Summary:
"How are we supposed to become heroes when the entire world sees us as assassins?"
With Korosensei dead and the world saved, Midoriya, Shinsou and the rest of E-class just want to move on with their lives. However, with the media and public in constant fear of the child assassins who stopped the world's Number One Villain, they find they don't really get that option. Now they must balance the life of a student and an agent, but the world of villains is looking for a new king, and these young students find themselves caught in the middle.
Chapter 1: To Go It Alone
With Korosensei dead and the world saved, Midoriya, Shinsou and the rest of E-class just want to move on with their lives. However, with the media and public in constant fear of the child assassins who stopped the world's Number One Villain, they find they don't really get that option. Now they must balance the life of a student and an agent, but the world of villains is looking for a new king, and these young students find themselves caught in the middle.
"Welcome back to Good Morning Tokyo. With just two days away until the start of the new school year, the country has found itself in a state of unrest. Why? Because in two days, in over twenty-five schools, the hallways will not only be filled with fresh new faces, but have secret agent assassins hiding in the midst.
"As you may recall, on March 6, the world was made aware not only of the location of the villainous Tentacle, but of the students our government permitted him to teach. These students were trained to kill their teacher, but now that their mission is complete and target eliminated, the public fears their children might be next. Tensions are still high even after the government claimed the students are being monitored as agents of a new defense police, the Emergency National Defense, or END. This is what one mother had to say about it—"
"I can't believe these assassins are being permitted to walk around nearly unmonitored with other students! The government claims the agents are safe, and say they are actually here to protect us, but I don't believe it one bit. This END nonsense is exactly that — nonsense! A ruse to lure us into a false sense of security. These children are dangerous. They were taught by the Number One Villain! How can they not be?"
-.-.-.-
"Agent Bark. Do you copy?"
"Loud and clear, Agent Quirk. What's the consensus?"
"Agent Connect has hacked the security system and determined there are three guards 100 meters in front of you. Take the next right turn to avoid confrontation," Izuku instructed the coyote quirk boy. Muramatsu grunted in response.
"Got it. Talk to you guys in a sec."
Through the Ritsu-cams located on the 'E' on their uniform's collar, Izuku was able to watch the mission unfold live all the way back in the control base. It was a simple mission: infiltrate, grab the documents, and get out. Muramatsu was sent ahead to scope out a path and clear the area if needed while Nagisa snuck in from above with Itona to break into the locked safe. And while it was simple, it was still the Beta unit's second mission, which meant Izuku's nerves ran high.
At least he wasn't as panicked as he was the first time they had a mission. He almost cried three times that day.
"Alright, Mur-Agent Bark, Agent Tentacle and I have reached the safe. Breaking into it now," Nagisa said over the comms. Izuku's eyes switch to that screen and watched Itona place a hand to the safe's lock keypad — thank goodness it was electronic — and after a few passing moments of silent, he said, "The combination is 83051."
Nagisa quickly punched in the numbers and the safe opened up with a pop. "Alright, Agent Bark. We're in. Get out of there."
"Sure thing, captain!"
The three agents retreated from the building and Izuku held his breath all the way until he was sure they were out and safe before he joined the Gamma Unit in on their cheers.
"Another mission success! Good job everyone!" Ritsu cheered, appearing on the screens.
"While this wasn't how I expected to spend the break before starting high school, I have to admit, we're pretty good at this," commented Takebayashi.
"It certainly helps that Agent Quirk over here is so thorough in his mission analysis," Nakamura said, leaning on Izuku's desk. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was trying to steal my captaincy."
The glint in her eye was wicked and playful, and Izuku held his hands up innocently. "I just want to help. Sigma never gets assigned anything and I just get so worried not being apart of the action, and, well, Karasuma-sensei said it's alright to loan agents between units, it's why we sent Itona out with Beta today and all, and—"
"Whoo, slow your horses, you sound like you're speaking at Mach-2," Mimura teased. "Besides, we're more than grateful for the help. Anything that makes the job go smoother is welcomed on my part."
"While I'm grateful too, I'm surprised by how much time you've been spending at the mountain base, Midoriya," Fuwa added, snapping her fingers. "With high school starting in a few days, I figured you would want to start preparing for U.A. and all, given how much pressure is surrounding you."
Izuku winced at the reminder. With the media, public and school all watching him like a hawk, it was made very clear that he and Shinsou had to be on their absolute best behavior if they wanted to survive. If so much as one student at U.A. felt credibly threatened by their presence, they could be expelled. It was a cruel standard to be held to, especially given they just saved the world.
