Every step put the fear of God into Izuku.
Aizawa-sensei walked in front of him, escorting him to the common room of the dorm where everyone else was apparently waiting, already awoken from their quirk-induced slumbers. Everyone including Kacchan. Fear and guilt built with every careful move that Izuku made in his unfamiliar body. He was intensely aware of how every muscle contracted underneath his tan, hardy skin and refused to look down at Kacchan's body, wearing a black tank top and basketball shorts. It was a normal outfit to see the blonde-haired boy in, but to look down and be in the body wearing something that revealed anything that anyone might consider an attractive part of the human body made Izuku's face flame and guilt well up in his chest. Yaoyorozu had talked about her concern for the women that woke up in men's bodies and he realized now a little bit of what she'd meant. He had full control of Kacchan's body. Every time he touched his face or arm it was with Kacchan's angular, rough hands. Every step revealed more and more the shape, the feel, of Kacchan's body underneath his clothes in Izuku's mind and he didn't want to think about that. He didn't want that picture in his head without Kacchan's permission. And something told Izuku that the men who switched bodies with those women wouldn't be as concerned about that as he was.
Izuku would understand if Kacchan was angry. As for himself, Kacchan being in his body — as he assumed was the case when he saw the nauseous, furious expression on his own face before it turned to a sleeping one — made him… uncomfortable. But there was no need to be angry at anyone beside the man who had done it to them. He didn't know if Kacchan would see it that way, though. It's not like he was exactly calm during any event in his life and anything that involved Izuku was sure to add an extra dash of defensive anger to everything. So his chest tightened when he followed Aizawa-sensei into the common room.
A mix of relief and empathy washed over him as he saw that everyone in the room looked as uncomfortable as he felt. Well, almost everyone. Ashido's body had been tied up with Aizawa's equipment and was completely still, but awake. It wasn't difficult to figure out that Mineta had been switched with Ashido, but Izuku was confused about the lack of movement until he saw Shinsou sitting lazily in the corner. The purple haired boy shot him a relaxed, two-fingered salute and Izuku gave a small wave from his hip. Even the weight of his hand felt so odd.
"Even after we tied him up he kept… squirming." Izuku swung his head to see Mineta with an expression that was so incredibly normal for the small kid. Tired disgust. "Eventually, All Might commissioned Shinsou to help before I beat the shit out of my own god damn body."
Izuku tilted his head, neck tingling when Kacchan's coarse hair skimmed his skin. "But-" he froze and closed his eyes when Kacchan's deep voice came from his throat. He could feel the voice rumble in his chest as he spoke again and his heart began to pound along in accompaniment. "He knows how Shinsou's quirk works. What did you sa-"
"'Boobs are gross,'" Shinsou said flatly.
"Yeah, that would do it," Izuku replied with slight disdain for his classmate's personality and face heating more and more as he realized that now he was in control of Kacchan for everyone to see. It seemed that, no matter what he did, the guilt in his chest only increased.
Red eyes quickly found green ones staring right back. Anyone could see who had come to inhabit Izuku's body. Only Kacchan's eyes could hold a flame that would light the world on fire.
"K-Kacchan, I-"
"Don't-" Kacchan yelled but flinched at the sound of the word. He went to violently rub his face with his hand but recoiled at the touch. The hand formed a shaking claw that Kacchan stared at like he was thinking about whether or not he should cut it off. He sighed and loosened his posture. "Don't fucking say anything," he spoke, firm but quiet with Izuku's voice.
Izuku gave a nervous nod of understanding and looked around the rest of the room.
"So… who's who?" Izuku asked, though he had his guesses. Iida was staring at his skin like he shouldn't be able to, Uraraka's head was tilted toward the ceiling to respectfully avoid any possible eye contact with her own body, and Kaminari was curled up, head hidden and hugging his knees. A pang of worry for Yaoyorozu breathed through his chest.
One by one, everyone able said their name and Izuku found his assumptions to be true. They had all been switched only once with someone, so that if person A was in person B's body, then person B was in person A's body. Iida had switched with Hagakure, Mineta with Ashido, Uraraka with Kirishima, Kaminari with Yaoyorozu, and himself with Kacchan. The tension in the room was palpable and Izuku understood why they were all gathered in the common room, futons included. No matter how much they trusted each other as teammates and classmates, even as heroes, no one wanted someone to be alone with their body. This way, everyone could feel safe and watched out for.
