Hi! Izuku has trauma! Enjoy!
Izuku tucked himself into Hitoshi's side as the group walked back to the dorms in silence.
At first, the entire crew had been celebrating in the hospital-they saved Eri and captured Overhaul, after all! And one of them dealt the final blow! But when they'd seen Izuku, he'd been talking to his Dad about their little family adopting Hex and Paz, and Izuku was just absolutely emotionally drained at that point-he was still incredibly happy about Hex and Paz being alive again, but he'd just gone through the process of what he knew would make him lose two people precious to him and had to go through with it, learning after what would really happen. This was also right after he lost Oboro, so he was not having a good time. (It also didn't help that Paz had been in charge of keeping his social skills up, and Hex had been in charge of keeping his depression down, and now he didn't have that, both were a little out of whack. Hench being tucked into Hitoshi's side quietly and looking exhausted. (Hitoshi's plan was absolutely to shove Izuku at Shoto and make him go to sleep.)
"So…" Mirio said, finally breaking the silence as he glanced over at Izuku. "That was an interesting way for the internships to go! First big save, right?" He glanced over at Izuku. "Sorry that I couldn't be in the center of the action-"
"You were busy fighting-it's fine," Izuku muttered. "With quirk erasing bullets in play, this was probably the best possible outcome since Hex and Paz came back from the dead instead." He snorted. "We walked out with more people alive than when we walked in-I don't think that happens a lot."
Everyone went quiet after that.
"Oh, look, the dorms," Izuku muttered, gesturing towards the dorms buildings. "I'm going to bed."
"Yeah…we'll see you tomorrow, then," Mirio said. "Midoriya, are you heading to the hospital tomorrow to see Eri?"
"And Hex…Paz…stopping to see Oboro, too," Izuku said.
"Sweet-I'm heading over, too, so want to head over together?" Mirio asked. "Around noon?"
"Sure," Izuku said.
"I'll stop by your dorm around then, then-see you then!" Mirio said, and the UA Big Three walked over to their dorms.
Quietly, the 1-A students walked over to their dorms-
-and immediately upon opening the dorms, everyone was there and greeting them.
"We saw it on the news!"
"Izuku, you're the one that took down Overhaul, right?! They didn't show that fight, just reported it!"
"That's so cool!"
"...Deku, is something wrong?"
Everyone immediately paused and stared at Izuku, who was still looking at the ground. Wordlessly, he walked over to the empty couch and straight-up face-planted onto it, letting himself be drawn into the Mind Palace.
"...what the f*ck happened?" Katsuki asked as Shoto walked over, adjusting Izuku slightly so he was leaning against him and not face-down on the couch.
"Long story short?" Hitoshi sighed. "Hex and Paz aren't dead anymore."
"What in the everloving f*ck is that supposed to mean?" Katsuki asked.
"That's…good, right?" Momo asked. "Being able to live and grow-I'm guessing like…wait, were they-"
"Shot with bullets that could rewind time, really long story, so they're both currently in the hospital," Hitoshi said. "Not…not like Oboro." He sighed. "Izuku's been kinda quiet since-those two controlled his social life and depression, so neither are where they're supposed to be right now."
"That's no good at all!" Iida said. "Anything we can do to help?"
"Not sure-just…be around?" Hitoshi asked. "He's able to control his Recklessness easily enough because it was kept where he could regulate it without Oboro, but social life and depression…not so much. So expect him to be sad and quieter for a little while, I guess? I'm not an expert here." He shrugged. "On the good news, we saved the girl-her name's Eri, not sure if we told you that-and she's recovering in the hospital right now, Hex and Paz are alright-they're already getting adopted by Uncle Hisashi as soon as their death certificates are disproven and all that-and we all got out of it without any major injuries. Pretty good, if you ask me." He yawned. "I'm going to bed." He glanced at Shoto. "Need help getting him to his room?"
"No, I've got it," Shoto said, easily picking up Izuku and holding him close and carrying him to his dorm.
…..
Izuku took a deep breath as he stepped into the statue courtyard, the rest of the Sides following.
In the places where Hex, Paz, and even Oboro's statues had been, the statues were in ruins-it really had been some time since Izuku had done anything about that, but…it was probably time to do this.
Izuku took a deep breath, then looked at the Sides that were also looking around.
"I don't want this," Izuku whispered. "It's…"
"...hard," Kai said calmly, patting his shoulder gently. "Yeah, but it's going to be ok, you know? All three are alive, won't be joining us anytime soon, so it's…better to do this."
"Right…right," Izuku said, then reached over and first touched Oboro's statue.
Just like before, the statue disappeared, and a light came off it, flying into Izuku's chest, the other statues-plus the rubble-shifting to equal distance.
Izuku took a deep breath, then he looked at Hex and Paz's statues-they were right next to each other. He walked over and touched both of them at the same time.
Two lights came off them, but instead of floating to Izuku…Hex's light went to Duke's statue, disappearing there, Paz's disappearing in Kai's-
"Without any quirks of their own, there are no full versions to give to Hex and Paz."
They all looked around, knowing they wouldn't find the source of the voice but out of habit anyway.
"Brazen was a neutral side, so no one particularly needs to look after Recklessness, since it was regulated pretty loosely and more so managed by Izuku," the voice continued. "However, Depression was suppressed and Social Life was brought higher, so both need to be regulated. As a result, Duke has been promoted to Izuku's Depression Side, and Kai has been promoted to Izuku's Social Life Side, switching him from a neutral to a Light Side, giving him a room in the Light Mind Palace."
"We…we switched?" Duke asked, everyone looking at him and Kai.
Duke looked exactly the same, but Kai's helmet turned white instead of gray, otherwise no difference.
"So…we're dealing with insecurities being out of whack now?" Izuku asked. "Or does that act under depression since insecurities can lead to depression?"
"I'll think we'll work with that…this'll take some getting used to," Duke said.
"Yeah…I'll try to be more social and all, but I'm better with calm-this is going to take a while," Kai said.
"We'll all learn together, then," Odin said.
"Yeah…yeah," Kai said. "Should we…should we get up and at least head to our dorm? We're on the couch right now?"
"...yeah," Izuku said. "That's…that's probably a good idea." So, he woke up-
-and as he opened his eyes, he saw Shoto…holding him.
Immediately, Izuku's face turned red.
"H-Hi," Izuku muttered.
Shoto jolted slightly, looking down at him. "You're awake."
"Y-Yeah…sorry," Izuku muttered. "I…were you…"
Shoto carefully set him down, and Izuku realized they were in his room, and he was now in his bed.
"You fell asleep on the couch-it took me a few minutes to get you up here, so nice power nap, huh?" Shoto asked, sitting down next to Izuku, who quickly sat up and leaned against him.
"Yeah…we finally went and destroyed the…the statues," Izuku said quietly. "Oboro's, Paz's, and Hex's."
"Oh…" Shoto said, quickly pulling Izuku into a side hug. "That's…"
"Yeah," Izuku sighed. "It's…it's rough, but it…it had to be done, you know?" He sighed. "So I fully have Oboro's quirk, and…well, I needed someone to regulate my depression and social life, so…Duke's in charge of depression now, and Kai's in charge of social life now. No one for Recklessness, but I think that one will stay like that for a while."
Shoto hummed. "So…you'll be one of the chess pieces for now?"
Izuku snorted, nudging him slightly. "Yeah." He sighed. "I'm gonna be…off for a while. It's gonna be alright, but…"
"It's a few big changes in a row," Shoto said. "If you ever need me, let me know."
"Can I just…cuddle against you for a while?" Izuku asked, cheeks slightly red.
Shoto gave him a small smile, hugging him a little tighter. "Of course."
…I have a favorite ship, don't judge me, you already knew that…
Eri's face lit up-she didn't smile, but she didn't seem to know how, and if that didn't break Izuku's heart-as Izuku and Mirio entered the room.
'Hi, Eri!" Izuku said, giving her a big smile.
"Flere," she said, moving slightly forward, then hesitating.
Aww, does she want a hug?
"Do you want a hug?" Izuku asked, moving his arms a little in case she said yes.
Eri hesitated, then quickly nodded and darted forward a little. Izuku caught her and gave her a big hug as he sat on the bed, carefully setting her on his lap as Mirio sat on the other side of Eri. She shifted slightly so her back wasn't to him.
