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It may have only started in the second semester of their first year, but over time, Jirou and Shouji's now long-established quirk training game became a weekly tradition in the Heights Alliance.
The two hearing heroes positioned themselves in the middle of the common room while everyone else went about their Sunday: hanging out in each other's rooms, playing games, studying, reading, napping…
Everything was fair game, so long as everyone was warned. Jirou whipped out her phone and alerted the group chat.
#class1A
Literal Heartthrob: okay yall @here
Literal Heartthrob: whos up for shouji and i quirk training for the next half hour
Never Basic: i am!!
Crumb Punch Man: yeah sure, thx for the heads up
Muscles Glasses: Fine with me!
2 Ravens in a Trenchcoat: Ah, time to sequester all of our dark, personal secrets once again.
Hug Champion: Indeed. @everyone anyone who wants to opt out of this say so now, or forever hold your peace.
Cat Whisperer: so, anyone wanna tell the newbie what's happening here exactly
Float Me to the Moon: basically @Literal Heartthrob and @Hug Champion are going to train their hearing quirks by trying to identify noises in the dorm building!!
Literal Heartthrob: its the best at-home training i've ever had but also??? very intrusive
Literal Heartthrob: so we let people know so they can either prepare or take off for a bit
Soba Enthusiast: I'm opting out by going for a run
Cat Whisperer: sure, whatever is cool
Hug Champion: Jirou and I will ping you in the #overheard channel.
Most people just went about their day when Jirou and Shouji did their training. A couple of their classmates did go out of their way to make discernible noises to test them, though. Either way, their self-imposed goal was to locate the sounds and report them as fast as possible. Jirou's directional hearing had the advantage in the former, but Shouji and his multiple hands championed the latter.
#overheard
Literal Heartthrob: @Muscles Glasses typing in your room, iida
Hug Champion: @Crumb Punch Man Your oven timer just went off.
Literal Heartthrob: @2 Ravens in a Trenchcoat take your pinky finger off to make that chord ring, it'll sound cool
Hug Champion: @Actual Cat Whisperer Yuwai-chan just thumped the ground of his cage three times.
Literal Heartthrob: @Destroyer of Fuses morse code for SOS HW noted and denied, jammingyay
Destroyer of Fuses: oh COME ON
Literal Heartthrob: no
Hug Champion: @Never Basic Yes, I can hear your whispering, Ashido. Tell Uraraka hello as well @Float Me to the Moon
Literal Heartthrob: @Belle et Beau why does it sound like you're dancing to a waltz in four. are you trying to give me a migraine
Hug Champion: @Frog Fractions @Visibly Invisible Tsu, you may actually give Hagakure a run for her money this time, if you're playing Uno again.
Literal Heartthrob: @Class Mom babe. babe please
Literal Heartthrob: @Roll the Tape STOP ENCOURAGING HER YOU KNOW I CAN'T HANDLE THAT
Class Mom: :)
Literal Heartthrob: AND I KNOW THE SNORING SOUND IN YOUR ROOM IS FAKE, YOU CAN'T HIDE @Roll the Tape
Roll the Tape: LMAO
Hug Champion: @Tail Whip Was that you cracking your back? Is that healthy?
Tail Whip: It was my tail, actually
Literal Heartthrob: i’m going to do everything i can to not visualize that
Literal Heartthrob: also @Cat Whisperer jesus *christ* shinsou, if that's the type of movie you watch regularly no wonder you don't sleep
Hug Champion: @Training Montage I know you can get the speed bag going faster than that, Kirishima.
Literal Heartthrob: @Boulevard of Broken Bones alarm, midoriya
Hug Champion: @Lord Explosion Don't explode in the vicinity of that group study guide, it's collaborative.
Hug Champion: @Boulevard of Broken Bones Midoriya, your alarm is going off.
Literal Heartthrob: midoriya @Boulevard of Broken Bones ?
Hug Champion: @Boulevard of Broken Bones you there?
The front door of the dorm swung open, catching both listeners off guard. Loud, distressed footsteps marched straight to the boy's wing, bounded up the stairs two at a time, and made a beeline for Midoriya's room.
Dial tones and heavy breathing filled their classmate's room, worrying them both. He wasn't responding to text messages or even reading them, according to their phones.
Then, they both heard Midoriya's whisper shouting, loud and clear.