Izuku walked slowly and carefully, still far too aware of the body he was inhabiting, and kneeled down next to Kaminari… or Yaoyorozu in Kaminari's body, rather. He softly placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you doing alright?" he asked as gently as he could with genuine concern.
Kaminari's yellow eyes peeked above his folded arm and shone at Izuku. His face suddenly morphed with fear and disgust.
"Wha-what is it?" Izuku asked.
"Sorry, sorry." Yaoyaorozu said. "I'm alright. It is just so very scary to have Bakugou in my face with a genuine look of worry." Yaoyorozu flashed a hint of Kaminari's smile, laughing but still obviously uncomfortable.
Izuku blushed but smiled back. He knit his brows together as hard as he could, the top of his vision blurring. "How's this?" he asked. "Is this more comforting for you?"
She snorted, covering Kaminari's mouth with his hand. "So much better, I feel so protected," she assured sarcastically.
"I don't know," Kaminari spoke with Yaoyorozu's voice, looking to Izuku in sincere thought. "Is there any way you could get your eyebrows further together? Bakugou really manages to make them touch and it's just... " Kaminari mimed a chef's kiss with Yaoyorozu's hand.
"Nah," Kirishima's voice spoke up, already giggling. "I think you need to reach a certain threshold of repressed feelings of inferiority to achieve that level of glare."
"I swear to fu-!" Kacchan stood from his chair and started to yell but Izuku's voice broke into a high squeak, his vocal chords unused to carrying the sound of such rage. His freckled face reddened as all of the students gathered broke out into laughter.
"Alright, alright!" came All Might's booming voice as he entered the room. "Give young Bakugou some slack, I know you all must be uncomfortable. But fear not! For I have spoken to detective Naomasa who has already managed to get the offenders' quirk information from them." All Might beamed his brilliant, white smile. "As you have all probably deduced, the man you encountered, Daichi Kasuya, uses a quirk capable of switching two individual's bodies by touching their saliva together."
Izuku cringed as he vaguely remembered a finger creeping into his mouth.
"The woman, on the other hand, was actually a man using one of Kasuya's victims. When switched, the original body retains its quirk. The woman had the ability to affect the levels of consciousness of people she witnessed eating within the last thirty minutes. Which is why she could affect all of you, but not me or Aizawa-sensei. The good news is that we know how to switch you all back. The bad news is that it's a little more… involved than the initial switch." All Might tried to give reassuring looks to his young students, but no one in the room liked the sound of what he had said. If it was more involved and still used saliva or the mouth as the medium of transfer… Izuku blocked out the idea of what Kacchan would do. But he didn't need to rely on an idea when the real thing was in the room with him.
"What the fuck do you mean?" Kacchan spoke, frozen in his chair, a volatile substance that would explode with the gentlest movement.
"Ah, yes, well," All Might fumbled. "Whereas Kasuya only needs to create contact between two different individual's saliva to create the first switch, switching back requires contact of the salivary glands themselves."
All nine of the students capable of movement looked to their respective switching partner. Not a single face was free from the infectious heat that spread across their cheeks. They were all looking at their own bodies but could only think about the people inhabiting them. Close friends, sure, but not that close. Izuku saw rage boiling in Kacchan, a deep, dark rage directed right at him.
"I. Refuse." Bakugou grated out, staring right into his own red eyes. Izuku started at hearing his own voice dripping with fury.
"Well, young Bakugou," All Might began, "we cannot force you to do something like this. We simply can't. But, I would like to remind everyone that touching salivary glands does not necessarily equate to kissing. Touching the tips of your tongues together for the briefest of moments would still be enough to make the switch. I know that that is still an uncomfortable action to think about performing with a classmate. But, unfortunately, it's the only way to get back to your rightful body. We are, of course, going to oblige any requests you may have to make this as easy as possible. We have quirk users that can erase memories, cause sensory hallucinations, or even disguise someone's body as another. I know these may seem like small consolations, but there's only so much we can do against this quirk. You can let me or Aizawa-sensei know if you have any requests. Please speak to your partner about this before making any decisions and try to come to an agreement. You are free to go to private spaces as long as you are with your swap. And, um…" All Might faltered as the faces he spoke to only came to look more distraught. "Aizawa-sensei and I are going to give you all some privacy. We'll be right outside if you need us." All Might bowed stiffly and walked quickly out into the courtyard.
