Hello everyone! My name is funbiee and it's good to meet you. This is my first published fic, so leave a note and let me know how I can improve or if you like the story.
SPOILER ALERT!
This fic starts *after* the summer camp arc and talks about Bakugo's kidnapping, All for One, and the villains' attack on the camp. Nothing after manga chapter 90 is mentioned. Thank you.
It was pretty late in the morning when Midoriya finally awoke from slumber. He was confused at first, but then he turned over and found that his alarm clock had been unplugged. Normally, this would be pretty unusual, but the suppressed sobs coming from downstairs told him another story. This had been the last night that he would spend at home for a few months, and his mother wasn't handling it well. Usually, if he was running late in the morning she would wake him and send him to school, but after the incident during summer break she absolutely hated watching him go out the door every morning.
Midoriya rolled out of bed, glancing at the scars that now peppered his arms. He knew his mom had seen them when he'd been in the hospital, but he took extra care to wear long sleeves around her now. He knew the sight of them pained her, but he couldn't do much about it either. He had a duty to All Might, and to UA, and to his fellow students… he just wished his poor mom's mental health didn't have to be an unfortunate side effect of his newfound power.
He shrugged on his school uniform and glanced over at his packed bag. After the villains' attack on summer camp and Kacchan's kidnapping, the school had decided that the best way to keep students safe would be to have them live on campus in dormitories. Deep down, Midoriya was relieved. If he truly was one of Shigaraki's targets, hopefully if he were to attack, it would be at his dorm now, rather than at home, and his mother would be safe. In addition to the dormitory arrangement, UA had made an agreement with police departments around the country to have occasional patrols check up on the parents of UA students.
His packed bag was pretty light. He had decided only to take some clothes, personal care necessities, a few books, and some light exercise equipment. He felt that if he left most of his personal effects behind that it would relax his mother. His stuff would be a personal reminder that he'd be back again after school let out.
He grabbed his bag and made his way downstairs. He heard his mother's sobs stop as she quickly set a place for him at the table. "Good morning," he greeted her shyly as he stepped into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Izuku," she responded, eyes rimmed with red.
Midoriya smiled weakly and looked down at the breakfast his mother made him. He had to struggle to hold in a laugh as he glanced at the plate – he hadn't seen this much food since he was training with All Might to inherit his quirk! He had relaxed a small amount on his training since then and his mom had started to cook him regular-sized portions, but not today.
"I thought you could use a good meal for your last one here," she sobbed, pulling him into her arms. "Please, Izuku," she held him tightly, "do you have to go back there? Can't you go to a normal high school?"
Midoriya bit back tears. How could he do this to her? "Mom, I have to go back," he struggled, "All Might is depending on me. Everyone is depending on me." He silently wished he could tell her more. He wished he could tell her everything.
"I know," she cried, letting him go. "That's my hero, Izuku." She pulled out a chair and gestured for him to sit down and eat. Once he did she left to the kitchen to go cry some more.
She came back ten minutes later, eyes still very red and tired. "Izuku, it's getting late. You should probably get going," she suggested, holding back more tears.
"I know," he replied, getting up from his chair and grabbing his bag. However, before he could get to the door his mom ran over and scooped him up into her arms.
"You come back now, Izuku. I want to see you every weekend and break, you hear?" She hugged him tight and he patted her back. "I can't keep crying and passing out like this."
"I will, mom," Midoriya responded, holding her tight. "I promise."
After he finally left home, the way to school was pretty uneventful. The strangers on the train had stopped pestering him so much since the attack on the summer camp, and he wasn't sure if it was out of respect or fear. The stares persisted, however, but those had become so common it was difficult to really be bothered by them. Many people had started to doubt UA, and heroes in general. Unfortunately, it was a time ripe for villainy to thrive.
He was only within about two blocks of the school when someone grabbed his arm. He instinctively pulled away and raised an arm in defense, still hypervigilant from the attacks. When he turned he saw a small woman, clearly frightened by his response.
"Sorry, it's just I saw the uniform and I thought…" the woman paused, holding something out to him. It was a small brown notebook, with the letters "UA" neatly inscribed on the corner. Her face seemed worried, taken back by his aggressive response. "I thought it might be yours." She pushed the notebook into his hands and quickly walked away.
