Avoiding Kacchan wasn't something Izuku meant to do, but it their busy schedules had kept them apart since that night in the hallway. Their routine settling into the awkwardness that Izuku was sure was his own fault.
Izuku buried his head deeper into the rough fabric of his futon, the morning light already peaking through the large windows of their room, but he wasn't ready to move just yet as the ache of training seeped deep in his bones.
He had been pushing himself especially hard the last few days, but it helped to keep his mind off of that night. He was at a loss for what Kacchan said.
The others were already up and moving around him and Izuku sighed deep as he pushed through the lethargic fuzz to sit up. His arms protested as he propped himself up to watch as the others chatted around him. He could hear Chieko and Hatsume behind the privacy curtain they had made to allow them to get dressed in their room. Izuku's group stayed away from the dressing rooms Aizawa mentioned.
Not that they didn't trust the school, they just preferred staying close by.
The soft smell of toasted bread wafted from the other end of the room, where his mom was making them a simple breakfast to get them started for the day. She was already sipping on the tea that Chieko made for her every day.
"Izuku you ready to get up?" Inko asked.
"Yeah, just a moment."
Izuku got up and after a quick change of clothes, he pressed a small peck against his mother's cheek as he sat down next to her, toast already laid out in front of him with a bit of butter.
"Katsuki, would you like breakfast?" Inko asked.
"Nah, I'll grab something from the cafeteria with the others." Kacchan said.
The other boy was out before Izuku could even look. The sliding of their door heard above the chatter. Izuku's teeth clenched in response.
Knowing now what Kacchan thought. Did it change anything? Did it even matter if Kacchan didn't think they would have been friends?
Maybe he had deluded himself. Things had been good between them before they had reached U.A. They had been mending the frayed edges of their friendship again and there had even been that moment on the roof of the shed.
It had to mean something.
Right?
Or maybe this was Kacchan's true feelings? He wanted more than survival.
"Zuku? You ready to go?" Chieko asked.
Izuku stood from their small dining table in the room, bland toast still sitting untouched, but Izuku smiled as he passed the simple breakfast over to Denki, who took it without hesitation.
"Yeah, let me get my bag and we can head out." Izuku said.
As they walked down the hallways, Chieko caught him up on her lessons with Nurse Shun. She eagerly learned from the older man and Izuku got joy in watching her.
"You and Baku still haven't made up?" Chieko asked.
The change in topic made Izuku stumble in his steps.
"Wha… What do you mean? Me and Kacchan are fine." Izuku said.
Chieko's left brow raised as if asking if he really expected her to believe that. Izuku let out a breath, his shoulders dipping lower as he looked away from Chieko, who was watching him.
"That obvious?" Izuku asked.
"Were the two of you trying to hide it?" Chieko asked.
He wasn't sure what to say to that. He wasn't sure what was really going on between them, but Aizawa's rang towards them from across the hall, making them both turn in his direction, thus saving Izuku from having to respond.
They dropped the conversation for now.
"Midoriya, come with me for a moment." Aizawa said.
"Are we not training today?" Izuku asked.
The older man glanced at Chieko, hesitating, and merely shook his head.
"No, we'll need to postpone training for today." Aizawa said.
Chieko patted Izuku's shoulder, already walking away with a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about it, I'll go train with Shinso for a bit while you're gone." Chieko said.
Izuku waved her off before following Aizawa, who was tightlipped as they picked up Todoroki from his quarters. Todoroki seemed to know what was happening as he greeted them with a silent nod of his head. Izuku still wasn't sure what to make the of the boy. When they crossed paths, he noticed Todoroki kept everyone he interacted with at arm's length, never getting too friendly with anyone. Izuku couldn't decide if the other boy even liked Izuku or only tolerated him.
"Moving forward, you'll be sitting in my team meetings to prepare for the upcoming assignments. You don't need to take part, just sit and listen and we'll talk afterwards." Aizawa said.
There was a group of heroes already waiting for them as they entered, their chattering low as they went over things that went over Izuku's head. He recognized most of them, but there were a few his age that he hadn't introduced himself to yet.
Aizawa stood at the front of the conference room. A projector lit a soft white against the screen across the room. The white reflected over Aizawa's stubbled face as he stood in front of it waiting as everyone settled in and turned to look at him. His face darkened by the light, light, creating harsh lines as he started the slides.
