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“No,” Aizawa says.
Todoroki nods, as if expecting it.
Midoriya holds out a book. “I wrote a whole breakdown of the adventure, Sensei.”
“No.” Aizawa looks like he wants to be anywhere else.
Kouda nudges Iida, who stands up straighter. “While we are stuck inside, Sensei, we thought it best to come up with something that would aid us–”
“We just want to play,” Uraraka says with a wide smile. “Sensei, you’re here and you can’t escape either.”
It’s the smile. It sends a shiver up Aizawa’s spine. She’s not wrong; he is stuck in the common room with them, so it would make sense to do something that wasn’t watching Kaminari try – and fail – to get Bakugou to cook him omurice.
“Fine.”
“Yes.” Uraraka pumps her fist.
Midoriya and Iida look pleased, while Todoroki smiles slowly.
“What do I have to do?” Aizawa asks, immediately regretting it when Midoriya starts rambling about character sheets, stats, and something about a master of a dungeon that Aizawa tries not to think too hard about. “Great.”
It’s not great at all.
“So, we’re heroes while being heroes?”
“No,” Midoriya says with a flush. “We’re heroes in a different world. It’s not our kind of heroes. They’re– magical.”
Uraraka frowns. “Like Majestic?”
Midoriya looks embarrassed, shuffling some papers, and shrugs. “Like wizards, kind of, but you remember those old stories about fantasy stuff? Orcs and dwarves?”
Todoroki shakes his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Wait, I remember reading a book,” Iida explains, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I believe it was written some time ago, about a ring and something called a Sauron.”
Aizawa desperately hopes that they’re not stuck inside for too much longer, and they haven’t even begun to play anything resembling a game. “Midoriya, perhaps explain to your classmates what they’ll be playing before asking me to do anything?”
“We’ll wing it,” Uraraka yells, probably because she knows (correctly) that Aizawa will refuse if they take too long. “Just let us know what we need.”
Midoriya grabs a pile of notebooks. Kouda and Iida exchange looks while Todoroki flips through his.
“Is this homework?”
“No,” Midoriya says quietly. “I just created characters for everyone in the class, just in case they wanted to join in.”
Uraraka is turning pages, looking amused. “Did you make a wizard?”
MIdoriya nods, looking pleased. “I thought you’d make a great magic user. You have the heart for it.”
“Wow, thanks, Deku.”
Iida and Todoroki exchange notes about their characters – knight and fighter prince respectively – and settle at the table. Kouda, nervously standing by the table, asks if he can join.
“Sure,” Midoriya says with a wide smile. “I created a character for you.”
Looking pleased, Kouda takes a seat.
Aizawa, who doesn’t like teaching at the best of times, doesn’t know why he’s allowed himself to be talked into something that involves having several hundred sheets of paper in front of him, but the kids look pleased. The things he does for this class.
“Right,” he says. “Let’s see what we have.”
“I’m going to use my eagle,” Tokoyami says. “As a ranger, I have an ability that lets me see through his eyes.”
Next to him, Hagakure holds up her sheet. “I think I’m going to hide in the bushes behind him, so that I can protect him if we’re attacked.”
“Can I do the same?” Sato frowns. “I think I would stand out though.”
“You can,” Aizawa says, just to get through the story. “The castle ahead of you looms large over the landscape.”
“Where is the dungeon?” Todoroki asks, face blank and completely serious.
“There isn’t a dungeon,” Midoriya explains patiently for the fifth time.
“So why is it called Dungeons and Dragons ?”
“Because sometimes there’s a dungeon.”
Todoroki stares. “So, where is the dungeon?”
“Todoroki,” Uraraka says, nudging him. “It’s your turn.”
“So, are there dragons?”
Kirishima looks at his sheet. “I’m actually a dragon!”
Jirou yells “no fair!” from her seat in front of the TV. They’re watching a movie that’s making more noise, threatening to send Aizawa into another three hour headache.
“Jirou, turn down the TV. Todoroki, there will be dungeons later on in the adventure. Kirishima, please remember that you’re a shapeshifter and not an actual dragon.”
Kirishima nods, and nudges Tokoyami. “How’s the spying going?”
“Very well,” Tokoyami says.
“I don’t think you make that decision,” Midoriya points out. “You have to roll.”
