159Chapter 3; Exam Arc pt.3
BEEP! BEEP! BE-!
BOOM!
Izuku cracked open an eye and stared at where his alarm clock had been, a smoking lump sitting in its place. He glanced down at the shock of spiky blond hair that was currently buried in his chest, the offending hand still smoking slightly.
'That explains the smell of caramel' Izuku sighed.
"Health, Ki, Chakra, and Mana fully restored!"
"Good morning log head, it's time to 'rise' and shine!"
"Get it, because you have morning wo-"
Izuku closed the window before he finished reading it. It was already awkward enough that he was essentially spooning his childhood friend, who had mysteriously turned into a girl…
"You owe me an alarm clock," Izuku mumbled as he tried to pull himself from the bed.
"That thing was evil," Katsuki grumbled.
"You need to get up," Izuku poked the blond in the face, "Mom shouldn't be awake yet and I'd really like to avoid explaining why a girl is in my bed."
"Plus, I have things I need to do, and you probably need to get home." He could feel Katsuki glare at him as he moved about his trashed room to get ready, the smell of smoke a lingering testament to the night's events. "I'll make you breakfast before I go."
That seemed to be enough encouragement, Katsuki pulling herself from his bed and stumbling out of his room. Izuku grimly chuckled as he got dressed, it would be awkward as hell if anyone saw this.
"So, what are you doing today?" Katsuki asked as Izuku put a plate down in front of her.
"I'm training for the entrance exam for UA in a couple of months." Izuku nonchalantly answered, earning a snort as he turned back into the kitchen.
"About time, you've been a twig for as long as I've known you." Katsuki smirked, "Although you seemed buffer than I remember, how long have you been doing this?"
"Two days." Izuku shrugged.
"Bullshit," Katsuki shook her head in denial, "There's no way you've gotten anything in two days."
"Video game logic." Izuku simply answered as served the explosive blond breakfast. "I think some of it is applied to you since you're in my party."
"She's got stats, inventory, and a restricted version of Gamer."
Izuku conveyed the Information as he fixed himself a plate of food.
"Good to know," Katsuki mumbled as she took a bite.
"For impressing someone of the opposite sex with your cooking skills, you gained 1 Charisma point!"
"That good huh?" Izuku chuckled as he watched Katsuki wolf down her meal.
"So, what's going on here?" The two teens froze as they looked towards the living room, Inko standing there with a strangely smug grin on her face.
"Uh… I can explain." Izuku sputtered as Inko pulled out a chair and sat at the table with them.
"You look an awful lot like your mother Katsuki." Inko mused looking at the flustered blonds face.
"How did you-" Katsuki blinked in confusion.
"You're the spitting image of her when she was your age," She chuckled, "Plus she called me last night saying you were likely to do something stupid."
"I would've warned Izuku, but he'd already gone to sleep." Inko shrugged, "Although I didn't think you two would fight."
"It wasn't much of a fight," Katsuki grumbled, "I spent half of it on fire."
Inko turned a questioning look to Izuku, "On fire?"
Izuku blinked, realizing he had forgotten to inform his mother of several important things. Taking a deep breath, he let out a small trickle of fire. He glanced up at his chakra bar, apparently, that didn't register.
"It was for demonstration, there wasn't any power behind it."
"If you wanted it to actually do damage or melt something, then it would cost."
'Huh, neat.' Izuku thought as he used his telekinesis to pull his plate into his hands.
"You got both our quirks?" Inko asked in shock, "But the doctor said…"
"Long story short, I have a lot of abilities and my life's basically turned into a game." Izuku opened the necessary windows and sent his mother an invite. 'Do I have a party limit?'
"We'll find out eventually."
'Thanks for the help.' Izuku grumbled as he watched his mom look around in confusion.
"This is weird." She said after a moment of acclimating.
"You're telling me, whatever gave me this also did that to Katsuki." Izuku reached over and plucked the blond's empty plate, taking their dishes to the sink to be washed. "I've been experiencing a lot of weird things lately."
"Learning some things about other people as well." Izuku glanced at Katsuki as a blush formed on both of their cheeks.
"Oh, did Katsuki finally confess?" Inko cheerfully asked, "She's been flirting with you for years now."
"Fucking thank you!" Katsuki slammed her hands on the table, causing it to rattle.
"How I supposed to know that was flirting?" Izuku whirled on his mother, "I thought I've been getting bullied for the last several years."
"Ah, I see Mitsuki didn't pass on my advice to her then." Inko sighed, "She's lucky she found a man who's just as much of a sadomasochist as her."
"I honestly thought you guys knew each other's feelings already, you always spoke so highly of Katsuki." Inko chuckled, "Although I just assumed you two were too stubborn to act on them."
