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Chapter Text

Izuku is one and is like most boys his age. He giggles and smiles and crawls and learns to walk. He loves bright colors and toys and he babbles to his first words to his mother. (It’s mama, Midoria Inko cries and does not stop for hours.)

Izuku is two and is like most boys his age. He laughs and runs and shoves crayons up his nose when he’s supposed to be taking a nap. He loves outside and makes massive messes and throws temper tantrums that leave all the toilet paper in the house unfurled on the floor and toothpaste tubes squeezed out into sinks.

Izuku is Izuku is three and is like most boys his age. He is short, and sweet and hugs his mother goodbye when it’s time to go to pre-school. He loves heroes and Kacchan and his lets him save her when he plays All Might.

Izuku is four but he is not like most boys his age. His classmates shout and run during recess while the teachers look on fondly. He gets beat up behind the school by boys three times his size. His classmates find frogs in the creek and fireflies after dark. He goes from doctor’s appointment to doctor’s appointment and prays the doctors are wrong; that they find something (anything) that would let him be normal, that would let him be a hero. His classmates’ parents tuck them in at night with a bedtime story and a kiss. He falls asleep to the sound of his parents arguing over a fact of his genetics. His father leaves, and he never comes back.  His classmates learn kanji and numbers. He learns a single truth: everyone is not created equal. Izuku is four and he is quirkless.

Izuku is five and he buries himself in schoolwork and hero news to ignore the stinging burns and scent of smoke that follows him home. He learns to lie and mislead and distract. He learns and plots and schemes and prays that this is all just a bad dream and he’ll wake up any moment and his dad will be home, that Kacchan will play with him again, that he won’t fall asleep to his mothers muffled sobs at night and that everything will go back to normal. (It isn’t, and it won’t, this is permanent, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.)

Izuku is six when his life changes again. He had made a sort of routine in the past year and a half since discovering he was quirkless. He wakes up, gets ready for school (he’s in proper school now, its not any better) and eats breakfast before hugging his mother goodbye. He walks to school and when he gets there, endures harsh words and harsher actions as he tries to stuff his tiny brain full of knowledge about everything he can until lunch. (Heroes have to be smart) Kacchan and his lackeys always steal his lunch (no matter where he hides or who he tells) but Izuku tells himself its okay and tries to ignore the ringing of Kacchan’s explosions in his ears. He gets beat up instead of one of Kacchan’s victims at recess and struggles through afternoon classes. He runs home as fast as possible. (He doesn’t want to be around Kacchan any longer than necessary.) and he lies to his mother about why he smells of smoke and is covered in minor burns. He sits himself in front of the news and writes his hero notes for the future.

It starts simply enough, with a special interview with two new heroes that Izuku had been really interested in learning more about. The excavation hero: Power loader, and the telekinetic hero: Push-and-Pull. Izuku sits on the edge of his seat as the two heroes answer the host’s questions. Both heroes heavily rely on and/or build their own support items, and they spend most of their interview stressing their importance in heroics. Izuku finds himself writing down their every word and wondering (If he could learn to build, could he be a hero too?)

Izuku is six and he can’t stop himself from delving into the world of support and design and engineering. He sits at his desk and fills his notebooks full of battle strategies and weapon designs. He spends hours pouring over the support items of heroes and how they use them. From Present Mic’s directional speaker to push-and-pull’s net gun. He fills notebook after notebook of ideas and childish blueprints.

Izuku is seven and writing isn’t enough. Izuku bothers his mother until she enrolls him in an online engineering course. He spends hours watching videos about physics and chemistry and everything in-between. He chases heroes to see them in action and he develops a mutter. He writes out ideas and considers what concepts he’d need to master to build them. Izuku spends his time watching how it’s made and hero interviews and studying for his schoolwork. (He finds Kanji boring and math simple, he doesn’t understand why he should care, not when there are so many other interesting things to learn)

Izuku is seven and he’s acing all his schoolwork without even trying, he can do math better than most middle schoolers' and knows more kanji than anyone else in his grade. (it’s to be expected, with how much he writes these days) it angers Kacchan but he can’t find it in him to care. Not when there are so many other things to care about. Like his chemistry homework and that English dictionary (he wants to better understand English blueprints and engineering textbooks.)

Izuku is eight and he discovers an abandoned beach full of trash. He spends his allowance on tools and supplies at the hardware store and his free time building strange devices in the sand. He comes home covered in sand and soot and oil and happier than he was before he left. Kacchan and his lackeys beat him up after school and the teachers ignore it. Izuku learns to be sneaky and he watches and he learns. He learns that Kacchan always leads with a right hook and can never protect his left knee. He learns that the boy with the fingers’ bones are brittle and would be easy to snap. He learns that prehensile eyes is slow and would be easy to get behind. (He never acts on this knowledge, but it’s always there; he can’t decide if it’s a comfort or a curse) He begs and begs his mother to enroll him in a martial arts program. They visit no less than seven dojos and only receive apologies from the owners who don’t want to take on a quirkless kid. (Izuku turns to his inventions with renewed vigor and stinging in his eyes.) He Doesn’t cry, not anymore, he won’t give them the satisfaction.  (And if he looks up videos on self defense when no one is looking, well, no one has to know.) Izuku finds comfort in pre-quirk era comics and video games and lets them inspire his inventions.  

Izuku is nine and he meets mister Kurasuma. Mister Kurasuma is the science teacher who wanted to be a support technician but wasn’t quite creative enough to make his own designs, and settled for teaching science (not really science Izuku thinks, too simple, too certain, not nearly enough of the uncertainties that fill any true scientific discipline.) to a bunch of raucous nine- and ten-year old’s. (Izuku doesn’t understand his choice of profession, kids are mean) But Izuku likes mister Kurasuma. He’s a tall -slightly spindly- man with salt and pepper hair and prominent laugh lines. He doesn’t let anyone bully Izuku in his classroom and is willing to go to extreme lengths to keep it that way. Mister Kurasuma is the first person Izuku tells about his hobbies and -much to Izuku’s surprise and eternal gratitude- completely supports him. Mister Kurasuma gets him set up with more difficult work and pays for him to take an online engineering class. (Inko, to her credit, tries her best to tell him it’s unnecessary, Mister Kurasuma insists it’s an honor to get to support such a brilliant mind as Izuku’s and refuses to accept a cent)

Izuku is nine and he drinks in the positive attention from someone other than his mother like it’s the only water in the desert. (It might as well be, Izuku is dreadfully lonely) Mister Kurasuma’s attention and kind words are a desperately needed balm against the endless teasing from his classmates. (and to Mister Kurasuma’s endless rage, other teachers) Kacchan’s quirk has developed significantly since they were four, and wounds that used to sting for a few minutes burn for hours and leave him in the nurse’s office with a bag of ice. (No one seems to care that Izuku now spends more time out of class than in it)

Izuku is ten and Mister Kurasuma signs him up for a science fair in the inner city and Izuku (despite mounting excitement) would never guess how much it would change his life.

Chapter Text

Izuku is 10 and is standing in front of a scary looking building. The sheer number of people surrounding the building leaves him nervously mumbling to himself. He is currently in front of the building that holds the national primary school inventor’s competition: Mustafu division. He isn’t worried about winning the thing. He knows he won’t; the competition is open to all primary schoolers and averages nearly This includes sixth years looking to get into a prestigious middle school and averages over 4,000 participants annually. Izuku just doesn’t want to be publicly humiliated, that would be a success in his book. Izuku is clutching a box full of various inventions (he couldn’t pick just one, sue him) and a stack of blueprints. He finds himself wishing he had access to a proper lab. Maybe if he did he could make bring some of his more complex creations into existence, but for now the blueprints will have to do.

Mister Kurasuma and his mother flank him. Mister Kurasuma is beaming ear to ear while his mother is wringing her hands. She’s nervous too, somehow that makes his nerves just a little bit more bearable.

The receptionist is nice and explains to Izuku the rules of the fair, and that each year has its own competition.

“You mean I don’t have to compete against the sixth years?” He asks, he could have sworn that would have been the case.

The receptionist smiles at him. “Of course not! That would hardly be fair now, would it?” Izuku’s gut twists at the words (of course it’s not fair, when is anything in this world fair!?) Izuku’s mom is handed a stack of papers and a nametag. “The rules and regulations, along with a form of identification for the little inventor” the receptionist adds, seeing his mom’s confused look.

“Ah” His mother responds, taking the documents and a pen from the desk and deftly writing out Izuku’s name on the peel and stick tag before attaching it to him. (He could do it himself, but he knows his mom likes to baby him sometimes. It drives him up the wall, but with everything she’s endured for his sake, he can’t find it in himself to deny her something so simple) “Is there anything else?”

The receptionist nods. You’ll be in hall E, down the stairs and to the right,” She points towards a set of stairs “you can’t miss it” Izuku glances towards the stairs; stomach filled with nerves. “You’ll find a table with the little guy’s name on it, feel free to set up however you’d like!” The receptionist offers another smile and Izuku realizes they’re being dismissed. He sets off towards the indicated stairs just as he hears the receptionist call for the next person in line. 

Izuku and his mom and teacher wander around the not quite veritable army of tables, students, and parents for a while. They ended up having to ask three different people if they were headed in the right direction. Izuku finds himself less concerned by their lack of direction and very confused by the seemingly endless array of baking soda volcanoes that people have submitted and displayed at their tables. He thought this was an inventors competition, not a science fair.

Mister Kurasuma must notice because he leans over “Some schools require their students to participate at least once during their primary school years, so the students typically don’t try very hard.” Izuku feels slightly irked by this. (Although he can’t quite place his finger on why)

After another ten minutes they eventually find his table. The event doesn’t start for another half hour, so he has plenty of time to get everything set up. He and his mother dart around the table. Displaying a couple of his favorite inventions, (Including, but not limited to: an automatic solar powered dish scrubber, a tiny remote-control tank-esque cambot, and the thingamajig, this time in bright purple with neon green stripes.) his best blueprints, and a sizable tri-folding board that describes the inner workings of his physical inventions and some of the steps involved in making them.

Once Izuku had managed to set up his table to his satisfaction, he spared a glance at his competitors. For the most part, Izuku was… underwhelmed. Izuku was almost smack dab in the center of the room and as such had a pretty decent view of several competitors. He could clearly see at least 12 tables. On these tables he spotted one poster about potato batteries, two rock candy experiments, elephant toothpaste, a rubber egg, an ant farm, a poster about magnets, and no less than four baking soda volcanoes. What is with people and baking soda volcanoes!?

However, one of the tables did manage to catch his eye. Or rather, the girl manning it did. She had bright pink dreadlocks and was currently laughing manically. She was wearing goggles and a pair of grease stained overalls which further accentuated her mad scientist vibe. Her table lacked any posters that labeled what she had brought in, but was covered in bits and bobs of machinery which looked just as thrown together as Izuku’s own inventions.

“Come one come all!” The girl cackled “Marvel in the glory of my beautiful babies!” She threw her fist in the air. Izuku was intrigued and glanced at his mother, who was eyeing the pinkette with something akin to wariness.

“Well that table certainly looks interesting…” Mister Kurasuma mutters before turning to him “Want to check it out?”

Izuku takes a moment to think it over, and nods. They make their way over to the pinkette’s table with minimal difficulty. The closer Izuku gets to the table the more interested he becomes. The table is littered with haphazardly strewn papers and bits of mechanics. In the center of the table is a single machine which the pinkette is currently working on. Its roughly box shaped with all sorts of gears, pipes and pistons sticking out if it. There is a circular opening obstructed by rubber spindles. Attached are two hoses whose purposes elude him.

Izuku comes to a stop in front of the table. “Hello”

The pinkette looks up at him “Oh!” She smiles in a way that vaguely reminds him of a mad scientist “Are you here to see my babies!?” She is bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Babies?”

She smiles even wider (he didn’t think that was possible, do her cheeks hurt?) “Yes!” She holds up the machine she’s tinkering on. “This baby can strip off, replace, and dry a protective coating on a tool in thirty seconds!” Izuku gets a good look at her eyes, which are gold and have a sort of cross pattern in them.

Izuku blinks. “That sounds super cool!” Izuku is smiling now. “Can I see?”

The pinkette grins at him. “Of course!” She flips a switch on the side of the box, “Don’t worry about the noise!” She grins “It’s completely normal!” and tosses a rusted wrench through the top of the machine. The box immediately begins to let out a horrible screeching noise as the tubes wriggle and the gears and pistons shift and click. Little puffs of steam escape joints and attachment points. Everyone in the vicinity is holding their hands over their ears (Izuku can’t find himself to care, not when faced with such a magnificent contraption) and waiting for it to be over.

It takes a couple of seconds but the screeching stops and a drawer on the bottom of the box fits open and the wrench is there. Coated in a matte black material that looks vaguely like rubber. Izuku picks it up gingerly and inhales. Excitement and adrenaline buzzing through his veins. “That is…” He takes a breath (he’s awestruck really, it’s so cool) “Amazing!” He drops the wrench on the table and pounds the palms of his hand against the table (ignoring the sharp pains caused by the various metal bits and bobs on the table with all of the grace of someone too excited to care) “How is it powered!? Electric? I saw steam so it might be that although that might just have been a part of the layering system. What about the coating? Is it rubber based? What chemical compounds did you use? What percentages? How do you make sure the machine doesn’t damage the tool? Do you use a sensors system or…?”

The girl blinks once, then twice, and then smiles like a madman (Izuku is too) They spend the next forty-five minutes (a good way into the competition proper) Discussing the mechanics of her inventions (past and present). Izuku loves it. He loves being able to actually talk about this with someone his age. And the pinkette is more than happy to do so. He’s vaguely aware of Mister Kurasuma behind him (barely keeping up with the conversation)

“Where do you get your materials for your inventions?” He asks

“My family runs a small support shop! She lets me work in there sometimes!”

Izuku bounces on the balls of his feet. “That is so cool! I have to get all my supplies from the junkyard beach by my house!”

“Is there a lot of scrap metal? Mom limits how much I can use at a time…”

“Oh tons! I really only have to buy tools, I end up scavenging most of my materials.”

They drift back into easy conversation. They were just discussing the possibility of using a nuclear power source to power x-ray goggles and whether or not you could filter out the scatter radiation to produce a non-radioactive beam of x-ray vision, and what precautions would have to be taken during testing stages.  A group of three walks up to the table. Leading the group is a short and plump woman dressed in rumpled business clothes and a lab coat with her lilac hair up in a sensible -if messy- bun. Her glasses are thick and she seems slightly bug-eyed. “Excuse me” Her voice is raspy, like she has a cold. The duo look up at her. “Is this Hatsume Mei?”

“That’s me!” the girl he had been talking with smiled. “Are you here to judge my amazing babies!?”

Izuku blinks. Right, she calls her inventions babies. (Strange, but Izuku won’t judge) The judge is clearly put off by the statement, but does an excellent job shaking it off.  “Would you be willing to demonstrate for us?”

Mei nodded happily and once again set up the machine and threw in a handful of rusted screws and bolts. The screeching noise kicks up again and Izuku watches the machine at work, now armed with the knowledge of how it works. The judges (a little disgruntled by the noise) take notes once the machine spits out the coated bolts, and wish Mei luck before continuing on their way.

Izuku was about to engage in more conversation with the girl (Hatsume; he reminds himself) but is stopped by Mister Kurasuma. “I think it might be time to head back to your own booth. It wouldn’t be good to not be there when the judges arrive.”

Izuku acquiesces, but the girl seems miffed. “Can I come with?” she asks

Izuku blinks, before beaming at her. (Any adults in the area would later admit it was the cutest thing) It had been a long time since someone had asked to come with him to do anything. “Of course!”

“Awesome! What table are you! I have to let my mom know first though.” She pouts at the last sentence, as if letting her mom know her location was some sort of burden.

Izuku doesn’t pick up on that though. He points towards the table that his mom is sitting at. She glances up at him, and he waves excitedly. “Two down and three left!” Izuku proudly proclaims

The girl (Hatsume) nods excitedly. “Oh! Introductions. I’m Hatsume Mei! We’re friends now, so call me Mei!”

Izuku is momentarily stunned by the girls sudden (yet firm) proclamation. “I’m Midoriya Izuku, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He bows shortly, and when he stands up the girl gives him a hug.

“It’s very nice to meet you too!” She releases him (before he had a chance to hug back, his mind notes) and begins to run off. “I’ll meet you by your table!” She calls over her shoulder.

Izuku nods. “See you there!” He turns around sharply and begins to make his way over to his mother.

“Well…” Mister Kurasuma starts. “That was…” he pauses, trying to find the right words “an experience.”

“It was really fun!” Izuku decides “I hope she comes back, I still want to ask her about how she regulates piston pressure!”

Mister Kurasuma fails to stifle a groan.

As it turns out. Mei does come back, (although it’s after the judges came and left) all smiles and cheer dragging a woman behind her. (Izuku assumes that she’s Mei’s mother) She’s smiling, only with far less mania than her daughter. She has black dreads and pale skin paired with the exact same cross eyes as her daughter. From the corner of her eye to her chin is a long-jagged scar. She’s short, muscular and is wearing a set of black overalls with ‘Hatsume’s Workshop’ embroidered on the front in white thread, along with a grease stained white shirt and heavy boots. Despite her appearance, her body language is open and her expression is pleasant.

The woman strides forward with an air of confidence before stopping in front of the booth. “Is this Midoriya Izuku’s booth?” She asks. Her voice is deep and a little rough. Izuku decides that it sounds really cool.

Izuku’s mom nods. “Yes. I’m Midoriya Inko, Izuku’s mom, can I help you?” His mom is fidgeting now. (Nervous, his brain supplies.)

The woman smiles a little brighter. “I’m Hatsume Nanako, I heard that Izuku and my Mei got along, and wanted to meet the little guy.”

Izuku stands up a little straighter as Mei grabs his hand and drags him over to the table as their mothers converse. She points to the tank-bot. “Did you build that?”

Izuku nods. “It’s a camera bot. I disassembled a VR car and-“ Izuku begins to explain how he built the bot and it’s possible functions. Mei is fascinated and happily offers compliments, comments and suggestions. Izuku is smiling now. Mei is a lot of fun!

Unnoticed by the two children, their mothers watch on as they chatter incessantly. (Quietly shadowed by mister Kurasuma, who doesn’t want to impose on the conversation but is also secretly watching Izuku and Mei interact. Heaven knows that Izuku needs more positive interaction with kids his age; even if they’re a little eccentric) Izuku now has paper and pencils out and the duo are sketching out a new invention. (Neither woman knows the purpose of the unknown item, but find the sight adorable nonetheless)

“It looks like those two are having fun.” Nanako laughs “I haven’t met many people willing to talk tech with Mei, she tends to unsettle people.” She looks back over at the duo. “She pretends she doesn’t care but… I can’t help but worry.” She smiles at Inko. “You know?”

Inko is fighting back the urge to burst into tears. Izuku, her baby, is actually getting along with someone his age. (She hasn’t seen him this happy since before his diagnosis) she smiles at Nanako with watery eyes “…yeah…” she takes a shuddering breath “I do”

It takes another hour for the judges to get through everyone and decide on the winners. (Izuku heard that the first through fourth years are already done, but there are more older participants, so the fifth year division takes longer.

When the judges have finally made their decision, all of the participants (and family) are invited to the large empty space in front of the stage at the end of the hall. The three judges made their way to the front of the stage. The plump woman from earlier is standing to the left. Front and Center is a scrawny man whose features are utterly forgettable. He is smiling though, and it is genuine.

“Students, parents and friends” He begins “It is the honor of the judging committee to meet and interact with all of you. A true pleasure to work with some of the futures greatest minds in the making. the national primary school inventor’s competition prides itself on finding and molding great minds while giving them the opportunity for improvement and friendly competition. Each and every student came here today with something unique.” Izuku fought the need to scoff, tell that to the four hundred people who made baking soda volcanoes. “-Sadly, only three will be going on to nationals. But I’m sure you’re all dying to know who those three are.” The crowd gives a halfhearted cheer. “We ask that once participants are called, they come up to the stage to receive their medal and a few words from our head judge!” He pauses a moment. “Are you ready!?” the crowd once again gives a cheer. “That’s what I like to hear!” He unfolds a piece of paper. “In third place, with an umbrella that filters rainwater to drinking water, Okura Satoko!”

The crowd cheers as a tiny girl in a red and blue dress nervously makes her way up the stage.

The purple haired woman moves to the front of the stage as Okura goes up to retrieve her medal. “Miss Okura’s invention showed intelligence and an understanding of the basics of filtration.” She pauses a moment. “Her creativity and problem solving abilities will be invaluable as an inventor.”

The first guy takes over again. And Okura recedes to the background of the stage. “In second place, with a piece of machinery as loud as it is impressive: Hatsume Mei!”

He hears more than sees the pinkette squeal with excitement as she bounds her way up the stage.

“Miss Hatsume’s latex metal object coater showed immense mechanical and spatial prowess and an understanding of chemical processes” The purple woman adjusts her glasses. “Her enthusiasm and mechanical abilities embody the drive of an inventor”

Mei cheers and hoists her new silver medal in the air.

Mr. average tries to start speaking but is interrupted by Mei’s maniacal laughter. Mei is taking her sweet time laughing her butt off. Izuku finds himself giggling. Eventually the third judge just puts their hand over Mei’s mouth and dragging her backwards while the crowd laughs. “In first place, displaying massive amounts of ingenuity and engineering prowess; with no fewer than four physical inventions and over thirty blueprints to their name: Midoriya Izuku!”

Izuku freezes. (I won? How did I win?) he vaguely notices his mother crying next to him and Mister Kurasuma’s gentle shove towards the stage. Izuku walks up to the stage almost mechanically. His eyes burn (am I going to cry? Why?) He stands in front of the man and lets him place a medal around his neck.

The no nonsense woman is talking again. “Mister Midoriya’s inventions were all made from completely recycled materials, including a solar panel. Additionally, rather than accepting that he couldn’t build some of his ideas due to a lack of materials, he brought in blueprints along with expected problems and possible solutions to these theoretical problems. He showed intelligence and foresight alongside consideration and creativity. He has earned his first place rank!”

Izuku is shell shocked. He feels the trails of saltwater down his cheeks as the average man takes over the mic again. “This has been an incredible year! I daresay that some of these primary students outdid their middle school counterparts! Let’s give it up for our victors!”

The cheers nearly deafen the green haired boy. The one judge who is holding back Mei releases her and she continues to laugh maniacally. The judge shuffles over closer to Izuku and hands him a sleek looking business card. They smile at him. “You did amazing.”

Izuku looks up at the judge. “Thank you… but I didn’t really do anything that incredible.”

The judge laughs quietly. “Kid, I’m a second year support teacher at UA, you have more skill than the rest of my class combined.” Izuku gapes at them. “Don’t look so surprised. Minds like yours are in short supply.” They smile at him and then looks out at the crowd. Izuku follows their gaze and notices his mom sobbing while holding onto mister Kurasuma for dear life. “I won’t keep you, it looks like you have some people looking for you,” they straighten up “But I hope, when its time, to see you in my class”

“At Yuei!?” Izuku is gaping again.

“You’d fit right in.” They laugh softly and gesture to the card in his hands. “Call me if you ever need anything, minds like yours deserve to be shaped by the best of the best.” T

hey walk away calmly. He looks down to the card in his hand.  “Nishiyama Nobuko”Izuku continues to watch them until a sudden force slamming into him makes him stumble.

“Izu-kun!” The voice chimes (Mei, his brain supplies) Izuku gets up to realize that a) Mei is hugging him (he’s being hugged by a girl!) and b) he’s lost sight of the judge. Izuku spins quickly to be face to face with the excitable pinkette. She peels herself off of him and grabs his wrists before dragging him off the stage towards their respective parents. “Come on!”

Inko is crying and Mister Kurasuma is smiling so wide it looks like his face is about to split in half. Inko swallows Izuku in a hug and mrs. Hatsume claps her daughter on the back with a loud laugh.

“Izuku… my baby!” Inko sobs as she clings to her son. “I am so, so proud of you!” and Izuku smiles. (Maybe he could get used to this)

Chapter Text

The Hatsume’s end up insisting on them all getting ice cream together afterwards. (Inko doesn’t have the strength to refuse, not when Izuku and Mei get along so well) The group ends up in a small ice cream parlor out of the way of the busy streets. It’s not very busy (given that it’s November), but the two families (and mister Kurasuma) enjoy the treat.

Izuku and Mei have known each other for four glorious hours when the dreaded question comes. Izuku is finishing up his pistachio chocolate ice-cream while Mei is both building a small tower out of spoons, (no one is quite sure where she got them from) and eating a chocolate sprinkle and marshmallow sauce monstrosity while talking about the science behind quirk replication. (Despite Izuku’s lack of quirk himself, he loves quirk theory and is fascinated by recent efforts to recreate quirks, even if no one has actually succeeded yet.)

“What is your quirk?” Mei asks, she’s still smiling with barely contained mania, as if Izuku isn’t having a mental breakdown with every word. “Mine’s zoom, pretty standard stuff, but its super helpful when I need to build tiny machines.”

In the time it took for her to finish her sentence Izuku is pretty sure he went through all five stages of grief at the realization that she probably won’t want to be his friend anymore. (He always forgets when he meets someone new, he always forgets how fast people turn on him, and he always feels sick when he remembers. He likes Mei, he doesn’t want to lose her. Which feels doubly silly when he reminds himself of how long, or short really, he’s known her.) Izuku plays with his ice-cream for a moment, trying to delay the inevitable. “I don’t have one.” Mei tilts her head. She’s processing his mind whispers. “I’m quirkless…”

Mei blinks and her smile becomes even more manic. Izuku braces himself for the venomous words and tries to blink back tears. “That’s AMAZING!”

Izuku feels like the world is spinning. Every experience he’s ever had indicated that the outcome would be at best a useless platitude about how sorry she is that he was born wrong. (He wasn’t! Not that anyone he’d ever met would tell him that.) The confusion must show on his face because Mei’s grin dies a little. “You-“ Izuku frowns, mulling over the words. “-You don’t… mind?”

Mei blinks, and her smile falls completely to make way for a look of sheer bafflement. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t think it’s weird? Or wrong?” Mei tilts her head. As if this was the strangest thing she had ever heard. “You don’t think I’m broken or something?”

“Of course not!” she scoffs (Unaware of the awe of Inko and sheer pride of her mother) “You’re quirkless! That’s so cool!”

“Why?”

Mei levels a glare at him. “What do you think the biggest problem of mass producing support equipment is, even if it would make everyone’s lives so much easier?”

Izuku hesitated to give a response. Overactive mind supplying hundreds of reasons. “uhm… expenses? Factory emissions? Bureaucracy? tech getting in the hands of villains?-“

Mei apparently got bored with his train of thought because she interrupted him “Wrong, wrong, wrong and so very wrong!” She waved a spoon of sprinkle covered chocolate in the air, splattering a little bit of the half melted concoction against the wall next to them. “The biggest problem with mass producing things nowadays is trying to work around people’s quirks, and that goes triple for any support items. I have to specially make my goggles to be able to use my quirk with them, and there are hundreds of contraindications for any invention depending on the quirk of the potential users.” She continues to wave the spoon around, forgetting the wall in favor of shaking it in Izuku’s face. “You, Izu-kun”

“Izu-kun!?” He sputtered, what a childish nickname, we’ve known each other for maybe four hours!

“-shhhhush” she presses the spoon against Izuku’s lips in an attempt (vain as it is) to stop him from sputtering out vague halves of sentences that probably focus on the importance of following proper name etiquette. “you don’t have to worry about working around your quirk. You are the baseline for the human race! You can use pretty much any support item without having to prove that it won’t harm you or hinder your quirk!”

“Oh” Izuku’s response is quiet and soft and quivering with unknown emotion. He wipes at his eyes with the back of his sleeve, unsuccessfully hiding his face. “thank you.”

Mei smiles at him. It’s softer this time, less intense. “Of course! It’s true!” she fidgets a little “and besides, we’re friends aren’t we?”

Izuku smiles, eyes still wet with tears. “yeah”

The mothers (Kurasuma left a few minutes ago after finishing his Ice cream, he wanted to congratulate Izuku again, but he didn’t feel like incurring the inevitable wrath of the mothers if he interrupted the two inventors) sit and watch the exchange of their children. Nanako is glad to see her little girl connecting, whereas Inko is actually crying with relief at the sight of Izuku actually getting along with someone else. Inko and Nanako had been mostly talking about work and their children. Easy topics, especially given the… unique nature of their children’s personalities.

Nanako is halfway through a story about how Mei had managed to set her room on fire attempting to build an instant omelet machine when said girl raises her volume again to ask what Izuku’s quirk is. Nanako would have let it go (Mei talks loud no matter what, despite how many conversations she’s had with the girl about volume control, although she is considering scolding the pinkette for her volume anyways, just to be safe) but Inko sucks in a deep breath and turns to face the kids. Nanako is nothing if not curious, it’s why she does what she does, so she pauses her story and listens in to see if she can find what Inko would be so concerned over.

“I don’t have one.” Comes Izuku’s soft reply, and Nanako’s heart breaks at his voice. He sounds so unsure, so lost, so scared. “I’m quirkless.” And Nanako understands why Inko is watching with rapt attention. It’s no secret how the quirkless are treated, she knows it isn’t right, (and maybe that she should have spent more time defending them against her coworkers and clients.) but there’s little she could do. (at least that’s what she tells herself, listening to Izuku’s voice crack in fear of Mei’s response, hoping she drilled enough common decency into her little girls head to not be an asshole about this situation and treat it with some modicum of delicacy.)

It turns out that Nanako gets to feel pride at her daughter’s response. She, despite Nanako’s silent plea, does not handle the situation with delicacy, and does a better job of comforting the boy than she thinks anyone ever has. Spelling out the honest advantages of his quirkless status rather than its disappointments. Inko is crying now, (She does that a lot, Nanako thinks it must be genetic though, given that Izuku is also crying) and Nanako pats her hand in comfort.

They’ve spent almost two hours in the ice cream parlor by the time they leave. Izuku inevitably asks what happened to Kurasuma and is given a not quite accurate explanation. Mei and Izuku are still chatting about everything they could think of when they step out. Nanako is pretty sure Mei has said more to Izuku in the last couple of hours than she’s said to her this year. (Impressive, given that Mei is a massive chatterbox and the fact that it is currently late November) Inko is still watching with a grateful smile and tears in her eyes.

“Thank you Hatsume” she whispers, voice quivering with what Nanako assumes must be gratitude.

“What for?” and she means it. What could Inko possibly be thanking her for? She hasn’t done anything.

“Raising a girl like that, I don’t think I’ve seen Izuku this happy since he was diagnosed quirkless.” Nanako blinks as the heavy reality of that statement sinks in. Inko looks at her, green eyes shimmering with tears and streetlight. “Thank you.”

“I feel like you shouldn’t be thanking me for simple human decency.”

Inko gives a small smile “You’d be surprised.”

Nanako bites her lip. She pulls one of her many notepads out of her bag and spends another minute searching for a pen. When she finally finds it she quickly writes down her number and email. (personal, not work) “We should get them together sometime.”

“like a playdate?” Inko smiles at her.

Nanako bites back laughter. Mei would throw a fit if she heard it called that. “Something like that.” She chuckles “I thought they might have fun building together.” She admits

“That sounds like a lot of work”

“Not really, I live on top of my workshop, and I can’t really keep Mei out of it. I just gave her a table in the corner and limits on what materials she can use.” Nanako smiles “What does Izuku do? I saw his table, he’s got to have at least a few tools.”

Inko pauses a moment. “I’m not entirely sure, he comes home from school several hours late and covered in sand and soot. He buys a couple of tools with his allowance, but I never know what he does with them!”

The two mothers are interrupted by one overexcited pink haired girl. “Ma!” Mei is dragging one confused Izuku by the wrist. “Do you remember that team robot battle I was talking about!”

“Mei, volume.”

“Well!? Do you!?” Her smile is bordering on crazy.

“The one next summer?”

“Yeah! Could I work with Izu-kun to build one!?”

Inko looks like she’s trying to comprehend what’s happening “A… robot?”

“YEAH!” Mei is hopping up and down now. She still hasn’t let go of Izuku’s wrist, leaving his arm bobbing up and down strangely. “It’d be so much fun! I need a teammate to participate, and Izu-kun is super cool!” She stops jumping up and down to hug Izuku’s arm

Izuku flushes at that. The arm that Mei isn’t holding hostage is reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “please mom?”

Inko sighs. “Okay.” She turns towards Nanako “When are you available to watch them?”

Nanako laughs. “I can take ‘em any day of the week, somehow I doubt he’ll be any more trouble than this little one!” She musses Mei’s hair, leaving her daughter sputtering half formed refutes and complaints. “How about after school on Wednesday?”

“Sounds good to me.”

The two inventors cheer and it takes every ounce of determination (and a little bit of physical force) for their parents have to pry the duo from each other. Izuku smiled the whole way home, pulling out graph paper (where did he even get that?) and sketching down some preliminary ideas. 

Chapter Text

The rest of the weekend passed faster than Izuku would have liked. After the competition and Izuku and Mei’s celebratory Ice-Cream excursion, Inko had done her best to tell her son how proud she was of him for winning a national competition! Izuku had actually left school early on Saturday in order to get to the competition on time. The mother son duo had spent the Sunday after the competition out on the town.

The incredible thing happened after the mother son duo got home and Inko had checked the mail. Amongst the usual bills and coupons, was an official looking letter. It is after dinner, and Izuku had retreated to his room to draw out some ideas to share with Mei on Saturday.

Inko reads the back of the letter. “Somei Primary School?” She opens it and cautiously removes the letter.

Inko stares at the packet with something akin to wonder. “Such an elite school wants to enroll my Baby?” She rifles through the remaining pages, included is the registration packet, and a list of contact information, including (but not limited to) an address, a phone number, and two separate emails. She considers the offer, and looks up how far Somei Primary is from her home. It ends up being forty-five minutes by train. It’s quite the commute, and Inko wonders if it would be worth it. After all, Izuku can walk to his current school. She decides to at least consider it, and ask what Izuku thinks a little later in the week, probably after his visit with Mei on Thursday.

-

It’s Monday now and Izuku was not looking forward to going to school. He didn’t want to deal with explaining to Kacchan why he had been missing for the last class of Saturday’s half-day. But, like a good student he diligently put on his uniform and meandering into the kitchen for breakfast, pausing in the hallway to take in the gleaming medal his mother had hung on the wall. Inko was already in the kitchen and humming softly as she put together a simple breakfast for them.

“Good morning Mom!”

Inko startles and whips around quickly. She relaxes immediately upon seeing him and gives him a bright smile. “Izuku! Good morning!”

Izuku and his mother exchange pleasantries and small talk until he has to leave for school. Izuku fakes a bright smile and walks out the door. Izuku liked to get to school early, it was harder for Kacchan to catch him by the entrance that way. (sometimes he wonders if everything has to be about Kacchan) Izuku sighs and physically shakes himself to try and dislodge the mildly morose thought. Besides he thinks to himself I’ll be able to hang out with Mei after school!

Izuku is the first person to enter his classroom. It’s 8:00, and there would be 45 minutes before homeroom would start. Izuku pulls out one of his notebooks and begins to draw some design ideas for the mechanical arms Mei suggested they put on their robot. Izuku briefly pauses, biting the end of his pencil. “I wonder what power source we should use, if we use gas they might be able to add a flamethrower!” Izuku hastily begins drawing a separate set of plans in the corner. “But then we’d have to come up with a mechanism to keep the fuel tank from setting fire…” He continues on like that, and for nearly fifteen minutes the only sound in the room is soft mumbling and the scratch of his pencil on paper.

Far sooner than Izuku would have liked, the next student of the day enters the room. It’s Nakamura-san. A short girl with curly black hair and thick glasses. She has a quirk that lets her set things on fire with a glare, but it gives her a vicious headache and bloody nose for her trouble. Izuku ducks his head as she enters the room and slides into her seat.  She’s quiet, and more often than not the second person here. Kacchan likes to tease her for her nerdy tendencies, and Izuku had defended her on the playground more than once. (Not that she ever acknowledged it) Izuku makes a conscious effort to stop muttering when he turns back to his notebook.

It doesn’t take long for Izuku’s other classmates to trickle in. Pretty soon the only person missing is Kacchan and his clique. Izuku hopes that they won’t be too aggressive today. (He knows that it’s in vain, but hopes nonetheless)

Izuku hears him before he sees him. A long series of swears that Izuku doesn’t know all the definitions to float down the hall a few moments before Kacchan slams open the classroom door. He’s quickly followed by his posse, scanning the room for something. Izuku flinches when Kacchan’s eyes fall on him. The blonde all but growls at his once-childhood friend and stalks his way through the rows. Izuku risks a glance to the clock and finds that there’s only five more minutes before class starts. (Kacchan only has five minutes to hurt him)

Small sparks fly from Kacchan’s palms as he slams his hands down on Izuku’s desk. (His classmates flinch, but do nothing, they’ve learned not to draw Bakugo’s ire, especially not for the quirkless freak.) Izuku barely suppresses a squeak. He holds his notebook to his chest defensively as Kacchan leans down to get in his face. “Where were you on Saturday? Huh?”

Izuku is trembling now (Bakugo feels a thrum of satisfaction at this) and feels the familiar burn of tears in the corners of his eyes. “I-I was-I was at a competition.”

“Oh? What for” He gulps as Kacchan places a hand on his shoulder, letting sparks eat at the smaller boy’s uniform. 

“Engineering”

Kacchan blinks as the new information sets in. “Engineering? Like you’re shitty support items?” He scoffs “no real hero ever relies of support items! Did you think that using half-baked technology would carry your shitty ass to a hero course?!” He grabs the notebook out of Izuku’s arms and burns it with a small explosion. (Izuku can’t do anything but whimper as the tears spill down his cheeks) “Here’s a news flash, it won’t, so do us all a favor and give up.” His voice was full of venom as he chucked the burned notebook across the room.

Hataoka Sensei entered the room just in time to get hit by the still smoldering mass of paper and half-formed ideas. Everyone in the room froze. Even Bakugo seemed to realize the gravity of what had just happened. The notebook fell off of the teachers face and fell to the floor with a plop. “Would someone like to explain to me what is going on here?” Hataoka Sensei’s tone was neutral, (full of the calm anger that was always a little more terrifying than its loud and brash counterpart) and it sent a shiver up everyone in the room’s spine.

Predictably, no one spoke up, and even though the fact that the book was charred and Kacchan and his group were the only students not already seated, it was fairly obvious who’s fault it was. But without verbal evidence, Hataoka Sensei only sighed and moved towards the front of the room. “Sit down, class has started. If I catch anyone doing that again, I will not hesitate to send them to the principal’s office.” She straightened up as Bakugo shuffled towards his seat. Izuku let out a silent sigh of relief. Prepared to get homeroom over with as soon as possible.

She begins to sort through various papers before looking up (as if she had realized something interesting, but unimportant) “Midoria” She states calmly. Izuku is immediately standing, confused as to why she would be calling on him. “Congratulations on winning the national engineering competition, its nothing to sneeze at, especially considering the fact that you’re quirkless.” She offers a smile “I was beginning to worry that you would never become anything more than a fast-food employee.” She returns to shuffling papers as Izuku’s ears burn.

He feels his chest tighten and eyes burn with some hot emotion he cannot name. (It is anger, hot and volatile and full of venom and spite. He is angry; angry at the disinterest, angry at the half-hearted praise, angry at the fact that even when he proves he is better than anyone else in the country, it means nothing in comparison to his quirkless status. Angry that despite his brain, his determination, his skill, he is worthless because he can’t become a hero without a quirk.) He bows quietly and sits back down; expertly ignoring the snickers with the skill born of practice. (Not ease, never ease)

He thought that would be the worst of it. It isn’t, his third class of the day is Mathematics with Naito sensei. He spends the first ten minutes of class praising Izuku for his accomplishment. Citing the importance of math in engineering, saying that he always knew that Izuku had it in him, and offering to help him after school if he ever has any problems with formulas. Izuku wants to scream. The platitudes would have been embarrassing coming from anyone else, but Naito Sensei had purposefully ignored any and all bullying towards Izuku in his classes. Going so far as to tell Izuku off for ‘distracting’ his star pupil Bakugo when the bullying began to include in-class explosions, and underscoring every piece of work he had turned in all year.

Lunch is its own kind of nightmare. Like usual, Kacchan and co. corner him, steal his lunch, and leave him with a series of nasty bruises and burns to try and cover before he goes home. (or really before he gets to mister Nakamura’s class this afternoon) Unlike usual, the beating lasts longer, and is filled with questions about why he thinks he’s so much better than Kacchan, why he thought that he would be worth anything, and reaffirmation that nothing he ever does will mean anything in comparison to the greatness that is sure to follow Kacchan when he becomes the number one hero. (Izuku spends the rest of lunch soothing burns under streams of cold water and trying in vain to remove the smell of smoke from his uniform.)

Recess passes in much the same way. Although, Izuku does manage to rescue a kid in his class from Kacchan’s bullying, only to be told by the boy that he ‘didn’t want to be saved by a nerd’.

Izuku trudges through more classes, more meaningless praise, and more derisive snickering from his classmates. He gets to his second to last class of the day and it is with Mister Kurasuma. (Izuku is convinced that he is an angel sent from the heavens) He does not mention Izuku’s recent achievement, but smiles at him, and sends glares at anyone who so much as looks at him funny. Even Kacchan is unwilling to say anything in his presence, and Izuku happily completes on the simple classwork that he could probably do in his sleep with nearly half the class to spare. With a nod of acceptance from Mister Kurasuma, he is allowed to pull out one of his notebooks, and work on some designs. Not wanting a repeat of this morning, Izuku quickly shoves the book into his bag nearly five minutes before class is over, and doodles on his long since finished classwork for the rest.

After science is physical education, and Izuku can feel himself die a little inside. It’s the last class of the day, and the worst. Most days are just games or some sport, but today is the day that the fifth years participate in the 8 national fitness tests. Izuku wants to curl up and die, but he somehow manages to get through most of the activities without drawing undue attention to himself.

It’s all for nothing once the second to last test is revealed. It is the distance run, and while Izuku doesn’t know it yet, he is screwed. Izuku tries to make sure that regardless of actual physical ability, remains in the middle of the pack. It makes it harder for people to pick on him. (not that they wouldn’t do it anyways, but he likes to give as little incentive as possible) By the time the distance run has rolled around, Izuku is too tired from the unusually strenuous day to really do anything other than run on autopilot. Few know this (and fewer still grasp its implication) but due to a longer than usual walk home, trips to the beach whenever he can manage, and outrunning bullies: Izuku has uncanny speed for someone his size, and a large supply of stamina to go with it. In short, Izuku manages to be the third person across the finish line, coming in only three seconds before Kacchan.

He’s so tired from his awful day and the tests that he doesn’t realize his mistake until after the blond was behind him, panting and growling and generally sounding like something Izuku wants to get as far away from as possible. (But he’s tired now, legs jelly and unwilling to respond to his near frantic demand to run) Izuku can only stare as the blond menace glares down at him.

“Are you trying to pick a FUCKING fight Deku!?” Kacchan howls with anger “Where do you get off pretending to be better than me!? Huh!?” His hands are on his shoulders now. “You fucking piece of shit!!! You should jump of a building and just die already!” His hands are sparking with dangerous heat “You may think you’re hot shit with your new award and all! You may even have the teachers in your corner! But you aren’t fucking shit!” The sparks are now explosions, and Izuku whimpers as Kacchan’s hands burn into his uniform. “You will never amount to anything! You hear me Deku!?” Smoke is coming up from his shoulders and Izuku can smell his own burning flesh. “You are a worthless, quirkless, Deku, and that is all you will ever be!” Kacchan is screeching and Izuku is failing at holding back tears as he nods. (anything to make the pain stop, to make Kacchan leave him alone)

“Bakugo” The stern voice of the PE teacher travels across the track. “Let go of Midoria.”

Kacchan turns and scowls at the teacher, before removing his hands from Izuku’s shoulders. There are holes in his uniform where his hands were, and if Izuku could hear through the ringing in his ears, he would hears a series of hisses from his classmates as he collapses to his knees, arms limp. He looks up at his friend (bully) and teacher to see Kacchan arguing passionately, explosions going off in his palms while the teacher looks deadly calm. It takes a moment for Izuku to hear anything through the ringing, and everything feels a little fuzzy from the pain.

“-were you even thinking pulling a stunt like that?” Izuku has to think for a second before he recognizes that it’s his teacher’s voice. The teachers voice is calm and collected, everything Kacchan is not.

Kacchan seethes in his anger, steam practically puffing out of his ears. “I was putting that damn nerd in his place that’s what!” he growls

Izuku’s teacher sighs. (or at least it looked like it, Izuku can’t really hear what’s happening) He shakes his head at Kacchan in disappointment. (not anger, it should have been anger, this situation deserved anger.) “Bakugo, go to the principals office, I will meet you there after class.” The blond nearly blows his top, but manages to get some sort of lid on his anger and stalks away towards the main building. “Takeda” The girl in question stands up a little straighter. “You’re class 5-c’s representative, correct?”

The girl nods “Yes sir” She is a little weary from the tests, but stands at perfect attention nonetheless.

The PE teacher looks her over. (Seeing if she is up to the task he wants to give her) “Take Midoria to the Nurses office.” He looks over the crowd that watches the ongoing scene like a drama “The rest of you, we still have the seated toe touches to get through, get to work”

Takeda goes about helping Izuku get to his feet. It takes longer than he would like. (any attempt to grab his arms is met with a flare of pain and the urge to scream, and any attempt to grab anywhere else would be inappropriate and/or uncomfortable.) It probably doesn’t help that Takeda doesn’t want to be within fifteen feet of him. (She’s trying to hide it, Izuku notes, but she’s scared Kacchan will come after her for helping him, he can’t really blame her.) It takes a while, but they eventually manage, and begin their stumbling trek to the nurse’s office. Izuku’s shoulders burn. And he wonders how he didn’t notice it before. It takes simultaneously far too long and no time at all for him and Takeda to find themselves outside of the nurse’s office. Takeda opens the door for him, and leaves the second he’s inside.

Izuku gulps. “Excuse me?” The nurse’s office is a plain white room, with two cots, a stocked medical cabinet, and a desk. The nurse on staff is currently sitting at her desk, writing something down in a small notebook.

The nurse looks up from her desk to see a scrawny pre-teen boy with charred clothing on the edge of tears, alone in her office. She starts and quickly ushers him into one of the beds. She begins the process of looking him over, and winces. It isn’t pretty, and is outside her scope of legally treatable problems. (She isn’t licensed to treat burns like this, hell, she can’t even give him ibuprofen) She discreetly calls emergency services and the boys mother before pulling up a stool to sit next to him. “are you okay?”

Izuku blinks hazily at the nurse; tears running down his cheeks as he breathes in and out shakily. He wants to nod, to say everything is fine. (It isn’t and he burns) He shakes his head.

The nurse frowns. “No, I don’t think you would be.” She hums “Can you lay down for me? Emergency services will be here soon, they’ll get you all patched up.”

The boy winces and shakes his head. (Laying down would involve letting his burns touch the bed. He can’t do that.)

The nurse sighs and gets back up. The door squeaks open and Takeda slips back inside, Izuku’s bag in hand. The nurse tilts her head. “I thought he might need these.”

“That was very kind of you”

Takeda shrugs off the praise. She looks over Izuku again, who vaguely recognizes her presence, he might be in shock, he’s not quite sure. The only thing that seems real is the pain in his shoulders and the ringing in his ears. She leaves without another word.

It takes another twenty minutes for emergency services to arrive. They shuffle him into the back of an ambulance and head towards the hospital. Izuku doesn’t remember much of what happens after that. (everything is too fuzzy)

Midoriya Inko arrives at her son’s school ten minutes after the ambulance had left. The office is in shambles and her eyes zero in on Mister Kurasuma, who is sitting with his head in his hands on one of the overstuffed office chairs. She feels the tears well up in her eyes. “Mister Kurasuma?”

