From Useless to Expert 6.
~0~
The week before Daksha's first day at UA had been... rough, to say the least.
No, his Dad didn't change how he lovingly dotted on his son, and his siblings were still as supportive as ever, even if they weren't shy about how they disliked the current ways Heroes did things and how it really was just for show. And Daksha readily agreed.
Still, he wouldn't mind being a legal Hero... but his work as a hug therapist and a Hare Krishna would always come first.
He would be the Divine Hero: Prachar.
Preacher.
And if he would not be accepted because he was not 'neutral' (read atheistic) enough, well, vigilantism was in at the moment.
Spinner was ecstatic about his little brother going to Hero School, saying how it was a huge step for mutant kind, especially those who looked barely human. And his night biking mates were all stocked about it, too.
Even the Hare Krishna were happy since it meant that they had someone in one of Kali's strongholds. Sure, many were worried about him since Daksha would have close to no divine association, and it was already proven that being anything other then a Shintoist or a Buddhist meant that you would have to face plenty of discrimination.
As Daksha had told them, he was used to it, so nothing would change much. Still, Hari-Hara (Kamihara Shinia) and Toyomitsu assured him that, no matter what, his internship would be secured since they knew him personally and knew what he needed to improve on.
It was nice of them since it meant that he would still have Devotee associations, the most precious gift of God to humanity at large.
No, it was... a terrible week because of Hitoshi...
Apparently, he had failed to qualify for any of the hero student seats and instead had been placed in Gen-Ed. He had ranted and vented about how it was unfair and how the whole thing was rigged, and how it was against anyone with a villainous quirk.
Daksha had tried to explain to his friend how the practical exam was easy if you acted as a Hero, meaning you defeated and did your best to save those in difficulty since that's the point of heroism.
Heroes were not just mindless murder machines; they were saviours.
All Might was still the number one despite his failing health becausehe would save people.
Even if he wasn't... the best at reading situations and would sometime do some questionable choices.
But Hitoshi would not hear it and called Daksha fucking traitor and how they only took him the Heroic course for target practice... or worst.
It hurt... it honestly hurt to know that his once friend was turning on him just because Izuku had been fated to reach this point.
Yes, Fate was a thing, everyone was following a script, providence really was ones previous Karma fructifying, and almost no one could break free from it. Oh sure, you could control the small things; humans still had their limited free will, but for the big things? It was all karma, and how you reacted to it would produce for of it.
But Hitoshi was not of this mind; he saw everything and everyone as against him, taking everything personally and not looking for any reasons further then 'they hate me, they hurt me, I hurt them. And I hurt them first.'
Ironically, this was precisely how a Demon or a villain would think.
So much for proving he wasn't a villain.
And He didn't stop; Daksha had no idea why Hitoshi started spreading all of those lies and nasty rumours about how he got into his group of friends. Thankfully, his dad had cleared the air about it since Daksha still had the reflexes of bullied kids unable to fight back.
Oh, hurt his friend, meet his fist. But for himself?
Dad had called it learned helplessness; he had learned that Izuku could never fight back and that it was always better not to fight. Since fighting meant getting in more trouble then what it was worth.
He was working on it... slowly.
And, of course, Shinsou had called him a coward hiding behind his dad.
Daksha shot back, 'cool story, villain.'
Was it nasty?
Yes...
but at this point, he didn't care if he sounded like one of those bullies.
Hitoshi-san acted like one, so he deserved the title. And Izuku was no saint at all.
A saint would have bowed his head, but, being re-raised by Shunia-Hara, Izuku's nature as a scholarly Kshatriya was awakening.
And a Warrior never backed out of any fight...
Spinner had been heartbroken; he had tried to mediate a meeting between the two, but Hitoshi was too far gone, unwilling to listen to anyone, too but hurt about not being chosen to be in the Hero class while Izuku, a severely 'mutated' quirkless boy had a seat there. While he, the nice guy, the one whit the true potential, the real underdog, was relegated to the side again.
At this point, Daksha had no choice but to request a duel with Hitoshi, hand to hand, quirk allowed.
Hitoshi had tried to get a response out of the Vaishnava Hopeful, but Daksha knew not to open his mouth.
Even if his ex-friend said, it was wrong and hurtful, even if he repeated Bakugou's cruel words.
In the end, Daksha showed why he belonged to the Hero Class by quickly pinning down the lavender haired for a whole ten minutes and keeping his cool despite the anger and grief.
This... had been the most challenging thing Daksha ever had to do, it was more anger on top of more anger, and after that, he had biked to Dagoba, where he had aggressively cleaned the last part of the beach...
He felt less angry, just... heavily disappointed in Hitoshi-san. And numb.
But Hitoshi had not been his only friend; he had his nightly biking club, the Vaishnavas back at the temple, his dad, his siblings, and a few pro-heroes.
Oh, and Spinner.
