Chapter Text
I wonder if you smile when someone says my name.
○○○
Shota Aizawa
∅∅∅
“We’ve yet to determine how long the effect of this quirk is to take place,” Shota Aizawa informs his students of 20, “the civilian admitted that this is the largest group of people to ever fall under the influence of her quirk at once. However, considering how much of the gas you inhaled and its potency, it’s safe to assume the effects will last approximately a week.”
“A week?” Kaminari splutters, ears red.
Shota spares him an unamused glance. “Yes, Kaminari. A week. Understand that until we are sure the effects of the quirk have worn off, all communications outside of this class are prohibited indefinitely. That includes unsupervised access to the internet, social media platforms, and your families. Because the quirk will interfere with your education, you'll be taking the week off isolated in your dorms, and no one is allowed to leave campus.”
Uraraka squawks, “Why our families?!"
“We’re working with an unknown quirk under an approximate duration, nothing is certain,” he explains.
“Didn’t you say it was a truth quirk? Won’t we just...tell the truth?”
Shota barely bites back a sigh.
"It's not a simple truth quirk. Empath quirks are difficult to study and understand, never mind one so under-practised. According to the girl, not only will you be forced to be honest, but you cannot deflect direct questions and you will be compelled to blurt out random confessions that could detriment your future public image if publicised or leaked by anyone, including your family.
The students lose their will to fight faced by Shota's logic, though not without expressing their disgruntlement. Asui has her head bowed, Iida is standing more rigid than usual, Sero’s ever-wide smile is gone, and Uraraka looks like she’s a breath away from 'throwing down the handkerchief'. Arguing is a lost cause, however, and they know it, so they bite their tongues.
“If you need anything, inform me and I’ll provide it.”
“So our secrets,” Jiro starts slowly, “they’ll just be revealed? Like that?”
Shota nods. “Everyone has a right to privacy, but sometimes a hero's job is ugly and uncomfortable. I expect anything that you may reveal to one another will not impact your relationships negatively. Otherwise, I’ll have second thoughts about keeping you in my class. The bonds you make with each other are invaluable, as later on you'll find yourself relying on one another in moments of life or death.”
Shota does not speak without merit. These are a group of Japan's future top pros, they’ve been through hell and back with each other. This unforeseen incident will help build bridges and solidify trust, another bump in the gravel-covered road set before 1-A. An ugly secret may warp one's perspective of someone else, but it should not wane the relationship.
Nothing is more eye-opening than being a witness to someone's vulnerability.
The mood is tense. Shota waits patiently, slouched like the true apathetic man with eyes shrewd like a hawk's.
Hagakure blurts, “Sometimes I’ll walk the streets naked and scare people by screaming at them when they’re unfocused.”
The tension eases like it was never there. Hagakure squeaks, skirt shuffling as she attempts to hide behind Ojiro, who’s making a poor attempt at snuffing his chuckles. The rest of the students laugh too, Ashido hitting the floor and tears springing from Sero’s eyes.
Shota's not worried.
It’s going to be frightening. Everyone has their secrets, from silly white lies to damning truths they've buried under mountains of deception.
But this class, his class, are a close-knit family. Shota knows, with a quiet pride he holds dear to his heart, that they'll only grow stronger, together.
They’re his students, after all.
Third Omniscient Perspective
***
“We should set boundaries,” Kaminari says the moment they step into the 1-A dorms. “I think it’s important we breach each other’s privacy as little as possible with the whole truth blurt thingy.”
To his left, Jiro quirks her lips. “That’s not a bad idea. Don’t tell me this quirk’s going to make you smarter, Kaminari?”
Unprompted, Kaminari replies, “No. It’s a tendency of mine to keep my well-thought ideas to myself in fear of ridicule."
Jiro's teeth click shut, her smile falling flat.
"Please don't feel awkward," Kaminari reassures with a grimace, "I'm used to it."
"That isn't—"
"Leave it be," Kaminari pleads, "I hold no lingering resentment towards you."
An uncomfortable silence suffocates the room.
“I agree with Kaminari,” Midoriya, bless him, interrupts the silence. “Boundaries are important. Even if we all trust each other, no one likes to be cornered or confronted.”
“That’s hypocritical coming from you,” Shinso can’t help but quip. His eyes widen with panic when Midoriya blushes hotly at his words. “Fuck! I’m sorry, didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
Midoriya's expression only sours, eyes glistening with worry, looking off to the side in shame. He still meant it.
"Sorry f-for intruding on your personal lives!" he feels obligated to apologise. "It's a horrible habit that I can't break because it hurts to see other people in pain and if there’s even a minute percentage of a chance that I can help them I feel like I have to try since no one ever tried to help me during the worst times of my life when I was seriously struggling. If I can tell someone's in some sort of turmoil or anguish and I choose to sit by I feel as though I'm no better than the villain—
“Shut up!” Bakugo barks, cutting off Midoriya’s—frankly concerning—ramble. "God, this fucking quirk is going to worsen your inability to keep your thoughts to yourself, isn't it?"
