Archive of Our Own

“I’m gonna be sick.”

“Ah! Not to worry, young Midoriya! I’m sure you have a trash can around here somewhere! If you would allow me to-“

“Nonono!” Izuku corrects, waving his hands in front of himself frantically. “Not literally! No no, I just meant, uh, I’m nervous?” He has no idea why he words it like a question. Izuku knows he’s nervous. Screw it, even that’s downplaying it. He’s absolutely terrified right now. 

Going off on his own to try and stop All for One, take down Shigaraki, the League of Villains, and save Japan? Piece of cake. 

Having to sit down in front of all of the friends he’s made over the course of a year and tell them he hasn’t exactly been truthful about his quirk? Kill him now. Ugh, they’re teenagers, can’t he just do this by text?

Izuku shifts a bit on the edge of his bed, trying to release any of his pent up energy, but it doesn’t work. All Might gives him a once over with his eyes from across the teen’s dorm room, before putting the trashcan down, though not in its original spot. It’s still in arm's reach. 

Izuku smiles just a little at the thoughtfulness. He doesn’t know if it’s his emotional state or his adoration of All Might that makes the simplest things the man does lift his spirits, even if it’s just a bit. 

“Being nervous is…understandable,” All Might finally responds, sitting down carefully in Izuku’s desk chair. “I know I would be. And I certainly was the few times I had to explain myself to Nezu and Tsukauchi when they discovered my secret. And those had both been in private settings and one on one conversations! But you, my boy, have to explain it to a class full of your peers all at once! So your anxiety is well founded-“

“All Might…”

The eighth user of One for All realizes his mistake immediately when he sees the tense look on Izuku’s face. “Wait, wait! Not that I think you aren’t capable of doing so!” It’s the hero’s turn to wave his arms frantically in front of him. “I was merely trying to explain why you shouldn’t feel bad about being apprehensive about all of this and- and…”

The blond man sighs, slumping over in his seat and offering his protege a weak smile. “This is why I used to carry that ‘Teaching for Dummies’ book around with me.”

To his immense relief, Izuku chuckles, rubbing a hand through his hair. “I think you did a great job teaching.”

“Why thank you young-“

“But I also recently thought that running off on my own was a good idea.”

All Might guffaws at the implication as Izuku keeps his small smile up. “I suppose I’ll let you have that one for my making you more nervous.” Izuku’s grin becomes just a bit cheeky. “Just the one however, young man! And you will do good to remember that I am still your teacher!” All Might states with no real heat behind it. 

The pair share a quiet laugh. They fall into a comfortable silence for a minute, before Izuku breaks it. “For the record, I think you’re doing a good job of easing my worries.”

“I have plenty of experience.” All Might lightly chuckles as Izuku flushes, realizing that of course the former hero is good at that! That’s what he’s been doing for all of Japan for decades! 

“You do…” Izuku squirms a bit. “It’s just- All Might, I can’t sugarcoat this. I lied to them all for a year. That means that all of my friendships began with lies. How can they all trust me or look at me the same ever again after this? Iida, Todoroki, Asu- I mean Tsu, and Uraraka…”

When Izuku looks back up at his mentor, he’s taken aback by the amused look All Might gives him. “W-what?”

All Might chuckles, shaking his head fondly. “I’m sorry, my boy. It’s just entertaining how much you’ve changed since the day we met in some ways, and yet, how you’ve stayed the same in others.”

“Did Gran Torino give you lessons on how to be confusing?”

The hero shakes his head. “He tried, but I prefer a more direct approach in my teachings.” All Might leans forward. “Young Midoriya, it has always astounded me how studious you are, so please, answer me this. If your friends are as upset with you as you claim, why did they search a crime-riddled city from top to bottom for you?”

Izuku, who was nodding along with what his mentor had been saying, freezes as if Todoroki had hit him with his quirk. He tries to think of a retort, but All Might keeps speaking before he can. “Why did they march into Nezu’s office to tell him they were coming after you, consequences be damned?”

“Um…” Izuku squirms under All Might’s victorious grin. “To yell at me themselves?”

His mentor laughs. “No no, nothing like that!” All Might sobers up pretty quickly. “Well, actually, that might not be entirely true…” Izuku moves to reply but again, All Might cuts him off. “You misunderstand, young Midoriya! While they may wish to yell at you, it would be because of your leaving, not because you kept the true nature of your quirk from them!”

“Right…” Izuku swallows. He can’t really argue All Might’s point. And part of him feels like it’d be an insult to everything his class has done for him anyway. He was just getting in his own head again, as always. Yeah, yeah that’s right. Danger Sense hadn’t gone off at all during his fight with them! And then-

His face goes a bit red when he thinks about Uraraka screaming at the crowd for him. Whether she barely knew him, or he tried to abandon her, she was always going to stick up for him, wasn’t she? He feels his ears burn when he thinks about what his mother whispered to him as she walked him back to the dorms.

“That was the Uraraka girl you’re always talking about, correct?” Izuku hums. “Splendid. So… when is she coming over for dinner?”

Izuku immediately pushes the memory from his mind, the embarrassment already becoming too much. All of this thankfully goes unnoticed by All Might, who stands, stretching his arms above his head before checking his phone. “I believe it’s time. Are you ready?” Izuku sheepishly holds up his phone. “No, young Midoriya. You still can’t talk to them over text.”

He slumps. 

