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As Izuku rode the train back home, he couldn’t stop replaying the events of orientation day in his head, specifically the part about his teacher’s expulsion threat.
———————————————
“Expelled on the first day? That’s not fair!” Mina frustratedly protested.
Aizawa turned to the girl, a smirk slowly forming on his face. “Natural Disasters, big accidents, and selfish villains. Calamities whose time or place can’t be predicted. Japan is covered with unfairness. And it’s our job as heroes to combat that unfairness.”
———————————————
Something about that last part just didn’t sit right with Izuku. Sure, as someone who was bullied all his life because of a missing toe joint, he could agree the world was unfair. But he couldn’t shake the feeling Aizawa’s actions didn’t match his words. His teacher practically agreed that expelling people on the first day was unfair, so why, as a hero, would he introduce more unfairness to the world?
Aizawa’s seemingly hypocritical logic made Izuku’s head spin. He couldn’t actually think like that, could he? UA wouldn’t actually let this fly, would they? No, of course they wouldn’t. This was the top hero school in the country, and Izuku had already convinced himself this new school would be different from Aldera.
He shook his head as he tried to gather his thoughts. Maybe he was missing a certain piece of the puzzle. He tried to think of a similar situation to draw a reference from, and his mind immediately flashed back to the entrance exam.
The entrance exam seemed like a simple test on the surface: just destroy as many robots as you could to get points. But there was a secret test of character thrown in there, the rescue points which got him a spot in the Hero Course in the first place.
Izuku had no idea why his brain picked out this example. It’s not like there was some kind of hidden aspect of the Quirk apprehension test.
…Wait a minute.
Aizawa presented an unfair situation and then stressed the importance of combating unfairness as a hero. Could it be that Aizawa wanted someone to call him out on his expulsion threat?
The more Izuku thought about it, the more it made sense to him. Sure, any hero could stop a villain. But a true hero could get to the root of why someone would turn to villainy in the first place and fix that issue instead. So many more people could be saved that way. That’s what it truly meant to combat unfairness!
Izuku sat up in his seat as he puffed out his chest in determination. If he was going to be a hero, he would have to learn to resolve the situation at its root cause.
He was going to make his teacher proud! But first, he needed to get more information.
———————————————
“So, Young Midoriya, how has your first real day of school been so far?” Yagi asked as he sat with Izuku for lunch in his office.
“It’s been really good,” Izuku answered with a light smile, “I’m really excited for heroics class today.”
“Then I shall do my best not to disappoint!” Yagi puffed out his chest in determination.
“On the topic of classes,” Izuku segued, “I know you haven’t been working here long, but I was wondering if you knew anything about Mr. Aizawa. Specifically his expulsion rates.”
Yagi’s brow lowered in confusion, which quickly shifted into understanding, “I can tell you’re still shaken from Aizawa’s expulsion scare yesterday, aren’t you?”
Izuku shriveled in his seat, “Yeah. Something like that.”
Truth be told, Izuku was hesitant about telling Yagi about his plan to expose his teacher’s methods. It’s not that he didn’t trust Yagi. He was probably the adult he trusted the most in this school. He just didn’t want the word to get out to the other teachers out of fear that Aizawa would find out. He hoped his case would land harder if it came out of the blue.
“Well,” Yagi rested his head on his closed fist in a thinking pose. “While I don’t know too much about Aizawa besides the basics, I am aware he’s been pulling his expulsion scare for many years now.”
“Really?” Izuku’s eyebrows raised as he scribbled that information down in his notebook. Izuku wondered if anyone else from those previous years had figured out the hidden aspect of the test. “Has anyone actually gotten expelled? Or is it a fakeout every time?”
“Oh, he’s expelled well over a hundred students.”
Izuku’s eyes widened as his head shot up from his notebook, “I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s true,” Yagi confirmed. “Why, just last year, he expelled his entire class.”
“The entire class?” Izuku whispered to himself. For Aizawa to actually follow through on his threats, he must have been really desperate for someone to call him out that year. Izuku then snapped out of his shocked stupor as he realized something, “Wait, I swore I saw a few second-year hero students in the hall today.”
“That’s the thing,” Yagi said, “He does expel them, but he re-enrolls them in the Gen-Ed Course the very next day. He then reinstates them in the Heroics Course once they show enough ‘potential,’ as it were.”
Izuku looked down at his notebook and confusedly hummed to himself. “That’s… interesting. I’m not exactly sure what to make of that. Wait, if Aizawa demoted an entire class to Gen-Ed last year, does that mean Present Mic or Midnight had to teach two classes at once?”
“I… suppose so,” Yagi bemused.
