Thank you all for kind words. It was... quite uplifting. Especially as I had a very bad day that time :D I think we're back in business. I even found a BNHA discord server that seems to be alright with my weirdnesses so it's all good. Invite code will be under the chapter if you want to drop by as well :P
(***)
YES I KNOW THAT IT'S THURSDAY EVENING BUT I HAVE A MORNING SHIFT TOMORROW SO I'M POSTING IT SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE BECAUSE I WANT TO SLEEP LONG AND NICELY. Don't hate me for that.
Also I'm like 90% sure that there is at least a part of the world where it's Friday now, soo...
(***)
Izuku somehow managed to regain his bearings after the sudden and unexpected attack(?). Then he marched towards his own room, deciding that tomorrow will be a good time to unpack what had happened.
Except, when he finally went to his own room, changed his clothes (difficult in complete darkness, very difficult in fact) and tried to enter his bed, he suddenly discovered that he wasn't alone.
"Ribbit." He heard from his own quilt. Oh, of course. Her ribbit was clear, so he didn't wake her up. She was probably waiting for him to go back. Nightmares are scary stuff. He is an expert on that.
"Oh, uhm, hi." Izuku is a bit startled by this discovery. Or, more like, still shaken by what Uraraka did. "Could you move a bit? I think you are taking a bit too much space." He says after trying to enter the bed, only to immediately encounter her leg.
"Ribbit." He hears her agreement. Then some shuffling in the bed. Finally, a space is made for him. "Comfy. Warm. Smells of you."
Well, the last bit would be slightly disturbing if she didn't have a superhuman sense of smell. Not dog-level, but still ahead of humans as a species. Then it makes perfect sense. It probably makes her feel less lonely, too.
Damn, stop with the feelings, Izuku. Not the right time.
When he gets under the quilt, she immediately clings to him. Judging from the exact feeling he gets, she isn't wearing her onesie. So Izuku has a naked girl in his bed, who just happens to be his girlfriend. Ugh.
Slightly awkward. Especially with his emotions being this messed up. At least he really isn't in a mood for doing anything.
Well. Kayama told her that sleeping with a boy that isn't her boyfriend naked is bad. He is now her boyfriend. So, naturally, clothes are out. If anything, her wearing something outside of bed is rather surprising. Is it because he said that she looks cute in it?
He needs someone normal in his life. Someone to actually help him navigate the complicated meanders of the river that is his love life. Unfortunately, no one's there to help him.
And even if someone was there, Izuku would be way too shy to share details. He can barely say certain words in his mind.
"How was it, ribbit?" Tsuyu asks. Of course, she is worried about Uraraka. Especially as she is now going to sleep in her room, alone. Tsuyu's fear of solitude is probably worse than the fears of all other members of the Network combined.
"I… don't know, really." He replies honestly. "She was a bit confusing."
"Tell me. Ribbit." Tsuyu is relentless in her pursuit of the general happiness of people that she considers her friends. She could write a doctorate on pain and rejection based on her own life story, and she would rather die than have someone else go through something similar.
He is lying on his back. She is right next to him, her right hand and right leg practically on him. Her head is resting beneath his chin. Occasionally he can feel Tsuyu rub her head into him, as if all the physical contact between them wasn't enough. He absentmindedly pets her head with his right hand.
She listens. She says nothing, just lets him talk. He unloads everything on her. The entire story of their brief excursion to visit Eri. He freely speaks of what he felt. All the confusion, all the worry. He has no secrets before her, especially not when emotions are involved.
Eventually, the tale ends.
"I think she is in pain, ribbit." Tsuyu says. Well, it's rather obvious. Even Izuku realized that much.
"I know." Izuku replies. "Rejection like that is hurtful." Not like he ever got to feel that first hand. He has never confessed to anyone. He knew the answer beforehand, so there was no need to burden himself with ridicule and pain. His relationships just sorta happened.
"Ribbit." Tsuyu announces her clear disagreement with him.
"It's not that?" Izuku asks back in confusion. "I mean…"
"She was in pain ever since she moved in, ribbit." Tsuyu says. "Earlier too, I think. She says nothing, but she feels more hurt than Mina."
Oh. That was… an unexpected assessment. And something that Izuku has certainly overlooked. If, of course, Tsuyu was right. Then again, her empathy was probably among her strongest points.
"You think so?" He asks. She confirms it with a ribbit. Then, suddenly, a realization strikes him.