Izuku would like to consider himself a smart guy. Or at the very least, not dumb. He gets good grades. He pays attention as much as he can in class. And he’s survived more encounters with villains than most budding heroes have to by the age of sixteen, so he imagines he’s doing something right. Although, admittedly, his friends may be the reason why he survived the last encounter. So, he may not be as smart as he thinks. 

Either way! Izuku doesn’t think he’s dumb! Hopefully. Which is why it concerns him that with all of his days spent dreaming of growing up to be a hero like All Might, he never thought about how he’d survive having all of the attention on him. Because if it’s anything like having his entire class stare at him right now in the dorm’s living room, maybe Aizawa-sensei was onto something when he decided to go into underground heroics. 

He and All Might sit on stools in front of the entirety of class 1-A and Aizawa, who all lounge on couches, chairs, or the floor. It has been silent for an hour now. Or maybe it has just been a minute? It’s hard for Izuku to tell when all he can think about is if the entire class can hear how loud his heart is beating. Except for Shoji and Jiro of course. 

C’mon Izuku, say something. These people put everything on the line to bring you back, the least you can do is say something. Anything! With every second he can’t open his mouth to a group of his friends, his appreciation of Uraraka convincing the UA refugees to let him in somehow grows. He glances at her, briefly making eye contact with his best friend, before looking away quickly. He still needs to thank her directly. 

 But first, he needs to-

“You smell a lot better today, man.” Kaminari speaks up. Izuku nearly falls out of his chair. He didn’t expect the silence to be broken that way. “Like, next time you go rogue, can you bring some soap with you so when we bring you back again, we don’t need our own baths after hugging you?”

Laughter ripples around the class, and the tension is broken. Some of his classmates verbally agree with Kaminari while others nod. Izuku chuckles, as does All Might, feeling a little better. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Would you all please remind young Midoriya to eat the next time he leaves as well,” All Might requests. Izuku shoots him a look of betrayal. 

Several of his classmates groan. “Dude, you seriously didn’t eat?” Sero questions. 

“I did at the start…” Any hope Izuku has that would make them feel better is dashed almost immediately when he receives a slew of unimpressed faces for his effort. To his credit, Izuku has the decency to at least look sheepish. 

“Tsk.” Bakugo pushes himself off the wall he was leaning against, heading for the kitchen. 

“Hey, where are you headed?” Kirishima calls after him. 

“Knowing Deku’s dumbass, he still hasn’t eaten since he got back, so I’m gonna fix that!” Bakugo yells back from the kitchen. A lightbulb goes off over Sato’s head, and he rushes into the kitchen after the blond. The explosion-user doesn’t immediately throw him out, so they all assume he’s okay. 

“Kacchan-“

“Are you really gonna say anything after the way your stomach has been growling since you were upstairs?” Jiro raises an eyebrow at him. Izuku, who had been halfway off of his stool, sits back down, defeated. 

“Well.” All Might lays his hands in his lap. “Now that we have resolved the issue of Young Midoriya’s poor eating habits,” Izuku doesn’t think his mentor had to hit him with the bus before throwing him under it, “shall we answer some questions while we wait-“

“What was it like growing up quirkless?”

“Is the toe thing true?”

“Can you really only buy red shoes?”

“How many other people knew about your quirk?”

“Would you have applied for the hero course without your quirk?”

“This doesn’t disprove the theory of All Might being your biological father.”

“Todoroki!” Izuku yells indignantly at the last thing said. “I thought we were past that!”

“We haven’t even begun to cross it.” Todoroki sips on his soba, staring Izuku in the eyes. Wait, when and where did he get that?! 

“Umm.” Izuku gulps, rubbing the back of his head and trying to take any semblance of control before he’s buried in questions. “To answer your questions,” he looks away from everyone, “growing up quirkless wasn’t so bad, you know? I didn’t have to worry about practicing my quirk, which gave me more time to focus on other aspects of hero work-“

“Deku…” That wasn’t Bakugo. Izuku looks back toward the class, his green eyes meeting brown. He glanced at Uraraka so quickly last time, he didn’t have the chance to see what face she was making. Is she mad at everything they had to do to get him back? Annoyed? Anything like that? 

No, instead, all he sees is warmth and support. No judgment whatsoever. He didn’t have to downplay it. “How does she continue to be so amazing?” Izuku mumbles. 

“What was that, young Midoriya?”

“Nothing!” Izuku is suddenly sitting much straighter. Stiff, some might even say. While having an uncanny resemblance to a strawberry with how red his face is, others might add. “N-nothing! I’m fine! Totally good!” He pretends not to notice Jiro typing something on her phone. Or Mina checking her own phone a few seconds later, only to fall over in a cacophony of squeals. 

He takes a deep breath. “Growing up quirkless…wasn’t great. I was bullied… a lot.” Bakugo drops a pan in the kitchen. No one says anything. “It probably didn’t help that I still kept telling everyone I was gonna be a hero anyway…” Izuku chuckles a little at himself. What else is he supposed to do at this point? “Or that I kept throwing myself into places I didn’t need to be. But I guess I’ve always been kind of a meddler.” Iida smiles. 

“But see, that's the thing,” Izuku continues. “I kept meddling in other people’s lives. Over and over. But no one… ever meddled in mine. And over time it just becomes… normal I guess? And I thought it was. Heroes never asked for thanks. Definitely not All Might, so why should I? Why should I expect anyone to be there for me when I got home with bruises and cuts? Especially when I hid them under my clothes so my mom didn’t see? She was working so hard to support us, I didn’t need to give her another thing to worry about. 