He starts, and when he looks her in the eye Inko can see the shame and fury hidden there. “Midoriya”

“What happened? Where’s my son?”

He takes a shuddering breath. “He’s at the hospital right now, receiving treatment for some burns a classmate gave him during PE.”

Inko feels a wave of despair crash into her as tears slip down her cheeks.

Mister Kurasuma springs to his feet and lays a comforting hand on the mother’s shoulder. “He’s going to be fine. No need to worry.”

“Why?”

Mister Kurasuma fidgets. “We don’t know, apparently your son beat the student in the long distance run in class, and the student wanted to ‘show him his place’” He practically sneers. “It shouldn’t have happened, not to him, and I am so, so sorry.”

“Who?” Inko had an inkling she knew who, and she prayed to whatever deity might be out there that she was wrong.

“Bakugo Katsuki”

Inko feels a crushing weight. Katsuki had never been the gentlest of souls, but she still distinctly remembered the little boy as Izuku’s best friend and used to see him as a second son. It killed her when Izuku and Katsuki had stopped hanging out. “What’s going to happen now?”

“I’m doing my best to see that the brat gets punished for what he’s done” Mister Kurasuma all but hissed, “But the principal has a soft spot for the kid, seems to think he’s the next coming of Jesus Christ or some shit” Inko winced at the language, but didn’t interrupt Mister Kurasuma. “I doubt he’ll get more than a slap on the wrist. Personally, I would recommend taking Izuku out of this school, I know that’s a lot to ask, but I think that as long as he’s in the same school as Bakugo, he won’t be safe, much less happy.” Mister Kurasuma is scowling. “If Bakugo doesn’t receive proper punishment, I will go to the board to report the tolerance of bullying if I have too, but your son doesn’t deserve to be dragged into all of that.”

Inko can’t help but think back to the letter she received only a few hours before. She decides to think about that later; her son is hurt and she needs to be with him. “Thank you Mister Kurasuma.”
The man looks at her. “No need to thank me, he’s a good kid. He’s gonna change the world one of these days, and I can’t wait to see it.”

Inko and Mister Kurasuma say their goodbyes and someone presses Izuku’s bag into her hands before she makes her way to the hospital.

Izuku comes back to awareness in a white room, feeling fuzzy. (The painkillers make sure of that.) There’s an IV in his arm and the ringing in his ears is still there. His mom is sitting in the corner wringing her hands. “Hey Mom” Izuku’s voice is hoarse, and he almost winces at the sound of it.

Inko starts and hurries over to her son’s bedside. “Hey baby” she whispers. “How are you feeling?”

Izuku thinks about that for a moment. “numb?”

Inko lets out a short huff of air. (It’s a laugh, Izuku will later realize, a sad one, but a laugh all the same.) “That’s probably for the best.” She murmurs. She rests her hands on his cheeks and smiles at him.

The mother and son talk for a while. They don’t cover anything important. (Inko is wracked with guilt and indecision and Izuku can’t really focus enough to discuss anything with consequences.) The doctor eventually comes in. An older woman with a nice smile, clean white scrubs, and a hearty amount of smile lines. She puts Izuku at ease.

The doctor describes Izuku’s wounds to him. He’s told he was brought here with severe second degree burns and lost a lot of fluid. The burned location is a lot larger than what they usually deal with and if the burn had gone half a millimeter deeper, he probably would have lost all feeling around the burned area. As it is, it will probably be a little numb, even after it heals. Izuku learns that the burn will leave a scar, and that it will take a few weeks to heal. He’s told that the hospital wants to keep him until the burns scab over, to make sure there aren’t any infections. (They don’t know how long it will take) The doctor eventually takes her leave, and Izuku thinks he likes her marginally less now.

Inko stands outside her son’s hospital room, turning over a set of letters in her hands. It really isn’t hard to decide. She fills out the forms in her hands and makes plans to drop them off at the first opportunity. She won’t let this happen again. She won’t.

Despite Mister Kurasuma’s best, Bakugo does not receive the punishment he deserves. The whole incident is written off as a ‘quirk accident’ and it makes his blood boil. (He doesn’t stay as a teacher much longer, he can’t work with people who allow injury to come to students because they fear tarnishing the future of a kid with a powerful quirk.)

Mister Kurasuma does go to the board, and is soundly ignored. He feels anger swell. This world is wrong, it’s foundations crooked. (It needs to be rebuilt, Mister Kurasuma knows the right person for the job, he just needs to make sure he has the chance to grow up a little first.)

Chapter Text

By the time Izuku is discharged from the hospital, it’s already time for winter break. His burns are healing nicely, and Mei had even come over to see how he was doing. (Both in and out of the hospital, his Mom was too excited to tell her or her mother no) His mom had just started letting him write again (Izuku understood her concern, but come on!) and was working on some of his newer ideas that Mei had helped him come up with when his mom came through the door. Izuku groaned internally, the last three times she had done this it was to tell him not to write so much. (apparently it could aggravate the burns?)

“Izuku?” She sounds unsure

Izuku nods in her direction, prompting her to continue. (He may be annoyed, but he has enough tact to keep it from showing thank you very much)

“We need to talk”

And if that doesn’t make Izuku’s blood turn to ice he doesn’t know what will. That sentence never means anything good, and Izuku’s mind kicks into high gear, coming up with countless senarios of what could be wrong; ranging from plausible to absolute raving nonsense. He nods to show he’s listening. (He doesn’t really trust his voice right now.)

“It has… come to my attention…” his mother takes a steadying breath “that you’ve been bullied at school”

And Izuku freezes. How does he respond to that? All he can really do is nod lamely. (Izuku could have denied it, but he has a feeling that Mister Kurasuma had told his mother. Izuku thinks that Kurasuma assumed Izuku had already told his mother, and that's why he had yet to mention it. No point in beating a dead horse, as they say)

“Mister Kurasuma told me that despite you telling the teachers, they never did anything.” Izuku looks away from her. “Which led me to make a decision.” She pulls out a folded sheet of paper, and hands it to him. “right after the competition” Izuku winces slightly at the mention of that. He has mixed feelings about that day. On one hand, he met Mei, on the other, it provoked Kacchan. “You were offered a scholarship to Somei Primary for your sixth year.”

Izuku gapes at his mother. He’s changing schools? “Do I-“

“Yes you have to go.” His mother interrupts him.“I’ve already sent in the paperwork. It’s an elite school, and they have a very strict no bullying policy there. I think you could be happy.” She grabs his hands and squeezes, a sign of love and solidarity that Izuku (despite his frustration) appreciates

“I-“ Izuku tries to rebut 

“I’m still not happy you didn’t tell me that Katsuki was bullying you.” His mother tells him sternly. The effect only slightly marred by the shining in her eyes that signify how close she is to tears. (and isn't that a punch to the gut)

Izuku can feel the shame roll in his stomach, making him feel almost nauseous. “I didn’t want to worry you.” It's barely more than a whisper. Izuku's throat feels tight. He isn't sure if its from the shame of his mother finding out that he had been bullied, his guilt for his mothers (almost) tears, or some left over side effect of the medication the hospital gave him to numb his burns.

His mother sighs, and rakes a hand through his curls. “I’m your mother,” she whispers softly “I’m always going to worry, it’s my job.” Izuku refuses to look at her, and she sighs. “I love you, and I only want what’s best for you.”

Izuku remains silent.

His mother sighs again. “I know you don’t want this, but can you try? For me?”

His mother tilts his face and he’s forced to look her in the eye. They’re both seconds away from tears. “I-I’ll try” he eventually whispers.

His mother envelops him in a hug. “Thank you.”

A week after he was discharged from the hospital (two and a half weeks after he left school for the last time) Izuku gets a letter. It is an invitation to the nationals of the national primary school inventor’s competition. He had honestly forgotten that that was a thing. (a thing he had been beaten up over no less) It would be televised, and Izuku didn’t know how he felt about it. The final leg of the competition would be in Tokyo during the end of spring, to allow the inventors time to come up with new contraptions. Izuku decided he would need to ask Mei about it when she came over on Friday.

Izuku and Mei get along like a house on fire. The duo manage to spend a fairly ridiculous amount of time together before Izuku has to go back to school. (Regardless of any form of prior obligation) Izuku finds himself on the train to the Hatsume’s workshop at least twice a week, and Mei always seems to find a different way to show up on Dogobah beach every Friday. They skype on any day where they don’t meet in person; and the duo design and plan and build more things in three months than either had thought of or made in their whole lives. Izuku likes to think his electric shock grenades are coming along quite nicely. Mei is working on a drone that could potentially find life signs in collapsed rubble and then send the locations to rescue groups. (Their mothers watch in awe and horror as they both attempt to find a way to force methane gas to separate into hydrogen and carbon atoms to use as a fuel source.)

The first day at his new school finds Izuku standing outside a room with the words 6-C emblazoned on the door. He’s practically shaking. (His mother had called and asked if he could finish his school year at Somei Primary, and they had said yes.)

He had gotten to school ridiculously early, despite the longer commute. The doors had only opened a few minutes ago. He had wanted to get there before his classmates and start his morning ritual of writing before class. (It helps him calm down and get into the right frame of mind, and he hopes it will help settle the nausea that seems stuck in the back of his throat) He worries nonetheless (Worries that they might tease him, worries that they might mock him, worries that they might destroy his things or force him to continue to lie to his mother. He worries that it will be no different, and that everything he’s done -everything his mother has done- will be for nothing.) He is the new kid after all, showing up at the tail end of the year as a transfer student. He shakes his head to try and rid it of the nerves that plague him. After all, staring at the door isn’t going to do anything, and Mei would scold him for being so willing to waste precious time.

Its with thoughts of determination (and a fair bit of reminding himself that he is not a Deku, that he is smart and clever and determined and that this school saw that, saw his quirklessness too, and wanted him anyways, was willing to take him two months before the end of the school year because he had asked.) that he slides open the classroom door.

Inside is a fairly standard classroom, the room wider than it is long, a blackboard and a small podium in the front, desks lined up neatly in five rows of four, and a line of windows letting in the morning sun. What Izuku is not expecting, is the boisterous student with navy hair that startles the moment he opens the door. Confusion is quickly replaced with recognition and the boy marches over to the doorway in swift decisive motions that make him look slightly robotic. (Izuku would know)

The boy begins waving his hands about wildly in a chopping motion. “Hello!” He isn’t shouting per se, but he definitely isn’t using an inside voice. (It reminds Izuku of Bakugo and he has to try very hard not to flinch) “You must be the new transfer student! I am Iida Tenya!”

Izuku is shy, this is not news to him. But sometimes he desperately wishes it was a little easier to say all the thoughts that get stuck inside his head instead of just acting on questionable instincts. Izuku isn’t quite sure what he’s thinking, (he’s fairly sure that he isn’t thinking at all) and the actions he takes follow him for decades and fill him with mortification when he thinks about them at night when he’s trying to fall asleep. But in his defense, he’s worried and stressed and faced with a situation he doesn’t know how to respond to. So, without a word, he reaches up, firmly grasps the door handle, and shuts the door in his classmate’s face.

To say Tenya is confused is an understatement. His homeroom teacher had mentioned the previous week that there would be a new transfer student attending on Monday, and that they were to treat him with the utmost respect. Tenya completely understood, they were attending Somei Primary Academy! A prestigious institution for legacies! They had to maintain the school’s reputation! Making sure new students felt comfortable was every student’s sacred duty. That obligation went double for the navy haired boy, seeing as he was the class representative. (Why primary classes needed representatives is still unknown)

When a boy with unruly green hair and a plethora of freckles opens the door almost forty minutes before classes are set to start, He immediately realizes that this must be the new transfer student, and thinks that he will be an exemplary student! (His tie is a little puffy, and his shirt a half centimeter off center, but Tenya excuses it in favor of mentally praising his work ethic for getting to class forty minutes early.) Tenya thinks he clearly understands the importance of education. Most of his classmates don’t arrive for another twenty minutes!

He walks up to the boy with purpose and power in his stride. (He does not miss the way the boy flinches, but continues on undeterred) “Hello! You must be the new transfer student” He punctuates the sentence with a chop “I am Iida Tenya!” Iida had a whole slew of other things to say, but was cut off by the new student beginning to move, and slowly, surely, closes the door in his face.

Tenya is stunned by this new development. This went beyond what he understood of normal social interaction. He was going to assume it was some form of insult before he heard the sounds of heavy breathing outside the door.

Tenya opens the door slowly to find his new classmate sitting on the floor with knees pulled up to his chin and head buried in his hands, shaking like a leaf. Tenya quickly realizes his new classmate meant no insult. “Are you okay!?” He asks, a little louder than intended, and watches the boy in front of him flinch.

Tenya has to bite down a wince at the nervous laughter that escapes his classmate. “I-I’m fine, just fine, made a fool of myself first thing since getting here.” The boys voice begins to quiet and Tenya has to strain to hear it. “Didn’t think there woud be anyone here yet. Stupid. I should have-“ The voice continues to dwindle in strength until only muttering remains.

Tenya blinks. This is new. Clearly his new classmate did not mean to shut the door in his face. He wonders if it was a byproduct of him rushing at him. “Why don’t we try again!” He finally decides.

The green haired boy looks up at him. “Huh?”

Tenya chops the air again. “My name is Iida Tenya, representative of class 5-C, it is very nice to meet you.” He offers a hand to the boy, he is still sitting on the floor, and that won’t do at all.

The boy blinks at him before grabbing at his outstretched hand and allowing himself to be hauled up to his feet. “Midoriya Izuku, it’s nice to meet you.” His voice is soft, and Tenya decides that it sounds very relaxing.

“The pleasure is mine Midoriya! As the class president, it is my duty to make sure you settle in well and get along with our classmates! Feel free to come to me if you need any help!”

The boy (Midoriya, he reminds himself) gives him a smile, it is bright and makes Tenya feel all warm and fuzzy inside. “Thank you” He is sincere and Tenya finds himself smiling back. (He hopes that maybe Midoriya will want to be his friends. Dear god he hopes, but doesn’t count on it, no one he befriends is ever willing to stay.)  

“Of course! I can show you to your desk if you would like!” He doesn’t say it as a question but Midoriya nods nonetheless

“If it isn’t too much of a bother…” the voice is even softer now, unsure, Tenya decides he doesn’t like it.

“None at all! I am your class representative! It is my sacred duty to ensure that you are able to enjoy your time at our prestigious institution!”

Midoriya laughs. It’s a nice laugh, even if Tenya isn’t sure what he said that was so funny. “I didn’t know primary schools could be prestigious.”

“But of course!” Tenya would be scandalized, but he doesn’t think Midoriya is being derisive. “Somei Primary raises legacies and extremely talented children to become the inheritors of great ambitions and forgers of new paths!”

Iida and Izuku get along far better than either had previously thought they would. They had somehow managed to segue from a conversation about the benefits and advantages of Somei Primary to a debate about the importance of legislation in modern heroics. Iida had stopped the conversation five minutes before the bell so that both students could find their seats and have time to prepare for the day. Izuku started the school day smiling. (a novel experience for him)

His mood was dampened a little when he was called to the front to introduce himself at the start of class, but he managed to get through it without too much embarrassment and that counted as a win as far as Izuku was concerned.

Classes were far more intense than they had been at his old school, and Izuku found himself writing notes with vigor. It was much more interesting now that he was learning at a faster pace. At lunch Iida seeks him out and demands that they eat lunch together. Iida has a purchased lunch while Izuku has a homemade Bento, they both sit outside in the sunshine and eat.

Izuku learns that Iida’s family runs the legacy agency Ingenium, the current head of which is his older brother, who he greatly admires. Izuku completely understands, Ingenium is a super cool hero! Izuku spends five minutes gushing about Ingenium’s armor and Iida seems pleased that someone else recognizes his brother’s greatness. Iida learns about Izuku’s passion for inventing and recent victory at a regional engineering competition, and how nervous Izuku is about going to nationals. Iida reassures him that surely he has nothing to worry about.

“Do you live close to the school?” Iida asks

Izuku shakes his head, his mouth is full of rice, it would be rude to reply verbally.

“Wonderful!” Iida exclaims and Izuku has to pinch his brows together to signify confusion. “We can walk to the station together after school!”

Izuku blinks a few times as he processes this. “You want to… walk to the station with me?”

Iida flushes. “I-I” He has to take a deep breath to calm himself. “I didn’t mean to presume you would want to do that. I am very sor-“ Izuku has to grab Iida’s shoulders to keep him from bowing. (Personally, Izuku doesn’t think he could stop the boy, he was much larger than him in every respect, from height to shoulder width to general size, but the contact seems to startle him)

“I want to! I was just making sure…” now it’s Iida’s turn to blink “I didn’t want you to feel like… like you had too… because you’re the class rep or something…”

Iida looks at him like he’s the sun “Really?”

Izuku nods. “Uh-huh! I’ve never had anyone to do that with in years! It sounds like a lot of fun!”

Izuku comes home beaming like the sun. He buzzes through his homework and is working on a blueprint when his mom comes home, smile still as radiant as it was when he got home.

“How was your day?”

Izuku is practically vibrating “It was amazing! I made a friend!” he proceeds to tell her everything about his day, from his embarrassing reaction to Iida’s introduction, to the things he learned in class, to how he walked to the station with Iida and realized that they only live a few stops away from each other.

Inko smiles as she listens to her baby talk about his day like he did when he was three, before he even thought about quirks, and silently thanked every deity she could think of for allowing her son this happiness.

Tenya comes home with a bounce in his step and a spark in his eyes. When Tensei asks about his younger brother’s day, he expects the usual answer, but instead is regaled with the tales of his younger brother’s new classmate, Midoriya Izuku.

Tensei has to try not to cry. His brother had made a friend. In all of Tenya’s twelve years of life, he had never made a friend. All of the kids thought he was too loud or too stiff or (heaven forbid) too annoying to spend time with. They never really teased Tenya, but they avoided him like the plague. Tenya liked to pretend it didn’t bother him. (Tensei knew it did)

The older brother smiled as he listened to Tenya ramble. He decided then and there that he would meet this Midoriya Izuku that had brought his little brother so much joy.

Chapter Text

Izuku is barely eleven now, it is the middle of spring, and he has all of two friends. (That is his favorite part) He and Mei get along like a house on fire and their meetings are full of muttering, (mostly him) maniacal laughter, (mostly Mei) and explosions. (Both of them) Izuku and Iida have become very close, and hang out after school sometimes to study. (They’re primary students, they don’t have to study, but Izuku loves learning and Iida is probably too obsessed with school for his own good) The new school year had begun and brought with it a flurry of activity. It has been six months since the fateful day at the science fair-esque engineering competition, and Izuku is insanely busy. On top of regular schoolwork and the amount of time he dedicates to his new friends, Izuku is trying to finish his piece for the national division of the engineering competition.

It had taken hours and hours of research and brainstorming for Izuku to decide on anything. Most of the things Izuku wanted to try and build would require some sort of government support, either in funding, materials, or permission to test on humans. (or in the case of his favorite project, quirk repressing cuffs, all three.) He eventually settled on building a wide range electric shock grenade. Izuku doesn’t quite remember where he got the idea from, but it seemed useful for heroics.

The actual device functioned very similarly to a grenade. To activate it, one had to pull the pin and throw. A few seconds (4.73 to be precise) the grenade would discharge a 50,000-volt pulse of electricity (the same amount as a standard stun-gun or taser) in a 3-meter radius from the grenade. Izuku had accidentally set the workshop on fire no less than seven times during the first part of the testing phase.

Izuku is currently in the final leg of the testing phase, (out of seven) and is also working on the presentation he has to give. The finals are being broadcasted on live television and Izuku really doesn’t want to make a fool of himself. (He idly remembers that was what he had thought about the local branch of the competition, and that he had somehow won the thing.) Mei still hasn’t decided what she wants to make, which is impressive, given that the competition is less than a week away.

Either way, the duo are currently attempting (in vain) to tidy up the shop. The reasoning for this was Iida had insisted on meeting Mei, who had insisted on meeting at the workshop, whose mother insisted the workshop be clean for Iida’s arrival. (Why she cared was unknown, half the mess was hers in the first place, and she had never given a rats ass about Izuku seeing it in such disarray.) And so, the duo are hard at work attempting to make the tornado of a room look at least semi-coherent. Or at least Izuku was; Mei was busy complaining about how much inventing time she was loosing to the “pointless chore” and completely failing to help in the slightest. (Izuku didn’t mind too much, she was spitballing some terribly interesting ideas for things she could be making while complaining. Izuku always did respect Mei’s ability to multitask)

Izuku glances up at the clock and notices that Iida is due to arrive in ten minutes. Izuku then glances around the workshop, which still looks like a tornado shot through it. He can already hear Iida’s rant about proper lab safety as he scoops up another armful of scrap metal.

Nanako opens the door to find two individuals who look like the personification of her husbands paper on the unexpected side effects of cloning. (Hatsume Neito had managed to publish a research paper about how even if you perfectly clone a creatures genome, and raise them in the exact same environment, they can still react to stimuli completely differently.) Case in point, the only physical difference between the two blunets in front of her are age, and a slight deviation of eyebrow-shape. As far as personality went, she didn’t think the two boys could be more different. The taller one was easygoing and carefree, with hands in his pockets and a kind smile. The smaller one, (around her daughter’s age she thinks) held himself with such rigid posture that she wondered for a moment if he was recovering from tetanus. The elder introduced himself as Iida Tensei: Ingenium, the younger declared himself Iida Tenya with a series of stiff hand gestures. Nanako has to bite back a laugh. She can’t wait to see how he interacts with her daughter. (She’s pretty sure the only reason Mei gets along with Izuku is because he’s so easygoing. But she won’t stop her daughter from trying to expand her social circle, even if she decides to start with what appears to be a human robot.)

“So you are the Iida that Izuku keeps talking about, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She swings the door open “I’m Nanako, please come in.”

The younger boy (Tenya, she reminds herself) bows deeply and she snorts. “Excuse me miss!” He straightens up at the waist like he’s got a hinge in his hip. ‘Impressive’ she notes silently “I notice your nameplate says Hatsume!”

“That it does” She offers no further explanation as the boy fumbles to find a foothold to get whatever his initial point was across.

The older boy rolls his eyes and gently bumps his (probably?) brother on the head. “We talked about this. It’s rude to Nanako”

Tenya somehow stood even straighter. “I am sorry brother!” He exclaims, before turning and bowing to Nanako. “I am very sorry for my rudeness.”

Nanako chuckles “Don’t worry about it” ‘yes,’ she decides ‘I really want to see him and Mei interact’ “Izuku and my Mei are in the garage right now,” she points down the hall “Third door to the left, you can’t miss it.”

Tenya bows again and marches over to the aforementioned door. He opens it and she can see the blood drain from his face as he takes in the sight of the workshop. She vaguely hears Mei and Izuku shouting and sees her daughter peek her head out of the workshop and bodily drag the bluenette into the garage. The door shuts with a slam and she can vaguely make out Mei’s maniacal laughter.

She turns back to Tensei, who looks a little pale himself. “So, what brings you here Ingenium?” the young hero pales further (and if that was because of the maniacal gleam in her eye, well, no one has to know.)

Tensei felt like everything was two steps from reality. He had accompanied his brother because he had wanted to meet the famous Midoria, and also ensure that the place his little brother was meeting his friend’s friend at wasn’t too sketchy. He had not been expecting to be served tea in a living room covered in poorly embroidered decorative pillows displaying science puns, while discussing his poor choice is support gear.

Nanako, as she had insisted he call her, was halfway through designing a blueprint while simultaneously insulting whoever made his costume when a loud bang sounded from the garage.

Tensei was standing within a second and almost halfway to the door when he heard Nanako groan.

“Not again” the woman moaned, when Tensei turned around, she was cradling her head in her hands. “I’ve already had to replace the desk three times this week.”

“This happens often?”

Nanako looked up at him, and had a look on her face that made him think she had momentarily forgotten he was there. “Sort of? Mei has always been a fan of test first and check later, so explosions aren’t uncommon. I had to uninstall the fire alarms years ago.” She motioned to the kitchen, where he noticed a hole in the ceiling with a jumble of wires spilling into the kitchen. “Izuku’s been a massive help in that regard, now we only have fires once or twice a week.” Tensei sputters and Nanako continues as if he hadn’t reacted at all “But he’s been having trouble with his taser-grenades-“

Tensei put a hand up. “Taser-Grenades!?” The idea was both terrifying and intriguing and Tensei wasn’t sure what to focus on: the crazy idea, or the fact that an eleven-year-old was building it. Tensei might not be the most strict of heroes, (If his history with vigilantes is anything to go by) but even he thought that sounded a little… Illegal? Dangerous? Crazy? He couldn’t decide. (He wasn't sure he wanted to)

Izuku thinks that operation have Mei meet Iida is going great. Iida, (in typical Iida fashion) had thrown a fit at the state the workshop was in, but with only a minor amount of prompting, had introduced himself. Upon explaining that he wanted to be a hero, Mei had gotten the look in her eyes that meant she had an idea that was going to result in either something crazy or ingenious. (More often than not it was some unholy combination of the two)

In short, Mei had somehow managed to clear a space at one of the tables, taken a large piece of blueprint paper, and begun going over what support items Iida would want. Izuku had tried not to get involved, he swears, but Iida had mentioned armor and all of a sudden he was at the table drawing up the blueprints for an exosuit that could shoot lasers out of the palms. (at Mei’s request)

They had a grand time designing and planning until Iida had asked about Izuku’s stun-grenades and Izuku had given a small practice demonstration, complete with PowerPoint and (probably) human test subject. (He would be forever grateful for Mei’s willingness to participate in dangerous experiments) Iida had then yelled at Izuku about proper safety protocol while Mei recovered. Once recovered, Mei had decided Iida needed to see all of her projects, (complete and otherwise) which had resulted in one of Mei’s projects exploding in Iida’s arms, which managed to set off one of Izuku’s grenades, which happened managed to short one of the monitors, which ended up bursting into flames, which then set off the sprinkler system.

Tensei wasn’t sure what he expected when he opened the door to the garage with Nanako trailing behind him, but it wasn’t this.

The garage itself was a hodgepodge of equipment, paper, and support items that he wasn’t sure was exactly legal. In one corner his brother was covered in soot and blinking in a way that indicated he was unsure of how to process what was happening while holding a smoking piece of warped metal and melted plastic. Next to him was an exuberantly cheering girl with pink hair in a pair of grease stained overalls. Her hair was on fire, but she either didn’t notice or didn’t care. In the middle of the room was a series of sparking electronics and a flaming monitor. In the other corner was a boy with green hair who was banging his head against the desk with vigor. (Tensei agreed in spirit, but it probably wasn’t the most sensible response to the situation) All the while the sprinkler system rained down.

Chapter Text

Iida had somehow managed to “get along” with Mei. (How this happened is a mystery that no man, woman or other thinking creature would ever be able to truly solve.) Either way, Iida had demanded to come with Izuku and Mei to Tokyo in order to support them getting to nationals.

A week later and Izuku, his mom, Mei, Nanako, and (surprisingly) Iida were all in the car driving to Tokyo for the national division of the engineering competition. Mrs. Nanako was driving, and blasting some sort of punk rock all the while. Izuku’s mom was knitting in the front seat and smiling serenely. Izuku, Mei, and Iida were all squished into the back of the vehicle. It wouldn’t have been a problem, Izuku is as skinny as a stick and Mei isn’t too much better, but Iida was way broader than anyone their age had any right to be, and had demanded to sit in the middle seeing as he was the guest. Izuku didn’t mind, but Mei was complaining about it up until they finally pulled into the event parking.

An hour later and Izuku was sitting completely alone in a waiting room, muttering like his life depended on it. There are eleven participating districts and three finalists per district. Resulting in thirty-three finalists that were competing for top spot. Izuku clutched the sleek black box containing his six stun-grenades in various stages of assembly, and tried not to be sick. He would be going eleventh. Mei would go before him, and the presentations of others were displayed on a small television in a corner of the dark room he was staying in. Izuku watched with some sort of twisted fascination as he watched Mei introduce her supped up unholy child of a flamethrower and a paintgun to the judges. Basically, a paintgun that shoots rounds that explode in flame on impact.

Following Mei is a girl who had managed to design something that’s purpose -despite a fifteen minute explanation- Izuku (and the judges) could not understand. The girls thick accent, while pleasant to listen to, was not helping. Following the girl are a few others who were mostly forgettable, and a boy with wavy black and ropes of scar tissue dotting his body who presents a new type of fire-proof material.

And then it was his turn. Izuku gripped his box as hard as his tiny eleven year old fingers would allow, as he marched out to the stage. His PowerPoint was already queued up when he found his way on to the stage. Izuku took a deep breath and looked to the judges panel.

Izuku presents through a haze. He knows he’s speaking, he knows he’s being persuasive, but for the life of him he can’t figure out what he’s saying. He knows that when he’s done, he’ll be completely unable to tell anyone what he said, but the judges eat it up regardless, and Izuku dismisses himself and walks back out to his waiting room. The room is spinning and he feels lightheaded. He finds a throw pillow on one of the couches and clutches it like a lifeline as he tries to keep from hyperventilating or dissociating. He vaguely thinks he ought to see someone about his anxiety after this. He doesn’t think this is normal…

Another hour passes before the call is given for all of the participants to exit towards the stage. Izuku feels like his head is stuffed with cotton as he puts one foot in front of the other. He makes it to the stage and faces the judges. The participants aren’t in any particular order and Mei pushes through a half dozen primary students in order to grab Izuku by the shoulders and shake him.

“Isn’t this so exciting!” She all but screams into his ear. Izuku, by some grace, doesn’t flinch, but a lot of the other participants do.

One of the Judges clears his throat. Mei quiets down but doesn’t stop vibrating with barely contained glee. “All of you came here today with sharp minds and excellent ideas. You ought to be proud of the accomplishments that led to you being on this stage today. Regardless of results, you are your generations shining stars of innovation. Every year I come with higher expectations, and every year I find myself blown away by the creativity and drive of our contestants. It is with great pride that I congratulate you on your accomplishments.”

Laughter interrupts the man. “Well said doctor Takashi!” An excitable woman stands up. “A wonderful sentiment, but only one can win this competition!” she throws a hand into the air. “But first! Let’s hear it for all of our finalists who made it this far!” A cheer winds up from the crowd. Deafening and full of excitement. “Now, for our third place finalist: give it up for Hirano Shiota!”

A boy steps forward and Izuku realizes it is the boy with black hair and thick scars. He idly notes his eyes are a burning gold. Unlike everyone here in formal wear (even Mei had been stuffed into a dress) he was in a dark tee-shirt and jeans. A man walks up and puts a bronze medal around his neck. The girl with the accent slides up to him and gives him a hug. The cheers and clapping of the crowd is practically deafening.

The woman starts up again as a slideshow begins to play on the screen behind him. “Your new fabric can stand heats up to seven hundred degrees Celsius without even beginning to warm on the opposite side! A true revolution in fire-proof fabric! There are limitless applications!” A series of shots from his presentation begins to play on the sideshow.

The woman begins to talk again after the slideshow concludes. “In second place, the Mustafu divisions very own mad genious: Hatsume Mei!” Mei bounces forwards with all the confidence that is unique to her. “Her flame-ball-gun showed immense ingenuity and skill, and has some very interesting combat applications!” Mei cheers as a silver medal is slipped over her neck. A slideshow of Mei’s moments during her presentation begins to play on the big screen. Izuku can’t actually hear the crowd over Mei’s maniacal laughter. Most of the contestants edge away from her as subtly as they dare. (Izuku can already hear Iida’s lecture on proper behavior for public experiences.)

Everyone begins to shift nervously as they wait for the announcement for first place. (Izuku doesn’t notice that a couple of people actually begin praying on stage) “And finally, what you’ve all been waiting for! The one and only, the forerunner of innovation, First Place! His appearance may be bland, but his invention sure isn’t! Everyone give it up for Midoriya Izuku!”

By the time Izuku manages to get over his shock, there is a gold medal around his head and Mei is hugging him like it’s the end of the world. He can feel the cheers of the crowd in his bones. As impossible as it seems, he thinks he can hear Iida among them. Izuku notices that he is crying, and laughs wetly as he hugs Mei back

The next few minutes pass in a blur. Izuku and Mei are given enough congratulations to make Mei preen and Izuku resemble an overripe tomato. They had been shuffled together with Hirano into an interview room with a hoard of reporters. Izuku offers basic answers and lets Mei take the reigns while Hirano broods in the back. When all is said and done, Izuku finds himself smothered by his mother’s hugs and tears and Iida’s shouted praise. Izuku can’t even be annoyed. (He’s crying too)

It takes nearly two hours to extract himself from the event. He is approached by no fewer than seven company representatives to ask if he would be interested in selling his invention (He’s not) or coming and interning with them (he’s definitely not) during the process. Reporters and other media accoutrements continue to badger him for statements. He (not so) subtly shoves Mei in their faces and runs. Mei doesn’t mind. Mei likes talking. (The Media does mind but that’s irrelevant)

Izuku’s just about ready to pass out by the time he gets to the car. (He still doesn’t understand why they drove to Tokyo when they could have taken the train.) His mom is still crying and Nanako is grinning like a maniac while scribbling into a notepad. Izuku is brought back to reality as Iida begins to talk to him.

“Your presentation was superb!” He’s making his chopping hand motions with a serious face and accidentally karate chops the center car console. Iida hisses in pain and cradles his hand while Izuku snorts. (He’s trying not to laugh he swears! But it’s just so ridiculous) Mei has no such reservations and has burst out laughing.

“Have you ever considered taking Karate?” Izuku askes his blue haired friend as a joke.

And Iida, in typical Iida fashion, takes him seriously. “I have never considered it, but it might be a good idea on the path to becoming a hero!” Iida immediately begins a tangent on the importance of extracurriculars for students and Mei laughs even harder, joined by Nanako, who is driving, and really shouldn’t be trying to write, drive, and laugh at the same time, but is doing it nonetheless. (Despite Iida’s multiple lectures on driving safety, to which Nanako had asked if he had a license, which had shut him up rather effectively)

All in all, the ride home was pleasant. His mom and Nanako were planning some form of dinner party to celebrate Izuku and Mei’s success, and the Iida family was invited. (Izuku wasn’t sure who else was on the gust list, but he would be satisfied with them alone, although Izuku is pretty sure the only reason Nanako invited Iida’s family was so she could continue to hound Ingenium about his costume. Izuku secretly agreed with her opinions, but no one had to know that.)

Iida is dropped off at home with an exchange of compliments and tears. It leaves Izuku light headed and dozing on Mei’s shoulder. Mei doesn’t mind, she’s rambling about babies now, and Izuku has a mild epiphany and realizes that everyone in his little friend group has a problem with knowing when to stop talking. He swallows down a giggle and shifts a little closer to Mei. (If she notices, she doesn’t stop in her ramblings to comment) Izuku thinks she’s discussion particle physics, but he’s not sure.

When Nanako drops Izuku and his mom off, making his mom swear to call her in the morning, Izuku feels light, but exhausted. It’s a funny feeling, and he trudges up the stairs in a daze. As he’s getting ready for bed he can finally think about what had happened today, and thinks about how he won a national competition. That he is officially considered the best inventor for his age group in Japan. It makes him feel all fuzzy inside. “Not so useless now, huh Kacchan!” He proudly tells his mirror. He likes the fuzzy feeling, although he doesn’t recognize it. (It’s pride, the feeling of achievement, of knowing you did your best and have been recognized for it, for him, for his greatness, his feats. That there were no quirks involved, no genetic lottery. Just him and his hard work, and no one can question it, not anymore, he won’t let them. He won’t let them forget that he did this. That he proved that he wasn’t useless, wasn’t worthless. That he meant something.)

Izuku falls asleep with a smile on his face and a warm feeling in his chest. He thinks to himself that things couldn’t possibly get any better than this. (He’s wrong of course, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever be so glad to be wrong ever again)

Chapter Text

Ever since the finals of the engineering competition Izuku’s existed in some form of haze. Finals came and went and suddenly it was summer vacation. Izuku spent long afternoons exploring his hometown and continuing hero analysis with Iida, lazy mornings perusing the streets in search of a good fight to spectate. burning the midnight oil building and testing (and blowing things up at dagoba beach, mostly on accident) with Mei. The official story is that they chose Dagobah for their testing ground (Nanako wholeheartedly approved of that) but the truth of the matter was that Mei is a raging pyromaniac with a love of all things that go boom; the bigger the better. At some point Iida had turned into Tenya when Izuku insisted that he could call him by his given name, and Tenya had agreed on the condition that Izuku used his first name as well

Nanako occasionally lets the trio take on projects for her during the summer. They all love it. Tenya mostly offers moral support and (more importantly) keeps them from trying anything too crazy in the name of science. (“No Hatsume, the shoes do not need plasma cannons! What would an underground hero need plasma cannons on their feet for!?”) Izuku’s favorite project they’d been allowed to complete was a set of boots and gloves with magnets imbedded in them for the magnetic hero: Magnetron, whose quirk allowed him to alter magnetic fields.

At the moment however, Izuku and Mei are invested in their most recent attempt to build a battle bot for the summer competition. It’s meant for high school kids (how Mei managed to convince the reps to let them sign up is a mystery to all) and it’s a poorly kept secret that companies have scouts there. (Izuku had decided that Tenya didn’t need to know about that particular project, his ears still rang sometimes from the volume of his friends last lecture.)

The current design is a tank like robot that is roughly box shaped with rubber tank treads, a small cannon turret, claws, and a grappling hook. The duo decided to sacrifice speed for durability. They probably could have built something even more fantastical had Nanako not put her foot down on laser experimentation. Surprising, Izuku was the most upset about this (honestly kind of expected) development, and had refused to stop planning designs for the technology. (Whether or not those designs were actually feasible is another matter entirely.)

The last design had been barely able to fit through the door due to its size, but then Izuku had re-read the rules and learned that there was a size limitation. The robot has to fit in a 100 cm sided cube, which will be tested with a box that the robot has to fit in. Mei was very miffed about that development. (So was Izuku, if for different reasons)

The two inventors are currently arguing about whether or not to add extendable arm-like apendages to the robot. Mei wanted to, but Izuku (who was the unofficial programmer of the duo) was worried about attempting to program the arms so they would be anything more than dead -and very destructible- weight. (yet another thing Izuku loved about being friends with Mei, they would argue all the time, but she never hit him like bakugou, and she never held anything said during their arguments against him. She would never apologize, but he didn’t mind. In all honesty, he would be surprised if she recalled whatever it was she would need to apologize for. He had learned that Mei’s memory was a little… selective)

“I’m telling you, the arms would be awesome! Imagine just throwing robots around the ring!” Mei swings her wrench around for effect.

“and I’m telling you that they would just end up being dead weight, there’s no way to attach what you’re talking about to the current model without leaving it off balance!” Izuku shoves the blueprints and a notepad full of calculations into Mei’s face. “Besides there isn’t time to program the thing. We only have two days until the competition, adding the programming for that would take me at least thirty-six hours, and we’d still have to attach the darn thing!”

Mei sighs at that. “What about ‘achieving the impossible? Eh?” Izuku glares at her. (Izuku at one point, while very sleep deprived had given Mei and Tenya a three-hour spiel about pushing the boundaries of science and achieving the impossible. Mei had recorded the thing and teases him about it regularly. Iida had thought it was a brilliant set of points, even if he was disappointed when Izuku passed out afterwards) “What if we just build a new model?”
“We don’t have time for that either!” Izuku all but groaned

Nanako watches in the corner as the inventors squabble; happily drinking in the sight of the duo. She finds herself remembering how closed off the two used to be only a few months ago. (She prefers it this way, even if she has a few more fires to put out.)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Izuku is buzzing with excitement. (Only slightly less literally than Mei) It’s finally the day of the team battle bot competition. Mei is carrying the robot as they wait in line to be checked in. The competition is a five round event and has 16 competing teams. Izuku isn’t entirely sure how they managed to ensure they got 16 teams (he thinks it was a severe first come first sign-up sheet, but he isn’t sure) but he’s grateful for the simple rules of the competition. Last bot standing wins. (And he thinks he and Mei have a pretty good chance of winning)

It takes about twenty minutes for the duo to get checked in. Their (thankfully armless) robot barely fits inside the box, but it does, and they are handed a sheet of paper with the competition brackets on it.

Izuku looks at the Round one matchup sheet again as he zeroes in on the team names. “Mei…”

The pinkette is distracted looking at the other robots in the building but gives a disinterested hum as a sign that she heard him.

“Did you sign up using just your name?” Izuku frowns, they had worked on their robot together, shouldn’t they have a name that showcases them both?

Mei looks over his shoulder at the matchup paper. “Oh!” She shifts the box in her arms as they continue to walk towards the room with their team name hanging above the door. They reach it quickly, and Izuku holds it open for her. (He may be a little frustrated with her, but his mother still raised a proper gentleman thank you very much.) “I forgot about that. I ended up signing up before I met you -last summer- so just called my team Hatsume Industries.”

Izuku sighs, he would like an apology, but with Mei the explanation is as much as he can hope for, even if it is very reasonable. “Let’s just watch the matches, I want to see what everyone came up with.”

Mei agrees with him wholeheartedly and happily deposits the robot on a bench before bounding out of their assigned room. Izuku follows and the duo converse quietly as the building slowly fills up. (Turns out that watching robots tear each other apart serves as good entertainment.) The young inventors hum with excitement as they watch the crowd. People of all ages were here, and seemed to be split between hopeful inventors, talent scouts, die hard robo-battle fans, and delinquents looking for a little destruction. Izuku thinks the delinquents should scare him more, but he’s too excited to really care all that much.

After another twenty minutes the first teams enter the ring. The ring consists of a large empty circular pit, and two slightly raised platforms for the teams to stand on and control their robots, and a third very raised platform on the far center which functions as an announcer’s booth.

“On side A: 4-Vention, these brothers are as clever as they are similar” The announcer’s voice booms through the arena, and Izuku assesses the team. It consists of four identical boys who are squished together on the platform designed for two people. Each one has a separate remote and they are all arguing with each other at a volume that was probably a little louder than intended. Izuku thinks that they must be related somehow and wonders how they convinced the proctors to let them be a team of four. (They are in fact, two sets of identical twins, who had argued that they were in fact just two people, copied over.) Their robot appears to be a dog like robot, with four leg like apendages, a segmented tail, and a clamp that appears to make the head.

“And on side B: Titan! A duo named after the Greek monsters of old, what will they bring to the table?!” On the other side of the ring, a boy-boy pair enters. One has bright blonde hair and stands tall and spindly, where the other is short with shaggy brown hair that covers his eyes. Their robot appears to be a circle with lights attached to it.

“You all know the rules! The last bot standing wins!” The announcer throws his hand into the air “Count down with me now, players get ready!”
The crowd chants the countdown with the announcer and the robots begin their assault. It takes a few minutes, and a few close calls, but in the end, the circular robot was elusive, and seemed to attack by ramming into the other robot. The dog-bot was eventually worn down to a sparking pile of misshapen metal. “Team B: Titan are the winners!” The announcer cheers, and the crowd screams its praises towards the victors. Izuku thinks he sees money changing hands, but he’s not quite sure. The blonde boy raises his fist in victory, but the brunet just shuffled out of the arena, robot in hand.

A small team of janitorial staff clean what was once the dog bot off of the floor with little fanfare while team 4-vention hangs their heads and shuffle off.

Afterwards, the Announcer starts back up again. “In one corner, we have team Miku and their adorable robot!” Two teen girls decked out in pink and frills take the a team’s stand, followed closely by a robot that seems more decorative than anything else.

“They look like they belong in an idol group…” Izuku whispers to Mei, she snickers.

“And in the other corner, is Re:Ichibana!” Izuku spares a glance to the other group, and discovers a startling lack of anything interesting to comment on as far as their appearances. They both appeared very average, almost plain looking (Whether or not Izuku realized the irony of him calling the competitors “plain-looking” is unknown) and their robot was equally disinteresting. Despite several attempts to analyze them, Izuku’s eyes kept glazing over. This “battle” (if you could call it that) was ridiculously short, the girls robot ended up getting a ribbon caught in one of its’ joints and fell over, and apparently lacked the ability to get back up.

The third round was Team Hatsume versus Bimechanics so the young inventors quickly grabbed their tank-bot and hurried to the pit. Izuku does his best to swallow his nerves as he waits outside the arena. 

“On side A is BiMechanics!” Two women walk into the arena. The woman on the right is short with tanned skin and brown hair that is pulled back into a sensible bun. Next to her on the left is a tall woman with blue eyes and short lavender hair. Both are wearing deep indigo purple jumpsuits with the sleeves rolled up. They look very put together, and Izuku is suddenly very aware of the fact that he is wearing a shirt with the word shirt on it. (Mei loves them, she calls them his shirt-shirts) Mei is wearing shorts and a flannel shirt. They both look dreadfully out of place. “These two already have companies clamoring for their attention!” Their robot looks a little bit like a small metal person, but with swords for arms.

Izuku gulps and starts walking to the platform. “And in the other corner, one of our two sets of underaged combatants! They may be small, but are filled with the determination of twenty grown men! It is Haaaaaatsume Iiiiindustries!” (Izuku momentarily notes that he sounds like a typical sports announcer) Izuku are now being heavily scrutinized by the crowd. (he does not like it, he would much rather curl up in a ball and go to bed please and thank you) Mei controls the tank bot so that it wheels into the stadium. It the proceeds to launch confetti into the air and Izuku feels his nervousness dissipate in favor of glaring at the pinkette cackling by his side. (He had told her that adding a confetti cannon was a waste of time and resources! Does she listen, no!)

The two women in purple jumpsuits (and the announcer) quickly recover from the shock. The taller woman bows to the both of them. “It will be a pleasure to battle with you.” She says calmly, voice soothing against the roaring of the crowd.

The crowd (and announcer) begin the count down before Izuku can even come up with anything to say back. The second the crowd screams zero Mei is on the move. She laughs maniacally as she practically attacks the remote. In response the robot shoots its claw out and grapples the person-bot. The person-bot struggles valiantly, but ends up falling over while Mei reels in her prize. She moves the grappling hook’s aiming device and manages to launch the person bot into the stadium walls.

The person-bot struggles to its feet valiantly, but Mei quickly descends upon it in a wave of fury via robot. Izuku fights back a wince as Mei aims the turret/cannon/thing and launches a marble sized piece of solid metal which wedges itself into the center breast plate of the opposing bot. (Izuku likes to call the little havoc wreakers mini-cannonballs) Which wouldn’t have been too bad, except Mei doesn’t speak a language that isn’t overkill, and proceeds to launch several hundred more out of the turret like a god-damn machine gun. (Izuku is still not totally sure how she managed to make the turret work like that, but is rather impressed, given that only a few dozen missed their mark, but even those ended up lodged in the walls or floor of the stadium. Izuku doesn’t think he’ll forget how fast the announcer paled and scooted back on the platform when he realized that)

The person-bot quickly lost its’ balance yet again, and any attempts to get back up were thwarted by the tiny metallic cannonballs that littered the grounds of the once intact stadium. Mei made the bot rush forward (while cackling like a madman… madwoman?) and ran over the person bot like a car does to a cat. She then repeated the action like some entitled middle-aged man trying to get revenge on some roadkill. By the time the announcer called the match, the once-person-bot was nothing but a flattened bit of scrap metal. The crowd goes wild. Everyone loves watching a couple of kids indulging in the violent side of life after all.

The bi-mechanics team blanch at the sight of their once robot, and eye Mei (and Izuku) warily, before collecting their scrap metal robot and walking away. He thinks that the tall one is shaking. (She is) whether with rage or tears he can’t quite determine. (It’s a little of both)

Mei scoops up their robot with one hand (in an impressive show of strength given her spindly eleven-year-old stature) and drags Izuku out of the arena with the other, talking the all the while. “That was awesome!” She damn near squeals “I have so many ideas now!” Izuku can almost see the stars in her eyes as she rambles and he laughs. (They did win after all, against high schoolers! He’s allowed to be excited!)

the announcer needs nearly three minutes after Izuku and Mei left the ring to real in the crowd so he can begin the next match. By the time he does, Izuku and Mei have already separated. They decided beforehand that Mei would repair the tank-bot between rounds while Izuku watches the rounds. The winners here will be their next opponents after all. (and Izuku was always a little over-invested in analysis. Mei likes to joke that that his doctor was a quack and that his analytical ability is actually his quirk.)