"Where's…where's Hex and Paz?" Eri asked, giving Izuku big eyes.
"They're here, too," Izuku said. "They got hurt, though, so they're gonna be here in the hospital for some time-"
"Is it…is it my fault?" Eri asked, tears in her eyes.
"Not at all," Izuku said immediately. "No one getting hurt was your fault-Overhaul was in the wrong. Besides," he gave her a soft smile at this, "you saved Nighteye-that's the opposite of hurting someone."
"It…it is," Eri said, eyes wide and shining slightly-probably the closest to smiling she could do. "Can…can I see them?"
Odin, mind asking a nurse?
Of course!
"I'll have one of my friends ask the nurse for us, ok?" Izuku asked.
"Ok," Eri said.
Mirio began to stand up-
"Hi, Eri."
Eri jolted slightly, clutching at Izuku as she turned to see Odin smiling at her.
"H-Hi," Eri said. "Who are you?"
"I'm Odin-think of me as a guardian angel like Hex and Paz, ok?" Odin asked.
"There's more of you?" Eri asked.
Odin nodded. "There's about…eighteen of us, including Hex and Paz that stick around with Izuku-or, well, mostly."
"Nineteen, then-should we count Kesshuu?" Izuku asked.
Odin snorted. "I mean…you're not wrong."
"Can I meet all of them?" Eri asked.
"Of course-there's a bunch, so I'll send Odin to talk to a nurse, and I'll have a few come out to meet you at a time, ok?" Izuku asked.
"Ok," Eri said.
"Great-I'll be right back!" Odin said, then walked out of the room.
Right as she exited the room, Yui, Yumio, Dasu, and Duke appeared.
"Hi, Eri-we're really glad you're safe!" Yui said.
"You were at the fight," Eri said. "You fought…"
"Yep!" Yui said. "And our hard work paid off for you to be safe!"
"Quite," Yumio said. "I wasn't in the fight, per say, but I was helping behind the scenes. I'm Yumio."
"I'm Dasu," Dasu said.
"And I'm Duke," Duke said.
"I saw you two there, too," Eri said.
"Yep!" Duke said.
I'm glad we don't look like Overhaul-that would not be good in this situation.
Same here.
"Alright, next batch!" Yui said, and the four disappeared, Darnell, Emory, Kamari, and Darlina taking their place.
"You're young!" Eri said, pointing at Darlina.
Darlina nodded. "Yep. I'm Darlina-I don't really fight 'cause I'm a kid, so I don't do as much."
"I'm different," Darnell added. "I'm not Darnell, and I do not speak in lies."
"Everything he says is opposite," Izuku told Eri. "Like Darlina, he stays to the side more, and he talks in lies."
Eri made a face, but she nodded. "Ok. That makes sense." She looked at Emory and Kamari.
"I'm Emory," Emory said gently, giving her a small smile. "It's very nice to meet you, and I'm excited to see you in a better place now. I'm not very good at fighting myself, so I couldn't really help with everything, but I trust everyone else to help with that."
"And I'm Kamari, darling," Kamari said, then paused. "Any favorite foods, sweetie?"
"Favorite…foods?" Eri asked. "I don't…I don't have any."
"Any favorite sweets? Drinks?" Kamari asked.
"...water?" Eri said.
Oh, she doesn't have anything else? Not apple juice, orange juice…?
"Want some water or juice?" Kamari asked.
"Juice?" Eri asked.
"Sure-let's go with…apple," Kamari said, making a juice box, poking the straw through, and handing it to Eri, who looked at it for a few seconds before taking a sip-
Her face lit up and she downed the rest of it quickly, then looked at Kamari with puppy eyes.
"Can I please…" She trailed off and started to hunch in on herself.
"Of course, darling!" Kamari said, giving her another juice box. "Really like that?"
Eri nodded as she drank the next one a little slower, but seemed sad when it was finished.
Kamari was quick to give her another one before she even asked, and she slowly drank that one.
"Thank you," Eri said, eyes lit up.
"Of course, sweetie!" Kamari said. "Glad we found something you like." They made one more and handed it to Eri. "Well, time for the next batch!" With that, the Sides disappeared, and Hirah, Dot, Yuki, and Hinata appeared-
"You're my age," Eri said, looking at Hinata.
"Yep-I'm Hinata," Hinata said quietly, a little bit of anxiety in the Mind Palace. "I'm glad you're alright and safe now-being in pain isn't fun."
Did we just put two traumatized children in a room with each other?
Yep. I mean, hopefully they can be friends?
I hope so. I think she needs friends-I do.
Oh, that's just precious!
"I'm-" yawn "-Dot," Dot muttered, rubbing her eyes.
"I'm Yuki!" Yuki said.
"I'm Hirah," Hirah said.
"There's also Eimi and Kai-you met them briefly with Hex and Paz," Izuku said.
Eri nodded. "Are they here?"
"No, they have a family that they're seeing today," Izuku said.
"Family?" Eri asked. "Do…do all of them have families-did I keep them from their family?"
"Not all of us do," Hinata said. "Eimi and Kai do, and so do Oboro, Hex, Paz, Yui, and Darlina, but we mostly hang around Izuku."
"O…boro?" Eri asked.
"Yep!" Izuku said. "He's hurt like Hex and Paz are-it happened a while ago, but he's still in the hospital-he'll be out soon, so that's good there."
Just talked to the nurse-we can bring Eri to see Hex and Paz!
"Hey, we can go see Hex and Paz now," Izuku said. "Want to walk, or do you want me to carry you there?"
Eri held onto him a little tighter.
"Carry it is," Izuku said, holding her a little tighter as he stood up, Mirio standing up as well. "They're on the same floor, and I bet they're excited to see you."
…walking, walking, walking…
"Hi Izu-Eri!"
Eri's face lit up as she saw Hex and Paz, both of them scrolling through phones (geez, it had been…not that long, geez, it felt like forever-), but immediately perked up upon seeing the girl.
"Hi," Eri said, wiggling slightly until Izuku gently put her down, and Eri looked between the two before deciding to approach Hex first, looking up at them.
Hex leaned down slightly and gently helped the girl onto the bed despite the iv in their arm. "It's good to see you!"
"Yeah," Eri said. "I'm glad you're alright."
"Yeah, same here-glad you're alright, too," Hex said.
Paz, meanwhile, looked at Izuku with a small pout, holding out his phone.
"Give your phone number-I don't have it memorized," Paz said. "I thought I did, so I'm blaming the meds."
"Yeah…you seem more lucid than Oboro did right away," Izuku said, sitting on the edge of his bed as Hex and Eri talked, Mirio joining that conversation.
"Yeah," Paz shrugged. "I'd say it's because Hex and I are…well, quirkless, but maybe because we were rewound instead of placed back in? I'm not really sure. The pain isn't really…there so much, you know?"
"You promise?" Izuku asked.
"I promise," Paz said with a small smile. "We'll be out of here soon enough-Hisashi…I guess Dad now, huh? He told us the house is too quiet, so Hex and I are going to be changing that drastically." Both then looked to the side, where Eri was trying to get on the bed. Paz was quick to lean down and scoop her up. "We'll make sure to see you lots, too, of course-that is, if you're fine with that."
Eri was quick to nod, and Paz hugged her a little tighter.
….
"Izuku!"
Izuku gave Oboro a big smile as he entered the hospital room-a trip here, then a trip to see Hex, Paz, and Eri. "Hey, Oboro, how's it been?"
"So boring!" Oboro groaned, but he was smiling just as big as Izuku. "You and Shota haven't visited for a few days-how'd that raid go?"
"We…we saved Eri," Izuku said slowly.
"I'm not a fan of how you said that," Oboro said. "What happened?"
"Well…I guess…you're not the only Side that's alive again?" Izuku said.
There was a pause.
"I'M WHAT?!"
"Yeah…" Izuku sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, then pausing and looking at Oboro. "You're not hooked up to anything anymore. No I.V.s or anything. That's really great."
"Yeah, it is-don't change the subject!" Oboro exclaimed, then paused, horror crossing his face. "Please tell me Darlina wasn't also a-"
"No, no…just…no," Izuku said, then explained everything.
