Chapter Text
Barely even a week later, Jason was standing in front of the new dorms that UA had put in place for the students to keep them safe. All of them were there except for Aoyama, which was to be expected. If Tsukauchi was right, then the boy would be in a protection program now.
Jason hoped that Aoyama would be alright.
But for now, nineteen students stood in front of UA Heights Alliance, the dorms that were only a five minute walk from the main building.
“Given everything that's happened, I'm glad that we were able to get 1-A back together,” Aizawa stated. Jason was glad that all nineteen of them were there.
“Looks like everyone got permission to move in,” Sero said.
“My parents almost didn't let me continue at UA,” Hagakure said.
“Same here,” Jiro agreed.
“It's to be expected. I mean, you two were hurt the most by the gas,” Ojiro said.
“Not everyone's here, though. Where's Aoyama?” Uraraka asked. Jason kept his mouth shut.
“He has transferred to a different school. Likelihood is that you'll never see him again. Now.” Here came the stern telling off he'd expected. “Todoroki, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Iida, Midoriya. You five went to save Bakugo and Jason. Judging by everyone else's reactions, the rest of you knew. If I were to have it my way, everyone except for Bakugo, Jason, Hagakure , and Jirou would be expelled.”
“You guys really knew about that?” Jason asked. He turned to his classmates.
“We thought that you'd have it under control, since you're the best of us,” Sato confessed.
“You- What? You guys are lucky that you haven't faced more serious consequences!”
“Jason is right. All of you except for Bakugo, Jason, Hagakure , and Jirou should have been expelled for keeping the plan silent, even if it was to protect your classmates. You betrayed our trust. You can earn it back by training hard to get your provisional licenses. Now, come and see your new home.” Everyone stared after their teacher. Jason sighed and followed him.
There was a commotion as Bakugo dragged Kaminari away and behind a hedge. Yellow electricity sparked in the air for a few moments before Kaminari reappeared, looking the way he normally did when he went over his maximum limit. Bakugo walked away from the blonde and handed Kirishima a wad of yen.
“Woah! Did you pat him down for this or something?”
“Tch. It's my money, you idiot. It's to repay you.” Kirishima was in shock and awe. Jason noticed that Bakugo’s face was red. He raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn't say anything.
“Hey guys! Dinners on me tonight!” Kirishima shouted. There were cheers from the others. Jason ignored them in favor of going inside.
The class followed after him and Aizawa. Once they were all assembled, Aizawa started to explain the dorms.
“The ground floor is the common area. Here you'll be able to talk, cook and eat. There are shared bathrooms down here, as well. Girls are on the right, boys are on the left. The communal bathrooms are separated by gender.
“The rest of the floors are the bedrooms. Again, girls are on the right, and boys are on the left. Your things are already in your dorms. Each room has a private bathroom equipped with a shower in case you don't want to use the communal bathrooms, as well as a wardrobe and a mini fridge. You're free to decorate them however you want.”
“So awesome!” Hagakure squealed. Uraraka looked like she was going to faint.
“Your rooms have your names on a plate outside the door. I recommend that you go and find them and start unpacking,” Aizawa said. Jason headed off to find his room.
He was on the first floor, next to Midoriya’s room. Jason didn't pay it much attention, instead going into his room to inspect it. It was larger than the room at the apartment, and perhaps a similar size to the one in the Manor, if a bit smaller. The bathroom was a good size, with a shower, just as Aizawa had promised. He also had a balcony, which was super cool. He'd never had a balcony before.
Jason got started on unpacking. He made his bed first, and placed the plushies on top of the covers. Then he moved his spares into his wardrobe. His clothes followed behind. Anything that needed to be hung up was hung up, and he put the things that didn't need to be hung up into his dresser.
He also assembled a bookcase and put all of his books on there. School books, books he simply enjoyed reading, and a few knick knacks.
Posters went up onto the walls and his schedule went up onto the wall above his desk. A knock at his door distracted him.
“Coming!” He called out. He headed over and opened the door. Midoriya stood on the other side, a box in his arms. “Midoriya?”
“Aizawa Sensei told me to bring this to you. He said that it's too heavy for you to carry?”
