Eri remains adorable. Izuku is having a bad first day. But hey, Quirk's are cool, right? Oh wait, what was Kaminari's Quirk again?
It isn't 10k this time!...only 9.4k! But hey, I hope you all enjoy!
"Kacchan?" he asked, seeing his childhood friend before him. The blonde smirked, but a flare of green light emanated from him and he watched, horrified, as his body flaked away, piece by piece, bursting into ashes and vanishing into the aether.
"Himi? Ochako?" his girlfriends, before him, smiling at him and reaching out their hands. But the green, the green leapt from his form, a roiling wave of green erupting and destroying and washing over, their bodies vanishing into the green piece by piece, cracked and shattered like his dreams.
Toshinori. Mitsuki. Masaru. Nighteye. Each and every person who helped him, who saved him from himself, every one of them swallowed up by the inexorable green tides, the crashing waves roiling out from him.
"Izu?" the sweet, sweet voice of the little girl Eri, her horn softly glowing. He turned, desperate, running, running, running away from her, he couldn't hurt her too, he couldn't, someone had to live, someone had to survive. "Izu?!" the voice called again, her image before him, red eyes alight with worry and fear, clutching a small plush in her arms. No, no, get away, get back, no no no no no NO-
"IZU!" the voice shouted in his ear, making him shoot up with a gasp, sweat pouring down him as he felt his chest pulse with energy, his entire body vibrating in fear and pain and a deep, thrumming ache. He pressed one hand to his chest, feeling the hammering of his heart, blinking rapidly in the darkness, his eyes adjusting to the low light.
A small, gentle hand touched the hand he'd left on the bed, making him jolt and turn to look, seeing the concerned gaze of Eri looking at him, her other hand holding the All Might plushie he'd gifted her the day before. "Izu? Izu are you okay?" she asked, her voice echoing in the silence of the night.
He gulped, trying to bring his heart back under control. He could hear its beats thrumming in his ears, pounding as if it intended on leaping out of his chest, as if it could escape the prison that was his body. With deep, aching breaths, he gulped again and tried to speak. "Y-yeah, Eri, I-I'm okay. I'm okay. Just…just a bad dream, it's okay. I'm okay." His voice was raspy, pained, his throat dry.
"A bad dream? You have those too?" she asked.
He nodded, his heartbeat slowing ever so slightly as he tried to banish the images burned into his retinas from his nightmare. "Most people do, sweetie. We all have things we're afraid of, and sometimes it comes back when we sleep."
"What are you afraid of?" Eri tilted her head to the side, confused.
Izuku froze for a moment, internally cursing himself. He didn't want to lie to her, but he didn't want to answer her either, because if he told her the truth about how he was afraid of himself, she might take that the wrong way. He knew it was hypocritical to tell her that what happened to her father was an accident and yet still blame himself for his mistake, but logic held little sway over emotion. He shook his head. Okay. He would not lie to her, he'd sworn to himself he never would do that to her. But he just had to explain this the right way so she didn't take it as 'permission' to feel that guilt too.
Izuku patted the bed next to him, encouraging her to climb up on it. Without hesitation, the young girl managed to clamber onto it, snuggling into his side in her favorite position, her head tucked into the crook of his shoulder, her body flush up against his with his arm wrapped around her. She pulled the plush into her lap and gently squeezed it as she let out a quiet, content hum, closing her eyes and waiting for his answer.
His heart was slowly going back to normal, his breathing evening out. Partially from his own efforts, and partly because she did make him feel better too, as he did for her. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking quietly. "Well Eri, you see, I'm a lot like you in some ways."
"How?"
"My Quirk hurt people when I first used it too."
"It did?" she asked, lifting her head up to look up at him, ruby eyes seeking out emerald in the dim light of her nightlight spilling over from her room.
He nodded solemnly. "It did. And sometimes, even now, it still hurts me to remember what happened."
"But you said my Quirk's not a curse?"
"Because it's not, sweetie. It's not. It's okay to hurt, to feel bad sometimes. You just can't let that rule your life."
She looked down again, fiddling with the plush in her hands. She rubbed one hand against it idly, as if seeking the right words. "So…you don't think your Quirk is a curse?"
He winced internally, but kept his expression and voice level. "I…when I was younger, I did. But my family and friends made me understand it isn't."
She looked up at him with a severe expression. "I don't think you're telling me everything, Izu. You shouldn't have bad dreams if you don't think that."
He sighed, smiling ruefully. "You're too smart for your own good. Okay. I promised I wouldn't lie so I won't. Sometimes I still think that. Sometimes it still scares me. I scare me. I know, in here, that it's not right." He pointed at his head. Then he pointed at his heart. "But in here, sometimes, it's hard for me to know that. Which is why I have my friends and family. They help me remember."
Eri stayed silent for a few moments, contemplatively. She leaned back further into his arm, pressing up against him as if to ground both him and her. She looked up at him again. "W-will you help me remember when I can't know that?"
Izuku wrapped her up in both of his arms, squeezing gently. "Anytime you need that reminder sweetie, just ask, and I'll be there. No matter what."
"Can I be a reminder for you too?" she asked, her voice muffled slightly as she ducked her head into his chest.
He let out a soft sigh with a smile. "You're too sweet, Eri. Yes, yes you can."
"Okay. You're good, Izu. No more bad dreams. I say no."
"Well if you say so, how could I have any? Your word is law," he teased, feeling more like himself as he spoke to Eri.
Eri let out a small, huffed giggle, the sound warming Izuku's heart. She stilled for a moment, as if thinking of something, before speaking quietly. "...can I stay with you tonight? To keep the bad dreams away?"
