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Iid--Tenya is getting better , Izuku observed as his friend lifted him off the ground from behind, pinning Izuku’s arms flat against his sides. He really should have seen Tenya’s feint for what it was, but it was a little bit late for that now, wasn’t it? He tested his range of motion. In the year since they had arrived at UA High School, their entire class had gotten stronger. Iida being able to hold his arms down like this was still ridiculous, though.
Of course, last time we sparred I was much better about not giving him a chance to show it off, so that’s probably why I didn’t notice it, Izuku thought ruefully. They usually went until there was a clear winner or someone tapped out of a round. So this round did not have to end just yet -- provided Izuku found a way out of his current predicament.
He glanced around the part of the gym they had taken over for their bout. For the most part, it was a bare room. There was nothing in reach (not that it would help. See: arms, pinned), nor anything he could readily push off against. Could I try Black Whip? His control over the secondary quirk had improved substantially, but he was still not confident that he could use it without seriously hurting Iida.
“That is precisely why I lifted you off the ground, Izuku!” Iida explained to Izuku and their watching classmates. Just outside the mats, Aoyama and Tokoyami stood, officiating, to make sure the two aspiring heroes did not get carried away. “Without the ability to gain leverage, you cannot hope to break my hold! It’s my win!”
Iida often got a little too into the sparring matches. Izuku would have chuckled were he not busy looking for a way to escape the hold. How could he? Wracking his brain, Izuku tried to get in the proper mindset for a less-direct approach. Now what would Ura…
“Are you perhaps thinking ‘what would Uraraka Ochaco do?’” Izuku heard Aoyama’s voice in his ear, courtesy of the earpieces the ‘referees’ were using to communicate with the two combatants (to ensure they could warn them if they were taking things too far). His gaze swerved to Aoyama, and he stared in confusion. Okay, first of all, how do you know that, second, what does that have to do with…?
“Do you perhaps like her?” Based on tone, Aoyama might have even been merely thinking aloud; it was quiet enough that nobody but Izuku should have heard him.
None of this mattered because Izuku’s train of thought had been completely and thoroughly derailed. “Do I like…?” he muttered.
what.
All thoughts of the sparring match were forgotten as Izuku’s brain ground to a screeching halt. Trying to comprehend what had been asked, why it had been asked, and… and?
...And why couldn’t he immediately answer the question? The last of those concerns quickly took all of his available headspace.
That’s ridiculous, right? Everyone knows Ochaco and I are friends. Yeah, we’re close, but it’s not like that. Friendship is not the same thing as a crush. Sure, I really enjoy being with her, and I don’t think there’s anyone here I trust more, but there’s no reason that means we aren’t simply really good friends. And, okay, maybe it’s not really platonic to notice how gorgeous your best friend is, or to imagine how soft she would be if you snuggled up with her, but that’s just like hormones or something, right? And sure, that makes things awkward sometimes, but it doesn’t mean we aren’t fundamentally friends. Best friends. Yeah. Exactly.
And okay, I’m not really sure what I would do without her, but you can be like that with a best friend. We’re friends. Really. Just because her opinion matters more to me than basically anyone else’s (well, maybe besides All Might, let’s not get too hasty), that doesn’t mean it’s anything unusual. Seriously. Calm down, Izuku. Ochaco is your friend. Friendships can be just as deep (or complicated) as anything romantic. Look at how things have changed with Kacchan, or with Iida. Just because she means the world to you and you don’t want to think about what your life would be without her does not mean you like her. Calm down. Why are you so freaked out by this? It doesn’t have to be complicated. And look, just because she’s your best friend doesn’t mean you can’t be in lo--
Oh.
Oh.
Oh no .
He was not, technically, lying to himself. He didn’t only “like” his best friend.
No. It was much, much worse.
Two things happened at this point. The first is that Izuku’s face achieved a truly remarkable shade of scarlet. Even Iida, who Midoriya had his back to, managed to notice. “Izuku, are you alri--”
The second thing was that Izuku, feeling like he needed to be literally anywhere but here right now, began to float. It was not immediately noticeable; after all, he was already off the ground. It only became obvious when he began to take his partner with him. Iida yelped as he began trying to yank his friend back down to the ground, succeeding only in managing to tangle himself further as their elevation increased. “Izuku, what on earth are you doing?!”
They were about three feet off the ground when Iida’s gesticulating and yelling managed to penetrate Izuku’s utter shock. He shook it off, and resumed awareness of his situation. How am I in the air, that should be impossib-- oh, no, wait, All Might warned me about this, but why am I floating right now? I don’t want to be in the ai--
There was a very loud thud as he and his friend abruptly dropped to the ground.
