CH 42

Watching Mei and Kaminari talk as Kaminari lead the way towards his favorite ice cream shop was like waiting for a bomb to go off. There was no way for Izuku to know exactly when the situation was going to blow up in his face or what exactly would follow, but he knew it probably wouldn't end well for him when it did. Although Izuku had tentatively begun to consider Kaminari a friend, the full implications of his friendship had not occurred to him.

For better or worse, his fate was sealed when Mei called out, "You're in luck, Izuku! Denki, here, has just volunteered to be my newest guinea pig!" Mei would want an explanation for Kaminari later, but for now that was as good as her stamp of approval.

If he was caught off guard by the use of his name, he gave nothing away. "I'm not sure how much help I'll actually be," Kaminari said sheepishly, hand going to the back of his neck as he looked away. "Using my quirk too much has its side effects. That's one of the things I'm hoping to get under control at Yuuei."

"Side effects?" Izuku asked. "I didn't notice anything after the practical."

"Trust me, you would have noticed it. I didn't push myself that far during the exercise. Not exactly the impression I wanted to make on All Might during our first class with him," Kaminari laughed, but Izuku knew it had to be forced. "I can get a lot of charge out of my quirk, but it tends to fry my brain in the process."

Izuku and Mei froze so suddenly it took Kaminari a moment to realize they weren't walking with him anymore. He turned back to them to see the pair exchanging opened mouthed looks of horror."

"Please tell me that's an exaggeration," Izuku said, working hard to keep Aizawa out of his tone. "Please, please tell me you aren't being serious."

"What?" Kaminari asked, looking between them with concern mirroring their own. "What's wrong?"

"The fact that you are asking that is answer enough," Mei said. "Who did you wrong, Denki, and can you tell me where I can find them?"

"Hatsume-"

"We're friends now, Denki. I've decided. That's means you call me Mei. Now lead the way to ice cream so that Izuku and I can tell you all the reasons why what you just said has us concerned. It seems I just got inspiration for a new project."

Discreetly, Izuku pulled out his phone and sent out a quick text. Better for Aizawa to hear about the situation from him with enough time to pull something together than to find out later and it be too late. Mei had mostly been joking, but she wasn't wrong. Whoever had allowed Kaminari to continue to use his quirk as he was when it was having such an effect had done him wrong. The fact that Kaminari had learned to work around it enough to pass the entrance exam knowing what it would do to him was more of a testament to his will than anything else. Izuku felt angry on his new friend's behalf. It wasn't uncommon for quirks to have side effects, but there was usually some way to work around it, something that could be done to avoid or mitigate it. Kaminari was probably even downplaying the effects if it was something he didn't even really think about, sore spot or not. Izuku could only hope that there wasn't any lasting damage done.

For now though, he would have to wait for Aizawa's response and do what he could to prevent Kaminari and Mei from getting them banned from the ice cream shop.

One problem child attracts more. Aizawa thought he had already learned that lesson, but looking at the rushed-and unfortunately lacking in detail- text from Problem Number One, he had clearly forgotten to think about the situation in light of the new school year. Yuuei was a chaotic place on its own, it only stood to reason that Izuku's presence would bring out his own particular brand of disaster.

Luckily, Izuku knew his mentor well enough to add that he would be sending Aizawa more information as he got it. Kaminari would be much more likely to share that information with Izuku than with his teacher, and Aizawa had no problem using his student to gage the situation. It was one more thing that needed to be addressed, although his current source of stress was the initial costume designs that had been returned to him. Yuuei, in an attempt to help support other businesses, had branched out from their usual supplier, and now it was Aizawa's job to clean up the mess that the situation had become.

The company in question must be new. That was the only explanation that Aizawa could see for the designs that had been returned to him. They seemed to be created with only the marketability of the hero in mind rather than their actual safety. A quick glance through them alone had been enough to make him cringe. Did the designers not understand that these were children they were creating equipment for? Yaoyorozu's design alone had been enough for Aizawa to demand that the company that usually supplied the first years with their costumes be reached. Those designers had been just as appalled by what they had seen.

Some of the designs themselves had been salvageable, with a few safety updates, but others had to be completely redone. Aizawa could only imagine the chaos that would come when the students tried them on for the first time the following day. A headache had already started forming just from the thought of it. And then adding Kaminari's issue and Nedzu's scheming on top of it. The school year was already turning out to be more work than any year Aizawa had taught in the past.

