Chapter Text
“So you’re saying this will last a whole month?!” Uraraka exclaimed.
“As far as the quirk specialists are saying, yes,” Aizawa said tiredly. The light from the windows cast a shadow over his face that made him almost look like a ghost. “The child that caused this doesn’t have a very good handle on their quirk, and it’s a powerful one. A month is the least amount of time it will last. It’s lucky just this class was affected.”
“So we’ll just blurt out random things?” Mina asked. “Like the fact that I can’t eat sandwiches not cut down the middle?”
Snickers rose from the class as she turned a bright red.
Aizawa sighed. “Not exactly. The quirk is a weird mix between a truth quirk and a prone to suggestion quirk, thanks to the boy's parents. It means you’ll be under the effects of a normal truth quirk, but you also won’t have the ability to keep yourselves from oversharing.”
“So we’ll all be spouting fucking word vomit like Deku?!”
“Yes, Bakugou. Fucking word vomit.”
“This doesn’t make sense!” Midoriya cried. “There’s no way a quirk of someone so young would be powerful enough to work on such a large group of people for so long, and even if it were, why was the range of the initial blast so small if it was that powerful? The logistics alone-“
“Shut up, nerd!”
“It doesn’t matter how it works,” Mr. Aizawa said, already looking even more exhausted than he had at the beginning of class. “As of right now, due to this quirk, you are not to leave campus, your phones are being confiscated, and the wifi is being shut down in your dorm-“
Numerous protests accompanied this announcement, and Aizawa gave them a subtle glare to quiet them. “I feel like I don’t need to remind you that if anything confidential were to get out due to this quirk, it would be disastrous.”
Most of the class paled at that. The idea of one of them spilling information that the media - or worse, the villains - could use for their own malicious intent was enough to shut them up about having no internet or phones for so long.
“That being said,” Aizawa continued after letting that sink in for a moment, “You all will probably share things with each other you would rather keep hidden. I implore all of you to be accepting of one another’s faults and words. You will all be heroes together one day and that means you have to trust one another.”
The class took in what he said solemnly. If this was what they had to do because of this quirk, then that was what they were going to do.
It didn’t mean they had to like it.
The first few unexpected truths weren’t all that much. A couple of “no I wasn’t paying attention”s and a few “yes I did the homework in homeroom”s in class were to be expected, especially considering the work ethic of some of the students. Those caused the class to laugh, if a bit awkwardly - it reminded them that they had to watch what they were saying at all times (even if the knew deep down there was nothing they could do about it).
The first interesting truth to come out was from Bakugou.
“I’m not actually going to bed early, I just use that time to read romance novels because I don’t want anyone to know I read them.”
That admission had come with a hand slapping over his mouth as the entire room stared at him, before they all burst out into laughter so loud the dorms next to them could hear.
“Oh my God, Bakugou,” Jirou wheezed with tears in her eyes. The entire rest of the self proclaimed Bakusquad was too busy rolling on the floor to even say anything, ignoring the almost-death threats that rapid fired from the boys mouth.
(If anything, the shout of “I will metaphorically kill you” made them laugh even harder.)
They refused to let it go, and for hours they asked him about all of his favorite books and what part of the gushy romance stuff he liked the best. They finally dropped it when Bakugou threatened to shave all their heads - and because of the quirk they knew he was being dead serious.
“Attention everyone!” Mina announced from the entrance to the common room, making everyone turn her way where she was standing with Jiro, Hagakure, and Yaomomo.
“What’s up?” Kirishima asked from his place at the table, where he was currently engaged in a very intense game of Uno with Kaminari and Sero, who were all finding it very hard to not shout out what cards they had in their hands.
“Well, the girls and I were thinking-“
“It was totally your idea, Mina,” Jiro interrupted.
“Well, you guys supported me and eveything so you should get credit too, since you guys are my best friends and I appreciate everything-“
“We get it!” Bakugou yelled from the kitchen. “The stupid truth quirk is making you spill your guts about love and friendship! Get to the point!”
