The door opened with a jerk, causing the girls inside to jump. They were all seated in the living room, trying their best to calm down their emotions by wiping the tears off their faces with the various Kleenex laying around. Setsuna had calmed down from her panic attack, and was now huddled on the corner of the couch, not meeting anyone's gaze as she stewed in her thoughts. Yui had sat down not too long ago, her face blank but not speaking to anyone. Pony and Kinoko were sitting side-by-side in the chair, Pony cuddling up to her friend for comfort while the mushroom girl sniffed. Ibara's vines were spread out throughout the room, wrapped around everyone and giving small squeezes for comfort whenever someone started crying a bit louder than usual.
As Reiko walked into the room, however, the little silence broke, and Ibara jumped to her feet, worry crawling all over her. The other girls also whirled around, Setsuna and Yui paling as the ghost girl pulled off her coat, shaking some of the water off of her.
"Itsuka found him," she said before anyone could ask, "she says that she'll bring him back in a bit."
"Thank goodness," Ibara sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. "With the weather outside, I feared it would be hours before he was found."
"Yeah," Reiko nodded, shuffling softly over and rubbing a hand through Kinoko's hair, making her girlfriend sigh a bit from the feeling. "Did anyone call a teacher? Just in case we need to tell them to call off a search?"
"I was going to if you didn't find him after an hour," Ibara explained, holding up her phone, "but as for right now, you should go take a shower. Being in the rain so long, you might get sick."
"Yeah," Reiko sighed, shuffling towards the bathroom. "I'll be in and out. Can someone bring me some spare clothes?"
"I will, just hurry on in."
Reiko nodded again, and went off to shower. As she walked down the hall, Ibara stretched her vines up the stairs, to go grab her a pair of pajamas. Sighing, she sat down heavily on the couch, rubbing a hand against her face.
"At least she found him," she muttered to herself, "better than him wandering around in the cold for hours."
For a few minutes, everyone sat in silence, trying hard to calm down their emotions. Pony sniffled and wiped her face with a Kleenex, while Setsuna continued to stare at her feet. Finally, the shower turned off, and Reiko rejoined them, a towel around her shoulders, and she walked over to hug her girlfriend from behind, resting her chin against her hair and sighing.
"Any sign of them?" Reiko asked, and Ibara shook her head.
"No, not yet. Perhaps they're talking for a bit before they come back?"
"If he comes back," Kinoko muttered.
"We - we need to believe he will come back," Ibara tried to stay positive, shoving down her worried thoughts and guilt, "we all know Midoriya, he's - he wouldn't want to leave it like this, he'll want to talk to us."
"Why?" Yui spoke up for the first time in an hour, her voice low. "So he can tell us how much we screwed up again?"
"... are you saying we didn't?" Setsuna grumbled, her eyes still on the ground, but her voice sounded angry. "Because I sure as fuck did. God fucking damnit, I'm such a fucking idiot."
"Yeah," Yui huffed, looking away. "Doesn't mean I like hearing about it."
"Are you kidding me right now?" Setsuna whirled around, glaring a hole into her friend. "This is as much your fault as it is mine. You got all competitive and now look what happened."
"I wasn't the one telling everyone to go ahead and fuck the one guy in the house," Yui shot back, meeting her glare tit-for-tat. "I would've been more than comfortable if it was just the two of us that got together with him, but instead you had to drag everyone into this, and now look where we are."
"Oh, that's rich!" Setsuna laughed lowly, ignoring how the other girls' eyes widened in worry as she stood up. "You're the one saying that you didn't see him like that, how you didn't care if he slept around, being all high and mighty at Itsuka like you're literally flawless, but once he actually yelled at us you're suddenly the one not at fault? Shit, I admit that I'm the one who fucked up the most, I shouldn't have done any of that fucking shit, but here you are acting like this doesn't affect you at all! As expected from a -"
Yui shot up at that, her fists clenched, and Setsuna felt herself square up as Yui shot her with the coldest and angriest glare than any of them had ever seen.
"From a what?" She growled, taking an ominous step forward. "Say it. From a what?"
Both of them looked more than ready to throw down, but before either of them could, Ibara's vines shot out, wrapping around them and putting their fists down.
"Please, don't fight!" She begged, looking from each girl with tears in her eyes, "There's been enough fighting!"
Before either girl could retort, or Setsuna could disconnect her foot to throw at her roommate, the doorknob behind them turned. Everyone quickly looked around, hearts pounding, as Itsuka and Izuku stepped into the room, brushing rain from their hair, and glancing up and freezing at the sight of Ibara restraining Setsuna and Yui, with Kinoko being hugged by Reiko and Pony sitting in the chair.
"Both of you! You've -" Ibara then caught sight of their faces, and paled. "What on earth happened to you?!"
The girls looked a bit closer and cringed slightly. Both of them looked beaten to absolute hell, as though they had gotten into fistfights with villains. Itsuka's face was bruised, a noticeably purple one swelling on her cheek, and her lip was cut. The little of her chest showing under the coat (and they wondered why she had her shirt off) was also bruised, large enough to form a fist, which raised even further questions. Izuku, meanwhile, had blood on his lip from his nose, a shiner on his left eye, and walked with a noticeable limp. He was shirtless, but none of them could appreciate his muscles when they were littered with bruises, small cuts, and swells. Both of their fists were bruised, and mud and grass stuck to both of them. They looked like ...
"Were - were you two fighting?!" Ibara gasped, stepping forward to inspect their injuries in worry. Setsuna and Yui tried to approach, but both forgot they were wrapped up in Ibara's vines and tripped onto their faces. Pony shot up and ran over, looking up at Izuku's face in a mix of horror and worry. Reiko and Kinoko didn't move from their spot, watching Izuku with a look that combined worry, wariness and caution.
"We, uh ... had a few disagreements," Itsuka explained, raising a hand gently to rub at her cheek, wincing at the pain. "It's worse than it looks."
"Worse than it -?! You look like you were both mugged!" Ibara feted over them, trying hard not to stare too much at Izuku's chest. "I should wrap those injuries up, you both look -"
"Er ..." Ibara froze when Izuku spoke up, almost forgetting why he had left in the first place. All the girls' attentions were on him in an instant, looking up at his face with fear that he might explode again. Thankfully, none of that anger was on his face anymore, although there was a look that they could not describe, but filled them with sadness and regret. He looked awkward, as though he were uncomfortable being here, and that hurt them even more than if Izuku stormed in shouting again.
"I ... appreciate you wanting to take care of us, Shiozaki," Izuku didn't give her a smile like he normally would, but his eyes did soften somewhat, "but we should hit the shower as soon as we can. We were - kinda out there for a while."
"Those wounds should still be treated as soon as possible, though," Ibara bit her lip, glancing down.
"Tell you what," Itsuka suggested, gingerly walking over to the kitchen counter and pulling out the first aid kit, "Midoriya can go first in the shower, while Ibara helps me out. After he's out, I'll jump in, and then ..." she pursed her lips slightly, but still went on, "after that, we should all talk. As a group."
The assembled girls gulped at that, realizing exactly what the implications were for that. They stole another glance at Izuku, who had looked away, and was facing the opposite wall. Each of them felt a bit scared of what that conversation could entail, but none of them protested against it. Even Yui and Setsuna, who up until a few minutes ago were ready to tear into each other, knew that it would be useless to protest this. It was a conversation that was inevitable, and would only cause more hurt if put off.
"Okay," Izuku sighed, scratching at his back at the grass irritating his skin, "are you sure I can go first, Kendou? You -"
"Midoriya, you've been out there for at least an hour," Itsuka sighed, shaking her head, "plus I at least had a coat. You were out in a t-shirt and pants. Go take the first shower before I drag you in."
"Don't talk like you won the fight."
"Oh, buddy, I kicked your ass."
Izuku couldn't help but let out a small huff of amusement, but didn't argue any further and made his way to the shower, being sure to avoid the gaze of each girl who was looking at him. While he was walking back to the house with Itsuka in silence, Izuku couldn't deny a pit of worry that was building in his stomach at the thought of seeing them. He had been worried that he would enter and see them shouting at each other or him, even though Itsuka had assured him that nothing like that would happen. But that was now the least of Izuku's problems, as he entered the bathroom and turned on the light, sighing as he reached to finally remove the wet clothes from his body.
In the kitchen, Itsuka pulled up a chair from the wrecked table, sitting down heavily with a sigh, and let Ibara inspect her face, about to apply some alcohol. As Ibara dipped a cotton swab into the alcohol, Pony approached Itsuka on timid feet, already feeling like she was going to cry.
"Is he - is he still angry with us?" she asked in a hushed voice, accidentally slipping into English for a second there. "I - I don't want to make him any angrier."
