Soon enough the dormitory building was surrounded by teachers, not that Aoyama resisted his arrest. Everyone in class 1-A was questioned about what happened, about suspicious things they might've noticed about the boy, about how his true identity had come to light. Of course, only a few knew how Izuku suddenly came to that conclusion.
"I read his mind"
Izuku knew the detective that was questioning him, he was a friend of All Might. Detective Naomasa, if Izuku remembered right. Aizawa sensei was also there with them, watching over the interrogations of his students.
"I see" Naomasa hummed, writing something down. He must be aware of the Muted Mind quirk.
"What's going to happen to Aoyama-kun?"
"That's for the Hero Commision to decide" Aizawa said.
"He'll likely be punished severely for his crimes, as will his parents"
"But he didn't want to do it!" Izuku stated, defending his friend.
"He didn't want to help All For One! He was forced!"
"Oh? In what way?" the detective asked.
"All For One was using his parents against him. I don't know the details" Izuku admitted.
"Did you find that out while reading his mind?" Naomasa asked, to which Izuku nodded.
"We can't make any promises, Midoriya, but if Aoyama cooperates and tells us what he knows, we might be able to lighten his sentence" Aizawa sighed.
"Also, I'd like to know when this bothersome quirk wore off. Why didn't you report it to me like we agreed?"
"I-I... The effects of the quirk disappeared right after I found out about Aoyama-kun, sir" Izuku answered, only now realizing nobody had pointed out he got his voice back. There were more concerning matters to focus on, after all... Aizawa sensei hummed, deciding that answer was good enough for now, before the interrogation was wrapped up and Izuku was free to return to the 1-A Height Alliance. Not that the atmosphere was any better there...
The class was devastated and torn, and for a moment Izuku was glad he was no longer able to read their thoughts, not wanting to be overwhelmed by the confusion they must be feeling right now... He wordlessly sat down next to Tokoyami on the couch, simply staring out in front of him. Aoyama was the UA traitor... He stole information from the school, helped the League with the USJ incident, with the raid on their training camp, Kacchan's kidnapping- Just everything!
"At least you're not under the influence of that quirk anymore"
Izuku glanced aside to Uraraka, when did she get here? He hadn't noticed her coming in at all... She, too, had a somber look on her face, trying very hard to force a smile as she faced Izuku.
"I'm so glad you've got your voice back, Deku-kun"
"Y-yeah, that quirk was really annoying" Izuku muttered, unsure of how to react after everything that happened that day.
"How did you know?" Jirou asked, making Izuku blink in surprise.
"About Aoyama... How did you know all of the sudden?"
That question made all eyes turn towards him and Izuku was suddenly very aware of the fact he needed to come clean about the true effects of the Muted Mind quirk... Not everyone was here though and if he was going to tell them what was really going on the past month, he wanted to tell them all in one go.
"Let's wait until everyone is here, okay?" Izuku breathed, happy that she seemed content with that. It was just a delay, simply putting off the inevitable, but at least he'll have Kacchan at his side. His boyfriend already knew about it, hell, it was the sole reason he confessed his feelings for him. It would make things a little easier, or at least Izuku hoped it would. Soon enough everyone except Aoyama-kun, who was still in custody, gathered in the common room, waiting for Izuku's explanation.
"You don't have to tell them, it's none of their business" Kacchan told him, but Izuku waved it off.
"No, it's better to come clean about it... Besides, the quirk wore off, it's over, there's nothing keeping me from talking" Izuku sighed, fiddling with his hands as he stood in front of his classmates. He was nervous. How would they react to something like this? Was this really the best moment to tell them? After everything with Aoyama-kun..? It was late already and-
No. Izuku shook his head. He had to tell them now or he'd chicken out!
"So, uhm, as you all know, I was under the influence of a mute quirk until recently" he started, trying to find the right words to tell them he invaded their privacy and pried in on all their personal thoughts and secrets and trauma and oh god he made Yaoyorozu a meal plan and found Ashido cutting and reported Sero to Aizawa for suicidal thoughts-
"Oi Deku"
He blinked, looking at Kacchan.
"It's fine, I can tell them" he said, ready to get up and take over.
"No, I've got this, really" Izuku stated, taking a deep breath before throwing it all out there.
"The quirk allowed me to read the thoughts of the people around me in exchange for my voice. I'm terribly sorry!"
It was quiet for a moment as everyone processed what he'd just said, only for a cacophony of noise to erupt seconds later.
"Everyone shut the fuck up!"
"Oh and let me guess? You knew about all of this?!" Uraraka hissed, clearly pissed off.
"He was acting strange and if you really were his best friend you would've noticed too!" Kacchan countered.
"Guys, please stop fighting!" Izuku yelled, tears shimmering in his eyes.
"I just... Yes, Kacchan found out! Because he knew something was up and I avoided him and Kaminari-kun told me to talk to him. I didn't want- I kept it a secret from everyone else because I didn't want you to act differently towards me... I promise I'll keep everything to myself! I won't use any of it against you! You're my friends a-and I- I just- I didn't want to-"
Katsuki groaned, pulling Izuku in a hug when the green head started crying.
"...You only confessed to him when you knew about the quirk, didn't you?" Kirishima muttered, slightly disappointed in his best friend.
"Does it fucking matter?" Kacchan grumbled.
"You're the one who reported me to Aizawa sensei" Sero gasped, pointing at Izuku.
"Wait, were you the one who reported me as well?" Yaoyorozu asked, sharing a look with Sero.
"Oh god, the nightlight...That was after the blackout" Tokoyami sighed, facepalming.
"Hold up, so you knew I liked you? And you didn't say anything?" Uraraka frowned.
"I honestly tried to ignore that" Izuku admitted.