Still, it had been whit a heavy heart that Daksha went to his first day of school, he had chanted his sixteen rounds in the morning and had managed to read one chapter of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and his father had packed him a hearty tiffin for him. Rimuro was again shielding his brother from the evil eyes of others, and Rimuru shadowed him in case something went wrong, which was a repeat of Aldera. Izuku had a podcast of Indrayumna swami playing in his ears, and he navigated the UA slaughterhouse.
Everything was so big... and for how many students?
There were so many unused classrooms and considering that they were missing well over twenty heroic students.
How, in the name of Patala-Loka's gate guardian, did they expect to churn enough Heroes to make a dent in the villain problem?
"Hey, bro. Remember, if UA doesn't work for you, you can always return to your dream learning course. Mister Chip adores you, and he would be ecstatic to be teaching you again."
"Yeah, but... how about all the other students?" Izuku asked as he fretted whit his tie, making it even worst. "I mean... how in Maya's dark realm could I give them Krishna? Those kids will face death so often if they don't understand that none of us are the body; the moment they kill someone or they experience death, they'll think they deleted someone."
"And the guilt will practically kill them."
"And what to say about their destination after death? For them, it'll be hell, literally."
Rimuro shuddered; no matter their birth as dark spawn, the Hellish planetary systems were not something they wanted to see ever again.
Except in Patala, since it was where Bali Maharajah, whit his grandfather and the Mahajan Prahlad, resided, their doorkeeper none other then God Himself in the Form of a dwarf that once dwarfed the universe.
...
"Bro... you're stalling."
"Yes, I know, Murochan... I never had a good experience entering a classroom.
"Well, hopefully, little brother, this one will be better." Rimuru provided with her unmistakable enthusiasm.
"Yeah!" It was hard for Daksha not to feel enthused by it also.
So, taking a deep breath and offering a prayer, the hidden boy wearing a halo pushed the oversized door and...
Saw Bakugou Katsuki sitting at his desk, his feet on the work surface as he rudely ignored the stickler for rules...
'Oh no...
"Daksha, he doesn't know you; for him, you are dead, and what he see's is this black cloud of darkness whit a single eye and a halo, not Midoriya Izuku.' Rimuro spoke quickly as he made Izuku's feet move to his desk... and then he stopped before turning to the teacher's pulpit. "Say, teacher-san. Can I sit somewhere else? The guy in front of me used to bully me in middle school and-"
Predictably, Bakugou exploded... literally.
"FUCK YOU! YOU ONE-EYED FREAK OF NATURE!"
Needless to say, Izuku was having flashbacks of Aldera...
And no, The teacher, Aizawa-sensei (if he even deserved this title.), did not move him away from Bakugou, telling Daksha how there was nothing wrong whit a bit of healthy rivalry.
Thankfully, Rimuro took over as Izuku cried in his Brother's embrace, and it took everything to that Rimuru didn't downright possess Bakugou and had him jump for the top of the school.
Then came the quirk apprehension test...
~0~
Yagi Toshinori... looked at the looming structure of his Alma Mater.
UA...
Today would be his first ever day as a teacher...
A teacher of Heroic...
He... was no teacher; he had never learned the trade and had no idea how to deal whit hormonal teenagers unless it was to arrest them for stupid crap or simply run to the hills.
It was going to be disastrous, he knew it... he was terrible when it came to those of the new generation.
"Can I... can a quirkless person be a hero?" The young boy, Midoriya, asked him, his whole body shaking whit desperation, tears filling his eyes, mixing whit the stubborn hope.
"No... be realistic."
"All Might... I don't feel so good."
Toshinori shook his head, chasing away those failures.
He had failed Midoriya Izuku... he had Failed his quirkless heritage...
and he had failed Togata-kun...
he had failed his Master, for unless he could find another quirkless person... and do it before-
"All Might!"
"All Might!" The greenette exclaimed after he returned to consciousnesses, his lively green eyes filled whit stars and sparkles as he gazed upon his Hero whit awe and gratitude.
All Might, Yagi Toshinori was broken out of his rumination when a heart breathtakingly familiar gasp entered his ears.
One would think it ridiculous for him to remember the fanatic reaction of just another kid he'd saved...
But...
When you were the last person who allegedly saw this kid alive... and who crushed his dream, leading to his untimely death...
Toshinori did not forget Midoriya Izuku... He could not forget him.
Another quirkless... and another young boy who had to face... who had to face discrimination that was starting to go at the same level as what a jew would have to meet at the time of the second world war.
He could never forget his muttering, his stuttering...
the look of absolute determination as he did the right thing and broke Toshinori's worldview entirely and saved the explosive boy stuck in the sludge villain, proving himself to have the heart of a natural hero and not something manufactured like the rest.
And how, due to his terrible wound, Toshinori had failed to catch up whit him...
He'd never expect to see his face last in a missing body report.
A missing body...
