Celebration and Relaxation

Izuku hummed a soft tune to himself as he worked, hands moving between pans on the stove. He could hear Tamako in his head, humming along – in their own unique way – as they watched in on what he was doing. Aside from his humming and the sizzling of the cooking food, the apartment was completely silent as bright, morning sunlight streamed in through the windows.

A small smile decorated Izuku's features. It was such a peaceful morning. A wonderful way to start the day off.

Today was the second day after the conclusion of the sports festival. They'd been given the week off so that they could rest and so Yueii could hold festivals for the second and third years. Yesterday had been spent mostly just sitting around and relaxing – Izuku hadn't even gone out as Oni – but for today, Izuku had planned out a proper celebration for the completion of the festival.

The start to that was, of course, breakfast, homemade as always but this time with a bit more effort put into it. He would make sure that Rei and Ochako woke up to the smell of a freshly cooked meal.

Speaking of, it was almost time for the two of them to be getting up.

"I'll go get them." Tamako said as they noticed him realizing that, leaving as soon as Izuku acknowledged them.

Tamako – and by extension, Izuku – had discovered, completely by accident the night before much to Ochako's mild irritation, that they could jump to someone even if they were asleep and, going along with their ability to manipulate thoughts, had some measure of control over the person's dreams, including pulling them out of said dreams, waking them up.

A few minutes later, the door to Rei's room opened and she entered into the living room, with Ochako emerging from her own shortly after, both with the countenance of someone who had been woken up earlier than they would've liked.

By the time they made it to the table, Izuku was already setting out their plates. Already used to this routine by now, both of them picked up their respective utensils and got to work blearily eating their breakfast.

A few minutes of sitting in the sunlight and filling their bellies had both of them looking much more alert. It didn't take long for the early morning silence to be broken up by conversation.

"So, are you two ready for today?" Izuku asked, preparing his own plate.

"Mm. I certainly will be after a bit more of this." Ochako said, taking a bite.

A few more moments passed in silence, Izuku settling at the table and taking a few bites himself.

"I'm really excited for the beach." Ochako said, speaking up again. "It's been a while since I've been to one, and I've been wanting to see Dagobah ever since I found out that you're the one who cleaned it."

"I'm glad you're excited for it. Because our visit there will take up most of the second half of our day. There are very few better ways to relax, in my opinion, than sitting out in the sun on the beach."

The plan that Izuku had put together for today was pretty simple. They would start off by visiting a zoo on the outskirts of Tokyo, the same one that Rei had originally planned to take him to for his birthday the year before, then they'd head back to Musutafu for lunch at the café Izuku frequented, then they'd spend most, if not all, of their afternoon at Dagobah, before heading back home, where Izuku would cook dinner.

Simple, but then the whole point of it was just to celebrate their completing the festival, and to serve as a relaxing outing to help them unwind after it and the two weeks of near-constant preparation that led up to it.

"Is Tsuyu still planning on joining us?" He asked. In discussing the plan the day before, Ochako had asked if she could invite Tsuyu, which of course Izuku had no issue with.

"Yep! Her parents are fine with it. She should be meeting us at the train station."

Izuku nodded. "Very good."

The next several minutes passed in comfortable silence as the three of them enjoyed their breakfast. Eventually, Ochako and Rei both returned to their respective rooms to get ready for the day ahead while Izuku took care of the dishes. It didn't take them very long, and soon enough they were gathered at the entrance to the apartment, each with their own bag to carry their belongings.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Ready!" They both responded simultaneously, wearing matching smiles.

He returned the smile. "Then let's get going."

---

Being the beginning of May, the weather was perfect for the day they had planned. The sky was mostly clear, with just enough clouds in the sky to give them occasion shade. And the temperature was just right, not too far in either direction.

After making the long trek down the stairs from the top of their building to the ground floor, the three of them made their way to the nearest train station. The one that Izuku and Ochako would take to Yueii if they needed to rely on such a slow method of transportation. Once they arrived, it took only a few minutes of searching before they found Tsuyu.

"Ochako!" She greeted. "And… um, Etsumis?"

Izuku waved a hand in front of him. "Feel free to just call me Izuku."

"Likewise." Rei said. "I don't have any issue with you calling me Rei."