“Oh! It's my weighted blanket. Come in, put it down anywhere.” He moved out of the way to let his friend in. Midoriya placed the box in the middle of the room, right on the rug that Hizashi had helped Jason pick out. Jason grabbed a pair of scissors and cut open the package.
“This is your room?” Midoriya asked. Jason hummed.
“Yeah. I don't really need much, you know? But it's good to have some decorations anyway.”
“So you like Mirko?”
“Have you seen her? Actually, that's stupid. You analyze Quirks as a hobby. But she's a badass, you know? My favorite heroes are the ones who are badass.”
“She's strong, and her Quirk is so cool!” Midoriya geeked. Jason laughed. He pulled the red weighted blanket out of the box and tugged it over to his bed, where he spread it out. “Oh! You have a schedule too?”
“Yeah! I mean, I'm Quirkless. I have to stay fit to keep up with you guys.”
“You're way ahead of us though,” Midoriya said.
“I can still end up behind you. It's easier for me due to the lack of a Quirk, so.” Jason shrugged.
“Okay. Well, I'll go and finish unpacking now. See you later!”
“Bye, Midoriya,” he said. The door shut behind Midoriya. Jason continued to smooth out the weighted blanket.
He stood back and surveyed his room. It was perfect! It might be simple to some people, but to Jason, simple was best. The extravagance of his room in the Manor was because it was in a manor, so it was pretty hard to make it as simple as humanly possible.
After all, he had everything he needed.
He started to carry his trash down to the skip they had and chucked it in. It was easy to carry it all down in a few trips, and then he went to sit in the common room.
The others trickled down, sitting on the couch as time went on.
“Oh, hey! Are you guys done with unpacking?” Kirishima asked. The sun was low, almost gone. They weren't able to go out and get dinner, so Kirishima had asked Aizawa if the man could go collect some fast food and pay using the money Bakugo had given him.
“I finished a while ago,” Jason confirmed. He'd been sitting in the common room and watching TV with a few others to pass time.
“I know that this has only happened because of some villains, but this is kind of exciting, isn't it?” Kaminari asked. He sat on the arm of the couch that Midoriya was sitting on.
“It is! Class 1-A all together,” Midoriya said.
“I see! This is a good way to bring everyone together and improve our teamwork! Aa expected of UA!” Iida said.
“I think that you're holding UA to an almost impossible standard there, Iida,” Ojiro told the vice rep.
“I must agree with Ojiro,” Shoji said. Koda nodded his head vigorously.
“Hey, boys!” Mina called. The girls all walked over with smiles on their faces. “We were talking, and we thought about having a friendly competition!”
“Friendly competition?” Jason asked.
“Yep! We'll judge everyone's rooms! Starting with the boys!” Mina said.
“I have nothing better to do,” Jason said.
“Sure! It'll be fun to see what everyone's rooms look like!” Kaminari agreed.
“I don't see why not! Sensei's still out getting the food, so it'll be a good way to pass time.”
“I'm going to bed.”
“Do you want someone to come and get you for dinner?” Jason asked. Bakugo scoffed.
“Whatever.”
“Kirishima can get you when it's here,” Jason decided. The blonde left, leaving the other eighteen behind.
Well, seventeen, considering how Tsu wasn't there. He wondered where she was.
The class moved as one, heading to the first floor and the rooms that were there. Jason could see the moment where Midoriya started to freak out when he realized that he was first.
“Wait! Hold on!” It was too late, though. The others were looking in Midoriya’s room.
It was filled with everything All Might. Posters, action figures, and even his bedsheets were All Might themed.
“This is actually cool!”
“So they're judging all of our rooms?”
“This might be fun.”
“There's a lot of All Might here,” Todoroki mused. He sounded fond, just a small bit.
“Well, he's my hero so… uh… this is so embarrassing,” Midoriya said with a red face. Todoroki looked like he wanted to pull Midoriya close to him and let him hide his red face in his chest. Which, yeah. That was cute.
They moved on quickly enough after that. Tokoyami was next, though evidently he didn't want to let the others look inside. Mina and Hagakure pushed him out of the way and opened the door, anyway.