"All Might... can a quirkless person become a hero?"
"Umm... A... Sir... uh..." The kid fidgeted in front of him, his wide, expressive red eye looked troubled, and from his body language, it was clear that he either wanted to bolt but was still concerned for Toshinori...
And everything about him reminded the graceless Hero of the boy he had failed.
Toshinori took one long stride and planted his hands on the heteromorp's shoulders... and indeed, he felt a pair of broad and powerful shoulders that hid under the black fog that seemingly made his body.
Doubts crept in his heart. The last time he had seen Midoriya Izuku, the boy had about he same BMI he did in his usual form... without the freakish height.
The fact that this had not rung any alarms in All Might's head was yet another proof about how his title as the number one Hero meant shit.
Still, his gut's feeling could not be ignored.
"Why did you call me All Might?" he asked, hoping this boy was a terrible liar under pressure.
The smoky boy's eye turned wide with panic as he began to sputter and shake.
"Why do you know who I am in this form?" Toshinori knows how he looks right now, a man desperate to know that... the worst had not happened, that his guilt over the death and subsequent loss of a body could be an alley.
That he... that he was still worthy of Nana's grace.
It should be impossible... the chance of Izuku Midoriya being alive after his fall was...
And he needed to know... he needed to know for sure.
The boy closed his one eye and leaned forward to Toshinori, whispering urgently to him. "I can tell you, All Might... but not here."
Cold shivers went up and down his whole body as tears pricked the corners of his eyes.
This... this practically confirmed it... this boy, must be Midoriya Izuku.
The quirkless boy who had jumped, hoping to escape from the pain, the boy he had failed...
the boy that had opened his eyes to the real evil plaguing japan. The true evil that pushed man, woman and children to vile acts just to survive.
Or to stop hurting by any mean possible.
It took everything not to sob, but, knowing that Izuku Midoriya must have another identity to hide the old one, the number one Hero brought him to the only place where he knew no one, not even Nedzu.
It was the staff bathroom, tucked into the teachers' lounge and free from most devices.
There had been... an incident a few years back resulting in a missing teacher and a few students whits some extra trauma.
But still, as long as the Ai did not pick anything suspicious, Nedzu would not be notified...
In Theory.
Well. He could always bring Izu... this mysterious boy to a restaurant or this corgi cafe half a kilometre away, but Toshinori wanted to start his new job on the right foot.
So bathroom it was.
He quickly picked up the boy (huh... both light yet solid... maybe he was wrong, Izuku had no quirk... or did he?) and-
"You managed to pass the Exam... why are you wearing street clothes?" he asked as he paused in front of the gate.
"Oh... ah, Aizawa-san expelled me because I just so happened to make my Old Bully, who somehow managed to get into UA despite having caused... someone to suicide, angry in class. And since I'm only 'Mutated' and quirkless... yeah, he saw I had no 'potential for Heroic' and told me to pack up despite the fact that I... passed all the tests at the top." Mido...
"and what would be your...name, my boy?" Yagi asked meaningfully whit a sideways glance.
"Daksha Dwei, sir, it's my legal name," he answered shortly whit a bowed head.
'he has the same fluffy hair... wait, is that some green I see?' Toshinori wondered as he entered Daksha's information...
Then he received a notification on his phone; it was Needzu informing him that Dwei-san could come in, for while Aizawa-san could expel anyone he desired, Nedzu still had the last word.
Toshinori wondered, after retrieving Dwei-Kun's student pass (he paid the small fee attached to it.), how many students had left the school because Aizawa-san told them never to return.
Probably too much.
"Alright." The seven feet tall skeleton of a man said whit more pep in his voice then he'd remembered putting. "Apparently, you are still a student!" He declared whit genuine joy.
He remembered seeing the little mutant (if he even was one.) run around ground beta, mindlessly destroying robots as he channelled his inner anger.
No idea why he looked like he'd done something wrong afterwards.
And what about his saving people thing? It was like the boy had a sixth sense about when someone was in trouble, pulling them out of danger after, if possible, eliminating the threat.
And... if he... If Toshinori's hope's where founded...
Then this boy, this fantastic, quick-thinking boy had everything a Hero needed.
And if... if Daksha were Midoriya Izuku... then Toshinori would do everything in his power to support him.
They made their way to the teacher's lounge, Dwei-san's head and one eye-locking and scanning for any treats or bullies.
Oh, Toshinori knew; he had asked a private investigator (not Naomasa, the guy stuck out like a sore thumb at the best of days.) to investigate him.
Abuse, Neglect, aldera. The P.I had been a quirkless man too, another reason why he had been chosen, and he had told Toshinori that this was basically up to course whit the diagnosis, for it was well known that the best treatment was to... get rid of yourself.
It was the same as having a mental illness; better end it before you become a burden on others.
It was a genetic flaw... and since quirkless were less then human and all too fragile for this world, then the best this was to drown them at birth or abandon them.
