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The day begins as most weekends tend to.
With varying amounts of enthusiasm and energy, the students of 1-A get up. Some rise with the sun, others before, but most long after. Early risers cluster together, traipsing down from their rooms in duos and trios. Most crowd into the lift, still too half-asleep to make sure they press the correct button on the control panel.
A foreboding sense of dread blankets over them as it creeps slowly down to the ground floor. No one mentions it, so the only noise other than the lift descending is the shuffle of slippers on plasticky flooring.
With a single ding, the lift jolts to a stop and a quarter of the class stumbles out. It’s with small nods, smiles and waves that they greet those using the stairs, letting quiet conversation fill the silence of the early morning. They seem to share the unease.
Like clockwork, people fall into order.
Yaoyorozu steers Ashido — still stumbling over her blanket cape — into the kitchen, gently tugging her away from potential hazards as they reach the tea station. She grumbles but complies, falling into the routine of picking out teabags and mugs and the copious amounts of sugar some people seem to put in their drinks. It’s as easy as breathing, even if she doesn’t do it often, and it serves as a good opportunity for Yaoyorozu to fill the electric kettle using the tap.
Half-asleep as they are, neither girl notices that the initial bubbles of the water pressure don’t go away after flicking the lid closed.
Yaoyorozu clicks the kettle into place, flipping the switch on and taking over to let Ashido shuffle away and collapse bonelessly against the sofa in the common room.
Stifling a yawn behind her hand, Yaoyorozu perches against the counter, her back turned to the bubbling appliance and the slow curling of the steam. She says a muffled hello as Ojiro collects two of his chilled water bottles from the fridge, tossing one alongside a carton of apple juice behind him.
Tokoyami goes to catch, but Dark Shadow swoops into their path, snatching her juice with a too-loud chirp of glee. Both boys wince at the volume, though it’s Tokoyami who scolds her for her volume as the trio go to join Ashido in relaxing.
By the time they get there, the kettle is just clicking off, the rolling boil of the water settling back down to a gentle bubble. Dark Shadow cheers good mornings as she zooms around the room, before squeezing herself (and by extension a flustered Tokoyami) next to Ashido under her blanket. Only one of the bird-like duo apologises, and it isn’t Dark Shadow. Ashido doesn’t mind, really.
Kaminari comes downstairs, trailing just behind Kirishima getting scruffed by Bakugou, just in time for Yaoyorozu to bring out the first tray of hot drinks. He scurries away from the arguing boys to help her out, narrowly avoiding a dodgy swing of Bakugou’s arm that went wide.
The chatter increases as more people enter the common room, then decreases as their drinks become cool enough to drink. There’s silence for a blissful few seconds, only broken by the slurping of teas and coffees, before someone pipes up with an affronted glare at their drink.
“This tea tastes like shit.” Bakugou, predictably, is the first one to point it out.
No one replies, but no one drinks. Well, Dark Shadow keeps drinking, but then she runs out of juice and has to resort to making obnoxious noises with a straw full of air.
“Y’know, I did think something was kinda off,” Kaminari speaks up next, placing his drink on the coffee table with a sharp clack and pushing it away with his foot. He doesn’t even use a coaster. Iida looks halfway to a hand chop at the disrespect, but Kaminari carefully avoids looking his way. Ignorance is bliss, or whatever. “Glad it’s not just a me thing, ha!”
Bakugou looks tempted to throw his mostly full mug at his friend, the ceramic creaking in his hands. He opens his mouth to retort, already leaning halfway out of his chair, when Midoriya butts in.
“A-actually,” his tone has people all turning to face him, even the irate Bakugou — his teeth still bared threateningly — and the dismayed Yaoyorozu, tearing her attention away from where she was staring into the warm bubbling amber of her teacup like it held all the answers of the universe, except they were all wrong answers.
“I-I don’t think it’s t-the tea that’s, umm, bad!” A chorus of blinking eyes give Midoriya their attention, and he straightens his back slightly before averting his gaze. “It- is anyone e-else’s drink bubbling?”
