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CHAPTER 1 - woman of dew
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DEW COATED THE BRIGHT GREEN BLADES OF GRASS,

glistening like tiny jewels in the soft light of dawn. Cicadas hummed as they bathed in the rays of the rising sun, its warm orange rays gently spilling over the horizon, painting the sky in hues of pink and gold.

The air feels fresh, clear, almost tangible in its crispness. Dandelions and daisies swayed gently in the morning breeze, their petals kissed by bumblebees who danced from bloom to bloom, savoring the sweet nectar.

Izuku sat quietly in his classroom with his steaming cup of coffee, staring out the window in awe of the morning scenery. He showed up to work early to finish a curriculum he had been planning for class, pairing his students with each other based on strengths and weaknesses for combat training. But found himself distracted by the beauty outside.

It wasn't until the hallways began to flood with students and the morning announcements crackled over the speakers, that Izuku pulled himself out of his daydream. He glanced down at his wristwatch, gasping at the time. "Crap, I'm supposed to meet with Aizawa!"

He packed his papers into his briefcase and adjusted his long red tie and the cuffs of his white collared shirt, put on his black blazer, and left his classroom.

"Good morning, Mr.Deku!"

"Hi, Deku-Sensei!"

"Morning, Mr.Deku!"

"Did you just wake up, sir? Your hair is a mess!"

Izuku laughed as he passed the students of U.A, running his fingers through his tangled green hair with a faint red face. I forgot to do my hair before I left home!

"Midoriya!--I mean, uhm, Mr.Deku!"

Izuku turned around to see Kota peeking around the corner, wearing his usual red hat and dressed in his wrinkled high school uniform.

"Oh, good morning Kota!"

"Where are we meeting up for the practical exercise this afternoon?"

"At the bus stop. It'll also be a lesson on how to get to the USJ."

"Okay, thanks Midoriya!" Kota waved, disappearing around the corner.

"It's Mr.Deku!" Izuku called out with a smile, but he was already gone. What could he expect? It's fairly difficult to not call your teacher by their first name when you've known each other since age 5 and 14.

Now Kota was 15, attending the same high school Izuku went to. And Izuku, now 24, was the Heroics teacher for the same school. Oh, how things come full circle.

"Midoriya."

His shoulders tensed at the sharp, low voice. He cracked his head around to see Aizawa standing outside of his office, arms crossed with narrowed eyes.

"Are you going to keep me waiting until the school day is over? Let's go."

"Ri-Right, yes sir!!"

The students watched Izuku disappear into Aizawa's office, muttering to each other.

"Mr.Deku is sooo cute!"

"Right? To think he was a student here just a few years ago. I was born too late!"

"That scar under his right eye is so badass."

"His girlfriend is super lucky, if he's got one."

"Don't say that!"

"Girl, we're 17, he is NOT looking our way."

It was no secret that Izuku was considered one of the top U.A heartthrobs. As the youngest teacher in the school, every student seemed to have a crush on him or admired him in some way. Even the students outside of the hero course, from the business and support courses, all found a way to catch a glimpse of him at least once in their day. Like it was good luck to lay eyes on a cute teacher like Izuku.

On top of his reputation for being the hero who saved Japan 10 years ago during the war, his charm was undeniable. Except, Izuku was painfully unaware of his said charm.

His slightly quirky and awkward personality was what made him so appealing. His love for teaching and rigorous, well-thought-out class plans showed off his professionalism and passion, something many people found attractive.

But Izuku was too wrapped up in work to really notice how likable he was. In fact, he hadn't even thought about dating since he began teaching. He forgot the concept of it even existed. His main priority was making sure his students would become the best heroes they could be.

. . .

Aizawa poured the two of them a cup of hot coffee before taking a seat at his desk. Izuku thanked him, taking the warm ceramic into his hands and taking a cautious sip.

"How is the semester going for you?" Aizawa asked kindly, intertwining his fingers on top of his desk. "Summer break is in 2 weeks. I'm sure you're looking forward to a vacation."

