A/N: Fair warning: This chapter has the first mention of OCs in it. They won't be a super huge part of the main storyline, but they'll be big parts of some of the side-stories (including Shinsou's)! I hope you enjoy regardless. Any and all art related to DMTDJF will be uploaded on my Tumblr (tranquil-turbulence with a cat pfp), so feel free to visit!
The school day was uneventful as always for Izuku; he hung out with his new classmates and tried his hardest to be friendly (and not overbearing or annoying, stupid deku-). Already he was making friends with a few of them, and some of their resemblances to his old friends at Yuuei made his heart hurt even more.
The first person to go up to him was a girl who felt incredibly similar to Uraraka, both in build and personality. She greeted him and was the first to sit with him at lunch, pointing out their classmates' names and quirk types. Her mossy-green wavy hair reminded him of Shiozaki, but instead of vines, he found that she grew flowers from her scalp in a beautiful flower crown year-round (that changed with the seasons, interestingly).
Next was a lone boy who found him after school one day sitting by the fountain alone, writing in one of his notebooks (it had taken him a long time to even touch one again after the incident). He sat with him and quietly introduced himself as Kuro, explaining that he found Izuku's aura to be 'too pure for a cesspool such as this'. The two became fast friends, strangely enough; he was reminded of Fumikage, both in the boy's lanky, bedraggled appearance and his quirk type, shadow manipulation. He possessed a personality similar to Shinsou, and Izuku found himself sympathizing with the boy for the bullying he endured in his youth because of his 'villainous' quirk.
Then came a few others; a freckled girl whose body was practically made of elastic (and promptly told him to save any 'Elastigirl' jokes, because she'd heard them all), another girl with a mermaid-type quirk, both in her voice and in her body (needing to swim in saltwater every day otherwise her skin would start to wither), a boy with springs in his knees (with a personality like Kaminari, much to his heart's aching), and a boy with totally smooth skin (so smooth that nothing could penetrate it and just bounced or slid right off like rubber). Each one of them were so different and friendly that it threw him for a loop the first time he really met them.
Hanae, the girl with the flower hair, seemed to be the ringleader in their group of friends. She and Ginjiro (the boy with the spring legs) always took the reins, and Hamano (mermaid girl) and Hayate (rubber) acted like the group's parental units, much like Yaoyorozu and Iida usually had when he was at Yuuei (except with less enthusiasm on Hayate's end). The thought made him feel more desolate, but he forced himself to move past it. He had new friends and was beginning to feel more like his old self, and he was feeling good.
Hamano usually helped him with homework on Mondays, and they usually met at a nearby park for some fresh air and sunshine. That, and there was a pond there, both for those with water-type quirks and for scenery, and she always worked best when in water.
Today they sat in a domed park with heat controls (specifically made for water-type quirks), Hamano's legs dipped in the water swishing lazily, Izuku in the shade of a tree. She leaned across the grass, pointing out things in the book as he wrote them down. It had taken a long while for him to get comfortable with writing in front of people again, and luckily his new friends had accelerated that process.
"See, here you need to apply that formula that Tanaka-sensei taught us," she spoke quietly, pointing at the page.
"Uh-huh, I see," he murmured, scribbling away as he glanced over. "And... that would make the end product... four-point-three-six, right?"
"Correct." A hint of a smile traced her lips. "You're getting better at this section."
"All thanks to you," he was quick to reply, giving her a shy look. "You're a great teacher."
She looked away with an embarrassed flush of her cheeks. "... well, I haven't completely written it off..."
"If you ever decide not to become a hero, I think you would do well teaching people," he encouraged. "But you've got such amazing abilities... I really think you can become a great hero, Kanzaki-san."
She cupped her cheek with one hand, sending him a pained look. "Please, you'll make my heart burst with your kindness."
He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's true!"
At that moment, his phone buzzed. He rose an eyebrow in confusion, pulling it out to check. "Ah, I've gotta get some things from the store."
"I guess that will have to be our stopping point for today, then," she murmured. "Thank you for sitting with me today, Midoriya-kun."
"Thank you for tutoring me, Kanzaki-san." He gathered his things into his backpack and stood, extending a hand. "Are you staying?"
She hesitated before looking down at the water. "I... may exercise my tail for a bit..."
"Okay!" He rose a hand and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow!"
Even though he no longer idolized heroes as much as he used to, he still kept up on attacks that happened close to home. With his father back (and Tomura staying with them), the whole family had to be cautious and aware of any potential conflicts near their home that could mean the heroes had finally become aware of what AFO was doing.
So when he got an alert to an attack of a toxic waste villain (it sent a chill down his spine to remember his own past with slime villains) near the store, he hesitated to head over. He was bound to be recognized, even if he'd dyed his hair black and covered some of his freckles with makeup. Peeks of green were starting to show in the black, however, and he resigned himself to going anyways.
