathers have been so proud of her, of course (after reminding her once again that " Sharing is caring, Mei-Chan" ), and had even pinned up some of those childishly drawn blueprints onto their refrigerator with magnets of the entire solar system as one her dads was also an amateur space junkie.
Over the years, they had been slowly replaced with other items from her childhood; pictures of herself winning her first local science fair at her school and dozens more since then, vacations out to I-island and other inspirational science conventions with her fathers, actual blueprints and patents she had submitted under her own name to mass produce when she eventually started her own start-up company sometime in the distant future.
Even now, Mei was still beating to the tune of her own drums as she crossed the busy streets of Roppongi, her yellowish green eyes activating by zooming in and out at all the pretty Christmas decorations that surrounded her down to its microscopic detail.
Her quirk, Zoom, was an absolutely perfect thing to have as a future world-changing inventor.
Able to significantly magnify her vision to see every single detail in her inventions, it allowed Mei the ability to perfect her work to an uncontrollable degree compared to her parents, who also both each had such wonderful quirks as well, Total Recall, and Small-Object Summoner, respectively.
She had been steadily improving her eyesight ever since it had first manifested on her third birthday, and so far she was able to see an impressive distance of 3.5 kilometers if she focused on one particular spot long enough.
Her quirk still activated, her crosshair pupils dilated several times as she scanned for the restaurant she was supposed to meet her two friends. It took a couple of minutes, especially since she was currently blocking the busy sidewalk, but she paid no attention to the mutterings or glares she received from pedestrians around her.
Eventually, she found the Hot Pot Shabu Shabu restaurant located ten blocks away from her standing position. An extra zoom revealed that a couple of people were already inside, two girls and Awase if the zig-zag patterned headband he wore like a comfort blanket was any indication.
Not that she was any different.
Hatsume Mei never left home without her signature golden steampunk goggles.
Reaching down to her shoes, she pressed a button on the side of one of the soles, activating a hidden mechanism that brought a pair of rollerblades out from underneath for each of her feet.
Nicknamed 'The Meelys' (named after the once popular Australian Pre-Quirk Heelys brand), it currently operated on three modes of speed: fast, extremely fast, and, her personal favorite but highly subjected to malfunctioning at a moment's notice, super sonic.
For now, she settled on fast, cruising at a calming speed of 15 mph as she nimbly weaved her way around the crowd and slushes of snow and frozen puddles. A few people were shouting at her for nearly bumping into them, but Mei simply waved her hand in glee, happily watching the world around her blur into fuzzy colored shapes and sounds.
Her mind worked like that a little it seemed.
Too fast for the normal person to even process. One thought suddenly became twelve, and she would jump from one topic to the next without catching her breath, easily running circles around people's boringly drab conversations.
It was why she got so well along with Midoriya Izuku ( Mr. Billion as she liked to call him since he proclaimed he would help her earn her first billion by the time she reached her twenties) and Awase Yosetsu (or Headband due to all the unique patterned headbands he would wear for school each day).
Both of them had been one of the few people she could confidently say matched the tempo of her own drum other than her parents.
And smart enough to rival her own genius.
Headband was super nifty with his own quirk, able to combine two completely different items together to join as one like some super magical alchemist from one of her favorite animes.
He was always there to lend a hand when it came to working on her Babies, and his rough and straight to the point mannerism was a balm to the sickly sweet faux politeness Mei would receive from her peers and teachers.
Like she was some hyperreactive chemical reagent that needed to be safely handled with extra care, and quarantined for everyone's safety.
Mr. Billion, on the other hand, was not only a genius, but he was incredibly resourceful and had a serious wealth of endless knowledge that far surpassed even her fathers' impressive own. Her inventions had taken a significant increase in productivity once it no longer consistently exploded in her face as often as it used to thanks to his mild suggestions.
Time and time again, he would share potential blueprints with her and Headband during their lunch period or indulged in her late night ramblings whenever she had a spark of inspiration and sleep was the last thing on her mind.
At first, when she had met Mr. Billion, Mei had been a little wee bit jealous of how easily he had made friends with everyone in their class as well as managed to woo their professors with all his wacky inventions. His quirkless status was rarely, if ever, brought up into conversations, only being mentioned in passing when people outside their classroom or private school, Ando School for Technology and Robotics , were curious to learn more about the green haired teen that seemed hellbent on taking the world of Technology and Engineering by its horns.
