Chương 2: No Pain, No Gain! Part-1
Waking up in pain should not be a sensation anyone gets used to. Soreness is common among heroes and hero students, but pain usually meant something went wrong.
For Izuku, it was just another Tuesday. Probably.
The girls frowned upon hearing Izuku's thoughts. None of them believed it was something anyone, let alone someone as kind-hearted and hardworking as Izuku, should ever have to endure. Yet, knowing about his past as a quirkless child and all he had endured over the past two years, they could only sigh, feeling a deep sympathy for his misfortune.
As Izuku's mind took its sweet time pulling itself back from the depths of unconsciousness, he mentally reviewed his condition. His gnarled fingers tingled like thousands of tiny needles poked at them. Nothing surprising there. His right arm ached, no doubt his tendons angry at him for throwing punches at Tiger. His stomach burned with pain from the hit he took from Tiger's counter. It was nothing Izuku hadn't felt before, so it was easy to ignore. His back felt the same agony, though Izuku couldn't recall why.
After a few moments, Izuku almost felt ready to confront the fact that he was both alive and awake.
Momo's jaw clenched as she watched Izuku, "You know what? I'm going to go ahead and book an appointment with the best psychologist and chiropractor I know for Izuku," she declared, her eye twitching as she watched Izuku's uncaring attitude toward his own body. "And I swear, I'll lock him in his room if he tries to argue with some stupid excuse like 'I can't accept your kindness' or 'You can't waste money on me,' or any other crap like that!"
Setsuna, who had been watching with a curious expression, suddenly grinned mischievously, her eyes lighting up at the idea. "Ohh! Can you invite me too?" she asked, her tone playful, yet with an unsettling hint of excitement. "I've always wanted to try some yandere stuff like that!"
Momo blinked at Setsuna, momentarily taken aback by the unexpected suggestion.
"Setsuna..." Itsuka started but then shook her head with a sigh. "You're really impossible," Still, she couldn't completely suppress the faint amusement that tugged at her lips.
A pained groan escaped his lips as his back throbbed, forcing him to open his eyes anyway. He was on his side on a cobblestone path similar to the one in the boy's hot springs, with very similar foliage grown at the very edges. Wasn't he just at the clearing? How far away did Tiger fling him?
"Far enough to be incredibly lucky," Mina chimed in with a snicker, giving Toru a high-five.
Toru beamed back at Mina. "I mean, who else could get launched into the air only to end up in a hot spring full of beautiful girls? Talk about being in the right place at the right time, right?" she teased, once again bursting into laughter alongside Mina.
Before Izuku could think much more about his location, a voice cooed from below his head. "Morning, stud~ Good to see you're alive."
Izuku looked down and came eye to eye with Tokage's disembodied head, tucked neatly in between his limp arms, a wide, toothy grin on her lips.
"Honestly, Set, I really believe one day you're going to pull a stunt like this on someone with a heart condition and send them straight to the hospital," Pony sighed, giving Setsuna a look somewhere between amused and exasperated.
"Hey! I can't help it, okay?" Setsuna huffed, folding her arms in mock frustration. "I get this weird itch if I don't disembody parts of my body regularly. It's one of the side effects of my quirk," she grumbled. "I know it's freaky, so I at least try to make it entertaining." Her voice softened at the end, a hint of insecurity slipping through as she looked away, recalling the comments she'd overheard about herself and her quirk.
Itsuka, sitting right beside her, caught every word and frowned slightly. She didn't miss the way Setsuna's usually bright eyes dulled just a little. "Hey! None of that!" she said firmly, pulling Setsuna into a side hug with surprising strength. "It might be a bit startling at times, sure, but it's definitely not freaky! It's just you, and that's what makes it so great. Remember that!"
Setsuna blinked, momentarily thrown off by Itsuka's sincerity before a small, genuine smile crept onto her face. "Alright, alright," she chuckled softly, leaning into the hug. "Thanks, Prez. Guess I don't say it enough, but... you're pretty great at keeping my ego in check." She let out a laugh, a bit of her usual confidence returning.
