A/N:

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I WROTE A CHAPTER

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extra long chapter because I love you all :)

Chapter 14: wholesome bonding time

As he sat down on the train seat, Shouta took a sip of coffee—the good, expensive kind that the Iidas kept in stock. Not to say that the coffee Nedzu had in the staff rooms was bad, but Nedzu was a tea drinker. That was all that needed to be said.

Regardless, he drank from his thermos and let out an imperceptible sigh as the warmth of the drink spread throughout his body—yes, he put cream and sugar in his coffee. He wasn't a barbarian. Whether or not he did anything to dispel the rumors he drank his coffee black was an entirely different story.

He raised a hand and rubbed at his eyes, debating whether he needed to take out his eye drops when it occurred to him that he hadn't used them in over a day.

No, that didn't sound right. He definitely used his quirk in class today, and he always needed a top up after any sort of training, but he didn't need it. His eyes felt better than they had in years.

Fuck, did Universe heal my eyes?

That explanation made the most sense, but when did…

Right. Yesterday. When he got punched with the force of a bullet train and subsequently fully healed.

He hasn't really grasped the meaning of fully healed until right now.

Huh. Funny how that worked.

"Thank you, Sensei!" Iida said as Aizawa left the two of them outside the dorms.

"Yeah, thanks for taking us!" Steven echoed.

Aizawa didn't respond, but Steven thought he saw the hint of a smile pushing its way onto his emotionless face.

Just as he was about to push open the doors, Iida grabbed his arm. "Before we enter," he said, "I would like to make it known once again how grateful I am."

Steven smiled sheepishly. "Hey, don't mention it."

Iida shook his head. "I'm sorry, Steven, but I cannot forget this. I've spent the past five months mourning for my brother, and his healing has happened so quickly that I imagine I'll be thanking you for weeks. I've made some… rash decisions, in my grief, and to learn so thoroughly that it was all for naught is deeply unsettling."

Looking over the taller boy, Steven took a second before stepping up and giving him a hug. "I get it. I've done some crappy things without thinking too, but it's okay. You'll work through it, and you have friends who'll be by your side."

Releasing him, Steven stepped back and took notice of his companion's slightly misty eyes. "It'll be alright, Iida."

Iida nodded, wiping his sleeve across his face to dry his unshed tears.

"I hope so."

Just as he was about to open the door himself, he turned and said, "And please, Steven—call me Tenya."

Steven smiled at Iida—no, Tenya—and opened the door.

"Hey guys!" Kaminari yelled at them from the TV where he was watching a movie with a few others.

"Tenya, Steven," Todoroki greeted from the couch, next to Uraraka—who waved enthusiastically—and Midoriya—who only squinted. "Where were you?"

Tenya coughed into his fist. "Nowhere, really. Just… visiting my brother?"

Todoroki's gaze slid to Steven. "Then why was Steven with you?"

"Oh, uh…"

"And where are your glasses?" he asked, joining Midoriya in squinting. Uraraka just looked confused.

"Well, that's," Tenya mumbled, fumbling with his words. "That is to say…"

Steven took over, feeling bad for his friend. "What Tenya meant to say was that he took me to see his brother to see if I could heal him."

Uraraka sat up. "Really?" she marveled. "Did it work?"

He lightly elbowed Tenya, who had been looking down at the floor in embarrassment. "Well, yes," he mumbled. "Tensei has regained the use of his legs."

Uraraka squealed, launching herself over the side of the couch to give him a hug. Even Izuku, Steven noticed, couldn't help from gasping.

"That's amazing, Tenya! I'm so happy for you!" She spun him around as he sputtered, the onlookers chuckling at their antics.

"And my glasses," Tenya added once he was set down, "are no longer necessary, as my eyesight has been healed."

Uraraka discreetly pouted in Steven's direction (an unfortunate sacrifice, he knew), but she celebrated the development all the same. All of a sudden, she stopped and thought for a second.

"You know, I think we should have a party to celebrate."

Tenya flushed. "Oh, that won't be necessary—"

"That sounds like a great idea, Uraraka!" Steven interrupted, grinning widely at her.

"Please, you really do not—"

"Thank you, Steven! Come on, let's go let everybody know!"

Iida cried out in despair.

When Steven entered the kitchen, Sato was already preparing a cache of ingredients.

