Chapter Text
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.
—Winston Churchill
The next day, Class 1-A’s Foundational Heroics class begins with a bang.
Literally.
As in All Might throws the door open with a joyous cry of, “I’M COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”
The majority of the hero class students freak out, of course. The number one hero, teaching their class? It’s like a dream come true! (Izuku and Katsuki share a look when they catch the hero quickly stuffing a Teaching for Dummies book under the desk.)
All Might clears his throat and the room goes silent. “Ahem! As some of you may be aware, I took up a teaching post here at Yuuei starting this year. I will be the one overseeing your heroics class,” he announces. The class explodes into hushed, excited whispers again. “We will be doing combat training today, so get dressed and meet me at Ground Beta!” He turns to the wall and presses a remote. And what comes out of the wall is…
Izuku practically leaps out of his seat, enthusiastically yelling, “Are those our hero costumes?!”
The muscular hero gives an exaggerated thumbs up and a million-watt smile and says, “That’s right!”
There is a split second of silence, then half the class also shoot up out of their chairs, their voices overlapping in a frenzied cacophony of excited shouts. All Might even looks taken aback by the sudden commotion.
He tries to cover up his surprise with a loud cough. “It’s good that you’re displaying so much energy this early in the morning, my young students! As I said earlier, get changed and meet me at Ground Beta for today’s class.” He turns and exits, taking his book with him. As soon as the door slides shut, Class 1-A races over to the lockers, chattering to each other as they pull the costumes out.
Izuku smiles as he goes to the one labeled with his name, thinking back on the various hero costume designs he came up with over the years. With his Quirk, it is true that combat is not his specialty, like it is for Katsuki. Emotion Metamorphosis is a five-point contact type Quirk, which requires him to touch someone with all five fingers in order for it to take effect. It works best if he can contact bare skin, but as long as he has five points of contact, it will work no matter what (unless you’re Eraserhead and can erase it before he can use it). With that in mind though, it has led him to the question of: what kind of hero does he want to become? How should he design his costume based off of that idea? Of course, he has aikido techniques under his belt, but as Aizawa has said, “No good hero is a one-trick pony.” For him to be effective against villains, he needs to be in close contact so he can pull out their negative emotions. But since he can only affect one person at a time, his biggest weakness is fighting against multiple villains at once. Keeping that in mind, his performance in the entrance exam, as well as what his Quirk is capable of, it makes the most sense for him to be…
“Stop standing there muttering to yourself and change into your goddamn costume!” Katsuki smacks him on the back, jolting him from his thoughts.
“Ahaha, sorry, Kacchan,” Izuku chirps, draping his costume over his arm and following his friend to the boys’ changing room.
Afterwards, they assemble at Ground Beta, where All Might is waiting.
“Whoa! Uraraka-san, your costume looks so cool! Yours too, Iida-kun! You modeled it after Ingenium, right? Kacchan, I didn’t realize you would add actual grenade gauntlets to your design!” Izuku gushes over his friends’ costume designs, from Uraraka’s puffy spacesuit to Iida’s shiny armor to Katsuki’s grenade gauntlets.
“You think so? It’s… different than I was expecting,” Uraraka says nervously, patting at the material of her first hero costume.
Iida strikes a pose, chopping the air in front of him with a proud, “Correct! He is my older brother, after all!”
Katsuki grins fiercely, holding one up. “They’re perfect! I can’t wait to test them out!”
Izuku nods vigorously, fists clenched. His own costume isn’t anything flashy compared to everyone else’s. He’s wearing a skintight green jumpsuit with overlapping layers of thin metal plates over his arms and his thighs. It zips up in the front, a cream-colored layer of fabric sewn over his chest and stomach, hiding flexible mesh armor that will protect his most vulnerable internal organs from the majority of bladed weapons. His eyes are covered with a special orange visor that relays statistical information to him in real-time, including thermal imaging, zoom, trajectory mapping, auto-analysis, and other functions (he had a lot of ideas on how to improve his chances in battle, sue him), which is connected to a wireless communication device attached to his left ear. His hands are covered in fingerless padded white gloves with a metal plate over the back, a single circle engraved on each. A set of thick, but lightweight red and black padded boots with all-terrain soles complete the ensemble.
