The silence in the apartment was slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't the kind of comfortable silence they shared after a bad movie or a night of tactical analysis. It was the kind of silence that comes after crossing a line that cannot be uncrossed.
Yu remained on the sofa, staring at the ceiling with a vacant expression. Izuku was sitting on the floor, his back against the TV stand, playing with the cap of a water bottle.
"We should get dressed," Yu said finally. Her voice sounded flat, stripped of her usual teasing tone.
"Yes."
Neither of them moved.
Yu sat up slowly, feeling every muscle protest. She looked around, searching for her clothes. Her blouse was in tatters at the other end of the room. Her pants were under the overturned coffee table.
"Crap."
"What is it?" Izuku turned his head toward her.
"This." Yu pointed at the room with a wide gesture. "Do you see this, Izuku? This is not normal. People don't destroy their apartments when they have sex."
Izuku looked around, truly processing the mess for the first time with objectivity. The coffee table was on its side. The sofa had been pushed nearly three feet from its original position. There were claw marks on the backrest. The picture on the wall was crooked and a floor lamp lay on the ground with its shade crushed.
"Oh."
"Oh. That is all you are going to say. Oh." Yu stood up, wobbling a bit. She grabbed her destroyed blouse and looked at it with a murderous expression. "This blouse cost twenty thousand yen, Izuku. Twenty thousand."
"Technically, you tore it." Izuku stood up as well while looking for his pants. He found them hanging off the back of the sofa. "I was just there."
"Technically?" Yu turned toward him with her eyes narrowed. "Are you giving me a semantics lesson right now?"
"It is not a semantics lesson, it is an objective fact. You activated your Quirk partially when you lost control. I did not force you to do anything." Izuku put on his pants without haste. "The fault is not mine."
Yu opened her mouth to argue, closed it, and then flopped back down onto the sofa.
"You are impossible."
"You tell me that a lot."
"Because it is true." Yu rubbed her face with both hands. "God, Izuku. What are we going to do?"
"About what exactly?"
"About everything!" Yu gestured wildly. "The wrecked apartment, the ruined clothes, and the fact that we just... just..." She stopped, unable to finish the sentence.
"Had sexual relations," Izuku completed in a neutral tone.
"Do not say it so calmly! Like you are giving a weather report!" Yu glared at him. "Does it not affect you at all?"
Izuku stopped. He stood still, his fingers on the button of his pants, and for the first time since it all ended, he really looked Yu in the eyes.
"It affects me."
Izuku's voice was low, lower than usual. Yu blinked, surprised by the change in atmosphere.
"It does?"
"Yes." Izuku finished buttoning his pants and sat on the arm of the sofa near her. "But I do not know how to process it yet. I need time to analyze it."
"Of course you need to analyze it." Yu let out a humorless laugh. "Izuku Midoriya, the man who turns everything into an equation."
"It is not an equation."
"Then what is it?"
Izuku did not answer immediately. He stared at his own hands, frowning.
"I do not know."
That admission seemed to disarm Yu completely. She dropped her shoulders and let out a long, deep sigh.
"Fine. It is fine. You do not have to know right now." She stood up again, this time with a steadier step, and picked up what was left of her clothes. "I am going to put something on. You... clean this up a bit, okay? Before someone calls the police thinking there was a villain attack."
"All right."
Yu headed to her room and closed the door with more force than necessary. Izuku was left alone in the living room, contemplating the chaos with a thoughtful expression.
How am I supposed to categorize this? he wondered.
He began to pick up the coffee table. He gripped it by the edge and lifted it without apparent effort. The wood creaked. Izuku frowned and looked down. There were deep finger indentations in the wood, as if he had pressed into wet clay.
"What...?"
He set the table aside and examined his hands. They looked normal. Not even red. That didn't make sense. He had just had sex with Yu Takeyama, a woman whose Quirk gave her proportional strength even when she wasn't in her giant form. A woman who, during the act, had lost control and partially activated her power.
I should have bruises, he thought. I should have marks. I should be in pain.
But he felt nothing.
Izuku walked toward the wall where the crooked picture hung. He straightened it carefully, but his fingers sank slightly into the frame as he grabbed it.
"This is not normal."
He tried something else. He gripped the edge of the overturned coffee table and squeezed. The wood splintered under his palm as if it were wet cardboard.
"Definitely not normal."
The door to Yu's room opened. She came out wearing a baggy hoodie and sweatpants, her blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail.
"Did you clean anything yet or are you just standing there staring at your hands like an idiot?"
Izuku didn't move. He kept staring at the mark in the wood.
"Yu."
"What?"
"How strong am I normally?"
Yu blinked. "Huh?"