Itsuka noticed that all the girls were listening carefully, including Setsuna and Yui as they managed to get out of Ibara's vines. Kinoko had turned to look at her, her lip wobbling, and the class representative let out a sigh.
"I'm ... not really sure," she admitted. "I thought we had cleared up a lot of it when we fought - we pretty much took our anger out on each other - but now that he's back, he might still be a bit angry." She let out a soft sigh, wincing as Ibara applied the alcohol to her lip. "Let's just ... I can't guarantee that he won't start yelling again, but we need to listen. We ignored his feelings for a long time, and it got so bad he ran out. It's important that we listen to what he has to say, and it's important that we don't hide anything from him anymore. We all need to be upfront with him. Just ... don't expect him to forgive us. God knows he doesn't have to."
The other girls didn't look like they liked that answer, but didn't argue or complain; they knew that they had made this bed, and needed to lie in it. Pony bit her lip, trying to wipe any fresh tears out of her eyes, and went upstairs to get dry clothes for both Itsuka and Izuku. She also planned to stop by her room, planning to grab the letter she had worked on last night with Ibara. Setsuna let out a small sigh, and sat back down on the couch, not meeting anyone's gaze. Yui did the same, sitting one seat over from her, not bothering to continue their argument as both girls stewed in their own thoughts. Kinoko and Reiko let out small sighs, and Reiko maneuvered the both of them to sit on the couch and hold each other, Reiko already feeling how anxious Kinoko must be for the upcoming conversation. Itsuka herself pouted slightly, but turned her attention back to Ibara as she tended to her wounds, not bothering to put on bandages yet so she could hop into the shower after Izuku was done.
Speaking of Izuku, he turned on the shower closet to the door and let it heat up, soon stepping in and sighing in relief. The warm water was heaven on his bruises, although they could not stop the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. He grimaced to himself and closed his eyes, letting himself soak in the water for a few minutes while thinking to himself.
The moment he had walked into the house, he had seen the miserable looks on all the girls' faces, and his heart ached for them. As angry as he wanted to be at them, as much as he wanted to shout and scream at them, he couldn't deny how much he wanted to apologize for yelling at them, begging for forgiveness, and wanting to go back to the status quo. He would be fine if they brushed it under the rug and went back to how it was, everyone being happy and joyful ...
... but. But if he did that, the rational part of his brain argued, then everything might go back to how it was. Them using him as nothing more than walking and talking entertainment, thinking how easy it would be to just use him and discard him since he was so forgiving. Izuku frowned and put his forehead against the wall, trying hard to think. Either forgive them and sweep everything under the rug, or continue onwards and crush them more. He had no doubt in his mind, from the panicked looks on their faces when he walked in, if he continued hammering at them with accusing words and anger, there would be more pain and sobbing. And he didn't know if he could live with making them sadder. Even Ochako's advise to apologize and ask for an apology really didn't help here, only adding on to the conflict happening in his mind.
Forgive and forget ... or make things worse?
"Are you braindead?! Of course make things worse!" In Izuku's mind, an imaginary Kacchan appeared on his left, with devil horns and wings while holding a pitchfork in his hands, growling at Izuku. "Those broads broke your heart, stomped on it, and were surprised when you actually fought back?! Sweet Jesus, Deku, grow a fucking backbone and make them regret treating you like shit!"
"But that would only make things worse!" On his right, an imaginary Ochako appeared, with a halo and angel wings. "You saw how sad they were when you left, and then came back. You can ask for an apology, but you should forgive them! You know that they're not bad people, they just got carried away!"
"Oh my god, round cheeks, get your head outta your ass!" Devil Kacchan growled. "He forgives them, they'll just do the same thing again! Use him like he's some disposable sexdoll - he's useless enough already."
"Don't call him names!" Angel Ochako shouted, glowering at him. "Besides, there's more likely a chance that they'll change - they weren't aware of how much he was hurting, don't you remember how shocked they looked when he finally yelled at them?! They just didn't know! Don't you realize how much worse it would be if he didn't forgive them?"
"Oh, yeah, that's like Deku - let people walk all over him!" Devil Kacchan sneered. "Listen, Deku, don't even bother hearing the bitches out - just tell them that they're garbage and leave! If they wanna fix things they'd have to come to your stupid ass and beg!"
"Don't call them bitches!" A vein appeared in Angel Ochako's forehead, glaring hard at Devil Kacchan. "Besides, all that would do is make things worse! They need to sit down and calmly discuss what's going to happen going forward!"
"Of course shitty Deku would wanna talk it out - that's the reason none of those girls actually want you besides sex!"
"That does it!" Angel Ochako shouted, her patience finally breaking, and tacked Devil Kacchan in a football tackle, fists flying. Izuku imagined them rolling around in a dust cloud, fists being thrown, Devil Kacchan yelling nonsense and Angel Ochako yelling back in increasingly profane manner. As funny as it would be to imagine Ochako beating the hell out of Kacchan, Izuku sighed and shook the imaginary angel and devil out of his mind. It wouldn't help to weigh the pros and cons of this situation that way.
Izuku slowly turned off the shower, rubbing a hand through his wet hair. A five minute shower and he still had no idea what to do. Forgive and forget, or hold on to the resentment? He had no idea. Izuku wrapped himself in a towel, grumbling. After a long shower with his own thoughts, he still had no idea what to say to them, and he was about to go out and face them for a long period of time while Itsuka got showered. He couldn't even trust himself to -
- trust.
"Of course the five that went, but also the twelve who knew but didn't stop them betrayed our trust, no matter what the reason. I would be grateful if you could follow the proper procedures and act properly in order to regain that trust."
Izuku blinked as he suddenly remembered Aizawa's words on their first visit to the dorms, after he had learned that the thirteen students knew that Izuku, Tenya, Shouto, Eijirou and Momo had went to save Kacchan from the League of Villains. He had explained to them that he considered expelling them, if not for All Might's retirement. But that wasn't what mattered, Izuku thought as he brought a hand to his lip, beginning to mutter. What he had said afterwards was what Izuku was currently thinking of.
Aizawa ... he told them that they had lost his trust. And that he was expecting them to gain it back. Izuku had remembered the shame and disappointment that he had let his homeroom teacher down, and his eagerness to make it up to him. Izuku remembered how hard he had worked to make sure Aizawa could trust him again. Could ... could that also apply here?
Instead of making sure they knew how angry he was ... or immediately casting aside their bad points and forgiving them ...
... could he ...?
Izuku nodded to himself, a plan already forming in his mind. Regardless of what he needed to do, he still needed to hear what they had to say - he did want an explanation from each of them about what they were thinking - but he could also let them know how disappointed he was in their actions, tell them how angry he was at them ... but still give them the opportunity to make things better.
Izuku nodded, a plan fully formed. He would walk out there, talk to them, hear their explanations, hear their reasons why, tell them why he was disappointed with them, and give them the opportunity to make it right. He'd have to make one sacrifice, Izuku reflected, but he was fine with putting that specific part of their relationships on hold. As long as they knew the consequences of their actions, and how to fix it, he'd be fine with not having sex with any of them for a long while.
"Oi! Nerd," Devil Kacchan suddenly whispered, an evil grin on his face. "You wanna hit them where it hurts? You should tell them you feel for them."
"What?!" Angel Ochako gasped, looking flabbergasted. "Why would we tell them about how we feel?! We don't even know how we feel! We don't even know if we're in love with them or not!"
"It's for making it really cut them up," Devil Kacchan defended himself, still laughing. "You wanna make sure this hurts them? Hurts them hard enough they'll never recover? Tell them how you feel. If they're sooo nice, it'll destroy them."
"But ... but we don't wanna destroy them!"
"If you want to make this stick, you'll have to."
Izuku sighed and shook the imaginary thoughts of his friends out of his head. He knew that the real Kacchan wouldn't care, and the real Ochako would probably be for beating them up. But he did think a bit about telling them how he felt. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he felt like both of them did have a valid point.
He didn't want to hurt them ... but he may have to.
It had taken seven minutes for Izuku to finally emerge from the bathroom, dressed in the clothes Pony had left at the door. He shuffled awkwardly into the main room, seeing the girls sitting quiet and not looking at each other. Izuku tried to swallow some of the guilt he felt at all the girls being awkward, staring at anywhere but each other. Itsuka had seen him enter the room, and stood up, groaning slightly.
