Vlad King let out a tiny sigh as he adjusted the documents on his desk, arranging them to be neat. Since the students had the day off thanks to the storm raging outside, Vlad got a chance to work on the upcoming exam each hero course was taking in their second year - a training exercise that would determine if the students would be eligible to work on their own without the need of a hero watching over them. Since it had been announced, Vlad had begun writing up lesson plans, preparing to work Class 1B to the bone to get them ready for this exam. It would be a physical, similar to the Provincial License Exam, except without the competition - everyone would be in their own separate arenas, working alone.

He had no doubt that his class were more than capable of passing this exam with flying colors - he was proud of their achievements, being sure to always praise them for their work and how well done their marks were. He did encourage the rivalry between them and Class 1A as a means to lift their spirits, make them improve better - while he did care about the other class, although not to the extent of his own, it was good to encourage their rivalry as a means to improve each class.

Speaking of Class 1A, he mused as he put the papers down on the table, he was glad he didn't have to worry much about Midoriya. He always got the impression that the kid was nice (you know, besides the first impression of him punching the Zero Pointer directly in the face to defend one of his friends), but he was relieved that the situation in the girls' dorm was running smoothly. He could trust Midoriya not to get carried away with them, treating them with kindness and respect. From what Kendou reported yesterday, everything was going very well, and he had fully ingrained himself within their household. A good thing too - Aizawa had told him recently that the robots working on reconstructing his room had suffered a malfunction, wrecking the work they had already done, so it looked like Midoriya was going to be with them for a bit longer, which would mean that Midoriya would miss out when Aizawa went to each house in his class to tell them about the exam.

Well, at least when he talked to each house about the upcoming exam Midoriya would be informed - wait. Should he give Midoriya some encouragement? Vlad paused in his work, thinking it over. While he may not be the kid's homeroom teacher, Midoriya was still technically his responsibility - would that be a good opportunity to show that Vlad appreciated him if he went up to the kid and gave him some advice? Vlad nodded, smiling about that thought - he'd pull Midoriya aside, give him some words of encouragement, thank him for being so good with the girls - that would be a great reward for Midoriya's exceptionally good behavior - making sure the kid knew he was being appreciated.

While he thought of the words he could tell Midoriya, praising him for his good behavior, there was a sudden knock on the door of the teacher's lounge. Vlad King looked up, blinking in confusion - who on Earth could that be? - and stood up to go answer the door. Walking over, he slid the door down, and was surprised to see Monoma looking down at his feet, biting his lip. He was very wet, apparently walking through the rain to get here - his blond hair clung to his face, and his eyes were downcast, as though brought to immediate sadness and unable to meet his teacher's eye.

"Monoma?" Vlad King asked, concern in his voice. "What're you doing here? The school's closed. And why are you so wet?"

"Vlad King-sensei ..." Monoma sighed, his voice low, and Vlad felt his concern spike. "I ... I heard something, and I think you should know."

"What ... c'mere, kid, let's get you dried off." Vlad ushered his student in, letting him walk into the lounge, before going to the locker and grabbing a spare gym uniform the teachers kept there just in case of an emergency for a student. Handing them to his student, Vlad studied him closely. "You heard something, kid? What're you talking about?"

"I ... I heard ..." Monoma got out, still glancing down at his feet, trying very hard not to burst into giggles. "... I heard something about Midoriya ... and the girls in our class."


The moment Izuku ripped the door open and sprinted straight into the thunderstorm, Itsuka recovered from her momentary shock and guilt, and her eyes went wide. "Midoriya, wait!"

Alas, her cry went unanswered, and Izuku was out the door. Shaking herself out of her brief paralysis, his biting words playing over and over again in her mind, Itsuka ran as fast as she could towards the entrance, never minding the cold feeling of water dripping on her. She ran down the steps barefooted, slipping somewhat, her breathe coming out in shaking gasps and her own tears mixing with the rain. She whipped her head around and looked in both directions desperately, praying that she could see where exactly he ran off to, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Trying desperately to control her breathing, Itsuka turned around and ran straight back into the house, her heart pounding in her chest.

Inside, Ibara had turned to Setsuna, whose breath was coming out in jittered gasps as she hunched over, holding a hand over her eyes, and the vine girl helped her sit down on the couch, trying to get her breathing under control. Yui continued to stare blankly out the door, her mouth hanging open and her eyes vacant. Pony's cries were muffled as she leaned against the chair, her face in her hands and her body shaking, while Reiko and Kinoko attempted to comfort her. Kinoko herself was crying herself, her voice wobbly as she comforted her friend and roughly wiped tears off her cheeks.

"W-where did -?" Ibara turned to Itsuka when she entered, and her own voice was wobbling something fierce. Itsuka could only shake her head as she opened the closet door, grabbing her raincoat and throwing it over her shoulders. Reiko realized that she was going out to look for him, and quietly left Pony to grab her own coat as Itsuka put on her rainboots.

"P-please look after them, Ibara," Itsuka asked her, trying to keep her voice under control. "I'm gonna find him. We - we need to fix this."

As soon as her coat was done up she ran back into the miserable afternoon, throwing her hood over her head while she ran to the edge of the driveway, with Reiko wordlessly heading to the right, deeper into the forest with the other houses, while Itsuka started running to the left towards the campus. While she ran, she had to fight to stop her own crying, her breath coming out in shuddering gasps.

