A/N: Thanks to all the readers and commentors, as well as the large amount of people confirming what I already knew, that Kaachan and Kacchan are NOT both nicknames for Katsuki, ha, HA! Anyways, here's some more!
Morning Spaces
Izuku was soaked with sweat, his plain white t-shirt stained with grime and coated with sand, as he bent over his knees, gasping for breath. Around him, Dagoba Beach remained as it had for years, covered in piles upon piles of garbage, muffling the sight, smell, and sound of the ocean even as seagulls cried and fought over scraps of food. Sighing heavily, Izuku straightened up, wiping his sweaty brow with one of the thick gloves he was wearing.
"You're making good progress already, Little Listener!" Yamada-Sensei (as he told Izuku to call him), praised happily, offering Izuku a bottle of water. Izuku took it with a bright, if slightly-wobbly, smile. It had been two days since the Voice Hero had shown up at their apartment with Eraserhead, a Test, and a Plan. A Plan for Izuku, so he could become a Hero. It still just, just blew his mind, that Heroes, real, actually there, Heroes, would waste their time on Worthless Quirkless Deku, would come up with an actual plan to help him become a legitimate Hero.
He'd caught his Kaachan talking on the phone with Yamada-Sensei and Aizawa-Sensei (as Eraserhead ordered him to call him) twice already, once to talk about the Test, and once to talk about Izuku's training starting today. It just, it was just…
He couldn't even think of a way to explain it, really! Discombobulating? Yeah, that, that was right. He was just, thrown off balance, surprised, startled, and disbelieving all combined in one anxious, disbelieving ball of worries and excitement. It made him want to bounce in place and throw up and cry and squeak and just…
"Hey, hey, easy there, kiddo!" Yamada-Sensei called gently, but firmly, peering into Izuku's face with concerned, kind eyes, and Izuku realized he'd started trembling, twitching, and gasping for air he didn't have enough of. The Hero set his hands on Izuku's shoulders and made a point of breathing loudly and steadily, until Izuku matched it, matched the rhythm, and settled beneath that steady, gentle hold.
"S-s-sorr-rry," he stuttered out, a flush of humiliation making him cringe slightly, ducking his head, and Yamada-Sensei used his thumbs to gently rub Izuku's shoulders gently.
"You're okay, Midoriya-Kun," the Voice Hero told him gently, almost chidingly. "There's no need to apologize, alright? Believe me, I get it. You're a little overwhelmed, and that's totally fine, Little Listener! You've gotten used to the world being against you, of only bad things happening and good things being temporary. And then this jackass," he said, waving at himself mockingly, getting a wobbly smile and weak giggle from Izuku as he continues, "comes outta left field and just sucker punches everything you've just gotten used to in the nuts. And part of you is so fucking happy because it's happening, but the rest of you, those parts that are scared and angry and waiting for that shoe to drop? Those parts are completely valid. It's okay to be scared and worried and anxious about all these changes, kiddo. To be wary and suspicious even if you don't want to be. It's a natural and understandable feeling and it's okay that you feel it. Okay?" Izuku swallowed heavily, sniffling, and resisting the urge to wipe his tears with his nasty, filthy hands.
"O-okay," he chokes out hoarsely, voice wavering and cracking; Yamada-Sensei offers him a crooked, gentle smile, gently squeezing his shoulders.
"Okay what, kiddo?" he asked gently, coaxingly; Izuku swallowed past the lump in his throat, forced himself to breath through it, and let his watery gaze meet his Sensei's.
"I-it's okay t-to not be okay," he stated, as firmly as his cracked, wavering voice could, the mantra Yamada and Aizawa-Sensei had already been insisting on reminding him for the past two days clear in his mind. "A-and it, it's okay to f-feel th-the way I, I do, b-because I, I can get better. I, I am not b-broken, and w-what I'm f-feeling is, is valid and okay."
