It was the first day of your second year and you could already hear the excited voices of your classmates and fellow students at UA filling the building, friendly faces greeting you. It was as if winter break wasn't long enough and everyone had missed being in school - as much as they'd like to deny it. You had already arrived to your new classroom and found your assigned seat next to the window as you peered out the window to watch the students entering through the main gates.
"Hey, I'm not recognizing some of them, I wonder if they're the new first years"
"Dunno but it means that we're no longer at the bottom of the food chain anymore."
Your classmates had gathered around the windows with you, watching unfamiliar faces approaching the building you were in. While they speculated which of them were first years, you had your eyes spotted on a certain ash blonde boy with a scowl on his face. A small smile stretched on your lips - what an expression to have on the first day of school, you thought.
This was your first time seeing Bakugou with your own eyes in four years but you were able to spot him right away. It was no secret that he had aimed to become a hero one day, so when you were accepted into UA a little over a year ago, you knew this day would eventually come.
There were no tearful reunion plans, however, because you yourself weren't sure if he even knew you were a student at this school. You didn't know if he even remembered or cared for you at this point. Time would play its game and you would finally have your reunion with him. Until then, you decided to wait patiently.
Your friends, Tachibana and Sana, had entered the classroom then. They called your name cheerfully as they quickly found that their assigned seats had not changed from the year before.
Sana excitedly sat to your right, feeling the smooth surface of her new desk under her palms. "Feels kinda nice being 2-A instead of 1-A now!" She exclaimed.
"How was your summer, [Name]?" Tachibana asked as he settled into the seat in front of yours and chuckled. He already knew what you were up to, since you had spent the majority of summer training with your classmates and then with your two friends to finish your summer homework.
"It was the peak of my youth" you answered sarcastically.
It was an unwritten rule that freshmen could not eat on the upper floors of the cafeteria that overlooked the lower half of the cafeteria. You and your friends decided that it was finally time to enjoy the privilege of eating in this area of the cafeteria from now on.
After picking up a sandwich and milk carton from the lunch line, you made a beeline for the table your friends have selected, next to the railings that gave you a good view of the lower level and the large window lining one side of the cafeteria.
Here, your classmates were able to identify the unfamiliar faces and immediately began to guess which of the freshmen could be in class 1-A. You listened to the speculations while you couldn't help but silently search for a familiar face. By the third day of the semester, you had already figured out where Bakugou sat with his friends. Although, from his lack of sociability, you weren't sure if they were more classmates than friends.
You wondered if he stole glances at you like you did for him. If he did, he showed no signs of recognizing you. It was possible that he had yet to spot you in within the large student population. You were just finishing on your first week of the semester, after all. What would his first words to you in four years be? What kind of face would he make? You couldn't help but smile at the thought and leaned on the railing, the cold metal cold to your fingers as you looked down at the freshmen.
You were interrupted from your thoughts when an ear-splitting siren blared from the speakers above your head. Everyone in the cafeteria flinched at the sound, covering their ears in surprise and confusion.
Your friends had already risen from their seats, recognizing the siren as the school security system. Tachibana's eyes met yours and you nodded to each other in silent agreement that this was an unusual occurrence but you needed to remain calm.
"You think this is something serious?" You asked and picked up your blazer from your chair.
Tachibana shrugged, "It's the first time I ever heard this thing outside of drills."
At this point, the student population in the cafeteria had developed into a state of panic. Students began rising from their seats to make their way to the exit, pushing and rushing each other to go faster.
Tachibana had calmly led you and Sana down the stairs leading to the lower level of the cafeteria. Whether this alarm was the real deal or not, following protocol came first.
"We haven't got all day, hero department! Move faster or we'll all be in danger!"
A line of second years from the management department had emerged through the crowd behind you, yelling in panic as they pushed you aside to make way. You vaguely heard Sana's voice call out your name as you were separated from your friends.
"H-Hey, pushing is dangerou-" you yelped in surprise, and suddenly felt yourself losing your balance as the crowd pushed you with such large force. Out of reflex, your hands went forward as you tried to break your fall. You were surprised when a strong pair of arms caught you from falling face flat on the floor.
A pair of hands steadied you by your shoulders and you muttered a quick apology as you managed to regain your balance and looked up. Your eyes widened in surprise when you saw two familiar green eyes looking back at you in concern.
