U.A. Gym Gamma
"Hahh..." Izuku sighed after getting through practice. He's worked to refine his quirk control and hand-to-hand fighting techniques he learned from Mr Aizawa. To anyone, it would look like he had a weak mobility boosting quirk with a slight heat when he touched someone.
Suddenly, he jerked his head in the direction of the gym entrance. With a sigh, Izuku used his normal flames and flew out the window just as a blue-haired individual entered, seemingly looking for someone. "Heeelllooooo? Anybody home?" she called, her voice bouncing around the walls with no one to answer.
This was Nejire Hado, AKA Nejire-chan the Energetic Hero. She, like many other hero students with their provisional licenses, was back at school early doing extracurricular hero work. However, there is something that's been on Nejire's mind that fuels her curiosity: the Green Devil. She can't outwardly talk about it since most people believe he's dead, and Ryukyu doesn't want her getting into trouble with someone so dangerous. The mere fact that she knows he's alive puts her in danger as the Dragoon Hero phrased it.
But Nejire's curiosity spiked when she returned to U.A. She can't explain it, but she has this feeling that there's someone around here that she doesn't know about. Someone who's hiding. She doesn't mean Lady Nagant as the new hire, but someone else. Like they keep moving around the campus and dormitory area, but never show their face. The curiosity is killing her.
Meanwhile, Izuku sat on the ledge of the window he had just flown out of. His ability to detect body warmth comes in handy when someone is about to walk in on him. 'Still so persistent...' he thought while gripping his forearm. With a sigh, he stealthily made his way back to his dorm room.
...
Izuku sat beneath a tree with a small pile of textbooks beside him. Notebook and pen in hand, he studied vigorously for his upcoming entrance exam. It was nice to be able to study outdoors in peace, but that peace would not last as a blue-haired ball of energy prowled through the bushes of U.A.'s forest area.
"Aha!" Nejire exclaimed as she pounced from behind a tree, only to find nothing. "Awe man! I thought for sure you were here!" She didn't know how right she was.
Izuku was careful not to move a muscle from the branch he was holding onto. 'That's another safe space crossed off the list.' he sighed internally. This brought him back to Aldera where his bullies always hunted him out of the places he hid in seeking peace. At least now, the one on the prowl for him is far from a sadistic asshole or spoiled shitstain.
...
The Surge Quirk user was in the teacher's dorm to deliver something. "Here's the report from Ryukyu's agency, Mr Snipe." Nejire said as she gave her teacher the pieces of stapled paper. "'Preciate that, Hado." the Western-themed hero said as he accepted the papers. He gave Hado the all-clear to leave, which she did.
...until Snipe turned his back and she snuck back in. Up until now, Nejire had only ever been on the ground floor of this dorm building. Naturally, she was curious about what else there was to see in the teachers' abode, but not enough to sneak in without permission. But she saw something else that piqued her already active interest. On one of her afternoons flying around campus, she passed a window on the third floor and briefly caught a glimpse of textbooks. She's pretty sure they were student textbooks. How intriguing...
'I should be coming up on the third floor! Is there a student living here? Is he a teacher's kid? I wonder if they're connected to the new hero teacher for the first years? I wonder-' "Oof!" Nejire's thoughts were interrupted by someone bumping into her.
"I wasn't aware we had a visitor." an amused voice said. Nejire stiffened, she had been caught snooping by the R-Rated Heroine: Midnight. The older woman stood confidently in front of her, her hand on her whip attached to her hip.
"H-Hi, Miss Midnight! I-I was just-" "Delivering something for Snipe," Midnight interrupted, removing her whip. "And now that you've done that, you don't have anything else to do here, right?"
Nejire gulped as Midnight's sadistic smile was on display. It never failed to scare her stiff as a freshman, and it certainly wasn't failing now. "N-No, ma'am." she stuttered.
"Lovely~" Midnight sang as she held the end of her whip in one hand and the handle in the other, prepared to deliver a series of hard lashes at a moment's notice. "Then why don't you be a good girl, and go back to your dorms, hm~?" the older woman suggested.
"Y-Yes, ma'am," Nejire turned and walked. As she was about to turn a corner and go back down the stairs, Midnight saw her shoulders slouch in disappointment. "Sorry, ma'am..." she said before leaving. Midnight's mood shifted from... whatever it was, to being upset for the girl.
Izuku's Room
Izuku sat at his desk with his eyes directed at a textbook. His left palm had his flames moving in a spiral motion, he had been doing that often these past few days. When a knock came on his door, he put out the fire and gave the green light to whoever it was. It was Midnight, with a soft expression on her face. "Your no.1 fan is still eager to meet you." she joked humorlessly. Izuku looked back at his book without a word.
Midnight sat on his bed. "I know you have your reasons, and they're justified, but are you positive you're making the right call?"
Izuku turned a page in his book. "She's the only student that knows my face. Her first course of action will be to arrest me. My best option is to let her run into me when I'm a student, tell her about my rehab with the principal, and go from there."
Midnight smiled slightly. "I don't think that's true. Yes, she's seen your face and would probably recognize you, but it wouldn't go the way you imagine." Izuku didn't look back and turned to the next page. "You know, she also heard what you said the day you burned out."
"...I remember." he said in a low voice. "She caught Hawks as he fell. I just happened to be in his grasp at that moment." Midnight frowned as he missed the point. "So you think she would've just let you fall and die?" Izuku didn't answer that and turned to the next page.
"You know what she did after you were sent to the hospital? She absolutely bombarded Ryukyu, Hawks and I with questions. Things like, "How do you know him?" "How long have you known him?" "Izuku? As in Teleki's son Izuku?"" That last one caused Izuku to grit his teeth in anger. Bad example.
