Inseparable Bonds

Peer Protection

M*neta flew through the locker room, slamming head first into the wall. Iida - instinctively- turned immediately to Midoriya, and proceeded to wave his hands robotically, already in lecture mode.

"Midoriya! Kicking a fellow classmate is not proper behavior for a U.A. student! Hardly heroic at all! I would've expected this type of behavior from Bakugo, but from you? M*neta is your classmate! He wouldn't have hur-" Iida froze, forcefully stopping himself from continuing. As if the anger on Todoroki and Kirishima's faces weren't enough, his own brain had to come at him.

How could I have been so insensitive? Iida mentally scolded himself, Of course Midoriya wouldn't want most people near him. He simply reacted instinctively.

The simple truth was, no one truly understood what those 4 had gone through. Despite them opening up about it during the train ride, it was obvious that they didn't get the full story.

The simple kidnapping story they had told them didn't seem to justify their jumpy, anxious, protective and defensive behavior.

But Tenya was quite sure that he had unlocked more of the story. Based off body language, communication, emotion, and reactions, Iida had concluded that Midoriya and Kirishima got the brunt of the torture part of things.

This conclusion come from multiple sources of information. Todoroki's text, Kirishima's brief and not too detailed description of his capture, the train ride, the constant flinching of both- some more obvious than others- and of course, Midoriya's noticeable- and concerning- change in character.

Both of his classmates had become inseparable from the moment they had been reunited. Kirishima constantly by Midoryia's side, and Midoriya constantly by Kirishima's. Put simply, they had trauma bonds. They possessed somewhat the same trauma bonds with Todoroki and Bakugo, but Kirishima's trauma bond to them was significantly less extreme than Midoryia's, supposedly from not having been held captive in the same room as them.

As for Bakugo and Todoroki, it was easy to say that they had gotten more mental abuse, rather than physical abuse. Iida assumed that the League had used Midoriya and Kirishima as their leverage over those two. Kirishima had confirmed that theory when he had told the class of AFO and Shigaraki's dark desires. A theory that Iida had prayed would not reveal itself to be true.

Kirishima and Midoriya were treated as objects, simply so that the villains could gain two new recruits. Because of this, Bakugo and Todoroki had become extremely protective. It was rare to see Kirishima and Midoriya, without either Bakugo or Todoroki standing right next to them.

As Iida stood there, at a loss for words, unsure of what to say to apologize to his traumatized, green-haired friend, his assumption of Todoroki and Bakugo being protective, once again, decided to prove itself to be true.

"What the hell Four-Eyes?!" The explosive blonde shouted, turning his ruby eyed glare towards Iida. Tenya held still, awaiting what the raging Bakugo had to say. "Kicking the grape-head is completely fine! Even for a damn U.A. student! It's his fault for getting too close! Go lecture that dwarf instead!"

Iida stared at Bakugo. He didn't quite expect that. Although, he didn't think his expectation of Bakugo defending Midoriya quite matched reality regardless.

Then with that one statement, Bakugo turned heel, heading directly to his locker. Iida simply took it as Bakugo's way of saying 'I'm done talking to you'. Iida took that moment to look at Midoriya, but was shocked to find that both Midoriya and Kirishima were gone. Todoroki on the other hand, was dressed, and walking out the door, presumably heading towards the two boys.

Iida sighed, and finished changing, before leaving the locker room, scolding himself as guilt flooded his mind. He nudged his glasses up his nose, before tearing his gaze away from the floor. As he walked past the janitor's closet, he paused.

Is that... crying?

He quickly spun around, and grabbed the door handle. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should invade this person's privacy, when another sob exited the closet. With new resolve, Iida opened the door, only to find...