But the feeling quickly subsided like oil slick on her fingertips after fixing up one of her father's beat up Volkswagen, when it was revealed that Mr. Billion had no interest in being anything but a hero.
The inventions that he made were all for the sake of being on the same level as the rest of the Pro Heroes with their fancy special quirks.
It meant that she had found a suitable business partner to consider for the future, and even went as far as to ask Mr. Billion to marry her (for tax purposes, of course!), though he had declined with a friendly smile, promising to only do so if they both haven't found somebody else to marry by the time they turned thirty.
Unsurprisingly enough, love was not something that Mei greatly understood (or really cared about, honestly), though she could tell that her fathers loved each other very much, it was a different sort of love compared to the feeling she would get whenever one of her Babies worked perfectly without blowing up once in her face.
Oh well. Future Mei could deal with that.
Mei's lips curled into a wide grin as she zipped and zoomed around the normal folks who couldn't quite realize that they were in the midst of a soon to be tech legend.
Hatsume Mei planned on showing everyone what she was capable of.
The worst part about having a tail was how it somehow was able to telegraph your every emotion without you realizing it.
Mashiro Ojiro knew that his tail was twitching, indicating that he was nervous about the upcoming dinner party he had been graciously invited to by his best friend, Midoriya Izuku.
Normally, such a thing would not have bothered him in the first place. He was used to having such social events with Midoriya (or Izuku, as the green haired teen had insisted he should be called), and though Mashiro wasn't the most sociable person, he greatly enjoyed his time around the other boy since rescuing him from a group of thugs near Dagobah Beach almost two years ago.
This time, it would be different.
More people were apparently invited; two classmates from Izuku's private school in the outskirts of Japan, and another person from his summer MENSA program. One of those classmates was also planning on bringing another friend of theirs, which meant that Mashiro had to entertain at least five people beside Izuku.
Hopefully his painfully boring attitude wouldn't deter them from speaking to him.
Glancing up at the screen above, Mashiro noted that he was only a few stops away from his destination to Roppongi. Not a district he would typically visit on a normal day, especially knowing that it was a haven for rowdy foreigners and seedy illicit businesses, but the restaurant Izuku had picked out for them was located somewhere in the area.
It was a Hot Pot restaurant that specializes in Shabu Shabu from what the two had discussed last week over the phone, and perfect for a cold Winter afternoon such as today.
Pulling his thick green fur lined parka over his body some more, Mashiro tucked his hands into the warmth of its pockets, idly watching the passengers around him. Usually he would prefer standing to sitting, not wanting to encumber people with his giant tail, but his nervousness was getting the better of him, and it would be better for himself and everyone else in the train cart if he remained seated.
Japan valued conformity, so it wasn't any surprise that the majority of the passengers were quiet like himself, paying attention only to what was on their phones or tablets. The few that were talking were obviously clearly foreigners who was still learning the various customs of Japan's tradition or local riffraff who already gave no fucks about society.
Something, Mashiro secretly wished he could do for himself personally.
The doors opened at the next station and a trickle of passengers entered, scurrying to find an empty seat to nab before someone else got to it first. A tired elderly woman carrying what looked to be way too many grocery bags for one person, let alone for someone as frail as herself, entered last, wearily looking around for a place to sit.
There was one next to Mashiro, as unfortunately his tail was large enough to warrant an extra seat for itself, but when the woman had spotted it, her thin lips puckered, dark green eyes narrowing in disgust at the sight of his mostly hairless tail curled up on the seat next to it.
Flinching in response to the dark reaction he had just received, Mashiro bent his head down, focusing his attention on the scruff of his pale blue sneakers. With his eyes shut closed, he went through the familiar motion of deep breathing exercise that his sensei, Master Yū, had taught him many years ago in her Dojo out in Musutafu.
It wasn't the first time somebody had responded to his quirk like that.
His tail was noticeable in a way that drew eyes onto him wherever he went, most of the time in disdain or worry in the few cases he had gathered up the courage to enter a store with valuable fragile goods to buy his mother a present. It wasn't even a pretty tail, all things considered like her own; it was pale, wrinkly and only had a small turf of blond hair at the end of it that he religiously combed each night before bed.
