"What do you want...?" Were the first words out of Momo Yaoyorozu's mouth as she locked eyes with Tokage. The moment the raven-haired teen spoke, it would've been impossible for anyone to miss the tone of displeasure that laced her voice.
It had been well over a few days since the joint training session with the students from Shiketsu. And neither one of the girls had really seen each other since then. Sure they passed by one another here and there throughout the day. But Tokage had a feeling that the 'creation' quirk user was avoiding her. Scratch that, she was absolutely certain that the girl was deliberately making an effort not to cross her path.
"Hey, Yaoyorozu...how are you doing today?" Tokage greeted the raven-haired teen. Albeit with a slight hint of nervousness in her voice.
"Is there something that I can do for you?"
"Yes, actually..." The green haired teen then scratched her cheek. "I came over here to apologize."
Yaoyorozu instantly arched an eyebrow upon hearing that. "I'm sorry?"
"Look...I'm sorry for all of those things that I said to you during our training session the other day. It was uncalled for and I went way out of line. So for that, I apologize. I planned on talking to you right after our match. But, I didn't really get the chance to do that until now."
An almost uncomfortable silence immediately followed. For a good ten seconds, Yaoyorozu did nothing but look at Tokage with a blank expression. One that didn't give the green haired girl even the slightest bit of inclination as to what she could've been thinking. It was the kind of look that made whoever was on the receiving end of it want to squirm away and forget that it ever happened.
Man this was awkward. Anyone who knew Tokage would know that she had never been in this kind of situation before. Never before did she legitimately have to apologize for getting under someone's skin. The whole idea was pretty foreign to her. Mainly because the majority of people that she ever insulted almost always deserved it in some way, shape or form. But this time, that wasn't the case.
"Is that it?" The raven-haired teen finally broke the silence. Folding her arms across her chest and leaning up against the door frame.
"Huh?" Tokage blinked.
"Did you really expect me to care about your half-assed apology?"
Okay, that was certainly something she didn't expect. As far as she was aware, Yaoyorozu hardly ever cursed. People like her who grew up with what was no doubt one of the best educations on "social etiquette" that money could buy made it a point to never use vulgar language. So to hear her say something like that threw Tokage for quite a loop.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on." The green haired girl held her hands up defensively. "I didn't come here to argue or anything, I just wanted to let you know that I was sorr-."
"No you're not." The 'creation' quirk user cut her off. "If you were then you wouldn't have done what you did in the first place."
'Well that's not really fair.' Tokage thought. "Okay, look here. I get that what I said was way out of line. But it's not like I actually meant any of it."
Apparently, that seemed to piss Yaoyorozu off even more than what she already was. "So you just hurl insults and rude comments at people for no reason?"
"There was definitely a reason." Tokage countered. "I was trying to get you off your game. Y'know...a bit of psychological warfare to get the upper hand on your opponent."
The 'creation' quirk user's eyes widen upon hearing that. Although Tokage couldn't even begin to guess what might've passed through her mind at that moment. It was obvious to her that the taller teen didn't appreciate what she had to say.
"So you're telling me that you said all that just to get the upper hand in a fight?"
"That's pretty much it. I didn't mean anything by it."
There was no telling what kind of answer the raven-haired teen from 1-A was expecting. But judging by her reaction, it was clear to see that the one Tokage gave wasn't one that she was looking for.
In her defense, Tokage thought that her reasoning was pretty transparent. It wasn't like she knew Yaoyorozu personally. Or did anything to make her angry. Throwing a few jabs during the middle of a fight was a fairly common tactic.
"You humiliated me in front of our teachers and classmates and called me a whore just to give yourself an edge in training?"
"Yeah..."
"I can't believe this." The girl's hand slid down her face. This was the kind of thing she expected to hear from Bakugou. Not someone who is supposed to be a star student.
It would've been impossible for anyone in Tokage's position not to see the writing on the wall. This conversation probably wasn't going to go anywhere good anytime soon. So the 'lizard tail splitter' user decided that now might've a good time to just hurry up and leave. Besides, she already apologized. So as far as Tokage was concerned, she did what she came here for. "Well, anyways...that's all that-"
"You know, I expected so much better from you…."
"What?"
"I thought that you were supposed to be a model student. But if that's the kind of tactic that you have to resort to in a fight, I guess I was wrong."
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Tokage raised a curious eyebrow. Picking up on the tone that Yaoyorozu was now giving her. One that she didn't exactly like.
"Only that you're not as skilled as I thought."
Tokage instantly took offense to what the class rep of 1-A was saying. Where exactly was all of this coming from? "Okay, hold on! I get that you're mad at me for what happened. But you don't have to go and insult me like that."
"Why not?" Yaoyorozu shot back. "Can you not handle it when someone else throws your own nonsense back in your face?"
