The entire class had an enormous party the night after their exam victory. This included fizzy drinks, paper hats, loud music, video games, and, at long last, a game of truth or dare. Izuku took his place in the circle in the common room, fascinated by this icon of pop culture in which he was about to take part for the first time... but also nervous. "W-what if someone asks me something that I'm legally not allowed to talk about?" Izuku asked Ashido, who was apparently running the game.
"Uhhh," her cohost Kaminari blinked owlishly at Izuku. The two conferred. "I guess if that's the case then you have to say so and whoever called on you gets to ask another truth? Or you could just choose dare all the time..."
"But that would be boring," Ashido shook her head.
"What, afraid to play? Hiding some terrible truths?" Kirishima playfully nagged Kacchan, who was not interested and trying to sneak upstairs to his room.
"I'm not afraid, it's just a stupid game and I don't want to play!" Katsuki protested. "It's already late and I'm freakin' tired."
"Fine, suit yourself," the red head shrugged.
"Just know that you're being kind of a boring old man right now," Sero piped up. Katsuki's glare promised there would be hell to pay, but apparently the teasing had riled him up enough to participate out of rage. He took a seat in the circle with a tremendous scowl.
"And now that's everyone. The whole class," Ashido rubbed her hands together gleefully. "I've never managed to get a whole class to play before!" When would she have even had the opportunity to try to make that happen?
"Question," Aoyama raised his hand, "is Dark Shadow playing?"
The familiar glowered at him and hissed, "of course I'm playing!"
"I meant no offense," the sparkly student replied, flapping his hands.
Aizawa passed them by with a cup of... hopefully not coffee at this time of night. "The dorms had
better still be standing when I wake up tomorrow, got that problem children?"
"Yes, Mr. Aizawa," the class (who were apparently all problem children now) chorused.
"Don't traumatize each other." The teacher left them to their own devices... and tender mercies. Izuku had never been to an actual party before. How did this usually go? Were they liable to traumatize each other?
"Alright. Who starts?"
Everyone talked at once. Izuku found himself blurting "Dark Shadow!" although he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because the familiar had looked so... it was hard to ascribe emotions to someone of such an alien species, but Izuku swore he'd sounded insecure, nervous, when Aoyama questioned whether he was playing. Somehow, Izuku had managed to make himself heard and a few others agreed with him. By dint of his faction shouting the loudest, Dark Shadow began the game.
"Truth or dare, Uraraka?" the bird inquired.
The gravity eraser blinked. "Truth," she said.
"Have you ever destroyed something by floating it accidentally and what was it?" Uraraka blushed. "That's a good one," muttered Kirishima from Izuku's left.
"I... the dining room table," she covered her face with her hands. "God, I was so embarrassed. My mom still teases me about it and dad brings it up anytime he wants something from me. I fell asleep doing homework and when I woke up... boom!" A few people chuckled. Izuku winced in sympathy. "Alright. Bakugou, truth or dare?"
The blonde growled, annoyed to be picked on right out of the gate. "Dare."
She considered for a moment, probably trying to settle on something that wouldn't put a target on her back next time the class sparred. "Go stick your head under the kitchen sink for thirty seconds and you're not allowed to fix your hair afterwards."
Kacchan glared at her then complied, snarling under his breath throughout the whole process. He came back with his hair sopping wet, hanging in straggly curtains which obscured his vision and dripped onto his clothes. "Icy hot," he pointed at Todoroki, "truth or dare?"
Apparently that was an acceptable mode of address, even if Zuko was still heavily preferred. The dual quirked student considered. "Uhhh... truth. I don't want to get my hair wet right now."
"You wouldn't get the same dare as Bakugou, kero."
Todoroki cocked his head in confusion. "I wouldn't?"
"No," Ashido explained, "Bakugou would choose a new one for you." "Oh." He considered. "I still choose truth."
"Fine. How'd you get that--" Kacchan abruptly shut his mouth, almost blushing as he thought better of whatever he had meant to say. "Why do you really want us all to call you Zuko all the time?" That wasn't really a secret...