All Might clears his throat to get their attention. “Ahem! Today we will be doing a special combat simulation. I will be splitting you into teams of two and you will fight against another team. One team will be the heroes, the other team will be the villains. The situation is this: the villains have a bomb and are hiding inside a building. The heroes’ goal will be to either capture both villains or to dismantle the bomb within the time limit. You only need to touch the bomb to deactivate it in this scenario. The villains’ goal will be to either defeat the heroes or protect the bomb till the end of the time limit. Each team will get capture tape. If you are captured, you're out! Everyone with me so far?”
“Sounds simple enough,” one of the boys says, lacing his fingers behind his head. Izuku doesn’t quite remember his name (Kaminari?), but the black lightning bolt dyed into his air gives him a distinctive look.
“Great! The teams are randomly decided, to test how well you can work with someone you may not necessarily be familiar with! So, are you ready, you fledgelings?!”
“Yes, sir!” the class chants at him, straightening up.
All Might flashes them another giant grin. “Excellent, that’s what I like to hear. Then without further ado, here are the teams!”
Team A: Ojiro Mashirao & Sero Hanta
Team B: Iida Tenya & Aoyama Yuuga
Team C: Kaminari Denki & Tokoyami Fumikage
Team D: Ashido Mina & Kirishima Eijirou
Team E: Yaoyorozu Momo & Hagakure Tooru
Team F: Jirou Kyouka & Uraraka Ochako
Team G: Shouji Mezo & Koda Koji
Team H: Midoriya Izuku & Bakugou Katsuki
Team I: Todoroki Shouto & Asui Tsuyu
Team J: Satou Rikidou & Mineta Minoru
“Kacchan, we’re on the same team!” Izuku says happily. “I wonder if that was a coincidence?”
“Doesn’t matter, we’ll win no matter what,” Katsuki scoffs dismissively, but the battle-hungry expression on his face shows that he’s itching for a good fight.
“And for our first match, it will be… Team H versus Team I! Team H will be the heroes and Team I will be the villains! The rest of you please head to the observation room, we will be watching the matches. Please carefully observe how your classmates deal with their respective situations. Heroes, you will get five minutes to come up with a plan. Villains, you will have five minutes to secure the bomb. Ready? Start!”
Team H VS Team I
Heroes: Midoriya Izuku & Bakugou Katsuki | Villains: Todoroki Shouto & Asui Tsuyu
“Knowing you, you’d rather charge in and blast them to kingdom come, but don’t forget that we’ll be fighting inside a building, Kacchan. Please don’t bring the roof down on my head.”
“Hah?! You think I’d be that careless?” Katsuki scowls.
Izuku smiles and doesn’t dignify him with a response to that. “Well, since we don’t know their Quirks, I’d say we should proceed with caution. Not that you’d listen to me, right?”
“Damn straight.”
“So I was thinking that you could go ahead and do what you do best, and I’ll do my own scouting behind you. I’m better off going the capture route anyway. If we split up, we can cover more ground. If I had to guess, putting the bomb on the top-most floor makes the most sense since in a real-life situation, climbing up multiple floors not only drains your stamina, but it’s more difficult for the hero to escape if something goes wrong. Not to mention, placing it on the fifth floor would make it more defensible. And if the villain had—”
“Deku, I get it. Shut up already."
“Sorry, Kacchan.”
All Might’s voice comes from the speaker connected to the observation room, “Five minutes are up! Heroes, you may now enter the building.”
The two boys waste no time stepping in.
One.
Two.
Thr—
Izuku doesn't have time to react as a literal sheet of ice blasts through the narrow corridors and freezes him solid. Katsuki blows the ice away from him with a round of intense explosions, keeping himself airborne to avoid having his feet frozen to the floor. Ice continues to rage through the hall, jagged, spiky, and ruthless. It doesn’t stop until it shatters every window and even punches the entrance door clean off its hinges. Then, it solidifies.
It would be beautiful in any other setting.
As it is, Izuku cannot feel his extremities and that is not a good sign.
"K-K-Kacchan, I'm r-really c-c-cold," Izuku says, teeth chattering.
"Your fault you got caught," Katsuki snorts, but he still uses small explosions to chip away the weaker parts of the ice around the green-haired boy. Izuku manages to wiggle free. He massages the stiffest parts of his body to get the blood circulating again.
"T-thanks. That was p-probably from T-Todoroki-kun. Asui-san likely wouldn't be n-near him because she's got some sort of a-amphibian Quirk and her body probably shuts down if it's t-too cold." Izuku rubs his arms, trying to warm himself back up. "Y-you go on ahead, Kacchan. You should deal w-with Todoroki-kun as soon as possible."