"You're my best friend, Uraraka-san, and I didn't want to change that... I-I'm sorry"
"The training techniques you gave me-" Kaminari started, only to be interrupted by Izuku.
"I found out how much your quirk hurts you during our team-up exercise" he said.
"That reminds me, Koda-kun, when are you updating Lost in the Stars? You can't leave me on a cliffhanger like that and not post anything for a week, that's inhuman!"
"Wait what?" Ojiro mumbled, super confused by all the sudden revelations.
"Also, you belong in the hero course, Ojiro-kun. Your quirk is awesome! Don't let anyone convince you otherwise!" Izuku stated as he heard the tailboy talk.
"Alright, that's enough Deku" Kacchan said as he covered Deku's mouth.
"You're going to spill everyone's fucking insecurities at this rate"
"I thought you were never insecure, Bakugou" Todoroki pointed out, earning a glare from the ash blonde.
"I'm only fucking human, icyhot! Of fucking course I have insecurities! But those are none of your damn business, are they?!"
"Of course, my apologies" the halfa reacted, seemingly having other things on his mind.
"Midoriya, could we talk for a moment?"
"We really don't have to talk about it if you don't want to-" Izuku started, waving his hands around as if to ward off the upcoming conversation. In the end, he ended up talking to pretty much all of classmates about the things he heard. He'd called out Mineta on his perviness when someone asked about it, causing the girls to force Iida to write a full report on his behavior that was to be submitted to Aizawa sensei first thing in the morning.
Izuku was exhausted by the time he was finally alone in his room. Today didn't go like he expected it would go... Aoyama as the traitor, the Muted Mind quirk wore off and everyone in his class now knew he'd read their minds for an entire month. Yeah, a lot happened. He sighed, falling down on his bed and simply staring at the ceiling. His thoughts wandered back to what happened in the afternoon, to the thoughts he intercepted from Aoyama-kun.
He tried to remember the things he'd heard before, but none of it seemed to lead up to the whole traitor thing. The only thing he clearly remembered was the homophobe thing, and only because he was afraid someone was keeping Aoyama in the closet by force. He sounded afraid of them, after all, so Izuku feared the worse for his home situation. Oh how wrong he was... Except...
But he wouldn't understand, he wouldn't want his son to be in a relationship with Bakugou!
That line popped up in his head again. Izuku didn't have the time to actually analyze Aoyama-kun's thought process before, too shocked by the revelation of him being a traitor. But that's what he'd thought, right? That he wouldn't want his son to be in a relationship with Kacchan..? And he was All For One. But then that would mean- Izuku's eyes widened and he shot up immediately. His breathing was loud and irregular, his heart racing like crazy.
No, calm down. That wasn't- That couldn't be true. All For One wasn't- No! No, that was impossible! He clenched his shirt, trying to hold onto something, trying to keep himself from panicking. All For One wasn't his father. It just wasn't possible! But then again, he was born hundreds of years ago, so if he was that old the chances of him passing on a quirkless gen were much higher than modern age generations- No! No, stop thinking about it! it wasn't true!
But All Might had told him none of the previous holders had been able to use all the quirks hidden away within One For All, a quirk that originated from the First and his brother- No, that had nothing to do with this! But being able to pass on your quirk had been a hidden quirk that was misinterpreted as being quirkless, so being able to use multiple quirks could also be- No! No, no, no, no, no, no! He wasn't related to All For One! That man- That monster wasn't his father!
But then why did Aoyama think of him as his son..?
Izuku knew he was crying, knew his hands were shaking as he reached out to grab his phone. Curse his over-analyzing brain and nerd tendencies for going against his will and thinking off all the possible ways this lie could be true after all. Because it was a lie, wasn't it? He couldn't really be... Izuku had trouble tapping the right buttons, but eventually he managed to call him.
"Deku? What the hell is it, it's late and I want to- Are you crying?"
Izuku sobbed, thinking Kacchan's voice would calm him down a little, but it only made things worse. He tried to answer, he really did, but all that came out were incomprehensible mumbles and sobs.
"Hey, it's okay, calm down, I'm here, tell me what's wrong" Katsuki tried. Izuku could hear rustling in the background, but he didn't have enough brain power to process what it might be.
"K-Kacchan, I-" he choked out, wiping away some of his tears, only for more to take their place. He couldn't say it. If he said it out loud, that meant it was true. But it wasn't true. It couldn't be true. Before Izuku realized how much time had passed, Kacchan was at his door, disconnecting their call and pulling Izuku to his chest.
"It's okay, I'm here" he whispered, stroking his hair.
"Today was a lot, I know, but we're pulling through this, alright?"
Katsuki rambled on about how strong Izuku was, about how they wouldn't let this defeat or define them. Izuku gladly listened to those words of praise, slowly drifting off in his boyfriend's arms as the exhaustion caught up with him. All For One wasn't his father, and even if he was, even if there was a slight, nearly impossible chance that he was, nobody needed to know about that. Nobody needed to know about unnecessary things that weren't even true.
Deep down he knew he was lying to himself, that he was in denial. He's the son of All For One, of the most powerful villain to have ever existed, of the man he's destined to fight. He was his son. It was true. But just because it was the truth, didn't mean it had to be shared, right..?
QUIRK: Muted Mind
CLASSIFICATION: Basic mute quirk, hidden gossip quirk
EFFECTS: The person affected can't speak or produce sound anymore. The person affected will unwillingly attract the thoughts of the people around them. Once the affected person has gathered enough secrets to satisfy the quirk, the quirk will be released. The amount of secrets necessary to reach this condition depend on the natural curiosity of the affected person.
A/N You've reached the end of the story!! Thank you so much for reading, liking and commenting!! Please check out some of my other stories as well XD