….
"Oh," Oboro whispered after a minute of silence.
"Yeah," Izuku sighed. "It's…it's a lot. Duke is working on managing my depression, Kai's on social life, and everything's a little…"
"Crazy," Oboro said, leaning against Izuku. "Yeah."
Izuku nodded. "At least we saved Eri…and Dad's already gonna adopt Hex and Paz, so we don't have to worry about that-I'm gonna visit them a bunch when I can, but that means…that means visiting you less."
"Oh," Oboro said, then looked up at the ceiling. "Honestly…I'm fine with that."
"You…you are?" Izuku asked quietly, eyes wide.
"I'll still see you a bunch-I swear, it's not bad," Oboro said. "I'm…I'm getting released soon, so Nezu's gonna be stopping by to get me all the tests I need to see where I'll be for schooling, you know?"
"Oh-oh, that's good," Izuku said. "Excited to be back in school?"
"Heck yeah!" Oboro said. "I might end up in your class, but I might end up a year ahead of you-either way, once I'm living in the dorms, I'll make sure to bug you all the time-you'll get sick of me, just you see!"
Izuku snorted. "I don't think I could ever get sick of you. I mean, it's been how many years? I haven't yet, and it probably won't start now."
"Aw, you love me," Oboro said, nudging him slightly.
"You're family, so of course I do," Izuku said, leaning more heavily against him.
…..the ending of that scene came out of nowhere…..
"What do we want to do for the Culture Festival? We have to decide all this now!"
"I think a maid cafe would be fun-"
"There are six girls in this class, Kaminari-"
"Hey, Izuku, how many girl Sides do you have?"
"Six?" Izuku said. "Only two are high-school age, though, so that's definitely not happening." He paused. "Food might be a good idea, though-there will be a ton of food stands, though, so probably not just that. Cafes and haunted houses are so cliche, though, they'll be every other-displaying weird rocks is a no-go, though." (two points if you get that reference.)
"So…that gets rid of haunted houses-what was that about weird rocks, though?" Momo asked, giving him an odd look.
"Long story and a bunch of episodes of a really old anime," Izuku said. "Now, what were the other suggestions…dance was one, mochi shop…again, lots of cafes, we could maybe do something with sweets, but we could have food and something, you know?"
"What if we did live music and snacks?" Hagakure asked.
"Live music?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah-Jirou, you know how to play guitar and such, so why don't we incorporate that!" Hagakure asked. "It would be really cool!"
"We could add dancing, too-that way, everyone can do more, and it would be good for stress relief," Shoto said.
"I'll choreograph the dance!" Mina immediately said.
"We can have sweets and such for everyone-I can do that," Sato said, then looked at Izuku. "Any of the Sides good at baking?"
"Mom, Yui, Kamari-" Izuku started.
"If we're doing music, I'm gonna borrow Odin for that," Jirou immediately said. "Any other Sides know how to play any instruments?"
I know how to play the violin.
"Yumio can play the violin," Izuku said.
"I'm borrowing him, too," Jirou said, then looked around. "Who else wants to play music?"
"We also need a set-up crew!" Iida said. "Any Sides able to help with that?"
"Duke, Dasu…Hinata can use Occupy…Eimi and Kai can help there-Kai's also good at baking-" Izuku started.
Immediately, everyone was quickly making groups for set-up, dance, the music, food-
Izuku felt his social battery draining, and he quietly took out some paper and made note of who was doing what-
Oh, shoot, that's my job, sorry!
Izuku's social battery was instantly half-charged.
I forgot for a minute, I"m sorry.
That's fine…
"Alright!" Momo said, then looked at Izuku. "Do you want to text Aizawa-sensei right quick and let him know what we settled on?"
"Sure," Izuku said, getting out his phone and sending Aizawa-sensei a quick text to say what they were planning.
….
Aizawa looked at his phone as it pinged, then snorted and pocketed it again.
"Who was that?" Oboro asked, looking up from his large stack of papers.
"Izuku-the class is planning on doing live music, snacks, and dancing," Aizawa said.
"Aw, please tell me I'll be able to go!" Oboro groaned.
Aizawa gestured at the papers. "Finish those tests first."
"Got it, sensei," Oboro said, turning back to the papers and continuing through.
…..
"Culture Festival? What's that?"
"It's a festival at our school!" Mirio said, smiling at Eri-she had climbed into Izuku's lap the second he got there. She was now in the same room as Hex and Paz after the doctors realized that having the two around made the small girl much more comfortable.
"There's going to be a bunch of people there and a lot of fun things to do," Izuku said. "Lots of food and games-my class is doing a fun dance thing, too."
"My class is helping run the beauty pageant this year," Mirio said. "Not as fun as that, but still pretty fun! There are a bunch of other things happening there, too!"
"Oh," Eri said, then paused. "I…" She stopped herself.
"Do you want to go?" Izuku asked.
Eri hesitated, looking up at him with big eyes. She paused for a few seconds, then gave him a small nod.
"Alright!" Izuku said, taking out his phone to text Aizawa-sensei-he'd gone and stopped by to see Oboro and should be on the way to say hi to Eri. "I'll ask Aizawa-sensei about it to get the ok and see if we can get someone with you the whole day-don't want you getting lost."
Eri immediately looked at Hex and Paz. "Are you two going to be there?"
Hex and Paz exchanged a look, then looked at Eri.
"We should be," Hex said. "Paz and I are doing really well, so we should be free to leave the hospital at that time-we'll make sure to have a lot of fun there! Maybe we can even introduce you to Oboro if he's out at that time!"
"He should be out by then," Izuku said. "I think you'd like him, Eri, he's really nice."
"Ok…ok," Eri said, then hesitated and looked at Izuku. "Can…" She stopped herself and looked at her lap.
"She's been hoping for more apple juice," Hex whispered to Izuku, and Eri hunched her shoulders.
"I can do one better," Izuku said, flipping his hand and handing Eri an apple, making a juice box, too.
Eri looked at the box and quickly drank it, then looked at the apple. Her eyes lit up as she took a bite, and she took a few more big bites in rapid succession.
"Slow down-you don't want to choke," Izuku said. "Do you like it?"
Eri nodded quickly, taking a smaller bite and chewing it a little slower. "It's good."
"I'm glad!" Izuku said. "So, how has today been? Having fun hanging out with Hex and Paz?"
Eri nodded and started to softly talk about a t.v. show the two had put on.
….
Izuku groaned as he collapsed on his bed. He loved that Eri felt comfortable enough to talk, but he missed visiting hours for Oboro entirely. Emory had stayed behind with the class to learn the choreography so Izuku can learn while he's asleep, but…he'll have that tomorrow with the rest of the class, and classes in general…he might not have time to even stop to see Eri, Hex, and Paz tomorrow, let alone Oboro.
How about we don't focus on that right now. We're just busy with the festival, we'll have more time once this slows down. I know, it's just-
A wave of depression washed through the Mind Palace, and all of Izuku's thoughts cut off as his body began to feel heavy, his eyes drooping-
DUKE!
Sorry, I forgot that I'm depressed now!
The wave stopped, and a wave of sloth replaced it.
Let's just…get some sleep…
Yeah…yeah, that sounds…that sounds great.
Izuku tucked himself in, curled up, and fell asleep.
…
Eri looked around the school, eyes wide.
"It's so…big," Eri whispered.
Izuku nodded. "Yep! It's really safe, though- and I'll make sure to stick by you the whole time we're here."
Hex and Paz were having some blood tests done, and Eri had started to freak out about that, so Nezu had been quick to say that Izuku should take her around UA so she's familiar with the school before the festival. It had taken some convincing (and a little bit of disappointment on Izuku's side-he'd been heading to see Oboro first today when Nezu had called him and asked him to change direction. He'd done so immediately, of course, even copying Momo's quirk to make Eri an outfit to actually wear when he got there, but he still missed actually seeing Oboro, who assured Izuku that it was fine, he was really busy, too, anyway, but Izuku just wanted-)
Eri had eventually agreed to go with Izuku once she realized that Hex and Paz would be perfectly fine when they got back-after all, Izuku would never leave them somewhere they could be hurt, and Izuku can call them every ten minutes to prove to Eri that the two are alright. That made Eri much more comfortable, but she still didn't want to be around to see their blood drawn.
