Izuku moved back and forth across the kitchen, humming as he worked, as was his usual when he cooked. This time though, he wasn't humming just to himself. He was joined by Iona, trying her best to match her voice to his.
She was perched up on his shoulders, tiny fingers gripping at his hair, watching him prepare breakfast, and even helping at times, when it was safe and convenient for her to do so, stirring, mixing, or cutting ingredients—guided by his hands, of course.
She was doing a fine job of it. He would make gourmet-level chef out of her someday.
His only regret was that he had no way of recording this to show Rei, who would absolutely adore the sight of them together like this. He would've used 'Ferrokinesis'—Wolfram's quirk, now renamed—to levitate his phone to do so, if the quirk didn't scramble electronics. As things were, he would just have to recreate this scene some other time for her.
Well, there was also the—minor, very minor—regret of the meal prep taking much longer than it normally would, the addition of Iona on his shoulders necessitating a much slower, much safer speed than he was used to. But that small regret melted away in the face of the sheer happiness that he could feel almost radiating from Iona.
And besides, the slower prep speed just meant that he was paying more attention and taking more care with the meal than usual, even with Iona taking the vast majority of his focus. It just meant that there would be no chance for error which, with today being what it was, was just fine with Izuku.
Today was Rei's birthday, and in all areas where it was attainable—such as the meals—he would accept nothing less than perfection.
Speaking of, everything was very nearly ready. Now it was time for the last few things.
He reached up to pat Iona on the back, halting her stirring at one of the pans, before lifting up from the lowered stance needed for her to reach it from his shoulders.
"Good job." He said. "Everything's just about ready, which means it's almost time to wake Rei up. You finished making your card, right?"
She nodded, fingers tugging at his hair. "Uh huh!"
"Very good." He lifted her up off of his shoulders, setting her gently on the floor. "Why don't you go get it, and then go wake her up while I get the rest of this ready to go. Okay?"
"Okay!" She responded, running off to her room.
The second she was out of sight, Izuku pulled a speed quirk into place. He had greatly appreciated both her help and simply spending time with her, and being forced to slow down and pay closer attention had been convenient, but now it was more important to get the last few things prepared with speed in mind. He sought perfection in everything that was reasonably attainable, and that included perfect timing.
There was the table to set, plates to be prepared and set out, coffee to be brewed, and an Ochako to be retrieved—already in progress, with Izuku having already sent Tamako to wake her up a few minutes ago. He would have it all done and would be at Rei's door with a cup of coffee before Iona could pull her out into the living room.
Iona was just rushing into Rei's room, card in hand, when Izuku finished setting empty plates around the table. Then, devoting all but the smallest bit of his focus—currently watching Iona shake Rei awake—to the task at hand, he activated 'Ferrokinesis,' and the kitchen seemed to come to life. The silverware drawer pulled open on its own, and a small swarm of utensils flew out towards the table, and at the same time, the dishes on the stove followed—carefully but quickly—behind them. Serving utensils distributed food to each of the plates as he used his hands to pour the coffee.
The kitchen was just settling down, pots and pans returning to their place on the stove, drawers sliding shut, and Ochako sitting at the table, as Izuku came to a stop in front of Rei's door, coffee in hand. Just in time for the door to slide open, to reveal Iona dragging a tired yet quite happy Rei behind her.
"Happy Birthday." He greeted with a smile, offering the cup as Iona slid around him to head for the table, leaving Rei to him.
Rei groaned as she was shaken awake, dragging her out of what had been a really good dream.
She threw her arms out before she was even fully conscious, grabbing the intruder and pulling them close, then settling back down, getting both of them nice and comfy so she could go back to sleep. The very fact that she was able to grab them like that in the first place made it obvious who she'd just trapped, who was now giggling into her shoulder.
The noise of it and the squirming of her prisoner inevitably prevented her from going back to sleep, instead dragging her awake much quicker. But the second that she was cognizant enough to recognize the situation, any disappointment she might've felt at the lack of sleep quickly evaporated.
She smiled, eyes still closed, as she cuddled Iona closer, one hand rubbing tiny circles into her back.
"Good morning, Iona."
"Good morning! Happy Birthday!"
Rei's smile grew, and she shifted to press a kiss to the top of Iona's head.
"Thank you."
Rei kept her eyes closed just a few seconds more, just thinking as she lay there.