“This sounds like something I might want to ask class 2-A about,” Izuku thought out loud.
Yagi leaned in a little closer, “May I ask why?”
“O-oh. I just wanted to… get a better grasp on my homeroom teacher. Yeah, that’s it!”
Yagi smiled and nodded, “That’s good. Information gathering is an important tool in a hero’s kit. I’m proud of you, Young Midoriya.”
Izuku blushed at the praise, “Oh. Well, thank you, All Might.”
———————————————
Later that day, when Izuku got the chance, we went straight over to Class 2-A’s homeroom to gather more information.
“Oh, Aizawa?” Mawata Fuwa asked to confirm, “Sure, he may have expelled us, but I like to think of it as more of a learning opportunity. You shouldn’t judge him too harshly for-”
Another student with a noticeable beetle mutation slammed both hands on Fuwa’s desk. “Fuwa, you are literally the only person in this room who thinks that. Please do not put your words in our mouths.”
Fuwa turned to the boy, the lazy smile never leaving her face, “Oh, come on, Kabu. It wasn’t that bad.”
“Maybe not for you,” Kabu grumbled.
Izuku then spoke up, “Hold on. I’m still confused about his reasoning to expel all twenty of you. What exactly did you all do?”
“That’s the thing,” Kabu turned to Izuku, “He never explicitly told us why. Aizawa’s just allergic to communication like that. I mean, some of us were acting a little cocky that day, so we just assumed he wanted to scare us straight.” He pointed his thumb (at least, Izuku assumed it was a thumb. He only had four fingers) in Fuwa’s direction, “Fuwa was the only one to actually benefit from the whole ordeal. She was having trouble with Quirk control, and the Gen-Ed environment gave her time to figure things out.”
“Don’t tell him that,” Fuwa mumbled as she slumped in embarrassment.
“But as for the rest of us, all we got were black marks and lost time that could have been spent in fundamental heroics class.”
Izuku gaped in shock, “Wait. He expelled you with the full intention of re-enrolling you, but you still have the black marks?” Sounds of disappointed confirmation came from just about every student in the classroom.
Izuku was flabbergasted. To think Aizawa would go to such an extreme to get someone, anyone to call him out on it. After all those years, Aizawa must have been getting desperate. But now that Izuku knew, he could use this to finally fulfill his teacher’s wishes. He was going to be so proud!
“Thank you for telling me this.” Izuku gave Kabu and Fuwa a small bow, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure no Class 1-A student gets unjustly expelled ever again.”
A student with pointy hair and black shades walked over and placed his hand on Izuku’s shoulder, “We’re all rootin’ for you here. Godspeed, little man. Godspeed.”
———————————————
Izuku stood at the foot of the door to the principal’s office, small beads of sweat trailing down his face. He originally planned on confronting Aizawa directly, but he quickly realized that in order to make a change, one must report to the highest authority possible.
Izuku raised his fist to knock, but the door suddenly swung open, revealing a long, mostly empty office with a large wooden desk at the end. Sitting in the oversized armchair was none other than UA’s mammal of indeterminable species who called himself the principal.
“P-Principal Nezu, sir?” Izuku stuttered as he walked in. The door suddenly slammed behind him, and Izuku couldn’t shake the feeling he was entering some sort of boss room.
“Ah, Izuku Midoriya,” Nezu smiled. “How lovely it is to finally meet you.”
“Wait, you know me?” Izuku asked.
“Of course,” Nezu took a sip of his tea. “After all, it’s not every day UA gets to mentor the latest holder of One for All.”
Izuku’s eyes widened as he stammered out a response, “I-I-I have no idea what you’re talking about, sir. What’s a One for All? Can you eat it?”
Nezu let out a boisterous, slightly mischievous laugh, “No need to hide anything around me, Mr. Midoriya. I’m one of the smartest creatures on the planet. I found out about One for All ages ago.” Nezu set down his cup of tea as he gave Izuku a pointed stare, “But I assume you’re not here to discuss that.”
“N-no. I’m not. I’m actually here because of my homeroom teacher, specifically in regards to his teaching methods.”
Nezu gestured to a seat in front of his desk, to which Izuku sat. The principal hummed as he leaned back in his chair, “Considering it’s only your first full day, am I right to assume you’re referring to his annual expulsion scare?”
“That would be correct, sir.”
“Hmmmm, interesting.” Izuku couldn’t quite describe the look on Nezu’s face, but it fell somewhere between curiosity and anticipation, “As you know, I give teachers free rein to teach their classes as they see fit. I’ve received several complaints from students and parents regarding sudden yet temporary expulsions. However, very few of them go into much detail. But Yagi’s told me a lot about you and your intelligence, so maybe you can give me a fresh perspective on the issue at hand.”
