Need You (ShinDeku)

Ch. 123 - Forgetting

A/N: fair warning: I will be unbearably busy for the next month or so, meaning it's possible the next few updates will be a little delayed. I'll do my best as usual.
Have fun reading!

Midoriya POV

     Hizashi is up long before anyone else the next morning, and he's gone off to work before any of us manage to get up either, leaving behind a house smelling of baked goods along with a handwritten note.

     Said note tells us that the smell belongs to the pile of freshly baked chocolate chip protein muffins sitting on the counter, and to help ourselves to as many as we want. It also tells us that Shota won't be up until around 4 pm, since he's getting on schedule to go back to work full time, so to try not to wake him. Unless there's an emergency, of course. There's a smiley face next to where Hizashi signed his name at the bottom, and several no-doubt excited exclamation points throughout the message.

     "I didn't take Mic-Sensei as a baker," Hitoshi says just before grabbing a muffin and popping an entire half of it in his mouth. He chews for a moment, pondering. "Not bad," he decides, gesturing towards the rest of them.

     I shuffle over, leaning my hip against the counter and gingerly grabbing one of the muffins with my bad hand. Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it my no-longer-bad hand, because as of waking up about twenty minutes ago it has felt nearly 100% good as new, if not a little weak from not using it much the past few months. I'd been using it for everything from opening the door to turning on the bathroom sink tap to wash my hands, and hadn't stopped smiling once. I felt a little more whole, a little more functional again. My only complaint was that there was no cool transformation or fun special effects. Only nausea and waiting.

     I take a bite of the muffin and my eyes flutter shut. The sweetness level is high enough for them to be cupcakes rather than muffins—if only they had icing on them—and the chocolate is just enough to cover any cakey, powdery taste from whatever protein powder he probably put in it. It's still just slightly warm, and it's light and fluffy. Not only can I not taste any protein powder, there's no chalky texture. For a moment I have to wonder if they're actually just unfrosted cupcakes and if there's any significant amount of protein in them.

     Hitoshi seems to watch me for a few seconds with a small smile on his face.

     "You know, one time I caught Aizawa in the hall with a bag of cookies that had little hearts all over it. I'd assumed he'd either confiscated them or gotten an anonymous confession left on his desk or something." He puts the other half of the muffin in his mouth and chews. "I never considered that he might've had a husband that baked them for him. Honestly, good for him. A super successful pro hero husband that also takes time out of his day to bake him stuff to bring to work? Seriously doesn't get much better than that," he sighs, looking up towards the ceiling.

     My eyes widen at the information jackpot he just gave me. It sounds to me like he's open to having a husband. Key takeaways; I have a chance, and the likelihood of him having intentionally flirted with me when offering to be my pillow and other such things just went up a lot. Also: he likes successful pros and people who can bake for him.

     Given that he hasn't been lying to me, he already thinks I'm set to be successful in the future. At least, that's how I'm going to take his words about how I'll be a great hero. The only thing that leaves is baking, which is a skill that can be learned. Maybe I'm skipping a step by not really properly learning to cook first but I think it'll be fine.

     I disguise my no-doubt scheming smile with another bite of the muffin I'm holding.

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