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“It was so nice of UA to put on this festival,” Inko said as she and her son walked down the main thoroughfare. All around were booths selling charming trinkets and delicious treats, with various students shouting about their wares.
“I know right?” Izuku agreed. “I think it was partially meant as a peace offering after all the crazy stuff that’s been happening with the villains… But either way, it’s pretty nice!”
“Agreed,” said Inko as she slowed down to look at some charms hanging from the ceiling of one of the booths. After quickly buying one, she turned back to him to ask, “So what time do you need to leave to set up the fireworks? I don’t want you to be late, or keep you from spending time with your friends.”
Izuku waved his hand nonchalantly. “No worries, Mom! That’s not for a couple hours or so, and I want to spend it with you! It's not like we get to see each other much lately."
Inko gave him a small, slightly sad smile and reached up to ruffle his matching green hair. "That's certainly true," she said.
Izuku reached up and took her hand, giving an apologetic smile in return.
"Yeah, so let's hang out for a bit before I have to go. And in the meantime we can go get some food!”
Inko smiled. “Okay then. What would you like?”
After wandering around a bit, they finally settled on an old fashioned oden cart that had been set up a few rows over. As they stood in line, Izuku tried to plan what they should do next.
“They have a couple of shows later I think, those could be interesting. But maybe you want to shop, I know you got that charm already, but they have a lot of other stuff, not to mention that we could always find some dessert to have after this, not that oden isn’t good on its own but it could be good to find something to wash it down and-”
“Young man, you’re going to talk your mother’s ears off!”
Izuku jumped at the deep voice and turned to see that, yes indeed, All Might had appeared next to him. The tall man was dressed in loose jeans and a t-shirt decked out in red, white, and blue that was likely from his own line of hero themed merchandise. Izuku’s surprised face was met with a wide, toothy grin.
“What, surprised to see me at an event being put on by the school I work at?”
“Uh, no,” Izuku stammered. “I, I just...uh...you tend be more private these days and…”
“It’s nice to see you All Might,” Inko interjected, doing her best to save her son from his floundering. “How are you liking the festival so far?”
At the sight of Inko, All Might’s eyes widened, his expression changing from mild amusement to surprise and welcoming.
“Good evening, Ms. Midoriya! I’m liking it very well so far! And what of you yourself? Would you say our students have done a good job showing us a fun time?”
Inko nodded. “They certainly have!”
“Excellent,” he said with a nod. To Izuku he said, “My boy, I wanted to ask: will you and your class need any help setting up the fireworks? There’s no shame in asking you know.”
“Oh I know, but it’s fine,” Izuku assured him. “Between Iida and Momo, we’ve got everything planned out perfectly. Now we just have to make sure that Bakugou and Kaminari don’t set them off too early on accident.”
That gave All Might a chuckle, which had the two Midoriyas laughing as well.
“Hey!” the bald oden merchant shouted from his stall. The line had cleared out without them realizing. “I don’t have all day people! You want grub or not?”
At that, All Might raised a hand to wave. “I’d best be leaving the two of you to your meal,” he said before he began to walk off.
As All Might retreated, mother and son shared a quick look and a nod before Izuku cupped a hand to his mouth and called, “Hey, All Might!”
The retired hero looked back at them, confused.
“Do you uh…” Izuku started to stammer, “Do you...uh...wanna hang out with us?”
All Might’s eyes widened, and his fingers laced together in front of his chest. Inko decided she had never seen anything more adorable than this massive, lanky man and his tentatively hopeful expression.
Before long all three of them were seated at a bench, slurping down hot soup, and talking peacefully. They all privately observed that this little get together was infinitely more comfortable than the last time they’d convened as a group.
“He was so cute,” Inko was saying. “He insisted on carrying it home by itself, and wouldn’t even let me help him hang it on the wall. Of course, these days he has dozens of All Might posters all over his room, but that first one has to be my favorite.
“Mooom…” Izuku practically whined, embarrassed by his mother’s storytelling. All Might took all of this in and smiled, appreciative of both the story and their sweet little family’s dynamic. It felt good to be a part of it, even if it was only for the evening.
“Oh!”
The three jumped as Izuku suddenly rushed to check his watch.
“Crap! I said I’d go by early to help set up!”
He jumped up from the bench and started to run off before doubling back to give his mother a quick hug.
“I’ll see you after the show, Mom! Bye All Might!”
And with that he was off.
“Looks like we’ve been ditched,” said All Might before sipping the last of his small bowl of soup. Not having a stomach made eating difficult at times, but portion control helped, and who was he to pass up a good soup?
“Seems like it,” Inko agreed.
The two sat in silence for a moment, watching festival goers pass by in hordes, everyone yelling and rushing about, trying to get as much enjoyment out of the festival as they could.
“Kind of hectic,” stated Inko.
All Might nodded in agreement. After a pause he turned to her and asked, “Wanna get out of here?”
She quickly nodded and soon the two were climbing a steep grassy hill just beyond the festival grounds. A few families and couples were already seating themselves on various spots on the hill, getting ready for the fireworks show. With the sun setting, and the sky turned to a fiery orange, the whole world seemed to be aglow.
“Do you like fireworks?” Inko asked, trying to not to huff as she spoke. She decided she needed to go hiking more often.
