Chapter Text
Izuku ducked below the hatch, clutching at his chest as his breathing accelerated.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears while his vision blurred around the edges.
He had to be imagining things.
Then Shinsou’s familiar laugh drifted down from above, followed immediately by a string of whisper-shouted swears.
Izuku froze.
No. He’s definitely not imagining things.
His mind flashed back to the last time he’d seen each of them.
Things with Hitoshi and Shoto had ended gently enough. There had been affection there. Genuine appreciation for what they’d shared. But both of them had known it would never become something serious.
Not with Izuku still hopelessly tangled up in feelings for someone else.
And Kacchan…
Izuku squeezed his eyes shut.
He absolutely did not want to think about how that ended.
That particular memory dragged far too many feelings back to the surface.
Izuku had spent twenty years trying to bury them somewhere deep enough that they could never crawl back out again.
He stepped off the ladder and hurried toward the door, desperate to escape the building before he completely lost his mind.
The second the door shut behind him, Izuku sagged against it.
He pressed the backs of his hands against his eyes, hoping the pressure would somehow stop the tears threatening to spill over.
This couldn’t be happening.
And yet here he was.
Trying to figure out what exactly he was supposed to do now that all three of his former flings were apparently trapped in the attic of his goat house.
With a shaky sigh that did absolutely nothing to calm him down, Izuku finally admitted something to himself:
He wanted another look.
Maybe just to confirm they were really here.
Maybe because curiosity had always been one of Izuku’s greatest weaknesses.
He’d barely managed to catch a glimpse of them before panic completely hijacked his nervous system.
Twenty years was a long time.
Shivers traveled up his arms as he wondered – against all better judgment – what twenty years had done to them.
Izuku carefully swung himself over the stone wall connected to the building, his eyes drifting toward the shuttered window.
He crouched beside it and wedged his fingers into the grooves between the panels.
Excitement curled painfully in his chest as he tried to peek through the opening.
Only to find his view completely blocked by the wooden panel behind it.
Izuku huffed in annoyance before his gaze slowly lifted toward the ladder leading onto the roof.
Immediately, he made a terrible decision.
With all the grace of a pregnant three-legged cat, Izuku climbed onto the roof.
The wooden boards creaked ominously beneath his feet as he shuffled forward.
Then he spotted the trap door sitting there temptingly near the center of the roof.
Izuku carefully stepped toward it – only to panic when the floorboard beneath him let out a loud creak.
He froze dramatically.
Absolutely not.
Instead, he slowly turned his attention toward the other side of the building.
There was another window over there. One with actual glass instead of wooden shutters.
Feeling completely insane, Izuku shuffled along the edge of the stone roof, wobbling dangerously before catching himself at the last possible second.
Once he finally reached the other side, he carefully leaned over the edge to peer through the dusty glass.
In the distance, Eri stood frozen beside Satsuki and Mahoro, staring up at Izuku scrambling across the roof like a feral raccoon.
Eri grimaced and immediately started running toward the building.
Part of her already knew the secret was beyond saving.
At this point, the best she could hope for was damage control.
The window itself had fogged heavily with age and neglect. Mostly neglect.
But Izuku could still make out enough through the glass to recognize the men inside.
And even upside down, the differences were obvious.
Shoto had always been thin. Elegant. Beautiful in an almost unfair sort of way.
But age had filled him out slightly, especially through his arms and shoulders.
His suit still looked immaculate despite the climb, though his hair had fallen slightly out of place from the heat.
His face had sharpened too. Stronger cheekbones. A more angular jawline.
Somehow, despite being in his forties now, Shoto still looked impossibly young.
Shinsou looked exactly the same.
Or at least exactly the same in all the ways that mattered.
His lavender hair still fell into that effortlessly messy style that somehow made him even more attractive.
His long legs stretched lazily across the hammock while dark circles rested permanently beneath his purple eyes.
Izuku found himself wondering what it would feel like to be wrapped up in him again, before immediately recoiling from his own thoughts.
God.
It really had been too long since he’d been with anyone.
And finally – despite knowing he absolutely should not – Izuku looked toward Katsuki.
His mouth immediately went dry.
Katsuki had definitely aged. Slightly.
Faint lines sat permanently between his brows now, carved there by years of scowling at the world.
But the rest of him looked almost unfairly unchanged.
Broad shoulders. Thick arms. Strong legs stretched beneath expensive dress pants.
Heat immediately rushed to Izuku’s face as his thoughts betrayed him completely.
