Chapter 17: steven beats the shit out of someone

"Your license, Universe."

Aizawa handed Steven the thick envelope, and he nearly ripped it apart in his haste to open it. Taking out the thick plastic card, he grinned as he took his first look at it.

The picture was… meh. They'd taken the photo when he was on his way out, and he didn't really look the best in it. Although, to be fair, did anyone look good in ID pictures?

And there, printed at the bottom, was Steven's new hero name: Hoseki.

At first, he had no idea what he wanted his hero name to be. It wasn't like he wanted to stay in this world for any longer than necessary (although he couldn't say he didn't like most of the people he's met). Ultimately, he'd decided on something simple that described him fairly accurately.

Hoseki—the Japanese word for Gem.

Shouto looked at the license over his shoulder. "Hoseki?" he asked, humming as he contemplated the name. "I like it," he decided.

Steven grinned. "Thanks!" He pocketed the card, making sure it was secure. From now on, he would need to keep it on him at all times—it meant he couldn't get arrested for "public quirk use" (which was a really stupid law anyways and Aizawa half-agreed with him on that but there wasn't anything he could do about it).

Whatever. What was important was that he had his license.

He waved goodbye to Shouto, and looked up to see Aizawa still looking at him.

Crap. I forgot he was here.

"How did the test go?" he asked.

"Not too bad," Steven responded. "The practical test was fun—I got to fight Gang Orca!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. And the written test?"

"Ugh," Steven nearly scoffed at the mention of the written test. "That one sucked. There were so many questions, and they gave me, like, two hours to do it so I had to leave a few of them blank."

Aizawa stiffened. "Two hours?" When he received a nod in response, Aizawa groaned. "Those malicious fools. Kid, you're normally supposed to get four hours to finish the written exam."

"Oh. That's pretty rude."

Aizawa shook his head in exasperation. "Whatever. At least you passed. Good for you."

"Thanks! I'm glad." Steven grinned, and Aizawa left him be. Steven followed him out the door but turned in a direction, since he wanted to go see Yagi and see what he could do about healing him.

Yagi had also mentioned something odd, while they waited for Shouto and Bakugou to finish their lessons. Apparently, Endeavor had passed on the message that he was offering him an internship.

Offering Steven.

An internship.

With Endeavor.

Never before had he reacted so vehemently to anything, and Yagi backpedaled very quickly to ensure that he knew about the man's own opinions on Endeavor, thank you very much, and he just felt it would be best to tell him rather than keep it hidden.

In retrospect, that felt like a real bonding moment for the two of them.

He pushed open the door to the teachers' dorm, walking in as if he belonged and not like he was a seventeen year-old human-gem hybrid from a different universe. Kayama was lounging on a nearby couch with her head in Yamada's lap as he typed away on a laptop, and she popped up the moment he entered.

"Steven!" She waved him over, and he stifled a giggle as Yamada did his best to keep Kayama from knocking his laptop onto the floor, nearly failing until he managed a last-second catch. He glared at her as he closed the computer and set it on the nearby table.

"Hey, listener!" Yamada greeted him, before turning to Kayama. "Nem, that's like the fifth time this month—one of these days you're actually going to break my laptop and Nedzu and I will not be happy."

She scoffed. "Yeah, whatever, you love me anyways," she said smugly, suddenly sitting up and planting a kiss on his cheek. He only rolled his eyes, and her attention shifted back to Steven. "What brings you here, kid?"

"I'm just here to talk to Yagi-san about something," he explained. "Speaking of which…"

He looked around, suddenly realizing that no, he didn't really know where to go now. Kayama realized his predicament, and snorted. "I got you. He should be in his office right now, just down the hall and to the right," she gestured.

"Thank you!"

As he walked in the direction she directed him towards, hearing the two of them laughing madly as he left them behind, he thought about how this meeting with the former hero would go. He'd offered to heal him only a few hours ago, and his reception to the idea hadn't been bad, per se. Rather, he'd just been hesitant, which wasn't a bad sign at all.

He was still rather confused as to why Yagi had been so afraid of "prying eyes or ears," as he had put it, but he supposed it was for the same reasons that Nedzu had warned him about them. The principal had sent congratulations moments after he arrived—as a text to his phone, which was really creepy when Steven had never given him his phone number.

He was starting to understand why Aizawa referred to the principal as The Rat.

Still, he was looking forward to healing the older man. It was obvious that he wasn't well. Despite his bravado and the claim that his health was "generally stable," he was very visibly weakened and in pain—especially when compared to his body as a hero.

If Steven could help him, he would do it. Maybe it was a bit problematic, a bit of a throwback to the "Steven's here to help!" fiasco that he had no intention of repeating, but this was different. For once in his life, he wasn't putting others over himself—he was still his own number one priority, but if he had the chance to help someone out? Why wouldn't he take it! It wasn't like he was going out of his way to help.

