The girls have a frank discussion with Izuku about Bakugo's punishment and where Izuku learned how to handle injuries so well. The class gets to know each other a little better! But the stress of the day has gotten to one of them more than the others, and they finally realize they need to reach out for help.
(Quick trigger warning for a moderately graphic depiction of vomiting during this chapter.)
"What'd Sensei tell you?" Ochako asked as soon as the door shut behind the trio, Himiko already flopped face down on her bed as Izuku gingerly took a seat on the edge of the bed.
Izuku shrugged. "Telling me Kacchan got detention and anger management. Asked me if I wanted a harsher punishment."
"And you said yes, right?" Himiko asked, but the tone in her voice, muffled as it was with her face buried in a pillow, made it clear she already knew the answer.
Izuku gave the blonde a blank stare before sighing. "I said no. It's fine."
"Izu," Ochako sighed, tiredly laying across her own bed behind the green-haired teen. "You know he's lucky he didn't get expelled for attacking you, right?"
"It really wasn't that big a deal, I don't get why everyone is making it into one," Izuku muttered, refusing to meet her gaze.
"...you know, I want to snap at you but I know that won't work. So I'm just gonna cheat," Himiko said, rolling over on her back and looking sidelong at Izuku. "If Bakugo had attacked me, would you be so blasé about it?"
Izuku's shoulders hunched, the teenager refusing to turn around and look at Himiko. The blonde shared a significant look with Ochako, the other girl rolling her eyes. Ochako reached out with one hand to grab Izuku's tail, causing them to jump in startled shock as she began to gently stroke it. "What about if it was me? Would you say his punishment was too harsh?"
She could see Izuku's fist clench, the feeling of an instinctual rejection to the thought followed by annoyance at how she was twisting things back on them coming across the bond very clearly, but honestly, she didn't care much. Izuku was very important to her, but she wasn't going to just let them keep doing this weird hero worship of the guy who told them to jump off a fucking roof. And she wasn't going to hide it from them, making sure her feelings were loud and clear across the bond…which apparently was too much for Izuku to ignore anymore, as they spun about to glare at the two of them.
"I thought we were trying to be respectful of each other's personal stuff," Izuku hissed.
"We are. But nothing you say or do is gonna make me respect that asshole," Himiko retorted.
"He's not that bad! He really isn't! I told you, it's not a big deal, I'm not import-"
"Izu, you promised," Ochako cut them off, making Izuku's mouth snap shut with an audible click as their fangs clinked off one another. She sighed, her fingers still gently stroking the fur on their tail. "Please, Izu…I know it's hard, but please. Try to see where we're coming from. Maybe you don't think you're important, but you are to us. Don't our feelings matter?"
"O-of course they do, it's just…it…" Izuku visibly struggled, before they fell backwards onto the bed, barely missing landing on Ochako as they sprawled out on the bed. They rubbed their face with their hands. "...I don't know," they managed to mutter.
Himiko rolled once, twice, too lazy to actually get up but wanting to be close enough to reach out and touch Izuku, her hands now rubbing Izuku's ears and making the green-haired teenager relax into the bed, humming softly. "Okay. Just as long as you try, okay?"
"...yeah," Izuku breathed out, eyes closed as they enjoyed the feeling of Himiko's hands on their ears.
Ochako snorted, having moved her hand away from the falling Izuku so as not to get trapped by them laying back. "This whole cat thing has its upsides too, I guess." She couldn't help but grin as Izuku shuffled slightly, pressing their head further into Himiko's hand, the blonde giggling. Izuku grumbled, but didn't disagree, still happy to let Himiko gently pet their ears.
Ochako closed her eyes to relax for a moment, only to get startled by a hand now on her head, rubbing her ears and making her melt back into the bed. Idly she realized that must be Himiko, as Izuku was in no position to focus on it, but those thoughts vanished moments later as she felt the gentle scritches at the base of her ear, sending tingles down her spine. No need for thoughts, just a nice, relaxing moment where she could pretend like today didn't suck.
"...kinda jealous of cats now," Ochako managed to mumble, hearing the agreeing hum from Izuku. Himiko giggled at them, still gently running her fingers through the other two teens' hair as she continued her ministrations. There was a brief pause in the pets, making Ochako whine unwillingly, before Himiko continued.
