This document beta'd by kylekatarn77
6. Social Skills
You can't go back and change the beginning. But you can start where you are and change the ending.
-C.S. Lewis
Part of Izuku felt like the day he started High School was the best day of his life. He was going to UA, his dream school, and for once he had a real friend in his class that he was excited to see.
Another part of him felt like someone had just walked over the grave of his dreams. Could you really be a hero, him? Quirkless, rejected by the Hero Course, and with not even his parents believing in him.
"Izuku, I'm so proud of you! Here, this is from your father in America. He says `congratulations!'"
Izuku took the wrapped box, feeling his heart pound slightly. He almost never heard from his father. He opened it and his excitement came to an abrupt end. It was a set of precision tools, finely made, and very expensive. With them was a note:
Good job son, you'll be a great support. - Dad.
Of course. His father didn't believe in him. Not that Izuku expected anything better of a man he barely knew. He forced himself to smile. "Wow, it's great. I'm sure this will be helpful to Mei and I as we build things."
He would use these tools. He would use them to make himself into a hero, the greatest hero in the world, one who saved lives, and believed even in those who no one else did. He hugged his weeping mother one last time, and headed out of the door.
Izuku was early to UA, but not as early as Mei was. He wasn't surprised to find her already at the support building, her uniform already dirty from grease and sweat as she worked on the Power Suit.
"Don't worry baby, mommy's here, and she brought upgrades, just like she promised!" Mei was saying to the invention when Izuku walked up.
"Good morning, Mei," Izuku greeted her.
She looked up at him and smiled. "I already calculated the area of the classroom and the volume! It's safe and we can work on our babies here! Ready to become a hero?"
Hope stirred in Izuku's heart. "Yes! I will be the world's greatest hero!"
"Ha! And it will be our babies that get you there! Hey, what's that you got?" Mei jumped down off of the Power Suit and hurried over, and Izuku set up the tool set.
"A gift from my dad. They're really nice."
"Oh ho ho, these are beautiful, Izuku! We'll make such wonderful babies together! Now come on, I found a better power source just sitting around in Mr. Power Loader's lab!"
"Right!" Soon Izuku was also up to his elbows in grease and sweat, only remembering to make himself and Mei take off their jackets. The new tools were useful, and soon Izuku was underneath the suit, rewiring the new power source.
"It looks like we need higher grade wire, Mei!" he called. "This set is being overloaded by the voltage. And also some new capacitors, these ones are burning out."
He reached out a hand, and someone placed a set of well wrapped thick copper wire in it. "Thanks, Mei!"
"I'd say you're welcome, but it's time for class to start. Come on, kid. At least let me take roll before you get started."
Izuku sat up with a jerk, banging his head on the chassis. He let out a groan, then slid out from under the Power Suit to look up at the amused face of Power Loader.
"Um, sorry, Mr. Power Loader, sir!"
"I told you, in class you call me Mr. Maijima. Now come on, it's time."
Izuku quickly got up to see Mei looking disappointed as Mr. Maijima motioned for her to go inside.
"But our baby, we-"
"Mr. Onizuku warned me about you, Hatsume. I'm telling you right now: I'm not mad you stole the power source out of one of the testing robots. I'm actually sort of impressed. I will be upset if you don't come in and take attendance and meet your classmates."
"Oh, fine. But I thought at UA we could make babies all the time," Mei complained as she headed inside.
"Please don't say that, Mei," Izuku groaned. "And did you really steal the power source out of one of the robots?!"
"It was just sitting there, no one was watching it," Mei said with a shrug. "Besides, I'm sure they have lots of those."
Inside the classroom, the rest of the class was waiting. To Izuku's surprise, there were two seats right at the front next to one another. When he got closer, he saw that Mei and put her backpack on one, and a placard with "Izuku" on the next desk. He smiled at the boy next to him, who had a head shaped like that of a snail, but before he could say anything Mr. Maijima got up in front of the class.
Today Mr. Maijima was dressed in his hero uniform, which consisted of the excavator bucket helmet, special gauntlets to augment his Quirk, Iron Claws, a pair of blue jeans, and no shirt. Though for some reason, he did also have on a bright blue tie.
