Okay wow
This is the first time I'm experiencing what it means to go on 4 hours of sleep for a month. I've got so many ideas coming in and not enough hours in the day to write them out.
I'm about to crash out but I just had to get these chapters out because if I'm feeling this beat so far, I can't imagine how everyone else might want nothing more than to drown their worries of reality in a good read.
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CHAPTER 87: The Worst Kept Secret
There was nothing Izuku could do the entire night except toss and turn in an attempt to get some sleep. After an intense training session, the best reward was the extreme exhaustion and fatigue that hit you like a bat, and you were able to drop into your bed, lay your head down, and let sleep come to you, but this night, that pleasure would be denied to Izuku. In a very unforgiving manner. His mind was buzzing like angry hornets in his head, screaming at him with a shrill voice. Just fueling his anxiety with an endless list of everything he had done wrong to get to this point. And it didn't help that this wasn't the first time he made this mistake.
He had been replaying everything he went through, and even then, he still couldn't quite figure out how to approach the subject without it biting him. Quite possibly, he may have nearly one hundred percent revealed to Sakura the secrets about 'his' quirk. No, the secret about his and All Might's quirk, and the history and relations to one of the worst villains in existence. And the best part? He didn't have ot utter a single word to do it.
While this wasn't something he could help, Izuku still couldn't vindicate himself of responsibility. He didn't even feel this twisted when he told Katsuki the truth. But they both shared something, to both their dismay. Their respect and admiration for All Might. It gave them the same line to grasp, but Sakura? Izuku didn't ever know what to expect from her. She stood behind a veil, so when you offered something to her, that's where it would go as well. And you wouldn't know what she did with it. The unknown was always terrifying. And Sakura was not transparent by any means.
All night he wondered through his anxiety filled thoughts, and just when his body couldn't handle it any more and he was about to fall close his eyes for a respite, his alarm went off. The crack of dawn, which he knew was the time Sakura started her day.
"Urgh…." Groaning, Izuku kicked off the blanket, rubbing eyes that were weighing heavier with bags, and looked around his room, filled with All Might merchandise. "She'll probably be up soon, too."
This was not going to be a pleasant conversation, no matter how much he tried to convince himself that this weight was all in his head. But he also realized that night that there was something else keeping him awake. A curiosity that was becoming hungry.
While Sakura had seen into his mind, he had also seen into hers. And what looked like a simple memory on the surface felt like finding a chest at the bottom of the ocean, a vast space that usually offered nothing but murkiness and took everything into it.
The man in the mask, whom she called her sensei, and who threatened the lives of 3 children as a form of training. It made Izuku think, perhaps that was the reason Sakura was so flippant over grievous situations and topics. Maybe her sensei had desensitized her.
The question was Why exactly? What prompted him, a fellow teacher to behave that extreme towards a twelve year old? When even in the hero course, teachers were prone to broach grizzly matters with at least a sliver of decorum to get their students adapted to their reality. How could that be expected of someone at such a young age? Was this normal for where she was from? A village? Did they have hero courses at that age already? Izuku knew he didn't actually hear their full conversation. It's like his head was dunked under water at certain points that muted them from him. He didn't know if it was done intentionally, but he was sure it hid something crucial. Something to just confirm Sakura was standing behind a veil she didn't want pulled down.
He wanted to ask her about this as well, so he wrote out the sentences and statements he could recall and attempted to fill in those blank spaces, but nothing could come to him. The only term he could fill in was hero.
But that word had been mentioned in that place. So it couldn't be that.
But if not Hero, then what was he referring to them as?
That's what made his stomach sink.
..
..
Izuku paced around the common room, passing along the couch, holding his chin, and tracing the movements of his jaw as he spoke. Ignoring the cold morning air that seeped through the windows with the lightest touch of a sun that was still moving to peak over the horizon. A significant sign that Sakura would be out soon for her regular training.
"Okay, so Sakura, about yesterday, um, have you ever heard of stress-induced hallucin-no, no, that's not going to work. Maybe-Sakura what you saw when you grabbed me, it's not what you think-except she probably already thinks something, and-ugh, why is this so hard?!"
"What the hell are you doing, you moron!?"
Izuku nearly launched himself onto the ceiling, feeling his heart now hammering against his ribs like a prisoner trying to break the bars. He watched Katsuki come out of the hallway's shadows, unintentionally looking like the main villain from a horror film, with red eyes that gleamed in contrast to the dim light. But Izuku noticed the slight darkening and bagging under his eyes. Clearly, sleep had been playing hide and seek with both of them.
"Kacchan, you're up already?"
