Archive of Our Own

Takes place after my other MHA one shot! (Bakugo May Be an Asshole, But He’s a Protective Asshole)

—

DAY ONE

Considering all that had happened to class 1-A during even their first week of classes, it was no surprise to many teachers that they were the ones hit by a child’s truth quirk.

Technically it was more of a secret quirk than a truth quirk but it still fell under that umbrella like term.

For the quirk in itself was pretty simple, it more so shared a few secrets before stopping its effects and would quietly wear off. Two or three “secrets” of whoever was hit would eventually be shared like dirty laundry kept in the back of a closet. Forgotten until days after laundry day and even more dirty by the dust bunnies housed with it in the corner of the dank and dreary space.

What was the surprise of the day would be the fact that the entire class was hit by the quirk during the one day they were all gone to the local market together. (A “team bonding exercise" that Sero and Kaminari convinced Iida was a good idea. Some students went more begrudgingly than others. Example: Bakugou. Others were more than happy to go. Example: Ashido.) 

The class as a whole — sort of, more so a majority vote — decided that they would figure out a plan on how to handle this situation together in the common room. Aizawa had left them to it. (His parting words; “You are all hero students, I trust you to be responsible, well at least some of you, and figure out your own plan. Think of it as a training exercise.” Some speculated he was just too tired to deal with the usual class 1-A shenanigans that usually occurred. After all he did work most nights on patrol as well as teaching. Aizawa was a very busy man, indeed. On that everyone could easily agree. With those words of his though, Iida and Yaoyoroza had immediately jumped into action wrangling everyone together to make a plan. Aizawa had quickly left with a nod, his bright yellow sleeping bag also disappearing with him, suspiciously.)

When everyone had gotten comfortable, pillows and blankets strewn out and about as if it was one of their movie nights, Iida had begun speaking, Yayoroza pulling a big white board out of nowhere with brightly colored dry erase markers in hand. (A suspicious amount of shades in hand, she seemed almost frantic, organizing everything, Iida let her be for the moment. She looked like she needed it with the way she was re-erasing the already starkly clean white board.)

Iida cleared his throat.

”Alright class, this meeting has been called in order for all of us to come up with a plan on how to handle this quirk we were all hit with.” He paused for a moment and he could have sworn he heard someone whisper out a coughed; “no shit.” It was Bakugou. Iida promptly ignored it and continued on. This was not the time for antics or getting sidetracked. He continued to speak, voice smooth and relaxed. Displaying a confidence he did not actually feel. “Because while the quirk was physically harmless for the most part, it could affect everyone psychologically.” He paused to take in a deep breath, exhaling it through pursed lips, satisfied with his small speech. Everyone (literally everyone, it took twenty minutes for everyone to be wrangled into the common room, but it did in fact happen.) 

“This quirk,” Iida continues, standing tall in front of the television as everyone else sits around him, various looks of boredom or interest on their faces. “makes us tell two secrets before wearing off. Now, since we all, as a group, were hit, it won’t wear off until the last person shares their last secret. Which means this isn’t time based and we must not treat this situation lightly. It is harmless besides the blurting out of our thoughts, but still. Aizawa-Sensei took our phones to make sure we don’t accidentally let slip what happened and/or a secret to someone that isn’t in this room. Momo-sama and I will now use this white board—“ He gestured to the board that seemed to move closer to him, Momo anxiously playing with the cap of one of her fancy markers. “— to come up with the best strategy to deal with this quirk we encountered.”

“Geez, Iida, you’re acting like we're rushing into a battle,” Kaminari murmured with mirth from where he sat leaning against Kirishima’s legs who sat on one of the couches. The blonde held a pillow against his chest, knuckled white and vibrating slightly against the fabric.

”In a way we are if you think about it,” The boy standing explained. “A battle in our brains. This will not be easy for any of us and sensitive information will be heard unprompted. We must all respect each other through this time.”

Momo quickly turned to the whiteboard, ponytail swishing behind her in her haste, and wrote down in big, neat, lettering; “RESPECT.”

Sero let out a whistle under his breath, eyebrows raised. “Wow, Iida. You’re pretty organized for the occasion.”

”Thank you Sero-San, I was taught at a young age to be prepared for anything. I am the new face of Engenium after all.” His eyes flickered down for a moment, lips downturns before his head snapped up. A melancholic moment that passed like clouds gliding by in the sky. “Now, any suggestions?”

Midoriya raised his hand slightly, iida nodded to him as if he was calling on the green haired boy in class. “Yes, Midoriya-San?”

”I believe that respect is a very important comment and that we should also note to respect people’s boundaries if they don’t want to share more. Or if they need to share more based on the nature of this quirk, they confide in people that they trust or something.” He paused, hand rubbing the back of his neck after he finally lowered it. Eyes downcast, similar to Iida’s a moment prior. “I don't know… it was just a thought.”

This thought process seemed acceptable and Momo promptly pulled out a bright blue marker, marking something else on the board.

Other people shared, the conversation flowing as they set out some rules.

If someone was uncomfortable they should bring it up. They would stay in the common room at night unless someone truly wasn’t fine with it (Bakugou grumbled but eventually conceded to this). There would be a buddy system in place because while the quirk was supposedly harmless, it was better to be safe than sorry. The board was effortlessly color coded and covered in all of the thoughts. Some neatly circled based off of importance. When the conversation seemed to reach a lull, Iida wavered a bit.

”Alright, I believe this will be good for now, if anyone has any other ideas, please bring them forward to either I or Momo-sama. I believe that a movie night is in order by request?”

People murmured agreements, some shuffling about to get ready in the privacy of their dorm rooms.

“Before everyone leaves, any questions, comments, or concerns?”

Todoroki turned towards Iida. “I do?”

”Yes?”

The heterochromic man nodded slightly, head bowed a bit as he continued to stand up. “Why did you have that look on your face earlier?”

