Author's Note: I make no apologies for the music selection in this chapter. Suffer, as I have suffered!
"So, who's ready to party?" Mina asked the crowd that had assembled in front of the school gate.
To her utter delight, the entire class had gathered there once school had let out. Sure, some looked bored, others hesitant, and Bakugou had needed to be physically dragged there by Midoriya, but they had all come in the end.
She'd honestly been expecting at least a few of them to skip out, given what they'd gone through that day. If she hadn't been the one who had organized the whole thing, she would have been sorely tempted to. She'd put her all into the battle with Midoriya and Mineta earlier, and there was a very vocal part of her that just wanted to go home, soak her feet, and watch trashy T.V. for the rest of the evening.
But here they all were, ready to come out and have a good time with her. Her heart swelled with gratitude, and she promised herself that she would turn it up to eleven and be the best host of the best party that any of them had ever attended.
"I am!" Kirishima called, slipping into his role as ultimate wingman with ease.
"I must admit, I am rather excited as well," Yaoyorozu said demurely. "I have never had the opportunity to visit a public karaoke parlor, especially not with friends."
"Do you have strict parents?" Kaminari asked. "Or are there just no good karaoke places where you live?"
"Oh no, the movie theater we have at the house comes with a karaoke function. But neither of my parents particularly like karaoke, and asking one of the maids to join me felt rather disingenuous, since they would be obliged to participate no matter what their feelings on the subject."
Mina took a moment to be absolutely blown away by the fact that Yaoyorozu's family apparently had a private movie theater. It was obvious that the girl was rich, both from the way she acted and from the way she dressed, but that was another level of wealth entirely. She wasn't sure if she'd ever met someone that well off before.
What she was sure of, however, was that she was definitely going to set up a girls' night at Yaoyorozu's place sometime. Now that would truly be an evening to be remembered.
"Well then, we'll be sure to make your first time extra special," Mina said, ignoring Mineta's snort of laughter over the comment.
"My thanks," Yaoyorozu replied.
"No problem!" Mina said, flashing her a bright smile. Then she clapped her hands together to draw everyone's attention. "C'mon everyone! Follow me if you wanna have the best time ever!"
"You really know how to pick em Raccoon Eyes," Katsuki said as they arrived at their destination.
Izuku would never say anything, but he had to admit the karaoke spot Ashido had chosen was a little… underwhelming.
The building was a graffiti-covered concrete square tucked into a back alley, with only a small sign above the door to let them know that they had found "The Karaoke Cave." The few visible windows were covered with thick paper to prevent any light from leaking in, and the door itself had seen better days.
Izuku was actually rather surprised to see so much graffiti, given the fact that they were still relatively close to UA. Most delinquents wouldn't be willing to openly act out so close to the campus. He silently hoped that they wouldn't run into the delinquents responsible. He had no desire to meet people that bold and rebellious.
"How about you try finding a place that will take a party of 20 students on short notice, and that we can still afford?" Ashido said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at Katsuki.
He grumbled a little, but didn't say anything further. Ashido apparently took this as a victory, since she let a grin spread across her face and turned to face the group.
"Look, I know it doesn't look like much, but that just means we have to make it fun for each other. So put on a smile, and get ready to sing your hearts out, because I'm making sure every one of you gets up on stage at least once!"
Izuku swallowed hard. He had been counting on blending into the background so he wouldn't have to sing anything. It might still be possible for him to do that, but considering that Ashido was already looking at him and grinning evilly, he highly doubted it.
"You guys better be prepared to be awed!" Kaminari said, adopting a ridiculous pose that involved him crossing his arms in front of himself and extending his fingers into peace signs. "I'm an expert rapper!"
Jirou suddenly broke into a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like suppressed laughter, leaning on Yaoyorozu for support. The reaction took a lot of the wind out of Kaminari's sails, but did little to deter Ashido.
"That's the spirit! C'mon guys!"
She led them into the lobby where a bored woman was in the middle of painting her nails at the front desk.
"We have a reservation under—" Ashdio said, only to be cut off.
"Through the door over there, the third room on the right. You have it for three hours," the receptionist said, not looking up from her nails.
Ashido deflated a little at the receptionist's attitude. "Awww, you're not even gonna let me say it?"
The receptionist shook her head, and finally turned her gaze towards them. "Nope. We get people putting down joke names every day, and I'm tired of it. If I hear one more person registering as the Donner party, I'm going to scratch their eyes out." To emphasize her point, she flexed her hand and her meticulously painted nails suddenly lengthened and became razor sharp claws.
"Okaaaay," Ashido replied, backing away slowly, "we're just gonna go sing now."
"Have fun or whatever. Don't make a mess," the receptionist replied, returning to her cuticles.
"Did you really put us down as the Donner party?" Uraraka asked, once they were a safe distance away from the terrifying worker.
"Nuh uh," Ashido said, shaking her head, "I put us down as 'Mina and the Chipmunks.' I have no idea why she started talking about reindeer."
"I believe she was referring to a different Donner," Yaoyorozu said with a chuckle.
"Well that's just confusing," Ashido replied, pouting slightly.
Before their conversation could continue any further, they reached the room that they had rented.
To Izuku's surprise, it was much more inviting than the exterior of the building would have implied. The room was large enough to house their entire class with only minimal squishing, and plenty of couches and chairs for everyone to have a seat when they weren't singing. These were arranged around a large table that was covered in various menus and song lists. A pair of tablets were resting on it as well, with charging cords trailing off behind one of the couches and presenting a tripping hazard if they weren't careful. Finally, a large T.V. took up most of the right wall, displaying the words 'Karaoke Cave' bouncing around on the screen while it waited for someone to use it.
"Whoa, this place is way nicer than I thought it would be," Kirishima said as he stepped into the room.
"Yeah, I was kind of expecting a dump from the outside. Nice pick, Mina!" Hagakure said, dropping onto one of the couches.
Ashido, for her part, looked relieved that everyone had come around on the venue. A massive grin was plastered across her face, and she was bouncing slightly as she looked around the room.
Izuku was glad to see her so happy. A part of him had been worried that she would take her loss during their mock battle earlier that afternoon hard, and maybe even hold it against him. Instead, she seemed to be just as upbeat as ever.
"Yo, what's with this song selection?" Kaminari called, brandishing one of the tablets over his head, "I haven't heard of any of these."
Jirou picked up the second tablet, then snorted when she saw what was on it.
"I bet you only listen to the top forty then. This stuff is old school. Like, I think my parents have a few of these on vinyl."
"Perhaps they only feature songs that are in the public domain?" Yaoyorozu ventured.
"Maybe. Hope you guys like classics," Jirou replied.
"Eh, I'll make do. Now, let's get this party started!" Kaminari said, picking up the tablet once more.
"Hold on a moment!" Iida said, loudly enough to grab everyone's attention. It took a few moments for everyone to quiet down, which Iida took as a chance to move to the front of the room where they could all see him easily.
"Given that Ashido was the one who organized this event, I think it is only proper that she is allowed to sing the first song. Assuming she wants to, of course."
"I agree," Yaoyorozu said, standing up as well, "If there is anyone who deserves to go first, it is the hostess."
A chorus of agreement followed the statements, as well as some applause for the one who had brought them all there.
"Awww, thanks guys!" Ashido said, flushing a little bit at the applause.
"Thank us by singing an awesome song!" Kirishima called.
"Now that I can do!"
The second Mina saw the song, she knew that she had to sing it. It didn't matter that she only knew half the lyrics, or that she was probably going to make a fool of herself in front of the entire class in doing it. In fact, it was better that way. It would be the perfect way to set the mood for the rest of the evening.
Satisfied with her choice, Mina looked up to see that everyone else was still working on their drink orders. Yaoyorozu had taken charge of that part, producing a pad of paper and a pen from her arm to take everything down, and proving just how awesome her Quirk was in the process. Mina was even a little bit jealous at that moment, despite how much she loved her own Quirk. Izuku, meanwhile, looked completely starstruck at the display, and had immediately begun asking her questions while he took notes in his own book.
That turned out to be extremely useful a few moments later when an argument broke out over who had claimed the next spot to sing. Eventually, Izuku offered to sacrifice a page in his notebook to make a list of who was singing when so that no one would accidentally jump the queue. It wasn't a perfect solution, and there would probably be some problems with it later on, but it was the thought that counted.
After that, it only took a few minutes for everyone to get their drinks in hand and get settled. Thankfully, no one complained that everything was from the vending machine across the way. Mina's wallet was crying enough from just that, and anything fancier would have made her regret her generous offer to everyone. At least Yaoyorozu had followed through on her own promise to purchase the snacks. There was plenty for everyone to munch on while they waited for their turn.
And then, finally, everyone was settled and ready to begin. Mina stood at the front of the room, with all eyes on her, ready to kick off what she hoped would be the best welcoming party any of them had ever been to.
"I'm not super good at speeches, so I'll keep it short," she said, "Have fun, sing your heart out, and make sure to get to know someone new tonight. Now, sit back, relax, and be amazed as I channel the greatest songstress to ever live!"
With that, Mina spun on her heel and let the music play.
As the first few notes rang throughout the room, she shook her legs and arms to work the kinks out, and prepared to absolutely ham it up. Then, she spun around, brought the mic to her lips, and began to sing.
"Baby can't you see, I'm calling…"
The effect was immediate. Sero and Kirishima began to applaud, though whether that was due to her song choice or just her acting was hard to tell. Uraraka and Jirou were snickering in their respective corners, while Tsunatori, Hagakure, and Aoyama were on their feet, dancing along with her. Everyone else looked confused by the reaction, probably because they were unfamiliar with the song.