Because apparently his first instinct after twenty years apart was still imagining what Katsuki looked like underneath his clothes.
Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.
Slowly, Izuku’s gaze drifted back toward Katsuki’s face.
That familiar scowl still looked permanently etched into his skin.
And yet…
Izuku remembered all the moments it disappeared completely.
Late at night.
After kissing him.
When Katsuki laughed.
When he looked at Izuku like he was something precious instead of something annoying.
And worst of all–
When he said goodbye.
At this point, dizziness was becoming impossible to ignore.
Izuku quickly pulled himself upright before collapsing heavily against the stone roof, trying to regain some dignity before he passed out and died dramatically above his own goat house.
Unfortunately, his eyes drifted back toward the trap door almost immediately.
He stared at it for a long moment.
Then he groaned loudly and flopped onto his back.
“This is such a bad idea,” he whispered to absolutely nobody.
He dragged both hands through his curls before sitting up and glaring at the hatch like it had personally wronged him.
But eventually, curiosity won.
With the expression of a man actively making the worst decision of his life, Izuku crawled toward the handle and yanked the hatch open.
The loud creak nearly made him scream.
He cautiously leaned over the opening and grabbed the edges – apparently trusting his balance far more than he should have.
Because almost immediately, his grip slipped.
Izuku yelped as he tumbled headfirst through the opening.
Silence.
Honestly, at this point, it barely even cracked the top ten worst things that had happened to him today.
Izuku landed on his back with a grunt, his legs kicking briefly into the air. It was oddly reminiscent of twenty years ago when Eri was born. And of... other memories.
Luckily, he wasn't in pain. He'd landed – thankfully – on the mattress.
Thank you to whoever had the foresight to place it directly beneath the trap door.
He groaned and placed a hand on his head, opening his eyes.
Then he went completely still.
The three men were staring at him with varying emotions on their faces.
Shoto was as stoic as ever, though a faint smile tugged at his lips. Shinsou wore a shit-eating grin, his eyes lighting up in amusement.
And Kacchan…
Katsuki.
Katsuki wore his usual sneer. But somehow, it didn't feel angry. Maybe discomfort. Maybe… fear?
The corner of Katsuki's mouth twitched.
"Always knew how to make a fucking entrance."
Izuku ignored what hearing his voice did to him, refusing to think about how he could once have listened to it forever.
And wanted to.
He scrambled upright, focusing far too hard on getting his feet beneath him.
He looked away, suddenly feeling far too exposed beneath their fond smiles.
His breathing was embarrassingly uneven.
When he finally looked back at them, he put on his best offended voice.
“I better be dreaming. You better not be here.”
Shinsou laughed harder.
Kneeling beside the bed, he reached toward Izuku.
“You want me to pinch you, Zuku?”
Izuku immediately lost whatever composure he'd managed to scrape together.
Laughing, he kicked at Shinsou’s approaching hand.
“No! You keep your hands to yourself, Shinsou Hitoshi!”
Shoto’s smile grew slightly.
“You probably don’t recognize me, do you?”
Izuku finally managed to catch his breath.
“Of course I do! Shoto! How could I forget you?”
Shoto ran a hand through his sweat-flattened hair, attempting to restore some dignity to it.
“I’ve probably changed quite a bit. But you…”
He inhaled softly.
“You certainly haven’t.”
Katsuki grunted in agreement.
Izuku let out a nervous laugh.
“That's because stress preserves me.”
Izuku had to force himself to look away before too many feelings bubbled to the surface.
He wiggled toward the end of the bed, stood with all the grace of a newborn giraffe, and stepped away from them.
“Anyway. Why are you here? What are you doing here?”
The three men exchanged nervous glances.
Shinsou answered first.
“I’m writing a travel piece.”
Izuku wasn't convinced.
Before he could respond, Shoto cut in.
“I’m here on a spontaneous vacation.”
That explained even less than Shinsou's answer.
Then Katsuki spoke.
Hands clenched tightly at his sides.
The same way he always stood when he was nervous.
“I– ”
He cleared his throat.
“I just dropped in to see yo– the island.”
Katsuki visibly winced.
Izuku looked away quickly, refusing to acknowledge what that slip-up did to him.
“Okay.”
He pointed vaguely toward them.
“What is this?”
Shinsou stepped forward.
“It’s one of those serendipitous moments in life when three complete strangers share a… common thought.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes.
“Strangers?”
Izuku eyed them suspiciously.