”What face?” Iida titled his head slightly, arms crossed in a way that could almost be considered defensive if you didn’t know the man.

”When you were talking about Eugenium, you had a face.”

”oh.”

”What was that about?”

”Todoroki-san I don’t think you should—“

”It’s fine Midoriya.” A look of contemplative news laid heavy on Iida’s face. His eyes peered past the faces of his classmates. “I sometimes wonder if I’m good enough to step up now that my brother can no longer carry the Eugenium name. I am glad for the opportunity and all that I can do as a hero, but sometimes I fear that I am doing it all wrong and that I will, in the end, fail as my brother’s successor.” His eyes stayed slightly glazed over, pondering his ability as a hero. A common concordance for everyone in the class.

“I can understand that, Tenya-San.” Midoriya’s voice was far away sounding, lost in the whirlwind of his thoughts as he piped up, almost as if he didn’t mean too.

“How?” 

“You see, I’m the successor of All Might.”

 “…What?”

The class immediately erupted into gaffers and disbelieving noises besides a select few. Bakugou sighed and pinched the bridge of his noise, angry muttering ensuing, following the lines of “fucking Deku” and “This nerd can’t keep a secret for the life of him.”

After a moment of surprised chaos, Hagakure’s voice broke through the tide. “Yeah, Midoriya, some of us knew that already, you talk pretty loudly.”

The boy in question let out an indignant squeak at the admission. “What?”

”It’s true,” Jirou’s voice piped for the first time that night. She had been oddly silent, curled up resting against Shinso’s arm. She lifted her head slightly from the spot. “Some of us already knew.”

”How?”

”Well…” The girl trailed off slightly, voice fading into the background as she turned to Shoji. “Sorry dude, I think it’s time we share one of our own secrets.”

Shoji just quirked a brow at that. Hagakure seemed to almost protest, spluttering noises coming from where she sat, the sleeves of her shirt frantically waving up and down before she stopped after a moment of hesitation, heeding to Jirou.

Jirou continued, a hand coming up to fiddle with the earphone jack attached to her ear. A nervous tick, if you will. She rested her head back against Shinso’s upper shoulder. “You see, I, Shoji, Hagakure, and Koda have a group chat for gossip that we hear. It’s called ‘Hear no Evil, See No Evil.” It’s mainly for gossip we hear, or I guess in Koda’s case, animals hear, and then we report to each other our findings. It’s a way for us to unwind I guess. Most of it is pretty lighthearted, like crushes and embarrassing moments, but on occasion it gets heavier…” Her voice dies out once more. Midoriya gapes at her.

”Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

The girl shrugged. “It wasn’t our secret to tell.”

The boy seemed seconds away from launching himself at her. Either to hug her or strangle her, no one could tell. His mouth was slightly open in disbelief, face reddening more by the second. A look between relief and constipation crossing his face for a moment before returning to a more neutral look.

“I mean what did you expect? Sometimes in the morning I just walk around naked so no one talks to me.” Hagakure promptly gasped as the other members of the class in the common room watched as the cloth of her shirt rose. They assumed she had an expression of comically wide eyes and gaping lips, her hands covering her open mouth. They all stared at her blankly. “Fuck, I didn’t mean to say that. I hate this quirk. Now people know.”

Bakugou snorted slightly. (It was more of a scoff, but it was surprising the usually explosive boy was being so quiet.)

”I do something when I don’t want to talk to people too, Kero.”

Everyone turned to Asui, curious.

”I understand that, Hagakure, Kero, I’m not always up to interact with people in the morning or at night when I get overwhelmed. I got a special device for my A/C unit from Hatsume. I can use it to hibernate safely sometimes when I don’t want people to bother me. It comes into use a lot when people are too noisy, Kero.”

”But… Why do you get overwhelmed, Tsu? You could just tell us to leave you alone for a while.” Mina popped up, head perched on Kirishima's spiky red hair somehow in a way that didn’t seem uncomfortable.

”I know, but sometimes it’s hard for me to state that and it’s easier if I just go to my room and decompress. I’m Autistic, kero.”

”o-oh,” Midoriya stuttered out, green eyes blown wide. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

The girl in question shrugged. “I don’t mind people knowing, kero. I just don’t go around telling people. I don’t see the point, some people understand it and some people don’t. It changes nothing about me, I am who I am, kero.”

Everyone paused for a moment after that. A silence blanketing the growing tension in the room.

Iida, after a moment, clapped his hands and cleared his throats. “Right, we will now respect those who had to share a private thought and not ask questions.” His arm rose to his signature 90 degree angle, getting ready to start chopping. “It is too early for us to sleep, so how about we do something instead that will not require us to admit things.” A tinge of red seemed to appear on his ears, Todoroki this time seemed to have the decency to not comment on him and his face.

Getting the whole class to play board games was surprisingly easier than some students thought, even Bakugou conceded to watching, sitting next to Kirishima who had enthusiastically decided to play. Shoto had never played video games before (another secret shared in the tranquility that erupted after the brief heaviness.) but knows his brother loves them and had decided to be taught by Sero and Kaminari on how to play Mario Kart. Yayorozu and Iida also had never played. (Apparently monopoly was banned in Iida’s house because of his brother, some had laughed at his admittance. People respected him after the quiet thought escaped his lips, not questioning him or the bittersweet that seemed to creep in before being promptly shoved away. Iida was surprisingly expressive with his facial expressions it seemed. And someone promptly pulled out the board game so some students of class 1-A could play.)

The last secret shared that night was tokoyami’s own. Apparently he still slept with nightlight because of Dark Shadow and the dark. No one questioned that either, especially not after he had let out a surprised clicking sound with his beak from the admittance. Seemingly surprised at how easily the words slipped past.

In the calmness of the night, everyone eventually went to bed, curling up against another. Leeching off of body heat and safety. In the morning, Iida had even shut off some of the early risers’ alarms to let others sleep soundly. When they entered class in the morning, Aizawa noted the ghost of smiles on some of the students lips and the rising tension in others.

