Chapter 35
The beach party had just started when an expected guest showed up. A gorgeous young woman with long and fluffy blonde hair walked over to the group of Class 1-A students, making a few of them stare at her with questions on their faces. Tanya saw her coming and elbowed Izuku. When he saw who it was, he whispered in Tanya's ear. She nodded slightly and Izuku waited until she was close enough before he spoke.
“Holy crap!” Izuku exclaimed. “Ling? Is that you?!?”
Ling laughed at his reaction to her bright red bikini. It was a little daring with extra strings and not much cloth in certain places, suggesting a lot while still covering her more than her normal underwear did.
“I'm surprised you recognized me without my hero costume.” Ling said and motioned to the seat beside him. He nodded and she sat down right next to him, touching him from shoulder to hip, which surprised the other girls and a few of the guys.
“I think you meant to say clothes.” Tanya joked and they both laughed.
“Who's this?” Uraraka asked, pretty boldly.
“Everyone, this is Ling. Her hero name is Single Item Girl.” Izuku said and then he said the names of everyone else to introduce her around. They all said hi and she greeted them back.
“We met her during our internship.” Tanya said. “Well, Izuku met her.”
Ling blushed and Izuku laughed.
“She let me borrow a bucket to help fight a fire.” Izuku said. “Things escalated from there and we were soon making dirt barricades twenty feet high all over the place.”
“Okay, wow!” Mina, the pink skinned girl said and sat down in front of Ling. “You have got to tell us the story!”
“Mina, we're at the beach.” Momo said with a laugh. “We can talk about our internships when we eat later.”
“Nuh uh! I wanna hear how they did what they did right now!” Mina said, happily.
Ling gave Izuku a glance and he waved at her to continue. “All right. It all started when...”
Everyone listened, even Izuku and Tanya, since getting another viewpoint and perspective would let them know if they had missed anything or screwed up. It was good to know that no one even suspected that they had snuck off and did anything except what they claimed.
“You gotta show us!” Mina exclaimed and took Ling's hand. “We swear we won't tell anyone!”
Ling blushed a little and looked around. No one was looking, so she nodded and pointed to one of the plastic kid-sized buckets in the box of toys. Mina was at the box a moment later and bent over at the waist to give everyone a wonderful view of her ass. She grabbed one of the bigger buckets and walked back over with a huge grin on her face.
“You totally did that on purpose!” Jiro said with a laugh.
Mina winked at her and handed Ling the bucket.
Ling glanced around again and then nothing happened.
“Huh? I thought you said...”
“I already have a bucket in storage.” Ling said and took out the industrial bucket.
“Ooo.” Most of the class of 1-A made the sound of appreciation.
“It was Izuku that taught me a neat aspect of my quirk.” Ling said and picked up the little bucket and it disappeared. She took it back out and bent over in her seat to scoop up a pile of sand, shook it to get the loose stuff to fall off, then stored the bucket of sand. Two tiny rocks fell to the sand where the bucket used to be.
“WHOA!” Mina and Uraraka said at the same time.
“Yeah, that was my thought, too!” Ling said, excitedly. She took the pail back out and dumped the sand out. She stored the industrial bucket again and handed the plastic one to Mina.
“That was awesome!” Uraraka said.
“I know!” Ling said, very pleased, and glanced at Izuku with a slight blush. “Both he and Tanya have helped me refine my quirk over the two weeks we spent together at the hero agency.”
“I'm glad they decided to keep it open under new management.” Izuku said. “Tanya and I were a bit worried about that.”
“I was, too.” Ling said. “Our internships wouldn't mean much if the agency didn't exist anymore.”
“Nonsense.” Tanya said. “That's like saying if they close your old high school, your diploma won't mean anything anymore.”
“That is a good example, Tanya.” Iida said and made a chopping motion with his hand. “Depending on the need, agencies close or reform occasionally. Some even merge into a bigger agency with branches.”
“Exactly.” Tanya said. “What you learned there is still important, even if the place doesn't exist anymore.”
Izuku put an arm over her shoulders to hug her closely, because that statement meant a lot more than the others realized. A lot of places were destroyed during the war back on her old world and the things she learned there would always be with her. Both good and bad.
“On that serious note.” Momo said and stood. “Let's hit the water!”
“You're on!” Tsuyu said and jumped to her feet, then used her strong legs to hop towards the water in leaps and bounds.
“Cheater!” Bakugo yelled at her and ran as he scooped up the shark blow up toy he always liked.
That made everyone laugh and they all grabbed their favorite things and followed.
Ling accepted a pool noodle from Izuku and then she gasped when he whacked her on the back of the head with one before he ran for the water. “IZUKU!” She yelled and ran after him, swinging the noodle wildly to try and get him back. He laughed and dodged a few swings before letting her tag him in the back and then they were in the water and carrying on with everyone else.
The beach party was a blast and everyone took a break when the food showed up. The funny thing was, Inko, Izuku's mom, Mitzuki, Bakugo's mom, and Miss Jasina, Tanya's guardian, were dressed in bathing suits to stay around for a lot longer than the last time they had brought food.
