Chapter Text
“Alright then. It’s all settled! Just sign here…
There was a small pause as the sound of a pen could be heard dragging across the paper.
"Yes, and here too...”
Hearing the raindrops hitting the window, albeit rather faint, was the only thing grounding Inko Midoriya in the moment as she signed up all the paperwork necessary for her son’s transfer to the hero course.
It was all so surreal to her. So much to take in, but she had to be strong. For Izuku.
“Can we please talk?” is all he told her. As much as either of them dreaded this conversation, they knew it had to happen.
The two Midoriyas found themselves on the couch in the living room right after Izuku arrived home from the festival.
“How...when…why--”
“It wasn’t something I planned really” Izuku spoke up after seeing his mother struggle to find her words. He narrowed his eyes at nothing in particular before turning back to her.
“Quite frankly, I don’t remember much of what happened that day either…I guess I tried to forget it”
“I have to say, he is pretty lucky that there is an open spot for him in 1-A” Nedzu said as he filed the papers away “Class 1-B is already full to the brim with such brilliant students”
“It’s fine, really,” Izuku said with a smile on his face. “I feel like I already connected with most of the students from class 1-A anyway” he quickly glanced at Eraserhead before looking back at Nedzu.
Inko was quick to notice that. After all, it wasn’t the first time he saw the man before.
“That night you came home late with that hero...is that when you…?"
Izuku didn’t answer right away. “I was...lost...confused" there was a pause "...so many different things happened all at once that day…”
“He said you had a run in with a villain…and that you needed to be saved...”
Izuku flinched at that “He lied…" he said before his eyes went wide "I never told him to do it tho!” he raised his hands in defense, as if his mother would be mad at him about that “I guess he just...didn’t want to worry you even more...”
The two stood in silence for a second before Izuku opened his mouth again. “But just because he lied, it doesn't mean it wasn't real...”
Seeing the confused look on his mother’s face, he continued “I was indeed attacked by a villain… but Eraserhead wasn’t the one who saved me from it...”
There was a pause.
“Was it All Might?” Inko asked, much to her surprise.
To this day, she still remembers having to sell all that All Might merch seemingly overnight at the request of her son. She was happy that he was branching out and finding new interests at first, but after hearing what happened prior to that decision, it kind of left a bad taste in her mouth.
“Everything was going terrible that day…” Izuku sighed “Well, everything had been terrible for a while now, but that day alone at school... on my way home...I dunno, it all just piled up... I felt like I needed some type of reassurance… so after he saved me I turned to him and asked one thing. Just one...
“Can a quirkless person be a hero?”
Inko’s blood ran cold after hearing that question.
“He told me it would be better to look into a safer career… in hindsight, that shouldn’t have affected me that much, but after the day I’ve had, I just… It left me empty...”
She was lucky that Izuku was avoiding her gaze because she knew that tears were already rolling down her cheeks by now.
Sadness was quick to turn into guilt for her.
“But that wasn’t what you wanted him to say, was it…?” her voice started cracking “You wanted him to comfort you...to tell you to not give up…”
The last thing her son wanted at that moment was for someone to tell him that it wasn’t even worth trying in the end.
The last thing he needed was someone crying in front of him, apologizing like there was anything wrong with him.
“I don’t even remember what I wanted him to say, really...Whether he was gonna lie or not, I don’t think it mattered to me at that point…”
“And yet you still decided to throw everything away”
Izuku didn’t argue with that.
Whether Aizawa knew all the details about what happened that night or not, Inko wasn’t sure. Izuku never really brought it up. Still, it was obvious that the hero knew more than met the eye. And it was also obvious just how highly Izuku thought of the hero in question, so she can only guess for now.
“I believe we’re done here then,” Nedzu said, sounding quite cheerful “Starting from Monday, Izuku will be a part of the hero course as a student in class 1-A!”
Izuku was basically bouncing in his seat as Aizawa handed him his brand new uniform “I’ll make sure to work hard. You won’t regret this decision!” Izuku exclaimed as Inko took the uniform from his hands to give it a closer look.
It was hard to see what was so different about it from the wrapper, but she noticed that there was only one button on the shoulders of the jacket instead of two.