Katsuki smirks, jetting down the hallway with a single blast. "You don't need to tell me twice! Don't get caught again, nerd!" He vanishes from sight a moment later, but the loud (and very inconspicuous) popping sounds of his explosions continue to ring out long after he’s gone. Good, at least that means that the other team’s attention will definitely be on him. Izuku would rather take a different route, but well… the ice is kind of blocking every pathway possible. He can only move where Katsuki’s explosions have shattered the ice. Not ideal, but then again, is any hero versus villain situation ever ideal?
Once Izuku reaches the second floor, he finds a shadowy corner to hide and taps his visor to turn on thermal imaging. His visor doesn’t have x-ray vision, unfortunately. Maybe he should look into adding that function. He glances around, but only muted hues greet him. There’s no one here. He proceeds with caution, carefully picking his way around the ice.
The building shakes a bit. Unintelligible shouting comes from faraway. Izuku touches the communication device in his ear that connects him directly to Katsuki. “Did you find them?”
It takes a moment for his friend to reply, “Fuck yeah, I did. Candycane’s being a right bitch though—hey! Bastard, that was a cheap shot! Anyways, Frogface ain’t here. Get her good, Deku!” And there’s a crackle of static before Katsuki switches his comm off in order to focus on his battle with Todoroki.
Typical Kacchan.
Well, at least Izuku was right about Asui not being near Todoroki. In that case though, if Todoroki didn’t want to put his teammate out of commission, there has to be a spot on one of the floors that’s clear of ice. He just has to find it.
He makes it to the third floor (barely, the stairs had been busted up by the ice, but the pieces had miraculously fallen in such a way that he’d been able to hop his way up anyway), and that’s when his thermal imaging picks up a heat signature down the hall to the left. He can’t see anything solid from this distance, but he’d bet good money that’s where Asui is hiding, since the ice from Todoroki’s Quirk doesn’t go down this hall, only past it.
He doesn’t make it five steps down when something long and pink comes flying out from the darkness and snags him around the leg. “Oh shiiiiii—” Izuku manages not to scream too loudly as he’s forcefully yanked off his feet and pulled through the corridor at a dizzying speed. His hip and shoulder drag uncomfortably against the floor, but the metal plates of his costume thankfully protect him from the worst of the damage.
Asui comes into view, sticking to the wall on all fours. She quickly reels Izuku in, capture tape ready to subdue him. But Izuku won’t be going down that easily. Katsuki would be so mad if he didn’t win.
Before she can fling him into the air and wrap him up, he tosses one end of his own capture tape around one of her arms and tugs on it fast enough to detach her from the wall.
“Kero!” she croaks, scrambling to regain her footing as Izuku pinches her tongue hard enough to loosen her grip. He backflips away, fully aware that’s still well within her range. Her tongue is definitely the most dangerous weapon in her arsenal at the moment. He needs to capture it somehow.
Asui leaps to another wall, her large, round eyes observing him as carefully as he observes her.
From that brief skirmish, Izuku can already tell that her flexibility and range are far superior to his, as is her speed. His Quirk is useless in this scenario (not in a real fight though), so he’ll have to rely on his costume gear and his martial arts training. He turns off his thermal imaging because there’s enough light coming through a nearby window that he doesn’t need it to see Asui’s movements. The real struggle will be how he’s going to capture her when she’s out of his range. Hmm…
Another explosion rocks the building from above, sending a few crumbling bits of debris raining down from the ceiling over their heads. Izuku steps away as a piece the size of his palm almost falls on top of him. Damn it, he told Katsuki not to bring the roof down—
Oh.
Wait.
Izuku looks at the chunk of debris, then at Asui. He switches on trajectory mapping, the gears in his mind furiously turning as a new plan begins to take shape. But for this plan to be successful, he needs to make it back to the area with ice in it. Asui is fast, certainly. And turning your back to the enemy is never a good idea.
However, Izuku is also reasonably certain that his reaction time is actually just a tad faster. He stifles the shit-eating grin that threatens to take over his face. Kacchan would be so proud if he saw it.
