Chapter twenty-five - Tried? Of that, they did.
Izuku was walking down the lonely hallways of U.A High School and wasn't at all surprised to see how sophisticated and magnificent his surroundings looked. The old him would have been awestruck at what he was seeing and would immediately run around the school eagerly in an uncoordinated way. But the Izuku of the present wasn't at all excited to be at U.A. He loathed the school and loathed the heroes and loathed everything, including himself. Izuku was only there for jail time and mainly because he was forced to. It would be bothersome to resist and fret. He knew every corner of the school because when he was with the League, before going to the U.S.J, he memorised blueprints and measurements of every single square meter of every building and knew all the security cameras and blind spots of the school. He now knew it like the back of his hand, but that didn't mean he trusted the school or anyone in it.
Izuku was walking for a few minutes until he saw a tall, lean man with mop-like black hair hanging on his shoulders. He wore all black and had his mouth partly covered up by a white scarf and had an expressionless face. He stood right in front of a large grey door with '1-A' imprinted on it.
"Aizawa Shota, Pro Hero Eraser Head. Wonder what he wants… Oh wait, Detective did say a teacher would supervise me." thought Izuku. They both stood in silence before Aizawa broke the silence.
"Faceless… you really came, huh. Anyway, I assume you already know who I am and you have already been told how I will be supervising you." explained Aizawa blandly. Izuku stayed motionless. "We are fellow teachers, so call me Aizawa and I will call you Midoriya."
"Hm." emitted Izuku quietly. He didn't care who was supervising whom or what he was called. Aizawa placed his hand on the cold metal handle of the door and glared at Izuku.
"Just know, I still do not trust you, Midoriya."
"Ooh. Shocker." thought Izuku. In Izuku's mind, Aizawa not trusting him was to be expected. They weren't friends. They were teachers now and had a professional relationship so there was no reason to get all warm and fuzzy with one another. Izuku was still an SS/SSS rated villain. He could be thrown into Tartarus at any given time.
As Aizawa was opening the door, the muffled chatter was beginning to define and quieten at the same time. All heads in the classroom had turned towards Izuku and everyone's eyes looked as though they'd explode of curiosity.
"Pretty!" shouted Mina, smiling towards Izuku. Tsuyu nodded but Uraraka looked a little confused. She felt like she was supposed to know who this mysterious person was. Izuku brought a strange aura about him and just glared at everyone there. This made everyone flinch in surprise to see such a pretty face make create such a scary atmosphere. Bakugou's eyes flared in utter rage. Kirishima looked at Bakugou in confusion. There were mutters around the classroom and Izuku and Aizawa walked up to their class podium and Aizawa spoke first.
"Okay, everyone, you haven't been informed of this yet, but this is a new teacher that has been specially chosen to instruct here for combat purposes." Aizawa outstruched his arms to point at Izuku, who had an expressionless face.
"Huh? A teacher? That guy- or girl or whatever looks like they'd be a studnet here. Mr. Aizawa, there must be a mistake or somethin'." commented Shoji. He looked at Izuku and wondered what in the world he was always thinking with such a plain expression. Why was he a teacher? Why is this happening all of a sudden?
"Shoji, I assure you that there is no issue or mistake, this is definitely a teacher. Though I have something important to tell you about him. First of all his name is Midoriya Izuku, you'll call him Mr. Midoriya. Secondly, he's a villain. The villain Faceless."
Izuku tilted his head and smirked in an unnerving way.
"Pleased to meet you, heroes."
Iida stood up and slammed his hands on his desk and hung his mouth open like a broken oven. He discarded his glasses from his face and tried to speak, though nothing came out of his mouth.
The class fell silent. Mineta dropped his pencil on the floor in surprise. People in the class exchanged looks for a few seconds to let what they'd just heard sink in.
"I beg your pardon?" queried Yaoyorozu. "Perhaps I heard you wrong, Mr. Aizawa..perhaps I'm losing my mind."
"Don't fret, we're all losing our minds one way or another." thought Izuku. He found it quite entertaining to see people's reactions once they realised he was a dangerous villain. A villain who killed and stole and did other detestable things. Nobody knew the heart of a villain, though. They only acknowledged the surface.
"F-Faceless… It's you…" said Iida, sitting down again but clutched his chest. Uraraka and basically the rest of the class shook their heads and had absolutely petrified looks of shock or worry.
