Chapter Text
Izuku found the paper by pure coincidence. He hadn’t been snooping, but his mother had told him to grab a box from the top of her closet for her, it wasn’t his fault that another toppled over and spilled, showing the news paper clipping. It was a picture of his father, not one he had seen before, but he recognized the man from others his mother had seen. The headline read YAKUZA BOSS ESCAPES POLICE CUSTODY . He didn’t tell his mother what he had seen, but he took a quick picture of the article, quickly putting the paper back in the box it belonged and shoving it back on the top shelf of the closet.
~*~
Izuku sat at his desk, trying to ignore the small explosions sparking in the palms of the boy who sat in front of him. He studied the classmates around them, deciphering the reactions to their teachers' words. This year, the hero program is a bit different from the past. UA is partnering with the Juvenile Detention center to create a program called the Young Villain and Criminal Reformation Program.” There were a few uneasy looks. “There are three villain students among your peers this year. Hero students will have until the provincial license tests to vote out two of the villains, if they skate by undetected, they will be officially enrolled at hero students and labeled as reformed.” The hero paused to call on a blue haired boy who had raised his hand.
“Why only two of the villains? Why not the third?” Iida said when he was called on.
“Well, one of the villain students is someone you may have heard of, the villain known as The Mastermind Villain: Omoikane.” Aizawa paused as the class reacted in different ways, some gasping, others shrinking back into their chairs. Okoikane had been all over the news for months. A mysterious villain with no hints to their identity was dominating the villain scene, taking down both corrupt heroes and various villains, never killing, but always somehow having the information needed on all of their targets. Izuku wasn’t proud of the news reports, some painting him as worse than he actually was.“They will not be a part of the trial as they are a far more dangerous villain than the other two, and Principal Nezu has decided that the enrolment status of such a high profile villain should remain in the hands of the faculty. It is, however, still beneficial to all of you to try and catch them. If they are caught, that will be taken into consideration when determining if he should remain enrolled in the program. All of the villain students are going to be under various forms of surveillance, and after this explanation, I will inform you about their various crimes without disclosing the identity of the students that committed them. But just know that there are precautions being taken with all three of the students. You are in no danger.” Aizawa went back to explaining different safety protocols that were being put into place as well as a few minor details about the voting system, such as the fact that a student had to be nominated before a vote could be taken. He explained that they had until their provisional license exams to catch all three villains, if they hadn’t caught any of them, there would be consequences. He had said that last part just before retreating down into the scarf around his neck slightly, Izuku was sure that no one else had noticed it.
“Now for their crimes.” The hero paused, presumably for dramatic effect. “You must already be aware of Omoikane’s crimes, but as for the other two. One is here after multiple harassment charges, and a charge of purposeful endangerment of themselves and others under the hope that a female hero would rescue them. And the second students' crimes are labeled as speculative villany, being seen with a few different villains. This person may also be labeled as a vigilante as they are confirmed involved in the imprisonment of multiple villains.” Another raised hand at that, this time from a girl with a short brown bob.
“Why would the second person be labeled as a villain if they are seen as a vigilante?” Uraraka asked.
“Because it’s not confirmed.” Izuku interjected. “Just look at Omoikane for example, the new reports said that he started out as a vigilante, only targeting villains, but he moved onto corrupt heroes.”
“Omoikane killed people.” A boy with yellow hair that had a black lightning bolt on one side scowled. Bakugou scoffed at the comment, going unnoticed by everyone except for Izuku
“Only after the hero thing.” Izuku said quietly. He hadn’t killed anyone, if people took his information and used it to harm others, it wasn’t him doing the harm.
“Calm down!” Aizawa interrupted. “Now calmly, are there any other questions?” A few different hands went up, and Aizawa called on a boy with spiky teeth and red hair to match.
“Do the Villain students know who each other are?” Kirishima inquired. Izuku didn’t care to listen to the hero's response, he already knew the answer. They didn't. There were a few more questions and comments regarding the safety of the hero students, especially around Omoikane. Izuku felt a little bad that he was seen as someone they needed protection from, but he neglected to listen to them.
