Izuku was (not maliciously) avoiding his friends to the best of his abilities to avoid some rather uncomfortable questions, but when you share dorm spaces with the rest of your class, that sort of escapade becomes increasingly difficult to do. He didn't hate his friends, nor was he against a bit of socialization or friendly banter. Personal questions always made him uncomfortable however, especially the topic of his quirk which had become a topic of discussion for individuals both inside and outside of class. It all started with a question from Kaminari after class a few days ago as the class was packing their things and getting ready for after school training.
"Hey, Izuku! I have a question for 'ya! Is your quirk perhaps powered by electricity?" Kaminari flagged him as he was putting his notebooks away.
"Huh? Electricity?" Izuku responded warily. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, when you use your quirk, you notice you get all that cool green lightning, right?" Kaminari repeated, his hands flipping about in the hair with excitement. "Your quirk's electric like mine, right?"
"Oh! That… Um, well it's nothing like your quirk if that's what you're asking?" Izuku responded nervously, packing up his notes in his bag and getting ready to bail as soon as he could. "I think it's just energy that happens to look similar to electricity, to be honest I've never given it that much thought?"
Kaminari gave him a sort of doubtful look at his unconvincing answer. "Never thought about it? You, Midoriya Izuku, have never thought about your own quirk?"
'Dammit, Izuku!' he admonished himself mentally.
"Hm? Oh yeah… I've also been wondering about that lately!" Now it was Mina Mina's turn to press the interrogation, sharing a glance with Ururaka as if she would know anything. Ururaka half-heartedly shrugged and looked at Izuku with questions in her eyes as well, only humming to herself in curiosity. Tsu and Jiro exchanged amused glances with the girl as well, the latter of whom only exhaled sharply from her nose. 'Like I'd know anything!' her eyes read.
"I always thought it was just energy." Todoroki admitted, appearing quietly behind Izuku. "A side effect of having an enhancement quirk. That sort of aura is not uncommon among those types."
"Yeah, I mean flashy quirks aren't anything new. Honestly I'm kinda jealous!" Kirishima smiled honestly.
"Dark Shadow could be described as a type of energy," Tokoyami butted in with his own interpretation. "Although Dark Shadow is a manifestation of shadow energy from my body, Izuku's power is not sentient-"
Debatable.
"-I would not put them in the same league. I would suggest that it's no different than when you light a fire and see dark smoke rising from the flames. Simply, a lingering effect. Wouldn't you agree, Todoroki?" Tokoyami concluded.
"I'm inclined to," The boy nodded. "But then that begs the question of what Izuku's 'fire' is-"
"THIS CONVERSATION IS OVER!" Iida suddenly stood up and put his arm in the air, signaling the end of the conversation, air-chopping vigorously. "Can you not see we are clearly making him uncomfortable!? As class rep, I will not allow this conversation to extend any further!"
'THANK YOU, IIDA!' Izuku couldn't help but shout in his head- he could feel the eyes of Class 1-A fall onto his trembling form. He was completely on edge, at the will of his clueless classmates and paralyzing anxiety. Sooner or later, people were going to ask questions about his quirk the same way he always asked others about theirs. All Might had told him this would happen, but Izuku didn't like being the center of attention. All the rehearsed lines he'd been spouting in his head for weeks simply flew out once the curious gazes of his class turned on him. A few of them muttered apologies. "Honestly, my quirk is just a generic enhancement quirk… That's all you're seeing, just energy manifesting in the form of static electricity."
"Generic? Far from it!" Hagakure exclaimed. "Your quirk is like… Totally awesome and cool!? How can you call it generic!?"
"Are you even listening to me!?" Iida half-yelled, chopping the hair even faster and more frantically.
Izuku caught wind of Kacchan muttering "Tch!" underneath his breath and rolling his eyes. Luckily, no one else caught onto it.
"W-Well no! I meant that it's just sort of… simple when you break it down. It's an enhancement quirk, all it does is power up my physical strength and double up on my energy- in a paraphrased way. In that sense it's actually super simple! I can't control 100% of my power all at once, so the rest of it has to go somewhere. That's all you're seeing, the percentage I can't control finding another way to relieve itself without hurting me," Izuku waved his hands in the air with rising anxiety. One For All was anything but simple. "Right now I can only control a little less than half of my quirk's total power-"
"Half?" Todoroki leaned forwards. "You can only control half?"