Toshinori had... well, it was remarkable what one without a stomach could endure. And the way the quirkless man had spoken those words had been filled whit bitter resentment and dejection.
What else could he, a man the same age as Toshinori but without the magical quirk, do?
It... really made him consider speaking out about it, for he was in the right position to know that this was far from the truth...
But would people listen to him, would they Listen to All Might? Quirked man? The quirked symbol of peace?
...
Well... they did.
Despite the detractor, his PR team and the HPSC agent and the bitch at the top, in the last past month, All Might had joined whit the World Human Right Governing Body as a voice for the quirkless and the mutants in japan. Those who were treated as less then Nothing in Japan because they were not... Aryan enough for the Nazis at the top. and by his presence alone, things were starting to change, and a Law was, astonishingly, on the verge of being passed... as in, nothing could stop it now.
It was the quirkless Protection law, or the Izuku Law, in Honour of the innocent who had lost his life to discrimination, and while for him, it was a little too late, for those who still lived...
They would have a better chance to live to see another generation.
And Japan would not be spared from this law, not whit him being an active Human Right Member.
"Ah... Umm... say, what am I supposed to call you?" Izuku broke him out of his mind as he tugged on Toshinori's sleeve, and by God, even whit the creepy eyes and the smoke-like hair, the boy was so small that the seven feet tall man could not help but smile at this, giving the boy a head ruffle.
"Yagi-san, please call me Yagi-san, my boy." The last part slipped past his lips, but really...
He felt as if he was speaking to Midoriya Izuku...
After getting lost a few times and almost running in Aizawa-san. (Izuku had been quick to hide from the man, unwilling to face him just yet.) they reached their destination.
And Toshinori understood him... if this truly was Midoriya, then he had, yet again, been failed by an adult that should have taken him under his wing to teach him how to be a hero, despite his young age and look.
But in the end, they'd managed to reach the teacher's lounge; a massive room filled whit desks, couches, coffee tables and beanbags and other such that that should really belong in the student's rec-room.
... Despite how flawed it was, he missed the American way... at least when it came to treating the student's mental health, anyway.
"Oh, Yagi-San, whose... the..." Kayama-san tried to greet Toshinori as she won't to do, but it seemed that Dei-san's appearance was enough to rob her of any joking flirt she may have whit him.
"This is Daksha Dwei..."
"It's Dei." Daksha muttered as he took the teacher's lounge in, muttering a very familiar storm as he pulled out a notebook from nowhere.
And it took everything from Toshinori's very respectable self-control to not hold Izuku to his heart and sob uncontrollably. "Ah, yes... foreigners names have always cause me some problem... is it Hindi?" He conversationally asked.
"Nope, it's Sanskrit. Daksha means expert, and in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, two personalities carried this name. First was Daksha, one of the progenitors of all life in the universe; he gave birth to... oh, I don't quite remember all of them, but I know one of his daughters, Sati, was married to Shiva, but since her father did not approve of this great Vaishnava because he neglected to rise for Daksha during a sacrifice, tension happened and when Daksha had a second sacrifice, he didn't invite neither his Daughter nor his in law so his daughter, Sati-Devi decided to go anyway, Shiva sending to protect her Nandi and an army of Goblins and other creatures of the dark and-"
Midnight got up and left. "Sorry, just remembered I had to food Sushi again." She mumbled and absconded on her way out.
...
"Welp! That worked!" Daksha chirped, and Toshinori realized what had just happened.
Kayama-san was known to be the rumour mill operator of the Japanese hero guild if he had gone to the one place in UA where no Cameras were around (that they all knew of.) whit an underaged mutant he'd picked up at the front gate... a mutant, quirkless boy who had just been 'expelled' by Aizawa-san had been taken to the staff's bathroom by the creepy, sickly looking Toshinori Yagi, All Might's quirkless secretary...
Oh, he was dead.
Institutionally, Toshinori patted Izu... Daksha's fluffy head of hair.
"Thanks... now, let's go, my boy."
"Ah... go where?"
Feeling happier then he'd felt in a year, Toshinori wrapped his left arm around Daksha's shoulder and pointed at the farthest door from the entrance.
"To the Bathroom!"
~0~
"So?" Toshinori asked with unease as he sat on one of the closed toilets, watching Daksha as the boy openly marvelled at the quality of the porcelain used and the premium toilet paper and other amnesties Nedzu had provided for his staff.
The students had the generic stuff since they had to get used to the bare minimum.
Harsh, but one would not survive long if he didn't learn a bit of tolerance.
"So?" Izuku asked as he brought his one huge, red and yellow eye back to Toshinori.
"You... know I'm All Might, and the only person of your age who knows this secret is... Midoriya Izuku."
'Can a quirkless person be a Hero like you?" a shaking waif of a boy, too weak to fight of the sludge villain, asked as he shook like a leaf.
