A/N:

this chapter COULD and SHOULD be longer

but I wanted to post something today, so screw you y'all get this chapter today

Chapter 12: the crushening: day two

Steven watched with a critical eye as class 1-A went against each other in an activity that combined rescue with combat and tied it all up neatly into a competition.

He hummed and docked a point off from Team A as he watched Bakugou nearly crush one of the dummy's arms. Not the worst mistake made so far, but it could have been done better.

Jumping halfway across the field, he observed a battle between two members from both teams as they struggled to protect their own rescued dummies. Kaminari stayed back and made use of ranged attacks while Sero used his superior mobility to get in close on Sato and Aoyama.

As he watched, he frowned at the way Kaminari was using his quirk. While he was, admittedly, effective at making and controlling space, he seemed to have little control over the direction of his attacks. Now, Steven didn't want to say that he knew the students' quirks more than the users themselves, but every time electricity arced within a few feet of the dummies he winced.

So far, the battle was going pretty evenly with no one side having a visible advantage, but then the tide suddenly changed. Aoyama hit a lucky laser on Sero's shoulder, knocking him back and disabling that arm for the moment. With his quirk reduced to fifty percent effectiveness, it didn't take long at all for Sato to snatch a strand of tape and wrap Sero up in his own quirk, putting him out of the fight.

"Sero has been taken out," Steven spoke into his mouthpiece, then turned it back off. With Sero out of the way and the other two approaching his teammate, Steven went over to free and heal the boy.

Steven planted a kiss on the boy's injured shoulder, and Sero sighed in relief as the pain he was in dissipated within an instant.

"Thanks, Steven," he stood and rubbed the area. "Sucks to be out like that, though."

"You did pretty good," Steven assured. "The way you fought almost reminds me of the Man-Spider comics." As Sero mouthed 'Man-Spider' to himself in confusion, he turned to watch how Kaminari would react. He had a feeling that he would be the next one out of the game, however.

Kaminari, backed into a literal and metaphorical corner, yelled out his next attack.

"Indiscriminate Shock: One Million Volts!"

Pure electricity washed over the area, and Steven summoned a shield to protect himself along with Sero. He saw Aoyama fall unconscious at the torrent of lightning, and while Sato attempted to resist he too fell to the ground after a few seconds.

Steven tsk-ed. There was no way that attack didn't hit both team's dummies, and would certainly result in a considerable loss of points. The tech within them would quantify the damage at the end of the game, but he decided to talk to Kaminari once the exercise finished or he was out.

At least, that was the plan, until he saw the way Kaminari swayed and nearly fell over. That definitely was not what was supposed to happen.

"Kaminari!" he yelled out in panic. Dropping the shield, he gave the other two fallen students a quick once-over and a healing kiss before running over to the stumbling boy.

"Kaminari, are you okay?" Steven asked, but he wasn't prepared for the response he got.

"Weeeeee," Kaminari groaned out with a giggle at the end. Steven, caught off guard, just stared in confusion.

Sero walked up with an answer. "That's how his quirk works," he said regretfully. "Too much electricity at once fries his brain for a while."

"This happens regularly?" Steven nearly screeched, already picking up the giggling Kaminari in a bridal carry. He grimaced at the idea that Kaminari would fry his brain on a regular basis just to use his quirk. "Come with me."

He announced the removal of the three students from the exercise, quickly walking over to the outskirts of the fake city and placing the boy on a bench. Sero sat next to them, a pained expression on his face.

"Most of my classmates just think it's funny," he admitted, "and at first it was. But I'm worried that with how much this happens it'll start affecting him really badly."

Steven nodded. "Thank you for being here for him. Let's see if this is something I can heal." Ignoring the low 'weee's, he placed one hand on the student's and one behind his head to steady his erratic movements. Leaning the boy's head forward, Steven gave him a smooch on the forehead, making sure to stay there for as much time until he recovered.

His first clue was when Kaminari stilled underneath him, though Steven stayed where he was for another moment to ensure maximum healing. Finally, he pulled away to see a frozen Kaminari, mouth gaping and face extremely red.

"Kaminari?" he asked. "Are you okay?" Steven was about to lose hope in his ability to heal the boy's mental backlash from his quirk until he finally managed to get a word out.

"W-what?" Kaminari squeaked, and Steven slumped in relief.

"I just healed you," he said. "You used your quirk and fried your brain." He frowned. "Really, you shouldn't have done that. Sero said that you do this a lot, and I'm seriously worried that you could be permanently hurting yourself."

"B-b-but that's how I use my quirk!" Kaminari said. His face was still as red as a fire hydrant, but it seemed he otherwise mostly recovered his mental faculties. "It just works like that!"

