Poly ships have the best dynamics and since my personal projects have some in them (at least two do) this is excellent practice!
I don't think Shinsou has a Hero name yet? So for now this fic is just going to be called as is with Brainwave as his "Hero Name" until one is revealed.
Probably going to be relatively short chapters, but!
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Something Changed
"Whoa, what's up with them?"
Shinsou glanced up from his place in the quad. His… classmates (yeah, that was the only appropriate term to use for them, really. None of them were really friends) were discussing Class A. Again. Obsessive bastards, every one of them. Well, not entirely. He could safely say over half the class really didn't care. It was a few of the students in Class B that was really obsessed it seemed. But most of them also just wanted to get a Hero License or graduate. Even if not in the coveted Hero Course, everyone was still training their Quirks and there was a licensing exam for a Pro license anyone could take even if they hadn't been in a Hero Course. A smart compromise from Principal Nedzu and the Hero Commission, if Shinsou did say so himself. It would be an utter waste of several of his classmates' Quirks if that wasn't the case.
Either way, he found himself focusing in on Class A himself. They seemed… oddly joyful. Not that half of them weren't balls of pent-up energy waiting to burst, but even Bakugo seemed pleased about something as the class filed back into the building. But one was curiously missing. The grape bastard.
Ah. That makes sense, then.
Shinsou bit his pencil, letting it bounce with his grinding teeth, as he tried not to fall asleep in English. He glanced to his left, where Uraraka and Tsuyu were sat at the windows. The general education classes were some of the only classes where the courses could be mixed between each other. Granted It hadn't always been that way, but certain students just… would not get along in class and that was saying something given the rumors of how volatile Bakugou and Midoriya had apparently been in their first year. If two students couldn't work their shit out when those two had managed it… it was a lost cause as far as many of them were concerned.
Not that anyone actually discussed that because that'd be suicide with some of those morons, but the point stood. Students needed separations and that was the only reason he saw Class 1-A students at all. Nedzu had organized with the teachers to make the new classroom rosters because of it. Surprisingly, Midoriya and Bakugou hadn't been separated in every class they had. Shinsou only knew this because of one notable instance that had ended in Monoma returning to the class B dorms smoking. He'd apparently started harassing Midoriya, just after the new rosters had begun, and Bakugou had reached him before Kendo had even gotten a chance. The rosters were shaken up a bit after that.
The teacher called for a short recess and Shinsou didn't waste any time. He wasn't sure what Uraraka and Tsuyu thought of him—he had kind of forced Midoriya to resort to breaking his own bones to get out of his Quirk's hold and that sounded like a thing fellow classmates just didn't overlook—but he had a mission in mind. And lazy as he was in various aspects of life, reaching a goal was not something that he was lazy about.
"Hey."
Uraraka and Tsuyu both turned to him and—wow—with eyes suddenly on him he felt way more insecure about this. It was just a question. He could do this. He had to do this or look like a damned moron for backing down.
"Oh… oh! Hello, Shinsou!" Uraraka greeted with her iconic and chipper smile. Did she ever not have a cute blush on her face? Truly it was a mystery.
"Hey," he said again, feeling like a parrot. So much for not looking like a fool. He resorted immediately to the "rip it off like a band-aid" method. "You all looked rather chipper this morning. Got anything to do with the fact that grape bitch wasn't with ya?"
Tsuyu flicked her tongue out in a short whip at the name. An… odd reaction, but he could ignore it. Uraraka looked a little uncomfortable about the question, however. He couldn't tell what Tsuyu felt. He could never tell. The only things he knew for certain about Tsuyu was that she always, and without missing a beat no less, corrected anyone who called her Asui. That, and she was blunt as Aizawa. Not a small feat.
"He got expelled," Uraraka says slowly. Unsurely.
Hold up, unsurely?
"…So… he's gone?" Shinsou prompted, sounding a little more enthusiastic than he'd intended. At Uraraka's enthusiastic nod he hummed. "Fucking finally."
