Chapter 11
A Night In
Spider-Journal Entry 62:
Things have taken a turn.
Two weeks ago I tailed the enforcers back to the hideout that was developing smart phones that are able to block cell signals to emergency numbers and pro hero agencies. I know this for a fact because I've come across three more phones like it when out stopping things like robberies for things of high value. Jewels, bonds, I even stopped a museum heist where they were trying to steal some of the pieces of art!
It's really concerning that this has been going on and seemingly none of the pro heroes have been doing anything about it. I mean I could be wrong, maybe someone is investigating it. But if they were, wouldn't they ask people to report something like that? And why isn't it being reported at all?
Itsuka said that the Enforcers are hired muscle, and even though they went to jail these phones are still being produced…..so the big question is who's behind all of this. Because the more I think about it? The less I like it.
There were a lot of things on Izuku Midroiya's mind at the moment, one was the fact that despite the workshop where these cell phones that could block first responder calls being blown up, they were still showing up during his patrols around the city. Another was how he needed to find a new lead for something that Hodo and her people needed photographed that he could turn in. The museum opening he went to wasn't on their radar so they didn't take anything.
But right now, he was most focused on the third thing that had occupied a lot of his free time in the past week, organizing a dinner with the Kendo family. Which meant he spent a lot of time messaging Itsuka to make sure they didn't prepare anything that they were allergic to, or didn't agree with them, but the main takeaway from that was that HE WAS TEXTING A GIRL.
It was the small victories he cherished, truly.
He was dressed nice, a pair of black dress pants with a white long sleeved button up shirt. He didn't usually dress up so as far as 'nice' clothes he had this was pretty much the extent of what he owned, but given that Kendo said that they were having a casual dinner, his mom didn't think they needed to dress fancy…..which also allowed him to hide his costume underneath his clothes in case something unexpected happened.
"If the address she gave us is correct, it should be around the next corner." Inko said, looking down at her phone and guiding them while her son carried the container of food they had prepared as a present after confirming with Itsuka that it would be fine to bring something themselves for the dinner. The Midoriya matriarch was giddy with anticipation for this evening, and that itself made Izuku happy to be out doing this even more.
Inko had also gone for a casual look with a nice green skirt with a nice black turtleneck that was perfect for the cold air tonight. As they continued down the street, they spotted a familiar girl with ginger red hair standing outside a two story building, the front of the building had a wide set of double doors beneath a sign that read, 'Kendo Family Dojo' above the front entrance. The lights were off inside and the sign in the glass door was flipped closed. Beside the front entrance however was a stairwell that led up to the second story, the windows were lit and shadows passed in front of them occasionally.
Itsuka herself was dressed in a light blue dress that ended just above her knees, a brown belt wrapping around her waist to keep the dress in place. It was a polo style dress with buttons that went up to the base of her clavicle, with a white trim around the neck area. She also wore a dark blazer overtop her dress which complemented the light blue and white of the dress she wore, she saw the mother and son approaching and waved over to them with a friendly smile.
"Hey you two, just in time!" She warmly greeted Inko as she walked up to her with a bright smile while Izuku followed behind her shyly.
Inko bowed her head in greeting, "It's so nice to see you again dear, thank you so much for helping set this up."
Itsuka shook her head, "It's no problem. You let me into your home, it's only right we let you into ours." she said before looking over at Izuku and blinking a little. When she met him he was wearing baggy clothes but with the dress shirt on, she noticed he was more lean than she initially thought. Nothing insane like some body builders, but enough that she noticed he wasn't as scrawny as she initially thought.
She led them up the staircase and through the door to her home, "Mom, dad, Wei, the Midoriyas' are here!" she called out as their guests entered behind her. Her mom's head poked out from the dining room followed by the rest of her, she smiled as she approached.
"Hi! You must be Inko and Izuku, it's so nice to meet you two. I'm Emi Kendo." she greeted warmly before bowing her head to them both slightly.
Inko clasped her hands together, "Thank you so much for inviting us into your home."
"It's the least I can do for the people who showed my daughter some hospitality." she said before looking at her daughter and giving her a smile. Itsuka rolled her eyes, when he told her parents about her detour to the Midoriya home to drop off the camera she found, she had immediately jumped at the chance to meet some new people. Her dad wasn't as enthusiastic as his mom but she could tell that he was more than happy to use it as an excuse to show off his cooking skills.
Izuku presented the dish they prepared for the evening, and her mother complimented the handsome young man which caused his face to flush red at the praise before they were led to the dining room. "Oh Itsuka, can you check on your brother? He was helping me set the table." she asked her. Itsuka nodded and strode into the kitchen where her dad was hard at work finishing up at the stove, while her brother searched the cabinet for the plates his mom wanted.