"But her questions were majorly, "What did he go through?" "Who hurt him?" "Is he going to be okay?" "You're going to help him, right?" She's been worried about you since she saw how broken you were by the world." Izuku closed his textbook and just stared out the window.
"It's not just about her being a hero and you being the sort of bad guy. You don't want another seemingly kind person to resent you again." Midnight couldn't see it, but Izuku's face softened just a bit.
Midnight got up to leave. "I can't force you to face her, if you really don't want to interact with her, fine. But you could at least give the person who worried about you a chance. Surely, she deserves that." With that, Midnight left the young teenager's room, leaving him much to think about.
Meanwhile
Nejire made it back to her room and face-planted on her pillow. A knock occurred on her door, and she gave a muffled, "Come in." A redhead girl her age walked in after seeing her normally upbeat friend so despondent. "Hey Nejire, what's up?" she asked as she sat down on the floor against Hado's bed.
Nejire lifted her head and rested on her side. "Yuyu, have you ever met someone you immediately want to know more about?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah, actually. In middle school, this guy-"
"But everyone tells you to either stay away or that he's bad news?"
Yuyu looked a bit put off by that part. "Uh, sort of but that was more like a celebrity crush I had on a punk band member."
"And he's had his body broken in ways that makes you question how he's still alive? And that he might kill you if you ask the wrong question, but you still wanna ask anyway?"
"...You've lost me." Yuyu said. Nejire put her face back in her pillow and sighed in dejection.
The Next Day
Nejire patrolled a calm intersection from the skies. The fun of flight always cheered her up. The feeling of weightlessness, as if the things holding her down were temporarily lifted, soaring free through the air without a care. However, this time, it did little to nothing to help her mood. She was having a devil of a time getting her off of the Green Devil. No pun intended.
'Is he still in prison? Did they just decide to kill him when I wasn't around? Is that why they're not telling me anything? I wish Ryukyu would tell me something! This is driving me crazy!'
Ah, that's right. Nejire was patrolling solo today. As she was not long from starting her third year, Ryukyu decided it was time to trust Nejire a bit more. She couldn't mess up the day after her mentor decided to put her in a higher place of responsibility. Work first, questions later, answers never.
...
A boy in a black shirt, light grey zip-up hoodie with green accents and matching pants was walking through the streets with a backpack and a chip on his shoulder. Izuku was trying to find a quiet place to study, but with all the thoughts running through his head, external peace and quiet wouldn't help him much. He couldn't help but think back to what Midnight said to him.
'Damn it, why am I getting so hung up on this? Be realistic, Izuku. Student or not, she'll have the sense to either avoid me or arrest me. It'll be the same with my classmates when they inevitably find out who I am. The reality is you don't deserve a real school experience.' His end goal of ending himself and All For One hasn't changed. The weight of his actions haven't left, and he feels he's lost the right a happy life. In his eyes, Hawks and the others are giving him a chance to atone in death.
Even as Izuku was swallowed in his thoughts, he still crossed the road when the pedestrian crossing allowed it. Unfortunately, he was too backed up in his own head to notice a speeding car coming straight towards him!
"Watch out!"
All Izuku saw was a blue blur as he was whisked into the a split second before he became roadkill. "Whew! That was a close one!" a high voice exclaimed in relief right beside him.
On the ground, the speedster's vehicle was stopped by a spiraling wave of energy holding him down from above. The police arrived to deal with the speedster, meanwhile, Nejire had landed on a not-too-high rooftop out of anyone else's sight to tend to her rescuee.
"For someone who almost died, you don't seem too freaked out! Have you had close calls like that a lot?" she asked as she landed.
"You'd be surprised. Anyway, thank you for saving me, I appreciate it. I've... got a lot on my mind." Izuku said as his feet touched solid footing.
"Heh! Don't I know what that's like. I'm just glad... you're... safe..." Nejire trailed off as the hinges of her jaw became slack. She finally realized who was in her arms. She and the person she rescued finally saw each other face to face, royal blue and emerald eyes meeting and unbreaking.
'Fuck me.'
"It- d- it, it's you! You're here! And not in prison!"
"Uh, hi." Izuku just said awkwardly, not sure what to do here as Nejire was having something of a mental breakdown. In an instant, she was up in his face with madly curious and demanding eyes.
"I've got million, billion questions! What's your quirk? How's it so strong? Why are you not in Tartarus? Are you and Midnight close? How old are you? I've got so many questions!" Nejire would've liked to keep going, but murmurs from the crowd below asking where the hero was were heard.
"Sounds like you have stuff to do." Izuku pointed out, making Nejire groan loudly and fall on her back like a child. But she quickly bounced back with an uncharacteristically serious expression.
"There's a café that way," Nejire jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "Wait for me there. I. Want. Answers!" Even with her sweet, childish voice, that came out as threatening as she intended. Izuku simply nodded as he wasn't given another option. Nejire jumped off the building to deal with the police and her fans, leaving Izuku on the roof.
...
Against his better judgment, he gave into Hado's demands. Izuku stood outside the quaint restaurant, feeling something akin to dread and nervousness, but his face didn't show as much. He pulled out his phone and decided to make a call.
U.A.
Nemuri hummed to herself as she had an open envelope and a visitor's pass in front of her. As she was going about her business, her phone rang. "Finally! Ahem. Hello~"
"Midnight, can you tell me anything about Hado?" Izuku asked, getting straight to the point.
"Certainly! She's on the verge of starting her third year, has a strong and versatile quirk called Surge and is going to be your upper classman. She's a sweetheart with, I admit, childish tendencies, and is probably strong enough to beat you with your gauntlets on."
