Chapter Text
He leans his head against Izuku’s bed, gaze meeting bright green.
“Kacchan would kill me if he knew you were here,” Izuku laughs nervously. He slides off his bed to sit next to Eijirou.
“He knows I’m here.”
“What?!” Izuku startles to his feet, pacing nervously.
“He knows I’m here,” Eijirou smiles reassuringly.
“And he’s... okay with it?” Izuku pauses for a moment, eyes flickering between Eijirou’s smile and the closed door.
“For the most part, yeah. He’d be more mad if I lied to him.”
“But you can’t tell him you’re soulmates?” Izuku looks confused as he settles down across from him.
“Have you told Todoroki-kun that you’re soulmates?”
“No, but that’s because-”
“It’s the same reason. I don’t want things to change between us.”
“But you’ve been dating for three months ! He deserves to know!” Izuku exclaims.
“I thought you’d take his side. That’s why I wanted to talk with you,” Eijirou’s expression shifts into a determined smile.
Izuku calms down a bit, eyebrows furrowing in thought. “Why would you want to talk with me if you knew I’d take his side?”
“Has Katsuki ever told you how he feels about soulmates?” Eijirou asks, gaze fixed on Izuku’s contemplative expression.
“I think he mentioned something about them not being real?” Izuku mutters, looking up at the ceiling, before meeting Eijirou’s gaze. “Shouldn’t you be asking Kacchan?”
“I didn’t want to make him remember unwanted memories, so I thought I’d ask you first. And you always manage to keep me in check when it comes to Katsuki,” Eijirou grins at him.
“You really love him, don’t you?”
Eijirou turns to hide his blush, but doesn’t argue.
“He mentioned something about his parents, so it might be a sensitive topic. I recommend letting him bring it up instead of asking directly,” Izuku gives him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
“Thanks man! I knew I could count on you!” Eijirou stands up and holds a fist out towards him.
Izuku smiles, gently bumping their fists together. “Tell me how it goes,” he waves.
“Of course!” Eijirou waves back before heading to his room.
~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m back!” Eijirou greets, flopping down next to his boyfriend. Katsuki grunts in response, wrapping an arm around Eijirou’s waist. He lazily turns a page on his history textbook, eyes never leaving the book.
“Izuku’s doing well,” Eijirou whispers, kissing his shoulder.
Katsuki grunts again, leaning into his boyfriend’s touch.
“Why don’t you talk with him later?” Eijirou suggests, continuing to kiss up Katsuki’s neck.
“I promised to be friendly. Not friends,” Katsuki’s gaze flickers down to meet Eijirou’s, before returning to his textbook.
“But you were friends before, no?”
“I already told you, that was ten years ago.” Katsuki’s voice clouds with regret and anger. Eijirou can tell it’s anger towards himself.
“It’s never too late to apologize, Katsuki,” Eijirou murmurs, lips softly grazing his boyfriend’s cheek.
Katsuki sneaks another glance at Eijirou, eyes narrowing at his reassuring grin. He opens his mouth, but covers it to stifle a yawn into his hand.
“Nap time?”
“I told you to stop calling it that.” Katsuki drags a hand through Eijirou’s hair, flattening it against his head.
“Hey!” Eijirou catches his hand, intertwining their fingers. “What else am I supposed to call it?”
“Sleep?”
“Sleepy time it is.” Eijirou grins, tugging on Katsuki’s hand. The blonde boy scoffs, using the arm around his waist to pull him so he’s flush against his chest.
“Night, ‘Tsuki.” He giggles, smiling when he feels a soft kiss on his neck.
“Night, Eiji.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Get into pairs. We’re using ground beta for civilian rescue training,” Aizawa mutters, sipping on a jelly drink.
Iida raises his arm.
“Yes, Iida?”
“Will they not be assigned?” Iida asks, hand chopping through the air.
“You’re third years now. I trust you can choose on your own.” Aizawa surveys the room, gaze falling on Izuku. “Recovery girl is gone for the week, so no injuries, or you’ll have to heal it naturally.” The green-haired boy smiles sheepishly, giving him a sharp nod.
Hitoshi raises his hand. Aizawa lets out a soft sigh.
“Yes, Hitoshi?”
“I knew it!” Denki jumps out of his seat, pointing accusingly at his teacher. “You are his father.”