She didn't entirely blame them, since it was fairly old by most people's standards, but she did hope that a few of them would look it up afterwards, if only to understand the joke. Who knows, maybe she would even convert a few of them.
As the song went on, Mina danced her absolute heart out. She shook and shimmied, hopped and dropped, and basically did everything she could to cover up for the fact that she was mumbling half the words outside of the chorus. Thankfully, a few other people were singing along with her, mostly Tsunatori and Hagakure, which covered her flubs a little bit.
She finished with a flourish, bouncing up slightly before dropping into a split while the last notes faded out. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was panting fairly hard, but she felt rather elated. She had killed that song, no two ways about it.
A burst of applause followed, with several people hopping to their feet to give her a standing ovation. She hopped back to her feet, grinned at their enthusiasm, then took a bow.
"That was most impressive, Ashido," Yaoyorozu said. She was still seated, but from where Mina was standing, it looked like the girl had been on the very edge of it for her performance. "I dare say we will all have a hard time following up such a performance."
"Aww, don't psych yourselves out!" Mina said, grabbing a bottle of water off the table. She wasn't sure who had brought or purchased them, but she was incredibly thankful that they had. "This is about having fun, not being good. If I wanted to do that, I would have picked a song I knew how to dance to, instead of just one I liked."
"That wasn't one you knew how to dance to?" Yaoyorozu said, sounding shocked.
"Nah. I was just messing around and having fun. Once you get into the rhythm, it's easy."
"I am not nearly that inventive," Yaoyorozu replied, "Or that flexible. Is that a result of your training?"
Mina shook her head. "Nah. I just like dancing. I do an hour or two every night in my room. Drives my brother crazy, 'cuz he's always trying to game at the same time, and the music 'throws him off his groove,'" she said, with exaggerated air quotes.
"That is quite the impressive regimen, Ashido," Iida said approvingly.
"Thanks!" she chirped, doffing an imaginary hat in his direction.
"All right, enough chatting!" Kaminari said, hopping to his feet. "It's my turn, and I'm ready to blow you all away!"
"Be still, my beating heart," Jirou muttered in a deadpan tone.
Instead of responding, Kaminari took the mic from Mina, then reached into his back pocket and whipped out a pair of sunglasses with tiny lightning bolts emblazoned on the sides. They looked pretty cheap, like the kind of thing you would buy at a discount store or from a shady guy on the street who sold "genuine hero merch, without the ridiculous store markups." Not that Mina had ever fallen for such a scam. She was a smart shopper who had never bought possibly toxic faux Midnight brand makeup from a lady who had promised it would show up on even the most vibrant of skin colors.
A wave of laughter passed through the room at the ridiculous gesture, but it was good-natured laughter, and Kaminari took it in stride. He stood at the front of the room, tapping his foot to the music that had started playing.
To Mina's surprise, it wasn't heavy guitar or synthetic tones that were playing, but piano notes and a synthesized crackle, like old timey radio static. Mina's foot began to tap along with Kaminari's, even though she was completely unfamiliar with whatever song he'd selected. Maybe she'd have to look it up after this…
And then Kaminari began to sing, and Mina lost it at the lyrics that he was somehow singing with a straight face.
"I'm beginning to feel like a rap god, rap god…"
To his credit, Kaminari did a decent job at keeping up with the song, despite obviously never hearing it before. He stumbled a few times, but it didn't throw him off his rhythm. He even managed to fit in a few poses while he was performing, which Mina approved of.
The applause when he finished wasn't as strong as it had been following Mina's performance, but it was there. Kaminari took a bow, then shot a pair of finger guns at the audience, which produced another wave of laughter.
After that, a steady clamor filled the room. The sign-up sheet received a burst of new entries as people fought for the spot they wanted or studiously avoided being anywhere near the sheet in the hopes that they would be passed over. Mina took note of this latter group, which was only a couple of people, and made a mental note to talk to them all. She wasn't going to actually force anyone to sing, but she was going to try her hardest to talk them into taking a turn. After all, a party was more fun when you were involved, even a little bit.
Some people made a serious effort with their songs, some just did it for the memes, and most were just trying their best to have a good time. All in all, it was exactly what Mina had been hoping for when she had first proposed the party, which made her a very happy camper.
"—Pony?" Uraraka said, turning to look at her.
Pony, who hadn't heard a word of what had just been said, flushed in embarrassment and tried to stutter out a response. Unfortunately, her brain seemed to have deserted her, and she couldn't manage to string together anything coherent.
It was so hard to concentrate in the chaotic atmosphere of the party. She kept getting distracted and losing her train of thought, or someone would interrupt or shout over her when she was mid-sentence and she would lose her place and have to start over. She was doing her best to relax and have fun, but it was absolutely exhausting, and Pony was starting to feel the mental fatigue of trying to translate her every word.
She was proud of her decision to come study in Japan, but it was times like this that she really missed home. Back there, she had tons of friends she could call up and have a relaxing day with, chatting about their favorite movies, their various crushes, or whatever else struck their fancy. Here in Japan, however, she struggled just to have a simple conversation with her classmates, and she wasn't sure if there was anyone she could really call a close friend.
Uraraka was nice, and Pony was thankful to have someone calling her by her first name again, but she worried that their friendship had only been because they were teamed up for class, and that they would drift apart now that they weren't being forced together by the teachers.
"S-Sorry," Pony said, well aware that an uncomfortable amount of time had passed since Uraraka's question, "Say again please?"
"Are you okay?" Uraraka asked, concern evident in her voice. "You look a little out of it."
"I am fine," Pony said quickly. "Just… hard to think with the noise."
There were at least three different discussions going on around them, with each person in them speaking as loud as they could to be heard over both each other as well as the music. All together, it made for quite the din, and kept Pony from being able to concentrate.
Uraraka nodded understandingly, then leveled a glare at Mineta and Kaminari. The two of them were the loudest group by far, enthusiastically discussing something that Pony couldn't even begin to comprehend. They were throwing out words she wasn't familiar with left and right, and the few words she was familiar with were being used in strange ways. She, at least, had never heard the words "top" and "bottom" used to describe people before.
"Want to go outside?" Uraraka asked, speaking slowly and carefully so Pony could easily understand.
"No thanks," Pony said, shaking her head. The last thing she wanted to do was interrupt the party or ruin Uraraka's fun, especially over something so unimportant. "I am okay."
Uraraka shrugged, then gave Pony's arm a comforting squeeze. It helped a lot, and Pony felt her resolve strengthen a bit. Sure, the party had been a bit rough so far, but that didn't mean it had to stay that way. She just had to keep pushing forward and work as hard as she could. She'd done it for the two years preparing to come to Japan. She could do it for just a little while longer.
Before she could strike out into the party once more, she felt a tentative tap on her shoulder. While she had been focused on psyching herself up, Midoriya had come up to stand beside her and Uraraka, looking even more nervous than he usually did.
"Hi Midoriya," Pony said, "What is up?"
"Oh, I just… um…" he swallowed hard, then squared his shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes before continuing. To her surprise, the words that came out of his mouth were not the usual Japanese, but heavily accented English.
"Are you having fun at the party?"
Pony's mouth nearly fell open in surprise. She'd been under the impression that her classmates only knew a phrase or two in English, the kind you picked up from watching foreign films or reading a magazine or two. She hadn't expected to hear anything near passable from anyone outside of their English teacher.
"Hai—er, yes," she replied, her brain struggling to make the switch between tongues for a moment. "Midoriya, you speak English?"
"Just... just a little," he said, nodding shyly. "I write better than I talk."
If that was true, and not just him being humble, then Pony was seriously impressed. No one would mistake him for a native speaker, but he seemed pretty fluent to her. He must have studied hard, and for quite a while too. It brought back memories of her own late night studies, trying to get the foreign words to stick in her head as she listened to the same simple sentences being read over and over on her audio player.
"How long have you been studying?" she asked.
"Ummmm, about eight years?" Midoriya said hesitantly.
"You started when you were seven?" Pony said, flabbergasted. She had only seriously started studying Japanese towards the end of middle school, when the idea of enrolling in UA had first become a real option for her. Before that, she had just learned small bits from watching anime and reading manga, but that had only been for a couple of years as well. It was no wonder Midoriya knew how to speak English so well. While she'd been messing around, he'd been working hard.
To her surprise, it wasn't a disheartening revelation. Rather, it made her want to work even harder, to catch up to her classmate, so she could have real conversations with everyone, and really immerse herself in the culture that she had already grown to adore.
"S-sort of," Midoriya replied. Apparently his stutter carried over between languages, which Pony found pretty amusing, and kind of adorable in its own way. "I wanted to read books about Quirks, but they were in English, and really hard. So I got some English picture books and a dictionary, and tried to learn."
"That's super impressive!" Pony said, meaning every word.
"I still need a dictionary to read them, though," he said sheepishly.
"Me too," Pony admitted.
They both chuckled at that, and shared a conspiratorial smile. As they did, Pony felt a weight that she hadn't known she was carrying lift off of her shoulders. This was what she had been missing. A chance to let her hair down and really talk to someone without having to constantly worry about messing up.
That did put all the pressure on Midoriya, which made her feel a little bit bad. Then again, he seemed to be way better at English than she was at Japanese, so maybe that was for the best.
"When did you start your Japanese?" Midoriya asked.
"Just a couple of years," she replied. "I started when I wanted to come study here, and the rest is history."
Midoriya looked a little confused at that last phrase, but pushed past it quickly.
"You're brave for coming here," he said. "Going new places is scary, and even more scary when it's hard to talk."
