My Darkest Dungeon - An Omake for Vanessa Masters

Author's Note: This is a small non-canon thing I thought of and wrote up for Vanessa Masters (aka Adam Costello/Adam29) and their character. It's just a fun little thing that I sent them and decided to post here. It won't be posted anywhere else unless Vanessa Masters decides to post it somewhere (of which they have full permission to do.)

“Excuse me, Midoriya?”

Izuku couldn’t help but blink at the tone Iida was using. Though he was trying to hide it, Iida looked unusually stressed out for some reason. “H-hey Iida. Is something wrong?”

Iida shifted nervously, his posture abnormally stiff. “No, I wouldn't say anything is wrong. But I… was wondering if you had time to talk. Not as my superior, but as a…Friend.”

“Of course!” Izuku hastily stood up from his desk and moved over to the ratty couch, gesturing for Iida to follow suit.

Izuku waited a full minute as Iida tried to find his words. At least three times, he saw the crusader open his mouth only to close it immediately.

Meanwhile, Izuku was running through whatever might be distressing his friend.

The stagecoach hadn’t brought any mail in a couple weeks, and even then there hadn’t been anything for Iida the last month. Nor had Iida been on any expeditions the last couple days. The last had been to Arbor’s Point with Kacchan, Tsuyu, and Vanessa, and it had sounded like it had gone well.

That meant something had happened within the Hamlet itself.

Iida got along well enough with most of the other teams. Sure, arguments with Kacchan happened. And Iida was still leery of Todoroki. But Izuku couldn’t think of anybody that he truly disliked that would affect him this way.

If Iida wanted to talk to him as a friend and not as a superior, that indicated a personal issue. If it wasn’t external news, then it was something internal to the Hamlet. If Iida hadn’t been having issues with anybody, then only thing he could think of was -

“Vanessa confessed to me earlier today.” Iida admitted in a rush.

Even though he had guessed it, Izuku couldn’t help but look at Iida in surprise.

“Oh! That’s great!” Izuku calmed down while giving Iida an encouraging smile.

The crusader gave him a startled look. “You were aware?” Iida slumped slightly. “Was I truly that oblivious?”

Ah. Hmmm.

“W-well, Vanessa might have said something.” Izuku explained with a nervous smile.

That is, Vanessa straight up asked to be placed on more missions with Iida because she had a crush on the other man.

“This, uh, is ‘good’ news, right?” Izuku checked carefully. “You haven’t taken a vow of celibacy, have you?”

“What?” The question seemed to draw Iida out of his thoughts. “Ah, no, I have not. While it is hardly an uncommon practice for knights, my family never has. We have always believed it to be of equal importance to find a partner and raise a family in the Light.”

Well that was good. Izuku knew that that had one of Vanessa’s fears.

“So, what did you tell Vanessa?” Izuku asked.

Iida grimaced. “I informed her that I would need to consider it before I gave my answer.”

Oh. Ouch. Poor Vanessa was probably freaking out after a non-answer like that. Still, Iida hadn’t outright rejected her, so…

“Why’d you say that?” Izuku asked.

Iida flushed, “I was hardly expecting anybody to approach me in that manner!” He protested, his moves becoming stiffer as he gestured about in distress. “I have of course entertained the thoughts of marriage one day in the future, but I did not expect anybody to see me as a suitable partner at this time!”

Izuku winced at that. He wanted to protest, but he wasn’t exactly a good judge of that himself. He was still trying to figure out what Momo saw in him!

“Please understand, I am not attempting to ‘fish for compliments’,” Iida cut Izuku off as he was about to protest. “I am simply aware of the existence of my flaws. If nothing else, I would think that my position as a crusader - a member of an organization whose majority views her as evil - would drive her away.”

“W-well, even when you first met Vanessa and were unsure of her, you treated her well.” Izuku pointed out. “You were nice to her, defended her when many wouldn’t have, and have been a gentleman this entire time.”

“Of course I was!” Iida seemed honestly a bit insulted at the implication he would do otherwise. “I could hardly do anything else!”