Izuku took in all that information, having a better understanding of what he was getting into. "Right, thanks."
"Where are you right now, by the way?" Midnight asked.
Izuku rolled his eyes. "Do I really need to answer that or are you just going to admit that my inhibitor gauntlets also double as trackers and that you know I'm outside a restaurant in Hado's jurisdiction? By the way, I can hear the poorly hidden eagerness in your voice. It is not a date or whatever you're thinking."
With that, Izuku hung up before Midnight could say another word to him.
...
The moment Izuku hung up, he heard something quickly approaching in the distance. The next thing he knew, he was almost knocked off his feet by a strong gust of wind and an unidentified blue flying object going over his head. When the dust settled, a periwinkle-haired teen was walking towards him. Izuku breathed in and prepared himself for what was to come.
Nejire waisted no time in ushering Izuku into the restaurant. A staff member that had grown familiar with the young heroine showed them to a VIP seating area. They sat face to face in a classy booth with a white tiger-print soundproof curtain. No one would hear their conversation.
Izuku sighed in defeat. "As long as nothing we discuss leaves this booth, I'll answer anything you have to-"
"Howoldareyou, whatsyourname, whyareyourflamesgreen, howlonghaveyoubeenfree, whydoyouhavesomanyscars, isTelekiyourmom?"
Holy shit. Dizzyingly fast questions, all in a single breath. Izuku was genuinely stunned silent for a moment.
"Sorry, sorry, let me start again." Nejire started again, but it was her turn to be cut off.
"15, Izuku, I don't know, since March 3rd, I've been through a lot, and no." the last one was more definite than the rest. Despite Izuku being staggered by Nejire's flash barrage of questions, he did catch them. Something that shocked Nejire as no one had ever understood her talking that quickly.
"Izuku, huh? Well, I'm Nejire Hado from U.A." the blue-haired girl introduced herself. Instead of the seriousness of an interrogation, their little space wasn't that difficult to breathe in at the moment. "Can I ask about your quirk? It's so unique. I've never heard of fire that can go hot andcold, and block telekinesis! The closest comparison I can think of is Burnin, but you're not related to her. Right?"
"No, no I'm not." Izuku brought his hand to the back of his head. "So, you wanna know about my quirk? There's a lot to unpack." That only made Nejire more eager. For some reason, he didn't want to disappoint her. He breathed in and recalled the night his life changed.
"My quirk manifested when I was thirteen," Nejire's eyes widened. "Wow, you put late bloomers to shame. Is there a reason it was at thirteen? Did puberty trigger it? And if you only got your quirk two years ago, how'd it get so strong? Shouldn't it still be a baby quirk?"
Izuku almost smiled at Nejire calling his quirk a baby quirk. "According to Detective Tsukauchi, the doctors who retested me gave me a new diagnosis: a quirk growth spurt. I'm the only one who's gotten it so far. I don't know if normal quirk holders can have it, if it's for late bloomers only, or if it's just me, but basically it causes quirks to grow in strength over a frighteningly short period of time."
Nejire nodded. "Yeah, you're crazy strong. You beat All Might in a punching competition! All Might! He's like, the best puncher in the world!"
Izuku's eyes darkened. "I beat him, sure, but it came at a price," Izuku glared at the several scars that littered his hands. "My arms were ravaged inside and out. The doctors that patched me up said there was a good chance my arms would be unusable."
Nejire had removed her gloves and gently grabbed his hands, making Izuku flinch. "Ooo, they feel pretty rough, and bumpy, too. Why are they bumpy?" she asked, unaware of how Izuku was feeling. To be fair, how could she know if he didn't know what he was feeling himself?
"My bones were shattered and fragments got stuck in my joints. My arms weren't as difficult to repair, but putting together finger bones isn't so easy." Izuku told her. Nejire didn't pull away, in fact she had started rubbing and caressing Izuku's hands. Her soft skin in contrast with his rough, calloused, scarred skin.
"That sounds crazy painful. Sorry." Izuku's eyes widened as that word left her lips. Sympathy. Genuine sympathy. For the one who ruined countless lives. "Hey, hey, you're hands are getting warm!" Nejire leaned to him in her seat, her eyes peering into him. "Are you doing that on purpose or is it like a nervous tick kinda thing? Are you nervous?"
Before Izuku could answer (as if), the sound-proof curtain of their booth was opened. "Excuse me, are you two ready to orde-" The waiter stopped as he witnessed Hado holding Izuku's hands in hers and leaning towards him with shining eyes. He smiled teasingly. "Do you need a bit more time?"
"Can I get a glass of ice water?" Izuku asked while pulling his hands away from Nejire's. "Oh, We're starting with drinks? I'll have my usual, please!"
The waiter wrote it down. Iced water and a cream soda float. "Coming right up. I'll try not to take too long." Izuku put his hand on his face while Nejire tilted her head in confusion. "Huh, what'd he mean by that?"
...
"Hey, hey, is there a reason you got iced water? If you're hot, you could've gotten a float like me." Nejire asked, their drinks having arrived.
"This sort of help keeps my quirk's temperature from rising too high. And I don't have much of a sweet tooth." Nejire's eyes brightened instantly again. "Right! You're quirk! You never finished telling me about it!" This was a serious topic of their discussion. Strangely, though, Hado's eagerness and childish excitement puts Izuku at ease to an extent. With a sigh, Izuku put down his glass and began.
"I was quirkless for thirteen years of my life. Being a hero is all I wanted out of life, not just because my mom was, but it's what I wanted myself. It was world-shattering to learn that I was in the 20% of people who never develop a power. But whatever I am proved them dead wrong."
