Chapter Text
The days leading up to the first day of school were a whirlwind for Midoriya.
That evening after receiving his acceptance letter, he ran to his mother with tears in his eyes and a skip to his step. Inko immediately called both Mitsuki and Masaru, and they had an impromptu lunch celebration at Midoriya’s favourite restaurant the following day. As for Bakugou, he decided to head over to UA to, “double check where everything was,” and “make sure we don’t get lost on the first day.”
Midoriya knew why he actually decided to leave, but bringing it up would be pointless.
As for school prep, he already had a ton of school supplies, but this was a school for heroes, and a school for heroes meant a hero costume.
He found his mom looking at the prototype sketches he left on the kitchen table one morning, smiling to herself as she looked at the different ideas he and Bakugou had come up with.
“I was thinking of maybe making you one myself, but this all seems so technical that I’m not so sure,” she says as he approached, specifically pointing out the large gauntlets.
Midoriya felt his heart warm hearing that. He felt slightly guilty about all the time he and Bakugou spent making it, not even asking his mom anything about it.
“But then again,” she said. “Maybe a costume made out of fabric from a store down the street might not protect you so well.”
“How about this,” Midoriya says, pulling out two sketches in particular. “You make the final call. Which one should we- I send to UA.”
“If she picks the left one so help me God I will-“ Bakugou began.
“This one!” Inko says, pointing at the one on the right. “The colour scheme is better. Plus, the other one looks like you’ll be wearing a sleeveless hoodie and sweatpants with cones on your hand.”
“YES!” Bakugou cheered. “Told you the right one looks more badass.”
“Thanks mom!” Midoriya says, ignoring Bakugou completely. “I just feel like it’s missing something.”
Inko examines the sketch closely, her eyes scanning every detail before stopping at the top. “You’re right… but go ahead and submit this. I’ll deal with it.”
“What?” Midoriya asked, but Inko was already heading out of the room.
Midoriya looked at the drawing, tapping his foot slowly. “Do you think I should change anything?”
“Do not,” Bakugou says sternly. “I can’t change out of this T-shirt and shorts. Let me have this.”
“Okay, okay.” Midoriya puts his hands up in a mock surrender. “Let’s go scan and email it.”
Another unexpected bit of chaos in his life was the existence of Uraraka.
It stunned him that she asked for his phone number on the day of the exam. It was a gesture he was so not used to, and it made him so anxious that he didn’t text her first, instead of waiting for her to make the first move in the friendship. He didn’t think she would reach out to him, and she didn’t at first. He later found out that she was too nervous to as well, but the final push for her was when she got her acceptance letter as well.
His phone blew up with excited messages, asking him if he got in too. He happily replied to her, and the two decided to go out for ice cream to celebrate.
Once again, Bakugou felt the need to check out UA, this time to see their gyms and training areas.
He didn’t expect for him and Uraraka to become such fast friends. Maybe it was the fact that they were the only people they knew going to UA, or maybe it was the fact that they were both incredibly awkward. Whatever the case may be, Midoriya had never felt like this before.
He and Bakugou were friends since they were in diapers, but meeting someone on his own and actually becoming friends? That was exhilarating.
“You sure you have everything?”
“I’m sure, mom.”
“Extra tissues?”
“Yes.”
“Student ID?”
“In my wallet.”
Inko pulled her son into a crushing hug. “Have a good day today, okay? I don’t want to find out from Uraraka if something went wrong.”
“It’s just the first day. Nothing crazy is going to happen,” Midoriya replies, laughing softly. “Second day however…”
“Don’t joke like that, Izuku,” she said sternly, before bursting into laughter. “Have fun filling up your notebook. You’ll have 19 other quirks to look forward to seeing. Well, 18, since you have Uraraka already.”
“I’ll tell you all about them. See you later!” Midoriya said as he headed out.
“Be safe!” Inko replies.
Now outside, Midoriya turned to look at Bakugou. “Ready, partner?”
“You’re cheesy,” Bakugou replies. “Hurry up before Round Face thinks you ditched her.”
“Her name is Uraraka.”
“What’s she going to do? Get mad at me?”
