(A/N: This chapter is the longest yet. I had originally planned to have it split, but changed my mind last minute. This is the first part of the first day of the second week. So there's more to happen on this day. But I'll say again that not all chapters will be long like this. So enjoy! ^_^ )
...
"Woah, what happened to you?"
At their now usual morning meeting spot, Izuku turned to see Hitoshi approaching him, a cup of coffee in the taller one's hand. The purple haired teen looked his friend over, taking note of the bags under his eyes and overall exhausted appearance.
"You look like you stayed up all night," Hitoshi commented further.
With a tired chuckle, Izuku replied, "Kind of. I, uh, didn't get much sleep last night. My brain kept thinking about…things. Wouldn't let me fall asleep."
"Ah," Hitoshi let out in understanding. He himself was constantly plagued by insomnia and practically always existed in a state of tiredness. Which was why coffee was basically his life's blood. Speaking of, he took another sip of his cup.
The greenette watched his friend and grimaced. "I don't understand how you can drink it black like that," he said with a look of confused disgust. "It's so bitter."
"That's the way I like it. Bitter and black. Like my soul," Hitoshi replied, dramatically taking another swig.
"I think you'll have to fight against Tokoyami-kun or Kuroiro-kun for that claim," Izuku remarked with a smirk. "One has a Quirk called Dark Shadow while the other's is simply called Black. And they both have the whole 'darkness is my friend' vibe going on."
"Then let us fight," Hitoshi declared, tossing his now empty cup in a trash can nearby. "There can only be one who is friends with the darkness."
"Ok, Highlander," Izuku chuckled and shook his head with a smile.
"I was going more for Bane," Hitoshi said flatly, making the other laugh.
Soon, Mei arrived and, after she gave Izuku a big bear hug as she had done everyday since Friday, they walked into UA. They exchanged small talk as they walked through the halls, made a stop at the teachers' room so Izuku could pick up a notebook, and parted ways a few minutes before the first bell. The two Support students sat in their seats in the back and waited for homeroom to begin.
After the events last week at the USJ, it felt a little weird to Izuku to be back in school as if nothing happened. The normal routine he had formed upon starting in UA had been interrupted by the Villain attack. Not to mention yet another visit from Stain, one that left him just as conflicted as ever concerning his connection to the man.
As he sat in his seat, the other Support students glanced his way knowing he had also been in the USJ during the attack. But they kept their distance when Mei would glare at them if they tried to get too close. He was grateful for his friend's protectiveness because he really didn't want to talk about it.
The bell chimed and their homeroom teacher arrived to begin class. Although Izuku still felt a bit off, the standard pattern of procedures for homeroom helped ease him back into the usual routine. He found himself focusing on the matter at hand and not on the USJ…or Stain.
...
"Before I get to the main topic today, about what happened last week," Higari said, looking seriously at his students. Or as seriously has the orange haired man could with his helmet on and being a foot shorter than most people. "The incident at the USJ is part of an ongoing police investigation and those involved are not allowed to talk about it other than what has been reported to the news. So, be respectful and do not ask them about what happened there. Understood?"
"Yes, sensei," the class replied, though a few still glanced back at Midoriya. They wouldn't ask but that didn't stop their curiosity.
"Good. Now then, what I want to talk about today is the upcoming Sports Festival," Higari announced. Some of the students were shocked and commented about how UA could still go through with the festival after the Villain attack. "Quiet down. We're going forward with the Sports Festival in order to show the public that UA's Crisis Management Protocols are sound. Security at the event will also be increased compared to past years with five times the police presence. The Sports Festival is a huge opportunity for all UA students and not something that can be cancelled over a few Villains."
The students murmured amongst themselves, questioning the decision to push forward despite the USJ attack.
"The UA Sports Festival is one of the most-watched events in the world. In the past, the Olympics held everyone's attention acting as the world's Sports Festival. But with the ever-increasing appearance of Quirks, the popularity of the Olympics lessened and the UA Sports Festival's grew. With the high level of viewership, the Sports Festival is a great way to get noticed. Whether you're aspiring to be a Hero…"
Higari glanced subtly at Midoriya, the slightest turn of his helmet was all that gave it away. Upon making secret knowing eye contact, the greenette gave him a determined nod.
