Both the two of them blinked, as out of nowhere, another figure appeared in the room. One in green, with a huge purple cape.
The Arab immediately bowed, and when his master gave a motion, he immediately left without any further comment.
...
Once he was gone, Quentin turned his full attention to her.
"Hello, Tel… How goes the recovery? The bones were properly set?"
"Yeah, yeah… I can't believe you took that arse as your apprentice."
"We all need successors in our lives Tifa. Even mighty MYSTERIO! cannot cheat death forever!"
He promptly sat on the air, as if it was a comfortable chair.
"But enough about Conundrum. I did not come here to discuss my apprentice. I have news from the big man. You will no doubt be pleased to hear that you will NOT be sent back to Japan anew for your next mission after your recovery."
She let out a sigh of relief, as she let her head lean back.
"Oh thank the fucking spirits… So where am I going then?"
"I-Island."
"I-Island. The single most conventionally fortified place on the planet?"
"The same. We will be kidnapping 2 girls there, copying a quirk from another, and extracting a scientist from the island that has decided to turn his coat to us in exchange for freedom."
She supposed she should feel a lot of worry about that. It sounded really, really dangerous.
"So long as fucking Midoriya isn't there when we go… I'll take it. Gladly."
Going to an Atlantic island sounded like quite the upgrade from once again going to the hell island that was Japan. Somehow, she just knew that the next time she went back to the oriental island, she WOULD run into the damn spider again… No matter how unlikely.
"Yeah… About that… His entire class has an invitation to go there during this period. One of his classmates is our target in fact."
A scream of frustration echoed down the halls.
...
The classroom of Yuei was a cheerful place the morning it's inhabitants returned after their first true push as heroes out beyond the school's walls.
Uraraka had missed it. The banter, the lighthearted talking between people, and everyone just sharing their experiences, for good or ill.
"STOP LAUGHING! It was stuck like this even after a good washing!"
Probably most amusingly was Bakugou Katsuki, who had returned from his stint as a sidekick of Best Jeanist with the most hilariously silly, push-pushed-down gentleman cut imaginable.
It looked hysterical as his friends Kirishima and Sero did not fail to point out with their laughter at the sight.
For her own part though, most of Uraraka's focus was on her friends Jiro and Tsuyu, who had gathered around her table.
"So you didn't experience any of it? Despite being SO close to it all?"
The earwhip girl had an incredulous look on her face at that bit of news.
"Well… We did help out a lot in the aftermath, but yeah. By the time we even heard about it, it was all long over."
"Man… Talk about bad luck… I'm sure Izuku and Mina would REALLY have appreciated your strength."
"Yeah… I thought the same thing."
She'd thought a bit too much about that very topic in fact.
"It was a very… Enlightening week, but yeah I didn't exactly get much real-life and death combat experience. But what about you two?"
Jiro shrugged.
"Eh… It was just evacuation procedures and logistical support. No real fighting."
"Still that's… Not nothing."
Tsuyu nodded in agreement.
"Just training and patrol for me. Though one time we did catch some foreign smugglers."
Both the other girls turned to the stoic frog girl sharply.
"Seriously? That's awesome Tsuyu!"
Uraraka grinned as well, nodding and giving her both thumbs up in agreement.
Most of the class had had pretty good weeks if mayhaps not perfect ones.
The only ones who did not seem happy at all with what they had learned p Mineta, Katsuki, and of course…
Iida Tenya was talking with Kaminari Denki, being his usual, cheery self, even when the topic that must surely have horrified him, Hero Killer Stain was brought up.
It was an act of course, or at least the cheerful part of it was.
Uraraka could tell Iida was feeling very, very down at the moment.
As he talked to Kaminari, being questioned about Stain, he made a point of acting his usual self, while talking of how he'd resolved to better himself to ensure this kind of tragedy did not repeat.
She knew better though. She knew him well enough to see the pain in his eyes, and even if she did not, she recalled how he'd been as he met her earlier by the gates. The forlorn look on his face before he noticed her.
She had given him her support and hand of friendship… Only to be surprised when Iida instead had turned around and apologized for his behavior during the sports festival, calling it, "unbefitting behavior from a hero".
Truth be told, she'd actually forgotten about the entire incident of him choosing Shoto instead of her.
At least until he'd brought it up.
And then of course there was the video. She'd seen the video. Everyone had.
She did not know Izuku had felt during that final bit with Stain, his face hidden by that black mask, but she had seen IIda's absolutely terrified expression as Stain gave his final speech, and dared him to step forward.
He was not well. At all.
As Uraraka looked sadly at Iida though, she initially missed the fact that everyone in the room was turning to look at the entrance of the room.
Only when Iida and Kaminari did as well, did she turn her head to look as well.
And… There he was.
The hero of the hour.
Midoriya Izuku walked into the room, his uniform jacket stained black, and with was the most wonderful and cheerful smile Uraraka had ever seen.
The boy had dark, dark rings under his eyes, suggesting he had not gotten a lot of sleep, but that could not be in sharper contrast against his eyes.
Or his smile.
Not only was the grin on his lips such a contrast against the dark circles under his eyes, but it was also complete and utterly unlike how Izuku's smiles normally were.
They were usually shy, awkward, kinda adorable grins.
Meanwhile, the one he sported now was… Well, it was kinda a mix between cute, and… And actually kinda handsome.
Uraraka had always thought Izuku was kinda cute, but as he stood there, just beaming with happiness as he looked over the class, it was downright infectious.
It also took most of the class aback seeing him like this. Everyone also immediately jumped to their own conclusions.
The most common of those conclusions being that he was really, really happy having actually managed to make the news as the one who defeated the Hero killer and one of the two members of the class who had defeated the Undead Nomu.
That certainly was the thought process of Kirishima, Bakugo, and Sero, the first which was the first of which called out to him.
"Congrats man!"
By comparison, Bakugo looked like he was about to murder someone, and it was practically audible just how hard he ground his teeth together.
Not all in the class came to this conclusion though.
"Thanks!" Izuku blushed as he said it, though the smile didn't waver, as he began making his way over to Iida's desk, and by extension Uraraka's desk behind his.
"Damn, he's in a good mood. Guess he really likes the media spotlight." Jiro noted.
"You haven't checked out Mina's social media in the last few days, have you?" Tsuyu said, looking Izuku over with that usual, hard-to-read default expression of hers.
Both the other girls looked at her funny, not really getting what she meant, only for their attention to be diverted as Iida began talking to Izuku, and once more repeating his apology for ditching him at the sports festival, along with a thanks for saving him in Hosu, though there was a bit of dialogue there that… Didn't quite make sense to her without a full picture of what had happened between them.
Izuku looked a bit plussed by that, though his obviously good move didn't go away.
On his chest, two white eyes opened up, and looked Iida over with some expression Uraraka couldn't quite read, but after Izuku kinda awkwardly accepted Iida's apology, Kirishima walked up to the two of them.
"Man, Midoriya! You really managed to make a splash, didn't you?! First the festival, then stopping the guys who wrecked Hosu city, and then finally to top it all off, you beat the freaking Hero killer and saved Iida!"
Behind him, Bakugou looked like he was about to explode like a nuke, though Kirishima seemingly hadn't noticed that fact.
"I… Suppose that's all true enough."
...
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