Disclaimer: C'mon, I don't own this. (Do I need to say this every time? Wha- yes, I like having an apartment... yes, not being in prison is co- okay, yes... okay... yes, okay, I get it. I'll say it. Jeez.)

Hey all. So I'm listening to sad music, and I figured, why the hell shouldn't I post a sad one-shot? That's really the only inspiration behind this.

So tonight (cause it's 3:27 AM as I begin writing this) we'll be doing an EXTREMELY common variation of Midoriya having a nightmare, and people appear! Yay! I originally contemplated with doing Midoriya interacting with someone with a quirk that forced him to be honest, or maybe even having a nightmare during the day, (daymare?) but ultimately, those felt... cheap. Like, prospective students aren't going to be randomly assaulted, especially because it's cited canonically that people recognize the U.A. students. Like, if your quirk is... telling people to be truthful, you're probably a, and I'll try to quote Bakugou here, "a shitty wannabe villain punkass motherfucker."

I did see one super amazing fic though by SevenRenny, named Scorpions and Chains. Check it out, it's seriously great!

Anyways, so yeah. We'll be doing just a typical nightmare setting. It'll be handspun a bit to make it a bit more believable, but I didn't want to use my original idea, because I'm saving it for my other story, and I would hate to reuse ideas.

Onto shipping. Uhh... so this'll be awkward, but honestly, there's maybe a ship you could take from this, but maybe not. I won't tell you who is being shipped, because I'll leave it to you guys, but I'm also going to have people interact how I think they would if this actually happened. So yeah. No flaming and shit, and uh, enjoy!

Oh yeah, and this might be a little sad. Sorry. But it'll be fluffy, too! Maybe.

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 144 ONWARD.

Izuku Midoriya was no stranger to nightmares, contrary to the popular belief that he was just a happy-go-lucky, slightly nerdy, innocent little cinnamon roll. Because of his own personal paranoia, the green-haired wielder of One-For-All had made the decision to withhold his own history from his friends of Class 1-A, and for the most part, they were none the wiser.

Most of the students simply chalked it up to the same reason they didn't share anything from their time in middle school. It was relatively boring, and if anything did happen, they preferred to keep it somewhat buried in the depths of their mind. Unless anyone specifically asked, there was nothing to specifically tell.

But for Midoriya, he wasn't lucky enough to have had just a plain, boring middle school experience. With his circumstances, honestly, it should've been as plain as they came... but apparently, being a plain person did not equate to having plain days. Being on the receiving end of some rather vicious bullying, Midoriya began to wear the scars mentally, as well as physically, though he had no idea they were forming.

It started with the sudden flinching when anyone reached toward him. Inko was horrified at first, but after some rather skittish remarks and pleading, along with some rational deception, she'd come to believe the flinching was due to his inheriting of her nature. After all, he was around her all day, so it only made sense that he'd pick up on a few things, and she knew she wasn't the textbook example for courageous.

The flinching only became worse at school, but his classmates were practically kids, still. They didn't particularly understand mental trauma, and for that matter, neither did Midoriya. He just figured it was like a response to being involved in a lot of fights. Which, he wasn't wrong... per say.

The stuttering began after Bakugou began making it a habit to cut off Midoriya mid-sentence in an effort to establish dominance over him. If there had been one thing that the blonde despised, it was being outdone. And Midoriya was smart. His brain was the only thing that let him stand out in a class of imbeciles (in Bakugou's mind), so it became the blond's personal mission to interrupt the green-haired boy at every chance. Other bullies picked up this habit, and soon enough, Midoriya's skittish nature included a stutter that stemmed from not only fear of rejection, but also the thought that no one cared what he had to say.

At night, young Midoriya began having his dreams of being All Might Jr. turn into visions of Bakugou and other bullies pummel him, and his mother expressing disappointment in him. The first few times, he was terrified, and regularly made sure his mother was not disappointed in him. Once he was sure they were fake, he began ignoring them to the best of his ability, and soon enough, they just became a semi-regular thing, just like his flinching and stuttering.