"…or you want to show the world what you can do. The top Heroes will be watching as well as Support companies scouting for new talent."
This time the teacher covertly eyed a few of his more promising students. Especially the jittering over-excited pinkette in the back. Who just received a flick to the arm from her aspiring Hero friend in hopes to calm her down. It didn't work.
These next few weeks are going to be hell, aren't they?, he thought, sighing internally and already dreading whatever chaos Hatsume would create.
"This festival isn't just for the Hero Course students to show off. Take this opportunity to show them what you can do. Embrace UA's motto. Go beyond. Plus Ultra!"
The classroom exploded in cheers as the students chanted 'Plus Ultra' over and over. The Support Hero couldn't help but smirk at their antics. After letting the class go wild for a few more seconds, the teacher got the students attention again and continued on with homeroom.
When the bell chimed at the end of the period, Higari gathered his papers and turned to leave for the Support Studio. But he paused when he heard one of his students call out to him. Turning, he saw Midoriya hurrying over to him.
"Midoriya, what is it?" the teacher asked, looking up at his student. He noticed the bags under the boy's eyes and wondered if he was alright.
"Sensei, I-I wanted to ask you about Aizawa-sensei, Thirteen, and A-All Might," Midoriya said, concern clear in his eyes.
Of course, he would worry about them. Perhaps the reason he looks so tired was from worrying about the others.
"They're fine, Midoriya," Higari answered in a reassuring tone. "Aizawa had major splintering in the bones of his arms and some facial fractures around his eyes. But he didn't have any brain damage and his eyesight wasn't affected. If anything, he won't be able to use his Quirk for as quite as long as before and should be fine with some healing and bed rest. As for Thirteen, they had some pretty bad lacerations on their back, but they're going to pull through just fine. And All Might was easily fixed up by Recovery Girl."
The greenette was visibly relieved and the teacher placed his large hand on his student's shoulder in comfort.
"So, there's no need to worry about them, Midoriya. They're alright," Higari said with a smile. "Also, thank you for your hard work in the USJ. With your on-the-spot analysis, you were able to help a lot during the attack. Keep up the good work, Hiro-kun~." The man stressed the nickname he had heard from multiple Hero Course students when they recounted their own experience during the USJ attack.
Subtle much?
The boy blushed at the nickname but smiled softly and nodded before going back to his seat.
The teacher left the classroom and walked through the halls. He had heard of what his student had done. How he was able to make a device to incapacitate a large group of Villains using what he had at hand on the boat. How he had aided other students in their own fights against their attackers. How he had figured out the Villains' Quirks so quickly and relayed the information to the others so they weren't caught unaware. Doing everything he could to help turn the tide of the attack in the Heroes' favor.
Usually, the Support teacher didn't put much energy into thinking about the Sports Festival. Typically, the Hero Course students were the stars of the show for the event with rare outliers in other courses stealing the spotlight. But this year…this year may prove to be more interesting. With an aspiring Hero and a chaotic mad inventor in his class, Higari looked forward to seeing how his two, secretly favorite, students faired.
...
After homeroom, Izuku found it easier to focus on his lessons. Although there had been some serious injuries, he was relieved to know that everyone was safe and would be just fine. He still worried about how the beating that Aizawa took from the Noumu would affect his Quirk, but even if he had some kind of added limit was better than suffering brain damage, losing his eyesight, or not being able to use his Quirk at all.
As each period passed, the teachers taught their lessons as normal, some checking in with Izuku to see how he was holding up. It was nice to know that the teachers cared enough to ask. Once English class came around, Yamada being Yamada would constantly sign 'how are you feeling' to him. Sure, the new JSL phrases he had given him to study involved expressing emotions and such, but Izuku had a hunch the subject matter was influenced by his concern for the greenette.
