Chapter Text
It wasn’t common for the problem child to show up to class late, doubly so when his friends all claimed that he wasn’t sick and was up early as ever that morning. Eraser tried not to think too much into it as class began though, any number of things could have happened and he would make sure Midoriya explained it to him when he showed up.
Of course right as he was finally getting that out of mind and getting into teaching that morning, the door to the classroom opened up and in walked the problem child… With bandages wrapped around his head.
“Woah, what happened to you dude?” Kaminari asked before Aizawa had a chance
The green haired boy looked over to the blonde and shrugged noncommittally, “Villain attack when I was at the store this morning”
“Dude, you have the worst luck” Jiro sighed and Eraser silently agreed
“Are you feeling ok Deku?” Uraraka was of course immediately worried by the bandages around his head
“My head hurts a lot and I got hit by a really annoying quirk but otherwise I’m feeling fine” as soon as he finished his sentence he grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose
“And what quirk is that?” the teacher asked without a hint of emotion in his voice
“A truth telling quirk, he had used it on the cashier to get all the information he needed while his partner had a simple strength enhancing quirk” Midoriya answer matter-of-factly while walking over to take his seat, “Apparently it should last about a week and during that time I physically cannot lie nor can I stop myself from answering questions directed at me”
Eraser sighed, his head in his hand, “I see… then for the time being you’re not to leave the dorms after class lets out, at least until this quirk wears off, if someone from the league were to try and question you we could be in serious trouble”
The green haired boy frowned, an immediate look of dread filled his eyes as he quickly scanned over his classmates before nodding, “I understand sir…”
It was a bit of an interesting reaction, but Aizawa couldn’t really blame him, being incapable of lying sounds quite literally like his own worst nightmare and he was sure even someone like Midoriya had to have things he’d rather not share with anyone…
The rest of class that day went by in a rather frustrating fashion, Midoriya physically could not stop himself from answering any question directed at the class. Luckily Aizawa had apparently notified the teacher’s of what had happened so for the most part the teacher’s just brushed off his shouted answers.
By the time the last bell had rang he just wanted to collapse into his dorm and pass out, maybe stay asleep for the next week straight just to get out of this. But before he could even get out of his seat his usual group of friends had approached his desk, Iida, Uraraka, Tsu, and Todoroki to be specific.
“How are you feeling?” Iida was the first to ask, Midoriya could immediately feel his voice going without his control… it was a really awful feeling
“Not great” he answered with a sigh
“You never did specify where the head injury came from… did the truth telling quirk hurt you?” the icyhot boy asked next in his usual monotone voice
“No, I moved in on the truth telling guy first but was a bit too distracted taking care of him and the other guy slammed the cash register over my head… apparently the truth telling guy activated his quirk on me while I was getting back up” in all actuality it wasn’t the worst injury he had ever had, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt a lot
“You did capture them, right? Ribbit” Tsu asked with her finger poking at her own lip
“Yes, I knocked them both out not too long after I got back up” he finally got up out of his desk and swung his bag over his shoulder
“Are there any questions we should make sure no one asks you?” Uraraka was the next to ask a question
“...don’t ask about my quirk or anything about middle school” he reflexively answered, grimacing again and shutting his eyes to avoid seeing their reactions
So long as I avoid those two topics it should be alright…
“You know… a truth telling quirk would be a perfect sidekick for me one day… considering it forces you to answer questions” Shinso walked up to the group next with an uneven grin
Shinso didn’t always join their group, but Midoriya was making progress on befriending the boy so his presence certainly made him happy.
“That’s true! You’d be able to brainwash anyone with ease!” it was almost weird speaking without the quirk forcing him to at this point
“And don’t worry Deku, we’ll make sure no one asks you those questions!” Uraraka gave him a serious look, he was a bit worried she’d attack people who tried to ask those sorts of questions, but it was relieving to see how seriously his friends were taking this
“I appreciate it” he smiled at his friends and started to walk back to the dorms with them, maybe this won’t be so bad…
It was two hours later when Deku found himself sitting in the common room relaxing with some of his classmates, namely Uraraka, Iida, Tsu, Todoroki, Ashido, Kirishima, Kaminari and Bakugo. He had almost let himself forget a bit about the quirk he was affected by, but of course he couldn’t forget it for long…
“Midoriya!” Ashido suddenly yelled out of nowhere, a deep mischievous grin on her face, “Who do you have a crush on?”
