THANK YOU FOR 100 FAVOURITES.
I didn't really expect this to go even this far, I'm so glad I was proven wrong. :3
Well, without any further ado (mainly since I have no substantial pre-chapter notes there's more end notes), here's chapter 5 of RH.
'They're going to hate me.'
'Reject me.'
'Of course, they will...'
'Who in their right mind would think that someone like me could be a hero?'
The class stared at Izuku, now without his mask, in disbelief.
Their faces unreadable, blank.
Aizawa looked back to Izuku making sure he wasn't panicking.
But Izuku has long since learned to mask his emotions and show as little weakness as possible.
The less he showed the less likely he was to be harassed or bullied, after all.
The first to speak, however, wasn't any of the students.
It was All Might...
Izuku had forgotten about that...
All Might had every right to despise Izuku's very existence.
He was the spawn of the man who had murdered All Might's mentor in cold blood after all.
"[All For One], you say?"
The man is audibly distraught.
"Why such a name, young Midoriya?"
"[All For One], everything for one person."
"I-It's... It's the epitome of greed."
"T-That's the meaning behind the name."
Izuku answers without turning around, too afraid of what he'd see if he did.
"That name is unfitting," Izuku startles as a big yet gentle hand lands on his shoulder "for you that is, had it been a villain's quirk I would agree with the name and its origins."
"But you young Midoriya."
"Are kind beyond measure."
"You took your misfortune."
"And forced it to work."
All Might coaxes Izuku into turning to face him.
He finally gives in and does so.
And on All Might's face is a smile which really shouldn't shake Izuku as much as it does considering that All Might smiles all the time.
But the issue isn't the smile itself, it's the kind of smile it is.
It isn't reassuring.
Well... Not in the way his usual smile, the one he wears when saving people, is.
That smile says 'You're safe now'.
This smile is... different. Kinder, more genuine.
And it almost makes Izuku drop his guard and start crying.
Almost.
"And that, young Midoriya, is the epitome of heroics."
"Turning someone's misfortune on its head. Sometimes even your own."
"It doesn't matter how villainous you believe your quirk is because your character is one of a true hero."
Damnit!
He will not cry.
He refuses.
Not in front of the class.
His students.
His friends.
"Yeah Midoriya!"
Kirishima yells and Izuku jumps at the volume then turns to face the class once more.
"What you did proves that you're a hero!"
"No-one who had any bit of evil in them would fight the Nomu with everything they had like that!"
'NO, I'm not gonna cry.'
"You're too nice for us to be scared of you Deku, we were just surprised."
Uraraka says loudly.
"IDIOT DEKU! What did I always tell you?"
"No-one's gonna give a shit about your quirk since you're so fucking obnoxiously nice."
'Ah fuck...I'm gonna cry.'
"You see Midoriya," a tired voice from the corner of the room calls "you have nothing to worry about."
Izuku turns to look at Aizawa.
"T-Thank you Aizawa-sensei," Izuku says, bawling full force. "A-And the rest of you..."
"Thank you so m-much," it's getting hard to understand Izuku between the sobs "I-I'll continue with my explanation i-in a m-moment."
After a long while, Izuku manages to compose himself enough to continue talking.
"R-Right," even if his voice is still shaky and a little raw from the tears "So, you know that I'm a pro-hero and that I have a quirk..."
"And even if you don't need to know this next thing I think you deserve to."
Aizawa snaps his head to look back at Izuku, knowing exactly what he was about to tell them, his eyes clearly portrayed his question "Are you sure about this?".
Izuku answered Aizawa's unspoken question with a simple nod.
"I...want to explain where I got the quirks, well... not counting the ones you saw me steal during the USJ attack."
"But first, you all know of The Headhunter, right?"
Everyone nods vigorously, Shinsou's eyes begin to sparkle slightly...
Gears in Izuku's head start turning trying to figure out why he'd have such a reaction to the name.
"The leading theory in the news is that his quirk is [Permanent Erasure], and the explanation is that his power doesn't inhibit your quirk factor temporarily, like Aizawa-sensei, but completely destroys it."
More nods all around the class.
"Well... That's not how it works either."
"Some of the villains and thugs hunted by him retain some 'organs' or physical features that aren't directly linked to their quirk but are caused by it."
Realization dawns on a few student's faces.
Iida.
Momo.
Todoroki.
Shinsou.
"And that means their quirk factor wasn't completely destroyed."
"Which leads to only two explanations."
"The Headhunter's quirk damages an individual's quirk factor permanently but doesn't destroy it. Which means they may still be able to activate their quirk but it would be different or more difficult to use."
"Or that The Headhunter's quirk is the ability to take someone's quirk."
Disbelief washes over the class again.
"I'm The Headhunter."