“All Might, we need to figure out how to get One for All to stop springing quirks on me!”
Both of them jolted and looked at each other. One For All? All Might had always been noticeably partial to Midoriya's growth, but nothing really explained Midoriya's closeness to him. Or, why he had the former Number One Hero's phone number. What is he talking about, and why is he talking to All Might about it?
The only thing the two knew for certain was that they were absolutely not supposed to be listening to this.
Jirou and Shouji stared at each other, seeing if they would back away.
Neither of them moved.
“Well—I’m happy that it’s happening at all, you know that! It’s just that I'm going to run out of explanations really quick if this keeps happening! At least this time it was off campus...”
Shouji and Jirou had already opened a shared document to combine their notes.
Quirks, multiple. What explanations? Wasn't the villain at the head of the League called All For One? Oddly close in name to One for All.
Both of them heard Midoriya take a few shaky breaths.
“I’ve been thinking about telling them.”
The eavesdroppers’ fingers froze on their keyboards.
“Yes, All Might, I know it's my secret now, and I trust everyone here with my life. We’ve been through hell together, multiple times.” There was a short pause before Midoriya continued, “I’ve been telling myself that I don't want to put them in danger with that kind of knowledge this whole time, but the very threat we’ve been trying to save everyone from by keeping One for All a secret has been targeting our class for an entire year now.”
They could hear Midoriya’s jaw click shut, like he’d been actively trying to stop his rambling.
Sounds more tired than usual. Burden of knowledge is dangerous. Legitimate or Midoriya's self-sacrificial streak? OFA tied to AFO??
“I know your trusted group was smaller than mine, but all of them mean a lot to me. It would take something very serious for the bond to break between any of us, I think.” Midoriya’s breaths had evened out, which was the first welcome development this conversation had had in awhile. “I'll think about it. Can we go over everything you know about the previous holders and their quirks one more time? It might mean less… nasty surprises if some new quirk just decides to emerge suddenly.”
Jirou's head was spinning as she typed questions as they multiplied her mind.
More quirks? Previous holders? Of what? Why is One For All so dangerous?
Shouji felt close to a revelation, but they were missing a critical piece that went unsaid. But, the dreaded question that popped up every time he and Jirou eavesdropped—voluntarily or otherwise—had finally crawled to the front of their minds.
Should we tell him that we heard him?
This might be important enough that the answer might be yes , this time. Shouji looked up at Jirou’s concerned look and nodded silently, confirming her gut feeling.
“Everything else is going well, yeah. We’re a little late, but we’re planning a welcome party for Shinsou next weekend! We missed this weekend, and it’s just too busy to be in the middle of the week…Yeah, I hope he opens up to everyone at least a little bit. He's so cool, and if he lets everyone in, they'll all know how good of a hero he can be— ”
Shouji motioned toward the boys’ side stairs, and Jirou unplugged herself from the floor and followed him, absentmindedly pulling up the group chat to send the all clear.
#overheard
Literal Heartthrob: @everyone we’re wrapping up early today
Literal Heartthrob: thank you everyone for helping @Hug Champion and i out today
Hug Champion: Yes, thank you everyone.
She shoved her phone back in her pocket, ignoring the swarm of notifications flying in.
Unsurprisingly, Midoriya was still chatting All Might’s ear off by the time Jirou and Shouji showed up to his door. Jirou finally had mercy on the former Number One and knocked on the door. “Hey Midoriya, are you in there?”
Both of them heard him jump slightly. He raised his voice unnecessarily to respond, “Y-yeah, Jirou, just a second!”
Jirou didn't move, but with each passing second, she felt her stomach drop even more than she thought possible. She glanced at Shouji, who was only starting to crack, but the steady rise in his heart rate betrayed the truth. She hated putting herself in this position as much as he did, it seemed.
After the small eternity of fifteen seconds, Midoriya opened the door and stopped in the doorway upon the sight of a nervous pair of classmates. The expression looked at home on Jirou, but Shouji lacked some of his usual stoicism. Concerned, he hesitantly asked, “Jirou? Shouji?”
Jirou tried for eye contact and failed quickly, looking at the door handle instead. “Can we talk in private, real quick? In your room?”
Midoriya’s expression furled lightly. “Are you sure? I mean if you wanna hang out or something—”
Shouji cut in to spare everyone. “We heard your conversation.”