"Oh hey," he greeted without taking his head out of the cabinet he was digging through. "Let me just…" With a heave, he pulled the upper half of his body out of the cupboard, with a stack of cookie and cupcake trays in his hands. He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. What's up, Steven?"

Steven waved. "Sato! Remember a few days ago when you brought me cookies? And I asked if I could bake with you?"

Sato's face, if it was even possible, brightened even further, and he hummed in acknowledgement, catching what Steven was saying. "Sure! Uh… can you get out the butter? I'm making cookies and cupcakes for Iida."

Steven opened the fridge and dug out a couple of sticks of butter as Sato laid out the mixing bowls and measuring cups. "Cookies are oatmeal—because they're Iida's favorite—and then I found a new ginger snap recipe, so I wanted to try that out," he continued. "Cupcakes are just going to be vanilla, with vanilla and chocolate frosting, I think."

"I can get started on the frosting!" Steven called out. As he gathered ingredients, he talked, almost to himself. "I've been meaning to get back to baking."

"You bake?"

"I used to," he clarified. "My friend Lars introduced me to it."

"Oh, right! You mentioned him when I came around a few days back."

"Yep! I did some cooking before that—if you can call it cooking. Imagine an entire bag of sugar concentrated into a single meal, then double it." He bent over, shuffling through drawers in search of a whisk.

Sato grimaced. "I can imagine. I wouldn't complain though, considering my quirk."

"You have… uh, a strength quirk, right?" Steven popped up, whisk in hand.

"Yeah. Activates whenever I eat sugar. Makes my decision-making skills take a nosedive, but I'll take it if it means I can be a hero."

"Yeesh, that can't be nice."

He shrugged. "It's not perfect. I can be liability sometimes, but I've figured out just how much sugar I can eat before I get too stupid for hero work. It works for me."

Steven started whisking his sugar mixture, hands moving well beyond normal human limits. "I'm glad it does! This class wouldn't be the same without you."

A red tinge dusted Sato's cheeks. "Huh, that's… Thanks, Steven."

"You got it, bud." Steven set down the bowl of frosting, now whisked and nearly ready to be eaten. "Remind me to get some purple yams. I know this fantastic ube roll recipe. I could show it to you!"

"Sure, sounds fun."

Izuku knelt on the couch, his body scrunched together so that only his eyes would be visible above the back of the couch. The target of his spying? Steven, of course.

He was baking with Sato, keeping up his strategy of charming Izuku's classmates into forming genuine friendships with him. Izuku wasn't sure how this played into the as-of-yet-unconfirmed Nomu's strategy, but he observed him all the same. Perhaps by getting closer to them, Steven would be able to glean classified information and pass it along to the League of Villains? A devious plan, and exactly what he would expect a villain to do.

Aside from that, he also wondered what exactly Steven's ploy was, by healing Tensei. Was he trying to gain allies? Maybe, by providing such a service to them, he was ensuring that they were in his debt, beholden to him until he called on them? Or perhaps there was a sinister quirk at play… did his healing spit also brainwash the people that he healed?

He decided that he'd have to talk to Hitoshi about this at some point.

Oh no, a thought popped into head. Had Hitoshi already been healed? Was he a victim too?

No, better to tell no one about his suspicions—except for All Might, of course.

The two of them met eyes, and Steven paused in his conversation for a moment before deliberately looking away.

Crap. Izuku forgot that his hair was very visible, and extended well above eye level. With his operations for today prematurely ended, he shut his notebook with a soft clap.

"What are you doing?"

Izuku jumped backward, and in his surprise he rolled off the couch and landed on the floor, all the air exiting his body as he landed on his back.

Shouto looked down on him from the couch, and Izuku did his best to cover his surprise. "Uh… nothing! Just—enjoying the rug?"

Shouto just looked at him, and though to most of 1-A this would have blended in with Shouto's typical expression, Izuku was an expert in reading his faces. This one was subtle, but it was slightly condescending, as if he didn't believe the excuse—which, whatever, that was valid.

"Are you okay?" Shouto pressed on, ignoring Izuku's inner dialogue.

"I-I'm fine," Izuku wheezed, pulling himself up. "You just surprised me, I didn't notice you there."

He made the same face again. "I've been here for over an hour. Izuku, we came in together earlier with Ochako."

Izuku silently acknowledged that as a good point, but ignored it in hopes that he'd move past it.

Shouto's eyes drifted downwards, landing on the notebook Izuku had dropped when he fell off the couch. "You've been writing in that notebook quite a bit, recently."

