Chapter Text
Midoriya held an ice pack over his black eye. Inko sat by his side on the couch, stitching up the cut on his upper arm.
“I tried talking to the school again,” she said. Izuku looked away. The tears in the corners of his mother’s eyes hadn’t dried.
“I’m not getting bullied,” he insisted. Inko stopped falling for his lies a while ago, but he still denied anything.
“I just don’t understand why you think you can’t come to me. I love you. You know that, right? I’ll always be here for you, no matter what,” Inko said, covering the cut in a square bandage.
“I know mom. I really do. But.. I’m fine.”
Inko frowned. “Are you sure?” Her son’s response was a nod, which only deepened her frown. She pulled him into a gentle side hug, slowly rubbing his arm in order to soothe him.
“Then I have to talk to you about something,” she continued. Her nervous tone of voice made him pull out of the hug. “I’ve uh—I’ve found a high school for you,” Inko stated. Izuku shrugged.
“So? What’s the big deal? Why are you so anxious? Is it bad?” Izuku asked. Trepidation was written all over her face.
“No, I’ve… I’ve decided to try and send you to UA.” Inko tightened her sweaty fists. This was not going to be easy. Izuku jumped to his feet.
“What? I don’t get it. Why? I told you I’m fine. I don’t need some psych ward prison to decide my life for me,” he demurred, crossing his arms.
“You can lie to me all you want, but I know you’re not happy at Aldera. You know that if I had the time and money I would get you out of there! But I’m worried about you, and I don’t know what other options you have,” Inko said. She understood the issue with her wording as soon as she said it, pressing her hands to her cheeks.
Izuku dropped his shoulders. “I know what you meant.” He trudged to his room, closing the door behind him. He flopped onto his bed, burying his face in his pillows.
Even his own mom thought he was useless. So useless in fact, that she had to send him to UA.
UA was a special school. It took in struggling kids and picked one of the courses to place them in. It was the principal’s plan to try and give the kids a future.
Izuku knew he would be getting free admission into the general studies course, or even the support course. But that didn’t change the fact that UA wasn’t exactly the most desirable school to graduate from, if he even made it that far.
It was practically a circus, built to broadcast to the world that he couldn’t fit in anywhere else. Knowing his mother, there wasn’t much hope for avoiding UA.
A thought crossed his mind. A thought he knew he wasn’t supposed to think, but was just so appealing.
He was so lost in thought that the opening of the door made him flinch.
“Hey, Izuku. I felt bad for what I said, so I made pork cutlet bowls for dinner. Your favorite! We can talk if you’d like,” Inko said, fidgeting with her hands in the doorway. Izuku swallowed. This was a terrible idea.
“Actually… yes. I-I would like to talk,” he said. His mom brightened, giving a relieved smile.
The two sat across from each other at the dinner table, picking at their food while Izuku figured out what to say. He needed to word this very carefully. He started slowly.
“I am getting bullied-“
“Oh honey.” Inko swallowed the lump in her throat, blinking back tears. Izuku lowered his head and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.
“It’s, um, it’s Kacchan. He’s doing it,” Izuku confessed. Inko froze, tilting her head in confusion.
“Katsuki is the one bullying you?” She asked. Izuku nodded. Inko stood up very slowly, not blinking.
Izuku watched her walk to her phone, refusing to admit that she actually scared him.
“Hey Mitsuki? Are you busy? I have something to tell you. I found out today that Katsuki has been a bully at school. Yes, I’m serious. My poor Izuku comes home with bruises! Yes! You will? Alright, thank you. Bye!” Inko’s tone of voice contrasted the way she acted before the call.
Izuku went silent, contemplating whether or not he made the right choice. If Kacchan went to UA, he would likely never be a hero, or a popular one. School would be worse tomorrow because Kacchan would know exactly who got him in trouble.
“Don’t worry baby. Katsuki will face the consequences for his actions. We won’t tell him you said anything. It’ll all be okay,” Inko said. She hugged Izuku before returning to her dinner. Izuku didn’t say anything.
As always, he was right. Saying school would be worse was an understatement.
Kacchan pulled him aside after class. Deku’s yellow backpack was dumped out into the pond before he joined it in the water. Bakugo grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and held his head under the water multiple times. He took Deku’s hero analysis notebook and ripped it apart page by page, ignoring Deku’s begging.
Then, Bakugo Katsuki started crying. The two middle school boys stood facing each other, tears dripping down their faces.
“You ruined everything. You always ruin everything! I’ll never forgive you for taking my future from me,” Bakugo growled, jabbing an accusing finger into Deku’s chest.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me! You know exactly what you did. It’s all your fault and we both know it. You’re a worthless freak,” Bakugo said. He spun on his heel and stomped home, wiping his tears away.
Izuku sighed. Not only was the bullying not over, but now he was dragging Kacchan down with him. As usual, this was poorly handled. He didn’t know whether that was a step forwards or backwards from ‘not handled.’
His mother’s heartbroken gasp when she laid her eyes on his soaking form broke Izuku’s heart.
