A/N: Okay, so I totally did NOT almost forget to update this... No, seriously.
On another note, I'm finally putting together my Eraserhead Cosplay~! Check out my Insta if you wanna see! (Same username)
Chapter 5: Panic
When Izuku and Kirishima had gotten the text from Iida, Kaminari, and Uraraka stating that they'd wait for them inside the building, the two were understandably confused. Until the saw the horde of reporters at the gate.
"Oi, oi… Are we really expected to get through that?" Izuku shook his head in disbelief. How did heroes deal with this crap?! Maybe he really would go Underground like Aizawa-sensei.
"I guess there's no two ways about it." Kirishima looked just as uncomfortable as Izuku as they headed towards the crowd.
"What is it like to have All Might as a teacher?!" One reporter asked, as she shoved her mic in Izuku's face.
"Do you harass all kids like this? Or is it just U.A. students?" Izuku smirked. "Buuut, if you want a comment…" He discreetly gestured for Kirishima and a weird purple-haired kid to scoot past while he distracted the reporters. "Present Mic is an amazing English Teacher! I mean, look how proficient I've become in just one day of teaching!" He grinned as he spoke in English. The reporters blinked in shock as he switched to German. "Sorry, but I've got a class to get to." He waved goodbye and made his escape while they floundered at his abrupt language switch.
"Nice save, man!" Kirishima high-fived him.
"Thank you for helping me through that." The new kid said.
"No problem!" Izuku grinned. "I'm Midoriya Izuku, by the way."
"Kirishima Eijiro!"
"Shinso Hitoshi. General Education."
"Good to meet you!" Izuku grinned, but his grin faltered when Shinso glowered at the emblems on their uniforms.
"You're in the Hero Course." He stated.
"Yeah, Class 1–A." Izuku nodded.
"Must be nice, being born so blessed." He stated it so calmly, and Izuku felt his ire spike. Kirishima stiffened, shooting Izuku a worried look.
"Come on, Kirishima. Let's get to class." Izuku stated. He was not in the mood to deal with this right now.
Shinso glared. "You're just like everyone else. Just because you were born with heroic Quirks… Everything was handed to you on a silver platter. Well, some of—"
"Shut. Up." Izuku snarled, startling both Shinso and Kirishima. Normally, his fuse was a lot longer, but he'd just learned that his father was coming home a week sooner than expected, and Izuku was already on thin ice. He knew he was in for a serious beating—his father hated heroes. "Don't talk like you know everything. You want to hate me for being born a certain way? Trust me, that's nothing new. If you want to be angry with me, be angry with me for all the hard work and training I've put in to be here. Curse my name for the blood, sweat and tears I've spilled to come this far. But don't you dare accuse me of getting here on a fucking golden ticket." With that, Izuku spun around and started walking towards the building.
"The fuck do you know?!" Shinso glared at Izuku's back. "Do you have any idea what it's like?! I was born with a villain's Quirk!"
"No Quirk is villainous. Just as no Quirk is Heroic." Izuku stated calmly, his earlier anger finally under control. He turned and looked at Shinso with a cold determination. "You decide what your Quirk is worth, just as I decide what I am worth. I know what it's like to be bullied for the way I was born. To be different, cast out, ostracized. I've been told all my life that I'm a worthless nothing that should go die. I'm Quirkless. And I'm still going to become a hero. So what're you going to become, Shinso?"
Izuku gently tugged Kirishima's sleeve as they entered the building, leaving a badly shaken Shinso behind them.
"Did someone really tell you to go die?" Kirishima echoed.
"A lot of people did…" Izuku sighed. "Some have even left me notes and threats to do it themselves, before. It's nothing I'm not used to."
"You'd tell me if something like that happened here, right, man? You know that they're wrong to do that."
"I know… I'm just not used to having… friends." Izuku flushed a little. "I haven't had friends since I was pronounced Quirkless, you know."
"I thought Bakugo…?" His eyes narrowed as things started to click into place. "He was a bully to you, wasn't he?"
"I've got a few scars. Nothing too bad, though. But he's getting better… and one day, he'll make a good hero. I'd appreciate you not telling the others about this, though. They'd worry too much."
"As long as you tell me or Aizawa-sensei if he pulls any crap, you got it? You aren't alone anymore, Midoriya." He ruffled Izuku's soft green hair.
"Izuku."
"Hm?"
"Call me Izuku."
"Then call me Eijiro." He grinned.
"Hai, hai, Eiji-kun."
