A/N: Wow. Chapter 28 caught a few of you off guard. Thank you so much for the kind reviews!
I'm absolutely loving writing Sway and I have big plans for her, so as much as she makes some of you uncomfortable (all good villains should to an extent! They're evil!) with what she's doing to Hawks, I have story plans with her so please stick with me. It'll all make sense at some point...
F for Denki Kaminari. Had to be done. Not even sorry.
As for my two shoutouts this week, the first goes to AkeenCarter. I've already shouted out Akeen previously for how much Setsuna is inspired by how he writes her in Emerald Island, and it is (I submit) one of the best, if not the best stories which contains an Izuku x 1B pairing. If you haven't already, please try it. Akeen gets a shoutout based on that quality, and based on his revival of the story after losing so many of his future chapters due to computer issues. I frankly admire the tenacity and hope I develop that some day.
The second goes to Kim, who I know irl and who keeps me sane when I've hit a wall writing stuff. In return for dealing with her pure Hawks and Endeavor simp tendencies, which are dramatically strengthening with the release of season 5, Kim provides me with a lot of patience, tireless support and genuine energy for some of my future concepts without which I'd flounder and be lost. I can't ever thank you enough Kim, but I'll try.
Anyway, Izuku actually going to school this chapter? Actually going to UA? Surely not Guz, I hear you cry. Not after 28 chapters of worldbuilding, build up and other people having adventures?
... Just watch me.
(***)
Today was the day. Today was the day that Izuku Midoriya started the journey, the day he set out on the path to try to become the Number One Hero.
It was hard not to feel a little nervous, standing in front of the gates of UA High with thoughts like that in his head.
It wasn't as if it was new ground to him; he had only been there a little while before for the Entrance Exam, in awe at his surroundings and being able to walk in the hallowed halls of UA as he had always dreamed. Still, it was different back then. Whether that was down to the nerves that made him take a second to stop trembling as he stepped onto the campus, the pressure of needing to perform at the Entrance Exam while not showing everyone the full power of his Quirk, or the dreamlike feeling that not being a student had attached to it, Izuku didn't know. All he knew was that now, standing in front of the giant gates and the imposing security wall in the school uniform he had been sent a few weeks prior, it felt very real indeed.
He really could say 'I am here', after all.
He hadn't quite expected the amount they were sent by UA in the build-up to becoming part of their new Class 1A. He had been expecting that an institution of UA's history and esteem would have set them a list of preparatory assignments, hero pop culture quizzes mixed in with a history essay on a past hero of their choice and multiple choice questions about reacting to dangerous situations, but the immense list of textbooks on more ordinary subjects had floored him for a second. Tenko had taken one look at it and muttered that he didn't know they had enrolled at Hogwarts; it had taken Izuku a couple of days to work out that ancient reference. It was hard, sometimes, to remember that UA was one of the best schools in the country even if you took the Heroics classes off of the curriculum.
Not that anyone ever could. They'd tried that once, and look how that turned out.
He had taken to it all with good grace, because he wouldn't waste a single opportunity now that he had achieved his dream, but it was the thrill of the Heroics preparation that had carried him giddily through the weeks before the term start date. It was hard not to run laps around the kitchen when he submitted the costume request form, with Izuku completely unwilling to change anything about the black and red costume made to him by Tenko and his mother; Tenko hadn't shown him his own designs in return, telling him the outfit 'wasn't available until the next level' in true Tenko fashion.
It was harder still to ignore the clenching feeling in his stomach as he and his mother submitted an updated medical record to the school. Setsuna's discovery of his Quirk's true nature, and the subsequent realisation that he could give Quirks as well as take them, had done wonders for his confidence, knowing that he could go to UA free of the worry that he would do irreparable damage to an aspiring Hero of the future and rob them of their dreams, but he just couldn't admit it to everyone yet. The fact it had scared him so much what his own cousin would think spoke volumes to him- it would take a lot for him to open up to more people.
So for now, the dark truth of his Quirk stayed secret, and the papers said as they always had, that Izuku Midoriya wielded Aerokinesis. It wasn't entirely a lie, anyway. Tenko had kind of summed it up perfectly; it wasn't exactly the whole truth, that was all. People would get that whole truth when he knew he was safe with them.
The girl next to him, standing outside the gates of UA at his side, knew exactly what that was like after all.
Himiko Toga had already integrated herself with their group even before they had made it to UA, but being there for her in her exam had strengthened the bond between her and Izuku tenfold. He hadn't thought anything of offering his blood for her Quirk to use, but he could tell how much it had meant to her; the fact she had kissed him after finishing her exam, and again when they had both found out that they had made into UA, was probably a good indicator of that. Not that it had been the last time- hanging out since in the interim, Himiko had made sure he had got some practice, and Setsuna couldn't get enough of teasing him.
She still hadn't told the others about what her Quirk could do, however. Tenko and Setsuna had seen her fight to be able to know she could handle herself, and hadn't ever pushed the subject, but it was clear Himiko had some reservations about it being common knowledge. Izuku could understand that completely. After all, he felt the same about his own Quirk.
She at least told you, though. Rather hypocritical not to tell her, don't you think?
He couldn't disagree with that, no matter how hard he tried.
The one point of contention which was holding him back from spilling the entire truth to her was time. He had accepted being her boyfriend (neither of them had asked. Himiko just decided to start calling him it, and Izuku had gotten over his embarrassment and just accepted it) but it was still fresh, a connection that could be measured in months rather than years. It wasn't like his mother knowing, or Tenko who had grown up alongside him almost like a brother since Incident Zero. It wasn't like Setsuna, his cousin who had known him all his life. He liked Himiko, a lot, he knew that. He just hadn't quite tipped himself over the edge of being willing to tell her about the biggest skeleton in his closet, just yet.
He would tell her everything. He knew that much. But... as much as it made him a hypocrite for not opening up like she did to him on the exam day, as much as he didn't want to create barriers with their relationship, he couldn't completely shake the doubts at how she might react, the fear he may lose her upon learning the truth. Until those doubts had gone, he would keep quiet, no matter how much it pained him to keep things under wraps from a girl so happy to be with him.
