Todoroki, Tsuyu, and Kirishima. Those were the people All Might had instructed Iida to collect and bring with him to the principal's office.
He was nervous as he did so, perfectly aware that the wording had been to bring them with him rather than to send them there alone. So, if something had happened, it was likely that he was in trouble as well. Of course, there was the off chance that it had just been misphrased or maybe he was also wanted there because he was class president, but the low chances of both didn't shake his uneasiness.
Mentally, he prepared to say his teacher's name as sharply as he could, envisioned himself rapping solidly on the door and being answered to by the hero.
Instead, he was greeted to by a short, thin man with baggy clothes, a grumpy expression, and somewhat similarly coloured hair.
"Who are y-"
"Come in," the man said, and Iida stepped aside to let the others in first.
"Uh, hello, sir, we were looking for Principal Nedzu and All Might…?"
"'M right here," the man grunted, and the students stared for several moments before Iida exclaimed, astonished, "You mean you're All Might?!"
"Yep. Follow me."
The four of them followed the man down through the passageway inside the office until they reached Nedzu's room and All Might let them all in without knocking. Nedzu himself had been waiting for them, apparently, already perched on his desk and gesturing at them to sit down in the chairs he had prepared for them.
He began to speak himself before any of the students could begin to ask any questions, talking quickly and not reacting to any motions or sounds from his audience or leaving enough space for anyone to cut into his monologue. He explained the basis of the project, and invited any of them who didn't want to put themselves into the danger and hard work to leave (an offer which was, obviously, accepted by none of them), and after giving them a few minutes to think everything over, he continued, finally explaining everything in depth about All Might's injury, the necessity in their society for mighty figures to look up to, and their future involvement in everything.
They were all quiet afterwards, all their questions already thoroughly answered and too stunned to make any relevant comments.
"If you all still decide to agree with this," Nedzu concluded, "you will have to spend several hours after school training with All Might. You'll be sacrificing much of your personal time."
Todoroki nodded, face dead-set and said, "I accept," in a flat tone. Iida and Tsuyu followed his lead, and Kirishima eventually said, uncomfortably, "Sure, I guess."
It was after Nedzu told them all that they would be starting tomorrow and that they should all meet in his office again at the same time that Tsuyu raised her hand, and asked, "Is that all? Are we only doing this so that we can take All Might's place as number one someday?"
"Of course not!" Nedzu replied, smiling widely. "The point of this is to keep our society balanced and functioning. The Symbol of Peace is a necessity for the people. We must ensure that we have a new one before the old can fade away."
"It all seems a bit too simple…" Kirishima said, scratching the back of his head.
"People are simple," Nedzu answered easily. "Now remember, don't speak of this to any of your friends and family. Try to be inconspicuous when you come from now on. I'm working on setting up an area just for you to train, and I'll see about bringing in a few more teachers to help us with this."
When he got home, Iida went to his room, opened up his bag, and began doing his homework, with none of the focus or efficiency of his norm. He was looking at the clock on his desk more than the essay he was working on, counting down the hours, then minutes, then seconds until his brother came home.
Then he heard the door opening and someone stepping in, and he had dropped his pen and was halfway down the stairs before Tensei had managed to take his shoes off. "Hey," he said, smiling warmly at his younger brother.
"Tensei," Iida said, "I have something important to ask you."
"Sure. Actually, I have something to talk to you about as well, just let me put my stuff away first, okay?"
Iida nodded, following his brother up the stairs and barely noticing how exhausted he seemed from the day's worth of hero work. When they got to Tensei's room and he had put his bag down, Iida found himself unsure of how to ask his question.
"Well? What is it that's so important, Tenya? Girl troubles?"
Iida shook his head frantically. "No, no, not at all. ...I was wondering about heroes, actually."
"Go on," Tensei encouraged.
"What's it like?"
"What's brought that on again?" Tensei asked, laughing lightly. "You haven't asked questions like that since you were just a kid."
"I was just… curious, is all, I suppose," Iida replied, flustered.
"Well, I think it's great. You get to help and protect people, and even though it can be hard work, there's nothing quite like that feeling when you know that you've just helped to save someone's life."
Iida nodded dumbly. That certainly hadn't been the answer he was looking for, and it certainly wasn't an answer that helped him understand anything any better, but at the same time, he realised that he didn't really know what he wanted advice on, nor did he know what he was so puzzled about. He sighed and shook his head. "Thank you, Tensei."
Tensei looked worried for a moment. "My little hero in training isn't having second thoughts, is he? You can't quit now that you've gotten into U.A. Academy, people would kill for that chance."
"No, not at all. Sorry. Was there something you wanted to ask me as well?"
"Yeah," Tensei said, more darkly. "And please don't tell me anything you're not allowed to or anything, or tell anyone that I asked you, but did something big happen at U.A. a couple days ago? There are a few small news reports about some villains attacking, but it all seems really restrained and I can't find much information, but a few of my colleagues have been whispering about a vicious attack."
"Right. I've told Mom and Dad already, but you weren't home last night and all so I couldn't tell you yet. Our class was at the USJ building, and villains appeared from a warp gate. Aizawa-sensei, Thirteen, and a couple other students went and fought while the rest of us ran to get help. No students were seriously injured."
"You were there? And Aizawa, too? As in the guy with the quirk that can erase quirks?" Tensei asked, surprised. "Well, I suppose it's good to know that everyone's safe and that the low-key media coverage wasn't meant to suppress news of the incident."
"Yes. Aizawa-sensei is my teacher."
