Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shouta is somewhat perplexed when Midoriya informs him on Monday morning that Kaminari needs to speak to him before class, but he accepts the meeting anyway. The teen is oddly subdued, but there’s a furious fire in his eyes, and Shouta makes a mental note to keep an eye on Midoriya during the day.

Shouta has a bad feeling about this meeting.

An hour later, sitting in his office with a trembling teenager that for once isn’t Midoriya, Shouta knows that his feeling was correct. A sick, heavy guilt crawls into his stomach. How the hell he’d missed Mineta assaulting Kaminari... He forcefully shoves down the suffocating emotion, and resolves to deal with it later.

Shouta does have to take a moment to reassure himself that his students are safe now, safe from Mineta and his wandering eyes and hands.

“Firstly,” Shouta says seriously. “I apologise that this happened to you. It’s not your fault. As your teacher, I should have made sure to warn everyone about Mineta, not just the girls. It was an oversight on my part and you’ve suffered for it.”

Kaminari nods dully, clutching tightly to Midoriya’s hand. For his part, aside from gently encouraging the blonde to speak at the beginning, Midoriya has been a quiet and supportive presence. “It’s not your fault either, Sensei,” Kaminari says. Somehow, Shouta thinks the kid genuinely means it. “He always made sure to never do anything where anyone could see.”

Shouta shakes his head. “You students are responsibility,” he says gently but firmly. “I missed this, and you were hurt as a result. But I understand where you’re coming from.”

Kaminari shrugs and remains oddly quiet. Midoriya looks helpless, even as he squeezes the blonde’s shoulder. Shouta can see rage smouldering just under the surface, and is glad he already talked to the kid about feeling anger.

“There’s a few options now,” Shouta says after another moment. “Would you prefer to give a verbal or written statement? Either is fine, and you won’t have to testify in Court if you don’t want to. Your case will be added to the charges Mineta is already facing.”

“Verbal please,” Kaminari says without hesitation. His voice is still eerily quiet, and Shouta nods. Once again, seeing such a subdued side to a normally bright student hurts.

“Alright. I’ll arrange for that to happen over the next few days. You can have a friend with you if you want,” Shouta tacks on, but Kaminari shakes his head - yeah, that’s fair. “I will also recommend that you speak to a counsellor or therapist at least once.”

Kaminari nods slightly. “I... I’ll talk to my regular one,” the teen mumbles. Hm, at least two of Shouta’s students are sensible enough to know when they need help with their mental health.

“UA will reimburse any costs,” Shouta tells the kid. “This is non-negotiable.”

That gets a weak laugh from Kaminari. “Okay,” he says. “If you insist.”

What Shouta doesn’t tell the kid is that once Nedzu gets the therapist’s details, Kaminari will never pay for a session again while a student. Instead, UA will pay for all appointments until the teen graduates. It’s just one of the perks of having a rat? that likes to invest in start-ups. After all, the school has to get funding from somewhere, and Nedzu always prioritises his students.

“Are you up to class today?” Shouta asks and Kaminari trembles slightly. “If you’re not, that’s fine. I can arrange an absence for you today.”

“I - I don’t want to go home,” Kaminari says, voice small. “But I don’t think I’ll be able to focus today.”

Shouta hums. “How about this. I’ll clear Midoriya-kun for the day as well, and you can both have free study in either the Library or the Dorm.”

So what if strictly speaking he shouldn’t be letting the teens loose on the dorms during school hours? Shouta is of the opinion that cats make everything better, and Kaminari could certainly do with some pet therapy. Midoriya seems to agree, as he nods determinedly, and starts extolling the virtues of Nikko and Nekouta.

With a tiny smile, that reassures Shouta that his student will be alright, Kaminari agrees to the plan. He gently shoos the teens out of his office, and only drops his head in his hands once the door is closed behind them.

What a mess.

Shouta hadn’t expected Mineta to go for one of the boys in the class, but it makes a sick sort of sense that he did. With the girls never interacting him individually, he went for the next easiest prey, which happened to be Kaminari. He highly doubts Mineta is even attracted to the same sex, but was just getting off on the power he had over the blonde...

The blonde, who when he short circuits, can’t do anything to defend himself.

Right, that’s it. Shouta is immediately setting Kaminari up with training sessions with Zashi. The quirk drawback is now top priority in Shouta’s books, and there’s few better qualified to help Kaminari than his blonde husband. He’d offer himself, but he already has daily sessions with Midoriya, and other training with Shinsou. He won’t be able to give his all to Kaminari, and the kid needs more than that.

Fuck, what an awful start to the day. Shouta is just relieved that Kaminari felt comfortable coming to him about it, even if Midoriya had encouraged it. And isn’t that something, that Midorya, so mistrusting of teachers, had deemed Shouta capable and worthy of helping his fellow classmate. It’s a far cry from how Midoriya has handled Todoroki during the Sports Festival, where the kid had clearly not trusted the teachers to help the red and white teen satisfactorily.

With a muttered curse, Shouta texts Nedzu an update of the situation, and gets an immediate response. Good, the rat? will help deal with this, and Mineta, with extreme prejudice.

It’s no less than what the perverted boy deserves. Mineta will learn the meaning of fear soon enough, under the clever paws of UA’s Principal.

And now Shouta pauses and reflects. As far as he’s aware, Kaminari doesn’t have any issues at home, but the fact that he hadn’t wanted to go home today... it’s a sign of something, maybe just that the kid didn’t want to be alone today, or maybe something worse. It’s another thing Shouta will keep an eye on. A quirk like Kaminari’s can easily be destructive and dangerous, so Shouta wouldn’t be surprised if his parents had less than satisfactory ways of dealing with that. Disappointed, but not surprised.

No, surprise at how cruelly parents can treat their kids had been driven out of Shouta by the knowledge of what Zashi’s parents had done to him. Shouta’s own parents, while apathetic and not particularly involved in his life as he grew up, had always fed and clothed him. Sure, he wasn’t loved, but he was safe enough until he could find and build his own family. Hizashi, of course, being the foundation of Shouta’s family. Tensei and Nemuri and Oboro  were the walls, and Nedzu the roof that keeps them all safe.

So Shouta will keep an eye on Kaminari, and if things seem suspect, he’ll push for the kid to join the dorm trial as well. He hopes it doesn’t come to that - not because he minds watching another kid, but because he wants Kaminari’s family to be safe.

Shouta’s phone buzzes again and he quickly checks it, even as he stands to make his way to the 1-A classroom. Kaminari and Midoriya may be skiving off, but Shouta unfortunately still has the rest of the brats to teach.

It’s a simple message from Nedzu.

The good Detective will be here tomorrow at 4:30.

Shouta raises an eyebrow. Nedzu is always deliberate with his words, so the use of ‘good’ in the same sentence as ‘detective’ can mean only one man. Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, colloquially known as True Man.

That he’s being brought in for a case against a minor even when he’s the head of the League of Villains case... Nedzu is pulling out all the stops against the HPSC interfering further with Mineta’s case. Tsukauchi’s quirk, Lie Detector, is almost legendary in its utility and effectiveness. But, Shouta knows, it’s only such a useful quirk because of the man behind it. Tsukauchi has a sharp mind and no tolerance for bullshit, which Shouta can respect.