"Katsuki, you seem to be like your mother, so I'll tell you what I told her." Inko turned to the blond. "If you like someone, be direct and patient with them. I know from experience how difficult it is dealing with your mother's flirting."
"Pretty sure that's bullying mom." Izuku sighed as he turned back to his dishes. He had been rather forgiving of Katsuki over the years, and in a sense, he was thankful as Katsuki pushed him down the path that met All Might in a sense.
He'd be a liar if he said it hadn't felt good to work out some issues physically though.
"Hence why I'm disappointed in Mitsuki," Inko sighed, "I'll have to talk to her about this when I see her again."
Izuku glanced at his phone and sighed. "I assume you're not going to be at school today Katsuki?"
"Hell no." Katsuki grumbled.
"I'll give you a copy of my notes later then," Izuku moved to finish his morning routine, "I need to get going, and you should probably tell your mom you're here at least."
"I'll take her home later." Inko turned to the blond, "You can stay here as long as you like, but you should call your mom."
"Thanks." Katsuki stiffly answered.
"I'll be off then." Izuku simply said as he headed to the door, "Love ya mom, I'll be back later."
"Be safe!" She shouted after him as he pulled the door closed behind him.
So many things to think about, luckily physical activity wasn't too mentally taxing.
"Izuku my boy, are you feeling well?" All Might asked, concern filling his voice.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Izuku was snapped from his train of thought.
"You've been pushing on that fridge for a couple of minutes." All Might gesture to the object in question. Izuku looked up and realized he hadn't made any progress on moving it.
Further investigation revealed that the reason why was the flood wall behind it.
"Yeah, I'm just… I'm just trying to mentally unpack some things." Izuku sighed, moving to go find something heavy to lift or push.
"You want to talk about it?" All Might offered after a moment of awkward silence.
"Not really, I just want to focus on this." Izuku gestured to an oven he was filling with smaller bits of scrap and litter, moving behind it to push it when that was done. "I wouldn't know where to start explaining this."
All Might sat on the oven and placed a comforting hand on Izuku's head. "Begin wherever you want, I'm sure it won't be anything completely alien to me."
Izuku was silent for a moment. "An old friend of mine was turned into a girl and confessed that she's had a crush on me for several years."
All Might blinked, "That's a new one."
"Not to mention I've got some things to digest from the last couple of years from our relationship." Izuku scratched the back of his head, "I just don't know where to start."
"What has your relationship been like before now?" All Might leaned on the back of the oven.
"The day I met you she told me to jump off the roof." Izuku simply said, ignoring as All Might's eye's widened, "Not to mention we fought when she broke into my room last night."
"That reminds me, you think I may be able to find a useable bed frame out here?" Izuku looked around the junk piles around him, "My current one is making weird noises after last night."
"Just how did your fight end?" All Might asked with a raised brow, shaking his head a moment later, "That's not important, it sounds like you're in quite a pickle."
"You see my problem?" Izuku sighed as he gripped the oven and began pushing.
"I do," All Might nodded as he thought for a moment, "Does she seem like she's sorry for her behavior?"
"I think?" Izuku looked up in thought, "From what I gathered from talking to her last night, she's been "flirting" with me for a while but was going off how her parents acted with each other."
"According to Mom they're sadomasochists," Izuku answered All Might's unasked question. "A fact I could've gone my life without knowing."
"Well then, here's my advice." All Might hopped off the oven and placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder, "If she's willing to make up for her past behavior and you can find it in your heart to forgive her, I would suggest that."
"Once you get that worked out, then you can work out how to handle the feelings." All Might gave his successor in training a reassuring smile, which quickly turned teasing, "Unless you already know the answer to that."
"Oh, will you look at the time!" Izuku shouted as he pulled his phone out and checked the time, "I have to get to school!"
All Might chuckled as he watched his student dash off the beach. He knew exactly how much time the boy had left, but he'd cut him some slack. Besides, with the speed he was going with those weights, All Might felt comfortable in the work out that would give him.
"For being an absolute pussy and running all the way to school in weights, you gained 1 Strength point!"
"For being an absolute pussy and running all the way to school in weights, you gained 1 Endurance point!"
"Empathy level up"
Wait, he ran all the way to the school?
Izuku looked up as he finally registered his surroundings, 'Well I'll be…' He trailed off as his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Mom: [Katsuki asked for me to give you her number before she left, Have a good day at school!]
Izuku: [Thanks]
Izuku put the number into his phone as he attempted to figure out what he was feeling. On one hand, he was glad that Katsuki seemed to be making an effort to open up to him.
On the other, this was still a weird as hell situation.
The last three days have been weird as hell.
'Screw it, I'm going to have to bite the bullet on this at some point.' Izuku thought as he began typing on his phone.
