raw666 - My point exactly. Yes, actually hitting someone with a gun at a distance isn't THAT easy, but when you are facing Overhaul's bodyguards (who are all former spec ops soldiers with some heavy weaponry involved)... yep. She wouldn't make it. This isn't the sort where you can manufacture yourself a powered suit that makes you immune to bullets and so on, after all.
EVERYONE - I decided to switch Dead on Arrival to a bi-weekly posting (Mondays and Fridays). Because it's going to be the largest of my fics, and I already have like 57 chapters written. If I keep to weekly publishing, I'll just never get it out. So... enjoy?
(***)
Defiant: So can you please tell me openly and officially to not collect more girlfriends?
Defiant: I'm super weak to girls needing help, it seems.
Alchemist: I needed help?
Defiant: In achieving your dreams?
Alchemist: Oh, fair.
Defiant: It's mostly about Tsuyu tbh.
Kappa: ?
Defiant: You needed help. I needed help.
Defiant: It… kind of fit together.
Defiant: I don't want it to fit together with anyone except for you two.
Defiant: So tell me to not do that, or it 'll hurt you.
Defiant: That will 100% stop me.
Kappa: weird
Alchemist: Oh, it makes perfect sense to me.
Alchemist: I sometimes ask Shino to tell me something when needed too.
Alchemist: So alright!
Alchemist: No more girlfriends.
Alchemist: I'll be super angry.
Defiant: Awesome.
Alchemist: Unless it's Ochaco.
Defiant: …
Kappa: yes
Defiant: no
Defiant: YOU HAD ONE JOB
Defiant: The answer is no. And that's my final word.
Alchemist: Hmph.
Alchemist: You're being overly complicated.
Alchemist: Stop being complicated.
Defiant: I AM NOT COMPLICATED
Defiant: IT'S YOU WHO LACK COMMON SENSE
Kappa: are superheroes part of common sense
Defiant: …
Defiant: How, despite your lack of experience with other people, you always stick your words right where it hurts
Kappa: ribbit
Defiant: I can't interpret your ribbiting when I don't see your face or hear you while doing so.
Kappa: ribbit
Defiant: Tsu, stop
Kappa: ribbit
Defiant: ugh
Defiant: this is bullying
Alchemist: ribbit
Defiant: oh god no
(***)
Eclipse opened the warpgate to the hospital soon after the classes ended and everyone returned home.
Uraraka stepped through it, her arm still in the cast. She opened her mouth to say something, only to be suddenly embraced by Tsuyu. Who appeared seemingly out of nowhere and accepted nothing but maximum physical contact for maximum emotional help.
Ochaco did her absolute best to suppress the laughter when she saw Tsuyu's new outfit. It actually worked, but only because she was suddenly hit by a rolled newspaper by Izuku. Who sneaked on her as well.
This broke her focus on Tsuyu's onesie.
"Wh… what?" Ochaco is clearly surprised. Then again, so are most of the people waiting for her in the room. Izuku didn't share his plans with them.
"Sorry." Izuku replies. "Alchemist told me to do that. She is super pissed off because of you apologizing for your rifle being damaged when you could have died. 'Maybe some percussive maintenance of her head will set her priorities straight', to quote her."
"Oh." Ochaco chuckles, using her healthy arm to hug Tsuyu back. "Yeah, I deserved that." At least, it seems like she realized what she did wrong.
"It's great to have you back." Izuku says with a faint smile and joins the small hug pile in front of him.
(***)
Uraraka is promptly introduced to the new members. Yaoyorozu is yet to arrive, but Yoarashi and Todoroki are there.
Todoroki is, naturally, an off-putting emotional black hole. At least until Shinsou says the magic words.
"I considered sending an application in his name to the World Clown Association." Todoroki immediately replies. "But I didn't want to be responsible for him single-handedly taking over the entire industry."
Then he immediately switches to his shit-eating grin mode that's both slightly intimidating and absolutely hilarious. He expands upon his usual repertoire with finger guns and Shinsou slipping sunglasses onto his face from behind.
Uraraka once again does her best to stop herself from laughing loudly. Without Izuku interrupting it, she promptly fails.
Yoarashi in the meantime is… hotblooded. And loud. Being wounded in the line of service and still wanting to return to it is apparently very passionate and impressive. Uraraka seems slightly startled by the… intensity of that announcement. Then again, so is Midoriya and he wasn't even the one it was directed at.