"Are you oka-... [Name]-san?"
"Izuku?!"
Although you were aware Bakugou had made it into the school, you had not expected to see his quirkless childhood friend to make it as well. You also certainly did not expect to meet Midoriya Izuku at UA before Bakugou after all those years.
Midoriya certainly seemed excited to see you, but you both knew that your conversation would have to be delayed till the chaos died down.
The crowd continued to push, and you felt a hand on your shoulder and saw it was Tachibana struggling through the crowd to reach you.
"[Name], I saw you trip just now, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" you answered quickly, glancing between Midoriya and Tachibana in the confusion.
Tachibana had reached for your hand, successfully grabbing it and leading you to a less crowded area. "Come on, we're going to take a different route since everyone's trying to go this way!" He had no idea that you had just run into someone you knew and unknowingly pulled you away from Midoriya.
Your eyes met Midoriya's one last time as you eventually lost sight of him within the bodies moving in panic. You wondered if Bakugou still treated him as poorly as he had four years ago.
Somewhere along the chaos you and your friends managed to arrive in the west corridor where the first year classes were. Word had quickly traveled as the panic dissipated and you found out the alarm had been triggered by the media trying to trespass. You wondered if this had something to do with the rumor that All Might was coming to UA as a new faculty member.
"Jeez, that was a stressful experience" you complained as the intercom instructed all students to return to their classes. Fifth-period lessons had been canceled and students were to self-study in their own classrooms.
"I still can't get used to being a second year - I kind of miss being a freshman," Tachibana spoke nostalgically as if he was a wide-eyed freshman again.
Sana shook her head in disagreement. "We suffered from all those harsh training sessions last year with Midnight sensei, there's no way in hell I ever wanna be a freshman again"
"Freshman year wasn't that bad, come on" you laughed at your friends and their different sentiments.
"Easy for you to say, you ranked in the top three for the sports festival and landed an internship with the Wild, Wild Pussycats!" Sana pouted and hugged your arm, latching herself onto you to express her envy.
"Oh come on, your performance was great last year, too!" You laughed and led your friends as you neared the 2-A classroom but coming to a stop when you saw Midoriya waiting at the door.
When his eyes met with yours, you saw him visibly brighten as he approached you eagerly. Tachibana seemed to have recognized the green haired boy from the earlier incident and looked at you questioningly. You told your friends that you would join them in the classroom soon and dismissed yourself to speak with Midoriya in the hallway. The two of you stepped away from the door to stand closer to the windows.
"Hey now, you can't be skipping class already even if it's just self-study! I'm only going to turn a blind eye as your senpai since I owe you one for earlier" you said in a teasing tone.
Midoriya scratched the back of his neck shyly as he laughed nervously at your comment. Perhaps he had already been concerned about that. "I couldn't help it because I hadn't seen you in so long, [Name]-senpai!"
"It's nice to see you again, too, Izuku" you smiled gently.
"I was aware you were a student at UA because I saw you on TV for the sports festival last year but it still feels unreal to see you again after four years!"
You saw the way Midoriya clenched his fists excitedly when mentioning the sports festival and couldn't help but chuckle at it. "I'm glad to see you haven't changed all that much," you said. Remembering that Midoriya was quirkless, you were about to ask how he had made it into UA and which department he belonged to when you saw his expression change at the statement you had just made.
"Have you spoken to Kacchan yet?" He asked suddenly.
"I have not" you answered.
The shift in the mood could be felt immediately. Midoriya opened his mouth to say something but found himself hesitating. Maybe he thought it wasn't the right time or thing to share quite yet.
Midoriya smiled apologetically and shifted from foot to foot. "Sorry to bring that up out of nowhere. I guess the semester just started so it makes sense..!"
"No worries," you said and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I appreciate you stopping by to say hi anyways!"
With that, you mentioned that the two of you should probably head to self-study before a teacher caught you lingering in the hallway. You quickly said your goodbyes and watched him head to the first year corridor before entering into your own classroom.
Throughout your self study session, you couldn't help but frown when remembering Midoriya's concerned expression at the mention of Bakugou. You had only known the freckled boy in the past as a mutual friend through Bakugou but the boy was still as sweet and considerate of others as you remembered him to be.
But why did he look like he wanted to save someone?