Yagi scratched his head as he made his way back to the staff room, holding onto a bag and staring at a piece of paper, trying to make heads or tails out of whatever was written on it. He pushed open the door, and peered around.
"Uh... is Nezu here?" Yagi asked, and Kayama looked up from her grading, "He was here a minute ago; he left for another impromptu meeting. You just missed him. Did you need him for something?"
"No, no..." Yagi shook his head, "I just... Basilisk gave me a few more things to give to Midoriya before he left, and I figured it would be better if Nezu did it instead of me."
He reached into the bag he was carrying, and pulled out something that looked like a metal arm bracer. "Basilisk said it was a prototype of... something? Midoriya's father apparently designed it for him while he was working there, and some of the workers had just decided to finish it up, I think that's what he told me."
Yagi placed the bracer back in the bag, and pulled out another piece of paper, "The blueprints to the bracers, I think, though I don't really understand all the scribbles on it. I guess I should give it to Power Loader?"
"Hmm." Kayama frowned, "We'll let Nezu take a look at it first."
Yagi fished another small booklet out of his pocket, "Also, Basilisk said that this was the... guide, or instruction sheet, for that gift that he gave to Midoriya... looks like a puzzle, or something? Has a lot of steps though. Like... at least forty."
"Forty?" Kayama raised her eyebrows, taking the booklet from Yagi, "Wow... that's... really complicated. I heard from Shouta that it was supposed to be for his seventh birthday... but honestly, I can't even imagine myself solving this puzzle box. Even with the instructions."
She placed the booklet in the bag, before taking the bag from the former Number One hero, "I'll put this in Nezu's office. Once he gets back, he'll know what to do with it. I'm sure that Midoriya would like the bracers, and it fits with his fighting style, but it still has to go through checks before he can use them as support items."
Midoriya just glanced around the table, as Shoji helped Sato bring all the food out onto the table; he had already fixed up his puzzle box and put it in his room. Some students were sitting on the couches, and Kendo and Monoma had brought a couple of chairs over from their dorms so that there were enough places for everyone. Iida had switched on the news, and was watching it along with Shishida, Kaibara, and Kamakiri.
There was a huge variety of dishes, and while Midoriya wasn't very hungry, he figured that he should eat something, at the very least; he wasn't even sure when was the last time he had eaten anything. But he wasn't too sure what he was allowed to eat, and what he wasn't allowed to even touch. All he had currently was a few spoonfuls of rice; he didn't want to take too much and end up wasting food. When he was younger, his former foster mother never made any verbal complaints whenever he grabbed vegetables or meat, but he did remember meeting her disapproving gaze, and had slowly learned through trial and error about what kinds of food to avoid touching. He eventually just settled with instant noodles because it was just easier for everyone, and less stressful.
Midoriya tightened his grip on the small dragon pendant nervously. He hadn't eaten with his peers in the dorms before; he'd usually just grab some hot water for the instant noodles stocked up in his room, and that was all he ate. He wasn't too sure how his classmates would react if he grabbed anything he wasn't supposed to. He didn't want anyone getting mad at him.
Reiko purred, nuzzling his arm from her position on his lap as Ryuto chirped, nibbling on a piece of meat. Shirou usually sat on Shinsou's lap as he ate, but the larger cat was currently on the ground, resting by Shinsou's feet, seemingly wanting to put as much distance between himself and the smaller Reiko.
Shinsou seemed to sense his reluctance, and glanced at the green haired boy, "Midoriya, you can grab anything you want to eat, you know?"
Midoriya hesitantly glanced at the taller boy, before going back to gaze at the dishes on the table, before slowly reaching out with his chopsticks to grab a vegetable.
The rest of the students did their best to not put too much attention on Midoriya; they were all glad that he seemed to be doing better, and didn't want to risk doing anything that would make him close up again.
Midoriya slowly chewed up the vegetable, before taking a small mouthful of rice. He quickly finished up the rest of his rice, feeling slightly sick from eating, and he wrapped his arm around Reiko, standing up. He picked up his bowl, and Shinsou, Iida and Uraraka looked up at him.
"You're done?" Uraraka asked.
Midoriya nodded, and Ryuto purred, before hopping onto Midoriya's arm.
"Alright. Going back to your room?" Iida asked, and Midoriya nodded again, quickly cleaning his bowl and placing it on the drying rack as Ryuto tried his best to balance himself on Midoriya's arm while being careful not to dig his talons into Midoriya's arm.
Kamakiri watched him as he disappeared into the kitchen, and asked, "He didn't eat that much. Is he alright?"
"It's an improvement." Yaoyorozu nodded, "I don't think he ate anything last week."
Midoriya dried his hands, and picked Reiko up. He walked towards the staircase, before pausing. He turned around, facing his classmates, who were stuffing themselves with food.
"Sorry. For making you worry."
Before anyone could react, Midoriya had already hurriedly escaped down the hallway and up the staircase, back to his room.