Once he got to U.A, however, things began to change. He made friends. The bullying stopped. He had a quirk. But most of all, people paid attention to him. Which, at first, was revolutionary. But that awe quickly morphed into fear as they began to see right through his carefully crafted facade that he hadn't even meant to create. It wasn't as if he was pretending to be timid, or acting shy. He was genuinely a shy person, thanks largely in part to his lack of friendly interaction.

But his facade of pretending to be okay, convincing both himself and others that there was nothing bothering him... it quickly began to crumble away. People began to see through it. And his belief that Bakugou hadn't been a bad person... also began to erode. He'd forgiven Kacchan - really, he couldn't hold a grudge anyways, so he didn't pretend to try - but that didn't mean he could keep Kacchan from hating his guts... nor could he stop people from speculating.

Speculation could be deterred by behavior that disproved such thoughts, however, and that became Midoriya's primary goal when people snooped around.

And it went great - for awhile. That is... until he'd been invited over to Yaoyorozu's mansion.

Following most of everyone passing the Provisional Hero Licensing Exam, Yaoyorozu decided to hold a small celebration for everyone to come and enjoy themselves as the members of Class 1-A could party in honor of their large step forward in their lives toward becoming heroes. Of course, Bakugou had turned down the offer immediately, and frankly, there was no one that was opposed to that. Even Kirishima was pleased, though he'd admitted he did wish his explosive friend was able to come at one point during the night.

Todoroki, admittedly, passed up the opportunity, if only because he didn't wish to cloud the atmosphere with his thoughts. Midoriya tried to convince him otherwise- as did Yaoyorozu and Mina- but he respectfully declined, and stated he needed to think about things involving his father, as well as visit his mother again. While it was unfortunate, Midoriya understood, and even he admitted to himself that he'd hate to attend a party for something he failed to do.

Everyone else, however, was more than excited to have a night to just... be teenagers for a change. Even Mineta was invited, though Yaoyorozu was very straight-forward with how he was to behave, lest he want to be forcefully removed. The night went off without a hitch, and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely, and found themselves interacting with classmates they didn't typically interact with.

Once the night came, Yaoyorozu informed everyone they could pair up into small groups and find a guest room, but Sero and Hagakure both were adamant on everyone spending the night together, like one big sleepover. The idea went well, and within a few minutes, everyone was settling into their blanket and eagerly chatting away with whomever their nighttime neighbor was.

Strangely, (or not, depending on who you asked), Mineta was stuck between Aoyama and Shoji... something he was not happy with, but nobody was willing to move, to his disappointment.

One-by-one, everyone fell into the waiting arms of dreamland, except for one. Of all nights, sporadic as they were, Midoriya found himself trapped within the cold clutches of a relentless nightmare, and in the real world, he began to shuffle fitfully in his rest, stirring a few of his nearby classmates.

"Jeez... Midoriya's a real wild guy... he even fights in his sleep?" Kirishima muttered, gently rubbing his eyes with his forearm. He'd learned his lesson about using his hand, and he had the scar to prove it. "How manly can you get?"

"I doubt he's fighting," Ashido said, rolling onto her stomach to get a look at the bushy-haired teen, struggling futilely in his rest. While she was partially annoyed to be woken, she hardly blamed Midoriya once she'd seen the state he was in. Part of her was tempted to try and stir him from his slumber, but she also knew how well that went when she'd once woken her brother, and knowing Midoriya and his massive power, she decided to let him ride it out.

A yawn escaped Hagakure's lips, but without the noise that accompanied it, nobody would have known. "It looks like he's in pain... ohhhh... I feel like we should help him..."

Kaminari scoffed. "Yeah; you wake up the kid that can destroy a glacier by flicking his fingers. I'm good with living, though."

From his position, Kirishima could see the way that Midoriya's brow furrowed, as if he was trying to block out bad thoughts, and the way his arms tightened around his sheets. The red-haired teenager frowned, and felt the temptation arise to try and wake up his classmate. Out of anyone, he was the best suited to do so, but he also wasn't sure how suited he was.