—

DAY TWO

The next night, unsurprisingly to many, Mina suggested to play Never Have I Ever. (“Come on~ it’s like another bonding exercise for us! We can keep it lighthearted, obviously, but I think it would. Be good to build some trust.”)

Everyone tries to keep it lighthearted, after all the heavy atmosphere from the night before had not disappeared yet. The questions were simple. Easy. Nothing to write home about, to the point it was almost boring to many. Of course, no one would complain, the night before had been filled with a lot of gut wrenching excitement that no one was privy to repeating. Words shedded like curling snakeskin. Dry and botched with patches of crooked scales, secrets spilled in a way that left those who had unintentionally shared feeling raw. An unfamiliar feeling for many since they had not shared thoughts similar to those previously.

The first secret that was shared, thankfully, was on the lighthearted side. The sharing began like this:

Chattering laughter filled the common room, a better atmosphere filling the air compared to the night before. Filled with youthful joy, no signs of the dark that hid in the shadows with crippled hands to be seen. It was Ochacho’s turn, her words thoughtfully light as they left her lips with a small giggle, fingers held up splaying eight upright. (So far she had been one of the ones winning the game, many people were targeting others but she decided against that strategy.)

“Okay, okay,” she let out another giggle after the previous round. “Never have I ever played a prank and gotten away with it.”

There was a hackling uproar at her words. A few — Sero and Kaminari especially — lightly complained with smirks on their lips of how that was unfair to the ranks of “pranking masters” among them. Bakugou promptly shut them up with firm smacks to the back of their heads. The only two to lower a finger were Aoyama and Sato. The uproar began again.

”WHAT?!” Kaminari practically guffawed himself out of his seat, the couch cushion lifting with his body and slipping down before Kirishima easily lifted him back to his previous spot without batting an eye. “How? Please please please please please please tell me the pranks oh ‘Masters of this art.’ I am your humble servant, please teach me the ways.” That earned him another cuff to the ear. He yelped and promptly almost fell out of his seat once more.

”Yeah, what Denki said, it’s super manly that you two were able to get away with a prank!” Kirishima butted in, sharp teeth blinding and on display in his excitement.

Sato looked slightly bashful, a little red coloring his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck. Aoyama looked smug, seeming to model in his seat for a moment at Kaminari’s outburst.

”I am willing to tell my tale,” Aoyama said, capturing his audience fully in all of his glory as he seemed to thrive with the attention, a mischievous smile leaping onto his face. He leaned forward in his seat as if he was telling a deep secret, a few, indulging his antics, leaned forward as well towards him.

”About a month ago, I had gone to the support course for some changes with my gear, I wanted to have something made that was bright and flashy like moi.” — he flourished a hand towards himself before continuing. — “Hatsume and I came up with the idea of glitter bombs, I did not have the time to try them with her since we had an exam soon after she finished making them for me. So, as one does, I used it in the boy’s restroom here after school.” He paused for a moment and before he could keep telling his tale, Kaminari squeaked from his place.

”You’re telling me you were the one that set off that glitter bomb? Everyone thought it was me even though I denied it. I would never take credit for another artist’s work!”

Aoyoma nodded. “I decided it was better to let you take the blame, after all who would think it was me?” The smug grin was back on his face as he continued to bask in the radiating heat created by all of the eyes on him. “I gave my report to Hatsume on how well they worked and I’m having them fixed again, the explosion it caused was quite… grand.”

Sero let out a bark of laughter. “You got that right! Bakugou was coughing up that glitter for a full two days!”

The boy in question grumbled under his breath something unintelligible to everyone but Kirishima who simply smiled and patted his arm amused. Everyone else continued to laugh and share other times they mysteriously found glitter following the incident in weird places. Eventually there was a small lull in the conversation and the attention turned to Sato instead.

”Sato?” Ochacko called out. “What was your prank?”

The boy in question seemed to hesitate and wince at the questions, slightly sheepish. “I sort of… put laxatives in some cupcakes I made and meant for them to reach Shoji but Uraraka had them instead. I never mentioned it and you never brought it up so… yeah.”

There was a moment of silence before the whole room —- besides Ochacko who sat with wide eyes and a gaping jaw — launched into a ruckus of laughter and shouting once more.

Sato, calling over the noise, spoke to Ururaka once more. “I am so so sorry, they were meant for Shoji.” To his surprise, the girl seemed to snap out of her stupor and begin laughing too, her cheeks shading red from embarrassment, but over all she seemed amused.

”Don’t worry about it, Sato, shit happens.” Sato’s shoulders slumped a little in relief at her words. “It just means I have to get you back at some point.” Sato’s shoulders pitched up higher than they were before and he tried to subtly scoot farther away from the girl even though they sat nowhere near each other. Ururaka sent him a sickly sweet smile and he made a mental note to sleep with one eye open for the foreseeable future.

Everyone seemed to be off track from the game for a bit as many joked around about different pranks they had pulled since the beginning of the school year, varying from socks going missing to buckets of water falling from doorways to incidents that ended up with classmates running late to homeroom.

Eventually, Iida called them all back in order to continue the game. This time the question falls from — surprisingly — Todoroki.

He had raised a delicate (but deadly, let's be honest) hand into the air and everyone immediately stopped talking. He rarely spoke to everyone as a whole or participated in a game without quiet fascination, so the fact he felt compelled to speak was something worth stopping for.

“Never have I ever dyed my hair.”

A few people guffawed at his statement.

“Ha! Yeah right! Can’t believe you’re trying to convince us that your hair is natural like that half-and-half.” Bakugou’s head was tilted back, eyes closed, facing the ceiling. Kirishima had somehow ended up with his head in the explosive teen’s lap, a pale hand from the blond sat delicately in red locks.

Todoroki titled his head to the side. He blinked. “It is natural.”