Outrage sweeps across the common room, and Mineta (late to the party) just barely doesn’t manage a dodge to the side when Hagakure hurls her drink like it’s a bomb. The water is still hot, but not quite enough to burn. He falls to the floor and wails anyway, effectively silencing the rest of the class.
Hagakure looks unapologetic, or at least as unapologetic as one can get while having no visible facial features.
The volume starts to creep up again once Yaoyorozu begrudgingly makes sure her small classmate isn’t too injured, but it snaps back to nothing when one of the overhead speakers squeals to life. Breathes held, everyone leans in as Nedzu’s — far too chipper for this time in the morning — voice echoes around the entire floor.
“Greetings, students!” A pause, as if he’s awaiting a response. Aoyama waves dazzlingly at the security camera just below the speaker, taking another sip from his carbonated milky tea. Jirou gags in the background at his audacity.
“And a good morning to you as well, Aoyama-kun! Well, children, I suppose you may be wondering about the, ah, shall we say quality of your water?”
Several nods, some so enthusiastic they’re almost audible.
“I have good news, as well as bad! I shall share the bad news first-” Nedzu keeps speaking, ignoring the loud groaning coming from his captive audience and going on with an audible chitter in his tone. He’s happy about this, somehow, and Bakugou bites a pillow to keep his temper in check.
Nedzu explains the ‘accident’ in excruciatingly little detail. Leaving hints like breadcrumbs as to who’s responsible in between long-winded proclamations that put even Midoriya almost back to sleep.
Someone managed to use their Quirk, one that changes the state of their — only 1-A’s dorm, of course — water for up to forty-eight hours. Monoma becomes a classwide enemy, almost instantaneously, because who else would do such a thing to them?
Somewhere in the neighbouring dorm building, a blue-grey-eyed blond-haired boy sneezes so hard he drops a book flat on his face.
For two entire days, all of the mains water connected to their dorms will be carbonated. The only viable solution, according to the already revenge-scheming group in the far corner, is to completely swap over the pipes for the A and B buildings, dooming their sister class to a fizzy fate instead of them. Kaminari and Ashido are the ringleaders, hyping each other up with frantic nodding and high fives.
With no dramatically timed entrance from their grouchy homeroom teacher to save them, Asui makes uncomfortably intense eye contact with Iida and Yaoyorozu. There will be no saving grace, they must save themselves.
Kirishima starts to dart out of the front doors, arms already hardened into a shovel-like shape and ready to start drilling into the cold hard dirt hiding the water supply. Asui’s tongue lashes out like a lasso, dragging him back to the huddle. Not on her watch, she thinks, already tired of dealing with him. He has the wherewithal to look sheepish, at least. Small victories, when dealing with a class of overpowered toddlers.
The day passes easily, with people fanning into two main groups.
Those vehemently against the sparkling water, who drink smoothies and fruit juices and protein shakes (all with bottled water or water substitutes). This group makes signs and prepares revenge pranks, shaking up bottles of paint and glitter glue to chuck at Monoma’s balcony, filling up glasses of tap water just to pour it out down the drain or into the dirt outside.
And then those who accept it. This group embraces the bubbles, making fruit teas into a new experience and arguing the joys of water that tastes like television static. They make revenge pranks as well, but they also spike their opposing team’s drinks with fizz and cackle as they wail.
That is, until one common foe unites them.
Midoriya, who was one of the few smart enough to leave the dorms and get his water from somewhere un-contaminated, walks back from one of the gyms. A silly prank won’t be enough to stop him from getting his workout in, and so it wasn’t.
Sticky with sweat and tired from exercise, he side-steps the chaos of an imminent brewing prank war and makes himself a sandwich to eat. It’s a simple sandwich, packed with enough protein-rich filling that he struggles to properly take a bite. Perfect for an after-gym energy booster. He reaches for a glass of water, then calls out to ask for some of Iida’s orange juice at the last second.
Juice and sandwich in hand, he traipses up to his room, placing his meal on his desk and happily approaching his small en-suite bathroom.
The shower turns on, steaming hot in an instant. Midoriya steps under the spray with zero hesitation, already humming the theme to his favourite All Might TV show Mighty Heroes: Unite!
The bubbles hit his skin.
He sobs.