Heroes of Tomorrow

Part 44~The Truth

Uzu yawned as he hopped down the road with Akiko. "I still can't believe you lied to me."

"Technically, I never lied. I just told you to not call her my girlfriend. Besides, it's new. It's only been a week since we actually got together."

"Only a week?"

"Yeah. We were both idiots." Akiko grinned as they walked into UA. "You think everyone will be back?"

"I wonder what everyone else's day was like."

"Probably less stressful." Akiko hung her head as Uzu burst out laughing.

Akiko opened the door, leading Uzu inside as Momo and Jiro charged forward.

"Are you okay?! We saw what happened on TV?!" Jiro gaped as Iida pushed his way through.

"You need to stop doing this! You had us all worried!" Iida moved his hands about as Akiko chuckled nervously.

"Sorry, but I had everything under control." Akiko stepped back as Uzu moved forward.

"Hello, I have returned!"

"Uzu," Momo and Jiro smiled, a grin on their faces.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Momo announced, taking Uzu's hands and making Uzu blush.

He laughed nervously as he stepped in. "Sorry about being so late. I helped Akiko take her friends back to their ship. It was so cool! They have an entire wall of swords!"

Momo and Jiro glanced at Uzu before glancing at Akiko, who smiled nervously. "Enough about the ship. I thought you wanted to tell everyone something, and it seems almost everyone is here."

Uzu nodded as Momo and Jiro looked at him in concern. "Is something wrong?"

Uzu shook his head. "Nothing. I just have a few things that I want to tell everyone- nothing you don't already know."

The class gathered around as Kirishima frowned. "Hey, Bakubro, where's Naka?"

Bakugo tutted. "No idea. The little shit disappeared halfway through the lesson."

"You didn't think to check on him? Todoroki?" Kirishima turned to Todoroki, who shook his head disapprovingly.

"I saw All Might check on him, though. He's fine."

"Yeah," Mina interrupted. "I saw him slink off to his room earlier."

Kirishima rubbed his eyes. "So, he came back, clearly upset, and you didn't check on him."

"That is his own fault," Mina stamped her foot down. "If he'll apologise to Akiko and Uzu, it'll all be over, but he's too proud to do that."

"Hey, it's okay," Akiko interrupted. "I don't mind that much."

"Aki, that's the childhood-trauma-caused people-pleasing talking," Uzu interrupted, patting Akiko's shoulder. Akiko blinked in shock as Uzu moved on. "Anyway, I needed to talk to you all. As you know, a week ago, I was involved in a raid against the group known as the Shei Hissaki. They were creating drugs that could permanently destroy quirks. I'm legally not allowed to say more, but all you need to know is that they put this drug in a bullet. Near the end of the battle, Midoriya was collapsed on the ground with a young girl he was protecting when a villain pointed a gun at him. I knew I couldn't get to Midoriya or the villain fast enough to stop the bullet, so instead, I jumped in the way. I thought the bullet was a normal bullet, but it wasn't."

"You lost your quirk," Mina gasped as those who knew lowered their heads.

"Yes. We had hoped the bullet I was shot with was one of the unfinished products, ones that only disabled a quirk temporarily, but instead, my Quirk was destroyed and showed no signs of returning. I have made a deal with Nezu that will allow me to continue here, but I won't be allowed to spar with the rest of you until I've proven I can handle myself."

"How are you going to do that?!" Bakugo glared at Uzu as Uzu smiled.

"The plan is for me to take the make-up exam with you, Todoroki and Hatsuharu. If I successfully pass the exam without my Quirk, I'll be allowed to return to normal class and anything else going on. If I fail, I'll be allowed to try again in the next exam period. Until then, I have to take an extra class to learn martial arts and redesign my suit and a bunch of other stuff that they're doing as a precaution."

Kaminari frowned. "I'm confused. You lot said he was fine."

Akiko stood up. "That was my fault. I knew Uzu had a big decision to make about whether he would continue as a hero without his Quirk. I thought it would be better if Uzu could make that decision without everyone in the class trying to weigh in, so I lied to you all and got the others to do the same. I understand if you're upset by this, but take that out on me, as no one else had a choice in the matter."

"It's okay, I guess," Kaminari muttered, making Akiko smile.

"There is one last thing I want to talk to you about," Uzu announced. "There is something you don't know about me, and when I was captured by the League of Villains, they tried to use it against me. This is the reason Hanta tried to get me to join the villains and why they targeted me in the first place."

"What is it that would have so much power?" Uraraka tilted her head as Uzu took a breath. Momo and Jiro took his hands in support as he smiled.

"I'm trans. Hanta's brother was also trans, but he wasn't accepted by society and committed suicide. He saw his brother in me and wanted me to join the villains so I could try and change the hatred of other trans kids, but the way they are doing it is completely wrong. I don't want them to use a part of me against me, so I'm telling you so they can't." Uzu closed his eyes, unable to look at the group as he waited.

"That's all?" Tsu tilted her head as Uraraka chuckled.

"Yeah, from the way you were building this up, I thought it was something bad."

"That's it? You're not confused? Upset? Angry?" Uzu frowned in confusion as most of the class laughed.

"Of course not," Midoriya announced.

"To be honest, most of us already worked it out," Uraraka added as Iida stepped forward.

"But we kept our knowledge secret as it changed nothing!"

Kaminari was the only one who looked confused. "Wait.... Does that mean you're a girl?"

Uzu frowned. "No."

"But... you're trans... so... you must want to transition, meaning you're a girl?"

Jiro burst out laughing. "No, idiot. He's not male to female. He was born female and is currently transitioning to male."

Kaminari gaped. "Oh! That makes so much more sense."

The class laughed as Uzu sighed in relief. "Thank you. I'm glad you all understand."

"Of course they would," Bakugo snarled as he stood up. "You didn't have to keep us here."

Uzu chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. That's all I have to say. Night Bakugo."

Bakugo muttered something resembling a goodnight as the class grinned. The conversations drifted off as Mina turned to Akiko, trying to get information out of her about the 'monster attack.'

"I'm proud of you," Momo said softly, holding Uzu's hand tighter.

"Thanks. That was terrifying."

Jiro chuckled, wrapping an arm around Uzu. "But it's over, and you did well."

"Mostly because you were here." Uzu leaned into his girlfriends as Jiro stole a kiss. Momo gasped, a deep blush on her face as Uzu and Jiro laughed. They kissed her cheeks before joining the others.

"Oh, before I forget," Akiko reached into her bag, pulling out a pack of ready-salted crisps. "A reward for not chickening out." Akiko threw it at Uzu, and Uzu laughed.

"Hell yeah!"