Once the welcome back party is over and the sun finally sets, Izuku asks Uraraka to follow him.
The night flight through the city is mostly quiet. Izuku suspects that Uraraka now knows about Tsuyu (who, as stated multiple times, lacks the brain-to-mouth filter) becoming his girlfriend. It makes things awkward.
It's not a very long flight. But just in case, he asks Uraraka if she is okay with flying with her face up. It's a bit of an extreme security measure, suggested in order to make her not know where Eri lives. But she agrees.
He already sent a message to Bakugous, asking them not to mention their surname next to the guest. Once again, for security reasons. They agreed to that.
Izuku feels bad about it. He knows they are risking their lives out of guilt. Guilt that he exploited to get them to help him. In fact, he considers suggesting a change to that. If he could move Eri to the UA, that would keep her out of everyone's sight. But he'll have to talk about that with Bakugous.
(***)
"G… good evening!" Uraraka stumbles a bit as she enters the house. Mitsuki does that to people, even when she is clearly trying to appear welcoming.
"Good evening." Izuku can feel Mitsuki's eyes darting between him and Uraraka, and he immediately understands what is about to happen. "Are you…"
"She's not my girlfriend!" Izuku says that sharper than he intended. From his position, he doesn't see the blush erupting on Uraraka's face. "She's…"
Shit. How is he supposed to explain it? Somehow it didn't occur to him to prepare some explanation for it beforehand. He is still trying to figure something out when Mitsuki makes a move.
"Of course she isn't." She says, her voice clearly stating that she didn't buy that at all and was only pretending otherwise. Ugh. "Eri's upstairs."
"Uhm, before that, I actually wanted to ask you about something." Izuku says. It's mostly about what to do with Eri, to be honest. But Mitsuki interrupts him.
"If you're supposed to have a serious talk with me, go to Eri first." She says. "Serious talks should be done over tea, not in the hallway."
Well, she has a point.
(***)
"Izuku!" Eri is, as always, overjoyed to see him. She promptly leaps off her bed and runs towards him for a hug. Naturally, she gets a hug.
"How are you doing, Eri?" He asks back. "Sorry for not dropping by recently. I've been busy with my work."
She knows that by 'work' he means being a superhero. She is tight-lipped about it, of course. Bakugous can't know. But she understands how important that is, so she realizes that this isn't something to complain about.
"I'm doing great!" She gives him a truly heartwarming smile. Uraraka quietly steps into the room behind him and closes the door behind. "But I really missed you."
The talk about her mother most likely being dead is already behind them. It was… Izuku doesn't want to go back to it. Eri suspected that already. She saw Overhaul killing people. He never told her what happened to her mother, probably as some messed up way of ensuring obedience. After all, she could be simply held elsewhere, and be harmed by him if Eri disobeyed him.
But on a deeper level, Eri knew. Even before Izuku saved her from Overhaul. Being kidnapped by a maniac makes you mature faster than you should have.
"I know." He pats her head. "Look, I came to introduce someone to you. That's Uraraka Ochaco. She's my friend from work." Hiding your surname is less important for a superhero when you have no living relatives.
Eri's eyes suddenly gleamed. She realizes instantly what 'friend from work' means.
"You're a superhero too?" She asks Uraraka, who nods. "That's awesome! What's your power?"
"Use it on her." Izuku says, while winking at her. "She won't stop asking until that happens."
Eri giggles. She is growing into a great fan of superheroes, something that probably shouldn't be a surprise. Of course, Defiant is the absolute best superhero of them all. Something that she told him openly a few visits ago.
Should Izuku ask Momo to make her a plushie shaped after his hero costume? Would that be too weird?
Uraraka looks already enamored by the girl in front of her. It's another heartwarming thing in quick succession, and Izuku feels internally calm.
The gravity girl squats while extending her healthy hand forward.
"Give me a high-five." She says, with a smile on her face. Eri quickly obeys the instruction and squeals in joy as she starts floating.
(***)
Having fun with their quirks takes them a while. Singularity is instantly the second favorite superhero of Eri, and most likely would still hold that position if Eri knew more than two superheroes. At least partially because her quirk resembles Defiant's.
Yes, Izuku explains the difference to her. Eri listens to it carefully. Considering how smart she is, she probably understood all the differences correctly.