Everyone just looked at the hallway, stunned, before Kendo asked, "He...spoke?"
"Yeah." Shinsou spoke up, "I guess he's comfortable enough with all of us."
Nezu took the elevator up to the roof of the dorms, and walked out onto the open. He took a breath of fresh air, and spotted a figure sitting by the edge, behind the railing.
"Hello, Izuku." Nezu greeted, walking over to sit next to him. Reiko and Ryuto were sitting on Midoriya's, sleeping. Midoriya glanced at him, and nodded in acknowledgment, before turning his gaze back to the sky, "A lot on your mind?"
Midoriya didn't reply for a long time, before he looked up, "I'm sorry."
Nezu's ears perked up, and he frowned, turned to look at Midoriya in confusion, "You're sorry? Sorry for what? You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I was selfish." Midoriya continued, averting his gaze away from Nezu, "I... I only thought of myself. I wanted to run away, to escape from... everything... but all I did was just make everyone worried about me. I didn't think about how everyone else would react... I saw everyone's expressions at the dinner table... they were all just... so... relieved that... that I was sitting with them."
Nezu shuffled closer to Midoriya, right until he was pressed against Midoriya's side. He patted his arm, "Like I said... you have nothing to be sorry for. After everything that happened... wanting to run away from it all... it's natural. You've been through so much, so many stressful events happening right after another...you need a break, Izuku. You're not infallible, no one is. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. You're pushing yourself too hard, you think you need to do more than you're already doing. But you've already done more than enough."
Midoriya tightened his grip, and Nezu noticed that he had something in his hand.
"What's that?" Nezu asked curiously, and Midoriya hesitantly opened his hand, revealing the small dragon pendant in his hand, gleaming in the darkness.
"I... I saw my parents make it." Midoriya spoke up, his voice wavering slightly, "They told me... that they were making it for something facing some hardships, and that person would face more in the future. At the time, I thought they were talking about a relative... or a friend... or just... someone. I didn't think it was for me."
He faltered, before continuing, "It's like they knew how much people would hate me... and wanted to make sure I knew that they were always there for me, even after they... passed. Even though I'm quirkless."
Nezu wrapped his arms around Midoriya as best as he could, before he spoke up, "There will always be people who care about you, Izuku. I care about you, your teachers care about you, your classmates too."
Lies. Just lies! The voice at the back of his head whispered, Like real! They're just waiting for you to put your guard down! They'll just throw you away, just like everyone else!
"We're not going to throw you away like everyone else in your old schools." Nezu finished, "We just want to help you, to help you grow, and reach your full potential. We all want you to live your life to the fullest, with no regrets. Do you understand?"
"Izuku!" Inko rushed towards her son, eyeing the bruise on his cheek, "What happened?"
"Someone was getting bullied... and I tried to stop them." Midoriya looked at the ground, "It doesn't hurt - Ow!"
Inko had pressed her hand lightly against the bruise, only for the four-year-old to protest and flinch away.
"Oh, Izuku." Inko sighed, picking him up and setting him down on the couch. "Be more careful next time. If you see them punch you, try to move away."
"You're not mad? Don't you think I shouldn't have... interfered..." Midoriya looked up, and Inko shook her head, a small smile on her face, "You just want to help. It's in your nature. If you didn't step in, I think you'd regret it. But heroes have to prevent themselves from getting hurt too. You can't save anyone if you keep ending up in the hospital, after all. And what if you get an injury that can't be treated? We can't control everything that happens, but it's the best to live with no regrets, don't you think?"
Midoriya clenched his fists, and resolutely nodded.
"So... how do you even activate it?" Monoma mumbled, and Shinsou scratched his neck, "I don't know... it's like... flipping a switch, I guess?"
"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Kaminari asked, grabbing a bag of potato chips from the kitchen and munched on them noisily.
"Oh, Monoma just copied my quirk and is trying to use it." Shinsou shrugged, as Kaminari took another bite out of his chips. Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed; Monoma and Shinsou had brought up that idea, and Aizawa didn't think that it would be dangerous to do the quirk testing in the dorms since Shinsou's Brainwashing quirk wasn't destructive.
Monoma let out a quiet growl; the sounds of Kaminari's munching was too noisy and distracting. He turned to Kaminari and snapped, "Can you just... please not eat here and go away!? I can't think!"
Kaminari's eyes suddenly glazed over, and he turned around, walking towards the couch.
"Huh... I didn't think that he'd actually listen..." Shinsou mumbled, as Monoma mumbled, confused, "Do you normally get a headache?"
"No? Why?"
Shinsou barely finished his statement as Aizawa's eyes flared red, fixated on Monoma, and the blonde felt the mild headache fade away.
But it was too late. Kaminari had already walked into the television by the couch, and released all his electricity in his panic after snapping out of the brainwashing.
Electricity surged through the outlet, and the entire dorms fell into darkness. Thankfully, the curtains weren't drawn, and there was some light entering the common room through the multitude of windows.
