A/N: Sorry for this roller coaster of a chapter, but hey, I did give you guys something you've been waiting for! Just a little bit, though!
Also, low key, I had another lifeguard training to prepare for opening weekend, and I am exhausted in all the best ways. Once the season starts, I'm going to try my best to keep with the same schedule that I have (that is, posting every five days). If that becomes no longer manageable, all of you will be the first to know! Honestly, I do think I might be able to manage it. I'll have a lot on my plate this summer, but writing is not a chore for me; it's my way to decompress and I really, truly enjoy every second of it. I don't think my writing or schedule will change, but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up, just in case, because I know a lot of you really appreciate that I update so regularly.
Trigger warnings: disassociation, schizophrenia, hallucinations
After everyone had moved into the dorms and unpacked, Kirishima and Bakugou made a beeline to Denki's room. Unfortunately, they weren't surprised to find him sitting on his sheetless, unmade bed, slouched over in a way that should be painful, staring at the wall opposite of him. They had thought that he was lost in thought a lot recently, but Kirishima's mind conjured the idea of Denki disassociating, and now that thought wouldn't leave him alone. It didn't help that Denki seemed so… empty.
When yellow eyes flicked over to the newcomers, it didn't reassure Kirishima at all. It was like he was looking through them instead of at them.
"Hey, Kaminari!" Kirishima chirped, charging right into his room with a pep in his step, like if he had extra energy wafting off of him, some of it might seep into Denki.
"Oh, you don't have to," Denki muttered, moving to stand up when Kirishima started unpacking the untouched boxes.
"No big deal, man. Let me help you out, yeah?" Kirishima chirped, beaming fantastically at Denki with his sharp, white teeth. Kirishima knew that he always felt better when his space was tidy and organized, even if that had nothing to do with whatever was on his mind. If he could help Denki in this small way, it would be an honor to help his friend.
It was the first time in a while that anyone had smiled at him, and it did make him feel a little more present, so Denki nodded and collapsed back onto the bed, opting to stare straight up at the ceiling instead of the wall.
Denki's body bounced a little when Bakugou flung himself onto the bed as well. While Kirishima began to unpack and organize to take care of Denki's physical space, Bakugou had set his sights on Denki's mental space, and Bakugou wasn't discouraged by Denki's lack of reaction.
"Do we need to take a trip down to the junk yard later?" he muttered, looking sideways at Denki as he just stared straight up. At least he wasn't crying.
"No. That's okay," Denki answered, quieter than usual.
In Denki's defense, Bakugou was being much quieter than usual, too, so maybe he was just using his social genius to match the tone and volume. Denki knew it wasn't that, of course, but it made him feel a little better to think it might be a possibility. At that point, he would take anything he could get. But then he would start to feel guilty because how dare he feel better when he didn't know how the League of Villains was faring? How dare he be safe, let alone happy, when he didn't even know if Shigaraki was alive?
"If I have to drag you there—" Bakugou started to threaten lowly, only to be cut off.
"Who are we dragging where?" Neito interjected from the open doorway, letting himself in.
Bakugou wasn't even mad about getting cut off. He wasn't even mad about Neito just barging right on in to one of his friends' rooms. He was a little relieved, even—not that he would ever admit that out loud. Neito had really proven himself in Bakugou's eyes since Denki's rescue. He really came through for them; without his help, Uraraka would have been too sick to make sure that all of them could float away to a safe distance to ground again. It might have been too much for her to do alone as she was still getting used to taking the gravity away from bigger objects for longer periods of time. Without the pressure, Bakugou was confident that she would be able to do it no problem. If that was their only choice, he knew she would have tried her best. But with Neito right there, eyes bright and hopeful, holding out a hand in offering, not even flinching at the warning of the side effects, all to help Denki… Well, it made Bakugou a little less explosive toward Neito.
Not that he would ever forgive him for tying him into a tree during the invasion, mind you. But that revenge would come at a later time, when Denki wasn't having a fucking crisis, thank you very much. Who ever said that Bakugou couldn't prioritize?