"Good morning, welcome to the Support Course, class 1H. You all already know me, I'm your homeroom teacher. You're here because you all want to learn to make support items to help heroes in the field, and-"
"That's not true," Mei interrupted, not even raising her hand. "Izuku wants to be a hero, you just wouldn't let him in the hero course even though our baby totally annihilated that robot."
"She means the Power Suit!" Izuku said, desperately turning to look at their classmates. To his chagrin, they now all stared at him in shocked amazement, instead of looking at Mei. Maybe that was better?
Mr. Maijima however, just turned to his desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a small square of paper that had a grid on it and set it on Mei's desk. "You remember this, Mei?"
She glanced at it. "It's a point card."
"Uh huh. Guess what? You're starting out today with 0 points. You interrupt me again, and I'll have to take some away. You don't get enough points, you don't get to work on your inventions, and I take back my robot's power source. Mr. Onizuku told me exactly how to handle you."
"What?!" Mei grasped, holding the card in both her hands. "How could you do this to me! I thought at UA we got to spend all our time making amazingly cute babies!"
"She means inventions," Izuku groaned, his head face in his hands.
"Even at UA, you still have other classes, Mei. You still have to follow the rules. Which I shall now be going over, in explicit detail. Not just for you, mind, but all your classmates. Also, explosions are -50 points."
"What about Izuku?" Mei demanded, pointing at him. "Where's his point card? He gets to make babies with me too!"
"She means inventions," Izuku moaned, now covering his head with his arms.
"We get that," Mr. Maijima chuckled. "Izuku's points are tied to yours, Mei. And remember what I said about interrupting?"
Mei harrumphed, slouching in her desk and setting her head in her hands while impatiently tapping her foot, but she didn't say anything further.
"Excellent. Now, a few ground rules. First, let's talk about workshop safety. Now, you all have some experience, but..."
Izuku forced himself to sit up and pay attention, his face still flaming red. He glanced at Mei, who at first looked sullen, but slowly sat up eagerly and leaned forward, a manic grin on her face as Mr. Maijima talked about procurement policies, tool storage, workspace allocation, times the lab was open, and what personal protective equipment they should be using in the workshop.
However, Izuku couldn't help but notice the other students glancing at himself and Mei curiously. Izuku couldn't blame them; they had made quite a scene.
"Right, that covers it, we'll do introductions. Most of you already met each other at the entrance exams, but we've got two others who you might have noticed have joined us, having got in through recommendations. Hatsume, Midoriya, why don't you introduce yourselves."
Mei immediately bolted up, turning around and grinning at the rest of the class. Izuku got up and stood next to her, trying to meet the others staring eyes.
"Hi! I'm Mei Hatsume, and this is my friend, Izuku Midoriya! We're both amazing inventors who make wonderful babies together-"
"-she means inventions," Izuku said, flushing and looking around wildly.
"-and Izuku is going to be the world's greatest hero, using our incredibly cute babies!"
"Um, shouldn't he be in the hero course then?" the snail boy asked.
"They wouldn't let him in, even though baby number 47, the Power Suit, totally destroyed that stupid robot! He would have gotten the highest score ever if they didn't have that stupid rule about not letting in quirkless people!" Mei ranted.
Izuku blushed and looked down as soon as the whispers started. He'd heard them all before.
"He's quirkless?"
"Why'd they let him in if he doesn't even have a quirk?"
"She seems really weird."
That last one wrenched Izuku's guts, and he suddenly looked up, glaring at his classmates. "Mei is an incredible inventor! She works harder than anyone I know, and makes stuff even pro heroes would be jealous of! Don't you dare mock her!"
That shut everyone up, the other students blinking in shock at the previously quiet and mumbling Izuku whose gaze now held fire.
"Oh yeah, and I have autism or something. But Izuku has social skills so if you have any questions talk to him," Mei said, pointing. "That's it. Can we start building now?"
"No, now the rest of your classmates are going to introduce themselves. Try to listen politely," Mr. Maijima ordered.