Twenty-five years old, as of today, and today had all the makings to be her best birthday yet. Even just being woken up the way she had was just about the best gift she could think of. It was almost a dream come true, being in such a place in life where her child—adopted or not—was shaking her awake. It was proof. Proof that she had a family surrounding her, to love her and for her to love. Proof that she'd survived long enough to attain it.
She had a life. She had a family. She even had a job working for All Might's hero agency, due to start at the end of the month. Her life had already been amazing, living here with Izuku, healthy, safe, and happy. But now… Now it was perfect.
She finally opened her eyes, lifting herself and Iona up off the floor. Loosening her hold on Iona, she lifted her up and set her down on her tail. Iona must've had to climb all over her just to reach her upper half.
"Good morning." Rei said again. "Did Izuku send you in here to get me?"
She nodded. "Uh huh!" Then she held up the piece of paper that Rei hadn't even noticed her holding. "I made you a card!"
"I see that! Thank you very much."
She took the card, carefully inspecting it. The front was covered in flowers, and large, bubbled letters spelling out "Happy Birthday Rei!" Opening it revealed a drawing covering the majority of the page. She couldn't help her smile growing when she realized what it was.
It was them, all of them. Her, Izuku, Ochako, and Iona. Even Kemono and Tamako were included. She and Izuku were front and center, their tails taking up much of the bottom half of the page. Izuku had an arm up, almost like he was flexing, and on his bicep sat Iona, putting her right in between him and Rei. Ochako was floating above all three of them. Izuku's other arm was also raised, and from his hand a rainbow stretched up above all of them. Rei smiled at the memory of Izuku using his illusion quirk to do just that the same day he and Ochako had gotten back from their trip.
Directly beneath Iona was a figure covered in brown, with the head of a dog, obviously Kemono based on how Iona had described him before. Then, at Izuku's side, there was some kind of fluffy… cloud? It had a smiley face, and given that it almost looked like it was connected to Izuku like a thought bubble, Rei figured that-that was Tamako.
Below the picture was a tiny written message.
Happy Birthday! Thank you for being my new mom. I really like living and spending time with you.
Rei stared at the message for a few seconds, blinking furiously as she found her eyes suddenly welling up. Oh, now she understood what Izuku had been talking about when he'd been telling her about a few moments where he'd been blindsided by just how precious Iona was, and the realization of just how much he was willing to do for her. For him it had been Iona calling Oni a hero, and then accepting his quirk and saying that she wished she had a quirk like him.
For Rei it was finding out that Iona thought of her as her mom.
Rei had loved Iona since before she even properly met her in the orphanage, and had readily and completely dedicated herself to taking care of her, but now… Now she completely understood Izuku's dedication to Iona. Rei would do absolutely anything for her. Izuku now had some competition for his spot as Rei's favorite person.
As she tried to hold back her tears, Rei idly wondered if Izuku or Ochako had helped Iona write the message. It was obviously written by her, judging by the handwriting, but there wasn't a single mistake.
"You made this?" Rei asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.
"Uh huh! Zuku and Chako helped color it though, cuz they said they didn't make a card."
"I love it." Rei said. "Thank you."
She leaned forward to wrap Iona in a hug, taking care to not damage the card. She would absolutely be framing it and hanging it somewhere in her room.
"Now then." She said, shifting to scoop Iona up off of her tail. "Why don't we go see what's for breakfast?"
She moved towards the door, carefully laying the card on her dresser as she passed—she'd be framing it later—and setting Iona down once they made it past the coils of her tail spread across the floor.
Iona took her hand as soon as her feet were on the floor, and started gently pulling her towards the door. It slid open at their approach, revealing Izuku standing on the other side, already holding out a cup of coffee.
"Happy Birthday." He said.
Rei smiled. At the sight of him, at the smell of the meal he'd cooked, at his greeting, at the sight of Iona and Ochako sitting at the table. Of course he'd had everything prepared before she even made it out of her room. He already cared so much, and always went above and beyond on her birthday.
She ignored the coffee for the time-being—there would be time to appreciate that later—instead just moving closer to wrap her arms around Izuku. His free arm came up immediately to return the gesture.
"Thank you." She whispered.
Thank you for the breakfast, for the coffee, for wishing her a happy birthday. Thank you for being her brother, her family, for making that family grow, for surrounding her with people who loved her. Thank you for the apartment, for the safe and comfortable life, for the opportunity to pursue her dreams.
Thank you for saving her, as much as she'd saved him.
His arm tightened its hold on her.
"You're welcome." He said, and she knew that he meant for all of it.
They separated, and Rei finally took the coffee, taking a sip as Izuku led her over to the table, and to the plate of food waiting for her.
