Chapter 16: Icarus and Apollo Reunite
The fun has arrived!" Midnight shouted coming into the apartment-like dorm.
"Hi Midnight-Sensei!" Izuku called out from where he was laying on the couch with Eri.
Key word: was. Eri jumped up and ran to the front door with a screech. "Auntie Nemi!"
"Hey sprout!" Midnight chuckled.
Izuku paused their movie and twisted on the couch so he could look into the hallway without aggravating any of his injuries. Recovery Girl had been very strict while assessing and attending to his injuries from his month-long arrest. He was malnourished, bruised, and broken. She'd been able to heal the broken ribs and arm, but the bruises and malnourishment remained as he hadn't had enough stamina.
"Midoriya-kun!" Midnight called as she finally came into view. "I am so sorry about everything. It was such a mess."
Izuku chuckled nervously. "It's alright, Midnight. It wasn't your fault."
"No more of that Midnight stuff," Midnight demanded, making Izuku freeze like a deer in the headlights. "I am your designated wine aunt now, call me Aunt Nemuri, or Auntie Nem or Nemi like Eri does."
Izuku relaxed and smiled at her. "Are you sure?"
"Well, if Eri is Sho and Zashi's daughter and she's my niece, then you're my nephew now," Mi- Nemuri explained. "Therefore, I get full aunt privileges."
"As in you get to do all the fun stuff, but then you get to leave at the end of the day?" Izuku asked with a chuckle.
Nemuri snapped her fingers at him. "Exactly right kid! Now, I was given the rundown of your injuries and everything, but I'm assuming you've been getting restless having to essentially be on bed rest since you've gotten out?"
"Er- yeah, kinda…" Izuku muttered. He was extremely thankful that Naomasa had gotten him out of the HPSC's hands, and that Aizawa and Hizashi had taken him in and gained custody of him, but it was true that he'd gotten a bit restless. Eri and he had made a list of which movies they wanted to watch first and had gone back and forth adding them while the credits for Princess Mononoke played. They'd also watched Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki's Delivery Service the night before and they'd been watching Howl's Moving Castle since they woke up.
"So it's a good thing that I got left in charge then!" Nemuri cheered, clapping her hands together. "I've already invited your friends over, but! I haven't told them that they're all coming because you're here, so it's a big surprise! Ooh, they are so going to freak out about your new look too!"
"You- what? Really!" Izuku shouted, jumping up from the couch and immediately wincing. "They're coming though?"
Nemuri chuckled. "I wouldn't pull any prank like that with you, kiddo."
"Auntie Nemi likes pranks, but she doesn't prank about important stuff," Eri said with a seriousness that Izuku wasn't expecting.
"When are they coming?" Izuku asked, taking both their words for it.
Nemuri pulled out her phone and checked the time. "Ah, I guess any mi-"
A knock sounded at the door and made the three of them jump.
"I guess that's them now," Nemuri chuckled. "I'll get the door, why don't you hide or something? Make it a real surprise?"
Izuku panicked again and looked back and forth between the door and Nemuri as Eri giggled.
"Run, oni-san!" Eri whisper-yelled, waving her hands at him to hurry.
Izuku tripped over the blanket from the couch before he got back to his feet, Nemuri approaching the door and yelling at his friends to stop banging on the door. He could hear Eri jumping on the couch and turning the TV back on as he hid behind the kitchen counter and Nemuri finally opened the door.
"Hey kiddos! Perfect timing, I was just telling Eri-chan that I invited you all over!" Nemuri greeted as the door opened.
"Why are we here, Midnight-Sensei?" Shouto asked and Izuku almost jumped from his hiding spot at that moment. "Your invitation was very cryptic."
"Do you just want us to watch Eri for you or something?" Hitoshi asked.
"We ain't babysitters," Kacchan hissed, causing Izuku's breath to stop for a moment.
"Someone's excited to see his boyfriend," Nana teased.
"Shut up," Izuku hissed.
"Mm, we'd rather not," Yoichi chuckled. "This is the most entertaining thing we've had in years."
"My life is not some soap opera!" Izuku complained.
"Just come on in," Nemuri told his friends. "You'll see why I invited you soon enough."
"Did no one seriously tell them that you got out?" Second asked.