The green haired girl didn't have an immediate response for that. It wasn't necessarily a big secret that Tokage didn't exactly respond well to being insulted. But she certainly had a thicker skin than most people her age. Or at least, that's what she thought.
"Are you that mad about what I said?"
"Of course I am!" The raven-haired teen replied with a slightly venomous tone. Now standing straight up instead of leaning against the door frame. "Do you know how embarrassing it was to be so utterly humiliated in front of everyone like that?"
"Honestly...that sounds like it's your problem, not mine."
In hindsight, that might've been the absolute worst thing for Tokage to say to the girl. Especially in that particular moment. Maybe it was because she was now holding a more defensive position in this conversation as opposed to when it started. Or some other reason that she couldn't immediately identify. But the fact of the matter was that she probably shouldn't have said that. Even then, the damage was already done.
"Wow, you really are a bitch. Aren't you?" Yaoyorozu said with an expression of disbelief plastered all over her face.
"Excuse me?" Tokage scowled.
"You heard me."
"Alright princess-"
"Of course that's the first thing you say!" Yaoyorozu scoffed. "That's the first that everyone says. For some reason, the only thing everyone ever sees when they look at me is just some spoiled rich girl. Isn't that right?"
Although she never admitted it to any of her friends, Yaoyorozu really hated it when people referred to her as "princess". Primarily because it confirmed what she already knew. That people thought of her a certain way because of her background. No matter how hard she tried to shake that stigma, it was stuck to her and wasn't going away anytime soon. Something that Tokage made abundantly clear during their match.
"What you said really hurt me, you know." The girl continued. "It's bad enough that some of the people in my class already think that I'm incompetent. But hearing you say all of those nasty things to me really did it. I get that I'm not necessarily the best when it comes to things outside of the classroom. But I would think that I at least earned enough respect from everyone to not think so little of me."
'Damn, I really hit a sore spot for her, didn't I?' Tokage thought to herself. She already knew that the raven-haired teen had a bit of an insecurity issue. But she didn't think that it was this bad. "Look, I already said that I was just joking around-"
"And where exactly was the joke? You called me a whore, said that I bribed my way into getting into U.A. and then had the nerve to call me a failure right to face! I don't know what kind of twisted upbringing you had. But most people don't think that way. The only ones that do are ingrates are bullies."
Once again, Tokage was back to being on the defensive. "Hey, I am not a bully!"
"Really? That's not what your classmates say."
"Huh?"
"From what I've heard, you love having fun at the expense of others." The 'creation' quirk user explained. "You can't even go a day without poking fun at someone else just to get a few laughs."
"So I like to mess around a bit." Tokage shrugged. "It's a big deal. All in good fun."
Silence followed the green haired girl's statement. Whatever response Yaoyorozu was about to give appeared to get caught in her throat. And all she could do was glare at Tokage with a look of pure discontent.
"Honestly...I don't understand how such a nice guy like Midoriya-san ended up with a girl like you." The raven-haired teen said in a low tone. But not low enough to be misheard by the girl standing right in front of her.
You could almost hear the record scratch in Tokage's head upon hearing those words. Did this chick really just...
"What?!"
"I just think that he deserves better is all. He'd be better off with someone like Yanagi-san. From what I've seen, the two of them would be a much better fit."
Okay, Setsuna Tokage was a pretty level-headed person. One would say that she rarely ever lost her temper. But hearing something like that from the "princess" of 1-A definitely flipped a switch inside her brain. One that she wasn't even aware that she had. Who the hell did this girl think she was to say something like that to her? And to make matters even more irritating, the raven-haired teen just so happened to hit a soft spot that the green haired girl didn't like to think about.
"Hey look! I already apologized for everything I said. Just because you're mad at me, that doesn't give you the right to attack my relationship. That stuff is none of your business!"
"And so is my personal life. But that didn't stop you from hurling insults at me."
Once again, Tokage was left speechless. Unable to formulate a response. Even though she didn't like it, Yaoyorozu had made a pretty good point.
"See, it's not so great when you're on the receiving end of someone else's 'fun'. Now is it?"
"Alright, I get your point." Tokage breathed out a heavy sigh. Mainly to try and calm herself down.
"I don't think you do." Yaoyorozu replied. In her mind, the girl was just saying that to try and change the subject. But that was certainly the last thing that she cared about at the moment. "You came all the way over here thinking that you could simply apologize for all the nasty things you said to me and that everything would be okay. But it's not. I do not accept your half-hearted attempt to try and clear your conscience. And I never will. Especially not from someone who bullies her classmates around just to have a few laughs."
There goes that word again. The word that really made Setsuna Tokage want to lash out at the girl standing before her. Is that really what her classmates thought of her? That she was just a bully? No, it couldn't be. The people in her class liked her. And they were all well aware of how she operated by now. Sure she couldn't help herself from pointing a few things out that she found humorous at times. But that didn't make her a bully. Or anything even remotely close to it.
