Chapter 2! We deal with the aftermath of Izuku's quirk usage and get a little more insight into exactly how it functions! And like always, Izuku and Katsuki argue, again. A few more hints about what went down fourteen years ago and the aftermath of it are given, as well as the arrival of a few more characters into the mix!

And yes, I made one of Kirishima's moms into a doctor. Why? Because I felt like it! Hope you enjoy chapter 2!

Izuku came to slowly, an insistent beeping making him wince. His head was pounding relentlessly…actually, if he was being honest, his entire body felt like he'd gone ten rounds with Kacchan with Quirk active on a hot summer day and lost every single one. A gaping sensation in his chest rounded out the pain, as if he was…missing something. He was exhausted, every muscle sore, squinting against the bright lights shining down from above.

With a pained groan, he tilted his head around, blinking rapidly to try and see what was around, only to see Kacchan sitting next to his bed, staring at him with relief plain on his face. Struggling, he managed to croak out a desperate plea for water, watching as his friend crossed the room swiftly, filling up a paper cup and bringing it over to him. With a wince, he managed to down the entire thing, chugging it as if he'd been stuck in a desert for a week.

Hissing against the pain, he managed to push himself into a seated position, Katsuki reaching out for him but pausing once he realized how unwelcome the help would be. As soon as he was at least slightly vertical, Izuku looked around, swiftly putting together his location as a hospital room somewhere.

"Wha…what happened?" he managed to mumble out, head still pounding.

Katsuki's eyes narrowed at him, arms crossing over his chest in judgment. "You, dumbass, rushed in to get me away from some sludge asshole. You used your quirk, and drained the full fucking pool. They had to fucking shock you back! How the fuck did you burn the entire thing in like, three seconds?!"

As Izuku tried to remember, sending his mind back to the fuzzy time where it all occurred, he snapped wide awake as Kacchan's words registered. "...shocked? The defibrillator?"

"Yeah, that-" Katsuki was cut off as Izuku lunged at him, one hand grabbing him by the collar and dragging him closer.

"You let them fucking shock me?!" he snarled, his face contorted in rage and panic.

Katsuki, once the shock wore off, snarled back, his hand grabbing Izuku by his collar and tugging the other boy off balance. "Of fucking course I did, your heart stopped beating you fuckwad!"

"So fucking what! What if they screwed up the voltage and I overcharged!?" he shouted back, his voice carrying into the hallways.

"You weren't gonna overcharge! You had nothing in the tank! We had to get you back you fucking moron!"

Izuku's voice lost some volume, but none of it's intensity as he hissed "If it's between me and all those people, you should have let me go! Better I die than-"

Katsuki's right swung out and punched Izuku across the face, almost sending him over the edge of the bed if not for the grip his left hand had on the boy. "Don't you dare say that shit fuckwad, don't you even fucking think it! I'll kill you my goddamned self you say that again, then bring you back and do it again so you get the fucking point!"

Further argument was interrupted as the door swung open, a tall blonde woman with spiky hair entering, followed by an already sighing brown-haired man who looked at both boys with an expression torn between worry, exasperation, and fondness. The blonde woman arched an eyebrow at them. "Ah, yes, looks like the boys are fine, already back to fighting. Let go of each other, damned brats."

The two held on for a moment, glaring at the other, a new bruise already forming on Izuku's face, before releasing each other and falling backwards in a huff. With a sigh, Mitsuki Bakugo calmly took a seat in the chair her husband had pulled out, reaching up to grip the hand he'd placed on her shoulder.

"Would one of you two mind filling us in? We got the report from the police, but it wasn't clear exactly what happened with Izuku," Masaru asked, his voice soft.

"He used his quirk, like I knew he could, and got me out of that sludge bastard. But burned it all somehow, I still don't fucking get that part."

Izuku stared at his hands, gloves missing, able to see cracks in his skin as if something had erupted from his palms. "I don't know either. I-I always assumed my cur…I mean, my quirk could enhance my strength and speed in some fashion, extra energy and stuff, but…not like that. It shouldn't have taken all of it though, I just used enough to pull Kacchan out. I don't understand where the rest went."

"I think…it went Into me," Kacchan mumbled, his comment causing all three to look over at him as he held up his hands, revealing red palms and small yet noticeable burn marks on them. "I felt it, from where you grabbed my shoulder. I think you shared it with me. I've never made an explosion that big before. Was kinda badass, but I don't think I was ready to handle it, since I blew through everything you gave me too. Yet somehow that stupid slime fuck still survived."

