Chapter Summary: Scars revealed. Pictures taken. The thrill of anticipation.

Villain!Izuku, Canon-Divergent.
(Warnings for: past kidnapping, past torture, past experimentation and brainwashing.)
This was co-written by kattenprinsen and is cross-posted onto archive of our own.

Rama: so when I actually name a quirk in this fic I'll be making a note of it at the bottom of the chapter. Named quirks are the ones with full capital letters instead of just being referenced in their action: IE: a retention quirk vs Direct Contact quirk.

Chapter Six: cut like a diamond, chiseled like a greek god

The locker room is abuzz with conversation on Monday morning. Izuku smiles idly to himself as he changes into his track suit. The other boys are talking about games and movies, training workouts and homework. It's the idle chatter of a familiar group. There's laughter and the sound of hands thumping against shoulders.

Izuku feel's eyes on his back as he shrugs out of his shirt. He turns, looking over his shoulder and catches Kaibara's eye. The other boy is staring at his back, eyes widened, and his mouth slightly open. Next to him, Tsuburaba elbows him, saying, "Hey man, don't just stop mid-sentence like that. What's up?"

Kaibara's eyes jerk away from Izuku and he flushes. "Uh-"

Tsuburaba looks over. "Dude, Sen, what are you staring-" His jaw drops. "Holy shit."

Izuku rolls his eyes and finishes taking off his shirt. He folds it up to put in his locker and catches the eye of Shishida next to him. The beastly student shoved his glasses up, abruptly cleared his throat and turned his head away. On Izuku's other side, Shouda flushes and whips his head back around to stare at his open locker.

"Oi, Midoriya," Kaibara calls. Izuku pauses in undoing his belt to give his attention to the other boy.

"Yeah?"

"Not to be, like, ridiculously rude or anything but did they lock you up with exercise equipment or is it a quirk that's got you looking like that?" He gestured his hand up and down.

Slowly, Izuku turned around to face him, thumbs tucked behind his belt as he considers Kaibara and his definitely insensitive question. He was kind of used to those from him, though, as Kaibara's curiosity seemed to trump the social customs of keeping your nose out of another's bullshit. Honestly, Izuku liked that about him. "Bit of both," he said. He noticed that now he was talking to Kaibara, the others were staring again.

It was a bit ridiculous, since he wasn't the only one well muscled in the room. Tetsutetsu had a good set of abs and Shishida had arms and legs to die for. Maybe he had a little less fat and therefore looked a little more cut than the others, but really, it shouldn't have been that shocking to them. "I have a minor strength enhancement quirk that requires a high baseline strength to activate without damaging myself," Izuku explained, "And so I was trained to be extremely physically fit in order to maintain the use of that quirk along with others."

"Just how many quirks do you have?" Kaibara asked, not for the first time.

Izuku shrugged. To be completely honest, even he wasn't quite sure. Half the time, if he needed to do something it turned out that he had the quirk to accomplish it, whether or not he remembered Father giving it to him. "Enough, I guess."

Kaibara's questions seem to have broken the ice enough for more because next, Shishida clears his throat and asks with a gesture towards Izuku's shoulders, "Did they give you… that? From the villains, I mean."

Following the line of his hand, Izuku looks to his bare shoulder. The scar that stretches across his skin is a raised splatter of pink, damaged tissue. He's seen it so often that he had completely forgotten about it as he changed. Looking at it now, he can easily picture the second scar that is on his back, near his right shoulder blade. The one there is almost exactly like the one on his shoulder, pulled and puckered flesh that's an oddly dark pink color that contrasts against his regular skin.

He shakes his head in answer to Shishida. "No. I had this before they took me. One of the first quirks I was given was a regenerative one so the experiments done on me wouldn't kill me unnecessarily."

"Really? Then when did you get it?" Tsuburaba asks, eyes widening, "It looks awful… Kind of like Todoroki's burn." He gestured to the left side of his face to indicate which burn he meant.

"It's from an explosion when I was ten," Izuku said. He gave a bitter smile. There were few memories he had kept from before his capture that were good ones. Most of them were like the one associated with the burn, thoughts laced with broken glass or bitter poison, ready to hurt him at the slightest remembrance. "I mean, Bakugou's quirk developed when he was little, just like they're supposed to. He's always been quick to use it, especially against people who annoy him. And I always annoyed him. He even had this shitty nickname for me, on top of calling me quirkless and a fuckface loser."