Besides, she hated bullies. She had to deal with them all the time in middle school. There's no way she should be compared to people like that. Those were the kinds of people who found satisfaction in other people's misery.
It was at that moment that the gears started turning in her head. And a realization suddenly hit Tokage like a ton of bricks.
Wait a second, that was exactly the kind of thing that she did. Sure it was never meant in a malicious manner. Or on the scale that she had seen in the past. But it was effectively the same thing. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she absolutely found pleasure in other people's misery. Even if it was just a small amount.
'Wait...what?!' The green haired girl tried to wrap her head around the thoughts she was currently having. What the hell was going on here? She just came here to say that she was sorry for what she did the other day. So why the hell was she thinking about this right now?
Before Tokage's mind could begin cycling through her other thoughts even further, the sound of a door opening up at the other end of the hallway snapped her out of it. The two teens redirected their gazes to see Tsuyu Asui poking her head out of the doorway.
"Is everything alright out here, gero?" The from-themed teen with the scars on her face asked in a neutral tone.
"Everything's fine, Tsu-chan." Yaoyorozu answered in a miffed tone. "Tokage-san here was actually about to leave."
The frog girl's eyes then turned towards the other green haired girl. And Tokage somehow managed to recompose herself just in time to respond. "Y-yeah, I was just leaving."
"Oh, alright then." Asui said, albeit a bit skeptically, as she retreated back into her room.
Yaoyorozu didn't even bother to say anything else to the 'lizard tail splitter' user before walking back into her own chambers. But made sure to give her one last sour look before shutting the door in her face.
'Well...that just blew up in my face, didn't it?'
Seeing that there was no chance of getting to talk to the 'creation' quirk again anytime soon, Tokage simply decided to just head back to the 1-B dorms to think about what just happened. However, on the way she couldn't help but allow her mind to wander back to her thoughts from earlier.
She was just overthinking things. Yaoyorozu was pissed off at her and wanted to say anything that would make her angry. That's all it was. Just an angry person blowing off steam towards the object of her discontent. But even as Tokage tried to rational all of that inside her brain, one thought kept popping up in the back of her mind.
Was she really that bad of a person? The kind that could be compared to a bully? Is that what her classmates thought about her behind her back? Is that what her friends thought about her? Is that what Midoriya thought about her? There was no way that was the case, right?
She was the class vice-rep of her class. Which was objective proof that people thought she was at the very least a cool person. It wasn't like she went around terrorizing people for the fun it. Aside from a few small pranks here and there.
Setsuna Tokage would be the first to admit that she had a habit of overstepping her boundaries at times. But she never did so on purpose. If anything, it was usually just an accident. It wasn't like she was intentionally trying to hurt anyone's feelings. She just saw an opportunity to have a good bit of fun and ran with it. That's really all it was.
Her mind then went back to how much of an annoyance she had been to Yanagi and Tetsutetsu recently. More specifically, the grey haired girl and how much effort she had put into setting her up with Tokoyami. But it wasn't like she was doing it just for the sake of having fun. There were other reasons too.
Unbeknownst to anyone, the real reason she was doing all of that was just to get people to stop making comments about how awesome the "Dynamic Duo of 1-B" were.
She was aware of how her classmates used to make passing remarks about how Midoriya and Yanagi seemed like a good match. And it was something that still rubbed her the wrong way. It wasn't like she was actively trying to make the grey haired teen's life harder. But is that what it seemed like she was doing?
Then there was Tetsutetsu. The two of them had been friends ever since elementary school. Sure, she didn't go out of her way to force him into situations with Kendou like how she did with Yanagi. But the 'steel' quirk user knew that she only egged him on with good intentions. If she was really bothering him, he would've said something about it by now. Right?
She then thought back to Yaoyorozu. Up until this moment, Tokage hadn't really considered just how damaging her words could've been to the 1-A girl. The 'creation' quirk user was right. She humiliated her in front of everyone for a rather dumb reason. Just to win in a training match. And she said some things that more than likely would've gotten her in trouble if there had been microphones in the training area the day of their fight.
Although she had the opinion that everyone needed to have thick skin if they wanted to cut it as a hero. Something that Kayama had said numerous times to her when they were training Tokage to get into U.A.. But in reality, not everyone was wired that way. She certainly was. Or rather she thought she was up until a few minutes ago. But even the most poised of individuals had a limit to how provocation they could take. And the majority of people wouldn't appreciate being called such nasty things right to their face.
By the time she made it back to her room, Tokage was feeling really guilty for what she had done. It was an emotion that she never actually experienced before. And she absolutely hated the feeling. It was the kind of feeling that made you want to crawl into a hole and disappear. The only time she felt anything even remotely close to this was back when Ozehana got injured back during the 'Derelicta' raid on account of her making a dumb decision.
Originally, the girl had planned to just spend the night in Midoriya's room like she usually did most days of the week. But right now, she just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts.
