Chapter Text
They’d been tracking him for a while now.
The GPS Endeavor gave them was monumental to their task of finding him.
If it weren’t for the circumstances, they’d honestly be impressed at the speed with which Midoriya Izuku jetted across cities. Okay, maybe they still were. There would be the occasional moment where he’d stick around an area for a small amount of time before resuming his seemingly endless patrol. And that was where it got concerning.
While the class as a whole was ready and waiting to get out there and bring home their classmate, they also agreed that not all of them had the ability to travel such a great distance at the speed needed to intercept him. It is upon that agreement that they decided to bunker down and prepare for a moment when he was much closer.
Though it made them a bit restless and antsy, his distance wasn’t what concerned them currently. It had been a few days since they obtained the GPS and set up shifts for watching it to make sure they caught the most opportune moment. And the small dot that represented Midoriya Izuku had not stopped moving for more than 15 minutes at a time. Even then, as many classmates noted, those brief periods of idleness were becoming increasingly sparse, and yet, the dot continued on, barely losing any momentum in its unending search.
From what they had heard, he’d been like this before as well. Again, they couldn’t help but be slightly impressed hearing about the heroic actions of one of their own classmates. But, that pride was heavily tainted by grief and shock once they heard more.
Apparently, he’d been confronted by an assassin employed by All for One. The former hero, known as Lady Nagant. And despite a few injuries from narrow misses of her bullets, he’d managed to come out victorious. However, what made the news so horrific was that after he had finally managed to get her to stop fighting — after breaking her quirk’s gun barrel, mind you — she blew up. With hindsight, it seems obvious that the employment of a former hero by All for One would come with an extremely dangerous and likely crippling catch, it seems that catch took shape in the form of a supposed contractual self destruction quirk in case a deal happened to fall through. Beyond that, all the class had heard about the Assassin was that she managed to survive the explosion and was receiving care at Central Hospital. Despite their individual reservations because of her initial attack on their classmate, everyone agreed that it was a cruel thing to go through and hoped she’d manage to make it through.
But that thought brings them all back to the main issue. Midoriya Izuku, bleeding heart he is, was not taking it well from what they could tell. Endeavor had reported to Nezu that the green-haired teenager seemed to stew in cold fury and immediately made plans to head to the location. Additionally, despite each of the heroes with him saying he should take a break to heal his injuries, they barely managed to get him to compromise and merely delay it, though he refused to halt his patrolling.
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It was Uraraka’s turn to keep watch of the GPS. She was one of the most active members of the class when it came to her turns at monitoring Midoriya’s routes. The shifts were divided into groups that each student could volunteer into mostly freely, the only caveat being they couldn’t volunteer so much as to impact their ability to rest or relax. Uraraka had put herself into almost every group she could without breaking the rule, her eagerness matched only by Todoroki and Iida. She’d been the one to suggest they bring their concerns about Midoriya to Nezu in the first place and had carried that zealousness into her shifts, being the one most actively keeping an eye on the GPS and rarely spending much time doing anything besides training and sleeping.
So it was with great surprise and trepid excitement that she called out for the whole class to gather as she began to relay Midoriya’s current position and likely path considering his recent trends. He was making his way to Hosu methodically and his path would lead him to pass through, if not near, Kamino. By the estimations of the more academically inclined students, considering his fairly zigzag pattern, they’d be able to beat him there and just maybe he’d stop once he noticed them. Though it went without saying they weren’t entirely against getting his attention with less passive methods if needed, the majority of the class also agreed that it’d get their concerns across better if they didn’t have to be aggressive.
With a basic plan for getting to Kamino and confronting him ready, they went to Nezu for permission to leave, suited up, and began their journey.
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With the assistance of the fastest students, Uraraka removing the rest’s gravity, and a little bit of hope and determination, all 19 students had managed to gather at Kamino.
