Mina found herself sitting under a beautiful tree during spring. To her surprise, Izuku Midoriya - the boy she had fallen in love with - was sitting in front of her. She wasn't sure what had come over her, but as soon as she saw him enter the cafeteria, she stopped her conversation with Eijiro and walked up to him, taking his hand, and leading him outside. Izuku had just been released from the hospital after the Yakuza raid. Mina had lost count of how many times she had watched the video of his fight with villain Overhaul. It was impressive how, with a young girl strapped to his back, he had become the embodiment of their school's motto - PLUS ULTRA.
He had won; he beat Overhaul and saved Ryuko, the dragon hero, Nejire Hado, the little girl Eri, and others. Overhaul had absorbed them into himself increasing his power by unknown levels, and Izuku had latterly beaten him so severely that he knocked the other heroes free. The battle had not been without cost, Sir Nighteye had lost his life, and Mirio of the Big Three had lost his quirk.
Although Izuku blamed himself for what was lost, he failed to see everything he had saved. This was reminiscent of the USJ incident, where he had saved their teacher, several classmates, and her. Despite not wanting to admit it, she still vividly remembered Shigaraki's hand emerging from the portal, targeting her.
Without any confrontation, he and the others had managed to rescue Bakugo after the League of Villains had abducted him. However, despite their success, he felt responsible for not being able to assist All-Might in his fight against All For One. He also carried the blame for Toga's attack on her at the campsite, even though he had defeated Muscular and rescued Kota in every way possible for a hero.
He saved Kota's life, renewed his belief and faith in heroes, and helped heal the wounds of Kota's parent's death at the hands of Muscular.
After an intense argument and fight with Bakugo, they appeared to have reconciled. Bakugo stopped using derogatory terms towards others and even addressed them by name. He publicly apologized to the entire class for his behavior, admitting that he was wrong and seeking a chance to make amends. He promised to be a better classmate, teammate, and friend to those willing to give him another opportunity.
This green-haired boy, who had slowly wormed into her mind. Becoming the dominant thought was now just looking at her. She heard him ask if she was ok. She hadn't responded; her eyes were looking over his face, memorizing it repeatedly as if he would disappear. When he gently placed that rough scared hand on the side of her face and called her name, Mina responded in the only way her body and mind would allow. She kissed him.
She was surprised when he reciprocated the kiss and held her tightly around the waist. The kiss started gently but became passionate, conveying their emotions and intentions. Eventually, they separated, and she heard him declare, "Mina, I love you."
Mina just responded by kissing him again. He broke their kiss, "Will you be my girlfriend?" She laughed and kissed him again, "Yes, you dummy."
They stood there, their foreheads resting against each other, staring deep into each other's eyes. "Are you ok?" she asked.
She saw him about to say yes, to give her a smile she knew would be fake, but he stopped. "No, Mina. No, I am not. But it is a good start to being ok."
"Talk to me." She said. He nodded. Mina took her boyfriend's hand and led him to the dorms; afternoon classes be damned.
-1-A-
1-A stood and watched the whole exchange; Ida was about to go and pull them back for afternoon classes when Momo placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ida, I understand your desire to uphold the rules, but Izuku needs this, trust me. This is more important than class today."
When they entered the classroom before Aizawa could say, "Mina and Izuku won't be joining us for afternoon classes. They are unwell after lunch," Momo said.
"Ida is this true?" he said, gazing from the vice president to the president.
"Yes, Sensei, they appeared to have eaten something that did not agree with them at lunch," Ida said without a single hint in his voice.
"Very well then, see that you bring them their assignments, and I hope they can join us tomorrow."
-Mina's Room-
Locked in her room together, nothing was said, Izuku resisted momentarily as Mina pulled him in close, but he couldn't resist her warmth or the softness of her eyes. Once she had his head cradled against his shoulder, she whispered, "It's ok, let's all go. I am here for you; no one else will know Izuku. I don't care what it is. Just let it go."
