CH 43

Yuuei was a means to an end.

Todoroki had been told that over and over again in the months leading up to the start of school. He wasn't there to make friends, or participate in clubs, or whatever else it was that normal teens in high school were supposed to do. All he needed to do was learn, and be prepared to make an effective entrance to the scene during the Sports Festival.

Enji, as Todoroki was also reminded often, had done all the hard work for him. He was the one with the established reputation, a reputation that would open doors for him when Todoroki inevitably slipped he. Enji was the one who had taken responsibility for his training at a young age, ensuring that Todoroki would be miles ahead of his peers when the day to begin his training in earnest came, and it was Enji who made sure that Todoroki got into Yuuei on a recommendation spot with all the attention that afforded him.

Yuuei, in the long run, wasn't supposed to mean anything. Todoroki had a sneaking suspicion that part of Enji's feelings towards the school were based on the fact that his rival had been offered a teaching position when he hadn't, but Todoroki wouldn't dare to mention that. The fact that Enji wouldn't want to teach and would, in all actuality, be the worst teacher Yuuei ever had, was completely beside the point.

Still though, Todoroki had thought that Yuuei would be more…something. What that extra something missing was exactly, Todoroki didn't know. Yuuei was just as loud, just as busy, just as focused as he had heard. No aspect of the school failed to live up to its very large reputation. But still.

Maybe it was the fact that his classmates seemed almost afraid of him. Or afraid to talk to him, at least. Yaoyorozu seemed to get almost the same treatment, but there was a frigid edge to the conversation anytime one of them had to talk to Todoroki, and it wasn't a result of his quirk.

Enji could probably take credit for that development too, but Todoroki wouldn't be sharing it with him. The smug asshole would probably be proud that he had managed to isolate Todoroki so thoroughly. No, the real question was what Todoroki wanted to do about it.

The easiest thing, the most obvious option, would be to do nothing. Todoroki didn't have friends, and he didn't particularly want any. While his motivations differed from Enji's, Todoroki still wanted to be successful at Yuuei for his own sake. Shifting his attention to making the situation with his classmates better would take away focus from his training. The unease they held when interacting with him wasn't interfering with his work. At least not yet. Was there any real reason do go out of his way?

Todoroki couldn't help but recall the criticism that had been shared during their practical viewing.

When it came to using their quirk against a classmate there was always a moment where they pulled back.

He hadn't held back. He hadn't hesitated. Todoroki had seen the end goal in sight, and he went for it with the same single minded focus on results that had been drilled into his head year after year. His classmates and the damage he could have done to them had been less than a second thought in that moment. And what did that say about Todoroki?

The revelation that Enji was a messed up excuse for a hero wasn't a new one. Todoroki had figured out a long time ago that the way that Enji did things wasn't normal, wasn't right, and yet he still couldn't shake the way the man hovered over him. A constant shadow tainting his actions with lessons Todoroki had never wanted to learn. A fire burning steady under his skin as a reminder he could never escape.

His classmates joked and gossiped around him, but Todoroki paid them no attention, lost in his thoughts. Coming to Yuuei had changed things, whether Enji wanted to acknowledge it or not, and Todoroki felt as though he were balancing on a knife's edge waiting to fall. Something had to give eventually. Enji pushed and pushed, and Todoroki resisted when he could, but the status quo couldn't stay as it was forever.

Todoroki only wished he knew if the change would be in his favor.

Deciding class representatives took less than five minutes. Aizawa should have been proud. Given Aizawa's resigned attitude towards the entire activity, Izuku thought there would be more of a hassle involved. Yuuei was a competitive school, which meant that the majority of the students were competitive themselves. That wasn't always the case, as shown by some of Aizawa's previous classes, but the current 1-A class seemed to be the exception to that unsettling trend.

In the practical and the following review, they had let that competitiveness through. There was actual hope this year for the class making it without losing any more of its students to laziness or irresponsible behavior.

The competition made the decision easy in the end. Everyone voted for themselves with four exceptions.

"There has been a three way tie," Aizawa announced after tallying the votes on the board. "We only have two representative slots, so Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, Kaminari. Decide amongst yourselves who the representatives will be and let me know. Remember that this is an important responsibility. Your grades will need to maintain passing grades in order to keep your position. This should not in any way affect your studies, as that is your first priority."

The three students in question looked at each other, surprise clear on their faces.

Kaminari spoke first. "You two should-"

"I'm withdrawing," Izuku said before Kaminari could finish, glancing between the two of them. Izuku hadn't spoken to Yaoyorozu much, but he knew that she was a serious and responsible student. She would be the perfect person to represent their class, and Kaminari had already shown that he knew how to take charge. Their classmates would listen to them.