And with him she was. Tenko and Setsuna had apparently gone for a date the day before term started, a trip to a new dinosaur exhibition across town which had apparently been promised to Setsuna as repayment for dealing with the Yakuza with the shark head. They had all agreed to meet out the front of UA on the first day, to arrive together as the inseparable group of friends who would take the Hero world by storm together; so far only he and Himiko had made it on time, to his great surprise.
Himiko wrinkled her nose slightly as she stared at the walls. "You'd think they mighta' cleaned the place up a little bit before we got here."
Izuku couldn't help but agree, in the back of his head. When they had arrived for the Entrance Exam, the perimeter wall of UA had seen much better days- while it was completely intact and unlikely to be broken through by anyone, the graffiti of people unhappy with the school's continued existence had been plain as day. Despite it being the first day of term at a school whose name reverberated around the world still as a centre of excellence, that graffiti had remained, and nobody had cleaned the roads outside to clear up the mess of fallen leaves from dead winter trees, to trim weed growth so strong that they appeared to have cracked the paving slabs in the area. Perhaps it was a sign that even UA was struggling to keep up with a world like this, or perhaps the staff left it there as a reminder why UA was still needed even after everything that happened. Izuku could have spent hours guessing.
He nodded to Himiko, and took some comfort in the brittle grin she shot him; she was still her cheeky self, for sure, but it was nice to see he wasn't the only one nervous for today. "I-I guess that's half the point of why we want to be here, right? So we don't have to live in a world like this?"
Something teasing flickered in her yellow eyes. "I don't think we're training to pick up trash, Izu."
"Hey! You know what I mean." She giggled, and it took him a second to shake out just how much he enjoyed that sound before he chuckled himself. "I... can't wait to get started."
"... Heh. Me neither." Himiko flashed him a little smile, but he could tell something was bothering her. "Say... you think we're gonna be alright?"
"Yeah. I know we are." In a brief moment of bravery, he reached one hand over to her to hold her hand; a public display of affection like this would have broken him a couple of months ago, but he felt safe enough around Himiko to try it more and not completely cease to function. "We'll make everyone proud that we made it here, I know that much."
The faint dusting of red on her cheeks made it totally worth it. "Hell yeah. I just... hope the other kids in our class are nice to us as well, y'know?"
"Yeah... me too." He squeezed her hand, and took great comfort in her squeezing back. "But whatever happens, we've got each other, right?"
"Of course, silly!" She planted a brief kiss on his cheek. "I wanna try and make some more friends here, for sure, but I'm going nowhere. You're kinda stuck with me, right?"
"That... doesn't sound so bad," Izuku joked, and her laugh placed him completely at ease. "It's going to be a good few years."
"It's gonna be longer than that if you spend all your time standing out here in the loading screen. Geez, it's like you can't get out of the start menu."
Izuku turned at the sound of Tenko Shimura arriving and huffed; years of Tenko's teasing had prepared him well enough that he could give back to his best friend, even if he was still just a little too timid to try it around most new people. "Hey, we're not the ones who turned up late. Even Himiko made it to UA on time and you didn't."
"Exactly! Wait, hey!"
Tenko scratched at the trousers he had been sent and groused, still unhappy that the wardrobe had been sent wasn't quite long enough for his spindly legs. But for the pair of red shoes he had been gifted which were identical to Izuku's, and which covered his ankles to spare his embarrassment, he would have looked ridiculous. "Don't blame me. Barney the Dinosaur slept in after the long day yesterday."
"You ever call me Barney again and I won't let you take me on a date again." If Setsuna had actually slept in, she wasn't showing any signs of tiredness. Her usual manic, toothy grin was on her face, even as she detached a fist and sent it flying at Tenko, who lazily dodged a hit to the stomach like it was second nature. It almost was, the way they behaved around each other. "You know I don't like that."
"Hey, you're the one who asked me to take you on a date. You and I both know you're not stopping that." Tenko smirked, and stretched his gangly arms behind his head. "And anyway, you're not the one who should be tired. Your parents made me sleep downstairs on a couch that wasn't long enough for my legs-"
"Aw, did you think they were gonna let you come and sleep upstairs with their pure, innocent daughter?" Setsuna's detached hand patted him on the cheek, sarcastically consoling him. "Poor shut-in boy. It'll take more than just one trip to a museum before you're allowed anywhere near my bedroom."
"Anyone would think you like the fossils more than me." Tenko nudged her with an elbow and rolled his eyes. "Same time next weekend?"
"... You better believe it!"
Izuku stood speechless for just a second before he shook his head at their usual antics; the way they switched between often quite brutal bantering and planning future dates in the same breath was something he struggled to keep up with sometimes. "... I'll never understand your relationship."
"Hey, just because you two are mostly wholesome, doesn't mean we have to be the same." Setsuna's grin grew predatory as she looked at Izuku and Himiko. "You two gonna hold hands all day, or did you plan on being a little more restrained in class?"
"Tempting," Himiko replied, with her own little smirk, before letting go of Izuku. "I was considering it in case he wanted to spend the whole day writing notes on our class but... I think he can handle himself."
Izuku flushed for just a second as the two girls laughed at him. "Come on, I'm not that bad-"
"Oh, you are," Tenko interrupted, with a wry smile. "We just accept it at this point."
"Come on..." Izuku groaned, as his best friend joined in. "You guys are unfair."
"And you wouldn't have us any other way." Tenko's smile dropped slightly, as he stared up at the UA gates and the tall glass building that called to them all as their home away from home for the next few years. "Still doesn't feel real, if I'm being honest. I never thought I'd make it here. It always looked like a bonus level I'd never make the unlock requirements for."
Izuku's mind flashed back to the days before Incident Zero, just for a moment, to the face of a callous doctor telling him there was no hope and the crushing sadness of being Quirkless. "Honestly... neither did I."
Tenko's response was to pat him on the shoulder, trying to reassure him in his really awkward and so-typically Tenko way. "Part of me would joke about how you'd break in and refuse to leave even if they hadn't let you in, but I get what you're saying. You're the whole reason I'm here, though. Don't go forgetting that anytime soon."
