The apartment door closed with a soft click, followed by the sound of two gym bags hitting the floor.
"I'm dead," Yu muttered, collapsing onto the sofa without even taking off her shoes. "No. I'm beyond dead. I'm a ghost who's too tired to haunt anyone."
Izuku let out a grunt that sounded like an agreement. He stretched, feeling every muscle in his back protest.
"Are we ordering food?" Yu said from the couch. "I'm not lifting a finger. I can't. My fingers have declared a strike."
"Already did," Izuku said. He walked to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and pulled out two water bottles. He tossed one to Yu, who caught it with a surprisingly fast reflex for someone claiming to be 'dead'. "Katsudon. It should be here in ten minutes."
"You're the best roommate in the world," she said, opening the bottle and drinking deeply.
"I know." Izuku sat on the floor, leaning his back against the sofa. They stayed quiet for a moment, just the sound of their breathing and the distant city traffic.
"So..." Yu began, her voice a bit softer. "How do you think it went? Really."
Izuku turned his head to look at her. "The class? I thought we agreed it was amazing."
"It was. But... me? Was I amazing? Or was... that... what was amazing?"
Izuku frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," she said, sitting up. She set the water bottle on the floor. "I was great. I know it. I felt it. But was it me? Or was it whatever you gave me?"
The doorbell rang, cutting off the conversation.
"Food," Izuku announced, getting up with a slight groan.
A few minutes later, they were sitting on the living room floor, with steaming bowls of katsudon on the coffee table.
"I have to admit, Izuku. You were incredible today." Yu's voice was a satisfied murmur, muffled by her first bite of rice. The katsudon was working its magic.
"Well," she said after swallowing, "we were incredible."
Izuku smiled, stirring his own bowl. "Your execution was perfect. The class adores you. I've already seen several girls in the hallway trying to imitate your 'own your mistakes' pose. Officially, you're a UA influencer."
Yu laughed, a genuine and relaxed sound. "Shut up! That's ridiculous. Seriously?"
"Mina Ashido was trying it. She almost dislocated her hip," Izuku said, completely serious.
"Oh, God. Fine, maybe you're right." Her laughter faded, and her expression turned more serious. She set her chopsticks aside.
"But seriously... thank you."
Izuku watched her, his own smile disappearing to match her seriousness.
"Thank you for... before the class."
"You don't have to thank me for that, Yu. We're a team."
"No, Izuku, I do. And we need to talk about it. Really," she said, her voice dropping a little. "When you touched my shoulder... it wasn't like the other times."
She paused, searching for the right words.
"When you've 'boosted' me before... I feel my muscles tense up, like I've had ten coffees. But this..."
She pointed to her own head. "This was different. All the fear... it was gone. Like you flipped a switch in my head. What was that?"
Izuku finished his bite, thoughtful. He set his bowl on the table, his appetite forgotten. They had reached the core of the issue.
"I don't know," he admitted with a sincerity that surprised her. "It was different for me, too. I'd never tried it."
He leaned forward, his eyes fixed on hers.
"Normally, when I touch you, I think about 'strength' or 'speed'. It's a simple command. 'Faster'. 'Stronger'. My Quirk seems to understand physics."
"And this time?" Yu asked.
"This time... I didn't think of a command. I saw you. You were panicking, so... I just... focused."
He tried to remember the exact moment.
"I thought with all my might 'she can do this, she just needs to feel the same confidence I have in her'. And then I touched you. I guess my Quirk... heard me. It's the first time I've tried to do something like that, transfer a feeling instead of just power."
Yu stared at him, processing the information. "Transfer a feeling. Like an empathy Quirk?"
"I don't think so," Izuku said, shaking his head. "Empathy Quirks read or project emotions. This felt more... strange. I didn't make you feel happy. I took away your fear."
"It lasted the whole class," Yu said, almost in a whisper. "And then, when we left, it faded. Slowly. And now... I'm nervous again."
"Nervous? Why?"
"Because... what if I can't do it again without you?" she said, her vulnerability exposed in the quiet of the room. "What if I get... addicted to that feeling? To not being afraid? I can't ask you to touch my shoulder every time I have to face something."
They were silent for a moment, the enormity of that new possibility hanging between them.
"You won't," Izuku said finally. "What you felt... that confidence... it was already yours. It was just buried under the panic. I didn't create anything, Yu. I just cleared the path. Next time, you'll know it's there."
He looked at her with absolute conviction. "And if you can't find it, I'll help you clear the path again. As many times as it takes. That's what a coach is for, right?"
Yu watched him, the tension in her shoulders seeming to lessen a bit. A small smile pulled at the corner of her lips. She picked up her chopsticks again.
