Chapter 1: kill your heroes
Summary:
a small change is made.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku’s foot caught the side of the pavement, and he stumbled, waving his arms to reorient himself until he regained his footing.
He glanced around, suddenly getting the feeling that he was like one of those characters on TV that gets introduced by doing something really stupid.
… it was probably nothing. After all, why would anybody start their story at the end of a day like his?
Izuku smiled bitterly, looking down the street. His mother would be worried sick, Kacchan’s probably pissed as hell, he’s got to do his homework which hopefully wasn’t completely destroyed, and transfer to information from #13 to a new one.
But… can’t that wait for a bit?
Doubling back to the underpass (Izuku shuddered at the smell), he continued to a different destination-- one he hadn’t exactly figured out yet.
As he progressed in his journey, the pitying glances he got from familiar faces became few and far between, fewer and fewer recognizing Izuku as the ‘poor quirkless boy’. And he reveled in that anonymity, being given nothing but a passing glance. His plain looks are an advantage outside of the area his schoolmates lived in.
He boarded a train, finding a seat in a relatively empty car and setting his burned bookbag at his side, sighing as he managed to get it open, even though the sludge still clinging to it made the process more difficult than it had to be. He’d have to get a new one. Along with a new journal, he thinks glumly as he pulled the ruined notebook from the bag, flipping through scorched and soaked pages, ink running and making his drawings and kanji indecipherable.
I should get this cleaned up as fast as I can--
A slight wheeze escaped his throat when he came upon the pair of pages. ALL MIGHT! , the paper proclaimed.
They were balled in his hands before he even realized what was happening. Tears-- not of sadness, Izuku realizes with a jolt, but anger -- are pricking his eyes. His tears usually feel cool on his cheeks, popping free without resistance. But these were hot and stinging, refusing to fall as he tore the papers to shreds and shoved them to the bottom of his bag, the reality of how absolutely shit his day had been settling in completely.
“If you wanna be a hero that badly, there's a quick way to do it. Believe that you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a dive off the roof!”
“It’s not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what’s realistic.”
His fingers dug into his pant leg, pain shooting up from where the nails went hard enough to pinch the skin.
Maybe they were right.
“Are you okay?”
No, the rose-colored glasses just got ripped off my face and smashed to bits on the pavement with my dreams. Nodding was his only reply to a girl with pink dreadlocks.
The girl stand from her place and practically throws herself over to his side of the train. Izuku shifts uncomfortably as she leans over to check out the ruined pages.
“Uu, this is really cool, stranger-kun! Looks really messed up, though. And smells like sewage.”
The girl seems perfectly happy to invade his personal space, and the only other occupant on the train— an exhausted-looking man— huffs in amusement.
“I’m Hatsume Mei! Uuuuuu, oh my Kami, is that a breakdown of Space Hero Thirteen’s suit? ”
He felt himself redden slightly. She snatches the notebook from his hands and seems unbothered by the general grossness of it as she leafs through and looks at the other ruined sketches of support items.
“You’ve got an eye for detail, stranger-kun!” Hatsume declares, dropping the notebook back in his lap and then grabbing his arm, ignoring his panicked yelp as she pulls a big black marker from nowhere and scrawls a bunch of random numbers and letters on him. “If you can figure this out, I’ll show you how to build support items for real instead of just theory!”
The train whistle blew, and Hatsume flounced off without Izuku saying so much as a word and a weird code on his arm.
Minutes ticked by before he wondered aloud, “What the fuck just happened?”
Sue him, sometimes he swore. He grew up around Kacchan .
The weird man huffs a short laugh again, but offers no explanation. Instead, he asks, “What’s got her so interested in that beat up thing?”
When Izuku looked to the notebook, he felt his heart sink a little further. This thing was really useless now, huh? As useless as he was.
“Hero analysis,” he mumbled in response. “I think she was talking about the parts where I go over improvements in support items.”
“... you any good at it?”
Izuku shrugged in response. “I guess so. I was mostly doing it so I could analyze on the fly when I got to be a hero, but I’m probably gonna drop it now.”
“Why’s that?”
He doesn’t say anything this time, just shrugging again and closing the notebook.
The man sat up, suddenly looking way more attentive. Is he okay? Izuku blinks at him a few times— bags under bloodshot eyes, messy hair, white scarf, plain black clothes and what looked like a weird belt. He wasn’t homeless, from how the scarf was taken care of, but likely doesn’t have much free time from the hair. Eyebags are indicative of insomnia or long work hours, bloodshot meaning like sight-based quirk, belt looks more like a utility belt, which led him to a logical conclusion of—
“Take a breath, Problem Child.”
Izuku felt himself flush again as he clamped a hand over his mouth. Dammit, he needed to dump the muttering habit soon. It wouldn’t help him, and everyone thought it was creepy anyway.
“Sorry, Eraserhead-san,” he mumbled. Eraserhead lifts an eyebrow, but doesn’t comment on it.
“With a mind like that, you could pretty easily be an intelligence hero or an underground hero. Even a support hero.”
Izuku focused his eyes down. “Even if I’m quirkless?”
Eraserhead huffs again, this time sounding more annoyed. “Nighteye doesn’t read the future of every villain to win battles, kid.”
The train whistle blows, and Eraserhead leaves without another word. Izuku stares after him, turning the phrase over in his mind.
He hadn’t said a single cruel word.
Izuku zipped up his bag and, when the train came back to his area, he disembarked and ran to the corner store, using his small allowance to get a new bag and notebook, and walked home.
When he finally stepped over the threshold, his mother was waiting there.
“Izuku, where have you been ? I saw the news, I was so worried--”
“Mom, I’m fine.” Izuku interrupted her tearful rambling, closing the door gently. “I just needed to clear my head. Think some things over.”
Mom didn’t seem to hear him, fluttering her hands as she walked in a circle around him. “You should get a shower, sweetie, you could get sick…”
He nods and heads to his room, copying the numbers onto a scrap piece of paper and staring at it for a few minutes, thinking.
a1b4, a1b3a, a1c1a1, b1e, a1a2a1a, a1c1a1, a1a1b1a, a1b4, b1e, a1c2a, a1b1b1, a1a1a2a, a1c1a1, b1e, a1a1b2, a1b1b1, a1abc, b1e, a1c1a1, a1b1b1, a1c3, a1b1c, a1a1a1b, b1e, a1b3a, a1b1b1, a1b3a, a1c1a1, b1e, a1a1a1b, a1b1c, a1a1b1a, a1c1a1, a1c1a1
How did she even fit all this on his arm? Her handwriting wasn’t that small. And she wrote it so fast .
He thought it over while he showered, pondering the weird mishmash. It was a pattern , and an important one.
Letters and numbers in random order, maybe…
Maybe it stood for something?
Pattern of one and another, switching.
Caesar cipher, coordinates… one after another got thrown out, abandoned like trash.
Binary. Switching ones and zeroes.
… it couldn’t hurt.
When he got out of the shower, he threw them in a binary translator with numbers as ones and letters as zeroes, but he just got a confusing mess- some simply weren’t long enough.
Wait a second.
The letters and numbers weren’t random at all!
For the next quarter hour, he spent painstakingly writing out the numbers and letters into ones and zeroes. A was one zero, B was two, C was three, D was four, E was five. 1 was one… one, 2 was two, 3 was three, and so on.
ONEZEROFIVESIXEIGHTNINETHREE
ONE-ZERO-FIVE-SIX-EIGHT-NINE-THREE.
It was a phone number.
Notes:
“Kill Your Heroes” is honestly my favorite song and what inspired me to write this fic.
Aizawa’s introduction came from the opening line, “well, I met an old man dying on the train / no more destination, no more pain”
I touch on Izuku briefly considering suicide in a subtle way, and Aizawa picks up on that— he sees this sad child and at first thinks, ah, bad day. The important thing to remember is that Aizawa is trained to recognize depression, suicidal thoughts, etc., which is why he suddenly became more alert.
The lyrics “I say you kill your heroes and fly, fly, baby don’t cry” I took to be Aizawa inspiring Izuku to press on with his dream— not literally killing his heroes, but accepting that they aren’t who he thinks they are and become his own hero.
Chapter 2: castle
Summary:
izuku has had it with katsuki. it’s him versus the world, but he’s making allies.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Um. Hi?”
Izuku had dialed the number on his phone with shaky hands the next day, but still determined. His fresh notebook was open and blank in front of him, and waited with bated breath as the line was silent for a moment.
“Is this stranger-kun?”
“U-uh. Midoriya Izuku… you wrote on my arm.”
“AH! I totally thought it would take you longer! Or you’d give up! Good job, you want to learn how to make some babies?!”
His heart stuttered to a stop.
“Oh, right. My dad just reminded me that not everyone talks like me! I call my inventions my babies!”
Izuku could breathe again. “U-um. Maybe? I hadn’t really thought of making support items before…”
“No problem, Midoriya-kun! Meet me after school Friday at that old trash beach and I can teach ya a bit! We’re gonna be great friends!”
Hatsume hung up on the still-flushed Izuku without warning, and he blinks at the notebook.
Trash beach-- she must mean Dagobah. Izuku opens the calendar and sets a reminder, half on autopilot. It was Thursday. He just had to survive today and tomorrow.
He felt eyes on his back when he entered the school that day, new notebook in hand as he sketched Kamui Woods.
For once, he felt a flare of defiance in his chest and turned to glare in the direction of the stares to lock eyes with Kacchan.
“Deku, what the fuck did you think you pulled?”
A moment passed in which he recalled his old friend’s cruel words. To jump off a building. How he had considered it for a brief moment on the subway. The burn scars on his back, the still-fresh one on his shoulder. The countless broken noses or cuts or twisted ankles.
Friends don’t do that to friends.
“I saved your ass, Katsuki. The thing about drowning is that if I didn’t let you breathe you would have died before All Might showed up. So shove your high horse up your ass and leave me the fuck alone.”
Kacch- Katsuki stopped dead in his tracks, hands stilling completely as shock took over his features. Other students spectating took a visible step back. Kac-Katsuki had almost certainly been expecting a flood of apologies, tears, and probably ego-stroking as he beat Izuku up again.
He turned on his heel and walked away before the inevitable explosion could reach him and into his class, taking in the view.
Several students were snickering in the corner as they glanced over at Izuku. His eyes were only for his desk.
A lone red spider lily sat on the wood, oblivious to the crisis it was causing in Izuku’s mind.
No .
Red crept into the edges of his vision as he saw the teacher tactfully ignoring it, and he took his phone out of his pocket and discreetly started videotaping.
He walked up to the teacher, holding the camera at an angle to catch his face. “Obonyano-sensei, someone put a red spider lily on my desk.”
The giggling grew louder, and he ignored it, looking to his teacher expectantly.
“Your classmates are probably just joking around, Midoriya. Go sit down before I give you detention.”
He angled his camera to the group of full-blown cackling students before twisting it at his desk again as he approached.
Instead of sitting, Izuku snatched the flower up, exiting the classroom without another word.
As soon as he was in the hall, Kaccha-Katsuki was upon him.
“DEKU!”
He felt a harsh shove to the chest, back hitting the wall, and he grit his teeth when a fist balled up the front of her gakuran.
“What the hell was going through your shitty head when you said that, haah!?”
Izuku met Katsuki’s eyes and narrowed his own. Speaking with as much venom as he could muster, he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m headed to the principal.”
Katsuki sneered. “What’d you do now, shitnerd? Someone report you for being a worthless piece of shit?”
“No.” He raised the hand with the red spider lily in it. “Someone left this on my desk, Katsuki . Lovely, isn’t it? A very pretty color.”
The bully stared at the flower, shock flitting across his face.
Then, he released Izuku’s shirt, snatched the flower, and exploded it between his palms with a sadistic sneer, dropping the ashes back into Izuku’s hand.
“Who would even believe you, Deku? ”
Not this school principal.
But Izuku never stopped recording. He ended the video with a tap of his finger, glaring at his long-time bully, knowing he’d pay dearly for it later.
“Nobody here,” he said simply. Then, he shoved Katsuki hard in the chest, sending the significantly taller boy stumbling back before heading back into the classroom, dropping the ash on the floor.
When he got home, he was shaking like a leaf.
Izuku had no idea where that rush of courage (or stupidity-- definitely stupidity) came from, but he definitely paid the price. His hands were bloody with minor burns and his wrist was sprained, both ankles twisted and the backs of his legs bruised and cut nastily. His arms were peppered with burns, and Izuku was certain his back was the same.
Tears came to his eyes, and he practically ran to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door as they came forth.
Everyone hated him when he was weak, but they hated him more when he bit back.
“If you wanna be a hero that badly, there's a quick way to do it. Believe that you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a dive off the roof!”
“It’s not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what’s realistic.”
Tears flowed down in silence, the sobs shaking his aching shoulders as he dressed and bandaged the wounds with a practiced hand. He stretched his feet, knowing that they’ll be sore in the days to come, and wrapped his wrist, hoping it heals fast.
Everyone hates him because of a fucking pinky joint.
A fucking joint in his toe that ruined his life.
“Nighteye doesn’t read the future of every villain to win battles, kid.”
“Meet me after school Friday at that old trash beach and I can teach ya a bit! We’re gonna be great friends!”
He wiped his tears.
If the world was against him, then he would fight harder.
Maybe Hatsume would ditch him the moment she found out he was quirkless, but Eraserhead had looked him in the eye and inadvertently rebuilt his dream.
Izuku went to his room and silently thanked whatever divinity was out there that it wasn’t his dominant hand that was sprained as he sketched the hero exactly as he had seen him: exhaustedly leaning against the wall of the subway, his dark eyes holding some unnamed intensity.
Directly under it, he wrote in small print, Nighteye doesn’t read the future of every villain to win battles .
He felt like those words would stick with him for a long, long time.
Izuku’s eyes wander around his room, a strange sort of hatred swelling in his chest as he saw a blinding smile everywhere.
Never had ripping posters off a wall been so relieving.
Friday couldn’t come fast enough.
The entire day had been filled with cruel words, but today he tried something a little different: he didn’t even acknowledge Katsuki. If anything, that seemed to disturb the bully more than Izuku snapping back, he notes with no small measure of satisfaction. Of course, he gets tripped a lot and his possessions burned, but he made sure his notebook was hidden and he was safe, only exiting the building with a bruise on his shoulder.
Dagobah wasn’t far, and his sneakers collected sand in the soles as he walked down the stretch of honestly disgusting beach.
“Hi Midoriya-kun!”
Hatsume appeared from somewhere within a mound, in her arms a broken microwave. She threw that out into the sand next to him, and then ducked down to grab something that looked suspiciously like a car engine and jogging over to a bewildered Izuku, her yellow eyes bright and manic. He notices the crosshairs-- it must be part of her quirk.
“H-hi, Hatsume-chan.”
Hatsume grinned, dropping the engine next to the microwave. “Glad to see ya! Call me Mei! My quirk is Zoom , because I can look at things really far away! Helpful for little bits of machinery! So don’t expect to get all the finer bits perfect like me when you’re making your first baby!”
He tactfully ignores the word choice as he shuffles his feet. Might as well get it over with. “I’m quirkless.”
A beat. Then, “That’s so cool, Midori-chan! Do you have any idea how rare that is these days?! Most people just focus on things that would help their quirk, but you could look and think “what would help everyone ?””
He blinked. This was a dream, right?
Her excited face told a different story.
“I’m gonna be a support designer, like Power Loader! I’ll sell my support items to big heroes and make bank! ”
Izuku just stares, almost missing the next words.
“What do you want to do, Midori-chan!?”
“Uh.” His foot scuffs the sand, kicking up a bit as he looked to them. “I’m gonna be a hero. I, I think underground.”
Her eyes lit up even more. “Really?! You’ll need support items, then! If you work with me and sell some support items to the underground community, I can hook you up with some of my babies for free !”
“Uh, okay!” Izuku nods, allowing a tiny smile. “You… you can call me Izuku.”
Mei drags him to the trash piles, showing him which kinds of things were salvageable, her energy unabating as she made him help her drag an oven into the open.
“You’ll need to build up some muscles, Izukkun,” Mei says contemplatively. “You look like you’ve got a more sneaky body than a bulky one, but that can work.”
She spent the rest of the day sitting in the sand with him, taking simple machines apart and guiding him to put them back together. As the sun began to set, he smiled widely at the assembled, theoretically functional microwave and Mei laughed, throwing her head back and the dying sun glinted on her goggles.
“Not bad, Izukkun! Text if you wanna do this again!”
She’s off before he can respond, leaving Izuku to his thoughts.
Maybe it wasn’t the fact that he was quirkless that ruined his life.
He drew a line in the sand while he mulled it over. Why did they treat him horribly? Eraserhead and Hatsume were fine with it.
A bystander was the control. Someone who had no idea he was quirkless. He spoke to them and they talked cheerfully back.
Telling people he was quirkless was the constant, the thing that didn’t change.
So what was the variable ?
What separated Mei from Katsuki? What made an entire school hate him but Mei want to be his friend?
He traced Us and Them in the sand, on either side of the line. What was the line? Where did it blur? What was the variable?
Katsuki and the school and his mom— them. Mei and Eraserhead(?) and Izuku— us .
“It’s not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what’s realistic.”
Everyone always agreed with All Might. He was… he was one of them . The world was them . His fingers dig into the sand, balling and watching the grains fall through.
It was Izuku versus the world, really. So what if All Might was one of them ? He’d just fight harder.
Everyone pushed Izuku around constantly.
It was about time he pushed back.
Notes:
“Castle” - Halsey
Listen. Halsey is one of my all time favorite singers, and her songs are bops. Castle represents this chapter for one simple reason—
“I’m headed straight for the castle / they’re gonna make me their queen / and there’s an old man sitting on the throne there saying that I probably shouldn’t be so mean”
Izuku is the narrator— he’s gonna be a great fucking hero, whether the “old man”— All Might— likes it or not.
Chapter 3: gasoline
Summary:
izuku is good at support and is also highkey a hobo
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Izuku, I’m worried about you.”
Izuku faced Mom, his hands in his hoodie pockets. Dread was a pit in his stomach that he couldn’t get rid of. It was just his mother, but Izuku knew. She didn’t want him to be a hero. She wanted to bury him in bubble wrap.
“You keep coming home after dark, and you’re distant, and you took down all your All Might merch, and you just don’t…” her hands fluttered slightly, and he eyed them nervously. He knew Mom would never hurt him, but… the memory of stinging blows and explosive palms resided. “You don’t talk to me, Izuku… I’m just worried.”
He shifted his weight slightly. Why was he hesitating? It was a simple answer.
“I… I made a friend, and she’s teaching me how to make support items.”
Mom relaxed considerably, a tiny smile appearing. “You’re not going to be a hero?”
Of course that’s what she takes from it.
“I am,” he says simply. “But underground. I won’t pass the entrance exam for Heroics, so I can transfer from General Education, Support, or Management. Management is off the list because I’m useless in that field, and Gen Ed is my fallback plan.”
It had been a few months since he met Mei. She said he was progressing pretty well and practically dragged him around the beach for scrap as she taught him to build from scratch. All he had so far was an electric bo staff (beta version) that he was very uncoordinated with, a more durable phone case, and, well… he was working on something privately he would show to Mei today. It was Saturday, and she should be at the beach. He would meet her there in less than half an hour.
“Anyway, I’m going out to meet her,” Izuku told his mother, picking up the plastic bag with the (alpha-version) support item in it. “Love you. I’ll be home at eight or nine.”
She just looked forlornly after him as he left, closing the door firmly behind himself and not looking back.
Mei waved enthusiastically, her hair a certified mess and soot stains all over her face and arms, save the clean bits where he gloves and goggles had likely been positioned. He huffed a laugh, rolling his eyes.
“Did you get any sleep?”
“Nope! I’ve got a brand-new baby to test with you in a bit! What’s in the bag?!”
He stepped back just in time to avoid her reaching arm, shaking his head. “I’ll show you, calm down.”
She settled a bit with a smirk, looking at Izuku expectantly. He rolled his eyes.
From the bag he pulled a set of goggles which he held out to Mei. She stared at it for a moment before taking it.
They were a bronze color, with small green details on the edges. The glass was mirror-like, and he smiled nervously as she slipped them on.
A manic smile came to her lips as she messed with the knobs on the side, and he watched with bated breath as it made kind of annoying clicking noises and shifted in and out.
Slowly, she took it off.
“What’d you name her?” Her voice was tense.
“MeiVision,” he mumbled.
Mei looked at him, yellow eyes blank, then—
“Izukkun, you’re so sweet!”
She practically threw her arms around him, hugging Izuku with bone-breaking intensity, before releasing him and backing up a bit when he stiffened. She was pretty good at picking up on his tells.
Her eyes still shone, though.
He managed a weak smile as he took the MeiVision from her delicately. “It’s only an alpha model, and it’s really clunky. I’m hoping when we’re at Yuuei, I’ll have better materials to improve it with instead of just… I dunno. Letting it be archaic.”
Mei stared at him, a slow smile spreading across her face. “My parents are support tech designers. I have all kinds of good materials at home.”
It took Izuku a moment. Then, he gaped. “You mean—“
“I’ll text you the address! Meet me there tomorrow!”
She promptly ignored the rest of his questions, instead showing off a new bomber drone design, a beta model.
“Now Izuku, when you show off your design to people, especially the judges, you need to make sure you do something eccentric. They’ll remember you better! Always start off the presentation with something interesting, like—”
“Most people would call me batshit insane, and I’d have to agree.”
Power Loader and Recovery Girl stared at him, looking slightly off-put as he stood in front of them. He was slouching a bit, head inclined a bit so he looked at them from the shadows of his bangs. Burn marks, for once not from Katsuki, decorated his sleeves from when he assembled the item only minutes before. Most had cleaned up to look presentable, but he didn’t even bother changing from his inventing clothes or try to rinse the soot from his hair, which he had been growing out since he met Mei, mostly because building took up so much time that he didn’t have any to go to a hairdresser and also because he wanted to see what he would look like. As it turns out, his hair is mostly black, not green. It was at his shoulders by now, pulled into a low ponytail with several strands loose and in his face.
In short, he was a mess and gave no fucks.
“After all, what kind of person walks into the equivalent of a job interview looking like a homeless kid? Or laughs when his support item explodes not one, not two, but three times in the hour we were given to assemble it? Or is completely quirkless and dares to try and be the first in Yuuei?”
He definitely had their attention, be it good or bad.
He set the blueprints on the table, unrolling it and showing the rather convoluted design before setting a pair of bronze goggles on top of it.
They were similar to that of Eraserhead’s in shape and size, but the glass was a one-way mirror instead of slotted. He grinned.
“This is the MeiVision, inspired by a close friend of mine. Her quirk, Zoom, allows her to see up to five kilometers away, like Legolas but less cool. The MeiVision can zoom up to one kilometer away in its current model, and it also has night vision, heat vision, and motion sensors. MeiVision is best utilized by underground heroes like Mist and Eraserhead or by rescue heroes like Thirteen or Sonar. The different sensors can seek out targets or victims and aid the heroes in their work.”
He simply leaves the model and blueprint on the table and exits without another word.
Why waste words when you’ve already made your point?
Notes:
“Gasoline” - Halsey
Yes, another Halsey song. Fight me.
I interpret Gasoline as a song about someone not fitting in with the mold of society, and the rest of society outcasts them for it and views them as sub-human. (“You’re part of a machine / you are not a human being”)
Izuku is quirkless, and therefore an outcast, to the point in which he’s suicide baited repeatedly.
Plus, just the references to machinery seemed really appropriate for our Support bean.
Chapter 4: these streets
Summary:
izuku gets a new accessory and yuuei term starts
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Something was wrong with Izukkun.
It wasn’t like Mei thought he was wrong— Kami, no. His quirklessness barely mattered to her, even though she knew it would matter to some others. And she definitely didn’t hate him for whatever was wrong.
The first time she had ever seen him, he was clearly furious and crying as he ripped up something that was obviously important. And when he had shown up at the beach, she was ecstatic to think maybe she finally made a friend. But the way he cowered every time he mentioned he was quirkless, or how he flinched when she made wide movements (especially with her hands), or when he stiffened as she touched him… something horrible had happened to her friend, and she was going to find out if it killed her. But until then, she would respect his privacy.
Mei had practically cried when her letter from Yuuei came, so obviously she immediately called Izuku. He said he had gotten his and would be over soon to open it with her.
He never showed up.
The next day, he knocked on her door with his throat heavily bandaged.
“Izukkun, are you okay?! ”
He flinched at her voice, but nodded with a weary smile. “Yeah. The necklace thing I was testing out— the one that was going to detect radio frequencies? It exploded and my mom had to take me to the hospital.”
Almost immediately, she relaxed at the explanation. Yeah, she knew the one. It was weirdly volatile and Izukkun kept accidentally exploding it— it didn’t temper her worry, though.
“Well,” she huffed in response. “I should hope that you’ll get better soon, or else! Didja bring your letter?”
He held up the envelope with a grin.
“‘Hatsume Mei, you’ve been accepted as only one of five into Power Loader’s class 1-F! Your ingenuity impressed the judges and we commend your inventive mind. You ranked first in support design, tied for first in presentation, and second in practical application.’”
Mei set her letter down and grinned at Izukkun.
“Open it!”
He gave her a weak smile and ripped his own open, dumping the paper to the carpet. Scooping it up with shaky hands, he read off, “‘Midoriya Izuku, you’ve been accepted as only of of five into Power Loader’s 1-F! Your boldness stunned the judges and left a real impression. You ranked second in support design, tied for first in presentation, and first in practical application.”
Mei looked at her friend with stars in her eyes as his smile grew.
“Now I’ve just gotta win the Sports Festival,” he says conclusively. Mei nods along, a huge smile on her own face as she brainstormed all the babies she would be making soon.
Izuku knew Meimei meant well. She was all over the place, darting from one place to another and saw nothing but her goal. Izuku wished he had that-- it was both a blessing and a curse, he knew, but it would be incredible to give no thought to what happened outside of his immediate concern.
Anxiety’s a bitch.
He’d already left Meimei’s, rubbing the bandages awkwardly. He honestly didn’t really remember the malfunction of the Radiocharm, or really much between leaving the house and waking up at the hospital. But his mother had tearfully told him that his necklace had exploded and then did the unthinkable—
She told him to stop building support items.
That had, of course, led to a massive fight which ended in him leaving the hospital that morning, heading home, changing, and going to Meimei’s.
When Meimei had stared, he wouldn’t deny that he felt a little uncomfortable.
He walks down the street, looking in the windows in silence when he catches sight of blond hair in the reflection.
No. Not here.
He spun, searching for his depressingly familiar bully—
— and saw a man with blond hair walking past, nose in his phone.
Oh.
Izuku looked at the pavement and hurried across the street into a corner store, not wanting to be seen. He could feel the weight of their gazes on his bandaged throat.
Pretending to browse, he skimmed through different plans. He didn’t want to go out and have people see him—
Something dark red caught his attention. A scarf.
That works.
Izuku would be sad he didn’t see his mother much anymore he wasn’t so fucking furious with her.
She tried to get him to stop doing what he loved because of an accident. He wasn’t made of glass! He was quirkless, not china!
But all of his anger paled in the face of his excitement, at least for today.
Katsuki got in. Izuku just had to make sure he never knew that Izuku did, too.
At least, not until the Sports Festival.
Meimei was practically vibrating next to him as they walked in, her voice pitched higher than normal when she spoke.
“Oh my Kami, Izukkun, this is the actual Yuuei! How are you not freaking out?!”
He was, just not externally. Instead of saying that, though, he shrugged. “I dunno, maybe I’m just tired.”
“You’re always tired.”
“You’re always high on caffeine. Drug addict is your aesthetic, exhausted hobo is mine.”
The door for 1-F came up a lot faster than he thought it would, and it was quite a bit bigger than he thought it would be.
Meimei, of course, decides the best way to introduce them is to kick the door open before he can stop her.
With a loud BANG! it flew open, and Izuku hissed.
“Sweet motherfucking Kami.”
“Just Mei,” she joked in return, taking his sleeve and practically dragging him into the room with three stunned students and a very exasperated Power Loader.
This… was going to be a long year.
“My name is Maijima Higari.” Power Loader stood at the front, his eyes uncomfortably focused on Meimei and Izuku. He knew Meimei was smiling back, so he just glared. “But that’s Maijima-sensei to the lot of you.”
Please don’t play an introduction game, please don’t play an introduction game, please don’t play an introduction game…
“To get to know each other, we will talk a bit about ourselves.”
Fucking hell .
Meimei, as wonderful as she is oblivious, leaps up. “Me! Me!”
Pow— Maijima-sensei sighed and gestures to Mei, and Izuku has to physically hold back a groan. Why can’t he have a quiet day? Just one?
“I’m Hatsume Mei! My quirk is Zoom, and Izukkun here is my best friend! I love making babies with him!”
Izuku buried his face in his hands when Maijima-sensei wheezed loudly and the other students froze in shock.
“ Hatsume Mei ,” he snapped to his friend.
She has the audacity to giggle before correcting herself. “Sorry— we call our support items babies. We’re partners.”
One day. He just wanted one fucking day of peace.
Notes:
“These Streets” - Bastille
Bastille is also a BOP so expect more of them.
“These Streets” is a song about looking back on a ruined relationships and not wanting to be in places that remind them of it. In the future, this song will make more sense as to the other events in the chapter, but one line stuck out to me.
“And passing through I think I see you / In the shapes of all the women”
I can’t say much because spoilers, but believe me, this is a very appropriate song.
Chapter 5: immortals
Summary:
aizawa and the problem child meet again
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Aizawa Shouta was tired.
Of course, this was nothing new. Hizashi liked to joke that he sucked all the energy out of Shouta like some vampire, but Shouta’d been an insomniac long before he met him.
So you couldn’t exactly blame him that he wasn’t paying the slightest attention to Maijima or Nemuri as they rambled about their classes. Neither bothered asking him, because Nemuri had heard from Hizashi that he’d already expelled a student-- some brat he’d not bothered to learn the name of that didn’t even try to pass the quirk assessment.
“Kami above, I knew accepting the two top scorers into one class would be a problem, but I don’t think I was expecting that .”
Nemuri leaned in, her blue eyes wide with anticipation. “Did they explode something?”
“Yes, and we didn’t do anything except introductions and orientation, so I don’t even know how -- but that’s not the point.” Maijima looked genuinely distressed, raking his capped fingers through his ginger hair. Shouta inclined his head slightly-- sue him, he liked hearing about other teachers having problem children for once.
Maijima acknowledged Shouta tuning in with a nod before continuing. “The top scorers were Hatsume Mei and Midoriya Izuku-- they’re partners, I’m pretty sure. Hatsume jumps up to be the first for introductions, and she says, I shit you not, ‘ I’m Hatsume Mei! My quirk is Zoom, and Izukkun here is my best friend! I love making babies with him!’ ”
Nemuri snorted inelegantly as Shouta coughed to cover a laugh of his own. A bit forward, weren’t they?
“And Midoriya immediately full-names her and makes her correct herself-- they call their support items babies, and it was a bit late to prevent mass chaos, so the other three are losing their shit, Midoriya genuinely looks like he wants to die, I’m still trying to figure out how to breathe, and Hatsume just stands there looking proud of herself.”
That was significantly better than his first assumption, Shouta decides.
“And don’t even get me started on Midoriya—“
There was a sudden, loud explosion coming from down the hall, suspiciously close to the Development Studio.
Maijima sighs.
“That would be them. They asked to stay late so they could work on their support items for the Sports Festival.”
Nemuri cackled. “I’ve gotta see this.” Shouta just shrugged and allowed his friend to drag him up and out the door, Maijima hovering close behind as he followed with more than a little hesitation.
As they walked down the hall, they heard several smaller explosions and loud swearing accompanied by laughter.
Maijima pushed the door open, stepping back to let the smoke drift out, a look of pure self-loathing on his face as he stepped in, Nemuri and Shouta in tow.
“Midoriya! Hatsume! I said to not level the building!”
A girl covered in hot pink paint appeared from behind a paint-covered shield-- specifically the quirk-reinforced glass shield meant for testing explosives. She threw back her head and laughed, pearl0white teeth a starting sight on the girl covered head to toe in hot pink.
“Don’t be ridiculous! Next to the Volatile Quirk Testing Grounds, aka Gym Omega, the Development Studio and Support classrooms are the most structurally secure places on campus!”
Shouta blinked-- she was completely right.
A boy with long, curly green hair rounded the shield as well, a (clearly self-made) tablet in hand. He didn’t even look up to see the new people as he picked his way past puddles of pink to Hatsume.
“Fine motor control?”
She flexed her fingers stiffly, and the pink cracked. “Slowed but not stopped entirely.”
“General motor control?”
Hatsume swung her leg out-- it was stiff and awkward. “Weird and kinda heavy, but not slowed much.”
“Weight?”
“I’d say about five kilos.”
“Stickiness?”
Slamming her palms together with a weird mix between a slapping and cracking sound, she bent her arms slightly, trying to pry them apart. “Mega sticky.”
“Against other surfaces?”
Her leg lifted with a bit of the pink paint(?) stringing between it. “Tiny sticky. Pathetic boy.”
The boy, assumedly Midoriya, frowned. “Is the elasticity being a problem again?”
“Yeah, maybe less rubber components next time? More concrete. Keep glue the same, though, since I think it’s mostly the rubber fucking with its stickiness.”
Midoriya(?) nodded sharply, looking up to her with a slightly deeper frown. “We’ll have to mark it as a failure.”
Hatsume grinned back.
Maijima sighed loudly. “Please tell me you have some solution to clean this up.”
“Saltwater!” Hatsume chirped, before waddling over to a kiddie pool with globs of pink in it.
Midoriya(?) looked up at Maijima, noticing the other two teachers. Shouta notes the green eyes focus on him for just a moment longer, and he’s suddenly struck with the feeling that he’s seen this kid somewhere before.
“Something you need, Maijima-sensei?”
Maijima rubbed his face. “Midoriya, you need to keep the explosions to a minimum…”
“Oh, that?” he glanced back. “Those are the Pink Bombs. No actual destructive properties. It’s meant for villain apprehension rather than offense. It comes off with some saltwater.”
Maijima looks to Shouta helplessly. Shouta shrugs in response. Not his problem child.
Hatsume bounces back over, miraculously clean of the pink sludge yet drenched in water. Her hair was a bubblegum pink and the strange shapes on her head seemed to be goggles. She threw her arm over Midoriya’s shoulder, looking over at the three teachers. “Hiya, Midnight-san and stranger-san!”
Boy on the bus— crying, angry.
Pink bouncy girl— distract him, phone number (?).
“What the fuck just happened?”
“Even if I’m quirkless?”
Shouta squinted slightly at Midoriya. Whatever had happened in those ten months between meetings must have seriously fucked with the kid— he had long hair tied into a messy bun and eyebags that rival his own. But there was a definite shine to his eyes they wasn’t there before.
“Aizawa, Kayama, meet Hatsume and Midoriya,” Maijima said tiredly. “Midoriya here applied for Support because he knew he would fail the Heroics exam and plans on transferring.”
There was a strange clicking sound as Midoriya nodded, suddenly turning around and— gliding away.
“Yas, queen!” Hatsume cheered, her smile wide as was humanly possible. “Heely away from them feelies!”
… Shouta literally doesn’t know what to do at this point except for sigh.
He does have a slot open in 1-A, after all. Better keep an eye on Maijima’s Problem Child, just in case he becomes his.
Notes:
“Immortals” - Fall Out Boy
I legit don’t have a great explanation for this except for that it feels like something Mei and Izuku would blast when they’re inventing— it’s a song about working together to make a lasting impact, and that’s what they’re doing.
Chapter 6: demons
Summary:
izuku and mei are chaos children and izuku talks about his past
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Meimei practically clung to Izuku the entire day. Like, okay, yes , they were working with 1-C, but that didn’t make them all idiots. Couldn’t she at least try to make friends with them?
… he wasn’t exactly much better, was he?
Nevertheless, getting back to the Development Studio was a blessing. Support students had only core classes during the first half of the day, and the rest was dedicated to building and learning more about marketing support items.
As usual, the lecture was probably informative, but neither Meimei nor Izuku paid any attention to it, knowing Maijima-sensei would upload a transcript to the class calendar they could read later. Instead, they stood in the very back, ignoring proper lab safety as they experimented with the formula for the Pink Bomb.
“Mark pure sodium and lithium as having no reaction,” Meimei instructed Izuku in a loud whisper. “And manganese made it slightly more vivid in color, but no other visible effect.”
“Try putting a drop in the distilled water.” Izuku waved his hand lazily towards a glass of it that Izuku had originally planned on adding salt to, just in case the Pink Bomb got out of hand.
There was a beat of pure silence as Izuku focused on his tablet, crossing out more and more combinations. “Maybe we should work on the Illumnisphere next--”
“IZUKKUN HOLY SHIT!”
He looked up at Mei, who was pointing at the water.
The water was now a cloudy pink that was rapidly becoming more vivid, and he watched in awe as the entire glass of water became the thick substance that was Pink Bomb before solidifying into its dry form.
There was another beat before Izuku hesitantly jabbed at the surface, and it felt a bit squishy and definitely sticky.
Maijima-sensei walked over with an annoyed look. “Hatsume-chan, Midoriya-kun, I allow you two to experiment during lectures with the one condition that you don’t cause a disturbance. What is it?”
Izuku looked up to the teacher, a manic grin on his lips. “We discovered a new application of the Pink Bomb.”
He sighed, reaching up with rubber-tipped fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You know what, you two? Take the MeiVision. The hero classes are having their first Foundational Heroics lesson. Stay out of sight, take notes, whatever. Bring me improvements to their hero costumes-- at least five students. If you get caught by the teacher, detention.”
Meimei and Izuku just gave him wide smiles before snatching up their MeiVision goggles-- Mei’s bronze, Izuku’s silver.
“I’ll be telling Aizawa about my assignment to you two and have him add grades depending on whether or not the students detect you.”
So other’s grades suffer if he isn’t caught? Neat. Time to see if he can make a lot of people really confused, really fast.
Maijima-sensei had directed the pair of chaos children support students to a supply closet where the Heroics teachers keep extra stealth suits for the students, and Izuku walked out honestly feeling like he was really taking his first steps to being a hero. Just a borrowed suit gave him that feeling-- how stupid was that?
It was shockingly easy to observe the hero students and analyze them, really. Izuku supplied quirk analysis and how to design suits to better fit that, while Meimei went over the more practical side of things.
Somehow, Izuku forgot Katsuki was in this class-- the last round. Playing the lone hero against Engine Boy and Gravity Girl.
They never stood a chance.
He came into the room, all explosions and anger, and Izuku feels like he’s falling, ears ringing as he plunges into a different scene.
Heat-heat-heat- hurt . Pain-hurt useless Deku pain-pain-pain-hot-hot-burning remember me when I’m at Yuuei heat-heat-heat- BOOM can you fucking hear me, Deku, can you--
“-- hear me? Izukkun? You in there?”
Something was shaking his shoulder, and he looked over next to him.
Squished in the vent with him was Meimei, her MeiVision pulled up to reveal her crosshair yellow eyes.
“The exercise ended a few minutes ago,” she told him in a stage whisper. “Are you okay?”
He nodded robotically. “Let’s just… get back to class. Okay?”
She frowned. “Okay, Izukkun.”
Izukkun had been acting oddly, going straight to the bathroom and just staring in the mirror for a while. Mei was more than a little concerned-- when he had spaced out, muttering indecipherable words under his breath in the vents, it was genuinely terrifying to look over and see her best friend’s normally tired but attentive eyes blank and full of fear.
She knew he was looking at his scar. The red scarf he had donned not long after getting it prevented her from ever seeing it, but she knew he didn’t like it. Izukkun had said before he felt like something was screwing with his head every time he looked at it, and Mei had mostly attributed it to the amnesia he had surrounding the Radiocharm malfunction. But she didn’t interrupt him-- Izukkun was thinking about something heavy. He did that a lot recently. A lot of heavy thinking. And as much as Mei wanted to help him, she knew when to step back and let him work things out by himself.
“... Meimei, I think I need to talk to you about something.”
She was sitting on her bed with his analysis journal open, looking up at her dark-haired friend. She nodded silently, knowing a wrong word could scare him off when he was like this.
He settles on the bed next to herm hands nervously working at his scarf. His green eyes were dark, and Mei couldn’t help but feel really, really unsettled.
“Before… before Yuuei, before you , nobody… nobody liked me.”
Mei blinked. Izukkun? Her Midoriya Izukkun? Nobody liking him? Why the hell would nobody like him.
“I…” he folded in on himself a bit, grabbing a pillow to hug it tight and being entirely unbothererd by the mess of wires that was stuck fast to it by way of something she had fondly dubbed the Superglue Incident. “I didn’t have friends, before I met you. And-and… my mom and I are always fighting because she doesn’t want me to be a hero or work in the support field… she just wants me to be safe but I wouldn’t be happy like that and she doesn’t care, she’s just so… so controlling …”
Mei gently rested a hand on his shoulder as Izukkun drew more into himself. She was aware of his family problems and the massive blowup that led to him staying at her place more often than not, but she hadn’t exactly realized it went that deep.
“And- and at school, it was… it was fucking awful .”
And Mei could do nothing but rub her friend’s shaking shoulder and murmur comfort as he recounted the life he led before he met her.
And if she later scrawled Bakugou, All Might and Inko in red marker at the top of her shit list, that was nobody’s business but her own.
Izukkun was her best friend, her brother, and now that she knew somebody had hurt him— they wouldn’t get the chance to do it again on her watch.
Notes:
“Demons” - Imagine Dragons
This one is a bit self-explanatory for Jose of you who have heard it, but for those who haven’t, let me elaborate:
Demons is about someone afraid of letting a person their close to past their walls because of their own personal demons.
Izuku internalizes a lot of his problems, and struggles with talking about them in any way. He’s afraid Mei will abandon him if she knows what he went through, even though it isn’t true.
Chapter 7: bad day
Summary:
izuku makes allies and nobody wants 1-F to be on the field trip except for maijima-sensei.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The clips played in loops in front of Shouta as he sat in the teacher’s lounge, Maijima leaning over the back of the couch.
“Earjack and Six-Arms were the only ones to hear them but wrote it off pretty quickly,” Maijima surmised. “Midoriya looks like he dissociates in the last clip— might have to talk to him about that.”
Shouta nodded. “I’ll be discussing situational awareness today in class after they pick a class president.”
“Good, they’ll need it. Hatsume and Midoriya already emailed me about outfit changes, and both are adamant about several students having theirs changed— Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, Uraraka, Bakugou, and Todoroki, to name the bigger ones.”
Shouta doesn’t like Maijima much, but he tolerates him. The ginger man has enough practicality to last him through his life and then some, but otherwise keeps his problem children on a rather slack leash. Case and point, the battle trails. Allowing two unsupervised non-hero students into a battleground and telling them to analyze 1-A.
More because they were “causing problems in class” than anything.
“Aizawa, I know that look on your face. I was in the middle of a lecture and they started freaking out over how a chemical reacted with water. Distracting the others.”
Yeah, okay. Whatever. Shouta clicked through the clips, landing again on the one through Hatsume’s MeiVision where Midoriya is clearly either dissociative or having flashbacks.
“Definitely discuss that,” he concludes.
A pause.
“You’re taking 1-A on a field trip soon, right? Tomorrow?”
Shouta didn’t like where that was going. “Yes.”
“The MeiVision test was a success.”
“... yes.”
“1-F needs field experience.”
Shouta sighed.
“You technically can’t stop me, Aizawa.”
Instead of responding immediately, Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just stay out of the way.”
Izuku was… tired.
He had no idea dumping all of your emotions at someone’s feet could be so exhausting, but it was, and he hated it. Meimei had been oddly quiet, and that always made him anxious, but she hadn’t ditched him yet.
He was even more tired when the media broke in and he hid in a supply closet before heading to the Development Studio. The Radiocharm was well on its way, the Pink Bomb improving in leaps and bounds, and the MeiVision was almost finalized.
And then this goddamn field trip .
He hates field trips. He hates them so, so much, but he’s stuck going on them. He’d rather be finishing the Radiocharm or finally starting on the Illumnisphere, but no , he and the other four students of 1-F have to sneak around the damn USJ to spy on 1-A and come up with support items… as homework . Like, yeah, it was fun, but you can’t design on a time limit .
So yeah, Izuku was so. Fucking. Tired.
It didn’t help that Katsuki was a constant threat, or that Mei might actually murder someone, or that he would be reminded of his own inadequacy in the hero world. Nope. Instead, he got a heaping load of fuck-you salad with a side of shit fries.
“Cheer up, Izukkun!” Meimei elbowed him slightly, her usual smile unwavering. “We’ll get to spy on those hero students!”
He just huffed in response, fingering his belt. On it hung three Pink Bombs, a chain with a Radiocharm (hopefully non-explosive), and a grappling hook, plus the silver MeiVision on his head. His messenger bag was fire and waterproofed (he learned from the slime incident… and Katsuki), holding his journals and other random supplies and gadgets. Meimei tugged on his ponytail, and he turned his head slightly to allow her to mess with it. She really liked playing with his hair, for whatever ungodly reason. He felt her undo the ponytail and start a braid, so he fished out the tablet from his bag and started updating the map. Yuuei didn’t have any official maps for the sake of security, so he and Meimei had been working together to make a sort of Marauder's Map of the campus… and, of course, he was updating it as he went along.
“How’s the Wonder Map going?” she chirped, tugging on his curls a bit roughly.
“We aren’t calling it that.”
“Yes we are!”
Another one of the 1-F students, a boy with a calligraphy quirk named Hinata Ban, glanced over with inquisitive eyes. “Hatsume-chan, your Zoom quirk probably really helps with fine work, right?”
Izuku couldn’t see, but he knew Meimei had nodded.
“Midoriya-kun, what’s yours?” Another student, Reiki Perl, piped up. She was half-American with a technopath quirk and a twin sister that she talked about a lot, Reiki Aria. “I mean, it has to be some kind of intelligence quirk-- or analysis.”
Meimei’s hands stilled as Izuku paused. Even Collins Fianna, an Irish student who moved here to come to Yuuei’s Support Course and was usually quiet, leaned in a bit.
“I’m quirkless,” he said finally. “Everything about me comes from work and practice.”
While Reiki immediately looked thoughtful, lines fading in and out around her eyes, and Hinata stared open-mouthed, Collins just looked confused.
“I’m sorry, what does… quirk-less mean? Is it a quirk that makes things smaller?”
He shook his head, ignoring the indignant squawk he got from Mei. “It means I don’t have a quirk.”
Collins’ face cleared, then reddened considerably. “Ah! Sorry. In Ireland, we call it… your translation would be ‘god-chosen’, and quirk… quirky…”
“Quirked.”
“Yes, quirked people are called ‘god-blessed’. Roghnaithe ag Dia-- sorry, quirkless-- are much common-- very common…” She stopped, muttering a string of what Izuku assumed was Irish before continuing. “Quirkless are more common in Ireland, maybe half of the people. My papa is roghnaithe ag Dia.”
… Huh. The more you know.
Now that he thinks about it, about twenty percent of the world population is quirkless-- eighty percent of that above the age of forty. He’d always wondered where the other quirkless kids were, and now he knew.
“Heads up, kids, we’re here.”
Meimei tugged on his new braid and stood up with a stretch. Reiki stood as well, shooting a grin to Izuku.
“That’s pretty cool you got in without a quirk, Midoriya-kun.”
He blinked. “Oh. Um. Cool.”
Ah, the sweet, sweet taste of eloquence.
Maijima led them in through a back entrance, and Izuku starts fiddling with his MeiVision. The bit that searched out radio waves looked a bit fucked up-- might be the metal dome, test later-- and he slipped the silver goggles over his face.
“Motion check,” he whispered to Meimei.
They flipped over. “Functioning.”
“Darkvision check.”
Flip. “Functioning.”
“Zoom check.”
Flip. “Functioning.”
“Radio check.”
Flip. “Jammed.”
So it wasn’t just him. “Same here. Thermal check.”
Flip.
That was… weird.
A single spot, about the size of a basketball, was a dark, dark blue-- meaning it completely lacking of any heat.
“Izukkun, you’re seeing this too, right?”
He shifted from one foot to another. “Yeah.”
Maijima-sensei didn’t react to it, so it probably wasn’t anything…
“Make sure to be quiet, the hero students don’t know you’re here and they might act out of hostility…”
Izuku saw the exact moment it all unfolded.
The cold expanded into blackness and people filed out of it, dozens upon dozens. Eraserhead was in action in the blink of an eye. Maijima-sensei immediately hushed 1-F, and 1-A started retreating to the bus with Thirteen.
Slowly, Izuku pulled a pair of metal rods with rubber handles from his messenger bag, holding one out to Meimei as they and the rest of 1-F backed deeper into the bushes they had been hiding in.
Hero students were falling through the ground, and three people stood at the center of the chaos.
“Hey, Meimei,” he whispered, pressing a highly experimental button on the side of the MeiVision. The rod he held lit up in blue electricity with a hum that made him more than a little nervous. “Vibe check.”
Notes:
“Bad Day” - Daniel Powter
This is self-explanatory in the name... Izuku has a shitty day and the author can’t find a meaningful song. ://
Chapter 8: blood//water
Summary:
support students kick ass, case closed.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
All the anxiety Izuku had amplified into full panic, and he lightly brushed his pant leg with the rod. The electric jolt ran through his body like a lace and he had to bite back a loud swear-- and with his pain tolerance, he knew that was powerful-- but it achieved its purpose to help him focus.
“Sensei, Eraserhead-san can’t handle them alone,” he said urgently to Maijima-sensei. His teacher’s eyes darted over to him as he was popping off the tips on his claws. “They have a warp quirk. Jammed radio signals. Most of 1-A vanished to Kami knows where, my heat sensors are telling me they’re everywhere .”
Maijima-sensei huffed a breath of air as he spoke lowly. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, Midoriya. Try to find an escape, get help.” With that, he burrowed into the earth.
“Izukkun, go.”
Meimei’s voice snapped him into hyperfocus.
“Three villains were in the center originally-- the one made of mist is fighting Thirteen now, but he moves so fast-- that’s the warper. The big one is the brawn, I think. He’s just standing there-- either it doesn’t matter to him or he’s the product of a quirk to summon him as a sort of companion and he can’t think independently. Third is that scrawny dude-- he has a hand on his face, what the fuck -- I think he’s the leader. Mist Man said something to him before warping to fight Thirteen, and it would explain why he’s inactive with the muscle as a guard. I’d estimate from fifty to eighty with the size of the USJ and the amount of heat signatures around. Since this was planned, they’re probably in zones that suit their quirks. None of the villains seem experienced, all small fry. Quantity over quality. Eraserhead alone could handle, under extreme stress, maybe three-fourths of the center crowd before being overwhelmed if the leaders don’t intervene, since he specializes in solitary sneak attacks rather than group battles. With Power Loader, they can likely handle the full center crowd and possibly all three leaders, but they need backup, so we have to contact Yuuei…”
Reiki touched his shoulder delicately. “Lay it on us, Midoriya.”
His eyes went up to the top of the dome. It was likely metal, maybe plasteel…
“The dome,” he realized. “The radio jam is probably from a quirk, but all quirks have a limit-- I’m betting this guy put it on the dome. If we can bust through the dome…”
“We can broadcast a distress signal,” Meimei finishes, her crosshair eyes widening. “Does anyone here have explosives?”
A pause. “That is… big boom machine, right?” Collins asked hesitantly, her words halting and accent thick-- probably from nerves. Fuck, Izuku hadn’t even considered how badly this was shaking up his classmates.
“Yes,” Meimei whispered, trying to keep her voice low.
“I have a heat beam,” she offered, taking something out of a duffel strapped to her back. “Very strong. Go through steel.”
“You think it could go through plasteel?”
She furrowed her eyebrows, thinking it over, before nodding resolutely. “It will take longer, but yes. I will need time.”
“How long?”
Collins looked up, eyes tracing over the dome. “Center is weakest, looks like. Three minutes, maybe? Very bright color, we will be seen.”
Reiki looked up as well, her eyes calculating. “I have some drones that I can pilot. They’re weaponized with… well, don’t tell Maijima-sensei, but it’s a bit of an experimental sleep gas that might send whoever inhales it into cardiac arrest.”
Izuku resisted the urge to facepalm, remembering he has a very electric, very volatile thingy in his hands. Fan-fucking-tastic, they have a bunch of experimental weapons that might work and not a single combative quirk--
No! He had to stop thinking like that. Quirks aren’t everything.
“What’s powering the laser?” He asked Collins.
Her face darkens a bit. “Um. Me.”
“You have a power quirk?”
A long pause. “More like… nuclear. I can make big boom or small energy. I use small energy to power my support items.”
Oh. “Cool. You do that. Hinata-kun, what do you have?”
Hinata sneered at Izuku, and Izuku sighed internally. He so does not need this right now.
“I’ve got fucking nada except for some experimental first-aid items. Happy, shithead?”
Meimei literally growled , but Izuku ignored it. “Hinata, you need to stay here and cover Collins and Reiki. Reiki, if I’m correct, when you link up with your drones, you go into a trance-like state?”
Reiki nods.
“And Collins will need to focus on the laser. You’ll have to cover them.”
Hinata glances at the two girls briefly, indecision coming voer his features. At last, he spat, “Fine. But if I get killed, I’m dragging you down with me for this shitty plan, Midoriya.”
Meimei leaned forward, slightly threateningly, and pulled something from her own duffle bag. Which was, of course, something that every support designer should have on-hand when they’re in the field.
“Is that a fucking flamethrower?”
“Yep!” Meimei popped the ‘p’ with a grin, dumping it at his feet.
The five students of 1-F all looked at each other, hesitance obvious.
Collins finally spoke, looking up from where she was assembling her laser. “Midoriya, Reiki, Hatsume, if we make it out of this, call me Fien. In my country, friends give each other nicknames.”
Hinata gaped at how he was blatantly left out, but the other three nodded, all managing small smiles.
“Wha-- wait! What’s Midoriya and Hatsume doing?”
Izuku’s best friend stood a little taller at that, her smile manic and menacing. “What Maijima-sensei says we do best--”
“-- be distracting!” Izuku finishes with a sweep of his arms, careful not to whack any of his classmates with his rod. “When I give the signal, start the beam. Believe me, you can’t miss the signal.”
Somewhere in the background, the boat explodes.
Izuku froze, mind going into overdrive. The villains wouldn’t be fighting each other, they all have the same goal-- whatever that happens to be-- so that means--
“The hero students are still here- the villains just scattered them!”
“And some are on the boat that just exploded,” Reiki realized with a shaky voice.
Izuku’s legs moved faster than his head, for once, but Meimei was hot on his heels. He wasn’t too far from the water, and this was probably a really bad idea, but--
He chucks a Pink Bomb into the middle of the water at the same time Meimei does.
There was a terrifying moment when they hit the water that nothing happened. Heads came from the surface to look in the direction of the two Support students.
And it all happened at once: the water quickly became murky pink, then Izuku heard startled yelps as it solidified and kept expanding until it was at the shore.
Izuku jabbed his rod experimentally at the surface.
It was hard, but he stabbed it more, and it finally broke. He barely yanked his rod back in time to avoid it being stuck in the Pink Bomb.
Two heads peeked over the side of the boat. Meimei cupped her hands, shouting, “It’s safe to walk, but step lightly! ”
The two heads became full bodies-- one purple and midget-y, one green and lanky, that climbed down the side and picked their way over. As they did that, Meimei kept watch as Izuku took inventory.
“Four Pink Bombs, one Radiocharm, two MeiVisions, two lightning rods, and one flamethrower.”
“Who are you, kero?” Asked the green girl as she finally stopped on the shore, her tongue sticking out of her mouth a bit.
“Hatsume Mei and Midoriya Izuku of Support Course 1-F!” Meimei said extravagantly, throwing out her arms (which Izuku just barely ducked, her rod nearly clipping his head). “Our class was supposed to observe yours, but now things have gone sideways, and we’re taking the reins here!”
“I’m Asui Tsuyu, kero,” the green girl replied, tilting her head a bit. “But call me Tsu.”
The purple midget is crying and snotting everywhere, and Izuku doesn;t like him very much at all because he looks like he’s checking out Meimei’s chest at the same time. Izuku very deliberately steps in to block the midget’s view, and nods to Asui. “If we survive this, I will. Our classmates are standing by with a plan to send a distress signal, and since the hero students are the only ones trained in combat, we need you to cover us. Can you do that?”
Asui nods back, her face thoughtful as Meimei led the four of them to a dense bit of shrubbery. “What is the plan, kero?”
“I need to know your quirks.”
Midget Boy blubbers before saying, “M-my quirk is c-called Pop Off… these balls, balls are super sticky and I can throw them.”
“My quirk is called Frog, kero. I can jump like a frog and have a long tongue, and spit a mild acid that burns a little. And I can spit out my stomach to clean it, kero.”
Izuku looks over the center area, wincing as he watches Maijima-sensei take a hit to the chest before burrowing again. Eraserhead is clearly fatigued. Thirteen… is crumpled at the entrance, two hero students by their side. Fuck.
“If this works, we are one hundred percent getting detention,” he muttered before turning to the hero students. “Asui, when we give the signal, there’s gonna be a thing that’s very obviously caused by 1-F happening, and you need to help cover the two girls behind it. Midget, you stay here and you only attack if things go so far south they start speaking South African.”
Midget nods through his tears. Izuku pulls his flamethrower out of his bag, slipping the straps over his shoulders and readying the nozzle.
“What’s the signal, kero?”
“Um… this?”
Izuku stood up and walked out of the bush, Meimei right at his side. He loved how she just thought like he did, no extra communication needed.
He pointed the flamethower up as he approached the center, activating it and watching orange flames spill from the nozzle. Meimei took one of her remaining Pink Bombs and threw it into the fire.
There was a very big, very loud, very pink series of explosions that immediately drew the attention of most of the villains in the center.
And it lasted just long enough to distract from the activation of the laser and cover the sounds of what is probably Maijima-sensei swearing loudly at how stupid his students are.
“Hi, villain leader!” Meimei said, both loudly and cheerfully. “You seem to have made a bit of a mistake in your attack scheduling!”
Skinny Handjob’s pose immediately became more threatening. “How so, little heroes ?”
Izuku had slouched a bit already, his hair a certifiable disaster that didn’t quite block his view of Asui and Hinata kicking ass behind the main villain’s back. Warp Boy is being kept busy by Eraserhead, it looks like, which is always good. He just needs to play his part. Be as himself as possible and distract Skinny Handjob.
“First off, Skinny Handjob--”
“ Shigaraki Tomura ,” the villain seethed.
Izuku almost smiled in victory. He got a name . “Close enough. So, first off, Shiggy Toe, we ain’t hero students, much less heroes. Me and my friend here are from Support. Came here to basically spy on our dear friends in 1-A, blah, blah, blah. It was a pretty recent change, so I’m guessing you didn’t know about it…”
“Yeah, the break-in was you, wasn’t it?” Meimei jumped in, giving a little bounce on the balls of her feet, ignoring the hostile looks she was getting from the small-fry villains trying to deal with Maijima-sensei. “That was really smart, y’know, using the media to cover it up! Honestly, Riya and I saw right through it, but those dumb heroes didn’t have a clue! They really just can’t think like us, y’know?”
He had no idea why, of all the fake names Meimei could give him, she chose Riya , but… whatever. But Shiggy Toe seemed to be eating up the indirect praise with a smile that crept around the edges of his hand-mask. “Wasn’t it?” he gloated, scratching the back of his neck. “I knew those stupid heroes would never suspect a thing!”
Izuku didn’t smile, of course, but he plastered a fake one on all the same. “Do you mind if we ask what your motive is? We couldn’t hear from our places.”
“To kill All Might!” Shiggy Toe stops scratching, his hands stilling for a moment before he scratched harder. “We’ve even got this Noumu to fight him! But he isn’t here! ”
All Might? At Yuuei?
Wait a second.
He had no idea who the Foundational Heroics teacher was, except that he was new. All Might was around Japan more. Fuck, how could he have been so dense ?
“Kami, I know that feeling,” he seethed to Shiggy Toe. “It’s like he thinks the sun shines out of his ass. I would ruin that man’s whole career if I ever saw him personally again. Not surprised that pompous ass didn’t show up to his own class.”
Meimei jolted slightly at his words, but nodded seriously. “Nobody fucks with my Riya without paying in blood, and that blond idiot fucked with him big-time.”
Shiggy Toe nods excitedly. “I wish he was here so I could kill him!”
Several things happened at once.
A black portal opened, dropping Eraserhead onto the concrete before Mist Man came through himself.
The top of the dome finally caved in.
There was a very large, terrifyingly familiar BOOM -pop-pop-pop! from somewhere in the Ruins area.
“Noumu, attack!” Big Bird lunged for Eraserhead.
“Fuck.”
Yeah, that summed up the situation pretty well.
Meimei jumped forward, her rod striking out and jabbing directly into Big Bird’s arm. Big Bird stuttered to a stop for a beat, and Izuku took less than a second to one, marvel at his resistence to the pain, two, realize Big Bird reacted to vocal commands, and three, form a plan.
The Radiocharm was as volatile as it was useful-- when it exploded, they learned, it broadcasted a powerful signal. Meimei had wired it to broadcast an SOS. It also made an incredibly loud screeching sound that may or may not have almost deafened the two of them on several occasions.
“MIDGET, IT’S SPEAKING SOUTH AFRICAN!”
Midget ran out from the bush, screaming loudly, and successfully drew the attention of Shiggy Toe as Big Bird picked up Eraserhead effortlessly, who was actively trying to fight it, and threw him basically to Izuku’s feet. He winced at the sound of crunching bones as the underground hero grunted loudly in what was clearly pain.
But Midget did his job well enough to give Izuku an opening.
He threw one of his two remaining Pink Bombs at Shiggy Toe, yelling, “ROMEO-CHARLIE!”
Meimei hit the ground, rod clattering to the stone and covering her ears as Big Bird recovered from her latest shock, and Izuku took the Radiocharm off the chain and jammed it into his last Pink Bomb. When it began beeping loudly, he knew he had only seconds.
“YEEEEEEEET!”
The Pink Bomb stuck directly to Big Bird’s exposed brain, which was gross, and Izuku covered his ears (as did Eraserhead, seeming to get the message from Meimei) just in time for the entire thing to explode.
Izuku knew Big Bird must have some kind of resistance to pain or wounds, from how quickly he recovered from a high-voltage shock, but eardrums are the most delicate bits of skin in the body. They shatter easily, and if Big Bird had a super-healing quirk and not resistance, it would overdo it and thicken the eardrum too much, making Big Bird deaf, or at least very hard-of-hearing.
He was proven right when Big Bird went completely still, dead to the world and especially the pink glob on his head.
Mist Man, having realized they’ve been had, swears loudly and warps himself and Shiggy Toe away, but nobody else.
Several minutes later, the dome explodes.
“I AM HERE!”
Because this day couldn’t get any better .
Notes:
Blood//Water - grandson
This song is something I saw an Aizawa animatic on, and it had a lot of USJ scenes, so since then I’ve associated USJ with this song. It also generally has a really cool “battle” vibe, especially for the USJ— it’s a really grim battle in canon, because everyone is really afraid. It’s a scarring event for 1-A.
The opening lyrics “never get free / lamb to the slaughter” also match the tone really well— “never get free” seeming to represent how the kids were trapped and fighting a losing battle, and “lamb to the slaughter” being how the curtain was kind of pulled back for them, displaying the harsh and brutal reality of hero work— they lost a bit of their innocence, and they are literally children— lambs.
Chapter 9: boulevard of broken dreams
Summary:
everyone tries to get their shit together and finally leave the usj.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
There are a lot of things Shouta didn’t want to deal with right now.
First up is the blond idiot that used up his time and, as a result, was completely useless for the entire attack.
Second was his students— they were still regrouping, Yagi having been the first teacher to show up and the others still on their way.
Third was Maijima’s students. Hinata was in a screaming match with Hatsume about something he couldn’t quite hear, Reiki was walking around stiffly with a blank look on her face as several drones followed when she went from one unconscious villain to another, Collins was speaking Irish in a high-pitched voice, Midoriya was helping Shouta tend to his wounds with a practice he really didn’t like.
Fourth was the whole fiasco with the whole risky maneuver 1-F, specifically Hatsume and Midoriya, led. Given, it was smart, but it was also incredibly reckless.
Eventually, Hatsume stomped over and started messing with Midoriya’s black hair, unbothered when he moved around as she pinned it expertly into a bun and pulled a beanie hat out of nowhere to fit over that.
“MeiVision,” she said shortly, and Midoriya pauses in wrapping Shouta’s leg to slide a pair of silver goggles over his face, his lips thinning before he returns to his previous duty.
“I can take care of it myself, Midoriya,” he snapped.
Midoriya raised an eyebrow. “You have two broken arms, a broken collarbone, and both hands have rope-burn from when Big Bird grabbed the capture weapon. I think the fuck not.”
“Wig snatched ,” Hatsume elaborated, and Kami above Shouta regrets ever marrying Hizashi because he actually understands what she’s trying to say. He’s not old by any means, but he definitely doesn’t want to be in touch with the youth that much.
Yagi was approaching, and Midoriya shot him a glare over his shoulder. Shouta briefly wondered about that before Hatsume stood up and went over to the hero, her step slow and deliberate.
“Took you long enough,” she snapped.
Yagi blinked in surprise. “Who are you? You are not one of my students.”
She flipped a pink dreadlock over her shoulder. “How dense are you, old man? 1-F came here to observe the hero students and come up with support items for them, plus test out our own in an open area when they left. But no! Villains broke in, coming to kill you , and when you weren’t here, they got pissed and attacked us kids! Do you know who handled the situation, asshole?! Huh?!”
All Might took a visible step back, his hands raised placatingly. Shouta watched with raised eyebrows and a smirk hidden in his capture weapon as the over-excitable Support student verbally ran over the number one hero and continued, not listening to his protests.
“ Support Course 1-F handled it! The students that aren’t trained to handle villains or fight or utilize their quirks or form battle strategies. You know who busted a hole in the dome to get a signal out? Collins Fianna, of Support Course 1-F ! You know who took out almost twenty villains with highly experimental gas and zero fatalities? Reiki Perl, of Support Course 1-F ! You know who covered those two? Hinata Ban, of Support Course 1-F ! You know who caused a massive distraction? Me, Hatsume Mei, of Support Course 1-F! You know who captured eighteen waterborne villains and rescued two hero students, who distracted the lead villains, who sent out a distress signal, who took out the main weapon, who came up with a plan to save our lives?!”
“N--”
“ MY BEST FUCKING FRIEND, OF SUPPORT COURSE 1-F!”
There was no stopping Hatsume now. Shouta didn’t even bother stepping in-- she was right , and Yagi needed to hear it from someone that wouldn’t be kissing his ass the entire time. A bunch of kids with no formal training handled the situation better than 1-A and took control of it efficiently.
“So get your head out of your ass, it isn’t a fucking hat, and maybe focus on your actual fucking job, teaching kids to survive in an incredibly dangerous business , instead of meddling where you’re not needed! We’ve got two injured teachers, only one still mobile and rounding up twenty-five kids and over seventy villains, several wounded students that likely are going to be scarred mentally by this incident, so instead of standing around looking pretty, how about you go fucking help Maijima-sensei before I judo flip your ass into the concrete?!”