Izuku's face didn't suddenly become pale, it didn't. Absolutely not. He sat on the notebook, hoping that Shouto would forget about it. "It's, uh…" he stammered, eyes wildly looking in every direction, searching for some sort of valid excuse. "I'm just… taking notes? Our last few math have been tough, and I need to review…?" He trailed off.

Shouto nodded contemplatively. "You're right. They have been tough." He tilted his head. "I'd be happy to assist you in studying if you need it."

He shook his head vigorously. "Oh, it's fine! Thank you for the offer, Sh-Shouto. I have it covered."

From the kitchen, Sato called out, "Desserts will be ready in a few minutes! Can someone get everyone down for movie night?"

Seizing the opportunity to escape, Izuku leapt from the couch. "I'll do it!" Before anyone could say anything, he activated his quirk and shot up the stairs.

Steven walked into the living room from the kitchen, carefully holding onto the tray of cupcakes with both hands as he avoided any potential obstacles—namely, Kaminari and Sero attempting to steal the sweet treats directly from him, instead of just being patient and waiting until Steven set the tray down on the coffee table.

He couldn't bring himself to mind too much though. It made for good practice dodging, especially when Sero started using his tape to try to steal the entire tray.

Ducking, he laughed as Kaminari soared above him, landing on the rug with an oomph after having launched himself from the back of a couch. As the student groaned, Steven commented with a smirk, "Nice shot! I'm sure you'll get it soon!"

Kaminari grumbled incoherently, and he took that to mean he was fine. Sidestepping out of the way of one of Sero's tape attacks, Steven triumphantly laid the cupcakes down on the table. Kaminari and Sero, still recovering from their latest attacks, moaned in anguish as Tokoyami instead had the honor of eating the first cupcake.

"Mm." Tokoyami chewed his bite slowly, savoring the sweet treat even as the other two looked on in jealousy from the floor. After some torturous seconds, he finally swallowed, taking another moment before speaking. "Truly, a delectable dessert. My compliments to the bakers." He licked his lips (beak?) and then offered the other half to his quirk—Dark Shadow, which Steven still found so cool. Imagine, having a friend that he could always talk to, so that he'd never be alone!

...On second thought, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, given his history with his friends...

He shoved those thoughts into the Ignore For Now™ folder inside his brain. No reason to think about that right now, after all.

"Thanks, Tokoyami!" Steven grinned at the bird-headed student, as he watched the shadowy quirk devour the cupcake in a single bite. Another thought came to him—how could Dark Shadow eat? It didn't have a stomach…

Right?

Train of thought derailed, Steven ≈sunk back into the couch, content to observe as the students of 1-A pounced at the tray of desserts. Sa—no, Rikido—he was asked to use the boy's first name—was in the kitchen, finishing up the last of the cookies, which were going to be a hit if Steven's taste test proved anything.

Someone walked up to him, and Steven turned his head to the right only to see Yaoyorozu standing there.

"Hello, Steven. Could I…?" She gestured at the space next to him, and he got her meaning and nodded enthusiastically.

As she carefully sat down, Steven angled himself so that he was facing her. "What's up, Yaoyorozu?"

"Please, you can call me Momo—or Yaomomo, if you prefer."

"Alright, Yaomomo. What's up?" he repeated the question.

She held onto her poised position for a second or two longer, then released it in a huff and fell back against the back of the couch. "Nothing, really. I'm just a bit tired, is all."

Steven nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I get that. Everything's been really busy recently, huh?"

She nodded emphatically. "Yes, especially with the work-studies. I'm beginning to struggle in finding the time to relax, not when I have to play catch-up with my schoolwork."

"Ouch," he winced. "I can imagine. Can't relate exactly, but I can definitely imagine."

"Indeed," Yaoyo—no, Yaomomo sighed. "At the very least, Fat Gum has been a wonderful mentor, and I've been using the time at work to bond with Kirishima and Amajiki-senpai. However, I did make some time for movie night today. Thank you for helping Sato with the baking today. The cupcakes are absolutely delectable."

"Ah, thank you!" Steven blushed and smiled. "But Rikido did most the work, really, I just helped out and made the frosting."

"Regardless, I appreciate it greatly," she repeated. "Now, enough about myself. How have you been doing?"

"Eh, it's been fine. I'm still thinking about earlier today, though."

