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“Okay Mom, I’m going out,” Izuku called as pulled on his coat.
“Alright sweetie, have a good time,” his mother called back. “Don’t forget to text me when you get there and when you’re about to leave, okay?”
“Okay!”
As Izuku headed for the door, he took pause, and turned to ask, “So what are you gonna do tonight?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Inko replied as she came out of her bedroom wearing a bathrobe and slippers. “Probably just sit on the couch and watch a movie. You know, veg.”
“Oh…” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around the living room of their little apartment. “I guess you probably do that a lot these days.”
“Well, you do have your own life,” Inko pointed out as she took a seat on the couch. “And I don’t want to keep you from it!” She gave him a little wave before using her quirk to pull the remote to her and flipping on the TV.
Izuku blinked, feeling suddenly very guilty at the thought of his sweet mother spending her evenings alone on the couch in their little apartment, with nothing but the TV for company.
“Um…” he muttered, “ I don’t have to go, you know. We could have movie night together like when I was in middle school.”
“Oh, nonsense honey,” Inko said, waving a hand at him. “Please go have fun with your friends! I insist!” And it might have been Izuku’s imagination but her tone seemed particularly firm when she said that.
“O-okay,” he conceded, heading once more for the door. “If you’re sure!”
“I am! Have fun!”
Izuku slowly clicked the door shut and walked away, trying to fight off the guilt he felt for abandoning his mother to an evening of loneliness.
Meanwhile, back inside the apartment, Inko had already tossed off her bathrobe to reveal a black skirt and a new blouse to go with the heels she had hidden in the closet. Now she was putting in some earrings and saying into her phone, “He’s out with his friends so you can bring the car around now...Wait, we’re going where?...Ohhh!! Toshi, you sweetheart!!”
“Hey guys!” Izuku called as he ran down the street to meet his friends. They were crowded in front of the new restaurant they’d all been wanting to try. Ochako and Tsuyu both waved at Izuku as he approached, while Iida and Todoroki seemed to be wrapped up in their own conversation.
“She said what?” Todoroki was asking.
“That,” Iida explained. “That is what she said. The humor comes from the implication that the person’s statement was unintentionally sexual in nature, and by implying that one’s sexual partner said something similar on a previous occasion is a way of indicating such.”
Todoroki blinked at his tall friend. “I don’t get it.”
“Neither do I, but Kaminari and Ashido find the phrase hilarious, so I’ve decided to try incorporating it into my vernacular.”
“What’s going on?” Izuku asked when he was close to enough to hear.
“Kaminari told Iida that he’s too boring,” Ochako explained, “so now he’s trying to be funnier.”
“Is it working?”
“Not really,” said Tsuyu. “He keeps doing it wrong.”
“I’m practicing!” Iida complained. He turned to Izuku and greeted his friend with a smile. “Ah, Midoriya! Perhaps you can give me advice on humor!”
Izuku shook his head quickly. “Sorry Iida, I only do impressions.”
“Oh!” cried Ochako. “Do the face, do the face!”
Happy to comply, Izuku turned away for a second before turning back making an incredibly dramatic, heavily shadowed face.
“It’s All Right!” he cried in his best imitation of All Might’s voice.
Ochako and Tsuyu both started giggling while Iida sighed. “Clearly I have much to learn,” he reasoned. Todoroki gave him a comforting pat on the arm before they all headed in to try and get a table.
In a back corner of the restaurant, Inko was seated in a booth and laughing.
“And then he asked if I wanted him to stay home for a movie night!”
Toshinori chuckled and squeezed her hand atop the table. “While you’re just sitting there dressed up under your robe?”
“Yep!” Inko shook her head, and looked at their held hands, studying the sinews and scars that lined his knuckles. “I felt kind of guilty lying to him,” she admitted after a moment. “He’s a good boy. I guess I’m just not ready for him to know about us yet.”
He nodded. “I agree. We need to figure this out a little better first before we go making any announcements. No point in making a fuss if things aren’t gonna work out.”
She hummed in agreement, before looking him in the eye and saying gently, “I want them to work out though.”
He gave her a wide grin and leaned forward to cup her hand in both of his.
“Me too.”
Nearby, Izuku was squeezing into a booth next to Ochako and Tsuyu, while Iida and Todoroki sat across from them.
“Wow,” Ochako said, marvelling at the restaurant’s decor. “This place is fancier than I expected. Probably pretty pricey too…”
“You wanna split something?” Tsu asked. “It’ll cost less that way.”
“Yes, thank you, you know me so well and I love you.”
“If you love her so much, why don’t you marry her? Huh? Get it? The implication is that you were speaking romantically when in reality you were exaggerating.”
“Iida, she offered to help me pay for a meal. There is no exaggeration about this.”
Izuku stared at his menu, lost in thought.
“I should have just stayed home. We could have cooked together like we used to. I still don’t quite know how to make katsudon, and how many more chances am I going to get to learn before I have to move out for good? Oh geez, what is she going to do when I move out? This dorm thing has been hard enough on her. It’s always been just her and me, she’s going to be so alone-”
“Excuse me sir-”
“I’m a terrible son!” Izuku shouted as he was snapped out of his reverie, thoroughly startling the waiter who had just been trying to get his drink order.