Who knows? If all else failed, at least he'd have a hero to study later. The new area they lived in had a lot more of a variety of heroes than there'd been in Musutafu, and it was exciting just watching and learning like he used to.
Only now, I can tell which ones are in it for the fame only, he thought to himself cynically as he glanced up, seeing someone spray web from the palm of their hand across the way to a building, swinging over. Spider quirks were always fun to see in action, especially since those with them tended to draw inspiration from an old American superhero comic when picking their own hero personas. Already he'd heard rumors of a possible underground hero with the name 'Black Widow', likely having gotten her inspiration from an old comic about a Russian spy.
The spider-hero waved down at him, and he waved back with a small smile, watching them swing away in a black bodysuit with orange and white spots here and there on it.
"Must be a new one," he murmured, tapping his chin. "I haven't seen them around here before."
Suddenly an explosion boomed nearby, and he jumped with a yelp. He whirled around to see a nearby small office building on fire, and he pulled out his phone to send a quick text.
4:46 Green Bean: gotta save ppl have kuro get m out if i don't mkae it
Green Bean has shared their location
He shoved it back into his pocket and got out a bandanna he saved for this very purpose, dousing it with a quick squirt of his water bottle before tying the white fabric around his face and tucking his nose into it. He made sure it was secure before rushing into the building, the screams of the people trapped inside spurring him on.
The inside was full of smoke and ash, and he found his eyes watering uncontrollably. Where's the heroes with the water quirks? I know at least Hydra should be patrolling around here by now!
"Help! Help!" A woman screamed from upstairs, and he darted the mess that was the tile floor to jump up the staircase on one side of the lobby. He rushed about on the second floor, searching for the voice. It kept calling, and he rushed to the very end of the hall and kicked away a fallen beam with help of his quirk.
"I'm here!" He shouted, spotting a head of brown hair peek out from behind a toppled vending machine near the elevators. "Are you okay? Are there others?"
"I- I managed to grab my boss before the explosion," a shaken young woman replied, wiping the fresh blood away from a gash on her forehead, her black hair sticking to her pale skin. "Please, get him out of here! My leg is pinned - I can't move!"
"Don't worry, ma'am, I'll save you both." Izuku narrowed his eyes in concentration, calling the power of One For All to his body. Green electricity began to crackle around him as he squatted before the woman, grabbing the edge of the locker. Grunting, he began to lift - and revealed the bloody, broken mess of her leg underneath.
She stared at him in shock and awe, her mouth dropping open as he threw the locker to the other side of the room before turning to her and her unconscious boss. "Y- you're-"
"Let's get you both to safety," he gently took the man from her lap and hoisted him up. Turning his back to her, he continued, "Can you climb on?"
"I- I can try," she uttered, gripping his arm to steady herself as she struggled to stand. When she was on one wobbly leg, she hopped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, wrapping her good leg around his waist.
When she stopped moving on him, he rushed out, careful not to jostle the man too much. He coughed as he stumbled to the fire escape, catching the attention of a loud crowd of people who had gathered around.
"UP THERE! LOOK!" One shouted, pointing to him.
Loud cheering came up from the people as he assessed the situation. He could jump, but the shock of the landing could make him lose his grip in the man. Still - he glanced at the frightened woman's face over his shoulder and decided it couldn't wait.
"I'm going to jump," he warned her as he shakily stepped up onto the railing. "Brace yourself."
"A- are you insane?" She squeaked, gripping his neck tighter. "There's no way- we're too high up!"
He just smiled, calling his power back.
The woman startled at the electricity crackling about him again, staring in wonder at the streaks of green (and every so often, a bolt of red) that enveloped him like a shield.
With one movement, he leapt.
She screamed into his ears, hiding her face in his shoulder as he fell, and the crowd exclaimed in shock when he touched down in a crouch. He hardly felt the shockwaves that spiked up from his feet upwards, too focused on the trembling woman.
"Are you okay?" He asked, turning to try and look at her. "I'm sorry if that was too scary."
"Y- you're too reckless, kid," she hiccupped, finally looking up at him with teary baby-blue eyes as she gripped his sleeves, irises darting up and down as if assessing for damage. "Don't just- you can't-"
"Don't be afraid," he just replied calmly as a few civilians rushed forward. The light caught his eyes, and they glimmered with warmth as he assessed her. "Because I am here."
Just my luck for a villain attack to happen while we're stationed out here, Todoroki fought the urge to heave a sigh as he followed Endeavor, already rushing towards the smoke arising from the city's center. I wonder who it was this time.