“You’ve been watching too much Star Wars,” Hitoshi deadpans, but his lips twitch with amusement.
“You’re not making a good impression, if he is,” Mina smiles, giggling when she sees Denki’s face pale.
“Shinsou and Denki, you’re staying after class tomorrow.”
“But- We can’t! We always visit the cat shelter on Fridays!” Denki exclaims.
“No exceptions,” Aizawa states, eyes shining red. Denki pouts, but sits back down in his seat. “When you’re done choosing your partner, change into your gear and meet at the entrance of ground beta. Present Mic will be there to explain the training details.”
“Oh shoot, not your other dad. You up for operation IAYF Part 2?” Denki whisper-shouts to his boyfriend.
“Shinsou, your question?” Aizawa ignores Denki’s stage whisper, staring intently at his son.
“Are we allowed to use our updated support items?” Hitoshi asks.
“Only if they’ve been approved by Present Mic. Any other questions?” Aizawa does a quick sweep with his eyes, then gives them a lazy nod.
Denki nearly trips as he slides to Hitoshi’s desk. Mina high-fives Eijirou and Hanta on her way to Tooru's desk. Eijirou fist-bumps Hanta on his way to Katsuki’s desk. Hanta stays in his seat, watching as everyone chooses their partners. He smiles at Aoyama’s excited babbling and Tokoyami’s attentive nods.
“Would you like to be partners?”
He looks up to see a nervous smile. “Sure, Iida,” he smiles back, patting his leg. Tenya blushes when his hand nearly strokes his engines.
“No PDA, we die like men!” Denki shouts, laughing when they jump apart.
“Awww, you ruined their moment!” Uraraka teases, giggling with her girlfriend.
“And you’re using the phrase wrong,” Hitoshi mutters, pulling Denki out of the room.
“We must hurry to the training field!” Tenya shouts, blush fading to a light pink.
“Let’s go!” Eijirou grabs Katsuki’s hand and they jog together to the locker room.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Standard rules apply. No excessive destruction, and no sabotaging teams. You earn one point for every destroyed robot, and ten points for every civilian saved. You can only leave your partner if one of you needs to escort people to the safe zone, but I recommend sticking together. The medic bay is located there too, so on the off chance you get hurt, meet at the safe zone!” Present Mic exclaims, voice rising.
“You’re shouting again,” Hitoshi mutters.
“Sorry, Hitoshi! I get so excited when I see you!” Present Mic winks at him.
“Yes! Mission accomplished!” Denki exclaims, hands sparking with joy.
“Let’s save that for after we finish this,” Hanta grins, crouching into his fighting stance.
“Yes, that’s a great idea, Sero!” Tenya shouts, arm flying over his head.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Yeah!”
“Go!”
Present Mic jumps out of the way as twenty teens fly past him, all with various strategies to save as many people as they can.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Katsuki, you okay?” Eijirou peers into his boyfriend’s eyes, wiping a smudge off his cheek. He frowns as the smudge darkens and winces as he looks down at his dirty hands.
“I’m fine. How much time do we have left?” Katsuki takes a step back, surveying the field.
Eijirou checks his watch. “Twenty minutes.”
“Wanna go blow up some robots?” His grin looks nearly feral.
“Katsuki, you promised-”
“We saved 23 people, not including the girl who ran off to pikachu,” he scoffs.
“Really, ‘Tsuki, if you’re doing this out of spite-”
Explosions fill the concrete plaza as Katsuki flies toward the nearest robot, taking it out with a swift kick. “You were saying?”
Eijirou fakes a long sigh before grinning excitedly.
~~~~~~~~~~
He hears a stuttering rumble from nearby, followed by a loud BANG!
A pained grunt echoes through the clearing.
Eijirou’s head whips sideways at the sound. His eyes widen as he catches a familiar head of blue hair, and sprints to his friend’s side. “Iida, are you- status report,” he rephrases, kneeling next to him. His eyes survey the field, narrowing on the chunks of concrete surrounding them.
“He’s- There’s a boy-”
A loud wail interrupts him.
Eijirou’s gaze focuses on the stack of boxes nearby, eyes widening as a small head pops up behind them. He slowly makes his way toward the end of the alley, hand outstretched in front of him.