And, most importantly, Tsukauchi has the trust of the public, and has ever since he single-handedly tore down the career of former Number Twelve Hero, Minesweeper. The ex pro had been a serial rapist, using his power, money, and influence to smother any reports of wrongdoing. Until one brave girl came forward and told the Detective.

Like a dog with a bone, Tsukauchi didn’t stop until Minesweeper was buried under the weight of his sins.

Shouta smiles just as he leaves his office, and he sees Vlad King blanch out of the corner of his eye.

Tsukauchi will bury Mineta now, and Shouta will gladly hand him the shovel.

Not to mention Shouta will give him the names of the two kids who’d nearly killed Midoriya in middle school. If the man is coming by, Shouta will make it worth his while.

Chapter Text

The next few weeks nearly fly by for Izuku, caught up as he is in studying for the Final Exams, and anticipation for the training camp Aizawa-sensei had idly mentioned in homeroom one day. His friendship with Kaminari - no, Denki, now, ever since that day they went to Aizawa-sensei together - is a bright spot in the void that is Iida’s continued cold shoulder. Izuku had tried a few times to quietly speak with the engine quirked boy, but had been politely but firmly brushed off.

Izuku had taken the hint, even though his heart hurt with it.

But, as Inui-san had said, it’s not Izuku’s fault, and what Iida is going through is something the other boy will have to work out for himself. Especially if, as he suspects, merely seeing Izuku triggers painful memories for his classmate. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t worry, however, as according to his friends, Iida is pushing himself farther and harder in Foundational Heroics than he really should be.

On a brighter note, however, Izuku’s mother is much happier now that she’s not working at the Gateway. She’d taken the liaison job only a few days after Principal Nedzu had offered, and has been busy visiting other schools already. Izuku is impressed by her efficiency, and somewhat ruthless badgering of other schools to create similar roles within their faculties.

Even more importantly, his mum had hit it off with one of the teachers she’d met, and now has standing coffee catchups scheduled every week. Which, Izuku knows, is something that his mother hasn’t been able to do for years, because of her night shift.

There’s something odd in her voice whenever she talks about her new friend though, and Izuku grinned for hours when he figured out what it is.

His mother likes this person that she’s friends with. Izuku of course, being the good son that he is, not so subtly told her he wouldn’t mind if she started seeing someone. That got him a sputtered denial and she’d hung up the call as Izuku giggled. Of course, she’d called back ten minutes later and admitted he was probably right about her feelings.

Izuku is just so happy for her!

But it’s the final weekend before their written exams begin on Monday, and Izuku is helping Tooru and Ochako study. Tooru, to Izuku’s excitement, is visible today.

Er, at least, as visible as she can get. A week ago, Aizawa-sensei had asked the girl if she’d like to see if Erasure would work on her, now that he knows he doesn’t need to see someone. Tooru had accepted nearly immediately.

So they’d gone to a private training room, where Aizawa-sensei erased her quirk, and, according to Tooru, who’d been cackling as she reminisced, had actually startled himself when he saw what his student looked like.

Because, as it turns out, Tooru has inherited her birth father’s quirk, Mirror Skin. Apparently, Aizawa-sensei hadn’t been expecting to see his own reflection where Tooru’s face would have been, and actually deactivated Erasure in shock.

Tooru, of course, had relayed this to nearly the entire class, interrupted only by her own laughter. And, as a fun side-effect, now that the girl knew what her quirk felt like when ‘off’ she was actually able to replicate the sensation, allowing her to become ‘visible’. Or, as visible as a walking mirror can be. Izuku is thoroughly impressed by Tooru’s rapid progress - constant passive emitter type quirks, like her light refraction that makes her invisible, are notoriously difficult to train and control to not be ‘on’. As such, most people with such quirks don’t even try to fight against their inherent nature. So yeah, Izuku’s invisible classmate is super cool.

And also, very, very buff. In her mirror form, Tooru’s arms can be seen and she is beefy. Izuku immediately challenges her to an arm-wrestling contest upon discovering this, and it ends in a stalemate.

Yeah, Tooru is cool as hell.

But - they’re studying! And Tooru and Ochako are better at their school subjects than they think they are. Izuku just needs them to believe in themselves more!

It’s then, of course, as Izuku and the girls are sprawled all over the living room floor with papers and text books scattered around, that Aizawa-sensei slinks into the Dorm. With a glance at the time, 9AM on a Saturday, Izuku suspects the man has just come from a patrol that went overtime. His teacher certainly looks exhausted enough, as he bends to change into house slippers.

With a quick apology to his friends, Izuku is up and in the kitchen, pouring out a cup of coffee for Aizawa-sensei. If the man is breaking his usual after patrol pattern of going straight into the teacher’s unit, then he must want to talk. Izuku pointedly ignores the look Tooru and Ochako share, and their poorly-muffled giggles.

By the time Aizawa-sensei slumps onto one of the bench seats at the table, a generous mug is filled with piping hot coffee. Izuku gets a muttered ‘thanks’ and he hovers anxiously for a moment. “Is - is everything alright?”

“Mm,” Aizawa-sensei hums, clearly distracted by the coffee if the way he seems to be trying to drown himself in it is any indication. Only once a good half of the mug has disappeared do dark eyes meet Izuku’s. “Sit,” Aizawa-sensei grumbles.

Izuku sits.

Aizawa-sensei slurps his coffee again and looks tiredly at Izuku. “Good news,” he says bluntly. “The reporter that broke into Tartarus has been arrested. He’s being charged with trespassing, multiple counts of illegal quirk use, and child endangerment.”

Izuku blinks. “Oh.” Aizawa-sensei raises an eyebrow. Izuku flushes, caught. “What did his quirk turn out to be?”

“You were pretty damn close,” Aizawa-sensei admits. “Officially, it’s registered as Switch. He’s meant to only be able to switch the locations of two inorganic objects, but he dosed himself with trigger, which allowed for him to switch places with the security guard in charge of Stain’s cell block.”

Izuku shudders. With a quirk like that, the reporter could have gotten in almost anywhere. It’s almost lucky that the worst he chose to do was speak to a prisoner.

“By the time we caught him last night, he was pretty incoherent and unstable,” Aizawa-sensei adds. “It seems he got himself addicted after that, which is why he went off the grid.”

Izuku nods quietly. That makes sense - Trigger may boost a person’s quirk, but at the cost of their mental stability. He’s not entirely surprised that the reporter, once he had a taste for the drug, not to mention the power it allowed him, got hooked.

Izuku is also not missing the fact that Aizawa-sensei had taken this hunt very personally. Yamada-sensei had confided to Izuku that it was because Izuku is one of his students - apparently, Aizawa-sensei doesn’t like people messing with his people.

Izuku is also aware that the reporter had been on the run for two, nearly three weeks at this point. With his erratic behaviour, and a jacked up quirk, he’d been elusive and unpredictable, especially as he’d had the foresight to wear a hood to conceal his identity. None of the media that had published the reporter’s work had been willing to disclose their source, either, not without a warrant and a lengthy legal battle.

