The Good Old Days

It was 8:30 AM on Sunday, September 12th and four-year-old Hinode Tora was heading over to the apartment next door where her best friend lived. His name was Midoriya Izuku and he was also four years old. She was wearing her tiger onesie for the game she and Izuku always played together. They called it Hero Missions, a role play game they made up together. Izuku would wear his All Might onesie and Tora her tiger onesie. They would pretend to be pro heroes in the same agency paired up with each other and go on make believe missions. Sometimes they would use action figures and stuffed animals to play the villains and hostages. Other times, they would use their imaginations and narrate what they were "seeing" to each other. They would play indoors some days and outdoors other days. For the past couple months though, they tended to play indoors more often, even on days when the weather was really nice. Their former neighborhood friend, Bakugo Katsuki, being the reason for this shift in playtime locations. The two of them used to hang out with Bakugo and the other neighborhood kids all the time. But ever since he and the other kids' quirks started manifesting, they started bullying Tora and Izuku and any other kids that hadn't gotten their quirks yet. Today, Tora and Izuku decided that they would be playing together indoors again. Tora absolutely loved spending time with Izuku and was so excited to play with him that she forgot to eat breakfast... again. She knocked on the door of the Midoriya Residence and Izuku's mother answered.

"Why hello Tora-chan! Izuku's changing into his All Might onesie right now. Come on in and make yourself at home while you wait for him. I'll let him know you're here." Izuku's mom greeted Tora in a sweet tone with a big smile on her face as she held the door open for the four-year-old girl.

"Okay!" Tora said cheerfully and stepped inside, heading directly for the computer room while Izuku's mother went to go let her son know his best friend was here. Shortly after, she came into the room to check on Tora.

"Are you hungry at all Tora-chan? Can I get you anything to eat while you're waiting?" She asked Tora whose stomach immediately growled from the mention of food. She chuckled as she reached down and patted Tora on the head.

"Haha, I'll take that as a yes. I just made some pudding buns. I'll go get some for you. Wait right here." Izuku's mom said as she left and headed for the kitchen. Shortly after, she was back and handed Tora two pudding buns.

"Here you go sweetie. Enjoy!" She said with a smile as Tora eagerly took them from her and thanked her politely before she started ravenously munching on the first one. Just then, Izuku burst through the door in his All Might onesie. The door bounced off the rubber stopper on the trim, closing behind the green-haired boy. He placed his hands on his hips and stood proud with his chest puffed out.

"Ha ha ha ha! Have no fear because I am here!" Izuku said enthusiastically, doing his All Might impression. His mother opened the door, about to leave the two alone to play.

"Izuku, I know you're excited that Tora-chan is here, but please let her finish eating first and don't rush her." She notified her son.

"Don't worry Mom! A hero always makes sure that both they and their partner take the necessary time to get ready and be fully prepared before starting a mission. Ah ha ha ha!" Izuku replied to his mom in an upbeat assuring tone similar to All Might. His mother chuckled.

"Haha okay honey. You two have fun!" His mother said smiling down at the two kids before she left the room and closed the door behind her. Tora was almost done eating the second pudding bun when Izuku turned to her.

"Did you skip breakfast again Tora?" Izuku asked his best friend. Tora just nodded because her mouth was full. When she swallowed the last bite, she replied.

"I was so excited to see you today that I forgot. You're the only one I like hanging out with anymore. I think you're WAY better than Katsu. He's become such a jerk ever since he got his quirk. And the other neighborhood kids have been following his lead." Tora said, frowning as she remembered the day Bakugo beat up Izuku to a pulp while two other neighborhood kids held her back to prevent her from intervening. She struggled to break free but to no avail, only able to watch helplessly while desperately begging them to stop hurting her best friend. This all started because Izuku tried to stand up for another kid against their bullying. The boy he was trying to defend was about their age and hadn't gotten his quirk yet. About two months had passed since then, but Tora still hadn't forgiven Bakugo and his buddies for what they put her and Izuku through that day.

"Y-you really think I'm better than Kacchan? But why? I-I don't even have a quirk yet. Most of the kids in our class and neighborhood already started showing theirs. I'm not as cool as him and the others." Izuku said as Tora placed her hands on her hips, furrowing her brows.

"Did you forget I don't have mine either yet? Besides, even if I did, I'd still choose to hang out with you instead of those bullies. There's no way getting my quirk would make me want to hang out with a bunch of jerks like them. If anything, I'd protect you until you got your quirk if I got mine first. I'll always be by your side no matter what!" Tora said as her lips curved up into a large happy grin. She reassuringly placed her hand on Izuku's shoulder.