"Oh, he was a classmate of mine back when I was still studying at U.A. a few years ago. That's pretty nifty. We weren't particularly close, but we got along okay until he dropped off the radar after we graduated. How's he doing?"
"Er," Iida began, looking away guiltily, "he got hurt during the fight. He's- he's in Recovery Girl's care right now, I think."
"Wait, what happened, Tenya?" Tensei asked, immediately concerned. "He's okay now, right? I thought you said everyone got out safely."
"All the students did," Iida corrected. "Thirteen got- Thirteen has passed away and Aizawa-sensei is- is in a coma."
"I see," Tensei said, quietly thunderstruck. "So I was right. Don't worry," he continued reassuringly, "I won't tell anyone what you told me. It must be difficult for you right now. If you ever need any support, don't be afraid to ask me, okay?"
Iida shrugged nonchalantly.
Tsuyu went home that day.
She visited Aizawa again, sitting and keeping watch over his motionless body for an hour, and then she sucked in all her courage and went home.
"Hello!" she said as brightly as she could after she opened the door, and all her little siblings came running to hug her.
She smiled for real then, feeling horrible for having deemed it okay to leave them alone for so long, patting them on the heads alternatively as they squeezed her around the legs. Habuko came walking out a few moments later. "Thank you," Tsuyu said, and Habuko laughed. "Don't worry, they're lots of fun. I've already started making dinner, you're okay with stew, right?"
"Yep. Thank you." Walking in minuscule movements so that she wouldn't trample any of her siblings who were still wrapped tightly around her, Tsuyu went to the kitchen as Habuko closed and locked the door.
"How have you been doing, Tsuyu?"
"Just a second." Tsuyu pried off the oldest of her siblings and brought him up for a real hug before putting him back down gently and telling him to go play with his younger sisters. He obeyed joyfully, and Tsuyu sat down at the dinner table with Habuko.
"How have you been doing, Tsuyu?" Habuko asked again, resting her cheek on a hand.
"Good. How about you?"
"Oh, I've been fine. The people at my new school are all pretty good, although none of them really match up to you, of course. There's this one really annoying chick, though, and I don't think I'd be upset at all if she went and got herself killed!"
Tsuyu winced and her face drooped into a frown.
"But I don't think you're doing as well as you say you've been, or there's no way you would have ditched your siblings for two days. What happened? Too much stress?"
"No. Yes. I don't know. Something came up and I had to stay at the school for a few days. To work. Nothing much. Sorry for the trouble."
"If you say so! Say, have you tried that new restaurant across from our old elementary school? I went there with a few friends, and they had some very good noodles. We should go sometime. Just text me whenever you have the time! I'm usually free anyways, there isn't a lot of work in normal high school."
"Okay."
Pause.
"Thank you."
Fuyumi," Todoroki called, "is Endeavor going to come home today?"
"Huh?" His sister looked up. "I think so, why?"
"It's nothing," Todoroki muttered. And it really was. It wasn't like he was going to talk to him or anything, not a chance in the world.
Endeavor did return to his home that night, powerful and menacing even in front of his own family. Todoroki skirted around the corners of doors and the sides of hallways, wondering, just briefly, if he should approach Endeavor just once to ask for a small piece of advice.
Or nor. The thought was laughable, really. Yet, he remained, pressed against a wall and eyeing his father with hate.
"Shouto, come here."
Shit.
"You've been watching me for minutes now. Explain yourself."
"I wasn't."
"You were. And you've been missing for the last two days."
"I was in the hospital."
"You allowed yourself to be hurt. You allowed yourself to be hurt badly enough to have to remain under someone else's care for two days and two nights. Where's the scar? Where's the missing limb?"
Todoroki scowled. "That's none of your business."
"I wonder if you begged Recovery Girl to let you stay another night just so you wouldn't have to come home? Such a cunning little worm, robbing someone for time and effort from only selfishness."
Todoroki gritted his teeth because Endeavor was right, he had intentionally stayed another night to avoid returning home. But Recovery Girl had offered.
"Don't let it happen again," Endeavor said coldly, and gestured aggressively for Todoroki to leave his sight.
When Kirishima was eating dinner with his family that night, he yittered on and on about being a hero and going to school at U.A. Academy. His parents smiled at him and went along with it all.
He grinned widely the entire time, excited and barely able to stop himself from telling his parents everything. He couldn't wait to get started, even if it really was going to be hard.
"All Might," Nedzu greeted, "you can handle the extra classes and training sessions, correct? If you can't, we can always find others to take control of this for you. One-on-one mentorship would likely be more effective, also."
All Might grunted. "I'll be fine."
"Don't push yourself. If you're too tired, it's always a good idea to sit back and take a break for a while, with a good pot of tea. Actually, I have a pleasant brew right now, I'll go get you-"
"No, don't!" All Might cut in quickly, alarmed at the long lecture that was sure to come if the principal did manage to settle them both down with cups of his favourite beverage. "I'm not very thirsty right now. If you want to hire more help, though, maybe you should."
"We should both consider this," Nedzu replied calmly. "It isn't important to give them intensive combat training yet, the first few weeks should be dedicated to having them get to know each other a bit and to familiarise them with their new personas. When the time comes, though, giving each one of them their own tutor could be critical in helping them develop their skills quickly, however. Do you have any suggestions? It would have to be heroes who know about your injury, of course."
"That's just the other teachers here," All Might said. "And a teacher of mine from when I was in school. Gran Torino."
Nedzu nodded. "I'll look into him, and see if any of the other teachers have any interest in this."