"Y'know," Setsuna said, the cocky look on her face fading just for a second, "as much as I wanna make some jokes about how stupid they'd be to turn any of us down... we're hella lucky to have all made it here."
"And as much as I wanna make jokes about how that's the first time you've ever been sincere your whole life, I agree." Tenko ignored her rolling her eyes at him. "The party sticks together, after all."
"And we'll stick together through all this, right?" Everyone turned to Himiko, who fidgeted slightly under the attention she had suddenly received. "I mean, I want to make other friends, and I'm not gonna hold you guys back from meeting new people, but whatever happens-"
"We're going nowhere," Izuku said, clenching a fist as he stared up across the hill towards the UA main building. "Whatever happens at UA, and whatever we face afterwards, we face it together, right?"
"Together." Himiko nodded at Setsuna. "Together?"
"You're damn right. I've got friends here at UA besides you guys, but I'm going nowhere." She in turn turned to Tenko and raised an eyebrow at him. "Together?"
"Together." Tenko turned to Izuku and the look in his best friend's eyes said it all- nothing was going to separate them. "I'm not gonna give some lame 'power of friendship' speech about it, but I'm with you whatever it takes."
"Right." Izuku's smile grew wide, and suddenly the glass tower on the hill didn't seem so imposing and terrifying. Suddenly the cold plastic of the ID card he held in his hand felt real to touch, the reality that it was his picture on a UA student card setting in. He had made it, with his friends, and their bright future beckoned within those walls. It was time to make dreams come true.
Together it is.
"Let's do this!"
(***)
"Shit, that door is huge."
Izuku couldn't help but agree with Tenko as he stared up at the enormous and imposing door that supposedly separated them from their classroom for the next three years. "Y-Yeah. I wasn't expecting that."
"Do you think one of our classmates needs it?" Setsuna asked, tipping her head all the way back as she looked up at the ceiling .
"I didn't see much of everyone else's Quirks, but..." Izuku frowned. "Nobody at the Exam was that tall. Someone must have made that in the past for someone whose Quirk made them giant, all the time."
"Imagine being that big because of your Quirk and there was nothing you could do to change that..." Himiko had blinked twice when she saw the door to their homeroom, and Izuku couldn't blame her- it looked ridiculous with the four of them stood in front of it. "Quirks do crazy things."
You don't know the half of it.
Izuku blinked at that thought, and steeled himself. He wasn't going to be shaken by the door to their class, not after getting himself psyched up outside. "I can't wait to see what our classmates can do."
"Nor me," Himiko agreed, before nudging him with a toe to remind him to get the door. "I just hope they're nice people."
"I'm sure they will be, right?" Izuku said, hopefully, as he reached for the door handle. "They made it into UA, so... you'd hope the nice ones are the ones who made it through their screening."
"Sure!" Setsuna smirked. "After all, they let us in, and we're pretty great! What's the worst that could happen?"
Tenko facepalmed with a gloved hand. "You really had to say it out loud, didn't you?"
Izuku chuckled to himself, before he gripped the handle and nodded. Beyond that door lay the future generation of wannabe Heroes, the best of the students their age who had made it through the stringent application process just as he and his friends had. New friends, new allies, partners for the future ready and waiting as their friends in the new Class 1A.
It was time for Izuku to learn what the future would be made of...
"TOKOYAMI!"
Whatever Izuku had been expecting as he opened the door, the loud shout of one of his classmate's names in vain had not been it.
Most of the room of students appeared to be full by the time that Izuku's party had arrived, probably because of the delay in waiting for Tenko and Setsuna to arrive. Izuku recognised some of the more distinctive faces from the day in among the mix- it didn't appear that the boy with striking red hair or the girl with pink skin were present yet, but the girl Shiozaki with vines for hair was present towards the back corner of the room, talking amicably with a black-haired girl with a ponytail. The tall boy with six arms was sorting his things around his desk on the front row, talking to the invisible girl; it took Izuku's mind a second to process what he was seeing when he saw a floating school uniform hovering by a desk. And at the centre of the room, the source of the noise made itself known...
The boy who made the shout was tall and broad-shouldered, with neatly combed dark blue hair that framed a pair of very ordinary spectacles and a very severe frown. Izuku's keen eyes spotted how straight he was holding himself as he marched, and how the back of his school trousers seemed to bulge with something poking out of the trousers around the calves- Izuku couldn't see, but it must have been Quirk-related. Marching was exactly the right way to describe what he was doing though. His stern gaze was fixed on another of their classmates who Izuku instantly recognised, the slim boy with the head of a raven who was perched on the edge of a desk...
"STOP USING THAT DESK AS A CHAIR THIS INSTANT, GET OFF OF IT!"
That was definitely unexpected.
The raven-headed boy, now identified to Izuku as Tokoyami, groaned as the blue-haired boy approached him at speed. "You're unbearably noisy."
"I'm trying to preserve some sense of decorum," the blue-haired boy argued, trying apparently to reason with him. "This is UA High, the most prestigious Hero Academy the world has ever seen! I cannot allow actions that disrespect these desks, not when so many great students before us have sat here-"
"Disrespecting desks? Man, you either need to get the stick out of your ass, or someone needs to teach you how to chill."
... Setsuna Tokage, you are a bold one.
There was a brief and awkward moment of horrible silence as Setsuna's teasing voice cut across the hubbub of the class getting to know each other, and Izuku's blood ran cold as he turned to his cousin with his mouth wide open in shock, much the same as the blue-haired boy's mouth hung open at how blunt and rude her remark had been. That moment was broken as both Tenko and Himiko began to laugh, and while there were a few scandalised classmates who didn't seem to be laughing (Shiozaki and her companion among them), there were heartfelt laughs elsewhere in the classroom, and a few chuckles among those who appeared to be the quieter members- the stoic six-armed boy wore a mask over his mouth for some reason, but Izuku could see the fabric crease with a smile underneath.
"I- what- you..." The blue-haired boy appeared stunned, before his shoulders slumped and he stared at the floor morosely. "Nobody else understands..."