Pony nodded in agreement. She had been so nervous on the day of her flight to Japan that she had nearly thrown up. Thankfully, she had managed to not embarrass herself, but it had been a close thing. Arriving in Japan had been a little better, though not by much. She had still been so anxious and unsure that she had nearly given her taxi driver the wrong directions in her confusion.
That had been quite the harrowing day, but looking around at the party, Pony didn't regret it one bit. Sure, things were tougher than if she had remained in America, but that was part of the reason that she had come here. Back home things were so boring and familiar that she couldn't help but dream of far off places and adventure. Here in Japan, every day was an adventure, one way or another.
"It's scary, but fun too," Pony replied, giving Midoriya a smile.
"What are you two chatting about?" Uraraka said, stepping back over to the two.
She had grabbed a couple of drinks while Pony and Midoriya had been talking, and offered one to Pony, who took it gratefully. She hadn't noticed until the drink was right in front of her, but she was feeling rather parched.
"Learning a second language," Midoriya said, switching back to Japanese with only a little hesitation.
"Aww, I'm kinda jealous," Uraraka said with a small pout. "I always kinda wanted to learn English."
"Why not learn?" Pony asked, also reverting to Japanese.
"Not enough time. And my middle school teacher was terrible. He just gave us worksheets and then took a nap. If you woke him up, then he'd just shout at you."
Pony and Midoriya both winced at that, recalling their own experiences with less-than-stellar teachers. None of Pony's had been quite that bad, thankfully, though there had been a couple of stinkers. All the teachers at UA were great, though, which had been a load off her mind. None of them had said anything when she struggled for the right words after being called on, and Present Mic had even praised her for her Japanese skills, which had been awesome.
"That sounds rough," Midoriya said.
"It was, but it also gave me plenty of time to study for the UA entrance exams… So I guess I owe him."
Pony hummed in agreement, then paused as a thought occurred to her.
"Uraraka, Midoriya…" she said hesitantly, "can I help you with English, and you help me with Japanese?"
The two of them shared a quick glance, then turned back to her with a smile.
"That sounds like fun," Uraraka said.
"It really does," Midoriya agreed, nodding his head. "And it will be nice to finally have someone to practice with. I tried to get Kacchan to learn English once, but he only wanted to learn swear words."
Pony giggled. Apparently Bakugou hadn't changed too much over the years. She could easily picture a smaller version of him (with a tiny scowl of irritation) swearing up a storm while Midoriya frantically tried to stop him.
It was that giggle that finally tipped her off to what probably should have been obvious from the very start.
She didn't have to go looking for new friends here; she already had a pair of them staring her right in the face. She had no idea why it had taken her so long to realize that. Maybe it was nerves, or miscommunications, or maybe she had just been being a big old dummy.
Whatever the case, she knew better now, and she wouldn't make the same mistake again.
As Mina surveyed the party, a smile crept across her lips. The party was going excellently, with people laughing, chatting, snacking, and most importantly, singing.
There were a few holdouts. Tokoyami had holed up in the darkest corner of the room and was currently brooding there. If Mina had seen anyone else doing that, she would have been tempted to drag them out into the light so they could have fun with the rest of the group, but she got the feeling that Tokoyami was having his own brand of fun at the moment. Besides, she could see him occasionally glancing at the song selection pad, which meant he was probably working up the courage to get onstage, something she greatly approved of.
Midoriya was also lurking, though he was doing it by hiding behind Bakugou, Tsunatori, and Uraraka. Every time he noticed Mina looking his way, he would immediately dart behind one of them while trying to look casual about the whole affair. It was a blatant attempt to avoid singing, and Mina wasn't going to let it stand forever. That said, he was at least participating. He, Uraraka and Tsunatori seemed to be having a very lively discussion, though Mina couldn't make any of the words out from this distance. That put him leagues above the last hold out on Mina's list.
Todoroki had kept to the edge of the group since the start, and hadn't even made a single move to participate since. He hadn't even ordered a drink with everyone else, and had instead just pulled a bottle of water out of his bag.
He wasn't being hostile or anything, at least. Whenever anyone spoke to him, he'd respond in that peculiarly blunt manner of his, and he'd even agreed to cool a couple of people's drinks down for them. Even still, Mina wasn't going to let him keep to the sidelines the entire time. He'd never have any fun that way, and it was her job as host to make sure everyone at least smiled once throughout this whole thing.
"How are you doing Todoroki?" Mina asked, sliding into a conveniently empty seat next to him.
"Fine," he responded, giving a subtle nod of his head to acknowledge her presence while keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the front of the room, where Mineta was currently butchering a classic love ballad while making eyes at any girl looking remotely near him.
"Really? Because you seem kinda sullen," Mina said.
"I am fine."
"All right then," Mina chirped, rising back to her feet with a small groan, "I'll put you down for the next singer then?"
"I am—Wait, what?" Todoroki said, his stoic demeanor cracking for the first time that Mina had ever seen.
She took a moment to revel in her victory. She had knocked him off balance, and now it was time to swoop in for the kill.
"Well, I just figured that since you were doing fine, you wouldn't mind getting up there and singing. I know Hagakure would love to hear you sing…"
"I don't sing," he replied.
She sighed at the blunt response, but pushed on as best she could. "Okay, are you embarrassed to sing, or do you just not want to? Because if you're worried about being judged, no one cares. We all suck, and we know it. Tonight's just about having fun."
"I don't sing," he repeated, eyes looking very distant all of a sudden. "Not anymore."
And just like that, Mina realized she had hit a sore spot. She started to apologize, but Todoroki continued before she could.
"My mother used to take us before she was hospitalized. We stopped going to karaoke after that. I wasn't even going to come tonight, but when I mentioned it to my sister, she insisted. She said she'd make soba if I came."
Mina was pretty sure that was the longest statement anyone in the class had heard him make. It also hinted at some family troubles that she was by no means equipped to handle, especially not in the middle of a party. It also hinted at a very juicy possibility though.
"So what you're saying is that your sister bribed you into coming on the off chance you might actually have fun?"
He frowned, but didn't object to the idea, which told Mina she was right on the money.
"Okay, first of all, you have to give me her number. I have the feeling we're gonna get on great. Second, if you get up there and sing, then I'll totally tell your sister that not only did you participate, you made a friend. Trust me, when she hears that, she'll be so happy she'll make your favorite soba for days."
When he actually licked his lips at the prospect, Mina knew she had him right where she wanted him. She owed this mysterious Todoroki sibling a debt of gratitude for setting her up so well.
"Soooo…?" Mina prompted.
There was a long pause while he apparently contemplated the relative worth of soba against public spectacle. Then, finally, he nodded his head in agreement.
"Great! Got a particular song you want to sing?"
He shook his head. "My mother always picked for me."
"Why mess with tradition then?" Mina said, hopping to her feet. "Besides, I've already got the perfect song in mind for you!"
Perfect was a bit of a stretch, but it would be pretty darn funny and that was what really mattered after all. With a grin, Mina hopped back to her feet and made her way over to where Hagakure and Kaminari were fighting over the song selection pad. It was time to introduce Todoroki to some good old Katy Perry.
"Dude, this is a terrible idea!" Kaminari said, "He practically bit your head off during lunch for talking to him, and it doesn't look like he's calmed down a bit all day."
Kirishima had to admit, Bakugou did look extremely irritated with the party, the people around him, and life in general. But that was the entire point of asking him to come on stage with them. He just needed to relax a little, and what better way than to let all his anger out in a song?
"Well, a second try never hurts!" Kirishima said, putting on a brave face. If this didn't work, he wasn't looking forward to the tongue lashing that was bound to follow. Bakugou's words at lunch had hurt a bit, even if he hadn't known how deep they would cut Kirishima when he said them. Or at least, Kirishima hoped he hadn't known how much they would hurt.
"It will if he tries to blow your face off. Dude is feral," Kaminari said, throwing his hands up in defeat.
Undeterred, Kirishima marched up to Bakugou, who was idly scrolling through something on his phone and occasionally throwing disapproving glares at Midoriya, who was seated nearby and was happily chatting with Sero about the mechanics of his Quirk.
"Hey Bakugou!" Kirishima said, "Me, Kaminari and Sero are gonna do a rap battle in a couple songs. Want in?"
"Fuck no," Bakugou replied immediately, not even looking up from his phone.
"Awwww, c'mon man. It'll be fun!" Kirishima said, not one to be dissuaded so easily.
"Don't care, not interested," Bakugou replied, finally looking up from his phone. "Get one of these other extras to do it, and leave me the fuck alone."
Kirishima was about to turn away in defeat when a new voice chimed in.
"Might have better luck with Sato, Kirishima. He's not afraid to get on stage, unlike some people," Jirou said, staring directly at Bakugou, in case there was any doubt about who she was referring to.
"You got something to say, Ears?" Bakugou snapped.
"Don't be upset, Bakugou," she replied, sounding more saccharine sweet than Kirishima would have ever thought possible. "No one's gonna judge you for being too embarrassed to sing. Honestly, it's kind of cute."
A vein started to pulse in Bakugou's head as he stared at Jirou with wide, furious eyes. "I am not fucking embarrassed," he hissed, the words barely audible over the din of the room.
"Sure you're not," Jirou said with a shrug.
The response only seemed to infuriate him, and he hopped to his feet and loomed over Jirou. To her credit, she didn't even bat an eye at the display. She just picked up her drink and took a long, slow drink.
"You know what, screw you," Bakugou said, turning away from her in a huff. "Shitty Hair! You better be better at rapping than you are at fighting, or this is gonna be boring as shit."
