Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Today we’ll be learning about quirklessness,” Aizawa sighed, writing the words on the chalkboard. “That includes laws, fighting techniques and history.”

He normally wouldn’t teach the course until their second or third year, but he decided that now was better choice, considering what happened at Kamino. He hoped that the lesson and the recent villain attack would help them understand that quirks weren’t everything.

There were typically two types of reactions he got when his class reached this unit. Confusion, which was understandable. Quirklessness was rare these days, with only about 20% of the population not having one. The other one he understood, but hated. It was a mixture of pity and superiority. Over the years, he learned it was due to quirk superiority, where the weaker quirks were looked down upon, while stronger quirks were praised. 

He turned around and made note of everyone’s reaction. Surprisingly, there was a reaction he wasn’t expecting, from two people. Bakugo and Midoriya. Their faces were void of any emotion, but their body language seemed determined and a bit angry. Although he had an idea of what was happening, he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. Especially since he didn’t have all the answers. 

“Sensei, may I ask why this is a relevant subject to our path as heroes?” Iida asked, raising his hand and standing from his seat. He was frowning, although it was hard to tell whether it was from confusion, or something else. 

“Yeah Sensei, how are quirkless people going to affect us?” Mina asked. She was slumped in her seat, obviously not excited about the topic.

“You are heroes, your work affects everyone,” Aizawa stated simply. “You need to learn how it affects you.”

“But there’s really no point to them right? I mean, the quirkless population is decreasing, so is there really a point?”

Aizawa noticed how Midoriya’s grip around his pencil tightened a bit, and he was looking at the desk now. Bakugo looked like he was seconds away from destroying everything, although he always looked like that.

“The quirkless population is 20%, yes,” Aizawa stated. “However, even if they were to ‘die out’ due to evolution, to put it simply, it will still take years to do so. 20% seems like a small number, but if you apply it to the world’s population, you’d be surprised by how many quirkless people are still out there.”

“I don’t get the point Sensei,” Todoroki piped in, his hand half-raised. “There’s no point to them, so why are we learning about them?”

“Yeah, quirkless people are weaker so they should just run and hide when a fight happens!” Uraraka added. “That way they won’t inconvenience us and they don’t get hurt.”

“That does make sense,” Yaoyorozu said, deep in thought. “They are less evolved than people with quirks if I remember correctly. They still have two pinky toe bones I believe.”

“They’re just useless in society now. Why are they still around?” Mashiro frowned. 

Aizawa wasn’t prepared for a desk to be thrown outside the classroom, breaking the glass and wall, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of class. After getting over his shock, he turned towards the perpetrator, only to freeze when he saw who it was. 

Midoriya was still sitting in his seat, head bowed down toward the empty space where his desk used to be. His breathing seemed a bit erratic, and if he looked close enough, he seemed to be shaking. 

“Midoriya! This is highly inappropriate! Destroying schoo-” Iida said, beginning to scold him for his actions.

“Shut. Up.”

Everyone froze. No one had ever heard Midoriya cuss before, which was already shocking in itself seeing as he grew up with Bakugo. But it wasn’t what made them freeze. It was the cold tone in his voice that turned their veins into ice. Sweet Midoriya, who used to stutter and mumble his words. Never did they once think that he had the ability to make them react that way. 

“M-Mido-”

“I said to shut up,” he said, lifting his head from the ground. 

His eyes. Full of kindness and hope, had turned into anger and determination. They darted around the room, taking in everyone’s reaction. Satisfied with the effect he had, he turned towards the teacher. 

“Aizawa-sensei, how long is this course supposed to be?” he asked.

“Typically two weeks, but if I feel like the class hasn’t gotten a good grasp of what I’m trying to teach them, then I’d extend it to the third week,” Aizawa answered slowly, not exactly sure what Midoriya was getting at. 

“If you don’t mind, would you allow me to take over for a week and teach them about quirklessness?” Midoriya asked, staring his teacher straight in the eye, something he was never able to do before. He’d always look away, flustered that he was talking to one of his favorite heroes. 

Aizawa stared back, trying to see if he could figure out what was going on with his student. How did he know so much about quirklessness? And why did he have that reaction towards it? He wasn’t sure what made him do it, but he slowly nodded. 

“I’d like to speak with you during lunch about your reasoning. Bring in a lesson plan as well if you are serious about it. But for now, why don’t you come up here and give the class a basic rundown on quirklessness, and based on the accuracy on the information you give, it might convince me even more to let you have a week,” Aizawa said, taking a step back from the podium and sitting at his desk. 

He watched as Midoriya slowly got to his feet and started to walk to the front. He was stopped by Bakugo, who gave him a look that seemed to hold a lot of meaning. Midoriya shook his head and kept walking forward until he faced the class as he stood behind the podium.

~

“Quirkless people make up 20 percent of the world’s population. However, new statistics show that that number has dropped down to 19 percent since the last census 2 years ago. Seeing as how the census is taken every four years, the one percent drop is a large amount considering that it is roughly 78,000,000 quirkless people that died, and that’s only the ones that are accounted for. Seeing as how on average, 55 million people die each year, that means 39,000,000 quirkless people died within the past two years. Only 14 million deaths a year are from quirked people,” Izuku stated, writing down the math on the board. He didn’t turn around to face his classmates. He was too angry at them. They didn’t understand. No one understood. 

He had gotten used to Yuuei. To having a quirk. He had forgotten who he was. Who he’d always be.  He may have a quirk now, but he will always remember who he was-is, quirkless. 

The treatment he had gotten, the looks, the stares, the inequality he faced, he never forgot. Katsuki had learned it the hard way when they got into an argument. Midoriya Izuku always forgave everyone, but he would never forget, and he’d remind you of it every chance he got. 

“What do you mean the ones that are accounted for?” Aizawa frowned, sitting up in his seat. He wasn’t aware of this information.

“Seventy two percent of quirkless deaths are a result of suicide. Only ten percent of those deaths are identified and claimed. The others are just incinerated and the ashes thrown away,” Izuku stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

He had searched it up after his own attempt. He was sure that the world would have been glad to add him to those numbers, but he wouldn’t give them that satisfaction. If he went down, then he’d take all of them down with him. He’d make sure of that.

“Only 15 percent of quirkless people are able to find jobs after high school. If they can even find a school to attend. Most high schools and colleges don’t allow quirkless people to attend. There is no reason other than ‘Those with quirks are deemed unable to attend high school due to their poor intellect,’” Izuku stated. His hands tightened around the podium, his knuckles white. He eyed his classmates, not quite sure how he felt. 

Angry? He can’t get angry over their opinion. As wrong and horrible as it is, he knew that it was something he couldn’t get mad. Disappointed? They couldn’t help not understanding what he went through. They didn’t know what it was really like. 

“That makes sense though?” Tsu asked, her head tilted to the side. “If they are not as evolved as we are-”

“Quirkless people face discrimination every day of their lives. In school, they are bullied, attacked, abused, and no one bats an eye. The teachers don’t help, they stand and watch by, some even instigating it themselves,” Izuku growled, remembering the numerous times he was pushed down the stairs, shoved into lockers, given detention for breathing too loud. “They grade the quirkless even harsher, and fail them despite the fact that the work is correct. They are being denied an education before they can even get one.”

“Midoriya, I can’t believe you would make up stories like that,” Uraraka frowned. “There’s no way that teachers would just watch it happen.”

“Yeah dude, if you’re gonna make stuff up, at least make it plausible,” Kirishima said, shaking his head. “Not manly at all.”

“I know bullying happens, but I agree with Uraraka. Teachers wouldn’t just stand there and do nothing,” Jirou said, not even bothering to look interested.

“I see,” Izuku stated. His gaze swept over the classroom.

They wouldn’t understand. They would never understand. Even now, when he’s trying to teach them, to try and get them to understand, they just dismiss it. 

“What’s your guy's opinions on quirkless people?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, yet everyone heard it.

“They’re useless, aren’t they? They can’t really contribute to society.”

“Quirkless people are just weaker and need to be protected.”

“I heard that being quirkless was a disease and that you could catch it. It wouldn’t affect you, but it would affect your children.”

“What can they do?”

“They’re probably just using the quirkless thing as an excuse to not get a job.”

“I doubt what Midoriya says is true. It seems very unlikely.”

So, it was true. They would never understand.

He opened his mouth, only to pause, unsure if he wanted to ask them the question that would change everything. He made eye contact with Kacchan, who held his gaze. It comforted him, knowing that he wasn’t the only one that understood. It was under the reassuring gaze of his childhood friend that he found the strength to ask the question.

“Can someone who is quirkless become a hero?” 

It was silent. No one answered as they processed the question.

“What are you talking about Midoriya? Of course not!”

“Yeah, they’re weaker than we are, they need to be protected, not fighting villains.”

“What use are they in a fight against a quirk?”

“They’d just get in the way of the real heroes.”

“Why do you care so much about quirkless people anyway?”

“Why do I care about quirkless people?” he asked, repeating the question back at Kaminari. “Because if I don’t, then who will?”

The bell rang, but no one moved from their seats. Everyone was watching Midoriya, and he them. 

“Tomorrow, when you come in for homeroom, I will treat each and every one of you what it feels like to be quirkless as a middle schooler, seeing as how they can’t even attend high school,” he stated softly. “I will be enlisting the help of other people. I will go over things with Aizawa-sensei so I do not go too far. Whatever happens tomorrow, I wish you the very best.”

With that he left the classroom with Aizawa and Bakugo following after him, the class still silent when the next lesson started. 

~

“Problem child,” Aizawa sighed, looking at the two students sitting in front of him. “Do you mind explaining?”

“I’m sure you’ve read my files Sensei,” Izuku replied. “I think you can understand why I reacted the way I did.”

“Nothing in your files indicates anything to your reasoning. Except, perhaps a phone call from your middle school warning us about you faking your quirk. We dismissed it immediately seeing as how it broke your arm during the entrance exam,” Aizawa said, rubbing his temples. He didn’t get enough for this.

