"Contrary to public perception, the spider is far from the only order of animal classified as arachnid. I imagine you all have heard of scorpions? Much like spiders, scorpions have the familiar characteristics of eight legs and eight eyes but are noteworthy for their highly developed pedipalps and…"
The raspy, dry voice of the Musutafu Prefecture's Public High School's sole science teacher, Dr. Jacobsons, drifts through the air, settling along the ranks of his exhausted, bored, and outright disinterested students like dust on worn-out books.
Arranged in lines of eight with a total of four rows, barely half of the twenty-four wooden desks have found an occupant. Despite the class' subject, the only visible signs that this is a science class are the notes on the chalkboard and a fogged-up glass tank containing a scruffy bearded dragon. The classroom's white walls have long since faded into a slight beige, their only decorations being the last surviving remnants of admin-mandated policy posters. With crinkled cheap lamination, their commandments read:
"No food or drink in the classroom."
"No Quirk use in the classroom."
"No phones in the classroom."
Among the students, an uncharacteristically tired Izuku Midoriya struggles to maintain an image of interest as his teacher's lecture drones on. Scratching a mechanical pencil against paper in increasingly crooked sentences, the bags under his eyes and the fluttering of heavy eyelids betray Izuku's best efforts at maintaining his role as the "Model Student". His head sways to and fro, failing to maintain a steady balance – his body exhausted from multiple sleepless nights.
Snapping his head back into place and shaking himself awake, Izuku's bloodshot eyes lazily scour his notes – chicken scratch at best, illiterate at worst. Ignoring the coincidental nature of today's lecture, Izuku focuses all his efforts on capturing as much of his teachers' words as possible.
Izuku's fatigued mind is experiencing difficulty with even basic thoughts – asking him to spell "pedipalps" with his recently divided vision and process his teachers lecture at the same time is maybe more than a little overkill. And that's not even considering his mental gymnastics to avoid considering his immense embarrassment the night before. Lucky for him, his thick head of hair functioned as a wonderful concealer from the prying eyes of the late-night crowd.
Looking back, what even drove him to do something so recklessly stupid?
Izuku was not one known for brash behavior – far from it.
Izuku was always one to sit in the back of the class silent, too timid to even dare raise his hand, at least that's how everyone else viewed him. To those who despised him, his quiet nature made him easy pickings.
And now, considering last night… In a strange sense, Izuku was kind of… glad? Maybe even a little proud?
He acted on his own, confronting a fear he didn't even know he had, and certainly gained some practical experience from it. Crazy to consider how he'd so eagerly agreed to fight crime by Eraserhead's side without even understanding his quirk.
The only point of reference he has is a dated superhero from the 1960's, how was he supposed to know how people adapt to a quirk?
Guess we're skipping baby steps and going straight to leapfrog, Izuku ponders, mindlessly chewing the eraser to his pencil.
If last night was any indication, it's clear I can swing like Spider-Man, but is that all? And how did he know when to let go? I just swung around that light pole like an idiot... How else can I-
"Midoriya!" The raspy voice of his science teacher rings across the stained walls of the mostly empty room.
The sudden shock of his teacher's announcement sparks the spine-tingling chill of Arachno-Sensation. At least Izuku is fully awake now.
Snapping back from his internal machinations to the reality of a dust-filled classroom, Izuku finds the eyes of his other classmates locked on him, guided by the searing gaze of one Doctor Aldrich Jacobsons.
As the old doctor adjusts his bifocals to get a better look at his student, he steps out from his position next to the chalkboard.
Dressed in a large tan overcoat atop an argyle sweater vest, Doctor Jacobsons, a former British doctor famed across the school for his thick cockney accent and unpleasant quirk, leans against his desk as he keeps his two slitted eyes on Izuku. With salt and peppered blonde hair, a thin face wracked with wrinkles, and two reptilian eyes magnified by bifocals, his teacher looks more like a science experiment than anything else in the room. Fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt, a thin forked tongue flicks its way free from the man's mouth, tasting the stale air as he continues to stare at Izuku.
"Welcome back to Earth. We've moved on from astronomy to biology, but if you'd like to discuss your 'studies' while you had your head in the clouds be my guest," his teacher quips, having noticed Izuku's lack of attention.
