Chapter Text
"You're jealous of me." Izuku says dumbly, the observation falling from his mouth like a tray of dropped food, and filling him with a likewise embarrassment and vague horror. The emotional equivalent of tripping over his own feet and having to pick mashed potatoes out of his hair.
"What?" Shinsou hissed, drawing back defensively, voice blanker then it had been in weeks, even though he'd been making so much progress on getting him to let his walls down and shit, this was really not his cutest moment.
"Uh- nothing." Izuku shook his head, taking his own defensive step back and eyeing the exit with a degree of longing. He didn't have anything to do for a few hours- him and Shinsou had booked out the afternoon for training- and if anyone saw him by himself before then, there might be questions because he'd been embarrassingly excited for the 1-on-1 training with his newest friend. Running away and hoping Shinsou forgot would have to be a last resort.
"Nothing?" Hitoshi asked, disbelief crystal clear and a lilt of danger lacing his tone. Izuku nodded a little pathetically.
"Sorry?" He offered, because even if Hitoshi obviously heard him, he wasn't going to repeat his slip of tongue.
It was just- it had been such a shock to see, to even think about, something he hadn't considered. It was like listening to Hitoshi's monologue during the sports festival and realizing several months too late that it wasn't his struggle to claim anymore.
Realizing for the first time that accepting One for All meant losing something, too.
A fog settled over his brain, distancing his mind from his body, and he wasn't surprised. He didn't try to fight it, even though he was distantly wary of what Shinsou would do. He- he probably wouldn't hurt Izuku, at the very least because it would free Izuku from his quirk, and as far as he could tell Hitoshi couldn't get verbal responses with his quirk. He thinks, logically, the worst Shinsou would do is just....leave him there for a while, which would suck, but he's had worse. He'd be fine.
Shinsou, on the other hand, did look surprised, which was a little confusing. It was his quirk, why would he be surprised? Unless it was a lot easier to accidentally use then Izuku had thought, and Shinsou just had stellar quirk control.
(That...wasn't unlikely, actually. It's hard to find studies on because of how ambiguous the subject matter is but, at least in Izuku's experience, the people with 'villainous' quirks had some of the best quirk control he'd ever seen, even at risk of harming themselves. Kacchan was an outlier, obviously, because he's Kacchan. Of course he has good quirk control.)
Still, Shinsou was staring at him like a deer in headlights, or maybe like someone who stumbled across a dead body.
"Fuck." He whispered with feeling, almost too quiet for Izuku to hear, and he snapped back into control of his body, no worse for wear. His limbs still felt a bit numb, and he absently did a few stretches to fix that. And also to give Shinsou a few seconds to collect himself, because Izuku doubted he'd appreciate being seen in his strangely panicked state. Izuku sure wouldn't, at least.
He turned back when he was done, and Hitoshi's expression seemed to have frozen in place. Maybe ignorance was a....miscalculation.
"Are you okay?" Izuku asks, when he squinted at Hitoshi, because his eyes were starting to go a little cloudy and distant. Could he use his quirk on himself? Izuku was pretty sure he hadn't- he hadn't asked or answered a question- but the hypothetical made itself cozy in Izuku's brain, and he knew he'd add it to the pile of 'questions to ask Shinsou once he finally agrees to quirk training'.
If he agrees to quirk training now, Izuku realized, because he was well aware he fucked up, but still not quite sure how much.
"Am- you're asking if I'm ok." Hitoshi said, in that voice that was so completely, perfectly flat that Izuku was sure it was practiced, which was a bit worrying. But still- he responded, which was honestly a little better then expected. Izuku gave an apologetic smile and nodded.
"Yeah! you look pretty freaked out, uh, no offense." He laughed, scratching his teeth. Hitoshi seemed to stare through him, but seemed much more present then a moment ago, and Izuku cleared his throat. "So. Are you okay?" He repeated, a little more insistently. "Do you need something to eat? You look a bit faint. I have protein bars."
"Of course you have protein bars." Shinsou scoffed, rolling his eyes, then froze in surprise again. He shook it off quicker this time, though, and seemed to settle back into his usual self with a suspicious glare. "I just used my quirk on you. I should probably be the one asking if you're okay." He pointed out, and then proceeded to do no such thing.
Izuku stared with confused anticipation. Shinsou raised an eyebrow. Izuku tilted his head.
"Was that...your way of asking?" He guessed, fidgeting with his fingers. Shinsou just kept staring, and Izuku carefully took it as confirmation. "I'm- yeah, I'm fine. Why....wouldn't I be? It's not like your quirk hurts, or anything. Just makes me kinda numb and tingly for a bit." He admitted, cracking his knuckles. it hurt more then it should, with how mangled his hands were now, but old habits died hard. "Hey, you might be able to use that as a hero. Make someone's mind float for a few minutes and then drop them back into their body- people might think you have a disorientation quirk, instead of a brainwashing one."