"This guy defeated Bakugou! What the fuck is this…" thought Sero.
"Mr. Aizawa.!" cried Mineta. "We can't let a villain into our school! What if he kills us or something?" Izuku scoffed. What use would there be to kill or kidnap useless humans? Weak, greedy and petty. That's what makes a human. It's disgusting and pitiable but we all have it.
"Maybe I didn't tell you already, but I will supervising Midoriya at all times and will have him watched by other heroes and teachers as well. Not to mention, there are cameras outside and inside the building." said Aizawa blandly.
"I'm getting bored of all this idle chatter.." thought Izuku.
There were great masses of mutter spread throughout the entire classroom and everyone looked uneasy and very scared. They were scared even when they knew barely anything about him. Though, they'd have a good reason to be once they found out about the League.
"I've had enough of this bullshit..YOU DEKU BASTARD!" screeched Bakugou. He had been sitting down quietly the whole time that Izuku was there, for he couldn't believe his eyes. Bakugou sprinted at Izuku at full speed, his hands full of explosions. Izuku swiftly grabbed Bakugou by the shoulders and kneed him in the stomach, causing him to throw up a little. Izuku's murderous aura increased rapidly and he simply held Bakugou with only his palm. He devilishly looked at BAkugou as if he was a dirty, stinking nappy.
Todoroki furrowed his eyebrows in interest and awe at this new villain teacher.
"So they speak of you so extravagantly for a reason, Faceless." thought Todoroki. When everyone was constantly talking about Izuku, he wasn't expecting much, nor was he interested much. They spoke of Faceless like he was a Demon from a story of greek mythology, an infamous legend. Todoroki didn't listen to most of the crap his class spewed because he wasn't expecting much, but then he saw Izuku. He now understood why everyone was so interested. It made sense now. You gotta see it to believe it, goes the saying.
Bakugou stomped back in anger and burned a gaze at the furious but nonchalant looking Izuku. Bakugou wiped his mouth and tried to throw a right swing, which worked to know avail due to Aizawa's quirk.
"Don't attack your teacher, Bakugou." said Aizawa holding Bakugou in his binding. He looked at Bakugou sourly. He and the rest of the staff, knew about Bakugou and Izuku's childhood history. They were disgusted, embarrassed and disappointed that their own student would perform such criminal acts. Aizawa knew that keeping them apart would be the best course of action but Nezu thought that'd be counterproductive, as that be widen the gap between them even more.
"Deku, you bastard… why the fuck are you in this school? Trying to ruin my life even when you're a damned villain. Are you nuts?" spat Bakugou, who was now released from the bindings.
"Perhaps I am nuts." said Izuku, moving his finger next to his head in a circling motion. Kirishima was just as confused as everyone else.
"They speak as though they know each other..I need to know more…" thought Kirishima, full of curiosity. It was quite unbelievable to think Bakugou had history with a dangerous villain.
"Anyway, enough of that." said Aizawa finally. "Put on your hero costumes and head over to Gym Gamma. It's super move training. Midoriya will be teaching you today, myself and other teacher will be there too." and with that, everyone got up to go to their changing rooms. Iida looked longingly at Izuku, as if he wanted something from him...something like answers. He glanced at Izuku before going to change too. Izuku just stood at the doorway and looked to the ground.
"Oi, Midoriya." Aizawa threw Izuku's villain outfit to him. "You'll be in your costume too. Change here and let's go to the gym." Izuku then changed quickly and shameless into his outfit. Aizawa saw the scars on Izuku's body and almost threw up. Not because they looked disgusting, but because of Izuku's age and what he'd gone threw. It was unsightly. Aizawa thought to ask Nezu or the detective about it later. Everything was kept the same about Izuku's outfit, except for the fact that his sword had been confiscated for obvious reasons. That still annoyed Izuku. His mask wasn't there as well.
"Two things of mine have been taken. You heroes have got some sticky fingers." mumbled Izuku. Aizawa scoffed and waited at the door frame for Izuku to follow him. When Izuku was done putting on his costume, he got a flood emotion drenched into his person. The memories of the League and the missions and Hades and whatnot placed themselves into his mind vividly. Izuku softly put his hand to his head in agony.
He saw Aizawa about to approach him, out of the corner of his eyes but stopped him before he could get help.