Gently she caressed the back of his neck; he sputtered some incoherent protests. She only countered, "I love you, Izuku, all of you. Faults and all. Let me take some of your burdens, even for a moment."
That was it; he just let it all go. Izuku Midoriya was known as a crier for being emotional, wearing his heart on his sleeve, but this was different. All the torment, the self-loathing, and the sense of failure washed over him.
He was never good enough; he was never good enough. He failed the USJ, training camp, the battle with Overhaul, and Kamino. It was not being able to see the forest for the trees; he was so desperate to save everyone that he couldn't see those he had saved or what he meant to them or her. She had heard Nejire talking about him at the fight, and Eijiro also told her about it.
She prodded gently, but she pressed; the history with Bakugo came out, the true story of him being called Deku. It had made sense; their rivalry was so bitter and violent. It made her wonder how they had moved past such a horrible past to where Bakugo had come before the class and begged for a second chance.
Then he dropped the bomb, All-Might and One for All—the truth of his quirk. All-Might passed him the torch that he was quirkless till that faithful day. Who All for One was, and the real significance of that battle, Shigaraki, and the League. She was not genuinely prepared, but it made some sense how he had struggled so much with control at the beginning of class, how he worked so hard, training morning, noon, and night. He was driven to show that he belonged.
"Who told you that you must be All-Might part 2," she asked.
"I'm his successor; I am supposed to be the next symbol of peace." He stammered.
"But Izuku, look what happened when All-Might retired. When he had to retire, look what happened. The villains came out of the woodwork; things got crazy. And no matter what, you are not All-Might; you are Izuku Midoriya. You don't have to be alone; you don't have to carry the world; you are not Atlas."
"But…"
"Should the rest of the class just walk away? Deku's got it. Should I drop out of U.A.?"
"No, you are going to be a great hero."
"But not good enough to stand with you?" her voice was gentle, not harsh, not angry.
Izuku stopped; he was walking alone, not trusting any of the others to be with him or to be able to fight. Sure, not all of them could fight Shigaraki alone, but neither could he. He couldn't resist the league alone; he couldn't save everyone… he couldn't save everyone. It was a harsh truth that rang through his head. He had heard it many times, but it held the fact this time.
"You don't get it; you blame yourself for things you couldn't do. Unless you could duplicate a thousand times, and then again, that still wouldn't be enough. You did the best you could at the moment; you tell me you failed at the USJ; how? Aside from our teachers, one tried to fight an army by himself, and the other was ambushed; you were the one that ended up in the hospital. Some of us got hurt, but we were fighting villains, for god's sake. IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. When his hand was coming for me, who saved my life?"
"Me?"
"Yes, you,"
"Who risked their life at the mall? And made sure that 100's of civilians didn't die?"
"me, but…"
"But what? Sometimes you have to let the villain walk away to save 100's if not more, or are you about to Bakugo it and fight to prove how strong you are no matter what?"
His silence was enough of an answer for her.
"The training camp, you saved Kota in every way you could, took down a villain that no one else could. We were ambushed; we were betrayed. Yes, they took Bakugo, but what were you supposed to do? And if you say fight harder, how much harder could you have fought?"
"If I had better control of…"
"In what a year? Izuku, all of us have had our quirks for a decade or more; you had it for less than four or five months? And somehow, you were supposed to master it," her voice started to rise not in anger but in passion. "Tell me, Izuku, how? And if you say train harder, I will hug you so hard."
"How is that a punishment?"
"Izuku, you have come so far, but you are holding yourself up to an unrealistic standard and image of All-Might; he trained for years before he debuted, and he has been doing this for DECADES; you have not. Your blind desire to be just like him isn't doing you any good. You forgot you have legs to fight with, for god's sake."
