Chapter 38: Connections

AN: Salutations! Here's our first fluff/filler chapter before the Finals. For your guy's information, though each chapter will take place in chronological order, they don't really have a set place in the timeline. Also, for anyone curious, I'm not really going to talk a lot about the training montage that's happening off-screen. Just kind of assume that when I say something like 'and a few days later', that class in UA went like normal, Izuku trains his butt off, and nothing important happens. I want these next few chapters to be about character development, not training, even if training is predominantly what the characters are doing in this time period. I'll touch on some stuff that's important both plot wise and character wise, but honestly feel free to skim most of the next few chapters if you want to jump right into the meat of the Finals Arc. That's all I really have to say today. I'm not gonna put an ending AN on this chapter, mostly because there's nothing to add, and partly because I usually only use it to tell you when the next chapter is coming out and what its title is. The title is still going to be a secret, and if you really want to know the update schedule, check my profile.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Reborn! _ _ _ _ _ _ _

After spending about an hour training with Yagi I meander my way back to the dorms. I take a nice long shower and head up to me room. Unsurprisingly, it's empty and silent. Oddly enough, the silence is a bit louder than usual. Well, it's probably just the fact that I've gotten used to spending most of my time with the girls over the last few weeks.

I slip into a pair of forest green sweatpants - my second favorite pair of pants seeing as my preferred red pants were wrecked thanks to the events of yesterday - and flop into my desk chair. I have a little homework left over from Present Mic's english class that has my name on it. Literally.

Sadly, that only takes about ten minutes to finish up, and the girls still aren't back, so I'm left to my own devices. Now that there's not something happening, I'm kind of bored. Let's see, when was the last time I took a break?

I've spent the last day in a bed, then I was trying to relight my Flames, before that I was in another hospital thanks to the internship, and before the internship was the festival, and before that I was still getting used to being in UA. Throw in a relationship with all of that and I don't think I've gotten more than a few moments to myself in the last two months.

Hmmm. I could either enjoy this little break on my own…..Or...Or I could plan something to do with the others? Is, is that what friends do? Wait fuck, i'm a boyfriend right now, not just a friend. I don't think me and the girls have done anything together in a while. I think we did something before the internships? Fuck, I can't really remember. Am I a bad person?

Well, guess I've got my plan now. I'm gonna spend half of the next two weeks before Finals training, and the other half I'll be focusing on being a better friend/lover. Wait, do I count as a 'lover' if the most we've ever done is kiss? Does the lack of intimacy bother me? OR does the lack of being bothered by a lack of intimacy bother me?

After another five minutes of running circles in my own head I throw my hands in the air and give up. I'm not very good at emotions, so fuck it. I want to do something nice for my girls, so by Blank i'm gonna fucking do something nice for them. Who the hell needs ulterior motives to do nice things anyway?

A few google searches, a few strings pulled, and a few less than legal transactions later, and I have myself three tickets to a movie as well as reservations to a nice restaurant. Takes me about an hour, plus now I have to spend tomorrow afternoon playing courier for one of my contacts, but it's all worth it. Hopefully.

I look up from my computer to notice the sun setting. Ah, I missed dinner. Whoops. Guess i'll pop down to the kitchen here in the dorms and whip something up. I get up and close my computer. I look down at my dress. Changing my mind, I get dressed in a pair of grey shorts and a blue shirt that has the english word for 'tuxedo' on it. My mom finds shirts like these hilarious, though they're not really my style.

Meandering my way downstairs, I come across an amusing scene. Seated at one of the tables in the common area Pinky, Ears, Crow, Pikachu, Steelboy, and Red are all playing monopoly. Pinky seems to be winning based on what I'm hearing.

"Curse you, thou witch of the board." Crow gets a condescending pat on the head from Pinky.

"Aw, you're just mad that you keep landing on my property. Kiri, it's your turn now. Try not to land on my Electric company. Again." said redhead tears up a little as he looks at the few coloured bills on his side of the table.

"Losing isn't very manly, so I'll give it my all! Come on, six or higher!" the redhead shakes his hands vigorously and flings the dice onto the table. A four lands and the second dice rolls around a little before slowly stopping on a single dot.

"Noooo!" Red falls to his knees and raises his fist to the sky before collapsing backwards.

