"Hey, hey, Izuku-kun, why her and not me?" Himiko hung off the bed railing, puffing out her cheeks. "I've got some too, Izuku-kun, and mine are nice and warm 'cause I'm alive, which is the important part."
Izuku threw his hands up and waved them so fast the IV stand wobbled.
"W-wait! It's not what it looks like, Toga! What I mean is I need to touch sensei's breasts..."
He trailed off mid-sentence with his hands still in the air.
Nemuri watched him from the next bed over without blinking, her head tilted slightly.
"Sweetheart, no matter how you spin it, that still sounds exactly as bad."
Incredible. I can explain the inner workings of a Quirk to a whole classroom without tripping over a single word, and the second it's about my own life I open my mouth and this comes out.
Himiko sat back down in the chair, swinging her feet with a smile.
"I think he said it perfectly, Kayama-san. Clear, straight to the point, no beating around the bush. You're just playing offended so you look more elegant."
"Toga, please, stop helping me." Izuku dragged a hand down his face and took a deep breath before trying again. "Okay, sensei, let's start over. The reason is simpler than it sounds. I want to check if your manual changed."
Nemuri raised an eyebrow.
"My manual? Sweetheart, are you telling me this whole circus was about that?"
"It's just that the explanation came after the question!" Izuku sank a little further into the pillows. "The other thing slipped out first and then I couldn't figure out how to walk it back."
"The other thing was 'let me touch your breasts,'" Himiko chimed in from the chair. "In case anybody was forgetting the good part."
"Thanks, Toga, your help is invaluable."
Nemuri laughed and settled her bandaged arm across her lap.
"Alright, explain it to me properly. Tell me what you expect to find in there that isn't already written."
"I... I wanted to see if something changed." Izuku sat up straighter and winced as the pain came back through his body. "Last night you triggered Berserker mode... You know I don't really understand my own Quirk, so... I've got doubts about whether pushing your power to the limit or ending up in a risky situation changes anything that's already written. You know, like when you train and you get improvements... That's what I mean."
Nemuri studied him a moment without saying anything.
"So you did want to touch my breasts."
"I said NO! Agh... why is this so hard to explain?! YES, I WON'T DENY IT, MIDNIGHT-SENSEI, I WANT TO TOUCH YOUR BREASTS... but it's also to check if there were improvements to your Quirk... Do you get it?"
"Ahem... Forget half of what I just said and only keep the part that makes me look heroic," Izuku added with a smile.
Himiko sprang up from the chair and grabbed Izuku's hands, completely thrilled.
"Then read mine! I've got a manual too, right? Tell me what it says, tell me, tell me!"
"Toga, I already read yours, I don't think there's been any change BECAUSE SOMEBODY doesn't put in the effort with the exercises I give her," Izuku added, eyeing her with narrowed eyes and a reproachful look.
"Then read it again, maybe mine changed too!" Himiko brought her hands to her chest, delighted with herself. "I cooperated a ton this week, I didn't stab anybody, I washed the dishes and I even washed my own clothes... so I deserve a prize."
"Washing the dishes doesn't level up your Quirk, Toga, it levels up your reputation with my mom, which is already pretty high and does nothing for me."
"Well it does a ton for me!" Himiko squeezed his hands harder, rocking side to side. "Inko-san gives me cookies when I help, and cookies are way better than the boring exercises you give me."
"The boring exercises are so you can transform without needing so much blood."
"Yeah, yeah, but the cookies are now and the exercises are later."
She doesn't have a single valid argument and I still feel like I'm losing the argument.
From the next bed came a laugh Nemuri didn't even try to hide, and both heads turned toward her at the same time.
"Sorry, sorry, go on," she said, lifting her bandaged hand. "It's been years since I had this much fun in a hospital."
"Kayama-san, tell him I deserve the prize."
"You deserve the prize, sweetie."
"Sensei, don't back her up!" Izuku let go of Himiko to point at the two of them with his free hand. "You two together are a really big problem, somebody should warn the principal."
Nemuri shifted onto her side against the pillow and looked at him a moment before speaking.
"Come here, Izuku-kun."
Izuku blinked.
"Huh?"
"Come here before I change my mind," she repeated, pulling the edge of the sheet down to her waist. "You want to know if your little book changed, right? Well, I want to know too, and it just so happens I'm bored, sore, and running very low on entertainment options in this room."
One second. One second, one second, ONE SECOND. Is this actually happening or did I hit my head harder than Recovery Girl said?
Izuku pushed the blanket aside and swung his legs off the bed with all the grace he could gather, leaning on the IV stand to cross the three steps between one bed and the other.
"Just so it's on the record, this is a huge sacrifice for someone as respectable and honest as me," he said, sitting on the edge of Nemuri's mattress.
"Of course, sweetheart."
"A sacrifice that looks perverted... but for strictly educational purposes that'll benefit hero society."
"Izuku-kun, if you keep talking I'm going to change my mind just to see the face you make."