That same boy had been more Heroic then five pro-heroes... that same powerless, weak boy that had attacked the same sludge villain to free what could only be his friend (hah!) from certain death whit nothing but his wit and his backpack.
The same boy whose blood and equally bloodied Gakuen had been found at the bottom of the second tallest building of Musutafu, along whit bones, teeth, hair and drying brain matter. But with no body to be found.
Toshinori brought his handkerchief to his mouth. He may have no stomachache to empty, but it didn't mean that the extreme and violent Nausea would not come to haunt him again.
"Yagi-San!" He heard... yes... he heard Daksha... no, Midoriya Izuku speak to him.
He would love to apologize, to explain how Izuku's suicide had brought him to his knees, how he could not go one night without seeing the bloody back alley...
And sometimes, he could see himself throwing Izuku down, telling him that it was for his own good.
He wished he could speak... but after a year of mental agony over how... unheroic and quite frankly disgusting he had been, he could only silently beg the boy to please... please...
Answer his question.
He knew he was shaking like a leaf; he knew he was falling at the seam...
at this moment, he was not All Might, the symbol of peace, the number one Hero in Japan... the killer of All For One.
No...
He was just Yagi Toshinori, a poor excuse of a human being... broken, tiered...
Dying... unable to escape All Might.
"Ok." Izu... It had to be him... Spoke to himself as he slapped his cheeks a few times... and removed his Halo.
The impenetrable smoke receded from the body, flowing out from under his t-shirt and shorts (the shirt read, Spirit soul, not for eating. On it... and the joke flew above Yagi's head until he remembered that he'd seen the very same one on sale in the ever so popular new-York Chariot festival.)
Nevertheless, Daksha's feet came into view, for he had been wearing flip-flops...
Those feet where rather pale... and his little two whole and long, then his healthy shins and strong tighs.
It was clear the boy was rather active, a cyclist, perhaps?
Then his hands emerged, once again human. That of a child...
He felt Izuku's small hands grabbing his calf in their painful grip... eh grip he had gained by clutching his books and whatever precious possessions he had in the face of Bullies.
Then... the smoky darkness receded from his face. The one eye sinking back in the cloud-like illusion and revealing...
Toshinori's remaining lung froze... freckles showed up of sun-starved skin, a healthy amount of baby fat clung to them. A pair of green, guileless doe eyes revealed themselves, and a messy head of curls finally emerged from the receding shadows.
It was indeed Izuku Midoriya... the boy he had failed so utterly, the boy whose mother had subscribed to Re-destro's ideal, having been born from a pair of his followers. The boy who had almost survived his third year in a Meta-human facility filled whit what could only be indoctrinators.
The boy he had said he could not be a hero whit how weak he was, so skinny and pale, trembling whit tears in his eyes as he stood at the top of the building...
The Boy Yagi had turned his back too, his heart unable to see him crushed... and his lung about to spew blood and bowels screaming to be released.
That same boy had saved another... his bully when all the legal Heroes stood to the side, citing lame excuses like 'we don't have suitable quirks.'
That boy... this skinny, anxious, quirkless boy had done the job those false Heroes had refused to do over the fact that they didn't want to pay for the cleaner because it was too gross...
Because the big news outlets were not here...
those same Heroes... the HPSC had given them all protection... but not from Yagi's own displeasure.
Funny how fast it was to have the public hate them; it was unfortunate for Mount Lady, but if Endeavour could get away whit a ridiculous amount of accidental casualties, then Yagi could certainly do so too.
But back at the present...
back in the present, a beautiful present that had nothing to do whit a history filled whit blood and hatred and a grim future for those with and without power, Midoriya Izuku stood in Front of Yagi Toshinori, alive, breathing...
and whole...
It was such a colossal change from the human-shaped raw nerves that had, desperate for comfort and validation, clung to his calf, despite the looming threat of death grabbing at his throat.
The only detail of concern was the U-shaped mark on his forehead, but Toshinori, having lived in the US for quite a bit, recognized the sacred symbol.
Izuku Midoriya was not only alive after having jumped from a fucking skyscraper! But he was a Hare Krishna. The nicest, sweetest people Toshinori knew, some pretty damn good cooks also and people of God.
"U-um... H... hey All Might... ah... Sorry for a... for jumping off a building and making you lose the bottle and- GURK!"
But Toshinori did not let the miraculous boy speak any longer, for he had wrapped his long arms around his squeezing hard enough to feel the life that coursed through him like a raging river. Committing to memory every heartbeat, every breath...
Between the bouts of prayers and sobs, as he held his boy, his redemption and his second chance, Toshinori's mind paused to take it all in, smelling Izuku's head three times, inhaling his... somewhat coppery yet flowery smell and...
He noticed something about his body, how it felt.
Yes, his body, despite having bulked up, felt... softer, but not like fat.
But this was not important. What was important though, was that now, Toshinori could finally start fixing his mistakes and...