“And I thought, that’s just how it’s always going to be. Even when I came here with my brand new quirk. No one had ever caught me when I was falling before, so why would there be any difference?” Izuku exhales, his breath shaky. “But to answer your question… it was lonely. Growing up quirkless was lonely. So thank you all for making me not feel so alone anymore.” He flashes back to his first ever time walking up to UA. To when he tripped and nearly fell but then… He looks back at Uraraka. “And catching me when I fell.”

Uraraka smiles, her eyes wet. “We’ll always catch you.”

“Yeah, what she said! We got you, man!”

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again!”

“Does anyone have any tissues?”

“Are there still quirkless kids experiencing this? We should help them!”

Mina covers her mouth, her own eyes glistening. “Oh my gooood he is so precious!” she says through the class’ shouts. “And could use the biggest hug!!” She shoves Uraraka. “Go give it to him!”

“W-wait, why me?!” Uraraka asks, her blush marks getting a little redder. 

“Because it’d mean the most coming from you. And you would’ve freaked out if I suggested making out with him.”

“Mina!”

“Like that!”

All Might gets the class to settle down, and Izuku speaks up again. “Thanks guys.” He wipes away a few tears. After everything that’s happened, he’s just a bit less embarrassed about crying in front of them. “Oh! And to answer your other questions, the toe thing is true. No, I can buy other shoes, I just like the color red. At least four other people knew about One for All, but I don’t know everyone who did. Yes, I still would’ve applied for the hero course quirkless. And Todoroki, do you believe me yet about All Might not being my dad?”

His friend hums. “So, you’re saying that if we ran a test, you wouldn’t share a drop of DNA with All Might?”

Izuku’s face drops as he remembers a particularly gross memory. ‘Eat this!’ 

“…Nevermind, I’d like to drop the subject.”

“You can’t hide forever.”

“Let’s move on! Please!”

“How did you two meet?” Izuku couldn’t be more thankful to Asui in that moment. “Midoriya had his quirk on the first day, so it had to have been before All Might was our teacher. Ribbit.” That thankfulness diminishes a little when he remembers exactly what happened on that day. 

“Uh-“

“Wait, was it the day you ran out and saved that other kid?!” There’s the sound of a pot dropping in the kitchen, followed by many swear words. Kirishima reels back in realization. “That’s it, isn’t it? That would make so much sense, ‘cause I remember All Might saved both those guys after! That’s gotta be it!”

“Yup!” Izuku sees his lifeline and he takes it. “You’re right, Kirishima. That’s exactly how it happened with absolutely no other details that need to be added or talked about so why even ask about them?!” His voice gets higher and higher. “Oh! I guess you didn’t ask about them? So, why did I even draw any attention to it? In fact, why am I still drawing attention to it? There would be nothing to see! Next question?”

The class is dead silent after his rambling, maybe he actually convinced them not to ask any more about how he and All Might met? Or maybe all of his mumbling just confused them. Izuku would be fine with either outcome, if he’s being honest.

Asui raises her hand again. “I have another question.” 

Izuku sighs in relief. “Thank you, Asui.”

“What’s the full story of how you and All Might met?”

“Asui, why?!”

“Because, for the last time, you can call me Tsu. Ribbit.” 

“Yeah, but I don’t think anyone wants to hear-“

“No, we totally do!” Toru interrupts him. “C’mon! You can’t tease us like that and not tell us?!” Most of the class shouts in agreement. 

“I wasn’t teasing!” Izuku is quick to point out. “It was more…” He tries to find the right word. “Um, deterring? From you guys wanting to hear more?”

“Deter us?” Sero snorts, leaning against the couch behind him. “Wow, you’re almost as bad at that as you are at taking care of yourself.”

More of the class laughs at his expense. Izuku groans into his hands, eliciting even more laughter. “How long are you guys going to be making those jokes?”

Jiro hums. “Think about it. How many dumb things does Kaminari do?” (“Hey!”) “And how much do we joke on him?”

Izuku looks up. “So, it depends on how dumb I was?…”

“And you were pretty dumb.” Izuku doesn’t particularly appreciate the reminder of Tsu’s bluntness right now. 

“While I wouldn’t use a word as callous as ‘dumb,’” Iida explains. “I would say your actions were incredibly shortsighted.”

“You allowed the darkness our enemies cast to overshadow your rational mind,” Tokoyami says solemnly. 

“That’s the edgy way of saying you were dumb,” Dark Shadow clarifies, much to the chagrin of her partner. 

“Enough,” Todoroki cuts in. Izuku is only appreciative of him for seconds until- “I would like to hear about the day Midoriya found out his father was the number one hero.”

“That’s right,” Yaoyorozu agrees before Izuku can interject. “And Todoroki, if All Might and Midoriya were actually related, I believe they would’ve revealed that by now.” The son of Endeavor does not look convinced. Izuku takes all the appreciation he was giving Todoroki and passes it to Yaoyorozu. 

Again, it only lasts seconds. 

“But I suggest we all quiet down if we want to hear how they met. We can discuss with Midoriya his myriad of bad decisions at another time,” Yaoyorozu finishes. 

“…Is that really needed?” Izuku tries. 

“Absolutely. I plan to make a PowerPoint presentation on the matter.”

Izuku sighs, leaning back in his chair as the class shouts in agreement with Yaoyorozu’s plans. He glances at All Might, trying to silently ask if this is okay. When he receives a nod from the hero, the ninth user of One for All ducks his head and takes a deep breath. 