“I didn’t get my quirk until the day of the entrance exam Sensei.”

“What.”

“I’ll go into detail, but I want to do this with All Might, Mirio and Nezu present. I-i made a decision,” he said, trying to swallow the heaviness in his throat. 

“Wait, Iz-”

“I’ve made my choice Kacchan. And I’m sticking with it.”

He turned to look at his childhood best friend, hoping that he could feel the determination and commitment he had already made.

“Iz-”

“You called me Deku for a reason, Kacchan.”

Aizawa looked at them, his gaze switching from one boy to the other. He seemed to understand what Izuku meant when he said he was called Deku for a reason, but nothing seemed to add up.

Kacchan didn’t say anything, but after several seconds, he nodded.

“I forgive you Kacchan, but not every quirkless person has someone to help them, to look up to. I want to be that person for them,” Izuku whispered, reaching over to grab his friend’s hand.

“I’ll support you. No matter what,” Kacchan said, squeezing his hand.

“So are you going to tell me what’s happening or am I just going to have to figure it out with all this cryptic shit?” Aizawa asked, tired of everything. 

“Sorry sensei! It’s just that, this is very confidential information. But I’m going to need your help, which is why I want you at the meeting as well,” Izuku said. He swallowed, suddenly nervous about telling his teacher. He wasn’t sure where the confidence went, but he tried to muster enough courage as he looked his teacher in the eye. “I want to become the first quirkless hero.”

~

“I see,” Nezu said, taking a sip of his tea. 

It was silent in the office, despite the six people that were sitting there, having listened to Izuku’s decision. 

“While I cannot stop you from giving your quirk away, you becoming quirkless once more will have consequences. And I’m quite certain that you would not be happy with what it entails,” Nezu hummed, his tail swishing back and forth. 

“I believe we can come to an agreement,” Izuku said, maintaining eye contact with the rodent. 

“Oh? And why is that?” 

He didn’t answer. His eyes flickered back towards Mirio and All Might, who watched him silently. He lifted a hand and plucked a strand of hair out, before offering it to Mirio.

“My boy, are yo-”

“Take it and leave All Might,” Izuku said, cutting off the former number one hero. His voice was strained, and he didn’t even bother to look at the hero. “I remember your position on quirkless people. As hypocritical as they may be, they are not needed at this moment. Mirio, aim to be a good hero, not a great one.”

“What do you mean ‘his position on quirkless people?” Aizawa asked, frowning. 

“Seeing as how everyone here now knows the secret of One For All, All Might was quirkless before he was given the quirk,” Izuku explained, leaning back on his seat. His voice was soft, barely reaching the ears of those around him.“The day I met him, I asked him if I could become a hero without a quirk. He told me no. So, if you would please leave All Might, because the conversation I will be having here with Nezu is something I want only those who believe in me to be present. And from what I recall, you are not among those people.”

“What do you mean he told you that you couldn’t be a hero?” Aizawa was glaring at All Might, waves of anger rolling off him. 

“If we could get back on topic,” Izuku said, getting impatient. 

All Might looked at Nezu before walking out with Mirio. The third year was silent the entire time, most likely debating whether or not it was something he wanted to do. He had never known that he was the original person the quirk was supposed to be given to and was honored, but it meant that Izuku would be quirkless again. 

“How about we talk over a game of chess?” 

“Oh?” Nezu mused, walking over to his bookcase. He stood there for a moment before pulling out an older looking chessboard. He set in on the table and started to put the pieces in place. “What an interesting way to start.”

“I’ve heard many reasons as to why I can’t be a hero,” Izuku said, his eyes watching Nezu intently. He let out a small huff of amusement when he noticed that Nezu let him be white, giving him the first move in the game. “One of which is that we lack intelligence. So why not convince you and derail that theory in one go?”

“I’m impressed Midoriya, you seem to have thought this out,” Nezu said, sitting back in his seat. 

“Of course. I always wanted to be a hero, regardless of whether I had a quirk or not,” Izuku replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I have to warn you, I’ve never lost a game of chess before.”

Nezu smiled at him, but he knew it was anything but friendly. His eyes were sharp, calculating; he was taking apart Izuku piece by piece in his head, to find his weakness and pit it against him. It was unfortunate for him that in this circumstance, Izuku had the upper hand.

“I never thought you of a liar, Principal Nezu,” Izuku said. He leaned forward and spun the board around, so that Nezu had the white pieces. “After all, I even give you the advantage of going first every time we play now, don’t I?” 

The smile dropped from Nezu’s face. His eyes widened in shock as he realized who was sitting in front of him. The teacup in his hand shook for a brief moment before falling to the ground. 

Aizawa stated in shock. Never had he seen Nezu waste tea before. His boss always finished the pot, no matter what. He was wondering what Izuku had done to break the rodent, when he started laughing. His head was thrown back as he roared with laughter, his whole body shaking. 

“Pandora?” Nezu said, trying to catch his breath. “Is that actually you?”

“Would I ever lie to you?” Izuku smirked, pleased with the outcome. “Now, are you in, or are you out?”

He didn’t hesitate.

“It’s nice to be working with you Midoriya,” Nezu said, his smile feral.

“Likewise.”

“Should I be scared right now?” Aizawa asked Bakugo. He wasn’t sure what was happening but his instincts were yelling at him to run.

“Just pray that they like you enough to be spared,” Kacchan whispered back. “Also, I’d check your email. Damn nerd sent you the lesson plans on the way here. The treatment for quirkless people, it’s horrible. Everything he wrote down is already toned down, but it’s not much better than what they actually face.”

“Do I want to ask?” 

“They have a book on heroes and the hero commission of all the bad things they do and stuff. They call it the burn book.”

“Do I get a backstory, or am I just going to be kept in the dark this whole time?” Aizawa drawled, addressing the room at large. 

Izuku paused. He had honestly forgotten the others in the room. He turned to look at his teacher, frowning. Aizawa had proven himself trustworthy time and time again, going so far to protect the class that he claimed to hate. 

“All in due time Sensei,” Izuku said, smirking. “For now, we have a lesson plan to go over. I have a point to prove, after all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Quirkless people don’t need to be protected. We’re the people you need to be protected from. We are not weak, but we’re a force to be reckoned with. And it’s time that the hero commision and world learns that those of us with weaker, useless, or in my case, no quirk, are here to make a stand and we’re not going down without a fight.” 

Chapter Text

No one knew what to expect in class the next day. Not after Midoriya’s declaration before storming out of class yesterday. No one saw him or Bakugo after they left the class. Not even in the dorms.

So when Iida arrived his customary thirty minutes before class, he was quite confused when he was met with a locked door. He tried the back door, only to be met with the same result. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but perhaps it was due to Midoriya’s new lesson plan. So he stood diligently outside the classroom.

One by one, more students arrived at school only to find themselves waiting outside for Aizawa to let them in. It didn’t take long for them to notice how other students would shove them a bit as they walked past, or laughed at them.

Soon, everyone was present except Midoriya and Bakugo.

The bell rang and they were still stuck outside.

“Like I said yesterday….”

If they listened very carefully, they could hear Midoriya start the lesson inside. Starting to panic, they began to knock on the door. When there was no response from the inside to open it, they started knocking on the doo a bit louder.

After about five minutes of banging on the door, Vlad King poked his head out from the classroom next door.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he barked at them. “Why aren’t you in class? Detention for all of you!”

“But-”

The door finally opened.

“You’re late,” Midoriya stated, his voice cold. “Seeing as how Vlad King already punished you, you should be lucky I won’t extend the duration of your detention.”

“The door was locked!” Kirishima blurted out.

Midoriya’s green eyes turned towards the red head.

“Another day of detention for talking back,” Midoriya stated, before walking back to the podium.

The class was unsure, hesitant of the way Midoriya was acting. He wasn’t acting like himself, and remembering that Toga had a transformation quirk, they put up their guard. Only to lower it immediately when they saw the writing on their desks.

“What is this?” Yaoyorozu asked, reading the words on her desk. ‘You’re worthless.’ ‘Give up.’ ‘Attention whore.’

“Midoriya! This is too much! While this is an example of bullying, you can-”

“Bakugo.”

The word was spoken softly, but everyone could hear the murderous intent behind it.

Almost immediately, Bakugo stood up from his desk and aimed an explosion at Iida, who was caught off guard. Unable to dodge in time, Iida ended up taking the full force of the explosion, although it was on a smaller scale.

“Deku-kun! Did you just tell Bakugo to attack Iida?” Uraraka gasped, turning towards Midoriya.

He stared at her before slowly blinking.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Everyone, in your seats,” Midoriya said. He glanced at the clock on the wall. “Iida, go to the nurses’ office on your own time. God knows that you stupid quirkless children can barely pass my class. You need all the time learning that you can get. We’re now ten minutes into the lesson, and that is ten minutes of valuable teaching time. Everyone besides Bakugo and Shinsou will write a ten thousand word essay on why punctuality is important, due tomorrow morning at the beginning of class.”

“You can’t just-”

“Thanks to Hagakure, that’s another thousand words. Does anyone else have anything to say?” Midoriya asked, his eyes sweeping across the classroom. When no one spoke, he continued. “Yesterday, we touched base on quirkless statistics. Today, we’ll be debunking every stereotype and prejudice against them.”

He stepped out from behind the podium and started walking down the rows. His steps were slow, but deliberate. He seemed to be making sure that everyone heard his footsteps as his shoes clacked against the floor.

“Tokoyami, another day of detention because Dark Shadow isn’t facing the front of the class.”

Everyone resisted the urge to look at their fellow classmate and immediately turned forward.

“I believe the one that was repeated the most yesterday was that quirkless people aren’t as evolved,” he stated, turning back around and walking to the front of the class now. “But that is completely wrong. Does anyone know how?”

No one answered. Those sitting behind him watched him warily, unsure of what was going to happen next. Those in front worried if he was going to go after them next.