“It’s okay. We’re here to help. Are you hurt anywhere?” Eijirou catches a glimpse of short brown hair and shimmering purple eyes. The brown hair swishes twice, and Eijirou sighs in relief.
“That’s good.” His gaze flickers back to Iida lying on the ground. “Would you like to help me patch up my friend? Or would you like to-”
Soft footsteps reveal another child with the same brown hair and purple eyes. “Kai!” She yells, running to embrace the trembling boy.
“Miki!” He melts into her embrace, soft cries muffled in her chest.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what. You, my lady, have the responsibility of keeping him safe. This job is very important and can’t be done by just anybody.”
The girl turns to him with curious eyes.
“Can you keep him safe while I patch up my friend?”
“Okay,” she nods, eyes shimmering with determination.
“Alright! Just shout if anything happens! Be careful of robots and falling debris!” Eijirou yells, running back to his friend. He kneels down next to him, nose scrunching at the scent of blood. “What happened?”
“You need to get those kids to safety,” Tenya whispers, “the building might collapse.”
“They’re hiding in a mini safe zone,” Eijirou mutters, “They’ll be safe as long as they stay there.”
“How do you-” Tenya tries to sit up, but hisses in pain.
“Where..?”
“Left engine is out of commission,” he whispers through gritted teeth.
“What- Oh shit-”
He’s glad he’d added pockets to his pants, swiftly pulling out a roll of bandages and gauze. He makes quick work of patching Tenya up, adding more gauze as red seeps through the first layer. “Where’s Hanta?”
“He’s leading three civilians back to the safe zone,” Tenya huffs.
Eijirou finishes tying the bandage, expression clouding with worry. He hates seeing his friends in pain, but he feels like he’s missing something- Something important-
His eyes snap wider, realization crashing past his tired mind. “Katsuki!” Eijirou’s shout echoes through the field. It only takes a few seconds before familiar explosions fill the air, his boyfriend flying to a stop next to him. “Can you help Iida and the kids back to base?”
Katsuki nods, recognizing the urgency in Eijirou’s eyes.
“Oniichan!” Two worried voices pierce through the air, followed by two sets of footsteps. A girl stands in front of them, a small boy peeking out from behind her back. “Kai and Miki can help!” She shouts triumphantly.
Eijirou smiles at them. “Miki, Kai, I love your enthusiasm! Can you help Katsuki-oniichan take Iida-oniisan to the safe zone?” He waves toward Katsuki.
“Yeah!” Miki raises Kai and her clasped hands, pulling her brother so that he stands next to her.
“Okay, Miki-chan, since you did your first job so well, I’m going to give you another important job.” Kiri takes a knee next to her. She tilts her head at him. “Can you carry your brother so Katsuki-oniichan can carry you both more easily?”
Katsuki gives him a questioning look, but he only grins in response.
“Okay!” Miki exclaims, picking up her brother and hugging him to her chest. “Like this?”
“That’s perfect!” Eijirou nods. Kai seems to relax further as Miki’s arms tighten around his back.
Katsuki’s eyebrows furrow and he exchanges a nod with his boyfriend. He swiftly grabs Iida’s arm, swinging it over his shoulder. Miki squeals as Katsuki lifts the two siblings with just one arm. Eijirou watches as he jogs off, taking a second to admire his boyfriend’s toned muscles, before his expression returns to worried determination.
“Hanta!” he yells, searching around the tall buildings. He almost wishes he had his friend’s quirk so he could swing above instead of having to run around the buildings. “Hanta!”
“What’s wrong? Where’s Katsu?” Mina slides to a stop behind him. He turns around, waving at his friend and the pair of floating gloves.
“He’s taking Iida to the medic bay.”
“...Oh shit .”
“Yeah,” Eijirou mutters, eyes still searching.
Mina’s gaze narrows over the field, pinpointing on a specific alley. “We’ll check there, and you should check the one next to it!”
“Got it!” Eijirou takes off in a sprint, arms hardening on instinct. He turns the corner, almost tripping over a body leaned up against the wall.
“Hanta!”
“Ei!”
His friend grins at him, despite the pain coursing through his left leg. “I’m guessing you found Iida?”
“Yeah, Katsuki’s taking him to the safe zone. What happened to the civilians?” Eijirou asks.