Tsuyu nodded, smiling. "Alright then. Izuku. Rei."

"I assume that Ochako has already filled you in on our plans for the day?" He asked.

She nodded again. "Yep. We're going to the zoo, then to lunch, and then to the beach."

"That's correct. Now, unless there's anything else we need to do, I'd suggest we find our train."

---

The train ride to the outskirts of Tokyo didn't take very long. Once they were out of Musutafu, with no other stops before theirs, the trip didn't even take half an hour. Then, another few more minutes of traveling by foot – or tail – and they were arriving at their destination.

They were quick to enter, with Izuku having bought their tickets online, and immediately set to wandering.

Somewhat surprisingly, the popularity of zoos hardly declined at all after the appearance of quirks, despite the chaos that they brought to human society, and the sudden influx of other forms of entertainment after things began to stabilize.

This was because, with the emergence of quirks, the sorts of animals found in zoos began to change along with the humans that came to see them. Most zoos still provided sanctuary for animals that needed it of course, endangered species, injured and recovering animals, and a number of other similar cases, but the types of animals that needed that sort of care began to change.

Just as humans developed quirks, so too did a number of animals. But nature is far less forgiving than human society. Where some humans might be looked down upon for having a quirk that didn't conform to societal standards of useful or heroic quirks, quirked animals would struggle to survive at all if what they had wasn't directly conducive to their continued existence, or worse, actively made it more difficult.

Natural selection, survival of the fittest, was still a thing, even with the emergence of quirks. Of the small number of animals that actually developed quirks, many of them were simply a powered-up version of some adaptation or ability their particular species already had, something that would help them survive. This could be anything from enhanced senses to either locate prey or avoid predators, to enhanced physical abilities for similar reasons, to a plethora of other infinitely varied abilities. There were even accounts of a pack of wolves in Canada that had supposedly developed a simple form of telepathic quirks to communicate with one another.

However, if an animal had a quirk that impeded their struggle for survival, such as one that made it more difficult to avoid predators, or to find prey, then their chances of living long enough to pass that unhelpful quirk along plummeted.

It was this sort of animal that began to appear more and more in zoos; quirked animals that, left alone, were likely to die.

Of course, with a rise in quirked animals in zoos that had quirks that would be difficult to find and study in the wild for any significant length of time, there was also a rise in experiments on said animals. Experiments of questionable morality. There were a number of people and organizations that didn't want to pass up the chance to study these animals, study the nature of their quirks, and why they have them to begin with.

They saw a number of fascinating animals as they went through. There was a cheetah that could walk along vertical surfaces, and even upside down, very similar to Izuku's quirk 'Gecko.' Then a few minutes later they saw a tiger that could walk on water. It was sprawled across the fake pond in its enclosure when they saw it. There was a two-headed goat, an absolute giant of a horse, with eight legs instead of four, a rabbit that could turn completely invisible, a bear that was twice the size it was supposed to be, and a bird that was constantly shifting to look like other species. They even saw a monkey with telekinesis. That one was one of Izuku's personal favorites, if for no other reason than it was amusing to watch it continuously attempt to steal things from people that weren't paying enough attention. It had a small hoard of items that it had stolen. Izuku saw a few watches, and at least one phone.

Eventually, they made it to the reptile building, and Izuku and Rei found themselves going around and admiring all the animals they shared a partial biology with.

Partway through the building, the sound of Ochako giggling off to his side caught Izuku's attention. Turning in her direction, he saw her looking over at him and Rei.

"Hey! Hey look!" She said, through her laughter, pointing at one of the enclosures.

They moved closer, peeking in through the glass to see what she was pointing at. Izuku thought he saw a snake, which would make sense given that they were still in the reptile house.

"It's Izuku." She said, barely managing it through her giggles.

Rei immediately burst into laughter, but Izuku tilted his head, not sure what she was talking about.

That is, until he saw that it was a quirked snake. One that had a pair of leathery wings on its back, almost identical to Izuku's own. In fact, according to the informational sign, it was an anaconda too.

"Alright, look here, cheeky little shit." He said, smiling. "Talk all you want, but let's not forget that Koala we saw not even ten minutes ago that could make itself float. I took a picture if you want to see it again."