Mina turned pinker than normal, rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, since Aizawa said we can’t use the internet for the whole month, and none of us have our phones anymore, we were thinking-“
“We should totally have a bunch of movie nights!” Hagakure shouted excitedly.
Uraraka shot up from her seat on the couch by Iida, eyes shining. “That’s an amazing idea!”
“But what about the truth quirk?” Kaminari said. “Like, if we’re all together all the time won’t it be even easier to reveal stuff about ourselves?”
“Eh? Since when did Dunce Face get a brain?”
“But think about it,” Kirishima said. “We hardly ever get this time to bond with each other, but now we can since we’re pretty much isolated to the dorms. I for one don’t want to spend all my time holed up in my room.”
“Kirishima’s right,” Midoriya said, seemingly deep in thought. “We’re all going to be heroes together some day, and that requires a deep level of trust, just like Aizawa said. If we don’t trust each other enough to sit together while anything could blurt out at any moment, we won’t be very good heroes. How can civilians trust us when we can’t even trust each other?”
He looked around and noticed everyone staring at him. “Er, I mean-“
“Midoriya!” Iida suddenly cried, launching towards him with vigor. “That was truly inspiring! As class rep, I couldn’t have said it better myself! All in favor of said movie nights say I!”
A chorus of enthusiastic - and a couple unenthusiastic, but no one noticed - “I”s rang throughout the room.
Iida cleared his throat and shot a pointed look towards the kitchen, where slight grumbling could be heard before Bakugou slumped out of the kitchen and fell into a chair.
“I,” he said through his teeth, causing loud cheering from all the members of the Bakusquad.
“I mean, it’s a good thing Bakugou agreed to come,” Jiro muttered to the other girls, snickering. “I for one would love to hear more of his confessions about romance novels.”
She was louder than she meant to be, which meant Bakugou definitely heard her. “What did I say about shaving your head, Ears!”
“I mean, she has a point,” Mina said, apparently ignoring whatever threat to her hair Bakugou was imposing. “You really don’t seem the type of guy to like sappy stuff.”
“Well I started liking it when I was younger, but kind of grew out of it as time went on because - oh no you fucking don’t you pink demon!”
Mina laughed but didn’t stop. “Wait, if you grew out of it, then why do you still read them?”
“Because it’s not like I can actually have romance with the person I want, so I chose the next best thing!” he snapped before his eyes widened - as did everyone else’s in the room - and he promptly smacked a hand over his mouth.
Mina’s eyes turned to stars and she shot up in front of Bakugou’s now scarlet face, prying his hand away. “Who?! Who is it?! Tell us right now!”
The entire common room was staring at them now, and their eyes were glued to Bakugou as he slumped down in his seat, seemingly to get as far from Mina as possible.
“I do not want to tell you.” Everyone in the room knew how much willpower Bakugou was using right then - the effects of the quirk were extremely powerful, and to resist a direct question like that was near impossible.
“Please? Who is it? I’ll love you forever!” she dragged out the last word as she slid down to the floor.
Iida stood up abruptly. “It is extremely unheroic of us to take advantage of-“
“Shitty hair,” Bakugou blurted before, yet again, smacking himself in the face. He seemed to be doing that a lot, lately.
Nobody moved, but all eyes slowly shifted to the redhead at the table, who was growing redder by the second.
Kirishima stood up slowly. “Are you - are you serious, man?”
Bakugou groaned. “I am literally fucking incapable of not being serious right now, you dunderhead.”
“Good, because I like you, too.”
Bakugou shot out of his seat, nearly smacking into Mina on his way up. “Wait - really?!”
“I mean, you were the one that just called me a dunder-“
Bakugou cut him off by smashing their lips together, and if the entire common room cheered, they didn’t really notice.
“Well, maybe something good will come of this quirk, right?” Midoriya said to Shinso sometime after the other two had gone upstairs for some . . . romance reading.
“Well I would hope,” Todoroki said blankly from across the room, hardly looking up from his book. “Because I like you as well.”