"You know... it looks like a pretty bad nightmare..." Hagakure thought aloud. "I didn't know Midoriya had nightmares."

"Everyone has nightmares, Hagakure." The tired, but patient voice of Yaoyorozu broke through the darkness, and through the shadows, one could make out the taller girl leaving the comfort of her blankets to come over to where Midoriya was tossing and turning. She knelt down nearby him and produced a small fan from her abdomen, and turned it on, before placing it near his head in an effort to cool him down. "It's just a natural reaction to stress and fear."

"I-I know that!" Hagakure defended, drawing a snort from Ashido.

"Suuuuree~ you did."

Even in the darkness, Hagakure was able to reach over and smack Ashido lightly on the arm, causing a quiet yelp to escape from Ashido when she felt her arm suddenly touched.

"What do you think he's dreaming about?" Kaminari said suddenly.

Everyone went quiet; the answer could have been a multitude of things, truthfully.

"I cannot say for certain, but... I have had a nightmare about Stain." Iida's voice was sudden, and unexpected, so a few students jumped at the sound of his usually booming voice. But now, it was quiet, and... small. It was so unlike the Iida everyone was used to. "At first, it was because of my brother... but after a few nights, it was the look in his eye that I dreamt of."

Iida knew he couldn't tell anyone about the true results of the altercation and outcome he, Todoroki and Midoriya had been part of... but he hadn't withheld the fact that they'd all encountered the Hero Killer. In fact, none of them had.

Mina exhaled gently. "Sometimes, I have nightmares about my parents getting hurt by a villain because of my journey toward becoming a hero."

There were a few mumbles that went around the room as those awake admitted they'd likely had the same nightmare at some point, and even thought about it during the waking hours of the day. Becoming a hero meant putting your family in danger, and nobody was particularly sure on how to deal with that facet of a hero's life.

Aizawa had yet to cover that aspect of heroics, but when he did, everyone was going to be listening.

From the darkness, Kaminari spoke. "I once had a nightmare about Bakugou."

Someone - who, exactly, was unknown- snorted in a failed attempt to withhold their laughter, causing Kaminari to lash out. "H-hey, it's not funny! He's scary!"

Yaoyorozu shushed him gently. "Come now; there's people trying to sleep. Let's be respectful of them."

The electricity-user grumbled quietly, but obliged by Yaoyorozu's request, despite his reluctance to quiet down. Surprisingly, Hagakure spoke up, and agreed. "Kaminari makes a good point... he's rather rude... and he reallyyy hates Midoriya."

"That's true..." Ashido mumbled. "I've never seen someone so kind get treated like such... shit. For no reason, too!"

"H-hey, we can't judge," Kirishima said semi-defensively. "We don't know their history. And Bakugou isn't exactly known for being open about his past, huh?"

Kaminari rolled his eyes in the darkness, knowing full-well no one could see him. "He's also not known for his kindness."

"Let's not divulge into gossip; that's rather unbecoming for prospective heroes, wouldn't you agree?" Iida said, apparently having enough of the conversation. In all honesty, everyone had been expecting Iida to shut down the conversation earlier, they weren't surprised he decided to take a stand now. He had always been against any sort of gossip, so it wasn't surprising to see him stand against it now.

Yaoyorozu created a small candle, and lit it near Izuku's body, in an effort to see better and intervene if necessary.

Suddenly, as if the light was a catalyst in his nightmare, Midoriya grunted, and his body was enveloped in a red glow, and a pressure descended upon the room, before the glow dissipated, and everyone was left wondering what they'd witnessed. However, he shot upward, grasping forward feebly, and clutched at the air, before a guttural roar was unleashed from deep within his throat.

Honestly, it would have been a miracle everyone didn't wake up. That was not the case, however, and those that were previously asleep, were now desperately trying to find their bearings as they were mercilessly torn from their peaceful dreams.