How in the world did this happen? Izuku questioned himself as he stood before his class. He'd gotten six votes to become Class Rep. Even Yaoyorozu only got two, and everyone else got one (or zero). Izuku, himself, had voted for Yaoyorozu, so that meant that even if all four of his friends voted for him, two other people voted for him, too.
English was fun, as he'd been assigned several worksheets in English, French, and German to complete by the end of the week. Plus, as an extra credit assignment, he was to translate one paragraph from Japanese to Latin, and another from Latin to English. (Where Yamada-sensei had found a Latin paragraph, Izuku wasn't sure).
And History/Modern Literature with Cementoss was interesting, as he'd gotten his essay results back from a rather impressed sensei.
"Not many students can write an essay about World War Two with this much detail even with research, let alone off the top of their head." He'd praised quietly, making Izuku flush. He'd never handled praise well, having grown used to being admonished or put down. Insults and bulling? He could handle that. Joker? Bring it. Vigilante work on two hours of sleep in as many days? Nothing he wasn't used to. But heaven forbid someone should compliment him.
By lunch, Izuku was exhausted and not looking forward to All Might's class that afternoon. If the last one was anything to go by, he was going to end up in Recovery Girl's office… again. And he had the feeling Aizawa-sensei would kill him if that happened.
Or kill All Might.
He was also excited for tonight. He and Aizawa were going to go patrolling together for the first time—the paperwork had finally been sent through, and Aizawa was going to take him down to the police station to assure them that he was no longer a wanted vigilante.
But he had to survive the school day first. Ugh.
"Are you okay, Midoriya?" Uraraka asked as the group of five sat down. "Bakugo burned your leg pretty badly yesterday, right?"
"Yeah. Recovery Girl fixed me up. Her Quirk is amazing~! It accelerates a person's natural healing, which is why you feel so tired afterwards, because healing requires stamina, and if you're hurt too badly, then her Quirk could actually kill you, but—" He cut himself off, turning red. "S-sorry. I just really like Quirks."
"I think it's amazing how you can analyze someone's Quirk so thoroughly!" Iida announced with excitement.
Izuku looked up when he sensed someone heading over to their table. Shinso came to a stop next to Izuku, and shifted uncomfortably. Before Izuku could say anything, Shinso bowed. "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I was in the wrong. I had no right to assume or judge. You got to where you are now because you put in the work I was too scared to do. You deserve to be a hero."
Izuku blinked. "Y-you can raise your head, you know." Shinso stood. "Why not sit down and join us for lunch?" He offered. "I'm not mad anymore. It's all good." He smiled. "Sorry I snapped at you. I just had a bit of a rough morning, is all."
"I- bu- what?" Shinso looked bewildered.
"Haha. That's just how he is. Midoriya doesn't stay mad, long." Kaminari grinned. "So sit down and introduce yourself! I'm Kaminari Denki!"
Shinso sat down and before long, was pulled into the group of friends. Izuku smiled. Well, that's one person I've saved from isolation. Uraraka had just finished explaining what had happened during yesterday's training exercise.
"And he wasn't punished? Why am I not surprised." Shinso shook his head.
"Because people with flashy, powerful Quirks tend to get free passes." Izuku shrugged as he shook his head. He was glad to have one person in the group who could relate to his views on how skewed society was as a whole.
Somehow, they'd gotten on the topic of why everyone wanted to be a hero.
"Heroes are so manly! They protect everyone, and keep the peace!" Kirishima grinned.
"Yeah, and they're so cool!" Kaminari agreed. "Besides! What good are our powers if we can't protect people?"
"I come from a family of Heroes." Iida piped in. "Ever heard of Ingenium?" A few people perked up and excitedly nodded. "That's my older brother! I want to be like him, one day. He's my inspiration!"
"My reason isn't nearly as noble as all of yours…" Uraraka flushed. "To be frank, I'm in it for the money."
"Money?" Shinso wasn't impressed. Neither was Izuku, to be honest.
"My parents run a construction company. It's a very hard job, and I want to make a lot of money so they don't have to work quite so much. Then they can retire young, and go vacationing all the time!" She smiled.
"Ah, then that's different." Shinso nodded sagely. "You want the money for someone else's sake."
"Why do you want to be a hero Shinso?" Uraraka tilted her head.
"My Quirk… Is Brainwashing." He hesitated, like he was expecting backlash for it.
"That's so cool!" Izuku grinned. "You can save so many people with that! Hostage situations, shootings, negotiations, even helping out in rescue operations by keeping small children quiet, or guiding people out of danger!"
"I… I've never had someone tell me that before…" Shinso looked so startled by the encouragement and support, even as the other hero students grinned in agreement. "All my life, people have told me I'm a Villain, because of my Quirk. Even my own parents refuse to talk to me, because my Quirk is response based. But… I've always wanted to be a hero. You can't help what the heart wants." He smiled wistfully for a moment. "And you, Midoriya?"