Which was why, knowing how good Izuku is with quirks, Aizawa-sensei had reluctantly enlisted him to look at the tapes available of the man’s quirk in action the previous week. Apparently, none of the offical Analysis Officers had been able to agree on what such a powerful quirk could be. It had been Izuku to shyly suggest that the quirk had been somehow enhanced, maybe by a drug? And Aizawa-sensei had hissed, and agreed with his idea.

But, Izuku is relieved that the man has been apprehended. And by the heroes, too. Lately, he’s been having nightmares that All For One had gotten to the man first, and took his quirk, before using said quirk to come after Izuku and those closest to him. Yeah, Izuku has had a lot to talk to Inui-san about.

A firm tap on Izuku’s nose draws him out of his introspection and he makes a face at Aizawa-sensei. Even with Nikko and Nekouta around, the man has refused to transfer his nose booping tendencies to the cats. Instead, he seems to delight in making Izuku wrinkle his nose.

“You don’t need to worry about him anymore,” Aizawa-sensei tells Izuku firmly. He nods quietly, even as he takes in the deep bags under his teacher’s eyes - evidence of the long nights he’s spent chasing down this criminal for Izuku’s sake. A small string of guilt coils in his stomach, but all that gets him is another firm tap on the nose. “Stop blaming yourself,” Aizawa-sensei chides. “He needed to be taken in as soon as possible. With my quirk, it’s logical that I took lead on this.”

“I can still worry,” Izuku mumbles and Aizawa-sensei snorts.

“Worry about your exams.”

“I can multi-task,” Izuku retorts, but he does feel better with his teacher’s reassurances. With a quick wave to Aizawa-sensei, Izuku rejoins Ochako and Tooru on the floor near the couches. “So, where are we up to?” He asks brightly.

“Are we just ignoring that whole interaction?” Ochako asks, slightly hysterical, and Tooru has actually lost concentration so much shes invisible again.

Izuku blushes brightly. Aizawa-sensei really is tired if he’d been so accidentally affectionate in front of the others. Oops. He chances a glance back at the table, but Aizawa-sensei has sensibly chosen to retreat, and has disappeared, presumably out the back door, leaving Izuku to fend off the inevitable questions.

Thank god Shouto is still in bed, Izuku thinks, slightly hysterical himself.

But, as he nervously starts wringing his hands, and Ochako pokes him until he switches to using his fidget, Izuku thinks maybe he can trust them. He sighs. “When Shouto-kun comes down, I’ll explain,” Izuku says. “I don’t want to talk about it more than once.” Shouto does already know most of this, but he’ll be good for moral support.

“I’m here,” Shouto says, and Izuku nearly jumps out of his skin. He glares playfully at Shouto as the other boy settles between Tooru and Ochako.

“What are we talking about?” Shouto asks, and Izuku is desperately relieved the other boy hadn’t seen him and Aizawa-sensei. Even if Tooru does give an excited recap of the events to him anyway.

When she finishes filling Shouto in, Izuku sighs and drops his head in his hands. “It’s... a bit of a long story, so I’ll just summarise,” Izuku mumbles into his hands. “I - I got my quirk late. Like, really late . Everyone thought I was quirkless.” He stops then and doesn’t know how to continue. How does he explain his life up until he had a quirk was pretty much daily torture?

“When did your quirk come in, Izu-kun?” Ochako asks, and there’s a slight tremor in her voice that’s because of him.

“The zero pointer,” Izuku tells his fingers.

Ochako gasps suddenly. “Oh god, that was less than six months ago!”

Izuku makes a small noise in confirmation. Small hands with raised finger pads are suddenly pulling Izuku’s face up so he’s staring straight into soft brown eyes. “Izu-kun,” Ochako says gently, “Thank you for telling us. It explains a lot.” She releases his face with a gentle (four fingered) pat.

“Yeah!” Tooru agrees cheerfully, and there’s no malice in her voice at all. Shouto makes a quiet noise of agreement. “Like why you kept breaking all your bones!”

Izuku winces. “Haha, yeah...”

“Is that why you’ve been having private meetings with Aizawa-sensei?” Ochako asks suddenly, and Izuku nods.

“I told him I was a late bloomer after the Sports Festival,” Izuku explains. “I just kept hurting myself with my quirk, and I knew he’d help me because of the quirk test during Orientation.”

“When he erased your quirk so you wouldn’t break your arm,” Shouto says quietly and Izuku nods again.

“He’s been giving me daily quirk counselling sessions so I can catch up,” Izuku continues. “Which is why... he’s so different with me? I guess. We’ve spent a lot of time together.”

For once, Shouto doesn’t latch onto this tidbit about Izuku and Aizawa-sensei, and instead suddenly looks very pale. “I.. I apologise,” the red and white haired boy says very seriously to Izuku. “I know you told me this before, but it’s only now that I understand why you were so upset when I was not using my fire before the sports festival. I must have seemed very arrogant to someone who was treated horrifically because they didn’t have a quirk.”

Izuku can’t help the tears that break free at that. Ochako looks shocked for a moment. “Treated... horrifically?” She asks, and Tooru hums an odd note.

“Quirkless kids aren’t very common these days,” Tooru explains quietly while Izuku is busy being patted on the shoulder by Shouto. “I had a foster sister a few years back that was quirkless.” Izuku doesn’t miss the was, nor the way Tooru’s clothes shift downwards as though she’s hunching in on herself. “She came home every day with new bruises and scrapes. The parents didn’t do anything - they didn’t care because she didn’t have a quirk, no matter how clever and nice she was. She - she killed herself six months after I moved into the same foster house.”

Ochako looks horrified, but Izuku nods. It’s not a story he’s unfamiliar with. It was very nearly his, if All Might hadn’t given him One For All.

Ochako curses foully under her breath suddenly. “Bakugou,” she hisses, and Izuku jerks, even though he’s not surprised she was the first to figure it out. “He’s a bully,” she says and Izuku nods, a tiny movement.

“I could kill him and no one would know,” Tooru offers, and Izuku smothers a hysterical giggle.

“That’s - a little excessive,” Izuku says quickly. “He’s - he’s already been expelled from heroics, and banned from interacting with me.”

Ochako makes a concerning disgruntled noise and Izuku pokes her forehead. “Don’t get in trouble just to get back at him,” he scolds. “He’s not worth it.”

“Fine,” Ochako says mulishly. “But if I see him near you, I won’t be held responsible for what I do.”

Izuku sighs. That’s probably as good as he’s going to get from his sweet but secretly vicious friend.

With a few more gentle questions and answers that Izuku is happy to give, they move back to studying. Shouto decides to join them, even though he normally politely refuses, claiming they’re distractions. Izuku is touched that the other boy is staying just to make sure he’s alright.

And if Ochako sits slightly closer than usual, neither she nor Izuku comment on it.

“Has anyone ever explained the concept of adoption to you, Shouto-kun?” Tooru asks suddenly, ten minutes later, her tone dripping with faux innocence. Izuku nearly strangles her on the spot.

But it’s too late, because Shouto is leaning forward with a deadly gleam in his eye. “Tell me more,” he demands.