Oh, god, she was an idiot. A complete and utter idiot. She was in the mindset that Izuku was enjoying all the attention he was receiving from the girls - like he was some frat boy from 1A living large in a household full of beautiful girls. She knew, she knew he wasn't anything like that! He was sensitive, thoughtful, kind. Why the hell didn't she realize this would be tearing him up inside?! And why was it that her reaction to him obviously suffering was to get angry and yell at him?! As she turned on the road to head towards the other houses, she fought down another sob as she made up her plan - find Izuku, drag him back to the house, sit him down, fix up his hand, and then beg for his forgiveness. Something that she already knew she wasn't going to get.

In the opposite direction, Reiko ran as fast as she could as well, calling out Izuku's name loudly, trying to get him to respond. It was probably the most vocal she had ever been outside of classes, trying to yell as loudly as she could. She tried to keep up a cool persona, trying to make herself come across as calm. Inside, though, she felt like she had been broken. She had been an utter moron. The kind, thoughtful Izuku, leaving her and Kinoko like that? She interpreted it as her doing something wrong, and she was both completely right and completely wrong - it hadn't been because of what they did! It had been because she ignored him! She cursed herself as she looked around desperately feeling absolutely torn up inside. She already knew that once Izuku returned (and god, she hoped he would return) there would be no way for her to fix this.

Back inside the house, Ibara wrapped her vines comfortably around Setsuna, trying to give her some comfort while she tried to make the other green-haired girl breathe with her to calm down her panic attack, tears stinging her own eyes. She was a fool. A complete and utter fool. She let her own hurt feelings and views on religion twist her judgement, and she took it out on Izuku. She viewed him as scum, but she was blind to the fact that he had been hurting. She was a hero, and she couldn't even see the boy suffering in front of her?! Did she even deserve to be here? She felt her own voice catch in her throat as she squeezed tears out of her closed eyes, cursing herself for a fool. It was not that Izuku was unworthy of them, they were unworthy of him. Especially her.

On the chair, Pony cried miserably into her hands, not even registering Kinoko wrapping her in a tearful hug. She was an idiot. She - she should have confessed to him when she had the chance! She had listened to Setsuna, who slyly mentioned what was going on with her, Yui and Izuku, and egged her into starting the relationship between her and Izuku in that sexual light. And now, this happened! If she had just waited, mustered up the courage to ask him out, go out on a few dates with him and show him exactly how she felt, he wouldn't have misinterpreted her actions. He - he might've actually not thought that they hated him! How could he think that?! How couldn't he know they all absolutely adored him?! If she just told him that she felt that way for him, he might've been able to convince himself that every girl in this house loved him! This - this was all her fault, she sobbed, moving her hands to wrap around her roommate and cry into her shoulder. Completely and utterly her fault.

Slightly above her, Kinoko wasn't much better, trying to suppress her own shudders as she comforted Pony. She was a dumbass. An utter dumbass. She thought that comforting Izuku would just mean getting him back to pleasure town and making sure he felt liked, but obviously it was something much deeper. She and Reiko - they loved each other, they were unsatisfied with their sex life, and what did they do? Drag in a guy with the sole purpose of making him pleasure them. And then they had the audacity to be surprised that he felt insulted and left them?! Was she a dumbass or what?! Kinoko tried hard to fight down her own little sobs as she ran a hand through Pony's hair, feeling lower than she ever had.

Standing above them, Yui continued vacantly staring out the door where Izuku left, blinking slowly. On the outside, she seemed the calmest of the five gathered inside the house. But on the inside? She felt like she was being torn in two. She ... she was a bitch. A petty, spiteful bitch. She saw Izuku as someone to have sex with, a sexy guy she could have fun with at all hours, and what did she do? She took the guy who seemed so kind, so gentle, and flat out told him she wasn't interested in a relationship with him. And when he started having sex with others, she got competitive! What the fuck was wrong with her?! Itsuka had been right, and she shoved her best friend's opinions to the side and insulted her out of pettiness! Yui took a shuddering breath, and felt like an utter piece of shit.

Sitting on the couch, Setsuna's breaths came out jittery and shallow, trying to take control of her heart hammering in her chest as tears gathered in her eyes. She ... she was a jackass. A stupid, idiotic jackass. She wanted to tell everyone to stop crying, to let her go find Parsley, so that she could apologize. Because this was all her fault. All of it. She pushed herself on him - although he consented, she took it way too far. Then she tried to set him up with everyone in the house with the sole reason of it being fun to do. She ignored Itsuka's warnings about how this could backfire, only thinking of how much fun Izuku would be once he got confidence - and she ended up crushing him, she realized as Izuku's accusing words echoed again and again in her head. She literally treated him like a portable sex doll to be shared, and didn't even consider his feelings in the matter - until he inevitably exploded. As she sat on the couch, trying to control her breathing and calm down, she took another shuddering breath - knowing that it was her that ruined everything, and she couldn't see how this would fix itself.

All of the girls, for the same reasons, couldn't help but shoulder the guilt that was dropped unexpectedly on them by Izuku. As Itsuka and Reiko ran crying through the rain looking for him, Yui and Setsuna feeling guilt choking them where they were, Kinoko and Pony sobbing together, and Ibara feeling shame overwhelming her, they all knew that unless this was fixed soon, they were never going to be able to look Izuku in the eye again. That is, if he even wanted anything to do with them anymore.