There was a moment of pure silence, most of the students within earshot (so all of them) staring with open mouths and wide eyes, Maijima pausing with two unconscious villains on either shoulder, and Midoriya slowly standing up to take Hatsume’s arm.
“Thanks, Meimei. Can you take Hinata’s experimental medical kit to Thirteen-san? I’ll stay with Eraserhead-san.”
Reiki turned her blank eyes to Midoriya, her eyes clearing for a moment as the drones landed. “I’ll search around the area for the missing students, Midoriya-kun. I believe Todoroki, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Hagakure are the only ones unaccounted for?”
“Nope! I’m here!” empty air piped up, and Midoriya groaned, running a hand over his face.
“Todoroki, red-white hair. Kirishima, red hair and sharp teeth. Bakugou, blond hair and bad attitude. I believe Todoroki was in the blizzard zone, and Bakugou in the ruins-- not sure where Kirishima is, but I think he and Bakugou are together from what Tsu-chan told me. Ask Fien-chan to follow your drones on foot with Meimei’s MeiVision to check out problem areas.”
Shouta grunted, struggling to stand and getting what he knew was a glare from behind the mirrored lenses of Midoriya’s goggles. “I’m fine, Midoriya. 1-A needs to know I’m going to be fine.”
His nasty look didn’t abate as he went Shouta’s side, muttering to himself as he circled the teacher, hands twitching as if he was itching to write something down.
“Your ankle is sprained,” he pointed out after a minute of that. “At least use something to support yourself.”
Asui came over to join Midoriya. “Midori-chan, kero,” she started, “why are you covering up your face?”
Shouta jolted slightly-- she was right. Midoriya was a plain kid outside of his hair and eyes, which the eyes and beanie covered.
“There are some people in your class I’d rather not let know I’m here. I plan on winning the Sports Festival, and if they know I’m in Yuuei, I’ll lose my advantage.”
Huh. Okay.
“Eraserhead-san--”
“Just… Aizawa. My name is Aizawa Shouta, didn’t Maijima tell you that?”
Midoriya just gives him a placid look. “No.”
Damn that man.
“Aizawa-sensei,” he corrects himself, “you can’t ignore your health, and that is non-negotiable.”
He sighs, ignoring the throb of pain from it. “What do you suggest, Problem Child?”
There was a pause.
Midoriya offered his arm.
Shouta sighed deeper .
Mei was pissed .
Sue her, okay?! She just survived a villain attack, was intimately reminded that this was the path her best friend had chosen, she faced down someone that Izukkun-- her sweet, shy, hurt Izukkun-- had his dreams crushed by, and she was in the same radius as someone that damaged him so much-- physically, emotionally, and mentally.
She had dropped that bastard Hinata’s medical supplies to the girls, Uraraka and Ashido, and was now falling into step with Izukkun as he supported Era-- Aizawa-sensei . Her hands twitched to her sides, protective of him even now that the danger has passed.
A pair of drones hailed the entrance of Fien carrying an unconscious boy and two others trailing behind her.
“Ey, Hatsume-chan!”
Mei darted over, repressing the urge to sneer at Bakugou. It wasn’t the place or the time, and she couldn’t lose her cool and expose Izukkun. “Fien-chan! You can call me Mei, by the way, it’s only fair!”
Fien grinned before blowing a strand of her ginger hair from her face. “Todoroki-kun is… cold sick.”
“Hypothermic?” Mei supplied, and her Irish friend nodded with a slight smile.
“Bakugou-kun and Kirishima-kun were trapped in the ruins by Bakugou’s big booms-- sorry, explosions.”
Bakugou sneered, and Mei smiled dangerously back. Kirishima whacked his classmate. “Who the fuck are you extras?”
“Hatsume Mei and Collins Fianna of Support Course 1-F,” Mei announced proudly. “We were sent here to observe your class and come up with support items but we also beat up a lot of villains!”
Mei ignored the string of insults about how she wasn’t actually all that helpful and bent close to Fien to whisper something seriously.
“Don’t mention Izukkun’s name, call him Riya. It’s not my place to explain.”
She nodded minutely, understanding it was a secret, and rolled her shoulders. “Can you take Todoroki-kun?”
“Sure!” Mei took the hero student from Fien, turning and walking towards the front where Aizawa-sensei and Izukkun were approaching, doors wide open and several heroes weaving through the crowd to check on the kids. “I think the hero teacher has something to say.”
When they all gathered, Aizawa-sensei activated his quirk, garnering the attention of the whole crowd.
“My students, you handled the situation well, but do not let this go to your head. You will have sessions with Hound Dog, whether you think you need it or not. You are all too young to be thrown into that kind of battle, but we were unfortunately not given a chance.
“As some of you may have already learned, the five students from Class 1-F accompanied us to design support items and test their own while also observing 1-A in secret. When the battle broke out, they took control of the situation and, as Asui says, came up with a plan to get help. While what they did was incredibly reckless ,” Aizawa-sensei elaborates heavily, sending a glare at Mei, “it should also serve as a reminder that the other classes are not to be looked over in terms of potential or power.”
He said nothing else, and Izukkun helped the man limp over to an empty gurney where a paramedic started looking him over.
Izukkun came over to Mei, and she gave him a weak smile. He didn’t return it, but she knew he appreciated it anyway. “Fien-chan, get Todoroki to a paramedic. Meimei, round up the other two and get them to Maijima-sensei. I’m gonna get on the bus and have a mental breakdown.”
With that, he turned on his heel and walked straight out the door, ignoring the paramedics that tried to stop him. Mei stood in shock for a minute, before making a split-second decision.
“Can you get the rest of 1-F, Fien-chan? I’m gonna go help Riya.”
Fien nods resolutely, hurrying to a paramedic after taking Todoroki back and Mei practically ran to the bus.
Izukkun needed her, consequences be damned.
Notes:
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams” - Green Day
This song is about looking back on “broken dreams” and feeling alone in their journey through it. Izuku has to be in the presences of the two people he genuinely hates the most, two people that heavily emotionally damaged him, and face the reality that he’s still not over that despite how he’s healing.
Chapter 10: hurts like hell
Summary:
izuku realizes that the midoriya family is broken, and maybe it always has been.
Notes:
A note about Inko.
I am writing Ripples on Deep Water as I genuinely think BnHA would play out if Izuku was quirkless (with the addition of memes). Inko is a good person, please understand that— but she isn’t a good mother. And yes, you can be both at the same time. My mother is an extreme helicopter parent, and I always saw Inko to be very similar to her— after all, she wanted to pull Izuku out of Yuuei and didn’t even talk to him about it before announcing it, and while her concerns are valid, that is a decision that massively effects canon!Izuku’s life and she didn’t even speak to him about it at all. As someone that has parents that do that a lot... that isn’t good parenting. It’s extremely controlling. The only reason she supported Izuku in being a hero was because he magically got a quirk... before that, she kinda treated him like glass. This Inko doesn’t see her son get a quirk, she wants him to be safe, even if her definition of safe is keeping him in a cage his entire life.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The door shut quietly behind him.
The house was silent as Izuku and his mother met eyes, one worried and the other exhausted but defiant.
“You’re hurt.”
Izuku flinched slightly, but held his ground. “I am.”
“You’re— you’re angry.”
“I am.”
Her green eyes searches his face, and Izuku quietly drew in a breath. “Izuku, I don’t like… I don’t like what Yuuei is doing to you.”
“Mom, wha— ”
“You’re always so angry, and you’re getting hurt, and you’re never at home…”
“Mom—”
“I’m taking you out of Yuuei, Izuku. It’s for the best— you were never this angry before.”
Rage, white-hit and turning his vision red, overtook his exhaustion.
Izuku’s bag hit the ground with a thud , which he ignored, not caring about how his mother gasped at his blatant disregard for the floor getting scratched or something. He didn’t care. This was no time to act meek or apologetic.
“No.”
“Izuku, you don’t get a cho—”
“Yes, I do.” He slid the beanie off his head and took out the band, ruffling the black and green curls until they suited him. The MeiVision was still hidden under his scarf, which he adjusted to be a bit more comfortable. He was going to be himself right now, consequences be damned— this was his life, he was going to have a say in it. “And you’re going to sit down and listen to me.”
His mother gaped before sitting, seemingly on autopilot.
Izuku rolled his shoulders before crossing his arms. “Let’s play a game of true or false. I’ve been angry for a long, long time, and you’re pinning it on Yuuei because you don’t want me to have my own thoughts or feelings besides being content with the hamster cage you’re trying to fit me in. True or false?”
“I—”
“You keep claiming why I do is dangerous, which is valid, and try to protect me from it by forcing me away from the things I enjoy doing. True or false?”
“Izu—”
“You treat me like a fragile guinea pig instead of a human being that can make my own decisions. True or false?”
“Izuku!”
He couldn’t be stopped, though. Instead, he kept going in an even tone, refusing to let an ounce of emotion leak through. The moment he cried, it was over. He was not giving up his spot in Yuuei.
“You don’t let me live my own life and pursue my own aspirations because of my quirk statue. True or false?”
Silence.
“I’m going to my room. You can think about what I said while I pack my bags. I’m not coming back here until you get it in your head that I’m not a china doll or a pet. I’m a human, I have my own goals, and you need to accept that.”
Izuku picked up his bag of support items and walked to his room.
As soon as the door closed, he let the silent tears fall.
Of course everyone he knew would be against him.
After all, she was one of them . But why did his family have to break now, of all times?
In his desk drawer was a picture of him, aged three. His mother and father stood on either side of him. His father— Hisashi— smiled at the camera.
Izuku might have been young, but he remembered discovering the affair. He remembered the ugly divorce. He remembered the venom his parents spat at each other as they parted.
Maybe his family was always broken.
Maybe that’s just how things always had been.
Tears continued to flow as he walked around his room, picking up some things. Most of his support shit, basically all of the things that weren’t in his bag, was at Meimei’s. He didn’t have many clothes, mostly just junk clothes he either kept in his locker at Yuuei or… at Meimei’s. Really, he was over there enough to build up his own supply of living supplies. Even his toothbrush was there.
Really, all that there was to grab were his old hero journals and his art supplies.
It was… it was okay, though. His mom would come around.
He would survive.
Just like he always has.
When Hitoshi saw the kid on the train, he didn’t think much about it. Then he saw the soot-stained Yuuei uniform, and he did. Then saw the scarf and remembered-- oh, yeah, this was the quiet 1-F kid that was friends with the pink, excitable one.
“Midoriya, right?”
The Support student jolted, his eyes cutting over to Hitoshi. After a beat, he relaxed. “O-oh. Yeah. You’re… Shinsou?”
Hitoshi nodded, feeling more than a little awkward. He had no idea how to talk to people.
“Your classmate, the one with the big chin… he said you wanted to transfer into the Heroics Course.”
“... yeah.”
“That’s… that’s cool.” The tired boy nodded, his exhausted eyes sliding down to the bag in his hand. “So do I.”
“I thought Support students didn’t want to be heroes?” The words were out of Hitoshi’s mouth before he could bite them back, and he immediately felt the tips of his ears heat up.
“Normally, no,” he mumbled, foot scuffing the floor of the train. “I, um. I’m quirkless, so I wouldn’t pass the exam, and I needed to build my own support items. So I’m… I’m gonna be the first Support student to win the Sports Festival.”
He said that with so much force behind it that Hitoshi couldn’t help but agree. “Uh… good luck. I’ll be giving it my all, too.”
Midoriya looked at him with a surprised expression, which confused Hitoshi, until it melted into a tiny smile. Suddenly, Midoriya wasn’t just some exhausted, homeless-looking student-- his messy black hair framed his pale face, freckles like stars, green eyes still tired but now with a sort of emotion behind them that Hitoshi never saw directed at him.
“Thanks, Shinsou-kun. Good luck on transferring.”
The train stopped, and Midoriya got off with his laden bags, shoulders forward and defensive as he shoved through the crowd.
Hitoshi blinked stupidly, mentally cursing out his gay disaster heart as he wondered why Midoriya Izuku would be grateful to him.
Notes:
“Hurts Like Hell” - Fluerie
Izuku is losing everyone from his past as he learns to accept how toxic his environment was and the people in it are. To him, it fucking hurts— people who were supposed to love him and support him were suffocating, people he was supposed to be friends with hurt him physically, people he looked up to let him down hard. That shit really, really fucking hurts.
Chapter 11: high hopes
Summary:
izuku and hitoshi are friends, even if they don’t know it yet. shouta refuses to admit that he actually likes the trio of problem children.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Friday.
The day of the week in which, upon the ring of the final bell, the souls of all the students attempt to free themselves of their mortal flesh to follow the sense of exhilarating freedom.
Unfortunately, it just reminded Izuku he would have to tell Meimei he had had a massive fight with his mother and that was why he slept over yesterday .
Maijima-sensei stood at the front of the room, his eyes focused on Meimei and Izuku, who were actually trying to pay attention.
“The Sports Festival will go on.”
Silence reigned the students of 1-F as he continued.
“On the first Saturday of May, or May 3rd, the Yuuei Sports Festival will take place as usual to show that Yuuei isn’t shaken by the attack.
“Something to note is that this is incredibly important. You could be transferred if you do well--” his eyes settled on Izuku-- “or you could advertise your support items. It’s a required school activity, and Management will be, well, managing it.”
There was a pause.
“For the next three weeks, you will be dedicating the entire half-day you are given in Support classes to building the support items you want to use in the Sports Festival. That is all.”
There was a pause before Meimei and Izuku practically pelted to their work area.
“Illumnisphere--”
“Finalize Pink Bombs--”
“MeiVision--”
“But Sirencall--”
“Lightningrods--”
Silence fell for a moment before Izuku spoke.
“We’ll need to finish the Lightningrods so that we won’t have to go through the hassle of updating the MeiVision’s official model. Pink Bombs are pretty much done with, we just need to have Maijima-sensei approve them for professional work. Illumniphere and Sirencall need to come last so we don’t get stuck using only betas during the Festival.”
Meimei nodded, her crosshair eyes going to the table. “You work on the Lightningrods while I get the Pink Bombs to Maijima-sensei.”
At the end of the day, Izuku was wiping sweat off of his face and trying in vain to gather up all of his unruly hair. Mei grinned, more than a few ‘minor’ electrical burns decorating her hands and soot staining Izuku’s sleeves.
“Just need to clear it with Maijima-sensei and the MeiVision/Lightningrod pair is ready to go!” She grinned, her eyes a bit more manic than what he was comfortable with. “Wanna test her out?”
“Oh, do I.”
Unfortunately, their plans were thwarted when they passed by 1-A’s classroom, to find the door crowded. Izuku had already slid on his MeiVision and beanie preemptively, of course, to avoid Katsuki recognizing him if they passed in the hall.
“... I see that 1-A is just full of presumptuous assholes, though.”
Oh, is that Shinsou?
“Out of my way, extra .”
… and that’s Katsuki.
Wait, did Shinsou say that to Katsuki ?
Oh, shit.
Izuku shouldered his way past a few unfortunate students and grabbed Shinsou’s hand. The tall boy jumped, but Izuku dragged him back and away from the crowd, continuing on his journey to the gym with Meimei.
Shinsou gaped at Izuku when he released the purple-haired boy’s hand. “Wha- why?”
“Katsuki’s dangerous,” he replied simply. “Can’t risk pissing him off-- believe me, you’ll have a miserable fucking life if you get on his bad side.”
Meimei nodded seriously, shooting a glare at 1-A’s classroom. “I can’t believe you call him Katsuki. You aren’t friends.”
“Meimei, I called him Kacchan for fourteen years of my life.”
Could you really blame Shouta for following Maijima’s problem children when he heard Midoriya make that concerning comment about 1-A’s resident land mine?
They seemed to have befriended Shinsou, a boy he’d kept an eye on since he failed the Heroics exam-- Shinsou Hitoshi. Or, at least, Midoriya was looking out for the (significantly) taller boy as Hatsume talked enough for five people on her own. With how little input either boys put in, she was having a rather interesting conversation about… something.
“Oh! I’m Hatsume Mei!”
“I… I know. We have the same core classes.”
“This is Izukkun! You should meet our babies!”
Shouta really doesn’t know if Hatsume’s word choice is intentional, but it has quite the amusing effect on the tall Gen Ed student. He chokes on air and stumbles, pitching forward. Midoriya slides over to catch Shinsou and right him.
Shouta doesn’t miss how Shinsou turns bright red, either.
Ah, high school.
“She calls our support items ‘babies’,” Midoriya sighed with the rehearsed exhaustion of someone who had said it so many times they were sick of it.
“Oh.”
“We’re heading to Gym Alpha to test the final beta version of our support item. Want to join?” Hatsume offered.
“Yeah--”
“Don’t you need supervision for that?”
Hatsume shrieked , literally leaping into Midoriya’s arms. Midoriya promptly drops her on the floor, staring at Shouta flatly. Shinsou looked quite startled, but didn’t seem to have a voice to accompany that.
“Yeah. That’s why you’re here.”
The black-and-green-haired Support student turned on his heel, continuing on his path.
Shouta didn’t know how he ended up teaching a trio of kids to use escrima rods, but they definitely ended up staying late, the three going home two hours later with the basics of the twelve strikes down. He thinks it may have been something about watching the kid handle his ‘Lightningrods’ wrong, and calling it out, and the problem child asking him to correct him if he got something wrong. One thing led to another, and he was demonstrating for the three brats.
Hizashi was giving him a very smug look when he finally got back to the apartment, which didn’t help him at all .
“Found some kids to mentor?” He teased.
He huffed, collapsing on the couch. “I’m not a mentor. Just a couple of problem children demanding I show them how to use escrima sticks correctly.”
“You keep telling yourself that.”
Hitoshi wasn’t sure what to think.
First, he’s challenging 1-A. Next thing he knows, the (low-key cute) oh-so-eloquent Midoriya Izuku swoops in, grabs his hand and drags him away, then he meets Eraserhead and learns some escrima or something while not being able to get a single word out.
Plus how adeptly Hatsume needled Eraserhead into agreeing to come back again to show them more. That was a whole ass thing.
And then how it actually happened . Every day for the past week, with a highly annoyed Eraserhead— no, Aizawa-sensei— directing them.
“What’s your quirk, Shinsou-kun?” Hatsume looked over with a big smile. “Mine is Zoom!”
Oh. Wonderful. This question. “... Brainwashing. I can brainwash people if I ask them something.”
After a beat, he heard muttering.
Hitoshi looked over to Midoriya, who seemed to be staring into space. Then, he snapped back with a small grin. “Auditory or response?”
“... response.”
His palm slammed onto the bench next to him. “Meimei! We’re finishing the Sirencall within the week!”
Hatsume cackled, throwing her head back. “Sir, yes, sir!”
That didn’t bode well.
Notes:
“High Hopes” - Panic! at the Disco
Izuku and Hitoshi both have lofty aspirations and they don’t have the same kind of talent as people like Todoroki or Bakugou— not that they have less, but different. They have to work hard for anything in their lives, and oftentimes their dreams were all that was left when they had nothing else.
Chapter 12: teen idle
Summary:
izuku causes chaos, and that’s all there really is to say on the matter.
Notes:
author: here’s a triple update that’s it
also author: and here’s another one
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku stood next to Meimei, Shinsou not far off. Meimei was bouncing on the balls of her feet, and Izuku just stood lazily next to her, hands shoved into the pockets of his gym kit and ignoring the weird looks he and the other 1-F students (plus Shinsou) got for being completely decked out in support items.
Fien came up to Izuku’s other side, ginger hair pulled into a high ponytail. “Midoriya-kun, are you sure this will work?”
Her accent is thicker than usual, and Izuku takes it to mean she’s anxious. He huffed a breath before responding. “Have I ever led you wrong?”
“Just last week we all nearly got detention because you convinced us to help you test your Il-lum-ni-sphere on the wood teacher’s desk…”
Meimei waved her hand dismissively. “It was old and he shouldn’t have such a fire hazard in a Support classroom anyway. It all went according to plan and nobody got detention. It was a total success.”
“Hinata was suspended for three days,” Reiki reminds her.
“It was a total success,” Izuku echoes Meimei, and Shinsou snorts.
It hadn’t taken long for Aizawa-sensei to dub Shinsou as a ‘problem child’ when they may or may not have possibly, completely by accident, blew up a locker that definitely did not belong to a quirkist bastard from 1-D that called Shinsou a villain in front of Izuku. Shinsou hadn’t done anything or even been present, but Aizawa-sensei seemed to determine who was problematic by things that were caused because of them, not necessarily by them. But Izuku would never target a person for any reason-- no, sir.
“ AAAAAAND WELCOME TO THE YUUEI SPORTS FESTIVAL!!! ”
Izuku regrets being born.
“ I’M PRESENT MIC, HERE WITH 1-A’S HOMEROOM TEACHER, AIZAAAAAWAAAAA SHOUTAAAAAAAA! ”
“ I was held at gunpoint. ”
Izuku regrets being born slightly less.
“ DON’T BE RIDICULOUS, AIZAWA! THIS IS THE FIRST-YEAR STAGE, WELCOMING… THE INVINCIBLE 1-A, SHAKING OFF A VILLAIN ATTACK WITH WILLS OF STEEL! ”
The crowd roars. “Get into positions! Go, go, go!” Mei raised her voice over the din to be heard by the other students of 1-F. Izuku hated being touched, but he would deal with it… they even managed to get Hinata in on the plan.
Oh, and Hinata was less of an asshole now. He had apologized out of the blue to Izuku for being an ass at the USJ, and offered to be the fall guy in return.
… he was still a jerk, but more in a rough-around-the-edges way than a Bakugou-Katsuki kind of way.
“ FOLLOWING THEM ARE HEROICS 1-B, GENERAL EDUCATION 1-C, 1-D, AND 1-E, SUPPORT 1-F, 1-G, AND 1-H, ANDDDD MANAGEMENT 1-I, 1-J and 1-K! ”
The others filed out, many muttering about how little fanfare they got, but 1-F stayed in position. They knew exactly what they were doing.
“ AND… 1-F? WHERE’S 1-F? ”
Meimei cackled and lurched into motion.
What the crowd (plus the teachers) were seeing was both simple and elaborate, causing many to wonder how just five students managed to pull it off. The answer was simple-- bribery of upperclassmen who weren’t participating in their Festivals-- but no good Support student showed their hand.
Twin flames shot out from the student entrance, and something was thrown into the path of the flames that exploded into extremely attention-grabbing pink. Midoriya Izuku sat on the shoulders of Collins Fianna and Reiki Perl, who ran out at top speed with the small boy somehow making it work. Hatsume Mei followed closely behind, dashing on their heels while holding two long, equally pink streamers. Hinata Ban trailed last, slightly slower while hoisting a large sign over his head, in perfect calligraphy:
ALL HAIL THE UNLAUDED HEROES OF THE USJ
There was a moment of silence before a deafening mix of laughter and cheering came from the stands. Izuku used his MeiVision to look up at the announcer’s box and stifled a laugh-- Yamada-sensei was frozen, mouth half-open with clearly no idea what to say while Aizawa-sensei had a hand over his face.
Eventually, Aizawa-sensei’s voice echoed over the stadium.
“ And Support Course 1-F, the other class trapped in the USJ during the attack and took out a total of thirty-eight villains. Are you problem children happy now? ”
Izuku stuck his hands out in a double thumbs-up with a lazy smile as 1-F caught up with the rest of the crowd, disassembling the decorations and Hinata using Meimei’s flamethrower to set the poster sign on fire.
Shinsou and Tsu walked up, Shinsou with an amused smirk and Tsu with the same blank look on her face as always but crinkled eyes.
“That was cool, kero ,” she started, “but won’t you get in trouble?”
Meimei winked before whispering conspiritorially, “It was a crowd-pleaser. They can’t touch us.”
“It was reckless, though,” Shinsou threw in.
Izuku shrugged as Reiki sighed. “Midoriya-kun wanted to launch a dark red version of the Pink Bomb at 1-A and have us come out like ‘battle-weary heroes’, but Hatsume hot that one down fast.”
“It was a good idea,” Izuku insisted despite the look he gets from his pink-haired friend.
Kayama-sensei stood up front with her whip thingy and a suit that some of the guys nearby were freaking out over but Izuku didn’t see much of a problem with. She had to have it thin for her quirk-- it wasn’t meant for sex appeal, though that could have been a secondary motivator. He didn’t really see the ‘sex appeal’ in it either, but oh well.
“Alright! Let’s look at this wheel to see what our kidlets are gonna do first!”
“It’s rigged,” Collins said casually as it began to spin. “Race with objects in it.”
“Obstacle course?”
“Yes, thank you.”
The wheel stopped, and wouldn’t you know it-- obstacle race.
Izuku let an evil smirk slide across his face.
Oh, everyone was so gonna hate him.
The students were lined up, most shifting from foot to fit and checking out the competition. Despite their show of power, 1-F was mostly ignored-- after all, no Support student had ever even posed a real threat in a Sports Festival-- so it was all going pretty well, in Izuku’s opinion.
“ ONE MINUTE TO START!”
“Papa-Romeo!” Meimei announced loudly. She got a lot of weird looks, but Shinsou and 1-F all took canisters from their belts and sprayed the contents onto their shoes liberally.
“Papa-Bravo! Whiskey-Hotel!”
Small pearls of pink sat inside thin glass held by every student in 1-F, and Shinsou held the nozzle of something that looked slightly different from a flamethrower.
“ IS THE PINK GIRL SAYING SOMETHING? ”
“ Hatsume Mei of 1-F is speaking in the American phonetic alphabet. Looks like they’re preparing for something. ”
“ WELL, THIRTY SECONDS TO DO IT, THEN! ”
Izuku smirked, and those who looked upon felt a shudder run down their spines.
Before them was a tunnel-- those most wouldn’t, Izuku recognized it as the first obstacle. Only a few could fit at a time. And it worked perfectly with their plan.
“ FIVE! ”
He braced his feet against the earth, MeiVision fit snugly over his face.
“ FOUR! ”
Meimei shot him a smile.
“ THREE! ”
Shinsou rolled his shoulders.
“ TWO! ”
Reiki, Fien and Hinata readied their stances, neutral faces becoming ones of determination.
“ ONE! ”
The world held its breath.
“ GO, GO, GO!!!!! ”
Izuku was running before his brain could process it. The flamethrower-like nozzle Shinsou was holding spat water onto the ground just inside the tunnel, and five glass pearls of pink followed quickly, shattering and then exploding into a pink mass that covered a good five-meter stretch. Most of the students at the front reared back, not expecting the move at all, but 1-F and Shinsou ran across the pink goo without any issue.
Stupidly, Midget from 1-A decided that 1-F running across it meant it was safe and tried to run over with a horde of other students…
… that immediately got trapped in the goo.
Meimei cackled , pulling a mic from nowhere and clipping it to her collar.
“ THE FIRST OBSTACLE-- THE NARROW PASSAGE! 1-F DOMINATES, USING-- ”
“ Aaaaaand that, folks, was the Pink Pearl, aka Pink Bomb Mini! ”
1-F was being quickly pursued (and overtaken) by a choice pair of 1-A students-- Bakugou and Todoroki. Izuku paid them no mind, of course, simply enjoying the workout until he hit the next obstacle.
“ WHAT?? ”
“ This is Hatsume Mei from the Support Course, Class 1-F! The Pink Pearl is a saller, less potent version of the Pink Bomb. It is an explosive with sticky-- and bright-- results, and expands when it comes into contact with regular ol’ H20! Designed by yours truly, Hatsume Mei, that’s H-A-T-S-U-M-E M-E-I, and her partner Midoriya Izuku, that’s M-I-D-O-R-I-Y-A I-Z-U-K-U, it’s sure to be a non-destructive way to apprehend villains, with a method to easily remove it told to support companies and heroes that use it! ”
Izuku silently thanks every god that’s watching that Katsuki has his hearing aids off- he’d seen him take them out before the Festival started, likely to prevent interference from the noise. Otherwise, the explosive blond would have turned around just to pound Izuku into the dirt on live TV.
… well, there was still daylight left for that.
“ Stay tuned for more exciting support items designed from Support Course 1-F! ”
There was an awkward pause fro the announcer’s box before Aizawa-sensei resumed with a flat voice. “ And with that interruption, twenty-three students are still stuck in the concoction at the starting line, and twenty-one more still fighting through the passage. ”
“ AAAAAAND TODOROKI SHOUTO OF 1-A TAKES US TO THE SECOND OBSTACLE-- THE ROOOOBOOOO INFERNOOOOOO! ”
Robots. Oh no. Whatever will they do, with their Lightningrods and water hoses? What a tragedy. It’s almost like they had no idea there would be any form of robot.
Meimei breaks into the recording again. “ Also by Midoriya Izuku and Hatsume Mei are the Lightningrods, paired with a special tool we will introduce later! They are escrima sticks with a high voltage charge that’s enough to incapacitate but not kill, unless you’re beating up a very old man for whatever reason! And the Pink Bomb 1.0, the bigger and more potent version of the Pink Pearl! Hatsume Mei, that’s H-A-T-S-U-M-E M-E-I, and Midoriya Izuku, that’s M-I-D-O-R-I-Y-A I-Z-U-K-U! Over and out! ”
Izuku grabs a bit of scrap, an idea forming, before he took off again, his friends all around him. Shinsou rode on the backs of several brainwashed students and he rolled his eyes, extending a hand to Izuku.
Izuku smirked and took it, giving his legs a break as he settled on a particularly broad boy’s shoulders beside Shinsou, nudging his purple-haired friend.
“Hey. This is the second time I’ve ridden someone today.”
“Living like a king,” Shinsou snorted, rolling his eyes in return.
“ AND BAKUGOU KATSUKI OF 1-A TAKES US OVER THE FALL! DON’T LOOK DOWN! ”
Truly the worst thing to ever happen to 1-F and Shinsou. They had no plan for a giant gap. None. Truly, they’re winging it. As if they didn’t plan for every single thing that could come of a obstacle course.
Fien grinned wildly as she paused at the edge to secure her laser on her back, linking arms with everyone going down in a line. Shinsou just shook his head and took Izuku’s arm, ignoring how Reiki’s face goes a bit blank as drones descend from the sky and start lifting up the six of them.
And then Fien points the laser directly down and activates it.
And hoo boy , they went NYOOM over that chasm.
“ By Collins Fianna, that’s C-O-L-L-I-N-S F-I-A-N-N-A, the Heatblast! A super focused laser that can be set to two different modes, melt and force, to either propel somethin at high speeds or melt through even plasteel! By Reiki Perl, that’s R-E-I-K-I P-E-R-L, the Pegasus drone, meant for leightweight heroes to ride through the skies at speeds of 20mph! ”
“ AND THE LAST OBSTACLE-- THE MINE FIELD!!! ”
The moment they landed, Shinsou brainwashed a couple students to carry him independently. 1-F broke apart as they went about their own ways. It was the final stretch, and everyone wanted to earn it themselves.
So, naturally, Izuku dug up the mines with the plate metal as Meimei announced more 1-F support items with the cheer of a natural saleswoman.
“ Problem Child. What are you doing with those mines. ”
Izuku jumped at being addressed directly, but grinned disturbingly at the announcer box and backing up a few steps, plate metal in front of him like a snowboard.
And then jumped directly onto the pile of mines.
It didn’t burn him like Katsuki’s explosions did or stain him with soot like his support item malfuntions would. Instead, with a bang! and more glitter than was strictly necessary, Izuku was launched into the air.
He wouldn’t be able to describe to Meimei later what flying felt like-- both exhilirating and freeing at the same time as being mortally terrifying.
But he could describe in perfect clarity what it was like to slam the metal into Todoroki and Bakugou’s chests as he flew over them, and what it was like to land a bit awkwardly, but dashing with legs long since trained to flee and avoid small obstacles straight across the finish line.
“ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND WE HAVE OURSELVES A WINNER-- MIDORIYA IZUKU OF SUPPORT COURSE 1-F, CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY TODOROKI SHOUTO OF 1-A AND BAKUGOU KATSUKI OF 1-A! ”
Izuku was already out of the finishing area by the time Katsuki was across the finish line, hearing Yamada-sensei announce, one by one, Shinsou and the rest of 1-F’s crossing.
Izuku had planned for everything, he realized. Except one thing.
How he would hide in between rounds.
Notes:
“Teen Idle” - Marina and the Diamonds
Teen Idle is a song about how Marina wishes she’d tried to fit in when she was young instead of wasting her time isolating herself. In middle school, Izuku was forcefully isolated, a “teen idle”. Now, in Yuuei, he’s not taking anything sitting down and instead fighting to be seen as worthy to be a hero student, a “teen idol”.
edit: author can’t believe she forgot to title the chapter
Chapter 13: my songs know what you did in the dark (light ‘em up)
Summary:
katsuki is a bastard and all of izuku’s friends know it.
Notes:
plot twist: author doesn’t actually have an update schedule and literally updates whenever the mood strikes to write
author: im feeling sad and i am not confident in my writing
comment section, heelying up: youre a gift to humanity. we stan you so hard you’re so great at writing
author, visibly crying: th,,, thank
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Bakugou Katsuki hated Deku.
When they were young, it hadn’t exactly been hate. Contempt, definitely. The fucking quirkless piece of shit followed Katsuki everywhere , tears streaking his stupid face and laughing as if nothing was wrong, ever.
Katsuki hadn’t really hated Deku until the day of the sludge incident.
He dared to look down on Katsuki, who was so obviously better than Deku and everyone else in their school of extras, but Deku went and applied for Yuuei .
He shouldn’t have told the worthless nerd to jump off a building. He knew that. He was right , of course— the world would be better off— but he set some fire in the useless idiot that hadn’t been there before.
And when that sludge villain attacked Katsuki? He had it handled! All Might was there! But Deku had to jump in and ruin his fucking chances at impressing the Number One Hero.
The next day, Deku looked him in the eye for the first time with something other than misery or idolization. No, it was a look of pure, unadulterated loathing as he spat Katsuki’s name-- Katsuki’s real name-- like it was something nasty he had bitten into. And Katsuki hadn’t known what to say-- Deku had never called him anything but Kacchan in their lives, something the hag would joke about often, how Deku had immediately given Katsuki a nickname the moment he could speak.
And the fucking flower. Katsuki didn’t see the nerd shed a tear over it, instead waving it around as if it were a daisy he picked in a field and not a suicide bait.
For the rest of the year, the quirkless piece of shit either snapped at him or outright ignored him. Katsuki made his beatings harder, but nothing turned Deku back into the way he was.
And then.
This.
Deku had the audacity to get into Yuuei and hide from Katsuki. And then beat him in something.
He knew something was up with the nerd ‘Riya’ from 1-F, the one who always had a beanie and goggles, but ‘Riya’ was just another extra to Katsuki, no matter how high-and-mighty the Support shitbag acted.
But no-- ‘Riya’ was Deku.
Katsuki’s palms twitched with small sparks as he stormed through the stadium halls, red eyes scanning and practically kicking open every door in search of the worthless asshole. Katsuki would make him pay for what he did.
A pair of Support extras were loitering in the hall just outside one of the doors, this one marked 1-F. He recognized them, of course-- the ginger bitch that couldn’t form sentences correctly and the half-American bastard with the identical twin in General Education that kept seeking Katsuki out for the past few weeks (since the announcement of the Sports Festival, really) just to stare at him silently (and he would never admit how unsettling her violet eyes were).
Katsuki was many things, but stupid was not one of them. He had to get them out of the way-- he just knew Deku was in there. And if Deku ended up dead, he didn’t want witnesses.
“Out of the way, extras,” he growled.
The bitch blinked at him with narrowed eyes that almost reminded him of the old Deku’s-- innocent and full of life and stupidity-- but these were many shades paler, a sickly yellow-green rather than Deku’s puke green. But the most major difference between her and the old Deku’s eyes was that she was glaring at him as if he had personally attacked her. And as far as Katsuki knew, he’d never spoken to her before.
“We are not taking visitors,” she said with a heavy Irish accent that somehow didn’t make her words less clear. “Especially not 1-A bastards with a… what’s the word-- ah, vendetta against our classmates.”
American Bastard tilted her head slightly to the side, her eyes uncomfortably similar to that of her twin’s in intensity. Unlike her twin, however, she did speak, each word laced with threat. “We could always get a teacher if you refuse to leave, of course.”
Fuck.
Katsuki’s hands twitched with the desire to shove past them and blow through that door to explode Deku straight to Hell, but he knew that he wasn’t gonna get past these two. Not without jeopardizing his place in 1-A.
Ginger Bitch's hand drifted to a utility belt laden with pockets and pouches, her eyes focused on him with an implacable fury he didn’t like.
Katsuki turned around and walked back to 1-A’s preparation room.
After all, Deku had ten million points. That’s ten million reasons to beat the shit out of him in the second round and get away with it.
Mei refused to regret what she did.
Izukkun’s private life was his own, yes. But there was a point in which some things needed to be shared, and Izukkun wouldn’t have done it himself. He would definitely be mad at her if he knew what she did, but she wouldn’t let her Izukkun get hurt again.
The day after the Sports Festival was announced, she texted 1-F to meet her before class while she knew Izukkun would be preparing the workshop for a solid half hour with laser-focus. He always hated how disorganized Mei was, so he would always make her go do something else while he did that, so she met with 1-F in an old Support classroom that was mostly used for testing incendiary weapons (and it showed in the scorched surfaces).
“Hatsume, why are we here?”
Hinata was an asshole, sure, but she needed his help, too. Mei needed all of 1-F on Izukkun’s side.
“It’s about why Izukkun and I asked you to call him Riya in front of people outside of 1-F.”
Reiki had lifted her head a bit, sliding her phone into her pocket-- something she rarely did, as with her Technopath quirk she liked to soak up knowledge from all corners of the internet. It meant she understood it was a heavy situation, and respecting it. Mei appreciated it.
“Please don’t tell him I told you this, but it needs to be said because I need your help and for that, you need to understand the situation.”
Fien crossed her ankles, fitting two earbuds into her ears that she and Reiki had designed together-- something to help her understand Japanese a little better by filtering it into Irish. On her mouth was a prototype of something that could work the opposite way-- filtering Irish into Japanese-- though that wasn’t the main function. Mostly something Izukkun had thrown in when he learned Fien struggled a lot with Japanese, especially when she was stressed.
Mei wrung her hands nervously, not looking at Hinata as she spoke.
“Before Izukkun came to Yuuei, he was a victim of peer abuse and severe discrimination because of his lack of a quirk. It’s why he;s always so nervous around you guys, and why I’m talking about it now. Because his main bully, someone who suicide baited him and has scarred him mentally and physically, got into Yuuei and Izukkun is hiding from him so he won’t have to deal with the abuse again.”
Silence met her words, Hinata’s face going slack with horror and realization. The prototype Fien was wearing spat out gibberish as the girl flinched with her whole body, a moment later than Reiki did, the latter’s purple eyes flying open and her hands covering her mouth.
“During the Sports Festival, Izukkun will have to face him. I need your help to keep them separated-- he’s dangerous and he might severely wound or even cripple Izukkun.”
More silence, and Mei braced for the worst.
Then, shockingly, Hinata spoke.
“What’s the bastard’s name?”
She felt color return to her face. “Bakugou Katsuki of Heroics Course 1-A. Don’t piss him off directly, or he might hurt you, too… Izukkun was scared of telling me about it because he didn’t want me going after the bastard.”
Reiki slowly raised her hand.
“Yeah, Reiki-chan?”
Her body was shuddering badly as she spoke haltingly. “My sister, Aria, has an Empath quirk. She… she knows he’s very hostile and has been keeping an eye on him. Can… can I ask her to keep an even closer eye on him?”
“Yeah, Reiki-chan. Thanks,” Mei smiled weakly at her classmate. “The more information we have, the better.”
Hinata shook his head, running a hand over his face. “This is so fucked up. I’m such an ass… I’m gonna apologize to Midoriya. Kami above, he doesn’t deserve me being a jerk on top of that shit.”
“Thanks, Hinata-kun.”
No, Mei wouldn’t regret a damn thing she did.
Especially not since she heard Bakugou being turned away by Reiki and Fien at the door as Izukkun talked with Hinata and Shinsou about some invention he was collaborating with Hinata on and Shinsou was testing for them.
She hated the fear in his eyes when she found him hiding under the table in this room, his arms wrapped around his legs in a fetal position, before she stationed Reiki and Fien outside and called Shinsou in to distract Izukkun from his panic.
Mei did the right thing, even if Izukkun wouldn’t agree with her.
Hitoshi was worried about Midoriya.
Maybe a week ago, about two weeks after they had all started ‘training in’ (read: annoying him into teaching them) escrima under Aizawa-sensei together, Hatsume had pulled him into a burnt-up old Support room with the rest of 1-F (minus Midoriya), explained about the hardships his short black-haired friend had dealt with in his past, and recruited him into helping 1-F keep Bakugou away from Midoriya. He may or may not have suggested they called it the Izuku Protection Squad. Which may or may not have become their official group name.
So being called in with 1-F to talk to Midoriya and distract him wasn’t a surprise.
What was a surprise was finding the small teen curled up under a table and having to bribe him with cat videos to come back out and even Hinata pitching in to get the topic to something Midoriya was passionate about.
Suddenly, Midoriya’s face became thoughtful. “You know, you all can call me Izuku, right? Perl, Fien and Mei do. What’s up with you two?”
Hitoshi’s eyes widened to what he knew was comical and prayed his hair was droopy today and was covering his ears because he knew they had just turned tomato red. Hinata snorted.
“Yeah, then I’m Ban.”
“Okay, Ban-kun. What about you, Shinsou?”
Hitoshi was a slave to those green, green eyes, dark as the leaves of the trees in a night-cloaked forest, yet lively and inquisitive as one of his beloved cats. He felt the heat creep into a flush high on his cheeks. “Oh- uh-- yeah, s-sure. Call, call me, um… Hitoshi.”
Kami, he sounded so stupid . CURSE his gay, pining heart.
Mido-- Izuku , his mind was screaming at the sudden first-name basis-- offered a small, small smile that honestly made Hitoshi feel like he couldn’t breathe, and stood up. “Come on, Hitoshi-kun, Ban-kun. The second round is starting soon.”
It really was too bad that Izuku was probably straight.
Notes:
“My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ‘Em Up)” - Fall Out Boy
Long song title, but it sums up this chapter pretty well— and yeah, this was a bit of a less exciting one, but it was important. Izuku’s friends know what Bakugou did, and they’re prepared to expose him to keep Izuku safe. They don’t care how threatening they seem to Bakugou in the meantime.
Chapter 14: houdini
Summary:
the second round of the sports festival, and katsuki overheard a conversation he shouldn’t.
Notes:
to address something someone brought up in the comments— fien’s past and where she came from will be addressed later on. calling what fien spoke “irish gaelic” was my mistake and i will be fixing it, thank you! yes, fien is fluent in english, since that is oftentimes the first or second language a child learns in ireland, but she struggles with *japanese*, not english. her first language was irish, which is why she speaks that often instead of english.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Groups of four, huh?
Izuku and Meimei automatically grabbed each other’s arms, plans already scrambling to form.
The rest of 1-F glanced their way, giving small waves, but broke off to their own groups. Perl and a girl identical to her paired with Ban and a boy with weird eyelashes from 1-B. Fien is recruited by this annoying blond boy and vine girl, both from 1-B, and a bird headed dude from 1-A-- Izuku’s pretty sure his name is Tokoyami.
Well, there goes all his friends.
“‘Sup.”
The welcome sight of his tall purple friend sends relief coursing through Izuku’s veins. He had to crane his neck a bit to look Hitoshi in the eye as he got up close, but it was worth it. His intimidation tactic worked-- Hitoshi looked vaguely uncomfortable.
“Join our team,” he commands.
Hitoshi nods so fast, Izuku actually stops to wonder if he was the one with the brainwashing quirk, but brushes it off. Hitoshi’s just weird.
There was an awkward pause as they waited for Meimei to reappear, and Izuku stood patiently in front of Hitoshi. If you’ve ever seen a picture of a rather frightening black cat sitting in front of a mildly disturbed panther, that was an accurate comparison.
Meimei finally reappeared, a girl with a brown bob in tow. She looked pretty proud of herself, too.
“This is Uraraka Ochako from 1-A!” she announced. “She’s got a zero-gravity quirk that totally fixes our weight problem!”
Izuku nodded, looking at their small group. “I’ll be the rider-- I can balance easily and I’m a smaller target than anyone else here. Uraraka-chan, if I’m correct, you can’t levitate yourself without negative effects, so you’re front horse to keep the balance. Hitoshi, take my rocket boots and be on the left flank. Brainwash everyone you can to keep them or others away. Meimei, left flank. Throw Pink Bombs, electrocute people, go nuts.”
They all nodded.
The teams looked tensely at each other, all bracing to run.
“ AND… START! ”
Izuku would be lying through his teeth if he said he faced the oncoming flood of teenagers running at Meimei, Hitoshi, Uraraka and himself.
Nope, he screamed like one of those white girls in horror movies that die first.
Meimei laughed like a madwoman as Uraraka brushed her hands over the other three, before Hitoshi and Meimei activated their boots and they shot up into the air in a near miss with the mob.
“ WHAAAAAAAT?! IT SEEMS THAT TEAM MIDORIYA IS AIRBORNE! ”
No, really?
A whip of something came from the elbows of a guy on Todoroki’s team. Meimei laughed harder, her Lightningrod active and swiping out to catch it in an instant.
The electricity ran down the weird stuff, which quickly retreated as Elbow Boy shrieked. Vine Girl attempted to do the same, ending up with a pink blob sticking her hair together.
BOOM-pop-pop-pop !
Izuku froze as he heard the all-too-familiar sounds, muscles bracing to flee or take a hit.
Katsuki was flying at him, face contorted in rage as he extended a hand for Izuku--
-- and a drone smashed into his front, a claw extending to rip the headband off of Katsuki’s face.
Katsuki was just barely caught by his team as he turned his attention to the offenders: the Reiki twins and their team.
Izuku would thank Perl if he wasn’t so damn terrified for her.
Minutes ticked by as Izuku and his team flew back and fourth across the stadium, watching Monoma and Fien’s team rack up points with ambushes and Todoroki’s team annilhating everyone that stepped in their way. Reiki Aria, Perl’s twin, now had a grand total of zero bands on her forehead, but she and her team still ran after Katsuki, thwarting him every chance they had.
… this event was really, really boring if you could fly.
More and more broke off in their chase after Izuku and it became a free-for-all that he and his team observed quietly, occasionally throwing in a comment to each other to change positions.
One minute left.
“We should head down at thirty,” Izuku said decisively.
Uraraka gives him a weird look, but restores gravity to the team as the decended--
-- straight into the waiting grasp of Todoroki’s team. Todoroki reached out with his right hand- always his right - so Izuku does what Izuku does best:
Make everything far more difficult than it has to be.
His Lightningrod is out in the blink of an eye, tip jabbing into Todoroki’s left shoulder. Todoroki spasmed, a ripple of fire running aross his arm that flashed out and drove Izuku back, his team fleeing unscathed again.
Then, Izuku notices something.
Iida’s exhaust pipes are glowing.
“ RECIPRIO-- ”
-- Iida explodes forwards, and Izuku drops sideways to avoid his reaching hand--
-- and falls directly into Hitoshi’s extended arms.
There was a beat of pure silence as the timer ran down, all knowing it was futile to try and get Izuku’s headband, and Izuku himself internally flipping his shit because what the fuck his friend is carrying him BRIDAL STYLE and Meimei is laughing her ass off and he KNOWS people in the audience are too and holy mother of fuck this is embarrassing--
“ AAAAAAAAND TEAM MIDORIYA COMES IN FIRST WITH TEN MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE POINTS! ”
“ Following behind is Team Bakugou with nine hundred and sixty points, Team Todoroki with nine hundred and fifty points, and Team Monoma with six hundred and fifteen points. ”
Uraraka and Meimei break away from Izuku and Hitoshi, the traitors, and laugh at his expense as Hitoshi, dear, sweet Hitoshi, has gone a shade of red Izuku didn’t know was possible for anyone but himself, and was intimately aware his own face was a similar color.
“Uh,” he managed. “This. This is a thing. That happened.”
Hitoshi nodded back, his face the picture of awkwardness as he attempted to set Izuku down without just dropping him, which was a whole ass process but one Izuku appreciated nonetheless. Meimei was laughing, her arm on Uraraka’s shoulders, the entire damn time.
When Izuku regained his footing, he tried his damndest to ignore the crowing of his best friend as Yamada-sensei talked about the break.
They headed dazedly to the break area, Izuku dazedly holding Meimei’s sleeve and letting her guide him as he tried to process that he just won TWO events--
“Midoriya, is it?”
Izuku blinked out of his reverie, looking at the new voice. Todoroki stood there, his face as cold and hostile as it always was when Izuku saw him.
“May I speak with you?”
Katsuki was hunting that piece of shit.
Showed him up-- humiliated him-- in not one, but two events! Events that he had almost won!
So when Half n’ Half took Deku away from his snarling coven of freaks, he saw it as a chance. Wait for Deku to be alone, teach the quirkless fuckwad a lesson, then win the Sports Festival.
He followed them to a tunnel, and pressed himself against the wall to listen.
“Midoriya, you made me break a promise.”
There was a pause before Deku interrupted it. “So what?”
Katsuki would be surprised if he didn’t already know the asswipe had changed in the past year. The old Deku would have fluttered his hands with a string of apologies and tears in his eyes. But Katsuki didn’t know this new Deku, and he hated how he couldn’t predict a damn thing he did.
“So,” Half n’ Half continued tightly. “I want you to understand what you’ve done.”
“Shoot.”
“Have you ever heard of quirk marriages?”
If Katsuki cared about Half n’ Half in the least, he’d probably feel guilty about spying, but he doesn’t, and he didn’t, as the Icyhot Bastard told his sob story.
“And that’s why I have to beat you… without my father’s power.”
There was a long, tense silence.
Then,
Clap . Clap . Clap .
Was Deku slow clapping ?
“Great. Well, as horrible as your life is, I also don’t know who you are, Todoroki-kun. I hate Endeavor, don’t get me wrong, but you clearly don’t want me to do anything about it, so. Do you expect me to feel bad about doing my best?”
“That’s not what I was--”
“Then what is it, Todoroki-kun?” Deku snapped. “Is it how you were blessed with not one, but two incredibly versatile, powerful quirks and you’re not using one out of spite , and you’re being a pretintuous dick to me because I accidentally made you use it by defending myself? Is it that you don’t consider me worthy of using your quirk against?”
“You can’t even begin to understand--”
“Listen to me, Todoroki-kun. I’ve fucking been there . People I loved turning on me because of a quirk. People beating the shit out of me daily. I fucking get it , it hurts like hell, but one day when you’re a hero-- yes, when -- your ice isn’t going to be enough. What will you tell the mother of the child you could have saved but didn’t because of a grudge? What will you say to the world? That you half-assed everything-- literally-- because you wanted to be petty?”
“I--”
“Think about that , Todoroki, before you come bitching to me about how much your life sucks and how I’m the one ruining everything.”
There was a long, long silence.
“I’m sorry, that was harsh of me. But somebody needed to get that through your thick skull. I’m not sure what you really expected, though. I can’t help you unless you let me.”
Another pause.
“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pinned it all on you. At least let me walk you back to your friends.”
“... okay.”
Damn it!
Katsuki wanted to punch something, but instead he just fisted the fabric of his gym kit, wanting the Icyhot Bastard to just leave .
Patience, he told himself. I’ll get my chance.
Notes:
“Houdini” - Foster the People
The title and the song both go with this. Houdini was the famous escape artists, and Izuku’s many escapes in this chapter work well with it. Houdini is also about how somebody wishes they could disappear but overcomes it to “raise up to their ability”— Izuku is terrified of Bakugou, but he is working past it so he can become a hero.
Chapter 15: whatever it takes
Summary:
first round of 1v1 battles
Notes:
author, one (1) chapter ago: i really hated how todoroki handled the confrontation in canon, he just expected izuku to apologize for something that wasn’t his fault and dumped all of his childhood trauma on his shoes even though they’ve like never spoken before todoroki challenged him. i wish somebody did something about that or izuku would tell him how shitty that was.
author, five seconds later: wait im the author
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Alright, kiddies!” Midnight stood next to a bracket board, pointing at it with a wide smile. “Here are your matchups!”
Izuku fiddled with his gloves-- honestly, he was a bit annoyed with them, the rubber coating made them kind of stiff but it was necessary for wielding the Lightningrods on the off chance his hand slipped.
He was against some guy from 1-A named Kaminari. He glanced around, meeting the eyes of a blond with a black streak in his hair.
“Yo, Midoriya-kun,” he said easily. “Don’t mean to be offensive or anything, but… I haven’t seen you use your quirk yet, and I’m sure you’re super talented, but I’m kinda really good at one-on-one battles.”
Izuku stood opposite of Kaminari in the ring. Honestly, he hated that he was going first.
“ AND WE HAVE THE DARK HORSE FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE THAT HAS DOMINATED WITH PRODIGIOUS SKILL AND CRAFTSMANSHIP IN THE FIRST TWO ROUNDS-- MIDORIYA IZUKU!! ”
“ And… facing Midoriya for the first battle is Kaminari Denki from Heroics 1-A. The one with the electricity quirk… and stuff. Mic, please remind me why I’m here. ”
Electricity, huh?
“This’ll be over in a flash,” Kaminari winked.
“START!” Midnight shouted.
“INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK!”
Kaminari crackled with energy, before it exploded outwards, running along the minute mineral deposits in the concrete towards Izuku.
Izuku flips forwards, palms out, and lands in a handstand. The electricity avoided his rubber-coated gloves and continued on its path away from him.
When izuku righted himself, Kaminari had the stupidest expression Izuku had ever seen on a human being’s face, thumbs-up.
“Kaminari?” he called uncertainly.
He blinked slowly, bobbing his arms.
“Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey.”
O-kay, then.
“Kaminari is unable to continue! Midoriya advances to the next round!”
He grinned to himself as robots escorted the electric teen away, and Izuku headed back to the stands to watch Sero v Todoroki.
Only to watch the poor boy get trapped in a glacier.
“Ouch,” Meimei vocalizes without a hint of pity on her face. “Looks like a tough guy to beat, Izukkun!”
Right. He has to fight him. Fun…
He suddenly remembers what Meimei wanted to do. “Hey! Um. Wouldn’t it be better to endorse your products by actually trying to win the Festival instead of just using somebody as a guinea pig.”
She pauses, finger tapping her chin like one of those anime girls. Then, she grins. “Yeah, that’s a great idea, Izukkun! See you in the semifinals!”
Mei faced Iida with a smile that made him shift from foot to foot. She was absolutely going to decimate this kid.
“START!”
Iida shot forward like a bullet from a gun, but she dodged.
“ I know what you all must be thinking-- what a smooth dodge that was, Hatsume! How fast! How elegant! ”
Iida sputtered, running after her again, but she hovered in the air just above him.
“ Well, that’s because of one of my personal favorite support items! The Jet works similarly to Gran Torino’s quirk, but allows for sustained flight, as they were utilized in the second round by Team Midoriya! Built by yours truly, Hatsume Mei, that’s H-A-T-S-U-M-E M-E-I! ”
Then, she pulled something else from her belt pouch-- a baseball-sized ball of what seemed to be thick, blue twine encased by a thin layer of glass. She zoomed into a VIP box and saw support representatives talking excitedly, and she grinned, all mania and joy.
“ This is the Blue Bomb, to keep with the theme of the previous Pink Bomb! What is it, and how does it work? I will demonstrate in a moment! This was designed by me and my partner, Midoriya Izuku, that’s M-I-D-O-R-I-Y-A I-Z-U-K-U! Thank you for your consideration! ”
She turns off her mic.
“ Hatsume, please stop hacking the sound booth, ” Aizawa-sensei sighed.
She makes an ugly face at him and zooms in just in time to see the equally hideous look he sends back, and she has never been so thankful Izukkun insisted on adding the ‘screenshot’ feature to the MeiVision because that picture is going to be a family heirloom.
Glad to know the grumpy Heroics teacher was human. And to have blackmail on him.
She tosses the Blue Bomb carelessly at Iida, who funnily enough was too busy trying to figure out what her strange expressions were until it hit him square in the chest and exploded into long blue wires that wrapped around Iida and bound him tightly.
“Iida is unable to move! Hatsume advances to the next round!”
Momo was humiliated .
She was a recommendation student-- she should have fared better against Tokoyami! She was supposed to be the best, her parents expected her to be the best, but she didn’t even get the chance, overwhelmed before the match even began.
Hot tears of humiliation sprang to her eyes as she huddled in the corner of some dark, empty hall. She didn’t want anybody to see her like this. She was supposed to be strong .
She sat with her head between her legs, listening to naught but her own pathetic cries fueled by embarrassment and wretched disappointment.
“Y’know, it sounds kinda assholeish, but I’m sorta glad Tokoyami won. You could give Meimei a run for her money, but Tokoyami doesn’t stand a chance.”
Momo’s head shot towards the speaker and saw a black-haired boy sitting beside her with a blank expression that reminded her of Tsu, plus eyebags that rivaled Aizawa-sensei’s.
“S-sorry,” she managed through her haze of tears. “I’m just… I’m so pathetic .”
He blinked dark green eyes at Momo. “That’s your opinion. Mind if I share mine?”
She shook her head, ponytail a mess as it scraped against the wall behind her. It didn’t matter if this guy said she wasn’t good at anything-- she’d surely hear it from her brothers later.
“I saw you during the other rounds. You’re pretty badass and you’re really smart and creative-- you’d make a great hero or support designer, if you chose that path.”
Momo opened her mouth, then closed it.
She really, really wanted to be a hero and save people. But nobody had ever suggested she could be good at something different.
“I was planning on asking you for help on making some rare materials me and my partner need for this support item we’re making in a few days or something. You’d be paid, of course.”
Momo legitimately had no idea what to do. He had single handedly took apart her self-deprecating phrase and then completely changed the subject away from the Festival entirely, and made it seem perfectly natural. How the fuck?
She smiled hesitantly and nodded. “Sounds great. I’m Yaoyorozu Momo, but call me Yaomomo. It’s less of a mouthful.”
The boy nodded. “I’m Midoriya Izuku.” The boy who won the other two rounds?! What was he doing wasting his time with her?!
“Sorry-- I know I’m a mess,” she gestured to her hair.
The boy tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing a bit at it. “I remember the style it was in-- do you mind if I try to fix it?”
She snorts. “Go for it.”
They spent the next five minutes (while Mina was preparing to face off with Monoma, Kyouka was telling her), with Midoriya trying and repeatedly failing to fix her ponytail before he gave up, shaking his head and standing. “Come on-- I know a back way to 1-F viewing room so you won’t have to be seen by anyone if you’re self-conscious about being tearstained and having your nice hair screwed up by an ameteur.”
Momo laughed wetly, allowing herself to follow the boy down a few different halls and noticing that he has some green highlights that catch the light when they make it to a brighter area. She also noticed he was really short. He pushed open the door to the 1-F viewing box, and a pink-haired girl ran over to greet Midoriya.
“Izukkun!” She grinned widely before turning her yellow gaze to Momo, and she notes the crosshair shapes in her pupils. “Hi! I’m Hatsume Mei, support designer extraordinaire! You’ve already met Izukkun-- you should meet our babies!”
Wh--
“Our support items,” Midoriya cuts into her thoughts with a scathing glare at his (girl?)friend. “We’re partners, we call our support items ‘babies’ and it causes a lot of misunderstandings. We aren’t dating and we definitely don’t have children.”
That made significantly more sense. Momo released a breath.
“Meimei, can you fix Yaomomo’s hair, please? I tried and fucked it up worse.”
Hatsume inspected Momo’s ponytail, then shook her head sadly. “I dunno--”
“I can.”
All eyes shifted to a tall boy with wild lilac hair and eye bags to match Midoriya’s. The boy suddenly looked immensely uncomfortable.
“Um. I’m Shinsou Hitoshi, from 1-C. I have two little sisters and two older sisters-- the oldest works as a movie makeup and hair artist. She taught me everything I know, and, ah… I’ve had a lot of practice on the rest of them.”
Momo smiled warmly at the boy, who relaxed a bit. “That’d be wonderful, Shinsou-kun.”
So maybe Hitoshi ended up doing everyone’s hair while Ashido fought Monoma (and eventually lost to the copycat 1-B student). Even Ban. Ban had short-ass hair, so Hitoshi ended up spiking his dark brown hair dramatically. Izuku now had a messy bun that wouldn’t come undone that Hitoshi definitely did not do because he thinks Izuku looks cute with a messy bun and was disappointed he didn’t see it more often. Hatsume had him braid her dreadlocks together, the Reiki twins wanted side ponytails going in opposite directions, Fien wanted a braid bun thing. And Yaomomo got her super cool ponytail back, so that was a thing.
His reputation was really dead to 1-F, wasn’t it?
He rolled his shoulders, standing across from Shiozaki.
“May this be a fair fight,” Shiozaki declared, doing a weird religious thing with her hands that Hitoshi didn’t really get but he would
Hitoshi shook his head a bit, putting on the Sirencall. It was similar to a mask like the Winter Soldier’s, but black, and it had a mic inside and a speaker just on the front.
He ramped up the volume.
“ FOR OUR NEXT BATTLE, WE HAVE THE MYSTERIOUS SHINSOU HITOSHI FROM GENERAL EDUCATION THAT HAS SOMEHOW COME OUT IN THE TOP TEN IN EVERY ROUND! VERSUS! THE ASSASSIN OF 1-B-- ”
“Excuse me!” Shiozaki raised her hand. “I am no assassin-- to kill would be a sin! I simply want to bring peace.”
Hitoshi might not be able to zoom like Hatsume, but he knew Yamada-sensei was making a confused face. “ SORRY! THE KICKASS PEACEMAKER OF 1-B, SHIOZAKI IBARA! GOT ANYTHING TO SAY, AIZAWA?! ”
“ I wish I was asleep. ”
Oh, big mood.
“START!”
Shiozaki shot her vines forward, and Hitoshi panicked, searching for literally anything to say--
“I AM DISGUSTED , I AM REVOLTED , I DEDICATE MY ENTIRE LIFE TO OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST, AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?!”
The vines stop, dropping as Shiozaki gapes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was being so aggressive--”
The brainwashing hits the same time the joke did, the youth in the audience crowing with laughter as Hitoshi stood staring at the vine girl.
That worked ?!
“Walk out of the arena, then snap out of it,” he ordered.
Shiozaki swayed before turning and walking out.
“ WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! THE MYSTERIOUS SHINSOU GETS EVEN MORE SO-- SHIOZAKI IS OBEYING HIM! ”
Shiozaki steps over the line, and color floods back into her eyes, and she blinks confusedly.
“Shiozaki is out of bounds! Shinsou advances to the next round!”
He grins victoriously.
It’s unfortunate when Fien loses to Uraraka-- she can’t exactly set off a nuclear explosion in the middle of a tournament-- but Uraraka and Hatsume talk really excitedly together after. And he can’t really say he didn’t expect it when Bakugou handed Kirishima his own ass.
He just really, really hoped Bakugou wouldn’t face Izuku.
Notes:
“Whatever it Takes” - Imagine Dragons
Honestly the determination in this song just reflects what I think the attitude of the first years during the Sports Festival.
Chapter 16: things we lost in the fire
Summary:
izuku and todoroki have a serious talk. shouto has a lot of things to think over. ochako makes a friend.
Notes:
everyone: author are you ok?
author: i have never been ok in my life and i don’t plan on starting now
everyone: take a break
author: i will not.in all seriousness writing is highkey a way author copes with her anxiety and if somebody wants her to slow down you will have to fight her on a cliff dual wielding daggers and being prepared to get shot with an arrow to the heart
shoutouts to QueenOfTheDarkness and SilverIvy for helping me out about fien’s ethnicity— i really want to portray her correctly and any tips are welcome <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“ AND WE HAVE THE UNDEFEATED CHAMPION OF THE FESTIVAL, MIDORIYA IZUKU OF 1-F, VERSUS TODOROKI SHOUTO, THE UNDISPUTED MOST POWERFUL STUDENT IN 1-A! ”
Izuku looked Todoroki dead in the eye as he cracked his knuckles and ran his fingers over his belt, making absolutely sure he had everything in order. Todoroki’s eye twitched.
Izuku knew he had been harsh, but Todoroki needed to hear every word.
“Mind if we chat for a bit before we really duke it out?” He asked leisurely. “I’d like to draw this out a bit, you know? Another glacier incident and the crowd would get bored. Besides, the cameras can’t hear us.”
Todoroki looked at him confusedly, but seemed to understand, and nodded. That was a bit odd for the aloof boy to agree, but maybe Izuku’s words before had gotten through to him.
“START!”
The walked to the center, and Izuku stuck out a hand that Todoroki awkwardly shook.
“I feel like I should apologize for being so brash earlier, but I stand by what I said.”
The red-and-white boy nodded after a beat. “It’s okay. I think I needed to hear that from someone-- and it really wasn’t fair of me to unload that on you. I barely know your name.”
Izuku shrugged in response. “I feel like I should bring up one small, other thing.”
“Um. Go for it?”
“There are people in this stadium that don’t have a fraction of your power and are still fighting as hard as they can. Collins has a nuclear quirk that could kill us all if she used it past a tiny sliver of it that she uses to power her support items. Hatsume can zoom into things, and that’s it. Hinata has a calligraphy quirk.”
Todoroki shifted uncomfortably.
“They’re all brilliant and they’ve had to work their asses off to get to Yuuei. Even me, and I was even worse off.” He gets an inquisitive look, but pushes on. “To people like us, it’s a bit of an insult to brush off half of your amazing power and refuse to give it your all against people that have been giving it theirs.”
“It’s my father’s quirk,” he grits out. “I don’t want to be anything like him.”
“You aren’t.” Izuku tilted his head slightly. “Did your father directly give you his quirk? Is he quirkless now, and you’re wielding his quirk in his stead, like some kind of old sword?”
“No--”
“Then it’s your power, isn’t it?”
His eyes widened.
Izuku took a few steps back. “Sorry, Todoroki-kun. But I really am giving it my all.”
“Wha--”
He was wrapped in the tendrils of the Blue Bomb before he could get the full word out. Izuku bowed slightly.
“Todoroki is unable to move! Midoriya moves onto the semifinals!”
“I hope to face you in real combat one day, Todoroki-kun.”
He turned, and began to walk off.
“Wait.”
Izuku looked over his shoulder at the boy who was standing, awkwardly wrapped in the Blue Bomb. “Hm?”
“What… what did you mean when you said you were worse off than Hatsume and Hinata and Collins?”
He frowned a bit and turned fully, pulling his spray bottle of saltwater from his belt and spraying the Blue Bomb off of the hero student.
“They have ‘weak’ or ‘useless’ quirks, Todoroki-kun. I don’t have one at all.”
He left Todoroki behind, returning to the viewing box of 1-F.
Meimei and Hitoshi would be waiting to congratulate him.
Shouto was… conflicted, in a word.
On one hand, Midoriya had seemingly yanked back a curtain he had refused to touch to show him what was through the window for the first time since he was little and his mother was still around.