"As you said, Shinso. You can't help what the heart wants. I was born Quirkless. When I was officially pronounced as such, I got bullied, badly. All my life, people have laughed at my dream, and put me down for it. Even All Might told me it was a fool's dream, and I should do something else. But… when I was younger, I met my mentor… He believed in me, and trained me to become a hero…" Izuku smiled for a moment. "He died a long time ago… But I can't help but feel that he'd be proud to see where I am now. I want to become a hero… So the people who've helped me get to where I am now will never truly die. They'll never be forgotten for as long as I chase after my dream." He abruptly remembered that there were people listening to him, and turned bright red. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to off on a tangent!"
"That's such a manly reason! So beautiful!" Eijiro clenched his fist as tears rolled down his face.
"Wow… I didn't realize you had such an incredible back-story, Midoriya!" Uraraka grinned.
Shinso was about to say something, when the alarm abruptly went off.
"Attention. A security breach Level 3 has been detected. All students please evacuate to the designated shelters."
"Level 3?" Iida stopped an upperclassman.
"It means someone's breached the front Gates of U.A. and infiltrated the school. In my three years of being here, I've never seen it happen!" The upperclassman then rushed off.
They made to follow, when Izuku stopped them. "Wait!"
"What, Izuku, we've gotta evacuate, too!" Eijiro argued.
"Take a moment and look at that disaster." Izuku calmly pointed towards the absolute panic that was the hallway, where several people were probably going to be trampled to death if something wasn't done. He glanced out the window to assess the situation, and blinked when he saw… "The press? Are you fucking kidding me?"
A few of them flinched at Izuku's f-bomb, but he really didn't care at that point. He sighed. "I'll be right back." He reached into his backpack—which he brought with him everywhere out of habit—and grabbed his grappling hook.
He then shot it at the pipes over the exit door, and skillfully balanced on the very small ledge there. Compared to scaling skyscrapers in Gotham, this was nothing.
He then used his newly improved computer (which was disguised as part of his glove) to wirelessly hack the intercom in the hallway. "ATTENTION STUDENTS!" He called out, startling the group of rampaging teenagers as his voice sounded from the speakers above them. "DO NOT PANIC! THE PRESS HAS BEEN SPOTTED OUTSIDE! PLEASE REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE, AND PROCEED IN AN ORGANIZED FASHION TO THE DESIGNATED AREAS!" He sent them a mild glare before hopping down. Now that the panic had been dealt with, he easily made his way back over to his friends.
"They've gotta start having drills or something, because this is just ridiculous." He shook his head as he helped up a few people who'd been caught underneath the stampede. Luckily, nobody was hurt too badly to move, and he pulled out his cell phone and called Recovery Girl to let her know that she should expect a few people.
By the time that everything had calmed down and been settled, Izuku was even more exhausted than before. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that Aizawa was going to join them for the exercise today. Maybe it's because of the bullshit All Might pulled yesterday? Izuku would have donned his Robin outfit if it weren't still in for repairs (and alterations, because damnit he told them to make that stupid cape longer!), so instead he settled for his gym outfit with his utility belt and his newly refurbished gloves (he'd put the digital system into it, allowing him to hack tech a lot faster, which was what he'd used in the panic earlier).
On the bus, Izuku found himself enjoying his conversation with Asui, pleasantly surprised to find them teasing Bakugo. When the bus came to a stop, he, as class rep, guided everyone out.
The moment his foot hit the soil, a strong feeling of wrongness churned his stomach. He knew… he knew something was going to go south today.
"Sensei." He stated quietly, making sure the students couldn't hear him.
"Midoriya?" He raised an eyebrow. Izuku wondered how the man hadn't picked up on the feeling of wrongness.
"My gut's screaming at me right now. Something's wrong here."
"Thirteen and I are both here, and All Might should be here any minute." He reassured him.
"Please… be careful, Eraserhead." Izuku sent his teacher a meaningful look, and Aizawa stiffened at the use of his Hero name.
"You as well, Robin."
And on a paranoid instinct, Izuku sent a text to the only other U.A. Staff member he had in his contacts (because he doubted Recovery Girl would be of much help right now, when she was still dealing with some of the aftermath of the panic earlier).
'Yamada. I have a bad feeling… If, in ten minutes, you cannot get a hold of either myself or Aizawa-sensei, assume something is gravely wrong.' He made sure the message went through before joining the rest of the class in the Unforeseen Simulation Joint.