Greetings one and all! Another fine update we have here :D

So, a couple of things I want to point about this chapter: It's gonna get sad and I'm putting a warning because there is mention of attempted suicide. Granted that would be evident as that was chapter one now that I think about it.

But yea, time for the reviews! (FFN obviously):

Guest: Thank you, and while yes, the exposition can get pretty heavy in some chapters, if I had all the characters talk to one another, some of these chapters would be like... 20-30k words X_X. So thank you for the suggestion, and I'll try to keep it down as much as I can, but can't make any guarantees.

aliestrikehero: While it's true the healers in FFXIv have some Crowd Control elements to the story, Bakugo is quick enough to get past the obvious casting time, plus with how angry the blonde bomber gets, Warrior just fits better for the unlock. Plus I'm holding back on healers for a few more chapters due to the fact how broken they would make Izuku and any combat scenario.

draculyn28: Thank you and greetings once again!

Animefan13579: I had thought of those when it came to tattoos, but considering how ingrained it is within Japanese society, I still believe there would be some stigma towards it, despite the Yakuza's influence. Because remember, They are still there and operating, but not as strong as they once were.

FanfictionReaderIne: Thank you! I'm glad you have been enjoying the character interactions as while I may prioritize Izuku and those of his soon-to-be Poly relationship, we still need the others to be around and show off their stuff, right?

and trust me, Bakugo deserves all the pain that's coming towards him.

The Incomparable Tim Curry: Trust me, Mr. Curry, I'd like nothing more to expel the hothead, but considering his current mentality, that could harm not only Izuku more but UA in general.

Sabertoothfox: Well have some more!

Xerzo LotCN: Warrior!Izuku's personality is one more in tune with being brutally honest, as evident in the chapter (at least I hope so), When it came to the dreams/nightmares, they were simply the flashbacks of the previous warrior of light, similar to what happens in the Shadowbringers opening cinematic.

Well, hope everyone enjoys this next chapter and I'll see you all again next time.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to My Hero Academia and Final Fantasy XIV, they belong to their copyright holders.

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTION OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE, READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

Chapter 13
Aftermath and Revelations

"So, that happened," Kaminari spoke as he had his hands behind his head, watching the monitors that displayed All Might with the three remaining boys of Teams A and G load up an unconscious Bakugo onto a stretcher to be carried away by two robot's to Recovery Girl, "Great first match and all, but I kinda wish we could've heard what they were saying."

A few other boys nodded their heads in agreement, Kirishima with his arms crossed over his chest turned his attention away from the monitors to look at the others, "Honestly, their back and forth conversations must have been heated for Midoribro to lash out like that, I don't think I've ever could see him that angry before."

"It is kinda hard to picture him like that, I will admit. However, everyone has their breaking points," Ojiro spoke next, rubbing his chin softly as the puff of fur on his tail patted against his chest which was covered in a karate gi, "But Bakugo can get under your skin rather quickly and brutally, I don't think even Midoriya's patience and good nature could last that long."

"And grabbing him by his face and repeatedly smashing his head through the walls and breaking through them was pretty brutal in of itself; amazingly, Bakugo was able to stand up after all that." Shoji spoke from one of the mouths formed off of one of his tentacles, "And then Midoriya jumped through that inferno to charge at him… I'm amazed his hair wasn't on fire as he exited it."

"Aren't you guys forgetting something?!" shrieked Mineta, who had woken up from being knocked out prior by Shoji. The diminutive purple-clad boy's eyes were wide with fright as he was shaking in his boots, "His personality changes when he's in those 'kit' things, remember?!"

"Yea, so?" asked Sato with Kaminari nodding his head in agreement to the question.

Mineta stared hard at the two other boys, beady irises mere pinpricks with worry, "So what do you think it's going to be while he's in that particular one? You know, the ONE WHERE HE GETS ANGRY EASIER AND MORE STUPIDLY STRONG THAN NORMAL?!"

A few of the boys looked to one another as Mineta said this; the pervert had a point that this 'form' of Midoriya seemed to get enraged rather quickly, as well as being more savage in his attacks.

As some of the worries were starting to show on a couple of them, Yuga had stepped up with a huff, looking down at Mineta with his hands on his hips, "While you may be correct vous pervers violet, I doubt monsieur Midoriya would attack one of us outright." The smile upon the french boy's lips almost looked smug for a moment as he continued, "You are just worried what he may do since he was close to murdering you in the change rooms."