Midoriya sighed. “Are you going to be like this with everyone in the class?”
“Better keep a list in the notebook.”
The two chatted until they got closer to the station. They spotted Uraraka waving at Midoriya and the two exchanged a quick greeting before getting on the train.
“What do you think we’re going to do today?” Uraraka asked. “I’m hoping to get a tour of the place. UA is so big, I don’t even think we’ll be able to find our class.”
Midoriya glances at Bakugou, who was floating near the ceiling to avoid people walking through him. “I’ve got a good sense of direction. Hopefully we can find the class quickly.”
The rest of the trip went by quickly as the two chatted. Finally, the two stopped their conversation to look up at the giant building in front of them.
“Try not to trip this time?” Uraraka teases.
Midoriya ignores Bakugou’s snickers behind him. “I’ll do my best.”
Bakugou moves ahead of the two as he guides them towards 1-A.
“You were right!” Uraraka says as they stop in front of the classroom door. “I should have you come with me to the mall or something. I always get lost there.”
She takes a step forward and opens the huge door, Midoriya and Bakugou following close behind.
“YOU THERE!”
“Oh not this bitch,” Bakugou muttered.
Standing in front of them was the boy from the exam, who looking directly at Midoriya.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you I don’t know what came over me,” Midoriya hurriedly said. Uraraka looked between the two, confused.
“I actually wish to apologize,” the boy said, surprising both Midoriya and Bakugou. “It was wrong of me to assume you had poor intentions, and I do not blame you for being upset with me.”
“Ha!” Bakugou says.
“I also must commend you for discovering the true nature of the exam!” he continues.
“Oh no, no, no!” Midoriya hurriedly says. “I didn’t realize there were rescue points when I took down the zero pointer.”
“You took down the zero pointer?” a girl with pink skin exclaims. “That’s crazy!”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from the guy who got in first place for the exam,” Uraraka adds.
All eyes were on Midoriya now, and he wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor and disappear.
“You’re not Eraserhead. Stop looking like you want to die and say something!” Bakugou hisses.
“Uhh, what’s your name by the way?” Midoriya asks the boy.
“That’s not what I meant,” Bakugou says.
“I am Iida Tenya from Somei Academy,” Iida says proudly. “And you are?”
“Midoriya Izuku.”
“And I’m Uraraka Ochako!” Uraraka adds.
“If you’re only here to socialize, then I suggest you leave,” a voice from behind says.
Everyone in the class turned to the door, where a large yellow lump was inching its way to the front of the room.
Uraraka sat at the closest desk to her in a rush, which unfortunately meant that Midoriya had to sit somewhere else since there were no other available seats. He quickly sat down near the window, noticing the empty seat in front of him.
Bakugou drifts away from Midoriya’s side to sit at the desk. He felt a pang in his chest as he looked at his friend’s childlike, translucent form hovering over the seat as he tried to sit down.
“That’s his spot,” Midoriya thought to himself. “He should be here with me.”
He looked back up to the front of the class, where the yellow lump shed it’s exterior and revealed a familiar, disheveled looking man. Midoriya immediately recognized him from Bakugou’s descriptions from his late night walks.
“My name is Aizawa Shouta, and I will be your homeroom teacher,” he says, surprising everyone else. Aizawa held up a blue outfit and continued. “Come up and get a gym uniform. Head to the change rooms and meet me at the grounds.”
“Wait, we’re missing someone,” a blond boy says, pointing at the desk that Bakugou claimed.
“Currently, you will be a class of 19. A student had to pull out last minute due to extenuating circumstances.”
Everyone got up and took a uniform and exited the classroom. Midoriya began to follow Bakugou to the change rooms, but paused when he did not hear any footsteps behind him. He turned around to see everyone in the class staring at him.
“Do you know where you’re going?” The redhead asks.
“Uhh… yes,” Midoriya simply replies.
“Works for me,” Uraraka says, moving to the front of the crowd and following Midoriya. He continued to follow Bakugou, now realizing that everyone in the class was following him.
Once everyone was changed, they continued to follow Midoriya, who was following Bakugou, outside to where Aizawa was.
“You will all be doing a Quirk Apprehension Test,” Aizawa announces.