Rei took a bite, and sighed as the flavor hit her. It was delicious. Izuku was already a good cook—she couldn't remember a single meal from him that hadn't been good—but he always went above and beyond during special occasions like this.
Honestly, he could've gone into cooking as a profession instead of quirk analysis and he probably would've been just as successful.
"Delicious." She stated as soon as she swallowed. "You've outdone yourself Izuku. This is amazing."
"I helped!" Iona chimed in, practically bouncing in her chair.
"You did?" Rei asked, smiling.
"Yeah! I helped stir! And I helped cut up the vegebles."
Izuku nodded. "And a very big help you were. I don't think I could've done it without you."
Iona giggled a bit at that.
Rei smiled at the interaction, before turning to Izuku. "So what's on the agenda for today? What sort of stuff do you have planned?"
"I was thinking that we keep today a bit more relaxed." He answered. "I'm thinking a trip to the beach and a late lunch while we're out, and then we switch things up by doing our movie marathon a bit earlier, before dinner. Then I've got something a bit more special planned, but it has to wait until after sunset."
"Sounds wonderful." She said.
Honestly, it didn't matter to her all that much what they did, just so long as they were together. She would've been just as happy if he'd declared that they'd be nothing but lounge around the apartment all day. Not that she believed that Izuku would ever allow for such a thing, of course. No. He showed affection through action. By doing. By providing, protecting, giving.
Cooking three meals a day and pouring his heart and soul into each one. Practically throwing money at them and ensuring that they had all the niceties they could ever want without ever asking for anything in return. Doing everything in his power—which in his case was rather significant—to make sure they were safe, healthy, and comfortable. Planning out celebrations meant to show just how much he cared.
Offering their home to Ochako, adopting Iona.
He put everything he had into everything he did, and it wasn't even a conscious decision that had him doing so. It was simply a measure of how much he cared.
Truly, Rei was thankful that she'd found him all those years ago, and not just because he saved her.
Rei sighed as her scales hit the sand, heated by the Summer sun to a point that would've been nearly unbearable to normal people, but which was sheer bliss to people like her and Izuku.
She would be forever grateful that Izuku had reintroduced her to a cleaned and restored Dagobah beach during his birthday last year. The immense relief and closure at seeing what had previously been a hellhole that they'd been all but forced to live in for years turned into a place of beauty aside, coming here to enjoy a warmth that surpassed the apartment's heated floors, especially with Iona, had become one of Rei's favorite things to do.
Their group, now one person bigger with the addition of Tsuyu—whom Rei had suggested to Ochako that they invite—got settled into a decent-size open area, unloading their chairs, umbrellas, towels, and other assorted items from Izuku's arms, as he'd refused to let anyone else carry anything. Rei settled underneath an umbrella next to Izuku, leaving most of her tail out in the sun. Iona, Ochako, and Tsuyu ended up under another umbrella, with Ochako helping Iona with her sunscreen.
Rei smiled as she watched Iona darted away as soon as she was able, running to a spot in the sand some distance away, chosen by some criteria known only to her, and begin digging. Judging by the sand flying out of the hole seemingly of its own accord right next to her, Kemono must've joined her.
Knowing that Iona was under the watchful eye of Izuku, Rei took a moment to look around at the beach, with its sparkling sand and hordes of people enjoying it. If she tried, she could almost see the beach the way it used to be. Layers of garbage so thick that one could barely even see the sand beneath, with towering piles of it rising high enough that they blocked the view of the ocean from one side and the view of the buildings on the other. A stench so pungent and overpowering that it burned just to breathe and made it difficult to smell anything else once you left. A deep, bone chilling cold that was hell on scales and made it hard to move.
She blinked, and the memory faded away to reveal a bright, cheerful beach once more. She turned to see Iona and Kemono still digging themselves into a hole.
Rei sighed, shifting to lean into Izuku's side.
"What're you thinking about over there?" He asked, voice quiet. "I can just about feel it even without Observation."
"The beach." She responded simply. Knowing Izuku, she didn't have to elaborate. Still, she added on, "Y'know, if I'm not mistaken, this spot here might've been where our little makeshift shelter was."
Izuku tilted his head at that, before turning to look around.
"Huh. So it is. Almost right on the money, in fact."
He turned back towards the water, towards Iona out in front of them, and tilted his head so that it rested on top of Rei's.
"How far we've come." He said after a moment. "From living here as children to now bringing our own child here years later."
"All thanks to you."
