37

Chapter 37: Manifesting a MirageNotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Skipping out of the elevator, Toru stepped over to the second door on the right. She knocked twice, and then added a couple more for good measure. Even if she couldn't be seen, she could make herself be heard alright.

- Come on, open up open up. -

It was already late, with everybody having left the common spaces for the night, but the girl had one last thing to do before settling in. Sleep could wait a bit.

Toru had waited for around ten minutes in her room, just to be sure that nobody else would see her on the boys' floor after dark (and wasn't that ironic). Still, she doubted that he would be asleep already because, if the flashes of light that were coming from under the wood were any indication of his current state, the boy had been training his Quirk.

She waited a dozen seconds before the green and white door opened, just as she was about to knock again, revealing the inside of Midoriya's room and the boy's bushy hair over a pair of confused eyes.

"Hagakure? Hi," he spoke, surprised, "do you need something?"

"Hi, Midori. Nah, don't worry," she shook her head at his supposition, her shirt showing part of the movement. "Can I come in? I'd like to show you something."

The greenette waited a second to respond, putting on a smile before nodding and making more space in the entryway. "Sure, make yourself at home," he said warmly.

She stepped inside, taking a second look around as he closed the door behind her. The teen's room really was an altar to Heroes, filled to the brim with enough drawings and figures to make the head spin. Once upon a time she had resigned herself to staying out of that part of the profession: gloves and boots weren't as eye-catching as a full silhouette.

"You can sit on the bed if you want, it's more comfortable. I can take the chair," the boy offered.

"Thanks," she responded, sitting down with a short jump, bouncing on the mattress.

- Oh, Midori's bed's comfy too, - Toru thought as she crossed her legs on the soft covers. Then it hit her.

Midori's bed. She was on Midori's bed.

The realization that she was really in a boy's room, alone with him, came to her in full force out of nowhere. Her thoughts about coming here hadn't really touched that part of the situation, as she had been too focused on the main reason to care about the rest. She hoped that she hadn't jumped the gun by coming here. An unexpected warmth climbed from her chest to her face. Her transparent cheeks wouldn't redden, but they were burning. 

"I don't have many drinks to offer..." the boy kept talking as he looked into his mini fridge. "Cold tea? Water?" 

"W-Water's fine," she let out, trying to wrestle her sudden shyness under control. Anything cold would be a godsend right now. "I still need to sleep later." 

He chuckled, turning around and handing over the bottle as he brought his chair closer to the bed. "So, you were saying about showing me something?" 

She took a swig and a breath before confirming with a hum. 

"Yeah," Toru started, setting her mind on the task at hand. Being unfocused would ruin everything, and she couldn't let that happen. "You see, I've been following those suggestions you gave me a couple weeks ago, the ones about breathing, meditation, and visualization, to help me concentrate." 

Midori nodded approvingly. "Good. Are they helping?" 

"Y-Yeah, I think they are." 

"That's a relief," he showed that kind smile of his, sighing appreciatingly. 

"It really is," Toru added, deciding to vent a bit. "It's just taking me a lot to work with it, you know? Just reflecting light was hard, and trying to do more is even worse. It felt like I had no talent with my own Quirk-" 

"Don't say that," Midori interjected, his tone firmer but just as kind. "You didn't know you could do anything about it for years, Hagakure. The others had their entire lives to work on growing, and it's not your fault you've been told you couldn't," he said, pointing a hand to the rest of the building before smiling as if she'd just told a joke. "And no talent? Are you kidding? You managed to complete that blinding move you used in the Sports Festival in two weeks! Starting from scratch! You're incredible!" The boy's eyes moved to intercept hers, cutting her breath. "So, please, don't ever say that about yourself." 

She felt her heart rate spiking at his words. She had used a "felt" because most of that was already in the past, a passing bad sensation, but she couldn't deny that her remaining worries were melting away as he spoke. 

How was he so good at reassuring her? Where did that confidence in her abilities come from? Why did his tone tell her that he believed everything, down to the last syllable? 

"Thank you, Midori, that means a lot coming from you," she managed to get out with a stable timbre. 

"Just stating what I see," he shrugged as if it should have been a given. "Sorry for interrupting. You were saying?" 

Right. The reason she'd come. The one she needed to be perfectly calm for. 

"Yeah. Uh... Just give me a couple of seconds," she asked, starting to breathe evenly as he nodded, keeping his green orbs squared on her with a curious expression. 

When she deemed that she could start, her heart rate under control and her focus renewed, the girl spoke out. "Okay, here goes nothing." 

- And let's hope I don't pass out again, - she mentally prayed. 