"I have only so many students show up to class anyways, making your attention especially crucial. Now go on, I implore you to educate all of us on what was so special that it could draw your attention away from my lecture," Dr. Jacobsons slick voice rings across the now especially silent room.
Startled, Izuku's tired mind stutters in on itself.
Gesturing to Izuku from his desk, his teacher lowers his head, letting his glasses slip further down his thin nose, to peer at his student with his cold yellow eyes. His tongue once again flicks out from between his lips. The cold intimidation of authority.
The tension between the two is palpable.
"Go on then, Izuku," the Doctor implores once again.
Stretching his shaking legs out, Izuku pushes himself up to his feet, sliding himself out from his desk to meet his teachers eyeline.
"U-uh…" Izuku murmurs, the eyes of his classmates still locked on him.
Doctor Jacobsons never does this to me! I thought I was his favorite!
Izuku's face has quickly flushed bright pink from embarrassment to no one's surprise.
Clutching his left arm with his right, Izuku awkwardly stands.
"I was… I was thinking of… Of…" Izuku stutters his words.
What do I even say?
In a moment, chills are sent across Izuku's spine. His eyes wince ever so slightly and the hair on his arms stand still.
Without even a thought, words spill out of Izuku's mouth.
"Spider-Man."
What.
"Wait, wait, wait, no, I wasn't thinking of that!" Izuku blabbers out just as suddenly in a desperate attempt to cover his tracks.
What even as that!
The hair on Izuku's arm fall flat – the chill has passed.
His teacher raises an eyebrow in confusion, unsure of why Izuku would suddenly walk back on such a statement. The students around him begin to snicker to themselves, having a hard time trying to avoid laughing from second-hand embarrassment.
"You…were thinking of Spider-Man? Is that a character you thought of yourself?" His teacher retorts, oblivious to the former icon.
Izuku, still flushed bright pink from embarrassment, clutches his left arm with an even stronger grip. Even he is confused as to why he blurted out such a stupid response – and even more so at what even provoked his quirk.
"Y-Yes…" Izuku stomachs the public humiliation, hoping that by agreeing the class can return to Jacobsons' lecture faster.
"Well, you'll have to tell me more about him after class. Anyways, carrying on," the old Doctor responds with, pushing himself off of his desk and returning to his position next to the chalkboard.
Izuku's face burns with heat, ashamed at having to stay after class.
Granted, this was not his first time – his many, many run-ins with various bullies meant that meetings with the principal or another teacher were always common occurrences in Izuku's school life, but this was the first time it was, apparently, his fault.
As the snickers and chuckles of his classmates slowly die down and the blood slowly flushes out of Izuku's face, the teenager turns his focus back towards what's infront of him.
Looking upwards from the floor, where his eyes had been locked on a particularly large dust bunny, his eyes snag on a classmate to his right.
A young girl with a miraculous mane of long, flowing silver hair sits in one of the front desks, closest to Doctor Jacobsons. An island in the sea of empty desks, Izuku is the only student occupying a desk anywhere remotely close to her – the rest of his classmates have spread themselves far from her.
Having turned to look at Izuku, a pair of light green eyes poke through her strangely red face – as if she too had been blushing with embarrassment - hidden behind her silvery locks. Compared to the burning red hues of her face, her skin accentuates her blush due to its extremely pale complexion as if she had been formed out of the purest snow.
Confused, Izuku furrows his brows, focusing his attention to the girl in front of him and her curious gaze. As if she had been waiting for his glance, she turns towards Izuku after Jacobsons has turned his back to the class, mouthing the word "Sorry" to the bewildered boy.
This only provokes a second, even stronger befuddled reaction within Izuku.
Sorry? What for?
With her focus still locked onto Izuku, he tries to mouth a simple response back: "What?"
However, before he can properly enunciate his message, she turns her head, blocking Izuku's gaze with her long swathes of hair.
Waiting for her to possibly turn her head again proves fruitless as the seconds turn into minutes as Izuku's emerald-gaze remains locked onto the silvery sheen of her hair.
Back to arachnids I guess…
Brrrrr-IIIIIINGGGGG
With the ring of the archaic school bell, the class is dismissed. As the rest of Jacobsons students depart from the dusty classroom, Izuku remains, locked in place at his desk in the corner, listening to the dozens of snide jokes and comments made by his classmates regarding him.