Asui makes the first move, striking out with her tongue as Izuku moves to pick up the large piece of debris. He dodges, then grabs her tongue as it sails past his torso. The girl lets out a quiet cry as he (gently) yanks on it. He starts to run back down the hallway, one hand clutching the chunk of rock and the other holding tightly to Asui’s tongue. She has no choice but to leap after him. Perfect.
He sidesteps a swipe to the arm, jumps over a leg sweep. The hallway is getting colder, so he knows he’s almost back to the ice. As expected, the closer they get, the more the girl’s movements begin to lag and slow down.
She makes a last attempt to block his exit by leaping in front of him, but Izuku is prepared. He hurls the debris in front of him, using his trajectory-mapping function to carefully calculate the timing so that the chunk crashes into her stomach just as she’s touching down to the floor. Asui chokes and hits the wall hard, her tongue going limp in Izuku’s grip.
The green-haired boy cheers inwardly and runs the last few meters back to the ice, where he wraps her tongue around one of the spikes of ice jutting out of the floor. He takes a few broken bits of ice that are scattered around (Katsuki’s doing, no doubt) and places them around Asui as she struggles to get back to her feet.
The additional chill reduces her movements to a sluggish pace, and Izuku is easily able to wrap her up in his capture tape.
All Might’s voice crackles through one of the building’s speakers, “Asui Tsuyu has been successfully captured! The villain team is now down to one!”
Following that, there’s a glorious yell somewhere from above him, followed by a concussive blast of sound and another building-shaking tremor. More bits of debris rain down on them. Izuku moves both him and Asui out of the way, making sure to detach Asui’s tongue from the ice so that she doesn’t freeze.
Not thirty seconds later, All Might’s voice booms out, “The bomb has been deactivated! The hero team wins!”
Izuku and Katsuki are greeted by thunderous applause and cheering when they return to the observation room, Todoroki and Asui following them. Uraraka bounces up to Izuku, stars in her eyes.
“Midoriya-kun, you were amazing out there! The rest of you, too!” she praises, smiling at them.
“That was a stellar first match!” Iida says loudly. “Although Bakugou’s continually offensive language is unacceptable!”
“Shut it, Shitty Glasses!”
“Ahem!” They quiet down as All Might starts to speak. “Excellent work, my young students. Before we proceed with the next match, can anyone tell me who was the MVP of the first match?”
“Oh! Oh! It has to be Bakugou, right?” the pink girl, Ashido, responds enthusiastically, jumping up and down. “He managed to break through Todoroki’s ice like it was nothing!”
“And he managed to create a path upwards for his teammate while doing so,” the boy with a bird-like head, Tokoyami, continues.
“I think Midoriya’s performance was good, too. He was able to outsmart Asui-san in the moment and secure the first victory.”
“Todoroki’s ice wave looked crazy just watching it on-screen! I can’t believe you guys won against that.”
All Might claps his hands together. “Indeed, young Bakugou is the MVP of the first match. You not only aided your teammate in combating against your opponent’s Quirk, you created a path that he could follow, and you willingly took on the stronger opponent and trusted your teammate to be able to win against his own opponent. Congratulations on your victory, Team H!”
Another round of applause. The four students find seats to sit down and rest while All Might announces the next match.
“Next up, Team F versus Team D! Team F is the hero team and Team D is the villain team. As with the previous round, each team will get five minutes to strategize. Show me how Plus Ultra you can be!”
“Ooh, I’m up now! Wish me luck!” Uraraka says, tapping her fingers together nervously.
“You can do it, Uraraka-san! Good luck to all of you!” Izuku cheers.
Combat Training Results:
Team H v. Team I | Victory: Team H | MVP: Bakugou Katsuki
Team F v. Team D | Victory: Team F | MVP: Uraraka Ochako
Team E v. Team G | Victory: Team E | MVP: Hagakure Tooru
Team J v. Team C | Victory: Team C | MVP: Tokoyami Fumikage
Team B v. Team A | Victory: Team A | MVP: Sero Hanta
Back in homeroom, Aizawa slouches behind his desk. "Good work in your first basic combat lesson. I hope none of you were too dazzled by All Might to take your training seriously," he deadpans. A couple of students shift guiltily in their seats. "Now for a more serious matter…"
Class 1-A gulps as he surveys them with tired eyes. What is it now? What kind of crazy thing will they have to do next?!
"…it's time for you to pick a class representative."