A smile crept its way across Kirishima's face. He'd practically given up hope of getting Bakugou to come out of his shell, but Jirou had pulled out a miracle. He owed her a drink or a snack later.
"I'll bring my 'A' game," he said.
He held out a hand for a fist bump, only for Bakugou to walk off without doing anything. After a moment of feeling extremely awkward, Kirishima lowered his fist and turned back to Kaminari and Sero. They had clearly heard that Bakugou was going to be joining them, and looked a little apprehensive at the prospect. In response, Kirishima flashed the biggest smile that he could and gave them a double thumbs up.
Bakugou was prickly, for sure, but Kirishima could tell that a lot of it was just an act. Maybe it was because he was also trying to project a different persona, or maybe it was just obvious to everyone. After all, Midoriya didn't seem to take Bakugou's foul mouth or insults personally, and neither did Jirou. Either way, Kirishima wanted to help Bakugou come out of his shell a little bit and make some friends other than Midoriya.
And a rap battle with some of the coolest dudes in the classroom sounded like the perfect first step to him.
Kyouka relaxed back into her seat with a smirk as Bakugou stormed off, with Kirishima following after him like an eager puppy.
Getting involved with them had been a bit of a spur of the moment decision, but she didn't regret it. Screwing with Bakugou had proved to be a surprisingly good source of entertainment, and he made it pretty easy too. All it took was a few words to turn him apoplectic, and from there it was just a matter of pointing him in whatever direction she wanted.
Kyouka didn't think of herself as being particularly manipulative, but she could see how people got to be that way. It was pretty darn fun. Although maybe that was just because the guy she was messing with was such a raging asshole.
She was distracted from her musing by a gentle tapping on her shoulder. She looked up, and was surprised to see Midoriya standing next to her chair, a nervous look on his face.
"Something wrong, Midoriya?" she asked
"N-no. I just wanted to say thanks. Kacchan said he wasn't going to sing or anything, and I couldn't say anything that would change his mind. So, um, thanks for helping him."
"Don't mention it," Kyouka said, waving him off.
"But I just—"
"Seriously, don't mention it," she said, more firmly this time. "I was taking him down a well-deserved peg. If something good came out of that, then that's just a happy coincidence."
Midoriya frowned at her for a moment. Then a small smile spread across his face. "You're a nice person, Jirou. I'm glad you're in our class."
Kyouka nearly spit out her drink. It wasn't just that the words were embarrassing, it was the open and honest way in which Midoriya delivered them that really made her want to crawl under a rock and die. She hadn't been this embarrassed since the last time she brought a friend over and her parents tried to show them home videos of her singing.
"I-I'm not…"
He shook his head before she could even finish. "You really are, though. You've been helping Kacchan out all day, even though he was mean to you. Plus you came out here without anyone bribing you, even though you look like you didn't want to, just because you wanted to make everyone's night better."
Now that was just plain wrong. Kyouka absolutely had her own reasons for coming that had nothing to do with the rest of the class's enjoyment of the party. Not that she would ever admit to it out loud. Those reasons were staying firmly buried where they would never see the light of day.
"So thanks a bunch, Jirou," Midoriya said, his smile so incredibly warm and friendly that Kyouka couldn't help but return it. "And if you ever need help with anything, please let me know."
"I'll, uh, I'll do that," Kyouka said, not quite sure how to respond. She was used to being the one with the off-putting aura in her conversations, so having someone who was seemingly unaffected was a strange experience.
"Great! I hope you enjoy the rest of the party!" Midoriya said before returning to his seat next to Sero.
Kyouka, meanwhile, let out a long sigh and slumped back into her chair. If that interaction was going to set the tone for the rest of the night, then she was regretting her decision to attend the party. Given the way Ashido was staring at her with hungry eyes and a song list in her hands, Kyouka was willing to bet she was right.
"Whoa, Sato you weren't kidding! These buns are to die for!" Kaminari said, stuffing an entire cinnamon bun into his mouth.
Sato blushed and scratched at the back of his head. When the group had decided to take a break for dinner, he had offered to get some dessert from a bakery he knew nearby. Mina had expected him to come back with a handful of morsels to share, or maybe a small cake. Instead he had returned with a heaping platter of every kind of delectable dessert known to man.
Despite the fact that there had been more than enough for everyone, they had fallen on the sweets with reckless abandon, especially once they had tasted how amazing they were.
"This must have been expensive," Hagakure said between bites of some kind of salted caramel bar. She had one in either hand and was alternating between them.
"Oh, well the owner is a friend of mine, so I kind of got them for free?" Sato replied.
"Okay, if you get free sweets all the time, then you are my new best friend!" Hagakure declared, taking another massive bite.
"It's not all the time," Sato amended quickly, "It's only because—"
"Wait wait wait!" Mineta cut in, surprising everyone with his interruption. "Don't just tell them!"
"Why not?" Sato said, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"Because we're at a party, and that means that there's only one way to share interesting facts. It's time to play Truth or Dare!" Mineta declared, hopping up on his seat as he did so.
"Isn't that more of a sleepover thing?" Mina said.
"It's a party thing. Doesn't matter what kind of party," Mineta asserted. "Besides, are you telling me you don't want the chance to find out all kinds of fun and interesting things about your classmates?"
"Now don't go putting words in my mouth," Mina said quickly.
"I'm down for some truth or dare," Hagakure said, polishing off her bars. "Anyone else?"
To Mina's surprise, quite a few hands went up in response. People like Kaminari, Mineta, and Hagakure made sense, but Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Aoyama, and Sato were a bit unexpected. That said, Mina greatly appreciated them wanting to join in. It was the perfect activity for getting to know each other, which was the entire point of the party in the first place. Plus, since so many people were already participating, it was almost a guarantee that more would be pulled in as time went on.
A bit of shuffling and rearranging of chairs later, and they were all in a loose semi-circle, with the table as a centerpiece so they all had somewhere to set their snacks and drinks while they played.
"Okay, I'll go first!" Hagakure declared, turning to face Sato, "Sato, how did you get all these sweets for free?"
"Hagakure, that is not how one plays truth or dare!" Iida said. He hadn't volunteered to participate, but seemed to have been drawn in anyways while they had been organizing the circle, much like Jirou and Midoriya who were looking perturbed about being drawn into the game by the people around them.
"Dude, really?" Kaminari said.
For his part, Iida seemed to realize he'd made a bit of a blunder. His cheeks turned pink, and he looked down at the floor under the pretext of cleaning his glasses, despite the fact that Mina couldn't see a single smudge on them.
"I, ah, apologize. I did not mean to disrupt everyone's fun. I simply prefer when an activity has a clear set of rules and procedures before I participate in it."
Mina narrowed her eyes as she stared at Iida. He was acting even more robotic than usual, almost as if he was…
"Iida, you don't have to be nervous. No one's gonna give you a hard time if you don't wanna play."
"No, I…" He sighed, then returned his glasses to his face so that he could look at her directly. "I suppose I am nervous. I have heard stories about such games going 'off the rails,' so to speak, and leaving some of the participants ostracized."
"Aww, you don't have to worry about that!" Hagakure said. "If anyone tries to be a butt-head and make you do stuff you're uncomfortable with, we'll set them straight!"
Iida still didn't look completely convinced, which prompted Yaoyorozu to jump in a moment later.
"Would it help if we set some rules first? That way no one will be forced to do something they are uncomfortable with."
Iida nodded vigorously in agreement and quickly set about drafting a rules sheet while a good portion of the group rolled their eyes. They didn't want to upset him, though, so they simply sat back and waited for him to finish.
The rules mostly amounted to "Don't make anyone uncomfortable" and "Don't be a dick." Mina hoped that they would have all followed those regardless, but she supposed it never hurt to double check.
"All right!" Mina said, once everything was squared away once more. "Hagakure, you still wanna go first?"
"Yep!" she said, clapping her hands together in excitement, "So! Sato, truth or dare?"
"Uh, truth?"
"How'd you get the desserts for free, and can I expect more?"
"Probably not, or not for free at least," he replied. "The guy who owns the bakery used to teach baking classes in my neighborhood. We got along really well, and even after I knew everything he was teaching, I would still go and help other kids out, kinda like a T.A. He's a really friendly guy, and he's always asking me about how many friends I made in school that day."
He paused his story for a moment to chuckle at the memory, then continued on. "It used to annoy the heck out of me, since he'd always ask the same questions every time I saw him. Didn't care that I always gave the same answer either. Anyways, I mentioned I was picking stuff up for this party, and he practically gave me half of the products he had left. Kept insisting they were about to go stale when I tried to pay him."
"Aww, that's so sweet!" Hagakure said, grabbing a cinnamon bun off of the table.
Mina made a mental note to swing by that bakery some time in the future. Purely to thank the owner for his generosity, of course, and not in the hopes of snagging some delicious snacks at a discount for being friends with Sato.
"All right Sato, your turn!" Mina said in order to distract herself from thoughts of more delicious treats. She'd already had three cream puffs and needed to wait at least a little while before grabbing another, lest people think her a glutton.
"Oh, right…" he said, glancing around the circle for someone to select. His eyes finally alighted on Kirishima, and the slight panic of being on the spot faded from his eyes. "Kirishima, truth or dare?"
"Truth!" he said, pounding on his chest for emphasis.
"Do you dye your own hair, or do you get someone else to do it?"
Kirishima's mouth dropped open. "How did you know it was dyed?"
Bakugou snorted, finally glancing up from his phone. "You missed a spot, dumb-ass."
Kirishima looked at Mina for confirmation.
