Chapter 28: Green Hair Alert!

"There you are, right on time for dinner." Her father's voice drifted in from the kitchen, mixed with the sizzle of oil in the pan. "You're a little later than usual. Did everything go okay?"

Ibara stopped in the doorway, one hand still resting on the doorknob.

Her father, a big man with broad shoulders and a gentle face, turned toward her as he dried his hands on a dish towel.

"Although..." he added, narrowing his eyes with curiosity. "There's something different about you tonight. You look... radiant, sweetheart."

The word caught her completely off guard.

For a moment, Ibara's usual composure cracked, and a delicate blush began to spread across her cheeks.

"I-It's nothing, Father," she replied, trying to collect herself. "I simply had a spiritually rewarding afternoon. That's all."

Her father raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Oh, is that so? A rewarding afternoon?" he asked. "Then tell me. What did my daughter get up to on an afternoon like that? Did you meditate in the park, perhaps?"

"Yes, Father. Exactly that," Ibara answered a little too quickly.

She cleared her throat.

"Ahem... The fresh air was... very revitalizing for the soul. The Lord grants us moments of serenity when we least expect them."

The way her father watched her was enough to make her feel she couldn't hide a thing from him. That calm yet far too perceptive gaze seemed to reach deeper than she would have liked.

Ibara looked away, unable to hold his gaze any longer.

"Dinner will be ready in a moment," he added, turning his attention back to the pan. "Oh, and relax a little, or your grandmother's going to think you've fallen in love and pull out her needles to knit baby clothes again."

Ibara tripped on the first step.

"F-Father! Don't say such things!" she protested, her face even redder.

Her father let out a low, warm laugh without looking up from the food, and she finished her escape up the stairs, toward the refuge of her room.

Her room, carefully tidy, with its hanging plants and its neatly arranged books, was where she could find her calm again. There she didn't have to worry about other people's stares or about every word that left her mouth.

But not even there could she push the thought away.

She closed her eyes.

And, as if her mind had been waiting for exactly that moment, the face of a boy with green hair and a kind expression appeared before her.

Midoriya Izuku.

She opened her eyes and slowly sat down on the edge of the bed.

Why is this happening?

With other people, especially boys, she always tried to measure her words. It was the proper thing to do. She had to keep a certain distance and behave with the prudence expected of her.

But with Midoriya...

She frowned slightly, searching for an explanation.

With him, I didn't have to try.

The words had simply come out.

Ibara lowered her gaze to her hands.

"How strange..."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, opening her contact list and stopping on the name she'd saved an hour ago with ceremonious care:

Midoriya Izuku.

She stared at it for a few moments.

Why did she feel that little jolt every time she looked at it?

"This isn't proper..."

An impulse she could hardly control pushed her to write something, anything, a simple excuse to talk to him again. Maybe she could thank him for the shaved ice once more. Or ask if he'd gotten home safely. There was nothing wrong with showing gratitude, was there?

She started typing.

Good evening, Midoriya-san. This is Shiozaki. I hope I'm not bothering you at this hour...

She deleted the message.

"Too formal," Ibara murmured.

Hi, Midoriya. Thanks again for today.

She deleted that one too.

Too direct? They'd only known each other a single afternoon.

She frowned slightly and set the phone down on her lap.

They'd barely met that afternoon. Wouldn't it be improper for her to take the initiative like this?

But I only want to thank him...

Ibara laced her hands together in her lap.

The Lord knows my intention. There's nothing dishonest about a gesture of gratitude.

She paused for a moment.

"Although..."

Her expression turned more serious.

And what if he takes it the wrong way?

That possibility alone was enough to bring a faint blush to her cheeks.

"Oh, how vexing!"

She shook her head gently.

What if he thinks I'm being forward?

There were far harder things than this. She'd learned to stay calm in situations that would have made many others back away. And yet, finding the right words to write to a boy she'd only just met seemed inexplicably complicated.

"The Scriptures have taught me to stand firm through so many trials... and yet this is beyond me."

She let out a sigh.

Finally she turned off the screen and set the phone on the nightstand. Then she nudged it a little farther away, as if putting some distance between them might also settle her thoughts.

"Ibara! Dinner's ready!"

Her father's voice carried up from downstairs.

"Coming, Father!"

She stood and smoothed her skirt before heading for the door.

But just as she was about to leave, her eyes drifted back to the phone.

A small smile touched her lips.

Maybe tomorrow.

She lowered her gaze, a little ashamed of her sinful thoughts.