They nodded.
“You don’t know each other?”
Katsuki scoffed.
“That’s generally the definition, yes.”
Izuku shuffled in place before pacing to the opposite side of the room.
Then he turned abruptly.
“Okay. Good. But um…”
He pointed at all three of them.
“Why are you here? Who said you could stay in my old goat house?”
“Uh…” Shinsou scratched the back of his neck. “We didn't catch the name.”
“She dumped us here and left,” Katsuki added.
Shoto stared at the wall behind Izuku’s head.
“She spoke so quickly we didn’t really know what she was saying.”
Shinsou immediately pointed at him.
“Or maybe she said we couldn’t stay in the old goat house.”
“Yeah, sure. Fucking whatever,” Katsuki muttered.
Izuku nodded slowly.
Watching them.
Thinking.
Fiddling with his bandana.
“Yeah. That's it.”
He bent down and started picking things up off the floor.
“You can’t stay here because…”
He looked around desperately.
“Because I’m, uh…”
A brief pause.
“I’m closed.”
He glanced over his shoulder to see if they were buying it.
“And we’re full. And I’m busy. I’m really– ”
His eyes landed on the drawings Eri had left scattered across the floor.
He carefully gathered them up and set them on the bed.
“I have a wedding. My– ”
He stopped.
“Um. A local girl’s getting married.”
He yelped as his knee slammed into a rogue chair.
Looking down, he realized it was what had been blocking the hatch.
So he shoved it aside.
The three men exchanged cautious looks.
Why was Izuku lying about his own daughter's wedding?
Katsuki finally spoke.
"Deku– "
One look from Izuku shut him up.
"Izuku. Don't worry about us. Eye Bags here has slept in worse places."
Shinsou rolled his eyes at the nickname but nodded along.
Hitoshi gestured toward Shoto.
"And Todoroki here is– "
"I'm spontaneous," Shoto deadpanned.
"Spontaneous," Shinsou echoed with a snort.
Izuku looked up from the stubborn hatch, eyeing the two of them before his gaze drifted toward Katsuki.
He drew in a slow breath as crimson eyes locked onto his own.
Fire and rain collided with a vengeance.
For a moment, neither of them looked away.
"And what about you?"
Katsuki sucked on his teeth.
"I just– shit, I uh..."
His gaze never left Izuku's.
"Just wanted to see the island."
He still refused to look away, trying to say something with his eyes that he couldn't bring himself to say aloud.
Especially not in front of the two idiots standing next to him.
"You know what it– "
He glanced sideways at the curious looks immediately aimed his way.
"What it meant to me."
Izuku's breath hitched.
For just a second, he let himself really look at Katsuki again.
Twenty years.
Twenty years and it still felt dangerous.
His eyes started to burn. The familiar sting of tears gathered along his waterline.
Before anyone could notice, Izuku forced himself to break eye contact.
"Okay. I'm gonna arrange for a boat to take you all back to the mainland."
He scratched at his face, opened the hatch, and stepped onto the first rung of the ladder.
"I have a boat, Izuku."
Izuku immediately looked up.
Thank God.
"You do? Good. Get on it. Anchor's away."
He stepped down another rung, lowering the hatch behind him.
Then he heard his name.
He paused.
The three men looked at him for a long moment.
Then, somehow, all three spoke at once.
"It's good to see you."
Izuku pressed his lips together.
A tight smile flickered across his face.
Then he descended the rest of the ladder.
Quietly.
The second he reached the ground, he hurried out of the goat house, glancing once toward the attic window before making a beeline for the bar in search of Mina and Denki.
Behind him, Eri, Satsuki, and Mahoro remained pressed against the wall.
Trying – and failing – to calm down a panicking Eri as she struggled to make sense of everything she'd just overheard.
“Now, baby, this should tickle your taste buds.” Kirishima poured the cocktail into a glass, flexing as he finished with an unnecessary flourish.
Mina giggled, taking the drink from the bar with a flirty smile.
“Easy there, big fella. I’m a little more intense than your typical island girl.”
Denki snorted as he threw back his shot of vodka.
“More intense? More like a category five natural disaster.”
Mina kicked him beneath the stools.
Kirishima leaned against the bar, clearly down for the challenge. His eyes swept over Mina before settling back on her grin.
“I like intense.”
Mina smirked, already preparing a response that was either going to be flirtatious or wildly inappropriate.
Then Izuku skidded to a halt beside them looking frantic.
“Where’s Eri?”