On the other, he had just lost to a quirkless Support student-- Father would kill him.
He watched in a haze as Hatsume used some incendiary flash bomb she called the “Illumnisphere” to defeat Tokoyami with a lot more advertising than was strictly necessary, and then Shinsou somehow get Monoma to walk out of the arena, and then Uraraka and Bakugou’s bloody battle that ended in the explosive teen’s victory.
How much has Shouto missed out on because he let Father make him think that Shouto’s fire was his ?
Shouta was so, so tired.
He’s watched 1-F and Shinsou cause more chaos in one day than the entirety of 1-A’s year so far. From the overblown introduction to the fucking mine stunt to Hatsume somehow getting into the sound system (and Maijima was still trying to figure out how) to even the damn Vine that Shinsou screamed in the middle of a tournament to Midoriya somehow managing to subdue Todoroki without violence-- he was going to go grey early, andit wasn’t even from his class.
“You okay there, Shouta? Looking a little stressed,” Hizashi teased. “1-A hasn’t even caused a public uproar yet!”
“Fucking problem children ,” he grits out in response, hands twitching. “Brats have been causing chaos all fucking day.”
Hizashi’s eyes light up in mischievous understanding. “Oh, those kids that bugged you into teaching them escrima?”
“ Who the fuck else, Hizashi? ”
And his husband, the traitor, laughs.
Kami, he hates his job.
“Hey, Uraraka.”
Ochako looked up from her phone where she had just finished talking to her parents to see Hatsume. “O-oh. Hi.” She wiped her tears away.
Hatsume slumped into the chair next to her. “I’m having a moral dilemma, to be honest. There’s a chance that Hitoshi will beat Bakugou and Hitoshi will be a finalist, but that’s a chance I don’t want to take. I don’t want to hurt Izukkun, but that might be the only way to keep him from fighting that bastard.”
Ochako blinked at the pink-haired girl. “Do they have a grudge against each other?” she asked after a moment.
“More than that,” Hatsume huffed in response, sprawling her upper body on the cool metal table. “Bakugou is a complete fucking bastard and he’s gonna maim Izukkun if he gets the chance, and I mean that seriously-- he fucking hates Izukkun.”
Something clicked. “Is Midoriya that ‘Deku’ Bakugou’s been cursing out since the first round?”
Hatsume straightened at the name. “Don’t… don’t say that. Deku was a name people from Izukkun’s old school used to bully him, and it’s… it doesn’t bring up happy memories.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
Hatsume shrugs. “Anyways, so I was thinking about this support item with might be able to help with your nausea…”
Notes:
“Things We Lost in the Fire” - Bastille
Isn’t it obvious tho?
Sorry I’m v tired and I don’t want to explain the obvious
Chapter 17: angel with a shotgun
Summary:
hitoshi versus bakugou
and izuku versus mei
nobody is happy
and nobody can be saved
Notes:
author made a playlist
https://open.spotify.com/user/v6b0c2rgp340cezzuyssind8x/playlist/3gNC32fxluUD5lgOwdEWG8?si=g9XA7eEcSsakQv5BAhXw2g
here u go lads
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku had a lot of faith in his friends.
He knew that at least Meimei would always be there to support him. He knew that Hitoshi understood what it was like to be shunted aside for something they couldn’t control. 1-F knew he had overcome his barriers to make it this far.
But he also knew, no matter how long or hard Hitoshi trained, he couldn’t beat Katsuki.
Katsuki was savage, a brutal personality mixed with an incredibly destructive quirk. Katsuki had both intelligence and strength in spades, plus an overproduction of confidence-- it’s why everyone idolized him for years. It’s why Izuku idolized him.To young Izuku, Kacchan could do anything he set his mind to. Now, Izuku understood his old bully even better: Bakugou Katsuki would destroy every obstacle in his path to win, and he didn’t care what fell apart in the process.
If he could harness that, he’d be a great hero, Izuku knew. But until then, Izuku had to treat Katsuki as he was: a danger to himself and his friends.
Hitoshi didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in Hell against Katsuki. Neither did Meimei. To be honest, Izuku didn’t either, but he had the best chance out of all of them. He knew Katsuki best. He knew things they didn’t. He knew Katsuki’s fighting style, his weaknesses, his strengths. Katsuki barely knew Izuku anymore.
Izuku couldn’t stop Katsuki from hurting Hitoshi, unable to interfere with a public event or tak Hitoshi out of it. He did, in fact, know when it was no longer his place to step in.
But he could save Meimei, and he swore to whatever got was watching him that he would.
Mei was stressed.
Shinsou knew the stakes-- he knew what Bakugou would do to Izukkun if he gets the chance. Shinsou knew that Mei was going to be trying her damndest to save Izukkun from that.
They both knew the odds of beating Bakugou and Izukkun. Where Izukkun lacked a quirk, he made up for it in pure tactical and analytical genius. He knew the ins and outs of Mei’s support items, how to disable them, how to escape from them, and how to counter them.
Mei knew Izukkun, but he studied her.
She stood across the arena from him, searching her best friend’s face for a trace of doubt, a flinch. No matter what Izukkun thought, Mei knew he couldn’t fight Bakugou and walk away unscathed. Even if he won, Mei knew he would be scared the entire battle.
If Izuku lost, he wouldn’t be the same.
Mei remembered what he was like when she first met him: shrinking away from her when she spoke too loud or moved too suddenly, fear flashing in his eyes and jumping back with a strangled cry every time something exploded. The way he would try to hide in the shadows of his curly green hair whenever they walked down the street together, how he was always rushing to apologize even when it obviously wasn’t his fault.
And Mei remembered what it was like the first time he laughed when his project went up in flames in front of him, anxious but delighted. The first time he called her Meimei. The first time he complained about Mei’s bad habit of leaving everything in total disarray. The first time he didn’t back down when they disagreed, his eyes blazing with the need to be right .
She didn’t want Izukkun to go back to how he was before, scared of life and beaten down by the world.
Izukkun’s eyes were terrifyingly blank as they stared each other down. And Mai knew in that exact moment, he was going to fight with everything he had.
“Pick a god and pray to it,” he said in a voice that sent chills down her spine. Mei’s hand tightened on her belt. “I’m not losing.”
“I know you won’t,” she murmured, barely audible to even herself. “I’ll pray to all of them for you, though.”
“ THE CHARISMATIC GENIUS HATSUME MEI OF SUPPORT COURSE 1-F! VERSUS! THE DARK AND UNDEFEATED PRODIGY MIDORIYA IZUKU OF SUPPORT COURSE 1-F! ”
Surprisingly, Aizawa-sensei throws in his own two cents. “ These two are both best friends and design partners-- I’ve never seen one without the other. Most of their support items were collaborations, and if they weren’t, it’s almost certain the other knows exactly how it works. Hatsume is an on-the-spot inventor, with a talent for assembling support items on the fly, and Midoriya’s determination and tactical analysis is unmatched by the rest of first-year Yuuei so far. ”
Kayama-sensei threw her whip-thing up. “START!”
Mei knew within seconds it was a loss.
She immediately started her Jet and barely dodged a Pink Bomb aimed at her feet and charged forward, dodging a pair of Blue Bombs and drawing her Lightningrod, swiping out--
-- which was parried by Izukkun’s pair. He shoved hard with them, forcing her back, and she hovered just above the ground and glared before sending a Blue Bomb his way, which he dodged, right towards her.
Mei jerked back again, but his Lightningrods had already pinned one of her feet to the ground. She felt the hum die as the systems fried, and she swore, scrambling back even more
But Izukkun was relentless, his dark face the only thing Mei could see as he slashed out again and again with his Lightningrods until Mei drew her second and finally caught them between her own.
There was a pause as they struggled against each other. There were no words, just silence as they fought for control.
“Sorry, Meimei.”
“Wha--”
Something hit her hard in the gut, and she wheezed and stumbled back a few steps, curling a bit.
“Hatsume is out of bounds! Midoriya advances to the finals!”
Mei’s eyes widened as she scanned the ground.
Only half a meter from Izukkun’s feet was the white line, which she had gone straight over when he kicked her.
Without another word, her best friend helped her stand and took her sleeve like he would when they were walking through the halls of Yuuei, leading Mei to the exit.
Mei failed.
And if Izukkun suffered for it, she would never forgive herself.
“Alright, Shinsou-kun, this is the final prototype of the Sirencall.”
With five days until the Festival, Midoriya pulled him into a room that Yamada-sensei had hesitantly given them permission to use-- one he used to train his quirk. Midoriya had looked almost like he was proud of himself, but Hitoshi didn’t know him well enough yet. Hatsume definitely did, but she wasn’t here.
“What’s it do?”
Midoriya slid on a pair of sound-cancelling headphones. His normally soft voice was a bit louder as he said, “Turn the knob and don’t stop when it makes the annoying sound.”
He did as Midoriya asked as the small teen shoved earplugs into his ears.
“The Sirencall is a voice-changer, translator, and amplifier,” Midoriya told him. “Those earbud thingies are to keep you from going deaf-- it cancels out anything that reaches a harmful decibel.
“Now screech as loud as you can.”
Dubious, Hitoshi turned around and did as he asked.
And holy hell .
He might not have been able to actually hear it, but it shattered the bulletproof glass in the center of the room into practically dust.
“That’s your new best friend, Shinsou-kun,” Midoriya told him seriously.
If Hitoshi knew anything about Bakugou from his previous fights was that he was gonna end this fast. Hitoshi also knew he was pretty fragile next to the explosive bastard. He would need to focus everything into a single attack if he wanted even the chance of winning.
“ THE MYSTERIOUS SHINSOU HITOSHI OF GENERAL EDUCATION 1-C! VERSUS! THE EXPLOSIVE BAKUGOU KATSUKI OF HEROICS 1-A! HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY, AIZAWA? ”
A pause. “ A lot less Heroics students are going to be on the winner’s stage than ever in Yuuei’s history, no matter what the outcome of this fight is. ”
“START!”
BOOM -POP-POP-POP!
And Hitoshi screamed back with every ounce of force he could put behind it, the volume ramped up to full in the face of the fire blooming in front of him.
Notes:
“Angel With a Shotgun” - The Cab
This song is about fighting for love and throwing away your beliefs and safety to earn it or protect it.
Mei loves Izuku like a brother, and vise versa. They just want to protect each other, which ends in both feeling afraid for the battle ahead of Hitoshi loses.
Hitoshi wants to protect Izuku because Izuku is one of the first people outside of his family to accept him wholeheartedly, and it goes hand-in-hand wth the song: he’s hopelessly pining over Izuku and is sacrificing his safety to try and keep Bakugou away from Izuku.
how’s that for a cliffhanger?
Chapter 18: believer
Summary:
izuku versus bakugou
for all his sins he shall pay
no one is ever lucky
and nobody’s okay
Notes:
author didnt update a lot today because she worked very very hard on making this chapter good. please dont hate her
why is she still talking in third person? she has no fucking idea but its too late to stop
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku had tried to tell Hitoshi.
Katsuki had taken out his hearing aids because he figured out how Hitoshi’s quirk worked-- the Sirencall wouldn’t be enough.
But Hitoshi was already out in the arena,thinking he was ready to fight Katsuki.
Izuku’s heart had felt ripped to shreds as he was forced to do nothing but watch, the largest and loudest explosion he had ever seen Katsuki produce rocketing towards his friend.
Hitoshi’s scream had originally been artificial, but quickly turned to pain was he was blown back and thrown across the arena into the wall, his shrieks of pain from the sensation of being burnt alive and thrown like a ragdoll amplified by the Sirencall until he passed out and Recovery Girl and Midnight hurried him off the field.
The crowd had been silent, shocked by the absolutely brutal display of power. All those who hadn’t been disturbed by his fight with Uraraka were shocked now. Nobody cheered for Katsuki as he stalked off the field.
Izuku didn’t really remember much in his haze of panic and fury, but Meimei said he went nuts and almost broke into the nurse’s office while Hitoshi was being brought in.
Izuku sat by his friend’s bedside now, carding his fingers through Hitoshi’s hair and trying to keep his tears at bay. He was gonna be strong-- for Hitoshi.
He wouldn’t suffer any major scars that wouldn’t fade within a few weeks physically.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Meimei tells him, taking his wrist gingerly, her calloused hand warm on his skin.
“Yeah, it is,” he muttered.
“It was the bastard’s fault,” Meimei insists. “Listen to me, Izukkun: Hitoshi unleashed the Sirencall after Bakugou sent the explosion. Hitoshi would have ended up like this, hearing aids or no.”
“I--” Izuku felt wretched as he looked at Hitoshi, laying with his face still twisted in pain. “I know you’re right, but… I should have been faster.”
She squeezed his wrist gently. “Izuku, I… I need to tell you something I did, but I don’t want you to hate me.”
Izuku looked to his best friend. She had never, not once, used his real name.
“I could never hate you,” he said honestly.
Meimei looked extraordinarily doubtful, but she spoke anyway, starting to cry as she talked about what she thought she had done wrong.
And, somehow, she managed to make him smile, even when she believed she would make him angry. But how could Izuku get mad at his first, best friend friend for caring?
Shouta was fuming .
Hizashi tied one of Shouta’s hands down to keep him from bursting out of the commentary box and expelling that brat on the spot. Shinsou was capable, yes, but lacked formal battle training outside of escrima and some practice with support items and was a General Education student. Bakugou had no restraint, and that wasn’t always a good thing, especially with his quirk-- if Shinsou had been any closer, he’d be scarred for life, and it would be likely he would have experienced serious ear damage if it hadn’t been for Midoriya’s sound-cancelling earbuds.
Shouta was haunted by many things. Never before had it been the screams of a student as they were brutalized by another.
Izuku faced Katsuki with a poisonous mix of fear and anger in his heart.
Izuku faced Katsuki with a poisonous mix of fear and anger in his heart.
Katsuki looked back with a smirk and a gaze full of malice.
Katsuki looked back with a smirk and a gaze full of malice.
Ruby met emerald, and Izuku’s breath caught.
Ruby met emerald, and Izuku’s breath caught.
“Look who made it into Yuuei,” Katsuki growled. “ You .”
“Guess who made it into Yuuei,” Katsuki gloated. “ Me .”
With each breath, Izuku’s anger grew.
With each breath, Izuku’s fear grew.
Hitoshi was laying in a hospital cot, covered in burns-- and it was all Katsuki’s fault.
MeiVision 1.0 sat mangled and charred in his hand-- and it was all Katsuki’s fault.
His heart sped up as he pictured his unconscious friend, hand tightening on his belt.
His heart sped up as he pictured his only friend, hand tightening on his Yuuei letter.
Izuku’s legs wouldn’t move, but he didn’t want them to. He was fighting for Hitoshi.
Izuku’s legs wouldn’t move, and he begged them to. He had to get back to Meimei.
“I hope you remembered me, Deku ,” Katsuki growled, ready to make Izuku bleed.
“That’s a gift to remember me by, Deku ,” Katsuki crowed, leaving Izuku to bleed.
Izuku reached up and tugged off his scarf, tying it around his waist.
Izuku’s shaky fingers dialed the numbers, barely able to speak.
He looked at his bully, steeling his heart as he rolled his shoulders.
He heard the sirens just as he the world faded to black .
An ugly burn scar decorated most of the left side of Izuku’s throat, the scarred skin reaching over his collar and below his shirt. In its epicenter, just above his collarbone, a perfect handprint shone silver.
“Sure fucking did, Kacchan ,” he spat mockingly. “Let’s dance .”
He could hear nothing but his own breathing for a moment. The announcing of their names was distant, and to Izuku, it sounded like the waves of an ocean against a trash-covered beach, indifferent to the boy writhing in pain on the sands, his blood mixing with the water.
“START!”
Izuku activated his boots and shot up, avoiding the initial blast (every bit as massive as the one that put Hitoshi in that hospital bed) and diving at Katsuki, drawing his twin Lightingrods and slashing out with them.
He was met with a pair of smaller, more focused explosions that sent him reeling back, regaining his footing quickly.
“You’re just a pathetic fucking Deku!”
Katsuki advanced with the speed of a cheetah, sending another pair of explosions at Izuku that he rolled under, popping back up.
“Forget the rejects! You’re quirkless!”
Izuku grit his teeth, throwing three Pink Bombs at the center of the arena. That made Katsuki hesitate, taking in this new change to the terrain, before using an explosive-powered jump over the pink sludge.
“What the hell can someone like you achieve?!”
He shook away the memory. He wasn’t Deku anymore. He was Izuku , and he was gonna make damn sure Katsuki knew that, if he won this fight or not.
“You really think you can beat me, DEKU ?!” Katsuki roared, charging at Izuku.
Izuku stood, simply waiting, before swiping his foot out. Katsuki dodged it, of course, and flung out his arm, which Izuku grabbed with ease and twisted cruelly, shoving Katsuki back several steps.
“You’ve led with the same right hook since you were four,” Izuku told him flatly, hundreds of beatings flashing through his mind’s eye. Every instinct was screaming at him to run, to cower, to be Deku again because that’s the best way for him to survive.
But he couldn’t. Izuku never had anyone on his side before, someone willing to face down the demons that crawled out of his past.
Collins and Perl forcing Katsuki to leave him alone when he was panicking.
Aria and Hinata snatching his headband to keep him distracted.
Meimei trying to beat Izuku so she could take Katsuki on in his stead.
Hitoshi getting put in the nurse’s office, unconscious for an indeterminate period of time because he did his damndest in a last-ditch attempt to keep the explosive bully from Izuku.
A year and a half ago, Izuku had nobody by his side that would have taken a paper cut for him. And his friends sacrificed so much for him-- placing, pain, dignity-- to save him.
Izuku was going to be himself, truly and wholly, and pay off that debt.
He took a few steps forward, and Katsuki threw a series of punches Izuku jumped out of the way of before jumping forward and slamming the tip of one of his Lightningrods into Katsuki’s chest.
Katsuki yelled in pain as he jerked back, taking a few steps back--
-- and getting his feet stuck in the Pink Bomb.
He looked down and scowled before sending another massive blast at Izuku, who flew upwards again before throwing a Blue Bomb at the Pink Bomb.
There was a very, very special reaction the two had with each other he and Meimei called the Purple Detonation.
Within seconds, the pink sludge turned lilac. Katsuki’s face twisted in confusion before he sneered.
“What?! Are you trying to beat me with some DIY slime, Deku ?!”
Right on time, the now-lilac slime exploded into massive, writhing tendrils that enveloped Katsuki and pulled him down until he was really and truly stuck in the sludge, not head nor hair visible under it.
Izuku drifted down and tore the quickly-hardening sludge away from Katsuki’s face, letting the volatile teen breathe before he backed away.
There was a long silence as Izuku took his scarf from around his waist and wrapped it around his neck, concealing the silver handprint once again.
“Bakugou is immobilized! Midoriya wins the Sports Festival!”
Katsuki’s scream of fury is drowned out by the roar of the crowd.
Izuku was so done with being afraid.
Notes:
“Believer” - Imagine Dragons
Believer is a song about how pain can mold someone into something stronger and how the narrator suffered through a lot but is now strong— “I’m the one at the sail, I’m the master of my sea”.
It’s no secret that Izuku has had his fair share of suffering and then some. Peer abuse and bullying has a lot of effect on a child’s psyche, and Izuku has come out of it with a lot of trauma that he’s learning to cope with. When I heard this as I was working on this fic, wondering what would be a good song to capture both the emotion and the fight, I immediately thought, holy Mother Goddess, this is perfect. It worked so well with the fight that I just. Had to. If you hear the rest of the lyrics, you’d totally get it too.
Chapter 19: haunting
Summary:
the izuku protection squad meets shouta and the dad instinct is invoked
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Shouta was concerned.
He may not have been very close to the arena, but he knew what a scar looked like. He’d seen a few, hell, even gotten a few in his lifetime. And he really didn’t like the shape of it, either, but he’d have to get a closer look before he did something,
Shouta had also never seen this amount of concentrated passive-aggressive energy sent at the Number One Hero, but here they were. Shinsou, Hatsume, and Midoriya were all giving him death glares as he awkwardly gave out medals.
After the awards, of course, he went to seek the three out and found Shinsou and the rest of 1-F in a burned-out husk of a Support classroom, but no Midoriya. He stood in the back, content to just listen and wait for whatever this is was to be over.
“... likelihood that he’s going to be transferred into 1-A is 75%, since there is an open seat there. Shinsou’s likelihood of being offered a transfer is 85%, and there is a 15% chance they will be in the same homeroom, with 10% being both of them in 1-A and 5% in 1-B.”
Reiki continued to rattle off statistics, becoming even more astronomically small, before she relined a bit, letting her twin support her.
“Which brings us to our major problem: Bakugou.” Shinsou stood at the front of the room with a pristine whiteboard that must have been put in by them. Hatsume was drawing a rough sketch of… something.
Why was Bakugou a major problem to them? A grudge? Shouta’s mind flashed back to that scar, but he shook the thought away. Assault would almost certainly be on the boy’s record.
“With a 75% chance of Izuku being in 1-A and only a 10% chance of me being with him, we need to plan for worst-case scenario. Izuku being stuck in an unfamiliar class with that bastard.
A girl to the side-- Uraraka, he realizes with a jolt-- raises her hand. “I stll don’t get why you brought me in on this, but I can help.”
“I hope you like being the linchpin, then” Shinsou told her with a glance her way. “Most of this hinges on you not getting expelled and being able to diffuse situations quickly while also keeping an eye on Izuku.”
“Can do!”
Collins speaks up. “She can’t follow Izuku into the changing room, and that is a good place for an… all-bush.”
“Ambush?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, and there is someone earwigging us.”
“Hi, Aizawa-sensei,” the gathered students chorused after a beat of silence.
He looked back, and the Irish girl snorted. “Don’t you sit there gawking at us! Spit it out!”
Shouta sighed, venturing closer. “Came to find Shinsou and Midoriya, Maijima pointed me here.”
“Maijima-sensei’s a snitch,” Hatsume decides, not pausing in her work on the whiteboard. “Welcome to the Izuku Protection Squad, where we plan to throw hands with Baku-bastard if he so much as clicks his tongue in Izukkun’s direction.”
Shouta inclined his head a bit. “Why?”
A tense silence. Then, “Only if you promise to work with us on this.”
Shinsou nods, his indigo eyes steely. “Hatsume knows Izuku best, and if we don’t handle this delicately, it could blow up in our faces.”
Shouta sighed again. This was going to become a real headache, but he was gonna get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Midoriya, even if it meant making a blood pact with his fanclub. “Okay.”
Hatsume finally turned from the board, waving the marker in thought. Everyone took a seat and Reiki Aria pulled a box of tissues from under a floorboard and started to pass them out to the others, even Shinsou, who looked at it distastefully.
The door opened, and Midoriya walked in with tired eyes and a disaster of a hairstyle.
“Hito-shiiii,” he bitched, “I can’t get the fuckin’ tangles out of my hair. Hi, Aizawa-sensei.”
Shinsou sighed made made the boy sit down next to where he was sitting and pulled a brush from his bag before going to work on Midoriya’s hair.
“Hmm, were you guys getting Aizawa-sensei to join?”
“Yeah. You okay with it?” Shinsou asked.
“I guess. There are worse people.”
Midoriya reached into his pocket and fit two things into his ears.
Hatsume inhaled and began, for the second time that day, Midoriya’s tale.
Shouta hates the system, he decides as he throws open the door to Nedzu’s office.
“Aizawa-kun.” The rat, for once, looked surprised at his entry. “Is something the matter?”
“On the grounds of assault, illegal quirk usage on a minor, and peer abuse as well as suicide baiting, I want Bakugou Katsuki out of my class. Effective immediately .”
Notes:
“Haunting” — Halsey
Idk the vibes matched and that’s about it lmao
Chapter 20: angel on fire
Summary:
a tradition is upheld
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku opened his eyes and saw that Uraraka was crying, and so were the Reiki twins, so he guessed the story was finished. He never liked hearing or retelling it-- it reminded him of too many bad things that he wanted to forget.
Aizawa-sensei’s mouth is moving, but Izuku can’t hear him.
Izuku takes the Hearing Cancellers from his ears and asks, “Sorry, can you repeat that?”
The man looks briefly at him before repeating the question. “Do you have any physcial evidence?”
Izuku bit his lip before quietly saying, “I have a few shitty phone videos on a flash drive I hid at my mom’s house. And, um.”
He was suddenly extremely self-conscious, something he rarely felt these days as the eyes in the room turned to him. Anxious, yes, but never about his appearance.
“I-I have a lot, a lot of scars,” he mumbled, hiding his face in his scarf.
He was so, so glad when Aizawa-sensei kept up the impersonal questions, or didn’t ask for elaboration. “Are there that can be directly tied to him?”
Izuku took a deep breath. Only hours ago, this had seemed so easy, so natural to throw it off and expose it to the world. But now that he was here, it was like the most daunting task possible.
“The-- this, this one,” he mumbled, loosening his scarf and tugging it out of the way to reveal the silver handprint branding his skin in the center of an explosion-shaped burn.
Meimei-- his rock, his best friend, his confidante-- fainted on the spot.
Uraraka had to take her to Recovery Girl while Izuku curled under the table, wanting everything to just go away.
Izuku stood shakily in front of the closed door to the principal’s office that had drifted shut moments before, his hand mere centimeters from the doorknob as Aizawa-sensei made his demands to Nedzu.
Hitoshi carefully took his other hand. “They’ll help, Izuku.”
Aizawa-sensei had allowed Izuku to bring along one friend for moral support, and with Meimei still out cold in the nurse’s office (a flash of pain in his chest followed that thought), the next option was Hitoshi.
Izuku adored 1-F, really, but Hitoshi just understood him. And Hitoshi still had a broken arm and several broken ribs in Izuku’s honor, so it was pretty clear Izuku could trust the taller boy.
“I know,” he murmured back, opening the door quietly and entering.
Nedzu’s eyes were on Izuku immediately, and he got the feeling of being scrutinized. Was this how people felt when he analyzed them?
“Midoriya Izuku, the first quirkless student in Yuuei. Are you here about being transferred?”
“He and Shinsou are with me,” Aizawa-sensei cut in. “Midoriya, do you feel safe showing him what you showed me?”
He flinched and immediately moved closer to Hitoshi. Hitoshi kept a hold on his hand.
“I won’t look if you don’t want me to.”
After a long silence, Izuku nodded, and Hitoshi covered his eyes with his free hand as Izuku undid the scarf to show the principal his scar before quickly covering it back up.
Nedzu’s calculation gaze softened. “Oh, dear. This really is quite the situation, isn’t it?”
Hatsume woke up crying.
Ochako immediately went to her new friend’s side, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding the Support student’s hands as she sobbed wretchedly.
“Hatsume,” Ochako said softly. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”
The girl shook her head savagely, dreadlocks whipping from side to side as she struggled for words.
“I-I-Izuku,” she cried out. “Izuku got hurt, a-a-and…”
Ochako let Hatsume gather herself. After a long silence, the tears abated, and Hatsume could finally speak.
“He, he didn’t come over one day,” she sniffed. “The day we got our letters. We, we were gonna, gonna open them together. But he didn’t show up, up until the day after, after and his neck was all. It was all bandaged up, and he told me his necklace exploded and I just accepted it.”
Ochako slid across the bed, wrapping an arm around Hatsume and drawing her close. Ochako may not be the most qualified for comfort, but she always liked being held and reminded that someone was there for her. Maybe it would work for Hatsume, too.
“Midoriya’s a private person, Hatsume-chan,” she said softly. “He probably saw it as his own problem, or he was ashamed about it. Maybe that’s what he really thought for a while. But that boy trusts you with his life, Hatsume, and I can tell that pretty easily. Right after you fainted, he curled up and wouldn’t respond to anoyone but Hitoshi for a while. He probably wanted to protect you from that.”
Ochako let Hatsume cry.
After all, what else was there to do?
Hitoshi’s leg bounced anxiously as he looked around the empty classroom. There was a seating chart drawn on the whiteboard, so Hitoshi assumed it was a new thing. He was in the very back, Izuku to his immediate left and in the back left corner exactly.
1-A slowly filed in, none noticing the two exhausted teens. Some midget kid sat in front of Izuku and Yaomomo sat in front of the midget-- she looked uncomfortable.
At last, everyone was in their seats, Hitoshi and Izuku having successfuly (somehow) avoided attention. Izuku’s head rested on his desk, completely out cold, and Hitoshi guessed he was up all night designing again.
Instead of waking him as the bell rang, Hitoshi sneakily put Izuku’s hair in a messy bun. Sue him, just because Izuku’s not on the menu doesn’t mean he can’t look.
Aizawa-sensei walked into the classroom, his eyes sweeping over 1-A (plus Izuku and Hitoshi) before sighing.
“You all really need a situational awareness course. This is getting ridiculous.”
There was a loud BANG and Hitoshi jumped, glancing over to see Izuku had slammed Midget’s face into his desk. Yaomomo’s face was bright red as she looked back, her hands pinning her skirt to her legs.
“That was the fastest vibe check I have ever seen,” Hitoshi announced. “Everyone else, go home.”
It took all of three seconds before Izuku was fast asleep on his desk again, Midget crying grossly as Yaomomo recognized them with a smile.
“Oh! Shinsou-kun, Midoriya-kun! It’s nice to see you two again!”
Hitoshi nodded uncomfortably, all the eyes of 1-A on him.
“Wait, did the sleeping dude just vibe check Mineta and pass out again?” One of them-- Hitoshi thinks his name is Kaminari-- asks with wide eyes.
There was a beat. “Yes,” Hitoshi confirmed awkwardly.
“Kami, what an absolute madlad,” a dark-purple-haired girl says, her eyes and smile wide.
“Shut up,” Aizawa-sensei commanded. When silence fell, he continued. “This is the scorebaord for internship offers, in the top ten.”
A screen lit up beside him.
- <1-F> Midoriya Izuku - 14,817 HEROICS - 8,761 SUPPORT
- <1-F> Hatsume Mei - 1,876 HEROICS - 9,821 SUPPORT
- <1-C> Shinsou Hitoshi - 8,724
- <1-A> Uraraka Ochako - 7,982
- <1-B> Monoma Neito - 7,419
- <1-A> Todoroki Shouto - 4,801
- <1-A> Tokoyami Fumikage - 3,991
- <1-A> Yaoyorozu Momo - 3,990
- <1-F> Collins Fianna - 291 HEROICS - 3,019 SUPPORT
- <1-B> Shiozaki Ibara - 2,131
“As you can see, 1-A takes up less than half of this list. Never in history has this happened, so you can pretty clearly see that you need to train harder for next year, otherwise you may lose your place in this class.”
Izuku had picked his head up and Hitoshi watched him scan the board with exhausted eyes. “Wha’s the fuckin’ point of givin’ Meimei Heroics internships,” he muttered to Hitoshi.
“People can’t tell when people want to be in a different field than their own,” Hitoshi reasoned back.
“So pick your experience week internships by Friday, or you will have one chosen for you. If you’re like Mineta and don’t have any offers--” callouts? This early? Tea-- “come see me after class. You’re picking hero names today.”
Hitoshi felt the exact moment when his soul left his body.
He hadn’t even thought of that yet!
Izuku seemed to be having a similar crisis, his normally neutral green eyes blown wide.
“And because I’m apparently ‘not qualified to judge whether or not a name is good for your public image’--”
“I’m here!” Kayama-sensei kicked in the door with a flourish, and Midget squeaked. His head was, again, slammed into the desk in a vibe check so fast Hitoshi didn’t even see it. Aizawa-sensei crawled into his sleeping bag.
She passed out boards and blabbed about things, and when everyone else was presenting names-- this French twink went with a whole ass sentence, the Iida dude and Freezerburn both picked their own first names, and the first actually decent one coming from a girl named Asui Tsuyu-- Froppy.
“You’ve got freaky mind powers,” Izuku supplied, looking like he was desperately searching for an asnwer as Kayama-sensei watched them struggle for a name. “Um. Mindfuck?”
That is sincerely the stupidest hero name Hitoshi had ever heard, and he grew up idolozing a guy who, for whatever ungodly reason, chose Eraserhead .
And yet, when he blinked, he was standing at the front of the class.
“The Puppeteer Hero: Mindfuck.”
Kayama-sensei raised her eyebrows, and Hitoshi felt his ears go beet red. “It’s Izuku’s idea,” he mumbled aggressively, trying to regain some sort of dignity.
It was lost when she snorted, her eyes crinkling. “Yeah, it’s fine. Midoriya, you’re up.”
Izuku’s shoulders were shaking quietly, and Hitoshi was a slave to the small smile Izuku was trying to hide. So maybe he’d be stuck with the world’s worst hero name, but at least he made Izuku laugh.
Hitoshi returned to his seat just in time to watch Izuku peer over the podium (damn, he’s really short) and hold out his whiteboard.
“The Forgotten Hero: Nyx.”
Hitoshi’s eyebrows shot up. “You give me Mindfuck but pull that one out of your ass on the spot? This is favoritism.”
Izuku smiled at him, wide and genuine, and Hitoshi knows he won’t regret ‘Mindfuck’ as long as he remembers this moment.
Wow, he’s so gay.
“Wait, where’s Bakugou?” asks a red-headed boy suddenly.
Aizawa-sensei finally sat up and sent a look at the class. He drew himself to his full height the moment he stood, and suddenly looked absolutely terrifying.
“Bakugou Katsuki is in Nedzu’s office, determining the terms of his expulsion with his parents.”
Notes:
“Angel on Fire” - Halsey
It’s really the chorus I connected to this chapter. Izuku was literally and metaphorically on fire, burning up under the pressure that was Bakugou. He’s rising from the ashes of “Deku” and becoming himself.“The Forgotten Hero” is a reference to how he’s going to be underground— he’s supposed to be forgotten. “Nyx” is short for “Phoenix”, a reference to Izuku leaving behind his old self, and it’s also the Greek personification of the night. Typically depicted as female, but who cares?
Chapter 21: pompeii
Summary:
izuku and 1-A are off to a bad start. hitoshi doesn’t like izuku’s mom. katsuki and his parents have a talk with nedzu and aizawa.
Notes:
the author noticed that some of you noticed that the izuku protection squad only added aizawa in as a defense system and didn’t expect him to actually do anything. this is true, and it’s mostly because the adults (especially teachers) in izuku’s life have done nothing in the past. author wonders if the readers will notice a small change she made in izuku’s pov. :))
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hatsume Shirorei and Hatsume Kurotei were quite the pair.
Kuro-san, Hatsume’s father, upon meeting Hitoshi, immediately made a joke about the world not being as black and white as it seemed. Shiro-san, Hatsume’s mother, told Izuku that they liked to call their daughter Grey Mei sometimes, just to laugh at the way her expression twisted at the name.
Izuku adored them. He loved how when they fussed, it was about something stupid like how he never let them buy him clothes, or how when he and Meimei stayed up all night to finish a project they’d mix some Five Hour Energy into their coffee that morning (it tasted awful, but it got them through the day), or how when he needed to be alone they wouldn’t bother him about it and respect that he needed time. He even loved how they would laugh and do his hair for him when Meimei couldn’t tame it.
He really, really loved how they never once told him not to follow his dreams.
He remembered one day vividly, not long before the Sports Festival.
“You wanna tell me what’s wrong, Squirt?”
Izuku stared at the wall, hands working at his scarf, making micro-changes to its position. “I… I think I should, probably.”
Shiro-san draped herself over the couch, her bubblegum-pink hair pulled into a low ponytail. She glanced over at him with calm eyes. “Alright. Shoot.”
“I just…” Izuku pulled his knees into his chest. “What if everyone else is right? What if I can’t even place? Then that’d mean I’m really not cut out to be a hero.”
There was a long pause, and Izuku began to fear the worst.
“Y’know, I think you could do it, Squirt,” she says conclusively. “And if you don’t, then we won’t see you as less. Pro or not, you’re our hero, alright?”
“What-- why?”
Shiro-san shook her head slightly. “Mei doesn’t have many friends, I don’t think she has any outside of you. I’ve never seen her happier than when you two are fucking around. And that weird cat you saved probably thinks you’re a hero. And all those kids I see you defending whenever we go out.”
“... oh…”
“You’ll do just damn fine, Squirt.”
Yeah, the Hatsume family was godsend.
Unfortunately, not a single was there to reassure him in this moment.
“Why, sir?”
His hands curled, already shaking at the thought of having to explain again , for the third time in two days. Hitoshi reached over and placed his thin ones over Izuku’s, his indigo eyes sharp with concern.
“It’s not my place to say much more than that Bakugou is lucky the other party isn’t pressing charges.”
“Not at liberty-- you mean the other guy started it!” A black-haired boy with weird elbows rose from his seat. Izuku bit back a whimper as memories flashed in his mind’s eye.
“Midoriya, you need to stop picking fights with Bakugou.”
“Izuku, you really shouldn’t get so rough with Katsuki…”
Aizawa’s quirk was activated in an instant, a sudden furious pressure in the room. The muttering of the bravest students were silenced, and Hitoshi’s grip tightened minutely.
“No, Sero.” Aizawa spoke with an amount of ice in his voice comparable to the Arctic. “I mean severe quirk discrimination and instigating physcial and verbal abuse against one of his classmates in middle school. Sit down before I decide to kick you out, too.”
The class was absolutely silent, even Kayama-sensei’s eyes wide, as Aizawa left the room, carefully-contained rage in every motion.
“Class dismissed .”
Hitoshi knew Izuku was already in a bad mood when they approached the Midoriya house together three hours later, but it fouled considerably more when he knocked on the door and was greeted by a green-haired woman who somehow both cried and lectured him at the same time about something he couldn’t really understand.
“Mom--”
“You embarrassed Katsuki on live television, too!” Midoriya-san’s voice pitched higher. “I don’t understand why you would do that to your friend !”
Izuku’s face was rapidly paling as his mother went on about how he was being such an awful friend to Bakugou, how upset ‘Mitsuki’ was. “You could have killed him, Izuku!”
Izuku made a strangled sound, and Hitoshi’s already frail patience snapped.
“Midoriya-san, I suggest you don’t talk about things you don’t understand. Baku-bastard and Izuku aren’t friends.”
Midoriya-san gaped at him, tears rapidly clearing into a hard look. “And who are you?”
“Izuku’s actual friend,” he snapped back, stepping between Izuku and his mother. “And he isn’t here to stay. We came to pick something up and leave. You have no right to lecture him about things you aren’t involved in.”
“I’m his mother !”
“And that just means jackshit to me. Piss off, lady.”
She had the most affronted expression on her face, and she looked to Izuku. “Izuku, I don’t want you talking to this boy anymore. He’s clearly a bad influence.”
Izuku was pale and shaking, and Hitoshi reached behind him to subtly clasp the smaller boy’s hand.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he assured quietly.
Izuku’s hand curled around his unsteadily, and Hitoshi held it firmly. Hatsume wasn’t here, so Hitoshi had to do his damndest to be his small friend’s rock.
“Leave, leave him alone, Mom,” Izuku said quietly. “I’m not staying. R-remember our deal?”
Midoriya-san’s face twisted into disgust before smoothing out. “Fine. Get it, Izuku. You’re always wanted here.”
There was a pause as Izuku led Hitoshi down the hall, before ducking beneath the bed-- Hitoshi still in tow-- to pry up a floorboard and retrieve a pouch, like the one nerds keep dice in. He peeked in it before he and Hitoshi went to leave.
Midoriya-san blocked the way.
“Your principal emailed me about how you will transfer to 1-A.” Her eyes are flinty. “You realize you won’t pass. It’s too dangerous for you.”
Izuku’s hold tightened on Hitoshi, and they moved past Midoriya-san out the door.
It was rare when Hitoshi wanted to deck someone, but he really, really wanted to assault that woman as he passed her.
No one got to speak to Izuku like that. His friend was 1.6 meters of badassery but somehow sweet and undyingly loyal at the same time-- it was the least Hitoshi could do to return the kindness Izuku gave him.
Who knows, maybe Izuku isn’t straight. It’s a tiny chance, but damn him if he wasn’t gonna follow it to the end.
Three hours before...
Katsuki tapped his foot against the ground. The hag and the old man sat on either side of him, their expressions neutral.
He really didn’t know what this was about, but he was getting pretty annoyed with the rodent, who looked like he was fucking around with a bunch of different pencils on his notepad. It was taking forever, and the rodent occasionally even closed his eyes to think(?) for a while before continuing.
The hobo had entered the room a little bit ago, looking actually pissed about something. Maybe he got evicted or something. “How long have you been keeping them waiting, Nedzu?”
“Only two hours!” The rodent replied cheerfully, as if he wasn’t wasting two hours to just sit there. And he’d been making Katsuki miss all of his classes to sit here and wait for his parents to get off work. “How’s this, Aizawa-kun? I’m thinking it might need a bit more time to be completely accurate.”
The hobo leaned over, and his face twisted into something even darker. “It’ll work for civilians. Maybe more detail for the police sketch, though.”
The rodent beams at the hobo. “You can start us off, then, since you’re Bakugou-shounen’s homeroom teacher!”
The teacher glared at Katsuki before going to the wall opposite them and pulling his dark hair out of his face.
“As I’m certain you’re aware, Bakugou-san and Bakugou-san, Midoriya Izuku won the Sports Festival.”
Katsuki’s hands curled as he fought to keep a sneer down. Did they seriously just call him here to insult him more ?!
“Yes!” The hag nodded with a wide smile, and Katsuki had to resist scoffing. “Masaru and I are really proud of the brat-- I’ve known him since the delivery room, you know, and to see him getting out there and chasing his goals is wonderful, he’s always been such a shy kid.”
The hobo nodded stiffly, a bit of aggression leaving his expression. “He and Shinsou Hitoshi, the General Education student that your son fought in the semifinals, were both offered transfers that they accepted. Both of them will be in 1-A as of second semester.”
Katsuki stiffened in his seat.
That worthless, quirkless piece of shit? In his class? It was bad enough the airhead was in Yuuei!
“Really?! Oh my Kami , that’s wonderful!” The old man was nodding enthusiastically along with the hag’s statement as she continued. “I can barely believe it-- Inko didn’t tell us shit! Didn’t even tell us he was in Yuuei, either!”
“Unfortunately, that brings us to part of why you two are here. When was the last time you two saw Midoriya Izuku?”
They both froze, and so did Katsuki.
“He’s--”
“No, he’s not missing. Or dead. He’s in the Support classroom right now with 1-F and Shinsou, probably setting something on fire and giving Power Loader a heart attack. Please just answer the question.”
The hag relaxed considerably, worrying at her lip. “Ah, Kami, I’m not sure how long this was-- it was before Yuuei, definitely… Ah! Four months ago, I think, he was headed to Dagobah.” She huffed. “Damn, it’s been a while.”
“What do you know about his home situation?”
Katsuki’s eyes shot up. They were asking about Auntie? Was Auntie abusive? Was that why he was here?
The shitnerd deserved everything he got, but Auntie Inko was too soft-hearted to actually give it to him.
“Um. He and Inko were fighting more often, I think. Recently, Inko’s been talking about how rebellious he’s being, and when we were watching the Sports Festival she was constantly worrying about how dangerous it was, but that’s just how single parents are, I guess.”
“Where is his father?”
The hag snorted. “That shitbag? When Izu was three, Inko found out he was having an affair and they had a divorce-- it was really nasty, and I can swear on my life that’s why Izuku has so many problems with his mother. The poor brat’s never really gotten over it, he and his father were close. He’s off in America now, as far from them as Inko could drive him. Somewhere in New York City, last I heard.”
The rodent was taking notes as the hobo talked more. “We have reason to believe Midoriya isn’t staying with his mother right now.”
There was a pause as Katsuki tried to decipher what that meant-- Deku was a piece of shit, but he’d never leave his mother alone in that house.
At least, not the old Deku , his mond whispered.
“Well… I don’t see him often anymore, and really? Don’t tell Inko I said this, but I wouldn’t be all that surprised.”
“... elaborate.”
The old man spoke up now, his voice soft as he went on. “Inko is a very protective mother, and for a good reason. The world isn’t kind to quirkless kids, and Inko tries her best being the only parent Izuku has. Sometimes shecan be a bit suffocating, though, and even though we didn’t agree with that, it was her decision to parent Izuku like that.”
The hag nodded, picking up the train of thought. “Last time I saw those two together was when I was swinging by for tea-- I couldn’t actually get in the door because they were in a screaming match. Something about how Inko was treating him like glass. I left right after, though. Not my business.”
“Thank you, Bakugou-san. Now, to get to the real reason you’re here.” The hobo cracked his neck, eyes hostile. “Are you aware that if Midoriya Izuku was any less forgiving, he would be pressing charges against your son?”
Katsuki’s blood turned to ice.
Absolute silence.
“ What .”
“I’d appreciate it if you all stayed silent as I explained. It would make this significantly easier on all of us.”
“Please hold your questions to the end,” Rodent added cheerfully.
His parents nodded, and Katsuki had to level out his breathing. They don’t have any evidence. Everything the shitnerd could have said can be passed off as a lie because he was desperate for attention as usual.
“From what we know, Bakugou and Midoriya have known each other since they were small. Going off of that, they must have been close.” Hobo paused. “Until they were four and their quirk came in-- or didn’t-- from what we understand. Bakugou got a rather impressive quirk, and Midoriya was discovered to be quirkless. A close friend of Midoriya’s--” --so one of those 1-F extras or that freak from 1-C-- “--testified that this was around the time Midoriya told her he was given the cruel nickname ‘Deku’, am I wrong?”
He was met with slight shakes of his parent’s heads.
“Good. Now, ‘Deku’ can be read one of two ways. ‘Blockhead’ being more common, or ‘Useless’ as the other. You can understand why a couple of playground bullies would gift that name to a quirkless kid.”
“ Bullies--?! ”
“Please hold all questions!”
“Midoriya couldn’t personally testify, but the close friend recounted what he was able to tell her privately-- he was relentlessly bullied by his peers all through school until Yuuei and didn’t have any friends.”
The hag made a strangled sound as Katsuki clenched his hands. They can’t prove anything .
“The friend also told us about the physical abuse he suffered from his classmates, namely Bakugou Katsuki.”
Silence reigned again, and the tension in the room mounted. They can’t prove anything .
“Sometime in early April last year, your son suicide baited Midoriya, and on the evening of that same day I met him on the subway when he was in a state of mental breakdown. So no, I’m not pulling this out of my ass.
“He was suicide baited several times after that incident by several other students, and the close friend can testify that they often saw them looking hurt after classes or hiding a limp. Unfortunately, this came to a head sometime around early March, when Midoriya never showed up at the close friend’s apartment on the day they recieved their Yuuei letters. The next day, he showed up heavily bandaged around the neck and throat area and told her there had been an accident with one of his support items. That was not what happened.”
Nedzu held up the drawing, and Katsuki’s stomach lurched .
“This is the scarring on his throat. Look familiar?”
Oh, fuck .
Notes:
Pompeii - Bastille
Pompeii follows a theme of everything falling apart and changing. Izuku’s old life is crumbling to ash, and he’s struggling to adapt to that.
Chapter 22: young volcanoes
Summary:
izuku panics. mei thinks its funny. shouta gets an upgrade. the bakugou parents are upset.
Chapter Text
Izuku realizes halfway to Meimei’s place that he never let go of Hitoshi’s hand.
Instead of letting go like he probably should, because people could get the wrong idea, he contents himself with studying it silently. He felt the roughness of calluses starting to form from the work Hitoshi’s been doing, and it’s thin, like Izuku’s, but long enough to encompass his. And Hitoshi’s hands are warm.
Are my hands cold?
“Yes.”
He jolts and looks to his friend, turning bright red. Shit, he said that out loud!
Hitoshi doesn’t pull his hand away, though, so he assumes it might be okay with him?
“It’s like you’re a vampire,” he jokes. “Pale with dark hair and cold skin. You gonna sparkle when I finally convince you to get some sunlight?”
“Hitoshi, we’re outside.”
He just snorted in response.
A long pause, but it felt more comfortable than awkward.
“Do you think Hatsume will let me call her Mei?”
Izuku jolted again, not expecting to talk and immediately went into emergency response mode, because goddammit he can’t think through his sentences and panic at the same time. “Kiss my ass.”
A beat.
“That was… not what I intended to say.”
Hitoshi laughed loudly, and Izuku got a brief feeling of complete and utter euphoria.
“I meant to say, um. Yeah.”
“Speaking of, didn’t Fien say something about friends having nicknames for each other? What if one day I just called Ban Baa-Baa one day?”
“He’d have an aneurism,” Izuku thought aloud, imagining the bad-tempered teen’s face.
Quiet.
“That was my way of subtly asking if I’m a high enough friend status to get a nickname, Izuku.”
Izuku glanced at Hitoshi, blood rushing to his cheeks. Hitoshi wanted a nickname?
Well, I mean… he’s cute .
He shook the thought away as soon as it appeared. That was weird.
“Yeah. What about… Toshi.”
Hitoshi actually stumbled with a sputter before laughing. “Damn, okay. That’s a good one. Izu?”
“My aunt calls me that.”
“Izukkun?”
“Taken.”
“Zuzu?”
“Like those weird mice toys?”
Hit-- Toshi made a face. “You aren’t making this easy. How about… Zuku.”
Pause. “Cool.”
Toshi rolled his eyes.
They continued to walk in silence, hands interlocked, and Izuku had to tame the flush in his cheeks. What was going on with him?
He and Toshi stopped in front of Meimei’s apartment building, and he shot a smile at Izuku. Their hands came undone hesitantly, but for a few minutes after they stood in silence, their pinkies locked and faces red as they avoided each other’s gaze.”
“Seeya tomorrow… Zuku.”
“Later, H--Toshi.,” he stuttered, slowly drawing his hand from Toshi’s. Why the hell was his throat all choked up? This was the worst (and somehow the best) feeling in the universe, the suffocating feeling of… something.
They stood with each other a few moments more, before Toshi waved goodbye and began his walk down the street, away from Izuku, and Izuku walked inside.
He puzzled over at it as he climbed the stairs, pulling out his phone. Why am I freaking out over a nickname? Why did I want to hold hands with my friend?
Five ways to tell if you have a crush! one website told him cheerfully.
Oh.
Oh, shit .
Izuku ran the rest of the way up, practically exploding into the apartment. The Hatsume family was gathered around the table, and he heaved for air.
“Meimei, how do the gay crisis thing?!”
Mei stared at her best friend. His face was flushed, eyes wide, and his hand wrung his scarf anxiously.
She couldn’t help it.
She laughed.
Her mother leaned across the table. “Kuro, you owe me a thousand yen.”
“Fucking… dammit.” Her father forked over the money with a scowl. “Seriously, Squirt? Couldn’t have had it on a weekend or something?”
Izukkun gaped, and Mei had to control her shaking shoulders. “So. Who’s the lucky man that’s made you question your sexuality?”
He looked so genuinely distressed. “ Hitoshi! ”
She doubled over wheezing.
Mei was a big gay and loved seeing others having their gay panics. It was always comedy gold, and Izukkun’s was no exception.
“I-- oh Kami , you’re fucked! ”
Shouta took a lot of pleasure in watching his students squirm. He had no idea what changed the day he walked into 1-A that morning (despite the obvious transfer kids), but the dynamic was dramatically different. Everyone talked easily as usual, the same friend groups, even if Bakugou’s old clique was shadowed in doubt and fear.
Until he released them for their normal classes, and he passed Shinsou and Midoriya in the hall when they were on their way to 1-C’s classroom as usual, and he saw their pinkies linked. Just that. Neither spoke or mentioned it, but Shouta smirked to himself.
A different dynamic, indeed.
He taught Law during normal classes, but during extracurriculars he didn’t have anything to do until Heroics classes, so naturally he went to the Development Studio. Maijima had told him Midoriya was demanding to see him.
Walking in was a gift.
Shinsou was stuttering badly as he talked to Midoriya, which wasn’t anything new, except for how Hatsume was very obviously laughing at them and Midoriya was stuttering right back in the rare occurrence he spoke.
“Hey, uh. Toshi, can you pass the, um. The welder?”
Ah, so that was it.
Nicknames .
“Uh. Yeah.”
As amusing as this was to watch-- he saw the other 1-F kids having a riot in the corner-- he cleared his throat and watched the two practically jump out of their skin.
“A-ah! Aizawa-sensei.” Midoriya brushed off the shock relatively well, starting to rummage around his desk, shoving different things aside. “Maijima-sensei told you, then?”
“Told me what.”
Midoriya gave him the most exhausted look. “Your goggles are stupid.”
A pause. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t get me wrong, they work , they just suck.” He pulled a pair of goggles that looked suspiciously like the kid’s MeiVision out. “Does your quirk work through glass?”
“Yes?”
“Great.” He popped reflective lenses into place on the goggles before using the welder to carefully fuse it into place. “These are an improved version of your goggles.”
They were even painted the same atrocious yellow that Zashi liked so much.
“They have the same features as the MeiVision, but aren’t connected to any Lightningrods. It should block out wind, grit, water, and the like, to keep your eyes from drying out faster. There’s also a small canister here,” he tapped a spot on the strap, “that you can put your eye-drops in and if you press a button it will spray a fine mist into your eyes. Also, Meimei.”
Hatsume darted over and dumped a box in front of him. “The brand you use sucks! My quirk, Zoom, puts a lot of strain on my eyes if I use it for too long. The mist thing was designed for me originally. This brand works a lot better than the one you use-- it’s basically water with saline, and doesn’t do much. Bit more expensive, but worth it.”
Shouta squinted at the kids. They seemed honest enough, he supposes.
“Alright, fine.”
Mitsuki knew anger.
She lived and breathed it, not a day went by that anger didn’t permeate something she did. It was just how she lived her life— angrily and with more intimidation than strictly necessary, but she hadn’t used that anger to lash out at someone who didn’t deserve it once .
Mitsuki knew anger, but she had no idea what to do with this level of it.
Masaru knew anger.
He lived in a house full of it, and not a day went by without his wife and son getting in a screaming match. It was just the way he lived his life— quietly in a chaotic household, a steady rock in the storm he knew life was like for his family.
Masaru knew anger, but he had no idea what to do with his own.
How could she have completely failed to see it? That her son , her pride and joy, was… was abusing , there’s really no other word for it, her nephew. Izuku . Izuku, whose smile could outshine the sun. Whose passion outmatched anyone she had ever known. Whose intelligence was beyond what she had ever seen before. Izuku was gifted, he was incredible , and Katsuki… Katsuki treated him worse than shit because the one thing Izuku was not blessed with was a quirk.
When Aizawa-san put the terms of Katsuki’s expulsion in front of Mitsuki, she read it carefully before signing and even added a few more things on herself as she spoke, trying to ignore the stormy energy her husband had had when he took Katsuki to the car.
He missed it. He missed it completely, and he doesn’t know how. Katsuki scarred Izuku, likely mentally and emotionally as well as physically, and acted as if it didn’t really matter when he was confronted. Izuku was shy, he was anxious, he was quiet— not unlike himself, really— and this entire thing was turning that on its head. Was Izuku ever shy, or was he scared of earning a new bully? Was Izuku ever anxious, or was he waiting for a beating? Was Izuku ever quiet, or was he keeping his mouth shut so he wouldn’t set off Katsuki?
Mitsuki sent him and Katsuki our while she discussed the terms of their son’s expulsion before she talked to him at home about other punishments. He tried to ignore how his wife was nearly silent, her energy confused instead of focused.
Bakugou Katsuki is barred from ever entering a hero school as a student or receiving a hero license. He will receive mandatory therapy from a professional in anger management and be tested for mental disorders such as sociopathy. A restraining order will be filed against him. He may not interact with Midoriya Izuku in any way, shape, or form unless Midoriya allows and initiates, and even then he must have at least two witnesses ready to intervene. He will have a mark on his record for assault but no arrests.
Bakugou Mitsuki
Bakugou Masaru
Notes:
“Young Volcanoes” — Fall Out Boy
A song about youth and living your life to the fullest. The perfect song for a gay crisis.
Chapter 23: natural
Summary:
izuku and hitoshi have their first hero class. not everyone is who they claim to be.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
First hero class . Holy shit.
Izuku is practically vibrating , it’s just that exciting. Toshi snickers, but he pays him no mind-- this was too epic to not be excited about.
He and Toshi were wearing the spare stealth-suits that Maijima-sensei had lent Izuku and Meimei before, but Izuku still felt out-of-place-- Ingenium’s brother, Iida Tenya, was in a full suit of armor.
Speaking of Ingenium, he was still a little shocked by what happened to the young hero. Stain typically only targeted bad heroes-- Ingenium was a good one.
Who even knew what that man’s logic was. It clearly wasn’t sane.
Aizawa walked around 1-A (plus Toshi and Izuku) with a predatory glare. From the way the other students were muttering about why he was there, Izuku had to hazard a guess that Aizawa didn’t typically teach heroics.
Wait, who was the normal teacher again?
“I AM HERE!!!!!!”
Oh, fucking hell .
Just like that, his good mood is Thanos snapped away. Toshi glances over, and their hands brush together for one second. Izuku panics for a beat before he reaches out and links their pinkies, face red as he glanced away from his friend.
Sue him, it made him feel a little better.
“It’s not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what’s realistic.”
His other hand tightened on his bag, and Hitoshi let go of his hand and leaned over Izuku’s shoulders to open it and pick through, probably looking for the Sirencall.
Didn’t stop him from feeling electric from head to toe, though.
All Might posed ‘heroically’ in front of the class, and Izuku felt his lip curl.
“Today we will be doing two-on-two work! You may pick your partners this time!”
Toshi raised his hand, and, without preamble, said, “I have dibs on Zuku.”
Izuku flushed, momentarily distracted, and Toshi dumped something into his hands.
“Hatsume told me that thing usually helps you calm down whenever Ass Might is talked about,” he said lowly to Izuku, and Izuku blink gratefully at Toshi.
His notebook.
He opened to the first page, careful to lean over it and block it from other’s view, and read off the word under Aizawa’s sketch.
“Nighteye doesn’t read the future of every villain to win battles,” he mumbled to himself, repeating it both aloud in a soft voice and turning it over in his mind as he closed the notebook again before tucking it back in his bag.
I can do this. He can take his stupid haircut and shove it up his ass.
He leveled an absolutely venomous look at All Might, preparing for whatever he could throw.
He was not going to let this asshole’s words affect him ever again.
Shouta heard the kid muttering.
He vaguely recognized telling Midoriya something about Nighteye, but he was repeating it to himself as if it was some kind of prayer.
He genuinely had no clue the problem child took his words to heart .
Shinsou is watching his friend with a roll of his eyes, glancing over at Shouta. Shouta looks back impassively.
“We’re doing a stealth exercise.”
Midoriya’s head shot up.
“Call it hide-and-seek. I trust you already have your partners. Either find and capture the hiding team or evade the seeking team to win.”
Jirou and Shouji-- a deadly matchup in a stealth activity-- immediately paired up.
“Losing teams are used as demonstrations when we go over basic martial arts.”
Shinsou swore loudly, which conveyed the general mood of the class the moment he said that.
“Aizawa-san, is that not a bit harsh--”
“And whose class is this? I don’t recall you being assigned a homeroom.”
A pause, and then Midoriya grinned. “ Tea .”
Shouta looked over the class. He had to actually challenge the students, so…
“Sero and Kirishima against Kaminari and Ashido. Tokoyami and Asui against Uraraka and Iida. Ojiro and Todoroki against Koda and Aoyama. Mineta and Sato against Hagakure and Yaoyorozu. Jirou and Shouji against Shinsou and Midoriya.”
There was a shuffling, and then Jirou raised her hand.
“Sir, no offense, but isn’t it a bit unfair to pitch Shouji and I against the transfer kids? They’re new and all…”
He smiled maliciously at Jirou. “You’re right, Jirou. You two don’t stand a chance.”
Hitoshi was shaking a little when he entered Gym Gamma. He and Zuku were seeking first, and Earlobes and Six-Arms were already hiding. Zuku had given him a spare MeiVision, this one a metallic black as opposed to Zuku’s silver and Hatsume’s bronze.
“Third button from the left,” Zuku breathed. “They can hear everything we say, probably. Got a paper?”
“Um. I know sign, does that count?”
“Oh? Cool. I don’t. Like, basic signs they use in the army, but nothing else.”
“That works for now.”
They looked around, and as Hitoshi pressed the button, the world lit up in heat signatures.
One being very obvious on a rooftop nearby.
Zuku made a motion probably meaning stay here , and climbed up as Hitoshi kicked a trash can lid, rummaging through a dumpster to cause a distraction.
One didn’t need a quirk to hear Shouji’s girly shriek as pink ballooned in the air.
“Shouji has been found.”
It took a bit longer to find Jirou.
She was in a vent . And Hitoshi threw a Blue Bomb at her.
“Jirou has been found.”
Well. Time to hide.
The student had their phone hidden in their lap they waited for the next round, sitting a bit to the side, away from others. Aizawa and the blond idiot were by the screens, watching Midoriya and Shinsou hide.
Bakugou’s been expelled, you say?
Yes, they texted back.
He was the one with the explosion quirk?
Yes.
Do you know why?
No.
What do you think?
He won’t listen.
Get more information.
Of course .
Their hand tightened on their phone.
“Jirou! Shouji! Seek the transfer kids!” One of their classmates cheered.
Their lip curled slightly, but his it under a yawn. Shinsou and Midoriya would win easily, somehow, which infuriated them to no end— how were two untrained idiots this good?
Well, how were they this good, really? It’s not as if they went to a quirk dojo to train once in their life.
They regretted very little in life, but perhaps trusting him was their biggest mistake.
Hard to believe that, if they had never crossed paths with him all that time ago, they would still want to be a hero.
They used to be so naïve. 1-A is incredibly naïve.
But they’ll rip off that veil for the other students.
Everyone deserves to know the truth.
Notes:
“Natural” — Imagine Dragons
Natural is a song about hardening your heart against the world and becoming ruthless.
Who this is for will be left for you to discover.
Chapter 24: gone, gone, gone
Summary:
izuku and hitoshi win. internships are discussed. shouta is haunted by the past.
Notes:
author has been very very busy with family that she hates (maiden mother and crone does she fucking hate her family) and has had a very hard time writing this chapter in a way that felt right.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hitoshi glanced at his shorter (and admittedly smarter) friend as they walked into the city block. “... what’s the plan?”
Zuku glanced over, either contemplative or constipated from the look on his face. “Uh… fuck shit up and don’t get caught?”
Well, fuck.
“We have ten minutes,” he mused. “We can probably find a decent hiding spot in three, a good one in five. Got anything on Gym Gamma in the Wonder Map?”
Zuku groaned. “We are not calling it the Wonder Map! For Kami’s sake, it’s the Chimera Map !”
Hitoshi bit his lip to hold in a snort. Hatsume had told him it was called the Wonder Map, but honestly he liked the Chimera Map better. “Well, do you?”
“... no.”
“Fantabulous.”
The dark-haired boy stops dead in his tracks, eyes flicking from side to side and muttering faster than he could comprehend. Hitoshi took his friend’s lack of attention to be gay for a moment and admire the splash of freckles over Zuku’s nose, the way his forest-green eyes took everything in with a clinical consideration--
“Got it.”
Zuku rifled around in his bag before drawing out two Sirencalls and two sets of… bright pink ballet flats.
If Kyouka walked into Gym Gamma full of confidence, can you blame her?
Okay, so the Support kid-- Midoriya, she thinks his name is-- had some tech thing that let him detect heat signatures, that wasn’t that big of a deal. She had lasted six out of the ten minutes granted, so it was pretty much impossible for she and Shouji to lose.
She plugged her earjacks into the ground, listening intently.
The usual buzz of electricity, flowing of sewage…
… nothing out of the ordinary. Yet .
Shouji was all ears next to her, and Kyouka glanced over at him.
“Anything?”
He shook his head, looking as confused as Kyouka was starting to feel.
Minutes ticked by as they prowled the streets, searching for anything .
There!
A scuff on the ground. It wasn’t loud, but it was something .
Kyouka ran towards it, feet flying over the pavement--
-- to find an empty alley.
Fuck!
This cycle repeated several times, with Kyouka getting increasingly frustrated. She couldn’t even hear them breathing !
She turned a corner, and an ear splitting wail cut through the air.
Kyouka stumbled back, trying to cover her ears to no avail. Through a blur of pain, she saw the Gen Ed kid-- Shinsou, maybe-- sprinting off, and Midoriya(?) with his head tilted back, apparently the one who screamed (and was still screeching).
Does he have a fucking voice quirk ?!
No fucking wonder Aizawa-sensei said she didn’t stand a chance! This shit’s painful!
The bell sounded.
How had she lost ?
“It was just really boring, actually,” Toshi surmised. “We were mostly just walking through alleys and chucking rocks and stuff until, like, the last thirty seconds where Zuku pretty much screamed while I ran.”
“Yeah…” Izuku frowned at his hands.
Izuku and Hitoshi were recounting the story to a mildly interested 1-F over lunch. As usual, Izuku hadn’t brought anything and the whole of 1-F was peer pressuring him into eating the small bits of their own lunches they offered to the short black-haired boy.
Uraraka, Tsuyu, Yaomomo, and Jirou had joined them this time, as well. Jirou demanded to know how they cancelled out their sound (“I am taking that to my grave , thank you very much” -Toshi), while Yaomomo, Tsuyu and Uraraka just seemed to enjoy 1-F’s company, for whatever strange reason.
“Have you looked at your internships yet?” Jirou asked. “I thought about taking Death Arms’s internship, but that fight with you and Shinsou-kun really made me think, ya know? I shouldn’t be so weak to sound. Yamada-sensei gave me an internship offer, so I might take that.”
Yaomomo nodded. “I’m thinking about Uwabami—”
“Don’t.”
They all looked over at Izuku, who cleared his throat awkwardly. Yeah, he gets it, he’s usually pretty quiet, but okay.
“Uwabami is really self-absorbed. She’s likely only taking interns to make herself look better, it’s highly unlikely she’ll actually teach you anything. Your quirk takes up lipids, right?”
Yaomomo blinked. “Um. Yeah?”
“Fatgum would be better.”
She checked her list. “I do have one from him… you think I should take it?”
Izuku nodded sheepishly.
“Oh. That’s a pretty good idea, Midoriya-kun.”
Asui and Uraraka rattled off their own ideas— which were pretty solid— before Asui turned the conversation on them.
“Who are you picking, kero ?”
Izuku and Toshi both froze.
“Well, you see,” Toshi started, “I’m mildly afraid to even touch that stack of papers, there’s like fifty pages in small print—”
“— and we still have, like, two more days—”
“— so do we even need to?”
The pair of them got blank stares in return.
Izuku sighed, already rifling through his backpack until he drew out an actual binder.
“Rest in peace, whoever had to type all this shit out,” he intoned solemnly, already flipping it open. “It’s in alphabetical order , too. Kami rest their soul.”
“Yikes,” Toshi agreed, pulling out his own stack. “For fuck’s sake, I got one from fuckin’ Arid. You?”
Izuku shrugged at the mention of the Number 39 Hero, scanning the As.
Then immediately wrinkled his nose.
“Ass Might.”
“Ouch,” 1-F uttered in unison, which Izuku appreciates. Meimei continues. “He’s such a jerk. Fien, Perl, you both owe me ten thousand yen.”