"Of course I am!" He boomed with a noise level that was actually courteous to the morning hour and the other sleeping occupants. But Katuski wouldn't dim his voice for anyone or anything, if it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to alert anyone else to their presence in the room.
"But you said I should be the one to-
Katsuki cut him off with a glare, refusing to be corrected by Izuku. "I'm not gonna let you screw this up! It's All Might's secret on the line. Besides, I heard you mumbling to yourself from down the hall, you want the whole building to know what's going on?"
That's when his freckles became painted with red, and he started spluttering, raising the octave just a pitch. "I-I just needed to think about what to say to her!"
"How about starting with, good morning?" Sakura's voice cut in .
The boys saw her standing there against the wall, arms folded, with an eyebrow arched in that infuriatingly knowing way of hers. Dressed in her school uniform instead of the gym uniform, which meant she had no intention of getting in any form of training this morning. But it was also a sign that she had seen this conversation coming. Izuku and Katsuki were tense, almost jolting when she reappeared between them. In their personal bubbles at a proximity,that wouldn't be possible without alerting their senses. However she had stepped through without the alarm even triggering.
"S-Sakura! G-Good morning!" Izuku stammered out, following her instructions unintentionally.
While Katsuki was more than willing to show his grievance with her invasion and unannounced appearance. "What the hell, Fivehead! How long have you been here?!"
"Long enough."
Trying to speak, Izuku's tongue felt like it turned to lead in his mouth; he could almost taste it. "I, uh-I wanted to talk to you about um-when we were-
Sakura put a hand over Izuku's mouth, tilting his head back slightly, "I had a feeling," But then she looked at Katsuki, "You're joining us for this? You must really care about Izuku."
Sakura believed it had to be a talent, the way Katsuki could hold a frown and use to illustrate different emotions at the same time or hide them behind it. This was also a great source of entertainment for Sakura to try and crack the code behind it. Right now, she was assuming that he was startled by her appearance, severely irritated by her presence, and skeptical.
He was quick to forgo any inhibitions for the sake of maintaining the image he wanted. Especially when he believed it was the truth. "Like I give a damn about this nerd!"
"Seems like you do," Sakura said, glancing between the two, before moving to a single couch and throwing herself in it. She then waved her hand, offering the floor to them and their statements, but like drawing a bowstring, they kept stretching the silence. Before Izuku finally decided to release his hold, and drew in a breath.
"Sakura….I want to talk to you about what you-you saw, um, in that. I think it was my mind, I can't really explain. Um. See, some Quirks are… complicated. And mine-well, it's not exactly-I mean, it's kind of-
Katsuki felt his brow give an almost audible twitch as he realized Izuku was trying to walk them into the familiar territory of his endless ramblings, but he was tripping over his own path. And frankly, Katsuki didn't to trudge that road, so he decided to do what he does best. Tear through it.
"What the hell did you see when you stopped Deku?" There wasn't so much as a hair out of place when he hit Sakura with that question. But it was right enough to shut up Izuku, who was about to sail them through verbal rapids.
"Well, that depends," Her eyes locked on Izuku, "If you don't want me to, then I won't ask. In fact I'd even say I didn't see anything."
"No! It's not that!" His hands flailed, as if trying to pluck the right words from the air. "It's just I want to know um-what do you think it was?"
Without shifting or blinking out of place, Sakura answered him. "I think there's something living inside your Quirk. Or more precisely, someone. Which is interesting because, for all the strengths and abilities that quirks give, this doesn't seem to be the typical type of supernatural. So Izuku, are you telling me that there isn't a ghost hiding inside your quirk?"
Someone might as well have put ice down his back, because Izuku was squirming. "No! They're not-well, I don't think-it's more like-
"Did you just say they?" Izuku slammed a hand over his mouth as Sakura's lips curled. "Interesting. I also recall that 'not ghost' telling you that you're going to start getting more quirks. How many did he say? But that's impossible, though, isn't it? Because you can only ever have one quirk."
By now, Izuku could feel the beads of sweat on his forehead and hear his own pulse deafeningly in his ears. He tried to open his mouth, hoping that instead of the usual rambles, he could give a proper response, one that would stop him from feeling like he was on trial.
"I-I um-
In a desperate move, he looked to Katsuki for help, but he seemed to be holding back some sweat of his own. His folded arms now receiving indentations from his own fingernails.
Then, all of that anxiety shattered when they heard a stream of giggles leave Sakura's throat. "Relax, boys. I'm not here to interrogate or threaten you on anything. I already know."
Izuku balked at her, "W-What?!"
