Chương 2324: 66
Chapter 66: Winter
A/N: Well, here I am with chapter 66. And, as I said in the last chapter, this time around you're all in for a seasonally inappropriate chapter — yes, the Christmas chapter. It's what happens next canonically after all, and I didn't really feel like skipping it in favor for a later date… So here you all go!
"Come on Mei. We're gonna be late if you keep struggling."
Izuku tugged on the spider silk thread that he had ended up wrapping around the eccentric inventor. Said silk was coiled around her torso, spun and wrapped akin to the manner as if Izuku was using a lasso.
And, despite Izuku's claims otherwise, Mei wasn't exactly struggling in her bounds; she was walking with her own will, even. Rather, Izuku's words were more in regards to her slow pace, something which could be attributed to her being busy tinkering with another one of her inventions.
The complex piece of metal she was working on was small enough to fit in her palms. Her deft hands working in tandem with her quirk was what allowed any sort of progress on the object's design and make.
"But I need to work on these!" Mei countered, not even looking up from her work. "Just think of all the possibilities! These webspinners would work wonders with all that silk you can end up making! And who knows, maybe you'll even end up being able to move around like that spider hero in those old comics!"
"No," Izuku said curtly. "I'm not going to use them, Mei. For one, I've already told you five other times that I don't want them. Aside from them not actually fitting in with the aesthetic of my costume — which the flightpack does with its four wings, by the way — the flight pack already allows me to fly. Flight is a lot more maneuverable than swinging."
"And two," Izuku continued, "I'd rather not have to add a whole other device to my arsenal; setting aside training time and stuff, you know? I already have enough to work with. With what—
Well, classified police stuff and things."
"But I still want to work on them!" Mei exclaimed. "And I was going to commit my time on some experiments with them tonight! Why can't I just do that?"
"No Mei. It's Christmas," Izuku retorted. "You're not missing Christmas in favor for some more of your tinkering. You do enough of that literally all the time. You need to celebrate Christmas in some way."
"But why?" Mei whined.
"Because you need to socialize more. Heck, you barely interact with your own classmates! You're basically a stranger to them!"
"I am not!"
"Asking somebody to move aside so you can take up more space does not count. Neither does looking around a blast radius and asking others if they've seen stray parts from one of your inventions. Things like that, plus a whole bunch of your other habits combined, are what makes me know that nobody else would have dragged you out of your lab today."
Mei harrumphed. She glared at Izuku, something of which the boy confronted unflinchingly.
"Fine," Mei relented. "But I keep my tools on me during the party. And the webspinner."
Izuku shrugged. "Probably the best that I'll get. Now, can I please take this webbing off of you? I'd rather not still be dragging you around when we get to the dorms."
Mei nodded, and then immediately went back to working on her invention.
Izuku sighed, uncoiling the webbing around her waist. "Honestly. Can't you just go one day without working on something?"
"Can you go a day without breathing?"
"Those are two completely different things!"
Mei cackled, a sound Izuku was all too familiar with. "They aren't to me!"
Izuku sighed once more. However, he made the decision to forgo any further argument upon the moment that the 1-A dorms came into view.
Izuku shoved his hand into his flightpack, pulling out two separate Santa hats — one for himself and one for Mei — as to the courtesy of Momo.
His own hat had a little spider on its end, a black widow similar to the one he's shown Eri. Mei's own hat had a little wrench on its end. Izuku promptly shoved said hat over Mei's head, something of which she showed little response towards.
"Well alright Mei," Izuku said, opening the doors to the dorms. "Here we—"
"AHA!" came a collective chorus of voices. "Another!"
Izuku jumped back a bit, the outburst having been a complete surprise. He hadn't checked the building beforehand, after all.
A cursory glance at the crowd gathered near the door revealed the likes of Ashido, Kaminari, Setsuna, Sero, Tsuburaba, Pony, Komori, and Hagakure.
The rest of the two classes — of those who had already arrived, that is — were off in various other parts of the common room. Most didn't even bat an eye at the commotion near the entrance, while others let out a full blown sigh.
With all those in mind, only question came to mind to Izuku when he came to face the group in front of him. "What the heck are you all—"
Izuku attempted to walk forward, but he was met with an invisible wall — or rather, hardened air, if Tsuburaba's presence meant anything.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" the crowd interrupted.
"Wha— What?!" Izuku stuttered. "What are you—"
And then he finally saw it. There was a branch of mistletoe discretely hung up, directly over the entrance to the building.