"I mean, you did a good job considering it was your first attempt," she said. "But yeah, it's pretty obvious that it's dyed."
He pouted at her response, and for a moment she thought he was going to start sulking. Then he slapped himself on both cheeks, as though he were trying to stay awake during a particularly boring class. After doing that, he looked a lot less put out.
"Does it look good, at least?" he asked.
"Oh, totally!" Mina said.
"Very heroic," Hagakure chimed in.
Several other affirmations later, and Kirishima looked back to his normal self, which made Mina proud for her friend. She still remembered the old Kirishima, who had always been a bit prone to sulking when he thought he had messed up. It was nice to see him working so hard to change himself, and succeeding too. It made her feel like anyone could change.
"Why'd you decide to dye it in the first place?" Sero asked.
Kirishima opened his mouth to respond, but Mineta cut him off before he could even get a word out. "Hey, don't just jump ahead. Wait your turn like everyone else!"
Mina was a little surprised to see him defending the sanctity of the game, but then she remembered that he had been the one to propose it in the first place. Maybe he took a bit of pride in the continuation of it.
Or, more likely, he just wanted a chance to find out which of the girls were single.
Mina shook her head in exasperation at that thought, but decided to make the most of it.
"Mineta's right. No skipping turns. Kiri, you're up."
He took a moment to glance around the room to choose his target before finally selecting Sero. "Sero, truth or dare?"
Sero's ever present grin grew even wider as he stared directly at Kirishima and made his pronouncement. "Dare. Hit me with your best shot!"
From there, things proceeded rather excellently. Shoji showed off some impressive quirk control and dexterity by juggling no less than a dozen balls of mochi, much to Uraraka's dismay. Tokoyami reluctantly admitted that he enjoyed the occasional pop song from time to time, prompting Hagakure to try and drag him onstage for a duet. He resisted, barely, but eventually promised to sing something that "wasn't emo." Iida was convinced to try a dare, and made the politest prank call in history to his brother, who sounded amused by the whole affair, as well as all the people making strange and inappropriate noises in the background.
After Iida's attempt at a prank call was giggled at, he challenged anyone else in the room to do better. Mineta successfully one-upped him by calling the front desk for the Karaoke Cave and proceeded to attempt to flirt with the clerk. She immediately hung up on him, and in the silence that followed, everyone could hear the ominous scraping sound of razor sharp nails being filed into points.
After that, they mostly stuck with truths, lest they accidentally bite off more than they could chew in the spirit of competition.
Mina learned that Sato couldn't handle spicy food at all, that Kaminari had once wanted to become a musician (which seemed to completely shock Jirou), that Aoyama knew how to cook food from all over Europe, not just France, that Asui preferred to be called Tsuyu and that she had nine siblings, and that Yaoyorozu liked to watch action movies in her spare time, while Tsunatori was a massive fan of anime.
Much as she was loath to admit it, Mina probably owed Mineta one for coming up with the truth or dare idea. True, he had obviously been using it as a way to scope out who in the class he could flirt with, but he had brought everyone much closer together in the process, so Mina was willing to look past his intentions.
The only sticking point came towards the end of the game. Tsuyu had just been questioned about the grossest thing she had ever picked up with her tongue (her younger brother when he was covered in mud, apparently), and she had selected Midoriya as her next target.
"Midoriya, how did you get that scar?" she said, without a shred of emotion in her voice.
He immediately froze in place, looking like he'd been slapped in the face. Mina's heart instantly went out to him. He probably got questions about it all the time, since it was so prominent. Given how he'd reacted, there was probably also a pretty personal story behind it, which made everything even more awkward.
Mina wasn't the only one who had noticed Midoriya's reaction. Most of the class flinched back, or looked away from him as they suddenly felt incredibly intrusive and awkward. Bakugou, on the other hand, immediately rose to his feet and loomed over the pair of them. His usual angry scowl had worsened, and he looked practically livid.
"Tsuyu," Yaoyorozu said quickly, obviously trying to diffuse the tension that had sprung up, "perhaps you could select a different question. I believe you're making Midoriya uncomfortable."
"You don't have to answer," Tsuyu said, looking back towards Midoriya. "I was just curious if there was a story behind it."
"T-there is," Midoriya said hesitantly, "but it… it's not really my story to tell, so I don't think—"
"I did it," Bakugou said, stepping between the two. "Blew him and our whole class up when we were four."
If it hadn't been for the shocking admission he had just made, Mina would have called his behavior protective. That said, Mina was sure it was anything but Bakugou being kind. He had just admitted to assaulting Midoriya, and with his Quirk no less. Sure, it had been a long time ago, but that didn't make it any less terrifying.
"K-Kacchan! Don't phrase it like that!" Midoriya gasped, jumping to his feet. "W-what he means is that there was an accident with his Quirk. He didn't mean to do it, and no one was hurt too badly!"
"Accident or not, those fuckers got what they deserved. Spineless bitches, the lot of them."
"Kacchan, they were kids!"
"And they're as shitty today as they were back then."
"So... does anyone else feel like they're missing out on some really important context?" Kaminari said.
His words seemed to remind Midoriya and Bakugou that they weren't alone. Midoriya turned sheepish while Bakugou doubled down on his irritation, glaring at anyone who would meet his gaze. Then, to Mina's surprise, Midoriya actually managed to cast aside his embarrassment and speak a few moments later.
"W-when we were kids, Kacchan was really popular. B-but when his Quirk came in, there was an accident. He was showing it off, and there was a big explosion, and a couple of people got hurt, including me. I… kind of landed on a rock, which is what gave me the scar," Midoriya said.
As he spoke, his hand idly traced the thin white line that ran down the side of his face. It looked like it had been extremely painful, and given that he had received it when he was so little, it had probably also been extremely scary.
"L-like I said, it was an accident," Midoriya continued. "We were all crowding around him and egging him on, and it was the first time Kacchan had really used his Quirk. But after that, everyone started acting like he had done it on purpose. They ran away if he came close, or called the teacher, or tried to hit him. T-they called him a villain."
Midoriya practically spat that last word, like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
All of a sudden, a lot of Bakugou's attitude made sense. Anyone would be a bit hostile after being treated like that for most of their life. In fact, Mina was surprised he hadn't gone even more extreme in his attitudes towards other people. Maybe that was because he was stubborn, or maybe it was Midoriya's tempering influence.
The revelation also made Mina feel incredibly guilty. Back in her elementary school days, there had been a kid in the neighboring class with a Quirk that made him double-jointed in nearly every part of his body. He'd been able to move in ways that were downright creepy to look at, and nearly everyone in the school had kept their distance from him. He hadn't flaunted his Quirk, and from what Mina remembered, he'd tried to move in ways that were more normal when people were around him. Every so often, though, he would bend or flex in a way that sent a shiver down people's spines.
None of the kids in his class had hung out with him, and Mina had seen him eating his lunch alone in the courtyard plenty of times. At the time she had felt bad for him, but the creepy factor had overwhelmed her feelings, and she had never approached him.
Now she wondered what exactly had happened to him. He hadn't had it quite as bad as Bakugou, but he had still been isolated and probably bullied for something he couldn't control, and something that seemed especially stupid when she looked back on it. Maybe she could dig out her old yearbook and try and reconnect, give him the support she hadn't been able to give when she was younger, if he would even want it.
"Dude, that sucks," Kaminari said eloquently.
A chorus of affirmations followed, some people expressing sympathy with Bakugou's plight, some implying that they would like to give his former classmates a piece of their mind, and some looking about as guilty as Mina felt. They probably had their own stories about a classmate with a weird or scary Quirk that they hadn't been very nice to, stories which took on a whole new meaning now.
"I suppose that it goes to show how thin the line between powerful and dangerous Quirks can be," Tokoyami said, with a distant look in his eyes. Or, at least Mina thought it was distant. "Mine own Dark Shadow is wont to run wild, given the opportunity. It has never hurt anyone, but there were a few close incidents."
"Dude, same," Kaminari said. "I spark randomly when I have a cold, and one time, I nearly fell into the school pool cuz I was running too fast."
"My parents thought I ran away when I was little," Hagakure chimed in, "because I didn't want to take a bath, so I took off all of my clothes and hid in the bathtub, since It was the last place that they would look. But then I fell asleep, and didn't wake up till that evening."
"I nearly dropped a 2x4 on my dad's head…" Uraraka admitted.
As it turned out, nearly everyone in the class had a similar story. Some were just small things, like Hagakure's story, while others had come close to seriously hurting someone or breaking something important. Even Mina wasn't immune. She had splashed a classmate with acid on accident before. Just a mild batch, not even enough to damage the skin, but it could have been.
Tokoyami was right, she supposed. They could all have ended up where Bakugou was standing at that moment, or somewhere even worse, if not for some serious luck. It was a sobering realization, and one that served to bring down the mood of the room by quite a bit.
Mina couldn't have that. So, when nearly everyone had shared a story of their Quirk causing problems and there was a lull in the conversation, she hopped to her feet and addressed the boy who had started it all.
"Check it out, Bakugou. You've got plenty of friends here. So, feel free to tone down the shouting any time, and we'll get along great!"
"Whatever," Bakugou said, crossing his arms and turning away from her in a huff.
Except, he didn't sound quite as irritated as usual. It was more of an act, like he was hiding his real feelings behind a layer of faux prickliness that was part and parcel to his personality. Kind of like the way he usually interacted with Midoriya, which let Mina know she was on the right track to breaking into his shell. And, with enough time, she was sure that she could do it, turning 1A's resident grouch into a… slightly less grouchy friend.