The heavy silence that follows that is broken by an unexpected voice asking the question that Izuku was sure they were all thinking.

"Bakugou did that to you? Twice?" Hitoshi asks, frowning. His hand is holding onto his jacket tightly. He, like the rest of them, is half dressed during this conversation. "And he got away with it?"

"I was a forgiving kid," Izuku said with a shrug, "I admired him. I wanted to be his friend. I knew he was mean but he wanted to be a hero so I looked up to him." He laughs, shaking his head, "Maybe I was dropped on my head as a baby. But I forgave him even when the burns hadn't finished healing."

He turns away first, removing his belt and shucking his pants so he can change into his gym outfit. Conversation has dropped off almost entirely after that and the room is filled primarily with the sounds of clothing shuffling and lockers opening and shutting. Tetsutetsu is the first one done, stomping past Izuku to the doorway. He stops just at the door and turns around to face the room. Izuku catches the motion and turns his head to pay attention automatically.

"I don't know about the rest of you guys," Tetsutetsu says, the words snarled out between his sharp teeth, "But I've always thought Bakugou was a piece of shit. If your story is true, Midoriya, that only confirms what I believed. That fucker's no hero. He's just a sack of trash who thinks he's better than everyone else." He jerked his thumb to his chest and said, "I don't care what I have to do to keep him from the top Hero spot, but by god I'm going to fucking do it. He doesn't deserve that position if he's willing to injure innocents on his way to the top."

He looks around the room and grins. Izuku glances around and sees similar determined expressions on the others. "The sport festival is going to be here faster than we know it," Tetsutetsu continued, "I suggest we train as hard as we can until then and then we, as a group, as a fucking class, take Bakugou down. No way does he get to win first place three years running. You guys with me or what?"

Immediately there's a chorus of agreement. Fists are pumped into the air as the other boys whoop. Shishida growls out his assent and Kaibara jumps up onto the bench, both fists in the air, "We're gonna take you down Bakugou!"

Izuku laughed, more surprised than anything.

Hitoshi walks up to him then, dressed as well and on his way out of the room. He gave Izuku a thumbs up and said in a deadpan tone, "Congratulations on your adoption, Izuku."

Izuku grinned. He returned the thumbs up and then pat Hitoshi on the shoulder. "It's only finalized when they adopt you too, Hitokun."

Hitoshi flushed, turning his head away to hide it. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered, brushing Izuku's hand off. "Hurry up and get dressed. I'll see you out on the field." He hurried away.

Across the room, Kaibara jumped down from the bench and gave Izuku a thumbs up as well, "Yeah, Midoriya. You better not go out half dressed like that. You'll give all the girls nosebleeds with an indecent chest like that."

"Is there something wrong with my chest?" Izuku called as Kaibara headed for the exit.

"Duh," came the reply, Kaibara turning to walk backwards through the door. "You're cut as a fucking diamond. One look at those abs and who knows how many panties will drop for you!"

"Ignore Kaibara," Shishida said from behind Izuku, "He's just being needlessly crude."

"What?" Izuku turned and asked, "Do you think my chest wouldn't be appealing to the girls?"

Shishida flushed, "W-well it's not exactly that I think it wouldn't be appealing- I just think that saying it in such a way is unnecessary."

Izuku blinked at him. Really, this was a bit too much fun. If high school could be more of this chatter and weird teasing, he would be having a lot more fun. "So I am appealing?"

Awase, passing by, adjusted his bandana and said idly, "Midoriya, your physique is something many people strive for years to attain. I don't know how much TV or internet you've gotten a hold of in the last little while, but if we were to film you dripping with water, coming out of a swimming pool or some shit, we could sell like, anything to women or gay dudes. Sex sells, Midoriya, and you're pretty up there when it comes to what a woman likes."

"I am?" Izuku blinked, honestly surprised at his forthrightness. "How do you know?"

"Itsuka's my best friend," he admitted easily, "When they were playing that Norwegian water bottle commercial with the guy taking off the full body scuba suit thing with close ups on his body, it was, like, the only thing she would talk about for a week. So you better cover up or you'll distract all the girls and we'll never get gym class finished."