Well, Izuku did mention a father, but the least he could do was to be the best mentor he could...
And maybe, just maybe...
The door to the stall banged open, having been kicked in by none other then Eraserhead, Midnight and Cementoss. The shaggy-looking man's eyes were glowing red... and yet, Izuku's halo did not flicker, and instead, in the boy's panic, once again snapped to his head, covering his body with a veil of one eye's darkness once more. Faster then any human and unquirked eyes could see.
Chaos was still descending upon then, as was character assassination.
Toshinori knew that this would destroy him. Forget All For One or any big villains; this was it...
And he knew Nedzu would be getting a kick out of that since the mammal was also rather disgruntled at having the Symbol of piece shoved onto him by the HPSC.
Actually, it was the Global Human Right Watchman that had imposed... since something was going on in UA.
And now... Nedzu would have all the reasons needed to destroy Yagi Toshinori and maybe even All Might...
All hope was lost, Until Daksha went up to his teacher, Waving around a paper. "WAIT! I JUST WANTED TO TALK TO ALL MIGHT SINCE HE SAW ME BEFORE I COMMITTED SUICIDE!" The boy Blurted out as he jumped in place like a bunny. "He found me on a roof and gave me a pep talk it wasn't his fault, and I feel so bad, so please, we just needed a private place, I asked, and I wanted to make sure that what he told me did some good and-."
"Oh, Shounen, I broke your dream; you don't have to do that," Toshinori said as he quickly caught on to what The miraculous boy was doing... besides, nothing wrong whit exposing a good chunk of the truth. Daksha turned to Toshinori, his one eye determined and filled whit numerous tears. "All Might... you tried, all right? Maybe it did the opposite, and I had a really horrible day. But looking back, you were just looking out for me."
"I should've-"
Daksha threw himself at the skeleton of a man. "Hey, it's all right, unless you were quirkless, then there was no way you would've known the whole statistic, and... well, you also had no idea how done I was whit life, and to be super honest, you advice where good ones, since quirkless can work as police officers and many hospitals will accept them for residency...if they manage to find a good medical school that will take them." The boy explained. "Yeah, I overreacted."
"Don't say that." Fuck, Toshinori could feel the tears spilling for m his eyes again.
"... And you expect me to believe that?" Shouta asked whit an unimpressed quirk of his brow. " Bet you groomed the boy; it's a shame you went to the only place without a camera."
Toshinori opened his mouth, only to have Izuku pull out a very well-hidden body that came from Somewhere in his body. "I have video proof! You see, I was Distributing some books close to UA, I asked the Principal for permission, and he said yes. Anyway, it recorded everything from our meeting to now; it's still recording, by the way. But if you want to see it, then you have to fill two NDAs since, you know, witness protection Program."
Shouta (and Cementos.) stared at the boy... and sighed, done already with his life. "Just... get out."
"Alright, I'll see you in class, teach!" Daksha chirped. "Oh, and before I forget." He turned around and gave Toshinori his business card whit a cleverly designed QR code. On it read 'Daksha Dwei, Hug Therapist. (for service, use the QR code and read all terms and conditions.) around the borders was Hare Krishna's repetitive mantra.
"Hmm... so, you've found another way to be a Hero," Toshinori said whit a genuine smile, the first one he had ever since his greatest mistakes.
Daksha nodded. "Yep! But going through UA, let alone the Hero course, will let me have a bit more street creds, you know?"
"I do." Toshinori chuckled so as not to sob in sheer bliss. Daksha, Izuku was not the trembling boy standing in front of him... minutes away from ending it all...
And he was not the boy, crushed by other Heroes who would rather have a child dead then expend extra energy to actually strategist. "Now, run along now. You don't want to be late for your Heroic class, young man." Toshinori playfully shooed him away, watching as the lively (lively!) young boy scampered off, scarring off whatever staff members stood there, probably to arrest Toshinori.
Then Aizawa-san seemed to snap off his... whatever daze he was having.
"Wait... Heroic... but... didn't I expel him yesterday?"
"Oh, About that, Shouta-kun," Nedzu spoke through a cleverly hidden speaker. (well, the teacher's bathroom were not as private as they'd first thought.) "You've never sent me any request to expel anyone, not Dwei -an, nor your previous class."
Aizawa-san paled.
"My, I wonder what would happen if the medias were to know that one of my faculty members had been so harsh that none of the children reapplied to UA, nor did they check if they could rejoin. Wouldn't that be... Unfortunate."
"It was... a Masterful logical ruse, Sensei." The Underground Hero bowed to a 'random' flower pot.
For his part, Toshinori could only praise the Lord for making him an agent for the World's Human Right Group, for it was clear this UA was not the one he had graduated from.
As he watched, Toshinori held his key fob, an undetectable recording device.
So far, the overly intelligent mammal had yet to find out about Yagis' actual position. But Toshinori would not spit on this opportunity.