Nejire nodded. "I'll say! You're massively strong! But surely you had your family and friends helping you through it, right. I know that's what mine would've done for me." the bluenette flinched when she heard Izuku growl lowly before taking a large sip of his drink and exhaling steam. 'Wow!' Hado thought.
"You would think, but the fact is I was born powerless into a family of heroes. There was no place for me there. At home, I was unseen, unheard, unimportant. At school, I was my best friend's favorite punching bag, with the rest of the school eager to follow suit. And of course, my 'genius prodigy' of a sister was given all the attention and praise."
Nejire's smile disappeared as she heard his tale. He lived a life like that for most of his life? Dang, she could definitely understand how that would sour his view of the world. "Wait, you have a sister?" Izuku nodded while gripping his forearm. "Cause I met a green-haired girl last year. She and her loud blonde friend were with Teleki and All Might a lot. They're not even in high school yet.
"Tch, of course. They just keep spoiling them." Izuku spat with disdain.
"Hey, hey, is All Might also in your tragic backstory? What's his role? Was he a jerk to you because you were quirkless, too?"
Izuku's eyes saddened. "...Yes. I met him the day my quirk manifested, but it didn't go great. It was after he saved me from a villain attack, I asked him if a quirkless person could become a hero. He said I couldn't. The man I'd idolized since I first saw him told me to quit. Just another blow to my dwindling candle of hope."
Nejire looked intrigued, but far from as positive as earlier. "Seriously!? All Might told you to give up!? But he's always smiling, and always saying 'you can become a hero!', but he tells you to call it quits?"
"I guess that 'you can do it,' drivel is only for those with quirks."
Nejire puffed her cheeks in a pout. "Why does it matter so much that you were quirkless? You're still a person! So what if you're different? Everyone's different! Some people have lizard feet or long tongues or can shoot fire from their mouths. Actually, being quirkless makes you special in a way. Having no power in a world where powers are commonplace is really something!"
Izuku paused and stared at the girl with widened eyes with a light to them. He knew she was being honest, but still found it difficult to believe someone like her existed. 'This girl...'
"Oh! Sorry, I interrupted. I just got so mad!"
"I-It's fine," Izuku cleared his throat before continuing. "Anyway, after All Might saved my life and took away my top reason for living, I just walked home lifelessly. I didn't care if I got attacked again, and what did I go home to? Parents that won't look at me and a sister that hates me."
"They didn't care that you were attacked? You could've died!" Nejire shouted.
"Wasn't the first time I came home hurt and no one cared."
...
The two of them ordered their meals. Nejire got a bowl of ramen, her comfort food. Izuku had a bowl of soup, easy to digest and it was the meal he had when he met Rei. Also his comfort food.
"So you ran from home, got super sad, and your quirk finally showed up?" Nejire asked, to which Izuku nodded. "Did you ever think about going home? Yeah, they were jerks to you, but you had a quirk. Wouldn't they treat you better?"
Izuku put down his spoon. "To be honest, my first thought was to go back to them. To be part of the family. But then I realized I'd be part of the family that neglected, tortured and abandoned me for being different. Just because I have a quirk, that doesn't mean I'll act like the past never happened." Izuku clenched his fists tightly. "But they were very eager to forget about me...!"
"How do you know that?" Nejire asked, unsure if she wanted to know what she would hear.
"...I did go back home. More than once. Each time, I was unseen, unsurprisingly, and each time I learned what I really am to them. I thought it was because I was the powerless black sheep that I was ostracized, but there's much more to it than that." Nejire saw the look in Izuku's eyes, and even though it wasn't aimed at her, still terrified her. His eyes were glowing with hatred, pain and sorrow. If looks could kill, anyone who made eye contact with him would be six feet under.
Izuku took another sip from his ice-cold water and exhaled steam. "I don't get to complain about my pain after everything I did."
"Hurt people hurt people, you went through more than so many other people!" Nejire said.
Izuku's anger faded into self-resentment. "And I put innocent people who have nothing to do with my pain through hell."
Nejire's heart sank as she looked at Izuku. She wanted to stay and keep talking, hopefully about a different subject that still pertains to him. However, a chime from her phone stopped her. The heroine in training slouched on the table with her arms in front of her. "Oh man! I've still got patrolling to do! I wanna keep taaalkiiiinggg!"
Izuku didn't know why, but he wasn't ready to let go of her company either. He wanted to keep talking, too. It felt... somewhat relieving to tell someone about his past. Writing helped, too, but this was different. Too bad it had to end. "Can I have your number?" Hado asked.
"Huh?" Izuku asked, caught off-guard by the sudden question. "Can I have your number? So we can keep talking. You have a phone, right?" "I do." Izuku answered before he knew it. Nejire's eyes sparkled. "Great! Then we can keep in touch!"
Against his better judgment, Izuku gave Nejire his phone, and she quickly added his contact to hers. "I get off my shift in the afternoon. Later, Izuku!" With her curiosity satisfied for the time being, Nejire skipped out of the restaurant but not before paying for the meal at the front desk. Izuku was sitting at the table with two bowls of unfinished food. "*Sigh* Hey, can I get this to go?"
Later
Izuku made it back to the dorms with the leftovers of his and Hado's meals in styrofoam cups. "I'm back." he announced. He went to the kitchen and put the cups in the fridge. As he closed the fridge door, Midnight seemingly popped up out of nowhere. Izuku sighed as he knew what was coming. "So~? How was your date with one of the cutest girls in school?"
"Not a date, an interrogation." Izuku dismissed. "Honey, you went to a restaurant and shared a meal, and that girl is too bubbly and curious to make an interrogation serious."
