The Bright Hero, Cobalt

Chapter Seven

A/N: Thanks as usual to my editors, Penguin Lord0029 and nightwind83. Their power is...MAXIMUUUUM!

"Buff Might/AI speech."

"Normal speech."

'Thought without the intent to convey ideas and feelings. Some will be conveyed unintentionally.'

"Telepathy/Thoughts with intent to convey ideas and feelings."

'Sign language.'

Two Days Later, At The Midoriya Residence

Izuku smiled as he awoke. It took a bit of planning and work for the metaphorical stars to align, but everybody was available to hang out today. Mina had picked out a mall with several fun shops for their group to go to, that was an easy enough distance from each of their homes to get to. He could sense Ochako's anticipation and excitement already, even as he fully awoke.

"Mornin', Midoriya-kun! Good to see you're in a good mood this morning!" she spoke over their bond.

"Good morning to you, too, Uraraka-chan! I can't wait to get over there with all of you!" the freckled boy exclaimed mentally, not even able to contain his blue aura. Fortunately, any neighbors close enough have never minded such outbursts, understanding the issues that came with quirks.

Amusement and a bit of anxiousness flowed from her to him. "Don't worry. We've got a few hours before we're supposed to meet up. If we're lucky, we'll be on the same train and be able to chat before we get there!" the brunette supplied, and he could feel her excitement intensify for a moment before going back down to normal, along with a bit of confusion.

Izuku sent a bit of concern over their bond. "Are you alright? You felt confused about something for a second there. There isn't a villain attack near you or anything, is there?" he asked.

The girl with the deadly high-five sent gratitude and reassurance to him. "No, just had a confusing thought for a moment. It startled me a bit, but it wasn't anything bad, I promise," she responded. He sent gratitude back, trusting her enough that even without the sincerity he sensed, he knew she was being honest.

"I'm going to start getting ready for the day. Let me know if you need the police called or anything if a villain attacks and you can't get to your phone. Heck, let me know if you just need somebody to talk to or bounce ideas off of. I know you get lonely over there sometimes," he said as he got up. It was going to be a good day, he knew it.

A Few Hours Later

It was time for the greenette to head out. As he was getting his shoes on, he was stopped by his mom. "Hey, Mom. What's up?" he asked.

The woman smiled up at him and wrapped him in a hug. "I'm so happy you have friends now, Izuku. I was so scared when you asked me to call the school and the police to send reinforcements to USJ that day...What I'm trying to say is...I'm very proud of you, and I'm so very, very happy that you're doing well, but be careful. You're my only baby boy, and I don't know if I could handle it if…" Her words petered off here, the implication not requiring words, her tears more than explaining what she meant.

Izuku's green aura engulfed them both. Inko always loved this part of his power. When he was feeling more affectionate, he could essentially hug those he cared about twice over, the green power feeling like a blanket of love for those he cherished. He had even used one on her on the day of the villain attack, knowing she needed comfort after the fighting was over.

"I'll be safe, Mom. Thank you for loving me so much. It means a lot, seriously," he spoke softly to her, grasping her tighter in his arms for a second before releasing her and heading out the door, excited to see his friends.

At The Mall

Izuku, Ochako, and Katsuki arrived at the meeting place a bit early, having all met on the train together. The ash-blond seemed in good spirits today, occasionally activating his quirk at the lowest level possible to replicate sparklers, enjoying the looks of awe from some of the people passing by. A police officer gave him a warning after a bit, but he didn't seem bothered by having to stop.

Without warning, Izuku had a pair of hands put over his eyes, somebody behind him giggling too much to really be a threat. That, and he could sense amusement from Katsuki and Ochako next to him. The hands removed themselves, and Izuku turned around, seeing all his classmates there. Mina, the owner of the blinding hands, waved cheekily.

"Heya, Midoriya-chan! Sorry to surprise you like that, but Bakugo-kun told us you hadn't really had many opportunities to hang out with friends when you were younger, so we kind of went overboard! It took a bit of sneakiness to get everybody else here a bit early to surprise you, but that smile on your face makes it so worth it!" the pink girl said with glee, happy to be part of this.

