Swan Dive

Chapter 8: Gone

A/N: Hehehe... I'm almost sorry for leaving you with this chapter as I head off to work... Almost. Important note!! For those of you who do not know, Hizashi (with a Z) is Present Mic. Hisashi (with an S) is Midoriya Hisashi—Izuku's biological father. There's a difference between the two, and it's incredibly important you know this, or you'll be very confused.

Please enjoy the chapter~! And rest assured, I'll update again on Friday. :)

Chapter 8: Gone

Izuku leaned against Shouta as they headed inside. They shook off the remaining slush from their boots as they curled up on the couch together near the heater, Yuki making himself comfortable on their laps. They'd just finished what Izuku called a 'lone patrol'.

The two pros were confident enough, now, that occasionally they'd let him go out with Shouta without Hizashi tagging along (though Izuku had no idea that the main reason for this was because Hizashi was working with Tsukauchi to find the man who seemed to be obsessed with Izuku and this mysterious villain he was trying to track down). Izuku smiled as his mom handed them each a cup of hot cocoa. The older man was sending Hizashi a text, letting his husband know that he was at the Midoriya household and would probably crash there for a few hours.

U.A. was on break for a couple of weeks, and Izuku was glad to be able to spend more time with his three favorite heroes. Auntie would pop by randomly 'just because', and Izuku himself was glad for the distraction at times. She'd often just take him shopping or have a movie night (which she'd drag Shouta and Hizashi into more often than not).

Auntie Nem and his mother were also very close, now, and Izuku was thrilled. He couldn't remember the last time his mother had actually gone out and done things with a friend, and he found that her anxiety and stress was melting away. She was also thinning out nicely (not that he'd ever seen her as overweight before, but the stress of raising a Quirkless child alone had been hard on her body).

Apparently, his mom had run into Auntie Mitsuki a few weeks ago, and the two had caught up on a bunch of things. His mother had later lamented to Nemuri that, while she still valued Mitsuki's friendship, it wasn't nearly as comfortable or open as her own friendship with the hero. Izuku thought it sounded a lot like his old friendship with Kaachan, before Quirks.

Not necessarily an unhealthy friendship, but not quite a fair one, either. Izuku was just glad that his mother's social circle was expanding. Izuku idly wondered if he should attempt to expand (read, create) his own, too.

"What're you thinking about, Problem Child?" Shouta asked, holding open an arm as Izuku gratefully snuggled into his protective warmth.

"Just how much happier mom is, now that Auntie Nem's in the picture." Izuku smiled as Shouta hummed in agreement, the deep sound reverberating around him as Yuki purred on his chest. "How many of your coworkers would have a heart attack if they saw us right now?" Izuku wondered aloud.

Shouta's laugh was unguarded and free, and Izuku loved that he never saw the need to hide these laughs from them anymore. "I think most of them would probably accuse me of being a fake. Maybe check me for a fever. Vlad might believe me." He mused.

"Do you think Nezu would let me be in your class if I manage to get into the Hero Course?"

"If? Kid, you'll probably breeze through U.A.'s illogical exams at this point." Shouta chuckled. "Nezu, though... I'm not sure about that. He might. I'm not known to be biased, and if you do manage to make it into my class, I will not go easy on you."