Kirishima and Bakugou let out an audible breath of relief when Denki's eyes darted over to Neito, and he sat up to fully look at him. At least Neito could get his attention. Neito was good at being the center of attention, and Kirishima had never been happier for it.
Kirishima struggled to understand what Denki saw in Neito, especially after the insults he had hurled at him during the training exercise where Neito had stolen Denki's quirk. Kirishima prided himself on being kind, friendly, and open-minded, but Neito just grated on all the wrong nerves. Looking over a Bakugou, though, he knew that many could say the same thing about him. Every time he wanted to scowl at Neito (just a reflex or instinct, not out of any active disgust, but still the urge was there), he remembered how it feels when someone insults Bakugou in front of him.
Kirishima is getting better at refraining from snapping at Neito every time he sees him. It probably helps that Neito had toned down the Class 1-A slander. But still, Kirishima had to wonder if it was their teamwork that had Neito forming a new respect for Class 1-A, or if it was only to spare Denki's feelings alone. The possibility wouldn't have been considered after the training incident, but Neito had been nothing short of perfect toward Denki since then. Kirishima knew that Bakugou was quite the bully in middle school, so who was he to hold a grudge against Neito when Denki himself forgave him even as the words left his mouth? That would be hypocritical.
When Hitoshi showed up not too long after, Kirishima and Bakugou shared a glance before making excuses to leave and basically racing out of the room. They knew that if anyone could get Denki's spirits up, it would be the soulmate duo. Bakugou would get indignant if he thought about it for too long, though. What made those extras better at cheering Denki up than him and Kirishima? Whatever it was, it was magic. Those three just had a very strong connection that not even Bakugou could compete with, not that it made it any easier for Bakugou to admit, however.
"Did you hear the news?" Hitoshi asked gently, but with an excited lilt to his voice that had Denki tuning in immediately.
"No. What news? You didn't tell me?" he asked, directing his last question to Neito. "You've been here for 90 whole seconds and didn't tell me the news?" he accused.
"Woah, Sparky!" Neito said, putting his hands up in surrender, a soft smile on his face. "It's not my news to tell!"
"What is it? What's the news?" Denki asked, turning toward Hitoshi.
He wasn't bursting with energy like usual, but it was a huge improvement to the motionless, expressionless zombie that he was not five minutes earlier. He was present and interested, and that alone was a huge success in of itself.
"Do you want the good news or bad news first?" Hitoshi asked.
"I don't know if I could handle the bad news at all… so better get that one over with so we can smooth it over with the good news," Denki decided, putting serious thought into what made the most sense to him.
Hitoshi and Neito shared a glance that was part concern and part relief. The concern was for Denki's admission of not being able to handle more bad news, but the relief was that he was being self-aware and considering his options carefully, which was more than anyone had gotten out of him the whole weekend.
Denki was just so tired. He had spent multiple hours over the weekend in police stations and hero agencies, staring blankly at the ones asking him questions because he physically just couldn't answer them. It was frustrating to everyone involved, and it sucked the energy right out of Denki. He thought he might never get it back again, but just being around Neito and Hitoshi was already charging him up.
With the feeling and emotion returning, the fear and guilt came rushing back in, too. What kind of monster was he that he could just move on like nothing happened when the League of Villains could literally have been torn apart?
"I was removed from the Hamabis. They aren't my foster parents anymore," Hitoshi stated.
Denki's eyes widened, and he screeched, "what?!"
It was the loudest he had gotten since being rescued, so Hitoshi had to lay it on thick.
"Yeah, the dorm situation messed everything up with my foster care. The rules state that I can't be away from my foster parents for more than 10 days in a row, which would be fine if I just went home every weekend. But my caseworker is a… stickler for the rules."
"Sadistic bastard," Neito translated for Denki with a nod.
Denki's attentive and alert eyes switched between them as they talked, weaving the story with dramatics to keep his attention.
Hitoshi nodded with a smile, not bothering to try to defend his old foster care caseworker. "He would enforce the other rule that says that I cannot be away from my foster parents for more than one-third of any given month."