Why did she end up in that forest? She talked a lot about her past, about her parents, their company, and so on. But there was a hole. A fragment of the chronology that she never addressed. Her parents' death and the entire period lasting until Izuku found her in that forest were absent.
What happened? Why wasn't she saying anything?
"Do you think…" Izuku decides to ask the only person close to him he trusted enough when feelings were involved. "... that I should ask the principal and counselor Inui to take a look at that?"
"Ribbit." She replies. Well, if you have an advisor that you trust, following their suggestion is the only logical thing to do.
(***)
Uraraka seems content to ignore what happened last evening. She is back to her cheerful self once morning comes. But she seems to keep a distance from Izuku, one that wasn't there before. He also isn't sure if the smile is reaching her eyes.
Once again, Izuku has to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, being a part of the war does that to people. This time, however, Hijack will follow him. In his new hero uniform.
In all honesty, it's pretty much a badass longcoat (well, trench coat technically) except made from materials that make it knife-proof and to a reasonable degree fire-proof. Plus, naturally, it'll probably stop a pistol bullet unless it's fired point blank.
It makes him look like some noir film private detective, in Izuku's opinion. The only exception is the full helmet with all the communication equipment. The front plate is actually smooth, with well-concealed cameras whose feed is displayed to the wearer in real-time. It's actually a bit intimidating.
He was also going to eventually receive a gun. For self-defense. Sure, he was a sidekick, but you never knew when you ran into some nasties. For now, Kan-sensei still didn't clear him for that. The last thing the Network wanted was a hero who couldn't be trusted with a gun carrying one around.
Sidekick's outfits are, apparently, easier and less time-consuming to construct. So the assembly of this didn't delay the construction of the next superhero outfit, namely the one of Pinky.
Izuku bids goodbye to his friends (at least he will be there for Momo's arrival tomorrow) and goes somewhere else with Principal and Hijack. This time, their target is in the Musutafu Prefecture.
When Hijack isn't there to listen, he speaks about his worries concerning Uraraka. The principal promises to inform counselor Inui and do some investigation of his own. He also admits that the counselor has already mentioned a few worrying things about her behavior. Nothing particularly bad, but if what Tsuyu said was right, she might have been hiding a lot more.
Izuku feels bad about doing this behind Uraraka's back, but… it's for her own good. If Tsuyu's hunch is correct, she's been constantly lying to Inui for several sessions in a row. That's worrying Izuku a lot.
Today's excursion might as well be the most troublesome one.
(***)
They are almost to their destination when they receive the message from Singularity. Shuzenji confirmed her full recovery. She was now cleared to return to combat service. And her arm was no longer in a cast.
As one can expect, Doctor Shuzenji immediately inquired about the possibility of Rewind being gently steered towards a career in healthcare. In all honesty, this was no surprise to anyone involved.
"I don't think that there is a medical school that accepts six years old." Izuku commented. For once, they were driving somewhere instead of flying. Hijack is busy playing with his phone in the background.
"I don't think there are many six-years old that can heal old age with a touch." Principal replied. Well, he had a point. Although she was still a few years too early for such a school.
(***)
They have all the documents prepared. Aizawa visited the parents of their new potential recruit (seventeen years and six months old, still technically not an adult) and had a long talk about their son.
It had to be an odd talk. Aizawa ended up having to explain to them that there are cases of people developing strange abilities, and that their son might be a case. Which would make him entirely sane. And that some additional tests are required, ones that only the UA can provide.
The talk would be extremely awkward if not for the fact that the soon-to-be student thought that he was insane as well. Enough to actually want to be locked-up. So they didn't lock their sane child in a mental hospital.
Aizawa obtained their written permission to move him elsewhere beforehand. Which should make things much easier.
(***)
If Izuku was to describe his first meeting with 'professional mental care' in Musutafu (if you excluded meetings with Counselor Inui who, while a professional psychologist and psychiatrist, was technically only a part of a school staff) with a single word, it would be 'fishy'.
It was rather obvious that the head of the hospital didn't want to let go of the person they came for. The director was acting as if he was trying to buy time, made several rushed phone calls they weren't in a position to overhear, and tried to use every legal gimmick to prolong the process.
Unfortunately, he was facing Principal Sasaki. Even more unfortunately, Mirai Sasaki at some point decided that he has enough of this game and has phoned Masashi Yaoyorozu for some quick legal advice.