Izuku swore somewhere along the line Eri had decided that he must not need his heart, because she was determined to break it with absolute sweetness. "Okay," he managed to choke out, feeling tears welling up from just how good this small child was, especially when considering what hell she'd come from. She allowed him to situate the two of them comfortably beneath the covers, letting out a breath of relief as she curled into his side, the plushie All Might tucked between the two of them.
She was clearly exhausted, having woken up from his nightmare and worrying over him, falling asleep within moments of laying down. He simply lay there for a minute, just thinking about how she was just too pure for this world, and how the world had turned its back on her. Silently, he vowed for what must have been the hundredth time that he would not allow anything to harm her ever again, no matter what it took.
With that promise in mind, he let himself drift off to sleep, hoping it wouldn't be obvious in the morning he'd had another nightmare.
Well, he was fairly confident in his acting. The others didn't notice anything was off. Except he forgot one tiny, itty bitty detail…Eri knew. And he didn't tell Eri not to tell. First thing the unicorn had done was inform Himiko and Ochako that Izu had a bad dream and did not sleep well. Which was a stretch, there was no way Eri could know he hadn't slept well (even setting aside the whole nightmare thing). Even if she was right.
Izuku knew how his life worked. Any day where he had had a nightmare beforehand would always go badly somewhere along the line. It was like the universe would decide that specific days were 'Fuck with Izuku' days and just make sure he suffered somehow. He had hoped he could suffer in silence, because any time someone tried to make it better, it only got worse.
But nope, Eri told the girls, and they in turn told Katsuki. He also suspected Shoji and Jiro had known, because both of them had been eyeing him since they'd seen him making breakfast. Well, trying to. Somewhere in the middle of it, he slipped and knocked the pan over, splashing the partially cooked eggs onto him. He managed to avoid a burn thanks to the fact he had his gloves on, but there went his attempt at breakfast.
Katsuki knew better than to try to interfere with one of his nightmare days. But the girls had yet to get the memo. Although they'd only seen it thrice throughout the time they'd known him, they had tried very hard to make his bad days less bad, to mostly disastrous effect. He understood it, of course…no one liked feeling unable to help someone they cared about. But over fourteen years of life, he'd yet to see any solution to the simple fact sometimes, he just had days that went to shit.
His tie was a mess, his uniform was rumpled, he had bags under his eyes to rival Shinso's perpetual state of exhaustion, and he nearly forgot his bag before he tried to make his way to the classroom. Nightmares always left him feeling tired, exhausted, like he'd burned through all his next day before even going through it. But he made it into the classroom, only half-paying attention to Ochako and Himiko trying to cheer him up. He appreciated it, he did.
The problem was he wasn't upset. They never quite got that. He wasn't in a great mood, but it wasn't bad either. He just knew that the day would suck and was resigned to it already. At some point, something was going to go wrong. He didn't know when, he didn't know what, but something was going to go wrong.
Aizawa slithered into the room in a hideous yellow sleeping bag, looking like a caterpillar about to morph into the most terrifying butterfly known to man. Though Izuku had known him now for at least a few days, this was not exactly how he expected his first class to go. Aizawa berated the class for how long they took to quiet down, and then tiredly held up a gym uniform and told them to go change into them and meet him at the athletic field. When the class stared at him confused, he reiterated his statement with an annoyed tone and made it clear there would be consequences if they failed to do it swiftly.
And so Izuku found himself in the locker room and realized a problem. A very big problem. The universe fuckery had caught up to him, it seemed. In his rush to leave the dorms after spilling his breakfast and being too tired to really focus, he hadn't put on one of his compression shirts beneath his uniform…and he had to remove his shirt to change. Katsuki noticed his hesitance and leaned over to him, speaking quietly.
"What's wrong?"
"...I forgot my fucking compression shirt," Izuku whispered back.
"If anyone says anything, I'll kill them," Katsuki said, letting off a few pops in his palm. Izuku sighed.
"Let's not get expelled on day one, Kacchan. Just…I'll just deal."
Katsuki looked him over, eyes narrowed, before giving him one quick nod. He knew better than to argue with Izuku on a bad day.
Izuku took a deep breath, pulling his shirt over his head and reaching for the gym top to hopefully not get noticed…but the sudden ceasing of chatter in the room had his shoulder slumping as he knew why everyone stopped talking. He knew they'd see it, the spiderweb of scars that crossed his back, spiraling out from between his shoulder blades like a hundred small bolts of lightning. He knew that if he had turned around and they could see his front, they'd see the same marks ripping across his chest, the same scarred skin, the permanent mark of his shame.
He decided to cut it off before anyone asked, hoping everyone respected him enough to keep quiet. He spun about to meet everyone's gaze, seeing all the other boys staring at him (save Todoroki, who glanced at him and turned away a moment later). Their eyes locked onto the scars that ran across his chest, down his arms, falling down beneath his waist along his legs, covering every part of his body in some various marks painted on his skin. He made sure to meet everyone's gaze with a blank look, before speaking. "It's from an incident when I was a kid, don't ask."
"No problem," Kirishima said, holding his hands up placatingly. His reply was echoed by the rest of the boys, all of them turning back to their various tasks of changing. He let out a deep breath of air, turning back to his locker and angrily dragging the uniform on. He was already done with this day and it hadn't even hit the test.
Katsuki nudged his shoulder, giving him a significant look. Izuku just looked at him blankly, sighing when he realized the blonde wasn't going to let it go. He shook his head in silent communication, trying to express that he did not want to talk about it or do anything about it right now, and he'd rather Katsuki not bring it up to the girls right now. It seemed the message got through to his brother, who gave him another nod of recognition and finished up switching his clothes out.