"Kiri-bro!" Steel boy catches him before he can hit the ground, and the two look into each other's eyes.

"Win, win for the both of us, Tetsu-bro." with that his head falls to the side, his eyes closing as he takes one last breath.

"BRO! I'll avenge you, don't worry!" Steel clenches his fist and looks up to the sky, tears falling from his eyes.

I can't handle it anymore and I burst out laughing, catching all of them off guard. The group looks at me before they lose it too and start laughing their asses off. After a minute of this, we all slowly calm down. Pinky waves at me.

"Yo, Midori! Didn't expect to see you down here. Usually you're either training or hanging with Yaomomo and Ura-chan." I shrug and decide to answer the unasked question.

"Meh, i've decided to take a sort of break from training for now. As for the girls, I actually haven't seen them since after class. They haven't said anything so I figure they're out doing something together. If they're not in class tomorrow, that's when i'll worry. Anyways, monopoly? Not exactly what I would expect but more power to you, I suppose." Pinky stands up and puts her hands on her hips.

"Not what you expected huh? What's that to mean, mister 'number one in every subject'?" I wave my hand dismissively.

"Only that I'd figured you were more the Karaoke type. Monopoly is a game where you sit down and roll a few dice. I'd imagine that you'd get bored of that rather early on and forget about it." What, did she think I was insulting her intelligence?

She studies me for a moment longer before huffing and turning around. She plods back to her seat before flopping down, nearly hitting ears in the back of the head in the process.

"Well, wanna join us Midori?" I shrug again.

"Nah, I accidentally missed dinner so I'm gonna make a snack before heading to bed a bit early." this causes everyone to pause.

"Midori's cooking?" suddenly Pinky is in my face, fast enough that I could almost swear that she's the one with a speed Quirk not Tenya.

"Yeah...I was thinking of making some lasagna. Nothing terribly fancy." Pinky suddenly has her hands on my shoulders, her grip enough that I wonder if I'll need to use some Flames to avoid bruising.

"Can I have some?" her word chose says it's a question, her voice says it's not.

"I suppose?" and like that she's off me and bouncing around the room.

"Yay! Midori is the best!" the ones who haven't had my cooking yet look on at her as confused as I am.

"Is Midoriya really that good at cooking? I mean, I know he's pretty manly, but he just doesn't look the type ya' know?" thanks Red, real vote of confidence there.

"True, but he's surprisingly really good at it." At least Ears has my back, I think.

Five minutes later, I find myself in the kitchen with the entire group sitting around a table. I have no idea how this happened, but I'm bored and honestly I should probably actually interact with my classmates outside of training. At least, that's what Yagi would say.

Me and the others spend the night chatting away about nothing in particular. I learn that after the festival, Red and Steel spent their internships at the same place. I also learn that Pinky had started a small breakdancing club - slash - band with her, Pikachu, Ears, and surprisingly Katsuki. Pinky sings, Pikachu works the electric guitar (because of course he does), Katsuki drums, and Ears takes bass.

I'm a little surprised that Katsuki never mentioned this, but I suppose I owe it to not really paying attention to my first friend. Pinky offered to let me occasionally join in as vocals, but I turn her down. The band is their thing and it's not like I NEED to be a part of everything that everyone does. Besides, I'm not entirely confident in my ability to sing any japanese or english songs.

We spent about an hour just chit chatting before everyone started to head to their rooms. I stay in the kitchen a little longer to finish cleaning up the dishes and think. I really hardly know anything about my classmates, huh? That's kind of sad, isn't it?

Well, I suppose from now on i'll just have to pay a little more attention to them. I finish the dishes nad meander my way back to my room. I open it, half expecting a pair of voices, only to be met with silence. That's fine. I think a little time to myself will be good for me. I walk over to my window and open it, leaning my arms onto the sill.

A soft, cool breeze flutters my hair as I look up into a starry night sky. How pretty. Slowly, softly, I start humming. I have an oddly light feeling in my chest today, and even the curiosity over where the girls are can't bring me down. I stare up at the sky for a few before I lay down in my bed, leaving the window open. I fall asleep fairly easily, and my dreams are of stars and solar system graphs and the wind.

I wake up to the soft beeping of my six a.m. alarm, and swiftly turn it off. I sit up and stretch my arms. I blink and look around. The girls are still nowhere to be seen. Oddly enough I feel a little colder than usual. Must just be my imagination.