"Oh, your healing of Iida's brother?"

"No—well actually, that too, but that isn't what I was talking about. I was thinking about the whole thing in the cafeteria, when—what was her name—when Kendo was forcing Monoma to apologize to me."

"Ah, yes," Yaomomo smirked mischievously. "I don't think there was a single person who missed that."

He rolled his eyes, embarrassment just barely tinting his cheeks pink. "Yeah, thanks for that," he responded sarcastically. "But… yeah. I don't know. It was just on my mind, I guess? I can understand why he acted like he did at first, and the apology seemed genuine, but…" He shrugged. "Kendo seemed nice, though."

Her eyes brightened. "She is, isn't she? I work with her often—as the class president for 1-B, we tend to collaborate on inter-class activities."

"I guess you'll have to introduce me to her sometime, then!" Steven grinned.

"Yes, I suppose I shall," she smiled at him gratefully. Already he noticed that she seemed more relaxed than she had a first, and he was glad that she felt she could come to him when felt stressed.

Which, on second thought, reminded him (if only tangentially) of the events that led to his powers growing out of control.

No, bad brain, Steven chastised himself. This wasn't anything like that. He wasn't forcing himself to help anybody, he was just enjoying a nice conversation with one of the students.

Nothing like before.

He shook his head, pulling himself back into the real world. Yaomomo was now participating in a lively discussion involving herself, Jirou, Kaminari, Sero, and a few others about what movie they wanted to watch. Half of them were seated on the floor or on the back of the sofa, Kaminari being the most egregious in that he was quite literally draped over the back, head hanging upside-down in between Jirou and Sero. Sato was seated on the floor in front of them, clearly taking a moment to relax and indulge in one of his own confections. The cookies had already been brought out, probably while Steven was zoning out, and every so often someone came by to take one for themselves.

Ashido whistled from in front of the television, loudly enough that she managed to grab everyone's attention.

"Alright, can we finally get a movie on? What do we all want?"

What followed was an absolute cacophony of sound as people shouted out their suggestions. Steven couldn't make out any suggestions among the noise, and he just pointedly covered his ears with his hands and waited for them to stop screaming.

Through the chaos, he watched as a lone figure stood up and walked up to the front, patiently waiting until everyone noticed him and quieted down.

Tokoyami cleared his throat, and said softly, "I would like to put forward the suggestion that we view a horror film. Does anyone object?"

There were some mutterings, but no one came forward.

Ashido huffed in relief. "Thanks, Fumi." As the bird-headed boy nodded and made his way back to the couch he'd been reclining on, she clapped her hands together and faced the room once more. "Great! So! We're gonna watch a horror movie! Let's say… five minutes for us to figure out what we want to watch? Cool!"

Ashido's rapid-fire speech left Steven feeling a bit disoriented, but he got the message. Around him, the groups of students broke into intense conversation as they individually tried to decide what movie to put forward. Steven just watched in amusement as they shifted so neatly from argument to civil discussion.

Back at the front of the room, the TV switched on, someone having grabbed the remote at some point. Most people were too preoccupied with choosing a movie to pay attention, but everyone quieted down when the news showed up on the screen, where some very familiar faces were pictured.

"Kiri?" Mina shrieked at the same time as Jirou gasped and yelled, "Momo!"

Up on the television, the two students were pictured next to Tamaki and their mentor, the hero known rather appropriately as Fat Gum.

Jirou was whispering furiously into an embarrassed Yaomomo's ear, while Ashido (and the rest of the class, really) watched the news in stunned silence. Kirishima, meanwhile, appeared to be equal parts smug and shocked.

"Earlier today, multiple criminals involved in drug-related turf wars were apprehended by Fat Gum, alongside three student interns from UA: the third-year Suneater, alongside two first-years from the famed "Class 1-A"—Creati and Red Riot."

The images faded out, revealing in their place a series of video clips of the capture. Yaomomo—or rather, Creati—was taking it upon herself to capture some of the gang members alongside Suneater, while Red Riot was seen running after an escaping criminal.

"One of the villains was reported to have boosted his quirk with Trigger, which would have cost many lives if not for the quick thinking of Red Riot. As a result, minimal civilian casualties occurred."

"Why didn't you guys tell us?" Kaminari asked as the reporter paused.