Once again, Izuku is the unwilling court jester.
Watching the other students gather their belongings and leave, Izuku notices the mysterious silver-haired girl linger behind the rest of the pack alone, taking her time instead of rushing to leave the dusty classroom. As she leaves the room, Izuku studies the strange girl, still questioning her strange behavior.
Had she always been in this class? If so, how had she not popped up on Izuku's radar before?
That familiar question rings through Izuku's mind again, the same question that burnt its way through Izuku's mind when he first laid eyes on Eraserhead:
Who are you?
Looking over her shoulder, her inquisitive green eyes meet Izuku's. For a moment, they maintain eye contact. To Izuku, her eyes seem… Sorry. As if the apology earlier was for something she had caused, not just a simple condolence for his public humiliation. As if he had only gotten into trouble because of…. her?
As he runs the options of "How?" through his head, their moment is cut short by the old Doctor clearing his throat.
Approaching the still-seated Izuku, the heels of Jacobsons shoes click against the worn tiled floor. Turning his head to address his teacher, Izuku can't help but stare as the man's serpentine tongue flicks its way out from between his lips.
Gently lifting his bifocals to drag a hand across his aged face, Izuku's teacher blocks the teenagers view of the door and thus the silver-haired girl. A mystery for another time.
Letting his bifocals fall back into their natural position, Jacobsons coarse voice slithers its way into the air, "So, Izuku, care to tell me about what exactly happened earlier?" His voice is notably more relaxed now that the class has dissipated, the image of a harsh authority vanishing along with it.
"I-I… I'm not sure. Really, sir, I'm not sure at all!" Izuku replies truthfully. He really didn't have a clue.
Giving Izuku time to amend his response, Jacobsons stands in silence, holding his hand to his lip in a pensive expression.
"It…It was as if I was possessed, as if something washed out of me and I blurted out a random response. I didn't plan on it I promise! I was just… Lost in thought. You know I've had a chaotic week!" Izuku continues, referencing his week of absence brought upon by Kacchan's funeral and the multitude of events that followed.
"I understand the troubling nature of your last week. I was notified by your mother that a certain health emergency had gotten in the way of your studies," his teacher responds. Turning from Izuku and pacing towards his desk, he gestures with his left hand as he speaks.
"In fact, this is actually why I wanted to call you over after class. I had noticed your lack of attention and wanted to stir you back onto the right path in class. I simply hadn't prepared for… your outburst," He finalizes his statement with. Having finished his path towards his desk, Izuku's teacher plants his hands against a folder filled with papers.
Grabbing them, he walks towards his students' seat.
"Sorry for the embarrassment, I simply expected a typical 'nothing'…" Doctor Jacobsons awkwardly admits under his breath.
"Here you'll find all of the work you missed during your absence as well as notes to help you accommodate," his teacher continues. Finished with his analysis, the old Doctor slowly paces back towards his seat at his desk.
"Oh, oh! Thank you… Still, I'm sorry about the outburst, I didn't mean to…" Izuku continues to apologize. Watching his teachers slow nod in response, Izuku concludes his apology before it became too verbose.
Watching Izuku pack up neatly from his desk, Jacobsons speaks up once more, "And Izuku? If those miscreants make too many jokes about you after today, just let me know. I understand the plight of the high school pariah. I hope I can help." A shadow of the stern, authoritative Doctor Jacobsons seen in class, this Jacobsons gives off a much different vibe: Warm, wise, and somehow... Tragic.
With other classes to attend to, Izuku can't give his science teacher any more mind, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he too departs.
"Thank you, sir. Bye," Izuku says kindly, followed by a wave goodbye.
Closing the door behind him, Izuku enters an empty hallway, the walls packed with old lockers and the floor composed of old pale tiling.
Slowly walking to his next class, Izuku shifts the weight of the bag behind him.
His mind drifts to the image of the girl
"Sorry."
What even was that?
Pacing through the hall, his mind races with questions and possible answers to what her "Sorry" could have accounted for.
Was she embarrassed for me? Apologizing that I even got caught in the first place? Was she upset for me?
With his mind so wrapped dup in hypotheticals, Izuku fails to notice the very woman in question approach him
Suddenly, approaching from outside of Izuku's line of sight: The silver-haired girl. Her abrupt arrival sends Izuku's quirk into overdrive, sending familiar shivers and chills up his spine. Approaching from besides a pair of lockers, it's clear that she's been waiting for him.