The fight was over at this point. The director practically shrunk in his seat as he received a phone call from one of the most valued law firms in Japan. With a lawyer that was very interested in why exactly he is refusing to let out someone who was admitted to his hospital on their own will and wanted to be transferred elsewhere, with one of the best psychologists in the country (namely, Ryo Inui) wanting to personally take care of him.
There was no good answer to that question. Director finally surrendered. As he left the office to make preparations, Hijack spoke.
"Look, I don't want to be seen as a complaining ass or anything." Shinsou says. "But am I the only who finds that kinda fucking sus?"
Hijack is suicidal (or brave) enough to use a curse word while speaking to Principal Sasaki. Izuku himself mostly agrees with this assessment, although not exactly with the wording. Mirai Sasaki is rather scary and seems to be against swearing in general.
His reaction to seeing Dabi's Prominence Burn proved he can swear. It's just that he does that only in the most extreme of circumstances. This makes his every swear word count. Makes them incredibly valuable.
Principal Sasaki's approach to swearing among his students, in the meantime…
"Language, Hijack." He replies, not even looking at Shinsou. "There is absolutely no need to use such words in public." The fact that he casually points this out to a superhero (well, sidekick, but a superhero according to the terminology of the entire world) doesn't miss anyone's attention. "However, your observation is correct."
"Didn't he, like, almost kill several orderlies?" Hijack ignores the part about swearing. Unless his remotely atrocious grammar was a form of retaliation. "I thought they would beg us to take him away."
"Maybe the good director realized he has something unique in his hands." Izuku points out. "Something that isn't a mental disorder. And has decided to cash on that, eventually." Becoming a discoverer of something unique carried certain benefits, especially in the academic world.
"Hmm, maybe." Shinsou sounds unconvinced. "Or maybe he just thinks that me and you are sus for being masked during a meeting like this one. I mean, I certainly don't look like the normal guests they have here. Probably more like one of their patients."
That was an option as well. Principal Sasaki doesn't offer his opinion on the issue.
(***)
The director quickly arranged for the release of their priority patient (there was no other way, he wasn't putting his head on the chopping block over that) before pulling his phone out of the pocket.
He didn't have that number saved in his phone's memory. But he remembered it himself. It was… easier that way. Safer.
After a few signals, someone picks it up.
"Akihiko, my dear, how nice of you to call me." The voice on the other end says. "What happened?"
"Someone just took the patient you wanted out of my care." The director replies. "I couldn't do anything."
"I see." The voice went quiet for a moment. Akihiko Asai once truly enjoyed working with that man. For a while now… there was something wrong with him. He couldn't quite pinpoint it, but… Well, that's if you excluded the unexpected blackmail in order to ensure Asai's total compliance. That he could pinpoint very well. "Who was it?"
"Mirai Sasaki." Director replies. "With the support of Yaoyorozu's legal brigade. Accompanied by two odd clothed people that stayed silent the whole time."
"Could you describe them to me?"
He does as ordered. Their outfits were… most peculiar. But Sasaki promptly deflected the talk whenever Akihiko tried to ask.
"Oh dear." There is a long pause once the description ends. "Defiant has just stolen one of my most prized possessions. How incredibly… unpleasant."
Defiant? Who the hell is that? Or what?
"Well, I guess I'll need to put some back into this." His co-worker turned blackmailer says. "You've done well, Akihiko. Cooperate with them. Once they leave, return to standard operations. If you notice cases of patients displaying weird abilities, inform me immediately. Understood?"
"Yes, doctor Garaki." Akihiko replies as quickly as he can. Kyudai says nothing more and thus the call ends.
The director sighs with relief. He was spared. For how long, well, that probably depended on how compliant he was. Considering what sort of dirt Garaki had on him, he planned to be extremely compliant.
(***)
The patient is loaded into an ambulance by two orderlies. They appear to be extremely relieved when Principal Sasaki tells them they can leave it at that.
Instead of qualified orderlies, the patient is going to make the trip to the UA with Hijack and Defiant. If what they know about the quirk in question (it's mostly second-hand knowledge, really) was correct, they expected trouble on the road.
The fact that everyone was too terrified to point out how taking a potentially dangerous patient from a dedicated mental asylum was a potentially bad idea for a school said a lot about the school in question. Or at least its principal.
(***)
The day started strangely.