Kirishima immediately dropped the flirtatious act.
“I think she and the girls went down to the beach.”
“What’s wrong?”
Denki reached for his arm, but Izuku flinched away and covered his face with both hands.
The three watched in horror as tears began spilling down his cheeks.
“Zuku?”
Then he turned and ran toward the public restrooms across the square.
Denki immediately stood.
“Oh, that's bad.”
Mina was already climbing off her stool.
“That is very bad.”
“That's ugly crying bad.”
“That's public-restroom ugly crying bad.”
Denki immediately bolted after him.
Mina wasn't far behind.
Though she did run just a little more carefully so she wouldn't spill her himbo original.
They pounded on the wooden door and pressed their ears against it.
Inside, Izuku sobbed.
“Zuku! Tell us what’s wrong!”
Izuku answered by blowing his nose loudly.
Mina and Denki exchanged worried looks.
Mina tried peeking over the stall door.
Then looked at Denki.
Then looked at the floor.
Denki sighed.
“Why do I always have to go on the floor?”
“Do you really think I’m risking a four-hundred-dollar dress on a public restroom floor?”
“So I have to put myself on the public restroom floor?”
Mina stared at him.
“Yes.”
With a dramatic huff, Denki dropped to his knees.
“Just take your heels off this time.”
“I did last time.”
“Last time you stepped on my kidney.”
“You have two.”
“I need both of them, Mina.”
“You're being dramatic.”
“Then why do I remember suffering?”
“Because you complain recreationally.”
“That is a terrible thing to say to a man lying on a bathroom floor.”
“That's fair.”
Mina stepped onto his back and peered over the stall while Denki looked underneath.
The floor was already covered in soggy wads of toilet paper.
More were arriving by the second.
Mina’s brow furrowed.
“Izuku, honey, what happened?”
Izuku looked up.
His eyes were red and swollen.
He opened his mouth to answer.
Another sob came out instead.
“Zuku,” Denki whispered.
“Talk to us. We hate seeing you like this.”
Izuku sniffled before suddenly pushing the stall door open.
Mina yelped as she was flattened against the wall.
Denki rolled sideways to avoid being stepped on.
Izuku immediately slammed the door shut again to block the view.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Mina looked down.
Denki looked up.
And all three of them immediately lost the battle against laughter.
“I can't believe this is how I die,” Denki wheezed from the floor.
“Crushed beneath friendship.”
“You'll be remembered,” Mina said solemnly.
Izuku let out a watery snort before immediately covering his mouth.
Denki immediately brightened.
“Oh, thank god.”
“What?”
“You made a noise that wasn’t crying.”
Mina hopped down and slipped her heels back on.
“We got a laugh. That's progress.”
“It was a snort.”
“It counts.”
“It absolutely counts.”
Izuku rolled his eyes.
“You two are impossible.”
“That's what best friends are for.”
For a moment, Izuku just stood there.
Looking at them.
Then he sniffled and shuffled toward the mirror.
Denki slowly hauled himself off the floor with a groan.
They drifted toward Izuku without really thinking about it.
They wrapped themselves around him from either side while he continued crying into the sink.
“Izuku, please talk to us,” Mina said softly. “We’re your best friends. You can tell us anything.”
She brushed his curls back while Denki rested his chin on Izuku’s shoulder.
Eventually they guided him onto the counter beside the sink.
When it became clear he wasn’t ready to talk yet, they focused on cleaning him up instead.
Mina reached for one of his overall straps and immediately realized the button had come off at some point.
She ignored it.
Denki attempted to sit on the counter too.
Immediately fell into the sink.
“I meant to do that.”
A tiny laugh escaped Izuku.
Then another sob stole it away.
Mina dug through her purse and produced a packet of tissues.
“Look at you,” she muttered. “You're a mess.”
“He's always a mess.”
“That's true.”
“Remember when he cried because that pigeon stole his sandwich?”
“That pigeon was aggressive!”
Denki snorted.
“It stole the whole thing.”
“It made eye contact first!”
“That somehow makes it worse.”
A tiny smile tugged at Izuku's mouth as Denki gently dabbed his face dry.
A second later, Mina sprayed him with expensive-smelling deodorant.
Izuku immediately coughed.
“Mina!”
“What? You smelled sad.”
“That is not a thing.”
“It absolutely is.”
By the time he recovered, Denki had somehow tucked a flower behind his ear.
Meanwhile, Mina had produced a comb and was brushing her own hair.
