148It had been five months since Izuku had been rescued by the girls way back in April from Bakugou and his cronies and he was now playing in a similar park with two of those girls, Ochaco and Tsuyu, playing a round of the boop game Momo had come up with.
Without Mina and Momo present to dominate the game, it was becoming apparent that of the current trio Ochaco was the surprising champion of the game, laughing joyfully every time she managed to boop one of her friends.
They had wanted to do a group meet up again but sadly most had been otherwise occupied or simply unable to make the trip, a sad by-product of how far apart they all lived.
Still, Tsuyu's parents had been insistent on her enjoying the end of the summer while she still could before winter came around and the cold became an issue for her.
Fortunately, at least Izuku and Ochaco had been free so they'd promised they'd spend time with her, which she was thankful for.
At the moment, she was sitting out the boop game as Izuku ran after their brunette friend as the current chaser, the frog girl having been eliminated first. She just smiled softly to herself, hearing the sound of her friends laughing making her feel light and happy inside.
It took a couple of minutes but eventually Ochaco ran out of breath, giving her freckle faced pursuer enough time to grab her, finger landing right on her nose.
"Boop!" He shouted, making the gravity girl laugh as they walked over to Tsuyu, starting to feel a little tired from the constant running about.
"Not that I don't like the boop game, but we need more stuff to do." Ochaco hummed, plopping down on the grass beside her frog friend while Izuku continued looking around the park. "We need to train in other ways for being heroes! Plus doing the same thing every time is kinda boring…"
"Yeah… Oh!" Izuku's eyes lit up as he spotted a tree and he smiled. "How about this, we can try and see if we can all climb that tree over there!"
"Huh?" Both girls' eyes turned to the large tree, with what looked almost like an entire city's worth of branches coming off of it. The brunette's eyes glistened as she grinned, pumping her fist into the air in excitement. "Oh, you are so on Izuku!"
Tsuyu just laughed to herself internally, before running ahead of them both, dropping down onto all fours before leaping up, easily grabbing onto one of the thicker branches and perching atop it.
"You twoth's turn!" She said with a giggle, kicking her legs back and forth.
She watched Ochaco try (and fail) to jump up the tree a few times, before huffing and looking around for something she could use as leverage. As she did, Izuku grinned wide, gesturing for Tsuyu to budge over first.
As soon as she did, both girls watched him bolt at the tree, jumping and planting a foot on the side and just barely managing to leap off again, grabbing the branch and clambering up, before letting out a delighted giggle. "Yes! I did it!"
"Izuku! That wath amazing! Ribbit." The frog girl said excitedly, throwing her arms around his neck once he finally was secure on the branch, while their gravity defying friend below clapped before once again going back to look for a way to make her own ascent.
While Ochaco was busy with that however, Tsuyu's spirits fell as Izuku's face flushed red and he went quiet, very barely hugging the girl back. She pulled away with a sad frown, meeting his gaze.
He always acted differently around her than the other girls and she wasn't sure why. Still, she was worried she had an idea and now she had a chance to ask him alone…
"Do… Do you not like me, Izuku?" The green haired girl asked, making the freckle faced child's emerald orbs go wide in shock and… sadness?
"W-What?! Of course I like you! You're one of my best friends!" he said vehemently, blushing lightly as he pulled her right back into another hug. "Why would you think I don't like you?!"
"B-Because… you don't act the thame with me." She ribbited sadly, gently holding him back as she blinked, looking down with sad eyes. "Y-You're always more quiet, or h-hiding from me. You are a-always staring at me weirdly a-as well."
"Tsu…." He let out a sad sigh, then he did something that surprised them both. "Mwah!"
He kissed her right on the cheek.
The frog girl froze in surprise while the boy pulled away, face scarlet but a soft smile on his face.
"T-Tsu… I act w-weird because I like you. I d-don't know w-why but… you just m-make me really happy to be around." He explained simply, making the frog girl feel warm inside. "It feels different but s-still good. You make me feel… weird but I like it."
"Ribbit?"
"I-I'm sorry I made y-you think I don't like you." He stuttered, barely able to compose himself after having just kissed a girl. "I r-really do… I promise I-I'll try to be more normal f-from now on-"
"Mwah!"
He was cut off suddenly by a kiss to the forehead, completely blindsiding him and making his eyes go wide.