"So how are you here then? You're not leaving, are you?" Denki asked, breath picking up, but not enough to worry the soulmates. They wouldn't let him get into full panic mode, and a little emotion might do him some good.
"How could I ever leave you?!" Hitoshi asked, throwing his arms out to the side, really putting on a show.
"Then how?!" Denki demanded, sitting up onto his knees on the bed to look at Hitoshi at eye-level, showing more and more energy since Hitoshi's tale began.
"I…" Hitoshi started, pausing for dramatic effect. A glance over at Neito told him that he was also enjoying the theatrics, which was no surprise. "… was adopted," Hitoshi finished with a shrug like it was no big deal. "Okay! Now you know! See you later!"
Hitoshi turned around and started walking to the door, smiling when the blonde boy, as fast as his lightning, shot past him and stood in the doorway, arms outstretched to block Hitoshi's exit, eyes gleaming with the intense desire to know more.
"You can't just leave me like that, dude! You gotta' tell me!" Denki insisted, shaking his head in disbelief that Hitoshi would dare to leave him hanging like that. "Who adopted you?"
Ojirou, who was walking past the open doorway on his way to his own dorm, smiled to himself at the Denki-miracle-workers. Everyone would be relieved to know that at least Denki is still himself around Neito and Hitoshi.
"Aizawa," Hitoshi answered, eyes widening just the slightest for effect as he said the name, his chin jutting up in pride.
Denki's jaw dropped. "No way…" he whispered, in complete awe.
"… and Yamada," Hitoshi added with a shrug of his shoulder, like he didn't just drop a bomb on Denki.
"No way," he screeched, jumping up and down in place and pumping his fist in the air. "Shouto was right? He's never going to let anyone forget that he called it! The first week in, too, when everyone thought there was no way!"
As Hitoshi jumped into the details of everything that happened, Neito stood off to the side, content to watch instead of being the center of attention for once.
When Denki grinded to a halt mid-sentence, a panicky kind of gloom settling over his face as he realized that he was fucking celebrating, Neito took that as his cue to leave them to it.
Hitoshi caught Denki as he collapsed, going from one extreme to another as he went from laughing and joking around, like his usual, bubbly self, to sobbing against Hitoshi's neck, holding on for dear life.
Hitoshi caught Neito's eye as he tried to sneak out. "Stay?" he offered, though it wasn't a command, just purely an offer.
"Thanks, but I'm not good with tears," Neito shrugged off before leaving.
If Denki was in his right mind, he would have known that was a lie and that Neito would have been there for him if he didn't have ulterior motives. If Denki was at full strength social genius levels, like he usually was, he would have seen the unspoken conversation between the soulmates that went something like Neito telling Hitoshi that he needed to talk to Denki on his own and that it was his time to shine.
"I'm sorry," Denki sobbed against Hitoshi's neck, not pulling back to look at him.
"You have your own stuff going on," Hitoshi soothed, running his hand over Denki's blonde, knotted hair.
"Not for just being a party pooper," Denki argued, shaking his head, but not moving his head back from being firmly planted against Hitoshi.
The ends of Denki's hair tickled Hitoshi's jaw as he continued to sob and shake his head back and forth. We're doing this already, are we? Denki diving right into all the problems didn't really phase Hitoshi, though; he was kind of expecting it. Denki usually was all or nothing and admitting to his perceived wrongs was no exception.
Denki abruptly pulled back from Hitoshi, not feeling worthy of asking for comfort from the one he had hurt the most. Denki wasn't sure if he himself would even be capable of comforting someone who had tried to kiss his soulmate if he actually has a soulmate out there somewhere. Will he be able to tell the difference between his soulmate and the voices? That was a problem for another day. Today, it was about sincerely apologizing to Hitoshi and accepting whatever would make Hitoshi feel better, even if that meant that he would never speak to the soulmate duo again. Even if he felt like he would go insane… well… more insane, he guessed.
"Everyone knows you're a nice person," Denki sobbed, hiding his face in his hands, unable to look at the boy he betrayed, the boy he loved dearly. "You don't have anything to prove to anyone, so I don't understand why you're still here."
