I woke up, dazed and groggy. Everything hurt. Even a full... I don't remember what the time was when I collapsed into bed.
Point is, mom lied to me. Sleep didn't help. I renounce you, sandman and swear to always stay up past 11:00.
I fell out of bed, too weak to use my legs. As I laid there, I realized something.
My cursed energy wasn't circulating. I must've turned it off when I was asleep: I unlocked it that day, after all, so lapses, especially while sleeping, were to be expected. I focused and cursed energy started to circulate.
However, I immediately felt a dull pain that slowly sharpened and spread until I had to let it go, collapsing as it reached a maximum.
"You're not gonna be able to move for the day in that state," Gojo quipped as my body screamed. "Your binding vow overcharged your cursed energy output. Your probably feeling the price of the added strength right now; Here's hoping that you haven't suffered irreversible damage from the boost."
"I got school today," I moaned, rolling to a side to try to offset the weight and at least stand up: if I could do that, maybe walking was possible and not just a figment of imagination. No luck.
"Tough luck," Gojo crooned. "Hey, you did ok, but just for reference next time, go for the sniper first."
"You would've eaten at least three shots if you were my age without limitless." I groaned into the floor. I didn't meet the energy requirement for being mad, so mild exasperation would have to do.
"He was a menace, low key," Gojo said with a chuckle.
"I think he gave me brain damage..."
Gojo laughed, then stopped. "So what're you gonna call it?"
"Call what?" I asked, trying to stand again. I got to exactly one knee and had to throw myself on the bed for support to keep from falling again.
"The binding vow, what's the name?"
"What even is a binding vow?"
"It's like a condition that you set for yourself or a handicap to give yourself more power. Like telling the opponent what your technique does to put yourself at a disadvantage of knowledge so that the technique becomes more efficient against them."
"That...feels like it makes sense, but also feels like an in-universe reason to explain why a series has exposition on techniques."
"Hmm. Well, if someone is writing it, I think it's quite thoughtful of them."
"I'm on the fence with it, but whatever," I said through gritted teeth as I got the second foot under my body and unlocked standing.
"As for names...hmmm. I don't really remember the condition for the contract. Something about not losing..."
"You forgetting your contract is crazy to me, like do you know how bad the repercussions can get if you break a binding vow?"
"Hey, I made it in the heart of the moment! Do you remember everything that happened in your fights? It might not even be in effect still!"
"I..."Gojo paused. "Not important."
"Thought so. At any rate, I've decided. I'm calling it...ponzi scheme!"
"...Are you serious?"
"What would you pick, then?"
"Something like 'rushed job', 'overclock', something that insinuates risk while also capturing the amplification aspects and sounding cool!" You can't want to be a hero and suck at naming things! Half of being successful in celebrity industries is having good branding!" Gojo cried out while I felt the faintest sensation of having my cheeks -face cheeks, you filthy degenerates-being grabbed and moved up and down, left and right.
"Ok, ok, overcharge then." I finally started walking towards the door.
As I completed where felt like a crowning achievement, getting out of my room, I walked in breakfast assembling itself. I walked in moms room surprised to see her already in her wheelchair.
"Why so surprised? I told you, I've been practicing with my quirk," Inko said. "It's not even that impressive, really. I just lugged parts of my body into the wheelchair."
"I-I guess," I stammered as I brought her to the table, the plates containing our food flying towards us.
"You've gotten really good with your quirk, mom," I said in slight disbelief. "This is straight out of a movie. In so little time too."
"Hey, I could've gone to hero school," Inko said with a laugh. "It just so happens that I had an accident the day of the test that left me with a broken leg."
Inko's smile turned somber as she looked down. "By the time I got out, the test was already over, and that was the end of it."
I didn't know what to say to that. Fortunately, she laughed it off.
"Well, that's just life for us, I guess. I think we're doing pretty ok though, right?"
I must've taken longer to respond then I thought, because she would follow up as I opened my mouth.
"You know, I met Hisashi while I was recovering, so if it hadn't been for that, you would probably not exist."
"I guess you're right."
"See? We always take the good and the bad in stride. That's just how life works, Izuku, and until something life-redefining, like God coming back or something-"
I ignored Gojo ranting on about how he was already there.
"-That's how it's gonna stay. We just keep rolling," Inko said with a smile, as she broke her chopsticks using her powers and prepared to eat. "Now, I've considered opening a-"
Then the phone rang.
I waited with mom in the hallway for the principal's office. Children walked past me, some looking at me. Of those few, some had fear in their eyes, others mild admiration and respect.
Inko was nervous, eyes darting around the grounds. That was the only way you would tell, though. She had the serenity of a lawyer, and as she fully slid the mask on, her eyes calmed.
"Izuku," mom asked, "Is there anything you have to say to me concerning your relationships with these people?"