I get up and throw a tee shirt on, before leaving my room and jumping off the balcony. I slightly harden the air under my feet to slow my fall so that I softly land on the grass rather than slam into it. I start doing some stretches as Tenya walks out of the dorm and approaches.

"Morning, Midoriya! I look forward to pushing myself to the limit alongside you today." I smile at him, amused by his usual over the top antics.

"Mornin' Tenya. You ready for the day?" he nods and starts his own stretches.

"Indeed. I am prepared to give my all today regardless of what obstacles lay in my way. How about yourself?" I stand up and clench my hands into fists and relax them.

"Yeah. I think i'm ready for whatever our teachers decide to throw at us. So, want to race around the dorm building?" Tenya finishes his own stretches and glances between me and the dorm.

"First to finish five laps, no Quirk?" I grin at his words and nod.

We get into position next to each other, crouched into our starting stances. A stray leaf blows in front of us, and it starts to fall. The moment it touches the ground, we shoot off.

I enjoy having the wind in my hair, and the feel of playfully competing with Tenya. It's a pretty close race for the first three laps, but after that Tenya starts to pull ahead. Despite me probably being in slightly better shape overall than him, his body is literally built for speed. I finish my fifth lap about ten seconds after he does, and he passes me a bottle of water that I gratefully take.

We then pass a few minutes doing some cool down stretches, and then making our way through some sit ups, pushups, and crunches. By the time we're done it's about seven and it's time to shower before breakfast. We seperate to clean up, and I get dressed in my room in the UA uniform.

Making my way out the building, I finally see the girls for the first time since yesterday's conversation. They're standing outside along with Katsuki, Tenya, and Ibara. I pause for half a second before waving.

"Yo. Morning everyone." there's a few seconds of silence before Ochako motions for the others to go on ahead.

When the three of us are on our own I sit and look at them in silence for a few moments. I'm a little confused, as well as curious. The two shuffle their feet awkwardly before Momo coughs and tries to talk at the same time that Ochako starts to speak up under her breath. They pause and a few silent words pass between them before they turn back to me. Apparently Ochako has the initiative this time as she's the one to start speaking.

"So, Izu-kun. We're sorry for jus' kinda going silent on you yesterday. We had a lot to think about, and wanted to talk jus' tha two of us before we made any decisions. So, anyways, to summarize, I guess what i'm tryin' ta say is that although we're a little upset that you kept that a secret, we can understand why you did and we're not upset at you." I blink in surprise.

"So, we're good on the whole Quirk thing?" I must admit, not where I thought this was going, but it makes sense. Momo takes over the conversation from there.

"Indeed. Additionally, we wanted to let you know that we didn't mean to vanish yesterday afternoon. As Ochako-chan here said, we had a lot to think about, and wanted to talk it over. Plus, we wanted to spend some time together without any overhanging plots about villains or Quirks, or anything of the sort. Some time to ourselves to relax, you know? We're sorry if this upset you." I wave my hand dismissively.

"Nah, you're good. I admit I was curious, but I figured that we're all mature enough that if there was an issue you'd talk about it to my face. No need to apologize for wanting some space. Hell, if you ever want some time to yourselves just let me know and i'll respect that. Oh, so long as it's not this saturday afternoon." the girls blink at the non sequitur.

"Uhm, do you mind me asking why that is, Izuku-kun?"

"Well it's simple. I have a surprise for the two of you on saturday and I wanted to let you know ahead of time not to plan anything for that day." they turn to each other and shrug in confusion.

"I suppose I didn't have any plans that day anyways. I'm guessing since you called it a surprise that you're not going to tell us what it's about?" I grin.

"Exactly. Now, we should probably get going if we don't want to be late for class." the girls smile and start walking by my side as we make our way to class.

Clas that day passes by in a blur. I'm still in a great mood, something that only gets better as I effortlessly answer any question the teachers ask me. Lunch is some delicious pizza, and our afternoon heroics class is us taking out the giant zero-point robots from the entrance exam and festival, only this time in groups of four students against three robots. Me, Pikachu, Momo, and Crow make for an interesting and overpowered team.