Midoriya smiled at the thought of drinking an ice cold beer with his friends, laying on the warm sandy Onikawa beach and sleeping in till the afternoons. "You know me so well, sir."

Aizawa scoffed. "You're doing great. You have been for the past 4 years of teaching. I wanted to meet with you today to remind you to have parent-teacher conferences before the start of break."

Midoriya's face flushed. "Oh no, I completely forgot! I'll tell my students today after I look at my calendar."

"Good. You know how important it is for us to have them."

When Midoriya was a student, U.A had developed a...reputation, known for putting their students in danger rather than a prestigious hero school like it used to be. Now the school was working hard to repair that broken reputation and gain the trust of the people.

Since he's graduated, their efforts have paid off, and the general public praised U.A. Students and teachers were no longer required to live in dorms on campus for safety concerns. An important part of upholding their prestige was to maintain strong relationships with the parents of the students who were working to become heroes, since they would be the ones having to watch their kids put their lives at risk.

This would be Midoriya's first parent-teacher conference with his new class of freshmen. Last year, his class of 3 years graduated from U.A. to become pros. So this was the year that Izuku would be able to apply everything he learned previously (mistakes and all) to do everything right the first time.

"Yes sir, I do," Midoriya nodded. "I'll make sure I meet the parents of every one of my students."

. . .

It was a few days before the start of summer vacation. Izuku was wrapping up his final day of parent-teacher conferences. He had already met half of his students' guardians the day before and was finishing up the list this evening.

Sitting at his desk, he said his final goodbye to Kota and Mandalay, who was his guardian. The two of them left, leaving Izuku alone in the warm glow that basked his classroom. He looked down at his list and checked off Kota's name. "Now, the last student I have is--"

"Hey, teach!"

Izuku turned as the door slid open, his student appearing in the doorway.

Arata Shizumi. Among the students, he was considered a catch. He had an overgrown buzz cut dyed an icy blonde, piercings covering his ears, a hoop piercing in the side of his lip, and a silver eyebrow piercing. He wore clear thin rectangle framed glasses that paired nicely with his dark yellow eyes. On top of that, he was overtly tall for a 15-year-old. Despite his punk look, he was quite goofy—

but also Izuku's top-performing pupil.

Every time he saw him, Izuku wondered if he was Bakugo in another universe (if he had bad eyesight, was exposed to Metallica at a young age, and obsessed with needles).

Izuku smiled as he stood up from his desk. "Good evening, Shizumi."

"Sorry I'm late, I was stuck talking to Present Mic about stuff, and then y/n was running a bit late from work, but we're here!" He walked inside with his head held high as he approached his teacher.

Then a woman appeared, following behind him.

Izuku's eyes locked with hers, the first trait of hers that he noticed. Her eyes were like droplets of water sitting on a blade of grass, reflecting the colors of the green lawn, the blue sky above, and the orange sun all at once.

Eyes like...dewdrops. Piercing, crystal-like dew drops.

Once he was able to notice more than her eyes, he noticed how relatively pretty she was in general. She wore dark blue, low-waisted jeans paired with a black tank top and sleek black kitten heels. The outfit had an effortless elegance, like something a model would wear on a casual day off. But something told Izuku she wasn't a model.

Attractive, yes. However, she looked... intimidating. Or judgmental. Like she could tear him apart with a single glance, and maybe, if he said the wrong thing, she would.

The more he observed, the more he noticed she and Arata looked nothing alike. The only thing they had in common was their aesthetic, although Arata looked way more punk than her, she had the aura of someone who could break someone's thumbs or shred a mean guitar riff.

"G...Good evening, my name is Izuku Midoriya," he held out his hand to her. "I'm Shizumi's homeroom and Heroics teacher."

She looked at his hand, then back up at him, her arms showing no sign of budging. "...Yeah, I know."

Midoriya choked. She...

She totally hates me!

