Chapter 4: Two Sizes Bigger, Just to Be Safe! (or: The Weirdest Katsudon Date in Musutafu)

Yu stepped out of the bathroom with a triumphant grin, spinning around to show off the outfit she'd picked: a black leather jacket, tight jeans, and a pair of huge sunglasses that covered half her face. Her hair, usually loose and wavy, was pulled up into a high ponytail.

"Tadah... So what do you think?" Yu said, posing with one hand on her hip and the other thrown out in a dramatic flourish. "Recognizable, or am I totally flying under the radar?"

Izuku looked her over carefully, tilting his head as he studied her. She was expecting a compliment, some flattering little comment about how good she looked even in disguise. Instead, he got up from the couch and walked toward her with slow steps, his face serious and focused.

Yu felt a strange tingle as he closed in on her.

"What?" she asked, and her voice came out a little higher than usual. "Is something wrong?"

Izuku didn't answer. He stopped just inches away from her. His green eyes traveled over her face, her ponytail, the sunglasses... and then dropped lower.

And without any warning, his hands settled onto her breasts.

Yu opened her mouth to protest, and oh, she was definitely going to protest, loudly and with a couple of other choice things to say, but the words got stuck in her throat when a prickling sensation rolled across her skin and pooled right where he was touching her.

"What do you think you're doing-!"

"Shh," Izuku cut her off, not looking away from his own work. "Trust me."

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"I need to confirm something."

"CONFIRMING MY BUTT ONCE WAS ALREADY WEIRD! THIS IS A WHOLE OTHER THING!"

Yu fell silent, completely thrown by the kid's nerve. She felt her chest tighten, felt her skin stretch slightly, and a warmth that wasn't exactly unpleasant spread through her torso.

"Ngh... Y-you... you didn't hear that!"

They're soft, unbelievably soft. Is this normal for all women, or is it a side effect of her growth Quirk? Wait, focus, you're not here to squeeze boobs... okay, fine, partly you are here for that.

His fingers found a barely noticeable lump under the fabric, a firm little bump about the size of a marble that didn't match the texture of everything around it.

Just as he was about to press on it...

"You gonna let go of me at some point, or were you planning to stand there all night?"

Yu's voice cut through his thoughts. Izuku looked up and met her eyes, which were sparking with outrage.

"Well," Izuku said, pulling his hands back without a hint of hurry. "I just did you a favor."

"A favor?" Yu crossed her arms, then stopped, frowning as she noticed something strange. She glanced down at her own chest. "What... what did you do to me?!"

Her leather jacket, which had fit snug but comfortable before, now looked tight. The neckline, the one she'd picked herself because she knew it flattered her without being trashy, now plunged way more than it had five minutes ago.

Yu's eyes shot up to Izuku, so wide that the sunglasses slid right down her nose.

"You made my boobs bigger!"

"Just a little," Izuku said. "Nobody's gonna recognize Mt. Lady if her chest is two sizes bigger. It's the perfect disguise."

Yu's mouth fell open as she pointed at her own chest with a shaky finger.

"You... you made my boobs bigger so people wouldn't recognize me?"

"It's basic camouflage logic," Izuku said with a shrug. "People identify heroes by their silhouette and their most eye-catching features. So if we change one of the most recognizable ones..."

"'One of the most recognizable ones'?!" Yu repeated. "Are you saying the first thing people notice about me is my boobs?!"

"Well... yeah." Izuku honestly seemed confused by the reaction. "You're the most curvaceous heroine of your generation. It's part of your brand, right? You said it yourself, your image sells calendars."

Yu looked down, blinking like she couldn't quite believe it. She brought her hands to her chest, testing a weight and a firmness that hadn't been there ten seconds earlier.

"They're... they're huge," she muttered, shifting in front of the hallway mirror. "I can barely zip up the jacket. And on top of that, you did a good job."

"Thanks."

"It wasn't a compliment, idiot." Yu turned to face him, brow furrowed and cheeks faintly pink. "And it didn't cross your mind to give me a heads-up before going straight to second base?"

"If I'd warned you, you'd have said no."

"Obviously I'd have said no!"

"And then I couldn't have used the Quirk, somebody would've made you at the restaurant before we even got to the table, and there goes the quiet dinner."

"...I hate you a little."

"Noted." Izuku pulled out his notebook. "'Boss hates assistant a little. Page four.'"

"Don't write that down!" Yu snatched the notebook out of his hands.

She turned back to the mirror one last time and, for a second, lingered on her reflection longer than she needed to.

