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Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall was laid out like a colossal spinosaurus. There were too many twisting corridors. Each one was lined with various shops and restaurants, and each wound farther and farther out from a central open-air quad decorated with five fountains of varying sizes of which no less than two were operational at any given time. It was confusing. It was big, and it was always, always crowded.
Iida loved it unconditionally.
*
“Are you going to get anything?” Ochako asked.
Iida shook his head. Lemming to Eagle: An Easy 7 Step Transformation stared at him expectantly. Look inside and discover the secret to becoming a better you, the cover promised. Its yellow holographic jacket winked at him under the stuttering fluorescent lights. “No!”
Ochako blinked.
Iida pushed up his glasses with the back of his hand. He cleared his throat. “I mean,” he continued, embarrassed, “I just haven’t see anything that I want yet.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure you’ll find something you like soon.” She smiled at him.
Dust motes danced around her like they’d never heard of gravity before. Iida ducked his head and smiled back.
*
Iida was the baby of the herd.
In response to his mother and brother and uncles and aunties always placing food in his bowl, and constantly offering him unsolicited life advice, he vowed to become as self sufficient as possible. He was going to become someone other people depended on.
*
Todoroki was getting frozen yogurt. The cheery atmosphere and brightly colored decor were a stark contrast to his stormy expression.
“Have to get this right,” Todoroki muttered.
Today, Todoroki Shouto was going to make the most perfect swirl of froyo Japan has ever seen. Iida sent a brief prayer of thanks to all the gods and bodhisattvas he knew that he is able to bear witness to such an undertaking.
The sanctity of the chocolate-vanilla swirl was being honored in this moment.
“Hurry the heck up, slowpokes!” Bakugo’s scowl was audible over the heads of four other antsy customers. “Stop making a giant turd and get a life!”
Todoroki turned his bowl precisely ninety degrees while maintaining steady pressure on the dispenser. “I still have to add coconut flakes.”
Iida felt like he should be taking notes, or at least blogging about this momentous occasion.
*
When Iida was younger, he wanted to be an archeologist.
“I’ll find the first person who ever had a quirk,” he explained to his mother.
On Monday, he told his dad, “I’m going to find the oldest aquatic animal there ever was!”
By Thursday afternoon, he was telling his grandmother that the most important skill an archeologist could have was the ability of foresight. “Imagine if there was quirk to predict where ancient bones were buried!”
His grandmother had soft hands and hard scars. The glint in her eye was a tiny sparkle nearly hidden by her wrinkles. She had touched her eyepatch, and then touched his cheek, just under the rim of his glasses.
“Tenya,” she said. “I think you’re quirk is amazing already.”
*
On the old-school tetris machine, Jirou was crushing all her competitors with a ferocious grin on her face. The thing was old enough to be someone’s grandparent, with two joy sticks, two red buttons, all wrapped up in a faded metal shell decorated with half removed graffiti and peeling stickers.
Asui laughed as she stepped back from the machine. “Good game, Jirou.”
Iida was waiting for his turn. For now, Kaminari stepped forward, rubbing his hands in barely suppressed glee.
“Are you ready to lose?!” He crowed.
Jirou’s ear jacks whipped back and forth impatiently. “Not likely.”
“Hey, Mr. Class President,” Asui said, “have you seen Midoriya?”
“I haven’t seen him since we all got our coins. Have you tried texting him?”
“No reception.” Asui grimaced.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure he’ll turn up.”
*
The archeology community had started to theorize that not even Tyrannosaurus Rex ran across prehistoric dirt all alone.
*
Midoriya looked small sitting under the fake, palm trees. He was a motionless island in an ocean of people going about their business.
“Hi,” Iida said.
Tensei would have make an easy joke to Midoriya out of his shell. He was good at handling these kinds of situations. Iida was just going to have to try his best.
“Hey, Iida,” Midoriya said. He didn’t turn up to greet Iida. He kept his eyes fixed on the moving crowd of shoppers.
“What are you doing out here alone?”
“Just thinking about the last time I was here.”
“Ah,” Iida muttered eloquently. “When you met—”
“I don’t really want to talk about that,” Midoriya said. He punctuated his outburst with a nervous laugh. Iida finally turned to look at him. They were all tired, and they all knew that this fragile weekend at the mall was a temporary moment of inactivity—not peace, never peace—but Midoriya seemed to be having the most difficult time putting the world’s greater problems out of his head.
“That’s fine. Whenever you’re ready.” Iida settled back into his seat. He pressed his shoulder against Midoriya’s. The silence they sat in wasn’t comfortable, but it felt acceptable, like they had managed to say something important.
After a few minutes, Iida said, “Remember, when you told me I wasn’t alone, in that alley when we fought—”
“Oh, yeah,” Midoriya said. He gave another nervous laughter, but it sounded steadier somehow. Iida didn’t turn to look at him, but he nodded to show he was listening. “I remember him. I don’t think I’d ever felt so scared and happy at the same time.”
*
This isn’t really about dinosaurs.
*
The bus ride back to UA was quieter than the bus ride to Wookies. Today had been a rare treat, and the anticipation of what was to come hung over their heads like a sword on a string.
Furtive whispers raced along the aisle of the bus.
“What do you think the headmaster is planning for tomorrow?”
“It’s gonna be something big!”
“Is the League...are they…”
“Shh, don’t talk about them.”
Iida glanced at Aizawa-sensei, but he was no help since he was deep asleep. At least, he looked like he was asleep. It was too much to hope that he might reveal something about the future. Something had to be done and quickly. There just didn’t seem to be a whole lot that he might be able to accomplish sitting on a moving bus desperately trying to salvage something of the good mood from earlier. He just wanted one more day, one more day where everything was fine and they could all have fun in each other’s company.
“Kaminari,” Iida said, loudly. “I bet you a thousand yen that I can generate more electricity running on a treadmill than you can with a single burst of Electrification.”
“Oh my god, Mr. Class President placed a wager!” Kirishima crowed. He didn’t sound bothered a single bit by Iida’s descent into the dark arts.
“When we get back!” Kaminari shouted. “We’re going! To the gym! To rumble!”
In the mad scramble to bet chore duties and carefully hoarded snacks on the outcome of the wager, Iida spared a quick glance to confirm Aizawa-sensei was still out for the count. The enthusiasm the class generated felt exaggerated, like they knew exactly what he was doing, but were willing to play along for a few more hours. The day wasn’t over yet.
Iida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with the tip of a finger, and felt something warm bloom in his chest. With all of them in this together, there was no way they could lose.