"Because it annoys my father so much he looks like he is having an aneurysm every time my alias
is mentioned. It is glorious." Todoroki's face split into a disconcerting slasher grin and he rubbed his hands together gleefully. There were several audible gulps.
"Now you get to ask someone--" Ashido began to explain.
"I understand now," Todoroki nodded. "Apologies about earlier. I had not heard of this game before tonight save in passing. Now... Tsu."
"Yes, kero? I mean, truth." "Did you hatch from an egg?"
The frog girl remained motionless for a moment, stunned, then snapped back into action. "No, kero, well... I was born in the same manner as live bearing frogs, so not quite in the same way as most of you, no placenta for one thing. I could talk more about these differences but I don't think you want to know. Although you may have to hear about it in health class next semester, kero."
Izuku, whose face was burning as he looked firmly away from every member of the opposite sex, was grateful for the short answer. He was not the only one, either. "Thank you, Tsu," Kaminari said, strangled. A few people chuckled.
"Truth or dare, Aoyama?"
"Dare, please," the sparkly student raised his eyebrows. "Bring it on, let me shine!"
"I dare you to stand on the counter and sing the entire opening theme song to that cartoon with the boy dressed as a black cat you were watching last week, kero."
A few minutes later, Aoyama bowed and stepped off his podium. Izuku clapped politely, even as his ears burned from the abuse. "Which, Jirou," Aoyama called on her.
"Uh, dare?"
"Tie a gym shoe around your neck and wear it for the rest of the night. If anyone asks you about it you must call it your "precious jewel."" Jirou rolled her eyes and went to fetch the smelly item in question. Izuku couldn't help but snicker. It looked pretty ridiculous.
Jirou pointed to Ashido. "Dare," the pink haired girl said before even being asked. "I dare you to give Kirishima a kiss on the cheek."
"What?" Ashido squeaked. "N-no I can't! I..."
Jirou smirked. That seemed like... was this normal for a truth or dare game? Izuku had heard that they sometimes got out of hand. Was this getting out of hand? "Really? A peck on the cheek is too much for you? It's not like I'm asking you to really kiss him."
Ashido's mouth twisted into a bizarre shape then she darted across the circle and sort of bumped her lips into Kirishima's face before clearing the distance back to her spot in a single leap. The two victims stalwartly refused to look at each other afterwards, their whole faces red as Kirishima's hair.
"Midoriya!" Ashido pointed at him.
"Truth," he said, not at all interested in being sent out to kiss some random classmate at her whims. He hadn't had his first kiss yet, not even a cheek peck, and he wasn't going to waste it here. Or had
he? He didn't remember Bit Weasel ever kissing anyone, either with his body or her own... If he didn't remember it then it didn't count.
"How'd you get that bite scar on your upper arm?"
Crap. It could have been worse. She could have asked him what his quirk was and that... He'd have to take dares from now on because someone would certainly ask him that and he should have thought of that earlier, kisses or no kisses. How much could he actually say? That scar really was something he couldn't talk about, most of it anyway. "I can't tell you about that because of an active police investigation," he said at last, deciding that the snippets he could potentially share such as "I was bitten by a shapeshifter" would not suffice as they were obvious. The mood in the room shifted, students giving him confused, sidelong glances. Only a few of them had seen that scar. Most had no idea what was going on here.
"Seriously?" Ashido asked.
"Yeah," Kacchan put in, arms crossed. "I know some about it. He can't tell you anything except he's not a werewolf, apparently." Someone snorted. It wasn't what Katsuki said but how he said it (and who the blonde was as a person) that made it funny, lightening the mood significantly.
Ashido rolled her eyes, "fine, then, what's your quirk?"
Oh, come on. Izuku sighed deeply, staring at the ceiling to give him strength. "I could tell you that," he began, "but keeping it a secret could very well save my life in the future. I'll do whatever nasty thing you want me to do as a penalty but I really, really need to keep that to myself."