“Probably,” Midoriya agrees. Meekly, he whispers, "Sorry."
“So about the boundary thing... ” Sero tries, reorienting the conversation.
“I, for one, think it is a wonderful idea.” Iida bows ninety degrees in Kaminari’s direction to express gratitude. “Not only does this ensure, to our best abilities, holding one another's respect, but it is also vital that we dictate life through a strict regimen. Rules and guidelines keep us from deviating from the path of heroism. You have my esteem, Kaminari."
"Uh...thanks. I think."
"Well, how about I write it down," Yaoyorozu proposes, lifting her sleeve. Her forearm glitters, a pen and sheet of paper forming from it. "Any suggestions?"
Kirishima raises his hand.
"Yes?"
"No asking direct obtrusive questions without explicit permission? I feel like it'd force a lot of people into uncomfortable situations. That isn't manly."
“Following Kiri-kun, no forced elaborations,” Midoriya adds. “If someone reveals something really big, no cornering them or prompting them to explain. They can leave to collect themselves, and aren’t obligated to clarify either.”
“That’s fair, but I’m going to add a tail rule that someone should accompany said person if the secret in any way implies the student is at harm for any reason or the situation is too dire to put off,” Yaoyorozu amends grimly. A few members of Class 1-A stiffen at her implication.
“If we’re doing that can we also make a list of every person’s most trusted person or people?” Sero lifts an arm to rub the back of his neck. “Not that I don’t trust you all, but there are people I’d rather break down in front of compared to others. You know, some of you can be real assholes." He winces, clearly not meaning to tack on the last part. "This quirk is miserable."
Todoroki says, “No, I agree. There are certain people I would rather not inform of my grievances if I could help it, no offence to you all. I'm under the impression they'd belittle me or make light of my feelings.” It's a blunt statement, even for Todoroki.
“I’m cool with it,” Jiro laments with a shrug. “Naturally some of us have stronger bonds with other people, it’s not like it’s going to be offensive or anything.”
When no one objects, Yaoyorozu forms another paper and scribbles down the class names in desk order.
“I would like to put Midoriya as my person,” Todoroki offers immediately. Said boy hiccups, a dark blush creeping up his neck. “I trust him with my life in many ways, the worst and best parts of me included."
“What?!” Midoriya seems to malfunction for a few seconds before gathering his bearings and rushing out, “I mean I know we’ve become a lot closer since the Sports Festival, but to think you would trust me the most out of everyone in the class is truly an honour. Especially someone as cool and strong as you. My heart is beating way too fast and I probably look like a tomato and you worded that so prettily I think I'm a few seconds away from passing out because how can someone—”
“Midori,” Shinso cuts him off, “you’re mumbling.”
“Ahh, I’m sorry.” Midoriya, miraculously, blushes even redder. “I know it’s probably annoying and I don’t mean to do it but it’s an ingrained habit and this quirk really isn’t helping and I’m afraid I’ll accidentally blurt out something embarrassing like how I think you have really pretty eyes and—” Midoriya slaps a hand over his mouth, effectively cutting off the rest of his musings.
Both Shinso and Todoroki are pink.
Beside him, Bakugo snorts, “Your damn mumbling really is worse.”
“Someone metaphorically fuck me gently with a chainsaw,” Midoriya groans. He startles at the baffled and affronted looks he receives from his classmates, slapping his cheeks with regret. “I said that out loud. I’m going to go before my word vomit gets too bad.”
“Wait, let's finish the rules, it is of the utmost importance!" Iida calls before he can turn away.
“I already told you my rule, whatever you guys add, I’ll see later. At this rate, I'll wind up telling you my life story. It's embarrassing.”
“Who are your people, then?” Yaoyorozu asks.
“Todoroki and Shinso.” It’s out before he can think much of it, followed promptly by more word vomit. “I mean, the most obvious reason is that I feel like I can relate to them the most out of all our classmates. Of course, it helps that we're really good friends. At least in my eyes, we are. I’d understand if they didn’t like me, though. Not to mention, though this is irrelevant, they're both extremely attractive. Like, a gave-me-butterflies-the-first-time-our-eyes-met kind of beauty, which is insane. Also, talking to them makes me feel extremely jittery but in a really good way, you know, like heart palpitations kind of way, as opposed to someone is about to slam a locker on all my fingers to break them kind of way and—"
“You like them?!” Ashido gushes.
"Of course I—"
Midoriya bites his hands to muffle his words and promptly rushes off in a blur of green.