“Midoriya took them for me. He went off to look for Iida, too.”
“That’s good,” Eijirou replies, swiftly taking out a roll of gauze. “What’s your excuse gonna be, this time?”
“A girl wanted to see if I could make a cast with my tape. I tried proving it to her, but she stopped me before I could fully make one,” Hanta whispers, wincing as Eijirou starts wrapping it around his calf.
“Is he gonna believe that?”
“He will if I say it completely seriously,” Hanta mutters, offering his tape to his friend.
“You should just tell him,” Eijirou whispers, carefully wrapping his friend’s tape over the gauze.
“I’ll tell if you tell,” Hanta grins, limbs trembling in pain.
Eijirou shakes his head and lifts Hanta’s arm around his shoulder. “Come on man. He’s gonna get worried if we take too long.”
“Yeah, Katsu can’t even wait ten minutes before he gets worried.”
“I was talking about Iida.”
Eijirou feels a simmering pride as his friend sputters weak excuses into the dusty air.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Hanta, how long?” Mina jumps in front of him.
“How long for what?” Hanta looks genuinely confused.
“How long are you out of commission?” Mina clarifies.
“I don’t know, I just breezed through the check-up.”
“He believed you? Wait, did Mic-sensei believe you, too?!” Eijirou exclaims. “I left you in the med bay on purpose!”
“Yeah, I’m a bit scared to know what they think of me.”
“You’re a shitty prankster,” Katsuki sighs.
“Awww, thanks blasty boy.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“So, am I the only one out of the loop, or did I miss something during the training session?” Hitoshi looks around the group.
“Oh, you know how Hanta and Iida are soulmates?”
Hanta glares at Denki, but the other boy only grins in response. Denki’s gaze drifts down to his best friend’s leg, lips quivering slightly.
Hitoshi nods, following his boyfriend’s gaze. “ Oh . ”
“Yeah.”
“Which one of you got injured?” Hitoshi whispers.
“Iida. He’s out of commission for two weeks.” His shoulders slump.
“You’re out of commission for two fucking weeks,” Katsuki mutters.
“No-”
“You can’t argue with squad mama,” Denki grins.
“What the hell did you call me?!”
“You can’t deny you’re like an aggressively caring mom,” Mina giggles, hiding behind Hanta. She squeals as Katsuki glares at her.
“You’re out of commission for two weeks,” Eijirou repeats, resting a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder. His boyfriend relaxes, sliding his fingers through his.
“Yeah,” Hanta sighs, leaning back against his hands.
“That sucks,” Denki comments, head plopping down to rest in Hitoshi’s lap. “We’re mentoring the first years next Friday.”
Hanta groans, allowing his head to fall on Mina’s lap. “Why does Iida always have to get hurt?”
“I’m surprised you haven’t gotten hurt yet,” Mina mutters, brushing her fingers through Hanta’s hair.
“I’ve only gotten seriously injured in elementary school. And I wanted to keep it that way,” Hanta groans again.
“Why don’t you just tell Iida to be a little more careful?” Denki suggests.
“I wish,” Hanta huffs, closing his eyes.
“Soulmates don’t exist,” Katsuki scoffs,
“You don’t believe in soulmates?!” Mina shouts, hands flying to her mouth.
“But you told him to rest for two weeks!” Denki adds.
“He’s fucking injured,” Katsuki states, palms popping with nervous energy. Eijirou slides his free hand along his back in soothing circles.
“Yeah, but that’s because Iida got hurt!”
“Says who?” Katsuki challenges. Mina glares at him, fingers continuing to glide through Hanta’s hair.
Hanta sighs, sitting up to face Katsuki. “I don’t care if you don’t believe me. Just, please don’t tell Iida about this.” He waves at his injured leg.
Katsuki seems to ponder for a moment before nodding curtly.
All tension leaves Hanta’s body and he lets himself fall again, reveling in the warmth of his best friends.
~~~~~~~~~~
“So I heard your date was chaperoned by Aizawa-sensei?” Mina teases.
“It wasn’t a date! And he insisted on going to the cat shelter with us!” Denki argues, pouting.
“I thought you had to stay for detention?” Izuku mutters, confusion masking his amusement.
“We did, but Aizawa-sensei let us go to the cat shelter with him! Yamada-sensei came with us, too!”