Ashido and Kirishima exchanged glances, whispering to each other as they tried to come to some sort of conclusion. The mood, lightened by Katsuki's joke, had been thoroughly doused in darkness again. Izuku shouldn't have played at all... "Fine. It's not fair to give you a penalty for something like that I guess... Games shouldn't like... get people killed or... or..." Is this what Aizawa meant about not traumatizing each other? "One more try. Why was Nedzu reading you bad poetry?"
Izuku blinked. "Oh. You heard that?"
"Yeah," Ashido nodded, "as I was stepping out into the hall I heard you talking to Aizawa and I've
been dying to know."
It... couldn't hurt to tell them this, could it? Many of them already knew he was not destined for the limelight and, really, given what he had heard on the bus that afternoon it might do them good to be reminded of the fact that undercover heroes existed. "He was mock torturing me to prepare me to take the undercover auxiliary exam last week."
"Oh. That's a thing?" Ashido blinked.
"It is indeed although I was not aware that Midoriya had taken it," Iida commented. "I presume you passed?" Izuku nodded. "Congratulations. I have heard it can be harrowing."
Izuku shook his head. "It wasn't so bad. It was... mostly just really weird. It's my turn now, isn't it?"
"Yes," Kaminari nodded.
"Promise I'll choose dares in the future," Izuku said quickly, just making himself clear. "Uh... Tokoyami."
"Truth," he replied.
Suddenly Izuku had no idea what to ask. "Uh... are there dentists for people with beaks?" Oh my god, what had he just said that was so incredibly rude why did he say that yes it was an interesting question but why--
"There are not, in fact, beak dentists. I see a specialist doctor, but beaks seem to require entirely less maintenance than teeth. I have to keep it trim of course." He did not seem offended in the slightest. Izuku must have been overreacting.
The worst thing the greenette was dared to do (and he was only called on twice more) was pet Kacchan's soggy hair and call him "good kitty cat." The blonde looked as if his skull might explode from the sheer force of fiery rage building there. Someone was going to pay. This must be what Aizawa meant about trauma.
"Know who you're going to be with for work-study?" Ojiro asked as the four made their way to lunch.
"I don't think I'm going to manage to do it this year," Shouji replied with a shrug. "Usually you don't start it until second year, anyway, so I don't feel like it's really a problem."
"Fair," Ojiro nodded. "I will try to find something but..." "What?" Kacchan snorted.
"I think I might be too boring," Ojiro sighed.
Izuku blinked. "Uh... what?"
"I'm boring," Ojiro replied. "I... it was pretty clear during room tours. I think I had the least personality of anyone. I'm not flashy enough to attract any pro's attention." He shrugged.
"Being a minimalist is not the same as not having a personality," Shouji pointed out. "Like I said, I'm certainly not going to find an agency to take me this year and I am certainly not boring." True. "What about you two?"
Katsuki grimaced. "Three Ring, the guy who's running Genius while Best Jeanist is taking his dirt nap, offered to take me in. The agency's plenty prestigious and they take a lot of work study students so I think I might do it even though..." he shook his head. "It'll be all... gloomy."
That did sound gloomy. It would still probably be a good opportunity, though. Katsuki turned to him expectantly. Izuku shrugged. "I... might see if False Flag will take me." It would, without a doubt, be the most insane experience of his life... She was clearly more than a bit crazy but she
was good. There would be so much to learn. Also, maybe he would have an opportunity to find out why she gave him her number in the first place, what it was she knew that he didn't.
"Don't know her," Shouji hummed.
"She's a... the undercover hero equivalent of top ten. There aren't actually rankings like that, but everyone knows she's one of the best," Izuku explained.
All of this led to the most awkward telephone conversation of Izuku's life. He left False Flag a text message asking if she had time to talk to him, signing "Fossa of the Hosu Incident" to identify himself.
She texted him back and said she would give him a call on Saturday night.
"So, Fossa," she hummed as Izuku jumped to pick up his phone on the first ring. "It's good to hear from you. How have you been?" She spoke as if she expected his reply to be exceptional. It was not.
"Uh... fine. How about you?"
She huffed, irritated, but the greenette couldn't begin to imagine what he might have said to annoy her. "The usual. Now, what was the purpose of this phone call?"
