If the main building on the Yuuei campus seemed threatening to Izuku, then the door to classroom 1-A was even more daunting. It was easily 5 feet taller than him, looming over him as a challenge. He gulped thickly, before grabbing the door and sliding it open. Almost immediately, it took everything he had to maintain his composure.
Bakugou was on the other side of the room, with that same boy who called him out in the auditorium yelling at the boy.
"Get your feet of the desk!" He yelled, as he moved his arms up and down in an almost robotic fashion. "You are disgracing this school's equipment by soiling it with your shoes!"
The blonde who was being yelled at simply leaned his head back, clearly ignoring the uptight teen. His eyes flicked over to the door, eyes widening slightly as he saw Midoriya standing there, staring blankly at him. He gritted his teeth, leaning forward, about to get up.
Before he could, the other boy saw who was at the door, and rush over.
"Young sir!" He barked, "I have to apologize for how I treated you earlier. You clearly recognized that there were hidden parameters to the exam, and didn't hesitate to rescue your fallen classmate. I was wrong to publicly humiliate you!"
Before Izuku had arrived, he had debated on how he would carry himself in class. Sure, he would probably have an easier time in class if he brushed everyone off, but if he treated them all with a smile then he could at least build some trust between his classmates. Thus, he decided he would at least treat them with an amicable disposition. He had to imagine Tomura was there with him, otherwise he would never be able to pull off a convincing smile.
The green-haired boy grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh no worries! I tend to mumble when I'm deep in thought, so if I become a bother please tell me!"
Bakugou grunted, getting up from his seat. He sauntered over to the other boy, glaring down at him.
Izuku smiled. "Hey, Kacchan!"
Rage began to boil over the blonde's face. "Are you fucking serious, Deku?! What's with the change in your shitty attitude?"
"I just thought I should try to make friends, now that people will talk to me since I have a quirk!" The conversations in class grew slightly quieter at the statement. "Wanna be friends again, Kacchan?"
Izuku held out his hand but it was immediately slapped away by the other boy. He knew that Bakugou had a massive superiority complex, brought on by years of unsolicited and unconditional praise. Some of it was provided by Midoriya when they were younger. Katsuki always hated it when he felt like he was being looked down on, and would lash out constantly just so he could ensure to himself that he was, in fact, the best. Midoriya used to always accidentally trigger a rage from the teen, just for trying to care about him.
But now, Midoriya was intentionally doing this just to mess with Bakugou, knowing it would bother him greatly. They both knew it was intentional this time, and to make matters worse Katsuki felt himself getting angrier over the face that he knew it was working.
Before the blonde could respond, a feminine voice meekly spoke behind Izuku.
"Uuum... your name is Deku, right?"
The green-haired boy winced, before turning around. It was the same girl who slapped him during the entrance exam. He couldn't feel the sting of her hand on his cheek anymore, though he acknowledged that it saved him more than a few injuries.
"No, no!" He laughed. "That's what Kacchan calls me. My name is Izuku Midoriya!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry about that! Do you prefer being called Deku or Izuku?"
"Please call me Izuku." He stated curtly.
She nodded, smiling. "Okay, Izuku! I just wanted to thank you for saving me from that Zero Point monster!"
He rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, I just did it on instinct! I'm just glad it gave me enough points to get the top spot on the leaderboard!"
He heard the sound of small crackling behind him. The smell of burnt nitroglycerine tweaked at his nose.
Suddenly, a bland voice from below the whole group caught them off guard.
"When I get here, I expect all of my students to be seated."
They all turned towards the noise, seeing a rather haggardly man wrapped in a sleeping bag staring blankly at them as he sucked on a juice pouch.
Immediately, they all ran towards their seats.
It had been a few days since their quirk apprehension test. Almost as if by fate, the versatility of Izuku's Implosion quirk landed him a nice spot as third place in the scoreboard. Bakugou, who had been listed in fourth place, was absolutely fuming.
However, it seemed that he was given the opportunity to redeem himself when the mock battle trials began. The first teams were announced; Izuku and Uraraka would be playing as the heroes, pitted against Bakugou and Iida as the villains. A fake bomb was placed in an otherwise empty building, with the heroes tasked with either apprehending the villains or securing the bomb. They were given a few minutes to set up and strategize, which the hero team took full advantage of.