She narrowed her eyes, trying her best not to smile. "Hm. Fine. You win. Truce. For now."

With that, she turned and led Tsuyu away, already smiling widely again.

A few minutes later, Izuku and Rei both sat in front of a particularly large enclosure, watching as a snake lazily teleported its way from one end to the other.

"Fascinating." He said. "For something so complex to manifest in an animal."

Teleportation quirks were exceedingly rare. Izuku had only ever seen one other, and that was with Kurogiri. And this particular quirk was entirely different from his. Where Kurogiri had created smokey portals from his own body to transport people, this snake's version seemed to be a slow, gradual de-materialization and re-materialization. When it activated, a faint glow would appear at its head, before slowly traveling down its body. Where the glow passed, the snake almost seemed to disintegrate, only for it to reform wherever it was aiming. And despite how slow it was, it seemed to be effective enough, because almost every time it happened, it took Izuku and Rei several long seconds to locate it again. The process was almost unnoticeable, and produced no sound whatsoever as far as they could both tell.

It was incredibly interesting, and Izuku wished he could get his hands on the quirk to study for himself how it worked. But he didn't even know if it was possible for him to take quirks from animals.

Izuku opened his mouth to say something else, only to stop when he heard something off to his side, only just barely loud enough for him to hear.

"How come we have to treat people like that as if they're normal?"

"Beats me. We shouldn't have to though. They hardly even look human. We shouldn't have to pretend that they are."

Izuku frowned. He didn't like what he was hearing.

He knew right away what it was. Two people – at least two – that for whatever reason looked down on mutation quirks.

It was just a tiny bit surprising to hear something like that out in public. Most of the time, the only place that such a thing happened – whether it was directed at mutations or some other detail or quality that was easily looked down upon – was in isolated environments such as schools or, even more rarely, in a workplace. But even then, most of the time it would be immediately shut down by an authority figure that happened to notice it, assuming it's noticed in the first place.

Occasionally, there might be an instance of some form of discrimination or another out in public, but it was very rare for there to not be an immediate backlash from most of the people around them. Once humanity stabilized after the appearance of quirks, it became exceedingly rare to see any outright discrimination for most any group or demographic. Quirkless people were one of the very few groups that saw any dislike from other people, and even that was pretty rare, if only because the number of quirkless people in the world was slowly diminishing with each generation.

Either way, even though Izuku knew there was a decent chance that their words were at his and Rei's expense, he chose to ignore them. Until they happened to say something that was actually directed the two of them, he would continue to treat them as what they are: two idiots spouting ignorance. There was no need to cause a disturbance to the day he'd planned just for something like that.

Until then, he would simply do his best to enjoy the a-.

"Tsk. Disgusting. I can't believe people like that are allowed in here."

"I know, right? With quirks like that, they belong in the exhibits, not out here with the normal people."

"Yeah." They snickered. "They'd fit right in too, with those disgusting tails of theirs."

Izuku sighed. Alright. Now it was being directed at them. And now he had to say something. He wouldn't particularly care if they continued to spout their stupid opinions of mutation quirks. He wouldn't even care if their words were being directed at him, as there weren't many people whose opinions he valued, and those two weren't on that list. But that was not the case if their words were being directed at his sister, or at his friends.

He turned to look at them, making eye contact with one immediately, further proving that they were indeed talking about him and Rei. The man sneered at him, and he responded by smiling.

"I'm sorry." He said, loud enough to catch the attention of some of the people around them, including Ochako and Tsuyu. "I didn't quite here what you just said."

Izuku moved towards them, raising himself up a bit higher off the ground, and keeping the same smile on his face as he did. He stopped just a few short feet from them, towering over their heads.

He leaned down ever so slightly, lowering his voice just a bit as he spoke again. "Do you think you could repeat that for me?"

One of them looked away, seemingly uncomfortable now that he knew that Izuku had heard him, and now that Izuku was attracting other people's attention as well. The other, however, glared up at him. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Yeah! I said-." His words cut off as a third person came up behind him and slapped a hand across his mouth.

"Are you two fucking stupid?" The newcomer hissed. "Don't you know who this is? He's a hero student at Yueii. Y'know, the one that wiped the floor with everyone else in the sports festival? Were you seriously about to insult him to his face?"

