Chapter Text
Salt Middle School, two weeks into the term.
“Listen up!” Teacher called for attention at the beginning of home room. “We have a new student.”
“Hello, my name is Midoriya Izuku. Um, I just moved here from Musutafu. Thank you for having me.” A boy with green hair and freckles nervously bowed to the room.
“Someone who doesn’t have afterschool activities can show you around later.” The teacher said and motioned for Midoriya to take an empty seat in the back. Midoriya nodded and found a desk as quietly and quickly as possible. Kageyama Shigeo watched him but didn't give his arrival much thought.
At lunch break, Kageyama stayed at his desk to eat quietly and review the notes he had just taken but didn’t fully understand. He heard a couple people talking to the new boy.
“Musutafu, huh? Isn’t that where U.A. is?”
“Yeah, you can see it from some places. It’s not really part of the city though.”
“Hey, what’s your quirk?”
“Oh um. . . actually I uh…I’m quirkless.” He practically whispered the last part. A couple kids scoffed and lost interest in him. Others shrugged it off and offered to show him to the cafeteria.
After lunch it was back to regularly scheduled classes. Shigeo could follow most of history and a little English but math was terrifying.
“Kageyama,” the class president caught him after class. “You aren’t in any clubs and I have to get to a meeting. Catch Midoriya up in class before you go home, okay?” It wasn’t really a question and he left the second Mob nodded.
“Uh hi, I’m Midoiriya, I mean you probably knew that.” The new boy flushed and shuffled his feet.
“Are you alright?” He looked vaguely ill.
“Yeah, sorry. It’s just, a new place and all.” Mob didn’t really understand. He waited while Midoriya fidgeted and scratched his head. “Um…it’s fine if you have somewhere to be.”
“I have a part time job but Master won’t mind if I’m late.” Shigeo stayed behind sometimes if needed to study.
“You sure?”
“It’s fine.”
“Okay, then thanks I guess.” Midoriya managed a shy smile. He sat down in an adjacent desk. “So I uh noticed you were having trouble in math class.”
“Yeah…” it was embarrassing.
“I just mean!” Midoriya waved his hands about. “Uh, since you’re helping me maybe I could…I’m pretty good at math, if you show me what the class covered so far, maybe I could try to help you with today’s homework?”
“If you want to.”
They went over classwork until Kageyama’s phone rang. “That was my master, I have to go.”
“No problem.” Midoriya had a much wider smile and was less fidgety. “Thanks for the help.”
“You were more helpful than me.” Midoriya was very patient when explaining algebra.
Episode 2
“New student!”
“Eeep!” Midoriya jumped out of his skin as four students approached him.
“Join the telepathy club!”
“What?”
“The telepathy club is where we try to improve our psychic powers.”
“Um, sorry I have to catch up on what I missed this year. I won’t have time to join a club for maybe another week or so.” Midoriya politely turned them down. The telepathy club groaned and ran to find someone else to ask.
Episode 3
Izuku just wanted to go home. He stayed late at the library to study, he was almost caught up on his school work. However, without the after-school crowds to guide him, he got turned around on the unfamiliar streets. A couple wearing strange smile masks offered to show him to the train station. In a world of quirks the masks didn’t raise alarm bells. He shouldn’t have let them see his phone, though. Now they had his phone and practically dragged him to a basement of a sketchy building. A crowd of similarly masked people were already there. He was thrown up on stage next to a middle-aged man and a school girl.
“Um excuse me, can I leave please?” Izuku tried again.
“No you have to wait to see Dimple-Sama.” The smile masks became increasingly menacing.
“Pst, Midoriya,” the girl with the camera whispered to him. “We better do as they say.”
“Yeah, we’re not getting out of this that easily. Maybe their boss is more reasonable,” The scruffy man sighed.
“I’m Mezato from you class, remember me?” the girl introduced herself. She did look familiar.
“Right, sorry, I’m still learning names.”
“No problem. How did they sucker you in?”
“Um, I got lost on my way to the train station. They offered to show me directions on my phone and took it.”
“Yikes, that’s practically kidnapping.” Mezato-kun sounded happy about this. The doors opened again and someone joined them on stage.
“Hey, Mob-kun.” She waved at him. “Do you recognize me? I’m Mezato from your class.”
“Kageyama-kun?” Midoriya also leaned over. Mob recognized them both.
