Aizawa lets out a long sigh.
"A young Lesbian couple was attacked yesterday walking home from a late-night date. Police and heroes were quick to subdue the attackers, but have yet to comment on possible motives, however, eyewitnesses have spoken about a large amount of hate speech the attackers screamed at the couple before…"
Aizawa tunes out the morning news anchor as he gets up from his table to finish making his breakfast.
There has been a recent uptick in hate crimes, Aizawa guesses it has something to do with the League's message of 'Do Whatever You Want', and news like this has become commonplace on Tv now.
Aizawa sits down with his breakfast and reads through the lesson plan for Monday.
It's supposed to be a basic look into actions a villain might take and how to counter them, but Aizawa thinks that all the accidental experience his class has received this first year makes this lesson irrelevant.
His mind shifts back to the news program and a thought comes to his mind.
It's supposed to be a lesson taught in their third year about how to deal with specific types of victims, but since his students got their provisional licenses early this lesson will be useful to be given now.
Aizawa goes back to his breakfast and makes a plan to talk to Nezu about adjusting the lesson schedule.
Just as the bell rings, Aizawa walks into the classroom. He glances around the room and finds all of his students present, currently talking amongst each other about their weekends.
Most of them notice him once he reaches the desk at the front and quiet down, with the louder and more unaware of their classmates, like Bakugo and Kaminari, taking a bit longer to follow suit.
"Today we are going to do a lesson that is usually given later, but with your provisional licenses and current events, I think it will be useful for you to learn now," Aizawa explains to his class, and many nod in understanding. "I will be teaching about specific types of victims and how to help and deal with each of them." Aizawa brings out a laptop and turns on the projector. A slideshow with the large title 'Hate Crimes and Minorities' appears on the board behind Aizawa.
I few sighs and groans are heard, and Aizawa just mentally rolls his eyes. Slideshows may be boring, but they are useful for getting information across and are consistently used in heroics.
Aizawa moves from the title slide to the first one labeled 'Quirkless'. He flinches at the term, he's never liked how it made people without Quirks sound lesser, but this presentation, while a bit old, is still good and has accurate enough data.
"We will be starting with people born without quirks…"
Ida's hand immediately shoots up.
Aizawa pauses and nods, calling on him.
"Aizawa-sensei, the quirkless aren't a minority," he says matter-of-factly, "minorities are defined as groups of people who are culturally, ethnically, or racially outside of the vast majority. But a person's quirk is neither their culture, race, or ethnicity."
Aizawa sighs. Ida is, of course, right, by the dictionary definition they aren't a minority, but that doesn't stop them from being a frequent target for hate crimes.
"You're not incorrect, however, when it comes to hate crimes, people without quirks are still targeted just like all the other minorities, so for ease of communication I'll refer to them as minorities as the other groups targeted."
Ida nods, seeing the logic in this, before apologizing and sitting back down.
Aizawa continues, "People without quirks are a smaller minority now, but are still the most common target for hate crimes…"
Uraraka hesitantly raises her hand. "Sensei, why is that? If they have a smaller number then wouldn't there be fewer victims?"
Aizawa nods, "That would make sense, however, hate crimes are born of a separation of groups because of a lack of things in common." Aizawa starts to explain, "And while on the rise currently, there was a large decrease after most of the population developed quirks. Most think this is all because of the rise of heroes, but it can also be attributed to quirks themselves being something these different groups had in common.
"Now can anyone tell me why the reasons I gave for a decrease in hate crimes could also explain why people without quirks are the most common target?" Aizawa ask.
Most of the class is quiet, unable to come up with an answer until Asui raises her hand.
"Because the Quirkless don't have quirks, kero." She begins, "And as you said, quirks became the new commonality between people."
"Correct" Aizawa nods at the frog girl. "With more commonality between people with quirks, those without became outsiders. They became the most common target of hate crimes and bullying, and this most likely is the cause of the high suicide rate for people without quirks, especially those younger than high school." Aizawa explains.
Many students look disturbed at the thought of kids younger than them committing suicide.