Izuku walked back to his room and put his backpack down and lied down on his bed. 'A date?' he thought. Come to think of it, what he did with Nejire reminded him of when he met Uraraka and Mt Lady on his birthday. He wrote that off as a date back then because he still had some small part of him that believed it could be. Izuku scoffed and went to do some studying since he got derailed earlier.
...
Izuku heated up the leftovers and brought them to his room. It was three in the afternoon, and he was expecting Nejire to message him soon. He went to open the balcony door, letting the warm air hit him. He leaned against the ledge with his back facing the campus. At that moment, his phone buzzed, and he knew who it was. He changed the ID to 'Hado'.
[Hado: Hey, hey, guess who's free to talk for the rest of the day!]
[Izuku: About that, I don't think we should do it over the phone. I don't want someone to come in on your end and get the wrong idea.]
[Hado: Hmm, you make a good point, my friends say I get really sucked in on my phone. So do you wanna meet up again?]
[Izuku: Yeah, I can't go to your dorms since first years haven't arrived yet. So I think it's better you come to mine.]
There was a pause.
[Hado: Did you say your dorm? You have a place here at U.A.?]
[Izuku: Yeah, I thought you knew that. I stay in the teacher's dorm, third floor, left wing. I can open the balcony door for you.]
...
[Izuku: Hado are you still there?]
The sudden silence confused Izuku, but he soon understood what it was when he turned around. A blue and yellow energy missile was flying straight toward him. "What the-!"
Slam!*
Nejire's body crashed into Izuku's, the two went tumbling into the latter's room. When they stopped, Nejire was on top of the greenette with sparkling eyes and a huge grin on her face.
"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT! I knew someone else was here! It was you the whole time! I've looked all over for you! Why were you hiding from me!?" Vindication at last for Nejire. However, her voice went from elation to confused outrage.
Suddenly, the door opened. "Heyo, what's going..." Hawks walked in and stopped when he saw the state Izuku and Nejire were in. The three of them froze and stared awkwardly at each other. "...Do you at least have protection?" Hawks asked.
Izuku blushed and pointed his palm at the bird and released a wave of green flames. "Ah! Crap! Uncle! Uncle!" he yelled as he left the room smelling like singed feathers.
Nejire moved to sit on Izuku's lap, grab his shoulders and shake him bacl and forth. "Hawks is here, too!? Is he also a teacher!? I have so many questions!" Just like that, her curiosity was piqued once again. When the bluenette finally stopped shaking Izuku, he looked into her eyes. "I'll fill you in, but first... can you get off me?"
It took the high school senior a moment to realize she was on top of him. "Oh, right." Nejire floated off his lap, and grabbed his hand and lifted him up with her. "Have you been living here since you got out of prison? Come to think of it, why were you let out in the first place? Did Hawks have something to do with it? What's your guys's relationship? Tell meeee!"
Izuku walked to his desk and gave her her leftover ramen in a cup and a fork to eat it with. "Let's go somewhere we won't be interrupted. Come on." He went to the balcony.
"Did you save this for me?" Nejire asked, but instead of answering, Izuku ignited green flames from the soles of his feet and flew to the roof. "Psycho Flames! Hey, wait up!" the bluenette followed by flying up herself. They sat on the roof of the dormitory building, out of sight. Izuku took a sip from his leftover cup of soup and prepared for another question round.
...
"*Sluuurp!* Sho, why dhid ou dhye yoh hair whute? *gulp*Was that just for hiding your identity or did you choose white specifically?" Nejire asked.
"Both," Izuku began to elaborate. "At first, it was just a color I picked up without a special reason, but later on I met someone with white hair. They were pretty nice to me. So I kept dying my hair to protect myself and remember them. It helped keep me sane."
...
"You and Lady Nagant were in Tartarus, but now you're both here in some kind of rehab thing thanks to Hawks, Ms Midnight and Principal Nezu?" Izuku nodded. Nejire put a hand under her chin and thought for a moment. 'If Ms Nagant is going to be a teacher, then that must mean...' She slowly craned her neck towards Izuku, realization crashing into her like she crashed into him earlier.
"YOU'RE GOING TO BE A STUDENT HERE!?" she screamed, making Izuku wince slightly and his hair blowback. Nejire grabbed his shoulder, making him look at her as she bounced up and down excitedly. "That means I'm gonna get to be your senior! This is crazy! What course are you going into? Please tell me it's the Hero Course!"
Yet again, Izuku was surprised by Nejire's bubbly, upbeat attitude. It felt like she had forgotten who he was and what he's done. "Y-Yeah, I'll be in the Hero Course." he answered, making Nejire squeal in excitement. But then confusion hit her again. "But you're already insanely strong, aren't you? Stronger than every pro in Japan. What if you accidentally kill someone?"
'That's the first thing you've said that makes sense to me.' "I have these." Izuku pulled back his hoodie's sleeve to reveal one of his inhibitor gauntlets. Nejire gawked at the sleek silver piece of technology. "Inhibitor Gauntlets, they keep me from using a dangerous amount of power. Right now, I can only do 10%, so I'm about on the level of a first year."
Nejire was fascinated and touched the gauntlet. "Cool! Hey, does that mean if we sparred, I would win? I'm pretty strong, you know!" Izuku didn't dispute that. "Trust me, I know. I still remember when we first met."
Nejire tilted her head. "You mean when I sent you to the ground after you beat All Might?" Izuku nodded. "You remembered me!" she giggled. Izuku rolled his eyes. "Hey, hey, we should have a sparring match! I wanna see your moves, and I still don't know that much about your quirk other than how it popped up!"
Vvvv!*
Nejire's phone vibrated. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw it was a message from her friends. "Mmmm!" she moaned in disappointment. Izuku saw the message that the third years needed to be at the dorms for a meeting about pre-semester training and that patrols were going to take a back seat for the time being.