"That said, we've been doing too much talking," Mina said, turning to address everyone else, "and not nearly enough singing. Anyone know how much time is left?"
There was some general shrugging and shaking off heads, since no one had really bothered to keep track, before Midoriya pulled out his phone and actually checked the time.
"It's…" he said, trailing off before he could quite finish. His eyes went wide, and his lips tightened into a thin line as he drew in a quick breath.
"Midoriya?" Mina asked, stepping closer. "Everything okay?"
"I… I don't know," he said shakily, "My mom called me a bunch of times. I-I guess I didn't hear it over the music." He quickly stood, cradling his phone like he was afraid that he would drop it and lose his lifeline to his mother. "S-sorry, I need to go call her back."
With that, he dashed out of the door, leaving Mina a little taken aback by his abrupt exit and more than a little worried about him. Something about the way that he had exited left her unable to get it out of her head. He'd looked so freaked out about missing the calls from his mother that Mina had to wonder if she was sick. Or maybe someone else in their family. Or something else was wrong, and...
It was driving her crazy. Not the not-knowing part, but the possibility that Midoriya was going through something difficult without anyone at his side. Bakugou had looked up from his phone when Midoriya had left, but he hadn't seemed overly concerned about it, since he had gone right back to his phone. Maybe Mina should take that as a sign that she should move on from the display, but after the talk from earlier, she just couldn't.
So, after a few minutes of deliberation, she rose to her feet and excused herself for a moment. Whether or not Midoriya needed her, she was gonna go lend an ear or a shoulder, or whatever was necessary.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice two separate pairs of eyes following her out as she left the party behind.
Izuku took a deep, steadying breath as he stepped out of the building. The air was cool and crisp, a vast departure from the stifling atmosphere of the karaoke parlor. The room had been air conditioned, but twenty dancing and singing students in a single room generated quite a bit of heat. Add that to his panic, and it was a recipe for a sweat-soaked brow and clammy hands that made it extremely difficult to punch in the number he wanted.
"Izuku, honey, is that you?" Inko said, the moment the call connected.
Izuku took a moment to let out a small sigh of relief. He'd been picturing increasingly worrying scenarios the entire time that the phone had been ringing, and actually hearing her voice had taken a great weight off of his shoulders.
"It's me mom. Is everything okay?"
"I should be the one asking you that. When I got back from the store this afternoon, there was a message from All Might asking to talk to you about a villain attack! Then, when I tried to call you about it, I went straight to voicemail! You didn't get attacked by another villain, did you? Please tell me you aren't hurt!"
"Mom, mom, I'm fine! There wasn't a villain attack! I'm at a party with my friends, remember? The music was really loud, and there were a lot of people messing around, so I didn't hear my phone go off. I'm really, really sorry I scared you."
Her own sigh of relief sent a crackle of static through the phone, and eased the last of Izuku's tension. He hated worrying her, especially when it was due to something so trivial as not hearing his phone go off.
"I'm sorry," he said once more.
"It's all right," she replied, sounding much, much calmer now, "I'm sorry too. I know I'll have to get used to situations like this once you graduate, but it's still hard for me to think of my baby in danger."
He was about to apologize for a third time, when a thought occurred to him.
"Mom, did you say All Might left a message for me? About a villain attack?"
"Oh, yes. Well, I think he started off talking about your Quirk, but he sounded nervous, so I started to get nervous. Then he said something about you getting involved with a slimy villain. I don't remember much of what he said after that though…"
[]Izuku racked his brain, trying to puzzle out what exactly that meant. The "slimy villain" was probably referring to the sludge villain incident where he and All Might had first met, but he hadn't gotten hurt in that incident. Maybe he had thought of some additional pointers to give Izuku after the mock battle with Ashido that afternoon? But she used acid, not slime, which All Might was well aware of. Besides, Izuku's injuries from the battle weren't worth mentioning, especially not to his mother. They'd all completely healed at this point, and most of them had been self inflicted…
With a start, Izuku realized what was really going on. All Might wanted to discuss One for All, probably in a private setting. It must have been decently urgent too, since he had risked leaving a coded message with his mother rather than waiting for Monday to roll around to talk to Izuku.
For the first time, Izuku wished he had been brave enough to ask for All Might's number. Not that he actually would have used it, since the idea of bothering the hero by calling at an inopportune time made him cringe, but it would have let All Might leave a message without the risk of his mother finding out about their secret.
He glanced around, searching vainly for a clock or some other display that would let him know exactly what time it was. He hadn't really been keeping track during the party and hadn't thought to check his phone before the call. If he was lucky, there would be enough time for him to go back inside and say goodbye to everyone before he caught the next train home to listen to the message and call All Might back.
Unfortunately, there were none in sight, so Izuku had to turn his mother for assistance.
"Mom, what time is it?"
"Hmmm? Oh, it's a quarter past eight."
Izuku sighed in relief. It would be tight, and he would probably have to run a bit to reach the station, but he would have time to give everyone a farewell.
He felt bad about having to leave the party early, but he would feel even worse about leaving All Might waiting all evening, or worse, all weekend. Even beyond his love and respect for the hero, there was a chance that he was planning to tell Izuku more about how to handle One for All, which was a chance he couldn't afford to miss.
"Okay. Thanks for calling me mom. I'll be home soon."
"Oh, is the party over already?" she said, sounding surprised.
"No, but I'm sure they'll understand that I have to leave early," Izuku replied, already heading back towards the karaoke parlor.
"Oh dear, you should stay. You were looking forward to this so much, it would be a shame to miss it. I'm sure Mr. All Might would understand if you called him in the morning…"
She was probably right, but a part of Izuku rebelled at the very idea of making All Might wait. His time was incredibly important, especially now that he had a time limit on how long he could stay transformed. Making him wait for something as inane as a party seemed downright irresponsible.
But there was also a part of him that wanted desperately to stay. Despite how uncomfortable the discussion about his scar and Katsuki's ostracism had been, Izuku had been having fun for the most part. He had enjoyed getting to know Tsunatori, switching between Japanese and English as necessary to continue the conversation, and using charades when words failed. He'd liked listening to his classmates singing the songs that they were barely familiar with, and laughing along with them when they flubbed the lyrics, or tripped over some piece of furniture in their attempts to match Ashido's dance performance. And he'd been incredibly happy to see Katsuki letting down his walls a bit and interacting with other people in a somewhat less hostile manner for once.
He was so torn between staying for the final hour of the party and rushing home immediately that he didn't say anything for several seconds while he weighed the options.
His mother must have taken his silence for a response, since she let out a loud sigh. "Well, I suppose it's up to you. I'll start cooking now, but if you decide to stay, just let me know and I'll put it in the oven for you, okay?"
"I… thanks mom,"
"You're welcome, honey" she replied before hanging up the phone.
He let out another sigh and turned back to face the parlor's door. He was feeling way too mixed up at the moment to return inside. The cool evening air was helping, but not as quickly as he would have liked. Instead, he opted for a quick walk around the block to clear his head and settle his thoughts.
He went to take a step forward, then frowned as his leg refused to respond to him. Or, he tried to frown. None of his muscles, from the tips of his toes to the bridge of his nose would respond to him. He was utterly and totally paralyzed, in a way that could only be the result of a Quirk.
"Do you have any idea," a familiar voice said from behind him, "how long I've been waiting out here?"
Izuku would know that voice in his sleep. After all, it had featured prominently in several dreams over the years that had caused him to wake up in a cold sweat.
Slowly, Shindo walked around to stand in front of Izuku. He was dressed in a school uniform, with an unfamiliar school emblem emblazoned on the breast, with a pair of steel toed boots that were definitely not standard issue. His steps were careful and measured, leaving one foot on the ground at all times to keep Izuku pinned in place.
For a brief moment, Izuku wondered how this was possible. Shindo's Quirk let him paralyze people by stepping on their shadow, and once he stepped off again, they were free to move. Theoretically, he could pace up and down someone's shadow and keep them pinned, but walking around a person like he had just done should have been impossible.
Using his peripheral vision as best he could, Izuku looked to Shindo's feet for an answer. His boots were firmly planted on the shadowed ground, which tipped Izuku off to exactly what happened. In the gloom of the alleyway, all of the shadows had blended together into one amorphous blob, a blob that Shindo was firmly stomping on with every step. It was a fascinating application of his Quirk, and Izuku instantly wanted to know more. Could he chain shadows together to pin someone from a distance? Was there a range limit to his Quirk, or could he pin anyone in the world if the shadows touched? Did the shadows have to be connected on the ground, or could he connect them through the air at night, making anyone standing in the dark vulnerable to his paralysis? Could he—
"Hours! Thought a wet blanket like you would have been kicked out ages ago," Shindo said, snapping Izuku's attention back to him, "But I guess the people at UA are more tolerant than I gave them credit for. Figures, considering they let a slacker like you into the program."
Even if Izuku could speak at the moment, he had no idea how to respond to that. He felt like he should have some quip, some line at the ready to defend his classmate's honor, but he didn't have anything except a desire to curl up into a ball.
"I honestly don't get it. UA was supposed to be the best school in the world, and take only the best. And yet, somehow, you managed to weasel your way in. So, I want to know how you did it. Did you bribe someone? Find some lonely administrator and sleep your way in? Or did you just sic Bakugou on them, like you always do?"
At that moment, Izuku dearly wished that he had some sort of eye-based Quirk, so that the glare he shot at Shindo could actually kill him. He could tolerate many insults directed at him, he had for years, but hearing them leveled against his school, against his classmates, against Katsuki… that was just too much to bear.