“What?!” Uraraka screamed immediately, her face completely cherry red
“I don’t actually know, I’m awful at reading my own feelings and emotions” he impulsively answered as his own face started to practically glow red, though with that answer he let out a sigh of relief
“Seriously?” his pink skinned classmate groaned
“Ashido! that is a most inappropriate question to ask a classmate!” Iida immediately scolded, karate chopping the air as he usually did
“Figures that damn nerd wouldn’t even know, how useless are you?” Bakugo scoffed, it was obviously a rhetorical question but…
“Completely useless, though you know this better than anyone Bakugo” Midoriya’s eyes went open wide as those words came out of him, he slapped a hand over his mouth but it didn’t stop the muffled words from pouring out, “I’m well aware of my many weaknesses, I’m helpless, whiny, overly emotional, annoying, mutter constantly, terrible at most things, and don’t even come close to having what it takes to be a hero and I don’t know how I haven’t been expelled yet…”
The room fell deathly silent at that, everyone looked at him as if he had just grown a second head, even Bakugo looked a bit stunned by that.
“Dude…” Kaminari eloquently stated
“Is that actually what you think, Midoriya?” Todoroki had a strange look in his eye… one that the green head couldn’t really figure out
“It’s not just what I think, it’s what I know to be true” he screwed his eyes shut tight, releasing the hand from over his mouth since it was quite literally useless in stopping the words…
“How could you even think that? You’re like… one of the three strongest students in our class, man!” Kirishima clenched his fists, passionately trying to encourage him
“Power can only get me so far when everything else about me is awful, my personality, my appearance, my voice, everything” he groaned and curled up with his legs hugged against his chest, burying his face into his arms, “Stop asking questions, please…”
“We’re not just going to leave you to suffer with those thoughts about yourself Deku!” Uraraka grabbed his arm tight, she was clearly upset, “You’re amazing!”
“Yes! She’s right, you are an exemplary hero student!” Iida sounded different than normal, a hint of… worry? Was in his tone
“I-I’m working on it…” he mumbled, “I see Hound Dog every week actually but… it’s hard t-to stop those thoughts…”
The room at least seemed to relax a little thanks to that information.
“Well at least you’re getting help, ribbit” Tsu plainly stated
“And if you ever need to talk, know that we’re always here to listen!” the brunette girl still seemed pretty upset but was at least a bit more calm
He raised his head with a half hearted but genuine smile, nodding at the girl, “Thanks…”
Thankfully the conversation moved to a completely different topic after that, he was glad that at least his classmates were willing to drop it after seeing how uncomfortable he looked. He couldn’t help but feel a little bad though, Bakugo seemed to be stunned for the rest of the evening, he hardly talked much at all as a matter of fact…
Midoriya foolishly hoped that would be the last awful circumstance like that this week…
Little did he know what the girls had been planning, or more specifically, what Ashido had been planning. The following day after class he found himself in the common area again with Todoroki and Shinso when all of the girls in the class came down to sit around as well.
“I feel like we’ve just been ambushed” Shinso deadpanned
“An ambush? You think our classmates intend on attacking us?” the half and half boy gave the purple haired boy a genuinely confused look
“God you’re dense” the brainwashing boy shook his head in disbelief
“Uh… what’s up?” Midoriya asked to the girls
“Well, we’ve been thinking about what happened yesterday” the pink haired girl started, Deku immediately tensed up in response, “I know you said you’re seeing Hound Dog for it but like… I can’t understand how you think all that stuff about yourself!”
“I-I appreciate the thought but i-it’s under control” he raised his hands as if to ward them off
“Mina is rather insistent that we at least help you feel a bit better about at least one aspect of what you said yesterday” Yaoyorozu calmly explained, “Which would be the appearance category”
“Th-that’s not necessary!” he could feel his face blushing rather harshly right off the bat
“Wait, what's this about your appearance?” the purple haired boy cocked his head at him
“They’re talking about the fact that I’m well aware of how hideous I am” Midoriya could feel all the eyes on him right away as he curled back into a ball just like the day prior, hiding his face away
“I don’t understand, you don’t look particularly bad Midoriya” Todoroki said in as monotone of a tone as ever
“Seriously! You’re waaayyy too hard on yourself!” Hagakure enthusiastically agreed
“I never thought you of all people would have such low self esteem…” Shinso sounded completely caught off guard
“Yeah! It caught me totally off guard! Midori, you’re a seriously cute guy!” Ashido tried
“Hm… what is it about your appearance that you find so hideous?” Yaoyorozu was the one to ask that dreaded question
More than before he tried to resist the quirk, he tried to hold it in, he dug into his lip with his teeth and tensed his entire body in on itself. The longer he went without answering though the more pain began to spread through his brain, seemingly the quirk had a backlash for trying to resist… His lower lip fully started bleeding when the words began to pour out…
“Pretty much everything, I look overwhelmingly plain and despite being on the shorter side, which I like, my build isn’t exactly what I would want. My shoulders, legs, hips, and…” he tried to stop himself again, but it was completely in vain, “uh… m-my lower area … a-are the least attractive parts of me…”
Even with his head buried in his arms he knew everyone else felt just a bit awkward at the final area mentioned but unfortunately he wasn’t done speaking yet.