In all honesty, she didn't think it was a good idea to be around the boy with what was going on inside her head right now. The last thing she wanted was to do something stupid like ask him if he thought that she was a bully. Mainly because it just felt wrong to ask someone who had seen some of the worst kind of bullying in their life to judge her in that way. But also because she felt like she wouldn't like the answer that he would give her.
So without even bothering to change out of her uniform, Tokage simply crawled into bed and forced herself into falling asleep. Hoping that she would feel better about herself when she opened her eyes the next morning.
~The Next Day~
Reiko Yanagi was having a pretty odd day. Which was saying something considering the crazy year that she was experiencing.
After an entire weekend of intense gaming, the grey haired otaku was expecting to come back to the same usual shenanigans that her friends always found a way to drag her into. However, that wasn't the case. She had no clue what happened during her three days of self-imposed isolation. But for some reason, there seemed to be this weird atmosphere surrounding her class. More specifically, her group of friends.
Actually, she knew exactly what the cause -or causes- of this weird tension was. Both of which had green hair, green eyes and a metaphorical cloud hanging over their heads for the entire day.
To say that Midoriya and Tokage were acting strange would be putting it mildly. Throughout the day, neither of the two greenettes had been in a particularly cheery mood. Which definitely warranted at least some concern from the 'poltergeist' user. Along with the rest of her classmates.
When it came to the other half of the "Dynamic Duo" of 1-B, this kind of thing wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for her fellow telekinesis user.
Midoriya was never the most outgoing or cheery person on Earth, especially at the start of the school year. But seeing the boy so downtrodden was unusual to say the least. Never before did he appear so...lifeless. Oddly enough, whatever was bothering him seemed to have hit him the hardest during their heroics class earlier that afternoon.
Midoriya was practically an empty shell. Lazily going through the motions and barely paying attention to what was going on around him. And judging by the fact that Komori, no disrespect to their brunette classmate, was able to get the better of him during their class meant that he was completely off his game. A rarity compared to how he typically operated.
Tokage however, was a whole different level of weird...
Her normally extroverted and animated classmate had barely said a word all day. Which was enough to ring a few alarm bells in everyone's head. The girl seemed completely out of it and moved as if there were cinder blocks attached her feet. On top of that, Tokage actually got a question wrong during their hero art history class. Which never happened, like ever. That alone was enough to make Midnight pause and look at the girl as if she had committed some sort of mortal sin.
At the moment, the 'poltergeist' user was sitting in her room. Quietly reading through the final volume of one the many pre-quirk era manga that she had in her collection. Although she was worried about her friends, Yanagi thought that it was best to just leave them to their own devices for the time being. Part of her wanted to talk to them to see what exactly was wrong. But interactions such as that were...out of her scope. As much as she hated to admit.
She was never good at talking to people about their problems. Hell, Yanagi barely knew how to sort through her own issues let alone try and work through someone else's. Couple that with the fact that her "people skills" outside of the classroom were abysmal and you could see why she actively tried to avoid it. To be honest, she hadn't felt this conflicted since the day that she learned Midoriya used to cut himself almost religiously.
That was another thing. Ever since that fateful day she had made it a point to keep an eye on Midoriya just in case it seemed like he was going into a downward spiral. And right now the alarm bells were going off in her head. Which was a feeling that she didn't like at all. The girl was confident that she didn't have to worry about something like that happening. But the grey haired teen had the nagging feeling in her gut that she was wrong.
But much to Yanagi's chagrin, she knew that pressing the issue wasn't a good idea. Sure, everyone had their "off" days. But this was something more peculiar. The two of them seem way too..sad.
For now, the grey haired teen decided that it was best to just leave them alone and let them work through it themselves. If either of them wanted to talk, then she would be there for them. But unless they came to her, she wasn't going to try and open a can of worms that no one wanted to deal with. Or at least, that's what she convinced herself to think to avoid throwing herself into a painfully awkward situation.
So for the time being, Yanagi simply went back to immersing herself into the small book that she was currently holding in her hands. Flipping through its pages with slight anticipation at how things were going to come to an end. She always enjoyed reading pre-quirk era stories like this. Their take on how quirks or "super powers" worked was always interesting. And getting a look into what kind things society consumed back in those days was rather enlightening when you thought about it.
Once she finished the final page, the grey haired otaku let out what appeared to be a semi-conflicted sigh. Just like that, her literary adventure was over. And all she could do now was set the small book down on her bed and think about how she felt about the series.
'Honestly...Naruto should've ended up with the ramen guy's daughter. Hinata's pretty much a stalker who fell upwards into success. The girl couldn't even have a proper conversation with him until the end of the series. Hell, even Ino would've been a better match.' She thought to herself as she continued to reflect on the manga that she spent the better part of two weeks powering through. 'Although...this did give me some ideas for some new moves that I could work on. Nagato's "Deva Path" basically has telekinesis. And I'm pretty sure that I can pull of an almighty pu-'
The sound of someone knocking on her door brought Yanagi out what was sure to be a two hour brainstorming session on how she could improve her quirk by emulating one of the characters in the manga.
