The mirror showed a stranger.
Izuku stood in his room, adjusting the collar of his U.A. uniform for what had to be the fifteenth time. The blazer fit like it had been tailored specifically for him, because it had been. His mother had insisted. The gray fabric stretched across his shoulders and tapered down to his waist, somehow making his already impressive physique look even better. The red tie hung at exactly the right length. His silver chain caught the morning light where it peeked above the top button of his white dress shirt, which he'd left strategically undone.
Not bad, Midoriya. Not bad at all.
He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he knew by heart.
The line rang twice before a gruff voice answered. "What."
"Hey, Geezer." Izuku leaned against his desk, his voice softer than usual. "Just wanted to say... thanks. For everything."
Silence stretched across the connection. For a moment, Izuku wondered if Hano had hung up.
Then came a dismissive snort that crackled through the speaker. "Don't thank me yet, brat. You haven't done anything. Now get off my phone and don't embarrass me."
The line went dead.
Izuku stared at the blank screen for a long moment. His lips curved into a genuine smile.
That was basically "I love you" in Hano-speak.
He pocketed his phone and grabbed his bag, making sure the bento his mother had packed was secure. One final glance in the mirror. One final adjustment to his hair.
Showtime.
The living room ambush was inevitable.
Inko materialized the instant Izuku stepped through his bedroom door, her hands already reaching for his tie like heat-seeking missiles locked onto their target. Her eyes held that particular gleam that Izuku had learned to recognize over the years. The one that said she was about to launch a full-scale maternal offensive.
"Your tie is crooked."
"My tie is perfect, Mom."
"It's crooked." She was already adjusting it, her fingers moving with the frantic energy of a woman who had spent fifteen years preparing for this exact moment. "Did you pack your ID? Your train pass? Did you double-check your classroom number? Did you triple-check?"
"Yes, yes, yes, and I also quadruple-checked just to be safe."
"Don't be smart with me, young man." Her hands moved from his tie to his collar, then to his shoulders, smoothing fabric that didn't need smoothing. "I'm being perfectly reasonable. This is the most important day of your life. What if you get lost? What if you're late? What if they don't have enough desks and you have to sit on the floor?"
Izuku caught her hands gently, holding them still.
"Mom."
"What?"
"I've got this."
Her eyes shimmered. The anxiety in her expression cracked, revealing something deeper underneath. Pride. Fear. Hope. All the complicated emotions of a mother watching her only child step into a world that had told him he didn't belong.
Izuku pulled her into a firm hug. She barely reached his chest now, and he found himself resting his chin on top of her head.
"I love you," he said quietly. "But I have to go. Hagakure is waiting for me at the station."
Inko pulled back, her tear-filled eyes suddenly sharpening with new interest. "Hagakure? Is that the invisible girl you told me about? The one with the lovely mother?"
"The very same."
"The one who called you four times last week?"
"She's excitable."
"The one whose voice gets all squeaky when she talks to you?"
"Mom."
Inko's lips curved into a smile that Izuku recognized all too well. The grandchild-potential smile. The one that had been appearing with alarming frequency ever since he'd mentioned having female friends.
She straightened his tie one final time, even though it absolutely did not need straightening.
"Go on, then." Her voice carried a suspicious amount of innocence. "Don't keep your... friend... waiting."
Izuku escaped before she could start asking about wedding venues.
Musutafu Station was chaos made physical.
Students in various uniforms flooded the platforms, but the U.A. blazers stood out like beacons in the crowd. Gray and red against the sea of more mundane colors. Future heroes rubbing shoulders with future accountants and office workers, the two worlds briefly intersecting before diverging toward vastly different destinations.
Izuku spotted her immediately.
Or rather, he spotted the floating U.A. girls' uniform.
Toru stood near the ticket gates, her invisible body visible only through the clothes that clung to her form. The standard U.A. blazer was buttoned properly. The pleated skirt hung at regulation length. But she'd personalized the outfit with black thigh-high socks that drew the eye up her invisible legs like arrows pointing toward forbidden territory.
Her head kept swiveling back and forth, scanning the crowd. Searching for him.
Izuku raised his hand in a casual wave.
"MIDORIYA-KUN!"
The shout turned heads. Several nearby businessmen flinched. A grandmother clutched her purse defensively.
Toru launched herself through the crowd like a guided missile, weaving between commuters with surprising agility for someone who couldn't actually see where all of her limbs were at any given moment. Her trajectory was locked. Her target was acquired.
Izuku had approximately 1.3 seconds to brace himself.
She slammed into him with the full force of an invisible human cannonball, her arms wrapping around his neck in an enthusiastic hug that lifted her feet completely off the ground.
"WE DID IT! WE'RE ACTUALLY HERE! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?"
Her voice was right next to his ear. Loud. Excited. Completely oblivious to the scene she was causing.
Izuku's brain, a weapon forged through ten years of hellish training and countless near-death experiences, performed an emergency shutdown.
Because the hug was a full-body press.
And Toru Hagakure, invisible or not, was blessed.
The fabric of her blazer stretched across a chest that Izuku's analytical mind instantly categorized as substantial. Her body molded against his in a way that short-circuited every higher function he possessed. The tactical awareness that could read an opponent's attack before it happened? Gone. The social protocols that allowed him to charm his way through any situation? Vanished. Basic motor skills? On indefinite vacation.
His brain replaced all of these essential functions with a single, profound, and undeniably honest thought:
Damn. Toru has big tits.
His brain rebooted 1.7 seconds later. A faint warmth crept into his cheeks, which he expertly buried under a charming smile. His hands found the small of her back, returning the hug.
"Morning, Spotlight." His voice came out steady, because he was a professional. "You seem excited."
Toru released him, bouncing back half a step. Her invisible face was impossible to read, but the joy in her voice painted a clear picture.
"Excited? EXCITED? Midoriya-kun, we're about to walk into U.A. High School! The actual U.A.! Where All Might went! Where Endeavor went! Where every hero I've ever admired learned to be amazing!" She grabbed his arm and started dragging him toward the train. "Come on come on come on, we're going to be late!"
They were not going to be late. They had a full forty-five minutes before class started.
Izuku allowed himself to be dragged, his eyes drifting down to those thigh-high socks as they walked.
Definitely a good choice on her part.