"M-Midoriya!" Kirshima said loudly. "It's okay, dude! You're okay!"

The scenery set in, and memories came flooding back to the green-haired hero, and he felt his stomach churn uncomfortably - in which Kaminari didn't hesitate to point out he was 'going to spew!' - resulting in Yaoyorozu creating a trash can for her classmate in haste, just in time as he violently wretched into the basket. A few people winced at the force of which Midoriya hurled, and because Yaoyorozu was the closest, she felt the obligation to do something, which resulting in an awkward back-rub.

"G-guys...?" Midoriya asked tiredly. The question was open-ended and unspecific, but no one was particularly certain of how to answer their classmate, mostly due to his recent display. More than that, nobody was sure who should speak up. There was no designated caretaker in these situations, and although Uraraka was the closest thing to the "Deku-Help-Leader", she was still smothered by fatigue, and had no clue what was going on.

It was clear, however, that Midoriya was becoming more and more anxious, as his jade eyes filled with doubt, concern, but most noticeably, fear.

He was afraid he'd done something wrong.

Yaoyorozu took the opening with a shade of reluctance. "Midoriya, are you alright?"

He blinked groggily, trying desperately to clear the fatigue from his eyes. "I-I..." He closed his eyes, and there was a sharp intake of breath as he seemingly remembered what it was he was dreaming about. His eyes shot open and he looked shaken, as well as visibly nervous. "Y-yeah. I'm fine now."

"Do... do you want to talk about it?" Hagakure asked kindly. Truth-be-told, she had no idea of what to do in this situation. Typically, her friends from primary school just spouted whatever was on their mind, and anyone she'd become friends with at UA did something similar. If they remained silent, it was clear that the issue was something bigger than they were ready to share.

Midoriya looked around the room uneasily, and the message he was sending was clear: there were too many people.

Kirishima took notice, and deftly took charge, gesturing to the outside porch where they'd previously held their festives, with his thumb, and a grin adorning his face. "C'mon dude; we can talk out there." He studied Midoriya's face, and despite the waver in his look, he still appeared unnerved by the prospect. "If you want."

"Understandably... there are some secrets we all want to hide." Midoriya glanced over to Iida in surprise. The boy's voice was low, and his eyes were squinting without the use of his glasses, but he seemed much more serious under the dim lighting of the candle. "But... we are your friends. I'm sure we can help, if only a little."

It took Midoriya only a split-second to realize what Iida was implying. Had the engine-quirked student shared his thoughts on his brother... things may have turned out differently. Their lives may have avoided potentially being ended on that fateful night. But then, Stain may not have been captured. Either way, all things considered, being open could only have helped.

Midoriya sighed; putting trust in his friends... he needed to do this. Even if they judged him.

"O-okay. But not everyone." He glanced around the room, taking in the tired and confused looks on some of his classmates faces. "I'll tell them another time."

Iida didn't hesitate to stand up and let his booming voice echo throughout the room. "It's alright, everyone! It was just a poor prank! We apologize for waking everyone!"

Mineta grumbled about being torn from a "lewd dream" and cast Midoriya a tired glare, while a few other students just blinked, shrugged, gave Iida a strange look, and laid back down in earnest. Uraraka gave Midoriya a worried look, which pulled at his heartstrings. She had been tired out from the day, and Midoriya didn't want to pester her with his problems... so he offered her a weak, but heart-warming smile, which she returned, and laid down.

I'll tell her, he reasoned. On my own account.

Slowly, Midoriya stood up and slipped outside, closing a well-decorated glass door behind him whilst everyone else dealt with the fallout of a "prank gone awry." For a man that hated lying, Midoriya thought, Iida was a little too good at coming up with fake excuses on the spot. Straight and narrow, and hardly deterred from the rules, his engine-quirked friend was fast on his feet, but just as fast on the ball, it seemed.