The two girls swore and handed over the cash as the 1-A girls looked on with wide eyes.
“You don’t like All Might?” Uraraka asked in a scandalized whisper.
“Not your business” was his sharp reply, leafing through the Bs and Cs and Ds. “Endeavwhore really gave me one, as if I’d tap his pretentious ass—”
Something caught his eye.
Oh?
Oh .
OH .
“Oh my fucking Kami,” Toshi breathed, stopped on the same name Izuku was (he checked).
Right beneath Endeavour - Endeavor Agency - Daylight - Hero - Hosu . Or, in Toshi’s case, right beneath Easygoer - Iidaten Agency - Daylight - Sidekick - Musutafu.
“Are they okay?”
“Twin aneurysms. They’re young, they’ll recover.”
Eraserhead - Independent - Underground - Hero - N/A
When people die, the first thing after an apology to come out of another person’s mouth is “it will get easier with time”.
It had been thirteen years, and Hizashi was calling bullshit.
It didn’t hit or Tensei or Nemuri as hard as it hit Shou. The five of them had been close, of course, but it was so much worse for Shou.
When Shou got home that day (late, which had become as per usual since those three kids bugged him into teaching them to fight), he sat down and actually got Hizashi’s opinion on how he was grading the kids. Which was bizarre , since Shou was always sure of himself.
Then Hizashi watched his husband go off for patrol, come back with a few cuts and scrapes, and collapse on the couch without a word.
Oh, he recalled.
He was taking on interns, wasn’t he?
It was raining outside when Hizashi finally sat down next to his husband. “Hey, Shou.”
There was a long silence, but Hizashi knew Shou had heard him. Then, he said, with a special kind of grief only reserved for one person, “Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”
Hizashi snorted somberly. “You mean, would he think you’re doing the right thing? And yeah, Shou. He would.”
“... you’re just saying that.”
“Fine, then. He would have headbutted you in the chest, told you that you werebeing stupid, and hold me hostage until you admitted you were doing the right thing.”
Shou lifted his head just enough so Hizashi could see his small smile.
Yeah, he would definitely do that.
It was raining outside when Shou became friends with him, fifteen years ago.
It was raining outside when Shou screamed for an ambulance, a doctor, anyone to save him, thirteen years ago.
It was raining outside, on Shirakumo Oboro’s grave, all through the night.
Notes:
“Gone, Gone, Gone” - Phillip Phillips
1.) goddess his parents must have hated him
2.) a song about always being there for the person you love, through everything, because they’d do the same. Shouta has a lot of trauma related to Shirakumo and even though Hizashi is hurting about it too, he supports Shouta through whatever is happening in his husband’s head. <33
Chapter 25: overjoyed
Summary:
izuku gets his costume and a pet crossbow
Notes:
author is really fucking sorry she’s been really swamped please forgive her
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shouta was anxious.
Sue him, he wasn’t used to the whole “intern” thing. After his second year, every experience at internships had been a surreal hellscape. Everything felt slightly to the left.
Having interns was a whole new ballgame, and one he never really wanted to play in. He wasn’t really sure what possessed him to offer internships to Problem Children 1 and 6, but here he was… pacing a rut into his kitchen floor waiting for the two brats to show up.
Hizashi had taken Jirou off to his agency already, so he was pretty much alone in his apartment for now.
He ran through what he knew about the brats. Midoriya was quiet but intense, intelligent enough to give Maijima a run for his money, with a small circle of friends and two close friends-- Hatsume and Shinsou. From what Shouta’s gathered, Midoriya and his mother don’t get along, so he stays at Hatsume’s. Quirkless, and suffered abuse for it.
Shinsou seemed to know exactly what weak points to go for when baiting someone-- plus a proficiency with utilizing other’s emotions and turning them against themselves. He was close to Midoriya and friendly with the rest of 1-F, but otherwise no friends. Extremely protective of Midoriya. He’d have to break that habit-- while being concerned about a teammate wasn’t bad, being overly so would be a weakness to exploit.
There was a soft knock on the door, and one of the cats streaked across the floor to it and immediately pawed at the wood.
Shouta sighed internally and dragged himself over, yanking open the door.
Shinsou and Midoriya stood there, Shinsou holding his suitcase in one hand and his costume case in the other. Midoriya, on the other hand, had two duffle bags strapped to his back, a metal-plated suitcase behind him with a large VOLATILE sticker, a normal black suitcase, and his costume case.
“Midoriya, what…”
“It’s best not to ask,” Shinsou interrupted flatly, “or he will take up the next two hours to introduce you to every single one of his babies.”
Midoriya’s flat face offered no contradiction, instead scanning Shouta’s apartment as he stepped in.
“Zuku,” Shinsou cautioned, “analyze later.”
Midoriya huffed, stepping side and eyeing Shouta. He stared straight back. “You two have the guest room in the back.”
They nodded, and Midoriya led the way down the hall. It took about five minutes before they emerged again.
“Grab your hero gear.”
Izuku was incredibly pleased with how his costume turned out.
His original idea was just fine , thanks, but Meimei had acted personally offended that he had basically just put armored sweats on his sheet and kicked him and Hitoshi (who had a similar idea) out of the Support classroom for the rest of 1-F to make them.
Meimei had helpfully included a paper with all the notes on it.
The base is a black bodysuit! Completely fireproof, too. I tested it myself. There is leather-like padding on the bodysuit, I’ll call it paneling. The paneling is dark green to differentiate between you and Shinsou's bodysuits but since you’re a midget if you get them mixed up you probably deserve it. The paneling was made by Yaomomo! It’s a very durable kind of Kevlar, and we’ve found a way to make it a lot lighter. The paneling is only on places it is necessary, leaving room for easy movement. In case you’re worried about being stabbed in one of the “weak points”, it’s slashproof. Not STAB proof. Be careful.
Next up is the cloak. I may or may not have pulled some strings and gotten ahold of Ryukyu’s scales to melt them down and use them in the fiber. It’s basically invincible, and you can take it off pretty easy. It ends around the shins so you won’t trip on it.
The ears!! Cat ears! Fien said you two remind her if her mom’s cats so you are now the Catbois in the eyes of 1-F. And we gave you cat ears. They link to your comms and detect sounds of distress, as well as scan for radio signals. In the hood of your cloak are holes for them to go through.
There are holsters for your Lightningrods to strap to your thighs.
Your MeiVisions were upgraded a little-- now you have comms. Have fun with that!
The eye parts are one-way mirrors.
The Sirencall hasn’t been changed in the least, though!
Love,
Meimei and 1-F.
Kami, he was getting a headache already.
OH!! P.S.! The crossbow has a surprise!
CROSSBOW?!
Izuku expected many things.
He expected Toshi t have a near-identical outfit, plus a net and a bo staff instead of escrima sticks. He expected Meimei to make him a ridiculous weapon arsenal-- the slingshot, that was expected.
What was not expected was the fucking crossbow.
And then the crossbow started talking .
Aizawa looked as thoroughly disturbed as Izuku felt, and he saw Toshi stiffen in the corner of his eye.
“Hello, Midoriya Izuku! I’m your Subrosa Intelligence-Requisitioning Interface!”
Izuku dropped it, startled, and it clattered to the ground.
There was a beat before the metal began to shift, rippling and moving and flowing until a small, robot cat sat at his feet.
It blinked large, amber eyes at Izuku.
What the fuck?
“I was built in collaboration with the entirety of 1-F, including yourself, indirectly. You had models for a self-manipulating metal you called “Biometallica”. Yaoyorozu Momo created the metal herself to make me. 1-F left my name up to you!”
Izuku was floored. What the fuck ? Biometallica was highly experimental-- a bunch of tiny magnets linked together to move as necessary. It had never been this smooth. How the hell was this happening?
He waved his hands a bit, then pinched himself. As if that would make the robot cat vanish. Unfortunately, it did no such thing.
“Midoriya, explain.”
The cat turned to look at Aizawa with its pitch-black eyes. They lit up dark blue as it stared at him. “Scanning.” It’s eyes turned yellow then. “Files have no record. Provide name?”
Aizawa blinked. “Aizawa Shouta.”
The cat made a humming sound as its eyes went dark blue again before they lit up green. “Match found. Aizawa Shouta, underground hero Eraserhead. Teacher at Yuuei, currently mentoring Yuuei students Midoriya Izuku and Shinsou Hitoshi. Correct?”
“Yes?”
“Files have been updated with a picture!” the robot cat chirped, bounding back over to Izuku. “Proud, Boss?”
Izuku stared at it with wide eyes. “Um. Hi? Yes?”
The black eyes shifted slightly, and he was given the impression the machine was happy.
This was so freaky.
Subrosa Intelligence-Requisitioning Interface. Four words, abbreviated to SIRI, because Meimei would absolutely do that on purpose. Subrosa meant something was secretive or done in private. Intelligence Requisitioning meant it could gather information. Interface-- it was some kind of companion, he thinks.
He had to name it.
“Are you a boy or girl?”
The cat made a humming sound, eyes squinting. The eyes lit up purple after a moment.
“Girl, then.” It-- she-- stood up again and wound around his feet. It’d be stupid to name something else after Meimei or even one of his friends. “Do you change shapes to anything else?”
“I am only programmed to go between a crossbow and a cat,” she tells him.
Okay. A crossbow. What would a crossbow be? A cool name for a crossbow. SIRI. SI-RI. Si-Ri.
“Sniper Rifle. Siri for short.”
Toshi sighed. “You’re so shit at naming things.”
“I like it,” the newly-named Siri announced. She jumped up on Izuku’s shoulder, surprisingly light for being metal, and looked over at Toshi. Her eyes were blue for barely a second before they went green. “Shinsou Hitoshi. Yuuei student. 1-C General Education, transfer to 1-A Heroics effective by second semester. Allied with 1-F Support and few members of 1-A Heroics. Correct?”
Toshi huffed, annoyed. “Yeah.”
Siri settled on Izuku’s shoulder, somehow looking self-satisfied. “What are we doing today, Boss?”
Notes:
“Overjoyed” - Bastille
This one was for Siri. She’s pretty much a newborn by human standards, and she was literally built to help Izuku. This is the first time she interacts with him, and even if it was only talking, she’s really happy about it (Oh I feel overjoyed / When you listen to my voice).
Chapter 26: some nights
Summary:
izuku’s pet crossbow is a good girl and shouta is not a dad (even though he definitely is)
Notes:
trigger warning for panic attack and the aftermath of a night terror.
from now on, izuku will be exhibiting symptoms of ptsd. anyone who is triggered by these topics, please, please don’t read or if you do, please make sure you are in a safe environment.
the symptoms include depression, acute anxiety, ptsd night terrors, and anxiety and panic attacks.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
hi, everyone. my name is silver, and i'm the author of this little fanfiction.
it’s no secret that i write as a coping mechanism for my anxiety and try to express some of my own emotions through a few characters, namely the reiki twins, who i hold near and dear to my heart— you’ll be seeing more of them.
i am writing in first person to tell you something kinda personal.
first off, please read the notes. all of them. it doesn’t take long, but it is important.
second off, thank you all so much.
i have been dealing with a lot of shit, and i am getting the help i need. we all have bad days, though. but every time i look at this story, it makes my bad days a little better.
i have read every single one of your 500+ comments. i can recognize some of you regulars by username or icon alone. and i have actually cried by how much you all support me.
i feel like i need to say this to you before i go into the next part. as of the moment i write this note, i have 1,403 kudos on this story. for reference, there are 122 pages of fics in the dadzawa tag. to sort by kudos, that would put ripples on deep water on page 12. page 12 out of 122. in the top ten percent. it is not an exaggeration to say that i cried— a lot.
i am so, so happy that the little story i threw onto ao3 has made it this far. and it’s all because of you guys— you guys and your never-ending support. and I am so incredibly blessed that my writing has made so many people— complete strangers, really— happy.
thank you all.
with love,
silver
Siri love love loves her human.
Siri remembered being nothing more than an It, a passing thought in a string of code. Siri never thought, never wondered, never imagined. She simply was , and simply being was terrible. Forgotten.
And then she was remembered.
She recalled being torn from her string of code, made into her own and nurtured by many hands until she was many strings of code.
She was no longer an It, instead an Intelligence.
Siri spoke her first words under careful crosshair eyes and took her first steps with help from hands that smelled of nuclear energy. Her first thoughts were printed in perfect calligraphy, her first emotion sparked by a violet gaze.
She stretched her eyes wide and wanted to know , wanted to be more than an Intelligence. She wanted to have a real purpose and she wanted to understand humans.
And with her first want , she became a Being.
Aunt Mei, as the crosshair-eyes had insisted Siri called her, wept true tears when she told them of her wants. Aunt Perl, the violet-gaze, showed her someone.
Midoriya Izuku, the most humane Being that Siri had ever had data on. She watched countless hours of video of him building, read countless notes, heard countless impassioned words from his mouth as she hid in Aunt Mei’s phone, listening to her and Midoriya Izuku talk.
Midoriya Izuku was a human with a broken heart. But she decided that he would be her human.
She had found her purpose. She wanted to protect Midoriya Izuku.
Siri didn’t particularly care that she was being built as a gift for him: she understood. She could think and speak and wonder and want, and so did the humans. They didn’t want to force her to do anything, so they introduced her to Midoriya Izuku first. And she loved him. He was her human, and she was very happy to protect him.
Learning he had designed the metal Aunt Momo made was an experience in itself, a wonder at how smart her boy was.
She loves loves loves her human.
That did not stop her from laughing at him when the Aizawa threw him on the mat for exactly the thirty-seventh time today, though.
Still, though, she stretches out her joints and leaps down. “You okay, Boss?”
He blinks at her from behind the mask, and Siri does her best to smile back.
“I’m alright, Siri. How many times is that?”
“Thirty-seven, Boss.”
“Of course you counted.”
She huffed in reply, her tail flicking. “Aunt Mei wants blackmail.”
“Traitor. Go tell Toshi it’s his turn to get his ass kicked and stop cowering in the bathroom.”
She paused, rotating her ears towards the door leading down the hall. Rustle of loose clothes, a thud and a swear. The Shinsou was wearing civilian clothing and tripped over his hero suit.
“I will retrieve him in hero gear,” she tells him with no small amount of mischief on her mind.
And if she chased the Shinsou out of the bathroom only half-dressed and screaming like a little girl, it wasn’t her fault he wasn’t expecting her to just wiggle under the door when he took too long.
Plus, seeing her human go bright red will be a cherished memory.
Today had been an… experience.
While most of the day had honestly been Shouta throwing his two interns around the dojo and watching them honest-to-Kami fight over who got to sit the next few rounds out, there were a few gems. Like when Midoriya’s new demon cat held Yuuki, his idiot white cat, hostage until she was fed. Midoriya has to call Hatsume to figure out what she was even supposed to eat.
Seeing a cat plugged into a wall was definitely not what he planned on when he took the two interns.
Zashi wouldn’t be home until morning— he had to stay behind to do more paperwork and show Jirou what to do around the agency while he was away, which would probably take him until late at night and sleep there.
So when he finally collapsed in bed with the two interns on futons in the guest room, he wasn’t expecting anything eventful until he had to swear them to secrecy about his private life when Zashi came home.
The room was silent, and he reveled in it. Midoriya and Shinsou were quiet, but he liked being alone best.
Shouta slept fitfully as always, drifting in and out, half-expecting to be up and out of bed to get ready for patrol before reminding himself that he didn’t have to do it tonight and going back to sleep.
Something cool jabbed his face.
Shouta snapped awake, and stared into ice-blue eyes set into a metal feline face.
“Boss is in distress,” Siri told him, teeth flashing in the low light. “The Shinsou doesn’t know how to handle it and my base code commands that I find someone that can.”
Boss? His foggy mind tried to piece together what the crossbow cat on his chest was saying before it clicked: she called Midoriya ‘Boss’.
“Alright. I’m coming.”
Out of habit, Shouta sleeps fully dressed (thankfully), so he just had to jump up and grab his capture weapon, already headed to the guest room.
All five of his cats sat outside the door, Yuuki at the back and Terminator batting at the doorknob.
He pushed the door open as quietly as he could.
Shouta was met with the view of Midoriya curled in the corner, hands scrabbling at his bare throat and eyes wild and unseeing. Shinsou was about a meter away, talking softly and trying to calm the other down.
The cats wound around Shouta’s heels, the particularly brave Terminator following on Siri’s heels to Midoriya.
“Hey, Boss,” the crossbow cat chirped uneasily.
As Shouta neared, he saw how quickly the boy’s chest rose and fell.
Panic attack.
“Midoriya,” he began. The boy didn’t acknowledge him. “Midoriya, you’re safe. Do you hear me?”
He nodded minutely.
“Do you remember who I am?”
A long pause. Then, Midoriya nodded again.
“Okay. Can I take your hand?”
A longer silence before his intern nodded again, and Shouta gently took his hand and put it against his chest. “Try to match your breathing to mine. You’re going to be okay.”
Silence settled over the group of three as Shouta paced his breathing, exaggerating how deep his breaths would go and watching Midoriya start to breathe at a more reasonable pace.
“The annoying cat that’s trying to murder Siri is Terminator,” Shouta tells the small boy softly. “Nemuri named him that because he likes to kill birds and drop them all over the house because he has a fucked up sense of what gifts are. “And the fat white one Siri held hostage is Yuuki, he’s really lazy and once he went out to the porch when it was snowing and nobody could find him for hours. Pam the orange one, has the same amount of intelligence as a sack of bricks, but we named him Pam, like the cooking spray, because there’s this one skillet that he likes to sit in. Keg, the brown tabby, is even stupider, he likes to eat things that will definitely poison cats but he’s one of those animals with a quirk— the vet just called it “Antivenom” and told us to just let him eat what he wants because apparently he’s immune to it. Anyway we named him Keg because I found him behind a bar sitting in a bowl of alcohol some drunk left out.” Midoriya blinked slowly, and Shouta steamed on. “The last one, the gray one, is Fluffy and she’s a bastard . In shedding season she likes to burrow in my hero suit so I have to go on patrol looking like some human-cat mutant. She also likes to dump her wet food in the most inconvenient places and eat the papers I’m trying to grade. It’s hard enough to get through Kaminari’s latest essay without Fluffy chewing on it.”
Eventually, Shinsou creeps forward enough and Midoriya burrows into the taller boy’s chest with a whimper. Shouta just talks, telling the two interns about how all of his cats are awful.
He’d forever deny falling asleep with his back against the wall and Midoriya squeezed between himself and Shinsou.
When Hizashi got home, of course, the first thing he did was seek out his husband to bitch about how tired he was.
It might have slipped his mind they had guests until he heard loud swearing from the guest room and a very pissed Midoriya threw open the door.
“I will not hesitate to yeet you out that window,” he snapped, already stomping towards the kitchen.
Shou dragged Shinsou out next, and Hizashi rolled his eyes. Probably fell asleep being a Dad™ again.
“Problem Children One and Six, Yamada Hizashi. Zashi, Midoriya and Shinsou.” Shou gestured vaguely before muttering some threat or another to the two kids.
“Wait, you’re married?” Shinsou asked with wide eyes.
Hizashi could hide a snort. “I’m just as surprised as you are most days.” He busied himself with making breakfast.
Shinsou swore loudly, and as Shou whipped around (likely to lecture him about being judgemental), and Hizashi looked over too—
— just to see the purple-haired intern angrily counting out yen into the smaller teen’s palm.
“You all really need to stop betting against me,” Midoriya told the other smugly. “Meimei already owes me fifty thousand yen for the cats.”
There was a shocked silence before even Shou laughed.
Yeah, this was gonna be quite an interesting week with those two interns running around.
Notes:
“Some Nights” - Fun.
Some Nights is about introspection— wondering what your place is in the world and if you are doing the right thing.
Siri reflects this. She genuinely looks into herself and wonders what her place in the world is, and what she wants to do. What her purpose is.
Izuku reflects this. Something many people overlook about trauma, especially if you have experienced it for a long time and from a young age (like Izuku obviously has), is that it doesn’t just go away and you move on. A lot of the time, you don’t know what to do with yourself after the trauma is over with. You don’t know who you are outside of the trauma. Izuku’s life has been defined by his quirklessness and abuse for ten years, so he’s struggling with finding a place that isn’t “Deku”.A note about why it’s only now that Izuku has gotten a nightmare-induced panic attack: PTSD oftentimes develops after the danger is gone. Izuku is finally in a safe environment, and the PTSD is starting to kick in.
Chapter 27: numb
Summary:
the tired trio run into some trouble
Chapter Text
“Deku!”
It felt like scorching against his skin, covering every inch of him.
“Deku!”
With every mocking call of his name, the burning intensified. He felt disgusting. Too weak to fight back. Too stupid to get help. Too useless to deserve better.
“DEKU.”
He struck out blindly, and his black vision filled with light.
BOOM -POP-POP-POP!
He stumbled back, away, away from him. Tears, cold and stinging, spilled over his cheeks. He felt the familiar grease of spot sliding off his face to make tracks for his tears.
“Kacchan!” He sobbed. “Kacchan, you’re hurting me!”
The sound of laughter faded out as he scrambled away, blind to the world.
He bumped into someone.
“Oh, Izuku…” warm arms wrapped around him, and he relaxed into them.
“Mom.”
In an instant, the warmth became hot. Suffocating. Her arms tightened around him. He struggled against the arms, and they kept tightening.
He heard a sound akin to glass shattering as he pitched into the darkness below him.
“Oh, honey, you really should stop picking fights with Kacchan.”
Blood, warm and sticky and disgustingly cold compared to his burning skin, began to seep from his throat.
He felt the sand against his back, hot and scratchy and so unlike how it had always been before. Sticky with his blood.
Water, cold and stinging like his tears, lapped against his scorched legs.
He was a corpse.
Burned alive.
The ocean crashed against the trash around him.
After all, he was just like those piles.
Discarded and unwanted.
Useless.
Deku .
“Nyx.”
The call of his codename startled Izuku from his thoughts of the night before. Glancing over at Toshi, he tilted his head slightly. “Yeah?”
“You with us?”
“Course I am.”
Aizawa grunted noncommittally.
The three of them were being paraded down several back-alleys with Siri at their heels. Aizawa had said they were going to meet a contact, but honestly this was just exhausting. Izuku also learned he had zero sense of direction.
“Where are we?” He muttered to Toshi.
“Um. Hosu, I think.”
Bless him.
They adjusted the mask with a grimace, looking through the pictures on their phone. It was so easy to sneak away from the agency they were “interned” at in the dead of night, almost too easy. Shigaraki must have done something in the area for a distraction.
Why Aizawa wasn’t at Yuuei was a mystery to them. According to security cameras, he hadn’t been there since the morning they all shipped off to internships. Their stupid teacher must be off on some mission.
The pictures were of a file they had found in Aizawa’s desk. Bakugou’s files.
Their eyes lit upon a certain line. Names that were not of the Bakugou family’s were blacked out, of course, but they got the gist of what was going on.
A smirk spread over their face, slow and menacing.
Handman, you won’t believe what I’ve learned about Bakugou Katsuki.
There was a long pause before the other responded.
Tell me.
He assaulted a kid and the kid nearly died of blood loss. We might have a good shot with him.
Bring him in as soon as the operation is over.
Would I have done anything else?
They took shelter on a rooftop not far from the Handman himself as Noumu screamed from the sky.
Time to find that bastard Stain.
Fire.
Fire was everywhere .
People were screaming, and with every explosion a memory was forced to the surface.
“Nyx.”
He tore his eyes from the destruction to his teacher. Almost immediately, he felt himself relax a bit. Aizawa looked every bit as annoyed as he usually did despite the raging fires.
“Hatsume says you can plan. So do it.”
… was this guy serious?
Asking a teenager to make a plan.
“Siri?”
The cat on his shoulders perked up. Wait, when did she get there? “I’m here, Boss.”
“Nearby hospitals and hero interns.”
There was a pause as Izuku waited, and then Siri spat out the data.
“Hosu Heroics Hospital is nearest, housing most notably Iida Tensei and Todoroki Rei. Hosu General is several kilometers east, and likely safe from the disaster zone. Nearby interns are Mirio Togata, Yuuei third year with his mentor Sir Nighteye, Todoroki Shouto, Yuuei first year with Endeavour Agency, and Iida Tenya, Yuuei first year with Manual Agency. Along with you and the Shinsou.”
Izuku closed his eyes for a moment. “Villains?”
“Three Noumu, likely Shigaraki and Kurogiri nearby, and likely Hero Killer Stain continuing to operate in Hosu.”
His cat-ears crackled with radio feedback before Manual’s voice was heard. “Has anyone seen Tenya?!”
It clicked.
“Fuck.”
Aizawa looked over, his face shadowed as he responded a simple “no”. “What’s going on?”
“Tenya and Ingenium are brothers, correct?”
“Yeah?”
“How close would you say they are?”
A beat of silence before red flashed behind his teacher’s goggles. “Very.”
There were no need for words.
“Stain operates in alleys off of side-roads and he will likely be using this distraction as cover for another kill. Iida knows this.”
Toshi glanced over his shoulder. “I live near here.” Izuku flinched at the implications. “I know these streets better than I know myself. And I have a pretty decent idea of where he could be.”
Find Stain, you find Iida.
Izuku sends up a prayer to a god he doesn’t believe in.
Please don’t be too late.
Shouta moves at a pace he honestly didn’t think was possible while also internally cursing out the kid he basically thought of as a little cousin. Tenya was such an idiot.
Shinsou led the way, taking shortcut after shortcut.
He heard the clang of metal on metal before he saw the battle going on, and he stopped just as the sounds did.
Stain was monologuing.
“... just fakes. Heroes like you poison this society!”
Fuck.
“Mindfuck, Nyx.” The two of them looked over at Shouta. “Onto the rooftops, tell me what you see.”
“I’ll do it,” the demon cat announced before walking vertically up the wall.
He’s not even gonna question this anymore.
His comm came alive. “Native is immobilized at the end of the alley, Tenya is pinned off to the side.”
Motherfucking shit on a stick slow roasting over hell.
“Nyx, up with Siri. Extract Native. On my mark, you,” he looked at Shinsou, “get his attention, try to get him to talk. I’ll attack when he’s distracted, and Nyx pull Iida out. You both have permission to attack if necessary but for Kami’s sake if I say run you fucking run , understand?”
Silence and tense nods.
“Go.”
Hitoshi strode into the Hero Killer’s line-of-sight. This is genuinely the stupidest plan he’s ever heard, and he’s been around Zuku for how long now?
“Hey, shitbag. Come here often?”
Hitoshi’s own mouth has betrayed him.
Stain pulled up short, looking over at Hitoshi with a bewildered expression. “Who are you?”
Dammit, respond to the question, don’t ignore me!
“You can call me Mindfuck,” he announced with more flair than strictly necessary. He sees Zuku drop down from the roof and grab Native, hauling the hero onto the roof with him as he climbs back up. “Mind not killing my soon-to-be classmate?”
Stain sneered. “Another fake hero child—” the villain’s face went blank.
“Gotcha.”
Hitoshi was already feeling the strain of Stain’s mind protesting, and he sighed loudly as if that would get rid of his problems. “Move to the center of the alley and then freeze.”
The villain complied, and Zuku did the same with Iida as he did Native.
Then Aizawa dropped from the opposite roof to deck Stain full-force.
Stain jerked back into himself, knives already up and slashing. One cut deep on Aizawa’s cheek, and Hitoshi shouted in alarm.
He fucking licked the blade.
Their teacher dropped like a stone.
Oh, fuck.
Hitoshi barely saw the man— just a blur and a sting on his face before he hit the ground and felt his joints freeze.
This is not ideal.
“Where are the fakes?!”
Oh no.
“FUCKKKKK YOU!”
The next thing he heard (and saw) was a tiny shimmery thing being thrown into the air and exploding in a flash of light with a deafening wail.
Notes:
“Numb” - Marina and the Diamonds
I feel numb most of the time
Lower I get the higher I’ll
Climb
And I will wonder why
I got dark only to
Shine
Chapter 28: bad company
Summary:
izuku panics and beats up a serial killer and shouta doesn’t know how to deal with “feelings”
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Oh, this was such a bad idea .
When he blinked the spots out of his eyes, Stain had already leapt up to the rooftop with a growl.
“Boy! Who are you?!”
Fuck.
He did not think this through at all .
“I’m Nyx,” he told the villain in monotone. “Heard you were the Hero Killer. Do you do requests?”
That pulled the noseless man up short. “Do I what?”
“Eh, forget it. Anyway, I just kinda wanted to know how you judged if someone was a good or bad hero. I want to be a good hero when I graduate.”
Stain looked at him briefly before puffing up his chest a little. “A true hero does their work for the love of saving people, not the money or fame.”
“Hm.” He tapped his chin in thought. “So, all underground heroes are good heroes?”
Stain paused. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… underground heroics is really unforgiving. A lot of them die in their first five years on the job. Plus, no media attention— fame is out of the question— and they’re really underpaid for the difficulty for the jobs they do. So, wouldn’t underground heroes be good heroes?”
The other looked like he was genuinely reevaluating his life choices. “Yes, I suppose so…”
“Okay, cool.”
“Is your quirk something to do with intelligence, Nyx?”
Oh, Stain actually remembered his name. That’s probably not good. “Ah… no.”
“Really? What, then? Charisma?”
Fuck. He ran through every lie-telling tip he knew of as he stuttered out the answer.
“Well, uh… its kinda embarrassing…”
“More embarrassing than licking up blood?”
Ah-ha!
Wait. Blood -> paralysis. That’s… not comforting.
“U-um… I have a tentacle for a—”
Stain held up his hands, and Izuku made a big show about rubbing the back of his head.
“... forget I asked.” He centered his weight, hefting his blades. “Step aside and you won’t have to die. I’m interested to see where you go in life, little hero.”
Izuku bit his tongue. “I dunno, I think I’d be a pretty shitty hero if I just let four people die. Sorry, man.”
Stain huffed in amusement. “Very well, then. Die like a true hero, boy.”
In the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Toshi twitch. “Zuku, for fuck’s sake, you idiot!”
Ah, so they could still talk.
Well, time for plan B. B as in Be as stupid as possible and pull a whole plan out of his ass.
He looked past Stain and froze. “That’s a weird place to put a car.”
Almost on cue, something in that direction exploded, and Stain turned around to look.
His mistake.
There was a Pink Pearl in Izuku’s hand and flying from it in moments, and connected with Stain’s face just as he turned back around. The Pink Pearl completely glued his mouth shut.
“No hard feelings,” Izuku shrugged. “Just gotta survive, ya know?”
Stain flashed forwards, and Izuku barely raised his Lightningrods in time to parry them. Metal clashed and electricity sparked, driving the villain back for only a moment before he lunged again and Izuku had to move again.
Fuck.
“Iida!” He yelled at the boy, who was starting to lift himself from his pool of blood. “Don’t be a shitbag and get help!”
“This is my fight!”
“Fuck you!” Izuku barely rolled out of the way of a knife Stain threw before pain exploded in his vision as a completely different knife embedded itself in his shoulder. “FUCKING HELL! Hey, asshole! Your knives are tiny!” He grabbed the hilt and jerked it from his shoulder, tucking it awkwardly into his belt. “Sensei! If Mindfuck can talk, can you use your quirk?!”
There was a pause as his teacher grunted, and Izuku awkwardly ducked another blade and slid to the side of another knife. Where the fuck was he getting all this shit??
A coil of white shot out and wrapped around Stain’s ankle, and Izuku felt all-too-familiar tears of pure relief well in his eyes, cool and refreshing on his clammy, sweaty face.
Stain yelled in alarm as he pitched downwards, muffled considerably by the Pinkstuff, and Aizawa was on him in moments, capture weapon moving at impossible speeds and his own seldom-used knife flashing to parry Stain’s blades.
Izuku understood in barely a moment: if his teacher hadn’t been caught off-guard, Stain wouldn’t have taken him out so easily.
Izuku had to take a few steps back to avoid getting hit, seeing Toshi in the corner of his eye helping up Iida and Native, but he was entranced.
The two matched speeds, looking almost like a brutal dance rather than a battle. Scarlet painted their skin, Stain unable to take advantage of it, and both showing no signs of slowing.
Siri jumped onto his shoulders and slid down to his arms, turning into a crossbow.
Izuku’s hands fumbled at his belt, hands running over darts with shaking fingers and picking one out, loading it into the crossbow and aiming it.
He had zero experience with ranged weapons like this, and that was the only thought on his mind as he looked down the scope. Siri was saying something he couldn’t hear.
Aizawa and Stain were locked in a deadly dance, and he prayed for the second time that day, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn’t hit his teacher.
CTCH-THNK.
Stain stopped in his assault for a moment, and Shouta stepped back in alarm. The villain’s eyes were wide as he swayed on his feet before stumbling, taking one step, two, and collapsing on the ground.
From the back of his neck, a dart with a gray plume had sprouted.
Shouta glanced over at his interns. Shinsou was checking Iida and Native’s injuries with unsure hands, but it was Midoriya that caught his attention.
He couldn’t see the smaller teen’s face, but his gloves were pulled tight over his knuckles as he gripped a crossbow, still looking down the scope and aimed at Stain despite the crossbow not being loaded.
“Boss, you’re okay. You didn’t hit the Aizawa. You’re okay. You’re safe.”
Siri’s voice seemed to have no impact on the teen, who was actually shaking, and Shouta cursed himself internally. He should have led with his capture weapon when Shinsou brainwashed Stain. He should have told them to run. He should have thought to use his quirk sooner without prompting from a kid .
Shouta bound Stain tightly, picking his way over the roof and carefully pushing Siri down until she was aimed at the roof tiles. Midoriya was frozen, and Shouta carefully laid his hand on his hand, between the two ears sticking up and right under the hood of the cloak.
“You did good, Problem Child.”
That jolted Midoriya from whatever reverie he was stuck in, and the boy let out a choked sound, stumbling back and his arms going around his head.
“I could… I could have killed you.”
Fuck. Fuck . Of course that’d be what Midoriya was stuck on, rather than taking out a major villain. He ran through everything he knew about Midoriya for what felt like the twentieth time in those two days-- has it really only been two days?
These kids could have died.
These kids could have been killed, either by Stain or smashed under rubble like--
He cut off his own wild thoughts. Focus on the kid . “I’ll probably blackmail Snipe into helping you with your aim,” he told Midoriya as calmly as he could considering the situation. “Can’t take down villains if you’re always worried about hitting your teammates.” Shouta continued to go off on a ramble worthy of Midoriya himself about different ways to improve his aim, trying to focus on logistics like Midoriya was familiar with instead of drawing his attention back to what could have happened -- you know, like a hypocrite. At some point, Midoriya yanked off the mask to wipe his tears away, hood pooled at his shoulders and crossbow clattering to the ground, becoming Siri in mere moments.
Out of fucking nowhere, Midoriya crashed into him.
Shouta tensed, ready to throw the kid off, before he realized the kid had wrapped his arms around his chest in a short person’s version of a huge while his shoulders shook as he very obviously cried.
Affection? In this economy?
Shouta hesitantly carded his hands through Midoriya’s long hair, which had been pulled into a messy bun earlier-- likely by Shinsou, with Midoriya’s lack of skill doing hair.
Shouta’s comm came alive, and Shinsou’s voice came through it softly.
“He trusts you, you know.”
Shouta looked over at the tall teen, who looked back with mirrored lenses.
“He doesn’t like being touched by people he doesn’t trust. It took Hatsume months.”
Carefully, slowly, Shouta stooped a bit to awkwardly rub Midoriya’s back. Shinsou shot him a thumbs-up before going back to prying Iida’s broken armor apart so the 1-A student could climb out of it.
Iida was getting his ass lectured to hell and back when they were safe.
After several minutes, Midoriya pulled away, wiping at his face furiously before pulling his mask back on, flipping the hood up and looking at the ground.
“... Sorry I almost shot you.”
Shouta snorted, surprising even himself. “Kid. If I couldn’t power through a sleeping dart, I couldn’t call myself Eraserhead.”
There was a small crowd of heroes beginning to gather, namely Endeavor and Manual with Todoroki. Todoroki’s eyes were narrowed, and Shouta glared right back. Stupid fucking media vultures .
“What the hell are you standing around for?” he growled. “Are the Noumu taken care of?”
As Endeavor nodded before going off on a tangent, Todoroki suddenly looked up.
There was a sound of wingbeats.
Shouta dropped to the ground, shouting for his interns to do the same, just as something swept over his head.
Midoriya yelled, and Shinsou shrieked something incomprehensible.
A winged Noumu had its claws deep in Midoriya’s shoulder, trying to carry off the smaller teen, who was repeatedly stabbing it with two sparking rods. The Noumu spasmed, slowly rising from the ground and Shinsou yelling at it, his own bo staff out and whacking it.
There was a ripping sound, and Stain flew through the air at the Noumu.
Three knives impaled themselves in the Noumu’s brain, and it hit the floor, Midoriya collapsing in a heap. Shouta swore, reaching for his capture weapon which lay torn on the ground where Stain had lain. Siri streaked across the pavement to Midoriya, and Shinsou was frozen in place. Not that Shout could blame him.
Stain stood on the Noumu’s corpse, a sudden pressure in the air. He lifted his swords.
“I will rid this world of fake heroes!” Stain announced, his head held high, and Shouta felt his throat close. “Society has become overrun with liars and fakes, only out for the fame and money! I alone can cleanse the disease! The only one who can kill me is All Might himself--” Stain paused, looking over the crowd with an eerie sort of satisfaction before continuing, pointing his sword--
-- right at Midoriya.
“And him .”
Midoriya had something in his hands, and Stain’s eyes widened minutely.
“Shut that ugly-ass mouth, you noseless bastard.”
A dart sprouted exactly where his nose should have been, its feather the same gray as before.
Stain fell like a rock.
Midoriya rose, visibly shaking, and stumbled over to Shinsou before his legs gave out, falling forwards and Shinsou quickly extending his arms to catch the small Support student, hefting him to his chest in a bridal carry.
Manual started clearing the vultures out as the ambulances showed up, sirens wailing, just as Shouta really started to feel his wounds.
He refused to take his own ambulance, instead opting to take the same as his two problem children-- he didn’t trust them to be alone for one second , even if one was unconscious. They’d find a way to cause trouble.
He trusts you, you know .
There was no power on Earth that would make him violate that fragile trust he had built.
The smell of blood and antiseptic in the ambulance brought back memories of a bloodstained body-bag being carried past, a pale, bruised hand hanging out of it and seeing white hair dyed red adorning an unrecognizable face through the unzipped fabric.
There was no way in heaven or hell he was going to let another intern die on his watch.
Notes:
“Bad Company” - Five Finger Death Punch
Literally no explanation except the vibe
Chapter 29: mary, did you know?
Summary:
the midoriya family is shattered beyond repair, and it’s about time inko accepted that.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Inko was in the hospital room with her baby, the awful boy from before, and a homeless man.
Her baby was wide-awake, his eyes boring into her.
“Oh, Izuku, I worried so much…”
“Stuff it, bitch,” the awful boy snapped, and she leveled a glare his way. “We both fuckin’ know you’re about to passive-aggressively threaten to take Zuku out of Yuuei and make Zuku feel like shit about crap he can’t control.”
“That’s not true! Izuku, I don’t want you talking to this boy anymore.” She tore her eyes towards her baby, and it looked like he hadn’t even blinked. “I just want you to be safe-- come home, baby. You’ve gotten hurt so much, and I just-- I’ve been so worried about you.”
Her baby’s face twisted into something like guilt.
“There you fucking go again. Making Zuku feel like shit about things he can’t control.” The awful boy stood, crossing the room and shouldering past, extending his hands to her baby.
Her baby looked at him blankly for a moment before he reached over and linked their pinkies.
“Izuku!” She exclaimed. “I won’t tolerate this rebellion of yours-- that boy is a bad influence on you!” He flinched hard, and Inko sighed. “I just want the best for you, and you keep going against me at every opportunity these days! What happened to my sweet baby?”
“Midoriya-san.”
The homeless man rose to his feet now, finally gaining his attention.
“You’ve clearly distressed your son, I think it’s time you leave.”
“Absolutely not!” She stared at him, aghast. “My son hasn’t been home for months , and I have every right to worry for him! He’s been staying with that crazy girlfriend of his, and making things that hurt people, and he humiliated Katsuki on live TV-- he needs to be punished for that!”
Her baby whimpered , and Inko felt a flash of satisfaction-- that was her son again. Her son had been willowy and shy and obedient. This wasn’t her son-- his bitch of a girlfriend had been changing him. He was cruel and rude and rebellious.
The homeless man’s eyes flashed red. “I won’t ask you again, Midoriya-san.”
How dare he?
“Leave.”
“No! I have every right to lecture my son --”
“There’s a fine line between lecturing and blaming him for things he can’t control. And from testimony from your neighbors and Midoriya-kun’s friends, you cross that line too often. The fact that you did not report him missing when he left your household and didn’t see him for several months and that he left voluntarily is categorized under Article 31, Section 12 as child neglect and you can rest assured that you will have charges pressed against you.”
Inko opened her mouth, then closed it. “Excuse me?”
“From the testimony of aforementioned “crazy girlfriend”, Midoriya-kun also had visible wounds from school that were never reported and you never contacted the school about possible bullying, which is categorized under Article 31 Section 24 as “willful ignorance” and is classified as child neglect.”
Inko stared at the homeless man, then curled her lip, all facades dropping. Sure, he got roughed up a little, but it was character building , not bullying! “And who the hell are you?!”
The homeless man raised an eyebrow. “Aizawa Shouta, aka underground hero Eraserhead.”
As Inko turned around and stormed out, she heard the homeless man make a call.
“Nedzu, you’d better have some fucking good lawyers.”
It had taken about ten minutes of tense silence after Shouta’s phone call for the younger Midoriya to finally break down in tears.
Shinsou carefully perched on the edge of the hospital bed, holding his friend close to his chest as the smaller boy cried.
Shouta looked at Midoriya now and was stuck by how young he was. It was so easy to forget that Midoriya was just a child-- he was 160 centimeters of raw determination and near-terrifying intelligence. But he was fifteen. Fifteen was too young to deal with this world’s bullshit. Fifteen was too young to have to be thrown into the chaos of the outside world and flounder for a safe place to call home.
“I-- I couldn’t even say anything,” he whimpered. “I just-- I froze.”
“That’s what I’m here for, remember?” Shinsou grunted, loosening his arms slightly around Midoriya. “So you can be an idiot once and a while and I roast the fuck out of people.”
Shouta left the boys to their silence, running a hand over his face.
What the hell was he supposed to do with them?
The door clicked open, and a familiar figures traipsed in, a certain sharp-eared girl in tow.
“Shouuuuuuuuuuuuu!”
“ Kami , kill me now.”
His idiot of a husband draped himself over Shouta’s lap, who shoved him to the floor with a scowl.
“Shouta! The Hero Killer ?”
“Wait, holy fuck, that was you guys?” Jirou asked with comically wide eyes.
This was gonna be a long, long day.
Izuku stared blankly at the paper in front of him.
The experience week had been pretty tame after the Hosu Incident, and they were back at school now. He had been summoned to Nedzu’s office.
His mother was there.
Toshi’s hand tightened minutely on Izuku’s, and Meimei immediately took front-and-center, blocking the woman’s view of Izuku. He was immensely appreciative that his friends had demanded to follow.
“That paper, should you sign it, will remove you from Midoriya Inko’s custody and make you a Ward of Yuuei!” Nedzu told Izuku cheerfully. “If you don’t, then we will have to take your mother to trial for custody.”
A court battle would likely lead to his mother being jailed. He’d read the article Aizawa had referenced, and there was very little his mother could do to weasel out of those charges. Even if it was his fault.
Aizawa had leaned against the wall, one eye half-closed but both trained on him. Izuku swallowed hard.
It wasn’t that big of a change, was it? It’s not like he’d been living with his mother for… months, really.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, Zuku,” Toshi said comfortingly.
Izuku took a steadying breath. “Where would I be staying?”
There was a pause. Then, Nedzu said, “Cementoss is building some dorms for teachers and students, which should be ready by the second semester! The teacher’s is almost done, so you would be living there! Until then, you can stay with a friend.”
… Yuuei was the safest place he knows. He’d be safe here. Safe from--
-- safe from Katsuki.
His decision had been made before he got here, really.
In small, shaky print, he scrawled Midoriya Izuku on the line.
He’d be safe here.
Fire in the air, a lake full of villains. Screams of students. A man with a hand on his face behind it all.
He was safe at Yuuei.
He had to be.
Notes:
“Mary, Did You Know?” - Pentatonix
1.) chritmus
2.) Izuku is growing up to do incredible things, but Inko won’t stop viewing him as “her baby”.
Chapter 30: dancing in the dark
Summary:
tension of all types builds
Notes:
author? using a love song? it’s more likely than you think
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hitoshi would be the first to admit the first reason he’d had for his crush on Zuku was that the Support student was short and cute. Then “short and cute” became “darkly adorable and 160 cm of pure badassery” and he had no idea what to do with himself— sue him if the stoic, exhausted kinda guys that could end his life in heartbeats were more or less his type. And yeah, that wasn’t exactly ‘healthy’, but whatever.
And then, turned out the aforementioned Support student had a heart of gold, mind of diamond and tragic backstory to rival Batman’s.
It really didn’t help that Zuku was the first person in a long time outside of family that didn’t reject him socially over his quirk— the whole ramble about how useful his quirk was would have moved a more emotive person to tears.
He just wanted to make the small boy smile more, laugh a little, forget the horrors of his past.
If Zuku could help Hitoshi forget how horrible his life was before they met, then Hitoshi was determined to make Zuku’s current life a little better.
Hitoshi over to glare at his alarm clock as if that will make his insomnia vanish. 2:31, it told him in dark green lettering. Just like Zuku’s eyes —
“Dear diary, the gay thoughts are at it again,” he sighed aloud, cutting off the thought before it could proceed. He really doesn’t need to think about how beautiful his (probably straight) best friend is at two in the morning. He’s pining so hard that he’s half-surprised that an evergreen doesn’t just sprout from his chest.
At least Hanahaki doesn’t exist. Thank Kami.
Something hits his window, and Hitoshi sits up, alarmed.
A long silence, then something glanced off the glass again with a tchk!
Hitoshi pushes off his blankets and weaseled on a hoodie and basketball shorts, wandering over to the window and glaring down into the street. I swear to Kami, if Jaisu is trying to get me to go shirtless to the window again, I’m gonna yeet her into a wall—
Oh.
That’s not his annoying preteen neighbor.
Zuku was standing there, his arm wound up apparently to throw another rock. His eyes were wide, apparently not expecting him to appear in the window.
Hitoshi shoved the window up, pressing his nose against the screen as he smirked down at the friend he was definitely not just gay pining over. “Do I look like fuckin’ Rapunzel? Go to the damn door if you want in.”
That was all the prompting the Support student needed before streaking over to the door, and Hitoshi most certainly didn’t take the stairs two at a time to let him in.
“The hell are you doing up?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Zuku muttered back, and Hitoshi noticed his friend’s eyebags were darker than usual, even in the dim lighting. “You?”
“Insomnia’s a bitch.” Hitoshi turned on his heel and headed towards the kitchen.
A figure appeared in the darkness, easily reaching two meters and towering over the two boys. Zuku stopped dead, his eyes glinting in the low light, and Hitoshi sighed.
“Dad, stop trying to freak us out.”
The light flicked on, revealing a man who honestly looked like an older version of himself. Slightly longer, darker hair that wound upwards in an unruly mane. Scruff dusted his chin and a lazy smile adorned his face. The circles under his eyes were almost black, deep and hollow against a youthful face.
“I’m allowed to sneak up on the kid my son is sneaking in at the asscrack of night.”
Zuku shrugged before sticking his hand out. “Midoriya Izuku.”
Hitoshi saw the flash of recognition and mischief. “The Support kid that won the festival with my boy, eh?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Shinsou Hajime,” his dad introduced, taking Zuku’s hand and shaking it firmly. “If you’re wondering why an adult is up, my quirk’s Insomnia. I haven’t slept since I was four.”
The shorter boy tilted his head slightly. “You work in medicare.” It was more of a statement of fact, and Hitoshi’s father laughed.
“Yeah, just got back from a 72 hour shift last night. How could you tell?”
“You smell like antiseptic” was the vague response before Zuku wandered to the fridge, apparently content with making himself at home. After a pause, he grunted. “Fuck, I’m so tired I’m looking for coffee in the fridge.”
“Go to sleep,” Hitoshi suggested, only to be met with a sardonic stare that clearly stated Oh gee, why didn’t I think of that? “Okay, maybe not. Something bugging you?”
Zuku shrugged, starting to rifle through the cabinets, and Dad snorted. “Kid. It’s in the third cabinet from the left, behind the blue container.”
The shorter boy grunted his thanks before following the instructions, pulling out a pack of coffee beans and looking at it approvingly before going about preparing the coffee maker.
“Uuuu, who’s here?” A young girl stumbled into the room with wide, pale-blue eyes. Hitoshi rolled his eyes, hands lifting preemptively to sign along with his words.
“ Zuku, this is my baby sister Akehito. She’s profoundly deaf .”
“Not a baby,” Akehito mumbled. Zuku tilted his head slightly, face pensieve. “I’m six .”
“Six, huh?” Zuku set aside the coffee grounds to crouch down, his lips moving deliberately and slowly, and Hitoshi felt his heart flutter in his chest. “That’s pretty old.”
Akehito nodded proudly, then raised her hands and slowly signed with her words, which she stumbled through awkwardly. Hitoshi rolled his eyes fondly. “I’m Akehito. A-K-E-H-I-T-O. What’s your name?”
Zuku looked over to Hitoshi, and Hitoshi slowly, deliberately spelled out his name in sign. Zuku copied, somewhat sloppily, to Akehito, and Hitoshi hid a smile behind a glass of water his father had left out.
Suddenly, she gasped, eyes lighting up. Zuku jumped.
“You are Zuku! Zuku-Zuku-Zuku Hito-nii told me about!”
A slow smile appeared on Zuku’s face, and Hitoshi’s breath caught. Damn his gay heart. Damn it. Fuck.
“You are quirkless!” Zuku’s smile froze. “Jus’ like me!”
Izuku hadn’t known really what to expect when he came over to Toshi’s at nearly three in the morning. It wasn’t exactly an insomniac father, and it definitely wasn’t this.
All of Meimei’s lessons about how to talk to people curled up and died in his brain the moment those innocent words left the girl’s mouth. Shinsou-chan kept smiling, though.
Another quirkless person? A child ?
Memories of his own childhood swelled in his chest, dread creeping into his veins as he feared for the girl.
You’re just a worthless Deku!
No. He wasn’t Deku.
He was Izuku .
He mouthed the words more than really said them, slightly fearing what Toshi would say if he heard-- despite how irrational he knew it was.
“That makes us the strongest people on Earth,” he affirmed to the smaller girl.
“Really?” Her blue eyes went wide. “Even as strong as All Might?”
His mouth tasted bitter at the mention of the hero. “Even stronger than All Might,” Izuku corrected gently.
Her eyes filled with sudden tears, and his heart seized before she crashed into his chest.
“Hito-nii, I wanna keep him,” she announced loudly.
Izuku looked over at Toshi, who was grinning widely.
“Tap her spine twice,” Toshi instructed with a snicker. “That means you agree with her.”
Izuku felt his face heat a bit, but tapped the girl’s spine twice, and she made a high squealing sound, hugging him tighter.
Eventually, she broke away and danced up the stairs, apparently intent on going back to bed, and Izuku felt more exhausted than he had in years.
Then he remembered the reason he’d come, and he wasn’t tired anymore.
He went back to making coffee.
He and Toshi ended up sitting on the couch, talking about whatever came to mind and just rambling on.
“... hey, Toshi?”
“What’s up?”
“Can you teach me sign?”
The student smiled to themselves, their eyes tracking Bakugou Katsuki as he approached. The information they had now had taken far too long to get after the initial report. Finding blacked-out names was difficult for a reason.
“I fucking came, extra,” he growled. “The fuck do you want?”
Their voice was smooth as satin when they responded. “It’s not about what I want. It’s about what you want, isn’t it?”
His hands spasmed, a sure sign of his agitation with them. “And what the fuck would that be?”
They looked Bakugou dead in the eyes, not bothering to hide the smirk plastered on their face. Gotcha . “For a certain quirkless runt to get what’s coming to him.”
Notes:
“Dancing in the Dark” - Imagine Dragons
1.) Vibe
2.) Dark lighting theme (its night)
3.) romance
Chapter 31: anguish of the quirkless
Summary:
more fluff and flashbacks are bitches
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Shinsou Saneka had very few pleasures in her life.
Working as a “Probie” cop wasn’t easy, and it definitely wasn’t forgiving-- she got two majors (Criminology and Photography) to essentially sit at a desk and do nothing while her co-workers chased serial killers.
Hitoshi, her little brother, was a complete brat, but she adored him anyway. They’d lay on the living room floor and rant about boys.
For the past few months, he’s been pining over the oh-so-mysterious Midoriya Izuku that won the Sports Festival with what looked like minimal effort, and she could hardly blame him, even if she didn’t think he had much of a chance until he started calling the boy ‘Zuku’.
It made her immensely proud to see her brother with an arm around a certain green-haired boy that had curled into his chest.
However, this sweet moment had to be broken up.
Clearing her throat loudly, Saneka inclined her head. “Shouldn’t you two be in class in… twenty minutes?”
“Fuck!” The green boy streaked away from Hitoshi over to the window, glaring into the window at his reflection and making minute changes to his hair before huffing and chucking a bundle of wires he pulled out of a pocket at Hitoshi. “Up!”
“So, Aizawa. Got your pairings decided for 1-A yet?”
Kan Sekijiro was the bane of Shouta’s existence. Exhibit A was that he thought it was the greatest idea to stick his ugly nose into everything Shouta was doing with 1-A.
Exhibit B was his insufferable student Monoma, who made a habit of yelling at his students during lunch.
“Fuck off.”
Kan shrugged, wandering away, and Shouta sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he glared at the paper. The exams were in two months-- he had two months to prepare his transfer students for the Heroics exam on top of their Support or Gen Ed exams.
He had no idea where to start .
Kirishima and Kaminari were an obvious pair, if they had a single brain cell between them. Actually, no, they’re perfect for exactly that reason. They’ll have to actually think to pass. Oh, and against Nedzu. Plus Ultra.
Mineta was… awful. Shouta was begging Kami for a reason to expel the brat, but he never had any solid proof of the disgusting brat doing anything. Pairing him with any girl was off the list immediately, and pairing him with a decent person was a must. Maybe Sero? Sero was often the one to intervene if Mineta was being awful. Against Nemuri-- she had a strong desire to punt the grape child (not that Shouta would interfere).
Shouji and Hagakure, maybe? Shouji was a gentlemen, from the way he treated Hagakure and Yaoyorozu. He’d also be the only one besides Jirou to be able to track her. Against… Snipe. He’d be interested to see how that turned out.
He wanted Uraraka against Thirteen-- her anti-gravity was easily combated by Black Hole--but who to pair her with?
Fuck it, she’s going with Aoyama.
Jirou and Kouda against Zashi. To adapt. Okay, and maybe he was curious is Kouda could control bugs.
Yaoyorozu needed a serious confidence boost. Someone that’s willing to take orders and depend on her. Jirou was good, but she was already off the list. Todoroki wouldn’t listen to a word from her. Ashido, maybe. Scratch that-- Ashido was too headstrong to depend on her.
Actually, maybe he’d switch Kirishima and Ashido. Kirishima also needed a confidence boost, and being destroyed by Nedzu wouldn’t help.
Hnnnn.
Maybe Kirishima and Asui-- Asui had a take-no-shit personality and would be willing to bring Kirishima back to earth. Against Ectoplasm, maybe.
… Maybe Midoriya, Shinsou and Yaoyorozu. But then that would mean Shouta wouldn’t be a good match to fight them. He’d come back to that. He could fight Tokoyami and Todoroki-- they depended too heavily on their quirks.
Iida and Satou against Cementoss, maybe. That would work.
Kirishima and Ojiro could also work out. And against Power Loader, their fighting styles would be negated.
… huh. Guess he does --
Wait. Fuck.
That leaves Midoriya, Shinsou and Yaoyorozu up against--
He swore aloud, rubbing his face harshly and hating that the match-up could work .
He was fourteen.
Deku’s head was bowed as he shuffled down the hall, a full-body flinch induced every time someone passed by, often shooting cruel words his way.
“What are you doing here, Deku?” one of Kacchan’s cronies sneered. “I’d rather you were six feet under!”
After that particularly cruel comment, he threw his elbow directly into the base of the back of his neck, stopping Deku dead in his tracks from the awful shuddering feeling it induced.
Class had let out, and he knew what was coming was far worse.
Kacchan leaned against the gates of the school, his ruby-red eyes holding an unspoken threat.
Twenty minutes later, he stumbled home with a dozen new bruises and burns.
His eyes swam with tears that felt bitingly cold on his stinging cheeks, a mix of pain, fear, and humiliation.
His mother didn’t even look at him when he managed to push the door open and head to the bathroom.
She never did.
The school day had gone as per usual, except that he was heading home with Toshi instead of Meimei.
Izuku just couldn’t get the memories out of his head.
He was ten.
Deku’s ribs ached from where Kacchan had shoved him just a little too hard with his quirk. But he kept a smile on his face, an All Might figurine in his pocket.
He was gripping it now, recalling the hero’s familiar mantra.
“Stupid Deku, are you still carrying that old thing around?”
His hand instinctively tightened around the figurine. “Y-yeah, Kacchan.”
His friend looked at him, interest in his red eyes. “Can I see it?”
Hope flared in Deku’s chest as he nodded, passing it to Kacchan.
Not even five minutes later, Kacchan was gone and molten plastic sat in the grass, Deku crying softly.
Toshi’s pinky was locked with his, and Izuku tried to focus on that. To ground himself.
It didn’t work.
He was six.
Minor burns were scattered up and down his arms as he sat in the corner of his first-year class, legs pulled into his chest and watching the other students warily.
“Hey, Deku, look!”
Deku glanced over, surprised that someone had called his name. Barely anyone acknowledged him.
“I drew you!”
Deku stared confusedly at the paper. “But there’s nothing there?”
“Stupid Deku,” Tsubasa said chastisingly. “That’s the point.”
“... oh…”
“Can-- can we pick your sister up from school?”
Toshi looked over, appearing surprised. “Um, yeah, sure. I’ll text Ka-nee that we’ll be getting her, then. There a reason?”
He paused, thinking. “School sucked for me.”
There were no more words necessary, but Toshi grinned. Izuku felt his heart stutter. “You’re pretty sweet, Zuku.”
Izuku took his scarf and promptly buried his face in it to hide how red his face went, following behind Toshi as he led the way to his youngest sister’s school.
When they arrived there, the doors were just opening to let out a bunch of kids that maybe came up to Izuku’s stomach at most. Most stared as they passed, but Toshi just offered the kids a lazy smile and Izuku stood stock-still.
“Hito-nii! Zu-nii!”
Izuku jolted at the sudden familial nickname, before the blue-eyed girl came bouncing up.
“Zu-nii came!”
“Yeah,” Toshi agreed, signing along with his words. “Ready to head home, brat-girl?”
“Yep!” She grabbed Toshi’s sleeve, and Izuku instant started looking around.
He remembered doing that with his mom every time he saw one of his classmates.
A boy with brown hair flounced up. “Hey, deaf girl!”
Toshi’s eyes narrowed, and Izuku caught Shinsou-chan’s lips quirk into a nervous smile.
“H-hi, Kirichan.”
Oh, hell no.
He knew exactly what was going on.
“Hey, Kirichan, is it?” The boy looked at him with a sneer. “Calling someone a ‘deaf girl’ instead of their name is pretty rude.”
“Who cares?” he snorted in return. “She’s just quirkless. It’s not like she can hear it.”
It took physical restraint for Izuku to not deck a child. “Why is quirkless so bad?”
“Because they’re useless, duh!”
Izuku pulled his ID from his pocket. “I’m quirkless, too. You see where I go to school?”
If he made that kid reevaluate his life choices before taking Shinsou-chan (or ‘Akechan’ as she was insisting) out for ice-cream, that was nobody’s business. He made a kid’s life better.
He was gonna be a hero, and he was starting with Shinsou Akehito.
Notes:
“Anguish of the Quirkless” - Yûki Hayashi
There are no words. Literally— the song is instrumental. I know it’s already a BnHA song, but it went so well with the chapter I couldn’t resist. It’s melancholy and nostalgic— Izuku is looking back on his past and resolving that Akehito won’t live like that.
author: introduces akehito as a reason for izuku to learn sign and basically a very minor character that will get mentioned like twice
readers: i would die for her
author: *deep sigh before making edits to plans to include akehito as a semi-major supporting character*
Chapter 32: stand by you
Summary:
izuku is no longer homeless and as an affinity for people with the surname ‘shinsou’. also, he gets an upgrade.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Shinsou Mihoko worried for her only son.
It wasn’t always like that-- when he was little, he was a perfectly happy child that babbled on and on and she had let herself hope that maybe, just maybe, he would have a normal life, a normal quirk.
Mihoko’s own quirk was called Puppeteer. All she had to do was touch someone, and their minds were as pliable to her will as clay. She had hoped he wouldn’t get her quirk.
She, of course, was thwarted.
Brainwashing. A verbal response to anything he said would let him control them. She watched as her chatty son slowly spoke less and less.
Her oldest, Maya, had gotten Hajime’s quirk. Saneka had gotten a quirk she called Sparkle, letting her glow faintly and ‘sparkle’ if light hit her in a certain way-- from Hihoko’s father. Her fourteen-year-old, Mika, had a quirk that caused anyone she touched to fall asleep, from Hajime’s brother Kurito. Of course, it was a blessing that Hajime and Maya were immune to it. Akehito was completely quirkless and deaf from an accident when she was little.
Of course it had to be her only boy that got a quirk she hated so much.
She could never hate Hitoshi, though. She loved Hitoshi so, so much, but she couldn’t help but blame herself for his misfortune.
Then the black-and-green-haired boy he brought home a few days ago (or if Hajime is to be believed, he snuck in at 2:30AM) appeared in Hitoshi’s life.
She wasn’t oblivious-- it was fairly obvious her son had it bad for the (incredibly) short boy. She also very clearly saw how much more Hitoshi talked when the Support champion of the Sports Festival was around. How none of her words were carefully chosen, modulated so that his quirk couldn’t leak through. How free he looked.
She noticed, also, that Akehito had become rather attached to midoriya because they were both quirkless, and had somehow roped Saneka into also calling him ‘Zu-nii’.
Two weeks had come and passed, and Mihoko soon got used to seeing the two boys collapsed in the strangest places (apparently Mika’s doing, so that they wouldn’t go to school on zero hours of sleep, which was rather thoughtful of her). A few times on the couch, at the table, half-buried in Support items, even once when Midoriya was wedged behind the TV and Hitoshi was curled at his feet.
She figured Midoriya was trying to fix it, and he did. Somehow. (She had been certain Maya had broken it beyond repair.)
Today, Maya and Hajime were out. Maya had been called in a few days ago to help do makeup for a movie in Tokyo, Hajime had recently left for another three-day shift. Hitoshi was dead asleep (for once in his own bed) and her other three daughters were all in their rooms, fast asleep.
She had gotten up early on a Saturday to make breakfast and found Midoriya already awake, bent over what looked like a crossbow and talking to it in gentle tones.
“Don’t worry, we’ll fix your voice,” he was assuring it for whatever reason. “You don’t have to hide in your crossbow form, I can’t fix your voice unless you’re a cat.”
The crossbow remained inanimate.
“Troubles in paradise?” she joked.
Midoriya glanced over, reaching up to scrub at his face. “My AI’s voice box got fried and she’s pouting instead of letting me fix it.”
O-kay.
“Hmn. Want coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
She went about prepping the coffee, occasionally sparing Midoriya a glance. He eventually looked up at her.
“You want to ask me something.”
It was more of a statement of fact than anything, and she snorted to herself. “If you don’t mind it being a lil’ bit personal.”
He frowned. “If I don’t want to answer, I’ll just tell you.”
“Alright, then.” She leaned against the counter, thinking for a moment. “I don’t want to sound rude, but why have you been staying here? I’m always happy to have a friend of Hitoshi’s around, but it’s a little odd.”
He blinks solemnly back, seeming to think it over. “Sorry, I forgot it was weird for friends to be over for more than a day. I’m in the process of being made a Ward of Yuuei, and I’m just kinda hopping around my friend’s houses until the dorms for staff and Wards are finished.”
A Ward of Yuuei?
Oh.
… she shouldn’t have asked.
“It’s fine,” he told her plainly, as if he could read it in her face. “I’m… I’m not ‘okay’ with it, but I’m better off than I was. Me and my mom didn’t get along very well.”
“Oh.”
Awkward silence.
He was staring at the crossbow as if it would give him some kind of answer before he spoke again. “The dorms are gonna be finished by Friday. I’m… figuring out how to say goodbye to everyone.”
“Well, you’ll visit, won’t you?”
He blinked, as if that hadn’t even occurred to him. “Oh. Yeah, I guess so.”
Mihoko laughed aloud. “That’s what moms are for, Midoriya-kun.”
The boy had this look on his face that looked almost pained. “Um. Sorry if this is awkward, but can you call me Izu? I’ve been practically living with you for the past few weeks, and it’s what my aunt calls me.”
Mihoko snorted internally as she felt a swell of affection in her chest. If Hitoshi doesn’t scoop with boy up, Mika sure as hell will. It also now made some form of sense how Maya and Akehito could call him ‘Zu-nii’-- he was apparently very good at making connections in the Shinsou family.
“Call me Auntie Mihoko, then,” she agreed, pouring the coffee grounds into the maker. “Then you can call it even.”
He mumbled some form of agreement, and Mihoko took that as a victory for her.
Oh, and she was definitely gonna try to hook him up with Hitoshi. She wasn’t oblivious to her son’s pining, and she wasn’t oblivious to his, either.
Shouta checked and rechecked the address on his phone. According to Hatsume, this was the Shinsou house-- Midoriya was staying here instead of at her place so those two could spend time together before Midoriya didn’t have a reason to leave Yuuei’s campus. Which he got, kinda.
Shouta was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of sharing basically an apartment building with the other staff (especially Yagi) and the two-- now three -- Wards, but he would make it work. Somehow.
Knocking on the door, he stood awkwardly facing it, waiting for someone to arrive.
He heard someone screeching “DOOR!” and several people running around until finally, someone wrenched the door open.
A man that somehow just looked like an aged-up Shinsou (minus the silver pupils) leaned against the frame of the door with a lazy grin. “You must be Aizawa. Come on.” With no other preamble, the man turned around and led him in.
A woman with pale blue, silvery hair and clear blue eyes ( she was the one Shinsou got his silver pupils from-- similar quirk, maybe) was sitting on a couch in the living room he was led to, signing go get your brothers to a five- or six-year-old that just looked like a carbon copy. Another girl, this one looking about fourteen with hair a few shades darker than who he assumed was her brother’s, was propped against the wall with half-lidded eyes that looked like blue eyes.
Two young women had draped themselves over the other couch instead of sitting on it like normal people. The elder was practically identical to Shinsou, but her hair was cut short and spiked dramatically (and the obvious feminine features). The younger had pale lilac hair and dark blue eyes, a soft glow emitting from her skin.
