Chapter Text
“What a nightmare.” Izuku murmured to himself as he walked out of the school building.
He had spent the rest of the day moping about that horribly embarrassing first impression on his classmates.
Everyone kept glancing at him, and then at Aizawa-sensei, and then back, for the rest of the day.
He groaned, burying his face in his hands. He knew hero school was going to be a nightmare.
Something touched his shoulder, he froze.
He then remembered he needed to fix his fight or flight response. So, with an insane amount of will power and concentration, he jumped back. Hands flailing around, and he pinched his eyes shut.
Perfect.
He now had a definitely permanent fight response!
“Good job izuku.” His father praised him.
He knew his father would be extremely proud of him at that moment. It wasn't easy to change such a natural response. And definitely not so quickly either!
“Midoriya.” Cold, precise. It sent a chill of discomfort comfort through Izuku's spine.
He knew that voice, it was the same one that promised social isolation at the entrance exams.
The one that he liked, with the glasses.
Forcing his heart to calm down, he lowered his arms. Izuku looked at the man-boy through narrowed eyes. Keeping his posture stiff, he let his gaze sweep over his form before asking, “what do you want?”
The blue haired boy straightened. His glasses reflected the sunrays, casting a bright, eye straining light in all directions. If Izuku didn't know the boy for what he was, he might have mistaken him for a deity.
“Are you alright?” Blue guy's voice dropped a few decibels lighter. Despite his uptight, loud demeanor, he seemed to have a sense for indoor voices.
“I uh, yeah.” to say izuku was surprised would be an understatement.
Izuku knew many people like the blue guy. Rich, superior, harboring connections. And none of them ever showed any concern for others. Unlike the much superior villains.
Which only made this interaction even stranger. It reminded Izuku of his mother, oddly enough.
Blue guy was training to be a hero.
Heroes didn't ask about villains well being.
“Why do you ask?” Izuku forced his arms down. look relaxed, get him to let his guard down. The ghost of his father whispered in his ear.
The boy deflated just slightly, his shoulders releasing a miniscule amount of tension.
He looked down at Izuku, and for the first time, Izuku was able to make out his eyes. They were a purplish blue, and were a very similar shade to his hair. Like the rest of his being, his eyes too were stern and sturdy. But his eyebrows pinched just slightly, and Izuku noticed he looked troubled.
“I merely wanted to insure you were alright after your… expulsion." he sounded unsure.
“Izuku.” His father looked down at him, expression as static as it always was around company. “Look into Mr. Kamja's eyes.”
Izuku did. Said man startled, his whole body flinching back. Otosan chuckled.
“Tell me, Izuku, what do you see?”
It was the same look he saw in his blue classmates eyes now.
Izuku's father had called it ‘guilt.’ He had told Izuku what it meant before sending Izuku away so he could ‘dispose’ of the man.
He still couldn't forget the follow up emotion that had flashed in the man's eyes. At the time he was stupid and small, and didn't have the words to describe what it meant.
“Oh.” He dismissed the thought. “I uh im-im fine– er…”
He shrunk in on himself, suddenly feeling a little bit embarrassed.
Izuku still didn't know his name.
They stared at each other for a solid minute before something seemed to click in the other's mind.
Izuku watched in real time as the deceitful expression melted away, and gave birth to soul crushing shame. Then, resolve.
His new classmate straightened even further. His eyes once again concealed by the overwhelming rays of the sun.
“I haven't introduced myself?” He turned his head away, he pushed his glasses up. “How shameful.” And true to his word, he looked deeply ashamed.
“UA is the best of the best, a true privilege to be here. And I can't even behave with basic edicat.” He looked down. His hands chopped through the air for emphasis.
He bowed at the waist. “My deepest apologies, Midoriya-san.” He straightened back up. “I am Iida Tenya.”
So formal.
Izuku suddenly felt more uncomfortable than he thought he'd ever felt before in his life.
Iida was weird. He was a hero, he was deceitful.
Yet in that moment his eyes reflected nothing but sincerity. Something twisted and then settled in between Izuku's ribs.
“Nice to meet you Iida-san.”
Iida bowed his head, and Izuku awkwardly copied the movement.
“its a pleasure to meet you too, Midoriya-san.”
Iida lifted his head, locking eyes with izuku and they both stared at each other awkwardly (izuku thought so anyways) for a minute.