"Exactly that, kiddo," Yamada-Sensei praised warmly. "Remember that, remember that Shouta and Inko and Nedzu and I are all in your corner, that even when you're feeling overwhelmed its okay to feel that way. Learn to recognize the signs, to recognize when your brains getting to that point, and you'll be able to head yourself off before you can get too buried in it all. We can bring up different ways you can de-escalate your anxiety and stress with Hound Dog when we set up your appointments in a couple days, okay?" Carefully following his teacher's breathing, Izuku found himself once more settling, shoulders un0knotting as he offered the Hero a small, relieved nod and a wobbly smile, getting a bright, encouraging grin back in response.
"Come on then, kiddo!" The Voice Hero declared, bouncing up and away to put his hands on his hips. "We've got another hour of work here before our run back to your place! Let's get to work, al-RIGHT!?" the Shout echoed through the piles of trash, sending dozens of startled seagulls flinging themselves into the sky, and Izuku couldn't help but grin as Yamada-Sensei flailed around his head dramatically as feathers fell towards them.
"Right!" He replied, voice firm and only slightly-raised, but clear, as he turned his attention to the nearest pile of garbage he'd been steadily working on. As he did so, he missed the bright grin and double-handed thumbs up Present Mic sent him, but he didn't miss it when the Hero tripped over a half-buried microwave on his way back to his Supervisory Spot, sending the flailing, yelping blond face-first into the sand.
"AH, Sensei!? Are you okay?!" He cried, flailing anxiously as he abandoned his trash to help the spitting Hero up from his ungainly sprawl in the sand.
()()()()()()
Principal Nedzu hummed delightedly as he prepared a fresh pot of chamomile-mint tea for his soon-to-arrive guests. He, personally, preferred jasmine tea, but he felt something calming would be the best route to go, considering the high leveled anxiety his newest guests both had. Hizashi was escorting the Midoriya's to his office even then, gesturing around grandly and bouncing on his toes as he did his best to distract and engage to two green-haired civilians as they followed him with wide-eyed wonder and anxiously wringing hands.
Rare were the times Nedzu found himself reminded of the Labs. Rarer still, were when the stirred memories brought him nostalgia instead of stale-past-fears and cold phantom touches. But, watching the two on his cameras, absently touching the buttons to switch views so he could follow them along properly, Nedzu was reminded of himself, those first few weeks where he'd been allowed to walk amongst the halls of the Courtroom to fight for his rite to even exist. He remembered his ears swiveling to catch every faint echo, his paws twitching with the need to over-groom himself out of nerves and stress, held back by the desire to not seem inhuman to those around him, to not be seen as less.
He remembered the swelling red skin around his eyes and nose from his stress, an instinctual, genetic response to his distress. Of over-grooming to the point of thinning his own fur, of being forced to hide raw, bald patches of exposed skin beneath the too-starched clothes given to him on request. Remembered the sound and feel of his heart pounding in his chest even as his limbs moved slowly to his command, the urge to freeze, to shrink away, to not draw attention—
Ah.
He was over-analyzing himself again.
Forcing himself to go through the details of his own thought-patterns and instinctual-responses to better prevent mishaps and miscommunication. It was a coping mechanism he'd had for years now, but one that still crept up on him out of the blue occasionally.
Shaking his head to firmly set his fur back down from where it had began to uncomfortably rise, Nedzu smiled gently as he stroked his paws over his ears in a gentle, self-comforting, but deliberately short, grooming. The cameras showed that the Midoriya's and Hizashi-Kun were a mere two minutes and forty-seven seconds from his office, and it wouldn't due to make them feel unwelcomed or burdensome. Humming a few notes, mostly scales, in order to get rid of any tightness in his throat, Nedzu straightened and tugged his shirt-cuffs, and cast a keen eye around his office to make sure that nothing particularly stressful was in sight. He made sure that the cream and sugar he had just-in-case for his guests was within reach, and settled himself into his chair behind his desk, the Placement Test young Izuku had completed sitting before him.