Oh. Then Denki understood. Neito had shown up to his room first, Hitoshi following shortly after. That would have made Denki nervous if he was in Hitoshi's position. He must have been nervous that a repeat might happen and came to monitor the situation. Even that was a huge kindness because they could have just discounted him altogether. Denki didn't understand why they would risk their relationship just to spare his feelings.
He was ruining everything.
First, he almost kissed someone who is a soulmate to someone else, both of whom he absolutely loves. Second, Shigaraki might be dead because of him. If it weren't for him, the heroes wouldn't have busted in to rescue him, and Shigaraki would still have been okay. If Shigaraki was not okay, Denki would be devastated, and he knew that Touya would be even more so than himself.
Bad luck seemed to follow him around, but Denki couldn't even blame the nature of his luck, or lack thereof. He was solely to blame, and it wasn't very heroic of him to pass the blame onto his bad luck status.
At this rate, he would bring more disaster than hope and rescue as a hero. Briefly, in that moment, he wondered if the League of Villains would make good on their promise to pull him out, even though he let Shigaraki down, or if they all hated him now. Maybe he was their new enemy number one. It actually made him feel worse knowing that they were better than that and they wouldn't hold any of what happened against him. His pity was only for himself, and there wasn't even a real reason for it because, for some unknown reason, no one was ever mad at him.
"I'm not mad at you," Hitoshi started.
Case in point.
"I know you saw… at the training gym…" Denki mumbled against his hands, his sobs being forced back, but the tears were still freely flowing. Denki didn't deserve to use his sobs and tears to guilt-trip Hitoshi. He didn't deserve anything at all. "Why did you leave instead of bashing my face in?"
A sob escaped his lungs then. Oops.
"Denks," Hitoshi breathed, grabbing the blonde by the face, and forcing him to look at him directly.
Denki was startled by the tears at the corners of Hitoshi's eyes. Great, perfect. He had Hitoshi feeling bad for him when he was the villain here. This was not going how he wanted it to go.
When Denki averted his gaze away, the tears continuing to stream rivers down his face, Hitoshi continued, "Neito is my soulmate, Denks."
"I know!" Denki practically wailed, still not looking at Hitoshi in the eye. "That's why I don't understand why you aren't mad!"
"We're soulmates," Hitoshi repeated. "We tell each other everything, Denki. Did you think I didn't know that he has feelings for you?"
Denki's eyes snapped to Hitoshi's, then. "What?" Denki whispered, not believing his ears, needing to see Hitoshi's lips match the sounds he was hearing before he dismissed it completely as his hallucinations trying to make him feel better.
"I mean, he jumped the gun, a little, but that's just how he is," Hitoshi snorted to himself, removing his hands from Denki's face and leaning back now that he had his full attention and ripped him from the unending cycle of self-pity. "Whoever got you alone next had full permission from the other to make a move. I thought that would, you know, include talking… but Neito has always been extra, so I should have seen it coming."
Denki blinked, trying to process what he was hearing.
"We've actually been meaning to apologize to you," Hitoshi continued, Denki's eyes widening in surprise. "When we both started catching feelings for you, we both started pulling away, trying to refocus on each other. We were both miserable. Nothing I did made him feel better. I felt like I was failing as his soulmate, and I didn't understand why. First, I caught feelings for you, then I couldn't even cheer my soulmate up. I was even so oblivious to not even know why he was so upset in the first place. He felt the same way about me, so he offered to call you because you always cheer me up. That's when I admitted that I liked you as more than a friend. I thought he would be upset, maybe even mad, but he was relieved because he felt the same way and it felt like less of a betrayal when we realized that we both have feelings for you."
Denki's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You both—you both like me?"
"Yeah," Hitoshi admitted easily, "and hey, no pressure to like us both back either. If you only like Neito—"
"Shut the fuck up," Denki deadpanned, bringing a hand to his head to rub at his temple as he thought.