“Oh yes,” All Might replied, also trying not to huff at how the physical exertion was affecting his frail body. “I’ve always loved them! I lived in America for several years as a child, and every year on the 4th of July, my parents would take me to watch the fireworks. I know a lot of people don’t like how loud or bright they are, but honestly, I’ve always been captivated by them.”
“Oh so have I,” Inko agreed. “They’re beautiful in such a unique way. Even though I’ve seen tons of fireworks by this point, it still always feels special.”
She paused before adding, “By the way, I know it wasn’t intentional, but it’s funny that you mentioned July 4th - that’s actually my birthday!”
All Might gave a surprised and joyful smile. “Really? Well in that case, maybe I should help you celebrate when it comes this year! We could set off fireworks just for you!”
Inko laughed and shook her head. “Oh that’s not necessary!”
“Sure it is! What better way to celebrate your birth than with controlled explosions of light and sound?”
Inko shook her head again as they neared the top of the hill and found a spot to sit in the grass.
“You’re ridiculous,” she said as she lowered herself to the ground.
“Thank you,” All might replied cheerfully as he plopped down next to her.
“By the way,” Inko said a moment later as she carefully picked grass off her white (why the hell did they have to be white) pants. “I wanted to thank you for not mentioning our text conversations to Izuku. I’m sure he’d think I was trying to meddle in his life.”
All Might nodded, aware of how important this was to her. “Of course,” he said. “That’s between you and me. And speaking of you and me, I just noticed something.”
He held out the hem of his shirt and said, “We match!”
Inko looked down at herself and saw he was right, that the blue of her short sleeved top and the white pants actually matched his All Might themed casual wear.
“You’re just missing red,” he noted.
“Oh no I’m not!” Inko asserted as she pulled out the charm she’d purchased earlier. She held it up so that he could see a chibi version of his muscular form flexing against a red background.
“I hope it doesn’t bother you that I got this,” she said quickly as he stared at it. “I’m just so used to having your face hanging around the house that well, I figured why not get something I could carry around too?”
All Might swallowed as he stared at it before replying, “N-no. It’s fine. Perfectly fine. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
The two were silent for a moment, and for the first time this evening it felt a little awkward.
But it wasn’t impossibly awkward.
“You can call me by name, you know,” he said after a moment. “I told you what it was for a reason.”
“Oh I know,” Inko assured him. “I just don’t want to overstep my bounds. And I’m sorry if the charm upsets you. Please know that just because people love your old muscle form, that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten that you’re the guy behind all of it.”
He chuckled lightly. “Forgotten? I wish they’d never known. I’d rather have died without anyone finding out.”
A hand on his arm surprised him, and he looked to see her leveling him with a very serious, emotional expression.
“Please don’t say that. You promised me, remember? You promised to live.”
He reached up to take her hand, and managed to turn his bitter smile into something more genuine, and after a moment she returned it.
“You know, you were probably joking,” said Inko, “but if you wanted come around for my birthday, that would be fine. Actually, I’d love it. I always love seeing you.”
He stared at her, stunned. “You mean that? I mean...I would hate to intrude but. I do enjoy spending time with you and your son. It feels kind of nice to belong somewhere.”
All Might looked down at the small hand he was still holding, and Inko couldn’t see his face when she said, “Well, I think you fit pretty well with us.”
Uncharacteristically at a loss or words, he didn’t have time to come up with a response before he heard a high pitched whistle followed by a loud BOOM! A burst of green lit up the darkened sky and the light played off their faces. He hadn’t even noticed it had grown dark. He looked up and this time was able to spot the the firework as it travelled upward before exploding, with the sound of the explosion chasing close behind it.
Blues, purples, yellows, reds - the two sat on the hill watching the sky, dazzled by the array of colors and light. The fact that they were still holding hands became something of an afterthought.
A few minutes in, All Might leaned over and said, “I think the kids mentioned something some special arrangement they were putting in around the middle.”
“Oh?”
He was almost immediately proven correct when a large “U” succeeded by an “A” appeared high above them.
“Look, there!” All Might cried, slipping an arm around her shoulder and pointing at the display, thoroughly impressed. He let his hand fall back down a moment later to hold hers again, and it wasn’t until the fireworks started thinning out that he realized his arm was still around her, holding her close to him as they held hands.
He looked at their position and had to work very hard to fight off a blush.
“Sorry,” he said, sheepish.
“Why?” she murmured.
“I...I just…”
“It’s not over, you know. Izuku told me there would be a pause before the finale.”
“Oh. Um. What color do you think the next one will be? When I was a kid we’d always guess.”
Still holding a steady gaze with him, she whispered, “I think maybe...blue…”
“Then I’ll guess...green.”
And in some bizarre act of fate, the next fireworks came in a pair, with blue and green lighting up next to one another, close enough that the sparks seemed to entwine. And in the sound of the explosion, as people down on the ground cheered, no one else was aware of the kiss that was being shared at the top of the hill.
Inko had read a romance novel or two where the heroine was kissed at sunset or under the moon or in the rain, all of which were framed as being the most romantic backdrops ever. Privately she thought that having a first kiss with someone new on a dark night lit up by fireworks was better than any of that stuff could ever hope to be.
But maybe she was biased.
After the show, poor Izuku spent a good amount of time wandering around trying to find the two of them. Eventually when they did meet up, it took a lot of effort not to ask why the two of them had leaves in their hair and grass stains on their clothes.