They placed two images side by side.
"Okay, as most of you are aware, we've been actively watching over the recent conflict between the league of villains and the local Yakuza."
Images of the last fight appeared on the screen. Blue flames lit Dabi's manic face compared to Chisaki's cold-dead eyes framed by his beak mask.
"We've been monitoring them for the last few months as they've become more hostile towards each other. The most recent battle has put them in front of our doorsteps, which not only endanger the refugees that Mirio's team was bringing in that day, but if risked their attention being placed on the school."
One hero stood, their costume torn and over worn. Izuku recognized him as someone who had been an up in coming rookie hero during.
"Rumor is there was a new drug in the works before the Villain Attack. The Yakuza were very hush about it, but it seems the League of Villains may be interested in getting their hands on it."
Everyone's attention peaked at the news.
"Trigger?" Aizawa asked.
"We can't say for sure, but it seems to point towards a new drug that did the opposite. Instead of an enhancement drug, it could ultimately remove a person's quirk. We don't know if it's temporary, permanent or if it really exists."
Izuku leaned forward, intrigued by the idea of such a drug. Todoroki glanced over at him when he picked up Izuku's mumbling and Izuku bit down on his tongue to muffle it. Scenarios of all kinds ran through his thoughts, the possibilities rushing through as his hands itch to write it down.
"We will move this up to our top priority for now. We need to confirm the legitimacy of this rumor. If Shigaraki is really interested in obtaining it, then we need to get hold of it before that happens. I've already sent out notices to your leads on your next assignments. Review and prepare." Aizawa said.
As the others left, Aizawa motioned the two boys over. He flicked through the projector until two clear images appeared. All for One and a pale-haired man who Izuku remembered from the day of the attack. His cracked face was unforgettable.
"Do you know who they are?" Aizawa asked.
"I saw them that day, but I know little about them." Izuku said.
"That's all for One and his right hand Tomura Shigaraki." Todoroki said.
Izuku glanced back over at AFO's right hand. His smile was grotesquely vicious, stretched across his face, though he looked a bit blurred, as if they had taken the image in secret and rushed.
"We are fairly sure there is an internal struggle among the League of Villains. Shigaraki and his men have been actively roaming the city since that day of the attack, while AFO has been MIA since the day of his speech." Aizawa said.
"What is he doing?" Izuku asked.
"We know little, but the one thing we know is he's assigned Dabi to put pressure on the Yakuza for something. It's been a constant back and forth ever since between the two groups." Aizawa said.
Aizawa flipped back to the original slide where Dabi and Chisaki stood side by side. Todoroki's eyes bore into his brother's image. It was the only emotion that he had shown since Izuku met him.
"Now I want to know what you both think."
"Are you planning to use this against the League?" Todoroki asked.
The thought had crossed Izuku's mind, but he worried more about what this would mean for those at the school if Aizawa were planning to attack the League of Villains. Would they pull his group into a bloody war between the heroes and the villains?
"We can't say for sure yet, but more than that, we can't let them get their hands on it. I'll admit if this thing really exists, it won't matter if it's permanent or temporary. If this drug can suppress AFO's quirks, then this could be the key to bringing down the League." Aizawa said.
Izuku's heart thumped heavily in his chest at the idea of things being brought back to order. Back to the way things should have been.
It was a tempting thought.
The day at the beach flashed across his eyes, All Might's harsh face as he struggled to hold All for One back. If the strongest hero in the world couldn't defeat him, could such a drug really bring someone like that man down?
"What about you, Midoriya?" Aizawa asked.
"Why are you asking me this?" Izuku asked.
The information intrigued him, but Izuku couldn't get past the question of why Aizawa was showing him all of this. The man in question eyed him, his thick brow tweaked as he sized him up.
"Todoroki, can you leave us for now?"
Todoroki glanced at Izuku, his gaze curious before nodding in agreement and leaving without a word. Aizawa leaned back against the table, his arms crossed as he looked back at Izuku.
"I'm asking, because I want to know you opinion."
"But why does my opinion matter to you? You don't know me, so why are you trusting me with this kind of information?"
"Because I want you to trust me." Aizawa said.