It was dark inside, with a lot of edgy things like a sword. Jason didn't go inside, instead staying outside of the room to respect Tokoyami.
“Jason's next!” Mina said. Jason smiled and led his classmates to his room.
“It's simple, which is what I like, so.” He shrugged and opened the door, letting his classmates in.
“You like Mirko?” Kaminari asked. “Is it because she's hot?”
“Dude, I like guys, not girls. No, she's just a badass.” It was so casual, the way his confession slipped out of his mouth like that. Todoroki looked at him with his eyes bugging out of his head. Kaminari, Midoriya, and Kirishima looked as if something had been answered for them, like they had just been told that liking men as a man was okay. The girls-
“That's why you never seem to have an interest in girls!”
“Wait… you like boys?” Jirou asked.
“You're so casual about it.”
“You guys, my brother literally has a husband.” Well, had a husband. Wally… was unfortunately gone, and Dick was depressed. “Haven't I mentioned it to you guys before?”
“We just never expected you to like guys yourself,” Kirishima said.
Ojiro was next. His room was bland. Iida’s room was filled with more books than his and also a lot of glasses. Kaminari’s room was a mix of things that looked weird. Koda had a rabbit in his room, which was actually kinda cute. The girls, two of whom were wearing some of Iida’s spare glasses.
They went to look at Kirishima's room. It was what he'd expect from the other boy.
“If my boyfriend's room looked like this, I'd dump him,” Hagakure whispered.
“It's actually a very Kirishima room. The punching bag there is good for working on strengthening his Quirk, which is important,” Jason said.
“It makes me want to work out!” Uraraka said which… Was that her way of agreeing with him?
“You guys get it!”
Shoji’s room was almost empty, with just a desk and a bed.
“There's like, nothing here.”
“His Quirk would make it hard to maneuver in a room filled with things,” Jason pointed out.
“Thank you,” Shoji said.
“Just pointing out the truth,” he said in reply.Seros's room was next. When they saw it, the girls described it as exotic. Jason saw it as the other embracing something important to him.
“Nice room.”
“Gracias, mi amigo,” Sero replied. Both boys grinned.
Jason could speak Spanish with Sero here! This was awesome!
“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Jason asked.
“You bet I am!” Sero said.
“Does anyone know what they're saying?” Hagakure asked. There was a chorus of ‘no’ from the others.
“We should move on!”
“Todoroki's next!”
Todoroki's room was a traditional Japanese room. Everyone was shocked at how he'd been able to do all of the work that came with it in one day. Todoroki’s response made Jason laugh.
Slowly, one by one, they worked their way through the rest of the rooms. Sato had cake baking in his room, Mina’s room was pink an black while Hagakure’s room was soft colors. Jirou’s room had a punk feel to it, with a bunch of instruments in it. Yaoyorozu’s room was mostly taken up by her bed, which was huge. Somehow, the other had forgotten that she was rich. Uraraka’s room was plain, probably because her financial situation was a total 180 from Yaoyorozu's. None of them were able to see Tsu’s room, because she wasn't there, nor did they go and look in Bakugo’s room.
The group who had gone to try and rescue Jaspn and Bakugo ended up outside with Tsu and Uraraka. Jason watched as all of them ended up crying (except for Todoroki and Iida, though they looked pretty apologetic). Was it because of the rescue mission that the others really shouldn't have gone on? Probably.
Jason was lucky to have been able to get out of there when he did. Who knew what would have happened if he and Bakugo had stayed there? It probably would have ended up being far worse than it actually had been.
The seven outside came in with Aizawa, carrying pizza boxes that were set out on the tables by Yaoyorozu and Iida. Jason grabbed a few slices and dug in, simply enjoying the company of his friends. He had to start training again tomorrow for the provisional license exam, which would let him start doing more Hero work.
It'd get him noticed by the government even more than being a Hero course student did.
He ignored the annoying thoughts in favor of laughing at something Kaminari said.
_______________________________________
Dick watched as his sister and brother talked. Tim squawked when Cass went to antagonize him. Dick smiled.