Probably for the best.
Combing Izuku’s hair would only have turned it into a frizzy disaster.
Finally, Mina pressed her cocktail against his lips.
Izuku nearly drowned.
After several accidental mouthfuls, he pushed the glass away and took a shaky breath.
“It’s her dad.”
Denki blinked.
“Whose dad?”
Mina smacked him.
“Eri’s dad!”
Izuku laughed wetly before his expression slowly crumpled again.
“Remember how I told you about Kacchan?”
Mina and Denki nodded.
“The boy I grew up with. The one you met before he left and married some rich girl.”
More nodding.
“Well…”
Izuku inhaled deeply.
“I’m not sure it was him.”
A pause.
“Because there were two other guys around the same time.”
Mina’s eyes widened.
Then she completely lost it.
“Izuku Midoriya!”
She smacked his arm.
“You little slut!”
“Three?”
“Three.”
“THREE?”
“I know how numbers work, Denki.”
“Apparently not.”
Mina pointed at him.
“How have you kept this from us for twenty years?”
“Because it never seemed relevant!”
“Relevant?” Denki squawked.
“You had three potential baby daddies!”
Izuku buried his face in his hands.
“Please stop saying it like that.”
“How would you like us to say it?”
Mina leaned forward.
“You had three potential fathers of your child?”
“That's the exact same thing!”
Denki looked genuinely offended.
“No, it's classier.”
Denki immediately started poking him.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I never imagined I’d see all three of them in my old goat house the day before my daughter’s wedding!”
Izuku chugged the rest of Mina’s drink, completely missing the look Mina and Denki shared.
Denki hummed, inching toward the door with Mina close behind.
“The old goat house, you say?”
When Izuku looked up, his two best friends were already out the door, sprinting toward the old rickety building that was currently housing Izuku’s darkest secret.
“No, no! Wait!”
Izuku jumped to his feet and chased after them, handing the empty cocktail back to Kirishima as he ran past.
Muttering curses under his breath as he tried to catch up.
Mina was surprisingly nimble for someone wearing three-inch heels.
As the pink lemonade duo burst into the goat house and attacked the ladder, Izuku lunged after them, grabbing for whatever limbs he could reach.
But it was already too late.
They had pushed open the hatch and peeked their heads inside.
“Don’t let them see you!”
Denki immediately let out a disappointed whine.
“They’re not here!”
Mina looked down as Izuku shoved his way past them and climbed into the attic.
“Are you sure?”
Izuku looked around, confused.
It was like they were never here.
The only thing that seemed out of place were the missing drawings he'd left on the bed.
The drawings of him.
Strange.
“Of course I’m sure! They were right here!”
He searched frantically behind the junk piles.
“You think I’d forget my daughter’s dads?”
He pushed past them again and headed for the ladder.
“They were all here. Kaccha– ”
He stopped himself.
“Katsuki Bakugou. Hitoshi Shinsou. And Shoto Todoroki.”
“Todoroki?”
Mina lit up.
“Like the millionaire Enji Todoroki?”
Izuku begrudgingly nodded.
“His father.”
Silence.
Then Denki and Mina immediately lost it.
“You had a baby with a Todoroki?”
“I don’t know! Maybe?”
“Oh my god,” Mina wheezed.
“Do you have any idea how hard I worked to marry rich?”
“I hate both of you.”
“You might've done it completely by accident!”
Izuku groaned.
Then took one final look around the room.
“They must’ve gone back to their boat.”
Izuku began the trek toward his room on the other side of the taverna.
“I hope they run aground and drown.”
Denki bumped his shoulder.
“I bet you still remember their middle names.”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
“I hate you.”
“That’s not a denial.”
Izuku pointedly ignored him.
“Well, what are they doing here? It’s like some hideous trick of fate!”
Denki pushed ahead of him, walking backward until he remembered he had absolutely no idea where he was going.
“Do they know about Eri?”
Izuku smiled fondly as he took the stairs two at a time.
“What are they, psychic? No!”
He glanced back over his shoulder.
“I never told a soul.”
Mina frowned.
“Oh, Izuku.”
There was no judgment in her voice.
Just sadness.
“Keeping it to yourself all these years.”
“It doesn’t matter about me.”
Izuku hurried to the windows and shoved the shutters open, desperate for fresh air.
“The only thing that matters is that Eri never finds out.”
“She’s definitely going to find out.”
“One hundred percent.”
“Absolutely.”
“Guys.”
