Chapter 91: Cupid Candy Chaos Part 2

"Ohhh Fuku!"

"Eap!" Fuku jumped after suddenly hearing Mina's voice on the other side of the door, quickly closing her laptop and cutting her writing session short. "M-Mina!?"

"That's right! Mind letting me in? I have a present for you!" Mina said in a sing-song voice.

"A present?" Fuku thought about what Mina could possibly want to give her. "I-Is it acid to the face!"

"Oh come on Fuku you should know me by now! I'd never hurt a hair on your head." Mina told her.

"Does that mean you'd hurt everything but my hair!?" Fuku asked, holding onto her messy hair.

"You know what I mean. I'm not gonna hurt you. Trust me. Eri and Kei have said good things about me right? That has to mean something." Mina pointed out.

"Well, they do say good things about you." Fuku reasoned. "I…I guess I could let you in."

And so hesitantly, Fuku opened up the door and allowed Fuku into her room.

"Hey, Fuku! I don't have much time because I'm trying to give these out to a bunch of people, but I have some special candy for you." Mina told her, putting a piece of candy in her hand.

"Oh! That sounds good!" Fuku was about to eat it when Mina stopped her.

"Wait! Don't eat it now! Eat it in front of the mirror!" Mina told her, as she ushered the child over the mirror.

Fuku stood in front of the mirror and gave Mina a confused look. "Why?"

"Just trust me. And make sure you're looking directly at yourself when you eat it!" Mina told her, as she stood off far to the side. "Go ahead! It'll be great!"

Fuku gave Mina a suspicious look and considered not doing it, before also considering that that might anger Mina. And in fear of that, she just decided to do what she told her.

She looked directly into the mirror and put the candy in her mouth.

After chewing it for half a minute and swallowing, she kept wondering why Mina was so insistent. I don't see anything different. It's just my adorable self…wait what?

Fuku's eyes widened. Where did that thought come from!? Since when did I think I was cute!? I'm not cute! I'm…not supposed to be cute but…

She took a closer look at herself in the mirror, and noticed that despite not changing in appearance one bit she looked…different somehow.

Her messy purple hair, her eyes, her face, her small stature, all of it now seemed…cute to her. She looked cute.

Fuku smiled in the mirror as she admired herself, feeling a wonderful sensation push its way into her heart and her head, and pushed out many of her negative thoughts.

Mina also smiled as she watched Fuku run her hand through her hair, knowing her plan had worked.

"I wonder if I would look cuter if I styled my hair," Fuku muttered to herself absent-mindedly.

Mina wanted so badly to just dress Fuku up, do her hair, cover her in accessories. Make the girl feel as pretty as she actually was for as long as the candy's effect lasted. Let her love herself the way she should.

But she had other things to do, however, she knew someone who could take her place.

"Hey, why don't you go see Toru! She has a lot of cute stuff that I know she'd love to dress you up in! And I know you'd look just the cutest!" Mina told her.

"A-are you sure she'd be ok with that?" Fuku asked.

"Why wouldn't she? I'm sure she'll love you when she gets to know you." Mina told her. "Why wouldn't she? Your cute, talented, and a really good girl."

Fuku blushed from all the praise being heaped on her but couldn't help the huge grin from growing on her face. Normally when people said stuff like this, she doubted them, though they were lying, denied it.

But right now…she didn't feel like she was wrong.

She was, at least in her eyes, cute. She had talents. She believed she was a good person.

The Fuku in the mirror was not the one she knew. This was…better Fuku. SHE was better Fuku.

And she wanted to see just how much better she could get.

"O-Ok! I'll go see her!" Fuku said, running to go get her hoodie, she quickly put it on and left her room to look for the invisible girl.

Mina smiled and patted herself on the back. "Good job Mina. Good job."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You know, I think I've become completely desensitized to the smell of blood," Jiro said, as she mopped the floor of the training room, while Kaminari scrubbed the walls. "And I really don't know how to feel about that."

"Yeah it's weird right?!" Kaminari responded. "This place looks like a psychopath's wet dream, but when I got here the only thing I thought was, man this is gonna be a pain to clean. I mean on the bright side, it'll help us when we actually see dead bodies on the field."

"Great, thank you for putting that in my head," Jiro told him, her words dripping with sarcasm. "I really needed a reminder of how I'm going to run into dead bodies in the future. Thank you so much!"

"What! I was just trying to point out a silver lining!" Kaminari defended himself. "You said you didn't know how to feel about it, I was just trying to make you feel better you know!"

"Oh yeah. I feel so much better. Knowing now when I look on at a dead body, I'll be able to think to myself, I'm so glad this smell doesn't bother me at all!" Jiro gave him a cocky smirk. "You really are a genius."

"Well you're smiling aren't you?" Kaminari smirked back.