“He likes you!” Ashido claps her hands, bouncing over to Todoroki and dragging him to stand by Shinso, both of whom look equally stunned, at a loss for words. “He likes you now you both have to run off and tell him you like him back so you can be happy and I can live vicariously through your cute relationship because the idea of having a crush on someone or being sexually intimate is incomprehensible to me!”
“He may not like them,” Asui points out blandly. "Though he mentioned how attractive he found you both, and feeling heart palpitations when you're with him, so it was heavily implied."
“He probably doesn’t like me,” Shinso refutes, snapping out of his stupor. "He was probably only talking about Todoroki, which would really suck because I like them both but I’m an unlikable person so it’d make sense if they didn’t like me back..." he trails off, realising what he said. “What the fuck is this quirk?! I fucking hate it.”
“I like you,” Todoroki admits, “and I like Midoriya. He mentioned the both of us, and we cannot lie under the influence of this quirk. Let’s go tell him.” And with that, there is no room for argument as Todoroki drags Shinso out of the common rooms.
“It’s safe to say I have an idea who Shinso’s people are,” Yaoyorozu chuckles with a smile. "Let’s carry on.”
“Who knew this truth quirk thing would be so much fun,” Ashido giggles.
Izuku Midoriya
✧✧✧
Izuku is a fucking idiot. Let it be italicised, underlined and emboldened.
Because yes, he admires Shinso and Todoroki a lot. Yes, everything he blurted in his fucking projectile word vomit was true. And yes, maybe, perhaps, potentially…he has a massive, blue-whale-sized crush on them.
Quite frankly, though, he was more than okay keeping those emotions hidden, caved and buried under six feet of dirt, bone and unresolved trauma. He finds masking and faking body language—smiling too wide and laughing too loud—easy, He's always been hyper-aware of his mannerisms, being deliberate with his words, his eyes, the twitch of his lip or how many teeth he shows when he smiles. It came to him effortlessly after years of practice. (He's already a fraud in a thousand ways, what was a façade?)
He's convinced the entirety of Class 1-A—himself included—have collectively broken a thousand combs, ran under a hundred ladders, and received a million letters with their names scrawled on the top in dripping red ink. It's the only explanation for their abysmal luck of going on a shopping spree at the same time a young teenage girl high on emotions was accusing her boyfriend of cheating. Her potent, powerful and severely undertrained quirk was activated and Class 1-A was in the direct line of fire.
The deadbolts Izuku had hammered on his tongue years ago were ripped off carelessly, leaving him choking on blood he could only vomit out in sentences of truth.
His pulse is beating too fast and he feels seconds away from spiralling; he needs something to ground him but the floor is moving way too fast and it’s too hard to breathe and—
“Midoriya.”
There's a sharp knock on his door.
“It’s Todoroki and Shinso. We want to talk with you, can we come in?”
“Yes, you can, at any time. I like it when you’re with me.”
Izuku’s convinced the quirk snapped whatever cord connected his brain with his tongue.
Izuku’s curled up against his bed, knees to his chest and arms hugging them tightly. His face hangs forward, curls hiding his—surely permanent at this point—embarrassed blush as the door creaks open.
He feels rather than sees them take seats next to him. Todoroki’s right side is always a little cold, no matter the temperature or breeze, but Izuku finds he likes it a lot. Heat has never brought him comfort. Similarly, Shinso radiates coolness, lighter and softer than Todoroki's, but comforting nonetheless.
“You guys are cold,” he says quietly.
They both start to shift a little further from him.
Izuku frowns, face buried in his knees. “No. Stay. I like it.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
It’s quiet for a few more seconds. Izuku bites his lip and waits for the inevitable rejection, the oncoming disgust. At least, even with this damning quirk, he'll be able to take it with a smile. He knows he is not worthy of them and understands that their happiness reigns all. If Izuku, despite their friendship, can no longer be a part of that equation as a consequence of his confession, he will not fight. He cannot lie and say he'll be okay, but they will be.
Isn't that what matters?
“I like you!” Shinso exclaims before Izuku can mutter his horrifyingly pitiful thoughts. Izuku's head snaps up, eyes as wide as saucers as he finally stares at them since they’ve walked in. Both of them are blushing, Shinso's cheeks a deep cherry whereas Todoroki's is dusted a light pink. Their eyes are impossibly warm; undoubtedly loving. Izuku's heart drops to his stomach.
“You...y-you what?”
“I like you.” Shinso's tone is quieter. “I like you a lot and at first I only liked you but then I started hanging out with your friends and I also realised I kind of had feelings for ‘Roki and when I googled it online I found out that I'm a gay poly disaster but I kept it to myself because I didn’t think either of you would ever like me back.”