"S-Sensei…" Kaminiari says, shaking slightly, "Why… What does this have to do with teaching us to help victims…"
"To be able to help people, you need to understand what they could have gone through." Aizawa explains, "So you can sympathize with them and act accordingly.
"People without quirks have been dealing with prejudice since they were four, and interviews show that they lose most of the connections they had before, with friends and classmates starting to ignore them or worse becoming bullies."
Aizawa pauses to let his students take in this information and to gauge a reaction.
Aizawa taught this lesson for many years and has seen many a reaction to this, most of his class reacts in the way he'd expected.
Uraraka, Ashido, and others who very much wear their heart on their sleeves are very obviously sickened. The more reserved of his class like Tokoyami and Todoroki have similar, albeit muted, reactions.
What's somewhat surprising is that Bakugo looks almost more affected by this topic than either Uraraka or Ashido. His face quickly turned pale as soon as Aizawa talked about bullying and he's been glancing in the direction of Midoriya's seat ever since.
This brings Aizawa to the weirdest reaction Aizawa has ever seen to this lesson, or in this case, lack thereof.
Midoriya, his problem child with a bleeding heart and self-sacrifice problem, has yet to react to a word Aizawa has said. Midoriya has always wanted to help everyone he can, and as such Aizawa was expecting the worse reaction from him, but ever since the start of the discussion Midoriya has just been looking out the window only half paying attention, almost like he's bored.
"While you should have sympathy for these people, you shouldn't pity them." Aizawa continues, "Even people who don't bully those born without quirks see them as weaker, they treat them like their fragile." He explains, "but that's untrue, just because they lack a quirk, doesn't make it so they can't do everything a quirked individual can."
"Yeah right…" Midoriya's eyes roll.
…
Silence falls around the room as Aizawa and the whole class stares at the green-haired boy in surprise.
Midoriya blushes at the sudden attention and drops his head, obviously, he didn't mean to say that aloud.
Aizawa is shocked that Midoriya, his nicest student, had such a reaction. But this isn't the first time a student has had this type of opinion, and Aizawa knows how to change their mind.
"Midoriya…" Aizawa says, staring at him, "What about what I've said do you disagree with?"
Midoriya shakes his head, trying to deny it, but Aizawa just keeps staring, waiting for his answer. Eventually, Midoriya sighs before timidly standing up, "What you said was–it was proper to say…" Midoriya says, his voice so quiet that Aizawa wouldn't have heard it if the whole class wasn't deadly silent. "But looking it logically… someone without a quirk literally can't do what everyone else can"
Midoriya goes to sit down until Aizawa speaks again, "Incorrect. The only difference between us and them is their lack of quirk, and that small difference isn't enough to…"
"That seems like a pretty big difference to me." Midoriya interrupts in a snarky tone before quickly covering his mouth.
Aizawa raises an eyebrow at Midoriya before continuing, "A quirk is just a tool, just because someone doesn't have one, wouldn't make them useless."
Midoriya looks like he's about to say something before quickly shutting his mouth to silence the rebuttal that must have been on the tip of his tongue.
Now Aizawa is worried. Seriously Problem Child, you're the last student I expected to have views like this.
Aizawa narrows his eyes at Midoriya. "What do you think someone couldn't do without a quirk?" Aizawa knew what answer Midoyra would give, the same answer everyone gave when asked this question.
"They can't be a Hero," Midoriya responds, no hint of nervousness at this point, his awkwardness thrown aside in his… Anger?
Aizawa shakes his head, "Quirks are just tools, and a lack of one can be made up for with training, or…"
"Bullshit." Midoriya interrupts.
The entire class gasps, fearful and confused about where this attitude from their pure-hearted Deku came from.
Aizawa is done at this point, and can no longer hold in his annoyance. He knows Midoriya is hard-headed but this is a new level of stubbornness. "Problem Child…" Aizawa Snarls.
"No, Sensei" Midoriya interrupts again, "You need to be realistic. Some villains just can't be beaten without powers. Some dreams are not attainable for people without quirks." The green-haired child tries to explain, getting angrier.
Aizawa notices something in his voice when he says those words. It sounds like they are not his, he's just repeating someone else's. Who made you think like this, problem child… your previous friends? your parents?