The next round passes quickly, not because of any exceptional show of strength from either party, but because the Motor Duo’s solar powered bot refused to turn on. The crowd seems almost as Irritated as Izuku, who now has no idea of what his opponents are capable of. It rubs him the wrong way. The round after that is also disappointing, if only because neither group had any real firepower.

The announcers voice cuts through the irritated din “And now it’s time for one of the matches You’ve been waiting for! In this corner!” The announcer gestures widely to a pair of highschoolers in punk rock outfits “These rocking teens don’t know how to stop! Give it up for Team Mirai!”

“Their opponents will be the Yuuei Honor Students!” A flashy duo exits next. A set of loud blondes in UA uniforms. Izuku spends a moment in awe! These people are actually on the road to becoming support technicians! “This duo is unofficially representing UA’s support department!” Izuku thinks he can see the other group pale a little. “Count down with me!” The crowd cheers and screams along with the announcer “Three! Two! One! FIGHT!”

It isn’t so much a fight as it is a massacre. The Yuuei Honor Students play with their opponents, dragging out the match to better display their modifications to their robot. It looks like something out of pacific rim, and  Izuku suddenly has more ideas for giant robot defenders. (he silently laments his lack of skill with programming) After fifteen painful minutes (for Team Mirai) of Cat and Mouse, if the cat is feeling particularly sadistic, The Yuuei Honor Students land a final blow.

The next two matches are fairly standard. Although Izuku tries to pay extra attention to the students from Shiketsu. At some point during the second to last match, Mei reappears by Izuku’s side. Izuku fills her in on some of the more interesting points of the matches, and she’s already filling out blueprints for some of the ideas she gets from his descriptions.

Mei is startled out of her inventing daze by the sound of the announcer. "Finishing out the roster, our final contestants! In the left corner, everyone give it up for our other group of underage fighters, Arachne!” The crowd hollers as the next duo strolls into the arena. He first notices a very tall boy. Izuku has to blink a few times before he realizes that he was the boy who got third in the national engineering competition. Izuku briefly thinks that if someone told him he was in his final year of middle school, he would have believed them. Additionally, Izuku notes that his skin looks a little weird. He can’t quite tell from this distance, but he vaguely remembers ropes of scar tissue that covered him at finals. Next to him is a petite girl, who he actually has a little trouble seeing due to her partner’s height. Visibility issues aside, she looks elegant and well put together in a pretty white skirt and pale blue blouse. She really stands out in the crowd of delinquents and inventors that wouldn’t know proper if it bit them in the butt. In her arms is a sleek silver… something. She sets it down in the ring with more care than was probably strictly necessary, and it begins to unfold. When it’s done, it looks like a spider with silver plating and black joints. It’s a little hard to tell though, because the robot is tiny! It can’t be more than 15cm across. The crowd gives a half-hearted cheer at the sight. Izuku doesn’t see either member of the duo holding any form of controller or remote. Which is weird because everyone up until this point had.

The announcer starts up again “And in the right corner, against these tiny and not so tiny students are the very professional Support Company! This duo is here to represent their aptly named family business!” The next team is another pair of siblings, and it’s pretty easy to tell. Both have bright red hair and enough freckles to rival the night sky out in the country. They’re wearing matching outfits, black dress pants, a white button down, and a red tie. The bot that wheels out behind them looks a little bit like a large toy car but with grabbers and two small metal pipes protruding from where the headlights would be.

“is this a joke?” One of them asks. The girl tilts her head while the boy takes a slightly defensive stance. “You are children,” He all but growls “you can’t possible think that that little thing could actually stand a chance against our polished robot.”

Izuku sucks in a breath. Already the other group had shown immense technical prowess. Izuku can also hear the boy growling at the sibling from here. He gets the feeling he isn’t well known for decorum. The girl grabs the boy’s hands and whispers something. The boy calms down (some) and defers to glaring at the offending duo. The girl clasps her hands behind her back and gives a small smile.

The sibling sighs loudly. “Just try to give a good showing, don’t want to have come out here for nothing.” Izuku feels a flare of anger for the other primary students. He stomps it out just as quickly. (Kacchan had taught him that anger his means nothing in the face of a stronger opponent)

The announcer begins the round, if a little nervously and the miniature car revs up. It charges at the spider and the two metal pipes start shooting fire. The crowd gasps at the show of firepower. The smaller robot launches itself into the air, leaping straight over the other. The siblings grit their teeth and make the car skid through a tight U-turn. By the time they’re ready to go again, the robot is already behind them again. This game of cat and mouse continues. The Support company trying (fruitlessly) to line the spider up in their line of fire, and team Arachne’s bot nimbly darting out of the way. The siblings are growing restless, along with the rest of the crowd.

“Is dodging all you can do!?” The one sibling practically screams in frustration as the spider darts around to the car’s blind-spot. The other sibling, the one with the control (who had been quiet the whole time) growls in irritation and all of a sudden, the car is going in reverse. The boy on team Arachne jumps at the unexpected movement, the girl simply continues to smile as if nothing is wrong. The spider flattens itself and the car ends up running over it. But instead of letting the car pass over and re-emerging on the other side, the spider follows under the car. The Support Company team looks ready to scream and begins to move in all sorts of topsy-turvy directions to try and lose the spider. They pause for a moment and the spider takes advantage of the moment to attach itself to the base of the miniature car. Izuku can barely breath he’s so stunned. The next thing anyone knows, there’s a black and silver spike coming out of the top of the car. It’s one of the spider’s legs!

Everyone seems to freeze for a moment, before long arcs of electricity come off of the two robots. The car begins smoking and sparking as the spike extracts itself from its’ target. The spider scampers away just in time to avoid the miniature car bursting into flames. 

Izuku lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. The crowd is silent, and Izuku thinks he hears the announcer breathe out a “holy shit” Where Izuku and Mei’s battle had been a massacre, full of shrapnel and wild metal marbles, team Arachne had shown skill, a deadly dance of intent and precision. A deadly gladiator fight versus the lethal dance of an assassin. The spider edges around the burning metal and returns to the platform where team Arachne are standing, leaping into the arms of the girl. It further jumps onto the boy’s shoulder.

It was nothing short of amazing, and Izuku is suddenly very aware of the sheer amount of effort that must have gone into the tiny robot as the crowd bursts into wild cheers.

Chapter Text

After Team Arachne’s drawn out victory, there was a thirty minute break before beginning the second round. On one of the many many screens in the arena area, the bracket for the second round shows up.

Titan and Re:Ichibana enter the arena and the announcer starts the round. Once again team Titan’s circular robot bludgeons their opponent into mechanical roadkill in a drawn-out match. Izuku thinks its an interesting, if inefficient method. If he and Mei win this next round, they’ll also have to fight a robot whose biggest asset is defense. Izuku isn't looking forward to it. If there's anything that hero spectating has taught him, it's that dealing with defense types is a pain at the best of times and disastrous at the worst of them.

When the Announcer calls for them, Izuku and Mei are already in the arena. Mei drops their robot into the arena and they face ground Zero. Ground Zero as a team are pretty forgettable. They’re wearing red-orange shirts over worn black jeans. One of the members are wearing enough piercings and loose jewelry to make Izuku question the guys sanity. He can’t imagine trying to maintain lab safety with all of that silver. Their robot looks so standard its boring. It looks like something you’d get out of one of those “build your own robot” kits. (Izuku despises those kits with every bone in his body, he can't even count how many times his mom or one of her friends had attempted to gift him one. The instructions are basic, the end result is boring, and the parts are so shoddy that he can't even try and scavenge the item for supplies.)

“And begin!” The announcer gives the all clear and any and the kid gloves fly out the window, along with all forms of sanity, and whatever remains of Mei's questionable patience. Mei pushes their robot forward towards the build-a-bot and begins to wail on it. A small rod extends from the robot and Izuku turns away only half a second before heat fills the arena. Their opponents weren't so lucky. Mei had brought out the flamethrowers, and it was glorious. In just ten seconds the opponents went from a fully functioning (if extremely boring) robot, to a pile of melting metal.

“And once again Hatsume Industries take their opponents by storm! Can anyone stop these tiny terrors!” Izuku snorts at the announcer’s description for them. Mei has no such qualms and begins to laugh maniacally and with gusto. The statement is not inaccurate, which is why it’s so funny. Both he and Mei are almost impressively short. They both look younger than they actually are. Both are certain that they will grow out of it. They are both wrong. Both are also fully aware of the fact that they are probably a menace to society in the making. (Neither are able to find it within themselves to care about that for more than a few seconds. To quote Nanako's words of wisdom, what's a few hurt feelings and a bit of destruction in the face of scientific discovery.) But for the moment at least, they aren't offended by the highly accurate description.

Back in the present, Izuku picks their robot back up, notes that it is still warm -but not enough to burn- and walks out of the arena with a skip in his step. The robot is heavy, but not uncomfortably so. When they walk out, Izuku catches the gaze of the third-place winner of the engineering competition. He thinks for a moment about what his name is. He thinks it was something like… Shu Takiro? Maybe? Something along those lines. Izuku mentally decides just to refer to him as Third Place. Third place looks away quickly and turns back to the arena. The Yuuei Honor students are stepping up to the plate, and Izuku doesn’t blame him for wanting to watch.

They Yuuei students massacre their opponents. There's no other word for what they do. Their robot vaguely reminds them of a Mars rover from the age before quirks. Their robot barely fits the size constraints, is rust red, has thick tire treads that fit over a series of gears, and most importantly, has grabby arms and a saw-blade. The opposition never stood a chance. The match is over in seconds and the opposing robot has been torn to shreds. It is gloriously destructive and Mei is drooling.  (Third place is also drooling, but Izuku doesn’t know this yet.)

“In one corner, representing Shiketsu’s support department: Team Entropy.” The two Shiketsu students wander in, a box with wheels rolling in behind them. Izuku thinks that the box might have been closer in the 100 cm cubed box. The crowd is cheering and Shiketsu is drinking it in. “In the other corner, the other group of terrifyingly competent children: Team Arachne!” Izuku perks up when he sees third place and his companion walk into the ring. “Lets have a good clean match everyone!” and Izuku is pretty sure that the announcer saying that has completely erased any potential this match had at being clean. Not that there was much of one in the first place. It is a bot fighting ring after all.

Third Place’s companion drops the silver spider into the arena as the box on wheels begins to unfold. Izuku blinks. In twenty seconds, the once box on wheels, turns into a giant silver robot. Izuku hears the crowd riot and someone ask “is this allowed!? Those poor kids!” Izuku gets the sinking feeling that it isn't the kids who are in deep shit. 

Third place seems unphased by the fact that no one believes they can win. If anything, he seems bored. On the opposite end of the spectrum his companion clasps her hands in front of her chest and bows her head. She looks like she’s praying. She looks up suddenly and the spider-bot springs into action.

Izuku and the crowd watch in silent horror as the spider-bot leaps onto the robot. It practically writhes in its attempts to throw the tiny spider. It is not successful. One of the tips of the spider-bot’s legs pop off and Izuku sees the telltale glow of a blowtorch lighting. The fire is a white-blue color, and the spider begins to blowtorch the joints. (Izuku wonders how many hours it took to program this thing.) Metal apendages fall to the floor of the arena and the giant robot stumbles. The spider-bot crawls inside it’s larger counterpart and for a while Izuku can hear ripping, electrical sparks, and the hiss and groans of overtaxed machinery while the robot twitches and writhes. The Joints of the left knee begin to glow and the machine groans once more as it falls to the ground. The left knee jostles a bit and shifts.

The spider-bot, no worse for wear, crawls out of a crack in the left knee. It looks almost proud as it scampers over to third place’s companion and leaps into her arms. Team Entropy is pale and still as the tiny girl nuzzles her dangerous robot like some sort of stuffed animal. She whispers something to third place and he stifles a laugh. It takes another couple of seconds for the crowd to burst into cheers. When they do it’s deafening. The announcers voice can barely be heard over the din. “And the winners are Team Arachne! We’re going to take a short break between rounds, but don’t go anywhere! We’ll be back in half an hour for the Semi-Finals!” the mic cuts off just late enough for Izuku -along with the rest of the stadium- to hear a whispered "you saw that right? Holy shit!"

Izuku helps Mei in their room re-build their robot as they talk about the other matches. They wonder if they’ll be able to take Titan, who seems to depend mostly on defense. But mostly they discuss the wonder of modern engineering that is team Arachne’s spider-bot. Both parties agree they’ve never seen anything like it. They restock the gas in the flamethrower and the miniature cannonballs. One of the chain links on the grappling hook is strained, and they repair it before returning to the arena. This time, they’ll be starting the round off, it makes Izuku a little nervous, but Mei’s maniacal smile and words of questionable encouragement quickly banishes any thoughts of embarassment as they laugh and joke their way into the arena.

The announcer starts the round off not with introductions, but another version of the revised bracket. At this point Izuku thinks it's pretty redundant, everyone already knows the competitors, and looking at the sheet everyone was given when they first came in and just crossing off names would be efficient enough, but this is battle bots, a project run by nerds, punks, engineers, and people looking for something with a bit of pizzazz. 

introduces Titan first, and then the underage engineers walk into the ring. Both teams release their bots into the ring, and the match begins. In standard Mei fashion, Mei commandeers the remote and starts off with a bang. It takes all of two seconds for Mei to start spewing fire at the round machine that is serving as their opponent. The robot ignores the stream of fire and rolls straight into their robot. Izuku isn’t sure who is more confused by the lack of damage dealt by the round bot. Team Titan or Mei. (Mei builds her inventions to last, even if she doesn’t always remember it)

The match continues in much the same way, with Mei shooting fire and Titan attempting to headbutt her robot. Eventually Mei started to laugh maniacally and Izuku bit back a laugh as team Titan paled considerably. Mei swings the robot around in a maneuver that looks positively illegal and shoots the grappling hook at team Titan’s robot. Izuku expected to hear a dull thud and have the claw glance off. In reality, the grappling hook fires straight through the spherical bot and pins it to the opposite wall. Mei laughs as she reels the grappling hook back in, dragging the shattered bot across the arena floor. (Izuku briefly thinks that team Titan is going to start crying)

The announcer declares team Hatsume the winner with a trembling voice. Izuku is confused by that. (The announcer will leave this event terrified of children, and it will be mostly Mei’s fault)

Izuku and Mei are practically buzzing with excitement. The Yuuei Honor students are going up against team Arachne next.

The announcer’s voice booms across the arena. “In the A corner, the crowd favorite to win, the one, the only, Yuuei Honor Students!” The crowd cheers as the Yuuei Honor students enter the ring with their robot trailing behind them. One of them wave at the crowd, which only makes them cheer louder. “In the B corner, the unstoppable underdogs that continue to give us showing after showing, Team Arachne!” The crowd cheers again (along with Mei and Izuku) although it’s quieter this time. Team Arachne’s Spider Bot is clinging to third place’s shoulder. Third place’s companion gently lifts the spider from Third place’s shoulder and places it on the ground with more care than a mother putting her baby down for a nap. She gently pats the bot on the head and it almost arches into the touch. (Once again Izuku wonders how much programming went into the bot)

The spider scuttles into the arena with purpose and speed. The Yuuei Honor student’s robot rushes into the frey, saw blade whirring and swinging as the spider-bot employs maneuvers that looks vaguely like gymnastic moves. One of the grabby arms makes a wild swing at the spider and it actually connects. The crowd gasps audibly and the spider -light as it is- is launched across the arena fast enough to give Izuku whiplash. Izuku winces in sympathy, he can only imagine all of the delicate pieces that were jostled around with that. He notes that third place’s companion seems particularly distressed, and third place places a hand on her shoulder.

Focusing back on the fight, the spider gets back up, it seems relatively unharmed, although one of it’s legs are sparking dangerously. The spider launches itself at the other robot, sliding under the treads and popping out on the opposite side. The spider jumps up onto the robot and begins hacking away at joints with a mixture of blowtorch and straight up stabbing. It is brutal. Nothing like the elegant battles Izuku had come to expect from the tiny bot. It is literally ripping the Yuuei Honor student’s rover look-alike into pieces. First was the saw, then the arms, and then the casing on the sides, followed by the tire treads. By the time the announcer calls the match, all that remains is a pile a vaguely connected scrap parts, and a limping metal spider. “And in a terrifying show of strength, team Arachne pulls out a win!” The announcer’s voice wavers as the spider limps back towards its makers. Third place already has electrical tape in hand and gives it to his partner, who quickly tears some off and begins emergency repairs. Izuku realizes that this was the first match where the winning bot was actually damaged. (He can’t help but feel a mix of anticipation and anxiety for the next match)

The announcer’s voice echoes throughout the dead silent arena. “We will take a twenty minute break before the finals, but don’t go anywhere! The two underage teams will go head to head in a battle for the ages!”

Chapter Text

Izuku and Mei are waiting just outside the arena. Mei is bouncing her leg in an endless loop as she sits on a stray box. She is waiting for the announcer to call them into the arena with all the patience she is known for. That is to say, none. Izuku is muttering again about everything he’s seen today and things he wants to implement in his own designs. Ideas swirling around in his head. He really regrets not bringing more paper with him.

“Oh! Hey Spider People!” Mei’s shouting startles him and brings him out of his head, and if the faces of team Arachne is anything to go by, they were startled too. The dainty looking girl points to herself and tilts her head. “Yeah you!” Mei shouts in clarification

The girl seems surprised, but walks towards them regardless, third place trailing behind her like a silent bodyguard. “Team Hatsume, right?” She asks once she’s closer. Her voice is soft and very quiet. She has an accent, but Izuku cannot determine where it’s from. He has to take a moment to take in her appearance. She almost looks like a doll, dainty and elegant. Her curled hair is snow white and contrasts sharply with her warm brown skin. Her large eyes are empty and glassy and pale blue. Her pupils are white and her cheeks are marked with lines and circles that reminds him of a circuit board, they glow a soft blue. Izuku thinks that she probably has some form of technology quirk.

Only a few feet behind her, stands Third place. All rough surfaces and sharp edges to her soft and sweet appearance. He has black hair with frosted tips, wild and messy, although not curly. More fluffly, and the style looks like he had leave it be when he had gotten up that morning. He’s tall, much taller than his companion, which looks especially funny, considering that his companion is even smaller than Izuku or Mei. He wears a plain grey T-shirt and black jeans. Up close his scar tissue is much more visible, Izuku recognizes them as burns. No visible part of him is spared. The burns on his arms are mostly cohesive and go from his palms to halfway up his forarms. Small tendrils of scar tissue snake around his neck. His face has a handful of scars as well, although they appear to be the result of bad slashes rather than burns. It’s all well treated, the skin tone is just short of being even. He looks like a delinquent, the look completed by the plethora of band-aids that dot his face and the piercings that dot his ears.

Izuku nods. “Yup! Midoriya Izuku,” He points behind him, “That’s Hatsume Mei” Mei waves but makes no move to get up off of the box she’s sitting on. Izuku knows he’ll regret it later (and he will) but he ends up word vomiting all over the girl. “You’re robot is really cool! How do you control it? I didn’t see either of you with a remote!” Izuku is bouncing on the balls of his feet while Mei watches, eyes glittering with curiosity. Izuku asks at least another dozen questions before he has to take a breath. Once he does, he realizes what he just did, and flushes bright red with embarrassment.

The girl smiles, unphased by the slew of questions. “Kuraski Kamiko” she points at her own companion “and this is Shiota Hiro” She folds her hands in front of her, it once again looks like she’s praying. “I’m not sure I caught all of your questions, or really any of them after the first one-“she giggles “-but as far as your first question is concerned, we don’t interact with the robot at all once the match has started.”

Izuku blinks “You… don’t control the robot?”

“Nope!” She smiles brightly and takes a step back, the robot in question leaps from the shoulder of third place (Shiota) and Kurasaki makes a deft turn in order to catch it in her arms. She cradles it protectively. “This is Arachne, she’s a program that works off of action and reaction. Trying to figure out how to sense the environment she’s in was very difficult, but completely worth it.” She pets the robot and it lets out a whir that almost sounds like a happy trill as it snuggles further into Kurasaki’s arms.

Izuku needs a moment to process that this girl, who looks about his age, had managed to make a basic AI, for a competition. He wants to say something intelligent in response, but his mind is whirling with ideas and exactly how much programming would be required to build something like that, and decides the answer is years of work.

He opens his mouth to ask more barely comprehensible questions when he is thankfully (or unthankfully, depending on who you ask) saved from his impending doom via word vomit by the one and only Shiota Hiro. Shiota moves forward quickly, and grabs Izuku’s hands, startling him out of his trance. “But enough about us!” He exclaims quickly and Kurasaki blinks at her companion’s outburst. “What about you guys!? You managed to build a miniature cannon that fires marble sized iron spheres fast enough to imbed itself in concrete nearly four meters away!” He’s practically vibrating, eyes sparkling and smile wide. (Izuku notes that his eyes are mismatched, his left is gold and his right is green) Izuku is heavily thrown off, it’s a complete one-eighty from how his appearance and previous demeanor. “That’s so cool!” He enthuses, bringing his hands up to his face in a decisively childish gesture. “How do you create the force? Air pressure!? Gun powder? Pistons?! And what about your flamethrower!? What sort of gas did you decide to use? Or did you use a liquid!? Could you imagine a robot that shot out flammable liquid!? What sort of applications do you think that could have!?” Izuku wonders if this is how he acts when he gets excited. (It is in fact not how he acts when he gets excited, he is much worse, much quieter, and much, much faster.)

Kurasaki quirks an eyebrow and glances at her companion. It’s more a look of confusion than anything else.

Shiota blinks. “I said that out loud?”

Mei laughs loudly “looks like you’re not the only one who can’t control themselves!” She’s only a few inches from falling off of the box, and Izuku elbows her in the ribs so she really does fall off.

Shiota groans “I was this close” he holds his fingers together so that they’re almost touching “to getting through a conversation without exposing my status as a huge dork!”

Kurasaki laughs at her companions misfortune. “As much fun as this is, finals start soon, we need to go.” She gives a nod of acknowledgement to Izuku and Mei. “Let’s give it our all okay?” She smiles

Shiota starts and looks at his watch. “You’re right!” he bows, it’s awkward and clumsy and he has to flail his arms about to keep himself from falling over. “I’m really sorry for word vomiting all over you, I swear I’m normally more composed, but your robot was just so cool!”

Kurasaki grabs his hand and starts dragging him to the other side of the arena. “He’s not!” She shouts over her shoulder, and Shiota gives an insulted squawk.

Before Izuku has any time to process the conversation they just had, along with the crap ton of new information he just got, when the announcer calls for the beginnings of the “In the A corner! The shorties with overwhelming destructive power, give it up for team Hatsume!” Izuku and Mei walk into the arena to deafening cheers that he can feel in his bones. “And in corner B-“ the announcer starts up again, barely audible over the overexcited crowd “-the robotic assassins who have blown through their competition with deadly precision and grace, Team Arachne!”

Kurosaki and Shiota walk calmly into the arena. Shiota is back to looking like a disinterested delinquent. Kurosaki is still holding their robot like it’s her child. Which, Izuku supposes, after the amount of time she must have spent programming the thing, might be accurate. She gently lowers the robot into the ring at the same time as Mei. Mei hands off the controller to Izuku, and Izuku doesn’t even fight the wild grin that finds its place on his face.

The announcer’s voice fills the arena, echoed by the crowd. “3-2-1- FIGHT!” Kurosaki waves and Arachne leaps into action. Mei and Izuku’s robot doesn’t take long to catch up, starting the fight by both launching an endless wave of miniature cannonballs at the same as a stream of fire. It’s a complicated maneuver, but Izuku has skill in robotics. It becomes a dodging game, where Arachne is unable to approach, but Izuku is unable to land a hit. Mei cackles wildly and Izuku adds the grappling hook to the mix, but Arachne pulls a maneuver fit to make a gymnast jealous and uses the chain to clamber towards the robot. Arachne gets to the robot and begins to use it’s blowtorch to hack away at the outer plating.

The maneuver doesn’t last long though, because Izuku swings the grappling hook around while pulling it in, and knocks Arachne straight off of the robot and knocks the other robot into the walls of the arena. The leg that Arachne has broken in the previous fight is broken again, along with a different leg, and team Hatsume’s robot is sparking uncontrollably.  Izuku has to fight to keep from muttering plans for a new robot based off of Arachne. (Arachne is really cool, no one can blame him)

Arachne limps forward, holding it’s broken legs in the air to prevent further damage. It looks remarkably pathetic, but Izuku isn’t fooled, he knows that Arachne is still incredibly dangerous. Izuku spurs the robot forward to meet Arachne with a blaze of fire and brimstone. Or in the case of team Hatsume, flamethrowers and cannonballs.

Arachne tries to roll out of the way, and succeeds, but loses one of it’s damaged legs in the process; leaving  behind a sparking stump. It activates one of it’s blowtorches and leaves a smoking line in the side of Team Hatsume’s robot as it passes. The two robots continue to exchange furious blows, Arachne lands more, but team Hatsume’s robot deals more damage.

After nearly twenty minutes of hit and run, both robots are battered. Almost none of Team Hatsume’s robot’s outer plating remains and it sparks uncontrollably. Arachne is limping even more now, missing three of it’s eight legs and covered in nicks and scratches. Both robots have long since run out of fire, and Izuku is out of ammunition.

Arachne surges forward once again, and Izuku struggles to bring the grappling hook around, but manages to knock Arachne out of the air. Arachne seems almost unbothered, and quickly tries again. Sticking low to the ground and dodging the grappling hook, slowly inching closer and closer to the other robot. Finally, Arachne reaches it’s goal and swings it’s damaged body around so it rests on top of the other robot. Arachne flattens out and practically attatches itself to its opponent. Izuku moves to move the grappling hook around when a huge charge of electricity arcs off of Arachne.

When the smoke clears, two charred robots sit in the center of the arena, surrounded by scorch marks and various scraps of metal and wires. Izuku, despite his best efforts, is unable to make his robot move. Arachne doesn’t budge either, and Shiota looks shocked.

“And after an absolutely brutal battle, Arachne goes Kamikaze, leading to a tie!” Izuku has to blink a few times before those words manage to process properly. The crowd cheers wildly and Kurasaki darts into the ring proper to grab Arachne. She gently pries her robot from team Hatsume’s carcass and waves at the engineering duo. She all but skips out of the arena, pulling Shiota along with her.

Izuku and Mei will both only vaguely remember the award ceremony. It is short and sweet for most, but for the two inventors, it is unbearably long. Both are itching to plan and design new ideas. Izuku smiles at the excited crowd from the crowded first place pedestal as they shout congratulations and cheer. Izuku and Mei are given a pretty golden medal to add to their collection, and the management insists they take a photo to commemorate the occasion where four middle-schoolers won their competition. Like all of Izuku’s competitions, it takes some time to get away from the well-meaning crowds and on the way home.

Both expected the competition to be the end of it. A few new ideas and an extra accomplishment to add to their resumes, but not much else. Both were very wrong.

Chapter Text

Izuku first meets team Arachne again when in the park with Tenya. It’s a few weeks into summer, and Izuku had finally been able to relax and believe that Tenya wouldn’t find out about his and Mei’s… summer project… He was proven very wrong by two very eccentric inventors.

“Midoriya!” a voice calls, it’s loud and boisterous and happy. Izuku turns to see Shiota running towards him. “Hey!” Izuku vaguely notes a very confused looking Kurasaki in the background holding two ice cream cones and trying to make sense of what just happened. “Hey Midoriya!” He’s close now, only a few feet away.

Tenya looks over at his friend skeptically. “Do you know this individual?”

Izuku was about to come up with an excuse when Shiota interrupts “We met at a battle bot competition a few weeks ago, tied for first.” Izuku can practically see the gears turning in Tenya’s head as he processes this. Shiota does not realize this, or the impending death by lecture and continues to talk. “You did such a great job by the way! I really wanted to ask you and Hatsume questions, but you both left before I got the chance!”

Tenya finally manages to get over his shock, and Izuku is pretty sure the lecture will last until sundown. It’s all about proper citizenship and how dangerous and questionably legal fighting rings are, even if they’re for robots, and Izuku, despite his best efforts, cannot get Iida to stop.

Izuku laughs nervously, playing with the hair at the back of his neck. Tenya is not deterred, and continues to attempt to convince the world of how no self-respecting citizen should purposefully bend the laws.

“Well this looks interesting.” Kurasaki’s voice rings out. She’s holding two cones of ice cream, and has managed to get some of the sweet treat on her nose. She takes a lick from the one in her left hand.

“Hey!” Shiota complains “Don’t eat mine!”

Kurasaki quirks an eyebrow “then don’t make me carry it.” She takes another lick, and Shiota grabs the cone from her.

Tenya blinks, clearly unsure of what to make of the strange interaction. “Who-“

Kurasaki interrupts him to talk to Shiota “Did you manage to ask your questions?”

Shiota’s eyes twinkle, and Izuku once again finds himself buried in questions. Izuku does his best to answer, and asks several of his own. Kurasaki sits on the sidelines and talks to Tenya, but chimes in with her own expertise occasionally.

As it turns out, Shiota mostly deals with the development of materials, whereas Kurasaki prefers programming to just about anything else. Although both are willing to try other things. Both of them are fond of robotics. Izuku bounces his idea for a quirk suppressant field off of Shiota, and Shiota actually has some really good points. The conversations become one when the topic of the importance of support items come up.

They spend nearly forty minutes discussion minutia of getting support items approved for everyday life when Izuku asks the big introductory question. “Shiota, what’s your quirk?”

Shiota frowns for a moment. “pyrokinesis.” It sounds like he’s admitting a fault rather than explaining a quirk. “I can produce and manipulate fire”

Izuku and Tenya are very close to stunned. Pyrokinesis is rare, and very powerful. Ever since Endeavor became number two, pyrokinesis became one of the most desired quirks. (By both heroes and villains, Izuku's brain notes) “That’s so cool!” Izuku practically beams. “You’d be an amazing hero with a quirk like that!”

Shiota frowns “maybe…” he looks at his hands, the ones covered in burn marks. (Izuku doesn’t notice, he's not quite that good at interacting with other humans yet. Tenya and Mei don't count as human, but neither do Shiota or Kurasaki, so it all balances out in the end.)

Kurasaki saves Shiota from Izuku’s upcoming questions. “My quirk is Technopath.” She smiles, and the markings on her cheeks glow a little brighter. “I can communicate with and manipulate anything with an electrical signal. Phones, cameras, computers, you name it!” She claps her hands in front of her. “It’s left me with a real knack for programming.” She smiles.

“That sound incredibly convenient for hero work in cities!” Tenya practically shouted, enunciating his point with well timed chops of his hand.

(If either Izuku or Tenya were better with people, they would have noticed the flash of sadness in Kurasaki’s eyes, but they weren’t, and they didn’t) “What are your quirks?”

Tenya looks at Izuku questioningly, before stepping up to the plate. “My quirk is engine! I have engines in my legs and can use them to go very fast.”

“Are you related to the Iida family?” Kurasaki asks and Iida blinks.

“Yes! My older brother is Ingenium, the turbo hero!” he strikes a heroic pose, the way he always does when talking about his older brother. “Why?” his head swivels around and it looks rather comical.

Kurasaki shrugs. “My sisters used to do…” she paused, as if trying to decide on the correct wording “consulting work for Ingenium.” She looked to Izuku, silently asking what his quirk was.

Izuku and Iida were still reeling from the revelation that Kurasaki was apparently related to heroes that worked with Ingenium. That was probably why he didn’t think before he just blurted out “I’m quirkless”

She doesn’t respond how he expected “Do you guys want to become heroes?” She tilts her head with a small smile, face impossible to read. (Kurasaki is just hard to read in general, she appears to only have one emotion, and that is content) Shiota doesn’t react at all.

Izuku blinks. “Yes…” he bites his lip and prepares for the question. Why does he think he can be a hero. It’s too dangerous for a quirkless person after all. Everyone asks it. Maybe they’ll be like Mei or Iida and just not care. Maybe they won’t. He looks to Iida for comfort.

Shiota huffs agreeably and Kurasaki nods. “Cool” she says, as if he hadn’t just destroyed every prediction he had of this encounter and moves on, continuing her earlier point (which Izuku had interrupted) about how helpful some of heroes’ prosthetics would be in everyday life.

“Wait!” Izuku find himself shouting. Kurasaki stops talking and everyone is looking at him. Iida seems surprised, Izuku doesn’t shout very often. “Aren’t you gonna…” he trails off

“gonna what?” Shiota asks, eyebrow quirked and smile confused.

Izuku flushes in embarrassment, “Tell me I can’t be a hero, that it’s too dangerous. That sort of stuff” It had taken nearly a week to convince Tenya that he wasn’t any less capable because he’s quirkless.

Shiota blinks, like he hadn’t even thought of that. “But it’s not?” he looks confused.

Kurasaki cuts in. “Quirks are tools. if you train hard there’s no reason why you couldn’t do it. Plenty of heroes have non-combative quirks. My sister included.” She pauses a moment. “Actually, you could probably ask her to train you, she’d probably say yes.” She smiles, and goes back to talking about support items. Dropping the topic like she hadn’t just shifted his entire worldview. (Izuku finds that’s a common occurrence when talking with Kurasaki and Shiota.)

Izuku glances at Iida, who looks equally stunned. They let the conversation go, and leave the park a half hour later when the sun begins to set.

The second time Izuku meets Kurasaki and Shiota (He’s yet to meet one without the other) is in a hardware store with Mei. Nanako had asked them to pick up a couple of parts, and had given them some spare change to pick up a part or two of their own. Kurasaki had managed to climb on top of a refrigerator, and was eating a soft pretzel while watching everyone who passed by. Izuku wouldn’t have noticed her if not for the fact that Shiota was asking for her opinion on different metals. (No one is entirely sure why there was a refrigerator in the raw materials section, but there was)

Shiota and Mei had ended up in a very headed debate about proper materials for a jetpack. Kurasaki had offered Izuku a seat on her refrigerator, which he politely refused, and eventually throws blueprint paper and pens at Shiota and Mei when they started coming up with ideas.

Both parties part ways with new ideas and heavy bags of materials, after being kicked out by the weary hardware store employees; several hours later than planned.

The third time Izuku meets Kurasaki and Shiota, is in a library. Shiota is calmly reading a book at a desk with a notebook full of incomprehensible scribbles and half-baked plans. Three tables down, Kurasaki sits on a table, surrounded by a miniature mountain of books and paper. There’s a whiteboard and three laptops in the general area. The librarians and other patrons avoid her like the plague, especially seeing the scary looking lines of self-appearing code on two of the monitors. She’s humming as she works, happy as a clam.

 Izuku has a short conversation with Shiota about homework and time management in hushed tones. It’s the first time he meets Kurasaki and Shiota without accidentally staying out way later than planned.

The fourth and final accidental time Izuku meets Kurasaki and Shiota, he is wandering about with Mei and Tenya. Mei had been kicked out of the lab and Tenya had decided to tag along. They had wandered into an arcade and ended up in an air hockey tournament. Tenya is eliminated in the first round, Mei in the second, Izuku is in the third for the semifinals, and ends up against Shiota. Izuku wins in an impressive display of hand eye co-ordination, and Shiota laughs off his loss.

The group ends up going and getting milkshakes in some sort of ice cream shop near the arcade. Tenya tries (and fails) to give a lecture about proper nutrition.

The conversation eventually drifts off to where everyone wants to go to school. They all want to go to UA. Izuku and Tenya want to go into the hero program, Mei, Shiota and Kurasaki want to go into support.

“So why don’t you want to be a hero?” Izuku ends up asking. “I think you’d make really good ones.”

Shiota frowns. “I just don’t like the industry.” He shrugs. “Besides, I like problem solving.”

“Well what about you Kurasaki?”

Kurasaki smiles weakly. “Does it matter?” Izuku levels a glare at her Kurasaki sighs, and ignores him entirely. “Well, why do you guys want to be heroes?”

Iida puffs up. “I want to be like my brother, I want to enforce the peace and protect the people!”

Kurasaki nods agreeably. “That sounds very nice. I’m sure you’ll do it.” She looks to Izuku in a silent question.

“I just want to help people, be a hero people can rely on.” Izuku looks down at his hands, playing with them. “I know it’ll be a lot harder for me than everyone else, I know that, but if I can just make that up, with my tech or my analysis or anything!” He puts is head in his hands.

Kurasaki takes a deep sip from her milkshake. her sad smile is back. She rummages around in her pockets for a moment. She pulls out a piece of paper and a blue pen. She writes something down and passes the paper to him.

On it is a phone number. “What’s that?” Tenya asks.

“It’s my sister’s, I did tell you that she would be willing to train you.” Her normal smile is back. “You will have to work harder than everyone else, but I believe you can do it. Don’t let me down, okay?”

Izuku nods as he tries to hold back grateful tears. (Spoiler alert: he fails)

Chapter Text

Meeting the Kurasaki Family is an event. What Kurasaki had failed to mention when she invited Izuku and his mom over for dinner, was that she had so much family. The Kurasaki family don’t believe in moving out, they also apparently don’t believe in birth control. The Kurasaki family consists of seven people, two parents, three children, and two grandparents.

Izuku and his mom walk into the house to a boisterous young woman (whom Izuku has never met) who happily announces their presence to the rest of the house at the loudest volume possible. She introduces herself as Kurasaki Mina. She’s tall, with short black hair and scattered scars along her arms. Her eyes sparkle with mischief as she happily guides them through the house to the kitchen.

In the kitchen are three other members of the Kurasaki Family. A petite lady with dark skin and white hair and red markings across her cheeks is happily stirring a large pot while conversing with a tall man with black hair and electric blue eyes. Kurasaki is sitting on the counter and adding her own points.

“Kurasaki Chizue” The tall man introduces himself. He has the same accent as Kurasaki does, just much heavier, and he has very evident laugh lines. “Kamiko won’t stop talking about you. It’s a pleasure to finally put a face to the name.”

Kurasaki flushes and avoids Izuku’s gaze. (Izuku’s blushing too, it’s pleased though, he still isn’t used to people talking about him in a positive light.) The lady puts down her spoon and smiles at Izuku’s mom. “Kurasaki Nanako, it’s very nice to meet you both.”

it's Izuku’s mom's turn to flush, pleased. (She doesn’t get enough positive attention either, being a single mother is hard, especially on the social life.) “Midoriya Inko, the pleasure is all mine.”

Kurasaki pulls Izuku away from the kitchen and into the dining room. Mina trails behind them, clearly entertained. In the dining room, a woman sits doing paperwork. She’s young, maybe a few years older than Mina. The woman in front of him is pale, with black hair that’s bleached at the tips in a low bun. She looks up at them when they enter, and gives them both a smile. It’s pleasant, and showcases the long, jagged scar over the bridge of her nose.

“This is my older sister, the one I told you about.”

Kurasaki’s sister laughs. “You could at least give him my name.” She motions for Izuku to sit down. He does. “My name is Kurasaki Nanami, also known as the information hero: Delta”

Izuku blinks, trying to think of any information about Tech Support, and coming up empty. “I’ve never heard about you.” He mutters in no small amount of awe before realizing how rude what he just said was.

Nanami laughs. “Good!” it’s loud and boisterous. “Don’t worry about trying to recognize me, I’m an underground hero, you not recognizing me means I’m doing my job!”

“What’s your quirk!?” Izuku all but shouts. A real live underground pro is sitting right in front of him, he’s curious. (His mother may want to flay him alive, but he’s just a little too excited to care about proper behavior and being polite.)

Nanami smiles at him warmly. “I hear you’re really good with analysis, why don’t you tell me?” Her electric blue eyes flash red for a moment.

Izuku’s mind begins to whir with plans and ideas. Based on her appearance she must rely on stealth and speed, so it’s unlikely she has any sort of physical quirk. Given the fact that her eyes can change color, it’s probably vision based. He spends another minute or two muttering to himself. He eventually decides that it’s probably some form of mental quirk. He eventually finds an explanation that works. “It’s some type of mental quirk, probably based on vision, maybe dealing with information? Given that you’re built like you mostly deal with sneak attacks and swift movements, while avoiding drawn out fights.” Izuku pauses a moment. “Well, there’s also your tagline”

Nanami whistles. “Impressive. Kamiko told me you were good, but I’m beginning to think she was underestimating you.” She leans back. “My quirk is download, I can ‘download’ information from computers or people that I can see.” She smiles “Stuff like plans, moves, injuries, information on peoples’ quirks. It’s not very flashy, and it’s not the best for fighting, but it’s very useful.”

“I can imagine, it must make interrogations really easy!”

Nanami chuckles."You'd be surprised, but enough about me, I hear you want to be a hero.”

Izuku’s good mood dies. He knew that Nanami had wanted to meet him, maybe even train him, but he didn’t think Kurasaki had told her he was quirkless. He doubts any hero would touch a quirkless person with a ten-foot pole. “Yeah. But everyone tells me I can’t.” He whispers

“Why?” Nanami asks “Because you’re quirkless?” Izuku starts as she chuckles softly. “Midoriya, you gave me more information about my quirk from inferencing than I could figure out about someone using my own.” She looks at him meaningfully, “Why do you want to be a hero?”

Izuku looks up at her. “I want to help people.” He lifts his head. “I just want to help, to keep people safe, to be someone that makes others feel safe, protected.”

“Good.” Nanami leans back. “From what I can see, you’re clever, with a keen mind, and full of determination.” She grins “I’d like to train you, get you ready for UA. What do you think?”

Kurasaki fears that Izuku will end up filling the house with his tears. (He doesn’t but it’s a close thing.)

Convincing his mother is another matter entirely. It’s a close thing. They don’t bring it up until the end of dinner. Izuku thinks it’s to let Nanami build up some rapport with the green haired mother. In the end it takes twenty minutes of impressive and reasonable points to convince his mother, and by then she’s crying too. (Kurasaki asks if they have flood insurance, and Izuku punches her in the arm)

Izuku leaves with a spring in his step, a little dehydrated, well fed, and with a time and place to meet with Nanami for training.

It takes all of three weeks for Kurasaki and Shiota to insert themselves into Izuku, Mei and Tenya’s lives. Kurasaki insisted that they all call her by her given name. So now she’s Kamiko, although mei calls her Kami, and Tenya refused to call her by her given name so soon, but settled for Aki.

Izuku’s life has changed again. Now Izuku goes to a private dojo twice a week to get basic combat beaten into him by Nanami. Nanami is a good teacher, if a bit brutal, and offers tips and tricks about everything under the sun. Three times a week he goes to the Hatsume’s to work on projects with Mei, now Shiota and Kamiko stop by, sometimes helping, sometimes just working on their own projects. Tenya complains that he still hasn’t seen Kamiko without Shiota. He occasionally watches fights whenever he gets a chance, sometimes live, sometimes in his living room, and sometimes on Nanami’s laptop in that private dojo she’s so fond of. Twice a week he meets up with Tenya, they do anything and everything. And before he knows it, school is starting back up again.

The world keeps turning, and Izuku keeps working. He’s the top of his class, his year really, and has every second of his schedule filled. Now he’s focusing on support items and quirk replication in the Hatsume lab, with the assistance of Mei, and surprisingly, Shiota. Kamiko says that she has no grasp of those things, but she still sticks around with Tenya for moral support. (Izuku thinks they bonded at some point over having older siblings as heroes. Now they get along famously.) In his free time, he trains with Nanami. She teaches him martial arts and gymnastics. She makes him run and lift weights and run obstacle courses.

The National Primary School Engineering Competition comes and goes and Izuku manages to secure second place, first goes to Mei this year. She deserved it, having built a pair of boots that allows the wearer to walk on walls. Izuku, Mei, Shiota and Kurasaki receive an invite to come back to the battle bot competition, Mei and Kamiko accept, but Izuku and Shiota decline. (Izuku fears for the poor souls that will have to face them. Especially after seeing Mei’s face after one of their brainstorming sessions)

As winter comes to a close, Nanami asks him what sorts of support items he thinks he might use. Izuku admits that he has designs for a staff that could deliver an electric shock like a taser.

Nanami nods, eyeing him carefully. “That’s a good idea, you’re pretty short-“ Izuku would be offended by the bluntness, but it’s pretty standard for these sessions. In Nanami’s words ‘the blunter I am, the better I can teach you, sugarcoating compromises the efficacy of these meetings.’ “-A staff would give you extra reach. I’ll see if I can get someone to train you in a bo-staff.”

“You’re not going to teach me?” Izuku asks, he’s confused. (and a little hurt)

“Izuku” she soothes, already sensing his worry. “I have no experience in working with staffs, I can’t teach you something I don’t know.” She smiles, eyes sparkling with mischief he’s come to recognize means bruises and sore muscles. “Don’t worry, you’re not getting away from me that easily.”

Izuku meets Master Inaba on a rainy spring afternoon after classes. It’s a different dojo than he’s used to and Master Inaba is mildly terrifying. He firmly believes in learning from experience and by the end of the first session Izuku’s hands ache from the firm strikes of his new teacher.

winter is just beginning again when Izuku meets Master Inaba’s other student. She waltzes into the dojo with ease and grace, gym bag over her shoulder. Hair tied back into a sleek black ponytail. Warm grey eyes and a red tank-top with black leggings. She introduces herself as Yaoyarozu Momo. Master Inaba has them spar for the first half hour, correcting them both all the while. It becomes a regular occurrence for Izuku and Yaoyarozu to spar, occasionally they get together afterwards to get food. Izuku learns that her quirk allows her to make anything so long as she knows the chemical makeup, and Izuku goes on an hour-long rant about how amazing that is. They end up friends at the end of it.

Time speeds up again, and Izuku continues building. He mentions to Shiota about how Yaoyarozu’s quirk works in passing, and how it requires large amounts of exposed skin, and he proposed trying to create genetically coded fabrics that would be compatible with skin-based quirks. Izuku throws himself into the new project. At some point, Izuku starts calling Shiota Hiro and the world keeps turning.

Mei and Izuku build his taser staff and he starts working to add a collapsible aspect. Nanami starts teaching him more advanced martial arts, and ups the difficulty of their training. He continues to train with Master Inaba, and Izuku remains at the top of his class, and before he knows it, he’s starting his second year in middle-school.

Starting his second year Nanami brings yet another person into their training sessions. To say Izuku was surprised to see Mina standing in the middle of the dojo was an understatement. Turns out Mina, despite being a journalism student at a semi-local college, was scarily good at hand to hand combat and basic weapons. She had insisted on taking Izuku to a nearby gun range and teaching him the basics of firearms. Non-lethal and otherwise. It left Izuku with a lot of ideas for projectile weaponry.

Izuku and Hiro finally finish their genetically coded fabric halfway through their second year; after sixteen months of trial, error, and minor fires. (there hasn’t been a major fire since Kamiko was put in charge of ranking the severity of fires. Not because the fires became smaller, but because Kamiko could walk through hell the same way she would a garden in spring, drinking tea and complimenting the lovely weather. Shiota doesn't help, he sets almost as much stuff on fire as Mei does.)

It’s the start of his third year of middle school when his entire worldview dies. Izuku is walking to Dagobah beach; (the same one he used to scavenge in for parts) Mei had told him she needed scrap metal for a new project, and Izuku happily agreed to see if he could find a bit of garbage that would meet her needs at Dagobah. He’d rushed directly from school to get there as quickly as possible, doodling plans for a gun that could shout Mei’s flaming paint-balls. He’s passing under an overpass when he hears and odd gurgling sound. He ends up pausing, (as much as his future self would regret it) and happens to be staring right at the manhole cover when it goes flying. Izuku jumps and watches as a large mound of slime pulls itself out of the sewers. Izuku gags at the scent that the slime carries.

