The idea was that the next day in school would be normal.

Izuku had talked about how interesting their first two days had been on the way home with Katsuki, and if his grumpy response was anything to go by, he didn't find them interesting enough (which was to say they like weren't fight-intensive enough, but that was Kacchan for you). Izuku disagreed, but that was pretty normal anyway.

Instead of continuing that train of thought, he'd peeked into his bag and pouted at his ruined jumpsuit. He was bringing it home to his mom, so he could tell her sorry, but he didn't really know what he'd do about his costume redesign. As much as he still loved All Might, there was a large part of him that didn't want to pay tribute to him anymore, that wasn't the type of hero he could be after all. For a moment, Izuku wondered if the police station would have any advice (then he remembered Sansa's horrible choice of cat themed ties and how Suke only ever wore monochrome and changed his mind).

Seeing Izuku's movement, Katsuki shifted closer to look at what Izuku was pouting over. Kohaku, who was sitting between them, shrieked a little in annoyance at the tightening space, so Katsuki moved a little away with a quiet, "damned mutt" but still peered into Izuku's backpack.

"What the hell, nerd? Why'd you save that suit? I literally blew it to pieces.

"Okaa-san made it Kacchan, I have to apologize to her!"

"Fuck," he responded, a healthy dose of remorse in his voice. "Tell her I'm sorry. The hag'll kill me if she finds out I commited arson on something Aunty Inko made."

Izuku laughed for a second, before an idea struck. "Oh! Kacchan, do you think you can get your mom to help me design a new suit? "

"What?" He asked, genuinely disgruntled. "You don't want to keep the current design? But it's been yours for ages, since you decided you wanted to be All Might's second coming."

"Yeah..." Izuku couldn't help the little cloud that fell over him. That really had been his dream for so long. It was actually a little surprising that Kacchan remembered. "I guess I just don't want that anymore."

Katsuki remained skeptical, but for once, he remained tactically silent on the issue. "Whatever. I'll talk to my hag about it. Your suit will be the best damn suit after mine."

That was that, and they'd parted ways pretty quickly after, eager to get home and finish their homework. Izuku faced many tears when he got home, but Inko was as understanding as always as she took the ash-covered suit and promised to wash and frame it (which, despite his many "No Okaa-san! You really don't have to do that!" was proudly on display by the time he woke up the next morning, and left him blushing and turning his head away as he walked out the door, making sure Koko actually stayed at home for once.)

So yes, after the first two days of intense and stressful excitement, Izuku was expected the third day to be much more calm.

Of course when he got to school there was a massive crowd with pushing bodies that made him uncomfortable, and he only managed not to resort to phasing when Kacchan showed up and dragged him past the reporters, cussing at anyone who tried to stop them.

There was a healthy dose of anxiety when homeroom came around, fear heavy on the air as Aizawa slumped into the room. That tension was not relieved as he critiqued everyone's performance's bluntly, dissing anything illogical and making it clear what he approved of and what he didn't. His gaze seemed to linger on Izuku and Katsuki for an extra time than the rest as he berated their recklessness. Finished with that, he cleared his throat.

"Now pick your class representatives. I don't care how you do it. Just decide before lunchtime," he finished, grabbing his sleeping bag and curling up behind his desk. The class immediately exploded with people nominating themselves, and they silenced only when Iida demanded silence, hands moving up in down in strange gestures that likely bewildered his opponents.

"SILENCE!" he coughed slightly, arm motions picking up slightly. "We should vote in an orderly fashion, like a democracy!" No one had any major objections, so they continued forward with the vote. Izuku felt like he could have an aneurism when he realized he'd gotten the most votes. Him? WHY?

With shaky legs, he walked up to the front of the class, Yaoyorozu a much calmer presence behind him. He did notice her quiet, "what a shame" though, which was a hit to the little self worth he had. But it did put a spark into him, angry to prove her wrong, that he could indeed be a good leader. Legs stilled, and confidence raised, Izuku stood out of his nervous hunched posture and bowed slightly, the way he had often watched political figures do.

"Thank you for choosing me." He raised his head with an unfortunately shaky smile (Dang it Suke, why couldn't she have taught him to fake emotions too?) "I'll do my best!"

