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Green Valley Inn
The Green Valley inn was a special place. Not everyone was sure about its origin. Some claim it was founded by a mistress of the king and a thieving scoundrel. Others say it was founded by a loving couple that wanted to help people. However, they have long since passed and the inn is now runned by their son and his wife.
Izuku groaned. Getting out of bed was always difficult. He loved working at the inn, but sometimes he really wondered why they opened so early in the morning. He sat up and looked at his wife who was sleeping next to him. He smiled at her. Not for the first time he thought he was the luckiest man alive for marrying her.
They had met when they were children. Her parents were construction workers who helped expanding the inn. They had brought their daughter, Ochaco, and Izuku and her had been friends ever since. When they were teens everyone around them told them they would make a good couple and jokingly asked when the wedding was. Being the rebellious teenagers, they decided to do the opposite and dated some other people. Izuku dated another girl, Melissa, who, like himself, couldn't use magic. Ochaco dated a boy called Denki, his thunder magic was nice to look at but not very useful.
After some break ups and lots of emotions, they found each other again and Izuku asked her out. A year later, they got married.
Work at the inn was fun but sometimes it could be too much. While Green Valley wasn't the only inn in the region, they were unique because of their neutrality. Everyone could enter and inside everyone was equal. King Yagi had ushered a decree specifically for this inn, much to the dismay of baron Todoroki, who ruled the fief.
This neutrality created some unique situations.
Being neutral meant there were a lot of criminals and bandits who frequented the inn. Izuku and Ochaco were strong enough and had enough notoriety to handle them. The worst cases however, were the preachers. Most of them were religious nuts who claimed the world was going to end and only if they followed them they would be saved and survive the end. Like I said, nuts. A smaller group preached about social issues. Poverty inequality, discrimination etc. Unfortunately for Izuku, the worst one was one of their regulars.
"Our society is unjust. The strong have al the power and only use it for attention and money." Izuku sighed. Doesn't he ever shut up? Unfortunately this wasn’t the first time he was talking about it. His Intimidation magic had scared other customers away more than once, especially when he was drunk. Usually Izuku simply tolerated it. But today he wasn’t having anything of it.
"Chizome I swear to god if you keep spouting your bullshit you won't be keeping your ideals for much longer." While Izuku couldn't use magic of any kind, he could be quite intimidating. Chizome immediately shut up.
During their time dealing with al kinds of villains, they had seen some special figures. Murderers, thieves, frauds, charlatans etc. But the ones they hated the most were the abusers. People who used their magic to really hurt others.
"No can do, Chisaki. You're not getting her back. She's with us now."
"Now Izuku, I'm sure we can come to an agreement. You know I didn't mean it."
"Intentional or not, Eri belongs with us now. Drunk or not you agreed that we would take care of her from then on. Besides it's been 12 years. She doesn't want anything to do with you." Izuku leaned a bit closer. "Your lucky you're having this conversation with me, remember last time you asked Ochaco about getting Eri back." Chisaki gulped. Ochaco had used her floating magic to fly him away. Getting down wasn't something he wanted to experience again.
Chisaki knew he had messed up. The royal guard had caught up with his schemes. All he ever wanted was to help. To save the world from magic. And yes, he may have hurt some people but the end justifies the means, right? His thoughts went to Eri. Her magic could have helped him achieve his goals.
“Hey Izuku, can I have another beer?” He was drinking to much and he knew it. Screw it, he knew the guard would arrest him as soon as he left the building. “What’s wrong Chisaki, it’s not like you to drink so much? Something wrong?”
“I’m screwed,” Chisaki said, “They caught onto my schemes. My sources say they’re gonna catch me as soon as I leave the building. I’m probably gonna get 10 years in prison, at best.” He sighed. “Well, maybe I deserve it. I’ve done a lot of shit I shouldn’t have done. Hey Midoriya.” Izuku hummed in reply. “Could you take care of Eri when I’m gone? If I leave her to my men she won’t make it. Maybe you can give her some semblance of a good life.”
“All right. I’ll take care of her. Don’t worry about her.”
And that’s how Izuku and Ochaco got Eri into their lives.
Taking Eri in was one of the best decisions they made. Eri was a sweet little girl and, according to Ochaco, the cutest thing in the world. It took some time to get used to each other but eventually they got along great.
Eri had always been shy. She didn’t have a lot of friends either. So Izuku and Ochaco were glad when she befriended Kouta. Kouta was one of the kids from the baron’s orphanage. Both him and Eri had started helping around the inn when they were 14. Now, they were both adults and still helping the couple. Lately however, they’ve been doing some more private things around the inn.
Eri had wanted to tell her parents that she was dating Kouta for a while now. Kouta however, wanted to keep it a secret a little longer. “Your mother is scary,” he had said. And he was right. Especially when her parents did find out.
KOUTA GET YOUR TONGUE OUT OF ERI'S MOUTH AND GET YOUR ASS BACK IN THE KITCHEN! Eri, sweetie can you go help your father out front?
“Yes ma’am!”
“Okay mom!”
Working at the inn was hard, but Izuku wouldn’t change it for the world.