"Izu?" Himiko asked softly, not stopping the motion of her hands, but even in the daze she was under, Ochako noted a sound of nervousness in Himiko's voice that made her open half-lidded eyes to look up at her friend.
"Hmm?" Izuku responded, their own eyes flickering open slightly.
Himiko took a deep breath. "C-can I ask a um…personal question?" Izuku tilted their head to the side, but nodded silently, their full attention on the blonde now. Ochako had given hers as well, curious what Himiko had to ask. Himiko squirmed in place, before speaking. "I've um, been wondering this since the other day, and it's okay if you don't wanna answer, but…um…is the reason you've got so much first aid stuff and know how to use it so well um, cause of-"
"Yeah," Izuku cut her off with a gentle smile that didn't reach their eyes. They sighed, sitting upright and gently shaking Himiko's hand off their head before turning to face her fully. With their legs crossed on the bed, leaning forward on their elbows, they shrugged. "I um…I didn't wanna bother Mom, so…I figured out how to patch myself up after things. Mom always had a lot of medical stuff from her work, you know, she's still a nurse, so…it wasn't that hard to get a hold of things. And um, I was able to find the other stuff I needed when it was uh…bad."
Ochako rolled over to face them, looking up at them in concern. "How bad is bad?"
"...I had to figure out how to do stitches on myself a couple times. It's uh, not easy heh," Izuku shrugged, letting out a humorless breathy laugh.
It took a lot of effort for Ochako not to snap at how casually Izuku just…said that. Even under the calming effect of Himiko's ministrations, she just hated how they offhandedly laughed at the thought of them actually stitching themselves up on their own…especially with a nurse as a mother! She slammed the anger down, knowing they could feel the surge of it within her as the other two flinched, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She wasn't mad at Izuku, she was mad at the very world itself that put them in the situation where they couldn't even reach out to their own mother. But her being mad at the world still meant she was mad and they had to suffer her emotional whiplash, so she did her best to reel it in.
"Long as we're here, you're gonna go to Recovery Girl for stuff like that from now on, right?" Ochako asked, managing to keep her voice level.
Izuku paused for a moment as if considering, before nodding. "Y-yeah. I will. I…I know."
"You know what?" Himiko asked.
They sighed. "I know I shouldn't be doing that myself," they grumbled, refusing to meet either of the girls' eyes.
Himiko nodded. "Okay. So long as you know." She paused for a moment, before gently rubbing Izuku's ears once more, modulating her tone to a softer one. "I'm not trying to be mean about it, you know that, right?"
"...yeah Himi, I know. It's just…difficult, for me, sometimes," Izuku replied quietly.
"That's why we're here, to help with that," Himiko said with a soft smile, her fangs peeking through her lips.
"What she said,'' Ochako added, reaching next to her to grab Izuku's hand and squeeze it. Izuku turned their head and gave her a half smile, squeezing her hand back. The room lapsed into silence after that, Himiko gently running her fingers through Ochako and Izuku's hair as she stroked her fingers across their ears, the duo relaxing into the bed. This was the most comfortable they had felt the entire day, for once feeling slightly relieved.
The relaxed feeling vanished as a gentle, almost timid knock resounded on the door, making the trio all glance up. Izuku sat up swiftly, the fur on their ears sticking up as the ears laid back instinctively. Himiko clambered off the bed, eyes narrowed as she approached the door, opening it just a crack to see the tall teen they had met earlier, Yaoyorozu standing there with a sheepish smile. "Yeah?" Himiko asked, confused why she was there.
"Forgive me for disturbing you, but we've, well, Sato, has just finished cooking dinner for the class and we wanted to ask if you, Midoriya, and Uraraka will be joining us? I wasn't able to find Midoriya though…" Yaoyorozu mused, looking off to the side as if she was contemplating something.
Himiko giggled, covering her mouth after a moment. She turned around to look at the other two, getting a nod from both, before she opened the door fully and revealed the other two sitting in the bed, their heads tilted to the side as they looked at the taller dark-haired teenager.
"O-oh, there you are! Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything, I just-"
"We heard you," Ochako cut her off, the smile on her face telling Yaoyorozu it was fine.