Shishida nods enthusiastically in agreement to this. Izuku shrugs and finishes dressing. He's one of the last headed out the door, a smile on his lips and a spring to his step. The admiration is a nice thing, but Tetsutetsu's declaration was definitely the highlight for Izuku.

Bakugou would never know what hit him.

Izuku could hardly wait.

At lunch on Tuesday, Izuku and Hitoshi are outside in the courtyard. They sit together under a tree, the wide branches providing plenty of shade. Izuku's eating mostly in silence, listening as Hitoshi explains his current favorite mystery show. "...then they go into this room and give their account of the crime. It never shows like, the full story from each one of them, but little clips of it. We do get to hear who they accuse though, so we know who they think is the killer and we can guess based on what they know." Hitoshi said, gesturing with one hand.

He stops to take a drink and looks up at a voice calling out to them.

"Midoriya!"

Tokage is at the head of a cluster of girls from their class. They're practically marching across the field towards them. Awase and Kaibara are with them, looking sheepish.

Izuku glanced to Hitoshi, "Do you have any idea…?"

Hitoshi shrugged.

Tokage arrives, stands with her hands on her hips and said, "Sen said that you were ripped, Midoriya. He said that you have an eight pack. We want to see if it's true or just more of his bullshit."

Izuku blinked.

Blandly, Hitoshi said, "Wow. One day. You managed to keep a secret for one whole day."

Awase sighed, "Sen and Togaru kept talking about what kind of exercises would be needed to maintain Midoriya's level of fitness and they overheard."

"Don't blame me for this," Kaibara demanded, "I wasn't the one who call him chiseled like a greek god."

Awase didn't even blink. "I'm not going to lie to Itsuka."

"I. Don't. Care!" Tokage stomped her foot. "It doesn't matter who told whom. I just want to know if it's true! Midoriya, take off your shirt!"

There was surprised silence for a moment before Kendou laughed nervously, "Setsuna, that's so inappropriate. You can't demand Midoriya to strip during school."

Tokage grinned. "So after school would be fine?"

Izuku cleared his throat. "I'd rather not waste time after school like that." He set aside his bento and got up to his feet. "It will only take a moment, right? And then Hitoshi and I can get back to our lunch?"

"Yeah, sure," Tokage grinned with all her teeth bared. The other girls giggled behind their hands, watching curiously.

"Hitoshi, you don't mind if I do this, right? I don't want to ruin our conversation," Izuku asked his friend.

Hitoshi got to his feet too, "If you want to take your shirt off, go right ahead. Can I take a picture for my blog? My followers have been asking to see a picture of you all week."

"Sure," Izuku said. He loosened his tie with one hand, giving Hitoshi a bright smile, "I don't mind if you take my picture, Hitokun." He was rewarded with a slight pink flush across Hitoshi's cheeks. Looking to the girls, he said, "Tokage, would you mind holding my clothes?"

"Absolutely not." She held out her hands immediately. He shrugged out of his jacket and handed it and the tie over. Her grin grew wider and wider as Izuku unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off. A soft chorus of gasps rose up as he handed over his shirt.

"Izuku," Hitoshi said, "Pose for the camera?" He lifted up his phone.

Izuku blinked, "How? I've never really done that before."

"What?" Kaibara gaped, "Seriously? It's just like this, man," He came over and slung his arm around Izuku's neck even though he was shorter than him. Then he grinned at Hitoshi and held up a peace sign. "See? Like this!"

Izuku nodded. He put up a peace sign, putting his arm around Kaibara's back. "Bending over like this is kind of uncomfortable. Do you mind if I…?"

"Eh?" Kaibara said, "EH?!"

With his arm around Kaibara, Izuku held him against his side and straightened back up. He lifted Kaibara a few inches off the ground, completely supporting his weight with his arm. Then he flashed a peace sign to Hitoshi. "Ready!"

The was the audio of a shutter clicking and Hitoshi said, "You should do a flexing picture too, Izuku." His cheeks had turned a darker pink but his voice remained steady.