"I'll hit the shower and then we'll get to business," she told the room, passing by Izuku on her way. She had the clothes Pony had grabbed for her under her arm, and stole a small worried glance at Izuku as she passed him. Pursing his lips slightly, Izuku slowly limped towards Ibara, his leg feeling a little better from the hot shower but still a bit sore. Ibara watched him carefully as he approached her, concern and fear in her eyes, which Izuku absolutely hated but did nothing to make better, not even allowing himself to smile. The plan he had formed in the bathroom required him not to be his friendly self, but rather distant and aloof. In short, he was doing his best impression of Aizawa - a weak one at that, but still an impression.
"Er - do I need to do my injuries myself?" he asked Ibara quietly, glancing at the first aid kit beside her. Ibara was shaken out of her stupor and shook her head.
"No, no, I'll help you," she insisted, and Izuku nodded, sighing slightly as he finally sat down on the chair that Itsuka had just vacated. Exhaling through her nostrils, Ibara pulled out the alcohol with the ear swab again, dipping it in and getting to work, tapping on Izuku's injuries. While they did sting, Izuku did his best not to react to the pain, not really phased by it after breaking his bones a few times, and allowed Ibara to wrap his injuries with bandages to prevent them from being exposed, eventually taking off Ochako's wrappings and inspecting his hand, gladdened to see that it was at least scabbing instead of needing stitches. She worked quietly, being sure to wrap the bandages around him carefully to prevent injury. While she worked, Izuku stole a glance throughout the room.
Pony, sitting by herself, stole glances at Izuku and squeaked quietly when he caught her, looking away immediately. Of all the girls in the room, Izuku felt the least amount of anger with her - even the irrational part of his brain agreed that Pony's actions seemed pretty innocent, albeit misguided, although the possessiveness she showed today should be addressed. He turned his gaze to the chair, where Reiko and Kinoko's backs were to him. He knew that the situation with those two should be addressed at once - not only being left high and dry, but also their entire situation to begin with, being used to get them off. Then his gaze turned to the other couch, where Yui and Setsuna were glaring off to the side, not looking at each other. There was a lurch in Izuku's stomach when he looked at them - the conversation with those two, who ultimately started this entire affair, would probably be the most uncomfortable. Thankfully he didn't really need to talk to Itsuka - they already aired out their grievances earlier in the rain, although he couldn't exempt her from what he had to say today - it would be unfair to let her so easily off the hook while he was judging everyone else.
"Does that hurt, Midoriya?" Ibara asked timidly, and Izuku turned his attention back to her, staring at him in worry. Izuku felt a small twinge of sadness at the sight, but still stomached it down, knowing that he needed to come across as aloof as possible. As much as it sucked to do it, he gave her a small shake of the head.
"It's okay, Shiozaki. Thanks."
Ibara gave him a timid nod, and quickly went to pack up the rest of the kit. Pouting somewhat, Izuku sighed as he put the shirt back on, careful to mind his ribs - he thinks one of Itsuka's punches hit it a bit too hard. There were only a few more minutes of quiet before Itsuka finally emerged from the bathroom, sighing and cringing slightly as she stretched her arm.
"Okay," she sighed, and every girl in the room couldn't help but feel nervous. "Now that I'm out of the shower, let's -"
KNOCK, KNOCK
Everyone in the house jumped at the unexpected loud knocking on the front door, whirling around. Kinoko and Reiko looked up from their cuddle, Pony lowered her hooves to the ground, Setsuna and Yui blinked, and Itsuka furrowed her eyebrows. It was Ibara, however, that put down the first aid kit on the counter, and walked towards the door, curious about who that could be in this downpour. Izuku had a thought that it might be Ochako, coming in to check up on them, although the possibilities of the girls floating to the sun were high if it were her.
Before he could think about it a bit more, however, Ibara opened the door, and couldn't help but be surprised about who it was.
"Vlad King-sensei? Monoma?"
"Hello, Shiozaki. Can we come in? There's something we need to talk about."
That made everyone stand at attention, their eyes going a bit wider. Izuku, on the other hand, felt the anxiety he had been feeling for the last few days suddenly spike, albeit for a completely different reason. The expression on Vlad King's face was more than serious - it looked like he was about to enter a villain's lair, and his eyes immediately fell to Izuku, taking in his bandaged appearance. Izuku felt horrified as his gaze lifted to Itsuka, and then fell to the broken table on the ground. Itsuka herself seemed to have put what Vlad King was thinking together, going pale.
As he entered the dorms, Monoma followed him in, looking around in interest, having never come into the girls' house before. His gaze also flickered between Izuku and Itsuka, taking in their battered appearances, and had to try to suppress his smirk - if Izuku was feeling as guilty as he had left him last night, this would be more than easy to make him confess. All it would take is Vlad King asking, and he would crumble in guilt. He did worry somewhat about what the girls would say, but he had confidence that, if what he overheard between Izuku and Ochako were true, they wouldn't miss the idiot being gone.
"Midoriya," Vlad King folded his arms, glaring down at the pale student. "Are you okay? And you, Kendou?"
"Y-yeah."
"We're fine, Vlad King."
"Good." Vlad King didn't really seem to care about that, continuing to study Izuku with a stern gaze. "Midoriya, we need to talk. Maybe it'd be better to have this out here now in front of everyone."
Oh, god, he knows, Izuku despaired, knowing full well what Vlad was going to ask, and knowing there wasn't much he could do. If Vlad King knew everything, he would probably kiss his time here goodbye - in this house, and at UA.
"Monoma came to me earlier today," Vlad King shortly explained, not noticing the girls sending each other worried glances, "and he told me something that he had overheard. He told me that he overheard you bragging to one of your friends about sleeping with Kodai and Tokage. And that he was afraid you were also sleeping with your other roommates."
On the couch, the two girls felt themselves freeze up, their eyes widening and their heartbeats going still. Yui felt her entire world collapse as she looked up at her teacher, feeling horror crawling through her as she suddenly remembered what Itsuka had told her several nights ago as a warning.
"If he gets caught in a compromising position by Vlad King he's done! So - please, guys, you gotta stop this."
Back then, Yui had ignored everything Itsuka had said, convinced that her best friend was just trying to rain on her parade, and told her as such, insulting her and telling her to fuck off. But now? Now she felt like Itsuka herself was choking her, staring horrified at her teacher as he looked down at Izuku with a tranquil fury on his face. Setsuna, meanwhile, felt her breath start to come out jittery again, the same thoughts racing through her head as she stared at the guy she used, played with and shared with the other girls without a second thought was finally paying for her mistakes.
"Kid ... I wanna give you the benefit of the doubt," Vlad continued glaring at Izuku, his gaze not softening even once as he took in the sweating, pale boy in front of him. "Aizawa said you were a good kid, someone who wouldn't do something like this. But your reaction isn't helping your case. So I'm going to give you one chance to be honest with me ... and I really hope that you are. Lying about something like this guarantees that you're not just getting booted from this house."
Izuku continued staring up at Vlad King in horror, not really seeing any alternate ways out of this. Itsuka, meanwhile, took a deep breath, and glanced down to see Monoma trying hard to keep himself from smiling, and her brow furrowed. The other girls, meanwhile, felt their breaths be caught in their throats when Vlad King spoke about Izuku getting kicked out. Like ... like permanently leaving. Not just leaving the house, but leaving UA. Because of their mistakes. They all knew that if he left now, forced to leave their household, they would be unable to talk to him ever again, make sure he knew how sorry they were.
That was ...
"I ..." Izuku took a deep breath, trying to steady his breathing, "I ..."
"He did."
Every eye in the house immediately went to Yui, who stood up from the couch with her gaze on the floor. Izuku stared at her like she had just punched her in the face. Setsuna also gave her a shocked look, and the rest of the girls felt a mix of shock and rage that Yui just threw Izuku under the bus like that. But before any of them could speak, she continued.
"It's true, Vlad King." Yui looked up at her teacher. "He slept with Tokage and myself. He's also slept with Tsunotori, and Komori and Yanagi."
"Is that so?" Vlad King growled, turning his attention back to a small Izuku while Monoma consciously had to suppress his laughter. "In that case -"
"But ..." The teacher immediately looked back up, seeing Yui still staring at him, and giving her his rapt attention. "... but ... but it wasn't him that came on to us. We came on to him. In fact ..." she took a shuddering breath, and managed to grunt out, "we may have ... we pressured him into it."
That wiped the smirk off Monoma's face immediately, staring at her like he had never seen her before. The girls, meanwhile, blinked in surprise as Yui freely confessed that. The girl herself walked up to her teacher, being sure to show every expression on her face that she was feeling - the sadness, guilt and remorse.