“What about the entrance ceremony?” Uraraka asks.
“If you truly want to be heroes, then we don’t have time to waste,” Aizawa said. He looks at each student before his eyes land on Uraraka. “How far was your throw in middle school?”
“62 metres,” she replies.
“Now do it with your quirk.”
Uraraka steps into the circle and accepts the ball Aizawa hands her. She lets all her fingers touch the ball before letting go, watching it float into space.
The machine in Aizawa’s hand beeps, and an infinity sign appears on the screen. “The first step to becoming a hero is to know what our limits are.”
The class whisper to each other excitedly, talking about how much fun it will be, which draws Aizawa’s attention.
“Fun?” he asks. “How about this then. Whoever places last will be judged hopeless and expelled from UA.”
“Can you even do that?” someone asks.
“Hero schools allow the staff to be more flexible with their teaching style,” Aizawa replies. There is a manic look in his eyes as everyone nervously whispered to each other.
Midoriya looks to Bakugou, who is grinning back at him.
He has never been so thankful to have him as a drill sergeant the past few years.
As everyone walked ahead, Midoriya hung back and activated his quirk. He set off a few test explosives before catching up to Uraraka.
He sees Iida look back at them for a moment, doing a double take when he looks at Midoriya.
“I have to ask,” he says, falling back to catch up to them. “I thought your eyes were red for a moment during the exams, but then I saw they were green, and now they’re red again. Does it have to do with your quirk?”
“Uhh, yeah,” Midoriya says. “It turns red when it’s activated.”
“You have to activate it?” Uraraka asks.
“It’s complicated. Just know if my eyes are red, I can use my explosions.”
Midoriya was relieved to see them nod and accept his answer. It was bad enough thinking of a long and convoluted description to give to UA and the Quirk Registry Office. He wasn’t in the mood to explain that he has a trauma quirk to his classmates.
They arrived as a short track and Aizawa began to call names.
“Ready to get first place?” Bakugou asks him.
Midoriya quickly nods and mutters. “Ready.”
Turns out first place was both easier and harder than they thought.
Spending countless years training a physical quirk allowed Midoriya to get the one up almost all his classmates. Keyword being “almost.”
Two students, who he learned was named Yaoyorozu Momo and Todoroki Shouto, seemed to always be one step ahead of him, much to Bakugou’s displeasure.
They were finally back to the ball throw, and while Midoriya was confident that no one could beat Uraraka’s infinity, he hoped for an overkill shot to get second place at least.
“I’ll call it,” Bakugou says as Midoriya winds up the throw. “Three, two o-”
Midoriya’s blood ran cold as he let go of the ball, no explosion in sight and even worse, no Bakugou in his head.
He felt like a part of his own being was ripped away. He instinctively grabbed his head, not knowing what he was gaining from it, but it didn’t matter. Right now, Bakugou was gone and he felt like how he felt nearly ten years ago when he showed up to school for the first time in days and spotted the empty chair next to him.
He looked down at his shaking hands and up towards his class, his eyes wide and frantic. In front of him stood Aizawa, who’s quirk was activated and was looking at Midoriya with a flat expression.
“I erased your quirk because-” He cut himself off as he fully examined Midoriya’s state. He blinked, and Midoriya fell to his knees as he could finally breathe again. In front of him stood Bakugou, who was harshly whispering to him.
“Don’t freak out now, not in front of everyone. Just pull it together until he dismisses everyone and you can head to the bathroom.”
With the help of Aizawa, Midoriya stood back up, noticing his classmate’s concerned looks. Aizawa looked at him, now with a guilty expression.
“Sorry about that. At least now I know that erasing your quirk affects you physically.”
“It’s okay, you didn’t know,” Midoriya says. “What were you saying?”
“I was going to say that you were planning on doing what you did during your exam, weren’t you?” Aizawa says. “Overdoing it with your quirk like that will cause nothing but inconveniences for those around you, not to mention you probably had to heal your hands days after the incident.”
Midoriya nodded, feeling guilty about his plan. Aizawa tossed him a new ball and nodded at him. “You have one more shot. Make sure no one needs to rescue you after it.”