It took Midoriya a minute for it all to register inside his head. After the day at the mall, and then the attack at summer camp, he hadn't truly been able to relax. The air felt charged somehow, like an attack was imminent or that All for One could show his nasty face at any moment. He exhaled and glanced down at the notebook in his hands.
It was relatively unassuming, but it definitely wasn't his. In fact, he hadn't ever seen one like it before. He turned it over in his hands multiple times looking for some sort of clue as to who the owner could be, but there was nothing other than the small "UA" carved into the corner. He shrugged, and figured that the only way to return it to the owner would be to find out who the owner was by examining its contents.
April 1
I'll be starting school soon for the first time at UA. I'm afraid making friends will be tough, since I don't know how to interact with others. Maybe it's for the best. Friends will cloud my goals and slow me down.
In the mean time, he's gone on another business trip. I suppose that's good.
Midoriya quickly shut the cover and put the book in his bag. It wasn't just someone's school notes – it was a personal diary. And worse, if he returned it to the right person they would know he had read it. Still, he couldn't help but wonder who the book belonged to. He didn't recognize the handwriting, but it wasn't like he had an extensive list of people's handwriting memorized either, so that wouldn't be much help.
The person sounded sad in the entry. The handwriting looked dejected somehow, but Midoriya didn't quite understand how he knew that. The author was brusque, cold, and alone – someone who definitely wouldn't want their private thoughts read. Midoriya decided it would probably be best to dispose of the journal so that no one else could read it, or maybe leave it anonymously at the school's lost and found.
Midoriya made his way towards the front of the building, where a neat and orderly line had formed at the direction of Iida. Midoriya smiled – that was his class representative, being very typical Iida.
"Deku-kun!" He heard a cute voice call to him from the line, "I saved a spot for you!"
Midoriya glanced up to see Uraraka waving to him. He then looked at Iida to see if it was okay for him to cut in line and Iida nodded slightly. "Hello Ochaco," Midoriya smiled, "How are you?"
"I'm doing great," she smiled at him in her typical warm smile, "did you know the school is covering our living costs? It will be such a relief for my family."
Midoriya smiled, feeling the weight of his own ignorance setting in. Of course this would be good for Uraraka, how could he be so short sighted? He knew her family didn't live in the area, which must have meant that she had some sort of living arrangements here that they probably had to pay for. "Yeah, it's pretty great," he replied, "do you know how any of it is going to be set up?"
"Well I heard Cementoss was able to construct a basic building pretty quickly, but the floorplans are all pretty uniform and like military barracks." She smiled, motioning to some large buildings that were new on campus. "As a result, I've heard that there are actually some space difficulties."
"Space difficulties?" Midoriya asked as they approached a counter with a friendly looking member of UA's faculty.
"Yes, unfortunately," the faculty member interjected, "on the floor where we have Class 1A's dorm rooms, there's such a discrepancy in the male to female ratio there aren't quite enough rooms for the male students. Izuku Midoriya, right?" She looked up at him over her stack of papers.
"Y-yeah, that's me," Midoriya replied nervously.
"Here's your new campus I.D.," she handed him a small plastic card with an unfortunate photo of him and a microchip embedded in it. "Don't lose it – it's your access to all buildings, and your room on campus. This," she handed him a red folder with a handful of papers stuffed inside, "is your room assignment and school information packet. Unfortunately, we drew lots and your name was chosen to have a roommate."
"Roommate?" When the staff pitched the idea for a boarding school, everyone was told that they would receive individual rooms of their own on a floor with only their classmates. Girls on one side and boys on the other.
"Yes, unfortunately until we can remodel the floor and convert four of the girls' rooms into additional male dormitories, we have a sharing situation. It will be resolved as soon as possible." The teacher reassured, and then handed Uraraka her I.D. as well as a folder.
"Well I'm sorry to hear that," Uraraka consoled, "but hopefully the dorms on the girls' side will be renovated soon enough!" She cheered, walking with him towards their new living arrangements.
They had nearly made it to their dormitory building when they heard a loud explosion come from the crowd. Midoriya immediately felt One for All creep up his spine as he prepared to launch himself into action, when he felt a cold hand touch his arm.