The reaction was underwhelming, but he did get a few smiles and scattered applause, which was definitely a win in Izuku's books (No.7, pg 43: if they don't hate you, that's good; No.12, pg 37: any reaction that isn't negative is a good reaction; along with a few other scattered pages).

The lunch bell rang pretty quickly after, and Izuku waited in his desk behind Katsuki for the jostling race to the door to finish. He didn't really feel like getting jostled around today, something about the idea of being amidst that sort of crowd made him uncomfortable, too many people, too much anxiety. Once the doorway was cleared out, Izuku headed to the cafeteria and registered that Katsuki was trailing alongside him.

The cafeteria was crowded and loud and part of it made Izuku want to curl up into himself, but he knew that he couldn't do that in public. So, taking a deep breath, he turned to Katsuki to ask him where he wanted to sit. Instead, he saw Katsuki screaming and cussing at Kirishima and Kaminari as he got dragged away by them to the table where Ashido were already sitting.

"Let go of me, you bastards!" Katsuki yelled, hands popping with restrained explosions. "Get your fucking hands off of me!"

"Whoah, dude!" Kirishima smiled. "We're not kidnapping you or anything! You just seemed cool and we wanted you to eat with us! We were all really impressed with your fight with Midoriya yesterday!"

"Then let go of me and steal Deku Instead! That fucking idiot will be happy for the attention-and I don't want to fucking deal with you extras!"

"Extras?" Kaminari asked. "That's not really nice, Kacchan."

"HAAAHHH? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?"

Izuku scratched his cheek awkwardly as he watched Katsuki get dragged away until he sat cross-legged and bristling at the table with the group who fawned over them. Kacchan was making friends!

But, uh… where did Izuku go now?

"Izu-kun!" Uraraka shouted cheerily from a table where she sat with Iida. She waved him over, and he sat down with them relieved that he wouldn't be sitting alone in a corner. They talked about inconsequential things for a bit, eating their food. He noticed that Iida had chosen orange juice instead of water, which struck Ozuku as odd because Iida seemed the type to fuss over such a sugary drink, whether it was natural sugar or not. But, didn't Izuku know a hero who used juice as fuel? Who was it?

"Ingenium!" Izuku shouted out loud when he remembered who, startling Iida and Uraraka who had continued conversation. Iida looked particularly disgruntled. That was right, Ingenium was Iida Tensei-how had Izuku not made the connection before!

"...My brother?" Iida finally asked, looking at him curiously. Uraraka spit out her drink as he said that.

"So you're from an elite family, Iida-kun? I thought you talked formally!" she laughed.

"I-well, yes. The Iida family has been a long line of heroes but," he turned his attention to Izuku, looking at him appraisingly. "I'm quite surprised you made the connection now, rather than when I was actually using my quirk. What gave away my familial lineage?"

"Orange Juice!" Izuku blurted, then shifted slightly, glancing down. "I mean, you and Ingenium both have engines and his quirk runs on fruit juice-though I guess it could just be orange juice, I don't really know, and you also look pretty similar so-"

"We look similar? But he doesn't usually appear without his costume-although I suppose you must mean our costumes, in which case, yes! I modeled mine after my very outstanding older brother!" He smiled, thinking about it. "But how did you know his quirk was fueled by juice as well? I was under the impression that it was unknown to the public?"

Oh. Well. Izuku didn't actually have an explanation for that. Unless he told Iida that he had invisibly stalked the older IIda, which he imagined would not go over well.

Luckily, Izuku was saved by the bell. Actually, that wasn't a bell, it was an alarm and it was very loud.

Unable to control his reaction to the screeching sound, Izuku accidentally threw himself out of his seat and managed to stand in a battle ready stance for a few seconds before the crowds jostled him away. It took everything in him not to phase away from the sweaty bodies that jostled against him and made him shiver uncomfortably. He found himself pushed against the window and peered out to see what it was that could have caused the intruder alarm.

