Need You (ShinDeku)

Ch. 41 - Experience

A/N: 1-A makes a lucky guess and Present Mic just happens to coincidentally beat up the right person.
Have fun reading!

Izuku POV

He vanished as if he had never been there in the first place, mere inches before I hit him.

"Mono-Monoma, Y-you can't-?" I'm tripping over my words, terrified and confused and not knowing what to say.

"I can't what?" And after a few seconds of silence he pushes on.

"Do you want me to use my quirk so you can speak clearly?" I piece together what Monoma said before he disappeared. Shinso didn't see him. I can't tell anyone or Shinso will get hurt.

Fear courses through me as I realize his quirk would force me to tell him and he would get hurt.

"No." The truth quirk I was hit with yesterday kicks in at the worst possible time, forcibly making me respond to his question. I thought I could respond non-verbally, what the heck?

I'm sucked into his quirk but just as everything starts going fuzzy, a look of confusion passes over his face and I'm snapped out of it.

"I'm so sorry, you always say yes so I just assumed, but I didn't make you say anything." He panics, and I struggle to gather my bearings, feeling like I just got whiplash.

"No, I know. You weren't fully connected when you pulled away?" I say, but it's more of a question than anything as I struggle to find the words for what I felt. "I just meant I'm okay and you don't have to use your quirk." I mentally sigh in relief, remembering that I can still lie as long as I'm not answering a question. "I already told you, I-I don't mind when you use your quirk on me, and you don't have to ask for permission unless that's how you're getting ahold of me." I reassure him, hoping to divert his attention from my freak-out. He can't know about Monoma, and neither can anyone else.

Of course, my attempt fails and he asks what happened as he walks around to push my wheelchair again.

"I thought I saw Monoma again." I'm pleasantly surprised when the half truth works, already thinking of ways to get around the quirk. It wasn't technically wrong, I did think I saw him. It could have been my imagination, I don't know that.

Out of nowhere Monoma appears again, sticking his foot out in front of Shinso's. He trips, crashing towards the floor next to me. Okay, definitely not my imagination.

"So it's true, you did get hit with a truth quirk. This will be interesting. Don't forget what I said or I'll do much worse than that." He points to Shinso as he sits up with a groan, disappearing into nothingness again.

I turn my attention over to Shinso to see him holding his nose as it bleeds.

"Fuck, I think it might be broken." He hisses. "I swear I tripped on something." I panic, trying to think of an excuse. I hate you, Monoma.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?! I stuck my foot out because I was stretching my leg but you were walking I'm really sorry!" He just chuckles lightly, standing.

Is that really the best I could do? He's literally behind me, my foot doesn't go in that direction.

"It's alright, I don't know how I didn't see it. Let's go to recovery girl before class, okay?" I nod vigorously, relieved that he believed me. I'm only lying to protect you.

———

"You know, I should thank you. If I hadn't gotten suspended, I never would have gotten this ability." He appears right behind me as I'm eating my lunch, making me flinch.