"Oh..." Monoma mumbled, trying to process what had happened, before turning to Aizawa, "Sorry."
Aizawa sighed, "I should have figured. All of you are problem children. We'll get that fixed."
There was the sound of people walking, and Iida, Uraraka, Jiro, Yaoyorozu and Midoriya walked down the stairs, and Iida spoke up, "Aizawa-sensei, we were studying, and the lights suddenly went out! The elevator is also not working!"
Jiro spotted Kaminari lying on the ground, stunned, and she walked over to him, kicking his leg lightly, "Hey, hey, dumbass, get up."
Midoriya carefully moved over to Jiro, watching as Kaminari mumbled something incomprehensible from his position on the ground, before he glanced warily at the television, and snarled. Jiro looked up at Midoriya worriedly as the boy took a step away from the television, glaring at the sparking device.
He bared his teeth, as Uraraka helped Jiro bring Kaminari to the couch, and Shinsou turned his attention to Midoriya, immediately understanding the problem. The lavender haired boy slowly made his way over to Midoriya, and gently grabbed his arm, steering him away from the television.
Midoriya refused to turn away from the sparking television, but a gentle tug on his arm by Shinsou managed to coax the green haired boy to look at him.
"It's fine. Kaminari just accidentally overloaded it. No more villains."
Midoriya looked at the ground, and Shinsou could feel his arm shaking; it was no surprise to him that Midoriya still hadn't gotten over what had happened in Kamino.
"You're safe here, Midoriya." Shinsou gently squeezed his arm again, before wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. Midoriya didn't protest, and made no move to get away, as Iida and Uraraka walked over to the green haired boy to comfort him.
"So... what are we going to do with the television?" Yaoyorozu asked, "We need to fix it... right? Or else..."
She glanced worriedly at Midoriya, and Aizawa immediately understood what she meant.
"I'll deal with it. I'll call Power Loader."
"We're having a movie night! And a new television!" Ashido grinned, running around the dorms, as Iida chopped his arms about and told her to stop running around the dorms, "Do we have enough snacks?"
Kirishima opened the cupboard, and looked around, "Uh... microwavable popcorn, some chips, I see some sour candy... is that enough?"
"I don't think so... 1-B will be joining us." Jiro pointed out, as Shishida, Awase, Uraraka, and Shoji helped Maijama in installing the larger, newer television in the 1-A dorms, under Aizawa's supervision. Monoma and Kaminari had busted their older one, and with the combined efforts from Yaoyorozu, Maijima and the Support Course, they had made a television that should theoretically be able to withstand literally anything that the hero students could throw at it.
Lucky for everyone else, none of them had plugged in any of their electronic devices during that period of time, so other than the television and a couple of lights, nothing else was broken.
"Can we go and buy more snacks?" Ashido asked, and Aizawa didn't take his eyes off the television, "Yes. Bring at least three more people, and keep me updated on your position at all times. Also, be back in an hour; the nearest store is only a few blocks away, and it's getting dark."
"Alright! We're going snack shopping! Anyone wanna come?" Ashido asked, and Sato popped his head out of the kitchen, "I'll come. We're running out of ingredients."
"I'll come too! I know what my class likes." Kendo volunteered.
Iida, Shinsou, and Midoriya had ended up joining them as well, with Reiko and Ryuto tucked safely in Midoriya's hood, and they set off towards the convenience store. They passed by a park, and Midoriya stopped, looking towards the park, and Shinsou slowed, "You alright?"
Midoriya nodded, and turned his attention back to the group that was slightly ahead, quickening his pace to catch up with the others. It didn't take them too long to reach the store, and they quickly gathered all the food they wanted before going to pay.
As they were queuing up, Midoriya spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He quickly left the queue, unnoticed by his peers, and returned with a small batch of hydrangeas. He tugged on Iida's sleeve, and quietly signed, "Can I get these?"
Iida blinked in mild confusion as Shinsou translated for him, but he still nodded nonetheless, smiling, "Of course you can, Midoriya."
Internally, he was glad that Midoriya wanted to buy something and was asking if he could instead of just pushing down his urge to get anything.
The students left the store, passing by the park again. Midoriya stopped again, before he quietly asked, "Can I... have a moment?"
Ashido turned around, "Sure? Not too long though, or Aizawa-sensei will get mad at us."
Midoriya gave them a nod in thanks, before walking into the park, his classmates trailing behind him curiously. The green haired boy quietly made his way to the graveyard, quickly finding the headstone he was looking for.
He stood there, silently, as Reiko popped out of his hood and nuzzled him comfortingly.
Midoriya carefully took the hydrangeas out and crouched down, gently placing the flower by the base of the headstone.
He closed his eyes, and whispered, "Thank you. For everything."
Midoriya opened his eyes, before standing up, walking back to his friends that were standing a respectful distance away.
"You ready to go?" Kendo asked, and Midoriya nodded.