There was a group of press standing inside the courtyard, evident by the cameras and microphones they held, which would have been relieving. It wasn't. Not just because the premonition sense he had was going haywire, sending bolts of lightning warning through his spine, but rather because of the ghosts. They crowded the courtyard, ethereal bodies identifiable by being half inside of the crowds of reporters, ominous anger radiating off them as they hustled around a hooded figure who was leaving. Injuries littered the group, cracked and decaying skin in radiating lines across their bodies. These souls… were murdered ones. And if Izuku had learned anything about the killed, it was that they stuck to the ones who had killed them. And for there to be so many dead in the courtyard and such a crushing sense of danger...that man was a villain. The man turned slightly, almost as though he could tell someone was watching him, and just that alone spiked the warning sending a shiver that increased his breathing and set his heart racing.

Izuku had to stifle a shriek as a hand grasped roughly onto his wrist and pulled him away from the window. He got pulled into a strong chest that continued pushing him away from the crowd and Izuku only relaxed when he smelled the familiar scent of burnt caramel.

"Fucking idiot extras. Why the fuck are they freaking out like this," Katsuki muttered as they broke into a clearer area around a table.

"Kacchan…" Izuku whispered, lump still catching his voice in his throat. "Can you help me get their attention?"

Katsuki glanced sideways at him. "Whatever." He lifted Izuku up out of nowhere, grasping his waist and shoving him on the table (where he stood, dumbfounded, sides tingling for a few seconds) before climbing up after Izuku. "OI! LISTEN UP YOU FUCKERS!"

All people in the hall seem to freeze and eyes turn to them, easy to spot standing on the table. Izuku couldn't stop the blush from covering his face at the attention. (A lot of which was glares). "Ehem. Sorry about him," (Kaminari wondered how Izuku was brave enough to apologize for the death-murder-exposion blasty, but kudos to him) "but we needed your attention. This is one of the top schools in Japan! We have to be strong and calm no matter what happens. Calm down and assess the situation. Even if there are villains here, we shouldn't be panicking, but instead trying to rectify the situation." Izuku took a deep breath, and though he knew it was unlikely: "In any case, it's just the press everyone, please try to be orderly and return to your classrooms calmly." His confidence fades and he squeaks out the last part as he lowers himself. "Thank you." He squeaks. The crowd seems to calm down after that, muttering among themselves with embarrassment that they had panicked so much. Izuku sinks into a crouch below most people's vision, hiding his face in his hands as he tried to calm his beating heart.

"Oi." Kacchan grunted, kicking at Izuku's shoe. "Get up nerd. It's fine now." Izuku looked up, knowing that his eyes are glassy and he still looks like he's having a panic attack, but this is important.

"Kacchan, do you know where the principal's office is?"

"What the hell do you need that for?" As quickly as possible, Izuku explained the most-likely-probably-definitely-villain. By the time he's finished, Katsuki's crimson eyes are darkened, clearly worried although he'd likely deny it. "Alright. Let's go."

"What? You don't need to come Kacchan, I'll be alright-"

"Ha. As if." And Katsuki marched alongside Izuku the whole way to the office. A shiny gold plaque outside the door read 'Nezu'. Wait, he was the principle of UA? That was… a little bit scary actually. Izuku reached up a hand to knock, but before he could, a cheery voice rang out from inside.

"Come in!" Of course Nezu knew they were already there. He probably had good hearing or sense of smell, or even heat vision for all Izuku knew. He opened the door and peered in cautiously-always be careful, he remembered. And was glad he had, because Aizawa was giving him a dead eyed stare, as if wondering 'why the hell is my student visiting the principal's office?'. Izuku could understand that. If possible, his expression grew deader as Katsuki kicked the door all the way open and shoved Izuku inside.

"'Yo, rat. Deku has something to say." Affronted at being forced on the spot, Izuku turned a slight glare at Katsuki who smirked in response. Izuku had probably given Kacchan too much power earlier.

"Um… Nezu-sensei," Izuku started, hesitating as he glanced toward Aizawa. Who just continued the same unimpressed look. Probably he wanted Izuku to get on with it… "Haveyouconsideredthepossibilitythatthebreakinwasntjustthepress?"

Aizawa growled something under his breath-probably 'what the hell is wrong with this child', while Nezu's ears perked up. Oh good, Izuku really didn't want to have to repeat himself. But seeing Nezu's dark eyes light up like that with interest in him...okay, it was a little frightening. He didn't want to be on the genius animal's radar. Maybe this was a terrible idea.