Lacing his paws together and settling his tail across his lap, twitching tip hidden from view, Nedzu made sure the smile on his face was warm and welcoming and absolutely without teeth, that his eyes crinkled the correct way to express friendliness, that his ears were relaxed instead of perked, and kept his body as relaxed as possible. All but the smile were signs of openness and welcome in animals, after all, and humans who had been mistreated, he'd found, respond far more to such signs than usual, instincts more receptive to the animal-hindbrain they all claimed they only possessed in the heat of coitus or violence, or the chill of fear.
(They were all still animals no matter what some claimed, and it showed)
There was a clear trio of knocks on his door, and Nedzu called for them to enter, controlling his vocal cords to project warmth and cheer. Hizashi-Kun opened the door with his usual bright smile, holding it open for the nervous duo behind him with ease.
"Midoriya-San, Midoriya-Kun, welcome," Nedzu greeted the two as they shuffled in, unlacing his paws to gesture towards the three seats pulled directly across from his desk. "I am Nedzu, Pro-Hero and Principal here at U.A., and I am very pleased to meet you both. Thank you for coming."
"A-ah, um, that is, th-thank you as well, Mr. Nedzu, um, sir," Midoriya-San greeted back uncertainly, plump figure shuffling quietly forward, fingers tightly wringing the slightly-worn handkerchief she was clutching too herself. Self-comfort tactics, his Quirk noted as he continued to smile and offer them both teas. Uncomfortable in new environments, skittish around authority figures, frightened by thought of disappointing and/or failing those around her. Self-esteem issues brought on by own anxiety as well as shallow-minded comments and opinions of peers, signs of frequent and heavy crying, possible eating-disorder due to stress.
"I will cut directly to the chase here, if you two don't mind," Nedzu told the two as they sipped their tea politely, the scent of chamomile and mint and hot tea in general working to reduce some of their nervous tension.
(Behind the desk, his tail shivered in empathetic response, his toes curling in his shoes in an attempt to get a grip on the ground so he could better flee. He turned his ears perking into a natural, friendly movement instead of the instinctual search-for-danger move they wished to follow. And still, his smile remained warm and kinds He had a few decades of practice now, after all.)
"Midoriya-Kun's Placement Test," Nedzu stated simply, unlacing his paws to gently tap the thick pamphlet of papers in front of him. Midoriya-San straightened even as her son did the same, but their body-language changed in turn. Midoriya-San's straightened shoulders, lifted chin, clenched hands, they spoke of a readiness to defend, to even argue, although he doubted there would be a single raised voice in this office that wasn't in shock or happiness (or Hizashi-Kun's Quirk). Meanwhile, Midoriya-Kun's posture straightened in a way that forced Nedzu to casually drag a paw over his head and groom away the raised fur on the back of his neck.
Braced for violence, to take a hit, eyes already darting to the large windows behind Nedzu's desk, darting, skittering over to his mother and Hizashi-Kun, before darkening with understanding and even defeat, as if he had calculated the likelihood of escape and found the percentage too low to correctly attempt or even contemplate. A shift of his hips, an instinctual lowering and hunching of his shoulders, arms slipping forward to fold over the vulnerable expanse of his stomach. Neck bending just enough that his chin hid his throat, head tilting his enough to offer a shield to his collarbone and placing his eyes and ears at an angle to better keep blows from landing on them.
They were the movements of someone expecting to be beaten, attacked, injured without hesitation or care, and one that knew that defending themselves was not only unlikely but inadvisable.
(It was rare that Nedzu was reminded of his time in the Lab, but not rare enough.)
"I am happy to say that his scores in the School Subjects parts of the test were very high, well over the percentage that would allow him to pass the Entrance Exam in any of our Courses, with the exception of Business Course, where he fell just two-point-six percent below the acceptance grade," Nedzu stated clearly, warmly, smile unwavering as Midoriya-Kun flinched slightly, wide eyes darting to his face in surprise even as his mother's posture both relaxed at Nedzu's bluntness but also stiffened, no doubt preparing for some excuse or blatantly discriminatory remark of 'unfortunately' or 'but'.
Nedzu was happy to disappoint her in this.