“A medium size invisibility cloak, what luck!” The slime exclaims in a voice that makes Izuku shiver. He turns on his heel and begins to sprint. The slime laughs as he gives chase. Izuku’s fast, he knows he’s fast, but it’s not enough to escape the slime. The slime catches up to him when he’s barely out of the overpass. “C’mon kid, I don’t have time for a chase scene right now!” It catches his legs and trails up his chest and arms, slowly engulfing him. Izuku struggles, but it’s hard to fight sentient slime. (He wishes he had one of his support items on him, he’d take anything at this point!) “Stop struggling, it’ll only hurt for a moment, I promise!” the slime snickers. The slime has managed to make it to his face, and Izuku holds his breath as he tries to keep the slime from entering his lungs. The sludge inches its’ way up his nose. Izuku wrenches his arm free(-ish) and covers it with his hand.

He can live three minutes without air if he stops struggling, he doesn’t know if that will be enough for someone to help, but the slime was in a hurry, if he can hold out long enough, he might be able to find out why. His lungs burn and his vision is beginning to blur when he hears the booming laughter of the number one hero. (He thinks that he must be dying, or having a very vivid auditory hallucination.) A huge blast rips the sludge off of him, knocking him unconscious.

“y---mn----uo---youn—an!”

Izuku blinks awake to the face of All Might, startles, and punches the hero in the face. It’s weak, barely more than a love-tap thanks to the oxygen deprivation in his limbs, but that doesn’t help the mortification that comes with accidentally punching the number one hero in the face. Izuku is seconds away from a full on meltdown when the hero stands back up from the kneeling position he was in, strikes a pose (that Izuku can’t help but notice is incredibly unbalanced, why is he doing that with his knees!?) and laughs. “Thought we lost you there!”

“All might!?” Izuku squeaks, barely swallowing a mutterstorm of half formed thoughts. Instead Izuku makes a noise that vaguely resembles a dying cat.

All might laughs and hands him back his notebook, his classic signature between two blank pages. “Indeed dear citizen, I must go now! Justice never rests after all!”

“Wait!” Izuku finds himself asking.

“Young Man-“ all might begins

“Just a moment!” He all but begs “Can a quirkless person be a hero!?” Izuku doesn’t know why he asks (and he will regret asking, he will regret with every fiber of his being)

All Might seems to falter, taking a moment. “Are you?” the question is unsaid, but Izuku hears it nonetheless, he nods. “I am sorry young man, but heroics is too dangerous for someone without a quirk, you should pick something else, perhaps policing. Yes, that would be best.” All Might turns and leaps into the stratosphere, leaving Izuku to pick up that shattered pieces of his hopes and dreams.

Izuku isn’t sure when he started crying, but he had. He still went to the beach to find Mei her scrap metal, but he’s barely aware of it.

Izuku walks home, thoughts swirling through his head in a barely coherent stream. His mother isn’t home yet by the time he walks through the door, and Izuku puts the metal away before taking a shower. He feels so gross, he wants to wash off the day. The slime of the villain and the hurtful words of the number one hero are both stuck to his skin, unwilling to relent.

Izuku finds himself muttering to himself as he rubs his skin raw. All he can think is the fact that All Might, the number one hero, looked him in the eyes, and told him no. He said no! That regardless of how much he works, how hard he tries, regardless of anything he does, he can’t be a hero because of the conditions of his birth! It isn’t fair! Not when he’s already put so much effort into this. Does that mean that the hours and hours he spent training, designing, learning were useless!? That all of those hours were for nothing!? That everyone he cares for, Mei, Tenya, the Kurasakis, Momo, Master Inaba, that all of the work they put into helping him was pointless.

No. No no no no no no nO NO!.. He can’t let all of the work they’ve put in go to waste. He won’t. He growls as he punches the shower wall in frustration (his knuckles will bruise but he doesn’t care) and finally feels the stinging release of tears. He will be a hero, he doesn’t care what All Might thinks, he doesn’t care if he has to rebuild society from scratch, he will be a hero. He will prove that he has what it takes to stand among the best of the best, that he deserves to be there, and there is nothing, and no one who can stop him. He’ll make sure of it.

Chapter Text

Izuku wakes up the morning after All Might’s declaration with dried tear tracks on his cheeks and feeling like there’s a weight on his chest. He wakes up feeling both too much and not enough. Both empty and overwhelmed. He wakes up before the alarm but he only gets out of bed when his mother calls for him. For the first time in years his scars twinge with a dull itch that he has to try and ignore. It’s easy to forget the scars Kacchan Bakugo gave him the last time he saw him, but today they pull and stretch and itch and make it impossible to ignore the splotchy red skin.

He must look truly wrecked, he thinks dully, as his mother takes one look at him and begins to fret like her life depends on it. Oh! She’s talking, he should pay attention now. “-ick honey? I can call the school!”

Izuku gives her a smile, its fake and strained as hell, but it eases her frayed nerves nonetheless. “I’m fine.”

He has never been so grateful that his mother seems to just take whatever he says at face value.

It’s not a lie, he tells himself. He’s fine. Or maybe he isn’t, but he will be. UA got rid of its rule stating that Quirkless couldn’t attend. All he has to do is make it there, become a hero, prove All Might, Kacchan, everyone wrong. He takes his frustration and anger and fear and bridles it, turning it into pure determination.

Izuku goes to school and does homework with Tenya and tries to pretend like nothing is wrong. Izuku talks about mechanisms and blueprints with Mei and Kamiko and Hiro, and pretends he isn’t furious. He goes to classes with Momo and master Inaba and pretends like nothing bothers him. He spars with Nanami and practices with Mina and pretends that he isn’t drowning in shame and fear and useless, so so useless, why did he think that a Deku like him could do anything. (He doesn’t do a good job)

Its nearly two weeks after the incident when people start to speak up. Telling them makes him burn with anger and fear and shame and a thousand other emotions he can’t place. (But he doesn’t lie, doesn’t try to evade. Maybe four years ago he would have, but he is not who he was four years ago.)

Tenya, bless his overdramatic soul, (or maybe curse it, Izuku isn't sure) is the first to ask. It’s a slow Tuesday afternoon, and they’re doing their chemistry homework in his newly refurbished room. It looks barren without All Might's face plastered over every flat surface. 

“Izuku…” he begins, such a simple statement. Hiding worry and fear and why is his room so empty, and why is he so quiet now, and why is he avoiding me, why why why why. Izuku hums in recognition and finishes determining how many electron shells are in a Lithium atom. Tenya takes a steadying breath and takes the plunge. “What’s wrong?”

Izuku feels his breath catch and his blood turn to ice. He tries to deflect and redirect and lie but in the end crumbles under his friends concerned yet kind onslaught of questions and no and don’t lie to me Izuku I know that’s not right that you're not okay, just tell me what's wrong so I can fix it. And Izuku spills every detail of the encounter, every emotion that came with it, and tries so so hard not to cry. (He fails) Tenya is offended (scared sad concerned furious) on his behalf and tells him that any hero worth their salt could tell that Izuku’s heroic spirit puts him on par with the best of them and that anyone who says otherwise is a liar. Izuku feels better afterwards, and the sense of wrong begins to fade.

Iida goes home and rants and rages to his brother. He asks how the number one hero could ignore the spirit of the most heroic person in the world. How he could stomp on his dreams like they don’t even matter. How he could be so callous and cruel to someone who only wants to do good in this world. Tensei doesn’t have an answer for him, but they both throw out any item in the house that so much as bears passing resemblance to the fallen hero. Because no one who could do something like that could be a hero worth respecting. (Tensei seethes with quiet rage at the thought of all might, born with immense power, effortlessly coasting at the top, being so incapable of seeing the feelings, the skill and determination and pride and ability, of the people he is supposed to protect. That is not the actions of a hero, his mind whispers to himself, that is entitlement and cruelty and a thousand things he cannot name.)

Yaoyarozu asks what is wrong with all of the compassion and tact he’s come to expect from her. (It's quite a lot. Yaoyarozu may be a little dense at times, but she is genuine and sweet and a thousand things that mean the world to Izuku.) He tells her, but not without a handful of lies and an awful lot of convincing. And she tells him that he is no less qualified than she is. After all, her quirk can only make things that she knows the chemical composition of, his mind can make things she couldn’t even begin to dream about. She laughs and says that if he’s not meant to be a hero than no one is. She tells him he’s skilled and talented and strong and can almost beat Master Inaba in a sparring match now.

“Imagine what you could do with one of your charged staffs” she teases after hearing yet another one of his insecurities. And Izuku leaves feeling lighthearted and valued and not as useless as he felt when he entered.

He doesn’t notice that Yaoyarozu starts to cry when his back is turned. The betrayal stings and lays heavy in her chest. She swears to be twice the hero All Might ever was. (It had seemed impossible up until a moment ago, how could anyone replace All Might, he's the undisputed number one!? Now, she’s not so sure.)

Kamiko and Hiro ask him in the same way they do all things, together. During an afternoon of spitballed plans and an attempt to reinforce the bio-engineered fabric, they spring on the fact that he seems angry. And Izuku tells them he is. He tells them about how he felt after All Might’s declaration, after he assumed he understood what he was capable of after hearing one thing about him.

Hiro all but growls at Izuku’s admission of the number one hero’s actions, and Kamiko hugs him tightly. Both decide that the only way to right this wrong is to throw every piece of merch the duo can get their hands on into a raging bonfire at sunset while preforming an absolutely ridiculous and obviously made up ritual to ensure the number one hero never has a halfway decent cup of coffee ever again.

It’s stupid and ridiculous and fun and by the end of

it the anger that clawed away at his heart and senses is all but gone. He feels ridiculous and light and almost drunk on love and life and laughter.

He’s long gone by the time Kamiko and Hiro remove another hero’s name from their list. They had their hopes up for the number one, that he wouldn’t be like so many of the others, but they can’t say their surprised, power and fame tend to go to one’s head, something they are both uncomfortably aware of. (Hiro’s scars itch and pull while Kamiko needs to remind herself that the visions she has aren’t real.)

Mei asks whats wrong in the same roundabout way he knows her for. Mei still isn’t great at people, but that just makes her concern (rare and blatant as it is) touching rather than crass. She asks whats bugging him and he tells her. It’s short and simple. Mei tells him that worrying about the opinion of an idiot is pointless and a waste of time. She tells him if he wants something he should just do it, that he should stop moping about and get back to work, before going back to the project at hand herself.

Izuku leaves Mei’s house feeling strangely at peace. (Mei sits awake at night wondering why anyone would think that about her first and best friend. Why anyone would think that about someone who is heroism personified, All Might's smile reassures those in stress, but Izuku sits down and gets his hands dirty finding and fixing problems he has no need to fix with more care than anyone thought was possible. All might soothes, Izuku cures.)

Nanako and Mina ask last. It’s a rare day when the both of them are training him. Nanako is the one who breaks the ice. Izuku does not want to tell them. It was one thing to tell his friends, who supported him but haven’t invested large amounts of time in his betterment, but Nanako had spent so much time and effort and care in his training. What would she think of his self doubt, of his fear of not being good enough, of disappointing her.

“You okay kid?” Mina asks, voice colored with concern.

Izuku shakes his head. He doesn’t want to lie to them; (he doesn’t think he could) but he can’t quite force the words out of his mouth. He feels sick, shame and fear sticking in his throat and making it hard to breathe.

“Take your time.” Nanako soothes, rubbing slow easy circles into his back. “We aren’t going anywhere.”

Izuku’s breath hitches and he starts to breathe even faster. He is starting to feel a little dizzy when Mina forces a lip whistle between his teeth. The small party favor makes a wheezing noise with every breath and Mina forces down a snicker.

“Mina!” Nanako whispers, scandalized. “You can’t just-“

“Shhhh! Let me work my magic!” Mina laughs softly, and between the quiet conversation and the lip whistle in his mouth, he finds himself laughing. It’s so stupid, but he can’t help it. “See!” Mina cheers.

“I cannot believe you!” Nanako groans. Falling back against the padded mat.

“Back to the topic at hand!” Mina announces

“Incredible segue Mina” Nanako deadpans, clearly unwilling to let her sister change to topic.

Mina is undeterred by her sister and hits her with no shortage of force “Shush you-“ She turns to Izuku “What’s wrong?” she notices him taking a deep breath. “We aren’t upset, just concerned!” She hurridly reassured. (It’s moments like this that he remembers how young Mina and Nanako are. Nanako lying on the floor, making fun of her little sister, while Mina tries to reassure a kid two steps from a panic attack. It's silly and light and makes confessing his doubts so much easier)

“Do you guys think I can be a hero?”

“Is that a real question?” Nanako asks, and Mina swats at her again, whispering something that sounds like how are you so bad at this?!

Izuku nods, and opens his mouth to reply, but the words turn to dust before he can force them through his lips.

Nanako takes a deep breath, and closes her eyes. “Izuku, I wouldn’t bother training you if I didn’t think you could be a hero. I don’t waste my time on pointless endeavors. Much less hopeless students. Even if you didn’t get into a hero program, I wouldn’t be disappointed.”

“What Nanako means-“ Mina soothes, kicking her sister “Is that you are clever and quick and strong and so much more than you give yourself credit for. You have everything you need to be a hero.” She pauses a moment. “Or a vigilante”

It’s Nanako’s turn to kick Mina as Izuku tries to wrap his head around Mina’s suggestion. “Don’t go pushing your worldviews on him!?” Nanako all but shrieks.

“I’m not, he’d be great at it!”

“It’s illegal!” Nanako hisses, sitting up and grabbing her sister by the collar.

“I’m just saying~” Mina teases.

They both continue going on like this. Izuku briefly wonders if Mina is a vigilante herself. (It would make sense, a journalism student has no business knowing as much about fighting and espionage as she does.) He quickly dismisses the idea, after all, it would be foolish to do something like that with a sibling as a hero.

 He leaves the gym without doing any of their planned training, after spending nearly an hour talking. It takes a while, but they eventually coax the story of his meeting with the number one out of him. They tell him that he deserves to be a hero and that he can do things that the number one could never dream of. They remind him that All Might knows nothing about him, that he doesn’t know how clever, how determined, how strong he is. Mina gets him ice cream and Nanako tells him that he can do anything he wants, and that regardless of what that is, they will support him.

Izuku goes home feeling warm and light and determined to prove Nanako and Mina right. (He isn’t there for Mina’s rage or the hours she spends in a shooting range to subdue the boiling fury. He isn’t there to see the dozens of angry emails that Nanako sends out to other heroes and people in the underground circuit. One very important email is sent to two very important individuals. A principal, and her old homeroom teacher.)

Izuku throws himself into training like there is no tomorrow. He doesn’t tell anyone what had happened with all might, that’s a secret he’ll take to his grave. But, he’s sure his friends had noticed the sudden gaps in his room where his all might merch had been previously. Izuku starts to spend hours and hours preparing his gear for the entrance exam. Due to research (and some minor hacking of UA’s servers by one very helpful Kamiko) he knew that the practical exam would be fighting robots.

Izuku has to spend hours filling out forms to get his gear approved. Actual hours of paperwork and plans and maddeningly small print. Izuku has to turn in his application on paper in person because they wouldn’t let him sign up online without picking what type of quirk he has.

Kamiko and Mei start working on something together on a project. Izuku, wisely, fears for… everything really. (Last summer they built a robot that shot out other robots at 70km/hr for battle bots! Someone ended up in the hospital! His concern is warranted!)

He somehow manages to convince Tenya and Yaoyarozu to start sparing with him to prepare for the entrance exam. Iida will be taking the general exam, the last thing he wants is to coast by on his family’s success. The duo spend hours going over notes and tactics and fighting styles.

Izuku and Mei spend the summer cashing in some quality time together, dreaming and scheming. Building and rebuilding. Designing and implementing. Ideas flow like water, and sometimes they enlist their other friends to help. Mei and Izuku spent hours troubleshooting a new plasma cutter prototype before they called Kamiko and Hiro to figure it out. Hiro spent three seconds looking at it, and asked if the gas canister was in. (It wasn’t, and Izuku and Mei felt like idiots while Kamiko laughed at the lot of them)

Somehow Master Inaba and Nanami and Mina all agree to part with greater slots of their free time to train him. Master Inaba ends up recommending him to yet another martial arts specialist for even more training. He gets kicked around a lot but eventually figures out the basic moves. Nanami has finally started training him in stealth. He (apparently) had to relearn how to walk all over again, but he does well enough at that too. Mina somehow got the permission needed to let him test out his new trick guns. The ones he got approved for the entrance exam, and a few others he had come up with after the support item registration deadline.

The day of the entrance exam comes fast. Izuku feels like it’s both been forever and a few moments since he enrolled in that engineering competition. (The medal still hangs in his room, his mom polishes it every other Thursday.) He takes the train to the school with Tenya and Hiro. Tenya has a textbook in his lap and is doing some last minute cramming for the written portion. Hiro is keeping one hand on his way overstuffed backpack. Mei and Kamiko are on a different train, but promised to meet them there beforehand. (Knowing Kamiko, she’s already there, she’s more of a stickler for being on time than Tenya is.) Izuku is just glad he managed to get Tenya and Hiro on the same train. If Tenya is obsessively early to everything, Hiro refuses to get anywhere until five minutes after it starts. (He once again wonders how Kamiko and Hiro spend time in the same room without going for each others throats, much less became… whatever Kamiko and Hiro are. Izuku isn’t sure if he can classify… whatever it is that they have going on.)

Kamiko and Mei are already waiting at the gate when Izuku’s group gets there. Early bird students are filtering past them. Once they get to the gate, Hiro opens his overstuffed backpack and pulls out four bentos. He passes them out while grumbling something under his breath about making sure everyone has a good lunch before their practicals. Mei snickers and Iida goes on a tangent about the importance of proper nutrition.

Izuku smiles, nerves and excitement at war inside him. He simultaneously feels like he could touch the stars and like his breakfast is about to make a reappearance. But regardless, he knows, no matter what this school throws at him, he’s ready.

Nedzu watches the cameras situated at the gate. He notices the head of dark green curls and smiles. The one and only Midoriya Izuku. He’s weighted down with a bag that is almost certainly filled with his gear and tools. Nedzu has to swallow back a manic laugh. The boy he’s had his attention drawn to is excitedly talking to his friends. He can’t hear the conversation, but he can infer that they are trading luck and goodbyes before splitting up. Midoriya and Ingenium’s brother split off from the rest of the group towards the heroics exam location. He begins his trek into the observation room.

“I wonder if you’ll live up to what everyone says about you, Midoriya Izuku.” Nedzu’s laughter echoes throughout Yuuei’s empty halls.

Chapter Text

Izuku blows through the written exam with ease. It’s surprisingly easy, but he thinks that might be more because of the fact he started reading textbooks for fun at some point during his first year of middle school than anything else. He's pretty sure that isn't normal teenage behavior, but since when has anything he's done been normal?

He’s in the auditorium now, listening to Present Mic (Present Mic! He’s super cool!) and biting his tongue to keep from mumbling in the auditorium. He and Tenya are right next to each other, which is super cool. His hand is itching to sketch and draw and plan, but he resists, and pays attention to the voice hero, biting his lip to keep from muttering. Tenya calls out the voice hero on the zero pointer, and Izuku bites down a laugh.  Tenyan and him are put in separate testing centers, and that is less cool, but probably smart. (The school probably doesn't want anyone teaming up. It's smart, doesn't mean Izuku isn't a little bit disappointing.)

The school leads large groups of hero hopefuls into changing rooms to get them ready for the exam. Izuku darts away to change in the bathrooms. (No one notices, and he silently thanks Nanako for her lessons in stealth) Izuku pulls on a simple green and black tracksuit and adjusts his gear. His feet are covered with a pair of steel toed combat boots. (They’re his favorite pair, light yet allowing him to deliver some wicked kicks.) On his wrists is a pair of stun gloves that have steel inlays (for harder hits) and release an electric charge, in his right pocket is a collapsible staff, also capable of releasing a wicked shock on one side, the other is capable of delivering a localized EMP pulse. Izuku and Mei both agree that if a piece of equipment can’t be used as a taser, what’s the point!? His final piece of equipment is a bag of marbles. (they’re not really marbles, it’s a bunch of time delay kinetic shock activated explosives, each color with a different special effect.) He attaches the bag to his belt. The bag is designed to absorb kinetic energy, to prevent the marbles from going off accidentally if he gets thrown around a bit.The design took him weeks to figure out.

 Izuku easily makes his way back into his group, freshly changed and happy to have avoided showing off the not quite handful of burn scars that cover him. (Nanako saw the collection on his back all of once and now refuses to drop the subject, he tells her that it isn't a problem anymore, but she keeps saying that it never should have been.) He hums as he gets on the bus to the testing site, scars itching slightly. (They always do whenever he thinks about them, but it's nothing he can't handle.) The ride takes almost ten minutes, and the bus is almost too full. There’s a seat for everyone, but it’s squished and hot and generally uncomfortable.

When he gets to the actual site, there are a lot of people preparing. He notices a girl who appears to be mentally preparing herself by pressing her hands together. He would go over and greet her, but Tenya would be pop his lid if he found out he had bothered another examinee as they were preparing for the exam. He finds himself mesmerized regardless, and the girl eventually looks at him. Izuku waves at her, and she waves back with a sweet smile. His attention shifts and he notices a particularly sparkly blonde posing for a nonexistent camera, as well as a boy with red eyes and a scratch over his brow.

He pushes himself through the crowd to stand at the gate. He doesn’t trust the school to give a delayed start or a countdown, so he makes sure he’s at the front. (It's a smart move, one that's proven only a few seconds later)

“And Start!”

Izuku bolts, already running into the testing site. Everyone else seems to lag behind, surprised by the lack of a countdown. He’s already crushed a robot with his heavy boots by the time the remaining examinees have listened to something the voice hero said and shaken off their shock. It’s a two pointer, Izuku notices vaguely, already keeping track of points. He plunges further into the arena with sure footsteps and a gait that could be misclassified if easy if not for the sheer speed and power behind it. He puts his fist into a one pointer and a three pointer and then another two-pointer. The other examinees have caught up to him, and it’s a wild free for all. He pushes one examinee out of the way of a wayward quirk and throws an exploding marble into a cluster of one-pointer’s, knocking out seven. He pushes another examinee out of the way of a collapsing wall and uses his bo-staff to take out another three robots. Izuku vaguely wonders why so many people are almost dying at a school exam. It feels counterproductive. He saves them nonetheless. It's the hallmark of a true hero, and regardless it's in his nature. He thinks leaving anyone to fend for themselves would leave him feeling sick and angry. (So many people have ignored his pain, his suffering, he will not be like them. He refuses.)

Tenya pushes through the exam with calculated moves and an endless well of determination. He uses his quirk to push his legs through robots and his brains to predict the best ways to do so. (If there's anything Izuku has taught him about fighting it's that there's no shame in aiming for your opponent's weak spot, and Kamiko has taught him the many many weak spots of robotics. It was quite the rant and was full of enough weird swearing to make anyone confused. He still doesn't understand Kamiko, but he's pretty sure it's a common phenomenon.)

When he has the time to spare, he wonders how his friends are doing in their own exams. He doesn't have much time at all, and continues to (skillfully....-ish) pummel robots into oblivion. It's almost catharic, the simple fight. Izuku always fights dirty, his brother is far to strong, and Kamiko and Hiro (why the two insist on joining sparring is something he'll never quite understand) are nearly impossible to hit. The robots are slow, and fairly fragile. He thinks that even someone with a mental quirk who was relatively untrained could beat one in a fight. 

Tenya is almost blasted in the face when the robot he was approaching explodes from behind. A spikey haired blonde storms through the wreckage and throws himself at another robot. His ears ring slightly and his eyes follow the other examinee. (The scene feels familiar somehow, like he's experiencing first hand something someone told him about.) He shakes off the dust and debris and continues making his way through the arena. Running from the zero pointer at the very end. (He couldn't beat that! It was pointless to try.)

Hiro sits in the support exam. They had just finished the written portion, filled with advanced math and science, and were now in the lab portion. They were given an hour, and were allowed to work in the labs, design a blueprint, or bring something (already built) in from home. He had brought something from home, a bolt of his bio-fabric. (He had gotten Izuku's permission beforehand, it was a joint effort after all) Kamiko was in the labs, messing with her laptop and UA's mainframe. He decided to sit at the same desk as her, the bolt of fabric in his hands. He knew she was working on something, her eyes burned with the bright intensity of her quirk at work, and seemingly endless streams of code flashed across her screen. She closes the ...program? (He was never good with computers, it was always her domain.) pops out her USB stick, and pulls out a small spider-bot from her pocket to tinker with. He ignores Mei's maniacal laughter from the other half of the room with skill born of practice. (Although he does vaguely note that there isn't a single person on her side of the room, and the messy pile of papers and scrap metal is growing by the second, along with the volume of her laughter.)

Kamiko's fidgeting, and glancing at the clock. (They have another fifty minutes left.) He waits and sees if she'll talk. (He always waits, he doesn't mind, she's always worth it.)

"Hiro..." She whispers. He hums in response, showing he's listening, doesn't do much else, doesn't ever really have to when she gets like this. She'll talk when she's ready, she always does. She points towards the clock and oh! He sees what the problem is, he looks at the clock, this would be about the time the hero wannabes would be halfway through their practical exam. (She wants to be out there, he knows she does, she's always wanted to be out there, helping, saving. She can't, it eats at her but she can't. And if he doesn't distract her she'll get bad again. He doesn't want her to get bad again. It's been so long, she's been so happy, doing so well. If she starts to get bad then he will too, and that's very very bad.)

He pulls a blueprint out of his bag, scars and burns tugging. It was a new idea, he was designing it for Izuku. A way to build his costume so that it'd be totally unique, if he could just get the storage capacity to work right. He nudges his oldest friends shoulder. "Wanna help me?" 

She turns to her (and oh she's gorgeous, circuitry glowing after using her quirk and bright blue eyes that seem to stare right through him. Her bun's a mess and her clothes pristine, and so absolutely perfect it makes his heart skip a beat.) She nods, smiling slightly. And ah, there goes another little bit of his sanity. He knows he's fallen for her, known it for years, but it'd be nice if she didn't make it so so hard not to scream a confession at her every time she smiles. (But he doesn't think he'd want it any other way.) "Absolutely!" She says, and he's reminded once again of how much of a goner he is.

(He tactfully ignores Mei's laughter in the background as yet another failed invention explodes.)

Izuku vaguely notes that he’s gotten twenty points so far. He fries another robot with his gloves. Twenty-two. His internal clock tells him he’s halfway through the exam, and he briefly swallows down a note of panic. Robots are becoming harder to find, but not impossible. The real problem is all of the kill steals, Izuku nearly loses an eyebrow to the sparkly blonde’s laser. (And if that doesn’t give him all kinds of ideas as he watches it line through three different robots at once, he mentally starts drawing up schematics as he pushes yet another prospective student out of the way of a robot and sends his staff through its chest.

Izuku continues to push through the arena. 23, save a girl from a one pointer, 26, 28, help a boy bandage a heavily bleeding wound, 29, 34, 35, help a student with quirk exhaustion make their way out of the fighting and into a location where they will be safe, 37, 40, save a boy from a girls destructive quirk, 42. He ends up on a side street without any robots on it, but plenty of hollow sparking shells. He takes a moment and tries to catch his breath. (Is 42 enough? Should he be trying to find more? What if he's not good enough? What if?) he swallows down the rising panic. It's pointless, he knows this, panic doesn't help a situation.

“Alright listeners!” Present Mic’s voice calls out into the arena. “There’s two minutes left!” Izuku fights down another note of panic that tries to push past his carefully guarded mind. He’s done fine, it’s fine, he's fine. He takes a deep breath before exiting the side street and trying to find more robots. The ground shakes. He hears the groaning of overloaded gears and heavy metal. He turns quickly to see a massive robot. The zero pointer. He remembers Present Mic saying it got nervous in tight spaces and groans when he finally sees the thing. It’s massive, easily towering over the full-scale buildings and filling the main street.

He means to run away from the robot, he really, really does. (He doesn't, he knew someone would get trapped, could be hurt. He knew he wouldn't be able to turn away. He wonders if the examiners might have known it too) He hears a girl’s voice call for help, and any attempt he might have made to leave is scrapped. He turns towards the sound of distress to see the girl who smiled at him before the exam. She’s stuck under a piece of rubble and something in his blood runs cold. He’s sprinting towards her without a second thought; mind spinning with half baked plans and warped ideas to get her out. (He's panicking, he shouldn't panic, panic gets people killed.) He shakes his head to clear it and pushes past the crowd of fleeing hero hopefuls and gets to the girl with a few seconds to spare before the robot will be right on top of him.

Izuku extends his staff to use as a lever to lift the rubble off of the girl. It doesn’t work, the rubble is too heavy, and Izuku has to abort his idea when his staff starts to groan, seconds away from buckling. (He'd push it, but he knows this staff like the back of his hand, it's pointless to break it trying something that won't work) He looks from the tear stained face of the girl to the giant robot that is quickly gaining on them. In his mind he knows the school would never let anyone die during this test, that they'll call off the robot before it can do any real damage. (Convincing his heart, which is hammering hard enough that he can hear blood rushing in his ears and feel his pulse all the way in his toes, is another matter entirely)

Izuku fumbles in his pouch of marbles, looking for something very specific. It’s the most volatile and dangerous one he’s got, and it has one hell of a kickback. (But it will work, and right now that's all he needs) He considers his options, before tearing off a bit of the bottom of his shirt into a long fabric strip. He quickly double checks the surrounding streets, they’re abandoned, the nearest person nearly two hundred meters away. (good, outside the blast radius) He loops the fabric into a makeshift sling and places the marble in the circular end. He begins to spin his makeshift sling quickly building up momentum, after a moment, he releases on end of the fabric, sending the marble flying with far more force than he could manage with his arms alone. He picks up one of the pieces of debris lying on the ground and props it up in the direction of the robot to make a makeshift shield in front of him and the girl. He braces himself against the rubble the girl is trapped under and waits.

(He doesn't have to wait long.) The girl watches as the marble hits its newfound home in the robot’s face, and explodes. It’s loud and bright and violent and Izuku can hear the metal giving way and the heat pressing against his back despite the steel barrier. (He expected this, the robot was less than fifty meters away when he threw the marble, getting closer by the second. He was just on the edge of the blast radius himself, but he's no stranger to explosions, he knows them backwards and forwards, and he knows how to make this work.)

Izuku waits a moment after the heat dissipates before tossing aside the piece of scrap. (His ears are ringing slightly, but he knows it will fade within a few moments.) It takes a couple moments and several leverage points for him to free the girl. She crawls out on hands and knees, breathing heavily. She looks two seconds away from a panic attack. She turns away from him and retches, and Izuku’s senses are assaulted by the scent of sweat and sick and bile. He takes a deep breath and holds back the two longer pieces of her hair for her until she finishes puking. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand as Izuku rubs circles into her back. (He briefly considers running off to try and find more robots, but that would mean leaving the girl on her own. He wouldn't, couldn't do that.)

“Are you okay?” He asks, after a few seconds without puking. “Does anything hurt?” (The ringing is mostly gone now, he thinks he'd be able to hear her)

He gets a groan in response, the girl sways a little, eyes rolling back, and Izuku has to grab her to keep her from falling into her own sick. It’s a close thing, and It leaves Izuku highly uncomfortable with an unconscious girl in his arms. He looks her over and sees her foot is bent wrong. He winces in sympathy and lies her back with her head twisted to the side before leaning back himself, breathing heavily.

Nedzu is cackling in the observation room. He knew to expect skill from Midoriya, but he hadn't expected the sheer amount of potential the boy had shown. He’s thumbing through the provided blueprints for his gear and is nothing short of impressed. He sees the boy exploiting ideas and rules and robotic functions that he'd never even thought of during the exam. (and isn't that an accomplishment of it's own.) He’s torn. He wants to do many things with Midoriya Izuku, wants to teach him far too much with far too little time. Oh, how he wants to see the boy grow. He’ll have to review the footage, but he’s pretty sure he’s gotten the most rescue points out of everyone who tried out this year, and that alone would be enough to let him pass. But then, oh then he got forty-two villain points as well with nothing more than his wits and a few items he built himself and Nedzu has to hold back a shiver at how glorious those items are.

Nedzu shakes himself and has to remind himself of the task at hand, what to do with this boy. (and also to watch the other examinees, but really, they're all small fry in comparison to the raw potential of the one that was pointed out to him prior) The boy is built for heroics, he can see it in the way he threw himself into saving his fellow examinees, but it would be a damn crime to keep him from being able to hone his skills in support. Additionally, the boy was recommended to him as an analysist, and Nedzu is itching to see what that entails, to have the boy as a student of his own. He pulls up the boy’s written exam, he requested it be graded first so he could view it faster, and lets out a laugh as he sees the score. The boy had missed a single question out of over two hundred. (In the English section, he had misspelled a word) That would likely grant him first place in the written exam. It had been years since Nedzu had seen a score this good on the written test, and even then it was from someone with an analysis quirk of their own. What to do, what to do. Nedzu’s smile turns wicked. He has an idea, it would be hell for the child, but if he can handle it, oh how beautiful it would be, how much he would grow. Nedzu can hardly wait for it to be time to send out the results. He’s going to be sending out Midoriya Izuku’s very special acceptance letter himself.

Katsuki wrings his wrists as he storms home. He did damn well. He did fucking amazing! And even better, everyone in the whole damn school would know it. He had fucking gotten 72 villain points and those examinees were fucking idiots if they thought he wasn't was a shoe in for the top spot. He could already see his acceptance letter, could taste his victory as fucking sweet as his goddamn nitroglycerin sweat. He was Bakugo fucking Katsuki! He was going to be the number one hero in the whole damn world! And anyone who tried to stop him would burn under his explosions. 

Ochako wakes up to the smell of antiseptic and the sound of a heart monitor. It takes a moment for her to place the rough feel of a cot, which while uncomfortable, is leagues better than lying on the ground. Her stomach flops in her chest as she tries to open her eyes, nausea protesting the movement.

The room she finds herself in is a sterile white room. It’s harshly lit and the scent of antiseptic doesn’t exactly help her nausea. (Nothing really helps her nausea, but there are many things that make it worse) She groans quietly. She must have overused her quirk in the exam. The exam. She huffs out a sigh. She wonders what happened to that boy who saved her. She wonders what his quirk is. She wonders if he’s okay, if he passed the exams, if he thinks she’s gross for puking on him. She wonders a lot of things. She shakes her head lightly, swallowing down the ensuing nausea. That’s a problem for future Ochako, right now she needs to worry about whether or not she passed and the very angry nurse storming through the door.

Chapter Text

Here's some Hiro. Why is he shirtless? IDK! But I love him anyways

Loud pop music mixes with Mei’s laughter and the sound of various power tools as the engineering squad works on Yaoyarozu’s costume. She had gotten her acceptance letter two days before the general exam, and had asked Izuku to make her costume. And Izuku refuses to do anything halfway. Yaoyarozu and Tenya are both watching in the background as wild invention and conversation occurs. Izuku is vaguely aware that watching them when they all get like this is immensely entertaining, a little too lost in the frantic activity to notice too much.

“Tenya!” someone screeches. Izuku thinks it must be Mei. (He’s a little lost in trying to insert steel toes into the beginnings of what will eventually be Yaoyarozu’s boots. Mei is building a pair of kinetic dispersal gauntlets. Hiro is dying some of Yaoyarozu’s biofabric and he’s pretty sure Kamiko is programming an AI. He has no idea how she is going to do this, but he's pretty sure the device is going to be powered by pure spite. Kamiko was personally offended by Yaoyarozu’s idea for a dictionary, and even more so by Yaoyarozu's comment on how she would be unable to build something to suit her needs.)

Tenya responds to probably Mei's call easily and with much hand waving.

Mei pauses in her attempt to design a pair of kinetic dispersing gauntlets to accost their friend. “Have you told Ingenium to stop by yet?”

“No, he is very busy and I do not want to bother him!”

“Well you should!" Mei shouts over the din. Showing every ounce of the charisma and tact she is capable of. That is to say, none. "I designed a new type of armor I wanted him to try out! It’s carbon fiber, and meant to absorb kinetic energy to disperse hard hits!” Mei pumps her fist into the air. (Tenya thinks he should be offended, but he isn't. It's hard to be anything other than full of manic glee in the current atmosphere.)

Mei and Tenya continue to talk as Izuku finishes inserting the steel. He vaguely hears Kamiko calling for Yaoyarozu to double check something. He thinks he’ll need to call Hiro over pretty soon as well. He’s always been better at making shoes than him. Hiro's always been better with clothes than him. Hiro is really good at sewing. (But no one will ever tell him so to his face.)

(Izuku really likes doing this. When everyone is working on different parts of the same project, pieces changing hands and ideas being swapped last second at maximum volume. It feels nice, connected, easy, and more fun than is probably legal.)

Izuku is waiting for his letter with a level of impatience he doesn’t think he’s ever felt. (He imagines this must be what Mei feels like all the time) He isn’t certain he passed the practical, but he thinks he has a good chance. At least as long as they don’t bar him from the course because he’s quirkless. (And isn’t that fuel for his barely controlled anxiety.)

Izuku hums and twirls the pencil in his hand. Ever since seeing the sparkly blonde at the entrance exam, he’s been trying to design a laser gun. He managed to produce a laser with adjustable strength, but now he has to figure out how to fit the mechanism in a gun shaped holder. He recently managed to turn his marbles into bullets with minimal issues. (He had to change the shape and make it so the marbles only exploded from kinetic energy in the front, but he did it.)

He’s altering possible dimensions again when his mother bursts through into his room holding a letter.

“Izuku!” She’s crying, trembling like a leaf in the wind. “It’s here!”

Izuku holds out his hand and his mother places the letter in his open palm. The letter is heavier and thicker than he thought it would be. He easily rips off the top and a small metal disc slides out. He fumbles with it for a moment before finding an on button. He presses the button and places the disc on his desk.

It lights up and shows a holographic screen. On the holographic screen is the form of a rat-bear-dog in a suit with it’s arms up in the air. “It is I! The principal of Yuuei!” (Why is there a holographic screen being sent out with the results. Holograph technology is expensive. Izuku is already thinking of how he's going to re purpose this.) the principal folds his hands in front of him. “I am here to announce that you have passed the entrance exam with forty-tree villain points! But that wasn’t the only scoring system!” The creature’s eyes gleam “Rescue points! For your many actions to rescue your fellow examinees, you earned sixty-five rescue points for a grand total of 108 points! Making you the top scorer this year!” A quick list of the next highest scorers shows up and Izuku freezes at the sight of Bakugo Katsuki in the second-place spot. (That’s going to be ugly) “However, If you open the papers in your letter you’ll find that you were accepted into both the support and heroics department!”

“I didn’t even apply to the support department” Izuku mutters as he begins riffling through the papers, finding three separate sets of acceptance letters and fighting down a sharp note of panic.

“You didn’t apply to the support department!” The rat-bear-dog exclaims happily, and Izuku would have done a spit take if there was anything in his mouth. “But your inventions have been nothing less than spectacular, getting the attention of all of our support staff and myself! Not to mention your history in various competitions” Izuku feels his face heat. “And after viewing your written exam I want to offer you a very special opportunity! It will be very difficult!” He cheers at that “But the rewards would be immense. The support department has their specialized classes in the morning, but the heroics department has their specialized classes after lunch!” Izuku quickly fumbles his way through the papers to reach the third set of acceptance papers. “I propose you complete your basic education as a self-study, and take the specialized classes for both departments!” The principal exclaims, throwing his hands back into the air.

Izuku gapes. Ideas of what that would entail already forming and spinning in his head. “You would be in a very special class of one! Class 1-N! Homeroom teacher- Me!”

Izuku sits back down. He knows who the principal is. He’s the only active hero with an intelligence quirk, and the first non-human hero ever. Izuku is reeling at the implications of his statement. Nedzu, the Nedzu, wants him as a personal student.

“As my student, you would have to complete a handful of specialized lessons and assignments, and would need to attend an extra period after your heroics classes at the end of the day” The principal folds his arms again. “Should you decide on the third option, I ask you come in during the time specified and turn in your forms in person. Regardless of your decision, Yuuei is eagerly awaiting your response. Congratulations Midoriya, this is your hero academia.

Izuku quickly learns of his friends’ acceptance into UA. He thinks Tenya is crying as he talks to him over the phone. When Izuku tells his friend about his offer from the principal, he loudly tells Izuku that he deserves the attention, especially after seeing through the hidden portion of the exam. (He hadn’t, but decided not to tell Tenya that he was just incapable of keeping his nose out of other people’s business)

The entire group decides to go out for dinner to celebrate. Izuku somehow manages to convince Yaoyarozu to come with. They end up in a tiny hole in the wall diner that Hiro swears serves the best ramen in Mustafu. The group of newly accepted students eat and drink until they’re ready to burst, swapping stories all the way. Yaoyarozu talks about a boy she met in the recommended exam and Tenya about a very angry blonde who nearly ruptured his eardrums. (Izuku has a sinking feeling he knows who Tenya is talking about.) Mei cackles as she explains what she brought to the support department exam while Kamiko helpfully explains what the exam was like. Hiro grumbles about the stuck-up hero who proctored his written exam and the entire table laughs at him. (The Hero was Eraserhead, the least stuck up hero Izuku knows) Kamiko laments the Japanese portion of the written exam while Mei expresses her disappointment with the mathematics section. (Izuku doesn’t blame her, it was awfully easy stuff) Hiro wonders aloud who thought it would be a good idea to stick him, Mei and Kamiko in the same classroom. He then wonders if the classroom would still be intact at the end of the year. (It won’t) Kamiko insists that they aren’t that bad. (They are) Izuku and Tenya silently pray for the poor sap stuck with being the trio’s future homeroom teacher.

He decides to wait to tell Nanako and Mina in person. It feels wrong to tell them over the phone, he wants their opinion before choosing the course he wants to go into. He vaguely thinks he might need to work on making his own decisions without asking the other people in his life. (He also thinks that’s a problem for a future him with a little more confidence.)

Showing up to the dojo his training started in, pockets heavy with the weight of his acceptance letter, is a strange experience. Izuku thinks that it should feel different to walk between the heavy doors. It’s not, it feels like every other time he’s come to the dojo. Excitement mixing with apprehension and lingering soreness. It feels so normal, so routine, that Izuku almost laughs.

Nanako and Mina aren’t there yet when he arrives, which makes sense, given that he’s nearly and hour early. He drops his bag in the corner, places his letter on top of it carefully, drags out one of the punching bags, and gets to work. When Nanako and Mina do arrive fifty minutes later, he’s almost done with a workout.

“OH!” Mina exclaims the second she sees him. “Get it!”

Izuku starts at the sudden noise, pulling him out of his exercise induced reverie. “You guys are here!”

“Sure are” Nanako smirks “It’s not like we’re here every Tuesday and Thursday since you were twelve or anything.”

“Don’t be rude!” Mina sticks her tongue out at her sister. “So! What’s the verdict?” she lilts, eyes twinkling with excitement.

Izuku opens his mouth, shuts it, and runs over to the letter sitting on top of his bag. He shoves it into Nanako’s hands without a word.

Nanako chuckles and reopens the envelope. “Due to the fact you’re not apologizing, I guess you passed.”

“Just read it!”

“Yes, yes” She pulls out the folded papers and unfolds them with a flick of her fingers. She begins to read, her face shifts from amused to shocked. “Holy Sh-“ Nanako bites her tongue, laughs, and smiles at him. “So what I’m seeing here, is that you got first place in the entrance exam, second in the written, and managed to impress Nedzu so much that he wants you as his personal student.”

Mina (the shorter sister) reaches up and grabs the papers out of her hands and whistles “Good job kid!” she runs a hand through his curls. Izuku swats her hand away and she laughs.

“Do you think I should do it?”

Nanako blinks, and purses her lips as she thinks. “I think it’s your choice, but it’s an amazing opportunity. You’re very smart, and more determined than anyone I’ve ever met, I don’t think the workload would be a problem for you.”
Izuku hums, and takes back the papers. “What would you recommend for training while I’m at Yuuei?”

It’s Mina who leads the charge here. “I would recommend either parkour or gymnastics.”

Izuku tilts his head and Nanako elaborates. “It will help you maintain your muscle and speed, while improving maneuverability and stamina. Yuuei will make sure you don’t get to rusty in hand to hand.”

Izuku nods, and the two mentors recommend vairous parkour and gymnastic gyms to their student. (Angrily, at increasing volumes, until Izuku is laughing so hard that he's holding his side as he rolls on the floor with laughter. The sisters don't even pause long enough to tell him off.)

The specified date is actually only two days after he talked with Nanako and Mina. His mother is very excited for him as he gets ready for his meeting with the principal. “To think Izuku! A special student!” She flits about the kitchen, pulling together a bento for him and fussing with his clothes. It takes nearly ten minutes to extract himself from his mother’s hugs and tears and well-meaning questions. He doesn’t mind, not really, but it does almost make him late for the train, and he now has a noticeable wet spot on his jacket. He hopes the principal won’t mind too much.

Izuku hums tunelessly as he rides the line to UA, dressed in his middle school uniform and reading the latest hero news. (The humming is a remnant of his muttering habit. He managed to kick the original problem, but ended up with a new one.) Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady have teamed up again to take down a bank robber in Mustafu. His fingers itch for his notebook, but it’s in his bag, and the train is too full to get at it comfortably.

He rolls his shoulders as he walks through the Yuuei gate. He’s a little sore from yesterdays adventure at a parkour gym. It was a lot of fun, but he hasn’t fallen that much since Nanako was teaching him defensive maneuvers. (Although it didn’t quite meet the amount of times he fell when Nanako was teaching him how to fall)

Izuku enters the building and suddenly realizes he hasn’t the foggiest idea where the principal’s office is.

Nedzu watches as Midoriya looks around for anyone to ask for directions. He then watches as he pulls out his acceptance letter and associated paperwork to look for anything to point him in the right direction. Nedzu is thrilled! The boy filled out the paperwork for class 1-N! He laughs as he thinks about how he now has a student of his very own. He thinks this one might even survive a semester with him. (This isn’t the first time he attempted to take on a personal student, although none of them made it through more than one lesson) but that brings him back to the task at hand. Midoriya’s first test!

The principal watches the boy check his watch and look at the only map of the building in the entry hall. It’s painfully simple, and only shows which building deals with administration. The boy sets off at a jog to the building specifically designed to sit in the middle of campus. He has to switch cameras multiple times to keep track of him. He was quick and very slippery. What truly impressed the principal was the fact that, despite not telling anyone the green haired boy would be here, he walked past multiple staff members without drawing their attention. Quite the accomplishment, he even managed to slip past Aizawa. Truly a talented young chick.

The boy makes it to the administration building without any issues. He looks around the lobby for a receptionist or any form of map, before huffing and making his way to the stairs. He seemed to realize he wouldn’t be able to use the elevator without an instructor with him. He skipped every floor, making his way to the top in just under three minutes. An impressive feat, given the twelve flights of stairs in his way. When he got to the top, he barely seemed winded, and strode with confidence down the hall. Ignoring every door in his way, headed towards the large meeting room at the end of the hall. At the last second, he makes a sharp turn, finding the door that leads directly to his office.

Nedzu barely holds back maniacal laughter. He wasn’t expecting him to find him so quickly. His new student really is clever. His smile widens even further as he hears Midoriya’s knock. “Come in” The boy enters, wearing his uniform and looking slightly flushed. He’s technically a minute late, but he expected him to take another half hour at the least. “Midoriya Izuku, it’s good to see you.”

“Thank you for having me” Midoriya bows “I apologize for being late.”

“No need to worry, I assumed you would be.” Midoriya rights himself. “Please take a seat! Would you like some tea?”

Izuku tries not to gape at the mouse dog bear sitting in front of him. He nods silently as he slides into the chair across from the principal. The principal hands him a cup of steaming amber liquid.

“Now, do you have your paperwork?” Izuku puts down his cup and quickly grabs the folder of papers. He hands them over to the principal and tried not to let his shaking hands be too obvious. The principal thumbs through them with a fervor that reminds him of Kamiko looking at blueprints. (That is to say carefully concealed reckless abandon) “Good, good.” The principal nods, still smiling. “Let’s talk.”