This caused an info dump by Midoriya about how quirks can mutate in ways that are a reflection of the quirk on someone’s appearance using Todoroki’s hair as an example. Ochacko gently directed him back on track. His slightly pink cheeks puffed up slightly in embarrassment, a hand reaching to rub at the back of his neck.

”Well, I for one have dyed my hair. Quite often actually.” Kirishima spoke up, a hand raised in the air with a few fingers down. There was a quiet murmur at that.

”So it is safe to assume red is not your natural hair color?” Iida asked from his corner.

”Nope,” The other boy replied, popping the ‘p’ sound obnoxiously, Bakugou’s hold on his hair tightened slightly at the sound. “In middle school I wanted to rebrand, I didn't like how I looked or how I acted so I decided to change my hair as a reminder of who I wanted to be, evidently I was inspired by Crimson Riot. I was weak in middle school, and I still am now, but not the same way. I mean, I guess I still am the same kind of weak but i try not to think about it too often. Not that it stops me from thinking like that all the time. The red hair is a reminder of who my strength is inspired from, while also a reminder of who I used to be…” Kirishima quickly trailed off, lip pulled between sharp teeth in a painful looking grip for his jaw. His eyes slowly peeled open, glancing around at the faces of his classmates whose expressions were varying from shock to understanding to worry. He let out a little awkward chuckle, lip escaping from its entrapment, he sat up, putting a little distance between everyone and himself, pulling his knees to his chest. “I didn't mean to say that.” His eyes flickered around once more then seemed to resolutely gravitate to the ground.

There was a moment of silence, something that seemed to have become common since the whole group got his with that kid’s quirk the day prior.

Mina shuffled form her spot towards Kirishima, reaching out a delicate, well manicured hand and placing it softly but firmly on Kirishima's arm that was hooked around his legs. “Ei, you’re not weak. I knew you then, not well, but I still knew of you, and I never viewed you as weak.”

”But I was.” Came the quiet reply, Kirishima’s eyes locked onto Mina’s fingers which began lightly scratching against his skin, splaying across the grooved texture that was left behind from his quirk.

”You were not then and you are not now. I’m not a lair. I would never lie to you.”

After a moment the red head looked up and met Mina’s earnest eyes. A blanket of unshed tears draped across the expanse of his irises. Mina squeezed his arm lightly before turning back to the group. A teetering smile placed haphazardly across her face.

”Alright next question!”

”Wait aren’t we going to ask what he meant by that—“ someone’s voice chimed in.

”No.” Mina’s voice was sharp and resolute, a tone she rarely used. (So rarely used the only ones to ever hear it were the idiots a part of the Bakusquad.) Everyone almost stared at her, incredibly surprised. “Kirishima evidently doesn’t want to talk about it now and I doubt he would want to talk about it to all of you, he can choose when he speaks of this at his own time and to whoever he deems fit. He deserves that much, besides, if I remember correctly we all agreed we wouldn’t push. Ever.” There was another moment of silence before a few people nodded, heads bobbing in the sea of students. Mina’s grin came back more genuine. “So, next question. Never have I ever heard some insane tea and not spilled it.”

A few people protested at this stating Mina was a known gossip. (Read: Kaminari and surprisingly Jirou the most vocal.) 

The fingers that were put down were as follows: Jirou and everyone a part of the gossiping group chat — Koda the most sheepish who stated his bunny heard a lot of stuff whenever people asked to pet her — and Asui.

The green haired girl quickly prompted the next question. “Never have I ever met a celebrity, and the heros that work at UA don’t count, kero.”

”Do parent’s count?” Jirou’s voice chimed in boredom. She was looking at her chipped black nail polish as if it were the most interesting thing on the planet, similar to Kirishima’s face minutes earlier. She seemed to grit out the next words through a tightly clenched jaw, those with enhanced hearing could hear her molars squeaking and grinding against each other. “My parents are A-list musicians.”

The waves of an uproar began again. Shouting and squirming classmates whipping around to face the usually quiet girl who sat still with a slightly smug look on her face. Head tilted slightly, fingers messing with one of her ear jacks, and lips slightly queried in amusement. When it calmed down slightly again to muffled shuffling and quiet murmurs the girl spoke again.

”I haven’t spoken too much about my parents besides the fact they’re musicians because I’ve had people in the past use me as a way to get to know them. Like they only started talking to me or became friends with me because they wanted to meet my parents. And there is a lot of comparison that gets involved of my ability with instruments and their own…” she trailed off, face heating up slightly. “Fuck that’s so wierd, it’s like you can’t stop talking about it until you share something deep that’s connected to it. What the fuck. I did not like that, I prefer my privacy and being emotionally inept.”

Mina and Ururaka shifted closer to the dark haired girl who was steadily looking at everyone. (It was easy to tell she was nervous but she had an air of confidence about her that was almost believable and probably would have passed if the words that had just spewed past her reluctant lips weren’t so heartbreakingly sad.)

“No one here would do that.” Mina chimed. (Throughout this whole thing she has been surprisingly mature, a gentle and sure prescience for those who have had to share so far. In this moment for Jirou, the girl gravely appreciated it.)

”I know.” Jirou’s words were not convincing.

”Do you?” Uruaka’s head tilted to the side slightly. “Is that why you keep us all at arm's length? I noticed that habit of yours and I'm sure others have as well, but while you talk to everyone… you don’t let anyone close. You’re sort of just… there.” Ururaka’s face scrunched up, attempting to form words in the way she meant and not in a way that could be taken out of context or misinterpreted. “Like, you hang out with those in the bakusquad when they ask you to, and you go with little fuss, but you don’t let them get to know you and you do the same thing with me and everyone else. I don’t know, I just noticed it a while back and thought it was just that you weren’t as easily trusting or it was because you’re an introvert but now it seems like that isn’t the case. Is it?”

”No, it’s not. Yes I’m an introvert and I'm content just watching… but I learned early on to not share too much or I can get used by some people.” 