Someone from his class had even had the nerve to compare it to a Sphinx: a furless cat that few people consider cute.
The woman eventually found a seat far from him, near the end of the train cart and Mashiro breathed a sigh of relief that he no longer had to deal with that look of disdain.
He also wasn't the only one people were avoiding sitting next to.
A person with the upper body of a hippo had taken the middle bench for herself and had evidently ended up with a wide berth of four empty seats on either side of her, while passengers crowded around the exit doors and away from her.
Those who were interested in grabbing a seat, either ended up choosing to stand in the aisle or take their chances elsewhere to another cart after noticing her, much to the hippo girl's growing discomfort. Mashiro had even heard a few of them mutter about her apparent size within close proximity as they passed him by.
The world could be such a cruel place.
He was just like anyone else, and yet because of his unique animalistic appendage, he was treated like he was some sort of mutant freak when quirks have long been a thing for centuries.
It was why Mashiro was so happy to meet Izuku.
He cared very little for Mashiro's tail save to only tell him how awesome he thought it was or how much Izuku enjoyed cuddling it on a particularly bad day after school for either of them.
For the latter, Mashiro didn't have it in him to discourage his friend from touching the furry end of his tail, as it was an embarrassingly obvious erogenous part of his anatomy, and made his stomach flutter with every gentle caress Izuku laid on to it.
Mashiro always knew he liked guys, but he wasn't sure, despite how flirtatious his friend could be towards anything that had a living pulse, if Izuku actually swung that way.
His phone beeped within the pockets of his jeans, and Mashiro pulled it out, resisting the urge to smile at the message that appeared briefly on his screen.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear…
Izuku had just notified him that he was waiting at the Roppongi train station, waiting by the famous spider sculpture placed in front of Roppongi Hill.
Izuku :3
Izuku: Platypus, I'm here!!
[Jpeg of a well-dressed Izuku doing a peace sign in front of the spider sculpture.]
It's gonna get me if you don't hurry up!
Me: How did you get there so fast?
Especially since I live in Tokyo…..
But I'm three stops away
Mashiro paused briefly in his typing.
He does wonder how his friend had managed to arrive there so quickly.
Mashiro knew Izuku was dabbling in creating innovative technology that would greatly enhance his skills as a potential Pro Hero, but surely his best friend knew that it was skirting between the legal limits of what he was allowed to do without a quirk when it came to using those items publicly.
Right?
Izuku :3
Me: Anyway that spider wouldn't touch you since you probably taste bad
:P
Izuku: How rude
I have you know that I can be VERY delicious
Like a peanut butter & jelly sandwich but with extra peanut butter
And less jelly
Actually, scratch that
I am delicious as a peanut butter sandwich
Mashiro rolled up his eyes, and stifled his growing snort before it became apparent to the rest of the passengers in the train cart.
Izuku :3
Me: Sure, Izu XD
My stop is here
The semi familiar cheery jingle of the train's arrival to the Roppongi station blared out through the speakers, and Mashiro gathered up his things, the only thing he had brought along with him for the trip was a small carryon that he slung along his broad shoulders.
He had been making a point to bulk up in preparation for the Yueei Hero Entrance Exam two years from now, and Mashiro had been noticing a substantial difference in his body. He felt stronger, energetic, and in a little way, a bit more confident in himself compared to how he was in the past.
Even some of his classmates at his school, Ryloth Junior High , had noticed, with the male students who normally wouldn't have given Mashiro the time of day, were now asking for tips on diets and building more mass in their muscles.
Aichi, one of the hottest and most popular students in the whole Junior High, who Mashiro had a tiny crush on because the boy had a majestic mane as part of his lion quirk, was even taking a sort of interest in him.
His large tail wagged happily at that.
Oh well.
Something for an older Mashiro to reflect on in the future.
The doors finally opened, letting in a wave of new passengers. Mashiro took the time to let the people come in first, his chivalrous attitude taking precedence above his own need to exit the train in a rush. Once everyone had entered, he took one last look back at the poor hippo girl who was still surrounded by empty seats, and slowly raised his forearm in a show of solidarity, a gentle smile on his face before stepping out through the doors.