He decided to take a moment to drink in the nighttime air; a stark difference from the warmer, more clustered air inside the room. Grand as it was large, the room didn't exactly have the best circulation, and because of that, the temperature rose higher than anticipated - especially with over a dozen teenagers all cluttered together inside.

The sky was polluted with lights, causing the stars to remain hidden from sight, a fact that caused a light frown to slip onto the green-haired boy's face. The moon was masked from sight as well, but more likely, it was due to the cycle of the moon.

"It's a nice night, huh?" From behind, Ashido spoke, trying to avoid frightening the jumpy hero-in-training. He felt a jolt run through his body, and a familiar flicker of power known as One-For-All surge through his muscles, but he exhaled deeply, and pushed the sensation to fight or flee down. He wasn't in danger. There was no one to fight, he told himself.

Ashido must have noticed the startled look on his face, because a guilty smile slipped onto her face, and she rubbed the back of her head, though there was little remorse on her face. "Sorry; didn't mean to scare you. I just, figured talking was better than touching you or something."

He couldn't argue there; touching him would've probably fried his brain, or sent him into the air with a One-For-All packed leap.

"T-thanks," Midoriya said with a smile, which Ashido returned happily.

He could see the curiosity that was bouncing off her expression in waves, but he admired her restraint, as she cast her gaze out on the horizon, despite the lack of anything noteworthy to look at. She muttered lowly, "jeez, everyone better hurry up..."

The two waited patiently for everyone who had been awake for everything to ambulate outside, though Ashido was far less patient than Midoriya. In the end, the group wasn't as large as Midoriya had expected: Kaminari, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Ashido, Iida, and Hagakure. It was a good thing she was wearing pajamas, otherwise he wouldn't have known she was there, too.

He took a breath in. "S-so...?"

"Just start wherever is comfortable," Yaoyorozu suggested, though judging by the look on her face, she wasn't particularly confident in her thoughts.

Kirishima didn't waste any time in positioning himself next to Midoriya, forcing the smaller boy into a sitting position against the wooden railing that kept one from falling off the porch. Everyone nestled in close, Ashido pushing the ever-awkward Yaoyorozu next to Midoriya, who blushed at the close contact, but remained silent. The pink-skinned girl was tempted to slip in between Kirishima and Midoriya, but ended up laying on her back so she could peek at the sky, too.

A few quiet seconds passed, and Midoriya still had no idea of where to begin, so, he decided to try from the beginning.

"Well... I guess you guys should know, I didn't always know my quirk. I only got my quirk a few months before the UA entrance exam." Iida had been right about one thing: there were some secrets he still had to keep. One-For-All was one of them... for as long as he could keep it, that is.

"That's... rather late for a quirk to develop..." Iida said slowly. Everyone knew the basics of their quirk: it always appeared around when they were four. Scientists began to rationalize it as something akin to a 'puberty', as it was a widely regarded fact of when quirks were first noticed in kids. Of course, that didn't prevent outliers from occasionally occurring, but for the most part, it was rather consistent across the world.

Hagakure pipped up, recalling a fact from one of their first classes. "And you went to middle school with Bakugou... is that why he called you quirkless?"

Midoriya nodded. "Yeah... I-I never showed any sign of a quirk in school, s-so... Kacchan thought I was lying to him..." Truthfully, Midoriya had spent hours upon hours, staying awake at night as he considered these little things. He had finally come to the point where he understood why Bakugou hated him so much... and that it all because the ever-prideful teenager thought that Midoriya had just been waiting to overtake him and make him look like a fool. "I guess... c-cause of the time I got it... w-well... h-he wasn't really wrong when he called me quirkless."

"That explains why you always exploded when you used your quirk!" Hagakure exclaimed suddenly, causing everyone to sweat-drop.

Midoriya sighed internally. At least they buy it... he reasoned.

"R-right... w-well... because of that... I wasn't the most popular of students."

Kirishima's goofy smile had disappeared, and he looked Midoriya straight in the eye. He knew. Even with his hair down, he was still just as intimidating as the first time Midoriya had met the kid... even though he wasn't trying to be. "Bullies. Am I right?"