"Yeah… Roughly half."
"Well, it does make sense…" Yaoyorozu pressed a hand up against her cheek in gentle thought. "I mean, plenty of Heroes have flashy energy-based Quirks that give off some sort of effect."
An ignored Iida simply stood there with his mouth agape at his repeated ignorance. Izuku felt bad for him, despite his own power being the source of interrogation.
"Similar?" Tokoyami huffed. "Maybe in theory, but not in practice, at least if you were to compare it to other heroes. The only one comparable to Izuku's power is All Might, as we have previously discussed."
At the front of their class, Aizawa grew tired of their noise and sighed, sitting up from the floor in his sleeping bag. "Are you all done slacking off yet? Class is over. Go home." Midoriya was grateful for the chance to escape, though Aizawa didn't know how grateful he was based on his exhausted expression. Izuku shot him a thankful glance. Though his teacher didn't know the depths of his abilities, he was perceptive. Aizawa liked Izuku enough to spare him the interrogation even if he'd rather be caught dead than admit to caring about his students.
"Oh! Yeah, that's right! I have to meet All Might after class! Thanks for reminding me!" Izuku suddenly stood up from his seat and stretched, "Well, if that's all… I have to get going! I'll see you all later!"
"Wait what? You're going already? Class just ended-" Kaminari said.
"Gotta go!" And with that, Izuku had sped out of the classroom, leaving a few loose green sparks behind. Aizawa grumbled something about using quirks indoors, but nobody heard it. Unbeknownst to the suspicion of Izuku's classmates, Class 1-A had decided in their incredible boredom to get to the bottom of this mystery: What on Earth is up with Izuku's extremely powerful quirk? (And why does he meet All Might so much?)
A select group of Class 1-A's most intrigued put together a list of questions to ask Izuku about his Quirk, much to the latter's dismay. And they did not stop the questioning- not out of malice, but out of genuine curiosity and the urge to get closer to him. Izuku understood why, but he couldn't tell them about One for All. That would put them at risk, and Izuku wasn't going to put them in harm's way. If they asked again, he'd regurgitate the answers he'd rehearsed to all the hypothetical questions he'd conjured up. Unfortunately, his classmates were one step ahead of him, and were perhaps taking notes from the boy's own analytical habits. When Izuku side-stepped one of their questions or only gave vague answers, they only grew more curious.
He could only avoid them for so long, so perhaps… This was inevitable. Perhaps he should have thought really hard about what to tell his friends when the questions about his unusual abilities were too much to hold back. It was during a small evening get-together long after class in their common room, where Izuku was swarmed by several of his classmates as they were preparing dinner when he came back from a late-night training session with All Might.
"Hey Izuku! Check it out!" Kaminari slung his arm over Izuku's shoulder and half-dragged him into the common area. "Guess what? We made your favorite!"
"My… favorite?" Izuku nearly stumbled over as he was dragged into 1-A's common room, spotting half his class waiting inside with smiles on their faces. What's that smell? Were they cooking something? He sniffed the room and his eyes lit up. "Wait, is that-"
"KATSUDON!" Hagakure and Mina presented a pre-made bowl of fresh katsudon to a now-drooling Izuku.
"No way! Really!?" Izuku breathed, his mouth already watering. He knew it wouldn't taste as good as his mom's but…
"Yup! Me and Kirishima whipped it up for the whole class! Pulled together some cash and whipped up a famous chef's recipe!" Kaminari gave a thumbs up and a wink to Izuku. "Well, buddy? What do ya think~?"
"Wow, that's actually really impressive! I mean, this looks so fancy…" Izuku reached forwards for the bowl.
"Ah-ah!" Mina waved the bowl away. "You want this? First, you need to answer a few questions for us~"
Kirishima, Kaminari, and Mina's smiles all twisted into the sneakiest shit-eating grin Izuku had ever fucking seen. Oh god no.