Toru didn't have much experience in manipulating [Invisibility] (which she was now starting to dub [Light] for accuracy's sake), but things were starting to fall into place. 

Up to a day ago, if one were to ask how Toru's Quirk felt on her skin, she would have replied "Like nothing. It's literally just my skin, ya know?" and be done with it. Now, though, the situation had changed drastically, as adjusting the "veil" that was her power was a hard task on multiple fronts. 

The physical requirement left her tired and quite literally out of breath, as breathing itself seemed to be vital to the success of the process. If her normal state, covered in the passive effect of [Invisibility], was the flow coming in and out of her lungs, then retracting the power meant exhaling deeply and remaining without air for as long as she could manage. 

The procedure was terribly strange to her, but she knew that she would get used to it in the future. She had to. As of now it made her body shiver at every attempt. Starting was like discovering that she was covered by a thin but cold sheet of something undetectable. Peeling the cover away to reveal what was hidden beneath was somewhat like putting her hands in scalding sand that only gradually moved onto an acceptable warmth. The first time she had succeeded halfway, Toru had let out a choked yelp and run to the sink, only to find out that the abrupt sensation had disappeared as soon as she had stopped her attempt. Thankfully the following try and every subsequent one confirmed the absence of burns. 

Slowly but surely the veil receded, starting from the tips of her fingers and going down to her wrists. Two lithe and extremely light-toned hands were now floating between her and the boy, and she couldn't help but keep her gaze on them. The image just tugged her heart strings in a way that felt new each time. 

"That's amazing..." she heard him say, happiness and marvel mixed in his tone. 

Raising her head, she saw that Midori's expression was filled with wonder. His mouth hung open in a surprised smile, while his eyes glistened, looking at her palms as if they were the most treasured gems in the world. 

"How long have you-" the teen started asking, then quickly stopped. "Oh, right, you can't talk. Sorry... Can I...?" he asked, moving his hands just an inch closer. 

Being unable to give a verbal consent, the girl opted to move her fingers forward to touch his. He gently moved them along her skin, keeping his curious eyes on the process.

"It's perfect, the effect isn't even wobbly... And the confine is so well defined..."

His thumb brushed the line separating her wrist and the nothingness beyond it, making her skin tingle. 

Toru noticed how there was something particular in his voice, a tonality she hadn't found yet, but that was extremely warm to her ears.

"And you managed in such a short time too... You're amazing, Toru." 

And that did it, the combination of her time limit and the surprise making her suddenly inhale a short burst of air through her nose, returning her only visible parts back to their previous state. 

Since her body was apparently unhappy with how badly she was reacting, it decided to add a coughing fit to the mix. Just to keep her on her toes or give her a heart attack, no big deal. 

At least it gave her a reasonable excuse to pretend she hadn't just stopped for being called by name... 

Midori worriedly rushed to put the water bottle in her hands, letting her sip and calm down under variations of "Are you okay?" and "Drink slowly." 

"Sorry," she spoke after the last of the pesky disturbance had done its job. "Still trying to get a handle on the not-breathing part." 

"Oh, don't worry about it! I shouldn't have made you hold it for that long, it's my fault." He shook his head before smiling widely at her. "I can't imagine how hard that must be. It's just so incredible!" 

"Thanks," she found it in herself to giggle. "I know I've only started, but I wanted to show you that it's working..."

Toru stopped for a moment to swallow, reining in her galloping nerves and putting one of her hands over Midori's. 

- If Ochaco and Yaomomo can do it, so can I, right? - 

"I-I wanted to thank you... Izuku. I wonder if I would have ever tried if it wasn't for you." 

She could have sworn that something passed over the greenette's eyes for a fraction of a moment then and there, but the sensation was gone as soon as it had come. His hand didn't move under hers, but the way his warmth seeped onto her skin was comforting. 

"I'm sure you would have found a way eventually, but I'm happy to have expedited the process," the boy replied, the smile in his eyes back in full force.

"Me too," she nodded. That was something she would always be grateful for. She met his orbs, discovering that green had never been such a compelling color to her. 

They remained in that simple position as seconds trickled by. Toru wasn't an expert on the subject, much to her chagrin, but she could feel how the tension in the room was dense enough to be cut with a knife. The silence was such that she could hear her own heartbeat reverberating in her body, too fast for comfort. She closed her eyes for a second, gathering her scrambled thoughts.

- He hasn't said anything about calling him by name... so is it okay now? Should I move? Or do something? Anything? Who takes the lead in these kinds of situations?! Who gave him the right to look at me with those doe eyes and not make the first move?! - 

Her questions were temporarily blown away as she heard the sound of his chair's creaking, the boy getting up with her hand in his. The moment had passed. 