"And he's a damn hypocrite when he somehow had that weird as hell paddle thing!" Mineta scoffed back, trying to deny he was afraid of Midoriya. However, many of the other boys could see Mineta sweating bullets.

As Yuga and Mineta continued to bicker, Ochako had turned her attention back towards the girls of the class as they had separated themselves to not only keep away from Mineta but also deal with a new issue that had arisen.

When the battle was called, and after some of the cheers of celebration at the takedown of Bakugo and Tokoyami's capture of both the bomb and Iida had died down. Momo had turned her head towards Kyoka with a smile, before her face instantly shifted into one of shock and worry as the punk rocker looked deathly pale and her mouth was covered by her hands, a single tear rolling down her cheek, but her eyes were doing their damned best not to break down into more.

Momo gently took hold of Kyoka's shoulder and arm, silently moving them to a corner of the room in a way that no one could see the distressed look of her friend. Rubbing her back to try and comfort her as they moved, Momo swore from the corner of her eye that she had seen their teacher turn his head slightly, his usual everlasting smile no longer on his face and a single bright blue eye watching the two women move to the back and away from the others. Something within that bright blue iris of the pro hero had told Momo that he knew what was wrong with Kyoka and gave silent permission to move the girl far from the group to prevent others from noticing.

It had been a solid ten minutes since then; all of the other girls had noticed the disappearance of the resident rocker and heiress only to find them off in the corner with Momo comforting Kyoka. Of course, most of them silently moved towards the pair, also trying to do their best to comfort the girl since she had yet to say the reason why she was so upset.

The monitoring door opened with a noticeable click, though Mineta's ranting had nearly drowned it out as in walked the three remaining students and their teacher. All Might was beaming his usual smile now. However, Momo had seen him make a side glance at the small gathering of the girls and looked at the still upset form of Kyoka beside her before turning his attention to the rest of the class. The heiress gently nudged Mina on the shoulder and whispered to her and the other girls to join the others.

With a soft nod from the pinkette and a gentle rubbing of Kyoka's arm as silent support and promise to check up on her in a bit, Mina gently led the other girls back to the rest of the class, who were now gathering up for the debriefing. Momo had turned her attention back to Kyoka, who she noticed now was staring at the back of their fur-covered friend amongst the others, confirming what the raven-haired woman initially suspected.

She must have heard something between Bakugo and Midoriya through the communicator All Might had on. Despite her friend's current mental state, Momo was very impressed with how strong Kyoka's hearing was.

"Now class, while I would like to see you all go out and do your utmost best," exclaimed All Might with a finger raised in the air, looking over all of his students before settling his gaze upon Izuku, who flinched a little when he saw the pro hero's eyes harden on him for a moment, "I would also like to point out to not go overboard and land each other in intensive care, you are here to train to become heroes and heroes do know how to show restraint."

"Now, who can tell me which student is the MVP of the round?" asked the large man as he looked over several of the students. Many looked like they were thinking, though, in truth, they were mostly stalling because they had focused on the fight between Izuku and Bakugo.

Two minutes had passed before Izuku rose his hand him, a big smile upon his lips as he did so as All Might nodded his head to the barely clothed man, "Yes, young Midoriya?"

"It's clear that the MVPs of the round are Tokoyami and Iida." exclaimed Izuku with a big smile.

"Oh? How do you figure?"

"It's quite simple. Bakugo basically ignored what he was supposed to do to hunt me down in some vain attempt of ego." Izuku said with a shrug of his shoulders, "That was evident when he let my partner escape without any trouble, so he couldn't possibly be the MVP."

All Might nodded gently, as he and the rest of the class waited for Izuku to continue, "As for myself, while I did take into account that Bakugo would abandon his teammate and the objective, and following the plan I had made with the help of Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, I was at first following said plan, but then the fight started to get… personal… and I let my feelings cloud my judgment in certain aspects, like not properly wrapping the capture tape around Bakugo before contacting my partner for a status update."

The savage-looking green-haired teenager crossed his arms over his bare chest, "Even though Iida did lose, both he and Tokoyami kept to the nature and purpose of the exercise. So they both should get the MVP." Izuku finished off by giving a thumbs up to both boys, who looked at him stunned. Not just from being as honest as he was, but not trying to hype himself up. All Might nodded as he looked over at the pair of boys.