While the Voice Hero reviewed the English grammar points covered last week, the Hunting Dog Hero Hound Dog interrupted the lesson and asked to talk to Izuku privately. Leaving his newest JSL worksheet on his desk, he stepped out into the hall and nervously waited to hear what the Hero had to say. The man introduced himself as Inui Ryou and that he was the school guidance counselor. Izuku wondered how that worked when the Hero tended to resort to incoherent growling when angry.
Inui informed the greenette that all students involved in the USJ incident would be required to attend a few counseling sessions with him. Which made sense. There may not have been any serious physical injuries among the students, but experiencing a Villain attack so soon into their first year, the school wanted to address any emotional trauma as well. The students' mental health was just as important to UA as their physical health was. Besides, Izuku knew that even Pro Heroes went to counselling when needed. Being a Hero was not an easy job, physically or mentally.
Izuku thanked the Hero once he was informed of when and where his counseling sessions would take place within the next few weeks. Hound Dog nodded and released the student to return to class. The rest of the lesson passed by and soon the chime sounded for lunch. Before he and Mei left, Yamada called out to the greenette.
"Can I talk to you for a sec, Midoriya?" the teacher said, beckoning him to the desk at the front.
Glancing at Mei, who smiled and gave an assuring nod, Izuku approached the front while she went ahead to meet Hitoshi and get a table. The Hero waited for the rest of the students to leave the classroom before speaking, gathering his papers in the meantime. Once the room was empty but for them, the blonde gestured for him to sit at one of the front row desks while the man dragged a spare chair in front of it. He had the chair positioned so the back was facing the desk and he straddled the chair to face the student with his arms resting on the back of the chair.
"Um, w-what is it you want to talk a-about, Yamada-sensei?" Izuku asked nervously. His hands were balled into fists on his knees.
"Relax, little listener. It's nothing bad," Yamada said, waving his hand dismissively. "I just wanted to see how you're doing."
"You m-mean signing variations of 'I'm fine' fifty times in the last h-hour wasn't enough?" the student teased, earning a chuckle from the teacher.
"Alright, you got me there," the blonde resigned. "But seriously, how are you holding up? You look as tired as Shouta does on the regular."
"I-I am fine, sensei, I promise," Izuku assured with a small nod. "It was s-scary, sure, but everyone d-did their best and got out o-ok. I wish I could have h-helped more, but there was o-only so much I could do from the C-Control Hub." The student lowered his head somberly while wringing his hands.
"Hey, hey there, little listener," Yamada said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder in comfort. "You did a great job, Midoriya. You helped keep Asui and yourself safe against the Villains in the Flood Zone. You were able to help the other students fight and warned them of any dangers. You helped the Heroes by telling them the Villains' Quirks. You helped Shouta not get decayed by that Villain."
"B-but he still got badly h-hurt by the Noumu!" Izuku exclaimed, shifting his face up showing the tears forming in his eyes.
The man sighed but gave the student a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder before removing his hand. "Yes, he was, but there's no telling what kind of damage a Decay Quirk could have done on top of that. So, I want to thank you for warning Shouta about it and preventing him from getting hurt more. As a token of my thanks, I wanted to give you this."
From the pocket of his leather jacket, Yamada took out a small package and handed it to the teary-eyed boy. Izuku looked at the gift-wrapped parcel and then at his teacher who gave a nod for him to take it. Carefully, he took the gift and gingerly removed the wrappings. Inside he found a Hero merch figurine and not of just anyone. It was one of Eraserhead.
"H-how did you…" Izuku stammered in shock. "How d-did you get this? It's n-nearly impossible to find his m-merch."
And he would know. He's tried.
"I have my ways," Yamada said with a wink behind his yellow tinted glasses. The Voice Hero may or may not have bought and/or custom ordered, any and all Hero merch of his husband whenever the opportunity arose, much to the other man's entertaining annoyance. "Shouta told me you're a collector and even had one of me. I thought I would give you a buddy to go along with your Present Mic figure."
Izuku let out a squeak in embarrassment, cheeks flushed red. "H-he told y-you about that!"
Dear lord, kill me now.