---~~~===~~~---
The two friends were sitting on the couch back in the Heights Alliance common room with improvised ice packs held to their unusually-large bruises. Nearest to them sat Todoroki, whose help had been enlisted in creating those ice packs. Surrounding them were a few of their other classmates, including both Aoyama and Tokoyami, as well as Kirishima (who had spotted them walking back from the gym).
“So, how exactly did you both fall, again?” Kirishima asked. He had gotten a very rushed explanation from Izuku and Tenya when they had run into him on the way back, but it had been light on details and coherence. “Neither of you can fly.”
Iida shook his head. “I didn’t think so. Izuku, why didn’t you tell me you could do that?”
Izuku only hesitated for a microsecond. “Because I didn’t know I could,” he fibbed. I wish I wasn’t getting so comfortable with lying to them about this. He chased the lie with a truth. “That was the first time it’s ever happened. That’s why I couldn’t control it.”
Now it was Shoto’s turn to ask questions. “Do you know what might have triggered it?” Izuku shook his head. “What happened right before?”
“Well…” Iida racked his brain. He and Izuku were both still a little scrambled from dropping several feet unexpectedly. “I had Izuku dead to rights,” he smiled proudly. “I had his arms pinned, held up off the ground, and he was looking for a way out, and then…”
Tokoyami picked up the story from there. “And then I believe Aoyama asked Midoriya if he was thinking about what Uraraka would do,” throwing a glance at their now silent, knowing friend. For his part, Aoyama was looking at Izuku apologetically. “Then it sounded like he asked Midoriya if he liked her. It seems like that threw off Midoriya’s concentration, and then he started to float, taking Iida with him when he tried to pull him down.”
Shoto, Iida,and Ejiro blinked in unison. Izuku felt the color returning to his cheeks now, as all of the boys turned to look at him. He tried to hide it by burying his face in his hands. Izuku was horrified to see knowing, smiles appear on both Kirishima’s and Iida ’s faces as the pieces fell into place. I need to be absolutely anywhere else right now . Suddenly, something felt wrong. He was mortified, but he never remembered that feeling giving him vertigo before.
“Quick, pull him down before he gets to the ceiling!” Kirishima shouted, and Izuku felt three pairs of hands dragging him back down the couch. Wait, I was floating again?! Had he started tumbling in the air, perhaps?
“Izuku, please, warn us before you do that!” Iida exclaimed. Izuku shook his head.
“I wasn’t trying to, it just happened,” he said with a sigh.
Shoto seemed lost in thought. “What were you thinking just now?” he asked, voice quiet and deliberate.
Izuku paused in thought (also relieved to have something else to think about besides certain topics that had not left him alone for much of the past hour). “I was thinking about…about how I didn’t want to be here right now,” he said. “Of course! Maybe the ability to float is tied to the desire to escape? But that’s reallyspecificwouldn’tithavetobe…” his voice descended into almost subaudible volume, and the other four heroes-in-training traded smiles. Midoriya seemed to be (at least for now) back in working order.
“Well, glad you two are okay,” Kirishima said, standing up. He gestured for Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Aoyama to follow. “I need to wash up.” With that, the four of them walked out of the room. Once they were out of earshot, he turned to Aoyama. “Okay, quick question, what the fuck? ”
---~~~===~~~---
“Izuku, if you don’t want to discuss it with me, I understand, but I think based on what’s happened it is important that you address your feelings -- whatever they are -- about Uraraka. Regardless, accidentally triggering a quirk like that could be dangerous, for you as much as anyone else.” Midoriya nodded.
“Yeah, I know, I need to get a handle on it. That can’t keep happening. I think the quirk is based on the desire to escape, ormove orsomethinglikethat so--” He was halted by a gentle chop to the head from his friend. Right. The muttering. “So that I can work with. But… it’s not the first time I’ve had an emotional outburst trigger a quirk, either…”
Iida nodded, understanding. “The joint training with 1B?” Izuku nodded back. “But it was caused by different feelings this time, wasn’t it?” Another nod. “Do you think you have a handle on these?”
Izuku looked up at him. “I don’t know. I’m… more confused than anything?”
Iida cleared his throat. “Well, if you’ll forgive me asking, do you like Uraraka?” Midoriya turned red again, but, after a long hesitation, he nodded.
“Yeah, I hadn’t realized that I thought of her as more than a friend before today - not really - but the more I think about it…” He gave a somewhat strangled-sounding chuckle. “...and I haven’t been doing much besides thinking about it since we got back… Yeah.”