He returned to his seat with that murmur and didn't miss Tsuyu's mouth curve into an appreciative smirk. The two girls discussed something in hurried whispers—probably why the hell he approached them at all for something that he had no business asking about—but he tuned them out. He didn't expect to have Tsuyu at his desk by the time he sat down and had faced forward again.
"You hated him, too?" she asks, finger to her chin in curiosity.
"Didn't everyone?" Shinsou asks. Apparently with nothing to refute that with, Tsuyu nodded and returned to her seat.
Weird.
Shinsou hadn't expected much after asking the two girls about The Grape. He hadn't anticipated anything to come of it, but apparently word had gotten back to the rest of their class that everyone had hated The Grape. It shouldn't have been that surprising in Shinsou's opinion. Mineta might have had the bare minimum of potential that kept Aizawa from Insta-Expelling him; but the boy hadn't improved much in the whole… personality department. His perverted nature had rubbed more classmates than just those in Class A the wrong way. It had rubbed him the wrong way, as well, and frankly, he was relieved to hear that the boy was gone. Wouldn't stop him from applying to another school next semester, but the fact he wasn't at UA was enough for Shinsou.
Really, the only thing that told him that Midoriya had even heard his opinion of The Grape was the boys' sudden insistence to speak with him. Midoriya had insisted on cornering him in the stairwell, to be more precise. Not even a simple question of "hey can I talk to you?". Not even a subtle head nod. No. No, the boy had hunted him down, and Shinsou had never felt true fear in his life until he realized what was happening. The second he'd seen Midoriya rounding the same corner for a third time, he'd broken out into a run.
A foolish, foolish dream.
Even against Iida, Midoriya had a Quirk that made speed laughable as a means of escape, especially when he coupled it with jumping off the walls like a damned monkey. Those rabbit ears on his Hero costume were no joke. Shinsou doubted that was the intent behind them—he knew how much of an All Might fanboy Midoriya was, so he could guess the actual inspiration behind the design choice—but it was hilarious all the same. Probable rabbit ears aside, he'd been caught in seconds. Unsurprisingly.
How the boy had managed to avoid getting enough attention to get caught by a teacher was beyond Shinsou, but Midoriya just had that kind of fucked up luck. Broke every limb in his first year and got attacked by villains, multiple times, kind of bad luck. Doesn't get caught using a flashy and obvious Quirk to hunt down a fellow peer kind of good, dumb luck. How the hell that balanced out in the universe was an explanation Shinsou would fight God to hear.
That all being beside the point, Midoriya had cornered him, and he was stuck.
"Want to go to the library and study with me?" he'd asked. Innocently. As if he hadn't just hunted him down like the nightmarish rabbit that would surely hunt him in his dreams now. Shinsou pretended not to notice he was sweating.
"You need help in any particular subject? Because I suck at most of them," Shinsou said rather honestly. Midoriya just laughed at that implication. Except it was the honest to God truth and if he wanted to learn that the hard way then Shinsou wouldn't argue. Lessons learned and all that. And that laugh was the most disarming thing he'd ever heard.
"Well, I can help you, too," Midoriya offered. "Yaoyorozu is helping with chemistry and math. Bakugou with English and history. Iida is helping with any other science and math courses. And I'm helping with the more hero-centered classes, but if you finish your work early you could watch?"
He sounded… oddly desperate. But clearly trying to hide it. Shinsou looked him over a moment. This was an attempt at a "hang-out", wasn't it? Well, the kid had asked to be friends. And he had agreed. He hadn't made any attempts to actually spend time with Midoriya much after that if they didn't just happen to meet up over the course of classes and school events. And spotting each other in public like a very lax game of Where's Waldo. Shinsou supposed he could try putting more effort into this. It wasn't like he had many attachments in his current class.
"…Yeah ok." Shinsou sighed. He'd never get to sleep for his after-school nap, either way. Those had turned into thinly veiled excuses to just hole up in his room on his phone for an hour before getting dinner weeks ago.