Eventually, once Eri seems to have… run out of excess energy, Izuku moves over to the main subject.
"Eri, I'd like to ask you for a favour." Eri tilts her head towards him. She is sitting on Uraraka's lap now (who, in turn, is sitting on the verge of her bed). They were chatting about various things rather happily for the last ten minutes, Izuku's presence temporarily forgotten. Then again, watching them do that was… nice.
"What is it?" She asks. In her eyes, the stars.
"Before I say, I need you to know that you can refuse it." Izuku says. He isn't forcing Eri to do anything. She suffered enough because of her quirk. Forcing her to use it again… it would make him see Overhaul's face in the mirror. And he couldn't stand that. "No one is going to be angry about it."
"Is… is it about my quirk?" She asks. Taking him off-guard. She must have noticed that, because more words came in a hurry. "Uhm, I mean, I can see that Uraraka-san is wounded, so I figured out that it's about that."
The look on her face is… complicated. Izuku isn't sure how to read it.
"We fought against several supervillains working for Overhaul." Izuku says. She deserves to know the whole truth. "We arrested one, but he wounded Uraraka before that happened. It will take her several months to heal, and we need as many people as possible to finally get to Chisaki. I know you don't enjoy using your quirk, but…"
"If I use it…" She says, interrupting him. "I… I'll be a superhero too, yes?"
Oh. That's… unexpected. Then again, he should have probably expected that to happen, eventually. She clearly idolizes superheroes, and since she has a superpower… honestly, how didn't he see this coming? Perhaps in his head she was still the same traumatized and terrified girl as she was when they meet for the first time.
"Not officially." Izuku admits. "You are a bit too young to become a superhero. Police officers would have died by cuteness overdose if they saw you in a superhero cape." She giggles a bit at that. "But you'd certainly do what superheroes do."
She takes a deep breath. It's a major decision, after all.
"You saved me with your power." She says, with a determination on her face. "I want to do the same."
(***)
She ends up rewinding Uraraka for about a week. Thankfully, the side effects of her quirk activation include some light, but no loud noises. So the Bakugous do not come to investigate.
"Did it work?" Izuku asks. They weren't fully sure if Eri's Rewind would work on physical damage, rather than only the age itself.
"I think it did." Uraraka replies, while trying to gently move her arm around. It's still in the cast, of course. How would they explain the cast's disappearance to Bakugous? Shuzenji will take it off if she confirms that the damage was healed. "Yeah, almost certain. The pain's gone, but I can't move my arm a lot because of the cast, so I'm not super sure."
"Congratulations, Eri." Izuku says, while giving the girl a bright smile. "You saved someone."
Eri beams at him and quickly gives him a hug. A few seconds later, she lets him go and then goes to hug Uraraka.
(***)
Izuku asks Uraraka to spend a while longer with Eri (to her enthusiastic agreement). He, in the meantime, comes down to have a talk with Auntie Mitsuki. Uncle Masaru isn't here, probably staying longer at work.
The tea is ready. Izuku took just the right time to come down.
"So…" He tries to start a conversation.
"She drops by occasionally." Auntie immediately knows what it was about. "Nothing changed on that front."
So mom still doesn't talk much to the Bakugous, but at the very least visits Eri. And if 'nothing changed', then she is still Eri's beloved auntie. Good enough. They both deserve to have as many beloved family members as possible, even if none of them are tied to her in blood.
"At least that much." Izuku sighs while slumping on the couch. "I don't really drop by, I don't want Chisaki to get to her through me and… she doesn't want Chisaki to get to me through her."
He couldn't keep hiding who his enemy was from her. His mom found out that he helped break out a six-year-old girl from the head of organized crime in the prefecture during one of her first visits. Izuku didn't remember to tell Auntie Mitsuki to keep that a secret from his mother.
Mitsuki, at this point, was just as curious as he was about who his father was. Because Inko's comment on how Izuku was way too similar to his father for his own good was… intriguing, and that was putting it mildly. At least, considering the circumstances.
The Bakugous met Inko soon after she moved to Takoba. Already with a few months old son, but without a husband. Since Katsuki was born about the same time, Mitsuki and Inko found a common language.
She never said a lot about Izuku's father. In fact, she kept dodging the subject. At some point, Mitsuki stopped asking.
