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“My boy, theres somewhere I want to take you if you have the time this weekend.” Yagi said, taking another sip of his protein shake that Recovery Girl had him on.
Izuku looked up from his bento, tilting his head slightly. “Where to, Yagi?” He asked curiously. They had taken trips together before, so getting permission from his mom shouldn’t be hard. Their last trip was to see the Yakushima off the southern coast of Kyushu, which was super fun, getting to see such tall and beautiful trees that were such a significant part of Japanese spiritual history.
“It’s a surprise, but plan to be out late and bring warm clothes.” Yagi told him just before the bell rang, “We’ll leave Saturday morning if your mother gives you permission, now off to class with you.”
Izuku stuffed his face with his last few bites of food, quickly packing up before saying, “I’ll text you what mom says later tonight!” and bolting off for his next class.
Yagi watched with a fond smile, packing up his own things and heading back to the teachers lounge for his planning period.
Izuku of course got permission from his mom to go with Yagi once she got the details from the man himself, understanding the surprise for Izuku but wanting the when, where and how for herself.
To get to their location they had to take a short plane ride and then a ferry, which was surprising to Izuku considering its been a while since one of their trips took them far from Musutafu and he hadn’t been on a plane since his trip to I-Island. It took about five hours in total for them to travel and soon Izuku could see the signs for the Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park.
Izuku remembered learning about the Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park when he was younger, it was home to a rare and endagered species of cat known as the Iriomote Wildcat. That was really the only fact he remembered of it, but he also knew they had a lot of really cool nature like mangrove trees and over three hundred and sixty different types of coral, both being the largest mangrove forest and coral reef in Japan.
All of that and Izuku was a little confused as to why they were here. Sure, going to a National Park was really cool but Yagi usually had a specific reason for why he brought Izuku somewhere, like Yakushima. Yakushima was a special place that Nana had taken Yagi, and he wanted to share that with Izuku like a tradition of sorts.
Maybe this was the case here as well? Izuku didn’t ponder on it long as they disembarked the ferry and started making their way to the hotel they would be staying at. They were quick to get settled and then rest for a little bit before they started exploring, the long travel being a little hard on Yagi.
They met downstairs around dinner time to which Yagi had a picnic basket and a blanket, telling Izuku to make sure he wears warm clothes and bring a coat (which he did).
It took them a little while to get to where Yagi was taking them, the retired hero wanting to find the perfect spot for what he had in mind. Once they found a spot, they easily got situated and started chatting while Yagi handed him some dinner and had his meal replacement himself.
“It’s beautiful out here,” Izuku said, “I’m really excited to explore a bit more tomorrow, theres so much to see and so little time.”
“That’s true,” Yagi hummed. “We’ll be taking a boat around noon tomorrow to see the coral reef, but otherwise our schedule is open. I wanted to make sure you could see and do what you wanted while we were here.”
“Thank you, Yagi.” Izuku said genuinely, “I love spending time with you, even if it’s just at U.A. but I appreciate getting to take these little trips with you as well.”
“Of course, my boy.” Yagi said warmly, “I love spending time with you as well. I’ll admit, you know I never really had family of my own but I do see you as a son and I want to make sure that we have good memories together.”
Izuku teared up at his mentor saying this, feeling overcome by his emotions. “I feel the same, I see you as a father.” Izuku said, “As you know, my dad left when I was five, so I never really had a father figure in my life. Sure, I had uncle Masaru but it’s not the same? if that makes any sense.”
“It does,” Yagi said, ruffling his hair. “I’m glad you feel the same, my boy.”
Izuku gave the man a watery smile, the two of them settling into a comfortable silence as the sun set and the stars started appearing above them.
Izuku noticed the difference immediately between here and the night sky of Musutafu. “Oh my god, is that the Milky Way?” he muttered, mostly to himself but getting a chuckle from Yagi overhearing him.
“It is,” Yagi confirmed, “I heard, if you look close enough, you should be able to make out the spiral arms of the Milky Way with your bare eyes alone.”
“Wow,” Izuku said, staring at the sky in wonder.
“If you look there, there and there,” Yagi started, carefully guiding his mentee’s gaze, “You can see the constellations Lyra, Cygnus and Aquila.”
“Cygnus is ‘the swan’ but is also known as the northern cross, Lyra, ‘the harp’ known for having the fifth brightest star, Vega, and Aquila, ‘the eagle’,” Izuku rattled off from his knowledge of astronomy. “The three brightest stars from each, Deneb, Vega and Altair respectively, make up the summer triangle.”
Yagi gave him an appraising look, which caused Izuku to give a sheepish smile. “I had a phase of really being into astronomy,” Izuku justified.
Yagi gave an easy chuckle, ruffling his hair yet again. “So smart, my boy.” He said fondly, “On another note, this is why I brought you out here. For stargazing, I mean. I heard about this place from another teacher and knew it would be a fun place to bring you. I’m glad I was right.”
Izuku gave him a soft smile, “Thank you again,” He said, “It really does mean a lot.”
“I know,” Yagi replied, genuinely knowing from his short time with Nana. “Now, what are some other constellations you can see? Tell me all about them.”
The duo spent the rest their time outside talking about different constellations and where they could be seen from, only going inside once the chill finally got to Izuku.
This time together would be something Izuku would cherish for the rest of his life, making sure to take a lot of pictures with Yagi and of the scenery the next day as well.