Bakugo POV
Seeing Akira had been a relief, her dumb ass had been MIA for over a week now. Her hugging me had not been expected, and it was weird as fuck. No one ever really hugs me, in my family, we show affection by yelling. At least, my mom and I do. However, after looking her over once, I couldn't even bring myself to remind her to talk normally. Instead, I fucking hugged her, but I swear to god if she tells anyone about this...
Akira POV
It had taken a while for everyone else to show up, and in the meantime, snacks had made their way around and people had pulled out homework. Kirishima was crammed on one side of me, Bakugo on the other, their playful banter and jostling doing little to lift my spirits. Tsuyu and Shouji were still seated comfortably on the floor, while Mina and Midoriya had opted for the chairs. It'd been easy to start making my way through the homework that had accumulated with their help, and while playing referee for Midoriya and Bakugo wasn't ideal- it was at least something... Normal.
When the others finally arrive, it takes some time for everyone to get settled. Shouto takes a spot on the floor, Momo makes herself a pillow and kneels next to him with her thermos of tea. Kaminari perches on the edge of the couch, Tokoyami lets Uraraka sit next to Midoriya, and grabs the remaining chairs in the kitchen for himself and Jirou. It's cramped, more cramped than I thought they'd all be okay with- I honestly can't remember there ever being this many people in the house.
"It's good to see you are well Akira, classes were much louder in your absence. Courtesy of Bakugo of course." Bakugo growls.
"Shut your trap Icy-Hot! Or I'll blow your fucking head off-" I push Bakugo's hands down and give him my best-disappointed look.
"There's really no space in here to set off explosions. Also, my house, my rules. No quirks." Growling he leans back into the couch and settles for glaring at the room.
"Akira, you said you had something to tell us about why you were gone, right?" Damn it, Midoriya, this is why Bakugo yells at you so much. Learn to read a person.
"Yeah... I did. I uh... I guess we s-should get that over with." Jirou leans forward in her seat, giving me a strange look.
"Hey, if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. No one here is going to make you or anything." I shake my head, hands clenched into fists.
"I-I think it's better if... If I ju-just get it over with." A firm hand grasps my shoulder and shocked I turn to look at a serious-faced Bakugo.
"Hey, headphone chick is right. If it's not something you want to talk about, don't fucking talk about it. Right shitty hair?"
"Yeah, it's not really our business anyway- unless you make it our business of course." I nod, dropping my eyes to my lap once again. It's hard to breathe again, my chest is tight, and I'm fighting back those tears that have yet to fall. My stutter doesn't even register to me as I let the words pour out, fighting not to choke on a sob.
"It's important for the class to know, I think. A lot of you have been very kind to me and made time to help me this semester, though I've never been able to do things with any of you outside of school before now. You've all been helpful in making the adjustment to a real school for the first time, been better classmates and friends than I ever would have hoped for at the start of this year. We've already been through so much together in a very short time. This is something that might affect the way I act, in classes, in combat training, and in every other aspect of my life for the foreseeable future. As my classmates and my friends, I'd hate for you to be concerned and not know why I'm acting differently. And so it's something that I must talk about. I'm sure that you all heard what happened to Iida's brother, Ingenium, by now. I'm also sure you've heard about the civilian that was caught in the crossfire that day. That civilian was my father. The was the bravest and the strongest man I ever knew and- and now he's gone. Because he always had to step in and help those in harm's way, no matter the cost to himself. There's never been anyone who I looked up to so much as my father, he has always been- and always will be, my biggest hero. Not in a million years could anyone else come close- not even a pro-hero. But now, he's gone, and I don't what to do." Kirishima's arm wraps around me, Bakugo's hand still on my shoulder, the entire room silent for several long moments as I shove away at the tears that I don't want to let go here in front of everyone. After a while, a soft voice speaks up.
"I am sincerely sorry for your loss, your father was a good man, a staple in this community. Maiko had already informed me of this and gave me this to bring you. It's a photo book of pictures through out the years, a few are animated by someone's quirk, and everyone wrote down some things about him with whatever pictures that they shared. Your father was an admired man, and all those who knew him will remember him fondly." Shouji held out the plain black book.
"Thank you Shouji."
Kirishima POV
When I had arrived at Akira's house, all of the things I knew about her suddenly made a lot more sense. The way Bakugo always shoved a tray of food at her during lunch, how she jittered a little nervously when asked about her family, and the exhaustion that always seemed to pour off of her. I'd seen the handwritten schedules pinned to the fridge, and the one with her name on it barely had any empty space on it, every line was filled with work, school, or training.
When I finally took a moment to look at her properly, I saw something I'd never seen before. Sure, the exhaustion was there stronger than ever, but there was an air of defeat hanging around her like a cloud. Hearing what happened to her father, listening to her choke back sobs, was gut-wrenching. This was a girl that approached life happily but seriously, with some kind of smile or kind look always upon her face. I'd seen her nervous before, but even then, there was always that little bit of a smile shining through. She never showed fear, anger, sadness, or frustration in school.