To his increasingly lowering surprise, Midoriya looked absolutely thrilled. As if he could jump from the quad to the school rooftop. Honestly, he could probably do that any time he wanted. Shinsou would bet money on that.
And so now, after classes and with his homework in hand, he stood at the library entrance staring at the rather busy table of Class 1-A students across the room. They'd taken up one of the largest tables, given that most of them were present. Bakugou was busy swatting the heads of four of them—Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, and Jirou, if he recalled correctly—with a rolled-up magazine he'd definitely stolen from the front desk. Yaoyorozu was tutoring the rest of the girls and Satou in what looked like chemistry on the white board. Shinsou could see another student at a nearby table glancing up and jotting down notes occasionally. Likely too shy to actually approach the table but definitely taking advantage of the impromptu extra lesson. Iida looked like he wasn't tutoring anyone just yet, but instead at the end of the table with the rest of the class and Midoriya doing general studies.
Shinsou sighed and walked up to them. If he wasn't enjoying his time or just needed to leave, he'd leave. Plain and simple. Surely, they would understand, and if they didn't, they could deal with it regardless. He didn't have to go back to their dorms after this. Midoriya spotted him first and waved him over eagerly to a spare chair next to him. Shinsou took it and set his things down with a tired sigh. A sigh Midoriya had grown accustomed to hearing as Shinsou's default type of exhale, and so just smiled warmly in return.
"Hello, Shinsou," Tokoyami greeted.
Shinsou nodded to him. He could appreciate the dark classmate on a personal level. "Dark as my soul" indeed. Perhaps one of the few people who could say something like that and not only mean it, but make it work unironically. He could respect that. He could also respect that more of the class was apparently willing to speak with him. It had to be Midoriya vouching for him in his spare time. He wasn't sure why the boy would bother, but he couldn't really think of another explanation. Maybe he was trying to expand Shinsou's (frankly, pathetic) friend group. Adding nineteen potential friends to the mix almost instantaneously was quite the ambition, but it sounded just like the green-haired boy to try.
"Hey, Tokoyami. So, what are you working on?" Shinsou prompted, poking Midoriya in the arm. Tokoyami glanced up at the action but didn't comment.
"Ah, um, well, I'm trying to figure out how to do this question," Midoriya admitted, showcasing his math problem. Shinsou flicked his gaze towards Yaoyorozu. "She's already busy," Midoriya offered.
His gaze landed on Iida next. Pointedly.
"I already asked," Midoriya said rather quickly. Shinsou could call his obvious bluff on that statement. If Iida didn't understand it then he doubted he would. He wasn't about to call Midoriya a liar to his face, but he wanted to.
"Well, math is one subject I don't totally suck at. This chapter, in particular. So, let me see," Shinsou said instead, pulling the book closer. Midoriya likely just wanted some one-on-one time with him.
Overall, Midoriya was a smart student. That much was obvious even outside the classroom if one just listened to one of his ramblings about Quirks. The boy had a gift for analysis (to an almost disturbing degree). A dangerous gift that villains were going to be thoroughly ruined by. And by God, Shinsou couldn't wait. He'd have popcorn at the ready the second Midoriya graduated and was content to wait… maybe less than three days before Midoriya credited his analysis on some level to the capture of a villain. Knowing the class's combined luck, however, it was entirely likely they'd get attacked at graduation.
And seeing those villains get their asses whooped at a graduation would be just as entertaining, he was sure of it.
"Do you want to come to another studying session, Shinsou?" Iida asked him once he'd finished helping Midoriya with the question. Shinsou blinked at him, for a moment, just to be sure that he had actually meant to address him.
"Uh, well, I guess. I mean, I don't really study often—"
"What?! That is not the behavior of a good student! You should be focusing on your studies to get the best grades! That is the best way to further your chances in life!" Iida lectured, chopping the air and trying to keep his voice at a mannered level.