"It's getting late, and we still have school tomorrow. Let's call it a night, okay?" 

Toru froze. He was speaking with that soothing tone of his, but she felt a pang of pain in her chest. Or was it disappointment? 

Of course, she had misunderstood everything, hadn't she? It was just like her to latch onto the first person to give her any attention and get her hopes up. Oh, she could tell herself she had changed and matured, but she hadn't grown out of her old habits at all. 

She was still the timid little girl who couldn't do anything but keep being clingy, because staying by herself would mean being forgotten. The girl showing off as much as she could, because staying still would mean being ignored. The girl speaking out at every chance she found, because staying silent would mean being disregarded.

She could try and appear, but she was still invisible.

"S-Sure," she let out, getting up to slip by his side, sliding her hand out of his. The fact that her expression should have been unreadable wasn't enough to let her risk staying longer and breaking down. Not when something wet was already threatening the corners of her eyes. She spoke again as she moved to the door. "W-Well, thank you again, Midori. I guess I'll see you tomorrow-" 

The movement was so fast that she didn't notice it until she felt the warmth of his arms around hers, the soft fabric of his shirt under her fingers, and his visage a mere span away from hers, unstable breaths covering the distance. She felt his hand reach for her cheek, his thumb going up to brush a point under her eye, finding the tear as soon as it had started sliding down. 

Toru saw Midori's face up close, and his expression broke something more in her. How could such care and such sorrow coexist? 

"T-Toru, I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice trembling more than she had ever thought possible for the boy. "I-I didn't- I don't want to- You don't have to..." 

In that moment, something strange clicked for Toru.

She saw Midoriya's usual attitude, the way he seemed to always be smiling, how he reached out to so many people, his manner of being pleasant in every interaction. The teen shined, but it wasn't a spontaneous effect. Izuku made himself bright. 

And under that brave and reliable façade of his, he was just another boy working on not being alone. 

Just like she was. 

It was like looking in a mirror. A weirdly nice, caring, cute mirror. 

A boy who was now trembling as if he thought that pushing her away had been the worst thing he had ever done. 

She stopped hesitating then and there, her fingers grabbing the hem of his collar and tearing him down for those ten centimeters that separated them. He must have been truly shocked, because otherwise there would have been no way for her to move the wall of muscle that he was.

Toru's lips found his, the contact sending a sensation not unlike her Quirk's peculiar use. Had she been tossed into scalding waters, she wouldn't have noticed a difference. She closed her eyes to fully sink in the moment, committing her every sense to remember the sensation. Their hands moved, his to support her from behind and cup her face, hers to keep him closer, getting a hold of the bushy threads behind his neck. Their lock was almost desperate as they soaked into each other. He tasted faintly of apples and mint, and she wondered if she would taste like her sugary candies. He smelled nice, a mix of some kind of scented soap and a hint of sweat. 

The kiss could have lasted a second or a century, she couldn't say, but Toru knew that she had loved every moment of it. 

When they separated their breaths were rugged, the girl feeling her lungs screaming for oxygen for the second time of the night. The two took a while to get their bearings, gazes locked onto the other, somehow. Izuku's orbs were clearer than before, and they were looking so perfectly into hers. 

"T-Thank you for stopping me," she uttered shakily. 

"I-I couldn't help it," he tried to excuse himself. "Y-You looked... s-sad." 

Yeah, that was it. The fact that he could see it—that he could see her, invisible or not—was the starting block of the tower that she'd built and raised him on. But that wasn't all, no. What mattered was that he cared enough to act on the hints he saw. 

Anybody could have noticed that she didn't feel at ease at any point of the sixteen years of her life. Anybody could have helped, made her feel included, remembered. 

But no one else had. Only him. Only Izuku. 

She tightened her grip around him. "We'll have to talk more about this later, but for now..." 

"Yeah-" His response was interrupted by her rushing in for a second, much more explorative, helping. The first attempt had been wonderful, but it had also brought with itself a novel notion: she was a parched desert wanderer, and this was her oasis. She wasn't ravenous, but why stop when the way to sate her appetite was this close and this forthcoming? 

Much like with her Quirk a month before, Toru didn't have any experience with love. 

Nobody could say that she wasn't willing to learn though.

Izuku sighed as he closed Toru's door behind himself, being as quiet as a human being could possibly be by putting Edgeshot's teachings into practice once again. 

After exchanging some words, the girl had ended up falling asleep in his arms, too tired from her Quirk exertion and the sheer avalanche of emotions, and she'd done it in the wrong room. Despite how easy it could have been for her to sneak out of his place in the morning, he still opted to give her the safer alternative. He hoped that the message he'd left on her bedside table would be enough to ease her worries when she woke up. 