"I like y-you too." She said simply, pulling him into the hug one last time. "W-We should try and f-figure out why it's different though!"
"Y-Yeah." Izuku said, smiling softly as he held her. Whether they figured it out, he was content to just have the girl with him for now.
However, they weren't alone up there for long, Ochaco eventually managed to join them by barely floating a log up high enough and jumping onto the branch.
They all shared a few laughs after that, eventually hopping down one by one. Izuku was the last to jump and his landing was less than graceful, tripping over his feet and face planting, shirt lifting in the process.
"Ah, Izuku, are you okay?!" Ochaco asked worriedly, hurrying to his side and helping him up. Tsuyu meanwhile simply stared with sad eyes, having seen his back.
"Y-Yeah." He coughed, groaning and pushing himself up.
"You have new burns. Ribbit." Tsuyu said with a sad voice, surprising both Izuku and Ochaco, the latter of who's eyes widened in shock. "On your back."
"Izuku? Is that true?" The brunette beside him asked, her own eyes dimming slightly.
"I-It's nothing…" He tried to defend, putting his hands up. "I-It was just-"
"It wath Bakugou, wathn't it." Tsuyu asked simply. After a moment, Izuku sighed and nodded. "I really don't like him…"
"Me neither!" Ochaco agreed, making Izuku frown before suddenly both girls hugged him. "You don't deserve to be hurt by him!"
"I-I'm getting used to it." He said sadly, making their hearts break as they held him tighter. "C-Can we just play now? I d-don't want to think about it…"
"Okay…" Ochaco sighed, letting go of him. Both girls shared a look however, similar thoughts running through their heads.
Strike one.
After they moved on from that topic, they decided to just play a few rounds of 'Heroes vs Villains', taking turns switching between who was who.
And for once, Izuku never froze around Tsuyu again, all three eventually having to leave the park.
But when they left, they had the biggest smiles on their faces.
Izuku's helpers
Ochaco: Strike wun
Mina: o no…
Momo: I was hoping this would not occur.
Tsuyu: He had berns on his bak
Tooru: :(
Kyoka: I hop he is ok…
"Oh, oh! What about this one?!" Mina asked excitedly, pointing to an arcade machine in front of her that was titled 'Y-Men Battlers'. "I bet you'll enjoy this one, Izuku! It's got superheroes!"
"Oh? Let's play that first then!" Izuku smiled excitedly, following his pink skinned friend while she tugged him along by the wrist. Momo wasn't too far behind, as she was following them with a soft smile.
"Thank you for inviting me and Izuku to join you on this day out, mister and missus Ashido." She said politely to her friend's parents, who just smiled at her. She'd been quite excited when Mina and Izuku had come up to her, asking if she wanted to join them on a visit to the local arcade.
It was a nice way to celebrate the eight-month anniversary of having met Izuku, even if none of them realized it at the time. Sadly the other girls had all been busy so it was just Mina, Momo and Izuku.
"Ah, no problem kiddo." Mina's dad said with a grin. He took out a bag of tokens and handed it to her, before pointing to a nearby section filled with seats and tables, and further in the back it had a kitchen. "Me and Miu will be sitting at the café if you need us. We know you're responsible, so keep an eye on our daughter alright? She's a troublemaker and will most definitely try to get Midoriya involved if she can. Don't forget to have fun yourself, though."
"I won't, thank you! You didn't need to buy the tokens though, I would have been glad to use my allowance." The raven haired girl said, frowning slightly. For a four-year-old, she looked and acted more like a six or seven-year-old to most people and she was aware the Ashido's didn't have the same amount of money as her family. However, the two pink skinned parents just laughed at her offer.
"It's sweet of you to offer, Yaoyorozu, but we want to be the ones paying for you kids to have fun. It's our job." Mina's mother chortled, before pointing to Izuku and Mina who were both sitting on seats they'd nearly fell over climbing up on, now battling each other in the game. Mina was winning but only barely. "Now go have fun, dearie. That's what you're here for."
"Yes ma'am. Thank you." Momo bowed, before turning and making her way over to her friends. She smiled as she approached them, hearing the end of their current conversation, Mina knocking Izuku's character out.
"Woah, Mina! You're amazing!" Their freckle faced friend gushed, eyes glistening as he looked over to her with a bright smile. "You must have a lot of practice at these games!"