Izuku raises his eyes to the heavens, and prays for patience that doesn’t find him.

So when Yamada-sensei strolls through later that afternoon on his way to his radio station, Izuku has no idea why Shouto is cocooned in a blanket and floating on the ceiling, with an unapologetically cackling Tooru similarly trapped beside him. “Really,” Izuku confesses, “sometimes my classmates get up to the strangest things when I’m not paying attention.” Ochako nods enthusiastically beside Izuku, eyes wide and innocent.

“...Right,” Yamada-sensei says, and his eyes are glittering with mirth. “Carry on then!”

Chapter Text

Izuku stares resignedly across the terrain at Kayama-sensei and tiredly wonders when this became his life. After three gruelling days of written exams, it’s Thursday, and finally time for their practicals. Beside him, Sero is practically drooling at the sight of the R Rated Hero, so Izuku cuffs him lightly around the back of the head. “Pay attention,” he snaps. “Look at where she’s positioned - she wants to draw us out with a false sense of security and then gas us. I’ll be fine with my mask, can you use your tape to make a temporary one?”

“Stop being heartless,” Sero retorts, staring blatantly at Kayama-sensei. Sero needs to get his head in the game, so he can lay a complex web of Tape to tangle their teacher. Izuku growls. “She’s a person, not a piece of meat,” Izuku hisses. “And if you fail this exam because you’re distracted, what kind of hero are you?”

So of course, Sero goes immediately for a frontal attack, not bothering with creating a temporary mask, as he comments, “It’s Midnight, how good at fighting could she be?” Obviously, he ends up asleep on the ground while Kayama-sensei calls out tauntingly to Izuku. The telltale pink mist is quickly surrounding the whole area closest to her.

Capture with two people would have been difficult, Izuku thinks rapidly. With only him left in the exam, escape is the better option. The problem is, even with his mask, he’ll eventually succumb to Kayama-sensei’s gas if he tries to go through it - it can also be absorbed through the skin and eyes, albeit at a somewhat slower rate. With the heat of the day, and the sweat pouring off of Izuku, he knows his pores are wide open to let Somnambulist in, so its efficiency will be nearly as high as if he breathed it in.

Izuku darts from behind one large boulder to another, making sure Kayama-sensei’s back is turned. From his new vantage point, Izuku can see past his teacher to the gate. It’s a straight shot, but it’s also 500m of straight running. With Kayama-sensei’s height advantage and whip, she could catch Izuku in a heartbeat, even using Kinergy and One For All. Izuku has watched the Exhibition Match between her and Iida Tensei several times. Kayama-sensei had caught the guy with engines in his elbows easy as, so Izuku won’t stand a chance at a direct sprint.

So, he needs to lure her away from the gate and then slow her down. That’ll also help with the gas problem, because without her there to replenish it, the light breeze will thin her quirk. But how to distract her - Izuku grins suddenly.

Using the haze provided by Kayama-sensei’s quirk, Izuku backtracks further from the gate, and tucks his whistle in a small crack in a boulder. Then, he shifts to a concealed vantage point, using Float to get on top of a nearby rock shelf. Izuku taps his new wrist guard once, and immediately his ear cuffs morph into automatic ear plugs.

Perfectly done, Izuku will have to remember to thank Hatsume later. Her support upgrades, several of which Izuku hadn’t even asked for, are so cool. Then, without any further hesitation, Izuku taps a different part of the wrist guard and the whistle activates.

Even with the ear plugs, the shriek of Present Mic is loud. Kayama-sensei finally moves from her chosen position, looking slightly confused - as far as she’s aware, the man is meant to be fighting Jirou and Kouda. Which moves her perfectly into position for Izuku to launch off of his perch, putting as much Kinergy and One For All behind it as he can. As planned, the boulder shatters, and rubble and small rocks explode in a haze of dust around Kayama-sensei.

And Izuku sprints, as fast as he can for the gate. He’s only a metre away when Kayama-sensei’s whip wraps around his ankle and he faceplants hard into the ground, palms burning as they’re ripped open.

Crap.

Izuku is on his feet instantly, grabbing the whip with both bleeding hands and tugging with all of his considerable strength. To his delight, he manages to make Kayama-sensei stumble, and he ignores how that never would have happened if she wasn’t handicapped. He’ll take what wins he can get. Unfortunately, he’s now several meters away from the gate, and still tangled in her whip. Unless Izuku wants to play tug of war - actually that might work.

Trying to make it look like he’s planning on trying to yank himself through the gate, Izuku gets a tugging rhythm going. He gains no ground, and Kayama-sensei looks amused.

Good.

If she thinks Izuku is panicking and desperate to escape, she won’t be expecting his plan.

Because, with Izuku’s blood drenching the end of Kayama-sensei’s whip, the tech inside deactivates, and his calves are released as the item goes slack two meters from the end. It’s an inbuilt precaution against villain’s DNA getting into the whip and turning it against Kayama-sensei. For Izuku, it’s an advantage that he gladly exploits - and is desperately grateful to Hatsume again for happily rambling about obscure support item facts to him.

Legs free, and acutely aware of the time running down before he’s downed by Somnambulist, Izuku feigns another tug, and instead releases right as Kayama-sensei tries to pull, and she stumbles again, thrown off by the added handicap weights. But it’s too late, because with a third of her whip out of commission, and Izuku activating Kinergy, he’s out of the gate.

The cheerful voice of Principal Nedzu announces Izuku’s pass, but he barely hears it as he lays panting on the ground. He wants to take his mask off to breathe easier, but with the pink, clary sage scented haze in the air, he can’t unless he wants to take a nap. Kayama-sensei appears in the gate a few moments later, a huge smile on her face, and Sero slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Nicely done, Midoriya-kun,” she cheers, and pride is saturating her tone. Izuku would be flushing, but his cheeks are already bright red from exertion. He manages to flutter a hand weakly in her direction and she cackles loudly. “Up you get, kiddo! I can’t carry both of you!”

Right. Izuku scrambles to his feet, and rushes over, hands raised to take his classmate. Kayama-sensei beams and shifts Sero so he’s draped between both of them. It’s a little awkward with the height difference, and the dark haired boy’s feet are dragging, but Izuku doesn’t particularly care right now. One, he’s tired, and two, Sero was... pretty much useless. Privately, Izuku doesn’t think the other boy passed the exam. He really didn’t do much. And worst of all, he fell for Kayama-sensei’s gimmick and underestimated her.

They make their way to the Medical tent, and Recovery Girl takes Sero immediately with a frown. Izuku carefully doesn’t meet her eyes and slips over to see Doctor Hariyama instead. She eyes his scraped up hands and offers to sing them better, and Izuku debates for a moment. He settles on a three quarter healing, which will leave only a few days of regular healing, but will also help build up tougher skin on his palms rather than the unnaturally perfect healing she could provide. Inoue-san is also hanging around, with cheery and colourful little butterflies dancing across his face. Izuku is so distracted by them that Doctor Hariyama completes her healing before he even notices.

With a genuine thanks to both of the medical staff, Izuku darts out of the tent - and he does notice that Kayama-sensei had waited just inside the tent until he was done - and to the observation area. Time wise, most of his classmates are stil battling - Izuku’s training ground was right beside the central meeting point, while most of the others had been driven to alternative locations.