"An excellent analysis, young Midoriya, and it was also my reasoning as well. So, young Iida and Tokoyami, congratulations for being this match's MVPs!" exclaimed the seasoned hero as the rest of the class cheered and clapped for the two boys, who were bowing their heads in thanks to the others. All Might rose his hand to silence the class, and once that was done, he pointed to the monitor with the next set of pairs, "Now, the next set of teams to face off are Teams D and B, if you'll follow me to the new battle site we can keep this train going!"

As the students of said teams went to stand by their teacher, Izuku felt a soft hand on his upper arm and turned his head to see who it was. He blinked in confusion when he saw the concerned look of Momo, "Momo, is something the matter?" he asked in a low whisper.

The only answer to his question was his raven-haired friend shifting her eyes to the side and turning her head slightly. Izuku followed her gaze to see the still, very distressed Kyoka, though now she was looking away from the group.

He frowned slowly until he could see her eyes were slightly red and part of her mark-up on her cheeks ran a little. At first, he was confused why Kyoka was so upset until he looked upon her twirling an earphone jack around her finger, and slowly his frown dissipated into one of utmost fear, and the realization hit him.

She somehow heard everything he and Bakugo said during their fight.

His attention returned to Momo, who looked back to him with that still same concerned look before but had grown even more distraught when she saw his varied expressions. With a simple nod to Momo, he patted her arm in comfort, "I'll go talk with her; you should get focused for your own trial since you're on team D." Izuku then gave her a bright smile, one that made her heart melt softly as she slowly returned it, Izuku chuckled a little as he removed his hand from her arm, "Knock'em dead, Momo."

"I hope it doesn't come to that; what kind of hero would I be if that were to happen?"

"True, but then you could always just flash that beautiful smile of yours, and they'd surrender immediately." Izuku quipped back, shrugging his shoulders and failing to notice how his friend's cheeks turned bright red. As Izuku turned to head towards Kyoka (who was also madly blushing because she had overheard what he said), Momo was shaken out of her stupor by Mina as she spoke in a harsh whisper.

"Holy hell, did that new kit of his make his "a.f." that much worse?"

"I-I would hope not… it's bad enough as it is." Momo said quietly as she and Mina headed towards All Might and the other two students waiting for them.

Meanwhile, Izuku had walked over and stood beside his punk rocker friend, leaning against the wall, slid down to sit, and turned his head towards her. She had refused to look at him but was still idly twirling her earphone jack around her finger absently. After a few moments of silence, Izuku finally spoke up.

"So, I take it you heard everything?"

Kyoka remained silent for a few more minutes until she sighed and gently nodded, "Not the stuff at the beginning, because of the chatter between both sides of the teams… but then All Might seemed to be very focused on what you two were saying after that asshole blasted you through those walls… and that's when..."

She couldn't finish, and Izuku watched as she began to shudder and did her best not to cry out loud. Typically, Izuku would be trying to calm down Kyoka in his usual stuttering and apologies, but in his current mindset, he thought of a different approach.

Kyoka stopped suddenly, feeling the firm yet gentle hand of her friend pull her close to his body in a side hug. She froze as her smaller hand rested on his chest, and she could feel the heat coming off of his body, and with how close her head was to his chest now, the steady beating of his heart echoed through her mind and body.

She felt him tighten his grip on her side, his hand placed between the bottom of her jacket and just above where her leather pants held tight against her waist. Because of the rips and tears made along the pastel pink shirt hemline, she felt his fingers pressed against the bare flesh of her stomach, which caused her to blush hard with the tingling sensation from said touch.

"Iz-Izuku, what are-"

"I can't go into full details right now," interrupted her green-haired friend, "A lot of it is personal, and I don't really want the others to hear or know about it, at least some aspects of it." Izuku turned his head to look down at Kyoka, his green eyes warm as he stared into her dark violets, "We can talk about it later if you want, your room if it makes you feel more comfortable, I can bring a new cd I picked up before classes started, some new rock band called "The Primals"."

He smirked gently at her, which caused Kyoka's cheeks to go supernova in how red they were. She quickly moved away from him (already missing the warmth and touch of his body) and cleared her throat, looking away and her jacks tapping in front of her for a good few minutes before she finally dared to speak, "Y-yea, that sounds fine, how does after dinnertime sound?"