"Yes well, good thing All Might was there as quickly as he was," Masaru commented.

"And good thing they had that defibrillator to keep your scrawny ass alive," Katsuki snarked at Izuku, the other boy gritting his teeth and glaring back at him.

"He's right, Izuku," Mitsuki commented, trying to ease the tension.

"But what if I-"

"You didn't," she interjected. "I don't know the details of the machine, but there ain't no fucking way it's as much as a bolt of lightning, not to mention that was years ago. Your limit must be much higher and you know that. When you're done panicking about it you'll know we're right."

"It is not remotely comparable," came the voice from the doorway, a black-haired woman with oddly sharp teeth woman in a doctor's outfit said as she entered the room, tapping away at a tablet she carried. "I imagine you're concerned about how much energy you absorbed, but trust me when I say you're nowhere near whatever your current limit is. We can't measure it well with the equipment here, but you have quite a bit of room for more in you."

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief, but the tension in his shoulders hadn't left as he worried about what could have been. The doctor looked up from her tablet, meeting Izuku's eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Kirishima." Izuku just nodded at her, waiting for her to continue. She nodded sharply, her gaze oddly fierce. "I have a very important question for all of you…why are Izuku's Quirk records blank?"

"What?" the three Bakugo's chorused, with a wide-eyed blink from Izuku. The doctor sighed.

"It has a very brief description of what it does, and absolutely nothing else. It has nothing in here about the capabilities, the activation requirements, the mutations-"

"What mutations?!" Izuku interrupted, his voice cracking in shock.

Dr. Kirishima stared at him disbelievingly. "Well, like most quirks, your body has some internal mutations that allow you to handle it."

"Like how I don't react to nitroglycerin?" Katsuki asked.

"I didn't look at your records young man, but if I understand the implication your quirk has something to do with nitroglycerin, then yes, same principle."

"I sweat it from my palms, and can ignite it to make explosions."

She nodded at him. "Oh well then yes, absolutely. You likely ingest it all the time, which means your body would have to be adapted or something bad would occur. I also assume your arms are more sturdy than an average person, to deal with recoil."

Katsuki nodded along. "Yeah, doc told me I got some extra reinforcement in my arms and shoulders, so it doesn't hurt as much."

She glanced down at her tablet. "Well, Izuku here has a few extra mutations that help him manage his quirk. First is an extraneous organ located beneath his breastbone, which is where his body processes and stores the energy. From this, there are 'channels' through which the energy would flow out from. These channels go to all four of his limbs and to his fingertips."

All four people in the room looked over to Izuku, the green-haired boy frozen in shock at the idea of more to his quirk. After waiting a moment, the doctor continued. "However, due to you failing to utilize your quirk properly, those channels atrophied, and the organ which stores it was scarred from holding the energy improperly. You damaged not only your quirk but your body itself, young man. You ripped those channels open today, and this has caused a significant backlash. You're going to leak energy now, at least until you can get those channels back into proper working order. Which means using them. Your body is designed around the energy being in motion. Flowing, as it were."

Tapping again at her table, she let it drop to her side as she continued her lecture. "You should think of it not unlike a river in this case. You created a dam for it, but did not allow for any flow at all. I assume the scarring on your chest and back also comes from mishandling of your quirk."

"...can we not talk about that?" Izuku asked quietly, his gaze dropping to stare down at the bedsheets.

Dr. Kirishima's gaze softened. "Alright. I didn't mean to upset you. I am just concerned about your health, young man. Do you have issues with your quirk energy leaking at times of great stress?" Izuku nodded, still refusing to look up. "It's going to get worse. I have to ask, how did your doctor fail to address any of this with you?"

"It just…never came up? He told me what I had to do to hold it back and that was it," Izuku replied softly.

Her eyes narrowed. "...I would like the name of this doctor, if you would please."

"Tsubasa. Dr. Tsubasa," Mitsuki piped in. "He handles all the neighborhood kids. But I mean, he gave you good advice didn't he, brat?"

Katsuki scratched the back of his neck. "Not…really? Zu gave me most of the advice. Now that I think about it, I think Zu gave everyone in the neighborhood Quirk advice…huh. Shit. Never occurred to me the doc wasn't giving good advice. That little fucking shit."