"No need to be embarrassed, little listener," Yamada chuckled as he briefly ruffled the student's green curls. The boy flinched ever so slightly but didn't pull away. A reaction Yamada took note of but didn't comment on as he casually withdrew his hand. "You're not the first fanboy to have merch of me. And you won't be the last. Your love of Heroes must be why you started those notebooks of yours. Show it with pride. Now, go on and get some lunch. And thanks again for your help. You really acted like a Hero."
With a smile on his still slightly flushed face, Izuku bowed to the teacher in thanks and left for the cafeteria. As he walked, he delicately studied the newest addition to his Hero collection. The figurine was of Eraserhead in an action pose with his hair raised and his capture weapon floating around him. The greenette wondered what the artist who made it used as reference. Possibly one of the same grainy videos he himself had found in the far corners of the internet in search of information on the Underground Hero. With care, he wrapped the figurine back in the wrappings and placed it in his bag.
Soon enough, Izuku made it to the cafeteria and searched the room for his friends. He found the familiar pink and purple hair of Mei and Hitoshi sitting with Uraraka, Iida, and the newest addition, Tsuyu. Upon spotting his friends, he headed towards the table to drop his things off before getting food. Uraraka was the first to notice him approaching and called out to him.
"Hey Mido! Over here!"
"Hi, sorry I'm late," Izuku said, making his way to his usual seat next to Mei. However, there was already a plate of food there. "Um…is someone sitting here, Mei-chan? Who's katsudon is that?"
"Nope! This seat is for you," Mei replied, pulling out the chair for him. "I wasn't sure how long you would be and, since I know this is your favorite, I decided to get it for you before they ran out."
In typical emotional Midoriya fashion, tears started to build up in his eyes at the kind gesture. "Y-you didn't have to d-do that, Mei-chan!" he cried, taking the seat.
"But I wanted to," she said with a warm smile. Izuku hugged his friend in thanks and eagerly dug into his food.
"So, what did Yamada-sensei talk to you about, Izuku?" Mei asked, going back to her own lunch.
"Oh, he just wanted to check on me after…what happened last week," Izuku replied, all those who had been at the USJ cringed slightly. "And he wanted to thank me."
"Thank you for what?" she questioned.
"For helping Aizawa-sensei during the attack," he answered, reaching into his bag. "He gave me this."
Unwrapping the figurine, he placed it on the table for the others to see. Everyone at the table looked at the figurine in awe.
"Is that Aizawa-sensei?" Iida asked.
"Yeah."
"Why would he give you that?" Uraraka asked.
"I call favoritism!" Hitoshi interjected. Izuku rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at his friend.
"Apparently, Aizawa-sensei told him about my Hero merch collection I have at home," Izuku explained, blushing slightly as girls cooed about him being a Hero fanboy. "I have a Present Mic figurine and Yamada-sensei said he wanted me to have this to be a 'buddy' for it. I'm surprised he had it in the first place. Finding any kind of merch for Underground Heroes is basically impossible, especially Eraserhead."
"How does Aizawa-sensei know of your collection at home, Midoriya?" Iida asked.
"Because he's been to my house," Izuku replied. He was going to explain further but Iida interrupted him.
"Why would he go to your house?" Iida prodded further, his arms chopping through the air as he spoke, coming to outlandish conclusions. "Were you in trouble? Was he there to discuss disciplinary action? Is your standing in the school in question?"
"It's not like that, Iida-kun!" Izuku interjected, finally stopping the slew of accusations. "Aizawa-sensei came to my house to collect my other notebooks. He and Nezu-sensei thought it would be better to keep them here at UA." He didn't tell them the reason why though.
"I see. I apologize for assuming," Iida said with a stiff apologetic hand gesture.
He seems to jump to conclusions too quickly, Izuku thought, making a mental note to add that to his notes on the engine teen. Though it is good to quickly assess a situation, one shouldn't start assuming things off the smallest bits of information. It could lead to making mistakes in the field.
"Can I ask a question?" Tsuyu suddenly spoke up. The others stopped talking and looked her way. The frog girl turned her attention to the boy with the familiar green eyes. "Are you Hiro-chan, kero?"