"Wait… no way. Don't tell me-" Horror dawned on Izuku as the realization set in. "You wouldn't-"
"Oh, she would," from behind him, Jiro spoke from behind him. Besides her, Tsu, Momo, Ururaka, and Hagakure were standing with excited expressions. (At least, in Hagekure's case, Izuku assumed she was just as bright-eyed as the other girls. Not that you could really see her) Ururaka gave Izuku an apologetic shrug as if to say, 'Sorry, Deku… I tried!'
Oh god. They even got Uraraka on it. It was over. His life was over. He had been outsmarted. (At least she looked guilty… Or maybe she was just here for the free food.)
Izuku could feel eyes working on him again- all belonging to the classmates who had been interrogating him a few days earlier in class. In the common room, he also spotted Tokoyami and a reluctant Kacchan, who was eerily quiet and turned away, staring outside one of the windows on the couch, his head turned away. Near the back, sitting on a dining table, Izuku spotted someone he didn't expect to see here at all…
"No way… you're in on this too, Todoroki?" Izuku whined, face falling in disappointment.
"Hm? Oh, no. I'm interested, but not enough to bribe you. I'm just here for the food," the boy shrugged absentmindedly, already holding a bowl and eating alone at a table. "If it makes you feel better, I can leave."
'At least he's honest…' Izuku thought. "No no, it's fine. The common room is for all of us. Sigh. I can't believe you're all going this far… It's so late too, I mean how long did this even take you?"
"Not that it matters-" Kaminari said smugly, "But me and Kirishima? We've been planning this for days! It was Mina's idea."
"Yeah… Why am I not surprised?" Izuku sighed again. "And everyone in class is in on this?"
"No, it's just us. Everyone else was either occupied or didn't seem interested. Shoji, Koda, and Ojiro are having a small get-together of their own in the dorms. Aoyama… we're not sure where he is," Todoroki shrugged, looking back. "The others were busy. Like I said, I'm just here for the food. Considering how late it is, Mina said you would probably be hungry since you're always training until after nightfall these days. That's where this whole idea started, I assume?"
Mina nodded. "Yup! Aren't I a genius!?"
Izuku bit the inside of his lip. He was grateful, truly he was, minus the bribery part… But he wasn't going to give up the secrets of One for All for food. That being said, clearly his friends had put a lot of work into this meal. There was enough for everyone. They had probably set aside a lot of time and money to make this happen, and they're only doing this because they care about him. So, maybe he could tell them a few inconspicuous things… After all, he's rehearsed this. His friends deserve to know some things about his quirk after all his constant pestering.
"Deku-"
How much could he tell? How would he even explain it? He barely understood how it worked- it's not like he had answers either… Would he have to lie?
"Deku-"
No, no. That was unnecessary. How much had they figured out? Had they figured out anything at all? Was he overthinking it? Maybe he was overthinking it. These were his friends so he could trust them not to pry into his personal life too much, right?
"DEKU!" Ururaka's voice spun him out of his spiral. "You're muttering out loud again…"
"O-Oh! Sorry… Bad habit," Izuku scratched the back of his head. Judging by the confused faces of his classmates, nobody had really picked up anything incriminating from what he said.
"Right… Anyways, I appreciate all you've done for me, really I do! But, I don't think I'll be able to provide you with any concrete answers. My quirk is… underdeveloped compared to yours."
And maybe Izuku shouldn't have said that, because Kirishima opened his mouth ready to spout a dozen questions, before-
"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU ALL DOING THIS LATE!?" Suddenly, a loud voice cut through the air with enough anger to set them all ablaze.
His savior… Tenya Iida. Class Rep. Izuku could always count on him. He silently thanked Class Rep again with imaginary tears… 'Thank you, Iida. You're a savior. There is still hope yet!'
"Do you all have any idea what time it is? We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow!" Iida pushed his glasses up. "I cannot allow whatever this is!"
"Oh, come on Iida. Tomorrow's our off-day!" Kaminari grinned slyly. "You're here because you wanna know about Izuku's Quirk too, riiight~?"