Izuku turned to Katsuki, a bit surprised. "You had them do this?" he asked, astonished.

The explosive teen scoffed, a bit of a blush on his face as he turned to glare at the ground nearby. "It's the least I could do. The old hag's rented us all a small party room in an American-themed restaurant and paid for all our meals, so make sure you thank her later. I'm gonna have to pay her back eventually, but that won't be a problem when we're all pros," he responded, his embarrassment making itself known to Izuku's powers.

Kyouka snickered, grinning at Katsuki's attitude. "I guess you're a big softie deep down, Bakugo-chan!" she teased.

The blasty boy whirled on her. "YOU WANNA ROCK, EARLOBES?! I'LL BEAT YOU LIKE MY DRUM KIT!" he burst, a murderous look on his face.

Koji suddenly got between the two, a bit of a panicked look on his face. 'We should really get going. We don't want to be late to the restaurant,' he signed, still too nervous to really speak much.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Someone translate, please? I need to learn this sometime, but I'm not good enough to have understood anything he just said," he requested.

"He says we should get to the restaurant soon. I agree, honestly. If Auntie Mitsuki is anything like I remember, she would be very angry if we ended up missing the reservation," Izuku answered, a worried look on his face.

At this, Rikido smiled. "Don't worry too much. If we're a few minutes late, we'll be fine. It will take a while for our orders to be done anyway, considering how many of us they'll be serving. Regardless, we can head there now without any rush and we'll be alright," the taller boy stated, knowing enough about how restaurants did business to be confident in his information.

At this, Fumikage made his way to the front of the group. "We should depart now, then. Make haste! The void within my form hungers," he commanded, then blushed a bit when his stomach growled loudly.

Dark Shadow emerged, laughing raucously. "The punk means he's hungry. Don't let his roleplaying get to you. He's really glad to be here, even if he won't say so himself!" the sentient quirk exclaimed, forming one of his hands into a thumbs-up.

The group of eighteen made their way into the mall, looking forward to the next few hours of fun.

About Half An Hour Later

The group had been informed that their meals were nearly ready, having taken a while to prepare and be served to them around the same time. Thankfully, the group managed to ward off their stomachs by chatting with one another, enjoying the atmosphere even as the smells of the food made them all hungrier.

Shortly after their meals arrived, Izuku whispered something to Ochako, who got out of the way so he could get up, and the boy made his way outside quickly, the girl giggling a little. "He's so happy, he's got to go outside to let his quirk loose again," she explained, the rest of the class feeling relief knowing it wasn't anything bad.

Mina, on the other side of the table from Ochako, leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin on her face. "Look at you, looking after your boyfriend like that. You two are just too cute together!" the yellow and black eyed girl gushed.

Ochako rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "W-we aren't like that, Ashido-chan. We've only known each other a couple weeks! It's way too early for us to be d-dating or anything like that!" the flustered girl exclaimed defensively.

This time, it was Tooru who decided to tease her. "You say that, but you also said that when his quirk bonded the two of you, you each saw the entirety of the other's life, right? So the two of you already know any kind of secrets you might have kept from each other. It's kind of like the two of you were childhood friends who told each other everything!" the stealthy and noisy girl insisted, also interested in playing matchmaker with her new friends.

From further down, Mezo turned one of his limbs into an extra mouth. "Not quite, Hagakure-san. True, they know everything about each other from before their accidental connection, but from what I gather, the two of them have been doing their best to not invade each other's privacy with this ability. Also, they did, in fact, only meet a couple of weeks ago, no matter how much of each other's lives they've seen. It's probably uncomfortable for them to think about it too much, so you two should probably not tease them so much," he said, simultaneously eating with another one of his limbs.