"I'd recognise that loud mouth anywhere!" The hearty cry came from the back of the room, and Izuku saw a young man with strange tanned eyelashes and wild grey hair stand up at the back and shoot a wave in their group's direction, sharp teeth bared in a big grin. "Way to make an entrance as ever, Tokage!"
"You expect anything else from me, Metalhead?" Setsuna cried with a cackle, before latching onto Tenko and shooting Izuku and Himiko a smirk. "That's Tetsutetsu, from my class at Fondo. You two mind if I go and introduce him to Tenko?"
"Tetsutetsu?" Tenko asked.
"Yep! Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu!"
"... At least it's a simple name to remember." Tenko looked apologetically at Izuku and Himiko as the force of nature that was Setsuna made her mind up, and began to drag him towards Tetsutetsu and the girl with the orange ponytail besides him in a bid to force Tenko to socialise. "I'll catch up with you guys later. Don't break anything while I'm gone."
"R-Right. See you..." Izuku didn't get to finish before Tenko was dragged away, the rest of the class seeming to shake itself from the brief moment of hilarity at Setsuna's comments and go back to their earlier conversations. "... later."
"Guess we should find our seats, huh?" Himiko said, getting over the brief moment of hilarity from Setsuna's comments and looking at him.
"Probably. But..." Izuku paused, looking at the blue-haired boy, and just for a moment regretted that the rest of the room had been laughing at his expense. Sure, Setsuna was his cousin and one of the people he was closest to, but back when he hadn't had his Quirk, he had been in that boy's shoes, the one on end of other people's jokes. If he had learned anything from that, Izuku had learned it wasn't a good experience. "I think we should probably go and see if that guy's alright."
"Ya think?" Himiko looked uncertain. "I get it, that was kinda harsh from Setsuna but... he seems a little intense. D'ya think he'll take it coming from us?"
"I don't know, but... I just don't want to set off with someone on the wrong foot on day one." Izuku nodded to her. "Do you think it's stupid?"
Her smile helped reassure him and then some. "Nah. Just goes to show how much you care about people, Zuzu. I'm with ya. I don't know if he's the sort of person I'll be friends with but if I don't try I'll never know, right?"
"Exactly!" His mind made up, Izuku turned to find the boy in question still looming near the desk of Tokoyami, fourth along the penultimate column of desks towards the back of the room, and made his way over to him with Himiko in tow. "E-Excuse me! I didn't get your name earlier..."
The boy seemed to perk up at someone speaking to him, and to his credit, despite recognising the pair of them from the group giving him grief, it didn't stop him from giving them a polite (if rigid) wave of greeting. "Oh! Please excuse my manners earlier. I'm Tenya Iida, and I came from Soumei Academy-"
"Soumei?" Himiko interrupted with a grin. "That's the super rich kid's private school, right? Say, what was that about with the desks earlier?"
"Ah yes, you saw that." Iida appeared to tense up at the reminder, as Shiozaki and the dark-haired girl appeared to roll their eyes at the back of the room behind Tokoyami. "I suppose, to put it simply, I am proud of the opportunity to study at such a prestigious and historic school as UA, a name which commands respect from across the world. Doing something which risks damaging school property on day one just seemed wrong to me-"
"And my old classmates said that I'm serious." Izuku turned to the bird-headed boy, Tokoyami, who bowed his head in a greeting from his position still sat on the table's edge. "Fumikage Tokoyami. Exego Junior High."
"Oh! I'm Izuku Midoriya, and this is-"
"Himiko Toga! The one and only!" Himiko flashed a peace sign at both their new classmates. "Call me Himiko, okay? I don't do all this formal stuff all the time-"
"I see! Well you're in luck on this side of the room!" Iida gestured to the desk in front of Tokoyami, and then to the desk beside that, in the column next to the window. "I had a look at the seating plan when I arrived to see if I could help my classmates on arrival! Toga, you're sat here in front of Tokoyami, and Midoriya, you appear to be in this desk next to Toga by the window!"
"No fair! I want the view!"
"Hey, I didn't choose the seats," Izuku interrupted, as Himiko complained. "Say, I don't want to intrude b-but can I ask, Tokoyami? Why were you sat on your desk?"
Tokoyami made a face, and it took Izuku a second to realise that on an avian face, it was the equivalent of raising his eyebrows in surprise. "My reasons? Nothing shadowy about them, I assure you. I simply wanted to be more comfortable and more open as more of our class arrived. Sitting facing the front as if ready for class would look like I didn't want to speak to those behind me, and I didn't want to leave people out that way."
"See, Iida?" Izuku turned to the taller boy with a smile, hoping that may clear up the situation. "Tokoyami didn't mean badly by it at all! It's no bad thing, just a misunderstanding, right?"
"I see..." Iida had a hand to his chin in thought, as a black-haired girl with a bob cut nodded to their group and slid into the desk behind Izuku's and next to Tokoyami's. "Your explanation is both perfectly logical and well-meaning. I sincerely apologise, Tokoyami! I should have trusted you more!"
"Hm." Tokoyami looked at Izuku as Iida bowed in apology, and Izuku couldn't help but notice the way the boy mouthed a 'thank you' to him before as Iida straightened up, he gave a little nod of his head. "Just don't be so loud in future. It's exhausting."
"R-Right!" Iida turned to give Izuku a grateful nod. "And thank you, Midoriya, for helping to resolve the situation I created. It's good to see someone with such a desire to help their peers out with their disputes, no matter how small."
"Oh that's Izuku for ya." Himiko nudged him in the ribs playfully. "Heart's WAY bigger than his head. Only thing bigger than his heart is how much of a nerd he is for Quirks. He knows more than anyone I swear!"
"Hey!" Himiko's chuckling made him laugh nervously, and scratch the back of his head sheepishly; as it was behind him, he didn't notice the head of the blonde student in the seat directly in front of his perking up, as if curious. "I'm not that bad-"
"Do I need to tell them about the Hero notebooks-"
"Not on day one!" He waved his hands in front of his face in embarrassment, as Himiko laughed and Tokoyami started to chuckle too; he needed to get back on track with the conversation. "Hey, about that though... Iida? I recognise your family name."
That seemed to startle the taller boy. "You do?"