Watching his fellow students, Izuku is fairly proud of his class. Obviously, there are some areas that can be improved upon, but as he watches Shouto learn to defer to Yaoyorozu, Izuku thinks that maybe the point of the exams is to test their weaknesses.

Which makes Izuku wonder why he was put up against Kayama-sensei with Sero. Maybe it’s because he’s unfamiliar with the other boy’s fighting style? It has been a while since Izuku sparred with him, considering his separate Foundational Heroics classes with Shinsou. Or maybe the challenge for Izuku was to fight against someone who he otherwise would be uncomfortable fighting?

But that makes no sense, Izuku has fought Kayama-sensei many times, courtesy of his internship.

Hm.

Izuku will have to see if he can pull a direct answer from Aizawa-sensei, or if the man will insist he figure it out himself.

He sighs.

He’s definitely going to have to figure it out himself.

A sudden jolt of movement on one of the screens catches Izuku’s eye.

Oh crap.

Chapter Text

Shouta tilts his head back and applies his eye drops with a well-practiced hand as he strolls back to the meeting point. He’s very pleased that Yaoyorozu has found her confidence, and that Todoroki can listen to someone that’s not Midoriya. While he’s glad the two boys are close, god knows they both need good friends, Todoroki needs to learn to trust others. And today, it looks like the sulky teen has finally begun to.

“Aizawa-sensei!” Midoriya calls suddenly, lightly tugging on Shouta’s sleeve, and the kid looks oddly distressed.

He raises an eyebrow but Midoriya is already pulling him towards the medical tent. “It’s Yamada-sensei,” Midoriya says, nearly tripping over his words. “Jirou-san and Kouda-kun beat him, but they did it by swarming him with bugs!”

Shit.

Shouta suddenly understands Midoriya’s urgency.

Zashi hasn’t done well with bugs ever since their second year out in the field. An unfortunate incident involving the hero Centipeder, and a villain with a chitin manipulation quirk. It had... ended poorly, to say the least, and with the blonde very politely refusing any further work with the Nighteye Agency. He’d not so politely raged to Shouta for hours afterwards that apparently Sir Nighteye had known what was going to be done to Zashi, which was nothing short of torture, and didn’t even warn him.

Needless to say, Sir Nighteye has been on Shouta’s infamous shit list for nearly a decade now. That is not how heroes should treat their colleagues, no matter how ‘inevitable’ Nighteye’s foresight is. He still could have warned Hizashi that he would be captured and tortured.

Dragging his thoughts back to the present, Shouta ducks into the tent, thankfully empty of students, with an anxious Midoriya still clinging to his sleeve. Damn kid is too worried for his own good.

But, if he’s been keeping Hizashi company until Shouta could join him, he can’t blame the kid for his nerves.

Typically, when confronted with bugs, Zashi freaks out. But if he’d been swarmed ... judging from Midoriya’s distress, Shouta has no doubt that Hizashi’s mind has taken him back to the basement. By now, Shuzenji will have given him a mild sedative to keep his heart rate down, but she knows better than to knock him out entirely.

It’s not pretty. Shouta hisses through his teeth instinctively at the sight of his husband so distressed, eyes flicking around the tent for invisible enemies. He’s laying on a cot, but his body is lined with tension. From the chair beside the bed, and Midoriya’s overall demeanour, Shouta suspects the kid had been talking with his husband since the exam finished. With the other medical staff preoccupied with students, it seems Midoriya had stepped up - the kid is a hero down to his bones.

“Good job keeping him calm,” Shouta tells Midorya. “I’ve got him now.”

Midoriya nods rapidly and leaves instantly. But Shouta’s attention is focused on the blonde, and he barely notices.

It’s going to be a long afternoon.

Shouta calls Hizashi in sick for his next few patrols, and alerts the radio station to put on pre-recorded shows for the next few days as well. Nedzu will already know to not expect Hizashi to be teaching tomorrow but as it’s the last day of term that’s not an issue. In fact, his husband won’t be up to much of anything until Monday earliest, Shouta suspects. Full blown flashbacks and panic attacks are no joke.

By the time he coaxes Hizashi back to the dorms, taking their private and barely used side entrance, Shouta is exhausted. And, he still has to go talk to Midoriya to make sure that the kid is alright. Seeing a teacher in such a vulnerable state, and then having to calm them through it... Shouta sighs. It’s not Zashi’s fault, far from it, just a shitty set of circumstances but still.

Would it kill the universe to give Midoriya a break?

With Hizashi tucked safely into bed and out like a light, Shouta finally feels comfortable that his husband will be alright. The blonde had been so drained that once he crawled under the covers, he’d passed out immediately. Shouta had been forced to take out his hearing aids with a fond huff of exasperation.

Slipping out of his and Zashi’s unit, Shouta sees Midorya face planted onto the kitchen table, fast asleep. Cute. But it’s bad for the teen’s neck, so he sighs again and pokes the kid’s shoulder until he snaps awake, with a muffled “huh?”

“It’s just me, Problem Child,” Shouta says dryly, and he slides onto the other bench seat so he’s opposite the kid. “Congratulations on passing your exam,” he tacks on. He only knows because Nemuri had been crowing about it loud enough to hear in the medical tent, well away from the observation area she was supervising.

Ugh, he’s going to have to review all the exam footage tonight as well. Damn, he’s not going to get more than four hours of sleep. And that’s coming off a patrol the previous night and then the exam with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, which wouldn’t have been an issue. But those weights Hatsume had created - well, they certainly did their job.

Shouta mentally rewrites his lesson plans from being a brief overview of next term’s subjects to a free study day. Sue him, the overview could be squished into the training camp. And this way, he can nap in class, and maybe he won’t strangle someone just because he’s cranky.

“Is Yamada-sensei alright?” Midoriya asks, once he looks slightly more lively and Shouta nods, tucking his chin into his capture weapon.

“He’s asleep,” he assures the kid. “He’ll be fine.”

Midoriya looks relieved. “I’m glad,” the teen mumbles, and looks down at his lap. “It was scary seeing him so scared.”

“You handled the situation well,” Shouta comments. “Thank you for that.”

Midoriya shrugs even as he flushes lightly. “It was that or R- Recovery Girl threatened to sedate him fully.”

Shouta winces. He can understand why Shuzenji may have thought that necessary, but Hizashi never wakes up well from anaesthesia. “Good call,” he mutters quietly and Midoriya nods again. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m alright, Sensei,” Midoriya says, and even though he’s not meeting Shouta’s eyes as he head droops, he sounds honest enough. “I’m just tired.”

“Clearly,” Shouta snarks, and the kid flushes brightly as he remembers that he’d been woken up from an impromptu nap. He’s pretty sure the other three brats that are his responsibility are already upstairs asleep, despite it only being early evening. “Make sure you eat and then go to bed,” he instructs his green-haired student.

Midoriya hums tiredly, and stumbles to a random cupboard. To Shouta’s mortification, the brat pulls out a damn jelly pouch, slurps it up and then makes his way upstairs with a murmured “g’night Sensei.”