"First things first," Izuku started, "You'll have to work on your own. Kacchan is going to go after me immediately, so I'll be stuck dealing with him."
Uraraka nodded. "Iida knows what my quirk does already, so I'm pretty sure he'll get rid of any debris at the bomb site."
Izuku spent the next few moments mumbling incoherently, with his hand covering his mouth. After some time, he looked up. "I got it. Here's what we'll do..."
The buzzer sounded, telling everyone that the planning phase was over. Immediately, the duo entered the front door. Behind it was a small hallway that opened up into a larger atrium. Uraraka stayed behind.
As Izuku walked into the opening area, he paused, waiting for the familiar sounds of rapid explosions that slowly increased in volume and intensity. Within seconds, the ceiling burst open, and an enraged blonde boy fell through, eyes narrowing on Midoriya. He easily rolled out of the way, Bakugou leaving a sizeable crater in the space where he once was.
The green-haired kid backed away, running down the hallway next to him. He didn't know where it led but as long as Uraraka was able to sneak past him and up to the stairs, everything would be fine.
Bakugou didn't let up, screaming in fury as he propelled himself with his explosions. "Dekuuuuuuu!" He taunted.
When he finally caught up to the running boy, he brought his right hand back, prepared to launch a hook right at the Izuku's jaw. The green-haired boy turned around at the last minute, seemingly unable to react quickly enough to block the blow...
And that's when Katsuki felt a pair of hands grab his grenade-shaped gauntlets. He felt the swing get pushed slightly to the side, its arc continuing but missing it's mark. He looked back at Izuku's face. He seemed wholly unsurprised.
Bakugou felt his hips move with the swing, and he realized it too late that it left his back exposed. Izuku immediately took that opportunity, launching a powerful kick into the small of the blonde's back, sending him stumbling sideways as the breath was knocked out of him.
"You bastard!" He spat. "Where did you learn something like that?!"
Midoriya just smiled. It wasn't a smile of triumph or happiness. Katsuki could swear for just a moment that he saw a hint of malice behind that gaze.
He turned around again, extending his hands forward to release a large explosion. Izuku backpedalled just in time, avoiding more than some singed hair.
Bakugou rushed through the smoke created by his blast, sending a sweeping kick at the other boy's feet. He felt his attack connect, and saw as the other lost his balance. He smirked.
Izuku fell forward, but before he hit the ground he pulled his arms over his head. He flung his legs over his head, before slamming his hands on the ground and pushing upwards with all his might. What resulted was a massive front flip, with his feet crashing directly into Bakugou's skull. Both opponents crashed directly into the ground, groaning. Izuku was the first to push himself to his feet.
The green-haired boy was just about to pull out his capture tape when he heard the blonde boy growl.
"You little fucking bastard... You think you can look down on me like that?" He pulled himself up, teeth grinding loudly. "You haven't even used your quirk once yet. Do you think I'm too weak for you to use it?! Don't you DARE mock me like that you little shit!"
He held out his hand again, but this time he grabbed a rather inconspicuous pin sticking out of the side of the grenade shaped gauntlet. He started laughing. "These little things collect my sweat, and the more I fight the more they collect! Once I pull this pin, it'll all ignite! Heh heh... I hope you're ready, Deku!"
He grinned as he pulled the pin, which sent a gigantic-
Nothing. Nothing happened.
The smile was wiped off of the boy's face and was replaced with one of confusion.
"What the-"
"Oh, that's right! You never found out how my quirk works! It's not called 'Implosion' for no reason!" Izuku grinned, looking intently at his opponent. "It literally compresses all air in an area I chose, and released that pressure as a shockwave when I so chose. So if I compressed all the air around the area where you stuck your hand... what would happen to your explosions."
Katsuki's eyes widened.
"That's right, Kacchan. Nitroglycerin needs oxygen to burn. And before you get any bright ideas..."
A small shockwave erupted between the blonde's forearm and gauntlet, causing the costume part to shatter right before his eyes.