She made eye contact with him, a bit startled at being noticed by someone that wasn't giving her the stink eye before realizing that it was from a fellow heteromorph. Offering him a tiny but hesitant smile herself, the hippo girl nodded back at him in return.
It wasn't much, Mashiro knew that, it wasn't ever going to be enough, but it was still certainly something .
And he was ready to keep on fighting.
Awase Yosetsu had never spoken as much as he did before today's dinner event.
It was easy to get lost in the crowd, living as the youngest of four older brothers and two parents that swore like sailors and could probably out drink one too if challenged. Words weren't necessary for someone like Yosetsu as by the time he opened his mouth, everyone else had already said what was on their mind, leaving him with very little to contribute in the end.
So, he settled for silence.
Only speaking when it was absolutely necessary and keeping it short and sweet. It had earned him a bit of a reputation in his private Junior High, Adno's School for Technology and Robotics , as a blunt speaker, which was all fine and dandy for him as it meant less people bothering him for unnecessary stuff.
It also had the additional caveat that whenever he did speak, people would usually shut up and listen.
Today was completely different though.
Today, Yosetsu spoke more words than he averagely did in an entire week, keeping up a conversation without resorting to simple grunts or a swear word or two to keep things from getting too serious or weird.
And it was all thanks to the person sitting next to him.
Yaoyorozu Momo, was the most gorgeous girl Yosetsu had ever seen (and he's best friends with Kodai Yu. Another absolute bombshell of a girl). Incredibly smart, witty, and so well-mannered, she was like a polished jade dragon statue unearthed centuries later in a tomb of a once forgotten emperor, still perfectly intact, and museum ready.
She radiated confidence with her amazing looks, a true beauty and brain if Yosetsu was to believe. Her shimmering onyx gray eyes had captured his attention the entire night, the two remaining close even when it came time for seating arrangements, the waiter not wanting to disrupt whatever cadence was going on between the two of them.
Midoriya, or better known as Izuku as he insisted his friends should call him, only threw a matching smirk with Kodai as the pair took the seats across from him and Yaoyorozu.
A blond boy with a giant tail who had introduced himself as Ojiro took the seat on the right of Izuku while Hatsume, or Mei Mei as Yosetsu liked to call her at times, took the remaining seat beside Yaoyorozu, who was also very keen in learning more about the heiress of one of Japan's most influential tech companies.
Introduction made once they all got seated, the six of them had wasted no time in discussing how they each had come to know Midoriya with Ojiro having won the best story with his humble but brief description of how he had rescued Izuku from some villainous thugs.
Knowing that Yaoyorozu was part of the MENSA program Izuku had mentioned doing over the summer, wasn't a complete surprise either. Based on how much she took her time to explain the history of Hot Pot as the meals were being served only further illustrated her studious nature.
He was always done for some good grub, and the spicy Szechuan broth he used to dip his own meat and veggies had the perfect kick to it.
"So, Yo-Yo ," Izuku's apparent favorite nickname for him, suddenly said during a brief lull in conversation, "this is the first time I've seen you not glued to your phone." A quick waggle of his thick green brows suggested that he knew all too well the reason why.
Beside him, Kodai let out a short hum of agreement as she took a delicate sip of her own miso broth.
The traitor.
She didn't even know Izuku at all before this dinner and it was like they were on the same wavelength when it came to discerning his bullshit.
Scowling at the both of them for the audacity of calling him out, Yosetsu grumbled into his bowl of rice, stabbing at it with his chopsticks with intense frequency.
He so badly wanted to curse them out, but after reminding himself of the horrified reaction Yaoyorozu had given to him for his complete slip up, Yosetsu figured it wasn't worth damaging his already terrible first impression with the raven haired heiress.
"Oh?"
Yaoyorozu gently placed her own pair of chopsticks down onto its proper surface location. "Do you use any particular apps? I'm partial to anything that helps boost my brain activity such as Lumosity or Memorado ."
As an engineering student, Yosetsu was already quite familiar with such apps, mindlessly playing with them when he wasn't feeling for his usual fan-service mobile games like Azur Lane or Nikke.