When nothing but silence was the only answer given, she turned around to find Izuku passed out, his head lowered and his chin resting against his chest with his knees bent close and his arms resting on top of them. Kyoka's embarrassed look slowly turned to a deadpan before she slowly smiled. Kyoka pushed herself off the ground and took one last look at Izuku as he slept before shaking her head in mild amusement and headed back towards her classmates.

A loud yawn echoed within the monitoring room as Izuku slowly began to stir, raising himself up from the floor as he stretched, cracking his back with a soft grunt. Smacking his lips together from how dry they seemed, Izuku ran his fingers through his still longer hair, pushing one of the braids behind his ear. He blinked for a moment before looking over himself, thinking out loud as he did so, "Huh, so my 'kit' doesn't go away if I pass out, that's good to know." His eyes stopped upon seeing a rather peculiar object covering his legs and balled up at his waist from when he rose up.

"Where did this blanket come from?"

"That was created by young Yaoyoruzu after the third trial; you had fallen to your side as you slept and with some help from the others, they were able to put that pillow under your head as well," spoke Toshinori from the control console as Izuku whipped his head towards his direction. To the teenager's shock, the rest of his classmates were no longer within the monitoring room. Instead, standing beside the shrunken number one hero was Aizawa and the dean. The homeroom teacher with a pointed yet tired look of his own and the dean smiling at the green-haired boy as he scrambled to stand up.

"A-Aizawa, sir... D-Dean Nezu… I am sorry for falling asleep during the heroics class! A-And you, Mr. Yagi, I wasn't-I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, young Midoriya." Toshinori interrupted the stammering boy who earlier today had seemed so calm and collected, and to watch him stammer as his usual self made the old pro smirk gently. But that smirk didn't last as Toshinori cleared his throat, "Your classmates explained what you have been going through these past few days, and you passing out in exhaustion after such intensity is not uncommon in our line of work. But, we wished to speak with you in regards to what happened during the battle trial between you and Bakugo."

Izuku visibly shook when the previous fight was brought up. Of course he knew that his teacher would have listened in through the communicator's, primarily if Kyoka had heard it.

Something else he was going to have to deal with afterward.

Nezu spoke up to take over the conversation, "While what Yagi said after your trial is correct, with your current skill set, holding back would be quite difficult given your temperament. Bakugo is lucky that he only had a few broken bones and his destroyed gauntlets."

"You make it sound like he could've killed Bakugo if given a chance." Aizawa said in his usual grave tone, looking at the Dean, who merely said nothing, letting the silence be the furred being's response, and both Yagi and Aizawa looked on in shock, with Izuku looking away in embarrassment, "... You have got to be kidding me…"

"I am indeed not kidding you, Shouta." Nezu said as he turned his head slightly to the hobo-looking teacher, "It's by not only Mr. Midoriya's heroic nature to not outright kill any of his foes, but 'Her' will preventing that sort of calamity."

Aizawa heavily sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose; of course the 'problem child' would be far more trouble than he initially thought. With another exhale of breath, the grungy teacher asked, "How strong is the 'problem child' if he wasn't being held back?"

"Strong enough to beat back and take out avatars of gods."

One could cut the tension and silence of the room after that particular comment. Even Izuku was staring in surprise as he hadn't realized he was THAT strong because of his blessing, but now realizing that aside from his desire to hold back, Hydaelyn was also keeping his real strength in check. While that thought alone set him at ease a little, in the back of his mind, a darker thought had sprung up.

What if she hadn't been holding his strength in check, and Izuku had decided not to hold back?

His attention was pulled away from his thoughts once again when another question came from Aizawa.

"And whose 'will' is keeping the boy's power in check? And what if it can be broken? It's a quirk I cannot erase and prevent him from splattering his fellow students."

Nezu looked at the underground hero, then to Izuku, who blinked gently before his eyes shifted to the other two teachers and slowly nodded. The dean looked once again to Aizawa, "Alright, I'll give you the basics at least; we can talk finer details in my office later."

And so, Nezu began to explain.

Izuku yawned gently as he walked towards the dorms, now wearing his regular clothes and finally out of both his 'warrior' kit and his torn-up hero suit. He grimaced slightly at how much damage it had sustained from Bakugo's attacks. Thankfully, Aizawa had informed him that he could see the support department at lunchtime tomorrow and see about possible upgrades without altering the original design after their little meeting.

He then thought back to the meeting itself, Nezu giving Aizawa the basic rundown of Hydaelyn and Izuku's blessing, what it potentially could do as well as explaining why Aizawa couldn't 'erase' it. For all intents and purposes, Izuku was technically "quirkless" still, but his blessing acted like a quirk, and with the dean and All Might's help, they were able to register it as one to avoid specific issues that the dean would not divulge with Izuku around apparently.