Oh god, of all things the kid could have chosen to emulate, he chose Shouta’s diet. As soon as Hizashi finds this out, Shouta is going to be strangled by his husband with his own capture weapon for being a bad influence on the kid.

...That’s a problem for Future Shouta.

The Shouta of now is going to go to bed, and curl up next to his loudmouth husband, and review the students’ exams with headphones in.

Ugh. Work.

The next morning, Shouta has just opened the unit door to leave for class when he comes face to face with the Problem Child. Face bright red, the kid shoves a sheet of paper at him, mumbles it’s for ‘Yamada-sensei to make him feel better’ and then bolts, quirk activated and everything.

Shouta blinks tiredly. It’s too early for this.

But he’s not a monster, so he returns to the bedroom where Hizashi is still sleeping, lucky bastard, and flicks the lights on and off as he stands in the doorway. It takes a few moments before Zashi stirs and when he does he looks grumpy as a wet cat. Shouta very kindly doesn’t laugh, as much as he wants to. Instead, he waits until the blonde fumbles his glasses on and waves the paper in front of his face. Then, when Zashi takes it, he signs, ‘it’s from the problem child.’

Hizashi bursts into tears, and Shouta sighs internally. Maybe he should’ve looked at what was on the paper before giving it to his husband. Hizashi can be emotional at the best of times, but he’s usually particularly... teary... for the next few days after panic attacks.

“Happy tears,” Hizashi hiccups suddenly, as Shouta starts running soothing fingers through blonde hair. “He’s such a sweetheart.”

“What is it?” Shouta is actually somewhat curious now.

Instead of answering, Hizashi flips the page around and Shouta takes one look at it before his cheeks start burning.

Midoriya is such a Problem Child and Shouta is going to give him detention for a month.

When Todoroki and Midoriya turn up in front of Shouta’s office during lunch, Shouta sighs and ushers the brats in. Tsukauchi has finally gotten back to him with an update on the middle school incident. It’s... not pretty. But first - he makes sure the students are settled on the soft couch, and that his door is firmly closed.

God, it’s good that Midoriya is reaching out, and encouraging his friends to as well, but nothing is ever easy. And Midoriya’s face is as deathly serious as when he’d come by with a pale and shaking Kaminari.

Todoroki is, as ever, collected and calm, but Shouta hasn’t been an underground hero for over a decade without being able to pick up on tension and stress. Not to mention, every one of his hero instincts is going haywire.

Shouta sighs softly. “Problem Child,” he greets as he sits behind his desk. “And Other Problem Child.”

Todoroki’s lips twitch minutely but Shouta will take the win - he’s not particularly expressive himself.

“How’s Yamada-sensei?” Midoriya asks, eyes wide and genuine.

Shouta tucks his chin into his capture weapon and avoids eye contact. “He liked the drawing.”

No, Shouta will not elaborate. Not with Todoroki there with that terrifying gleam in his eyes.

“That’s great!” Midoriya says enthusiastically, even as the brat’s own cheeks are burning. Oh good, this is humiliating for everyone except for Hizashi, it seems. Shouta is just glad he stamped down on his own embarrassment hours ago.

Shouta groans. “He cried with happiness,” he adds and Midoriya’s own eyes, predictably, start to water as well. Shouta just shoves the tissue box on his desk over at the kid with his most put upon air of resignation - even though he knows Midoriya will see right through it.

Shouta pointedly ignores the sudden look of comprehension that crosses Todoroki’s face. He does not want to know, especially if it’s anything like the brat’s last theory. Every time he bumps into Inko-san - at least twice a week with her new job, as she wrangles UA’s secretarial staff in her war of attrition against the other hero schools, Shouta can barely meet her eyes.

On the bright side, increased contact with Inko-san means that Shouta is well-stocked with a range of excellent teas.

“So,” Midoriya says suddenly, even as he dabs at his eyes with a tissue. Shouta straights instinctively, immediately serious. “Todoroki needs to talk to you.”

Chapter Text

After lunch, Izuku and Shouto make their way back to the 1-A classroom, settled by the knowledge that Shouto will not have to go back to Endeavor over the holidays. As soon as Shouto had finished explaining everything to Aizawa-sensei, their homeroom teacher had immediately asked if he could bring in Principal Nedzu to assist.

Shouto had agreed after a moment of thought, with only a sideways glance at Izuku to see his opinion. But if the weekly lunchtime meetings have taught Izuku anything, it’s that Principal Nedzu will go to the ends of the earth and beyond to keep his students safe. So he thinks the possum will be a good bet at keeping Shouto away from Endeavor.

Long story short, Shouto gets to spend the holidays with Izuku and his mother - which was extra easy to arrange with his mum already being on the UA staff. Aizawa-sensei had also idly mentioned that there were some unrelated things he needed to talk to Izuku about, but that they could wait until after school finished. It’d have to be that night, as after that, all students would be picked up early Saturday morning.

For Izuku, that means he also gets to wear a fun little tracking bracelet for the next three weeks, even on the training camp. Yay. But with Stain’s followers still out there and after Izuku’s blood, it’s for the best.

The rest of the day passes easily, especially now the looming stress of exams has passed. In their final homeroom for the term, Aizawa-sensei tiredly explains that all students will be going on the training camp which starts on Monday, even the ones that failed. Izuku supposes that’s a good thing, so no one will fall behind.

And then, after Aizawa-sensei has crawled into his sleeping bag - and seriously, where does he keep that thing? - Ashido suggests a group trip to the new mall the next afternoon to buy supplies. Izuku has never been shopping with friends before, so he cautiously agrees even though Shouto can’t make it because he’s visiting Rei-san in the hospital. All of his other friends will be there to make sure he’s alright!

Izuku and his fellow dorm mates stumble back to their Dorm after term has finished, and Aizawa-sensei had sent the class off with a muttered ‘good job on the exams’ that the entire class may have teared up at. See! It’s not just Izuku that cries a lot - although admittedly, he does cry the most.

Dinner that night is a joint effort between Izuku and Ochako, who between them manage to make a pretty decent hot pot. After a coin flip and a somewhat violent round of thumb wars, Ochako goes and invites their teachers to dinner. It is, after all, a sort-of gift and thank you to both of them, mostly for putting up with four students after hours.

Yamada-sensei is very vocal about his appreciation for the food, even if Izuku does notice that he’s still slightly peaky after their exams the previous day. His English teacher notices Izuku’s appraisal and gives him a wink, along with a signed ‘thank you for the drawing’ that he responds to instinctively in kind, so used to signing with his mum. Yamada-sensei visibly perks up and immediately interrogates Izuku as to when he learned sign language - his mother insisted, and honestly it’s important to be able to communicate as efficiently as possible as a hero, so little Izuku had taken to it like a duck to water - and why he never mentioned it - it never came up.

Of course, this whole conversation takes place in sign, so Izuku is fairly certain only Aizawa-sensei knows what’s going on. He does catch the tiny nod of approval when Izuku mentions that he used it throughout his internship when evacuating citizens. Izuku is also just glad that now Yamada-sensei will stop nagging him for a copy of that drawing. He’s been determined to get one ever since he caught Izuku putting the finishing touches on it a week earlier, hiding from Shouto in the storage closet again.