“Sorry.”
“Not sorry.”
Mina sat on the bed and pulled out a compact.
“Well, maybe she'd be cool with it.”
Izuku stared at her.
“Cool with it?”
He laughed.
A little too loudly.
Then he grabbed Denki by the shoulders and physically shoved him down beside Mina.
“You don't know my daughter. This would be a bombshell.”
Denki flopped backward dramatically.
“Zuku, they've gone.”
“I don't know that!”
Izuku spun around.
“I don't know where they are. I don't know why they're here.”
“They're not under the bed.”
“Denki.”
“Just trying to narrow it down.”
Breathing hard, Izuku dropped into the vanity chair.
His eyes landed on the photographs of little Eri taped around the mirror.
“And I’ve brought this all on myself.”
He sighed heavily.
“Because I was a stupid, reckless little whore.”
“Woah, woah, woah!”
Mina shot upright.
“You sound like your father.”
Izuku immediately turned around.
Defensive.
“I do not!”
Denki pointed at him.
“Yes, you do!”
“My god, I do not!”
Mina began circling him.
“You do! It’s Catholic guilt!”
“You’ve been living like a nun!” Denki added, joining her.
Mina grinned.
“Yeah! Whatever happened to our Izuku?”
She grabbed a feather boa from the changing screen and draped it around his neck.
“Life and soul of the party!”
Denki dug a ridiculous hat out of an open trunk and plopped it onto Izuku’s head.
“Our budding rockstar in the making?”
“Remember when he used to spend forty minutes curling his hair?”
“That happened one time.”
“You cried when it rained.”
“Because it ruined my curls.”
“You carried a tiny mirror in your guitar case.”
“That was for practical reasons.”
“You owned more hair products than I did.”
“That is slander.”
“It's really not.”
Izuku stared at them.
Face completely blank.
Annoyed.
“I grew up.”
Mina rolled her eyes and dropped to her knees beside him.
“Well, grow back down again!”
Denki immediately flopped on top of Izuku with a grunt.
“Remember how much fun we used to have? Teasing all the boys on a Friday night?”
“Dancing, drinking, finding some hot guy and grinding on him until he swore he was in love with you?”
Mina poked his cheek.
Cackling when Izuku shoved both of them away and disappeared beneath the covers.
Denki immediately dove after him, flopping dramatically onto the mattress.
“There he is.”
“Who?” Izuku grumbled from beneath the blankets.
“Our Izuku.”
Mina crawled across the bed and poked the blanket lump.
“The one who used to have three men in love with him at the same time.”
“I don't think they were in love with me.”
Denki gasped.
“Mina, he's being humble. Quick, get the camera.”
“Tragic,” Mina agreed solemnly.
Izuku groaned and pulled the blankets tighter over his head.
“Leave me alone.”
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You told us there were three possible fathers and somehow expected us to move on.”
“I was emotional!”
“You were withholding information.”
“Criminal amounts of information,” Mina added.
Izuku finally peeked his head out from beneath the blankets.
“You two are the worst.”
Mina beamed.
“Aww.”
“That’s his way of saying he loves us.”
“It is not.”
“It absolutely is.”
Izuku rolled his eyes.
Unfortunately, he was smiling now.
Denki pointed immediately.
“Look! It’s back!”
“What’s back?”
“Your face.”
“My face never left.”
“The happy version.”
Izuku groaned and buried himself beneath the blankets again.
“Traitors.”
“Best friends,” Denki corrected.
The room settled into a more comfortable silence after that.
Not quiet.
Just familiar.
The kind that came from knowing people for half your life.
Eventually Mina stretched her legs out across the bed.
“So.”
Izuku immediately groaned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Mina grinned.
“Which one was the best kisser?”
“MINA!”
Denki nearly fell off the bed laughing.
A pillow hit Mina square in the face.
She looked delighted.
Izuku buried himself beneath the blankets again.
“This is why I never tell you anything.”
“You tell us everything.”
“Unfortunately.”
“Against my will.”
Mina reached over and patted the blanket where his head was hidden.
“Good. We'd miss you if you became mysterious.”
Izuku's laugh came out muffled through the comforter.
Then he sighed.
The laughter faded.
And the reality of the situation settled back over the room.
Three men.
All here.
All at once.
The day before Eri's wedding.
Slowly, Izuku lowered the blanket.
“Well,” he huffed, his mood considerably improved, “we need to come up with a plan to figure out why they're here. But first, we need to practice for tonight."