"W-well... I w-as wondering, since you gave me your number, I was wondering if you might be willing to, uh, you know... I'm looking for a work-study placement?" Izuku would have slammed his head against the wall in mortification if he weren't afraid of False Flag hearing the impact.
He could clearly hear her trying not to laugh at him, although, again, it sounded more like a disbelieving laugh, as if she thought he were faking his nervousness, than legitimate mirth. "And why me, Fossa?"
"Uh... you're really good at your job?" "Lots of people are good at their jobs."
"But I don't know any of them... and I know you? And you're really good at your job and have a lot to teach potentially and your quirk is really fascinating--"
"Fair points," False Flag interrupted him, considering something and "hmming" to herself under her breath. "Trying to think if I'm working any cases lately where it would be helpful to have an ornament..." Izuku almost objected to being called an "ornament" but on some level it was probably a fair assessment of his current usefulness. "Yes, yes. Can you play a Trigger junkie, Fossa?"
Izuku only vaguely knew that Trigger was some kind of fad drug. "Uhh... maybe?"
"That's good enough for now," she decided. "I will swing by UA and have a discussion with you and your instructors. This sort of work involves a lot of signatures."
"O-okay," Izuku nodded emphatically, excited and frightened in equal measures.
She sniffed. "I'll give Nedzu a call and find a time that works. Pleasure speaking with you, Fossa." The way she said his name... he couldn't put a finger on it but there was something strange in the tone. Maybe she thought it was a silly name? A lot of things she said seemed to hide deeper meanings beneath the surface, like icebergs sailing in a sea of dark emotions.
"You, too." The call ended. Izuku spent the next hour agonizing over the stuttering, rambling mess he made of himself during that conversation.
Izuku lingered after class. Aizawa watched him neutrally. The greenette carefully closed the door and paced slowly towards his teacher. He'd spent the whole day working himself up to this. He was just going to say it now. "At the exam," Izuku began. He hadn't meant to begin this way, but now he had... "At the exam I had a flashback." His teacher blinked at him, becoming more alert and rising from his slouch. "It was only for a second, but it wasn't... it clearly wasn't one of my memories, in the sense of I don't remember ever witnessing something even remotely like it..."
"Something that happened to you when you were missing?" Aizawa raised an eyebrow.
"That's my theory, I guess... a girl died in my arms. I couldn't place where it was, only that I was trying to help her not hurt her." All of this was true. There was no need to go into details beyond this, no need to so much as mention the MLA. Izuku could, potentially, get help for PTSD symptoms without revealing what was really going on in his head, the stuff that would get him thrown out of school in the best case scenario...
"You were under an enormous amount of stress during that exam, likely more than you would have been in an actual combat situation," Aizawa pointed out.
Izuku shook his head. That wasn't right. "I wasn't worried at all--"
"Yes you were, problem child. I watched you break five pencil in half the day before the exam." Wait. Really? Izuku had... no conscious recollection of that. "And I can understand why. You're quirkless and many of your skills are the result of a horrible crime. You have more to prove than anyone else who took that test. I'm not really surprised that it triggered something, that being said it's very concerning. I've been trying to shoe you towards psychotherapy for a long time." Izuku blinked. He had? "Yes, I have. You just--" Aizawa shook his head. "I was being too subtle I suppose. I'm going to insist at this point."
Izuku nodded. "I mean... I was going to insist if you didn't."
"Good, we're on the same page. I will inform Hound Dog. You can speak with him first, and if you're not comfortable we can arrange to find you an outside therapist." An outside therapist would probably be better. Anything he said to Hound Dog would be confidential in theory, but in practice...? The school guidance councilor was a hero first and Nedzu's beady eyes were always watching. Money could be an issue, though.
Izuku fidgeted but spat out his question at last, "does... UA reimburse for outside therapy costs?" "Yes," Aizawa answered, "partially at least."
This was good. He should probably have gone ahead and done this long ago regardless of his fears and potential money problems. Izuku would have to watch his tongue, make sure he didn't give away the truth of his situation, but he really needed help at this point. And he wasn't going to get it