"Really guys? I— wait! No! I won't!" Izuku turned to the inventor beside him. "Right Mei?"
Mei perked her head up at the mention of her name. "Huh?"
Izuku smirked, flaunting himself before the crowd. "See? You've possibly received the worst duo to come through the doors for something like this."
"Oh come on!" Setsuna whined. "Can't you play along with it, Mei?"
"I'm busy! Ask me later."
"But Mei!" Setsuna pouted. "Come on! So far I'm the only one who's done it! And Kendo cut that short with her yelping and sputtering!"
"You could have at least asked first!" came Kendo's voice from further in the common room.
"See? She knows that it was a joke at the very least. She was fine with it! Well — mostly, anyways. And it's not like Manga didn't understand either."
"What is that supposed to mean?!" A duet of voices yelled.
Setsuna smirked. See? What'd I say? It's all fun and games. Now go!"
"Nope," Izuku replied.
"Then we won't let you out of there then until you do," Setsuna gestured to Tsuburaba. "How's that sound?"
Izuku frowned, taking a moment to think. Eventually, he took a look through his bugs. Slowly, a small smile crept onto his face.
"Even if Uraraka and Todoroki were to be steadily making their way here?"
"Ahh!" Ashido suddenly shrieked. "Let them go! Let them go! I've got to see this! Todoroki's obliviousness might work in our favor!"
"But— Izuku—" Setsuna let out a frustrated growl. "Agh! Fine! Tsuburaba!"
The air wall promptly collapsed, leaving Izuku and Mei free to leave. Izuku moved past the group, Mei absentmindedly following in his steps. Eventually, they entered the room proper, where the others present were gathered to celebrate the holiday in the fashion Izuku preferred.
"Hey guys!" Izuku greeted the group.
"Ah!" Mineta screamed, having taken a look at the girl beside Izuku. "It's the scary lady!"
Ah, right. The few interactions that they've had have all been in her lab. Wonderful.
Before Tsu could smack the shorter boy with her tongue, Mineta was already screaming out his apologies. "Wait, wait! I'm sorry! But you've got to admit that it's true! Pink-haired inventor lady is pretty scary!"
"I resent that!" Mei interrupted, sparing a look at Mineta. "I'd think that 'intimidating' and 'violator of personal space' are things that'd best describe me, grape boy."
Mineta's eye twitched. "At least she's self-aware," he muttered.
Izuku let out a nervous chuckle at Mineta's retort. "I will admit that Mei is a bit… eccentric. And I know that she can get a bit too carried away at times. I hope that all of you are alright with that?"
"Of course we are alright with her!" the Santa-clad costumed Iida exclaimed. "Despite my rather short past history and first impressions of Miss Hatsume, I can appreciate her current attentiveness to her project — at the very least it is preferable to the unbecoming behavior of our classmates by the entrance."
"Great!" Mei exclaimed. "Glad to know that, engines! Now, if you don't mind." Mei promptly sat herself down on a nearby couch, planting herself in between a startled Koda and an absentminded Yanagi. She readily continued with her work.
Before Izuku could put another word in, the crowd by the entrance erupted into another chant, their victims as predicted by Izuku — the recently arrived Todoroki and Uraraka.
"So, how long has that been going on?" Izuku gestured to the commotion by the entrance.
"Around half an hour by now," Momo replied. "Amusingly enough, the first group to walk in once they were all set up was Tokoyami, Shoji, and Koda. It was quite a commotion."
"We were faced with a true conundrum," Tokoyami said, "surrounded by our peers in such a situation — one so sudden and shrouded in darkness."
"Well," Kendo added, "I'm glad that we're all having fun already, at the very least. A joint party was a great idea — however chaotic this night may end up being, that is."
"Aww!" suddenly cooed Ashido, who was looking out the window in search for the next victims for the mistletoe. "It's Santa-Eri-chan! She looks so cute!"
"Wait, Eri?" Pony asked. "Is she with somebody?"
"Well, duh. She wouldn't be walking out there alone now, would she? She's with Aizawa-sensei, like she always is."
There was a moment of quiet. And then:
"Ahh!"
"The plant!"
"Take it down! Take it down!""
"Where's the ladder?!"
"I can't reach it!"
"Move! I'll use my quirk!"