Izuku tried to pull his scared and rough hands away, but she caught them in hers. "I love your hands; each scar symbolizes how hard you fought," she leaned down and kissed one of the scars. "Of how far you will go, of a life you saved," she kissed the wounds from the sports festival. "Of a friend that you saved, and you saved Shoto, you saved me at the USJ, you rescued Bakugo from Kamino, you saved Ida from Stain, you saved Eri from Overhaul, you saved Ryuko and Nejire, and all the others you have pulled out of danger." She punctuated each one by kissing a scar; she lifted her head to look him in the eye; their eyes were both moist from emotion. "Let us save you, let me help, let me be by your side. If you love me, let me be a hero who can improve this world; we all deserve that opportunity."
"But Sir Nighteye…"
"Izuku heroes die, get injured, and have horrible things happen to them. We all know this and have signed up for this job anyway. Please, Izuku, you can't do this alone; that doesn't make you lesser than it makes you human; it makes you a hero; no hero is an island, not even All-Might." She leaned in and captured his lips; soon, their arms wrapped around each other, pulling each other tight. She was surprised to feel his tongue on her lips; eagerly, she opened her mouth, and the kiss deepened till they fell back on the bed. They made out for a while before he pulled back, their breathing heavy. "Wow," she whispered.
He just nodded his head at first, "Ok."
"Ok?"
"Stand with me, help me; I don't want to be alone." His signature tears fell as she pulled him down into a hug and rolled them onto their sides.
"You will never be alone again, baby, I promise," she said. They just laid their arms and legs intertwined when she noticed that he fell asleep, his rhythmic breathing a look of peace upon his face. She closed her eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep herself.
-The Common Room-
When she awoke, the room was dark; slowly, she disentangled herself from Izuku, careful not to wake him; the clock read 8 pm, feeling a grumble in her stomach. She went downstairs and found the girls sitting in the common room with their textbooks open and the boys huddled in the kitchen. She braced for a rush, but there was none. Instead, it was just Ochaco that walked up. "How is he?" the girl asked.
"Tired, drained, emotionally worn out, but I think he will be better. Listen, Ochaco…"
"It's ok, Mina; I pushed my feelings aside. I couldn't expect that he would be single forever or, somehow, he would wait for me when he never knew how I felt. I know you care for him and will be good for him. But please, he is my best friend; I can't see him being broken anymore." The gravity girl wiped a few tears. "I will support you two, I promise." Ochaco then stepped in and hugged Mina tightly.
Mina hadn't noticed it, but the tension drained from the girls as they worried about how this would play out. It wasn't a well-kept secret that Mina and Ochaco liked the same boy.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Momo asked.
"I need food, and I am sure he does as well," Mina responded.
Ida walked out, carrying two bowels of Katsudon, "We figured as much, so we made some food and kept it hot for you two."
"Is that Katsudon?" a voice from the stairs rang out. The class turned and saw Izuku coming down the stairs. "I woke up, and you were gone; I thought it was all some strange dream till I realized what bed I was in," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he realized the entire class was present.
"Do you want to eat upstairs?" Mina asked.
"No, if it's all right, I would like to eat with everyone," he said.
"That sounds delightful," Momo said, "I will make some tea."
The class slowly gathered around with Bakugo hanging still on the fringe until Eijiro pulled him over to sit with the group. The conversation was light till the new couple finished eating; even Mineta kept quiet, not making any pervy remarks or teasing them.
Izuku took Mina's hand and held it as he took a deep breath.
"I need help." He began with Mina giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "I have been trying to do things alone, disregarding all the work everyone else has put in themselves. Also, I have lied to you all." Bakugo's eyes widened. Some of the class looked surprised, while others leaned forward, confused.
"What do you mean, Izuku, Kero," Tsu said.
"I am not a late bloomer; I was born quirkless. The quirk I wield was given to me on exam day. It really did manifest for the first time with the Zero pointer," he said, primarily directing the remark to Ochaco and Ida.