"Can't have you doing something like that, now can we? Now, look, I'm sure you really want to settle this grudge I couldn't care about, but the clock is ticking and I need to help my teammate."
Bakugou opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a blast from his right side rocketed him towards the opposite wall. Before he struck it, a second shockwave pushed him back where he was. A third one erupted under his feet, and right before he struck the ceiling a final one slammed him down onto the ground. He wasn't going to get back up any time soon.
Izuku slowly walked to the other boy's exhausted body, quickly pulling both arms back and binding them with the capture tape. He pressed his finger to his earpiece. "Kacchan is down. How are things on your end?"
"He cleared out the main room, but it looks like our plan can work. Iida's on the fifth floor with the bomb, so meet me on the fourth floor."
Izuku quickly rushed to where Uraraka was. There was plenty of rubble strewn in this area. Uraraka was running around, touching as many of them as she could.
She spoke up as he arrived. "Thirty seconds left. He's on the floor above us. You ready?"
Izuku nodded, before focusing on the roof. Uraraka concentrated, causing all of the rubble to float up towards the ceiling. Before they could reach their destination, Midoriya activated his quirk, sending shockwaves through the ceiling, ripping a giant hole into the room with a bomb. The rubble floated up, as did Ochako.
Iida realized what was happening, but due to the massive amount of floating rubble in the room, he could not get a clear shot to either the girl or the bomb.
"Five seconds left!" All Might announced jovially from the speakers.
Iida rushed forward, but was too late as the gravity girl almost comically hugged the bomb, shouting "SAAAAAAAFE!"
When Midoriya made it back, the whole class looked amazed. Bakugou could walk, but the moment he made it back to the observation room, he was sent to the infirmary. He was told he could watch the matches through the TV there.
"That was quite the strategy that both you and Uraraka devised! Now, of course, I'll need to assign an MVP." All Might concluded, before pointing his finger at Iida. "You! You are this match's MVP. Who can tell me why?"
Momo raised her hand, answering. "The obvious person we can rule out is Bakugou. He abandoned his post as villain to fight Midoriya. While Midoriya did his best to avoid any structural damage to the building, he ended up causing a series of shockwaves while dealing with Bakugou at the end of their match. Uraraka did some decent work performing reconnaissance but the last ditch plan with Midoriya once again caused severe structural damage to the building. In the end, the last person left was Iida, who understood that since a bomb and possibly civilians would be in the area, that it was best to keep the building as structurally sound while dutifully performing his objective. He was the only one who took his role seriously to the point that he acted like a smart villain would in the situation."
All Might nodded, grinning. "That was a very apt explanation, Miss Yaoyorozu! In fact, I have nothing more to add myself!"
He looked at the next line up of teams, but didn't tell them to move out yet.
"Before we continue, I need to speak to Young Midoriya in private." He walked out of the room, motioning the green-haired boy to follow. Everyone exchanged confused glances as Izuku left.
He was eventually led into the teacher's lounge, which was empty at the time. There were two couches placed opposite of each other, with a small coffee table placed between them. All Might tentatively sat down on one, looking almost comically too big for the furniture. Midoriya sat down in the couch facing the hero. Neither looked too comfortable.
"I'm sorry for the poor timing of this meeting, but there is something I need to tell you."
Izuku didn't move.
"I need to apologize for the what had transpired when I rescued you from the Sludge Villain. You were obviously reaching out for my help, and I... I should have said something else at the time. What you were told wasn't what you needed to hear, nor was it what needed to be said."
The boy continued to stare blankly.
The hero bowed his head in shame. "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
There was a long trail of silence before a terse reply from the boy. "...I can't."
All Might looked back up, shocked. "What?"
Izuku was looking downwards, his fists clenched until his knuckles were white. "I can't just forgive you. This... why are you doing this now?"
The hero was visibly taken aback by the anger in the kid's voice.
"You didn't even bother trying to come after me after the attack... Even when I made national news becoming Japan's first late bloomer, you still avoided speaking to me! You literally waited until I had to come to you for an apology! How am I supposed to accept that?!"
Guilt gripped All Might once more. He had truly meant to speak to him sooner, but there was constant hero work, and even then the shame he felt from his actions kept him from returning. He cursed at himself for not being strong enough.
