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Chapter - 23

As it turned out Izuku was right in thinking Nedzu would be unable to be unbiased when it came to him. He just about outright told Izuku that he was definitely getting enrolled into U.A and the top class at that. His 'interview' was nothing more than an excuse for Nedzu to have a tea break and a game of chess with Izuku like they usually would.

When their time was up Izuku opted to cat shift and go out Nedzu's window towards his pop's classroom. He'd much rather avoid becoming the stumbling mess he seems to have been devolving into all day so far.

Izuku is lucky that both his dad's have adopted the habit of leaving a window open in their classrooms for situations like this. Having done it a thousand times over he was hopping into his pop's lap in no time at all. He only giggled at Izuku's antics as he settled down and purred.

"We'll be heading home soon kiddo, so don't sleep too deeply now. Just have to go over the last of my half of the tests."

Izuku mewed inquisitively upon hearing this.

"You know I can't tell you how you did, but what I can say is I'm sure you did better than some of these." He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed and threw the current test he was holding onto a pile of others.

"There's a reason I kind of hate the recommended exams. Most of them just assume getting recommended means it's an automatic acceptance into U.A..."

Izuku nudged his head into his pops's stomach to distract him and earned a small giggle. The world didn't feel right if pop wasn't his bubbly self and he was always glad he could help bring a smile back sometimes.

Somewhere along the way Izuku must have fallen into a deep sleep despite what his pops told him, because when he woke up again he was back home on his own bed with a rumbling stomach. Like usual now he shifted back into human form during his sleep at some point. He really hoped that it didn't occur while one of his dads had carried him at U.A, to his mind he had embarrassed himself enough earlier in the day.

The alluring aroma of his favorite dish and his empty stomach led him directly to the dining room where his dad was setting the plates. "There you are kitten, I was just about to come and get you for dinner. Feeling okay? You slept quite a bit, pops had to carry you and everything."

"Ah, I'm fine dad, lion shift still takes a bunch of energy, plus a bunch of new people." Izuku blushed as he thought about one specific person he might still have a chance with. His dad however was far too attentive to have missed that.

"Oh, anyone special we should know about?" His tone was far too teasing for it to have been a normal prompting question, he already knew something...

Izuku huffed "Did Ten-Chan already spill his guts?"

Pops walked in with the sushi briefly redirecting Izuku's attention. "Don't blame Tenya kiddo, you know how scared he is of your dad."

"It's not my fault!"

"Oh come on Sho, you know you look far scarier at school than you actually are."

"It's different for homeroom teachers, Zashi. If they don't fear me, those hooligans will run wild."

Izuku sighed and started eating. He knew once his dads started on this specific topic they'd be debating it for quite a while. The first time it happened he thought it would devolve into actual fighting like the parents of that girl from his kitten years. It wasn't something he had to worry about though. They've never actually yelled or even pretended to hit each other.

He was in his own world when both his dad talked in unison. "You can't just eat the fish and ignore the rice Izuku!"

He looked wide-eyed at them both and they all devolved into laughter at the familiarity of the situation. He always just eats the fish...

After they calmed down dinner went on as normal with prodding here and there from either dad or pops to eat properly. Izuku had nearly forgotten how Tenya had told his dad about his crushes, but his dad brought it up again when they were cleaning plates.

"So three crushes in one day eh?"

"Dad!"

"We're just curious kiddo, plus I need to know who to protect from your dad."

"You act like I'm going to strangle them."

"Aren't you, Sho?"

"No, not at all."

Silence and exchanged glances followed indicating nobody had actually believed that statement.

"Wow, I'm not a monster, guys, I'd just ask them what their intentions with my son are."

Izuku almost felt guilty for thinking something horrible when he managed to hear his dad mumble under his breath.

"While dangling them over the edge of a rooftop..."

"Dad!"

The three of them finished the night in front of the TV watching old pre-quirk movies. His dads eventually went to bed knowing by now that Izuku's sleep schedule still mostly resembles his days as a cat. It's gotten better but if he had a chance to sleep for a long time during the day, there would be no way he'd be sleeping at night.

Izuku would spend times like this working on a certain aspect of his quirk he and Nedzu have only speculated about so far. Partial shifting. So far he's been able to partially shift a tail onto himself for a few seconds before it forces him to shift completely. Having not gotten anything more than two seconds with a tail he's moved his focus onto something he already has no matter the shift. His eyes.

It has been proving easier with his current record at an impressive five seconds... Well, it's impressive to him. It's also why he hasn't told Nedzu about his 'success'.

Izuku felt like he might have to tell him though if he wants to make progress by his self-imposed deadline. He had an entirely different reason for choosing to partial shift his eyes.

His human eyes remind him too much about his mom and he kind of feels like it's private. Naturally he knows it's silly and nobody but him knows that her eyes looked exactly like his does now. Then again he is the same person whose natural reaction to trauma was to get stuck in his own quirk for years...