About one year ago today, Midoriya Izuku was a normal boy placed in Kunugigaoka Junior High's ostracized E-class simply because he was quirkless. In the year that followed, he not only had the Number One Villain as his middle school teacher, but was trained by the government to try to kill him.
And now, one crazy, hectic, unbelievable year later, they succeeded. But for E-class, while their time as classmates had come to an end, their mission was far from over.
Okuda leaned forward and softly asked, "Have you and your mom figured out where you'll be staying?"
Oh, yes. Among Izuku's long list of new problems (right below 'The world hates me' and 'I can't use my new quirk without choking on blood'), there was the issue that he and his mom lived in Tokyo while U.A. was located in Musutafu. They'd already reached out to their old landlord and could move back if they wanted to, but that meant his mother leaving her new position at work, and well….
After the incident making the public aware of the E-class student assassins, he and his mother's relationship was a bit...awkward. When he came home after sneaking out to kill Korosensei, they had a huge heart to heart which involved them crying on the floor for hours.
("I'm so sorry, Izuku," his mother cried. "I'm so sorry I yelled, I'm so sorry I questioned you. I'm so sorry this happened, I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
There have been two other instances when his mother apologized like this. But for once, it finally didn't hurt.
"It's okay, Mom," he said, holding her hand. "I shouldn't have lied to you, or scared you like that, but I didn't have a choice. I had to do what I did. I had to. I saved the world today, Mom. I was a hero."
"Yes," his mother cupped his cheeks, her lip quivering. "Yes, you were."
So overcome by joy and relief, Izuku attacked his mom with another hug. He didn't realize he had moved at Mach-2 until he was suddenly coughing up blood and his mom was screaming.)
It took all night to explain to her what happened. He showed her the scar, told her that Korosensei not only saved his life, but gave him a gift in return. His mother stared at him in horror, and Izuku wasn't sure what she was more freaked out about: the fact that her son died and came back to life, or the fact that he now had a sliver of a quirk from the Number One Villain.
"Right now, the plan is that I'll be bunking at Hitoshi's apartment. She doesn't like the idea of me being on my own, but until she can get approved at work to transfer back to Musutafu, we don't have much of a choice…"
"Enter: Agent Control. Enter: Agent Snake. Enter..."
Speak of the devil. Ritsu announced the entrance of the brainwasher as well as the returned Beta team members.
"I take it the mission was a success?" Shinsou asked. Nagisa (who cut his hair immediately after graduating E-class, the long hair now styled in a way similar to Karma's. Despite it, he still looked extremely androgynous) nodded and immediately passed the documents to Nakamura.
"Thanks, Agent Gender!" she cheered, making the blue-haired boy bristle.
"That's not my codename!"
"Hey, Shinsou," Mimura interrupted. "How have your U.A. preparations been going?"
"Boring as hell," the brainwasher replied, collapsing into a chair. "I don't get to do anything fun like submit a hero design costume like Izuku."
The green-haired boy jolted. "Oh crap! I need to do that soon!" He paused and turned to Shinsou. "Wait, what am I going to submit? We never officially declared a winner of our bet. Our last fight was during the civil war, and it was a tie."
"Well, I'm more than willing to wipe the floor with you right now—"
"That won't be necessary," Itona cut in, his face unreadable. "I've been told I'm not allowed to speak about it, but don't worry about your hero costume."
Muramatsu growled and smacked the technopath with his tail. "Idiot, you can't go saying that, now they're all curious!"
"What? I didn't tell them anything."
-.-.-.-
r/END of the world
9.5k likes - Posted by u/endeavorfan823 - 6 hours ago
Rumors of U.A. Accepting Two END Agents Confirmed?
For those of you who are unaware, it was rumored that two agents took and performed extremely well on the U.A. Recommendations Entrance Exam. While U.A. has remained silent on the issue, someone claims they leaked the roster for U.A. Class 1-C, a General Education class, and on it is the purple-haired agent famous for brainwashing dozens of reporters a few weeks ago. If this is true, what are your thoughts?
xiodre - 4 hours ago - 5.2k likes
Thank god it's not the hero course
omgidontknowanything - 5 hours ago - 2.1k likes
Who let them take the Recommendations Exam in the first place? Like wtf
mrskamuiwoods - 2 hours ago - 603 likes
Aren't we being a little harsh on them? I mean, think about it. It wasn't their choice they were trained like this. The Tentacle wanted the teaching position to entertain himself and the government gave him what he wanted. The kids aren't the bad guys here. And honestly, didn't they already save the world? I don't see why they couldn't be heroes.
sp0rtf3stivalfanat1c - 1 hour ago - 6.6k likes
If two agents applied, then what course is the other one in?