"Come in, it's unlocked!" She called out. Not wanting to get up from the comfort of her bed.
When the door opened, the 'poltergeist' user was actually surprised to see Tokage of all people walking into her room. The green haired girl was wearing a t-shirt with the katakana for "dress shirt" one the front. Which was no doubt one of Midoriya's. Along with some royal blue sweatpants. But she also looked really tired from what she could tell.
"Hey, Ghosty..." The greenette said in an exhausted tone. "Can I borrow your notes? I was kind of out of it today and I'm pretty sure that I missed a lot of stuff."
"Sure." Yanagi nodded.
Okay, now this was getting ridiculous...
Usually her, Awase and Tetsutetsu were the ones asking to borrow notes from either Tokage or Midoriya. Not the other way around. When the person with the best grades in your class was asking to borrow notes, you knew something was wrong.
After shaking off her momentary shock, Yanagi quickly walked over to the opposite side of the room to fish her notebook out of her backpack. And then proceed to hand it off to Tokage. Which the green haired girl lazily accepted before making her way towards the door.
'God dammit.' The grey haired teen cursed to herself as she watched her friend drag her feet.
This just wasn't right. She didn't know why, but seeing Tokage like this was just way too fucking bizarre for her. The vice-rep of their class was supposed to be a ball of annoyingly energetic chaos that spent way too much time sticking her detachable nose into her business. And watching her just drone about like her cat died just made it feel like the universe was off-balance.
Yanagi knew that she told herself that she shouldn't pry too much about whatever was wrong with the girl. But now that she was right in front of her, she really didn't have a choice. "Hey."
"Yeah..." Tokage turned around. Her lethargic voice matching her appearance.
"What's wrong?" The girl said bluntly.
"Huh?"
"You've been acting weird all day." Yanagi explained. "I think this is the first time since I've met you that you've gone a full school day without making at least one mild sexually inappropriate joke. Is everything alright?"
Tokage was silent for a moment, allowing a weird look of...disappointment to cross her face before shaking her head. "Yeah, I'm good. I just had a...rough night is all."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, totally. I'm perfectly fine."
"I don't believe you."
"Seriously, I'm-"
"Did you and Izuku have a fight or something?" The grey haired girl asked. Maybe that was it? The two of them had barely interacted all day. She doubted it though. Tokage was wearing one of his t-shirts around the dorm. And most girls wouldn't wear an article of their boyfriend's clothing if they were upset with them.
Another weird expression flashed across the green haired girl's face before she recovered and waved her hand. "No, nothing like that. Look, I appreciate that you're trying to help. But...I just don't feel like talking about it. Alright?"
"Alright...but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here if you need me."
"Yeah, sure. Anyways...thanks for the notes. I'll bring these back before I go to bed. See ya' later."
And just like that, Tokage was gone. Leaving Yanagi to think about their brief interaction.
'Why am I so bad at this?' The girl thought before dropping back down to her bed. She really needed to work on her social skills.
On the other end of the equation, a certain silver haired teen was having mixed feelings at the moment.
Tetsutetsu certainly wasn't the smartest guy on planet Earth. His gradually improving grades could certainly attest to that. But even he was smart enough to see that something wasn't right.
As far as he could remember, there were only a handful of times he had ever seen Tokage looking so depressed.
Most of them were on the anniversary of her mother's death. And that was mainly because Urie was usually so down that the negative energy just affected the Tokage family as a whole. The others were when something either really bad or really annoying happened. Like the time when she got into a fight with Camie Utsushimi after school the day some of the girls in their class decided to pull a pretty shitty prank on her. Basically, it was a pretty rare occasion.
Whatever happened to the girl definitely had to have been bad. Bad enough for her to get a question wrong during hero art history class earlier than morning. The class that her soon-to-be stepmother taught. Like, the odds of something like that happening were practically zero! When that happened, the 'steel' quirk user was almost certain that he was transported to some weird alternate dimension where everything was backwards. Even Midnight had to recheck her notes to make sure that she didn't put the wrong answer down in her book.
Simply put, something was wrong with his best friend and he had no clue what the hell it was. Or how to help her. Tokage had been pretty quiet all day. Which in itself was enough for him to give her a few strange glances during class. And seeing her not acting like her usual self rubbed him the wrong way. Like seriously, she hadn't pestered him once about his crush on Kendou all day. It just didn't make any fucking sense!
However, that wasn't the end of it. There was also the fact that Midoriya seemed to be stuck in the same rut as Tokage.