“Because those in the quirkless population have been proven to be just as evolved as quirked people,” Bakugo answered, his hand half raised.

“Correct. In previous studies, it has been proven easy to determine if one has a quirk or not. Those with quirks will have only one pinky toe bone, instead of two,” he explained, drawing a diagram on the board. “However, it was recently discovered that the quirkless population has evolved as well, although not in the same place. Instead of losing a pinky toe joint, they no longer have an appendix, an organ in the abdomen that was once used to digest bones in the earlier times of civilization.

“So in theory, quirkless people are even more evolved. The pinky toe joint is useless, yes, but compared to the appendix, the loss of the bone is certainly less significant. It was useless in the beginning when man evolved, and has stayed over the years.”

He turned back around to face the class.

“What other remarks were made yesterday?” he mused. He raised an eyebrow at Uraraka. “Quirkless people are weaker? That is false. Due to the lack of a quirk, quirkless people have to work harder to get things done. People won’t be contracted for them, so they are often left to DIY projects. This includes moving, construction and heavy lifting. Because they are denied the treatment of a human being, they are forced to become stronger physically to survive every day.”

“Being quirkless is a disease.”

He scoffed.

“If you honestly believe that, then I am very disappointed in you. Quirkless people cannot be blamed for their parents' genetics. Just as those with “villainous” quirks cannot be blamed for their parents quirk combining into making it what it is. Being born without a quirk is not a disease, or a sad fact of life. It is natural, and beautiful, the opposite of what others see. In front of you, all you see is a quirkless person. But how does that make them any different? They are born as nature intended, quirk free and original.”

The bell rang.

“I expect your assignments on the desk tomorrow before the bell rings,” he stated curtly before stepping away from the podium. “And just a reminder, the other teachers and staff, as well as select students know about this assignment. They will treat you just as I have today, the same treatment that quirkless people experience. You will only have to face it for this unit, or even less if I believe you truly understand.”

With that, he walked out of the classroom, Aizawa following after him as Present Mic walked in. Surely the boisterous English teacher couldn’t be that bad, right?

“Sato, stand outside. Your presence is bothering me.”

~

“So, why am I involved again?” Aizawa grumbled, slouching in his chair. There was a thick file in front of him and he was expected to read through it and partially memorize it.

“Because you are a child of chaos as well aren’t you?” Izuku frowned. He was sure that his background check was correct. “Weren’t you Nezu’s personal student when you were a student here?”

Aizawa choked on his spit.

Oh. So he was correct.

“How do you know about that?”

“Being denied an education and social life left me a lot of time on the computer,” Izuku shrugged. It was true anyway. He learned everything online, including how to code, program and hack. He assumed it would be useful as a hero as well, but apparently that type of work was left to underground heroes or those in the support course.

He shifted through the papers once more and made a mental checklist.

“I’m ready to start posting on the forums whenever you want,” he stated, not bothering to look away at the report. “The timing and current events may affect the order in which it’s posted though.”

“That’s quite alright. We always need to leave a little wiggle room in case things don’t go according to plan.”

Izuku frowned as he got to the bottom of the report. He reread it twice, the second time scanning through it, but the

“Why are you taking down Hawks?” he asked Nezu, gesturing towards the piece of paper in his hand. “He plays an optimal role in taking down the Hero Commission.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Aizawa asked, sitting up straight. His eyes widened, showing that he was paying attention to the conversation.

“You seriously don’t know?”

He turned towards Nezu, shocked that the principal hadn’t seen it yet. The clues were obviously there. Or perhaps it was so obvious that others couldn’t tell.

“I know the basic information on him. He was taken in by the Hero Commission who helped train him to become a hero. Or you implying that my knowledge is wrong?” Nezu asked, his head tilting to the side.

“You honestly don’t know.”

Izuku paused, trying to process it. He tried to think of a way to say it without making it seem worse than it actually was. But it was difficult to say that the current number two hero was bought from his parents for a large sum of money and raised by the Hero Commission to basically become a child soldier. Where should he start? His ori-

“Midoriya,” Nezu said, interrupting his thoughts. “Would you please repeat that back to me?”

Izuku looked up. Oh, was he muttering again? He’d have to stop that habit if-

“Problem child,” Aizawa sighed.

“Oh, sorry. But, Hawks’ origin story is that he was scouted by the commission after saving people from a car accident. They took him in to train him. However, he was never mentioned again after that until after his debut as a hero. Typically, those trained by the Hero Commission have published reports on their training so that the public may follow along,” Izuku explained. “This is usually done so that it gives the public a sense of familiarity with the hero. If they watch him train and grow to be a hero, they’ll feel closer and safer with said hero.”

“I’m assuming that there were no reports on Hawks?” Nezu asked. “It could be that he was trained for underground heroics instead, but they switched him to limelight at the last minute.”

“I’ll get to that later. He came from Kyushu, a relatively poor island. But after tracking down his family, they seemed to have gone from rags to riches. And considering the rather quick speed it happened after Hawks started training, I got curious and delved deeper.”

“And you found that money was being transferred into his family’s bank account,” Nezu concluded. “Since you’ve hacked their system, I assume that’s where you’ve found the private records of Hawks’ training? Send me the evidence and I’ll revise the plans. For now, we discuss the more important matters.”

“Everyone at the school is on board,” Aizawa replied. “And they’re prepared to tell their own stories.”

“Good. My contacts are also in agreement,” Nezu stated, marking down something on a sheet of paper. “Midoriya?”

“I’ve spread the word. Rumors are spreading. I heard some whispers on the street when I walked around last night,” Izuku responded. “Not sure if it went internationally yet, but it’s spreading quickly.”

“And you’re sure that it’ll stay under wraps?”

Izuku scoffed.

“Of course it will. Do you think quirked people interact with the quirkless? We’re social pariahs, no one wants to be seen with us,” Izuku muttered bitterly. “Not to mention that we’re good at keeping secrets. How do you think I got so smart in the first place?”

“I assumed you learned everything yourself online,” Aizawa frowned. He pulled out a jelly pouch and slurped it down.

“I did, but because we have so much free time to learn what we want, we have made many strides. On the surface we appear weaker and smaller as to divert people’s attention from our true selves. While there’s only a small percentage of us, there is a small population among the quirkless who act as vigilantes or informants around the world,” Izuku explained. “We hide behind screens and help those in need where heroes and the police can’t reach. We are the middle men, the law does not apply to us. We are free.”

“And what I saw in class today?”

“Exactly the treatment I received at my middle school,” he confirmed softly.

He never really liked to dwell on the past. It was hard to think about when he wanted to move on and leave it all behind. But he knew that he could never forget about what they’ve done to him. Izuku wanted to be the bigger person and walk away from everything, but deep down, he knew he’d never be able to move on without correcting everything. Without making things right.

“Do you want us to take it down?” Nezu asked patiently.

“No.”

He turned to look the Principal in the eyes.

“I’ve been planning to take it down for years. I’m not letting anyone one else touch Aldera,” he replied.

If he were to see the kind of expression that was on his face, he’d think that he was a villain. But all it did was cause Nezu to laugh at the chaos that was to come while Aizawa did his best to not push the boy any further.

~

Izuku walked into the cafeteria. He was very aware of the looks he was getting from his classmates and from the others involved in the project. Glancing at the different tables, he made note of what happened to who.

Iida had his uniform stolen, leaving him to wear his gym uniform. Uraraka didn’t have a lunch, so he assumed that someone tripped her. Someone spread a false report card of Kaminari and people were making fun of him. Previous scandals in Yaoyorozu's company began to come to light again, making students glare at her for something she had no control over. People threw bread crumbs at Kouda, making him cower.

He sat down next to Kacchan, who had saved him a katsudon for lunch.

“Thanks Kacchan,” he muttered, slumping down.

“Overwork that little brain of yours?” he grunted, shoving a spoon into his mouth. “Where are you starting at?”

“Hero forums. I’m going to start targeting heroes, point out their obvious flaws,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. “It won’t do much, but it will cause unease in the hero community. They’ll start trying to behave, but because it’s been pointed out, fans will actively be searching for it. So it’ll be even more obvious if they do so.”

“Remind me never to get on your bad side ever again,” Kacchan chuckled, rubbing Izuku’s hair.
They both went back to eating, talking every now and then until Kacchan nudged him and gestured towards the other side of the cafeteria.

He watched as Monoma and several other students that he didn’t recognize walked over to Todoroki’s table. He wasn’t sure what he was said, but it started a fight between the two groups. He watched it for a minute before standing up from his seat.

He put two fingers into his mouth and whistled, the high pitch echoing through the room.

Everyone turned to look at him.

“Todoroki, your punishment will be cleaning the cafeteria for a week when school ends,” he stated. Though he wasn’t intending for his voice to carry, everyone had heard it. Almost immediately, there were whispers, wondering what happened.

“Midoriya, he wasn’t the one who-”

“I know what I saw,” Izuku interrupted. “Or are you implying that I’m wrong?”

He had worded the question carefully. If they continued to fight against it, they’d get in trouble. If they said nothing, they’d get in trouble for not answering.

After several moments of silence, he spoke up again.

“Well? Answer me!” he said, spitting out his words. He started walking to them, not even holding back the anger he felt at them. “Are you implying that I’m wrong? I am your superior! You have no right to question me! Who do you think you are, you quirkless waste of space!”

He was basically shouting at the end, seething in anger. Everyone was quiet, watching him. No one expected the ball of sunshine from 1-A to yelling at his fellow classmates. Especially not belittling them and putting them down.

“Remember who you are,” he spat out before turning around and walking out. “You are nothing but completely useless. Do not question me again, do you understand?”

He made eye contact with Lunch Rush, who nodded at him before going back to serving food for the rest of the students.

“For those of you who are confused, Class 1-A is undergoing a project right now, where they are experiencing what it is like to be quirkless, or have a weaker quirk in society,” Izuku called out, answering everyone’s unasked questions. “The staff and several select students have been chosen to treat them as such. Please ignore it if you see it happen as everything is under strict supervision.”