"The Mental/Emotion Stability aspects of the Test were as we expected, and Hound Dog is more than happy to meet with you, Midoriya-Kun, and even provide a list of possible-Therapists and Counselors should the two of you not mesh correctly," he told them cheerfully, nodding his head at the uncertain boy in a pointedly inclusive matter. "His personal recommendation is once or twice-weekly visits for around four months, and then twice monthly visits until you both feel comfortable about further expanding the times between visits. I agree and indorse this schedule, and would like you both to be aware that U.A. fully intends to cover the cost of both the visits and transportation for them, even if Midoriya-Kun finds counseling in an outside source."
"Y-you don't have to do that!" Young Izuku stuttered at the same time as his mother, the two of them straightening once again, now in alarm and guilty unease. Nedzu held up a hand to quickly cut them off
"U.A. invests in potential assets, especially those that are highly promising to its future and the future of Heroics in general," he informed them almost nonchalantly, the skin around his eyes relaxing, making them look naturally larger, more intent. "This ranges from support companies, up-and-coming businesses, and potential students." Letting that sink in for a moment, Nedzu leaned forward, making his shoulders lower and his upper arms relax in a way that made his chest more open, body language now seeming more open, more welcoming, offering himself up to the room at large.
"U.A. invests in the wellbeing and welfare of its potential assets," he told them seriously. "And it cares, I care, about the wellbeing and welfare of our students, past, present, and future. And I can state, without a doubt, that from what I've learned of you, Midoriya Izuku, just from the way you answered this packet, is that you have a future here. You have a future in this field, and I do so look forward to seeing you walk through these doors again as a student of U.A.'s Hero Course." Nedzu let his smile widen, let his eyes squint shut as his teeth bared in a singularly-human expression of happiness, and spread his arms wide and open in a (notably dramatic) welcome to the now-crying teenager.
"Midoriya Izuku I have no doubt at all that, in ten months' time? This will be your Hero Academia!" Both Midoriya's were sobbing now, clinging to one another's hands and leaning into one another, and even Hizashi-Kun was sniffling and crying quietly happy tears in his seat, beaming joyfully at the room at large, and Nedzu gave himself a pleased, mental pat on the back.
He waited until the tears died down to sniffles, until the previously defensive posture of the future-student had relaxed into something almost-painfully hopeful. Until bright smiles and warmly grateful eyes locked once more on him and offered an easy grin as he took a sip of tea.
"Let's talk schedules, shall we?" He asked, gently clapping his hands together and pulling out a four-inch-thick binder. While Hizashi's immediately strained smile made something in Nedzu chuckle with glee, the immediate response of Midoriya Izuku had him cackling aloud. After all, it wasn't every day that someone pulled out their own Binder of Doom to combat his.
"I, um, have s-so many questions," Midoriya-Kun told him sheepishly. "I-if you don't mind answering, of course!" He backtracked as his anxiety reared, and Nedzu offered him a far more real grin than the gentle smiles he'd been offering beforehand, his tail lifting to wave in cheerful, giddy amusement behind him as he clasped his hands on his Binder's edges and leaned over the desk eagerly.
"Midoriya-Kun, it would be my absolute pleasure!" The smile he got in return was bright and childishly joyful, and Nedzu happily settled in to talk schedules and debate theories with the young boy over tea.
(The originally-schedules hour-long-meeting soon turned onto a four-hour session that only ended when Shouta-Kun appeared to forcibly interfere, no doubt summoned by an overwhelmed and dazed Hizashi. Nedzu, while disappointed, didn't mind in truth. After all, he had some experiments to try out so he could answer a few of Young Izuku's more interesting questions the next time the met.
He truly did want to know if he had retained the naturally collapsible-spine of mice and some rodents, and Recovery Girl would be the best place to start that investigation.)
Truly, it was a fantastic start to what would no doubt be a promising young Hero's future.
He couldn't wait to see it.
A/N: Nedzu is fun to write~ ^-^
Next Chapter: More Izuku, some Hound Dog, and possibly another Hero~! We'll see!
Don't forget to review!