Hence, tour of UA.
"This is the main school building," Izuku said, handing her a pair of indoor shoes that she was quick to slip on. "You'll see a bunch of people running around and setting things up because we're preparing for the festival-want to hold my hand to make sure you don't get lost, or do you want me to carry you? Either is fine, or if you just want to stick close-"
Eri held her hands up to him in the typical pick-me-up demand.
"Fair enough," Izuku said, quickly scooping her up in his arms and shifting her slightly to make sure she was comfortable. "Alright, where to first…let's stop by my classroom! Some of my class might be working there, others will be at our dorms-we can stop there later, you might know some of my classmates that were there to save you, and we might see Aizawa-sensei there with my classmates, and we might see Lemillion and his friends in their classroom. Sound like fun?"
Eri nodded, clutching onto him as he walked along.
…
Everything here was…really big. Eri clutched to Flere as he showed her around, pointing at different things happening-there was a play that would happen in 1-B, the beauty pageant thing-Lemillion was there, but he was too busy to come with them, but that's alright, he had better things to do-the Support Department being…the Support Department, as Flere put it, and much more.
It wasn't long before Flere grabbed Eri some food at the Cafeteria.
"It might taste a little too much, but if it does, I can get you different food-let me know, ok?" Flere asked as the two sat down.
"Ok," Eri said, carefully picking up her chopsticks-ones meant for learning, she wasn't very good at using them-and taking a bite of her food as Flere ate some of his. "It's good."
"I'm glad you like it!" Flere said.
"I'm glad as well!"
Eri jumped and turned as Flere simply looked up. There was a…rat? Bear? Mouse? Eri wasn't sure, standing there, along with a smiling woman.
"Hi, Principal Nezu," Flere said.
"Hello, Izuku-and it's very nice to see you, too, Eri!" the creature-Nezu-said, giving Eri a big smile, which…she couldn't return-she wanted to, but…Hex and Paz said she could take her time with smiling, as much time as she needs, which is really nice of them-really, she wants to smile for them, but she can't. "I'm glad you enjoy your food-have you enjoyed UA so far?"
Eri nodded as she swallowed another bite. "It's…really big."
"Quite," Nezu said. "We're eager to have you attending our Culture Festival."
The woman turned to Flere and said…something, Eri wasn't sure. Was that…it was English, Hex and Paz had told her about it! She didn't like that she didn't know what they were saying, but maybe she wasn't supposed to know? Oh well. Maybe Flere would tell her later…? He was really nice and liked to make sure she knew things. Hex and Paz were the same way…they were all really nice.
"Well, not much we can do about it," Nezu said, breaking through Eri's thoughts as he looked at the woman, then at Flere. "By chance, however, mind if you stop by my office later? I have a few questions concerning the entire…situation with the Reapers. We are running much lower on time to prepare, as you know."
"I know-when do you want me to stop by?" Flere asked.
"After you drop Eri back off with Hex and Paz, perhaps?" Nezu said.
Eri noticed Flere looked a little…uneasy about that-was everything alright? He nodded, though.
"Of course," Flere said.
"Splendid-I shall see you then!" Nezu said, then left.
"I'd better get going, too," the woman said. "Everything running smoothly with the dance party, Izuku? Shota won't tell me anything."
"Yep!" Flere said. "Mom just managed to convince Jirou to take lead vocals and Mom doing backups, while the other Sides are scattered around doing other things-Emory's learning the dance, I guess I know what I'm doing tonight." He sighed. "No time to visit Oboro again…if you stop by soon, can you give him a hug for me?"
The woman looked confused, then she understood. "Oh…oh. Uh…yeah, one hundred percent-I'll be heading over there later-or I can bug Shota about it, he won't mind, I'm sure." She smirked. "He acts like he doesn't care, but he's the biggest softie-"
Her phone started to ring.
"Ah, I'd better go!" the woman said, grabbing her phone and walking away.
"Who…who was that?" Eri asked, giving Flere an odd look.
"..she forgot to introduce herself-that was Midnight, or Kayama-sensei," Flere explained. "She's one of Eraserhead's friends."
"Oh," Eri said, looking back at her food. "She was nice."
"I think so," Flere said. "So, what are you most excited about for the festival?"
"Seeing your class," Eri said.
"Aw, I'm glad!" Izuku said. "We'll make sure to do our best for you, then." He reached over and gently pat her head. "It's going to be so much fun!"
…
"Hey…Izuku?"
"Yeah?" Izuku asked, looking at Mina, who looked…a little uncomfortable. "What's up?"
"Well…we were wondering if you could stop dancing part way through?" Mina asked.
"Hmm?" Izuku asked. "I'm doing my best to learn the whole thing-"
"It's not that," Mina said. "It's just…we wanted Aoyama to use his quirk and act like a disco-ball, you know? And everyone else with a strength-quirk is busy, same with most of your Sides, so we were hoping you could step out and help pull him up and all."
"Oh….sure," Izuku said. "I'll still do some dancing though, right?"
"Yeah-we'll have you leave about half-way through," Mina said. "I've already moved the line-up so it won't look too weird when you dip, you know?"
"Yeah…yeah," Izuku said. "That's fine-thanks for that."
"Of course-it's going to look so awesome!" Mina said, then happily skipped away.
…..
"He's…I can't visit today?"
"Sorry, Izuku," Aizawa-sensei said, sounding sincere. "He has some stuff happening today, so you can't visit."
"Oh," Izuku said, looking at the ground, tears in his eyes-he finally had some spare time to go visit Oboro, but he can't visit Oboro today. It's been over a week! The Shigaraki/Nomu raid was approaching fast, just over a month away, and Izuku had to be there for that whole situation, even if he didn't want to be-he just wanted to see Oboro! He saw Hex, Paz, and Eri all the time-
It's no use dwelling on it…we'll be fine. We can see him another day.
"Ok," Izuku whispered, turning and walking back to the dorms and sitting on one of the couches as everyone talked-break time for the rest of the day, which was why it was a perfect time to see-
Don't dwell on it.
Izuku brought out his phone and scrolled through for a minute as he heard Momo mentioning something about a tea her parents sent, and would everyone like to try some? Izuku stayed quiet as he continued to scroll, trying to get caught up in hero news or something…but instead he found a video by Gentle Criminal about black tea…and what was that about a society wake-up call?
As long as we don't have to deal with it, we're good.
We're heroes-we shouldn't think like that-
Izuku is still a child-we're already stressed about the raid and everything, we don't need to worry about this. Gentle Criminal a Herotuber, anyway, so what's the worst he can do? Post a video about heroes failing? As long as he mentions Endeavor, he's gonna be right.
That's…that's entirely fair.
"Oh! I didn't realize-wait, didn't you just leave?"
Izuku looked up from his phone at Momo, who looked surprised.
"Oboro's not up for visitors today," Izuku said, looking back at his phone and scrolling for a different video.
"Really?" Momo asked. "Are you not going to visit Eri, Hex, and Paz instead?"
"I will in a little bit," Izuku said, closing out of the page and opening YouTube-maybe some cute cat videos will help him out…
"I was going to head over that way in about ten minutes-want to tag along?" Kirishima asked, leaning over the couch and smiling at him.
"How come you're heading that way?" Izuku asked, giving him an odd look. "Visiting Eri, too?"
"No, heading to Fatgum's agency-some paperwork for finishing my internship got mixed up, so he was wondering if I could stop by and redo it," Kirishima said. "Figured I might as well. So?"
"...sure," Izuku said, looking back at his phone.
"Sweet!" Kirishima said. "Always nice to have a friend-or nineteen, I guess-with you." He paused, then his eyes widened. "Wait, sh*t, sorry-"
"It's fine-just sixteen of us, though," Izuku said. "Hope that still works out."
"Yeah, of course it does!" Kirishima said. "Always having your whole group-or most of-any of you…I'll shut up now."
"Yeah," Katsuki said, glaring at him. "You really should."
"It's fine-everyone's adjusting to the situation," Izuku said. "Happened back-to-back and all, so it's gonna take some getting used to." He sighed, then clicked on a cat video, curling up on himself a little more. "Let me know when you're ready to leave." He got out a pair of earbuds, plugged them in, and watched the video…
…but it didn't do much to help the almost hollow feeling in his chest.