"Deku…" Uraraka stands up, trying to calm her best friend.
"No!" Midoriya shouts, turning to Uraraka, "Someone whose Quirkless Can Not Be a Hero!" He says with conviction, "We have Nothing!
"We Can't Do anything!
"We. Are. Useless!"
He turns back to Aizawa, "What can We do Sensei? Huh? What Can We Really Do?"
The whole class is silent. Staring at the normally kind boy with a face that tells Aizawa that he's not the only one who noticed the sudden pronoun change.
Midoriya takes several shaky breaths, out of air from his long rant.
"Midoriya…" The boy turns to glare at Aizawa ready to continue their argument, but Aizawa's face doesn't look annoyed but concerned.
"D-Deku…" Uraraka says, worry laced in her voice, "Why did you say 'We'…" She asks timidly.
Midoriya turns to her, looking confused before his face morphs into one of panic.
"No, I–" Midoriya stammers, trying to come up with an excuse, before abandoning any explanation and quickly bolting out of the classroom.
Everyone is too stunned to do anything to stop him. Aizawa is the first to recover, but by then his student is long gone.
Stupid. Stupid Idiot. Midoriya bolts down the hallway.
Why would I say WE, I'm not one of them anymore, I'm not useless.
Midoriya slams through the exit doors, making his way toward the dorms.
They're going to know… They are going to hate me now. Now that they know what I really am.
They aren't going to hate me–
But they seemed pretty happy to let me leave.
But they're my friends–
Kachan was my friend until…
He makes his way up the stairs and towards his room, opening his door–
Midoriya slams his door shut, leaving to head somewhere else–anywhere else.
Looking at the All-might merch causes the man's previous words to loop through his head once again. "Make sure your dreams are attainable…"
"Realistic…"
"Some villains just can't be beaten without powers."
"Can you be a hero? Not without a Quirk."
Midoriya can't deal with being surrounded by reminders of his hero right now.
Midoriya makes his way down the hall toward the door that leads to the roof.
He had discovered one night when pacing that the lock was defective and could be forced open. Midoriya often heads up there at night when his thoughts are too loud to sleep.
Midoriya sits on the ground near the edge and looks out at the campus. This is the first time he's been up here in the daytime, in the light he can really take in the size of the campus.
It feels so large… It makes him feel small… like he doesn't belong here.
Which isn't exactly wrong, he is only here because All-Might gave him a quirk. If it weren't for All-Might he wouldn't be here.
If it weren't for All-Might he would be in the place he deserves, as a useless deku.
If it weren't for All-Might he would be dea…
Midoriya shakes his head trying to derail that train of thought before it reaches the end.
Probably not a good thought to be having those types of thoughts on a roof… He morbidly jokes to himself.
There's the sound of something softly landing behind him and Midoriya glances behind him to find Aizawa staring back at him.
"What are you doing up here Problem Child?" He asks with a hint of worry.
Aizawa-sensei knows what I am now. He's a hero, he has to help the useless civilian.
"Just… Trying to calm down…" Midoriya answers, turning to look back out at the campus.
Aizawa sits down next to the boy, "I always like to sit in high places after a patrol…"
Midoriya is surprised, Aizawa-sensei has always been reserved and doesn't normally share anything about himself.
"The view helps me forget the thoughts of the day." Aizawa looks to Midoriya, who nods in understanding.
…
After a few minutes of silence, Midoriya looks down at his feet. "You're here to talk to me about what happened in class…" He says starting to shake nervously.
Aizawa nods, "It doesn't have to be now. Take all the time you need." Aizawa offers, but Midoriya just shakes his head, he's already wasted so much of his sensei's time, he shouldn't waste more.
Because that's all I am, a waste of time…
Aizawa looks like he wants to insist Midoriya take some more time but doesn't argue.
"Well then," Aizawa begins, "During your quirkist rant, you used 'we' to describe individuals without a quirk…"
Midoiriya flinches as his mind is suddenly filled with all the ways telling Aizawa-sensei would horribly end.
He'll see me for what I am, Oh why didn't I take up his offer to do this later… Or Never…
"Would you believe that I meant to say 'they' and not 'we'?" He asks sheepishly.
