Notes: We really hope you're feeling bad for Izuku :D

Some of you might not be aware, so I'll just make a note here:

* Uwabaki (上履き) are a type of Japanese slippers worn indoors at home, school or certain companies and public buildings where street shoes are prohibited. -Wiki


Chapter 2: Viral


The weight that Izuku could feel in the atmosphere was immense. As he'd entered the campus, he could see people from other classes staring at him, whispering off to the side, or snickering. He'd known that Bakugou had gotten a video of what he was doing with his All Might plush already, but he didn't realize that the blond bomber would also have sent it out to everyone… Even if it was just on his own social media page, it wasn't as if Bakugou had a shortage of people that had added him or followed him… Midoriya was absolutely certain that news of his… actions… had gotten around to quite a few people already… On top of that, thanks to the power of the internet, Izuku was well aware of how quickly things could spread and how they could get out of hand…

Getting into the school building, he'd opened a cubby to retrieve his uwabaki when a torrent of paper had fallen out of the locker and he'd noticed that one of his shoes was missing. All along the papers, he could see crude drawings of his green hair and All Might's blond hair, circles with small bumps pushed together that were clearly meant to be their heads and lips respectively. Tears started to form on the edges of his eyes and Izuku took out his singular shoe and put away his outdoor shoes, picking up the papers that had fallen and tossing them in the trash, walking around with only the single uwabaki that was left to him. Crestfallen and dejected, he made his way to class 1-A.

Thinking he could retreat to the support of his friends and fellow classmates, Izuku pushed the door open with as much of a smile as he could muster. What he was met with, however, defied all expectations he could have had. He was the last student to arrive, and everyone had immediately turned towards the back door to stare at the green-haired teen. The silence that overtook the room was almost overwhelming, and the gravity of the mood made each of Izuku's steps feel as if anchors were tied to his legs. The people who he could expect to be snickering absolutely were - Ashido, Hagakure, and Denki in particular were making kissy noises. Most people were avoiding eye contact with him and turning away from him as he'd turned to look at them. Iida and Uraraka had nervous smiles on, as if they were ready to console him. Mineta very clearly had a look of disgust on his face. Under his breath, Izuku could just barely make out some words that he was saying.

"Why All Might…? He… He doesn't even have any titties… At… At least be attracted to his Muscle Form or something…"

Whispers of the other students started to make their way into his ears, Todoroki saying something about "perhaps illegitimate child was a bit off," Bakugou going off on how stupid it looked in person, Kirishima holding his hands together and bow-apologizing - probably on behalf of Bakugou - and Yaoyorozu was the most merciful, holding out the uwabaki that he'd been missing. Or at least one that was extremely similar to it. Perhaps something she'd made with her quirk…? Regardless, Izuku put it on, finding that it was a size too large but still feeling grateful for the kind gesture. When he'd turned to thank her, she was already back at her desk, avoiding visual contact with him.

By the time Midoriya had actually made it to his desk, a person could tell how downtrodden he'd been just by looking at his face. The smile he'd held as he'd been walking in had faded into a silent, solemn line. His eyes stared at his desk blankly, as he'd clearly been trying his hardest to hold everything back. Uraraka had placed a hand on his back, lightly stroking it to comfort him to little or no effect. Meanwhile, Iida was robotic, also patting Izuku on the back with short, jerky taps. It was clear that he was trying to help, but the uncomfortableness in his movement and on his face was far too apparent.

"D - Don't worry about it, Midoriya-kun! It - It'll probably pass! P… Probably…!"

Not exactly the most reassuring sentiment. The room was still buzzing with commotion when there was a bang at the front of the room that brought everyone's attention to the front door. Aizawa walked in with a deathly glare in his eyes and with a grimace that would put down small animals if it were given a chance. Slamming his folder onto his desk, everyone had sat at attention and turned to face him, except Izuku who was still staring at his desk.

"Shut up and pay attention. Class is starting. That includes you, Midoriya."

