Chapter Text
Izuku sucked in a breath as he stood in front of the door to class 1-A. Hito and Denki on either side of him. Kacchan had told them he was going to walk there alone, but Izuku supposed it didn’t matter much as they were all still in the same class anyway. In fact, he could hear him arguing inside with Iida already. Izuku sighed, five kids all from the same middle school in the hero course was a lot. All of them being in the same class was astounding.
Hito moved to push open the door, deciding for the three of them that they were ready to go in. Izuku reached down to grasp at Denki’s hand before he even realized what he was doing, and before he could pull his hand away, felt the other boy grip it back.
Izuku followed in after Hito, pulling Denki after by their clasped hands. He could see Kacchan sitting in the front row, feet up on the desk, and Iida standing in front of him. The stern boy straightened up as they entered the room, and moved to meet them. “Shinsou, Kaminari, Midoriya. I see you’ve all also made it into UA!”
“Hey Iida.” Hito waved lazily and walked past him towards a desk in the second to back row, in the same lane as Kacchan was sitting in. He was wearing a lazy confidence throughout his body. His deliberate steps and the scraping of a fingernail over the cuticle of another were the only signs that he wasn’t as unaffected as he liked to make people think.
Iida kept talking, and Izuku knew he and even Denki responded, but his head was in such a rush that things were passing by so quickly. At some point that brown haired girl and that guy with multiple arms came in, and he remembered stuttering over a response to her thanking him, and seeing his dad come in, but he didn’t really come to until he was standing with the rest of his class at the edge of the field outside, listening to his dad saying that last place on the quirk apprehension test was expelled.
For the next two hours Izuku ran, threw, jumped, and tried very, very hard not to panic. He knew his dad thought he had potential. But he also knew for a fact his dad had expelled entire classes before, and being his son wouldn’t save him if his dad really didn’t think he was ready.
Izuku swallowed as he scanned the leaderboard, once again clenching Denki’s hand and standing just behind Kacchan’s shoulder, being almost guarded by his friend. He scanned the list, passing Kacchan’s name at the top, and finding Hito’s in ninth, and there was his and Denki’s one right after another, nestled in just after Hito’s, in tenth and eleventh. Izuku breathed out slowly and squeezed Denki’s hand, and got one in return.
Izuku didn’t even get to see the name in last place before his dad was calling out that it had been a logical ruse, and that no one was expelled.
Izuku didn’t mention to the dark haired girl that could pull a motorcycle from her body that if his dad hadn’t seen potential, he absolutely would’ve sent someone home.
Denki squeezed Zuku’s hand back and grinned a little giddily. They were really here, in hero school, and they weren’t being expelled. He pulled on Zuku’s hand as they walked home. They’d talked to tons of people and Denki thought most of them seemed super cool. The Jiro chick looked awesome, if her band pins had anything to say about it, and Sero and Kirishima looked fun as hell, and Tsu looked like someone who Denki could stand to be around even when he finally emotionally wore himself out from people, like Hito or Zuku.
Denki knew this was going to be hard, it was a hero school after all. But this was also everything he ever wanted and he was so thrilled to really get it after all these years of hoping.
If Izuku was being honest, he’s not really sure he processed the whole day until he was sitting at the dining room table looking across at Eri as she rattled on about her new classmates and how “Siba-chan” was still in her class, and her awesome teacher Mrs. Yamamoto and how she had her classroom decorated purple and green. And then asked about theirs.
“You know something, Ers? I think our teacher is cooler than yours.” Hito’s voice broke in, and Denki laughed next to him, while Kacchan huffed an amused snort.
Eri looked outraged for a moment that her brother would dare say that his teacher was cooler than her very obviously awesome teacher.
“You know I think he’s right.” Izuku found himself saying as he smiled slyly at his dad. Pops looked like he was going to kneel over from laughter next to him.
“Finish your food.” Was all his dad said, and Pops laughed even harder.
Eri harrumphed and shoved a bite of dinner into her mouth. Hito glanced at Izuku and smirked.
“You wanna know why our teachers cooler?” He asked.
Eri, despite being upset at being told she was wrong, did look interested.
“We’re in dad’s class.” Hito finally told her as she looked up at him in question. Then of course, her eyes got huge and she snapped her head over to her father.
“Really?” She asked, awed.
“Yup.” Denki broke in.
“That’s not fair!” Eri cried out. “Dad, I want you to be my teacher too!”
“Maybe when you're a little older sweetheart.” Pop's voice rang out. “We teach high school, and you’re not quite old enough yet.”
“But when I’m older you can be?” Eri asked.
“Maybe.” Dad’s voice but in. “But maybe not, and you’ll still see me everyday anyway.”
“But Dadddddd”
Kacchan laughed next to him. “Maybe worry about it once you’re a little older, trouble.”