“He’ll have a water,” said Todoroki, and the waiter sped off while the others attended to Izuku.
“You okay, Deku?” Ochako asked.
Izuku sighed. “No. I mean, it’s just, lately I think I’ve been kind of neglecting my mom. Tonight I thought about staying home and spending time with her but I came here anyway. She said it was fine but…”
He sighed again, staring blankly at the menu before looking at his friends and asking, “Are you guys ready for that? You know, being older and alone? That happens a lot with heroes, doesn’t it?”
“Not so,” Iida interjected. “There are many, many heroes that have perfectly loving, relatively normal families. My family for example, as well as Todoroki’s.”
“My family isn’t exactly normal,” Todoroki corrected as he studied his menu.
“Ah, true,” Iida conceded. “But nonetheless, our professions should not be used as an excuse for the state of our personal lives. There are many people with busy jobs who manage to have active personal relationships as well.”
“Well,” Izuku countered, “what about our teachers? What about All Might? He’s one of the nicest, best heroes ever and he’s by himself.”
“Yeah,” said Ochako with a frown. “It’s pretty sad. For him to go so long fighting for Japan only to spend his twilight years by himself.”
“Technically,” Tsuyu remarked, pressing a finger to her chin, “it’s not over for him. He could still find somebody now that he’s retired. Older people still date sometimes.”
“Now there’s a thought,” Ochako giggled. “Can you imagine All Might on a date?”
The others laughed, all except for Todoroki, who said, “Yeah.”
Once they registered what he’d said, the others stared at him.
“What do you mean ‘yeah’?” asked Izuku.
“I mean,” said Todoroki in his normal somber tone, “that I can picture him on a date.”
“How so?” asked Iida.
“Because I’m looking at him and I’m pretty sure he’s on a date.”
The other four chorused a “HUH?” before scooting and squeezing and turning their heads to look in the direction that Todoroki was pointing. Izuku ended up squashed underneath the two girls as they tried to lean over him to see around the high backed booths.
But despite his squashed position, he could see that Todoroki was right - All Might - their teacher and Japan’s retired #1 Hero, was sitting a few booths away, just visible due to the curvature of the booth’s arrangement.
“Oh my God!” Ochako cried from her place on top of Izuku. “Look at him, he’s all dressed up!”
“He never dresses that nice for school,” said Tsuyu from her place on top of Ochako on top of Izuku.
“I wonder if this is a common occurrence, his dating,” Iida pondered from where he was leaning across Todoroki’s lap.
“I wonder who he’s with,” asked Izuku, and that question got them all curious. They all sat up, adjusted themselves and looked at one another in turn.
“We should respect his privacy,” said Iida.
“It’s what he deserves as our teacher,” agreed Tsuyu.
“And as a hero,” chimed in Izuku.
“So we’re in agreement?” asked Ochako, and the others nodded.
After a pause Todoroki asked, “We’re gonna spy on them, aren’t we?”
“Yes,” they chorused.
A few minutes later, Iida was sent off to go to the restroom and then circle back, passing by All Might’s booth with as much subtlety as he could manage.
“Who do you think it will be?” Ochako wondered aloud. “Another hero? A civilian?”
“Maybe it’s someone we know,” Tsuyu suggested.
“Whoever it is,” said Todoroki, “I hope the two of them are genuinely happy. I’ve seen a lot of bad relationships before. All Might deserves to be happy.”
The others were silent for a second, taken aback by this surprisingly heartfelt speech from their stoic friend. Izuku broke the silence by grinning and saying, “You’re right, Shouto.”
He said this just in time for Iida to pop up next to them.
“Who was it?” Ochako demanded, shoving up against Izuku once again. “Did you see them?”
“Yes,” said Iida in a grave tone of voice. He tilted his head and looked at Izuku with a stony expression, and said, “Midoriya…”
“Iida?” he asked nervously.
“Midoriya...the person All Might is dining with...is Yo Mama!”
Iida gave his friends a large, comic grin, which had them groaning.
“Come on, Iida,” Izuku prodded. “Who was it really?”
Iida slid in next to Todoroki as he said, “Honestly I have no idea. I didn’t recognize her at all. But I will say, my Yo Mama joke may not be far off - she looked a bit like you, Midoriya.”
“What? Like how?”
Iida used his hands to make stiff gestures as he explained, “Nothing specific, besides having green eyes and hair just like yours, and the fact that she was on the smaller side in terms of height.”
Izuku blinked.
That sounded like…
“Hang on,” he said, as he hopped out of the booth and started walking directly toward where All Might was sitting.
“Well that’s bold,” Tsuyu commented. “But I get the feeling this might get awkward really quickly…”
As Izuku neared his mentor, his pace started to pick up speed. He knew it wasn’t likely. Wasn’t even in the remote realms of possibility. But still, it didn’t hurt to confirm, and besides he could say hello to All Might and wish him luck with whoever this stranger was and…
When he got close enough, All Might glanced over and recognition sparked on his face and sent him into a coughing fit. Then Izuku heard a voice say, “Oh no! Toshi are you okay?”