It was a struggle to pay attention to the rest of the students' introductions, but Izuku made himself at least listen well enough to remember their names. Mei, on the other hand, had gotten out a piece of paper and was happily drafting plans for modifications to the Power Suit as well as various other devices to be mounted on it. One part of the drawing made Izuku blush, as it depicted him wearing the armor and was labeled "SuperHero."
Once introductions were made, Mr. Maijima had everyone line up to attend the opening ceremonies. Mei was about to grumble, but Mr. Maijima passed by her desk, ticking off one of the boxes on the point card.
"Next time, actually pay attention while others are talking and you'll get more," he stated simply, and Mei immediately lined up without further complaint.
Izuku took his place next to Mei at the head of the line, noticing that the other students gave both of them just a little bit more space than they did the others. For her part, Mei was oblivious, humming to herself and following after Mr. Maijima. The other students whispered to each other as they walked, but no one talked to Izuku. Part of him was a bit disappointed, but most of him accepted it. He'd long isolated himself from his classmates as a defense mechanism.
"So Izuku, I'm thinking that we need to add more weapons! That power supply probably has enough juice to mount a laser, and I think that would be perfect for baby number 51!"
Izuku looked up to see that Mei had fallen in beside him happily swinging her arms as she strode along.
"Well, maybe, but then we'd need to rewire everything. I actually think weapons should have an independent power supply. I drew something up like that in one of my notebooks, I'll show you later. But I was thinking, what if they were modular? We could swap out different gear for different missions! After all, there's lots of different villains with different quirks we could come across, and we need to be able to outfit number 47 to confront each of those situations. I'm thinking we should have multiple modules, like the grappling hook, or other devices."
"Yes, yes! That's perfect! Oh, we can create so many different babies, and we won't have to leave any of them out!"
Izuku blushed and looked back at their classmates, but they all immediately found somewhere else to look.
"Modular gear is a good idea," Mr. Maijima commented. "When a hero is in the field, there's no telling what you'll come up against. Adaptability is important, and support gear can both enhance your own Quirk, or cover for your vulnerabilities. Now talk about that later, we're supposed to be listening. Don't embarrass me, Hatsume. Keep her under control, Midoriya."
They had arrived at the opening ceremony, and Izuku looked around curiously to see if he could spot Bakugo amidst the other first year students. To his surprise, it appeared that an entire class was missing, which seemed odd. Still, he didn't have much time to consider this, as a man with tall blond hair jumped out onto the stage as music suddenly blared.
"That's Present Mike!" Izuku gasped, pointing excitedly, but Mei didn't seem all that interested.
"GOOD MORNING UA!" Mike shouted. "Welcome to a brand new year! Which is of course going to be-"
"PLUS ULTRA!" the students roared out the school motto, even Izkuku. Mei just frowned and bounced on her toes impatiently.
"We give a warm welcome back to all our second and third year students, and a hearty welcome to our first year students! Even those in Mr. Aizawa's class, who apparently have more important things to do than attend our opening ceremonies. Give me a break! But anyway, before we get going, here's the one, the only, the incredible, PRINCIPAL NEZU! Can I get a big hand?!"
"She's got two," Mei mused as everyone applauded.
Izuku glanced over and saw one first year student, a girl, who had inflated her hands to massive size and was loudly clapping and cheering. It made Izuku a bit jealous, as he saw she was with class 1B, one of the Hero Course sections.
Out onto the stage walked a white animal in a formal suit, who jumped up onto a box placed by the microphone by Present Mic. "Hello everyone!" Nezu said in a cheerful voice. "It's me, the one who could be a cat, or a dog, or even a bear, but most relevantly, I'm you're principal!"
There were polite cheers and applause, but Mei turned to Izuku and frowned. "Why'd they let an animal be the principal?"
"You didn't know?" Izuku asked, surprised. "Nezu's an animal that manifested a quirk. It makes him even smarter than most humans."
"Well, he's not smarter than me. What's he ever invented?" Mei demanded.
"Shh, just listen, so we get to work on the Power Suit later," Izuku shushed.
Mei grunted and turned back around, folding her arms and looking bored behind her goggles as she bounced on her toes.
Izuku listened to Nezu's speech, which was the standard boilerplate stuff welcoming everyone and encouraging them to do their best.