Dressed in the Musutafu school uniform – a simple black coat matched with a white shirt and black skirt – her snow-white skin and silver hair stands out in contrast with her dark outfit. Shorter than Izuku and with a thin, petite figure, her dainty figure resembles an almost perfect replica of a porcelain doll.
"H-Hey!" She calls out to Izuku with a surprisingly rich yet delicate voice. Craning his head towards her general direction, the hair on the back of his neck continues to stand on end. Stopped in place by her approach, the two stand alone in the empty hallway.
A-A…. A girl wants to talk to me?
For all of the traumatic experiences he had endured over the last week, somehow none of them had prepared him for this. He'd talked to Ochaco before, but even then, that couldn't really qualify as a one on one conversation.
"H-H-Hey…" Izuku's voice cracks in his desperate attempt to reply.
Standing with an air of confidence, her light green eyes stand out from her seemingly greyscale outfit.
Maintaining direct eye contact, Izuku struggles to match her conversational pace.
He's much too shy for this.
"I just wanted to…" She pauses mid-sentence, a notable crack in her self-assured presentation, "To say sorry about what happened in class earlier."
Izuku furrows his brows in confusion once again.
Was he right? Did she actually have something to do with that?
"E-Excuse me?" He asks, the cracking in his voice slowly subsiding as his intrigue only grows.
She breaks eye contact for the first time, instead choosing to dart her eyes suddenly away and peer at the ground.
"Y-Yeah," She chokes out, placing a hand on the back of her neck. "I… Think I had something to do with your outburst today," she admits with a deep sigh, returning her gaze to meet Izuku's.
"How?"
"Well… It's no secret, so I don't have anything to worry about but… But just know I didn't mean to! Not in the slightest, okay?" She cocks her head as she speaks, bobbing her head as if to accentuate certain words.
"Sure? But, what did you have to do with it?"
Briefly, she bites her bottom lip, once again averting Izuku's gaze.
"It's… My quirk. I can, well, I give people… bad luck? Like, I accidentally cause things to go wrong for people… Or make them do something they don't mean to. Like today! With your weird spider joke, whatever that was… Regardless, I think… I think I did that," she continues, explaining with erratic body movements and a multitude of hand motions.
Izuku simply looks at her with a look of perplexed interest, both in the methodology of her quirk and her as a person.
"And I uh… I just wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to, sometimes it just… Happens. And I just want to say I'm sorry for that," She continues, looking up to Izuku with a sincere expression.
Izuku is dumbfounded, at least for a second. Nobody had ever apologized to him for any form of mistreatment. Somehow, it was always his fault, or he should have just grown thicker skin, or he just simply wasn't worth the effort.
This was in fact a first.
Her lime green eyes peer upwards at him, waiting for a response.
Noticing her patience, Izuku primes a response.
"Oh! Oh, it's okay! I'm not upset! Trust me, you're okay. I'm not upset at all, I'm used to being the butt of a joke anyways, it really is no big deal. I was just… Trying to figure out how your quirk works," He elaborates.
She looks at him with confusion.
"You're… Not upset?" She asks.
Izuku looks around, almost as confused as her.
"Why would I be upset?"
This question stuns her. With pursed lips and raised eyebrows, she simply stares at Izuku, baffled by someone not being upset with her.
Izuku looks at her, bewildered at her reaction to his reaction!
The two stand awkwardly in the empty hallway of the Musutafu Prefect Public High School, alone and trapped in a moment of mutual astonishment.
Throughout the hall, the school bell echoes against the faded walls with its usual ring.
Brrrrr-IIIIIINGGGGG
Startled, the silver-haired girl and Izuku both jump at the chime of the bell.
"Oh shit!" She exclaims, surprising Izuku with a sudden flash of unexpected vulgarity.
"So sorry to keep you from your class! I have to get going!" She blurts out.
Almost as sudden as she had arrived, she leaves the picture, sprinting away from Izuku in a desperate attempt to save face at whatever class she was now late for.
Bewildered, confused, and certainly startled, Izuku stands completely alone in the school hallway.
The thoughts click in his head of what just happened.
"Crap! I'm late!"
Stomping away, Izuku sprints down the hallway to his next class.