“Not to mention all of my scars, my hands are big and messed up and gross and I have so many burn scars all over my shoulders and back and I really wish I could wear my hero costume all day so I wouldn’t have to see any of my body” every single one of his muscles was incredibly tense, it felt like he had just gotten out of a fight where he used a bit too much of One of All…
“To be honest I don’t know why Mina insisted on bringing this up,” Jiro said with a sigh, getting a few confused looks from the others, “I mean… it’s pretty clear that Midoriya’s feelings can’t just be fixed with some nice words, even though none of us think he’s ugly I certainly don’t know how to get him to believe it”
“True, but reassuring him is better than nothing, right?” Uraraka tried
“Not if we’re the ones to bring this all up, he could have been just fine before we barged in” as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Jiro was completely correct, he was pretty good at ignoring his negative feelings until he was alone in his room at night and could break down
“Aww man… I messed it up again?” Ashido sounded completely crushed by that
Of course that made Midoriya look back up, his lower lip pretty red from the blood, “It’s alright Ashido… I really do appreciate the thought, to be honest the other insecurities have improved since starting at UA and talking with Hound Dog and having actual friends but… the appearance stuff just gets worse, all the time…”
“What you said yesterday was an improvement?” the brunette girl looked completely devastated by that
“Y-yes… my self hatred before coming here was… at least according to Hound Dog, incredibly dangerous…” he flinched at his own words, “C-can we please drop this though?”
There was a tense silence for a few moments after that, he really worried that his friends weren’t going to let the topic be dropped there. They’re going to think less of me aren’t they? It makes sense, they can finally see how weak and pathetic I am, now they’ll hate me just like everyone else, it’s what I deser-
Much to his surprise, Shinso was the first to speak after that, nudging him with his elbow, “So I’m curious Midoriya, about that combat training we had today, you got any advice or thoughts on how my match went?”
The green haired boy’s eyes lit up with excitement at that, almost instantly delving into an incredibly in depth conversation about the class’s quirks and match ups and skills. Some of the others still looked a bit uneasy after that conversation but they all understood, there wasn’t much they could do to help him at the moment… But it was nice to see him excited and rambling if nothing else…
It was definitely a skirt night for him that evening, he felt terrible from discussing his insecurities in front of everyone. He knew wearing a skirt in his room, with the door locked of course, would make him feel at least a little better… Even if it still led him ultimately to shame… He always felt like a pervert after the fact, like that Mineta kid that got expelled on the third day of school.
A part of him wondered if he should bring up these weird feelings to Hound Dog but honestly? They had enough to work through together as it was, what with his self hatred, endless trauma from bullying, and the general stress of his arms being in a damn near chronic state of pain. Plus what if he wants to lock me up… aren’t I just a freak for wanting to be… he tried to shake it out of mind, logically he had at least some level of understanding about these sorts of feelings… He could very clearly remember hearing about Tiger transitioning into a man years ago.
But for Tiger it made sense, he was always a guy… I’m not actually a girl, I’m just a pervert… He scowled at himself, the wave of guilt and disgust quickly overtaking any other emotion he felt. In a quick move he flung the skirt off of him, not even having the energy to put it away in it’s locked box under his bed with the rest of his girl clothes. He unlocked his door before he just collapsed uselessly into bed, not even thinking about the skirt laying in the middle of his room… There’s just a few more days until this stupid quirk wears off… then I don’t have to worry about anyone finding out about anything, then it’s back to normal… I can make it through my years here just fine… I just need to make sure no one sees me being a freak…