“I have no doubts about that, but--” Nedzu’s phone rang up. “Ah, right on cue!" he answered quickly "Yes? Yes of course, I’m already on my way”
Nedzu turned to the three humans as he hung up “Well, I believe this meeting is officially over. I am needed somewhere else. If you have any other questions, please refer to Eraserhead over here” he explained as he rushed to the door, grabbing his coat in the process.
“Will do! Thanks again sir for the oppor --”
Izuku didn’t even get to finish that thought as Nedzu slammed the door shut behind himself, leaving the trio in his office.
“Well, that had been rather productive!” Izuku said as he got up from his seat. He turned to Inko, still holding his uniform “Shall we get going?”
“Actually” Eraserhead stopped the two right before they could even make their way to the door “I would like to discuss some things with you Midoriya” he said before turning to Inko “If that’s alright with you too ma’am”
“Oh, then you can go ahead and I’ll see you back home mom. No biggie” Izuku said with a bright smile “I was going to stop to get some hair dye anyway”
"Well..." Inko glanced outside the window for a second then back at the uniform "I also was thinking about running some errands actually. I have to pick up some groceries and..." she paused for a second as she put out her list.
"Maybe you could--"
"Sure. I can do that for you" Izuku said, the smile never leaving his face as he grabbed the grocery list from his mother's hands.
"I, uh…"
That's not what she wanted. But she knew she couldn’t press it so she just handed him some money as she put the uniform away.
"Sure…" she started walking towards the door "I'll see you home then dear"
"I assume that you probably know by now where Ground Beta and the Gym are, right?"
While tours might be mandatory for students from different schools, they're not really needed when it comes to just changing courses. Still, Shouta would be damned if he missed the opportunity to talk with Midoriya about everything that happened in the past month now that there isn’t any actual competition, emotional baggage, or other deadly events going on.
That doesn’t happen often.
"Yup. Along with the cafeteria, Ground Omega, Ground Gamma, and most important: where your classroom is!" Midoriya said, looking around as if it was his first time there.
"You seem excited…"
Midoriya was almost skipping instead of walking. "This just feels... different, I guess. Knowing where your classroom is will actually be useful information to me this time! I'm a hero course student!"
"Sounds more like you’re trying to convince yourself of that"
"I guess you could say that" the boy raised his hands in defense "It’s all just so new to me, I guess. Lot’s of things to get used to, but I’m fine”
Shouta was quite certain that Midoriya was far from fine, but he knew it would be impolite to bring it all up. He doubted that their little talk in the nurse office from the day before was enough to make him feel better.
After all, Hitoshi told his own dads that he was fine, only for Shouta to find out much later just how much his son had been tearing himself to shreds after his USJ accident.
"Where was that energy when their teacher was about to fucking die, huh?!" Hitoshi shouted before Midoriya tackled him to the ground, securing his victory.
The poor man just wanted to make sure nothing like that night on the rooftop ever happened again to either of his kids. It’s the least he could do. Still, it was quite obvious that Midoriya wasn’t going to open up anytime soon.
“So, did you have time to get your stuff from the Development Studio yet?”
“Hm? Oh, uh, that won’t really be the case” Midoriya said “Most of it is just support items me and Mei were working on”
“And your costume?” Shouta asked. All he knew about it was that it got partially ruined during the USJ attack. Midoriya might not have needed it at that moment, but now that internships are coming, having a hero costume is a priority.
“Power Loader told me it’s already finished and that I’ll get it when I need to get it...whatever that means” Midoriya explained “Speaking of Power Loader, where is he?”
“He said he wanted to join but had to get some stuff done,” Shouta shrugged. When he saw the disappointed look on Midoriya’s face, he sighed “I’m sure you’ll see him on Monday. He’ll probably explain everything to you then”
“Yeah…”
“But until then, didn’t you have to go get some groceries for your mother or something?”
Midoriya perked up “Oh, are we done here then? Don’t you have to show me around more or something?”
“As you’ve said, you already know most of the school anyway” they started walking towards the exit “There’s nothing much to add...unless you wanna say something?”
“Uh...I’m excited to be in your class after all this time?”
