My Hero Academia: Heavenly Restriction

Adjusts glasses while grinning at the screen

Hey there, my amazing readers! Your author Wisteria here, and I just... squeals while hugging Stitch plushie... I can't believe we hit 3,200 powerstones! That's absolutely insane! I thought maybe we'd hit it once if we were lucky. But you beautiful people just kept going and going!

Straightens up in chair, trying to look professional but failing miserably

So first things first - this is definitely the final bonus chapter for this week. My poor little fingers need a break! But don't worry, I've got the entire U.S.J. arc already written and polished. Just let me cook, as the kids say! winks

Pulls legs up onto chair, getting comfy

Now, about future goals... I'm raising the bar to 500 powerstones for the next milestone. ducks behind Stitch plushie I know, I know! But hear me out - this week might have been a fluke! Like when you accidentally make the perfect cup of tea and can never replicate it again? Plus, it gives us all something to strive for, right?

Fidgets with pen

Oh, and I should probably address the shipping questions I've been getting. Look, I love how invested you all are in our little family here, but this isn't a "gotta catch 'em all" romance story. If - and that's a big if - anyone else joins our main cast, it wouldn't be until after the Sports Festival at the earliest. I need to see how characters interact naturally, you know? 

Leans forward, suddenly serious

When I write Izuku and Camie together, there's this... warmth. This fuzzy feeling that makes me smile like an idiot at my screen at 3 AM. That's what I'm looking for. That genuine connection that makes you believe in these characters as real people. Not just throwing people together because they look cute on paper.

Stretches and yawns

Anyway, I should probably get back to writing! These chapters won't edit themselves, and my coffee's getting cold. Keep being awesome, and remember - Plus Ultra!

Pauses, then adds with a mischievous grin

P.S. - The U.S.J. arc is going to be wild. Just saying. 

Waves goodbye while reaching for coffee mug

Oh! And don't forget to vote and comment! Your theories make my day, and sometimes you guys spot things even I didn't notice! Okay, now I'm really going. For real this time.

Have a good day!

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Recovery Girl shuffled in front of our beds, her cane tapping a steady rhythm against the tile floor. My fingers absently picked at my ear - something had been bothering me since the explosion.

"Now then." She adjusted her visor. "Let's discuss your reckless behavior."

"Already got the lecture from Queen." Bakugo slouched against his pillows, shirt open to reveal the bandages wrapping his torso. Similar white strips circled his head, a few blonde spikes poking through.

I mirrored his state of undress, though I sat straighter. The bandages around my ribs pulled with each breath, a constant reminder of our earlier fight.

"Ah yes, Queen." Recovery Girl's lips quirked. "Quite effective, isn't she? But her focus is immediate trauma. Mine is prevention."

My nail caught something in my ear canal. Small and sharp. Was that concrete dust?

"Midoriya." Her cane rapped against my bed frame. "Pay attention."

"Sorry." I flicked whatever I'd found away. "Just some debris from earlier."

"Which brings us to my point." She fixed us each with a stern look. "Your bodies aren't indestructible. My quirk can heal injuries, but it doesn't erase the trauma of receiving them."

Bakugo snorted. "We're training to be heroes. Getting hurt comes with the job."

The cane cracked against his leg with surprising speed.

"Ow! The fuck?"

"Language." She turned back to me. "And you. Four cracked ribs? A dislocated shoulder? What exactly were you thinking?"

I shrugged. "That winning was worth the cost."

Another sharp crack, this time against my leg.

"Wrong answer." She pointed her cane between us. "Both of you seem to think heroics is about who can endure the most damage. It's not. It's about protecting others while minimizing harm - including to yourselves."

"Yeah, yeah." Bakugo rubbed his head. "We'll be more careful."

The cane twitched. He flinched.

"You'll do more than that." Her voice carried steel beneath the grandmotherly tone. "You'll rest. Recover properly. No training for at least three days."

"Three days?" I straightened. "But-"

She silenced me with a look that could have cowed All Might himself. "Would you prefer a week?"

"Three days is fine."

"Thought so." She lowered her cane. "Now, thanks to my quirk, you're both stable enough to return to class. But those bandages stay on until tomorrow morning. Consider them a reminder of your poor choices."

Bakugo muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "sadistic old bat."

The cane whistled through the air. He barely ducked in time.

"Reflexes improving already." She smiled sweetly. "Perhaps you're learning after all."

I caught myself smirking and quickly schooled my expression. But not quickly enough.

"Something amusing, Midoriya?"

"No ma'am." I stood carefully, mindful of the bandages. "Just grateful for your care."

"Hmph." She gestured toward the door. "Get out, both of you. And remember - three days. I'll know if you disobey."

"How would you even-" Bakugo started.

"I have my ways." Her smile turned razor-sharp. "Queen isn't the only one who notices things."

We grabbed our jackets and made for the door, neither willing to test that statement. The hallway offered relative safety, though I could have sworn I heard her chuckling as we left.

"She's definitely evil," Bakugo said once we were out of earshot.

"Probably why she and Queen get along." I buttoned my shirt halfway, leaving enough open to avoid pressure on the bandages. "Think they compare notes on traumatizing students?"

"Over tea and fucking cookies." He matched my state of dress, though his buttons were more haphazard. "Bet they have a point system."

"Queen definitely wins on style points."

"Recovery Girl's got more experience though." He rolled his shoulders. "Plus that cane's basically a weapon."

