Deku, The Hell Flame Dragon Slayer

Part 75: Communication

Hey readers, hope you enjoy!

<Izuku's POV>

"Ow!" The pink girl complains along with everyone else. "That was a nightmare! Why did Mandalay move us into Tats hellhole?!"

"That doesn't matter at the moment!" Ragdoll announces, gaining our attention before explaining that we're cooking for ourselves. 

'You're lucky that they agreed to your pleads.' Atlas comments, with little to no remorse within his voice. 'First of all, it was a request not a plead. Second, how the hell she hear me? My telepathy only works when you fuse inside a person, and we both know that you weren't-.'

"Izuku!" Uraraka called me out of my thoughts, causing me to realise that everyone is staring. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah man. Ojiro and I saw the training you were doing, and also assisting 6 others with theirs. Man, that was hella manly!" The hardening quirk user exclaims, shedding slight tears for such 'manliness'.

"T-thanks, Kirishima. O-Ochaco, I-I'm fine! S-sorry for worrying you." I shyly spoke, as a soft smile forms on my lips before looking at the tables. "N-now, let's relax and cook ourselves some curry."

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"For someone who has a secret hideout, you're really bad at hiding it." I announce, holding two plates of curry in my hands.

"Why are you here?!" The small child practically screech at me, trying to hide his conflicting emotions. "How did you find me!?!"

"Your scent. You smell like sea water, which is a unique smell in a forest. I assume it relates to your quirk." I inform, handing him a plate of curry. "For why I'm here. Mandalay requested me to ensure that you actually eat something. From someone who knows the feeling of starving, I'm not letting you reject eating because you hate my choices in life."

Huffing in annoyance, he grabs the plate and watches me sit on the edge. "Why aren't you leaving.?"

"This place has a beautiful view, and you clearly haven't touched your food." I counter, taking a bite of my food. "Thank god Auntie taught Kacchan and I how to cook. Otherwise this would have tasted like dirt, but instead it tastes amazing!" Humming in joy, Kota begins taking small bites of his food. Clearly enjoying the meal, but trying his hardest to act like it's shit.

"Why?" The boy quietly questioned, after the long silence between us. "Why do you want to be a stupid hero, anyway? All it leads to is pain and suffering."

'So that's his experience with heroes.' Thinking to myself, while finishing the food in my mouth before speaking. "Roughly your age, I would say 'To be a great hero like All Might and my mum, Ryukyu'. But now, with everything I experienced in my life. Everyone is effected by chance or unfavourable scenarios. I want- no will be there for them, feeling warm and safe in my in my heat-." Cutting myself off as I turn to face him, only to see him snoozing on my side. "Am I that boring?" I chuckle to myself, collecting the dirty plates with Atlas in dragon form carrying the child on his back. 'He left absolutely nothing on his plate. Come on Atlas, time to return back to the camp.' 

Making our way back, we see Mandalay waiting outside for us. Noticing the sleeping boy, she guides me to his room. Placing him down, we move out of the room and close the door. "Sigh*. Thank you for bringing him back."

"N-no problem. I-I wasn't going to leave him out their to be ravaged by wild animals." I off-handily spoke, walking over to the kitchens. "A-also, they're 2 things I wish to ask you."

"Sure! Go ahead, but allow me to clean up." The heroine exclaims, taking the plates out of my hands. "After what happened when you were gone, I don't trust any of you students with cleaning."

'What did you guys do?! Cleaning isn't that difficult!?!' Massaging the side of my head, I began to speak. "U-um. I-I was curious how you manage to hear what I was thinking. I-I know my telepathy only works with Atlas, and anyone who he is fused with at that point in time. Y-yet he was fused in the ground, not with you. S-so is their apart of your quirk that you keep hidden?"

"Well yes, but actually no." She begun, instantly confusing me. "Telepathy quirks kind of works like shortwave radio. For my quirk, I can transmit my thoughts at almost any frequency to others but they don't have the ability to transmit back. However, I and most other telepaths can listen to each other for that same reason. While Atlas was fused in the ground, you were transmitting your thoughts out loud for the elemental. Therefore, I can hear your thoughts. Tomorrow, I'll be teaching you to control that before returning to your original training."

"O-oh. I-I didn't know." I mutter to myself, disappointed that know about this fact about telepathy quirks. 

"Well, it's a unwritten law for these types of quirks. Constantly maintained so we can gain information from other telepaths." Mandalay reinsures me, as she finishes cleaning the dishes. "Now what was the other question you wanted to ask me?"

"Y-yeah. I-it's about Kota, and his reaction to the hero society." I state, noticing the sadden expression on her face. "W-when I was his age, every kid I know wanted to be a hero. A-and he asked me why I wanted to be a hero, only to say right after 'All it leads to is pain.'. D-did he have a bad experience with one or-. It has something to do with his parents and your relatives." Remembering her reaction from yesterday, answering my question with the same expression.

"You are correct. Do you know the Hero duo Water Hose?" She questions, causing me to nod so I don't interrupt her. "Well those were Kota's parents, and they unfortunately died protecting civilians from the villain known as Muscular. Society and the media painted it as noble death, but for him it was as if his parents abandoned him for complete strangers-." Stopping herself, slowly regains control of her emotions. "I know this is a bit out of place, but thank you. Even though you've seemingly done nothing, you manage to crack his shell. Something that not even I or anyone else on my team. Thank you, so, so much."

"No- I-..." I sputter, trying to form a sentence to deny responsibility. Taking a deep breath in, I collect my words before speaking again. "It was never the plan, but I'm happy that I could help, unintentionally or not."

A soft smile forms on the heroine's face, only to look up at the time. "I suggest you go to the hot springs. No one should be in there, so you will have it all to yourself."

"Thank you, and goodnight."

Thanks for reading! And I hope you all have a lovely day!

PEACE!