"I've wanted to talk about Eri." Izuku moves over to the second subject. "I…" He wants to say that he is thinking about moving Eri away from their care, but she doesn't let him finish.
"We're thinking about adopting her once Chisaki is out of the picture." Mitsuki says, startling Izuku. Her voice is… surprisingly subdued. Then again, it's been like that ever since she removed Katsuki from her family tree.
"R… really?" He manages to say after a few seconds of shocked silence. She nods back.
"I didn't realize how quiet and lifeless the home was after… before Eri came here." She says. She clearly wanted to mention her son, but decided not to. Izuku isn't the only one carrying scars. "And I'm too old to have another biological child, either way. Hopefully, I won't fuck anything up this time."
Her voice is bitter. If what Eri told him was true, she was truly doing her best. There was nothing left of her past, abrasive attitude. Oh, she would still yell at you if he did something terminally stupid, but never if you a were part of her family. Eri was evidently included in it.
If anything, Eri was almost pampered by her. It's like she wanted to find redemption through that for what Katsuki did.
Eri was happy, safe, and she clearly likes Bakugous. Who was Izuku to yank her out of their house, just as she began to have some measures of stability in her life? Besides, he has a Plan B.
"I… I think I can figure out some proper education for her." He says after a few seconds of deliberations. His plan to get her evacuated to the UA is all but forgotten now. "I'll be dropping by every week or so with the educational material for homeschooling. Some UA stamped educational material." It's not running preschool, but… Sasaki can probably arrange help from one very good.
Especially as he is lucid enough to realize that it binds Eri with the UA. The same Eri that has an almost omnipotent healing quirk.
That takes Mitsuki off-guard. UA has a reputation. And a very good one.
"Really?" She asks, blinking at him in surprise. "How did you…"
"Let's just say that Chisaki has a lot of enemies." Izuku replies. "And we finally got the police involved. Someone from it is willing to spend a favor he has with someone in the UA faculty to help Eri. It would be a remote or… indirect education, but… there is no sense in keeping her hiding from Chisaki, only to make her grow up with no education and with no prospects for the future, right?"
There is no friend in the police with the power to do that. He is the one who hopes to ask Principal Sasaki for this. But he doesn't want to share that with the Bakugous. Keeping secrets here is… important. People's lives are at stake. He doesn't exactly enjoy lying to them (he doesn't exactly enjoy lying to anyone), but… Well, it's probably far from the most morally questionable things he'll have to do in his life if he sticks to his decision about becoming a hero.
"That would be helpful." Mitsuki says, before she sighs loudly. "I hope he gets jailed soon. Eri deserves to go to normal school. Have friends. Not being locked down in a cage, however gilded it is."
Izuku wholeheartedly agrees.
(***)
They are flying back to the Network Headquarters. In a rather awkward silence. Izuku still doesn't know how to address the absolute clusterfuck that their supposed friendship (with aspirations for more that both sides seem to be trying to bury) is.
Eventually, it's Uraraka that speaks. She is still floating in the horizontal position, facing the clouds. It's apparently rather relaxing. Like the softest bed in the world.
"It's hard to imagine what she went through when she smiles like that, isn't it?" Ochaco says quietly. Izuku feels vaguely relieved at Eri clearly being the subject of the talk. He can deal with it. Somehow.
"Yeah." He replies. "I think she decided that being happy is the best form of revenge she can take on Overhaul." If so… it was probably for the best. Not like Overhaul would care, but at least it was healthy for her. Izuku was ready to perform his own variant of revenge on Chisaki in her stead.
"Makes sense." Uraraka says. Izuku was actually startled for a second over how bitter her voice sounded for a second. He feels like he missed something important. What was it about?
The awkward silence remains for a while. Eventually it's Ochaco that breaks it again. Unfortunately, this time, Izuku is significantly less comfortable about the subject.
"So… you and Tsuyu are now a thing, huh?" She says. Izuku does not know how to interpret the tone of her voice. Somehow, this is harder to do than dealing with the frog girl.
"Uhm… yes." Izuku does his best to remain calm and collected. It's difficult. "It just… kinda happened." He wanted to say something about her helping him patch himself up after Dabi, but… Uraraka was in the hospital then. No one helped her patch herself up (except for video calls). And she missed her occasion (was there any?) to be with the boy/teenager/man she loved.