By the time Izuku had made it out to the field, he was the last one there, something which apparently annoyed his teacher(although it was hard to tell if he was annoyed, Izuku had picked up on a couple tells by now). He said nothing though, simply noting a time on his phone.
"Welcome to your Quirk Assessment Test," Aizawa said, his tone bored.
"What about orientation?" Ochako asked, confused.
"You're here to be heroes. You don't have time to waste on things like that. You all did physical fitness tests in school, right? You weren't allowed to use your Quirks there. It's not logical. Today we'll see what you can do with your Quirks. Midoriya!"
Izuku jolted. "Y-yes sir?"
"You scored the highest on the exam. What was your best softball throw in school?"
Izuku thought back for a moment. "Um, 65 meters."
Aizawa tossed him a softball. "Throw it using your Quirk. Anything goes so long as you stay in the circle."
Izuku nodded, stepping into the circle. He thought for a moment, trying to decide the best way to do this. He rotated his shoulder, focusing inward as he called upon One For All, letting it flood his body. Emerald sparks scattered around him, his eyes glowing slightly as he focused. He channeled a field into his hand, one which held the ball tightly, pouring strength into it as he prepared to switch it right at the apex of his throw.
He reared back, pitching it forward and switching the attraction to repulsion at the very last second. The combination of One For All's physical force and his energy field caused the ball to rocket away with a loud roar, the ball nearly vanishing from sight. The kickback sent sand and dirt flying away from him, Jiro covering her ears and wincing as Shoji shifted away all of the ears save one.
"1027 meters. Not bad. This is what we're here to determine. What your foundation is, to be built upon," Aizawa said, holding up his phone to show the number.
"1027 meters? What the hell Midoriya?!" Kaminari said, eye twitching.
"This looks like fun!" Ashido said, clasping her hands together.
"Fun, huh?" Aizawa interrupted further conversation, one eyebrow arching. "Alright. You want to have fun? The person who comes in last place on all eight tests will be expelled."
"What?!" the class cried out.
"That's unfair!" Ochako cried out, clenching her fists tightly.
"Unfair? The world is unfair. Natural disasters, accidents, villains…none of these things are fair. The world is unfair. It's a hero's job to combat that unfairness. Here at UA, we get to run our classes as we see fit. I'm training you to be heroes. I'm not training future corpses. If you can't take it seriously here, you won't take it seriously in the real world, and I'd rather not see you in a casket."
His words sobered up most of the class, many of them contemplating his statement. Heroes did risk their lives daily, if not hourly, and his statement made it clear he didn't plan on having them die doing it. Still felt a bit unfair to most of them, but at least they understood his point.
Aizawa gave them a creepy grin, the first smile they'd seen (and most of them now wished he never smiled again). "Welcome to UA's hero course! Let's begin."
Most of the tests went by fairly simply for Izuku. He was in good physical condition, and between OFA and his base Quirk, he had an answer to most of the tests without too much trouble. On most of them he was within the top three, if not the first place. The only one that he couldn't really rely on a Quirk for was the seated toe touch, but at least being in good shape helped with that.
Of course, even it being one of his bad days didn't change his hyper focus on Quirks. He had pulled out a notebook and begun jotting down everything he noticed from the other students' Quirks (to the great confusion of everyone who didn't know him). Most of them were fascinating, but he noticed a few students not really using theirs. He still hadn't puzzled out Kaminari or Shinso's yet. Yaoyorozu's had him nearly salivating from how amazing the implications were, once he realized what she was doing.
Himiko nudged Ochako in the side. "Think we should be jealous?" pointing at Izuku, the greenette staring at Yaoyorozu as crafted a cannon for the ball throw, the smirk on Himiko's face making it clear she was kidding. Ochako just giggled, careful to go silent as soon as Aizawa's eyes landed on her.
The ball throw had been left for last, Ochako already cinching first place with a casual tap on the ball and toss upwards, the distance counter eventually giving up and just reading 'Infinity'. But that didn't lessen the others trying. Katsuki smirked, teeth bared, as he launched it, shouting 'Die!' as he did so. Izuku just facepalmed at how extra his brother could be sometimes. And then smirked internally when he got 1024 meters, three shy of Izuku.
So far Izuku hadn't seen everyone's Quirks, but Kaminari seemed excited as he stepped up, the last one to go. Izuku paid careful attention, curious about what he could do. The blonde smiled. "I always wanted to try this!" Holding the ball between his two palms, he began to separate them, crackles of yellow electricity beginning to spark between his hands. Izuku, whose vision was flipped on, witnessed as the white crackling within Kaminari's body turned a brilliant yellow as his brain put two and two together…electricity.
Izuku collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut, falling to his knees as the world spun around him. Electricity. Electricity…LIGHTNING. He could see it, the clouds in the sky, the taste of ozone, the bright flash of light and the pain, the raging torrent of energy, the fear and anguish, the taste of metal and blood and the lack of sound, how the world fell away before it erupted from him, before the screams and cries and broken world shattered.
His vision went dim, a roaring in his ears as he felt dizzy, disconnected. Everything was too bright, too loud, yet sounds were muffled and fuzzy. He might have been interested in the dichotomy if he wasn't currently unable to breathe. Somewhere inside, intellectually, he knew this was a panic attack. It wasn't the first he'd had. It wouldn't be the last. But oh god…in front of Aizawa. In front of the class. In front of his girlfriends, who had never seen this side of him. In front of everyone.
The thoughts just made it worse, every lesson on managing panic attacks slipping through his fingers like trying to hold water. He couldn't do this, couldn't show this, couldn't be like this. Toshinori would never forgive him for being so weak, no one would, no one would want to deal with this, with him, with his fears and worries and hurt.