“We would never use you.” Ururaka’s words held finality in them and that was that, the game continued.

Jirou, considering the secret she had to share was pretty serious like Kirishima’s, asked the next question as a reward for her vulnerability. As it turns out, not surprisingly though, she was an only child and her question was ‘never have I ever had a sibling.’

Hanta was an older sibling and helped take care of most when he goes home (He seemed to hint on the fact that his parents were neglectful but it was evident that no one — especially him — wanted to elaborate and open that can of worms yet. He had the truth pulled from him and everyone respected his redirecting of the conversation away from it.) Ururaka was also an older sibling to two younger kids. Asui had a few really young sisters and an older brother.

Most surprisingly of all was Tokoyami’s answer.

”To some I am an only child, but technically I am not.”

”How so, Tokoyami-san?” Yaoyoroza’s voice chimed in, her voice lightly carrying across the sitting space.

”You see, on the eve that I was first formed and my mother found out about me… I wasn’t the only one in her womb. I was a twin. I still consider myself a twin even now, for my sibling is still with me, just… differently.” The boy paused, hands clasped in front of him, head bowed and the cresting feathers there high with anxiety. “Dark Shadow is my twin, I had.. absorbed… her early on in the pregnancy and, somehow, we became one in the way that we are now.”

There was a prolonged moment of silence at this secret that was brought forth, Dark Shadow careening around Tokoyami as if to protect him. Her translucent edges a minor, but comforting, shield from his classmates' intense gazes.

”It was a surprise when she manifested, it caused a lot of complications for me at school. I was relentlessly teased because of her dark presence. People fear what they don’t understand after all, and I’m… pretty hard to understand.”

After it was evident that the boy was done talking, Midoriya slowly approached him. Hands reaching out to take Tokoyami’s own.

”I understand, Tokoyami-San.”

And with those three words, a tale began spilling from Midoriya’s lips, hands tightening against the other boy’s as the words seemed to be wrenched from the bottom of Midoriya’s soul. Teeth gritting and eyes tight shut the story was woven of two boys. Two boys who were best friends who wanted to open a hero agency together but never occurred because one developed a quirk and another did not. A story filled with permanent markers that scrawled obscenities onto desktops, spider Lilies, broken skin and many tears. Everyone listened, enraptured as Midoriya recounted his past, a secret he evidently was very reluctant to speak about. The only thing heard was Midoriya’s voice, achingly soft and strained. Tears leaked worse than a broken faucet from his eyes which were downcast and staring at Tokoyami’s hands which he held tightly in his grasp. The story molded from two best friends to two semi-enemies, the boy with the quirk leaving the other behind. Of soft touches turning cruel, to harsh words and harsh actions from someone Midoriya looked up to.

When he finished, the silence that ensued was the most strained one since the whole quirk fiasco began. Midoriya’s shoulders shook as he cried, no noise present as his gaze was heartbrokenly haunted and misted over with tears yet to fall.

“So yeah, there’s that little tidbit about my life.” Silence ensued. Midoriya’s eyes darted around, crooked and scarred knuckles whitening from how tightly he kept squeezing the appendages. “Please someone say something or I might have a panic attack.” The words were wheezed out, airy and breathless with a thick blanket of anxiety, like a blanket of rose thorns.

it was quiet for a moment longer before Iida broke it. “Midoriya, I am sure you don’t want to share more right now, but my door is always open and I’m always willing to listen or just be there for you.”

The boy in question nodded his head in grateful acknowledgement, eyes fluttering back to the ground. He sniffed, eyes and nose rimmed red.

”Okay guys,” Mina drawled out, a timid smile on her lips as she clapped, bringing the attention away from Izuku. “Let’s watch a movie now and continue our sleepover activities that were meant to be on the lighthearted side! I believe that this whole conversation was enough excitement for one day, hm?”

The rest of the bakusquad (except for bakugou) immediately began an uproar of agreement, shouting up suggestions from their own twisting mass of limbs on one of the couches. It took about twenty minutes but the film Tangled was chosen and everyone settled down for the movie.

Popcorn was passed around, blankets were shuffled, and the amicable atmosphere warmed up everyone’s frigid limbs.

The movie began, opening sequences, a dancing girl with long hair, an evil mother, a magic flower. A light hearted film. The kind that you would show your children because of the magic and animation. It wasn’t a hard decision to come to in order to vote for the movie. It simply was a classic in many of the class’ childhoods and so nostalgia won over in the decision making.

Through out the film, everyone’s guard easily came down. It was a good film. Riveting and enticing, it easily kept your attention, something many movies do not have the capacity of. It was a beautiful scene of all twenty kids sat around the Television set, eyes filled with childlike wonder and awe as they let go of all things stressful, like their current predicament and all things similar.

It was so relaxing, no one expected the ending of Rapunzel being caught and dragged around, gagged and bound, terrified and helpless. The captivating horror felt by all was a cloaking blanket of suspense, so thick it almost covered up Shinso’s quick and frantic departure.

His lanky, tall form stumbling into the kitchen and away from the scene behind him depicting something he was so intimately familiar with from his own youthful years.

But, the ever observant eyes of Bakugo saw the other boy leave and, he followed, hissing at Kaminari and Kirishima to stay put.

The sight he found was almost sad and pitiful, Shinso was crouching, holding onto the island with one hand as the other was held firmly against his chest, presumably against his beating heart. Small gasps being panted out of a mumbling mouth (“it’s not that” “I’m not there” “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine.”) 

Bakugo, with the stealth of a house cat, easily approached and crouched next to him.

”Oi, eyebags, I know it’ll be hard for you, but you gotta calm down. You’re gonna pass out if you keep breathin’ like that.”

”Sorry,” came the panted out reply. Shinso’s purple eyes hidden behind a fringe of hair, casting his face in shadows and hiding his panic from Bakugo’s viewing. 