'Midoriya-kun, right?" Nezu asked, and his eyes twinkled. Nodding mutely, he watched as the principal's mouth widened into a smile unnatural for an animals face. He clapped his paws together. "Yes! Shouta-kun and I were just discussing it, actually! How wonderful that two students had the thought to bring it up! Very astute!" Eyes widened, Izuku looked at Aizawa-Shouta-kun? He was actually letting Nezu call him that? Oh. Izuku saw the dark glare on Aizawa's face. He wasn't happy about it though. Izuku shuffled awkwardly, gaze darting around, unable to meet the imposing animal's eyes.

"...Are you?"

"But of course!" Nezu clapped cheerily. "You see, my quirk is-"

"High specs." Izuku interrupted before he could think better about it. A poor idea really, if the horrifying grin that stretched Nezu's face was anything to judge by. Nonetheless, he continued muttering, thoughts rushing out in a mumbled waterfall. "With such a strong intelligence enhancing quirks of course you would have thought of that, I mean, you basically run through the probabilities of things and calculations on what leads to what and what might have caused what in millions of permutations in seconds with more efficiency than even a computer especially since its aided by your human or well animal creativity and thought and-"

"Well," Nezu said, the grin not budging on his face. "How fascinating that you know so much about my quirk!" oh shit.

"Eheheheheh,.. Well, I mean, you know me, hero fanboy and you know, you probably know my other records and well I don't know I did some research and I had opportunties to and its a little stupid to have access to knowledge and not access it! And, um, well, heheh…"

"Other records?" Aizawa and Katsuki asked in sync, Katsuki throwing a vaguely disgruntled look toward their teacher.

Nezu ignored them and instead rested his head genially on his paws. "Of course I do! I must say, Midoriya Izuku, you are quite fascinating! I must also say, though-I am more interested in the space when you had a distinctly nonexistent existence! There is a complete lack of any record of you for several months right after the start of your last year of middle school-no video surveillance, no school records, no sightings of you whatsoever, and," his voice takes a dangerously friendly edge. "You show up when your friend there behind you was getting attacked! How does one escape any notice whatsoever for four months then get broadcasted on TV, I wonder?"

It could be worse? Maybe? Nezu didn't seem to know that he had died, at least.

"In fact, there were rather...interesting reports from people of your old school that claimed you were thought dead!"

Oh, Izuku thought breathily. It was worse. Izuku could feel the sharpened steely gaze of Aizawa burning into him, and left a spot of flame on his shoulder. It could still be worse though, rig-

"And it really is quite suspicious how you showed up with a quirk after all the rumors about why you disappeared." Nezu's voice darkened even further, a dark shroud nearly seeming to emanate from him. "If I didn't know any better I would say that you might be in league with-"

"Fuck those rumors!" Katsuki spit out suddenly. "They were just rumors by ignorant dumbasses."

"Oh?" Nezu switched his attention to Katsuki, acting as though he'd hardly noticed him before. Unfortunately, Aizawa's eyes remained drilling into Izuku. "What makes you say that, Bakugou Katsuki-kun?"

Katsuki's glare didn't lessen in face of the terrifying principles interest. "Deku got attacked by the same slimy bastard as me, and almost died. Aunty didn't want him going out for ages after that. He finished school at home, and all the extras at school thought it would be more interesting to say he died." He glared at Aizawa and Nezu, as if challenging them to say they didn't believe him. When they didn't respond, he humphed. "We're done here. Deku." And dragged him out before he could say a single word in response.

Aizawa and Nezu remained alone in a suddenly quiet room.

"What an interesting group of students you have, Shouta-kun!"

Aizawa just allowed him to slump into a seat with his hands over his eyes and a decidedly too-exhausted groan.

••••

"What the hell was that, Deku!?"

"Ah?" Izuku asked, blinking at Katsuki. "What do you mean?"

"Why the fuck didn't you say anything! I'm not gonna lie for every time you forget how to speak!"

"But that was Nezu!" Izuku protested weakly.

"And?"