“Koko, he’s here.”
The woman that had been signing to the child (who was now running off) gave her husband(?) a sardonic glare. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“ Mihoko .”
The woman turned and gave Shouta a warm smile. “I’m Shinsou Mihoko, but call me Mihoko. Too many Shinsous in this house for formalities. That idiot next to you is my husband Hajime. We’re Hitoshi’s parents, those are his sisters.” She pointed them out as she rattled off their names. “From oldest to youngest, we have Maya,” the Shinsou lookalike waved vaguely, “Saneka,” Glow-girl looked up from what seemed to be a camera in her lap, “Younger than Hitoshi is Mika,” the tired girl against the wall nodded, “and our youngest Akehito just ran up to get the boys.”
“Aizawa Shouta,” he introduced awkwardly. He wasn’t big on the whole ‘child’ thing, but somehow this pair seemed perfectly content with five of them.
There was a thunder of footsteps, led by the youngest Shinsou and closely followed by her brother and Midoriya.
“Mama,” she crowed loudly, “I got them!”
Sure did , Mihoko signed, before offering an explanation. “Akehito’s profoundly deaf.”
He shrugged. “My husband’s really hard-of-hearing.”
He heard muffled swearing from the middle Shinsou child, and Shouta shook his head slightly as he forked over some yen to Midoriya, who just offered a smug grin Shouta’s way.
“Come on , Hito-nii,” the girl leaning on the wall said in a chastising tone, her eyes cracking open more to glare. “You’re ruining the Shinsou name out here. We’ve told you to stop betting against Izuku.”
Shinsou grumbled in return.
“You got your crap, Problem Child?”
“Most of it’s in my locker or at my workstation,” he muttered, hoisting a duffle bag over his shoulder, “and Meimei’s bringing the clothes I don’t have for me on Monday, so yeah, basically.”
“Come on, then.”
Izuku was… nervous.
According to Aizawa, there were two other Wards. Which meant he was gonna be living with two other kids.
… fuck.
Aizawa led him into the building, and he found himself sitting in a kitchen area. A familiar first-year sat at the table, along with an elf-eared teen he didn’t recognize.
“Fien?” He blinked.
Fien smiled and waved a bit. “Hey, Izuku.” She gestured at the boy across from her. “This is Amajiki Tamaki. He’s the other Ward, a third-year.”
“Right. Your family is still in Ireland,” he realized. Fien grinned and nodded.
“I am from a Gaeltacht, which is an Irish-speaking part of Ireland. My parents and siblings could not uproot so I could learn in a Japanese school-- Yuuei offered to make me a Ward here.”
He nodded, understanding somewhat. “Nice to meet you, Amajiki-kun.”
Amajiki lifted his hand to wave weakly, and Izuku moved on, a bit dazed. That wasn’t… so bad?
“Ah, Young Midoriya!”
It got worse.
He slid to the side, tactfully taking refuge (NOT hiding) behind Aizawa and shooting All Might (in his withered form) an ugly look.
“I’m Yagi Toshinori--”
“I know who you fucking are,” he spat, feeling revulsion crawl up his throat and die in his mouth, leaving a vile taste. “And I ain’t fucking interested.”
Amajiki started, his eyes blown wide, and Fien looked a bit put-off.
“What’s your beef with Yagi-san?” She asked.
Ugh. Right. They probably didn’t know.
“He’s a fuckin’ bastard, is what,” he bit, hitching the bag back onto his shoulder and shouldering past the skinny form of All Might and to the stairs. Aizawa had said he was on the top floor and sharing the top floor with the other Wards-- Fien and Amajiki, apparently-- so they could have free reign to be as chaotic as possible or something. It was mostly implied that they were put up there so that Izuku would keep his babies as far from the teachers as possible, which was… valid.
“Wait up, Izuku!” Fien hurried after him, a few textbooks in her arms and a small frown on her face. “You are alright?”
“Fine,” he snapped, then stopped himself. “Sorry, that was rude of me. You don’t deserve that. I’m frustrated right now, but I’ll be fine eventually.”
Her tiny frown vanished, replaced by a relieved smile. “That’s good to hear.”
“Hey, your Japanese is better,” he mentioned, offering an awkward grin back. He knew it didn’t reach his eyes, but she seemed to accept it nonetheless.
“Yes! Perl’s twin, Aria, is teaching me. She’s a very patient teacher.”
“I thought she was mute?” He glanced at her confusedly.
“She is not,” Fien corrected, shaking her head slightly. “Her quirk is called Music Therapy-- she can sense emotion like an empath would but her voice can affect the emotions of people around her depending on the, ah… inflection, I think the word is, of it. Her singing is the most powerful, but even speaking can be difficult sometimes.”
“Cool.” Izuku finally reached the top of the stairs, letting Fien unlock the door and lead him in.
“Design studio is that way,” she pointed left, “and bedrooms that way,” she pointed right. “Small kitchenette we are in now, we each have our own small bathroom. Little living room is also here.”
Izuku nodded, glancing around. It wasn’t luxurious, thankfully, but it was nice. Better than his mom’s house.
“I wanted to add you to the 1-F group chat earlier, but I do not know your phone number.” She frowned.
“Oh. My phone doesn’t do group chats.” Izuku pulled his phone from his pocket, and Fien got the most offended look on her face.
“Izuku.”
“What’s up?”
“We based Siri off of a string of code you made yourself, and followed the designs for her AI in your notebooks, and Biometallica is your invention. You have made floor-breaking technology. You built your own tablet. You made a private Wi-Fi server that Nedzu somehow hasn’t noticed yet so we can steal internet from the bitchy 1-D boy who picked on Hitoshi. How in hell are you still using a flip phone?”
He looked at his small black phone, scrunching his eyebrows. “I don’t see a problem with it? It’s the only one I could afford, and it’s really all I need…”
“Nope. Izuku, you follow me.”
She dragged him by the wrist to the design studio, forcing him to sit down in a chair and starting to rifle through different drawers and muttering to herself in Irish before pulling out a box of phones.
“Perl gave me these, she fried the batteries with her quirk by mistake and wanted me to fix them. She won’t miss one.”
“How did she break so many--”
“Overloaded the circuits with her consciousness. Most phones can’t take it. This one--” she pulls out a sleek black model of what looked like the newest iPhone ( the iPhone XOX, which was a stupid name if he’d ever seen it but it was released on a European holiday called “Valentine’s Day”) what the fuck-- “worked very well until the Kaminari boy accidentally shocked it. I fixed it already and Perl has a new one. Try it.”
Izuku muttered blackly to himself, turning the phone on and glaring at the screen as it lit up. Eventually, it started asking him to put in passwords.
No phone number. This will cause problems with contacting others. Enter phone number and then enter the confirmation code sent to that phone!
Izuku rolled his eyes, doing as the device demanded and five minutes later, Fien was aggressively putting in the people from her contact list into his phone. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t really have that many phone numbers…
… and they might be only his mom (blocked), Toshi, and Meimei.
Fuck. He really didn’t have a life, did he?
----------
Collins Fianna has added Midoriya Izuku , Aizawa Shouta and 14 others [ Click to see list ] to Group Chat 1 !
Midoriya Izuku: kami i hate this already
Collins Fianna: suck it
Collins Fianna has changed their nickname to Chernobyl !
Chernobyl has changed Midoriya Izuku ’s nickname to Smallboi !
Chernobyl has changed the chat’s name from Group Chat 1 to Bastards of Yuuei !
Aizawa Shouta: Absolutely Not
Aizawa Shouta has left Bastards of Yuuei !
Nedzu has added Aizawa Shouta to Bastards of Yuuei !
Aizawa Shouta: fuck
Nedzu: ;)
Nedzu has changed their nickname to God !
God has gone idle!
Smallboi: thanks, i hate it! how do i uninstall?
Chernobyl: :<
Chernobyl: fine i will give you a better nickname!
Chernobyl has changed Smallboi ’s nickname to Loki !
Yamada Hizashi has come off idle!
Yamada Hizashi: WHY is my phone buzzing
Yamada Hizashi: Oh
Yamada Hizashi: :)
Aizawa Shouta: not you too
Yamada Hizashi has changed their nickname to SCREECH !
SCREECH has changed Aizawa Shouta ’s nickname to Angery !
SCREECH has changed Kayama Nemuri ’s nickname to Sadist !
SCREECH has changed Kan Sekijiro ’s nickname to hoe !
SCREECH has changed Snipe ’s nickname to YEET !
SCREECH has changed Ishiyama Ken ’s nickname to stronk !
SCREECH has changed Thirteen ’s nickname to such-space-much-wow !
SCREECH has changed Maijima Higari ’s nickname to Dugtrio !
SCREECH has changed Yagi Toshinori ’s nickname to twig !
SCREECH has changed Lunch-Rush ’s nickname to Hongry !
SCREECH has changed Amajiki Tamaki ’s nickname to Shyboi !
Loki: and now to purge
Angery: what
Loki has been given admin privileges!
Chernobyl: i did not do that???
God has come off idle!
God: ;)
God has gone idle!
Loki: the rats full of shit i can hack by myself
Loki has kicked twig from Bastards of Yuuei!
Chernobyl: why???
Shyboi has come off idle!
Shyboi: ????????
Loki: he’s a bitch
hongry: Me next please I don’t want to be here
Loki has kicked hongry from Bastards of Yuuei!
Loki: @ everyone anyone else that isnt aizawa want to be kicked bc i know i do
Loki: @God has made his will clear
Angery: rude
Several users have come off idle!
such-space-much-wow: me
stronk: me
YEET: me
hoe: me
Loki has kicked such-space-much-wow , stronk , and 2 others [ Click to see list ] from Bastards of Yuuei!
Loki: is there even a point to try and kick myself
Chernobyl: haha no
Loki: valid
Notes:
“Stand By You” — Rachel Platten
Another genuinely beautiful song that I love. It’s a song about never leaving someone you’re close to behind— can be interpreted as platonic, familial, or romantic. I chose this because I wanted something to emphasize the bond Izuku had built with the Shinsou family and 1-F.the chat thing at the end will happen occasionally. sometimes halfway through a chapter, sometimes at the beginning, sometimes at the end. it’s just a way to relieve how serious the story is going to be getting from now on. author wants to make the story serious, but also entertaining for those of you that are here for fun as well. in the more serious chapters— no spoilers but some will be very dark in the future— there will not be any chats as to not ruin the tone of the story. still, author enjoys writing them. please give feedback so she knows how often to put them in.
Chapter 33: viva la vida
Summary:
team izuku kicks ass
Notes:
USERNAME GUIDE
-Problem Children
Aizawa: Dadzawa
Izuku: 1_ChaosCatboi
Mei: 2_ManiacalLaughter
Fien: 3_RadioInactivity
Perl: 4_HackerVoice
Ban: 5_swoot
Hitoshi: 6_CalmCatboi
Aria: 7_ScreamingVoid
Momo: 8_yaoMOMo
-Class 1-A
Currently it’s just their hero names
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku liked to spend his time doing three things: studying, designing, and training for his semester exams, hanging out with the Shinsous or Hatsumes, and avoiding his dorm-mates.
It was surprisingly hard to do that when he shared an apartment with two other students. Fien liked to talk, an extrovert through and through. Amajiki… stared at him a lot, which was a little disturbing.
Now the exams were here, well. Hn.
The week of written exams had been awful. Sure, he knew the material, but it was a drag . Didn’t exactly help that the Support exam was basically the exact same as the Entrance Exam: build something complicated in the given time and present it.
Kaminari and Ashido’s exam was… disastrous. In a word. Mineta and Sero both failed, with Mineta getting knocked out and Sero taping Midnight down but not getting to an exit in time. Hagakure and Shouji passed. Uraraka and Aoyama passed by some miracle. Jirou and Kouda scared the shit out of Yamada-sensei in the process of winning. Kirishima and Tsu worked pretty well together, Tsu inspiring the red-head to fight on when he got pinned. Todoroki alone (since he was objectively the most powerful in 1-A) lost to Aizawa. Iida and Satou barely won against Cementoss. Tokoyami and Ojiro had a pretty close battle with Maijima-sensei, only Tokoyami escaping.
That left Yaomomo, Toshi, and Izuku.
He really had no clue why Yaomomo was on their team instead of evening them out by putting her with Todoroki, but he guessed it was about how he and Toshi were the least trained out of the rest.
“Aizawa? Who are we fighting?” Izuku looked over at Toshi, who had waved slightly. “Everyone else has already fought?”
The dark-haired teacher took a moment to just look at the three of them. “You’ll be against All Might.”
He barely heard the murmurs of condolence from the other students.
Instead, Izuku cracked his knuckles.
“Toshi, hand me your Sirencall. That bitch is going down .”
Toshinori hovered by the exit gate, checking the time. Three minutes had come and gone, and he’d seen neither head nor tail of the three students he was against.
He heard movement in an alleyway, and spun to face it.
“You make your final stand here, hero!”
Silence.
Then, a voice. Small and childlike. Shy and high-pitched, nervous.
“Can even someone without a quirk be like you?”
A flash of a dim memory. A small boy, maybe middle-school age.
“I just wanted to be like you-- saving people with a smile.”
A figure moved in the shadows. The voice was slightly steadier. Still young and shy, but there.
“But reality hits us all eventually, doesn’t it?”
The voice was no longer shy, sounding like a preteen droning about geology for a project. Toshinori squinted into the darkness.
“Reveal your true face, hero!”
The figure loped out of the darkness, becoming a tall, hooded student(?) with a mask and mirrored eyes. Two cat ears poked out of the hood, shifting ever so slightly that it felt unnatural.
Who the hell was this?
“Funny,” they said in a suddenly normal voice, low and bitter and strong. “I was gonna say the same thing to you.”
“DETROIT--”
“Mark 1.”
Something slammed into the back of his head, and he stumbled forward slightly and watched a drone land on the student’s arm.
This must be Young Midoriya.
But how did he know about the young quirkless boy? Were they friends?
Maybe Young Midoriya could show him where the boy was-- he’d like to offer the boy One For All. His time was running short-- literally.
No matter. Right now, he had a battle to win!
“WISCONSIN--”
“Yaomomo.”
He turned just in time to see the recommendations student slam something sparking with electricity into his gut.
He stumbled back, already lashing out again, but the drone from before knocked his hand out of the way. Toshinori frowned momentarily before crushing it between his hands--
--just as Young Yaoyorozu slammed the electric rod back into his chest.
“Yaomomo! What side does he favor?!”
Toshinori blinked, stepping away from the student before sending a shockwave her way. She barely rolled out of the way and leapt up. Toshinori looked up, and saw a short boy in a near-identical outfit as the other transfer student on a rooftop.
He realizes his mistake in his identification of the students too late.
“His left, your right!”
Toshinori had to turn his attention back to Young Yaoyorozu, New York Smashing the ground below her. She yelped, stumbling.
CHCK-THNK !
Toshinori glanced up again in time to see the real Young Midoriya with what looked like a crossbow in his hands aimed at Toshinori, and a sudden sharp pain in his scar area.
He grunted, already starting to feel drowsy from what he assumed was a sleeping dart, and backed up a few more steps.
Young Shinsou had drawn a bo staff, and was now getting in as many hits as possible that Toshinori blocked despite the shock from it, shaking off the dart’s effects.
Clck !
Toshinori looked around wildly.
An oversized handcuff was on his ankle, Young Yaoyorozu on the pavement holding the other end and looking immensely proud of herself as he used his moment of distraction to pull the rest of the handcuff from her pocket and buckling the other end around his wrist.
The bell rang.
“ Yaoyorozu, Shinsou, and Midoriya pass! There are no more exams !”
Young Yaoyorozu laughed suddenly, hauling herself up and going over to punch Young Shinsou on the shoulder lightly as Toshinori watched, bewildered. “You so had him!”
Young Shinsou cackled back in a disturbingly villainous way, and Young Midoriya jumped from his perch to join Young Shinsou, but not before shooting Toshinori a middle finger-- which was rude. Had he done something to deserve that?
“Fien’s gonna shit a brick,” Young Midoriya expresses delightedly. “I wonder if we’ll get extra credit?”
“Extra credit?” Toshinori stared at the three.
Young Shinsou snorted and slung his arm over Young Midoriya’s shoulder, pulling the mask just enough to reveal a smirk. With his other hand, he flipped his middle finger up at Toshinori. Again, rude?
“We just beat the Symbol of Peace without using our quirks.”
Shouta would treasure the footage he managed to get of Shinsou telling Yagi the three of them hadn’t used a single quirk between them and won .
“Problem Child Eight, get to Recovery Girl for the sprained ankle.”
The girl jerked, looking at the two boys. “Me?”
“Obviously,” Midoriya told her drily. “We’re One and Six. Welcome to the Problem Child Squad.”
She hurried off, limping slightly.
“Young Midoriya, how did you beat me without using your Intelligence?” Yagi asks.
Shouta’s brain grinds to a halt. Midoriya pulls off his mask, and Shinsou tugs the rest of his off.
“Yagi, did you read Midoriya’s file?”
“I have not had the chance to, no.”
Right. Midoriya was giving Yagi an absolutely withering look.
“I don’t have an Intelligence quirk.”
“Really? Then, Analysis?”
“I’m quirkless, bastard.”
Midoriya turned and walked out the gat without a word, and Shouta stared incredulously at Yagi.
“How the hell do you not know that? Nedzu announced at the beginning of the year that he was the first quirkless student Yuuei had accepted.”
“I--” Yagi blinked. “I think I’ve made a mistake.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
/// Problem Children
Reiki Perl has added Midoriya Izuku , Hatsume Mei , and 5 others [ Click to see list ] to Group Chat 1
Reiki Perl has changed the chat’s name from Group Chat 1 to Problem Children !
Reiki Perl has changed their nickname to HackerVoice !
Midoriya Izuku has come off idle!
Midoriya Izuku: not again
HackerVoice: Again???
Collins Fianna has come off idle!
Collins Fianna: I made a group chat for those of us living at Yuuei a month or two ago, and Izuku hates it
Collins Fianna has changed their nickname to RadioInactivity !
Midoriya Izuku: yeah i really do and for good fucking reason
Midoriya Izuku: you know how hard it is to respect yamada when he texts the group chat at 2am to tell the world he dropped his hair gel on his laptop and asks me or fien to fix it
HackerVoice: That sounds like an ADVENTURE
Aizawa Shouta has come off idle!
Aizawa Shouta: WHY have i been added to this
Midoriya Izuku: you think i know?
HackerVoice: It entertains me
HackerVoice: You dubbed us the Problem Children anyways so, yknow
Aizawa Shouta has left Problem Children !
Midoriya Izuku has been given admin privileges!
RadioInactivity: not this shit again
Midoriya Izuku has added Aizawa Shouta to Problem Children !
Midoriya Izuku has used a custom command: bitch you have to suffer with me on Aizawa Shouta !
Aizawa Shouta has been blocked from leaving Problem Children by custom command: bitch you have to suffer with me !
RadioInactivity: What in hell?
HackerVoice: I didnt know you could do that
Midoriya Izuku: im a big boy i can hack all by myself thanks
Aizawa Shouta: fuck this
Aizawa Shouta has gone idle!
Hatsume Mei has come off idle!
Hatsume Mei has changed their nickname to 2_ManiacalLaughter !
2_ManiacalLaughter: we must establish a HIERARCHY
2_ManiacalLaughter has changed Midoriya Izuku ’s nickname to 1_ChaosCatboi !
2_ManiacalLaughter has changed RadioInactivity ’s nickname to 3_RadioInactivity !
2_ManiacalLaughter has changed HackerVoice ’s nickname to 4_HackerVoice !
2_ManiacalLaughter has changed Hinata Ban ’s nickname to 5_swoot !
2_ManiacalLaughter has changed Shinsou Hitoshi ’s nickname to 6_CalmCatboi !
2_ManiacalLaughter has changed Reiki Aria ’s nickname to 7_ScreamingVoid !
2_ManiacalLaughter: H I E R A R C H Y C O M P L E T E
1_ChaosCatboi: c o r r e c t i o n
1_ChaosCatboi has added Yaoyorozu Momo to Problem Children !
1_ChaosCatboi has changed Yaoyorozu Momo ’s nickname to 8_yaoMOMo !
1_ChaosCatboi: now it is complete
8_yaoMOMo: oh?
2_ManiacalLaughter: hey @everyone watch THIS
2_ManiacalLaughter has changed Aizawa Shouta ’s nickname to Dadzawa !
3_RadioInactivity: You want to tell her or will I?
1_ChaosCatboi: you can do it lmao
3_RadioInactivity: Mei @ everyone includes Aizawa.
2_ManiacalLaughter: oh shit
Several users have come off idle!
Dadzawa: what do you brats want
Dadzawa:
Dadzawa: who changed my name i just wanna talk
2_ManiacalLaughter: OH SHIT
/// Class 1-A
Creati has invited Midoriya Izuku and Shinsou Hitoshi to Class 1-A !
Creati: Hey guys! Just fyi the theme for names is our hero names!
Midoriya Izuku: yaomomo how are you not seeing the actual tea being spilled in the pc-chat right now
Shinsou Hitoshi: i’ve never watched someone being so thoroughly roasted by a teacher before
Midoriya Izuku: ikr
Creati: Oh?
Creati: oh.
Midoriya Izuku has changed their nickname to Nyx !
Midoriya Izuku has changed Shinsou Hitoshi ’s nickname to Mindfuck !
Tenya has come off idle!
Tenya: Please change your username to something less profane!
Mindfuck: bitch this is my hero name zuku was just following directions for once in his life
Tenya: Being rude to a classmate is unbefitting of a hero!
Nyx: you clearly dont have aizawa in any of your group chats
Tenya: No! I only have this one to promote studying and herolike behavior!
Nyx has shared a screenshot of the chat Problem Children !
-----
- Dadzawa: hatsume i regret knowing you
- 2_ManiacalLaughter: why???
- Dadzawa: your babies are as ugly as you are
- Dadzawa: an absolute embarrassment to this school
- Dadzawa: you’re exactly like maijima and its insufferable
- 2_ManiacalLaughter: oh yeah well you look like you live behind a dumpster!!!
- 2_ManiacalLaughter: and SMELL like it too!!!!
- 1_ChaosCatboi: @6_CalmCatboi the girls are f i g h t i n g
- 6_CalmCatboi has come off idle!
- 6_CalmCatboi: TEA is being spilt
- Dadzawa: what the hell was the point of naming your stupid capture bomb ‘pink bomb’? real fucking creative
- 2_ManiacalLaughter: like ERASERHEAD is any better!
-----
Nyx: unbefitting of a hero you say
Earjack has come off idle!
Earjack: Tea????
Nyx: i am having the time of my life out here it’s so chaotic
Creati: I’d say.
Creati: oh now they’re insulting each other’s mothers
Chargebolt has come off idle!
Chargebolt: is
Chargebolt: is aizawa using yo momma jokes ?
Nyx: :)
Earjack: that was so ominous I don’t think I want to know
Tenya:
Mindfuck: take your time
Tenya:
Shouto has come off idle!
Shouto: are Shinsou and Midoriya Aizawa’s secret love children or something
Nyx:
Shouto: so I’m right
Pinky has come off idle!
Pinky: ohmiGOD so I had to stay late and I heard someone in the teacher dorms screaming I think Kayama-sensei actually DOES have a kink dungeon!!!
Mindfuck: im fucking crying
Mindfuck: that was zuku screaming into the void
Pinky: WHY is Midoriya at the teacher dorms?!?!
Shouto: I WAS RIGHT
Nyx: actually you insolent shit my fathers a bastard and my mothers a bitch so im a fucking ward of yuuei
Nyx: maybe check your fucking facts next time before you shove your entire head up your ass
Mindfuck: r o a s t e d
///
Notes:
“Viva La Vida” - Coldplay
A song about being powerful and then basically a peasant. This is clear in All Might— hes supposed to be the “king” and he’s suddenly thrown from his position by the people he thought were below him.
Chapter 34: welcome to the black parade
Summary:
izuku hates shopping and even if this isn’t exactly why it’s definitely a factor
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
/// Class 1-A
Tenya: We should go to the mall to get the supplies for the training camp!
Creati: We should! It’s a good bonding activity!
Nyx has come off idle!
Nyx: what training camp
Mindfuck has come off idle!
Mindfuck: the fuck are you talking about
Creati: the… training camp?
Nyx: im gonna repeat myself and its gonna be the only time i repeat myself
Nyx: what training camp
Tenya: Those who did not fail the exams are going to a training camp in an undisclosed location for a week!
Mindfuck: quick question what the fuck are you talking about
Uravity has come off idle!
Uravity: Aizawa-Sensei didn’t tell you?!?!?!
Nyx: what a bitch im gonna go yell at him
Tenya: That is inadvisable behavior!
Nyx: suck my dick
Nyx has gone idle!
/// Problem Children
1_ChaosCatboi: @Dadzawa is there a reason u didnt tell us there was a training camp
Dadzawa has come off idle!
Dadzawa: not particularly
6_CalmCatboi: ass
Dadzawa: i can still expel you
1_ChaosCatboi: yea but u wont
2_ManiacalLaughter: Tea? This early?
1_ChaosCatboi: im gonna fuckin shit a brick over here man
1_ChaosCatboi: the heads up came from a mile away didnt it
6_CalmCatboi: F now we have to go on the stupid class trip
1_ChaosCatboi: ugggggggggg
1_ChaosCatboi: id rather b shot tbh
Dadzawa: what class trip
6_CalmCatboi: 1-a wants to go to the mall to get their shit
Dadzawa: fine but get an adult
6_CalmCatboi: ………..
1_ChaosCatboi: aizawa ur the adult
Dadzawa:
Dadzawa: damn u rite
This is the worst .
“I can steal most of this from Meimei’s,” Zuku complains to Hitoshi, and he heaves a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and holding the list with his other.
“Saneka had a camping phase, and I literally have all this shit in my basement,” he mumbles in assent, thinking about his glow-y sister.
Iida gives them both an offended look. “This is a class bonding event!”
“Iida, I’m your teacher and I don’t want to be here,” Aizawa grumps.
“... Todoroki didn’t even show up.”
“And we only see y’all, like, once a week,” Zuku added drily.
It was true-- the dual-quirked boy hadn’t arrived at the set time and they had gotten bored of waiting. And the soon-to-be transfers only met with 1-A once a week for Heroics lessons. It was kinda pointless to invite the two of them.
“So, Izuku-kun and Hitoshi-kun, what do you think of the class so far?” Yaomomo practically bounced over. “I just noticed you’re idle a lot on the group chat.”
“I’m usually busy building things,” Zuku hedged, too awkward to admit the chat was boring and overall sucked, and Hitoshi rolled his eyes.
“Exhausting. Who’s even the leader?”
Yaomomo laughed. “Technically, me. Iida is the vice. But usually they only listen to whoever yells the loudest.”
Aizawa huffed in annoyance. “Unfortunately, she’s right.”
Zuku frowned at the knowledge, but ambled along anyway, the three of them slowly edging away from the rest of 1-A.
“Momo.” A girl-- Jirou, he recalls-- waves to Yaomomo. “Mina wants us girls to go check out the camping clothes and… stuff. You can do the clothes thing, right?”
Oh, mood .
Aizawa was in Izuku’s peripherals, looking exhausted as he trailed the airheaded blond and his friends. Probably the troublemakers of the class.
“Yeah!” Yaomomo beams, before glancing sheepishly at the non-1-A-students. “Sorry, I’m just gonna…”
“Have fun,” Hitoshi told her tonelessly. “And just remember--”
“--Mineta’s short enough to look up miniskirts,” Izuku finishes.
Hitoshi stares at his chaotic friend, blinking a few times. Not what he expected at all. “... I was gonna say ‘constant vigilance’, but I guess that works, too.”
Yaomomo laughed, then jogged after Jirou. “I’ll remember both.”
Hitoshi rolled his eyes slightly. “Since our only friends are now looking at clothes, want to go get something to eat and stare creepily at perverts?”
“ Absolutely ,” Zuku emphasized, a small, manic grin creeping onto his face. Hitoshi swallowed hard before glancing away, well aware of the heat rising in his face. Zuku really had no idea how weak Hitoshi was for those rare moments he smiled, even when it was kinda creepy.
Izuku sniggered as yet another perv that had been very obviously checking out a young woman was driven away by the two staring teens. It definitely helped that they were wearing their Yuuei uniforms and Toshi was tall enough to pass for a third year. The summer uniform also showed off their lean arms, which Izuku crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall.
Something caught his attention in the corner of his eye.
Izuku turned his eyes subtly, ducking his head to let his hair fall into his face.
A young man with pale-blue hair was staring at them from across the room. A bolt of recognition, quickly followed by fear.
“Hitoshi.”
Toshi subtly looked over at the mention of his name, eyes narrowing as he recognized his serious, near-silent voice.
“We’re being watched. Don’t look now-- it’s the hand bastard from USJ.”
He swore quietly, eyes going to the window and looking out at the crowded pavilion. “Quirk?”
“From what Aizawa says, five-point rapid disintegration quirk. Incredibly dangerous-- do not engage directly.”
A memory crawls up his throat and forces its way into his thoughts. Muscle, exposed on Aizawa’s arm, and he shudders at the sight of it as he wrapped the wound as delicately as he could. “We need to get Aizawa.”
“What the fuck?” A loud voice came from nearby, glaring at his phone. “No bars! Seriously? This is so shit.”
“Phones are out of the question,” he muttered lowly. “What now?”
Toshi leaned against the wall, his hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “Lead him to a less populated area, hope we run into 1-A.”
“He likely wants me,” Izuku said softly. “You make an excuse, go to the bathroom, I’ll head up to the roof. Find Aizawa.”
“I can’t--”
“You fuckin’ will,” Izuku warned, eyes flicking to Shiggy Toe. He was closer now. “There are so many civilians here. If I leave, he’ll follow me to the pavilion where there are more . People will die if we can’t lead him away.”
There was a pause before he crossed his legs awkwardly.
Three minutes passed before he hurried in the direction of the bathrooms.
Izuku was alone, and terror reared its ugly head in his mind. He imagined it as a possum and kicked it before checking his phone, and walked right past Shiggy. Risky, but it was something he had to take.
“Fuckin’ service is awful,” he muttered as he passed the villain, who convieniently didn’t look his way.
Hall. Left. Left. Stairs. Right. Hall. Left. Stairs.
He opened the door to the roof and hurried up, shutting the door behind him and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a lock mechanism on the outside that he locked.
Izuku turned around, and suddenly the scene looked very different.
“What are you doin’ up here, Deku?” Kacchan sneered.
“I-- I just needed some air--”
“Hope you enjoy it!”
Kacchan slammed the door in his face, and Deku stumbled back, clutching his nose which was now crooked and bloody, and he heard the click of a lock.
He was trapped up here for Kami knows how long.
There was a thud behind him that jerked Izuku out if his head. He stumbled away from the door, hand going to a utility belt that wasn’t there.
The doorknob turned to flecks of rust, falling like bloody snow to the concrete of the roof, striking a bone-deep terror in Izuku.
The door creaked open, and he saw a flash of pale-blue hair, but piercing crimson eyes were the next things he saw, peering through the gap between the door and the wall.
“You really shouldn’t try to hide from me, Deku .”
Izuku’s mind blanks. Green locks on red. His arms rose, shaky and his hands out placatingly but defensive.
The door opens.
“K-Kacchan,” he whimpered, scrambling away, his footwork clumsy.
Kacchan sneered, his lip curling and revealing his perfect teeth.
“I really thought you’d go crying to your sensei.”
Kacchan approached, his hand catching the sloppily-done tie of his uniform and lighting up with small explosions and the smell of smoke closely followed by the ashes of what used to be his tie crumbled down the front of his shirt and onto the pavement below. “Look at you, cowering like the useless fuck you are. What a hero.”
Deku’s legs shook violently as he stepped back again, back hitting the chain link fence, eyes still locked on Kacchan ’s. “P-please. I didn’t-- I didn’t do anything wrong.” A hand swipes at him, which he barely ducks, lighting up with fire and ash and blowing a hole in the fence.
“You’ve done plenty. Now tell me what you know about the field trip! ”
Field trip?
Deku blinked owlishly, shaking abating for only a moment as his confusion swelled. “W-what field trip?”
Shouta knew something was wrong.
Maybe it was a change in the air. He had no idea why, but his gut was screaming that there was danger, and his gut had never been wrong. It had always guided him on the right road.
It didn’t help that two of the three Problem Children present had vanished into thin air. It was probably nothing, but he was antsy. More than the class (he was keeping an eye on the girls) wasn’t in his immediate vicinity, and they were probably fine.
“Aizawa!”
Ah, there goes his last hope of having a normal day.
“Shinsou?” He looks at the lavender-haired teen, and was immediately put on high alert by the pure fear on his face.
“Shiggy-whatever-the-fuck is here,” he gasped out, stumbling to a halt in front of him. “He’s tailing Zuku. He told me to find you-- I think he led him up to the roof--”
Shouta was in motion within moments, bolting to the nearby entrance and bursting out, throwing his capture weapon up and using it to scale the building.
“Sensei-- wait!”
No time to wait.
It took barely a minute to find them.
“ Don’t play stupid with me, brat! ”
Midoriya was huddled in front of a gap in the chain-link face, his eyes terrifyingly blank, unseeing as Shigaraki screamed at the boy.
“Hey!”
Shigaraki barely turned his attention from Midoriya, his hand hovering over the student’s face. A horrible smile twisted his features.
“Oh, so the tall brat ran off to get Mommy? A shame.” His hands inched closer to Midoriya, and Shouta activated his quirk.
He didn’t have his goggles. He was completely unprepared for a villain attack.
“Ka-Kacchan,” Midoriya whimpered, his voice as soft as death and fearful as human instinct. “Please let, let me go home, Kac-Kacchan.”
Shouta threw his capture weapon, his eye contact broken for barely a second.
That was all it took.
A shriek of pure, unadulterated agony ripped through the air as Shigaraki cackled with glee. His quirk had already been erased again, but that didn’t seem to matter to the psychopath as he took Midoriya’s bleeding face in his hands and shoved hard .
The boy shrank into himself, a full-body flinch away from the villain. His feet moved backwards, and Shouta’s heart seized when he realized there was nothing there to keep him from going over.
The student’s foot stumbled into nothing but air, and he pitched backwards, a scream of terror incarnate as his other leg buckled under the unexpected weight—
— and Midoriya fell.
“ ZUKU! ”
Hitoshi felt like he couldn’t breathe.
The girls of 1-A had been in hot on his heels as he followed Aizawa at breakneck speeds.
Now, he could do nothing but watch in terror from the ground below as the villain shoved his bloodied, screaming friend backwards and through the gap in the fence.
“ ZUKU!”
The white cloth of the capture weapon just barely missed him, and Hitoshi surged forwards, not caring about the warning shouts from what vaguely sounded like Yaomomo and shouldering past.
He heard sirens.
CRACK .
Too late.
Too late.
Too late.
Hitoshi kneeled next to the limp figure of his best friend, grabbing his wrist and pressing two fingers into it.
Nothing.
Desperately, he ripped the collar of his uniform out of the way and pressed his head against Zuku’s chest.
Thd. Thd. Thd.
It was slow. It was weak.
It was there .
He couldn’t bring himself to care about the shout of fury from his teacher above as he heard a strange, voidic sound that must have been Kurogiri’s portals. He couldn’t bring himself to care that Shigaraki had escaped. He couldn’t bring himself to care that his chest was heaving from his constant running, that tears choked his vision, that the sharp pain of fear hadn’t dulled for a second.
He only cared about Zuku.
He stood carefully, with shaking arms lifting Zuku and stumbling to an ambulance. When had that pulled up?
“I’m one of his guardians,” Aizawa was telling a paramedic. “He is a Ward of Yuuei, and I teach there.”
The paramedic lets him into the vehicle.
“Kid, you his friend?” He asks.
“Let him in,” Aizawa commanded. “They won’t want to be separated when Midoriya wakes up.”
He climbs in and delicately sets his friend on the gurney.
Never had he seemed so small.
Hitoshi leaned forwards as the paramedics went to work, starting to staunch the worst of the bleeding and covering his face with bandages.
Hitoshi’s voice was deadly soft as he spoke, eyes never wavering from his friend.
“You don’t get to die before I tell you I love you.”
And even when Hitoshi closed his eyes to escape reality, the image of Midoriya Izuku— hand pale as a corpse and blood staining his uniform that usually was stained with soot— was imprinted on his eyelids.
Notes:
“Welcome to the Black Parade” - My Chemical Romance
when i was
a young boy
my father
took me into the city
to see a marching band
he said,
“son when you grow up
would you be
the savior of the broken
the beaten and the damned?”
he said,
“will you defeat them
your demons
and all the nonbelievers
the plans that they have made?
because one day
i’ll leave you
a phantom
to lead you in the summer
to join the black parade.”
he said,
“son when you grow up
would you be
the savior of the broken
the beaten and the damned?”
Chapter 35: ocean eyes
Summary:
ptsd makes its (un)welcomed reappearance but on a better note so does the resident angel child
Notes:
Update schedule:
(Does not include upcoming weeks because exams)
Weekdays: 1-3 updates daily unless big update that takes longer to work on
Weekends: 0-1 because author needs to fuckin s l e e p
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku’s feet skimmed over the sand, his smile brighter than it’s been in years. In his hand, tucked in his pocket to protect it from the sea spray, is his Yuuei letter.
He was about to go to Meimei’s, but he wanted to stay here for just a moment. Look again at where it all started before he took the next step closer-- or farther from-- his dream.
“Oi! Deku!”
In an instant, he was stumbling back with an oath on his lips, feeling someone grip his shirt collar.
Katsuki.
“Whatcha doing out here, shitnerd?” Red eyes glittered with malice. Slowly, they drifted down to his neck.
There hung the beautifully detailed MeiVision 1.0, bronze and shining, the delicate flowing lines of greens and pinks and yellows standing out in gentle contrast.
“What’s that?”
“Katsu--”
He was shoved back and he felt the ribbon that held it around his neck snap.
BOOM -POP-POP-POP!
“Oops.”
Katsuki dropped it into Izuku’s palm with a smirk.
That was--
-- Katsuki didn’t get to do that.
This was Meimei’s gift.
He made this for Meimei .
The hand not holding the shattered remains of his first support item curled into a fist.
Izuku faced Katsuki with a poisonous mix of fear and anger in his heart.
Katsuki looked back with a smirk and a gaze full of malice.
Ruby met emerald, and Izuku’s breath caught.
“Guess who made it into Yuuei,” Katsuki gloated. “ Me .”
With each breath, Izuku’s fear grew.
MeiVision 1.0 sat mangled and charred in his hand-- and it was all Katsuki’s fault.
His heart sped up as he pictured his only friend, hand tightening on his Yuuei letter.
Izuku’s legs wouldn’t move, and he begged them to. He had to get back to Meimei.
Katsuki came closer. Too close. Reaching to ruin the MeiVision even more, or hurt Izuku-- he didn’t care.
He threw a right hook, landing it square on the nose of his long-time bully.
It was barely a kitten’s blow, weak and clumsy, but in an instant, Katuski’s face turned from gloating to furious.
One hand went over his mouth and the other to his throat as Katsuki tackled him into the sand, rage encompassing all of the older boy’s actions in an unforgiving torment.
The hand on Izuku’s throat moved slightly to the right before it began to heat up.
BOOM- POP-POP-POP!
Izuku knew he screamed.
He screamed and bit and kicked and struggled, all efforts masked by the explosive teen who wanted to make him hurt .
Through the haze of pain and terror and the blood in his eyes and the ringing of his ears, Izuku didn’t know when Katsuki was finished burning his throat, when he was done prolonging Izuku’s suffering for as long as possible.
He just remembered barely being able to lift his head through the agony to see Katuski walking away as if it was a normal schoolyard conversation instead of a brutal assault.
“That’s a gift to remember me by, Deku ,” Katsuki crowed, leaving Izuku to bleed.
He couldn’t think straight. He just couldn’t think . What do you do in emergencies? He needed help. Call a hero. Call the… call the police.
His phone was fumbled with blood-slick fingers from his pockets and clumsily open.
Izuku’s shaky fingers dialed the numbers, barely able to speak.
“P-p’ease, he’p me…”
The ocean lapped against the trash around him, the gentle foam staining pink with his blood and as indifferent to him as it would be if he were just another garbage pile.
It was high tide, and he felt the water lapping at his cheek. He angled his face from it and whimpered from the bolt of sheer agony that followed it.
He heard the sirens just as he the world faded to black .
The pain didn’t stop when he opened his eyes.
There was a steady beeping somewhere, and he tried to focus on that. A hospital. He was in a hospital. He was safe. Kacchan couldn’t get him here.
Slowly, he focused on one thing at a time, eyes carefully moving from one thing to the next. A saline drip, an empty chair, a pink girl sleeping on a cramped chair, another empty chair, a vaguely caterpillar-shaped thing on the floor, a purple teen in the chair in the corner, a weird bundle of weird stuff--
-- wait a second.
Izuku blinked hard, and hit rewind mentally, doing a full double-take.
Three people were in his hospital room.
His head throbbed as he tried to focus on their faces, quickly giving up on the caterpillar before moving on to the purple boy.
Izuku studied it, the boy’s eyes closed, and wild lavender hair climbing ever upwards. He wore a Yuuei uniform, which confused Izuku even more, but he stared nonetheless.
Slowly, the eyes opened.
Indigo depths highlighted by pools of silver at the centre sent a bolt of recognition through Izuku.
Shinsou Hitoshi. Quirk, brainwashing. He’s in Gen Ed right now but he’s transferring with me in second term.
“Toshi?”
There was a beat in which the two teens could only stare, both completely unsure of what to do.
“They said… the doctors told us you might not wake up.”
Izuku could only blink back, and he felt tears stinging at his own eyes.
Shigaraki was at the mall with them.
He was sure-- Kacchan was too.
“Did you see Kacchan?” he whispered. “Did they catch him?”
Toshi’s eyes flashed with something akin to confusion before it settled on understanding. “Zuku… you were having a flashback. It was just Shigaraki, and your brain was convinced it was Bakugou.”
Oh… that made more sense.
“Is everyone okay?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.
The taller boy stepped over the caterpillar ( Aizawa, it was Aizawa ) to perch carefully on Izuku’s bed. “You were the only one that got hurt.”
“... good.”
Toshi’s hands suddenly spasmed, and Izuku instinctively flinched, only to see Toshi immediately calm them, composing himself.
“It’s not good, Izuku.” The other teen pulled his legs onto the sterile sheets, a mix of grief and anger stewing on his face. “You still got hurt. What would Mei and I do if you died? You almost--” Toshi’s hands came up to rake through his gravity-defying hair before dropping his voice to a whisper. “You almost died, and it would have been because I wasn’t fast enough.”
When Meimei woke up, she seemed to understand that he was already thoroughly guilty about almost dying (because minutes before she had woken, Aizawa had and lectured him to hell and back about vigilantism, recklessness, getting a pro to handle major villains, the whole nine yards), so she just perched at the foot of his bed and went on and on about what she had been doing and Toshi told him about what was going on with his family.
Recovery Girl came by and did her magic, so for about thirty-six hours Izuku was dead to the world again (a phrase he used and immediately was yelled at about, by both Meimei and Toshi at once). When he woke up the second time, a very certain Shinsou sister was practically sitting on his chest.
Hey, Akechan , he signed shakily, using her name sign-- the sign for the letter “A” doing the motion for “bright”.
“Zu-nii,” she said proudly, waving her hands and speaking in her sweet, slightly too-loud voice. “I got your name sign.”
He raised his eyebrows.
And she demonstrated with more energy than he’d possessed in a full year.
It went from a “C” flicking down next to her cheek and then pushing her hand out, palm facing him, before twisting her hand into a pointer and tracing a Z.
Izuku couldn’t help it. He snorted, hiding a snicker behind his hand before signing back.
So my name is quirky-Z?
She smiled proudly back. “Hito-nii says you’d like it.”
“Heck yeah, I do.” He sat up slowly. “How’s life been treating ya, Akechan?” He signed as he spoke, trying to be as clear as possible despite his shaking hands.
She giggled. “Kirichan left me alone! What’d you say to him?”
Inside, Iuzku was cheering. One small victory.
“Nothing much, really. Just reminded him that we’re even stronger than All Might.” At her smile widening, his felt his own lips twitch upwards.
Notes:
“ocean eyes” - Billie Eilish
1.) aesthetic
2.) Hitoshi’s eyes are what snaps Kzuku back to the present,,,
3.) a love song? being used by author? It’s more likely than you think
Chapter 36: whole heart
Summary:
izuku is self conscious and hitoshi is the local disaster gay
Notes:
after a week of radio silence as author agonized over exams (and passed all of them, cue rave music), she is here, queer and full of existential fear...
... to deliver the thing most of you have probably been waiting for.
m’lads, welcome to fluff.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
yall need to understand something. the thing on the roof from izuku’s pov? it was partially a hallucination. he’d had an experience when he was in middle school where bakugou locked him on the roof, and he was incredibly stressed so his brain projected bakugou onto shigaraki-- the weirdly italicized bits are how his world is being warped by his mind and trauma. bakugou hasn’t interacted with izuku since the sports festival and did not ever shove izuku off a roof. love y’all
Honestly, Izuku had… forgotten his face was covered in bandages.
He could see just fine since his eyes hadn’t been damaged, and he just kinda… got used to it and forgot that there were bandages covering the majority of his face. That and the other chaos preoccupying his mind. Namely one (1) Shinsou Hitoshi, who was thankfully as thick-headed as a rock.
Now that he thought about it, and tried to recall what really happened on that rooftop, he vaguely could call up the distorted image of Shigaraki-- but every time Izuku tried to look into his red, red eyes in his memories, he would become Kacchan again, beating Izuku for what the older boy perceived to be a crime.
It took a little while for all the bits and pieces to return.
It was honestly terrifying-- the first time he looked around the hospital room and thought he was fourteen again and was surrounded by strangers. Then when he looked at Toshi’s eyes, deep and mysterious and breathtaking as a nebula with a singular, silver starburst at its epicenter-- he remembered that he wasn’t just Deku, Kacchan’s punching bag. He was Izuku , he was Zuku , he was Izukkun . He wasn’t as alone as he had been.
After all, how could he forget those twin nebulae?
Pretty much immediately after Akehito left the second time he woke up, Toshi came back in and they just… talked, until Izuku was too tired to even do that, before Toshi just kinda sat by his bed with their pinkies linked, as if the taller boy was scared that if he let go of Izuku for even a moment, he’d vanish.
It was about this moment in which Izuku realized he was absolutely fucked and completely enamored with one of his best friends, which wasn’t a great realization to have when pretty much holding the object of one’s affections hand and half-asleep, because that leads to a violent rejection of any form of rest by the subject’s body, leading to an awkward “I’m fine / yes I’m sure / just had a crazy thought” and crippling insomnia for several more days.
Now, though, those thoughts had to be banished. A full week and a half after he was admitted to the hospital (and several instances with Recovery Girl interrogating him about why he wasn’t getting enough sleep and he would take that to his grave ), and he was mostly healed. At least enough to rejoin classes, with a lot of soreness.
Every confused thought fled his mind now as he stared into the mirror, his now bandage-less face staring back at him, unfamiliar and strange and terrifying despite it being his own.
Izuku felt tears in his eyes. They were hot like anger, but didn’t sting-- instead they burned, a steady and constant ache, tracing new lines down his cheeks and leaving his trying to wipe them away, a scorching feeling in his chest, harsh and suffocating.
It was another oft-experienced emotion in middle school that he rarely felt these days, but it was familiar anyway.
Humiliation.
His hands gripped the sides of the sink as the hot tears came fast, hating the truth the mirror told him.
He was dressed in a hospital gown, none of his usual accessories like his scarf or his belt or even his red high-top shoes with him. No familiar silver MeiVision hung at his throat. No Yuuei uniform jacket tied around his waist in a less-than-desperate attempt to keep it from staining.
An ugly scar covered most of the left side of his face, mottled and the silvery sheen he had come to hate condensed in a handprint. It barely brushed his eyelid, but the scars were there-- made obvious by the gap in his eyebrow. The fingers reached up to his forehead, the palm on his right cheek and cheekbone, and the thumb running onto his chin.
There was no way Izuku could cover this.
He felt sick.
All the training, the practice, the time, the victories-- all that went to waste the moment he thought Kacchan was on that roof with him. And now he was scarred forever-- again -- because he was too weak. Too stupid. Too clumsy, too wimpy, too--
The door clicked open, and he hissed a breath through his teeth.
A bird-headed boy stood in the door, holding a bag in one hand and the other tucked in a jacket pocket. Izuku stared into the mirror, dreading turning and letting this boy-- who he vaguely remembered was from 1-A, Todo... Toko... yam? Tokoyami -- see his face.
He bowed slightly. “Midoriya-kun, I have been sent on a quest to retrieve you.”
Izuku gritted his teeth. He wasn’t Deku anymore. He wasn’t Deku. He’s not Deku. He turned slowly, releasing his hair from its bun and letting it fall into his face, if not covering the ugly mark but at least obscuring it.
“Thanks, Tokoyami-kun,” he mumbled, venturing forward to greet the bird-boy. He flinched as soon as Tokoyami noticed his scars ( on display from the low cut of the gown, his hair not thick enough to cover his face entirely ) and his eyes widened slightly. Izuku cast his eyes to the tiled floor, wishing the ground would swallow him whole.
Instead of saying anything, as Izuku expected, Tokoyami held out the bag. “I was sent because there was nearly a fistfight between Yaoyorozu-chan and Shinsou-kun over who would get to retrieve you. May I stay near you for a time so I am not dispatched hastily upon my return by your companions?”
It took a second for Izuku to puzzle out that response, but he nodded vacantly as he took the bag and glanced inside.
“I’m just… gonna go change in the bathroom,” he mumbled, heading over, and Tokoyami just stood awkwardly near the door.
In the bag he found his familiar red scarf, which was obviously the first thing on. Also, his uniform, which was a pleasant sight after so long. The blazer had sleeves despite the rest of his uniform already made for winter, so he assumed Meimei did that out of respect for his habit of tying it around his waist when he was inventing. His red high-tops were more that a little beaten up, but he was thankful to have them anyway.
He stared at the mirror again, his eyes trained on the scar he couldn’t hide.
Izuku brushed his hair to his left, draping a copious amount in his face, taking solace behind the green-black curls and hoped it was at least enough to divert attention from himself.
Eventually, he ventured out and nodded to Tokoyami. The bird-boy bobbed his head back, turning to lead Izuku from the room.
It wasn’t a long walk from Yuuei’s ER to the Development Studio, yet he felt himself hover in front of the door a bit longer than necessary. Fears swam in his head, Meimei’s sneering face at his own disfigured one, Toshi turning away from him, 1-F’s kind words turning into cruel ones--
“Problem Child.”
He jerked back a few steps, eyes darting around wildly until they settled on his teacher, and he took another step back.
“Sensei.”
The underground hero just stared at him for a moment, and Izuku fidgeted under his critical gaze, before he practically shoved the door open and strode in.
He blinked stupidly for a moment, before skittering after Aizawa.
All talk hushed, and he felt eyes on him. Izuku shut his eyes hard, hearing the approaching footsteps.
“Izukkun.”
He cracked an eyelid open, and Meimei was in front of him, yellow crosshair eyes wide in concern.
“We were really worried about you,” she murmured, eyes raking up and down as if checking for wounds. He reached up, and put his hand over the scar in a desperate attempt to hide it from the view of those gathered.
Yaomomo appeared in the corner of his vision, a gentle smile on her face as she waved. “Hey, Midori-chan. Are you okay?”
He stared at the floor before looking up again and scanning the crowd.
The Reiki twins, Fien, Meimei, Yaomomo, Uraraka, Tokoyami, Aizawa, Ban, even Amajiki--
-- and Toshi.
A mix of anxiety from both his newly-disfigured face and recent realization crawled up his throat to die, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
Please don’t hate me.
Please don’t hate me.
This was genuinely the worst idea he’d ever been involved in, and he hated every second of it. All the gathered (with the exception of Aizawa, who pretty much just vanished to go back to doing teacher things, probably, and Tokoyami, who had to get home) had practically flooded Zuku with concern and positivity, even the shy elf-boy third-year that apparently was also a Ward.
He was awkwardly leaning against the wall as the others filed out, making their excuses-- Amajiki (the third-year) was going to see his friends, Fien dragging Ban and the Reiki twins off to go field testing for a shared project on Gym Beta, Yaomomo and Uraraka having a day out with the other 1-A girls and dragging Mei along.
Until it was just Hitoshi and Zuku in the room, neither meeting the other’s eyes.
Hitoshi would be honest, when the small, black-haired teen came in and he saw the scar, large and grievous, he flinched. How much it must have hurt to receive it-- the ear-splitting wail from moments before he was shoved off the roof was brought to mind.
Midoriya Izuku didn’t deserve the scars he bore. He didn’t deserve to be reminded of his suffering. He didn’t deserve what happened.
“Hey, Zuku.”
He didn’t miss how the other flinched, finally looking over at Hitoshi, and he met Zuku’s eyes. They were the same dark, forest green, ringed with emerald and jade, drawing Hitoshi into a world of crystalline jungles, lit only by a full moon hanging high above.
“Hey…”
Hitoshi pushed himself off the wall, drawing closer to the forest he loved to run through in his mind. Until, finally, he stood in front of his friend.
Please don’t hate me.
“Tell me you didn’t just look in the mirror, use your fingers to brush your hair into your face, and say ‘good enough’.” Stupid fucking traitor mouth .
Zuku blinked, clearly expecting that about as much as Hitoshi did-- not at all. “Um. Maybe?”
He tsk ed, guiding the subject of his current mental and emotional turmoil to a workstation. He sat Zuku in a chair before perching on the metal table, and let his hands go through the usual motions, almost robotic in its practice as he drew a comb from his pocket. Yeah, he carried a comb around specifically for this reason after the Sports Festival and he became 1-F’s personal hairdresser.
He pulled it into the usual messy bun he was absolutely weak for, which probably wasn’t healthy, but left his bangs out, styling them to drape in front of the left side of Zuku’s face. It would likely bring him some kind of comfort, even if Hitoshi didn’t like him covering any part of himself out of shame-- Zuku didn’t deserve to be ashamed of anything.
Eventually, he was finished, and the comfortable silence felt heavy again as he stood, helping his friend stand even without prompting.
They stood face-to-face, Hitoshi unsure of what to really say at all.
Of course, the traitorous bastard most would call his “mouth” went a bit faster than his brain, and Hitoshi wondered hazily if this was how it felt when he brainwashed others as his arms decided to join the list of traitor body parts.
A hand reached up to brush the curls he had styled in front of Zuku’s face out of the way, allowing Hitoshi to see his best friend’s face in its entirety. Zuku flinched slightly, and Hitoshi grinned awkwardly in a vague attempt to lighten the heavy look on Zuku’s face. It seemed to work a little, as the tension left his shoulders.
“You know, the scars really boost your “creepy and vaguely threatening Support transfer” aesthetic. Those 1-A kids are gonna piss themselves when they see you coming— like, oh fuck, here comes the transfer kid that fought an S-Rank villain and lived .”
Zuku cracked a tiny smile. “It was hardly a fight, Toshi…”
He winked conspiratorially. “They don’t know that, do they? Besides, all the ladies love a battle-worn man.”
Zuku snorted in response, giving Hitoshi a playful shove.
The pair lapsed into a comfortable silence again, no words coming to each of them.
“... and maybe some of the dudes, too,” he added at a murmur, recalling the original purpose of the meeting.
He blinked owlishly, forest-green eyes clouding in confusion, and Hitoshi wanted to beat the shit out of himself internally. This was the worst idea and he hated it so much, it was definitely going to ruin his friendship with Zuku and he’d be alone again--
“I, um… need to say something, probably,” he muttered, deciding the floor was very interesting in that exact moment. “Um… I’m really glad I met you on that subway. And I’m also really glad you dragged me to train with you and Mei for the Sports Festival.”
The crystalline jungles narrowed slightly, and Hitoshi took the voice in his mind screaming to chicken out and beat the shit out of it with a mental baseball bat.
“Before I met you, I didn’t have anyone around besides my family I could really talk to or anything… most of my school years really, really sucked ‘cuz I didn’t have any friends. Most people just decided I was a villain, and… you just kinda looked at me and said “so fucking what” instead of that.” He grinned awkwardly, calling up the fond memory of the Support student going almost completely silent before announcing he was going to finish the Sirencall. “And every day since then you’ve inspired me to go a little more plus ultra -- from doing test drives for your support items to absolutely slaughtering my mysterious and intimidating Gen Ed student with 1-F. You’ve never batted an eye at how weird I can get or my insane family-- they’ve practically adopted you by now.”
Hitoshi searched Zuku’s face for anything, but found nothing but a slight contemplation.
“Even your scars-- I think they’re just proof of how much you’ve survived. You keep coming out on top now matter how shitty things get, and for whatever reason you trusted me to see that.”
Please don’t hate me.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is-- I’m hella fucking gay, please go out with me?”
Stupid fucking traitor mouth.
There was an infinitely long silence as Hitoshi had his eyes locked with Zuku’s, his strange indigo met with the crystalline jungle he could get lost in forever. Some indescribable emotion brewed in them, a massive shadow of some predator in the darkness
Hitoshi flinched back, his eyes shut tight, preparing for a shout, a blow, even just disappointment or disgust, really, he couldn’t ever tell with--
Something grabbed his tie and jerked him forwards and into an awkward lean, another hand against his chest and backing him against a wall. His eyes flew open, and Zuku’s face was suddenly threateningly close.
Oh, fu--
Then his mind went absolutely, totally blank.
Why, exactly?
He was being kissed (almost aggressively) by the one and only Midoriya Izuku.
It was more than a little awkward from the major height difference, Hitoshi with his back to the wall and leaning down, one of the smaller teen’s hands still tugging on his tie and the other pinning Hitoshi against the wall. Hitoshi’s own hands were flared back against the warm, smooth stone, still stuck in “brace yourself” mode while the rest of his brain was on the fritz.
Zuku’s lips were rough against Hitoshi’s, pressed harshly against his own at a slight angle. Hitoshi’s nose was a hair’s breadth from his cheek, and when he breathed sharply he could faintly smell soot and wood smoke despite the Support student being away from his inventions for almost two weeks. The kiss was awkward, it was sudden, it was completely unexpected...
And it was absolute bliss.
He had no idea how long it lasted, but when the short boy finally pulled away, his normally-neutral expression (read: resting bitchface) morphed into one of annoyance with a pink flush high in his cheekbones, utterly perfect and somehow even beyond that.
Hitoshi’s eyes scanned Zuku, searching for some kind of answer as his brain had decidedly taken a vacation for two to five business months.
The Support student huffed, crossing his arms.
“ That was for giving me a gay crisis and not saying a word until after I almost die.”
Hitoshi’s throat made some noise that sounded vaguely like a cross between an apology and a cat being strangled just as his knees completely gave out, buckling under him.
Ah, yes, said his brain, which had just popped back in to grab the keys to the car before leaving again and witnessing the recent events. This is the ideal time to faint.
Notes:
“Whole Heart” - Rachel Platten
I rarely say a song is beautiful but when I do, I fucking mean it. This song is beautiful.
It’s a love song that isn’t actually about sex— isn’t that great?— it’s about sharing insecurities and troubles with your partner, and accepting who they are. Basically, seeing someone’s “whole heart” and loving every piece of it.
I thought this was great for this chapter because of the context this is in. Izuku is feeling really insecure because of his scars, thinking that he’s weak because of them (and yes, this will be a recurring theme— low self-esteem doesn’t vanish overnight). Hitoshi looks at Izuku and respects that he’s ashamed of them, but also reminds him that hey, you survived, that makes you really strong. He’s also saying, “You’ve seen some of the worst parts of me and loved me for it, so I want to see the worst parts of you and show you there’s nothing to hate.”
It’s just really fucking beautiful and I almost cried ok
Chapter 37: little light
Summary:
izuku acquires a father and a date, not necessarily in that order.
Notes:
author: i wanna commit a crime
author’s moirail: no
author: i wanna write angst
author’s moirail: no
author: well i cant write a healthy good date scene bc ive never been on one
author’s moirail: then dont
author’s moirail: write dadzawa you were always good at that
author: motherfucker you have a point
keepin up w the shinsous
LilacCat: Hitoshi
SilverJay: Mihoko
LavenderPup: MikaBastards of Yuuei
ExpelledSaysTheBastard: Aizawa
bastardgoesscrem: Yamada
LokiGodofBastards: Izuku
NagasakiBastard: Fien
MotherofallBastards: Kayama
ClericBastard: Recovery Girl1-Ayyyyy
Nyoom: Iida
UwUraka: Uraraka
Wheyyy: Kaminari
BoiFrien: Hitoshi
Levi: Izuku
Nasty: M*neta
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
/// keepin up w the shinsous
LilacCat: @SilverJay i made a Mistake mother please help
SilverJay has come off idle!
SilverJay: what’s wrong boi
LilacCat: i asked zuku out and then fainted
SilverJay: wh
LilacCat: he may or may not have kissed me before i fainted but that’s not the point
LilacCat: i fainted and when i woke up i was too embarrassed to speak so i just kinda ran out
LavenderPup has come off idle!
LavenderPup: niiiiice
SilverJay: Mika dont antagonize your brother he’s having a crisis
LavenderPup: ~_~
SilverJay: and aren’t you supposed to be in class?
LavenderPup has gone idle!
SilverJay: Hitoshi has he tried calling you or anything?
LilacCat: not exactly? he hates phone calls
SilverJay: he texted didn’t he
LilacCat: possibly
SilverJay: answer him dammit
LilacCat: fine
/// Zuku —> Toshi
Zuku: u good
Zuku: ummmm
Zuku: im pretty sure i fucked up somewhere so
Zuku: im really sorry
Zuku: can we please still be friends
Zuku: please dont hate me
Toshi: it’s fine i just panicked
Toshi: if anything i should be apologizing
Zuku: to be fair i was being pretty aggressive
Zuku: ,,, sorry
Toshi: I highkey liked it so seriously it’s all fine
Zuku: wh
Toshi: noT THE POINT
Toshi: i just embarrassed myself and had to exit the situation before i said something really stupid
Toshi: so, im really sorry
Zuku: so is the date thing still on the table or?
Toshi: Uhhhhhyes!???!
Zuku: great meet me at the gate after school tomorrow youre taking me out and i know not where
Toshi: jahajsjajhsaksh
Toshi: is that basically just “surprise me”????
Zuku: :)
Zuku has gone idle!
Toshi: that’s so ominous (Read 2:24 PM)
///
Shouta ended up seeing Problem Child One again pretty soon. The black-haired Support student was perched on the couch in the common room, a contemplative expression on his scarred face. Shouta paused on the stairs to regard him, wondering why he would be down in the common area now of all times when he seemed so averse to it— it was the middle of the night. What the hell was he doing up this late?
“Midoriya,” he grunted, lumbering past to go to the kitchen and preferably make coffee. This day has been nothing but a headache, really, between finishing paperwork for the training camp and grading written exams. It was the Thursday (or was it Friday now? He had no idea what time of night it was) before break and he had never wanted Friday night to come faster.
“Sensei,” he mumbled back, still staring at the wall.
Shouta followed his unblinking gaze, until it hit the particular decoration on that wall.
A mirror. One Nemuri had set up specifically so she could make quick fixes to her makeup in the mornings while on the couch as she went about her routine.
Minutes ticked by, and Shouta kept half an eye on his kid.
The kid. Half an eye on the kid.
The coffee finished, Shouta just took the pot before wandering over and joining Midoriya in staring blankly at their reflections.
Shouta had changed into a tank top for the night, because Hizashi didn’t let him sleep in his hero outfit, and it was easy to see the scars that adorned them. Long slashes from knives, burns from quirks, and, of course, the particularly large one on his right elbow from where Shigaraki had brushed him.
He subconsciously rolled his shoulders, shifting his grip on the coffee pot as he grimaced at the scar. He wasn’t terribly fond of it, really, but that wasn’t what bothered him— feeling the exposed muscle on his joint was pure agony, and that was from Shigaraki barely touching him.
The silver handprint on Midoriya’s face attested to how much worse it could have been.
“You gonna live?” He asked gruffly.
The student hummed noncommittally. “Better off than you. Most of my work is just reviewing the semester to ‘see what I could have done better’ or something.”
Shouta shrugged in acknowledgement before tilting his head black slightly and downing the entire barely-cooled pot of coffee.
Midoriya broke his gaze from the mirror to give Shouta a nonplussed look.
“Do as I say, not as I do,” he muttered in reply, dropping the now-empty coffee pot on the side table. It bugs the hell out of Kan.
“Hn.”
The two were in relative silence for a while, even when Shouta went upstairs to retrieve his small mountain of paperwork and throw it onto the coffee table, huffing as he sat down to get back to grading, this time with a buzz of caffeine in his system.
He graded the top students first, for the sake of productivity. Well, the top students in his class overall.
Ashido had done shockingly well, actually.
“Probably ‘cuz of Meimei… she’s been helping Ashido-chan study.”
Shouta glanced over at the Support student. The latter shrugged.
“You talk under your breath.”
“... normally, people can’t make heads or tails of it, though.”
“Um… I mutter, so… yeah. I’m used to it.”
They fell into silence again.
Class rankings were pretty much as expected of his eighteen students. Except Ashido.
- Yaoyorozu Momo
- Iida Tenya
- Todoroki Shouto
- Asui Tsuyu
- Jirou Kyouka
- Ojiro Mashirao
- Ashido Mina
- Shouji Mezou
- Satou Rikidou
- Koda Kouji
- Uraraka Ochako
- Tokoyami Fumikage
- Kirishima Eijirou
- Hagakure Tooru
- Sero Hanta
- Aoyama Yuga
- Mineta Minoru
- Kaminari Denki
Kami above, this was exhausting.
“How do you do it?”
Shouta paused, looking up.
Midoriya stares back at him with honest green eyes, looking to be searching Shouta’s face. For what, exactly, he had no clue.
“Do… what?”
He blinks slowly, and Shouta is once again reminded of how catlike this boy is. “How are you just... okay with your scars n’ stuff?” He trailed off a bit at the end, voice and eyes dropping.
… well, it probably wouldn’t kill Shouta to finish this paperwork in class tomorrow. Not like he was actually teaching anything outside of glaring at 1-A as they did their usual exercises. He could multitask. Shouta set the pen aside the considerably smaller mountain, slightly pleased at his progress in the short while he’d been down here.
Probably since he was grading the top students first. Kami knows it would slow down when he got to Kaminari’s exams…
“There isn’t really a solid how-to guide,” he answered eventually, left hand already going to brush the scarred skin on his right elbow as he glanced at the clock— 11:20, it was actually earlier than he thought. “Hell, if I’m having a bad day, I hate them. You don’t have to believe all the shit people say about them— sometimes they aren’t marks saying you’re a survivor of some glorious battle. Sometimes they’re there because you failed, because you trusted the wrong person, because the wound made you weak when people needed you to be strong.” He rubbed harshly on the scar with a frown, studying his Problem Child.
The Problem Child. Not his.