"I'll be reporting this to the board. That sort of failure could be catastrophic for powerful quirks such as these two young men here. Honestly Izuku, your quirk is fascinating. As it's clear you were not given proper counseling or information, I'll be ordering a full diagnostic workup for you so we can nail down the way it works and we can come up with a proper plan to make sure you're okay. That said, there are some things you need to do now. And the first is you must practice channeling that energy. It must flow, as I said. Do you understand?"

Izuku just nodded, refusing to look up at the doctor. She stared at him for a moment, before deciding to let the issue drop. "Hmm, well. Izuku can be checked out in a little bit, we're just going to prescribe some simple pain medication and rest. You, young man, need to recharge, and I mean that quite literally. Let us finalize the paperwork, and you can take him home." As the adults exchanged nods, the woman left the room.

Masaru sighed. "I'll go handle the paperwork. I know if you do it you'll just set something on fire, or ask Katsuki to do so."

Mitsuki smiled up at her husband with a sharkline grin. "I knew I married you for a reason!"

"Yes, as I recall it's because you said I had a 'nice ass'," he deadpanned.

"Oh gods kill me now," Katsuki groaned, planting his hands in his face. Izuku glanced up and snickered for a moment, the tension breaking enough for him to giggle at their antics. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up jackass. You heard the doc. You gotta work on using that quirk you know."

Izuku clammed up at that, his laughter disappearing as soon as it appeared. Masaru stepped forward to try to intervene, but Mitsuki stopped him silently, just shaking her head no. He looked down at her, before smiling and leaving the room. She stood up as well, reaching over and squeezing Izuku's hand as her other hand squeezed Katsuki's shoulder. "Behave, boys. I'll be right back."

As she closed the door behind her, Katsuki stared Izuku down, waiting for his argument that he knew the other one would have. Just as he assumed, the green-haired boy opened his mouth with a determined look on his face. "I'll be fine, Kacchan. I just have to work harder to control it, that's all."

"No, you're suppressing it, not controlling it. That's two different things, and you know it, Mr. Quirk analyst."

"Kacchan-"

"Don't you fucking 'Kaccan' me. Mom and Pops are right. You keep this up and it's gonna hurt you again, if not kill you! Auntie and Uncle wouldn't have-"

Izuku cut him off with a snarl. "Don't talk about what they would or wouldn't want!"

"...Izuku, they don't need to be here for us to know what would have wanted for you. They loved you."

Izuku stared at Katsuki, his green eyes shimmering with unshed tears as he whispered "And whose fault is it they aren't here to ask?"

"...you know who. It wasn't your fucking fault, Zu!" Even as he said the words, he already knew what the other boy's response would be. The same old song and dance, back and forth, a conversation the two had had hundreds of times since they were old enough to understand what happened.

Izuku's smile was cracked, broken, as much of a lie as the painted smiles upon store mannequins. "Agree to disagree, Kacchan."

"...whatever you say, Izuku," he sighed, already knowing he'd lost today's argument once again.

Katsuki grumbled under his breath as he headed to homeroom. Izuku had been prescribed rest at home for a few days, until he 'felt full' as the doctor put it, meaning he would be missing Monday. At least Katsuki got a good laugh at how annoyed Izuku was at having to literally sit outside in the sun like a goddamned plant. He'd snickered and told him he finally was living up to his true purpose of being broccoli, the other boy throwing a book at him in retaliation as he ducked it with ease.

However, even with that bit of cheer,he was having a very bad day. Or well, days if he was being honest. Being saved again by Izuku and it nearly killing Izuku was bad enough. He could deal with being rescued…he understood what happened and hey, he should get used to near death experiences if he's gonna be a hero. It nearly killing his best friend to save him? That he wasn't processing as well. Okay, yes, he knew this was survivors guilt, yes, he paid attention when his therapist spoke but knowing intellectually what was going on didn't help how he fucking felt!

Not to mention his fucking leg was acting up. Something must have gotten into it, he'd need to take it in to get checked. Wished he could afford a backup but ones of good enough quality for him to pursue hero work were expensive as all hell, he was lucky that his parents could afford the first one, especially as it had to keep being replaced as he grew.

He just needed to vent to someone. Tsubasa was his best friend other than Izuku, he was looking forward to having a chat with him. He wasn't going to bring up the stuff about his grandfather, not wanting to worry him or cause drama. Not to mention it wasn't his fault if his grandfather was a quack. But he really needed to just get something out. He didn't want to say anything around Izuku, he had enough going on and he'd fucking get all guilty too.