"I ... I flirted with Midoriya the moment he came into the house," she confessed, "I saw how uncomfortable he was with the attention I threw his way, but since he didn't say anything against it, I continued coming on to him. Eventually I seduced him. Midoriya didn't force himself on me, I freely consented, and so did he. But ... but I took it too far. I thought that since he wanted to the first time, he'd want to do it multiple times. I didn't bother asking, I simply went into his room and did it. Kendou ... she warned me about what would happen if I continued sleeping with him, but I didn't listen. I thought he wouldn't get caught, and didn't consider the consequences at all. I ... I shouldn't have taken advantage of him like that."
She then turned to Izuku, who stared up at her with shock, and she bent down into a bow. "I'm so sorry, Midoriya. I hope that you can forgive me."
"Kodai ...?" Vlad King blinked at his student, feeling lost. "I don't ..."
He didn't have time to properly investigate, however, as Setsuna spoke up next.
"I ... I overheard them." Vlad whipped his gaze to his other student, who unlike Yui, could not look anyone in the eye as she spoke. "I overheard them the first time, and I teased Midoriya about it the next day. I found him attractive, I wasn't thinking clearly ... so I invited him into my room. He - he isn't the one at fault here, sensei, I am. I got so caught up in all this, I thought that it'd be fun if I got the rest of the girls into this. I told them it was okay to sleep with him. But I ... I didn't consider what this would mean for Midoriya. I thought he'd enjoy the attention, but I was wrong. I was so wrong ..."
She got up from her seat as well, turning to Izuku, and sank into a bow as well.
"I am so sorry, Parsley," she muttered, feeling tears start to well in her eyes. "I ... I hope that you forgive me one day."
"Tokage ..." Izuku blinked at her, taken aback.
"N-no! That's not right!" Monoma shook his head wildly, walking to Vlad King and pointing at Izuku. "I overheard him talk about them, I did! You said that if he made a move on them he'd be suspended!"
"He didn't make a move, we did." Reiko interrupted, shooting him a small glare. "I admit, Vlad King, Kinoko and I are also guilty of seducing Midoriya. We got caught up in the moment and were not thinking. Midoriya, I also hope that you can forgive us. But ... but I don't blame you if you can't," she sank into her own bow, Kinoko quickly following her.
Vlad King seemed taken aback, looking back and forth between his students and Izuku. There seemed to be a part of him that wanted to continue accusing Izuku of what Monoma told him happened, but even he couldn't deny the certainty in his students' words. They had taken advantage of him. Vlad let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers, and then finally asked, "What happened to the table? And what happened to you Kendou, and Midoriya?"
Izuku winced at that, but luckily Itsuka took over.
"They ... well, we got carried away in arguing," she sighed. "I ... I knew what was happening, I tried to stop it, but ... but I didn't try hard enough. Midoriya broke down and yelled at us today. He broke the table because he got frustrated. It's - it's why his hand's busted up." Vlad King quickly looked at Izuku's hand, confirming it's battered state. "He went out after he was done yelling, and I chased him. I ... I'll admit that I got too frustrated with him, and we - we fought. I shouldn't have done it, but I got too angry, and I took it out on him."
Itsuka bent down into a bow as well, her eyes on the floor. Vlad studied her for a few seconds, before sighing and folding his arms.
"Okay," he grunted. "Who here slept with Midoriya?"
Yui and Setsuna raised their hands, as well as Kinoko and Reiko. Pony also raised her hand in the corner, not able to meet anyone's eye.
"Tsunotori," Vlad called out to her, "I assume you have the same reasoning as the rest?"
Pony bit back a small whimper, but nodded. Vlad sighed again, closing his eyes briefly, and then reopened them.
"All five of you have detention for the next three weeks," he told them, and Monoma's eyes nearly popped out of his head, gaping at his teacher like a fish. "You'll be monitored by Midnight, who'll teach you about proper consent. While what you did technically isn't considered assault, as Midoriya did consent, you still ignored the possible repercussions of what would happen if Midoriya was caught. You'll be with her for two hours every day after school."
Vlad then turned to Izuku, who looked up at the teacher with saddened eyes, and he felt himself soften somewhat.
"Midoriya," he said a bit more kindly, but still gruffly. "I'm sorry for accusing you of doing something so awful. But you have to know that this goes against what we agreed with. I'm not expelling you, or kicking you out of the house - but we don't need a repeat of what's happened today. I can't exactly punish you for doing something in private with someone who consented, but you still hid this from me. This is going to be your first and only warning - nothing more like this. Okay?"
"Vlad King-sensei!" Monoma shouted, making the teacher jump somewhat and whirl around at his student. "You can't seriously be letting him off the hook like this!"
"You heard what happened, Monoma," Vlad King patiently explained, as if he were explaining one plus one equals two, "while Midoriya did go behind our backs, it was the girls who initiated what happened. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, or who knows what else could've happened under this roof. You did what a hero would've done."
It was what a hero would've done, but it was evidently not what Monoma wanted, who stared at his teacher in a mixture of rage and exasperation. Vlad King ignored that, however, and stood up to leave.
"I'll have someone drop off a new table for you guys tomorrow," he told them, "and Aizawa will also be over to talk to you, Midoriya. For now, that's it. Don't do this again."
The girls mumbled their confirmation that they had heard him, and Vlad King nodded at them, moving to leave again. He opened the door gently and left the girls, plus Izuku and Monoma, in the house, heading back to his own dormitories to speak to Midnight about what he had learned today. He was more than a bit disappointed in his girls, although he was also disappointed in himself in not seeing this coming. He was so obsessed with Izuku doing something to the girls, he didn't consider that they were also people who could take advantage of him. He would have to talk to Aizawa about it more tomorrow.
Back in the house, Izuku sighed as he finally stood up from the chair, feeling his heartbeat start to slow after the anxiety of being kicked out of UA faded away. He turned to his classmates, who were glancing up at him with slight reserve on their faces.
"You guys ..." Izuku sighed, "... you didn't need to do that. Now you're going to be in detention for three weeks because of me."
"It is our faults," Reiko argued, giving him a small smile, "and we would be loathe to have you thrown out before we can fix things up with you."
They had almost forgotten Monoma was there, but he quickly shoved himself into their conversation, grabbing Izuku by the shoulder and whirling him around, being sure to fix him with his best glare. The girls started, as though they had genuinely forgotten he was there.
"You lying bastard." Monoma growled through gritted teeth, his glare on Izuku ferocious. "There's no chance that the girls would come on to a loser like you. You obviously had them - had them lie for you. You despicable little -!"
"Okay, Monoma, I'm gonna stop you right there." Itsuka interrupted, walking forward and shoving Monoma off Izuku, making him whip his gaze to her in shock and outrage. "Midoriya didn't lie. We were the ones coming on to him, pressuring him into this. He isn't at fault here."
"Kendou, obviously he's -!"
"No, he's not gaslighting us, or manipulating us, or tricking us or using a quirk on us or anything. It's as it's been said, Monoma." Itsuka crossed her arms. "Now I suggest you grab your umbrella and head on home. We still got a lot we need to discuss between us."
"You guys can't possibly be serious!" Monoma whipped his gaze around, hoping to see a sympathetic look on anyone's face but not finding one. "After everything I did to make sure he -!"
"Everything you did?" Setsuna turned her gaze on him, her eyebrow raised. "Is that why you were by our place at like eleven last night?"
"Gerk."
"Wait, eleven?" Itsuka blinked, turning to her roommate. "I told him to leave at eight-ish. He went back to his dorm."
"Nope, he was here at eleven. I saw him when I was going to bed."
The girls blinked, trying to figure out how that worked, before Itsuka's eyes widened, putting two and two together. She slowly turned to her classmate, who had gone paler and continued glaring at Izuku.
"Monoma," Itsuka asked quietly, not showing any emotion on her face, "were you waiting outside our house all night?"
"..."
"Answer me, Monoma."
"... yes."
"For how many nights? How many nights have you been waiting outside our house?"
"... three."
"... Midoriya, did you talk to Monoma last night?"
"I ..." Izuku sighed, pursing his lips and glancing away. "Yeah, I did. He - he was the one who told me that you guys talked behind my back. It's - it's kinda what made me stay up all night."
"So you told a lie to Midoriya, and then told Vlad King today so Midoriya would feel guilty enough to just confess to him when he came knocking? Is that what I'm understanding, or am I misinterpreting something?"
Monoma didn't answer, glaring down at the ground at his plan completely backfiring in his face. If he had looked up, he would've noticed every single girl in the house glaring at him like they would like nothing better than to beat him up. Even Ibara, the nicest girl in the house, stared in disgust at her classmate.