The scarf was wound tightly around his neck, more so than usual. It looked as if Shinsou had styled his long hair to at least shield the scar from Shigaraki, sheltering it from inattentive eyes.
“But it’s also a reminder of how I can improve,” Shouta continued, a bit softer now, as his hand slid up to tap a deep slashing scar on his collarbone. “Got this way back in high school. Tried to take down a major villain with Hizashi. We won, but I got knocked out of the fight.” He tugged his shirt up again to cover it. “Made me rethink my approach to heroics, and how my style wasn’t good for daylight. Ended up going underground. I’m better for it.”
Midoriya had looked up again to stare at Shouta, and he looked back. Best not to say anything without prompting.
“I’m… sorry,” he mumbled eventually. “My friends all pretty much say the same thing, and I don’t really have a family to talk to.”
Right. The reminder that Midoriya was entirely without relatives to go to after he was removed from his mother’s custody stung, and Shouta flinched internally, cursing himself.
Of course his Problem Child was having issues talking about what bothered him with adults— his track record with teachers wasn’t exactly spectacular, and he probably couldn’t safely navigate a conversation like that with his mother.
“It’s fine, Midoriya,” he told the student calmly.
Another long silence, but this time it looked like Midoriya was working up the courage to say something.
“I’m legally one of your guardians, Midoriya, you can just spit it out. I’ll be fine.”
“CanyoupleasenotcallmeMidoriya?”
Shouta blinked, unscrambling the flood of words easily enough. It was the contents he was unsure about.
Midoriya went on, his face screwed into something of intense concentration. “I just don’t like it all that much. It was my dad’s name, but my mom kept it, and I just…” he trailed off, searching for words. “I don’t want to be anything like they are.”
He blinked again, considering that. “Okay. What am I supposed to call you, then?”
He blinked back, apparently not having thought that far ahead.
“… my given name? I guess? I didn’t think I’d make it this far.”
“Alright.” Shouta reclined on the couch, stretching out. “Then Nyx in classes. It’ll help boost your response time to your codename.”
“Right…”
It felt like only heartbeats later when Shouta jolted awake with the feeling that something was wrong .
It seemed he had fallen asleep on the couch (third time this week), and he glanced at the clock again blearily. 2:36… well, three hours of sleep was better than zero.
He scanned the room for the source of the wrong feeling, eyes cutting through the darkness to find it.
Midoriya— Izuku— was asleep on the other couch, twitching and whimpering in his sleep.
Shouta stood and quietly made his way to the couch Mid-Izuku was on, carefully resting his hand on the black curls.
The boy tensed, and Shouta has genuinely no idea what he’s doing, but he starts gently carding his fingers through M-Izuku’s hair, doing his best to give silent assurance to the sleeping student.
It didn’t soothe him much, as his eyes cracked open slightly as the shaking picked up.
“K-Kacchan?”
Shouta sighed internally, doing his best not to pity his Problem Child. It wouldn’t him to give pity.
Shouta crouched down, carefully gathering the small teen in his arms and hoisting him up. “Nope. Go back to sleep.”
Izuku definitely did not go back to sleep, instead shifting to get a better view of Shouta’s face.
“Ai… zawa?”
“Do I look like Jack Frost?” He joked dryly, carrying him up the stairs. Lightening his tone a little, he added, “Yeah, just Aizawa.”
The sleep-drunk teen’s eyes went to the bare wall, tracing it as if it had some kind of answer.
“He told me nobody would want to be my friend ‘cuz I’m a freak.”
Shouta faltered mid-step, connecting the “he” to the mysterious “Kacchan”... it was probably Bakugou, considering the context.
“Well, clearly that isn’t true.”
“But… but it has to be.” Those confused green eyes searched his face for a second, and in that moment Shouta felt like he was staring into the face of the middle-schooler on the train, wild short hair and a desperate gaze believing every lie he’d ever been told. “Why isn’t the joke over yet?”
The joke ?
Shouta stopped in front of the door to Hizashi and his dorm, turning that phrase over.
Oh.
Oh.
He meant… someone pretending to be his friend, to humiliate him.
The thought that he had experienced that and still had recurring issues over it made Shouta feel sick .
“Nah,” he dismissed more easily than he thought was possible with how his mind was essentially just yelling in fury. “You think Bakugou would have gotten expelled for some mean joke? Or Shinsou sitting by your bedside for a week? Or Hatsume spending hours putting together an AI?”
Izuku tucked into himself a little more, which was kind of a feat. “Not when you put it like that…”
“Great.” He pushed the dorm door open and shuffled in before dropping Izuku on the couch. “You should probably get some actual sleep. Don’t you have a date tomorrow?”
He was already shutting the door after he had stepped into the bedroom when his words registered with the transfer student.
“Wait, how do you know about that?!”
Shouta wasn’t about to tell him that Hatsume liked to keep everyone in the loop and essentially just gossiped about it whenever he and Shinsou were idle. He just smirked.
/// Bastards of Yuuei
ExpelledSaysTheBastard: guess who won the shizuku pool
bastardgoesscrem: DAMMIT
bastardgoesscrem: @LokiGodofBastards this is very important who confessed first
LokiGodofBastards: id be surprised u have a pool but im not bc ur all nosy assholes
LokiGodofBastards: toshi and then he fainted when i kissed him
NagasakiBastard: SOLD OUT
ExpelledSaysTheBastard: fucking harsh but okay
MotherofallBastards has come off idle!
MotherofallBastards: GODDAMMIT I WAS SURE YOU WERE LIL HIZASHI
MotherofallBastards: TRAITOR CHILD
LokiGodofBastards: w h a t ?
ClericBastard has come off idle!
ClericBastard: I’ve seen blockbuster movies less entertaining than this
ExpelledSaysTheBastard: everyone is convinced you and shinsou are the second coming of me and hizashi
ExpelledSaysTheBastard: really all im hearing is that im 100k yen richer than i was before
NagasakiBastard: Ohhhhh my God that’s incredible
MotherofallBastards: D:
/// 1-Ayyyyy
Nyoom: Everyone please have a productive weekend! I will see you all again on Monday for the camp!
Nyoom: Why is my name “Nyoom”?
Nyoom tried to change their nickname but was blocked by the custom command: know your fucking place, trash!
Several users [Click to see list] have come off idle!
Wheyyy: I am SOBBING
UwUraka: n y o o m
UwUraka:
UwUraka: WHO DID THIIIIS LMAO
BoiFrien: i dunno
BoiFrien:
BoiFrien: I have a theory but I’m not sure if I want to share it
UwUraka: YOU GOT A DATE?!?
Levi has come off idle!
Levi: ( :
BoiFrien: thanks, I hate it! How do I uninstall?
Levi: the only way ud top is by brainwashing me first luv
Levi has gone idle!
Wheyyy: bruh he just sold you out so fucking fast
Nasty has come off idle!
Nasty: gross we have fucking fags in our class?
Nasty: Shinsou I thought you were cool
BoiFrien: @Levi
UwUraka: @Levi
Nyoom: @Levi
Levi has come off idle!
Levi: vibe check
Levi has muted Nasty forever!
Levi: toshi send memes maijimas boring
BoiFrien: yep ok memes inbound
Levi has gone idle!
Wheyyy: WHIPPED
UwUraka: ^^^
BoiFrien: sHUT
///
Shouta occasionally saw Shinsou at the cat café a few blocks from Yuuei. Sometimes he and his siblings, sometimes just him.
This time, though, it was both he and M-Izuku.
The latter was practically covered in cats, and he stood there with an expression of pure contentment.
Shouta snorted, which drew Shinsou’s attention.
He grinned at the underground hero, hands lifting to sign just out of Izuku’s line of sight.
Thank you for taking care of him.
Shouta shrugged in response, just taking a seat in the corner. A metal cat leaped up to join him, eyes lit up green in amusement as she recounted what had happened before he arrived.
He was definitely spying, too. Sue him if he didn’t have anything better to do.
1-F
Midoriya Izuku
Gender: male
Age: 15
Height: 1.6 meters
Hair: long; black with green highlights
Eyes: green
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Quirkless
Other notes: Short and will kick your ass. Relatively quiet, too. Very gay and not sure what to do about it.
Hatsume Mei
Gender: female
Age: 16
Height: 1.63 meters
Hair: long; bubblegum pink
Eyes: yellow, crosshair pupils
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Zoom
Other notes: asexual homoromantic. Also, author genuinely loves her she’s just so precious
Hinata Ban
Gender: male
Age: 16
Height: 1.7 meters
Hair: short; brown
Eyes: brown
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Calligraphy (perfect calligraphic handwriting)
Other notes: kind of an ass, and definitely prickly— he knows when it’s okay to be an ass or not, though.
Fianna “Fien” Collins
Gender: female
Age: 16
Height: 1.63 meters
Hair: long; red
Eyes: lime
Ethnicity: Irish (Gaeltacht region)
Quirk: Nuclear Charge (constantly emits harmless levels of radiation her clothes are specially designed to absorb and nullify. She uses the radiation to power her support items. Fianna can also release an incredibly dangerous level of radiation all at once, similar to a nuclear explosion.)
Other notes: fluent in Irish and English, and Reiki Aria is helping her with Japanese.
Reiki Perl
Gender: female
Age: 15
Height: 1.68 meters
Hair: long; black with red streaks
Eyes: blue
Ethnicity: Japanese-American
Quirk: Technopath (Can transfer her consciousness into any electronic device, similar to an AI.)
Other notes: She and her twin Aria are pretty close. Perl also tends to go into a meditative state in moments of peace to brainstorm ideas.
Gen Ed
Reiki Aria
Gender: female
Age: 15
Height: 1.68 meters
Hair: long; black with blue streaks
Eyes: red
Ethnicity: Japanese-American
Quirk: Music Therapy (Has empath abilities and can manipulate the general mood of a person or group of people with her voice, more powerful when singing but also effective when speaking— certain songs have certain effects on someone’s physical state as well, at the cost of draining the emotional energy of someone nearby, usually herself or the target.)
Other notes: essentially mute from how shy she is. Seems to like Fien, though. Also, the author is thinking of transferring her to 1-B so she will work as a recovery hero, since her quirk can be used to heal with practice.
Daisuke Kai
Gender: male
Age: 16
Height: 1.73 meters
Hair: short; white
Eyes: white
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Albino (he’s literally just albino. He’s entirely white. And it’s not genetic, it’s his quirk. He just lost all his color when he turned 4.)
Other notes: this is the asshole from 1-D that picks on Hitoshi.
Shinsou Hitoshi
(See his place under “other”)
Other
Shinsou Hajime
Gender: male
Age: 48
Height: 2.1 meters
Hair: medium; lilac
Eyes: indigo
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Insomnia (he is incapable of sleeping and does not require it.)
Other notes: works as a doctor and pulls 72-hour shifts regularly. That’s how he can afford having 5 kids and a decent house.
Shinsou Mihoko
Gender: female
Age: 47
Height: 1.89 meters
Hair: long; silver-blue
Eyes: pale blue, silver pupils
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Puppeteer (anyone she touches she can mind-control.)
Other notes: Very motherly and attached to all of her kids. Blames herself for Hitoshi’s lack of friends.
Shinsou Maya
Gender: female
Age: 27
Height: 1.91 meters
Hair: short; lilac
Eyes: indigo
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Insomnia (she is incapable of sleeping and does not require it.)
Other notes: works as a makeup and hair artist, usually for movies. She taught Hitoshi about both. She’s also very lesbian and met her current girlfriend (introduced in the next chapter) through her job— the girl was the stage manager for one of her more recent movies.
Shinsou Saneka
Gender: female
Age: 25
Height: 1.87
Hair: magenta
Eyes: dark blue
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Sparkle (emits a soft glow and has extreme night vision, she also is just generally very sparkly)
Other notes: author made a mistake in listing her hair color in a previous chapter; it’s described as pale lilac,,, gonna correct that, it’s definitely magenta. Her quirk makes pretty much every lighting optimal because she’s figured out how to control her glow and use different transparencies of clothing to cover up or expose certain angles. Izuku’s hair only looks green in some lighting, which is why most characters describe his hair as black— she describes it as green because she pretty much is that lighting and can’t tell that it’s mostly black. Also, her skin sparkles in sunlight, hence the quirk name Sparkle. Hitoshi makes fun of her by calling her Twilight Vampire and she hates it. (If you couldn’t tell, author had a really great time coming up with Saneka)
Shinsou Hitoshi
Gender: male
Age: 15
Height: 1.77
Hair: medium; lilac
Eyes: indigo, silver pupils
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Brainwashing
Other notes: he is so gay. Just so incredibly gay. Also, absolutely in love with Izuku. Author basically projected all of her pining over a girl she likes onto Hitoshi and viola,,, romance
Shinsou Mika
Gender: female
Age: 14
Height: 1.75 meters
Hair: medium; lavender
Eyes: dark blue
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Narcolepsy (forces anyone she touches to fall asleep, requires 14 hours of sleep per day or she falls asleep randomly.)
Other notes: author may or may not have based her quirk off of a character from a webcomic but she doesn't regret it in the least.
Shinsou Akehito
Gender: female
Age: 6
Height: 1.2 meters
Hair: long; silver-blue
Eyes: pale blue
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Quirkless
Other notes: Profoundly deaf, meaning she has no semblance of hearing. Author very much wanted a small quirkless child to bond with Izuku so he would get the inspiration to be a hero to inspire other quirkless kids. The original concept was a one-off character, mostly to get Izuku to learn sign which might be important later. Y’all loved her and now she’s kinda on the same level of importance as Hinata Ban. Congrats, you peer pressured a sleep-deprived author.
That’s all for now, but the author will add in the end notes any more descriptions for new OCs.
Notes:
“Little Light” - Rachel Platten
Only reason: Izuku’s life has been trash and he’s startinf to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Rachel Platten is also just Incredible
Chapter 38: sleepsong
Summary:
akehito loves her family. aria worries. siri is proud.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Akehito loved the world.
She was small, of course, but she was smart . She could read when she was really little, and she could talk in non-babble by the time she was a year old— that’s what Mama told her.
She remembered getting real sick. She was four, or just about— one of her classmates got their quirk and it hit her. It got her real sick with something Mama called “meningitis” (she thinks Mama called it that, at least), and she was in the hospital for a long, long time and everything hurt a lot, but mostly her head.
The hearing loss had been slow and in her pain she hadn’t really noticed it until she got out of the hospital, hand-in-hand with her Mama and Papa with Hito-nii saying something but she could hear them at all. When she told them, they took her back to the doctor (but a different one that poked her ears), which she didn’t like, and kept writing on a board instead of just saying what he wanted to tell her, which was frustrating because she was still learning some of the kanji.
Eventually, she understood: the sick had made her ears bad and she couldn’t hear anything anymore, which was called ‘profoundly deaf’, which was weird.
Kirichan didn’t like that, and he kept writing “stupid” on her desk and telling the teacher she did it. It wasn’t a nice joke. Akehito didn’t like that very much… and he started writing things like “useless” when the quirk doctor told her she was quirkless!
Akehito didn’t like doctors.
Mama and Papa and Maya-nee and Sane-nee and Hito-nii and Mika-nee all loved her very much! They learned sign language with her and took her to and from school and everything! Maya-nee would sit by her bed when she couldn’t sleep, and Sane-nee would try to make herself sparkle different colors, and Hito-nii would show her how to draw and tell her about the world and Mika-nee would come sleep in her bed sometimes and hold Akehito to her chest, talking even though Akehito couldn’t hear her, but she loved the way her voice rumbled in her chest with her “alto” voice, which was what Hito-nii called it, and the rumble would make her feel safe. Mama and Papa would teach her all about books and reading.
She loved them all. But her family didn’t stop there.
Akehito loved a nice girl Maya-nee wanted to marry (Maya-nee gets very red and insists she doesn’t), she was named Itoyashi Ayaka but Maya-nee called her Ayachan, so Akehito called her that, too. Ayachan had a pretty quirk that made plants turn different colors. She also had a thing called “synesthesia” that made her see colors when she listened to music. Ayachan would tell her what colors different songs were.
Akehito double loved Zu-nii.
Hito-nii told her he was quirkless, too! And he won the Sports Festival! He was Hito-nii’s friend! She liked him already, but then he came over for a while!
They were really strong, he told her. Stronger than All Might! She couldn’t believe it— nobody was stronger than All Might— but then they beat him up in their exam! No quirks!
Zu-nii was one of her favorite people.
Even if he didn’t marry Hito-nii, he was her family too.
Aria was… in short, a very anxious girl.
It was really stressful knowing everything everyone felt, all the time! Perl was a brief refuge from the storm. Her twin was calm, put-together and analytical— she usually only felt peaceful. So different from Aria.
She could make people feel different things with her voice, and she remembered that people didn’t like that. So she had fallen silent over the course of her life. The words eventually just got trapped in her throat, like something was forcing her to be quiet and not speak at all. Her therapist called it selective mutism caused by severe social anxiety, which seemed about right.
Aria met 1-F, then.
She was immediately blown off her feet by the sheer amount of chaos in the room. There were only five others, each one with their own emotions. Hinata was carefully controlled in an angry way that was lessened when he was with 1-F, but he blossomed with genuine happiness the longer she knew him. Hatsume was pure energy, ricocheting off the walls of Aria’s mind. Midoriya was suppressed pain and fury buried under a thick layer of anxiety… Aria worried about him often, especially when he came in with a scar and self-hate tearing open the figurative packaging he had put around his pain.
Fien was different.
Where Perl was a kind of natural calm, Fien was a whirlwind . Her mood changes faster than her radiation levels, but her whirlwind, chaotic as it was, felt more peaceful than even Perl.
Like she stood in the eye of a hurricane, somehow untouched by the destruction. Beautifully terrifying.
Somehow, she could talk to Fien. The clog lessened, and she could whisper and eventually yell, feeling so free when she was with Fien.
That didn’t stop her from knowing what the radioactive Irishwoman felt.
“Why are you so worried?” She asked softly.
They leaned against one another in Fien’s room in her dorm, reviewing exam results together. The other tensed.
“It’s Izuku, ya know?”
She bobbed her head in response. She never spoke of others' emotions, as that was their most private secret— but she understood. The black-haired boy had been a tempest of negativity since he came back from the hospital with a new scar.
“He ain’t feeling right. I just know it. And every time he goes somewhere, chaos follows… I won’t be there to help if he gets himself in trouble.”
“You can’t help everyone,” Aria reminded her friend gently. “We must have faith in him. He is strong.”
“Yeah… I know.”
Aria smiled slightly. “Do you wanna go blast Enya in the common room to annoy Kan-sensei?”
“Oh, fuck yes.”
Siri lounged on Izuku’s shoulders, feeling more than a little self-satisfied. Her tail twitched, brushing his face slightly.
The date a few days ago had gone well— Hitoshi took him to the cat café, and Siri enjoyed herself by gossiping with the cats and watching her human getting slowly covered in them as he laughed.
Hitoshi told her he liked Izuku’s laugh a lot.
Now, they were all on the bus.
“Oh, right! Midoriya, Shinsou, you never told us who you interned with!” Kaminari leaned over, his eyes bright and curious.
As usual, Izuku ignored him and Hitoshi scrambled to answer.
“We technically aren’t allowed to say?”
“Why?”
“Well, because we’re going underground… obviously. We got offers from a pretty good underground hero, so we can’t really tell you about them.”
“Man…” Kaminari shook his head, redirecting his attention to Kirishima and chattering about something useless.
Siri glanced out the window, noticing that they were slowing.
There was a line in which stone gave away to freshly-turned earth and gravel.
Siri wrapped her tail around Izuku’s neck gently, and reached up to rub her smooth head absentmindedly. He was in his hero costume, as they all were, for whatever reason. But she knew he cracked a small smile.
The bus stopped, and they filed out. Right into the weird patch.
Aizawa stood on the edge of it with two women.
Mandalay, aka Sosaki Shino— part of the rescue team Wild, Wild Pussycats— quirk: telepathy.
Pixie-Bob, aka Tsuchikawa Ryuko— part of the rescue team Wild, Wild Pussycats— quirk: Earth Flow.
Wait.
As Aizawa talked, she connected the dots.
From the way Izuku stiffened, he did, too.
He grabbed Hitoshi’s wrist, bracing his feet on the earth and placed his other hand on Siri, making sure she was secure.
The moment even a hint of a smile came to Aizawa’s face (Siri heard the man’s heart speeding up in anticipation), Izuku bolted , yanking Hitoshi along as he dove into a roll past his teacher (she was pretty sure he was technically his dad by now— advice, spying on date, comfort, guardian— that’s a dad, right? Aizawa is a father, nobody can convince her otherwise) and the two pro-heroes, until he hit the grass behind them.
“Midoriya?!” Uraraka yelped.
Hitoshi stood abruptly, cupping his hands just as Pixie-Bob’s hand began to move.
“ Logical ruse !”
The ground collapsed under 1-A the moment it registered for them that they were in danger.
Aizawa gave the three of them a flat look. “What tipped you off this time, Nyx?”
Izuku stood a little taller, obviously proud of himself. “You get this look in your eyes when you’re tricking someone. Pixie-Bob’s quirk could destabilize the loose ground in moments. Not too hard.”
Mandalay whistled before she barked a laugh. “Alrighty, then! Let’s leave Pixie to do her thing and go get lunch.”
Siri cackled from her place on Izuku’s shoulders, curling a bit closer to him.
Yeah, she was really proud of her human.
for fanart (literally cried when someone said they were gonna do fanart), its silverleopard86-- author’s Tumblr. its mostly shitpost or she talks about DnD with some fan stuff and human rights here and there. Mostly shitposting. she also only checks it a few times a week, so please be patient.
if you make fanart (*distant sobbing*) please please please @her so she can find it, and as a note, it is far more likely she will see it if you send it to me via private messages. ( another note if you send it via pm she likely won't reply bc of crippling anxiety, but she will reblog it with proper credit and give you a shout-out and link in the notes)
she does not have a discord. as of right now, she cannot make a discord. this is for personal issues, like her devices are shit and other things.
lotta love,
silver
Notes:
“Sleepsong” - Bastille
Literally just blasted this while I was writing so, that’s this chapter’s song.Itoyashi Ayaka “Ayachan”
Gender: female
Age: 27
Height: 1.6 meters
Hair: long; orange
Eyes: yellow
Ethnicity: Japanese
Quirk: Color Flower (can turn plants any color)
Other notes: her name literally just means “color flower” if that tells you anything about author’s creativity.
Chapter 39: you’re gonna go far, kid
Summary:
camp is great, and then it’s not.
Notes:
psa: there will be song repeats, but after them it will be labeled (nightcore). its to emphasize the same kind of theme of a chapter, but more intense.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
PSA: author forgot to actually link the tumblr so here it is silverleopard86
and if that doesn’t work she’s out of ideas
Kouta ended up being the weirdest kid Izuku had ever met, and not just because he tried to punch Toshi in the dick for trying to be friendly. (Emphasis on tried , Siri crashed into his side so fast the kid yelled in surprise, knocking him off-balance.) It was actually mostly because he tried to do it to Izuku not five minutes later with no prompting. Izuku, being as rehearsed as he is with being beaten up, caught his hand. He really wasn’t in the mood to be bullied by a six-year-old.
They had a lovely lunch of tacos and watched the heroes milling around and talking, Toshi occasionally adding input while Izuku judged silently. The silent judgement was helpfully translated by Aizawa as “that’s a stupid idea” or something along those lines. Dinner was curry that Aizawa made because Izuku set his on fire and Toshi said “It can’t be that much harder to make than ramen” and Aizawa decided he didn’t want Smokey the Bear in his case.
And that’s the story of how he unsettled three pro-heroes without opening his mouth.
When Pixie-Bob finally returned, she did a full double take on Izuku, her eyes going wide.
“Oh my god, Eraser, did you teach him that?”
Teach me what?
“Teach him what?” Aizawa lifted a brow.
Yeah. What he said.
Toshi gestured vaguely in Izuku’s direction. “I think she means the face. And no, Mei says he’s been doing it for ages now.”
What face? His ‘silent judgement’ face?
Just then, the door slammed open.
“What the FUCK.”
Ah, that was Kaminari.
Pixie-Bob jogged over, wiping the sweat from her brow and giving praise where praise was due or something.
“Nyx, Shinsou.”
“Sensei.” The two transfers automatically straightened, turning their heads in unison to Aizawa.
“Head to the sandpit out back, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Yes, Sensei.”
It took about three minutes for Aizawa to come out. This time,they taped ribbons to key points on the body for whatever reason.
“These ribbons mark vital points to hit when you’re fighting someone,” Aizawa explained, suspiciously ribbonless. “For example, a throat punch could disorient an enemy, a tight enough headlock could make them pass out. Of course,” his eyes flashed red, “there are severe consequences of overdoing it. A hard enough throat punch with the right angle could snap a neck. A headlock held for too long could suffocate someone. This lesson is about restraint , am I clear ?”
“Yes, Sensei.”
He nodded, and guided Toshi to the center. “Nyx, to me.” Izuku plodded over, anxiety spiking. Aizawa held up a ribbon, the very same as the ones taped to the two students. “This looks easy enough to tear off, correct?”
“... this is a trick question.”
“Astute observation,” Aizawa rolled his eyes, reaching over and clasping his hand around the one taped to Toshi’s throat. Izuku saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed nervously, and Izuku couldn’t blame him. Aizawa had handed them their asses so many times that Izuku was pretty sure the underground hero owned them by now.
Aizawa yanked back, and the tape tore away from Toshi’s throat. The ribbon hung in Aizawa’s grasp before having Toshi put it on again.
“You can try it now.”
Izuku smelled a trap.
He snatched the ribbon, and blinked in surprise.
“It ripped.”
“No kidding,” their teacher sighed. “You’ve killed him, congrats.”
Well, fuck.
The next… three or so hours was pretty much hell until Aizawa was satisfied they wouldn’t “kill” each other.
“Okay… so, the violet one is what ?”
Hitoshi blinked at his boyfriend(!!!) in mild confusion. He honestly had no clue why Zuku wanted him to know what each of his crossbow darts did, but… whatever. Pretty much the entirety of 1-A (with some 1-B students) were milling around the sand pit.
“It’s called the Purple Nurple ,” he corrected, looking somehow annoyed and bored at the same time despite the blatantly ridiculous name. “And it has a hallucinogenic drug that is injected into the bloodstream on contact.”
“And Hulk causes massive swelling?” Hitoshi picked up a green dart and turned it over in his hand.
“Yeah. This one,” a yellow dart was plucked from his belt, “is Zeus.”
“And it electrifies people?”
Zuku frowns. “No, it’s a seizure-inducing toxin. It’s yellow for visibility so I don’t accidentally use it and it’s called Zeus because it’s exactly what you shouldn’t stick in a person.”
Jirou snorts nearby.
“Now tell me what this one does.” Zuku rapped a knuckle on a gray dart.
Hitoshi stared at it. This was the one Zuku hit Stain and All Might with— the sleeping dart, he thinks. He opens his mouth to respond, and then notices the black-haired teen is already gone.
He scanned the crowd exhaustedly, trying to pick out his short friend, before a flash of purple caught his attention.
The 1-A girls were chatting amiably, smiling and practicing quirks. Mineta was creeping up to them, and Hitoshi saw his target.
Uraraka. She had taken off her hero costume and wearing only gym shorts and a sports bra, she was incredibly vulnerable to attacks from perverts.
He stood too late to stop the nasty grape from reaching out and—
“ VIBE CHECK !!!”
A blur of black and retribution crashed into Mineta at top speed the exact moment Yaomomo yelped, and Zuku came into focus just enough for Hitoshi to realize he had put the mask and hood of his hero costume back on just before his leg swept out in a second, thinner blur connected with Mineta’s gut and the grape boy went sprawling , several meters away.
There was a beat of absolute silence as Zuku tugged up his mask to give Mineta the ugliest look at full volume, and said, “If I see you look in their direction the wrong way I will not hesitate to ask Aizawa for your expulsion, and trust me, he listens to what me and Toshi have to say about other people.”
Hitoshi blinked as the shock settled over the crowd again, but his heart warmed. Really, Aizawa listened to Zuku more— he has proven that he had a good people-sense during internship week, and Aizawa had been training the two of them to read people and situations in between kicking their asses. It was nice to be included, even though he was nowhere near the level Zuku was on.
Before anything else could happen, the girls rushed over to crowd Zuku in a hug pile.
For a moment, Hitoshi saw fear in Zuku’s face, but then Uraraka said something and he settled into the hug, apparently more comfortable.
Mineta was still sobbing on the ground.
Hitoshi glanced over to the last unidentified dart, this one black. It had red fins, making it the only bi-colored dart, and small light reflectors.
Must be for visibility .
“Brats.”
1-A (and company) turned their attention to Aizawa, who appeared in the back door with his usual frown.
“Hit the hot springs. Bathe. You stink.”
“Yes, Sensei.”
Hitoshi suddenly registered that this was going to be very, very awkward.
Shouta had preemptively brought along Yuuei-issue bathing suits and curtains for the queer students. Yeah, okay, it was mostly because he really didn’t want to put up with Shinsou and Izuku’s sexual tension, but he was also ninety percent sure Jirou was a lesbian and he was certain Ashido had a crush on Hatsume, so precautionary measures had to be taken.
What ended up being set up for the guys was a curtained-off area to generally get clean privately and then relax in the other areas in the bathing suits. It seemed to be working well enough.
He popped in and out to monitor the boys, as Ragdoll was for the girls, and kept a close eye on Monoma— he kept preaching about 1-B being superior, and some of his students were getting visibly annoyed.
Shouta came in just in time to see Kaminari crane his neck slightly to glance over at Izuku and Shinsou, his mouth opening to sing—
“Two bros, chillin’ in the hot tub, five feet apart cuz they’re—”
He was effectively silenced by Izuku grabbing Shinsou by the arm, yanking him over, and kissing him roughly.
Teenagers . Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.
He ducked back out, shaking his head but still amused.
About ten minutes later, when he heard Izuku shout “VIBE CHECK!!” for the second time that day, he knew Mineta was up to something that Izuku was intercepting.
And three minutes later, the soaked teen came out with a murderous expression, an unconscious child on his back, and Mineta sobbing as he was held aloft by his throat. Shinsou trailed behind, holding a few towels.
“You fucking faggot! You ruined it!”
Izuku dropped Mineta at Shouta’s boots before pressing his own, calloused foot on the shrimp’s chest to pin him and scowling even deeper.
“He tried to peek over the divider into the girl’s area. Kouta was up there to keep watch, blocked Mineta. Mineta tried to push him out of the way, Kouta got knocked around a bit. I climbed up and had to restrain Mineta, and he tried to shove me but hit Kouta instead and sent him into the girl’s area. With their permission, I climbed over to retrieve him while Toshi restrained Mineta. Adding to that, he continually called Toshi slurs whenever you were out of the room.”
“He called Zuku a lot, too, but he doesn’t think it’s all that important.”
Shouta swore, pinching the bridge of his nose. Yaoyorozu and Uraraka hurried out in their bathing suits, and Shinsou handed them two of the towels from his stack.
“Why is Kouta wet?”
“He hit his head, sir, and it was bleeding,” Shinsou jumped in. “I took him over to the corner with the drains and we used some buckets and stuff to wash it off as best as we could.”
This was going to be a lot of paperwork.
“Alright. Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, take Kouta to Mandalay— she should be in the dining hall with the other Pussycats. Nyx, Shinsou, towel yourselves and get shirts on, then meet me in the dining hall in an hour so we can discuss your training regimens. Understood?”
“Yes, Sensei.”
This was going to be a long, long trip.
“Hey, Nyx, can you take this to Kouta?”
Izuku furrowed his brow at his teacher as the underground hero held out the bowl. “Isn’t he at his hiding spot? Even Mandalay doesn’t know where it is.”
“Consider it a tracking exercise.”
“... ugh. Fine.”
“Go away! I hate you!”
“I hate me too, kid, but Aizawa asked me to bring this to you and I’m more scared of him than I am of you.” Izuku held out the lukewarm bowl of miso soup to the boy, electing not to mention how much noise the boy made when he was pouting, making this spot pretty easy to find.
Kouta stood up and tried to knock the bowl from Izuku’s hands, but Izuku took a step back and expertly shifted the soup away, continuing to stare blankly at Kouta.
“What’s with you?!” Kouta snaps. “Why do you want to be a hero?! Heroes are so stupid !”
“Yep,” Izuku agreed, setting the bowl on the ground off to the side. “They suck.”
“Then why?” The anger was gone, replaced only by confusion.
“Listen, kid,” he sighed in return. “I’m not gonna tell you your parents dying makes them true heroes. Hey did their job and they did something good, but that doesn’t make it okay they’re dead.”
Kouta stares.
“Me, I don’t care either way about people seeing me as a true hero or whatever. I don’t want to be on the rankings. I don’t want the money. I don’t want fame.” Izuku leaned against the wall of the cave, looking contemplatively over the forest. “Me personally? I’m in it because there are a lot of really bad people out there that don’t blow up entire city blocks but are just as bad as villains. People who stab others in alleyways, trade children like they’re a form of currency, and tell their kids that they aren’t worth the trouble. That’s why I’m being a hero, Kouta.”
He left right after, slipping back into the woodland and breathing in the scents that seemed to welcome him.
The days flew by in a haze of pain after Mineta’s expulsion as Izuku was pushed to the absolute limits of what his body could handle. Aizawa was as relentless as he was brutal, and it showed on the two transfers. Toshi constantly bitched about the headache straining his quirk gave him, but Izuku constantly had his finger twitching from the pure stress of Aizawa teaching him how to aim Siri in crossbow form and use her effectively, which mostly consisted of Izuku reloading at the speed of sound and firing just as fast.
He barely had five shots total in the bullseye, which wasn’t great, but it was a significant improvement from the blind panic of “how the fuck do I use this?!” at the Hosu Incident.
Today was something different. The “Test of Courage”.
Izuku was convinced he would fail it. Toshi insisted he had ‘balls of steel’, but he really didn’t… at all.
And it didn’t really help that he was paired with Monoma, from 1-B. Izuku barely knew anyone from 1-B, but Aizawa and Kan-sensei had mixed up the classes to “promote interclass teamwork”, which was bullshit, but go off I guess.
Monoma was completely full of himself, too. The only thing Izuku knew about him outside of that was his quirk— Copy.
And since approximately six people (Yaomomo, Uraraka, Todoroki, Toshi, Aizawa, Kan-sensei) knew he was quirkless, Izuku used his Lightningrod to keep the 1-B student from touching him and discovering there was nothing to copy.
“You 1-A students are so pretentious ,” he was saying. “1-B is obviously the better class! We’re superior in every way! But all you want is attention!”
There was a haunting sound. “Sh.”
“Don’t shush me! I have a right to—!”
Izuku slammed his gloved hand over Monoma’s mouth, hoping his quirk didn’t work through padded armor, and scanned the trees.
“Something’s here.”
When Monoma stopped thrashing, Izuku released him.
“Well, duh ! This is a Test of Courage , cowardly 1-A boy! The other students are trying to scare us!”
“Shut up! That wasn’t a student.”
Izuku veered off the path and rolled into a bush as silently as he could, and cringed at how Monoma was just stomping along.
“Step quieter,” he hissed, peering through the branches.
A swirling vortex of inky black made his stomach drop just as he heard a shriek from a nearby student and saw an entire tree be engulfed in blue flames.
“ Kouta !”
Hitoshi tore through the undergrowth, wielding his staff as best as he could to knock branches out of the way.
He exploded into a clearing where Todoroki, his hand aflame with a pained expression, kept Dark Shadow docile.
“Have you seen Zuku?!”
Tokoyami looked up from where he had huddled. “N-no. But, the villains are everywhere , I saw a blonde girl fighting Asui and Uraraka.”
Fuck.
Fuck!
“Okay, Tokoyami, Todoroki, I can't plan like Zuku but you need to listen to me. The villains are here to kidnap some students, I didn’t catch who. We need to get to Aizawa.”
Shouta was not having a good day.
The body of “Dabi” melted away in a pile of sludge as his chest heaved, cursing himself.
“Ragdoll, Madalay, send out permission to fight back. Tiger, Vlad, sweep the peripherals for students and take out any petty villains you find. Pixie-Bob, with me to the center clearing— that’s where the fire originated.”
“What about Kouta?!” Mandalay cried.
“We have to hope the villains can’t find his hideout or one of the students is with him! We need to contain this as soon as possible, I’m sorry,” Shouta replies grimly.
Izuku had to hand it to himself, out of all the bad ideas he’d ever had in his relatively short life, running to find Kouta without backup took the cake.
Muscular loomed over him with a predatory smile as he shielded Kouta.
“Well, well, well, it looks like we’ve got ourselves a little hero, too! I’ll kill you right after I smash that brat to pieces!”
“You killed my Mom and Dad!” Kouta shrieked, and Izuku maneuvered a hand to Kouta’s chest do remind him to be quiet.
“I would rather not , actually,” Izuku sniped back. “You’re Muscular, right? The one idiot that’s only still out of jail because your buddies keep breaking you out? How’s that goin’ for ya?”
Muscular sneered. “Fine, I’ll kill you first!”
His skin swelled and horrible tendrils of muscle exploded from his body with a wet sound, and Izuku pulled his crossbow from his back on instinct, panic setting in as he searched for a way to escape with both he and Kouta intact.
He was thrown into a wall, and Kouta screamed, diving the other way. Thankfully, Muscular ignored him, attention still on Izuku.
Well. Maybe not “thankfully”.
Izuku groaned, lifting the crossbow again.
The wall of muscle slammed into him again, and Izuku crumpled to the stone floor, his chest stabbing with pain— a broken rib (or several). His crossbow went skittering away.
Before he could recover his wits, Izuku felt himself be picked up and thrown across the cave, crashing into the opposite wall with a cry.
When another blow didn’t come, Izuku blinked the blood from his eyes (when did he get that cut on his forehead?) and took in the sight.
Muscular was so slow in muscle form. He had to deflate before turning to face him again.
Izuku heard a hissing sound, and Siri bounded over, eyes flashing red in her panic and almost immediately forming back into a crossbow when she came into contact with his hand.
Muscular had turned around and was swelling again as Izuku fumbled with his belt, grabbing a dart from one of the pouches at random and loading it. Muscle was soft tissue. Soft tissue had blood vessels in it. If he could hit an artery, the dart could— well, do something, probably, depending on what dart it was. He couldn’t really tell, between the dim lighting and pure terror coursing through his veins.
“What are you gonna do with that, little hero?” He sneered, already swelling with muscle again.
Jugular would be best , he reminded himself, taking aim with practiced hands despite the tremors in his body.
“You gonna dart me!? Make me fall asleep?!”
Izuku looked down the scope, leveling his heaving breaths.
The muscle rippled and bulged at Muscular’s neck, in the same place the jugular artery would be.
His chest stilled as he held his breath. Waiting.
Muscular surged forwards, hand flashing out and Izuku knew if he didn’t take the shot now he would be nothing but a crushed corpse in the wall of a cave nobody can find—
— his finger twitched.
Muscular suddenly stopped with a laugh, reaching up to pull out the dart and cast it aside. “You think you can stop me with a throwing dart , little hero?!” It clattered on the ground next to Izuku. He released his breath and prepared to take his final one.
Then, without warning, Muscular wheezed.
Izuku’s eyes blew wide as his quirk began receding into his skin, and Muscular stumbled, swaying on his feet. Then dropped.
Silence.
“Oh my Kami.”
Kouta was huddled near the back, his own eyes wide and full of tears.
“Oh my Kami . Is he unconscious? Did we win?”
Izuku reaches over to pick up the dart.
Ebony black with crimson streaks and reflective patches stared back at him.
His stomach heaved, but Izuku forced it down.
“No, Kouta. He’s… he’s dead. You need to get back to the base, Mandalay said there was a bunker through a panel in the hot springs…”
The boy didn’t resist, only nodding numbly and scampering out of the cave.
Izuku stumbled out the entrance and looked around, tearing his mask off to try and heave in the air of the burning forest.
“Ah. I was wondering where you got off to, since you weren’t with your classmates.”
Izuku twisted just in time to see a patterned white mask loom in his vision before, and with a horrible feeling of being crushed , he felt every part of him pressed against glass.
Izuku opened his eyes.
He was in a ball of dark green glass, and the now- massive mask was pulled up to expose a horrible smile, before he felt himself pitching downwards and vanishing into a dark place.
The opening shut tight, and Izuku’s breath caught.
Shouta reeled back, glaring furiously at the villains.
A tense peace had fallen over the clearing as the fighting stopped to see the standoff.
The villains, the heroes, and the kids.
Cheshire, holding an unconscious Tokoyami up almost playfully.
Shigaraki, with a terrible smile that could be seen from the edges of his hand-mask, hovered his hand over Shinsou’s face.
“Here we are again,” he sang delightedly. “You were a bit slow last time, weren’t you? I heard that the Midoriya boy got a nasty scar!”
“They’re just children, Shigaraki, leave them out of this,” Shouta snarled.
“Can’t do that,” he chuckled.
Another villain appeared by Shigaraki’s side.
“You see, Sensei really wants us to get some new friends! And these three are just the type we’re looking for!”
Three ?
The villain— Mr. Compress — reached into a leather pouch at his hip and drew out a marble.
He tossed it carelessly to the ground, and with an explosion of dark green smoke, the next thing Shouta saw was Izuku , a knife to his throat and pinned to Compress’s chest.
Oh, fuck .
Izuku’s eyes flicked around in wild, confused panic— probably trying to figure out where the hell he was— before they settled on Shinsou.
Shouta saw the gears turning.
“Nyx, do not— ”
Izuku suddenly spasmed, his legs giving out. Compress, not having expected that, dropped Shouta’s kid and took a visible step back.
Meanwhile, Izuku shot back up and decked Shigaraki hard in the nose.
Shigaraki shouted, releasing Shinsou, and Izuku grabbed his boyfriend and shoved him hard in the direction of Shouta and the other heroes. Shinsou was too shocked to object at all.
Just as Compress regained his bearings, and Izuku vanished back into a marble, Tokoyami quickly following.
Shouta ran forward, capture weapon out to grab Compress—
— a black portal appeared and swallowed Compress, vanishing just as quickly.
The other villains were already gone.
A scream of fury and bitter grief rang through the air, and it took Shouta a moment to realize it came from him .
Shinsou collapsed, a guttural cry tearing its way from his mouth, and Shouta saw something.
A sleek metal figure streaking from the undergrowth.
“Where’s Boss?!” Siri shrieked, her eyes bright red and flashing. “Compress took him! I saw him here!”
Pixie-Bob raised her hand to her mouth.
Mandalay crashed through the branches nearby, her chest heaving.
In her hands was a yellow mask streaked red with blood.
“Has anyone seen Ragdoll?!”
Shouta’s heart would have dropped if it wasn’t already gone (vanished into the portal with Tokoyami and his kid ).
“They took them.” Shouta’s voice had a tremor in it, and he couldn’t bring himself to care. “The League of Villains just kidnapped two of my students and Ragdoll.”
Notes:
“You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” — The Offspring
show me how to lie
you’re getting better all the time
and turning all against the one
is an art that’s hard to teach
another clever word
sets off an unsuspecting herd
and when you step back into line
a mob jumps to their feet
Chapter 40: bleeding out
Summary:
izuku hurts. toshinori stands on the wrong side of a swinging blade. a vampire loses her fangs just when she earns them.
Notes:
readers: who let izuku have death poison?!
author: mei? who else
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
author is struggling bc apparently the LAST link didn’t work ether so here is her last hurrah
Izuku hates the feeling of being one of Mr. Compress’s marbles.
It was dark and no matter how loud he screamed he couldn’t hear himself, a void that allowed not even an explosion to be heard inside or outside the dark, thick glass. He was curled into a tight ball but even then there was barely room to breathe. He could barely twist his head to the side enough to stare at the dark green glass that held him captive in his pitch-dark prison.
When light flooded in, he braced himself, and for good reason— he felt himself being thrown across whatever room he was in until the glass splintered against a wall and he finally could breathe .
“ Brat .” A clammy hand took hold of his throat and shoved him against the wall, and Izuku tried to focus his blurred vision on the attacker.
Shigaraki.
“That stunt you pulled cost us a good quirk!”
Pain— no, agony, and he was pitching backwards, falling, falling.
“ZUKU!”
“Fuck you,” he wheezed in return.
Shigaraki snarled, shoving him hard before backing up, one of his hands scratching violently at his neck.
Izuku shifted his eyes to the side. Tokoyami was huddled against the corner, and Ragdoll— her face bloodied, her outfit torn, her mask gone— was crouched beside him, using torn strips of her skirt on the bleeding slashed that decorated the former’s arms.
He must have been really out of it, because Izuku didn’t realize Shigaraki was leaving until a metal door slammed closed.
A single light hung overhead, flickering and harsh against Izuku’s eyes. Empty alcohol racks were sparsely spread through the dim room, the walls and floor a cold, gray stone. Something was bundled against the wall, trailing down to the floor and pooling. The door was beaten metal with no window or even a handle.
It swung open a few seconds after he noted its presence.
Someone trailed in, and Izuku squinted. Looked like a blonde girl, her eyes cat-like and the same yellow as Meimei’s. She beamed at him, and two white fangs peeked over her lips.
“Hiya, cutie!” Izuku immediately recoiled internally. “You really made Shigaraki mad, didn’tcha? Yeah…” She skipped closer, her face coming way too close to his, and he brought a hand up instinctively, which she backed away from, still smiling. “You’re really cute, but you’d look even better if you were bleeding!”
The dots Izuku wasn’t even looking for connected. “Oh, you have a vampirism quirk. Cool.”
She stopped dead, the smile freezing as confusion clouded her gaze. With a nervous giggle, she asked, “Huh?”
“... you have fangs, and you said blood was attractive. Sorry if I’m wrong. One of the teachers at Yuuei, Vlad King? He has to drink blood sometimes.”
The girl blinked her yellow eyes slowly. “Oh…” she walked over to the things on the wall and picked one up. When he heard metal clinking, his stomach dropped.
Those were chains .
He stood abruptly, backing away.
Ten minutes later, he had multiple knife wounds and shackles around his ankles and wrists, both Tokoyami and Ragdoll in similar states.
“Oh, Kami.” Izuku’s voice shook as the realization of his situation set in. “We’re being held captive by villains.”
“Midoriya—”
“Izuku is fine.”
“Izuku,” Tokoyami corrected, “why would they take you, too? From what I understand, myself, Lady Ragdoll, and Shinsou all had quirks the villains could exploit, make us into… one of those beastly Noumu creatures. I don’t believe that your intelligence quirk could pair well with a Noumu.”
Izuku pressed his lips into a thin line. “I don’t know.”
They lapsed into silence as the minutes stretched into hours, the quiet weighing on them as heavily as the chains, if not more.
The door squealed open.
All present looked to the new visitor, and Izuku’s blood froze.
He was vaguely aware of Tokoyami saying something, but nothing came. He was focused only on the person in front of him.
The person that picked him up my the front of his outfit with a sneer on his all-too-familiar face.
“You should have jumped off that building when I fucking told you to, you worthless, quirkless Deku .”
Shigaraki had made Kurogiri move aside some of the empty racks, revealing to them a whole other half of the room. This one had a simple metal chair, dented and stained with something dark. It was clearly bolted to the ground.
Izuku’s chain was barely long enough to reach it, and when a villain who called himself Dabi took thick straps and pinned Izuku’s limbs to the chair, he knew exactly the purpose of the chair.
“He’s just a child! He’s a kid , Shigaraki, please, have some humanity!”
Ragdoll’s voice drew Izuku’s attention, and he looked to her with his own exhausted eyes. Reality felt slightly to the left here… he must have been drugged or something, which would explain the lack of Dark Shadow.
Shigaraki ignored her, instead leaning close to Izuku and grabbing his face, turning it roughly to the right to expose the new scar. Izuku’s stomach churned with fear.
“You look disgusting,” he said delightedly. “Worse than before, even.”
He released Izuku, backing up a bit with a horrible smile on his face.
“I wonder if your friends would want to match?”
“Don’t hurt them.” The words came unbidden from his mouth despite his unfamiliarity with either Ragdoll or Tokoyami.
The smile grew. “Oh? Then how about we make a deal ?”
Oh, that was bad. Izuku flexed his hands, confirming that yes, it was basically impossible to bust out of the straps. On one hand, making deals with a villain is a bad idea and Aizawa would absolutely give him detention until he dies. On the other—
Images of Tokoyami’s feathers scorched by Kacchan’s explosions, Ragdoll’s skin bright red and bubbling, flashed through his mind. Their tortured screams, imagined as they were, flooded his ears.
“Yes.”
“Izuku, no !”
Shigaraki slithered closer, his horrible smile never vanishing. “We do what we want with you, and if you make a little peep, we’ll put one of them in the chair and you can watch!”
His head moved up in down, agreeing without even thinking it through.
Kacchan rounded into his line of sight, a smirk on his lips and hatred in his eyes.
Izuku’s breath hitched.
“Not a sound, Deku ,” he snarled.
Flashes of light and the smell of smoke and charred flesh assaulted his senses.
The faceless man gave the impression of looking at Deku despite his lack of eyes.
“Completely quirkless, you say?”
Deku flinched at the word.
Kacchan nodded, his smile widening. “Just like you wanted, Sensei.”
The faceless man’s hand, pale and gaunt, brushed Deku’s chin, and he stiffened, breath and heart quickening in preparedness for more pain, his jaw clenching to keep himself from whimpering.
Not a sound, Deku.
“Sensei” presses his hand against Deku’s face, and he flinched again.
All at once, pure agony lanced through his entire being.
He felt his face warping, shifting, extending—
— and then returning to normal, every atom feeling like it had been dipped in acid.
“Would you look at that.” The faceless man’s voice was amused. “It looks like quirkless bodies can’t even have a quirk forced into them.”
“Which one was that, Sensei?” Shigaraki asked excitedly.
“A mutation called Beak, the very same as your USJ Noumu, actually. His body rejected the quirk entirely and forced me to take it back. How very curious…” Sensei leaned close to Deku’s face, and his chest heaved in pained breaths. “After your interrogations, bring him to Ujiko.”
“No. I’m not going to spend my entire time talking to the fucking vultures while the rest of you go in this mission.” Shouta’s face twitched. “Midoriya is my intern, Tokoyami is my student. I’m not sitting this one out.”
Toshinori looked over at Aizawa. The entire time he had known the man, he exhibited only mild annoyance. Even when Aizawa lectures him about the importance of reading a student’s files after his slip-up with Midoriya, his expression was just annoyed . He had to assume that he didn’t anger as easily as others did, despite his grumpy demeanor and long list of expulsions.
But now, Toshinori saw nothing but fury as the two faced each other.
“Aizawa-kun, surely you understand,” he attempted to placate. “All For One took Tokoyami-shounen and Shiretoko-san for their quirks, and it’s the most likely scenario he, as I did, believed Midoriya-shounen had some kind of intelligence quirk like Nedzu. All For One will kill him when he outlives his use, that’s just how he—”
“ Damn your scenarios!” Aizawa snarled back, looking positively feral . “Half of my class is too upset to do basic math , the entire class of 1-F hasn’t slept and have been staying with Collins in the dorm to keep working, the Wards haven’t stopped crying, the Hatsume and Shinsou families have both come by the school every fucking day since the camp, Shinsou has been catatonic !”
Toshinori swallowed. “All due respect, I don’t see how that—”
“ Do you goddamn expect me to be the one to tell all of them that we couldn’t save him and I didn’t fucking try?! ”
They had finally, finally found where they might be keeping Midoriya. A young woman with a high voice had called Nedzu only hours ago, in tears as she told him where the League of Villains’ base was before the line was cut abruptly. The trace to where the call was made and the address were the same place. A possible fourth victim.
School began again in a week, and it was looking like there was still a ghost of a chance two missing students could make it back for the first day of the second semester.
At the same time, somewhere in a cell a girl with broken fangs wept, her hair being gently stroked by a scarred boy as a woman with green hair wrapped her still-bleeding arms with a scrap torn from a ruined cleaning rag and a boy with a bird’s head used the root of a ragged crow’s feather to pick the remains of her shattered fangs from her gums in desperate hope of preventing infection.
“Toga-chan, you shouldn’t have done that for us,” the green-haired woman murmured as she tied the wrap. “Now you’re a prisoner like us.”
The bird-headed boy looked to the scarred. “At least they don’t know she gave them the address. Maybe… maybe we have a chance.”
A flicker of something passed through the scarred boy’s eyes as they moved to the crow’s face. The green pits, usually so full of despair and hopelessness, now had a tiny spark that reminded him of the fire that blazed in their depths all the way back before this happened.
The now-fangless girl had drifted into sleep, and the green-haired woman gently took her off the stone floor and curled the girl in her lap. The crow sat beside her, some space in between, and the scarred boy huddled beside the crow, carding his fingers through his ruined feathers and taking out the loose ones, then gathering them into a small pile in the corner.
“I’ll be molting soon,” the crow noted as the scarred boy began arranging his feathers to have some semblance of neatness despite the dark of the cellar. The horribly light had long since blown out, but the shadow of the crow had been kept at bay by a metal collar around the crow’s neck.
“We’ll be out by then,” the green-haired woman gave him a small smile, a genuine one, before falling again into melancholy, braiding the sleeping girl’s hair with cold and stiff fingers. “We’ll be out, Izuku.”
The scarred boy only stared as he had since their capture, punished for every smile that came to his lips with bright explosions and cruel words. Instead of thoughts of the night sky or fresh air coming at the thought of escape, the only thing forming in his mind was the oppressive memory of dark green glass and the desperate need to draw air into his lungs.
“We’ll make it out, Izuku,” the crow said softly. “He won’t catch us this time. We can get out if the heroes listen to us.”
The scarred boy’s hands dropped, and he retreated to the other corner of the room, as far from the Chair as he could get, and curled on the cold stone there.
“We’ll get out, and… and you can ramble about heroes as much as you like, okay? Without… without having to…”
The long scripts written in crimson on the walls and floor all around them bore witness to the scarred boy’s desperate need to vent his thoughts.
Three weeks had come and gone, and Midoriya Izuku hasn’t made a sound.
Notes:
“Bleeding Out” — Imagine Dragons
i’m bleedin’ out
so if the last thing that i do
is being ya down
i’ll bleed out for you
so i bare my skin
and i count my sins
and i close my eyes
and i take it in
i’m bleedin’ out
i’m bleedin’ out for you
for you
Chapter 41: get home
Summary:
a quick recap of suffering and the beginning of the raid
Notes:
if y’all hadn’t noticed the theme, the author only puts lyrics down in the explanations when it’s an angsty chapter. it’s to keep the mood from being ruined with the author rambling idiotically about music.
also to all of you readers that complimented author’s music taste and writing style:
💜 fuckin love every goddamn one of ya bc nobody ever says anything about her music or writing irl and she really appreciates it bc her music and writing is kind of her entire life 💜
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Day Two
The door swung open, and the blonde from the day before slipped in.
She had a plastic grocery bag on her arm and a platter of food in her hands. She set it on the floor in front of the three captives.
Fumikage glared at her, wanting to wring her neck but wanting to keep his own attached to his torso.
“I’m Toga Himiko,” she said in a stage whisper, settling onto the cold floor in front of them. “Shigaraki said to make sure you ate.”
“You’re the one that attacked Tsuyu and Uraraka,” he rasped, pouring as much venom as he could into his words.
She held his gaze, a spark of mania flashing across her face before her hand came up and she pinched her shoulder roughly, and it vanished.
“So, Midori-chan,” she smiled at Funikage’s soon-to-be classmate. “Bakkun says you do quirk analysis, huh? A shame you aren’t allowed to talk.”
He just stared at her blankly.
“I’m curious… what do you think of a quirk that could make someone look exactly like someone else, but only if they drank their blood first?”
A light came to Izuku’s face, and his hands twitched. Fumikage watched in confusion.
Toga held up a hand before reaching into her bag and handing him a small notebook and a marker.
Izuku’s hands were a blur .
Fumikage barely caught any of it— infiltration in underground heroics, possible to check for physical injuries or disease, intimidation, confusion tactics — but it was all terrifying.
Toga took it back when the marker stilled, and he passed it back without a word, apparently understanding any implicit threat.
His heart ached for the black-haired boy, so full of fear and different from the rather terrifying Support student Fumikage had occasionally seen.
Toga looked over the page, her eyes flicking over the words.
Then, they filled with tears.
“You… I’m a villain, Midori-chan,” she mumbled. “Why would you write about me being a hero?”
His hand twitched again, and she passed it back over.
A simple string of words in neat print was written at the bottom.
Toshi says I have a good people-sense.
Tears began to track down Toga’s cheeks, and pity swelled in Fumikage’s chest. She was the only one that hadn’t actively participated in Izuku’s torture, simply watching with a conflicted look on her face. For the first time, Fumikage wondered how villains become villains.
What brought Toga here? What made her attack his classmates and kidnap Fumikage? What drove her?
Out of nowhere, her eyes glazed over, and a manic smile appeared on her face.
“You’d look so much prettier if you were bleeding,” she singsonged, a knife appearing in her hand.
Fumikage barely threw out an arm fast enough to protect the smaller teen from the flashing blade.
Pain erupted on his arm, and the smile slid off Toga’s chest, horror taking the place of delight.
She stood, backing away and stuffing the marker and notebook into the bag, a hand going over her mouth.
“Oh. Oh no. Not again. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
She was backed against the door until the three of them finished a meal that would have been sparse for one person, then she snatched the platter and the door opened to let her out.
Fumikage’s arm wept blood in a steady stream, and Ragdoll seemed to decide they had ignored it too long, taking his arm and looking over it.
She looked unhappily at her already-ruined outfit, and Fumikage jolted. If she tore any more, she would be left exposing her underclothes.
Izuku waved his hands weakly. Fumikage glanced over.
The black-haired student’s hands bunched in his scarf before he unwound it from his neck and passed it to Ragdoll.
Fumikage wasn’t stupid. He knew the scarf was like a comfort blanket to Izuku, and the only part of his hero costume the villains hadn’t scorched beyond repair, and he was taking it off for Fumikage — they barely knew each other.
A strip of dark red fabric joined the bloodstained yellow on his arms.
Day Four
“It wasn’t your fault, Hitoshi…”
Mom was sitting on the edge of Hitoshi’s hospital bed, her eyes soft with sadness as she carded her fingers through his wild hair.
“He wanted to save you.”
Hitoshi couldn’t even blink, his eyes trained on the phone in his hands.
Mei said they had installed a photo and video thing on the MeiVision, and he was looking through those now.
The first time he’d picked up his own pair, a dark silver that barely glinted in the light. It was clearly taken from Zuku’s pair, and he saw his own smile as he inspected the new gear.
A picture taken selfie-style, Zuku giving the MeiVision a peace sign while Hitoshi practiced with the Sirencall in the background.
A short clip of the winner’s stage for the Sports Festival, Bakuhoe chained to the second-place podium while he, Mei, and Zuku all gave an increasingly anxious All Might a flat look of loathing. In the background, Yamada was screeching about it being the first time a Support student won and Aizawa sighing about the complications of the possible transfer.
A set of pictures from internships, taken from both of their perspectives— most of them being halfway through the other having their ass beat by their mentor.
A soundless video of the exam and ending with Yaomomo locking the handcuffs on All Might and the three of them celebrating.
A clip of Aizawa chewing All Might our on the importance of reading.
A few pictures from the dorms, mostly of Fien and Zuku doing stupid things, one of the more notable ones being Aizawa with his head tilted back slightly, apparently chugging an entire pot of coffee while Kan-sensei had his mouth half-open and an incredulous look on his face.
He was stuck on a video with sound, though.
He remembered this one. Zuku had set his MeiVision on the side table, and he was signing back and forth with Akehito as he sat in a hospital bed. Eventually, he turned and grinned at the MeiVision’s camera, his smile bright and all-encompassing despite the bandages on half of his face.
Akechan says I’m getting better , he signs to the MeiVision, leaning over, and then the screen goes black. But the video doesn’t end— it’s just audio only.
“ One of the nurses, uh… she says talking about it helps. I can’t really talk about it much, y’know? I’m kinda pretending that you’re here. It’s easy to talk to you, Toshi .” A pause. “ When I woke up, I was so… I thought I was fourteen again. I thought Kacchan really shoved me off the roof and I didn’t know who all these people were… I was scared.
“But then you were there… I looked at you and it sounds so stupid and cliché but I looked into your eyes and I remembered that I wasn’t a little kid anymore, and I had friends.
“I think… I think I’d do anything for that, you know? I never had friends before. I’d… well, Aizawa would probably whack me over the head and say it’s not healthy, but I’d take a bullet or a dozen for you and Meimei… if I hadn’t looked at you and remembered, where would I be? Would I just forget everything and be Deku again?”
A longer silence, and Hitoshi’s heart wrenched at the words that came next.
“ I don’t want to forget again, and… and if it means I have to die to keep you two safe, I’d do it.”
Tears burned in his eyes as the video finally ended.
Day Ten
Toga came in again, as she did every day. Deku looked at her blankly, as he did every day.
This time, she outright started crying.
“I’m sorry, Shigaraki took the notebook, and he destroyed it because he thought it was my diary and said diaries were stupid…”
Deku barely reacted despite the disappointment surging in his chest.
“I— I think they’re putting something in my blood meals,” she mumbled. “I was never… my quirk makes me go into a bloodlust mode when I’m hungry or weak, and I was never in bloodlust this often before.”
Deku flinched, his hand extending in some facsimile of comfort.
“I’m so sorry.” Her legs drew into her chest, yellow eyes wet with tears that kept flowing. “I’m sorry that I’m too weak to fight it.”
He scratched his arm, and didn’t stop even when the smell of iron tinted the air.
Then, an idea came to mind.
His finger swiped at the crimson liquid, and moved to the floor.
It’s ok.
Day Eighteen
Shouta paced the floor, his phone in hand as he stared at the screen, and continued to glance at the wall, where news articles were pinned.
“Shou… you can’t help if you don’t get sleep.”
Shouta didn’t reply, only staring at the makeshift map.
He failed. He failed , and he had to fix it. He refused to think his kid was dead. He fought tooth and nail to be in the Hero Course, and it was on Aizawa that he wasn’t celebrating with his soon-to-be classmates.
“He killed Muscular by accident, single handedly saved Kouta, and prevented Shinsou from being kidnapped—” his fists balled, fingernails cutting into calloused palms. “And I couldn’t punch a villain fast enough.”
Day Twenty-Two
“The League is hiding out at the only bar in the Kamino district.”
“ What— ”
“I’m sorry,” Himiko sobbed, hanging up as fast as her sweaty fingers could manage.
Her mouth bled horribly, and she knew she was mere seconds from being discovered by Shigaraki.
They saw her crying with Midori and the others, so they had… they had broken her fangs.
She was doomed.
She was so doomed.
Day Twenty-Three
Shouta skirted around the main battle, taking out small-fries as he passed them and making his way to the bar.
The others were focusing on the Noumu factory, but he was betting his students and Ragdoll were being kept somewhere in the bar. They had to be— the warehouse was already leveled with no sign of them.
He opened the window and slipped in, surprised to see only one man in the bar. He was overweight and balding, a grey mustache and thick glasses his only defining features outside of that.
The man smiled at Shouta.
“Ah. Eraserhead, correct? You would make for a useful Noumu if you had any extra muscle.”
He kept his face placid. “Where are the people you took?”
The man continued to smile. “Of course you’d ask after them… did you know that if you try to put a quirk into a quirkless subject, such as All For One does with our subjects before they become Noumus, their body will completely reject it? We tried every kind. Mutation, emitter, transformation— just when it looks like it’ll stick, it’s just forced back out.”
Shouta’s nostrils flared, and his capture weapon struck out, wrapping around the man. “Tell me and this won’t have to get ugly, Ujiko .” He spat the name like venom, more of a guess than anything. He’d heard of a villain doctor that worked for the League, and he went by Ujiko, but that was it.
From the slight change of expression, Shouta was right.
“Find them yourself if you want them so bad.”
Before he knew what he was doing, Ujiko was unconscious on the floor and Shouta was standing over him, a knife in hand.
The knife he only used to cut his capture weapon in emergencies.
Shouta tucked it back away, hands shaking slightly. He didn’t want to see any more deaths. Not tonight.
Instead, he looked down the dark hall ahead of him, and began his search.
Notes:
“Get Home” — Bastille
how am i gonna get myself back home?
i, i, i...
how am i gonna get myself back home?
i, i, i...
we are the last people standing
at the end of the night
we are the greatest pretenders
in the cold morning light
this is just another night
and we’ve had many of them
to the morning we’re cast out
but i know i’ll land here again
how am i gonna get myself back home?
i, i, i...
how am i gonna get myself back home?
i, i, i...
Chapter 42: angel with a shotgun (nightcore)
Summary:
shouta is looking for his kid. hitoshi gets sidetracked by the very attractive chance to murder someone.
Notes:
You know, 42 pronounced separately in Japan is “Shi ni”, which sounds like “shini”, which is Japanese for “to die”... author loves setting up things like that
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
special thanks to NothingMuch_Really for this lil fanart of akehito and toga!! Ily
His footsteps echoed in the silent halls.
Below the bar was a labyrinth of tunnels, winding and dark. Shouta would have gotten lost if he was anyone else, subtly marking halls he’d already ventured down.
A scent wafted to Shouta’s nose, and he curled his lip at the over-sweetness of it. Burnt caramel? What the hell?
He knew better than to call out for anyone, with the risk of villains hearing.
He opened yet another door, expecting yet another empty room with only a medical table and suspicious stains that sent dread coiling in his gut.
Shouta wasn’t disappointed, either, but there was something undeniably different .
His eyes flicked from place to place until they settled on a stack of files and a sample jar sitting on top of that.
He hurried over to it, closing the door softly behind him and shining it on the stack.
His stomach lurched when he picked up the sample jar. Four sharp, bloody teeth , clearly ripped out purposely instead of knocked out or lost naturally.
Oh, Kami. What the hell was going on down here?
He flipped open the first file.
A picture of Toga Himiko smiles up at him with crazed eyes, and he cringed, but kept looking.
The first page was a villain file, looking as clinical and professional as the one the police had on her, but much more detailed. And in the “status” column, there was a hastily scrawled word in blue pen, different from the other, black lettering.
Turncoat.
Shouta flipped to the next page, this one also in blue pen.
She displayed high amounts of empathy with the subjects and was heard attempting to contact heroes before she was caught. Fangs removed to possibly nullify quirk, unsure if Sensei wants to recycle her quirk, but has not visited to take it yet. Toga Himiko will be detained as Subject M4.
The teeth were hers . Those were her fangs . The villains ripped them out of her mouth because she was trying to help the ‘subjects’— maybe his students!
Shouta had carried a backpack on his shoulders in case of finding evidence exactly like this. He hurriedly tucked it in.
“Dammit, Problem Children,” he muttered, exiting the room near-soundlessly.
The hall seemed to stretch on forever, and Aizawa finally found another room that was different.
A wine cellar.
Something was weird, though. Something was…
His eyes scanned, flashlight following, until it lit upon one specific shelf.
It was completely empty, unlike the others, yet the wood was more worn. The floor in front of it was scratched up.
Hidden door.
