Work Text:
Izuku paused before the doors, straightening her skirt nervously. She knew this was the best course of action: using the first day of new school to establish her baseline with the classmates, this one shot she had at convincing them she was just a regular girl, nothing to see there...
It was still absolutely nervewracking. She's changed her mind a dozen times before arriving at the school, but this was it. Once she walked through these doors, there would be no turning back.
Bracing herself, Izuku pulled the doors open and stepped through, only to be met with an instant incredulous "Deku?!".
...She's forgotten about Kacchan.
"Ah.." Izuku froze, staring at his baffled expression. She glanced at the sitting chart — no luck. Her seat was right behind Kacchan. There would be no avoiding him. "Hi, Kacchan..."
But instead of the explosion she was expecting — both metaphorical and literal, as was Kacchan's habit — the boy smoothed out his expression, staring at her for a moment longer.
"I guess that makes sense," he mumbled evasively, turning away.
That non-specificity was the greatness kindness Kacchan has granted her since they were four, even if Izuku wasn't entirely sure what he meant by it making sense. Has she been that obvious? No, that was impossible; The rest of their middle school class surely would have noticed, too.
Then again, Kacchan has always been a league about the others...
"Take your seats," a gruff voice said from behind her, and Izuku scattered towards the desk.
All that mattered was that she hasn't been revealed to the class yet, even if the teacher has scrutinized her briefly when taking attendance. She was soon too busy worrying about the skills assessment to worry about him, though.
That is, until Aizawa-sensei told everyone to change into gym clothes, and told her to stay behind.
She sat frozen at her desk, staring at the surface withouth really seeing it. This was it, wasn't it? She was getting expelled.
"You too, Bakugou." Aizawa-sensei dislodged Izuku from her thoughts. With a blink, she looked up. Sure enough, Kacchan was still there, sitting at his desk with arms crossed.
"No."
"Kacchan!" Izuku squeaked in shock. Kacchan's never been one to submit to authority, but he's never been quite this dismissive-
"We all know what this is about," Kacchan glanced back at Izuku, expression as neutral as he got. "I'm not letting you stay alone with her."
Oh.
Oh.
Izuku could feel tears welling up in her eyes. "Kacchan..."
Aizawa-sensei looked between for a moment before clearly deciding he wasn't being paid enough to care. Reaching into his sleeping bag, he produced a bunch of papers.
"Here's the paperwork you need to complete to update your student details," he said, passing the papers over. Kacchan grabbed them first, glancing over before dropping them on Izuku's desk. "There are individual changing stalls in the lockers, so that won't be an issue. If anyone causes you any trouble, let me know."
"And what will you do?" Kacchan interrupted, acting like he was Izuku's lawyer or something. It was pretty funny to see.
Aizawa-sensei grabbed a thin chain around his neck, pulling out a small pendant of a trans flag. Izuku's eyes went wide in surprise. "There's more of us," he told her gruffly. "If you don't get expelled today, I'll introduce you."
Izuku swelled with determination to give more than her best at the skill assessment. She was already going to give her all — there was no way she'd slack off at UA — but now, she was going to embodify the idea of Plus Ultra.
Kacchan unceremoniously pushed to his feet, leaving the room without another word. Izuku still appreciated that he stayed in the first place.
"Thank you," she told Aizawa-sensei, beaming at him.
The teacher hummed at her, hiding the pendant again. "What are you still doing here?" He said, turning towards the doors. "Get changed. I won't go easy on anyone, be warned."
"Yes, sir!" Snapping to her feet, Izuku rushed out of the class.
She always hoped UA would be different. Now, she knew it would be.
Bonus:
Izuku ended up accompanying Uraraka to the bathroom at the girl's behest. She just stayed in the wash-up area, though, taking the opportunity to reset her hair clips.
That was when she heard the scream coming from the corridor. Moving faster than thought, Izuku rushed to open the doors and saw-
The USJ villain. Shigaraki. He was lounging against the wall right opposite the bathroom doors, staring down at Izuku.
He was way too close for comfort, even when Izuku was still standing just inside of the bathroom. But... The logical part of her brain raised a red flag. Why wasn't he closer?
She froze, staring at Shigaraki. He stared back, frowning harder by the second.
"Are you coming out or what," he growled.
"I already did," Izuku blurted out, but Shigaraki didn't seem to notice her blunder.
"Properly!"
"Why?" What difference did it make?
"I'm not going inside a girls' bathroom, obviously," Shigaraki said, like it was a universal law or something.
He knew Izuku was trans; That was an unfortunate side effect of the USJ, her entire class and a fair number of villains knowing about it. And yet...
Izuku paused, her brain blitzing towards the only correct answer: she would identify every such belief of Shigaraki's and exploit them. Mercilessly.