Steven shook his head. "I'm sure there's a better way to avoid hurting yourself. You were mostly doing ranged attacks during that fight. Have you ever tried getting up close?"

"Like martial arts? I don't think my quirk helps with that."

"Really? I don't think so. Have you ever tried to use your quirk at a low power to keep it close to your body and enhance your hits with it?"

"I…" Kaminari's eyes widened. "Oh."

"Like a taser," Sero supplied, and Steven nodded.

"Exactly. You're out of the exercise now, and I want you to rest after being healed. Next class, let's try using your quirk like that."

"I'm not very good at fighting," he admitted, ducking his head.

Steven smiled. "Don't worry! I can help, and I'm sure Aizawa-sensei would want to help you too."

"Y-yeah." Kaminari's gaze never moved away from him as Steven jumped off to make sure Aoyama and Sato were okay.

(Behind him, Sero sent a knowing look at his friend, and Kaminari scowled as his blush deepened. Oh, there certainly wouldn't be any shortage of teasing.)

"Steven-senpai!"

Steven blinked. Really, how hard was it to just use his first name?

Although, he really shouldn't judge. This was just how the language and culture was, he supposed.

Anyway, he turned to see both Iida and Yaoyorozu standing behind him, with an odd determination written on their faces.

"Hey, Iida-san. Yaoyorozu-san. What can I do for you?"

Yaoyorozu cleared her throat. "It has come to our attention that, perhaps, your education is lacking in certain respects."

"Yeah, I guess." Truthfully, Steven didn't mind not being the smartest. So what if he didn't know much about math or science? He was an avid reader, and he still hadn't come across a situation where math would have helped (counting money notwithstanding). "What about it?"

The two students made eye contact and nodded. Iida straightened and said, "We come to you with a proposition. As a ward of U.A. and assistant to Aizawa-sensei, we believe that you should be brought up to this institution's standards! As class president," he placed a hand on his chest, "I believe— no, I know that it is my duty to offer you assistance in correcting this gap in your education."

"We've already formulated a syllabus and schedule that is relatively lightweight," Yaoyorozu jumped in, "and is fairly flexible. I've tutored most of my classmates in every subject, and I do not believe it would be remiss to say that my experience and knowledge will be more than enough to bring you up to speed."

Steven looked from one student to the other. "Wow. You guys really put a lot of thought into this."

(Both students silently agreed not to mention that they came up with the idea ten minutes ago.)

"Uh…" he continued, "Sure? I guess?" He shrugged. "I can just back out if I want to stop, right?"

"Of course!" Iida chopped his arms up and down. "All of this is clearly voluntary! I would never dream of coercing you into something you would not want to do!"

Steven looked at how earnest the two were, and couldn't help but give in. What was the harm, right?

Yaoyorozu moaned from where her head was laying on the desk. Steven silently agreed, face buried in a pillow that covered up his frustration.

Iida paced, unwilling to give up. "This is fixable!" he exclaimed. "We shall rework our schedule and ensure that we spend extra time on every topic."

"It's pointless, Iida," Steven said, voice muffled by his pillow. "Really, it's fine. I'm not that smart."

"Nonsense!" he rebuked. "Academic excellence is not indicative of your true intelligence. Your position as an assistant to our teacher is proof of that! Yaomomo, if I could—"

He grabbed a notebook from the desk and flipped through it, eventually finding a page and beginning to scribble on it.

"Alright," Iida began. "I'd like to start from the beginning, as it seems Yaomomo and I may have made some incorrect assumptions."

"Clearly," Steven lifted his head and snorted. "I'm telling you, my understanding of math is, like, nonexistent. I might be able to add two numbers together. Might."

"I don't understand," Yaoyorozu groaned from her defeated position. "How could your education have lapsed so much? Did no one seek to enroll you in a school? Did your caretakers even take it upon themselves to provide you with some measure of an education?"

"They did, but…" Steven thought about what the Crystal Gems considered education. "…I had more important things to worry about than math."

"I suppose." She didn't sound happy, but accepted it as an answer. Finally, she lifted her head off the desk and composed herself. "Then, this is more proof than ever that we must take charge of your learning. It's nearly criminal, the way your education was neglected, and we must seek to recover from that deficit."

Steven was wrong. There was much harm to be found in being tutored. So much harm. The two students' efforts redoubled, they managed to get him to sit through an hour of math before they were forced to give up for the day. His vision was swimming with numbers, symbols, and words he barely understood.

Despite the early stop, Iida was optimistic. "We made good progress today, Steven." Oh thank the stars, he'd finally dropped the honorific. "I believe that with this start, we should have a much firmer foundation for our next session.