He had been called the symbol of peace because he'd (hopefully) killed a two-hundred-year-old villain that had targeted all the Users of One For All. And then... he became nothing better then a blinded attack dog aiming at smashing whomever his master, the HPSC, was pointing him to.
But now... it was time for the Dog to bite back, and this time...
this time, he would not be alone.
~0~
Daksha made his way to his classroom, happy not to have been truly expelled on the first day... not that it would've been a very logical thing for Aizawa-san to do since, as an educator, his duty was to help them grow, raised them to be Heroes.
But the man was so lazy, he'd simply taken one look at Izuku's purely quirkless score and had sent him packing, and Daksha, being used to facing asshole educators, had complied, seeing this as Krishna's sign that maybe, Hero school was not for him... even if Daksha had this burning feeling that he had to be in UA.
He could feel in his bones something was going to happen, and he had to be there... he just had to.
And this morning's event whit All Might just proved it.
He was meant to be there; he was meant to be in UA.
With Katsuki.
And Aoyama-san, his first school... friend.
Taking another deep breath, he opened the door. And since it was still stupidly early, Daksha was the first one in class.
No one was there, not even Iida-san.
'Now, I could sit behind Katsuki and suffer again... or I could push my luck and change seats.' Izuku tought, Usually, he would have Rimuro with him, but since he hadn't expected to be in school today, he had asked his brother to stay with his dad and Dharma, his favourite pigibacker.
He looked at the seat and chose the one behind Aoyama.
He smiled fondly; the day before, Aoyama had protested Izuku's expulsion quite loudly, even threatening to speak to the board and demanding to know why the creepy, absolutely inappropriate grape was not facing expulsion too.
But, when he had been threatened whit his expulsion, the blond had backed off... but it was clear it was a moral struggle.
And he had apologized, crying and hugging Daksha, blaming himself for such a dull act on his part, calling himself a coward, no better then a snivelling minion.
Daksha had cried with him, sharing his pain as they sat on Daksha's couch, sipping hot carob and listening to the background noise of the legendary Kirtana meela of Sri-Mayapur Dham.
Was this... was this what having a real friend felt like? To be valued and loved and sometimes called just because and not because Aoyama needed something from him?
And thus, Daksha sat in the seat behind Aoyama, bumping the other Mutant girl whit the Acid quirk. (Poison, from the Robobot incident.) to be placed behind Katsuki.
He hoped she would forgive him one day, and he hoped the 1-A's Sensei would be too done whit life to do anything about it.
Sitting down, Daksha began to write about the quirks he had seen that day and some of his client's... oh, and he had to contact them to say that today, he would be unable to cuddle them until school was out and all his homework were done, so he had to send the email and hope those poor, stressed out, depressed and lonely people could understand his position.
Hey, it wasn't his fault that he'd been duped by... what was the name, Logical ruse of the principal.
Once the email was sent, his dad notified that, oh hey, he didn't have to look for another school to enrol a one-eyed, quirkless mutant whose strength was the same as if he had trained intensely for the past ten months.
Shuniya2: Oh, well, that's a pleasant surprise, Vatsa. Have you contacted your clients?
Daksha2: Yeah, I did. May lose a few, but it's not like I'm super strapped for cash, and I did warn them on the contract that since I was still in high school. If they can't handle that, then there's not much I can do.
Shuniya2: Yes, now. Do you want me to have Rimura deliver your tiffin? And how about your book bag? You don't exactly have your required school books.
Daksha2: It's alright, dad. Today's the day classe 1-A get their manuals and other academic things. Thank Krishna, the price of our books was in the admission.
Shunya2: I remember the time when Slaughterhouse books had to be paid by the student's own pocket even though it was a waste of paper and ink. You could not reuse old manuals. Now, exercise books, I can understand, but those books... urgh, cursed is the material science, for it is ever-changing. Good thing it changed. Do you want Rimuro to cover you? Just in case?
Daksha2: Nah, I'm good. I mean, it's just the second day; I don't think we'll do anything dangerous yet.
Shuniya2: All right, stay safe, son. And May you never forget Krishna.
Daksha: Thanks, dad, you too.
And with that, he closed his phone just in time for the brother of Ingenium to walk into the classroom whit a toast in his mouth and a thermos of... tea in his hand.
He looked around the room until his eyes fell on Daksha. The moment he saw him, the much taller and beefed up young man descended upon him, a lecture locked and loaded.
Daksha tried to put a word in, but the rule-abiding student was steamrolling through him with little regard for Daksha or how he felt.
"is this really what the new generation of Heroes will be? Careless and heedless, unable to listen to he distress as they expounded the reasons why they were wrong? Oh, Krishna, if you want me to be your representative in the world of 'Pro' heroes, then please, give met the strength, Humility and tolerance to survive this poor prideful fool's attempt to be seen as anything other then a lowly student." He prayed under his breath.