Shinsou ignored him, turning instead to Kouda and OJirou. The animal whisperer was signing to the martial artist while working on their homework. Shinsou hadn't used sign language since he was a kid, but he could follow enough to know they'd been discussing an elective. Nothing he could really help with, then. Kouda must have felt his eyes on him because he looked up at him. Shinsou quickly signed out a greeting and Kouda's eyes just lit up. Shinsou just gave him a quick nod before turning his attention elsewhere.
Based on the books set before him Satou seemed to be studying health. Or, at the least, nutrition. Now that was interesting given the poor man's literal dependence on sugar for his Quirk to even work. He'd have to remember to ask how that worked without the man's body just absolutely shutting down. Iida was moving onto lecturing about the importance of undivided attention and Midoriya was laughing again.
Again, most disarming laugh in the world, because Iida sat down with a light blush of embarrassment and returned to his books. Shinsou returned to watching Class 1-A. He had started to… notice things.
Firstly, Jirou could listen to music and jack into her laptop with the USB simultaneously and he honestly did not know what the hell she was doing until it hit him. She was connecting her phone and her laptop. Through her ears. God, what a weird way to work around cords, but he could respect it. He doubted that she'd ever need any aux chord for the rest of her career. Tokoyami was silently feeding Dark Shadow bits of some snack food under the table. Dark Shadow stayed beneath the table, where it was darkest, and Shinsou stretched his foot out, poking the side of the Quirk. Tokoyami seemed to feel it, too, because he turned to him questioningly.
Shit. He hadn't expected to get caught. He should have known better. Shinsou made eye contact and gave him one nod. He wasn't sure if Tokoyami figured he was giving him a secondary greeting or if he was just bored, but the boy left him to his own devices with no further questioning.
Oh, thank God.
He redirected his attention back to 1-A. Ashido was clearly hopeless with English; but not as hopeless as Kaminari was with both of the topics at Bakugou's hands. Something about how Bakugou had finished the material a week ago—and weren't they only halfway through first term? Did the man sleep?—and so could torture the boy with studies for hours if need be. It was a threat that Shinsou didn't think should be taken lightly. Kirishima had apparently improved. Kirishima also had a habit of hardening his thumb to chew on it without breaking it off with his own teeth. Also, respectable. Ashido trying to melt her textbook was less respectable, but God, he could relate. A quick smack to the back of her head by Bakugou put a stop to that attempt rather fast, though. She tried to fruitlessly wipe the acid away before it ate through the whole thing. It still left gouges in her papers, however.
"You know you're fucking paying for that shit, right?" Bakuogu reminded her. She sighed heavily, bowing her head.
Tokoyami eventually shifted to perch in his seat rather than sit, and no one said anything. Sero used his tape to hang his notes from the ceiling, presumedly to clear some table space, and no one said anything. Aoyama was not studying and mostly just staring at Midoriya. Subtle, that man was not. Not with those sparkles floating around him. Todoroki was similarly silent in his work, but something told Shinsou that he was just fine and not to disturb him to cure his boredom. It was for the best, because the boy unsettled him. It took him ten minutes to realize Hagakure was even there. He found himself pondering for another ten minutes how she drank water without it being visible. Truly a mystery. A very disturbing one, but an interesting one.
Despite it being kind of harder to focus with Bakugou's occasional shouting and the people watching, Shinsou was able to actually get some studying done. He didn't quite need it. he was comfortably sat in the middle of his class' rankings, and that suited him just fine. One pointed shush from the librarian after one pointed swearing lecture from Bakugou was what ended up being a good enough cue for Shinsou to stop for the night. It wasn't late, but it was almost dinner and he was getting hungry.
He pushed his chair out and of course, predictably, Midoriya's attention zeroed in on him instantly. Damn those big doe eyes.
"I'm hungry and I got to sleep some time, Midoriya. I'll see you between classes tomorrow," Shinsou assured him.
Midoriya still pouted at him; but he didn't try to make him stay, either, and that was as good a compromise as he was going to get. Quit while you're ahead, and all that, was something he was sure Midoriya had learned with Bakugou and would hopefully extend to him. Blessedly, he did.