While Itsuka and her mother had a slight resemblance, Wei Kendo was a mixture of both their parents in terms of appearance. He had the blue eyes of his mom but the black hair of their dad. But while his dad's was neatly combed over to the side, Wei's was sticking forward with carefully applied hair gel. His body was a little larger like her dad's, more broad, but despite how that might intimidate some people he was actually one of the sweetest guys Kendo knew….when he didn't annoy her.
"Hey Ken, you know where mom put those yellow plates?" he asked her as he moved some aside in the storage space.
She pointed at the high cabinet over the countertop, "Oh we moved those in there, we cleaned out the snacks and moved them too." she informed him. Wei closed the doors and walked over to where she indicated. "You'd probably know that if you dropped by more often." she teased gently.
"Maybe, but then I'd have to deal with this annoying sound. It's funny, I just heard it a second ago when you opened your mouth." he smirked, taking out the plates and holding them up between them so Itsuka couldn't retaliate like she used to by slugging his shoulder.
"Ken, can you help me bring these in?" her dad called out, she turned her head and saw him put the lids on the pots before turning off the stove.
Dinner consisted of Curry and Udon noodles which Ryuji had spent the past hour preparing for the guests, while the Midoriyas provided a cake for the six of them to dig into for dessert later. "-and you run the dojo all by yourself? Isn't that hard?" Inko asked Emi as she took a bite of the curry that her husband prepared for them.
She shrugged, "Not really, I grew up in dojos like this after school, so I know all the types of people who come around looking to learn." she looked over at her daughter. "Kendo used to help me with some of the younger kids, but when she got to high school she got an actual job so now I get some older students to help in exchange for a discount on lessons."
Izuku turned to Kendo who was sitting across from him, her brother on his right and her left, "O-Oh! I didn't even ask what you do." he apologized sheepishly.
Itsuka smiled and waved him off, "It's fine, I work over at F.E.A.S.T., it's a homeless shelter that has a couple spread across the city." she explained. "It stands for Food, Emergency, Aid, Shelter, Training." she recited upon seeing Izuku's head tilt to the side in curiosity. "And yeah we get asked that a lot."
"I still have to ask her once in a while." Ryuiji snorted as he gave his daughter a proud smile. His gaze shifted over to the young man sitting across from her, "So Izuku," he began, causing the teen's head to turn to him at attention. "Kendo mentioned the camera she returned to you was for a job, how's it going?" he inquired, instantly noticing how the young man seemed to be nervous.
"I-It's good! I mean, it's different than what I thought a job like this would be like, I-I actually have to take a lot of initiative." he explained. The last two weeks had been a But if a learning curve for Izuku, but with Hodo's advice he had managed to get a few assignments that had turned out to be fruitful for him. "I'm just grateful that they took my pictures."
Wei glanced over at his sister and raised a brow, when he had been told about the dinner and that there was a boy Itsuka met coming over, his first thought was to do the embarrassing 'big brother needs to approve before dating' bit. He and his dad pulled the act the first time that Sero came over and the guy was sweating bullets until Kendo chopped the both of them in the back of the neck. But she had pulled him aside and told him specifically not to do that with Izuku…..which of course made him want to do it even more, but after threats of both violence and blackmail from his sister he gave her his word.
But now he understood why, "Don't sell yourself so short, your skills get better with time. Trust me on that." he said with a knowing smile.
"It's true." Emi confirmed as she stirred her curry a little more, "Skills grow with determination and time, it's what I tell my students all the time." she said, glancing over at her daughter with a smirk. "Itsuka nearly broke her hand the first time she tried to break a board. But now she could smash through a dozen of them." she praised proudly.
Izuku's head turned to Itsuka, the ginger haired girl smiling bashfully, he glanced down at her hands and recalled how her quirk worked. "Um…was that with, or without you quirk?" he asked.
"No quirks in the dojo." the family said in unison save for Mei who smirked proudly.
"...note to self. Do not get chopped." he said without thinking, his eyes widened at the slip of his tongue. He was about to apologize when Wei let out a snort while Itsuka stared at him for a second before she joined her brother with a giggle of her own.
"Yes Midoriya, that is a generally good idea to have." she replied, the green haired teen's cheeks warming in embarrassment from his slip up. Itsuka frowned a little, she had hoped that inviting Izuku and his mom over might get him to loosen up like she had seen at the restaurant for a brief moment. And for some reason it bothered her. Izuku seemed like a nice guy, so why did he act like at any second someone was going to snap at him? She thought that his mom might be the reason briefly but that idea evaporated as quickly as it crossed her mind.