"Let's not pretend as though I would've made it anywhere close to this without you. If not for you I might not have ever made it out of that alleyway."
Rei smiled, partly at the thought of how adorable Izuku had been as a child, despite the shitty circumstances. "All thanks to both of us then."
"All thanks to both of us." Izuku agreed.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, enjoying each other's presence, the beach around them, the sight of Iona playing in it, before Rei shifted away, readjusting to lay over a section of her tail, settling in to just relax and enjoy the warmth.
Rei was just beginning to comfortably doze off when screams pierced the air from the direction of the water, forcing her wide awake. She watched Izuku go from laying down relaxed to laser focused in an instant, raised up and eyes trained on the water.
She looked over to see a few people panicking near the shore, and someone else—it was hard to tell at a distance, but it looked like a little boy—further out, being almost dragged away. Some of the people on the shore were beginning to wade out into the water after him.
"Rip current." Izuku said, and before she could even say anything he was gone, kicking up a bit of sand as he launched into the air. Tsuyu was only just barely getting up out of her chair, presumably to go rescue the kid, when he left. He was out over the water in seconds, catching up to the kid and dropping into the water to grab him. He resurfaced a moment later, surging straight back into the air with the kid in his arms, landing back on the sand almost just quickly.
Rei watched as the previously-panicking adults—presumably the kid's family—frantically thanked Izuku as they took the child from him, clinging for dear life. He casually waved them off and even though she couldn't hear that far, she could imagine his nonchalance, acting as though his lifesaving act was just another day for him—which technically, though a bit different from his usual of tormenting criminals, it basically was—hardly worth mentioning. The casual display of power and heroism was just a natural thing for him.
Even Rei and the others were hardly reacting. They recognized the deed of course; Ochako and Tsuyu were smiling and Iona may as well have had stars in her eyes, and the thought of how instinctively heroic he was made Rei smile. But being so used to him and how he operated meant that their reactions were tame in comparison to those of the kid's family and the other people nearby, acting like they'd just seen a hero swoop in to save the day.
Izuku finally managed to extricate himself from the attention after a few minutes to make his way back to Rei and the others, settling back in his spot with a sigh of relief.
"Did my eyes deceive me, or was that an unlicensed use of your quirk to engage in heroics?" Rei joked. "Careful. You wouldn't want someone to come after you for vigilantism."
"Ah yes, the terrible vigilante." Izuku deadpanned. "Terrorizing citizens with his mere existence. What will he do next?"
"Maybe he'll help an old lady cross a street, or rescue a kitten from a tree."
"Oh the humanity."
Rei huffed, smirking, and laid herself back down.
With the excitement passed, Rei relaxed once more. This time, she didn't doze off, but passed the time alternating between watching Iona play in the sand and just watching the waves. It was maybe an hour later—she'd lost track of time and didn't have much interest in paying attention to it—when Iona decided that she'd spent long enough in the sand.
"Rei!" She called out excitedly, practically bouncing over to her. "Can we go to the water?"
Rei smiled, picking herself up, before leaning forwards and lifting Iona up into the air, to her delight. "We sure can!"
"Are you coming too, Zuku?"
"Of course." Izuku responded, lifting himself up from where he'd been sprawled across his own tail.
She didn't even have to ask Ochako and Tsuyu. They were already standing.
"Remember to stay close to one of us." Izuku said as they made their way towards the waves. "The ocean is a little bit dangerous today."
"Okay!"
They spent much of the day at the beach—maybe a bit longer than Izuku had originally intended, not that he was likely to complain—staying late into the afternoon, with the only interruption coming the form of a short break for lunch, at Izuku's favorite café of course. By the time they were heading back towards the apartment, the sun was starting to dip towards the horizon, and everyone was tinged slightly red from it, except for Izuku, whose quirks had probably healed the sunburn as quickly as it came.
"Alright." Izuku announced the moment everyone had entered the apartment. "Everyone go get cleaned up, then it's time to lounge around until dinner."
"Oh! Can I help again?" Iona asked, bouncing up and down.
"Of course you can." He replied with a smile. "I need someone to make sure I'm doing everything right."
Rei smiled as everyone separated. Ochako and Tsuyu disappeared into her room, and Izuku led Iona into hers.
Less than an hour later, everyone was gathered back up in the living room, freshly cleaned and already sprawled comfortably across the space for the traditional movie marathon. Obviously, Iona was allowed to make the first pick on what they were watching.
It was a few hours later, with the sun set, dinner eaten, Tsuyu having returned home, and Iona lightly dozing away in Ochako's lap, when Izuku got up.