“Did they lure you in?” Mezato asked. Before Mob could answer the leader appeared. He wore a more elaborate version of the smile mask.
“This is too weird for me,” the man remarked as Dimple lead the crowd in maniacal laughter. The students silently agreed.
“Today we have four new smilemates joining us.”
“Huh? What?” The scruffy man said.
“Hey! Don’t!” Mezato tried to interrupt.
“In order to accept happiness you must set your hearts free. But your hearts are locked up. See! It’s obvious why you are unhappy! You aren’t laughing!” Dimple talked over her.
“Hah I wish people could be happy just by laughing.” The man spoke up.
“Who is this?” Dimple asked his congregation.
“We found him sleeping on a park bench,” a woman answered.
“How sad a victim of the recession!”
“Excuse me!” Izuku was getting really twitchy now. “Can I have my phone back, please? My mother is waiting for me. If I don’t get home soon…”
“Nothing to worry about!” Dimple interrupted again. “Just put on these smile masks!” The crowd dragged them off stage. “This is our way of saving you! We just want you to smile.”
“Eep! Don’t put that on me!” Midoriya ducked away. “Don’t let them touch you! It could be a quirk!” He warned the others. The man didn’t resist but Mob and Mezato followed his lead.
“There’s no quirks here young man just happiness. Now, young lady, you seem suspicious. My followers didn't bring you here, did they?” Dimple addressed Mezato.
“I work for Salt Middle School’s newspaper. I’m Mezato from class 2-1! I’m reporting on the rumors surrounding you.” She turned on her camera as if that would help. “I have some questions. LOL was founded a month ago. How have you gotten this many followers in one month? This stinks of a fraud and illegal quirk use.”
“Let me show you proof then. That gentleman from earlier, he was very sad. Well look at him now!” Dimple prompted them to look. The formally glum man was laughing crazily for no reason.
“This wrong we need to leave,” Izuku whispered to Mob.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with being popular,” Mob nodded in agreement.
Mezato came to the same conclusion and asked Dimple if she could leave.
“That won’t do. You infiltrated LOL and doubted our smiles for no reason. We won’t let you leave until you laugh.”
“I-I don’t really feel like laughing right now," she took a step backward.
“Um we would like to leave. Keeping us here is kidnapping,” Midoriya spoke up.
“I’d like to go too,” Shigeo said.
“None of you are allowed to leave until you smile!” The crowd tried to grab them again. Midoriya ducked and covered his head best he could. Mezato had a mask shoved over her head. She ripped it off but started laughing against her will. When someone tried to pry Izuku’s arms off his head, Kageyama created a barrier around them.
“He didn’t want you to touch him. I’m just using my quirk to protect us.” He said tot he complaining crowd. He kept the three of them in a forcefield bubble.
“Mezato-kun, are you okay?” Izuku checked on her.
“Help, I can’t stop smiling.” She managed to say.
“Kageyama-kun, this is getting really dangerous. We should leave and call the police.”
“Okay.” That sounded like a good idea. “We’re leaving now.” The crowd got out of their way but Dimple shouted after them.
“I said you aren’t allowed to leave until you smile!” He fired psychic waves at them. Midoriya fell to his knees laughing and trying to stop it. Fake happiness forced into his brain, combined with the concern for his classmates played havoc on Shigeo’s stifled emotions.
“Why are you doing this?” Shigeo wrestled the fake giddiness down. None of his showed on his face but his percentage towards explosion was steadily climbing. “We don’t want to laugh.”
“Get a clue! Everyone wants to laugh!”
“I can’t even if I wanted to. Just leave us alone.”
“Oh I see, brat. You have no emotions. No wonder you’re unpopular. You can’t connect to anyone. Well, no matter. I’ll just use my other powers to squash you! I can’t have you in my way!” A light leaked out of Dimple’s mouth. “My followers! don’t let him leave alive!”
Mob vainly tried to hold his emotions in for another few seconds as people hit his barrier before they exploded outward. Mob unleashed his quirk and all the followers levitated several feet in the air. Mob also picked up Izuku and Mezato to keep them out of the way.
Dimple collapsed and the fog above him reformed into a man. “You have such a powerful quirk, brat.”
“If the policy of your religion is to kill outsiders come at me with everything you’ve got. That might be easier than making me laugh."
The few people still conscious and levitating looked down at Mob with surprise. He was acting completely differently than before.
