Text"...You're asking me to reveal my secret to Ashido?"
Izuku bit down in his lower lip. Hard. Only he, and the staff at Yuuei, as well as a select bunch of individuals in the police and government had even the slightest clue about the secret of All Might, about One For All. To come up and ask for him to make an addition to those ranks was near inconceivable. He knew exactly what he was asking. He was asking All Might to trust Mina with the truth.
About One For All. About All For One. About All Might.
About Izuku, and his Quirk.
For a few moments though, he struggled to speak. There were a thousand thoughts going through his head right at this moment, and none of them were collected or organised in any manner. He knew that he wanted to let Mina know the truth about his powerful Quirk. He didn't want to hide anything from her. Not anymore.
To be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure that he'd be able to. Not after the kiss they'd shared. Not after she'd told him she'd loved him.
Because he loved her as well, and he didn't want to risk ruining everything over this.
He was able to hide the truth from his own mother, and he could handle that. He knew exactly what the dangers were there. He just couldn't tell her. She wasn't a Pro-Hero, or even in training to be one. On the off chance she slipped up and told a civilian... But he couldn't hide it from Mina. He just couldn't anymore.
Mind racing back to the kiss Mina had given him, and Izuku's face went red on the spot. She'd stolen his first kiss from him with a smile on her face, and she'd done it with such tender emotion and love, Izuku could practically feel it seeping through her lips. They had tasted so sweet, like sugar, in spite of the frankly disgusting meal they had shared just prior to the joining of their lips. They had been so soft, almost as if they were cotton against his skin.
She was beautiful. She really was, in that moment, she was all that the green haired boy had focused on, in both his eyesight, and his thought process. The way she had so softly spoken those meaningful words, and pulled him into a romantic act... The way she had smiled, and how her beautiful dark eyes had gleamed when they had separated. And her laugh after, that laugh just simple, pure happiness that left her outrageously pretty smile...
God, he'd never been more in love with her.
He didn't want to lie to her about his power anymore. He didn't think he could hide it. Eventually, it would slip out, or she'd piece it together. Mina wasn't exactly book smart like he was, but she wasn't an idiot. She would figure it out given enough time.
But he was asking All Might to let him confess the origins of his power... And there wasn't any way she'd believe him unless she heard it from the powers original bearer. Saw proof of it. And even that aside... He just needed to ask All Might.
This was the man he had admired throughout his entire life. The man who he looked up to as the symbol of what a Hero was, and always should be. The man who had given him his own Quirk. The man who made that dream, a dream practically impossible for someone born without a Quirk, into a real, serious possibility! But the only way to reveal the truth about One For All, about how it was inherited from one person to the next was going to be believed with serious credibility... Faith and goodwill only took people so far. He needed All Might to confirm it with Mina, to say that he wasn't lying, to say he wasn't just making this up. If he was against it, firmly enough to flat out deny the request, to refuse to give away anything relating to his Quirk, Izuku would have no choice but to respect that. He didn't have the right to push things with his mentor, his Hero. After everything he'd done for him, how could he even think to push for more?
He couldn't explain it any better than that. He just didn't want to hide it anymore, and wanted to tell her the truth.
"I... I just want to tell her the truth about One For All... But I know that that could include letting her in on, well, everything... About that guy with the Quirk that lets him steal other Quirks and pass them down... About..." Izuku bit on his words. How could he even phrase this? There wasn't really a way to explain what he was describing, since he knew so little about it himself. "You... I... I know that I'm asking you for a lot, All Might... I'll understand if you think it's too dangerous to let her know, really. "Izuku meant it too. He wouldn't argue. He wouldn't fight the decision. He wouldn't even ask for a reason why. He already knew.
All Might was a great many things. And he knew a large number of things to go with that. He knew exactly how a Hero should act, with other Heroes and the average citizen, and how to perform a huge number of special moves, rescue manoeuvres and tricks with his Quirk. He knew how to lie, very well. He knew how to stand tall and act as the symbol of peace that the world had deigned him to be. He knew how to hide behind a brave face and make the entire world believe it was a true grin. And he knew about the threats behind the surface of this superhuman world they lived in.
He knew about Sensei. About the threat he was...
But he didn't know why Izuku wanted to inform Ashido about this. About the secrets that they had to keep to protect the whole of society. About things that he wasn't even certain Ashido would be able to comprehend. He hadn't been able to when he'd had this information dumped on him all at once. And to the best of his knowledge... Ashido was barely even his friend. Of all the people...