Entering homeroom, he was a bit surprised to see Tsubasa's desk empty, and a new desk set behind Izuku's. The teacher nodded to him as he stepped into the room and made his way to the back, sliding into place in the desk in front of Izuku's.

"Well, now that we're all here, I have some announcements to make. Tsubasa's family apparently had an emergency and were forced to move over the weekend, so he has transferred out. He's left his contact information for anyone who wants to keep in touch."

Katsuki blinked. That…was weird. Tsubasa left and didn't say anything to him? He thought they were pretty good friends. Ah shit. Not to be all self-centered, but he knew how he got if he didn't vent. He was naturally an angry person, and his coping mechanisms did not do well when shit came out of nowhere. His confused train of thought was cut off as the teacher continued. "However, we had two late transfers in. Ladies, if you would please introduce yourselves?" he gestured to the door, where two young women entered.

One, with brown hair in a bob cut and blush marks on her cheek bowed, speaking up. "Hi, my name is Ochako Uraraka! Um, I like mochi and space and hope we'll be good friends!"

The other girl smirked, lightly smacking the first one on the shoulder. As Uraraka straightened up, she glared good-naturedly at the blonde with her hair in buns next to her. She took a bow as well. "I'm Himiko Toga. I'm afraid I'm not as exciting as my friend here, but I also hope to make some friends and have a good time."

The teacher nodded. "Uraraka, take the empty seat right there, and Toga, you go back to that one back there. We'll be going over our work from last week. Bakugo, do you mind helping them catch up and showing them around later?"

Katsuki shrugged. Might as well. Just had to keep a lid on his emotions for now, he'd vent it out after school. "Sure, teach, not a problem." As the two girls took their seats, he gave them both a nod. He pulled out his notes and after a quick glance over, he handed them over to Uraraka. "Take a quick look over these, then pass them over to your friend back there. Not much happened week one, but we can go over it during lunch if ya need."

The brown-haired girl smiled brightly at him. "Thanks!"

As the bell rang for lunch, Katsuki stretched for a moment, tamping down at the habitual annoyance within him at the ache in his leg. He was still a bit sore from being bounced around over the weekend, so sitting all day had made him a bit stiff. As he stood, he glanced back at the two girls who were finishing putting their own things away. "You two ready?"

"Yep!" Uraraka said, as Toga gave him an acknowledging salute. He snorted at that, jerking his head towards the door. With his pack over his shoulder, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and began strolling onward as the two girls came up beside him.

"Gonna just run you around the basic shit real quick, like the lunchroom and shit. I figure you've seen enough of the offices by now. I prefer to eat up on the roof, but you can join me today if ya want. Or just stick to the lunchroom, whatever."

"Roof sounds fun," Toga remarked, her teeth…glinting? Yep, as he narrowed his eyes at her smile he could see fangs peeking over her lips. Huh.

"Something the matter?" she asked him, arms behind her back and practically skipping.

"Nah, just noticed the teeth, was curious."

"Oh, I have a blood quirk. Gotta drink it, and I can transform into someone! I don't get their quirk though."

Uraraka popped up into his vision, her gaze appraising as she looked at him. "Is that a problem?"

"Hell no. Quirks are quirks. Why?"

Toga's shoulders slumped a bit and she looked away from him. "Some people don't like blood quirks all that much…"

"If anyone has an issue with Himi's quirk, I'll punt them into the fucking sun," Uraraka added, her smile wide and teeth bared. Katsuki looked over at her with an appraising eye.

"Huh. You got a protective streak dontcha?"

Uraraka's smile lost its edge as she blushed a bit. Squirming in place, she looked away from him. "I don't let people hurt my friends."

"Tch. Good attitude to have. Fuck those sorta fucks. Anyways, what about you? What's your deal, Cheeks?"

Uraraka blinked at him at the nickname, but ignored it as she held up her hand. "Zero Gravity! Anything I touch with all the fingers on one hand loses its gravity! I can bring it back down by touching my hands together. I wanna be a rescue hero like Thirteen!"

"You two moved here to try for UA then?" Both girls nodded at that. "Fucking A, needed more people going for the top. Before it was only me and Zu."

"Zu?" Toga asked.