Izuku saw the exact moment that realization flashed across the man's expression. How he hadn't recognized Izuku if he'd apparently watched the festival, especially if disliked mutation quirks that much, Izuku had no idea. Either way, seeing their realization, watching their eyes widen in shock, had Izuku letting out a single amused laugh.

He stared down at the trio, straining his eyes for a moment to use 'Appraisal' on them. When he saw their quirks, he almost let out another laugh.

"Hmm, telekinesis, but only while you're intoxicated." He said, gesturing at the coward, then turning his attention to the second one. "And then the ability to always know what time it is."

He relished their surprise and slight amount of fear when he 'guessed' exactly what their quirks were. Leaning down a bit further, he spoke again.

"I think that next time you want to go around and say such things where other people can hear you," Izuku said, "you might want to think about your own quirks first."

The third man grabbed the other two by the arm, yanking them away. Turning around, he pushed them, prompting them to keep moving. Looking back at Izuku, he bowed his head slightly.

"I'm terribly sorry for their behavior." He apologized.

Izuku returned the gesture, barely. "Thank you for reigning him in. It would've been quite a shame if he'd continued, and said something else to insult my sister or my friend."

The man paled, and he bowed his head again, before turning around and running to catch up to the other two.

Izuku turned to see Rei and the other two watching him.

"Well, that was… something." He said, before holding his arm out to Rei. "Shall we continue?"

She smiled at him, taking his proffered arm and linking her own with it. Together, they left the reptile building, moving onto the next area.

They spent the rest of the morning exploring the zoo, witnessing an astounding variety of quirked animals, and admiring them all.

---

They arrived at Izuku's usual café almost exactly at noon, settling at two outdoor tables. The owner was quick to come out and greet them, stating that it had been too long since she'd seen Izuku there, which was unfortunately true. With Yueii taking over his daily routine, it wasn't often that he had any time or reason to come here.

After making Izuku promise to come around to visit more often, she took their orders, bustling away to prepare their drinks.

"So Tsuyu." Rei started. "If you don't mind me asking, what sort of quirks do your parent's have? What kind of quirks combine to make a frog mutation like yours?"

"Actually, both of my parents have frog mutations as well kero. Though, technically, my dad's is closer to a toad than a frog."

"Huh. Interesting." Izuku said. "I'll admit, I was curious as well. But, unsurprisingly, it seems that frog, plus frog, equals another frog."

Tsuyu's mouth stretched into a smile. "You definitely aren't wrong about that. I have two younger siblings, and both of them have frog mutations as well."

"Interesting that such similar quirks would manifest across all of their children. Maybe one or both of your parents had ancestors with similar mutations."

"Hmm. They might. I'd have to ask them."

"But what about you two?" She asked, looking between him and Rei. "I think you might've said something about your tail coming from your father kero, but what about your mother?"

Izuku saw Rei freeze up ever so slightly at the question, mirrored an instant later by Ochako. Her expression became strained, her smile forced. But just as quick as it happened, she recovered, smiling just a bit too wide as she looked at Tsuyu.

"She had a quirk that let her change her hair color at will. That's actually why Izuku and I ended up with such different hair colors, because she could have any hair color, and passed them all along."

"Actually." Izuku said, looking to redirect the conversation. "Now that we're on this topic, I can't believe I haven't asked this before, but what about your parents, Ochako?"

"Hmm. My dad's lets him control how heavy he is. Sorta like mine, but it only works on him, and he can change it in either direction. My mom's is completely different. She has a minor cat transformation. She gets claws, some fur around her hands, a really good sense of balance, and even whiskers."

Izuku brought a hand to his chin, considering her words for a moment, before coming to a realization.

"Wait, are you telling us that those pads on the tips of your fingers, are actually paw pads?"

"I- uh. I guess? I've never really thought about it."

"I doubt that, just a little." Rei said. "And I'm sorry Ochako, but that's adorable. Like, obviously nothing has changed about you, but I don't think I'll be able to help thinking about that any time I see them now. I won't be able to help thinking about the fact that you have paw pads."

Ochako pouted, hiding her hands under the table, earning a laugh from Rei.

"One way or another though," Izuku said, smiling himself, "that's one of the really interesting things about quirks. The genetics of them and how they combine, change, and mutate from parent to child."

