To say his heart caught was an understatement.
Iida's heart skipped and it skipped again. Out of breath 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 and 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳--he could've pinned it on the running, but somehow he just 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 she was the cause. The fluttering he felt in that...
Hello again one last time for the "afterstory" of Engine Boy, I Love You! Just a little note: this isn't so much a "bonus chapter" as it is a summation of all of my discontinued projects. (Some of which may just be put on hiatus for the extended future.) I figured for anyone who still wants a taste of my work, I could include all of this process stuff just as a fun little easter egg. With that said, I also welcome any questions you guys may have about me as a writer, or about this series' direction. Thanks, and please enjoy this little bonus chapter!
Iidamei Time-Skip Idea:
In reference to the line at the beginning of EBILY's prelude: "I let you go not once, but twice," this fic would reveal that following Iida and Hatsume's third and final year at UA, Iida would approach Hatsume to ask if she is really okay with having him as a boyfriend for so long. She'd remark that she is, and that she loves him, but Iida once again would be having second thoughts. He'd explain that he feels like he's taken up too much of her time during high school, and that he's afraid that their relationship has distracted her from making other close bonds or friendships. As a result, he asks for them to have some distance for the next few years as they settle into their new hero lifestyles, and she reluctantly agrees.
The story would skip to the future by about two years. Hatsume would buy a decent-sized workshop on the outskirts of town, where she'd make her inventions quietly with the help of only a single apprentice. It becomes a rather obscure place, unfortunately, and she's struggling to make ends meet despite her brand being such a recognizable name. A large part of that is because she sealed herself off from people after high school—losing trust in the one person she had.
Iida in the meantime, having spent the last two years in regret, is finally forced into action by his well-meaning friends. He wants to reconnect with Hatsume, but isn't sure how, so he asks the number one hero Midoriya to go to her shop in his place, and give it a bit of an advertising boost. It works well enough, but Hatsume picks up on what he's doing rather quickly; so when Iida comes to visit her to finally apologize, she's quite stubborn at first. She'd complain that she never really wanted them to have distance, because she knew she would never connect with someone as well as she connected with Iida. Iida would understand that, and explain that he feels the same way as well, and so the two would make up and decide to start dating again. Within a few months, Iida proposes in the exact way he does in EBILY's prelude.
This is another one of those one-shots I'm not super excited about revisiting, to be completely honest. If I did write their adult love story, I feel like I'd do it differently now. After all, having Iida abandon Hatsume like this a second time feels like some character regression, and though I could find a way to make it work, I don't really want to.
On a separate note however, I came up with a cute concept in regards to their little family. They'd have two kids—their oldest daughter Hayaka, who's friends with Shoto's son Atsui (see my other work, Love-Coach Ochako), and attends UA; and their younger son Yusaku, who wants to be an inventor like Mei, but doesn't really have a knack for it like his mom does.
-Yusaku | 優作 (gentle, create) Age: 12, Quirk: Tool Hand, Traits: dark blue hair, golden eyes, quiet & gentle
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Anyway, in terms of deleted content, I think this about exhausts what I have. I'm a little embarrassed now to admit that I don't have as much bonus content for EBILY as I do for LCO, but I guess that just means that most of my ideas successfully made it into the story! In addition to all of this information though, I should've posted the majority of my artwork for this series on my corresponding Twitter account, @christarmewn. There should be a thread there by now including all of my sketchbook sketches and digital pieces in a format where you can easily browse them.
With that said, thank you one last time for your enduring support of my series, and I sincerely hope you've enjoyed all that I had to offer. I've decided to leave some of my one-shot ideas out of this document on purpose for the off-chance that I one day decide to write any of them, but for now, I'm afraid I cannot predict when or if they'll ever get made. I need a long break from this book, as much as I adore it, haha.
Thank you again, and I hope to see you all at the next fic! I love you guys!
