ATOMIC STRUGGLE

9「dinner banter」6

Sato got voted as the best room because of the cake, which infuriated everyone that hadn't voted for him, but it was water under the bridge when Izak came over. "Hey guys, dinner's ready for whoever's hungry."

"Oh awesome, thanks man!" Kirishima popped up off the couch, and soon everyone was migrating to the dining area. 

"Whoa!"

"Damn, I totally was not expecting Izak to be a chef."

"Dude, of course he's a chef, he can make things perfectly thanks to his quirk!"

"Oh, guess you're right."

"Whoa, it even tastes perfect!"

"Guess they're finally seeing how great you are," Shinso told Izak quietly, who hummed as he ate his own meal. 

"So Izak, how does it feel to be able to use your powers whenever you want?" Sato asked as he stuffed his face. The maroonette shrugged. 

"Like how it did before."

"That's a really lame answer."

"Sorry," Izak blinked with slightly furrowed eyebrows, like he was confused as to how that answer was considered 'lame'.

"Oh man, this means Izak'll actually get to train with us when we get started with training again!" Kaminari exclaimed. 

"Is that true?"

"Dunno," Izak answered. "But I'm always down to help out in your training should you feel like you need the extra help."

"Oh for sure!"

"Yes please!"

"Even though I'm practically perfect, I suppose some outside support wouldn't hurt~"

"Uh-huh," Izak glanced at Aoyama as he said this, his eyes narrowing slightly before they shifted over to Koda, or more accurately Souta. Souta inclined his head at him briefly before he went back to talking with Tokoyami. After that, things quieted down, and soon everyone was finishing their food and excusing themselves for the night. 

"This doesn't feel real," Shinso muttered as he, Izak and Mihoko headed to the elevator. "We're all living together, you can use your quirk, and there's an extra bedroom on your floor, yet I'm on the floor above you."

"It is weird, but it'll be fine," Izak said as they boarded the elevator. "We're still together, that's all that matters in the end."

"Right," Shinso smiled softly down at his hands. 

"Ugh, you guys are being so emotional, what the hell?" Mihoko huffed, tapping her foot on the ground like she had places to be that were extremely important and not just her bed. 

"Emotions are an important part of life, and it's not good to bottle them up and become constipated with them, right?"

"What's constipated?"

"It means backed up, usually used in the sense of poop."

"Oh, yuck, yeah no, no constipated-ness," Mihoko shuddered as the elevator doors opened to their floor. 

"Have a good night, Hitoshi," Izak nodded to his friend as he and his charge stepped off, and Shinso nodded back. 

"Yeah, you too. See you tomorrow," He said, pressing the button to close the door faster. As it closed and started to rise to the next floor, Shinso thought about earlier, and what his next steps needed to be. 

Earlier, after he had finished packing, he had gone down to the second floor to see how Izak and Mihoko were doing. They had already finished as well, and Mihoko was watching Power Puff Girls while Izak was talking with Yaoyorozu about something. When Shinso had been noticed, Izak had asked him to watch Mihoko while he went to help Yaoyorozu, which of course the purplette wouldn't say no to. 

It was a surprise that Bakugo had shown up and joined them a bit later, just settling in quietly and not really saying anything as he watched the show. Well, it was more like he was using the show as background noise, from how his eyes were sort of unfocused and he looked lost in thought. It would have been weirder to Shinso if Bakugo was genuinely watching and enjoying the show. 

They had made eye contact a few times, mostly when Shinso would cast a glance at him to see if he was still there, from how quiet he was being. Each time they made eye contact, those red eyes made Shinso shiver; they were so intense when Bakugo wasn't being angry or aggressive. He wouldn't deny he felt some sort of tension around the explosive blonde, especially right then, for whatever reason. 

When Izak had come to get them for dinner, and Mihoko had skipped ahead as she chanted hot chocolate, Bakugo had ended up walking side by side with Shinso. With anyone else, this wouldn't have raised a red flag, but this was Bakugo he was talking about, who wanted people to always be walking behind him or to get lost. Shinso had to wonder if Bakugo was always this chill when he was in a space he dubbed 'home', which was immediately debunked as the explosive blonde went off on Midoriya for breathing in the wrong direction when they sat down to eat. 

Shinso decided to just ignore everything he had been thinking about, for the sake of his mental health, as he finally arrived on his floor and went to his room to retire for the night. 

The next few days, everyone was still just getting used to dorm life, but everyone had agreed that Izak's food was to die for and that they might actually protest if they couldn't have his food for whatever reason. Mihoko was proud to have introduced some people to the wonders of Izak's hot chocolate, so now half the class always asked for hot chocolate to go with their meals.

It was quite peaceful during those days, and most of the dorm got to watch at least one episode of Power Puff Girls, so Mihoko could now rant to any of the students and they would know some of what she was talking about. As for Izak, well, currently he was in Koda or Souta's room, sitting and petting the rabbit as Souta showed him his phone. 

There was a text from the contact 'Art' which said that they were beginning to revamp their efforts on recruiting and were forming a new plan to attack the upcoming hero licensing exam as a sort of test to see how strong the next generation of heroes would be. 

"So, what do you think?"

"I've got no problems with it," Izak replied, lifting the rabbit up and looking at it. "Souta, how is it being away from your family?"

"Oh, we're fine," Souta reassured, using the plural because someone might have been listening. "I've been preparing us for this, so while it is hard, it's not the worst thing ever. Plus, everything here is pretty nice, so I don't really have anything to complain about," He smiled. "What about you?"

"Nowhere has ever really been home for me, but Mihoko and Hitoshi are my family, and wherever they are, I'm happy to be," the maroonette answered as he put the rabbit down and let it hop away towards its bed. 

"Good to know," the possessor narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking about the future plans for getting Izak to join them and rule the world, but seeing a warning look in Izak's eyes, thought better of it and just shook his head. "That's all I really wanted to talk about."

"Alright," Izak stood up. "See you for lunch."

"You know it," Souta smiled and watched the boy leave his room. Once the door was closed and Souta couldn't hear footsteps anymore, he sighed and flopped down on his back. He hadn't been lying, it was nice here, but he also really missed his sister and the others. He might have prepared for possessing someone long term, but he hadn't actually possessed someone long term before, and it was starting to mess with him and his perception of himself. 

He just wished the plan would move faster so he could get back to his body before he lost his mind.

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