"What? Is that what this is about!?" Iida shot Izuku with a sympathetic look. "I CANNOT ALLOW THIS! How could you peer pressure someone into talking about something they clearly don't want to! And why are you cooking this late!?"
"Want some?" Mina asked excitedly, eyes beaming. "It's katsudon!"
"Katsudon…?" Iida blinked quizzically. "Isn't that Izuku's favori- ARE YOU BRIBING HIM!?"
"AGH!" Kacchan snarled. "God, can you extras just SHUT UP? It's not that big of a deal! Be QUIET!"
"Or you could just go to your room," Kaminari mumbled under his breath. Kacchan curled his lip at his remark. Actually, why was Kacchan even awake? 'Doesn't he normally go to bed early?' Izuku thought.
Several members of the group sighed, including Izuku, who learned to ignore Kacchan outbursts a long time ago. "Okay, fine… I can try to answer some of your questions and clear things up, but I doubt it'll be that interesting…"
"EEE!" Mina giggled. "Okay, okay! But first! Let's dig in! We're not gonna let this all go to waste, are we!?"
"Izuku… You really don't have to. Forgive me for bringing it up, but I know a lot of what your quirk entails pertains to training with All Might and if that information is confidential-" Iida started.
"Now you're making it sound more important than it actually is!" Izuku protested.
"Honestly, I think most of us are curious," Izuku turned his head to look at Ururaka who was looking away with mild shame. "I mean, I know I am too! But you always avoid questions or explain things so plainly, I think we just want to get to know you better! But obviously, don't feel pressured or anything. We can just hang out either way, right guys?"
The small excerpt of Class 1-A nodded.
"Yeah, it's no biggie!" Kaminari grinned.
"Frankly, it's good to hang out with you. I feel like we've all had so much going on lately that we don't get to chat as friends much anymore, ribbit." Tsu agreed. Jiro and Yaoyorozu nodded silently in response.
Izuku, against the logical part of his brain, felt guilty. "Oh, you guys…"
"Midoriya," Tokoyami appeared suddenly behind him, startling him. Izuku hadn't even realized he was even here with how silent he could be. "In my opinion, talking about your quirk is entirely your choice. I understand what it is like to want to hide things about yourself from other people, especially if you lack control over your abilities…"
Tokoyami spoke softly, but sincerely. The atmosphere in the room suddenly grew more seriously. If anyone could come close to understanding Izuku's situation, it had to have been him. Dark Shadow at times was difficult to control, violent even. Even Tokoyami struggled with controlling the beast, and Izuku always sympathized with him. Volatile, self-destructive quirks are uncommon and take years to master. Izuku could relate… controlling his quirk took months and he still hadn't matched 100% of his power. If the universe allowed it, Izuku would have liked to discuss the nature of sentient quirks with him as well, but he knew the vestiges wouldn't allow it. Izuku was at least thankful they never commented on anything he did in his day-to-day life out of respect for his privacy and personal space. But Izuku wondered if Dark Shadow could also speak with Tokoyami internally as well.
"Tokoyami…" Izuku exhaled. "That means a lot coming from you."
His friend nodded. "Make no mistake, as your classmates, we just want to get to know you better. In case there comes a time where you need to rely on us."
"Still. This is all very sudden… Midoriya, are you sure you are comfortable with this?" Iida asked tentatively.
Izuku smiled sadly, something that didn't go unnoticed to his friend. Desperately, Izuku wanted to tell his classmates the truth about his quirk. He deeply wanted to lift the burden, even just a little bit, but he knew the risks. They could become targets, and Izuku wouldn't be able to live with himself if someone had gotten hurt because of him.
"Alright… listen up, everyone. I feel like I owe some explanation. Only because I've never really tried to explain my quirk. But first… why don't we eat? I'm honestly pretty starved!" Izuku gave his signature sunshine smile, and the moodiness was immediately dispersed from the air.
"I still think this is bribery, but I respect your intelligence to know what you are getting into. So if Midoriya is okay with it, then I'll accept it as well. Please just avoid activities this late at night next time," Iida accepted with a smile, and the rest of the class all stood up to grab plates from the kitchen as Kirishima and Kaminari moved back to pass them around.
"LET'S DIG IN!" The class cheered.