"What friends?"
She felt her frown deepen as she remembered how he asked that, it wasn't snide, or sarcastic, it was genuine.
"So Inko, what do you do?" Itsuka's mother asked as her daughter took a bite of her noodles.
The friendly mother waved a hand, "Oh nothing special, I work as a receptionist at an office." she dismissed, "It's nice, I get to organize a lot." she added, causing Ryuji to nearly choke on his glass of water, which his wife responded by sending him a sharp look. "Er….something wrong?"
Ryuji opened his mouth but a firm foot planted on his own made him stop, he looked over at his wife. Whom he loved dearly, but also had maybe the worst sense of organization known to mankind, and he was smart enough to know that was not something she liked advertised. "No. Nothing. I just….went down the wrong pipe." he wisely decided.
Itsuka and Wei shared an unimpressed look, knowing that their dad had just dodged a bullet. Not the first time, and probably not the last either by the looks of it, Inko smiled as she recalled how she and Hassashi would have little barbs with one another like that. "So then Ryuji, how is it being retired at our age?" she asked.
Ryuji opened his mouth, but his wife beat him to the punch, "Oh he hates it."
"Mei!" he balked at her. She smirked at him knowingly, "Well, hate is a strong word for it." his hand reached out towards his wife who saw the gesture and reached out as well, clasping their hands together, "I love being home with my family. And it's not like I miss the fifty hour work weeks, or the low salary, or the six hour meetings once a month-"
"Not hearing any downsides so far." Wei muttered loud enough for Itsuka and Izuku to hear.
"-but I do miss what I did. Keeping people safe, helping our communities, and just…being able to change things." he said with a melancholic sigh. He glanced over at Emi, "But I also knew that while I was away, I was missing my family, I missed more of Itsuka's tournaments then I'd like. Or the PTA meetings Emi attended for the both of us. I wasn't around, and it hurt both me and my family." he said. HIs head turned to his daughter and smiled, "It's why I'm glad Itsuka decided to be a pro hero instead of a policewoman. They're allowed to have more time for themselves than we are."
"That and if she was on the force all the heroes would have to retire from how good she did her job." Emi joked.
Itsuka rolled her eyes at the chuckles around the table, but it didn't stop the swell of pride in her chest.
Soon, the Curry and Udon was finished and the cake that the Midroiyas provided was sliced up and divided among the hosts and guests. It also signaled that they didn't need to all sit down at the table anymore, so while the adults went into the kitchen where Mei had a bottle of wine for the three of them to open, Wei gathered the dishes on the table with the intent to clean them. Izuku reached for his plate to join the older sibling in cleaning up, but a smack to his hands made him jump, he turned to see Emi's hand stretching out from the kitchen where she was giving him a pout. "Izuku honey, that's very nice of you but my son is only home for two weeks before classes start up and I'm getting my use out of him before he takes off."
"Wow. Love you too mom." Wei dryly replied as he collected Izuku's plate while his mom's hand retracted back to her, not too dissimilar to how Mr Fantastic's quirk worked.
As he walked past Izuku he looked over at his sister, he quickly leaned over to her and whispered, "Don't be forceful."
She blinked and turned back to him in surprise but he kept walking.
Emi flashed her son a smile before turning to Itsuka who was getting a paper plate of cake, "Honey can you distract our other guest? We have grown up stuff to talk about." Izuku looked over at his mother who beamed like a kid being invited to sit at the popular kids' table.
…Izuku then wondered if he got more than his hair and eye color from his mom.
Suddenly Kendo raised a plate of the cake in front of him, "Uh, here? We can goooooo-"
She trailed off as the first thought was her room, but inviting a boy she hardly knew into her room would immediately send some signals that she was pretty sure would make Izuku fall into some sort of coma. Not to mention she didn't want him to see her posters of motorcycles…well ok that was fine but if a boy saw the figure she had Makoto Nijima from the Persona anime that she had? She'd have some explaining to do. "-oooooo to the dojo!" she pivoted. It wasn't the first time she had a meal down there after all, "Come on, this way." she said as she led him the way they entered the apartment.
Izuku swallowed and followed her lead, walking down the hall that led past the bedroom and her dad's study to a small stairwell that led down discreetly into the first floor of the building. As they walked past her room, Kendo failed to notice the fluffy head of her cat poke out and look after her and the guest.