"Is it because I have a quirk now, is that why you want to apologize to me?!" Midoriya yelled. "Did you want to see if I had the ability to be a hero before you decided that you regretted your words?! Was trying to help a Deku like me not worth it when there are so much better hero material citizens out there?!"
"No, I-"
Izuku bolted up, kicking the table accidentally. "Shut up! I don't want to hear it! You squandered your opportunity to mend that bridge long ago!"
He stomped over to the door, breathing deeply. This was the first time he lost his composure when it wasn't due to Tomura being threatened. He wasn't as violent as he was then, but the anger boiling in his blood threatened to consume him. Eventually, he calmed himself down, turning back to the pro hero.
"I used to admire you, All Might. I truly did. But that was long ago." He pointed his finger at the man. "You are my teacher and I am your student, but there will never be anything beyond that. Don't talk to me like that ever again."
He exited the lounge, making his way back to the observation room. As he walked, he instinctively began reaching up to his neck and scratched it. He stopped, dead in his tracks.
This was the first time he had done that. He'd seen Tomura do it a lot but he had always fretted over the young adult and the red patches it left along his throat.
He scratched his neck a little again.
It felt good.
After the battle trials were over, everyone had changed back into their school uniforms, ready to leave. Bakugou was the first to exit the school campus, speaking to no one.
Izuku had packed up his things into his messenger bag. Before he could make it out the door, Aizawa waved him down.
"Midoriya, the principal would like to see you."
Izuku's heart skipped a beat. He didn't like the sound of that.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and go."
He made a beeline for the principal's office.
The first thing that Izuku noticed was that the door to Nedzu's office was much less intimidating than that of his classroom door. It was a normal height, and the material was made of some kind of wood (oak, maybe?) with a brass handle. He lightly knocked on the western style door. A small but jovial voice echoed from behind it.
"Oh, is that you Midoriya? Please, come in!"
The boy tentatively turned the handle and walked in. The room was laid out more like a therapist's office than one meant for a principal. There was a large plush couch, and a leather armchair placed adjacent to it. There was also a table next to the furniture, with two steaming cups of green tea placed on it.
"Please sit! I don't know if you like tea, but please have some if you do!"
Izuku looked down to the source of the voice. He tried not to seem surprised at the small animal in front of him who he hadn't noticed.
"I know what you're thinking!" Nedzu laughed. "Am I a mouse, a bear, or a person? You'll never know!"
Midoriya chuckled as he slowly sat on the couch. The principal hopped up into the chair and began sipping his own cup of tea.
"Now, I'm sure you're curious as to why I summoned you here." The mouse began.
Izuku nodded. Despite the relaxed atmosphere in the office, there was no denying that this was just some simple meet and greet. The principal might not be a person, but Izuku could tell by the look in its eyes what he was trying to do. This creature was undoubtedly very smart, and despite his cheerful look Izuku could see clearly that its black, beady eyes were slowly picking the boy apart, searching for information. It set the boy on edge, though he tried not to show it.
"Before we begin, I would like to emphasize the fact that if you are at any point uncomfortable, you are free to leave. The truth is, I am concerned for you, Midoriya. While you might not approve, I was listening in on your conversation with All Might."
Izuku tensed up.
"Now, I am not here to judge you on your opinions of him. I only wish to discuss some other things that worry me about you."
The boy kept his mouth shut.
"I understand the situation that you were in as you were growing up, and unlike many of the other faculty and students here, I don't turn a blind eye to the world outside of heroics." Nedzu's face dropped its charming smile. The air began to feel tense, and suddenly Midoriya felt like the world was pressing down on him.
"Forgive me for the morbid question, but how much information do you know about suicide rates in Japan?"
"...Not really anything."
"That is perfectly okay. While many outside of the mental health studies are unaware of this fact, around 46% of all suicides in Japan are committed by people who were considered quirkless. If you factor in confirmed attempted suicides, that number rises to 58%."
Izuku felt the color drain out of his face.
"On top of this, every three out of five quirkless individuals are diagnosed with some form of clinical depression at some point in their lifetime. For them, ostracism, abuse, and neglect are commonplace. This is something that, left unchecked, will only get worse the more saturated the world becomes with quirks and the smaller the pool of quirkless individuals becomes."