“Oh, that’s super cute!” Hagakure’s hands clap excitedly.
“That’s almost like a family outing!” Uraraka’s eyes sparkle.
“I don’t know if you’re smart or you’re just really dumb,” Hitoshi sighs, meeting Denki’s confused gaze. “You do know dad loves cats, right?”
“He does...? Oh right, he does! I’m a genius!” Denki exclaims.
Hitoshi rolls his eyes.
“Did you get to adopt a cat?” Uraraka asks excitedly.
“We had three at home,” Hitoshi deadpans.
“Pictures! Show us pictures!” Mina claps.
Hitoshi sighs again before pulling out his phone. He hits a few buttons and hands it to the excited girl.
“You have five cats?!”
“They’re so cute!!”
They spend the rest of the afternoon sharing photos of their pets, Eijirou and Katsuki sneaking out to have their biweekly sparring session.
~~~~~~~~~~
“If you could have a pet, what would you get?” Eijirou asks, dodging another punch. They’d decided to spar without quirks, since they needed some rest from yesterday’s training session.
“Stop trying to distract me,” Katsuki grunts, smirking as a punch connects with Eijirou’s thigh. “It’s not gonna work.”
“I’m just curious.” Eijirou’s chest hardens on instinct, protecting him from Katsuki’s strong punch. “My bad man, my quirk keeps acting up.”
Katsuki huffs, blocking Eijirou’s high kick. He skids to a stop, taking deep breaths to slow his breathing.
“Water?” Eijirou tosses his water bottle to his boyfriend.
Katsuki catches it, squeezing a generous amount into his mouth. He swallows slowly, throwing the bottle back to Eijirou. “Cats.”
“Hm?” Eijirou stops mid-drink.
“I’d want a cat.”
“Oh. Oh!” Eijirou’s face brightens. “We can visit the cat shelter together! I’ve always wanted a cat too!”
“Dumbass, we can’t raise a cat in the dorm.”
“I’m sure we can work something out!” Eijirou shouts, grabbing Katsuki’s hand. “Ohhh this is gonna be so fun! We can name them and spoil them with toys and treats!”
Katsuki scoffs. “Do you have any money?”
“I have a good amount saved from my internships!” Eijirou’s eyes sparkle.
“Fine. We’ll go next weekend, if you get an 85 on the math test.” Katsuki pulls Eijirou towards the locker room.
Eijirou pouts. “But Katsuki-”
“You can’t raise a cat if you can’t take care of yourself.”
“Damn, you’re right. Okay! Operation FHTSC is onway!”
“What the fuck?! Why are you and sparky so weird?”
“Finish homework to see cats.”
“What?” Katsuki narrows his eyes at him.
“FHTSC.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’m dating a dumbass.”
“Hey!”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Hanta, you okay?” Eijirou whispers to his friend. He’d noticed the taller boy rubbing his injured leg.
“It’s super itchy, but I can’t scratch it,” Hanta whispers back, his good leg swinging under him.
“Did Aizawa-sensei find out?”
“Yeah, he lectured me for a whole hour before giving me antiseptic cream. I kinda regret putting it on though.” He continues to rub his leg. “He almost put me on crutches.”
“Man, that sucks.” Eijirou mutters. “Does he know about Iida?”
“No, but he’s making us rest for today’s-”
“Get to your seats. We’re going to be assigning teams for the villain apprehension lesson.” Aizawa mutters from the front of the classroom.
Everyone shuffles to their seat. A hand shoots through the air.
“Yes, Midoriya?”
“Can teams work together?”
“For this exercise, teams can work together, but you can only earn points for your own team. All Might will meet you in the bus to explain the rules.”
Izuku’s eyes sparkle with motivation.
Aizawa brings out a stack of cards and expertly shuffles them.
“There will be one team of villains and three teams of heroes. You’ll choose a random card, and don’t- I repeat don’t- let anyone else look at it. All Might will let you go one-by-one to find your base. He was the one who chose the villain base, so I don’t want to hear any complaints. ”
Todoroki raises his hand.
“Yes, Todoroki?”
“Can we tell people whether we’re a hero or villain?”
“Once you’re inside, you can say whatever you want.”
Another hand rises.
“Yes, Yaoyorozu?”
“Why have we never conducted this lesson before?” She asks, curious gaze narrowed on her teacher.