"I- what?" Shinsou froze, shaking his head kind of like he was trying to get water out of his ear. "Shit, I mean- I used my quirk on you. The....You could get me expelled for that. Using my quirk against you without your permission. Because it's villainous and illegal." His voice was still that strange too-careful blankness, but it was also wobbling a bit. Carefully, Izuku caught his eyes, and he still looked scared, but there was something more resigned.
(Something like stepping off a roof and waiting though the fall. Something like standing up to a monster, again and again, and knowing eventually you'll have to stay down.
Something tired, but still angry, and familiar in all the worst ways because Izuku wasn't allowed to understand that, anymore. One of UA's most promising, perfectly quirked students shouldn't shouldn't be able to rattle off statistics like a particularly morbid databook, shouldn't know that spite tastes like dirt, blood, tears, and rabid hope.
All Might's successor had no right to look at someone like Shinsou and see a mirror, and they definitely shouldn't have such an ugly anger that boils at the thought.)
"Shinsou-kun," Izuku said slowly, blinking away his distasteful thoughts with practiced ease, "I wouldn't report you just for using your quirk, especially since you didn't use it to do anything. Whats the point in reporting something like this?" He asked, genuine confusion coloring his tone.
Hitoshi made a sound that Izuku could only describe as a whine, but flinched back again when Izuku instinctively moved forward to help, and wow he wished Aizawa-sensei was here, even if Izuku would get in trouble for being insensetive. "Using your quirk on someone without their consent," Hitoshi said slowly, like he was dumb, and it made something in his chest buzz before he shoved it down, "Is illegal. I broke the law. As a hero in training. Why....It doesn't make much sense, not to report me."
Izuku shrugged, letting out a yawn. "Don't...worry about it, I guess? Kacchan hasn't been expelled yet, and people have watched him use his quirk on my unprompted. And Kacchan's done much worse."
Very carefully, he didn't let his hand fall to his shoulder, or the small of his back, or half a dozen other scars. Much worse indeed- Explosion hurt.
"I mean, maybe, but he's your rival or something, right? It's different." He points out, like it's only logical.
(Rival. The word bounced around his head like a pebble dropped down a shoot of ice, ringing almost painfully in his head. Rival. Rival. It barely sounded like a word, anymore. Rival.)
"Yeah." Izuku nodded, swallowing an ugly laugh, almost choking on it. "Something like that. But the point stands; they can't logically go after you unless they go after Kacchan first."
And there's no chance they'll go after Kacchan. was left hanging unsaid in the air, because they both knew it was true. Izuku knew better then anyone that it was.
Hitoshi's eyes flashed with surprise, but he did finally relax, a bit. Izuku optimistically decided that was a win, and risked a comforting smile. It wasn't returned, but that was fine.
"Teachers are hypocrites." Hitoshi pointed out, hyper-vigilance still present, but relaxed, softened by befuddlement. Probably because Izuku was taking this all in stride.
(Mostly, he was just glad Shinsou's attention had shifted away from the original comment. Izuku really didn't have a satisfying explanation to give Shinsou.)
"Yeah." Izuku acquiesced immediately, because it was true, "But Aizawa isn't. And even if he is, quirk discrimination isn't an accusation UA would want to deal with, especially with all the bad press they've gotten lately."
Hitoshi stared at him like, perhaps, he had started speaking another language, and Izuku grimaced, heart-rate picking up a bit.
It was...maybe, admittedly, a little suspicious, that he was reacting like he was. That he was accepting, arguably erring closer to understanding then sympathetic, not at all like someone with a supposedly Heroic Quirk and privilaged upbringing would. But it couldn't be that bad, right? Compassionate person existed- maybe not for the quirkless, but at least for those with 'unconventional' quirks. They had charities and activist groups and stuff.
"Okay." Shinsou says slowly, flatly, like the word got tangled in his mouth. He looked a bit like he had walked into the twilight zone or something and wasn't sure how to leave politely. "But you....still won't tell anyone. Please."
"Sure, sure." He shrugged, easily enough. "No reason to, right? Water under the bridge." Izuku tried to pop his knuckles again. It didn't work. "So, uh. Sparring?" He prompted hopefully, checking the clock. They still had plenty of time, and Izuku really wanted to get Hitoshi to spar with the capture scarf thing from Aizawa-sensei.
Shinsou gave a considering hum, but he still looked jittery, so he probably needed an outlet for the risidual panic.
Izuku isn't surprised in the slighest when Shinsou darts forward for a strike, and lets the familiar mental blanket of fight or flight settle loosely around him- loosely, so he remembered this was a friendly spar, not a villain or a kidnapper or an enemy.
They're both sore and panting a few hours later. Izuku offers Shinsou a bottle of water and a granola bar, and neither of them say anything on the way back to the dorms.