"But of course, I know I'm not the one you really want to see!" Nezu said as his speech wound down. "I'm here to confirm: the rumors are all true! This year, our staff will be joined by the one, the only, All Might!"
"That's right students!" a loud cheery voice boomed from behind them. Everyone gasped and turned, to a caped figure silhouetted against the sun atop the building. "Fear not for your education! For I am here!"
Izuku felt his blood run cold as All Might leapt over everyone's heads and onto the stage. He found himself gritting his teeth, hands clenched, as he glared at All Might. The man who had once been his idol, his hero, the one who had nearly been the final nail in the coffin of his dreams, was once more standing over him. But Izuku knew the truth: All Might wasn't this grinning giant. He was a weak, skeletal figure with sunken eyes and a battered body, who killed the dreams of children. Why were they letting him teach?
"Izuku?" Mei said, suddenly stepping close to him. "Are you OK?"
Izuku realized his entire body was tensed up, his hands balled into fists at his side, and that he was glaring at All Might with a half snarl on his lips.
Forcing himself to relax, he smiled at Mei. "Yeah, I just, well, I was a big of an All Might fan, you know?"
"Wow, really? I thought you hated All Might. I don't really like him either." Mei picked just the wrong moment to say that, in her loud, clear voice, right into the middle of a hushed silence.
Everyone turned to stare at both her and Izuku, some with gaping mouths, others with looks of disdain or hatred. Not loving All Might in regular society was an aberration. Not worshiping All Might the world's greatest hero at UA, the school of heroes and All Mights Alma Mater, was a mortal sin.
Izuku glanced around, swallowing. He could feel even All Mights eyes on him. He cleared his throat, forcing himself not to stutter. "Everyone has their own dreams, Mei. I guess ours and All Might's don't line up anymore."
All Might blinked, and Izuku realized that he recognized him. That shocked him. Didn't All Might not even care about a weird quirkless nobody like him?
"Um, yes, well, I hope I can change your minds, as you get to know me as a teacher," All Might said, a grin appearing back on his face. "In fact, I hope to get to know everyone here at UA very well! I've acquired a great deal of experience and knowledge during my time as a Pro Hero, and I am here to pass it onto the next generation, in hopes that one of you will rise to be the next Symbol of Peace!"
That brought a lot of cheers and celebration from the other students, but Izuku found himself glaring at All Might again, muttering under his breath. "You just watch me, All Might. I will be the next Symbol of Peace. I'll be the World's Greatest Hero, and a better one that you ever were! I'll smile at everyone, and tell them that they too can be a hero, quirk or no!"
Someone pushed Izuku from behind, and he turned to see one of the other support students glaring at him. He was shocked, how could that student have heard him over the cheers? But then he remembered, when they had introduced themselves they'd said their quirk greatly improved their hearing
"Shut up, you quirkless loser. All Might is the greatest! You and goggles better watch yourselves! Freaks like you are- ACK!"
Mr. Maijaima grabbed the other student with one hand and lifted him up, his eyes filled with fury. "Hatsume and Midoriya might be odd, but that doesn't excuse rudeness. I especially won't tolerate any maltreatment of anyone in my class, disabilities or no. Understand?"
"But they were-"
"I don't care what they were doing. I'm talking to you. If I deal with them, I'll do it later. But the bullying stops, and it stops now. Need I repeat myself?"
"No, sir."
Power Loader unceremoniously dumped the other student onto the ground. "Good. Now listen."
There were more introductions after that. Izuku tried to pay attention, but his gaze kept wandering back to All Might. To his surprise, a few times, he found All Might looking back at him. He dropped his gaze then, feeling about an inch high. How could he really hate All Might? What had he said to Mei that made her think that? But then he thought of all the times he must have disparagged All Might, saying he crushed dreams, or that Iron Man or Batman were better heroes. Mei, for all her lack of social awareness, must have picked up on it. She'd never expressed personal dislike of All Might before, but then, Mei didn't really seem to care all that much about heroes in general. Maybe Izuku's attitude had rubbed off on her? He hoped he hadn't sabotaged her own chances at not being a social pariah in high school.