"Yeah, I play those too!" he answered with a sharp grin, then paused briefly to smooth the rough corners into something far more pleasant. No need to scare her anymore than before. "But most of the time I'm addicted to gacha games. There's just something about rolling for your favorite characters that gets the heart fucking pumped!"
Internally, Yosetsu cringed. He had cursed.
Again.
Thankfully, the amazing Goddess that she was, Yaoyorozu ignored it in favor of asking him more questions about said gacha games, never having tried them herself.
"I feel so basic," Ojiro chimed in, looking a little sheepish, "I only play Sudoku or Wordle if I'm on my phone."
He had been relatively quiet during the whole dinner conversation, only contributing here and there when asked, but Yosetsu had already liked him well enough; anybody who managed to get Izuku to blush was a bro in his eyes.
The fact that the tail boy also had muscles for days was already a side bonus.
"Wordle is a guilty pleasure of mine," Yaoyorozu confessed, a light dusting of red appearing over her cheeks. It was honestly so fucking adorable how bashful she seemed to admit something so innocuous. "Have you tried the competition?" she continued, shifting her attention onto Ojiro. "You get paired up with people randomly online and compete to see who could solve a series of Wordle puzzles under a time limit. I'm currently at a 101 winning streak myself."
Yosetsu had a feeling she wasn't bragging nor lording over her impressive score in an effort to make Ojiro feel bad about himself, and it seemed the tail boy managed to catch onto the fact as well, aiming a small but friendly smile at the heiress.
"I'm not sure I would be that good." Ojiro's tail twitched from behind his seat. Meanwhile, Izuku shot his friend with a concerned look, brows furrowing. "But I'll give it a shot, I guess."
"If you need any pointers, I would be more than happy to offer my service for you if needed," Yaoyorozu said, onyx eyes gleaming bright with excitement.
It seemed that she enjoyed the chance of helping anyone out regardless of their background, and Yosetsu wasn't sure if it was even possible to fall in love with someone twice in one night.
Before he could open his mouth to maybe potentially invite himself to the impromptu tutoring session, those same gleaming beautiful onyx eyes suddenly turned onto him, and the whole world seemed to freeze as Yosetsu locked eyes with her.
"You are more than welcome to join in as well, Yosetsu-san," and the tiny polite honorific attached to his surname was enough to send figurative butterflies up into his esophagus.
She offered him a demure pretty smile that he took as a direct lifeline.
"Hell yeah!"
The rest of dinner flowed easily enough. Yosetsu was more than amazed at how much Yaoyorozu was able to pack into her petite mature body, even able to outeat him in terms of the amount of meat and rice she had consumed with her Hotpot.
At first, it seemed as if she was slightly embarrassed at ordering more as everyone was content with their meals so far, but a quick glance at Izuku who gave her a subtle wink was enough to regain her confidence and flagged down a nearby waiter.
Something boiled in the pits of Yosetsu's stomach as he watched their short interaction, unknowingly clenching his hands, the little sparks of his quirk nearly activating in response to his heightened emotions. He set his chopsticks down lest he fused with it right down to the atomic level by accident.
That would be fucking embarrassing.
Kodai, as always, noticed his discomfort right away, sending him a delicate raise of her brow, her unique version of showing her discrete concern.
He gave her a curt nod, then focused his attention back on his broth.
Mei Mei was happily yapping away about her latest invention, which she had funnily enough nicknamed as the Meelys, and Yosetsu was more than happy to hear of anything that excited one of his friends.
Especially someone as unpredictable and lawfully chaotic as Mei Mei.
Izuku was a similar case; a good guy that Yosetsu could safely call as one of his best friends beside his brothers and Kodai. He was super fucking smart, knew how to give their professors the run-around when it came to answering their hard technical questions, and overall was someone Yosetsu secretly aspired to become one day.
He was also a massive fucking playboy.
Anything that so much as breathes would be subjected to Izuku's relentless flirting, and by the first semester of their Junior year, had somehow amassed himself a sort of a fan club run by both female and male students.
Even now, Yosetsu could see the faint blush and longing glances that Yaoyorozu would send Izuku's way whenever the green haired boy spoke up in the lively conversation. Or the subtle yet painfully obvious handsome smirks he gave to Kodai whenever they so much as made eye contact.