He didn't reply. He didn't have to.

Kirishima hadn't seen too many quirkless kids at his school, if any that he could recall. He spared a glance over at Ashido, but judging by her tense frown, she, too, had no experiences with that sort of thing at their school. Iida folded his arms and looked down. His private academy had no such allowance for those without a quirk, even if it was harsh. Kaminari bit his lip. He'd only seen one... and it hadn't ended well for the poor girl.

He still remembered the announcement of her passing. She had been two years below him, so he didn't know her personally, nor did he really know of her... but he'd been shocked, and rather upset to hear of something so tragic happening to someone so innocent. It was a reminder that the world held dark places beyond the borders of his vision.

Yaoyorozu said nothing, nor did she allow her feelings to slip onto her face. She was not blind to the statistics, which she suspected everyone else to be unaware of. Hardly could she blame them; they were not friendly numbers. One in every ten quirkless children would commit suicide by the end of their primary schooling... Even less would make it through high school, due mostly in part to the rigors of the high schools and their faux hero departments. UA was not the only heroic school, and most had a similar department... they simply lacked the prestige that UA carried in title alone.

If he'd gone through primary school quirkless then...

She clenched her eyes shut. The thoughts were not good.

"I-it wasn't all bad! I was able to get through because I helped the other kids when I could, and they'd spare me!" Midoriya said weakly.

The words echoed ominously. 'They'd spare me'. They were sickening words... a wave of anger wrapped its way around the small circle of students as they digested the exact terminology that he'd used. He had to fight for his survival.

Hagakure felt her heart aching deep within. "D-didn't the teachers...?"

Midoriya looked away. "They'd see. But more often than not, they wouldn't care."

"The principle didn't care, either?" Hagakure asked softly.

Midoriya didn't respond.

Kirishima clenched his fist and bared his teeth. He knew public schools could be fucked up, but he'd only heard rumors of this sort of thing happening... he'd never believed it actually happened, let alone happened to someone so close to him. And not to someone so kind!

'...they'd spare me...' Ashido kept repeating that line over and over in her head, feeling her stomach churn in disgust. She put a hand over her abdomen, trying to quell it. The fact that her classmate - her friend! - had to fight for his survival at a place that should've been safe haven was repulsive. Nobody standing up for him... nobody defending him...!

She blinked, putting her rage on momentary pause.

"Didn't Bakugou have classes with you...?" There was an unasked question. 'Didn't he protect you...?'

But he didn't answer that unasked question. He couldn't.

Midoriya flinched lightly, and everyone felt more anger build up within.

"H-he wasn't that bad...! Sure... he had his moments... but I also bothered him a lot, a-and if I didn't challenge him all the time..."

A thud was heard, and everyone turned to Kaminari, who was gritting his teeth in rage. His fist was snugly placed into the wooden flooring, and his body crackled occasionally with loose electricity, causing everyone's hair to stand on-edge. "That's bullshit! You shouldn't defend him! There's no reason what he did was right!"

Despite the wild look in his eye, Midoriya sighed, and looked toward his lap, bringing Kaminari's temper down, as the yellow-haired boy looked at him in confusion. "I-I know... what he did was wrong. B-but... he really does want to be a hero... and since that day, he hasn't done anything to me..." He looked back up, a dim light in the young boy's eyes. "In his own Kacchan-like way... he respects me now."

Ashido snorted. "Yeah; emphasis on 'in his own way'..."

Yaoyorozu, silent for the most of the conversation, gently touched Midoriya's shoulder. She didn't want to abandon the subject of Bakugou and his behavior toward Midoriya... but she hadn't forgotten why they'd come outside in the first place. "What was it that you were dreaming about, though?"

He paled. He had almost forgotten the original reason he'd stumbled outside.

"W-well... the bullies would... physically attack me." Midoriya ignored the way everyone tensed up; some in anger, and some in shock. "But... the words could sometimes hurt more. I can heal from a hit. Words... take longer to forget."