Descending the staircase, they walked through the door leading to the dojo. Ituska reached out and flicked the switch near the door, lighting up the open space of the floor. The floor was covered in mats on the ground for when trainees were thrown or knocked down, on the walls were a few shelves which were adorned with photos, trophies, and certificates. AS his eyes went over them, Izuku's gaze landed on a picture of a much younger-looking Itsuka, holding a trophy up over her head proudly with a large smile…..and a missing tooth.
She winced at the picture, "Yeeeah, not my best look. Last of my baby teeth got knocked out that day. Freaked the ref out." she explained before sitting down on the mat cross legged with the plate resting in her lap.
Izuku mirrored her, "Er-well, at least you won?"
Kendo smirked, "Yes, glorious third place."
"Erk!"
She waved him off, "It's fine, it was my first trophy, I was pumped." she said before looking down at the cake, "...I know that I'm currently on a strict diet, and can only eat certain foods….but I don't have it in me to turn this away." she admitted before grabbing her fork from the pate and taking a bite of the treat.
She let out a hum of euphoria, damn the extra calories she was going to need to burn off this was worth it!
Izuku took a bite himself and smiled, he and his mom both worked on this and he was happy with how it came out. "So Midoriya, are you….enjoying yourself?" Kendo asked.
"Oh! Y-yeah! I am!" He confirmed, "It's been…..well it's been a while since me and my mom were invited to meet a new family like this."
Kendo felt her lip twitch, she took another bite before her next question, "That's good. I was….well I was kind of worried if I'm being honest." Izuku tilted his head, "Well…you mentioned something before at the pier and it sorta stuck with me." She admitted, looking down at her plate, "About….What friends did you have?"
The green haired teen straightened up, he had completely forgotten about that! Good he must have sounded pathetic! "It's just-well…..I….um…..don't….have many friends." He fumbled.
Itsuka stared at him intently, "But you DO have friends, right?" She asked. His mind flashed to bakugo, but the thought made him grimace. He never tried to dwell on it, he just accepted that he didn't have many friends and moved on with it, and when he got his powers he was so focused on being Spider-Man that he didn't even really consider the lack of friendship with others his age.
He looked down and rubbed the back of his head, "I….um…..don't…actually. I thought that…there was one guy who I considered my friend for a long time but….it took me a while to realize that he wasn't." he explained vaguely on purpose. He wasn't ready to unpack that whole can of worms with someone right now, and from the crestfallen expression Itsuka had he was already scared that he might have shared too much.
But she was quiet, staring at him and silently conveying him to keep talking. And….he wanted to, but that would also mean telling her the thing that made everyone else…go away from him. But Itsuka was nice, she was a good person, Izuku hadn't known her for long but he could tell that much about her already. "It's….well….it's mainly because I'm…..quirkless." he mumbled out awkwardly.
Kendo blinked.
And then blinked again as what he said registered, "I-wait, what?"
He nodded, thankful that she seemed more confused than anything else, "Y-Yeah. I mean, I know it's pretty rare, and there's less and less people who aren't born with quirks as time goes on, but last time I checked it was about…..20% of the world's population?" he said, trying to recall the exact number. Little less than a quarter of the world's entire population wasn't anything to sneeze at, about 1.6 billion people.
Itsuka was…..she felt like someone just pulled the rug out from under her just hard enough to trip her up. She watched as Izuku looked down at his cake, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mention it before." he began to apologize before her face solidified.
Oh. HELL. No.
"Midroiya." she cut him off, making him shut his mouth and sit at attention as she looked hard into his eyes, "I….you have absolutely nothing to apologize for! Why on earth would you?" she asked.
"I…..er…..you looked kinda…..irked?" he replied quietly.
She felt the fork in her hand bend against her thumb pressing into the neck of it but she did not care, "Oh don't get me wrong, I am beyond irked and straight up pissed off right now, why the hell would anyone treat you any differently because of that?" she asked as her hand slammed down on the mat beside her in frustration. Midoriya glanced between her fist on the mat and her face, she took a long deep breath, "Sorry, I just….I need a minute to get over the…..fricking audacity."
"Uh…..ok?" Izuku didn't exactly know how to respond, outside of his mom he never had someone get angry on his behalf.
It was weird…..not in a bad way, but it was still weird.
After a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes and looked at him once more, "That is…god Midoriya I don't…..I can't even imagine what that's like. I'm…" she paused, saying she was 'sorry' didn't feel right. It made it sound like there was something she thought was wrong with him which was simply not the case at all. She felt the righteous anger begin to flare up again but kept a lid on it, "...you don't deserve to be treated like that."
He quickly raised both his hands and waved them, "Oh no! It's fine-er, well….maybe not fine. But I don't let it bother me much…anymore."