When I wrap my arms around her, she still doesn't let go of it all. I see them there, at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over. But true to character, there's a pained smile on her face as she speaks, and not a single tear falls. The room stands in silence for some time, then slowly stories are told.
Akira POV
After giving me the book, Shouji slowly began recounting a story about the first time he met my father, and me.
"Do you remember that block party when we were little, the one we met at? You were about three maybe four-and I had just turned five, there are so many pictures from it I always find myself remembering it. You were tucked away from everyone, and none of the other kids would go near you, and none of them would go near me either. They all thought I was so scary, I was so upset, but your dad came over and gave me some of those popper things. You know, the ones that explode with a little bang and flash of light when you throw them on the ground? He pointed you out to me and said you'd play with me if I didn't try to talk to you. You had a shiny rock in front of you, and a pile of other rocks, and you kept wandering off to grab new ones from nearby. It took a while, my dad came over to talk to yours and practically shoved me at you. I didn't say anything just like he'd told me, but I sat down a little ways away from you, and you just looked up and smiled. Didn't say a word to me, but I held one of the poppers out to you and you took it. It took a while to get you to throw it, but when you did- I've never seen anyone look at anything with that much excitement. Our parents were nearby, and you were practically jumping for excitement, you looked at your dad and just said 'Splosion!' he was so shocked, apparently, that was the first time you'd ever talked, which I didn't know until I was older. Then you, very seriously, picked up your shiny rock and gave it to me, and when you did-" I giggled a little.
"I told you its name and sat back down, you gave me some more poppers, and then licked the rock I gave you." Kaminari roared with laughter.
"Dude! You licked a rock, that's totally gross! But like, why did you lick the rock?" Shouji shrugged.
"Who knows, I'm a very sensory person, and I was a child. Children often do strange things." Nearly everyone was in fits of giggling at the thought of the stoic Shouji licking a rock, and conversation easily flowed into other ridiculous stories from childhood.
"That's crazy though, totally unlike you Shouji! I remember this one time, when I was like six maybe, there was this huge parade downtown on my birthday for something. My parents convinced me the parade was for my birthday too. I was so upset when I found out it wasn't that like- I melted the couch! Mom has tons of pictures of it, and to this day I'm not allowed in the living room if I'm in a bad mood! Which is crazy, I have much better control of my quirk now." Mina giggled and she gestured wildly, no doubt thinking about what the pictures of her melted couch look like. I can imagine it too- a tiny Mina sitting angrily on a melting couch.
Stories make it around the room, Kirishima started to collect rocks before he got his quirk, and afterward, he kept doing it, and his parents still tease him about it. Jirou's dad forgot her birthday once when she was five, and her mom has not let him live it down to this day- because for weeks after it she went around stabbing stuff in their house with her earphone jacks, which of course is even worse than using a marker on the walls. Midoriya- to Bakugo's chagrin tells about the Bakugo-squad and the time he fell into the river- but to my surprise, Bakugo keeps mostly quiet, hand still on my shoulder. He does, however, insist that Midoriya's story counts for the both of them. Kaminari tells us about how after he got his quirk his mom had to re-baby proof the house because he kept sticking metal objects into the outlets. Tsuyu tells us about how her parents always took her to the river as a kid to play, even though neither of them like being outside all that much. Shouto gives a very very brief story on how he liked to watch hero programs with his mother when he was little. Momo gives a wonderfully eloquent story about a trip she took as a child, downplaying it the way she always seems to do- the line between humbleness and low self-esteem runs tight for her. Tokoyami tells a surprisingly open story about how he was very frightened of the dark as a child, even before dark shadow first emerged, and so his father took him to the store and bought him a 'magic' night light, and even though he doesn't use it anymore he's kept it as a memento. Uraraka recounts some stories from her father's construction business, which catches my attention, I remember hearing that her parents business is struggling, but I hadn't heard that is was construction.
Kirishima nudges me gently, "Do you have something Akira?" I smile and nod, fond memories are still painful- but fond nonetheless.
"I suppose. When I was a kid I went to construction sites with my dad a lot, especially if my siblings were sick or I was having a bad day. His boss always let me copy blueprints and play in the office while my dad worked. My dad or his friends would stop in randomly, giving me treats or just checking on me. One day, they took me outside, they were about to demolish a building and thought I might think it was fun. I was probably about seven. My dad propped me up on his shoulders, I remember feeling so tall that I could touch the sky, and he told me just to watch. Everything lit up, and the building came down so controlled and so practiced that it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. After that I got to stay outside the rest of the day, wearing a tiny hardhat they got just for me, and sitting next to different drivers in different machines as they cleaned everything up. I always miss those days, once my leg was injured I couldn't go out on the sites anymore, I had to stay in the office."