Hi all! Finally got away from college long enough to post this, I hope you all enjoy! Also, if I missed responding to your review, let me know and I'll get back to you, because I am not intentionally ignoring you, I'm just quietly losing my mind and have terrible organization/scheduling/remembering skills.
Author's Note: Still working on the next chapter of AMOSC, still stuck on Ballad (getting there though). Not sure when I'll be able to update again but hopefully I'll get something else out within a reasonable time (no promises though). For the record, I thought that this chapter would be easy to write. I mean, Rains are the most easygoing element out there, so you would think they would be easy to interview for a chapter but NOPE. Good grief I have an easier time writing Katsuki and he's basically a humanoid, pyromaniac porcupine. Anyway, hopefully this chapter is enjoyable and all that.
Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Boku No Hero Academia, KHR, or any references in this story. The only things I own are the plot and my interpretations of the characters.
Chapter Three: Rain
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When he looked back on it, it took an embarrassingly long time for Izuku to notice that Asui-san had Flames. But he supposed he could be excused, especially on that first day of school. He had been on the brink of being overwhelmed the moment he walked into the classroom. Everyone had been staring at him like he was some kind of celebrity or freak, which led to Kacchan picking a fight with Iida-kun to drag attention away from Izuku. Ochako-san —she had turned the teary puppy eyes on him every time he'd tried to call her Uraraka-san until he'd given in within three days— had only made it worse with her energy and excited commentary about how he'd destroyed the robot to save her.
Plus, his instincts had started pinging him the moment he walked into the classroom, trying to drag his attention simultaneously to two of his other classmates, Todoroki-san and Tokoyami-san —not that he'd known their names at the time— as they sat in the back and watched everything with blank expressions. Then of course there was their sensei, with his blank expression and freaky entrance and even more unnerving ability to sneak up behind Izuku without his notice —something that hadn't happened in years, not since he'd started placing absolute trust in his instincts—.
All in all, with so many colorful people in the class and so much to adjust to —including his bond with Ochako-san, because really, he had only become able to hold a coherent conversation with girl last year and now he was bonded to one via quirk—, it was easy to miss Asui-san. She was just so quiet and mild, not loud and obvious and full of energy like the only other two Flames he had ever encountered. She didn't brag, didn't pick fights, her quirk had nothing to do with energy or fire or the fundamental forces of nature. They hadn't even really spoken to each other outside of class pleasantries.
Until the day of the Villain Attack.
That day, when so many things changed. When so many things went wrong but also right and his life changed forever in an even bigger way than unlocking his Flames, was also the day he found his Rain.
They had been trapped on the boat, separated from their friends —and Kacchan and Ochako-san who were both furious and worried and driving Izuku half-insane over their bonds with their emotions on top of his own panic—, Mineta-kun had been screaming, they had been surrounded by Villains-
And then Asui-san had spoken up and everything had just … calmed. Izuku had felt it, the near-physical brush of something soothing against his fire, the way his purple fire- —no wait, Ochako-san had called them Cloud Flames— had stilled in surprise and his amber fire —no, Sky Flames, he had to remember the proper terminology— had reached out instinctively to reciprocate the feeling. Asui-san's words had faltered and she'd stared at him with surprise in her eyes, but the waves of calm —like raindrops on a pond and the clean tang of the air after a spring shower— had only intensified. Izuku had felt his muscles uncoil, his brain start moving again as he was able to push aside Kacchan's rage-rage-burn-rage and Ochako-san's panic-fear-fight and think.
The plan had been reckless and had relied far too heavily on how hard Izuku could throw the piece of ship wall he'd ripped free into the water to cause a shockwave while still maintaining a flight path with his Flames. Mineta-kun throwing hundreds of his sticky balls into the water that were then carried by the waves to the surprised villains while Asui-san jumped the two of them to safety had just been a stroke of surprising genius.
Then the lead villain —had to be the lead villain with the respect the others showed and the way Izuku's instincts wailed upon seeing him— with a quirk that disintegrated on touch had lashed out to kill Asui-san. Izuku's logical mind —the part that knew taking on an actual super-villain with a touch-based quirk in close combat was suicide— had shut down and everything had burned away under the resolve of stop-him-stop-him-don't-touch-her-hurt-my-sensei-won't-let-you-hurt-her-too- and Izuku had struck with the instincts of a Cloud and a Sky combined.
