Chapter 33: Vines!

Ibara was still resting against Izuku's chest, breathing unevenly, cheeks burning. He tried to shift her a little to get her more comfortable, and that tiny gesture drew an indecent sound out of her.

"Ngh... hah... hah... Sensei..." she murmured against his shoulder.

Izuku felt the color drain from his face while inside his pants a battle was raging that he was losing.

Oh, no! I'm getting fired for sure! He swallowed hard as his eyes darted toward where Nezu was watching.

He looked at her again and instantly regretted it: Ibara had her lips parted just inches from his, in a pose anyone would misread without even trying.

WHY THE HELL DOES IT FEEL LIKE I'M IN AN EROTIC GAME? He clenched his teeth. When did my life turn into this?

"I-Ibara-san, is it over? Um... are you feeling a little better?"

Ibara only turned to look at him. She was so close to his lips and in such a lewd position that the fact he still didn't have an erection was practically a miracle.

He decided to steer the conversation onto safer ground and, without realizing it, buried his fingers in Ibara's hair again.

"Why don't you tr..."

"Ahhhhhhhhhh...!"

"O-okay, I forgot your hair's sensitive."

He yanked his hand back so fast he nearly hit himself, and clumsily placed it on the girl's waist.

To think the most innocent spot would make me look like a huge pervert... I should've grabbed her ass, damn it. The first time I try to be decent and this happens.

Turns out, given the circumstances, the best place to hold her without triggering a catastrophe was her waist, of all places. Weird, but true.

He glanced quickly toward Midnight, looking for help.

She's the Dominatrix, she's gotta know how to fix this! MIDNIGHT-SAN, I NEED YOUR HELP!

Midnight, for her part, gave him a smile and a thumbs up.

Izuku felt his soul leave his body.

I'm begging for help, not congratulations on my performance.

He closed his eyes for a moment and turned to the only tool he had left.

My mind is a calm lake, there's no pretty young girl breathing on my neck about to give me an erection, just still water and peace. The problem was that Ibara chose that exact moment to settle more comfortably against him, and the lake evaporated entirely.

"Ahem... Ibara-san, dear Ibara, tell me, has it passed?"

Ibara raised her head slowly and looked at him steadily.

"I... I think so," she whispered.

Thank heavens, there's still justice in the world.

"Do you feel anything different, Ibara? In your body, in your hair, anything at all that seemed off to you."

At the question, she blushed and rubbed her thighs together in a small motion. Izuku knew perfectly well what that gesture meant, though he chose to swallow the comment. He was already deep enough in the hole without digging further.

"Anything," he added gently. "The weight of your hair, or any little detail that feels outside the norm."

Different?

Ibara closed her eyes for a moment to focus on what she was feeling. Everything seemed the same, except for a residual pleasure she was struggling to hide and a strange need for Izuku to hold her.

She lowered her gaze and discovered that several of her vines had slipped over to Izuku's hands and were brushing against them softly, seeking to stay close to him.

What are you doing?!

She hadn't given them any order. She tried to pull them back, but they refused to move; they remained by Izuku's hands, determined to ignore her.

Is this a reaction from my Quirk, or are they responding to what I'm feeling? The very idea deepened her blush. Oh, Lord, how embarrassing. Right when I need composure the most.

She glanced sideways at Izuku, hoping he hadn't noticed. If he sees that my own vines are chasing his touch, how am I supposed to explain something I don't even understand myself?

She bit her lip. Hiding it was out of the question: lying to someone who was trying to help her went against everything she had been taught.

"I... um..." She lowered her gaze and pressed her lips together lightly. "I think something did change."

She paused briefly to gather her courage.

"My vines are reacting on their own. I don't quite know why." She glanced again at the green tendrils, still coiling near Izuku's hands. "And they seem to want to stay close to you, Midoriya-sensei. I don't understand what this means."

Izuku's eyes lit up when he heard her.

"That's it!"

"Huh?"

"When I used my Quirk on you, I focused on somehow giving you better protection. I think that has to be it!"

Ibara didn't quite grasp what he meant.

"That means your vines might've picked up something like a sense of danger, an automatic defense. When I thought about strengthening your protection, I never imagined anything as specific as hardness or sharpness. I only wanted you to be safer. And that, my dear Ibara... I think that's why your vines are reacting so strangely."

YOU SAW IT, DIRECTOR NEZU! I'M NOT JUST A PERVERT!

"An automatic defense...?" Ibara looked at her vines again and then back at the boy. "So, is it possible they react to whatever they perceive as a threat?"

"Exactly! Something like that, I guess. I'm not even sure myself, but it sounds right, doesn't it?"

The idea fit, though Ibara struggled to feel at ease when she recalled how indiscreetly they had sought Izuku's contact.

"That would explain their behavior, sensei, even though I have never experienced anything like this before." She paused for a moment, unable to contain her astonishment. "But, Izuku... Midoriya-sensei, if it truly was your Quirk that caused this, then you have discovered an application of my Quirk that not even I knew about."

Ibara's eyes shone: it was an entirely new way of understanding her power.

"It's something wonderful. Although..." She glanced down at the tendrils. "I would appreciate it if they learned to tell the difference between a threat and a person who is simply trying to help me."

And... it would be better if they didn't react that way in front of everyone, either.

Nezu, a bit farther off, was following the scene with an interest he didn't bother to hide. It wasn't every day he got to see a new application of a Quirk whose owner believed she knew inside and out.