A quick check of the GPS let them know they’d made it with time to spare. With that extra time, the class lightly dispersed to take in the newly repaired Kamino. It felt like just yesterday they were watching All Might take on his ultimate nemesis and finally retire, but today they’re out here to help the boy who became his successor. Despite seeing the repair efforts on the news before the war, most of the students hadn’t truly absorbed the fact that the area was no longer a destroyed mess until now. So, as they waited for Midoriya to approach, they just drank in their surroundings.
The sky was mildly cloudy but the limited sunlight still gleamed dimly off the monument to All Might, the monument that had been mildly vandalized. A large sign hooked around the statue’s neck boldly stating “I am NOT here!” in a deep shade of red. Knowing what they do now, about All Might’s time limit, his nemesis’ plans, Shigaraki’s evolution into an even bigger threat, and, most of all, his successor, the sign was both infuriating and disappointing. Kirishima took the lead in going to remove it with statements of “That’s not manly at all.” But before anyone could take many steps toward its removal, Uraraka called out an update on Midoriya’s location.
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“Guys, he’s close!” Her yell immediately called everyone’s attention. She’d been the one to bring the GPS after all.
“Can you tell which way he’s coming from?” Todoroki had stayed near her and was one of the fastest at attention.
Ochako looked up briefly from the GPS taking note of the buildings nearby, “It looks like… Over there!” At that, every student quickly swiveled to face the direction she pointed. Shoji quickly shifted some of his appendages into eyes, and near immediately took note of a small but familiar shape quickly approaching in the distance.
“I think I see him!” The shape rapidly grew in size and familiarity until even its unique lightning flashes were visible to the naked eye. It became obvious as the shape began to slow down that he had noticed them as well. All eyes drawn to him as he approached, Deku floated down and gave the class their first look at him since he left UA.
“Deku…” Ochako was speechless.
“Midoriya…” Todoroki and Iida shared her sentiment.
None of the students realized the state he had left in till now. Many realized upon looking at him he was still wearing his costume from before he was in the hospital. None could ascertain which of the multitudes of cuts and tears were from which battles, besides the ones on the torn material wrapped tightly around his arms, they’d never seen that in his costume before now. The dark, blueish green of his costume has faded to a much more dreary slight green almost gray color. His respirator is showing signs of war and the once proud bunny ear-like protrusions on the top of his mask are now shredded and their edges flow freely in the wind. His iron soles were dented and gnarled from heavy use and lack of repair. Additionally, the dirty yellow scarf-like cape he wore around his neck was new, though Todoroki did mention an old hero who had apparently assisted in the fight against Shigaraki before Deku injured himself. The man had the injury by the time Todoroki arrived but Ochako can’t imagine what that hero must have meant to Deku if he was wearing his cape.
“Why…” Deku’s voice was quiet, yet rough, almost like his throat was dry. He sounded terrible. “Why are you here?” Ochako was shaken by the question once she took a moment to process it, and that seemed to be the case for everyone there. How could he ask something like that? Wasn’t the answer obvious? Ochako steeled herself and spoke up.
“We were worried about you.”
He was silent for a moment, the mask of his costume hiding any thoughts or feelings he may have. His hands were the only thing to betray what he was thinking, he was, perhaps unconsciously, repeatedly clenching and relaxing his fists. After a few more moments of silence, he spoke up.
“You shouldn’t worry about me. I’m fine…” Deku trailed off part way through before saying something quiet enough that Ochako barely picked up on it, but she could tell her more sensory oriented classmates managed to catch it just fine if the look in Shoji’s eyes and on Jirou’s face said anything. “I’m not worth your worry.”
Ochako’s thoughts stalled, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Yet, just as quickly as they stopped, they started up once again, words blurring together as questions formed in her mind. Not worth their worry? What could he mean by that? Why would Deku even think that? What could he have experienced out here to make him ask that?
Though before she could fully commit to asking even one of them, she was silenced by the first words Bakugo had spoken since they all arrived.
“Deku, wh-”
“Well, well, if it isn’t the mighty successor of One for All! The great hero, Deku !”