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Asui Tsuyu didn't consider herself to be anything special really. She was a girl with a frog quirk in a family full of frog quirks. She was a loving older sister who took care of her siblings as best she could whenever her parents were away —which was a lot, but she didn't blame them— and she was a good student who dreamed of becoming a pro-hero just like every other kid her age did.
Well, okay. The blue fire that had erupted from her body that one time and knocked out the burglar had broken into the house when Samidare was five and Satsuki was one and Tsuyu had been the only other person in the house was neither normal nor very frog-like.
But, it had kept her siblings safe without even waking them up. It was easy to adjust to and even easier to hide —because Tsuyu's parents had enough worries without their daughter having some kind of secondary quirk that let her knock people out with blue fire—, so she had simply told the police that the burglar had tripped over one of Samidare's toys in the kitchen and hit his head on the table hard enough to knock himself out. Which was mostly true.
The burglar had fallen over and hit his head very hard on the table as he went down, but that was only after Tsuyu had discovered him in the kitchen, panicked at the thought of the man getting closer to her siblings and what-could-she-do-he'd-hurt-them-she-wouldn't-let-him- and had knocked him out with her mysterious blue fire quirk. Samidare had left a little car toy out in the kitchen, so it wasn't that hard for Tsuyu to think up an excuse that the police believed.
Tsuyu had gone about her life as normal after that, with only minimal experimentation done with her blue fire quirk to make sure she didn't knock out her siblings or parents or classmates with it if she got stressed. Using just a teeny bit of the quirk turned out to do wonders when Samidare or Satsuki got too hyper or when some of her classmates started to get into a big fight, but that was as far as Tsuyu was ever willing to test her second quirk. She liked her first quirk and she wanted to become a pro-hero with that one. The second quirk was just a tiny, occasionally convenient bonus.
Then she'd met Midoriya-chan. She'd heard about him of course. The student who been hospitalized saving another examinee during the entrance exam and who had managed to break two school records with his score to boot. There were a lot of rumors going around about him already and it was only the first day of school. Some said that he was really strong and brave and super hot —the first two she could understand, but she didn't see how acing the exam made him as automatically gorgeous as the rumors implied—. Others said he was hideously burned from using his own quirk —which didn't make a ton of sense either, but hey—. Still others thought he was going to be an arrogant jerk that wanted to accumulate a mass harem, though that theory was only taken seriously by the boys for the most part.
One of the biggest theories was that he was Endeavor's secret illegitimate child who had joined U.A. to make his mark on the world and prove himself worthy of his estranged father's legacy. Or to get revenge on Endeavor for abandoning him and his mother, it depended on which motive the rumor-giver preferred at the time. That was the only theory Tsuyu was willing to give any thought on because, yeah, she could see it. She'd seen the leaked recordings of the fight with the robot and someone with a fire quirk that powerful could very well be the product of Endeavor succumbing to the cliche of rich superheroes having love affairs.
Which would make things very awkward if Midoriya-chan ended up in Class 1-A. Because she doubted Endeavor's already famous legitimate son would get along well with his supposedly illicit half-sibling, even if the rumor was false and they weren't actually related.
But then she met him and watched as he proved the majority of the theories wrong —and some of them right— within mere days of class. Midoriya-chan was very polite, with a quiet, unwavering confidence and determination that won over most of the class in an instant. He rarely raised his voice in anger, rarely got angry at all —probably a survival mechanism from being around Bakugo-chan all the time—. She wasn't surprised when he was made class rep, just like she wasn't surprised when Iida-kun was made vice-class rep. Midoriya-chan was friendly and nice and seemed to go out of his way to make friends with everyone in class. All in all, he was a person Tsuyu could like very easily.
If she wasn't secretly terrified of him.
His quirk wasn't like other fire quirks. Every time those warm orange flames flickered to life, her own blue flames begged to come pouring out, to meet the orange and do … something, she didn't know what. Her secondary quirk had never tried to slip out of her control before, never showed any negative effects of suppressing it and ignoring it until Midoriya-chan came along.