"Wha-no!" she exclaimed, "Midoriya you are totally justified for that bothering you! I mean I'm freaking pissed off about it and it's not even me they're doing it to it's you. That's messed up!" he replied heatedly, causing the teen to sweatdrop.
"I…..well….kind of. Yeah." She gave a stern, disapproving look, "I-ok yeah it is." his shoulders sagged.
She shook her head in disbelief at the whole thing, "Midoriya I'm just…..I haven't met anyone quirkless before, but I can't imagine why anyone would treat you differently, or this….wrong over it." she said, having a hard time wrapping her head around that sort of mentality.
"W-well…..I kind of….obsess over heroes. I mean, you saw my notebook. And…certain people think it's just a waste for a quirkless person to…..want to be a hero." he admitted sadly.
Itsuka stared at him in utter disbelief. His revelation hanging in the air for a moment as silence passed through the dojo, he decided to occupy it by taking a bite of his cake.
Itsuka however, that lid she was keeping on her anger?
Yeah that flew off.
"Oh fuck that!" she spat out with anger and vitriol that made Izuku back up a few paces from the aura of absolute rage that seemed to radiate off the redhead. Her eyes locked onto his, "You're telling me, these people, your classmates, treat you differently and just don't interact with you; because you like heroes and they think it's….sad. Do I have that right?" she asked, the last part coming out through gritted teeth. Izuku swallowed what was in his throat, which was nothing, and nodded quickly.
Itsuka took a deep breath through her nose, and let it out through her mouth, "Sorry. Sorry I just….Midoriya this is…..this is beyond fucked. I mean-and this might sound dumb, but what about your teachers?" she asked, trying to find or think of some way to help him.
"They…don't want to get in the way of anyone's future." he said carefully. He saw the sour look on Kendo's face and decided to elaborate, "I-I mean it's not like they don't…..they kind of just…look it's not like they encourage it or anything." he finally managed to say in a way that wasn't too bad. "I mean my homeroom teacher stops it before anything gets too bad. So they're not completely-"
"What's 'it'?" Kendo interrupted.
Izuku blinked, 'Huh?"
"It. You said they don't encourage it before it gets too bad." she pointed out, her brow raised as she observed him. The more she found out about what Izuku was dealing with the more she realized that he was trying to downplay it.
"Erk!"
She stared at him expectantly, his gaze shifted down at his lap, feeling like he was being scolded for something. However, watching Izuku's reluctance made something click in her head, the way he was closed off, the reluctance to talk about his troubles, and the way he tried to downplay them.
Wei's words from before came back to her, "Don't be forceful."
He knew…..he knew what izuku was going through…because he had been there before.
It was back when he was in high school, Wei's temperament had gotten noticeably shorter with everyone. One day he snapped at her for asking him for a ride to the movies, she had been tolerating his attitude for a few weeks at that point but that had been her breaking point. A shouting match between them ensued until he let it slip what was happening.
Wei had been the target of three stuck up bitches who thought it'd be fun to make fun of the hefty guy in class. Nothing physical, but hurtful notes left in lockers, rumors being spread about his weight, and some gestures that spread across his class to make fun of him.
Suffice to say, she had been pissed off.
Pissed off enough to break one of their noses. But Wei managed to stop her before she could get to the other two, which was lucky because she had a week of detention because of it already. After that incident, she and Wei talked and came out of it closer than ever before, he told her about how he felt ashamed, embarrassed, but most of all afraid. Afraid that things would somehow get worse if he told others.
That's what made her connect the dots, Izuku was being bullied….because he was quirkless.
And while that thought alone made her rage come back, what tempered it was her empathy.
"Midoriya…I'm sorry." She bowed her head slightly.
He was stunned for a moment before shaking his head, "O-Oh no! It's fine I just…..I don't talk to anyone about this stuff…." He admitted. he rubbed the back of his head, "…..I um…..I don't talk to my mom about this stuff because….I don't want her to worry. She already does so much and…I don't want to complain."
She shook her head, "It's not complaining Midoriya. It's…..your being treated badly and….and you know it." She looked down at her mostly eaten cake and set her plate aside, adjusting her position so she was sitting with her knees bent up in front of her so she could rest her chin atop them.
Izuku's eyes glanced down at her legs briefly before snapping back up at her, thankfully she didn't seem to notice. "I just…..I don't get why you're not pissed about this. I would be if it were me."
Well getting Spider powers and becoming a vigilante really takes the sting out of it. He thought to himself. And while that was true, before he got his powers? Despite the torment he went through, he just…..he couldn't find it in himself to hate his classmates for it. Bakugo was…..that was a different story, and those were some emotions he definitely did not want to get into right now.