"Flexing?" Izuku repeated, "Oh. Okay!" He let go of Kaibara, who staggered back in stunned silence and was caught by one of the other students. Turning, Izuku lifted his arms, flexing his entire upper body. "I've seen this on TV," he explained gamely, moving from one pose to the other. "Is this what you want, Hitokun?"

"...yeah." Hitoshi said, his phone shuttering again and again. "Perfect."

Izuku smiled. "Tokage?"

She blinked slowly at him, like a lizard caught in the warmth of the sun. "Mm?"

"Can I have my clothes back?" Izuku held out his hand. Tokage looked at her arms and then at his hands and then offered back the clothing. "Thanks."

He dressed again while his classmates whispered amongst themselves.

"Who else knows about this? The boys? Is that it?"

"They can't keep this a secret- They're terrible at secrets- Everyone is going to find out."

"But if everyone finds out it'll be like that time Yui shrank out of her clothes at the school festival and all those other students came by the class to take-"

"SHUT UP. We don't talk about that anymore!"

A moment of tense silence passed. Izuku, tugging his tie into place, looked to Hitoshi. His friend was tapping away on his phone, a smile quirked up at the corner of his mouth. Curious. Izuku stepped closer, peeking over the edge oh his phone to look. Hitoshi was typing out a message to go along with the picture. Izuku's brows rose as he caught part of the words. ...have believed me when I told you. I don't blame you for second guessing me. Pics or it didn't happen, right? Well here are your pics!

"Are you putting that online?" Izuku asked. Hitoshi jumped.

"Ah. Yes. Is that… Do you want me to not do that?"

Izuku scratched at the back of his neck. Anonymity was kind of important to him and his work, but on the other hand… "Is this a normal teenager thing? Do people post pictures of their friends online like this?"

"Er. Yes." Hitoshi said.

"Then okay." Izuku grinned. He could almost hear Himiko discovering those pictures. After all, she had texted him the day before that she had found Hitoshi's blog. Izuku wondered if Hitoshi had any idea how many villains he had in his followers because of Himiko. "I give you full permission to post my picture on your blog. But only you, because you're my best friend, Hitokun."

"What?" Hitoshi replied, "I'm your best friend?"

Izuku nodded. "You are. My very first best friend since I was, well, four I guess." He put his arm around Hitoshi's shoulder, smiling, aware that the girls had stopped whispering and were paying attention.

"What happened to your first best friend?" Hitoshi asked, lowering his phone. He shifted a little uneasily under Izuku's arm. He had acted similarly when they ate in the cafeteria together the week before. Izuku had adapted to the others staring at him, but Hitoshi was still nervous by it.

"He got a quirk and I didn't," Izuku said, "He stopped being my best friend and became my tormentor instead. You saw the scars he gave me."

Hitoshi's fingers tightened on his phone. Izuku noticed Kaibara straighten and glance to Awase out of the corner of his eye. Both boys frowned deeply. "I can't believe that bastard got into Yuuei," Awase muttered.

"Who?" Kendou asked, looking to her friend.

"Who else?" Kaibara sneered. "Bakugou Katsuki. He knew Midoriya when they were kids. He's the one who burned Midoriya's shoulder like that. Didn't you girls see the scar?"

"Oh, I thought it was…." Kendou's voice trailed off. Shifty glances were exchanged with each other. Izuku continued to smile.

"Do you guys mind if I go back to my lunch? I'm kind of starving?" Izuku laughed. He motioned them to shoo with one hand, "I can talk about that stuff later. Discussing Bakugou makes me lose my appetite."

Kendou opened her mouth but Awase elbowed her in the side. They exchanged glares but it was Tokage who sighed loudly and said, "Okay, okay. We'll go. But you have to eat lunch with us again sometime, Midoriya! You don't get to just eat lunch outside with Shinsou all the time!"

"But I like eating outside." Izuku remarked, "I didn't get to do that very much in the last few years and Hitokun is excellent company." He hugged Hitoshi closer to his side, pretending to not notice the very obvious blushing that he was doing.

Tokage grinned at them both. The other girls giggled, looking from one to the other of them. "All right, Midoriya. You and Shinsou enjoy your private lunch out here in the yard!" She waggles her eyebrows in the most obvious way and Izuku flushes in response. The other students leave, Awase miming an apology behind the backs of the girls, and Izuku laughed.