"Hey, someone's gotta keep you in line and Itsuka is perfect for that," Pony teased, squeezing Setsuna's other shoulder tighter before letting go. "And just remember, freaky or not, we wouldn't trade you for anything. You're one of a kind."
He blinked at the odd sight before the last few moments of his awareness returned to him. He had just collided with her severed head going who knows HOW fast! Izuku swallowed and mustered enough energy to speak. "Sorry for hitting you, Tokage. Are you okay?"
Tokage raised a single incredulous eyebrow at the fellow green haired boy. "You hit the water going faster than I can even see, and you're asking if I'm okay?" Without breaking eye contact, Tokage's head tilted to better face something over Izuku's shoulder. "Hey, Mina, is he always like this?"
The familiar sound of Ashido's voice spoke up behind him. "Making sure everyone else is untouched before he admits to breaking all his bones again? Sounds like our Midori, alright!"
"Jokes aside, I don't think it's always good for Midoriya to put others' well-being before his own," Yui remarked, her expression thoughtful as she tilted her head. "It's admirable, sure, but it's also... exhausting."
Momo nodded in agreement, her brow furrowing. "You're probably right. But, then again, Izuku idolized All Might like a god for most of his life. He practically lived by All Might's example, so it's impossible for him not to have absorbed that core belief in self-sacrificial heroism." She let out a soft sigh, her eyes clouded with a mix of empathy and concern. "Still... after his whole 'dark knight' phase, I think he's made some progress in learning to rely on others. But, as they say, old habits die hard."
A weak chuckle bubbled up from Izuku's chest as he released Tokage's head in favor of planting his hands on the ground to push himself to his feet. "Hey, give me some credit, it doesn't feel like anything is broken this—" Izuku made the mistake of looking up to where he heard Ashido's voice.
Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of thirteen women scattered around the hot spring Izuku found himself in. Some, like Shiozaki and Jirou, wore towels around themselves, but most of them, including Uraraka, didn't have a scrap of clothing on them. "...time..."
"And there goes Izuku Midoriya.exe, crashed into oblivion!" Mina exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as she slapped a high-five with Toru. Pony and Setsuna quickly joined in, their laughter filling the room as they doubled over, clutching their sides. The image of Izuku's overwhelmed, frozen expression on the screen was just too much, and they couldn't resist letting loose.
Meanwhile, the rest of the girls' faces flushed as they tried—and failed—to maintain their composure. Despite their best efforts, their minds were already running wild, crafting countless scenarios involving themselves and a certain green-haired boy in equally flustering situations. It didn't help that the scene on the screen had been just ambiguous enough to spark their imaginations, each of them secretly wondering what it would be like to leave Izuku speechless just like that.
Amidst the laughter, Setsuna leaned closer, waggling her eyebrows at the flustered girls. "Come on, fess up—who here wouldn't want to make Midoriya.exe crash a little?" she teased, igniting a fresh wave of laughter and embarrassed protests.
Finally, Izuku's awareness roared to life, and with it came shame and embarrassment. His face lit up like a roaring inferno and One for All quickly leapt to his command. "I'MSOSORRY!" he screeched in a rushed tone and scrambled as fast as he could move towards the curtain leading into the hot spring. Izuku thanked All Might and anything else that would listen that he didn't slip as he sprinted around the spring and back into the wrong changing room.
"I can't!" Mina wheezed, her laughter growing louder as she doubled over, clutching her stomach while tears streamed down her cheeks. The sight of her barely able to breathe only made Setsuna, Toru, and Pony laugh harder.
The rest of the girls, who had been blushing and stealing shy glances at one another, finally gave in, joining the chorus of giggles. It was impossible to hold back when the laughter was so contagious, and soon enough, everyone was wiping away tears as they all found the scene on the screen utterly hilarious.
Before he could exit, however, a voice he'd come to trust with his life sent ice racing through his veins.