As Itsuka ran through the rain towards the campus, she felt a range of emotions course through her. Guilt for how she had treated Izuku, frustrations from dealing with Yui and Setsuna. But as she ran through the forest, her gaze whipping back and forth desperately, one emotion won out - anger. Anger at Yui and Setsuna taking this too far, the other girls for jumping in this without second thought, for them escalating this to the point they started arguing amongst themselves, even Izuku for running out in the middle of a goddamn thunderstorm. And most of all at herself for being an idiot for not seeing this coming a mile away. It was a shame that she didn't have her punching bag anymore - she really needed to hit something, and hit it hard.


All the way across the campus, Izuku was still crying as he ran through the rain.

He knew that he had long lost his roommates the moment he had ran out the door, using Full Cowling to sprint across the campus so they wouldn't be able to find him. Once he was away from the forest, he felt the strength in his quirk fade away, and he was reduced to running at his normal pace, shuddering at the cold feeling of his bare feet on the wet grass, the heavy rain pouring down on him like a shower. But he ignored them as he continued to run, his breath coming out in rasping gasps as his tears mixed with the rain.

He ... oh, god, he ruined everything. He managed to scream out everything he wanted, he wanted to take pleasure in making them realize what they were doing - he wanted to prove to himself that his fears were justified, that they genuinely were using him and not caring about the consequences. But then ... when he looked up and saw the heartbreak on their faces ... now Izuku had absolutely no idea what to do. Should he return? Should he apologize? He really wanted to apologize, to beg for their forgiveness ...

... but an angrier, uglier part of him didn't want to. It told him that he was right, that he should've shouted at them like that, that he should have accused them of being jerks right from the start. And now, the part of him that wanted to apologize and make things go back to the way they were, and the part of him that was satisfied with the looks of horror on their faces, were locked in combat, making him run crying through the rain. He didn't know if he wanted to continue running forever, wallowing in his misery, or throw a One for All punch at the sky and get rid of this downpour.

There was no way he could go back there, Izuku thought in despair - after making them look like they were on the verge of tears, he knew there was no way they would ever forgive him, would never want to spend any time with him, wouldn't even want to look his way. God, where was he supposed to sleep tonight? Should he go to his old dormitories with Iida and Todoroki? Iida would probably lecture him for what he did, but it was better than going back and facing them. Better than wallowing in the guilt he was -

All of a sudden, without any warning, Izuku was aware of two sensations.

One was a hand suddenly grabbing the back of his neck, squeezing.

The second was the sensation of his gravity suddenly disappearing.

"GUNHEAD MARTIAL ARTS!"

With a yelp of surprise, Izuku was thrown over someone's head, judo flipped and landing hard on the ground face down, grunting as his face met mud and grass. Someone straddled him from above, keeping him down, but the hand that was on his neck left, and he heard someone mutter something. All of a sudden, his gravity was restored, his weight dropping into the wet ground, and Izuku took a few seconds to pant, trying to catch his breath, and craned his neck to look around at Ochako on top of him, her hair plastered to her face as she panted a bit as well.

"Sorry, Deku," she apologized sincerely, "but I've been chasing you for ten minutes and that was the only way to make you stop running."

"Ur-Uraraka?"

"Whew, you guys run fast, I was floating and I couldn't keep up!" Izuku looked around at the voice approaching them to see Nejire flying towards them, her feet off the ground and an umbrella in the air to prevent the heavy thunderstorm from raining down on her as well. She was wearing a flowery dress with flowers embodied on it, with her large blue hair tied up in a bun. Ochako, meanwhile, was wearing her own pink dress, though thanks to presumably chasing Izuku all over the campus, it was wet and clinging to her body. Thankfully it looked like she had a t-shirt underneath, so Izuku didn't have to look away at the risk of seeing anything.

"Deku, what are you doing?" Ochako asked, finally getting up after pinning him down, and glanced at his hand, her eyes going wide. "What happened to your hand?!"

"I ..." Izuku tried to answer, but found his answer caught on his throat, feeling it choking him. He still felt some tears prickling in his eyes, mixing with the rainwater. Ochako thankfully caught the look of pain on his face, and quickly moved to kneel beside him, trying to help him up. That's when she looked closer at his hand, and her eyes widened.

"Deku, seriously, what happened to your hand? It's got - why are their chips of wood there?"

"I ..." Izuku tried again, but still choked on his tears, briefly ducking his head back down trying to control his breathing. Nejire looked concerned and brought a second umbrella, presumably Ochako's, over their heads, letting Ochako take him gently by the shoulders and lift him slightly.

"C'mon, Deku, let's go sit on that bench," Ochako gestured with her head, lightly using her quirk on him again, "Nejire's got some tweezers in her purse, we can help you out."

As gently as she could, Ochako walked over to sit Izuku on the wet bench, not really minding if he got even more wet than usual - he and she were already soaked to the bone, it didn't really matter. Sitting down, Nejire was sure to move the umbrellas so that the three of them could sit side by side, Izuku in the middle in case they needed to comfort him. Ochako took the pair of tweezers from her girlfriend, and gently took Izuku's bloody hand in hers, moving to get the bigger chunks of wood out of his hand, being careful not to pull too roughly. They stayed quiet for a few minutes, letting Izuku cry softly (and they both knew it wasn't from the pain), and Ochako let him gather his thoughts while working on his hand, carefully taking out the big chunks from his hand. Thankfully, they weren't very deep, meaning that this didn't require a trip to Recovery Girl, just needing something to wrap it up with to stop the bleeding.