He watched everyone’s reaction. There were some people who didn’t care, most likely never having faced that same experience leading them to be indifferent on the matter. But he saw the same look he used to wear back at Aldera, hopeless, crushed, beaten down. They looked at him as if he were doing them justice, as if he was the ray of hope from the endless cycle of inequality, all because of something they couldn’t control.

They were the people he was fighting for. They were the people who he wanted to help. He saw them, and decided to lend a hand. And they didn’t hesitate to follow him, knowing that he’ll lead them to a better future.

Because to them, they saw the same person. He was one of them.

Chapter Text

Katsuki walked into the dorms by himself, Izuku having gone to meet up with Nezu and Aizawa. He stood outside for a few seconds, knowing that he’d be ambushed immediately by the rest of the class. 

Luckily, or sadly, he knew what he had to do. He looked down at his hands to confirm that there was sweat there before walking inside.

“Bakubro! Why did you ignore us all day?” Kirishima asked, launching at his self-proclaimed best friend. “I was lo-”

He was interrupted with an explosion to the face. 

“HAAA?” Bakugo all but shouted. “Get the fuck away from me you shitty asshole! I don’t want to catch your quirkless shit!”

Several people in the room flinched, just starting to understand the treatment that quirkless people deserved. 

“What are you talking about?” Todoroki frowned. “It is a class project, we’re no longer in class. You can stop behaving like this now.”

“Being quirkless does not stop even when you get out of school,” Shinsou said, walking up behind Katsuki. “You are quirkless for the entirety of the lesson until deemed appropriate.”

“Why don’t you have to go through this as well, kero?” Tsu asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Because, brainwashing is a ‘villainous’ quirk,” Shinsou responded. “I went through the same treatment growing up. Even when I was in the gen ed course, I was still an outcast. I didn’t have a friend in this school until Midoriya during the school festival.”

No one said anything. They all knew why people would be wary to be friends with him. If they were being honest, they’d wouldn’t be friends with him either.

“What you’ve faced so far is only a fraction of what others have to go. You’ve only faced it for one day and look at you,” Katsuki spat out. “You’re complaining about it. Do you think they’re able to complain about it? No, they have to deal with it everyday of their lives. Most of them can’t handle it, leading them to search for an easier end.”

Once again, it was silent. Katsuki didn’t need to finish the rest of the sentence, but they all heard it. Suicide is much easier than living what they go through every day.

“Also, Hagakure,” Katsuki said, turning towards the invisible girl. “Izuku is looking for you. You can meet him in Nezu’s office. Let’s go, Shinsou. We gotta get ready on our end.”

The purple haired boy nodded and followed the angry blonde upstairs.

~

“Snipe, Tsukauchi, thank you for meeting with me,” Izuku said, taking a sip of his tea.

The two men shivered, noticing how eerily similar it was to the Principal’s movements.

“Of course! Now, what can I do fer ya?” Snipe said, hoping that the fear didn’t leak into his voice. 

“I wanted to talk about whether you’re comfortable about sharing your quirkless stories to the world,” Izuku smiled, staring at them.

“W-what are you talking about?” Snipe asked, looking shocked.

“He’s being honest,” Tsukauchi stated. “From what I’m getting at least. He truly believes that we’re quirkless.”

“Quirkless people recognize each other on sight. I’m sure you’ve noticed it about each other,” Izuku said, pointing it out. “You’ve recognized it in me when we first met, although you were confused because I had a quirk. I’m surprised how far you went to hide it, Snipe Sensei, but seeing as you’re from an affluent family, I can see why. And don’t try to hide it. I’m Nezu’s partner after all.”

“Wait, I thought you were his personal student!” Snipe exclaimed, looking at Aizawa for confirmation. The man merely shrugged at him. That bastard.

“He’s just as smart as I am. Why would he be my student?” Nezu asked, his grin anything but friendly. “Though I have to say, how did you come to the conclusion of their quirklessness?”

“Tsukauchi was very easy to figure out. Growing up, quirkless people learn to read body language. It becomes instinct, natural. Finding out when someone is lying isn’t that difficult after years of abuse,” Izuku said quietly, looking down at his cup. “Not to mention that you’re quirk came a bit later, at the age of seven after you were placed at six different foster homes.”

“I was good at it. I could read their body movements, their reactions,” Tsukuachi confirmed, his face grim. “Everyone has a different tell, but once you learn a bit about them, it’s easy to decide what they are.”

“And for me?” Snipe asked, looking resigned to his fate. 

“Yours is very interesting. You have a quirk based around a weapon that is dying out. Even so, there are no longer any toys or games for children that include a gun. So how would you be able to tell that your quirk is being able to control bullets?” Izuku asked. “And if you went to quirk testing, it still would have been hard to figure out. After all, they’re not going to give a four year old a gun to see if it relates to their quirk. After going into your background, I saw that your family had connections to several scientists on I-Island. And interestingly enough, I asked a contact of mine for verification.”

Snipe was silent for a second, staring at the boy in shock and fear. No wonder the boy was Nezu’s equal. He was just as smart, if not smarter. He’d been able to fool the principal after all. 

“Well I’ll be damned,” Snipe crowed, throwing his head back. “Got it right in one. No one ever said shit before! I just gotta ask, who’s that contact of yers? Thought we paid ‘em enough to keep their mouths shut.”

“My dad,” Izuku shrugged, picking up a stack of papers. “Midoriya Hisashi. Built a telepathic device that is surgically placed in your brain to control bullets. The bullets, of course, are custom made and aren’t activated until the trigger is pulled on the gun. The guns, also custom made, trigger the chip to activate within the bullet, allowing you to control it telepathically. He’s the one that built it.”

“Your father is Midoriya Hisashi?” Aizawa asked, shocked. He had known that the man worked overseas, but nothing more than that. 

Everyone in the hero community knew of the man. He was the most renowned support inventor. He had a waiting list of three years and that’s only if the project interested him enough.

“Wait, how come he never built anything for you?” Tsukauchi asked, frowning.

“Because I wanted to be a hero on my own. I wanted to prove that I didn’t need a quirk to become a hero. But when All Might offered what he did,” Izuku said, giving Tsukuachi a pointed look, “I was at a very low point in my life. So I took it. And here we are.”

“Is he willing to help us in this?” Nezu asked. “I believe he would be a great asset to our side.”

“Of course,” Izuku confirmed, nodding. “He already has a group of people already ready to testify. And with his influence others are sure to follow when he publicly announces his standing. Not to mention that I-Island gets commissions from the Hero Commission as well. And some of the things they’re making? It would ruin them.”

“Wait, I’m still a bit confused as to what’s happening here,” Tsukauchi frowned. 

Izuku didn’t answer, but placed a file in front of him, as well as a sheet of paper in front of Snipe. 

“This will explain everything. Read it now, Detective,” Izuku stated. “If you agree, you’ll sign a confidentiality contract. You disagree, we’ll make you forget. That’s what’s in front of you Snipe Sensei. You already signed one when you started working here, but this situation is not related to your job at Yuuei.”

Snipe nodded and started to reach for a pen. Tsukauchi started to pick up the file when someone knocked on the door.

“Ah, my next guest. Aizawa Sensei, if you could escort Tsukauchi to your office to finish reading through the details,” Izuku said, turning to his teacher. “Text me when he’s made his decision. Snipe Sensei, you may leave as well. The next meeting is rather, ah, confidential.”

Aizawa nodded and escorted the other two out of the office. 

“Hagakure, nice of you to join us,”Izuku stated, giving her a polite smile. “Please have a seat.”

She closed the door and sat down, looking back and forth between the two nervously.

“D-did I do something wrong?” she asked, afraid. 

“Not at all. In fact, I’d like your help with a mission. You see, we can have all the records and files stolen from the Hero Commission, but what we need is irrefutable proof,” Izuku said. “Something that people can’t claim that we tampered or faked.”

“You want video evidence on what the Hero Commission does behind the scenes,” Hagakure said slowly. 

“Exactly! Unfortunately, the Hero Commission is very careful with this. While they do record the training and meetings, it is automatically downloaded onto an older piece of technology called VHS. It’s locked deep within the building,” Nezu stated. “You won’t be going in alone of course.”

“But the person who you’d be going with is a bit more problematic,” Izuku sighed. He looked a bit distressed at this part, as if he couldn’t tell if it would work or not.

“Why? Who is it?”

“You’ll find out in a moment,” Nezu stated, waving his hand and dismissing the topic. “But if you agree, you’ll no longer be part of the social experiment that Midoriya here is conducting.”

“Really? I-it’s that easy?” Hagakure asked, seeming to shrink into herself. She’s learned to distrust others already. That was fast. Maybe it was a learned response. 

Izuku made a mental note to check into her home and previous school life. 

“You’ve been bullied for your quirk,” Izuku said quietly, turning to look her in the eye. “It’s not hard to tell with a quirk like yours. People probably made rumors that you snuck around and eavesdropped on conversations, or stole answers for a test.”

Hagakure didn’t say anything, but Izuku could notice that she was tense, as if it brought back unpleasant memories. 

“Probably said some demeaning things considering that to do so, you’d need to be completely naked,” he pointed out.

“Why are you mentioning this?” she asked, her voice tight. 

So it was a sensitive subject.

“Because whether you know it or not, that’s quirk discrimination. Bullying you, making fun of you because of your quirk? That’s exactly what it is. So why make you go through the same experience you’ve already been through?”

She didn’t say anything, most likely thinking about the past and what other experiences happened that was also quirk dscrimination. Izuku and Nezu sat there silently, both sipping on their tea as they waited for Hagakure to answer.

She was still thinking about it five minutes later when there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

“I’ve, uh brought her- stay still! - Midoriya,”Vlad King said, pushing the door open. “Is she really necessary?”

“Yes. She plays a vital role in this,” Izuku smirked.

“Is that Deku? I’ve missed you! Come give me a hug!” Toga squealed from behind the door. 