"Hey, you're no slouch yourself Izuku! I've never been that close to losing to anyone before." The pink skinned child grinned proudly, before a more mischievous look came onto her face as she bent her legs, her chair starting to tilt. Momo's eyes went wide. "So a reward hug is in order, catch me 'Zuku!"
"Ah! Mina!" The raven haired kid called in a worried voice, using a leg to stop the girls chair from falling before then having to rush and grab her two falling curly haired friends, barely grabbing them and stopping them from colliding with the ground.
They were heavy as well, winding her as she set them down. Fortunately, she was used to helping carry some decently heavy stuff during the training her parents insisted on if she was to be a pro hero in future.
"Mina! That was incredibly reckless! You could have hurt yourself and Izuku!" She scolded with a glare as the pink girl held on tight to Izuku, whose eyes were wide as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself after the fall.
"Sorry, Momo… I was just excited…" The fluffy haired girl pouted as she still held onto Izuku. "You too, Zu…"
"it's fine…." Izuku said breathlessly, helping her to her feet. "We're both fine, right?"
"Barely." The tallest of the trio muttered under her breath. "If you're done nearly injuring yourself, do you want to play a different game now? I have the tokens."
"Oh! Yeah!" Mina said, eyes glistening with excitement, before turning to the boy beside her. "Izuku, what do you want to play? I choose that game so you choose one now!"
"Oh… um…" he looked around, looking at each machine curiously before his eyes lit up at one ahead of him, running forward. It was a row of skee-ball machines. "Oh! Let's see who can get a higher score on these!"
"Yeah!" Mina cheered excitedly, hurrying to his side. Momo just sighed at them, both completely forgetting how close they'd been to injury, watching as they took places at their machines and waited patiently. "Winner gets a kiss on the cheek!"
"Yea- Wait, what?" The green haired teen blinked, his pink skinned friend giggling while Momo gave them both tokens.
"I said the winner gets a kiss!" The girl repeated happily.
"O-Oh, okay…" He said, blushing lightly but still smiling, taking the balls the machine just spat out to him. While both the curly haired children did that, their raven haired friend just watched from the back, a smile on her face seeing them both have so much fun.
They spent a good two minutes at this, both throwing the balls as best they could, usually only reaching the lower scores due to their small arms. When they did eventually finish up, there was only a five point difference between them, the machines spitting out their tickets.
Izuku had been the one to pull out in the lead as well, so Mina had kept her promise, wrapping her arms around the boy and pecking him on the cheek happily, giggling when he turned bright red.
"You look so cute like this." She laughed, resting her head on his shoulder briefly as she looked around. "Let's find another game now, come on!"
They continued on like that for the next fifteen minutes, flitting about different games, mainly arcade machines. Some were multiplayer games where Izuku and Mina would have to cooperate or fight each other. Whenever games of the later came up, Mina would almost always win but usually had to put up a fight against her green-haired companion.
However, the horned child didn't fail to notice Momo never took part, simply watching from behind as if she wasn't allowed to play or something, which she decided to address. "Hey Momo? Why aren't you playing with us?"
"H-Huh? Oh… well I'm rather content to watch you both be happy. I do need to look out for you both after all. Don't worry about me." She waved away the issue as if it was nothing, only for Izuku to suddenly grab her hand, surprising her.
"You should get to play as well! Please? I bet we can find a game you'll like!" She could only blink at his puppy dog eyes before her face heated up slightly, unable to resist his pleas.
"Well… if you are certain you want me to join."
"Oh! I know the perfect game!" Mina suddenly announced, pointing to a nearby section where there were bigger games kept inside a square section, separated from the rest by a wall of glass. "There is a racing game that lets up to four people play! Let's go on that, Momo is tall enough for the mo.. mota- the vroom vroom bike!"
"Motorcycle, Mina. You're looking for the word motorcycle." The raven haired girl among them giggled, while the golden eyed girl pouted lightly, leading the way. "I suppose it can't hurt to join this once."
With that, they wandered inside and made their way to the aforementioned racing game. It had four vehicles with which the players were meant to use to play the game. Mina and Izuku, due to their size, were required to take the two cars the game had ready for their own safety, while Momo thanks to her height was able to safely mount one of the two motorcycles.