“Kacchan you have the nicest nicknames for people.”
“Hah? You w-”
“Can we watch a movie after dinner?”
“Sure sweetheart, but let's get everything cleaned up first.”
Before Izuku knew it he was being shoved into his room, Kacchan, Hito, and Denki all following after him, while his dads said they would be washing while Eri helped dry the dishes tonight.
Kacchan wasted no time in pulling out the syllabus to look over, while Hito snorted at him and called him a nerd even as he plopped next to him to read over his shoulder, instead of going to retrieve his own copy.
Denki sprawled next to Izuku in the beanbag chair. “So what do you think of everyone?”
Izuku hummed. “I don’t know. There were a lot of people…”
“Yeah.” Denki agreed. “But some of them looked really sick, I think it’ll be nice to meet new people, especially people who all want to do what we want to do.”
“We already all have each other, moron, how many people do you want to be friends with?”
Denki grinned and sat up, pulling away from Izuku a bit and taking his breath with him, “Bakugou Katsuki admitting that we’re friends! I never thought I’d see it!”
Izuku found himself giggling as even Hito huffed out a laugh. Denki leaned back down to lean again by Izuku as Kacchan huffed.
“Don’t see the point in all the other extras.”
“Kacchan you shouldn’t call people extras.”
The boy didn’t respond except to roll his eyes and go back to looking at the syllabus.
At some point about an hour later Kacchan stood up to head home, and Hito disappeared after he left, going to take a shower before bed. Izuku sat still with Denki even after they left, though. He didn’t want to move.
Denki leaned himself into Izuku as Hito left.
“Hey, you want to read that Wolverine comic?”
“Sure.”
Denki reached into his bag to grab it, the paper sliding into his hands as he pulled it out of his bag and leaned back to sit next to Zuku again.
“I may have already started reading it but I really didn’t get very far, so if you want we can just-”
“Denki”
The boy looked over. “Yea-”
Izuku’s hands are on his face. Sliding over his cheeks and his knee is pressed into Denki’s own as he’s turned in the chair to reach him.
But most importantly are Iuzku’s lips.
Izuku’s lips that are pressed right up against Denki’s own.
It’s only a moment after Denki processes that fact that Zuku’s pulling back, lips off of Denki’s own and hands sliding away but no. No, Denki doesn’t want that. Come back. Come back.
He doesn’t actually realize that he makes a sad noise, but he does notice that Zuku looks disappointed, and very, very red.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve at least asked. I really thought- I’m really so sorry I shouldn’t have-”
“Zuku."
The green haired boy stops. Just barely looking up at Denki but his fingers twisted together so hard that they’ve turned white. Denki makes a small annoyed noise as he pries them apart to hold them.
“Zuku you kissed me.”
If it’s at all possible, his friend gets even more red. Like a human strawberry, with his freckles and his green hair.
“I’m sorry.”
Denki’s hands clench tight around Izuku’s own for a moment before he slowly, consciously, relents on his grip, though still keeps their hands intertwined.
“Don’t be sorry.” The words come out more pleading than he’d like, but they’re there. Of course they are. This is Iuzku and he’s kissed him. He just got kissed.
He wanted to do it again.
Izuku winces a little, and then questions. “I shouldn’t be? I mean- you- well you didn’t kiss me back.”
Denki jolts up like he’d been electrocuted. He takes a moment to check, actually, but no, he hasn’t let his quirk slip at all.
“I didn’t- Zuku I didn’t realize you were kissing me at first and then you were gone and-”
Denki’s babbling now, he goes on to say a few more words that he doesn’t even know what but Izuku’s face isn’t looking any less disappointed and ashamed and Denki’s trying to to panic so he stopes, takes a deep breath, and unclasps one hand from Izuku’s to slide it against the boy’s cheek.
“Zuku.” He says again.
The boy looks up.
Denki’s kissing him.
When Izuku had kissed him Denki hadn’t even realized what was going on before it was gone. But here he was now, one hand intertwined with Izuku’s and one on his cheek, his lips on his, and Izuku lets a little puff of air through his nose before he’s pressing back and Denki thinks this might be what having the whole world in his hands feels like.
It’s a longer kiss this time, and neither of them really know what they’re doing but eventually Izuku must need to breathe or something because he pulls back and Denki realizes that at some point he must have started smiling into the kiss. He let’s Izuku pull away from his lips but follows his face to kiss against the cheek that he’s not still holding, his grin still on his lips, and when he does finally pull back Zuku is smiling too, and it’s one of the best things Denki’s ever seen. It’s the first day that the sun warms you again after the longest, coldest winter, and it makes the world seem like it’s worth living in again.
Denki knows he’s fifteen and nobody really knows what they’re doing at fifteen, or who they’re going to turn out to be.
But he still hopes he does all his living with Zuku.