Izuku bit the inside of his cheek as he tried to figure out what to say. Iida didn’t seem opposed to seeing somebody. So what was he nervous about? “You do like Vanessa, right?”

Just like that, the crusader seemed to go from insulted to flustered. “I, we, that is, Vanessa is of course very attractive, and her company is always appreciated. She’s dependable and her genuine cheer makes her a pleasure to be around, even when things are especially dismal. It would be a lie to say I didn’t like her. But I’m hardly alone in that I’m sure.”

Izuku felt, more than heard, a thrum through the air. Almost like a squeal of happiness.

Izuku let out a cough to dissipate the feeling. “So you like her, and it sounds like she likes you… So what’s the problem?”

Iida let out a huff, “I could see us getting closer.” The crusader admitted as his cheeks turned a bit red. “However, that would hardly be the most fair thing to happen to her, would it?”

Izuku tilted his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Iida pursed his lips as he hesitated, seemingly struggling with finding the words. “Understand, I am a firm believer in the Light.”

Izuku blinked before nodding rapidly. Honestly, Iida was easily one of the more devout members he’d seen.

“The Church as a whole is dedicated to the Light.” Iida continued. “However, I also understand that the Church was created by humans, who are inherently flawed. It is also filled with and run by flawed humans.” He frowned in thought. “If I were to get together with Vanessa, who is a practitioner of the occult, it would easily bring persecution upon her. Or on any children that we might have together. It wouldn’t matter whether I can vouch for her character or not - which I would of course - nor her considerable contributions to the Light. With that in mind, would it not be cruel of me to bring that upon her?”

“M-maybe…” Izuku frowned. “B-but isn’t that her choice to make?”

“But is it fair of me to force her to have to make that choice?” Iida returned.

“Is it fair to make it for her?” Izuku quickly shot back. “A-and you really think she wasn’t aware of all that before she confessed?”

Iida grimaced at that, “she probably did.” He admitted with a huff.

“Y-you do make some good points.” Izuku admitted quickly, because they were, “b-but I think that you should talk with Vanessa herself about it.”

Iida hummed a bit. “So I take it you think it would be a good thing for me to accept her offer of courtship?” He asked intently.

Did he?

“I think - as your friend!” Izuku hastily tacked on. “If it makes you happy, then you two should spend more time together and talk about it. S-See what happens. I-I mean, maybe you’ll discover you’re better off as friends? B-but you won’t know unless you try.”

“I see.” Iida nodded as he brought a hand to his chin, “I could do that, yes.”

“H-here,” Izuku reached over to his desk and rifled through the papers for a bit. “This is a mission request for gathering herbs in the forest. Vanessa should be able to identify them easily enough, and can go as her bodyguard. It’s in an area that we cleared not too long ago, so it should be an easy task for the two of you.”

Date options weren’t exactly easy to come by in the Hamlet, but this should provide a good way for them to talk and figure stuff out.

Iida tapped the paper lightly as he read the mission summary. “Very well! I shall inform Vanessa and take the opportunity to talk with her.”

As the crusader stood and walked to the door he hesitated and turned back. “I don’t know what the results of our talk will be. But thank you for listening… Izuku.”

Izuku beamed at him. “O-of course! I’m glad I was able to help. Please let me know how it goes for you two.”

Iida gave a final nod before leaving, clearly deep in thought. And Izuku sighed in relief, the tension flowing from him.

Izuku really hoped the two of them found a path that made them happy. There was so much misery in the world, in the Hamlet, as it was. Any chance for happiness was something he’d encourage.

M-maybe he should go on another mission with just Momo? He couldn’t do it now because of the pileup of work, but later…

Oh, and before he forgot…

“Vanessa?” Izuku called out while staring at a spot in the ceiling. “I think Iida is looking for you. A-and you really shouldn’t be eavesdropping.”

He ‘felt’ the presence ‘eeep!’ before the presence of the spying spell vanished, and Izuku couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

She’d be alright. They both would. And Izuku would do his best to make sure they both reached their happy ending. Whatever that would be.