To be honest, Tetsutetsu didn't know Midoriya as well as Tokage and Yanagi. They were good friends for sure. And he let him copy his homework whenever he forgot to do it. But seeing the green haired boy so dejected during class was troubling. Although he didn't exactly know what the deal was, the 'steel' quirk user was good enough with people to know that Midoriya looked immensely ashamed of himself. Like he committed a crime and the consequences of his deeds were weighing heavily on his shoulders.
This was even more evident judging by the fact that Komori managed to pull a fast one on him in the middle of training. Not to say anything bad about their mushroom loving classmate. But seeing arguably the strongest guy in their entire grade so off his game was enough to know that something was really wrong with him. But what?
Sure, Midoriya wasn't exactly the most animated or extroverted guy in the world. But he was a far cry from the depressed looking ball of sadness that he saw all through the school day. The guy was almost always in a somewhat positive mood. So whatever put him into such a funk had to be pretty major.
He knew that Midoriya and Tokage hadn't gotten into any arguments recently. He asked the 'lizard tail splitter' user that very same question earlier and she said that it wasn't the case. Actually, from what he could tell the green haired couple were having two completely different problems. As strange as that sounded.
If he had to put into words, he would say that Tokage looked guilty about something she did. While Midoriya looked like he was beating himself up over something that happened. Yeah, that was it. But now the biggest question on the silver haired teen's mind was why? What could've happened to the two of them since yesterday to cause such a mess?
"Argh, what the hell?!" Tetsutetsu scratched his head in frustration as he stood up from his computer chair.
What the hell was he doing? Wasting his time wondering about these things wasn't going to solve any problems. His friends needed help! Besides, thinking wasn't his strong suit anyway. Tetsutetsu was do'er! He faced obstacles head on. Like a real hero should! And his opinion, the best thing to do in a situation like this was to confront the two of them directly and just ask them what the hell was wrong with them.
With his mind now made up, the silver haired teen walked out of his room and made a beeline for the end of the hallway. He would've preferred talking to Tokage first, but he and Midoriya lived in the same hall. Along with Honenuki and Awase. So it just made sense to go to him first. In barely a few seconds, the boy was standing in front of Midoriya's door and gave it a semi-forceful yet motivated knock.
"Who is it?" The voice of the 'telekinesis' user asked.
"Tetsutetsu!"
"Oh...come in."
With the green light, the 'steel' quirk user did exactly that.
Although Tetsutetsu wasn't one to judge someone's choice of style, he always found it weird how Midoriya's room was so...bland. The guy had almost no directions or furnishings whatsoever. How Tokage spent so much time in here and not her own room was a complete mystery to him. Everything in the 'telekinesis' user's room, from the curtains to the bedspread and carpet were either black or green. The only real pieces of decor were the television, laptop and his stack of hero notebooks. Including a few pictures of him and his family.
Actually, something new to the room caught Tetsutetsu's eye. It was a photo on top of the computer desk. One of Midoriya and Blizzard in front of her agency. Surrounded by a pretty extravagant looking picture frame that Tetsutetsu was certain the number nine heroine must've picked out.
He didn't understand why Midoriya lied to everyone at the start of the year about him being the "Psychic Sisters" younger brother. In his opinion, it was pretty obvious considering they all had the same quirk and looked so much alike. Actually...out of the three of them, Tornado looked to be the most out of place. Aside from her short stature, she was the only one with neon green hair as opposed to dark green. Then again, Midoriya was the only one out of the trio with freckles. So there was that.
The best explanation that Tetsutetsu could come up with was that it was some sort of family related issue. He remembered Midoriya saying that he developed his quirk extremely late. So maybe that had something to do with it. But that was really none of his business and decided to leave it at that. Besides, he had more pressing matters to worry about.
"I haven't started on the homework assignments for today." Midoriya said as he sat up off his bed. Looking just as woeful as he had been earlier.
"Don't worry, I'm not here for that." The silver haired teen waved off. 'Fuck, we had homework today? No wait, not important!'
"Oh, okay. Then what do you need?"
Seeing as there was no reason to beat around the bush, the 'steel' quirk user came right and said what was on his mind. "Dude, what's up with you? You've been moping around all day. Is everything okay?"
Midoriya paused for a moment as he gave Tetsutetsu what could only be described as an awkward look. "O-oh un...i-it's nothing..."
"C'mon man, don't do that! Obviously something is bugging you. And as your friend it's my job to cheer you up whenever you're feeling down!"
"I just had a rough day yesterday is all. Nothing to worry about."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
The silver haired teen wasn't buying it even for a second. Most normal people would've just left it at that. But Tetsutetsu was hardheaded, both metaphorically and literally. And there was no way that he was going to leave this room without at least figuring out what was wrong with the boy.
"Izuku, dude...everyone in class was pretty worried about you today. Even Monoma. If somethings bothering you that we can help with, then just let us know. Y'know, it's pretty weird for all us to see both you and Setsuna moping about like someone died. It really throws us off our rhythm."