“It was the first day of my last year of middle school,” Izuku starts. His voice is a little shaky. “The day started like any other. I went to school, stopping by a villain attack to watch the heroes and take notes on their quirks-“

There is a long-suffering sigh from behind the class. It was the first time Aizawa had made a sound since they started. “So you’ve always been like that?”

“Yeah…” Izuku answers a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “The fight I saw was actually between Kamui Woods and this purse snatcher-“

“No way!” Kaminari yells. “Dude, why didn’t you ever tell us you were at Mt. Lady’s debut?! Was she as hot in person as she was on-“ he yelps when Jiro stabs him in the neck with one of her earphone jacks, knocking him onto the floor. 

“Uh, so yeah, I was there.” Izuku laughs a little nervously. “Anyway, after a not so great day at school, I was-“

“Because of those bullies?” Mina interrupts, not looking pleased. Several of his classmates mirror her look of displeasure. Izuku is surprised (but maybe he shouldn’t be) that Uraraka looks the most upset out of all of them. 

A couple of looks get passed between the class as cooking ware is thrown around with perhaps more force than necessary in the kitchen. Bakugo’s recent apology and his reasons for doing so are still fresh on their minds, but no one says anything. Kirishima gets up and goes into the kitchen. The sound of slamming pots and pans quickly ceases. 

“So I was walking home from school,” Izuku pushes on to get this over with. Everyone’s attention is on him again as Kirishima returns. “I was walking through this tunnel and not really paying attention to my surroundings-“ he conveniently leaves out that he wasn’t doing so because he was laughing like All Might- “when I was attacked by this villain with a sludge mutation.”

There are several gasps from the class as Izuku continues. “I tried to fight him, but he caught me by surprise and started choking me. He said it would only hurt for a few seconds. I remember thinking that was how I was going to die as everything went black.” 

Uraraka places a hand over her mouth. Todoroki and several of the guys clench their fists, wishing they could’ve been there to help. Aizawa’s mouth forms a thin line. Even All Might looks upset. He had only seen the very end of that part, and Izuku had never really talked about it before. Mina and Toru scoot closer to one another. “Midori…”

Izuku smiles however. “But then right before I passed out, All Might showed up and blasted the villain away!”

“Wooh!”

“That’s awesome!”

“Go All Might!”

Kaminari snorts, leaning back on his hands. “So you’ve always been a villain magnet, huh dude.” Several people look at him, and he shrugs in his defense. “What? Am I wrong?”

Iida looks like he wants to argue but relents. “I never liked to dwell on the subject… but Midoriya does seem to be involved in more villain attacks than any of us.”

“Huh.” Sero cups his chin. “Now that you mention it, besides the USJ and the training camp, it does feel like Midoriya couldn’t go more than a few months without fighting someone.”

“Guys!” Izuku swings his arms up and down. “I’m really not that bad!”

“Even at the training camp, he had it worse than most of us,” Shoji remembers, ignoring Izuku. “That villain he fought alone injured him so much, he couldn’t use his arms.”

“And that’s from someone who lost an arm that night. Ribbit.” Izuku shrinks under Tsu’s stare. “Let’s not forget Endeavor having to save Midoriya from the Hero Killer, along with Iida and Todoroki.” Iida flinches. “You guys never did tell us how you ended up alone with a serial killer down a dark alley.”

It’s Todoroki to the rescue while Izuku and Iida sputter. “Your penchant for running into villains is high for such a short timeframe,” he says to the green-haired boy. “You still haven’t unlocked all of One for All’s quirks, correct? Is it possible that one of them is leading villains toward you?”

“No!” Izuku immediately denies, before leaning toward All Might. “No, right?”

To his horror, the hero cringes a little and shrugs. “I mean, personally I don’t believe that to be true. But technically speaking…”

“Oh! And remember what sensei told us?” Kirishima brings attention onto him. “About how it was really that Toga girl who attacked Midoriya at the licensing exam?”

Some of the class nods along. Uraraka crosses her arms and turns away, fuming at the memory. Unfortunately, she turned right into the smirking faces of Mina and Toru. At least, she assumes Toru is smirking. 

“What’s wrong?” Toru asks in a mock caring voice. Oh yeah, she is definitely grinning. The class is distracted as Jiro tells everyone not to forget I-Island. “Mad that you weren’t the one who got to pin Midoriya under you?” Mina wiggles her eyebrows at her, and Uraraka looks like she’s ready to melt into the ground. Both from the embarrassment and the heat in her face. 

But before she can, Aoyama swoops into their conversation, no longer looking as sullen as he had most of the day. “Or perhaps, the mademoiselle is upset that she wasn’t the one Monsieur Midoriya rescued, swinging her in his arms as he defeated all of those around them.”

She goes redder. “I am perfectly capable of rescuing myself!”

“What did you say?”

Uraraka’s eyes go wide as dinner plates as her conversation partners can barely contain their laughter. It seems she had said that last part a little too loud and caught the attention of the whole class. 

“I…” She hesitates, looking anywhere but at Izuku. “Overhaul!” Some confused looks are shared between the other teens. “Yeah… yeah, that! You guys were probably going to bring that up as proof that Deku fights a lot of villains, right? But don’t forget a bunch of us went on that mission too! And- and Eri too! I bet not a single person here can tell me they wouldn’t have gone on the mission to rescue her! So that one shouldn’t count against him, right?”

Izuku smiles gratefully at his best friend. She always had his back. 

Which is more than he can say about some people. 