“We trust that you’re all mature enough to understand the implications and responsibilities of pretending to be a villain. Yes, we have conducted a few hero vs. villain lessons before, but those were at a smaller scale. This will be a six hour strategy session.”
“Six hours?!”
“Do villains get points too?”
“Do we at least get lunch?”
Aizawa sighs. “Lunch will be provided at each base. All Might will explain the rules when you get there. Any other questions?”
The room buzzes with impatient energy.
Aizawa shuffles the cards one last time before lazily spreading them out like a fan. He allows each student to choose a card, making sure they don’t peek at anyone else’s. His gaze sweeps over the room once. Twice. “You’re free to go.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“The rules are simple. Each hero team has three objectives they must complete. Some objectives may overlap with other teams, so you can work together if you would like. The villain team also has three objectives, but they can earn extra points for stealing and completing the hero objectives. Again, we would like to see no injuries, because recovery girl will not be back until tomorrow.” All Might explains, nodding toward Izuku. “We will be monitoring all actions from the security room. Also, you will find extra supplies at your base. Make sure to put on your headset and let us know if there are any emergencies.” He looks over the excited, deadpan, and anxious faces of his students. “When I call your name, insert your card into the reader and go through the gate. The flashing arrows will guide you to your base. We’ll be going in random order. Hagakure!”
“Alright!” Hagakure shouts, running to the gate. She quickly shoves her card in, zooming past everyone.
“I hope I’m not on the villain team,” Izuku whispers, sneaking a glance at Todoroki. “I don’t want to go against anyone.”
“Come on man, pretending to be a villain might be fun! And you don’t have to fight anyone if no one knows you’re a villain!” Denki shouts.
“You’d give it away in an instant,” Eijirou laughs, wrapping an arm around his bro’s shoulders.
“Yeah, you’ll try those weird villain speeches you’ve been watching on Youtube,” Mina snickers.
“The Darth Vader ones?” Todoroki joins in.
“Yeah! He has so many epic lines!” Denki jumps up and down.
“Who let sparky watch Star Wars?” Katsuki glares at everyone around him.
“He found it on his own and made me marathon all the movies with him,” Hitoshi mutters. Eijirou lays a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
“Bakugou!”
Eijirou shares a look with his boyfriend, giving him a reassuring grin. Katsuki smirks in response, nearly crushing the card in his hold. Eijirou watches on as Katsuki shoves the singed card into the reader and sprints through the gate.
“You watched all the movies in one day?” Mina gasps.
“We watched them over the weekend!”
“Aren’t there like, nine movies out now?” Eijirou asks.
“Yeah.”
“Is that why you didn’t finish your homework?”
Hitoshi glares at Denki.
Denki panics. “‘Toshi, I thought I finished all of it, but-”
“Kaminari!”
“Gotta go fast!” He takes off in a sprint, almost forgetting to put his card in.
Hitoshi sighs, watching his boyfriend run through the gate.
“How big do you think this field is?” Jirou’s voice drifts over from the other side of the platform.
“If it’s anything like the fields at UA, probably 10 square kilometers ,” Izuku mumbles. “But it might be bigger since they brought us here.”
“Why did they blindfold us? It’s not like we know where this is,” Mina snickers.
“That’s it! We’re probably in a valley or in the middle of the mountains!” Izuku exclaims.
“How’d you come up with that?”
“We were going uphill for most of the drive, then started going downhill about midway. We barely stopped along the way, so we’re probably far from the city!”
“We were only in the bus for thirty minutes though...” Uraraka trails off.
“Ashido!”
“Wish me luck, guys!” Mina waves at everyone, then runs to the gate.
“If only we could see inside...” Uraraka sighs, bouncing impatiently. “Sometimes I wish I had x-ray vision instead of being able to make things float.”
“Don’t say that! Your power might be underappreciated, but it’s only because the world isn’t ready for you yet!” Midoriya exclaims, nodding vigorously.
“You have a strong power, kero,” Asui croaks.
“Thanks guys,” Uraraka mutters, hands flying up to cover her face.
“Midoriya!”
“Hai!”
Everyone laughs as Izuku fights off a blush. Eijirou pats his back, coaxing him towards the gate.