"I guess that's the bell." Izuku sighed after finishing his soup. Then his phone buzzed. It was a message from Hawks.
[Hawks: Ur turn 2 cook dinner]
What Izuku didn't know is that Nejire peered over his shoulder and read the text just as he did to her. "Hey, you can cook? You never mentioned that at the restaurant." Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "If you remember, we were kinda preoccupied with serious talk."
"Right right right. Hey, can you cook for me? I wanna try your yums!" Izuku sighed. "Tomorrow, after we spar, I'll whip up something." Nejire threw her arms up in celebration. "Yay! I can't wait! I can't wait!"
Izuku barely, just barely smiled at the cheerful girl. Crazily enough, she was excited to spend time with him. It caused a sensation in his chest to arise. It wasn't burning animosity or cold resentment. It was... warm. What the senior student said next really stuck with him.
"Lucky me, I get such a nice person as my junior!" she chirped. Izuku whipped his head to her, surprise written all over his face. "'Nice'?" he repeated what she said, Nejire's positive demeanor didn't change. "Mm-hm! You're really nice, Izuku. Like Hawks said, you'd rather see people happy than sad. Anyway, I'll see you later. Buh-bye!"
With that, Nejire flew away leaving a sparkling trail of golden light embers from her soles. Izuku sat and watched her return to her dorm, leaving him with a lot to think about. 'Nice person? That's what she calls the monster that nearly destroyed a country? Took lives without remorse? Nearly hurt her and her teacher?'
What she said about Hawks, it was when they finally stopped him, she heard him try to reach him. Hawks' believed that Izuku would rather see the world have a better, more prosperous future than to burn it all down and give a not-so fond farewell to it all. That wasn't by any account wrong. And Nejire was also there when he revealed his true self to them.
"I... deserve to die..." It almost seemed like he was asking for death since he was conscious when Hawks tricked the world with a fake execution. But of course, the Wing Hero kept pushing. He got Izuku to reveal his mission he was fighting tooth and nail for. "I'll kill him... to atone..." Nejire knows he's capable of remorse and desires redemption but calling him nice is a stretch.
'She acts like I'm not the guy who killed without hesitation. She may know my backstory, but it doesn't justify me.' Izuku stood up from the roof and jumped down, hovering to his balcony. 'I can't get too hung up on her. I know what's coming for me and no amount of wishing will change that.'
Izuku re-entered his room, where Midnight was standing in the middle of it with a smug look on her face. "Hawks tells me you have a girl in your room the same day you met her. It seems your quirk isn't the only thing that progresses quickly." she teased. Izuku practically threw her out.
Gym Gamma
A group of third and second year students were panting and sweating after a difficult training period. "This session was to gauge your capabilities, and no one has any reason to slack off on their training. Consider this the preliminary of the coming year. I hope you didn't think things would be easy just because a threat is neutralized." Mr Aizawa said to the students before dismissing them.
"Ahh...! Mr Aizawa never goes easy on us..." a boy with dark hair and pointy ears said out of breath.
"He's tough, yeah, but it's because he knows we can take it! He knows better than anyone how strong we are! Doesn't that make you feel better, Tamaki?" a muscular blonde with a cartoonish face said to his friend.
"Actually, Mirio, it makes me feel like curling up in a ball in my bed."
"Yeah, I could use some R myself after that!"
"See you guys!" Nejire waved, being the only one who wasn't moving to leave the gym. "You're not coming, Nejire?" Mirio asked. "I'll be there soon, I've still got gas in the tank, ya know?"
Mirio just chuckled as he hoisted his less energetic friend on his shoulder. "You sure are energetic. Welp, see ya! Say bye, Tamaki." "Uhhhh..." their friend groaned. With that, the last of the hero students left, leaving just the energetic Nejire awaiting her sparring partner.
"When you sent me the message, I'd assumed it would be after you had a chance to recover," Izuku said from the window on the far side of the gym. He climbed through and landed on the concrete floor with a thud, and removed the small bag hanging from his shoulder. "Are you sure you can spar with me in your condition?" he asked as he walked up to her.
Nejire grinned. "Don't you worry, I've got great stamina!" Despite her her provocative claim, it was plain to see she was running low. Aizawa really showed no mercy. "Maybe not a full spar, but fine. So, where should we-"
"Iwannaseeyourquirk!" Nejire blurted. "Fine." Izuku displayed his green flames again, she felt the difference between his hot and cold flames, but not the dread he was capable of inducing. Izuku moved his flames in different motions, propelled himself from the soles of his feet, created flaming swords and spears, wings like Hawks, and to end it off, green explosions.
By the end of the display, Nejire was clapping and cheering. "My turn!" she stood up, stretched out her hands and emitted golden energy spirals. "My quirk is called Surge! I shoot out these energy shockwaves from anywhere on my body. But doing it too much leaves me tired, but I've trained my stamina to keep it up for a while."
Nejire then used her quirk from the soles of her feet to hover above the gym. Izuku put a hand under his chin in thought. "I've seen what you can do when you attack, you're a strong one. You turn your vitality into power, but it travels in a spiral motion. It would be faster in a straight line." Izuku observed.
"I knoooow," Nejire whined as she landed in front of him. "But that's just how it comes out. I know it's slow, but it covers a wide range, and I don't have problems if I need to get in close." Izuku was well aware of that.
"I have an idea, shoot out a wave stream. A small one." Nejire tilted her head. "Hm? What for?" "Just try it." Nejire did as he said and released a spiral stream of energy. "So what's this fo-"
Izuku released a wave of flames that went into her energy, becoming a spiral tunnel of emerald fire and golden energy. Nejire was astonished by what they created. "Woah! So cool! This would make an awesome combo attack, don'tcha think!?"
