ATOMIC STRUGGLE

9「the announcement」0

If the others hadn't been looking at the door before, they certainly were now that Mihoko had let out that blood-curdling scream. As Twice and Toga were springing up to go help/save her from Dabi, Izak suddenly appeared between them, but before he could do anything, Mihoko suddenly puffed herself up like a puffer fish trying to make itself look bigger to a predator. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU JACKASS?!"

Izak's mouth fell open for half a second before he clenched his jaw and glanced back at his guests in the living room, his expression cold as he asked his question: "Who the hell taught her those words?"

"I would never!" Giran denied quickly. 

"Wasn't me," Toga held her hands up in surrender, causing Izak's eyes to drag over to the only other one that had had long enough exposure to the eight year old to have taught her those vulgar words. Twice shook his head.

"Wasn't me--" He started, then his octave went up as well was his two middle fingers. "So what if it was me, jackass?! What the fuck're you gonna do about it, huh?!" Immediately after, he buried his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry..."

"Haa.." Izak sighed before crouching down in front of Mihoko. "What's done is done. For now," Izak held his hand out, a brand new wand appearing. "Here. I thought this was obvious, but don't hand things to strangers."

"But he's here, and you know him, so he's not a stranger!" She protested, but Izak shook his head. 

"Dabi is not a stranger to me, but he is to you, so you have to get to know him a bit before you can hand things to him. Who knows, he might be allergic to something and if you hand him that something, he'll die. Get it now?" The maroonette asked as Mihoko gawked at him. 

"...I guess," She answered eventually, frowning as she looked down at the new wand she had taken from her guardian. Then she glanced up at Dabi, awkwardly moving into a halfhearted bow. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," The ravenette waved the apology off as Izak stood up. With that, Mihoko scampered back into the living room, going straight for Hitoshi, who gave her a protective hug as Izak gave Dabi a look. 

"That was really uncalled for either way, Dabi," 

"Yeah, my bad," He shrugged, tilting his head. "I didn't actually mean to, but I've been using my quirk a lot recently so it just came on."

"Uh-huh, whatever you say," Izak looked unimpressed, but didn't press further as he returned to the living room along with their new guest. "Now that everyone's here, after we finish this episode, I'll make my announcement and we can go from there."

"Announcement?" Toga parroted with furrowed eyebrows. Dabi didn't look interested, just heading over and plopping down on the two-seater that the blonde girl was sitting on as well. She was instantly on guard, scooting away from him with a sour look on her face. He just smirked lazily. 

"Right, you did say you had something to tell all of us," Giran recalled their phone call from a few days back. 

"Why not just tell us now instead of making us wait through a whole episode?" Twice demanded. "Surprises suck, man."

"Well, I could tell you all now if that's what you want," Izak glanced around, and the majority of the guests all nodded that they would rather not have to wait. 

"While I would normally applaud such suspense, I'm afraid the anticipation might be too much to bear," Compress complained as Spinner scoffed. 

"It's paused anyway so we might as well do it now. So," He made eye contact with Izak. "What is it that you want to tell us?"

"I suppose it would be appropriate to ask if you guys want the good news or bad news first," Izak glanced over as Giran leaned forward. 

"I personally would like some good news."

"Alright," The maroonette inclined his head. "Then I'll start with the good news. You all know my hero name," He brought up, which of course got some curious looks. "Aether, the emperyan hero. However, just a few days ago, I was given permission to use the original hero name that I had wanted, which is Atomic," He explained, and this time, faces brightened at the news. 

"Good for you!"

"That makes sense, considering your quirk and all."

"The reason for this is because," He continued on, so the murmurs quieted down. "I am now allowed to use my quirk."

"...Seriously?" Giran's eyes were wide, as were Spinner's and Compress's. Twice looked confused, Toga looked intrigued, and Dabi looked pretty indifferent. 

"Yes, and that's where the bad news comes in," Izak said. The atmosphere became somber with this as the group readied themselves for whatever it was that Izak was about to tell them. Taking a breath, Izak glanced around at each of his guests before his eyes landed on Mihoko, who was looking at him from Shinso's lap. "I am allowed to use my quirk to its fullest as long as I am on UA grounds because UA has decided to implement a mandatory dormitory system and they want my help with keeping the grounds secure. That means that Shinso, Miho and myself will be moving out of this apartment."

"Oh.." 

"That is bad news," Giran put a hand over his mouth like he couldn't believe what he had just heard, but Dabi just huffed. 

"That doesn't mean we can't see each other, right?" He surmised, causing Izak to nod. 

"That's right, it just can't be here anymore. No more sleepovers," He specifically looked away as Mihoko's eyes started pricking with tears at the news. "No more bodies," He sent a pointed look at Toga, who pouted. "And no more popping up unannounced."

"I suppose that is reasonable, but it's still too bad," Compress sighed. "Meeting at Giran's place is a hassle from how dirty and out of the way it is, but it's not like we can meet out in public since, well..." He glanced at the other guests, not actually wanting to say out loud that they were criminals. 

He didn't end up saying anything more when the doorbell rang once more.