"And he could probably recognize any minute twitch that gave away a lie! I didn't want to risk it!"

"So what? You decided to just be a fucking mute?"

"No!" He deflated. "I was just trying to figure out what to say," Izuku pouted.

Katsuki scoffed, and shoved Izuku roughly. Izuku lost his balance and nearly fell over. "Don't be such an idiot in the future."

Izuku glared in response, and after a few seconds of walking quietly next to him, shoved his own shoulder into Katsuki, with a little more force than strictly necessary to be considered a 'playful' shove. Katsuki growled in response, and in an instant, their walk turned into a shoving match in the emptied halls, pushing their full body weight into each other in attempts to knock their opponent off balance. It didn't become violent, per say, just chaotic as they tripped over each others feet and stumbled with Izuku laughing every time Katsuki stumbled (and subsequently started cursing him out), and him snickering in turn when Izuku dodged out of the way and slammed himself into a locker. Izuku could admit he had forgotten just where they were, and Kacchan couldn't pretend that he hadn't, because they were still snickering and shoving at each other as they approached the 1-A door, Katsuki not ceasing in spitting out multiple curses at Izuku.

It was only with Nana's quiet "psst"s from the doorway that Izuku realized they should probably be in class, and there was a reason the halls were empty. Aizawa stared at them, unimpressed from the doorway as the late bell rang. Izuku and Katsuki both froze, staring at the door, just a couple feet away. He'd gotten there before them? Grumbling out quiet "fucks", Katsuki turned blankly, and kicked violently at the molding on the wall. Instead of following in his example, Izuku chose to flush bright read, mumbling out apologies and skittering his way past Aizawa and into the classroom where his classmates gave him wide-eyed looks and snickered amongst themselves. Yaoyorozu stood at the front of the class, pouting at the podium Izuku probably should have been standing behind. Upon that realization, he rushed behind it, while Katsuki slumped into his own seat. Aizawa glared at them for a moment from the doorway, before sighing.

"Because I'm impressed with you both, you're not getting expelled this time. Don't let it happen again." he threatened, before continuing his drawl to the class as a whole. "We have a trip soon, so this can be a study hall. Think about how not to make a fool of yourselves." Finished, he sighed and crawled into his sleeping bag, leaving izuku standing awkwardly at the front of the class.

"U-um." He started, waveringly. Breath whooshed out, Izuku bowed sharply. "I'D LIKE TO STEP DOWN FROM CLASS PRESIDENT POSITION. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

The class was silent for a moment before nose broke out as Izuku's classmates voiced their disapproval.

"But you were so cool at lunch!" Ashido cheered.
"Yeah!" the majority of the class voiced their agreement.
"You were all, 'listen up losers! I've got something to say!'"
"It was Chaos until you brought back peace into our darkened hour."
"I suppose it was technically Bakugou-Kun who got everyone's attention though, kero."

"Yes!" Izuku recognized a lifeline as Tsuyu spoke. He ignored how his voice cracked and cleared his throat quietly. "I was only able to regain control because of Kacchan's help. I'm not prepared enough to have responsibility for the class. But I respect that you put your trust into me, so I'd like to step down into vice-representative position, so Yaoyorozu can take my place. She's much more organized than me and I'm sure she had some great ideas for our class! Thank you!"

Izuku dismissed himself and slinked back into his seat as quickly as he could, wishing he could turn into a puddle. He glanced at Yaoyorozu who stood alone at the front of the classroom, looking somewhat shell-shocked, a faint flush of pride tinting her cheeks. The class murmed about his decision for a moment, but once Iida enthused over how collected and smart Yaoyorozu was, it turned into cheers of approval. Izuku was glad to no longer be the center of attention, and watched as Yaoyorozu quickly tamed the class and covered a few things before dismissing everyone to their own devices for study hall. She caught his eye quickly, and smiled gently as she walked past him to her seat. Yeah, Izuku decided, He had done the right thing.

School passed quickly after that, and though he had to report to a short meeting with Yaoyorozu when school let out, he was heading home quickly. A smile broke across his face when he saw Katsuki waiting grumpily by the gate.

Yep. Everything would be fine..

Bold words Izuku. Very bold words. Kukukukuku