That nearly set off the green-haired boy because, once again, other people had known more or were learning more about his blessing. At the same time, he was being kept purposely in the dark with a "we will discuss it at another time." excuse. It also didn't help his mood when Nezu just casually brushed off his quirklessness like it was nothing and there was no problem with being quirkless.

At that time, the dark thought of how far Izuku could punt the 'rat' and show him how far a quirkless 'nothing' could launch him floated about in his mind.

Thankfully, he was taken out of such thoughts when Aizawa prompted his history with Bakugo and did not skip out on the details. It took nearly an hour and a half, but Izuku had told them everything that Bakugo had done. However, the other kids were just as bad. Although, Izuku had also pointed out that growing up, it wasn't like anyone outside of Bakugo's parents had tried to discipline him or correct his behavior. What took the longest for Izuku to talk about was 'that' day, the one where Bakugo had suggested the suicide and how he almost went through it when he ended up on the rooftop.

He had to come clean about how he knew of Toshinori's injury at this point. Still, he had made sure to ask the pro hero first before he went into details. Thankfully he was able to keep the secret of 'One for All' hidden, or at least he'd hope so.

Aizawa was not a stupid man by any means.

To say that the looks of pure rage from Aizawa and even Nezu, though hard to tell with the latter because of the ever-present smirk on the dean, when Izuku had said to them that All Might had destroyed his dream in a not so subtle matter, and then leaving an obviously devastated person on top of a rooftop hadn't sent shivers down both Toshinori and Izuku's spines did not help matters.

Toshinori had apologized many times for the error of his judgment; he even did so again to avoid the dean's wrath and the underground hero as well. Izuku had stated that he'd forgiven the man months ago because he was right in a way.

Izuku hadn't appropriately trained before that day, sure his intellect would've been spot on for the written exam, but he'd have been nowhere near capable of taking down the robots in the practical exam without the aid of support gear, which he wouldn't have been able to develop or anything until he had gotten into UA in the first place.

From there, Izuku explains how his blessing 'saved' him and drew him towards the now infamous 'Sludge Villain' fight where he first used his Paladin kit. He finished his story about how Toshinori had saved him from his old high school's principal and how he first met Nezu, Momo, and Setsuna.

Once he was done, the three teachers looked to one another before asking Izuku to go change and come back once he's done while they discussed how to go forward. The warrior nodded his head solemnly before heading out, returning within fifteen minutes with a gentle knock on the monitor room door. Another few moments passed before he was let back in, and he learned what was going to happen not only to Bakugo but also himself.

For Bakugo, once he was recovered, he would be put through mandatory anger management classes offered by the school and given a verbal warning that should Bakugo be found repeating what he did in the past during his time at UA, he would immediately be expelled from the hero course. He would also be put through a mandatory sensitivity class during his time at UA. If he failed to comply with any of these choices for him, he'd be expelled from UA forthwith.

For Izuku, while he had been doing splendidly so far with all the negativity in his life, Nezu requested that Izuku go in for at least three weeks of therapy by the university on-site therapist/guidance counselor Hound Dog. It wasn't mandatory, like Bakugo's punishments. Still, it was clear there was mental damage caused over the years. All three teachers felt it was needed to make sure Izuku had a stable foundation of support so when he completes his hero training, he can enter the profession with a 'clean' state of mind.

Izuku thought about it for a few moments but came to the same conclusion, and he accepted, with one request from him. His request was that his mother was never to be told about the suicide baiting, as when he had come clean to her about the bullying, it had put a significant strain on the friendship between Mitsuki and Masaru Bakuo and her. He revealed that his and Bakugo's parents had been friends for a long time. Because of Mitsuki, she helped give Inko the confidence to ask out his father back in their high school days.

Nezu agreed with this request, but Izuku would need to inform her about the therapy sessions to not worry her.

The thought of how to tell his mother had kept going through his mind, that he hardly noticed that he had arrived back at the dorms and was walking past the crowd of his classmates cheering at something on the television screen in the living room and arrived in the kitchen where he came upon someone drying the dishes. He blinked out of his thoughts when he heard the clatter of plates bumping into one another and looked to the one person he was hoping to avoid right now, "Mom?"