"Okay, Monoma," Itsuka finally spat out, feeling a cold anger fill her up. "I'm going to go off on the assumption here that what you did wasn't to get one over on Midoriya, but your own little twisted way to protect us, because you thought Midoriya would take advantage of us. We're going to assume that's the case, because any alternative is going to result in you going through that wall. If that is why you set this up, Monoma, we're willing to let this slide, due to you not knowing what was really going on. I could bring up how you were waiting outside our house for the lsat few nights and how creepy that is, how you lied to Midoriya saying that we didn't like him, and pretty much pushed this to happen - but that's our own fault. We'll handle it. We do not need your input."
Itsuka leaned in, being sure to fix Monoma with her best glare. "So understand this, Monoma - we will handle this. Us. Not you. This is your one chance to back off and let us take care of this. If you poke your nose into our business again, I won't be as nice."
Monoma exchanged a glare with her, before glancing around. It was clear whose side the rest of the girls were on - Pony was also pouting hard at him, Reiko and Kinoko were giving him deadpan stares, Ibara looked cross, and Setsuna and Yui aimed their glares at him, being sure to show off their displeasure. Monoma let out a huff, and whipped around, storming to the front door and opening it, before going through and slamming it shut, making Pony wince.
"What are your bets he pokes his nose in this again?" Reiko asked sarcastically as she looked at the door.
"90-10," Itsuka shook her head, rubbing a hand through her hair. "The guy is relentless."
"But - but didn't you say that he pushed Midoriya into yelling at us?" Kinoko inquired, confused, and a tad bit desperate. "If that's the case, isn't this his fault? Can't we take this out on him?"
"Honey, if beating up Monoma was the key to fixing this, I'd do it in a heartbeat," Itsuka sighed, rolling her neck. "But ... as much as Monoma didn't make this situation any better, he isn't the reason it's bad in the first place. That's something that's on us."
That seemed to bring everyone back into reality, looking over at Izuku standing in the corner. It had been such a weird and tension filled five minutes, they had almost forgotten about everything that had happened in the last few hours. But now they knew that there was no stopping the conversation that needed to happen. Izuku glanced around, seeing everyone's face fall, but before they could say anything, Itsuka walked to the counter and grabbed the first aid kit, holding it to her chest.
"I can wrap myself up," she told them, "let's go to the living room."
Wordlessly, everyone walked into the living room, taking up seats and trying to get comfortable, as uncomfortable as they felt. Kinoko and Reiko sat down together, not looking at each other at all. Ibara sat down on the chair, sinking into the comfortable leather, and Pony chose to sit down at her feet, not looking at anyone. Setsuna and Yui sat on the loveseat, not looking at anyone and keeping their eyes on the ground. Both Izuku and Itsuka took chairs from the kitchen and put them down near the TV, sitting beside each other.
"Okay," Itsuka sighed as she sat down in her seat, taking out some bandages to start wrapping around her knuckles. "Obviously - we all have something to talk about with each other. There's been nothing but miscommunication and secrets since Midoriya moved in, and I want to make sure we don't have to deal with that anymore. So we're going to get it all out right now. No more hiding, no more lies or half-truths, no more anything. We're getting it all out today." She glanced at each of the girls, looking a bit stern. "Agreed?"
The girls muttered their agreements, not really looking up at all. Izuku gulped but shook down the small fear he had in the bottom of his stomach as he agreed as well. Even as he was struck by a sudden impuluse to run back upstairs to avoid this conversation, he knew that they couldn't put it off any longer. If he stuck to his plan, that meant that he could avoid this from ever happening again - and he really did not want a repeat of this.
"Okay," Itsuka nodded, and turned to Izuku sitting on the chair borrowed from the kitchen. "Floor's yours, Midoriya."
"I ... okay," Izuku sighed, adjusting himself in his seat. "I guess ... I guess we should start with - t-the sex thing."
Setsuna, Yui, Pony, Reiko and Kinoko continued to stare at the floor, their expressions unreadable, and Izuku sighed as he adjusted himself in his seat again, trying to find the proper words to explain himself. After taking a deep breath, he decided to wing it.
"I ... okay. Okay, first of all, I wanna say ..." he took a deep breath, "... if - I - I want you guys to know, e-everything we did - it - it was consensual." he made sure to say, looking around. "I - I wanted to have sex with you guys. There - there wasn't any -"
"Bull." Setsuna interrupted, looking down at her feet and making Izuku stutter to a stop. "We both know that's bullshit. I blackmailed you into it. Then after I got a taste I didn't let up at all."
"And ... you must admit we pressured you into it," Reiko sighed, and Kinoko nodded while her eyes were still cast to the ground. "If you had been feeling these emotions for a while, especially since they were so built up, our asking to have sex could not have been something you truly wanted."
"I ..." Izuku took another deep breath, softly rubbing his forehead. "Okay. I - I guess I'm going to do this one at a time. Okay. So ... Yanagi. And - and Komori."
He turned to the two roommates, sitting on the couch side by side and avoiding his gaze. Izuku pursed his lips, not really sure how to go about this, but took a deep breath and continued.
"I - I guess we should begin with you guys, since it happened last night." He took another small inhale of air, and asked, "I - I guess we can start with this. Do - do you know why I left last night?"
Both Reiko and Kinoko shared a glance, the mushroom girl looking like she was already about to start crying again, before Reiko sighed and addressed him.
"Initially ..." she closed her eyes, exhaling through her nose, "... I believed you had left because we had done something during our time together to make you uncomfortable. I - I know that our time together was - a bit different, with what we made you do. Before I knew better, I thought that we had made you uncomfortable with the nature of our tryst, and you looked for the opportune time to get out of there before we noticed."
Izuku nodded slowly, being able to understand how she came to that assumption. Before he could speak up, however, Reiko continued.
"But ... after your eruption this afternoon ... I was mistaken. I was a fool. I realized too late why you left us. It was ... it was because of what happened during our afterglow, wasn't it?"
Izuku gulped at that, but nodded in confirmation. Reiko closed her eyes while Kinoko let out a shuddering breath.
"I had thought so. We ... we got caught up in kissing afterwards, you thought we had forgotten you." She sat up properly, straightening her back, and then went down in a bow. "Midoriya, I know that this probably means nothing to you, but I am sorry. We had not forgotten about you, we were simply caught up in how good it felt. We were ... we were going to offer to let you stay the night, but you had left before we could ask. Please know that we didn't mean to hurt you." She did pause at that, and added in a low mutter, "But that doesn't matter. You were hurt regardless, it doesn't matter what we meant. I'm sorry, Midoriya."
"I'm ... I'm sorry too," Kinoko finally spoke up, her voice wobbling worse than ever. It was so far from the normally bouncing and pun-making girl Izuku knew it threw him for a loop for a second. "I - I was so stupid. I thought we did something wrong and I'd just offer to have sex with you again, and make sure you felt wanted. But - but that wasn't what you wanted. I didn't think too much about why you were hurting, just that you were. I'm sorry."
"I - okay," Izuku finally spoke up, having listened to their explanation but not feeling satisfied. "I - I do understand that you guys didn't think about me before I left. I - I get it. It was a mistake of miscommunication. I - I probably should've stuck around a bit longer." He paused, although he wasn't exactly finished. "But ... but we need to talk about why I was there in the first place."
Both Reiko and Kinoko winced.
"You wanted to have sex with me ..." Izuku sighed, "... because your toys weren't doing it for you anymore. And - and you wanted to try me out." Ibara had furrowed her brow at that, staring at Reiko and Kinoko in shock due to what she just heard, and Itsuka paused in her wrapping up her elbow, looking back and forth between the girls in outrage.
"I ... I can't deny that," Reiko blinked tears out of her only visible eye, the other one covered by her bang, "I - yes, Midoriya. That was ... essentially why we brought you in to help us. But - but please understand, that doesn't mean that we -"
"Guys, it doesn't matter what it means!" Izuku suddenly snapped, an unexpected flare of anger making his voice raise slightly. This was still enough that each girl in the room flinched as though he had screamed at them. Pony let out a frightened whimper, Ibara winced, and Itsuka tightened her wrappings too much, making her hiss in pain. Izuku immediately regretted raising his voice. "I'm - I'm sorry, it's just -"
"No, Midoriya." Reiko shook her head while Kinoko nodded slowly. "You are right. We were trying to make excuses, but they don't matter now."
"We - we weren't thinking," Kinoko couldn't help herself from crying a bit now, her tears sliding down her cheeks, "we just wanted to have some fun, and we knew you were with Set and Yui, so we jumped on the wagon without thinking about the consequences. We - we used you to please us. We - we're idiots!" She covered her face in her hands, crying, and without warning threw herself off the couch. The rest of the room watched with mouths agape as she bowed down in full dogeza, forehead pressed against the floor.