"Oh, my!" the director exclaimed, taking a sip of his tea. "An automatic response born from an indirect modification of the Quirk. How marvelous."

Nemuri narrowed her eyes and let her gaze drift from Ibara to Izuku with a malicious slowness.

"Marvelous? I'd say it's awfully convenient for a certain young man," she remarked with a smile.

"Don't start, Nemuri!" Yu huffed and crossed her arms. "Izuku's just trying to figure out Ibara's Quirk, that's all. Stop reading double meanings into everything."

"Sweetie, with this kid there's always a double meaning. It's part of his charm."

Nezu took another sip, genuinely amused.

"That is exactly why it's so interesting, Nemuri-san. Miss Shiozaki probably knew the applications of her power better than anyone in Japan, and yet something external triggered a response she herself had never even considered." His eyes sharpened with curiosity. "A new use discovered by accident. What a delightful outcome."

Rumi, leaning against the wall, gave him a sideways look.

"Hey, you're having way too much fun with all this, huh?"

"Quite a bit of fun," Nezu answered, not bothering to deny it in the slightest.

Yu let out a laugh; she was enjoying Izuku's success.

"Well, at least this time Izuku's got a real explanation for the mess, and not one of his weird theories."

Nemuri smiled without taking her eyes off the show, then slid her gaze over to Yu, itching to tease her.

"By the way, Yu, honey... why did you look upset?" she asked. "Don't tell me you got jealous of the poor girl."

"J-jealous?!" Yu straightened up in a jolt. "Not in a million years! I'm just supervising so my assistant doesn't do something stupid, it's my job."

At a distance, Izuku looked like he was receiving a divine revelation right there in the gym. He turned toward Rumi.

"Rumi! Could you throw stuff at Ibara, please?!"

Rumi took a couple of seconds to catch on before a smile returned to her face.

"Heh." She cracked her knuckles. "Finally, someone's talking to me in the only language I actually understand: violence."

"No, wait, not like that!" Izuku cut in, waving his hands. "It's to test a theory, I don't want you to hurt her."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, brainiac." She was already stretching her legs. "Just wait for me."

She sprang over to where a pile of practice balls sat, roughly five kilos each, heavy enough to cause fractures, and kicked one of them with controlled force.

At that very instant, Izuku pulled Ibara by the waist and covered her eyes with one hand.

"Kyaaa!"

The motion looked more like a clumsy courtship gesture than a defensive maneuver. If the theory failed and Ibara's tendrils didn't react, the most likely outcome was that he'd be the next one flying. He was willing to take the hit just to confirm it.

The ball kept hurtling at full speed toward Izuku.

Come on! WORK!

Just as it was about to strike him, one of Ibara's tendrils shot out and slammed into the projectile with force. Instead of the bounce Izuku had expected, the ball split in two.

"What?!"

Rumi walked over, picked up both pieces, and spun them between her fingers. She narrowed her eyes as she examined the cut.

"Hmm..."

She pressed them together for a second and pulled them apart again.

"This wasn't just a hit. It cut through it."

She looked up at Ibara, much more interested now.

"Well... that's something new."

So... Ibara's Quirk didn't just develop an unconscious reaction. It also gained a sharp property!

He pulled his hand away from Ibara's eyes and she found herself staring at the two halves of the ball on the floor.

"My vines... did that..."

Izuku, seeing how stunned she was, decided it was a good idea to try it again.

"Wasn't that amazing? What do you say, girls? Wanna try it one more time?"

Rumi was already pumped, and Ibara, to her own surprise, also wanted to see it for herself. Curiosity finally beat out embarrassment. Izuku stepped aside to give her space, and Rumi settled in with a violent grin.

"All right, Plant Girl, don't disappoint me." She kicked ball after ball in a savage barrage. "Bahahaha, this is finally curing my boredom!"

Ibara watched the rain of projectiles coming at her. She steadied her breathing and focused on defending herself without curling up completely into a cocoon of vines, the way she would have preferred. Every ball that came close to her was struck and split into pieces before it could touch her, while her tendrils lashed out one after another with a speed even she could barely believe.

"Keep it up!" Rumi shouted. "Faster!"

The hero kicked two balls at the same time, just to make things harder. Ibara didn't even have to think about it: two tendrils shot out in opposite directions and cut both projectiles before she could even worry about them.

May the Lord forgive me, but this is... exhilarating. Ibara felt her heart racing with the adrenaline of the fight. All my life I believed I knew every corner of this blessing, and today I discover that it still holds secrets.

"Not bad!" Rumi was laughing openly now as the bombardment intensified. "A little more and you might even have fun with it!"

Yu, from her spot, clicked her tongue, unable to hide that the scene had caught her attention.

"Tsk. At least the girl learns fast," she muttered as she watched her display.

One of the balls managed to slip past her defense and flew straight at Ibara's face. Inches from her cheek, a tendril intercepted it and split it midair.

Ibara stood there staring at the falling remains, her breathing ragged. Her tendrils' reaction speed had multiplied, and they were acting on their own to protect her even when she couldn't anticipate the attack.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways," she murmured with a nervous laugh. "Though I very much doubt He had this in mind."

At a distance, Izuku rested his hand on Mt. Lady's shoulder and pulled her slightly toward him.

"See, Yu? Just imagine everything we could do with you..."

Yu made a sarcastic face and leaned against his shoulder. With every day that passed, Izuku seemed more and more like a reliable assistant... and her best friend.

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