"I guess…it bugs me. Sure, but…..well….my whole life, I wanted to be a hero. Like All Might." He explained, smiling despite the situation and missing the way Itsuka seemed to wince. "But without a quirk? That's not something I can do…..and I didn't accept that for the longest time because…..it meant giving up on my dream."
"Midoriya….."
"But then I actually got to meet All Might, and he told me something that made me realize…just because I can't be a pro hero, doesn't mean I shouldn't act like one." He said with a proud smile. He knew that it probably sounded corny, and probably dorky but it was the truth. "I can't be a pro but…..I can still help people. And that's what's most important."
He let his words hang in the air for a moment before daring to look up at Itsuka, the young woman's eyes were wide at his words. The conviction that he held in his voice, the truth his words held….and how the smile he had was the most heartfelt she had ever seen on him or maybe anyone else.
Feeling himself blush, he looked down in embarrassment.
Oh no he's cute. Itsuka thought as she felt her chest clench emphatically for the expression he made. "Midoriya that's…..that's actually really inspiring."
He blinked but dismissively shook his head in response, "I-I wouldn't say that Kendo, I'm just….making the best of my situation?"
She raised a brow and gave him a look of skepticism, she then shook her head with a more playful smile. "Nah. Don't buy it. That's legitimately inspiring." All Izuku could do in response was look down at the mat between them as his bashfulness showed. "I'll be honest, I was curious what your deal was."
He tilted his head, "My deal?"
She nodded, "I mean you've been kind of nervous around me since we met." she replied, making the young man reluctantly nod in agreement. she leaned back on the palms of her hands, "But….well, when you explain it? I can understand why…I'm sorry you gotta deal with assholes like that."
He sputtered at the language she used but couldn't help the small smile, "Er-wouldn't exactly put it like that. I mean, it sucks but the way I see it? Once I finish this year, it'll be a new chance at U.A." He said positively.
Itsuka couldn't help but smile at his outlook, she wasn't lying when she said it was inspiring to see him deal with his hardships the way he was. She couldn't imagine what it'd be like for everyone to tell her that her desire to be a hero was fruitless. Especially considering how All Might himself was now training her, a part of her even wondered if All Might would still have offered her his power if she had been quirkless herself.
And despite all of that, including the treatment he's gotten, Izuku still wanted to help people, regardless of having a quirk or not. "Well…..I know this probably doesn't mean much coming from me. But…Midoriya, I think you'd make an amazing hero." she encouraged with a smile.
The sentiment, while seemingly innocuous, made the air leave Izuku's lungs like someone just knocked it out of him.
Suddenly he's a little kid who just finds out that he's different from everyone else, that he's quirkless, and that he can't be the one thing he wants to be in the entire world. He can't pursue his dream, because it's not for him….and he just wanted his mom to tell him that he could as a comfort. Those words, 'You can be a hero.' didn't come.
But now they did, after he has powers that he needs to keep hidden, after he finds a way to make his dream a reality but he can't live it entirely. Some would call it bittersweet, others ironic, but Izuku? Izuku feels validation, vindication for years of being told that he couldn't.
Itsuka gasped a little when she saw his face, "Mi-Midoriya-" she breathed out.
He blinked, reaching a hand up he felt wetness on his cheeks, he didn't even realize the tears leaking from his eyes, "S-Sorry!" he said, raising a sleeve and wiping the tears away. Embarrassment flooded him as he dried the tears of relief, "Sorry I-I didn't…..that just…..I…..I really needed to hear that." he explained, flashing her a grateful smile.
Kendo felt her chest clench, she felt so wronged on Izuku's behalf on how he was treated, and seeing him shed tears of actual joy over being told something encouraging made her want give him a hug…..while strangling whoever made he him feel this bad about himself in the first place.
"Mrroww."
The two jolted at the purr as Izuku looked down beside where he was sitting and saw an all black cat rub up against his side and begin purring, "O-oh!"
"Felicia! You know you're not allowed down here." she reprimanded as she leaned over to snatch her cat up, only for the feline to climb up into Izuku's lap, making him freeze and look down at her in a slight panic while she curled up in a ball in his lap. "...oh you lazy little bitch."
"Uhhh….is she yours?" Izuku asked, keeping his hands up and not daring to touch the feline, that he had saved exactly one cat from a tree during his time as Spider-Man. And while he thought it was amusing at the time, when he approached the cat it had immediately leapt onto his face and begun clawing at him before he could stop it. Thankfully he had returned the clawed menace back to it's owner…..but his suit had spent an hour repairing the damage done to it.