Everyone looks at Aizawa, and he sighs. “Please roll, Tokoyami. Hopefully we’ll get this done before I incur another headache.”
Bakugou comes into the room and stares at the table. He notes Kirishima and Ashido, then Midoriya and Todoroki. “What’s going on?”
“We’re playing Dungeons and Dragons ,” Todoroki explains, rolling a die. “I believe that is seventeen.”
“No,” Uraraka points out, gesturing to his character sheet. “It’s only fifteen. See, it’s this stat.”
Todoroki nods.
“What’s a stat?” Bakugou leans over, grabbing Uraraka’s notebook. “What the hell–”
“Bakugou,” Aizawa reprimands.
“Kacchan,” Midoriya starts.
“Move over, nerd,” Bakugou snaps. Midoriya does, with a sigh, and Bakugou squints at his notebooks. “Who are they for?”
“The class,” Midoriya admits. Then winces. “I don’t have one for you.”
The rage on Bakugo’s face is familiar and Aizawa resigns himself to another stressful game session. “Why?”
“Because I didn’t know what you’d want to be–”
Todoroki snorted. “You knew what I wanted to be.”
“And me,” Uraraka says, with a smile that has an edge when she turns it on Bakugou.
“But not for me?” Bakugou looks even more outraged.
“You can’t be Number One,” Midoriya says. “I knew you’d want to be.”
“I can be Number One, you don’t make the rules!”
“Kacchan, there isn’t a Number One in this universe–”
“Shut up, Deku!”
“Both of you need to shut up,” Aizawa snaps. “Bakugou, if Midoriya says there isn’t a Number One, there isn’t. He designed the adventure. Midoriya, is there some way–”
Midoriya looks at his own character sheet, then sighs, holding out another notebook from the depths of his bag.
“Ha,” Bakugou yelled, snatching up the notebook. “Knew you’d have something for me, nerd.”
Aizawa doesn’t want to know why Midoriya claimed he didn’t. “Sit down if you’re playing.”
“What are you?” Uraraka asks, trying to peer over his shoulder.
“Oi, Round Face,” Bakugou snaps. He’s glaring down at the notebook, but he obviously deems his character acceptable because he nods and actually grins at Midoriya. It’s feral, but a smile nonetheless. Aizawa really doesn’t want to know. “I’m a Barbarian?”
“Usually,” Midoriya replies cheerfully.
Bakugou growls, but shoves Midoriya so that he can sit on the edge of the same seat. The two of them devolve into elbowing each other.
Aizawa will never understand their weird, weird interactions and turns to Ashido and Kirishima, who are still getting to grips with their character. “You two?”
“Done,” Ashido says, staring across the table at Midoriya. “Do we need dice? I don’t have dice.”
Nodding, Midoriya pulls a small bag from a larger bag (Aizawa needs a drink ) and grabs a handful of dice out of it, setting them in the middle of the table. “Here. There should be some of every type so we can share.”
“Thanks, Midoriya.”
“Wait, dice?” Kaminari frowns. “I haven’t been using dice this whole time–?”
“You mean we didn’t have to die?” Uraraka yells from the couches, peering over the back. “You said you got seven when we attacked that wizard!”
“I did,” Kaminari protests. “Seven on here.”
Uraraka stares at the sheet being waved in the air, then at Kaminari. With a groan, she buries her face in her arms, with a muffled, “Kaminari.”
Kaminari’s protests die under Kirishima’s reprimands, and the handful of dice that Ashido places in front of him.
Aizawa considers taking up drinking. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little sake – shaking it off, he shuffles some of the papers just for something to do. He startles when a glass is placed next to him on the table. “What?”
“A drink, Sensei,” Yaoyorozu says.
“Thank you,” Aizawa says.
There’s a clatter from the kitchen, and then Ojiro, Asui and Aoyama come out of the kitchen bearing bowls of food. “Snacks!”
Shouji and Jirou have managed to find an actual dungeon – something that annoys Bakugou across the room when they announce it – while Kouda is coaxing a dragon into aiding them with escaping the Feudal Lord’s domain.
“Wait,” Kirishima says. “I’m a dragon! Just ask me.”
“We can’t ask you,” Ashido says patiently. “You’re in a completely different part of the forest!”
