Work Text:
“Uh, Monoma, right?”
Izuku was dragged from his thoughts by Uraraka’s question, and frowned. Turning his head to glance over his shoulder, he blinked at the sight of a blonde boy staring back at him with narrowed blue eyes.
He was standing way too close. Almost as if he intended to elbow him in the head—
Monoma scoffed, not deigning to respond. “Class 1A isn’t happy unless they’re the centre of attention, huh?”
“What—”
“I can’t even walk through the cafeteria without my nose being assaulted by the stench of you.”
Izuku blinked, then scrambled to sniff himself. Did he smell?! No… Unless he’d gone nose-blind. Oh god.
“The hell are you talking about, Monoma?” Another girl had walked over, looking about two seconds away from smacking Monoma around the head. She placed a hand on his shoulder, guiding him away from Izuku’s space, and the boy immediately flinched at the contact, holding back a wince.
“Are… you okay?” Izuku asked. Even if this guy was being a massive jerk, he wouldn’t stand by if he was in pain for some reason.
Monoma stared at him, nostrils flaring, then his gaze went blank. For a second, nothing happened. Then he turned and walked away. The girl who touched him looked shocked.
“Um… I apologise for him. That was weird.”
“Kendo,” Iida greeted quietly. “What was… that?”
She shrugged. “Honestly? No idea. He doesn’t usually give up that easily.”
Slowly, the conversation moved to the background of Izuku’s mind, his gaze never leaving Monoma’s back as the blonde disappeared out of the cafeteria, food tray left abandoned on a nearby table. After mulling it over, he braced himself, and stood up.
“I’ll be back in a sec!”
“Deku?”
He ignored the confused murmurs of his friends and rushed out of the cafeteria. Hopefully Monoma would still be nearby. Except, no, he was already gone, but Izuku could still… sense him.
It was a strange feeling, like a prickle at the back of his head. Not unpleasant, just telling him where to go.
Turn right down there, then down this left corridor, and then—a supply closet.
Swallowing hard, Izuku approached the door and knocked gently. He didn’t even get a chance to open his mouth before it swung open and Monoma filled the doorway, teeth clenched and face pale.
“What the hell—” He went still. “Go away.”
“Monoma—”
“I said—”
“Look, I know. I know, but clearly you’re in pain, and if I can help in some way—”
“You can’t—”
“Let me try.”
Monoma looked like he wanted to keep arguing, but there was also something else in his expression. Like he was confused. His nostrils flared again.
“Why do you smell so strong?”
“Excuse me?”
The boy leaned in, frowning. It was as if the second he got closer, into Izuku’s space, his muscles all untensed at once. Izuku’s brows furrowed. Maybe… Well, he’d heard about it once or twice before. A phenomenon that was more common before quirks, and less so after. People usually referred to it as a ‘precursor’ to their superpowered society.
Sentinels and guides.
Carefully, on instinct, Izuku reached out to hold Monoma’s wrists in his hands, thumbs pressing lightly into his pulse points. Monoma went still, then sighed softly.
It was like there was some sort of… dial that Izuku could coax down, calming the boy’s senses until they were more bearable.
“Does that feel better?” he asked quietly.
The moment snapped, and Monoma yanked away from him, snarling. They stared at each other for a heartbeat before Monoma shoved him back.
“Don’t touch me!”
And then he was gone.
Izuku watched him go, not pursuing this time. He knew when too much was too much, but that was just the thing. If he was right, Monoma was already experiencing too much, and only Izuku could fix it.
He had to do some research on this. The rest of lunchtime could wait.