If he really wanted to, Izuku could easily ask Yaoyorozu out on a date, and yet nothing so far has indicated that he was even romantically interested in her.
Still the anger that simmered within him remained, and his fingers itched to grab his phone and drown himself in the latest Azur Lane campaign.
Swallowing the rage down, Yosetsu promised himself to not let this come between him and Izuku. He had seen firsthand how a pretty girl had come between his three older brothers and Yosetsu knew it wasn't an option he was willing to take.
Oh well.
Maybe, someday, his future self would take the courage his current self does not have and ask Yaoyorozu out on a date.
Till then…
Yosetsu's dark gray eyes lingered on the smiling form of the raven haired beauty sitting beside him. It seemed that Izuku had said something funny that garnered a round of laughter from the rest of the occupants at the table.
He could watch from afar.
Tony couldn't stop staring.
He knew it was rude to do so, both his mother and now Inko had chided him whenever he did so for far too long than what was deemed acceptable on a pretty girl.
In the world of quirks, it made sense in a way–practically everyone had some unique feature to their personality that made something as mundane as a green shade of hair color a sight to behold in his eyes.
Tonight, he found himself staring at the girl sitting next to him.
A petite teen with a slim body figure with dark cerulean eyes and dark ebony hair with the front fringe of it dyed a deep amber red.
And wearing a necklace with a black widow spider pendant.
The moment they had locked eyes once Tony had entered the restaurant with Ojiro, a strange but pleasant tingling feeling had coursed through down his spine as forest green met stormy cerulean.
It was an… interesting thing to experience to say the least.
And one that had left Tony with more questions than answers as the night went on.
The dinner had been a success.
His friends and classmates had all gotten along swingingly and seemed to have also enjoyed the succulent meal as well. The owner of the restaurant, a duck heteromorph man that Tony had helped scare off a couple of would-be robbers during one of his…late night activities , had offered him a tremendous deal for the food in return for his rescue.
Which was greatly appreciated as out of all of them, only Yaoyorozu, or Princess Peach as he affectionately called the raven haired heiress, was from a well enough background to afford the rather large bill that had been placed onto their table after the last meat had been consumed.
He did his part, of course, to help pay for more than half, much to the rest of his friends' apparent shock. It helped that he had been receiving some monetary payment for his services as a sort of fixer around his neighborhood, and had even sold some of Bean-sprout's expansive All Might figure collection (with clear explicit permission, of course) as another source of income.
He had to.
Private schools were no joke, and though Inko was nearing the end of her nursing school, it was still a lot of money that was constantly being sent to line the pockets of some stuffy bureaucratic Headmaster.
So, the times that he could afford to lavish his friends was something he insisted on doing on his own volition.
Meal paid for, they all started gathering up their belongings and heading out to the small waiting room. A light snowfall had begun sometime in the interim of their dinner and the streets were covered with a fine dusting of white powder.
" Imagine ," the crosshair pupils in Hatsume's eyes were working overtime as she spread her arms quite wide, nearly hitting Tony in the process, "if people can shoot miniature flames out from their shoes to keep themselves safe from all that icy slush?"
A tiny bead of sweat appeared over Ojiro's forehead as he put his parka on.
"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" he commented in a nervous pitch.
"Not to mention highly impractical," Yaoyorozu added, buttoning up her long fur coat. Awase was standing nearby wanting to be chivalrous and hold onto her Chanel purse as they waited for everyone to get ready. Tony chuckled to himself, fully understanding why the headband loving teen had done so. "Wet snow is just as dangerous as hard snow. Fall accidents are on the rise this time of the year."
To her credit, Hatsume didn't look too displeased at being told a convincing argument against her product, which was loads better than how she used to react at the start of the school, which involved a lot of embellish bluffing and haughty dismissive laughter.
She still had a problem with personal space though as she moved in way too close for comfort at Yaoyorozu who only blinked back in surprise at the diminutive pink dreads girl who was suddenly all up on her face.
"You're absolutely right, Ms. Genius!"
Looked like Hatsume had, once again, created a new nickname for someone that tickled her fancy.
"The common denominator to all of this is snow."