With all of the willpower he possessed, Izuku fought to break Shindo's control, to take just a single step forward, or even wiggle a finger. Unfortunately, all his efforts were for naught. All he succeeded in doing was giving himself a headache.
"Now, I think it's time you and I had a long talk…" Shindo said ominously.
From his back pocket, he drew out a pair of handcuffs that Izuku very much didn't like the look of. It made sense, in a terrible way. Shindo wouldn't want him fighting back, but if he wanted Izuku to respond to anything he said, he would have to release his Quirk's hold.
As Shindo advanced, Izuku ran through his options. He couldn't move, which meant One for All was useless, even if he could manage to use it without sending himself to the hospital. Besides, using it on a person would result in severe injuries at best, and Izuku couldn't bring himself to do that. He could try shouting for help, but he had a feeling that Shindo would keep him from doing that before he released his Quirk.
In the end, it would be like it had always been. Shindo would have his way, and Izuku would limp away at the end with tears in his eyes and a feeling like he'd messed up in a way he couldn't quite figure out. Maybe if he was lucky he could convince Katsuki to bring his bag out to him so he didn't have to face the rest of the class with a black eye.
"Midoriya? You okay out here?" Ashido called, stepping out of the karaoke parlor's entrance. "You dashed out in kind of a hurry..."
She met Izuku's eyes, and froze in place. He had no idea what kind of face he was making at the moment, but he hoped it wasn't too alarming. The last thing that he wanted was for Ashido to get involved in this. If it ruined the night that she had worked so hard to set up, he didn't know what he would do. Thankfully, Shindo had stuffed the handcuffs behind his back, so Ashido wouldn't be able to see them very easily.
"Everything okay out here?" she asked, shooting Izuku a questioning look.
He couldn't reply, of course, so he did everything he could to indicate with his eyes that she should just turn around and go back inside. Right now, she was standing in the shaft of light that was emanating from the karaoke parlor's lobby. That meant she was totally cut off from the shadows in the alleyway, and with her own shadow well out of reach and perfectly safe. Izuku had never seen Shindo paralyze more than one person at a time, but he had also never seen him chain shadows, so he wasn't willing to bet on anything at this point.
"We're just fine," Shindo said, "just a couple of old classmates catching up."
Ashido's eyes narrowed at that, the shadows from the doorway turning them into twin pools of shadow that would have been remarkably threatening if Izuku didn't know the lovely, caring person they were attached to.
"Midoriya, is that true?" she asked, turning back to look at Izuku.
He tried to reassure her, he really did, but he couldn't say anything. Part of it was Shindo's power, but another part of it was simply guilt and shame. He wanted her to go back, he really did, but there was a small part of him that wanted to be rescued, that wanted a hero to save him.
"Midoriya?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.
As she spoke, she took a step forward into the shadows, and several things happened in quick succession.
Izuku's muscles suddenly started responding to his commands, sending him toppling to the ground in surprise. Shindo, the cause of his sudden release, had leapt forward towards Ashido in a bid to paralyze her. She, in turn, had seen Izuku begin to fall and had stepped forward to try and grab him. She never made it, as halfway there her body took on the tell-tale stiffness of someone who had been paralyzed by Shindo's Quirk.
Izuku didn't know why Shindo had switched targets. Maybe he thought Ashido would cause a ruckus if she figured out what was going on. Maybe he was wary of a hero course student whose Quirk he didn't know. Or maybe he just assumed Izuku was too thoroughly cowed to do anything about his friend getting taken hostage.
Izuku didn't care much for the reasoning at the moment, though. He was far too busy charging Shindo with all the power he could muster. It wasn't a huge amount, since he was still off balance and dizzy from the sudden ending of the paralysis, but he still gave it his all.
To his relief, the surprise tackle worked. Shindo went sprawling to the ground, a look of utter shock on his face. He clearly hadn't been expecting his erstwhile victim to go on the offensive. At the same time, Ashido toppled to the ground with a yelp of surprise, her arms and legs spasming in confusion of going back and forth between paralysis and freedom very quickly.
A moment later, Izuku felt himself being roughly shoved to the side as Shindo disentangled himself and scrambled to his feet. His uniform was scuffed, and he was rubbing his forehead in a way that indicated that there would be a bruise there the next morning.
"You little shit!" he spat, "When did you learn to fight back?"
"When you started attacking the people I care about," Izuku replied, clambering to his feet as well. Throwing himself at Shindo hadn't done his dizziness any favors, but his head was rapidly clearing now that he was upright and under his own control once more.
To that end, he took a few steps back, grabbing Ashido's arm and pulling her with him, until they were standing in the light from the door. To his surprise, Shindo didn't make any moves to stop them, and instead just stared as they went.
"And I didn't cheat," Izuku said, once they were safely in the light, "I-I worked hard, and I trained, and I nearly failed so many times, but I passed, and I did it all on my own."
"You? Work hard?" Shindo said with a dry laugh. "You expect me to believe that?"
"Hey!" Ashido said. "I don't know what your problem is, but I've known Midoriya for less than a week, and I already know he's a super hard worker!"
"Such a hard worker that he couldn't even be bothered to learn to use his Quirk?"
Ashido frowned in confusion and turned to look at Izuku, no doubt wondering what exactly Shindo was talking about. To her, the idea of Izuku not knowing how to use his Quirk seemed outlandish, since she'd seen him use One for All nearly every day.
"I-I did try!" Izuku said, unable to contain himself any longer, "I tried every day! I… I wanted to be able to use my Quirk. But I couldn't figure out how to."
"Oh, come off yourself," Shindo replied. "You couldn't figure it out? It's the easiest thing in the world!"
"Maybe for you!" Izuku snapped.
He hadn't meant for the words to come out like that, hadn't meant for them to come out at all, really. But once they were out, they refused to stop coming. Years upon years of the same jokes, the same ignorance, being levied against him finally broke the wall he had put up to keep his feelings in check.
"Maybe for you. But I'm not like you. No matter what I tried, I just couldn't do anything special. I spent hours trying to move stuff with my mind, or push things without touching them, or breathe fire, or do anything. I focused until my head ached, and then I kept going because I hoped that somehow that was a sign that I was doing something right. I-I bled, and burned myself, and I nearly downed, and nothing worked. No matter what I tried or how hard I wished, I just couldn't do what you all did so easily."
He paused for breath, his hands shaking from the myriad emotions surging through him. Then, to his surprise, he felt a warm hand wrapped around his, and gave it a comforting squeeze.
The relief he felt from that simple gesture was hard to put into words. A part of him had been sure that his emotional rant would send Ashido running for the hills, leaving the weird kid with the weird Quirk behind. Instead, she was standing at his side, silently lending her support in a way he couldn't ever remember receiving before. It was… nice. It made him feel like maybe, possibly, things would be okay.
"But, you know what?" he said, his voice sounding much less shaky to his ears than it had just a few moments before. "Despite how hard it was, despite you and almost everyone else telling me I couldn't do it, I made it into UA. Kacchan too. And now, we don't have to listen to you call us lazy, or stupid, or a monster. We're going to be heroes, just like we always said we would. And, one day, you might just thank us for keeping you safe from a villain attack."
He let out a long sigh, letting the last of the pent up emotions flow out with the air.
"So, I forgive you for everything Shindo. But I'm done talking to you. Have a nice evening, and goodbye."
That dark part of him appreciated the look of absolute shock on Shindo's face at that moment. He looked like he had been slapped across the face, and his mouth was working silently as he tried to come up with some sort of response. Whatever he had been expecting Izuku to say or do, he hadn't been expecting forgiveness followed by a swift dismissal.
Before Shindo could pull himself together, Izuku spun on his heel and began to make his way back inside. He meant what he had said. He didn't want to deal with Shindo any longer than he had to.
Shindo, of course, had other plans.
"Don't you walk away from me you cowa—"
"The fuck are you doing here?" Katsuki growled, stepping out of the parlor and into the alleyway with his palms already sparking. Uraraka followed close on his heels, though she pulled up short when she saw the state that Izuku was in.
"Nothing!" Shindo said, throwing his hands up as Katsuki approached, "Came here for some karaoke. If I had known you were here, I never would have bothered!"
"He did something weird to Midoriya and me," Ashido said quickly. "Midoriya was weirdly stiff when I came out, and then this guy ran at me, and I couldn't move. Midoriya stopped him though."
The crack of twin explosions filled the air as Katsuki's anger overwhelmed his control of his Quirk and ignited the sweat that had pooled in his palms. Ashido and Uraraka both flinched at the sound, but Izuku didn't even blink. He'd known from the second that Katsuki saw Shindo that he was going to attack. It was as inevitable as the tides.
Or so Izuku thought. Apparently Shindo had other ideas, because the second that Katsuki's palms ignited, Shindo whipped around and sprinted out of the alleyway for all he was worth. He didn't bother to flip Katsuki off as he ran, or throw out any parting words promising retribution as he was wont to do.
Katsuki moved to chase after him and deliver the beating that those explosions had promised, but Izuku stepped in front of him before he could get very far.
"Just let him go," Izuku said, shaking his head for emphasis.
"Fucker attacked you."
"And we beat him," Izuku replied, staring into Katsuki's eyes as calmly as he could. "Why should we bother fighting someone who's already lost?"
Slowly, the anger bled out of Katsuki's eyes and was replaced by amusement and approval. He'd always pushed Izuku to move on from the people who were "behind" or "beneath" them. He seemed to think that most people were lost causes, and that they couldn't (or wouldn't) change in time. It wasn't a sentiment that Izuku agreed with, but it was one that he was willing to use if it meant avoiding another incident between Katsuki and Shindo. UA might have been willing to look past his record from before entering the school, but now that he was enrolled it might be a different story.
