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“Midoriya-kun! Where are you going? Our first class is this way!” Iida yelled as Izuku walked past the classroom.
Izuku winced. He knew this was going to be a problem, but he didn't expect to be called out like this.
“Actually, Iida-kun, I tested out of first year Japanese. I, uh, I take math during first period,” Izuku explains.
Iida tilted his head, “Ah, very well then. When can we next expect to see you?” Izuku grimaced, and muttered a response, causing Iida to frown, “I didn't quite catch that.”
“Homeroom,” Izuku repeated, a little louder.
“Homeroom… tomorrow?” Iida asked, and Izuku nodded solemnly, “Did you test out of all of your classes, Midoriya-kun?”
“Yeah,” Izuku said, slightly too quietly, “See you then, Iida-kun.”
Then the giant boy walked away.
~~~~~~
Izuku glared at the door in annoyance, then got his cane from his backpack.
Aizawa had given it to him after homeroom early that day. While the door to class 1-A now had a temporary handle that was comfortable to use at his height, the Principal was still trouble shooting handle designs. The cane was the temporary solution until then. It was collapsible, so long as Izuku was careful (which he was), and it had a hook that let it grab the current pull handles. It wasn't exactly easy or convenient, but it worked.
He nudged the door open and awkwardly shuffled into the classroom, immediately spying the desk meant for him. He felt kind of bad about it to be honest. He assumed it was a different desk than the one in his homeroom, so it can't have been convenient to make all of these for just one student. And did they have to put it away before the next class showed up? It looked pretty heavy, that couldn't have been convenient.
Izuku tried to ignore the glances of the rest of the advanced class as he walked over. He had gotten the attention of the entire classroom, with no one even remotely bothering not to stare.
He got to his desk, and it was exactly the same as his homeroom desk. Same height, same wood grain, he was pretty sure even the screws were turned to the same position. He paused, tilting his head for a moment as he took it in. It was clearly the exact same desk. Izuku wasn't that slow, and there was only ten minutes between classes. How the hell did they move it that fast?
He shook his head, feeling very sorry for whoever had gotten stuck with that job, and sat down.
“Wow, you are tall,” someone said next to him. Glancing over, Izuku saw a girl with light blue hair smiling up at him curiously from the desk next to his, “Is that your quirk? Is it a mutation type? I assume so since you wouldn't need such a big desk otherwise. How do they even get your desk to your classes? Is it a robot? Where were you last year? I don't recognize you from the sports festival, did you transfer?”
Almost immediately after she started talking, Izuku began answering. “It is. I don't know, maybe? I’m a first year, I just tested out of a lot of classes, and I was homeschooled last year.”
What followed was a mess of overlapping words that only two people with severe ADHD and/or ASD and no regard for social norms would have a chance of understanding.
“Really? How many did you test out of? What about next year? Is being super smart part of your quirk? Is that why you were homeschooled?”
“Yeah. I tested out of pretty much all my Gen Ed classes. No idea what will happen next year. I don't think it's part of my quirk, and it's not why I was homeschooled. Most schools just weren't very accommodating.”
“How are you going to make friends in your class if you tested out of all of your Gen Ed classes? How long were you homeschooled for? How did you make friends if you weren't going to school? That's where I met all of my friends. Not accommodating, how? Were they quirksist?”
“I don’t know. I didn't really go outside much until recently, and I wasn't really good at making friends even when I was in school. I’ve been homeschooled since I was eight, so almost seven years now. And I didn't make friends. I was just too big to fit in the building. They're only legally required to handle people up to three meters tall.”
“Do you need help making friends then? All of the hero courses share lunch together, I can come over and act as, like, a platonic wing man. Wing woman? Mirio does it for Amajiki when he's having trouble talking to people. Did you keep your friends from when you were-”
“Maybe? I didn't know all of the hero courses had lunch together. I’m kind of stuck sitting alone anyway, since my legs won't fit under the tables, so I’m not sure that would help. Who are Mirio and-”
“Ahem!”
Izuku and the girl both stopped, their heads snapping to the front of the room where Ectoplasm (Ectoplasm! He had been one of Musutafu’s top heroes for years!) stood, visibly glaring at the talking students.
“Midoriya-kun, Hado-Kun. Class is starting. Continue your conversation at a later time. On the topic of time, can anyone here tell me what the term “instantaneous rate of change” might refer to?”
Izuku immediately raised his hand.
“Someone who doesn't already know it off hand, please. I want you to try and guess,” Ectoplasm clarified. A brown haired boy timidly raised their hand, “Sujihou-kun, go ahead.”
The class continued normally after that, with Ectoplasm spending most of the class time introducing the subject of calculus and giving the class things to think about. Hado and Izuku went their separate ways as Izuku made his way to AP Quirk Science, while Hado returned to her classmates for third year English.