His true form was a skinny man, with a ridiculously long neck. This neck tilted, and the pupils that were constantly covered by the shadows of his brow seemed to narrow. "...Midoriya, my boy, why do you feel the need to explain to Ashido about your Quirk? You already attempted to inform Bakugou, and we were extraordinarily fortunate that he did not believe you. You explained to me that that was because of your previous friendship with him and the respect you have for him as a person, and I can somewhat understand that... But with Ashido, I'm afraid you've lost me."
It only occurred to Izuku in that moment that he'd never actually told All Might about his relationship with Mina. The last few weeks had been rather hectic, what with the end of semester tests coming up shortly, cramming in studying and combat practice, and actually spending time with Mina, it had seemed like less of a priority to do so, with so many other things going on. He found himself with his usual stammer again, fidgeting with his fingers as he explained the reason. "Uh, well, y-you see... M-Mina-san and I... Are sort of, um, dating..."
It hadn't exactly been the reason All Might had expected, but now that it was out in the open, it made the most sense. The world's top Hero looked at Izuku with a mixture of both surprise and what the closest thing to pride could be called without it actually bordering into it. It made his reasons for wanting to let her know about his Quirk all that more sensical.
Still, he was surprised to learn that Izuku had been becoming involved in a relationship with another one of his classmates, especially someone as hyperactive as Ashido. The two barely seemed comparable at first glance, Izuku being the most shy and timid boy in the class, and probably the entire school, book-smart, and genetically Quirkless, and then you had Ashido, who was pretty much the exact opposite, being loud and sociable with practically anyone, and fell in one of the lowest places when it came to the classes grades. Along with that, her natural Quirk gave her an appearance that looked so bizarre she almost resembled an alien. It was possibly a case of opposites attracting one another, at least, that's how someone in All Mights perspective could have mistaken it as, yet he felt there was more to it than that. If he knew one thing about his protégé, it was that he was more complicated than his simple appearance conveyed. He wasn't that easy to read.
The middle aged man also took note on how Izuku was using her first name. Of course, he was using the proper respectful honorific when referring to her, but it seemed likely to him that he wouldn't use that when around her. It was an indicator as to how close they were, despite this relationship only possibly being a few weeks old, perhaps a month, at the most.
He wasn't under any doubt that this was good for the boy, no question whatsoever. Even if the relationship crashed and burned to the ground, it would be a healthy experience for him to grow and mature as an individual. After everything the class had been through, it was a good sign to see that at least two of them were able to leave those experiences and not let them interfere with their lives. They had learned from it, and were able to move on.
Of course, this was also a risky move...
"I was unaware." All Might nodded, bringing his hands together. "That'll be good for you. But... Midoriya, I don't like to be the one to say this, but there is a possibility that your relationship will not work out." He could see Izuku flinch, as he had guessed his might. "If we told Ashiso, and you both ended your relationship... Then -"
"She wouldn't just go off and tell anyone!" Izuku cut in before he even knew what he was doing. "Mina's a lot of things, sure, but she isn't a blabbermouth! I know that she'd understand how serious this is!" Once he'd finished, he suddenly and sharply clasped his hands over his mouth, panicking because, holy crap, he'd just cut off and yelled at All Might like that!
Still... He stood by his words. Mina was talkative, and he'd always know that, but when she wanted to keep something personal or hold onto a secret, she was tight lipped. She could be stubborn when she wanted to be. That was just how she was.
Faith was something that Izuku had plenty of, there wasn't any question about that. It impressed the eighth user of One For All how willing he was to but all his trust into someone. Of course, he hadn't expected anything less. The world's number one Hero felt the corners of his lips tug into a small smile, only to drop back down into the frown he normally wore.
Still, the risks of telling people about his Quirk... Were all too clear.
"...Midoriya, do you love Ashido?"
The question caught Izuku off guard, and he blushed a bright scarlet colour, babbling something, avoiding answering until he saw the look on All Might's face. Stern, solemn. Serious. He wasn't just trying to tease or trick Izuku, like someone else might have done. He wasn't messing around. He was asking a serious question, and needed a serious answer.
"...Yes. I do." Izuku managed to answer, without tripping over his words.
"And you're prepared to try and make it work between you and her?"