They might not have Jason with them anymore, but they were still together. Jason would be watching this with an amused face. Or maybe he'd go over and annoy Tim as well.
“DAD!” Tim screeched. “CASS IS BULLYING ME!”
“Stop bullying your brother!” Bruce called back.
Dick was blissfully unaware of the fact that Jason was watching the scene, tears running down his face.
Jason woke up in his dorm, tears streaming down his face. When could he go home? He just wanted to go home and see his family again.
Would they accept him back into their family if they knew what plans he was creating in his head? Would Bruce be disappointed in him?
Probably.
Jason looked at the time. Five minutes past six. He sighed and got up. He cleaned his face of tears and changed into his sports uniform, then left his room to walk down the stairs and walked over to where his shoes were stored in the entrance way and pulled them on. Then he left.
Running was a part of his routine if only for how mindless it was. Iida would surely tell him about how great of an idea it was to go out and start training early.
The teachers wanted them to start creating their ultimate moves. Jason didn't care for such a thing. He was going to go underground, find a way back home. His ultimate move would be his unpredictability in his fights. Where was he? What was he going to do? No one would know.
Bats were best at being hard to predict, after all. It was a specialty. If you weren't hard to predict, then were you actually a Bat?
Early morning sunlight lit up the grounds of UA, basking the place in a faint, pale light that got stronger and more golden the more Jason ran.
“Jason!” He stopped and took deep breaths.
“Hi,” he said to the other person once he had some of his breath back. He straightened up.
Hashimoto stood in front of him, watching him carefully. Jason could see a soft look in the other’s acidic eyes.
“Hey. How're you doing after all of that? The news mentioned that you were one of the people that were kidnapped at the camp. I got worried about you.” The ‘I still am’ went unsaid. Jason smiled at Hashimoto.
“I'm doing okay. I've got another therapy session soon, which is good. So if I need to, I can vent to my therapist.”
“Were you hurt at all?” Hashimoto asked. He placed a hand on Jason’s right bicep. The touch was like fire, heating his skin up.
“They didn't hurt me, or Bakugo. We were able to sneak out when All Might burst in through the wall of the place that we were being held in.” Hashimoto’s smile grew even softer, if that was possible.
“I'm glad,” he admitted. He didn't remove his hand from its place on Jason's arm. Jason didn't want him to. “What are you guys doing now?”
“We have to train for the provisional license exam. If we pass it, then we'll be able to provide aid and support during attacks. Basically we'd be able to act as Pro Heroes if the need arises,” Jason replied.
“You should be careful, okay? UA's been on the news for a long while now, other schools will be aware of the Quirks in your class by now.”
“That's true. But, I'm good at being stealthy and showing up when people least expect it, so I should be fine,” Jason assured. Hashimoto watched his face for a while.
“Still, you need to be careful. I'll have to think of a way for us to celebrate once you pass.” Jason nodded.
“Sounds good! Hey uh, I have to go now, but I'll see you later?”
“Sure thing! Bye, Jason.””
“Bye, Hashimoto.”
“Just call me Ryouma.” Jason swallowed thickly. That was a huge step up for a lot of people. Some people preferred to be called by their first names, but many people only ever gave the honor of a first name basis to those that they were close with.
Or, in a few cases, someone they liked.
“Alright. Bye, Ryouma. I'll see you later.”
“Bye, Jason.”
He walked back to the 1-A dorms with a faint blush on his face and a smile on his lips.
Some people would think that he only liked Ryouma because of his future seeing Quirk, but that honestly wasn't it. Ryouma was kind, smart, and passionate. He was also really, really cute in Jason's opinion.
He went to start his day with his friends in the 1-A dorms, acting as though he wasn't freaking out on the inside.
“In the next two weeks, you will be creating your Ultimate Moves,” Aizawa said.
“Ultimate Moves are something that you'll be known for,” Ectoplasm continued.
“They're something that's recognizable as yours, and no one else's,” Midnight added on.
“They're something that only you can do, so they have to play on your strengths,” Cementoss finished.
“Go get into your costumes and meet us at Gym Gamma.”