"No!" Hitoshi demanded loudly and suddenly, making Denki jump and redirect his attention to him. "I know what you're thinking, Kaminari Denki, and you need to stop that right now!"
"How would you—"
"I know you," Hitoshi spat, exasperated. "You're thinking about how you could ever come between us, right?"
Denki averted his eyes, and that was answer enough.
"Well, you want to know about why it took so long for us to actually make a move? Huh?" Hitoshi didn't even wait for a response as he continued, "because we didn't want to make you seem unavailable if you were to ever find your own soulmate! You're more worried about us, and we're more worried about you! How fucking crazy is that! So, maybe if we all stop being so careful, and just let shit happen every once in a while, maybe we could all be happy, yeah? Is that too much to ask?!"
Denki's eyes widened further and further as Hitoshi's rant continued, getting louder and faster as he went.
When he was sure that Hitoshi was finished, he muttered, "well aren't you confident."
Hitoshi's face ignited in a blush, and he looked away, mumbling an apology.
"Don't," Denki demanded, stopping Hitoshi from apologizing for getting so fired up. "It suits you. I like it."
Hitoshi's blush deepened, but he stopped apologizing, so Denki considered that as a win.
"Anyway, I'm still sorry about crying on your parade," Denki insisted, wiping his face of the remaining tears that lingered.
Hitoshi didn't bother to correct the phrase, hoping that Denki wouldn't ever feel like he couldn't have negative emotions and that he would never use the phrase ever again anyway.
"Seriously, there's no need to apologize," Hitoshi insisted, waving Denki's concerns off. "You've been through a lot, and you can't even tell anyone about what happened."
"Have you overheard anything now that you're being adopted by pro heroes? About my situation, I mean?" Denki asked hopefully. "Seriously, the last thing I need is for everyone to think I'm some sort of villain because I can't tell anyone anything," he grumbled, rubbing his temples to ward off the incoming headache.
"Aizawa and some of the other underground heroes talked about a vigilante that has a quirk that, if used a certain way, can get people to act or talk in a certain way… or not talk," Hitoshi shared, eyes narrowing as he tried to remember the specific way that the vigilante's quirk was explained before he was discovered eavesdropping and shooed away. "They said her name is Force Majeure."
When Denki's eyes snapped in Hitoshi's direction, eyes widening for just a fraction of a second in surprise, Hitoshi nodded. "That's confirmation enough for me. They said that it's a brutal quirk. I'm so sorry that they hurt you like that," Hitoshi whispered gently, not wanting to bring up something that Denki didn't want to talk about, but also knowing that he might desperately want to talk about it, but physically can't.
"Uh…" Denki hesitated, trying to word it so that he doesn't get blocked by Force Majeure's quirk. "It's not what you think," he settled with, happy that he could at least get that out so Hitoshi wouldn't think he was absolutely tortured the whole time he was held captive.
"Maybe… maybe I could override her quirk," Hitoshi offered, eyes squinted in determination. "Will you answer me, Denks?"
"Always," Denki answered automatically, "but—"
And he was under, finally floating in the comfortable haze that was Hitoshi's quirk. The underlying panic didn't go away, though. If anyone found out about what happened at the League's base, Denki would never be trusted to become a hero. No one would ever hear him out and understand him. At the same time, he couldn't bring himself to break out of Hitoshi's quirk. It was so familiar and comfortable, and he missed it. He also knew that there was a chance he could give Hitoshi a migraine if he broke free without him expecting it, and he wasn't going to risk hurting Hitoshi any more than he already had.
Besides, Denki trusted Hitoshi completely. If Hitoshi was able to bypass Force Majeure's quirk and find out what had really happened while he was with the League of Villains, Denki would accept whatever Hitoshi decided to do after that. If Hitoshi decided to turn him in, that was definitely the right thing to do. Maybe he would have noticed something that Denki didn't about the situation that made it more dangerous than Denki realized. It would actually be a relief for Hitoshi to find out when Denki thought about it. If he didn't turn him in, and maybe even agreed with what he had done, Denki would feel more confident that he was making the right choices. Either way, Denki would know that Hitoshi would always have his best interest in mind.