"Well, I'm happy for you." Uraraka says. Izuku isn't sure if he believes her. "She needed that. She looks much more… err… ribbit now?" Midoriya noticed the same thing. Once you spent enough time with Tsuyu, you began to pick up on all of those non-verbal communications. And all different types of meaning her ribbiting had.
"And… uhm…" How to ask about it?
"Mei told me she let the secret slip." Uraraka takes the initiative. Izuku glances at her, but she is looking away from him. "It's alright."
"Uraraka…"
"Really." She interrupts him. "I mean it. Look, I don't need you to pity me or an…"
"Pity you?!" This time it's Izuku who interrupts her. "I don't pity you! You went through something traumatic, and while you were in hospital alone, your best friend and the guy you had a c… the guy you li… they got hooked up." He, of course, fumbles while trying to say it. "I'm… I'm worried about you. You are my friend, and… I just don't want to see you hurt."
There are a few seconds of awkward silence above the rooftops of Takoba. Eventually, she speaks.
"You really have the heart of a hero, don't you?" She says. Her eyes are still locked into something way away from him. "You just can't stay quiet when someone suffers next to you."
"Apparently I got it from my dad." Izuku replies. "That's what made my mom fall for him. Although considering the fact that he died soon after I was born and she spent close to eighteen years hiding from his killers, I'm not sure if it's a good thing."
"Yet you're still doing it." Uraraka replies after a few seconds of awkward silence. "You are… kind of an inspiration to me, you know? Despite everything that happens, you just… keep moving forward."
Oh, what a mistake. Unfortunately, Izuku is honest in front of his friends. Perhaps too much.
"I didn't." He says, his voice almost bitter. "If Tsuyu wasn't there after Dabi, I… I think I would break. First, I thought I wouldn't make it in time and you would die, then he fired his attack and I thought Tsuyu died and…" His voice fails him. Even thinking about that hurts.
There is silence. Izuku doesn't know how long. But he doesn't know what to say after all of that. So he waits for Uraraka to be the one to speak. He almost loses hope when she finally does so.
"I guess…" She says quietly. It's barely audible over the sounds of the city beneath them. "... that I know why I fell for you so hard."
He stays silent, hoping that she would elaborate on that. But she doesn't. The silence continues until they return to the Network Headquarters.
(***)
They land on the rooftop, right next to the tonight's guards. It's Earworm and Hijack. Izuku would guess even without knowing. Their constant bickering made things rather obvious.
Izuku doesn't want to start a fight. So naturally, he sent them a message that they were about to arrive a minute ahead of it. Then he made himself known before landing. After mandatory greetings (and questions of whether the treatment worked), they both go downstairs.
"Izuku." Uraraka says right before they split. The corridor is quiet and dark, but their eyes adapted to dark a while earlier. Just enough to see each other's shapes, not enough to tell anything more.
"Y… yes?" Izuku is slightly startled by this. He was lost in his own thoughts for quite a while now. He was barely aware of Uraraka still being there. Then again… a lot of his thoughts were about her.
"Thank you for getting me out of that forest." She whispers. Before Izuku has time to reply to that, she takes a step closer.
He can feel her healthy hand on the side of his head. And a second later, her lips touching his.
He is still stunned silent when she takes a step back. He uttered something resembling a hushed 'Ur… Urr.' before she ran away.
(***)
Had a ... very bad yesterday. I keep having communication problems on the internet for some reason (too cutting of a tongue? too brash? consistently writing things in english that people for some reason misread entirely which might be connected to my english skills?), and it got me banned from a very nice discord server dedicated to BNHA fanfics just right after I actually started having some friendly acquaintances on it.
Not the first time, and... honestly, how exactly the admin misread the 'I'm going to keep out of controversial channels and try to not speak too much' into 'I'm not going to change at all and I'll keep doing the same things' is beyond me. Even if it's not the first time in my life, so I guess it's a problem with me. Still, hurt a lot. Sigh. I think something in me broke. I was already running out of passion for writing fanfics that made me (during the peak) write up to three chapters a day, now I'm writing a chapter or two a week at best and... honestly I don't know if the yesterday drama won't worsen it further. It probably will, but I'll try to at least finish the three fics that I already started publishing. Maybe I'll find that spark again. Wouldn't be the first time that happened, too. Sigh.