"Alright." He said quietly. "I think it's about time for your last gift."
He turned to Ochako. "Are you gonna be okay alone here with Iona until sunrise?"
"Yep!" She replied, with a smile that told Rei she was in on whatever Izuku was planning.
Izuku nodded, before turning back to Rei with a similar smile. "Meet me up on the roof."
And with that he was turning to head to his room without another word.
Rei quirked an eyebrow at him, partly hung up on the "until sunrise" bit of what he'd said, but smiled after a moment. "Alright."
Whatever was happening, Rei knew that she'd end up enjoying it.
A few minutes later, Rei was opening the door to the roof. The door was typically locked to prevent access by the residents, but Rei and Izuku weren't about to be restricted by silly things like that in their own building.
The roof was fairly open, with nothing to block her sightline to the edge of the building, but it still took her a few moments to find Izuku. The sight of him when she did had her stopping in her tracks.
He wasn't quite on the roof, rather floating in midair just beyond the edge, and instead of his usual appearance of the tail and wings, he had legs and no wings. It was like when he went out as Oni, only his face and the rest of his appearance were still the same as normal.
And he was giant, about two-or-three times bigger than he ought to be.
Almost as strange, and registering a moment later was the fact that he was wearing clothes. Rei was pretty sure he'd mentioned before that this gigantification quirk he'd grabbed didn't affect his clothes. He must've had some specially made.
She recovered after a few seconds, turning to head towards him.
"Going for a flight?" She asked.
"If you want to." He answered. "It wasn't exactly practical to do so before, but now that I have the new flight quirk, and now that I'm fairly proficient with it, it's plenty practical."
He floated closer, lowering a bit to rest his elbows on the edge of the roof. "Wanna go flying?"
Rei's eyes widened, and she felt a smile creeping onto her face. "Oh?"
"Yep. I go flying all the time, but in all these years I've never been able to take you with me, so I thought it'd be nice to let you experience it."
Rei's smile was full force now. "I would love to."
She would never say so out loud, but for a long time she'd been just a bit jealous of the fact that Izuku could fly, and could do so whenever he wished. He'd tell her about how he flew out over the ocean, or the mountains, or way higher than any human had any right to without an airplane. That jealousy had never developed into anything more than a slight longing though. She loved him far too much to allow for anything as petty as jealousy towards him.
And now Izuku was smiling too. "Excellent. I've got a whole route planned out. I think you'll really like it."
"I'm sure I will." She responded. Then, eyeing him with a tilt of her head, "so, how did you want to do this?"
"I'm thinking that you wrap around my waist, which is the main reason I used this quirk, and position yourself so that you're on my back able to put your arms around my neck."
Rei nodded. "Yeah that ought to work. Let's give it a shot."
With a bit of help from Izuku—who shifted around to sit on the edge of the roof—she did as he'd said and wrapped her tail around his waist. She tried to be mindful and not squeeze too hard, even if she knew that it was physically impossible for her to hurt him. She positioned herself so that she could wrap her arms around his neck. If she needed to, she could easily use her tail to shift so that she was leaning over his shoulder.
"Alright." Izuku said, giant hand placed overtop hers at his neck. "Ready?"
"Ready." She confirmed, mouth already stretching into a wild grin. She didn't even bother to try to hide her excitement. Even if she felt the need to, Izuku could see straight through that anyway.
"Okay. Hold on tight. I'll keep it slow, but with this quirk, changes to direction and momentum can happen literally at the speed of thought. It can be a bit jarring if you're not used to it."
With that, they started rising into the air, and Rei found her grip tightening involuntarily as the roof dropped away beneath them. Slowly and smoothly, but ever so gradually gaining speed, they rose higher and higher. Within seconds they were higher than the tallest buildings in Musutafu, giving her an unhindered view of the horizon in all directions. A few seconds more and they were so high that the clouds seemed to be only an arm's length away. They stopped rising before she could reach out and touch them though.
For a moment, the world seemed to hang frozen in time. There was no wind, no sound, nothing but the sparkling of lights above and below.
It was beautiful.
"I'm gonna start flying for real now. Ready?"
Rei nodded, and she tightened her grip.
At that, Izuku tilted forwards, until rei was almost lying flat across his back, and they started drifting in the same direction. Just as when they first took off, they started slow, but gradually gained speed. Within moments the wind was whistling in her ears and even from this great a height she could see the ground moving beneath them. A giddy laugh escaped her as they soared through the sky.