"Okay. But we have to look into this. Seriously. If you can 'turn off' fear... what else can you turn off? Or turn on?"
"That," Izuku said, turning back to his own now lukewarm katsudon, "is exactly the right question."
*****
The next day, inside one of UA's private gyms.
Izuku finished his last set of weighted pushups, dropping the plates onto the mat with a dull thud. Sweat ran down his face and soaked his gray shirt. He collapsed onto the floor, chest heaving, staring at the ceiling.
"You're losing form on the last five reps, Midoriya."
Nemuri's voice, smooth and teasing, came from the other side of the gym. She was in the stretching area, finishing her own routine. She looked flawless in her designer workout clothes, without a single drop of sweat visible.
"My last five reps are still double your warmup, Nemuri san," Izuku panted, not getting up.
"How rude," she replied, though her tone was amused. "And here I was, thinking about offering you some professional advice. But if you're going to be that grumpy..."
Izuku pushed himself up, sitting and using a towel to wipe his face. "Sorry. On second thought..."
He walked over to her, his muscles protesting with every step. He stopped at a respectful distance.
"Nemuri sensei. Actually... I need your opinion on something."
She finished her stretch and turned to him, flowing with liquid grace. She crossed her arms, a playful smile on her face.
"Oh? The famous prodigy coach, the man who has all of Class 1-A eating out of his hand, needs advice? I'm all ears, Izuku kun."
Izuku ignored the sarcasm. He was in analysis mode.
"It's about my Quirk," he said, direct as always. "Yesterday, before Yu's class, she was having a panic attack."
"I heard it was a success," Nemuri interrupted. "Rumors fly. They say Takeyama was brilliant."
"She was," Izuku confirmed. "But before she started, she was paralyzed."
Nemuri's playful smile faded, replaced by an expression of genuine professional curiosity.
"Okay. And what did you do?"
"I touched her shoulder," Izuku said.
Nemuri raised an eyebrow. "You gave her a boost? For a panic attack?..."
"I didn't give her physical strength," he cut in. "I tried to give her... confidence."
Nemuri froze. "You tried... to give her confidence?"
"I focused on the feeling of conviction I had in her and tried to transfer it."
"And it worked," Izuku continued, watching her process the information. "It took her fear away completely. Yu described it as 'flipping a switch'. The effect lasted for about an hour and then dissipated."
"But I don't know how I did it," he concluded. "I don't know if it was a fluke, or if it's a controllable application. And I want to understand it. I need to understand it."
Nemuri listened, her eyes evaluating every word. She ran a finger over her lower lip, thoughtful.
"Interesting. A mood transfer. Or, more accurately based on your description, a 'mood override'. A psychological application of your Quirk instead of a purely physical one... fascinating."
She looked him up and down, her gaze turning calculating, almost clinical.
"And what did you feel?"
"A connection," Izuku said. "Different from usual."
"Fascinating," Nemuri repeated. "The theory is nice."
She took a step toward him.
"But you know as well as I do that practice is all that matters. Try it on me. Right now."
Izuku blinked, his breathing still a little heavy from the workout. "Are you serious?"
"Completely," she said, crossing her arms. "I can't give you an informed opinion if I don't know what we're talking about. I need to feel it to understand it. Besides..." a shadow of genuine irritation crossed her face. "I've had an absolutely horrible day of faculty meetings. Three hours discussing the costume budget. Three. Hours."
She grimaced. "A little extra 'confidence' or 'calm' or whatever it is you do would be wonderful right now."
A satisfied smile appeared on Izuku's face. "Understood. A willing test subject with a clear need. Excellent."
"Don't get cocky," she warned him, though the playful tone was returning. "Just do it. What do you need? For me to sit down?"
"No. Just stand still. And focus on your current stress."
"Oh, believe me," Nemuri muttered. "The stress is crystal clear. I'm thinking about Principal Nezu's necktie. It's enough to give me hives."
"Perfect."
He moved closer to her. Nemuri waited, with a calm, professional curiosity, for him to touch her shoulder, as he had described with Yu, or perhaps her back.
"Alright. Focus. I'm going to try and replicate the 'calm confidence' effect I used on Yu."
He placed his right hand on her left shoulder. The fabric of her top was thin, and he could feel the warmth of her skin beneath it.
"Okay," Nemuri said, closing her eyes again, this time to concentrate. "I'm thinking about paperwork. Mountains of paperwork..."
"Initiating," Izuku murmured.
The first thing Nemuri felt was exactly what Izuku had described.
Silence.
The noise in her head—the irritation from the meetings, the tension in her neck, the budding headache, the mental to do list—it all vanished. Gone. As if Izuku had opened a door and swept all the mental clutter outside.