"Yes," His Sensei responds, "But we both know there'd be a reason for that slip of the tongue."
Midoriya's face drops.
I can't tell him, he'll tell the rest of the teachers and my friends… I don't want to lose them…
… I don't want to be alone…
Midoriya freezes for a good few minutes, trying to think of a way out of this. But Aizawa is smart, he won't take anything but the truth…
"I–used to be quirkless…" he finally admits.
Midoriya glances at his teacher prepared to see his bad reaction, but Aizawa just silently stares at the boy, patiently waiting for him to continue at his own pace.
Midoriya feels slightly better as he continues, "I've been–I was quirkless, my whole life. Until a bit before the entrance exam when I, um… received… this quirk from… someone." Midoriya says cryptically.
"So I know the truth, We… The quirkless, are lesser, there are many things they can't do." Midoriya says with a hopeless look, "I know what you said is what you have to tell us, you need to be polite and try to not look down on us… on them… but realistically, without a quirk, we can't be… heroes…" Midoriya is on the verge of tears by the time he's done.
Quirk or not, I'm still one of them. I'll never be a hero.
UA can't let me stay here now, what would it do to their reputation if they let a quirkless kid stay in the hero course. This place is for heroes, not people like me.
Midoriya's mind races, as negative thoughts fill his head causing a soft whine to escape his lips.
Aizawa notices and tries to get the young boy's attention, but he's already started to spiral.
At the very least I have to be expelled for using a quirk that's not my own on the entrance exam. That has to be cheating, it's like getting the answers from someone else… Oh, god. What if it's illegal! I can't go to jail!
His breathing quickens, as his thoughts continue to get worse.
Aizawa moves in front of him and calls out his name, but Midoriya is unresponsive.
I knew coming to this school was a mistake, a useless quirkless deku like him didn't deserve to be here. Kacchan should have been the only one from their school to come here. I should have just followed his suggestion that day and gone up to the roof and…
Midoriya flinches when he feels hands on his shoulders and finally notices Aizawa in front of him looking at him with a concerned face.
"Midoriya," He says in a worried voice, "Breath with me…"
It takes a while, but Aizawa gets Midoriya to calm down.
"Are you ok?" Aizawa asks.
Midoriya nods, he's still nervous but is no longer having a panic attack.
Once again, Aizawa has to waste time, saving me… Why did I ever think I could be a hero…
"Midoriya look at me…"
Midoriya hesitantly looks into Aizawa-Sensei's eyes.
"Don't listen to those thoughts. Whatever your head is telling you isn't true."
Midoriya looks away. He doesn't know what he's talking about…
"Why don't you let me prove it?" Aizawa gives a slight smile, "Why don't you vocalize your thoughts, so I can explain why you shouldn't worry about them." he says, slightly rubbing his back.
"I-" Midoriya stutters still not wanting to look at his teacher, "You're going to kick me out of UA…"
Aizawa shakes his head, "No kid, I'm not going to do that…" But Midoriya doesn't believe his teacher.
"You get rid of anyone without potential, and I have none, I just was given someone else's potential along with this quirk, I should be replaced with someone better, like Shinso…"
"Midoryia…" Aizawa begins but Midoriya continues.
"O–Or Nezu Will get of me… It wasn't my quirk I used during the entrance exam, the one I'm using now… That has to be cheating… or–"
"Midoriya." Aizawa interrupts, "It's not cheating. And you're wrong about it not being your quirk."
Midoriya finally looks at Aizawa again.
"You've worked so hard to be able to use it effectively. It's your quirk now. And as long as you didn't forcefully take it, you've done nothing illegal, unpredictable, but legal" He tries to reassure his problem child, but Midoriya continues to grasp at worse-case scenarios.
"But UA can't have a quirkless student, that's just… wrong… or something…" Midoriya tries to reason, but Aizawa just continues to rub his back.
"I meant what I said in the classroom, Problem Child, not having a quirk doesn't make you lesser. The school isn't going to expel you for being quirkless, or formerly quirkless."
Midoriya sits in silence taking in Aizawa-Sensei's words.