"What did they say?" Yaoyorozu asked softly.

Slowly, he looked up at her, and very, very softly, he spoke. "If I wanted a quirk so badly... I should j-jump." His voice broke, unable to finish the thought, but the implications were set, and a frenzy broke out.

Kaminari stood up and snarled, electricity dancing along his body angrily, threatening to lash out at the person that spoke the vile words. Even without the knowledge of who said it, the yellow-haired teen didn't care - he'd just waltz through Midoriya's former classmates until he found who did. He'd even take on Bakugou if he had to.

Iida was shocked. Hollow-faced and silent, he leaned back, and stared upward. His time at Soumei Private kept him sheltered from people of that calibre. Nearly everyone was the same, and they were drilled to be polite, straight-forward, rule-respecting, and earnest. While all these traits belonged to Iida prior to his enrollment, he'd fit right into the program, and as result, he'd never struggled to meet people. From the time he'd judged Midoriya to the moment he'd become awestruck by the green-haired boy's power, he'd felt bad for the way he'd judged and treated him... but never once had he suspected the boy to be abused in such a way.

Nobody deserved that.

Kirishima and Ashido were both angry, but not enraged like Kaminari. Perhaps it was because of their anger being more shallow, but spread out in an even way, or maybe it was because he was so angry that they couldn't get as fired up... it didn't matter. Kirishima wanted to knock the lights out of whomever said that, and Ashido wouldn't mind giving them a swift spray of non-lethal acid... maybe even burn it into their clothes to remind them of the things they'd said.

Hagakure felt her heartbreak, and she desperately thanked her quirk's ability to hide her face, because she could roll over and they'd never know she was silently letting tears drip from her eyes.

Truly, Midoriya was strange. He was awkward, he was geek-y, he was everything that could be odd... but he was so righteous and nice... even if he wasn't, nobody should be told such heinous things. To know her friend was actively told to end his life was... terrifying, honestly.

Without thinking, Yaoyorozu leaned over, and enveloped the smaller boy in a gentle hug. Maybe it was because of her own awkward ways, or maybe it was because of his own, but this once, Midoriya didn't stiffen or fight off the hug... he just sat still, and though he was beyond surprised, he didn't move or react, other than to sniffle once or twice.

"We're glad you didn't listen..." Yaoyorozu mumbled softly. Her hair, down for a change, draped over Midoriya's shoulder as she pulled him in. She wasn't really sure why she felt obligated to touch him... maybe it was because she wanted to be certain he hadn't become a number she'd read about. Maybe it was because she wanted to make sure that even though he'd dreamt it, he had no reason to go through with it... who knew? She just didn't want him to feel like it was right.

Kirishima wrapped an arm around Yaoyorozu and tugged them in close, breathing his anger out in waves. "Listen here, alright? You're our best bud, and no one can take that away. Fuck whoever said that. You're with us, now. Quirkless or quirked, we fight for everyone. So next time they say that, give them a punch, and we'll be there to clean up whatever's left."

"And I'll kick 'em in the balls!" Ashido said a bit too excitedly.

While Midoriya had no intention of telling them who said it, he found his heart swelling, and a few tears leaking loose from his eyes. "T-thanks, everyone..."

Iida put a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "He's right. You don't have to go forward alone."

Despite the fear that shone in Iida's eyes, the class president knew that Midoriya was stronger than almost anyone else... and while Midoriya was passive enough... he wasn't, and he'd sooner knock out the person that said those words than listen to them spoken a second time.

"C'mon... let's go inside... Kaminari's about to fry everyone, and I think Hagakure's gonna need a tissue... or twelve," Ashido remarked. Kaminari immediately began protesting, stating how he couldn't believe how anyone would be so inhumane, while Hagakure frantically denied crying that much.

All the while, Izuku had to secretly pinch himself to be sure he wasn't dreaming.

Because even with the nightmare, having friends like he had now was a dream he wished would never end.