"Izuku, if this is-"

"This isn't because of them," Izuku assured him, and it honestly wasn't. There was still an element of tension in the class after the reveal that Izuku had gotten in on recommendations. His performance during the practical had silenced any remaining questions about his skills. The only unknowns now were who his sponsor was and how he had gotten his training, and Izuku didn't plan on providing that information any time soon.

If anything, Kaminari's criticism of their behavior when they ambushed him had seemed to shift the attention back on them. Izuku could tell that some of his classmates wanted to apologize to him, but weren't sure how to go about it. For the moment, Izuku was content to let the feeling simmer. It shouldn't have taken seeing him in action for them to give him a chance. Izuku was feeling petty enough to allow them to wallow in their shame for a little while longer. It was a lesson they would need to learn if they were ever going to be good heroes.

"I'm picking up some extracurriculars," Izuku explained. "I don't have the time to take on other responsibilities right now. I appreciate that people voted for me, but I don't want to take it if it can't do the job justice. You two would be great at it though! I'll go ahead and tell Aizawa-sensei!"

It didn't take long for Kaminari and his grandmother to figure out a routine once he started at Yuuei. Every day, Kaminari would come home from school and immediately start his homework, working in the kitchen while his grandmother cooked or knitted or read at the table across from him. They wouldn't talk during that quiet time, just sitting together enjoying each other company in the silence. She knew him well enough to know that starting a conversation would be enough to break his fragile hold on his concentration, and then there would be no telling how long it would take to get back on task again.

After homework, they would have dinner. His grandmother cooking for them or, if he didn't have a lot of homework that day, Kaminari taking charge for the day. That would be the time he could finally share all the stories he had kept bottled up all day- his work to make Midoriya Izuku his friend, his academic classes, his classmates antics. All saved up for their nightly chance to share. Kaminari told her everything. Everything, except, Izuku and Mei's reaction to the side effects of his quirk.

Kaminari had never mentioned the effects to his grandmother before, and it shouldn't have taken his newfound friends for him to realize that it was because he knew that she would have tried to stop him. None of his teachers at school had said anything to him about not hurting himself with his quirk, but his grandmother would have. He knew he would have to tell her eventually, but he hoped to have a plan in place before he broached that topic with her. Kaminari Koharu would not be amused.

They didn't talk about the function of his quirk often, focusing more on his dreams of being a pro hero, but he wondered if his grandfather had had a similar drawback or if his quirk had been too low powered for it to affect him the same way. No two quirks were ever exactly the same, but his quirk was extremely similar to his grandfather's, from the stories Koharu had told him. Less powerful, and maybe less flexible, but similar nonetheless. Kaminari wished that he had been able to talk to his grandfather about his quirk, but the man had died in the same accident that killed Kaminari's parents. He had lived with his grandmother ever since.

Maybe that was why he had been the first one to reach out to Izuku, although he knew that he would like the other boy the moment he made a face at his classmates' unnecessary comments and fired back with some snark of his own.

Kaminari Koharu was the strongest person that Denki knew. She had weathered the death of her husband, son, and daughter-in-law, all in one fell swoop, and had taken him in anyway. She had helped him through his own grief when he was too young to fully comprehend the gravity of the situation beyond the fact that the majority of his family wouldn't be coming home again. She had squashed down her own feelings of anger and sadness, shielding him from her pain. She had supported his dream, and sacrificed so much to help him get to where he was.

Kaminari Koharu was also quirkless.

He hadn't mentioned that fact to Izuku yet, but he would have to eventually. His grandmother wanted to meet the boy who was taking Yuuei by storm. Denki may have talked his new friend up a little, but he had no regrets. Especially considering the news that he had to share with his grandmother this time.

They talked around the little details of their day at first, Kaminari listening as his grandmother described the work that she had done in her garden. It was hard to be patient, but he would never rush her to finish. She must have noticed his excitement though, because she paused half way through her story about the work she wanted to do the next day and smiled at him.

"We can come back to my plans later. Tell me, Denki, what has you so excited today? Something happen with that new friend of yours?"

Kaminari had always been so easy for her to read. "He invited me to eat dinner at his house tomorrow," he said. "Izuku wants me to meet his sponsor!"

He didn't have to say anything else for his grandmother to understand the significance of his statement. He had gone into detail about the way that his classmates had been skeptical about Izuku's abilities at first, how the reveal that Izuku had gotten in on recommendations had been a big shock to most of the class. Kaminari hadn't guessed that Izuku was the mysterious fifth recommendation student, but he hadn't been as surprised by it as others. There was something about Izuku. Kaminari knew that first day of school that there was more to his classmate. Izuku exuded a confidence that most first years couldn't possess. He seemed so sure of himself and his abilities.