After a few moments, Aizawa speaks up, "Have I convinced you of the illogicalness of everything you were telling yourself?"
Midoriya nods.
"Good, would you mind if we continue with my questions, or would you like some more time."
Midoriya shakes his head, "I'm good." He says, "We can continue."
Midoriya feels much better than before, and this time he means it when he said he's ready…
"You keep saying you got your quirk from someone… So who gave it to you."
…
Scratch that, Midoriya was not ready…
Aizawa raises an eyebrow at his student's silence, "This isn't related to the villain who could take and give quirks from Kamino, right?"
Midoriya panics.
Quick! Deny everything.
But I don't want to lie to Aizawa-Sensei.
Then deflect!
"D-Depends on what you mean by r–related…"
Aizawa's eyebrows furrow.
That's not deflecting, that's called all-but-admitting-guilt!
I'm sorry I panicked!
"Midoriya…" Aizawa starts, "Who did you receive your Quirk from…" He repeats.
"N–Not All-For-One if that's what you're thinking…" Midoriya tries to defend, but Aizawa activates his quirk and continues glaring.
"And how exactly do you know the name of a villain that was kept from the public?" Aizawa asks, suspicious.
"I– Um…"
"Midoriya… who did you get your quirk from?" Aizawa asks one final time.
"I– I can't say…" Midoriya says.
Aizawa glares at him, not taking that for an answer.
"It's– It's not my secret to share…" Midoriya finally admits.
"Then whose secret is it?" Aizawa pushes.
…
Aizawa sighs, "If it isn't your secret to share, then can we go ask this person if you can share their secret?" Aizawa asks, calming down.
Midoriya nods, silently.
"I already have a guess who we need to ask… He's in the facility lounge at the moment, right?"
Midoriya is surprised but silently nods again.
Aizawa stands up, holding out a hand to help his student up, and he walks towards the door down from the roof with Midoriya nervously following.
Midoriya walks into the teacher's lounge first.
Toshinori looks up from the work he's grading and smiles when he sees him.
"Ah, young Midoriya, what a pleasant surprise!" He calls, blood spurting out of his mouth as he stands up. "You usually don't come to talk to me until later in the day, is there something you…"
Toshinori pauses as Aizawa comes in right behind Midoriya, staring at him with barely masked fury.
"Oh, young Aizawa… This certainly is…" Toshinori awkwardly coughs, "A… surprise… May I ask what this is about?"
Toshinori knows that young Aizawa dislikes him, but he's unsure what he did to anger the underground hero this time.
"Midoriya needs to ask you something…" Aizawa answers, still glaring at him.
"Ah, of course…" That didn't answer his question at all.
All-Might turns to his protege, trying to ignore the heat from his fellow teacher's gaze. "Midoriya. What is it you need to ask of me, my boy?"
"I-" Midoriya pauses, obviously stressed out, "I need to ask… permission to tell Aizawa-sensei your secret…" Midoriya finally finishes.
Toshinori relaxes. Because of young Aizawa's gaze, I was afraid this was something much more serious.
He smiles at his student, "I don't know what you mean my boy, my secret is already out kid…" He says gesturing at his skeletal form.
Midoriya is confused and tries to disagree, but Toshinori continues, "Anything left you would share is your secret now. And you can share that with whoever you trust."
Midoriya seems to understand his words, and gives his mentor a quick smile before turning to Aizawa who has been patiently waiting by the door.
"All-Might was the one who gave me his– gave me my quirk." He tells his teacher.
Aizawa nods, "Thank you for telling me… If a bit late." He says this last part while glaring at All-Might–Oh so that's why he's so mad–"And now that you've told me, we can worry about what to tell the rest of the class."
Midoriya's face pales and Toshinori tries to comfort his student, "Don't worry young Midoriya, you don't have to tell them anything if you don't want to."
Midoriya shakes his head, "It's not that…" Midoriya tries to explain, "... I may have… accidentally… told my entire class I was quirkless…" Midoriya sheepishly admits.
Toshinori goes silent before blood starts pouring out of his mouth. "YOU WHAT!?"