"Sure, but that's not what I was going for. Look at this." Nejire focused on their combined powers, and her eyes widened. Her wide spread energy narrowed, becoming slimmer and longer in range! Nejire's eyes were stars as they ended the combo. "Wow! My quirk went from wide to long! What did you do!? Tell me! Tell me!" she bounced on her heels, eager for an explanation.
"Well, I can manipulate the shape, size and direction my flames travel in. By mixing them into your quirk, I was able to manipulate your power, too." Nejire was blown away. He's also able to manipulate other powers! What can he not do!?
"Let's try it again!" She said excitedly. Izuku held out his hand again, but was surprised when Nejire put hers right next to his, her forearm touching his inhibitor gauntlet. "Go!" she fired, and Izuku quickly followed suit, narrowing her energy's path.
Thoom!*
Their combined power blue a cannonball-sized hole through the wall of the gym. The two of them had a single bead of sweat going down their foreheads. "Might've overshot that a bit..." Izuku said. "Tee hee!" Nejire giggled, still in a good mood from what Izuku helped her do.
"So, do you wanna try it yourself?" Izuku asked. "Huh? You think I can?" Izuku nodded. "Something I noticed, do you always have your fingers spread out when you fire?"
"I think so. I don't think about it a lot, it just comes naturally." Izuku expected an answer like that.
"Try firing with your fingers in a tube-like position. Sort of like you have a puppet on your hand." Nejire nodded and gave it a try, positioning her fingers the way he told her. When she fired, the spiral energy was far narrower and faster than normal, and traveled farther, almost as much as it had been when Izuku helped her.
"Wow! Wow! I did it! I did it! My energy was small and fast!" she celebrated with stars in her eyes. "Yeah, I saw." Izuku stated calmly with a small smile on his face. The next thing he knew, Nejire was on him, squeezing him in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Izuku didn't hug back, he was too caught off-guard by the positive physical contact. He flinched and almost moved to pull away, but stopped when he realized Hado didn't have an ounce of malice or evil in her. When she let go and started practicing her new ability, Izuku just stood there frozen.
10 minutes later
Nejire lied nearly motionless on the floor of the gym. In her excitement, she used her quirk excessively and hadn't noticed how fast she was draining her already tired body. Izuku sat beside her, just staring blankly at nothing. Nejire slowly raised a shaky arm up to him. "Poke...!" she weakly said as her finger made contact with Izuku's cheek. "Wat'cha thinking about?" she asked.
Izuku debated with himself on how to answer her. After a minute, he finally said it. "Hado, you, uh, said I was nice yesterday." Nejire nodded not understanding how her simple statement perplexed him. "How am I of all people nice in your eyes? You know pretty much every terrible thing I've done. So how can you smile at me like I didn't do any of it?"
Nejire's smile vanished, and she held out her hand to him. Izuku got the message and pulled her up into a sitting position. "Well, at first it was because you answered my questions, and you keep letting me ask you stuff." Izuku tilted his head, prompting her to elaborate. "Yeah, I have friends I can talk to, but I love learning about new people and new quirks! Most of the time, I dig too deep and they avoid me, or try to tune my 'annoying voice' out." For the first time, Izuku saw Nejire look depressed.
Izuku felt his heart clench. A curious mind eager to learn about the quirks of those around her? She's like him. Or at least, she's like he was. And, although the rejection she took must've been lighter than what he went through, and the fact that she has actual friends, she still knows the pain of rejection. If she can be a little over-the-top with her questions, she doesn't have any bad intentions. For some reason, Izuku's chest burned as his imagination drew up a sad, lonely Nejire.
"But you, I just keep finding more and more questions to ask, and you keep letting me. You even understood me when my mouth was going a mile a minute. Nobody's ever done that! Even I didn't completely catch what I said!" she giggled. "Then you let me into your room without the others permission. You also saved our leftovers to finish together, that was so thoughtful! And today when you helped me improve my quirk. You went beyond for me!"
Grrrrr!*
Nejire rubbed her belly after it released a horrendously loud growl. She blushed and giggled. "Hee hee! I guess I really overdid it. Wanna get something to eat? We could stop by the cafeteria. Lunch Rush makes delicious food! Have you ever tried Lunch Rush's cooking?" Izuku shook his head and stood up. "Hm? Where are you going?"
Izuku walked towards the end of the gym and picked up his shoulder bag he had earlier. "I had a feeling you wouldn't toe the line until you were dead tired and starving. So..." He sat back down next to her and unzipped the bag. First, he passed Nejire a water bottle, which she quickly took a large swig of. Second, she was given a pair of chopsticks, confusing her. Finally, Izuku placed a large blue bento box in her lap.
Her eyes widened. "Did... did you make this?" she asked. Izuku looked away from her. "You asked me to cook for you, remember?" Once again, Izuku was pulled into a sudden hug from the Surge quirk user. "I can't get over how nice you are!" she exclaimed.
Nejire then removed the lid of the bento box. Holy cow. It looked like something out of those gourmet cooking shows she watches at times. And the smell, it made her drool instant the instant it hit her nose. Slowly and tentatively, Nejire brought her chopsticks to grab a piece of beef and place it in her mouth. Nejire closed her eyes as she bit down on the meat. It's juices and flavors fell on her tongue and delighted her senses. Nejire's eyes blew wide open as she swallowed, stars now in her pupils.