The green haired boy choked. “Wait, what-“
“So,” Kirishima said from his place on Bakugous bed, unable to stop the grin from forming on his face, “you really like me back.”
Said boy huffed from his desk chair. He was sitting on it backwards with his chin and arms resting on the back of it. It made him look quieter than normal. “I mean, yeah.”
Kirishima’s insides turned even gooeyer than before. He couldn’t help but blurt the words out - “I think I’ve liked you since I first saw you. You were always so strong, and I really admired that, you know?”
Bakugou looked uncomfortable. “It wasn’t like that for me. When I got to UA, everyone was just an obstacle for me. I saw this place as a tool and I didn’t care who I had to hurt to get my way. But then you tore down my stupid walls and made me actually care about someone for once. I think I realized I loved you when you reached your hand out to save me.”
Bakugou finally looked up at the end of his mini-rant before turning pink. “I mean, er-“
“You love me?”
“. . . yes.”
Kirishima realized his eyesight was turning misty as he stood and placed his hands on Katsuki’s. “Good. I love you too.”
Ok, don’t freak out, Izuku told himself as he stared across the room at Todoroki. Your crush just confessed to you under the effects of a truth quirk. Yeah, totally fine.
“T-Todoroki?” he said, voice slightly shaking. “W-what-“
“I’m gonna give you guys some privacy,” Shinso said from next him, and Izuku saw a trace of a smirk as he stood. And then he realized they were the only ones left in the common room -
Before he knew it, the elevator doors were sliding shut and it was just the two of them sitting alone in the almost-dark room.
Yeah. Don’t freak out.
“Midoriya, is it ok if I come sit next to you?”
“Of course it is,” Izuku replied before he even had a chance to think. This quirk really was something. He already had several pages in his notes dedicated to it - how it seemed to know the truth before you even had a chance to think of any lies.
Todoroki sat by him, and his weight made the couch dip down slightly so that Izuku was almost leaning on him, which totally did nothing for his “don’t freak out” mentality.
Izuku took a chance and glanced up at the other boy, and found himself staring right into his eyes. And as red as he knew his face was, he couldn’t seem to look away.
“I’m sorry,” Todoroki said. “I didn’t mean to say that so abruptly, it’s just that with this whole truth quirk thing . . .”
“I get it,” Izuku said as he looked down again. “I’ve said weird things too. Earlier today I told Tsu about my underwear being All Might themed totally unprompted . . . And I just told you. Totally unprompted.”
Izuku wanted to die of embarrassment, but he heard - more so felt - Todoroki chuckle next to him. “Very on-brand for you, I must say.”
Izuku chuckled too, before falling into silence - and oh boy, was that hard right now - and then tried to speak again very carefully. “Todoroki-“
“Shoto.”
Izuku blanched. “W-what?”
The dual haired boy looked a bit shocked even at his own words, but nevertheless spoke on. “Call me Shoto. I think we’re close enough for that.”
Now he knew his face was definitely red, but his mouth somehow opened on its own - “In that case, call me Izuku.”
Was Todo- Shoto red now too? “Alright, Izuku.”
Oh man, this was going to end badly, he just knew it-
But wait. Todoroki had already said that he liked him . . .
“So you do like me back?” The words spilled from his mouth before he could stop them. That was getting very annoying very fast.
“I already said - wait.” Shoto shifted to look at him better, his eyes widening in apparent shock. “Back?”
He looked up at him, into his two-toned eyes, thinking about that moment in the sports festival where he lit up and it was beautiful, but that somehow the dark common room made him look even more so, and said, “Yeah. Back.”
There was a moment where neither boy said anything, before Shoto laughed - really laughed, and man, if that sound wasn’t the most precious thing Izuku had ever heard - and no, there definitely weren’t tears in their eyes-
“I guess you were right,” Shoto said as he put a hand on Izuku’s cheek, and he suddenly became aware of how widely they were both smiling. “Something good might come from this quirk after all.”