He felt more than saw the hand reaching out to him, the feeling of another hand holding his and pressing it to a warm surface. A moving one. Oh. Someone's chest. Trying to encourage him, he could barely hear it through the roaring in his ears, but someone was trying to get him to copy. Copy what? Oh. The breathing. Right. Breathing. That's a thing he was supposed to do.
It was like everything came crashing back at once, sound and scent and sight all back at once as he gasped for air, tears falling from his eyes and blurring his vision. He finally could hear the voices, the questions, the worried tones as Aizawa stood before him, gripping his hand tightly against his chest. "Midoriya. Midoriya, can you answer me?"
Izuku gulped in another gasp of air. Shakily, he nodded, trying to croak out a noise. It was a struggle, but he managed to make some sort of acknowledgment. Aizawa nodded at him. "Okay. We'll discuss this later. Bakugo. Take Midoriya to the old lady, you know the way. For the rest of you, I'll be posting the results later. No ones getting expelled today, it was a logical ruse to make sure you performed your best. Your syllabi are on your desks, for now your day is over. Grab them and return to the dorms."
With careful motions, Aizawa helped the shaky Izuku to his feet, passing him off to Katsuki, the blonde solemn and silent. Izuku barely noticed how Katsuki had nodded to his girlfriends, Himiko and Ochako looking at him with wide, fear-filled eyes. The rest of the class looked at him with confusion, worry, and their own fear.
Izuku really hated his bad days.
Katsuki hadn't wanted to leave, but Recovery Girl had insisted she had him well taken care of. She told Katsuki Izuku needed to rest, and she'd have Hound Dog in to check on him as soon as he was available, but for now, Katsuki should get changed and go back to the dorms. She knew the girls would be worried too, and assured Katsuki if anything came up, she'd be sure to let him know.
'Fuck!' he snarled internally, his hands in his pockets and shoulders tense as he walked back to Heights Alliance. He knew Izuku was going to have a bad day, but he hadn't expected this sort of bad day. Now he was going to have to deal with the fallout…his classmates would want to know why Izuku had panicked, the girls would want to know if he was okay, and the moment Eri found out she'd want to see him and he knew Recovery Girl would not allow that right now.
This wasn't fucking fair! Finally, finally, things were going right, they'd been going right for so long, and then the very first fucking day things to go shit! Hell, before the school day even started, Izuku had had another nightmare! And here Katsuki was, left to pick up the pieces and smooth things over and that was not what he did best. Izuku was the one who did the talking, the smoothing, with his brilliant smiles and gentle empathy. Katsuki was gruff and competitive and had to struggle to understand how other people felt.
He clenched and unclenched his hands, taking in a deep breath, holding it, releasing. Repeated again. And again. He could do this. It was just a bad day, a bad set of circumstances. He'd settle Eri and the girls first, before the class. The girls would be easy, they knew this happened, they just hadn't witnessed it yet. They were smart, they probably already figured out the trigger. They'd just want to know where he was and when he'd return. Which he could at least give the first.
He approached the dorms and steeled himself, knowing he'd get pestered as soon as he entered. And lo and behold, there was a wave of sound as he opened the door, making him clench his fists and jaw as he tried to pick out the important questions.
"Please, allow Bakugo a moment! We are overwhelming him!" Yaoyorozu called out. Huh. Katsuki reminded himself to make her something nice for dinner since they at least heard her out. He spied Cheeks and Fangs walking his way and let his shoulders slump slightly in relief. They leaned in close, shooing others away so he could speak quietly to them.
"Zu's okay, he'll be okay. Panic attacks suck but it's not something he's not used to. The old lady is keeping him for now and the mutt's gonna check on him when he gets a chance. He'll be okay."
"...was it Kaminari?" Himiko whispered as quietly as she could, hoping Jiro and Shoji were not listening in.
Katsuki nodded. "Electricity. It'll be okay, now he knows it's coming, he can cope. It won't come up again."
"What do we tell him?" Ochako asked, her gaze flickering to the worried Kaminari, the blonde talking with Sero and glancing over at their little trio over and over.
"I'll handle it. It's not his fault. We just got to make sure he knows. We can tell them a little…" Katsuki trailed off as he remembered a discussion he'd had with Izuku only the day before. Izuku had admitted that with him getting noticed for breaking All Might's record, there was a good chance people might find out about the incident. He'd rather not just dump it on everyone, but he wasn't going to try to hide it if they asked directly. He told Katsuki the same thing, his 'permission' to explain what he had to, and if it came to it, to just tell the story. He didn't think it was necessary right now though.
Himiko nodded at him. Ochako nudged his shoulder with her own. "Thanks for telling us, Katsuki."
"Don't thank me for something stupid like that," he growled out without heat. He ignored their rolled eyes and stepped past them to look over the rest of the room, the various students who were trying to act like they hadn't been interested in the conversation by the door now dropping the act. "Oi. I'm only gonna say this once. In order, Izuku's fine. He's with the old lady, he'll be back later. Second, this won't happen again."
"Yes but what did happen?" Ashido asked, her expression worried.
"Midoriya had a panic attack, did he not? Do you know what the trigger is, Bakugo? Perhaps we could avoid it in the future if it is something one of us did?" Yaoyorozu asked quietly.
"It's nothing you need to worry about, he knows what the trigger is and it won't catch him off guard again."
"But what was it? Midoriya was fine until the end, when Kaminari-" Sero asked.
'Shit!' Katsuki winced internally as he saw the dawning horror appear on Kaminari's face, watching the thoughts click into place for about a third of the class. He had to run damage control before the idiot went into some guilt spiral bullshit.