"I'm fine." firmly said Izuku. Aizawa eyed him then shrugged. It wasn't like Izuku was any of his business, so there's no need to help.
"He's still a kid, though." thought Aizawa.
Soon they walked. The trip to the gym was brisk and quiet, nobody said a thing and it was probably better that way as well. Talking would form unnecessary bonds that would be severed later on.
After minutes of only hearing the sound of their echoing footsteps for a few minutes, they reached the gym and only the teachers were present at first.
Midnight looked at Izuku in a peculiar manner. She admired him standing still in his black yukata, geta and tabi in awe. He looked at nobody and nothing, while they were all staring at him in distrust and wariness. They saw some light in the boy, yes, but that didn't equate to them liking him. He has murdered people before, murder is murder at the end of the day.
All Might was next.
He held his hands in nervousness. He had heard more than anyone else of Izuku's past and his suicide attempt, so facing the boy was all but awkward and unnerving. He wanted to apologise to Izuku for all he had done in the past. For crushing his hope, for dimming the light within him, for tipping the scales.
For not being a hero to Izuku when he needed it most.
"Midoriya..I'm-"
Izuku stared at the ground, not saying anything in reply to All Might. He looked like a depressed little statue on the verge of breaking down.
This startled Ectoplasm. He knew of what All MIght had done, but did he know how damaged that had made Izuku? He did not. Nobody would know and nobody would understand in such richness. Aizawa waved his hand in All MIght's face as if to say 'no, not now. Wait a little.'
Cementoss found it to be quite the strange ordeal and exchange of emotions. This strange boy, filled with nothing but air and the despair, was forced to teach and help the very people who made his life a living hell. Not even Cementoss himself would want to go through that. Bad luck.
Before any further words or gestures were exchanged, students from 1-A came flooding into the gym in their colorful clothing and bright smiles of excitement. They chatted to each other in joy and youth, like they hadn't a care in the world.
"Lucky bastards." thought Izuku, sarcastically.
They soon quietened down a little when they remembered a villain would be teaching them that day. Bakugou looked like he would blow the building up any second then.
"He's got the same villain costume from the U.S.J…." commented Kaminari to Kirishima, who was more concerned for why on earth U.A chose that specific villain to train them. Surely, there were others of greater ability. Kirishima was underestimating Izuku, and Izuku noticed this.
"Now, class, as you know you will be doing your supermoves today and I'll be teaching you. Your super moves should consist of your quirk's best ability being utilized and the most incredible concentration and falshiness should be produced in order to make it very powerful to use on the enemy." explained Izuku dully. Bakugou looked like he wasn't so angry. Combat was his forte, after all. He was also underestimating Izuku.
"Deku, you quirkless bastard! Hurry up and let me throw some fists!" shouted Bakugou, with a snarl. Izuku looked like he was about to boil over any second.
Everyone but the teachers looked around in confusion.
"What do you mean, quirkless? That was uncalled for Bakugou." said Tokoyami. Many agreed.
"No, no. Bakugou is correct. I am quirkless." said Izuku. All Might gulped.
That turned everyone's doubtful looks upside down. They now all had more confident looks on their faces. They looked doubtful at Izuku and wondered how much damage he could possibly create without a quirk. Izuku being a villain was half forgotten as they now knew he was quirkless. Iida and Todoroki were even more interested in Izuku, how could a quirkless person beat Bakugou. Was Bakugou now weak? Or was Izuku strong? Everyone had their own thoughts on the situation but one thing was certain.
They were all underestimating him.
This made Izuku quite happy, as he was quite the sadist.
He grinned a terrifying grin that spread across his entire face.
"Ah, that's right. Keep looking down on me, all of you. Do it, it'll make me crushing you all the more better." thought Izuku in a sinister way. Only the teachers were worried for the students.
Cementoss quietly made the sign of the cross to himself and Aizawa tapped Izuku's shoulder.
"Hold back a little, Midoriya. They aren't as strong as you."
"But of course, Aizawa."
"Bakugou, you seem quite excited." called out MIdoriya, Bakugou flinched at his name being called and not 'Kacchan'. "You seem pretty revved up, come at me and I'll make an example out of you."
"You're looking down on me, Deku!" roared Bakugou in a ferocious fashion. Nobody had seen him so fuming, some people were just amazed to see how Izuku was so confident with no quirk.
Bakugou approached Izuku abruptly with a classical right swing.