Yuga froze, and he began to panic internally. Was Izuku another spy like him? Was Izuku being extorted like him? Was his mom being threatened?
"I don't understand. How is that even possible? Does it have something to do with that villain All-Might fought in Kamino?" Momo added.
"Yes and no; please let me explain." Izuku stood up at this point, "The villain that All-Might fought, as you all know, is called All for One, my quirks true name is One for All, and it was not given to me by All for One but by All-Might." Everyone gasped except Bakugo and Mina. "All for One had a brother, who had a hidden quirk that allowed him to pass on quirks to others, but no one knew that. So, All for One forced a stockpiling quirk upon his brother, not knowing that there was already a quirk there, and what ended up happening was that the two quirks fused. And it has been passed down for generations, getting stronger and stronger, all hoping to defeat All for One. All-Might was the eighth bearer, and I am the ninth. When I inherited this quirk, something changed again; I can also use the previous bearers' quirks." He pulled up Black Whip. "I have been trying to do this alone, just like All-Might, but I am not All-Might, and I don't want to do this alone; I want all of you with me; I want to do this together."
"So, you could pass this one to someone else?" Denki said.
"Yes."
"This is going to sound rude, but why you?" Mezo asked.
"I honestly question that every day, but All-Might saw something in me and believed in me when I had almost stopped believing in myself. You see, being born, quirkless was not an easy thing."
"And that was my fault," Bakugo said, standing up. "I bullied him every fucking day after I found out. I didn't understand why at first, but I was so angry that he still wanted to be a hero even though he didn't have a quirk. It was because he was better than me, and I knew it. Deep inside, I knew he was and would be a better hero than me. So, I bullied him relentlessly and without mercy. Every goddamn day. Until one day, I told him to kill himself." The class visibly recoiled.
"I regrated it as soon as I said it, but I was too fucking stupid even to try and take it back; then, when I saw him in our class, and I knew he had made it, I just flipped the fuck out. Throwing stupid accusations at him like he hid his quirk the entire time, or how I needed to prove that he was fucking useless, I couldn't handle it because of my stupid, selfish ego. I called you all extras and stupid nicknames to soothe that ego that I was the best when I wasn't. Then I figured out not everything about his quirk, but I figured out the whole All-Might connection, which drove me down even more. Even All-Might knew he was better than me; the way that you all would react to or listen to him, you all knew it too, and my ego couldn't take it. So, we fought, and we fought; he made me realize how fucking stupid and how much of a piece of shit I was, and you know what this fucker did?" The class just shook their heads.
"He gave me another shot, another chance when I didn't deserve it; after all the hell I forced upon him, isolating him and beatings I gave, he still was willing to give me a chance I don't fucking deserve. You don't have to give me a second chance, but I am not going anywhere. I owe it, Izuku; I NEED to prove that I am not a fucking screw-up and can be a hero. If you let me, Izuku, I will stand with you."
"I cannot defend what you have done," Shoto said first, "What you did was despicable and horrendous. But if I believe that Endeavor can change, so can you. Suppose you are willing to do the work. I found that I could change. And that is thanks to you, Izuku; I will have stood with you anyways, but know that I am with you."
"Bro, we were always with you," Eijiro said.
"Izuku, your my best friend; I would follow you into hell and back," Ochaco said, her bright smile warming Izuku's heart.
"You saved me from myself and Stain; how could I look at myself in the mirror if I was to waiver in our friendship," Ida said.
"We have always been in this together; that's what friends do," Toru added, pumping her fist in the air.
"Stupid Green Bean, we got you," Kyoka said, standing up as well.
Soon all the class but Yuga were standing. They turned to the boy as he started crying.
"It's all my fault; everything is my fault." The boy sobbed.
"How is that possible?" Momo asked.
"Because I have been a spy for All For One since the beginning." The boy said as the room fell silent.
*Authors Note*
I have no excuses. Thanks for reading.