This is exactly what Izuku had prepared for. He nodded sternly with a look of determination in his eyes, “Thank you for giving me this time, sir.”
“Ah, but before we begin, I believe there is someone else who I believe should be present for this meeting,” Nezu pressed a button on his desk, and Shota Aizawa walked into the office a few moments later.
Izuku paled. He wasn’t planning on criticizing his teacher in front of his teacher. But he quickly steeled himself. This is probably what Aizawa wanted for so many years. To see a student finally rise up and go against his authority. And Izuku wouldn’t disappoint.
“What did you call me in for?” Aizawa drawled.
“Mr. Midoriya here would like to offer a new perspective on your expulsion scare, and I thought you’d like to hear it,” Nezu beamed.
“This whole conversation is illogical. There’s nothing wrong with my teaching methods,” Aizawa groaned.
“Nineteen out of twenty members of Class 2-A would disagree with you,” Izuku stated with all the confidence he could muster.
Aizawa’s eyes narrowed as he sat down next to Izuku at the principal’s desk, “What are you insinuating, Midoriya?”
Izuku gulped nervously, but responded anyway, “I’m just saying that most of your prior students despise your teaching methods, or lack thereof.”
Aizawa raised an eyebrow, “Lack thereof?”
“Yes. With rare exceptions, being temporarily moved to Gen-Ed leads to a gap in development in terms of heroic prowess due to a lack of guided training.”
“You seem to have misread my intentions, Midoriya.” Aizawa rebutted, “My main reason for the expulsion was to get the class to take heroics, as a career, seriously. A majority of class 2-A were cocky and arrogant before I expelled them. They needed a serious wake-up call.”
Izuku shook his head, “Even then, there are other ways to get that message across without the threat of expulsion. I have no doubt a few difficult heroics exercises would expose those who weren’t taking heroics seriously and force them to re-evaluate their attitudes.”
“Hmmmm, he makes a convincing argument,” Nezu pointed out.
“He most certainly does not,” Aizawa glared at the principal, then back at Izuku. “Expulsion is the most logical and effective way to give my students the push they need to take this career seriously.”
“What about Class 1-B’s teacher, Vlad King? Does he do the Quirk Assessment Test and subsequent expulsion scare too?”
“He does not.” Nezu chimed in.
“Then what about the ‘cocky students in need of a wake-up call’ in Class 1-B? Surely they must exist. And yet Vlad seems to deal with them just fine.”
“This is where I have to stop you, Midoriya,” Aizawa called out. “Me and Kan have a special way of grouping our heroics classes. I typically get the students with the more traditionally powerful Quirks, and he gets the more gimmicky fighters. As such, it’s more likely that the students with a large ego due to having a strong Quirk end up in my class.”
“But are there no students who fit into both categories? Students with a gimmicky yet traditionally powerful Quirk that end up in 1-B?”
“You would be right about that!” Nezu interjected, “Students of 1-B, such as Kamariki, Shiozaki, Shishida, and Tetsutetsu were strong contenders for Class 1-A.”
“Then I believe my point still stands,” Izuku responded.
“I don’t think you get it, Midoriya.” Aizawa said, frustration twinging his voice, “If my students don’t get their heads out of their asses as soon as possible, they may very well die on the field. And I won’t sit back and be the cause of an easily avoidable death.”
“But what about ruined careers?” Izuku immediately interjected.
“Did you not hear what I just said?” Annoyance seeped its way into Aizawa’s tone as well, “I’m pretty certain a hero’s death would end their career.”
“But what about a career-ending injury? It could happen to any hero, regardless of their attitude towards heroics. And with the black marks you put on their records even after they’ve been re-enrolled, it would be extremely difficult for them to find work anywhere if they were forced to hang up their cape. You and I both know Japan’s attitude towards high school expulsions. It’s not good.”
Izuku felt a bit of anger well up inside him as he made that point. He supposed that’s what Aizawa wanted him to realize during this mission. Life can truly be unfair sometimes.
“So, to summarize, your frankly unnecessary expulsion methods make your students lose their faith in you at best, and could completely ruin their chances at getting a job outside of heroics at worst.” He gave Aizawa a cold glare, “What do you have to say to that?”
Aizawa, for his part, struggled to find anything meaningful to say as he stared down at the desk contemplatively. There were a few moments of silence before Nezu got their attention with a clap of his paws.
“Well, that was certainly an interesting debate. One which I’ll have to side with Mr. Midoriya on.”