"Everyone is really energetic at school," Izuku said, sitting back down with Hitoshi.

"It's exhausting," Hitoshi muttered, joining him. "I miss nap time."

"Yeah," Izuku said, "Me too."

On Wednesday, Izuku stood outside the teacher's office area after having been summoned there during a study period. He knocked and slid the door open, poking his head inside, "Excuse me but-"

Blood King looked up from the desk he was working at and gestured him over. Some of the other teachers were in the room, though only two or three. They glanced up to see Izuku cross the room and join his homeroom teacher. "Sensei? You called for me?"

"Ah, yes," The man smiled and turned his chair to face him. "There's a joint class exercise being conducted later this week that I wanted to talk to you about first."

Izuku nodded, hands tucked behind himself. He made sure he looked attentive and interested, smiling slightly at his teacher. He could feel All Might's gaze from across the room, though the man had been talking to another hero when he had entered. "What about it, sensei?"

"It's a common exercise that we do with our students, starting even in their first year." Blood King explained, leaning an elbow on his desk as he spoke. "Generally we accompany it with a study of the students individual abilities and their willingness to co-operate to achieve a goal. The activity is to go to a prepared map and divide the students into heroes and villains. Both sides compete against each other to succeed at their goal during a timed match.

"During the third year, events like this are integrated with other classes. In this case, not just the heroics based ones but one that covers some of the psychological behaviors of villains." His teacher looked incredibly serious as he spoke, his brows furrowed slightly. "It's important for future heroes to be able to understand and predict the mind of a villain, so they can better fight against them."

Izuku let the smile fade from his own expression, mirroring that intensity. He had hoped that he hadn't missed this exercise yet. The timing of his arrival to Yuuei had been dependent on EUSJ, but he hadn't been able to pinpoint the curriculum for events like this. This was one of the activities that Izuku had looked forward to. It was a prime opportunity, after all. "Are you wondering if I would be comfortable participating, sir?" he asked.

"Yes. You were so recently rescued that we want to be sure we don't add to your trauma in any way. If you can only participate in half of the exercise or need to sit it out entirely, we're prepared for that." Blood King nodded. "There will be a surveillance area that you can watch from, or you can remain in the classroom to study."

Izuku shook his head. "Sensei, I can do this. It's important that the others in my class have everyone there to help, right? And I want to be a hero! I want to be like the other students. I can do this."

"I don't want you to push yourself," the man said firmly, "You're in a whole new environment and it's easy to become overwhelmed."

"Please let me participate," Izuku asked, "I know Hitoshi will be playing and we're friends- I want to be there to help him with this. It's important!"

The man sighed. He tapped his jaw with his fingers, looking away thoughtfully. "We'll have you put in the later section, then. That way if you get overwhelmed by watching the other students, you still have time to pull out. You are a hard worker, Midoriya, and you're doing well in your classes considering what you've been through. If you think you can handle this, I feel confident trusting you to know your own limits."

Izuku brightened up. He clapped his hands together, bowing in gratitude. "Thank you! I'll show you I can handle this too, sensei!"

"All right. I believe you, Midoriya. For good measure, though, I'll make sure you're on a team with Shinsou. I think that he can help keep you grounded." Blood King turned to write a note on a pad of paper. Izuku glanced at it and saw that it was divided into four sections, each one of them filled with ten different names. The team formations? He thought before lifting his gaze.

"Thank you again, sensei." Izuku smiled. "Is that all?"

"Yes. Go ahead and return to class."

Izuku bowed again and walked back to the door. He pressed his palm against the wall by the door, activating his Sensory Awareness quirk and immediately putting it into hibernation. Sliding open the door again, he left behind the teacher's offices with a broad smile stretching across his face.

Finally, he thought, putting his hand into his pocket. I can start the instructions this week.

Rolling the twenty sided die around and around in his fingers, Izuku felt a thrill of excitement run down his spine. Father's so foolish, thinking that his way is the better way. I'll show him. I'll show everyone the correct way to play the game.

Sensory Awareness:
By placing one's bare palm to a surface, they can lay down a print that will absorb different types of sensory input to be gathered again at a later date. The information is stored there until one places their bare palm against the same spot, collecting it directly into their own mind. Left too long and the information can easily overwhelm a simple mind.

TBC