“That’s not--” Shouta let out a breath in defeat “Never mind”
After parting ways with Eraserhead, Izuku found himself making his way to the store.
While filling the cart with everything his mom needed --and checking his phone for any texts from Mei, who has been radio silent since yesterday-- he reflected on his situation a bit. He could tell that Eraserhead was worried about him, but that’s the last thing Izuku wanted right now.
The pro hero is going to be his teacher next week. This type of worry and concern could not only ruin their relationship --whatever that is. Friendship? Mentorship?-- but also the man’s job, let alone his own education. He is done with making other people worry. He has to focus on his goal.
And right now his goal is to get home to his mom before someone recognizes him from the festival... Or before the rain gets any worse. Good thing he still had the umbrella for Shinsou.
“I should probably return it to him Monday...” he thought to himself as he checked back on the list.
“That should be all” he breathed out as he pushed his cart down the aisle. Well, there was one thing left, but that was more for him than for his mom.
“Ah, there it is,” he said as he picked up a box of black hair dye.
Some would say that using box dye is a no no, but as long as you pick the right brand and take care of your hair you don’t have to worry about m--
“Stop clogging the aisle dipshit”
Izuku’s train of thoughts was interrupted as someone bumped into him all of sudden, causing him to lose his balance for a second. He held onto his cart for support, only for it to bump onto a few boxes, causing those to fall off the shelf.
“Crap, I, uh...” Izuku quickly bent over to pick them before anyone saw the mess. “S-sorry, my bad…” he said, despite the other person being the one that crashed into him. He just didn’t want to cause a scene.
The man didn’t say anything in return. Quite frankly he was pretty quiet, much to Izuku’s discomfort. He expected him to walk away but he just stood there behind Izuku, watching as he picked up the boxes that fell with a disturbing amount of curiosity.
“Please don’t tell me he recognizes m--”
“It’s you” the man suddenly spoke up. “You’re that kid from the Sports Festival”
A shiver ran down Izuku’s spine at those words. He knew this would happen eventually after his performance, but he didn’t expect it to be so soon.
“I’m a big fan” he heard the man speak once again. His voice was rather chill, but there was something about his nonchalant tone that rubbed Izuku the wrong way.
As he got up, he finally turned around to look at his supposed fan . He lifted his gaze, only to be met with two blue eyes staring at him with quite the interest. The tone of his voice didn’t match the look in his eyes, especially given his appearance.
“I…”
His mom taught him better than to judge someone based on the exterior, but still, there was something about this guy that just made Izuku take a small step back.
It wasn’t the scars, nor the staples that barely held his skin together.
No.
It was the way Izuku’s discomfort seemed to spark his interest in him even more. The man took a small step forward, causing Izuku to take another step back, bumping onto the shelf once again.
“Shit, I...Uh, thank you. I...appreciate it” Izuku blurted out, finally remembering the compliment the guy made. He put on a nervous smile to try to seem friendly but right now he’d rather be anywhere else but there.
The man just kept staring, a small smile forming on his face. Izuku was worried that if he smiled more, the staples on his cheeks would come off.
He didn’t say anything as he slowly reached for Izuku, causing the boy to freeze on the spot. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, so to hear him speaking again caught Izuku off guard.
“May I?”
“Huh?”
“I want that”
Izuku finally broke eye contact as he looked down at the man’s hand, covering the top of one of the boxes that he picked up from the floor. He might’ve stared at the scars across his hand for a little too long before he finally nodded.
“R-right, yes of course. Here” Izuku let him grab it out of his grasp before he turned around. The man looked over the box dye in his hand then back at Izuku as he sure took his time putting everything back on the shelf where it fell from. “Please leave, please leave…”
“As I’ve said, I’m a big fan… Such a shame that you had to lose like that tho”
In a moment of desperation, Izuku unhooked his utility belt before hurling it at the flames coming his way.
“Agh--” the moment the belt made contact with the flames, it generated such a huge explosion that it even spread towards Izuku, covering a small portion of his body in the process.
“IZUKU!” he thought he heard someone scream his name before he was blown away from the fire, and unfortunately out of bounds…
“Uh-huh…” Izuku just nodded as glanced at his bandaged hand.