“...”
Neither spoke.
Neither moved.
A small twitch of the hand, the other let out an awkward cough.
One blinked, the other refused. Sweat drops formed and slowly slid down both faces.
“I-Im going to head home now… Iida-san…”
Iida's hands twitched at his sides, along with his lower jaw. He looked like he wanted to say something. “Right. Of course.” he said instead, stiff as a robot reading off of a script.
“Hey! Wait up you two!” A voice called out right as Izuku finally turned to leave.
It was Uraraka-san. She ran towards them, with the kind of smile Izuku only ever saw in movies.
“Um, Midoriya, right?” She tilted her head to the side.
She looked at him for a long moment.
Izuku realized she was waiting for a response, He nodded sharply.
She giggled, “it suites you.” She gestured at his head, “because of the hair and stuff, you know?”
Embarrassment shot through Izuku, because of his hair… he wanted to die. He had never even thought about it.
She then turned to Iida-san, “you're uh, Iida, Right?” she asked with significantly less confidence than she had with Izuku.
The boy straightened, “yes, that is correct.” Then, bowing at the waist he added; “Iida Tenya, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
She laughed, “well im Ochako Uraraka! Nice to properly meet you Iida.”
They both laughed.
Izuku couldn't understand why. Nothing they had said was even remotely funny. It was weird and awkward if anything.
“What a crazy first day huh?” Uraraka-san chirped.
Iida nodded stiffly, "I agree.”
“This is just a taste of the challenges a prestigious school like UA has to offer.” He smiled, looking proud.
Bile crawled up Izuku's throat at the reminder.
Uraraka-san's eyes crinkled, she looked slightly sheepish as she agreed halfheartedly.
“It was a little extreme though, don't you think?” she rubbed the back of her neck.
Izuku couldn't help but agree. The way Principal-Nedzu kept appearing in his life at the most inconvenient times, dangling escape over his head like a carrot, just to rip it away at the last second.
If anything extreme was an understatement. He would refer to it as more sadistic than anything.
“Nonsense.”
Ah, right. Iida-san.
“UA is the best if the best for a reason. They hold themselves and the students to the highest of standards. I would expect nothing less.”
Iida-san looked very proud in that moment.
It stirred something unpleasant inside Izuku's guts. Something he gripped with both hands and clung to.
This. This was why he was here. He was suddenly reminded.
‘Character building.’ It was something he had almost forgotten about in his panic. A key mission he couldn't fail at.
“I mean, yeah, you're probably right… but it's a little harsh. You know? To expe–” she went beat red.
“To uh, do tests like that on the first day?” She looked like she might explode. Something Izuku himself wasn't unfamiliar with.
“Im so sorry.” She stated, directed at him. She covered her face slightly, and looked deeply ashamed.
She was nice.
She was nice.
Suddenly it clicked.
Horror clawed its way through his body, one nerve at a time.
She was so nice. And he hadn't done a thing about it. He had let her. He had been indifferent to it.
His tragic backstory was slipping away, he could feel it.
The headlines flashed through his mind, ‘Villain Deku: completely average upbringing…’
‘Does privilege make someone evil?...’
‘Villain all for one makes a statement: privileged son is a disappointment to the midoriya bloodline….’
He wanted to cry. He could already picture it in his mind, his father leaving him. Kacchan breaking up their archenemessis dynamic.
And suddenly he was floating away. Drifting away from the life he tried so desperately to hold onto.
He couldn't do this.
___
“A D.E.I?” Shouta asked, careful to keep his composure.
Nedzu nodded.
He stared at Nedzu for a long moment. He could already taste the enormous cup of coffee he was going to need after this conversation.
“You seriously expect me to believe that?” he drawled, not holding back the annoyed bite to his voice.
He was already so sick of this conversation.
Nedzu smiled. “Nothing fools you, I suppose Aizawa-san.” He shook his head fondly, pulling out a steaming tea kettle.
“Tea?” He offered.
Shouta grunted his denial. He didn't have time for tea, he wanted to get through this conversation as quickly as possible.
“You're sure? I ordered a new brand of bilberry tea, you might like it.” He poured the boiling water into two cups anyway, and added the tea bags.
Shouta liked bilberry tea. Nedzu was the one who introduced it to him, but he didn't usually have any in storage.