"Fine, yes. It was the electricity. He has…issues with electrical Quirks. But it's fine, Pikachu. He just wasn't expecting it is all. Moron had his Quirk vision enabled too which made it worse. I promise you, he'll be fine going forward. He knows it's coming now."
"B-but I, I didn't mean to-"
Katsuki strode across the room and grabbed Kaminari's shoulders tightly, forcing him to look him in the eye. "Stop that bullshit. Zu would feel worse if he knew you were freaking out about this. Seriously, you had no way of knowing. Not your fault that's your Quirk. Once he gets over it he'll be pestering you about it, I'm sure."
"Are…are there other triggers we should be aware of? So we avoid causing him any more distress?" Yaoyorozu asked.
Katsuki paused, letting go of Kaminari's shoulders as he thought about it. "Don't ask about his scars. Don't ask about my leg around him. That's about it."
"Your leg?" Kirishima asked, confused.
With an eye roll, Katsuki bent over and rolled up his pant leg, revealing the silver-gray sheen of his prosthetic leg. Most of the class looked at him in surprise, a few confused and a few almost concerned from what little context they had. He let the pant leg fall again. "Yes, that's a prosthetic leg, yes I had an accident as a kid, no I don't want to tell you the fucking details. Any other questions?"
There was a silence in the room for a moment, before being broken by Tokoyami. "You spoke of 'Quirk vision'? Pray tell, what is that?" Tokoyami asked.
"Part of Izu's Quirk is he can see the energy of a person's Quirk within them!" Ochako said, grinning as she bragged about her boyfriend.
"Apparently it's kind of blinding though, so he doesn't have it on all the time," Himiko added.
"That is…interesting," Yaoyorozu muttered, looking like she was considering something.
"If you want more details ask the nerd when he gets back. He's probably already got a half dozen pages of notes written on you all by now."
"Notes?" Sato asked.
"Izu likes to analyze people's Quirks! It's super useful, he's the one who figured out that I can use some other people's Quirk's when I transform!" Himiko gushed, her fangs visible as she grinned.
Ochako nodded. "Yeah, it's because of him I figured out I'm not actually canceling gravity, I'm matching it's force, and if I focus, I can match it in other directions than just making things go up."
"Analysis you say? Would he share that knowledge with the rest of us?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Tch. You ask him to talk about your Quirk and you'll be hard pressed to get him to shut the fuck up about it," Katsuki drawled.
"Kacchan? Where's Izu?" The small voice of Eri interrupted everyone else, the young girl coming out of the elevator, rubbing her eyes as if she had just woken up.
"He'll be here in a little bit kiddo, he's had a long day," Katsuki replied, his tone shifting so fast the room felt like they had whiplash from how much more gentle his voice had become.
"Oh, okay. Can I have an apple please?"
"'Course. Lemme cut one up," Katsuki, happy for the distraction, strode off to the kitchen, the young girl following along behind him as he opened the fridge.
"Oh, oh, can I have one too? Pleeeease?" the pleading voice of Dark Shadow rang out, zooming across the room while Tokoyami sighed.
"...fuck it, whatever. Sure. Want me to cut it up for you too?" Katsuki said sarcastically, but lost his smirk when the shadow creature nodded rapidly, a gleeful grin crossing its face(?). Katsuki just shrugged, pulling a couple apples out and reaching to his knife block to begin chopping them up.
"I'm sorry for the trouble-" Izuku began, but a swift whap of a cane to his shin cut him off.
"Stop that nonsense young man. You didn't cause any trouble. You have some issues and that is okay. You're not the first student in this school to have triggers and you won't be the last. I imagine you're not even the only one in your class," Recovery Girl, a severe expression on her face.
Izuku dropped his head to his chest, sighing deeply. "They're going to look at me differently now."
"Don't make assumptions about future actions others will take. That's an exercise in futility," Hound Dog said, although he'd insisted Izuku could call him Inui, or even Ryo if he felt comfortable enough for it. "Besides, it's not fair to assume the worst of your new classmates, is it?"
"I guess," Izuku murmured.
"I don't want to pressure you, but if you gain any form of fame as a Pro, you're going to have people digging up your past. Perhaps you could open up about it to some of your classmates as you spend time with them?" Hound Dog said softly.
"I told Kacchan that if they ask, I'll just tell them the story. Or he can if they ask him. I already know someone will figure it out eventually…I may as well just get it out of the way," Izuku sighed, defeated.
"That's a very mature and thought out response, Midoriya. Don't be discouraged. You must admit that statistically, the odds are good they will agree with everyone that it was simply an accident…just like little Eri's was."
Izuku clenched his fist but didn't reply, well aware of the fact he was a hypocrite and that Hound Dog was needling him about that on purpose. He didn't rise to the bait, keeping his mouth shut instead.
"Well, you seem to be recovered well enough I suppose. You may return to your dorm, Midoriya. It'll be alright. Here, take a lollipop." Recovery Girl shoved one into his hands, giving him a gentle smile and shooing him out of the room.
Izuku slowly trudged back to the dorms, not looking forward to the third degree he expected to get when he arrived. Unfortunately, he arrived at it much sooner than he wanted to, and decided to just get it over with. He opened the door, a wave of noise and the smells of something cooking wafting over him. The noise pretty much stopped as he walked in, all eyes turning to him. He hated it. Felt like his skin was crawling and he wanted nothing more than to go to his room and pass out until everyone forgot about what happened.
He decided to just go for it, heading towards the stairs and hopefully up to his room. He wasn't given the chance to escape, as Ochako's arm reached out and snagged his own, halting his progress.