Hanta, having finished his burger, decided to butt in now. "That's not even the strangest thing about his quirk, though. We all suffer quirk exhaustion in one way or another, but he seems to have the opposite issue, where he needs to actively restrain his quirk! I hope he doesn't need to do this with the physical half of his quirk, too!" the boy said, a bit of concern in his tone at the end.

Ochako frowned a bit, worried about Izuku's secret coming out without his consent and upset at being reminded of the state of his legs the day of the exam. She gave Izuku access to her sense of hearing, letting him know through that that he might want to pay attention. "Thankfully not. I've seen him use the strength portion of his quirk only once, and it wasn't pretty. I got stuck under some rubble during the exam when the zero pointer showed up, and he got so freaked out when he felt my fear that he ran over to me using it. His legs were destroyed, and his adrenaline was all that was keeping him going," she explained, turning a bit pale upon recalling the purple mass that his legs had become.

Mashirao's eyes widened. "Then when he went all blue streak on that zero pointer, his legs were busted?! That was dangerous!" he exclaimed, worried for the boy.

Katsuki frowned. He didn't like being reminded of that part of the story. He was brought out of his dark thoughts by Tsuyu, who was seated beside him. "If we're talking about weird things about his quirk, I think we're all forgetting what happened on the first day of classes. Aizawa-sensei tried to use his quirk on him to get him to settle down, but it didn't work. Sensei's quirk would have shut him down unless it's a mutation-type quirk, and it's definitely not, since those particles aren't spores or anything like that, kero," she added. Katsuki's frown deepened. He'd hoped the others had forgotten that part.

Ochako was looking a bit panicked now, but suddenly, she seemed to have heard something. "Um, hold on a second. Izuku's trying to tell me something," she said to the group, then turned her focus on the greenette in her head. "Sorry, I didn't think they'd start figuring your powers out like this!"

"It's okay. They were going to find out eventually anyway. I can't tell them about One for All, obviously, but I might be able to calm them down a bit. Can you ask them if I can talk to them telepathically?" Izuku asked from up in the sky, having gotten high enough that his powers wouldn't be noticed by anybody unless they looked through binoculars.

Ochako nodded, knowing that Izuku got the feeling of acceptance even if he couldn't see her nod. The brunette sighed, then turned to her classmates. "Izuku wants to talk to you guys about his quirk...telepathically. There's something about it he thinks you should know, but he doesn't want it said out loud, so please, if you need to respond or anything, just think it with the intent to be 'heard'," she explained.

"Just tell us already! It's driving me crazy, you damn nerd!" Katsuki suddenly exploded, then sat down just as abruptly, looking ashamed of himself.

"Sorry, I'm just really nervous about this," Izuku's voice said, suddenly being heard in everybody's heads.

"Stop being sorry, damnit! You haven't done a single fucking thing wrong!" Katsuki's voice shouted, being heard in all of their heads.

"Wow, good to know he's just as loud in our heads as he is out of them," Kyoka replied, the sarcasm more felt than heard, and nobody even needed to be looking at her to know she'd rolled her eyes.

"All right, all right, everybody just quiet down. It'd be really unmanly to interrupt Izuku here when he's so nervous," Eijiro interrupted, trying to settle them all down.

"Thanks for this, everyone. I really am happy we're all getting along, so that makes me feel a lot better about telling you about this...So, I have a quirk, along with something else that isn't a quirk, according to Recovery Girl," Izuku explained, everybody feeling his nervousness rise at the end there, then feeling his relief afterwards. "That went a lot better than I thought it would. I was worried you'd freak out more than you did."

"Oh, on the contrary, we are very worried. We all worry for you, our class's second brightest beacon! Such a mysterious power must be quite unsettling to live with, and it would break our hearts if it became too much for you, friend! We will make certain, however, that you continue to sparkle as you do, you mighty cobalt warrior!" Yuga exclaimed, just as flashy and boisterous in everybody's heads as he was outside of them.