"Me too," he turned to see Todoroki next to him, looking at him with understanding eyes. "But I think it's just Bakugo."
Midoriya relaxed when he heard angry shouts from the crowd. "Just Kacchan," he exhaled, feeling One for All leave his body and his muscles relax. "Wonder what made him so mad? It's our first day back."
"I heard he drew lots for a roommate," Todoroki responded and Midoriya felt the color leave his face.
"I did too. Do you think-" Midoriya was interrupted as Todoroki raised a hand.
"Me too, and I think eight of us total did. I think your chances of rooming with Bakugo are pretty slim. I wouldn't worry. That would be an unmistakable oversight by the administration."
Midoriya relaxed. Todoroki was probably right, the administration wouldn't do something as foolish as to make Kacchan share a room with him. At least they wouldn't if they wanted the building still left standing. Midoriya turned back to Uraraka and the two entered the building to check out their new homes.
"They put us on the twenty-second floor?" Midoriya asked as Uraraka and he ascended yet another flight of stairs.
"Yeah, that's what the folder says. It is the top floor though, so in a way it's cool because we get the penthouse!"
Midoriya laughed. Uraraka always had a cheerful way of spinning things for the best. They had both opted for the stairs over the elevator as it was moving day, and unfortunately the elevator had become pretty busy with all the students bringing their things. Both Uraraka and Midoriya had packed light, so it didn't really feel like the elevator would have been much use to them anyway.
"It's pretty funny," Midoriya commented as they rounded the final flight of stairs, "this is the first time that we've hung out since the mall, huh?" It was only for a moment, but Uraraka seemed to stop dead in her tracks, not saying anything. When he turned to look at her she quickly hid her face and went up the final flight stairs. I hope I didn't say anything wrong, Midoriya wondered.
"Hey Deku-kun," Uraraka called from the top of the stairs, "look at this!"
Midoriya quickly climbed up the rest of the stairs and stared in awe at the dormitory. The door opened up to a large common room with a seating area, games, a television, and a small kitchenette. Each side of the common area led into a door with a small sign marked Dormitory above it. The area was definitely cozy for twenty people, but UA had really gone all out into making the area comfortable for the students.
Currently, Kaminari, Kirishima, Ashido, and Sero were on one of the couches, playing a video game, and Sato and Yaoyorozu were in the kitchen preparing some kind of snack.
"Welcome to Chez Class 1-A!" Aoyama called from a corner of the room, sitting on a lounge. "Isn't it magnifique?"
"Yeah, this is actually really impressive," Midoriya remarked, looking around the room. "Are you all moved in already?"
"Yeah, Sero and I are roommates for the time being, so we got here together," Kaminari called from the couch.
"Yeah, and I'm with Tokoyami. He's still unpacking," Shoji added.
Midoriya swallowed, if Sero and Kaminari were roommates and Tokoyami and Shoji were roommates, that meant that there were only three other people he could be matched up with, and one of them was Kacchan. Right now, he had a third of a chance of being roommates with someone who couldn't stand to be near him.
"Hey Deku, are you by chance in room 22-08?" Kirishima called from the couch. "My room is set up for a roommate, but they haven't showed yet."
Midoriya quickly opened up his folder and rummaged through the papers. "No, it says my room is 22-10," Midoriya let out an exasperated sigh. His roommate was either Kacchan or Todoroki. Todoroki and his relationship had blossomed over the last few months, but Endeavor's intense desire to beat All Might and his own resemblance to All Might often put a subtle damper on their relationship.
"I'm going to go unpack," Uraraka chirped, walking towards the right side of the common room. She scanned her I.D. on the door panel and it opened, revealing a hall lined with doors, identical to the one on the left.
Midoriya began to walk to the door on the left when he heard an explosive voice from behind him. "Don't tell me that I have to room with the damned nerd!" Bakugo yelled out from behind him. "If I do, I'll kill you! Don't think anything has changed between us."
"Uh," Midoriya stumbled, quickly searching through his paperwork.
"What room are you in, Deku?" Bakugo barked, stomping towards him. "You better not say 22-08, or I'll kill you."
"You're with me Bakugo," Kirishima called from the common room. "And you're going to have a hell of a time blowing me up with my hardening."