The party had gone off without a hitch. Food was served, gifts were given, and the festivities were spent and shared between the two classes. It was late into the night now, the main celebration having mostly died off. While some of the party goers had decided to retreat off to their rooms, some of the others had scampered off into their own little groups to hold their own smaller celebrations before the night's end.
Off in one corner of the common room, Izuku dipped his hand into the small tank that rested on his lap. His hand brushed against its first inhabitant, a vibrantly blue lobster — a truly rare find in the oceans.
The same characteristic could be attributed to the tank's second inhabitant: a split-toned lobster colored half red and half brown. After he was done stroking the first lobster, Izuku switched to the second, this time taking her — Izuku could tell it was a her with a mere prod — into his hands and gently lifted her from the tank.
"Look guys," Izuku said, showcasing the lobster to his friends. "This one looks like Todoroki, don't you think?"
While most of those present did share a laugh, Todoroki himself raised his hands, which were wrapped snugly in golden silk mittens. "You mean because of these?" he asked. "I suppose that they kind of look like claws."
"Oh my," Momo laughed, her own golden silk scarf around her neck. "I think that he means your split coloring, Todoroki."
Todoroki's eyes slowly dawned in realization. "Oh."
Another round of laughter was shared. Afterwards, just as Izuku lowered the split lobster back into her tank, Manga spoke out.
"So, full time internships start back up next week, huh?"
Pony took another bite of her apple pie before replying. "Mhm. I'm not entirely sure if I should be excited or not, though. I mean, there's just a lot of bad stuff happening out there right now, you know?"
"Yeah," Izuku muttered, "you could say that again."
"Are you sure that you're still up to it, Izuku?" A Compsognathus fossil asked, shaking from side to side as it spoke.
A pair of fingers went around the dino's mouth, moving it up and down in tandem with the words being spoken. "Our time with Edgeshot has been a bit rough, after all. I mean, I'm up for going back, of course. Even if I am still a little burned out, even."
Izuku glanced over to Setsuna, who was making a crude attempt at ventriloquism with said fossil.
"Setsuna, you and I have been called on and off for incidents involving the Nine ever since the first internship program ended. You've chased off Stain. You've been delving deeper into that investigation with Edgeshot And I've even faced Jack face to face, and the worst I came out of it was with this," Izuku gestured to the scar on his cheek. "I'm sure that we'll be fine."
"You could have avoided that if you had more of my stuff on you," Mei said. "Like those taser gloves I wanted you to have. Or maybe those gas dispenser goggles."
Mei was currently messing around with Izuku's gift to her, a sort of automatic dispenser for spider silk. It was made with a combination of Izuku's small amount of technical experience that he'd picked up over the years as Mei's guinea pig, and a small population of spiders that now called the contraption their home. The second she was done berating Izuku, she went straight back to work.
"Wait, Jack?" Setsuna asked. "Who's Jack?"
"Ah," Izuku grimaced, realizing his verbal mistake. "Kentaro, I mean. Jack… was something that came up during our talks. Kentaro wanted me to guess his given name. So I guessed that. Yeah. Definitely. Uhuh."
"Right…" Setsuna trailed off. "And you're sure that you aren't burnt out from all of that? It's not like the things the Nine do are things that are easy on the stomach."
"You guys still haven't told us about any of that," Manga said. "I mean, just how bad— Ow!"
Manga recoiled from Pony's smack over his head. "Right," Manga muttered. "Not my place. Sorry."
"No, no, it's alright," Izuku said. "They're just things that are better left unsaid, you know? It's not something that you want to know is happening out there."
"You two can take a break if that's what you need," Momo interjected. "It's understandable if you two do need one. The workload that you're facing isn't exactly light, after all."
"You guys are probably going to get caught up in it too though!" Setsuna countered. "The school's reassigning all of us to top heroes if weren't already paired up with one, right? That means that everyone's going to get roped into investigation with the League, Stain, and the Nine. If people like Izuku and I weren't out there in the field, who'd be teaching the newbies?"
Izuku chuckled. "That's a nice way of putting it, I suppose."
"But!" Setsuna emphasized. "I do agree that you need to be less high strung, Izuku."
"But that's just being hypocritical," Izuku argued. "We have the same workload."
"But you don't," Todoroki interrupted. "You have those meetings with Nezu sometimes. And your off with that Kaniyashiki lady and the police more often that Tokage is."
"He's got you there," Manga said.
"It's different," Izuku sighed. "I've got… Well, um. I've—"
"Oi oi oi!" Pony suddenly exclaimed. "What happened? It's Christmas, isn't it?"