Izuku looked in shock at her and nodded slowly while Uraraka said, "Oh, that's right! I only introduced him as Hiro to you. Tsu, this is Midoriya Izuku, aka Hiro-kun."
"Nice to officially meet you, Izuku-chan," Tsuyu said, making him blush at the sudden use of his first name. Though he shouldn't be surprised with her insistence that he call her Tsu.
"Nice to m-meet you too, Tsu-chan," Izuku replied. "I-if I may ask, h-how did you know?"
"You referred to the USJ as if you were there and mentioned notebooks," Tsuyu explained, a finger touching her chin as she spoke. "Also, your eyes are green."
"Oh, right…I g-guess I did take my goggles off in the Control Hub," Izuku said, hand rubbing the back of his head. "C-could you not mention that I'm H-Hiro to people outside of this group?"
"Sure, Izuku-chan," Tsuyu agreed. "May I ask why?"
"Because Bakugou is an ass," Hitoshi deadpanned. At the pointed look Izuku gave him, he shrugged and tacked on. "What? He is."
Tsuyu tilted her head in confusion so Izuku explained. How he's known Katsuki since they were kids and how he stopped being his friend when he was pronounced Quirkless. When he revealed that he was Quirkless, the frog girl's neutral face didn't even flash any sign of pity or disgust. And when he asked her to not tell others, she easily agreed to help keep his secret.
The group of friends went back to eating and exchanging small talk after that. At some point, the topic went back to Eraserhead when Tsuyu commented, "You know, if you compared that figurine with Aizawa-sensei right now, I don't think anyone would think they were the same person."
"Why do you say that, Tsu-chan?" Izuku asked, one brow raised.
"Because he's all covered in bandages," she answered flatly.
How would she…oh no…
"Don't tell me he came to school today," Izuku said, dragging a hand down his face in exasperation. "He shouldn't be teaching let alone standing with those injuries."
"That's what we thought," Uraraka chimed in. "We were wondering who would teach us instead when he came through the door looking like a mummy!"
Of course, he would…, Izuku thought with a sigh as he rolled his eyes. Aizawa-sensei is dedicated to his work, I'll give him that. Ugh, I bet he did it for the shock factor too. What a drama queen.
The rest of lunch passed quickly after that. The students finished their food and headed to their various afternoon activities. Hitoshi left for 1-C, the Hero students for 1-A, and the last two for the Support Studio. Izuku was looking forward to finally having his first full session there with no observation interruptions.
The next few hours were spent inventing. Though Izuku found himself having to contain Mei's chaos from time to time. Between curbing her excited outbursts, he wrote down his ideas in his Quirk Replication notebook. From watching Kaminari, he wanted to make several Support Items that channeled electricity. At first, since he had been practicing with staffs and escrima sticks for years, he wanted to make his own version of the weapons that also emitted electricity at the ends. But after the USJ, he wanted to make gloves that did too after watching Kaminari use his own body as a taser.
From watching Yaoyorozu, he thought that it would be good to have a shield. But possibly one that was collapsible or has a feature that allows the wielder to call the shield back if it is thrown during a fight. He would have to look for a strong but light material to make it out of.
The greenette also looked at his notes from the Battle Training for other ideas. Some that he had were a tape/grappling gun inspired by Sero's Quirk and a flash bomb of sort with inspiration coming from both Katsuki's and Aoyama's Quirks. Perhaps an array of bombs like flash, smoke, and plain explosive. Maybe even a glue one like Bondo's Cedemine Quirk in 1-B.
He also thought it would be a good idea to have some kind of heat detecting gear like infrared in case he went up against someone like Hagakure. Luckily, he could use the same design he had for the goggles he made for Aizawa for himself. Infrared Detector was one of the features he had included.
Of course, he planned to use his Jet shoes as they would be great for added mobility. And, as mentioned during his practical interview, Izuku wanted to make a mask or mouth piece that replicated his dad's Fire Breathing Quirk. Izuku wanted to have a variety of gadgets to choose from that could help with hand-to-hand combat as well as fighting from a distance. After outlining his ideas and drawing out some rough sketches of what they would look like, he got to work. No time to waste with the Sports Festival just weeks away.