Itsuka smiled before reaching over and scratching the small creature between her ears, "Yeah, this is Felicia. She's mine, but she's not allowed down here since she clawed up one of the training mats a while ago…..plus you never know who's allergic to cat hair." she added. Izuku lets out an 'ah' of understanding. As she leaned back, Kendo snorted at the sight of him keeping his hands away from her like she was some sort of doomsday device.
Which she was, but typically it was just with her brother, "You can pet her you know." she invited.
Izuku's gaze flicked between her and the cat in his lap, he slowly brought his hands down and ran one along Felicia's spine, causing the feline to let out a deep purr that reverberated against him. "Woah." he said in a small but awed voice that made Itsuka snort.
She looked down at her cat companion and smiled, Felicia had a good knack for sensing someone's mood. Whenever she had a bad day for whatever reason, she would trot right over to her side and shower her with affection. "You a cat person?" She asked.
Izuku shook his head, "We're not allowed to have pets at our place. But after this probably!" he said, giving Felicia a scratch beneath her chin, causing her green eyes to roll up as they closed. Felicia rolled over in his lap, showing her belly to their guest who gently massaged the expanse of fur.
Kendo felt her brow twitch. …..it takes me a bag full of treats to get her in a tummy rub mood but he just shows you some affection and you literally roll over for him.
Pushing the feeling of envy for Izuku's apparently amazing finger skills, she finished off the slice of cake and pushed the plate aside. "You know…..if people are giving you trouble, I could help." she offered. Izuku looked up from Felicia as Itsuka raised a fist, "I mean we ARE in a dojo."
Izuku blinked, his mind struggling to do the math for a moment. Until finally realizing two plus two equals four among some other things eloquently responded, "Oh-wait-huh?" She giggled as she waved her raised fist, "I-wha-er…..Kendo, I mean I'm really grateful for the offer but I can't….er….well really there's only one person who does anything physical but he's actually been keeping away from me so I think my best strategy is to keep that going as long as possible."
Itsuka shot him a deadpan stare, "...and you expect me to be ok with the possibility of some asshole beating you up out of the blue?"
"...if I say 'yes'-"
"No Midoriya. The answer is no."
His head nodded obediently at the stern tone, Felicia, sensing her owner's glare at the person whose lap she occupied, rolled over and trotted off to the corner while Itsuka stood up. "Look, have you ever been in a fight before? I mean like you fighting back?" she asked with her hands on her hips while Izuku followed her example and stood up.
He thought about how to answer that, since becoming Spider-Man? More than he really imagined he would as a hero. But before that? "Well…..yeah, when I was five?" he said, thinking back to the playground incident with Bakugo when he was bullying someone else.
Itsuka nodded unsurprised, "And how did that go?"
"...I got the crap beaten out of me." he admitted with a small pout.
Kendo felt herself smile at the cute expression of his freckled cheeks puffing out in frustration, "And I imagine that whoever beat you up is the same guy who torments you now?" she guessed. Izuku's head dropped comically and nodded, "Yeah I figured. Assholes like that don't stop until someone gets them to stop. So the next time he tries something on you? I want you to be able to make him think twice about it." she said with a smirk. "It doesn't matter what quirk he has, if you give him a good hit to the face? He'll think twice of taking a swing at you."
Seeing as how Kendo was determined to at least impart something onto him, Izuku decided to humor her and nod.
Kendo bent her torso back until she felt a satisfying pop before tilting back upright, "Alright, so first thing's first, I want to see what your fighting stance is." she said. Izuku blinked as he considered what to do, whenever he did fight he was mostly relying on what he's seen other heroes do as well as what his instincts told him. So he opted to get into a stance that was similar to what he would typically do, holding his hands up into fists, he held both up slightly but not enough to cover his line of sight. His weight shifted as his hips lowered and his legs widened their stance.
Itsuka let out a hum, stepping forward she circled around Izuku, the freckled young man feeling his cheeks warm as her eyes roamed over him. Her hand reached out and gently grasped his right wrist, "This is actually pretty good, but a little higher in case you need to block." she advised before walking behind him.
Izuku's face was beat red at the fact that Kendo was bold enough that she didn't care about touching him. It's fine, it's ok. He thought.
Then, Itsuka stepped forward into him, her face a few inches away from his with her hands on his hips.
MAYDAY, NOT FINE. NOT FINE AT ALL!
"Rotate them slightly….hmm, yeah there we go." Itsuka hummed approvingly as Izuku tried his damnedest to not let out the whine that was now trapped in his throat. Her foot touched the inner side of his left foot and pushed it over slightly so his center of mass was equally distributed between his points of contact with the ground. "A good foundation is key, remember that."