Even though he was in a pretty shitty mood right now, Midoriya couldn't help let a slight smile cross his face. He still wasn't totally used to having actual friends that cared about his well being aside from Unohana. So it was at least comforting to know his classmates were concerned about him. But right now, the last thing he wanted to think about was his disastrous encounter with All Might.
"Look, like I said...I just had a pretty rough day. I promise you that there is nothing that you guys need to worry about."
The two boys simply stared at each other for a painfully long moment before the 'steel' quirk just let out a defeated sigh. He knew he should've gone to Tokage first. She had no problem venting to him about whatever just so happened to piss her off. But he guessed that this was probably the most that he could do right now. Trying to force the answers out of the 'telekinesis' user didn't seem like it would be a good idea. At least for now.
"Alright, if you say so. But if you need someone to chat with, I'm right down the hall."
"Thanks, Tetsutetsu." Midoriya grinned.
"Well uh...since I'm here...uh, what exactly were the homework assignments again?"
~Later That Night~
"Hey." Tokage said in a half-hearted tone as she walked into Midoriya's room.
The 'lizard tail splitter' user finally decided to try and talk to someone about what happened with Yaoyorozu yesterday. And who better to drop all of your emotional baggage on than your boyfriend? Her next best option would be Tetsutetsu. But that didn't come with the option of "emotional support cuddling".
However, she was also genuinely interested in what had Midoriya so down today. Like everyone, she could see that he was in a shitty mood. And despite her own issues, she thought that it was a good idea to help him try and work through whatever was wrong. Partially to try and deflect her thoughts away from her own problems. But out of honest concern for 'telekinesis' user.
"Hey." The green haired boy greeted her in a similar tone of voice.
With a practiced ease, Tokage simply closed the distance between the two of them and dropped down onto Midoriya's bed. Taking a moment to fit herself underneath his arm and snuggle up close to him.
"So...what exactly had you in such a funk today?" The girl then asked in a curious tone. Looking to get right down to business.
"I should be asking you the same thing." He replied.
The young couple stared at each other for a good five seconds before Tokage decided to just get this over with. The sooner it was done, the sooner she could hopefully clear her conscience.
"I did something pretty fucked up and might've done some major damage to someone who didn't deserve it."
Midoriya couldn't help but give his girlfriend a quizzical look after hearing that. That didn't sound good at all. He was about to ask her what she meant, but the girl must've knew what he was about to say and started explaining without any prompt.
"You remember the training session we did with Shiketsu last week?"
"Yeah?" He said. Kinda hard for him to forget. Especially since the whole point of the exercise was to get him to fight Togata to see if he could be put down just in case he became a villain. But he probably shouldn't say something like that out loud.
"Well..." Tokage rubbed her hands together nervously. "During our round against Ibara's team..."
The 'lizard tail splitter' user then spent the next ten minutes going on about everything that happened during her encounter with Yaoyorozu during their match. Along with what had happened with the raven-haired girl the night before. The whole time she was doing this, Midoriya simply chose to stay silent. Allowing the girl to get everything off her chest as smoothly as possible.
Once she was finally done recanting her tale, there was really only one thing that the boy could say. "Wow..."
Tokage tried really hard not to scowl at the boy for his lack of reaction. "Really? That's all you have to say?"
"I mean..."
"You aren't going to call me a shitty person for doing what I did? I pretty much did the most fucked up thing to Yaoyorozu that I could think of without considering the consequences. Just to have an advantage over her in a training match. I mean, basically called her a failure right to her face."
"You're right." The green haired boy nodded. "What you did was really messed up."
Midoriya didn't feel the need to pull his punches. What his girlfriend did to their classmate was definitely something that no one would be happy about. Although he understood the logic in saying whatever you could to get the upper hand in a fight, that just wasn't something he could get behind.
Midoriya knew all too well how dangerous saying terrible things like that to someone could lead to even bigger problems down the road. But the part of him that wanted to be upset with her was at least placated by the fact that she was truly sorry about what she had done. That was a lot more than what could be said about other people that he's met in his life.
On any other day, Midoriya might've said something to try and cheer the girl up. But he wasn't in that particular mood right about now.
"I know, and I feel like a piece of shit." Tokage sighed. "I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from ever doing it. Now I don't think that I could look Yaoyorozu in the face."
"At least you apologized. And you made the effort to try and show her that you were sorry. But I think it's best if you just let her work through it."
"I guess." Tokage conceded her defeat. At the very least, Midoriya wasn't as upset with her as she thought he would be. Or he just wasn't expressing it physically. "What about you? What the hell happened yesterday?"
"Well..." The boy gave her a nervous look.
And then it was his turn. Just like the girl did before, Midoriya spent the next fifteen minutes telling Tokage about his not-so-pleasant discussion with All Might after they parted ways yesterday afternoon. The green haired boy spared no detail in what happened. Even adding in the information about his brief chat with Togata after he got home from spending the day with his sister. By the time he was finished, all Tokage could do was look up at him with a shocked expression on her face.