“I didn’t ask for a fuckin’ apology, so don’t give me one. Here, match my breathing.”

In a manner that was so Bakugo and so unlike him all at once, the blonde took the other boy’s hand and roughly placed it against his own chest, exaggerating his breathing. This continued on surely for longer than the explosive one expected but he stayed quiet. Patient. 

Eventually, Shinso’s breathing evened out, the tension dissipating from his shoulders. He retracted his hand from Bakugo’s grip, fingers lightly tracing the bridge of his nose in a trance.

Out of the blue, his voice seem to come to him.

”I don’t like to be muzzled, I used to get muzzled and shoved around like that a lot. It just reminded me s’all. I didn’t think I would react like that.”

Bakugo said nothing, just stooped up, roughly shoving Shinso into a chair and silently made him a hot chocolate.

And that was that.

—

DAY THREE

It was a common occurrence throughout these quirk infested days to see Momo around the white board. Cleaning, reassessing, and re-writing many different points put on the object.

At one of these times, Mina happened to also be in the common room, sat on a couch, pink phone in hand as she scrolled on social media, matching pink nails tap, tap, tapping away. The girl was sprawled across the cushions and she glanced up at moms, watching the other’s high ponytail swish around for a moment before stating:

”Momo you’re so good at scheduling things!”

Momo jumped. As if she didn’t realize Mina had been sitting there noisily for the past fifteen minutes at least. She stuttered for a second (something uncommon in the realm of momo mannerisms but not surprising to see on occasion) and then confidently and offhandedly said; “Thank you, in order to ever see my parents we have to plan it out a few months in advance.”

“haha funny joke.” Mina had a look on her face, like the ‘joke’ wasn’t actually funny but concerning. Momo paid no heed to it and continued to talk as if she couldn’t stop.

“That wasn’t a joke, they say it’s because they’re busy but I think it's because I’m a disgrace to them. Oh I didn’t mean to say that.” Her hand rose and delicately covered her lips, chin slightly titled down with her eyeliner, she did not see Mina approaching her as words continued to tumble out of the dark haired girl’s vocal chords.

Turns out momo had it rough. She had to reserve time to talk to her parents, or else they would always be working. (Oftentimes, they missed events. They had not bothered watching the sports festival, or being home on weekends to see momo, among other things like missing her birthday and this one time she had to go to the hospital they sent a butler in their steed even though they were less than half an hour away. They also forced a diet on her, one that did not allow her to eat as much as she needed for her quirk to work properly. They did this so the poor girl would stay skinny.) 

It was a tragic story to Mina that she could not fully understand, but a few other students could. During momo’s word vomit, a few other students had appeared in the public space, watching momo slightly break down, hand grabbing aimlessly into her hair, tears unshed laying undisturbed in her eyeline. Tears she refused to allow fall. Cheeks flushed with pink embarrassment and bashful haste to get the quirk induced words out of her mouth as fast as possible.

Bakugo was the first to break the silence after momo’s spiel. Eyes downcast in a similar fashion as if he did not want to be there. (Everyone knew he respected Yayorozu a lot and would listen to her word with less grumbling than if it was most of the people in the class.)

“My old man is okay. He’s alright, I guess. He doesn’t hit me or anything but he doesn’t stop the old hag when she does it. She’s kinda shit at parenting and I am nothing like her.” — the boy paused, seeming to attempt to swallow the words that were tearing through him. — “She made me deaf, hit me one too many times and now I can’t hear for shit out of my right ear. My quirk makes it worse too…” There was a silence after his words that were spoken into the quiet. No one knew what to say or how to respond to these two confessions. Midoriya, who sat on the other side of the room, looked like he was going to crack and crash, tears silently flowing down his freckled face. Kirishima had appeared out of nowhere, hand grabbing at the air in front of Bakugo as if even he had no idea what to do in this situation (he didn't) “Aizawa knows I think, he keeps trying to get me to confess of somethin’ but I’m not ready to leave that house. Because whatever happens in that house I deserve.”

“I get that, Bakugou,” Todoroki spoke up, eyes staring neutrally into the blonde’s soul. “I mean, the only reason I was born was to surpass All Might. I started training very young and honestly when I look back on it, that training wasn’t really training. It was abuse, and because my father—“ he spits the word father out like it's a piece of sour lemon “—is the number two hero, I will never get out of that house. I’m stuck. Especially since my sister is still living there. I don’t trust Endeavour to not hit her too. I doubt he would, but I would rather be safe rather than sorry. Maybe, it would’ve been better if I had never been born, I don’t know how to explain it. I doubt that would fix anything, a different kid would’ve been born in my place, but sometimes it feels that way…”

The silence held once more, it felt like when the class was trailing in after a long day of training, mellowed out moods, bruised knuckles and bloody lips smearing words quietly into the evening, unable to speak loudly or else something taboo will happen. Except, this silence… The tension was at least ten times worse. Three of the best students in the class all admitted to varying degrees of child abuse. Something no one wanted to believe was a reality, especially for someone training to be a hero, and even more so from a hero in himself.

“I am the U.A. Traitor,” a voice pipes up. Everyone turns to Aoyama as he stands in disheveled glory in the doorway from the elevator. “I was forced into the role by mes parents and they are the only reason I have such a tape-a-l’oeil quirk. I was actually born quirk less and my parents didn't like that so they struck a deal with all for one.”

The boy quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. Words construed and still passing past his lithe fingers as they attempted to end the stream of the confession.

A few students (read: Bakugo, Midoriya, and Iida) quickly snap into action. Iida running off to get Aizawa, compelled by a shout from Bakugo. Midoriya going to the French man and comforted the poor student, who now had tears and snot streaming down his face in an unglorified fashion.

It was a flurry of movements and a warping of time but Aizawa ended up standing in front of all nineteen of the students (all of the ones not present for the confessions were caught up through whispers and Aizawa’s own statement). Aoyama whisked off to the principal’s office by Present Mic who had tagged along with Aizawa when Iida returned with him.