"Tch, only because you're such a massive idiot." Jiro rolled her eyes and went back to focusing on the floor.

"Hey, guys!" Shiruku came into the room with a piece of candy and an insidious smile. "I'm so thankful for all the hard work you've been doing! Here Jiro I brought you a gift!"

"Hey what about me!?" Kaminari asked, looking a little offended as Shiruku handed Jiro the candy.

"I'll make you a scarf or something," Shiruku said dismissively. "Well, I'm off! Have fun!"

And with that Shiruku scuttered off in a hurry, not saying another word.

"That was weird." Jiro shrugged, looking down at the candy, before popping it in her mouth. "Hmm. Sweet."

"What kind of candy was it?" Kaminari asked curiously.

"Don't know. Don't think I've had this type of candy before." Jiro answered as she continued mopping. "It was…strawberry flavored I think?"

"Was it chocolate?" Kaminari asked.

"I just said it was strawberry." Jiro deadpanned.

"Well, what if it was strawberry chocolate?" Kaminari defended himself.

"Strawberry chocolate. Does the stupid shit that comes out of your mouth ever stop?" Jiro turned to look at him next. "Have you ever heard of strawberry…"

Jiro suddenly stopped mid-sentence, as she noticed that Kaminari suddenly looked different to her. What the hell? Why does he look different? It's not like he had time to change anything while we were here so what's happening?

Unfortunately for her, Jiro ended up staring at Kaminari for much longer than she'd like, trying to pin why he looked different all of a sudden. And this didn't go unnoticed by the blonde.

"Hey uh, Jiro you ok?" Kaminari asked. "You've been looking at me weird for a while. I know I'm handsome but-"

"It's not like that idiot!" Jiro snapped, her face turning red after realizing what she'd been doing, and hearing Kaminari's response.

She quickly turned back to mopping the floor, this time more furiously than before. That damn idiot thinks he can say shit like that because he's good-looking. WAIT!? Where the hell did that come from!? Since when did I think that idiot was good-looking!? I mean…he never looked bad. And his costume's pretty cool. But he's too much of an idiot to be good-looking. Even if it is kind of cute sometimes- seriously what's going on?!

Jiro's face seemed to want to stay that shade of bright red, as her chest felt funny in ways that made her freak the hell out.

So much so, that she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing, and slipped over a puddle of blood. "Ah!"

Kaminari reacted almost instantly, rushing forward and diving toward her, landing on the ground behind her, and letting her fall on his back. "Gocha!"

It took Jiro a second to realize what exactly had happened, but when she did her face was even redder, and immediately got off of him, and scowled at the boy. "What the hell was that!?"

"Well I couldn't catch you in time, so this was the only other option," Kaminari explained as he got up, and saw that his shirt was now covered in blood. "Ah great."

"What did you think would happen when you slid across a bloody floor?" Jiro scoffed, crossing her arms and turning away from him.

"Well I a supposed to do, let a pretty girl get covered in blood?" Kaminari winked at her and put up some finger guns, not a chance.

Somehow, Jiro's face went even redder. "I-you-son of a-gah!"

Jiro turned around and stabbed Kaminari in the arm with her jacks.

"Ow! What was that for!" Kaminari cried out in pain, rubbing the spot on his arm where she stabbed him.

"That's what you get for saying stupid things you don't mean!" Jiro huffed.

"What are you talking about?" Kaminari gave her a confused look.

"Calling me pretty. We both know I'm not exactly the most attractive girl in class." Jiro pouted, looking down at her chest. "Don't give girls false compliments, it's a good way to get slapped."

"But I wasn't lying I think you're pretty. Even if you have no tits-ow!" Kaminari cried as Jiro stabbed him in the arm again.

"Alright dumbass, then exactly about me is so pretty!?" Jiro asked him angrily. For some reason, her heart was racing with anticipation.

"Well that's…hmmm." Kaminari took a good hard look at her, causing Jiro to blush even harder and look away again. "Hmmm. I don't know. I guess your fashion sense is great."

And there was the disappointment.

Jiro didn't hated how much her heart dropped when he said that. "Really? My fashion sense? Great to know I'll just be absolutely disgusting to look at if I let my dad choose my clothes."

"I don't know ok!? It's hard to explain why your pretty, you just…are?" Kaminari shrugged. "It's just something about you that's kinda…attractive. The way you talk, move, everything you do is just so…you. And I kinda think that's awesome. Maybe that's it."

Once again, Jiro felt her heart do things she didn't want it to do. It was a weird compliment and definitely not a conventional one, but that made it all the more genuine. Kaminari really thought she was attractive, and she did not like how much she liked that.

"Tch. Don't think too hard about it, your brain might crash." Jiro muttered.

"Hey, are you alright? Your face has been like, super red ever since you ate that candy." Kaminari pointed out.