….
"What do you mean the rope is fraying?!"
"Exactly that," Izuku said, glaring at the rope. "We've been overusing it during practice…I'd say ask Momo to make a new one, or I could, but she's still asleep, and I…can't."
We shouldn't be skipping meals, you know.
I don't feel…hungry.
I'm working on the depression-sorry, everyone, I'm getting there…I'm getting there.
WORKING ON IT IS MAKING US LESS HEALTHY, SO CAN YOU WORK ON IT A LITTLE BETTER?!
"So what should we do?!" Mina asked. "We can't let Aoyama fall while he's in the air-oh, can you run to the hardware store and get a new rope or something!? It's not that far from here-you'll be back way before we start-it might cut into the time you'd had set aside to see Oboro, Hex, Paz, and Eri beforehand, though…but Iida's helping with final set-up, so you're the best bet for that-"
"I'll be back soon-just let me go grab my wallet right quick-I'll fly from my balcony to the edge of the grounds," Izuku said, quickly running up to his room-
-except he ran into Jirou and Iida on the way.
"Oh, hey-wait, Iida, don't you have set-up?" Izuku asked.
"I was wondering if we could borrow you and the Sides to finish the setting-up!" Iida said.
"Although can you spare Odin and Yumio for me?" Jirou asked. "I'm almost done setting up the stage, but the vocals were slightly off last practice, and I'd rather run over timing with Odin one more time-"
"I'll spare all my Sides, but I have something I need to do-with that said, Odin, Yui, Kai, and Kamari are currently with Sato downstairs, you'll have to go grab Odin-she already knows-Emory went with Aizawa-sensei earlier to pick up Eri, and Duke is…a little busy right now," Izuku said, then waved his hand slightly, and all the Sides available came out of the Mind Palace.
"Let's get going!" Dasu said.
"Alright!" Jirou said, grabbing Yumio and running downstairs to grab Odin, while Iida rushed the other Sides away to help him-
Izuku quickly entered his room and grabbed his wallet, then opened his balcony and made his wings appear, closing the balcony door before taking off to the edge of campus.
As soon as Izuku reached the edge of campus, he let his wings vanish before he stepped off, jogging over to the hardware store, and he quickly walked through the aisles-
"Why, I recognize you-you won the Sports Festival, correct? And were there at the Kamino incident?"
Oh, come on!
Izuku put a smile on his face and turned to see a young man standing there.
"That's me," Izuku said with a small smile, then turned back to the shelf, scanning over the ropes-it had to be long enough, so that one was off the list-that one didn't look sturdy enough, Izuku did not want to risk Aoyama's safety. Oh, that one looked like it would work perfectly! Izuku quickly snatched the rope-
"What are you doing here, anyway, buying rope?"
"Oh, just something for the school festival," Izuku said. "It's going to be fun, but our rope started fraying, so getting a new one is a good idea. Better safe than sorry, you know?"
"Yeah, I guess," the man said. "So, probably random question, but the news said you were at that Yazuka incident, too, right?"
"A lot of heroes were present, and I was on a work study with a hero that was part of the raid, so I participated, yes," Izuku said.
"Huh," the man said. "Rumor has it that their leader thought that Quirkless people should be the majority-is that right?"
Oh, Izuku did not like the way the man said quirkless.
"That," Izuku said, trying to keep his voice neutral despite Hirah's rage-Kai, we need Izuku to stay calm-I'm not Calm anymore, remember?!, "is not something that I have the liberty to talk about-at the end of the day, he was hurting people and deserved to be arrested as he was." He lost his arms, too, apparently to Shigaraki…he deserved that, too, but I can't say that.
"I'll say," the man said. "But seriously, to have views like that? Everyone knows that the quirkless should just die out already-"
"I suggest you stop talking," Izuku said, going to step around the man-
The man stepped in his way. "Why? I'm not wrong. C'mon, you're a hero student-surely you agree with me."
"Stop. Talking," Izuku said, glaring at the man, who froze just long enough for Izuku to slip past.
Unfortunately, the man shook the glare off and just followed Izuku to the front counter, continuing to make Izuku even more p*ssed.
"The Quirkless are worthless in this world-they're all one villain attack from dying, and who would want to hire one-they're lesser than people like us," the man said-oh, Izuku hates quirk supremacists. "I mean, they take up our food, our space, our time, and they can't give anything in return-"
"Stop," Izuku said, glaring at the man again-and oh, if looks could kill, Izuku would gladly take the credit for this one. No, no, you need to calm down-do not get into a fight right now, you have to hurry back to the school-
Izuku quickly rushed forward and set the rope on the front counter, blinking at the cashier and giving a strained smile as the man continued to spout bullsh*t while Izuku quickly dug out the yen he needed-
"-I mean, they should all just die and get it over with-better for us and for them-" the man continued.
I SWEAR TO F*CKING GHOSTS, I'M GONNA KILL HIM-!
Izuku spun around at that and grabbed the man's collar, tugging him to lean down further-
"You are going to stop spouting that bull out right now," Izuku hissed, feeling tears well up in his eyes as well. "I don't want to hear another word from you about how people like my two younger siblings who have literally saved someone's life shouldn't be around-you do not want to deal with my anger right now, got it?"
The man turned pale and slowly nodded.
"Good," Izuku hissed, then turned and looked at the shocked cashier. "Transaction done?"
"Y-Yeah-are…are you alright?" the cashier asked.
"Does it matter?' Izuku asked, grabbing the rope off the counter and taking his receipt before turning and storming out of the hardware store, his anger retreating a little and the depression starting slightly before getting pulled back, then more-
I'm pulling it back, but insecurities never had this much-this is much harder-I'm sorry, I'm working on it-
Oh, we KNOW you're working on it, we ALL know you're working on it, but guess what, Duke? IT AIN'T DOING MUCH!
Ugh, maybe we should find another ghost to take over depression-
Duke's already in charge of depression-seriously, guys, let him work on it. He's doing the best he can, considering that we didn't even know this could happen.
Hey, should I come get you? You're really-
You have practice right now, Mom-don't worry about it. I'll be back soon-
"Pardon me, young man."
I SWEAR, IF THIS IS THE SAME GUY, AIZAWA-SENSEI'S GONNA HAVE TO BAIL US OUT OF JAIL FOR ASSAULT!
Izuku sighed, then he turned around.
…
…
I think I'd almost prefer the other guy.
"Gentle Criminal," Izuku said, blinking at the HeroTuber, some tears still falling down his face, but it was thankfully ignored. Something had to go right this morning.
"Ah, you recognize me-I'm honored!" Gentle Criminal said. "Are you one of my subscribers?"
"I'm more of a Thomas Sanders guy," Izuku said. "I've seen a video here and there, though-what do you want?"
"Well, you're rather blunt," Gentle Criminal said. "See, my amazing assistant La Brava and I have a few concerns about the UA security system-you likely agree, seeing that you have been kidnapped before-but it must be worse than we assumed if you, a known previous target of villains, are just walking around without any sort of hero nearby to help defend you. What if the League of Villains were to try to take you hostage or even kill you? You would be left defenseless."
"...I literally helped All Might defeat a villain, so how about you take your concerns somewhere else-I have things to do," Izuku said.
"Well, I hope those things can wait-we were planning on breaking into UA to prove our point, but perhaps we could just kidnap you ourselves-you get a relaxing break for a little while, and our point is made!" Gentle Criminal said, grabbing Izuku's shoulder with a small smile. "So? We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."
Izuku blinked at him once. Twice.
Then tears burst out of his eyes as he broke out sobbing, clearly surprising Gentle Criminal and La Brava.
…
Over the camera system, Nezu gave Izuku a concerned look-of course he had been keeping an eye on the boy's quick run to the hardware store-he'd seen the silent debate to fight that man in the store, which would not have been heroic, but with everything, the police wouldn't be able to find deleted evidence, just word-of-mouth, which some bribery could potentially fix. And now to run into someone with concerns about UA's security system, and to choose to make a statement by breaking in, but now grabbing one of his students? Well…
Nezu quickly took out his phone to let Aizawa know to check on Izuku as soon as possible, but for now, he would keep an eye and make sure this didn't escalate-well, it looked like Hound Dog was nearby, so Nezu sent Aizawa a text and quickly called Hound Dog to tell him to head over.