She was always incredibly relieved when they were not paired together during training, afraid that if they ever were, her blue fire would come rushing out and badly hurt somebody. Because if overdosing on sleep medication could kill a person, so could overusing a quirk that made people fall unconscious and Tsuyu was not willing to take that risk, no matter how nice Midoriya-chan was.
Of course, then villains had to attack and all the students were separated and Tsuyu ended up stuck on a boat that was surrounded by villains with Mineta-chan and Midoriya.
Everyone had been panicking —Tsuyu too, though she was better at not showing it—, Mineta-chan had been screaming and Midoriya-chan had looked like he was caught between crying and doing something stupid. Releasing part of her blue fire had been instinct, everyone had needed to calm down if they were to have a chance at escaping their predicament and her blue fire calmed down anyone in the right doses. But then Midoriya-chan had visibly faltered, staring at her in wonder and knowing and Tsuyu had felt something brush up softly, tentatively, against her blue fire quirk.
There had been no time for explanations on how or what or why. Only time for a mad escape plan that somehow worked and for Midoriya-chan to run off into bigger trouble with Tsuyu following him for reasons even she didn't know.
Tsuyu only remembered what happened next in fragments. Aizawa-sensei. The strange Nomu villain. The sensation of her heart racing and her stomach churning because there was blood-so-much-blood-. Fingers reaching for her face and her body freezing despite her mind screaming for her to move or fight or do something.
Then orange and purple fire wrapped tight and fierce around her core and the hand was gone and she could breathe again.
Tsuyu watched with wide, near-uncomprehending eyes as the air and water buckled under the force of Midoriya-chan's punch, the searing flames nearly blinding her eyes as her classmate howled something unintelligible that her blue fire somehow translated as don't-touch-her-I'll-protect-her-get-away-get-away-! The flames shrank, contracting around Midoriya-chan's arms and Tsuyu stared from her snarling classmate to the villain rolling unsteadily to his feet.
The villain regained his balance and from behind the creepy hand clamped to his face, Tsuyu could see insanity-sharpened red eyes bore into Midoriya-chan, "Woah there, if I hadn't dodged in time, that could have killed me. That's not very heroic, now is it? That's not playing by the rules of the game, kid. That's cheating." His fingers snapped and the huge villain that had pounded Aizawa-sensei into the ground was suddenly in front of her, Midoriya-chan dangling by one arm from a meaty, bone-crushing hand, "And I hate cheaters."
Midoriya-chan cried out, fire flaring, and the sickening stench of burning flesh filled the air. Nomu didn't react, just raised his other hand, reaching out for Midoriya-chan's face like he had Aizawa-sensei's. Tsuyu lunged, tongue reaching out, hoping to snatch Midoriya-chan away before the villain broke him like he had broken Aizawa-sensei just as Midoriya-chan kicked the arm holding him with a purple coated leg and screamed, "Put me down!"
The shout punched through the air with as much power as the shockwave caused by his kick. Nomu faltered, part of his arm spasming under the force of the kick and fingers loosening around Midoriya-chan's arm as the villain made an inarticulate noise that sounded vaguely confused. Tsuyu took her chance, her tongue yanking Midoriya-chan free of the momentarily loosened grip. Nomu didn't pursue them, he just … stood there for a long moment, eyes rolling unnaturally in his skull like he was confused by something. The lead villain snarled, "What are you doing, Nomu? Kill that boy!" The eyes snapped back into focus and Nomu lunged for them again.
Tsuyu saw her life before her eyes, but then entrance to the facility suddenly buckled, smoke and debris billowing into the air, and everyone turned to face the sound.
Tsuyu could still remember the relief that poured through her at the sight and sound of All Might arriving, how she had thought their troubles were over and it would be okay. Years later she would look back on that thought and scoff quietly to herself. Because life with Midoriya-chan was never that simple.
It wasn't until after All Might had defeated the Nomu and Midoriya-chan had nearly gotten himself killed rushing to help All Might against the villains —even though All Might clearly hadn't needed help— and after everything had sort of settled down that Midoriya-chan and Tsuyu got to have a proper talk.