Izuku smiled where he was, everybody feeling his gratitude. "Anyway, the flashy, floaty, mind-reading stuff is not a quirk. The super strength, though, that's a quirk. I...kinda went overboard in training at one point, and the quirk was force-manifested. It's part of the reason why it's so dangerous to me. My body didn't awaken it naturally, and I'm not too keen on using it if I don't have to, all things considered," he explained, reminding himself that the only reason he was lying was to protect them, in hopes of pushing the guilt he felt from the half-truth from his mind. Thankfully, it was enough, as none of them seemed to notice anything amiss.

As Izuku entered the room, Momo nodded, and decided to continue the subject telepathically instead of verbally. "That's unusual, but it's not the first time something came out of nowhere and changed how humanity worked. You were right to keep it a secret, though. Quirk-trafficking is already a huge problem, and if the wrong people found out that you have something that isn't a quirk, but is quirk-like, you and the people you care about could be put in danger. Needless to say, none of us will be talking about it out loud. No sign language, either. Sorry, Koda-san. Cameras can catch things like that if we're not careful," the class rep said, with the gathered friends agreeing.

Izuku poked his index fingers together nervously. "Well, then, would it be okay if, occasionally, I used my mind reading in class? I'd ask for permission first, obviously, and I'd probably only need to do it with two or three of you at a time, but it would help me with preventing it from going all over the place. We can set up rules, obviously, because I doubt you'd want me staying in your heads more than necessary!" the verdette requested, his nervousness coming through full force as he asked it.

"Well, as long as he doesn't do it during a test or anything, I think it'd be fine, Partner!" Dark Shadow said, surprising himself when he realized the others heard him. "Wait, you guys can hear me? Independent of Fumikage?!"

Katsuki turned to Fumikage, though it was obvious his annoyed look was meant for Dark Shadow, and not the boy he was housed within. "Of course we can, Bird Brain. You're a sentient quirk. You have a mind of your own. Otherwise, you'd be a carbon copy of Birdier Brain, and the two of you are nothing a-fucking-like," the ash-blond explained, reminding everybody at the table that, despite his rough exterior, he was actually kinda smart.

"It is as I've forseen. You are no tool, Dark Shadow. You are my partner, and our bond is eternal," Fumikage said, a smile on his face as he spoke.

Momo smiled. "Well said, Tokoyami-san. As for Midoriya-san's request, I'll volunteer for it," the best chemist amongst them responded. In minutes, they all volunteered for 'comms duty', as Katsuki called it, with the express rule that if somebody needed Izuku out of their head, he would leave then and there. Other rules would be worked out soon enough.

Tooru's giddy voice spoke through the link. "You can't see it, but I'm grinning so hard right now! Argh! I have so many awesome feelings, and I can't properly express them! I thought this would be enough, but it's not!" the invisible girl exclaimed, her frustration at her own quirk being felt by all of them, having switched from happy to irritated suddenly.

Tenya frowned, and despite his best efforts, his arms moved as if he were speaking out loud. "That sounds incredibly frustrating, Hagakure-san. Do you have this problem often?" the motorized man asked, getting an eye roll from several of their friends at the table for his obliviousness to how she typically acted.

Mina patted the girl's shoulder. "Only every single day, Iida-kun. I had thought you'd noticed, considering how diligent you are with everything else in class," the black-eyed girl admonished.

Tenya let out a sigh, his head drooping in shame. "I'm afraid I've never been the best at recognizing things like this. Many social cues escape me, no matter how much I study to learn them," the blue blur confessed.

Ochako smiled, a hint of a laugh coming from her. "I guess we all have problems we need to work on. Maybe we can help each other with them?" she suggested, her eyes brightening with anticipation.

Sadness oozed from Tooru. "I don't know how you'd help me. The technology just doesn't exist for what I want. I want to turn my quirk off, even if it's just for a few minutes! I don't even know what color my hair and eyes are! Do I have freckles? What color is my skin? It's so frustrating not knowing! I'm glad I have my quirk, and that I'll be able to save people with it, but it's really upsetting!" the girl basically wailed in their heads.