…
"Are you serious right now?!" Izuku sobbed, rubbing at his eyes-he's tried so hard not to break down sobbing, but now it was all crashing down-the stress of the Festival, losing Hex, Paz, Oboro, not seeing Oboro, the depression hitting full force and Duke desperately trying to stop the wave, everyone else joining in with trying to do something, but nothing was working as Izuku continued to sob. "UA's doing it's best-it's not like it's ever had students attacked like this before! That's why they started the dorms, to try to keep us safe, and there's only so many teachers, and I just needed a rope, and for f*ck's sake, I have a provisional license, I can walk down the street to grab some rope, but nope, something just had to prove me wrong, and I can't go with you even if for some reason I wanted to, because I haven't seen a part of my quirk-a part of me that's been there since I was nine, and has been gone for a while now, and I haven't seen him in over a week, haven't had him around for longer, I now have two other parts of my quirk that are gone too, but they aren't, but now they have to deal with a world that hates them because I wasn't right there-they're gonna be hurt for a long time coming and people are going to hate them because I wasn't good enough, and I put them there, and there's a little girl who doesn't even know how to smile, and she's so precious and loves apple juice and apples in general, but she's too afraid to ask for what she wants because she's never had good things happen if she did, but she wants to be at the festival, and I'm trying to do everything I can to make her happy, and I have to get back before she gets there-and because of everything, I'm probably going to have no time to see her before the festival starts-thanks for that-just as I was thinking this couldn't get any worse-and if I don't get back soon, I'm going to get in trouble-I already forgot to ask for permission to leave campus because, again, the hardware store is right there, but apparently I need supervision for everything because I'm some kind of villain magnet or something-I just want one set of villains to please exclusively go after someone besides my class! There are hundreds of heroes out there-why couldn't villains decide to attack Endeavor relentlessly and mess up his day?! At least he would've deserved it-we're just kids! We shouldn't have to be fighting villains, helping plan raids, being part of raids, having to throw away the rest of our childhoods just for something that we want to do as adults when we've graduated high school, or at least after we've had enough training to help keep us alive-do you know when the typical hero student starts even considering work studies like the one I just went through? Second year! Second year, not this when we're still trying to figure out-"
"Midoriya, I'm gonna have to ask you to calm down."
Izuku immediately froze, then he carefully looked up to see…
"Hound Dog-sensei," Izuku muttered, looking at his feet as the teacher walked over, gently pulling Izuku away from Gentle Criminal.
"How 'bout you run back to campus," Hound Dog said, nudging Izuku in that direction. "You might be out of time to talk to your friends beforehand, but you should really get going-you can probably fly if you want to, since that's faster-you have permission to use your quirk in this situation to get back to campus."
"Ok…" Izuku whispered, turning and letting his wings appear as he quickly flew back to campus.
…..
Hound Dog watched the first-year fly away, then he turned to the two standing there.
The hero pointed at a camera nearby. "Nezu was watching his every step, you know, so whatever you were planning…well, I can't technically arrest you since you didn't actually do anything, but if Nezu catches you doing something…well. Am I clear?"
The two quickly nodded.
"Good," Hound Dog said. "Now, run along, or else."
The two quickly skedaddled, and Hound Dog turned back to UA and quickly walked back to campus.
….I've been planning Izuku having a mental breakdown for a while, hope you guys like it and saw it coming…..
Izuku skidded to a stop at UA's entrance, tucking his wings in-he got here really fast, he didn't need to hurry so much-
"Hey!"
Izuku jumped, then immediately turned to see-
"Oboro!" Izuku yelped, quickly hugging the teen tightly.
"Yeah-woah, are you alright?" Oboro asked, hugging him back immediately. "You look like you've been crying."
"'m fine," Izuku mumbled, pulling back and turning his head slightly, and he quickly wiped his tears a little more. "Hex, Paz, Eri! Hi, Aizawa-sensei-"
"Nezu already told me what happened, so I'm going to talk to you about that later," Aizawa-sensei said.
"...that's fair," Izuku sighed.
"What happened?" Eri asked.
Izuku smiled at her. "Don't worry about it-are you excited?"
Eri nodded quickly.
"I'm glad!" Izuku said as his phone buzzed. He quickly checked. "I'm running a little late, so I have to get going-I'll see you guys after the performance, ok?"
"Yeah-we're heading that way now!" Oboro said, then turned to Eri, leaning down by her. "Want me to pick you up?"
Eri nodded, holding her arms to him, and Oboro was quick to scoop her up.
"She took to you quickly," Izuku said.
"And I'm glad for that!" Oboro said. "So, see you after-we're dragging you with us to see everything, just so you know."
"Counting on it," Izuku said with a big smile, then he turned and ran towards where his class would be.
…
"That took a while!" Mina said, sighing in relief as Izuku entered the prep area.
"Yeah, I know-here's the rope, I need to change right quick!" Izuku said, grabbing his suit and running off to change.
Odin looked after him, worried for a second.
I still think he should sit out for a few minutes, Yumio…
I know, Odin, but we can't have him do that, unfortunately. We'll see about meeting with Hound Dog after the Festival is over. For now, let's worry on the performance. Izuku will feel much better if we give it our all and can manage to get Eri to smile, so let's focus on that.
Right…but I think all of us should talk about this later.
Of course.
…
"Everyone ready?"
"Yeah!"
…
Eri had started to like Oboro really quickly.
Maybe it was partially because Hex, Paz, and Flere had talked about him, and he was really nice, too! He had come in with Eraserhead and had immediately introduced himself and given her a stuffed animal (it was a cat!) and said that he had been hearing about the raid before it happened and had been incredibly excited to hear that she got out alright. He was also really tall and a little stronger than Hex and Paz, so he could carry her for longer than they could.
Which led them to the performance, where Oboro was holding her so she could see the stage.
It was really cool! She was a little confused when IFlere left the stage for a moment, but Oboro quickly said that he would be back. Then the performance got even cooler, and…
Eri felt a big smile appear on her face as the song continued on.
Oboro saw Eri's face light up, then turned into a huge smile, and he felt some tears in his eyes.
We did it! We did it, guys! She's smiling!
…..
"Izuku, come here for a minute-everyone else, start cleaning up."
Everyone gave Aizawa-sensei an odd look, but continued to clean up.
"Do you want the Sides, too?" Odin asked as Yumio set down his violin.
"No," Aizawa-sensei said, then gestured for Izuku to follow.
The two stepped out of the gym and around a corner, and Aizawa-sensei looked Izuku up and down.
"First off, I know what happened earlier," Aizawa-sensei said. "You left campus-"
"The rope was fraying from over practicing, and Momo was asleep, I could copy her quirk to make another one, so it was going to be a quick trip-" Izuku quickly started.
"You're not in trouble for that-next time, though, you should at least tell someone first," Aizawa-sensei said. "A teacher, not your classmates."
"Right, sorry-it won't happen again," Izuku said. "Now, I should-"
"Next off, you ran into someone that was planning on kidnapping you."
"I didn't get kidnapped, though!" Izuku said. "And I could've gotten out of the situation fast-I was working on it-"
"You proceeded to have a meltdown in front of two people after screaming at someone in the hardware store for quirkism-you're not in trouble for that one, but please remember to be calm if that happens again-but I'm more worried about the meltdown-Nezu sent me the footage of it," Aizawa-sensei said, crossing his arms.
"I wouldn't call it a meltdown," Izuku said, hunching his shoulders a little.
"I'd show you the video of it to prove my point, but you don't even sound fully convinced of those words," Aizawa-sensei sighed, pinching his nose. "So. Here's what's going to happen. I know that you've been on pause from seeing Hound Dog as a therapist for preparations, but you're starting that up again twice a week, starting tomorrow. Nezu's already working on dialing back your involvement in planning the entire…well."
"I have to be there for it," Izuku said. "The Reapers-"
"Should have left this responsibility to the adults, but since you're part of it, you'll still be part of the raid," Aizawa-sensei said. "The plan is for all of you to be there, remember? But you shouldn't have to be there for meetings about it almost every day. We should have realized how badly you've been suffering from this and made more opportunities for you to see Oboro, Hex, Paz, and Eri, even if that meant having you focus on just recovering from losing them instead of doing so much during your performance." He gently pat Izuku's head. "However, I've got some good news for you. Eri smiled during the performance."