Izuku offered their own smile, nodding at her. "Thanks for letting us know. We'll um, be down in a bit."
"Wonderful! I was hoping we could get to know one another a little bit better during dinner, so this is perfect! I'll see you three downstairs shortly!" Yaoyoruzu's grin was blinding as she clasped her hands together, turning about and heading down the hallway with a spring in her step. Himiko giggled again, before closing the door and turning about to the other two, already aware of what they needed to do due to the feelings that had roared across the bond as soon as Izuku had confirmed them going.
"'Chako-" Himiko began, cut off by the brunette raising her slightly shaking hand.
"I-I know. I remember the deal. I just…it's really…I don't want them to see anything," she whispered, curling in on herself.
"Sit between us, and we'll make sure your portions are small, okay?" Izuku offered, immediately reaching out to grab Ochako's hand and rubbing their thumb across the back of her knuckles.
"They'll be too easy chattering to notice, and we can just say you're not hungry if it comes up," Himiko added, crossing the room to sit on Ochako's other side, wrapping her arms around the brunette's waist and hugging her tightly from the side.
"Are you sure they won't realize it? You said it yourself, people will notice-"
"If you eat nothing," Izuku interrupted. They reached out, their free hand touching the bottom of her chin and lifting it so she would meet their gaze. "We know how hard this is for you. Gotta start small and work our way up. It's okay. We'll keep the attention off you and be with you the whole time. No one will suspect a thing, we'll make sure of that."
"...you promise?"
Himiko nodded gravely. "We promise, right Izu?"
"Yes. We promise. We got your back, 'Chako, no matter what."
Ochako swallowed thickly, her mouth feeling dry as a desert, but knowing she had to confront this. She could do this. She was Ochako Uraraka, a hero student, she could do this…for them. "Okay. Let's go downstairs."
She couldn't do this. She couldn't possibly keep this up. She felt so sick, so nauseous, her entire stomach kept roiling over and over again, making her feel like she was one step away from vomiting all over the table in front of everyone. The room was beginning to feel too hot, the perpetual cold she was accustomed to beginning to be burned away by a sudden painful flush under her skin, sweat dripping down her back as she bit her lip and clenched her fingers around her chopsticks.
It had started out fine. They had taken a few moments to go around the table, introducing themselves one by one. Izuku had made sure that Ochako went early, so when they left to get her plate, no one was paying attention to it, or to the fact Izuku had put less than half the amount anyone else was doing. A simple meal of curry, covering a small bit of rice, something she should be okay eating. And she'd felt so cared for when she noticed the single mochi Himiko had snuck onto her plate, the fact Himiko remembered her favorite dessert.
But every bite tasted of ashes, and every time she picked up another morsel it had been heavy, as if she'd applied her increased gravity to her utensils. She didn't even get why she was reacting so badly, she'd had breakfast this morning just fine! It had been a bit of a struggle but it was nowhere near as bad as now. She was going to be sick, they were all going to notice and they'd know and they'd judge her and-
"Chako?" Izuku whispered in her ear, drawing her gaze up to theirs. They were blurry in her vision, her hands trembling, the worry alight in the green making her feel even worse. She wanted to swallow to clear her throat, or reply somehow, but she feared if she even twitched the wrong way she'd lose control. "Chako…your Quirk," Izuku said softly, one hand gesturing to the tabletop. She glanced down to where Izuku's hand was pointing and eyes went wide…the plates were hovering an inch over the table. She let her gaze sweep over the rest of the room, seeing that the other plates were just barely hovering, any empty one slightly higher than the other. No one seemed to have noticed yet, too busy enthralled by a story Ashido was enthusiastically retelling, but she was so afraid.
It hit her like a bolt of lightning, stealing her air and making her feel the food, heavy and painful in her stomach, begin to bubble back up. She slammed her hands to the table and leapt to her feet, tapping her fingers together instinctively as she ran, fleeing to the bathroom and ignoring the sudden confused noises behind her. As she went, she felt more than saw Himiko bolt after her, heard Izuku leap to their feet and begin to explain she sometimes got sick thanks to her Quirk and that it was fine, no need to worry, their voice calming and soft as they pulled the class's attention to them.