"Oh no you don't mister. You need to eat. C'mere," she ordered, half dragging his limp form into the kitchen and shoving him into one of the stools around the table. Himiko was seated next to him, casually flipping through the syllabus with a bored expression. As soon as she saw him next to her, she abandoned her view and smiled at him brightly, leaning into his side. He instinctively put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in tighter and letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
Ochako plopped down on his other side, choosing to lay her head on his shoulder rather than lean the same way Himiko was. He relaxed further, letting his head rest upon hers for a moment, ignoring the rest of his classmates. He glanced up at the stovetops, somewhat startled to see not Kacchan, but the tall, buff boy who'd introduced himself as Sato there. He noticed the look and gave a grin.
"Well, it's not fair for you two to do all the work after all! I figured I'd take over for tonight! Sero's helping, he just ran out to pick up some ingredients for me. Bakugo went with him, saying something about not trusting him with vegetable selection."
"Ah. Yeah, Kacchan's picky about that sort of thing. Thanks, Sato," Izuku muttered.
"No problem man. Glad to see you up and about."
"Hey uh…Midoriya?" Izuku managed to look up to see the guilty gaze of Kaminari looking at him from across the table, shifting in place. "Listen, I-"
Izuku cut Kaminari off with an upraised hand. Leveling him with a tired gaze, he spoke. "Kaminari, stop. Just…stop. It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known. I'll be okay, and I won't be surprised again. It's okay. We're okay."
Kaminari stared at him with watery eyes, before sniffling and bowing towards him. "...thanks man. I'll try to make sure to warn you if I'm gonna use my Quirk."
"No need. Like I said, I know now, I can adjust, it's fine."
"...dude, you don't need to try to make me feel better. You uh…you look like you're still not feeling great. You should take care of yourself better."
Izuku scoffed, releasing Kaminari from his gaze as he looked down at the table. Muttering under his breath he remarked "Fuck that, just kill me already."
He spoke so softly he was certain even Himiko, as close to him as she was and with her slightly above average hearing, still wouldn't be able to hear him. But that didn't mean no one did. Jiro looked at him as he slumped in the chair, all the good cheer and helpful attitude from yesterday gone from his body. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick message to Himiko, the blonde having exchanged numbers with her when she helped her move in, informing the blonde of what he'd said under his breath.
Himiko felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and opened it up, squinting as she read the message. Her mouth twisted as if she'd eaten something sour, and she forwarded the message to Ochako, making sure Izuku couldn't see. Not that he bothered trying, he'd already given up on the world, laying his head on the table.
The two girls exchanged an annoyed glance over his slumped form, but waited patiently. He needed to eat before they dragged him off. Luckily, moments later, Sero and Katsuki entered, the blonde looking utterly done as Sero cracked a couple jokes, chuckling at his commentary. Sato took the ingredients off the two, Katsuki taking a seat at the table and just opening his phone, scrolling through something on his feed and only sometimes glancing at the slumped Izuku.
It took about five more minutes for Sato to finish, and he put the food before Izuku, moving on to announce dinner to everyone else. Himiko poked Izuku until he glanced up, and once he'd begun eating, went to get up to make her own plate. She was stopped by Katsuki, who slid a plate in front of her and one before Ochako, giving them a significant look. She nodded back at him, letting him know they were going to take care of it.
After eating, Izuku went to go to his room, but found himself flanked by his girlfriends once more. The two steadfastly ignored his tired protests and simply pulled him along, everyone watching as they dragged him off to what they assumed was one of their rooms. Ida raised his hand to protest the impropriety of it, but thought better of it. Midoriya had been very understanding of his rudeness on exam day; he wouldn't begrudge him some time to speak to his paramours in private. And to be honest, he knew he missed social cues sometimes, but he was pretty confident that Midoriya was most assuredly not in the mood for anything improper.
Kaminari watched them go with a conflicted expression. He was trying to listen to what Midoriya said, about how it was okay and all that, but he still felt terrible. The sight of Midoriya, the ridiculously powerful boy who helped rescue him and was the coolest person he'd seen yet just collapse to the ground with that expression of sheer, unadulterated panic on his face had completely shaken Kaminari…especially once he realized it was his fault.
It wasn't like he didn't know what electrical scarring looked like. He hadn't said anything about it in the locker room, but he knew what lichtenberg scars were. Granted, the ones on Midoriya were extreme, covering most of his body and some looked like they were from other sources, but still…he saw the fractal patterns. He'd accidentally caused a few of those on his parents when he was a child.
He felt the couch next to him jolt as someone sat down on it, making him turn to look next to him and seeing the shaggy purple hair of Shinso beside him, the taller teenager looking at him with a deadpan expression. He opened his mouth to ask Shinso what he wanted, but found himself struck dumb when the other teen reached up and flicked him on the forehead, not hard enough to hurt but enough to make him rear back.
"Get out of your head, Kaminari," Shinso drawled.
"What are you talking about?" he shot back in a huff.
"You heard Midoriya. You weren't at fault. He's just having a bad day. Shit happens, so stop moping. I've known you for a day and I can tell that's not like you. It's annoying."
Kaminari crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back into the couch. "Well excuse me for feeling bad about making someone freak out because-"
"Because you used your Quirk?" Shinso cut him off with an odd tone of voice. Kaminari looked over at the purple-haired teen, confused. "Do you even know what my Quirk is?" Kaminari thought about it, realizing…no. He'd yet to see him use it. He shook his head no, the purple haired teen continuing. "Answer out loud." Kaminari opened his mouth to reply, but barely got a sound out before everything went blank.
After an indeterminate amount of time, he found himself standing in the kitchen, staring blankly at the fridge. "Freaked out yet?" Shinso said from behind him, Kaminari spinning around to see the other teen staring at him with tired eyes. Half the room was staring at him, the other half staring at Shinso.