Manga rose a finger up. "Well actually, it's past midnight so—"
Pony raised her own finger this time, but planted this one in Manga's face. "Shush! Anyways, it's Christmas! It's supposed to be fun, not depressing! We can talk about this internship stuff later, don't you think?"
"You're right!" Setsuna exclaimed, turning to Momo. "I got him a notebook and those wheel bug things. So explain to me your reasoning with the lobsters?"
"Wha— Well, I mean." Momo cleared her throat. "I was originally going for an albino one. But they're really rare, you know? So I got the next best thing! Though, the calico one was supposed to come already, it's still late so—"
"You mean you got him a third one?!"
The best of the night was filled with smiles and laughter..
"Won't you tell them?"
Izuku balked somewhat at the final step, freezing just before he reached his floor.
"Uhh… Midoriya? Something wrong?"
Izuku glanced back at Mineta, who was as well retreating to his room for the night. After a moment, he shook his head. "No, no. Sorry. Just, uhh… Zarusoba moved a little bit."
Mineta quirked an eyebrow at that. "Your noodles moved?"
"No, I—" Izuku gestured to the tank in his hands and to the split lobster within. "The lobster, I mean."
Mineta stared at the crustacean for a bit before his face morphed in realization. "Oh! I get it! That's a good one, Midoriya." Mineta yawned. "Though, if you don't mind, I'm a bit sleepy."
"Oh, right. Sorry." Izuku continued on his way, taking the final step up the stairs and another step closer to his room.
What? Izuku asked within his thoughts.
"Your friends," QA clarified. "You should tell them."
Izuku placed his tank on other gifts on the floor before he twisted the doorknob to his room, swinging the door open. He then waved a lazy hand towards Mineta, who had continued down the hall to his own room. "Night, Mineta."
"Night!"
Izuku turned and entered his own room, closing the door behind him. "Tell them what?" He began dispersing his new gifts around his room.
"About… Well, your past. You know, everything. Your secrets. Your vigilantism." There was a pause. "Me."
Izuku froze for the second time, his hand stopping midway in the process of petting Squirt.
"You want me," Izuku paused, emphasizing his point, "to tell them, my secrets. My vigilantism? And more specifically, about you?"
"Well, ye—"
"Where did all of this come from? Aren't you the one who's all about keeping secrets and not trusting others?"
…
"Well?"
"They've already been digging, you know. Especially that Setsuna girl. You wouldn't believe how many times I've caught her trying to listen in on your more private conversations."
"She's been what?"
"Exactly. It's a good thing that a mere swarm can make such a convincing you. Moving on, you should know that you've slipped up enough times around Todoroki that he's grown concerned over your mental health."
"As for Momo, well, you know how she is. She worries over you, ever since USJ. You might not realize it, but she watches you like a hawk. And she's still worried with you, especially with all the stress you've fallen under."
"And your original trio — Well, you know. Manga, Mei, Pony? They all know that you aren't very secure about your quirk. They know that you know that there's something off about it. And they know that you don't want to tell them about it. It won't be long before they all start piecing things together. All of them, that is."
"So?" Izuku questioned. "We just need to be more careful. Watch ourselves more. Limit our conversations to my head. Can't we just do that? I don't want them finding out if they don't need to."
"I…" QA sighed. "It... helps, you know; having someone in your corner when everything's going to shit. When everything seems like it's going wrong, having the right person there to pick up the pieces just…" Another sigh. "I think that you're going to need them. Your friends, that is. With what's coming — with what you're going to end up facing — you're going to need it."
"Especially if things end up like last time."
"But that's why I have you, isn't it?"
"Izuku—"
"I'm not going to tell them QA. They don't need that sort of burden on them."
"Well—"
"Well what?"
...
..
.
"If you say so, Izuku. If you say so."
Izuku yawned. "Thanks, QA."
"Of course."
Izuku laid himself on his bed. "Now, if you don't mind," Izuku let out another yawn, "I'm a bit tired. I want to sleep."
"It has been an eventful day; it makes sense. In any case, goodnight, Izuku."
"Goodnight QA," Izuku muttered, his voice going quiet. "Promise to keep my secret a secret?"
"Don't you worry one bit. I promise."
"For now."
A/N: And so there we go with Christmas! A little bit of developments, fluff, some arguments, all the jazz. Anyways, prepare for next time! Next week rolls in the new internship programs!
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