Tenya gave Izuku a pat on the back. “I am sure this is a lot for you to process. If you need me to listen, or to act as your sounding board, I am always happy to help.”
“Thanks. I… I’ll need to think more about how I want to handle this.”
“Very well. In the meantime, I will track down our peers and ask them to keep this to themselves. I do not think they would just tell people about this, but perhaps it is better just to make sure they understand your need for privacy.”
Izuku gave the class representative a wobbly smile. “Thanks, Tenya.”
---~~~===~~~---
Izuku waited until midmorning the following day. It was a Saturday, so many of the 1A students had either left the dorms for plans off-campus, or were downstairs in the common areas enjoying time with their friends. Midoriya, on the other hand, was standing in front of his best friend’s door, having serious doubts about his plan.
It’s not too late to turn around and save this for another day, he thought to himself, frozen between knocking or running away. There are probably any number of other things Ochaco would rather do today… It’s kind of selfish of you to even be asking this of her. But Iid--Tenya is right, I need to get a handle on all of this. I can’t put people in danger because I can’t control my own quirk. Besides, if you can’t trust her with this, who can you trust? He cut himself off before the inevitable answer of “All Might” could enter his mind.
Steeling himself, he raised his hand and knocked on the door. His uncertainty betrayed him, and it was very quiet. As he wondered whether or not he should knock again, the door swung open. “Deku-kun!” A bright smile lit Uraraka’s face when she saw him. “How are you? Are you feeling better? I heard you and Iida were sparring yesterday! I wish I had been able to see it…” She mimicked a punch in the air. “I bet you two went so hard!”
Oh goodness she’s adorable when she’s excited. Izuku felt heat returning to his cheeks at the unbidden thought. “Uh, yeah, we did. Actually, I came to talk to you about that…” He looked over his shoulder, trying to make sure they were alone. “Is it okay if we talk somewhere private?”
A look of concern crossed her face. “Yeah, definitely!” She stepped back and swung the door open further. “Is my room okay?”
I think the last thing I need right now is to be alone with you in your room, he thought, but he wasn’t sure how he could tell her that without it sounding weird. Calm yourself. You’ve been alone together before. He nodded, and followed her in. When he was inside, she shut the door.
“What’s up? Is something wrong?” she asked. He started to nod, then shook his head, then stopped and began nodding again. “Oookay, so… yes? No?” Izuku swallowed, forcing the words out.
“I manifested another quirk yesterday.”
“ Another one?” she looked worried, remembering how Black Whip had manifested. “Were you hurt? Was everyone okay?” Izuku nodded, and she looked relieved. “Thank goodness.” She looked like she might have been mulling a hug before settling on a pat on the shoulder. “It must have been frightening.”
Izuku felt bad about lying, but he agreed. “Yeah, it was.”
What else could he say? ‘No, I barely noticed because I had just realized I love you and was having a meltdown?’ As if!
“So, what is it?” the brightness had returned to Ochaco’s voice, now reassured. “What’s the new quirk?”
“Umm. I can...fly? Float? I was trying to escape Iida and I floated us both a few feet of the ground before it gave out and we both dropped. Umm, so I need to learn how to control this and use it, and… I was wondering, would you be willing to be there to help me figure things out?” The last words weren’t even out of his mouth before she was nodding.
“Of course I would! Umm, I actually have plans in a bit with Tsuyu, so maybe not today, but if you want to go to the gym tomorrow and get started…” Izuku nodded very quickly. “Great! It’s a date then! I’m glad I can help you out with this. Similar quirk and all.” She added, grinning widely.
For his part, Izuku froze at her choice of words. She was trying to kill him, wasn’t she? “Yeah, that does help.” Ochaco looked confused by the tepid agreement.
“Umm, just, I trust you, Uraraka-san.” Ochaco was glad he had started looking down as he spoke, because a luminous blush painted her cheeks and her smile became somewhat wobbly. She put a hand over her face and looked at the wall. “Similar quirk or no, there’s nobody I’d rather have helping me figure this out.”
Calm down, Izuku . His heart had been in overdrive since the door had opened. It got worse when Uraraka’s smile shrunk, but somehow grew even brighter. Was she blushing? (She was, but he couldn’t be sure).
“Th’nks.” It was almost a squeak. She seemed to regain her composure moments later. “Umm, well, in that case… I’ll see you tomorrow for that, then? A couple hours, you think? And as many times after as it takes, obviously?” Izuku nodded extremely fast. “Great!”
He stepped out of her room, and the door closed gently behind him. Several hours. Alone with Ochaco. Tomorrow. And possibly every day, for a long time.
What am I going to do?