The whole debacle took an hour.

”Aoyama is currently being questioned, considering how strong the quirk used on you all is, it is possible for him to get out of his parents custody and into the schools as well as use him to capture the League of Villains and One for All. Any questions? There was a pause where no one distinctly said anything. ”Alright, it has been a day for all of us, if you need anything you all have my work and personal numbers. I have to ask, does anyone else have any thoughts to harm themselves or someone else in this current moment?”

Kirishima and Kaminari raised their hands, heads downcast.

Kirishima spoke. 

Kaminari trembled.

”We both have a history of self harm and this whole situation — not just today but since the quirk hit — has honestly been very stressful and I don’t know about Kaminari but for me, I’m not sure if I can stay safe.”

Aizawa nods in understanding. “Do you have a safely plan.”

they both nod back.

”Words, children.”

”Yes, Aizawa-sensei.”

”Good,” Aizawa sighs. “Can I trust you two to stay safe if you are with your classmates for the night again?”

”Yes, Aizawa-sensei.”

“Good, now I will not pry, lord knows that never works, but I am here and am a licensed counselor if you two don’t have therapists. Recovery girl is also available during her office hours. Let me know if safety levels change, I will be around, but right now I have to go to the principal’s office.”

the two boys nod again, Aizawa places a hand and slightly ruffles their hair in an affectionate manner before he leaves.

THe silence seems to stay in the room still, it had been quite somber since mom began her confession earlier in the day.

Eventually Midoriya got sick of it and ended up blurting out; ”Kaachan still sleeps with an All Might Plushie that I got him years ago, it's part of the reason he doesn’t let anyone into his room!”

This begins an all out brawl between Midoriya and Bakugo, starting with the latter launching himself at the green eyes punk in front of him. Hands stretched far like claws, a snarl displayed on his face, teeth flashing and eyes narrowing. A loud thud occurs g with the collision of the two bodies. Growling sounds heard from Bakugo.

Someone — probably Ururaka — started laughing, causing everyone else to begin. 

And with that the mood relaxes a bunch. People begin separate conversations and slouch into the area that they are sitting. Heads pulling and body’s shaking with more laughter. Some stood, including Sero who was heading towards the elevator.

“Welp, I’ll be back, I’m gonna roll and then smoke a blunt on the roof.” He paused. “I didn't mean to say that, everyone just act like you heard nothing.”

Everyone was shunned back into silence again. This time in shock because no one expected Sero to say something like that but it wasn’t a complete surprise to all of them. Some had suspicions. (Read: Shinso, Kaminari, and Midoriya)

“Uh dude it’s kinda hard to do that.” Kaminari scratched the back of his head, eyes wide and looking right at his friend on the other side of the room.

“Shit, Sero, I’ll join you, what kind do you have?” Shinso drawled.

And with that Sero grinned.

—

A good chunk of the class ended up on the roof shortly after this.

Sero sat, tray in hand, rolling up a few blunts to use and pass in the circular shaped blob of Class 1-A students who tittered about, chittering and chattering away to one another as they waited for Sero to be done. He was an efficient and effortless roller who got it done quickly and he soon started the rotation going towards the right.

”Thanks, Sero, I think I might be in love with you, man.”

”Thanks, Shinso, let's not get ahead of ourselves.”

”Anything you say darling, you have the good shit. I would do anything for you.”

”My cousin lives in the U.S. and sometimes smuggles some in for me, so as long as I’m careful with it, and don’t use it too often and all that, I’m good.”

”Shit, this stuff really is nice. You guys wanna know something?” — the class nods in support — “I absolutely love cats, one of the first foster homes I was in —“ A few bristle at this tid bit of information, unknown to many since Shinso was usually such a private person who held anything of importance close to his chest  “— had this little tabby cat and I adored her so much that I almost smuggled her with me when I had to transfer houses.” The boy lets out a little sigh at this “Simpler times when I was younger…” His eyes seemed to trail the stars laid in the sky, sight far away with his mind.

Shinso passed ‘the good stuff’, as he called it, to the right again, a thin trail of smoke in the blunt’s wake. Jiro takes it.

“I didn’t know you were a foster kid.” She stated it like the fact it was. Shinso’s purple eyes slide over to her, slightly hazy through the sheer smokescreen around them. He cleared his throat.

”Yeah, I was.”

Jiro nodded.

”I keep people at arms length because my parents once told me that I suck at making friends so now I just try not to. My logic was a little fucked up but younger me had the right idea at the time,” The girl shared. Her secret was out in the open along with Shinso’s. “Kids sometimes can be so cruel.”

Shoji, who sat across from Jiro, hummed in agreement. “I agree. Do you want to know why I always wear this mask?” — there was silence as the boy paused, everyone’s attention raptly on him. — “when I was young, the villagers of my town were quite mean to me and my family.—“ at this he hesitates before pulling down the blue cloth he so often kept wound around his face. “—That’s how I got these scars. Well, not just from kids, but adults too… people can be vile, they can be villains without even using quirks.”

There was a pregnant pause, Shoji’s eyes stayed downcast, two of his hands fiddling with his mask, starkly standing out against his skin, were raised lines of healing scar tissue. He sniffed slightly, shifting back away from looking at the blue cloth in his hands.

”My family still lives in that village and I think of them all of the time.”

Koda — who sat next to him — grabbed one of his many hands and lightly squeezed. “One of the reasons I don’t like talking so much is because I used to go to a public school. Sometimes kids can be cruel, but not with the violence of fists, but with the violence of words. They can hit just as hard. I know it’s not the same but… I sort of get it. To be scared and embarrassed to even exist.”

Shoji squeezed back.

Jiro passed the blunt to Ojiro who passed it on to Uraraka, who took a long drag, holding the smoke in her lungs for a four count before softly exhaling, letting the stream loosely fall out past her lips.