There’s a beat of silence so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Aizawa produces his signature yellow sleeping bag as the class explodes into chaos, most of the students attempting to shout over each other and frantically wave their hands. "You have ten minutes to decide amongst yourselves," he says, rolling himself up in the sleeping bag like a burrito. "Don't wake me up." And in true Aizawa fashion, he appears to drop off to sleep right then and there.
Iida stands up and loudly commandeers all the students’ attention with his unique hand gestures, “Everyone! Cease your shouting immediately! We will do this in an orderly fashion and vote for who we think deserves the position!”
“You’re the one who’s shouting,” Asui points out calmly.
The bespectacled boy gasps, then clenches his fist tightly as he whispers to himself, “It seems that I must train even more!”
Izuku is next to offer up his two cents, “I think that’s a great idea, Iida-kun. Why don’t we all take a piece of paper from our notebooks and write our votes there, then we can tally up the total at the end? Whoever gets the most votes will be the president, and the second most voted person will be the vice-president.”
There’s a chorus of agreements all around and everyone gets to work.
Iida volunteers to count the votes. Nobody dares to accuse him of cheating when he’s already more or less established himself as the most honest, follow-rules-to-the-letter sort of guy.
Izuku’s eyebrows shoot up when he looks at the number of tallies beside his name. “Seriously? Who voted for me?”
“I did!” Uraraka beams, giving him a thumbs up.
“As did I!” Iida says, chopping the air enthusiastically.
“Me too. We haven’t forgotten what you pulled off during the entrance exam, you know,” Ojiro replies, grinning.
“Who else would I vote for, dipshit?” Katsuki scoffs, turning in his seat just to roll his eyes at Izuku. “I sure as hell ain’t interested in leading these losers.”
“That’s disrespectful to your classmates, Bakugou!”
“Like I care, Four Eyes!”
“I also voted for you, kero,” Asui admits. “You outwitted me in the battle trials. You were very cool, Midori-chan.”
Izuku runs a hand through his messy curls, feeling a gentle warmth settle in his stomach. “Wow, I’m… I’m flattered, I guess. You really want me to be the class representative?” he asks, abashed.
“I can think of no one better suited than you, Midoriya!” Iida declares.
“You can do it, Midoriya-kun!” Uraraka cheers.
“Well, okay, then.”
Yaoyorozu becomes the vice-president, being the only other student with more than one vote. “I’ll do my best to support you all!” she says.
"Izuku!" Said boy turns at the sound of his name. He breaks into a smile at the sight of the familiar pink headband and braided black hair.
"Hey, Suzume. Want to eat lunch with us?"
The girl clasps her hands together, eyes sparkling in awe. "Of course I would! I want to hear all about what you've been up to in the Hero Course," she says, pumping one fist into the air. She catches Uraraka and Iida staring at her, confused, and she sheepishly rubs the back of her head. "Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself, huh? My name's Shirogane Suzume. Class 1-C, Gen Ed. Nice to meet you!"
"I'm Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya-kun's classmate in 1-A!"
"Iida Tenya, also of Class 1-A! Pleased to make your acquaintance!"
Suzume’s eyes fall on a familiar surly form slouching behind the trio. “Well, well, look who it is! I heard you came in fifth in the entrance exam. What happened to being the best, hm, Blasty-boy?” she taunts, snickering into her hand when he levels her with a death glare.
“Fuck off, Shitty Headband! At least I got into the Heroics Department, unlike you!” the blonde predictably roars.
Suzume laughs, unfazed. “Well, obviously! I didn’t apply for the Hero Course, duh. But now that I’m here, I might as well continue to annoy you for the next three years! It’s going to be so much fun, isn’t it, Izuku?”
Izuku takes Uraraka’s and Iida’s hands and nopes the heck out of there without answering. He’s not getting in between them and their friendly rivalry when there’s food to be had (food made by Lunch Rush! He isn’t going to miss it for the world). They can come and find him later once they finish their latest pissing contest.
“Did all three of you know each other before coming to Yuuei?” Uraraka questions, glancing back uncertainly as Katsuki and Suzume race each other down the hallway to catch up to them, yelling all the way (well, more like Katsuki is yelling and Suzume is just egging him on continuously). They enter the cafeteria and make a beeline for the trays.
“Yeah! Kacchan and I have known each other forever because our moms are friends. I met Suzume when we were both really young and she had gotten separated from her parents. I didn’t see her again until about two years ago when I joined an aikido class that she was part of,” Izuku explains.