He pulled his hand back and gave an awkward smile. I've encountered this kind of personality many times before when I was younger. She's like a mix of Shoto's coldness, Kacchan's bluntness, and Shinsou's gruffness all rolled into one person!

Arata suddenly slapped the back of the woman's back hard, laughing. "Don't mind y/n! She's a total bitch to everyone, so don't take it personally--"

Y/n suddenly grabbed Arata's ear and pinched it hard. The boy nearly doubled over, grabbing her wrist as tears formed in the corners of his ears. Flames seemed to have surrounded her, angry.

"AHH! OKAY, SORRY!!" He finally escaped her grasp, running behind his teacher in fear. "Mr.Deku! Go on! Tell her what a good student I am!!"

Confused at how fast everything was moving, Izuku began to sweat, holding his hands up defensively as he locked eyes with the clearly irritated lady. "S-Shizumi is my top student, actually! He gets high marks on all his tests and he's doing great in training. You should be proud of your son!"

The air seemed to have gotten thicker.

Arata dropped his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as he hid even more behind Izuku. "Uh oh, teach. Now you've gone and done it."

"D-Done what??--"

"Son?" y/n repeated glaring hard at Izuku.

The green-haired man felt his face turn red, the tips of his ears hot with embarrassment. "I-Is something wrong--"

"You really think I'm that old?"

It was then Izuku realized where he had gone wrong, looking back at Arata, who gave him a look that read "Sorry, man. Can't help ya."

"I-I didn't mean it like that! I just kinda assumed that you were his mom because you look really mature and you're super pretty so I just figured you raised him and--" he stopped himself.

You're super pretty.

You're super pretty.

You're super pretty.

You're super pretty.

You're.

Super.

Pretty.

Y/n's face seemed to have softened. Not out of kindness, but shock and mild disgust (her eyebrows did a thing that led Izuku to believe his out-of-the-blue comment had struck some sort of nerve).

Arata burst into laughter, covering his mouth to contain it. "Nice one, teach! You got her flustered!!" he howled, slapping the desk as he held his stomach.

That was her flustered face? If anything, she looked like she was going to be sick, or that she'd swing a lethal punch at Izuku's stomach.

Y/n turned away with a sigh. "Is that all you have to say? Is this what parent-teacher conferences are for?"

The more words she said, the more Izuku noted the kind of voice she had. It was sharp, harsh, yes. But her tone didn't seem to have any ill-intent. She had a pleasant sounding voice...Not that he particularly realized it.

"U-Uh, well, Shizumi doesn't give me or his classmates any problems, and he's doing extremely well with his studies. He has a strong quirk, but doesn't have any problem controlling it. He'll only grow from here, so...I don't have many notes for him other than that. He's a wonderful student."

Arata had finally calmed down, bumping Izuku with his shoulder. "Aw, teach! You're gonna make me cry...See, y/n! You have nothing to worry about! I told ya I'm doing just fine!"

Izuku realized that Arata had been calling her by her first name this entire time. If he wasn't her kid, they must be siblings. Yet, they looked nothing alike. Adopted? Step siblings?

Y/n glared at Arata, before turning to leave. Arata held out his hand desperately. "Wait, where ya going!?"

"Work, moron."

"But you just got here! You can't even take a day off??"

"No."

Izuku raised an eyebrow. She's a workaholic?...I guess I can relate to her on that...

"Well...Do you at least have anything to say to teach??" Arata asked, pulling Izuku out of his thoughts.

Y/n stopped in the doorway as she grabbed the frame, peering over her shoulder at Izuku with a hard stare. It made him tense, Arata also drawing his shoulders out of fear of what she might say next.

"...You better keep him on track to be the best fucking hero in Japan," she cursed, then flared at Arata. "And you. If you be strong and prove your family wrong, don't be a pussy and fail miserably, got it?"

With that, she was gone.

Arata's cheek turned a deep red as his eyebrow twitched. "S-She just called me a pussy!?"

"Language, Shizumi."

"Not the time, teach!"

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