"Yes."
"And you trust her?"
The green haired boy blinked as he nodded. "With my life."
At the end of the day, Izuku was the ninth inheritor to One For All. Someday, it would fall on him to decide who knew about this Quirk, and who didn't. He'd have to choose the people he could trust, the people who could know about this unique Quirk, even among Quirks.
The crown would lay heaviest of the wearers head.
All Might let out a long sigh. He closed his eyes and looked up to the ceiling, watching the singular rotating fan travel around the light bulb for just a few moments. He had defended his position firmly, and he still maintained that as few people knew, the better it would be… But Izuku knew that too. He wasn't an idiot, at all. He had to understand the risks, and what they entailed…
"L-Like I said, I completely understand if you think it's going too far…" Izuku timidly said, at this point just wanting some sort of reaction from his mentor, fidgeting with his fingers as he began to regret ever coming to speak to him about this. He'd known it had been a longshot from the get go, and yet he still wanted to see if it was a possibility.
All Might directed his gaze and looked at his young inheritor in the eyes for a good solid ten seconds. Ten silent, uncomfortable seconds for Izuku, until finally, the Pro-Hero spoke. "All For One is strictly off the table. He cannot be mentioned. If she panics after hearing all of this, the last thing that we need is for her to spread rumours about someone like him."
Suddenly, Izuku gulped when he realised what he had just been told. He looked at his tutor, eyes coated over by a layer of dark shadows that came from his brow. He man looked like he was almost making a confident mistake. "A-Are you sure this is alright?"
The skinny man let out another sigh. "Every day, I'm working with less and less time to perform Hero duties. Barely even an hour at this point... Before long, the entire class will know anyway, and I won't be able to access the remnants of One For All before long... Perhaps it is better that someone know inside the class aside from you. Less damage to deal with... Crap." All Might sighed. "No, my boy, I'm not entirely certain... But if I can't trust my protégé, then I'm not much of a teacher, am I?"
"Hey, um, Ashido-san, do you know where Deku is?"
Izuku usually arrived at classes earlier than most other pupils. That was something that he could generally be relied on for. He claimed it was because he wanted to get ready for the lesson that they had ahead of them, regardless as to what subject that it may be. Sometimes he'd spend a few minutes making notes in those books he always wrote in about people's Quirks, or techniques used by other people, or anything even akin to that.
But homeroom? He was normally ten minutes ahead of the clock, and classes were about to start any minute now. Him being late was….Usually a bad sign. Shooting another worried look around the classroom, Mina had to let out a long, deep sigh. He hadn't sent her any texts telling her he was going to be late, if he was off ill for whatever reason, or anything like that. "No, I have no idea, Uraraka. I sent him a couple messages a while ago, but he hasn't been registered as seeing them. I'm a little concerned to tell you the truth…"
Was it possible that he was doing this in an effort to avoid her? Mina had a worry that her bold move last Friday might have tipped him over the edge, since he had been generally quiet over the weekend, and not really exchanged too many messages with her. He'd exchanged a few, but she'd noticed that there was a distinct drop in the number of messages that they normally sent one another. Now he'd just gone AWOL. It was worrying for Mina, to say the least.
"It's not like him to be late…" Uraraka thought aloud, glancing at the door, as if he was about to walk through just at that moment and erase all worries from the minds of the two of them. His punctuality was well noted, unless exceptional circumstances were at play. "Didn't he say anything to you?"
"Izuku doesn't exactly report to me, y'know." Mina responded with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood a bit. In the rational side of her brain, she knew that it was nothing like that, that he was either just running late, or was sick and had a bad connection, or that he was actually in the school right now, doing something else before attending homeroom. Otherwise, he would have messaged her, there wasn't any doubt in her mind. "I'm his girlfriend Uraraka, not his drill sergeant." As she said this, she made a sloppy mock salute towards the Zero Gravity Quirk user, allowing her hand to remain limp as she did so.
"I know, I was just…."
"Chill, I was kidding." Mina assured her with her hands up in a mock surrender and a genuine smile on her face. "It is weird that he isn't here yet… But I'm sure he's fine. I'm a little more concerned about you right now."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you're acting kinda weird, like, I dunno, like you're trying to avoid something. Everything alright in there? Nothing wrong?"