-.-.-.-
"Hitoshi? Are you scared? For tomorrow, I mean."
"Scared of going to school with a bunch of high-and-mighty classmates that either hate you, fear you, or avoid you like the plague? No. It'll be just like old times."
Izuku sat up in the bed. "But it won't be like old times. The entire world is terrified of us. People have published collages of all of our faces from media attacks so the public will recognize us and know to avoid us. Two kids have already dropped out of U.A. after the 1-C roster leak. There's literally nothing we can compare this to."
His best friend sighed and shoved his face further in the pillow. "No. There isn't. And it'll probably take a fucking miracle to change it."
Izuku nodded. "Karasuma said that interfering and helping with villain attacks would boost our public image, but it's only made things worse. People are accusing us of mocking heroes, trying to steal their jobs and take the glory. They think it's not genuine, that it's just a PR stunt—"
"It kinda is."
"—but it's also not! None of us are helping people because we have to, we're doing it because we can. We have the ability to save lives and keep people safe, but even doing that, we're still accused of being dangerous. I-It's like nothing we do can convince them otherwise. Not even saving the world could!"
His rant was cut off by a hand on his shoulder. Shinsou looked at him, his eyes soft and sad. "Get some sleep, Jolly Green. We have a big day tomorrow."
-.-.-.-
On the morning of their first day at U.A., Shinsou had to brainwash Izuku to get ready since he was panicking too much to function on his own.
When he released the hold, he asked, "Do I have to brainwash you to walk to school too?"
"N-No." Yes.
He really should've accepted that offer to be brainwashed. And not because he was a mumbling, anxious mess the entire way. Not because he kept fiddling with his tie because he was convinced if one thing was out of place, he'd be expelled.
No, it was because, as they made their way to school, someone decided to rob a store and then grow the size of a two-story building. Because if he was brainwashed, he wouldn't have been able to convince Shinsou to interfere.
"Izuku, we can't. We're going to be late for school. The heroes will be here any minute, it'll be fine."
"B-But I already reported it to Ritsu and she determined we'd be able to take down this villain much faster and with less civilian injuries and already gave us the green light to attack?" he stammered, holding up his Ritsu-watch partially as proof, and partially because he was afraid his best friend was about to punch him in the face.
"I outta kill you for that," the brainwasher pinched the bridge of his nose. "We can't attack him like this! We're in our U.A. uniforms, everyone will recognize us!"
He had a good point. Izuku looked down at what he was wearing. The jacket was easily the most identifiable piece of clothing, and maybe the red tie too. The pants were plain blue, just a little darker than their END uniform. So, the green-haired boy took off his jacket and tie, reached into his backpack, threw on his END jacket, grabbed a knock-out bomb and a nerve-knife, and turned back to Shinsou.
The brainwasher looked ready to have an aneurysm, but after Izuku smiled pleadingly, he finally did the same, taking out a nerve-gun and his capture rings.
"Just keep your hood on," he said, violently pulling Izuku's up. "No point in giving the media what they want."
Throwing their backpacks back on, they pushed through the crowd unseen. The villain was poised to smash a woman standing protectively over her infant child. Izuku snapped into action, careful not to use his speed (he didn't want to weaken himself right off the bat and spend the rest of the battle coughing up blood). He interfered just in time, knocking the giant fist away with a slash of his knife. It was a very shallow cut, but that's what these knives were designed to do: just break the skin enough to allow the nerve-tranquilizer Okuda invented to seep into the bloodstream.
"Huh?!" the villain cried, his limb already going limp. "Who are — an END agent? Why are you—"
He was cut off when thin but unbreakable wires lashed out and pulled down his other arm, followed by a zap of electricity running up the capture weapon. Shinsou's Version 3 of the capture rings, designed by Itona and paid by the government, were by far the best ones yet; they were thin, almost untrackable, but incredibly durable and accurate. And now they were electrified.
The villain roared and tried to pull away, and Izuku used the distraction to run up his nerve-immobilized arm and plant the now activated bomb on his neck before jumping and rolling to safety. The villain tried to see what it was, but without his arms and its strategic placement, it was impossible to.
"What did you—?" The explosion went off, releasing a smog of purple gas. "AHHH!" The villain screamed, but it only made him inhale more knock-out gas. Within seconds, he was on the ground, unconscious and shrunken down to human size.