Their teacher began talking about the structure of the year; the classes they would be taking, the different things they would learn and cover, and the test layout, typical school things. Then Aizawa announced that they would be going down to the track and field for an apprehension test. They all followed him down to the field and listened to his explanation.
“Alright, you all will be partaking in various tasks, showing me what your quirks entail and giving me a clue into your overall physical abilities. Whoever is ranked last in this test, will be expelled immediately afterwards, so do your best.” Izuku hated how hard the teacher was to read. He said everything with the same bored tone and the same sleepy look. The only form of emotion that he expressed was the slight retreat into his scarf after he said certain things. Izuku didn’t quite know what it meant at the moment, but he was determined to figure it out.
The first task was throwing a ball. Izuku watched as Kachan was called first. The blonde exploded the ball into the air and everyone watched as it went off into the distance. “507.2 meters.” Aizawa stated simply and Kachan tsked arrogantly. Student after student took their turn, then they moved onto the 50-meter dash, grip strength, long jump, side steps, and more. As the test came to a close, Izuku knew he didn’t place high, but he knew that he wasn’t last. There were multiple students in the class who didn’t have quirks that were suitable to help with these sorts of activities, and he knew that the test was very unfair, but he also could see who had been training physically, and who had not. He had spent months training, not because of his admission to UA, but because he was tired of having to meet with villains with a bodyguard, who frankly wasn’t the best in high stress situations. Throughout the different activities, he was taking notes on the others, knowing that they could all see him doing so. Aizawa even came over at one point and peered over his shoulder, although Izuku wasn’t worried since he had been writing in code.
“Gather around,” Aizawa said blankly. “ In first place, we have Yaoyorozu, then second is Todoroki, and Bakugou in third.” A scoff from Bakugou and a surprised look from Izuku didn’t stop the teacher from continuing. “Congratulations to you three for your hard work. Now, the last three. In18th place, we have Midoriya, 19th is Hagakure and lastly is Mineta. Now, if yo-”
“WHAT?” The short boy yelled, interrupting their teacher. “How am I last? That guy didn’t even try to use his quirk!” He pointed at Izuku, who ignored Bakugou’s scoff. “I can’t be expelled because of a stupid-” The boy went quiet as Aizawa’s hair stood up, his eyes glowing a pale red, more an intimidation factor than the actual use of his quirk.
“You’re not being expelled, calm down. It was a logical ruse, a white lie if you will. I just wanted you all to try your best, I needed to know your actual abilities, not just the ones you thought I needed to know.” Aizawa stated simply. “And as for Midoriya, you don’t know what type of quirk he could have. For all you know, he was using it. And he still placed higher than you, so even without a quirk, he still beat you.”
~*~
After classes ended, Aizawa led Izuku to the principal's office. As he entered, he saw the rat principle and a girl with long pink hair and goggles pushed up onto the top of her head. He sat in the only open chair in the room, hearing the door close behind him as his homeroom teacher left. Nezu started talking as he slid a phone across the table to Midoriya.
“I will need you to switch the sim card from your phone to this one.” Izuku did as he was told. “It has a tracker embedded into it. The other Villain students don’t have this level of surveillance, but don’t worry, you're not the only one with surveillance. There is also going to be a twenty four hour guard on your house, and when you leave, you must check in and be escorted to your destination. Your mother has been made aware of the situation, as well as Mrs. Bakugou, as it seems that you spend most of your nights there, although I’m not quite sure why as it appears you and Bakugou don’t seem to be on the best of terms. There will also be a team watching their home while you are there. Now, this,” He pointed to the girl sitting next to him. “Is Mei Hatsume. She is a student enrolled here in the support hero course. She has prepared a few weapons specifically made for you. Usually hero students don’t start working with the support course until later in the term, but due to your quirk status, we would like you to be on equal ground as your peers. These weapons are not to leave campus, and will only be allowed into your possession while you are supervised by a teacher. Don’t worry about her telling anyone about the status of your enrollment here, we have had her sign an NDA and she seems to be… and admirer of your work.”