Uraraka leans forward slightly, eyes shining. “Midoriya-kun, you know aikido? That’s so cool!”
Iida nods, scooping a generous helping of beef stew onto his plate. “Knowing self-defense techniques on top of combat tactics learned through our hero course training certainly doesn’t hurt! It makes you a more well-rounded fighter, I’m sure!”
“By the way, Midoriya-kun, I didn’t get a chance to ask this earlier, but why does Bakugou-kun call you ‘Deku’?” the bubbly girl asks, grabbing some yakisoba and a helping of steamed vegetables. “Isn’t that… an insult?”
“Oh, not in our case. When we were babies, I couldn’t pronounce ‘Katsuki’ correctly and he couldn’t pronounce ‘Izuku’, so ‘Kacchan’ and ‘Deku’ just became an easier way to say our names. And, well, the names stuck ‘cause we’ve known each other for so long. It’s not an insult, I promise,” Izuku responds, smiling.
“If it was meant as an insult, I would have given him a stern talking to!” Iida says, balancing his tray on one arm as he reaches up to adjust his glasses. They flash ominously in the light.
Uraraka giggles, “Well, if it’s just a nickname, I think that’s pretty cute! It’s got sort of like this dekiru vibe to it, you know?”
Izuku laughs, helping himself to some katsudon. “Thanks!”
“Do you think Bakugou-kun would mind if I called you Deku, too?” the bubbly girl wonders aloud.
Izuku doesn’t get to answer because that's when Katsuki roughly inserts himself into the conversation, holding his own tray with a plate of extra-spicy curry rice. “Back off, Round Face! I’m the only one who can call him that!” he growls.
“R-R-Round Face… you mean me?!” Uraraka squeaks, shocked. Her cheeks warm in embarrassment. If she wasn’t holding a tray, she would have slapped both hands over her face.
“Bakugou! Stop it with the derogatory nicknames at once!”
“Yeah, Bakugou. With that kind of attitude, you won’t be anyone’s favorite hero anytime soon,” Suzume chimes in. Katsuki opens his mouth to argue back, but then Izuku interjects before it can get any worse.
“Okay, guys, enough antagonizing each other. I want to enjoy my lunch in peace,” the green-haired teenager sighs, speedwalking to the nearest empty table. The other four students follow him like a gaggle of puppies. Uraraka not-so-subtly shifts so that Suzume is standing directly between her and Katsuki.
As Izuku sets his tray down, he sees a purple-haired student with eyebags even worse than Aizawa’s walk up to them and boldly interrupt the latest argument between Katsuki and Suzume by tapping on Katsuki’s shoulder.
“Hey, you guys are being way too loud. Could you keep it down?”
Katsuki whirls on him, teeth bared. “Who the fuck are—” He stops right in the middle of his tirade and stares vacantly into space.
“Shut up, sit down, and eat your lunch,” the purple-haired student commands.
Izuku, Suzume, Uraraka, and Iida all watch in shock as Katsuki obediently sits down and begins to eat, still blank-faced and quiet. Izuku has so many questions right now.
“Wow, you actually got him to stop yelling,” Uraraka remarks in awe. “That’s cool! I’m Uraraka Ochako, what’s your name?”
“I’m Shinsou Hitoshi of Class 1-C, same as Shirogane over there,” Shinsou yawns, balancing his own tray of food. “Now if you’ll excuse me—”
“Why don’t you sit with us?” Izuku offers, giving the other boy a winning smile. Shinsou pauses and blinks at him, one eyebrow arched in slight disbelief.
“What?”
“Sit with us,” Izuku repeats.
“Why? Aren’t you scared of my Quirk?” Shinsou scoffs.
“Scared? Of what? You only did it because Kacchan was causing a disturbance, right? That would be so useful for hero work! Oh wait, you said you were in Class 1-C? Is that because your Quirk is only effective on humans and not things like robots? It seems like your Quirk is voice-activated, so how does it work? Is it automatic? Or you can control who you want to control… it has to be the second one, right? Because I also answered your question and yet I’m still talk—”
“Izuku, breathe,” Suzume reminds him fondly. Uraraka and Iida are also looking at him oddly, having not been exposed to his excited-fanboy side previously.
“Oh, sorry! I get really excited about Quirks,” Izuku says sheepishly. Shinsou is staring at him with his mouth agape like Izuku is an alien from outer space.