Nedzu pushes a stack of papers towards him. Izuku begins to leaf through them. “Is this a course syllabus?”

“Indeed. You will be spending a tenth period with me after practical Heroics after all. I have also included your class schedule.” Izuku pulls out a color-coded time table from the middle of the stack.

Izuku looks at the times. “I come in twenty minutes early.”

“I want you to be able to give me learning reports in the morning, additionally, I’m sure your costume is going to change frequently as you continue to work in the labs, this time will allow me to teach you about filling out and submitting support equipment forms, as well as assisting me in some other paperwork.”

Izuku nods. That sounds odd, but acceptable. Other than that, the timetable looks similar to what he was expecting “What about my other general education courses?”

Nedzu smiles, despite not having stopped smiling. “If you look at the back of the pile” the sound of shuffling papers is heard until Izuku finds the papers in question “you’ll find a sheet that details the online classes I will enroll you in. It will be a self-study, it opens at the end of the week.”

“School doesn’t start for another month and a half”

“Then you’ll have plenty of time to get ahead. This year you’ll be required to finish courses in Mathematics, English, Science, History, and Japanese Literature.” The mammal’s

The conversation turns to what will occur during intro to analysis, which is basically just Nedzu time. Izuku will have specialized lessons with Nedzu and submit in-class and homework assignments.

“As far as lab access is concerned, the labs are open until six, you’ll have time after heroics to work, however, there is something I need you to do.”

Izuku nods, he was expecting some sort of caveat.

“I will assign students to you, and will have you work with them to improve their costumes.”

“Can I get assistance?”

“If you think you need it, I’m assuming you intend to involve some of your friends.” It’s not a question.

 “I work best in a team.” Izuku admits (He doesn’t notice how this excites Nedzu, he’s taught too many lone wolves who think they hold all the answers, this is a refreshing change of pace.) Both parties are quiet for a moment, Izuku is thinking and Nedzu is willing to wait. (His new student is so fascinating, and Nedzu can be patient.) “What are the requirements for my own costume? How do I get my own support items approved?”

Nedzu takes a sip of tea. “I would like you to have everything for your costume ready for the first day, and we can meet to approve it after school.”

“For special events, like the sports festival, what class am I with?”

“Your own of course! Although I may excuse you from regular classes to attend specific exercises. All classes have several field trips throughout the year! I wouldn’t want you to miss any of those opportunities!”

Izuku and Nedzu continue to discuss details for a while. Izuku has questions (so many questions) and Nedzu has answers. (Izuku is excited, Nedzu is thrilled, somewhere the entirety of Yuuei’s staff are crying in fear.)

Izuku leaves Nedzu’s office nearly two hours after he entered, weighed down with ten times the amount of papers he entered with and a smile far brighter than even All Might.

Nedzu fights the maniacal laugh until his student is out of earshot. When he is, he happily gives into the compulsion. Anyone who knows him well would be running for the hills. He hasn’t had a student this promising in… ever. His questions were great and his analysis was even better. He had already assigned the boy a small amount of homework, just two books to read before the first day of class, nothing too strenuous. (He thinks, he’ll have to read up on how humans learn, he doesn’t want to overload his new student… yet.) The mammal fixes himself another cup of tea as he begins to pour over the documents Midoriya had brought with him. Yes, this will be quite the year, he best prepare.

He thinks back to the email that his last student had sent him. Kurasaki was always incredibly clever, but he does wonder what foolish and misinformed hero had told his new student he couldn’t be a hero. He’ll have to keep an eye out. He thinks his student may have low self-esteem. Perhaps All Might could help with that. (He thinks whatever Hero dashed his new student’s self esteem will be finding themselves at the receiving end of his wrath. No one messes with what’s his. And by god will he make that boy his.)

Speaking (or thinking) of All Might, he still hasn’t chosen a successor. The Togata Mirio boy is a good option, but Nedzu thinks he could do better. He ought to have a conversation with the number one in the next few days. He takes another sip of tea. Oh well, all in due time.

Chapter Text

Izuku spends the next few weeks avoiding Kacchan Bakugo, taking final exams, and muscling through the massive amount of classwork he has for next year, (The content is difficult, and Izuku refuses to let himself do anything less than his best.) and avoiding Kacchan Bakugo. He might not go to the same school as the angry blonde anymore, but they do live in the same area. He wouldn’t put it past Bakugo to show up at his house to yell at him. He knows he can’t avoid it forever, but there’s a part (a large part) of him that wants to try.

Now it’s the first day of school, and Izuku finds himself waking up later than he had intended. Because what else could go wrong!? Izuku quickly eats a small breakfast and runs to the station. He just barely makes his train. When he finally runs through the large doors, he finds a slew of lost students and vaguely irritated upperclassman. He eyes the crowds to see if he can find his friends, but quickly dismisses it as a lost cause. Tenya and Yaoyarozu would never be anything less than twenty minutes early, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Mei managed to convince Hiro and Kamiko to stake out the gates to try and see the labs before classes.

Izuku is infinitely grateful for his earlier opportunity to visit Yuuei before the first day, since it means that there’s less of a chance of being late. (He’s still fairly certain he’s going to be late, but he’ll be a little less so.)

Izuku finds his way to Nedzu’s office with only seconds to spare. He knocks more evenly than he feels, and listens to the high pitched come in from the school’s principal. He obeys and finds his… teacher? (How does he define his relationship with Nedzu, is he his mentor? His teacher? His homeroom teacher?... Whatever) drinking tea and going over a truly monstrous stack of papers.

The mammal puts down his cup of tea. “Ah Midoriya, it is good to see you.” His smile is eerie and unsettling. But Izuku has spent time with both Mei and Kamiko. Kamiko’s blank stare could make a grown man cry and Mei’s evil mad laughter has no equal. “Please.” He gestures to a chair at the other side of the desk “sit down” Izuku easily takes a seat in front of the principal, placing his bookbag besides him.

“Good morning.” Izuku greets.

Nedzu seems to smile wider. And that’s creepy. “Yes it is! A brand new year! Would you like tea?” he claps his hands in front of him. Izuku nods and takes the cup he’s handed. He thinks that tea will end up being a common fixture of the time he’s slated to spend with Nedzu. “We’ll start the year off with orientation and then we have half length classes to get everyone adjusted to how their schedules will go.”

Izuku’s mind catches onto half length classes. “How long is orientation?”

Nedzu has a glint in his eye, and Izuku (wisely) shuts his mouth. Nedzu spends another couple of minutes doing paperwork, and Izuku sits there quietly; sipping his tea. Which is excellent by the way. Nedzu may be creepy and strange and many other things besides, but he has excellent taste in tea.

Walking to orientation led by the overexcited mammal is nothing short of an experience. He started talking sometime before they left, and has yet to stop. It isn’t terribly hard to pay attention, given that the points he makes are very interesting.

When Izuku gets to the venue, he notices that a) the auditorium is mostly full, b) the hall became quiet when they noticed him and Nedzu, c) the only class not here is 1-A, and d) he has no idea where he needs to stand. Nedzu has made his way up to the platform with nothing less than complete and utter confidence. Izuku is wondering if he can get away with melting into the floor to escape the stares of the entire student body.

Kamiko, the perfect ray of sunshine that she is, has dragged him into the line for 1-H. She looks nice in her uniform. She’s an average height, wearing her uniform almost immaculately. The sleeves of her jacket are a little long and she’s decided against buttoning it, but other than that she looks picture perfect. Humming happily as she drags him into their standard group of four. He knows for a fact that they’re supposed to be in alphabetical order, but he doesn’t think any of them really care that they’ve shoved a handful of students out of their rightful places.

Mei and Hiro seem to have thrown the uniform guidelines out the window. Mei’s uniform is an explosion of predictably unusual. Her shirt is untucked and her jacket unbuttoned. The top buttons are undone, revealing a black tank top, and while she has the tie around her neck, it’s not tied. Peeking out from under her skirt is a pair of black biking shorts. She’s ditched the normal indoor shoes, and is wearing a pair of combat boots instead. To tie the whole look off, she’s wearing her heavily modified welding goggles. On the other hand, Hiro looks like a delinquent. He never really stopped growing, and now stands at almost seven feet and is buff enough to rival a top hero. He’s wearing the uniform button down, the first three buttons popped and sleeves rolled up to his elbows, but that’s about where his rule following ends. His hair is it’s normal two toned mess, in his ears are a series of piercings. (that he’s slowly been collecting ever since he turned ten) His shirt is tucked, thank goodness, but the shirt itself is tucked into a pair of black jeans rather than the standard slacks. He doesn’t have a tie. (Izuku doesn’t think Hiro knows how to tie a tie) 

Mei is vibrating in excitement that Hiro seems to share. As Nedzu begins to drone on about the privilege of attending Yuuei and the various challenges the course presents, Mei is whispering to Izuku about how cool the labs are; Hiro joining in whenever he feels the need. (Which is frequently) Kamiko ignores the pair of them with grace and looks like she’s paying dutiful attention to the principal. (She’s not, she zoned out twenty minutes ago and is currently hacked into the Yuuei security cameras and is watching 1-A take a quirk assessment test. She’s enjoying seeing how Tenya and Yaoyarozu use their quirks to increase their scores.)

Izuku barely manages to catch Nedzu’s speech, but also files away a couple of interesting tidbits given to him by his friends. Turns out Mei had actually gone ahead with her plan to steak out the gate and check out the labs. She’s already blown up two workstations and Hiro has already insulted three teachers. Kamiko thinks the year is already off to a great start.

Izuku is panting when he finally slides into 1-H’s intro to engineering and mechanics. He’s late, but only by a minute. The teacher still hasn’t managed to get everyone to calm down yet. Izuku slides into the desk that was stuck in the corner for him, and pulls out his notebook. It only takes a few seconds for Hiro and Mei to find their way over to him.

“There’s no way!” Hiro laughs. “He’d never do it.”

“Of course he will!” Mei insists.

Hiro leans against Izuku’s desk and gives him a smile. “So we had this idea-“ he starts, and Izuku is already groaning. Mei pouts and Hiro laughs again. “Aw don’t be like that!” he teases

“Every time you two have an idea, something ends up on fire.”

Hiro grins, it’s manic and wild and probably evil, and it reminds him faintly of Nedzu, “You say that like it’s a downside.” Izuku groans again.

“It’ll be so cool! Think of the science!” Mei enthuses, slamming her hands against the surface of the desk.

“What do you want to do.” Izuku sighs

Mei laughs as Hiro explains: “We want to build a replica All Might and use it as a crash test dummy.”

Izuku blinks. “Okay…. Why? Also why are you telling me this?”

“Because we need you to explain to PowerLoader why such an item is absolutely essential to have in the labs.”

Izuku groans again, eyes rolling back in his head as he tries to formulate a response to the question he’s been asked. Mei interrupts, apparently bored with the current topic of conversation and deciding to intervene herself. “Also look at this!” She pulls a blueprint out of her bag.

The blueprint is messy and covered in notes, doodles, and vague scribblings that might be something important looking. (Mei’s blueprints are impossible to decipher when she makes them when excited; which is always) He traces his fingers over what little of the paper is vaguely legible. “are these notes on quirk replication?”

Mei nods. “You’re the expert in stuff like that! We thought it’d be super cool if we could find out the chemical structure of Midnight-Sensei’s gas and try to replicate it!”

Izuku’s mind is whirling now, reservations long gone. The applications for this sort of thing would be practically endless. The ability to make instant (yet harmless) knock out gas would be an incredible leap for all sorts of fields. From villain capture to chemistry to anesthesia.

It takes another couple of minutes for the teacher to actually get the class on track, and Izuku is pretty sure Kamiko still isn’t paying the slightest hint of attention, but he eventually does. The class is pretty boring, and it’s mostly just the standard syllabi lecture.

The next class he has is costume design with Midnight. She hands out the syllabus and launches straight into a lecture about color schemes. It’s… boring, but he supposes it’s vaguely useful. He always preferred function over fashion himself, but he understands that most heroes care about the aesthetics. He manages to have a very quick conversation about just maybe getting his hands on a vial of her quirk to run tests on before he has to run off to lab.

Lab is fun. There isn’t anyone else using the lab at the moment, but Izuku doesn’t care. He dives straight into actually building the gun he designed off of sparkly boy’s laser. It’s a simple blaster type design. Trying to figure out how to make the laser was the hardest part, but he had been able to manage that in Mei’s basement earlier that week after a lot of trial and error.

Izuku mutters quietly as he assembles the simple blaster. He gets predictably lost in his work and almost misses the alarm that he set on his phone. (He’s grateful for foresight.) He has to run to clean up the space he was working in and still make it to Nedzu’s office on time.

Izuku stumbles into Nedzu’s office red and sweaty and vaguely disheveled.

Nedzu’s smile is just as chipper as it was that morning. “Hello, can I assume you enjoyed the support labs?” (Nedzu knew how enamored the boy was with the labs. He had seen him working away in the cameras. Something in the principal hums at the fact that his student enjoyed his school.)

Izuku flushes, thoroughly embarrassed. He bows, partially to show respect, but mostly to hide his face. “Yes, Principal Nedzu.”

“None of that now!” Nedzu cheers. (Izuku doesn’t know how the principal is always so cheery) “Just call me Nedzu! No honorifics needed!” Izuku flushes, but the mammal doesn’t give him time to respond. “Come! Come! There is much to learn! Tea?” The mammal brandishes a porcelain pot. Izuku nods, and the principal happily pulls out a spare cup and pours Izuku a steaming cup of amber liquid.

“What are we discussing today?” Izuku manages to ask, still embarrassed, pulling a notebook out of his bag, the cover carefully labeled with the principal’s name. 

Izuku wanders into lunch ten minutes later than the rest of the student body. He stumbles through the crowd, looking for his friends. He is interrupted by a set of arms grabbing his own and beginning to drag him. It takes a moment of fighting down the urge to throw the person over his shoulder to realize that it’s just Mei. (The laughter gives it away)

Mei drags him to a table with a couple of free seats. Mei quickly claims one of them. “We saved you a seat!” She exclaims, clearly happy about it.

“Thank you!” Izuku replies cheerily. He means it. It always stuns him how thoughtful his friends are. He looks around the table. Tenya and Yaoyarozu are sitting next to each other on the opposite side of Mei. At the head (and the heads direct right) sits Hiro and Kamiko. Mei sits next to Kamiko. And next to Mei is a vaguely familiar girl with brown hair. She’s shifting around nervously. He sits directly across from her, next to Tenya.

Hiro makes Tenya hand over a bento box. Izuku bites down a laugh. (Hiro makes everyone in their friend group lunch sometimes. He stress cooks.) Izuku thinks that to anyone else it would look like some sort of tsundere confession.

Izuku turns to the brown-haired girl. “My names Midoriya Izuku, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Uraraka Ochako.” The girl flushes. (She’s embarrassed, but Izuku, sweet, dense Izuku, does not notice) Izuku smiles. (One of his bright ones, the ones Tenya swears outshines All Might) “Thank you very much” The girl rushes out while bowing. Izuku has to take a moment to try and understand what’s happening.

Izuku quickly begins to wave his hands around. “What for!?”

The girl blinks. “For saving me.” Now it’s Izuku’s turn to blink “during the entrance exam.” Izuku is still confused. “From the Zero-Pointer.” Now Izuku remembered her.

“OH!” Izuku exclaims. (Hiro is laughing in the background as Yaoyarozu and Tenya hand their heads in shame and secondhand embarrassment respectively. Kamiko is just confused, but that’s just Kamiko being Kamiko.)

Uraraka looks like she’s torn between confusion and offense. (In Izuku’s defense, a lot of things happened during the entrance exam, he was a little pre-occupied.) “Don’t worry about it.” Izuku assures. (Desperately hoping she’ll drop the fact that he completely forgot about the event.) Did you make it into the hero course?”

Uraraka nods. “1-A…” She pauses “I’m sorry.” She bites her lip. Izuku is confused

“Why?”

“Because you didn’t get in?”

Izuku needs to take a moment. He is suddenly aware that not everyone knows about his… unique situation. “I didn’t not get in.”

He can hear Tenya’s face palm from here.

“So! Is the hero course all you dreamed it would be?” He asks the 1-A trio. (He’s not changing the subject! He’s not!) Both of Izuku’s more heroically inclined friends groan, along with the brown haired girl. (Kamiko stiffens, no one notices but Hiro, who squeezes her hand in silent solidarity.)

Tenya takes the charge in the response. “Our homeroom teacher is very….” The sentence drags, Tenya unsure of what word he wants to use. “He’s….”

“A hardass?” Uraraka tries. Yaoyarozu spits out her tea and Tenya is already waving his arms through the air in abject horror at Uraraka’s loose tongue. Hiro is laughing loudly, wheezing and clutching his stomach.

Yaoyarozu takes the reigns of the conversation. “He set up a quirk test, and expelled the person who came in last.”

“It was terrible!” Uraraka moans

“As expected of an elite school like Yuuei.” Tenya swings his arms around, accidentally hitting Hiro in the face. Hiro blinks as he tries to process that.

Izuku blinks. “Wow. Glad I missed that.”

Uraraka brightens. “I’m sure you would have done great! Your quirk must be amazing!”

She misses the way the entire table winces at her words. (They all know that Izuku’s quirklessness is a sore spot. Except Mei. Who might know, but definitely doesn’t care so long as they get to keep making things together.) Izuku rolls the words in his mouth before spitting them out. “I’m quirkless, just good at designing support equipment.”

Uraraka blinks. Once, then twice, then “WHAT!?” (Kamiko, who had zoned out, flinches at the shriek. Mei barely looks up from her blueprint notebook.)

“I’m quir-“

“No no no no no I got that part.” Uraraka waves one of her hands about. “But like. You were so cool, just went pow and bang and totally blew up that robot! It was so cool!” she waves her hands around some more “I just never expected you to be… you know.”

Izuku feels a sting of irritation. “Quirkless isn’t a swear word Uraraka. I’m no different from you.” The words are gentle, but the silent warning is evident.

“But you are!” Kamiko exclaims and Izuku swears he could hear a pin drop. He doesn’t know where Kamiko is going with this, but He thinks she might catch fire from the murderous glare Tenya is shooting her. “You managed to take first place on the written and practical portions of the entrance exam” Izuku now knows where she’s going. And oh god please no!  “and caught the attention of Principal Nedzu himself! He made you his personal student!” Izuku flushes to his ears with embarrassment. “You’re one of kind! Even my-“

“Kamiko!” Izuku hisses, all but jumping across the table to cover her mouth. Hiro shakes with silent laughter. (Izuku has managed to keep his extra training from the Kurasaki family hidden from Mei, Yaoyarozu and Tenya so far. He doesn’t want anyone thinking he got some sort of special treatment. Regardless of whether or not he actually had.)

The lunch goes smoothly from that point on. Easy conversation before parting for classes. Uraraka is a little awkward, but it isn’t unbearable. Mei manages to pull the table into a debate on costume design and impracticalities until the end of lunch. Kamiko manages to pull together a PowerPoint to emphasize Hiro’s point about poor fabric choices. (This is doubly impressive given that she had to build a screen device with wi-fi capabilities on the spot.)

By the time the group splits up for classes, the tone is light and Uraraka is thoroughly confused. Izuku considers it a victory. Heroics Law and Intro to History of Heroics is a reading of the Syllabus. It would be boring, (were he in any other classroom he would be designing on the back of the crisp sheets that outline the course) but he can practically sense Kacchan Bakugo’s rising blood pressure. He sits ramrod straight and tries to ignore the itching of his starburst scars and the sound of Kacchan Bakugo’s growl. There’s no pause in between Heroics Law and Intro to the History of Heroics, so no one is able to talk to him. (But he feels their sideways glances, knows their stares, senses the questions on the tips of their tongues. He wants to melt into the floor and never return)

Practical Heroics is a… he wants to say worst possible option. 1-A (and Izuku) are given a syllabus that basically says the course is open to interpretation and sudden changes, before Aizawa-Sensei leaves. (He vaguely reminds Izuku of Nanako but more... done with existance. He’s pretty sure the scruffy man is actually the pro hero Eraserhead, but he isn’t sure. He wonders if all underground heroes are like that.)

But thinking about 1-A’s homeroom teacher is quickly shoved to the back of his mind as half the class leaps from their seats to sit themselves in front of his desk. Izuku gulps as Bakugo gets up slowly, head hanging limply. (This isn’t going to be fun)

Aizawa shivers as he walks down the hallway to the teachers lounge. Nedzu’s student looked far to bright to have already spent an hour and a half in the presence of the principal. He does not envy the poor kid. Especially not now that he was stuck in a room with his own students. He just knows they’re going to bury the poor kid in questions. Aizawa almost feels sorry for him. “So illogical”

Izuku blinks as he assesses (or attempts to at least) process the veritable wall of students in front of him. They’re all asking questions at the same Tenya asks for people to pass the salt. That is to say, loud. Izuku could not care less about any of the 1-A students that crowd around his desk as he sees Bakugo push his way through the crowd; the promise of explosions in his palms easily parting Izuku’s red sea. (He thinks he can feel his pulse in his throat and a cold sweat envelope him)

“Deku” Kacchan Bakugo growls. Slamming his hands on the desk, smoke rising between his fingers. It takes half a second for Bakugo to have his hand (DEAR GOD HIS HAND! HIS VERY EXPLOSIVE HAND!) around his tie and yank him forward in his seat. He’s face to face with Bakugo and kind of wants to projectile vomit. (A very distant part of him wonders if he could do it into his old tormentors face) “What the hell are you doing here!?” He pulls harder on the tie and the slip of fabric tightens. (It’s getting harder to breath. He doesn’t dare try to remove Ka-Bakugo’s hand. There are enough scars on his arms to discourage that.) Izuku is three seconds away from a panic attack and he can already feel the tears pooling. (He feels like he’s in primary school again, afraid of Bakugo’s temper and his quirk and the fact that no one was ever willing to stop him. Why would anyone side with worthless, quirkless, useless, Deku)

“I-I’m, I, attending class?” It sounds more like a question than a statement and he internally winces at how weak it sounds.

“Attending class? Fess up Deku” The word is spat out like venom, and it burns Izuku’s skin in all the places Bakugo’s explosions have marked and claimed and ruined. “How did you get first place in the entrance exam you little shit!?” He’s screaming with rage.

Salvation comes in the form of one Uraraka Ochako. She’s standing at Izuku’s side, glaring at Bakugo. (Tenya and Yaoyarozu are behind her, looking equally disturbed by the display.) “Let go of him Bakugo.” She growls. (He thinks he might love Uraraka right now.)

“Hah!?” Bakugo scoffs

“Indeed!” Tenya interrupts, and Izuku wants to cry again. (Dear god he loves his friends) “It is unbecoming of Yuuei students to bully each other!” His arms swing wildly, and his demeanor could be mistaken for normal, but Izuku knows Tenya and he knows the look in his eyes that say he’s pissed.

Bakugo huffs as he storms out of the room. Or, he tries to. Something stops him dead in his tracks. And Izuku isn’t sure if he wants to laugh or cry. Bakugo has managed to slam straight into the chest of Shiota Hiro, and Hiro is already glaring at Bakugo like he’s the scum of the earth. Barely worthy of his glare. (The class is laughing at the ridiculous failure of Bakugo’s attempt to storm out.) Bakugo pushes past Hiro and continues storming down the hallway as Hiro steps into the classroom. Two support students flank him.

 Hiro strolls in like he owns the place, hands in his pockets as Tenya sputters about how much he’s breaking the uniform guidelines. Kamiko and Mei follow in after him. Hiro is glaring, and he can see the palms of his hands glowing slightly. (He’s never seen Hiro use his quirk, he wonders if he’ll start now.)

One of the 1-A students, a boy with blonde hair with a black streak in it, steps up. “What are you doing here?” He asks Hiro. (Izuku vaguely notes Kamiko pulling a stunned Tenya and Yaoyarozu away.

Hiro ignores him (Not quite, he spares him a glare that makes very clear that he thinks the blonde is worth less than the scum of the earth) and turns to Izuku. “Kamiko needs you for something.” He states, deadpan.

Kamiko is already headed towards the door, pulling Tenya and Yaoyarozu all the while. “Be nice Hiro!” She whines.

Hiro sighs, and to the surprise of most of the room, turns towards the blonde. “I’m sorry for ignoring you. I’m here because Kamiko wants Izuku for something.”

“Hello!” Kamiko calls, Tenya and Yaoyarozu following her of their own volition. “I have gifts! Hiro does too, he’s just embarrassed.”

The normally unflappable boy flushes. “Miko!” He hisses as Kamiko giggles and Mei cackles. Hiro grabs Izuku’s hand and drags him into the hallway.

The class sits in stunned silence for a moment as they process what just happened. The pink haired girl (Mei) pops back into the room. “Oh! Gravity girl!” She bounces a fist in her open palm. “I have something for you too!” and drags the aforementioned girl into the hall, cackling all the while.    

Todoroki Shoto watches the interaction with something akin to disdain. Something about the 1-N student rubs him the wrong way. He shrugs the feeling off, and he definitely isn’t jealous of how easily the group dragged Yaoyarozu away. (She’s just the only person here he knows, he tries to reason with himself, he doesn’t think it’s working)

Chapter Text

Gift giving with engineers is a unique experience. It is never predictable and always ridiculous. More often than not the gifts are specific, extravagant and useful. Almost always it’s on a completely random day with no warning whatsoever. Today is no different.

Kamiko and Mei have dragged the whole group of confused heroics students down to the labs. Kamiko has gifted (bequeathed, as she put it) a series of wrapped packages at the group. All of the packages are wrapped in questionable Christmas themed wrapping paper at varying degrees of competency. Yoayarozu’s looks like it was wrapped by a professional (Barring the Santa’s butt-crack wrapping paper) whereas Tenya’s looks like it was done by a toddler, run over by a truck, and then attacked by a squirrel and covered in tape to keep the whole thing from falling apart.
“What are these for?” Izuku asks, as Hiro throws a second package at his face. It’s in a gift bag with sparkly rainbow tissue paper. It’s heavy and it his face stings from the contact as Hiro laughs at him. Izuku has to blink twice to make sure it’s real. (And get rid of the tears, but who’s keeping track?)

“Congrats on getting into the heroics department gift!” Hiro shouts, he pulls a bit of string and an entire pile of balloons and streamers fall from… somewhere onto the group of unsuspecting heroics students.

“Well that’s not gonna be fun to clean up.” Kamiko murmurs somewhere behind the mountain of a man that is Hiro.

“Why do you have Christmas wrapping paper!?” Tenya shouts, waving his poorly wrapped gift around.

“It was on sale!” Hiro happily informs. “Sixty yen per roll!”

“Did it have to be so… vulgar?” he thinks for a moment. “Also, this is Japan, we don’t celebrate Christmas like that!”

“That was the point!” Hiro huffs, “I bought it specifically for the irony.” Kamiko smiles sedately and it’s clear that any more discussion on the wrapping paper will end poorly for everyone involved.
The ones who are used to Hiro…. Being Hiro, turn to open their gifts. Yaoyarozu and Uraraka stare at the duo blankly. (Izuku thinks they’re probably processing, but he isn’t sure)

Kamiko hums as she watches everyone open their gifts. Mei has already wandered into the lab to start doing… something. Kamiko doesn’t worry about it, Mei doesn’t interact with the group much, but her contributions are top-notch. 

Back on track, Tenya is opening his gift first. (And Kamiko isn’t terribly proud of it but she’ll give it to him regardless.) He finally gets through the twenty layers of jingle-balls wrapping paper to the thumb drive within. (She thinks she really ought to let Hiro handle wrapping things. He’s much better at it.) 

“Kamiko…” Tenya starts, clearly too overwhelmed to say anything else. (Tenya is not overwhelmed. He is very, very confused and would very much so like an explanation please.)

“It’s a computer system.” She tells him. Giving him the explanation she didn’t know he was asking for, “It runs a program called SONIC.”

“Sonic?”

Kamiko tilts her head. She hadn’t known what to call the program, but Hiro had recommended Sonic. Something about hedgehogs, it being perfect for Tenya and ‘gotta go fast’. She didn’t really understand (still doesn’t) but she trust’s Hiro. (She is very unaware of how bad of an idea this is.) “Basically, it’s designed to do in battle calculations about your speed, trajectory, and directions. It also gives traffic projections!”

“What?” Tenya’s eyes are bulging, not exactly the reaction she was hoping for in response to her super thoughtful and cool gift, but she’ll take it.

“Yeah! I designed it to be a background program in your helmet.” She beams. “Cool right?”

Tenya nods, a little dazed. (He’s confused) Kamiko is already turning to the next person. Uraraka is looking at her gift with confusion. 

“What’s this?” She asks and Kamiko thinks that she’s being a little silly, because she hasn’t even opened it yet. And also, that was Mei’s gift, not Kamiko’s. Why would Kamiko know how it works? Although, Mei was very excited making it, and loud, so Kamiko actually does know how it works. Uraraka opens it to find a pair of white boots. They’re thick and sturdy, with a variety of jets at different angles.

Thankfully, Izuku takes over the explanation. “Whoa! Are these jet boots?” He doesn’t wait for Kamiko’s nod before describing the various possible functions of the boots to Uraraka. Hiro piping in every now and again with various commentary of his own. (Kamiko loves her friends. They’re great.)

After Uraraka has put on the boots, made herself weightless, and gracelessly crashed into three separate work-benches, everyone turns to Yaoyarozu to see what she got. 

Yaoyarozu opens her own package to reveal a single red bracelet. Now this is something Kamiko is proud of. She instructs her friend to put it on and press the big red center diamond over the wrist. The bracelet extends into a golden arm brace, held together with black bio-cloth straps and ending a good inch before her friend’s elbow. 

“Press the center diamond again” Kamiko instructs, and watches as her friend does just that. A screen lights up the front of the bracer. A search bar, a dozen or so buttons, and a small keypad pop up. “Type in a material or item!” Kamiko smiles as Yaoyarozu types in taser. A short list of blueprints appears. She taps the third one on the list. The center diamond glows and a red tinted blueprint for the taser pops up, spinning slowly. Yaoyarozu gapes. 

“Pretty cool right?” Yaoyarozu nods silently. “It’s got nearly four million different materials and or blueprints in there. As well as internet access in case you need something that isn’t in the database.” Kamiko smiles at her stunned friend. Tenya, Uraraka, and Izuku are watching in awe at the still spinning holograph. “If you press the button on the top, it’ll return you to the main menu, the one with the search bar. If you press the center diamond-” said diamond glints in the light, larger than it’s companions. “It’ll turn off the holograph. If you press the bottom one, it’ll collapse the bracer back into a bracelet.” 

Yaoyarozu presses the bottom one, and removes the bracelet with shaking hands. She attempts to hand it back to her, and Kamiko tilts her head. “I can’t accept this! It must have taken hundreds of hours to program!”

“But I made it for you?” Kamiko tilts her head in the other direction and presses the bracelet back into Yaoyarozu’s hands. “It’s a gift.”

Yaoyarozu looks like she’s about to object when Hiro (bless his soul…. If he has one) cuts in. “She won’t take no for an answer, and if you keep pushing like this it’ll hurt her feelings.” The tone is teasing, but Kamiko blushes. (It’s the truth after all, regardless of how embarrassed it makes her)

It takes another five minutes to convince Yaoyarozu to keep the darn thing, but Hiro and Izuku eventually do.

Izuku is being stared at by the entire group (minus Mei, which is nice, being the subject of Mei’s attention is objectively more terrifying than anything the rest of the group could possibly do.) and it’s making him uncomfortable. Hiro nods to the dual packages in his hands. 

Izuku opens the first package slowly. It’s Hiro’s. Izuku pulls out a large amount of black fabric. It’s thick, with a vaguely metallic hexagonal pattern. He continues to pull the fabric out of the bag he discovers lines of smooth green cutting through the fabric. “What is this?” he asks, unfurling the fabric to reveal a black bodysuit with green accents.

“We know you wanted to design your own suit, but we wanted to offer you this anyways.” Izuku blinks at the fabric. “We copied the physical design of your original suit, and just… improved it a bit.” Hiro shrugs nonchalantly, hoping no one notices the dusting of pink on his cheeks. (He’s nervous, and Izuku knows it) 

“Hiro needs to stop being so cryptic.” Kamiko sighs “It’s a special type of fabric. It’s hyper-durable, slash, water, fire, and acid resistant, insulated, both for electricity and cold, and kinetic-absorbent.”

“Kinetic absorbent?” Uraraka asks, (and Izuku feels bad for forgetting she’s here... Just not bad enough that she stops doing it.)

“Basically the suit absorbs kinetic energy, minimizing the strength of hits, and can release it through various channels, increasing the strength of various actions.” Kamiko smiles. “We figured Izuku would want to figure out the boots and gloves, even though that’s the most convenient location for energy expenditure.” 

Hiro tosses a thumb drive to Izuku. “It’s the research and blueprints we used.” 

Izuku thinks the room looks a little blurry, and his face feels a little wet. 

“Oh my god! Midoriya are you okay!?” Uraraka shrieks and Izuku realizes that yes, he is in fact crying. He dabs at his face with one hand, the other holding the suit that would be worth less if it was made of diamonds. 

“Yeah…” he mumbles, sniffing as he continues to cry. 

“Don’t cry on the suit dude!” Hiro exclaims “It took forever to stitch the damn thing!” He waves his arms in the air in a way that’s reminiscent of Tenya mid-rant. “Do you know how hard it is to stitch together a material resistant to every bonding technique known to man!?”

"And also needles." Kamiko helpfully chimes in

Hiro nods vigorously "That too!"

Izuku is laughing now. It’s easy too. (It’s always easy too with his friends.)

“So what’s in the other box?” Uraraka asks, leaning over Izuku’s shoulder in a way that would leave him feeling hot and bothered had Mei not actually asked him to weigh her boobs for science once. Mei in general makes it hard to be flustered by women. He’s seen a lot of crap he won’t ever be able to forget.

“Now that’s a real gift.” Kamiko all but purrs.”My pride and joy right there.”
Izuku shakes as he opens the lid.

Nedzu drinks tea as he waits for the door to open. Yagi is supposed to arrive any minute to discuss the students he thinks would be a good fit for One for All. He’s been given access to footage of the entrance exam and last year’s final exams to help him out. (Nedzu thinks he might point his own student in Yagi’s direction. He still feels delightfully pleased to call him his student.) 
Nedzu’s ears prick up as he hears the knocking on his door. “Please come in.” His smile doesn’t change but he can see Yagi flinch ever so slightly as he makes eye contact. His smaller form on full display. “You’re right on time.”

(Neither party realizes how much anger, spite and grief the following conversation will contain, neither are ready for it, and neither will handle the fallout well. But they do say Hindsight is 20/20. Foresight? Not so much.)

Chapter Text

Nedzu smiles as Yagi Toshinori, the symbol of peace, takes a seat on the overstuffed couch in Nedzu’s spacious office. The soft cushions engulf the number one hero as the mammal offers his guest tea.

Yagi declines, fiddling with his hands in his lap.

“Have you found anyone to your liking yet?” Nedzu asks, almost hoping the symbol of peace hadn’t (He really did want to recommend Izuku. Imagine what he could do with all of that physical strength, although Nedzu would be the first to admit his student doesn’t need it.)

Yagi shakes his head. “There are many good prospects, but I haven’t known any of them long enough.”

Nedzu smiles wider (if it’s even possible) and Yagi shudders. “Has any of my students caught your eye?”

Toshinori feels like he’s being judged. Weighed in value by the non-human principal. “Mirio Togata certainly stands out” Nedzu nods understandingly “As does class 1-A’s Kirishima Eijiro. Both have the hearts of true heroes.”

Nedzu tilts his head, “anything else?” His smile does not slip

“Well, I did have some concerns with one of the students”

“Oh?” Nedzu takes a sip of his tea. “Do tell.” He was sure this was bound to be interesting. Yagi always had the most fascinating opinions.

“I noticed that there was a quirkless student enrolled in classes here.”

Nedzu has to pause. Midoriya? He can’t think of a single thing about the brilliant boy that would have bothered the hero. Unless. Nedzu’s gaze sharpened. If Yagi brought that up…

“He’s quirkless, it’s dangerous to have him here.”

Nedzu fights the urge to twitch. “Oh? He’s clever and knows how to make up for his weaknesses. A skilled and powerful student.”

“Even so!” All Might exclaims, leaning forward in his seat. “I’m the symbol of peace, the strongest in the world, and this life still caught up to me. It’s foolish to encourage him on such a dangerous profession. Especially given his powerlessness!”

Nedzu feels irritation bubble up within him. “He may be quirkless, but quirks are only tools, there are plenty of pros that only use their quirks sporadically, or to enhance their pre-existing talents.”

“Even so, they at least have a quirk.” Yagi demands, voice louder than it usually is in this form. Nedzu would be lying to say he didn’t forsee this outcome, but the rage that accompanies the conversation is real and vivid and dangerous nonetheless. “I already told him not to aim to be a hero. He clearly has no self-preservation instincts! It would be irresponsible to let him continue.”

Nedzu sees red as his advanced brain processes that statement. Realizes that this man, the symbol of peace, had tried to dissuade the hero course’s strongest candidate this year from the profession based on a genetic lottery. That the hero in front of him was the man who damaged his precious student’s sense of self-worth. He swallows the urge to growl at the number one hero. “That’s quite the assumption coming from you.”

“I’m just saying, maybe you made a mistake.” The hero pleads, correctly shrinking at the anger radiating off of the principal.

 How dare he insinuate that his student, the one he had hand selected to be his, was less than anyone else enrolled at this school. How dare he assume that Nedzu doesn’t know talent or skill. How dare he assume to be brighter, more experienced, a better judge of competency than him. How dare he assume that Nedzu was wrong. “A quirk is not everything Yagi.”

“He would never survive my life! The life of a hero!” Yagi exclaims

Nedzu feels something inside him (something that was keeping him civil during this conversation) snap. “I would hope not. It would be a waste to have someone as bright as him pandering to the press like you do. To have him parading about like some symbol of peace” Yagi hisses, but Nedzu continues, red hot fury spurring him on. “He would be much more suited to a position like mine, or your old sidekick, Sir Nighteye’s. An analysist. A planner. A stratagiest. An Underground Hero. Do you know how good he is at quirk analysis? His tactical strategy that rivals some pro heroes? His skill in building support items that outclass most modern quirks? His talent at mixing the three into something awe-inspiring and terror inducing” Yagi flinches against Nedzu’s verbal assault. Nedzu continues pressuring him, uncaring of the other man’s feelings. “Should you assume that he is any less, act as if he is any less, treat him any differently than any of your other students because of his genetics,” he goes in for the kill as Yagi continues to shrink against his gaze. “because he has the ability to do what you could not.”  Yagi straightens, and Nedzu knows (and refuses to care) that he hit a nerve. “I will come after you with all the wrath I can muster. Do not test me.” He drops his ever-present smile “That boy is my student” he takes a sip of his tea “and he will be ten times the hero you or I could ever be.” He puts down his teacup and glares at the symbol of peace.

Nedzu takes a deep breath. The conversation is getting out of hand. He’s letting his emotions get the best of him. Best to give both parties time to cool off. He puts his smile back on and cheerfully issues a command. “Get out of my office.”

Yagi almost trips over himself as he flees.

Nedzu plots. He will make the symbol of peace eat his words. He will make him choke on them. He will take the oaf’s prejudice and shove it down his throat. He releases a low growl into his empty office.

Izuku wakes up on the second day of school bright and early. He always gets up bright and early, he likes to be awake in time to watch the sunrise. It fills him with a sense of joy and awe that never seems to fade. He likes to ponder how things are going in his life while he watches the sky get brighter. It’s a nice ritual, one he started sometime during his first year of middle school, and never really stopped.

For the first time in a while, he feels his scars pull when he stretches, and thinks about Bakugo. He understands now that his relationship with Bakugo was toxic at best and abusive at worst, but he’s just beginning to see the aftershocks it’s had on him. His anxiety and tendancy to flinch at loud noises being particularly relevant. He really just wants to bury the feelings of inadequacy and fear deep inside of him and never let them see the light again, but he’ll be sharing a classroom with Bakugo again. He doesn’t think it would be the smartest idea. Izuku mutters softly as he moves around the kitchen. He’s halfway through making breakfast when he has an idea. Therapy.

He remembers Nanako speaking highly of therapy in training while trying to convince Mina to attend, saying that it was illogical to keep things bottled up inside. That working through mental issues doesn’t make you weak. Especially in the profession of heroics. She also said something about Heroes that refused to go to therapy having a bad habit of burning out or becoming toxic or disillusioned or something. And also something about how there was a reason heroics has mandated therapy sessions. He doesn’t really remember, he was kind of busy having his ass handed to him on the mats. But the therapy thing stuck with him though.

Izuku thinks for another moment as he recalls Nedzu mentioning Yuuei having free mental health counseling on campus. Maybe he can talk to Nedzu about it. He really didn’t like being so anxious all the time, maybe therapy could help with that. Izuku finishes breakfast quickly after that, leaving a portion for his mother on the counter. (She does so much for him, it’s the least he can do.)

School starts out…. Normal enough. Nedzu puts him through his paces in homeroom, demanding to see each improved piece of his costume and how it works with everything else in his kit. As well as makes a handful of impressed noises and suggestions. Izuku happily writes down the feedback before bringing up his idea from this morning.

Nedzu was impressed with his protégé. In a single day he had managed to either build or commission nearly seven new pieces of gear and completely revamp his suit’s design. Two of the 1-H support students had somehow managed to create a material short of miraculous, that had been inlaid into the suit. But that wasn’t what impressed him most. Where most students he worked with one on one balked and refused to accept criticism, Midoriya had actually taken to writing down his suggestions. It fills Nedzu with delight to see a student so dedicated to learning all he could. (He truly chose well, but high specs made that fairly easy) Something in him balks at Yagi’s foolish assessment of his student. He will have to talk with him again. He won’t apologize, he can be stubborn when he wants to be, but he will try and smooth things over. No reason to have bad blood with the number one hero.

“Nedzu sir?” Midoriya is speaking again after finishing the final line of suggestions.

“Just Nedzu is fine Midroiya” Nedzu takes another sip of his tea. Earl Grey today. Nothing fancy, but very well made.

Midoriya fidgets for a moment, and Nedzu waits patiently for a response. “I was curious if you knew anything by the school offered counseling?”

Nedzu is actually surprised by this. He knew Midoriya was forthcoming with his problems and questions, it was one of the reasons he had him as a student, but he hadn’t been expecting such a… personal questions. Most humans were touchy about mental health. Nedzu understood that. The idea of telling anyone, regardless of how trusted they were, about his… incidents with experimentation left him feeling sick. “Why do you ask?” He pushes, he is curious after all. He wonders if this has anything to do with Bakugo. The only blemish on the 1-A student’s record was a skirmish with Midoriya. With Midoriya transferring schools soon after. That raised several red flags.

Midoriya takes a deep breath and fidgets again. His facial cues tell Nedzu the boy is calculating the risk benefit calculations to explaining himself. “I-“ he pauses, Nedzu waits. Nedzu is nothing if not patient. (His experimentation taught him that much) “I have really bad anxiety…” he pauses, but Nedzu knows it’s not all Midoriya wants to say, so he continues to wait. “and I have some history with Bakugo. I don’t…” he looks down at his lap, flushing and blinking rapidly. The wetness of his pupils eyes betrays tears. “I don’t like sudden or loud noises. I flinch if anyone shouts at me. I feel like I should talk with someone about… all of that. I mean,” he lifts his head to smile at the principal “there’s nothing wrong with asking for help. Right?”

“Absolutely.” Nedzu beams at his student. Pavlovian method. If he wants his student to trust him, he has to reward this sort of open behavior. Although he is surprised at just how open the boy is being. “If you feel like it will help, I will happily schedule an introductory appointment with Hound Dog for you!”

Nedzu sends his protégé off to his first class with a smile and a biscuit.

“A good choice indeed” he murmurs into his tea. 

After the slightly taxing conversation with the sapient mammal that is Yuuei’s principal, Izuku gets through the second day of school easily. When he talks with Nedzu before lunch, the principal ignores Izuku’s earlier question in favor of discussing the morality of hero law. It’s an interesting topic, and Izuku finds himself… sad when the bell for lunch rings. (Although he is very excited to talk with his friends.) Nedzu hands… paws? Him a paper as he leaves. It’s an appointment notice for hound-dog. It replaces his free-lab on Thursdays.

Izuku goes down to lunch in a slight daze. Which was a mistake, because Mei had brought one of her babies to the cafeteria, and accidentally set his hair on fire. (He’s still not quite sure what the actual purpose of that invention was.) On the bright side most of his teachers are lecturing properly now, and he got to properly introduce himself to class 1-B during heroics law. Most of the class seem really nice, if a little jealous of Izuku’s situation. (Izuku isn’t sure they should be jealous, he’s pretty sure Nedzu is working him three times as hard as his peers in the hero course if the thirteen-page paper on bystander syndrome he assigned for homework on the first day of school is any indication, or the sixty-page analysis on the situations in which certain fighting styles are appropriate he was assigned to read tonight.) Monoma confuses him, but Izuku decides not to comment on the frighteningly obvious inferiority complex disguised as excessive competition.

It’s finally time for practical heroics now, and he’s with 1-A again. He can sense that they want to ask him more questions. Especially after his… eventful exit yesterday. They aren’t subtle about it. But Izuku is trying to focus on the task at hand. Or rather, the teacher at hand. Nedzu had refused to tell him who taught the first year’s practical heroics class. And the teacher is late. Izuku taps his fingers on the desk impatiently. He’s excited. This is his chance to prove his worth. And also try out his costume. Izuku yawns and blinks. (He probably shouldn’t have stayed up all night editing the boots, gloves, and various pieces of equipment to better suit his new suit, but he really couldn’t help himself. And besides, what’s getting a grand total of two hours of sleep in comparison to innovation and discovery.)

Izuku picks up the sound of heavy footsteps a little ways away from the classroom.

“I AM HERE!” The door slams open, revealing Izuku’s old favorite hero in his silver age costume. “COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”) the whole class bursts into cheers and excited statements while Izuku feels like he’s going to be sick. (He does not notice Tenya and Yaoyorozu stiffening in the background, both unable to forget what the hero had told him)

“TODAY WE WILL BE DIVING STRAIGHT INTO IT” the number one hero pulls out a white card “BATTLE TRIALS.” Izuku zones out up until twenty cases shoot out of the wall. “SO, PUT THESE ON AND MEET ME AT GROUND BETA!”

Izuku looks at the cases and has the sudden realization that his own costume is still in the support workshop. (where he had been adding the final touches. He didn’t think he’d need it soon. He knows Yaoyarozu’s costume is down there as well. Tenya’s had been finished ages ago.) He chances a nod at Yaoyarozu before darting out the door, the tallest girl in class on his heels.

Ochako shifts her weight from foot to foot as the class waits for Midoriya and Yaoyarozu. The two had dashed from the class like devils out of hell, but Yaoyarozu only made it to the changing room when Ochako was halfway into her hero costume. Hagakure was already gone!

Iida appeared to be messing around with his helmet. Ochako let her gaze drift down to her newly modified boots. She had really liked the puffy aesthetic of her original boots, but she had to admit that Hatsume’s were more functional. (Didn’t mean she wasn’t a little bitter about the whole thing)

She ends up starting a conversation with Hagakure. Despite the girl’s invisibility, she was plenty expressive, even with just a pair of shoes and gloves.

Momo’s attempt to put on her costume quickly has actually managed to slow her down. She really has to stop rushing, it makes her slower in the long run. And more stressed. She huffs a strand of hair out of the way as she attaches her bracelet/gauntlet thing, quickly activating the device.

Her costume is simple, but the fact that it lets her creations pass through the fabric is indispensable. She also has pants! Pants! She had long since given up on having pants, given what her quirk was. (She feels like she can’t thank Midoriya and the rest of his weird support squad enough.)