In truth, Uraraka had no idea what she was feeling these days. If she was doing okay or not, or if something was even wrong with her in the first place. Day to day life went as it normally did, between saving money for house expenses and Yuuei School and homework, she'd had plenty to keep her occupied. Deku was still around, she didn't see any less of her friend just because of his relationship with Ashido.
Although that could be an issue in itself.
Uraraka and Ashido got along. They were friends. Their similar, friendly and excitable personalities practically had guaranteed that they would be able to establish a working friendship not too long into the school year. And Uraraka liked Ashido as a person, no doubt. It would be a far more boring classroom without her in there.
And yet, ever since Deku had begun dating Ashido, Uraraka couldn't help but feel uneasy. She was rather affectionate towards him in public, despite their relatively new relationship, and that wasn't exactly a helpful factor in the matter, but more than that, it seemed to be the fact that it was Deku that was messing with Uraraka. The idea that she was jealous of their relationship was simply absurd, she dismissed, thinking nothing more of it.
At least, that was what she told herself...
But what else could she say to Ashido, other than the usual? "No... I'm okay. Just a bit tired I guess."
"Oh? Working hard till the late hours to keep your takeout meals from floating off into space and landing on some kid's hoodie?"
"That was one time, and I-it was an accident!"
"You send the delivery guy up into the stratosphere this time then?"
Both the girls shared a giggle at their conversation, before Aizawa-sensei walked into the room to begin the homeroom. Uraraka suddenly shot into her seat like a bullet, and the room fell into absolute silence, as they had learned to do so whenever their homeroom teacher Erasure-Head walked in.
Aizawa never bothered with the pleasantries. A quick morning was the most that anyone would be able to get from him, before he leaped right into the nitty gritty of the day's events planned, before signing off and leaving the class in the hands of whoever they had first that day. He didn't take long to scribble some things in chalk up on the board, reminding the students of their upcoming tests towards the end of the semester. A few students squirmed at the reminder. Mina barely even noticed it.
It wasn't before this was over that a small chime came from their homeroom teacher's general direction. The scruffy middle aged man reached into one of the pockets on his jacket, and retrieved an old looking phone, that he no doubt purchased due to its cheap price. A few students were visually ticked off by the mere action, with the number of times Aizawa-sensei had told them no phones whatsoever during homeroom. No doubt he'd justify this hypocrisy by telling them some logical rhetoric regarding him needing his for work reasons.
A few pressed of buttons later, the man's eyes ricocheted onto the group's resident Acid user. "Ashido, Headmaster Nedzu's telling me All Might wants to see you."
The girl blinked a few times before she registered what was being said. "Wha - Me? What for?"
"Go find out. Nedzu's office." Was the simple response, before throwing over a permission slip to her seat. "I'll make sure your next teacher knows where you are if you take too long. Just get it done, quick."
To the best of her knowledge, Mina hadn't done anything wrong. Failed a few written tests, sure, but from a Physical assessment, she was doing pretty well, so everything should be evening out, right? There wasn't anything that should be cause for serious alarm, at least not yet anyway.
Okay, so she might be flunking at maths, but still! She was improving... Slowly.
So that left her with the question, what the heck did All Might want?
All Might graded them based on their physical capabilities, so she shouldn't have anything to worry about regarding that. Instead, this was something else. A shiver ran down her spine when she considered the possibility that All Might had found out about her and Izuku's fight with Overgrow, that Kamui Woods had ratted them out after all this time. But no, that couldn't be it. It seemed unlikely that he knew both of them were Yuuei students. Possible, but unlikely. Neither of them were in uniform at the time, and they looked a lot more broken than they might otherwise, and they never gave him their names. Plus, the Lumber Quirk using Hero had let them go, despite their interference with the Capture of the Villain, and technical Vigilantism. He didn't strike Mina as a liar. So it couldn't be that.
Couldn't be bad, couldn't be good. Mina was stumped.
The young girl made her way through the many twists and sharp turns of Yuuei High, taking s flight of stairs up to their Headmasters office. The layout of the school was enormous. Since Aizawa-sensei had just totally abandoned the orientation session on the first day, Mina still hadn't memorized it all. It took her a few wrong turns before she finally made her way to their rat-mouse-bear... Animal... Thing, of a Headmasters office.
The sight that made her stop in her tracks was Izuku stood right outside the door. Waiting for her. He wasn't making any movement, nothing to indicate that he was going to or from the office himself. He was just stood there, waiting for someone. Her, most likely.