"That was easy," Shinsou muttered, slapping the guy with full-body quirk canceling cuffs.
"Ritsu did say it was —ah! We're gonna be late!" He stared at his Ritsu-watch in shock.
Shinsou cursed. "Shit, I told you! Ritsu, report the arrest and call the police. We've gotta go!"
The AI girl giggled. "Already done. The police are on their way, and I've added the villain point to your weekly total. You guys are now it 18th place."
"Figures," Shinsou muttered, the duo sprinting for their lives, still dressed in partial END gear. That fact actually worked out in their favor because it meant that people avoided them and they could use parkour to get to school without being questioned. "Those other units are always racking in the mission points. Sigma isn't ever deployed."
"Well, we are the failsafe team. It's probably a good thing; means the world isn't ending."
"Shut up."
They ducked into an alley just before they arrived at U.A., making sure they weren't followed, and changed back into their school uniforms. They still had 15 minutes until school started, but it was a little too close for comfort in Izuku's opinion.
Which is why, when they walked through the gates and were immediately told to report to Principal Nedzu's office, he almost started crying.
"Stop mumbling, Jolly Green. We aren't late — at least not yet — so he can't punish us for that, at least."
He knew Shinsou was just trying to comfort him, but it really, really wasn't helping.
"Oh, good, you're here! Please, come in."
Nedzu ushered them into his office and gestured them to sit down on the sofa before taking a seat at the opposing one. "I will try to make this quick, seeing as the bell is about to ring. And while I wish this could be about congratulating you on your impressive villain takedown this morning, I'm afraid I have some bad news first."
Of course he did. Even when the mouse seemed nicer than usual, when did they ever get good news from Nedzu?
"Tadaomi and the government have informed me how your team on END will be less likely to get called away for missions during class, and you should be able to attend any and all classes uninterrupted. While this is good news for your education, I'm afraid the school board was also informed and have demanded you no longer bring any END weaponry on the campus."
Their objections were instantaneous. "You can't take away our weapons, we're ordered to keep them on our bodies at all times in case of emergency!"
"I understand that, but once again we are against much stronger opposition. It's not just the board, but the entire public demanding security for their children."
"And taking away our means of protecting them is going to ensure that?" challenged Shinsou.
"Of course not. But in the end, it is my hope that you needing to protect U.A. will be unnecessary. Pro-Heroes will always be on hand to diffuse any situation. For now, I say we look at this in a positive light. Not only will it alleviate pressure from you and let you be normal students, but it will also make your classmates more comfortable around you. So with that reasoning, I must ask you to leave them in my office for today and no longer carry them on campus."
"What about using them with our hero costume?" Izuku asked.
"You are more than welcome to have them when you are in costume and training if you so desire — I will ensure this. But for now, please be understanding. Students may be quick to accuse you of something bad if they see a weapon on you, even if you're not using it, and we can't let that happen. We're already treading on thin ice here, my boys."
Izuku wanted to fight, object, but what choice did he have? Principal Nedzu had a point. Their every move was being taken as a threat. They needed to seem as unthreatening as possible, even if it meant inhibiting their ability to help.
Surprisingly, Shinsou was the first to cave, locking his capture rings in their case and tossing it on the desk. "I better not come back and find you or some crazy support kid tried to open this up. Ritsu alerts me every time it is."
Grumpily, the two students dumped out their weapons from their bags and pockets. Honestly, it was kind of embarrassing; he didn't even remember packing that much, yet he pulled out six knives, three guns, three knock-out bombs, one smoke bomb, four packs of nerve-bullets, and even a set of tranquilizer covered ninja stars.
Nedzu looked extremely alarmed. "Is that...all?"
"Uh…" Izuku patted down his body to double-check before remembering. He reached for his shoes and opened up hidden compartments in the soles, revealing a pocket knife in one and a mini-gun in the other. "Now that's it."
"Uh-huh…" Nedzu flicked his ears. "Well, boys, I encourage you to get going. The bell should ring in about forty-five-seconds."
"WHAT?!"
"I apologize for keeping you so long, but I don't believe there's much need for alarm. If I recall, Izuku is now capable of ensuring both your timeliness, correct?"
Izuku froze. His quirk was declared a government level secret, but apparently Nedzu has heard of Izuku's inherited ability and was eager to see it in action; see how similar it was to Korosensei, to calculate how much of a threat he could be, assuming Karma's theory was right.