Her costume consists of a simple white and red top with a geometric style that seems to be a part of Midoriya’s preferences, (given how much of his work uses it) a pair of dark grey pants, and pair of red and white boots with a short heel. She has a simple utility belt, which is mostly full of various snacks (at Shiota’s suggestion) as well as a pair of fingerless gloves that reach a little above her elbows. The icing on the cake are the gauntlets. One is mostly to make the ensemble look more symmetrical, but has the same energy absorption qualities as Midoriya’s suit. (She understands why her whole suit couldn’t have those functions, but she’s still just slightly jealous of her green haired friend.) The other is her holographic dictionary gauntlet. She’s still impressed by the thing. And she definitely didn’t bring it home with her to mess with. (The thing has a data plan!)

Momo gently shakes those thoughts out of her head as she sets her collapsible staff on the back of her belt. No time to ogle at herself (not that she didn’t do any of that yesterday) She has an exercise to win.

Izuku sighs as he hurriedly pulls on the various pieces of his costume. Most of the other boys are out of the changing room already, but he was delayed both by having to pick up his costume from the support department, and his costume’s overall complexity. He probably went a little overboard during the designing stage, but it’s fine. The overall look of the costume turned out exactly the way he wanted. (Even with the unintended last-minute redesign of his more mechanically inclined friends.)

The overall wetsuit-like base was a dark grey color. Green and black accenting the design in geometric line, reinforced at the knees to take extra fall damage. A pair of black gloves with green accents and knuckles designed to both allow for harder hits, and act as a form of taser when used against an enemy. Deep, dusty red lace up boots with hard soles designed to absorb and release kinetic energy, allowing for harder kicks or an extra boost when jumping. The boots also have steel toes that can be used as a taser. (Izuku blames Mei for the idea) For storage purposes he had a sturdy utility belt and thigh holster (as feminine as it sounded, he really did need the extra space. He thinks he has a mild weapon hoarding problem) in the same color as the boots. Both are designed to only open when within five centimeters of the gloves. A sleek silver mask, designed to hang around his neck until needed. The mask is capable of filtering out gasses as well as modulating his voice. (A gift from Mei.) There are several weapons stashed on his person and a veritable hodgepodge of other items that could be useful in the field. (Including, but not limited to: a first aid kit, rope, an expandable tablet, lockpicks, flashlight, USB drive, and a granola bar.) Tenya likes to joke that the doctor lied and his actual quirk is the ability to shove more items into a bag than should be feasible. (He said he was sorry about bringing a bedside lamp to the sleepover okay? When is Tenya gonna let that go!? It’s been three years!)

The final piece is a gift from Kamiko. Izuku is pretty sure it’s a breakthrough in modern science that she has happily gifted him for seemingly no reason. He’s pretty sure if she published a paper on the tech she’d become world famous overnight, as well as obscenely rich. He pulls on the red googles (same color as his boots, belt, and holster) and puts in the matching earpiece, tapping the button on the side to activate the objects.

A series of ascending beeps sound “You ready to rumble Mitsu?” Izuku asks, adjusting the goggles.

 “For you sir? Absolutely!” The vaguely masculine but mostly electronic voice sounds in his earpiece. Izuku grins. He listened to Kamiko explain her little project for nearly an hour. He still hasn’t the foggiest idea of what Mitsu is capable of. (But neither does Kamiko, she was a special sort of sleep deprived when she finished) Izuku walks slowly towards the gate where the class is waiting for them. No sense in keeping them waiting.

Tenya is messing with Hiro and Kamiko’s (and probably Mei’s) gift when Yaoyarozu walks through the tunnel like a girl on a mission. She looks good in her costume. It makes her look strong and capable. Very unlike the… suggestive costume the support department gave her, which everyone in their friend group agrees would function better as a swimsuit than a hero suit.

Izuku follows soon after. And the only way Tenya can think to describe his oldest friends look is… heroic. Izuku walks like a man on a mission, seemingly unfazed by the attention he’s getting.  (he is in no way unfazed, but he’s experienced enough in pretending to be confidant to make himself seem unbothered) The costume suits him well. Tenya sees the bulging belt pockets and the silver gleam of weapons and silently hopes that he doesn’t end up fighting his friend. He’s seen some of his “inventions” in action. He does not want to be on the receiving end of any of them. (but particularly not the shock grenade. Which is currently being used as a part of police riot gear in certain districts)

All Might begins speaking the moment Izuku falls into line with the rest of class 1-A. He gives a few words on how the clothes make the hero, and Tenya has to remind himself that, despite not having any respect for All Might as a hero, he still has to respect him as a teacher. All Might explains the exercise, holding a… is that a script? In his hand. It’s fairly simple, villains versus heroes. Except…

Tenya raises his hand “Sir? Why are the teams random?”

All Might seems to sputter “Well… I” (Tenya notices Izuku considering a reason, but not saying anything.) “Because life is uncertain young Iida.”

Tenya scraps the bit about respecting All Might as a teacher.

Ochako looks on at the scene in front of her. She and Midoriya had been assigned to go first as villains against Iida and Bakugo as heroes.

“I can fight just as well as anyone else in this class!” Midoriya all but shouts at the symbol of peace. There is something in his voice that strikes a chord with Ochako. (it’s desperation. The desperation to finally prove himself as something more than a stepping stone.)

Iida is chopping his hands with wild abandon “It is unfair to the other students to rearrange the matches for Midoriya!”

Even Yaoyarozu is getting involved in the argument. “There is no reason to rearrange the brackets.” She states calmly. (It’s not calm, it’s cold rage. Well hidden, but there nonetheless.)

All Might’s smile doesn’t falter. “It is unsafe to make a quirkless person face off against two of the strongest students in the class.”

Ochako hears the entire class suck in a breath.

Midoriya makes a noise that sounds halfway between a wince and a growl. “So is heroics in general. I refuse to be coddled.” The tone is cold. Daring. Angry. “I don’t need to be protected.”

The argument continues, Izuku making point after point, and All Might shutting them down with the same excuse of his quirklesness.

“I got first place in the entrance exam. By thirty points!” Midoriya stresses. “I can handle myself.”

All Might’s smile becomes a little more strained. “Fine.” He turns to Uraraka. “You have fifteen minutes to prepare. Here’s the map.”

The four head off to the building they’re supposed to battle in. Uraraka can already tell it’s going to be a massacre. She’s just not sure on what side yet.

Chapter Text

Uraraka and her partner quickly make their way to the room with the bomb. Izuku spends a few seconds observing the room the bomb is in, muttering quietly all the while.

He turns to her. Fire in his eyes and confidence in his posture “Alright, here’s the plan”

Izuku hums as he double checks all of his weapons. There are a lot of weapons. Most of them designed for long range. He has a half dozen throwing knives of various effects, enough grenades to make Bakugo jealous, and a pair of handguns he is absolutely thrilled about. He picks up these two guns and handles them with extra care. The amount of effort he’s put into these trumps everything else he’s ever made. Hours upon hours of work and planning and testing and altering to make them as good as he can make them. (Not perfect, never perfect)

He’s pacing the roof as he waits for the prep time to be up. The building has an open spiral staircase that he intends to abuse to its fullest potential in the beginning of the match. He thrums with quiet excitement and lingering rage. The entire building is full of various traps, most of them his own making, but a few courtesy of Uraraka. (He doubts more than one or two of his plans will actually be set in motion, but he likes having backups just in case.)

 “Match starting in one minute, fifty-three seconds sir” Mitsu’s mechanical voice echoes in his ear. “Hacking of video feed and Team D successful”

“A little late there Mitsu” Izuku hums.

“Sorry, Yuuei’s signals are hard to hack.”

Uraraka’s voice sounds over the line. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

Izuku laughs “Can you let us hear what they’re saying?”

“Absolutely!” Mitsu almost sounds proud, and the next moment, Bakugo’s voice is blasting through the line.

“Shut it four eyes!” the sound of an explosion “I’ll go in and find that shitty Deku, and you can find the bomb!”

Arguing between the two parties is heard. Izuku sighs. It’s a bad plan. One that leaves way too many weaknesses out in the open and makes his job of destroying them that much easier.

“They don’t sound very organized.” Uraraka decides, after Izuku asked Mitsu to dim the conversation.

“No they do not.” Izuku hums “Mitsu, can you pull up any cameras that show a person in them? Or disconnect the two headsets so they can’t communicate once they split up?” He asks uncertainly. He really isn’t sure how much Mitsu can actually do, but even just knowing Bakugo’s plan (even if Izuku could have predicted it without any assistance) has been a huge help.

“Of course sir.” Mitsu affirms, and in the corners of Izuku’s red tinted vision, three miniature screens pop up. One showcases Bakugo and Tenya fighting, another showing Uraraka guarding the bomb, and a third with him standing on the roof. Aditionally, on the side of his goggles, is a small icon of a disconnected phone. Guess Mitsu could do that. “Thirty seconds to start sir”

“Thank you Mitsu” Uraraka chirps over the radio, getting into a ready stance. Izuku pulls one of his guns out of its holster, and leans slightly over the railing, lining up his first shot. Bakugo is an unknown variable, wouldn’t do well to leave him unchecked.

“Fifteen minutes are up, begin!” All might calls.

Izuku grins as Bakugo looks up, finally noticing he’s being watched, and shoots.

Tenya has just about had it with Bakugo. Despite how many strategies he proposes, how many compromises he offers, the only thing the explosive blonde wants to do is go after Izuku. Disregarding the fact that Izuku probably left Uraraka with the bomb given that her quirk is invaluable as a defensive measure. Not to mention the fact that Iida has to attack close range, leaving him especially susceptible to her quirk. On top of that, he doesn’t know the first thing about Uraraka’s training. Bakugo on the other hand, is a long-range fighter who would not be rendered immobile should he be trapped by her quirk. But no, he has to go after Izuku, and refuses to accept any of Tenya’s help.

All Might calls for the trial to start, and a small bang is followed by a shout. Tenya’s mental capacities screech to a halt as he turns to see Bakugo clutching his chest. He doesn’t have time to do anything else before a second shot rings out. It knocks Tenya off balance, and he notices a stinging in his neck. He touches the area, and when he pulls his fingers away, finds them coated in a thick coat of bright blue paint.

When Tenya looks up at the roof, where he had heard the sound, it’s empty.

“That shitty nerd!” Bakugo spits out. His breathing uneven. (Tenya can’t tell if it’s from pain or fury) “I’ll kill him!”

“Wait Bakugo!” Tenya calls as Bakugo blasts open the door. He follows blindly. (If Tenya’s ears weren’t ringing from the blast, he’d hear the beeping noise of one of Izuku’s activated grenades, he’d know that they’ve already lost.)

Izuku throws himself onto the rope he had placed at the top of the stairwell, sliding down it at speeds that would make Nanako blanch. (He silently thanks his gloves for sparing him the rope-burn) He hears an explosion, and sees both Bakugo and Tenya continue on, ignoring the fact that they set off one of his tripwire bombs in the corner of his goggles. “Alright Uraraka” he calls over the coms “Looks like we’re going with plan C-4, release in T-20 seconds.”

Katsuki was nearly blind with fury by the time he noticed the bomb in the corner. It was an inconspicuous little thing; small and black, with an orange stripe up the side. He didn’t have a chance to do much more than shout a warning to his shitty partner before the damn thing went off. The next thing Katsuki knew he was being blown back by an explosion.

Bakugo knew explosions like the back of his hand, so it didn’t take long for him to regain his bearings. Four eyes was on his knees a step or two behind him, on his knees like the useless piece of shit he was. The walls of the hallway were scorched, and a handful of marble sized balls were falling to the ground.

(Wait!?)

The next thing Katsuki knows is pain. The sort that makes it impossible to pay attention to anything else as his limbs locked up and he fell to the floor. He vaguely notes that he’s being electrocuted. (He doesn’t notice his palms going off as he spasms) The feeling passes after both a moment and an eternity, but the left-over fuzziness does not.

He hears the thud of footsteps, but can’t find the strength to get up. He hears four eyes breathing heavy besides him, grunting as he tries to get to his feet. He notices that, more than the electrocution, his limbs feel heavy, and his vision is full of spots.

The sound of a gun going off fills Katsuki with something almost primal. His gut twists and limbs jolt as adrenaline spikes through his system. (It makes the fogginess even worse) He jerks up at the source of the sound, it takes more effort than it should. (why is everything so heavy?) What he sees is Deku, mask on and red goggles linting eerily in the flickering fluorescent lights. His smoking gun is pointed at four eyes, who is somehow covered in a net. Katsuki grits his teeth. (Katsuki is afraid)

Izuku watches the two hero students in front of him. He knows the shock was less effective on Tenya. (He insulated his suit himself after all) But now Tenya is very thoroughly trussed in the net, spasming occasionally as his body readjusts after the shock it had been given. (heat, electricity and kinetic force, quite the combination) Izuku knows he won’t be down for long; he has tested the net on Tenya before. Best to be quick.

He turns to his other opponent. Bakugo looks utterly pathetic, none of his confidence or bluster present. Izuku can’t help the trill of satisfaction at seeing his former tormentor so thoroughly battered (He pushes that thought away. It feels dark and scary and Izuku doesn’t feel like seeing where it leads) Bakugo grits his teeth, and struggles to get to his feet.

“I expected better of you, heroes.” He taunts, pulling out a roll of his capture tape. He ignores Bakugo for now. It will take him a while to stand after all. It takes only a second to wrap the tape around Tenya’s trapped form.

“Iida Tenya has been captured by the villain team.” All Might’s voice rings out over the intercom, it’s shaky, but still strong.

Bakugo finally manages to get a foot under himself. “Shitty Deku, I’ll kill you!” Izuku can feel the venom in his voice. (can almost taste it) It leaves him feeling gross and sticky for reasons he can’t quite pin down.

“How will you kill me when you can barely stand?” He asks calmly, tilting his head as he gets into a battle stance.

Bakugo stands tall, a smirk on his face and an unhinged glint in his eyes. “You know how my quirk works? Right, you fucking stalker?” The taunt stings, but Izuku does not respond. “It works by igniting my sweat, and if the support department built these babies like I asked them too, they’ve been storing my sweat for nearly thirty minutes now! Let’s test them out!” Izuku’s mind is spinning as his eyes dart wildly, trying to remember the layout of the building.

Izuku’s eyes widen “Young Bakugo, do not use those on young Midoriya!”

“He’ll be fine if he dodges!” Bakugo hisses, hand moving up to pull the pin. Izuku lunges, getting inside Bakugo’s weakened guard and shoving the arm back towards the entrance. (the side with the fewest load bearing walls) He squeezes his eyes shut, and prays.

His ears are ringing when he comes to. He thinks he must have blacked out for a minute as the dust begins to settle.

He realizes he’s still holding Bakugo’s arm, and decides to take advantage of this fact, flipping him over his shoulder and body slamming him into the concrete floors. Bakugo struggles to get up as Izuku flips out his staff from his belt. It extends in half a second, and Izuku all but stabs Bakugo with it. It has the desired effect of knocking him back down. He presses the button in the center, and Bakugo crumples as electricity once again floods his system.

Izuku huffs out a breath as he looks over the unconscious blonde. “such a waste” (He can’t hear himself through the ringing in his ears)

Tenya stares on in shock as his oldest friend stands over Bakugo. “Such a waste” even through the ringing in his ears, Izuku’s voice makes Tenya shiver. It sounds so empty, so done. Izuku winces as he moves to clutch his left ear. (The one that had been closest to the explosion) when he pulls his fingers away they drip red. “Bakugo is incapacitated, the villain team wins.” All Might’s voice sounds nervous to Tenya’s ears. “Please report back to the observation room”

Chapter Text

Aizawa Shota storms down the hallways on a mission. He’s pissed off and ready to bring hell upon those who instigate his wrath. He’s nothing short of fuming when he bursts through the door of the principal’s office. The mouse dog bear barely has time to look up before Aizawa begins his triade. “Who signed off on giving a child with anger issues a weapon like that!?”

“You mean Bakugo and his gauntlets, correct?” The principal clarifies, not giving Aizawa the time to respond. “I did not sign off on that. The support department was in charge of it. Although I am re-thinking my policies in that regard.” Aizawa shivers at the cold tone contrasting with the principal’s wide smile. It’s unsettling. “I think It would be prudent to put Bakugo on academic probation for a while.”

Aizawa blinks. That’s a severe punishment relatively quickly for the principal. “Are you certain?”

Nedzu pulls his paws together. “It will allow us to do many good things for Bakugo. It will allow me to put a series of restrictions on Bakugo’s support items, as well as have him attend anger management, and possibly therapy.” The principal sighs. “Not to mention it will tell Bakugo that what he did was unacceptable, and that he has to change. And what he did today was unacceptable.” Nedzu smiles at Aizawa, daring him to deny it. “As was having that sort of exercise that early in the year. I’ll have to talk with Yagi about it.”

Aizawa isn’t quite sure how to react. (The principal rarely gets involved in behavioral issues, he’s more than willing to let students and teachers figure things out for themselves.)

“Is that all?” Nedzu asks, his smile eerie. (it sends a shiver up Aizawa’s spine)

“…yes sir.”

Izuku hums as he makes his way back to the classroom. The return of the students who had to go see recovery girl had been staggered. He slipped into the classroom and was promptly startled by a round of applause.

“That was so manly dude!” A boy with red hair called out (Kirishima, quirk: hardening)

“Yeah!” a pink skinned girl adds “You were all like-“ she begins to mime moves with her hands “Kapow, blam, bwoosh!” (Ashido, quirk: acid)

“Indeed!” Both Yaoyarozu and Tenya manage to say in unison. Before turning towards each other, and becoming rather flustered.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.” Izuku tries to laugh it off.

Uraraka shakes her head “No way!” she cheers “You were in control of the entire situation! Start to finish! It was awesome!”

Izuku smiles, praise is not nearly as unusual as it used to be, but he doesn't think he'll ever get used to the warm feeling in his stomach that comes with it. (Although, he think's he'd like to try)

It’s Wednesday morning when Izuku returns to Nedzu's office for homeroom after the battle trials. He’s already managed turned in yesterday’s assignment, and is currently helping the principal with a bit of busywork. Something about sending budget analysis to the department of education. (Izuku can't help but notice the frankly massive numbers on some of the sheets. Surely it doesn't cost four billion yen to rebuild a bathroom.) His tea was just short of too hot, and the original taste almost drowned out by milk with a hint of sugar. (Izuku has no idea how Nedzu knows how he likes Jasmine tea, given that he's only had it twice, but decides it isn't important enough to question) 

“By the way” Nedzu cheerily announces, looking up from his own (much larger) stack of paperwork. “Are you ready for the student elections?”

“Student elections?”

“Every entering class has to pick a student representative.” Nedzu clarifies “do you know what that means for you?”

Izuku takes a moment to think about it, and immediately lets his head fall onto the table. “I’m the student rep, aren’t I.” (It’s not a question)

“Absolutely!” Nedzu cackles “The first meeting is this Friday, I wish you the best of luck!”

Izuku groans into his paperwork.

When Izuku gets to lunch it’s to a very distressed looking Hiro, a laughing Mei, an amused Kamiko, and a very, very concerned group of students from 1-A. (Izuku’s not entirely sure when Asui decided to join their table, but doesn’t think about it too hard.)

“Do I want to know what’s going on?” He asks as he approaches the table.

Kamiko laughs, and Mei doubles over again to release a fresh wave of laughter.

“It was an accident!” Hiro insists, banging his fists on the table “I cannot be held accountable!”

“Of course it was” Mei giggles “no one can blame you for calling all Might a-” she pauses to laugh again “a destroyer of perfectly good landmarks, and- and-“ she breaks down into giggles. “A complete accident”

 Mei gasps for air as Kamiko takes the lead. Voice as easily deadpan as always. “You aren’t going to believe this.” she rolls her eyes, but the small smile lets everyone at the table (who knows her at least) know she’s entertained by the situation “So Hiro met everyone’s” the sarcasm is almost undetectable, but there nonetheless, and punctuated with another eye roll “favorite symbol of peace in the hallway after Math” Hiro punctuates the sentence with a groan, letting his head bang onto the table. “and you know what he did!?”

Mei’s eyes sparkle with unfettered joy. (Izuku wasn’t aware she could smile that wide. And he’d known Mei for years!)

“I’m not sure I want to?” Izuku’s statement is echoed by Tenya halfway down the table, and contested by Uraraka and Asui, who are both very curious as to what has the group so worked up.

“Picture this:” Kamiko interrupts “A dozen support department students, passing through the halls of the prestigious Yuuei, after an intensive mathematics lesson” she gestures dramatically, although not quite enough to match the deadpan of her tone “When, to their surprise, crossing the hall and talking to one of the Heroics teachers, is the one and only All Might”

“Oh my god” Izuku groans

“It get’s better!” Mei enthuses before laughing maniacally

Kamiko takes over the explanation again her calm demeanor lending itself incredibly well for dramatic retellings “Now many students are in awe of the symbol of peace, but three far more talented, skilled, and attractive support technicians know better. Mei and I were satisfied to ignore the oversized idiot, but Hiro could not allow such disgrace upon our pristing halls” Hiro’s groan echoes across the table “and, in an act of true sacrifice, reaches into his lunch bag to reveal a delectable key lime pie.” She continues to move her arms about dramatically, almost mimicking Tenya’s wide movements, reaching behind herself “and, channeling his inner Bakugo, all but launches the delectable confection at the hero, bellowing his personal war cry –“ Kamiko shoves one of her fists in the hair, shaking it slightly “Take that you destroyer of landmarks! You reprehensible fuck-nugget of idiocy, for shame!-“

Uraraka loses it about the same time Tenya’s head hits the table. And Izuku ends up completely flabbergasted. Not because of Hiro’s stunt, because this is just what Hiro does. (He’s still not sure how Hiro wasn’t expelled from his last school, given the stunts he’d pull) Not even because of Tenya’s face’s introduction to the table, but because Uraraka is snickering into her hands and crying from laughter and his face is so very warm and his stomach twists in a way that is entirely foreign but not unpleasant and Izuku just can’t seem to take his eyes off of her.

“And honestly” Kamiko’s simple deadpan is back, and Izuku is whipped out of his thoughts fast enough to give him mental whiplash. “I can’t believe he wasted a perfectly good pie on the guy. What happened to playing ring toss with his ridiculous hairstyle. We had a deal Hiro.” She makes a face that almost looks like a glare at her… friend? (Izuku still isn’t exactly sure what Hiro and Kamiko’s relationship is)

“Ignoring that concerning concluding statement, what happened after, kero” Asui interrupts.

Kamiko blinks, “Well to be honest, he sort of looked like he was about to cry before just… turning around, and walking away.” She tilts her head “I think Hiro broke him.”

“Why would you call All Might a.. a Fuck Nugget!?” Yaoyarozu gapes in Hiro’s general direction, stumbling over the swear. “Scratch that, why did you throw a pie at him!?”

“It was an accident!” Hiro moans into the fake wood of the table.

Izuku finally decides to chime in, cheeks still a little warm and eyebrows furrowing. “How do you accidentally throw a pie at someone?” he tilts his head. “Just… How?”

Hiro groans again, lifting his head up a half inch to let it fall back onto the hard probably-plastic surface.

“Leaving that topic behind, did you guys have to pick a class rep?” Kamiko asks

“Yup” Uraraka pops the p in her sentence and shoves another bite of food in her mouth. “Iida had us vote.”

“An impressive show of leadership qualities in my opinion” Yaoyaorozu added. “We both ended up tied for votes and will have to do a Tiebreaker tomorrow morning.” (Izuku doesn’t notice the way her shoulders droop at that)

“That sounds annoying.” Izuku comments idly “Nedzu just told me I was the class rep.”

“You’re the class rep!?” Uraraka exclaims “That’s so cool!” (and Izuku isn’t blushing and anyone who says otherwise is lying)

“W-w-we-ll” Izuku stutters (and it’s been a long time since he’s had that problem “I-it’s only be-because I’m the only student in 1-N. I-It’s nothing s-special.”

Asui gives him a considering look. “I think that you being the only student in 1-N is impressive enough on it’s own.”

 “What about you guys?” Asui asks the cluster of support students. (Izuku idly notes that Mei has completely abandoned the conversation, and is happily attempting to build a drone out of the twisted remains of… is that a blender!?)

Hiro looks up. “Oh right. Elections, those happened.” He slams a fist into his palm. “Who won that by the way?” He turns to Kamiko

Kamiko’s eyes flash and her markings glow a bit brighter as she considers. “Izozaki Enomoto- age 15, born October 3^rd, 2XXX, blood type O+, well known for vehicular engineering, ranked thirteenth on the entrance exam, grades-“

“That’s enough!” Izuku stutters out. (Sometimes he wonders where Kamiko would stop if no one interrupted her, another part of him wonders where she gets the information, neither uncertainty makes him willing to sit through the comfortability that is Kamiko spreading out a persons entire life story like it’s completely normal)

“He told you all of that when he ran for the elections?” Uraraka asks

“No.” Kamiko replies simply before returning to her lunch.

Uraraka opens her mouth to question further when a loud blaring alarm begins in the cafeteria.

It takes only a couple of seconds for the entire lunchroom to start pushing and rioting. In just a few minutes Izuku and his friends have been separated and pushed into one of the surrounding halls by the hoard of people. Izuku ends up being pressed firmly against one of the windows and has a clear view of the reporters that managed to breach the school gates.

Izuku spots Tenya a little further down from him. “It’s just reporters!” He all but screams over the din of the panicking students.

What Tenya does next surprises Izuku. Tenya manages to get Uraraka to use her quirk, and launching himself above one of the doorways. “Everyone calm down! It’s just the media! Please continue to evacuate calmly and efficiently in a way that behooves Yuuei students!” His voice, naturally loud, becomes almost booming as he shouts.

It takes another couple of seconds, but Tenya’s idea works, and the hallways become much easier to navigate as everyone isn’t pushing and shoving against each other.

Izuku smiles. Tenya really does shine here.

Tenya beams with pride when the tallied votes show his win in the student elections. He excitedly gives an impromptu speech about not letting anyone down. (And does a decent job ignoring Kaminari calling him Exit Sign.) Yuuei really is great.

Chapter Text

Izuku talks excitedly with Uraraka and Tenya as they ride towards the USJ. He can feel the stares on the back of his neck, but ignores it with a skill born from spending time in public spaces with Mei. Besides, it’s much more fun to tell Tenya and Uraraka about various ideas he and Mei had about improving Todoroki’s costume. (honestly, what was he thinking!?)

“But would the heating system still work? I mean, the second law of thermodynamics is kind of against you there.” Uraraka adds, leaning in to look at some of the math in one of Izuku’s notebooks. “how would you force the energy into a higher state like that?”

Tenya blinks as Izuku grins. “You know about thermodynamics!?” he all but chirps. (Uraraka becomes even cooler with every conversation he has with her!)

Uraraka starts. “Err… well you see…. I?” Izuku waits for her get her thoughts in order. “I just like physics….” She finally mumbles. Izuku is about to respond when she interrupts (Well not really but semantics) "It's not weird or anything it's just my quirk involves a lot of math ya'know!" She blushes furiously and waves her hands about in a way that vaguely reminds Izuku of a cross between himself and Tenya.

“That’s super awesome Uraraka!” Izuku assures (and it’s true, Izuku has never been great with all the formulas and math involved in physics. No one in his little group is. It probably doesn’t help that Mei has built at least three items that blatantly break the laws of physics while sleep deprived. Or that Izuku abuses quirk mechanics to also break the laws of physics... Or that Hiro actively despises the rules of the universe. )

Izuku is practically vibrating in excitement as the Rescue Hero: Thirteen explains the point of todays training. His various pouches and weapons hanging heavy in his various pockets and holsters. Thirteen is one of the best rescue heroes there is. Also; he finally managed to finish the gun he based off of Aoyama’s laser. He knows he won’t need it for rescue training, but Izuku wants to get used to moving with his entire kit. Speaking of his kit, it’s heavy. Not that he’d give up any of the various pieces. But the extra weight is a little annoying. (He wonders if he should talk to Mei about coming up with a way to make it lighter.)

His train of thought is interrupted by Mitsu. “Boss, our connection has been cut.”

“Cut?” He murmurs, trying not to stand out in the crowd of his classmates, all of whom are listening attentively to Thirteen. (Which reminds him that he’s supposed to be listening to Thirteen.)

“There’s some sort of technological interference. Lady Kamiko has likely been alerted to this, but I will begin attempts to determine the scope of the interference.”

 The confusion at Mitsu’s statement very quickly turns to horror as the gaping hole in the world continues to spit out villains.

(How did it go so wrong?!)

Tenya tries not to panic as he watches his classmates be swallowed by the void of a villain in front of him. But Izuku disappears and Aizawa jumps into the fray and Tenya feels like he’s being crushed and he can’t breathe, dear god someone help us.

Izuku blinks back into awareness after being thrust through a dark portal and takes a moment to gather his bearings. And by gather his bearings he means scream and flail wildly as the water rapidly approaches him. (Or the other way around, who’s really keeping track) The water is cold and disorienting and he is panicking in a way that he has no experience with.

When he manages to collect himself enough to think in a direction, (whether or not that direction is straight is between Izuku and god) he releases a tiny stream of bubbles from his nose to figure out what way is up. Once again, he’s made extremely aware of the weight of his suit as he has to struggle to swim upwards.

Izuku is most of the way there, his lungs burning, when he notices a shark-person lunges through the water at him. Izuku jolts and continues trying to swim away. (He isn’t fast enough) The shark person continues to close the distance and Izuku wants to cry when a pink appendage grabs him and rips him out of the water, seconds before the shark person manages to sink his exceptionally sharp looking teeth into him.

Izuku lands arms first onto what appears to be a boat. Asui’s (Tsuyu’s) tongue relinquishing it’s hold as Izuku gasps and coughs and feels generally horrible. He can’t tell if the water on his cheeks is drippings from his hair or tears. (It’s both)

“Are you alright, kero?” Asui asks and Izuku hears Mineta (even in a crisis, and only knowing Mineta in passing, Izuku feels something inside him balk in disdain at the notion of interacting with the creepy, quirk-ist, pervert.) cry out how he is very much not okay and that they are all going to die. (And he said Izuku wasn’t cut out for the Hero Course)

Izuku takes a deep breath and turns to Asui. “I’ll be okay, you?”

“No injuries, Kero.”

Izuku looks around at their surroundings. They are in fact, on a boat, in the flood zone, surrounded by impatient seeming villains. His mind races. His thoughts are interrupted by a load groan as the ship begins to tilt and sink. Izuku stumbles and his mind continues to race. “What are your quirks!?” he asks his companions. He has a pretty good idea of their quirks and their possible uses, but there’s always the potential for hidden parts of the quirk he hasn’t observed yet.

Mineta stops his crying for long enough to explain that he can pull sticky balls from his head. Izuku is both disappointed at the lack of creative caveats and can’t think of any good applications for that at the moment without the ability to create a vortex, so he turns to Asui.

She blinks before responding “My quirk is frog. It lets me do pretty much anything a frog does. I can extend my tongue about twenty meters, stick to pretty much anything and can leap really far.” She pauses. “Oh, and I can spit out my stomach so I can clean it. Not sure if that’s really useful though. I can also secrete a toxic mucus, but it doesn’t do much more than sting.”

Izuku swallows a sigh as his mind continues to race. What to do, what to do. He looks at the villains that are continuously getting closer. “Mitsu, status report.”

“There appears to be a technological quirk jamming the signals, I cannot hack into the USJ mainframe at this time.”

“Of course you can’t” he sighs and deflates slightly “Maybe…” He murmurs, beginning to plan aloud.

Tenya looks to Shoji. “Where is everyone?” He asks, trying to keep the note of panic out of his voice. He was a student of Yuuei, the class president, he had to keep his composure.

Shoji flexes his dupli-arms “They’ve been scattered throughout the facility, but our classmates are still here.”

“What are we supposed to do!” Sero panics, “This guy’s immune to physical attacks, and can apparently teleport!”

Thirteen settles into a more sturdy position. “Class rep.”

Tenya straightens “Yes?”

“I have a job for you” Tenya’s mind begins to race “I need you to run to campus and inform the faculty, the alarms aren’t sounding, and our phones and radios are useless right now. One of these villains must be to blame.” Tenya feels his mouth dry. “Even though Eraserhead is erasing quirks left and right, we’re still completely shut off from the outside world. It’s likely whoever is causing the interference hid as soon as they entered the USJ. They could be anywhere, impossible to pin down.” Tenya gulps as Thirteen continues. “It’ll be faster for you to run and get help than to find whoever is jamming everything.”

Tenya feels his eyes burn. “Yes, but it would be disgraceful for me to leave you all behind!”

Sero and Satou support Thirteens decision.

“Use your quirk to save others, be a real hero.” Thirteen adds.

Ashido and Uraraka offer their assistance as well, begging him to just run away from the fight. Tenya has to fight down the burn of shame in his chest as he prepares to run.

Hiro watches Kamiko tilt her head in the middle of their intro to engineering and materials class and pulls out her tablet in the middle of class. She purses her lips as the looks over the scrolling text. The screen begins to scroll even faster as her markings begin to glow.

“Miss Kurasaki” Their teacher interrupts. Kamiko ignores them. “Miss Kurasaki!”

Hiro leans over to poke at her side. She starts and he raises an eyebrow. She shakes her head and turns back to the small screen, tongue poking out.

“Miss Kurasaki, what are you doing?”

“Someone’s hacked the USJ” She looks up, bright blue eyes particularly empty.

Tsuyu watched as her green haired not-quite-classmate talks to what appears to be himself and begin to mutter quietly, eyes darting every which way. He was clearly planning, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

“Asui” His head jerks up.

“Call me Tsu” She interrupts, more habit than anything else.

Midoriya looks distinctly unimpressed. “Tsu then, they clearly knew the area beforehand, but they put you in the flood zone, an area that’s really well suited to you. They probably had information on the USJ, but not your class or their quirks.”

Tsuyu has to pause and consider that. “You make a really good point. If they knew I was a frog, they would have sent me to the fire zone or the avalanche zone.”

“They probably separated us because they didn’t know what we could do and planned to overpower us in smaller groups. We can use that to our advantage, for all they know, we could all be absolute powerhouses.” He nods to the villains. “Look how none of them are trying to climb into the boat. They’re unsure. But that means they won’t underestimate us either.  how far do you think you could leap carrying the three of us?”

She has to think about it for a moment. “Probably a good twenty meters.” She replies. “I’m not sure though.”

“Could you possibly throw Mineta first and then jump with me?” He asks, eyes almost manic. “How far do you think you could get then?”

Tsuyu pauses. She hadn’t thought of that. “I could probably throw Mineta a good thirty meters, we’d probably get twenty-five.”

It’s at this moment that a massive hand made out of water crashes into the boat.

Midoriya jolts and begins his muttering anew, pulling a series of items out from his pockets as he continues to talk. He takes a deep breath and looks up at her. “Here’s the plan.”

Hiro fights of the ice that seems to have replaced his blood as watches as Kamiko continues to stare at the device and the teacher fumble as they try to get her to explain what she just meant. Hiro has an idea. (he thinks of Izuku and Tenya and Yaoyarozu and Uraraka who are all in the USJ and hopes to every god he's never believed in that he’s wrong)

Mei finally appears to be paying attention to the disturbance, eyes suddenly laser focused on Kamiko's tablet. (Hiro wonders if she can make sense of the endless lines of code, wonders if she understands exactly what's happening) 

Kamiko pulls out yet another tablet and her laptop as the screen continues to scrawl numbers and letters and symbols that have about as much meaning to Hiro as fucking Russian. Kamiko begins to mutter to herself. (Hiro thinks she picked it up from Izuku, but in this moment couldn't care less about where she got it from because it means there's a chance he can find out what's fucking happening)

“Don’t you dare-“ She mumbles, beginning to tap at the screen of her second tablet. The light flickers dangerously (And Hiro realizes just how much of her quirk she’s using) “I will not lose to some second rate-“ She continues to tap and the text continues to scrawl. She growls (actually motherfucking growls) at the screen in front of her. A loading bar appearing in the corner and her markings glowing bright enough to burn spots into his retinas.

And as soon as it started, it stops. Kamiko takes a deep breath in, and Hiro watches the blood drain from her face.

She stands up, jerkily, clutching the first tablet in her arms, and bolts.

Nedzu is talking with All Might (in his smaller form) to help him plan and appropriate activity for the first years when the lights start flickering. He looks up in time to see one of the support students (Kurasaki Kamiko: Quirk Technopath, age 15, wanted to be a hero, couldn’t do to a medical condition, risk: moderate.) tear through his door. He supposes he shouldn’t have expected the electronic security to stop her, but he’s still surprised enough that she found him.

Her eyes are short of being manic and the geometric patterns that represent her quirk are glowing. She’s panting heavily (Likely ran here from her class) and clutching a small tablet like a lifeline.

All Might begins to rise “What are you-“

Kurasaki cuts him off “Principal Nedzu, All Might” She greets, glancing at Yagi, who coughs up a copious amount of blood, before turning back to Nedzu (And Nedzu decides to bump up her risk level to high) “The USJ has been attacked!”

Izuku starts handing off grenades to Tsu and Mineta like candy on Halloween. He briefly explains how to trigger them before grabbing gun alpha and changing the cartridge to yellow. (He really hopes his assumption about aquatic villains being sensitive to electricity is right) He looks to Mineta. “Ready?”

He nods, still slightly shaking, but both him and Tsu begin setting off and chucking the grenades into the water. (Izuku feels so grateful towards his younger self for inventing the damn things.) The air fills with the sounds of crackling, explosions, hissing, and the screaming of villains. (Later Izuku will wonder how discharging that much electricity into the water didn't kill anyone, and feel guilty for not thinking about casualties while he was planning, right now he just feels pure elation at the fact that it's working)

 Tsu throws Mineta through the air with all of the precision of a sharpshooter at the same time as she grabs him by the collar. (It’s demeaning, but leaves Izuku’s arms free to aim, so he won't complain.) They launch into the air, Izuku shooting at any villains who seem put together enough to notice they’ve left, and land away from the thoroughly distracted villains, and after the charge has dissipated from the water. The group slogs through the shallows to shore, Mineta complaining the whole way. 

“Boss” Mitsu announces “We’ve got signal!”

Izuku takes a second to almost feel elated, and then he sees a black beast smack Aizawa into the concrete with enough force to make it crack.

Chapter Text

Toshinori reels. The blood soaks the front of his shirt as the girl, who he recognizes from the pie incident (and has to fight down a shudder at the thought of that) blinks tears out of her eyes. (She seems vaguely familiar for another reason, but he can’t quite put his finger on it) He can’t tell what’s more baffling, the girl, the fact that she recognizes his deflated form, or the fact that the USJ has been attacked. Actually, no, now that he thinks about it it’s definitely that last one.

Nedzu is already moving, making announcements over the school’s radio and sending out a hero-watch alert. He glares at Toshinori, who immediately realizes that the USJ is under attack. Which means he needs to be moving. He spares a glance to the girl, and runs.

Izuku doesn’t know what to think as he blankly watches Eraserhead’s blood seep into the cracked pavement. He barely manages to notice the hand villain monologuing as the purple bird creature continues to break Eraserhead’s arms. The crack seems to echo throughout the courtyard.

It’s Mitsu who brings him back to reality. “Boss,” the program hums, the lack of emotion in the voice contrasting with the horror he feels. “Status update: Help is on the way, Kamiko hacked the USJ mainframe. Scans of the building and associated villains acquired.”

“Can you give me anything on the beaked one?” Izuku all but begs. He’s already forming half-baked plans to help the pro under it’s grasp. (He doesn’t think he has enough information to make one that could actually work)

“He’s not in any database. Not even the Villain Watchlist or the Quirk Database.” Mitsu sounds as nervous as their robotic voice allows “As far as the government is concerned, he doesn’t exist.” And Izuku wants to scream, because of course there’s nothing on the single most dangerous villain in the entire building! (If Izuku was less distracted he’d be concerned by the fact that Mitsu apparently has access to the civilian quirk database.)

Izuku wants to cry as Eraserhead is forced face first into the pavement. He hears Mineta gasp through his sobs and Asui wince.  

“I can’t do this anymore!” Mineta sobs “We need to be getting out of here!” he grabs onto Izuku’s sleeve, trying to pull him away from the fight. (Izuku can’t look away)

The mist villain appears again at Hand Man’s side. “Tomura Shigaraki.” He calls, voice smooth and silky and Izuku files the name away, even as he shivers at the man’s even tone.

The newly dubbed Shigaraki twists to face him “Kurogiri. Did you manage to kill thirteen?” his voice is dry and raspy. Like he had just tried to gargle with sand after a refreshing glass of gravel.  

“The rescue hero is out of commission. But there were students I was unable to disperse, and one of them got outside of the facility.”

“If you weren’t our only way out of here, I’d kill you right now.” Shigaraki all but hisses. He then seems distracted as he begins to scratch at his neck.

“Mitsu” He murmurs “What’s the faculties ETA?”

“Five-point one seven minutes.”

“Five minutes, I can do five minutes.” He turns towards the villain holding down Eraserhead, pulling a gun from it’s holster. “Mitsu, set the purple one as target A and set to watch protocol.”

“Yes boss.”

“Midoriya.” Tsu almost hisses “What are you thinking?”

Aizawa Shota's entire being is pain. Hot and sharp and all consuming. He hears voices in the periphery, and can barely bring himself to focus on them. There is a weight above him, keeping him firmly pinned to the ground. But he knows, he knows he isn't safe, that his student's aren't safe. So he pushes against the weight, tilting his head to be able to see through his cracked and broken glasses, through the blood streaming down his face. And he panics, because the deranged madman that's running this show is running towards two of his students, and Nedzu's student, hands out. And Shota's disentegrated elbow throbs in memory of what that quirk was capable of. 

Aizawa Shota was expecting to use his quirk. Aizawa Shota was expecting to watch the children he was in charge of die without even being able to move from under the monster keeping him pinned. Aizawa Shota was not prepared to watch Nedzu's golden egg shoot the madman as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Midoriya takes aim as Hand’s guy begins to turn towards the group. He really hopes he’s as good of a shot as he needs to be for this. But if his estimations are correct, at least based on the way Shigaraki is running, hand guy’s quirk is touch based. (He really hopes he’s right.) His fingers brush the trigger and a bolt of pure energy fires from the gun.

Shigaraki screams. Izuku doesn’t even pause as he lets out a second shot, aiming for the other hand. Mist guy panics and warps hand dude away and Izuku’s shot hits a bit of concrete on the other side of the plaza. Izuku switches targets then, Firing a half dozen shots into the purple monster.

The monster doesn’t fall, he sits, dumbly, full of holes and undisturbed by this fact. Izuku watches in horror as the little damage he was able to do heals within seconds.

Hand guy begins to laugh. Izuku didn’t even notice him returning. It’s wild and manic and fills Izuku with dread. “My Nomu has regeneration! He won’t be stopped by a brat like you!” the laughter continues. “Nomu” The man begins his command, hands with holes in them from the shot.

Izuku runs through everything he knows about regeneration quirks. Most notably that they cannot repair neural damage. Izuku makes his choice, steadies his hand, and shots five shots in quick succession. He’s rewarded with a ear splitting screech as the creature falls to the floor.

And

There

Is

Quiet

Shioto Hiro is not religous. Shioto Hiro does not believe in gods, he does not believe in spirits, and he does not believe in fate. But he is willing to eat his words and become a goddamn saint if it means that his friends will remain safe. Powerloader had run from the room after an announcement over the intercom, and all of the students are currently hiding in the corner or under the desks. Gaurded by a anxious and ragged looking pair of third years. (He knows neither of them are in the heroics course, and neither of them actually know how to deal with a villain attack; but he also knows that both are ready to fight for their kohais.) 

Kamiko still hasn't returned after she had fled from the room, and that makes his own anxiety worse. He swore to her, all those years ago in that hospital room, that he'd always be there to keep her safe. He's breaking that promise, and it might just kill him if she gets so much as a scratch while he isn't there to protect her. 

It seems as if the entirety of the building sits on pins and needles. Grey matter splattered across the cement and blood trickling down the stairs. And the monster doesn’t get up.

Izuku startles at the sound of a screech. The sound is almost like a wail as the hand guy begins to claw at his skin with reckless abandon. “That was supposed to kill all might!” he wails, blood trickling down his fingers. Izuku is horrified at the display “You can’t kill it! You cheater! Hacker!” The man acts like a hysterical child as he continues to screech and whine and wail about the unfairness of it all.

“Shigaraki” Mist man interrupts the tantrum. “We don’t know when backup will arrive. We need to leave.”

Izuku almost allows himself to relax at that. (But Izuku has dealt with enough spoiled children to know that Shigaraki isn’t done yet. That he won’t be done until he is stopped or until Izuku is beaten down in front of him without a hope for survival.)

“No!” he shrieks, and Izuku can’t even be surprised. “No No NO NO NO! First I need to kill that fucking cheater!” Izuku braces himself as he charges towards him, aware that mist man won’t let him shoot hand guy. He drops the gun and pulls out has staff.

Hand guy is in front of him the second he manages to pull the staff out. His hands are out palm first as he attempts to grab at Izuku’s face (Five-point touch quirk, skilled in hand to hand) and Izuku just barely manages to dodge under the offending hands, throwing an elbow to the gut as he twists to face the man-child’s back. He manages to get his staff out and sweeps it through the man’s legs as he coughs.

Izuku almost manages to taser him when mist guy begins to try and divert him. Izuku almost doesn’t have time to dodge, but asui’s tongue grabs him at the last second, throwing him out of danger. Izuku twists into a roll. Kurogiri once again tries to convince hand guy to leave.

The Man-child shrieks in response. Threatening to turn his ally to dust for even suggesting retreat. Izuku is baffled by this. (How did such an angry, incompetent villain get so many people to agree to work with him.) He once again throws himself at Izuku, refusing to acknowledge anyone else. Izuku’s whole body tenses in preparation.

The doors blow open with the ear-splitting screech of bending metal and a whoosh of air. The blast of air nearly knocks Izuku over as he crouches for cover. Shigaraki stops his onslaught to look at the door, or rather, the empty hole where the door used to be. The silhouette of a furious All Might entering the USJ. “Never fear” the symbol of peace booms, as the twin crashes of the doors that had been blown off their hinges echo throughout the building. And Izuku -against all his better judgement- lets himself relax, just a little “-because I am here!” after all, All Might is here, and even if Izuku can barely look at him without remembering the sting of his words, he knows everything will be alright. All Might rips his tie off of his dress shirt before launching into the fray to retrieve Eraserhead. Izuku could cry.

Shigaraki mumbles something to mist man, and he warps the pair out of the building. And Izuku finally, after nearly twenty minutes of merciless combat, allows himself to collapse.

“It’s over.” He whispers to himself, kneeling on the ground, Asui and Mineta racing towards him as All Might continues to rescue his classmates. “It’s over.” (He can’t help the tears.)

Chapter Text

               Izuku stares blankly at the detective in front of him. His mind still processing the fact that he’s safe. The detective is a plain looking man in a brown trenchcoat who introduced himself as Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa.

The detective, thankfully seems to be willing to work with Izuku’s sluggish answers. Izuku thinks he might be going into a little bit of shock. (Which he is) He hopes no one tries to arrest him for shooting the Nomu. That would be a pain and a half. But Izuku gives his report and is sent back to main campus.

Tenya Iida practically vibrates in nervousness. He has (like any good class representative) greeted each person who has come back through to main campus after being checked by paramedics. Kamiko and Hiro sit at his sides. Hiro paces while Kamiko tinkers with…. Something. Yaoyarozu and Uraraka sit off to the side, Uraraka is wrapped in a shock blanket, and Yaoyarozu seems unable to focus on any one thing for more than a couple of seconds. Even Mei is here, not working on anything, just staring into the horizon. Everyone is waiting for Izuku. He’s the last student to be interviewed, since he did the most at USJ, and while he had managed to get a brief summary off of Asui and Mineta, Tenya is worried sick for his best friend.