Once all of the bigger chunks were out, Ochako worked on the smaller twigs, thankfully pulling them out pretty easily. While she worked, she squeezed his wrist lightly, giving him some comfort. Nejire, beside her, had taken his other hand in hers, also squeezing while Ochako worked. Once all of the pieces were out, Ochako grimaced, but shook her head and tore a bit out of her pink dress, ripping it up.

"Better than leaving this to bleed," she muttered to herself, justifying ruining her best dress, and quickly began wrapping Izuku's bloodied hand, to stop more of the red from coming out. Once she was sure it was tied up and secure, she finally let go of Izuku's hand to look up into his face, seeing that he was still subtly crying, although he seemed to have mostly calmed down, his face a mixture of emotions she couldn't guess. Nejire, who was also peeking up into his face, shared an unsure glance with her girlfriend.

"Deku," Ochako took a small sigh, "you don't have to talk about this with me if you don't want to, it's up to you, but - but obviously, something happened. If you -"

"I messed up."

Ochako stuttered to a stop, looking over at her best friend as he stared at his knees. His eyes were still leaking some tears, and his one good hand that hadn't been messed up was grabbing his pants leg, squeezing tightly. Nejire shared another glance at Ochako, her eyebrow raised, before Ochako spoke up.

"Er - Deku, what do you ...?"

"I thought they hated me," Izuku muttered, staring at the ground, talking as though they weren't even there. "I knew they hated me. They were only using me, just to get off or to rub it in each others' faces. I had - I thought that they didn't really care about me as a person. They only used me as someone to get their kicks off."

"... Deku, are you talking about the 1B girls?"

Izuku let out another tense breath at that, but he slowly nodded. Ochako pursed her lips worriedly, and then said, "Deku, can you tell me what happened? Please?"

"... I messed up." Izuku shuddered. "I ... I thought they all hated me. Secretly. They - all they did with me was have sex and compete with each other. Monoma told me that they talked behind my back at school. Kendou ... she hates me for doing that with them, and - and Shiozaki - she hates me too - and then -" he took another shuddering breath, trying to control his breathing, "- and then - and then Tokage started talking about a schedule, about booking me out - and they started arguing - and I - I snapped."

Ochako and Nejire shared another glance, worry starting to build. Ochako, hearing what Setsuna had been planning to do, was also trying to fight down the urge to jump up, jog right to the girls' house, and drag all the girls in the house out in the rain to demonstrate some martial arts on them - or just cut to the chase and throw the entire house into the sun. But that maybe wouldn't really make Izuku feel better - it would probably make him feel worse.

"I - I screamed at them. I told them that I - that I knew everything. How much they hated me, how they're using me. I asked if everything was a lie. I - I thought that if I did that, I'd finally feel better. That I'd feel validated, that they would finally stop faking it around me, that I'd - I'd finally feel better. But ..." Izuku couldn't suppress another sob, curling into himself, "... but I - all I did was made them cry. I was - I was wrong."

"Deku ..."

"Midoriya ..."

"I - how was I so stupid?" Izuku whispered, pressing a hand to his face, "I believed Monoma, I thought that they hated me - but - but the worst part - the worst part is I hate that I don't think I was wrong. I shouted at them, and told them that they didn't care about me, and I think that I'm right. I want to go back to them and apologize to them, beg for their forgiveness, but I also want them to apologize to me. I - I want to be right that they hate me, so I can feel validated. Is -" Izuku couldn't help but burst back into tears, holding his face in his hands, "- is that wrong of me?"

The girls once again shared another glance, worry filling them up, before Ochako carefully wrapped her arms around Izuku, bringing him a bit closer. He gulped down another sob and slowly put his head down on his best friend's shoulders, Nejire reaching over to rub a hand through his hair. For a few minutes, they let Izuku cry silently, comforting him as best they could. Finally, Ochako spoke up, her voice low to give Izuku the little comfort she could.

"I ... I don't think you're wrong in wanting an apology," she confessed, pursing her lips slightly, "it sounds like - it sounds like they've treated you awfully. I'd - I think I'd beat the hell out of them if they did to me what they did to you." She paused at that, and added, "Honestly, I'm kinda tempted to beat the crap out of them anyway."

Izuku chuckled weakly at that, while Ochako smiled softly.

"But ... but I also think that this could just get resolved if you guys just sat down and talked. It - it kinda sounds like a lot of miscommunication between you guys - like they haven't been honest with you, or you don't know the full story. Maybe they have been using you like that, but maybe they haven't. I can't - I don't know. I don't - I don't think that they actually hate you," Ochako ran a hand through his wet hair, frowning, "I think it's impossible for anyone to really hate you - if, y'know, you aren't Bakugou or a villain."

Izuku let out a small exhale at little crack, smiling reluctantly, but he still felt conflicted. "But - but what should I do? I - I do wanna apologize, but I also think I'm right. What if I apologize and it's back to how it was? With them using me? I don't - I don't want this to continue, I don't wanna be hurt like this again. If - if it was they were sleeping with me because they liked me, that would be better, but - but if I let this go and apologize, would they even want to be with me? I - I can't do this again."