"The vigilante who has taken the world by storm."
A long pause.
"But I'm also Valor."
"The youngest hero in the world."
Izuku's eyes sparkle with half-formed tears.
"But... most importantly. I'm Izuku."
"And I hope these facts won't change your view of me."
He looks to the ground in shame.
"Deku." Bakugou hisses dangerously.
"WE."
"DON'T."
"CARE."
"You're still the same old nerdy Deku."
Izuku smiles despite the fact no one can see his face.
"But I shouldn't be the one talking since I already knew."
"W-What?!" Izuku's head whips back up at those words.
"You used your quirk on me when it manifested remember?"
"I know how it fucking works. So you think a Vigilante who leaves people quirkless won't make me ask questions? Or connect dots? Combined with the fact that you left your house late most nights?"
"And I realised it was you behind that dumb mask too!"
Izuku looks up in disbelief.
"Seriously though 'Valor'?"
"That's way too generic and shitty."
"Just call yourself 'Deku' now that we all know."
"T-That might not be that bad of an idea..."
Aizawa shuffles out of his yellow sleeping bag and starts walking back toward the podium, Izuku steps away letting him take his spot.
"All right, with that out of the way, we can start the day."
"That one-on-one tutoring with Deku-sensei begins today, you'll be pulled out of the classes you're doing best at so as to not sabotage your chances in those you're bad at."
Izuku pouts lightly when Aizawa calls him Sensei.
"Do your best, those sessions will be highly specialised and extremely helpful."
"It would be illogical to not make the most of them."
First period is science, physics specifically.
So the students Izuku will be tutoring in this time are Bakugou (he's surprisingly good at physics, although it shouldn't really be surprising he clearly needs to calculate a lot quicker to use his quirk effectively not to mention things like momentum and energy) Momo (who again needs to know physics and chemistry well to be able to use her quirk to its utmost).
Izuku planned these sessions to be fairly long and extensive so he'd spend a good 30 minutes per student to make sure he covers as much as he can.
He'd rather waste time than not give the upcoming heroes the practice and guidance they all deserve.
Part of the reason he pushed himself to come in early (while some of his bones, muscles and other body parts were still healing) was the fact that he could finally talk to Bakugou during/after their half-hour training session.
Seeing as Bakugou's quirk output is already pretty high (he won't need to increase it much higher overall for it to be pro-level) their training will mostly be developing some creativity with Bakugou's quirk along with sparring and some brainstorming of gear for Bakugou's costume.
Izuku would develop it himself but he doesn't have a license to actually distribute his support gear.
He'd have to talk to Power Loader about getting one, it would be more helpful to design this kind of stuff himself (maybe with help from some support course students or Power Loader himself if he got stuck on something).
About 5 minutes into 1-A's first lesson Izuku peeks into their classroom (having used that five minutes to make sure that his preparations for the first tutoring sessions of today were ready) "Bakugou? Come with me please."
Izuku is back in his hero persona, acting more confident than he feels.
The mask is useful and makes him feel more comfortable with what he's doing.
It lets him smile without any of the nerves he'd usually show.
"Oi Deku," Bakugou whispers quietly "Why are you still acting weird?"
"I have to stay in character, Kacchan!" Izuku whispers right back, pouting lightly under his mask.
"Pfft, fine."
"What are you even gonna teach me, Sensei?"
Izuku slips back into his hero persona seamlessly.
"Just refer to me with my hero name instead of Sensei" Izuku reminds on instinct.
"Your quirk output is high enough for now, maybe even up until your third year if not longer."
"So we'll focus on support gear that improves your efficiency and your creativity."
"Your quirk is very strong but your use of it is stiff."
"It has to be more flexible."
"And thanks to my [Mimicry] we get to experiment with your quirk twice as much and twice as fast!"
"My aim is to help you develop at least one ultimate move in this session and then have you practice it in your off-time and maybe in the next tutoring session I have with you."
"And my side goal is to think up some practical gear for you!"
He smiles brightly at Bakugou. Which isn't really all that helpful considering his face is still covered, but the blond gets the message.
"Tch, you've probably got all of the sessions already planned out don't you, overachiever?"
"Yup!" He says practically oozing happiness.
"Typical." the blond murmurs.
The rest of the walk is completed in relative silence, with Izuku remarking about some things and Bakugou responding suitably.
Until they got to where the 1-A quirk aptitude test happened.
'God, it's only been a week since then...too much can happen in the span of a single week.'
"Alright." Izuku lets his facade down a little.
"Let's start with a s-"
Izuku cuts himself off when he looks back at Bakugou's face, devoid of any sneers, fight or emotion.
Just blank.
"K-K-K-Kacchan?"
Izuku stutters.
"A-Are you okay?"