Everybody comforted the girl, having a basic understanding of her plight, while Izuku privately began thinking up places he could look to find a solution to his new friends' problems.

Later, At The Arcade

Each of the students separated a bit, forming smaller groups depending on what game they each felt like playing. Momo, Katsuki, Tenya, Izuku, and Ochako, had moved over to the Mario Kart booths, though Momo refrained from playing herself, simply wanting to keep track of her classmates, and deciding that Izuku would be helpful for that. She occasionally would ask him about the general mood and location of their classmates, and he would answer after a moment of checking in with them. The only one not having the best time was Katsuki, who was simultaneously impressed and furious at how good Izuku was doing.

"How are you this good, you fucking nerd?! I get that you're smart and all, but you've never had friends over to play this with, so how?!" Katsuki asked as, once again, he came in second, Izuku having placed first again.

Izuku poked his index fingers together nervously. "I played online enough to get good at it, I guess?" the nervous boy responded.

"RAAAAGH! WE'RE GOING AGAIN! I'LL BEAT YOU THIS TIME, YOU SHITTY NERD!" Katsuki erupted, grinning despite his tone.

"Hey, is that Bakugou Katsuki I hear?" a voice called out from further away. Upon hearing it, Izuku shuddered, and Katsuki snarled, not liking what might happen next.

"Don't make any sudden movements, Izuku. I'm gonna be quiet for a bit. If we're lucky, the fuckers will give up soon, and they won't even know we were here," Katsuki whispered softly, his eyes moving around to check where their classmates were. Several of them had looked over when they heard Katsuki's name get called, so that was good.

Unfortunately for them, though, Murphy's Law was a bitch. One or two of their old classmates must have spotted Katsuki, because in less than a minute, he was surrounded by his old posse. "Hey, Bakugou-san! It's been ages! How have things been?" the one who'd called out earlier asked.

The explosive blond didn't respond, fuming in silence in the hopes that they'd lose interest and leave. However, it seemed that Tenya had different ideas.

"Excuse me, all of you, but you're bothering our friend Izuku here," the honest speedster said, moving to intervene, "I must ask that you leave us be. I'm aware enough of the situation that I do not want you here."

"Wait, little defenseless Deku is here? Oh, right, he is! Look, the little twerp is already on the verge of tears!" one of them exclaimed, and they were right.

"Oi. I'm giving you fuckers to the count of ten to get out of here, or I'm turning you into mini fireworks displays," Katsuki said in an even tone, doing his best to tone himself down.

"Why do you care? You were the worst of us after all. Heck, I remember you suggested that he could get a quirk if he killed himself and reincarnated! You had a smile on your face and everything!" another one of the mooks reminded him, and the boy looked down to his feet in shame.

A hand was suddenly in his, Izuku having reached out for it even as he was breaking down himself. Katsuki grasped it, tightening his grip enough to let his friend know he was there, and that he appreciated the help.

This time, it was Momo and Ochako who tried to defuse the situation. Creating a blanket, Momo placed it onto Izuku's shoulders, and then repeated the action for Katsuki, who accepted the act of kindness regardless of his normal demeanor. Ochako, on the other hand, was a bit more direct. "Leave. You're ruining our outing, and it's really pissing me off," the brunette said sternly, a steely look in her normally soft and bright eyes.

"Hah! You, take all of us? Bring it, pint-size! I wonder if I'll get to take your place at U.A. if I beat you hard enough!" one of them said, putting up their fists.

Ochako growled. "I'll make you all astronauts in the next few minutes if you don't split right now," she snarled, moving her hands to unleash palm strikes if they became too rowdy.

"I'd suggest listening to her. It's not rockin' to do it to morons like you, but she will send you to space if you piss her off enough," a voice from a little further away said. Izuku and Katsuki looked up in surprise and relief. The rest of their friends had arrived, Kyouka and Mezo leading the pack, having apparently heard what was going on and gathering everybody. Everybody except for…

"Wait, where are Tokoyami-san and Dark Shadow-san?" Momo asked, noticing their unexplained absence. If the gathering of so many opponents hadn't convinced the bullies to leave, what happened next would.