"Oh, Izuku, there you are!" His mother smiled brightly at him, placing the drying cloth on the counter beside the drying mat, and walked up to him, hugging him tightly. Izuku grunted because the hugs she gave him were always bone-crushing, even with his blessing, but he always returned them back… just not as strong as she did. Once the hug was over, Inko stepped back to the counter to pour herself some tea, "Your friends told me you passed out after your battle trial, and no matter how hard they tried, you wouldn't wake up."

Izuku chuckled in embarrassment, "Y-yea… sorry about that… Nezu, All Might, and Mr. Aizawa were there when I woke up and wanted to speak with me."

"Oh? What about sweety?" Inko asked as she finished pouring her tea and began to add some milk and sugar to it, stirring it lightly.

Izuku stood frozen for a few seconds, still thinking of ways to tell her about his upcoming therapy sessions. Eventually, he decided to just come out with it, remembering that he and Inko had promised to be more open about their problems with one another, "A-Actually, it was about me and Ka- Bakugo's past, I had to f-fight him because our pairs were set to square off a-and some things were said aloud that All Might was able to hear through our communicator's."

Another brief silence, albeit not as heavy due to the chattering of boys in the living room. Inko had stopped stirring her tea, and with the most emotionless tone of voice Izuku had ever heard coming from her, "Yes, I was helping Recovery Girl with a few of the older students when the robots brought him in… took us nearly an hour to remove his gauntlets safely from his arms and remove all the shrapnel." She turned around after saying that, of course, she didn't mention the crushed rib cage or hairline fractures to the blonde's skull with the added concussions on top of all that, to say that the boy wasn't killed was a good omen or just more of Bakugo's luck in life, but she wasn't told WHO had done that to him.

And now the culprit was standing before her, looking as timid and innocent looking as he always did.

"Y-yea, during our... skirmish… I was able to unlock another kit, it's called 'warrior', and it uses pure rage and anger to fuel my abilities." he quickly rose his hands up and waved them frantically as if to prevent his mother from getting mad or nearly flood the dorms again with worry, "B-But I can control it and hold back the power, s-so it's not like I'll go wild or anything."

Inko gave her son a gentle smile, placing her hand on his cheek and patted it a couple of times, "I know, sweety, and judging by his state when he came in, you got really angry."

"T-to say the least, y-yea."

"So, what's going to happen with you? I can imagine the dean will inform me of what they are going to do with Bakugo later."

"Well…" Izuku started, rubbing the back of his head and pausing in his thoughts once again; Inko merely waited for her son to speak, "Nezu requested that I see Hound Dog for therapy because it would be another 'foundation of support' for me after all the years of… well, you know… It wasn't mandatory, and I was given a choice… I accepted it and will see him for the next three weeks every couple of days. The first session is tomorrow."

As Izuku finished what he needed to say, Inko merely looked up into his emerald eyes, the same eyes she and her son shared to see if he was hiding anything. Not like she would suspect now of doing so, but he had a habit of playing down significant issues, much like his father. But upon seeing that this was him being honest, she merely hugged her son again, not saying a word as she smiled with pride with how fast her baby boy was growing up.

Once the hug had ended though, she went back to her tea and continued to add another spoonful of sugar into it as she spoke, "Well, I'm happy you were able to make the decision on your own, sweety… Also, your dinner should be in your room, we had spaghetti with some delicious meat sauce made by Sato and Aoyama tonight, but sadly there were no seconds."

"Oh? How come?" Izuku asked as he had turned towards the stairs but stopped and looked back at her.

"Momo had eaten most of it; I swear I have no idea where that girl puts it all... plus you'd think with all that food she had, she was eating for two." Inko sighed softly as she went to go sit at the kitchen table, looking at her son with a gentle smile that caused Izuku to tilt his head in confusion.

Inko was no fool; seeing how close Momo was to her son and how she interacted with him, it was painfully evident that the young heiress fancied him. Despite his ignorance of it, though Inko would attribute that to all the negativity growing up within the school system, Inko couldn't help but think of someday in the future where the pitter-patter of tiny feet and child-like giggles could be heard within her mind.

Izuku blinked gently at the rather fond smile and far-off stare of his mother, "Um... yeah, it makes sense she has to eat so much because of her quirk; I think I mentioned that before? Anyway, what's for dinner?"