"I have no relationship with them," I said, staring at one of the children, who had a brown shirt and blue eyes. I recognized him as dartman. "I met most of them yesterday, when they tried to jump me."
Should I just say them based off of description? Addressing them via nickname, while funny, was not a good look. Yeah, that would make sense.
"What about the two that called this? I remember seeing them with Bakugo, but Mitsuki would've called me if you two had issues."
I remembered that Inko didn't know about the rut that happened between Bakugo and I. Or anything about my school life.
"Haaaa," I sighed. "Let me bring you up to speed."
I'd never seen mom as emotionless as when I finished telling her the deterioration of my relationship with Bakugo and the door opened to the principal's office.
As I rolled her in, I took notice of the chairs. Taking the one closest to the principal, I moved to take out the next chair for Inko, but she refused, opting instead to use telekinesis to lift the chair to the chair opposite of her.
The other people and their parents filled in. The winged child and the other bully, noticeably, was not here. However, a guy with wings and a tired face walked in.
The principal looked at the children with barely hidden disdain. When he turned to look at me, he gave up on trying to hide it.
Mom noticed this, and her eye twitched, but said nothing.
"Ok, so we are gathered here because Midoriya -san has, and I quote, 'bullied Kuzuma and Kamiyo, using physical violence to intimidate the two, to such an extent that your child, in...' what was it, Hanami? An act of desperation?"
"Yes, Bonnari-san," the man with the wings said.
"Right... 'in an act of desperation, involved eight other children to 'confront this bully' only to get beaten violently by the child, who did this all by himself.'"
The principal sighed. "Well, I for one am interested to hear the defendant's side. Midoriya-San, if you will?"
Mom's mask hardened. "Do you perhaps have any evidence of bullying that goes past physical violence?"
"No?" Hanami asked, confusion spreading across his face.
"How could my child be physically dominating you guys, when he is quirkless?" Inko asked with a dead stare.
"Quirkless?" One child said in surprise.
"Don't feign surprise, child. Even if you met him yesterday, your friend must've told you that he was." Mom stated.
"B-but..."
Bonnari turned to Inko. "Midoriya has given all the children here some form of broken bone. Perhaps he is a late bloomer of some sort.
"However, as of his latest file, he is quirkless." He spat the word out with a hurry, as if it was disgusting to him.
"Save for an aggression complaint, my child has never gotten into any sort of trouble for bullying-on the contrary, as he tells me daily, your child and his friends bullied him. However, once the third person stopped joining in the bullying after our accident, which scarred my child's face and left me a quadriplegic, the effectiveness of the bullying by the continued parties, Kuzuma and Kamiyo, dwindled, to such an extent that my son was able to defend against them.
"For reference, that was the Bites the Dust attack four and a half weeks ago. For further reference, the aggression complaint was three weeks ago. Do the dates add up with the alleged 'bullying', Mr. Hanami?"
"Those dates do line up," Hanami said. "However, my son is not strong physically, and has told me that Kamiyo is weaker than him. In the face of someone that stronger than normal for his age, than Bakugo would've only been keeping the balance. Perhaps it was not even them, but Bakugo that was tormenting the child, and when he backed off, Midoriya himself lashed out against them."
Name dropping Bakugo was not something I had wanted to happen. As it would happen though, Kuzuma's dad was not as close to his family as we were, so perhaps it was expected to happen.
"If they had not enjoyed and even craved the control from bullying, Hanami, they would've backed off along with Bakugo. Instead, the week after Izuku came back, when Bakugo backed off, they tried doing it themselves, which resulted in the aggression complaint that you are using as evidence to say that my son is bullying your child."
There was an edge in mom's voice that only got more noticeable as she kept talking. Her hair started lightly floating, almost unnoticeable of you weren't right next to her.
"I'm sure that's what your child told you," Hanami said coolly. "But the fact is my kid and his friend was in the infirmary for the remainder of that day. If you want to say something else to me, then we can take this outside."
"Or I could sue for defamation."
"Please, let us be adults on this topic," the principal said as his eyes completely misted over. Was he viewing his future? Or perhaps different outcomes.
Suddenly, he snapped back to reality with a sharp cough, eyes darting to Inko and me, panic in his eyes. Sweat dripping on his brow, he regained his composure after a minute.
"Well, I don't think that either eyewitness account is valid. There is simply no evidence for any showing of bullying from either side. For now, Izuku Midoriya will face a 1-day suspension four his second complaint of aggression, as well as a designated guidance counselor and probation officer. He will also face detention for the next 3 months."
As objects started floating, he hurriedly explained that this was the most he could do for me.
We all knew he was lying, but no one knew enough to call out completely, or if they did, most likely they were against me anyways.
And just like that, I was suspended.