"Deku," Ochako said kindly, smiling at him, "do you know whenever we have those surprise quizes Aizawa gives us, how there's multiple choice answers?" When Izuku nodded, she continued, "It's either option A, option B, or all of the above. Usually it's A or B, right?"

"Er - yeah?"

"Well, Deku ... sometimes it's all of the above."

"Eh?"

"I'm saying," Ochako explained patiently, letting him look up at her confused, "that there's nothing wrong with apologizing and wanting an apology. You can apologize for yelling at them ... but you should also explain why you yelled at them. You should tell them you're sorry and make sure that they know why what you did to them is wrong. Just ... be sure that when you apologize, you make sure they know how you feel, about being used by them, and make sure that they know not to do it again."

"Apologize ... and ask for an apology?"

"Yep! Well, I'd say demand an apology, but I know you. You're way too nice to demand anything."

"I ... I'm not sure if I can ask for that."

"I'm sure you can!" Nejire interrupted, making Izuku jump slightly and turn around - if it weren't for her hand in his hair, he almost forgot she was there. "Like, there was a time Mirio and Tamaki started dating, and I kinda got left out of everything - I ended up getting really jealous and lonely, cause that was before I started dating Ochako, and I ended up getting sooooo frustrated I ended up yelling at them! Like - looking back at it, I shouldn't have gotten so angry! They were dating, and totes in love! It's obvious they didn't need me as a third wheel. But I kept it in so much, and got excluded from everything, so I couldn't hold it in anymore!"

Izuku nodded slowly, listening to her little story - it did sound like she knew what she was talking about, and how she related. Meanwhile, Ochako checked over her shoulder, thinking that she saw something in the distance, but ignored it and turned her attention back to her girlfriend.

"I ended up shouting at them and I stormed off! Looking back, I was kinda acting like a drama queen, but I couldn't help myself! I ended up floating above the campus for an hour, I was so angry! Mirio ended up having to bring me down, and you know what I did? I realized how immature I was being and apologized. But they apologized too! They didn't realize what they were doing, and only realized it when I brought it up." Nejire pouted some, looking saddened. "I'm still kinda mad at myself for yelling at them, but if I hadn't, we might've drifted apart forever! We all accepted that we were wrong, we shouldn't have let it go so far, but we should've acknowledged something was wrong, and after that, our friendship got a lot stronger! So maybe ... maybe you can do the same thing. Apologize to them but make them know how much you were hurt."

"I ..." Izuku sighed, glancing at the rain falling around them, thinking about it for a bit. Apologize ... but ask for an apology. He was half tempted to throw that idea away, thinking it would be more appropriate to ask them for forgiveness, to make sure they were okay ... but ... but he knew that if he didn't bring this up, tell them more about how he felt, it would either repeat or the distance between them would just get worse. The conversation would probably be ugly, not at all pleasant ... but maybe it was needed. Although, while he did make his decision about it, there was something he still needed to address. He wasn't feeling very sad anymore ... but there was another strong, ugly emotion he had to deal with.

"... okay," Izuku sighed, rubbing a hand against his face. "I'll ... I'll talk to them. And I'll ... I'll ask for an apology."

"Great!" Nejire cheered, pumping her hand in the air and accidentally hitting the umbrella. "Are you feeling a bit better?"

"... I'll be honest, no."

"Huh?" Nejire pouted again, like she was upset that he wasn't magically better. "You're still sad?"

"Er - no, not exactly sad, it's just ..." Izuku sighed, pouting and leaning forward. Ochako, on the other hand, had glanced behind them again, and her eyes widened as she saw someone running along, looking around, and catching sight of them. "... I just ... I'm going to be honest, I'm still upset. Like - like they just talked about me like I wasn't there, like my opinion didn't matter. I feel ... I hate feeling like this, but I honestly just feel so angry now. It wasn't that bad while we were talking, but now - honestly, I kinda want to punch something."

"Eeeh? Punch something?" Nejire pondered to herself, thinking while Ochako paled, seeing the person walk slowly over to them, trying to catch her breath. "Want me to call Mirio? He'd probably let you fight him!"

"No, no, I don't want to bother him," Izuku sighed, biting his lip. "Plus I can always just find someplace to practice my kicks, that'd help." He couldn't help but chuckle a bit, "Unless you wanna fight, Uraraka? You're always up for a spar."

"Eh - I - I dunno. You're ... are you sure you're looking for a fight?" Ochako said weakly, looking above him.

"Er - maybe," Izuku sighed, rubbing a hand against his face. "I - I think it would help to get my all my anger out before I go back. I'm afraid I'm going to explode on them again if I go back, I should probably find an outlet before I go. Er, Ochako, normally I'd ask to spar for a bit, just to get it out of my system, but ... yeah, no, you can't, you're in a dress. Wait, oh, crap, you ruined your dress for me! I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, the dress isn't important," Ochako cleared her throat, making Nejire look around and let out a small gasp, unable to stop herself from giggling nervously, "but I think you've already got a sparring partner."

Izuku blinked in confusion, not sure what that meant, and then his eyes widened as he heard footsteps behind them on the wet grass. He was suddenly aware that the three of them weren't alone anymore. Izuku looked around on the bench, and gulped when he saw Itsuka staring down at him, her expression unreadable, but Izuku could tell her face wasn't wet from just the rain. She was wearing a black coat with the hood up, and her fists were clearly clenched, glaring down at Izuku like Nejire and Ochako weren't even there.