Rei very quickly lost track of time as this went on. Within minutes, Izuku—keeping up the same speed—started dropping back down towards the ground, and it wasn't until she felt the spray of water on her face that she realized he'd taken them out over the ocean, close enough that his hands were trailing across its surface. Further and further they flew, until Izuku changed heights once more, stopping their forward momentum altogether to just go straight up. Higher and higher, until they went past the clouds and Rei could no longer make out any details below them. Until the air was cold enough that Izuku had to conjure a number of flames around them with a snap of his fingers, and she could see a faint orange on the horizon, from the sun that, for everyone on the ground, had set completely over an hour ago. It wasn't until then that Izuku came to a stop.
"This is… amazing." Rei said after a moment. "I never knew flying was so incredible. Or that it was so beautiful this high up."
"Well, I'm glad you like it so far, because I've got a lot more planned than just flying around like this."
"What do you mean?"
"I've been practicing with Shadow's quirk. Not only can I use it to bring other people through the shadows with me, but I've been jumping around so much these past few weeks that I can now fully make use of its true range of half the planet."
Rei's excitement faded just a bit at the mention of Shadow, but a moment later her brow was scrunching as the meaning behind his words hit her.
"Wait… you don't mean…?"
"I do indeed." He said with a smile. "The true gift I have for you tonight isn't just a flight around Japan, but a trip around the world. By the time the sun rises, we'll be able to visit just about anywhere on the planet. I've got a few select destinations in mind, but as this is your birthday present you are, of course, allowed to make requests."
Rei's eyes widened with every word he spoke. A trip around the world… She'd never left Japan before. Hell, she'd never even left Musutafu. And here Izuku was, offering to take her anywhere and everywhere.
She smiled. What must she have done in a past life to deserve a brother like him?
"What's our first stop?" She asked.
He grinned. "America. West coast."
He placed a hand over hers. "Hold on tight, and take a deep breath. This can be quite jarring the first few times."
Rei complied, and then everything was darkness. For the barest fraction of a second she could see nothing, not even Izuku's shoulder just a few inches in front of her face. Then suddenly the world existed again. They reappeared with a jarring tilting sensation that had her tightening her grip around Izuku's neck and squeezing her eyes shut.
"Oh, ffuck." She groaned as her stomach twisted belatedly. "Yep. That definitely felt weird."
Izuku gave a small chuckle. "Sorry about that. Not much I can do to fix that until you get used to it, but the usefulness of that cannot be overstated. We just traveled over five thousand miles in less than a second."
He reached back and drummed giant fingers gently over her back. "You alright?"
"I will be in a minute." Her stomach gave another twist as she said that. "Actually… You've got some anti-nausea medicine on you, right?"
"Yep. Got some in the Fuck It bag." He said, bag already in hand and pulling out a bottle of pills. "I keep some in here for Ochako, but obviously they're good for anyone."
Rei gave him a grunt of thanks as he handed it to her. She quickly retrieved two tablets and downed them, not bothering with water, before handing the bottle back. In an attempt to distract herself, she focused on the bag that he was stuffing the pills back into.
The "Fuck It" bag. Essentially an emergency bag, reserved for any number of worst-case scenarios, particularly those that would result in them needing to abandon their life and relocate entirely. It was both important enough and otherwise useful enough for him to carry it around wherever he went.
Money, clothing for all of them, a first-aid kit that was almost a small hospital—thorough enough to include anti-nausea medicine—and just about anything else either of them could come up with. Anything they might need for a rainy day, or even just a minor inconvenience like this.
Rei took a deep breath. "Okay… I think… I think I'm good."
"Good." Izuku said. "Just in case, I'll keep it slow while I take us down. Thankfully, we aren't nearly as high up as we were a few moments ago."
True to his word, they descended slowly, so slowly that Rei couldn't even feel it happening. Nor could she see it happening, as the world was all but pitch black around her. Then, suddenly, she felt Izuku touch down.
"We're here."
He crouched down, allowing Rei to uncoil herself and drop to the ground.
"Where's 'here'?"
"Just a moment."
Looking at Izuku, who she could just barely make out in the darkness, and who had already shrunk down to a normal size, she saw him cast his arms out, and suddenly the world was lighting up around them.
Tiny balls of light, no bigger than her fist, appeared from nowhere, floating through the air.
"How…?" She started to ask. Then, tilting her head, "the illusion quirk?"
"Bingo." He said. "Incredibly wide range of applications. Including something so mundane as just creating light."
