Chapter Text
Tenya tried not to let it bother him. They didn’t mean to be hurtful, or at least that’s what he told himself. But when someone makes fun of the way he moves for the 5th time that week, or says he’s a killjoy for asking those around him to be quiet when dictated, or when he hears of another gathering he was not invited to, it’s hard to keep thinking the others like him. He knows they respect him, he is competent in battle and in class. And he has realized that they abide by a different set of rules than he does (quite literally, it seems that no one else has read the handbook). It was less noticeable before the dorms, before being forced into close proximity with no escape.
At home, his family ran on a schedule, and all for the most part followed the rules. Although there were few chores to do, what there was was promptly done. When he would remind his classmates of the meal schedule and the chore chart, they would role their eyes and sometimes begrudgingly do it, seemingly forgetting that they had all agreed on this system beforehand. When he would walk around the halls before curfew, making sure everyone was safe and sound and sometimes ushering people to bed, he’d hear people call him a bummer, or the death of a good time. When he checked to make sure everyone was out of bed at least 30 minutes before class, he would also receive several choice insults, and sometimes physical assaults from Bakugou. He didn’t understand why everyone was so opposed to following them. He understood that sometimes fun things did not follow the rules, but that just proved that those things were unwise.
For instance, 2 am video game tournaments disrupted their sleep schedule, as well as those around them, and normally ended with a broken controller. If they would just wait until the morning, everyone would be well rested, capable of emotional regulation (other than Bakugou, who may have never developed it), and would all be better for it. Rules structure our lives, and keep everyone safe. If everyone would just follow the rules then they would all be much better for it. He had seen the results when he’d broken them, and it had nearly ended with the death of two of his classmates and himself. Why didn’t the others see what he did?
Tenya understood that he wasn’t always the most fun, but why did they never seem to want him around? Why was he always the one killed when others played kiss marry kill? Why was he the only one of the class other than Mineta who was shunned? He was pretty sure that his social awkwardness wasn’t at the same scale as Mineta, who he called the predator in his head, but in the eyes of his classmates they seemed comparable. Even Momo, the class Vice President, was not treated with the same disdain he was. This could be due to her willingness to make things for the others, but Tenya had tutored many of his classmates and few had any lingering affection due to it. By all the metrics that he understood, he was almost universally disliked, despite only trying to help the others. Although he had friends in Deku and Uraraka, and some sort of alliance with Momo and Tokoyami, he felt that due to the fact that he was perceived negatively by the rest of the class, eventually they would feel the same.
Eventually, Tenya decided on an experiment. He would go a week without enforcing any rules, a week without any lectures on safety or consideration to the others. He would monitor everyone’s emotional state and how they regarded him to the best of his ability, and if it was improved he would discontinue his efforts at enforcing the rules. Although this would greatly pain him, he could no longer deal with the perpetual dislike from most of the class. Tenya hoped that this week would not negatively impact the others, but he reasoned that it was only a week. Surely no one would be reckless enough to cause permanent damage in a week. So, for one week, no one would be told when to go to bed, when to wake up, or told to do their chores. It would be up to the rest of his classmates to self regulate, or realize that they may need Tenya after all. He had already informed Aizawa, who had not realized before how much responsibility the class president had taken on. The teacher had encouraged the experiment, and reassured Tenya that it was not in the job description to wake up, enforce rules, and help others 24 hours a day.
Monday morning dawned, and Tenya woke up at the same time as always. He took a short shower, got dressed, and went downstairs to eat breakfast. He had the same things as always, two eggs cooked the night before, a container of oats, and a bit of Greek yogurt. He had an extra bit of time to kill, as he was not waking the others up, so he ate at a slightly more relaxed pace.
He headed to class, early as always, and sat down, waiting to see the results of his decision. A few early risers, like Momo, Todoroki, Uraraka, and Deku showed up a few minutes later, followed by Sero and Bakugou. Right before the start of class, Tsu, Ojirou, and Shoji all appeared. After the start of class, with varying degrees of lateness, the rest showed up.
Kaminari, one of the latest to arrive, walked in nearly an hour late, and asked Iida “Hey! When’d you stop waking people up? I forgot to set my alarm last night!”. To be fair, even when he did set an alarm he was constantly sleeping through it, normally needing to be woken up by Tenya.
Tenya answered him “Oh, I decided that I would be more lax on the enforcement of rules this week. I hope that you have more luck at waking up on time tomorrow!”
Kaminari eyed him a bit oddly, and went to his seat. Similar reactions abounded from the others who came to class late, but most were not this direct.
During lunch, Koda approached Tenya, and said in a rather quiet voice “Have I upset you recently? If not, do not worry about it, I would just like to check.”
Feeling a bit guilty, the blue haired boy replied “No, of course you have not upset me! I decided to let the class wake themselves up this morning. I should have given more advance warning!”
Koda, looking relieved, walked back to his usual area of the cafeteria. Tenya started to feel a bit guilty for not doing as he had before, but he reasoned that his classmates would not have him waking them up once they graduated.
Training and class that day was fairly uneventful, and he returned to the dorms at the end of the day. Checking the chart, he realized that he needed to sweep the kitchen which he did promptly. He saw that today had a significant number of chores assigned to those who do not always complete them, and he chose not to say anything. He studied in the common room solo, although he explained a few problems on the homework to those around him.
At around 6, he started to notice people gathering in the kitchen, and an argument appeared to be taking place. The gist of it seemed to be that Kirishima was scheduled to make dinner, but he had not come downstairs to do so, and so there was nothing prepared. The kitchen itself, other than the floors, was dirty due to the steady stream of snacking and making drinks throughout the day, and Hagakure had not cleaned the counter like she was assigned. Some others were also complaining that the toilet paper rolls in the communal bathrooms had not been replaced, a job belonging to Sero. Overall, things were not going smoothly. Eventually, Kirishima started to make Spaghetti, since it does not take a long time. By the time he had finished, it was nearly 7, and some were a bit frustrated. When Tenya entered the kitchen, they all seemed a bit bashful, and did not interact with him very much. When he went back to his room for the night a few minutes later, he felt guilty, and somehow relieved at the same time. No one had said anything rude, no one had been upset at him. And so, the first day of his experiment had finished. No permanent damage, as he’d hoped. Overall, not a failure