The older man sighed as he brushed his long hair back away from his face, the lack of sleep clear on his face. Izuku wasn't expecting his response.
He wasn't sure if it was because he was a hero or because he held the fate of Izuku's group in his hands, leaving Izuku unsure of how much he could trust this man.
"I can understand why you don't yet trust me. I may not know the details, but I've picked enough to know that something happened in the hospital, then just what was told to me."
Aizawa must have noticed something change on his face because he raised his hands up as if to stop him.
"I'm not asking you to tell me, Midoriya. You have every right not to believe me and I understand that. But if you're going to help us with future missions, I need you to meet me halfway."
He was asking Izuku to trust him, but Izuku struggled with the very idea.
"I can't promise that you won't meet heroes that will betray you, but not all heroes are like that. There are still good ones out there that still want to save people."
That was the problem, though. Everyone started with good intentions and Izuku couldn't tell the good from the bad. The heroes from the villains. His throat clenched tighter when he tried to voice it, though unable to explain even this much to the older man, who was essentially extending an olive branch to him.
Aizawa closed his eyes when Izuku had yet to say anything. Maybe he understood the gravity of what he was asking Izuku to do.
"Just think about it and get back to me before the end of the week."
Izuku swallowed back the lump of silence and nodded in agreement.
When the click of the door closed, Izuku slumped forward to rest his hands on the conference table, exhaustion creeping through every corner which only left from for the voices to crowd in around him.
All Might, the loudest in the room's silence.
'Midoriya, listen.'
"I don't want to." Izuku said.
'Please.'
Izuku shook his head. This was just his mind breaking under the stress. Something he couldn't afford right now. He left the conference room to look for Shinso and Chieko in the training room.
Maybe meditating the way Kacchan had taught him would help to get his thoughts in order.
As he walked down the halls of the school, he looked over the people that moved about. There was a lot of activity at the school, with people carrying out their duties as usual, just like at the hospital. The major difference between the two locations was the atmosphere. The hospital had been every bit the safe house they had set it up to be, but the school had settled into a community of people. Everyone here worked together to build a home that they could live in as they adapted to their new normal. It was a testament to Aizawa and the other heroes who had returned pieced together this balanced life for their charges.
The question that came to mind, though, was how far were they willing to go to keep this peace? Chieko's shaking image came to mind. Inazuma and the detective had done things in the name of peace. How could Aizawa promise he wouldn't do the same?
Even if Aizawa told him so, there was no actual way for Izuku to know for sure, and that was the biggest obstacle that distanced him from ever trusting the other man.
Izuku reached the training ground, where a mixture of different groups trained and sparred together. Shinso was off to one corner training with a few familiar faces. Izuku remembered the black-haired teen Sero who was teaching him how to use the wraps that Aizawa had given Shinso.
"Shinso." Izuku called out.
The other boy, who was hanging from the ceiling, his form unsteady as he tried to balance, while looking down. His form wobbled mid air as he tried to wave at Izuku in greeting. Sero chuckled in his element as he dangled from one of his tapes. Izuku noticed Chieko wasn't nearby, though Hatsume waved from where she sat a few feet away.
Shinso dropped himself down with Sero, who landed softly next to him. The grinning boy gave him a pat on the back.
"You need to work on your core a bit more, but you'll get the hang of it with more practice." Sero said.
"Thanks." Shinso said.
"Where's Chieko? Did she already leave?" Izuku asked.
Shinso paused from fiddling with the wraps, but Sero was the one to answer him.
"I don't think she ever showed up." Sero said.
"She didn't. I thought she was with you." Shinso said.
Izuku took another glance around in case she was training with anyone else. It wasn't common for her to branch outside of their group, but she had been disappearing so often lately that he wondered if she had made friends without them realizing it.
"Maybe she went with Nurse Shin?" Shinso suggested.
"I'll go check."
Shinso made to go with him, but Hatsume pulled him back before he could go any further.
"Oh no, I'm on a tight schedule today and I need to check your modular."
"No offense man, but it gives me a chill when I hear my voice coming from that thing." Sero said.
Izuku knew the feeling, so he waved them off as he left the training grounds.
"I'll come back with Chieko, so you just focus on your training."
The infirmary wasn't far, so it didn't take long for Izuku to reach Nurse Shin's office, but it surprised him to find his mother with the nurse.
