Compulsion

Chapter 32: Swallow Your Words

AN: Forewarning, after the first passage from Denki's perspective, there is a timeskip of two days.

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"I want you to know that... I appreciate how much of a friend you were to me." Denki's eyelids fluttered as he laid on one of the beds in the Nurse's office. "If it weren't for you, I don't think I would've gone this far. Made this choice." Midoriya was standing before the bed, still in costume, and leaning against the wall. "I wouldn't have met Shinso, Ashido, or Jirou." At the foot of the bed, his hand rested atop his helmet as a weak chuckle escaped his lips, "Think Camie-Senpai might've forced herself to be my friend either way, though..."

"What're you saying...?" thought Denki.

"You know... out of everyone? I thought you would understand." He pushed off the wall, standing firmly. "You saw something in me that I didn't. When I thought I was worthless or a hack, you believed in me; supported me." He lowered his gaze; a weak smile graced his lips, "You... You looked at an utter failure and saw something worthwhile..." The smile faded, turning downwards. "But... then everything changed, right?"

"Damn right it did...!"

"I get that... I think..." His brow furrowed, shaking his head, "But... still... I can't believe you'd make that choice for me. That'd you stick me in a box and expect me to just accept it! And I know that was... some way of showing you cared, but..." His hands took hold of his helmet, "This is what I want to do-need to do. And..." He stared into his visor, "If that's the line in the sand?"

Midoriya smiled at Denki, "Then I guess that's that." He slipped the helmet onto his head, "Out of respect, I'll let you decide if you want to tell the others. They were your friends first."

"W-Whey~," forced out Denki. "Hang on...! I need... I'm not...! That isn't what I meant...! I just wanted to help...!"

"They said you were gonna be like that for a while..." Midoriya shook his head, "But even if you weren't, this... isn't a conversation. It's a statement. This is over." He turned away and towards the door, "Dr. Yaritezawa should be back soon, and class should let out in a few too." He opened it, "Good luck on your internship. Hope you learn something worthwhile." And the door slid shut behind him.

Denki was fried. He couldn't move normally; talk either. What he wanted to do was smack his palm against his face, but instead, it jutted out from his side with a thumbs-up. "Dammit..." He wanted to smack his other hand against the bed, but it just jutted out too. "I just... wanted to... Goddammit...!" He sucked in a breath and cried, "WHEY~!" Another breath; another, "WHEY~! Whey, whey~!"

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Ashido Mina wasn't one to brag, but she was pretty sure that she was adept when it came to reading people. Though, maybe that wasn't really necessary when it came to those two. First, it was that weird fight. Then, it was lunch. Kaminari used to sit next to or across from Midoriya. They've been pretty quiet for a while, but they still chatted with each other. Now, it was pretty obvious that they were avoiding each other. On opposite sides of the table, they sat, even asking the others to move so they could keep their distance.

She wasn't surprised - none of them were. Kaminari had been on the 'Because He's Quirkless' train for a hot minute. It was only a matter of time before that shoe dropped. But whenever they asked Kaminari, he would say, "I don't know what you're talking about," or "I don't want to talk about it."

And Mina thought, "If you didn't know what we were talking about, then how do you know that you don't want to talk about it...!?"

Midoriya wasn't any better, saying, "Everything's fine. You're worrying over nothing," or the classic, "I'm not sure what you mean."