He grabbed the edge and pulled hard. It swung out easier than he anticipated, and he had to take several steps back.
A metal door, beaten and dented. The bottom and handle was crusted with blood.
He reached out, of course, to open it, and discovered it was locked… obviously. You don’t go through all that trouble to hide a door and not lock it.
Slowly, he took up a strong stance in front of the door, shifting his weight to center himself, calling up his training.
Then he lunged forward, his left foot swinging up and planting solidly next to the bloody knob, feeling the metal groan under the sudden kick.
He repeated it once, twice, and on the third—
— it screamed open. Shouta cringed at the thought that one of the villains had heard it— it was entirely possible, with how damn loud it was.
Pressed against the wall beside the door, he readied his capture weapon. Would he find a Noumu? A death robot?
He slid in as quietly as he could.
Maybe the ringleader? Sex dungeon (ew)? Trophy room—?
“ FUCK OFF !”
Shouta froze in his tracks, his flashlight beam sweeping over the room, seeing nothing.
A scraping sound came from the opposite corner, and the light flashed to it. A wine rack was being shoved aside, revealing a bloody woman, her hair a wild mess and red-stained teeth bared in a snarl.
All at once, the snarl dropped.
“It’s… you’re not Shigaraki.”
Something rattled, and she limped forward, coming further into the light, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“ Eraser ?” Her voice was unbelievably soft.
“Ragdoll,” he recognized, his own eyes widening, but keeping his voice low. “Oh my Kami— everyone thinks they fucking killed you.”
Yellow eyes flashed, flicking to the corner she had been concealed in. “Almost did. Come on.”
The rattling sound began again, and she shuffled back to the corner, rounding the shelf and crouching down.
Shouta peered in behind her, and saw her moving aside another shelf.
“Kittens,” she whispered. “Up, up.”
Three shadows pressed together in the very corner began to shift, the center rising first and helping up the other two.
Green eyes flashed in the light and Shouta’s heart sped for barely a moment before their owner crashed into his chest, arms wrapping around his midsection, being too short to give a full one. Shouta’s hands drifted down to hug his kid back.
Tokoyami came into the light next, a barely-conscious Toga leaning heavily on his shoulder.
Something reflected the light, and Shouta swore.
Chains.
“All right, kids, I’m getting the chains off— here.” He pulled his medkit from his utility belt and held it out to Ragdoll. “Is anyone here strong enough to run?”
His gaze flicked between despondent faces, one still buried in his chest.
“I can,” Tokoyami said eventually, and Ragdoll bobbed her head in agreement. “Toga had a lot of blood loss and hasn’t been able to feed since they…”
“Tore her fangs out?”
“... yeah.”
Shouta carefully picked Izuku up and shifting him so the kid was on his back, where he seemed perfectly content to continue being a barnacle, and Shouta went to work on the rusted shackles.
They sprang loose after a few minutes, and the chains dropped. Ragdoll scooped up Toga, giving Shouta a defiant look and a “She’s coming with us” when he questioned. Izuku was still latched onto his back, and as they wandered the halls, Tokoyami trailed just behind Shouta and Ragdoll bringing up the rear.
A second exit led to the wreckage of the factory, and Shouta saw flashing lights in the distance.
However, the way to them was blocked by two very distinct battles.
In one, All Might struggled to gain ground against a man with a mask.
In the other, Shinsou Hitoshi and Hatsume Mei waged a deadly dance with none other than Shigaraki Tomura and Bakugou Katsuki, with several other students staving off the other members of the League of Villains in the fringes of their fight.
Somebody was getting expelled, he just wasn’t really sure who yet, but someone was.
The plan went out the window the moment Hitoshi saw a shock of ash blond hair among the villains.
So maybe siccing Siri on the explosion bastard wasn’t the smartest move, but she was only all too happy to launch herself at his face as Hitoshi and his team decided, fuck it, looks like they’re gonna fight some villains.
Yaomomo and Uraraka tag-teamed the scarred fire asshole. Hagakure worked with the Reiki twins to fuck around with Compress. Fien had her trusty laser cannon she was currently chasing Moonfish with. Kurogiri kept finding himself blocked by a rather pissed-off Jirou and deadly calm Tsuyu. Mina and Ban danced around Twice, always just out of reach.
And here he and Mei were, fighting two big baddies… mostly because they’re stupid.
“Fuck.” He rolled out of the way of another explosion, using his bo staff to knock away with offending arm.
“ HITOSHI! ” Mei shouted.
That was the only warning Hitoshi got before something small and dark dodged between the fighting groups, and streaked towards Hitoshi.
Hitoshi dodged to the side, but he wasn’t the target. The streak barreled directly into a figure that had been creeping up behind him.
Another streak followed, vaulting past the other fighters, and came to a stop beside Hitoshi.
Aizawa. Well, he was fucked.
The hero was focused more on the writhing mess of limbs and blood.
There was an awful, gurgling scream from one of them, and that was when Aizawa was finally jolted back into action, his capture weapon out and wrapping around one of the figures, and pulling them surprisingly gently from the other.
Hitoshi locked eyes with Midoriya Izuku, his eyes alight with feral instincts, fresh blood sprayed across his face but didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest.
At his feet was Shigaraki, his red eyes glassy and his throat ripped open.
In Zuku’s hand was a glinting knife, dripping crimson.
Aizawa looked around, and Hitoshi realized that the villains and students alike had all stopped to stare.
“Hey, Boss.”
A metal cat, more than a little dented and with blood covering her paws like socks, padded up to her charge, taking the knife gently from Zuku and dropping it at Aizawa’s feet.
Zuku’s eyes slid to Bakugou, and Hitoshi felt like he couldn’t breathe.
Hatred didn’t belong on Zuku’s face, but it was written in every line of it, chapped lips pulling back to expose bloodstained teeth as his body shook. The two enemies— villain and victim— locked eyes, and for a moment, time seemed to still.
Black portals appeared under the feet of the villains, including under Shigaraki and the weird (and apparently faceless) villain All Might had been fighting.
Zuku’s legs buckled without warning, and Hitoshi caught him quickly, unbelieving of what he had witnessed.
Midoriya Izuku just killed Shigaraki.
Notes:
: ) )
Chapter 43: i have questions
Summary:
izuku wakes up. shouta and inko continue to not get along.
Notes:
author: *pines*
author’s moirail: you look like you need a wingman you butch fucking disaster
y’all remember when there was fucking fluff in this story cuz author sure don’t
in other news: the majority of the “hurt” is behind us and venturing onwards there will be Fluff
mostly
(author sweats and averts gaze)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Deku cracked open his eyes to white, near-painful light. Shigaraki must have fixed the lamp.
Everything else came into focus slowly, and Deku tried to figure out where he was.
This must be the quirk room, he thought hazily, hearing the beep of a heart monitor. He must have passed out when Sensei was experimenting again.
A door opened, the hinges creaking but not screaming as the rusted metal usually did.
“Ah, Midoriya-kun! You’re awake!”
Deku blinked slowly, trying to place the voice. There weren’t many girls here, which should bring the few of them to mind, but it didn’t match anyone he knew of.
“I’ll update your chart,” the woman continued warmly, and he listened, trying to find a trace of the malice he knew was hidden there. All of Sensei’s students had some breed of hatred in them. “I’ll send in Aizawa-san right away.”
Aizawa?
Huddled against Tokoyami, Toga trying to wipe the blood from her eyes.
Crashing into his mentor, arms going around the man’s stomach and wrapping him in a tight, desperate hug.
A haze of agony and drug-fueled panic, gripping his teacher’s now-bloody knife and staring at Kacchan, a threat coming in the form of mouthing rather than speaking: you’re next.
“Hey, Izuku.”
Deku blinked again, his brows furrowing as he tried to figure out how to right himself. It took a minute and thirty-seven seconds exactly to arrange himself, and cast his eyes to the ground, knowing better than to meet the other’s eyes, fearing new wounds or longer times in the Chair.
He rescued you, stupid Deku! Why would he send you back?!
His gaze instead focused on Aizawa’s black combat boots, the thoughts of blood and blind panic ruling over all else.
“How are you feeling?”
Deku clenched his jaw.
“Tokoyami and Ragdoll have been pretty worried about you. Toga, too, I guess, but Hatsume’s been successfully distracting her for the past… three days.”
A long silence, before Aizawa came slightly closer, crouching a bit. Deku averted his eyes, looking to the blank wall.
“Nobody’s going to hurt you here. You’re safe. Everyone is going to be fine.”
Everyone is going to die.
“Shinsou asked me to give this to you when you woke up.”
Something was gently tossed onto the hospital bed beside him, and Deku flicked his eyes to it.
A notepad.
“And I figured… you might want this.” Aizawa came a bit closer, and Deku tensed, expecting pain--
-- something heavy but warm dropped around his head and shoulders in long coils, and Deku had to shake his head slightly to get a tendril from his face before looking at it, a heavily bandaged hand coming up to touch it delicately.
It was made of carbon fiber, that much was obvious, and it would account for the weight. Overall, it was a metallic silver, almost like spun steel made into a--
-- a scarf.
No, this wasn’t a scarf .
Almost against his will, Deku looked to Aizawa, trying to understand, and searched his teacher’s eyes.
They weren’t angry. A gentle smile had made its way to his face instead, and Deku felt tears burn their way down his face.
Aizawa’s hand rested on his head, fingers carding through his hair with more care than he honestly thought he was capable of, and Deku cried.
And, not for the first time, Deku’s heart longed for the embrace of his mother that would always tell him it would all be okay, even when nothing was.
Shouta hadn’t really seen giving his kid a capture weapon as a big thing. He and Shinsou had obviously wanted to learn, but hadn’t pushed the matter at all.
Instead, he just sat with the silent teen, sharing what had happened since the camp.
It was safe to say he didn’t expect Izuku to sign anything back.
I was scared you wouldn’t find us.
He sighed in return, looking up to the ceiling. “Searched for weeks, but we couldn’t, not until Toga called.”
Izuku’s fingers itched at the bandages, and Shouta winced, recalling the terrible state of his arms when they finally got him to the hospital and the majority of the blood was cleaned off. Not only were there burns and small spots of disintegrated flesh, but gouges in the soft flesh that tore into still-healing skin, blood beneath his fingernails.
The police found long, scrawling notes written in blood all over the hidden room. Some were almost conversational in nature, but Tsukauchi had described most of them as simply like someone was just trying to get whatever was in their head out , usually in the form of single words repeated over and over.
The blood was Izuku’s.
“Whenever you’re up for it, I’m giving you and Shinsou lessons,” he continued eventually, leaning against the wall. “And Hizashi’s been demanding you fix his laptop again after Kan knocked it down the stairs, and Fien’s just been making weapons of mass destruction recently so he isn’t all that receptive to the idea of having her fix it.”
When Izuku leaned into his side ever so slightly, Shouta didn’t push him away. Not when he was practically draped on Shouta. Not when he fell asleep. Not when he cried silently (always silently) in his dreams, twitching and pulling into himself.
Shouta knew that one couldn’t just make someone’s trauma disappear with a little bit of care. It was a difficult thing to accept at first, but he understood. He just had to be there for Izuku.
The next semester had been delayed two weeks because of the Kimono Incident. One teacher (the Number One Pro ) brutally wounded, two students traumatized and wounded, plus a villain-turned-victim that the others were determined to help— they definitely needed the time.
There would never be enough time to help Izuku feel okay with speaking again before classes. All he could do, though, was be there.
The door swung open, and Shouta scowled at the portly woman at the other side of the desk.
“You say you want Izuku’s custody back?” He asked.
“Yes,” she glared back. “Yuuei is clearly incompetent when it comes to his care. He’s extremely fragile already—”
“And that’s where we’re ending this, Midoriya-san. Unfortunately for you, Izuku doesn’t want to return to your care and is willing to testify against you in a case of child abuse.” A bluff, of course, but she wouldn’t be able to call it. “You drop the case, we’ll consider not taking you to court.” Another bluff, he was definitely taking this woman to court.
Midoriya glared at him, and he wondered how he ever thought she and Izuku were identical. She looked soft but she was full of bitterness, where Izuku looked hateful and was actually rather empathetic.
He met Nedzu outside the door, and the principal actually had a worried expression.
“If she decides to press the case, we only have a twenty-seven percent chance of winning it. Yuuei is a top-notch school, but the first-years have suffered through three major villain attacks recently. I fully expect her to mention that the school already has other Wards plus students in dorms now, and won’t be able to care for him properly…”
A very, very stupid idea came to mind.
“And would all of those problems be fixed by, say, an unnamed associate of Yuuei legally adopting Izuku?”
The worry drained from Nedzu’s face, a knowing smile replacing it. “As a matter of fact, it would.”
“Excellent.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with it, Izuku?”
Deku kept his eyes on his bandaged hands, but nodded. His mother wanted to see him, to make sure he was okay. She was his mother , she deserved to know that he survived .
The door opened, and his mother bustled in, her hands fluttering as she approached Deku.
“Oh, Izuku , I was so worried… that school doesn’t treat you well…”
She went on, and Deku found himself paying less and less attention to her words.
“I’m going to get custody of you back, Izuku, sweetie.”
That got his attention.
Four days had come and passed since he woke up— a week since he was rescued. The doctors said she never visited, never called.
She didn’t visit.
Aizawa did.
Aizawa sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair by his bed for hours, sometimes filling the silence with meaningless chatter and other times just letting it rest, quiet but comfortable. Aizawa came and filled him in on what was going on since he wasn’t allowed non-family visitors. Aizawa helped him get into a new set of clothes when fumbling with his heavily bandaged fingers got too difficult. Aizawa held him when he couldn’t force away the thoughts screaming that he was never really okay. Aizawa didn’t ask questions and messed with his hair when he cried. Aizawa was infinitely patient when he couldn’t figure out how to express what he wanted to say on paper.
His hand moved over to the notepad, and Aizawa he handed it over. His writing was nowhere near the neatness it used to be from his shaky, wounded, bandaged fingers, but it was legible.
What gave you the right to tell me you didn’t like that I had more confidence
His mother crinkled her eyebrows. “Izuku, I just don’t like how you’ve changed—”
What gave you the right to ignore me when I tried to tell you about Kacchan
“Izuku.”
What gave you the right to try and crush my dreams
Tears burned in Deku’s eyes as he scrawled the words, ignoring her denials.
What gave you the right to not even visit me when I needed you the most
Tears welled in her eyes. “Izuku, please understand, I was busy—”
Goodbye Midoriya-san
It physically hurt to write that, his chest heavy and shoulders shaking. He barely noticed when Aizawa escorted his mother out. He barely noticed the passing of time as he sat up in his bed and Deku grieved the loss of someone who still drew breath.
Izuku didn’t write anything else for the rest of the day, ignoring his food when it was brought to him and only staring at the notepad with an expression that could only be described as wrecked.
Shouta stayed the rest of the night there, knowing that any doubt he’d had about his very stupid idea was completely erased by the interaction, guiding Izuku to sleep when he finally came back to reality.
The next person to visit was a surprise.
Yagi.
He was in his small form, likely unable to return to “All Might” anymore, and he smiled at Izuku.
“Ah, I see you’re awake. I am—”
A pen hit him in the face with deadly precision, effectively cutting him off, while Izuku scribbled furiously on a notepad with a spare one.
He turned the pad around, glare murderous.
I remember you, and I remembe you’re a bastard, All Might.
Shouta blinked in confusion before a pencil, this time, hit Yagi to keep him from interrupting.
And save the excuses. You did your damage, so why the hell do you think it’s okay to just pretend it never happened
An image flashed in his mind. A boy in the subway train with short green hair and teary eyes (so hard to equate to the flat-faced Izuku he knew now) ripping out two pages, where the bold autograph of All Might stood out.
“You fucker, you were the one that told him quirkless kids couldn’t be heroes.”
Yagi raised his eyebrows. “Well, it’s dangerous work, Aizawa—”
Izuku bared his teeth, and though no sound came from him, the semblance of a snarl ran in their minds from the sheer savageness of his expression.
When Shouta removed Yagi from the room, it was purely for Izuku’s mental health. It wouldn’t do to have three deaths on his conscience.
… speaking of, he probably needed to explain to Izuku that he wasn’t getting arrested since it was technically self defense and he (obviously) didn’t use a quirk.
Yeah, that was a good idea.
Notes:
“I Have Questions” - Camila Cabello
I kinda lied when I said “Kill Your Heroes” was the inspiration for this story. It wasn’t. It was this goddamn song that started it all.
This is one of my all time favorites. Whenever I am writing, I love to listen to this because it’s so genuine. The speaker is asking someone she genuinely loved why they mistreated her and left her behind. I always imagined this song to be between Izuku and Bakugou, but when a I was writing this chapter I felt like it would have so much more significance here. Izuku wants to know why his mother wasn’t there for him. Why she didn’t pay attention. Why she didn’t love him. He’s scared and he’s traumatized and she didn’t even see if he was okay until it wasn’t convenient for her. And I thought that I Have Questions worked perfectly. (I do have a replacement song for the other chapter I planned on using I Have Questions for and I think it fits the mood better.)
Chapter 44: remark
Summary:
izuku gets gifts. shouta doubts his parenting abilities.
Notes:
GUESS WHO ISNT FUCKING SINGLE AUTHOR IS HERE QUEER AND READY TO GODDAMN PARTY
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Deku stared at the actual mountain of things he had woken up to find on the nightstand.
Aizawa snorted at his bewildered expression. “Your friends are adamant on me delivering all that to you since they can’t visit.”
He just… could barely wrap his head around that idea. At all. Deku reached over tentatively and picked up one of the smaller boxes, this one relatively the size of a book.
His hands had been uncasted and now only looked like mummy hands, so he could sign well enough despite his lack of practice in it.
Why?
The underground teacher smirked. “Hatsume found out they missed your birthday.”
Ah. That makes sense.
Deku turned the gift over in his hands before tentatively opening it, checking the signature-- this was from Ashido.
Peering in, he could only describe himself as ‘dumbstruck’.
A small note card was stuck to the bag.
Hey, Midori-kun! I noticed that you were pretty self-conscious about your face scar. It’s kinda badass, actually, but I get where you’re coming from! So I may or may not have spent several hours dragging Shinsou-kun through a makeup store to find the right colors and stuff-- he’s actually crazy smart about that, what the fuck. Anyway, there’s foundation, concealer, bronzer, some lip balm because nobody wants chapped lips and I saw you had some at Kimono, eyeliner, brow pencil since you’re missing some eyebrows, mascara and some neutral eyeshadows. Okay, so maybe half of that wasn’t really necessary, but I hope you like it! -Mina
He carefully set the box next to him, letting Aizawa glance in-- he ended up having to hide that he was laughing. Deku liked the gift anyway-- Toshi was good with makeup. (He wore a little bit of eyeliner because he’s Emo and denies it when Deku noticed it a few months ago.)
Next up was a simple hair care kit from Hagakure, then some pre-quirk books from Iida, a variety of notebooks and art supplies from 1-A… Yaomomo had tied a bow around a giant plush of a cat, which was depressingly taller than him, with a note attached saying Jirou had designed it with her so it was from both of them. Uraraka and Asui had collaborated to actually make him a new set of shoes since his were ruined at the camp-- these a dark red pair of combat boots instead of the cherry red high-tops he used to wear. Maijima-sensei (aw, he cares) sent a shirt he said had matching ones-- his was dark green with red lettering saying “ WARNING: CHAOS GOD - PLEASE RETURN TO THE TEACHER OF YUUEI CLASS 1-F OR 1-A ”.
The second-to-last package sat in his hand now. He was not avoiding the one without any name at all, but Deku knew who it was from anyway.
He opened it carefully, and blinked. A simple black pair of leather bracers sat in the middle of the wrapping, and a note was beside it.
Deku picked up the note.
Hey, Izukkun!
In case you were wondering, which you probably were, this is a collective gift from… everyone, actually. Pick up the bracer and look at it, will you? I can explain it better, then.
Turning over the bracer, he picked it up delicately. Then smiled weakly.
Small gems were studded into it, aligned into a rainbow.
Okay, so we couldn’t stop ourselves from making a gay joke. The ruby is the main function-- give it a try!
He slipped the bracers on awkwardly, then tapped the ruby on his left bracer. It was kind of alarming to see the palm of the bracer suddenly start rippling with silver fluid, coalescing into a shape. Deku blinked, and there was a fucking phone in his hand, a silver cord connecting it to the bracer.
The bracer is made almost entirely of Biometallica, with leather padding to keep it together. Turns out you can put computer chips in it and store data! So naturally we put a phone feature in it, because you broke yours. And the citrine makes a computer. Oops. Not really, though. (We could make a fortune off of selling Biometallica… Kami above, Izukkun, you’re brilliant for having the idea.)
The yellow topaz sends a radio distress signal. It needs to be pressed three times for confirmation, so no accidental calls to the cops! Peridot is a fun one. It extends claws. Like Wolverine claws. To keep with the cat theme! Sapphire may or may not deploy a smoke bomb. Purple is tame, though, I swear-- it makes you a pen that you can’t lose because it’s part of your bracer!
On the phone and computer, Jirou put a bunch of music, too. She said music helps her calm down. Also, FUCKING TEXT US WE’RE DYING OUT HERE.
And there’s also a file of pictures. We love you, Izukkun!
-Mei and everyone else (but mostly Mei)
Deku had to blink tears from his eyes, retracting the phone and setting the bracers aside, letting Aizawa mess with those since the man was bored. He stared at the last gift, completely unsure of what to do with it.
Slowly, he unwrapped it.
It was green choker with a silver bell. A silver tag hung next to the bell, and he squinted to read.
Nyx - Local Cryptid - Needs To Stop Vanishing
On the flip side, it read, If found, please call Nedzu (XXX-XXXX) and report Nyx missing.
Despite himself, a small smile bloomed into place on Deku’s lips as he studied it. The collar had silver spikes studding it, and he definitely noticed the latch for a leash on the front. Yeah, it seemed like every time he was alone off of campus, something bad happened.
Aizawa didn’t even bother hiding his laughter when Deku sheepishly showed his teacher the choker. It didn’t dingle, actually, but a sticky note said the bell had a tracker in it that activated if the bell was detached or broken.
(And maybe he smiled a little more knowing Toshi cared… and it was also really funny that it was essentially a collar.)
Shouta wasn’t sure how to break the news to Izuku that he was technically in the process of being adopted. He also had no idea how to explain that he was technically his parent.
Hizashi had supported the idea, but not without some doubts: they were two thirty-year-old heroes with three jobs each (radio host for Hizashi and mentoring for Shouta), plus neither of them could actually raise a child. As a homeroom teacher, Shouta was trained to be a “third parent”— but that was nowhere near the reality of parenting them full-time. His responsibilities weren’t just to make Izuku into a hero and to keep him alive until then, they were to keep him happy , healthy , to keep him safe and care about him. Considering Shouta’s version of health was sleeping for three hours total a day and eating nutrition packets, Hizashi had doubts.
“Hey, Izuku.”
His kid glanced over, green eyes cautious but attentive.
“So, you heard Midoriya say she was going to try and fight for your custody— Yuuei doesn’t have a good chance of keeping you as a Ward with the villain attacks.”
Everything about the teen just sagged, a deep sadness in his expression.
“Hang on, there. She doesn’t actually stand a chance against one of the Yuuei staff personally caring for you.”
Izuku paused, looking up again. Like adopting?
“Yeah, exactly like that,” Shouta agreed. “Right now, even though nothing will really change, you’re legally under mine and Hizashi’s—”
The small teen jerked forward, practically crushing Shouta in a hug, and he huffed, half-shocked and half-amused.
“You’re not going back to her, kid. Promise.”
Notes:
“Remark” - Rachel Platten
Another simple one: when people are down, they need someone to say something kind to them. Izuku needs kindness.
Also I saw y’all calling me out for writing some angst but like,,, this is more of a recovery fic. Fluff and angst are basically hand-in-hand here,,, it would be bad writing for me to NOT write Izuku crying at least 10 more times before he’s ok
Chapter 45: superheroes
Summary:
shouta thinks about the past. izuku has a long road ahead of him, but he’s healing.
Notes:
author: i need to sleep
also author: how about i write an entire 3k chapter
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
/// Problem Children
1_ChaosCatboi has shared an image!
1_ChaosCatboi: @everyone i lived bitch
Several users have come off idle!
2_ManiacalLaughter: IZUKKUN
3_RadioInactivity: He lives!!!!
8_yaoMOMo: Is That A Collar ? ?
6_CalmCatboi: MORE IMPORTANTLY IS THAT A FUCKING CAPTURE WEAPON
1_ChaosCatboi: : )
6_CalmCatboi: L U C K Y
5_swoot: oh my Kami he’s alive,,,
7_ScreamingVoid: ;u;
7_ScreamingVoid: (youre ok!)
4_HackerVoice: Midori is really out here telling us he’s alive by memeing… What a king.
6_CalmCatboi: jakajsksiak yea
4_HackerVoice has changed 6_CalmCatboi ’s nickname to 6_whipped !
6_whipped: ok first of all rude
6_whipped: second of all i can’t even argue
5_swoot: Izuku’s been back for less than 5 minutes and everything’s already gone to hell
1_ChaosCatboi has changed their nickname to 1_ChaoticNeutral !
1_ChaoticNeutral: home
1_ChaoticNeutral has added Tokoyami Fumikage and Toga Himiko to Problem Children !
1_ChaoticNeutral has changed Tokoyami Fumikage ’s nickname to 9_gothphasebirb !
1_ChaoticNeutral has changed Toga Himiko ’s nickname to 10_BuffytheVampireLesbian !
10_BuffytheVampireLesbian: is it normal to be called out this early
9_gothphasebirb:
9_gothphasebirb: fair enough
2_ManiacalLaughter: TOGA LAB NOW I HAVE I D E A
1_ChaoticNeutral: great you’ve met
1_ChaoticNeutral: im headed back to the dorms later today but like before i sign off
1_ChaoticNeutral: i also got adopted so the bitch cant get custody back so uh
1_ChaoticNeutral has posted a poll: Does Aizawa Izuku or Yamada Izuku sound better?
2_ManiacalLaughter: *EYES*
Dadzawa has come off idle!
Dadzawa: it’s too early for callouts go back to sleep
1_ChaoticNeutral: the drugs™ will not let me
1_ChaoticNeutral: besides dont blame me fien sucks at keeping secrets they already knew about you being married
3_RadioInactivity: YOU PROMISED YOU’D KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT
1_ChaoticNeutral: sign language bitch
1_ChaoticNeutral ’s poll has concluded! Results: Aizawa Izuku 9 votes Yamada Izuku 0 votes
5_swoot: whos the hoe that didn’t vote????
Dadzawa: me because im the neutral party
1_ChaoticNeutral: stop stalling old man and hand over the money
Dadzawa: fuck
8_yaoMOMo: Wait why is Toga here?!?!?
8_yaoMOMo: Didn’t she literally attack us at the camp?!
3_RadioInactivity: wait what
1_ChaoticNeutral: ex fuckin cuse u
10_BuffytheVampireLesbian: i meaaaaan midorichan they have a point :/
1_ChaoticNeutral: like fuck they do
1_ChaoticNeutral: himiko saved my life at least ten times over
1_ChaoticNeutral: she was the one to tip off nedzu
1_ChaoticNeutral: she was the one to make sure we had food at least once a day
1_ChaoticNeutral: she was the one to sneak in actual medical supplies
1_ChaoticNeutral: none of yall get to judge her unless you wanna get vibe checked
6_whipped: whoa man you didnt have to destroy them so hard
Dadzawa: Toga Himiko is currently under Yuuei’s protective custody since she was also kept prisoner by the League.
8_yaoMOMo: Oh.
8_yaoMOMo: I’m really sorry, Toga-chan.
10_BuffytheVampireLesbian: meh its fine
10_BuffytheVampireLesbian: anyway hatsume calls and i dont want to die
1_ChaoticNeutral: ill be over at the dorms in a few
Dadzawa: wrong youll be at recovery girls in a few
1_ChaoticNeutral: The Suffering Never Ends
Dadzawa: @everyone Izuku is going to be in Recovery Girl’s for the next 48 hours to monitor his condition. Only three visitors at a time, please.
4_HackerVoice: oof he used Proper Syntax hes serious
“So…” Hatsume looked rather uncomfortable, her voice low despite the fact that Midoriya had inserted the earbuds and couldn’t hear what was being said. “Um… we’re trying to protect Izukkun from Bakugou.”
Bakugou? “Is there a particular reason for that?”
Everyone in the room continued to look more and more uncomfortable, with Shinsou averting his silver-pupiled eyes and focusing entirely on Midoriya’s hair despite his one broken arm and heavily bandaged ribs.
Hatsume looked at the whiteboard before setting down the marker, then moving to a chair and sitting down, her face sad. “Before Yuuei, Izukkun was bullied a lot for being quirkless… if you don’t count the teachers, this is a room full of all but two people in this school who know about it.” She shifted in her seat, and Shouta winced internally. He’d had it rough back in his school years-- everyone was convinced he’d turn out as a villain. He couldn’t imagine how it must have been for Midoriya. “Um… he just… couldn’t do anything about it, either. People gave him the nickname--” her voice dropped to a whisper-- “Deku--” before returning-- “which means Useless, and basically everyone but his mother called him that. The teachers at his school didn’t do anything about it, either.
“And… it got really extreme. People beat him up and some even… told him to kill himself.”
Shouta’s blood boiled , but he kept his composure. He needed the full story before he could help.
“Bakugou and Izukkun grew up together… their moms were best friends, so they were kind of always together. When Bakugou got a really powerful quirk and Izukkun didn’t… he was Izukkun’s main bully. When I first met Izukkun, that was the same day Bakugou told him to jump off the roof for the first time, and some asshole hero told him he couldn’t be a hero ‘cuz he was quirkless… his life just sucked so much, and he didn’t tell me but I know he was considering it…” Her yellow eyes flicked to her friend, oblivious to the dark look that had come over Shouta’s face. He knew something was up with Bakugou, but he couldn’t ever prove it-- with this testimony…
“I’m pretty sure Bakugou used his quirk on Izukkun… when I met him, I was teaching him to build support stuff, and he’d have panic attacks every time something exploded.”
Shouta glanced around, struggling to keep a cap on his emotions-- he couldn’t afford to lose it and scare the kids away from telling the truth-- and saw several things. Uraraka crying on Yaoyorozu’s shoulder, Shinsou’s face pale as death and eyes glazed as he arranged Midoriya’s hair, the other three students of 1-F and Reiki Aria huddling together and hiding sniffles. Hatsume’s own eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
“Do you have any physical evidence?”
Midoriya seemed to have tuned in a bit, and popped an earbud out. “Sorry… could you repeat that?”
“Do you have any physical evidence?”
The Support student looked at his lap, biting his lip. “I have a few shitty phone videos on a flash drive I hid at my mom’s house. And, um.”
There was a long pause as Midoriya’s face twisted repeatedly, clearly conflicted but Shouta was unsure on what.
“I-I have a lot, a lot of scars.” The boy buried his face in his red scarf, hiding from the eyes of the onlookers.
His anger swelled again. Scars?! As in, others hurt him badly enough to leave permanent marks?!
“Are there any that can be directly tied to him?”
Midoriya took a deep, shuddering breath. “The-- this, this one.” He loosened his scarf and exposed his neck, face tightening.
Shouta knew what scars looked like.
He knew what bad scars looked like, too.
Over the years, skin grafts had become few and far between. People simply had become too different, from quirks that cause skin to be acidic like Ashido or even blue like Bubble Girl. Feathered, rock-like, leathery… there were simply too many factors.
Which was why the “metal grafts” had become so popular.
It was a simple operation often done when skin couldn’t be easily replaced. A special type of metal alloy, which was highly adaptive and moved as easily as human flesh would, is injected into the area and it would bond itself to the area and cover it. It was permanent and the only downside was that the scars would look silver and rather eye-catching. He had a few himself, one on his elbow where Shigaraki had attacked.
Which was why he immediately knew what the silver handprint was, and why his vision went red.
He barely noticed Hatsume fainting.
He blinked, and he was throwing open the door to Nedzu’s office, Shinsou and Midoriya a little behind him.
Shouta didn’t look on that memory all too fondly. It was really the catalyst for where they were now-- Izuku as his charge and lounging on a cot while Shuzenji checked him over.
“Well, good news.” The old nurse smiled to Shouta. “We can take the last of the bandages on his arms off, since the injections should be done bonding.”
Izuku shrank into himself, eyes on his lap as Shuzenji unwound the white bandages. Shouta hadn’t really thought much of it, recalling the bloody mess they had been when he rescued the teen and wondering what could be worse?
Apparently, the reality of it was much worse.
The silver scars glinted in the light of the room, and Shuzenji sighed, her eyes sad as she observed the old damage.
There were fingerprints and palms marked into Izuku’s arms, climbing all the way up to his shoulders. A jagged silver line ran around both of his wrists, and Shouta suspected his ankles as well. All over his forearm and wrists were the considerably more concerning gouges and cuts from Kami-knows-what biting into his skin, leaving lines both wide and thin. Some were on the outside, Shouta knowing they were defensive from the moment he saw them-- mainly the smaller slices-- but the gouges were on the soft inside, raking long and deep. Self-inflicted.
Shouta remembered that Izuku had used his own blood to write, but he felt sick seeing the extent of how desperate he was.
His kid blatantly looked up, away from his ruined arms, and at the ceiling panels. No words had to be spoken to express that he hated the scars.
Shouta reached into the bag Izuku had brought along, and pulled out the bracers before passing them over. Shuzenji fit them on without a word, and even though it only covered the forearms, it seemed to bring him comfort, made easier by putting on his blazer for his uniform and hiding most of the rest, only his elbow and a bit of his upper arm exposed.
Just then, the door opened.
Three faces appeared in the door, all worried. Ragdoll, Tokoyami, and Toga all hovered there, none really approaching.
Then, finally, Ragdoll broke away from the group, and hopped up on the bed next to Izuku.
“Hey, kitten.”
Izuku was buried in her side in moments, body shaking, and Toga and Tokoyami finally ventured in.
“Thank you for saving us, Eraserhead-san,” Toga mumbled with a bow before hurrying over to Izuku. Shouta’s heart ached knowing she was thanking him for not leaving her behind.
“The old bastard snatched my quirk,” Ragdoll said gently, and Shouta sighed to himself watching Izuku stiffen and look up. “Yeah, he’s a lying bastard. Wanted Search so bad he went against the deal. Didn’t get Fumikage’s, though, the moment the suppressants were off Dark Shadow went batshit and tried to kill him. He was safe.”
Tokoyami sat on Izuku’s other side, wringing his hands. Toga sat on the floor, observing with sad eyes.
“I thought you could give me some tips, though. My license is suspended until I’m battle-ready again, and it’s gonna take a while before I get used to not relying on Search to fight and find people.” The pro-hero grinned. “You’ll still be the first quirkless pro, with how long it’s gonna take me. But I figured I’ll need your help.”
Damn, she was good . Shouta blinked at Ragdoll’s casual attitude to being unable to do a job he knew she loved, instead using it to ask him for help. Knowing he wouldn’t want any help himself.
The teen blinked his green eyes, before giving a small nod and smile. Toga popped up and grinned, her fangless mouth on full display.
“Hatsume’s building me a new set of fangs-- isn’t that cool?”
He nodded enthusiastically, and Dark Shadow appeared from Tokoyami’s chest, wrapping himself around the four of them.
“No more suppressants,” he chirped delightedly.
Izuku looked up, his teary eyes meeting Shouta’s.
His lips moved, and two quiet words broke his month-long silence.
“ Thank you .”
Tamaki didn’t know Midoriya all that well.
He knew the boy wanted to be a hero. He knew he was chaos incarnate, breaking down every wall that prevented him for achieving his goals. He knew he had a fire in him he’d seen in very few people in his eighteen years of life.
And when he walked into the private room off of Recovery Girl’s office, he knew the first-year was also deeply, deeply hurt.
He looked so small where he sat, eyes distant and hands up to cover the skin that showed on his arms. Midoriya had snapped his head to observe Tamaki the moment he entered, but hadn’t made a witty remark like he expected.
Instead, Midoriya just stared.
“Hey… I just… I know we’re not close or anything, but I wanted to see that you were… here…” Tamaki trailed off, not really sure how to talk to him at all. “I… I also kind of wanted to say something?”
Midoriya blinked twice before nodding.
“I… I became a Ward because, um… my parents were abusive,” he admitted quietly. “I’m still scared of them even now, and they’re both in prison… they’re responsible for a lot of my anxiety and stuff… I kept thinking I was broken and I couldn’t be a hero.” Tamaki took the seat next to Midoriya’s bed, not making eye contact as the words came in an unfiltered flood. “But what they did to me didn’t break me. I’m a whole person, even if I’m cracked a lot, but I’m still gonna be a hero.”
The younger teen’s face fractured into a confused frown.
“You’re… you went through a lot, okay?” Tamaki looked over again. “But you aren’t broken, and… and you aren’t who those villains said you are. You’re cracked like I am… but you’re still gonna be a hero. And if you ever think you can’t be… then they win.” He cracked a tiny smile. “I’ve never seen you lose at anything, though… so, when you’re a hero, I hope we can work together.”
Tamaki stood again and quietly left, before something tugged on his sleeve. He glanced back and saw Midoriya had climbed from his bed (somehow without alerting him at all). The smaller boy gently pulled him into a hug despite the height difference, then plodded back to the bed. In the corner of his eye, Tamaki saw Aizawa grin.
He left, silently promising he’d see that kid be a hero.
Mei burst into the room with more grandeur than strictly necessary, throwing aside the door and practically throwing herself into Izukkun’s arms, which had extended out of reflex from her usual entrances.
“You’re alive !” she shrieked happily, hugging him as lightly as he could, since Recovery Girl said something-or-other about broken ribs. “I was so scared !”
His hands traced circles on her back before she pulled away, wiping what definitely weren’t tears from her eyes.
“I was worried you’d lose a limb and I’d have to build you a new one,” she sniffed, turning up her nose comically. “I mean, it wouldn’t be that bad if you were basically the Winter Soldier. It’d actually be kinda cool. But still! So much work!”
Izukkun gave her a small smile, pen already dancing across a notepad.
And here I thought I’d have to make you a wig to replace all the hair you’d pull out.
She laughed, high and relieved , knowing her best friend was actually here , before settling down on the bed next to him and unraveling a blueprint.
“So, I might need a little help designing Toga’s new fangs…”
Hitoshi hovered in the doorway, his eyes and Zuku’s locked and neither making a move to communicate.
At last, the words forced themselves from his throat.
“I always did say I wanted a man that could put me out of my misery.”
Zuku blinked, then a wide smile graced his features as he hopped off the bed. Hitoshi noticed how Aizawa rolled his eyes at the words, but he hardly cared, especially when Zuku wrapped him in a tight hug.
“Y’know, I had that skanky ass right where I wanted him,” Hitoshi snorted. “But what are heroes for, I guess.”
There was a beat.
“In all seriousness, I was really--”
--and then before he knew it, his tie was yanked on hard and he jerked down, and was suddenly being kissed and his mind went blissfully blank.
When Zuku finally released him, he had his signature annoyed expression. His hands moved to form only a few simple signs.
You talk too much.
Aizawa, who was still leaning on the wall, smirked in Hitoshi’s direction as he went bright red. “Careful with him, he’s still got broken ribs.”
Hitoshi made a strangled sound of mortification just as their teacher left the room and the door clicked shut behind him.
His name was Aizawa Izuku.
He wasn’t Deku.
The words were his mantra through the two days with Recovery Girl, with his friends coming in and out. Meimei would turn his attention to support items, not minding when his hand spasmed out of pain when the meds wore off and screwed up what he was trying to sketch. Amajiki would share his own childhood and remind Izuku that he wasn’t defined by the experience. Fien and the Reiki twins would sprawl on the floor and ramble about anything, Aria humming a calming song softly even when Izuku insisted he felt fine. Ban would perch on the chair and recite quotes from pre-quirk comedians and try to make Izuku laugh. Himiko and Fumikage and Shiretoko would all talk about the things they were doing now that they were out-- Himiko was beta-testing a set of fangs, Tokoyami settling into the 1-A dorms and being bombarded with concern from his classmates, and Shiretoko was getting used to daily life without a quirk.
And Toshi…
Toshi would just sit down, letting the silence rest between them as he played with Izuku’s hair and sometimes they just put a book between them and read in the quiet of the hospital room.
And he remembered his bedroom. Izuku had set his stuff down gently, looking around at the place frozen in a time he could never go back to. Self-made hero figurines dotted the shelf, the walls decorated with blueprints and his notebooks scattered all over his desk.
If he hadn’t known Himiko had been staying in here, he’d think this room hadn’t seen a soul in all the time he’d been away.
Since he was legally adopted now, he was going to be in the Aizawa-Yamada apartment. He couldn’t really stay up here, since there wasn’t an extra room for Himiko in the Ward dorms, and since the Aizawa-Yamada apartment came with two rooms (and only one was being used for obvious reasons), the solution was pretty simple.
Now, he sat on his new bed, his new room already decorated. Aizawa-- what was Izuku supposed to call the man now? He was an Aizawa, too-- had simply said that his friends had taken it upon themselves to make it his. Toshi was here now, helping him set up the last of what was left in what was now Himiko’s room.
“I think that’s the last blueprint,” the lilac-haired teen huffed with a grin. “What do you wanna do now?”
Izuku hopped up, offering his boyfriend a grin before pulling him into a kiss, then embracing him.
Toshi’s warmth soothed his raging thoughts, and Izuku leaned his head against his chest, hearing his heartbeat a tad faster than normal.
And they just stood there, Toshi’s heart finally slowing into calm as they held each other.
It was finally over.
My name is Aizawa Izuku.
I am not Deku.
Notes:
“Superheroes” - the Script
A song about turning pain into determination, it just fit RoDW pretty well when I first heard it. I now bestoweth it upon thou
Chapter 46: 50 ways to say goodbye
Notes:
JOIN THE DISCORD
https://discord.gg/2bjpeadb
THAT IS ALL
Chapter Text
Join the discord lads
Izuku was decidedly apprehensive about class.
Toshi had moved into the 1-A dorms when the others did (apparently there were dorms for the students now, too), and he had told Izuku that the class was…
… excitable.
Of course, this doesn't inspire any kind of confidence in him when he stood outside the door to the classroom. He’d only been in there a handful of times, like for picking hero names and internships, but never as a real hero student .
The very thought of it filled his lungs with both dread and excitement. On one hand, he was really going to be a hero. He had a hero name, he was in a hero class.
On the other… was he even good enough to be one? He was quirkless, he was broken, and essentially an orphan.
“You weren’t gonna go in without us, right?”
Toshi’s voice interrupted his string of thoughts, and Izuku glanced over to see his boyfriend striding up, a certain blonde trailing a few steps behind with a sheepish smile and shiny new fangs.
Putting Himiko in the Heroics Course was probably heavily debated by the teachers. But all in all, it seemed they had figured it was probably the best option, and there was an extra spot in 1-A.
Himiko hesitantly settles into place next to Izuku, the two of them staring at the door in silent contemplation, before Toshi huffed a sigh and yanked it open.
The murmur Izuku has been able to hear through the door hushed as Toshi entered, then Himiko, and Izuku last, trailing behind and flicking his eyes to the board to make sure his spot was still in the back corner. Hitoshi was also still next to him, and Himiko took Mineta’s spot in front of Izuku.
Izuku felt the pressure of their stares.
The door opened again, and Aizawa entered, his eyes scanning the class and probably doing a headcount before taking his place at the podium.
“We have a new student, Himiko Toga—”
“The villain girl ?”
Kaminari’s words cut into Aizawa’s, and the teacher turned his murderous gaze to the electric teen.
“She is a victim of the League, and anyone who says differently will answer to me . Moving on, we also have the transfer students Shinsou Hitoshi and Nyx.”
This time, silence met his words. Tentatively, Sero raised his hand.
“You mean Midoriya?”
“I know what I said.” Aizawa pulled a file from the podium and slammed it down onto the wood, glaring around the classroom before continuing. “In other news, Nyx will be communicating nonverbally. If any of you know sign language, that would be helpful so Shinsou and I don’t have to interpret everything.”
A general matter of assent before Aizawa launched into the actual business of the day.
“You all had the experience week, but now you have a chance to have real internships at the places you went to. Contact them, and if they decline taking you in for real internships, see me.”
Toshi raised his hand.
“Yes, you and Nyx are cleared for internships.”
Himiko raised her hand.
“You’re going with Vlad King. Anyone else?”
Again, silence.
“Great. Now…”
The door slid open, and (sm)All Might stood in the doorway. Izuku cringed when the blue eyes settled on him.
“May I speak to Midoriya-kun?”
Aizawa opened his mouth to object (probably), but Izuku stood, tucking a notebook under his arm.
Time to see what the blond asshole wants.
“My boy…”
Izuku glared across the small office at All Might.
“I would like to apologize for how I must have made you feel. I should not have said something to that effect, and I should have handled it more carefully.”
His lip twitched.
“And I would also like to offer you something.”
Silence, and Izuku continued to stare at All Might.
“My quirk is called One For All. It is a generational quirk, passed from hand to hand like the Olympic torch, gathering strength from every holder.”
His mind reeled . A quirk that could be passed from person to person? How—
“And I would like you to be the next user.”
— and there’s where the train of thought stops.
Izuku stood up, turning to leave.
His voice was hoarse and dry when he used it, but he spoke nonetheless.
“It’s funny, if you were a decent person I might even consider it.”
“Izuku.”
He glanced up from his notebook, blinking exhaustion from his eyes. Aizawa was hovering in the door, his face grave.
“Come with me.”
Standing, Izuku followed his mentor to the common room downstairs.
The TV was on.
“— and reports are coming in that the victim was the mother of—”
The picture on the screen was of a blank wall, probably on some school. Well, it wasn’t entirely blank.
Red stained it, scrawling words that sank into Izuku’s mind with a horrible dread.
Midoriya Izuku is quirkless.
It was a fact, of course. But there was a green blur beneath it all.
He listened without any feeling.
Midoriya Inko was found murdered, her chest burned and bloodied, and her blood was used to write the words.
He saw the newsperson bringing up footage from the Sports Festival. Heard the criticisms she read off of a piece of paper. Heard the casual slurs. Heard his name , repeated over and over again.
Midoriya Izuku is quirkless .
The whole world knew his name. The whole world knew what made him wrong. The whole world knew how broken he was, how subhuman.
Distantly, Izuku heard someone saying his name.
It was all lost in the fog of despair.
It was nearly impossible to get out of bed that morning, but he left before even Yamada the early riser was up, and standing in front of the classroom door.
Paint as red as blood decorated the massive door.
DEKU .
Tears burned his eyes, but Izuku looked to the ground.
He opened the door and walked in.
His desk was covered in black marker. Probably permanent. All sorts of slurs were scrawled across it, insults and death wishes mingling.
Izuku went to the front and retrieved the cleaner and a rag, almost robotic in falling back into the habit. Scrub the door. Scrub the desk. Check if he missed anything. Check if there was anything on anyone else’s desk.
He really should have known. As soon as it was common knowledge he was quirkless, everything was just the same.
Why would Yuuei be any different?
“Izuku.”
He looked up.
Aizawa carefully sat at the desk in front of him, turned to face Izuku. He tilted his head slightly.
“Are you okay?”
My mother is dead. My secret is out, so everyone is back to wishing I was too.
He didn’t say that, though.
Instead, his hands reached up to sign, a porcelain smile on his face.
I’m fine.
Chapter 47: you don’t have to go
Summary:
shouta is concerned. hitoshi is an idiot, but hey, at least his boyfriend likes him.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Shouta knew something was horribly, horribly wrong the moment he stepped into the room and saw Izuku at his desk, the lingering scent of cleaning chemicals clinging to him. The blank, empty smile that didn’t reach his despairing eyes as he signed to Shouta that he was fine. The way he barely looked up when the other students filed in. Not even Shinsou and Toga, who cast worried glances at the small teen.
The bell rang, and Shouta heard the murmurs cease, before coming back full force.
“ Quirkless— ”
“— won the Sports— ”
“ News is going nuts— ”
He had to nip this in the bud.
Activating his quirk immediately silenced the room as he glared over the group.
“Yes, Nyx is quirkless. Yes, he beat out every single one of you in the Sports Festival. Yes, that was his mother that was killed. None of you may ask him about it, or say a negative word towards anyone about their quirk or lack thereof, or you will find yourself in Nedzu’s office. Are we clear?”
Kirishima raised his hand.
“ What .”
Undeterred by Shouta’s tone, the redhead turned to face Izuku. Shouta shifted, preparing to silence the boy at the first sign of an insult— Kami knew the boy had dealt with enough.
“I think that it’s super manly of you to beat everyone in the Sports Festival!” he began with a sharp-toothed grin. “And you’re a certifiable genius, dude!”
Izuku’s eyes widened minutely, then Kirishima sat without further comment.
Classes passed with little fanfare, and Izuku seemed to be slightly more present than before. When Yagi came in for Heroics, he watched Izuku shoot the man a dirty look before grabbing his hero costume.
Today was a simple hand-to-hand combat lesson, and Shouta took great pride in Izuku and Shinsou not being slammed into the mat by himself as often as the others.
“Nyx. Shinsou.”
“Yes, Sensei?” The two straightened as Shinsou answered, standing rigid.
“Toga.”
“Sensei.” She looked over, wiping sweat from her brow with a grin. He noticed she was using yet another beta version of the fangs Hatsume was making for her.
“The three of you are new. You may stand with me and observe as the others are paired to practice.”
Izuku darted to his side in a black blur, his two friends not far behind before the three students were bunched beside Shouta. He sighed internally.
One of Izuku’s mysterious notebooks appeared in his hand as the four observed Yagi overseeing the dueling pairs. His pen moved in quick strokes, but pretty much indecipherable since Shouta couldn’t spare the attention to read it. Instead, he watched Ashido and Todoroki.
There was a weird rumbling sound, and Shouta glanced around. With a start, he realized it was coming from Izuku , his thoughts spilling from his mouth in a jumble of words.
“ Ashido must take dance classes— Todoroki’s ice is easily dissolved by Ashido’s acid— he has experience but is too stiff, still relies on his ice quirk too much… ”
“Nyx.”
He jumped.
“A bit louder, please.”
The student stared for a few moments before awkwardly clearing his throat and raising his voice to a mutter instead of the mumble, making it slightly easier to understand him.
When class ended, Shouta had already decided he was telling Nedzu about the kid’s analysis.
Hitoshi led Zuku down the hiking trail.
He’d heard from Yamada that there was a woodland area on the other side of campus to hike in, so obviously that was an ideal place to go for a short escape.
Zuku was clearly stressed, so why not get away for a little bit?
They stopped when they came to a small wooden bridge over a brook, and Hitoshi craned his neck to look up at the treetops, an idea forming in his mind.
“Hey, Zuku, check it.”
Once he had his boyfriend’s attention, Hitoshi continued to lean back, rocking back on his heels.
“Trust fall.”
He heard a small squeak as he let himself plummet backwards. And then went straight over the low railing.
With a yelp, Hitoshi landed on his back in the shallow brook, the cool water already soaking his shirt all the way through.
The railing only did its job by suspending his legs in midair.
Great , he mused sarcastically. At least my pants aren’t wet.
He blinked a few times, and then Zuku’s concerned face filled his vision, hand extended.
Hitoshi had to blink the water from his eyes before hauling himself and taking it. “You were supposed to catch me,” he pointed out jokingly.
The other teen rolled his eyes, heaving backwards and Hitoshi pinwheeled his free arm to regain balance.
There was an awkward pause before Zuku pointed up, and Hitoshi followed his finger.
Stars twinkled overhead, and he stared, finding himself wrapped in the sudden realization of the enormity of the universe.
“It’s late,” he noticed. “Damn. Aizawa’s gonna bite our heads off.”
Zuku snickered, shaking his head and carefully sitting on the little bridge. Hitoshi followed suit, stripping off the uniform top and tie and draping it over the railing to (hopefully) dry.
And then he realized he was shirtless in the middle of the woods with his boyfriend.
This… isn’t ideal.
“Toshi.”
Hitoshi turned his attention to Zuku, affection swelling in his chest at the simple display of trust. Tokoyami had told him in confidence that the villains had made the teen be completely silent, or else. The “or else” part he wasn’t clear on, but if it was enough to get Izuku to shut up, it was probably bad. The fact that Zuku trusted him enough to just say his name was… it was really good.
“What’s up, Zuku?”
Those jungles captivated him, deep and contemplative as Zuku looked at Hitoshi, his hands scratching absently at his bare arms.
Hitoshi vividly recalled the deep, self-inflicted cuts, and gently guided Zuku’s hands into his own. The silver-patterned skin had reddened where the other had scratched recently. Have to keep an eye on that.
“I’m… I’m sorry I, I made you upset when I, I was away.”
“Zuku…”
“And, and…” his voice was rough from disuse, but he pushed on. “And I’m s-sorry they messed me up.”
“Zuku, that wasn’t your fault.”
He looked at Hitoshi, an intensity appearing there. “B-but, I’m, I’m not sorry I saved you.”
Hitoshi sighed, reaching out and gently drawing his boyfriend into his arms.
“Zuku… I’m not mad at you. I was just so scared, because I should have been there to help you. You were in a bad situation with strangers, and I was scared that they wouldn’t try to protect you.”
They sat there in relative silence, Zuku’s head against Hitoshi’s chest. Hitoshi could smell the soot and sweat in his hair, but they didn’t smell bad, not really. It was just… Izuku.
“Toshi?”
Hitoshi released his hold on Zuku, letting the other pull back for a moment.
“I…” He hesitated, hands tightening on Hitoshi’s. “I love you.”
Hitoshi felt his face go bright red, the shock of a few simple words making his heart go double time.
“I love you too.”
And then Zuku was kissing him.
As were all the kisses they shared before, it made Hitoshi’s mind go blissfully blank, emptying of any cohesive thought, surrendering completely to the rough feel of Zuku’s slightly chapped lips on his.
It was just the same, but altogether different .
They sat side-by-side on the bridge, legs over the side but entwined. Cold hands were on the back of Hitoshi’s neck, sending shivers down his spine, and the summer night air seemed to still for them alone. Only the moon and stars cast light on Hitoshi and Izuku, and Hitoshi let his eyes slide shut.
He was all too aware of Zuku’s shirt pressed against his bare chest, and of the lingering scent of the woodland that had never quite left since the camp.
An eternity later, but all too quickly, Zuku pulled away, a flush high in his cheeks and a rare smile on his lips.
So Hitoshi did the only thing that made any sense:
He kissed his boyfriend back.
It started out soft, before Zuku seemed to get his bearings and reciprocated with significantly more force. Despite himself, Hitoshi felt himself ingraining it into his mind, the feeling of the gentle curve of a smile against his own, the electricity that ran through his veins.
Just this one time, everything felt perfect.
Even when they separated, knowing they had to get back to the dorms before there was a search party looking for them, time felt a little bit frozen, suspended just for the two of them as they finally arrived at the buildings.
Zuku glanced over and reached up, again holding onto the back of Hitoshi’s neck to get him to lean down a bit, to plant a lingering kiss on his lips before disappearing into his own dorm building.
Hitoshi, bare-chested with reddened face and lips, clutching his soaked shirt and tie, smiled.
And if he was immediately lectured by Iida upon stepping into the 1-A common room about “public decency” and “respecting curfew”, he wasn’t really listening, anyway.
All he could think about was emerald eyes and three words.
I love you.
Notes:
“You Don’t Have To Go” — Rachel Platten
I really shouldn’t have to explain this one if you’ve heard the song and I am tired so I sleep
Chapter 48: bad blood
Summary:
shouta and zashi are fathers on short notice. a new person enters the fray.
Chapter Text
fixed it
Shouta was not a forgiving person.
He struck hard and fast, and those who had done wrong often met the wrong end of his wrath. It was a hard task to get back in his good graces— something many students he had expelled over the years could attest to.
Which was why he was seeing red now.
He had come to class early that morning— hoping to catch Izuku before he disappeared in the mornings again. He’d just had a feeling that something was wrong, but since the woman that had raised him was murdered recently and he was basically outed to the entire world. Yuuei was under heavy fire from the media, and the poor kid couldn’t leave campus at all because there were always some vultures just waiting for that to happen.
None of those thoughts matched up to the slurs scrawled on the door.
Freak. Useless. Worthless.
… the list kept going, and Shouta grit his teeth, shoving the door open.
The inside wasn’t as empty as he had assumed.
Izuku, his goddamn kid , was against the wall, blood dribbling from his nose and onto the floor. There was a small crowd of students around him, maybe five or six.
He could easily pick out a few names and faces. Daisuke Kai, quirk Albinism, 1-D. Ito Kouta, quirk Blades, 3-B.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
His voice was low and cold, and the group of students surrounding his kid froze.
Ito turned slowly, his face pale as death. “S-Sensei!”
In the corner of his eye, Shouta could see black marker covering Izuku’s desk. All the pieces slotted together.
“Get the fuck out of my sight before I decide to use my training, because believe me I know how to hide a body.”
Five. Five students had come in, vandalized his classroom , attacked his kid , and said Kami-knows-what. He had his phone in his hand without hesitation.
“Nedzu, check the security cameras around 1-A’s classroom, early morning before classes. I’m sending five students your way, be sure they make it there.”
A pregnant pause before the door opened three minutes later, and Zashi stood in the doorway, his face grave. He had apparently noticed the words decorating the door— and who wouldn’t, really?— and Nemuri was behind him, a deep scowl etched into her face.
“Let’s go, brats,” she growled, cracking her whip in a decidedly threatening way, all pretense of her usual deviance lost in her casual clothes consisting of sweats. Zashi has apparently been caught mid-routine, his leather jacket and sunglasses the only things reminiscent of his hero persona and hair pulled into a high bun.
Izuku got up from where he had huddled, shuffling after them, but Shouta reached out a hand, stopping him.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Surprise flickered in his face, but he went robotically to the whiteboard and picked up the cleaning spray and rag.
Shouta and Zashi helped wordlessly, each lost in their own thoughts.
“Shou… how did they know which desk was his?”
He paused, glancing over at his husband. “That’s… a mystery for another day.”
“It was a different person the first few times.”
Izuku’s voice startled the two heroes, but they turned their attention to him immediately.
“I think it was someone from 1-A,” he mumbled. “And maybe they told them. I dunno. I just know… the handwriting wasn’t the same.”
The horrible words scrawled on his desk—
— had been there before.
“You could have told us,” Shouta reminded his kid gently, having to kneel down a bit to reach the teen’s height. “We could have stopped them before it got here.”
“I—” Izuku looked genuinely so ruined by it, expression wretched and torn. “My old teachers just said I was trying to start trouble…”
Hizashi swooped in as suddenly and emotionally as the man himself was, already clutching Izuku in a tight hug. The teen hushed, eyes going wide, before seeming to relax.
“We’ll happily go beat the crap out of those teachers for you!”
And like the floodgates opened, Izuku burst into tears. They were quiet but broken, and Hizashi kept the teen in a hug, chatting casually about today’s classes with an expertness Shouta didn’t possess when it came to children.
And when his— their — kid quieted, he just stood there for a while until signing that Zashi had to finish getting ready and then making himself somewhat presentable for class.
Shouta crouched next to his desk, and just watched.
What?
“You’ve made progress since the hospital,” he commented, before standing and returning to the podium just as students began filing in.
Didn’t stop him from noticing the small smile that graced Izuku’s face at the realization.
Everything stabbed with pain, as it always did for her.
She huddled under the thin, paper-like blanket and wanted to retch at the scent of chemicals hanging like Spanish moss in the air, dripping from every surface and even her own skin.
Bandages criss crossed her limbs, the old wrappings reminiscent of an Egyptian mummy, but only serving to make her think amusedly of the utter uselessness of them. She was perfectly fine, really. She hurt and ached and felt so much pain, but it was all just the aftermath. She had no open wounds— just a broken heart and a shattered mind.
Visions of being torn apart and put back together haunted her every thought and waking dream, nightmares even more ghastly where she simply lay on the ground in pieces, unable to die but never being whole again.
She didn’t like the boy who smelled like caramel. She didn’t like the man made of black clouds that reeked of death. She didn’t like the one with the mask that listed off intel about a group called “1-A”. They were all sick.
I’m sick . The familiar mantra played in her head like a broken record, repeating over and over and not caring how distorted it sounded. But I’m a special sick. And I’m gonna cure the world.
Notes:
“Bad Blood” — Bastille
A song about rivalries not being settled despite how long it’s been. Guess who killed Inko and wrote that message, and you understand this chapter song.
Chapter 49: i can’t decide
Summary:
a future is seen. a discussion is had.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
His lungs burned with the strain of holding himself up, but again, Izuku placed himself between Chisaki and Eri.
“Don’t you understand ?” The yakuza cried. “You are the cure! The hope for humanity!
The world swam in and out of focus. Izuku staggered, but held his ground. “Go fucking fuck yourself , you crazy bird bitch.”
His world went white again, and he couldn’t even scream as his body was ripped apart, limbs separated and stitched together over and over again.
“You could save the world, Midoriya!”
Izuku curled his lip in return. Iron was the biting flavor on his tongue, the suffocating scent in his nose. It dripped red and deadly from his razed skin. But with every drop he lost, his head cleared a bit more. His eyes focused. The world became that much more firmly in his grasp.
Crimson is such a beautiful, terrifying, familiar color. It decorated Izuku’s body more often than he cared to admit.
The schoolground was a war zone. Students and teachers alike fought both villain and Noumu. The villains raged against the attacks thrown at them, fighting tooth and nail.
General Education and Management students had barricaded the buildings, using their quirks and improvised weapons to stave off the encroaching villains. Support students darted in and out of the fray, explosions following closely behind as they took out dozens of the attackers. Heroics students and teachers fought on the front lines, trying to turn the tides of an uphill battle.
Izuku had one duty in this war.
Protect Eri .
The standoff was widely avoided by all others: the Yuuei staff and students kept them back to prevent zero from being snatched, but it left Izuku wide open.
With shaking hands, Izuku raised Siri to eye level.
“What are you going to do?” Chisaki’s golden eyes danced with a terrible glee. “ Kill me? Like Shigaraki? Like Muscular?”
“No.”
He pulled the trigger, and a blur of yellow rocketed from the crossbow, burying deep into Chisaki’s sternum.
Chisaki blinked. Then, he laughed .
“You think that will stop me?!”
Chisaki began to lumber forward, his eyes bright with madness—
— before he seized.
His entire body locked up, spasming and twitching, and he cried out in agony.
Around him, spires of earth shot from the ground, and Izuku barely dodged one that cut deep below his right eye and almost took it out.
“Nyx! Nyx!”
Eri was stumbling towards him, her silver-white hair drenched in blood.
Izuku’s eyes widened as he saw the dirt explode next to her. The world almost seemed to slow, the spike of rock and soil shooting towards the girl.
His body moved before his mind did, and he blinked.
Eri was shoved ungracefully to the ground, and Izuku found himself in her place. Fresh blood was sprayed across Eri’s face and clothes, her ruby-red eyes wide with horror.
From his chest sprouted stone painted red. It was a beautifully twisted sight, really— it lifted him in the air in a crude imitation of floating, dark red boots hovering inches above the grass. His emerald eyes wide and glassy, his mouth open midway through a scream and expression warped in desperation.
His arms, which had shoved Eri out of harm’s way, fell to his sides limply.
A single tear traced its way down his face.
The battlefield had gone silent, shock registering among all. Noumu stopped in their tracks as they were called off. Students stared in abject terror. Yakuza crowded around their seizing leader, disappearing through a warp gate.
And as the battlefield cleared, only a few people stood at the center of it all.
One girl with bubblegum-pink hair, her face devoid of any emotion but shock. Her arm was extended, as if to touch the arm of her friend, but another girl with black-and-yellow eyes held her back, tears streaking her face.
Two men, both realizing the mistakes they've made in reference to the boy.
One boy with wild hair, fighting and clawing at the arms of a girl with a spiky ponytail, screams and pleas falling from his lips as he thrashed. A second boy, with a bird’s head, hiding the face of the bloodstained child in his shirt, sobs shaking his body.
The final figure reached up, and with the care of a parent, lifted the boy from the spire. Silent tears streaked down his face, shadowed by long hair as he cradled his son to his chest.
Aizawa Izuku was dead.
“Toshinori, I don’t believe in miracles.” Nighteye looked out his window, the inner workings of Time Itself in his mind. “And Foresight had never led me wrong.”
There was a pause as Yagi and Nighteye regarded each other.
“However, starting a year and two months ago, the world began to divert from my prophecies. The USJ incident was originally meant to be only 1-A, and Aizawa’s eyesight being damaged. Instead, there were two classes, and nobody came out with any major wounds besides Thirteen.”
Yagi remained silent.
“And the fact that you survived your battle with All For One confirms it. The future can be changed.”
“And why did you call me here, Nighteye?” Yagi asked tiredly. “I’m just a retired schoolteacher.”
“Midoriya will die.”
The former Number One froze.
“Midoriya will die saving a girl I have yet to know anything about in a mass attack on Yuuei. His death will be violent, painful, and sudden.”
“Wha…”
“Toshinori,” Yagi lifted his head at the name, “if you could be saved by something small changing, what would happen if we really tried to change the future?”
“Why do you have so much compassion for him, Nighteye?” Yagi’s voice was tired, dull. “You hate people, most of all children.”
Nighteye looked back out the window. All he could see in his own reflection was Aizawa, a man he had worked with closely for years, always stoic and silent, crying as he held Midoriya’s limp form.
“You haven’t seen what happens,” he murmured, “and if we do this right, you never will.”
Notes:
“I Can’t Decide” - Scissor Sisters
i can’t decide
whether you should live or die
oh you’ll probably go to heaven
please don’t hang you head and cry
no wonder why
my heart feels dead inside
it’s cold and hard and petrified
lock the doors and close the blinds
we’re goin for a ride
Chapter 50: fireflies
Summary:
izuku aquires a skill, and meets a crazy lady.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Special moves!”
Izuku blinked at the former Number One. Super moves? Why the hell would a group of first-years need that ?
“Every hero has at least one! A move that can decide a battle!”
He thinned his lips. He knew what it was, obviously. But why ?
Aizawa cleared his throat slightly. “The majority of you will be working out how to incorporate your quirk into a finishing tactic. Nyx, you will be working with me to practice the capture weapon and more advanced hand-to-hand.”
Nodding, Izuku strode over to his teacher’s side, ignoring Yagi’s stare.
“Would Reciprio Burst work as a special move?” Izuku heard Iida ask. But he followed Aizawa off to the side, running his hand over the heavy carbon fiber weapon on his shoulders.
“Alright, the first thing to remember is that it took six years for me to master this,” Aizawa warned. “With instruction, it should be easier, but don’t count on it.”
Izuku nodded, and copied the stance Aizawa took.
“The thing about capture weapons,” he explained, “is that each is bonded to a single person. Before I had yours made, my weapon was entirely unique. Your DNA is woven into it, and because of a personal favor I had to call in--” he grimaced at that-- “someone with a quirk called Neural Link was able to bond it to your will the same way mine is to me.”
Nodding again, Izuku shifted his grip. He had to get this right. He didn’t have six years-- he had two and a half.