"Physically. Without using my Quirk. How much strength do I have?"
"I do not know, Izuku. You are skinny but wiry. I guess average for someone who trains. Why are you asking something so weird?" Yu approached him, crossing her arms.
Izuku held up his hand, showing her the finger indentations in the wood.
"Because I just did this without trying."
Yu looked at the mark. Then at Izuku. Then back at the mark.
"You are messing with me."
"I am not."
"Izuku, that table is solid oak. I paid extra for it because it is sturdy." Yu touched the indentation with a finger, checking the depth. "You cannot... you cannot do this just by grabbing it."
"I know. That is why I am confused." Izuku clenched and unclenched his fingers, observing his hand as if it belonged to a stranger. "Nothing hurts."
Yu stared at him, processing the information.
"Wait. Wait a second." She stepped closer, grabbed him by the shoulders, and turned him toward her. "Show me."
"Show you what?"
"Your body, idiot. Take off your shirt."
Izuku obeyed without protest. He pulled off his t-shirt and let it drop to the floor. Yu examined him with critical eyes, turning him around slowly. Nothing. Not even a red mark.
"Impossible." Yu ran her fingers along his back, searching for anything. "I gripped you hard, I know I did. And when I activated my Quirk partially, I should have left marks. I should have broken something."
"But you didn't."
"That makes no sense." Yu stepped back, an increasing alarm in her eyes. "Izuku, this is not normal."
Izuku stood still, connecting the pieces in his mind.
"During the act," he began slowly, "you felt something strange. You mentioned it."
Yu stiffened. "What?"
"You said my skin felt hard."
"Yes, but..." Yu hesitated as she remembered. "I thought it was just... I do not know, sweat and friction. Something normal."
"It was not." Izuku turned to her, his eyes shining with that spark of scientific curiosity. "It was my Quirk. It had to be."
"Your Quirk? Izuku, your Quirk is about buffing others. It does not give you superpowers."
"That is what we thought." Izuku started walking in circles, speaking rapidly. "But my Quirk works by transmitting energy through physical contact. It strengthens muscles, reinforces tissues, improves capabilities. It has always been an external effect, directed outward."
"And?"
"And what if it is not just external? What if my body can also absorb those improvements?" Izuku stopped, looking at her intensely. "During the act, we were in constant physical contact. My Quirk was active. You were active. And your Quirk gives you superhuman strength."
Yu frowned.
"Are you saying that... you absorbed my strength?"
"Not exactly. I am saying that my body responded to the threat." Izuku held up his hands again. "My Quirk detected that my organism was in danger of severe damage. So, as a defense mechanism, it reinforced my durability."
"That sounds completely crazy."
"But it makes sense." Izuku pointed at her. "You felt it yourself. Tell me, what man would have relations with a woman of your strength and come out without a single scratch?"
Yu opened her mouth, closed it, and collapsed onto the sofa.
"My God."
"It is fascinating, is it not?" Izuku sat next to her, completely absorbed in his theory. "My Quirk does not just improve others. It improves itself when it detects imminent danger."
"Izuku..."
"And if that is true, it would explain why I have no marks. My skin was never really in danger because..."
"Izuku!"
He stopped and looked at her. Yu had her face in her hands, breathing deeply.
"I cannot deal with this right now."
"With what?"
"With you discovering a new superpower because we slept together!" Yu looked at him with genuine panic. "Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?"
Izuku blinked.
"I suppose it does."
I suppose it does, Yu thought hysterically. Of course. Of course you discover you are indestructible right after sleeping with me. Of course.
"I am not indestructible." Izuku frowned. "Just... more durable than I thought."
"You know what? Whatever. I do not care anymore." Yu got up and walked toward the kitchen. "I am going to make coffee. Very strong coffee. Because clearly I have lost my mind."
Izuku followed her, still barefoot and shirtless.
"Yu, this is important. If my Quirk really works like this, I need to understand the limits. I need to know if it is permanent or temporary. I need..."
"Coffee?" Yu offered him a mug, interrupting him.
Izuku took it automatically.
"Thank you. As I was saying, I need to perform controlled tests to determine..."
Three loud knocks shook the apartment door. Both of them froze.
"Ms. Takeyama? Are you in there?"
The voice belonged to the neighbor from 4B, an elderly and somewhat nosy man. Yu turned pale.
"It is the neighbor," she whispered in horror.
"What?" Izuku almost spilled his coffee.
"It is Mr. Sato. He is a retiree who always complains about the noise. He came to protest last week. Crap, crap, crap."
More knocks.
"Miss? I heard very loud noises, like furniture falling over. Do you need me to call emergency services?"
Yu grabbed Izuku by the arm and dragged him toward the hallway.