This, of course, made the glass-wearing teen even more incensed, his voice level rose, and Izuku did as he always did when faced whit a Bully.
He... mentally moved away from it, leaving his body behind as he watched them hit him until-
He felt someone shake his shoulders... gently shake his shoulders.
He breathed in, air filling his lungs... gently reminding him that he wasn't as human as he would've liked since, would he have been mortal, he would've been in a stretcher on the way to he nurse's office...
Daksha didn't want to go there.
He grabbed at the voice, the hands on his shoulders, the light in the room, and the blond hair.
For a moment, he'd almost spiralled into an ocean of fear, only to realize that he would never bother arranging his hair this well, and he had red eyes while his friend... Aoyama had fabulous amethyst for eyes.
And Katsuki... Kacchan had never handed this warm and soft, and he didn't smell like lavender and rose, and he would never know how to calm a panic attack...
Oh... he had a Panics attack.
This was a shock enough to snap out of it, his dad would have to deal whit this particular trigger, and they would watch Psychonaught, the trilogy.
He finally took a good breath in and released it; everything became brighter, the sound returned to its normal volume and, yes, Aoyama was there. Speaking sweet nonsense to him as he tried and succeeded in calming him down.
"Sa y est, tressor. Mon ange, c'est bien, cherie, c'est bien, bon travail, Daksha, Bravo..." Aoyama kept talking, and Daksha latch onto the sound and the sensation of his warm and very soft hands.
It was clear the french boy knew how to take care of his body nicely... and Daksha could only hope he'd remembered to take care of he bird locked inside this fleshy cage.
"Pardon?" Aoyama sputtered his hand massage stopping.
"N-Noting A-Aoyama-san just... just something from a Vaishnava story." The youth stuttered a bit, as he was won't do after a panic attack.
"Oh? Would you tell me about it?" Aoyama asked, his eyes shining with interest.
Genuine interest.
Daksha gave a shy smile. "Sure, but... I mean, I learned I wasn't really expelled yesterday, so I don't want to annoy Aizawa-san enough that I really get expelled." He admitted whit a shudder. "I've had some pretty terrible teachers, but at least they wanted some student to succeed."
Aoyama nodded sagely. "ah yeah, Public school."
"Oh please, my dad calls them Slaughterhouses for the soul."
And thus, the two friends spoke until it was time for homeroom, and thankfully, the owner of the desk behind Aoyama (call me Yuga, desk neighbour.) only took one look at Daksha, another to Aoyama... another one at her phone before skipping to Daksha's old desk and sitting down, claiming it as her own and placing a note for Katsuki to read.
And when the abusive blond came in, Ashido-san practically pounced on him, dragging him to his desk and shoving the paper in his face.
Daksha had never seen Kacchan this pale unless his blood pressure dropped due to his quirk interfering whit his health.
Ashido-san gave a thumbs up to Aoyama, who sent the pink skin girl a sparkly one of his own.
Eventually, the class filled up, and while many had to pause to process the fact that Daksha was still in their classroom, nobody made any comments.
Then Aizawa-san came in, took one look at the new seating arrangement, thought about it, gave up since he had already lost his will to live, and crawled in his eye-searing yellow sleeping bag... and-
"What the hell?" The eternally tired man muttered as he took out Daksha's invitation cards, one for the following Sunday feast and the other to his Cuddle therapist's office since it was clear the man needed a break and a hug.
The long-haired man shook his head and slapped his hands on the poor desk, Grabbing everyone's attention. "Alright, hell, class. Today, you're going to have your first Heroic course," he stated. "Your teacher should be there soon... now keep it down; I don't want to hear any drama. And if someone wakes me up, there better be a villain attack or someone's dying." and whit that, The eternally tired man slipped into his bright yellow sleeping bag.
For his part, Daksha could not help but grin under his glamour. All Might had assured him that his Armour was still in his locker, untouched.
He could not wait.
All Around him, his classmates began to wonder who could be their heroic teacher openly. (He ignored how Ka... Bakugou-san kept sending leers his way.)
For his part, Daksha put his first Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam back in his bag, ready to give Yagi-san his undivided attention.
"I AM HERE! GOING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON."
it took everything in Daksha not to hit his head on his desk.
Alright... this was going to be a disaster...
'At least I'll get to wear my Armoured cosplay, so all's not lost, right?' Daksha thought as he did his best to remain positive, even if his right side began to quiver.
A bad omen.
"SO, GATHER UP YOUR COSTUME CASE AND MEET ME IN BATTLE GYM BETA FOR YOUR FIRST-EVER BATTLE SIMULATION!"
All of Daksha's eyes opened in pure dread.
He could feel Katsuki's predatory gaze through the three heads in the way.
'oh no.'
As for why it took so long? My beta reader survived Hurican Ian, he lives in Forth Myer. He finally got consent power back on. anyway, here's another chapter.