Crow can hold back one zero-pointer on his own while Momo traps a second one for Pikachu to fry. I of course can now effortlessly wipe out a zero-pointer on my own, and move over to help Crow finish his off.

The next few days pass in a similar haze, and next thing I know it's Saturday night, and me and the girls are meeting up at the gates of UA. I'm dressed up in black slacks and a white button up under a black vest. The girls are equally dressed up, no doubt thanks to Momo.

The girl in question is wearing a very nice red cocktail dress with black and white polkadot frills around the shoulders and waist. Ochako on the other hand is wearing a white blouse with a black skirt that has light pink cherry blossoms embroidered into it. They both look stunning and I make sure to tell them as such.

They're very surprised when a small limo pulls up to UA and the driver greets me. That cost me a second delivery job, but damn if it ain't worth it. A short ride later, and the limo drops us off in front of one of the most popular restaurants in town. It's a place called the Golden Dragon, and it serves classical japanese cuisine. I've never personally been here, but i've heard great things.

"Hello, Mr. Midoriya. Your table for three is ready. Please allow me to escort you." The sharply dressed young man who meets us at the door looks to the world like a completely normal person save for the pale hair that takes the form of arrows.

"Thanks, Hari." I might have been fooled by his pleasant demeanor if he didn't work for the guy that I've been running my delivery errands for, making him mafia.

"Izuku-kun, what's all this? How did you manage to get us seats at the Golden Dragon? I heard that the wait list is almost a month long!" Closer to two actually, but I hardly feel that that needs stated.

"I met a guy online a while back and I helped him out of a tight spot, so he owed me a favor. He's pretty close to the owner of this place so he managed to make room for us."

What's left unsaid is that Haris boss - who I only know as Overhaul - is the one I helped out, and the 'tight spot' being referenced is a situation where Overhaul was trying to get rid of some local competition, but lacked information. I happened to know a guy who knows a guy, and for a case of that Flame-reactive metal that's so damned hard to find I offered to give Overhaul the contact info of the guy with the information he needed.

Several threats to my life were sent and ignored, phone calls were made, and after a week I had my case of metal and Overhaul had wiped a small mafia family off the face of the planet. Was it illegal? Yes. Was is totally worth it? Also yes. And besides, Overhaul's apparently a big deal seeing as he's the owner of one of Japan's most popular restaurants. He seems nice, even if he's got a few screws loose and he's more germaphobic than anybody else I've ever met.

Our table has a nice window view of the city at night, the atmosphere is sophisticated and quiet, and I get the chance to have my first glass of wine in ages. Ochako goes to object, but Momo agrees to a small glass and convinces Ochako to join us. I'm no alcoholic, but a good glass of wine is a perfect remedy for most of life's woes.

Dinner is sublime. We end up getting a three person kaiseki, sampling over a dozen dishes. Each bite is delicious, and by the end me and the girls are nearly melting from the great food. After dinner, the limo pulls back up and takes us back to UA.

"Thank you very much for this, Izuku-kun. I had a wonderful time." Momo leans against my right arm.

"Me too, Izuku-kun! I didn't really get most of what was said, but the food was great!" Ochako leans against my left arm.

"I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. Tonight is all about you two. Dinner was my treat. If there's anything else you want, just let me know." the girls look at each other, having another silent conversation, before they speak in sync.

"Well, there is one thing."

"Beautiful." Next thing I know, the three of us are on top of the dorm building, looking up at the stars.

There's no clouds, and there's only a soft breeze blowing, so it's a perfect night for stargazing. It's just me and the girls up here, looking up at the thousands of lights in the sky. I must admit, there's at least three things that are beautiful up here, and the stars are only one of them.

"Thanks again for everything, Izu-kun." Ochako lays her head against my chest, mirrored by Momo, who hums in agreement.

"Anything for the two most beautiful stars of my life." Momo chuckles softly, which I give as that was an insanely cheesy line.

We spend almost half an hour just relaxing on the roof before we head inside. The girls disappear to Momo's room while I undress in my room and put on my sleeping pants. After a minute there's a soft knock at my door before the girls let themselves in, also dressed in the sleepwear.

My bed is warmer that night, and I think I finally understand why. I slowly fall asleep in the arms of the two people that mean the most to me, and I wouldn't change a single thing. Truly, I'm too blessed.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Reborn! _ _ _ _ _ _ _