Izuku: [Want to talk after school today?]
Katsuki: [Yeah, where at?]
Izuku: [I'm fine with your house since I'm already going to be dropping off notes]
Katsuki: [Ok]
Welp, he's committed to this. No turning back now.
Izuku sighed as he walked into his school, he had a few hours to make up his mind on some things, it would probably be wise to use it.
"For pushing your hand to its limits, you gained 1 Dexterity point!"
"For spending the day in introspection, you gained 1 Wisdom point!"
"For being kind and selfless, you gained 1 Charisma point!"
"Empathy level up"
'Why haven't I gotten any intelligence points for being in school for the last two days?' Izuku thought as he made his way to the train station.
"It's harder to gain points for stats the higher they are, it doesn't help that the material your covering isn't that difficult for you at this level."
"Although you can spend points you get from leveling up to hasten this."
'Wait, I get points to increase my stats?' Izuku opened his menu to search for said display.
"Unused Stat Points: 2"
'... That's it?' Izuku stared in disbelief, 'I… was expecting more.'
"I get the feeling you'll be hearing that a fair bit later in life."
"To be fair, it completely possible to reach the maximum of your stats without using a single point, so any you get is a gift."
'I'm going to ignore that first part for your sake.' Izuku sighed, 'So since it gets harder to increase stats the higher they get, I should probably hold on to my points for as long as possible.'
"Hoard them like a dragon hoards gold."
"Wait, is that technically racist to you?"
'Racist?' Izuku blinked in confusion, 'Why would it be?'
"You literally have a perk called "Red Dragon Heritage" did you just forget about that little fact?"
'I've been a bit busy!' Izuku pouted as he felt the train come to a stop. 'I've got a lot of things I need to work out.'
"Like your friend becoming a woman and confessing to having been gay for you since who knows when, the fact that your parents have kept something important hidden from you, and the fact that you essentially have a voice in your head thanks to me?"
'I really didn't need to have that last one phrased like that.' Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose, 'I'd question my sanity if I didn't have three other people who've seen this.'
"Your bedroom is covered in merchandise devoted to one man; you weren't sane to begin with."
Izuku ignored the window as he made his way to the Bakugo's house, this time without the helpful arguing to guide him.
'Welp, here we go.' Izuku thought as he rang the doorbell.
"Oh, hey Izuku," Mitsuki answered the door a minute later, a grin on her face, "Here to bring the brat's schoolwork?"
"I was also wanting to talk to Kaachan," Izuku sheepishly answered, "I'm assuming that didn't get passed along…"
"You'd be right," Mitsuki's smile became forced, "And here I thought Katsuki would've gotten her fill last night."
"Come on in!" She cheerfully said as she turned and walked in the house, "Brat, tell me next time you invite people over, this place is a mess!"
Izuku blinked as he looked around the living room if he squinted he guessed he could see some dust on the shelves, but outside of that the messiest part of the room was the coffee table where Katsuki's dad was assembling and cleaning something… wait a minute…
Was that a gun?
"Ah, Izuku!" Masaru cheerfully greeted as he snapped a double-barrel shotgun closed, "It's been a while since I've seen you, Mitsuki was right, you have shot up like a weed!"
"Uh… I guess…" Izuku blinked in confusion and slight worry at the firearm, "Is that real?"
"Oh, this?" Masaru held the gun up, opening it and polishing the breech face, "Nope, only a model."
Izuku felt himself release a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
"I keep the real one in my gun closet upstairs." He said nonchalantly.
And like that Izuku felt his breath catch again.
"Hey kid," Mitsuki snapped her fingers snapping Izuku from his stupor, "Brats upstairs,"
"Oh, thanks." Izuku stiffly stepped towards the stairs, unsure of why he felt so nervous.
"Try not to have too much fun, you two!" Mitsuki shouted as he neared the top,
"The walls are rather thin!" Masaru cheerfully followed up; the sound of the model firearm snapping shut echoing.
'That was unexpected…' Izuku thought as he ignored any connotations of the elder Bakugo's. 'Time to get this done with.'
"Kaachan?" Izuku lightly knocked on the blond's door, "Mind if I come in?"
"Yeah," He heard from the other side of the door as it opened slightly. After a moment's hesitation, Izuku pushed the door open and made his way into the explosive teens room.
It hadn't changed that much from when they were younger, Katsuki had a few hero posters around his room, but he had just as many music or sports ones to go in with it. Outside of that, it was a rather simple set up, bed, computer desk, and a dresser spread around the room
"Heads up" Katsuki dully said, tossing a small package once Izuku turned. Even with the warning and slow throw he still barely caught it.
"What's this?" Izuku asked as he looked over the small box.
"I blew up your alarm clock," Katsuki said simply.