The familiar tone of the lunch bell rang throughout the school and the teachers had converged into the lounge area, All Might and Eraserhead casually discussing the curriculum for the coming weeks. From across the room, however, Toshinori couldn't help but catch the shrill, familiar laughter of Present Mic and the far overshadowed laughter of the ever audacious Midnight. Raising an eyebrow, Toshinori motions for Aizawa to follow him and they'd approached the other two, Present Mic's attention turning to All Might briefly before he breaks into a hysterical laughter, shaking his head and slapping his knee. Aizawa's face visibly grimaces as he sighs.

"What in the world are you laughing so hard about? We have lunch breaks so that we can take a break from the kids, you know. Can't you act your age for once?"

"NO, NO, ERASER. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!"

"Could you not be so loud for once in your life? Ugh, what is it?"

Present Mic handed the phone off to Aizawa and the earbuds that were connected, the black-haired man placing one of the buds into his ear as he'd looked into the phone screen. His expression seemed to morph as his eyebrow lifted with intrigue before his lips started to curl up into a smirk. He seemed to be having trouble holding in his own laughter as well. Not knowing how to absorb this information, Toshi waited patiently for Aizawa to appear to be done, looking over at Present Mic and Midnight but not really getting any answers from that. Once Aizawa had finished reviewing whatever was on the phone, he'd held the machine out to Toshinori, the earbuds bundled up in the same hand.

"You should probably take a look at this, All Might. The fact that you don't know about this is kind of baffling, honestly."

"Know about what?"

Aizawa didn't seem to want to say more, as he was very clearly clenching his teeth to try and avoid laughing too hard. Taking the phone out of his colleague's hand, he'd put one of the earbuds into his ear and looked down at the screen, trying to process what he was looking at for a bit. At the moment, all he could see was the back of Midoriya's head. Not quite anything to make any deal about. In the next few moments, he would be proven wrong, as Izuku pulled out a stuffed plush of him in his true form. It was a little strange, but nothing to make a big deal about. What happened next, however, caused All Might's eyes to widened as far as they could possibly go as he watched and listened to his protégé.

[[ "I'm so happy! I love you so much…! H - Hey, All Might… Can… Can I kiss you?" ]]

All Might's heart beat rapidly and his cheeks darkened a deep velvet as he'd watched Midoriya start to make out with the doll. He was unable to tear his eyes away, but he could hear two of his fellow teachers laughing up another storm while Aizawa was snickering. He could hear Present Mic mention that "this is what happens when you play favorites," and "are you gonna take him out to that movie?," but he wasn't looking to address any of that since his focus was entirely on the video. Toshinori fell into a chair and handed Present Mic his phone and earbuds back, holding his face with both of his hands to hide his embarrassment. This explained some of the looks he had gotten earlier that day, but was none the wiser to - and didn't think much of in those moments.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the tone for lunch being over had gone off at some point. Thankfully, this time was simply a conference period for All Might and he generally spent it doing paperwork. He'd remained in the lounge, his mind going a mile a minute as he'd tried to rationalize what exactly he'd been witness to.

Oh, Young Midoriya… Is this how you've always felt about me? And in my true form, no less? Even going so far as to bringing it to school… It's clear that you truly are my biggest fan…the ultimate fanboy. Though, is there more to it…?

Having those thoughts in mind, the gears in All Might's brain were turning. He could only imagine what Izuku must have been going through right now with all of his peers. More than likely, the poor child was lacking in support for this particular situation, and what kind of teacher - no, what kind of friend - would he be to leave Midoriya in a vulnerable state such as that? There was so much to consider in such a short amount of time, as All Might knew that letting something like this sit had a high chance of leading to disaster. It was time that he truly thought about his feelings and relationship with the boy. Something he'd been putting off for quite awhile, seeing as how he was supposed to be his mentor and teacher. It had seemed ill-advised to think too much on any… deviant thoughts he might have for the boy. This was becoming unavoidable, though. At the same time, he couldn't rush into this and say or do something that could jeopardize the great relationship they'd built after all this time.

How should I approach this… What do I do next…?


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