Denki saw Hitoshi frown deeply through the haze, looking at him with concern and consideration before voicing his command.
"Answer this question. Did her quirk hurt you?"
Denki felt his mouth move without any input from him, his tongue struggling to form the word that he was commanded to answer. The answer was right there, about to come out, when Hitoshi sighed and pulled his quirk back, release Denki.
"I've been trying to get better at more complicated demands," Hitoshi explained, "including multiple steps and answering questions, but it hasn't gotten very far. Even without the quirk you're restricted by it might not have worked."
"That's so cool," Denki drawled, completely enamored, like always, at not only Hitoshi's quirk, but also his dedication to improvement.
"I did get it to work once, on Neito, but it was a simple yes or no question, and I think the added bond of our soulmate connection and his willingness under my quirk made it possible," Hitoshi added.
"That's still amazing. Seriously, Toshi. Cool shit!" Denki praised. His mood sunk again as he added, "I really wish I could tell you. I wish I could tell you everything. But, seriously, I'm okay."
"You don't seem okay," Hitoshi commented gently, honestly, reaching out to put a supportive hand on Denki's shoulder.
"It's not about me," Denki answered vaguely, hoping that Hitoshi might understand with the very limited, vague information that Denki was able to offer.
And Hitoshi did. He was surprised and disappointed in himself for not seeing it before. Denki wasn't traumatized by anything that he had gone through or that had been done to him. Denki was worried about someone else. Typical Denki.
The revelation gave Hitoshi mixed emotions. He wondered how bad Denki had it, considering that he overheard Recovery Girl's examination results that found so little injuries on Denki, to everyone's surprise. Even with Denki's social genius, even Neito and Hitoshi thought that Denki might have suffered a few broken bones before appealing to the villains' good side. So, was it all mental torture, then? Did it even matter? Whatever happened, it wasn't bad enough for him to override his worry for someone else, but that narrowed it down very little. Denki was just like that; he could have come out in a full body cast and still worry about this other person. Who though? Was there another captive that the heroes were unaware of? Hitoshi had so much to think about.
"Has anyone debriefed you?" Hitoshi asked hesitantly, unsure if his next move would help or harm.
"No," Denki answered firmly, looking straight into Hitoshi's eyes, straight into his soul.
Hitoshi had already made his decision when he asked, of course. He knew he wouldn't be able to deny Denki, especially not as something as important as information that should have been given to him from the very beginning. Just because the therapists were not getting anything useful from him to determine his mental status didn't mean that he didn't deserve to know.
"The guy that was fighting All Might when we escaped was captured," Hitoshi explained.
Denki's breath caught in his throat. He had quickly figured out that the massive villain was All For One, and he absolutely loathed the guy already. He still worried though, because if someone as powerful as him was defeated, the others were probably rotting away in Tartarus at that very moment, the others who had been dealt a tough hand and were misled and never got a helping hand out from a hero that actually paid attention to those who needed it most. Denki's own intense, bitter feelings surprised him.
Hitoshi hesitated, but in for a penny, in for a pound. "The other villains got away," he whispered.
When Denki's eyes widened and he took a deep, surprised breath in, Hitoshi pulled him into a hug, whispering apologies as he rubbed Denki's back. Hitoshi knew something was off, because even though the tears were present, the sobs hadn't made a return, though he never would have guessed that the tears were of pure relief.
Denki was so grateful, because even if Shigaraki didn't survive, at least Touya and the others had another chance. At least they weren't trapped in Tartarus without even having each other to lean on to help each other grieve. At least Denki no longer felt stupid by checking his online gaming account for messages each night before he tossed and turned before falling into a restless sleep.
A few days later, everyone felt like they could actually breathe around Denki again. He wasn't even close to being his normal self, but he was more alert and aware of his surroundings, which was a huge improvement. He was also eating again, to everyone's relief.