"Wh-what happened?" Kaminari stuttered.
"My Quirk. A nice villain Quirk that brainwashes people who respond to me. Freaky, isn't it?"
"Shinso, I believe you've made your point," Yaoyorozu interjected gently.
"Nope, not yet. You want a freakout Kaminari, you should see how people look at me every time I show off my Quirk. Look at how you all are looking at me right now. Stop beating yourself up. At least you don't have a villain's Quirk."
Kaminari sputtered for a moment, before stepping up towards Shinso, half flailing. "N-no, that's not a villain's Quirk! That's pretty cool! You could do a lot with that, like, like…"
"Don't strain yourself. I got over having a villainous Quirk a long time ago."
"Forgive me Shinso, but it doesn't sound like you got over it," Yaoyoruzu interjected again.
"Oh for fucks sake. No such thing as a villainous Quirk, it's what you fucking do with it that matters," Bakugo added his two cents, leaning against the counter as he scrolled through his phone.
"Easy for you to say, mister 'I'm a walking bomb'," Shinso shot back.
Bakugo looked up and arched an eyebrow at him. "That's right. I am a walking bomb. I could kill everyone in this building in thirty seconds. Bring the whole fucking thing down on our heads. Or what about Miss Invisible over there? Bet she could slit our throats in our sleep before we could react."
Bakugo straightened up off the counter, striding over to stare at Shinso. "Racoon Eyes could melt our limbs off. Who knows what the hell Ponytail over there could whip up. Most of us could kill people if we wanted without too much effort. I'm betting people gave you shit for your Quirk growing up, right? Well, fuck them. You're in Class 1-A's hero course, you're gonna be a fucking hero and flip all those fucks off. And you!"
Kaminari squeaked as Bakugo turned on him, poking him in the chest. "You shoulda fucking listened to me the first time. Zu's fine, it's all fine, it wasn't your fault, get your head out of your ass and go light up the fucking room or some shit. Eyebags got one thing right, and it's that you moping is annoying."
Silence fell over the room for a moment, before Kirishima stepped up with a worried smile. "Hey now, we're all classmates, let's back it down a bit."
"...it's fine. The bomberanian has a point," Shinso said with a straight face, enjoying how Bakugo's expression twisted at the name.
Kaminari scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I guess you guys are right…I just feel bad…"
"...look, Pikachu, I've known Izuku since we were in fucking diapers. Trust me…he doesn't blame you."
"Oh right, he said your parents adopted him, right? So he's your brother?" Ashido asked, half folded over the back of the couch as she watched the conversation in the kitchen.
Bakugo shrugged. "Basically."
"What happened to his parents?" Hagakure asked, her attention also locked on the group in the kitchen.
Those more perceptive towards people watched as Bakugo froze ever so slightly, his expression twisting further as his hands clenched at his sides in internal conflict. Izuku had given him permission to speak if people asked, but he still didn't think now was the time to tell the whole story. He struggled internally, deciding to give the barest bones reply he could.
"...they died. In the same accident that took my leg," he muttered, looking away from the class.
"...Oh. I-I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. I'm sorry," Hagakure said guiltily.
"Nothing to apologize for. It's fine. I wouldn't have answered if I had an issue with it." Awkward silence fell over the room after Bakugo's last comment, the blonde getting frustrated with it swiftly and sighing loudly. "Alright, listen up…Zu and I got some shit in our past. I'm sure most of you do too. It'll probably come out at some point, and that's fine. We're stuck together for the next few years and then we're supposed to work together as heroes. Don't let it get you all bent out of shape, we'll be fine, you'll be fine, everything will be fucking fine. It's our first day, lets not angst over every stupid thing just cause Zu had a bad day. K?"
"Bakugo makes an excellent point! Perhaps not every event today went as swimmingly as we could hope for, but I believe we all still made an excellent showing at the Quirk Assessment Test, and Sensei was pleased enough with our performance! We should take this as a win!" Ida declared, standing straight and looking over the class.
"Too much angst, that's for sure," Jiro muttered. She stood up and stretched, heading to the stairs. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed, catcha all tomorrow."
"I believe I will do the same. Goodnight all," Yaoyorozu said, smiling as she followed behind Jiro to the stairs. Various murmurs of people heading to bed entered the room, a few sticking around to watch television before heading off themselves.
"Girls, I'll be fine," Izuku tried to protest, half-heartedly digging his heels in as they continued to drag him towards Ochako's room.
"You're our boyfriend, we're allowed to want to spend time with you when you're having a bad day," Himiko replied, not giving him room to argue. Izuku sighed, but stopped protesting, recognizing he was losing this argument and not wanting to make them upset with him. The girls pulled him into Ochako's room, his tired eyes taking in the way she'd decorated it with some of the various gifts the boys had gotten her…a set of star themed bed sheets, little glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, a series of astronomy books she had carefully lined up on her small desk, a few various star maps and images from telescopes plastered on her walls.
Ochako gave him a gentle push onto the bed, the boy allowing it, finding himself seated on the bedspread. Himiko sat next to him, Ochako on his other side once more, flanking him as they tended to do recently.
Izuku sighed once more. "Girls…"
Ochako's finger was placed against his lips, silencing him. He looked up at her. "Izuku…please. Stop. I know you can handle it yourself. That's not the point. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. We're here for you. You would do the same for us, so let us love you, okay?"
"...yeah. You're right. I'm sorry. I've been really rude all day to everyone." Izuku rubbed his face with his hands. "You're such a huge part of my life now that sometimes I forget that you don't know all that much about my stupid little hangups, like my bad days."