Finally, Katsuki let out a sigh and let his hands drop to his sides. The tension had bled out of his body, leaving him in his normal, slightly-irritated-with-the-world state.
"Fine. But if I see him around here again, they'll be peeling chunks off the walls."
"Um, Deku, Ashido, are you all right?" Uraraka said. "That guy didn't hurt you, right?"
"I'm good," Ashido said, turning to Izuku. "How about you? You kinda fell on your face while you were white knighting back there."
Izuku frowned in confusion at the unfamiliar term and rubbed at his elbow. He hadn't noticed before, but it did ache a little bit from the fall. He doubted it was more than a simple bruise, however, and wouldn't keep him down.
"I'm fine too. What's 'white nighting'?"
Both Ashido and Uraraka giggled at his response while Katsuki just rolled his eyes.
"What was that fucker doing here, anyway?" Katsuki asked, once the two girls had got their levity under control. "No way him running into you was an accident."
"No, it wasn't," Izuku agreed. "He was waiting out here for me to come out. It sounded like he'd been waiting a while."
"You think he followed us here?" Uraraka said, sounding nervous.
Izuku couldn't really blame her for it. To Uraraka, Shindo was this mysterious figure who had come out from nowhere to threaten harm on her classmates, or maybe even her as well. Anyone would be nervous in such a scenario.
"Followed me and Izuku, more like," Katsuki said. "He's had it in for us since day one. Explains why I felt someone watching me for the last couple of days, at least. Little shit is dedicated, if nothing else."
Izuku shuddered. He'd dismissed Katsuki's feelings at the time, which he was now seriously regretting. Maybe if he'd treated them a little more seriously instead of just dismissing them as Katsuki's strange way of showing his nerves, they might have realized what Shindo was planning ahead of time.
Then again, Katsuki's solution to the problem of being stalked would probably have been to just attack Shindo before he could get the jump on them, so maybe it was for the best that they hadn't realized that he was following them.
"I guess he was reeeeally jealous then," Ashido said, causing everyone to look at her in confusion.
"What?" she said, glancing around at their confused faces. "He sounded super jealous of Midoriya, or at least he did to me."
"Jealous… of me?" Izuku said slowly, trying to work the idea over in his head. It was more than a little ridiculous. What did Shindo have to be jealous about when compared to Izuku? They'd been like night and day ever since the first day that they had known each other.
"HAH!" Katsuki shouted, "I fucking knew it! Only reason he applied to UA was because we did, and he was the only one of us that failed. It must eat him up inside."
Izuku nodded his agreement. "I'm pretty sure that's why he was following us. He thought I cheated to get in, and wanted to know how."
Katsuki growled at that, though Uraraka just looked confused.
"Why would he think you cheated?" Uraraka asked. "Is it because you only had rescue points?"
"It's cause he's a slimy piece of—" Katsuki began, only to be cut off by Izuku.
"It's because Shindo thought I couldn't use my Quirk," he said quickly.
"What? Why would he think that?" Uraraka asked.
"Because for a long time… I couldn't," Izuku said.
If it had been anyone else asking, or if it had been anyone other than his closest friends in attendance, then he doubted he would have been able to say anything. As it stood, however, he felt… not quite comfortable, but safe. He could open the doors a little, for the first time in forever, and talk about one of the hardest moments of his life.
So, he took a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and began to speak.
"When I was four, our family doctor told me that I had an invisible Quirk…"
For the duration of his train ride home, Karasu Shindo stewed in his anger. He was pissed at Midoriya, pissed at Bakugou, and pissed at himself for screwing up what should have been a perfect plan. He had gone out of his way to avoid Bakugou getting involved that night, and yet the blond wannabe villain had ended up throwing the whole thing off. Him, and that pink girl.
Karasu's plan had been simple and brilliant. Wait for Bakugou and Midoriya to go their separate ways, then pounce on Midoriya and drag him away before his pet was any wiser. Once he had Midoriya on his own, Karasu had been sure he could wring the truth out of him without too much effort. The guy could barely keep it together when their teacher called on him in class, after all. Then, once he knew how Midoriya had managed to weasel his way through UA's entrance exam, he could choose whether to exploit it for himself first, or just report Midoriya and be done with it.
All of that was gone now though. Bakugou would be keeping an eye out for him, and he was annoyingly perceptive when it came to spotting people sneaking up on him, as several of their more overambitious classmates over the years had realized.
Not Karasu, though. He had known that Bakugou was dangerous from the beginning, and had done his best to stay clear of a beating. He'd still run afoul of Bakugou eventually, but it had only been once, and Bakugou had been punished severely for it. Midoriya as well, for being an instigator.
Those had been the days. Back in middle school, things had been right in the world. Brutes like Bakugou who only distracted and annoyed hard working students like Karasu were punished, and slackers like Midoriya fell by the wayside. That was how things had always been, both at Aldera and Karasu's previous school.
They weren't supposed to suddenly surpass everyone, and get into prestigious schools like UA, and definitely not the hero program while Karasu and the rest of the class had to make do with their second or third choices.
The high school Karasu was attending wasn't even a hero school. It was a good public high, and one that most students would be proud to attend, but it didn't even compare to places like UA or Shiketsu. It was, however, the only school that had accepted Karasu. All the other hero schools had dismissed him out of hand after the practical half of the entrance exams.
It didn't make sense. Karasu's Quirk was perfectly suited to hero work, and he had the grades to match. He should have been a prime candidate. Hell, when he had turned in his application to Shiketsu, they had said that they couldn't wait to see him for the exam.
How had Midoriya, the absolute loser who couldn't manage to put together enough brain cells to use his Quirk on the regular, and who had to rely on Bakugou to do his dirty work, made it in when Karasu hadn't?
He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he wasn't looking where he was going, and crashed directly into someone who was standing in the center of the platform, staring around at the passengers around him.
"Watch it, kid," the man growled.
Everything about him screamed danger to Karasu, from his muscular frame and shaved head to the plain face mask that covered the lower half of his face. The masks weren't uncommon by any means, but there was something about the way he wore it that said it wasn't being worn for other's protection, but to obscure his identity. Not that it helped much. The guy was huge, and Karasu would remember the cold look in his eyes for the rest of his life.
"Sorry sir," Karasu said, quickly backing up with his hands in front of him to show that he was unarmed. He didn't know why he did it, but it felt like the right thing to do in that situation. "Wasn't looking where I was going."
"Keep a better eye out then," the man grumbled before turning back to watch the rapidly thinning crowd.
Karasu breathed a sigh of relief that the man hadn't accosted him, or tried to extract payment for stuffing his clothes. He turned to leave, but before he could get more than a few steps away, the man called out to him.
"Hey kid. Wait up a second."
He froze in place, unsure of what to do. A part of him wanted to try running. It had already worked out once that night. What's to say it wouldn't save his ass again?
Then again, Karasu got the feeling that if he tried to flee and this man caught him, he would be in for a much worse time than if Bakugou slapped him around for a while.
So, he put on the bravest face he could manage, and turned back towards the man.
"Yes?" Karasu asked politely.
"I'm looking for a girl. Looks about your age, long white hair, single horn on her forehead, probably a bit sickly looking. You seen her?"
Karasu shook his head quickly. He hadn't even seen the man before running into him, so there was no chance of seeing whatever girl this guy was looking for, even if Karasu had walked straight past her.
"Damn," the man swore, scratching at his head. As he did, tiny shards of either glass or crystal scattered across his shoulders, like oddly beautiful dandruff. "Almost out of time. But she's gotta be here somewhere. Maybe the next district over…"
While the man was distracted, Karasu decided it was best to leave and began to shuffle away. He hoped that the slow movement wouldn't draw the man's attention, but he was sadly incorrect.
The man's gaze snapped back to Karasu before he could get out of sight, boring into him with their intensity.
"Kid, if you see that girl I'm looking for, you tell her to head back right away. Chisaki's real worried about her."
"I, uh, I'll do that," Karasu said.
That seemed to satisfy the man, at least. He gave a quick nod, then marched off down the platform, barking orders into his phone. It was almost impossible to hear over the din of the station and the few remaining people on the platform, but it sounded like the man wasn't the only one out looking for this girl, which really begged the question of who she was. Not that Karasu really cared at the moment.
With a long sigh, Karasu made his way to the nearest wall, then slowly slid down it until he was sitting on the ground. It was absolutely filthy, and he was definitely going to wash his uniform when he got home, but that didn't seem important anymore. In fact, after two brushes with severe injury in quick succession, he only had one question for himself.
"The fuck is my life?"
Author's Note:
First, I'm so very sorry for how long this chapter took. My motivation for the past few months has been at an all time low, which has made making progress on this chapter rather difficult. Thankfully the CA fires haven't burned my house down (yet), so I've been slowly chipping away at it. Hopefully the next one will come a little sooner this time, though it will still be a while between chapters. I'd love to lower the time between them, but I'm just not productive enough at the current moment to get it to where I want it to be, especially as I'm juggling two long fics.
Thankfully, we're getting to one of the parts of this fic that I've been greatly looking forward too, as well as the scene that inspired this whole thing. Next chapter should take us through the beginnings of the USJ, and (finally) the reveal of Izuku's Invisible Quirk.
A massive thank you to Raef_Darksbane for editing this fic. He's a paragon of virtue, and I encourage everyone to go check out his MHA/BOTW fic.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Your support and enjoyment means the world to me, and it's what keeps me going with this story. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have an excellent day!