Peace of mind restored, he reached a door, confirmed to be correct by the placard on the wall next to it, proclaiming it to be the office of one Yagi Toshinori. Clearing any hesitation from his mind, he confidently knocked on the door. He could hear loud sputtering from inside, followed by Yagi's slightly raspy voice calling out, "Come in!"

Steven cracked open the door, carefully taking a peek to make sure everything was alright before he entered. Yagi was moving around, grabbing stacks of paper and moving them in order to make room at the coffee table by the window. The older man looked up after a moment, waving him in.

"Hello, Steven! Apologies for the mess, you can take a seat while I finish tidying up. How do you take your tea?"

"Oh, thank you." He walked over to one of the couches, sitting down as Yagi cleared away the table. "You don't need to, I don't want to be a bother."

"Nonsense, young man!" The man beamed. "It would be my pleasure!" He set a tray on the table, on top of which was a full tea set.

Steven inclined his head politely. "Thank you, sir." He poured himself some of the lukewarm tea, taking a quick sip. Thankfully, the tea wasn't strong, and there was a slight fruity taste that belied the need for any added sugar.

Yagi sat across the table, staring intently at him. Steven couldn't help but feel like he was being studied, but avoided making any comments. He was capable of enduring scrutiny—Nedzu was far worse, at any rate.

Finally, the former hero dropped his gaze, hands going to the teapot. "I suppose you're here about your earlier offer?" he said as he poured himself some tea, the seamless stream of liquid disrupted by the slight tremors in his hands.

When Steven nodded in response, he sighed. "I figured as much. Tell me, what do you already know of my history?"

He sat back, attempting to recall any information he'd absorbed. "You were Japan's highest ranked hero for the past four decades, and one of the strongest in the world. Uh…" He racked his brain for anything he could remember about his retirement. "You retired a few months ago after you were injured by a villain. That's all I really know."

Yagi nodded. "You would be correct. However, the injuries that ultimately led to my retirement were not sustained during that specific battle. I met that same foe before, nearly seven years ago. It was during that vicious fight that I was injured—nearly fatally. I spent months in recovery afterwards—I'm lucky to still be alive." His eyes were clouded, face downcast as he recounted the story. "Steven, I was in an induced coma for almost a month, because being conscious would have been too much for my body. The bones in my arms were reduced to a fine powder. My lungs were damaged beyond repair. I no longer have a stomach—only the use of prosthetics and the regular application of healing quirks allows me to eat even the simplest of foods."

He took a shuddering breath, pausing in his recollection. Steven remained silent, taking it all in. This was more serious than anything he'd encountered before—short of Lars' death.

"The only reason I'm alive," he emphasized, "is because I paid dozens of medical professional several billion yen to keep my condition from worsening. Shuuzenji-san—Recovery Girl—wasn't even in the picture at the beginning because I had so little energy that her quirk would have withered me away into a corpse.

"So tell me, Steven." His dark and sunken eyes seemed to stare straight into his soul. "What is it that you can do, that seven years and over fifty billion yen spent couldn't?"

Steven thought over it for a long moment. The silence stretched onwards, each second with no answer increasing the tightly-wound tension between the two of them.

"I don't know."

Yagi looked as if he was about to have a stroke from the sheer incredulity he felt, and Steven rushed to elaborate.

"Sorry, I should have clarified. I'm not sure exactly what my healing can do. As long as I'm confident that it'll work, then it will. Since I've come here, I've already healed Iida Tenya's brother—he'll be able to walk, after he goes through physical therapy. And, before…" He hesitated. "My friend died."

Yagi started, "I'm—"

"I brought him back," he cut off the former hero with a pointed look. "Your injuries may have been severe, but based on what you're telling me, I'm like nothing this world has ever seen."

The silence returned, weighing heavily on the two of them. Maybe Steven shouldn't have mentioned Lars—it wasn't like Yagi needed to know so much about him, and he probably just made the man uncomfortable.

"Let's try it," Yagi sighed, ducking his head in exhaustion. "I'm still skeptical, of course—I hope you understand—but I trust that you truly believe you can make a difference, and I would be a fool to potentially turn down this life-saving opportunity."

Steven smiled gently. "Okay." He took a sip of his nearly-forgotten tea. "How would you prefer we do this? I mostly heal with my tears or my saliva, although I'd rather not cry right about now."

He couldn't help but laugh at the slightly confused face Yagi made. "It'll probably be easiest if I kissed your hand, or just licked my hand and touched you with it."

Yagi shook himself out of his confusion. "It matters little to me. Do whatever you think is best."

Steven nodded. He licked his hand, making sure there was a decent amount of his healing spit on it, and offered the hand to the man sitting opposite.

"Shake on it?

Yagi stuck his own hand out, and they shook.

Izuku was not having a good day.