Izuku's eyes went wide as he teared up. "S-She did?"
"Yep-she's going to be alright-I managed to get Oboro to distract her from immediately coming to find you after this, but she's excited to see you," Aizawa-sensei said. "So. Here's how the rest of your day is going to go. Oboro, Hex, and Paz are all in the final steps of being fully released from the hospital-Oboro will fully be in my care starting tomorrow, in fact, Hex and Paz will be next week."
"Really?!" Izuku asked, more tears falling down his face.
"Yep-don't cry about this," Aizawa-sensei said, quickly digging out a handkerchief and handing it to Izuku, who took it and wiped at his eyes. "You'll be there with me tomorrow to pick Oboro up and get him things for his room-he's staying at the teacher's dorm with me for a little while, but…well, you'll see otherwise, he wanted to tell you himself about something. But for today, I just want you to relax and enjoy the festival. Take Eri to see more stalls, spend time with Oboro, Hex, and Paz, and don't forget about your classmates, too. Well, first, let's get the gym finished up, then you can do whatever for the rest of the day, alright?"
"Alright…alright," Izuku said. "Thanks, Aizawa-sensei." He looked at the handkerchief, debating on-
"Of course-and keep that, I have a feeling you're going to be crying more later today," Aizawa-sensei said.
Izuku blinked. "Should I be mad that you think I'm gonna start crying later?"
"I'm not wrong," Aizawa-sensei said. "Now, finish helping with clean-up, and I'll see you later." With that, he walked away.
Izuku hurried back into the gym.
"There you are!" Eri said with the biggest smile on her face as she saw Izuku-hold back the tears, prove Aizawa-sensei wrong- "It was great!"
"I'm glad!" Izuku said. "Now, I have to help with clean up, but then guess what?"
"What?" Eri asked.
"We get to go around the festival together!" Izuku said.
"Yay!" Eri said. "How long do you need to clean up?"
"It shouldn't be too long-I'd better get started!" Izuku said, then turned and ran off to help.
….
Oboro turned to Eri, Hex, and Paz.
"I'll be right back-I'm gonna go help-the sooner it gets done, the more we can see!" Oboro said, then ran off to help Izuku with cleaning up, grabbing a broom to help sweep-
"Hey, what's wrong?" Oboro asked as he got to Izuku.
"...I don't want to talk about it," Izuku said.
"You were crying earlier," Oboro said, then gestured to Izuku's pocket. "There's a handkerchief hanging out of your pocket-Shota, I'm guessing, just gave that to you, so you were crying again. So? You can tell me anything, you know that, right? Just because I'm not one of your Sides-"
"Can we talk about it later?" Izuku asked. "Please? We just got Eri to start smiling, and I…I don't want to ruin that, you know? Please?"
Oboro paused, then sighed. "Ok, but later, ok? Promise."
"I promise," Izuku said. "Now, the sooner this gets cleaned up-"
"-the more we can see!" Oboro said, and the two quickly started helping with clean-up.
…
The rest of the Festival went by pretty fast.
Eri wanted to see as much as possible and wanted Izuku with her, Oboro, Hex, and Paz, too, so he stuck with them, occasionally running into his classmates here and there as they found the same things to do.
As the day came closer to an end, though, Izuku had one more thing to do before Eri left…
"I don't wanna go back just yet-Oboro's not going back with us!"
"I'll stop by tomorrow-and you're getting out of the hospital soon, too!" Oboro said happily, nodding at Aizawa-sensei. "See, Eraserhead here's gonna bring you back to the hospital with Hex and Paz-I'm going somewhere else for the night, but first thing tomorrow, I'll stop by, ok?"
"You promise-Flere, too?" Eri said.
Izuku nodded, then kneeled down next to her. "But, one more thing." He pulled out a candy apple, hanging it to Eri. "Surprise!"
"Apple?" Eri asked.
"Yep-it's a candy apple," Izuku said. "A little bit sweeter, but it tastes great!"
Eri took it and bit down, her whole face lighting up as she took another bite. "I love it!"
"I'm glad!" Izuku said. "I'll see you really early tomorrow, ok?"
"Ok!" Eri said, getting into the car with Aizawa-sensei, Hex, and Paz-who both hugged Izuku bye right quick before getting in-then Izuku turned to Oboro.
"And I'm in charge of getting you back to your hospital." Izuku said,
"Yep," Oboro said, then looked at Izuku's outfit. "Are you going to change right quick, or…?"
Izuku smiled, then said, "Requip!" (three points if you get the reference-that was my first anime!) Then, he turned on a copy of Best Jeanist's quirk-fiber master, ability to freely control fiber, any kind of cloth-and reconfiguring his clothes quickly to look more normal. "We get to keep these outfits, anyway, and push comes to shove, I can put it back together later-Best Jeanist has a pretty handy quirk."
(I would just like to say that I looked up "mha best jeanist quirk" to get the accurate description, and "mha best jeanist neck" came up. WTF is with this guy's neck!? LOL.)
"Yeah," Oboro said, then gestured for the two to start walking. "So…why were you crying earlier?"
Izuku sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "I…I got overwhelmed by everything going on…losing you three at the same time, the…have I told you about the Reapers and the…the Nomu raid coming up?"
"Yeah…" Oboro said, looking like he wanted to add something, but didn't say anything else.
"I'm on the planning team for it, basically," Izuku said. "And I really love seeing Eri, I really do, but I couldn't go see you for an entire week, and when I finally could, I was told that you weren't accepting visitors that day, and you've been around for so long that everything just feels wrong-"
"Hey, don't get yourself worked up," Oboro said, patting his back. "I'm sorry-I should've realized that you weren't ok before it got to…this morning."
Izuku flinched slightly. "Yeah…yeah."
"Why did Shota know about you crying, though?" Oboro asked. "He said that-"
"I had a meltdown in front of that Gentle Criminal HeroTuber that decided to try to kidnap me to make a statement about UA having poor security," Izuku grumbled.
There was a pause.
"You what!?"
"I literally left campus to grab some rope from the hardware store!" Izuku said. "I ran into a quirkist *ss that was spouting things about quirkless people and had the f*cking nerve to say that quirkless people should just die-"
"If he'd continued talking, Aizawa-sensei would have had to bail us out of jail," Hirah hissed through Izuku, having him raise his hand. "I was this close to getting us arrested for assault."
"...Izuku, your fingers are touching," Oboro said. "But you didn't get arrested for assault…right?!"
"No…instead, we ran into Gentle Criminal, and I started crying," Izuku said, sighing. "Hound Dog had to come help me out of there…it wasn't fun. Then I flew back and…well. Yeah."
Oboro pulled Izuku into a side hug. "I'm sorry that happened."
'It's…it's fine," Izuku said.
"Clearly not if Shota had to hand you a handkerchief," Oboro said.
Izuku huffed. "So I let out a few tears-so? He said something about me crying again later and that I'll need it." He shook his head. "I'm…I'm done crying for the day."
"No, I don't think you are," Oboro said. "I have a feeling that after this, you're going to go to the dorms, ask Shoto for a hug, and fall asleep on him while crying."
Izuku blushed. "I-I will not!"
Oboro laughed, hugging Izuku a little tighter. "Yeah, well…there's one more thing to factor in."
"...do I want to know?" Izuku asked.
"Trust me-you're definitely going to want to hear this one,' Oboro said, letting go of Izuku and looking him in the eye. "The reason that you weren't able to visit me the day you wanted to…and, well, what's been going on recently…Nezu finally gave me the tests to see what year I'll be in."
Izuku immediately tensed up. "He…he did?"
"Yep-quirk test and all," Oboro said nervously, looking at his hands. "I…I haven't used my quirk since I got back in my body, but…Warp is still here."
"It is?" Izuku asked, eyes wide.
"Yep-cloud is, too, but I'm working on learning Warp," Oboro said. "I kept switching back and forth between the two, enough to make that test a little hard, but…I passed."
"You did?" Izuku asked. "What…what year…?"