Mei notices him first, her quirk very useful for spotting friends, and quickly runs towards him, almost knocking him over with the force of her hug. Mei is quickly followed by the rest of the group, crushing their friend in a hug.

Izuku is wearing an oversized UA tee-shirt and sweatpants, and Kamiko is crying into his shoulder while everyone else seems content to try and squeeze the life out of him.

“That was so stupid” she hiccups “I was so scared.”

Tenya hugs a little tighter. “Don’t scare us like that.”

Izuku all but suffocates under the sudden weight of his concerned friends. “Can’t breathe” Izuku manages to wheeze out; and everyone loosens their holds. (Save Hiro, who seems determined to kill Izuku via hug, regardless of his thoughts on the matter.) Izuku laughs softly. He’s among friends after all, and seeing them safe allows that last bit of him still on edge to soften. (He’s safe his subconscious whispers to himself, he’s okay, and so is everyone else.)

Izuku stares at his ceiling, covered in just as many blueprints and diagrams and hero posters as the rest of his room. He’s exhausted, eyes burning and limbs heavy, but the constant simmer of anxiety settled beneath his skin keeps him from getting any actual rest. He goes over everything that happened, how he could have done better, how he can prevent anything like it from happening in the future.

He flops over, sheets twisting between his legs as he stares at the glowing green numbers of his alarm clock. 4:13 am. Izuku takes a deep breath, he isn’t going to get any sleep tonight.

He thinks, critically, he should probably be anxious about the effects of the attack on the hero industry at large. However, as he continues to stare at his walls, all he can think about is how cool a warp quirk is. His mind spins with physics and equations. He sighs and sits up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He flicks his light on as he walks to his desk.

Izuku boots up his laptop and opens a handful of pages on theoretical physics and pulls out a new notebook, if he’s not going to sleep, he might as well do something.

It’s seven in the morning when he hears his phone ping. Izuku looks up from the academic paper he had been reading in order to turn towards the noise. He stands up and stretches, relishing in the relieving pops of his shoulders and spine.

He grabs his phone off of it’s charger next to the bed, and checks the lock screen. He was expecting one of Kamiko’s good morning texts, and is surprised by the unknown number. He opens his messages and looks over the text. Only to realize that it’s Nedu, requesting Izuku to come by after lunch. Izuku sends off a confirmation and opens up the group chat. Scrolling through the recent messages. (And there’s Kamiko’s good morning text) Mei had spammed the chat with updates on her latest babies, with Kamiko and Momo arguing about ideas and critiques. Somehow, after the USJ, waking up to something so normal relaxes him.

God-is-a-Woman: [I’m just think you should add the rotator cuffs to the left side rather than the right, it makes the whole piece more elegant and aerodynamic]

Probably-a-Robot: [But that would throw off the counterbalance aspect of the rotator cuffs!]

God-is-a-Woman: [Not if you added weights to the base.]

Probably-a-Robot: [Would that make flight easier or more difficult to handle?]

MadScientist: [it would make flight easier but increase fuel demand]

HawtStuff: [shut up, I’m tryign to sleep]

Sonic: [Getting up early is the hallmark of a good student. *trying]

HawtStuff; [Fuck off]

God-is-a-Woman: [Sorry Hiro]

Probably-a-Robot: [I put his phone on dnd]

Probably-a-Robot: [We should be good now]

God-is-a-Woman: [Is that legal]

Probably-a-Robot: [no :D]

Izuku snorts and decides to butt into the conversation. They're already awake anyways.

BroccoliBoi: [Good morning]

Probably-a-Robot: [Hello @BroccoliBoi!]

God-is-a-Woman: [Good Morning!]

MarshmallowPuff: [Mornin’]

Sonic: [Welcome to the chat Izuku]

MarshmallowPuff: [I know this is unrelated but does anyone have any plans today since we don’t have school?]

God-is-a-Woman: [I have no prior engagements]

MadScientist: [Its baby making time]

Sonic: [Likewise]

Sonic: [For Yaoyarozu’s statement, not Meis.]

HawtStuff: [Sure]

MarshmallowPuff changed [Sonic]’s name to [Babymaker]

Izuku snorts a laugh. That’ll drive Tenya insane.

HawtStuff: [Ha! Get Wrecked!]

Babymaker: [Please desist from this behavior]

HawtStuff: [NOPE]

MarshmallowPuff: [Midori? Karasaki?]

Probably-a-Robot: [Call me Kamiko]

Probably-a-Robot: [Also I have a meeting with the principal @11:00]

Probably-a-Robot: [We can get lunch??]

Izuku groans softly, thinking about his own meeting. He stretches as he walks over to his closet, typing out his response.

BroccoliBoi: [I also have a meeting with the principal, noon]

Babymaker: [What for?]

MarshmallowPuff: [Are you guys in trouble?]

Izuku quickly types out a reply

BroccoliBoi: [Not to my knowledge]

Probably-a-Robot: [Probably]

Izuku snorts

BroccoliBoi: [We could probably do a late lunch, maybe one-ish at that diner by Yuuei?]

MarshmallowPuff: [Sounds expensive….]

HawtStuff: [Sounds fun, my treat? I made bank selling that design to VivaCorp last week.]

Izuku remembers that project. Hiro had sold a prototype for a type of fabric water filter. Some disaster relief company had bought it for like 200,000 yen and a 1.2% royalty. Everyone in his little inventing group received royalties, it’s how they funded their new projects. (Izuku himself made something like 100,000 yen a month. (and pretty much all of that goes into inventing)

MarshmallowPuff: [….]

God-is-a-Woman: [But you paid last week, I insist]

Babymaker: [I agree! Let Yaoyarozu or I pay for it this time!]

Probably-a-Robot: [Just let him pay, it makes him happy.]

HawtStuff: [MIKO! DON’T REVEAL MY SECRETS!!!!]

Izuku can almost hear Hiro’s whine. It startles a laugh out of him as he pulls on clothes for the day.

The rest of the group agrees, (Uraraka seemingly hesitant about accepting Hiro’s treat, but eventually acquiesces) and makes plans to meet at the diner. It’s hero themed, and one of Izuku’s favorite restaurants.

Izuku swings out of his room and into the kitchen, where his mother is nursing a cup of coffee.

“Good morning Mom!” He calls to her, already pulling out ingredients for breakfast.

His mother looks up startled. “Oh! Good morning Izuku.” She shuffles to her feet “I thought you would sleep in.”

Izuku shakes his head. “Couldn’t sleep” and gets back to making breakfast. (She does so much for him after all, he wants to do something for her too sometimes)

The symbol of peace sits in Nedzu’s waiting room. He had requested a meeting with the student that had realized his true identity, in order to find out how she knew, and ensure she understands how it must remain top secret. (He still can’t throw the nagging feeling of knowing her from somewhere)

Nedzu sits in his office, going through seemingly endless paperwork. The entire staff is in a tizzy over the break in. The media is hounding the school like a bunch of rabid dogs searching for scraps. Everyone is angry, and it falls on him to make sure the school keeps running. He ended up having to cancel the rest of the week of classes in order to revamp security. The problem was that there was no way to properly secure a building against a warper like Kurogiri, especially when he doesn’t know the requirements for warping. The only solution he can come up with is one that he really doesn’t approve of. Especially because it means relying on a child. But he has no other plausible ideas.

To make matters worse, Yagi is demanding answers about young Kurasaki. Nedzu is fairly certain he doesn’t actually want the answer, but actually keep the number one hero in the dark unless he wants an unwinnable legal battle. Which is problematic because upsetting the Kurasaki family is political suicide. Only All Might had been able to escape their ire. And there was quite a bit of ire there. And the Kurasaki family is particularly touchy about people messing with their youngest member.

So many plans, so little time. He really did feel bad about pulling the youngest Kurasaki all the way to Yuuei to tell her things she already knew. He had had a conversation about sharing what she knew at the beginning of the year. He had taught both of her sisters, he was well aware of the Kurasaki children’s tendency to ferret out secrets. (Nedzu had a tendency to guide them towards investigations in order to gather information for a reason after all.)

He received an alert announcing the youngest Kurasaki’s arrival, and invited both student and symbol of peace into his office.

Kurasaki stares unblinkingly at the inflated Yagi. He can see the silent question in her eyes. The question of why the hell is he using his time like this? Nedzu puts his paws together. “Would either of you like some tea?”

Yagi shook his head as Kurasaki nods happily.

“Any preferences miss Kurasaki?”

She tilts her head, eyes glowing some, although he hasn’t the foggiest idea why that would require the use of her quirk. “Do you have any suggestions sir?”

Nedzu laughs at that. His student truly did pick good friends. “I just got in a new blend of oolong.”

She smiles slightly. “That sounds delightful.”

He hums to himself as he makes the tea. He can almost feel the tension bleeding from All Might’s frame. Unwilling to broach the main topic, and apparently unwilling to deflate.

Kurasaki ends up taking pity on the big oaf. “Do you wish to save some of your time mister Yagi?”

Yagi seems to consider this for a solid minute, Nedzu tending to his brew all the while. He eventually deflates a few seconds before Nedzu finishes his tea. He pours the brew into three cups, and sets out a plate of biscuits. Kurasaki happily blows on the proffered tea before taking a sip.

“Now that that’s settled, let’s get to the meat of the matter, as one would say.” He takes a sip of his own tea. It’s perfectly brewed, as per usual.

Kurasaki grabs a biscuit from the tray, and waits for Yagi to begin speaking. (Nedzu knows that she already knows all about what she’s here to talk about. He still can’t figure out how to get the girl out of the servers. Not that he tries very hard, she’s an important asset to the school after all.)

Yagi sighs, and turns towards the first-year student. “How do you know who I am.” The tone isn’t angry, but exhausted.

Kurasaki swallows her biscuit and takes a sip of tea before answering. “You aren’t very careful of cameras when you transform.”

“But how is that relevant.”

“I have a technology quirk” she does not elaborate.

All Might waits for her to continue. The silence stretches onward, and she continues to stare on unblinkingly.

“Why were you using the cameras!?” All Might eventually asks. His voice defeated.

The girl blinks, likely remembering the reasoning. And if it wasn’t horrific reasoning. “I use them to determine if I’m hallucinating or not.” And All Might gapes at the cheerful response. All Might seems unable to do anything else but stare at the child in front of him.

Nedzu can’t figure out if his next words are an act of torment or mercy. But he answers anyways. “Miss Kurasaki Kamiko was the victim of the Shifaku incident.” And Nedzu takes a sort of perverse glee in the way All Might spews blood as he remembers how he knows the girl. (Nedzu is honestly ashamed that he forgot, the heroics industry nearly lost the entire Kurasaki family’s support over the incident.) He is far less pleased by the fact that he gets blood all over miss Kurasaki’s face. 

Kurasaki wipes the blood out of her eyes, undisturbed. Nedzu continues his explanation. “I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate miss Kurasaki’s…. disability to you of all people.”

All Might is pale. Eyes wide and trying to take in every inch of the child in front of him. Nedzu can see the guilt and shock etched in his features.

“She is not a danger to you, or this school, we had a discussion at the beginning of the year about discretion.” Nedzu smiles, and it is not a nice smile. “Anything else?”

All Might wisely keeps his mouth shut.

Kamiko watches All Might leave the Principals office, looking dejected. She knows she should feel something about the confrontation, but she just feels sort of numb to the whole thing. She turns back to the vaguely mammalian principal. He hands her a bright white towel, it’s warm and damp. She begins to wipe off the blood from her face. (Rather of rude of All Might if you ask her. Maybe she should get him some hankerchiefs?)

“Thank you, sir.”

“Of course, miss Kurasaki.”

Kamiko folds the now bloody towel and sets it off to the side of the desk.  “Is there something else you wanted to talk to me about?” She tilts her head, confused as to why the principal hasn’t dismissed her yet. She knows Izuku is waiting for her outside, that Izuku himself needs to meet with the principal. She already knows what for, and she’s certain Izuku will agree, (he’s already been working on the project after all. Proper backing would be a dream come true.)

Principal Nedzu’s smile becomes slightly more strained, although Kamiko doesn’t notice. “I wanted to thank you, and ask for a favor.”

Kamiko blinks. “Thank me?”

“For alerting me to the intruder on campus. Without your quick thinking, we would not have known until mister Iida arrived on campus, delaying the teachers arrival by nearly ten minutes.” He dips his head slightly “so thank you.”

“Oh.” Kamiko mulls that over. She thought that was simply normal procedure, but she isn’t entirely familiar with societies code quite yet. “You’re welcome.” She pauses a moment, “what’s the favor?”

Nedzu’s face darkens, his smile unwavering “You are very good at finding information.” That does not surprise Kamiko. Her entire family makes their livings in information in one way or another. Making sure to have as much information as possible (albeit for different reasons) is standard procedure. She is no exception. “If possible, I want you to see if you can find any traces of this league of villains.” He takes a sip of his tea (which is excellent)

Kamiko hums, considering for a moment, weighing difficulty of the job and the number of laws she’ll have to break, and gives a soft smile. “I think I can make that happen”

Chapter Text

Izuku sits outside of Nedzu’s office for an hour before his scheduled meeting. He had agreed to come with Kamiko, and she agreed to wait for him so they could walk to the restaurant together. He still hasn’t the foggiest idea why his mentor wants to see him, but he hopes it isn’t for killing the Nomu. The detective from yesterday was particularly upset about that. Technically it was self-defense, but it didn’t stop people from being angry with him.

Kamiko walks out of the room earlier than he had expected with an emaciated man with straw blonde hair. Her face, hair, and blouse are all covered in a layer of red that was not there when she entered the  room.

Izuku runs up to her. “What happened!!?” He worries at her. She simply smiles at him, happy as a clam.

“Did I take too long?” She asks.

What happened to your hair!?”

“Oh. It’s blood”

“WHAT!?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not mine.”

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MIKO!”

Nedzu listens to the interesting conversation between his student and the youngest Kurasaki. His conversation with her had gone better than expected. Now for the conversation that will wrack him with guilt for the next month.

“You can go in now.” Kurasaki’s voice echoes over his speaker. “He’s expecting you, make sure you get some of today’s tea, it’s excellent!”

Nedzu has to stifle a laugh at that. (She really does do a good job making people think of her as an airhead…)

Midoriya knocks on the door with three swift raps on the wood.

“Come in” Nedzu calls out, shuffling the papers on the desk.

Midoriya opens the door and shyly makes his way to the chair in front of Nedzu’s desk. Eyeing the second chair that Yagi had sat in earlier. Along with the almost imperceptible bloodstain on the floor. (The boy really is clever, Nedzu loves it.) He squirms slightly as he gets comfortable in the overstuffed armchair. “You wanted to see me sensei?”

Nedzu begins pouring his student a cup of tea. “I did.” He passes over the freshly poured cup and decides to cut right to the chase. “I want you to conduct some research for me.”

Midoriya doesn’t even blink in his response, seemingly even more excited. “What about?”

“I want you to research the villain Kurogiri’s quirk, and how to disrupt it.” He pulls out a manilla folder filled with the unsatisfying amount of information about the villain, and even sparser information about his quirk.

Midoriya lights up and begins to dig around in his bag. “I actually worked on that last night!” He begins flipping through pages in a standard, unlabeled notebook, stopping about midway through. “I ended up looking through the quirk database to see what sort of research had already been done on other teleportation quirks to start, and that was fascinating in and of itself, but I think that Kurogiri’s quirk falls under the rift type. But it might also be a construction type”

Nedzu isn’t entirely sure what he’s feeling at the moment. But shock might be a part of it. He had not expected his student to already be working on the problem he and other analysts were struggling with.

Midoriya seems to pause for a moment, as if realizing something. “Rift type teleportation quirks deal with creating a portal of some sort, in comparison construction type teleportation quirks move matter from one location to another without a portal. Interestingly enough Kurogiri’s body appears to serve as the portal, with that metal brace anchoring him into reality.” He turns a page to a great deal of math and what appeared to be notes on string theory. He points to a particular point on the page that had a list of cons of rift type teleportation quirks. “It’s very likely that Kurogiri can only teleport to locations that he has the exact coordinates of.” He shrugs “The main issue with long distance teleportation quirks, regardless of type is that they can’t pass through radioactive or magnetic material.”

Nedzu blinks. This was new information, and he finds himself wanting to drink up as much as possible. “Do you know why?”

Midoriya switches pages again and pulls out a second, messier notebook. “It has something to do with interference from rogue electrons and electromagnetic fields respectively. The short of it is that any building sealed with a radioactive material or a powerful electromagnetic field becomes impossible to warp into or from.” His expression sours slightly “Which is proving to be an issue for a personal project of mine.”

If Nedzu was human his jaw would be hanging open. “Personal project?” He keeps his voice level.

Midoriya, if possible, brightens even more, eyes sparkling. “I’ve been trying to replicate quirks!” and Nedzu is floored. “And since coming to Yuuei I’ve had so many opportunities to study new quirks!” He fishes yet another non-descript notebook out of his bag. “I’ve done rudimentary studies on several teachers quirks-“ He flips through the notebook, landing on pages detailing everything his student was able to deduce about Midnight and her quirk. Along with several predictions of the exact chemical nature of the compound she releases. Which is especially impressive given that his student is unlikely to have seen it in action.

Nedzu continues to absorb information on the various quirks his student is attempting to replicate, and makes plans to give his students to study some of the quirks he mentions. He eventually gets the conversation back onto the original topic. “So if you had to create a barrier of sorts, in order to keep Kurogiri, and people with similar quirks, out of the school, how would you do it?”

Midoriya blinks, realizing that he had derailed the conversation, and blushes. “Well you’d probably want to set up an electromagnetic field around the entirety of the school with a specialty building at the epicenter. Additionally, to ensure communications aren’t cut of, you would need to create a ground line to the outside of the school. I would recommend centering that in the epicenter building as well, I’d have to talk with Kamiko to determine how exactly that would be done, although it would probably create a slight delay in out of campus communication.”

“Do you know how much of a delay?”

Midoriya hums, bringing his thumb up to his lip and eyes darting as he considers. “I would have to ask Kamiko to figure out the exact number, but maybe a few milliseconds?” his face purses slightly “Although you will have to make people turn off devices as they enter the building as the field can fry active electronics.” He hums for a moment “Although you may also be able to create a temporary gap in the barrier during high traffic times.”

“Who would you recommend build the schematics for this protective measure?”

Midoriya pauses for a moment. “I don’t really know anyone who does that.” He pauses for a moment, considering “I think that Mei and I can get the field schematics to you by the end of the week, and I’m sure Kamiko can come up with a way to get around the connection issues.” He starts before turning back to Nedzu with wide eyes. “Of course, I’m sure you know people who would be much better at that than us!” He waves widely with his hands.

Nedzu smiles a little wider as he considers the easy answer that has been dropped into his lap. (Even if a hint of guilt at making a child offer it, despite the fact that a team of experts had been completely unable to come up with a single solution for him, other than creating a set of emergency tags that would go off in signal was ever interrupted. Although he thinks he’ll still use those as well) “I am curious to see what you would come up with. I may be able to get Powerloader to consider it extra-credit.”

His student smiles wide enough to put the symbol of peace to shame. “I’ll let them know!”

Izuku has barely been able to get through the door before Kamiko is engulfing him in a hug. “Are we really going to build an anti-teleportation field!?” Her eyes are sparkling with the addition of a new challenge.

Izuku blinks “Did Nedzu tell you that during your meeting?”

Kamiko smiles even wider. “Nope!” Her voice cheery as she begins dragging him out of the building, already spewing ideas for communication through an electromagnetic field. Involving a great deal of heavily insulated cables, and adding that power systems will also need to be revamped from city power, either through generators or other insulated lines, because electromagnetic fields can effect power lines as well.

Izuku ends up going into his phone while Kamiko rambles.

BroccoliBoi: [Kamiko and I are on our way!]

BroccoliBoi: [btw, Mei we have a new project for you!]

MadScientist: [YES! MORE BABIES!!!]

Izuku smiles.

Hiro walks through the shops as he makes his way towards the café his friends are meeting up at. He’s wandering a little bit, he had actually arrived in the area around an hour before they were supposed to meet up. He wanted to browse the hardware store in the area for a new piece of equipment. And maybe another succulent to add to his collection.

His attention is diverted from his upcoming shopping trip at the sounds of an alleyway scuffle. He pauses and peeks into the alley. In it, three teenagers are beating up another teenager. The other teenager isn’t doing too hot. And the three agressors are all using obvious quirks. One was using rock encrusted fists to rain down blows on the victim. One was using a sort of fireball quirk, and the third was using some sort of electric shock. None of the quirks looked exceptionally powerful, so they were probably hero hopefuls that got their dreams crushed. Shameful really. Hiro pulls out his phone and begins to record the confrontation. (Always better to have evidence after all)

“Do you really think a villain like you could become a hero.” One of the aggressors sneers. Definitely a crushed hero hopeful then. That’s a textbook inferiority complex statement.

Electric dude sends a particularly harsh jolt to purple dudes system, Hiro hisses. “Yeah, It’s only a matter of time before Yuuei will end up realizing you have a villains quirk and kick your sorry ass out!” Yuuei? Huh, the kid must be in general ed, seeing as he doesn’t think he recognizes him and he wants to be a hero.

Hiro coughs loudly enough to be heard over the yelling. The three agressors turn towards him. “Excuse me, but public quirk use is pretty illegal, along with, ya know, assault” he stresses the last word “I think that makes you more villainous than my friend over there.”

“Mind your own business asshole!” Stone hands sneers.

Hiro sighs again. He just wanted a peaceful afternoon, was that too much to ask? “Listen dude, you let the guy go, and I’ll get right out of your hair. I’ll even delete this video I’ve got.” He waves his phone about “no muss no fuss” he smirks. One of the unsettling ones that make him look a bit crazy. “Sounds pretty good, right?”

“Why you little shit!” Electricity aims a punch at Hiro’s face, and his form is atrocious. He started telegraphing the attack before he even started moving. Hiro rotates out of the way and sticks his leg out, tripping the guy. He’s a tiny little thing, especially in comparison to his own six feet of pure muscle.

Hiro just gives the remaining two guys a thousand yard stare, and a shooing motion.

They both run off. Leaving the victim and electricity guy both on the ground. The victim is looking up at him in shock as electricity swears into the concrete. Hiro ignores him, and makes his way over to the victim.

He stares at the boy with wild purple hair and eyebags that should have their own zipcode. His clothes are mussed and his jeans have a tear in them. Hints of torn skin and blood are visible, even in the dirty alley. “You look awful.”

“I literally just got jumped in an alleyway.” The victim deadpans.

Hiro just grabs the guy by the wrist and drags him out of the alleyway.

Hitoshi is having a weird day. The getting jumped in an alley wasn’t exactly new, but the guy interrupting and actually dragging him into a convenience store. The guy was a wall of muscle and covered in scars. He still didn’t have the guys name. But he was wandering through the streets towards a bench. Hitoshi is sat down and man kneels in front of him, pulling tweezers and wipes out of his bag. Hitoshi winces as he begins picking dirt and grime out of his various cuts. The man begins to pull antiseptic and various types of bandages out of his bag. He holds up nearly six types of bandaids for Hitoshi to look at.

“Do you have any preference?” This is the first thing the man has asked him since dragging him out of the alleyway.

“About?” Hitoshi can’t help the slight tremor in his voice. An extremely buff man had dragged him about the city wordlessly after scaring off three of his worst middle-school bullies.

The man tilts his head. “The bandages. Do you have any preferences?” Hitoshi is unable to do anything but gape at the man in front of him. “I personally think these purple ones would suit you best, but these cats” he holds up a set of novelty cat face shaped bandaids.“ would look great too.”

Hitoshi continues to gape at the absolutely ridiculous statement. It seemed so odd for a man his size to be gently asking what sort of bandaid Hitoshi would prefer. Hitoshi manages to point towards the cats. (He likes cats, and if the man is willing to offer, than maybe he doesn’t mind.)

The man nods sagely. “A good choice” and begins applying the antibacterial spray. Hitoshi winces, and the guy murmurs a sorry, placing a purple cat on top of the cut on his knee and patting it gently. “Are you a student at Yuuei?” The man asks.

Hitoshi blinks. “How do you know that!?” He flinches back defensively.

The man starts, and puts his hands up, both of which full of various bits of medical supplies. “The guys in the alley mentioned it!”

“Oh….” Hitoshi deflates, and the man continues to disinfect and bandage Hitoshi’s scrapes.

“I only ask because I’m also a student there. Support department. What year are you?”

Hitoshi fights back the urge to gape. This man is a student!? “F-first year.”

The man lights up. “Oh! Same!”

“What the fuck!” Hitoshi manages to screech out. Making the giant man flinch back.

The guy collects himself and gives hitoshi a smile. “The scars are from an accident when I was younger. “He smiles apologetically “And it turns out moving large amounts of metal around all the time leads to some pretty decent muscles.” He considers for a moment as he finishes placing the final bandage. “Do you have any plans this afternoon?”

Hitoshi just looks at the guy. “Are you asking if I’m available to mug me?”

The guy looks absolutely stunned for a moment, before bursting into laughter. “Nope, no mugging” he shakes his head. “I’m getting lunch with some friends, wondered if you’d want to come.”

“I don’t even know your name!” Hotshi exclaims, fairly exasperated.

“Ah shit.” The guy in front of him puts his face in his hands. “I totally forgot about that.” He looks up “Tenya’s gonna kill me.” He shakes his head as if to clear it, offering his hand. “My name’s Shiota Hiro, nice to meet you.”

“Shinsou.”

Chapter Text

Hiro-as he had demanded to be called- doesn’t shut up once the entire way to the themed café. He quickly discusses getting a table for seven to the waitress as Hitoshi watches on, feeling something between horror and awe. The sort of emotion he remembers seeing in his mother's eyes the first time he drank an entire pot of coffee in a single go. The waitress leads the two of them to a circular table in the back, plastered with various magazine clippings under an excessive layer of resin. A pile of menus are placed on the table and the hostess leaves them. Hiro's phone pings softly and he pulls it out. And Hitoshi, because he's a little shit who doesn't understand personal boundaries, looks over his shoulder.

BroccoliBoi: [Kamiko and I are on our way!]

BroccoliBoi: [btw, Mei we have a new project for you!]

MadScientist: [YES! MORE BABIES!!!]

MadScientist: [attatched .png]

The image is that image of the elmo doll that looks like it's worshiping Satan in the middle of a housefire. And that leaves Hitoshi with so many questions. What is this about a project? Why are babies involved? For what possible reason would that image be even slightly relevant.

Hiro just seems to consider the texts in front of him before typing out a response of his own. If he's bothered by Hitoshi's staring- or even notices it- he doesn't show it. 

HawtStuff: [I got us a table. And please don’t be mad at me!]

MarshmallowPuff: [What did you do this time?]

Hiro lets out an offended huff as he reads over the response. Hitoshi can't help but wonder who has the screen name of MarshmallowPuff, and also why.

HawtStuff: [Okay first]

HawtStuff: [I am offended]

HawtStuff: [Second]

Hawtstuff: [Imayhavepickedupastrangergettingbeatupinanalleywayandinvitedhimtolunch]

Hitoshi isn't sure if he should be offended or not. He's leaning towards being offended. But like... he's already at a table with a pretty much complete stranger about to have lunch with (apparently) five of his friends. Who even has five friends!? Apparently this guy!

Probably-a-Robot: [Nice.]

Probably-a-Robot has changed HawtStuff’s name to Secret-Softie

BroccoliBoi: [that’s all? No arson attempts to own up to?]

MarshmallowPuff: [Did you invite him or did you kidnap him?]

And Hitoshi has no idea how to even respond to those messages. Does his rescuer attempt arson regularly enough for this to be a legitimate question? Has this happened before? Are they joking? Hitoshi doesn't know!

Babymaker: [Are you finally embracing the nature of being a Yuuei student!?]

Babymaker: [And can someone please change my chatname!]

Probably-a-Robot: [No.]

God-is-a-Woman: [I’ll be there shortly, please behave yourself.]

Secret-Softie: [Oh fuck off!]

Hiro logs out of the chat with a huff. Turning to Hitoshi as if to ask if he can believe this shit. Which to be fair, at this point his day has been so weird that Hitoshi is fairly certain that he actually passed out in that alleyway and this is all some crazy elaborate dream. 

“You good there?” Shinsou asks hesitantly, not really sure how to respond to the blank silence of the previously excessively chatty support student.

"Yeah, My friends are being assholes again." He shrugs in a way that invokes the feeling of 'what can you do?' "But they’ll be here soon.”

The last thing Izuku was expecting when he was waved over to the group table was THE Shinsou Hitoshi to be sitting there, bantering with Hiro. Now Hiro is a well known secret softie, so him picking up someone out of an alleyway wasn’t exactly surprising. (It's not even the first time he's done it) But that is Shinsou Hitoshi! The person at Yuuei with the single absolute coolest quirk to ever exist! (And maybe Izuku is biased but brainwashing is the single most useful quirk Izuku can think of for hero work.)

Izuku all but runs to the table in the back, leaving a surprised Kamiko behind. At least Izuku thinks she's surprised. Kamiko is always difficult to read.

“Are you Shinsou Hitoshi!” Izuku manages to breathe out, not stopping to introduce himself because Shinsou is just so cool and he can’t help himself! (But to be fair, who could when faced with the amazingness that is Shinsou freaking Hitoshi!)

The purple haired boy takes a moment to process this, and in that time, Kamiko manages to make her way to the table and sit down next to Hiro. “Yes?” The purple haired boy manages to respond. 

“Really!” Izuku all but beams at him. (Oh he’s just so excited, brainwashing is such a cool quirk and he’s wanted to study it since he first found out about it at the beginning of the school year when he was analyzing student quirks!) He's a half a second away from an excessively long tangent when Kamiko interrupts him. 

“It’s nice to meet you.” Kamiko offers a nod and a smile to the purple haired boy. “My Name is Kurasaki Kamiko, please call me Kamiko,” she motions to Izuku “and this is my excitable friend Izuku.” She turns to Hiro next. “You didn’t tell me that the stranger you found in the Alley was Shinsou Hitoshi! I would’ve warned Izuku otherwise!” Kamiko pouts. Probably not actually upset and just teasing both Izuku and Hiro. But once again, Izuku can't actually read Kamiko. So it's up to interpretation.

“Why is that important?” Shinsou cuts in, and everyone at the table ignores him in favor of watching Hiro have a miniature meltdown.

“Wait! He’s THAT Shinsou!” Hiro groans, letting himself fall face first into the table. “FUCK!” The curse is vaguely garbled due to the fact that his face is smooshed into the table.

"Yeah Fuck." Kamiko deadpans and Izuku startles slightly at Kamiko using profanity. (It feels weird) Kamiko proceeds grabs her menu and smacks Hiro on the back of the head with it.

"What the actual fuck?" Shinsou whispers and Izuku remembers that Shinsou freaking Hitoshi is here and he has so many questions. Shinsou looks absolutely bewildered, which is a fairly standard practice for people outside of his little group, if Izuku thinks about it. But enough about that, Shinsou Hitoshi is sitting right in front of him, and he’s not going to waste a perfectly good opportunity to ask questions!

And ask questions he does. Rapid fire and with no breaks for Shinsou to actually answer.

“Wait wait!” Shinsou interrupts. “How do you know who I am!?” He points at Hiro “Why do you know who I am!?” he points at Izuku. “And why are you covered in dried blood!?” the last exclamation is shrill, and is directed at Kamiko, who now that Izuku looks at her, still has dried blood in her hair and on her blouse.

Kamiko takes the reigns for this explanation. A responsible decision given that Izuku is too excited to explain properly and Hiro isn’t great at explaining things at the best of times, and he just realized that Kamiko was covered in blood. “Don't worry it's not my blood."

And Izuku immediately regrets letting Kamiko take the reigns for this conversation.

"That-that doesn't make me feel better!" Shinsou all but shrieks at the technopath.

Said technopath completely ignores said shriek in order to explain Shinsou's first question. "Well we broke into the school records-“

“Wait WHAT!?”

Kamiko ignores Shinsou with the skill of practice born of making concerning statements and refusing to explain. “And when we found out your quirk and it’s description-“

Shinsou pales “Wait you know what my quirk i-“

“And we thought it was the coolest quirk in existence.” (Izuku is beginning to feel like he’s watching a high speed tennis match)

Shinsou just looks bewildered now “Wait what?”

Kamiko continues undeterred “We looked at your performance in the entrance exam-“

Shinsou grips the table “Wait you saw that!?”

“-and we were really impressed for how you did with an unusable quirk, no support items, and no training! Four one pointers in fifteen minutes is really impressive given those constraints!”

“I-I-“ Shinsou is blushing now. “You don’t think my quirk is a villain’s quirk?”

Now that confuses Izuku. Why would brainwashing be a villain’s quirk? He vaguely understands societies idea of villain’s quirks. Vaguely. He gets that they’re quirks that are seemingly bad? Like a deadly poisonous being shot out of spines? Or quirks that make their user look scary, like Gang Orca? But Shinsou’s quirk is so cool and super powerful and not scary at all! Why would it be a villain’s quirk? He must be making a face because Hiro bursts into laughter, trying to muffle the laughter into one of his hands, the other slapping the table repeatedly. “Look-“ Hiro stifles another fit of laughter “-look at his face!” he whispers across the table through his laughter (to who is unknown) Izuku feels his face heat. “He’s so confused!”

“I just-“ Izuku knows he’s flushed up to his ears now. “I just don’t understand what’s villainous about it!” he figets with the hem of his shirt.

“It’s brainwashing!” Shinsou all but shouts and Izuku. “You know, taking away a person’s will? Their choice?”

“But it’s so useful!” Izuku all but shouts back. “You can do so many good things with it! Talking people down from suicide! getting villains to hand over hostages with only a few words! Calming civilians down from panic attacks! Depending on how the actual quirk works you could probably use it to permanently cure mental disorders!”

Shinsou’s jaw goes slack as Izuku continues to get into an extremely long tangent on how useful a brainwashing quirk is, theories on how one might actually work on a biological level, ideas for combat and use, and theorizing on possible ramifications.

Izuku is so fixated on his tangent that he completely misses Tenya and Yaoyarozu arriving at the table. In his defense they hadn’t said anything as they sat down, completely content to listen to the rant. He is only brought back to the real world when Mei bounces in nearly twenty minutes after he started his tangent, and ten minutes later than the intended meet up time. In his defense, he hadn’t met Shinsou before, and his quirk has the second most pages devoted to it ever. (Eraserhead’s erasure was just too practical for him to do anything less than devote himself entirely to its’ study)

“Hey everyone!” She beams at the group, before pointing to Shinsou “Is this Hiro’s stray?”

Hiro coughs up the water he had been drinking a moment before as Kamiko and Yaoyarozu laugh.

Shinsou looks aghast. Although still flushed for some reason that Izuku can't determine. “I am not a stray!”

“But he found you in an alley.” Mei tilts her head, whether she really doesn’t understand or is being dense on purpose is unknown, but it’s hilarious. And Izuku joins the other girls in their renewed laughter. “Well either way-“ she turns to Izuku “I heard you had a new project for me!” she switches subjects sharply enough to give everyone at the table whiplash.

Izuku doesn’t get to respond because Uraraka bursts through the door with hair all out of place and clothes mussed. “I’m here!” She shouts into the restaurant, earning her a glare from the hostess. Izuku waves her over to the table in the back. (It's his favorite table because it has a Principal Nedzu on it.)

Uraraka sits down at the table quickly, “I am so so sorry for being late!” She gives a slight bow. “I totally lost track of time at home!”

Tenya begins to open his mouth (no doubt to give a lecture about punctuality.) But Izuku quickly interrupts “Don’t even worry about it!”

And so begins a new round of introductions, as Izuku friends happily accept another person into the fold. (Or forcibly add them regardless of personal hangups and or kicking and screaming) Each of them are a little shaken by the recent attack, but being here, with one another, replaces terror with happiness and uncertainty with excitement. He thinks they’ll be alright. After all, he thinks to himself, there are no problems he can’t solve so long as he has his friends by his side.

Chapter Text

Things have been going really well since Izuku came back to school.

He, Mei and Kamiko had managed to get a set of blueprints for the electromagnetic field/communications center by the end of their lunch. Uraraka had been the one to suggest using fiber optics cable to get communications in and out of the school while the field was active. (She had read a paper about fiber optics and electromagnetic fields a few months ago) He had then received a pamphlet in the mail a few days later detailing Yuuei’s new “security measures” that required students and staff to keep electronics turned off when they stepped through the gates. Izuku couldn’t help the pride that found it’s way in his chest. 

His work with replicating Kurogiri’s portals had been going well and Mei had been hard at work developing her gear for the sports festival. He had finally gotten to his introductory session with Hound Dog, and while still uncertain about the whole therapy thing, has high hopes for it panning out well.

Of course, now that Izuku is back in classes, he has learned to expect at least one crisis before lunch every day. Today he finds himself dragged out of foundational heroics by a very panicked looking Mei and Hiro. Both are speaking too fast for him to make any amount of sense of it, but he follows diligently as they lead him down to the support labs.

“can someone please explain what’s happening!?” Izuku finally shouts as Hiro begins to lift workbenches while Mei searches underneath.

“We lost the rat!” Mei exclaims. And are those tears in her eyes. What the hell!

Izuku shakes his head. Trying to regain some semblance of calm. “The rat?”

Hiro looks a few seconds away from crying himself. “you know how we were working on recreating Midnight’s quirk.”

Izuku does remember. It was one of his many ongoing quirk replication projects, the easiest of the lot. He had already requisitioned a sample from midnight, and currently had about ten different replications of the compound sitting in the lab.

“We brought a rat in to test it, see if it would be safe for human testing and all that.” Izuku groans as he realizes where this is going (Although Shinsou will be glad Mei had finally realized she couldn't just jump straight to human testing) “But we lost it!” He shakes Izuku vigorously to punctuate the statement.

Izuku thinks back to Nedzu’s rant about animal testing and realizes that this is more likely to get Hiro expelled than the pie incident. Which while hilarious, had gotten him suspended until earlier that week. (Kamiko had created a remix of the event using the security footage and added sound effects.)  So he decides to tell Hiro the truth. “You are going to die.”

“Which is why we need your help!” Hiro all but begs, hands still grabbing Izuku’s arms.

“Fine” Izuku relents “Where did you see it last?”

Hitoshi felt nauseous. When he found out that Hiro’s friend group was more than happy to accept him despite his quirk, or maybe even because of it, he had been stunned and amazed and was pretty sure he had felt butterflies in his stomach or something. It was weird. When the group had readily offered themselves to help Hitoshi get noticed at the sports festival to get him accepted into the hero course he had felt almost giddy. The feeling of friendship was intoxicating and new and Hitoshi, despite his better judgement, allowed himself to get swept up in it.

Now he was face down on a sparing mat, his muscles and lungs screaming at him and covered in sweat while his heart attempted to break out of his ribcage. The 1-A students had cornered him after class and dragged him into one of Yuuei’s many, many gyms.

“You okay Shinsou?” Uraraka asks him, concern lacing her tone. “I didn’t hit you too hard did I?” She had been his most recent sparring partner, and the most determined to send him careening into the mat.

Hitoshi gulps in another lungful of air before responding. “I’m fine.” He attempts to push himself up and fails. “Just.. give me a minute.”

“Done!” Kurasaki exclaims, standing up from one of the benches on the sidelines and flipping her tablet around for the group to see. Hitoshi would pay closer attention but his vision was swimming slightly.

“I’m not sure Kamiko…” Yaoyarozu chimes in. “Seems a little intense if you ask me.”

“Nonsense!” Iida counters “This is completely reasonable.”

Kurasaki nods vigorously. “I adjusted the model for body type and current fitness levels, allowing for ample rest and relaxation.”

“What are you talking about?” Hitoshi cuts in. Managing to push himself up to a sitting position. Uraraka hands him a water bottle. He gulps it down. (Bless her bubblegum soul)

Kurasaki spins on her heel to face him, showing off a color-coded schedule that seems to encompass every moment of the next two weeks before the sports festival. Eyes glinting in a way that makes him wonder if she’s sane or not. “It’s your training schedule!”

Hitoshi thinks he’s going to puke.

Mei hums happily as she works on the metal lined fabric. This is one of the most complex things she’s ever had to work on and she’s thrilled. Izuku had suggested they make the material capable of delivering an electric shock from the ends. (Mei wonders if Izuku has pyromania but for electricity sometimes.) And trying to figure out how to get the fabric to respond to hand movements has been a headache and a half. But she’s never been one to back down from a challenge and Izuku is at her side doing his gosh darn best to help her.

But today is finally the day she’ll be able to have Shinsou actually test drive the baby. It will be glorious and probably won’t even explode!

If Mei hums a little louder, well, that’s between her and the cameras.

Shinsou stumbles into the workshop that Mei has all but moved into over the school year, and immediately takes a step back to assess the scene.

A good third of the room is actually on fire. Shinsou cannot for the life of him determine the source. But Hiro and Iida are very enthusiastically trying to put it out, a panicked Midoriya is throwing spheres of exploding foam into the madness, while Mei cackles ominously from somewhere within the flames. Yaoyarozu, Uraraka, and Kamiko all watch from the sidelines. Yaoyarozu and Uraraka look horrified, while Kamiko is undeterred and eating the pie straight out of the pan.

“Why is everything on fire?” Shinsou asks weakly. Unsure if he really wants to know the answer.

“Midoriya dared Mei to do something stupid.” Uraraka replies, just as weakly.

“It wasn’t a dare!” Midoriya whines, still throwing his foam spheres. “It was an exasperated comment!”

“You should not have doubted me mortal!” Mei cackles from within the fires.

Kamiko finished her last bite of pie, and finally decides to be helpful. “Hiro you have pyrokinesis. You can put out fires with your mind. We tested this.”

Hitoshi really, really wishes that was the most chaotic thing he had witnessed that week.

Hiro stumbles back into Miko’s home at twelve past four in the morning with blood dripping from his nose. It had been another awful night at home, so like always, he ended up here. He wanders into his best friends room without knocking.

She’s sitting at her desk, a dozen screens running a dozen programs.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” He asks her, trying to make his voice sound teasing even though all he wants to do is break down in tears.

She shuffles slightly, minimizing one of her programs and typing something into a google search bar. “Tried. Didn’t work.”

“Nightmares” he walks up behind her, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She hums an affirmation and gets out of her chair. She looks up at him, worrying her lip as she assesses his state. Moving her hands to run a finger over his split lip and caress the forming bruises. “Was she drinking again?”

Hiro leans into her touch and nods slightly. The smile she offers him is sad, but genuine as she removes her hands from his face to take his hands. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

He follows her into the kitchen. After all, this isn’t the first time they’ve done this, and it won’t be the last.

Izuku finds himself in Nedzu’s office for homeroom wondering on the topic of support equipment for the Sports Festival. He knows the heroics course aren’t allowed any, and that general and support are. (A fact that he is sure Mei and Hitoshi are going to abuse) But he has no idea what the regulations are for him. Furthermore, would using a support item make people think he was useless without them?

“What’s troubling you?” Nedzu asks, interrupting Izuku’s train of thought.

Izuku startles slightly before responding. “I was wondering what I should do regarding support equipment.”

Nedzu’s smile doesn’t waver as the chimera responds. “I have no issue allowing you to use support equipment so long as it’s something you built yourself.”

“But I’m worried that people will think that I’m incapable without support equipment because I’m quirkless. But I’m also worried that I won’t be able to take on some of the hero course students without equipment.”

Nedzu takes a sip of his tea. “That is quite the predicament. Have you considered not using any support equipment for the first two rounds, and only using it for the one on one tournament.

Izuku blinks. “That’s…. a brilliant idea.”

Izuku and Nedzu work in silence for another few minutes. Nedzu is the one to break it. “Have you finished planning you speech yet?”

“My what!?”

Izuku had not exactly expected the spectacle that greeted him when he reached his normal lunch table, but he wasn’t actually surprised. It was usually smart to expect at least one minor crisis to arrive before lunch. And Nedzu advised planning for two.

Today’s crisis involved a projector, three cans of coffee being thrown around the table in a ping pong battle between Uraraka and Kamiko, half the cafeteria observing, and an offended Shinsou and one maniacally raving Mei yelling at Iida and Yaoyarozu. This in and of itself wasn’t in any way new or interesting. The other students always stare at their table. (Izuku blames Mei) And Uraraka had figured out the coffee can ping pong trick out last week, and the whole group had been adding more cans to the game to make it fair for whoever she was up against.

Regardless, Izuku approaches his friends with the same sort of uneasy amusement one would expect from a particularly dark joke. “Do I want to know what’s going on?” He eventually asks, as no one actually notices him.

Shinsou, Mei, Iida, and Yaoyarozu don’t even acknowledge his existence. Although he does hear something about there “Being no precedent for that sort of thing!”

But Uraraka does notice him, pausing her game with Kamiko to give Izuku her full attention. “They’re debating whether or not Kamiko could legally identify as a cyborg.”

And… that’s a good question actually. Izuku manages to consider it for a few seconds before voicing any opinions, but he’s no less convinced on either side of the matter. He decides not to pick a side at all. “who’s on which team?” He eventually manages to ask.

Kamiko manages a small smile, likely enjoying the chaos. “Shinsou and Mei firmly believe yes-“ Shinsou manages to cut through the explanation with a series of slides on Kamiko’s weird behaviors. Which Izuku would be more concerned about but… Mei. Kamiko is unconcerned, and barrels on with her explanation. “Tenya and Yaoyarozu are more conservative.”

Izuku tries to make peace with the fact that Tenya and Yaoyarozu arguing against Kamiko identifying as a cyborg being considered a conservative stance. He gives up very quickly. “Do I want to know how they got onto this topic?”

“No but I’m gonna tell you anyways” Ochako laughs.

“Oh god save us”

“God won’t help you now.” Kamiko says, completely deadpan.

Uraraka laughs again. Although Izuku isn’t sure it was actually a joke. “We were having lunch all nice-like-“ Uraraka begins, and Izuku immediately decides that anything she says is questionable. “When Kamiko asks if she’d be able to legally identify as a cyborg or if she’d have to undergo surgery first.”

Izuku blinks. He turns the words over in his head, and immediately finds about a dozen questions. But he settles on just one. “Why?”

Kamiko smiles at him, serene and completely ignoring the shouting match occurring four feet to her left.

“Only humans have to pay taxes. Cyborgs aren’t human. Cyborgs don’t have to pay taxes.”

Uraraka is the one to respond. “You want to become a legal cyborg…. To commit tax fraud.”

It isn’t a question, but Kamiko responds anyways. “Yes.”

Hiro and Midoriya, in an act of solidarity and an attempt to make Hitoshi look bad, agreed to join Hitoshi's workouts for the festival. Midoriya is well trained, all lithe muscle and quick reflexes, where Hiro is a mountain of a man that doesn't flinch in the face of all might! (Hitoshi has seen the videos. The one where he played ringtoss on the man's bangs? Priceless!)

It also helps that the two are patient, and that Hiro is the most chill person Hitoshi has ever met. 

Today is different however. Hiro is missing for whatever reason, and Midoriya is pacing the gym and muttering incoherently while Iida offers moral support. Which is great, except it leaves him at the hands of Mei as his lead trainer. And after the experiment with Midnight's sleeping gas (although he had gotten an excellent nap out of it) he had a healthy level of distrust and respect for her. 

He eventually speaks up, because he fears for his mind if Mei is the only one supervising his training. (He'd also be worried about his soul, but he's pretty sure the pinkette already owns it by now) "Where's Hiro?"

Iida pipes up from the back of the training room, still trying to calm down Midoriya. "He got detention."

And yeah, Hitoshi can see that. Hitoshi is pretty sure that Hiro has spent half the time Hitoshi has known him in some sort of trouble with the school. He's actually not sure why the school hasn't expelled him yet. "And Midoriya?"

Midoriya answers for himself. "I have to give a speech! In front of everyone! For the sports festival!" He grips his hair, hands disappearing into the curly forest. "I can't handle this! I'm going to die! Or embarrass myself on national television, or get expelled!" Midoriya begins to shake Iida as if to make him better understand the situation. 