Izuku let up from his seat and jumped for joy, “Yes! I did it, Aizawa! Just like you wanted me to!”
This snapped Aizawa out of his stupor, “I’m sorry, what was that last part?”
“That was the secret of your Quirk Apprehension Test, right? You talked about combatting unfairness, then gave us an unfair situation. I thought you wanted us to go Plus Ultra and attack the problem at its root.” Izuku grew concerned at the sight of Aizawa’s confused face, “That - That’s what you wanted, right?”
There was yet another silence across the room as Nezu and Aizawa digested Izuku’s true intentions behind his actions. Nezu was once again the one to break the silence as he cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Well, it seems as if some new information has been brought to my eyes. Which means there’s only one thing to do,” He hopped up on his desk and stared down at Aizawa. “Shouta Aizawa, as of today, your teaching license is suspended for six months.”
“Wait, what?!” Izuku and Aizawa both yelled out at once.
Nezu continued, “When that time is up, you will have to undergo an evaluation to see if you are still fit to teach.”
“You - you can’t do this,” Aizawa pleaded.
“I’m sorry, Shouta. But you’ve potentially ruined too many hero careers for me to let this slide.” He grabbed a cardboard box and handed it to Aizawa, “I suggest you go clean out your office.”
With a blank look on his face, Aizawa took the box and trudged out of the office, leaving Izuku to stew in his own thoughts.
Izuku didn’t know what to think. He thought UA would be different, that he would have good teachers who had his best interests at heart. And while Aizawa was certainly looking out for his students, he chose to do it in the worst way possible. Maybe Izuku was wrong, maybe UA would be no different from Aldera after all.
Izuku gave a humorless chuckle as tears began to stream down his face. ‘Way to get your hopes up, Deku. You coped so hard you accidentally got your homeroom teacher fired. What will everyone else think of this? What will the other teachers think? What about his classmates? The principal? All Mi-’
Izuku’s train of thought was cut off as Nezu placed a paw on Izuku’s shoulder. “Midoriya?” He called out to his student, his tone as gentle as possible.
“Huh?” Izuku looked up at the principal, who then proceeded to bow at Midoriya.
“I apologize for my negligence as a principal.” He said, “I believed Aizawa’s logic and methods were sound, but even someone as smart as me can make mistakes. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, and you have my sincerest apologies for letting this go on as long as it has.”
Izuku’s tears stopped as he froze in place. He had no idea what to do. This was the first time he could remember when an adult actually apologized to him (besides his mom, of course). But while his brain was short-circuiting, he could feel tears pricking at his eyes once again.
Nezu handed Izuku a handkerchief for him to dry his eyes, which he quickly accepted, “Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for, Midoriya,” Nezu gave a kind smile. “Rest assured, I will make sure your class gets an appropriate homeroom teacher, handpicked by me, by tomorrow.”
Izuku returned Nezu’s smile, “Thank you, sir.”
———————————————
The next day, Izuku fidgeted in his seat during homeroom, both eager and nervous to meet his new homeroom teacher. Would it be a hero who already worked here, a famous UA alumnus like Edgeshot or Mister Blaster, or maybe someone completely unexpected?
Izuku was cut off from his thoughts as the door slammed open, and in walked a bulky man with blue, spiky hair and a gun plastered on his face. “Wow! It’s the Battle Hero: Gunhead!” Izuku shouted out.
“Dude! He’s one of the manliest heroes ever!” Kirishima yelled.
“Thank you for the warm welcome!” Gunhead greeted as he walked up to the podium, “My name’s Gunhead. And starting today, I’ll be your new homeroom teacher!”
“New homeroom teacher?” Tusyu asked, “What happened to Aizawa, ribbit?”
“They suspended his teaching license because of his expulsion stunt the other day.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Kaminari sighed.
“But let’s move on!” Gunhead pulled out a piece of paper, “Okay, first order of business. I read all your files last night, and a few things stuck out to me. Midoriya, Aoyama, and Kaminari?”
“Yeah?” The three boys asked at once.
“I was told you three in particular have trouble in Quirk control. Nothing to be ashamed of, but I will have to ask you to report to me after school for some extra training. That offer extends to all of you,” Gunhead motioned to the entire class. “I can think of a few people here who would benefit from some martial arts training.”
Izuku felt the tears welling up again, “You’d do that for me?” He asked in disbelief.
“Of course I would, kid.” Izuku couldn’t see it, but he was sure Gunhead was smiling from behind his mask, “After all, what’s a teacher for?”
Tears burst out of Izuku’s eyes like a pair of geysers and soaked the person sitting in front of him.
“God dammit, Deku! Stop crying on me!” Katsuki yelled.