"I THINK MY MOUTH IS IN LOVE!!" she shouted as she began stuffing her face at blurring speeds. Izuku watched as the food he prepared was practically shoved down a bottomless pit. Nejire was crying profusely as she ate. "Sho sho sho ghooohood!" Her words were muffled by her mouthful.
"Hey, be careful. You might-" Nejire abruptly stopped eating and placed a hand on her chest and struggled to breathe. "-choke." Izuku finished with a deadpan. Izuku arched her forward and patted her back until she coughed up a bone. "...You tried to eat a bone?" Izuku asked in genuine shock. "Everything in here is just so delicious!" Nejire whined. Izuku's cooking skills may prove to be a double-edged sword.
...
Buuuuurp!*
"Ahh~! So full! I'm gonna have terrible hiccups later, but it was worth it." Nejire sighed as she rubbed her bloated belly. Izuku smiled beside her, amused by her antics. It was something Nejire caught and gushed at.
"What?" Izuku asked. "Hee hee! You look good when you smile." Izuku grimaced at her. "Sorry, but you usually have a mean, angry face, so seeing you smile is a breath of fresh air. Did I make you smile? I did, didn't I? Awesome!" Izuku looked away from her and shook his head. 'This girl is an enigma.'
Izuku stood up from his place and walked towards the gym exit. "Come on, let's get back before someone starts looking for us." But he didn't sense Nejire move much at all from lying on the floor. "...A little help?" Izuku stopped and turned as she asked that. Before, she was too hungry and tired to move. Now, she's too full and tired to move. 'You can't be serious...' Izuku groaned mentally.
...
"Wheee!" Nejire squealed in the air. Izuku had no choice but to give her a piggyback ride to the dorms. He kept them airborne with his quirk, trying to focus on balance rather than the sizeable mounds pressed against the nape of his neck. "You're pretty strong, you know? You made picking me up look easy! We should do this more often!" Nejire cheered. "Sure, when you're paralyzed and I'm the only person around." Izuku replied.
Nejire pouted and rested her chin on his head, where she felt his soft mostly black and green hair. Her hands moved from his shoulders to his locks and she ran her fingers through it. She was delicate, and Izuku didn't hate it. "Your hair is so soft, it's like a cloud! What kind of hair conditioner do you use?"
"N-None." Izuku answered, making Nejire gape in surprise. "You mean it stays this fluffy naturally!? That's amazing! Hey, do you ruffle your own hair when you get stressed? I know I would if my hair was this fluffy? Can I ruffle your hair whenever I'm stressed?" "I am not going to be your personal stress toy." "Boo."
Izuku landed just outside the teachers' dorms, which was close to the third years. It would be risky for him to go further than this. "Can you make the rest of the way on your own?" Izuku asked as he set Nejire down. "I think I'll be fine."
She said before almost face-planting into the ground. Izuku caught her as she fell forward. "Are you okay?" he asked. Nejire gave him a peace sign in one hand and a bright smile with closed eyes. "Oh, for goodness sake. How was I ever afraid of you?" he muttered the last part.
"Huh?" And Nejire caught it. She stared at him with big, curious eyes. Izuku's heart skipped a beat as he realized what he said out loud. Now Nejire had his undivided attention with eyes wanting him to elaborate. "You were afraid of me? How? Why?"
Izuku sat her down on the pathway and sat down, facing away from her. He sighed. "How could you be scared of me? Even with your gauntlets, you're still pretty strong. You know, some of my classmates still have nightmares about you."
"That's kinda why," Izuku said, getting Nejire to tilt her head cutely. "You were there when I finally burned out. You saw me almost kill other heroes. Death Arms retired because of me. It just feels like... you don't remember what was right in front of you." Izuku put his head in his arms.
"...I do." Nejire piped up after a few moments of silence. "I do remember, and I think about it a lot. But I also remember the other stuff you did. You saved lives, stopped criminal gangs heroes couldn't catch. And do you remember what you said when you were down? You were after a super bad guy, you were and still are trying to make good in your own way. I also remember what you told me. You were hurting for years until you were pushed over the edge."
Izuku peeked his head up to look at her. She smiled at him. "Yeah, you've done some real bad stuff, but you've also done some good stuff, too. And you want to make up for the bad stuff. I'm just happy that through it all, you're still a good person at heart."
Nejire then enveloped Izuku in another hug. He didn't pull away. In fact, he hugged back for the first time. Nejire noticed this, and hugged him tighter. Izuku finally reciprocated. After a long embrace, they pulled away, Izuku rubbing something out of his eye. "T-Thank you, Hado." he whispered.
"Anytime, and call me Nejire. I call you by your first name, so it's only fair, right?" Izuku gave a dry chuckle. "I guess, Nejire." he helped her up to her feet, where she was able to stay upright this time. She kept a hold on his rough hand and smiled at it. "I like how your hands feel." she said plainly. She just says what's on her mind.
"You really should get going." Izuku said but not pulling his hand back. Nejire let go and walked away with shaky legs. She looked over her shoulder and gave him one last smile and wave, which he returned before she was out of sight.
Izuku stood motionlessly in front of the dorms, the wind blowing in his hair. He brought his right hand up to his face and balled it up into a fist multiple times. He could still feel her soft touch on his rough skin. 'What the hell is she doing to me?'
Crunch*
Izuku flinched at the sound of a crunch. He whipped his head to find Midnight and Hawks standing outside the dorm, the former with a bowl of popcorn in hand. "Dang, I thought for sure they'd kiss." Hawks sighed but still had his laid back smile. "This is much better than my dramas!" Midnight gushed as she grabbed another handful of popcorn.
Izuku's whole body was alit in a viridescent blaze. A vein throbbed on his temple as he pointed his hand at the eavesdropping pros. "That's it! Killing ya both!"