"Er -" Ochako stood up with Nejire, deciding to leave the one umbrella there, quickly sliding up to her girlfriend, "Deku, when you're done, can you text me? Just so I know you're okay."

"I ... yeah." Izuku sighed, standing up. He didn't bother taking the umbrella with him, instead opting to go back under the rain. Something told him he wasn't going to be dry for a bit.

Ochako and Nejire were quick to walk away, the brunette glancing behind her shoulder at them. She wasn't worried they'd kill each other, but she still thought it be better they didn't have an audience for this - she had a feeling Itsuka had a lot to say to him, and she didn't want to be caught in the middle of whatever that was. Plus, she was worried if she stayed there, she'd be tempted to join in - while there weren't any names thrown around while talking to Izuku, it definitely sounded like Izuku had beef with all of them, and she might be tempted to throw her own hat in the ring out of loyalty. At least she wasn't worried about losing her best friend to Itsuka - the look on the girl's face, while looking down angrily and sadly at her friend, had something else on her face that definitely didn't look platonic.

"C'mon, Ochako," Nejire said in a singsong voice, walking away with her girlfriend and trying to get her mind away from what was about to happen behind them, "you're looking pretty hot with your dress ripped, I wanna take a closer look!"

"Nejire!"

Once the two lovebirds walked away, Izuku and Itsuka were left staring at each other, the rain belting down on their heads while thunder rolled in the distance. Before Izuku could say anything, Itsuka sighed and raised her phone to her ear, dialing a number quickly. Once it connected, she spoke without exchanging any pleasantries.

"Reiko, I found him. No, you don't have to come, I'll bring him back. Just ... go back home, and tell them it's okay. We'll be back in a bit."

She disconnected from the call, putting it back in her pocket safely. When she looked up, she saw Izuku staring at her, looking at her with guilt, and a bit of wariness in his eyes, but she quickly shot down the feeling of hurt seeing that, and shook her head.

"You ... you said you needed to find an outlet before you talked to us? That's what I heard, right?"

"I ... yeah."

"Okay," Itsuka nodded slowly, and zipped down her jacket, preparing to take it off, "if you don't mind ... I really need an outlet, too. I'm afraid if I go back I'm going to attack them or you. So better to get it out right now."

"Uh ... are you sure?"

"I'm - I'm not going to lie, Midoriya, I'm kinda pissed at you," Itsuka confessed bluntly, and Izuku blinked. "I know it's not fair, that I don't have any right to be angry at you ... but ... but you scared the shit out of me right now, running away. I thought - Jesus, I thought you were gonna run out of the campus, run and do something awful to yourself, and that frightened me. But - but honestly, I just need to punch something. What you said to all of us ... you did - a lot of the stuff you said was right, but honestly I'd be a real pushover if I just let go of some of what you said that pissed me off. This whole - this whole sex thing has done nothing but give me headaches and pain. And - I'm not going to lie to you." Itsuka gave him a small glare as she flipped her hood off, letting her orange hair get soaked by the rain, "I think I need to do this before we go back. I've got to stop feeling this angry before I take it out on the other girls ... and don't think I don't see that look in your eyes. I think you need to take some stuff out on me."

Izuku stared at her for a few seconds, taken aback, before he felt his lips purse. Thinking about it ... it did make sense. While he was thinking more along the lines of a punching bag earlier, only joking about fighting Ochako, the way Itsuka was glaring at him, that anger in her eyes and the small pout on her face, was filling him with the anger he was feeling back at the house. He remembered how he asked her for advice about what to do with Reiko and Kinoko, and the way she had just brushed him off, convinced he would go through with it anyway. She had been right ... but not for the reason she thought. And - and some of the stuff he said made her angry? What? The stuff about her hating him? It definitely felt like she was hating him right now, and that made him grit his teeth. The image of her thinking he was scum filled him with righteous fury, and he nodded, now more than willing to fight her.

"Okay. I guess that works fine. No quirks?"

"No quirks." Itsuka nodded, narrowing her eyes, throwing the coat on the bench and stepping back, stretching. Izuku gulped when he saw the wet red t-shirt start to cling to her, and Itsuka glanced down, realizing that it would be very easy to chafe wearing this. She let out a small sigh, and glanced back up at Izuku, her cheeks going a bit red.

"Er - do you mind if I take this off, too? I'm wearing a training bra, if that makes you feel any better."

"Uh - yeah, yeah that's okay," Izuku nodded, feeling his own cheeks start to burn. "Actually, I should take off my shirt too, I feel it clinging to me."

"God, we're going to get so sick," she grumbled, but both of them pulled their t-shirts off, throwing them onto the bench. They turned to glance at each other, and gulped. Itsuka couldn't help but scan his chest and abs, pouting at his unfair hotness. Izuku, meanwhile, gulped when he scanned the stomach he had kissed a few nights ago, and her breasts pushing against the wet training bra - holy crap, they were much bigger than he thought they would be -

Izuku quickly slapped himself with his good hand, realizing that he had been caught staring when Itsuka's eyebrow raised, but she let it go, knowing that he really couldn't control it. Itsuka let out another sigh, shaking her wet hair out of her face, hopping up and down before getting into a fighting stance, her hands raised and her feet parted. She remembered all of the anger she had been feeling towards Yui and Setsuna, her frustrations with Izuku, and got ready to channel those feelings out through this.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, going into his own fighting position, getting over his brief fluster and remembering his anger, glaring up at her and feeling some of the anger left over from yelling at the girls flare up, "just go easy on my busted hand, okay?"