"I'm so sorry, Midoriya! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"
"K-Kinoko!" Reiko knelt down beside her, grabbing her shoulder and placing a hand on her back. "Please, this - c'mon, please raise your head, this isn't -"
"Komori," Izuku finally spoke up, getting over his brief shock at seeing this display, and trying to bury the feeling of pity in him. "Please raise your head. Please?"
Kinoko flinched, but did as instructed and looked up at him, tears and snot running down her face.
"I ... I can't say I forgive you both right now," Izuku sighed, biting his lip, "but please, your - you don't have to throw yourself on the ground. Please listen to what I have to say at the end, okay?"
It took about two minutes before Kinoko would move from her spot, grief-stricken over her actions. During that time, Itsuka had gotten up from her seat, kneeling beside her and helping Reiko get her up. Izuku had to try hard to stop himself from immediately forgiving her, trying hard to stick to what he had been thinking in the shower, and let the mushroom girl cry her heart out. Finally, Kinoko recovered enough to get back on shaking feet, and be seated on the couch again by Reiko, who was also blinking away her own tears.
As they sat down, Izuku grimaced slightly to himself. Two girls down and this conversation was already going way south. But he couldn't stop because he was feeling sorry for them - he still needed to address everyone. He took a deep breath, and decided to move on, turning slightly to his right, where Ibara had stretched out some vines to wrap around Kinoko like a blanket.
"I guess ... I guess we can go next, Shiozaki."
The vine heroine winced a bit at being directly addressed, but she still nodded, and sat forward. She had a feeling that she would be next, and had thankfully thought about what to say while the girls comforted Kinoko. She took a small sigh, and turned to properly face him.
"If you don't mind, Midoriya," she asked, "I would like to explain why I spoke to you like I did earlier today."
Izuku crinkled his brow, but nodded, thinking that it would be fair to hear her out at the very least. Ibara nodded as well, and pursed her lips.
"First of all ... I would like to apologize to you," she started, bowing her head, "for my awful words today. I spoke without thinking, and didn't pay attention to your state of mind. I ... I should've been more considerate."
Izuku gave her a small nod. "Okay. So why did you say what you did?"
"Why? Well ..." Ibara sighed, closing her eyes and feeling them start to sting. "As I said to you, Midoriya ... I was under the assumption that you were seducing all of my friends, playing with their hearts while getting off to whatever was thrown your way. I had thought you a scoundrel, someone who didn't really care for my friends and used them to do whatever you wanted. But ..." her voice had begun wobbling, sounding shaky as she continued. "... but what I said wasn't sound. My ... I was hurt because I thought that you were not who I thought you were. That you weren't some nice boy, who helped me cook every night. You were someone who took advantage of us.
"But ... but I was only thinking that because my own feelings were hurt. That you - that you had taken my first kiss, and it hadn't meant anything to you. Because you were busy with Pony. I was going to simply stand aside, let you get in a relationship with her, let you both be happy. I had - well, I had gone to her room last night, to comfort her, and to assist her in another endeavor. But I'll - I'll let her talk about that in a bit. When I ... when I found out about Setsuna and Reiko and Kinoko ..." she took another shuddering breath, "... I only considered the possibility that you were taking advantage of them. Not the other way around."
As quietly as she could, she stood up from her seat, sad down on her knees, placed her forehead to the floor, and like Kinoko before her, went into full dogeza, her hands folded in front of her.
"I'm so sorry, Midoriya," she felt tears be squeezed out of her eyes as she couldn't muster the strength to look at him. "I'm a fool. I know ... I know that I said awful things to you, but I hope that you forgive me. It may be hypocritical of me, but I pray that you'll forgive me for my mistakes."
Without being prompted, she rose from her kneeling position, sitting back down on the couch and not meeting anyone's eyes. Izuku felt his own eyes start to mist, but he quickly wiped them away. He had made a promise to himself, so he couldn't show signs of wanting to forgive them just yet - even though his heart was practically screaming to. He took another shuddering breath, and turned his gaze to Pony. The horse girl was quietly crying, and when his eyes turned to her, the tears on her face streamed down faster than ever, immediately casting her gaze onto the floor when he looked at her.
"Tsunotori," Izuku called her, trying to keep his voice even, "can you please look at me? Please?"
The foreign student had a hard time complying, but she raised her head slowly, her beautiful blue eyes shimmering with tears.
"Tsunotori," he said kindly, trying not to aggravate her too much, "can you please explain what's going on with us? Why you got possessive today?"
The kind words, intended to soothe her and prompt her to speak up, seemed to do the opposite effect Izuku wanted however. Instead of making her feel better, it seemed to make Pony's fragile state worse. The horse girl gulped back a sob, and covered her face in her hands. Izuku's heart clenched at the sight, almost breaking him out of his stoicism, but before he could do anything, Itsuka got up from her seat, kneeling beside her friend, and brought the girl in for a hug, running her hand through her long blonde hair.
"C'mon, honey," Itsuka muttered, planting a small kiss to her hair, "you can do this, I know you can ..."
It took a few more minutes for Pony to calm down enough to slowly get up, letting Itsuka return to her seat, and the small girl took timid steps towards Izuku, standing in front of him. As she stopped, she reached a shaking hand into her pocket, and brought out an envelope. She slowly handed it to Izuku, who accepted it with a small frown, and turned it over, feeling his heart hammer in his chest at the small heart on the envelope. The other girls around them inhaled when seeing it, and Setsuna sunk lower on the couch.
"This - this is my love letter," Pony explained in a shaking voice, "I was - I-I was going to g-give it to you today. I - I like you. A lot. You're so - you're so nice. You don't treat me like - like everyone else. Every guy on the campus - they treat me like - I'm fragile. Like the guys - the guys in the general studies and our class always talk like I'm so innocent, like they can't even swear in front of me, but - but I'm not. They think I like princesses and Disney movies and everything girly, and I do like that stuff - but I'm more than that. I have those thoughts just like everyone. I masturbate, I read erotica, I fantasize about boys. But no one ever - they never see me like that. Except - except you. You saw me as someone sexy, someone desirable - and - and that made me feel so special."
More tears fell down her cheeks, watching as Izuku held the letter carefully. "I - I wanted to ask you out before the truth or dare game, but - but then I found out about Setsuna and Yui.I thought - I didn't want to cause drama between you guys. I - I thought that sleeping with you was the only way to get with you, get you to notice me." She wiped her face roughly, taking more shuddering breaths. "After we slept together, I couldn't face you properly. I felt so embarrassed you saw me like that. I - I didn't realize how much it would've hurt to see me avoid you. And when - when Setsuna suggested taking turns, I - I got so jealous I couldn't think straight. But I - I didn't think about how much me running away would've hurt you. I'm so sorry, Midori. I really liked you, but I missed my chance. I didn't even realize how much you were hurting. I don't even deserve to date you."
Pony's gaze fell to the floor, tears falling from her eyes to the floor below. Izuku studied the love letter for another few seconds, feeling his eyes sting, before he sighed and put the love letter in his pants pocket. He wanted to come across as strict and unforgiving, but ...
"Tsunotori ..." Izuku took a deep breath, rubbing his eyes with his fingers before turning to look at her. "I - thank you for telling me this. I understand. There's - there's a lot more we should talk about, but it'll have to wait. Can we talk about this later? By ourselves?"
She gave a shaky nod, and quickly turned back to her seat, sitting down while still silently crying. Ibara leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her neck, pressing her face into Pony's hair, and giving the smaller girl a small comfort. Pony let out another small cry, immediately hitting Izuku in the gut as she wrapped her arms around her legs and pressed her face into her knees.
"Okay ... okay," Izuku sighed, rubbing his face with his own hands. The girls felt a pang of sadness at the motion - it was obvious that while he was putting on a tough front, this was obviously affecting him, but still he continued on. "I guess ... Kendou, we've technically already talked, so we can just skip over you for now. We'll probably still need to talk later, though ... just getting some more stuff out of the way. But ... but it can wait, right?"
Itsuka nodded, reaching over and rubbing a hand against Ibara's head to comfort her.
"Now ... now we should talk, Tokage." Izuku turned to the green-haired student, who was still not looking at him, staring guiltily at the floor while he spoke.
"I'll ... I'll admit that it does seem a bit sketchy, how we got together," Izuku admitted, biting his lip briefly. "I asked you not to talk about me and Yui, and you saying that ... I can buy your silence by having sex with you. From an outside perspective ... yeah, it's pretty weird."
Setsuna took a small breath. "Even from an inside perspective, it's fucking sketchy."
"But ... but if I said no, that I wouldn't have sex with you ..." Izuku sighed again, "... would you have said anything? To Kendou or Vlad King?"
"No." Setsuna said immediately, shaking her head. "I was - I was just thinking with my pussy, thinking it would make our time together more kinky. I wouldn't have actually told on you either way. No chance in hell."