He was to be transported. To the UA, of all places. His parents agreed to that. Though he wasn't sure why. No one was telling him anything.
"I don't get why you are letting yourself get imprisoned like this." This tormentor of a split personality (he didn't think it was split personality anymore, not after what happened) announces. No one can hear it except for its unfortunate victim. "Just break free. Or, even better, just let me break us free."
"Can it." He thinks back. He tried to ignore it for as long as he sincerely thought that it was just a mental disease. But no mental disease almost kills several people while its sufferer is forced to watch.
It was also a massive dickhead. Like, seriously. It could have just SHOWED ITSELF A BIT GODDAMN EARLIER. But no. Apparently whispering inside someone's head and making himself - and everyone around him - think that he is insane is a cool thing to do. Until it had a Really Bad Day and started wounding people who were just doing their job.
"In my defense, you called me 'a mental disease', 'schizophrenia' and 'my own delusions.'" His absolute goddamn tormentor completely ignores his attempt to THINK TO HIMSELF and announces loudly. "That's not exactly a welcoming environment, nor a ground for common cooperation, Fumi!"
"IT'S FUMIKAGE FOR YOU!"
"NO!"
"SHUT UP!"
"NO YOU!"
(***)
"You know…" Shinsou suddenly says. Through a commlink, the only ones who hear it are himself and Izuku. "... I get the feeling that we're missing something incredibly entertaining."
Izuku sighs. Several people almost died when Fumikage Tokoyami's shadow went on a rampage, now the teenager in front of them is having some intensive internal debate (at least judging from the shifting look on his face), and Shinsou is finding this funny.
"Did someone ever tell you that you have a crooked sense of humor?" Izuku says, his voice flat and emotionless. "Like, seriously? Todoroki is at least funny in what he does."
"Well, just consider me an Ironic Big Brain Todoroki and leave it at that." Shinsou replies. "Besides, Himiko likes my sense of humor."
Izuku sighs again. Shinsou is being himself and that hurts.
"Himiko would have said yes even if you asked her if you count as a good-looking person." Izuku says. "She is not an authority on anything concerning you, Shinso."
"Well, that's just… wait, did you just suggest that I'm NOT good-looking?" Shinsou seems to have taken offense. Good. That was, at least partially, the point.
"First of all, when was the last time you looked into a mirror?" Izuku replies dryly. "Second of all, yes. Now quiet down. I think it's happening."
(***)
"ALRIGHT, SCREW THAT FUMI!" Shadow announces directly into his mind. "We're not staying here. Besides look! It's dark outside, and it's making it dark inside and it's making me DARK."
Oh god, not this again. It acted like that before it tore out his room's door, dragged Fumikage outside and started beating random people around. Due to apparently being too bored with the isolation.
"Shadow, do anything and I swear to god I'm going to try exorcisms." Fumikage replies angrily in his mind.
"They won't work on me, Fumi!" Shadow appears to be amused by it. "I'm just a part of you, 'ya know? You can't exorcize your love for DnD, and you can't exorcize me! Also, if anything, you should start from trying to get rid of your slightly obsessive love for dark clothes. It just made you look like an emo."
"Yes, but are you sure that you won't be affected if I truly believe that they can get rid of you?" Fumikage decides to be smart about it. "Autosuggestion and all that."
"Well, there is only one way to find out!" Shadow says. "WEEEEEEE!"
"SHADOW, STO…"
(***)
Izuku almost missed the moment Tokoyami's quirk sprung to life. They (on purpose) lowered the lighting level within the ambulance, hoping to provoke that reaction. It's truly the easiest way of making sure that they are truly facing a meta-ability. And not a very odd mental disorder that fooled everyone.
Certain evidence they gathered suggested that it was a thinking meta-ability. A sapient quirk, a concept truly alien, even among everything they saw thus far. And it seemed to be disinterested in openly showing up, unless for certain circumstances.
Now, however, Tokoyami's shadow suddenly vanished, as if pulled back into the body. An act that, of course, was going to freak out Mei as one more violation of common sense and scientific knowledge. This time about the way light worked.
Tokoyami clearly freaked out as well, except right now. He opened his mouth to say something (probably shout out a warning), but that's when something black bursted out from under his shirt.
Something black and with a lot of sharp edges. And it lunged towards Defiant and Hijack.