...
When the bell rang to signal the end of the last period, Hitoshi collected his things and left 1-C. No one bid him goodbye because he wasn't really friends with anyone in class. Not that he minded nor did he really try. After all, he figured that it would be pointless to try if he was going to transfer into the Hero Course in hopefully the near future. Walking through the halls, the brainwasher noticed a crowd was growing out of one of the classrooms.
1-A, huh? Of course, the Hero Course gets all the attention.
Making his way toward the crowd, Hitoshi heard a certain annoying blonde speaking.
"…scouting the competition," Bakugou scoffed, facing the crowd head on. "We're the class that survived a Villain attack. They want to see what they're up against before the Sports Festival."
The blonde glared at the other students.
"Take a good look. This is what a future Pro Hero looks like. Now move it, extras."
At that declaration, Hitoshi pushed his way through the crowd to face the arrogant bastard while the other 1-A students chastised Bakugou for being rude.
"Future Pro Hero, huh? That's quite an ego you have there," Hitoshi drawled, tired purple eyes meeting angry red ones. "Makes you sound like an ass."
This was the first time Hitoshi had been anywhere near the blonde. But he had heard plenty of stories of his piss pot of a personality from Izuku. Although his friend phrased more kindly and in a too forgiving manner in his opinion.
"Are there any others in the Hero Course as delusional, or just you? How disappointing to come here and find a surplus of ego maniacs."
Glancing past the explosive teen, he saw the other 1-A students non-verbally denying the claim. He made eye contact with the Hero students that sat with him and his friends at lunch, nodding his head ever so slightly before looking back at Bakugou. He didn't consider them officially friends yet, but they were slowly growing on him.
"I wanted to be in the Hero Course," Hitoshi continued. "But like many others here, I was forced to choose a different track. There's quite a few of us actually and not just in General Studies."
As if they were under the control of his Quirk, no one spoke or made any attempt to interrupt the brainwasher. Not that they knew that fact about him, of course.
"Depending on how we do in the Sports Festival, the teachers could decide to transfer us to the Hero Course. And if that happens for enough of us, they may need to transfer people out to make room."
A few of the 1-A students flinched at that implication. Bakugou simply clicked his tongue and continued to glared at him.
"Scouting the competition? Maybe some here are, but for me, and others like me, this is the perfect chance to knock you off your high horses. If you don't bring your very best, you'll find your spot stolen right out from under you. Consider this a declaration of war."
At that, silence fell and purple eyes staring into red ones, daring the other to look away first. The staring contest was interrupted when another student started spouting out their two cents.
"Hey you!" a boy with messy shoulder length gray hair yelled. "I'm from Class 1-B next door to you! Heard you fought some Villains, and I came to find out more. But all I'm seeing is this arrogant bastard! Think you're better than us! Keep talking. It'll make it more embarrassing when we beat you."
Hitoshi watched as Bakugou stared at the other teen with the same scowl he always had. Apparently, the blonde had heard enough by this point and turned to shove his way through the crowd.
"Don't you ignore me!" the 1-B student demanded.
"Wait, dude! Where are you going?" Kirishima called out, making the retreating student pause. "You can't just get everyone riled up and hating us, then leave. You gotta say something!"
"Why should I give a crap?" Bakugou growled. "These people don't matter."
Wow…how charming…
"The only thing that matters is that I'm aiming for the top. I'll beat them all no matter what."
Having said his piece, Bakugou sent one final glare out at the crowd before pushing his way through. Hitoshi heard Kirishima lamenting at how manly that exit was while a few others complained about the target Bakugou had painted on all their backs.
Good, Hitoshi thought as he turned to leave for one of the gyms to train. Be on your guard, Hero Course. When Izuku and I come at you, you won't know what hit you. We'll take you all by storm.
...
Blog name: ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic
Notes extension: post/630621645707640832/chapter-31-friends-inventing-and-declarations