"R-really?" Izuku asked again for absolute confirmation. Tora then clapped her hand on his back in a playful yet serious manner.

"Of course, silly! That's what I just said. No matter what happens, I'll never abandon you because a real hero would never do that to their partner. Besides, you're my bestest friend in the entire universe! There's no way I could leave my favorite person behind." Tora said with an even bigger smile as she wrapped her arms around Izuku and gave him a big hug, squishing her cheek against his.

"Y-yeah, I guess you're right. Makes sense..." Izuku said, starting to blush as a warm fuzzy feeling filled his heart while he savored her embrace. She squeezed him tight, then let go and giggled. His blush darkened slightly as he stared at her sweet cheerful smile. Izuku may have only been four years old, but he had a bit of a crush on Tora. He liked her ever since they met when she and her parents moved in next door a couple years ago when they were toddlers. He remembered it crystal clear as if he had a photographic memory. He began to space out as the memory started to replay in his head.

~Flashback: 2.5 Years Ago (Izuku's POV)~

It was Sunday, March 17 late in the afternoon and I was watching my favorite video of All Might's debut again on the computer when my mom walked into the room.

"Oh Izuku! We have new next door neighbors. A family of three just moved in today. They have a little girl who's about your age. We should greet them and welcome them to the neighborhood." My mom said as she walked over to me. I was a little disappointed from being interrupted while I was in the middle of watching my favorite video. I reluctantly got off the chair and took my mother's hand and we walked over to the apartment adjacent to ours to say hi to our new neighbors. Mom knocked on the door which was answered shortly after by a decently tall man and a woman of average height who had a little girl about my age in her arms. The man had gold eyes and short orange hair with black streaks throughout it almost like tiger stripes. The woman had deep crystal blue eyes and long golden blonde hair. And their daughter... she was really pretty. Her hair was orange at the top of her head and faded downwards to golden blonde with a few black streaks at the front near her face. She had two short locks of hair sticking up at the top of her head which was pretty cute. Her right eye was gold like her father's and her left eye was a deep crystal blue like her mother's. Her two different colored eyes were locked onto mine.

"Hello, my name is Midoriya Inko and this is my son Midoriya Izuku. We live next door and wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood." My mother pointed to our apartment door as she introduced us.

"Thank you very much! I'm Hinode Kitora and this is my wife Hinode Akira and our daughter Hinode Tora. No need for formalities, just call us by our first names." The man said with a friendly smile.

"Oh yes, of course! In that case, call me Inko." My mother said to them with a smile just as friendly.

"Aww your son is so adorable! How old is he?" Tora's mom asked my mom as she looked at me with eyes full of adoration. Normally I'm a little shy, but this time I didn't really feel shy at all. I was too busy staring at Tora as she stared right back at me with those beautiful two color eyes.

"He's two years old and he loves heroes." My mother replied as she squeezed my hand lightly.

"Really? So does Tora and she's practically the same age! She just turned three years old three days ago. I'm sure they'll become great friends!" The woman said as she put the girl down. Her deep crystal blue and golden eyes stayed locked onto mine as she approached me.

"Be my first friend?" She asked as she looked at me in anticipation of my answer. I immediately felt nervous and shy as I was put in the spotlight and just nodded my head yes, unable to form any words. She then smiled and giggled, suddenly hugging me which made my face heat up. I could only shyly smile and awkwardly hug her back as she held me tight. Both our parents chuckled.

"Well would you look at that! They already like each other." Tora's dad said, crossing his arms approvingly. The adults chuckled again as Tora continued to squeeze me in a bear hug.

~End of Flashback (End of Izuku's POV)~

"Izuku? Hey Izuku... Hello, earth to Izuku." Tora said as she waved her hand in front of her best friend's face trying to get his attention while he was spaced out, recalling the day they met.

"Huh...? Eeep! Wh-what?" Izuku said as he jumped, startled by Tora's close proximity to his face. She just giggled as she playfully jumped back.

"So what's our first mission going to be today All Might?" Tora asked Izuku, already getting into her role. He paused for a moment to think of a scenario. He looked around the computer room, which was littered with toys, for some inspiration. His eyes landed on a stuffed tiger that Tora had left behind from their last playtime session. He got an idea and grabbed a masked action figure and the stuffed tiger and sat the figurine on the tiger's back and placed the two toys on the back of the swivel chair at the computer desk. He then lead Tora to the opposite end of the room.