“Perhaps we can’t. But what about when he first encountered Overhaul and Eri?” Izuku whirls around, staring at All Might in betrayal. The former number one hero grins back amusedly. Oh. He’s enjoying this a lot. “It was just him and young Togata.”

“Oh yeaaaah!”

“What are the odds?!”

“With Midoriya? Pretty high apparently.”

“And that isn’t even mentioning his fight against Gentle Criminal and La Brava on the day of the culture festival,” All Might adds nonchalantly. The class goes silent. Izuku tries to push down the part of himself that fondly remembers punching All Might in the face during their practical exams.

“You fought a villain on the day of the festival?” Ojiro questions, his tail twitches back and forth behind him. “When could you have had time-“

Toru gasps in realization, climbing over the tailed-boy in her hysteria. “The rope!”

Jiro slaps her forehead. “That’s right! You went to get a new rope and almost missed the show! Is that why you took so long?!”

Aoyama leaps to his feet dramatically. “Oh my! You were covered in bruises and cuts when you returned! Your fight was why!”

“Midori, you didn’t say anything?!”

“His pattern of self destruction was more apparent than many of us realized.” Tokoyami ducks his head in shame. 

“Deku…” Uraraka half groans and half admires. 

“So after All Might saved me from the sludge villain!” Izuku cuts in, dragging the conversation back kicking and screaming to the day he met All Might. “I woke up to All Might slapping me awake-“ Aizawa groans. The former number one hero shrinks away from the look the underground hero gives him. “And when I saw it was All Might, I may have partially freaked out a little.”

“He screamed,” All Might clarifies. The class erupts into laughter. Izuku now doesn’t mind fondly remembering punching this man in the face. 

“Least surprising part of the story so far, Midoriya!”

“I bet it was so high-pitched, he broke all of the nearby windows!”

“What I would give to see a video of that!”

“That’s not even the best part!” All Might chuckles. Izuku feels like Danger Sense should be going off right now. Faint laughter in the back of his mind tells him that the ghosts in his head are enjoying this story as much as his class. He can’t trust anyone. “The best part was young Midoriya flipping open his notebook to ask me for an autograph, and then screaming more when he saw I had already signed it!” A new wave of laughter breaks across the class. “He bowed to me over and over, thanking me for his new family treasure!” All Might laughs. 

Izuku stands up. “I’m going out on my own again,” he deadpans. But the ninth user of One for All makes it barely a step before he finds himself on the ground. His legs are taped together and iced to the ground. Dark Shadow and Iida have a hold of each of his arms. Uraraka takes her hand off of him, removing his gravity as Kaminari does the opposite and places a hand on his midsection. “Wha- guys, did you plan this?! I wasn’t serious!”

“We apologize, Midoriya. These actions were more of a reflex than anything.” Yaoyorozu apologizes. Izuku would be more inclined to believe her if she wasn’t aiming a tranquilizer gun at him. 

“Just say the word.” Kaminari seems a bit too eager to shock him. 

“No, I think we’re alright.” Yaoyorozu lowers the gun. “False alarm everybody.” All of the students relax from their totally not-planned defensive positions. “Nevermind Togata, you don’t have to wake her,” Yaoyorozu says, speaking into a walkie-talkie. 

“Wait.” Izuku’s eyes go wide as he’s freed from the various traps he’s in. “Were you going to have him bring Eri here?”

“We all thought you would be less inclined to leave if you had to look at her while you did it.”

…Dangit, why were they right?

Everyone moves back to their spots, and All Might rubs his back as Izuku takes his seat next to him. “Do not take the teasing to heart, young man. Everyone here is just grateful that you are here to be teased at all.”

Izuku gives him a small smile of gratitude. “I know.” He doesn’t mind. Truly. He had grown up with no friends to tease him so Izuku feels like he’s making up for lost time by having the whole class mess with him. “Where were we?”

“Well, in that case…” Izuku’s smile to All Might drops when the hero begins to grin again. “I believe we were at the part where you clung onto my leg as I jumped away from the scene.”

And the laughter begins anew as Izuku buries his face into his hands. His only solace is feeling Iida chop him on the back of his head again and again while he lectures him on the many reasons why what he did was dumb. “I swear it’s not as bad as it sounds…”

“Yo Midoriya, just when we thought you couldn’t be any more of a fanboy,” Sero laughs with Kaminari. The pair clings onto each other as do Mina and Toru. 

“You really have never had any self-preservation, have you?” Tsu asks, but Izuku thinks it’s more rhetorical than anything. They already have their answer. 

“You must’ve had quite the grip to not fall,” Shoji observes.

“I didn’t really have a choice if I didn’t want to fall,” Izuku shrugs sheepishly. 

“And you couldn’t have thought about that before you hitched a ride with the number one hero?” Jiro arches an eyebrow. 

“…I had something I really wanted to ask him.”

“Speaking of questions, I have one.” Things quiet down as Aizawa speaks, looking far less amused. “If I’m understanding this correctly, you saw a boy who had just been injured in an attack, even had a possible concussion, and your first instinct was to slap him awake?”

“I’ve, um, rescued many people, Aizawa.” All Might sweat a little, nervous. “I could tell his injuries weren’t severe-“

“But you didn’t think to call an ambulance and have a trained medical professional verify that?” All Might sputters as he tries to come up with a defense for his actions. “Relax, I’m not gonna sit here and lecture you for it.” All Might breathes a sigh of relief. “Instead, I’m just going to tell Recovery Girl.” 

