Work Text:
Izuku sits on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. They watch the others file in as they wake up. The greenette notes how Katsuki seems quite fatigued today, so they assume the blond hasn’t had his daily energy drink. As everyone settles on the couches, Izuku silently takes note of who the class chooses to hang around. Obviously, Denki and Hitoshi decide to cling to one side of them, Ejiro on their other. Tsu and Ochako are on one of the side chairs, braiding each other’s hair, with Shoto leaning on the back of the chair. Mina, Kyoka, and Momo sit on a loveseat, curled up like it’s a movie night. Mezo, Koji, and Rikido are sitting on pillows strewn across the ground, while Katsuki is sitting on the other side of Ejiro and Mashirao sits in front of Denki, letting her play with his tail. Lastly, Fukimage, Yuga, Toru, Hanta, and Tenya are sitting on the largest couch, with a small Mineta held down by Hanta’s tape. Honestly, Izuku almost forgot about him.
At last, Aizawa, Yamada, and Kayama enter through the main doors, all carrying clipboards and stacks of paper. They stand in front of the class as everyone finally settles completely down, knowing that the lack of annoyance in their teacher’s eyes means that the class isn’t in trouble.
“We’re here to assign you a survey,” Aizawa explains once everyone’s shut their mouths. Their homeroom teacher nods to the others, and the packets the other teachers are holding are passed out to the students. “Take these packets,” Their teacher continues, as if the students have a choice. “And fill them out on your own time. There are 13 questions, and they’re due by the end of the first week.”
Izuku takes their paper with a polite “thank you” and flips through it. The test isn’t your typical written exam, but instead more like a Q&A. Each question is personal, and focuses on the comfort and safety of the students. As an example, the first question asks ‘Who are you most comfortable with?’ Not demanding or stressful, and obviously directed about school and dorm and general life improvements.
“We have to write,” Denki complains in Izuku’s ear, and they fail to not laugh at her tone.
“These are personal questions to be taken seriously,” Aizawa explains once they’ve all been passed out. “I want you to fill each one out considerately, as they’re to ensure safety among you students no matter where you go. Is that understood?”
The class replies with different variations of “yes” and “sure”, and only one hand is raised. It’s Mina, whose currently making paper stars and playing with Kyoka’s hair. Aizawa sighs as she speaks, and the entire class knows what’s coming.
“Just wanted to clarify, are we allowed to put people’s names on the “Things that make me uncomfortable” question?” She asks, a smirk appearing on her face.
“Yes,” Aizawa sighs, wanting to go home and grade papers already. “Any other questions?”
The class is silent, and the teachers nod at each other before leaving the students to break into groups and talk. Izuku stands and follows Ejiro to his room. They notice Denki and Hitoshi following, everyone’s hands held as if it’s some kind of train. When they enter Ejiro’s room, he pulls out energy drinks and snacks, turning on his speaker and playing quiet music from their study playlist. The group spreads out with their designated study-buddies and flip through the forms.
Izuku chooses today’s comfort buddy to be Hitoshi, and they lay themself on the boys side in the pillow corner, watching Denki and Ejiro sit on his bed. Izuku opens the packet and grabs a clipboard and pencil for both themself and Hitoshi. They eye the first question.
‘#1: What is your name?’
Ah, the bane of their existence. Typically, it’s the question that stalls Izuku the most on tests and quizzes as they debate what they should write. They sigh before handing the clipboard to Hitoshi, and the boy fills out their name. ‘Izuku.’ The greenette sighs with relief before taking the clipboard back and filling out the second question.
‘#2: Who are you most comfortable with?’
Izuku smiles before filling that one out, declaring it a rather easy question. ‘Shinso Hitoshi, Todoroki Shoto, Kaminari Denki, and Kirishima Ejiro.’ They look at the next one.
‘#3: Who are you least comfortable with?’
‘Iida Tenya, Bakugou Katsuki,’
They pause before writing the last name.
‘and Midoriya Hisashi.’
They nod, discomfort rising momentarily before they set the clipboard down and pop open a Celsius. After receiving a wanting nod from Hitoshi, they also open a strawberry Monster for him, rolling their eyes as they hand it over. He then pulls out a Pocky and hands it to Izuku, and they smile as they stick it in their mouth.