Aizawa-sensei followed slowly. "We trust you all to be mature about this and keep your composure, as heroes often must." He connected gazes with all of them, perhaps lingering on Kacchan for a moment longer than everyone else, and walked through the doors.
No one spoke as gazes avoided each other and thoughts circled in their heads. Realistically, Izuku knew that kissing or touching tongues or whatever someone wanted to label it was simply a physical act. Without the right feelings behind it, it meant nothing. It could be equated to performing CPR. But, unfortunately, they were all fifteen or sixteen years old. It was hard for anyone to speak up to their partner. After a few minutes, the silence was shattered.
"Screw it!" Mineta's body screamed. "I'm not letting that perv spend another goddamn second in my body." Quickly and forcefully, Ashido reached two fingers into her own mouth, pulling out her tongue and just barely touching the tip of Mineta's to it.
Ashido's body suddenly regained movement. "Oh thank God!" she yelled from her own body, still wrapped in the white cloth but no longer paralyzed by Shinsou's quirk as it travelled with Mineta's mind. She ruthlessly kicked the small boy's frozen body away from her own. "It feels so good to be home." She curled up as best she could and pressed her forehead to her knees, cuddling her own body. "Okay, now someone get Aizawa to let me out of this damn thing."
"I got it," Shinsou spoke dully, seemingly unfazed by the situation unfolding before him. He walked out of the door and, within moments, the wrap around Ashido loosened its hold.
She laid flat on the ground and stretched—a forceful, muscle-shaking stretch that elicited a goan from deep within the pink girl.
Suddenly, the looks on most of the students' faces changed. The way Ashido went about it made the swap seem like the most simple, nonsexual event that one could perform, and everyone related to that stretch—that feeling when you first wake up and feel every muscle strain to pull your limbs as taut as possible, causing just the right amount of pain and intense pleasure. Oh, to be back in their own bodies and stretch the quirk-induced, unconscious tension out of their systems—to be comfortable in their own skin again.
Few could resist that temptation and the pairs came together, speaking softly about the best way to switch back.
"I mean, we should just do it, right? We're friends, Denki. It's not a big deal. I'm okay," Yaoyorozu assured Kaminari with a smile. She stood up and held out Kaminari's own hand to him. "C'mon, let's just go to the stairwell real quick."
Kaminari smiled back to her energetically and pulled himself up. "Fuck yeah, let's go touch tips." He clapped his hand on Yaoyorozu's back and they both laughed, casually going off to switch back in privacy. Similar conversations were going on between all of the pairs. All except Izuku and Kacchan.
Izuku had a hard time looking away from his own eyes that had been glaring at him relentlessly since Kacchan had refused the only way to switch back. It took time to find his courage to step towards himself, towards Kacchan, but eventually began to take tentative steps. To his surprise, Kacchan simply continued to stare angrily, even as Izuku stood just in front of him, looking down into his eyes.
"Ka-"
"I refuse. I meant what I said," he said with a smooth anger. "They'll figure out another way to switch us back."
"But All Might said-"
"I know what he said," Kacchan barked. "But he's not all-knowing. There has to be another fucking way because I am not letting you stick my goddamn tongue into your gross-ass mouth."
Izuku stared into Kacchan's glare and wanted to be angry at his stubbornness but could only sympathize.
"Kacchan, I - Just listen to me, please," he said as he saw the beginnings of another interruption. "I get it. I really do. I am so incredibly uncomfortable right now because I'm scared to move or touch you in any way that you wouldn't want me to." Izuku sighed as Kacchan's expression just grew angrier. "I won't be able to do that anymore if we switch back, so please. Please, for once in your life can you just do me this favor?"
"No."