"My friend, he sits in the seat in front of you. Dumbass got himself hurt Friday so he's still on rest till tomorrow, but I'll introduce you guys when he's back. Just be prepared for a billion fucking quirk questions, and then a hundred suggestions on how to kick more ass with it."

"He got hurt? How?" came the worried tone from Uraraka.

"Some sludge bastard had me in a chokehold, trying to make me his meat puppet or some shit. The heroes on scene were doing jack shit, and Zu came over and managed to pull me out just in time. Then I blew up the alley. Stupid sludge freak somehow was still living through that, but All Might showed up and blew the fucker away. Zu burned all his pool though, so, yeah. Almost died."

"Uh…what?" Uraraka blinked, confused.

"His pool?" Toga asked.

"Ah, right, you're not from here. Yeah, Izuku, that's his first name, has a quirk that lets him absorb and store energy. But he blew threw it all to get me out, using it to charge himself and me up. Didn't know he could do that, heh. Anyways, if he uses it all, his heart kinda…stops. It's more complicated than that, but ain't got time for the whole breakdown."

"Um…that's kinda scary…" Uraraka said quietly. At Katsuki's glare, she held up her hands defensively. "I don't mean I'm scared of him, I mean scared for him! That's gotta be worrying. I can't imagine how you felt about it."

He snorted. With Tsubasa gone, he really didn't have anyone other than Zu to talk to, and for some reason he was having serious issues keeping his mouth shut right now. Really felt like he was just…babbling at this point. Oh fuck, he was turning into Izuku. Eh. Pops was always going on about finding new friends, plus they were aiming for UA too. Maybe they could join him and Zu on training, the rest of the school was too scared for their routine.

The conversation had already taken them past the lunchroom, so he'd been leading the two young women up the stairs. As he pushed open the roof door, he strolled over to the corner he normally claimed and sat down, reaching into his bag for his lunch. With a gesture, he waved the two girls to claim their own spot. He rubbed at his left thigh absently as he thought about how to respond.

"I was pissed, if you must know. Fucking bastard nearly kills himself trying to save me, for the second time mind you, and it wouldn't have had that bad a backlash if he'd actually been using his quirk, but nooo, I'm Izuku Midoriya and I refuse to use my goddamned powerful quirk my entire fucking life because of one bad day and…ah fuck it, that wasn't fair." How off-kilter was he, that he just blew up at these two brand new students just because they were willing to listen? Katsuki sighed as he hung his head.

"Shit. Sorry. I got a bad temper. I just…I was worried, you're right. And it ain't fair to him, I know why he's so hung up about his quirk. Don't take it the wrong way, and don't look bad at him, he's got a…a reason. I won't say it's a good reason, but he thinks it is."

"No judgment here," Toga said as she held up her hands. "My parents were awful to me because they thought my quirk was disgusting, but lucky for me they got caught and got in trouble. I'm lucky I found a new dad soon enough, and never been happier. I totally get quirk issues."

Uraraka nodded. "Yeah, I mean, my quirk never caused me issues, but…my parents don't make a ton, and it can be tough sometimes. That's why we moved out here together, it's easier if we share an apartment! And Himi's been a great friend!"

"Oh 'Chako you say the nicest things," Toga said, winking at Uraraka. Katsuki snorted, hiding his smirk behind his drink.

"Stoooooppp," Uraraka said, shoving Toga away from her with a grin. She turned back to Katsuki, her smile softening a bit. "It sounds like you and Izuku are good friends."

"Basically brothers. He lives with me and my parents. His…passed away a while ago. It's a sore subject. Like his quirk. Err..His entire past is a sore subject if I'm being fucking honest. And uh…most of the school knows. So they kinda, you know, treat him different. So like, don't go asking around, or looking, please? I think he'd appreciate some people not knowing, for once."

Toga gave an exaggerated salute. "Aye aye captain!" Uraraka nodded, her smile still wide.

Katsuki snorted. "Alright, you two are chill. Me and Zu train for UA, once he's back on his feet we're picking it up again double time. You two want in?"

Uraraka's grin turned a little feral as Toga's smile widened so far she almost resembled the Cheshire cat. "Fuck yeah," Uraraka exclaimed, pumping her fist.

He smirked. Yeah, this'd do. Izuku would get along with these two, he was sure of it. And maybe with a couple more hero hopefuls on his side, he could finally get through to that dumbass.