He gestured around. "Behold. Stop number one."
Looking a bit closer, beyond the ethereal floating lights, she saw… something. It looked like a wall, or… walls? Structures? They were massive.
Her eyes widened as what she was seeing finally clicked. No, it was none of the above. What she was seeing were trees. They were just so huge that she hadn't comprehended at first. But, sure enough, these were massive tree trunks she was seeing. Tilting her head back, she could just about make out leaves far above, where a few lights were starting to drift.
"What are these?" She asked. "How are these trees so big?"
They had to be as big as the tower their apartment was in, if not bigger. That was impossible. Or at least, it was supposed to be. Clearly, reality begged to differ.
Izuku smirked. "You know about the famous Redwood forest on the western edge of America?"
Rei nodded. She'd seen a few pictures before, but never anything like this.
"Well, a few years ago, there was a villain. Well, more of an eco-terrorist. She had probably the most powerful nature manipulation quirk in recorded history. She used her quirk on a part of that forest, and turned the already gigantic, ancient trees into the monstrosities you see before you. Evidently her goal was a long-term, widespread attack to have nature reclaim the world, starting with one of the most ancient forests on the planet. Or something to that effect."
"She didn't get too far before the heroes stopped her." He continued, placing a hand on one of the giant trees. "Though she still managed to affect a few square miles of forest. And, ironically, especially considering how much she supposedly cared about nature, she ended up doing more harm than good. Sure, these trees are now the stuff of legends and mythology, but it came at the expense of just about everything that isn't them."
He gestured around them. "If you look around, you won't see any other plant life except for the most basic stuff like a few grasses and mosses. And next to no animal life. All the nutrients and energy to make these trees this big had to come from somewhere. And that somewhere was the rest of the forest. The life was sucked out of just about everything else. This section of the forest will be all but dead for probably decades, if not centuries."
"Still though." He said, turning back to Rei. "The general stupidity and egotistical oversight of humans aside, these trees are a sight to behold. I haven't had a chance to see them in daylight yet, but they are magnificent."
"They're amazing." Rei said, head tilted back to take in the height of them. "And hey, if you know where they villain ended up, maybe you could take her quirk from her. If she can manage something like this, I can only imagine the sorts of things you could accomplish with it."
Izuku smirked. "I did think about it, but the little bit I could find out about her didn't include anything on where she was locked away. I don't know if America has its own version of Tartarus, but if it does, I wouldn't be surprised if that's where she ended up."
"So, what do you think?" He asked, holding out a hand. "A nice relaxing walk through the unnatural forest until we decide to head for the next stop?"
Rei took his hand with a smile. "Sounds wonderful."
With that, they started on a leisurely stroll through the trees, the floating lights keeping everything well-lit around them.
"So, what did you have in mind for our next stop?" Rei asked after a few minutes. "Isn't there a pretty famous city not far from here? It's not there, is it?"
"That would be San Francisco." He answered. "And no. That place is absolutely not worth visiting."
"That bad, huh?"
"You've no idea. Imagine the worst parts of Musutafu, at the worst they've ever been."
"Mhm?"
"Now stop imagining them, because this city is infinitely worse and not even worth comparing. Oni would have a field day there, and might still sometime in the future."
He shook his head. "Nope. Not there. Though, our next stop is a city in America. Just a bit further east."
He smiled. "I think you'll like it. Just give me the word and we'll head that way."
The second jump through the shadows was just as jarring as the first, though thankfully Rei knew what to expect this time around. And the anti-nausea medicine was still in effect, so she wasn't affected quite as much this time around.
When she opened her eyes a few seconds after, it was to a sea of sparkling lights and tall buildings spread out beneath them.
"Welcome." Izuku said, spreading his arms as they touched down. "To Las Vegas."
Rei's eyes widened as she took in the city around her, it seemed like every building was glowing. A glaring mess of lights and sounds, quite different from the—relative—peace of Musutafu.
A voice from off to the side caught Rei's attention as she dropped from Izuku's waist. A man was approaching them, and even though she hadn't understood what was said—English, probably. She'd never bothered trying to learn it—it was obvious going by his outfit that he was a hero.
He said something else, pointing up into the air where they'd just come from.
Izuku said something back, which prompted a look of confusion from the man. He followed it up with a wave of his hand and the man's face went blank, then another few words from Izuku had him going back to normal, and turning around as if he'd completely forgotten about them.
"He was asking if I had a license to use my quirk to fly around. I 'convinced' him that he didn't need to see such a license."