"Hide."
"What? Why?"
"Because if Mr. Sato sees you here, shirtless, at this hour and with the living room destroyed, he is going to draw conclusions." Yu pushed him toward her bedroom. "And those conclusions will end up in the building's gossip group, and from there to the press. My career would go to hell."
"But we did nothing wrong."
"Izuku! Hide!"
He obeyed, entering the room and closing the door. Yu smoothed her hair, took a deep breath, and went to the entrance. She opened the door with a forced smile.
"Mr. Sato! Hello. Sorry for the trouble."
The neighbor was there in his flannel pajamas with an expression of suspicion.
"Ms. Takeyama. I heard banging. It sounded like they were demolishing the building. What happened?"
"Oh, that..." Yu let out a sharp, fake laugh. "Nothing serious. I was... rearranging the furniture. You know, I just had a sudden urge for some late night decorating."
The man frowned, skeptical.
"At this hour? And those shouts?"
Yu felt her face catch fire.
"Oh! That was because I dropped a picture on my foot. Very painful, you know. But everything is under control. Sorry for waking you."
"Well..." The neighbor did not seem convinced. "If you say so. But try to do your renovations during the day."
"I promise. Good night."
Yu closed the door and leaned against it, closing her eyes.
Please let him not have suspected anything else, she thought.
The bedroom door opened and Izuku came out, this time with his shirt on.
"Is he gone?"
"Yes. But now he thinks I am a crazy woman who moves furniture at three in the morning." Yu rubbed her temples. "Great. My professional reputation is hanging by a thread and I cannot even tell the truth."
"The truth is complicated."
"Complicada? Izuku, we just had sex, we destroyed my apartment, and now it turns out you are made of steel. Complicated does not do it justice."
Izuku approached and sat carefully on the damaged sofa.
"You are right. It is much more than that."
"See? Even you admit it."
"But it is not a disaster." Izuku looked at her calmly. "It is... new. Unexpected. But manageable."
Yu watched him during a long silence. Finally, she sighed and sat down beside him.
"You are too optimistic."
"And you are too pessimistic."
They were silent again, but the atmosphere had changed. Yu was the first to break the silence.
"So... your new super durability."
"Yes."
"Do you think it is permanent?"
Izuku thought for a moment.
"I do not know. I need to do tests. See if it stays without constant physical contact or if I can activate it at will."
"And if it is not?"
"Then it only works during... situations of extreme physical stress." Izuku avoided her gaze. "Like the one we just experienced."
Yu felt a sudden heat in her cheeks.
"We are not going to call it that."
"What do you want to call it?"
"Nothing. It is not going to happen again."
Izuku looked at her with a neutral expression. "No?"
"No." Yu crossed her arms defensively. "It was a mistake. A bad decision born of the moment."
"There was no alcohol involved, Yu."
"Then it was a bad conscious decision." She stood up, walking away a few steps. "The point is it cannot be repeated. You are my assistant, I am your boss. There are lines we should not cross."
"We already crossed them."
"Then we will uncross them." Yu turned toward him firmly. "We go back to how it was before. Professional. Clean. No complications."
Izuku was silent for a moment and then nodded.
"If that is what you want."
"It is what I need." Yu rubbed her arms, feeling a sudden chill. "I cannot risk my career for this, Izuku."
"I understand."
"Really?"
"Yes." Izuku stood up. "I am not going to pressure you. If you want us to forget this, we will."
Yu watched him, feeling a strange knot in her chest that she could not identify.
"Thank you."
"You are welcome."
Yu walked toward her room, stopping at the threshold.
"And Izuku..."
"Yes?"
"Tomorrow, when you wake up, we start the tests on your new durability. I want to know exactly what your body can do now."
Izuku smiled slightly. "Understood."
Yu entered her room and flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. Her mind was a mess and her heart was beating in a way it shouldn't.
Tomorrow, she whispered to herself. Tomorrow everything goes back to normal.
But deep down, she knew that was a lie. Nothing would ever be the same again.
******
Author's Note:
Hi everyone!
Have you ever wanted to see yourself in your favorite fictional world? Do you have a story idea that's been living rent-free in your head, but you just don't have the time to write it?
I'm excited to announce that I'm opening a very limited window for my Premium Commission Tier: Story Director. This is my most hands-on, collaborative tier designed to bring your specific vision to life with professional, human-refined prose.
Limited Time & AvailabilityTo ensure every story gets the detail it deserves, I am only accepting 3 clients for this month.
Window: This tier will only be available for ONE WEEK. After that, I will be closing commissions to focus entirely on the active projects.Content Boundaries: I do not write sexual assault, mind control, or non-consensual content.
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