That's when Sakura looked Izuku straight in the eye, "I know you got your Quirk from All Might."
The world tilted, and Izuku felt his jaw drop so fast like it wanted to hit the floor.
This certainly wasn't how he expected his morning to go, getting knocked for a loop, but looking at the carefree smile on Sakura's face somehow began to cool his worries and nurture confusion. Katsuki, on the other hand, appeared ready to jump over the sofa and knock Sakura into a coma.
"H-How?!" he choked out.
"I overheard All Might and Recovery Girl talking in the nurses' office during the first training exercise. When you were taken to the nurse. They mentioned One for All. Been sitting on it since."
"Why?" Katsuki's jaw had tightened, "You knew this whole time, but didn't say anything? What's your game?"
It seemed that he was ready to make a move if she had stepped an inch out of what he considered to be the line. But Sakura didn't show any signs of concern for his attempt to posture. Izuku on the other hand, was short-circuiting. Trying to understand every inch of her statement.
'She knew this whole time?'
"W-Why didn't you say anything?"
Seeing the way the boys attempted to posture themselves, telling her they were determined for the truth and not any source of ambiguity, Sakura responded by a dismissive wave. "The truth. It wasn't any of my business to begin with. No matter how good a secret, I didn't have any use for it. I also know that this kind of information could cause you harm. Bottom line, that information didn't matter to me."
"Yeah, a hell of a lot of things don't seem to matter to you," That jab was flicked off Sakura like a piece of cotton. She leaned forward in Katsuki's direction from her seat.
"I was considering telling you the truth after you camped outside my door for half an hour. Figured I'd ease your minds." She smirked. "So, does it, Katsuki?"
He scoffed, turning his head away . "I don't know what the hell you're up to or what you think you're getting out of this."
"That's just it," Sakura's tone was infuriatingly light. "I don't get anything. Nothing if I tell, nothing if I don't. So I just won't. I'm not some villain, you know."
She stood up, and moved in front of Izuku, taking his arms. Feeling the way his shoulders tensed just from brushing her fingers over his skin, feeling his scars, but those weren't of interest to her. Her fingers pressed into his skin in a calming manner. "How have you been holding up?"
Izuku stammered at the sudden contact, "F-Fine!"
"Good, listen you don't need to worry. Your secret is safe. And I hope that you're able to get a handle on what happened to you."
"Me and Kacchan I, we-we're going to see if we can get the black mist-um-Blackwhip to activate again." Izuku's words tumbled out before Katsuki could smack him for it.
"Don't tell her that idiot!"
The way Sakura looked at Katsuki made his bottom lip tremble with irritation. "How caring of you."
"Shut up!" he barked. "It's only 'cause this nerd can't go to anyone else with this crap! So I gotta carry the load now! This idiot's got All Might's power, but the control of a toddler! He's like a walking bomb, and I've gotta keep him from going off!"
"How ironic you're comparing Izuku to a bomb," Sakura teased, releasing Izuku's arms. "Do you want to learn how to use that power and bring it out? I can help you."
Izuku's eyes widened. "You can help?"
Katsuki scoffed. "How the hell would you know how to handle this?"
Instead of answering, Sakura stepped behind Izuku, her hands now resting lightly on his shoulders. She told him to relax when he tensed. Izuku felt something surge through his body, as if he had become a pulse, pushing warmth through the cold. It was a familiar sensation. The same he experienced when he went berserk, and Sakura grabbed him, when she calmed his power in a way he didn't know how.
Katsuki saw the way the diamond shaped mark, which he first assumed to be either a fortunate birthmark or a poorly placed tattoo, change to black and spread across her body like inky snakes. The same thing he had seen when she was in Kamino before she took down All For One.
That's when the foggy tendrils of blackwhip exploded from Izuku, writing like ribbons in the wind, breaking past his flesh like ghosts and lashing wildly without aim or sense of direction, just looking to hit something, like the furniture or Katsuki. Anything within reach.
"Shit! What did you do!?" Katsuki was ready to throw his head with an explosion to deter the oncoming whip, but it stopped right between his eyes. Then slowly, like a snake creature retreating to its nest, it backed away from him, receding to Izuku's arm. Izuku felt like a child being put in the driver's seat with an adult holding the wheel while he attempted to steer.
He wasn't the one taming this power; he could feel Sakura guiding it, creating the path for him to follow. It was like a current, a rhythm.
"Do you feel that?"
Izuku gasped. "Y-Yes!"
Then, as swiftly as she had begun, Sakura withdrew. The marks on Izuku's arms retreated, the energy fading back into the vault where it would be locked away from Izuku once again. The marks on Sakura's body also withdrew until it was nothing more than a diamond on her forehead.