"Yeah. And the fact that you went to Soumei, a school known for taking students from the families of Pro Heroes..." Izuku's fanboy mind connected the dots. "You're related to a Pro, aren't you?"
"I..." Iida seemed almost impressed, as much as he appeared shocked. "I wasn't expecting someone to find out so quickly before classes even started, but yes, Midoriya. I suppose there's no escaping it. Are any of you aware of the Pro Hero, Ingenium?"
"Ingenium?!" Now Izuku's inner fanboy was jumping for joy. "The Turbo Hero? But he's so cool! Team Idaten is such an amazing Agency making sure all of its sidekicks work for the good of the local community, and his Quirk is so versatile it-"
Himiko, used to what would happen by now, silenced him by placing her skinny hand over his mouth. "He'll do this for ours if I don't do anything. Ingenium, huh? You're related to him?"
Iida's chest puffed out with pride. "He's my older brother, Tensei."
"Woah..." Izuku had freed himself from Himiko's silencing and was staring at Iida with the utmost admiration; Himiko would tell him later he had sparkles in his eyes, which he vehemently denied. "That must be awesome..."
"Community work?" Himiko's expression became briefly unreadable. "I... never knew that about him."
"My brother always said that the people he thought were coolest were the ones who would stop to help a lost child get to a shelter. That's... the sort of Hero he wants to be." Iida paused, solemnly. "That's what I want to be, too."
"A light of hope in the darkness," Tokoyami said, seeming to nod approvingly.
"Huh..." Himiko nodded to herself, as if making a mental note. "So... if he's an impressive Hero, why didn't you want to go and work with him? Why come here?"
"I'm sorry?"
"You know..." She waved a hand around vaguely at the classroom. "All this, applying to UA... I guess you could have used his recommendation to add to your application but in a world like this, why did you come here? You could have become his Apprentice, trained with him now, used the family connection to get started without needing to come here-"
"I-I would never do such a thing!" The taller boy seemed to snap upright, stuttering indignantly at such a suggestion. "It would be totally against the ethos of training to become a proper Hero if I was so short-sighted to take such a way into the profession!"
Izuku blinked, not expecting the passion in Iida's voice, passion which didn't fit with the straight-laced impression he had of the boy. "You d-don't support becoming a Hero like that?"
"Well, I shouldn't be so quick to judge. I suppose some people would benefit from being able to join the system by taking such a convenient short cut, but..." Iida paused, and looked at him. "You seem familiar with my family. Do you know how many Heroes there have been with the name Ingenium?"
"Um..." Izuku's pop culture brain had to take a second for that one. "Five generations of Quirks, three generations of Ingenium, but multiple Heroes to take the mantle within generation... there were four. Five if we include your brother."
"That's right." Iida nodded, seemingly impressed. "There has been a Hero with the name Ingenium since the laws of our nation changed to allow Pro Heroes to work unimpeded, creating Hero schools to train the future generations. Since that day, each of the Heroes to bear the name Ingenium before my brother walked the same path to become a Hero. Hard work, diligence, dedication to their studies in order to prove they had what it took to take up the mantle."
"And..." Himiko's face seemed to warm up slightly in realisation. "You think you owe it to them to do the same."
"Precisely!" Iida chopped the air with a rigid hand as if to emphasise his own declaration; Izuku put it down to a tic of some sort. "It's true, the country created a different system to become a Hero after Incident Zero happened. But if I didn't step up to prove myself, if I used my family to circumvent the hard work of generations before me... then how could I bear the mantle of Ingenium myself in future? It's the very reason I didn't ask Tensei to write me a letter of recommendation, and why I didn't ask to become his Apprentice at Team Idaten- I want to prove I have the right to bear the mantle, not assume I can take it whatever I do."
"Woah..." Izuku had been worried before he arrived at UA about the sort of people he would encounter. Even as he opened the door to the classroom and had seen Iida berating one of their classmates, he had some concerns. But hearing the taller boy talk about why he had chosen to put himself through the process to try to prove himself to the world as worthy, who wasn't willing to cut corners in pursuit of their goals? If someone like that was going to be who he trained alongside in order to become a Hero, then he was in the right place. "That's so cool, Iida."
Iida looked startled at his choice of words. "C-Cool? Me? Midoriya, I'm afraid you might be mistaken-"
"No, I... I-I mean it, Iida." Izuku hoped that the older boy could read his face, and see the respect he was currently feeling. "I wanted to join UA because... I want to be a Hero people can believe in. I want people to feel safe again. So... to hear you say why you wanted to come here and prove yourself? That's... awesome."
"Yeah, no shit." Himiko gave Iida a toothy grin too, much to Izuku's surprise. "See, I'm not like this guy. I never wanted to become a Hero at first, not until he told me I could be one. I really didn't like a lot of the Pros we've got at the moment. But... if you want something to change, and you don't do anything about it, what's the point?"
"I see," Iida mused, clearly mulling her words. "I must confess, from the way your friends spoke to me I thought you were a group of delinquents when you walked in-"
"Oh we are," Himiko interrupted, with a teasing lilt in her voice. "Everyone except my precious cinnamon roll Zuzu here-"
"Hey!" Izuku failed to dodge her pinching his cheeks, and flushed slightly in embarrassment.
"But we mean well, promise!" She stick her tongue out at Izuku before turning back to Iida as he spluttered at their display of affection. "You're really telling me your principles are that strong you'd refuse the easy way in and fight for your right to be called a Hero? Sweet. You're nothing like what I expected, Ingenium Junior, so you're alright in my book, okay?"
"I... certainly wasn't expecting such kind words when you arrived." Iida looked taken aback. "I... completely misjudged you both. I owe you both a sincere apology!"
"... Huh?"
Nothing could have prepared Izuku for the way in which Iida suddenly stiffened and bowed at an almost perfect ninety degree angle in an instant, and from the way she jumped Himiko wasn't prepared either. "In that case, it will be an honour to study alongside you, Midoriya and Toga!"
"And me, I hope," Tokoyami said, but when Izuku looked over to the severe-sounding boy who would be his near-neighbour for the next few years, there was a spark of mocking in his eyes.
"Of course! My apologies, Tokoyami, I didn't mean to-"
"Heh. Revelry in the dark."