A few moments later Toshinori had recovered, wiping up the blood from around his mouth with a handkerchief Midoryia had handed him. "Well, young Midoriya you have certainly taken the motto 'Plus Ultra' to heart, nothing you are involved with is ever simple." He laughs as Midorya sheepishly scratches his head.
"Thus the nickname 'Problem Child'." Aizawa groans, causing Toshinori to smile.
"'Problem Child' huh… I'm liking you more and more, Eraserhead."
"Funny… Because I'm liking you less and less…" Aizawa glares at him.
Right… He still hates me…
Toshinori clears his throat, looking away from his fellow hero's glare, "Back on topic. I think it would be unwise to tell your entire class about One For All, of course, anyone you trust can be told, but I would recommend you try to keep the number of people who know low, so there's no danger of it accidentally coming out."
"But they already know I was quirkless, how am I supposed to explain my sudden quirk?" Midoriya panics.
Toshinori just smiles and shakes his head, "Young Midorya… Do you know how bad I am at keeping secrets?"
"I mean you did tell me about your hidden injury that was supposed to be a national secret the instant we met…" Midoriya remembers.
Aizawa just raises an eyebrow at the ex-number one, but Toshinori quickly tries to continue with his point before Aizawa can say anything about it.
"Well let's just say this isn't the first time a One-For-All user has had to come up with a lie for a randomly appearing quirk," Toshinori reassures his apprentice. " Midoriya, have you heard of late blooming or trauma-activated quirks?"
"Of course," Midoriya nods, "late-blooming quirks are ones that only come later in life, and trauma-activated quirks are ones that only first emerge when you're in a stressful situation."
That was a dumb question… Toshinori should have known the resident quirk expert would know that.
"But neither of those applies to me." Midoriya says confused, "I was diagnosed quirkless, I have the second toe joint and everything."
"But does your class know that?" All-Might asks.
Midoriya opens his mouth to answer before realizing where he's going with this. "I'm such an idiot…" Midoriya laments.
"No No No, it's hard to think up excuses in a stressful situation…" Toshinori panics, trying to cheer up his student.
"So…" Aizawa interrupts the duo, "We could easily explain Midoriya's previous quirklessness by saying it's a trauma-activated quirk that emerged during the entrance exam, since from what I understand, functional that's what happened."
Toshinori nods, "That excuse has worked wonders for me against nosy co-workers and the hero commission. Just don't let the press hear about it, if the public finds out about it, the internet will tear that excuse to shreds…" All-Might warns.
"And you know so much about how to excuse being quirkless because…" Aizawa asks, skeptical.
All-Might looks panicked, as he stares back at his fellow teacher, "I guess all of my secrets aren't already out…" He mumbles, a habit he's started picking up from Midoriya, "That's a conversation for another day, right now I think young Midoriya should get back to his probably worried classmates."
Midoriya nods, thanking All-Might before leaving with Aizawa following behind.
Toshinori lets out a breath he's been holding for way too as the two exits the room and hopes that's the last interaction he has with Aizawa for today.
Midoriya stands at the entrance to the 1-A dorm, hands fidgeting as he tries to convince himself to enter.
He feels a comforting hand land on his shoulder and glances back to see Aizawa-sensei still with him.
"Everything will be alright Problem Child. We both know this class, you could tell them everything and it wouldn't change how much they love you."
Midoriya nods. Deep in his heart, he knows that, but his mind continues to provide worst-case what-ifs.
Midoriya takes a deep breath, trying to silence the thoughts in his mind, before walking through the door and into the Dorm's common room.
The entire class is in the common room, sitting on the sofas and quietly chatting.
Oh… They're talking about me, I just know it…
Midoriya loses his nerve and starts to turn back, until Aizawa accidentally–on purpose, Midoriya can see the teacher's smirk hidden under his capture weapon–shuts the door too hard, drawing the entire class's eyes to them.
Everyone is silent, obviously worried but not wanting to make the first move and scare their classmate away again.
Uraraka is the first to speak, "Deku…" she says standing up and slowly moving towards him like he's a frightened animal. "Are… You Ok?"