Vlad King entered the room, holding a tied up Toga Himiko. She was basically squirming to get closer to Izuku. She looked a bit ruffled, but unharmed. There were a few rips in her uniform, but nothing that a needle and thread couldn’t fix.

“How are you Toga?” Izuku asked, smiling at her. “It’s nice to see you alive and well.”

“Awww! Do you mean it? Really? If you’re lying to me I’ll stab you!” Toga giggled. 

“Would I ever lie to you?” he crooned, giving her a smile. 

“Then how about you untie me?” she asked, keeping her tone light despite the dangerous look in her eye.

Izuku smirked and got out of his seat. Toga eyes him curiously, but never let her guard down. He made sure that she could see his hands the entire time. When the rope fell down, he stood up and went back to his seat.

“You-you actually let me go?” she asked, surprised. 

She had never expected that. She thought he was going to tighten the ropes, make it harder for her to breath, to cause her pain. But he didn’t.

“Haven’t you heard?” Izuku asked, leaning forward. 

He’d have to play his cards right. He remembered that she was a follower of Stain, or at least his beliefs, so he’d have to vase it off on that. 

“I want to start a revolution. So that those who have been beaten down, pitied, hurt, abused by those who are stronger all because of a quirk that they couldn’t control having,” Izuku said slowly. “After all, it’s not your fault that your parents' quirks combined to create the one you have, right Toga?”

“No, it’s not,” she replied quietly. The smile slipped from her face as she dropped her bubbly act and listened seriously.

“It’s not your fault your quirk causes you to drink blood, is it?”

“No.” 

She looked down at her lap, hardly believing it. After all this time, did someone understand? They knew what it was like to grow up already miles back from the starting line all because of something she couldn’t control.

“I know what it’s like,” he said quietly. 

“What do you know?” she spat out, looking back up to glare at him. “You grew up with a powerful quirk, you were probably praised as a hero. ‘Great Deku!’ ‘What a strong hero he’d be!’ With a quirk like that, he’d be number one for sure!’ Don’t you dare try to understand-”

“I’m quirkless,” Izuku said, interrupting her. 

She shut up immediately, staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Wha- but your quirk?”

“Support items made by Hatsume and some interested people on I-Island,” he lied. “It was all just mechanics, wiring, and a little bit of diversion.”

“Y-you’re quirkless.”

“I want to let the world know that quirks aren’t everything. That people with ‘weaker’ or ‘villainous’ quirks are people too, and they shouldn’t be looked down upon,” Izuku stated. “It’s the people who make up the quirk. There used to be a pre-quirk saying. ‘Guns don’t hurt people, people hurt people.’”

“I think I’ve heard that before,” she said quietly.

“You’re a follower of Stain, right Toga? His quirk paralyzes people if he drinks their blood. There are so many helpful ways he could have helped. He could be a doctor in the emergency room. His quirk was based on blood type. Imagine if a patient came in and they needed a blood transfusion, but they don’t know the blood type right off the bat. He could drink their blood and determine it immediately. And if he could detect illnesses or disease in the blood, he could detect signs of sickness before they start to even show signs.”

Toga remained quiet. 

“But he chose to use his quirk to kill people. Tell me Toga, was it the quirk that was villainous, or the villain himself?” Izuku said quietly. He waited for her answer. 

“What about me?” she asked after several moments. “How could my quirk be of any use to society?”

“Underground heroics,” Izuku stated simply. “There are a lot of people who don’t suit the limelight and use their quirks for more stealthier missions. Look at Ms. Joke, her quirk isn’t really useful, but she found a way to use it to her advantage and still become a hero. Your quirk is amazing for undercover missions. Not to mention for being a bodyguard or a body double.”

They all stayed silent as they watched the villain process everything that Izuku said. He was quite certain that he had convinced her, but she needed time to contemplate. After all the years of being called a villain, there he was, telling her that she could do good in the world.

“You really think I could have become a hero?” she whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

“I know you can be a hero,” he replied softly. “What’s stopping you from being one now?”

~

“So what’s the lesson plan for today, Problem Child?” Aizawa asked. 

He was currently engulfed in his sleeping bag, laying on top of his desk. Bakugo and Midoriya were getting the desks ready for the day.

“Let’s just say that we won’t be learning anything today,” Midoriya replied, not really paying attention. He was more focused on writing on the desks, although his body was shaking, though not his hands, Aizawa noticed, and his breaths came out in short huffs.

“I can finish it,” Bakugo said softly, taking a step closer to the green haired boy.

“No, I can do it,” he reassured him. He gave Bakugo a small smile that was anything but real, but he backed off.

Aizawa watched them closely, still unsure what had happened to them during Kamino. Or perhaps Bakugo always had a soft side for Midoriya, but did not show it. He shrugged, if they wanted to tell him, they would. Otherwise he wouldn’t pry into other people’s business. 

He wasn’t dealing with high school drama. Not again.

“What were the dorms like last night?” he asked. He knew that Midoriya told them not to do too much during the first day, so the dorms were considered a safety zone for now. 

“Quiet,” Bakugo answered. Midoriya was probably spending all night scheming with Nezu, so it made sense that Bakugo would be more aware of the mood.

Aizawa eyed them warily. He knew of their past, they had told him about it during the meeting with All Might, so that everyone could understand why Bakugo was so sensitive to it. He could see that they were working well together now, but he wasn’t sure if it would last. 

A relationship like that, it doesn’t just fix itself right away. There was more to it, something that they weren’t telling him. He decided not to ask about it, and would wait until they trusted him enough to tell him themselves.

~

“Anything special planned for today?” Aizawa asked. 

“Quirkless fighting for the most part,” Izuku shrugged. “Although several people will be used to it due to a lack of physical quirk. Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, Ojiro for example. The pairings will be rigged so that those with a stronger physical background are matched with a weaker one. If it's too much of an unfair disadvantage, they’ll go against either Kacchan or I.”

“And you have no plans on holding back,” he guessed, pulling out a jelly packet and taking a slurp. “Just don’t send them to Recovery Girl.”

“Oh, no. They’re not allowed to go to Recovery Girl,” Izuku said, pulling out his notebook form his backpack. 

He quickly flipped through the pages. He didn’t stop until he nearly reached the end. 

“In my time at Aldera, I went to the Nurse’s office about four hundred twenty nine times,” Izuku said, looking at his notebook. “Give or take a few depending on if I counted two visits as one that day or not. But out of all those times, I was only treated about seventy three times.”

“Wait, but all those times you left class to-”

“I went there, but the nurse didn’t treat me. Why do you think I’m so good at first aid?” he asked. He thought back to all the times the nurse would yell at him for wasting medical supplies.

After being yelled at one too many times, Izuku took a trip down to the local library and started reading medical books. Nothing too big, just how to treat simple injuries. From then, he signed up for a community First Aid class which would allow him to treat any injuries on the scene of a villain attack if help doesn’t arrive on time. It wasn’t one class of course, but a series of classes that increased in difficulty as time went on as one never knew what type of injury they would come across due to all the unique quirks. 

It didn’t take long after for him to start helping those that were also denied treatment. He used to panic because some people would get injured at night and he was scared of waking up his mother and having to explain why there were random people coming to their apartment for medical treatment.

His mother, his throat constricted when he thought of her. He remembered how fragile she used to treat him, like he was glass. He hated it. Even now, despite being in Yuuei, she called every day to make sure he didn’t hurt himself too much. 

Izuku knew she cared, but there was a limit and she had crossed it too many times. 

He shook his head and snapped out of his thoughts. It was only then that he realized that Kacchan and Aizawa were looking at him.

“What?”

“Please tell me you’re lying,” Aizawa said, unbelieving.

“There’s a reason why when I cry, everything shakes except my hands,” Izuku answered quietly. He didn’t go into detail, and the other two didn’t need to hear the rest. They knew exactly what was left unsaid.

Chapter Text

Izuku looked down at the trail of people behind him, scoffing at the sight he saw. It was pathetic, honestly speaking. They spoke of being heroes, and yet here they were. All it took were a few moves and they were down for the count. He turned to look at Katsuki and was not surprised to see that the same had happened. Only Ojiro was the one who had lasted longer than the others, which wasn’t surprising considering his years of training in martial arts. Todoroki was one of the fastest to drop; it was clear that after ‘training’ with Endeavor, he’d pick up the same habits and become too reliant on his quirk.

“Interesting,” he mused. He pulled out his notebook and started jotting down notes. He would have to watch the footage again later. But for now, the information he currently had would have to make do.

He hated to do it, but they had to learn. Just like he and many others did. He closed the notebook and straightened up. 

“Pathetic, but what else am I to expect from quirkless pieces of shit like you?” he scoffed. 

He walked over to Aizawa and leaned against the tree his teacher was using to hide from the sun. They didn’t talk, only watching as the students recovered from the sparring. 

“Were the previous lessons like this as well?” he eventually asked. 

“No, usually they’re better. But of course, I normally teach it later in the year. Hopefully, by then, they’d have found a fighting style that suits them, and by using it quirkless, it’s easier to see some bad habits they’ve found and hidden behind their quirk,” Aizawa responded. He glanced over at Katsuki. “Is that why he’s so good at fighting? Cause he spars with you?”

“He thought it’d be easier for me to get a win, become more motivated that way,” Izuku scoffed. A smirk appeared on his face. “It didn’t take long before he realized that if he wanted to survive, he needed to use his quirk. But we did have times where I went easy on him so he wouldn’t be too reliant.”

“And how did you get so good at it?” 

“You learn some things when you’re repeatedly beaten down over and over again,” Izuku responded. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket when he felt it vibrate. He checked his messages and let out a pleased hum as he read its content. His eyes widened as he read the last bit of information. He reread it and let out a bark of laughter. 

Aizawa instinctively leaned back, away from his student. He heard the same chaotic, evil laughter from Nezu many times before, but Izuku’s sounded much more tired. Nezu’s laughter came because he loved to create chaos and fix it, just to entertain himself. Izuku’s, his laughter sounded like he knew that things wouldn’t work because he’s been pushed so far back that he couldn’t even see the starting line. But if Aizawa listened close enough, he thought he’d heard a bit of hope. 