Izuku was on his way to homeroom - hand in hand with his new boyfriend, which was incredible in its own right (breakfast had been a fun affair, with the announcing of the second new relationship of the first two days under a truth quirk)- when All Might in his now permanently smaller form came around the corner.
“Young Midoriya!” he said with a wave, before catching sight of him holding hands with the dual-haired boy. “I see the truth quirk has done some good, eh?”
Izuku immediately turned red, flailing his arms in an attempt to mask how flustered he was. He had to guess it probably wasn’t working. “H-hey All Might!” he said, his voice a little too high.
The hero in question simply chuckled. “Is it ok if we talk for a moment? Aizawa has already excused you from homeroom.”
It took all of Izuku’s willpower to simply say “Sure thing!” and not the thousands of thoughts and concerns that immediately flew through his mind. He could only think of a handful of things All Might would want to talk about with him since he was under the influence of this stupid quirk, and none of them could be shared with the people he was currently with.
He turned to Shoto and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and told him he’d see him in a bit.
“I really like it when you display your affection for me,” Shoto said before turning bright pink.
“I’ll be sure to do it more then,” Izuku said automatically, also turning pink, before following All Might to the teachers lounge.
“I’m guessing this is about One for All and how it would be disastrous if I were to spill any information about it,” Izuku said as he sat down on the sofa across from his mentor. “Also, that tie does not match your outfit at all.”
All Might coughed harshly into his hand, clearly startled by Izuku’s bluntness. “Man, they really weren’t kidding about this quirk, were they?”
Izuku felt like a deer caught in headlights. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to say that out loud!”
All Might simply chuckled. “It’s quite alright, my boy. But yes, that is precisely what I want to discuss with you.”
Izuku sat back in his chair, thinking for a moment. If anything about One for All were to get out, it would certainly not be good. But he did trust his classmates to not say anything about it to the media or anything, that was for sure. Would it be that big of a deal if something were to slip out unintentionally? Oh, but if Aizawa found out, he was dead for sure-
“Now I wouldn’t say that,” All Might said. “Aizawa would certainly kill me before he even had a chance to look at you.”
Oh. Had he said all that out loud?
“Yes, you did,” his mentor said, looking far too amused.
“Sorry,” Izuku said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m bad enough without a quirk forcing my mouth open all the time.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he said with a fond smile, before growing serious again. “I believe you are right, however. Any information getting released to the public due to this quirk would be disastrous, but I think you are also right in the faith you have placed in your classmates. I don’t doubt every one of them will make wonderful heroes one day, and each of them has earned your trust.”
Izuku let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, but he was still hesitant. “But what about your secret? Are you sure you would be okay with them knowing you weren’t a natural born hero?”
All Might shrugged, and his eyes were somewhat distant as he spoke. “It’s not my secret to tell anymore, my boy. You are the sole holder of One for All. Now, that being said, I wouldn’t say anything unless you can’t help it due to the quirk. I doubt this is something you would want to get out if this quirk had never happened.”
Izuku nodded, suddenly feeling a lot smaller, and the words poured out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them. “I’m also worried they’ll find out I used to be quirkless if the matter of One for All comes up. Most people . . . were less than kind to me when they found out about my status back then.”
That was close enough to the truth, right? After all, he said it without any problems. He never really did tell his mentor the extent of the bullying, and he really didn’t want to start now.
But even though he was very much going around the truth with what he just said, All Mights eyes seemed to soften, as if he knew all of the turmoil Izuku had gone through in the past. “I don’t believe you have to worry about that with this group, but I understand your concern. Try to steer from conversations that would reveal anything.”
“Oh, of course,” Izuku said. “It’s not like I’m gonna walk into class and say “All Might gave me his quirk,” right?”
“Midoriya!” Iida said as Izuku walked into class at the end of homeroom. “How was your talk with All Might?”
“It was good,” Izuku said with a smile, and-
“We talked about the quirk he gave me.”
Well.
So much for that.