Izuku snapped awake, gasping slightly as he looked around the room frantically, struggling slightly. He blinked as he felt a familiar sensation on his wrists, looking down at the leather manacles that tied him to the metal frame of the bed. He calmed down after a moment, realising that he was just in the nurse's office, letting out a slow breath.
"So, you're finally awake, are you?" the elderly voice huffed as he looked to the side, eyes going wide as he saw Recovery Girl hop up onto a stool beside him, "You've been asleep for quite a while."
"What…what happened?" he asked slowly, a slight sense of dread filling him as he waited for the answer.
"What happened," the woman muttered, "Is that you half beat one of your classmates to death. It was bad enough that I almost had to send him in for surgery."
Izuku flinched at that, trying to remember what he had done. No matter how hard he tried, he could only bring up the memories of the massive blast from the gauntlet slamming into him, burning his flesh, before everything went dark.
"H-how?" he muttered.
"Several broken ribs and a punctured lung, along with a shattered elbow. Luckily, they brought the two of you in fast enough that it wasn't necessary, but still," Recovery Girl sighed, "What possessed you to do that to him?"
"I…I don't know, I don't really remember," Izuku muttered as he lay back in the bed.
"It was the darkness within you," a familiar voice said, making Recovery Girl jump as Izuku's eyes widened, turning to look at the cloaked man that now stood beside his bed.
"What are you trying to do? Give an old woman a heart attack?" the older woman grumbled, "How in the world did you get in here, anyway?"
"I was given permission to explore the school at my leisure," Sire hummed, a gloved hand coming out to indicate the 'Special Visitor' tag hanging on a colourful lanyard from his neck, "But back to you, young one."
"What happened, Sire?" Izuku asked.
"I fear I must, for lack of a better word, apologize, for what has transpired today," the man sighed as he pulled up a chair, "I had not expected this aspect of our quirk to come up so soon."
"What are you talking about?" Recovery Girl growled, "Are you trying to say that there's something wrong with this boy's quirk?"
"Not at all," Sire hummed, "It is a perfectly natural part of the quirk, it is simply that it is, for lack of a better word, dangerous."
"H-how does it work?" Izuku asked slowly, swallowing as he Sire seemed to slump slightly.
"Within you sleeps a dark force," the man sighed, "It awakens when you find yourself in grave danger. At the hospital, the little blood you had was being taken from you, leaving you weak. In the fight, you sustained considerable damage."
"So, it's like a defence mechanism?" Recovery Girl muttered, walking to her desk, before pulling out a folder, "Another thing to add to your file."
"M-my file?" Izuku blinked as the two of them watched her, "I have a file?"
"All students at UA have a medical file," Recovery Girl answered, "Especially the Hero course students. Yours is just a little special."
"Special?" Izuku blinked again, "H-how?"
"It's not often that we get a teacher asking us to compile a file before the school year even starts," Recovery Girl huffed as she walked back towards them, dropping the folder at the foot of the bed, "But Eraser was adamant that we do some research on you. Probably because of what you did in the Entrance Exams."
"Entrance Exams? Oh, right, I uhm…I drank from Uraraka," Izuku muttered.
"That you did. Eraser was not happy about that at all," the older woman said as she raised an eyebrow, "But that hardly matters now. We have extraordinarily little information on your quirk, so I think it's best you start explaining right now."
"Ah, then allow me, Madam," Sire hummed as he walked to stand beside her, "I believe I know a great deal more on our quirk."
"That's the second time you've said "our"," Recovery Girl replied, squinting at the cloaked man, "What do you mean by that?"
"Because, Madam," Sire replied, "They are the, for lack of a better word, same."
"Midoriya!" the shout took him by surprise as he opened the door to the classroom, making him look around at the worried faces of the other students, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Izuku said as he stepped into the room, pulling his leather jacket a little tighter around him to cover the burned fabric that had been his costume as he moved to his desk, glancing at the empty desk in front of it, "Where's Kacc- Where's Katsuki? I didn't see him in the Nurse's office."
"Huh? You mean Bakugo?" Kirishima hummed as he stepped closer, "He got back earlier, but then Aizawa-sensei wanted to talk to him. I don't know if they're done yet."
"Oh," Izuku muttered, grabbing his own bag, and making to walk out of the classroom.
"Are you sure you're okay?" the sweet voice asked, Izuku turning to see Ochako standing beside him, her hand outstretched, "It's just, you apparently took a massive explosion head on. And you're not even hurt?"
"Not really," Izuku shook his head, his stomach rumbling inside him as his eyes slipped to her neck, "Just tired. Hungry."
"Oh! Do you want to go get burgers or something after school then?" the brunette asked cheerily, smiling at him as a slight blush crossed her face, "I mean, only if you want to."
"Ooh, are you asking Mido out of a date?" Ashido suddenly chimed, slipping an arm around the brunette's shoulders as Ochako turned bright red.
"N-no! Izuku is my friend! I was just asking if he wanted to get some food!" the girl spluttered, hiding her face behind her hands as she began to float.
"It's okay," Izuku said slowly, walking past them, "I have to be home before training tonight."