"I will devour your souls, and use your bones as toothpicks as I clean my teeth of the meat of your insignificant mortal bodies!" a distorted voice spoke from a dark corner of the room, the rest of class 1-A recognizing the synchronized voices of Fumikage and Dark Shadow as the source of the sound. A large red eye opened, covering most of the wall in the area. "It's time for a feast!"

The bullies fled with gusto, and Dark Shadow and Fumikage laughed separately, no longer syncing their voices, the two of them coming out of the shadowy area, with the quirk going back within his user. "Revelry in the dark," the boy said simply, a smug grin on his face. He let out a squawk, though, when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped him in a hug, Izuku having moved from his seated position to hug him. Dark Shadow came out, startled, and then was startled even more when he received a hug as well.

Izuku spent the next few minutes just going around and hugging his classmates, most of them commenting on how sweet the green bean was, everybody smiling about it regardless. At the end of it, Izuku was hugging Katsuki, who he stayed attached to a bit longer than the others. "Are you okay, Kacchan?" he asked, concern being sent through the link.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "I'll be okay. I think I should come clean to our class about how crappy I was to you, though. I don't wanna see that sappy look on your face while I'm doing that, though, so go grab a snack with Uraraka-san or something. If she doesn't already know the story, tell her about it for me, got it?"

Izuku nodded, and walked over to Ochako, who was still a bit dazed from the sudden hug, having enjoyed it a lot more than she was used to. "Um, Uraraka-chan and I are gonna go get some snacks. Kacchan says he wants to talk to you guys a bit," Izuku said quietly, a shy smile on his face, as he grabbed Ochako's hand, causing them both to feel all fuzzy now, and ran off, dragging the gravity-manipulating gal with him.

Katsuki rolled his eyes, chuckling softly at the two of them. "Oblivious dorks. They're turning me fucking soft. Anyway, listen good, because this is more than just an explanation of the bullshit I pulled in middle school. I've got actual important info to tell you, to keep that green little moron safe. Get in close so I don't need to talk loud. Now, where to fucking begin…" he said, looking into his hands as he contemplated.

"How you met sounds like a reasonable place to start," Hanta suggested with a shrug.

Katsuki nodded. "It does. Thanks. So, his mom and mine were friends in school. The two of them went separate ways at some point, and when she came back into my mom's life, she came with a three-year-old green bean. No father. Not that I'd want to meet the bastard, dude was a fucking supervillain, apparently. So, three-year-old me, I'm the rude, angry piece of shit I am today, just smaller and less intelligent. I get this little freckled punk put in front of me, and I'm told to be his friend. He was insufferably nice. Punk was sunshine and rainbows back then, just like he is today. I fucking hated it.

"Anyway, being the dumb shit I was, I pretended I was his friend, but I was an utter bastard to him. I'd hoped that he would take the hint and bother some other kid, but he was stubborn. Clung to me like eggs to a pan when you fuck up preparing them. Eventually, I just went to outright bullying him, instead of just being a crappy friend. It got even worse when I got my quirk, and he didn't. 'What do you know? Deku's quirkless!' I got a boost to my ego that I didn't deserve at all, and he started getting burn marks that he didn't deserve at all," Katsuki continued, glaring at his hand as if it had personally offended him.

"Then, a few years later, I learned something fucked up, and I learned it the worst way possible, and reacted in a less than stellar manner. I'm exploding Izuku like usual, and I went too far. His back got messed up, and he passed out, and I saw it. Clear as fucking day, evidence that I'd fucked up. This next bit doesn't get to those two lovesick dorks, all right?" He looked everybody in the eyes upon saying this, waiting for each of them to nod, though Tooru had to say out loud that she wouldn't say a thing. "I was purposefully vague to Iida-san when I told him about it, but Izuku trusts you mooks, so I think it'll be okay to just say it flat out. It's covered up well, but there's a fucking plug in his back. I'd knocked the cover off with that stunt. I don't know all the details behind it, but Izuku's mom made it clear that he's a victim of some messed up shit. I don't know if this is where his unique quirk comes from or not, but it's really freaky, and if it gets knocked off again in practice and I'm not there to do damage control, I need you guys to do that for me. Unless it's Four-eyes here. No offense, but you couldn't deceive somebody to save your life."