It was Mitzuki's idea to relax on the beach after they worked so hard to cook for the kids and Inko and Miss Jasina liked the idea. No one objected when they claimed three of the reclining chairs as the teenagers went to play with several frisbees.
None of them suspected that Tanya and Izuku had introduced it as a training tool to see everyone's fitness level. Anyone that missed their throw too much or didn't catch their frisbee enough times, they would talk to and encourage them to be more active. Hero work wasn't a lazy job for most people. When they all had a great time and no one screwed up too much, Izuku spoke up.
“Hey, Ling! Do you have a rope on you?” Izuku asked.
“Sure, I do.” Ling said and looked around. No one was looking, so she bent down to 'pick up' the rope.
“Who wants to play Tug of War?” Izuku asked.
“MEEE!” They all yelled, especially Bakugo. He loved competing at things like that.
“Tanya and Izuku are the anchors!” Uraraka said immediately, which had everyone nodding.
“Dammit, you beat me to it!” Bakugo exclaimed and the others laughed. “I'm on Tanya's side!”
“Now who's cheating?” Izuku asked and Bakugo grinned evilly at him.
They quickly divided up into two teams and Ling marked off the center of the rope with a black marker and then four feet on either side of it. She took out a large rock and put it down as the marker, then she walked to the very end of the rope to stand in front of Izuku while the others decided who was in front.
It ended up as Uraraka against Tsuyu as the front of their teams and they stared daggers at each other. It was all in good fun, though. They knew it was going to be a fierce fight, as the sides were as close to even as they could. They each had strong people and normal people, making it as fair as possible.
“In positions!” Miss Jasina called and the two teams spread out on their side of the rope and prepared themselves. “Grab your spots!”
Everyone bent down and picked up the rope, then did their best to get a good grip and set their feet.
“On three!” Miss Jasina said and moved the rock to the middle rope marking. “One! Two! Three!”
“HUNNNN!” Everyone groaned as they pulled on their side of the rope.
“Hut! HUT! HUUUUT!” Tanya shouted and the people on her side took a step, then another, then another.
“Crap! She's marching them!” Izuku said and felt the rope be pulled forward without any real resistance. He tried to dig his feet in and lost his footing as the rope kept going. Everyone on his side fell forward, him included, and he landed on top of a surprised and quite happy Ling that had turned at the last second to catch him.
“Izuku, man! You're heavy!” Sero said from below Ling. She was mostly on his back and she whispered that she didn't mind the weight at all.
Izuku blushed and quickly stood up to help Ling stand, then helped Sero up. “Sorry about that.”
Sero laughed and slapped him on the back. “I was just joking!” He turned and looked at Tanya's team celebrating. “What was that, anyway?”
“Tanya playing a joke on me.” Izuku said with a chuckle. “It's an old military tactic to gain a completely solid footing on loose ground. Everyone walks in step and into the same step, at the same distance, no matter how far you can actually step.”
Tanya was accepting high fives and a couple of hugs from the girls.
“We're totally switching and I'm learning that move!” Uraraka said and ran over to Tanya, then started talking quickly.
“I guess we're doing it again.” Izuku said when everyone went with her, except for Ling. “It could be important to know.”
“You know it.” Ling said with a knowing smile.
Izuku smiled back and didn't say anything.
“Okay, people. We're going again!” Uraraka shouted and started shooing everyone else over to Izuku's side. “Give us a minute to get it!”
Izuku chuckled and his new team came over to his side.
“I guess I do have to switch.” Ling said with a sigh.
“Take the same position.” Izuku suggested and Ling gave him a look. “Trust me.”
“I... I do.” Ling said, lightly touched his arm, then walked over to take the next to anchor position.
“Listen up, replacement team.” Izuku said and the others gathered together with a laugh and huddled up. They talked for a minute and agreed to the plan. “Remember, Tsu, you've got to sell it.”
“I won't let you down, Izuku.” Tsuyu said with a happy smile.
Izuku smiled back at her and they took their positions. He braced himself and waited.
“In positions!” Miss Jasina called again and the two teams spread out on their side of the rope and prepared themselves. “Grab your spots!”
Everyone bent down and picked up the rope, then did their best to get a good grip and set their feet. Tsuyu made a little show of looking very determined and her large feet were practically buried in the sand.
“On three!” Miss Jasina said and moved the rock to the middle rope marking. “One! Two! Three!”
“HuuuuUUUUUTTTT!” Tanya yelled as everyone on her team leaned backwards and pulled... with no resistance to the rope at all. They fell backwards and let the rope go to catch themselves, only for the rope to stop moving and then be pulled back to Izuku's side.
“YES!” Bakugo yelled. “I won both times! YES! YEEESSS!”
That made everyone laugh, even the losers on the other side.
Tanya felt Ling laying on top of her and she was surprised that Ling hadn't tried to grab her anywhere. It was the perfect opportunity for her to do so and then to ask for the same with Izuku.