“Yessir!” The class chorused as one. Together, they got up and went to grab their suits. Yaoyorozu and Iida worked together to hand out the cases.
The case for seat number one had disappeared. Jason ignored the worry he felt for Aoyama and accepted his case from Iida. He followed the stream of students from his class to the locker room. He changed out of sight, something that his classmates were used to, and then slipped out to head to gym Gamma.
It was basically a large building with concrete floors that would be good with Cementoss's Quirk. Perhaps that was why they were in gym Gamma, and why the teacher was there. He could construct terrain that they needed in order to train. Honestly, genius.
Once the whole class was assembled, the teachers turned to them.
“Here, you'll work on your ultimate moves. Well give you feedback and advice based on our observations. Cementoss will provide you with the terrain you might need in order to develop your moves,” Ectoplasm explained.
“You'll find that your suits might need to be updated. If that's the case, then you can take them over to the development studio in UA. There, Power Loader will do what he can in order to help you out and fulfill your requests. The upgrades to your suits should aid you with your Quirks,” Aizawa said.
“May I ask a question? Why are you getting us to develop our ultimate moves now?” Iida asked. Jason sighed.
“Remember what I said about the sports festival? How people will know your Quirks, your strengths and weaknesses? That's why. Because your Quirks have been broadcasted across Japan. In order to win, you need an advantage, a leg up. Not only that, but we've all improved since school started. However, it isn't by much. Ultimate Moves will give all of you an advantage in the fight.”
“Exactly right. They will all know your abilities, so you will need to have something to give you an advantage,” Midnight said.
“What about you?” Kaminari asked.
“I wasn't in the sports festival. Plus, the League of Villains doesn't know that I'm Quirkless. They think that I have one, but don't know what. One of them even said that it was stupid to think that a Quirkless kid got into the Hero course. As such, my advantage won't be an ultimate move, but the skills I already have. You've all seen me spar, but not when I'm in the thick of a proper battle.”
“Jasons right. Due to the fact that he refused to participate in the sports festival, he has an advantage. That, and the fact that Redwing is mainly a myth to a lot of people. From what I've heard, none of the other Hero schools have even heard of him.” Jason felt himself preen.
“Let's begin,” Cementoss said. It was always quite satisfying to see his Quirk in action. How the ground he touched glowed a faint, almost olive green, and the way that the ground responded to his will.
It was no different now, when Cementoss knelt down and made the ground move upwards, with clips and foothold for easy access to the top and plenty of space for the students to work. As soon as he was finished, Ectoplasm used his own Quirk to create multiple copies of himself, all of which settled on the top of each platform Cementoss had created.
His classmates surged forward to start their training. Jason stayed put, staring up at his classmates as they worked.
“Jason?”
“I'm gonna work on my costume instead. I've got a few ideas that I want to put to paper.” He turned and walked over to a wall that was far enough away from potential harm and sat down. He opened his holocomp and pulled up a planning page to start his brain storming.
He'd need to improve his costume in some ways. Jason was thinking of an intimidation tactic, but what to use?
He starting drawing ideas.
But his attention was pulled back to his classmates.
They were all taking it in stride, their enthusiasm endless and their goal in the front of their minds.
Jason didn't understand it.
_______________________________________
“How do you feel about your situation?”
“I hate it. I hate being stuck in a place that I don't belong in, where I can't call my family and talk to them. My classmates… they all mean well, but they don't… they don't understand.”
“What don't they understand?” Jason curled in on himself some more.
“Everything. They don't know the true risks of being a Hero. They don't understand that sometimes, even of they mean well, their enthusiasm and concern is more stifling. They don't- they don't know what it's like to be forcibly removed from your whole family, your whole life! They're always telling me that I'm so good at what I do, and always asking me why I'm not the class rep. Only a few know, but one doesn't know everything. I just… I hate it.”
“It's perfectly okay for you to feel like this, Jason.” He knew that. Dinah had told him that before. “I do think that everything that has happened has resulted in some disorders in you.”
“I know that I probably have PTSD. I mean, I have nightmares, I have flashbacks and sometimes there's too much that's going on and just… I know that I have some scars left from all of that.”