Guiltily, Izuku glanced over at Mei, but she was happily humming to herself, oblivious to the disdain that others were already showing of her. But she was like that. Izuku forced himself to straighten up. He would be more like Mei, and he would believe in her, just as she believed in him. To hell with All Might, and his classmates.
After the assembly they all headed back to class. Mr. Maijima glanced at Izuku and Mei, his expression grim, but he didn't say anything. As they walked through, All Might suddenly appeared around a corner in front of them.
"Power Loader! Might I borrow young Midoriya and his friend? I need to talk to them for a moment."
Mr. Maijima hesitated, then beckoned All Might closer. He whispered something into the ear of the #1 hero, that caused his trademark grin to momentarily falter.
"Oh! I see. Yes, well, I know about- Yes. Well, I'd still like to speak to them. But first, may I say something in front of your class?"
"Go right ahead. But remember, call me Maijima here, while we're teaching."
"Right, yes, of course Maijima."
All Might walked right up to Izuku, towering over him, and making Izuku swallow. He took a protective step infront of Mei, putting a hand out to shield her. He didn't know what he could do against All Might, but he would try. "Listen, what Mei said wasn't her fault. I...I may have said some things in front of her, and she trusts me. Please, excuse her rudeness. Any blame should fall on me." Izuku bowed, gritting his teeth. "Don't expel her. Being in the UA support course is her dream!"
"You misunderstand me, young Midoriya."
Izuku looked up to see that All Might was now bowing to him. "I should be the one appologizing to you."
That got a gasp from Izuku and his classmates. Mei, on the other hand, just nodded. "Yeah, what you said to Izuku was super mean. He's going to be a great hero, just watch!"
All Might stood up again, smiling at Mei. "It's good to see you care so much for your friend, Hatsume, isn't it? Well, I have to say, in front of your entire class, I am sorry for how you felt about what I said to you, Midoriya. Please understand: I didn't do it to hurt you, or deny your dream. I just wanted to save you from hardship and danger. It looks like you found a way forward, regardless."
All Might put a hand on Izuku's shoulder, startling him. The big man smiled. "You might not ever be able to be a pro hero, but that doesn't matter. You'll be a hero in your own way, as being here proves. Nothing seems to stop you."
"You've grown since I last saw you, Izuku Midoriya. I look forward to watching your career. I am certain that one day, you will be known as a hero who saves others. Everyone has a place in society, and by doing their best, they make the world a better place. It doesn't matter what that place is, but I think yours will be a very special one. The Support Course is valuable, just as important as the Hero Course. I hope you understand that, and that I never met to belittle you or your dreams, young man. Once again, I apologize."
"I...thank you, All Might," Izuku said. "But...but I still think I can be a hero." He glanced at Mei, who was frowning at All Might still, pressing up against Izuku's arm as if he was holding her back from attacking the man. "I'm here because I hope to prove that I can be a part of the Hero Course. Quirk or no quirk. I...I think I do still want to be a hero, like you, one who smiles and saves the day. I do accept your apology. What you said hurt, but...but maybe I needed to hear something like that. Otherwise, I never would have met Mei, or been as determined as I am to find my own way to be a hero. I'll be the world's first Quirkless hero. Just wait and see."
"I will," All Might said gently. He knelt down, so that his eyes were level with Izuku. "I can't give you a quirk, young man. But if there is anything else you need, let me know. I should be encouraging people like you. Perhaps...well, one day, maybe we can talk more. For now, I have to go. But I will be keeping track of your progress. Be a hero, Izuku Midoriya. Prove me, and everyone else who doubted you, wrong."
With that, All Might suddenly stood and laughed. "Haha! Well, even for a teacher, work is never done! And now I have to go! I'll be seeing the rest of you later! Farewell!"
With a gust of wind, All Might ran off, disappearing in the corridors of UA.
Mr. Maijima watched him go, then turned back to look at Izuku, rubbing his chin. "Well, that was...unusual. You've met All Might before?"
"He...he saved me from a villain, once," Izuku explained. "I...I told him I was q-quirkless. I asked...well, I asked if he thought I could be a hero, even with no quirk. He said no. At the time...for a long time, I thought it was because he was cruel. But now...maybe I was wrong. Maybe he is a good hero."