"I can help you with learning to draw out that power," Sakura stepped back, wringing out her wrists.
"When did you even think about that?" Katsuki asked.
Sakura breathed, "I was trying to come up with ways to help Eri to train with her quirk and what I can do if it gets out of control. She's getting ready to start trying, and I want to make the experience easier for her."
There was enough trauma tied to Eri's quirk; Sakura didn't want her to associate any more misfortune with that power. Not when there was so much potential lying there.
"That's amazing. I thought that you could only increase another person's quirk output with your powers, but I didn't know you could also gain control of it like this." Izuku's eyes were shining now, but Katsuki's could melt steel.
"You expect me to buy that you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart? Or are you just bored?"
"You're very skeptical. But I guess my reasoning would be the same as yours. We're the only ones who know the real nature of Izuku's quirk, and I happen to know a lot about learning control. She smirked. "I could help you train, too, if you want."
Katsuki's face twisted in outrage. "As if I need your damn help!"
They watched him storm off, and Sakura called after him with deliberate cheeriness "So we'll see you at the gym after class?"
"Like I'm leaving this nerd to you!" He shot back, which was their confirmation.
Then she turned to Izuku, "So are you interested?"
He nodded, "Yeah, but I think…we should talk to All Might,"
..
..
..
As soon as he had the chance, Izuku found Toshinori and informed him about his encounter with Sakura that morning, in his usual detailed reports. Toshinori didn't waste time either and called Sakura and Izuku for a meeting in the teacher's lounge during lunch.
Izuku thought there might be tensions with Toshinori, but when they arrived he had set out a plate of biscuits and had already brewed a pot of tea that was waiting for them. Which Sakura complemented the aroma of. They sat next to each other, as Toshinori just observed. Taking in Sakura's relaxed posture, and trying to catch anything off.
When she showed no signs of discomfort, Toshinori leaned forward, offering her a cup. "So young, Haruno. Midoriya explained most of the situation to me. I hear you've known about me for a while, huh?"
"Thank you," Sakura said, accepting the cup. She felt the steam curl over her face with a damp heat. She kept a steady tone and expression. Izuku, meanwhile, looked like he wanted to sink into the floor. His fingers clutched his own cup so tightly it was a miracle the porcelain didn't crack.
Sakura took a slow sip before answering. "I've known since the first training exercise. Overheard you and Recovery Girl talking."
Toshinori's brows furrowed. "Why not say anything?
"I didn't have a reason to," She said honestly.
"I don't quite understand that."
She took another sip before setting the cup down, her hands folded in her lap, shoulder's square, deliberately turning her eyes sincere. "I understood that this kind of information could have severe repercussions for you if the wrong people got hold of it. I know how this world works. You aren't just the number one hero, you're the Symbol of Peace. You carried that peace on your shoulder's and that sort of clout can't exist without breeding disdain. No one with power is free of enemies and envies. I didn't think it was a smart idea to implode yours and Izuku's existence and endanger your lives just because I knew something the rest of the world didn't,"
Sakura's answer came out easily, despite all the calculations and points it hit. Izuku didn't seem to know what to say, but Toshionri deflated, as if her words lifted the air of tension in his frame. Gaunt as it was.
"I appreciate that, young Haruno, and thank you for the consideration for mine and young Midoriya's well-being,"
Sakura tilted her head. "You don't have to worry. I don't care about secrets unless they're useful to me, and this one isn't."
Izuku choked on his tea. All Might, however, let out a wheezing laugh. "Straightforward as ever, I see. But since you do know… I have a request."
Sakura waited, unblinking.
"Young Midoriya needs to master his new abilities. And from what I've heard…" A small, proud smile tugged at his lips. "You've been quite the effective teacher."
Izuku's face turned nuclear. "A-All Might!"
"He's been praising me?"
"Extensively," Toshinori had a glimmer of amusement in his eyes as he confirmed Izuku's confidence in her. "He says your methods are unorthodox, but more effective than his usual routine. He made a lot of notes about you and your advice."
Izuku groaned, slumping in his seat. Mortified that his fanboyish habits had come to haunt him in this manner.
"I don't mind helping Izuku, and I'm flattered," Sakura said as she swirled the tea in her cup.
Toshinori's smile widened, "Then it's settled."
Izuku peeked up, still red-faced. "I-I won't let you down!"
"You'd better not. Or I'll let Katsuki yell at you again."
Izuku then went pale. "Oh no! We didn't tell Kacchan about this meeting!"
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