Jiro's eyes widened, as she realized that Kaminari was actually right. Whatever was happening, these weird feelings, only started appearing when she ate that candy. Which could only mean one thing.

"Give one second, I a spider I need take care of," Jiro said, dropping her broom, and started running out the room after Shiruku.

"Huh. Guess she really hates spiders." Kaminari shrugged.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kiba was walking back to her room from the kitchen when she walked past Toru's room and overheard something interesting.

"Oh my god, Fuku you look so cute!" She heard Toru squeal.

"I-I really do don't I?" She heard Fuku say, in a voice that sounded much giddier than what Kiba was used to.

Kiba immediately stopped walking, and looked at Toru's door with surprise and confusion. Fuku!? What is she doing with Toru? And what's this about looking cute?

"We always said you were cute." Eri's voice was the next one Kiba heard.

"Thank you! I think you're cute too." Fuku giggled. Actually giggled.

Now Kiba needed to know what was happening.

She knocked on the door rather loudly, given her strength, it was nearly impossible for her to knock any other way. "What's happening in there!?"

"Oh! Lady Kiba! You can…actually, just give us a second please my lady!" Toru said.

Kiba sighed. "Fine. I will wait. But my time is precious so do your best not to waste it."

"Of course my lady!" Toru giggled.

Kiba heard some whispers on the other side of the door. She couldn't make anything out, but she was sure they were planning something.

After a couple minutes, Toru responded again. "Ok we're ready, come inside!"

Kiba squinted at the door with suspicion. I wonder what they did in those last two minutes.

She opened the door and-

"R-Roar!"

On the other side was Fuku, but she looked very different from how she was used to seeing her.

There was no hoodie insight, instead she wore a brown and pastel dress, with a skirt covered in bears, and a big bear paw on top.

She also had on brown stockings, and little bear paw shoes, and bear paw gloves.

Her hair was also brushed, and styled into pig-tails, held by bear-themed hair clips, with a bear ear headband on top.

Fuku currently had both her pawed hands up, trying to make herself look menacing.

And it was the single cutest thing Kiba had ever seen.

THUD!

"L-Lady Kiba!" Fuku shouted out in horror as Kiba fell back onto the floor, clutching her heart.

"I'm fine. I think I just saw an image of the afterlife. And it beautiful." Fuku said, as she pulled herself up, and looked at Fuku. "Fuku, what possessed you to wear such adorable attire!?"

"You don't like it?" Fuku asked, looking discouraged.

"No! Do not mistake my words! You look so cute I wish to burn your current appearance into my memory!" Kiba corrected her.

"In other words, she thinks you look super cute too Kiba." Toru giggled.

"Fuku started believing us about her being cute all of a sudden, and now she wants to dress up!" Eri said, and now that brought attention to herself, Kiba suddenly got a look at her outfit.

She was dressed in a bright ruby red dress, with some black accents, and some red gemstones along the skirt. She also wore a pair of bright red shoes and a red hat. All of which made her utterly adorable as well.

After taking a good long look at the two of them, really drinking in the sight, she turned to Toru. "So these two have been here, dressing up in various adorable outfits, and you didn't see it fit to summon me!?

"I'm sorry lady Kiba, if it helps I did take pictures!" Toru said, trying to appease her.

"I trust those pictures will be sent to me with haste," Kiba said before she turned to see Fuku looking in the mirror again, smiling. "Dear sister, as happy as I am at this development, you appear to be in an unusually good mood. I wish to know what caused it."

"Oh, I…I don't know." Fuku admitted. "I just looked in the mirror, and I…I didn't feel like I was myself. I mean I'm still me but I don't…feel like me. I normally don't like me but right now I feel, I feel like someone that I do like."

Fuku looked into the mirror, at her reflection, and smiled, touching the mirror. "I feel like, I like myself."

While Fuku was smiling at herself in a mirror, everyone else gave her a confused look. Not quite understanding what she meant by that, but getting a general impression that it was a good thing.

"Well, you seem happy so it must be a good thing." Toru surmised. "Hey lady Kiba, can we dress them up in some of your clothes! Please!"

Normally, Kiba would scold her for suggesting such a thing. However, the thought of putting Fuku in some of her more elegant clothes… "I will allow it."

"Really thank you, sis!" Fuku said giving Kiba a smile, brighter than any she'd given before.

THUD!

"Kiba!"

Kiba closed her eyes, as she lay on the ground. "I have lived long enough to witness the radiance of a thousand supernovas. Truly it was good a life. I can rest in peace."

"Lady Kiba no!" Toru shouted dramatically.

However before they could continue the bit, they heard the sound of running in the halls outside.

"Wait a minute it was just a prank!" Shouted a panicked Mina as they heard her running by.