"Deku," Bakugou locks eyes with Izuku "You wanna ask me something, don't you?"
Izuku freezes in place.
'Buuusteeed.'
"Ehehe," Izuku laughs nervously, scratching at the back of his neck "How could you tell?"
"You forget I've known you for like ten years, dipshit."
"Now spill."
"W-Well...I just wanted to t-talk about the whole situation concerning," he gestures at himself in a wide motion "me and all of the stuff I've done."
"I'm not pissed at you, Deku. Or sad, I knew you'd tell me sooner or later."
"And it's pretty fucking cool too."
Izuku lets out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.
These kinds of genuine moments between them were few and far between, and Bakugou would deny them ever occurring to anyone else.
But the fact that Bakugou spoke to Izuku like this (only Izuku, no-one else ever got to see this side of him, probably not even his parents), on equal footing; no hostility whatsoever and perhaps the closest Bakugou could get to an actual smile.
Izuku loves these moments most...well. He loves saving people most, but this is a very close second.
The first 10 minutes they spent on sparring to see if there were any obvious places they could make improvements in Bakugou's fighting style.
There wasn't much that could be done to improve it, at least not now. The remainder of the session was spent on better things.
Together Bakugou and Izuku managed to come up with a new special move!
It involved Bakugou manipulating his explosions in a way that produced as much thick smoke as possible. They dubbed it Smoke Grenade, not particularly creative or original but it'll do nicely.
But that new move brought issues of it's own up. The smoke would also blind Bakugou... Unless they upgraded his gear.
"Goggles!" Izuku had exclaimed from behind his mask "Thermal vision, night vision and everything in between!"
To which Bakugou agreed "As long as they don't look stupid".
So Izuku spent rest of their session drawing out a design on the (fixed) PDA incorporated into his sleeve while Bakugou practised and experimented with his smoke grenade.
Izuku's logic with Bakugou's move set was less focused on power and more on speed and utility. While it was pointless to build up someone's terrible/bad skills and it made more sense to focus on what they're better at that didn't apply to Bakugou. Since his speed and utility wasn't zero, he just doesn't have many moves that use it. Well, not anymore. Smoke Grenade was his utility and Blast Rush was his speed, with the addition of maybe one or two more utility or speed moves he'd be good in that regard, then they could work on making him more powerful.
Building his quirk up.
Building his physical strength up.
Building a practical costume that was capable of handling his power.
And then he'd truly be pro hero material, agencies will be fighting over him!
Speaking of agencies... Izuku would need to sign up to some agency or build his own. Considering how new of a hero he is constructing his own agency would be tough, signing up to one would be easier seeing as he bears the title of 'youngest hero on the planet' that alone would get him offers (not to mention his powerful 'adaptation' quirk). But there's no guarantee those agencies would be reputable or even suitable. And seeing as he's working at U.A his hands are already full...
Maybe one of his co-workers could point him in the right direction, they are all seasoned veterans of the hero scene after all!
"Deku!" Bakugou yells earning a yelp from a startled Izuku "The session is supposed to be 30 minutes long right?"
"Yup?" Izuku says - asks? - tilting his head in confusion.
"It's already been 30 minutes dumbass, session's over."
"Oh!" Izuku jumps a little at the realisation "You're right, head back to class and tell Yaoyorozu to meet me here, please."
"Tch, fine." He tries sounding pissed off but fails, clearly happy with his progress and the productivity of the session. He would've taken his time getting to class but decided against walking as leisurely as he'd been planning so that the next student showed up on time to Deku-sensei's tutoring.
He doesn't even knock on 1-A's door just walks straight in.
"Oi, vice rep!" Momo perks up at Bakugou's mention of her "You're up."
He says with a grin? snarl? some weird mixture of the two?
Momo quickly shuffles out of her seat and says a quiet "thank you" as she hurries past Bakugou.
'Fuck is she in such a hurry for?'
'It's just fucking Deku.'
Alright, bit of a boring chapter, hope it isn't too bad, I haven't really gotten a friend to beta it so I hopefully haven't made too many mistakes. (feel free to point any out, criticism is great too I very much enjoy seeing what you all think.)
Next chapter is going to feature Momo's training, Izuku finding an agency to sign up to and maybe some other stuff.
If you guys want the training sessions to be written more in-depth, I could detail them in some kind of an 'omake' chapter.
Once again thank you for so many follows and favourites (almost up to 120 .) and for reading.
On a side note, I had an idea for a third MHA fic which is more original than CA and RH.
It'll still be quirk Izuku without OFA which is more or less what all of my fics are but I think some of you will enjoy reading that one too .
So if you're interested keep a look out, it'll be up sometime this month (it'll prolly be updated monthly so I have enough time to forge something decent)