Shouta sighed, “did you really expect an absurd lie like that to work on anyone?” He asked. Although he knew the answer, if the tea was anything to go off of.
Nedzu hummed, sliding a steaming tea cup across the table, placing it directly in front of Shouta.
Shouta looked into the deep purple liquid as it sloshed around for a brief second before returning his gaze to the rodent.
“i only needed it to work for a week or so.” Nedzu sipped his tea. “Until I could be sure, that is.”
“Sure of what?”
Nedzu took a long drink, before setting the empty cup down. It clicked against the metal. He reached for the kettle and began pouring himself another cup.
“Midoriya-san is the son of a villain.” He dipped the tea bag into the cup, and withdrew before repeating.
Shouta's heart dropped. He stared at the rat with wide eyes.
The son of a villain.
His brain throbbed inside his skull, sending short spasms of tight horror through his head.
Why would the son of a villain be–
Then it clicked.
“He didn't pass the entrance exam.”
His heart swooped and covered his insides in thick, sticky anger.
“No.” Nedzu added some cream to his tea.
Shouta was taken aback, stunned by the confession for a brief moment. They had policies for a reason.
Then suddenly he was standing up and slamming his hands onto the desk.
A cold, deep rage simmered within.
Why in the world would Nedzu allow someone into UA without passing the exams?
Why would Nedzu cheat his own systems, pull illegal strings to get the son of a villain into the most prestigious hero school in the country?
“Why the hell?” He murmured between clenched teeth. “You'll put all of the students in danger.” He seethed, vision going red.
How could someone like Nedzu be so careless?
“Calm yourself Aizawa-san.” Nedzu held his tea cup with both hands. He gently blew on the steam, and closed his eyes.
Shouta felt his rage double.
“The students are perfectly safe.” Nedzu's eyes opened and locked onto his own.
Shouta felt the weight of his hair leave his shoulders.
He could see the slight clench of Nedzu's paws, the tight pinch of his eyebrow bones.
Nedzu didn't like when Shouta used his quirk on him.
“why would you say that?”
Shouta forced his racing heart to still, or tried to ar least. The best he could do was pull on a blank mask of indifference and play pretend. He forced his eyes shut and his hair to lie flat against his shoulders.
He wouldn't get anywhere if he let his anger consume him. Especially if it upset Nedzu.
“They'll be targeted.” he looked straight in the rat's eyes.
He was met by the familiar, ‘all knowing’ look that promised mental dissection and possibly pain.
He seemed more relaxed at least.
“i have it all handled.”
Shouta scoffed lightly, under his breath.
Nedzu smiled at him, “sit down, Aizawa-san.”
He didn't.
He'd already expelled most of his aggression, he didn't see a need to expel all of it. (Ah, expel. His favorite word.)
“I will explain it once you are seated.”
His hand twitched.
He should listen to Nedzu-san.
Nedzu was a very logical, straight forward kind of creature. Much like himself. And logically if Nedzu says he has everything under control, he should believe him.
But somehow he doesn't.
Something about that particular display at the training court, and the course of this conversation lead him to want to question Nedzu's logic. Has he lost it completely?
Still, he chooses his faith over his inhibitions, and sits.
“Good.” The principal praises him like a pet.
“Believe me Aizawa-san, I'm quite aware of the risks.”
Shouta knows that. There are very few times when Nedzu doesn't have all of the facts laid out, and more often than not, several ways to counter them.
“Midoriya-san hasn't been in contact with his father for six years.” Nedzu paused ror a brief moment. “And from what I've gathered he hasn't been in contact with any other villains, nor does he have a criminal record.”
“You can't know that.” It's a stupid statement, of course he can, he's Nedzu.
“True. But I'm willing to take that risk.” Nedzu closed his eyes and took a long sip of his tea.
Its a stupid thing to gamble all of your students on.
“A dear friend of mine asked for help.”
Nedzu spoke with that flat, soft, monotone voice. It was clear he would not elaborate, and this was as far as Shouta would get.
So instead, Shouta sighed. He leaned back in his chair, letting the last bits of the tension drop from his figure.
“Fine.” There was still a bite to his voice, but less. Internally he was seething even more.
Shouta got up and made for the door, leaving his tea untouched.
Nedzu wouldn't let up on this. It was frustrating, but there was nothing Shouta could do except try to protect his students.