His uniform was neat as always, no creases as per usual, and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him... But he looked different. Almost alien. His expression was solemn, worried for whatever reason, like he was in the process of doing something he felt he would regret. Such downright, for lack of a better word, fear wasn't something Mina even really recognized. Anxiety and nervousness, sure, but for Izuku to actually look scared like he did right now...
"Izuku?"
When he looked up, she saw that he really was etched with worry. His movements seemed rigid, way too stiff and nowhere near enough limber to any action that he took. The way he was moving, it looked like he had a boulder attached to each one of his limbs.
"M-Mina!"
The pink girl made her way next to the door, and her boyfriend, her right eye quirked up in curiosity. "Izuku? I thought you weren't going to come in today. I thought you were sick or something." Despite the unusual circumstances, Mina couldn't help but blush ever so lightly, and smile at her boyfriend. "It's really good to see you." Seeing him today ricocheted her mind back to the previous kiss. It then bounced right back to his rigid posture. Had it turned even stiffer since she'd shown up? "You okay? You're all tense."
Pushing forward what could generously be called a loose smile at best, Izuku attempted to wave off the question as best he could. "I-I'm fine, Mina. I just..." He failed miserably on that front. Unable to string together a coherent sentence due to both his own awkwardness, and the sheer nervousness that his system had been thrown into, he just floundered for a few seconds.
Feeling slightly mischievous, which was only fuelled further by her amusement at Izuku floundering like an idiot, Mina made a swift movement to close the gap between them, and pressed her lips quickly, and incredibly briefly against his, before jumping back to her original positioning like she hadn't moved, but with a far bigger grin on her face. "Chill, 'kay?"
Like the previous time, Izuku seemed to heat up so much steam could be seen rising from his skin, although this time at least, he managed to stay upright. His eyes were still wide, but he did seem to simultaneously relax himself at the same time. He took a second to calm himself down, though his face remained as red as humanly possible.
"S-Sorry... For not letting you know I'd be here. This... Took longer than I thought it would." He said, looking towards the door to Nedzu's office with concern, worry as to if he was doing the right thing.
"What did?"
Izuku sighed, before looking at Mina, straight in the eye. He found it slightly difficult to do, since she'd just kissed him again, both times now having been her catching off guard. Even Mina could see though, this time, he was serious. Lethally serious. "Mina. I... I need you to listen to me here, okay?"
His serious tone sent a shiver down her spine, yet she nodded. "Of course, Izuku. Whats going on?"
"Look, I'm the reason you've been called here." He explained. "I promise it's nothing bad... Well, depending on your perspective, it could be, but it's not anything you need to be worried about... But I need you to promise me that everything that happens in this room doesn't ever get repeated. Ever. Even if we... Go different ways, I need you to promise that you'll never say what you're about to hear to anyone." His tone didn't waver at all. It was something Mina took note of. He didn't flinch once during the explanation. No stutters. No trip ups. Nothing. It wasn't like him. "Your parents... Micha, Mara, Mika, no one. It's really important."
Still, Mina nodded, and gave him an intentionally jokey pouting face. "I won't tell if you don't want me to. You don't trust me?"
"I'm not exactly... Asking for me." Izuku lamented, reaching for the door handle. "I'm asking for All Might."
Before Mina could ask him what he meant, the door was suddenly open. Nedzu's office was atypical of that of Headmasters. Two sofas, a table and a desk, said desk littered with work stationary. These were the only things that Mina took notice of before seeing a skinny man, sat on one of said sofas, who craned his abnormally long neck to face the two entrances, looking solemn and serious as Izuku. All Might wasn't anywhere to be found though, which certainly confused Mina. Nedzu wasn't there either. Wasn't this his office? Where the heck was he?
"Uh, Midori?" Mina switched to her public nickname for him quickly in front of this stranger. "I don't get it. I thought I was supposed to have been called in by All Might."
For a second, Izuku very clearly flinched, conflicted for just a second. His eyes narrowed as he contemplated just what he was doing. He shot a look towards the skinny man, like he was seeking approval. Whatever he was looking for, he received it in the form of a nod.
He gulped, and then looked at Mina. "...That guy.. Is All Might."