Ochako’s lips were pressed into a thin line. When she’d seen Bakugo angrily join the class in discussing the happenings and whereabouts of Deku and the heroes after reading the letters All Might had supposedly dropped off, she’d conceded that he made good enough points for her to initially ignore his attitude and tearing up of Deku’s letter.
Now though, after seeing Deku’s state of being and hearing his apparent thoughts on their worry for him, Ochako felt she – and a few of Deku’s other close friends – made a mistake glossing over it at the time. And it seemed like Iida agreed with her, judging by his response to Bakugo’s words.
“Bakugo, I do not believe it is in our best interests to be sarcastic and mocking if we wish to convey our worries properly.”
“Didn’t you hear him Four-eyes? He said he’s fine, so there’s nothing to worry about in the first place. Clearly .”
“Even so, I just…”
Ochako tuned them out and took another look at Deku. When he arrived, his posture was already tense, and when she said they were worried his hands had been clenching and relaxing. Now, his fists were fairly tightly gripped and his shoulders seemed even more tense than before. He seemed… angry. Had Bakugo’s words done that? She did think Bakugo was being a bit harsh, but they’d all heard much worse and much more direct insults from him. She already knew from Endeavor and Nezu that Izuku wasn’t taking what happened to Nagant well, but what could possibly be going through his head right now? Before she could even try and guess, Iida finally conceded to Bakugo’s abrasiveness.
“All right , Bakugo! I can see you think you know best when it comes to Midoriya, so I will not interfere if that’s what you want.”
“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses, Glasses! And I don’t think, I know so! I know this All Might wannabe like the back of my hand! Especially if he wants to insist he’s ‘just fine.’”
“I am fine. Just get away and go back to UA. Just… Please leave.” Deku had spoken up again and despite his extremely tense body language, he sounded desperate.
“Why don’t you make us?!” Bakugo was upping the ante, his aggressiveness making everyone feel a little less sure of themselves and what their silence was condoning.
Ochako was keeping an eye on Deku, watching his body language morph and twist with what she assumed was rage, rage at Bakugo for what he was saying, rage at his own supposed powerlessness, rage at their attempt to stop him in his attempt to protect them. She thought it spoke to Deku’s kind nature and heavy restraint that he held up so well despite all the visual signs of anger shown on him. Despite her observations, she failed to notice that his trembling was slowly loosening his frayed mask, something she only came to notice once Bakugo made what would be looked back on as a crucial mistake.
Besides their travel and arrival in Kamino, no one had used their quirks since they arrived. Even Deku deactivated Full Cowling once he landed. The only sounds nearby were the blowing wind and shuffling of feet and clothes from the students, until now. Deku had been silent after Bakugo’s last provocation, so he followed up with another, but punctuating with his quirk this time as if warming up for a battle only he expected.
“Come on! Not even gonna respond?! Now that you have the power of a big shot, are we all just extras to you?!” His palms sparked to life with a small boom, barely enough to be called an explosion. To the rest of the class, Deku however…
Instantly, their surroundings were drenched with the familiar scent of ozone in the air, though that was barely a distraction compared to the monolith of dark energy tendrils that screamed to life towards Bakugo, practically engulfing him from his shoulders to his ankles. Despite the sudden and somewhat fierce initial grip, the tendrils refrained from squeezing or wrapping too tightly, as if the user was attempting to gently cradle and carry the person inside its eventual energy cocoon. Now recovered from the initial shock, Blackwhip , Ochako remembered, continued expanding in response to Bakugo’s continued struggling, jerking ever so slightly every time he tried to use his quirk through its grip on his hands. Beyond that, everyone, despite being in combat ready positions, also recognized the lack of true danger and told Bakugo his entrapment was only going to get worse the more he struggled in it.
Ochako, however, took the moment of reprieve to glance at Deku, only to notice his mask had been knocked off by the tendrils emanating from him. His face revealed, she could make out all the scratches, cuts, and other injuries littering his face. He had bags under his eyes and long tear streaks trailing down to his chin making her realize his earlier trembling was not in anger but because he was crying. Perhaps he was more emotionally vulnerable than that secondhand retelling of his recent battle made him out to be. His face was almost completely blank as he stared at Bakugo’s hands, but she could see the way his pupils were dilated and his brow was twitching.