The talk took place on the rooftop, with Bakugo-chan and Ochako-chan both present because for some reason the three couldn't seem handle being more than five feet away from each other for anything less than a cataclysm —or one of them needing the restroom—. Tsuyu honestly hadn't thought Midoriya-chan could be more surprising than he'd been during the villain invasion. But she was wrong. Because finding out that her blue fire was actually part of an ancient symbiotic quirk set and that Midoriya-chan bore the quirk that was supposed to stabilize and call to the other quirks of that set was … yeah, mind-blowing.
So much for being a normal froggy girl from a normal froggy family with a —mostly— normal froggy quirk.
Midoriya-chan had made it very clear that he didn't want to push her into anything. If she wanted to become part of his "set" than she was more than welcome, but if she'd rather not, than he would leave her alone. He'd explained the benefits they'd discovered so far of being bonded —Ochako-chan and Bakugo-chan had pitched in with their experiences on that front— as well as the cons —which had also led to an explanation for Bakugo-chan's infamous homicidal clinginess—. Midoriya-chan had said that he would accept whatever decision she made.
Tsuyu had asked to think about it, because it was too much to take in at once and for all that she did like Midoriya-chan and admired his bravery —and maybe had a teeny crush after he'd saved her life— she still didn't want to rush into anything as big as this sounded without thinking it through first. Midoriya-chan had readily agreed, and the sincerity and patience in his voice had won him several more points in her mind. She'd meant to think it over for a week minimum, probably more. But apparently their quirks had had other ideas because two days later when Tsuyu had tracked down Midoriya-chan before anyone else arrived in class and shyly given him a bento as thanks for saving her life during the villain attack, their hands had brushed while he was taking the bento and something inside Tsuyu clicked.
It was wonderful. Clear and open and refreshing and welcoming all at once. It was like a long swim in a fresh lake during summer, or like one of Habuko-chan's big, lung-crushing hugs, or like …
Like coming home after a really bad day at school only to find all of her family there, her mother and father both back early from their jobs, waiting to greet her and her siblings waiting to play with her and all of them making her feel safe and warm and loved.
Tsuyu had to brace herself against Midoriya-chan's desk to keep from falling over from the sheer feeling of happy relief that went through her. Her blue fire —Ochako-chan had called them Rain Flames— unfurled like a big water lily blossom as she soaked in the sudden wave of home and love. She had glanced up, wide-eyed, at Midoriya-chan and saw such wonder and elation and joy in his sunshine smile that it took her breath away all over again —because that smile was for her, was because of her and when had anyone outside of her family or Habuko-chan looked at her like just seeing her made their day? Like she was something immeasurably precious?—.
Ochako-chan had whooped happily in the background, sunshine sparkles dancing off of her hands and hair while Bakugo-chan waded into Tsuyu's blooming Rain Flames with a casual flicker of bright red Storm to herd her away from Midoriya-chan's desk. He nudged her into the seat next to Midoriya-chan's that was usually occupied by someone else, citing that "Froggy needs to be nearby Deku as much as possible for a while or she'll start freaking the f*ck out and making people drop dead", before plopping down at his own desk in front of Midoriya-chan's like nothing had happened.
Midoriya-chan chuckled faintly at Bakugo-chan, then shot Tsuyu another brilliant smile that made any lingering doubts about what had just happened vanish. She had a faint inkling of the trouble Midoriya-chan would lead her into in the future, but right now, basking in the feeling of home and belonging she'd never known she needed, Tsuyu decided it would all be worth it.
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Preview: While Izuku was willing to take the blame for Kacchan, Ochako-san, and Tsuyu-san -because he had been directly involved in the incidents that led to either their activation or their become friends with him-, the events leading up to Eijirō-kun joining their Element Set was all on Kacchan.
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It started with Weird Hair ambling over to Katsuki after a hard session of combat training and complimenting the Storm on how powerful and "manly" his quirk and his ability to work with Sunny was. Katsuki, tired and irritable from being forced to work with Sunny -who was the living, breathing incarnation of rainbows, puppies, and sparkles even on a bad day-, promptly responded with a dark, "Drop dead, Weird Hair."
Apparently, that was Manly-Weird-Hair-Speak for, "I think you're cool too, let's be friends."