Her breathing, without her realizing it, grew deeper, calmer.
She let out a sigh of relief.
"Wow," she murmured, pleasantly surprised. "Oh, wow. You're right."
She opened her eyes, looking at him with amazement.
"It's like an instant tranquilizer."
"That's the base effect," Izuku said, his voice concentrated. "Do you feel anything else?"
"No, just... calm. It's very nice. Can you... hold it?"
"I can try to modulate it," he said. "I wonder if I can amplify the positive effect."
"Go ahead, doctor," Nemuri said, smiling. She felt genuinely good. Relaxed for the first time in days. "Give me the full dose."
"Alright. Amplifying."
The sensation didn't stop there.
The calm began to deepen, transforming from an absence of stress to an active presence. A pleasant warmth spread from her shoulder, down her arm, and across her chest.
The warmth turned into a tingle, a fine electricity running over her skin.
"Okay," Nemuri said, her voice a little less steady. "This is... new."
Her smile faded, replaced by professional curiosity mixed with a new sense of alert.
"What are you feeling?" Izuku asked, his gaze fixed on her, analyzing.
"It's... intense. This..."
The tingling stopped being merely pleasant and started to become intense. Sharp. Her heart rate, which had calmed, began to speed up again, pounding against her ribs.
She felt a knot forming low in her stomach, but it wasn't a knot of fear or stress. It was... anticipation. Her breath hitched.
"Izuku kun..." Her voice was a whisper. "That's... a lot."
"A lot of what? Describe the sensation," he ordered. "I need data."
"It's... heat," she panted. "And... pressure. It's... building. Don't... wait a minute..."
Her eyes flew wide open.
"This is..."
And then, the sensation exploded.
It wasn't gradual. It was a detonation.
A wave of pure, absolute pleasure, so overwhelming, so unexpected, and so physically potent that it stole her breath and made her knees buckle.
An intense, almost painful blush rushed up her neck to her face, burning her cheeks. A choked gasp escaped her, a high pitched sound she didn't recognize as her own.
"Ngh!"
Her knees gave out completely. If Izuku hadn't been holding her by the shoulder, she would have collapsed.
"Izuku, stop!"
Her voice was a strangled cry, sharp and broken.
"Get your hand off! NOW!"
He pulled his hand back instantly, his face a mask of genuine confusion and alarm. "Nemuri! What happened? Did I hurt you? Was it pain?"
Nemuri was leaning against the gym wall, breathing in fast, shallow gulps. Her face was bright red, her eyes wide, and her hands were shaking.
She looked at him, with a mixture of shock, awe, and a new, dangerous kind of interest she had never felt for a student before. Or for almost anyone.
"It worked..."
Her voice was a shaky whisper, but it was filled with a new, terrible understanding.
"It worked... far too well, Izuku kun."
He took a step back, hands up, looking completely lost. "I don't understand."
Nemuri laughed. It was a dry, almost hysterical sound.
"No. No. It wasn't panic."
She straightened up, leaning heavily against the wall, trying to get her legs to stop shaking. She ran a hand over her face, feeling the scorching heat on her skin.
She looked at him again, her expert mind—in Quirks and human psychology—working at full speed, connecting the dots.
"Izuku kun," she said, her voice still trembling, "When you were... 'amplifying'... what, exactly, were you thinking?"
"Nothing specific," he said, frowning, trying to analyze his own process. "I was just trying to... boost the feeling of 'calm' and 'wellbeing' that worked on you. Take the positive feeling and... turn up the volume. Amplify the effect."
"Well..." Nemuri said, nodding slowly. "Mission... accomplished. You 'amplified' it."
"But your reaction was distress."
"It wasn't distress, you idiot!" she snapped, louder than she intended. She calmed herself, embarrassed by her own reaction. "I got aroused, okay? I got aroused?"
"What?" he asked, his logical brain trying to fit that contradiction.
Nemuri stared at him, and in that second, she realized. He. Had. No. Idea.
He truly didn't know what he had just done.
Izuku's confusion evaporated, replaced by absolute horror. He looked at his own hand in absolute horror.
"Oh. No."
"Oh, yes," Nemuri said. "You've got it. You just... basically, you just used your Quirk to give me a non contact, full body orgasm in the middle of the school gym."
Izuku paled visibly under his sweat. "That wasn't... I didn't... I didn't mean to!"
"Of course you didn't!" she said, her voice rising again before she got it under control. "If I thought for one second that was your intention, you'd be in a detention cell right now. Which makes this worse. Or better. I don't know."
She ran both hands through her hair, messing it up. "Your Quirk doesn't just transfer mental states. It can transfer... pure physical sensations. And it seems you have a... natural talent... for a very, very potent one."