"Alright, I understand. I had fun with you here! Come again?" Midoriya asked hopefully. Shinsou couldn't say no to that kind of sunshine smile and so he nodded.
"A'ight, bye."
"Bye, Shinsou!" Midoriya called after him. He watched him go until he was around the corner at the end of the hall before he turned to his classmates with a sigh. "Do you think he was uncomfortable? He was quiet."
"He's always quiet, Midoriya," Todoroki points out, not looking up from his book. Midoriya had to concede that Todoroki had a point, but he felt his point still stood.
"But still," Midoriya tried to press.
"Do no fret about things you cannot control or be sure of, Midoriya," Iida says. "I am sure that Shinsou was genuine when he said he was tired."
"Well, it is almost dinner," Midoriya mumbled. He clapped his books shut, tearing a page of his notebook out and scribbling on it frantically. He then folded it up, slipped a paperclip onto it, and slid it down the table's length until it hit Yaoyorozu's group.
Uraraka's attention was drawn to it first and she unraveled it. It was a moment of her reading and then she was looking up at them with a thumbs up and a smile. She relayed it to the others and they started to pack up. She skipped over to Bakugou's group, landing a short kiss to each head, and relayed the same thing to them.
Bakugou looked like he still wanted to threaten Kaminari into doing better in the essay, but even he needed to eat. Uraraka gave him a second smooch on the temple and Midoriya smirked at the face the blonde made. Flustered but really trying not to show it. Bakugou wasn't exactly the touch-y or affectionate type; until one broke down those particular walls. Even then, he didn't act the same with everyone. But then, no one did.
Midoriya slipped all his books and materials into his backpack, shuffling it all into place. "Do you think he'll come the next time? It's tomorrow, isn't it, so we can all study for the quiz?" Midoriya asks.
"You can always ask him, I'm sure he'll say yes," Todoroki says evenly.
"Ugh, it's not that easy," Midoriya groaned. Iida pulled him into a quick single-armed squeeze. He let him go so that Tokoyami could quickly nuzzle his neck in equal support.
"Shinsou will come," Tokoyami says. "He enjoys your aid and watching the masses."
Midoriya hummed disbelievingly. All three boys bit back sighs. He wasn't likely going to believe them until he asked Shinsou again. Iida considered waving Yaoyorozu over, but she seemed to be in the midst of last-minute tutoring with Aoyama as they packed their things. He looked utterly and hopelessly lost. Todoroki set a hand on Midoriya's shoulder, squeezing gently.
"Don't hunt him down like some demonic rabbit this time," Todoroki suggested. Midoriya flushed instantly, burying his face in his hands. He missed the slight smirk on Todoroki's face.
"I-I didn't mean to m-make it look that way!" Midoriya claims frantically. He looked back up at him, utterly confused. "…rabbit?"
"Utterly disregarding proper school etiquette," Todoroki says, completely straight faced. He spotted Yaoyorozu's group as they finished gathering their things. He left to join her as her group tagged slightly behind Bakugou's.
"Just ask him in the hallway," Iida said. He clapped Midoriya on the back. "He will say yes!"
Midoriya gave a pathetic whine in response.
Shinsou entered his own dorms to find two of his classmates having an argument in the common area. He couldn't care less on what it was about and made a bee line for the back patio, stopping short. He could spot three classmates outside, taking up the patio space. With both his usual "loner" spots taken up, he slipped past everyone—not making eye contact and not pausing to do any proper greetings—and right up the stairs, instead.
Once he'd gotten into his room, he dropped his bag and collapsed onto his bed. He let his eyes rest for a few minutes before he pulled his phone out and stared at the messages.
Mido: I'm really glad you came!
Mido: Come back again some time! ( ^ u ^)/
Shinsou snorted, letting his hand fall back to the mattress. He actually could go for a nap now. He might join the study group just to have a great nap afterward. Social interaction wasn't exactly energizing for him—most things weren't—and he was nodding off soon.