"... I don't know what that means, but I'm glad you aren't cross with me." Iida chopped the air again, and gestured across the classroom as the red-haired boy and pink-skinned girl Izuku remembered from the Entrance Exam arrived together. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go and greet our newest classmates! Perhaps we can talk more about your Quirk knowledge, Midoriya, over lunch?"
"S-Sure!" Izuku gave him a little wave, but Iida had already made a beeline for the new arrivals, marching over at great speed. "... He's gone."
"I suspect we may struggle to keep up with him on more occasions in future," Tokoyami said, rising from the desk to land lightly on his feet. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should use the bathroom before the day begins properly. Thank you both for coming over to help- I didn't want to start the school year on a bad footing with anyone."
"Hey, wannabe Heroes, right?" Himiko flashed a toothy grin his way. "All in a day's work."
"... Something like that." Tokoyami's avian head bobbed in a short nod to them both. "No doubt we will speak more later. It was nice to meet you."
"Likewise!" As Tokoyami headed out, Izuku breathed out, the nerves he had been bottling up at speaking to new people who he knew nothing about finally settling themselves. "... I think we made some friends."
"I think so too." Himiko sniggered. "If Iida starts hanging out with us, Setsuna and Tenko are going to break him. Tokoyami might survive but Iida? No way."
Izuku allowed himself a little laugh. "He might break them first. He's a little more strict than they're used to."
"I mean, true. I thought he had a stick up his ass when he started talking but... " Himiko paused, and nodded in his general direction. "Turns out he's just really serious about becoming a Hero on his own terms. I respect that a lot, coming from someone with the chances he had in life."
"Me too. It's nice to see we're training with people who want to become Heroes for the right reasons." Izuku paused, his head going over everything he knew about the Ingenium hero dynasty that Iida was a part of. "Did you see he had a bulge on the back of his calves?"
"Yeah, I spotted that. I'm guessing it's Quirk related?"
"It has to be. Every Hero in the Ingenium line has been related and they've all had the same Quirk... Engine. The current Ingenium has an Engine Quirk in his arms which means he can go at really high speeds. Maybe... Iida has it in his legs instead?"
"It would make sense," Himiko said, craning her neck to try and get a better look at their new friend's legs to no avail. "Pretty impressive they can keep such a complicated Quirk in the family across generations, don't ya think?"
"Definitely! I wonder if Iida has Engine, does it have any other differences from his brother's Engine?" Izuku placed his backpack down on his new desk, and started rummaging through for a blank notebook; he knew it had been the right call to pack some. "How do you think they fuel the Engines, and are they constantly running or do they have to be triggered on at any point? Do you think they-"
"Well, it's reassuring to know I'm not the only Quirk nerd here, at least."
Both Izuku and Himiko turned at the sound of the new voice, and Izuku didn't recognise the face of the young man who had spoken to him. Blonde-haired and slim like Tokoyami, his neat bangs were shorter on the side and hung across his right eye, nearly completely covering his purple eyes. If it wasn't for the voice, Izuku wouldn't have had a clue where to begin to place him; there was an arrogance to it that reminded him every so slightly of Bakugo, but whereas Bakugo was full of rage and violence, this boy's voice was more haughty and yet somehow more desperate, as if despite his self belief he still had a point to prove. Izuku had heard the boy talking dismissively about Midnight before the Entrance Exam, and now it seemed he would be sat behind this boy all year.
He coughed, self-consciously. "Oh, h-h-hey. I'm Izuku Midoriya and this-"
"Is Himiko Toga. I heard you, don't worry." The boy glanced coolly over the pair of them and leaned back in his seat. "Neito Monoma. Nice to meet you both."
"Likewise," Himiko said, and the lack of sincerity in her voice meant Izuku could tell she was a little unsure about the newcomer. "You say you're a Quirk nerd?"
"That's me. I know I might not sound sincere when I call myself a nerd but..." Monoma gestured to the room at large, at Tenko and Setsuna seeming to laugh with Setsuna's old classmate Tetsutetsu, at Iida reprimanding the pink-skinned girl for something. "Look at everyone here. How could I not be a little in awe about what some of our classmates are capable of, at such a school like this?"
Izuku breathed out, and tried not to be too loud about his relief. Now that was something he could relate to. "Yeah... m-me too. Honestly, it's strange, not knowing what some people can do at all."
"Right? Usually we would have at least some idea, with the Entrance Exam being a fight against the old villain bots, when we watch how other people do it." Monoma's purple eyes seemed to flicker with something that Izuku didn't recognise. "Instead, we've got to find that all out after day one. Talk about being a little in the dark."
"I guess that's why they changed it," Himiko said, sitting herself down and leaning forwards on her elbows to prop her chin in her hands. "So nobody starts getting targeted, so we all learn to share in our own time."
"Which would be all well and good, if a friendship group like your quartet didn't already exist in the class. It sets others back a little." Monoma shrugged. "I'm not trying to be rude by pointing that out, I promise, it's just a simple fact. If you're friends outside, then you may already have combos planned out. Some of us have got to improvise to keep up."
"Trust me, some of our attempts at combos barely work," Izuku muttered, remembering his failed attempts with Setsuna to combine their Quirks into viable attacks. "Please don't think you're behind. If anything, we've got bad habits to get out of so that the teachers can properly train us."
"Heh. What a noble way of looking at it!" Monoma smiled, but there was a little twitch to it. Why could Izuku sense pain when he smiled like that? "The trouble is, Midoriya, it doesn't matter what Quirk some people have, what moves they've planned, what habits they have. They have something, after all, no matter how good or bad they believe it to be. Some of us will have to run to keep up, no matter how much work we put into it."
"That's gonna be the case with all of us from time to time," Himiko said, a frown briefly passing across her face. "Iida might have a speed related Quirk but on bad terrain or in tight corners, he's not the best choice here. That Shiozaki girl with vines for hair? Put her near a burning building and she's gonna have a bad hair day. I suppose that's why we're all here- to improve what we can do, for sure, but to learn when we might be out of our depth and find a way around it."
"A fair point..." Monoma frowned, and looked again at Iida. "I may have to factor that into my tactics."