Midoriya looked to Bakugou, who looked a little paler than the average ghost, and activated his quirk. He heard whispers others as his body glowed. Getting into position once more, he quickly muttered under his breath.
“I’ve got it.” He winded up the throw and with a loud boom, watched it fly away. He looked over at Aizawa, and was overjoyed to see “705.2m” on the screen.
“Last person. Yaoyorozu, you’re up,” Midoriya hears as he walks out of the circle.
“Are you okay?” Uraraka whispers to him. “It looked like you were dying or something.”
“Fucking felt like it,” Bakugou muttered. Midoriya began to cough before Bakugou started to shout. “Not like that! It was an expression, dumbass!”
“I’m fine,” Midoriya says, patting Iida’s hand that was resting on his shoulder. They shift their focus to Yaoyorozu, who was anxiously looking at the ball in her hand. He watches her take a deep breath before her arm begins to crackle with what looked like red lightning.
“I thought she could only create stuff,” Uraraka whispers.
Just as Yaoyorozu is about to throw the ball, the red lightning disappears, and the ball only makes it a few feet away.
“Funny enough, you and Midoriya seem to have a lot in common,” Aizawa says. The class looks over to their teacher, who was using his quirk on her, just like he did with Midoriya.
“What?” she asks, looking nervously at her teacher.
“I was watching the recommended student exams, which means I saw you break both your legs leaping to push one of the examinees out of the way of falling debris.”
“Wow,” one of the girls, Jirou, whispered.
“Huh…” Midoriya hears Bakugou say.
“Think about what I said to Midoriya before you throw the ball,” Aizawa says.
Yaoyorozu picks up the ball and walks back into the circles. She stares at it for a moment before getting back into position. Just like before, lightning crackles as she throws the ball, a loud crack reaching everyone’s ears.
She turns to look at Aizawa, holding up her hand which had one broken finger. Midoriya noticed her suppressing a proud smile. “I don’t think this would be an inconvenience for others, Sensei.”
705.3m lit up on the screen as she walked towards her classmates.
As Aizawa calculated everyone’s ranking, Midoriya felt Bakugou leave him as he went to hover by Yaoyorozu, looking her up and down.
Midoriya raised an eyebrow at Bakugou as he returned.
“Ask her about her quirk,” he says.
Midoriya continues to give him a questioning look.
“She can create stuff, yet is hiding some serious muscles under those sleeves. Find out how creation and super strength are related,” Bakugou clarifies.
Midoriya, still confused on how invested Bakugou was with this girl, shrugs and approaches her. Who was he to pass up an opportunity to learn about a new quirk.
“Yaoyorozu?” Midoriya asks.
She turns and gives him a small smile. “Midoriya, correct? Is there something you need?”
“I wanted to ask about your quirk. Creating things and super strength seem to be an interesting combination.”
“Oh!” Yaoyorozu says. “Well I can use the lipids in my body to create different things if I know the composition of it. As for the super strength, I actually discovered quite recently that I can, I guess you can say ‘convert’ the lipids into strength and speed.”
“That’s amazing!” Midoriya gasps. Before he could begin to question every aspect of her quirk, Aizawa calls everyone over.
“Here are your rankings,” he announces, projecting the results.
Midoriya couldn’t hold back a smile as he saw himself in third place, and he hears a sigh of relief next to him as Yaoyorozu finds herself in first.
“Not bad for a first day,” Bakugou mutters. “We can do better, though.”
“Now as for the expulsion,” Aizawa begins, and Midoriya’s eyes land on Mineta, the last place student. “I wasn’t going to actually expel anyone. It was just a logical ruse to get you all to do your best.”
The class burst into indignant shouts at Aizawa’s reveal.
“Thought it was obvious,” Bakugou says.
“I thought everyone knew that…” Yaoyorozu whispers.
“But,” Aizawa continues, silencing everyone. “Your best can only go so far if you don’t have the attitude to prove it. Mineta, go pack up.”
“Wait, what?” Mineta screeches. “What did I do?”
“The day isn’t even up, but I’ve already received complaints about your unsavoury actions. Go on now. The rest of you, I’ll meet you back in the classroom. Yaoyorozu, head over to Recovery Girl’s office.”