"If you tell anyone you made these bigger, they're never gonna find your body."

"Trade secret, boss."

"Good," Yu said, stepping out into the hallway. When she thought he wasn't looking, she checked out her chest one more time and murmured, "Not bad at all."

To Yu's surprise, Izuku led her down a couple of crowded streets to a tiny spot wedged between an electronics shop and a laundromat. It was called "Uncle Tetsu's Katsudon," and a flickering neon sign of a grinning pig in an apron was the whole of its decor.

This doesn't look like a date, it looks like a descent into culinary hell, Yu thought. And that pig is staring at me with way too much confidence.

Inside, the place was a loud, wonderful mess. Breaded pork sizzled as it hit the oil while the cooks shouted orders back and forth from the open kitchen, and a dozen conversations blended together into a steady hum. In the middle of it all, Yu stopped in the doorway with the distinct feeling that her designer heels had just committed a crime against the half sticky linoleum floor.

"A-are you sure this is the place?" she asked, her tone strangely formal in the middle of the racket. "You sure you didn't get the address wrong? Because if you tell me yes, I swear I'll leave you here with the pig."

Izuku turned to her with a grin that didn't have a trace of irony in it, which for some reason gave her chills.

"Wrong address? No way. Uncle Tetsu makes the best katsudon on this side of Musutafu, the guy's a legend. A hero's debut deserves something like this, trust me, you won't regret it."

Before she could argue, a waitress in her middle years with overflowing energy spotted them.

"Izuku-kun! Didn't think you were walking dogs today." Yu opened her mouth, not sure why she felt insulted. "And who's this beauty? You finally got yourself a girlfriend? About time! Sit, sit, I'll get you the best table."

Where did this lady get the idea that I'm his girlfriend? Yu thought, still stunned.

She walked them to a small table in the back, a little quieter than the rest. Yu slid onto the red vinyl seat, feeling the curious glances of the other customers. To be expected. After all, Izuku had made her boobs bigger, and to top it off, he was a regular here. The whole situation was so surreal it almost made her laugh.

"You come here a lot?" she asked, more to break the silence than out of any real interest, while she tried not to think about how much the vinyl bench reminded her of her old high school desk.

"Almost every day after work," Izuku answered, studying the laminated menu. "Uncle Tetsu used to give me the leftovers for the dogs. Well, used to, until today. Everything here's good, but the house special is a must. And the milkshakes, you've gotta try a milkshake."

When the waitress came back, Izuku ordered for both of them.

"Two special katsudon with a double serving of pork, two extra portions of rice, and two giant chocolate milkshakes. The biggest ones you've got, please."

Yu stared at him like she couldn't believe it. Her eyes, already big to begin with, looked ready to pop out of their sockets.

"A double serving of pork? Extra rice? Midoriya, I don't know if I can get through all that."

I've been eating lettuce and protein powder for months, this is a direct attack on my diet, she thought.

He just smiled at her.

"Trust me."

There he goes again, Yu thought. Last time he told me to trust him, my chest went up two sizes.

The food showed up on two steaming trays that looked like they were defying the laws of physics. The katsudon bowls were enormous, golden, crispy pork covering a mountain of rice and egg. The milkshakes were just as massive, served in thick glass mugs, crowned with a cloud of whipped cream and a tiny cherry on top.

Yu sat there staring at her plate. She'd spent the last few months living on flavorless salads and protein shakes to keep up the "ideal" debut figure. Having this much real food in front of her was almost an act of rebellion. She figured that after months of sad salad, she could finally pay her respects to deep-fried happiness.

With a sigh that sounded like surrender, she picked up her chopsticks. The first bite was a revelation: the pork, crispy and juicy, the sauce, sweet and savory, all of it the best thing she'd eaten in months. This is what I've been avoiding for months? she thought, almost offended with herself. I've been avoiding paradise?

She ate with an appetite that surprised even her. The stress of the day and the humiliation of the debut seemed to melt away with every bite, and even the worry about her image dissolved somewhere in the crunch of the pork. Izuku watched her from across the table, taking in how she devoured the plate and how she closed her eyes with the first sip of the milkshake.

When she was halfway through her second portion of rice, Yu realized he was staring right at her. She stopped and blushed all the way to her ears.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"No, no. It's just that... I was right," he said, with a seriousness that knocked her off balance.

"Right about what?"

"I've always thought so," he stated, setting his chopsticks aside to give the declaration some weight. "Girls who eat with real enjoyment, who actually love their food, they're always the prettiest ones. It's a sign they're truly full of life."