Bakugo scoffed and pushed past Midoriya through the dormitory doors, making sure to hit him extra hard with his shoulder on the way through. "Thanks," Midoriya called to Kirishima, making his way to his new room.
When he got there he was surprised to find that Todoroki had already finished unpacking and was quietly sitting on his bed, reading a textbook.
"Hey," Todoroki called to him. "I took the bed over by the window, I hope you don't mind. I like the cold while I sleep."
Midoriya sighed with relief. A surprisingly normal roommate thing. Midoriya never thought that normal roommate things would give him cause for such relief. "Y-yeah, it's no problem. But what's this?" He asked, motioning to an incredibly large package on his bed.
"No idea, it was left for you not long after I got here." Todoroki replied, going back to his studying.
Midoriya sighed and set down his bag, glancing at the box. In a minute he knew it was from his mom as it was her handwriting on the address label. He quickly ripped open the box and opened the letter on top.
Izuku,
Sorry to be bothering you so soon after you left, but I went up to your room and saw that you left these things. I thought that they would make your new dorm feel more like home.
I love you,
Mom.
Midoriya looked down and let out a small shriek when he saw the All Might merch flowing out of the box. He quickly covered his mouth and tried to push the stuff back inside, but he had already attracted Todoroki's attention.
"What is it? Are you okay?" Todoroki asked, peering up at him over his textbook.
"Y-yeah, it's nothing, my mom j-just…" Midoriya tried to explain, pushing the items deeper into the box, but it was too late. Todoroki had already seen.
"I knew you were a fan of All Might, but I didn't know you liked him that much," Todoroki commented as the box burst open, covering Midoriya's bed with All Might merch.
"Yeah, I-I guess it's just stuff I-I've collected since I was a k-kid," Midoriya nervously laughed, pushing the action figures around the bed, hoping to distract himself from how embarrassed he was feeling.
"I never got to have those sorts of things. Action figures and stuff… it's pretty cool that you still have that stuff from when you were a kid." Todoroki commented, closing up his books and walking over to Midoriya's bed.
"Y-you never had an action figure?" Midoriya asked, shocked. He picked up an All Might figure and handed it to Todoroki.
"No, my dad, uh, he thought it would distract me from becoming the best." Todoroki smiled awkwardly, handing the figure back to Midoriya. "I wouldn't feel embarrassed about it. Especially since your mom took the time to make sure it got to you."
"Yeah, you're right. It's really nice of her." Midoriya conceded, placing the figures on his desk. She also sent an All Might comforter that he placed tenderly on his bed. Additionally, his volumes of Hero Research for the Future were included, which he placed next to the figures on his desk. Thanks, mom, he thought to himself, reminding himself to thank her when he saw her next.
"Hey," Midoriya called to Todoroki, who had resumed studying, "what's this?" He pointed to the other door in their room.
"Oh, it's called a powder room. I guess," Todoroki walked over, opening the door to reveal a small bathroom with only a toilet, sink, and mirror. "I think it's so we don't have to walk to the large bathroom at the end of the hall in the middle of the night."
"Oh, cool," Midoriya smiled. "UA is pretty fancy, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Todoroki replied. "I think I'm going to go to the common room and see how everyone's settled. You coming?" Todoroki asked, walking over to the door.
"Uh, yeah, but I'll come in a minute." Midoriya responded. Todoroki nodded and left, closing the door behind him.
Midoriya sat on his bed and pulled his packed bag into his lap, glancing back at the door to make sure Todoroki had gone. It's so crazy, living with all my classmates, Midoriya thought, pulling the notebook from this morning out of his bag. I should probably go return this. But, for some reason, instead of returning it Midoriya opened up the notebook again.
April 8
School is coming along okay. I still haven't made any friends, but it's probably for the best. Many of the students seem to recognize each other from the entrance exam.
The campus is very pretty and the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Maybe mom can visit someday.
Midoriya closed the book again, feeling guilty for having read it again. It was such an invasion of privacy, but, for some reason he couldn't help himself. The author seemed so sad and alone. Midoriya wished he could help somehow. For now, he thought, maybe he would wait and hold onto the notebook a little while longer. He quietly hid the journal under his mattress and left to meet everyone in the common room.
Thanks for reading - let me know how you like it.