Kirishima shrugged, a self-satisfied still plastered on his face. "Yaomomo and I figured we would wait to see if we made the news. Besides, Fat Gum said—"

"In related news, we've received reports that Ryukyu, currently the ninth-ranked hero in Japan, was involved in taking down a drug smuggling operation off the coast of Japan. Although we don't have access to all the information, we can confirm that she was called in by the Oki Mariner Crew after their detection of the ship, and that Ryukyu herself was accompanied by three more UA students—third-year intern Nejire Chan, already on track to be ranked as soon as she graduates later this year, along with Froppy and Uravity, both first-years."

"You two did what?"

That was Hagakure, he was pretty sure. Hard to tell when he couldn't see who was speaking, but he'd gotten pretty good at recognizing everyone's voice.

Uraraka blushed as everyone's attention shifted to her. Even Tsu, who normally didn't show a hint of embarrassment, was looking down as her classmates started to badger the two of them with questions. Sighing, Steven stood up, knowing that he had to intervene somehow.

"Hey guys, can we move on and pick the movie?" He walked over to where the remote had been placed on a table and muted the still-on TV. "I know this is all surprising and exciting," he allowed, "but I don't think that Tsu and Uraraka want to be bothered by all of this right now. Yaomomo and Kirishima too. Let's leave this alone and we can ask them questions tomorrow, if they're fine with it."

Properly chastised, about half the class apologized to the four of them, who waved them all off. The other half had, thankfully, been as perceptive as he'd been and remained respectful. Steven caught a grateful look from Yaomomo, and he smiled back at her.

Ashido walked up to where he was standing. "Look at you, being all peacekeeper and everything." She rolled her eyes at him, but that did little to conceal her teasing smile and tone of voice.

"I try," Steven said nonchalantly. "I mean, I don't, not really. I don't want to have to do that all the time, but sometimes it's necessary."

Nodding in understanding, she said, "I get it. Still, thanks for calming everyone down. I've been looking forward to this week's movie night."

"Oh? What makes today so special?"

She grinned. "So, my favorite movie is Alien, right?"

Steven made a noise of recognition. "I think we have that back in my world. I remember watching something like that before."

"Awesome. So, like, Alien, right? That's actually where my original hero name came from—I wanted to be Alien Queen, but Midnight said that naming myself after a creature from a horror movie wasn't very heroic." She scoffed. "Whatever."

"Aw, that sucks." Steven frowned. "What did you pick instead?"

Ashido grimaced. "Pinky. I'm fine with it, I guess, but I'm really thinking of changing it after I graduate."

Steven nodded thoughtfully. "I can talk to Midnight later, see what I can do. Besides," he smirked, a thought popping into his head, "I'm technically an alien queen myself."

She blinked in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"So my mom was one of the Diamonds, so she was one of the rulers of the Gem Empire, right?" He waited for her to nod before moving on.

"Since she's not a human, she couldn't really have a baby with my dad the regular way, so she gave up her form and kinda… became me?"

"Ew." Ashido made a face, and Steven laughed.

"Yeah, it's weird, but it does mean that I'm actually alien royalty."

"Sick."

"Sometimes," Steven shrugged. "Anyways, about the movie?"

"Right!" She turned fully towards him and grinned deviously. "Basically, I've convinced over half the class to suggest the movie I want to watch. I asked Fumi to bring up watching a horror movie, so now I can just sit back and watch as I finally get my favorite movie picked, without having to do any arguing."

Steven just stared at her blankly, as he processed all the layers to her plan. As his mind caught up to hers, all he could do was start giggling madly. Ashido joined in after a moment, and as they transitioned to full-body cackling, the rest of the class stopped their discussions to turn and stare at them.

He didn't pay them any attention, though. He was having too much fun to care what they thought.

End Notes:

So, it's been a few months—(checks calendar)—seven, to be exact.

...Yeah, I'm sorry. A lot has been going on, what with me graduating high school (tomorrow, actually!), getting accepted to college (not gonna dox myself, but going to my state's flagship public school for engineering in a fantastically good program), and doing AP exams and all that. I just haven't had the time to write, but my partner has been encouraging me to write, so thank them for getting me to finish this chapter :)

I have a new laptop now though, and I'll be going out of the country for the summer so I'll have a lot of time to write. I can't promise a regular upload schedule just because I have to get back in the rhythm of writing for long periods of time, but I swear I will post.

If you have any questions, you can comment or DM me on Discord nickabovethecity#3284

I love you all so much and I'm glad to be back.