“Everything I have, huh?” Dimple transformed into a mass of green muscle, emitted smoke, and charged. “You’re just livestock with no emotions! Don’t pretend you’re actually angry!” Mob threw Dimple across the room. Dimple transformed his arm into a claw and charged again. Shigeo blew his arm to pieces, he hadn't meant to do that but at the moment he couldn't care. Midoriya catalogued the fight and the multitude of quirks Dimple used from where he hovered mid-air.
“I’m terrible,” Mob said, mostly to himself then hit Dimple with enough force to give him a concussion and undo his transformation. Dimple collapsed, a normal looking man with green hair and red spots on his cheeks. He still had both arms, thankfully.
“Kageyama-kun!” Midoriya called. “Can you put me down please?”
“You’re still awake?” 100% anger was starting to fade so Mob did as requested. Midoriya seemed to be one of the few conscious, and the only one to get to his feet. He hurried over to check on Dimple.
“Oh man…I got beaten by a kid?” Dimple was awake enough to mutter to himself. “I can’t get caught like this? The police…man…he’ll kill me…waste of quirks…” Midoriya looked at Dimple, felt a weird pressure in his head and then looked to Kageyama. Shigeo set everyone else down and returned to normal. He blinked a few times to regain his bearings. Nobody else spoke.
“Um…” The two middle school boys just stared at each other for a second. “I’ll call the police.” Izuku stood up to find his phone.
“I…I don’t have a license.”
“You saved us.” Midoriya found the woman who had taken his phone and retrieved it. “The police will understand. We just…we need to file a report.”
Fortunately, the police did understand. Dimple was a wanted villain, which explained why he was hiding in side an innocent man’s body. The police didn’t believe that part of Izuku’s story, however. They just laughed off his insistence that Dimple had multiple quirks as a symptom of shock.
Both boys were picked up by their mothers after giving their statements. Neither of them were in trouble other than a mild scolding not to follow creepy strangers.
The next day Izuku finished his make up work and decided to look into clubs. He had promised Mom to try and be social. Mom learned Salt Middle school had one of the highest percent of quirkless students in the nation and then found a new job nearby. She changed jobs and moved everything they owned just to get Izuku away from bullies. The least he could do is try and join a club.
Salt Middle School didn’t have any martial arts clubs but it did have a body improvement club. The fiasco yesterday reminded Izuku that he should work on physical fitness if he wanted to be a hero. This could be a good start.
“Excuse me?” Midoriya knocked on the door to the Body Improvement Club. “I was wondering um, are you accepting, maybe I could join?”
“Of course! We’re happy to have you!” Goda enthusiastically welcomed him inside.
“Thank you. Oh, hello Kageyama-kun.”
“You two know each other?”
“We’re in the same class.”
Episode 4
Tenga Onigawara’s quirk was great for fighting. Spectral Fist. He could create energy duplicates of his hands that floated directly above and mimicked the movement of his real hands. He couldn’t hold it for very long, just enough to punch people, which was all he needed. The perfect quirk for beating up idiots from a fancy private school. At least until some punk with telekinesis showed up. Time for a new strategy. Everyone thought he was dumb but he would show them.
Midoriya and Kageyama walked to the lockers after class let out. Mob was a quiet person and Izuku didn’t bother him with questions. Izuku got his gym clothes then noticed Kageyama had stopped moving.
“Kageyama-kun?”
“This was in my locker,” he had a piece of paper. “Why would someone write this?” Midoriya read over his shoulder.
“Oh, I think that is supposed to say adore.”
“Then it’s a love letter?”
“Wait!” Izuku didn’t want him to be disappointed. “It might be fake. Why would a girl write, ‘I’m a girl’?”
“Really?” Mob deflated.
“Yeah, bullies at my old school did this kind of thing.”
Mob considered for a second, “Shouldn’t I go anyway, just in case? I’d feel bad if it really was a girl and she was waiting.” Izuku couldn’t argue with that.
Episode 5
Izuku didn’t understand exactly what happened. Kageyama-kun got into some sort of telekinetic fight with the Black Vinegar gang leader. The destruction as seen from a few blocks away but Kageyama repaired all the damage. Which meant he could manipulate matter on a molecular level, the possibilities! Anyway, law enforcement never showed up so nobody got in trouble. Kageyama obviously didn’t want to talk about it so Izuku didn’t ask.