"KAY!" he replied in a high pitched voice, though Itsuka seemed too focused on his form to care. Her hands grabbed his shoulders from the back and tilted them to match his hip's rotation, before he could react she then took his arm and adjusted it to match….or tried to as he now felt like he was stiff as a board.
"Wha-" she muttered before her hand slid down his arm towards his elbow, however in doing so she brushed over his bicep….his very muscular bicep.
Kendo felt her brain stop momentarily before booting up again and realizing that she felt…..well, what felt like pure sculpture beneath his dress shirt.
There were women who preferred men who had a lot of muscles, men who looked like bodybuilders who could lift a car over their heads. Itsuka was not one of those women…but that didn't mean she didn't like guys who were firm and athletic, so suddenly feeling Midroiya's arms were sculpted perfectly to what she would expect gave her pause for two reasons. The first being Izuku didn't seem like the kind of guy to go to the gym and work out most days of the week, and secondly….damn if it wasn't just…..perfect.
"K-Kendo?" Izuku whimpered out.
She looked over to his beat red face while his eyes were looking anywhere other than into her's, she looked down at what she was doing…..which was basically copping a feel on his bicep.
"Kendo, Izuku, are you two done with your-" Both teens froze at the sound of Emi's voice, and both of them slowly turned both their heads to the entrance from the upstairs apartment to see Emi poking her head inside and staring at the two teens. With her daughter right in Izuku's personal space with one hand feeling up his arm.
"..."
"..."
"...I'll be back in an hour." Emi said before closing the door.
"MOM NO!"
"I-IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"
Itsuka frowned as her brother grinned at her on the couch, "So when I said don't be forceful did that just go in one ear and-"
"Do you like having testicles Wei?" Itsuka growled out. Her brother lifted his leg and crossed it over his crotch, "That's what I thought." she said. Having to rush upstairs and explain that what her mom walked in on wasn't what it looked like, Izuku spent the next fifteen minutes on his hands and knees apologizing while his and her parents were chuckling at his performance.
Itsuka looked over and shook her head before turning her attention to the TV that Wei had been watching while their parents and Inko were talking and getting to know each other better. Feclica was in her lap, the feline purring affectionately as her owner scratched the spot between her ears she knew she liked. Embarrassing misunderstanding aside this had been a nice evening.
Turning her attention to the television, her eyes widened when she saw the newscaster with a photo of a familiar red mask with angled white eyes. "-past few months of a vigilante active in Japan. With scattered reports of him subduing criminals, which police and pro heroes have apprehended, the Spider-Man has had unchecked autonomy. However shocking footage has been released that will probably change that." the reporter said as Izuku stood up from the ground and entered the room.
A video then played, captured from a security camera of Spider-Man on the ground outside the store that he had followed the Enforcers into. However, a moment later, the building exploded! "The video was sent to this station along with others, and after conferring with investigating police, we have confirmation of the video's authenticity."
Izuku stared in disbelief, it wasn't that the footage outright lied but it had been doctored! It didn't show him fighting the enforcers, or the old man fleeing the scene, or him saving the enforcers from the fire! It…it's not true! I never-that's a lie! He thought indignantly. It wasn't the fact that the footage had been altered or that it was being shown that irked him, but the fact it was being passed off as truth without question!
"Huh. Guess he's a bad guy." Wei commented nonchalantly, Izuku felt like he was just punched in the gut from the dismissal as the adults entered the room to watch the broadcast.
Looking over at Itsuka, he saw the frown she had, the conflicted expression she carried, and while she verbally didn't say anything….seeing the first person who saw him as a hero doubt him? It was deep pain, the pain of failure. The news switched to a man in front of a podium, a man who was listed as Lead Prosecutor Dangan. He was an older man with grey on the sides of his hair, no one noticed the way that Ryuji's lip curled at the sight of him. "Vigilantism is a crime that shall not be tolerated under any circumstances, people who take the law into their own hands are no better than the criminals that they claim to apprehend, as such, we've officially put out a warrant for the arrest of this Spider-Man, and ask anyone who knows anything to come forward."
Wei shook his head and said something before changing the channel about how no news was better than any news, and Inko shook her head in disappointment over hearing how the person who saved her friend turned out to be a rotten apple. And while Itsuka frowned, not quite believing what she was seeing, Izuku stood quietly, the world drowned out around him as he looked at the TV with determination.
Someone was behind this, someone was pulling the strings behind this entire operation. And it was well past time he found out who that was.