Izuku had never seen his mentor go so pale before. “Now, w-wait a moment, Aizawa, we can discuss this-“ All Might pleads with him, but the underground hero shoving his evil grin under his capture weapon tells him all he needs to know. 

Uraraka raises her hand, thankfully taking the focus off All Might. At least for the moment. Izuku feels funny calling on her as if he’s a teacher. He can’t ever picture himself as one. “Yes, Uraraka?”

“What did you want to ask All Might?”

Izuku opens his mouth to answer before hesitating, feeling himself growing cold. Something not missed by Uraraka and the rest of his class. He glances at All Might. He knows this conversation is about being honest and open with his friends, but he still can’t bring himself to just throw the hero under the bus. 

All Might obviously knows what he’s conflicted about. “It’s okay, my boy, just tell them.”

“But-“ Izuku instantly wants to argue, but All Might’s blue eyes meet his green and tell him the same thing they’ve told him countless times. It’s going to be okay. The teen sighs, facing the class but not looking at anyone in particular. “I wanted to ask All Might if I could be a hero without a quirk.”

“Ohhhhh, I get it!” Mina leans forward excitedly. “This is when All Might told you yes and gave you One for All! Yeah?” 

“But that can’t be right?” Kirishima questions, looking confusedly back and forth between Izuku and the former symbol of peace. “Midoriya said earlier he got it after All Might rescued him and Bakugo?”

“Oh yeah,” Mina acknowledges, flicking her lip with a finger. “But this is still the part of the story where Midori finally has someone believe in him, right?” Her smile begins to dampen when Izuku and All Might glance at each other, not saying anything. “Right?!”

With neither the current or former user of One for All saying anything, an uncomfortable truth slowly dawns on the class. Izuku can see the information passing through them like a disease. How each person’s face slowly morphs from confusion, to a horrible realization. He wants to say something to placate them, but he can’t figure out what in time. Not before All Might speaks up, jumping on the metaphorical sword. 

“I told him no. And he should focus on being a police officer, firefighter or something like that instead.”

Maybe Izuku should’ve said the old hero jumped on the metaphorical lever instead. Because that was enough to open the floodgates. 

“WHAT?!” is the general reaction as the class reacts in an uproar. 

Uraraka is the first on her feet. “How could you say that?! You didn’t even know him!”

“Woah, woah, woah, woa-“ Kaminari can’t stop repeating himself, and not even Jiro seems like she has it in her to stop him. 

“To have your hope snuffed out by the brightest light in your world… must be devastating,” Tokoyami observes grimly, crossing his arms. 

Aoyama’s shine looks almost completely gone, covered by his shock. 

“You said no?!” Mina shouts in disbelief. “Midori is more heroic in one finger than half the pros we had before the war!” Shoji, Koda, and Toru all agree with her. 

Kirishima’s mouth opens and shuts constantly, looking torn at what to say. Izuki flashes back to their bus ride to the USJ. Even back then, Kirishima thought All Might’s successor had a good and flashy quirk for a hero. And how the red-haired boy  thought he did not. He’s probably thinking All Might might’ve told him no too. 

“Enough.” He doesn’t yell, but Aizawa one word is still enough to pierce the chaos, quieting the class. Sighing, he rubs his good eye. “While I know it’s easy to rebuff All Might’s words in hindsight, you all need to think about the situation rationally.” He pauses, making sure he has all of their attention. “All Might told me briefly about the ten months of hell training he used to prepare you for the exam, Midoriya. Am I correct to assume you had done nothing else to prepare your body for heroics before that?”

Izuku nods, a little ashamed. He always focused so much on analyzing heroes and studying their moves, as if that would be enough to get him accepted alone. Because if he had no quirk to train, why focus on his body when he could sharpen the best tool at his disposal? His mind. 

At least, that’s what he constantly told himself. It helped him ignore the little voice in the back of his head growing up that told him he had no chance of ever becoming a hero, so why exercise? 

“So All Might has a scrawny and quirkless child who does not seem prepared at all for the hardships of hero work in front of him,” Aizawa continues. “And that child asks if he can become a hero. I think his answer becomes easier to understand from that perspective.”

“Maybe so, but that is only one perspective.” Todoroki turns his eyes back to Izuku. He knows what the other boy is going to ask next. 

Or what he wants to ask. Todoroki never actually says it, just looks at him. Even though this talk is supposed to be about being honest, he’s still giving Izuku an out from actually answering. It makes sense. Todoroki would know that some things are just too painful to say. But just the acknowledgment is enough to make him feel better. 

Izuku won’t go into all of it. The despair he felt. He’s not one that likes to bring down the mood of others. And he’d feel like he was attacking All Might even more. He’s sure the hero would disagree, but still. 

Instead, he decides to just sum it up. “I felt…” he clears his throat, his voice feeling just a bit too emotional. It doesn’t help. “It felt like… like it was confirming everything I had been told my whole life.” He tries to continue but hesitates, at least until All Might places a hand on his shoulder, giving his student a reassuring smile. He could be honest, the man didn’t mind.

“It felt like I had been holding back all the times I was told I couldn’t be a hero. Using my hope that if anyone would think I could be a hero, it’d be All Might to drive me.” Izuku wiped his eyes. Dangit, why did his friends tell him it was okay to cry again? “But when he said no, it was like I couldn’t hold back all the times people had told me no in the past anymore. They all piled on me at once, and I finally got the message.” The tears start to fall, so he looks down. “I couldn’t be a hero.”