It was all according to plan. The only real question was whether Tokoyami's shadow is solid enough to be influenced by Force. Considering the fact that it could throw people around and cause rather nasty cuts, the answer seemed to be yes.
Shadow was the one most surprised when its charge was interrupted by an invisible wall.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" The voice was rather… odd. Distorted. Really freaky, although after getting used to Tsuyu's looks, Izuku had a really large level of oddity tolerance. "What is this even?!"
Tokoyami froze and was busy gazing at them, his mouth open.
"I won 1000 yen." Hijack announces. "I told you it would come out during the first hour." He says that aloud. So Tokoyami and his Shadow hear him clearly.
"You did, yeah." Defiant replies. He is only a bit bitter about losing the bet. Ugh. Shinsou is going to be mentioning this victory on every occasion for at least a week. Great Quirk Expert that loses a quirk-related bet to poor little Hijack. "Now do your magic."
Shadow was repeatedly smashing into the telekinetic wall with quite a lot of strength. Clearly increasingly angry and confused at the same time. Tokoyami, in the meantime, looked only confused. It really wasn't what he expected to happen.
"So, you're the mysterious Shadow, huh." Hijack says loudly. "I thought you'd be bigger."
"What's your problem you ass…" The Shadow tries to reply, only to halt its attack and freeze.
"Return to your inert state and stay in it until we arrive." Hijack says, and Shadow obediently goes back into Tokoyami.
"Wh… what?" Tokoyami finally asks a question.
"You're not the only one with a special power." Defiant replies. "It's just that you're the only one whose power talks. And is an ass."
Tokoyami, for a few seconds, looks remarkably similar to Principal Sasaki when he is ruminating about something. There is a lot of gear-turning on the inside of his head. Plus, he is probably trying to check if his quirk is answering him in his mind.
"Oh." He eventually settles on just being surprised by the whole development. "Well, it's… great? I mean, I thought it would attack you." He scratches his chin. "Uhm, who are you guys, actually?" Someone probably realizes that they might be en route to a secret government research facility.
"Superheroes." Defiant replies. "Having superpowers, fighting the bad guys…"
"... getting into love triangles, one involving at least one girl that's kinda a frog." Shinsou decides to be an ass. "And certainly not a princess."
"Well, I'm at least not mind controlling anyone as a part of the bedroom r… roleplay." Izuku almost says it without getting startled. And he still cannot use the words he initially thought of. "Also, Tsuyu is a human, and probably more than you."
"Ouch." Shinsou states dryly. Tokoyami seems to grow more and more confused.
"Look, the point is, we know you are not insane." Izuku focuses on someone actually worth being focused on. "In fact, we believe we know how to make Shadow cooperate."
"Oh, really?" Tokoyami blinks at him a few times. "Like what, some sort of mental exercises for greater willpower or…"
"Blackmail." Hijack deadpans. "We know of a guy who deactivates meta-abilities by looking at you. Since Shadow is a sapient being, I don't think that it will enjoy getting temporarily deactivated."
There is silence in the ambulance. Finally, Tokoyami says.
"I think that's even better."
Looks like his Shadow really is a major dick.
(***)
Kyudai Garaki... Now that's a name no one expected to hear anytime soon, eh? Let's just say that a lot of things is going to happen first, but I'm currently writing the arc where this particularly cameo is no longer a cameo and it's probably the wildest and most plottwisty arc I have ever written. Strong 'Nothing Will Remain the Same After This' vibes. Also we finally got our favourite Edgy Boy and that's a major :D moment.
You have absolutely no idea what sort of glorious future is awaiting him.
I'D ALSO LIKE TO ANNOUNCE TWO THINGS.
THING NUMBER ONE: I HAVE DONE A ONE-SHOT. FEEL FREE TO GIVE IT A READ. /works/37871560
THING NUMBER TWO: I have found a BNHA discord server that isn't making me feel like I'm on the verge of being banned due to being unawarily rude to people. Not very big, and a big chaotic at times, but I got a channel for my works and that's nice. So if you want to discover that your favourite author is lowkey a di... I mean, learned his human interaction skills from the characters from the If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device series, feel free to drop by. Invite code is gbfkJFc9GK
Actually f_k math, THING THREE: THERE ARE TWO MORE FICS IN THE SERIES, CURE TO EVIL IS SUPER COOL AND TIES THAT BIND IS IMO EVEN BETTER SO GIVE THOSE A READ, K? I know you probably did already, but I just want to remind you of that.