Aizawa would take it though, if this class was really as promising as it seemed. The one exception aside, he had never had a class as immediately serious as this one. Whether they maintained that attitude was yet to be seen, but for once Aizawa allowed himself to hope. If not, well, he could always see about transferring Izuku to 1-B. Nedzu owed him, and Aizawa wouldn't hesitate to collect when the moment was right. For now, he had parents he needed to contact.

"We have a lot to do today," Aizawa said, addressing the class the moment the bell signaling the start of homeroom sounded. "Your uniforms have arrived, so we will be doing a final test to make sure that everything is in order before the final versions are made. If there are any problems or concerns that you have when you try them on today, I need to know about them immediately. As some of you may have learned last night, the production of your uniforms changed between the first draft and the ones you will receive today. These changes were made in order to ensure your safety, and your parents or guardians were consulted about the reasoning behind this. If you have any problems with those changes, I suggest you take it up with them. Your costume is an important part of your image as a pro hero, but your safety is of the upmost priority. When you are a pro if you wish to value style of practicality, that is your right, but while you are a member of Yuuei, all designs must be done with safety in mind. Is that clear?"

Kaminari shot Izuku another thumbs up as the class mumbled their agreement, ready to move on. This was something they had all been waiting for since finding out they had gotten into Yuuei.

"After this, we will be deciding class representatives. Each class will be choosing two, so keep this in mind as we work through the fitting. The vote will need to be quick as we have other things to do today. Be ready with your choices."

And with that he gestured to the stand behind him where nineteen cases had been carefully arranged. "When I call your name, come and get your case. Do not open them until all of the cases have been given out."

It was slow going, waiting for each student to come to the front of the room and receive their case even with the way nearly every single one of them tried and failed to hide their excitement at the prospect of finally having their costumes in hand.

"Some general reminders before we begin," Aizawa said. Izuku could hear the tiredness in his voice, and hoped that his heads up the day before hadn't been a factor in what had evidently been a sleepless night. "No capes and no heels were allowed. I didn't run these changes by your parents or guardians because it's a safety concern. If you included these in your designs they have been removed. Don't complain to me, because I will not be changing my mind. Everything else should be the same with the addition of stronger, more resilient materials unless I got into contact with your guardians. Now, go ahead and open them."

Izuku knew that he should take a quick look at his classmates' costumes, see what they had added to augment their quirks, but there would be time for that later. For now, all of his attention was focused on his own case sitting innocently on his desk. His designs hadn't changed. Izuku and Aizawa, with a few suggestions from Hizashi, had come up with his before the school year even started. None of the production companies had ever designed a costume for someone without a quirk, and so there were certain safety features that needed to be added to ensure that if Izuku took extra damage his suit would be able to handle it without him getting harmed in the process.

Simple and sleek, the design they finally settled on was unassuming, but that was exactly as he had wanted it. Let his classmates have the flashy costumes, the bright colors, and the extra flair. Izuku didn't need it, and he didn't want it. The more unassuming he appeared, the more likely the villains would be to underestimate him, and he wasn't afraid to shift the odds in his favor.

That didn't stop his breath from catching in his throat as he undid the latch on the case and opened it to find his costume and gear folded carefully inside. Izuku could feel Aizawa's eyes on him, but he kept his attention solely on the case.

In the end, the color scheme had been the hardest thing to decide. His mother had suggested yellow and black, a tribute to Aizawa like the many that Izuku had chosen over the last two years of training with him, but that idea had quickly been discarded. A visual representation of their relationship would do nothing to help keep his sponsor a secret. Hizashi had been the most upset by that choice, but Aizawa had agreed that it was for the best.

Izuku had considered blue, a reference to the comic book hero that had inspired him all those years ago, but that too had been discarded. He needed to forge his own path, and although others had served to help him find the way their paths were not his own. After that, the choice had been obvious.

Inside the case lay what, at first glance, seemed like a tracksuit one would find in the gym rather than on a pro hero in the field. That was where the true deception could be found. Izuku picked up the black fabric letting it unfold. The chest and been reinforced with a material similar to Kevlar. From the lab tests that Izuku had seen, it would help to alleviate the impact of any direct hits he may take from a quirk. Even weapons like knives would be dulled by the material. It wouldn't stop everything, but it might be just enough to give Izuku time to get out or make a plan. Short sleeved, the fabric would still allow Izuku to move unrestricted.

The pants were made of the same material, with extra protection added around his thighs. One too many videos about the dangers of the femoral artery had been enough for Izuku to think the precaution warranted. He had no knives in his arsenal now, but he couldn't rule out the possibility of a villain coming prepared.