“After three years, he still gets nervous in front of All Might,” Uraraka giggles, watching Midoriya insert his card.
“That’s because All Might is his father,” Todoroki deadpans.
“I’m 80 percent sure All Might isn’t his dad,” Hitoshi mutters, equally expressionless.
“Where’s the other 20 percent?” Eijirou laughs, gaze catching on tense shoulders. He frowns as he watches Izuku pause in front of the gate, his head lowered to the ground.
“He used to quote All Might during second year. It was funny at first, but got annoying really fast,” Hitoshi comments.
“Yeah, he wouldn’t stop saying, ‘I am here!’ whenever he saved somebody!”
“Is his room still covered in All Might goods?”
“Yes,” Todoroki answers quietly.
Izuku still hasn’t moved.
“Don’t you have a ton of hero goods in your room too, Kirishima?” Todoroki tries to shift their attention.
“Hm?” Eijirou’s focus wavers as he meets heterochromatic eyes.
“Do you still have a lot of Red Riot merch?” Uraraka asks, smirking.
“I do! But I keep most of it at home, since I’m trying to keep my room clean.” He returns his gaze to the gate, but Izuku is already gone.
“I bet that’s for Bakugou.”
“You’re both whipped for each other . How does that even work?”
“That’s not-!”
“Kirishima!”
“Wow, saved by the bell again,” Uraraka giggles.
Eijirou waves at them, swiftly pulling his card out of his pocket. He inserts the card into the slot and stops when he reaches the gate.
Oh shit. He looks down at the empty space below him, squeezes his eyes closed, and reopens them. The scene hasn’t changed.
It’s okay. They wouldn’t let me fall to my death before the mission even starts. It’s going to be okay. He nods along to the mantra, psyching himself up. It’s just an illusion, they wouldn’t let me fall, it’s going to be okay-
He takes a deep breath, and jumps.
~~~~~~~~~~
The elevator dings open, revealing a nervous boy pacing across the floor.
“Midoriya! I knew I’d see you here!” Eijirou shouts, stepping into the large room.
“Kirishima! Thank goodness!” Midoriya exclaims, reciprocating Eijirou’s bro hug. “I thought I was gonna be by myself for this mission.”
“They wouldn’t do that,” Eijirou laughs, eyes drifting around the room. He bites his lip when he realizes there are no windows.
“I looked through the cabinets before you got here. I have a feeling we’re the villain team,” Izuku states, expression turning thoughtful.
“I thought so,” Eijirou mutters, “that fall was a lot longer than I thought it’d be.”
“Yeah, I almost screamed on the way down,” Izuku admits, sheepishly.
“Do you think it’s their way of scaring us, so we retaliate out of spite?”
“I don’t think so. I think they’re trying to equalize the information we receive by letting the heroes go through the city and making us figure things out with just a map.”
“But that gives the heroes a huge advantage-”
The elevator dings.
The doors slowly open, revealing a tired boy with purple hair.
“We’re the villain team,” he sighs, striding towards them.
“Shinsou!” they exclaim in unison, greeting their teammate enthusiastically.
“Nice to see you guys, too,” Hitoshi mutters, taking a seat on the nearest couch. “Did you gather any intel yet?
“We have a map, big screen TV, wireless keyboard, zip ties, cloaks, masks, ropes, and fake knives. Oh, and we have sandwiches for lunch!” Izuku exclaims, walking toward the small fridge in the corner. “We also have a good supply of water, juice, and snacks.”
“Pass me a water,” Hitoshi requests, catching the water bottle and taking a long sip.
“You want one too?” Izuku grabs two more.
“Sure!” Eijirou catches the bottle, gulping half the water down.
“Who do you think will be our fourth teammate?” Izuku takes small sips.
“I’m betting on Todoroki,” Hitoshi smirks as Izuku’s face bursts with color. “You still haven’t confessed yet?”
“I’m trying !” Izuku huffs, shaking his head. “But he’s so...”
“Dense?”
“Yeah!”
“Well I’m betting on Uraraka,” Eijirou states, taking a seat on the opposite couch.
“Why?”
“I feel like it’s gonna be a girl,” he shrugs.
“You’re just hoping it’s gonna be a girl,” Hitoshi deadpans.
“Dude, I have a boyfriend!” Eijirou laughs, faking a scandalized gasp.