"We just wanted to improve your relationships!" Shiruku shouted in that same panicked state.

"Come back here, you pink devil!" They heard Ochaco shout, sounding very, very angry.

"You a dead woman Mina! You hear me!" Jiro yelled, sounding even angrier.

"I'm gonna fry you ya little bug!" Shouted Ken in his Heatblast form.

"I'm an arachnid-ahhh! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Shiruku cried.

As the sounds moved away from them, as the chase continued further into the house, the girls all looked at each other.

"Should we be concerned?" Eri asked.

There was a short pause before Kiba answered. "I'm sure father has that under control. Now, to my room!"

XXXXXXXXX

Mina and Shiruku stood in Izuku's office, in front of the greenette himself, with their heads held low, and their bodies banged up.

Mina was covered up in bandages, with bruises all over her face, the swelling very evident.

Shiruku was also covered in bandages, with burns covering her body.

And Izuku was looking over them with a deadpanned expression. "So, I'm not surprised, I'm just slightly disappointed."

"We were only trying to help out, and have some fun." Shiruku pouted.

"I'm sure you were. Trying to pair me and Ochaco, Jiro and Kaminari. Trying to get Ken to admit that he appreciates his sister. Getting Fuku to finally love herself. At face value, these all sound like great things." Izuku sighed. "However, once you actually think about them, you start to see why Amai said they were so dangerous. What if, while under the influence of the candy, Jiro did something she wouldn't normally, and then heavily regretted it? Love is not an easy thing to handle emotion. And it can cause people to do stupid things. And even if anyone got together under the influence of the candies, would they stay together after the effects wore off? Would it damage their relationship if they tried getting together? Would it damage their relationship if they broke up after the effects wore off? How would one party feel if they knew the reason they got together with someone else, is because that person was, essentially drugged into liking them more."

"Well, when you put it like that." Mina wilted under Izuku's logic, rubbing her arm sheepishly.

Shiruku just looked at the floor.

"And as for Ken, what if instead of confiding in his sister, he pushed her away even more. Ken has a tendency to react rashly and had things gone in a slightly different relationship, it could have done some damage to his relationship with his sister, which would have seriously hurt him." Izuku continued. "And as for Fuku, well…I'll be honest. I've considered using Amai's quirk to do something like this with her before. It'd be nice if Fuku could appreciate herself. However, the ultimate issue with that, is what happens when the effects wear off? Fuku enjoyed the feeling of loving herself so much, and she was absolutely crushed when I told her the effects weren't permanent. And it was a good thing I did find out, otherwise, she would have had to figure that out the hard way. Can you imagine how distraught she would have been, trying to figure out why she can't view herself in the same positive light anymore?"

Both Mina and Shiruku winced, as they felt the guilt crushing them light a boulder.

"Fortunately, nothing too terrible happened. Ken's a bit miffed and he's gonna be upset with you two for a while. And Fuku's quite upset. But we can take some positives from this situation." Izuku revealed. "Now I know a bit more about how Ken feels, which should offer good insight when I get him into therapy. And now that Fuku knows that she is capable of loving herself, she can work towards doing so without relying on Amai's candy. Ultimately speaking, we're very lucky that this panned out in probably the best way it could have. But things could have gotten really bad if just a few things were different."

"Sorry, daddy." Shiruku apologized.

"I'm really sorry boss!" Mina also apologized.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to everyone you affected with this stunt," Izuku told them with a sigh. "Although to be honest, I must take partial responsibility. I knew the dangers Amai's candies could cause if used incorrectly, and I didn't explain them to everyone. As such, I'll also take the time to apologize to everyone when I get the chance."

Mina wanted to argue. This felt like something that was firmly her fault, but at the same time she wasn't really in a position to talk back, so she held her tongue.

"Alright, you two are dismissed," Izuku told them, sending them away.

As Mina and Shiruku left, Izuku sunk back into his chair. I should have figured something like this would happen. Well, at least I can use this as an example when I'm explaining why not to use Amai's candies so freely. Well, back to work.

And with that over, Izuku opened a file on his desk that he had been looking at.

The file was for a young man. A therapist to be exact. He was a rising star in the mental health community, with his strange, yet effective quirk which he would use to help out his patients.

It was far from conventual, and there was a warning that he couldn't work with anyone with suicidal thoughts or feelings, which made Izuku a bit hesitant.

Still, he was quite curious, as apparently, he was able to help people with serious mental issues and roadblocks, overcome them in an astonishingly short amount of time. And from what he read it was just a darn interesting quirk. One he'd love to see in action.

Which was why he would be undergoing a session with the man before he sent any of the children. Just to make sure this was actually safe.

"Ren Akira," Izuku said the man's name out loud as he read over the information. "Hopefully, you'll be able to help us out. We desperately need it."