"Fine," Itsuka nodded, and without waiting for him to give the go ahead leapt forward at once, raising her leg in a bicycle kick and bringing it down hard on Izuku's head. He blocked it with his good arm, throwing her off balance, and aimed his own kick at her head as she stumbled. She luckily ducked underneath it, and brought her other arm over to punch Izuku directly in the side. The boy let out a small wheeze as he backed up - holy fuck, could she hit hard - but Itsuka let out a small yell as she didn't give up on the assault, stepping forward and starting to hit him in the back and chest, kicking out and hitting him in the side of his knee.

Izuku luckily recovered from the initial hit in the side, and kicked out at Itsuka, catching her straight in the stomach. Itsuka gasped out in pain, backing up and wheezing, but now it was Izuku's turn to assault her in punches, raising his good hand to strike her directly in the face. She backed up some, a bit taken aback by his fist hitting her straight in the cheek and throwing her off, but gritted her teeth and went back on the offensive, knowing that she'd been hit much harder than that. Both of them weren't looking at each other as friends, or roommates - more of an opportunity to air out their grievances with each other. Itsuka with all the anger about this situation, Izuku with his own frustration that it went so far he had to beat up his roommate in the middle of a goddamn thunderstorm.

As Izuku threw another punch, she grabbed his arm and for the second time that day, he was quickly judo flipped over her shoulder, his back hitting the ground hard and making him lose his breath. Itsuka was quick to throw a leg around him, straddling him on the wet and muddy ground. She raised her fists and started hitting him in the chest and face, letting out some grunts of exertion and rage as she pummeled him.

He wasn't one to take this sitting, though, and blocked her fists with his arms, feeling the anger he felt back in the house return in full force and about to take it out on Itsuka. He grabbed her shoulders and threw her down to the ground now, making him straddle her. He hit her in the cheek, keeping his injured hand pinning her hand down so she couldn't block it. Itsuka grabbed the side of his face and slammed it down to hit the wet ground, spinning them around so that she could be on top of him again, letting out a few yells of anger as she pummeled him. Their skills as fighters and martial artists, Izuku's kicks and Itsuka's moves, were quickly thrown away in favor of just beating the crap out of each other on the ground, and now Itsuka couldn't help but let her anger loose.

"Why did you run away?!" She shouted at him as she continued hitting him, "Why did you worry the shit out of us?! I thought something was going to happen to you, I chased you for half a goddamn hour!"

"I couldn't stay there!" Izuku yelled back, bringing his fist to punch her directly in the chest, making her gasp in pain, and used that moment of distraction to pull her off of him, slamming her against the ground. "I screamed at you guys, I told you fucking everything, I couldn't just sit there and let you guys get angry at me!"

"Angry?! You think you made us angry?!"

"You look pretty angry right now!"

"Because I am!" Itsuka grabbed Izuku's head and brought it down, and he let out a gasp of pain as her forehead slammed into his nose, feeling some blood escaping it. While he reeled from the headbutt, she threw him down against the ground once again, and straddled him, but instead of continuing to punch him, she pinned his hands to the muddy grass and screamed at him. "I feel like absolute shit! You've been suffering this whole time and I thought you were just enjoying the attention! I'm pissed at myself! Why the hell didn't you say anything to me?!"

"Because I thought you didn't care! I didn't want to inconvenience you!"

"Are you a fucking idiot?! Of course I fucking care! Don't you remember what I said when you moved in?! I said if you needed anything, you just text me, or let me know! I'd have listened! I always listen! But instead you kept it all in until it exploded, and now look at where we are! You think I wanted to fight you in the middle of a fucking thunderstorm?!"

"Don't be so full of shit!" Izuku felt all his anger explode out of him as he finally shouted loudly just like back in the house, but instead it was Itsuka who he could channel all of his anger out of, glaring up at her. "I came to you, I asked you what to do with Reiko and Kinoko! And you brushed me off! You don't have to hide behind the 'big sister' mask, I know! You're disgusted by me!"

"Disgusted -?! Get your head out of your ass!" Itsuka screamed at him, feeling tears of frustration start to mix with the rainwater. "I care about you! I really fucking care about you! Don't you think I feel like a gigantic piece of garbage right now?! You were suffering, you thought we all hated you, and you were so wrong! You really think I would show you my bike, the thing I loved working on, offering you the first ride, if I fucking hated you?! Really?! And I had to find out about it when you couldn't hold it in anymore?! Don't you think I hate this?! That we had to have this conversation after I fucking beat the shit out of you?! In the middle of a fucking downpour?!"

"Fucking - yeah, we did! Because you wouldn't listen anyway!"

"Well, I'm listening now!"

"Fine!"

"Okay then!"

"Then why the hell are we still yelling at each other?!"

"I don't know!"

Izuku and Itsuka panted, glaring at each other as they desperately tried to catch their breaths, feeling rain clinging to them as thunder rolled above them. Izuku finally managed to steady his breathing, about to use his body weight to throw Itsuka off him and continue the fight, hoping that he would be able to throw her around some without the use of his quirks, but then ...