"Don't, Jolly Green, we'll just be tardy—"
It was too late. Izuku scooped up his best friend and ran at Mach-2, dropping him off at the 1-C doors. Before he could hear Shinsou's shout, he was already gone, appearing in front of the (concerningly tall) 1-A door.
"Just in time — blah!" A hack of blood came surging up and splattered all over his clean white dress shirt.
Oh no.
-.-.-.-
He went full panic mode, scrambling to wipe it clean. "I can't go in like this, what am I going to do, what am I going to do? Should I leave? Wear my END uniform jacket? This tie is red, maybe I can disguise it as—"
The door flew open, revealing a guy with black hair and glasses. "Not only are you almost tardy, fellow student, but you are incredibly too loud for a place of learning and — huh?!"
The guy scrambled back in fear. Izuku could only imagine what this looked like. A kid standing at the door, shirt stained with fresh blood, caught literally red-handed, looking like a deer in the headlights. That added up with the fact that his distinct green-hair made him pretty easy to recognize, and, well. There was little doubt they knew who he was now.
Maybe it'll make introductions less awkward if they know for certain I'm in END instead of questioning?
He banished the hopeful thought. Maybe that would be the case if he walked into class looking normal and formally announced it. Not when he showed up covered in blood. Even if it was his own.
"AHH!" screamed a pink girl that looked vaguely familiar. "Is that someone's blood?!"
"No!" he squeaked, but then backtracked. "I mean, yes, but, you see, there was this villain attack on the way to school—"
A flamboyant-looking blonde boy sitting closest to the door literally ran from his seat. "Is that the villain's blood?!"
"No, you don't understand, I—"
"Excuse me, I need to get inside before the bell — oh my! Y-Y-You're an END..."
A girl trying to brush past him to get inside fell to the floor, quivering in fear. Izuku felt his eyes bulged out of his head when he saw who it was.
"You're...You're Uraraka Ochako. Kunugigaoka Class 3-B…" he said and held out a hand to her. "Here, let me help you up."
The girl stared at his bloodstained hands and screamed. The glasses boy from earlier rushed forward and pulled her away, as if she needed saving. Saving from…
If he felt like crying earlier, this was much, much worse. His classmates, the people he'd be spending the next three years of his life with, stared at him with open fear. He understood why. They thought he had someone else's blood on his shirt for crying out loud. His first impression, and he looked like a crazed killer. Just like the media played him out to be.
"Care to explain yourself," a frighteningly familiar voice said, "Deku?"
His eyes jumped to the blond boy in the back of the class, and just when he thought this day couldn't get any worse, it did. "K-Kacchan..."
Bakugou looked murderous, his explosive hands smoking threateningly. Izuku took a step back, thinking it'd be awfully fitting that the boy everyone saw as a dangerous assassin was killed by a 'normal' student on the first day.
"So dramatic. And loud," a gruff voice said, and suddenly all attention was turned to the yellow form outside the room. Izuku's heart stopped. Not because the form reminded him of Korosensei — which it did, painfully so, and his heart yearned to be back in 3-E — but because he vividly recalled the last time a yellow form like this reminded him of his octopus teacher. And he knew exactly who was going to be inside.
Eraserhead rose from the sleeping bag, lazily slurping on some kind of jelly pack. "Midoriya Izuku," he said, staring right at him, and Izuku froze. Froze because this man didn't know his name because he memorized the roster. No, he knew Izuku's name because Izuku told him during the mountain raid, right before he kicked the Pro-Hero unconscious.
Oh my Korosensei, I'm going to die, he's going to kill me or expel me or do anything to get revenge, why was I so stupid, I did it to save Korosensei and I don't regret it but maybe I'll regret it when my body is hung from that capture scarf and—
"Welcome to U.A.'s Hero Course, kid," the hero continued, shocking Izuku to his core. "I'm Aizawa Shouta. Your teacher."
Izuku reeled, but he's not sure what shocked him more. The fact the man didn't attack or expel him on sight? The fact he welcomed him to the hero course? The fact that he's Izuku's teacher?
"There's something on your shirt," Aizawa said as if he was pointing out a food stain. "No matter. I need everyone to change into these anyway and go outside." He pulled out a blue track uniform with strange white and red lines. "We're going to have a quirk assessment test. Whoever comes in last gets expelled."