"T-Tactics?" Izuku was confused by the use of that word. "What do you mean?"
"Heh, it's nothing really." The corner of Monoma's mouth turned up, but it wasn't a smile. "It's just to do with why I'm such a big Quirk nerd. You see, everyone here in this room, all those incredible Quirks? In order for me to become a Hero, I have to understand what makes them tick just as well as the user does. I have to make them work for me as well."
... Hang on, what?
Alarm bells began to ring in Izuku's head, and a shiver went down his spine as Monoma leaned back further to put his feet on the desk, to a squawk from Iida across the room. "My own Quirk is fairly simple; Copy is a simple name for a simple Quirk. I don't produce flames, or fly, or have super strength, but if someone I know does, and I can touch them just for a little bit, then their power is mine for five minutes as well."
He's like you. Inferior, perhaps, but just like you. How troublesome.
"No way..." Himiko was staring at him. "That's... overpowered-"
"And yet conveniently not, at the same time." Monoma raised an eyebrow at Izuku. "I suppose that's why I found myself drawn to you two, Midoriya, Toga. You seem quite in tune with what a Quirk can do, so I wonder if you'd help me out?"
"H-Help?"
"For sure. I can't just copy a Quirk and become a genius using it. If I borrowed Hellflame off of Endeavor, I'd burn myself alive. Having a Quirk and controlling it are two different things. But with friends like you to help me understand what I'm doing, to help me work out where the limits are and how to apply a Quirk in the right situation... I could perfect my tactics and be up there with the best of them. All thanks to my allies."
He kicked his feet off the table and stood up suddenly. "That's all I'm asking. Lend me a little of your power every now and then, and a little of your brain when one of our class becomes too hard a nut to crack, and I'd be forever grateful." His hand reached out towards Izuku. "What do you say, friend?"
He can't have your Quirk! He will learn the truth!
Izuku panicked as the hand came towards him, at the realisation of what it might mean if Monoma's Quirk really did as he described it. All of the stories they had crafted to cover for it, the ways they had kept it under wraps, would be blown out of the water by a complete outsider who he had only just met that day, an outsider who would see what he could actually do beyond the Aerokinesis powers he claimed to control. He couldn't let Monoma expose the truth so soon...
So he did the worst thing he could. He jumped back, so the hand was ever so slightly out of range, and only then looked Monoma in the eyes. That look that had passed in the blonde's eyes was awful- rejection, anger, confusion, and all sorts of bitterness below the surface which Izuku couldn't even begin to try to understand.
And worst of all, Monoma could see his fear of Copying his Quirk. The damage was done. "M-Monoma, I'm sorry-"
"Huh." Monoma looked at his hand, and retreated, placing his hands in his lap and looking down. "And here I thought UA might be a little different to my old school days. I guess even here people will think the worst of me, no matter how hard I work."
"Oh come on, be fair! You can't just borrow a Quirk from someone to use yourself without giving them time to think!" Himiko hissed, keeping her voice down so the rest of the class didn't overhear their confrontation. "That's a lot for us to take in, you can't expect us to just say yes automatically-"
"Can't I? When it doesn't even bother him if I take it? When it's not permanent and does nobody any damage? Why shouldn't I be able to ask my classmates for help when all I want to do is support them?" Monoma glared now, and the boy's natural arrogance gave his glare a piercing quality that made Izuku shake from the force of his resentment. "The sooner I get chance to practice with people's Quirks, the better I can become using them and the better I can be as a Hero. But people like you can't see that, can you? You just see the copycat and think you've found a villain hiding in plain sight."
"That's not it a-at all!" Izuku really tried to fight his voice cracking from nervousness, and failed. "Monoma, I just don't feel comfortable sharing my Quirk with anyone like that! I didn't mean to-"
"To what? Treat me like all the others did? Fear the worst no matter what I tell you? Save it. I've had enough of that my whole life, had enough of people telling me I'll never be able to do anything because I need others to get by." Monoma turned away from the pair of them to look out the window with a huff, as Tokoyami arrived back from the bathroom. "I don't know what your game is. I don't know why you're hiding your powers. But I'm going to find out what you can do, Midoriya, one way or another, and I'll show you just how good I can be with your Quirk. You have my word on that."
Izuku paused, opening his mouth to say something, but he held back following a tug on his sleeve from Himiko. She didn't even know the truth of his Quirk, but she was shaking his head as if to discourage him from saying anything further, and he realised that she had a point. Anything he said at this point would rile up Monoma even more, and given the concerned looks on Tokoyami's face, the slight twitch on the face of the placid girl sat behind him, and the raised eyebrow Tenko was trying to shoot him across the room, they were drawing enough attention as it was.
In reality, the trouble was Izuku didn't know what he could say. He hadn't even told Himiko what his Quirk could do, so he couldn't reveal it to some new classmate for no good reason. And yet without being able to explain himself like that, he had now alienated himself from Monoma, the person sat in front of him for all classes. The who would now be coming after him in future classes, coming after the knowledge of what his Quirk was. There was nothing he could say to fix the situation without lying to Monoma or exposing his secrets, not just to Monoma but to everyone... and so he had to stay quiet.
An unfortunate enemy to make. But a necessary sacrifice, to keep your circle close.
He really hated how his brain made it sound so cold and so rational sometimes.
Izuku was spared any further aggressions from Monoma, and any further escalation of Himiko's frustrations towards the blonde boy, at the sound of a whip crack from the doorway. "My, my, it's so good to see you all here bursting with energy and raring to go! The passion of youth... it's exhilarating!"
At the sound of that oh-so-familiar voice, practically vibrating with excitement and dripping with sensuality, it was genuinely impressive that half of the room seemed to pile into their seats before Izuku could even blink his eyes. Half of them hadn't even been doing anything besides chatting, but perhaps out of fear of leaving a bad impression (and perhaps out of fear of the bullwhip) Class 1A managed to stop their conversations and be seated for the teacher like they had all teleported. "Good morning!"
Midnight, dressed in a formal shirt and blazer that looked significantly more restrained than her usual Hero costume, seemed to snigger to herself as she saw the collected class in front of her. "Well aren't you all model students. Thank you for being so compliant..."