... but then Itsuka let out a sob. Izuku felt the remaining anger within him evaporate as her face broke, and she began wailing loudly, bringing a bruised hand up to cover her mouth, her eyes screaming the remorse and guilt she was feeling now as she looked down at him. Izuku stared in shock for a few seconds, then felt tears start to well in his own eyes again, and he couldn't help but begin to cry, the weight of everything that had happened within the last hour falling on him. Itsuka let out another loud sob, and threw herself down on top of him, wrapping her arms around him as best she could, so she could cry against his shoulder, her wet hair clinging to him as he wrapped his own arms around her and sat up, needing some comfort.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear, her breath coming out in shuddering breaths, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for ... for everything."

"I'm ..." Izuku managed to gasp out, rubbing a hand through her wet hair. "I'm sorry too."

"Don't," she shook her head, holding him tighter, "you have nothing to apologize for. This ... this is all my fault. I let this happen. I didn't put my foot down earlier. You didn't trust me enough to tell me anything, and I have no one to blame but myself."

"I should have, though," Izuku insisted, "I should've told you everything I was feeling."

For a few more minutes, they held on tightly while they cried, evidently needing the physical comfort and the way they were pressed up together, holding each other like they were lifelines. After another few squeezes, and hands rubbing through each other's hair, they both felt their tears start to slow, trying to catch their breaths. Itsuka was sure to give him another tight hug before finally moving away, sitting back on his thighs as she wiped some of the water from her face, glancing down at Izuku. And then she winced when she realized what she did.

"Oh, god, I headbutted you," she couldn't help but chuckle a bit, raising her fingers to wipe at some of the blood. "I didn't break your nose, did I?"

"N-no, I don't think so," Izuku chuckled, raising his own hand to nervously poke at his nose, feeling a bit sore but not broken. "Er - it was a good headbutt. Actually, that was a good fight. A - a really good fight. I - I don't think we've fought before, have we?"

"No," Itsuka shook her head, smiling softly. "Not even in class. We should do it again some time. Without, y'know, the emotional turmoil."

"Maybe," Izuku chuckled, wincing when he saw some blood from a cut on her lip, opened presumably during one of his punches, and he raised his own hand to wipe it away. For a second, they inspected each other's injuries, grimacing at the shiner on Izuku's eye and the bruise swelling on Itsuka's cheek. As their eyes finally met, they felt themselves freeze up a bit when they realized how close their faces were, being practically nose-to-nose. That, and Itsuka was technically sitting on top of him. She was quick to jump off, standing up and shuddering from the sudden chill in the rain. Izuku also realized they were standing half-naked in the middle of a thunderstorm, and was quick to hop to his feet as well, walking over with a slight limp to the bench. Jeez, she really got him good with that kick to the leg at the start of their scuffle.

Once he reached the bench, he grabbed their shirts, wincing when he saw how soaked they were, and was about to turn to offer her her coat when she walked up and gave him another hug. Izuku froze somewhat, feeling her wet body pressed to his, but she ignored it, hugging him tighter.

"I meant what I said," she muttered, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I really am sorry. I should've paid more attention to how you felt. I thought you were just enjoying the attention, but I should've known better."

"I ... it's okay," Izuku mumbled back, wrapping his own arms around her waist. "I should've actually told you how I felt, instead of keeping it in. Maybe ... maybe we could've avoided this."

"Nah, I needed to kick the crap out of something," Itsuka chuckled, slightly nuzzling up to him and rubbing her cheek against his. At that thought, however, she felt her eyes widen, realizing something. "But ... but maybe I shouldn't have challenged you to a fight. God, what if you were still hurting and me fighting you made it worse? I'm sorry, I should've -"

"No," Izuku shook his head, holding her tighter. "I - I really did need this. I needed some kind of release. Thank you, Kendou."

Itsuka still frowned, but she pushed it aside to hold on to him tighter. "I - okay. I'm still going to feel bad about it."

He let out a small chuckle. "Okay. I'll feel bad for bruising your face."

She laughed. "Yes, you've forever marred my beautiful features."

"Sorry about that," he laughed, feeling his anger finally leaving him.

For about a minute, they stood and held each other, basking in the comfort they felt, until Itsuka sighed and let him go, standing back a bit. She smiled at his face, still feeling her eyes slightly sting.

"Okay," she breathed out, "are you ready to go back? We should talk. As a group."

"I'm ... not really ready," Izuku confessed, grimacing, "but I don't think I can put it off much longer. I - I really need to fix this."

"You don't have to fix anything," she reminded him, raising her hands to gently cup his cheeks, ignoring the redness that came to his cheeks and hers at the gesture, "it's us who have to fix it. Just ... just come with me, sit down, and tell us everything. Please don't hold anything back. We need to know exactly how much we've hurt you."

"I ... okay," Izuku nodded slowly. "I'll ... I'll explain everything."

She nodded at that answer, and after making sure he was ready, and her coat was completely zipped up to hide how she wasn't wearing a shirt, they set off back home, Itsuka cringing slightly looking down at Izuku's bare feet. They were definitely going to get sick, especially since they were rolling around fighting in the rain, but ... for some reason, Itsuka couldn't care less. She glanced up at Izuku's face, still looking a bit tired but more determined to go fix things up with the rest of the girls, and she consciously had to fight down a warm feeling floating in her stomach.

It was ... uncomfortable, this feeling in her stomach ...

... but it was a nice uncomfortableness.