"...Why are you telling me this?"
"Midoriya, I personally went to your schools and interviewed all the faculty who looked over you at the time. And what I found seriously disturbed me. Just as their are rules that govern how quirks are treated in schools, there are also rules that govern how to treat quirkless individuals. Your nurses had an extensive catalogue of injury reports from a young age, and it seemed many of your teachers avoided talking about the guidelines set forth on how to treat quirkless students. One of the most basic guidelines, 'Avoid using the word "diagnosed" when referring to the quirkless status of a student,' was broken by every single person I spoke to. That isn't just negligence, it's apathetic."
Silence set heavily between the two of them. Nedzu continued.
"You were very lucky. With your late bloomer status, you were able to escape that cycle of abuse. But it would be foolish of me to claim that everything is okay just because you are no longer without a quirk. I could tell by the way that you spoke to All Might and the way you fought Bakugou Katsuki that there are a lot of unresolved issues. Escape doesn't mean your emotional scars go away, but it can help them heal better. Do you have a group of friends or family whom you can trust and depend on for emotional support?"
Izuku nodded.
"That is good. If you ever feel like that isn't enough, then do not hesitate to speak to me again. It is my responsibility to ensure the physical and emotional well-being of my students. I have no problem setting up regular therapy sessions between the two of us if you deem it necessary."
"Okay."
Nedzu nodded, smiling once more. "Unless there is anything you'd like to ask, you may leave. I hope you build some meaningful relationships here at Yuuei."
The boy nodded, before walking out of the door.
The door to the Villain's bar opened, revealing Izuku wearing casual clothes.
Kurogiri spoke, "Ah, hello- Midoriya?!"
The boy was shaking, tears streaming down his face as he stared at the floor. The bartender rushed over, kneeling to look at the teen at eye level.
"What happened? Are you alright?"
"That bastard," he croaked out, "that stu-stupid principal used my past to g-get under my skin!"
Nedzu was still in his office when he heard another knock at his door.
"Come in!"
The person who entered was none other than Toshinori Yagi. He looked sheepish.
"So... how did the talk go with Young Midoriya?"
Nedzu sighed, sipping tea. "Despite the friendly disposition he puts on for his classmates, it's clear he doesn't trust any of us."
"Was it because of what I said to him?"
"No, no... it's most likely due to the abuse he received at the hands of his peers and teachers." The mouse's eyes shifted over to the emaciated hero. "Though I would have to add that your less than encouraging advice you gave him didn't make things better."
Toshinori clenched his fists.
Nedzu continued. "In any case, he seems to have an emotional support system outside of the school system so at the very least we have some peace of mind. The only thing we can do now is treat him with kindness until he begins to open up to others."
"If that's the case, then should we do something about Young Bakugou?"
"I had thought of that, too. Apparently it seems that the boy was one of the biggest negative influences on our late bloomer. I'm quite sure when he first spoke to you, that 'boy who hurt him every day' was likely Bakugou Katsuki. I had considered having the boy transferred to another class but based on what Midoriya had said during the battle, it appears he no longer considers him worth listening to. I'll leave the two in the same class for now. It may lead to them getting on better terms, which could help both Midoriya's recovery as well as Bakugou's lack of self-confidence."
"What do you mean?"
"Katsuki was a very big fish in a small pond when he was in junior high. Now that he's arrived to Yuuei, he's realizing that the status quo has changed. Should we guide him correctly, he might begin working with others on equal terms."
Toshinori thought over this for a moment, before nodding.
"I'll trust your judgement Nedzu. I'm sure you'll craft this year's students into some fine heroes!"
Nedzu chuckled and finished off his tea, before cheerfully exclaiming "Plus Ultra!"
A/N: Well, I did say I was going to make a long chapter this time around! Hope I didn't disappoint.
As you noticed, I switched up the writing style because I thought it would be best to cover a larger slice of time than a single scene, like I've usually been doing. Since so much happens during the beginning of the Yuuei semester I thought I should combine some of the scenes together so I don't have to keep returning to the same area of the story over and over again
As always, please leave any thoughts you have in the comments and thank you for your support!