"MINETA! FOR THE LAST TIME, STEP AWAY FROM THAT DOOR! IT IS UNBECOMING OF A UA STUDENT TO DISRESPECT THE PRIVACY OF OUR FEMALE CLASSMATES!"
The moment they heard that Mineta was acting up again, the room fell silent, laughter snuffed out in an instant. The lighthearted atmosphere was replaced by a collective sigh, the tired and irritated groans of the girls filling the air as they exchanged exasperated glances.
"Seriously?" Momo muttered, rubbing her temples as she felt a headache coming on. "Can we go one day without him causing trouble?"
"Just when we were finally having a good time, too," Mina grumbled, folding her arms with a huff. The others nodded in agreement, their expressions a mix of annoyance and resignation.
Izuku's feet ground to a halt right in front of the door to freedom. If he left now, not only would Mineta see him exiting the girls' hot spring, but Iida too. There's no telling who else was watching Mineta's shenanigans, as well. Plus, what even was his defense? He was sent flying from a completely different part of the camp and just so happened to land in the middle of every woman in the hero course when they were all naked? Fat chance.
"As always, Green is overthinking things," Jiro said, rolling her eyes. "He literally has a pro hero and one of the camp supervisors as his alibi. It shouldn't be that hard for him to make a case for himself."
"Indeed, Jiro," Yanagi replied, her voice calm yet laced with a hint of concern. "But I do have my doubts that certain boys—especially deviants like Mineta, Kaminari, Awase, and Kaibara—won't make a scene out of this coincidental situation and turn it into a more embarrassing ordeal than Midoriya could bear." She crossed her arms thoughtfully, her gaze darkening slightly. "Not to mention their loose tongues. I wouldn't put it past them to spread this news across the school and into every social circle they enter in the future."
Jiro winced at the thought, with a look of discomfort on her face. "Yeah... now that you say it out loud, that sounds like a nightmare that could follow him for the rest of high school—and maybe even after." She muttered, blanching as she imagined the relentless teasing and rumors that would spiral out of control.
Izuku walked up to the wall beside the door and pressed his forehead against the wood. Going back wasn't an option, there's absolutely no way he would creep on the women. He couldn't leave through the only other door available, or else his career as a hero could end before it even began. He can't even stay where he's at, since the girls will need to enter the room he's panicking in to get their clothes.
What was he supposed to do?
"Poor Deku. I really feel bad for him," Ochako murmured, frowning as she thought about the predicament Izuku had somehow landed himself in. "It's just not fair that he has to go through all this trouble when he didn't even enter our side of the hot spring on purpose."
"Don't worry, Ochako," Momo said gently, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just as often as Izuku finds himself in trouble, he finds a way out of it too. He's quite smart under pressure, and I'm sure he'll come up with a solution for this situation as well."
"Or... we girls will." Mina grinned with a hint of devious excitement in her eyes.
******
Izuku status: alive
Ochako status: floating
Setsuna status: laughing her mouth off, literally.
"Of course, if anyone's enjoying this awkward situation, it has to be you, Set," Itsuka said, shaking her head with an exasperated but fond smile.
"Hey, let me have my fun!" Setsuna laughed, swatting playfully at Itsuka's arm. "Besides, shouldn't you be more worried about Ochako's counterpart over there? She looks like she's about to float right off into space!"
"Leave my friend alone; she's quite delicate, ribbit," Tsu teased, glancing at Ochako. "Especially when it comes to Izuku."
At this, the other girls burst into laughter, some of them nudging Ochako playfully. She buried her face in her hands, cheeks blazing as she tried to hide her growing embarrassment.
"Shut up! Your face is delicate!" she managed to yell, unable to come up with a stronger retort as the laughter around her grew louder.
Mina hummed softly as she pondered the situation. Was anything really stopping her from dragging Izuku in and messing around a bit?
"Well, there is one person who could stop you," Yui said, pointing at Ochako, whose face was still flushed with embarrassment. "Though I think her motivation leans more toward stopping you from messing with him rather than actually dragging him back into the bath," she added with her usual deadpan expression, sparking another round of laughter from the group.
