Speaking French

Reader pov


I walked into school after eating my steaming bowl of foreshadowing and immediately encountered Bakugo harassing Midoriya. Bakugo told Midoriya to go take a swan-dive off the roof and hope he got a quirk in the next life, and I wasn't having it. A thread shot from my left pointer finger and connected to Bakugo's forehead, then I shortened the string to pull him off his feet. I instantly disconnected the thread and, while Bakugo was distracted, I pulled Midoriya away from him, "Come on, Midoriya, let's go to class!"


He seemed gloomy and even muttered, "But what if I did?"


I stopped, "Did what?"


He looked away, ashamed, "Take a swan-dive off the roof, like Kacchan said I should."


I gave him a gentle smile, "Then I'd catch you, dummy."


His eyes lit up, "Oh yeah, was that thread I saw your quirk!?"


I nodded, "Yeah, I'll tell you all about it on the way to class!"


~~In Class~~


Midoriya occasionally asked me questions about my quirk, which I readily answered, and he seemed to be building a profile on me and my quirk in his notebook. I saw Brittany and her gang walk up to Bakugo and I heard the words 'Midoriya' and 'L/N' being tossed around a lot. Eventually, the trio marched up to Midoriya and I. Brittany took the lead and kicked the leg of my chair out from underneath me, causing me to fall off. As I winced and tried to stand up, she roughly grabbed my hand and called to the teacher, "Everything's okay, L/N just fell off her chair!"


Suddenly, something similar to an electric current jolted through my arm and I instinctively pulled away, "Zut!" (Damn!)


I blinked a few times as Brittany smirked and got really close to my face, her humongous nose almost poking mine, "People with a villain's quirk shouldn't be making friends, y'know. Although, I don't know if that quirkless runt could even be considered a friend at all."


I gritted my teeth, "Laisse-moi tranquille!" (Leave me alone!)


Brittany laughed in a high pitch, but it honestly sounded more like a witch's cackle, "What's this? Cat got your tongue, L/n?!"


I resolved not to speak at all until Brittany's quirk wore off, then shook my head. I went to write a note to Midoriya, but instead of kanji, French flowed from my pen, 'Elle a utilisé son alter sur moi.' (She used her quirk on me.)


Brittany laughed as she walked away and tears threatened to pour down my cheeks. I roughly packed my books into my bag, slung it over one shoulder, and stormed out. I quickly made my way to the office, where I signed out with a tablet, then tried to text Hawks, but again, only French came out. Eventually, I sighed and just sent him a message in French, 'Pouvez-vous venir me chercher?' (Can you come and get me?)


His response was delayed, most likely by the fact he'd had to translate it online, 'I'll be there in 10 minutes. Are you okay?'


I couldn't tell him. I just needed a day off to calm myself down, that's all! I'd go back to school tomorrow with a way to do my work and I'd be fine! I quickly replied, 'Oui.' (Yes.)


~~10 Minutes Later~~


When he pulled up in his car, he quickly asked me all sorts of questions. I tried to answer them as best I could with nods and head-shakes, and when he realized I wasn't answering verbally, he pulled over. He turned in the front seat to get a better look at me and clearly noticed my puffy red eyes, "Is there a reason you're not talking?"


I nodded and Hawks got a semi-frightened look on his face, "Was it something I did?"


I shook my head with a wobbly smile and he sighed in relief, "That's good, at least. Do you wanna tell me what's wrong?"


I shook my head again and he clicked his tongue, "I know, let's go eat at F/R! That'll cheer you up, right?"


I wanted so badly to say 'You don't have to,' and I tried to convey that to him with my eyes. He grinned and ran his hand through his hair, "It's the least I can do!" 


~~One F/F Later~~


Once we were back at his apartment, I immediately retreated into my room. I heard Hawks gently knock a few seconds after I closed the door, but he didn't try to open the door. Instead, he called through the door, "I've got some work I need to do on the computer, just call if you need anything."


Little did I know what he was truly up to.


~~The Next Day~~


I sat down in my usual seat next to Midoriya but didn't talk to him. Brittany bumped me as she walked past and I felt a small tingle. Filled with hope, I carefully tried to say something, "Funktioniert meine Stimme jetzt?" (Does my voice work now?)


Great. Now I was spouting German.


Since I hadn't been able to come up with any way to contribute to the class without revealing what Brittany had done, I had, through a complex wordless conversation with Hawks, gotten him to write me a note this morning to excuse me from speaking and writing for the day. He hadn't looked too concerned for me while doing so, almost as if he knew about my predicament. I dismissed it as him calming down overnight and began idly glancing around class, already bored.


~~End Of School~~


Brittany made a point of bumping into me again, then running over to suck up to Bakugo. Curious as to which language I could speak now, I tested a phrase, "Kakoy yazyk seychas?"  (What language now?)


Looks like I'm speaking Russian until Brittany messes with me again. Fan-friggin-tastic.


~~1 Month Later~~


On and off for the last month, Brittany had been messing with me. I'd barely gotten any work done during that time because 3 out of 5 days a week, I couldn't speak or write Japanese. Today, I'd finally had enough. She'd driven a deep wedge between me and Midoriya, or rather, she made me unable to communicate with him to drive us apart. I doubted he'd talk to me again even if I regained my Japanese, damn that ̶B̶̶̶i̶̶̶t̶̶̶c̶̶̶h̶̶̶a̶̶̶n̶̶̶y̶̶̶ Brittany!


After a particularly rough Friday, I steeled myself and walked up to Hawks, then passed him a note in Ukrainian. It simply read 'Dopomozhy menu!' (Help me!)


He nodded with a small, sad smile, then enveloped me in a bear-hug, "Don't worry, my nugget, I'll fix this."


***I just wanna thank y'all for over 80 reads and a special thanks to @alphawolf1423 who is the first person to follow me who I don't know irl!***

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