"In that case -"
"But that's not the problem!" Setsuna finally looked up at him, and Izuku was taken aback by the sudden tears in her eyes, and she couldn't surpress the emotions she had been keeping in since Vlad King came into the house. "The problem was that I let it go to my head! I was setting you up with everyone without thinking about how you would feel! I made you feel so uncomfortable, and it's all my fault that you eventually broke! I shoved Itsuka to the side because she was actually telling me what was happening, but I ignored her! I was going to make everyone schedule in when they wanted to fuck you! I'm such a bitch! So please," she gave him a pleading look, the tears falling down her cheeks as Izuku looked on in shock, "stop being so understanding, stop getting us to give you an explaination, just tell me that you hate me, I know you do! This is all my fault, everything!"
"I ..." Izuku tried to gather his thoughts, trying to figure out how to go from there, when Yui sighed and leaned forward.
"It's not just her," she admitted, her voice low, "it's me as well. I started this, and when Itsuka told me to stop I just brushed her off. I ..." she pursed her lips, and turned to the orange-haired student, who was studying her carefully, "... I'm a shitty friend. You told me not to take advantage of him and I told you to mind your own business. I ignored the consequences of this because it felt good. I'm - I'm sorry, Itsuka."
"Yui ..." Itsuka bit the inside of her cheek, not really sure what to say to that, but before she could, Izuku managed to find his words.
"Guys," he sighed, and closed his eyes. This ... was extremely difficult, but he knew it was necessary. "I ... are you saying that you want me to blame you for this?"
"Yes!"
"It's true."
"Okay then."
That took everyone by surprise, everyone turning to look at what Izuku just said. Ibara's jaw dropped, Pony looked up at him in shock, Setsuna's cries went silent like a light had been flipped off, and Yui stared at him like she had never seen him before. Izuku himself was looking pretty off himself, like he couldn't believe he just said that, but he took a deep breath and continued.
"It is your fault. Tokage, Kodai, this is your fault. It's everyone's fault. Tsunotori," The girl's eyes began watering again, her lip trembling, "you shouldn't have listened to Tokage and thought the only way to get with me was to sleep with me. Shiozaki, you shouldn't have made assumptions about what was happening and insulted me. Komori, Yanagi, you shouldn't have used as a sex toy and made me so uncomfortable I had to leave. Kendou, you should've paid more attention to what was going on. Everyone here - everyone is at fault."
After a brief pause to let that sink in, Setsuna's breath starting to come out jittery again and Yui's eyes starting to well with unexpected tears, Izuku sighed. "But it's also my fault. I should've put my foot down. I should've told you guys no sometimes. I should've made clear that some of the things you guys were doing were making me uncomfortable. I should've talked to Kendou about what I was feeling. I shouldn't have went along with everything you said."
"Midoriya, no -" Itsuka interrupted, but Izuku raised his hand, asking for permission to continue.
"I ... I came back here because I wanted to apologize to you guys. For yelling at you. For shouting that stuff at you. Uraraka encouraged me to, but ... but when I was walking back, Kendou said that - that I didn't have to apologize for anything. That I didn't need to fix anything. And ... as much as I don't want to say this, how much I want to keep this in me, I'm going to have to." Izuku took another long, deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt himself go red. Every part of him was screaming at him not to say what he wanted to, the thought so embarrassing he'd rather die. But he remembered what the imaginary angel and devil on his shoulder had said.
"But ... but we don't wanna destroy them!"
"If you want to make this stick, you'll have to."
Izuku let out another sigh, and finally said what he'd been dreading to say:
"I - I have feelings for all of you."
If the room wasn't quiet before, it was definitely now. The only thing they could hear was the rain splattering against the windows outside. No one drew breath. Pony and Ibara were staring at Izuku with wide eyes, Reiko and Kinoko were sharing a shocked glance, Setsuna still didn't look up, Yui blinked, and Itsuka felt herself go very red, suddenly really needing some clarification.
"Er - Midoriya," she said timidly, "what do you -?"
"I ..." Izuku sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair and trying to fight through the embarrassment, "I like you all. Like - like I have - crushes. On all of you. It's - it's kinda scummy, I know, liking all of you like that at the same time, but - but it's true. I - I have been crushing on all of you - for - for different r-reasons. But ... but I can't forget about what you guys did. How you guys have treated me, how you've treated each other, it almost makes me forget the good times we had. Like -" he shook his head, and turned his gaze to Ibara, who went red when she came under his sight, "like you, Shiozaki. I - I really appreciate the times we had when we cooked together. You taught me so many plates, I bet I could cook anything for my other house in 1A and they'd love it. I love how excited you get whenever you'd go out to the garden and start planting. Your faith in the goodness of people is so ... it's so inspiring, and I - I wish I could be more like that sometimes."
Ibara's lip began quivering even more, tears starting to drip out of her eyes, but before she could say anything, Izuku turned his attention to Pony, who was staring at him as though she had never seen him before. "Tsunotori ... I have feelings for you too. Maybe ... maybe not as strongly as yours, but they're there. Whenever we sit down to do homework, or I show you something in Japanese, it always makes me so happy when you give me a high five. When I had went to see Tokage, and you offered to eat ice cream with me if it didn't go well, that warmed my heart so much, and I didn't even realize it then. And - and I do find you really attractive. I loved our time together."
Pony's tears doubled, of course, but Izuku couldn't stop there, turning his attention back to Kinoko and Reiko. "Yanagi, I - I know that it might seem scummy, liking you when you're already dating Komori - and the same to you, Komori. I - I know that I might've seemed like I was weirded out last night when you said your - your fetish was mushrooms - but it's not a weird quirk. It's - it's very versatile, and - and I'm sorry I never told you that before. Your dresses are awesome, you obviously put so much work into them - it's admirable. And - and Yanagi, you're honestly so freaking awesome. Your room is cool, and your swords too - but I appreciate how straight forward you are, how you never mince your words with anyone. You said you were scared your fetish weirded me out - but there's nothing about you that would be able to do that. Everything about you is beautiful."
Kinoko grabbed Reiko's hand in a vice grip, still shuddering with sobs, while a single tear dripped down Reiko's visible eye. Izuku soldiered on, trying hard not to stutter at all and turned his attention to Itsuka, who let out a small gasp when he looked at her.
"You're - I don't even know where to begin with you, Kendou," Izuku laughed a bit at that. "You - you do so much for me. I know that we've had disagreements - I mean, our latest one had me beating you up in the mud - and you've probably been really annoyed by what I've been doing ... but you've always been there for me. I - I feel like I can talk to you about - anything. Like, heroes or bikes or feelings. And I'm sorry that I thought I would burden you with all this. It - honestly, it surprises me that you care about someone like me ... you're so beautiful, so talented, it's weird that you see me as someone you care about."
Izuku turned his attention to Yui, who was staring at him with a look of shock and sadness on her face, missing Itsuka's reddened face, and the hand that reached up to grab her heart, feeling fresh tears start to form in her eyes.
"Kodai ... I'm not going to lie, it seems like when we first met, like seriously met, sex was all we were doing." Yui's eyes misted over, biting her lip, but before she could interrupt, Izuku went on. "But ... but I know that you do care about me more than you let on. I - I was kinda nervous with you at first, not really knowing what was going on through your expressions ... but your eyes tell the story. You usually look at me with lust, but - but I do see how much you care about me, even if you don't think you do. I'm kinda an idiot for believing Monoma when he said no one in the house liked me, because your eyes tell me how much you like me. They're - they're always so warm, so inviting. You - you might think that I secretly loathe you, but I'm glad my first time was with you. I'm glad that you liked me enough to give me an experience I won't forget."
Finally, he turned to Setsuna, who had not looked up at all. "I don't hate you, Tokage. I'll never hate you. I'm - I don't wanna get into it now, but I actually had a rough time growing up. Everyone always teased me, mocked me, made fun of me. It made me feel so awful ... but whenever you tease me, I don't feel awful. I know you think you were degrading me whenever we were together, but the times you would take care of me made me feel so nice. I - I know you got carried away with setting me up with everyone. It hurts that you thought of me like that, it makes me angry that you saw me as someone to be passed from person to person - but I know that you're not a bad person. I know that."
He considered that he could've worded that better, maybe vocalized his displeasure at them, but he was honestly too tired to get into a yelling match with any of them. Besides, he remembered how Aizawa had lectured them after they saved Kacchan from All for One, the disappointment that had robbed everyone of happiness. It would hurt them to yell at him - but if he wanted to get his point across, to let them know about how this was going to go from now on, he needed it to stick. He stood up on shaky feet, sighing, and was sure to look at everyone in the eye, not a dry face in sight, including his own.
"I want to forgive you all right now," Izuku told them, "it's what my brain's screaming at me, what my heart's begging me to do - but I can't. I can't forget what's happened. I ... after what happened today ... as much as I like all of you, as much as I need you guys ... right now, I can't trust you. I know that we settled our differences earlier, Kendou - but I do need some time, to think. That's why ..." he took another long deep breath, "... right now, I don't want you guys to see me as - as a sexual partner. Nothing like that. I'm - I'm not saying that I never want to have sex with any of you ever again, or that I hate all of you and never want to see you again. I wanna come downstairs tomorrow and have breakfast and hang out with you guys. I wanna cook with you, Shiozaki. I wanna go outside and see your bike, Kendou. I wanna sit down and watch a movie with you, Kodai. I wanna sit back and watch some anime with you, Tsunotori. I wanna look at your swords, Yanagi, and geek out with you. I wanna - I wanna eventually have you grow mushrooms all over me, Komori, just so I know what it's like. I wanna sit back and let you make fun of me, Tokage, as long as I get to make fun of you back. I care a lot about you all. I want to be with you guys. But ... but I can't trust you right now. I can't trust your intentions. This is ... this is something that we all need to fix together. I need to know that you guys care about me as much as I care about you.
"So ... so if any of you come to me to have sex, I'm going to turn you down. I'm going to say no. You can crawl on your hands and knees and beg me, and my answer will be the same. Pony, I - I do acknowledge your feelings, and I feel the same ... but right now, I can't trust where you're coming from. I'm so sorry, but I need time. I need to know that I'm not just some guy you can use to get off. That if I was literally anyone else, you'd do the same. I'm - I hate that it's come to this, but I need to know that you guys see me as a person, and not someone to get off to."
Izuku finally finished his speech, feeling a need for some water for his dry mouth after so much talking, and looked around at the girls assembled with a heavy heart. As much as he hated saying those words, how they tore him apart, he knew they were necessary.
"Do you guys understand?"
He paused for a bit, letting his words sink in. Itsuka was looking desolate, her face bruised and puffy, but there was understanding in her eyes. Ibara bit her lip. Pony was looking down at her feet. Kinoko pursed her lips. Yui stared vacantly ahead. Setsuna hadn't raised her head at all. Reiko had her eyes closed.
"Guys. Do you understand?"
There were only a few seconds of silence before Itsuka spoke up.
"I understand, Midoriya."
"Yeah." Yui nodded slowly. "I get it."
"Mm-hm." Pony mumbled.
"I agree." Ibara sighed.
"Got it." Reiko opened her eyes.
"I understand." Kinoko agreed.
"Yeah." Setsuna's low mutter came.
Izuku studied each of their faces, seeing the regret in their eyes but also their registration, and nodded. "Okay. I - I wanna say I trust you guys to keep that promise, but ... well, you know."
They lapsed into another silence, everyone avoiding each other's gazes, until Izuku sighed.
"I - I know how bad it is to leave that there, but - but I've been awake all night and I'm dead tired. I'm - I'm going to go to bed early. Okay?"
"Okay, Midoriya," Itsuka nodded, still looking away. "Goodnight."
"Okay. Goodnight, guys. I'll see you tomorrow." Izuku nodded, and turned to walk over to the stairs. He had his one foot on the bottom stair when he paused, trying to suppress the horrible feeling in his heart, and turned slightly to look back at the girls.
"I don't hate any of you," he said softly, "I could never hate any of you. That's why ... that's why I hope that this works."
With that finally said, Izuku went up the stairs towards his room. That didn't end nearly as well as he had wanted - everything was still tense, the girls probably unsure of where they stood with him - but he prayed that they could resolve this soon. He would hate if tomorrow everyone avoided him in fear - he didn't want that. He just wanted his friends to see him as someone they cared for, loved, and not as some walking talking entertainment. Hopefully once everyone got some sleep, or just some time to themselves, they could come to a resolution. It just ... it couldn't happen now. It would feel far too empty for Izuku to yell at them and then forgive them after an hour. They needed to honestly work towards a better relationship.
As soon as they heard his door close upstairs, Itsuka let out a small shudder, standing up. She rubbed the tears from her face, and grabbed a Kleenex from the coffee table to blow her nose. Once she had that thrown out, she sighed and brought out her phone.
"Fuck it," she muttered, "Rain's let up enough, so I'm ordering pizza. No, two pizzas. Extra large. You guys can eat one, the other one's just for me. I got the crap kicked out of me, I deserve this."
"... normally, I'd advise you to eat something healthier, but I'll be honest that I'm not going to cook anything tonight," Ibara conceded, still hugging Pony. Itsuka gave the smaller girl a sympathetic glance, and knelt down beside the small girl and ran a hand through her hair.
"You okay, Pony?" she asked softly. "Do you need some more time?"
"I'll ..." Pony gulped, and raised a hand to rub her cheeks, "I'll be - I'll be okay. I might need to - if it's okay, can I stay with one of you guys tonight? I don't wanna be alone."
Itsuka nodded, and brought Pony in for another hug, feeling the smaller girl wrap her arms around her. Ibara sat back, rubbing her own tears off her face, bringing her vines back to her after spreading them around the room to comfort everyone. Itsuka could tell that the religious girl wasn't as composed as she normally was, the result of the long talk they had. No one here felt that anything was resolved, the words he had told them echoing in their minds.
Itsuka released Pony from the hold she had on her, and turned to the other couch. Setsuna was still staring at her knees, hands clenched together, and Yui didn't meet anyone's eye. Itsuka pursed her lips in worry, feeling the anger she had been feeling to the two of them fade away, and stood up to walk over and kneel in front of them. Neither of them looked at her, in fact looking away once she settled down. Before either of them could say anything, Itsuka reached up, grabbing both of their heads, and brought them gently down on her shoulders, wrapping her arms around them. This did not comfort Setsuna at all, who let out a quiet shudder and felt tears squeeze out of her eyes.
"Prez, don't ..." Setsuna gulped back another sob, a hand grabbing the side of her shirt and squeezing tightly, "... don't. We don't deserve ..."
"Shut up, Set," Itsuka sighed, raising her hand to rub through her hand, "you need a hug, so I'm giving you a hug."
After a few more seconds of silence, Yui let out a tense breath, and held Itsuka tighter.
"I'm sorry, Itsuka," she whispered, "I'm so sorry. I said ... I said such awful things to you."
"It's okay," the orange haired girl assured her, returning the hold, "it's okay, Yui ..."
Setsuna seemed to break down as well, grabbing the back of her shirt and crying into her shoulder. Before anything else could happen, they felt another pair of arms wrap around them, and saw Ibara had clearly needed some catharsis too, putting head down on Yui's and crying quietly. Soon, Pony snuck in and joined the hug, and after the other two had spent some time by themselves, Reiko and Kinoko joined the impromptu group hug, and the girls simply were content to hug out their feelings, squeezing each other gently. Finally, Itsuka sighed, and released Yui and Setsuna from her hold.
"We've still got a lot of work to do," she quietly told everyone, knowing everyone was listening. "You heard him, we lost his trust. We're gonna get it back."
It took another few minutes, mixed in with some quiet crying, but eventually everyone hugged out their feelings, and separated, wiping their faces and grabbing some Kleenex from the table. Pony, ever the cuddle-bug, was content with having Kinoko and Reiko wrap their arms around her on the couch, needing some more comfort. Ibara, after feeling some more tears fall on her cheeks, went to the bathroom to wipe her face. Yui and Setsuna quietly went upstairs, evidently needing some time to themselves to think. Itsuka let them go quietly, knowing that they were probably feeling the guiltiest out of everyone here, and definitely needing their space.
Nothing was really resolved, and nothing really made better. They may have resolved their situation with Monoma interfering in their affairs (and even that wasn't a guarantee), but it was clear to all of them that Izuku couldn't trust their intentions, thinking there was something they were up to. There was a wall between them and him that they had built high with their bullshit - but that just meant that they needed to find a way to break it down. Itsuka had the confidence they could, knowing everyone here fumbled, but they could get back up.
She knew that there was still some things that Izuku had held back on - he mentioned to Setsuna he had been bullied as a kid - which seemed impossible to Itsuka, how could someone bully a kind person him? - but he seemed to not want to go into it. So for now, they would concentrate on getting back into his good graces. They'd acknowledge his feelings for them later - that was a can of worms they didn't need to discuss while everyone was emotional.
I just hope it won't turn into another fight, Itsuka thought with a lump in her throat as she dialed the number for the pizza company, managing to suppress an unexpected cough.