Izuku wasn't having a good day, because he knew that every moment Eri remained in the hands of Overhaul was a moment that she was being abused, her body used over and over again in an endless cycle of pain.

Izuku wasn't having a good day, but he knew that Eri's day was a living nightmare.

You could have saved her.

The voice in his head mocked him, and it hurt all the more because he knew that it was right. She was right there, in his arms already. He should have just taken the chance and run for it—Togata-senpai would have helped him.

Instead, she was forced to suffer until the heroes could find the Shie Hassakai's base of operations, and there was no telling how long it would take.

Worse still, he wanted to talk to someone—Tenya, Shouto, Hitoshi—and he couldn't because the case was classified. At least he could still talk to Ochako and Tsu about it.

…

Maybe he should go to All Might to chat. Talking to his mentor always did manage to cheer him up.

"Izuku!" Ochako called out from where she was lounging with some of their friends. "Come over here! We're about to pick another movie!"

"Maybe later," Izuku replied, quickly making his way towards the front doors. Before he could make it there, however, he was intercepted by Shouto.

"Hi, Shouto!" He grinned, doing his best to put some energy in his voice. "Do you—do you need something?"

Shouto, wonderful Shouto, infuriating Shouto, replied, "We need to talk. Privately."

And Izuku, never one to put his own needs above those of his friends, said in response, "Y-yeah, sure. We can go to my room?"

"Sure."

He led the way, resisting the urge to look behind him and check to see if Shouto was in fact still following him.

Well, maybe talking to Shouto could still make him feel better. Even if he wasn't exactly the person he wanted to see at that moment.

Unlocking the door to his room, Izuku made to sit on the bed as Shouto grabbed the desk chair.

"What did you need to talk about?"

"Do you not like Steven?"

Izuku blanched. That question was so far out of left field that he'd never expected it. Had Shouto noticed him being suspicious of the newcomer?

"O-of course not! Why do you ask?"

Shouto looked at him thoughtfully. "I've noticed that whenever you look at him, you tend to get this look."

Izuku bit back a sigh at Shouto's vagueness. "What kind of look?"

"You're suspicious of him. And scared." Shouto rattled off Izuku's feelings on Steven with frightening accuracy, and he tried to do his best to keep his face from betraying his guilt. He wasn't sure he succeeded. Shouto continued regardless of Izuku's feelings.

"…and you think he's a villain," he concluded. "I think you're being unfair to him."

"How am I being unfair to him?" Izuku asked. No point in hiding his feelings, not when Shouto was able to read him so well. "I believe I'm being justifiably suspicious of him. He—he appeared out of the sky! His story makes no sense. I know quirks can be really weird, but I have trouble believing that he's from another world! I have every right to be afraid of the very likely possibility that he's a villain."

Despite the rising intensity as Izuku defended himself, Shouto remained calm. "Steven has been nothing but kind to me, and everyone else he's met. He's been helping us in our training, he's healed Tenya's eyesight and fixed his brother's paralysis. He didn't need to do any of that. He's trapped here and he could just spend all his time looking for a way back. But he isn't doing that. He spends time with us out of kindness, and he wouldn't do that if he was a villain."

Shouto didn't get it. "But what if he's tricking us?" Izuku asked. "What if he's being nice to us in order to betray us later?"

"He isn't." Finally, anger entered his tone, surprising both of them. There was a moment of silence as Shouto visibly calmed himself down. "Steven is my friend, same as you are. He's been a positive influence on everyone around him since he came here. You know how powerful he is. He could have destroyed the entire building at any time, but he didn't. Think about it, please," he pleaded.

And Izuku wanted to consider it. He didn't want Shouto to be wrong, because he wanted nothing more than for Steven to be the altruistic and good person that Shouto and everyone else saw him as. But Izuku couldn't let himself believe that, because someone needed to be wary. Normally, that would be Aizawa-sensei, but even his teacher trusted Steven wholeheartedly.

Which meant that the job of watching out for his friends and family fell to him.

"I'm sorry, Shouto."

He watched Shouto's face as his heart cracked, just one more fracture on an already deeply scarred surface. He watched, and didn't move, as Shouto stood and left him alone.

And for the first time since coming to UA, he was truly alone.

End Notes:

HIIIIII

this chapter was like nearly done 2 weeks ago

then: my flight was overbooked, i had to go shopping for college supplies, i moved into my dorm, classes started, and i got sick.

yeah.

but i finally finished this chapter! i hope you all enjoyed it :)

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

I've started a Discord server! This is a thing I've seen other authors do so I have decided to jump on the bandwagon :D

the "id" (what you put after the gg/ in a discord invite link) is "hcTEsRaKyN"

you can also find the link at the ao3 version of this story—my username on there is HighAboveTheCity

shower thought from one of my friends:

if steven resurrected Mina no one would be able to tell because she's already pink lol