Rei rolled her eyes. "What a surprise, anti-quirk-usage laws are shit over here as well."
Izuku shrugged. "What can you do? Aside from being me and not needing to follow something so banal as rules in the first place?"
Rei smirked, then turned her attention back to the city and all of its headache-inducing lights. "Now then, isn't this city famous for all the gambling that takes place here?"
"It sure is." He answered, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Why do you think I chose this as one of our stops?"
He held out a hand, which was holding a duffel bag that hadn't been there a moment ago. The zipper pulled back on its own, revealing it to be full of money.
"Already made a trip over here to have some money exchanged. Plenty to have some fun with."
"What do you say?" He asked, giving her a gentle shake. "We've spent our whole lives being adults. Wanna be irresponsible for a bit?"
A small laugh bubbled up out of her. "Sure, why not? Let's have some fun. Lead the way."
A combination of Izuku's All Sight to see everything around them and a few other quirks to manipulate a few things, and the two of them won every single game that caught their interest. They won enough, and quick enough, that it wasn't long before they caught the attention of those who apparently didn't like people like them. They were forced to leave several casinos over the course of their relatively short visit, which was almost more fun than the storms they caused and crowds they attracted by winning. The visit ended with the two of them flying away over the city, with considerably more money than they'd started with and with Izuku vowing to make a return trip as Oni to stir up even more trouble.
Over the next several hours, the two of them visited more places than Rei ever thought she would. Everything from famous landmarks to beautiful spots scattered over the world that had caught Izuku's eye. The Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, the Roman Colosseum, a collection of active volcanoes in the middle of the Pacific. So many places to visit and sights to see, across nearly every continent. The two of them spent so long jumping across the planet that it became necessary to stop for another meal, for which Izuku picked out a restaurant in the Netherlands, which was a bit cold, but not intolerably so.
The end of their journey saw them on America's east coast, in New York City, nearly ten hours after its start, and almost twenty-four hours since Rei woke up.
Rei was once again on Izuku's back, and he was perched on the crown of the Statue of Liberty, the two of them looking out over the ocean.
"It's about time to head back." Izuku said. "You ready for one last jump?"
Rei nodded. She could feel exhaustion starting drag at her. "Ready."
With one more jump through the shadows, which didn't affect Rei nearly as much as the first time, they once again appeared over another city. Rei recognized it as Musutafu.
"And now, for the finale." Izuku said, as they slowly began to rise even higher. "Do me a favor and close your eyes for a bit."
Rei complied and felt them start to pick up speed. He didn't stop for a few minutes, and when he did, she knew that they were high above the clouds once more.
"You can open them now."
"Oh wow…" Rei breathed as she opened her eyes and caught sight of what lay before her.
A sea of clouds, awash in gold from the rising sun. The tops of the clouds rippled and swelled like waves, the golden light playing off every rolling edge. Through gaps in the clouds she could make out the actual sea, sparkling, almost blinding.
"It's beautiful…" Rei whispered.
"It is." Izuku agreed, just as quiet.
The two of them sat there for a few minutes, just taking in the sight, only interrupted when Izuku raised a hand to rest against her back.
"Happy Birthday."
She squeezed a bit tighter around his neck in lieu of a proper hug. "Thank you."
They exchanged no further words beyond that. They didn't need to. They simply floated in place as they enjoyed the sunrise.
Eventually, Rei's exhaustion caught up with her, and she let it pull her under. Despite the fact that they were still thousands of feet up in the air, she knew that she would be safe as drifted off. For it was on Izuku's back that she was drifting off. He would keep her safe, as he'd always done.
Izuku smiled at Ochako as he landed on the balcony connected to Rei's bedroom. As per his planning, she'd woken up a bit earlier than normal to meet him here for this specifically.
Careful not to disturb Rei, he lowered himself just enough for Ochako to get a hand on her and render her weightless. Leaving her floating for a moment, he shrunk back down to his normal size before carefully maneuvering her through the door and into the room.
Gently, he coiled her tail up, laying her torso across a section, and draping a blanket over her. At his signal, Ochako released her quirk, returning Rei's weight. With one last brush of his hand over her head, Izuku stood and left the room.
"I'm guessing it all went well?" Ochako asked once the door was shut.
Izuku nodded with a smile. "It did. She loved it."
Reaching out, he hooked an arm across her shoulders and pulled her into a one-armed hug.
"Now, next birthday on the list is yours, isn't it?" He asked. "I'll have to start planning out a celebration for that, won't I?"