Aizawa-sensei, on the other hand, keeps his thanks for the food quiet and brief, but Izuku’s pretty sure he’s not the only one that saw a tiny smile pull at the man’s lips. Tooru and Ochako exchange delighted glances, and an equally small smile appears on Shouto’s face.

After dinner, Izuku is once again pulled away to talk with his teachers, and deliberately ignores the muffled laughs from Tooru and Ochako. He wonders if Shouto has told the gravity girl his theory that she’s Thirteen’s long lost younger sister yet. He hopes not - he wants to see the look on her face when Shouto whips that theory out.

Once Izuku is settled at the table in his teachers’ apartment, Aizawa-sensei makes tea for all of them. Yamada-sensei accepts his and then slips off to another room, ruffling a hand through Izuku’s hair as he goes. Izuku’s not worried - he knows Yamada-sensei is still a bit under the weather from the previous day, despite how well he masks it.

“So,” Aizawa-sensei starts dryly, after taking a long slurp of his tea - strawberry shortcake, Izuku’s favourite - and sitting opposite him. “I’ve got an update on Osada and Tsutsui.”

Izuku chokes on his own mouthful of tea but thankfully manages to get it down without dying.

Aizawa-sensei raises a judgemental eyebrow. “They’ve both been charged with attempted murder,” he continues. “As well as numerous counts of harassment and assault.”

Izuku pales. “Attempted murder? Isn’t that excessive?”

“How else would you describe them pushing you down a flight of stairs?” Aizawa-sensei asks, but he’s clearly not expecting a response even as Izuku shrinks back down. That’s - he’s thought about that night often, tried to figure out what he’d done that day to earn his reward but - but attempted murder? It makes a sick sort of sense, Izuku realises, because he knows the statistics, how unlikely it is that he survived to reach high school. Most quirkless people don’t, dying from suicide or... hate crimes.

“Midoriya-kun,” Aizawa-sensei says, and Izuku drags his mind forcefully back to the present. “You’re hurting yourself.”

It’s gentle, not quite a reprimand, and Izuku realises he’s been twisting his fingers. They’re sore, and he realises he must’ve been doing it for a while before Aizawa-sensei managed to get his attention back on the present.

Ah.

There’s something soft in his hands now, and it takes Izuku an embarrassingly long time to realise that he’s staring at the familiar grey of his teacher’s capture weapon. “Midoriya-kun?”

Izuku blinks and then looks up at his teacher. Aizawa-sensei is crouching beside his chair, eyes dark and heavy. “Sorry, Sensei,” he whispers, “I got lost in thought.”

Aizawa-sensei tilts his head slightly. “Alright. Are you okay to continue? Otherwise we can do this in the morning.”

“I’m okay now, really,” Izuku says determinedly. “I was just - surprised.”

Aizawa-sensei hums lightly but returns to his seat. He leaves his capture weapon bundled on Izuku’s lap. “I’ve also followed up with Bakugou-kun,” he says, and there’s a cautious air to it that Izuku dreads. His homeroom teacher sighs, and looks more than his thirty years. “He... did witness the attack on you. But he figured that Osada caught you with his quirk.”

Izuku snorts rudely.

“That was my reaction too,” Aizawa-sensei mutters. “But he appeared genuinely unsettled to find out what happened. So for now the same adjusted enrolment conditions will continue to apply for him.”

Huh. Izuku tucks that tidbit away to think about privately, and maybe discuss with Inui-san later.

“Will I have to testify?” Izuku asks suddenly, anxiety writhing in his gut at the thought. He’s no good at talking to people, and the thought of those piercing eyes...

Aizawa-sensei hums. “If you want. Otherwise, I was planning on arranging for Detective Tsukauchi to interview you.”

Izuku chokes again. “True Man?” He wheezes and Aizawa-sensei looks amused.

“Yes,” he drawls. “Of course you know of him.”

Izuku shrugs sheepishly. “He’s so cool,” he mumbles.

Aizawa-sensei looks amused. “He’s a reliable detective,” he concedes. From the underground hero, that’s high praise. “He’s been helping out UA with various cases so it’s easiest for him to also manage your case.”

As if Izuku is going to turn down the opportunity to ask True Man about his quirk and how he figured out all its little intricacies. Izuku has so many theories!

A poke to his nose makes Izuku scrunch it instinctively and he glared automatically at his unrepentant teacher. But that reminds him - “I have a question about the exams,” Izuku ventures. Aizawa-sensei raises an eyebrow. “I noticed that they seemed to be aimed at students’ weaknesses but I couldn’t figure out mine.”

He feels a bit silly admitting it, but Aizawa-sensei looks considering. Izuku knows now that Sero did in fact, fail. Even though he himself made it through the gate, Izuku isn’t entirely sure why he passed.

“It was a test of how well you can work with others that aren’t in your immediate friend group,” Aizawa-sensei says patiently. “For Sero-kun, it was to test how well he’d fare despite being up against Midnight.”

Izuku winces. Yeah, the tape quirked boy had definitely succumbed to his weakness. “But how did I demonstrate that? Sero-kun just ignored me.”

Aizawa-sensei nods. “True. But it was clear that you tried to work with him, and developed an attack strategy with his quirk in mind. Had he listened, it’s likely that you both would have passed.”

Huh. “I was just making use of what resources we had,” Izuku says thoughtfully. “And in a situation up against someone who outclasses us so thoroughly, it’s logical that we should work together.” He frowns then, and tightens his grip on the capture scarf. “But he underestimated Kayama-sensei. Which I just don’t understand - she’s a pro hero and a teacher, why would she be easy to fight?”

“It’s her persona,” Aizawa-sensei sighs. “There’s always several students that fall for it.”

How bizarre. Izuku can’t imagine looking at Kayama-sensei and seeing anything but the vicious predator she is. He can almost imagine a light dangling off the end of her whip while she lurks in the dark with that terrifying smile of hers like a - “Angler fish,” he mutters and Aizawa-sensei actually snorts.

“Tell her that,” he advises. “She’ll be delighted.”

Yeah, Izuku can imagine she will be.

Chapter Text

After a quick nap in his room with Shouto happily set up on a futon beside his bed, Izuku is ready and raring to go on the planned trip to the mall. His mother had offered to drop him off, but Izuku had just gently redirected her mothering tendencies onto Shouto instead. God knows, his friend needs the love.

Technically speaking, Izuku should probably be ‘escorted’, but he’d mentioned the class trip to Aizawa-sensei the previous night. The man had looked thoughtful, but eventually settled on the tracking device being sufficient. The real problem was just during term, as Stain’s followers were aware that Izuku goes to UA, and there were any number of ways he could be followed from there. But as he would be leaving from his home, Izuku would be much safer. Not to mention, when at the mall, Izuku would be surrounded by his classmates.

And as for the League it Villains... well. There was no news at all since the Nomu had been released in Hosu. Aizawa-sensei had basically then just told Izuku that if he so much as gets a bad feeling to hit the inbuilt panic button.