You mean besides my nerves threatening to kill me where I stand, one of my hero idols and teacher learning about my secret, the fact that I'm about to lose every single one of my friends…
Midoriya slowly nods, "Yeah, I'm better…" He lies.
Uraraka lightly takes his hand and leads him towards the sofas, sitting both of them down with the rest of his classmates.
"I'm sorry for my outburst in class…" he apologizes sheepishly.
"It's fine Midoriya." Kyoka reassures her classmate, "It just seemed so out of character for you… where did all of that come from?"
Uraraka nods, "You had such a negative view of people without quirks, it scared us to you say stuff like that…" She admits, "And then when you switched to saying we… Does that mean…" She pauses looking towards Midoriya for an answer.
Midoriya takes a deep breath before hesitantly nodding. "I–I have what is known as a Trauma Activated Quirk," He tells them, "It only develops during a stressful situation… I got mine really late… like around-the-time-of-the-entrance-exam late… so before that… I was quirkless."
Everyone is silent as they process his words. Uraraka is the first to move, wrapping her friend in a big hug, "Oh… Deku… So all of the things Aizawa-Sensei said… all the bullying…"
Midoriya slowly nods, "I went through all of that…"
Ida comes up to Midoriya and sits next to him, patting him on the shoulder, "I'm sorry you went through that Midoriya…"
"Wait, Kero…" Tsuya interrupts, "does this mean when you talked about people without quirks being useless, you were talking about yourself?" Tsuya asks bluntly.
The whole class stares at Midoriya, hoping he'll deny it.
"Well… I mean, looking at it from a logical standpoint…" Midoriya tries to reason before the entire class explodes into chaos.
"Deku No! You are anything but useless. You are already so much of a hero."
"She is Correct, Midoriya. You have saved so many people already, you saved me and Todoroki from my mistake…"
"Midori-bro! You are the manliest hero at this school, and quirk or no quirk there's no changing that."
"NO WAY Midoriya Couldn't Be A Hero! Even Without A Quirk, He Is Better Than All Of Us!"
"SHUT IT INVISA-EXTRA! Even If That Nerd Is A Close Second, No One Is Better Than Me!"
"Your analysis alone would make you a great hero Midoriya, kero."
Midoriya is speechless, as the class starts trying to one-up each other with their praise for their classmate until eventually, they claim that he could easily take down All-Might and the entire UA faculty… While Still Quirkless.
It doesn't help that Aizawa-sensei agrees, saying that his analysis skills could destabilize the entire current Hero system.
Midoriya can't help but laugh at these ridiculous claims, even if his classmates stand by the fact that they're true.
After making sure Midoriya is truly ok, Aizawa excuses himself, saying he needs to grade yesterday's homework, and Hagakure suggests the whole class watch a movie.
Everyone loves the idea and Shoji tells Midoriya that he should rest while everyone else handles the setup.
Most of the class gathers bean bag chairs and other places to sit, the girls talk about movie options and suggest the old animated movie Luca, Jiro agrees and sets up the movie, while Kirishima somehow convinced Bakugo to come help make popcorn, with minimal grumbling from their explosive classmate.
Normally Midoriya would be annoyed that none of his classmates let him help, but this time he's thankful for everyone's distraction so he can secretly grab Uraraka, Ida, and Todoroki, and leads them outside.
Midoriya looks nervously between his two confused-looking friends and his ever-emotionless friend.
"I… I want to tell you three the truth…" Midoriya admits, fidgeting with his hands, "I… I don't have a Trauma Activated Quirk… This Quirk isn't originally mine, it was given to me…" He tells them.
Ida and Urakaka look confused, "Given to you?" Ida asks.
"Deku… What do you mean?" Uraraka asks, laying a hand on his shoulder.
As Midoriya struggles to put together his next words, Todoroki speaks up, "It's All-Might's, isn't it…" Todoroki says in a neutral tone.
Everyone stares at Todoroki in surprise, before Ida and Uraraka look to Midoriya for confirmation.
Mirdoryia sheepishly nods.
"So you are All-Might's secret love…"
"I'm not All-Might's Love Child!" Midoriya shouts, face blushing red.
Ida and Uraraka slightly smile, as Todoroki looks almost disappointed to be wrong.