Midoriya froze in place instantly, fear filling his eyes.
Jirou took a deep breath and continued. “It happens with quirks like ours, occasionally. We won't tell anyone, but we need to talk to you.”
“I d-don’t think that's a good idea—”
The door frame quickly filled in with Shouji’s imposing form, but the concern in his eyes rang true. “Midoriya, please.”
The boy's mouth clicked shut. He was still afraid and it showed.
“Do you trust us, like you said?”
He nodded mutely. After a split second, he breathed out shakily, “With my life.”
Jirou smiled at him nervously. “Good to know that goes both ways, then. Let's talk real quick before dinner.”
Midoriya wordlessly opened the door to his room and they walked in, unprepared for the truth. Jirou sat on his mattress, and Shouji leaned against the wall, both trying to exude a calm they didn't have.
“So, what exactly did you hear?” Midoriya sat down at his desk, ramrod stiff and mind racing to remember the contents of the conversation he just had with his idol.
Jirou tried to straighten the rapid fire questions running through her mind before responding, “Your previous injuries are related to something called One For All, which is the cause of the weird things happening with your quirk. That's something that All Might is supposed to know about, but I guess no one else? There was a bit about ‘other holders’ that we didn't understand at all.” Jirou breathed in before she continued, “You think this knowledge could get us killed, despite your trust in us.” She stopped and asked, “Does anyone know your secret?”
“Yes, but the list is very short. At UA, only All Might, Nedzu, Recovery Girl, and Bakugou know right now. And you can't tell anyone about this.”
Shouji hummed in understanding with one mouth before speaking with another. “Not your parents?”
Pain flashed across Midoriya's face. “Parent. And, no, I haven't told her.”
Jirou nodded solemnly. “Sorry.” She wasn't about to pass judgment on the boy. Not wanting to toe around the issue anymore, Shouji bluntly asked, “What is One For All?”
Midoriya closed his eyes before steeling himself with confidence. “It's my quirk.”
“Wait, that's it? That's not some dark secret—”
“All Might gave it to me.”
Jirou’s mind stopped in its tracks. That didn't make any sense. Similarly, Shouji also went still as the night, trying to process what Midoriya just implied. She tried to come up with an intelligent response, but all that left her mouth was, “...What?”
Midoriya struggled to reword the sentence. “It's a stockpile quirk, passed from person to person, gaining strength along the way. All Might was the eighth user. I'm the ninth.”
Jirou couldn't think. The concept just didn't exist to her before Midoriya came along and took a sledgehammer to her idea of quirks. It took her awhile to recenter, but eventually she adjusted enough to say, “Wow. Okay.”
“Wait, that's it?”
Jirou waved him off. Shouji attempted to explain, “I… think we’re still processing. When did you get it?”
“...the day of the entrance exam?”
She blanched, “Oh god , really?” but didn't press any further. She rewound her mental film of last year, as Midoriya looked on anxiously. She thought about his broken figure after the USJ attack. “Huh.” And the Sports Festival. “Huh.”
Midoriya's anxiety shot through the roof with each sound, each little judgment coming from the girl sitting on his bed. She glanced at him and couldn’t find it in herself to do away with the concerned look worrying her features.
Having the exact same problem, Shouji’s eyes softened in what he hoped didn’t look like pity. “Is that why you broke so many bones?”
He just put his head in his hands and nodded miserably.
Jirou rolled her eyes amiably and reached over to pat his shoulders as he wallowed. “There, there.” At that moment, looking around at the All Might memorabilia scattered around the room, another question hit her dome like a baseball. “So the black whip things are someone else's quirk? One of the other holders?”
After recollecting himself, he nodded again. “ My quirk, now. The floating, too. It never happened with All Might, so both of us are in the dark about these… uh. Recent developments.”
Something itched at the back of Shouji’s mind. “So, what was your quirk before All Might came along?”
Midoriya’s look of fear returned in a heartbeat, staring Shouji straight in the eyes. Shouji was about to backpedal and apologize for overstepping, but Midoriya put up a hand and asked, “Please don't think less of me.”