Izuku looked over the classroom, trying to see where Tenko and Setsuna had ended up. It appeared the vine girl, Shiozaki, had ended up in the final seat in their column at the back, and that Tenko had taken the seat on her right- Setsuna had parked herself next to Tenko in the last seat on the back row, right behind Iida. The two most likely class clowns being sat behind Iida in the seating plan was a disaster waiting to happen; Izuku just couldn't work out if it would be for them or for Iida.
Midnight laid her bullwhip on the teacher's desk at the front of the room and adjusted her glasses, looking out over the glass. "You all know exactly who I am, but just because I love having your attention, I'm Nemuri Kayama, and I'll be your homeroom teacher, Class 1A! Feel free to call me Nemuri, Miss Kayama, or Miss Midnight if you really wanna get into my good books. It's going to be a great few years, and it's great you're already making such good friends so far..."
What happened next made Izuku nearly leap out of his seat. Without any warning, the R-Rated Heroine's smile morphed, going from the cheeky smile of someone who was excited to start the day of school to a feral grin as if they were villains she had cornered fleeing from a crime scene. Judging from the way several people gasped, and he could hear Tenko muttering 'oh shit' from across the classroom, he wasn't the only one who felt that way. "But as an old friend once said, if you're here just to make friends, you can pack up and leave now."
"Oh god," Himiko muttered, from the seat beside him. "Nobody warned us she'd be like this!"
"Welcome to the UA Hero Course, Class 1A. Take nothing for granted and don't ever expect you'll get an easy ride from me." Midnight cracked the whip against the desk. "That starts from day one. You got to do a different exam, which means nobody here except me and Sir Nighteye knows what you can do... so you're about to show the rest of the class how you earned your place here."
She can't mean...?
Izuku gulped, as Midnight pulled out a suitcase from under the desk and opened it to reveal a set of brand-new tracksuits, the famous UA logos of all the old Sports Festivals unchanged and sending him briefly down memory lane before the terror of Midnight's current mood wiped out the nostalgia. "Oh no..."
"In the times gone past, Class A's old homeroom teacher would skip out on the inauguration ceremony to run a Quirk Assessment Test for everyone. We don't have a full school inauguration these days, not with one class of Hero students a year, but there's no harm in keeping traditions going." Izuku sensed some brief flicker in her eyes mentioning the old homeroom teacher, but it wasn't enough to wipe the sadistic glee off of her face. "And I'll even keep my favourite tradition of all. I'll set the tests and you'll do as I tell you through the series. And whoever comes last in the tests... I'll be releasing you from Class 1A by the end of the day."
The collective chorus of horror and panic from the students was silenced by the whip once more, the crack making a few go pale and a few start to chuckle nervously. "That's the rules of the game, my darlings. It's a cruel world out there, and you'll find I can be a cruel mistress in here. Show me what you've got, and hope it's enough to satisfy me."
Izuku's knuckles went white as the horror of what she said sunk in. He had absolutely no clue what the tests would be or how to apply himself to them; how he manifested his Quirks to make it look like he was getting on by with Aerokinesis was going to be a challenge, just as much as it would be a challenge to ensure that nothing else came out in the meantime. Notwithstanding that Setsuna had helped him come to terms with the fact he could give Quirks, this was a high pressure scenario, and he hoped with all he had that he wouldn't take one by accident during the exercise.
But it wasn't just him he was now worried about. A brief look to Setsuna as their eyes met across the classroom, and Izuku could tell she was worried about Long Fingers and Lizard Tail Splitter both holding up under scrutiny. A glance at Tenko, and Tenko's worries about his own physical capabilities outside of his Quirk became clear. Izuku didn't even need to look at Himiko to know that she was terrified of too many people finding out what Transform required, and in any event her pale face showed him she was concerned whether it would even help her at all. And last but not least as the boy in front of him cleared his throat, shooting him a challenging and vitriolic glare, he had Monoma's risk of exposing him to contend with as well...
Do or die, Izuku Midoriya.
"It's like the motto above the door says, students." Midnight's grin was practically violent by this point. "Go beyond, Plus Ultra."
This was not going to end well.
(***)
Izuku Midoriya. Aged: 15.
Himiko Toga. Aged: 15.
Tenko Shimura. Aged: 17.
Setsuna Tokage. Aged: 15.
Fumikage Tokoyami, Tenya Iida, Neito Monoma, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. Aged: 15.
Nemuri Kayama, Midnight. Aged: 30.
(***)
A/N: Well this isn't going to end well, is it?
I have been enjoying building up to Class 1A for some considerable time. It's taken a lot of effort and planning thinking about who I wanted in the class and what role I wanted them to play, and I've told myself I really want to flesh some of them out in the story so I have believable supporting characters around the protagonists. For sure, Izuku and co are the important ones, but I hope I can get most people in character and feeling right in this universe.
Iida was a big one for me to explore because of the way the system changes could have been used to his advantage; I hope his diligence, exuberance and pride have come through enough here. Tokoyami is one I hope to bring in more, mostly because I love writing him and my Tokoyami & Eri oneshot was a hoot. And as for Neito Monoma, well... I've got plans for him. So much bitterness and pride and yet desperate desire to do good wrapped in one egomaniacal teenage mess- I love his character. As the arrogant blonde questioning Izuku's powers, forming his own squad, and doing his utmost to beat Izuku, he's going to be my Bakugo substitute. He's even got the right seat for it, look.
Anyway, in a break from tradition, more Izuku next chapter, because I can't quite leave us on this cliffhanger and not deal with some of it. The girl behind Izuku will get some more scenes, the protagonists will get the full force of sadist teacher Midnight to deal with during their assessment, and we might just see how my Class 1A starts to bond a little more. Who knows, eh?
Anyway, this has been nuts as ever and has been a busy week for me to upload. Hopefully you all enjoy- if you did, feel free to send me a PM to have a chat. As ever, I always appreciate a review, and I'm very grateful to followers and favourites- the more the merrier. And if you want to come and talk on Discord, PM me for the link to CannibalisticApple's Discord, where this fic has its own channel.
Until next time,
Guz