Hatsume then took an actual couple of small steps back once Awase had gently reminded her to not intrude into someone's personal bubble, and continued onwards, exuberant glee coating every word from her mouth as she gestured wildly with her arms.
"So the solution is simple. No snow! And that can be done by creating a remotely controlled nanobot dome sphere around the greater parts of Tokyo. The moment the meteorologists get even a whiff of a change in temperature, out pops this baby which will prevent snow from falling onto the city streets in the first place!"
Surprisingly, Yaoyorozu looked intrigued.
"A weather-modification system, you mean?"
The raven haired heiress placed a dainty hand onto her cheek, tilting her head in contemplation as she seemed to consider Hatsume's words.
"I've seen some proof of concept work done in remote parts of the world, such as in the Sahara desert in North Africa to help with agriculture for nomadic tribes relying on herds for food."
She clasped her hands in delight, a hint of a sparkle within her onyx eyes .
"Having to create one for at least the popular districts in Tokyo would be ideal. Though the logistics to even conceive the blueprints would require an intensive look at the geographic layout of Tokyo."
Somehow, Bubblegum, or better known as Hatsume Mei's manic smile grew ten times wider.
"I think you also have to take into account of people whose quirks are also affected by the weather."
Ojiro had finally joined in once more again into the conversation after silently watching the two girls converse, his tail slowly swishing behind his feet.
Tony had been immensely proud of how much his best friend had interacted with the rest of the small group, something that he knew had often plagued the blond tailed boy at the best of times.
Suddenly realizing all the attention abruptly placed upon him, Ojiro coughed lightly into his fist, looking sharply away toward the windows.
"I mean, some of my neighbors are heteromorphs. In fact, my next door neighbor has a polar bear mutation and his quirk works well when it's snowing."
Hatsume zipped up close to him, only allowing a few short inches of space between the two of them. She peered up at Ojiro, cocking her head this way and that as if silently assessing his statement. It was Hatsume's trademark way of understanding the world around her: by literally zooming onto the tiny miniscule details before seeing the full picture.
His best friend sent Tony a glance for help, to which Tony simply winked back at him in response.
She must have reached a conclusion as Hatsume only nodded her head once.
"You're more than right about that, Muscles," and Ojiro let out a tiny audible squeak of surprise at the new nickname that he had not been obviously expecting from someone he had barely known. "What sort of inventor would I be if I don't account for everyone in the whole entire world?"
That had led to a whole discussion as the six of them traversed the snowy white streets of Roppongi.
The streetlights, sparkling silver, red and green in celebration of Christmas (despite only a small percentage of the Japanese population actually aligning themselves with Christianity) created a sort of cheerfully jovial ambience, the festive mood getting everyone pumped up for the holiday.
Unsurprisingly, Hatsume had forgotten to wear any essential winter articles like gloves and an earmuff to combat the blistering cold weather, and Yaoyorozu had graciously used her Creation quirk to make some for her.
Tony knew exactly the point at which Hatsume had fallen for the raven haired heiress, disregarding personal space once again as she linked hands with her, causing Yaoyorozu to blush prettily at such an intimate action.
Meanwhile, Awase stared at them both with his jaw hung wide open.
"You are absolutely perfect, Ms. Genius," she gleamed, getting incredibly up close and personal into Yaoyorozu's face, "Are you single by any chance?"
To say that the raven haired heiress was a bubbling rosy mess would be a complete understatement.
Eventually they reached the specialty cream puff located in Roppongi Hills that was suggested by Yaoyorozu. The stylish pristine white and pastel blue of the Cream de la Cream , was chocked full of delicious warm pastries and goodies that smelled positively heavenly the moment they all stepped inside.
They immediately broke up into pairs, with Hatsume dragging a bewildered Ojiro to a nearby table to discuss the potential "Babies" that she could develop for his tail quirk, while Yaoyorozu led Awase to peruse the stocked shelves with her and buy some treats to share with the whole group.
That had left Tony with Kodai.
The two took their sweet time wandering around the small store, mindlessly eyeing the rich decor and tasty pastries that were currently being offered for today's customers. They soon stopped by a cabinet specifically selling miniature ornaments of their best selling cream puffs for the Christmas holiday, and Kodai lingered by the shelves, her quiet gaze set on a dark red velvet one.