I touched the spot she'd hit. "Speaking from personal experience?"

"Like you didn't get smacked too, asshole."

"True." I grinned. "But I dodged."

"The fuck you did. I saw her hit you."

"Nah, that was just your concussion talking."

He opened his mouth to argue further, then stopped. His eyes narrowed. "You're fucking with me."

"Am I?"

"You are." He shook his head. "When did you get so goddamn annoying?"

"Probably around the same time you got so easy to annoy."

"I will end you."

"Three days, remember?" I gestured to our matching bandages. "Recovery Girl's orders."

"After that then."

"Sure." I started toward class. "Like I'm not up 3-0 already on your ass."

His indignant spluttering followed me down the hall. For someone who talked so much shit, he really couldn't take it in return.

"THE FUCK YOU MEAN 3-0?"

I glanced back at Bakugo, hands in my pockets. "Three wins? Let's count them out." I raised one finger. "Higher entrance exam score." Another finger joined the first. "Better assessment test results." A third finger rose slowly. "And well... we just finished round three, didn't we?"

Bakugo's face twisted through several emotions before settling on rage. His palms sparked. "Those don't fucking count-"

"Sixty rescue points." The numbers rolled off my tongue. "Plus sixty-eight combat points. That's what, nearly twice your score?"

"The fuck are rescue points?"

I kept walking, letting my silence answer for me. His footsteps echoed behind me, faster now.

"And that rigged assessment test-"

"Rigged?" I stopped at the stairwell door, hand resting on the handle. "Is that what you're telling yourself?"

"You had help. Support gear or some shit-"

"No support gear." I turned to face him fully. "But I get it - must be hard accepting you got outperformed by someone Quirkless."

His teeth ground audibly. "Watch your fucking mouth-"

"Or what? You'll tell me to take a swan dive off the roof?"

Bakugo froze. Something flickered across his face - recognition, maybe. Or memory.

"That was-"

"Middle school. April." My fingers tightened on the door handle. "Right after the career aptitude test."

The sparks died in his palms. For once, Bakugo seemed at a loss for words.

I pushed the door open. "Anyway, three wins. Math's pretty simple, even for you."

"Deku-"

"Don't." The word came out sharp enough to cut. "We're not friends, Bakugo. We're not even rivals. You're just another student I need to surpass to become number one."

The stairwell door closed behind me with a quiet click. I didn't look back to see his expression.

My footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell as I descended. Each step jostled my ribs, but the pain felt distant compared to the old wounds being picked open. Ten months of training hadn't just transformed my body - it had given me perspective on exactly what our "friendship" had been.

The original Izuku might have wanted reconciliation. Might have made excuses for years of abuse, might have still seen the friend from his childhood.

But I remembered that day on the roof. The moment this body's previous owner had looked down and actually considered it. All because the person he'd once called friend had suggested it so casually.

I reached the first floor and pushed through into the main hallway. Classes would be ending soon. Time to focus on things that actually mattered - training, improvement, becoming the kind of hero who protected others instead of tearing them down.

Behind me, a door slammed open. Bakugo's voice echoed off the walls.

"Oi, Deku!"

I kept walking.

"Don't you fucking ignore me!"

My pace didn't change. Let him shout. Let him rage. His words had lost their power over me the moment I'd stopped caring about his approval.

Footsteps thundered closer. A hand reached for my shoulder.

I shifted slightly, letting his grip miss entirely. The momentum carried him forward half a step.

"What?" I asked quietly. "Planning to add assault to your resume?"

His arm dropped. "That's not-" He ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every movement. "Fuck."

"Eloquent as always." I started walking again. "If you'll excuse me-"

"I was wrong."

The words stopped me cold. Not because of what they meant - actions spoke louder than words, after all. But because Katsuki Bakugo admitting error might qualify as a sign of the apocalypse.

I turned just enough to see him in my peripheral vision. "Wrong about what, exactly?"

"You know what." His jaw worked like the words physically pained him. "The roof thing. I shouldn't have-" He exhaled sharply. "It was fucked up."

"It was." I faced him fully now. "But you're not actually sorry, are you? You're just uncomfortable because I brought it up. Because now other people might find out what kind of person you really are."

"That's not-"

"Tell me something, Bakugo." My voice remained steady, almost conversational. "If I had done it - if I had actually jumped - what would you have told people? That you were just joking? That you never thought I'd take it seriously?"

Color drained from his face.

"That's what I thought." I smiled, but there was nothing friendly in it. "Keep your apology. I don't need it, and you don't mean it. Just stay out of my way, and I'll extend the same courtesy."

"When did you get so fucking cold?"

"When did you start caring?"

He had no answer for that. I hadn't expected one.

The bell rang, signaling the end of classes. Soon the halls would fill with students, and this conversation would end one way or another. Bakugo seemed to realize it too, his shoulders tensing as doors began opening down the corridor.

"We're not done here," he growled.

"We were done a long time ago." I turned away as the first students emerged. "You just didn't notice because you were too busy looking down on everyone."

The crowd separated us naturally, flowing between us like a river around stones. I let it carry me toward the classroom, leaving Bakugo standing alone in the middle of the hall.

Some things couldn't be fixed with just words. Some wounds didn't need healing. Sometimes the healthiest thing was to acknowledge the damage and walk away. 

The original Izuku might not have understood that. 

But I did.