"We just got news about a villain who stole a tiger from the zoo and he's heading towards the city limits! Based off witness statements, it seems like this villain has the ability to control animals. We have to stop him before it's too late! Let's go Tigress!" Izuku said as Tora nodded her head with a serious expression on her face. Tigress was Tora's hero name in this game. Her make-believe quirk was the ability to turn into a tiger, communicate with other tigers and control them. It's was a quirk she was hoping to get when it was time. Her father's quirk was Animal Summoning. He could summon up to five animal species at a time and had the ability to communicate with them and command them to do whatever he willed them to. Her mother's quirk was Inanimate Transformation. She could transform into any non-living object whether it was natural or man-made. She could function as that object, speak and move around freely on her own in her chosen form. This made it appear as if a poltergeist had possessed said object. Tora was hoping she would get a combination of the two quirks. She wanted the transformation ability of her mother combined with the animal attribute from her father. Tora's favorite animal was a tiger since that was both her parents' favorite animal. In Tora's opinion, the ideal quirk was the ability to transform into a tiger and back at will as well as communicate with and command other tigers.

"Tiger Transformation!" Tora announced loudly as she got on all fours then the two of them took off. They made their way through the maze of toys on the floor over towards the action figure situated on the back of the stuffed tiger on the swivel chair.

"Look there he is! He's riding on the tiger's back and he's telling it where to go. You catch up to them, convince the tiger to stop and override the villain's control over it. And I'll knock him off of its back." Izuku said to Tora who nodded and continued to approach the toys on all fours.

"RAWR!" Tora roared, then turned to Izuku.

"Okay All Might. I told the tiger to stop listening to him and stay where he is. It's up to you to take him out!" Tora announced as Izuku nodded his head.

"Detroit Smash!" Izuku yelled as he ran up to the toys and punched the figurine on the stuffed tiger's back. It flew right out the open window and landed somewhere outside.

"Oh no, you punched him too hard and he flew far away! Now we have to go get him so we can turn him in to the police." Tora said as she and Izuku left to go outside to fetch the figurine. They ran to the side of the apartment building where the open window of the computer room was. Izuku grabbed the toy and picked it up off the ground.

"Sir, you're coming with us to the police station." Izuku said to the figurine.

"You have the right to remain silent!" Tora chimed in. The two went back to Izuku's apartment and into the computer room.

"You're going to jail for breaking into the zoo and stealing a tiger." Izuku said to the action figure as he put it on the floor and grabbed the small spare laundry basket and placed it upside down over the toy.

"We should get the tiger back to the zoo where it came from. Tigress, you're better for this task. Can you do that for me while I finish dealing with this guy?" Izuku said to Tora.

"On it All Might!" Tora said enthusiastically as she got down on all fours and headed to the stuffed tiger on the chair. She grabbed the tiger and brought it over to a pile of stuffed animals in a corner of the room and gently set it down. She walked back to Izuku and smiled at him.

"The tiger is back in its habitat at the zoo." Tora informed Izuku who gave her a thumbs up and a wide smile.

"Ha ha ha! Excellent work Tigress. And perfect timing because we just got another call for help with another villain." Izuku said as he went about the room, gathering the toys he needed and began setting up the next scenario. He and Tora played Hero Missions for hours until it was time for lunch. Then they took a break to eat and went right back to playing again until evening. They just finished capturing a villain when Izuku's mother knocked on the door and stepped inside the room.

"Tora-chan, your parents just called. They want you to come back home for dinner." Izuku's mother said as greatly disappointed looks appeared on both Izuku's and Tora's faces.

"Aww man! I want to keep playing with Tora." Izuku whined and pouted, dropping his role as All Might. Tora took Izuku's hands in hers.

"It's okay Izuku! We can play again tomorrow when my doctor's appointment after school is over." Tora said reassuringly with a cheerful smile, squeezing his hands before letting go of them.

"Oh, that reminds me! Izuku, you also have a doctor's appointment after school as well." Izuku's mom told him. Izuku just groaned in response. Then the three of them walked together to the front door. Inko opened the door so Tora could head home. But before she left, she turned around and gave Izuku a big hug.

"Don't worry Izuku, I'll see you tomorrow!" Tora said then let go of him. She proceeded out the door and walked to the next door over, turning around to smile and wave goodbye to her best friend and his mother for the day. Izuku waved back at Tora as his mother kept an eye on her until she got inside of her apartment. Both children were looking forward to seeing each other again tomorrow.