He gestured to Tsuyu. "On the one hand, we've got you and your family, Tsuyu. Two very similar amphibious mutations coming together to create even more very similar amphibious mutations, with only a small amount of variation. Then you've got people like myself and Rei where our appearance is similar enough, but what I got as a leftover mutation, she got as her actual quirk, and a mutation that was present about three generations ago manifested just as strong."

"Then, finally, we have people like Ochako." Izuku said, gesturing at her. "Two completely unrelated quirks merging together to create something new. Taking the weight manipulation of one quirk, combining it with a single tiny physical mutation from another, and making it a touch-based zero gravity quirk."

The conversation was interrupted by the owner returning with their drinks, which they all took a few seconds to sip from.

"Y'know, you talking about all this quirk stuff, and knowing so much about it makes so much more sense now that I know you're Deku."

"Well, it is my job to know this stuff. So you're not wrong in the slightest."

Suddenly, Rei snapped her fingers. "Ah! That's right. Wasn't that analyst guy that I took you to see the year before last talking about that sort of stuff?"

Izuku nodded. "Yep. The German. He's actually one of the leading experts on quirk genetics."

"Wait, Izuku." Tsuyu cut in. "Do you speak German?"

"Well, the man gave his entire presentation in English, not German. English tends to be the standard language for a number of things. But to answer your question, yes, I am indeed fluent in German. Actually, aside from Japanese, I can speak fluently in English, German, Spanish, and French. And I can hold basic conversations in Mandarin."

Seeing her surprised expression, Izuku shrugged. "It started with boredom. I was bored out of my mind one day a few years ago, and on a whim decided that I wanted to learn English. A few days later and I was already able to hold conversations and could start to read and write it with questionable proficiency."

He took another sip of his drink, before shrugging again. "I had far too much free time on my hands and a near-perfect memory. At some point it was bound to happen that I choose to learn something for no other reason than to alleviate boredom."

The conversation was once again interrupted by the owner returning once more. This time she brought their orders, surprising them all – with the exception of Izuku, who knew fully well just how quick she could be – with how fast their food was prepared.

After thanking the owner, they all dug in, savoring the delicious food. The conversation continued on – albeit at a much slower pace – between bites of food, devolving for several minutes to Ochako and Tsuyu asking him how to say certain things in all the languages he knew.

Between the conversation and each of them taking their time to enjoy their meal, it took them some time to finish up. Eventually, once they had, and Izuku had paid, he felt that it was time for them to move on, now that they had spent almost two hours enjoying the conversation and the atmosphere.

"Well then!" Izuku said, raising himself up from where he was settled. "That was quite a delicious meal. What do you all say we move on to our next stop?"

Seeing nods of confirmation from all three of them, Izuku turned and led them away from the café, turning in the direction of the beach.

---

The café was quite close to Dagobah. Within a few minutes of leaving, the wind blowing in from the ocean was hitting them, and they could hear the constant pounding of waves. Another few minutes of moving later, and the beach itself came into view. Nearly pure white sand and with a crowd of people enjoying it. Not quite enough for it to be unpleasantly crowded, but enough for Izuku to appreciate the fact that there were quite a few people that were enjoying the results of his effort.

A small smile appeared on Izuku's face as he took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the ocean. His tongue darted out of his mouth a second later, tasting the salt in the air. He'd never quite be able to get over the fact that this place, that once was a hellhole, full of garbage and smelling so bad that it seared one's nose and seemed to coat the inside of one's throat with every breath, was now a near-pristine beach.

Smile still in place, he led everyone down to the sand, letting out a small content sigh as his tail came into contact with it. He grabbed one of the umbrellas that was set out for public use as they passed the stand they were on. Going just a bit further, he came to a stop about halfway between the entrance and the water, driving the umbrella into the sand.

"And here we are." Izuku said, gathering his tail beneath him, coiling it up.

Rei let out a sigh as she settled into the sand next to him, positioning herself so that her top half was in the shade. She propped herself up on her elbows, laying across a section of her tail as they both usually did.

"Y'know, I still can't quite believe that you cleaned this whole place by yourself."

Tsuyu perked up from where she was laying out her stuff, also under the umbrella. "You're the one that cleaned Dagobah, Izuku?"

