Izuku groaned quietly as he woke up in his dark room, only dimly lit by the heat lamp in the corner over the cage for his snake.
Wait a minute.
This was not his apartment, he did not have a snake, nor did he have...were these sheets silk?!
Izuku gazed down at Setsuna, who was laying on his chest and smiling at him with half-lidded eyes.
"How long have you been watching me?"
"A few minutes. For a gun toting masked vigilante, you're surprisingly cute when you're asleep," Setsuna answered.
Izuku chuckled as Setsuna rolled off of him, letting him prop himself up on his arms, "You don't think your... friends are gonna be worried about you?"
"I told them I'd find my own way out, so they took off."
"How did they get out anyway?"
Hound Dog stood at the wall that surrounded UA, scratching his head as he stared at the large wooden ramp set up a few feet away.
"Not sure."
Setsuna sighed after a brief silence between them, "If- If we're gonna do this, then we need to set some ground rules for when you're here."
Izuku looked at her questioningly.
"When you're with me you're Izuku, my boyfriend, none of this Jigsaw shit. You're gonna leave your weapons, your overcoat, and your mask in that closet." Setsuna pointed over to a set of white doors about a foot from her bed.
"Well you don't have to worry about the last one," Izuku said, picking up his destroyed mask from the ground.
Setsuna stared at the mask for a few seconds before reaching over to her drawer and pulling out the original, handing it to Izuku.
"You kept this?" Izuku asked with bewilderment.
"Did you expect me to trash it?"
"...Thanks." Izuku shrugged off grabbed his overcoat that was laying on a chair and placed it in her closet, along with his mask, "I'll take it to Dimitri to get it reinforced."
"Is Dimitri…?" Setsuna trailed off, it still felt uncomfortable to talk about.
"Kinda. He makes all our gear, our outfits, our weapons. He's also our tech guy. That old Russian's come in real handy lately," Izuku chuckled.
"Moving on. When you left, you really hurt me, so to make up for it you're going to do whatever I say if you're with me." Setsuna walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "If I ask for a kiss, I'm gonna get a kiss. If I tell you to cuddle me, you're going to cuddle me. Understand?"
"I can't tell if you're being serious or trying to lighten the mood," Izuku smiled.
"Both. Come on, let's go make something to eat, I'm hungry," Setsuna said as she placed her lips against his cheek.
Izuku followed behind Setsuna, so she couldn't see the dopey smile that wormed its way onto his face. It had been so long since he felt like this, and he knew that only Setsuna could do this to him.
The two had just got to the kitchen when they ran into the yellow haired boy he met yesterday, and another boy with spiky black hair kept out of his face by a bandana.
"I'm tellin' you man, I was face to face with two of those vigilante guys yesterday, and I'm positive both of them were quirkless," Denki told the other boy.
"I'm not saying I don't believe you, I'm just skeptic— woah!" The black haired boy stopped midway through his sentence as he saw Izuku's face, Denki also jumped back a bit.
"Awase, Kaminari, this is my boyfriend Izuku," Setsuna explained.
"Dude, I am so sorry," Yosetsu apologized.
"It's fine, I get it a lot," Izuku chuckled.
"That's no excuse, that was really uncalled for," Denki chimed in.
"Trust me, it's fine."
Yosetsu and Denki were about to leave when the latter turned around and stared at Izuku skeptically, "Have we met before?"
"Not to my knowledge," Izuku answered, slightly panicked.
"Hmm, must be my mind playing tricks on me," Denki shrugged, and the two went back upstairs.
"That was close," Setsuna sighed.
"Definitely. Now come on, breakfast isn't going to make itself."
A few minutes into cooking, another boy walked down into the kitchen, he was broad-shouldered, and his six arms were webbed together on either side. He also wore a dark blue face mask that covered everything under her nose.
After Setsuna introduced him as Mezou Shoji, he simply waved and went to the fridge to get a drink, which for some reason puzzled Izuku.
"I'm sorry but, uh, this doesn't bother you?" Izuku asked, gesturing to his face.
"Depends." Mezou pulled down his face mask, revealing his mouth that went all the way back to where his ears were, and the row of jagged teeth inside, "This doesn't bother you, does it?"
"...not in the slightest," Izuku answered.
"Then we don't have a problem," Mezou smiled as he pulled his mask back up.
Once Mezou left, Izuku turned to Setsuna and saw the pointed stare she was giving him.
"Ok I get it, big life lesson," Izuku rolled his eyes.
"I was just gonna tell you that the bacon's burning."
"Shit!"
They were almost finished cooking when another set of footsteps approached the kitchen. This time belonging to the purple-haired girl he had met yesterday, who was walking hand in hand with another brown-haired girl.
The second she saw their conjoined hands, Setsuna's face lit up with excitement, "Oh my god, are you two together now?!"
"A-as of last night yeah," Ochako blushed.
"Thank god, you know she's had a crush on you since at least the battle trial," Setsuna told Kyouka.
"Setsuna!"
"What?"
"Really?" Kyouka asked as she got just a little bit closer to the blushing girl, "Who's the guy?"
"My boyfriend. I invited him over last night after everything happened, I just...needed someone to comfort me," Setsuna lied.
"Are you sure we're allowed to do that?" Ochako asked.
"Yeah, we're allowed visitors. Although, maybe they're not allowed to stay the night," Setsuna realized.
"You should probably check with Nezu later," Kyouka said.
"Need anything?" Izuku asked.
Kyouka shook her head, "Nah, I just left my phone down here last night." She grabbed the device and left with a wave, Ochako following right behind her.
Once they were out of hearing distance, Izuku and Setsuna turned to each other and in unison said, "Those two are fucking."
They had finally finished eating and we're about to head upstairs when Izuku came face to face with Katsuki, who froze upon seeing him.
"Midoriya."
Setsuna looked between the both of them and sighed, "I'll be in my room," she whispered before leaving.
After several moments of silence, Izuku spoke up, "Midoriya? Not Izuku or Deku?"
"Don't think I can ever call you either of those."
Izuku closed his eyes and let out a long drawn out sigh, when he opened them again, a second Katsuki was standing right beside the original, although instead of a solemn look, this one was glaring at him with malice.
"I'm sorry, for everything. Back then— I— my own ego was too big for my goddamn head."
"You know deep down that she hates you."
"There is nothing I can ever do, to make you forgive me, I know this."
"She pities you, and the second you leave she'll shut you out forever."
"But there's a difference between forgiveness and accepting an apology. Although to be honest I'm not even sure I deserve the latter."
"She wishes you had died when you jumped out of that window!"
"But just know, that I regret everything I did, and if I could take it all back, I would."
Both Katsuki's fell silent, and for a few minutes, that's the way it stayed.
"You know, when I was out, I had the strangest dream. I met a man named Billy Russo and he told me that if I never stood up for myself, I was bound to be tortured. And I agree with him," Izuku said.
"You shouldn't have had to stick up for yourself in the first place," Katsuki whispered.
"But I'm doing it now."
A few seconds of silence felt like hours, to both of them.
"You don't get any more control over my life, you don't get any more control over me," Izuku said to both Katsuki's.
"What did you just say?"
"Good, cause I don't want it."
Izuku began to walk away as the fake Katsuki began to fade into nothing, it screamed and lunged for Izuku, but never made it. The fake Katsuki dissipated into the thin air, and for the first time since that fateful day, Izuku's mind was truly clear.
We have officially reached the fluff line people, for a while there is going to be a lot less action and angst, with a few exceptions here and there. Discord links.
The Hoard: https/discord.gg/amznhWGXbm
LoM: https/discord.gg/R9BU25t
That's it for now, Peace.