They all inserted their tokens, the game starting up. Momo chose to simply play as the first racer that came up on her screen, while Mina and Izuku took a few moments picking theirs.
Both picked women as their avatars, Mina likely because of her racers stats while Izuku chose his due to the passing resemblance it had to Momo.
The game started up and as soon as the announcer said go, Momo's biker shot off ahead of her friends, the girl in real life giggling as she leaned to the side coming up to a corner.
As they got further into those games, those small giggles became full blown joyful laughs as she practically sparkled, having fun as she leaned left and right, gripping the handlebars tight.
Izuku and Mina just shared delighted smiles at seeing their taller friend so happy, both sharing a thought about how pretty the raven haired girl looked on the bike, with her wide smile.
Still, the tallest of the trio didn't remain in the lead forever, eventually being overtaken by Izuku whose stats were simply better, grinning wide himself as he came up on the finish line for the final lap, yanking the steering wheel to the side for the final turn…
Only for sudden pain to flare up in his arm and him to let out a small cry, letting go of the steering wheel and the accelerator, letting his car crash as Momo shot past him into first place, before Mina took second place a moment later, the boy coming in third just before one of the games AI's.
However, instead of celebrating their victories, Momo and Mina quickly hurried over to his side, helping him out his seat and fussing over him.
"Izuku, are you alright?" Momo asked concerned, gently massaging his hand where she assumed the pain was and looking it over.
"I'm fine, my hand just cramped." He lied, trying to smile. He didn't want her to see his shoulder where the real injury was. There was no point in worrying his friends.
"…Izuku…" Mina said quietly, before hugging him tight. She didn't believe him, but she wasn't sure how to check her theory yet, so she went along with his claims. "Did you write too much in your notebook again or something? You know holding your hand like that for too long will make it hurt."
"R-Right…" He nodded, rubbing the back of his head. "But I'm fine now, totally fine! So let's go play some other games, I just want to have fun with my best friends!"
Both Momo and Mina blinked at that before pulling him into a group hug with smiles. Then the pink skinned girl noticed a claw machine in the background, her eyes lighting up as she spotted one of the plush toys inside, one resembling All Might.
"Alright! If you want to do something else, then I see something we can try!" She said excitedly, breaking the hug and making her way over. "Let's try and win that All Might plush!"
"A-Alright!" Izuku giggled, being tugged along by his wrist once again, not that he minded. It wasn't quite the same as holding her hand but he still enjoyed it.
"You too have fun with that, I'm just going to ask your parents if we can get some cold drinks, Mina." Momo called, making her way back towards the café. "Hopefully the coldness will help stop his hands cramping up."
It didn't take her long at all to get those drinks as there wasn't a long line or anything, she was only gone for five minutes at the most…
And yet somehow, by the time Momo returned to her friends, Mina was giggling nervously while kneeling on the floor and Izuku… he was stuck halfway inside the claw machine, his legs kicking around as he tried to push his way out.
"…Mina, what did you do?" The creation girl sighed, giving the pink girl their drinks while her hand began glowing pink, a bottle forming in her hands. It was one of the very first things her parents had shown her how to make, lubricant, as her mother had a habit of getting stuck places due to her fuller figure and would need help getting out. "Izuku, this is going to be cold but I promise it will be over in a minute, it will help you get out."
"O-Okay.." his voice echoed inside the machine as she rubbed the cool liquid into her hands before reaching down and taking hold of Izuku's waist, the boy shuddering as her hands ran over his sides. "C-Cold…"
"We uh… we did win the game." Mina began explaining, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "But the stupid plush got stuck in the hole, so I told Izuku to climb in and grab it. I thought he was small enough to get it easily."
"You couldn't just wait for me to come back and grab it? My arms would have been long enough most likely." Momo pointed out exasperated as she began pulling gently, Izuku slowly slipping out of the machine. As soon as he was out, he took her into a thank you hug which she returned.
"I was kinda impatient." Mina giggled nervously.
"I'm starting to see why your parents needed someone to keep an eye on you."
"Hey!" the pink skinned girl pouted, before her eyes lit up as she spotted something behind the taller girl and a mischievous smile came onto her face. "Oh hey, let's try and sneak in there!"
Both Momo and Izuku looked back confused, before spotting a section that was being guarded by a member of staff. Looking at the sign at the side, Momo quickly understood why.