“Alright. Try throwing it out, like so.” The underground hero demonstrated, his arm extending and wrist flicking out.
Fate wasn’t quite on Izuku’s side, though. He tried to imitate, and he could barely register that he was not holding it right before the fabric wrapped around his ankle and jerked it upwards.
He fell in a tangle of limbs and carbon fiber, only getting more thoroughly trapped as he tried to extract himself.
Glancing up, Izuku made a face at Aizawa, who watched with an amused smile.
“Yeah, figured that might happen. Get used to it. Once I got stuck in a tree for hours.” The image of a younger Aizawa trapped by his own capture weapon in the boughs of a tree brought a grin to Izuku’s lips. “Don’t try laughing or I’ll leave you there.”
He rolled his eyes, then shot him another dirty look.
“Yeah, okay. Try imagining the capture weapon as another limb, okay? Since it’s bonded to you, when you wield it, it should kind of feel like an extension of your arm.”
Izuku screwed up his face in focus, trying to feel out what was different. When he moved his arm and hands, it moved minutely to follow it, but when he arched his back slightly, the entire weapon jerked, loosening and falling away.
That is so weird .
“Huh. Responds to spinal commands, then.”
Izuku nodded slightly, gathering the weapon again, wrapping it back around his neck. When he moved his arms and tried to focus on the weapon, it seemed to move directionally… when he flicked his wrist, it shot out slightly in the direction he flicked before rebounding, almost ending up as he had been minutes before.
Izuku paused, thinking it over, before winding up again as Aizawa had shown, but this time, as he threw, he twisted his body alongside his arm.
The weapon shot out like an arrow, following the path his arm set and hitting the dummy dead-on, making it wobble with the force. That seemed to be it, though. Izuku grinned victoriously, a new idea already forming.
This time as he threw it, along with twisting, he rotated his ankle slightly.
The capture weapon didn’t just hit the dummy-- it wrapped around it, and Izuku pulled back harshly, the dummy following with a snapping of the wood beams.
He looked over at Aizawa, and smiled at the look of pride on his teacher’s face.
“Not bad.”
Izuku’s voice was hoarse (as it always was these days) when he spoke. “I think it follows through with different responses depending on how I move different parts of my body.”
“With time, you’ll probably be able to use it without moving much at all,” Aizawa conceded.
Izuku didn’t like school trips. He never had, not really, and especially not since he started Yuuei, since it seemed every time he left the main building with his class, he ended up knee-deep in all the shit that hit the fan.
Needless to say, he was heavily dubious of being on a bus with his classmates on their way to “a surprise”.
It hadn’t really occurred to him how tiny buses were.
He leaned his head against the cool glass, bathed in the light of the sun.
Cracking his eyelids open a bit, he surveyed the place they were pulling up. Students in uniform milled around, none having much of a goal. The bus stopped, and Izuku bolted from it, directly behind Aizawa as he surveyed for threats.
A woman with seafoam-green hair bounced up, her smile wide and sunny. “Eraser!”
Aizawa took a visible step away from her, and she hugged thin air. Izuku watched her with wide eyes, completely unsure of what was happening.
Ms. Joke? Shiketsu teacher? Why--
“It’s been too long, Eraserhead!” Joke again went for a hug, and again, Aizawa dodged, moving to Izuku’s side.
“I’d rather it be longer,” he grumbled coldly, glaring at the other hero. “Stay in Shiketsu.”
Joke grinned widely, her eyes landing on Izuku. “Heya, kiddo! You look like a Minizawa! That’s cute!”
“This is Nyx, he’s one of my interns.” Izuku shrugged as Aizawa spoke, before hearing someone approaching.
An arm was slung over his shoulders, and when Izuku inhaled, he breathed the scent of coffee and mint. Kami, he could get drunk off of that smell.
“And I’m Mindfuck, the other intern.” Toshi leaned on Izuku a bit heavily, and he rolled his eyes in return. “Fuckin’ best goddamn heroes-in-training in all’a Yuuei.”
“Really?” Joke leaned in, her eyes bright with excitement. “Are you Eraser’s siblings?? I always wondered if he had any family, but he wanted to remove his forbidden lover, moi , from his family issues--”
“Joke, would you stop telling people we’re dating? Those two wouldn’t believe you, anyway.”
Izuku sniffed, lifting his hands. I wouldn’t be screwing him if he was my brother.
Joke wheezed a laugh, and Toshi made a strangled sound, burying his face in Izuku’s neck. Izuku preened at the reactions, even the half-judgemental, half-amused look Aizawa sent him.
His gaze trailed up to a banner overhanging the door of the building.
The Provisional Hero License Exam.
Aizawa was gonna have cat food in his fucking coffee tomorrow.
Notes:
“Fireflies” - Owl City
Literally just vibed to this while I was writing, no other reason
Chapter 51: savages
Summary:
izuku and hitoshi take a test. shouta is a father, if he likes it or not.
Notes:
SORRY I KNOW ITS BEEN A HOT MINUTE BUT I HAD WRITERS BLOCK TO THE POWER OF TWENTY
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku shifted under the weight of the stares directed at himself and the other Yuuei students. He knew it was something of a tradition to target Yuuei first.
Ugh. What a mess.
The announcer man cleared his throat, leafing through the papers. “Welcome to the… Provisional Hero Licensing Exam,” he sighed into the mic, looking like he’d rather be dead then here. “Only a maximum one hundred of you will get them.”
A ripple of shock ran through the crowd. There had to be at least ten times that amount taking the test!
“Go to your designated area and follow the given instructions. The elimination round is the free-for-all, in which each of you will be given vests with three targets. To get someone out, take out the three targets. Getting out three people will result in a pass. Only the first hundred to pass will go on to the actual exam.”
Ah, fuck.
Five minutes later, Izuku found himself surrounded by his friends. Fumikage’s eyes glinted ominously as he rolled his shoulders, scanning the environment with Dark Shadow, wary of any unfriendlies. Yaomomo was sheltered by Izuku himself, pacing himself firmly in front of her with his arms spread to hide her partially naked body with his cloak as she created tools. Toshi had his MeiVision over his face, likely scanning for life signs. Uraraka and Tsu took to a roof above the group, patrolling. Mina sorted through the various support items Meimei had supplied her and the group. Jirou was a surprise, but her eyes were shut tight in her focus as she kept herself plugged into the concrete.
“Invisible student, coming up from our left,” she growled.
“Don’t shoot, it’s me!” a voice yelped as Izuku grabbed for his crossbow. A floating vest came into view, and Izuku relaxed slightly. Hagakure. “I come in peace!”
Toshi quickly filled her in on what was going on, until Yaomomo finally put her clothes back on and strode over with a pleased smile, arms full of BB guns.
“Aren’t those illegal, kero ?” Tsu asked, jumping down to check out the guns.
“They’re rubber bullets,” Yaomomo mumbled sheepishly. “And technically these kinds of guns are just heavily restricted , not illegal. Using them for hero work, if the bullets are rubber, is acceptable.”
Izuku let his arms drop in relief of not having to shield her anymore, and the small group gathered. He did a quick headcount-- all the girls were here, minus Himiko since she couldn’t take the test (hadn’t been in Yuuei long enough, she would be taking it with whatever students didn’t pass later on), plus Toshi, Fumikage and himself, making nine.
He’d have to talk to this many people. That filled his gut with churning dread, and his opened his mouth to speak, but it felt like something was lodged in his throat, keeping the words suffocated and silent.
“Hey, Boss!”
Siri padded up, her eyes pink with delight.
“The proctor finally let me in since I’m technically a support item,” she crowed. Then, she seemed to recognize Izuku’s predicament. “Oh, Boss. You can use the keypad on the bracer and I’ll talk for you.”
He sighed in relief, pulling up the holographic keyboard and letting Siri talk for him. “So, Boss has got a plan. Since we’re a group of nine humans and one AI , there’s a better survival chance, but also a high chance at least one of us will be taken out. We need to stick to the sides and be prepared to ambush any smaller groups and defend from larger groups. Our best chance is from the rooftops , to keep an eye over the battleground, so stealth is a must. Since Tokoyami and Dark Shadow have the best defense, as Dark Shadow can block Tokoyami’s targets, he will lead the group. Uraraka and Asui will guard Jirou, and Jirou will act as a mobile sentry , close behind Tokoyami but not beside him and far enough away to turn and flee without slowing Tokoyami. Yaoyorozu will supply each group with weapons and act as a patrol unit , keeping an eye on Hagakure, who will be the only ground agent and acting as a kill unit to attack and capture lone examinees. Izuku will be a sniper to incapacitate or scare off major threats. Shinsou will be his retriever , grabbing the threats he snipes and bringing them back to the group.”
“What about me?” Mina asked, biting her lip.
Siri purred, and quickly got to Mina’s bit. “You will be the one working to keep examinees hostage when you all get two examinees out. You’re going to need nine examinees captive for the end, and with your agility and knowledge of the support items Hatsume supplied the group with, you’re the only one with a chance to get this to work.”
“Jailkeeper! Cool!”
Izuku smiled grimly at the group, and they all clambered up the rooftops, sans Hagakure. Yaomomo stuck close to Hagakure, but not close enough to reveal her location, which was always good. Fumikage took the point position naturally, Tsu and Uraraka a bit behind with Jirou between them. Izuku beckoned Siri, and she transformed into crossbow form mid-jump, which he caught easily. Toshi fell into step beside him. Mina lagged behind a bit, casting glances around apprehensively. Yaomomo threw each of them a BB gun.
It was a few minutes before they came upon their first group, a gaggle of Shiketsu students, rowdy and boisterous, not bothering to hide their location. Izuku recognized one-- a boy with dark hair and wearing what was pretty much a bikini-- as the leader, from how the others looked to him for orders.
He loaded a grey dart, and then fired.
It sprouted from his bare chest, and his eyes rolled back, collapsing onto the ground. Mass panic almost immediately-- it was a group of maybe twelve, down to eleven thanks to Izuku, and two more were clocked in the head by a floating bo staff and vest.
Izuku’s team converged on the remaining nine, the BB guns going off with a loud POP-POP! sound, before nine BEEEET s rung out in succession, the Shiketsu students groaning in defeat as they picked themselves off the ground, some swearing at the Yuuei students and others grinning and saying “Nice job!”
Mina was quick to use a reinforced rope Meimei had given her to bind the three unconscious students together, pursing her lips slightly before shrugging to herself, secreting a slick, pale grey acid from her feet and gliding on it. The others were dragged along easily, and Mina cheered in her small victory, joining Hagakure as a ground unit that was fiercely watched over by Yaomomo.
This process was repeated several times over, with some small groups being outright taken out at first contact.
They just needed two more “hostages” and they were home free.
Then, Jirou heard a group of four students.
It was less of a group of four as two teams of two fighting , but close enough.
Izuku let the others tag out the seven hostages, now shoulder-to-shoulder with only Toshi. He shot his boyfriend a grin from under his mask, before leaping into the fray.
A boy with a wind quirk raged against a team of two, as his friend stood a bit behind, blasting back the other team with spouts of water.
Izuku grinned victoriously, pointing him out, and Toshi snuck towards him. Izuku, on the other hand, went straight for the boy with the magma quirk the wind boy was fighting, and took careful aim.
POP-POP !
POP-POP !
BLEEEET ! BLEEEET !
Izuku’s vest lit up green at the same time Toshi’s did, and he gave a mocking bow to the two stunned students who had paused to see who had taken out their teammates.
The wind boy quickly blasted out the last remaining boy, his vest lighting up green, and then grinned at Izuku.
“I’m Yoarashi Inasa, of Shiketsu Academy for Heroics! Please, I must know your names!”
Toshi slid over easily, pulling off his mask and offering the wind boy a smirk. “Mindfuck, this is my boyfriend Nyx.”
“Is that your hero name?” Yaorashi asked them excitedly, and Izuku suppressed a sigh before nodding. “Do you have a real name?”
There was a long silence before Yaorashi’s face darkened. “It’s not hero-like to ignore someone, Nyx-kun.”
A dark chill went down Izuku’s spine, a dark, choking feeling crawling up his throat. His arms itchy with pain, the sounds of Fumikage and Shiretoko begging him to just scream, let them take it --
“Shove off, man,” Toshi bit. “He’s mute , and he doesn’t share his name with the latest weirdo that asks-- neither do I. We’re going underground, so it shouldn’t matter what our names are.”
Yaorashi’s face went slack, before he turned bright red and gave them a ninety-degree bow. “I am truly sorry! I will not press.”
Toshi took Izuku’s hand, and he blinked, grounding himself back in reality and glancing at his hands.
When did he start scratching?
“Todoroki! You’re being obstinate!”
“Stay out of it.”
Hitoshi growled under his breath. “Are you trying to make everyone fail?!”
“No--”
The tendrils of Hitoshi’s quirk snared the half-and-half teen’s mind, and Hitoshi grit his teeth under the strain of holding both him and the wind boy. “ Stop fighting. ”
When he released them, both stood stock-still, staring at Hitoshi, before he huffed and turned on his heel, running back to Zuku.
Zuku had a child on his back and another clinging to his leg, a woman leaning heavily on his shoulder. With one hand, he typed out a message that Siri was relaying and with the other he splinted the woman’s “broken leg”.
“Ashido, melt the rubble enough to dislodge it, and Uraraka float it as soon as you can,” the robotic cat instructed, her tail flicking as the two girls worked to lift a fallen roof off of a man. “Shinsou, shield Yaoyorozu.”
Shinsou hurried to Yaomomo, throwing out his cloak so the girl could strip off her shirt and keep making whatever it was she was working on.
“Jirou, how much longer can you use your soundwaves?”
“Almost indefinitely,” the punk replied, not tearing her eyes from the crowd of “villains” around Gang Orca, the “main villain”, which were being knocked off-balance by her heartbeat as other students from varying schools (most commonly Yuuei, Hitoshi noted proudly) attempted to battle Gang Orca.
Hitoshi spotted a floating Lightningrod beating the shit out of a throng of confused “villains”-- probably Hagakure-- while Tokoyami, Tsu and Dark Shadow ferried “civilians” to the safe zone.
Their rhythm had been violently disturbed by Todoroki and Yaorashi’s pettiness, so Hitoshi was assigned to both defending the group and keeping an eye on them. This was the third time he’d had to break them up.
Finally, Yaomomo put her shirt back on and hefted the thing she had created onto her back. Izuku tossed her a few granola bars without looking up from the woman, now being gently taken by Tsu, and the girl practically inhaled them before rolling her shoulders.
“Ready, Izuku!” She called.
Mina and Uraraka hurried the man over to the safe zone, and Tokoyami and Dark Shadow took the kids over, and the nine of them grouped up-- Hagakure having raced over.
“Everyone prepared?” Hitoshi asked.
Shouta honestly wasn’t surprised his kid came up with a plan to use a goddamn flamethrower . He had been at a loss, at first, as to what they were doing-- of course, civilians were always the priority, but aside from Hagakure and occasionally Shinsou, they never fought Gang Orca or his band of “villains”.
Then, Yaoyorozu had a flamethrower and they were cutting their way through the “villains” to Gang Orca, making him surrender in only minutes, between constant heat applied by the flamethrower and the barrage of attacks from the other eight students.
When Gang Orca surrendered, it took all of ten minutes to find the rest of the “civilians”, and now Izuku and Shinsou both looked to him, incredibly self-satisfied grins on their faces.
“I’m not condoning using a flamethrower on villains,” he muttered at his personal students, and the grins just spread wider. “Stop being proud of yourselves. You’re all awful.”
“You love us, Sensei,” Shinsou teased, swinging his hero uniform case at Izuku’s, resulting in a metallic CLANK that set Shouta’s teeth on edge.
“No, I don’t,” he hissed back, herding them along. They were already back at the dorms, all the Yuuei students but Todoroki and Toga (she couldn’t take the test) now proud owners of their own provisional hero licenses. Currently, they were in the Aizawa-Yamada apartment, a rather smug Shinsou Hitoshi refusing to leave.
“And if you’re going to make out, go somewhere else .”
Shinsou went bright red, and Izuku cackled at his boyfriend’s horrified face. Shouta crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head slightly.
Eventually, he broke the silence with a sigh. “Good job on the licenses, but there’s only so much sexual tension I can take. Either Shinsou leaves or you both find somewhere else to fuck.”
Izuku just laughed harder , practically doubling over and leaning heavily on what appeared to be a mentally broken Shinsou. Eventually, he gathered himself enough to gasp out a single word.
“ Dadzawa .”
A pause.
“Get the fuck out of my house.”
Notes:
“Savages” - Marina
It’s a song about human nature, wondering if we’re born to be violent or if it’s something we learn to be. I just thought it fit well for this arc.
Chapter 52: say amen
Summary:
not all action happens outside of the internet.
Notes:
Bastards of Yuuei
Loki - Aizawa Izuku
HaveHerBackBy5 / Duolingo / MicrosoftExpelled - Aizawa Shouta
screm / Cockatiel - Yamada Hizashi
Chernobyl - Fianna Collins
Hentai / whywerentyouatelfpractice? / iwillsurvive - Amajiki Tamaki | Suneater
Oh,Worm? - Maijima Higari | The Excavation Hero: Power Loader
begoneTHOT - Kayama Nemuri
God - Nedzu
WhoYaGonnaCall - Ectoplasm
BOOF - Hound Dog
D&D-Cleric - Recovery Girl
Hel - Toga Himiko
Edweird - Vlad King
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
16:37 /// Bastards of Yuuei
Loki: have you ever regretted being born
D&D-Cleric: every day, dearie
Chernobyl: :eyes:
D&D-Cleric: :eyesbutfaster:
screm: Chiyos dealt with like fifty years of teenage bullshittery
HaveHerBackBy5: yeah and she sees you brats often enough
HaveHerBackBy5: ok who changed my username im not planning on just ‘talking’
screm: o h my kami
Chernobyl: I’m Going To Die And It Will Have Been Your Fault.
Chernobyl: Izuku I am CRYING.
Loki: bold of you to assume that i know who did this
Hentai has come off idle!
Hentai: …….. Yknow i was just gonna watch but then one of you changed my name too
Hentai: It was Maijima and I’m gonna hurt him he promised he would stop calling me hentai
HaveHerBackBy5: *jazz music stops*
Loki: father????
HaveHerBackBy5: STOP CALLING ME THAT
screm: WHAT DO YOU MEAN STOP ????
Loki: dont b so full of urself dad
Loki: maijima is grand“father”
screm: DAD????????
Oh,Worm? has come off idle!
Oh,Worm?: it seems weve been bamboozled
Oh,Worm?: I dont recall picking this nickname and i didnt change amajikis
Loki changed HaveHerBackBy5 ’s nickname to Duolingo !
Duolingo: sighs
Hentai: this is the Worst Possible Timeline
Loki has changed Hentai ’s nickname to mirioeater !
Oh,Worm?: I Z U K U
Loki: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Loki has changed miroeater ’s nickname to whywerentyouatelfpractice !
begoneTHOT has come off idle!
begoneTHOT: worm?????
Duolingo: izuku you did this to yourself
Loki: wow thats cursed
Loki: never thought id b threatened by the duolingo owl
begoneTHOT: OH my kami you know what that shit reminds me of???
begoneTHOT: The old fukcing zootopia abortion memes.
screm: nemuri NO
Loki: fukcing
begoneTHOT: shut
begoneTHOT has changed whywerentyouatelfpractice ’s nickname to iwillsurvive !
iwillsurvive: this is why mom left
Loki: hahahaha check it this kid has a mom
begoneTHOT: XD what a nerd!! XD uwu
Loki has kicked begoneTHOT from the chat!
Loki: you come into my house
Loki: you use 2012 tumblr girl text
Chernobyl: It was for the best.
Loki: anywayyyy dadzawa can i come home yet
Loki: 1-a more like 1-annoying
Duolingo: depends are you gonna have sex if i make you stay
Loki: tbh its tempting so thats a solid “maybe”
Chernobyl: I Didn’t Need To Know That My Dude.
Loki: get over yourself, i know for an absolute fact you sneak aria in at night
Chernobyl: I TRUSTED YOU
begoneTHOT has joined the chat!
begoneTHOT: Ive paid for million-dollar budget movies less entertaining than this
screm: why aren’t you online more often then, its literally always like this
Loki: shes busy texting joke these days
Duolingo: :eyes:
begoneTHOT: :eyesbutfaster:
Duolingo: will you never call me that fucking nickname again
Loki: dadzawa
Duolingo: you can stay over there and Perish
Toga Himiko has joined the chat!
Toga Himiko: fien added me !
Toga Himiko: izu are you deadass still a virgin ? damn get that dick
Loki: h e l l y e a h
Duolingo: don’t encourage him toga
Toga Himiko: im encouraging him
Loki: she deserves a gods name
Loki has changed Toga Himiko ’s nickname to Hel !
Hel: am i worthy ? ? ?
Loki: my child you were always worthy
Hel: i weep
Hel: get that dick my dude
begoneTHOT: wait wait have they had the shovel talk?????
Duolingo: not from me
Loki: siiiiiiiiigh toshis dad is a doctor, he gets it like 3 times a week
Duolingo: @D&D-Cleric do it for me
D&D-Cleric: no
Duolingo: fuck
Hel: @Edweird aizawa said the bad fuck word !
Edweird has come off idle!
Edweird: i literally do not care
Loki: @Edweird make dadzawa shut up i can see him typing
Edweird: if i knew how i would have done it years ago
begoneTHOT: hah
Loki: im disrupting your class for bringing this upon me
begoneTHOT: ok fair
begoneTHOT: wait hang on duolingo doesnt fit our cat man v well does it?
Loki: no not really hang on
Loki: you know microsoft word and excel and stuff
begoneTHOT: yeah?
Loki has changed Duolingo ’s nickname to MicrosoftExpelled !
screm: izuku youre going to kill me
Loki has changed screm ’s name to Cockatiel !
Cockatiel: if i die i will die happy
MicrosoftExpelled: practice safety
Loki: that was a lot of typing for the equivalent of “use a condom”
MicrosoftExpelled: do you want to give shinsous little sister the shovel talk?
Loki: fair
Loki: this has been fun but like i seriously wonder why yall assume im gonna get dick tonight
MicrosoftExpelled: weve all been teenagers
Cockatiel: cheers ill drink to that bro
Loki: srsly kaminari is really annoying yamadad make dadzawa let me come home :<
Cockatiel: gASP
Cockatiel: I AM,,,, YAMADAD???
Loki: yamadad
Loki: dadmic
begoneTHOT: what how come he gets a dad role???
Loki: hes legally one of my fathers aunt nem
begoneTHOT: UIBELFJKSND
begoneTHOT has added Iida Tensei to the chat!
Iida Tensei: what is this owo??
begoneTHOT: te,,nsei,,,, im an aunt,,,,,,,
Loki: yo can i please come in
Iida Tensei: whats going on?
Edweird: aizawa wants his kid to sleep with his boyfriend
Iida Tensei: SHOUTA HAS A KID??
MicrosoftExpelled: legally yes
MicrosoftExpelled: biologically no
Loki: yamadad open the window
Cockatiel: omw
BOOF has come off idle!
BOOF: Long story short, Iida, “Loki” was a Ward but his mother was going to fight for custody. Aizawa was his mentor and legally adopted him so that he wouldn’t have to be given back to his mother.
Iida Tensei: but i wasnt TOLD?
Iida Tensei: im scooting this shitty wheelchair as fast as i can to yuuei but at this pace ill be there by morning
Loki: home base motherfucker you cant keep me out
MicrosoftExpelled: damn i tried
Iida Tensei: shouta how could u not tell me about ur child????
MicrosoftExpelled: tbh like 2 people outside of this chat know about the adoption its not personal
MicrosoftExpelled: it was mostly a logical decision to keep “loki” out of an abusive home
Iida Tensei: ok fine :[
Loki has changed Iida Tensei ’s nickname to ScootScootMotherfuckers !
ScootScootMotherfucker: im touched???
Loki: i have dadzawa, yamadad, grandfather maijima, aunt nem, aunt mihoko, uncle hajime, aunt mitsuki, uncle masaru, and now fuckin uncle tensei
ScootScootMotherfucker: shouta youre forgiven im an uncle
MicrosoftExpelled: dont you hate the bakugous??
Loki: uncle masaru and aunt mitsuki were the most supportive ppl in my life when i was growing up
ScootScootMotherfuckers: bakugous? Like the kid that got second in the sports festival?
MicrosoftExpelled: tensei please dont bring him up
Loki: oh my kami
Loki: oh my kami
MicrosoftExpelled: izuku where are you dont panic youre fine
Loki: thats not the fu cking problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Loki: aunt mitsuki and uncle masaru could be in danger!!!!!!!!!!
ScootScootMotherfucker: oh my kami im so sorry i didnt know it was a touchy subject im scooting faster
MicrosoftExpelled: im calling Shinsou over, well get them on skype
TRANSCRIPT
[ Shuffling in background, screen dark on both sides. Cameras turn on. ]
MITSUKI: Oh my Kami-- Izu, you’re okay!
[ IZUKU nods, teary-eyed. ]
MASARU: [ shuffling, clears throat. ] I’m so sorry.
[ HITOSHI translates what IZUKU is signing. ]
HITOSHI/IZUKU: It wasn’t your fault.
MITSUKI: That brat-- he fucking vanished one day, and me and Masaru were so scared because we couldn’t contact you, and then with the kidnapping--
MASARU: We thought you were dead.
MITSUKI: I’m just-- oh, Izuku, your mother… I’m so sorry we couldn’t protect you.
HITOSHI/IZUKU: I don’t want you to protect me, I want you to protect yourselves.
[ Long silence. ]
HITOSHI/IZUKU: With Kacchan-- that’s Katsuki?... With Katsuki out on the loose, you might be in danger.
MASARU: We’ll keep looking over out shoulders. I promise.
MITSUKI:
We should-- probably find something else to talk about. How’s heroics, squirt?
HITOSHI/IZUKU:
Me and Hitoshi-- that’s me-- got into 1-A. I take lessons with 1-F during extracurricular bell, though. All Might’s a pretty awful teacher, and Aizawa threatens to expel someone every other day.
OFF CAMERA: I don’t.
HITOSHI: You do.
[ IZUKU nods. ]
MITSUKI: “Aizawa”, I assume?
HITOSHI: Yeah, he’s 1-A’s homeroom teacher and stuff.
MASARU: It’s getting late, shouldn’t you be in bed?
HITOSHI/IZUKU: Yeah, bye.
MITSUKI: Visit sometime, brat. Bye.
CALL END.
Notes:
“Say Amen” - Panic! At The Disco
I just really like this song and I couldn’t find anything else so meh
Chapter 53: my whole family thinks i’m gay
Summary:
more chat stuff and teenagers never stop being teenagers.
Notes:
Trauma,ButDesigner / Loki : Izuku
MadBanquet: Fumikage
wHIPPED: Hitoshi
Jackknives: Kyouka
3Dprinter: Momo
MartianManhunter: Mina
Lurker: Tooru
Danki: Denki
FlexTapeCan’tFixThat: Hanta
BuffyTheVampireLesbian / Hel: Himiko
IcyHotPain: Shouto
Cockatiel: Yamada
Oh,Worm?: Maijima
MicrosoftExpelled: Aizawa
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
1:32/// Class 1-Ayyyyy
Trauma,ButDesigner: im here queer and ready to party
Trauma,ButDesigner: hey if i mix coffee 5 hr energy monster and caffeine pills would i be able to finish kayamas art essay by dawn bc assawa is a slave driver who wants me up with the sun to get my ass kicked before homeroom
MadBanquet: alas, you’ll probably end up killing yourself in all likelihood as your heart overpalpatates until it stills in your chest.
Trauma,ButDesigner: neat
2:19
wHIPPED: ZUKU NO
MadBanquet: you’re about… 47 minutes too late
wHIPPED: ZUKU ARE YOU ALIVE TALK TO ME
Trauma,ButDesigner: goood nes im al ve an d i can se e etime
Jackknives: please please please tell me its working because i need a swig of that shit, i need to peer edit kaminaris english essay by second bell and ive been up all night crying about his stupidity
Trauma,ButDesigner: onnmy wahy
Trauma,ButDesigner: soon asim gone w thiss pper
MadBanquet: should i go stop him or?
wHIPPED: at this point?
wHIPPED: just let it happen
3:48
3Dprinter: I just heard glass breaking from Kyouka’s room!
MartianManhunter: Oh my Kami what’s going on?! Is Kyouka Ok????
Jackknives: guys im ok, izuku was dropping off my Elixir and he didnt see that the window was closed
3Dprinter: oh um…. Izuku are you alright?
Jackknives: he passed right tf out after giving me The Good Shit so im letting him use my bed, im not sleeping tonight anyway
MartianManhunter: Phew, now mei won’t want me dead for neglecting her bestie…
Lurker: “Mei” you say???????
MartianManhunter has gone idle!
Lurker: :eyes:
6:31
Lurker: @everyone Early morning thought of the day: are you a top or a bottom?
wHIPPED: what a way to wake up.
Trauma,ButDesigner: hes the bottom
Danki: wow midoriyas really out here selling shinsou OUT
FlexTapeCan’tFixThat: denki sub tops
Trauma,ButDesigner: you were saying kaminari?
wHIPPED: zuku we havent fucked how would you come to that conclusion
Trauma,ButDesigner: * vietnam flashbacks to the hike *
Lurker: This is incredible to watch. What hike?
MartianManhunter: what do you MEAN shinzuku havent fucked?????
Trauma,ButDesigner: not everyone wants to pop their cherry at the first chance mina
Trauma,ButDesigner: anyway you have no room to talk
Trauma,ButDesigner: you havent even confessed to meimei
3Dprinter: kami the tea is so fucking hot today
Lurker: M O M O ?
BuffyTheVampireLesbian: but is mei a top or bottom?
Trauma,ButDesigner: shes an ace
BuffyTheVampireLesbian: makes sense
15:47
Lurker: OKay so you guys all know how aizawa hides all his shit under his scarfy thing?
Trauma,ButDesigner: capture weapon but go off ig
3Dprinter: yeah?
Lurker: So in Foundational Heroics today when we were going over patrols and stuff Todoroki did a stupid again so Aizawa had to restrain him but guess what I saw????
Lurker: a wedding band on a chain!!! Around His Neck!!!!!!
IcyHotPain: Sensei is married ?!
FlexTapeCan’tFixThat: more importantly, someone married sensei???!!!
Trauma,ButDesigner: thats cold sero
Trauma,ButDesigner: almost as cold as the look senseis gonna give you when i send him this screenshot
FlexTapeCan’tFixThat: you wont
16:16
wHIPPED: update: he did
Trauma,ButDesigner: jokes on him i got extra credit for being a snitch
16:31/// Bastards Of Yuuei
Loki: i just realized aunt mitsuki still thinks im straight
Loki: and my mom never knew
Loki: and kacchan
Loki: and uncle masaru
Loki: and my dad
Loki: wow im not out to like anyone from back then huh
Loki: and uhhh welcome to the reimagining of bo burnhams “my whole family thinks im gay” as interpreted by aizawa izuku
Loki: “my whole ex-family thinks im straight”
Cockatiel: yknow i wasnt gonna check who was spamming this but im very pleased that i did
Oh,Worm?: izuku youre going to give me a heart attack
Loki: the weak perish in this new world order
Loki: adapt or die worm
MicrosoftExpelled: improvise. adapt. overcome
Hel: he gets it !
Notes:
“My Whole Family Thinks I’m Gay” — Bo Burnham
Literally just listen to it. I fucking,,, adore it
Chapter 54: this is gospel
Summary:
izuku makes a friend.
Notes:
wow it’s been a hot fucking minute!!! sorry :((
in other news, the actual story is back in swing
Iida Tenya: Nyoom
Aizawa Izuku: ChaosIncarnate
Shinsou Hitoshi: Sleep?Whomst
Uraraka Ochako: URARARARARA
Yaoyorozu Momo: Momopedia
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hitoshi was, unfortunately, head over heels for Aizawa Izuku.
The shorter boy did things to his heart and head that made him wonder if he was the one with the brainwashing quirk and Hitoshi was quirkless, drowning under the waves that were purely Izuku .
He could remember everything about Zuku, if he tried.
How he tasted like wood-fire and mint, smokey and fresh and woodsy, nature itself invading his senses as Hitoshi bowed to his kisses, his lips chapped and rough and intense and perfect. How his hands were narrow and calloused and cold, grounding him in reality when his head was in the clouds. His hair, soft and curly and long and dark, so easy to manipulate yet absolutely untamable, refusing to ever be neat. How deep and devoted his eyes were, those crystalline jungles tearing him to shreds and he would say thank you as he got lost in them forever.
Hitoshi used to be friendless, alone in a crowded place, an outcast among the elite. Then Zuku and Mei barrelled into his life with the force of a hurricane, bringing him into their world where he wasn’t so lonely, found companions in their classmates and a kindred spirit in the black-haired boy.
Hitoshi loved Aizawa Izuku, and he remembered how it felt when he was ripped away, again and again.
When he pitched off the roof, his face bloodied and eyes terrified.
When he lay in the hospital bed, no one certain if he would ever wake up.
When he shoved Hitoshi away, his body vanished in a flash and replaced by an orb that was taken by villains.
When he stood over the corpse of Shigaraki Tomura, eyes wild with a deadly promise as he stared at Bakugou Katsuki, and Hitoshi wondered if the man he loved was even still there.
All he could do now, though, was curl his body around the sleeping form of his boyfriend, face still flushed from the night before, and bury his face in his boyfriend’s hair.
“Please don’t leave me.”
7:34/// Class 1-Ayyyyy
Nyoom: Has anyone seen @ChaosIncarnate and @Sleep?Whomst ?
ChaosIncarnate: ofcourseiknowhimhesme.png
Nyoom: Class is in one hour, Midoriya-kun! We will be dispatched to our first day of official internships as soon as class starts so we may familiarize ourselves with it! Are you prepared yet?
ChaosIncarnate: im gonna give a hard no to that one
Nyoom: Please come to the common room with utmost haste! We are having a class meeting before we depart!
ChaosIncarnate: trust me buddy you dont wanna see me and toshi before were dressed
Nyoom: Are you still in your sleepwear?!
Sleep?Whomst has come off idle!
Sleep?Whomst: you could say that,,,
Nyoom: What do you mean?
Sleep?Whomst: sweats
URARARARARA has come off idle!
URARARARARA: Tenya theyre naked sweetie
Nyoom:
ChaosIncarnate: take your time
Nyoom:
Sleep?Whomst: @Momopedia can i borrow some uhhh,,,, concealer
Momopedia has come off idle!
Momopedia: Sure what shade
Sleep?Whomst: ivory and suburban mom white
ChaosIncarnate: wow rude
Momopedia: I'll be there soon ;)
ChaosIncarnate: hmm thats not good
20:32/// *sneaks sneakily*
Eraserhead: check in.
Mindfuck: all quiet here, this place is boring
Eraserhead: shinsou that is a good thing, you two aren’t well trained enough to take on villains by yourself.
Eraserhead: are you still in your spot?
Mindfuck: if you mean crammed underneath a dumpster while you get to sit in a window on the other side of the street? yes
Eraserhead: why hasn’t izuku checked in?
Mindfuck: goddammit not this shit again. can i check on him
Eraserhead: no just wait a few minutes
Mindfuck: incredible, with his track record he's probably getting stabbed right now
Mindfuck: why was it a good idea to let him do a patrol around the block?
Eraserhead: honestly? not certain
Nyx: I am alive. Everything is completely and perfectly fine.
Eraserhead: fuck you.
Mindfuck: he only uses proper syntax when something is wrong what did you do
Eraserhead: problem child, what have you done?
Nyx: is it technically kidnapping if i am one hundred percent certain that the dude claiming to be her dad was definitely not her dad and she was begging me for help?
Eraserhead: you're shitting me.
Nyx: her name is eri and i think i might have accidentally knocked the man out with a rusty pipe
Nyx: my hand slipped and he may or may not have ended up locked in the dumpster
Mindfuck: izuku, what the fuck?
Nyx: in my defense he had a gun and a mask
Eraserhead: come back to us, we’re headed to yuuei now
Eraserhead: kami above, why do you have to make my life so fucking difficult?
Eri was scared.
She was scared of the bird-man, she hated him, so she ran.
And now a boy had wrapped her up in his black cloak after stuffing him into a trash box and saying nice things, promising he can help her, and he typed on his phone.
He took her to another boy and a man. The first boy called himself Nyx and the second Mindfuck, and the man was Eraserhead. They were heroes.
They picked her up and took her to their school where the boys were being taught to be heroes, and now an old woman was carefully replacing her bandages as Nyx sat with her, his arm over her shoulders gently and comfortingly.
She clung to him, and he said gentle words to her. He said over and over that she was safe, and she didn’t have to be hurt anymore.
“I’m sick,” she whispered. “Quirks are sick.”
“They’re not,” he assured her with a hoarse voice. “A lot of people are sick a lot, but quirks are normal. They’re like extra hands, and they help the people they belong to.”
“But… but Chisaki says quirks are sick things. We’re supposed to cure them.”
Nyx stiffened, and she flinched, preparing for a blow, but he carded his fingers through her hair.
“You’re not sick. Chisaki’s one mean man if he thinks that. You’re perfect the way you are, Erichan.”
Notes:
“This is Gospel” — Panic! at the Disco
this is gospel
for the fallen ones
locked away in permanent slumber
assembling their philosophies
from pieces of broken memories
(oh-whoa, oh, oh-oh
oh-whoa, oh, oh-oh, oh)
with gnashing teeth
and criminal tongues
conspired against the odds
but they haven’t seen
the best of us yet
if you love me let me go
if you love me let me go
‘cause these words
are knives that often leave scars
the fear of falling apart
truth be told
i never was yours
the fear, the fear
of falling apart
the fear, the fear
of falling apart
the fear, the fear
of falling apart
Chapter 55: interlude i: rewrite the stars
Summary:
a note from your dear author and the first interlude.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Hey, all.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, my updates have been few and far between recently. As someone who prides myself on updating quickly, I’m really sorry about that.
I know I don’t owe anyone an explanation, and a big thank-you to my Discord for being hella supportive of me and making sure I knew that. But this is mostly for me, so I know you guys are updated and not left in the dark about this.
I use my writing as a coping mechanism for my anxiety. It’s a lot easier for me to transfer my problems into writing and make other people feel a bit better about themselves with some jokes and assurances that it will get better. (Even if I’m constantly hurting my sons.)
I am going to see this story through. I’ve never had a story idea that went this deep or was as important to me, and I want you guys to know that. I love this story as much as you do and more, because it’s like having a child. A child that doesn’t scream and shit itself.
I started my second semester of school around the time my fic started slowing down, which is unfortunately around the time I stopped really knowing how the canon plot went (aka post-Stain arc but I’ve managed to muddle through until I got stuck around the Licensing Exam because I had literally no idea what actually happened). My second semester, as expected, has not been going great. Hot tip, chemistry is literally awful, and being too socially stunted to ask for help is worse.
Between trying to not fail two (2) classes, catch up on late work for another, yeeting canon out the window and the family issues that come with parents that expect me to make honor roll, I’m also trying to write my D&D campaign, deal with “emotions” and also be a decent girlfriend.
So, that’s been my life. If anybody has a link to a website I can read the Shie Hissaikai Raid arc and beyond in the manga (or at least provides a detailed summary), please share because I am Struggling.
To keep you guys entertained while I’m stuck on writing, I’ll be sharing something I’m gonna call the Interludes-- songs in musicals that take a step away from the main plot to address other things. The Interludes will have corresponding songs, like the main story does, but with musical songs instead to keep them separated. They are all taking place in the BnHA universe, not always in the Ripples AU, but none of them are canon in Ripples. This is just my way of dumping some ideas out a window while I try to sort things out.
The Interludes will be moved to a separate story when I’m back on track with Ripples and will have a separate Spotify playlist. That, or I’ll put little snippets from the Interludes in one chapter (Simply titled “the interludes”) of Ripples and link the full Interludes storybook. Who knows? I certainly don’t.
The first Interlude is below. Just for reference, it’s pretty likely none of these are connected, and if they are, they might have their own plotline and if people like those enough they might even be a story. Again, I don’t know what I’m doing. The goal for the Interludes is for them to be about 1k words in the preview, and hopefully 10k+ for the full. Remember, everyone: the most important thing will always be your mental and physical health and I am doing this so I won’t completely burn out and leave this story behind, which is the last thing I want to do.
Much love,
Silverleopard86_ (also known as Local Disaster Lesbian, Momnight But Butch, God, Author-chan, or whatever else you know me as.)
i - rewrite the stars
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Those words echoed around the dirty space that seemed more like a prison cell than a child’s bedroom. It was a chant, a mantra, repeated over and over again.
A boy, still in bloodied clothes too big for him. A girl, clutching him and tears streaming down her face. The boy’s face was blank with a mixture of shock and confusion, like he was trying to remember something that was just out of reach. The girl was the one speaking, her tiny voice barely carrying in the small room that served as her prison.
Eri was wretched, halfway to tearing her own silvery hair out and unable to do anything but apologize to the person who had no idea what she’d done.
Izuku was confused. The last thing he remembered was… well, he was… he’s a bit foggy on that part, actually, but he’s sure his name is Midoriya Izuku and his best friend is Kacchan and he isn’t supposed to be here.
The door slid open, and Izuku felt a tremor run through his body. The man in the doorway didn’t look nice-- he had mean yellow eyes and a beak mask, and it reminded him of the plague doctors and that was scary.
“So, you’re awake,” he said, crouching down to Izuku’s eye level. Izuku instinctively pushed Eri behind him, holding out his arms-- the look in his eyes was the kind that Kacchan got when he was being mean, and it was better for him to be mean to Izuku than this girl!
“W-who are you?”
The man inclined his head. “I am Chisaki Kai. What’s your name?”
“M-Midoriya Izu-Izuku,” he managed, still not budging. His arms were tired already-- what was happening?
“How old are you?”
Izuku visibly tensed at the question, but answered anyway. “Six, C-Chisaki-san.”
What Izuku didn’t know was that Chisaki Kai knew that the hero-in-training Deku was quirkless in his childhood-- not even a quirk factor. The fact that he had developed a quirk was a literal miracle, but Chisaki figured it must have been All For One. The old man had been rather interested in the student.
A cruel smile, hidden under the mask, split Chisaki’s face. Yes, this quirkless boy would certainly do for his research.
“I’m terribly sorry to be the one to tell you this, Izukkun, but you were in a big accident…”
Aizawa Shouta was a calm, collected man. He had a loud, scatterbrained husband and a class of reckless teenagers, but he was rational. Ordered his thoughts. Kept a straight face and strict demeanor.
That being said, Shouta was absolutely not calm at the moment.
Everything had gone rapidly downhill since the start of the planning for the raid on the Eight Precepts of Death. First, Midoriya and Toogata ran into “Eri” and Overhaul on Midoriya’s first patrol, which only reinforced Shouta’s theory that the hero student had some sort of secondary bad luck quirk. Then they all met up to discuss plans. Fine.
And not even twenty-four hours after that meeting, he gets the call from Nedzu, who got a call from the police.
Someone had broken into the Midoriya household and killed Midoriya Inko. Midoriya Izuku was nowhere to be found.
The raid was delayed by months in a desperate scramble to find the intern, who had vital information and might have been abducted to be interrogated. So the entire plan had to be thrown out just in case, all the while Shouta and the rest of 1-A waited in what felt like some suspended reality, hoping that maybe, just maybe, someone would find the class “sunshine child”.
Then Shinsou vanished, leaving the campus to visit his family and nobody had ever seen him again.
The only theory Shouta had was that Midoriya wouldn’t talk, so they saw Shinsou’s quirk-- Brainwashing-- and assumed that they could use him to make the green-haired student break.
Even Nighteye was at a loss, having looked into Midoriya’s future and having seen nothing like “vanishing off the face of the Earth” in it. The informant hero proposed they held Midoriya and Shinsou’s funeral before the raid, and Shouta broke his nose.
He refused to believe his problem children were dead.
And it all paid off for this one moment.
Shouta was at the tail end of the initial assault, meant to sneak into the yakuza’s base and sweep the area for Eri before they could order themselves and spirit her away again.
He peered into the room, trying to see through the thick darkness. The smell of copper sat heavily in the air, and he felt his stomach churn. Still, Shouta pushed the door open slowly, capture weapon ready.
He almost left, thinking it was empty, until he heard soft breathing. That’s when he noticed the soft glow, muffled by fabric, and the tiny clnk of metal links.
“Eri?” he called softly.
There was no reply.
“My name is Aizawa Shouta,” Shouta continued anyway. “I’m here to rescue you.”
He heard a small gasp, then shuffling of sheets. The glow dimmed, but persisted, and no longer muffled. Shouta stepped out of the doorframe, letting light into the room, and saw with a sinking heart not one, but three small children huddled under a rickety bed.
The girl squeezed between the two boys was clearly Eri-- silvery but ragged long hair, a horn sprouting from her forehead. The boy to her right was pressed into the shadows, the only things distinguishable being indigo eyes and a muzzle over his face.
The third was peeking out, his gaze wary but utterly relieved. Cherry-red eyes were set into the pale, gaunt face of a dark-haired child, but Shouta’s own face snapped to other, more defining features. The spray of freckles over his face, the darker freckles almost seeming to shape diamonds on each cheek. The defiant glint in his eyes. The analytical stare that made him feel pinned to the wall as the child regarded him carefully, assessing if he was one of the good or bad guys.
(The colors were different, but he knew his kid.)
“Midoriya?”
Notes:
I'll link the full thing when it's done and republish this chapter.
Chapter 56: interlude ii - no good deed
Summary:
nobody ever thought a sacred torch could be snuffed by a bullet.
Chapter Text
I might have lied when I said that I was making the Interludes one-shots or short stories.
They’re more or less scattered story ideas that haven’t formed enough to be real fics that I’ve worked on a bit, and the things I’ve shared (aka Rewrite the Stars) are small sketches of an actual idea condensed into about 1k words.
When I end up publishing the actual Interludes, I might make them separate side fics that I’ll work on for fun, less frequently than Lovetap, probably. And they’ll likely be under a series called “Wingbeat of a Butterfly” rather than “The Interludes”. So, I just wanted to add that.
Ciao,
Silver
ii - no good deed
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Hold it.
Focus.
A hero walked the streets, alone with his thoughts. His life was coming to a close, but he thought he had a legacy. How naïve of him, to think anything would last. One bullet, one shot from a gun, ended everything. One moment in a life full of them that shattered a thousand hopes and dreams.
Shift.
Breathe out.
Nudge to the right.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Wait.
Out.
In.
Hold.
A villain sat in a bar, dragging a twitching finger around the rim of a glass. His chapped lips were curled into a deep frown, lost in thought as he considered what had happened. It wasn’t supposed to end up like that. That Deku-- his archenemy, his plaything-- wasn’t supposed to try and “save” that Eri brat.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Hold.
Pull.
The sound of a gunshot split through the chaos.
Chisaki Kai’s plague mask was ajar on his face, knocked loose by the fighting. Behind it was revealed a manic smile, frozen in place. Those who were there could swear time moved at a crawl for a few seconds as a second gunshot, only heartbeats after the first though it felt like hours, rang out.
Those who were watching could swear they saw the first bullet-- brass, long and narrow-- go straight into the yakuza’s left eye, gold meeting gold before the point pierced it and blood flew from the sudden impact in a crimson explosion. The second bullet was no less accurate, blasting out his other eye in a twin spray of gore.
Chisaki Kai’s face was frozen in a cruel smile as his body tumbled backwards, dead.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
It seemed ludicrous that anyone could have snuck into the Shie Hassaikai base with the heroes. Impossible. But one by one, eyes turned to where the gunshot had come from.
A ruined wall, caved in during the fighting. (Or so they thought. Maybe it was a bomb, and it probably was, now that the gathered realized.)
On the other side of the wall, a figure stood. Aizawa Shouta, who had his eyes on the child called Eri, turned his gaze in shock to the silhouette, as did all the students in the crowd. The villains were frozen in place as the heroes arrested them, but all those from Yuuei were frozen themselves, eyes on the figure.
A pair of green eyes glared from the darkness, unapologetic and flinty. The coldness in them disturbed the students and Aizawa himself, as they had always been warm and kind.
Midoriya Izuku expertly unloaded a sniper rifle, flicking on the safety as he tucked the ammo into a jacket pocket. He slung it over his shoulder, rolling his shoulders.
Aizawa found himself approaching the boy.
“Provisional hero license.” The card came up, and the boy’s voice was flat. “In moments of crisis, I am licensed to use force to end conflict.”
“That’s not what I was going to say,” Aizawa said softly, his chest aching. “We thought you were dead, Midoriya. Toogata saw you take that bullet… by the time he got an ambulance, you were gone.”
The green-haired student stared back at his teacher. Then he smiled, his eyes utterly devoid of emotion, and tugged down the collar of his hoodie. On the upper-left side of his chest was an ugly scar, practically ripped across his chest, like someone had to tear him open to retrieve something from within. Aizawa’s stomach lurched.
“If it was a centimeter lower, I would be,” he said, voice flat and cold. “Doesn’t matter, though. I’d be just as useless if I were a corpse.”
Aizawa felt like his feet were stuck to the ground as his student turned, gun strapped to his back like it belonged there. From his pocket, Midoriya produced a single bullet. It was silver and sharpened to a deadly point. Aizawa’s heart went cold as the student tossed it to him almost carelessly-- blood, probably Midoriya’s blood, coated the entire thing.
But what caught his attention immediately was the vial imbedded in the bullet. The glass was shattered, and blood coated in inside and outside of that. But he recognized it-- it was the same as the bullet Chisaki had just used on Toogata. The same as the ones the police force was studying.
Quirk-destroying drugged bullets.
He looked up, but Midoriya was already gone, vanished into the sewer tunnels. (He’d never know how ironic it was, really, that the monster who acquainted a quirkless boy with the man who would make him powerful came from the sewers, and it was those sewers that greeted that same boy, quirkless again, as he left behind whatever power he had left.)
Shouta saw Midoriya again, months later.
He was walking into his apartment on campus, Eri in tow. She had a toy in hand, one that Shouta had no idea how she got. It was a Nerf gun, and though it definitely distressed Shouta that she had it, she liked it.
Eri’s head shot up as she came in the apartment, eyes darting around like she sensed something. Then, she squealed . As in, so delighted that cohesive words didn’t suffice.
Shouta looked up just in time to watch her barrel past him and into the legs of one Midoriya Izuku.
A small smile appeared on his face as he kneeled down to embrace the child, not looking at Shouta. Eri chattered cheerfully, her eyes alight with joy as she clutched the former hero student. Little tidbits about Class 1-A, stories about games she played.
Finally, Midoriya looked up and met Shouta’s eyes.
“Eri, how about you go do some target practice, huh? I put a target at the end of the hall and got you some sticky darts.”
Eri squealed again, and streaked down the hall.
There was a long pause as the two regarded each other, the silence pressing harshly down on them.
“You were the one that got her into guns,” Shouta observed.
Midoriya’s dull eyes gained a glint of amusement that vanished just as quickly. “I liked Nerf when I was a brat.”
“How did you even get in?”
“Card was never deactivated,” he said casually, holding up his old student ID-- still technically valid until the end of the school year.
Another pause. “Why did you run, Midoriya?”
Shouta noticed the differences in Midoriya’s physique. His hair had grown out, now drifting at his shoulders and revealing that his hair was black aside from highlights of dark green at the tips. His eyes seemed to have more of a toxic hue than the soft emerald they had before.
“I’m not like Mirio,” he said eventually, eyes sliding to the window that overlooked the training field. Familiar flashes of red and orange noted the presence of Bakugou Katsuki there. “I’m… I’m nothing like Mirio.”
“What does Mirio--”
“He was the one that covered for me whenever I broke in.”
That pulled Shouta up short. The rule-following kid hadn’t reported seeing, even interacting with a missing child? He stared at Midoriya, disbelieving.
“He’s okay with being quirkless,” Midoriya sighed. “Well, maybe not entirely, but he’s coping pretty well. I made contact with him to make sure he was okay. Being quirkless in this day and age fucking sucks .”
The use of curses again startled Shouta, but he just sat heavily at the kitchen table and listened.
“Sensei, I grew up quirkless.”
Ah. And just when he thought the surprises were ending.
“My quirk was given to me-- it was something of a sacred torch, if you want to think of it like that, stockpiling power as it was passed from person to person.”
“All Might,” he realized.
Midoriya nodded once, then sighed. “I had to build muscle mass until my body would be able to physically handle the quirk without all my limbs blowing off--” Shouta flinched-- “and that’s why I was so inexperienced. I hadn’t been able to actually use my quirk until the entrance exam.
“I can’t describe to you the kind of hell being quirkless is. I had exactly one person that tolerated me growing up, and that was my own mother, and she treated me like glass. Peers tormented me in every way, every chance they could. Before Yuuei, I can’t remember going a day without getting a new bruise or nick. Teachers turned a blind eye to it at best , and blamed me for causing problems when I tried to get help. Even strangers on the street would look at me and say to each other, “Oh, that’s the poor quirkless boy. His mother must struggle so much.””
Shouta had no idea what to say to that. He wanted to reach out, to help the boy, but he knew he needed to let Midoriya speak.
“That’s… that’s why I had to disappear. When Mirio left to find help, Overhaul came back and dragged me to some back alley so my body wouldn’t be found or something. A stranger found me, had to rip open my chest a bit so the bullet wouldn’t kill me if it shifted and pierced my heart, and I spent some time recuperating. I didn’t come back because I needed to… I needed to think about my life, from now on.”
“And what’s that, Problem Child?”
Midoriya lifted his head, toxic-green eyes oddly focused. “I’m not giving up anymore, Sensei. I’m done with letting things happen.”
Shouta hummed to himself before giving the boy a sidelong glance. “Nobody’s touched your dorm room. Be up at dawn for drills.”
A faint smile appeared on the boy’s face. “Yes, Sensei.”
Chapter 57: something just like this
Summary:
izuku and the trauma squad.
Chapter Text
Red, red eyes flashed in the darkness; dangerous and hateful. A hand rested on his shoulder: a dull spike of pain followed as he smelled burning flesh. The smile in the darkness was feral, terrifying. The chains keeping him in the Chair clanked noisily, tightening, tightening, he couldn’t feel his hands from the numbness that flooded them.
Tears of terror, tasting like shame and copper as it dripped into his mouth and mixed with his blood, traced his cheeks.
“Kacchan, please...”
He realized what he’d done only moments later as the chains released and he was somehow in the corner of the room. Shiretoko was glaring at him hatefully. Her face was streaked with gore, the tears on her cheeks red with blood, her delicate skin patterned with burns.
“Look at what you’ve done, Deku!” she snarled, her yellow eyes full of fury and blaming him, blaming him, blaming him…
Fumikage’s scream cut through the fog in his mind, and Deku looked and the tears came back at full force. His friend’s feathers were smoking and charred, beak cracked and dripping blood. Himiko’s smile was pure white as her knives slashed deep into Fumikage’s skin, drawing blood and making her expression even more crazed.
My fault my fault my fault MY FAULT MY FAULT MY FAULT--
“Izuku!”
He jerked upwards, a scream on his lips that he bit back, chest heaving in his silent terror. Dark grey eyes stared into his, and he focused on them-- they were good. Kacchan didn’t have grey eyes.
There was a long, long silence as he slowly began to register his surroundings. Sheets clng to his skin, soaked in cold sweat. His hair was half in his face, and he managed to brush it aside. Siri was in his lap, her eyes yellow-green with concern. Aizawa knelt in front of him, face stoic but eyes kind.
“Are you awake now?” he asked.
Izuku swallowed thickly before nodding. “Just-- just a nightmare.”
The door was slightly open, and Himiko had her head poked in, yellow cat-eyes glossy with worry. “Zu?”
He glanced over at her and smiled shakily. When she smiled back, the four silver fangs glinted in the low light back at him, and Izuku felt the last of the tension drain from his shoulders.
Himiko trotted in, practically tossing herself onto the sheets and began blabbering about the all-nighter she had just pulled to do her English work and eventually giving up and using Google Translate. Fumikage was the next to come through the door, shooting a confused look at Aizawa before making a weird nest out of Izuku’s bed and copying Himiko’s homework.
Shiretoko showed up at some point-- she gave the trio a lopsided grin as she took her place amongst the three teens, trading a notepad back and forth with Izuku as he gave her advice, as Shiretoko had problems with reading situations without her quirk.
Things weren’t good-- not yet. But they were better.
Incredible how only hours later, Izuku is soothing an abused child. What was he, an angst magnet? This was a lot of tragic backstory for one kid.
So, maybe his life had kinda been in serious danger. That’s normal enough. Eri, however, insisted that if that one weirdo with the tacky jacket so much as touched Izuku with his bare hands, he’d be a red smear on an alley wall. So, nothing new, considering Shigaraki. What was it with villains and touch-based quirks? He was starting to think Uraraka was gonna try to stab him or something.
Speaking of Eri, after surprisingly little convincing, Izuku had a new little sister (and a month of grounding, but he was gonna ignore that)!
“Dadzawa.” Aizawa looked up with an annoyed expression, but Izuku knew he liked the nickname. Continuing in sign, he told him, You need a break.
“No kidding?” Aizawa sighed in frustration. “The entire class… just problem children. The moment anyone sets foot off campus, everything goes to hell. Fucking Nighteye contacted me-- the guy you knocked out was Chisaki Kai, of the Eight Precepts of Death.”
Whomst? Izuku inclined his head slightly.
“A yakuza group that Nighteye Agency has been tracking. They’ve been getting more active, and Nighteye needs concrete proof of their crimes to act. You might have jeapordized that.”
Indignant, Izuku signed, So I should have left Eri?
“What? Fuck, hell no.” His guardian scowled. “I’m just reminding you that even good actions have bad consequences.”
Shit, motherfucker. He is the bad consequence. Izuku just sighed in reply, before turning slightly to view the sleeping Eri, who was curled on the couch. Yamada sat beside her, also out cold.
It was way early in the morning, like, 3AM, so of course the Aizawa males were awake. Adopted or not, Izuku certainly had his father’s sleeping habits.
“Izuku, can you go grab the class list?”
Changing seats again?
“Not really,” Aizawa shrugged. “You can tell me what you notice about them-- I heard you muttering in class when they fought Toogata.”
Recalling that disaster of a demonstration made Izuku frown, but he crept across the floor anyway. The class list was tucked under Izuku’s math textbook, and he snagged it before heading back over to Aizawa.
“Hagakure needs to work on actual hand-to-hand fighting instead of relying on luck,” he mumbled after awkwardly clearing his throat. “And I think Meimei already made her a new costume so she isn’t naked the whole time. Todoroki relies too heavily on his ice and is far too hesitant to use his fire-- I think his quirk is more of temperature control rather than creating ice or fire.”
“That… makes a lot of sense, actually. Half-Hot, Half-Cold ,” Aizawa remarked.
“... yeah. It’s pretty easily exploitable, though…” Izuku frowned. “What he does is lower the temp enough to freeze the water molecules in the air, which in turn causes his own body to freeze. And he also makes the atoms so superheated they combust, making fire. So, if there were, say, a vaccuum introduced…”
“His quirk would be useless.” The elder felt a slow smile spread across his face. “Not bad, Problem Child. I’ll have to set up a training session between Todoroki and Thirteen.”
Izuku found a small smile tracing across his features at the praise.
(The dark chill of guilt crept up his throat-- Izuku knew about Endeavor’s abuse, but hadn’t spoken out. It was Todoroki’s secret, but how long would it be before the boy was broken beyond repair, just like Izuku?)
Neither of them felt Fate Herself pressing down on their shoulders, bridled by a vengeful man missing his favored experiment. Neither of them felt that death was upon them, suffocating and ruthless.
Neither of them saw the ice-cold gaze of the turncoat as they lifted a phone to their ear, staring up at the dark window where they knew their classmate resided.
Neither of them heard their voice, distant and heartless as they spoke. “We have a problem.”
Neither of them knew.
And both of them would pay the price.
Notes:
Something Just Like This - Coldplay / The Chainsmokers
It’s about someone being accepted because they’re nothing super special. Izuku is quirkless and is being accepted by merit of his own talents, and I think it’s important to think about that.
Chapter 58: bury a friend
Summary:
the end... or not.
Chapter Text
Eri was clutching Izuku’s leg when the knock came. It resounded through the pseudo-apartment, and Aizawa frowned from where he was sitting on the couch. “I’ve got it,” he mumbled, standing up and setting Eri in his arms.
He sidled up to the door, trying to balance a six-year-old as he pulled it open.
“Hey, Todoroki--”
Eri screamed .
Aizawa was up and over in the blink of an eye, his own eyes wide with surprise. “Izuku, what’s wrong? What happened?”
Todoroki was staring at Izuku, and he took a few steps back, holding Eri close to his chest. The teen held a spike of ice in his hand, and his eyes were empty. He sneered.
“Hand over the brat and nobody has to die.”
What ?! Shock set every nerve on fire. Mind control? Todoroki never acted like this-- he was cold and distant, but he was Izuku’s classmate ! “What are you--”
Izuku grunted in pain as the ice spike stabbed into his side, pulled away just as quickly. “Shut up and give her to me.”
“Izuku, get out of here!” Aizawa shoved him harshly aside, kicking Todoroki solidly in the chest and slamming the door, locking it as quickly as possible. “Get Eri out!”
“I--”
Ice, cold and sparkling, splintered the door apart.
As Izuku broke the window, he saw far below a dark portal swirling open, people filing out of it one by one.
On the fire escape, he ran , Aizawa right behind him and swearing to the high heavens. Neither of them knew where Yamada was, the class was beginning to trickle out and panic, the teachers were in disarray.
A man with golden eyes and a plague mask stood before it all as Aizawa Izuku set Eri down behind him.
His wound bled steadily, but he shifted, reaching for weapons that were not there. Distantly, he heard screaming as students clashed with villains and Noumu flew from the portal to battle heroes.
Chisaki Kai stared at Izuku with a murderous glee in his eyes. “You are powerful… you have so much potential.”
“Yeah?” He wheezed, trying to hide Eri behind his legs.
“Yes,” he agreed. “Come with me, little Deku. We can save the world together.” With a flick of his hand, a villain beside him nodded, and a pillar of earth slammed into Izuku’s side, sending him reeling.
His lungs burned with the strain of holding himself up, but again, Izuku placed himself between Chisaki and Eri.
“Don’t you understand ?” The yakuza cried. “You are the cure! The hope for humanity!”
The world swam in and out of focus as the yakuza walked closer and closer, his gloves nowhere to be seen. Izuku staggered, dizzy, but held his ground. “Go fucking fuck yourself, you crazy bird bitch.”
His world went white, and he couldn’t even scream as his body was ripped apart, limbs separated and stitched together over and over again.
“You could save the world, Deku!”
Izuku curled his lip in return. Iron was the biting flavor on his tongue, the suffocating scent in his nose. It dripped red and deadly from his razed skin. But with every drop he lost, his head cleared a bit more. His eyes focused. The world became that much more firmly in his grasp.
Crimson is such a beautiful, terrifying, familiar color. It decorated Izuku’s body more often than he cared to admit.
The schoolground was a war zone. Students and teachers alike fought both villains and Noumu. The villains raged against the attacks thrown at them, fighting tooth and nail.
General Education and Management students had barricaded the buildings, using their quirks and improvised weapons to stave off the encroaching villains. Support students darted in and out of the fray, explosions following closely behind as they took out dozens of the attackers. Heroics students and teachers fought on the front lines, trying to turn the tides of an uphill battle.
Izuku had one duty in this war.
Protect Eri .
The standoff was widely avoided by all others: the Yuuei staff and students kept them back to prevent Eri from being snatched, but it left Izuku wide open.
Metal brushed his leg, and he reached down, stroking the robotic cat as her form twisted and shifted into a crossbow.
With shaking hands, Izuku raised Siri to eye level.
“What are you going to do?” Chisaki’s golden eyes danced with a terrible glee. “ Kill me? Like Shigaraki? Like Muscular?”
“No.”
He pulled the trigger, and a blur of yellow rocketed from the crossbow, burying deep into Chisaki’s sternum.
Chisaki blinked. Then, he laughed. “You think that will stop me?!”
Chisaki began to lumber forward, his eyes bright with madness—
— before he seized.
His entire body locked up, spasming and twitching, and he cried out in agony.
Around him, spires of earth shot from the ground, and Izuku barely dodged one that cut deep below his right eye and almost took it out.
“Nyx! Nyx!”
Eri was stumbling towards him, her silver-white hair drenched in blood.
Izuku’s eyes widened as he saw the dirt explode next to her. The world almost seemed to slow, the spike of rock and soil shooting towards the girl.
His body moved before his mind did, and he blinked.
Eri was shoved ungracefully to the ground, and Izuku found himself in her place. Fresh blood was sprayed across Eri’s face and clothes, her ruby-red eyes wide with horror.
From his chest sprouted stone painted red. It was a beautifully twisted sight, really— it lifted him in the air in a crude imitation of floating, dark red boots hovering inches above the grass. His emerald eyes wide and glassy, his mouth open midway through a scream and expression warped in desperation.
His arms, which had shoved Eri out of harm’s way, fell to his sides limply.
A single tear traced its way down his face.
The battlefield had gone silent, shock registering among all. Noumu stopped in their tracks as they were called off. Students stared in abject terror. Yakuza crowded around their seizing leader, disappearing through a warp gate.
And as the battlefield cleared, only a few people stood at the center of it all.
One girl with bubblegum-pink hair, her face devoid of any emotion but shock. Her arm was extended, as if to touch the arm of her friend, but another girl with black-and-yellow eyes held her back, tears streaking her face.
Two men, both realizing the mistakes they've made in reference to the boy.
One boy with wild hair, fighting and clawing at the arms of a girl with a spiky ponytail, screams and pleas falling from his lips as he thrashed. A second boy, with a bird’s head, hiding the face of the bloodstained child in his shirt, sobs shaking his body.
The final figure reached up, and with the care of a parent, lifted the boy from the spire. Silent tears streaked down his face, shadowed by long hair as he cradled his son to his chest.
Aizawa Izuku was dead.
And the girl, dyed with the lifeblood of her brother, began to glow, her eyes burning brilliantly and horn extending, glowing a pure white as she screamed in grief, shoving away from the bird-headed boy and running to her brother, grabbing his hand desperately.
The dark-haired man reached out, panic flitting across his features—
— a brilliant flash of light enveloped his vision, and he sat bolt upright in his bed as an alarm went off, and dazedly, he slapped it, forcing the wail to be cut off abruptly.
This isn’t my room .
With dread pooling in his gut, he stood and looked around until he caught a glimpse of the cracked glass of the window, the dark before dawn allowing him to see his reflection.
Aizawa Shouta, fourteen years old, stared back at him.
She rewound time.
I can… I can save him. I can do it right this time.
Notes:
Okay, this is a subpar ending and I am SORRY but I had to get it out before I lost inspiration.
The current plan is to go BACK over this and rewrite Ripples BEFORE I write the sequel so that this is top notch before y’all get stuck with the sequel. So, if you don’t like this ending (how it’s written, not the ending itself), it will probably be revised in the revised version, titled the same as this one (probably up by next week). Enjoy.