Ling only looked at her face and blushed, because she had been thinking exactly that and realized that she didn't want to use Tanya like that. Or abuse Tanya like that. She didn't mind the quid-pro-quo she agreed to; but, she wasn't going to steal touches and things to demand it from Izuku. That wasn't how she wanted this to work. If it would work.
“You're thinking really hard.” Tanya whispered.
Ling kept blushing and slowly got up and held a hand down to her.
Tanya took it to accept the help and stood up. “A yen for your thoughts.”
Ling gave her a happy smile and glanced at Izuku, then looked back at her to whisper. “I don't want you to think I'm going to abuse the opportunity to spend time with him.”
Tanya's eyes widened slightly, then she chuckled and whispered back. “If I was you, I would have felt me up in a second if it would let me feel Izuku, too.”
Ling blinked her eyes for a second. “But... but...”
“Taking a given advantage and using it, is not something to be ashamed of.” Tanya whispered and walked a little around everyone to get to Izuku. “If you went too far, I would have stopped you, though.”
“T-t-too far?” Ling asked, a little nervously.
“Pinching my nipples, trying to slip your fingers into my bikini bottoms, stuff like that.” Tanya whispered and Ling's face was bright red when they reached Izuku.
“You know I had to do that.” Izuku said, which made Tanya laugh.
“Good catch on the rope.” Tanya said and looked at Tsuyu. “Good job selling that you all had a death grip on the rope, Tsu.”
Tsuyu smiled happily. “I told Izuku I wouldn't let him down.”
“Did you, now?” Tanya said and looked at him. “Already recruiting more followers, Captain?”
Izuku laughed. “Tsu just really liked the new fly and mealworm burgers mom and I made.”
“They were delicious!” Tsuyu said and her long tongue slipped out and licked her lips all over. “Mmm, I can still taste them!”
Tanya shook her head. “You better tell Inko to give her the recipe before she jumps you.”
“You have the recipe?!?” Tsuyu asked and jumped up onto Izuku's chest. Her hands latched onto his upper chest and her feet latched onto his abdomen.
“Too late.” Tanya said and everyone around them laughed.
Izuku blushed a little, then sighed. “All right, hold on.” He said and put an arm around her waist before he started walking across the beach towards where the three women were still reclining.
Ling leaned close to Tanya to whisper. “That looks both really odd and oddly sexy.”
They both watched as Tsuyu bounced slightly as Izuku walked and his tender hold on her gave it a seeming intimacy that normal walking shouldn't give.
“It does, doesn't it?” Tanya whispered back and she hid her manic grin behind a hand. Perhaps we have a potential recruit a lot closer to home than I imagined. She thought and looked at Uraraka to see her slightly jealous look. She turned her head to look at Mina and she was actually drooling a little as she stared at Izuku. Perhaps more than one.
Tanya looked herself and almost laughed as Tsuyu refused to climb down after getting the recipe, then pointed at her. Izuku had a red face as he walked all the way back across the beach to her, Tsuyu bouncing happily the whole way, and came to a stop.
“May I?” Tsuyu asked. “My whole family is going to thank him and his mom when I give them the recipe.”
Tanya thought about that for a second and then smiled. It was time to set a precedent for the others. “Only if you kiss me first.”
Tsuyu seriously thought about it, then shrugged. “I'm okay with that.” She said and peeled her hands and feet off of Izuku and dropped down to the sand, then she stuck her hands to Tanya's face and pulled her in for a kiss. She let her go and then climbed back up onto Izuku's chest and kissed him pretty soundly.
Everyone stared at this, shocked.
Tsuyu broke the kiss and pet Izuku's red face with her hand. “Thank you very much.”
“Y-you're w-w-welcome, Tsu.” Izuku said, his voice cracking.
Tsuyu smiled happily before she dropped to the sand and looked at everyone's faces. “I'm going back in the water for a bit.”
“G-good idea!” Iida said and turned to run. “I need to cool off!”
“I think a lot of us do.” Someone said as Iida took off. No one could tell who spoke. That made Tanya laugh a little and the others slowly went back to the water or grabbed more things to play with.
Izuku stepped close to Tanya. “Did she stick her tongue down your throat, too?”
Tanya looked up at him and showed him a bit of a manic grin.
“I thought so.” Izuku said and put an arm over her shoulders.
Ling stood beside them and she thought over what just happened. Was I responsible for that? She asked herself and looked at Tanya, who was looking right at her.
“Why don't we invite Ling over for supper?” Tanya asked.
Izuku glanced down at her and then at Ling. “Would you like to come to my house a few streets away to have supper with my family and to hang out for a while?”
Ling looked at the people playing in the water and back at them. “Have you ever asked anyone else to come over?”
Both Izuku and Tanya shook their heads no.
Ling remembered Tanya's words earlier about using an advantage when you had it. “Then, yes. I would like that.” She said and then caught her breath as Tanya and Izuku beamed identical smiles at her.