Izuku shut his mouth and raised his hands. He was half an inch from the corset of the pajama top when Himiko threw herself onto the bed and wedged in between the two of them, ending up on her knees right in front of him.
"Me first!" she announced, sticking out her chest.
"Toga, get down, ma'am here is injured!"
Nemuri's eyebrow twitched once.
"I'm injured too!" Himiko lifted her bangs and pointed at a tiny scratch above her eyebrow. "See? I almost died."
"You did that to yourself with the bathroom door this morning."
"Still counts as a war wound."
"Izuku-kun."
The tone came from the pillow with a sweetness that gave Izuku goosebumps before he even turned around.
"Y-yes, sensei?"
Nemuri was smiling without showing her teeth, her bandaged fingers drumming slowly on the sheet.
"Say again what you just called me."
"I said..." Izuku raced back through the conversation and felt his soul drop out through his feet. "I said 'sensei.' I'm sure I said 'sensei.'"
"You said 'ma'am,'" Himiko corrected, happy to pitch in.
"HA HA HA HA HA, what nonsense are you spouting, Toga! Did you hear her, sensei? Sometimes Toga says things that don't exist, it's a serious problem we've got at home."
Himiko, about to speak again, found herself squashed against Izuku's chest as he pressed a hand over her face for the second time that day.
"Mgmmhmmmmmmm!"
Poor Toga could only flap her hands in desperate little flutters.
"What I meant to say, and unfortunately I didn't have the words to express it," Izuku went on without loosening his hand, "is that Nemuri Kayama-sensei is a young woman, beautiful, in the full bloom of her youth, the prettiest on this whole hospital floor, in the entire building... No, in ALL OF MUSUTAFU!"
Izuku loosened the hand over Himiko's head and the girl shot backward, gulping down a breath with all the dignity of a fish just tossed back into the water. Before she could open her mouth to complain, Izuku leaned toward her ear and whispered under his breath:
"No spinach for a week."
Himiko went still, and her yellow eyes widened until they took up half her face.
"A-a whole week?"
"Seven days, no negotiating, and I'll tell my mom it was my idea and add a little more of the cereal you like to your diet."
"Izuku-kun," she whispered, taking his hands in both of hers, "you're the most wonderful man who's ever existed."
Himiko turned toward the other bed and pressed her palms together in front of her chest.
"Kayama-saaan! You're the youngest, prettiest, most amazing woman I've seen in my whole life! When I'm your age I want a body exactly like yours! And no, I'm not talking about transforming! I mean it, for real, for real!"
Nemuri narrowed her eyes and moved them slowly from one face to the other.
"Hold on. What did he promise you?"
"Nothing at all," Izuku answered, straightening up.
"Himiko-chan, sweetie, look at me, not him. What did he promise you?"
"Nothing!" Himiko hid her hands behind her back. "I said it all on my own! And what's wrong with telling the truth, huh? It's the best thing in the world!"
Hang in there, Toga, hang in there. If you crack now we lose and I go back to my bed empty-handed.
"Ahem, ahem." Izuku cleared his throat with all the formality he had on hand. "Nemuri-sensei, I think it's time we moved on to the matter that brought us here."
Nemuri didn't answer right away. She shifted her eyes to Himiko, who was already inching toward the edge of the mattress with a grin from ear to ear and her hands crossed behind her back, then brought them back to Izuku.
"Fine, I give up. Come on already, Izuku-kun, before this room loses whatever sense it had left."
Izuku settled onto his knees at the edge of the mattress and raised his hands to chest height, and there he stayed, not covering that last stretch.
Sigh, they're as beautiful as the day I lost them.
"And now what are you waiting for?"
"I'm preparing myself mentally, sensei, give me a second."
Nemuri straightened against the pillow and pushed her chest forward, taking advantage of the fact that the hospital pajama ran two sizes smaller than what her body was asking for.
"Does this make it easier for you?"
That's it. I give up. How am I supposed to think with those in my hands?
Izuku laid his hands down, the thin fabric giving under his fingers, the weight settling against them in a way that wiped half of what he'd meant to say out of his brain.
[QUIRK ANALYSIS INITIATED]
[NAME: SOMNAMBULIST]
[USER: NEMURI KAYAMA]
Unique Effect: the pheromone has stopped operating solely as a soporific agent. The user has begun to develop conscious control over the molecular composition of her secretions and now produces alternative neurological effects at a mild level. The process started involuntarily under conditions of extreme stress, so reproduction at will remains unstable and requires directed training to consolidate.
Neurochemical Versatility (Emotional Spectrum Control): the compound is not a fixed formula. Her glands function as a biochemical synthesis laboratory capable of far greater complexity, and the previous record of this section became outdated after the user's most recent deployment.
SOPORIFIC: mastered.
FEAR INDUCTION: mild, available. Provokes unease, hesitation, and a flight response in nearby targets. Reduced range and unable to sustain the effect beyond a few seconds.
RAGE INDUCTION: undeveloped.