If it's the Lord's will, Midoriya-san will write first.

And if not... I can always thank him for the shaved ice again.

With that thought, she left the room.

• • •

The mood in Yu Takeyama's apartment was something else entirely. Night had fallen, and the only light came from a floor lamp that left the corners in shadow. Izuku had been back for an hour, and in all that time he hadn't strung together more than three words.

He sat on the floor, legs crossed, in the middle of a pile of papers: the copies of the U.A. profiles he'd printed out. His attention no longer jumped from one sheet to the next. He held a single one in both hands and wouldn't let it go.

Yu watched him from the couch. She pretended to watch a variety show, the sound reduced to background noise while all her attention stayed on him, a silent alarm telling her over and over that something had happened.

It wasn't obvious. Izuku wasn't any colder or more distant, and yet that usual intensity of his now had a new target, someone who wasn't her.

Yu made a small face.

Great. And now why is my pride acting up?

The Yu from a few weeks ago would've already jumped off the couch.

She probably would've planted herself in front of him, hands on her hips, and blurted out, "Hey, Midoriya! What the hell's gotten into you?"

But she'd learned something.

With Izuku, pushing him head-on only made him retreat further into his own head.

So she switched tactics.

She got up casually and walked to the kitchen. Ice clinked inside a glass, and a few seconds later she came back to the living room with an iced tea in her hand.

Instead of sitting back down on the couch, she dropped down next to him.

"Hey."

...

Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Wow. I'm starting to feel ignored here... Midoriya?"

He blinked and finally lifted his head.

"Huh? Oh... hey, Yu. Sorry, I was kinda out of it."

"Yeah, I noticed," she said, setting the glass on the floor beside him. "You've been in your own little world for a while now. Good news? Some amazing discovery in those papers you haven't told your boss about?"

She leaned in a little closer and rested her chin on his shoulder to get a look at the pages. The move seemed casual and wasn't in the slightest. She wanted to see what he saw, to slip into the world he'd sunk into.

"Or did you already find your shiny new project to replace me?" she added, in a light tone that hid real worry.

"What are you talking about, Yu? Of course she's not a replacement," Izuku said at once. "I just think... she's the one."

Yu's eyes dropped to the profile. Ibara Shiozaki. She saw the photo of a serene, pretty girl with very long green hair that fell past her waist, and read the description of her Quirk: "Vines." For some reason she couldn't name, a wave of instant dislike washed over her.

"Her?" she said, forcing herself to sound indifferent. "Doesn't she seem a little dull to you? Her Quirk's more about restraint than anything else. If you want someone who'll pop on camera, I'd go for somebody with a little more... impact."

"There's nothing dull about her strength," Izuku replied, not taking his eyes off the paper. "She's got a heart that doesn't break for anything. I felt it the moment I talked to her. And her Quirk... people look at it and only think about tying up villains, but there's so much more under the surface, just waiting for someone to wake it up."

Yu narrowed her eyes.

"Wow. And you already know all that after, what, half an afternoon talking to her?"

"It's just hard to explain!" Izuku raised his voice a little. "When I asked her about her hair, she told me she saw it as a blessing. Do you realize how extraordinary that is? There are people who spend their whole lives complaining about the Quirk they got, and she's grateful for hers. Someone like that doesn't give up easily. I'm sure of it."

Yu said nothing.

She got up off the floor and broke eye contact. That ache in her chest had come back, and this time it was even harder to ignore.

She flopped onto the couch and crossed her legs, staring hard at the TV.

Great, Yu. Now you're jealous of a photo on a file.

She pursed her lips.

It's just work. That's all.

"Her name's Ibara, right?" she asked after a few seconds, faking the most indifference she could manage. "And does she already know what she's getting herself into, working with you?"

"Not yet," Izuku answered, scratching his cheek. "A little while ago I sent Nemuri-san an email to let her know I'd made up my mind. We'll start the paperwork tomorrow. We'll have to explain everything to Ibara nice and slow. She seems like the type who doesn't ask a lot of questions."

"Nemuri," Yu repeated. "Right, of course. The witch is gonna be thrilled to have a new victim to babysit."

She paused and crossed her arms.

"Though now that I think about it, maybe I'm the one who should be more worried. That woman has a special talent for sticking her nose where nobody wants it."

Izuku laughed, missing the sarcasm in the comment, and went back to his page. Yu kept watching him from the couch, aware for the first time that the boy's attention was now pointed somewhere else.