“Good news?” he asked hesitantly. 

Izuku glanced at his teacher and chuckled, but never answered the question.

“Let’s move onto the next lesson then, shall we?” he asked, walking forward and pulling out a knife. “Everyone, line up. We’ll be doing target practice.”

A collective shudder ran through everyone as they watched him toss the knife in the air and catch it by the handle as it fell. 

“I need a volunteer,” Izuku giggled, his eyes rolling over his fellow students until it landed on who he wanted. “Hagakure, can you stand in front of the target?”

Without any hesitation, Hagakure stood up and stood in front of the target, from what they could tell by her uniform moving. No one said anything until he lifted his arm, poised to throw.

“MIDORIYA!” Iida shouted, jumping to his feet. “THIS IS HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE! THE USE OF HARMFUL WEAPONS AGAINST YOUR CLASSMATE IS COMPLETELY WRONG. HOW COULD YOU-”

Iida was cut off by a dangerous aura that seemed to radiate from the cinnamon roll. The air was thick and heavy, making it almost impossible to breath. It was choking him, gathering in his throat, but refusing to leave his body. Izuku, who had yet to react to being yelled at, merely looked at his fellow classmate before slowly cocking an eyebrow. 

“ This is inappropriate? Harmful weapons? ” he asked, playing around with the knife in his hands. “Tell me, how is that any different from a quirk?”

“Wha-?” Iida was flabbergasted. He didn’t understand the connection between the two. “What are you talking about? That is a weapon, an item that can kill people-”

“Let me phrase it this way. How can a weapon kill a person?” he asked slowly, fully turning towards the class president. “If I lay this knife flat on the ground, how will it hurt me? How will it kill someone?”

No one said anything as they slowly started to understand the implication behind the question. 

“A knife, if merely an object. It cannot do anything. The person holding the knife, is the one killing. After all, they’re the one with the intention of killing after all,” Izuku pointed out. “So tell me, if a quirk is used to kill a person, assuming they can mostly control their quirk, who’s to blame? You grew up, thinking that your quirks were amazing, beautiful things, but have any of you ever thought about the dangers your quirk can cause? Why is the weapon dangerous, when it’s the person behind the weapon with ill intentions?”

“Our quirks aren’t-”

“Are you sure you want to finish that sentence Kaminari?” Izuku asked, his eyes scrutinizing him. “After all, it’s only a small amount of volts to kill a person. And yet you pushed your limit to 2 million volts and have little to no control over it. Are you still telling me it’s not dangerous?”

No one said anything. They had never realized that. Sure Kaminari didn’t have great control over his quirk, but there’s no way it’d get that bad, right?

“Uraraka only has to touch someone and send them into space. They’d suffocate up there without air, and honestly? She’d get away with it. Because there would be no evidence,” Izuku pointed out. “Yaoyorozu can create a gun whenever she wants. Mina can create acid that can burn through flesh and bone. Todoroki can burn and freeze someone to death. Not to say that they would. After all, they’re heroic quirks.”

Izuku spat at them. It was pathetic really, how much people looked up to quirks. There was nothing special about them. After all, once everyone had one, it wasn’t special any more.

“H-how could you?” Jirou whispered, looking a bit pale. “Those are your classmates! How could you call them villains.”

Izuku turned to look at her, meeting her gaze. She immediately shrank back, feeling small underneath his eyes. It felt like he was dissecting her, being able to read her entire life story within that look. Despite being only a few inches taller than her, it felt like he was towering over her. She took a step back, breaking whatever spell Izuku had cast on her.

“I never called any of my classmates villains,” he pointed out, walking closer to her. “All I did was point out all the dangers that can come with their quirk. But it’s funny how you came to the conclusion that I’d call them a villain after I told you what they are capable of with their quirks.”

He didn’t look away from his fellow students as he threw the knife. It landed an inch above Hagakure’s head, not that anyone else save for him and her would be able to tell. 

“Some heroes become too reliant on their quirk and can’t think of any other plans to go against the villain that doesn’t involve their quirk. Some of those heroes include Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, and Death Arms,” Katsuki said, walking up next to him. His voice was a little rough, as if it was a painful memory for him. “The same heroes that almost let a kid die because their quirk wasn’t suitable to apprehend the villain. The same heroes who stood by and did nothing while a quirkless person attacked the villain and gained a few seconds for me to breathe and berated him because he could have gotten hurt. Can you believe it? They were yelling at the person who saved me because he could have gotten hurt. I would have died, and right next to me were three heroes who did nothing. You know what the quirkless person did? They threw a book at the villain’s eye and got me free. All it took was a book to save my life.”

No one said anything. Izuku walked over to Katsuki and wrapped him in a hug, whispering quietly in his ear. If anyone noticed Katsuki shaking, or the unshed tears in his eyes, they didn’t say anything. 

No one ever said anything. 

~

Katsuki didn’t remember when he started to see Izuku as his equal rather than someone who was looking down on him. If he was really pressed for an answer, he would say it was when Izuku turned up to school one day in the fourth grade and beat him and his lackeys before walking away. 

He wasn’t sure what had happened over the summer since the nerd had gone on vacation to visit his dad, but the look in his eyes wasn't the same. It used to be bright and shining, but it had dulled down, revealing the horrors that the boy had seen over the summer.

Even now, years later, he wasn’t exactly sure what had happened to him. All he knew was that the first part of the summer was spent with his dad, but the second half he spent in America, supposedly. Izuku never spoke of his time there, only saying that it was personal. Was Katsuki a bit hurt that his best friend didn’t want to tell him? Yes. But he knew better than to push, because Izuku would tell him when he was ready, and not a moment sooner. 

“Everything is going according to plan on my end,” Katsuki said, leaning back in his chair. “S’not hard to gather all the nerds together. They’re still mindless sheep.”

“And you’re sure that they’ll-”

“Knowing those assholes, they won’t even wait a second before going after him,” Katsuki growled. 

He remembered hating be separated from Izuku because it meant that there was a higher chance he’d be attacked. Even though the nerd could take care of himself, Katsuki knew that they went at him harder without himself there to back up Izuku. 

“Perfect. Does anyone else have anything to report?” Izuku asked.

“Well, what about that message was sent to you?” Aizawa asked, sitting as far away from the two embodiments of chaos. Not that it would give him much good. 

“Don’t worry about that,” Izuku said, giving him a small smile. “You don’t need to bother with it until the time comes. It won’t affect any of the plans that you’re involved in until later. Now, since the first post, more have come to light. People started looking into reports and statistics on heroes and word is spreading online.”

“Let me guess, you have something to do with it?” Cementoss mused, interested.

“Seeing as how I’m the one that posted it, and then referred back to my Youtube channel, yeah probably,” Izuku nodded. “Who knew that criticizing heroes that were mean to me years ago would have any effect now?”

“What do you mean they were mean to you?” Midnight asked, tilting her head in curiosity. 

“You’ll find out later when I reveal my final masterpiece. Have to save the best for last, right? Now, onto the next stage. I have decided to choose Uraraka, Iida, Kirishima, Hitoshi and myself. Now before you ask any questions, here is my reasoning. Uraraka will enter with a weak levitation quirk. Going to that school with such a weak quirk will make her a target for sure. Iida is very by the book type of person. Inserting him to Aldera as quirkless, especially with his type of personality, will make him a big target. Kirishima is very friendly and social. He does not seem quirkless as lesser, but merely weaker. By placing him into the group as well, it will show that to society, friendliness will get you nowhere. It’s all about quirks.”

“Adn what about Hitoshi?” Aizawa asked, his tone sharp. “Why is he involved?”

“I understand your worry about his past, Sensei,” Izuku stated quietly. “But I have asked him and he agreed. I wanted to show the others what it is like growing up with a supposed villain’s quirk.”

“And his fear of muzzles? You’re going to allow those people to place a muzzle back onto him?” 

“No. Mei changed the appearance of his Artificial Vocal Chords to look like a muzzle. He is comfortable with wearing it and it was even his idea. Not to mention...he volunteered himself. He wanted to spread awareness of how villains are created by being beaten down and called villains all their lives.”

“And you’re planning to send all four of them to the school unsupervised?” Snipe asked, leaning forward. “What if the situation gets bad? We won’t be able to make it in time to help.”

“The last person of the group that will be attending Aldera for a week...is me.”

No one spoke. They hadn’t expected his answer. He had already spoken to Katsuki about it, and while the blonde didn’t like it, he agreed that it was the best way to make sure nothing gets too badly out of hand.

“I’ve told the students about the ‘undercover’ project we will be having.” Izuku looked down at his notes, not daring to look at anyone. “We’ll be prepared to leave early Monday morning in our disguises. In the meantime, Katsuki and the help of others will continue to show what others have to face. But otherwise, Aizawa-Sensei, I’ve created some lesson plans for you and if there’s any way you can incorporate it into your teaching that would be amazing.”

“Midoriya, are you sure about this?” Nezu asked softly. 

He knew what it was like to be abused, to be hurt for the sake of others amusement. He had escaped it and he never wanted to go back. It was something he wouldn’t wish on his own enemy. But for Midoriya to willingly offer to go back just to make sure others are safe, he was truly a different kind of human that Nezu never met before. 

“If we’re going to start anywhere, I want to start with burning down that school,” Izuku said, lifting his eyes to stare into Nezu’s. 

And for the first time in a very long time, Nezu couldn’t help but shudder in fear at what he saw.

“Show them hell, Pandora,” Nezu said, giving the student a smile that made everyone else in the room flinch.

“Gladly.”

~

“Young Midoriya, may I have a word with you?” 

Izuku sighed before turning around and facing All Might. The meeting had just ended and he was tired from being bombarded with questions. He really wasn’t in the mood for having a talk with the former number one hero. But he couldn’t really see a way out.