“You aren’t… you don’t think that… that my Quirk is villainous?” he asks slowly. Hesitation and skepticism is written all over his face.
Izuku tilts his head to the side. “Villainous? Sure, some people might see it that way, but it’s all about intent, right? It matters how you use it. It’s your Quirk, you know. If you use it to commit crime, then it’s a villain’s Quirk. If you use it to help people, then it’s a hero’s Quirk.”
Shinsou still doesn’t look like he believes him. Izuku can guess by his reaction alone that no one has ever told him otherwise. Well, that’s what his Quirk is for.
He pats the seat right next to him. “Sit down, Shinsou-kun. I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”
The purple-haired student reluctantly sits beside him. The other students take up the seats around them and begin to eat, chatting with each other so that Izuku can speak with Shinsou.
Izuku holds out a hand, which Shinsou eyes like it’s a particularly venomous snake. “Shinsou-kun, I’m sure you haven’t had an easy life. Please let me help you,” he coaxes gently.
“First tell me your name,” Shinsou demands.
The freckled boy blinks. “Oh! I’m Midoriya Izuku, from Class 1-A.”
“Midoriya, huh? So you’re the one who came in first in the hero entrance exam,” Shinsou says, eyes narrowed. “You better not be taking pity on me just because you’re in the hero course.”
Izuku shakes his head. “Not at all. See, my Quirk allows me to remove someone’s negative emotions so that they can move on and become a better version of themselves,” he explains. “It’s not a permanent solution, but I’ve helped a lot of people over the years with it. I would like to help you too, if you don't mind.” He keeps holding his hand out.
The purple-haired boy looks a little uncertain at the revelation of what Izuku’s Quirk does. “You mean, you don’t have a Quirk that gives you any physical advantages?” he mutters. “Then how did—?”
“Being a hero is more than just knowing how to take down an opponent,” Izuku says sagely.
Shinsou stares a little while longer, aware that the more time he takes, the colder his food will get. Izuku beams when he warily acquiesces and grabs his outstretched hand.
Shinsou’s emotionscape is distressingly dark. The core of heavy depression hangs in the air, inky and black as a new moon. Distorted chains of words flash over the core, blinking white and then gone just as quickly as they appear. Below the core, a single frail flower sprouts out of the darkness, its purple petals wilting and growing at three-second intervals. From the bottom of the core, several thorny black whips lash out at the flower, barely grazing it, but never doing more than that.
Well, he’s not going to let his new friend suffer like this anymore. Izuku pulls.
He presses a delicate glass cat into Shinsou’s palm, dark and sleek with translucent paws, its white tail arched elegantly over its back. The purple-haired boy looks down at it, completely nonplussed. He’s so shocked that he accidentally releases his Quirk, which is keeping Katsuki quiet.
The explosive blonde blinks down at his half-empty plate of food, then turns a murderous gaze upon Shinsou and looks about two seconds away from throttling him. Izuku frantically shakes his head and mouths ‘not now, Kacchan.’ Deprived of a target for his fury, Katsuki angrily eats the rest of his curry.
“Midoriya, you shouldn’t be using your Quirk outside of class,” Iida says half-heartedly. "Neither should you, Shinsou."
“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud! Izuku’s Quirk is a godsend, you know!” Suzume protests, brandishing her chopsticks at him.
“W-well, yes, but—”
As Iida, Uraraka, and Suzume go off into their own conversation once more, Izuku asks Shinsou how he’s feeling as he starts eating his katsudon.
For a long moment, the Gen Ed boy doesn’t answer. He brushes his fingers over the cat figurine, again and again, seemingly lost in thought. Izuku waits patiently for his response.
When it comes, it’s quiet, but he hears it all the same.
“…Good. Thank you.”
Izuku grins, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “You’re welcome, Shinsou-kun.”
Shinsou takes a deep breath, carefully putting the glass sculpture into his pocket. “Did you know that someone from General Education can transfer to the Heroics Department if they prove themselves worthy?” he asks casually. Izuku knows exactly what he’s saying even if he doesn’t voice it.
“I didn’t know that, but thanks for telling me. I’ll be waiting for you!” the green-haired boy assures him, giving Shinsou a thumbs up.
For the first time in a long time, Shinsou finally cracks a smile.
Which is, of course, the moment that the intruder alarm decides to start wailing, scaring every single student in the cafeteria shitless.
And the school descends into chaos.