"All-Might saw me risk myself to help someone, even without a quirk of my own." Midoriya explains, "He said he saw the heart of a hero in me and started training me so he could transfer his quirk to me and could become his successor."
"Transferred?" Ida looks confused, "Is that why All-Might Sensei lost his power?"
Midoriya slowly nods, "Once he passed it on to me, his power started dwindling…" Midoriya looks down at his feet.
"Midoriya." Uraraka looks him in the eye, "All-Might's retirement wasn't your fault."
Midoriya giggles and gives Uraraka a small hug, "I know. All-Might, Kachan, and I already had a whole conversation on the stupidity of us blaming ourselves."
"Bakugo already knows the truth about your quirk?" Ida asks, robotically gesturing his hand.
"Yeah… I kinda had to tell him. He's my childhood friend and knew about my quirklessness, so when he saw it he thought I was hiding this quirk and pranking him for years..." Midoriya explains, "So I had to explain to him the bare minimum, but after having the first piece he started figuring it out until he basically had the whole picture."
Ida nods, his question answered, but Urakaka has a look like she just thought of something.
"Deku, you just said Bakugo was your childhood friend. Right." She says slowly.
"Right…" Midoriya nervously says, unsure where she's going with this.
"And Aizawa Sensei mentioned that someone diagnosed as quirkless has their previous friends become bullies…"
Midoriya doesn't like where this is going.
"Midoriya… what was your relation with Bakugo?"
His three friends stare at him waiting for an answer.
"I- um I mean- He was…" Midoriya stammers trying to come up with an answer but his hesitation was answer enough for his friends.
"I'm going to Kill Him!" Uraraka says turning to head back inside, most likely to find Bakugo.
"No! Don't!" Midoriya panics and grabs her arm, trying to save his previous best friend from his new best friend's wrath.
"And why shouldn't I Deku?" She asks turning to look him in the eye.
"Because he and I have already come to… an understanding?" He says unconvincingly.
Uraraka just looks at him, "An Understanding…" she repeats.
Midoriya nods, "He shouldn't be blamed for what he did to me before," Midoriya tries to explain, "Everyone was raising him up, and trying to push me down. He was just doing what all his classmates and teachers showed him to do… to treat me as useless." Midoriya says, his friends moving in to comfort him.
"No one ever punished Bakugo or anyone else for what they did, so he thought he was doing the right thing… But he's gotten better, and in his own way, he's making up for everything."
Uraraka sighs, "Fine." She admits, "I'll leave him alone, for now. But if I ever hear that he's bullying you again, I'll use him to practice the max altitude of my quirk, Understand."
Midoriya lets out an eep and shrinks back at his best friend's bloodlust, "U-Understood."
Uraraka's face immediately morphs back into a happy grin, "Well then, the movie should be set up by now! Let's head back inside before people wonder where we went."
"But I still have questions on the logistics of having All-Might's quirk." Ida pops in, "And what are those Black tentacles you can use, could All-Might do that too?"
"We'll have time to talk later," Uraraka tells Ida.
"Oh, Also Deku." Uraraka quickly turns around and grabs Midoriya's arm, "You're sitting next to me for the movie… far from Bakugo."
Midoriya slightly blushes but nods and lets his best friend lead him inside, his other two friends following not far behind.
Midoriya smiles, he should have known that his confession wouldn't have changed anything, he should have had more faith in his friends to stand by him no matter what.
Somewhere nearby a certain underground hero watches the conversation between the green child and his friends.
Aizawa smiles, glad that his Problem Child has such great friends, but agrees with Ida, he still has some questions and concerns to talk to Midoriya about. Mostly about the kid's safety and why he wasn't told about this from the start. But also about Uraraka's observation of Midoriya's and Bakugo's relationship.
Aizawa needs to make sure to have a discussion with Bakugo about this, even if Midoryia says they've worked it out, Aizawa wants to make sure. He also needs to look into Midoriya's middle school, if not only his classmate but also teachers encouraged Bakugo's bullying…
But before all that, I need to get more information out of someone else…
He turns and walks away to interrogate, and terrify to death, a certain retired number one hero.