“What do you want to talk about?” Izuku said, leaning against the wall. “I thought I made it clear that I would no longer associate myself with you.”

“I would like for you to reconsider your decision to give up One for All,” All Might said worriedly. “Mirio still hasn’t eaten the hair yet. He’s unsure of your decision giving it up.”

“I don’t want it anymore, All Might. I haven’t used your power since I gave it away and if Mirio doesn’t take it, I still won’t use it.”

Izukiu looked down at his arms, where he could see his crooked fingers and the scars that littered around his arms.

“One for All is a great example of a dangerous quirk. Look at what it did to my body,” he said, gesturing towards his arms. “And this is with the training you told me to do. The quirk you gave me is an amazing quirk that can help take down villains and stop crime, but it’s also a quirk that destroys, All Might. And I think you’ve gotten so used to it that you don’t see the damage it causes.”

“What are you talking about Young Midoriya?” All Might asked, completely confused. “One for All is not a dange-”

“Statistically speaking, you and Endeavor share the same amount of damage when engaged in the fight. The only reason your numbers show up as lower is because you help pay for the damages. For every building that Endeavor burns down, that’s a building that gets toppled down because of the earthquake that’s caused by one of your punches,” Izuku pointed out. “And I never said it was a dangerous quirk. A quirk is not dangerous. It’s only the intention behind the quirk that makes it dangerous.”

“I understand what you’re getting at, but not every quirk is safe. Even Recovery Girl’s quirk can cause serious damage if the injury is too severe,” All Might explained gently.

“Th-that’s not the point I’m trying to make. Tell me, if someone else ran out and helped Katsuki that day, would you have offered them your quirk?” he asked, looking at the pro hero in the eye. “Because that was the logic you gave me when you offered me your quirk.”

“No! Of course no-”

“Then why was I different to everyone else?”

Silence.

“Because what I think you did was protect a quirkless person from going after their delusion dream of becoming a hero by offering them a quirk to protect them.” Izuku voiced his opinions. At the moment when he was offered the quirk, he was too overwhelmed with his emotions and accepted it without a second thought. But after he had time to think it over and remember all their interactions, he understood. 

He understood why All Might never asked about his past, or even talked about his own. Why All Might seemed to have plans whenever he wanted to talk about Quirkless society. Why All Might changed the subject whenever Izuku may even hint to his quirklessness. 

Because All Might had forgotten what it was like to be quirkless. And that he was one of them .

“You don’t believe that I, nor anyone quirkless, can become a hero,” he said quietly, after a pause. “And that’s alright. Because I’m not going to become a hero to prove you wrong. You became the Symbol of Peace, and yet no one is ever at peace. I will not be your successor, All Might. I’m going to forge my own path and become a symbol that will inspire everyone. Everyone may have left me behind, but I’m not alone. Hope was also left alone in Pandora’s box.”

Izuku swallowed on dry spit, but lifted his head to stare All Might in the eye. 

“I’m going to become the Symbol of Hope, the hero for the people, with or without your support.”

Taking in a deep breath, Izuku walked past his favorite hero, leaving him behind.

Chapter Text

TWIGGER WARNING: Panic attack! This is based on my panic attacks, the very few that I had, so if I didn't accurately portray it then I'm sorry for doing so and putting a bad image/ creating false misconceptions that may have been included or affect the way people view them .

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Izuku stared at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. Every time he closed his eyes, his mind would race, trying to think of plans, creating scenarios on what could go wrong. He couldn’t help but to think of how everything could go wrong. Everything would be ruined, all for nothing. A waste of effort. His attempts would have been useless.

One.

He threw off the covers, and sat up, deciding that it was useless going back to sleep. He opened his window, and relished in the fresh breeze that blew in. 

Two. 

He flicked on his lamp, making sure it was on the lowest setting. He didn’t need Iida giving him another lecture if he found out that he wasn’t getting a healthy amount of sleep by looking at the electricity usage for each student and seeing that his usage had increased. 

He quietly pushed his chair back, opting to lift it off the ground rather than to slide it to lessen the noise he would make. 

Izuku sat down and looked towards his notebooks. He lifted his hand and ran his fingers along the spines of them until they stopped on one. He didn’t even need to look at it before knowing which number it was, the charred edges giving it away. 

He didn’t understand why he still kept it. He could have easily rewritten all the information into a new one. Perhaps it was the sentimental value. Or maybe it was useless, like him.

Three. 

Handling it with more care than necessary, he gently opened it. The pages had wrinkled, one of the effects for trying to save a wet book. He flipped through the pages, not reading through it, but remembering the time and places he saw each of the fights. 

He paused when he got to one of his classmates' pages.

His...classmates.

“Don’t get in my way, Deku.”

“You can’t be a hero! You’re too weak!”

“Quirkless piece of shit. Can’t do anything right.”

“As if you could do anything. Quirkless and useless. Just like your name.”

“What do you mean you did the work correctly? As if someone like you could ever have done something like this. You’re too stupid.”

“Hurry! He’s over here! As if his quirkless ass could ever run away from us!”

“Hoped you learned your lesson, quirkless bastard.”

He slammed the notebook shut and pushed himself away from the table. He had forgotten how bad it was Aldera for him. How he just barely escaped the school just months ago, mentally hanging on by a bare thread, only to head back in. 

How could he do it? He was only able to just last long enough to leave the school because of All Might. But who would he have now? Iida, Uraraka and Kirishima wouldn’t understand until they actually experienced it. And he was dragging Hitoshi along? 

His experience was the same, if not worse than his own. 

How was Hitoshi able to stay so calm when he said yes?

Izuku fell to the floor, heaving for air. When did he even stop breathing? Did he even stop breathing, or was this just him being overdramatic again. His heart was racing, but was that an effect for panic attacks, or was something bad happening and his body was aware of it, but his mind wasn’t?

Fuck, he needed to focus, to be more aware. 

“Focus on your surroundings, and maybe you wouldn’t trip so much, fucking Deku.”

Four. 

“You have eyes, and you can’t even see? How much more worthless can you be?”

Five.

He had to get out. He wasn’t safe anymore. What was safe? His eyes darted around the room, his blurry vision unable to focus on anything besides the swirling mass of colors. All he could see was blue, white, yellow and red.

Red.

All he could see was red. It was everywhere. He could never escape it.

Red meant anger. Frustration. Aggression. Rage. Pain. Fire. Blood.

T-there was so much blood. Why was there so much blood? He was supposed to be in Yuuei, where it was safe. Where no one but Bakugo knew about him being quirkless before.

He needed to get rid of it. It has to go away.  He wasn’t sure about what he was doing, but he did know that it was making him feel better. But was it even working? He still couldn’t breath, and if he thought about it, it actually felt worse than before. His throat was tightening, and his stomach felt queasy. It felt like something was trying to claw its way out, but got stuck at his throat. 

Izuku stumbled to the floor, the lack of oxygen making him feel faint. He heard the soft rustling of paper moving as he did so. 

He couldn’t stay here. He had to leave. He got to his feet, but he wasn’t sure where to go. Nowhere felt safe. He wasn’t even sure if he could open the door, his hands were shaking too badly. 

He wasn’t sure what to do, not until he felt the air blowing in. Jerkily getting to his feet, he walked over to the window, aware of the ripped pieces of paper beneath his shoes. 

It seemed to take ages until he reached the window, his hands gripping the window sill as if it was his lifeline.

The air had stopped blowing in at the moment, but he stuck his head out the window, greedily gulping the fresh air, ignoring how cold it felt in his throat. 

A knock at the door startled him, making him jump and bump his head on the window frame and falling to his knees.

“Izuku? Are you alright?”

Kacchan. That was Kacchan. He was here. How did he know to come?

“I’m coming in.”

The door opened and he watched as Katsuki walked in, looking worried as fuck, as he would have put it. He looked around the room, but Izuku wasn’t sure what he was looking at. The only thing he could focus on was on Katsuki. 

“K-kacchan.”

“I got you,” the blonde said, walking over to him. He gently grabbed Izuku's hands and squeezed them, knowing that it helped ground him. “Breathe with me, slowly now. In...and out….in….and out…”

“C-couldn’t breathe,” Izuku stuttered out, gripping onto Katsuki’s hands, as if he would be lost forever if he didn’t.

“Yeah, had another panic attack?” Katsuki had started rubbing small circles on his back. “Do you need to go to a safe place?”

“Y-yes please,” he said. 

“Are you able to walk?”

Izuku paused before shaking his head. Katsuki nodded and gently lifted Izuku into his arms, clutching him tight to his chest.  Izuku buried his face into his boyfriend’s chest, trying to focus on him rather than anything else. 

He didn’t open his eyes to see the destroyed All Might merchandise that they left behind, leaving it behind the closed doors. 

Chapter Text

“Bakugo,” Aizawa greeted, his eyes narrowing at the sight of his two students in front of his townhouse. “I-can I just have one day of peace and quiet?”

“Yo, what happened lil listener?” Hizashi greeted, walking up behind the students. He had several bags of groceries in his hands, 

“Had a panic attack. Got him out of his room. Didn’t think he’d be happy waking back up in the dorms,” Katsuki replied. 

“I see. Do you know what caused it?” Aizawa asked, taking a step back to open the door wider to let them in. 

“No, but I have a guess. His room was completely ruined. Everything was taken down, ripped up, destroyed. If it was All Might related, I don’t think it survived his panic attack,” Katsuki responded, sitting down on the couch. He shifted Izuku, making sure the boy was comfortable before leaning into the cushion himself. 

“Maybe something happened between them? I think the security systems stated that he arrived at the dorms much later than the rest of you,” Hizashi said, pulling out his phone to check the logs. “Yeah, he arrived about half an hour after. I don’t think he had any meetings or plans today. That’s odd.”

“Check the cameras. It might show us what had happened,” Aizawa suggested, walking over to the kitchen. 

Katsuki sat silently, waiting for his teachers to look up the security logs and see if they found anything. He glanced down at Izuku, only to get a mouth full of hair. Scoffing, he gently ruffled the other’s head and let out a quiet sigh when he felt Izuku finally relax. 