That same night the tension dissolved, or at least hid itself behind the usual routine. The week's action movie filled the big screen, and a huge bowl of popcorn sat between the two of them on the couch. It was their ritual, the time when they stopped being the hero Mt. Lady and her sidekick and became just Yu and Izuku.

But tonight comfort wasn't enough for Yu. She could feel the invisible distance that had opened up between them, and she hated it, so with a sudden streak of stubbornness she decided to erase it.

With all the nonchalance she could fake, she settled into the couch. She stretched with a lazy little hum, lifted her legs, and let them fall across Izuku's lap.

She was wearing tight pink silk pajama shorts and a tank top that showed off her figure. After everything she'd found out about her sidekick's "fantasies," the outfit was anything but innocent.

Izuku noticed instantly. The hand resting on his own leg moved to hers and began stroking her skin.

A pro hero's sexy legs, Izuku thought, his eyes on the screen. Is this... i-is she coming on to me? Because if she is, she really didn't have to, ahem, but I'm not complaining.

Several minutes passed in silence, the movie playing in the background and Izuku's hand slowly rubbing Yu's leg. The contact was driving her crazy. She needed more.

"Hey, Izuku..." she said, her voice easygoing and her heart racing.

"What's up?" he answered, without pulling his eyes off the screen.

"I've been doing some math."

That distracted him. He turned toward her a little.

Damn it, Yu, you're ruining the moment.

"Huh? Math about what?"

"Your expenses, genius." Yu waved a hand around the living room. "Okay, think about it: you eat here, you cook here, you train here, we go over info here... you even fall asleep on the couch I just bought!"

Izuku blinked.

"Well... yeah."

"And you basically use your apartment like a hotel. You show up, change, shower, and dash right back out." Yu crossed her arms. "You're paying rent on a place you barely set foot in. Doesn't that seem a little ridiculous to you?"

Izuku thought it over.

"When you put it that way... I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right!" Yu grinned, pleased with herself. "I always am."

She took a deep breath. The moment had come to drop the proposal.

"Look, seriously now. I've got a guest room. Right now it's a total mess, but I can clear out the boxes and move a couple things around. There's plenty of space."

Izuku looked at her, starting to suspect where this was going.

"And...?"

Yu shrugged, like she was proposing the most normal thing in the world.

"That you move in here."

"Ehhhhhh?! Here?"

"Yeah, here." Yu gestured at the apartment with both hands. "I mean, you practically live here already. All that's left is for you to stop pretending you don't."

"Before you say no, you'd save money," she added quickly, handing him a logical reason to hold on to. "And it'd be way more practical. We could go over data late into the night without you having to cross half the city afterward."

Izuku went quiet, and his hand on Yu's leg went still. He was stunned.

Live here...

Yu held her breath. You went too far, Yu. Damn it, idiot, you moved too fast.

Finally, he looked at her again.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'm serious," she confirmed, her heart beating faster and faster.

"Then I'll be in your care. Thank you so much, Yu," he said, with a gratitude so sincere it started to make her blush. "It'd be an honor to live with you. It's the perfect solution. I promise I won't be a bother. I'll wash my own dishes and everything, and..."

The instant he said "live with you," all the tension and worry Yu had been carrying vanished. In its place, a wave of relief and joy swept over her.

A relieved smile spread across her face, nothing like the one she rehearsed for the media.

"Then it's settled," she said, crossing her arms with a satisfied look. "Tomorrow we move your stuff and the guest room stops being a dump. And let's get one thing straight, sweetie: in this house, I'm the boss, and the morning shower is mine first."

"Yes, boss," Izuku replied, still dazed with happiness over his new home. "Whatever you say."

"That's what I like to hear."

She leaned back against the cushions, her legs still across his lap, and let the movie play on without paying it any attention. Inside, the calm of victory filled her with a quiet euphoria. She'd taken back the ground she felt was hers, and with a single bold move, she'd erased the distance that had started to grow between them. It didn't matter who Izuku picked to train: she, Yu Takeyama, would go on being the center of Izuku Midoriya's universe, and she planned to see to that personally.

Beside her, completely oblivious to the war that had just been fought and won over his own lap, Izuku smiled at the screen.

"Hey, Yu."

"Mm?"

"Does the guest room have space for a shelf? It's just... um, I've got thirty-seven All Might collectible figures and I'm not leaving a single one behind."

Yu burst out laughing and threw a piece of popcorn at his face.

"Great start, roomie."

********

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