'No one under 16 beyond this point, mature section ahead. Warning: Gorier games ahead.'
"No." Momo said simply, turning to her friend. "I'm sorry Mina but I'm putting my foot down this time."
"Aw, Momo…" The horned girl pouted, getting a light tap on her nose from the creation girl.
"No buts. You're going to end up scarring Izuku and yourself. I'm just trying to keep you out of trouble." She explained simply and Mina sighed, suddenly hugging her while Izuku looked on in confusion.
"I know you are, that's what's annoying." She sighed. "Fine, let's find something else to- Oh! Hey guys, look! They have a dancing game!"
With that sudden exclamation the acid girl ran off ahead, Momo and Izuku sharing fond looks as they rolled their eyes and followed her.
"Izuku, dance with me!" Mina called with a happy smile, pointing out the second dance mat.
"H-Huh? Are you sure? Maybe Momo would-"
"Pleeeaaase." The pink girl pouted, using her own puppy dog eyes and they were incredibly effective at making both Izuku and Momo's hearts clench from how adorable she looked. Those eyes of hers were a weapon.
"A-Alright then…" Izuku nodded quietly, making his way to the machine while Momo once again watched from the side lines. It didn't take the tallest of the three long to figure out why Mina was insistent on Izuku dancing, as she watched his movements and noticed how his left arm was much more stiff than his right at the moment.
Judging by how Mina was more focused on keeping an eye on Izuku than actually dancing as well, it became apparent it wasn't a coincidence but an actual plan from the acid girl, to see if his hand cramp had really been what he had claimed it was.
Mina didn't let the game finish, stopping her dancing and immediately making her way over to the 'honorary girl' as she and the other girls had taken to calling him, taking him off to the side.
"Uh… Mina? Momo-Ah!" He let out a sudden yelp as Mina, without warning, pressed her fingers into his shoulder. "C-Careful…"
"…Your hand isn't what hurt earlier, is it?" Momo asked simply, making him flush as he looked down. "Izuku, what happened to your shoulder? Please, we just want to help you be alright…"
"Yeah, we don't like seeing you hurt." Mina said with a sad frown, taking him into another hug.
"T-T-That's why I d-didn't want to tell you. It's n-not a big deal…" he said quietly, however upon seeing the looks he got he sighed. "K-Kacchan w-was mad c-cause he saw u-us at the park the other day. H-He just d-doesn't like the fact w-we're friends. I f-feel guilty-"
"Forget him! He's a meanie!" Mina said, somewhat angrily as her hug tightened. "And you shouldn't be hurt because of him!"
"…Thank you." Was all Izuku said, hugging her back as Momo's own arms also wrapped around him and Mina, holding the two protectively.
What the green haired boy didn't know is that mentally, Mina and Momo were thinking the same thing.
'There goes strike two.'
They stayed like that for a few minutes, before deciding to go play a few more games together that wouldn't agitate Izuku's shoulder. Eventually, they had a fair few tickets they'd won, taking them to the counter with Ashido's parents.
They had decided amongst themselves what to put their tickets to and in the end they had spotted a packet of rings, six to be precise that Izuku had said they should buy.
Once they had them, he'd asked Momo to make some string which she'd fortunately been able to and tied them together.
The rings had two of each colour, those colours being green, pink and red.
Once he was done, he'd put on the necklace that had a red and pink ring, before giving Mina one with a green and red ring and Momo one with a pink and green ring.
"The colours are like us so I just thought… we wouldn't be able to w-wear them cause they're too big, but we c-could wear them like n-necklaces? Like friendship necklaces!"
Both the girls had blinked at that before hugging him and sharing their enthusiasm with excited smiles, Mina chirping in her opinion. "More like best friend necklaces!"
Yeah… that sounded nice.
"Oh, they have other colours!" Momo pointed out. "We should come back with some of the other girls in future and try and make a whole set for each of us!"
"That's an awesome idea, Momo!"
And that was how, from that moment on, Izuku forever had a new essential accessory for every one of his outfits.
Izuku's Helpers
Momo: I am sad to say, strike two.
Mina: Izuku shuldar was hertin!
Ochaco: Bako go?
Mina: ya!
Kyoka: stoopid jurk!
All six of Izuku's friends sighed after the message was left that the second and final strike was gone. They knew what It meant.
It was time they did something about Izuku's bullies.