Click! 

Katsuki blinked before slowly turning his head toward his teacher.

“You never know when you’re gonna need blackmail material,” Aizawa shrugged before taking a sip of his coffee. He turned back to his husband. “Find anything?”

“He did have a talk with All Might, but I’m not going to listen to it. If he wants to tell us about it, then that’s his decision,” Hizashi pointed out. “I’m not going to invade his privacy. But I will give Toshinori a warning about getting too close to him.”

“I will gladly join you for that,” Aizawa added. “For the time being, we can move him into another dorm room. And perhaps create a safe room in case anyone else needs a different place to help them.”

“I’ll bring that idea up to Nezu. We can implement them into all the dorms as well,” Hizashi agreed. 

“For now, the both of you can take the spare room.”

“You couldn’t have told me that before I sat down? I’ve only been sitting for two minutes!” Katsuki growled, but still got to his feet. 

“Stop complaining before I make you carry him all the way back to the dorms,” Aizawa threatened, turning on his quirk to glare at his student. 

Katsuki rolled his eyes, before leaving. 

“I’m going to go to his room, see if I can figure out what happened,” Hizashi said, getting to his feet.

“I’ll go with you,” the other hero sighed. “I need to check on the other gremlins anyway. God knows what sort of mess they got into today.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to rest? You have patrol later tonight, don’t you?”

Hizashi turned to his husband, worried about the lack (lack-er technically) of sleep he’s been getting. He had noticed the bags under his eyes had gotten darker and larger, and that the man nodded off more often than usual. 

“The faster we get this over with, the faster I can sleep,” Aizawa answered, pulling on his capture weapon. 

Hizashi nodded. He checked on Katsuki, who was carefully rearranging the pillows and blankets to make Izuku more comfortable, but in a way that wasn’t constricting him.

“There’s leftovers in the fridge if you get hungry. Just heat it up. Sho and I are going to check his room. Thought it might be best to put it away in case something happens the next time he goes in,” Hizashi said quietly, once the student had noticed him.

Katsuki nodded and shooed the man out of the room, ignoring the fact that it was his house, but he decided not to argue. 

“Problem children alright?” Aizawa grunted, already heading down the hall before Hizashi had properly locked the door.

“Better than I expected. Never thought that Bakugo would be the type to ask for help,” Hizashi mused. “Not until recently at least.”

By the time they had gotten to the door, the temperature had cooled considerably. The two teachers relished the quiet, peacefulness of the walk from the teacher’s dorms to the students. It was rare that they had any downtime, considering the fact that they each had multiple jobs, on top of the villain attack that had happened so far, work just kept piling up. 

Aizawa looked up, looking for the moon to see where it was. It was a habit he formed during his high school years after Oboro. The glowing white rock reminded him of how Oboro’s hair always seemed to illuminate a soft light. He didn’t notice when he paused in his tracks in his attempt to locate it. It was only after several moments and a slight breeze before the clouds moved to reveal the moon. 

It was moments like these that reminded Aizawa of the simple moments in life. His life was completely filled with fighting and violence that even something as simple as the moon allows him to reminisce about the true beauty of life.

The light from the moon didn’t make that much difference on the path they were on, as it was well lit with lamp posts, but it made all the difference for the two.

“You good Shou?” Hizashi asked, waiting just a few steps ahead of him.

Aizawa let his gaze slowly fall from the moon to his husband. As he did so, he thought about everything that had happened in his life so far. How shit his childhood had been, Oboro’s death, his depression, the unemployment until he finally found underground heroics. But he had to keep moving forward and look ahead to the future. He had little hopes that anything would ever change, but ever since he married Hizashi and took on the teaching job, he was finally able to see the light at the end of a never ending dark tunnel. And with the introduction of the Problem Child, it looked like he would finally be able to leave the darkness behind. 

“I am,” he replied quietly, continuing his walk. “I really am.”

~

Izuku woke up, the gentle tick of the clock being the first thing he heard before he registered another person’s breathing. Panic shot through him before he realized it was Katsuki, who always mumbled in his sleep, despite arguing that he didn’t. He wasn’t sure when his boyfriend got into bed with him, but he wasn’t going to question it.

He sat up, the blankets pooling around his waist. He blinked several times before his eyes registered shapes again. The curtains weren’t drawn, allowing the faint moonlight to shine and illuminate the room with a soft light. He took a look at the clock. It was barely one in the morning. He wasn’t sure how long he was out for, but he knew that there was no chance that he’d be able to fall back asleep.

Sighing, he moved to stand up and try to look for a snack in the kitchen. He flinched when his feet touched the carpeted floor, confusion sweeping through him as he didn’t have any carpet or rug in his room. 

His feet quickly shot back up as he realized that he wasn’t in his room. Where was he?

He quickly turned towards the other sleeping boy, forgetting the time. 

“Katsuki. Katsuki,” Izuku called out, his voice coming out hushed in case they were in danger. “Wake up. Where are we?”

“Shut up,” Katsuki groaned, hating that he was being awoken before his alarm. “We’re in the hobo’s dorm. Took you here cause RG’s office isn’t open this late.”

“Oh.”

Izuku looked around the room once again and realized how different the teacher’s dorms were compared to students. The room, despite it being a spare, was almost twice as large as a student’s. But that could be on the account that other heroes may come to Yuuei for help from the staff or needed a quick place to stay. 

The thought barely crossed his mind before he heard his stomach rumble. 

“Um, Katsuki?” Izuku whispered, poking the boy’s cheek.

“What.”

“I, uh, I skipped dinner earlier and-”

Katsuki sighed before sitting up, startling Izuku from the sudden move. The blonde turned his head to look at the shorter boy, who looked a bit guilty for waking him up, but he merely gave him a small smile before ruffling his hair. Despite the curly mess, it was rather soft, as if touching a giant ball of cotton.

“Let’s go nerd. Teach left some food in the fridge,” Katsuki stated, throwing the blanket off and getting to his feet. 

Izuku stuttered as he tried to free himself from the blanket that landed on his head. He pulled it off, with a soft frown that turned into a smile. Despite having gone over their differences, it was the small bickering and fights that made him remember how hard Katsuki tried to show that he changed for the better. That they could leave the past behind them and move forward to a better future. 

“Does it count as leftover rice if it didn’t make it through the night?” Katsuki called from the kitchen. 

Izuku scrambled to his feet and made his way there instead of answering. The place was nothing like he expected. The hallway was lined with platinum records with the occasional photo here and there. It was done in a way so that it didn’t seem so bland, as if it could be any less so with the bright yellow walls. 

“Are you going to answer me or what?”

“U-um yes?” Izuku replied, hurrying to find the kitchen. 

It didn’t take long before the hallway opened up to reveal the living room that bordered the kitchen.

“Was that a yes to the leftover rice thing or a yes to answering me?” Katsuki asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Both? Might not be as good if we didn’t leave it completely through the night though,” Izuku said, shuffling over and poking the rice.

“Don’t just poke it with a finger! You didn’t even wash your hands!”

“Wha-bu-I’m the one eating it! Does that really matter?” 

“Yes! Because it’s going to contaminate all the other-you know what? Just get out of the kitchen.”

“It’s not even your kitchen! Did Aizawa sensei even let you use the stove?”

“The fuck are you supposed to eat then? The only thing in the damn fridge is take out, rice, and jelly pouches!”

“Then where did the rest of these ingredients come from!”

“I pulled them out of my fucking ass, that’s where! They were on the counter cause no one fucking put them away! If they didn’t want us to use it they shouldn’t have left it out!”

“Bu-”

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. 

Glancing at each other, they both made their way to the front, only to peer at it from a good five feet away. They were unsure about opening the door, not knowing who was on the other side. Not to mention the fact that they could still technically get in trouble for being out of bed as they doubted Aizawa actually told any of the other faculty about what had happened. 

It didn’t take long before there was another knock at the door, although slightly louder. 

“W-who is it?” Izuku called out, his voice coming out in stutters. 

“It’s me!” 

It was Kayama sensei. Apparently she was making her rounds along campus when she heard them yelling. She was worried about all the yelling, especially since she knew that Aizawa hadn’t gone on patrol yet and that any loud noise coming from the house meant that something was wrong.

The two students profusely apologized, only to have her smile at them.

“The joys of youth! Don’t stay up too late kids,” she said, giving them a wink as she skipped down the steps. “You have neighbors to be considerate for.”

“She doesn’t actually-”

“I never know what she’s thinking. She’s either in character or not and I can never tell the damn difference.”

They watched her leave, although they didn’t immediately walk back inside. Instead, Katsuki sat down on the front step, and looked up at the sky. Izuku waited, to see if the other would head back in before sitting down himself.

“Have you ever seen such a beautiful night?” Katsuki asked. 

Izuku glanced up and let out a silent gasp; he’d never seen anything like it before. The moon was half obscured by a mass of clouds, waiting for the clouds to lazily drift by. The stars twinkled, not letting the darkness of the night hide them. There were so many of them that Izuku was amazed by it. Where he and Katsuki lived in Musutafu, they were barely able to see the stars over the tall buildings and smog that covered the sky. The leaves were rustling silently, the small breeze not doing much to them. 

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he responded back, taking several moments to process what he was seeing. It was surreal, as if he had been blinded the whole time, but as soon as he changed his location it was revealed to him, as if he was looking in the wrong area the whole time. “Hey, Katsuki?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you really think I can do this?”

Katsuki glanced over at Izuku, and despite the other trying not to make eye contact, he could understand where he was coming from.

“No,” he responded quietly, “ because you’re not doing this by yourself. We can do this, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You’re not doing this alone. Not again.”

As he talked, he reached over and grabbed Izuku’s hand. And whether he realized it or not, Izuku gripped it back, just as tight, as if afraid that letting go meant losing him.

“Kacchan?”

“Yes?”

“I’m still hungry.”

“God fucking damn it.”