"Typical." said Izuku in a whisper. He easily dodged it and grabbed Bakugou's wrist and threw him to the ground.
"Get up, Bakugou." tormented izuku. He had an evil snarl on his face all the while the fight was going on. All Might wanted to stop the fight as it was starting to frighten his students. Midnight stopped All Might from doing so. It was just so interesting to see a top student getting..owned in such a way?
Bakugou got up quickly and tried to kick Izuku with his heavy boots, but he dodged and kneed Bakugou in the groins before punching him heavily. Izuku's eyes were gleaming in excitement and terror as he proceeded to kick and punch Bakugou on the floor. Bakugou got a few bruises and a bloodied broken nose before getting up again and landing a solid hit onto Izuku.
"Good. This is good." thought Izuku. He hated Bakugou with all his heart and dirtied soul but by golly did the guy throw decent punches!
They fought and exchanged blows with each other in strength and fury. The classmates stared at the two boys fighting and decided it would be a good idea not to underestimate Izuku.
"He's strong. Indeed, very strong." said Todoroki in one breath. He couldn't deny that at first he was going to underestimate Izuku, like the rest of his class but he now knew it was better if he didn't. Though, he still thought himself as stronger.
Many 'woah' and 'oh my god''s were heard throughout the whole class and soon the fight ended with Izuku as the victor and Bakugou laying face first on the floor. Bakugou swore and cursed and threatened all he could at Izuku before eventually getting up in reluctance.
"What the fuck is up with that bastard's power? No way is he quirkless. The little shit probably had a quirk the whole damned time and hid it from me. Sneaky piece of shit, he is." thought Bakugou, wiping the blood from his face. He got looks of astonishment from everywhere he looked, but he gave a dirty look back in return.
Izuku regained his composure and emotionless face. He'd had a little too much fun.
"So, I'm sure you all saw that Bakugou didn't use any form of technique or concentrated power, though his punches are not to be lowly thought of. Cementoss will create cement walls for you to practice on. Hurry up and find one to use." said Izuku in a bored tone. He sat on a seat and rested his hands on his cheek and watched the students use their quirks on the cement.
"You know, I told you to hold back. Not scare the students out of their skins." said Aizawa, still looking forward.
"That's what they get for underestimating me like that. You better hope they don't underestimate their enemy on the battlefield, Aizawa, because that's how the world works; it's a terrifying place to be alive in." replied Izuku in a bland and uninterested tone.
"What a scary thing to say at such a young age. Ticks me off." thought Aizawa, crossing his arms. He had already heard that Izuku had been through alot of bull crap in his life, a lot of fights and a lot of things children would expect to hear in a terror-stricken tale..but hearing him say stuff like that so casually wasn't healthy at all. Aizawa really, really did not like it.
The whole class was avoiding Izuku because they were scared of him. The were wondering about him. They just didn't know how to feel about this new villain teacher when he just appeared out of the blue like that. Unexpectedly, Kaminari walked up to Midoriya.
"U-Uhm, Mr. Midoriya..I need help with my, you know, super moves." said Kaminari shyly, it was very out of character for him and surprised some classmates. He tightly closed his eyes and screwed up his face, as if he was expecting to get hit.
"Sure." was all that Izuku said and with his hands in his pockets he walked up to Kaminari's cement wall.
"I'm no psychic but- actually I kinda am but I have this feeling Kaminari's going to ask about the amount of electricity he can output at once.." thought Izuku. And quite right he was to think so.
"Well.. the issue is about how I can't output a certain amount of electricity at will. It's either all of it at once or nothing at all.." said Kaminari losing all his nervousness. He was now ranting about how troublesome his quirk was being. "..and if I use it too much, my brain's circuit-"
"Shorts out." said Izuku, finishing Kaminari's sentence.
"Huh? Y-Yeah. So, I don't really know what to do about it..!" chuckled Kaminari rubbing the back of his head. Izuku thought for a few seconds then spoke again.
"Well..Kaminari, I would suggest having a support device from the Support Department that would allow you to release a certain amount of volts at a time. Like a sharpshooter, for example." said Izuku.
"That's actually not a bad idea! Actually that's a great idea!" exclaimed Kaminari, he then patted Izuku on the back, completely forgetting that Izuku was a teacher. "Thanks, bro!"