"Kacch-"
"No!" he yelled and stood up, bringing his snarling face inches from Izuku's. "I won't fucking let you do that."
Izuku felt anger finally begin to simmer in his stomach. "It's not like I'm going around daydreaming about making out with you, Kacchan. Or myself, for that matter. The more you push the weirder this gets so, please, can we just do this?"
"Fuck you," Kacchan growled, slamming his shoulder into Izuku's as he marched towards the dorm's exit. Izuku stared at the chair Kacchan had left. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Midoriya, are you okay?" Yaoyorozu was already back from the stairwell, looking comfortable in her own body and like she had already forgotten what happened between her and Kaminari in order to switch.
"Yeah," Izuku sighed. "Just… why did it have to be Kacchan? Like... really? Of all people? I honestly don't know if I'll ever get my body back." He went to push a hand through his hair but stopped at the first feeling of the perfectly straight strands sticking out wildly. He put his arms back to his sides.
"It's gonna be alright, man," Kirishima added confidently, also back in his own body. "He'll cave after two days without his quirk."
"Maybe you're right," Midoriya conceded, but he knew how stubborn Kacchan could be. He was far and above the most pig-headed, stubborn, angry person that Izuku knew, and not only did he not want to switch back, but he knew that Izuku wanted to. Kacchan had twice the reason to refuse now.
Izuku sighed again, thinking quietly that he'd probably be doing that a lot in the foreseeable future. "Okay, I'm gonna go get yelled at. Pray for me." He strode across the room and pushed open the courtyard door, the cool air hitting him and reminding him that morning had yet to come. He saw himself speaking angrily with Aizawa-sensei, arms crossed tightly. All Might and Shinsou were off to the side, chatting quietly.
"I'm serious, I'm not doing it. Find another way," Izuku's voice said curtly.
"Bakugou-kun," Aizawa-sensei started sleepily, "think about what that means. We are unaware of another way to switch you two back." Aizawa nodded to Izuku, acknowledging his presence in the conversation. "If you truly refuse, you could spend the rest of your life like this, never to return to your own body or regain use of your own quirk. You'll never look or sound like yourself again. And you will force Midoriya-kun into the same predicament. Are you really okay with that?"
"Of course I'm fucking not! But I'm also not going to fucking do that with him." Kacchan was as unrelenting as always.
Aizawa-sensei sighed. "Alright. I was worried it might come to this. I'm going to make you two a deal, alright? All Might and I will assist you in trying to find another way to switch back. But if we can't find anything within three months, then you switch back using the method we are currently aware of and you do it without a fight. Any objections?"
Izuku had so many objections. Three months? He had a lifetime's worth of stress and guilt already trying to climb its way out of his throat and he'd been awake for all of an hour. He'd have to stop his training with One For All. He'd be back to square one, working with a quirk that he had no idea how to use, if they let him use it at all. How would he go to the bathroom? Shower? Change? Hell, how would he jerk off? His face reddened at the thought but that didn't make the complaint any less valid. He was a fifteen year old male. He barely went three days without, much less three months. Would he even be allowed to be alone? No one was allowed to be alone twenty minutes ago when everyone was still swapped.
Izuku took a deep breath. In. Out. He could refuse all he wanted. He could stamp his feet and scream and cry but Kacchan would only out-tantrum him. This way, they at least had an end in sight. They wouldn't die in eachother's bodies. Izuku closed his eyes.
"I'm fine with that if he is," he finally said, looking to Kacchan.
Green eyebrows knit together furiously. "Deal."
"Alright. We'll go over most of the logistics tomorrow morning but for now we need to figure out your sleeping arrangements. Since you're both males, I will let you decide if you would like to sleep together or apart."
Izuku and Kacchan's eyes met, both knowing that they finally had something they would agree on.
"Apart," they spoke in unison. They might not exactly get along, but Izuku couldn't imagine Kacchan wanting to do anything with his body that he wouldn't do with them together. And even if he did for some unknown reason, he trusted his childhood friend enough to know that he wouldn't act on those wants. He silently hoped that Kacchan's twin response was uttered for the same reasons, and not because he simply couldn't stand to be near Izuku. He was not confident.