ATOMIC STRUGGLE

1「home」1

"Ha," Izak let a smirk slide onto his face as he started chuckling. He had realized something like this might happen if he didn't explain his abilities well enough, but after telling his table mates at lunch exactly how powerful he was, it had slipped his mind that everyone else didn't know. So, he was going to demonstrate exactly how powerful he was to this poor human being.

"What's so funny?" Todoroki demanded, his face twisting from the shame of being laughed at.

"Just that you think you can beat me," Izak mused, though his eyes weren't laughing. The look in them made the half and half boy to tense, readying himself for a fight.

He didn't realize Izak could turn his body against him, and that was his second and last mistake. His first was telling Izak to his face that he wanted to beat him. Over and over at the lab, Izak had proved to all of the other experiments that he was the best, and as such, he was worshiped like a god. In this situation, he decided to use one of his oldest tactics as his smirk disappeared into his usual emotionless expression.

Right then, he activated each and every pain receptor in Todoroki's body to the maximum, watching as the boy's face was ruined with agony. He fell to his knees, looking like he was having trouble keeping himself from screaming. "If you can fight me through that, I'll take you seriously," He said, turning and making his way into the classroom. As soon as he had stepped inside, the pain in Todoroki's body disappeared, leaving him panting heavily on the ground.

I underestimated him, he thought to himself as he tried to calm his racing heart. There's no way I'll ever win, not when he can control my body like that. After that, everything went on until the sun began to set for the day.

"Outta the way!" Bakugo roared as he burst out of the classroom, several of their other classmates trying to get him to stay. "Leave me alone!"

"Craaap," Kirishima grumbled, then flinched as someone else walked past him. "Wha--hey, where are you going?! You bailing too Izak?"

"Yeah, I need to get home," He responded briefly. "See you tomorrow." With that, he was gone. Since he didn't really want to deal with any more human interaction, such as running into the angry blonde, the maroonette scaled the wall around campus without letting the sensors detect him.

When he arrived back at the apartment, Mihoko was already inside. "I'm home," He called once he'd shut the door, starting to take off his shoes.

"Welcome back!" Mihoko poked her head out of her room.

"Thanks, how was your day?" Izak asked, opening his door and throwing his bag inside, making it land by the desk in the corner.

"It was good, I made some more friends and got the teacher to help me write my name in English!" She beamed at him. The day before, they had somehow really bonded, though Izak wasn't sure what had spurred the sudden openness his charge was showing, not that he minded.

"That's nice, but why English?" He tilted his head, then blinked at what she was holding up. Inside a frame was a piece of paper that read Mihoko and Izak Morgan Residence in English. Slowly, a soft, genuine smile lit up the teen's face as he squatted down in front of her and took the frame. "I love it."

"Can we put it up?" Mihoko asked, and he nodded and stood up. The two moved to the front door, opening it and sticking the frame on the door using Izak's quirk to make it stay there without technically damaging anything. The brunette beamed brightly as the sign sat on the door, proudly expressing that her and Izak lived there together.

"Come on, I need to take a shower," Izak sniffed himself with a frown, causing Mihoko to giggle. He went in first, and she closed the door after she had stepped inside as well. "Want hot chocolate before or after dinner?"

"Before!"

"It's on the table," He used his left hand and snapped, the mug appearing right where he said it would.

"Thanks Iz!" She dashed to grab it as the then disappeared into the bathroom to take care of himself. Right before he closed the door, he poked his head out and narrowed his eyes at her.

"You need to take a bath or shower tonight too."

"Mhm!" She gave him a thumbs up, slurping her hot chocolatey goodness. Figuring he wouldn't get any more confirmation than that, Izak closed the door and took his shower. It was nice being able to relax and not worry about anything, though showers were not his favorite bathing techniques since molecules hitting him rapidly wasn't exactly a good feeling, even if it probably should have been. An actual bath was easier to deal with since it was just like slower, condensed air.

After he finished, Izak made dinner and the two ate together and Izak told Mihoko what had happened that day. "Somebody challenged you?" She gawked. "Are they okay?"

"Probably. They weren't in the moment, but they seemed fine after I stopped showing the difference in our strengths. But now that I'm thinking back," He pursed his lips as he poked his chopsticks together. "If I wasn't there, he probably would be the most powerful person in class, so he probably felt threatened and wanted to establish dominance."

"Nobody can dominate you though!" Mihoko grinned, fist pumping the air. "My Izzy is awesome!"

"That he is," Izak hummed. Once they had both finished eating, the plates disappeared as usual. The only thing different about that night was Izak calling Mihoko over to him for a bit.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking concerned as Izak's now glowing hand ran barely a centimeter over her body.

"I'm regulating the molecules in your body so I'll be able to recognize them no matter where you are, and if you get hurt, I can automatically heal you since what is hurt will send me a message almost instantaneously. I can also keep you alive if you somehow die, and kidnapping you won't end well since I'll be able to find you."

"Whoa, that's cool," Her eyes were brighter as she watched the process, and soon he deemed it finished and retracted his hand. "Thanks for looking out for me, even though you aren't supposed to," Mihoko smiled sheepishly. Izak patted her head with a soft expression on his face.

"Nothing will keep me from protecting you."