The boy stopped for a moment as he heard some movements coming from the other side of the floor, deciding quickly to fly away before possibly being intercepted by a sleepwalking Reiko. 

Thankfully nobody else appeared to stop him in his tracks, letting him reach his room and collapse on his ass after closing the door. His palms found his eyes, his fingers dug in his hairline. 

- Fuck, - he mentally cursed, as he couldn't be as loud as he wanted to be at this hour of the night. 

"It's not the end of the world, Kid," Daigoro commented, trying to be helpful in the wrong way. 

- Not tonight, Banjo. Please. - 

The Fifth grunted but accepted to step back. As usual, it was Nana who gave him their goodnight with the usual "We're here if you need us, Sprout."

He knew, but this wasn't something the vestiges could help with, even if they were his closest confidants. Despite their straight moral compass—or perhaps because of it—talking about his bonds with everybody else was... weird, to say the least. 

He had hurt her, and, in that moment, he couldn't stop his body from holding her, despite knowing how it would have ended... 

"I really can't help myself, can I?" Izuku cursed under his breath, calling out his idiocy for his own ears. 

"And you're only going to hurt her more," the voice whispered, the tone filled with poison. 

Izuku clenched his fists, his fingers tight enough to hurt. What a perfect moment to let intrusive thoughts reign in his skull. 

He'd have to visit Hound Dog again soon, at least to vent. 

"Another sleepless night," he muttered, getting up and approaching his desk. He warmed up his hands as he took out a notebook and a pencil, his mind plotting the lines of the picture before starting. Memories started flooding in.

Past

"You're beautiful, Toru." 

His voice carried over to the open door of the bathroom, making the lithe girly figure in pastel colors turning his way. An azure, pink-striped shirt hung loosely in her arms, removed to reveal the white lace sitting underneath. 

She let out a pleased hum, making a light sound as a finger traced the cloth. "Well, I picked it out just for the occasion." 

Izuku blinked, once again touched by the misunderstanding. He shook his head. 

"Not the bra. You," the teen said from the bed's edge. "You are beautiful, Toru." 

The girl stopped, leaving silence to speak of her astonishment. A slight movement in the water droplets on her locks showed how her head was shaking as she let the shirt fall to the ground. 

"No, I'm not," she said, so matter-of-factly that he felt a pang in his chest. "I'm invisible, Izuku. This," one of her feet moved the shirt on the ground, while a finger lifted the hem of her skirt for a moment, "is as pretty as I'll ever get." 

He got up, making the bedframe creak. He was firm on making his vision understood. 

"You are," he reiterated, moving to cup her chin on the first try. He was getting better at finding her, his eyes being drawn to hers by instinct, just as he was getting better at expressing himself. It was hard work, but it was worth every second. "You're gorgeous, Toru. I mean it. Here, let me show you." 

He gently took her hand as the girl drew an unconvinced sigh, letting herself be brought along to the mirror next to the shower. 

The mirror, an object which would never be quite as useful for the girl as it was for others. Something that would be used to inspect outfits, but never the one wearing them. The thing that could see the outline painted by the shower's water, but never the full picture. 

Izuku placed Toru before him, turning her around and holding her into his arms. His hands rested on her stomach, the slow and constant movement of her breathing soothing, the supple muscles comforting under his palms. 

"There's nothing there, Izuku," the girl's voice came faster than he could start, dispassionate and firm. Her arms laid demure on her sides, touching his only slightly. 

"I disagree," he smiled, his gaze kept forward and down, looking where hers would be. "There's something breathtaking before me." 

He felt the muscles of her shoulders tense, a light shiver moving on her skin. 

"Izuku... How can you say that, when you can't even see me?" Toru's tone was calm but had that touch of inquisitiveness she kept for serious topics and the downcast tones that were meant to be private. A slow neck movement and the hair that came to tickle his face told him she was looking down, trying to distance herself from the nothingness. 

The teen raised a hand from where it rested to gently lay it under her chin, doing just enough to raise her gaze to the front. He felt like she was finally meeting his eyes. 

"I'll tell you what I see then," Izuku started, his thumb carefully moving to brush her lips. "You look like a dream, one I'd wish to never wake up from, one I'd desperately try to remember. You look like the end of every rainbow I'll ever see, a treasure worth more than any pot of gold. You're the eloquent silence that fills, the press of space against the skin that comforts. You're the dew that glistens at dusk, the summer snowflake that never melts." 

He yearned for the message to reach her as strongly as he was feeling it. 

"You're stunning, Toru. Don't let yourself think otherwise." 