"Right," Steven grimaced. "Next session." He shook his head, dispelling his mathematical hallucinations. Even though he kind of hated that, he recognized the merit behind this sort of thing. It was the responsible thing to do, to try and become smarter. Besides, Yaoyorozu and Iida were very nice and understanding about his whole situation. And the thing was, they were really good at this. In fact…

"Say, you guys seem to be really experienced with this whole," he waved his arms around, "tutoring thing."

"I'm glad you think so!" Iida shot up. "Yaomomo and I have organized many tutoring sessions for our classmates."

"Not just us," Yaoyorozu corrected gently.

"Of course, how could I forget?" He slapped his hand against his forehead with as much vigor as he did everything else. "On occasion, Izuku and Tsu have been known to assist us. Izuku is likely the most well-versed of all of us in Hero Law, and Tsu's experience with her siblings has made her a patient and effective teacher."

"Oh, right!" Steven ignored the mention of Midoriya— he wasn't sure what to do about him yet, and therefore put him out of mind. "She mentioned that last week. What about you guys?" he asked.

"Well, I don't have any siblings, if that's what you're asking," Yaoyorozu giggled. "Actually, the first time I ever tutored a peer was in preparation for our final exams a few months ago. Some of our classmates were expressing their anxiety about them, and I offered to help them, and then more people jumped on, and, well…" She blushed. "Before too long, I had essentially agreed to tutor everyone in the class, and it wasn't until that evening that I remembered I had no idea how to do so."

Steven chuckled at that, and she joined in. "Yes, it was a bit foolish, but apparently my teaching was satisfactory."

"I can confirm, I've never had a better teacher. Literally. What about you, Iida?"

The boy jolted when he was mentioned. "Oh! Ah, yes, I do indeed have an older brother." His eyes shone. "Tensei is fifteen years older than I am, and it was thanks to him that I even pursued the path of a hero. He i— was the greatest hero I ever knew, and he is an inspiration to me in every way."

Steven didn't miss the way Iida stumbled over his words there, and chewed on his lip for a second as he mulled over what to say. "He sounds pretty cool, but… did he stop being a hero? Or…"

His eyes darkened. "Tensei was injured in a battle against a dastardly villain known as the Hero Killer— thankfully, he is now in prison, but Tensei lost the use of his legs. Permanently." He sighed. "After it became clear that there were no ways to treat the paralysis, he retired. I intend to take up his mantle upon graduation, and become a hero in his name."

Steven was about to apologize and express his remorse for what happened, but an idea popped into his mind and he had to pause. He hesitated, but ultimately asked, "Are you sure?"

"Sure of what?"

"Have you… y'know, have you tried every option? Because, if you want, I could try—"

Iida stopped him there. "I appreciate the offer, Steven, but if Recovery Girl was unable to do anything…" He shuddered. "…I do not expect you would be able to provide any help."

"No, see, that's the thing," he shook his head. "My healing, it's— it's super strong. I haven't had to heal any really serious injuries here, at least not yet, but trust me when I say that it can handle almost anything."

Although, he really hasn't used it much on other humans, now that he thought about it. His dad's broken arm came to mind, and of course the way he fixed Connie's eyesight was impressive, but every serious injury his spit had healed was a cracked or shattered Gem.

Maybe, then, he shouldn't have had the confidence he did, but he was resolute. To write off a chance without even making an attempt was like admitting defeat before trying, and Steven was not one to give up hope.

He could see the hope in Iida's eyes, but he could also see the way it was held back. Yes, Steven could tell that it must have hurt to see his brother crippled so, and a false hope that resulted in nothing could break the fragile peace he'd made with the situation.

Yaoyorozu stood from the desk chair, and she placed a hand on the troubled boy's shoulder. "Isn't it worth trying, Iida? Even if he can't fully heal the damage, he might be able to relieve some of your brother's pain."

Iida mulled it over for a moment. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense," he eventually nodded. "Thank you, Yaomomo. I'll… I'll speak to Aizawa-sensei tomorrow morning, see if we can set up a day and time."

"Of course," she smiled. "I wouldn't give up hope just yet."

Steven smiled as Iida looked over to him. "I'll do my best!"

Iida nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Steven. I appreciate it."

End Notes:

guess who's getting a crush on steven?

that's right!

everyone! (but katsuki lol)

none of them will lead anywhere or have plot relevance (obviously) but i think it's too funny not to include :)

also: the eternal struggle of momojirou vs. kamijirou (the solution? momokamijirou?

i like to think i'm funny (i'm not)