She lost the sound of their voice and the others as she burst through the doors of the shared bathroom on the first floor, stumbling into a stall and falling to her knees. Bile burned her throat, escaping it as soon as she managed to lift the seat, feeling as if her entire body was trying to turn itself inside out as she lost control, tears streaming down her face; whether they were from pain or shame she wasn't even sure anymore, hating every second, every single moment where her body revolted against her.
"It's okay, 'Chako, it's okay. Just let it out, it's fine, you're gonna be okay," Himiko whispered, kneeling beside her, one hand pulling her hair back, the other gently stroking along her back as she felt as she continued to vomit. Her mouth and throat hurt, she could barely breathe, she couldn't see, everything was going wrong. God why did she think she could do this, she was so pathetic, she couldn't even eat a damned dinner!
She lost track of how long she was slumped over the toilet, nothing but the sound of her emptying stomach in the toilet and murmured reassurances from Himiko, until she felt like she'd expelled everything within her, exhaustion overtaking her form as she slumped against the porcelain. Even as she felt herself slipping, Himiko's arms reached around her and pulled her up, closing the lid and flushing the toilet as she pulled Ochako against her, leaning her against her body as she sat atop the toilet seat to keep them both off the floor.
Ochako felt wrung out, hurting, her entire body aching but that was less important. She heard the door open once more, the sound of footsteps making her flinch, worried about who was coming in, only to catch the feeling upon the air of Izuku's presence. They stepped to the doorway of the stall, looking down at the duo. Ochako was worried about how awful she must look right now. Izuku said nothing, just held out a bottle of water to her, the cap removed already, reminding Ochako of how painful her mouth felt and how horrible the taste was. She grabbed at it with shaking hands, draining it swiftly, tears coming down more as she felt so goddamned worthless, unable to handle even eating a single meal while the other two dealt with so much worse.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, pleading, begging internally for them to not hate her for her weakness. "I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to break our deal, please, I'm sorry-"
Izuku knelt before her swiftly, hands reaching out to grasp hers as Himiko's arms around her waist tightened. "We know, please, don't say sorry, we know it's not easy, you didn't break anything!"
"I'm sorry!" She sobbed, covering her face with her hands.
"Chako, it's okay, it's okay, you're okay,'' Himiko tried to reassure her, nuzzling her cheek with her own, the soft fur of Himiko's ears brushing against Ochako's face, but Ochako just kept repeating her apology. She couldn't help it…she had failed on the very first day. She was just so bad at this, so bad at all this, why was she so pathetic?
"Did we give her too much?" Himiko asked Izuku over Ochako's bowed head, realizing Ochako wasn't really listening to them.
"I-I don't know? I did some research, but I'm no expert. I thought we had to start small, but I thought that was small enough?" Izuku shrugged helplessly.
"Do…do we ask someone else?" Himiko asked hesitantly, glancing down at Ochako's shuddering form.
"Not without her permission," Izuku replied firmly, even though there was a note of doubt across the connection as they said that. Ochako almost let out a hysterical giggle at that…they couldn't lie to her even for her own sake, could they?
She managed to swallow down her own tears long enough to focus on the feelings they had…the sheer worry and fear within them both, swirling around them as if it was surrounding her and inundating the very air in her lungs. It was like a wake up call, like the bite of winter air in her lungs, a sharp pain that brought some form of clarity. They didn't know what to do to help her, and she didn't know what she needed either, but…someone else did. She just had to find the will to actually reach out to her; and for Izuku or Himiko, she would try.
She tried to reach into her pocket, but her hands were shaking so badly she wasn't sure she could successfully get her phone out. "...can you get me my phone?" she asked softly, hating how weak she felt but wanting to take this one damned step on her own. Izuku looked confused for a moment, but nodded, reaching down into her pocket where they knew Ochako kept her phone and pulling it out. They flipped it open for her, handing it to her while Himiko cupped her hands beneath Ochako's just in case she dropped it.
Hands shaking, she managed to navigate her contacts enough to find the number she needed and pressed on it, lifting the phone to her ear even as she felt new tears beginning to stream down her face. Tears of shame, of fear, of sheer self-loathing…but she wanted to try, because she didn't want to hurt Himiko or Izuku anymore. The line clicked on.
"Uraraka? Is something the matter?"
Ochako took a deep breath. "Miss Kayama? I need your help."