Izuku froze in his place, for he hadn't been appreciated to such a degree, with the exception of the League and his parents. He hadn't been touched at all within that time frame either, so he became easily overwhelmed by the small things like that. Izuku slightly staggered, catching the eye of Aizawa. Kaminari quickly withdrew his hands form Midoriya, realising what he had just done. He felt as though he had done something bad, seeing the state that Izuku was in.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do whatever it was I just did." said Kaminari frantically.
"It's okay, just keep practising." said Aizawa attending to Izuku. Izuku held his head in his hands in discomfort and slapped Aizawa's hand away. Then he walked away to a secluded corner.
Aizawa was dumbfounded when Izuku had done that. Nobody had done that to him - well it's to be expected. Izuku was still new to the whole 'the heroes are the saviours' get-up.
"What the actual hell is happening..I should give him space but I can't let this keep happening." said Aizawa to himself. All Might saw what had just happened and walked towards to Izuku, who was at the moment in time staring blankly at the ground. Maybe if he stared long enough, he'd merge into the ground and be invisible.
As All Might was walking by, Bakugou was using his quirk to its fullest extent and blew a large piece of cement towards All Might's direction. All Might was in his shrivelled form and looked quite weak and feeble. The cement would kill him on the spot.
Izuku looked up and enhanced his speed and ran faster than speed of sound to save All Might. Everyone was staring. Izuku pushed All Might out of the way and knew he wouldn't be able to dodge the large piece of cement, but it didn't really matter as he would survive it. He had been hit, beaten and hurt with much, much larger and stronger objects and people before.
The students and heroes present didn't know that though. They all widened their eyes in alarm because they thought Izuku would have been killed on his first day. The entire gym was silent. Everyone thought Izuku was dead, as anyone would die from being crushed by some hard, large rock at such a great speed.
"This is all my fault.." said All Might in a distraught tone, his hands were shaking. "I would have been me..it should have been me.. .no….! I can't keep failing you, Midoriya!"
Kaminari and some others went pale in the face and the entire gym was filled to the brim with guilt and peril.
"It's sad and all but I guess Midoriya was just another criminal. Not immortal or special or anything. Hell, the guy was quirkless. Well, that's the end of that.." thought Todoroki. Everyone thought the worst of the situation and was about to call someone to help, but they were all in absolute shock when they saw the large slab of cement being lifted from its place by Izuku, who had an unfazed expression on his face.
"All Might, be aware of your surroundings. Had it not been me, someone could have died." said Izuku in a casual tone and dusting off his yukata and walking absolutely fine.
"That's impossible! He's quirkless and on top of that, he has such a tiny body..looks like a girl for heavens' sake!" shouted Tsuyu. She was smart and quite blunt but had a kind heart however, seeing this small villain come out unscathed like that was extraordinary. Inhuman!
"The frog girl is right! That fucking impossible..you're .." screeched Bakugou in disbelief.
"That was incredible, Mr. Midoriya. You're so strong..!" said Yaoyorozu, other girls like Jirou and Hagakure nodded in agreement. This made Mineta and Kaminari very jealous people.
"Hey, Mr. Midoriya, don't you think the pros could have handled that?" said Mineta, narrowing his eyes. "You're a villain, act like one and get out of our hero school!" that earned Mineta a few looks of criticism and a knock on the head.
"I would if I could, Mineta. I'm not here of my own obligation so I won't be leaving anytime soon. Hold your tongue and train a bit, and maybe I'll acknowledge you enough to answer you seriously." said Izuku in an emotionless voice, scaring Mineta. "Also, that is all. Class dismissed."
Izuku's footsteps were the only thing heard in the wave of hush that was amongst the class. Many didn't talk for a while and some talked like there was no tomorrow!
The Heroes ushered the students to their dorms and went to sleep themselves. After what happened that day, all they yearned for was a good bed to lay their heads on comfortably.
When All MIght entered his own room, he collapsed onto his bed and thought about the events that took place at the school gym. He thought about how if it wasn't for Izuku, he'd be dead right now and that he never got to thank him for it. There were so many little old strings that needed to be tied firmly between All Might and Izuku, though that was easier said than done when one party was putting in effort and the other wasn't.
"Tomorrow, I'm putting my foot down and speaking with Midoriya. I've had enough of beating around the bush. I will make him hear me out." thought All MIght. Though, he wasn't the only one who wanted to speak with Izuku the next day.
Spinning.