Izuku’s instinctive response is to call him out, to tell him he doesn’t have to lie to spare his feelings because it’ll only hurt the both of them in the long run. But the quirk...it's impossible. Shinso cannot lie, even if he wants to. Izuku looks at him directly, blushing like mad. He's been doing that a lot today.
“I like you both, too.”
Izuku whips to stare at Todoroki, bewildered. His poor heart cannot handle two confessions in the span of an hour.
“I’ve liked you since the Sports Festival and only recently have come to realise I share similar feelings for Shinso.”
“You both... you both like me?” He can’t help the way his voice shakes. “And each other? Are you sure?”
“Of course we’re sure,” Shinso looks at him like he’s stupid, “we’re under a quirk that keeps us from lying.”
“And even then,” Todoroki adds, “I wouldn’t lie about this. That would be unnecessarily cruel.”
Izuku slumps his head backwards, wondering if, sometime that morning, he'd greeted a spider or passed by a yellow butterfly.
“That’s...I feel like I just spent the rest of my good luck away.”
Shinso snorts, “Didn't think this quirk would permit sarcasm.”
“It doesn't. I genuinely think I’ve run out of good luck.”
Todoroki wonders aloud, “So what do we do now? I would like to pursue a relationship with you both but I do not want to pressure you if you feel unready for whatever reasons.” He pauses, and then adds, “Normally I would not admit any of this but this quirk isn’t giving me much of a choice.”
“I’d like that,” Shinso says immediately, fruitlessly fighting off his blush.
“I’d like that too.” Izuku’s admission is quieter. “Would you both...mind being my boyfriends?” His voice raises pitch towards the end of his question, all high and flustered.
They both shuffle closer, their thighs pressing against Izuku's.
“I’d love to,” Todoroki agrees quietly.
“Me too.”
“Then call me Izuku.” Izuku looks up to his ceiling, his heart racing. “Is that alright?”
“And you guys call me Shoto.”
“Hitoshi.”
It’s quiet again, a nicer quiet. One that has Izuku smiling at nothing. They like him, they genuinely like him. Both of them. And each other. Everything is sweet and kind and nice and soft and he's so happy he could cry.
A hand suddenly grabs the collar of his shirt and soft, cold lips meet him in a quick, chaste kiss. He’s shoved back against the bed before he has time to process what happened. Across his lap, Shoto moves to pull at Hitoshi’s collar and does the same. The quick kiss is sloppy and inexperienced, innocent and sweet.
When Shoto slumps back, he’s wearing a goofy but startled smile, eyes blown wide.
“I’m so sorry I did that without your permission. I didn't mean to, I swear my body moved on its own.”
Izuku stares at him; stares at the high blush on his cheeks and the confused, exhilarated gleam in his heterochromatic eyes. He can’t help himself. He snorts, dissolving into a fit of giggles, legs sagging to the floor. Hitoshi follows him, voice deeper and quiet but full of mirth, sinking into Izuku’s side.
Shoto’s blush darkens, his eyes gleaming like he's staring at something priceless.
“Sorry,” Izuku splutters once they quiet down. “Sorry,” he repeats, finding his voice, "you just looked so shocked I couldn't help it. It was so cute.”
“This quirk is making me more emotive than I ever thought possible.” Shoto flexes his fingers. “I think it’s also the reason I grabbed you both and kissed you impulsively. Once again, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Izuku dismisses, "I enjoyed it.
'…'
"Oh."
Izuku buries his face into his hands.
'This damn quirk.'
Hitoshi’s voice draws their attention. “I did too. But now I want to kiss Izuku as well.” Izuku looks up as Hitoshi ducks his head shamefully. “I’m so sorry, you don't need to kiss me. It's...ugh...I fucking hate this quirk.”
Izuku smiles despite how hot it feels, and twists so he’s face-to-face with Hitoshi.
“Can I kiss you, then?” And, without waiting for an answer, his arms involuntarily move to wrap around Hitoshi’s neck and he pulls him in, pressing their lips in a soft, quick, kiss. When he pulls away, Hitoshi’s eyes are wide and happy. A smile breaks out on his face.
“I liked that,” Shoto admits to their side. He straightens, blinking hard, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold back these comments so long as we’re under the influence of this quirk.”
Izuku giggles.
These are his boyfriends now.
'Fuck yeah.'
“Oh, right!" Izuku realises. “I think we should tell them about the whole involuntary movement thing too.”
══════════════════
“So you’re together!” Mina squeals, clapping her hands excitedly.
"We confessed in his bedroom and then I kissed them,” Shoto admits, ducking his head at the end of his statement. He clearly hadn't meant to reveal the last part.
“Looks like this quirk might not be too bad after all,” Kaminari grins.
Izuku smiles. “I really like them, I’m glad I accidentally kind of confessed.”
"If the other secrets wind up like this maybe it won't be so bad," Sero agrees
"Don't jinx it.”