Once everyone’s finished studying or working on their survey packet, they all migrate to Jirou’s room, where a karaoke session is being held. When they enter, the group is stunned by Kyoka singing Cradles by Sun Urban with Fukimage on the rock guitar. Izuku sits on a pillow, knees to his chest, and they feel their boyfriend drape his arms around their shoulders, resting his weight on their back.
Kyoka finishes the song and leaves the group in silence. The others, Katsuki, Momo, Toru, and Mina, start clapping, Izuku and his group following.
“That was amazing, Kyoka!” Izuku grins, setting their Celsius on a table. “Mind if I go next?”
Everyone nods and Izuku takes a guitar, sitting on the stool and setting up the mic. They tune the guitar before quickly running their fingers through the chord progressions. They begin to sing.
Treehouse by Alex G and Emily Yacina.
As Izuku sings, their gaze is focused on the guitar in their hands. Every chord and finger placement feels like a distant memory that’s being replayed with no mind to it. Every eye on them is like a soft raindrop, ignored until severity. Izuku is really just here to play guitar and sing — their two favourite hobbies.
When they end, everyone is cheering. Izuku is what Class 1A calls their songbird, as they’ve constantly hummed and sang in their daily life. Sometimes, people would crack jokes about when they’ll perform the next concert while doing math homework. Even Ectoplasm has caught them doing it. So, in short, their breathtaking singing is anything but a surprise.
Now, Kirishima runs over to Katsuki and whispers in his ear. Katsuki angrily whispers something back, but something about buying manga can be heard, and Katsuki stands.
“What the heck,” he glares, angrily grabbing the mic and pointing at the cello sitting in the corner. “Someone play that.” He demands, and Izuku stands, knowing they’re the only one who can play.
“Great.” Katsuki rolls his eyes before handing Izuku his phone with sheet music displayed on it. He clears his throat and motions to Izuku to start playing.
Blood Upon The Snow by Hozier and Bear McCreary
Katsuki starts singing, and breaths are stolen. His voice has a striking range from baritone to bass. His singing is surprisingly strong, and Izuku remembers their years in choir together. Choir was the only thing Katsuki didn’t dare bully them about.
Then Izuku thinks of the day Katsuki’s parents got divorced and missed their choir concert, and they wince.
When finished, Katsuki sets the mic down and sits, yelling at the next person to go and not giving anybody time to applaud.
“I’ll go next,” Mina grins, jumping up. “And Yaomomo, you can duet with me, right?”
“Oh, um, sure!” Momo stands, following her friend up to the makeshift stage. The two whisper about what to sing before plugging a phone into the speaker. Boring, but who even cares.
Gladiator by Jann
They begin to sing, and the song is so drastically different from their personalities you’d think it’s a joke. Momo absolutely crushes it with the harmonies, and Mina’s melody isn’t half bad herself. When they end, Izuku stands and whoops excitedly, bringing energy to the crowd.
“That was fun!” Mina grins, running to Jirou. “Anyone wanna go get ice cream?”
“I’ll go!” Denki smiles. “But only if I get to sing first!”
Against several peoples groaning protests, Denki runs onto the stage and pulls Hitoshi with her. She plugs her phone in and prepares the song.
“Izuku’s been giving me lessons,” she announces. “So it shouldn’t be totally bad!”
Some people are assured, yet most aren’t concerned with her singing. They’re concerned with what she’ll sing. To prevent a massacre, Izuku runs up to save the day, whispering a song suggestion in Denki’s ear. She nods excitedly and plays it.
Joy by Emhahee
Thankfully, the song is a hit, and Denki’s head voice is a lot better than last time. She still can’t hit some notes, and she’s also a little tone deaf, but the song is fun enough that everyone’s bouncing along to the beat. Hitoshi also does very well on the guitar.
Mina, Kyoka, and Denki run to get ice cream, and come back with quarts of the stuff. Izuku happily takes their strawberry quart and sits on the couch, pulling the packet back out.
‘#4: What’s your favourite part about being in the dorms?’
Izuku smiles, biting at the tip of their pencil before writing; ‘Living with friends.’
’#5: What makes you uncomfortable about life in the dorms?’
They think for a minute, biting their pencil again. They have a list somewhere in their room, but searching for the most annoying or bothersome details would take a while, so they settle on one.
’Parent/Guardian visits.’
They nod and fill out the rest of the questions. This year is going to be a good year.