"Uh, what?" Mina legitimately had to stop herself from laughing at the absurdity the statement, until she saw that Izuku was being one-hundred per-cent serious. There wasn't even a hint of him telling a lie. No obvious shows, no fighting back a grin, no twitches, nothing. "Wait - Wait a second, you're serious?" She then shot a look at the skinny man, who looked like he was actually sweating. "You're telling me this guy right here is All Might?"
"Ashido." There was no mistaking the voice. It belonged to the world's number one Hero, without made the whole situation even more unsettling was the cough he gave after, which resulted in a thin line of blood dripping from his mouth, yet he continued speaking like it hadn't even happened. "I assure you, Izuku is being completely honest with you."
Eyes shooting wide, Mina found herself totally lost for words, for the first time in a long time. Completely and utterly speechless, with absolutely no idea whatsoever as to what to even say. There wasn't anything she could even think of saying, of even asking, as she tried to process the information that had just been hurled at her like a brick to the head.
"Like I said..." Izuku muttered quietly. "Nothing you hear in here can leave the room." He then shut the door quietly, and locked it, ensuring their privacy for the next few, dragged out minutes.
Izuku and All Might explained. Everything, from the beginning, only excluding information about the Villain who had indirectly birthed One For All. Word by word, Mina felt her entire mind being blown. Everything that needed to be explained was explained. All Might, and now Izuku's Quirk, how it came to be, the state All Might found himself in, and Izuku's Quirkless nature. Mina listened to all of it, in total silence.
Izuku had been the one to explain everything outside the Quirk, One For All, and how it worked. He explained his past, his own lack of a natural Quirk, and how he'd come into contact with the one he had now.
There was a clear worry in Izuku's voice as he spoke. Very clear, in spite of his lack of wavering as he explained everything. His body language expressed it too, so much so that Mina sometimes focused more on that than the words he was saying. There wouldn't ever be enough time to explain the sheer anxiety he was experiencing.
Given everything she was hearing... Mina could understand why. For the first time in her life, she fully understood why he was so damn anxious.
At the end of hearing all of it, she sat in complete silence for a few moments, feeling like her brain was about to burst out of her skull. So much information to process, sometimes it would just go in one ear and out the other when it came to this sort of thing, but this was sticking with her. She could feel her veins pressing up against her forehead due to thinking too hard about what the hell she had just heard.
Part of her wanted Izuku to start giggling and reveal the whole thing as some elaborate prank. She'd never thought in her life that she'd prefer hearing a twenty minute lecture about her failing grades and how close she was to flunking out than this. This was too much for her to register.
"Do you have any... Questions?" All Might questioned, his bone hands held out, like he was preparing to accept them into his hand.
Oh yes, Mina had questions.
"...So let me get this straight." She started, feeling what she hoped wasn't a migraine press against her head. She pointed towards All Might, and looked him over again. Baggy clothing, and darkened eye sockets. He couldn't look less like the Hero she knew. "You're All Might, and this is what you normally look like."
"Yes."
"You... Had an injury that made your Quirk limited to a shorter amount of time than normal. On top of that, you used to be Quirkless..."
"Correct."
"And this Quirk..."
"One For All."
"Right... This Quirk can be passed on from person to person..." She then shifted her body to face Izuku, who was sat opposite her, next to All Might. "Someone passed it on to you... And... You passed it on to Midori?"
"That's right."
"And you... Midori, you were Quirkless before all this?" She blinked a few times, before continuing. "You told me you went into the entrance exam not knowing what your Quirk was. That you were a late bloomer. So that was... A lie?"
Guilt spread all over Izuku's face instantly at the use of that word. He'd hated having to keep his Quirk a secret from her. He didn't particularly like hiding it from anyone, but those were the rules All Might had given him. At the rate things were going, he was beginning to regret the choice to tell her. "I... Yes... It was."
"I asked him to lie." All Might interjected before anything else was said. "There was a danger that if anyone else knew, they may try to forcibly steal the power from him, which could lead to people discovering my true form. I asked him to ensure his and my own safety."
All this information... It had to be a joke, she was half convinced. That the idea of passing down a Quirk was insane, that it wasn't a possible thing to do. That it wasn't... That it just wasn't viable.
But...
"...Okay." She nodded and smiled. "Alright. Got it."
"Wait, what?" Izuku looked at her like she'd grown a head atop either of her horns, and that those had grown heads upon their own horns like some sort of horror version of a Russian doll. "Th-That's it?!"