Jirou squinted at him, confused. After a beat, she asked, “Why would we do that? You're one of the top students in our class and you've earned every ounce of our respect.” Shouji nodded quickly to help Jirou prove her point, but Midoriya was visibly fighting off some unconscious trembling. About a half a minute went by as he looked like he was fighting himself the whole time.
“I didn’t have one,” he forced out.
Oh. Jirou knew enough about the world to know what that meant. Sorry wasn't the word here. She said instead, “That must have been tough, going through school.” She reached and clapped him on the shoulder to grab his attention before he spiraled. “If anyone tries to start some shit, I have your back, okay?”
“J-Jirou, no!”
“Jirou, yes.”
Shouji piped in, “Jirou, yes, Shouji, yes.”
Jirou whipped around with a wicked smile. “ Shouji, yes. ”
Midoriya whined, “Jirou, Shouji, please .”
She huffed a laugh at his light embarrassment. “Alright, Midoriya. Moment of truth.”
“Hm?”
“It’s your secret, and it’s safe with us.” Jirou gestured between herself and Shouji, who nodded firmly at the promise. “It’s up to you if you want to tell the rest of the class. Do you think you will?”
Shouji pitched in, “It might be a mess, but you should tell Aizawa at some point. We can back you up, if you would like.”
Midoriya grimaced, torn at the thought of it. “Just knowing about the abilities of One For All is incredibly dangerous. It's kept as a close secret to protect people. The ability to pass quirks down is… if villains found a way to do it, if All For One found a way to repeat that,” Midoriya frowned, “heroes might not be able to win that fight, ever. You see what One For All is doing to me, and what All For One did to himself and the Noumus. I'm terrified of that becoming the norm, somehow.”
After Kamino, they understood. The villains they've already fought were evil to the bone, and any leverage against them was a tool for victory.
But, keeping this secret was obviously taking a toll on Midoriya. Even over the course of this conversation, minus some points of contention, he seemed to have lightened up a little bit, like a load was taken off his shoulders.
She simply responded, “In a single conversation, you already look like you're getting an entire weight rack off your chest.”
Midoriya cracked a smile at that. “Thank you, you two.”
Shouji calmly interjected. “So. Do you trust them?”
It always came down to trust. If they were going to protect Japan together, then they should be all in. Together.
“Yeah, I do.”
Midoriya took a deep breath through his nose, and let it out, stealing himself to tell his secret.
“I don’t think I can do it all at once. I should talk to All Might, so he can help me talk to Aizawa. Everyone else… the most I could handle at a time would be four, I think. Uraraka, Iida, Asui, and Todoroki should be first, I owe them that much.”
Midoriya looked to Jirou. “Then from there, you can help me talk to Yaoyorozu, Kouda, Tokoyami, and Shinsou.” Then, to Shouji, “You can help me with Hagakure, Ojiro, Satou, and Aoyama after that.” He rubbed his eyes and finished, “And then I can end strong with Kaminari, Ashido, Kirishima and Sero.”
Jirou snorted, “What, is Bakugou going to help you with that?”
Midoriya’s stare back at her had too many emotions to count and she didn’t want any part of that. “That’s the plan, at least.” A thought hit Midoriya with a shock. “I should… tell All Might what I'm planning.”
Jirou finally stood. “Midoriya?”
“Hm?”
“If you’re up to it, you should think about telling your mom.”
Midoriya stared at her, his mind visibly running at mach speed. He started to get teary, and in a flash, crossed the room to shock Jirou with a surprise hug. “Thank you, Jirou. I'll… I'll do that. Shouji, get over here.”
Jirou took a few seconds to return the hug. Shouji came from the side and engulfed the two of them in a gentle yet firm hug with all six arms. From inside, Midoriya mumbled, “Oh my god, no wonder he’s the hug champion.”
Jirou let out a bark of laughter. “Call me Kyouka. You've cried on my shoulder, so you deserve that much.”
“You didn’t cry on my shoulder, but you can still call me Mezou, if you’d like.” Midoriya’s watery chuckle was the perfect response.
“Y-you two can call me Izuku, if t-that's the case.” He let go and sniffled, offering her a wobbly smile as he reached for a tissue. “Sorry, I cry a lot.”
She got up and started for the door. “We know. All the same, Izuku. Let's go get some chow before it vanishes.”
He fired off some quick texts before shoving his phone into his pocket and shooting a much softer, more confident smile at his two new confidants. “Right behind you.”