“It's good that you're aware that you have PTSD. I'll have to get you an official diagnosis for that. However, what I mean is that you might have depression also.” Jason stared down at his hands. Tears stung his eyes.
He'd known, subconsciously, that it was a possibility. Who wouldn't become depressed if they were in his situation? Torn away from home without consent and with no way to get back that he could think of.
Nezu had given him an update on that. There hadn't been any improvements on getting him home.
“I just want to go home,” he whispered thickly. He could feel Mori's eyes soften at the admission.
“I know you do,” she said. Sympathy coated her voice.
Jason wanted to punch something, to scream until his anger was gone and his head was clear.
He didn't say anything. His voice just wouldn't work. The mental block was there, preventing him from talking. Mori nodded in understanding when he didn't say anything more.
“Perhaps we should should stop for the day, yeah?” Jason nodded. He stood up and, without speaking, said goodbye to Mori. He walked over to Aizawa, who had driven him over. The man noticed his mood.
“Aizawa-san, we should talk.” Aizawa glanced at Jason, who just sat down and pulled out his phone.
“Alright.” Aizawa disappeared into Mori’s office to talk, presumably about Jason.
He scrolled through his messages, reading the chaos that was the class group chat and the much calmer messages from Ryouma.
Ryouma: How're you doing?
Jay: Not too hot unfortunately.
Ryouma: That doesn't sound good.
Ryouma: Do you want to hang out when you're back or will you be too busy to?
Jay: I should be free.
Jay: Though I don't know if I'll be speaking because there's a mental block between my brain and my mouth.
Ryouma: That sucks :(
Ryouma: It's okay if you want to hang out and you can't speak for some reason. You've been through some things.
Jay: Thank you, Ryouma.
Ryouma: Anytime.
Aizawa walked out. He motioned to Jason, so he got up and followed him out to the car. Once they were buckled in and heading back to UA, Aizawa started speaking.
“Mori wants to do some testing,” he said. Jason looked up at Aizawa.
PTSD and depression, he signed when he was able to have Aizawa’s attention long enough for him to decipher it.
“I think that it's a good thing to test for,” Aozawa said. Jason made a non committal sound and looked out of the window.
Gray clouds covered the city, and were reflected in UA's windows. It felt pretty fitting for his mood in all honesty.
When they got back, he went to find Ryouma, who was sitting in a part of the campus that would be dry if it were to rain, but it wasn't in the main part. Ryouma offered him a soft smile and held out a container.
“Cookies,” he said in near perfect English, with only a slight accent in his words. Jason sat down next to him and took one.
It tasted good, like liquid gold. Jason hummed appreciatively. Ryouma chuckled.
“I've perfected the recipe over the years,” he said. Jason smiled and gave him a thumbs up. His dark mood was lifting already, and he'd only been with Ryouma for a few minutes.
He guessed that love did that to a person. Jason was really glad that he'd met Ryouma. He didn't ask, just accepted it when Jason wasn't able to talk much, or when he was too depressed. Then he'd try to cheer Jason up.
He didn't know if he could ever repay Ryouma’s kindness.
As it was, he sat with Ryouma and watched the rain fall for a few hours. Neither of them talked, just watched. It was comforting.
When they had to leave, Ryouma handed Jason the container of cookies with a soft smile.
“Feeling better?”
“Yeah. Thanks,” Jason replied. His voice had come back to him.
“Of course.”
Jason walked with Ryouma back to the dorms. He waved goodbye when they separated and slipped into the 1-A dorms. Slipping past everyone else was easy, with how tired they were from their training. He hid the box and went back down.
“Hey,” he said. Everyone shrieked and jumped at his sudden appearance.
“What the hell, man?” Kaminari whined.
“Jason-kun! We didn't hear you come back,” Mina said. Her eyes were wide with surprise.
“And that's my giant advantage,” he said cryptically. He added a cackle to the end of his sentence to freak the other out even more.
“Dude! You're kinda scary.”
“I'll take that as a complement.”
He needed to figure out who Redwing was, how he was different from Robin. If that meant that Redwing was scary well then, so be it.