Everything was tied together with a dark, hunter green. Panels of the green reinforced material ran up his sides and lined the top of the shirt as an extra layer of protection around his throat. Green stitching added subtle detail to the pockets of his pants, which were tucked into dark green boots that rose to just under his knees.

Izuku slipped on the pair of gloves that had been tucked into the bottom of the case, closing his hand to test the fabric's stretch. The plans for his electrified eskrima rods had been sent to the company, and a small green lightning bolt had been stitched on the inside of each wrist. Kaminari was sure to find that hilarious, considering the design had been finalized long before the two of them had met.

The belt with all of his gear, Izuku had handled himself, making sure that the greens were the exact same shade. The last item in the case was the only item he had allowed himself simply for the aesthetic and because he was too much of a comic book fanboy to not have a single reference in his costume even if he had decided against a callback to his heroes' colors. A black domino mask that he had been assured would stick to his face without difficulty added the final touch to the look.

Izuku had been training to be a hero for years now, and it wasn't his first day at Yuuei, but nothing had hammered home the fact that he was actually there, that he was actually achieving his dreams, more than holding that costume in his hands.

The rest of the class seemed to be having the same problem, because the quick transition from uniforms to class representatives that Aizawa had been hoping for never happened. When questions about costume repairs or alterations threaten to take of the entire allotted time, Aizawa had just sighed and pushed through. It was only him trying to get ahead of the game for one that had made him try to get everything done in one day. Obviously, that wasn't going to work.

"Be ready to turn in your votes for class representative first think tomorrow," Aizawa said, watching them pack away their costumes again. The cases would be kept at the school if no adjustments were needed, while the rest would be sent back with the notes Aizawa had scrawled in his tiny handwriting.

"All adjustments will be done by the time of your next practical. This practical will involve a field trip to another facility on Yuuei's campus. More information about this exercise will be given closer to the actual date."

With one last glance around the room, Aizawa nodded to himself before gathering his things and leaving his problem children in the capable hands of their next teacher. He still had a few fires to try to put out before the end of the day.

Aizawa was lucky that Hizashi had a free period so early in the morning, because he didn't think that he had the patience to wait.

"Oh no," Hizashi said, seeing his face as he stormed into the teacher's lounge. He was leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on the desk. For once there was no one else in there but the two of them, and Aizawa was grateful for the rare moment of peace he needed to talk to his best friend. "What's Izuku done now?"

That drew Aizawa up short. "What makes you think Izuku did anything?"

Hizashi gave him a flat look in response. "That's your Izuku look. Very similar to the Hizashi look, yet not quite as angry. Yet. So, what did my favorite nephew do now?"

Aizawa resisted the urge to point out that Izuku was his only nephew. "Izuku wants to tell one of his classmates that I'm his sponsor."

Hizashi sat up, sliding his feet back to the floor. "That's a change. What made him want to do that?"

Quickly, Aizawa filled him in on what Izuku had discovered the day before. "There would be no real reason for me to know this information unless Izuku told me," Aizawa reasoned, "and Izuku doesn't want Kaminari to feel that he betrayed his trust by going straight to me when we aren't supposed to have any kind of relationship. I can't not address this though. From what Izuku said, over using his quirk ends with a serious effect on his mental faculties. He's lucky there's been no health complications before now, and that's probably only because of the ban on using quirks. There's no telling what using his quirk regularly will have on him, even if he doesn't push it to the limit that he described."

"There's probably a solution to this," Hizashi said. His own quirk had caused his ears quite the problem itself, until he had figure out that he could shield himself from the effects. Kaminari probably had a similar way to protect himself, but didn't have the control yet to use it.

"If I could work with him on it directly, there probably would be. I can't wait until the next practical to talk to him about this. Which is why Izuku offered his solution."

Hizashi leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees as he propped his chin on an open palm. "I'm not sure what advice you want from me here, Shouta. You've obviously decided to let Izuku go through with it. Besides, I think this might be good for him. Kid could use a few more friends. Hatsume is great, but they don't get to spend much time together when they're at school. Having a friend in the same class as him would go a long way to helping him feel more accepted here. Kaminari seems like a good kid, too. He doesn't seem like the type to go blabbing when you ask him not to."

"So, you don't think it would be a mistake?" Aizawa asked.

"It's going to get out eventually," Hizashi shrugged. "I've told you before, the two of you aren't subtle. Better to start laying the ground work now."