"To be totally honest, I'm still kinda confused. This is a hell of a lot of stuff to process at once... But it does explain... A lot." Mina thought back over everything she knew regarding Izuku's Quirk. "The bone breaking, how nervous you get when we talk about your Quirk... Yeah, I can believe it." She smiled at her boyfriend warmly. "Remember what I said when we first spoke? I said your Quirk was strange. Guess this explains a ton of stuff about it." She let out a small sigh of held breath that she hadn't been aware of. "So, top secret, yeah? Super-secret Pro stuff? No one else knows?"
The professional Hero had to blink a few times himself at how... Extraordinarily well Mina had just taken the news. She'd had no problem accepting it whatsoever, even if she didn't fully understand it. "The staff at Yuuei know... A few policemen and government officials. Some trusted Heroes, but not too many. Midoriya... And now you, Ashido."
Making a peace sign with her hands, Mina gave him a bright smile. "I'll keep it quiet! No one's heard anything from me, Pinky's promise!"
"Are you…. Uh… Mad with me?" Izuku asked timidly, as he and Mina walked down the corridors back to their classrooms, in an almost worrying silence.
It hadn't been like the young teenager hadn't expected his girlfriend to be a slightly bit colder towards him after this revelation. It wasn't unexpected, he'd prepared for this sort of thing… but he had at least expected something from her. Some sort of response. Some… Something. Her being quiet was almost certainly a bad sign.
Was it because he had lied to her? Because he hadn't been honest with her?...
Though instead, Mina shook her head. "No, not at all… You lied, but you had a very good reason. I don't blame you at all… It's just…" She spun around to look at him, and gave him a warm look. "I guess it's just… I'm still processing it all I suppose."
It was totally understandable, Izuku knew. He recalled that his own surprise and confusion was similar, but when he had been thrown into the position where he had to choose to accept that Quirk or not, he'd had to get over it quicker. Of course, when at home and thinking about it in detail, it had kept him awake at night as he thought about it all.
"Yeah… I was the same way when I first heard it all." He chuckled lightly at the memory, which seemed so long ago right now. It was only a few months ago, but since so much had happened since then, it felt like it had been two years. "It was just a really… A lot to take in, isn't it?"
"It really is… I'd never heard of a Quirk that could do that." Mina smiled. "I always did think your Quirk was odd. Guess I was right."
"If it… Makes you feel any different, I wanted to tell you." Izuku admitted, without really thinking about it. "I wanted to admit to you that my Quirk was passed down… I came close a few times… I just…. I-I think it's because of… You know… Those…" He quickly became quiet at he muttered the word "Kisses." Before he went red and continued talking. "I-I just wanted to… T-To have everything… Out in the open with you…"
"Oh?" Her beautiful smile came into view as her lips curled.
"Y-Yeah…" Izuku blushed as he felt his heart pound again. Ever since she had kissed him… Twice now, the second one being as impulsive and unexpected as the first one. Mina seemed capable of just giving them out after just one, while Izuku worried his own damn heart would give out if this kept up. Just seeing that smile seemed to send his heart into an absolute frenzy. "I… I don't like keeping secrets if I'm honest…"
"You're sweet." Mina teased him happily. "If that's the case, just one question?"
"S-Sure."
"Can I kiss you again?"
The question threw Izuku right into red crimsons again. It was only at that moment when he noticed that she was a lot closer to him than they normally were, and considering that she was often times hugging onto his arm, that was saying a lot. She'd suddenly closed the gap quickly, her body against his, and their lips very close to one another. Whether or not she had bothered to check if anyone was around or watching them was up to debate, but by Izuku's very brief look, they were alone.
Still, that didn't help his instant stammer and loss of words. "Wha?..."
"I'm really happy you told me everything that you did today… I really am. I… know that you must have been really worried about what I would think, and what All Might would have to think… I know you admire him a lot… You haven't kept that a secret to literally anyone, but you went and got his permission anyway… And that means a lot to me." A display of the far more soft side that she had hidden under the energetic wraps that she had up at most of the time, and with that, she gave him yet another one of those perfect smiles. "I want to kiss you again…"
For whatever reason, despite what normal reservations Izuku would have about this sort of thing, especially here, when he had a say in it, he allowed himself to agree to the kiss, which came a few seconds later. It also marked the first time he did something that, for him, was incredibly heart-pounding, and the most intimate thing he'd ever done.
He kissed her back.