“I was actually rooting for you, you know?”
When he turned around, he found the man dangerously close once again to the point Izuku could actually count the individual staples holding his face together.
“I-is that so? Uh, th-thank you…”
“Takes a lot of guts going against the Number 2 Hero’s masterpiece like that. Were you not scared? I mean, it looked like you were so ready to hurt him for some reason..." he smirked "I didn’t even know who I was supposed to root for in the end”
Izuku gulped, “Is that how it looked to everyone else?”
“AND NOW YOU DARE TO STAND IN FRONT OF ME LIKE THIS SAYING YOU’LL WIN WITH ONLY HALF YOUR STRENGTH?! EVEN SHIGARAKI SHOWED ME MORE RESPECT THAN THAT!”
“Well, I…” he wasn’t sure what to do. It’s not like this is a villain he can just punch or something. This is just a person who didn’t know when to back off. Should he just tell him to go away? Walk away himself? If he does that, will the man follow him?
He tried to look around for something, someone, anyone to signal to that he is in an uncomfortable situation. He expected to see someone who actually worked at the store, but instead he spotted a very familiar face at the end of the aisle, staring at him in shock.
“Kirishima?!”
The other boy must’ve seen the distress on Midoriya’s face because soon enough he started approaching them with a determined look on his face.
“Midoriya! There you are! I…” he was next to Izuku in seconds. He threw the black-haired man a quick glance before turning back to Izuku “Did you, uh, get everything you needed?”
“Huh?”
“Your dad is waiting for us in the car. He said we have to hurry or else we’ll be late” Kirishima told him, shifting his weight from one foot to the other nervously. Izuku was confused for a second before figuring out what Kirishima was up to.
“My dad...oh yeah, right. Sorry, just--” he paused for a second, glancing at the weird man from the corner of his eyes before looking back at Kirishima. The weirdo didn’t seem that pleased by this turn of events but Izuku couldn’t care less.
“--just got caught up with some stuff. Yeah, I have everything. We should get going before he gets worried”
Before anyone could say anything, Izuku threw one arm around Kirishima then started pushing his cart away from that aisle.
“Is he following us?”
“I don’t think so”
The boys found themselves at the back of the checkout line, making sure no one was after them.
“Who was even that guy?” Kirishima asked as Izuku tried to keep his eyes forward to make sure he didn't accidentally spot him again.
“Don’t know, don’t care. I don’t want to think about him anymore right now”
“Understandable”
The two paid for their stuff then made their way outside.
“Thanks for intervening. I really needed to get out of that situation” Izuku said as he opened his umbrella. Well, Shinsou's umbrella.
“No problem man. Want me to escort you home safely in case that guy shows up again?”
Izuku was taken back by the offer. It was a normal offer but he just didn’t expect Kirishima to be that attentive. “Are you sure? Don’t you have to get home?”
“Yeah, but it’s no rush. It just wouldn’t be manly of me to leave you alone after that, you know?” Kirishima said as opened his own umbrella. Surprise surprise, it was crimson red too “Besides, I only went out to get some stuff for my hair so”
Kirishima opened his bag a bit to reveal two little boxes. A box of red hair dye and one of bleach. Izuku was honestly surprised that he managed to miss them entirely despite the fact that he stood right next to Kirishima as he paid for his items.
“Oh, that’s the same brand I use!”
Kirishima felt a bit embarrassed by that remark but was still smiling “Yeah after you pointed it out I decided to take my hair a bit more seriously. I actually looked a bit more into it before throwing the first thing I could get my hands of on my head”
Izuku let out a soft laugh at that, then remembered Kirishima’s offer “Well, if you still need help figuring this stuff out, maybe you could come over and let me show you how to actually do your hair properly”
Kirishima raised his eyebrows in surprise “Oh, really? Are you sure?”
“Of course. I bet my mom would probably enjoy seeing me interact with people after what happened at the festival yesterday” Izuku laughed at his own comment, much to the other boy’s discomfort.
"Oh, right...touchy subject”
He cringed to himself before adjusting his posture a bit “Heh, sorry about that. Shall we get going then?”