Everybody there had looks of concern on their faces. Then, Mashirao decided to ask the obvious question. "What happened next, then?"

Katsuki frowned. "I knocked out everybody there before they could see it, and kept knocking out people who showed up until Izuku woke up. I stopped being violent to him after that, but at that point, I'd already fucked up enough that I couldn't bring myself to try and patch things up between us. I kept bullying him, but I stuck to verbal abuse. That all changed recently, though, obviously. It's...kinda scary how it happened, and how easily it could have gone wrong. Remember that sludge villain incident from last year?" Everybody nodded, waiting for Katsuki to continue. "That sentient turd grabbed a middle school student and had his quirk going off all over the place, making it dangerous to approach. The news said that All Might was the only hero to come to that idiot kid's rescue, but that's a lie. There was one more hero that day. I was that idiot kid, and before All Might could jump in, Izuku, that glorious motherfucker, ran right past the barricade to save my dumb ass. He didn't even know his quirk could be used offensively until it picked up some debris and started flinging it at the villain. All he knew was that I was fucking terrified, and he didn't want his friend to die alone."

Katsuki looked up, a hint of a smile on his face. "That day, Deku died. In his place stood Izuku, the hero with the bleeding heart. I still don't know why he forgave me for all of my crap, but I'm not going to fuck up this time. I'll become worthy of his friendship, and I'll be a hero worthy to stand with him!" he said, his smile turning to a grin as he clenched his palm into a fist.

Everybody hesitated for a moment, not sure how they should react to the revelation that Katsuki had been such a bully for so long. The first to come around was Eijiro, who walked up to the ash blond and placed his hand on his shoulder. "It was super unmanly to bully Midoriya-san like you used to, but it's kind of obvious that you're working really hard to repair your friendship with him. I think that's pretty awesome, honestly. A heroic comeback completely unlike the kind that happens in a fight. I like it!" the red head exclaimed, smashing his hardened fists together excitedly.

Mina skipped over to them as well. "My horn buddy is right! Bakusplodey here is one of us, just like Midori-chan!" she cheered with a pump of her fist.

Next, Fumikage joined their small group. "Why fear the inevitable?" he asked.

Dark Shadow emerged to pose with the group. "After all, friendship is inevitable!" the quirk added, finishing his partner's statement.

One by one, each of the members of 1-A joined with the group, each muttering the catchphrase they'd unconsciously claimed for themselves. Soon enough, Izuku and Ochako returned to see the group looking happier than they'd left them, the snacks they'd carried over nearly dropped when Izuku started glowing blue with glee and losing concentration on his half of the load for an instant.

The two of them were a bit startled when Tenya appeared behind them, and grabbed them up in a hug, carrying them over to the rest of the group. "Come along, you two! Our class isn't complete without you!" he exclaimed. Everybody chuckled for a moment before remembering that, even with that, their class wasn't complete, and the mood soured a little.

"Todoroki-san…" Momo mumbled, a bit sad that he decided not to show up.

Katsuki growled, then let out a noisy roar. "DID YOU GUYS FUCKING FORGET ALREADY?! FRIENDSHIP IS INEVITABLE! Icy-hot will join us, and we'll all be one big fucking happy family, GOT IT?!"

The mood visibly brightened, and everybody silently agreed. Shoto would be part of their group. By the end of the day, they had a group photo. Mina edited it to have text at the bottom, and several members of the group made it their wallpaper. The text read as such:

Join the Friend Side. We have cookies.