"He's only been out for a little over 24 hours, Second," Banjo laughed. "They probably wanted to do something like this anyways."
"I wanna see Eri!" Mei shouted. Izuku could hear her pushing past everyone to get to the living room until he could see her run past and he had to duck behind the counter again.
He waited until he saw Hitoshi, Shouto, and then finally Kacchan pass by. Nemuri was closing the door when Izuku snuck from his hiding spot and walked up behind Kacchan. Hitoshi turned around and his eyes widened when he saw Izuku, but Izuku quickly cut across his neck before Kacchan noticed. Hitoshi smirked and watched as Izuku jumped and landed on Kacchan's back, earning a string of curses and getting thrown off him. Luckily, Hitoshi was ready and caught him.
"Kid, you could've gotten more hurt with that move," Nana sighed.
"Who cares!" Yoichi screeched, cackling.
"That was pretty hilarious," En chuckled, surprising everyone.
"Izuku!" Kacchan shouted, running forward and pulling him into a hug.
"Hi Kacchan," Izuku whispered with a small smile as the vestiges cooed in his mind, vaguely hearing Nemuri and Eri's giggles in the background.
"When'd you get out?" Hitoshi asked.
"What happened to your hair?" Shouto asked.
Izuku pulled away from the hug reluctantly and turned to face his friends. Hitoshi was standing there with his arms crossed and an unimpressed, yet relieved look on his face; Shouto's arm was smoking as if he'd been prepared to burn Izuku if he was a villain; and Mei was standing with Eri in her arms, jaw dropped.
"Ah, sometime last night," Izuku said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "And I had to cut my hair to even be able to properly wash it after a month of no showers."
"Why didn't you come see us sooner?" Kacchan asked, grabbing him around the waist and looking down at him.
"That's actually our doing," Nemuri interjected. "Izuku is on house arrest since he won't allow us to put him on bed rest."
"It's not that bad, Auntie Nem," Izuku sighed, hoping she wouldn't bring up that he had three broken ribs and a fractured arm. Kacchan's arm squeezed tighter and he froze as he realized what he let slip. At least she wouldn't bring up his injuries.
Nemuri screeched excitedly after also having frozen in realization. "Eri! He did it!"
"He did!" Eri yelled excitedly right along with her. "You officially have another nephew!"
Izuku dropped his face into his hands as a rosy blush covered his face.
"Okay, hold on," Mei said. "There is way too much happening right now even for me."
"Shouta and Hizashi adopted Izuku as soon as he agreed," Nemuri explained. "That was- what? Right before he got released from the Commission?"
"Yeah," Izuku nodded, finally looking up again. "When Naomasa and Nedzu went to talk to Madame President, Aizawa and Yamada asked if I wanted them to adopt me. They told me that you all went to my mom's. I'm sorry you had to deal with her."
"Don't be sorry," Shouto said. "We had no idea what your home life was like."
"We would've gotten you out a lot sooner if we had," Hitoshi agreed.
"Why didn't you ever just come over to mine?" Kacchan asked. "You know the Old Hag would've loved to have you over."
Izuku shrugged. "I didn't want to burden you guys. Plus, she would've gotten worse if I left again."
"Again?" Hitoshi asked. "Where did you go before?"
Izuku froze again, looking around as everyone looked at him in confusion besides Nemuri and Hitoshi who had a kindling of understanding and sadness in their eyes.
"Did you go to the streets, kid?" Third asked.
Izuku nodded and there was a litany of angry responses in his head.
"What did the assholes in your head ask you, Izuku?" Kacchan asked, voice tense.
"Um, they, well," Izuku couldn't get the words out of his mouth and dropped his eyes down to the floor.
Hitoshi walked over to stand in front of him and grabbed his hands, effectively getting him to look up again. "Izu, did you sleep on the streets?"
Izuku's eyes widened and he took a step back, hunching into himself, but Kacchan and Hitoshi didn't let him get far.
"Izu, it's okay," Hitoshi said, squeezing his hands lightly. "It's just us, it's okay."
"I'm right here, nerd," Kacchan whispered at the same time. "You can tell us anything, we've been through too much for us to not have that at least."