As the class slowly makes their way back inside, Bakugou begins to drift away, following Aizawa instead.
“I’ll be back in a second. Just want to check something.”
Midoriya gives him a subtle thumbs up and heads back to class, chatting with Iida and Uraraka the whole walk.
Bakugou could clearly remember the day this informal investigation of his into All Might started.
While Midoriya, Inko, and his parents went out for lunch in celebration of his admittance into UA the day after he received the letter, he decided to head to the school himself, telling himself that it was for practical reasons, not avoidance.
He didn’t mean to stick around once he saw the staff room, but he was transfixed as he watched All Might walk into the room, and only snapped out of his daze when the man burst into a puff of smoke and turned into a walking skeleton.
He looked around, expecting everyone to scream but instead, the rest of the staff continued on as if nothing happened. The only person who gave any sort of reaction was Present Mic.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” he says with a small laugh.
“Five years and I’m still adjusting,” All Might replies. “Have you split up the classes yet?”
“It just happened, actually,” Midnight says. “Nedzu is going to send out the email soon, but everything is finally in order.”
“Did he end up approving all of the recommended students you all picked?” All Might asks, looking over her shoulder at her computer.
“Yup! Aizawa’s got both of the bone breakers in his class.”
“Technically, Midoriya didn’t break his shoulders,” Aizawa comments. “His explosion dislocated it.”
All Might paused for a moment. “The student has an explosion quirk?”
“Yes.”
“Green hair?”
Aizawa raises an eyebrow at that. “I don’t like where this is going, but yes.”
“Nothing bad,” All Might chuckles. “I met the boy while capturing a villain. He handled himself quite well before I arrived.”
“Izu’s going to freak when he finds out All Might remembers him,” Bakugou says to himself.
“He seems so adorable. I can’t wait to teach him!” Midnight says.
The conversation drifted into some stuff about work that Bakugou didn’t care much for, so he decided now was the time to leave.
He headed back to Midoriya’s house with one thought echoing in his mind.
What the hell was up with All Might?
The second time he saw the hero in that form was when he went on a walk while Midoriya was out with Uraraka. This time, he didn’t go to UA. Instead, he was by Dagobah Beach, and saw the hero walking with a tall girl.
“Yaoyorozu, I promise you, I had no part in your admittance. That was all you,” All Might says to the girl.
“Did you say anything about me? What if they only accepted me because they thought, ‘Well if All Might is intrigued, then we have to accept her,’” Yaoyorozu says worryingly.
All Might lets out a laugh as he put his hand on her shoulder. “Yaoyorozu, you got perfect grades on the written exam, and the only thing that can be considered a mishap was when you broke your legs pushing that boy out of the way. Why would UA not admit you for doing something heroic?”
He playfully pokes her head. “You need to have more faith in yourself.”
Yaoyorozu awkwardly laughs in response. “Anyway, are you prepared for your first year of teaching?”
“So he wasn’t at UA for fun,” Bakugou thought to himself. “He’s actually teaching.”
“I’ve made notes and everything!” All Might says proudly. “I’m also happy I can keep a close eye on your progress.”
“I won’t disappoint you!” Yaoyorozu declares. “Oh, here’s the shop.”
The two stop at an ice cream shop and head inside, leaving Bakugou to continue wandering around now.
So All Might has a weird thing with his transformations, and he seems to have a connection to this girl who got accepted to UA’s hero course. This girl also seems to be fully aware of All Might’s two forms.
Now here Bakugou was, listening to Aizawa explain to All Might about how every student who remained had enough potential to stay in UA.
“What did you think of the first place student?” All Might asks.
“Yaoyorozu? She’s a recommended student, so I’m glad to see she doesn’t disappoint, even if she seems to have a bad bone breaking habit,” Aizawa replies.
“I’m sure she’ll learn,” All Might says, almost defensively.
“That’s why she’s here.” With that, Aizawa walks away, with All Might following close behind, leaving Bakugou alone and pensive.
He wasn’t one to keep secrets, but Bakugou figured he’d get to the bottom of this mystery before telling Midoriya.