They devolve into friendly bickering about who can and can’t hear what Shouji and Jirou are doing. Aizawa feels as if he’s losing control and says, pointedly, “Kirishima is currently set upon by wolves and the distance your hearing can cover isn’t enough.”
Tutting, Kirishima sits back in his chair. Then he brightens. “What did you guys find, anyway?”
Jirou rolls, frowning at her character sheet. “I think I have a skill that lets me hear what’s happening in the next room? So, that would be twelve.”
Aizawa scans the page. “The room opens up before you and – what does this even say, can anyone read Midoriya’s writing?”
Bakugou interjects (again) from across the room. “Doesn’t anyone question why the nerd knows the adventure and is still allowed to play?”
“Only you,” Ashido says cheerfully. She leans over, stares at the word. “I think that says dragon.”
Kouda looks excited at the prospect, and Kirishima frowns.
“Dragons aren’t gonna be cool anymore!”
“Can I talk to it?” Kouda asks.
“Wait, sir, I think this actually says something else,” Ashido says, taking the book.
Aizawa sighs. “Shouji? What did you roll?”
From the kitchen there’s an explosion and a yell of, “Kaminari!”
“School will start soon,” Aizawa tells himself, as Midoriya and Uraraka come out with singed food.
The rest of the holidays race by in a cacophony of kitchen explosions, shouting matches over movies, and a constant barrage of Dungeons and Dragons games that Aizawa finds himself looking forward to. Sometimes.
“Wait,” Bakugou starts. “Why aren’t we allowed back in the dungeon?”
“I already explained that the door shut,” Aizawa says, less than patiently. “If I have to explain this to you one more time–”
“I can teleport,” Kaminari says, waving his character sheet.
Bakugou looks a half step from exploding the entire table and its contents, so Aizawa opens his mouth to respond, when Midoriya nudges Bakugou. “What?”
“You could also use Walk Through Walls?”
A pause, while Bakugou looks down at his own sheet. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s a spell,” Midoriya points out helpfully. “It means you can walk through walls.”
Bakugou snaps, “How did you even know that was there?”
“I made everyone’s character sheets,” Midoriya explains, which sets off another round of yelling.
“We changed stuff, how do you know?”
“You can’t just look at people’s sheets, nerd!”
“–do you know about my secret backstory?”
“–can we look at yours?”
Aizawa rubs at his temples, desperately wishing that he was anywhere else right now. He’d even take Tartarus over the raucous yells of his students.
“Actually,” Iida calls, his voice cutting above the rest, “I think Todoroki’s backstory is interesting.”
A pause, and then Ashido says, “Yeah, and I like that Ochako can use mental whammies on people!”
Midoriya beams from his seat, which probably comes from the fact that several people are praising his spells, character traits, and anything else he’s come up with, but mostly because Bakugou is yelling something about what other spells and shit he can come up with to make him more badass. Aizawa can’t bring himself to cut Bakugou off for the swearing. It’s rare that the two get along in his line of sight. Rare, in fact, that the entire class gets along, and yet they’re all around the table. Some of them aren’t playing, just hanging out with snacks and to point out minor errors and stray characters, and others have their character sheets, dice, and paraphernalia scattered across the large table.
Aizawa buries a smile behind his hand, sitting back in his chair.
“So, I’m gonna walk through the wall, while Shitty Hair and Pikachu do magic shit,” Bakugou starts.
“I’m going to make some ramen,” Sato says.
“–then I can come in with the others and we just attack the villain, right?”
“Don’t get in my way,” Bakugou growls.
“I have to get in your way, otherwise I can’t fight, Kacchan, I’m a melee fighter–”
“What did I just say, nerd?!”
Abruptly, bickering starts about who stands where and Aizawa sighs.
“If you don’t stop arguing, I’m stopping the game.”
“No!” The shout is the combined voices of all his class, and Aizawa stares back at them.
Bakugou mutters something under his breath, looks at Midoriya, and says louder, “Fine, Deku, I’ll shoot around you.”
Midoriya beams, and Aizawa covers another smile with a sigh, shooting a pointed look at Sato. “Weren’t you making ramen?”
“Yes, sir,” Sato rushes off to the kitchen, taking Ojiro and Jirou with him.
“Right,” Aizawa says, taking another look at the binder that gets suspiciously bigger every time he turns around. “So, you enter the dungeon–”