He hears quick movement, and when Izuku looks back up, Uraraka is in front of him, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “Uraraka-?”

“You can be a hero.” She doesn’t let him finish, pouring all of her belief and determination into her words. “I know you can because you’re my hero.” Before he can fully process her words, Uraraka has him wrapped in a hug. 

He doesn’t know if it’s because he just spent all those weeks on the road, or if the talk about both the worst and best day of his life had opened all his wounds, but her hug feels like the warmest he’s ever had in his life. Like he could feel all of the emotions Uraraka was pouring into him without her needing to say anything. Including one that he dare not believe to be true. 

Unable to hold back any more of his tears, Izuku lets go, holding Uraraka tight and just giving in to her embrace. And she isn’t alone. 

“You’re my hero too, man!” Kaminari comes from behind him, wrapping an arm around his neck. “And don’t you ever forget that!”

“Mine too!” Mina hugs them from the side. “We’re never letting you out of our sight again!”

Kirishima is almost as teary-eyed as Izuku when he barrels into the green-haired boy’s other side. “That’s right! To keep going after so many people put you down? Bro I’m following you right to Shigaraki and beyond because you’re exactly the type of man I wanna be!”

Izuku wishes he could thank each of them, but he’s too busy holding onto Uraraka to ground himself as more and more tears spill out. Which comes in handy as so many of his friends are trying to join the group hug, and repeating how he’s a hero to them, they end up toppling both him and themselves over onto the ground. 

But does that stop the group hug? Nope. 

Most of the class, except for Aoyama, are content just touching some part of him. To let him know they’re there and support him. Whether it’s a pat on his shoulder, rubbing of his back, or even an affectionate ruffling of his hair, Izuku’s never felt more loved than he has right now, sitting on the floor with his class. 

“It seems I still have some running to do to keep up with you.” Iida sits next to him, smiling. “I am up for the challenge.” Izuku sits up as well, beaming at his friend in thanks. That’s when he realizes that the last person holding onto him is Uraraka, who seems to realize that fact at the same time and quickly lets him go, her face going red, causing his to do the same. 

He wouldn’t have minded if she wanted to keep holding him. 

That stray thought makes him blush harder. 

Todoroki sits by him next. “I’m always here for advice. I have plenty of experience with my own father saying disparaging things to me.”

Izuku can’t help but laugh at the comment right now. Others do the same. By now, the entire class, minus those in the kitchen, is sitting by him on the floor. 

“It’s alright”, he chuckles, finally wiping his eyes. “I was never mad at All Might for what he said,” he clarifies, mostly for his mentor’s sake. All Might seems touched at the words. “And even if I was, he more than made up for it.”

“It’s nice to see you cry again,” Tsu sniffles. She kept her promise about always crying with him. “But next, we have to teach you that it’s okay to get upset with people who aren’t villains.”

“Good luck with that,” Bakugo scoffs, walking back to the living room with a big plate of Ramen. Izuku can smell the meat and eggs on top from here. “Deku’s so damn stubborn, I bet the nerd still thinks he can save Shigaraki! Isn’t that right?” he challenges. Izuku doesn’t respond. 

Bakugo makes a tsk sound. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He shoves the plate into his hands. “This isn’t some sissy shit, I put some real spices in there. So eat it or wear it!” 

Not wanting to test that threat, Izuku begins to eat, slowly taking more and more bites with how good it tastes. It’s like he hasn’t eaten properly in days! Oh wait-

“Damn, maybe we should have Bakugo cook for all of us one of these nights,” Sero jokes. 

“You all better be grateful if I ever do that!”

“Wow, he’s really going.” Ojiro scratched his cheek, laughing a little. “Is Ramen his favorite?”

“No, it’s Katsudon,” Uraraka corrects, letting Izuku continue to eat unimpeded. 

“Oh, I’m surprised you didn’t make that then.”

Bakugo scoffs again. “I’m not dumb, Tails. Like I’d ever try to compete with Auntie Inko’s Katsudon.”

“Still bro, it’s so manly of you to-“

“Shut it!”

“Ha! Still think All Might was right in what he said, sensei?” Toru asks. A couple of people look at her as if she just smacked a bear with a glove and challenged it to a fight. 

“I never said I agreed with him,” Aizawa replies. All Might blanches. It’s hard to tell, but if someone really knew their teacher, they might say he had been watching his class fondly. 

“But you said-“

“I said I understand why All Might told Midoriya no,” Aizawa makes clear. “Not that I agree.” A couple of jaws dropped from his students. Even Izuku looks up. 

All Might chuckles. “I agree that looking back, I could’ve handled much of that day differently, especially when young Midoriya asked me that question. But I’m surprised you of all people don’t agree with what I said then. Especially coming from the man who lays down expulsions like I did smashes?”

Aizawa grins back, meeting the former number one hero head-on. The class is promptly terrified. “What I did was give potential heroes a dose of reality and a chance to improve themselves. The rest was up to them. Which is what you could have done.

“Could Midoriya have been a hero going down his current path? No. Could you have also tried to give the kid some advice on how to improve and actually prepare for the hero course instead? Yes. What he did next was up to him. Although…” The look he gives Izuku embarrasses him a little. “Knowing what I know now about the problem child, it’s probably best that you had a direct hand in helping him.”

“Oh right!” Uraraka grabs his arm, shaking him a little. “So after that is when you saved Bakugo?”

“He stalled until All Might got there!”