Izuku looked around at everyone again before he finally nodded again. Kacchan and Hitoshi immediately pulled him into a hug and soon everyone else had joined as well besides Nemuri who simply started rubbing an area of his back that wasn't covered in his friends' arms. The tears were quick to follow their affection as Izuku nuzzled into his friends' warmth. He had missed them in the past month or so and didn't realize how much he'd needed this.
"You're safe here, oni-san," Eri said, tears evident. She was too young to know the implications of their conversation, but she had also been through too much in her young life. "You'll always have a bed and hugs waiting for you!"
Mei chuckled. "Yeah, and we're all here too. There's always a dorm room open for you to come to if it ever gets to be too much."
"We've all been through a lot, so we all understand how hard it can be sometimes, even though we haven't been through the same stuff," Shouto continued. "You helped me with my father and we'll help you with your new parents and your mother."
Izuku smiled through the tears and invited them all to sit in the living room with him and Eri to finish their movie. They formed a big cuddle pile on the floor after they pushed the coffee table out of the way and Nemuri grabbed more blankets and pillows for them. A small blush grew on his face again as Kacchan pulled him closer and placed a kiss on top of his curls.
Nemuri sent pictures of the kids all cuddled up on the floor to Yamada and Aizawa, and when they came back a few hours later, the kids were all still in the same position, fast asleep.
A couple days later, Izuku was finally allowed to leave the apartment-dorm and walk around with his friends around campus. It was Tuesday, so he'd also be returning to classes tomorrow and he couldn't wait to get back into training after having over a month-long rest period.
"Can we go by my dorm to grab some stuff?" Izuku asked. "I think I might spend a couple more nights with Aizawa and Yamada, so I need my school stuff and my notebooks."
"Of course," Shouto said, their group already turning directions to walk towards the dorms.
Izuku had been enjoying the serenity of aimlessly walking around campus with his friends for about an hour now and his friends had just finished telling him about the Autumnal Equinox festival. Izuku wished the other students hadn't been so mean while he was gone. He'd half been hoping that they'd stop after he was taken away, but he'd never been very lucky with his wishes.
"Oh, I got a new video game while you were gone," Hitoshi commented. "I haven't really been in the mood to play it, but I had preordered it if you all want to play."
"Oh!" Izuku said. "Let's do that too! I don't have to be back with the teachers till later anyways."
"Sounds like a plan," Katsuki smirked, swinging his and Izuku's hands that were clasped tightly together. "Just be ready to get your ass beat."
"You don't even know what game it is," Mei laughed.
"It's obviously some action game," Katsuki scoffed. "We've played Hitoshi's games too much for it to be anything but."
Hitoshi shrugged. "He's not wrong. It's the new Modern Warfare."
"Ooh, can we play team deathmatch?" Izuku asked. "I liked that the most on the last version."
"Yeah sure," Hitoshi agreed. "There's a lot different with this one, so prepare for that."
"Sounds good," Izuku laughed as they reached the dorms and Kacchan opened it, leading them all inside.
Their mood instantly dropped as a plate dropped onto the floor, shattering. Izuku scanned the room and wished he'd had the forethought to prepare himself for meeting his other classmates again.
"Dude!" Denki shouted, jumping up and running over, followed by Kacchan's other friends. "You're back!"
"We missed you!" Mina cried out.
"Yeah, bro!" Kirishima added. "It totally wasn't manly how the Commission just took you like that!"
"Izuku?" Momo asked, coming from the kitchen with a shocked face, Kyouka following behind her.
"Hi everyone," Izuku said nervously, glancing at the other people who didn't seem as excited about having him back.
"What is he doing here?" Uraraka asked, making the group around him tense up.
"Well, uh," Izuku stuttered, he brought his hands up and waved them in a jazz hands motion. "Surprise! I'm not the traitor!"
"How did you get out?" Iida asked tentatively, looking like he didn't know whether he should run and get a teacher or not.
"They let me out?" Izuku asked. "Really, it's not that complicated you guys."
"But you're the traitor! You sold off our personal information and you have multiple quirks!" Uraraka shouted, angry tears filling her eyes. "You betrayed us!"
"I- Nevermind," Izuku sighed. "No matter what I say, you obviously won't change your mind."
"There's evidence stacked against you though," Ojiro huffed and gestured to his shoes, making Izuku freeze. "You were obviously born quirkless, so being the traitor is the only explanation as to how you have a quirk, let alone multiple quirks."