LUST INDUCTION: mild, available. Produces distraction, bodily heat, and lowered inhibitions at a low level. Effectiveness increases noticeably in targets with a prior predisposition toward the user.
AMNESIC FOG: undeveloped.
"OHHHHH! Nemuri-sensei, this is incredible, there really were changes!"
"Ngh... alright, Izuku, but don't squeeze so hard or you're gonna give your sensei a heart attack."
"Sorry, sorry!" Izuku loosened his fingers without taking his hands away. "It's just that I got excited, don't take it the wrong way."
"I'm not offended, sweetie, I'm just informing you of the state of my heart."
Himiko crawled across the mattress until she was pressed against Izuku's shoulder, craning her neck toward the same spot he was looking at.
"I don't see anything."
"That's because the manual is inside my head, Toga, not floating above the bed."
"So unfair." Himiko sat back, puffing out her cheeks. "You get to keep all the fun parts."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to it." Izuku settled onto his knees and started talking fast, reciting what he saw. "The Unique Effect limitation isn't marked as an active limitation anymore, now it says 'under review.' Your pheromone stopped working only as a soporific and you started developing conscious control over the molecular composition, at a mild level. The process kicked off involuntarily under extreme stress, so repeating it at will is still unstable. You're not limited to putting people to sleep anymore! According to your file, Fear Induction shows up as mild and available, which means you can cause unease and a flight response in people nearby."
"I can make someone feel fear?" Nemuri sat up so straight her leg hurt a little, and even then she didn't stop. "Really?"
"That's right! And not only that, you also unlocked lust induction! Can you believe it? You managed to unlock two effects in a single night!"
BAM
"What is all this racket?! I can hear it from the hallway and I'm trying to sleep!"
Yu Takeyama came in leaning on a crutch, her left arm in a sling and her hair pulled up in a crooked bun that hadn't seen a comb in two days.
"..."
"Yu, good morning," Nemuri greeted from the pillow without moving a muscle.
"Good..." Yu stopped with the crutch half-planted. "Kayama."
"Yes?"
"Why do you have that kid kneeling on top of you with his hands where they are?"
"It's a medical consultation."
"A WHAT?!" Yu hobbled forward and pointed at Izuku with the tip of the crutch. "You! Get away from her right now or I'm calling security!"
"I already backed off!" Izuku raised his hands and kept them up high. "They're empty, look at them, there's no contact of any kind!"
"I SAW YOU, brat!"
"You saw the end of a situation that started way earlier and has a really long explanation."
"I can tell it," Himiko offered from the foot of the bed, raising her hand. "It started when he asked permission and she said yes."
"Okay... maybe it wasn't that long after all."
Yu dropped into the chair with a groan, adjusting her sling as she looked at Nemuri with raised eyebrows.
"Kayama, seriously, tell me this has an explanation. I know you've been cooped up in here two days with nothing to do, and at your age you start to feel like time's slipping away..."
"Finish that sentence and I swear I'll put you to sleep for three days straight."
"I meant it with good intentions!"
"Every horrible thing gets said with good intentions, Yu."
"It's just that Izuku-kun was reading her the manu—!"
Izuku lunged backward and clapped a hand over Himiko's mouth for the second time that day, the two of them ending up twisted across the mattress.
"Mgmmhmm!"
"She's delirious!" Izuku announced, smiling toward the chair. "Her fever went up, it's a really sad thing, the doctor said she says random words and there's no known treatment."
Yu narrowed her eyes.
"A minute ago she was perfectly fine."
"It's a really fast illness."
Think, Midoriya, think. How am I supposed to justify this?! If this gets out of here, my Quirk stops being a secret and turns into a news story... WAIT A MINUTE! If everyone knows I can improve Quirks by touching breasts... then the heroines would line up... Heheheh... Maybe, after all, it wouldn't be such a bad idea...
"Alright, brat, look at me." Yu leaned forward. "What were you doing to her?"
"Enough." Nemuri raised her hand, and her voice changed so fast that even Himiko went still under Izuku's palm. "Yu, listen to me. This boy is my responsibility and he's carrying out an assignment given to him by Principal Nezu in person. Whatever else you're putting together in your head right now, erase it."
Yu opened her mouth and closed it again.
"...And what exactly does the assignment consist of?"
"Something you don't have the authorization to hear." Nemuri held her gaze without blinking. "And I'm telling you this with no ill intent, colleague. If you want to know, ask him through the proper channels and let him decide."
The silence lasted long enough for Izuku to feel Himiko's breath warm against his hand.
Incredible. That's how you tell a lie without lying. I need her to teach me.
*******
Quick one for you: if you had Izuku's Quirk-analysis "manual," whose file would you read first? Drop your pick in the comments, I'm curious how many of you are gonna be honest about it.
Hey everyone,
Chapter 57 is already up over there and ready to read.
Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful night.
All I'll say is, if you want more, look me up as patreon.com/Shurazero See you soon!