Yu froze, the milkshake spoon halfway to her mouth.

"Looking at you," he went on, completely oblivious to the social minefield he was walking through, "it makes total sense. Being Mt. Lady, handling all that power and that body, takes a strong engine. And an engine like that," he pointed at the nearly empty plate, "needs quality fuel, and a lot of it."

His gaze drifted for a second toward the part of her still planted on the vinyl bench. And then he dropped the bomb.

"And, well... with a butt like yours, which honestly is the gold standard for the whole industry," Yu felt her soul try to escape through her mouth, "it's obvious you eat well, it's the final proof: the proportions are perfect, like a Greek statue, except way better."

Yu stared him down, trying to figure out whether what she'd just heard was the weirdest, most convoluted compliment in history or the most elaborate insult anyone had ever paid her. Her expression went from surprise to disbelief, until it turned into a blushing outrage that climbed from her neck all the way up to her hairline.

"Excuse me," she said in a cold voice. "Are you... are you calling me fat?"

Izuku blinked, honestly confused.

"Fat? No! Not even close. I'm saying you're perfect! A good appetite is a sign of good health, and that's attractive too. It's the biggest compliment I can think of!" He waved his arms in a dramatic gesture that nearly knocked over Yu's milkshake.

"You can't just go around commenting on a woman's appetite!" she exclaimed, dropping her voice when she noticed the couple at the next table watching them with interest. "And way, way less her... her assets!"

"Why not, if they're museum-worthy?" he answered with a pureness so total it left her speechless. "It's like admiring a sculpture. It'd be an insult not to comment on the artist's skill."

Yu rested her forehead in the palm of her hand and let out a groan of frustration.

Oh my God, she thought. A freckled martian with a notebook who thinks butts are works of art.

The argument, if you could even call it that, dragged on for several minutes, with him defending his "theory" and her trying to explain the basic rules of human coexistence to him, a battle lost from the very first second. And, oddly enough, while they bickered, Yu felt the "Mt. Lady" armor start to crack, and the frustration slowly gave way to a strange kind of fun.

He's not trying to impress me, she thought. I don't even think he knows how that's done, what a weird guy. When someone talks to me like this, they almost always want something, a photo or free promo. This kid, though, looks incapable of lying even if you paid him for it. He's a walking social disaster, though, I'll admit, he's got his charm.

The silence settled back in, except this time it didn't feel awkward.

"Is it hard?" Izuku asked out of nowhere, switching topics with a bluntness that caught her off guard.

"Is what hard?"

"Having to worry about all that stuff," he said. "About what you eat in public, about whether tomorrow's headline is gonna talk about your weight instead of your wins."

The question, so simple and direct, disarmed her. Her shoulders loosened, and the weight of the failed debut came crashing back down on her.

"It's a huge pain," she admitted in a low voice. "My whole life I dreamed of being a hero, but nobody prepares you for the other part, the part where you're a product. The magazines and the gossip shows are out there waiting for you to slip up, to have a bad day. I've spent months eating salads in public just so my debut image would look 'perfect.' And in the end I trip in the middle of my premiere and almost flatten you, a total disaster."

"For the record," Izuku said, shrugging, "tomorrow half of Japan's gonna be talking about your kick, not the fall. And if anyone brings up the headline thing, you send them a photo of you eating katsudon, case closed."

Yu let out a short laugh, almost against her will.

"You know what? You're terrible at giving advice and somehow it kinda works."

"It's my specialty, boss. Terrible and functional."

They were chatting away, having a great time, when a melodic, teasing voice pulled them out of the moment.

"Well, well, Takeyama. Didn't know you liked them so young. Are you recruiting members for your fan club fresh out of high school?"

They turned. Standing next to their table was a woman with a half-eaten hamburger in her hand. She had on tight jeans and a leather jacket, and she was smiling, clearly amused by something.

It took Izuku barely a second to recognize her.

Even dressed in plain clothes, it was impossible to mistake her for anyone else.

Yu felt the shake come back up her throat, and not because of the chocolate.

Crap, does this seriously have to happen to me right now? WASN'T NOBODY SUPPOSED TO RECOGNIZE ME?!

What had started as a celebration of her debut, and had turned into a bizarre first date with a perverted dog walker, was about to get a whole lot more complicated.

Yu's mental note: This kid is gonna drive me crazy. But if his Quirk can do this without even trying... what else could he do? No, no, focus: the career, the money, that's what matters. Although, well... damn, these boobs look incredible on me. Okay, maybe keeping him around isn't such a bad idea after all.