"A favorite?" Tony asked.
Kodai shrugged her shoulders, her face a picture perfect porcelain mask of calm indifference as she step sided away from the cabinet to give him some space.
Out of all the people who had been invited for the dinner party, Kodai had spoken the least, opting to state her opinions with little hums or a quirk of her well manicured brows that Awase managed to decipher for everyone else to understand.
Normally, such a thing wouldn't bother Tony.
After all, it wasn't like he hadn't spent the better part of a whole week in the terrifying depths of deep outer space with a blue skinned woman who had more metal fiber in her entire body than bones, and averaged around a total of twenty words on a good day.
Still, it was somewhat different from Nebula's stubbornly taciturn demeanor.
There was a sort of quietness in the way Kodai Yui wore around her petite demure body like a priceless Persian silk scarf that bore quite the strong resemblance to someone else whose motto was all about stealth and absolute secrecy.
And Tony couldn't properly explain why he knew that.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Stormy cerulean eyes met his, and Tony blinked, realizing belatedly that he had been staring at her once again, and got caught like a chubby kid with their hands stuck in the cookie jar.
A twinkle of amusement bled into Kodai's normally stoic expression.
Somehow, without any direct confirmation, Tony had a feeling that she already knew that he had been staring at her all this time and only had now just decided to bring it up out of the blue.
But why?
"I…"
Tony then cleared his throat.
"Mind if I tell you a funny story?"
Kodai cocked her head for a sliver of a fraction, her expression remaining impassive save for the slightest quirk of her brows that indicated to Tony that she was interested in hearing it.
"Well…"
He leaned his arm to casually rest on the edge of the cabinet, careful not to jar any of the sparkly (and probably pricey) ornaments off their shelves.
"I sometimes dream of things that have happened in another world after a late night of binging Netflix. The person I am in this dream is quite the roguishly handsome man, a genius, a bit of a playboy and a massive flirt but is super loyal to his wife, and wealthy beyond any imagination."
As he expected, Kodai showed no visible response to this lavish description of himself.
Rude.
"And one day this roguishly handsome man had to make a tough decision. Should he sacrifice himself to save all of humanity knowing that it would kill him in the process, or should he stay at home in his log cabin with his wife and daughter, never daring to go beyond the realm of impossibility and dooming the rest of the universe to the ramblings of a mad tyrant?"
Kodai only blinked once.
"Mmh," was all she said.
This was not going as how he had expected it to go.
Licking the bottom of his lips nervously, Tony threw all caution to the wind. If Kodai Yui wasn't who he thought she was, then he could simply laugh it all off as part of an elaborate joke.
But if she was…
"And you know what's the funniest part?"
Kodai remained silent.
"I woke up and I still feel like I am that person."
He waited. Carefully watching even the most miniscule of actions from her. Secretly, he prayed to all the deities that existed in the universe, and even to the ones from his previous universe that his words had met its destination.
After what felt like an eternity, Kodai finally responded with a simple twitch of her upper lips, the closest to a smile he had seen from her all night.
Kodai turned away, the red fringe of her dyed hair casting a dark shadow below her pale eyelids. Beneath it, her stormy cerulean eyes stared at nothing in particular, almost seemingly lost in thought, and Tony held his breath.
She hummed. A light, pleasantly soft tune.
"That is funny."
The world stilled as those same cerulean eyes turned their ethereal hold onto him again, threatening to drown him in the depths of its deep murky sea.
Tony slowly blinked, disbelief spreading rapidly across his face.
Like a curtain unveiling the hidden world beyond its windowpane, a tiny sliver of emotion had appeared in Kodai Yui's normally stoic facial expression; a dash of pure amusement, a sprinkle of devious mischief.
And a teaspoon of honest to goodness relief.
"Nice to see you too."
She paused, deliberately and with purposeful meaning as her lips twitched upwards once again. A real smile blossomed across her face like sunflowers in a long forgotten dilapidated graveyard.
A rare and most wondrous sight if he had ever seen one.
"Tony ."
His eyes had widened immediately the moment he had heard her voice, tears gathering up at the corners of each one.
"Nat…"
He wasn't alone anymore.