Kaminari was sure that part of that was due to the thick skin he would have had to develop growing up quirkless and still dreaming of being a hero. His grandmother had told him some of the things that had been said to her after he told her about Izuku, and the thought of it made his blood boil. Quirklessness had been more common then, and while twenty percent of the total population was now quirkless, the percentage of their generation was much lower. He could only imagine what Izuku must have had to endure.

Izuku could certainly take care of himself, but that didn't mean that he had to face everything alone. Over time their classmates would have to learn what a great person Izuku was, what a great hero he could be, but until then he would watch and listen, and do whatever Izuku wanted him to do to help. Even if that meant staying out of it.

"I'm so proud of you, Denki," his grandmother cooed, reaching across the table to pat his hand. "Have I told you that today?"

"Not since this morning," Kaminari joked, turning his hand over to lock his fingers with his.

"That's far too long ago," she said, still smiling. "I'll need to tell you extra to make up for it."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Aizawa asked Izuku, expression skeptical. Inko had already shoved a mug of tea in his hand, and Aizawa had taken no time in tapping out his nerves against the glass. Why he was nervous, Izuku wasn't sure, but it was clear his mentor wasn't one hundred percent ready for this conversation.

"We don't have to tell Kaminari," Izuku said. "I can come up with another reason to tell you about his side effects."

Aizawa shook his head. "You need someone in the class to know what's going on. Kaminari is a good choice, and it will be easier to help him if he can trust me. While the decisions I made with my past classes were for their safety, they have given me a bit of a reputation. This is the best decision for everyone."

"It's okay, Aizawa-sensei. I'm sure that Kaminari won't tell anyone what a softie you are," Izuku grinned, patting his mentor on the shoulder before slipping out of his reach as Aizawa swiped for him.

"You've been spending too much time with Hizashi."

Izuku shrugged. "You shouldn't have share custody with him then."

"Brat."

"Old man."

Aizawa would have continued their joking argument, but a knock came from the door. After getting used to Hizashi and Aizawa letting themselves in whenever they came by, it was almost strange to have someone actually knocking on their door again.

Izuku had thought this decision through over and over again since he had suggested the idea to Aizawa, but he felt that it was the right one. He hadn't been lying to Aizawa, if his teacher had asked him not to tell Kaminari then Izuku would have found another way around the situation. Together, they would have been able to come up with something convincing enough that would have allowed Aizawa to help Kaminari without betraying his growing trust in Izuku. It was just easier if Kaminari knew the truth.

Analyzing his own actions to make sure he wasn't giving anything away was already starting to become tiring, and Izuku couldn't say that it wouldn't be helpful to have someone else in the room to tell him when they were being too obvious. That had been part of his argument to Aizawa as well, but it wasn't the main reason for wanting Kaminari to join their inner circle. Izuku hadn't even voiced that additional, but he was sure that Aizawa knew it anyway.

Over the past two years, Izuku had gotten used to have Mei with him all the time. He had gone from having no friends to the best friend he could have ever asked for, and although their friendship could certainly handle the constraint on their time together that came with being at Yuuei, Izuku was a little lonely. He hadn't realized that was what the feeling was until he met Mei, and then Kaminari had come in shining just as bright.

Mei had liked him as well, once she met him and got the whole story from Izuku, and that had been just the approval he had needed to know that Kaminari would fit in with their group perfectly. The only thing that stood in their way was the secrets that Izuku was keeping, and those were easy enough to do away with.

So, telling Kaminari the truth was definitely in order to help him find a solution to keeping his quirk from hurting him, but it was also a little because Izuku just wanted him to know. He had made sure to give his new friend a choice though. Izuku had seen first hand how quickly a situation can deteriorate when secrets are sprung on people unexpectedly. Izuku didn't want to be a holder of secrets that weren't his in the first place, and he wouldn't put Kaminari in that position if he could help it. Luckily, Kaminari had agreed. He would keep the news of Izuku's sponsor, even the fact that he knew who Izuku's sponsor was, to himself.

Later, after the shock of it fell away, Izuku would have to tell him about everything else that had happened since meeting Aizawa that first day. Rave and Asahi, the fight for Nedzu, the mall. That would have to be when they were away from his family though, because Izuku wanted to avoid reminding them of the situations where he had acted irresponsibly if at all possible. He wouldn't put it passed his mother to ground him again if she remembered how mad she had been.

Quickly, he gestured for Aizawa to be quiet as he took his mug into the kitchen. It would be better for Kaminari to hear it from Izuku before seeing Aizawa standing at his door. He could hear his mother and Aizawa giggling in the kitchen and he shushed them before moving towards the door. His mother laughed when she was nervous, and it was always infectious. Even Aizawa wasn't immune. At least if Kaminari hear it, he couldn't use that to guess who Izuku's mentor was. No one at Yuuei had heard him laugh before, but Izuku hoped he could change that.

Trying to keep the laughter from his own voice, Izuku strode towards the door.

"Showtime."

And let the chaos begin.