“Then why not Momo-san?” Izuku mutters, “I feel like it’s going to be her.”
“Yeah, that’d be cool, too,” Eijirou agrees. “We might even get two more people.”
“Oh yeah!” Izuku exclaims, shaking his water bottle. “We should be ready for both situations!”
“We should start planning after we find out our teammate,” Hitoshi mutters.
“But-”
“Saves time and energy,” Hitoshi interrupts. “And we had to replan everything last time, when you made a plan before the lesson even started.”
“That was a whole year ago!”
Eijirou laughs, smothering his anxiety with the comforting banter of his friends.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Why are you always right?” Hitoshi mutters, glaring at his friend. Izuku grins back, before smiling towards Yaoyorozu.
“Welcome to the team!”
“I’m glad to be here!” Yaoyorozu smiles, nodding to each of them. “Are we the villain team?”
“Yeah,” Hitoshi mutters.
“We haven’t confirmed that ye-”
The TV flickers on in the middle of the room. They all stand, quickly moving to the best vantage point.
Present Mic appears on the screen, grinning mischievously. “Seems like you’ve got all your teammates gathered. So, you’ve probably already guessed this, but you are the villain team. We’re giving you fifteen extra minutes to familiarize yourselves with the city, since you didn’t get the chance to see outside. Don’t worry, it’s one-sided glass so they can’t see you from outside! Have fun!” The screen flickers away.
“One-sided glass?”
A soft whirring sound echoes through the room. They huddle towards the center, eyes widening as the walls disappear, surrounding them with windows.
“What... is this?” He walks toward the window, mouth opening as he takes in the view.
“Wow.” Izuku mutters, eyes sweeping below.
“We can see the whole city from here,” Yaoyorozu gasps.
“We’re in the middle of the city,” Hitoshi comments, pointing at the map. “We could split into two teams and-”
“It’s so beautiful from up here!”
They freeze for a second, heads turning to the floating pair of gloves.
“Hagakure!” Eijirou breaks the silence.
Izuku clutches his chest, letting out a deep breath. “I thought we were getting apprehended already.”
“The mission hasn’t even started yet!” Tooru laughs, patting Izuku’s shoulder. “Sorry for scaring you guys.”
“Were you hiding this whole time?”
“I promise it wasn’t on purpose! I took the stairs to find the nearest bathroom and I found one two floors down. It’s one of those super nice ones with a whole bunch of towels and nice smelling soaps!”
“Nice,” Momo returns her a high five.
“Welcome to the team,” Eijirou smiles, bumping his fist with hers.
“You got a plan yet, Midoriya?” Hitoshi mutters, sinking into the couch.
“I did, but I’m tweaking a few things now that we have Hagakure-san on our side.”
“Oooh, can we have code names? I wanna be eagle one!” Tooru squeals.
“Dibs on eagle two,” Hitoshi drawls.
“Hey, that’s no fun!”
“I have a boyfriend, Hagakure.”
“Yeah, and I’m a lesbian. But that doesn’t mean I’m a spoilsport!”
“There’s only three more slots to fill,” Hitoshi mutters, faking a yawn.
“I think we should pick one-worded code names? And I’m not sure if numbers make good code names,” Momo comments.
“We can think of code names later. We got our objectives,” Izuku states, showing them the tablet listing three bullet points. “We also got our headsets and watches.” He hands one out to each person. He ponders for a moment before handing the tablet to Hitoshi. “I trust you to keep us in check.”
Hitoshi hesitates for a moment, turning to his teammates. They each give him a reassuring nod, and Tooru adds a thumbs up. He receives the tablet, letting everyone look over his shoulder.
“Capture 5 hostages. Obtain 50 million yen. Destroy 5 government buildings. You can complete these in any order. Please memorize your objectives. This screen will switch to a map with the real-time locations of your teammates once the lesson begins.”
“That doesn’t seem too hard,” Momo comments.
“Where are we going to find fifty million yen,” Izuku mutters.
“I’m sure there’s a bank somewhere,” Eijirou wraps an arm around his shoulder. “I’m more worried about the last one.”
“What counts as a government building? Do you think it has a specific symbol on it?” Tooru mutters.
The TV flickers, revealing Present Mic on the screen. “You have six hours to complete your objectives. Your time starts... now.”