It was the day after Ochaco and Izuku debuted as Mochibug and Black Neko. Once they reached back home and separated their way to their apartments, they were questioned by their parents on why they were coming in so late. After giving some excuses for coming late, they went to their beds and passed out not even bothering to change their clothes. They woke up the next day 10 minutes after their alarms, rushed to take baths, and changed into clean
uniforms. Upon exiting their apartments, they saw each other and talked like they usually do with a hint of exhaustion.
"Morning Deku," Ochaco said yawning.
"Morning Ochaco," Izuku also said, yawning while rubbing his eyes. Once he was finally able to see, he squinted them upon seeing Ochaco's hair. "Are you okay?"
"What do you mean?" she asked not understanding what he meant.
"I mean, your hair's kind of messy," he said pointing at it. Ochaco went ahead, touched it, and felt how unkept it was. That caused her to blush in embarrassment.
"Oh uh, I kinda got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and kind of forgot to comb it," she said scratching the back of her neck while laughing in embarrassment. "But what about you?"
"Huh?" Izuku said with an eyebrow raised.
"I mean, you got bags under your eyes," she said pointing at his face. Not understanding either, he pulled out his smartphone, turned on the inward camera, and looked at his reflection. And just like what Ochaco said, his eyes looked a little puffy. "Didja do something other than shop for your mom last night?"
"Um, yeah I was, uh..." Izuku said stuttering as memories of last night flowed straight into his head: meeting a genie-like creature, possessing a ring with magical powers of destruction, fighting a possessed teenager with rock abilities, and so on. Using his brain and quick thinking, he spoke with a sweaty face. "Sketching! Yeah, I was sketching another hero into my book"
"Sketching huh?" Ochaco asked confused and surprised considering how he had given up on becoming a hero. "Well then, who'd you draw this time?"
"I, uh, drew..." Izuku said rubbing both his hands nervously trying to find the right answer without revealing his identity as the new vigilante. His eyes widened as the answer came into his head due to how he was feeling the metallic ring on his finger and upon the mention of the word 'vigilante' in his head. "...the new superhero duet"
"Superhero Duet?" Ochaco asked.
"Well, I don't know if you heard, but there was a villain attack last night, and it was stopped by two superheroes who kinda looked liked Paris' old duo team Ladybug and Cat Noir," he explained. Upon hearing that, Ochaco's eyes widened as memories from the night before began to flow into her head: meeting a genie-like creature, possessing earrings with magical powers of creation, fighting a possessed teenager with rock abilities, and so on. "If I recall they were..."
"Mochibug and Black Neko?" she asked unconsciously. Realizing what she said, she placed both her hands on her mouth while Izuku looked at her surprised.
"How'd you know?" he asked.
"Oh, uh, while I was on my walk yesterday, I passed an electronics store that had all its TVs set to live news. I even saw Mina on it with them," she said making up a story on the fly.
"Ashido was there too. Woah, it must've been crazy for her," Izuku said pretending to be clueless. "Maybe we can call her and ask how she and her friend are doing later?"
"Good idea," Ochaco said as the two of them proceeded down the stairs of their apartment. "I'm still surprised Japan got its own Ladybug and Cat Noir"
"I know and they were both amazing, especially Mochibug," Izuku said unaware of how much Ochaco was blushing since he was looking into the front. "She was so brave and strong, I already acknowledge her as a hero"
"R-Really?!" Ochaco asked out loud both for herself and Mochibug.
As Izuku nodded his head, he adverted his eyes the other way before saying, "I mean, don't get me wrong, her partner was extremely cool too"
Hearing that made Ochaco's eyes twitch a little.
"Black Neko huh?" she said turning her head forward and they walked towards the bus stop. "I saw the news. Don't get me wrong, he did a good job, but maybe he should tone it down on the jokes"
"Really? I thought his jokes were funny and clever," he said trying to give himself some credit. "Like when I heard him say, 'purr-ease' stand down. Combining the words, 'purr' and 'please' was really sma..."
He was cut off by Ochaco who was holding her chest as she bursted out laughing.
"Huh? What?" Izuku asked confused.
"S-Sory Deku! It's just..." she said still laughing. "You saying that pun is just too funny. It doesn't suit you at all!"
While still laughing, Izuku's eyes brightened with a smile as he made a mental note to find more Cat puns to use later on when he's Black Neko now that he knows that they're funny. As Ochaco's bus was approaching and she calmed down, Izuku changed the topic.
"So later, I was thinking after school, we can meet up in my room and submit our applications to Ousei Academy," he said to her as the bus parked in front of them. "What'd you think?"
Ochaco placed a finger to her lips as if she was thinking, smiled, and gave her response, "Okay, see you tonight then"
Entering the bus, Ochaoc sat in her seat and waved goodbye to Izuku as he stood there at the bus stop waving. Once the vehicle was out of sight Izuku tubred and was about to walk away until... "Ah barf, why don't you just marry the girl already!?"
Looking at where the voice was coming from, he saw Plagg's head poke out of one of the side pockets of his uniform. As Deku stared into his green cat eyes, Plagg continued and said, "I mean, if you two have been friends since childhood, shouldn't you two be dating or something?"
Just hearing that made Izuku blush in embarrassment. He waved both his hands before saying, "Me and Ochaco? N-No way, she's just a friend. We've been nothing but friends since the moment we met back in Kindergarten"
"Whatever," Plagg said trying to snuggle back into his pocket. "Just don't drag me into another love coaching session, like my old holder did"
"Love coaching session?" Izuku asked confused. "What does that mean?"
"My old holder had a huge crush on Ladybug and was always bugging me about how to impress her and yada, yada, yada," Plagg explained clearly annoyed. "So if you go gaga over your new partner, don't drag me into this"
"Wait, why would I... Who said I was..." he stuttered trying his best to deny what Plagg was actually saying. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be knocked down to the ground by a heavy push from behind him. Recovering from the fall, he lifted his head only to be met with the sight of a boy with ash-blonde hair who was slightly taller than he was.
"Tch, watch where you're going, nerd!" Katsuki Bakugo said holding his bag over his shoulder.
"Kachan, I wasn't..." Izuku said trying to protest.
"Shut it Deku! Yesterday, All Might was the hero, not you, so stop acting like you have the right to talk to me so freely!" Katsuki said before turning around to walk away, leaving Izuku on the ground crouching while holding himself up with both his two hands. Once he was far enough, Plagg flew out of Izuku's pocket and stared at the ash-blonde boy.