After the classroom emptied, the large desk in the back of the room stood up, pushed up a ceiling tile, and climbed into the tunnels. The other desks quickly shuffled around of their own accord, taking on their alignment for their next class.
~~~
Ochaco noticed the lack of an extra large desk the moment she walked into the Japanese classroom. She twinged with anger for a moment, but their teacher, Zunoukurou-Sensei, a retired hero with greying hair and scary orange eyes, just began the lesson once Iida sat down at his desk, two minutes before class was actually meant to start. Not once did the older man question the number of students.
Was Midoriya not in this class? Uraraka wouldn't have pegged him for being advanced in Japanese, but she had seen him writing in a notebook a few times during the QAT yesterday. Maybe he was a writer?
Iida, though… he had looked concerned. Was something going on with Midoriya?
Ochaco set herself to taking notes for now. Zunoukurou-Sensei made her uncomfortable, and not in the usual “why did you let this person teach children” way either. She thinks it might actually be part of his quirk. He avoided looking at the class when possible, but whenever those eyes crossed over her it felt like she was standing in front of a growling wolf. Even Kaminari and Ashido were paying attention, and they had both said that they wouldn't be good at this class while everyone was talking after the QAT.
Yagi-Sensei had laughed at that, like the two had just told a joke. Was this what he meant?
Later than she would like, that terrifying class was over, and they made their way to Algebra 1. Ochaco made her way over to Iida.
“Hey, Iida-kun? Can I ask you something?” She asked.
“Yes, you may,” he subtly corrected, “interstudent conversation is important for creating a healthy learning environment!”
“Yeah,” she agreed, “uh, do you know why Midoriya-kun wasn't in class with us? You seemed concerned when you walked in.”
Iida frowned, “Midoriya-kun has tested out of his Gen Ed classes, so he's taking them with a different year. He seemed adamant that we would next see him in Homeroom, tomorrow.”
Ochaco stopped walking, “Tomorrow? What?! How is he supposed to make any friends if he's never in class with us?”
“Won't we see him at lunch?” Yaoyorozu asked, and Iida and Ochaco gave her a confused look, “Lunchtimes are divided by course, not year, so wouldn't his lunch period still line up with ours? Even if he was taking only AP classes, he’d still have the same lunch period.”
“I had forgotten about that,” Iida admitted, “I shall need to review the student handbook.”
Ochaco nodded. She clearly did as well. Hopefully they were right, because their green haired classmate definitely needed some friends. It did not sound like he had many growing up.
~~~
Izuku stepped into the lunchroom with a small grimace. Right, tables. Thankfully there were no benches, but Izuku didn't need a custom desk because his non-existent weight was too much for a regular chair. His thighs were about half a meter in diameter by themselves, he did not fit at a regular table.
Well, there went the plan of sitting with his classmates.
He wasn't even sure why it mattered to him so much. He hasn't had friends for nearly half his life, he should be fine to not have them now. Why did he care?
Maybe it was because of how they had all talked after the QAT? It did seem like some friendships were starting there, but even with how nice Uraraka-kun and Iida-kun had been to talk to, Izuku hadn't thought that they were friends yet. His time in school was a bit of a blur, he was too stressed about his unending growth spurt, but he distinctly remembered making friends being harder than this. Actually, he’s pretty sure that Kacchan was the one who did most of the friend making.
Izuku froze, a wave of nostalgia hitting him. He hadn't thought about Kacchan in a while. He wondered how he was doing. Wasn't he trying to be a-
“Midoriya-kun!” A voice called, cutting him from his thoughts. Hado approached him from where the third years were eating, “It's nice to see you again! Have you found your classmates yet?”
“Hi Hado,” he greeted, “Not yet. And, I, uh, am not sure I can eat with them anyway. Tables, you know?”
Hado rolled her eyes, “Just sit at the end. There's enough space between the walkways. Do you have your lunch yet?”
“I brought my own,” Izuku told her, holding up his lunchbox.
She eyes the comically small metal box incredulously, “There is no way that's enough food for you, big guy. Do you snack a lot or something? I eat more than that, and you're, like, nine of me.”
Izuku shook his head, “It's a double sized lunchbox! I recycle nutrients, so I don't need to eat as much as you’d think,” Then her words caught up with him, “Wait, you eat more than me? Is it a quirk thing? You're so… thin!” he finished, blushing at his word choice.
“Hey, I have muscles too, you know!” Hado retorted, “But yeah, my quirk uses my stamina to work, so I need to eat a lot to power it. It got a lot stronger recently too, so I’m trying to find my new normal for that. It's actually looking like I might need to cut back a little. Weird, right?”