She trembled lightly in his hold, letting his words sink in. 

He could hear the choked gulp before her words. "Since when do you memorize poetry?" she tried to deflect his attention. 

His face's reflection in the mirror acquired shades of red, his shy self coming to light for a moment. 

"I-I write a-a lot," he confessed, genuine. "S-Sometimes words just flow on the page when... When I think of you." 

Not his smoothest utterance, but it would have to do. 

Toru's body made a half turn, her hands now resting on his chest, her breath flowing in the crook of his neck. Izuku couldn't see her eyes, but he felt her burning gaze, dangerous in all the right ways. 

She pounced on him, her compass guiding her back to the task she'd set herself to before his comforting interruption. They both wanted to be connected fully, and no mere inch of cloth could stop them. He could feel the texture of the lace on his pectorals, the brushing of the skirt on his legs. 

Izuku met her hunger, relishing on a moment that was only theirs. And that soon would be only his. 

He kept his eyes closed as the kiss deepened, trying to feel her with every other sense. Her simple vanilla fragrance enticed him, the sweetness of her flavor lured him further in. When the girl sunk ten short nails into his back he took to moving faster, feather-light touches turning savage. 

He started looking again as his strokes led to a vibrating moan, the girl being left breathless for an instant as she exhaled. 

In that moment Izuku had expected to see only the dancing sheen of the sweat gliding off her, or at worst his own reflection in the mirror. 

What instead welcomed him, for little more than a beat of his galloping heart, was a visage that left him stunned, cementing itself in his mind. Waves of chartreuse green and pink crowned unblemished porcelain skin. Yellow bushy eyelashes circled two big round eyes, their tones going from a violet top to a seafoam bottom, keeping pearls of green and yellow in their middle. 

It went away as soon as it had come, but that mirage had changed everything. 

Her invisibility didn't matter to him. Toru was Toru, and her being visible or not changed nothing of the kind, bright soul that she was. 

But it mattered to her. 

That's why Izuku had tried to find a way to reverse her Quirk, training with her until their legs gave out to get every gram of control she could muster on [Invisibility]. He had fallen short of her expectations: she could now expand her Quirk's range at will, but retracting it felt like an impossible hurdle, a wish that would never be granted. Now, though, it seemed their efforts had finally paid off. Luck was something about preparation meeting opportunity, right?

"Toru!" he almost screamed, grabbing her arms to bring them to a stop. "I found it!" 

"What?" She sounded as startled as someone interrupted abruptly during such an act could sound. "Found wha-" 

Toru's eyes widened as her mind caught up with the crazed look in his eyes. There weren't many things that could make him express that. 

"A-Are you sure?" she let out, her words little more than a whisper. 

He nodded eagerly. "Y-Your hair is green and pink, your eyes are-" 

She interjected his answer with another kiss, cupping his face with both of her hands, going at it with an unseen passion. 

"I love you," she muttered in a brief pause, clinging harder to his neck, making him feel the tears dripping down her cheek. 

"I love you too," he smiled, holding her close. 

They would get to the bottom of this, and she'd never be invisible again.

Notes:

So... that happened.

I'd like to say that I'm not stressing over this chapter's reception, but I'd be lying.

How did I manage to publish 37 chapters before getting to some actual romance? Hell if i know.

Guess we're adding some tags.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go in my initial draft. Then I got to writing the chapter, and by the point I got to the end of the [Invisibility] show, I noticed that something had started to flow this way. Had a "Wait, why aren't they kissing yet?" moment, and it just seemed wrong to change it. So, that was fun and something that totally won't come back to bite my ass and Izuku's. Yup.

If it's not clear enough from the text, I'll clarify here that the last part is from a past loop. One I'll probably continue working on in a bit 'cause a friend gently requested more.

Up next, gimme some space to breathe and get back to the action.

Edit 26/3/2023: To clarify the tags:

I added the tags (Romance, Polyamory, and Izuku/Toru) because I dislike finding fics that I wouldn't have read if the tags had been clearer. I also prefer to wait until the chapter where the tag gets relevant to use it, because I despise finding unfinished fics were ships are tagged, only to discover that there is no actual content for it as in only "in planning."

The "Other Relationship Tags to be Added" has been there for a while, and it's not going away, so you can imagine I'm not done yet.

The Izuku/Toru tag doesn't mean that it's the only ship that I care about, only that it's the one that is currently active.

I would add the tags for other relationships I have in mind (and there are quite a few, even as Background Relationships), but the tag "Pairings undecided" should give you an idea why I'm not doing that. If I'm not certain that it's going to happen until its written in my docs, I won't add it.