That voice. That was…
“Mom?”
He said it before he actually saw her, and when mother and son locked eyes on each other they both nearly leapt out of their skins.
“IZUKU?”
“MOM!?
“HRRK,” All Might coughed.
“H-honey,” Inko stammered. “What are you doing here? I thought you were out with your friends?”
Izuku shook his head. “I am out with them! We’re sitting over there!” He gestured toward their table vaguely, still trying to catch up with what was going on.
“You…” he looked back and forth between them, eyes bouncing from his teacher to his mother and back again, slowly absorbing the reality of the situation. “You two are...on a date…”
“Uh…” All Might raised a hand slightly as if he wanted to say or explain something, before letting it fall again.
“You’re on a date,” Izuku repeated. “Date. You’re dating. You two are dating. You’re actually dating you, All Might, are dating my mom and going out in public and being together and DATING-”
“Izuku, you’re yelling!”
“Mom, I’m panicking!”
Inko quickly pulled her son into the booth to sit next to her and pressed a hand to his back as he did his best not to hyperventilate. All Might leaned forward, not sure how to help but willing to try if he needed to.
“It’s okay sweetie,” she urged him. “Just breathe.”
“You two….you are...how long…?”
“A few months,” she murmured to him.
“You were there when we first met of course,” All Might said, his low voice doing worlds of good to calm Izuku’s racing mind. “And after that we exchanged numbers and started meeting on occasion to keep your mother updated on your progress.”
At a look from Izuku, Inko nodded to confirm it. “I wasn’t trying to spy on you, honest,” she assured. “I just hated the idea of being cut off entirely. I know you have your own life now, but I just wanted to be able to check in now and then, you know?”
Izuku nodded, having managed to get his breathing under control somewhat. “I know what you mean. I’ve been thinking the same thing, that I wasn’t checking in enough with you. But I also thought that without me you were maybe kind of lonely.”
He looked up and across at All Might who met him with a very sheepish smile.
“But I guess I was wrong about that,” Izuku said, on the verge of smiling himself.
“Oh sweety,” Inko said with a shake of her head. “I might get lonely sometimes but that’s for me to worry about, not you.”
Izuku shrugged. “I can’t help it, Mom. I got the worrying genes from you.”
“You got a lot of things from her,” All Might mentioned. He gave a small, sweet smile to Inko and added, “A lot of good things.”
Inko’s cheeks went pink and Izuku couldn’t remember the last time she had seen such pure joy on his mother’s face.
“So this is really a thing?” He needed clarification. “Like you guys are...an item I guess you’d say?”
All Might shrugged. “Something like that.”
“The point is, we’re happy.” Inko reached across and took his hand once again, before looking back to Izuku. “Are you okay with this, sweetie?”
Izuku found himself nodding without really thinking about it. “Yeah. Yeah I am. You guys both mean a lot to me, obviously, and if you’re happy together then I’m happy too!”
“Ohhh!” Inko whimpered a little and brushed away a tear. All Might rolled his eyes in a joking fashion, muttering something about the Midoriyas and their waterworks.
“I’m glad you’re happy, kid.” All Might reached across and gave Izuku’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze. “I want my kid to be happy.”
Izuku’s eyes widened. “Your...kid?”
All Might raised an eyebrow. “What, is it too early for that? I mean I already have to get onto you like a dad. Speaking of which, you know it’s not very polite to spy on people right? Right kids?”
After a pause, Ochako and Tsuyu popped up from around the corner, Iida stood up from where he’d hidden behind All Might’s side of the booth, and Todoroki seemed to appear out of thin air from behind a small potted plant.
Inko looked a little surprised at their sudden audience. “Oh my! You kids must be starving by now. Hasn’t the waiter come by to take care of you?”
“I think I kind of scared him off,” Izuku confessed.
Inko pursed her lips in thought before turning to All Might and saying, “Toshi, why don’t we let the kids eat with us? They’re already over here after all.”
“Toshi?” the kids chorused.
All Might laughed at them and threw up his hands. “What the hell? The more the merrier I guess! But we’ll have to get some chairs or something. It’s going to be a tight fit.”
At this, Iida’s eyes flew open and the very responsible class representative, with elation in his voice, cried, “THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!”
After a second or two of shocked silence, both the adults broke into laughter at this outburst.
“Good one, Iida,” All Might applauded him, and Iida could not have looked prouder.
They ended up pulling over another table and some chairs and spent the evening eating and talking, the kids impressing Inko with their tales of UA, with All Might (or ‘Toshi’) intermittently throwing in a comment or two, smiling at the kids’ excitement. Ochako and Tsuyu both made clear their stances that the two made an adorable couple, and Todoroki and Iida wished them luck in their future together.
As for Izuku, he spent the evening having dinner with his mom for the first time in quite a bit, this time being even better with the presence of his rapidly expanding family, not to mention his sort of new dad. To say that he was happy was a massive understatement.