When Denki passed by Kirishima and Bakugou in the common room, there was actually his normal bounce in his step. He wasn't dragging his feet and staring off in the distance while deep in thought. He walked with a purpose and seemed to have the spark of his usual determination back in his eyes as he made his way to the stairwell. Even that alone was an improvement instead of staring blankly at the elevator doors, waiting for them to open so he could stare blankly from the inside until they opened again on his floor.
"Hey Kami!" Kirishima greeted, happy to see the ray of sunshine actually acting like a ray of sunshine again. "Want to join us for dinner later? Bakugou's cooking!"
"Oh?" Denki asked, whipping his head in their direction like he hadn't noticed them. He smiled then, and chirped, "yeah! Sounds great!"
"What happened with him?" Bakugou grunted, thrusting his thumb in the retreating blonde's direction.
"I don't know," Kirishima mused with a carefree shrug, a smile growing bigger on his face. "But I'm glad that he's feeling better!"
When Denki passed Midoriya and Todoroki in the stairwell on his way up as they made their way down, he smiled brightly at them before stepping to the side to allow them to pass before rushing up the stairs, taking two at a time.
Todoroki paused on the steps, looking up at where Denki had just been before turning around the bend to go up the next flight, his quick footsteps still going strong toward the third floor.
"Oh, no. Don't you even go there!" Midoriya warned, grabbing Todoroki's arm, and trying to pull him away, both physically out of the stairwell and mentally away from the assumption he was about to make.
"But, what if—" Todoroki started in a purely hear-me-out sort of tone.
"No! We don't need any more conspiracy theories!" Midoriya cut off, though he was laughing as he pulled Todoroki along.
"In my defense, I did correctly guess that Aizawa and Yamada were together romantically. In the first week of class, might I add," Todoroki reminded. "Shinsou was kind enough to let everyone know that I was correct."
"In my defense, you thought that I was All Might's secret love child, so maybe it's a good idea to quit while you're ahead this time."
"… I see your point. Let's carry on, then."
Denki sat at his desk in his room, pouring over his math book, cursing under his breath at the elusive problems. He had been at it for hours, starting that morning, immediately after checking his gaming account and once again finding no new messages from Fri3ndlyFir3 or High5UrDead. He was so frustrated with not understanding the math, but he didn't have anything better to do, so he pushed forward, grabbing at his hair often. Better to be frustrated with math than to let his mind wander to how he wasn't able to save a friend, he figured. At least he could whine to Bakugou later about getting every single problem wrong; he couldn't whine about not being able to save Shigaraki. Force Majeure's quirk saw to that.
Behind him, Denki heard his door quickly open and shut. He spun around lazily, ready to dismiss whoever he saw with the excuse that he was trying (and failing, but that was none of their business) to study and they would have to come back later (or preferably not at all, ever again). However, he froze in place when he saw himself standing there, back pressed against the door with a huge grin stretching over his face.
"No!" he screamed angrily, leaping up, causing his chair to fall and slam onto the ground.
"Woah! Hey! Sorry!" the other Denki rushed out, hands extended in a calming manner, but the real Denki wasn't having any of it.
"Why?" he wailed, tears springing to his eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"I thought you'd be happy to see me," the hallucination offered, sounding confused and backing up, trying to real-Denki some space and seem as nonthreatening as possible.
"Why the fuck would I be happy to be having visual hallucinations? Huh? What the fuck!" Denki screamed, fisting his hands in his hair.
Just when he thought that things were looking up, of course his disease had to progress. It wasn't enough to hear voices. That wasn't crazy enough, was it? He had to start seeing shit, too! How the fuck was he going to be a hero if he couldn't even tell if what he was seeing was real or not? He would have to drop out of UA.
Ignoring the hallucination, Denki picked up his chair and slumped down into it, tears falling once again, dropping one by one onto his open math book, even when he had thought that there were no more tears left to cry. Why could nothing ever go right? And even now that he knew that both Hitoshi and Neito felt the same way about him that he felt about them, he would have to keep this secret from them. He knew without a doubt that Hitoshi would think that the added stress of using his quirk on top of Force Majeure's could have caused enough stress to advance his schizophrenia to the next level. This was something he would have to suffer in silence with, just like everything else, it seemed.