”My family runs a construction company and we are all poor as fuck.” She stated it bluntly, tone almost raspy in heat. She coughs for a moment before continuing on, passing the blunt to Ashido. “It used up almost all of the main family’s savings to have the apartment that I used to own in order to come here to school before the dorms.” She paused. “We really aren’t doing well right now. Or should I say my parents are not, I can hear it in their voices, the strain. They try to be all happy in front of me but I know better by now. My older brother moved home to help out and I just know he hates that. To escape poverty just to, in a way, end up right back into it. And I can’t even help out in any way, I’m just a kid and I couldn’t hold down any type of job while still in school. Not with all the training to do.” She shrugs. “It just sucks ‘s all.”

“Is there anything we could do to help?” Ashido asked, face slightly pinched in empathetic worry. “I mean, I’m sure we could help out somehow—“

”—No it’s — it’s fine.” Uraraka sighed, hand running through her hair quickly, pushing back her bangs slightly. “WE manage, we always do, its just— just not that fun to be all the way here while they're there at home and I can’t do anything to help directly. I mean, I used to be able to make and sell things in a local market sometimes with my mom, but… I’m not there.” Uraraka clenched her jaw, badly tight with tension all throughout her body. Shoulders drawn up like they wouldn’t move if jostled, not even by a measly inch. “It’s part of the reason I want to be a hero, to make all that money so my parents can find some peace.”

a few gathered empathetically nod in slight understanding.

Ojiro piped up here, head laid on what was assumed to be Hagakure’s shoulder. ”Before the dojo started to do really well again, we used to be more on the... poor side. Nothing too crazy, we just had to crunch numbers sometimes and stuff. It wasn’t that fun. So because of this, I didn’t get as much training in with my father. He was a busy man during this time. Not a lot of down time.” he hesitates here. Hagakure grabbed his hand and nudged his head slightly with her shoulder in comfort. “So… since he didn’t have time, I would often times go to underground street fighting and watch in order to learn other fighting styles. It was very informative, but eventually people noticed a kid running around and they got suspicious so I had to stop. My father never found out, but I think about it any time I speak to him.” He paused again. “Also one time I broke my tail trying to do a handstand and I blamed it on training because it sounded not as bad compared to if I said ‘I broke my tail doing a handstand.’”

With that, some tension dispelled from within the class gathered on the surrounding ground. Scattered laughter fizzled through the air, light and airy.

“Sorry guys, it was getting pretty… intense… for me,” Ojiro admitted, rubbing the back on his neck, embarrassed, a crooked, sheepish grin on his face.

”You’re fine, Ojiro,” Uraraka said, eyes twinkling with mirth. “Oh! I’ve got another secret.” She cleared her throat. “I’m severely scared of spiders, they have way too many eyes. It freaks me out, like it’s so creepy, and like.. I don’t even know.”

A few more students chuckle at that, out of amusement and understanding.

“I can’t do my laundry,” Ashido offers up. “I have to call my mom every time to make sure I’m doing it right, now that we are in the dorms. It’s so embarrassing!” A slight blush covers her face as she states this, hands coming up to cover it, quickly.

Now there is some all out laughter in the group, cackling like hyenas as the blunt keeps getting passed around, now out of order and to whoever wants it.

”I stress bake,” Sato states. “Which isn’t super unusual but I don’t talk about it often. I mean, I do it pretty late, or early depending on how you look at it, throughout the night or day. Like at two AM or something like that. It’s for when I get super antsy and need something to go do.”

A few people hum, hungry for some of Sato’s treats.

”Ugh that sounds so good right about now, but I have to watch my figure,” Ashido groans.

Kirishima, who had been completely silent since his first hit of the blunt, suddenly looks straight at her, eyes wide and imploring. “What do you mean by that, Meens? You like look really good all of the time.”

“I mean I really don’t like the way I look,” She stated matter of factly, reaching for the blunt once more.

“…what? But, Mina, you’re so manly?”

”You think that now, but like, if i gained a bunch of weight would you still think that?” Ashido asks, looking at the boy who sat close by.

”What!?” Kirishima crawled over to Ashido and grabbed both of her hands that she had sat resting in fists in her lap. “Of course I would! You’re one of the most amazing and brave people I met and one of the prettiest, I wouldn’t think anything differently if you gained a little — or a lot — of weight! That doesn’t matter to me!”

Ashido sighed.

”I know it doesn't to you now, I guess. But it still does to me. It’s just— just — there are so many people out there who are just gorgeous and I wish I looked that good, sometimes, okay, a lot of the time.”

There is a moment of silence as the pink girl’s words sink in to everyone’s souls.

A beat.

And then someone sighs (Sero).

”I think it’s time for a group hug.” The boy states, stifling out the blunt and placing it on the tray he brought. Quickly sitting up straighter and opening his arms out.

People giggle and fall over each other but soon, within the mass of tangled limbs, are plenty of happy, and sleepy, students. They all trickled back into the dorms, off of the dangerously high roof top, and back into the living room where the rest of the class sits in front of the TV watching some sort of cartoon movie or show.

People giggle and fall over each other but soon, everyone is watching the film, body’s relaxing and resting on each other. Popcorn being passed and exclamations being made.

People giggle and fall over each other but soon, the gaggle of high schoolers are getting off of each other from the cuddle puddle late at night when the show is done in order to get ready for bed.

People giggle and fall over each other but soon, they find themselves all back in the common room as a mass of warm bodies cuddling up on each other and soon, this group of high schoolers, find themselves falling asleep.

They no longer giggle and fall over each other, but soon, Aizawa walks back in, Aoyama in tow, and quietly lets the boy join this previously awake group of kids. The tangling mass of limbs growing by two pairs, the blankets and pillows growing by five.

And if, later in the night he comes back, once Aoyama has joined in with the rest of the group with a promise of getting help getting away from his parents, Aizawa comes back to take a picture, no one would have to know.