"Hmm?" Inko looked up lazily at her son for a moment before snapping out of the fantasy of future grandbabies and blushed, smiling warmly at him again, "It's the leftover katsudon from yesterday. It should still be warm as I brought it up there a few minutes ago."

Izuku's eyes widened, and he smiled with glee, racing up the stairs, and a 'Thanksmomloveyou' echoed from the stairwell with Inko giggling at the antics of her son when his favorite meal was mentioned.

Izuku had made it to his door in record time, licking his lips and his stomach growling for the tasty meal waiting within his room. But upon reaching the entrance to said room, he stood frozen, and his heart sank while his stomach growled angrily as he looked upon the sign staring right in front of him.

'Come to my room as soon as you get back.

P.S. We have your katsudon hostage.'

Izuku sighed in exasperation as he sat uncomfortably on Kyoka's bed, his hands clasp together and in between his legs. Bad enough that he was in her room and sitting on her bed, which was doing wonders for his nerves, but sitting beside him was Momo on his right, while Mina was on his left, with Tsuyu seated in a chair by the desk that had the now empty plate of what was once his dinner and Kyoka, owner of said room, resting against the door and having her arms crossed over her chest.

It was of little surprise that two-thirds of his female classmates were in the room currently; Mina, Momo, and Kyoka made sense for the most part as they were the ones closest to him and had been his friends for nearly a year, while Tsuyu had been hanging around him more since the QET's, which he didn't mind of course. Izuku had noticed that Ochako and Toru were not present with them. Still, Tsuyu, in her usual blunt sort of way, explained that Toru had been asked by Yuga to hang out and go over what had happened during their battle trial where a misfire of his laser bent around her. Ochako had been waiting for him to come, but she had received a phone call from her parents and had to take it, so she went back to her room for privacy.

"So, should I say what I heard first? Or you tell them?" Kyoka asked as she looked emotionlessly at him and the green-haired boy flinched slightly before nodding, finding the music note carpet more interesting than what was to come.

With all eyes on her now, Kyoka sighed gently, "So, to start off with, the real meat and potatoes of what upset me wasn't until just before Green went full ham on Baka-go. From what I could hear before, it sounded like it was an argument of how a hero should act or something."

"Anyway, after Mina's shout when Green got launched through the walls, ouch by the way, what have I said about shouting close to me?" Kyoka glared at the pink-skinned girl who whimpered a 'sorry' back, "So at this point, All Might is focused on those two, and I can hear them more clearly, everything from that blonde dumbasses reasoning for hating Green, and to what he did."

"What was his reasoning? I'll admit that has always eluded me during these past few days with how much animosity he has shown to Izuku." Momo spoke up as she placed a hand on his arm to try and comfort the boy who was still finding the carpet much more interesting to look at.

"He thinks that Green here purposely hid his quirk, just to lord it over him behind his back, and apparently also thinks it's his fault about some crap that happened after the sludge villain attack."

"What an arrogant asshole!" Mina exclaimed, rubbing Izuku's back as he was shuddering slightly. However, the emotion on his downturned face was slowly growing angrier at the mention of that pathetic excuse.

"Izuku, if you don't want to say it, I can understand, kero." Tsuyu spoke up from the desk, though her face remained the stoic nature it always had; Izuku had looked up at the frog girl as she mentioned his name and could see the barely contained sadness hidden within those dark irises of hers, "But what did Bakugo do to you? And for how long?"

Silence filled the room then, thick in the air as Izuku shifted nervously and took a few deep breaths, "Since we were four when his quirk manifested… Before then, Bakugo was always a bit of a hothead, but he wasn't mean about it, just someone who would always be charging in first and thinking of the consequences later…" Izuku smirked a little then, a happier memory of himself and Bakugo as two-year-olds and raiding Aunt Mitsuki's pantry for some cookies before they were caught and both got scolded by their mothers.

The memory soon faded as the smirk did as well, "After his quirk came in, the teachers, other parents, and kids were always complimenting him about how powerful it was and what a great hero he would be. He would then start to pick on others for having weaker quirks as they came in. Most of the time, I'd try and reign him back but often got beaten because of it."

"When I was told I was supposedly quirkless, that's when things took a darker turn. I was still adamant about being a hero, despite my lack of a quirk." Izuku continued, as the girls smiled fondly at that, picturing a smaller Izuku running around pretending to be a hero; that was short-lived however as Izuku continued, "When other people found out, things really got worse… the other kids started to bully me as well, though not nearly as bad as Bakugo then, and the teachers turned a blind eye to most of it."

