Chapter Text
Momo had predicted a few days earlier that no villains would dare mess with her and her classmates. She’d been wrong. She’d been so horrifically wrong. Villains had come for them and they were all so lucky to be alive.
Momo was doing all that she could not to panic. She’d kept Jiro and Kaminari alive. Midoriya had kept Asui and Mineta alive. They’d done their duty as their class’s representatives but now that the fight was over and the villains were gone, she felt like she was on the verge of a breakdown. This was the life she’d chosen. She’d made the decision to become a hero and she didn’t regret it but she didn’t think she’d be facing villains only one week into her freshman year of university.
“Hey,” said a familiar voice.
Momo looked up to see Midoriya‘s ever impressive form approaching her. She immediately felt her body fill with relief as her gigantic friend moved into her space.
“Hey,” Momo replied, moving to the side a bit to let Midoriya sit next to her on the bench outside of the USJ facility.
“Are you okay?” The green haired woman asked.
“I’m probably in shock,” Momo conceded. “You?”
“Same,” Midoriya replied, taking a seat next to her veep.
“Really?” Momo asked, looking surprised as she tossed her shock blanket over both their shoulders now. “I would’ve figured you above anyone else would have been able to keep your calm under pressure.”
Midoriya shook her head. “I was until…”
“Until what?” Momo asked, looking concerned for her enormous friend.
The class president took a deep breath then looked around for a moment. “This stays between us, alright?”
Momo nodded.
Midoriya took another deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. “All Might’s… My mother’s husband.”
Momo blinked for a moment. It almost seemed like Midoriya wanted to say something else. “All Might is your stepfather?”
Midoriya nodded.
“And that’s why you’re so shaken, you saw that fight and you weren’t just worried about the Symbol of Peace, you were worried about-“
“The man who’s been my hero since I was a child, who’s been my father since I was 14 years old.”
Momo went quiet and then simply gave the bigger woman a hug. “He won. He beat the villain. He saved us all, just like you saved Asui and Mineta. You’re a hero just like him.”
“That’s all I ever wanted to be,” Midoriya whimpered, trying to cover her face.
Momo found that strange. Midoriya was incredibly open about her emotions.
“Heroes aren’t supposed to cry,” the green haired girl murmured, fighting to keep her emotions under control.
Momo looked Midoriya in her eyes and smiled, “heroes can cry when they need to, just like you told me before. There’s nothing wrong with expressing your emotions. Go ahead and let it out, Madam President.”
Midoriya let out a soft laugh even as she kept crying, “thank you Madam Vice President.”
“Of course, Midoriya.”
“You can call me Izumi.”
The vice president smiled. “Then you can call me Momo.”
Izumi nodded, drying her eyes. She felt calmer now. “I’m really glad you’re here right now, Momo. Do you need to talk about anything?”
Momo took a deep breath of her own. “I want to be a hero. I’ve always wanted to be one. I grew up in a very safe, stable, and loving home, and when I realized that’s not something everyone had, I decided that I wanted to help people who weren’t in safe and stable positions in life.”
“But you finally found yourself in an unsafe position, and you’re having second thoughts?” Izumi guessed.
Momo hung her head in shame.
“Hey after all this, you’d be crazy if you weren’t having second thoughts,” Izumi reassured.
“Are you?” Momo asked.
“I said you’d have to be crazy to not have second thoughts. I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs,” The bigger woman laughed.
Momo laughed too. “Why are you so determined to be a meathead?”
“I can’t help it! I made a commitment and now I’ve gotta follow through!”
“A commitment?”
Izumi’s face turned thoughtful. “Without going into more details than I think I can give, a lot of people went to a lot of effort to get me to where I am right now.”
Momo nodded then looked back at Izumi, a little bit confused by her vagueness. “More details than you think you can give?”
Izumi grumbled. “Let’s just say my power has some secrets and I’m not the best at keeping those. Is that alright?”
“Of course, Midori- um, Izumi- your secrets are yours and I would not force you to tell me anything you didn’t want to,” Momo replied.
Izumi let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you for understanding. When Kacchan first found out I have a quirk now, he went ballistic.”
“What do you mean now?” Momo replied, looking flabbergasted.
Izumi put her face in her hands and groaned. “I really am a meathead,” she grumbled.
“What was that?”
“I said we’re talking too much about me. Let’s go check in on our classmates,” Izumi replied, standing back up.
Momo looked at her with skeptical eyes but nodded. Even if her friend was deflecting, she was right, their classmates needed them. “Let’s check in on Asui again, she seemed pretty shaken up when she saw the state Aizawa-sensei was in.”
“Good idea, we’ll check in on her first. I’d like to check on Kacchan too, he loves to fight but I’m worried about how he’s doing after fighting real villains.”
Momo nodded. Her friend was proving to be quite mysterious when she wanted to be but the one thing that was clearer now than ever before, Izumi’s greatest priority was helping others, and she was pretty sure she loved that about them.