"It's not stupid Izu," Himiko sighed. It was so back and forth with Izuku sometimes that she wanted to just reach back in time and strangle the villain that sent him down this path in the first place. "You should know, Kyo told me what you said at the table."
"Huh? Kyo?" Izuku blinked in confusion.
"Kyoka! She said I get to call her that because I helped her at the exam! And this!" Himiko shoved her phone in Izuku's face, his eyes going cross eyed as he tried to read it while it was far too close to his face. After gently pushing her hand back a little, he read over the message and growled under his breath.
"I forgot about her Quirk…didn't realize it was that sensitive. I should ask her how far away she can hear from, and if she can hear frequencies beneath or above the audible human range, or-"
"Ah, there's our boyfriend, I was wondering where he'd gone off too," Ochako said, smiling softly at him beginning to mutter rapidly. He froze for a moment, before giving her a sheepish smile. She giggled and reached over to grip his hand. "And there's the smile I wanted to see."
"Seriously though, Izu…it's okay, you know. It's okay to lean on us. It's okay to have bad days." Himiko said quietly.
"I know you're right, but I'm not great at hearing that on these days. But I mean it when I say I'll be okay tomorrow. I just need some sleep, I'll be more put together tomorrow," he replied in the same quiet tone she used.
"Hmm. Okay. That's fine. But we can spend some time together before bed, can't we?" Ochako asked.
"Y-yeah, of course. You're right that I needed to get away anyways."
Ochako let out a quiet, contemplative hum as she considered something. She tilted her head to the side, deciding to firmly press the 'fuck it' button in her mind. "Himi?"
"Yeah?"
Ochako stood up from the bed, stepping past Izuku and reaching out to grasp Himiko's face in her hands. Carefully holding her pinkies up as she cupped the now confused and flustered blonde's face, she leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, holding it there for only a few seconds before letting go. Ochako's breath was escaping her somewhat more rapidly, and her cheeks were flushed, but she didn't wait for a response as she turned to Izuku. Cupping his face the same way she had done Himiko's, she leaned down and allowed their lips to meet in the same way, enjoying the startled squeak he let out far more than she'd ever admit.
As she released him and took a step back, witnessing the wide-eyed red cheeked Izuku and rapidly breathing Himiko staring at her, she planted her hands on her hips, ignoring the pounding in her heart. "Well? I think there needs to be one more kiss, don't you?" she said, her tone more husky than normal.
Himiko swallowed, turning to look at the greenette next to her. She was not expecting bold Ochako today and while she certainly did not dislike it, she had been caught very off guard and was a little off balance. He was still staring unblinkingly at Ochako, but a gentle pressure on his side had him turn to look at Himiko's amber eyes. An unspoken conversation was had between them, as their brains slowly rebooted from the brunette's actions. Himiko leaned in, one hand on his shoulder and the other wrapped around his fingers placed upon the bed. Izuku leaned in as well, letting their lips meet with the same gentle pressure Ochako had given to the two of them.
They broke apart, breath coming more rapidly from them both. Himiko's smile widened, as Izuku shyly returned it. Himiko pressed her forehead to Izuku's, letting them rest against each other. Izuku gulped, gently squeezing Himiko's hand. He turned away to look at the standing Ochako, a smug grin on her face.
"N-not that I mind, but what was that for?"
Ochako leaned in and gently booped both Izuku and Himiko on their noses. "Because. I've been wanting to kiss the two of you for months now. And as your girlfriend, I finally have kissing rights…if that's okay with you. I didn't make either of you uncomfortable, did I?" Her confidence seemed to drain away a little as she spoke, shoulders shrinking as her actions caught up to her and she realized how it could come across.
"No!" The almost shouted reply came from the two on the bed, both of them shooting to their feet in unison. Ochako rocked back in surprise.
Himiko giggled as Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. "Um…yeah. It didn't bother me. I um…I just wasn't expecting it. But um, it was…um…good?"
"Oh my god Izu, it's a kiss, not that big a deal," Himiko teased, ignoring her own racing heart.
"You're one to talk, you're redder than me or 'Chako!" he shot back, a wry grin crossing his face.
"Oh, you…shush your stupid handsome face!" she pouted, glaring at Izuku.
Izuku wasn't entirely sure what made him say it, but without thinking, he just replied with a cocky grin and the words "Make me."
He had a brief moment of satisfaction seeing the shocked look on Himiko and Ochako's faces at his boldness, before Himiko's grin turned sultry, her fangs visible in the dim light of Ochako's desk lamp. He thought to himself 'Oh, I'm in danger', before being shoved back onto the bed as Himiko pounced on him, fusing their lips together. He automatically wrapped his arms around her, pressing her closer as he tried to return her very enthusiastic affection.
Ochako arched an eyebrow down at the two entangled forms on her bed. "Wow. You're getting more action on my bed than I am."
Her fake annoyance was cleared when Himiko, blindly reaching behind her, managed to (after flailing for a few seconds), grip onto her wrist. Ochako's eyes went wide as the surprising strength of her girlfriend yanked her down onto the bed next to them. She bounced for a moment, not being given a chance to breath before Himiko broke her liplock with Izuku and practically leapt onto Ochako.
Izuku smiled over at the forms of his entangled girlfriends, his breath coming in short gasps as he tried to return to some semblance of sanity after the assault from Himiko. The blonde broke her kiss with Ochako after a moment, nuzzling into her neck softly. The brunette looked over at Izuku with a smirk, her lips slightly swollen from Himiko's actions. Izuku rolled over and threw one arm over the entangled girls, pressing his lips to Ochako's.
Izuku hated his bad days…but if this was how they would end, he could get used to it.