"You have training tonight?" Sero asked, "Wow, you're really taking this Hero thing seriously, huh?"
"Something like that," Izuku muttered as he walked out the room.
"Why the fuck am I here?" the blond snarled as he glared at the teacher sitting opposite him, "I have better things to do!"
"No, you do not," Aizawa replied flatly, looking at the edges of the bandages poking out from under the teen's collar, showing that he hadn't been fully healed, "Why do you think you're here?"
"I don't fucking know!" Bakugo shouted, "Probably because of that fucking Deku!"
"Who?"
"That fucking Deku!" the blond repeated, as if it made perfect sense, "That fuck has been hiding his quirk from me all these years!"
"You mean Midoriya," Aizawa sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly, "Why do you hate him so much?"
"Hate him?" Bakugo scoffed, "I don't give a shit about that quirkless freak!"
"I would watch your language," the man growled, making Bakugo look at him in confusion, "UA has a zero-tolerance policy against quirk discrimination. If you're going to keep this up, I will expel you."
Bakugo flinched at the words, letting out a slow breath through clenched teeth.
"You will be going to counselling," Aizawa continued, "As will Midoriya. He's been informed of this by Recovery Girl. Your first session is this Friday during your free period."
"What?!" the blond roared, leaping to his feet, "I don't need fucking therapy!"
"Yes, you do," Aizawa growled back, the viciousness in his tone making the blond pause, "You opened fire with a highly destructive weapon on a fellow student, even after being instructed not to by All Might. I've been told that had it been anyone other than Midoriya, they almost certainly would have died. Your choices are counselling, or expulsion. That's it."
"Who the fuck gives a shit about that useless Deku, anyway?!" Bakugo hissed under his breath, jumping when the teacher answered.
"I do," the man growled, "As does UA. Unfortunately, you are both my students, so that means I need to deal with this. You will be reporting to Hound Dog's office on Friday during your free period, or you can go pack your things right now."
Bakugo stood stock still, unsure of what to do next. He had never heard a teacher say that they cared about Deku before. Never had to face consequences for putting the nerd in his place before. It was a new experience. One the blond didn't like.
"Fine," Bakugo growled, "I'll go to the shitty therapy."
"Good," Aizawa sighed, "Now get out."
Izuku waited impatiently at the door to the school, watching the other students closely as they filtered out of the building, searching.
"Kac- Katsuki," he called as he spotted the familiar head of blond hair, the teen stalking through the door as he headed home, Bakugo seeming to twitch at the name.
"The fuck do you want, Deku?" the blond snarled, uncharacteristically quiet as he glared at Izuku.
"We need to talk."
"Like hell we do," the teen growled back, his voice growing steadily louder, "What the fuck do I need to talk to you about? How you lied for the last ten years of our lives? How you've always looked down on me? How I have to fucking go to some shitty therapy now because of you?!"
"I know," Izuku muttered, "I'm sorry about that. I also have to go."
"Shut the fuck up," Bakugo snarled, "I don't give a shit about you or your shitty quirk! Leave me the hell alone! I don't need to talk to a liar!"
"I didn't lie!" Izuku shouted, startling Bakugo for a moment as the green-haired teen seemed to get himself back under control, "My quirk…this quirk, I was given it by someone else."
"What?" the blond muttered, staring in shock, "What the fuck does that mean?"
"I didn't have a quirk before, I promise," Izuku continued, "I was given this one by…someone. I'm still working to make it my own, but it's…it's hard. I didn't mean to lose control today. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Fuck you," Bakugo snarled as he turned away, "You think that just because you got some shitty quirk from some nobody that you can beat me? I'll fucking show you!"
"Kacchan?" Izuku blinked, looking at the blond as he stomped away.
"The next time we fight," the blond shouted as he walked off, "There won't be any teachers to come save you! And I'll fucking win!"
"I don't like this," the old woman grumbled as she sat at her desk, inspecting the small vials in her hand, "A quirk that can be spread like this is incredibly dangerous, especially if we don't know all the possible effects."
"That is, for lack of a better word, true," Sire replied as he stood beside her, "But that is why we allowed you to take a sample of our blood. I fear there may be something more to the young one's quirk."
"What do you mean?" Recovery Girl grumbled, quickly setting the vials in a tray before slipping them into a small fridge, "You're talking as if there really is something wrong with that boy's quirk."
"I had not wanted to, for lack of a better word, alarm him," the man replied, "However, I have my suspicions. I would ask that you inform me of the results of your tests post haste."
"Fine," Recovery Girl sighed, "But don't think you're out of hot water just yet, I still have a lot of questions."
"Of course," Sire hummed, "Now, I believe it is time I departed. Good day, Madam."
"Stop calling me that," the old woman growled as she turned, looking around the empty room, "Dammit."
Recovery Girl turned back to her desk, intending to go back to work, before she had a thought. Grabbing her phone, she pulled up the familiar contact, waiting as the dial tone rung. There was a soft click as the person on the other side answered.
"What do you want?"
"Sorahiko, we need to talk."