Crossing the small distance that separated him from the rest of the class, Ochako reached out for Deku’s shoulder opposite his outstretched arm covered in Blackwhip’s inky energy tendrils.
“Deku, it’s alri-”
His right side explodes in another shower of tendrils even more numerous than the last and Ochako freezes as she watches in slow motion as the numerous inky masses approach her. The rest of the class is just far away enough and slow enough to react that they can’t do anything to help besides call out her name.
Ochako’s life almost flashes before her eyes, only for the tendrils to freeze, writhe lightly, and Deku to speak up.
“Uraraka…!” He stares at her for a bit before looking around and taking in everyone’s positions: Bakugo still tied up, half the class ready to jump for Ochako, Iida mid step halfway to her, Todoroki’s right half iced over, and all the other students still reeling from shock. Immediately, he retracts all the tendrils, gingerly placing Bakugo on the ground and taking multiple steps away from Ochako.
“I… I’m so sorry…” Deku chokes out an apology in a voice that makes Ochako’s eyes tear up from how vulnerable it sounded. He sounded like he was barely holding back from sobbing. Once he retrieves his mask from where it was dropped, he stares down at it in his hands before covering his eyes with his arm. Ochako watches as his chest heaves and he takes a deep breath before his head rises and he starts to step away.
Ochako tries to stop him, she understands how bad this has gone but doesn’t know what they’ll do if she lets him leave, “Deku, you-”
He cut her off, “No, it’s fine.” His voice was no longer trembling like it was mere moments ago, and when he turned around his mask was back up and she couldn't read him at all. His eyes said nothing, his body language was back to how it was when he arrived, and he was still slowly stepping away from her. She couldn’t think of anything to say to keep him there and he was only continuously widening the distance. She was at a loss for what to do.
“Midoriya.” Todoroki addressed him, managing to stop him from taking any more steps. “You don’t have to do this. Burning yourself out on some self-isolating path of revenge or duty.”
Deku stared at him for what felt like minutes before responding, “Thank you, Todoroki, Uraraka, everyone. But really, it’s fine. I’m fine, you shouldn’t worry about me.” His tone was somewhat jovial, like he was attempting to make them forget about what they’d witnessed barely 5 minutes ago. At that, he turned around and muttered something only Jirou managed to pick up on.
“This is all Deku’s useful for anyway.”
Without another word, he flared up his quirk and took off, sailing over blocks worth of buildings before anyone could corroborate an effort to stop him.
Ochako was frustrated and disappointed. Which she assumed was shared among all of her classmates, frustration with their ineffective efforts, disappointment in their inability to help their friend. And it is with that heavy frustration that they drag themselves back to UA, even the most upbeat and chipper of the students silent with the weight of their collective failure. Those who never spoke up felt as if their lack of a contribution aided directly in the class's failure, while those who tried to talk Deku down felt their efforts were futile, that they simply lacked the information and understanding to reach him. None more so than his close friends, who, with nothing more than an exchange of glances, vowed to rectify their mistakes.
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Once they arrived at UA and had gathered once again in the common rooms, Jirou, fueled by her silence-induced guilt, told them the last thing Midoriya said before leaving.
She could see and hear the effect his words had on the class, bringing down their mood even more than before, with a few outliers. Ochako seemed to be reconsidering her life choices when it came to having Midoriya make Deku a nickname between the two of them. Iida’s face showed nothing but sorrow for their friend's troubles. Todoroki… was staring Bakugo down like his existence offended him. And Bakugo himself… his heartbeat was through the roof! His was already weird with its quirk-induced highs and lows, but it was currently beyond even that. He was actively avoiding making eye contact with Todoroki, so the half-cold half-hot user had to have also noticed something about his reaction to Midoriya’s words.
It was only a matter of time when his ice cold voice would cut through all the conversation occurring in the common room.
“Bakugo.”