"Once we started to get into the grades where the marks actually mattered, teachers would often alter my tests to get lower grades to make sure Bakugo was always on top. I don't think he ever noticed, but we nearly tied each other at times, so it was barely noticeable when they did it. Of course, at this point the attacks by Bakugo only got worse, so much so that um…" Izuku fidgeted a little, sucking in some air through his teeth before he continued, "... so much so that I had to learn first-aid to treat the wounds to hide them from my mom."

"Wait, Mamadoriya didn't know about the bullying?!" Mina spoke up again as the other girls were left stunned by what Izuku was telling them. Izuku turned his head to Mina, his eyes looking dead straight into hers.

"Mom had tried to stop the bullying when I was much younger, but often she would get platitudes and empty promises, but her job at the hospital had kept her far too busy most days, so I was able to hide it decently then… though when I started to use the first-aid kits to hide the wounds when I got older, Mom did put together what was happening, but at the time and by her own admission, she felt like she had failed me because she couldn't protect me then."

"Of course, I told her that I never blamed her for that!" Izuku suddenly spoke up, startling a couple of the girls, "S-she was a single mother working late shifts as a nurse so she and her quirkless son could live in a decent apartment… and it was her old medical books that helped me patch myself up…"

"Izuku, I know this is hard for you, but you may want to get to 'the big one'... '' Kyoka spoke gently, using his first name instead of the nickname to emphasize the point. He slowly nodded and took another deep breath.

"So, when we were in high school, and the university and college applications were given out, I obviously put down UA. However, the teacher decided to throw me under the bus and announced it once all the forms came back to him; Bakugo was enraged, to say the least. Once classes ended, he and a couple of his 'goons' cornered me in the empty classroom, and he warned me not to even attempt going to UA."

"After destroying one of my notebooks, Bakugo said something that honestly still haunts me to this day..."

"If you want a quirk so bad, why don't you take a swan-dive off of the roof and pray to have one in the next life."

Soft gasps echoed in the room; even Kyoka, who knew of the suicide-baiting, was shocked to the degree Bakugo had gone, tears near threatening to leave her eyes as were Tsuyu and Momo, who had been holding back their own. Mina, however, was letting them fall freely as she suddenly hugged Izuku, gently crying into his shoulder and nuzzling her face against it. Izuku, blushing, of course, gently wrapped the single arm around her to help comfort her, his warm hand slowly rubbing her back, and he was obviously ignoring the softness pressed up against him.

As the scene before them was playing out, Momo had a horrible thought cross her mind, "Um... Izuku…?" She waited until she could gaze into his emerald eyes, the light shine of them showing how hard it was for him to not break down and cry himself, "I don't... want to upset you further... But you never did follow up on what he suggested to do… did you?"

The other girl's eyes shot open, Mina looking up to stare at him in horror and anticipating the worse as Izuku looked down at the ground with saddened eyes of his own. Momo's hand went to her mouth to cover it as tears started to roll down her cat-like eyes.

"It was on the same day when he told me that, the same day of the sludge villain attack and before my quirk fully manifested… due to some events I honestly cannot go into full details on, I had ended up on top of a roof and after asking a top hero if a quirkless boy could ever be a hero, and was… well not very subtly told no… it broke whatever resolve I had."

Another silence fell in the room, with more sniffs and gentle sobs coming from the girls as Izuku licked his very dry lips, "If… if it had not been for my quirk manifesting and knocking me out of those thoughts... I would have-OOF!"

Whatever he was about to say was immediately stopped as the remaining girls glomped him to the bed, with Kyoka and Tsuyu sniffling and sobbing against his chest and holding him tight. Momo openly crying with Mina now as the heiress was nuzzling his cheek and whimpering into his ear things like "No" and "Never ever".

Izuku slowly looked around to see his friends crying and hugging close to him, his brain functions halting at the feeling of the four bodies on top of him. He could feel his chest starting to tighten up and his heartbeat increasing the more the girls were crying and holding onto him. It suddenly clicked for Izuku right there.

For the first time in his life, Izuku Midoriya had felt the gentle kindness of true friendship and, dare he think of it, the love of people who actually cared about him. For the first time in the fourteen years of his life since he was diagnosed as quirkless, the weight of such compassion fell upon him like a ton of bricks and slowly but surely, while wrapping his arms around her friends tight against his body...

Izuku Midoriya cried both in pain and joy.