Izuku nodded. "I am. Why do you ask?"

"Because I remember my parents talking about it. They were really excited when they saw that this place was back to normal. Apparently, they used to spend a lot of time here when they were younger. I'm pretty sure it's also where they first met."

"That's nice." Izuku said, smiling softly. "I'm glad I was able to restore such a precious memory."

The sound of the waves crashing against the shore and the people around them dominated the atmosphere as Izuku and Rei relaxed, Ochako and Tsuyu taking a few moments to put on some sunscreen.

"Today's been pretty fun." Rei said, pulling a book from her bag. "Nice and relaxing."

"It has." He agreed. "A nice way to unwind after the festival."

Rei's smile softened, and she moved a little closer to bump her should against his. "All of you did so well. I'm proud of you."

"Hey Izuku!" Ochako called, prompting Izuku to turn his attention to her. "Tsu and I are going down to the water. Wanna come with?"

"Not right now." He replied with a smile. "I'm not much of a water person. I'm perfectly content to just sun myself up in the sand. Maybe later though."

"Alright then! C'mon Tsu!"

Izuku watched as they both took off towards the water. Partway down, he noticed Ochako tap herself and Tsuyu at the same time, followed by a familiar pink flash, barely noticeable in the sunlight. A moment later, Tsuyu grabbed onto her and kicked off into the air, sending them both flying out over the water.

He kept a close eye on them as they flew through the air, slowly rising higher as they did.

"This had better not be a trick to get me into the water with them by forcing me to go out and catch them." He muttered, getting a laugh from Rei.

Thankfully, just before he was about to get up, a few moments before their height over the water would've gotten to the point of being a bit concerning, he saw Ochako tap her hands together, sending them both falling. He continued watching as they hit the water, only looking away when they both resurfaced

---

After a while, Izuku raised himself up from where he'd been lounging across the coils of his tail. The sun was approaching the horizon, and it was about time for them to move on.

"Alright then!" He called, grabbing everyone's attention. "It's starting to get late. I suggest we start making our way back so we can get some dinner."

All three of them complied, getting up from their respective spots and stretching away the stiffness that comes from laying in one spot for hours.

Izuku rolled his shoulders, before looking over at Tsuyu.

"You're free to join us if you wish, Tsuyu." He said. "We have plenty for everyone."

She glanced down at her phone, checking the time, before shrugging.

"It's getting pretty close to the time I told my parents I'd be back, but they're pretty easygoing, so it shouldn't be an issue if I tell them you're offering to provide dinner. I'll let them know."

"Wonderful." He said. "Shall we get going then?"

---

By the time they made it back to their building, the sun had set far enough that everything was cast in shadow. They all filed in, with Izuku and Rei following behind Ochako and Tsuyu. Izuku was tempted to offer to simply fly everyone up to the apartment, but there wasn't any reason to do so, other than the stairwell all the way to the top floor being a minor inconvenience to him and Rei.

Despite that, it didn't take long for them to reach the entrance to their home, the door already open as Ochako had reached it first and let herself and Tsuyu in. Izuku let Rei move past him to enter first, following right behind her as she did.

Closing the door behind him, he moved a bit further inside to see Tsuyu standing next to the small kitchen area, looking around at everything.

"This place is impressive." She said, looking out at the city sprawled out below through the glass wall that led to the balcony. "I didn't know you lived somewhere like this Izuku."

He shrugged. "The work I do as 'Deku' and the income I get for it affords us certain luxuries, like this apartment and Rei's pursuit of higher education."

Raising a hand, he pointed off to the right, towards the small hallway that led to Rei's office and Ochako's room. "Now, if you go through the door on the left, there's a room with an attached bathroom. Feel free to make use of it."

She nodded, before heading off in that direction. As she did, Izuku moved to the kitchen, settling in the middle of the space, coiling his tail up. With Tsuyu gone, he was left alone. Rei and Ochako had both retreated to their respective rooms, likely to clean up after their day out.

Rubbing his hands together, Izuku activated 'Shower in a Can', cleaning himself instantly. He rolled up his sleeves, looking around at the kitchen. Now that most the day was behind them, it was time to move on to – in Izuku's opinion – the highlight of the day. Dinner. He had quite the meal planned out for tonight.