She looked at the other girls, who all seemed more relieved than anything else at Izuku getting the show he did.
The laughter in the room quickly faded, but this time, it was replaced by a shared, deep embarrassment as all the girls processed on screen Mina's internal comment. Awkward glances were exchanged, and a rosy flush spread across their faces as Mina's thoughts lingered in the air.
"Anyone against me pulling Izuku back in here kicking and screaming?"
Ochako made a sound that was a strange combination of yes and no at the same time. She didn't know vocal cords could make that sound.
'Neither did I?' Ochako in the audience thought, her eyes widening at the sound her counterpart had just made. But then, her face flushed again as she processed Mina's words, the embarrassment sinking in deeper.
"Of course, you were going to suggest that!" Jiro groaned, throwing her hands up in exasperation as she glared at Mina. "And what's this about dragging him back 'kicking and screaming'? You seriously think that's the right approach?"
"Hey! Don't make me sound like the bad guy here!" Mina protested, pouting exaggeratedly. "You know how much of a 'good boy' Izuku is—there's no way he'd come back on his own unless we drag him into the bath with us! Besides, as his friends, isn't it our duty to add a little spice to his life?" She wiggled her brows mischievously, giving Jiro a playful wink, only fueling Jiro's annoyance.
"I mean..." Momo mumbled softly. Softer than she had any right to sound, considering the glint in the taller woman's eyes. "He should probably wash his sore muscles in the bath before he aggravates the damage he sustained?"
"Uh-huh," Jiro said, shifting her gaze from Mina to Momo, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Yep, 'sore muscles'—that's the only reason you're willing to go along with Mina's plan, right, Momo?" she asked, giving Momo a pointed look, clearly not buying the excuse.
Momo blinked innocently, her cheeks tinged with a faint pink hue. "Not sure what you're talking about, Kyoka," she said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Besides, it sounds like you don't want him there!" she shot back, a playful grin tugging at her lips. The words had the desired effect—Jiro's face immediately turned red as she sputtered in defense.
"Hey! I never said that!" Jiro protested, flustered, as she quickly turned her face away, trying to hide the color creeping up her neck. "I mean—look, it's not that I don't want him there, it's just… ugh," she groaned, clearly flustered by the teasing, her usual composure slipping for a moment. "Stop trying to twist my words!"
"I think I speak for all of us when I say this," Kendo interrupted Mina, the pink woman paling as she feared her hijinx was about to end. "He should be blindfolded."
Yui breathed out a "and you say I'm the kinky one."
Itsuka, who had been taking a sip of her coffee, suddenly spat it out in surprise, coughing and frantically reaching for a napkin. Her face turned bright red as she fumbled for her words, her eyes wide in shock at what she heard on the screen. "It's not like that!" she exclaimed, glaring at Yui, who was sitting calmly next to her, clearly unphased by the outburst.
Yui turned to her with a soft, knowing smile, her expression completely unfazed by Itsuka's flustered reaction. "Whatever you believe," she replied casually, despite the minimal reaction on her face, her tone was almost teasing, clearly enjoying the moment.
"Aw, you're no fun," Mina pouted, slightly disappointed that she wouldn't get to tease Izuku by merely existing. But hey, that added to the game of it all. "Fiiiiiiiiine, lemme go grab him."
Tsu croaked and got out of the water, her tongue depositing Ochako into the water as she did so. "I got him."
"Eh? But it was my idea!" Mina shot back, trying to come up with anything to get Tsuyu to allow her to do what she wanted to.
The frog just looked at her without blinking. "And I don't want you to make it even more awkward for Izuku, he's been through enough for the day."
"I think it's for the best," Ibara said, nodding in agreement. "It would be better if Mina or Setsuna aren't the ones to make the first contact, considering their methods of approaching people with jokes and pranks."
"Hey! That's unfair, it was my idea!" Mina protested, hands on her hips, puffing out her chest. "Besides, I know when to hold myself back!" she argued. However, her protest fell on deaf ears, much to her irritation.
Setsuna, standing beside her, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I'm totally capable of being subtle... sometimes." She flashed a mischievous grin, her arms crossed, but frowned when she received the same dismissive reaction as Mina.
Mina saw her chance "Could it be..." she threw on her most practiced, sly and mischievous look on her face. "You care for Midori?~"
Tsuyu managed to give the most 'are you dense' look her face allowed her to make. Which was leagues ahead of what Mina could imagine the frog-like heroine could ever do. "Yeah? You don't?"
"I- well, I mean..."
"Hahah!" Ochako laughed out loud, clutching her stomach as she watched Mina's reaction on the screen. "Oh, Mina! Now tell me, who's the delicate small flower, huh?" she asked, grinning at her pink friend, clearly enjoying being the doing the teasing.
Mina, her face now a bright shade of pink, huffed in protest and pointed a finger at Ochako. "Shut up! You're much worse than me!" she retorted, trying to recover her usual confidence.
"But that doesn't make your reaction any less hilarious!" Jiro chimed in, thoroughly enjoying the sight of flustered Mina. She was usually the one doing the teasing, so seeing her caught off guard like this was pure entertainment. "Who knew you had it in you?"
Mina groaned, her pout deepening as she kicked the ground beneath her in frustration. "Ugg~" she muttered dramatically. "I'll get you all back for this!" she warned, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "Just wait, I'm not letting this go!"
"He cute!" Pony barked out in ecstatic broken Japanese. "Hair very fluffy!"
"Yes Pony," Setsuna added almost like a prayer, clapping her hands together, "but also very hot, thank you heavens for this blessed combination, amen."
"Yeah, yeah, you got hots for Green, we get it already," Jiro said, rolling her eyes in exaggerated exasperation.
"Pot calling the kettle black, isn't that right, Kyoka?" Momo shot back with a mischievous grin, leaning toward her best friend as she wiggled her eyebrows.
Jiro froze for a moment, then turned to glare at Momo, her face flushing a deep shade of red. "What do you mean by that!?" she demanded, crossing her arms defensively. Her eyes darted around, trying to avoid looking like she was caught off guard, but the blush spreading across her cheeks gave her away.
Momo just winked at her, her smile growing more playful. "Oh, nothing at all," she said innocently. "But I can't help but notice how suspiciously red your face is all of a sudden."
"Ohh~~ Jiro's got it bad," Setsuna teased in a singy songy tone, nudging Pony, who grinned in agreement.
"I—I'm not—" Jiro sputtered, her words tripping over themselves as her embarrassment reached new heights. She turned her head away, muttering under her breath, "This is ridiculous. I swear, you guys are impossible."
Ibara grumbled, splashing herself with a bucket of spring water.
Kyoka could hear her chanting 'let lord guide my heart and soul away from sin.'
"You don't need to worry about Izuku doing anything bad, we all know his character very well," Ochako said, defending her best friend.
"I know, I trust Midoriya," Ibara replied, nodding in agreement, "but that doesn't mean he can't be tricked into doing something unsavory." She shot a pointed look toward Mina and Setsuna, who were both grinning mischievously. "You two seem to have a knack for getting people into trouble."
Mina dramatically threw her hands up in defense. "Oh, come on!" she protested, rolling her eyes. "Even if me and Set worked together, there's no way we could make Izuku do anything perverted with any of us unless we gave him express permission," she said, wiggling her brows mischievously and flashing a grin at Ibara.
Ibara's eyes widened, her face turning bright red at the implication. "You—!" she gasped, scandalized, before clearing her throat, trying to regain some composure, and started mumbling some prayers under her breath.
Then she noticed it.
"Hey, where's Tooru?"
"Oh boy, I hope Green survives," Jiro said with a sigh, shaking her head in mock exasperation. Her words were met with nods of agreement from everyone, except a select few who couldn't help but share amused grins at each other.
To be continued...
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