The principal turned over the floor to Hatsume and she pulled out a small hilt, no blade was attached though. “This,” She said excitedly. “Is something I’m very proud of. You press this button here, and boom!” Izuku watched as the hilt elongated into a sort of bendable blade. It looked almost like a sharp spine. “It consists of carbon fiber joints coated in steel. It’s supposed to act as a whip like sword, but also has an electric component, allowing the user to send up to 50,000 volts of electricity through the target! I know that you don’t usually do the fighting yourself, but as a hero student, you’ll probably do more of it, so I thought this would be a little more versatile.” Izuku watched as she pulled out a thin needle and a vial of a dark murky purple liquid next. “And these are acupuncture needles. I added a bit of weight to them so they could be thrown, and I engineered a toxin that should paralyze the target for at least thirty seconds, any longer and the target would be permanently paralyzed, so I couldn’t do more than that. Anyways, I can make adjustments if you'd like, and I need any ideas you have for a hero costume too.”
“Wow, these are great Hatsume!” He said, examining the needles and the now retracted sword. “Would you be able to make a toxin that acts like a sleeping agent? And umm, my hero costume? Well, I haven’t thought much about that. Just something easy to fight and blend in. Possibly something with hidden pockets?”
“Great, now that you two have talked, you are excused. Hatsume, you’ll have till the rest of the hero class requires their costumes to be done.” Izuku was slightly annoyed that the principal hadn’t let Hatsume answer him, but they talked more about it as they left the principal's office. They walked together to the train station, but had to separate then, not before Hatsume insisted she give Izuku her number in case he had any other questions. Izuku’s ride was short, and he got off, not making his way to his own home, but to the house he spent far more time in. His mother was often working the night shifts, and she wasn’t really talking to Izuku much right now, at least not since he had gotten caught.
He called out a hello as he entered, finding Mitsuki in the kitchen. “Hello Auntie.” He said, grabbing a yogurt from the fridge.
“Hello Sweetie, how was your day? Katsuki said it was interesting.” Izuku’s smile faltered and Mitsuki gave him a sympathetic look.
“I think it went better than I thought it would. Only one person accused me of murder, not that they knew it was me, but after classes, I had to meet with one of the support course students and she showed me some support weapons she had made so that I have an equal standing on the students with quirks.”
“Well, that's good at least. I know that you’re not bad Izuku, and they’ll see it soon enough.”
“It won’t matter if mom doesn’t see it.” He slumped down into a chair at the kitchen table.
“Your mom, she knows you're not evil Izuku. Inko just needs some time. She doesn’t agree with the route you took to do the things you did.” Before Izuku could answer, Katsuki walked into the kitchen, taking the yogurt he had grabbed from him and eating a few bites himself.
“Sup nerd.” He said, handing the yogurt back. “What did Aizawa say to you?”
“I had a meeting with the principal and a girl from the support course.”
“Hmm, that’s not good.” He said aloud, and then continued silently. “ You know who the other villains are? I know Aizawa said you didn’t, but he could be lying .” Katsuki sat next to Izuku, and the latter slid the last of his yogurt to the other boy. The two boys had developed a sort of language over years of being friends. It relied solely on body language, breathing, and movements. They could have whole conversations without even looking at each other, and no one had ever figured it out. It started after Izuku was diagnosed quirkless, and they came up with a plan for Katsuki to ignore him in public so he wasn’t also ridiculed. No one really questioned the fact that Katsuki would try and protect Izuku by saying it was pointless to bully someone as low as Izuku.
“ Nope, not a clue who they are, but the person that’s there for harassment won’t take long to figure out, i'll make sure they're gone before midterms .” Izuku responded silently, Katsuki laughed, quickly stopping as his mother gave him a look that said they needed to leave before they started to bother her.