The analytical part of Izuku's brain whirled to life at that information, “Yeah. Most quirk evolutions like that are trauma responses or the result of directed training. It being random is strange, but not unheard of. Still, the fact that it's making your quirk take less energy to do more is an incredibly unique development. Most of the time it would be the opposite, using even more energy. Maybe it's just a late development? Some kind of stockpile of energy you’ve been building up that you only recently got access to? Or maybe your quirk is now drawing from an external source? Could that explain why it's stronger as well? If the energy from the stockpile or source was more dense than the stamina you use normally-”
“Hey, Midoriya-kun!” A voice called out.
Izuku was broken out of his train of thought, and looked up to see Uraraka waving him over.
“Uh, hi, Uraraka-kun,” Izuku greeted, “Um…”
“Just sit on the end, you big lug!” Hado scolded playfully, urging him forwards, “Is this the new class 1-A? Heyo! I’m Hado Nejire, hero name: Nejire-chan. I’m in class 3-A, and this guy's AP Calculus class.”
Hado scooted in next to Iida while Izuku sat cross-legged at the end of the table. Even sitting down, he saw right over the heads of everyone in the room. He awkwardly pulled out his lunch.
Meanwhile, Hado was quite clearly doing a head count.
“Oh! You guys still have eighteen? Impressive! Though, it is only the second day, so don't go counting your laurels yet.”
Half the class stared at her. “Is it really all that impressive?” Yaoyorozu asked, “I know he… removed… the entire class last year, but surely he doesn't do that every year?”
“Oh, he does,” Hado told them, “Snipe-Sensei said that he's never seen him keep more than half of a class past the first week. He usually fills the rest of the numbers back after the Sports Festival.”
“What does the Sports Festival have to do with anything?” Bakugou asked.
Hado laughs, which lets Izuku answer.
“Students from other courses can transfer to the hero course if they impress the faculty enough, usually through the Sports Festival. It's more common for first years, though come to think of it that might just be because Aizawa-Sensei was making so many open slots.”
“Pretty much,” Hado agrees, “So, how have your guys’ first classes been going? Pretty weird, right? Learning from pro-heroes.”
~~~
Meeting Hado was a very enlightening experience for Ochaco.
Not only was their senpai just way more experienced than them, but she clearly saw the same issue that Ochaco saw: Midoriya needed friends.
Everyone needed friends, obviously, but Midoriya especially. And Shouto, but he was less pressing of an issue since he was actually in class with everyone.
“So,” Ochaco began, giving Hado a conspiratorial look, “Does anyone have any plans for after school? It doesn't seem like we're getting much homework today, so it might be one of the only times we're not busy.”
“I was just planning on heading home,” Midoriya answers, “I don't really go out to places much. Or outside really, until recently.”
“My brother will be picking me up today, but I don't believe I have any further plans beyond that.”
The rest of their classmates on their end of the table, Bakugou, Shouto, Yaoyorozu, and Tokoyami, said the same things, other than Ashido, Kirishima, and Kaminari, who were all planning on hanging out at Kaminari’s place after school.
Hado smiled, returning Ochaco’s own mischievous glance.
“Well, if none of you are doing anything, I happen to know a beach we could all go to. I cleaned it up for training last summer, and people haven't really started going there yet so it's pretty private.”
That got everyone's attention. Even the three that actually had plans were now reconsidering.
Midoriya tilted his head.
“Dagobah, right? I heard someone was cleaning it up, but I haven't been there in… I don't even know how long. I’m not sure I can come though, I don't… swimsuits have to be custom ordered for me.”
Hado’s face fell, as did Ochaco’s. Crud. Obviously he wouldn't have a swimsuit, he already said he doesn't go outside! They were alienating the very person they were trying to include!
“Can you give me your measurements?” Yaoyorozu asked, “I wouldn't normally offer, people need to be responsible, but it sounds like you have a way of obtaining a swimsuit, so all I’d be doing is speeding things up, right?”
Midoriya blinked at her, then his eyes widened.
“Wait, the things you create. Are they real? Like, actual atoms and stuff?” Yaoyorozu nodded, “I totally thought they were constructs! That's amazing Yaoyorozu! I can't… how long did it even take you to learn that? You’d have to-”
“Learn and memorize thousands of chemical formulas and structures, as well as experiment to work out how best to produce them?” Yaoyorozu interrupted, Midoriya nodded excitedly, “It's easier if you're doing it a little at a time. Plus, I just love chemistry. Are you in AP Chem as well?”
Midoriya shook his head, “No, I’m in AP Quirk Science with the third years. I don't have any first year Gen Ed classes.”
Yaoyorozu’s eyes lit up, “So, will I be seeing you in AP Social Engineering then? Eighth period? With Nezu-Sensei?”
Midoriya’s eyes actually sparkled.
Well, Ochaco thought, that seemed to be mission accomplished. Not exactly how she thought it would go, but Midoriya definitely had at least one friend now.