“What happened? Was it Katsuki? I’m so sorry!” Inko fretted, cupping his cheek in her hand.
“The reason I didn’t tell you is because I knew you couldn’t do anything,” Izuku said. His words made her cry. She pulled him into a tight hug even though he was soaking.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You’re right. I messed up. You don’t deserve this,” Inko cried, burying her face into his shoulder. “I just wanted to help and I only made your whole situation worse,” Inko said.
Izuku wriggled out of her grasp. “Just—please. I’m going to my room,” Izuku said. He only backed up and turned around before his mom grabbed his hand.
“Izuku, baby! I’m sorry! You don’t have to be alone! Just stay with me,” she pleaded, tears spilling down her cheeks. Izuku pulled his hand away.
“Stop it! You’re not helping! You’re making your problems into my problems and you’re not even solving my problems. I don’t care anymore just pawn me off on UA. It’ll be easier for the both of us,” he snapped. He went to his room and Inko didn’t stop him. He knew it was irrational to be so upset with her. It was his fault just as much as it was hers.
The letter came in the mail the next day. Izuku’s acceptance letter into UA. Since then, Inko and Izuku stopped talking completely.
UA had a dorm system, so before the first day of school, the students had to get moved in. The students were only provided with an empty bed and a desk, so they had to bring everything else in themselves.
Pretty much everything Izuku owned was All Might themed. He was embarrassed to own it all, considering he had spoken to All Might only once, and that was when the hero crushed his dreams on a rooftop.
He couldn’t stop thinking about seeing the other students that would be in his class. They hadn’t yet told him what course he was in, so he had no idea what kind of people they’d be.
Izuku studied the room arrangement sheet as he searched for the dorm room he was assigned. His room was on the second floor, which was not fun to drag suitcases and furniture up to.
He tried to keep his merchandise as much of a secret as possible, but there was a flamboyant looking blond boy who definitely had his eye on him. Izuku could never figure out why, and he really hoped it wasn’t the limited edition All Might merchandise that made him the center of attention. At least the other two students on his floor cared less about staring at him.
Everyone that went to UA was pretty weird. Izuku deemed himself the ‘average’ one, specifically because his other neighbor in the dorms was 3 feet tall and had purple bulbs for hair. The final student that lived on that floor had a bird head. A real bird head.
Neither of their appearances were very helpful in determining what course he was in. He wondered what course Kacchan got into, since he knew for sure he was attending this school.
The answer to his question came fast and hard.
“Deku! What are you doing here?!” The all too familiar voice boomed from down the hall, sending shivers down Izuku’s spine. Speak of the devil.
They were not in the same class.
Izuku turned around to see Bakugo standing at the other end of the hall. Glancing around, he saw nobody else around. Why did they have to disappear at the worst time?
“Are you ignoring me?!” Midoriya was surprised how little attention he was drawing to himself considering his volume.
“This is my dorm room, Kacchan,” Midoriya mumbled. Somehow Bakugo managed to get even angrier. His eyes narrowed to slits. He cracked his knuckles just by balling his fists. Venom dripped from his fangs when he spoke.
“You’re lying.” Deku shook his head instead of running away. Bakugo stalked forward, the action declaring that he was the predator, and Deku was the prey. He grabbed the green haired boy by the collar of his shirt and repeated himself. “You’re lying.”
“I’m really not. Why are you so upset?” Izuku dared to ask. Bakugo dropped him to the ground. Izuku scooted backwards, feeling like a small bug crushed under Katsuki’s scarlet gaze.
“This is the hero course.”
The room seemed to spin when he said that. He wanted to believe it was a joke, but Bakugo’s wrath was genuine. There was no way the school would put a quirkless kid into the hero course. It had to be a mistake. Right?
Why did nobody tell him he was in the hero course? Was that why the other boy was staring at him? Because he knew he wasn’t supposed to be there?
Izuku got up and left, and Bakugo let him. He just had to find his teacher. It would make sense for him to be around. Izuku refrained from acknowledging the curious stares of the students he passed on the other floors. He would rather ask Kacchan for help than any of them. Luckily, he recognized the face of a sleeping man wrapped in a yellow sleeping bag as the one he had seen on the info sheet. He woke up when Midoriya stepped closer.
“Is there something you need, Midoriya?” Shota Aizawa asked.
“I think I was put into the hero course by mistake, sir. I’m quirkless,” Izuku said. Holding eye contact with his teacher was too hard, so he stared at his feet. A sympathetic kind of expression faded into Aizawa’s features.
“We get that comment a lot. It was no mistake, kid. You’re in the hero course, even though you don’t have a quirk.”
“Are you serious?” Izuku felt the need to ask. He didn’t understand. Everyone everywhere had told him it was an impossible dream, so much so that he had begun to give up on it. Even the number one hero had told him to.
“Well, sure. You’re going to live here soon enough, so you might as well get used to it,” Aizawa said.
The concept of heroics took a while to sink in. He was going to be a hero. A real hero. Kacchan was not going to like that.