He certainly didn't slack when it came to making dinner on a normal day, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he would make it so that, after tonight's meal, it would look like that was the case. Tonight, he would prepare a veritable feast.

Cracking his knuckles, he pulled on a few speed quirks, before getting to work. In seconds, pans were pulled from cabinets, spices were set out to be used later, and a variety of meats and vegetables were on the counter and already being cut.

After a few minutes, a few pans already sizzling away on the stove, Rei re-emerged from her room, hair wet and wearing fresh clothes.

"Mm. You're going all-out tonight, aren't you?" She asked. "I could smell it before I even got out here."

"Yep." He responded, shooting her a quick smile. "It shouldn't take too long to get everything ready. Would you mind getting a movie started?"

"Sure thing." She replied, turning towards the small living area.

Dinner and a marathon of movies might be pretty close to Izuku and Rei's birthday tradition, but he felt that, after altering it slightly to replace an unhealthy amount of ice cream with a properly cooked meal, it would be a fitting end to the day. In his opinion, there was no better way.

Izuku returned his focus to the task at hand, as Rei picked out a movie, settling down on the floor once she had. As usual, she draped herself over a section of her tail.

It didn't take long for Ochako and Tsuyu to reappear as well after that. With barely any words, aside from a repeated comment about being able to smell the food, from Ochako and a bit of surprise on Tsuyu's part over the fact that he was cooking so much, the two of them followed Rei's example and got settled in front of the television. Ochako didn't hesitate to lean back against Rei's tail, grabbing a stray blanket and pulling it close, and Tsuyu, after a brief moment of consideration, sat down next to her, but didn't quite lean back. Izuku heard the movie start up a few moments later.

Soon enough, Izuku was finishing the last of the food, and was already filling a few plates. Turning the stove down to keep everything warm, Izuku carried the plates over to the others, who all accepted one with a quiet 'thank you.' A moment later, and he was returning with his own plate, settling down next to Rei, within the coils of his own tail.

Taking a bite of his food, Izuku smiled. Not necessarily because of the food – though he would be willing to say that it might be some of his best work yet – but at the quiet, comfortable atmosphere. Part of the reason he'd planned out everything today was to celebrate everyone's performance during the festival, but at the end of the day the point was for them to unwind and relax. And based on what Izuku was seeing, it would seem that he was successful.

---

Partway through the movie, having paused it at a slow point, Izuku got up, taking everyone's empty plates. He moved back to the kitchen, dropping them in the sink before turning everything off. Returning to his spot in the living area, he addressed Tsuyu, who he noticed had, at some point, joined Ochako in leaning back against Rei.

"Alright Tsuyu. It's gotten fairly late. What's the plan for you returning home? At this point I can either fly you home, or you can stay the night here."

"You don't have to do that, Izuku." She responded. "I'm fine to head home by myself."

"Nope. Sorry." He said. "It's late, and it'd be both quicker and safer for me to just carry you home. Or, like I said, you can always just stay here. We have plenty of room, and we'd be more than happy to have you. Whatever you decide is fine with me."

She seemed to think for a moment, before speaking again. "I'll ask my parents. If it's alright with them, and if you're sure, then I'll stay the night."

"Excellent. And of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have offered otherwise."

With that, they resumed the movie, and watched on in a content, comfortable silence. The only interruption to that came a few minutes later in the form of Tsuyu quietly announcing that her parents were fine with her staying the night.

---

Sometime during the third movie, Izuku looked around to see that the others were asleep. Ochako and Tsuyu were still leaned up against Rei's tail, and had at some point ended up sharing the same blanket.

Raising himself up, Izuku stretched his arms out over his head. Pulling on 'Ghost' so as to not disturb anyone, he extricated himself from where he'd ended up slightly tangled with Rei. Once he was free, he made his way towards his office. He didn't really feel like going out as Oni tonight, and he needed to catch up on the analysis work that had accumulated through the day.

Settling at his computer, he started it up and pulled up the first request he saw. He was pleased to see that he would be starting out with a fun one.

"Hm. An illusory quirk. Breath-based, and capable of creating both visual and auditory illusions. Interesting."

He settled in a bit further, smirking as he already began typing away. "Very interesting."

Notes: