30

Chapter Text

Eijiro yawned as he approached the 1-A dorms. Izuku and Mina had gotten released before him, but he was finally out of the hospital, and all healed thanks to Recovery Girl. As he approached the dorms, Izuku and Minoru came out in workout clothes. Eijiro waved. "What's up, guys. It's odd to see you two together."

Izuku smiled. "Hey, man. Glad to see you're out of the hospital; sorry we left you there alone. Mineta and I are getting some morning training in before classes startup."

"Sweet and no problem, I was hurt a lot worse than you guys, so it makes sense. I'll see you in homeroom. Have a good workout." Eijiro said as he headed for the dorms.

Minoru gulped and asked. "So we're seriously running this early in the morning?"

Izuku nodded. "Well, more of a jog than full-on running. I'll set a slower pace for you. No point in working you to death before classes."

That did little to ease Minoru's worries as Izuku started jogging. He had a feeling that even with Izuku taking it easy, it was still going to hurt like hell.

___________________________________________________________________

Minoru felt like he was gonna die. Everything hurt as he sat in class behind his tormentor. Izuku's slow pace was almost a full-blown sprint for Minoru, but no matter how much Minoru complained or spouted about how he couldn't keep doing it, Izuku just smiled and encouraged him, and damn it, Minoru hated to admit that it worked every time. Izuku had proven himself to be a cool guy fit to be a hero. He also had two hot girlfriends and was incredibly kind and helpful to everyone he came across. They hadn't been in school long, but he had the respect of the class, unlike Minoru.

So far, it was looking just like his junior high and middle school experiences. He had a couple friends he could hang with sometimes who understood his taste, but most people avoided him, and the girls of class always looked on edge when he was around. He wasn't sure what he was doing wrong. He did just about everything his dad and brothers had said whenever they talked about women. He spoke his mind and put up a confident front. He voiced his thoughts about how they looked and complimented them, but he never made a move to touch them. That was something his father had always been insistent on, and sure at first, Minoru hadn't understood that rule, but by high school, he was following that rule, and yet nothing changed. People hated him whenever he said anything, and they thought he was creepy if he kept his mouth shut.

Minoru glared at his desk as he thought about the teasing and how people treated him. He wasn't sure what was worse; the jokes about his height or the girl's disgusted looks that they would send his way whenever he entered a room.

A knock on his desk pulled Minoru out of his own spiraling thoughts, and he looked up to see Izuku staring down at him. "It's lunchtime. Everyone else has gone ahead."

Minoru looked around to see that everyone but Yuga, Izuku, and him were gone. The french boy never ate the cafeteria food; instead, he just made his own, claiming he had a specialized diet to help with his quirk.

"You didn't go with your girlfriends?" Minoru said, trying not to let the bitter venom of his jealousy leak into the words. He was jealous of Izuku and his luck with girls, but the guy was being nice to him, and Minoru didn't want to drive that away.

"They're having a picnic outside with the other girls. I also wanted to talk to you about some stuff since I'm helping you work out. I figured I'd try to help you in other ways as well."

Excitement bubbled up in Minoru's chest. "You're gonna help me get a harem like you?"

Izuku sighed and started walking to the door. Minoru hopped up and followed quickly. "Please don't call it that. What I have is a polyamorous relationship with Toru and Mina, not a... harem."

"What's the difference?" Minoru asked as they walked down the halls.

Izuku rubbed his eyes. "Lunch is not enough time for me to go over everything plus that. We can talk about it later; for now, let's get some food and find somewhere quiet."

Minoru nodded as they got to the lunchroom. He wasn't sure what Izuku wanted to talk about, but this guy had it all, so Minoru was pretty sure anything he said would help him out.

_____________________________________________________________________

Once the two were seated at an empty table towards the back, Izuku took a deep breath and said. "Alright, so I'm gonna be blunt, helping you improve physically isn't good enough. I've decided I'm gonna help you with how you behave around our other classmates."

Minoru smiled. "You're gonna help me get popular-"

"Nah, stop that line of thought," Izuku said. "I know where you're going. You've messed up since day one. The girls have no respect for you, and among the guys, they don't think too fondly of you except for Sero and Kaminari. We haven't been in UA for very long, but you're on the road to being isolated, which will hurt not only your school life but your future hero career."

Minoru crossed his arms. "Not my fault; the guys are a bunch of prudes who don't want to talk about anything interesting, and the girls can't seem to understand that I'm complimenting them."

Izuku stared at the short purple boy as he chewed some rice. He wasn't sure how Minoru was raised, but it was concerning, to say the least. The guy was pretty delusional about his actions. Izuku swallowed and said. "Ok... about that whole thing you just said. Most people don't talk about explicit material or actions so openly. Also, your 'compliments' are mostly perverted and fairly demeaning."

Minoru titled his head. "What do you mean? Girls love it when you compliment how they look, right?"

"Sometimes," Izuku said, pointing his chopsticks at Minoru. "But and this is important; the way you word things, how you say it, where your eyes are looking and how your physical posture looks all affect how it's taken. Let's use an example of a hypothetical girl we'll call her Yuko."

"Why hypothetical. Can't we just talk about a girl we know? Of course, I won't bring up your girls unless you want to-"

"Nope," Izuku said, cutting him off. "We're not talking about any girls that we know. We're using a hypothetical."

"Ok, but why?" Minoru said, not really understanding why. All the girls in class were top-tier hotties. It'd be easy to talk about any one of them.

Izuku sighed. "I'd like to be able to look my fellow classmates in the eyes after this conversation which I won't be able to do if we talk about them like how I'm sure this is gonna go."

Minoru nodded, still not really getting the issue. He found it hard to look any of the girls in their eyes. They had hot bods, and Izuku was glaring at him. "What?"

"You had a dirty look on your face. Keep your mind on the present. We're discussing how you speak about the girls in our class."

Minoru nodded. "Ok. So what are we doing with this hypothetical Yuko?"

"I want you to imagine what Yuko looks like and then tell me how you would compliment her," Izuku said simply before taking another bite.

Minoru chewed his food and nodded. He thought about what this girl would look like. After he swallowed, Minoru described her to Izuku. "Yuko seems like an ice queen kinda name. She definitely has that better than you attitude. Probably got that rich person dignity like Yaoyorozu's got and rack like hers as well."

Izuku sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Please don't say our classmate's names."

"But how are you gonna know the proportions? Unless you know porn actress's names cause I can go by that."

"Dear God, don't say that sentence to me again, and no, I don't, so please don't say their names," Izuku said, nearly planting his forehead on the table. He only stopped when he realized his lunch was still in the way.

Minoru shrugged. "Definitely tall and curvy, you know. Good legs and hips. Nice ass."

Izuku motioned with his hand for Minoru to move on. "Yeah, I got the picture. Imagine she's walking by or in front of you. She's wearing casual clothes or relaxing in the common room. How do you talk to her?"

Minoru thought for a moment before saying. "Well, I wouldn't. I'd check her out. Admire how hot she looks, but I wouldn't say anything."

"Why not?" Izuku asked. It was something he had noticed. Minoru really didn't say much to the girls. He looked a lot but only spoke when one of them questioned him on what he was doing or if Denki or Hanta said something about the girls first.

"Because I don't know if she or anyone else wants to hear me say it unless they ask or if someone else says something," Minoru said, making Izuku question the short guy even more.

"Ok then. Let's say Yuko has seen you looking at her. She asks why you're staring. What do you say?"

Minoru scratched his chin. "She's probably wearing stuff like Yaoyorozu, so I'd tell her how the sweater makes her boobs look even better than usual or how the tights really bring out her ass and legs. I'd be honest about how hot she looks in her outfit. You know, normal stuff like that."

Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He let it out slowly and counted down from ten before saying. "There's so much wrong with how you approach this. Who taught you how to interact with girls?"

Minoru blinked. "My dad and brothers. They taught me everything I know and introduced me to all the best stuff."

"What about your mom? She didn't give you tips on how to talk to girls?"

Izuku regretted the question immediately. Minoru's eyes grew distant, and he looked away as he said. "I-no... I never got the chance to meet her. S-she died giving birth to me."

Izuku clenched his teeth and took another deep breath before saying quietly. "I'm sorry. I'm sure it's been hard for all of you."

Minoru shrugged. "I guess. Dad's job lands him tons of money and my two brothers. They're twins. They both live with him and pay rent, so we've always been doing pretty well... dad never talked about mom a lot-"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Izuku said. He didn't want Minoru to feel like he had to spill everything.

"No, it's fine. You're a cool guy, and I trust you. Besides, you're helping me, so the more you know, the better job you can do, right?" Minoru said with a fake smile. "Dad never talked about her much, but when I asked my brothers, they told me that their birth was apparently difficult for mom. The docs said she should be careful not to have another kid too soon, but she got pregnant again a couple years later, and I came about. Mine was worse because... well, look at me. I'm not just short; it's a genetic deficiency. I caused all sorts of problems for her before I was even born and then... you know."

Izuku bit his lip before saying. "I kinda get it. I'm an orphan. My parents were killed when I was young, so I understand not getting to grow up with a mom."

Minoru stared at him with wide eyes before saying. "Um... sorry. Wh-what do you think I'm doing wrong? With talking to girls and stuff, I mean."

Izuku checked the time before saying. "How about we go over that tonight? We're almost out of time for lunch, and I need to collect my thoughts about it more."

Minoru nodded and, after a moment of silence, said. "Thanks, Midoriya. For talking to me and helping me out."

Izuku shrugged. "It's fine. What are friends for?"