"Okay..." The 'lizard tail splitter' user managed to get out of her mental stupor. "That's several levels of fucked up."
"You're telling me."
"I get that All Might-sensei would want to make sure that 'All for One' guy wasn't in control of you. But allowing that Nighteye guy to basically throw Togata at you wasn't okay. Besides, doesn't he know that your memories were tampered with?"
"He does."
"God damn..." Tokage rubbed her head in thought.
To be honest, she was still having a hard time wrapping her head around this. All Might may have been retired now. But the guy was still the greatest hero Japan had ever seen. So for him to basically throw a powerhouse like Mirio Togata at her boyfriend just to make sure that he could be handled in case he became a villain was crazy to her. It honestly seemed like the kind of cartoonish nonsense that you would read in a shonen jump manga.
Sure, the villain in question was a major threat to Japan based on the information she had heard from Kayama. But even then, keeping tabs on Midoriya sounded a bit too paranoid for her liking.
But as much as she hated to admit it, she understood the logic. Midoriya had long since confided in her about what happened the night he was rescued. Including his fight with Katsuragi. But if 'All for One' was still in control of him, she doubted that he wouldn't have done something by now. Then again, Tokage wasn't all that interested in deep diving into the mind of a super villain.
This was one of those situations that she had absolutely no clue how to approach. Midoriya's situation was already bizarre enough as it was. Having had a quirk forcibly implanted into your body by one of the most dangerous men alive far exceeded what could be considered "normal". But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
"So..." The green haired girl looked up to Midoriya. "What are you going to do now?"
"I honestly just want to let it go and forget that it ever happened. Something tells me that All Might-sensei probably won't want to talk to me again anytime soon."
"If I were you, I'd take this up with the principal. Maybe he could do something about it." Then again, the girl found it extremely unlikely that one of the smartest beings on the planet wasn't already in the loop. She couldn't see a scenario where Nezu would allow any of this to happen under his watch and not know about it.
"I should, but I just don't want to deal with it anymore." Midoriya let out a quick sigh.
"I understand." The girl nodded. "Wow, the two of us really are pieces of work. Aren't we?"
"I can't really argue with you there."
"So you're not mad at me for what I did to Yaoyorozu?"
"I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't upset about it." The boy replied honestly. "But there's really no point in beating you up about it."
That seemed to be enough for Tokage. There was definitely a lingering feeling in the air that Midoriya wanted to say something more. But neither of the two greenettes were in the mood to deal with any more than what they already had. And frankly, Tokage was happy that she wasn't having an argument with her boyfriend about it.
"I don't think that you're a bully." Midoriya then said in a soft tone.
"Huh?"
"I'm serious. I know bullies, and you're pretty far from the kind that I've seen. Granted, you could stand to pull back on the jokes every now and then. But I know that everyone in class enjoys your special brand of chaos."
"Thanks for saying that." She gave him a toothy smile. "It means a lot."
"No problem."
"And if it's any consolation prize, I think you were right to curse out All Might-sensei."
"Really?" He has a quizzical look.
"Yeah...not many people can stand up to the strongest guy in all of Japan and leave him speechless. You might be the only one to do so and live to tell the tale. The fact that you did it is actually...kinda hot."
The green haired boy couldn't help but chuckle. "You really are over the top sometimes, you know that."
"Yeah, you're right."
With that, the young couple simply decided to just drop everything and start getting ready to go to bed. Hoping that they'd be able to push past all of this by the time they woke up the next morning.
A/N: Wow, quite a bit happened in this chapter, huh? Sorry for the extremely late update. But work/life had been pretty exhausting for the last few weeks. That plus I'm actively trying to catch up on about 15 different shows/manga that are currently airing. So I haven't really had the time to write. This was originally supposed to be two different chapters, but I just decided to lump them both together and revise a few things for the sake of convenience.
1. It just occurred to me that we haven't gotten a lot of Yanagi and/or Tetsutetsu POV's in this fic, so I thought that it was a good idea to get their thoughts on what was wrong with their respective best friends. I plan on doing that a lot more until I'm finally done with this story. But we'll just see how it plays out.
2. I'll admit that I'm too happy with how this one came out. Some things just didn't flow the way that I wanted them too. But this is honestly the best that I could do considering my brain is running on fumes and I wanted to hurry up and get this one out the way.
3. Next chapter will be a bit more fun. And we'll be getting some much needed Unohana/1-A POV to fill in some backstory I couldn't fit into earlier chapters. But that's all that I can really say for now.
4. From here on out, the chapters are probably going to get pretty long. I'll be doing this so that we can hurry and get to the timeskip. But I promise that I'll do what I can to make sure that the story doesn't feel "rushed".
Like always, thanks for reading and don't be afraid to leave a comment/review. And have a wonderful day!