"I feel like getting expelled wasn't the worst option on that list." Hitoshi snarks, and Midoriya gives another wail of despair.

"Well now that all the feelings are out of the way-" Mei cuts in, and Hitoshi gulps. "Let's get started on today's training!" Hitoshi thinks that Mei's smile at that moment will haunt his dreams forever. (It does)

Chapter Text

Izuku is nervous. He’s pacing inside the empty prep-room and trying very hard not to puke. It’s the sports festival. It’s the single biggest event of the year. Izuku has to give the opening speech. (He feels like he might actually have a heart attack before he even gets up to the stage.)

He doesn’t have a single one of his gadgets, (He ended up going with Nedzu’s suggestion about proving himself without gadgets in the first two rounds and using his equipment in the one on ones.) and he is panicking. His breaths are quick and shallow and he feels like he can’t get enough air.

Izuku is startled out of his meltdown by Present Mic’s announcement for class 1-A. It’s… a little overwhelming to be honest. But the blonde teacher calls for class 1-B, and it’s clear that there’s some underlying favoritism.

This in and of itself isn’t that surprising. There has always been favoritism towards class 1-A. The way the class was designed was to give students with more powerful or useful quirks and more… vibrant personalities an environment with heavy competition and an emphasis on control. In comparison, class 1-B tends to have people with weaker quirks and shyer personalities who need a confidence boost and to focus on increasing power. As a result class A tends to win more in the sports festival, and the classes tend to foster heavy rivalries with each other.

The problem is the amount of disproportionate favoritism given because of the sports festival. Which was hugely traumatic for almost everyone involved. The problem gets worse as Present Mic lumps all of the general education classes together, not even bothering to separate them. Followed by the conglomerate of the support department and management department. It’s blatant discrimination!

Izuku is practically fuming as he notes being called up.

“Sorry Yaoyarozu" Izuku murmurs softly, completely to himself, and perhaps Yaoyarozu. "All that prep and I still need to improvise."

Mei is called out with the rest of the support students, and wastes no time congregating with her heroics class friends. The weight of her backpack on her shoulders is comforting. She has a lot of gadgets in there, and she’s thrilled to get to show them off. She’s isn’t really upset about the way that Present Mic introduced everyone, but she can tell that a lot of her friends are.

Present Mic’s voice booms over the field. “And last but not least, the class with only one student, Nedzu’s personal student, class 1-N!”

Mei walks as Izuku stalks into the green. And oh. He’s upset about the discrimination, isn’t he. (Izuku has always been touchy about discrimination.)

Present Mic introduces Midnight as the umpire for the day, and Mei tunes out her classmates questioning that decision to stare at her best friend. She zooms in on him, and notices that his hands are clenched into tight fists, fingers blanching where they dig into his palms. He shakes slightly, but seems to be taking deep breaths. (Izuku never lets himself stay angry. Mei has never gathered the courage to ask him why.)

Midnight snaps her whip on stage, shutting up the students. “My position here is perfectly legitimate!” she straightens and strikes a sensual pose, much to the delight of a boy in front of her with purple balls for hair. “And now, the student pledge! Given by the entrance exam’s top scorer, Midoriya Izuku!”

Mei watches her friend walk up to the stage in high definition. She wonders if he has a set of notecards on his person somewhere. He knows that he and Yaoyarozu worked on the speech for over a week. (Yaoyarozu was really the only person in their group whose advice could be trusted for public speaking. Mei herself recommended pre-recording and then playing the speech on a speaker. That was apparently a ‘bad idea’ and would ‘give the wrong impression.’)

Izuku stands tall on the top of the stage. And huh. Mei feels a little weird. Her chest is all warm and she feels like smiling. “It’s an honor to get to compete in such a prestigious competition. I know, regardless of class, that we will all give everything we’ve got today, and show our convictions in whatever path brought us to Yuuei! Plus Ultra!”

The crowd cheers wildly. Mei can briefly hear Yaoyarozu’s shrill “That was not what we practiced!” over the din.

It's quickly followed by Hiro's boisterous laughter. "Did you actually think Izuku would follow the plan?"

"Well.... no but still!"

Mei smiles. Yeah, this is gonna be fun.

Chapter Text

“How?” Is the question Tenya asks the void.

The void does not answer, Hiro however, sees no issue as acting in the void’s place. “I have no idea.” He absently ruffles his hair. “maybe I’m faster?”

Tenya feels like screaming “I have a speed quirk!”

“It’s not that big a deal Tenya, don’t worry about it.” And Tenya looks up to see the greatest source of confusion on his part. One Midoriya Izuku, who had somehow managed to clear the last leg of the obstacle course by launching himself into the air via explosives and snag first place. (And now Tenya thinks about it and realizes that maybe having a speed quirk has nothing to do with how fast someone can be. Maybe it has more to do with overall agility and resourcefulness. And ah, maybe insinuating as such is really offensive. Izuku is really helpful for eliminating intrinsic quirk biases. He does his best, but still makes mistakes sometimes.)

More competitors trickle in behind him, and Midnight eventually calls the event.

Only the first sixty-four are able to compete in the second leg of the tournament. Tenya notes that included in that list is himself, Izuku, Mei, Yaoyarozu, Uraraka, Shinsou, and Hiro.

“Did Kamiko not pass?” Izuku ends up asking, eyeing the list of competitors.

Hiro answers for everybody. “She got distracted by the robots. I think she’s trying to give them AI.”

(On the other side of the field, at the very beginning of the track, Powerloader tries his best to separate one Kurasaki Kamiko from one of the three pointers that has been affectionately named Snowball. He is not successful.)

Midnight eventually pulls the group of teens out of their thoughts by announcing the next event. A cavalry battle, where first place is worth ten million points, several thousand times more than everyone else on the field combined. He looks over at Izuku with a wince.

Izuku isn’t sure if he’s excited or wants to sink through the floor and die. (Now that he thinks about it there was a second-year last year who could do that.)

Today has been awful. The amount of people trying to sabotage him due to him being Nedzu’s student has been ridiculous. He barely managed to pull out a win in the obstacle course (He did the math, had his plan not worked so well he’d have ended up 73^rd, and out of the rest of the festival.) and now he’s wondering if it was even worth it since no one is going to want to team up with him!

“Hey Shinsou!!!” Mei yells over the din, startling Izuku out of his spiraling thoughts. “You gonna join us or are you gonna continue using those mindslaves of yours!?”

“They’re not mindslaves!” Shinsou’s voice cracks impressively as he attempts to defend himself. Izuku winces in sympathy and continues trying to figure out who would be willing to team up with him. (He’s such a big target after all. There’s no tactical advantage to try and keep the 10 million points the whole game when it’s so much easier to snatch it up at the end and even if they were willing the team would need to be strategic and even then-)

“Yo, Izu” Hiro snaps Izuku out of his spiral. The noise Izuku makes in response is suitably pathetic. “You joining or what?”

Izuku looks over to see Mei and Hitoshi pause their bickering to look at him expectantly. “You-you guys want me on your team?”

The trio look at him like he’s an idiot. “Duh.” (The synchronization is a little freaky.)

Hiro picks up for the group. “You’re an actual genius Izu," He says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "if anyone can pull out a way to keep that headband, it’s you.”

Mei butts in “And besides, my babies are super great at evading things!”

Shinsou says nothing, but blushes a vivid pink that looks very strange coupled with his eyebags.

“I mean, you’ve got a plan, right.”

And, under the expectant eyes of his friends, he finds that he does. It’s crazy, and stupid, but it might just work. And oddly enough, has nothing to do with keeping the headband. “Yes, but we might end up disqualified.” He turns to Mei “You brought the remote explosives , right?”

Mei smiles in a way that would have sent a younger Izuku running away in tears. (Now Izuku just feels relief and a hint of elation at her support.) “Come on Izuku, who do you take me for?”

In the end there were three ways to play the cavalry battle. One is sensible, the type of careful planning and guaranteed win that he’s known for. The second is complete and utter madness. The sort that always leaves Mei cackling, Tenya crying, and Hiro in complete and utter bafflement. The third is some sort of absurd mix of the two. It's a bad idea in every way, but it's showy, and in the words of Hiro "Ballsy as fuck". Which is perfect for the sport's festive, so In traditional Midoriya fashion, he has decided to pick the third.

 It takes a bit of maneuvering but Shinsou ends up as the rider, with Hiro as the front horse, and Mei and Izuku flanking the right and left respectively.

Each of the horses are wearing a pair of Mei’s hover boots and a custom backpack full of supplies, although Izuku isn’t sure how much help they’ll actually be. Izuku knows that both Todoroki and Bakugo are going to be coming for his head. Or at least, his headband. But that’s okay, that’s the plan after all.  

“I just wanna say that I hate this plan.” Hiro grumbles from his position as front horse. “We could totally just keep the ten million ya know.”

“Hiro, Hiro, Hiro,” Mei gives her manic smile that spells disaster and explosions for everyone in a fifty foot vicinity. “You should know the point of the sports festival isn’t to win” The glint in her eyes is terrifying “It’s to be memorable.”

Kamiko hums happily up in the stands as she uses her tablet to go through the existing code of snowball the three pointer. Powerloader had eventually convinced her to leave the precious bean in the labs instead of bringing it up to the student stands. For all that Kamiko wants to sit atop her new robot, the fact remains that she was unable to fit it through the door. So in the lab it stays while she plays with the motherboard. She takes in everyone revving up to start the cavalry battle. (She does not notice her poor classmates trying to remain as far away from her and her set-up of about twelve computer screens as possible.) Poor Shinsou looks very pale as everyone glares at the group. She wonders how the group will fight this battle. She isn’t exactly a strategist, but she can make educated guesses.

Midnight announces the start of the game and several things happen at once. All of the other teams rush at Shinsou and the others, who surge forward to meet one of the non-hero course student’s teams, Shinsou presses the headband into one the rider’s hands, while Mei drops a bag of silver objects onto the field. She feels out the electrical field of the battleground and grins. Pulling a tablet out of her bag with great enthusiasm.

 “Oh that’s brilliant!” she whispers, stars in her eyes. “So very clever.” She adjusts her stance, clutching the tablet in her arms tighter as she splits her attention between the field she can see and the program running in front of her. (She doesn't not the remainder of students still in the same box as her pulling even further away.) “This will be interesting.”

Izuku and his friends have to very quickly escape after throwing away the ten million point headband.

Both Eraserhead and Present Mic question his tactics. And Izuku knows it’s not a typical move. It might not even be a smart one, but he has faith in his plan, and even more so, faith in his team.

His original plan was to try and hide the headband, but Midnight clearly advised that all headbands have to be visible on the rider, and that made things far more complicated. (But he has high hopes, as dangerous as that can be.)

Izuku and his group swiftly blend into the crowd of fifteen teams all trying for the 1-B student’s new headband. “How are we looking?” He asks Mei, as Shinsou fiddles with a small remote in his left hand.

Mei cackles happily. “Pretty good.” She holds up three headbands in the arm not supporting Shinsou, helping the purple haired boy tie them to his wrists and left bicep respectfully. Three tiny silver spiders wave from the pinkette’s shoulder. Izuku takes advantage of his team’s momentary lull in action to take in the field.

Bakugo has decided to be the rider of his team, a smart decision given his maneuverability and need to use his hands. but on the other side of the field, Todoroki has also decided to be the rider. Which is… Izuku isn’t sure how to explain the absolute tactical mistake that was for someone whose attacks originate from their body. That was the worst tactical position for the boy, he really should have been the front horse. As it is, he’s practically crippled himself.

Izuku takes a deep breath, his teams opening move has left the entire field on edge and frantic. Whipped into a sudden frenzy at the ten million point’s quick changing of hands. It’s a gambit to open with such a dangerous move, but it should keep a majority of the stronger teams off their back as they hyperfocus on the ten million points, while keeping the weaker teams distracted.  

But the lull in combat quickly fades, and any type of order or status quo changes as Todoroki manages to grab the headband and the teams begin to face off against one another. Izuku and his group is suddenly very preoccupied with dodging some of the weaker teams. They could use Shinsou’s quirk, but Izuku wants to save it, to give his new friend the greatest chance of success in the final arc of the festival, which is almost always a one on one tournament. So, dodging has to do.

Thinking of the weaker teams. “Mei, how are we doing on the points front?”

“Pretty good!” Mei cheers happily, quickly passing another three headbands from her free hand to Shinsou. The silver robot on her shoulder makes a chirping noise and scuttles off again.

“Are we certain that we won’t be disqualified for this?” Shinsou asks, worriedly scanning the crowd.

Hiro laughs. “There’s no rule against it, which means it’s fair game.”

Mei giggles as she dumps out another pouch of what look like large silver capsules. Upon impact with the ground they expand into metal spiders the size of his palm. Kamiko’s robots. (Izuku hasn’t the faintest idea how Mei is operating them, Kamiko tends to be pretty forgetful when programming interfacing for her creations.) They scuttle off to fulfil their orders.

“3 o’clock!” Shinsou screeches, and Izuku whips his head around to see the advancing team.

The group jumps over the advancing team, sending them crashing into another team, too distracted to notice their headband being stolen by a little silver spider.

“So we just have to keep this up for another… ten minutes.” He takes a deep breath. “Alright.

Only when the clock reaches one minute does Izuku put the last part of his plan into action. As the clock ticked down Shinsou once more pulled out the silver remote, showing off the extensive patchwork of headbands securely tied around his arms and neck. (Some of the higher point values had been attached to Shinsou using one of Mei’s highly complicated babies. Leaving them visible, but very hard to remove.) No one ever seemed to notice the headbands tied to the various appendages of the horses. One on Mei’s right bicep, fully visible, but nearly impossible to reach, two bands are tied around Hiro’s wrists, and one (the highest point band they have) sewn into Izuku’s pants backwards by a group of mechanical spiders. (Izuku has no idea when Kamiko coded her spiders to be capable of that, but he’s grateful nonetheless. They wouldn’t have even half of their points without the help of her meticulous programming help.)  

They have maybe a third of the headbands in the arena. It’s a good score, a safe score, and currently no one was breathing down their necks. Most of the teams had already tried their luck with Izuku‘s group, and given up once they realized that they weren’t going to be able to get too many headbands. Especially with how the group had spaced the headbands across the team so that you could only grab one at a time. Especially given that only some of them were actually removable. (After all, the only rule for the headbands is that they have to be visible. No rules against extra security. And thankfully, no rules against their final act.)

Izuku turns his eyes towards the absolute spectacle of the fight between team Todoroki and Team Bakugou over the ten-million-point-headband. 

He noted that Bakugou had around five headbands, all of lower value, but still respectable. In comparison, Todoroki had three higher value headbands, and was currently in possession of the ten million points. 

Mic’s voice envelops the stadium.“Forty-five seconds remain! Will the Ice prince keep his bounty or will the king of explosions steal his prize!” 

Izuku turns to Shinsou, and gives a slight nod. 

“This is such a bad idea.” He murmurs, and flips over the protective covering. 

“And it looks like Bakugou has taken the prize!” The ten-million points is currently wrapped up in a bit of sero’s tape as Todoroki and Katsuki exchange blows. 

“Speakers are hacked!” Mei exclaims loudly. Izuku takes the offered microphone and does some last second adjustments.

“And it looks like class 1-a's pretty boy isn’t taking kindly to the loss! Thirty seconds left! Who will end up with the coveted ten million.” 

Izuku flips on the speaker and hands over the intercom to his favorite insomniac.  

Shinsou pitches his voice deep and commanding. (He has to be noticeable, but keep his quirk under wraps for as long as possible. A delicate balance, and Izuku is always willing to help his friends.) “No need to worry.” a deep breath, and a delicate balance. “No one will.” 

Shinsou presses the bright red button as confusion reigns across the stands at the strange voice over the speakers. That confusion quickly changes directions however, when the ten million points, caught between a grappling hook made by Yaoyarozu, and Sero’s tape, explodes 

*approximately 26 minutes ago* 

The group of students making up Team Shinsou huddle around the newly received ten million point band.  

“So what’s the plan Izuku?” Mei asks, clearly curious as to how he planned to play this. 

“The plan, is to give this” he gestures towards the ten million point band, “up, and get some less contested points.” 

Shinsou makes a face. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, the ten million is a huge advantage.” 

Izuku smiles. "And a huge liability. It would be foolish to do anything but defend the entire game, which would be exhausting, especially if any of us want to be able to pull any interesting tricks in the upcoming rounds. You still need to stand out in the tournament after all." and Shinsou blushes at that, a pretty pink color that clashes horribly with his eyebags.

"But don't worry about falling behind, I've got an idea." he smiles widely at his friends. “Did you know there is no rule against tampering with the headbands?” (The glint in his eye is suspiciously similar to Nedzu’s.)  

“That sounds like you have an idea.” Hiro ventures, pulling out certain items he thinks might be helpful and adding them to the pile of support items they're using for the upcoming event. 

Izuku nods. “That I do.” Izuku pulls a small red and yellow package out of the pile. “We do have detonatable explosions after all.” He plucks a few out of the package and begins setting them up. The explosives are tiny, barely any bigger than a grain of rice, but very potent.  

The explosive is based in a caecum-water reaction. (Trying to get his hands on caecum would have been impossible if not for Yaoyarozu.) Each capsule has three sides and a single retractable latch connected to the detonator. When activated, the water and caecum mix and create the initial explosion. Breaking the capsule and allowing the liquid trinitrotoluene to react as well. It’s a tiny little device, but easily the most explosive item Izuku keeps in his arsenal. He uses a bit of adhesive to stick them to the edges and center of the band 

“You want to blow up the ten million points.” 

Izuku double checks his work, before pulling out a bottle of one of Hiro’s special concoctions, designed to set fire when exposed only to a certain amount of heat. (One that is difficult to reach, good for increasing the efficacy of an explosion rather than causing one outright.) “At the very end. The ten million will be a huge distraction, and if we don’t let ourselves get swept up in the hype, we can probably do really well for ourselves in the chaos.” 

“It still seems, counter productive...” 

“Normally it would be, especially if we had a lower point headband.” He offers a sly smile. “But, teams like Bakugo and Todoroki’s will be trying to be the very best, unwilling to settle for second place, so they’ll fixate on the ten million, leaving teams that don’t directly engage them or have the ten million alone. Leaving less competition for the other headbands.” he smiles “and at the very end, when everyone is in an exhausted frenzy, the balance of power will dramatically shift.” 

“That’s a bold move. Are you sure it’ll work?” Hiro asks hesitantly 

“Ah ah ah, the point isn’t to win,” The Cheshire grin spreading across his face makes his friends shiver slightly. (Nedzu is teaching him something after all.) “It’s to be memorable.” 

The charred ash is all that remains of the headband once the explosion is over. Sero’s tape had burned away and Yaoyarozu’s carbon grappling hook had shattered. The arena is silent. An odd experience given the loud cacophony of the arena mere seconds earlier. 

Heads turn towards team Shinsou, where Shinsou still flaunts the little silver remote that caused all this trouble. 

Izuku can read the fury of team Bakugou easily enough, explosive anger that fades quickly, the the slow and steady creeping of rage and desperation coming from Todoroki is something he is less familiar with being on the receiving end of. (Although it isn’t hard to recognize, it’s the same kind of anger he sees in his own eyes when he looks in the mirror.) 

Both team Todoroki and team Bakugo advance quickly and violently. The next few seconds are a dangerous dance, and Mei manages to launch something a little too close to Todoroki’s right. 

It’s a twisting motion that shapes the last few seconds of the game, as Todoroki reacts on instince, sending out a massive wave of fire, hot enough to reduce cars to molten slag, a mere ten feet from them. 

Izuku remembers the first time he asked to see Hiro’s quirk vividly. He recalls the tension in his shoulders and tightness of his face as he refused the first time he had asked. He remembers being upset with Hiro, he had thought it was a harmless request at the time, and had badgered Hiro repeatedly until Kamiko had told him in no uncertain terms to let it go or she would get involved. It had been the most serious Izuku had ever seen her. 

Shortly after, Hiro, embarrassed, had offered to show Izuku. Izuku at the time unaware of the bear he was poking (still unaware of the true shape of that wound) happily agreed. 

He still remembers gaping in awe and scribbling furiously in his notebook as he watched the brilliant white and gold flames in Hiro’s palm dance. (He hadn’t even noticed the building tension in his friend’s shoulders.) 

Izuku don’t know what set him off exactly, but whatever it was... well there was no nice way to put it. Hiro had a panic attack.  

It was... bad. Especially since Izuku didn’t understand why. He still doesn’t. (especially since he seems to have no problem with fire in and of itself if the calm reaction to the many times Izuku or Mei set the workshop on fire is any indication.) Any attempt to get clarification as to why he would think that from him was like pulling teeth. And asking Kamiko was even worse. He had let it go eventually, but it still bothered him. 

That time had been a minor display, nothing bigger than a candle. 

This was huge. A firestorm of reds and golds clashing and moving. Todoroki had really impressive firepower, but Hiro had even more impressive control, shifting the fire to surround their group in a white-hot ring as the crowd counted down the final seconds. 

Hiro only released the ring of fire once Present Mic announced the end of the second event. 

Izuku didn’t even pay attention to which teams passed, too busy watching Hiro shake. 

Chapter Text

Hiro had darted out of the main event immediately after everyone was released for lunch. He gave no excuse, just ran.    

Kamiko is the most worried he’d ever seen her. Looking through any camera feed she could pull up to try and find her missing friend. (Hiro knows how to avoid cameras, especially in yuuei.)   

As it stands, Midoriya, Mei, Tenya, and Kamiko are all searching the massive grounds to try and find their friend.   

It's nearly fifteen minutes into the two hour break before Izuku finds Hiro. Although to be fair, Izuku hears Hiro before he finds him. Hears deep gasping sobs before he finds Hiro shaking in a ball in the corner of a deserted hallway.    

And Izuku doesn’t know what to do.   

Hiro... he’s never been... anything but strong. As hypocritical as it sounds, Izuku never though Hiro could be bothered by anything.   

But something about today, about his quirk, set him off.   

Izuku doesn’t understand what it’s like to have a quirk. And he definitely doesn’t understand whatever complex circumstances surround his friend. (Hiro and Kamiko have always been so secretive. So unwilling to share their personal struggles.) Izuku thinks he might actually be the last person to be able to understand. But as he takes in the shaking form of his friend, he decides that he’s at least going to try.   

He sits next to his friend on the floor, leaving a foot or two of empty space between them.   

“Hey.” Izuku starts, and fights the urge to wince, because that was terrible.   

Hiro takes a shaky breath. “What do you want?” his voice is hoarse and just as shaky as his breath.   

Izuku makes a noise, one he’s pretty sure he picked up from Kamiko. A sort of soft humming sound. (a bit of body language indecipherable outside of their group. A sound that means the person in question is considering how to phrase something but are sure of the answer.) “I wanted to make sure you’re okay. You worried us, running off like that.”   

Hiro sniffs and gives Izuku a glare. “I’m fine.”   

Izuku feels at war with himself. A, Hiro is very obviously not fine in any sense of the word, and B, Izuku has no idea what to do. It isn’t his nature to let things lie, but he also knows that pressing things here isn’t going to help, not in the long run. So, a compromise. Just offer comfort, a supportive pillar.    

“Okay.” Is what Izuku decides to say, maneuvering himself to ensure he can sit side by side with Hiro.   

It’s quiet for a few minutes while Hiro gets his breathing under control.    

It’s still a little shaky when he speaks up again, but Izuku is no longer concerned that his friend will pass out. “I broke my promise.”   

That startles Izuku out of his little reverie. He doesn’t know what to do. But he wants to help. Wants to mend the pure distress on his friend's face. “Your promise? What promise?”    

Hiro sniffs “I promised myself I wouldn’t.” he takes a shuddering breath, but doesn’t say anything else, just seems to curl further into himself.   

“Wouldn’t what?” And that’s the question isn’t it. Even if Izuku is fairly certain he already knows the answer.    

“My quirk, that I wouldn’t.... wouldn’t use it.”   

And Izuku can’t really understand why. Can't understand what circumstances could cause someone to reject something so clearly a part of them. So, he does as he always does when he doesn't understand, and asks. “Can, can I ask why?”   

And Hiro seems to consider that. Trying to take deep breaths. “I don’t... I don’t like my quirk.”   

Izuku... isn’t sure how to feel. It’s a bit of a shock to him, that anyone wouldn’t like their quirk. It seemed like such an integral part of them. (It’s something he still wants more than almost anything.)    

“Well.... that’s not quite true.... It’s... it’s complicated.” Hiro takes a deep breath “I just- I"   

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me anything.” Izuku assures, voice soft and inching towards his friend. “But I’m here if you want to talk.” he bumps their shoulders together. It's casual, and nonthreatening, and it seems to help.  

Hiro doesn’t do or say anything for a while, although his breathing evens out and Izuku eventually manages to press himself against his side. (He knows that Hiro really likes casual touch.)   

A deep breath. “I- I don't want you to hate me." is the whisper that breaks the silence.  

"I won't." Izuku assures.  

"But, but you've always wanted a quirk, it's unfair that I, that I'm so scared of using mine." he takes a deep breath. "That I can't see my own quirk the same way you do." And Izuku is slightly stunned. That Hiro, in the midst of what appears to be a breakdown that was a long time coming, still had the presence of mind and emotional intelligence to acknowledge that they saw quirks differently. (And now Izuku has to confront that maybe the way he considers quirks could also be harmful, that it could be disrespectful to the people who have suffered because of how society views their quirks, who have difficulty using their quirks, or have quirks with painful and difficult side effects.)  

But even still, he can't understand why Hiro doesn't like his quirk. Can't understand why he'd limit himself like that. "Is there a reason for that?" is what he asks, trying to understand, but also trying to not push too hard, too far.  

Hiro twitches, his body language practically shouting nervous, scared, guilty for anyone who knows how to read. "I killed someone.”   

And Izuku feels his blood run cold. Because Hiro is many things, but he is not a murderer. So Izuku quickly halts his screaming thoughts, and asks another questions, acquires more clarification. "Why?"  

"It wasn't on purpose." Is the whispered reply. "I-I never wanted to." He takes a shaky breath. "I- my quirk was still new. I, I was startled.” Izuku says nothing and rubs soothing circles into his friend's shoulder.   

“It was something stupid, my dad had snuck up on me to.... prank me, I think. I let out a blast of fire.” Hiro presses further into Izuku, as if trying to hide away from the words spilling from his lips. “It caught, and suddenly the whole building was on fire.” Hiro takes a deep breath. “We were trapped, for a while. I had heat resistance, but no fireproofing, and none of the control needed to snuff out the flame. My stepmom had been out running errands. We were top floor, took the firemen a while to get to us.”    

Izuku continues trying to comfort his friend, but the words are spilling out now. (Izuku wonders how long it’s been since he recounted this story. He wonders if he’s ever recounted it at all.)   

“My baby sister, she died from the smoke. Suffocated to death. My dad, he was, he was covered in burns. They tried their best but, but they got infected.”   

“My stepmom was furious with me.” His eyes grow slightly distant. “I don’t blame her.”   

And Izuku is heartbroken. He can read between the lines. Can understand the words not being spoken. Knows how dangerous large burns can be, especially when they get infected. He also knows how dangerous survivor’s guilt can be. (And he remembers little things, bruises and bandages with no logical source, scars and flinches that correlate with abuse, and Izuku seethes)    

“It’s not your fault.” Izuku murmurs, voice soft. “It was an accident, and it wasn’t your fault.”   

"I know that. I know it was an accident, that it wasn't my fault!" he throws his arms out wide, trying to emphasize a point. "But it doesn't matter! It doesn't matter that it was an accident! It doesn't matter that I never wanted it to happen because people died because of me. My Dad and Baby sister died because I couldn’t control my own fucking quirk.” Hiro shouts, this voice echoing throughout the empty hallway. “And I did it again!”  it’s a whisper, but the pure distress in his voice is apparent. “I got startled, and I used my quirk again! I’m not any better than I was as a goddamn six-year-old!”   

“But you didn’t hurt anyone.” Izuku reassures, trying to keep his voice from cracking as he does his best to comfort. (As he does his best to bury the seething fury and heart wrenching sorrow he feels for his friend.) “You protected us, without you, there was no way we were getting out of that without third degree burns. You showed amazing control and didn’t hurt anyone.”   

He pulls his friend into a tight hug. “You saved us Hiro.”    

And Hiro cries.   

Todoroki Shouto has watched Midoriya intently. And he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand how a powerless student like him keeps pulling out win after win. He doesn’t understand the way the greenette interacts with his friends, like they’ll always have his back, like they aren’t a glaring weakness.  He doesn’t understand how he managed to get him to break his oath. And he definitely doesn’t know how he lost.   

“you made me break my promise.”   

“Promise?” The boy stutters, shaking like a leaf as he stands opposite him in the hallway Shouto chose for this conversation.   

“My fire, I promised myself I would never use it.” Midoriya says nothing, so Shouto continues on.    

“Tell me, do you know what quirk marriages are?”   

The sharp intake of breath tells Todoroki he does. And so, he tells the story of a corrupt hero, a boy who looked too much like his father and a woman who was abused into insanity.   

“-That is why I can’t use his power, why I have to rise to the top with my mother’s quirk alone.” he glares directly at Midoriya. “I won’t lose again.”   

And Izuku, after sitting with a shivering Hiro, tears in his eyes in the throes of a panic attack, Deathly afraid of his past, his quirk, of what he’s capable of, (Of someone else, someone he couldn’t get him to tell him about.) after growing up quirkless, after almost dying at the hands of the careless boy in front of him, after being dragged out after comforting Hiro to this abandoned hallway for Todoroki to do, whatever this is at him, is angry.    

He takes a deep breath and reigns in his emotions. The roiling fury beneath his skin, hidden in the rabbit-like beat of his pulse kept far away from this conversation, to work through later.   

“It’s not his quirk.”   

“What?” Todoroki looks confused, the first emotion other than anger to crack the ice prince’s shell since Izuku was dragged here.   

“Your father, it’s not his quirk. And it’s not your mom’s quirk either. It’s yours and yours alone.” He looks the stunned dual-quirk owner in the eyes and plows on. “Your struggle is valid, your pain is real, and it hurts, but the way you act is disrespectful and dangerous.”   

“It’s what I have to do!”   

“No, no it’s what you want to do. You want to anger your father, you want payback, you want to not face your own issues, and you want to be the strongest without even trying.”   

“That isn’t-”   

Izuku doesn’t let the frustration he feels color his tone. Although his words have plenty of bite spoken the way they are. “I have spent years doing everything in my power to earn my right to stand at the starting line.” He says, unsure if he’s trying to explain or vent a bit of his own frustrations. “I have grown up being told that I will never amount to anything, that I have no value, no power, and no right to dream for anything at all. You have been given god-like power and opportunity on a silver platter and yet you waste it!”   

“You don’t understand, I can’t-”   

And that word burns. Can’t. (He hates that word, hate’s the implications, the comments and derision he associates with it.) “Sure, looked like you could and did to me, launching a wall of fire at a team that might have had no way of dealing with the flames.” And that’s the real problem here. As much as Todoroki’s quirk usage grates at him, the way he flaunts his power without considering the consequences is more important than Izuku’s baggage. “That attack could have killed someone Todoroki.” It’s said calmly, evenly, and with none of the rage Izuku wants to voice. Todoroki looks like being punched in the gut would have been less surprising. “If Hiro’s quirk was anything else, we all would have been charred! Over a school festival when you had nothing to prove!”   

“I-”   

Izuku isn’t done. “You have no control! No discipline, you do whatever you want without thinking about the consequences!” (He thinks of Hiro, trying not to break down because he knows it’s selfish to be scared of his quirk, especially in front of Izuku, who would give anything for a power. Not wanting to be a hero but doing what he can to help regardless. He thinks of Kamiko, who wants to be a hero so desperately but can’t and it makes him feel even angrier. But he can’t take it out on Todoroki, who doesn’t know better, doesn’t know how offensive his actions can be.)   

“I won’t pretend to know your struggles Todoroki, but what you’re doing is selfish, and stupid, and unhealthy.” he takes a deep breath and refocuses on trying to make this better rather than taking out frustration. (But he still needs to understand. Needs to get how dangerous this is through his thick skull.) “And if you didn’t want to use your quirk in any other profession, in any other course, that would be no issue. You could live your life as you pleased.” Izuku stands straight and tall. An unnamable emotion behind his eyes. “But you are in heroics. Which means that you will be responsible for saving lives and protecting innocents. And there will, inevitably, be times when you fail. When your ice won’t be enough.” he takes a deep breath and re-centers himself.   

Todoroki looks like he’s about to speak, about to rebut Izuku’s point.   

Izuku doesn’t let him. “Todoroki, you are letting your father control you. You are letting him define you and your quirk. You aren’t him and you don’t have his quirk. What you decide to do with your power is none of his business. But you can’t keep trying to be a hero and half-assing it or someone will get hurt.”   

Todoroki looks stricken.   

“Because the way you’re going, one day you will have to explain to someone’s mother or child or spouse, that you could have saved them, but you refused to try.”   

“The way you’re going now, I’ll beat you.”    

Izuku turns and storms out of the tunnel.    

Looks like he has two abuse cases to present to Nedzu.

    Lunch is an odd event after his confrontation with Todoroki’s. There’s just so much emotion to process from the last half hour alone. Anger swims in his gut and makes him slightly nauseous. Shock and horror circulate in equal measure. He doesn’t talk much. (or at all, it’s okay though, no one at the table really feels like talking.)   

 Hiro is practically despondent, unwilling to interact with anyone at the table. His eyes are bloodshot, and most everyone is giving him space. Kamiko sits at Hiro’s side, their shoulders pressed together as she fiddles with what appears to be a piece of the motherboard of a one-pointer. Her eyes are red as well. (He wonders if he told her what happened or if she just knew.)   

Mei buzzes silently with anticipation and looks over plans.    

Uraraka is clearly nauseous from quirk overuse, trying to get down a thin broth and a glass of water. Shinsou also looks nauseous, but for a different reason. He looks very nervous. (It makes sense, this is his big debut.)   

Yaoyarozu is eating quickly but elegantly, trying to consume as much as possible before the one v ones. not leaving much time for talking in-between the many dainty bites.    

Tenya is more contemplative, staring off into space. (Thinking about if he’ll be able to make his brother proud.)   

They all have something to prove, something to fight for. They’re going to show the world who they are. And it is going to be glorious.  

Chapter Text

The remaining sixteen competitors are called out to the field to announce the  lineup .  Izuku shifts impatiently as he watches the names pop up on the screen.  Hiro shifts uncomfortably next to him. (He doesn’t want to be here, Izuku can tell, but he’s unwilling to let  himself give in just yet.    

Izuku has his own set of stands that he c an  sit in, as the sole member of class 1-N. He has invited all of his friends to come and sit with him, since the other classes  sections  don’t quit e have enough s eats for them all  to  sit together , and most of them did.  Now Izuku has Tenya to his left and Hiro to his right . Kamiko and Mei are having a not quite casual discussion on pirating laws, Shinsou , Uraraka and Momo  converse i n a corner too far and too quiet for him to quite make out..  

The first match is Shoto Todoroki vs  Hanta  Sero. It’s a short match, ending with  a giant glacier that takes almost twenty minutes and a half dozen quirks to thaw out completely.  (The crowd eats up the impressive display.)  

Next is Denki Kaminari vs Ejiro Kirishima. Izuku doesn’t know too much about either of them. He knows their  quriks  and fighting styles, because of course he does, but he doesn’t know  anything about their personalities. The fight lasts longer than the first, but not by much. Kaminari manages to short circuit a short three minutes into the event, Kirishima managing to  outlast  the electricity and gently lead the dazed blond out of bounds.  

Aoyama and Ashido’s match  are  longer still, but not by much, finishing with an uppercut a mere five minutes into the match.  

The next match is Mei and  Tenya ’ s . It’s... interesting  to watch Mei show off  all of  her new inventions , and  hilarious to watch her and Tenya bounce off each other.   The excessive showboating reminds Izuku of an Infomercial, and it lifts his spirits to laugh   alongside  his friends at the absolute ridiculousness of the matches.  (He feels better, like the world hasn’t ended over the lunch break.)   

The next match is  Yaoyaorozu  vs Shiozaki, and it’s the match before Izuku’s  own, so he makes his way down to the prep rooms. This match is not quite  as long as  Mei and Tenya’s, as Mei had decided to go for a time out before stepping out of the ring. But still far longer than  all  the other matches.  

But it still feels like no time at all before Izuku himself is walking out onto the arena. His  opponent  is Neito Monoma, quirk: copy.   

Neito Monoma is many things to many different people. He is jealous, and petty, and fiercely protective. And all of the class 1-A idiots hogging the spotlight from his classmates, the internalized discrimination makes him want to snarl.   

He had barely made it into the tournament by the skin of his teeth, despite his brilliant strategy. And now he  has to  face  Nedzu’s  golden boy himself. And he wonders what overpowered quirk he’s  going to  have.  

And even more important, he wonders how the golden boy will react when it’s turned back on him.  

Izuku walks into the arena full of nerves and  covered in gear.  

The gear is new to the arena, as Izuku had only just pulled out his own gear to use in the one v ones. To be fair, he isn’t actually covered in gear, but after spending the better part of the morning in only his light gym uniform, it feels like he ’s coated in a thick layer of technology.   

Regardless, there are options to choose from.   

He had set out and gotten approved a great variety of gear for the sports festival. Nearly twenty pieces in total. He could  have  use d  any or all of them. But it  fel t ...  cheap to rely so much on technology.  (Technology can be broken after all.)  

He needs to market himself as a hero, so he  s h ould  use as little gear  as possible,  but he also needs to market himself as an inventor , which he can’t do without showing off a variety of gear .  It’s a vicious cycle.     

He  ended up discarding a great deal of his gear in the waiting room.     All of  his consumables  had found  their way onto the bench , along with a thick black  utility  belt. Several  smoke bombs, each full of a special chemical designed to mimic Midnight’s quirk  quickly followed .   

He allow ed  himself a couple of things.   His hands are  protected  by reinforced gloves , his backup pair, the ones without the taser s  built in.  His feet are covered by a pair of bright red sneakers with steel toes and hard soles.  A pair of goggles rest among his curls ;  No real purpose  to them  but to keep things out of his eyes. A thick mask sits around his neck, designed to filter out dangerous gasses and aerosols.     

He  had stared at  his   collapsed  staff  for a long time , but eventually  decided to leave it behind.   

He wanted to be a support hero, of course he did, but he is so much more than his technology in the way that everyone in the hero course is so much more  than  their quirk. He wants to prove that he, as himself, is good enough. That he can be a hero.    

He is armed and ready. Even if he can’t quite escape the jitters and nerves in his stomach.   

He walks into the arena with his head held high, and the crowd screams.  

Monoma had miscalculated.   

Monoma had gravely miscalculated.  

This is an epiphany he has while dodging the high kick of his  opponent . A  statement drummed into his brain as he weaves around a kick, as he is slowly boxed closer and closer to the edge of the arena.  A truth that feels like it’ll be etched into his bones as he hears a sharp crack of something giving way under the strain of being judo flipped.  

He had started the event with the quirks of two of his classmates ;   B ig  F ist and  Solid Air.   Nedzu’s  golden child had stayed on the defensive for the most part. Practically dancing around his attacks. Monoma  had  spat insults all the while.  

Monoma had been unable to touch Midoriya. The green haired boy being careful to ensure not an ounce of skin ever made contact.   

Now, five minutes in, Monoma can no longer use his borrowed quirks. And his hand to hand, while admirable, is nothing in comparison to the monster in front of him.   

Monoma scrambles to his feet. Eyes wild as he searches from an escape from the assault. He has barely two feet between him and the corner of the arena.   

He suddenly lunges, and Midoriya blocks easily, but Monoma manages to just barely graze his forearm!  

And his stomach plummets. There’s no rush of power, no sudden ability. .. j ust, emptiness.    

“Quirkless.” Is the word that comes out of his mouth. Unbidden and  slightly  awed.  

Midoriya’s eyes narrow slightly, studying him, before his body snaps into movement once more .  

Monoma isn’t even sure what Midoriya even did. The movement was fast and clean. And Monoma found himself stumbling out of bounds.  

Midnight ends the match swiftly after that, and Monoma storms out of the arena, unsure of what to do with the swirling emotions in his chest.  

The next match is Bakugo Katsuki vs Uraraka Ochako. And Izuku is amazed by Uraraka’s skill. She dodges Bakugo’s attacks well, and uses a  brilliant strategy to try and beat him. She still loses, but it’s a close thing.  So, so close. (Izuku is so proud of her!)  

He knows that Hiro fully intends on throwing his match with  Shinsou , so he quickly makes his way down to the prep rooms to give Uraraka support and possibly a hug if she allows it.  

Uraraka Ochako cannot name the swirling emotions which tighten her chest and burn  her eyes and clog up her throat. She can’t put a description to the feeling that makes her feel both hot in the face and chest while  numb in her hands and back. Doesn’t know how to explain the feeling that settles around her neck like a collar, choking her with emotion.  (It’s shame, and  disappointment , and anger, and the pain of so close  but not enough .)  

She’s crying now. The nameless emotion spilling out of her through her eyes and her  hiccupping  sobs.   

She means to phone her parents. To tell them she’s sorry, that she’ll do better next time. To hear their words of gently encouragement.   

She doesn’t.  

She does startle when Midoriya, her friend, an inventor and an analyst and a hero, her hero, barges through the door to the prep room she settled in with purpose.  

She tries to halt the sobs, and mostly succeeds, but fails to stop the tears streaming down her face.  

Midoriya doesn’t seem to mind, his face softens, and he moves closer to her slowly.  

He sits down across from her, eyes gentle and smile soft. “Hey.” is what he starts with. A single word, a hello.  

Uraraka sniffs and returns the greeting.  

Midoriya’s smile widens a fraction. “ For what it’s worth, I think y ou did really well.” He tells her,  like it’s fact , like she didn’t lose . “You fought in a way that was so very clever. ”  

“But I lost.”  she wasn’t enough, will never be enough.  

“Maybe, but you  definitely  gave him a run for his money. You showed off your ability to plan, your ability to think, your ability to fight. That’s the point of the sports festival you know.”  

And she does, now that she thinks about it. She remembers him saying that. Saying that the point isn’t to win, it’s “To be remembered.”  

“And they’re definitely  going to  remember you, the girl who caused a meteor shower, who defied all expectations. ” he gives a small chuckle   “ You  definitely  did better than me in that respect.”  

Ochako   fights  the urge to whine “But your fight was so impressive!”   

“Technically sure, but it wasn’t the least bit memorable, just two guys, duking it out, hand to hand. Nothing like what you pulled.”  

Ochako  gives into  the urge to pout. And Midoriya smiles  in return , all sugar sweet and  bright .  She wipes at her eyes. The feeling has lessened, not gone, but it’s smaller now, more manageable.  

“ Do you want a hug?” Midoriya asks, soft and kind and easy.  

And Ochako does.  She does want a hug, wants the physical comfort that a hug can provide. And she wants that comfort from Midoriya. Who is bright and kind and saved  her.  Who taught her some hand to hand moves when she mentioned wanting to learn but being unable to afford formal training.  Who offered to help build her gear and work on her quirk. Who’s her friend.   

“Yeah.....”  

And  so  she gets one. And it crosses her mind that Midoriya is really, really good at hugging people.  

Hiro makes his way to the prep room groggily. Eyes unfocused and blinking the sleep from his eyes. (Which burn by the way, the side effect of all the tears he shed earlier. Talk about a pain in the ass.)  He knows he has to give  Shinsou  a good fight. But damn if he doesn’t want to just  forfeit .   

It’s as he’s making his way to the prep room that he runs into the flaming  trash bag  himself. Now, Hiro has a lot of opinions about Endeavor. None of them are positive, but he does have them. None of them fit into the worldview of the number two hero  (in more ways  that  one given that he’s a piece of shit.)   threatening his son in the middle of a public hallway. Like.... what the actual fuck?  

Is  this what child abuse looks like from the outside? No wonder Miko’s always so pissed at his stepmom. He’d be pissed too. Now that he thinks about it,  that might be the first time he admitted that he is experiencing child abuse.... in order to make a mental jab at  Endeawhore ....  huh,  that’s actually pretty on brand.  

He pushes that mental breakdown aside for later.  

Now Hiro has a decision to make. He could keep walking, keep trying to wake himself up and reduce the chances of setting off his already fragile emotions.  

Or, and this is the important part, he can intervene in a way that is absolutely hilarious and post the footage online after the festival.   

Hiro, being the chaos gremlin with poor  impulse  control he is, obviously chooses the latter.  

So he grabs the fire extinguisher off of the wall, and fiddles with it to get it working.  

This is such a bad idea, he only just got back from his last suspension, but by god this is too good an opportunity to resist. He says nothing, but taps the number two hero on the shoulder   - causing  Endeawhore  to turn around in an angry rage. Which is basically calm for him - a nd sprays the contents of the fire extinguisher directly onto Endeavors flaming face.  

Hitoshi enters the field well aware that Hiro is far from his best. He looks haggard and worn and Hiro doesn’t really know why. All he knows is that Hiro likely won’t put up a good fight. Which kind of sucks since he needs to be impressive to transfer into the hero course.  

But he  isn’t angry about it. Although he does feel a bit frustrated.   So  he’s surprised when Hiro enters the arena practically skipping. Clearly something wonderful had occurred in between when he saw Hiro last and now. Or at least, something wonderful to Hiro.  He has long  sinced  learned that their opinions on wonderful don’t exactly match up.  

So  Shinsou  readies himself to fight. He knows that nothing he says will get Hiro to use his quirk, and he wants to keep it a secret if possible. His Improvised capture weapon and the voice modifying face mask sit around his neck.   

Midnight cracks her whip, and they begin.  

Shinsou’s  training has been hellish, but it didn’t focus much on strength. There simply wasn’t enough time to build enough to make a difference.  So,  he worked on flexibility, quirk control, and technique.  He plans on showing all of that off in this match, and Hiro looks more than happy to indulge him.  

Izuku and Uraraka make their way back into the stands just in time to catch Hiro throwing a vicious right hook, which Hiro ducks under with grace.   

“What happened?” Izuku can’t help but ask, because this was very unexpected.  

Kamiko, as always, is a bastion of unhelpful information. “Hiro met Endeavor in the hallways.”  

Izuku  has to  take a moment to try and process that. Because.... how would that possibly help in any way shape or form.   

Kamiko ends up showing the entire group the video she caught via security cameras. And it’s.... it’s something alright.  

Izuku looks back to the fight, where Hiro and  Shinsou  continue to duke it out.  

The fight ends when  Shinsou  finally manages to loop his capture weapon around Hiro, and  usses  the leverage to toss  the other student out of boun ds.  

Midnight calls the match, and  Shinsou  helps Hiro to his feet.   

He successfully managed to get through the first round with an impressive fight, without having to reveal his quirk or the secrets hidden within his capture weapon.  

All in all, it’s a good way to end the first round.  

Chapter Text

Hey everyone!

First of all I want to give a huge shoutout to all of the people who have read and enjoyed this story, you guys are the best.

As several people have guessed, this story is on Hiatus, sorry for not putting that out sooner. There’s a couple reasons for this,

1) I am no longer in long lectures that I can’t listen to without falling asleep, so I am no longer writing fic to stay awake in class

2) I graduated, so I am now working a full time job and have way less free time than I was before, (Even if I love my job)

3) I broke my laptop that had both my outline and chapter backlog on it, and don’t know what was supposed to happen next, and can’t come up with a satisfying ending

4) The story of MHA is longer now, and what little I remember having planned is terrible in comparison. When I started writing I had only seen up to the end of the sports festival.

5) I am no longer really in the BNHA fandom :/, nothing against the fandom it just doesn’t produce the serotonin like it used to.

6) I’m trying really hard to write and publish and original work right now.

Nevertheless this work isn’t necessarily abandoned, I may one day get completely sucked in to my hero and write for this fic again. But for now it is on Hiatus.

Once again thank all of you for this amazing experience, I loved interacting with all of y’all!