It better not be him, he thought dangerously, his eyes glinting as he tried to keep up with his father. After all this time, it better not be him causing this ruckus!
"Hold it, Shouto," Endeavor's firm voice sounded just as his hand clamped down on his right shoulder. He fought the urge to shrug it off, instead pausing with him. "It seems someone's already taking care of it. Do you know that person?"
He pointed to a boy not much older than he, handing a weeping woman off to someone while someone else took a wounded man from his arms, his black hoodie raised to cover his head and a white bandanna, now gray with smoke and ash, covering the bottom half of his face. He had red shoes, which brought back painful memories of Midoriya.
Something about him seemed familiar, even as he gave the people a salute and ran back in. He didn't have a hero costume or anything, but something about his stride, about the way he held that man so carefully... No, he didn't dare hope. Not after so much time had passed with nothing to point to him being alive. This kid probably didn't even have a quirk license. A hero-wannabe.
Shouto blinked, shaking his head. "No, not that I know of."
"Well, given that the building is aflame, there's not much I can do here." He begrudgingly admitted, and his hand left Shouto's shoulder. "Go help him; your ice will come in handy."
Shouto gave Endeavor a brief look of surprise before he schooled his expression into something more neutral, not wanting to stroke his ego further. He nodded firmly, rushing into the scene to help.
"It's Shouto! He's come to help us!" Someone cried, but he paid them no attention as he jumped to the fifth floor, through a broken window, freezing the area with his ice.
He didn't have much time left before the other heroes came, but he was determined to save whoever was still inside. He rushed about, throwing open doors and trying to find survivors. He found some unconscious bodies that he encapsulated in ice before rushing on.
He nearly stumbled down the stairs when he ran into the boy from before, his hands shooting out to steady the young hero. "Whoa, are you alri-"
The boy stopped immediately, backing away. Something in his green eyes (so painfully familiar, he thought) seemed fearful, as if he recognized Shouto - and not in the way he would've liked. Briefly, he stared at him before shaking his head and blinking, and the look was gone, replaced with something more familiar, fond, sad.
"The top floor is all clear, save for a few unconscious," Shouto continued, his brow furrowing as he stepped towards the boy. "Are you-?"
"Everyone else is out," he managed, ducking by. "Thank you for your help, Shouto-san!"
Hearing his name fall from the boy's mouth as he rushed upstairs hit a certain spot in his memory, and his brow furrowed even more as he rushed upstairs with him. Was he a vigilante or something? Was he afraid that he'd turn him in? As much as he didn't much care for vigilantes (in his personal experience, the ones he'd met all treated him with contempt, either for his status in the world or because of his status as a hero-in-training), this boy seemed to have no hesitation to jump in, no hesitation to work with him. It struck a chord within him, something that tugged at his memory.
He found the boy kneeling beside an unconscious man, and he heated the ice with his flame to melt it. The boy glanced up at him in thanks before hoisting the man up.
Shouto went to the next person and melted his ice, carrying her much like the boy was.
"How many left?"
"One," Shouto replied, watching as he rushed off. "But wait, you don't-"
"I'll be fine, I promise," this time, the boy turned and closed his eyes (presumably in a smile, considering the way they were crinkled).
With a sigh, the two-toned boy rushed towards the broken window, melting the leftover ice on the way. He made a ice slide to the ground that he used to skate down, landing steadily and handing off the unconscious woman to someone else.
"Hydra is on her way," someone mentioned to someone else. "Can you believe it? I get to see her in action!"
"Thank goodness for those kids stepping in though," someone else scoffed. "If they hadn't gotten the rest of the people out, she wouldn't have been able to save them!"
Briefly, Shouto glanced over in distaste. While he understood that civilians couldn't exactly use their quirks to help without risking getting in trouble for it, he wished they could do something other than stand around. Where were the heroes, anyway? Weren't they supposed to immediately be on the scene when trouble struck?
Speaking of heroes, the boy was using Shouto's ice slide to come down on his back, the final unconscious girl safely clutched in his arms. He landed with a slight stumble, only to be steadied by Shouto's hand.
"Whew, thanks," he panted as he handed him the woman. "I've gotta go, I promised my mother I'd get groceries. Thanks again for the help, Shouto-san."
"Wait, before you go-"
Something beeped, and the boy checked his phone before his eyes widened.
"No time, bye!" The boy hurriedly rushed off, and at that moment his hood fell.
Shouto felt the breath punched out of him as he caught sight of wavy black hair, hints of green peeking through the roots.
Suddenly it all made sense. The red shoes, green eyes, the desperation to help...
"Midoriya is... alive?" He breathed as Endeavor walked up to him.
A/N: Dun dun dun! The first person from 1-A discovers the truth!
Please tell me what you thought!