Oboro gave him a big smile, then reached into his pocket and took out a UA ID-and his own provisional hero license! "Starting next week, I'm Class 2-A's newest student. They're about where I was at when I…died, and I retained enough information that transitioning back shouldn't be too hard-"
"That's amazing!" Izuku said, happy tears in his eyes as he threw himself at Oboro, who barely had a second to brace himself-it was a wonder the two stayed upright, although they did get a few odd looks from people nearby.
"I know, right?!" Oboro said, quickly pulling out the handkerchief and patting at Izuku's eyes. "See, Shota told you you'd start crying and need this-I'm glad he let me tell you instead of ruining the surprise. But yeah! I won't be living at the dorms just yet-I'm getting released from the hospital tomorrow, but Recovery Girl still wants to keep an extra eye on me for a little while, so I'm staying with Shota in his on-campus apartment until she feels like I'm not going to have any sudden complications-although you technically count as someone I can also stay with, so be warned-I'm probably going to sleep over at your dorm on some weekends, but mostly I'll be there during the day to bug you-it's been weird without you, too." He groaned dramatically. "I mean, my head is so quiet! How'd I ever get by without all of you in the first place? It's weird."
Izuku laughed, wiping at his tears with the handkerchief. "I'm looking forward to it."
"Yay!" Oboro said, throwing his hands up. "I get to bug you with permission! You're going to regret that, you know!"
"I doubt it," Izuku said. "I doubt it very much."
…..
Aizawa-sensei picked Izuku up from the hospital and drove him back to campus, telling him when he could expect to go to Hound Dog's office the next day, which Izuku was glad to hear about. Oboro was getting checked out of the hospital at ten, so Izuku would have a session at 8, then afterwards, he and Aizawa-sensei would go to the hospital, then to the other hospital, then to the mall to get some things for Oboro (Aizawa-sensei told him bluntly that Izuku was in charge of making sure Oboro got what he needed, and Aizawa-sensei was mostly there to make sure nothing happened), then back to campus.
Aizawa-sensei parked his car in the parking lot and gestured towards the 1-A dorms. "Go to bed, problem child-you have a long day tomorrow, and let's hope it doesn't end with you crying again."
"Yeah, yeah," Izuku said, getting out.
"And I was right about you crying again," Aizawa-sensei said.
Izuku rolled his eyes as he closed the car door and walked towards the dorms, quietly entering and seeing that his classmates were eating supper.
"Hey, there you are!" Kirishima said, waving at Izuku, and everyone stared at him. "We were wondering if you were eating with us-saved you a plate!"
"Thanks," Izuku said. "In the fridge, or…?"
"Nope," Shoto said, patting the chair next to him, where there was a plate of food. "We're almost done, so not much for seconds, but we were going to have a movie night, so snacks."
"We can stay up all night!" Mina added. "Ooh! Ooh! How's the four? Did they like the performance?"
"I sure hope so," Jirou said.
Izuku smiled as he plopped down next to Shoto, leaning against him slightly-the chairs were all packed together tight around the table. "Eri smiled-like, actually smiled for the first time there."
Everyone cheered at that.
"Yeah!"
"That's awesome!"
"We were sparkling, so of course!"
Izuku smiled as he ate-
His depression hit slightly, and his smile fell a little-
Duke immediately grabbed onto it and pulled it back.
Did I get it right this time?
YES! Finally!
I'm doing my best-
Leave Duke alone, he's been insecurities for years and is working on it. That said, good job.
Izuku smiled as he continued to eat.
…..
"Hey, Izuku?"
"Yeah?" Izuku asked, then his mind went blank-why was Hitoshi brainwashing him?
"Tell me what's wrong," Hitoshi said, crossing his arms.
"Everything," Izuku said. "Everything's just been to much recently with Oboro, Hex, and Paz gone, plus the upcoming raid-"
"What raid?" Hitoshi asked.
"There are still Nomu that need to be dealt with-All for One was not the one making them," Izuku said. "So, we are dealing with that one, and it's coming up fast, about a month until we have to go in. We will finish off the League of Villains during that time, however, so we have that to look forward to-"
"Got it," Hitoshi said, then released the brainwashing.
Izuku immediately pouted. "You could've just asked, you know."
"This seemed easier," Hitoshi said, then gave Izuku a hug. "Next time, though, please come talk to me before it gets to…you came to the performance looking like you'd been crying earlier, so I'm guessing you were."
Izuku hunched his shoulders at that. "Y-Yeah, I was…I don't want to talk about it right now, though-I'm being sent to Hound Dog in the morning…and Oboro's getting released from the hospital tomorrow, so I'm heading to that-"
"He is?" Hitoshi asked.
Izuku nodded. "Yep! He's joining 2-A next week since this is around the time he…well."
"Oh," Hitoshi said. "Gotcha. Want me to come with?"
"Aizawa-sensei's driving me over there-since he has legal guardianship and everything," Izuku said. "Then we're heading to the mall to get Oboro stuff he needs…Hex and Paz are getting released next week, though, and Eri will be, too. Do…do you want to be there for that one?"
"Of course-I'm gonna ask Aizawa-sensei if I can be there tomorrow, too," Hitoshi said, then gently put a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Let's just get back to the movie night, ok? We're all going to pass out in the common room, and you won't even think about school for the night. I mean it-I will sic Shoto on you if I have to. Best hugs and all that."
Izuku snorted. "Yeah, I'll…yeah. Thanks."
Hitoshi nodded, shoving Izuku slightly as he took out his phone to send Aizawa-sensei a text. "Alright, let's get back."
"Yeah," Izuku said, giving Hitoshi another quick hug before the two made their way back to the common room.
Shoto waved at them slightly as the two sat down, Izuku leaning into his side.
Shoto glanced at Izuku, then put his arm around him and held him a little closer.
"That's gay," Hitoshi snickered.
"In case you didn't notice, I am gay," Shoto said immediately.
"I'm aware," Hitoshi said, looking at the screen. "I'm very aware."
I'm gonna end the chapter there. As I've said, I have a few ideas for fanfics after this, but if I start writing them now, I'll never get this one done, so this one needs to get done, but I'm getting to the point where writing it is a chore…sorry if that's coming across. But, hey, we have next chapter, which will have Oboro getting out of the hospital, plus some scenes of Shigaraki (I'll explain why in the next chapter, but the Meta Liberation Arc is getting moved up, and the joint training doesn't really have a purpose here, and Endeavor's in jail…the Pro Hero arc heavily featured Endeavor, too, so there's that going for this fic. Huh. I've been writing this for almost four years now and have an inbetween chapter, the Paranormal Liberation Arc, skipping everything after that because I killed off All For One…so an aftermath chapter of the Paranormal arc, then an epilogue. So that's…four chapters (five, if I have to divide the Paranormal arc into two, which I don't think I will, but it's a possibility) until this is over. Woah. I'll go have that existential crisis now-
List of Sides!
Izuku, the Main Control Unit, so to speak. Flere. Lifeforce, he's currently 16.
Odin, the Caring Side, Raaya, was Irene/Ofa, has wings/one for all/a vocal quirk, died at 17.
Yui, the Morals and Emotions, Maadili, was Himari Monoma, advanced copy, was 16.
Yumio, the Logic side, Yukti, Hajime, analysis, was 25
Dasu, Creativity, Creare, Saburo, can make tangible illusions, was 23, one of three triplets
Duke, Depression, Malsicuro, can make weapons, was 23, one of three triplets
Darnell, Deceit, Janus, Hai, Snake, was 8, and speaks in lies
Emory, Patience, Amynedd, Peyton, can see emotions, was 21
Kamari, Sleep, Spat, Remy, food & drinks, was 21
Darlina, Innocence/Fear, Frykt, Hana Shimura, Float, was 8
Hirah, Wrath, Wrath, Cheran, had horns/devil-demon form, was 13-ish
Dot, Sloth, Alsi, Hope, makes others sleep, makes her sleepy in turn, was 8
Yuki, Health Nut, Sihat, Midori, Endless Energy, was 13-ish
Hinata, Anxiety (2), Jiao Lu, Choko, Occupy, was 6
Eimi, Confidence, Water Hose Duo, water quirk, was 27
Kai, Social Life, Water Hose Duo, water quirk, was 27
Until next time!
Peace!