"Oh, uh thanks…" Izuku put the box in his bag and pulled out the notes he'd taken that day. "Here's what you missed today…"
"Thanks." Katsuki tossed the papers onto her desk, sitting on her bed she gestured to the chair, "Feel free."
Izuku silently took the offered seat as he figures out where would be the best place to start for a long-overdue conversation.
"You wanted to talk about last night." It was more of a statement than a question. Izuku could take comfort in the fact that Katsuki could be amazingly blunt sometimes.
"Yeah," Izuku bit his lip as he tried to build up his nerves, "And everything that's built up to that…"
"I'm going to be honest with you Katsuki," Izuku sighed after a moment of deliberation, "You've been an asshole most of the time I've known you."
"Gee thanks," Katsuki grumbled, slouching as a scowl made its way to her face.
"I've never stopped thinking of you as a friend, but you've pushed that." Izuku continued, "I think I've done a good job of forgiving you, but I haven't forgotten any of it either."
"I know how your parents are so I can accept the general harassing as being your idea of showing affection or flirting, but you have been one of the people who've tried their hardest to force me to give up on my dream." Izuku looked Katsuki in the eye as he felt years of frustration bubble in his chest, "Why did you never support me?"
"I wasn't going to let you kill yourself." Katsuki said softly, "You of all people should know how dangerous hero work is."
"Many heroes have quirks that leave them practically quirkless, and there have been plenty of quirkless Vigilantes!" Izuku couldn't help his voice rising, Hero's like Eraser Head and All Might's old sidekick where prime examples of this.
"You know what they had that you didn't Izuku?" Katsuki growled, "And I'm not talking about quirks."
"They had a drive, something that pushed them to go beyond what they were limited to." Katsuki pulled herself from her bed and placed her hands on the armrests of the chair, towering over Izuku as she leaned into his face, "I've watched you scribble away in your notebooks for years and never once did I see you do something that could help you level the playing field."
"At first it pissed me off that someone as weak as you could think they had a shot at being a hero," Katsuki hissed, continuing in a softer voice, "But I slowly realized I didn't want to lose you."
"I actually did have a quirk Kaachan," Izuku felt Katsuki tense over him, "It's a quirk that allows me to share power with my friends, I haven't figure out what that means specifically but-"
Izuku blinked as he felt something wet his face. At some point, Katsuki had begun to cry...
He was sure he'd never see Katsuki cry, at any point in their lives.
"You never manifested your quirk because of me…" Katsuki said in a hoarse trembling whisper, "All I had done was make things worse for you…"
"At first it was out of malice, but when I finally figured out what I felt for you it seemed like it was too late to try anything else," Katsuki sniffed, "If I hadn't been an ass than you'd have a better shot…"
"But you changed." Katsuki chuckled almost darkly as she straitened up and stepped back "You've decided to do what you need to for your dream, and of course, it's when this shit happens to me."
"I changed because someone important to me gave me support," Izuku explained as Katsuki looked away, "All I've ever wanted was for someone to believe in me."
"I…" Katsuki started, looking for the right words, "After last night I think you have a good chance…"
"Thank you Kaachan." Izuku felt a small grin stretch on his face. A little late, but he'd take the support.
"Even if I wasn't able to go all out because of this bullshit." Katsuki gestured to her body, "I still haven't gotten used to the balance and my explosions haven't been nearly as strong!"
That would explain why he was able to win despite being weighted down.
"You didn't think you won that on pure skill or power, did you?"
"Because I'd revoke an intelligence point if I could for that."
"So…" Katsuki mumbled, face quickly growing red, "About my question last night…"
Izuku blinked in confusion, question? What que- Oh…
"I would like to just have my old friend back for now, maybe we can see where this goes from there." Izuku sheepishly answered.
"Good enough I guess." Katsuki sighed. "You have anywhere you need to be?"
Izuku's eyes widened in shock as he remembered All Might, and more importantly what he'd forgotten to tell the hero, "Yes actually!"
"I'll talk to you later then," Katsuki plopped herself in the chair as Izuku moved towards the door, "Send the old hag this way on your way out, she's probably halfway down the stairs by now."
"Bitch can't keep her nose out of anyone's shit…" Izuku heard Katsuki grumble as he hurried his way out of the Bakugo residence.
A/N:
Audience: No Sceptical you can't just abandon stories, that's bad!
Sceptical: Haha, story machine goes brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I'd feel more called out if you'd cracked this joke two chapters ago Union. But I still feel called out.
Also, because I'm a forgetful cunt, Union of Soviet Socialist Pubs has beta'ed each of these chapters, and Blazing Heart Frigid Soul is basically responsible for this idea ever going anywhere.
Have a Good what ever Now!