Fair enough. Izuku doesn’t particularly fancy finding out what exactly All For One wants him for.

So Izuku kisses his mother on the cheek and revels in being able to hug her tightly for as long as he wants and waves to Shouto before heading out the door. The best thing about his mother working with UA is that she’s now on the same schedule as him - even if he hasn’t been able to make the most of it, staying in the dorms and all. But for the first time in years, there’s a healthy glow to her skin, and Izuku can see the bags under her eyes have lessened. The kittens perched on each of her shoulders as he left probably also helped with that.

By the time Izuku navigates the train system and crowds of people, it’s early afternoon and most of his class is clustered around a bench in the new mall. Tsu spots him first, and greets him with her usual flat tone, which draws Ochako and Tooru’s attention. Soon, Izuku is swamped by both girls, who are faux crying about missing him - when they’ve literally only been apart a few hours.

Cute.

Izuku pats them both on the head dutifully, and promises that both he and Shouto have missed them too. It’s a little ridiculous, but his cheeks nearly hurt from the smiles and laughter that keep bubbling up inside him.

Izuku likes having friends.

A few minutes later, everyone who’s meant to be there has arrived - so all of Class 1-A except for Shouto and Iida. Iida had apparently begged off because he was visiting his brother but Izuku - he worries that the other boy is still avoiding him. It’s been weeks, nearly a month since the fight with Stain, but Iida still hasn’t talked to Izuku and it sucks.

Shaking off a sudden burst of melancholy, Izuku hears Momo suggest they all split into groups. Which is how he ends up in a little trio with Denki and Ochako. Ashido pouts about not being with Denki, but the blonde just laughs and reassures her that he’ll see her later.

Oh this will be fun, Izuku realises suddenly, and he’s grinning broadly as the blonde boy darts over and slings an arm around Ochako and his shoulders. “Where to?” Denki asks cheerfully, and Ochako giggles and playfully shoves his arm off. Izuku... doesn’t, and tries not to blush too furiously under the weight of the other boy’s arm.

“I need some stuff from the sports store, and Izu-kun probably does too,” she says with a teasing glint in her eyes. “He’s such an overachiever!”

“Plus ultra?” Izuku defends weakly, and Denki laughs brightly.

“I could do with some boxing tape,” Denki admits. “Mic-sensei has me working on close combat until we figure out how to properly regulate my quirk.”

That’s right! Yamada-sensei has been taking Denki for some private quirk training sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays! And martial arts is such a clever way of utilising Denki’s quirk! Human taser!

Denki pokes Izuku in the cheek with a grin. “Correct!” he cheers. “Mic-sensei is way too excited about it. I feel like he’s way more into it then I am.”

Izuku snorts. His friend is possibly correct - Yamada-sensei does get very excited about things.

“Focus, boys!” Ochako interjects suddenly, and she grabs Izuku’s bicep gently to tug them along. “We have a mission!”

Right!

With no small amount of laughter, the three of them hit up the sports store, where Ochako reveals she’s buying wrist and ankle weights which is terrifying. Mostly because it means she’s planning to put on more muscle and that will make her slightly feral state that much more dangerous.

Izuku can’t wait! He also offers her his old ones that are the next weight level up, for when she needs them and Ochako accepts with a sharp grin. Denki of course, unrepentantly encourages Ochako’s vicious nature, and suggests that she also take up a martial arts class.

To be fair to Denki, Izuku also encourages Ochako’s violent tendencies. It’s always funny when people underestimate her and end up utterly humiliated.

After about an hour of aimless wandering, which is mostly because Denki keeps seeing things he finds interesting and dragging Ochako and Izuku over, the brown-haired girl breaks off with a wicked grin. Apparently, someone told her Izuku’s birthday is coming up and she wants to get him a gift. Izuku suspects it was Yamada-sensei, or maybe even his mother - he’s pretty sure Ochako texts his mother fairly regularly about tea blends and him. Honestly, he introduces his mother to his friends one time...

But basically it ends with this: with a furiously blushing Izuku tagging along after an energetic blonde, who’s happily rambling about his lessons with Yamada-sensei. Izuku is just thrilled that his friend is finally getting proper help with his stupidly powerful quirk.

“Hey Izu-kun,” Denki says absently as they peruse some really cute succulents in animal-shaped pots.

“Mm?”

“I failed the exam deliberately,” Denki continues. Izuku chokes on air.

“Why?”

Denki shrugs sheepishly, and pokes a zebra plant. “Mina-chan panicked and set off Nedzu-sensei’s booby traps immediately and knocked herself out. So I figured I might as well take advantage of it.”

Okay, Izuku is curious now. “...how?” He asks cautiously and Denki anxiously rubs a hand across the back of his neck.

“I deliberately chose every wrong turn.”

Izuku blinks. “So you failed in a way that’s statistically impossible?”

Denki nods. He looks vaguely ill at the thought. “I’m second guessing myself now,” he confesses. The zebra plant is gently assaulted again. “I dunno. I just wanted to get his attention.”

Izuku hums thoughtfully. “I think you will,” he says after some thinking. “It’s the exact sort of thing Principal Nedzu finds funny.”

“... I hate that you know that from experience.”

Izuku laughs at Denki’s exasperated tone. “You’ll be in lessons with Shouto-kun and I soon enough,” he reassures. “The Principal likes to have minions.”

“I am beginning to regret my choices.”

Izuku snorts. “Are you going to buy that poor plant or just keep poking it?”

Denki giggles at that, and loses some of the tension in his shoulders. “I’ll get it for my mum,” he says decisively. “She’s good with plants.”

“Ooh really?” Izuku asks curiously. “I’m terrible with them.”

Denki raises his eyebrows and looks pointedly at Izuku’s hair.

“I know,” Izuku whines. “Any tips?”

Denki shrugs. “I don’t know that she’ll be any help. Her quirk is literally photosynthesis so it’s more that she just vibes with plants.”

Izuku blinks.

Then - “That’s so cool! Tell me more!”

As the mid-afternoon mark approaches, both Izuku and Denki’s phones buzz at the same time. It’s a summons from Ashido to have a snack in the food court, so without a better plan, Izuku and his blonde start to head down to the centre of the mall.

They’re just passing a small clump of tourists when Izuku hears it.

“Oh? They’re some NPCs from the sports festival,” says a voice, raspy and cracking. It sends shivers straight down Izuku’s spine. He automatically pushes Denki away from him, ignoring his yelp of alarm at the rough treatment.

A pale hand reaches for Izuku’s neck out of the corner of his eye, and he can’t help but react on instinct that Aizawa-sensei has drilled into him.

Shigaraki ends up tossed in a nearby fountain, thoroughly soaked and hissing with rage.

Oh shit.

His mother and Aizawa-sensei are never going to let Izuku live this down.

They’re also never going to let him out of the house again.

Shigaraki stumbles to his feet, the concrete edge of the fountain cracking and crumbling under his hand. Water floods across the floor and Izuku feels it wash over his shoes.

Beside him, Denki grabs Izuku’s hand desperately.

“Hey Denki-kun,” Izuku says as the leader of the League of Villains starts snarling at them.

“Yeah?”

“Remember- Plus ultra!”