Friends. The word stuck out to Minoru as he ate. Before, Izuku referred to them as classmates... but now it was friends. He smiled a bit while trying not to let it show.

_____________________________________________________________________

Himiko moved quickly and tried to bring little attention to herself as she tried to get to her room in the UHD. She had finished all the missions with Hawks, and he had reluctantly sent her back in order to make sure the Commission didn't get suspicious. He had left her with the promise to get her out again as soon as he could. Their work was progressing slowly, but with every mission she finished, they gained more intel to work with, and Hawks got closer to formulating a plan to bring the UHD to light and make sure HPSC paid for what they did down here.

An arm wrapped around Himiko's neck, and a blade poked her back, not enough to draw blood but enough to let her know it was there. Razor, aka Kono Chizuru, rested her chin on Himiko's shoulder. "Well, well, well. Look who it is. Changeling is back from her super long mission. How's my favorite little villain doing?"

"I'm fine, Razor. Though I'm tired. I wanna sleep, so if you'd leave me alone and let me go to my room-" Himiko stopped as the blade poked her back a bit more.

"You see, I would. I really would let you go to sleep, but you see. You're just so cute, and you caught some people's attention. They wanna talk to you... get to know you a bit better, all that stuff." Razor said as she tugged on the collar of Himiko's shirt. "They're really insistent on getting some one on... however many there are time with you. I'm here to collect you for them."

Himiko gulped at the implication. She really hadn't thought this place could get worse, but if the Commission was really letting something like that happen. "Oh, is there some gathering I wasn't made aware of?"

Kono and Himiko looked over as Warden approached. Her cold eyes glared at Kono as she said. "Maybe you'd like to invite me, Razor. I'd love to meet the people who arranged this little party."

Himiko let out a breath as Kono released her. "Just a little joke, ma'am. Nothing like that's going on."

"Good, and I expect you both to make sure nothing like that ever happens here, or else all parties involved will deal with the guards and me. Now Razor run along, and Changeling follow me."

Himiko stared at Warden as Kono left. Once it was just the two of them, Himiko asked. "Are you just taking me somewhere so you can beat me or whatever yourself?"

Warden sneered at Himiko. "Watch your tone, Changeling. I'm here to escort you to the higher-ups they want to talk with you."

As they started walking, Himiko prodded for info, but Warden didn't budge. Once they arrived at a door, Himiko was shoved inside. The room was small and drab like the rest of the facility. There was a steel table and two chairs across from each other. One chair was filled with a blonde woman who nodded. "Ms.Toga. Please have a seat."

Himiko spied a camera on the ceiling as she sat down and asked. "What do you want?"

The woman smiled. "I wish to talk. Your experiences here at the UHD have been quite rough compared to most newcomers. It seems Razor really has it out for you. Though that's to be expected. She's been growing quite volatile over the years."

Himiko simply stared at the woman, who smiled and continued talking. Occasionally she would ask Himiko questions about her experiences or the jobs she's carried out. Himiko took great care to make sure her stories matched up with Hawks reports. By the end of the conversation, the woman didn't seem phased. She simply wished Himiko a good day and then left.

Himiko made it back to her room without any more incidents and curled up on her bed. She pushed her worries and emotions away as she pulled memories of Izu and Mina, and Toru to the surface. Himiko smiled as tears pricked her eyes, and she relived her happy memories while fantasizing about what could have been if things were different.

____________________________________________________________________

Katsuki scrolled through the newsfeed on his phone while he did his best to act natural. He was sitting inside a cafe to avoid the heroes who were patrolling. He had dyed his hair black recently and put a Hawks-themed beanie over it. He was gonna have to move cities soon. There had been a few bodies of heroes found. Stain was in the same city as him, and as much as he wanted to take that psycho out himself, Katsuki knew it wasn't time yet. He'd let the extra's go at him and build the hero killer's rep some more. Then Katsuki would swoop in and take the bastard out when he was ready.

There were some other notable villains he could take out first to build up his own rep, and then when he decides to take Stain down, it'll be the final piece that pushes those fucks to recognize him as a hero.

Once the heroes had moved onto the next city block, Katsuki left his money on the table and bounced. He'd need to pat down the next few thugs he beat since he was starting to run low on cash. "Guess I'll head somewhere with more crime... Kamino should have a lot going on."

As Katsuki moved through the streets, certain people took notice of him. Eyes from all sides were watching and waiting and speaking to those above them.

Notes:

I forgot a few times to say it but yay we're past 100K words.

also, keep an eye out for a new one-shot. it's a what-if for the world of Hypno. it's basically what it would be like if Himiko didn't end up in the UHD and if she joined Izuku/Toru/Mina's relationship. I'm just kinda tired so I can't write a lot right now.

started this manga called The Guardian of the Witch and read the first chapter. I enjoyed it. it's a cool premise and whatnot.