"Oi!" Kacchan shouted, letting go of Izuku's hand and stepping to the front of their group. "How 'bout you all back the fuck off and leave the nerd alone! Naomasa himself proved that the nerd was innocent for the charges against him alright!"
"He probably tricked the lovely detective as well then," Aoyama cut in, eyeing Izuku skeptically. "Based on the way he would analyze us, it would only be right that he analyzed the detective as well."
Izuku rolled his eyes at that. Of course he'd analyzed the detective as well. He analyzed almost everyone he came in contact with! This was just like dealing with the Commission officers all over again and he was tired of it.
"Keep your emotions in check, Nine," Banjo warned. "We don't want a repeat of the training exercise."
Izuku nodded and slowly started taking deep breaths. Shouto must have noticed because he came up and placed a hand on his shoulder, Hitoshi doing the same with his other shoulder a moment later.
"If he could trick the teachers for this long, then it only makes sense that he could trick the Commission and the detective," Uraraka agreed, going along with Aoyama's theory.
"Pink Cheeks, you better shut the fuck up," Kacchan warned.
"He's got you wrapped around his finger!" Uraraka complained. "All of you! He's a useless, good for nothing villain!"
Their group could do nothing but watch as Kacchan rushed forward and collided with Uraraka. Students started shouting as the two threw punches at each other, but Izuku just sighed as he walked forward, shrugging off his friends' hands.
"I've had enough with all of you," Izuku muttered. His anger was brimming under the surface, but he made sure that he had full control of it before he released Black Whip and grabbed the two students. He pulled Kacchan back to his side and placed a hand over his boyfriend's heart. "Don't let her get to you. Nothing she says is true and we know that. That's all that matters."
Kacchan slowly began to relax until Uraraka started shrieking.
"Let go of me, Villain!" Uraraka shouted, some of the other students also shouting at him. "Stupid Deku!"
"You know, Uraraka," Izuku said calmly, not letting either his boyfriend or Uraraka loose. "I think that's the first time that you've used Deku as an insult. To my face at least," he added with a shrug. Uraraka glared at him, but stopped shouting, so at least that was a plus. "Yes, I was born quirkless," he said to the rest of the class, some of them letting out gasps. "But it wasn't All for One who gave me my quirk. If any of you actually studied quirk theory or, I don't know, used your brains, you'd realize that if there was one quirk that allowed the user to give and take quirks, then there'd be more quirks like that as well."
"Izuku…" Momo started, but Izuku just held a hand up to stop her.
"And yes, I analyzed you all," Izuku continued. "I've been analyzing quirks since I was four, even before I was diagnosed quirkless. I showed each and every one of you these analyses though and never showed them to anyone else, not even to other students or teachers unless you expressly asked me to do so and were there with me." He looked towards Denki, Momo, and Hagakure specifically since he'd taken their analyses to Mei and Aizawa upon their requests.
"I never betrayed any of you," Izuku finished. He looked around at his old friends and at the students who believed he was the traitor, not bothering to target those who were indifferent to the situation. "No, I didn't betray you all, but you betrayed me. And that is not something I will forget."
He turned towards his friends who were staring at him in a mixture of shock and pride. "Let's go get my shit. I have to talk to Dad about this, then we can play the game."
He released his quirk and started walking towards the stairs, not bothering to look behind him as his friends rushed to follow after him.
"Damn, Izuku," Hitoshi whispered. "I didn't know you could be so scary!"
"I bet if Mineta was still here, he'd have pissed his pants," Kacchan said, barking a laugh.
"I'm not scary, I'm angry," Izuku countered, stomping up the stairs.
"Yeah, sorry to tell you Izu," Mei laughed, "but those two go hand in hand for you."
"If I wasn't subjected to people that are scary when they're angry my whole life, I likely would have been scared as well," Shouto confirmed. "That being said, I am very glad that I'm your friend and not your enemy."
Izuku sighed, his anger slowly dissipating as he pulled out his phone and found Aizawa's contact before freezing on the stairs mid step, almost making Kacchan run into him.
"Oi! What the fu-"
"I called him Dad," Izuku whispered in horror.
The group around him broke out in laughter and pushed him to continue up the stairs and call who they now deemed 'Dadzawa.'