Mr. Maijima nodded. "I think he wanted to protect you, Izuku. A realistic assessment of your abilities is important. Right. Let's get back to class."
When they returned and everyone sat down, Mr. Maijima slammed the door hard, causing everyone to jump. He stalked to the front of the room and stood in front of Izuku and Mei, glaring at the class. "You two, get up."
Cringing, Izuku stood alongside Mei, who seemed irritated more than anything else. He expected to get chewed out for his and Mei's behavior, but instead Mr. Maijima put his hands on Izuku and Mei's shoulders. "Alright. The lot of you owe both Midoriya and Hatsume an apology. So stand up, right now, and give them one. And you better mean it, dammit!"
The other students slowly got to their feet, looking confused. Mr. Maijima strode forward, glaring at his students, leaving Izuku feeling utterly bewildered.
"I heard what you've all been saying. They're weird. Izuku is quirkless. Mei's autistic. They don't belong. Well, anyone who thinks they can get away with that, anyone who thinks that they're actually worthless just because they don't adhere to some imaginary standard you made up in your head, there's the door. Don't let it hit you in the ass on the way out."
"Sir?" one of the other students asked, confused.
"They're both better than all of you, in case you didn't realize it," Mr. Maijima said, pointing to Mei and Izuku. To Izuku's embarrassment, Mei nodded, as if such a statement were entirely natural.
"Did you see that device they were working on earlier? They made that out of scraps and salvage and a few things they bought at basic electronics stores with their own money. They built an incredible piece of machinery, on their own, with no training, while the lot of you were still tinkering with legos and thinking you were special because you won your Junior High Science fairs."
Izuku looked down, feeling deeply embarrassed. "We just… we just worked hard. We don't think we're better than anyone," Izuku said.
Mei opened her mouth, but Izuku's hand darted out, and he grabbed Mei's hand, squeezing hard. She let out a yelp, but then glanced at Izuku. He couldn't see it, but he was pretty sure she rolled her eyes at him. She harrumphed, and Izuku let go.
"Yes, we're not better than you," Mei stated. Though Izuku heard her whisper, "Much."
"I appreciate the modesty, but everyone here needs to get a realistic view of their own abilities. Yes, Izuku is quirkless. He's also better at electrical engineering than some professionals from what I've seen. Yes, Mei is autistic and rude. But she'll be the best damned inventor I've ever seen, and I'm including myself and other pros in that assessment. She's still a rookie, but she's got more natural talent in her left pinkie than some of you do in your whole bodies. So, you'll treat her and Midoriya with respect. Sometimes, you'll need to come to them for advice. They're both good natured enough that they'll probably help even if you're little jerks to them, but I won't tolerate it. You understand? Now apologize!"
The class did so, some reluctantly, others with sincerity.
"We accept your apology," Izuku said. He put his hand on Mei's back, and she bowed along with him, muttering her own acceptance. "And we are very sorry we embarrassed the class at the assembly. We will strive to do better!"
"Apology accepted," Mr. Maijima said. "Now, have a seat. We're going over your class schedules, and in a few minutes the teacher for your next class will arrive, which is English."
Mei let out a loud moan of despair. "Not English!"
"You'd better do well in it, because I'm giving Mr. Yamada your point card. All the teachers are aware of it Mei, so just remember they all can control your access to the workshop."
"Yeah, yeah," Mei grumbled. She looked at Izuku and smiled at him. "At least now I have a study partner who can help me!"
That made Izuku feel good, and he was happy enough to be attending an English class taught by none other than Present Mike anyway. And besides, he was at UA now. Time for Mei and Izuku prove that Mei really was amazing, and that he too could be a hero.
Authors Note:
Ineffectual adults always irritate me in stories now that I am one. Especially when they let bullying or other heinous acts basically go unchallenged. I know as a teacher you can't stop everything, but when it's blatant you put your foot down so hard they can't squirm.
On another note, thanks for all your kind reviews! They really do mean a lot to me, and motivate me more than you know. Writing the relationship between Izuku and Mei, and especially writing Mei to be just the right level of weird has been something I've struggled with and I'm glad so many of you have been enjoying it.