“Oh right, our bad.” Mina nods sagely. “So tell us about how you saved Bakugo, Midori?”

“Motherfu-“ Kirishima covers Bakugo’s mouth, laughing in good spirits as the blond boy tries to blow him up.

“There isn’t much to say that you guys don’t know,” Izuku laughs, feeling better than he has in a long time. He puts down his mostly empty plate. “The Slime Villain All Might captured had gotten free because I clung onto his leg-“

“Could one of you…?” All Might prompts. 

Izuku doesn’t have long to wonder what he means before Kaminari shocks him. “Ow! Hey!”

He shrugs. “Don’t look at me, dude! You’re the one blaming yourself again.”

“Yes and we will be working to correct that mentality of yours,” Yaoyorozu… promises? The way she said it almost sounds like a threat. Maybe it is supposed to. “Although, we will hopefully devise some less painful ways.”

“Take away his notebooks,” Todoroki suggests immediately. 

“Hide his hero merch!”

“No hero autographs for a month!”

“Develop new moves and refuse to answer any of his questions about them!”

“Guuuuuuuys!” Izuku whines, eliciting more laughter from his classmates. 

“Whatever you think about what happened,” Aizawa cuts in, looking Izuku in the eye. “And no matter what decisions you made, All Might was the professional hero in that situation and should not have lost track of the villain.”

“Still…”

“What was that?” Kaminari lifts up two fingers, sparks flying in between them.

“Nothing!” Izuku calms down a little. “Anyway, after I accidentally ended up where the Slime Villain was attacking Kacchan-“

“Of course you somehow get there by accident,” Aizawa mutters. 

“When I saw the other heroes weren’t doing anything, and Kacchan was the one in trouble, my body just…”

“Moved on its own,” Bakugo finishes for him, having freed himself from Kirishima. 

“Yeah.” Izuku smiles at the memory. “I was able to keep Kacchan from choking long enough for All Might to get there and save us. After he tracked me down and told me that my body moving on its own was a trait of great heroes…” the tears started spilling again. “All Might told me I could be a hero.”

As Izuku shares in another round of hugs, Aizawa pinches his nose. “And that’s when you offered the boy you had just met your quirk?” He gazes up at All Might. 

“Like I said, there were a lot of things that day I would change.” All Might smiles at the sight of Izuku being embraced by everybody. “That was not one of them.”

Aizawa shoves himself into his scarf, hiding his face. “Good.”

“Anyone up for some cookies?” Sato asks, emerging from the kitchen with two trays full. It is a good thing he’s naturally strong or he might not have been able to withstand the assault of almost the entire class descending on him for the treats. 

Izuku is so distracted by the class’ antics, he almost misses Uraraka plopping down next to him on the ground. All Might stands and heads over to where the mad dash for cookies is taking place. Not to take control of the situation of course, but to get some for himself. 

Izuku chuckles under his breath before glancing at Uraraka, who seemed more than content being next to him. “Thank you. For speaking up for me.” 

Uraraka gives him that smile that sends his heart racing. “You never have to thank me for that, Deku.”

Izuku nods. He totally did and would never stop. “But how are you doing?” he whispers. “Sorry if everything I said was a bit too much.”

Uraraka makes a noise that is somewhere between a snort and an exasperated sigh while she faces away from him. “That’s kinda it.” Izuku hums, not following. “You just spent weeks on your own, pushing yourself more than you ever should have. And now you’re home. You didn’t eat until Bakugo literally shoved a plate into your hands. You’re still asking if we’re all okay. And you are still apologizing just for being you.”

She turns to face him, her sincere look rooting him to the ground. “What about you? Think about you, Deku. For once just pretend we’re all okay, that I- we love you for who you are,” she almost begs, “and instead ask yourself, what do you need right now?”

Izuku doesn’t respond for a while because, well, he has no idea what to say. What does he need? It’s not something he usually thinks about. So he watches his friends cause chaos around him, smiling at the warm feeling spreading across his chest. He steals another glance at the girl next to him, that warm feeling becoming a fire, because someone as amazing as her considers him to be her hero when she’s been his for so long. 

He knows what he needs. 

“I need you.” If Izuku’s brain hadn’t caught up to his words in that moment, Uraraka whipping around to face him, her face blazing red, would have clued him in. “You all!” Izuku quickly corrects, waving his hands in front of him while his face does its best to match Uraraka’s shade of red. “I need you all!”

He takes a breath and powers through, not able to look at Uraraka. “W-what I mean is, talking to you all, it was the first time I didn’t feel like I had to hide myself or keep anyone at arm’s length. I showed you- you all- the real me, and you accepted me anyway.”

Izuku exhales a trembling breath. He still can’t help but feel a bit selfish while talking about the things he wants. He reassures himself that this is what Uraraka wants him to do and after everything she’s done for him, it’s the least he can do. 

“That’s what I need. I want to keep talking to you all when I’m feeling bad. Or alone. I want someone there.” He looks back at Uraraka, face going nuclear once again. Maybe all of the confessions of his different feelings are making him a bit braver. “I want you there. I want my hero to keep meddling in my life for a long time.”

Uraraka gapes at him, shocked. Izuku freezes. Oh jeez, what did he do? What did he do?! But before he can panic further, Uraraka smiles softly, instantly calming him. “I was thinking the same thing about my hero.”

He feels a nudge, and despite thinking he might faint at any second, Izuku takes Uraraka’s hand in his own. The warmth from earlier spreads across his entire body. He’s no longer alone.