"Oh Izuku! Did you get hurt again?" Inko asked.
"No, but what are you doing here?" Izuku asked.
Nurse Shin smiled as he finished writing something down on his clipboard.
"Don't worry Midoriya, I just wanted her to do a follow up with me to make sure she was feeling better." Nurse Shin said.
His mom stood up, thanking Nurse Shin.
"I'm feeling much better, thank you." She said.
"You're very welcome Mrs. Midoriya. Visit me whenever you need to."
"Has Chieko been by today?" Izuku asked.
As his mom got her things together, the nurse turned his attention to Izuku. His face looked confused, so Izuku already knew what he was going to say.
"No, she told me she'd be training with Aizawa today. Have you checked the training grounds?"
"She wasn't there." Izuku said.
"Well, if I see you, I will let her know you're looking for her."
Izuku left with his mom after that to check their room, but the space was empty with everyone off doing their own thing.
His mom moved to start a pot of tea.
"I'm sure she'll turn up soon." She said.
"I'm just worried that she keeps sneaking off on her own and isn't telling anyone." Izuku said.
"Why don't you sit down and have some tea with me before you head out?"
Izuku stood by the doorway, his finger tapping against the framing of the door. He would prefer to keep looking for Chieko, but seeing his mom by herself made him feel guilty that he was leaving her on her own for most of the day.
"Sure."
She poured him a cup. The warm, earthy aroma easing some of the tension in his shoulders as he took a sip.
"You've seemed off lately. What's bothering you, Izuku?"
"You know you're the second person to ask me what's wrong today." Izuku said.
"And I'm sure you evaded their question just as quickly."
Izuku didn't bother denying it this time. His finger returned their tapping against the cup.
"I guess I'm just trying to figure everything out." Izuku said.
It wasn't just Kacchan or Aizawa, or even his own mind if he was being honest with himself. He just wasn't sure how to verbalize it.
It was none of those things and all of those things.
"You'd done a lot to get us here. Isn't it time to let the heroes take the reins now that we're safe?" Inko said.
Her suggestion irked Izuku in a way that had him responding before he could even process his thoughts.
"But are we?"
Inko set her cup down as her brows drew together in a worried crease.
"What do you mean?"
"How do we know things won't turn out the same? We're keeping my quirk a secret, Chieko's quirk secret. What really happened to us is a secret. We're hiding so much, so how can we then trust them?"
Her eyes widened and Izuku's fingers stopped tapping as they clenched tighter around the soft ceramic of the cup. It was like the sea of doubts threaded together in a jumbled truth that spilled out of his mouth before he could stop it.
"Izuku."
"The fact is, we say nothing because we don't trust them. Aizawa means well, the heroes and everyone here are good people. They give us shelter and food."
"Izuku?"
"We can go to school again and train and get stronger like we wanted to."
"Sweetie…"
"We're protected from villains like Hachiro and his men. Everyone has found purpose and normalcy again. And I'm grateful for that. But in the end, I don't know if we're actually safe here." Izuku said.
His voice strained, but he kept going now that he was voicing what he had been holding back with everyone else.
"I can't bring myself to trust and rely on the heroes that could turn on us if they deem it necessary. But they're asking me to trust them? But how am I supposed to do that, mom? If I let me guard down and things repeat themselves. If Chieko or the others get hurt because of it, then it will be my fault again."
"I can't risk being wrong again…."
"Izuku!"
His mom placed her hands over his shaking palms, and the lukewarm tea pooled across the table, abruptly halting his purge. Izuku jerked back in response, but his mother held on tight, preventing him from pulling away. It was silent between them as she grabbed a nearby napkin to dry off his wet palms, her movements soft and methodical. When she finally let go, Izuku pulled back, his fist clenched tight in his lap.
"Sorry." He said.
"You're carrying too much Izuku. You're going to break if you don't let anyone help you."
How could he explain to his mom that he felt like he was already fraying at the ends?
Another secret.
Izuku stood up, grasping the back of his neck. His palms felt cold against his skin when he'd prefer a warm, reassuring heat.
"I need to go find Chieko." Izuku said.
"Wait, Izuku don't go."
He didn't turn back though, even as his mom called out to him again.