-.-.-.-
Aizawa took them out to the back fields and explained his reasoning for making them test instead of attend orientation. He explained how in junior high (or, all junior highs other than Kunugigaoka, Izuku noted), the playing field between the weak and the strong was designed to seem as equal as possible, meaning they never got to use their quirks in physical exams before. Izuku wanted to laugh, thinking back on the brutal end-of-term quirk exams Kunugigaoka held.
"It's irrational to let those with the most power not excel," the man stated, and Izuku had to blink to make sure it wasn't actually Principal Asano standing there.
Deciding to give it another try now that he wasn't covered in his own blood, he leaned toward Uraraka (pretending not to notice the wide berth around him) and whispered, "Sounds a lot like Kunugigaoka's ideals, huh?"
The girl almost jumped out of her own skin. "Uh, I, uh…" She shamelessly scooted away from him, and he tried not to think about how much that hurt. He bit his lip to hide how upset he felt.
He heard them whispering when they walked outside, saying things like "I can't believe they actually let an END agent into the U.A. Hero Course. Are they out of their minds?" and "Do you really think that was blood on his shirt?" and "Why is he standing so close to me? He's so scary."
Honestly, it was kinda funny. If he didn't have the media's reputation of END over his head, he'd probably look like the least threatening kid in class. He'd probably be able to reconnect with Uraraka and be her friend. But instead, he was labeled as 'too terrifying to be around'. Him. The guy who was quirkless less than a month ago. The guy who choked on blood every time he used his new quirk.
Maybe, he thought, watching Bakugou throw a baseball over 700 meters with his quirk and be admired despite how frightening the feat was. Maybe I can use this test to show them that I'm not actually scary. I mean, it's not like I can use my quirk on it anyway, and while I could probably excel using my assassination skills, maybe that's exactly why I shouldn't. If I seem like a weak, normal guy, maybe they won't be so scared of me. Maybe someone will finally talk to me.
So, he did just that. He threw the baseball like normal, not using any tips or tricks taught to him by Sugino or Korosensei. He squeezed the grip tester purposefully weak. On the standing long jump, when he could've jumped the distance between buildings and landed it with a flip, he just gave a measly leap. On the repeated side steps (an exercise Karasuma loved because it increased their ability to change directions last minute), he moved purposely slow, giving up before even sweating.
He tested like he was quirkless. He tested how he would've before he met Korosensei. If his old teacher were here, he'd be furious. He'd probably give Izuku a big lecture about not letting other's opinions affect his performance, and that the best way to gain their trust was to prove himself to them.
But Korosensei wasn't here. Korosensei was dead. And, well, Izuku's tactic seemed to be working.
The whispers changed from "Why is he here? He's scary." to "Why is he doing so bad, are you sure he's END?" They weren't avoiding him, now staring at him with open curiosity.
He almost screeched after he faked the standing long jump test and found himself being stared down by a familiar red-and-white-haired boy — the ice guy from the entrance exam! He knew what Izuku was actually capable of, he was going to call him out, expose him and everyone would be scared of him again-
But then the guy just frowned and walked away, shaking his head. He didn't say a word, and Izuku thought he was safe.
He completely forgot about Aizawa.
Just before the final test — a 50 meter dash, oh how funny it would be if he got the slowest time — the man interfered, looking furious, and Izuku realized he was too quick to assume the man wouldn't kill him.
"Midoriya," he growled. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Izuku froze. "I-I'm taking m-my test, s-sir?"
"No, you're not. You're flopping it. On purpose." The class tensed at the accusation and Izuku, thoroughly caught in the act, couldn't even defend himself. "You really expect me to believe that you can only jump 162 centimeters? That your stamina is so bad you can barely do the side steps for twenty seconds? Who the hell are you trying to trick here? Yourself?"
And Izuku, always painfully easy to read, couldn't help but nervously glance back at his classmates. Aizawa's eyes narrowed and it was clear; he knew.
"You've gotta be kidding me," the Pro-Hero drawled. "You'd really underperform and risk expulsion over your classmates? Because they think you're dangerous? Pathetic."
Izuku winced and bit his lip, trying to hide his tears. Oh, how he missed Korosensei. Even when Korosensei was mad, he never let you feel like complete shit —
"You're all pathetic if you're really so scared of this kid."
— and Korosensei always cheered them- wait, what? What did Aizawa-sensei just say?
"Judging by the fact you're here, you're all trying to become heroes. And yet you're scared of some kid who has a little extra training than you? Who has already taken down villains? Are you scared of me too? Of All-Might? If that's the case, you don't have any place in this class, and you might as well leave now."
The hero class was stunned silent, many openly gaping. He could tell some of them wanted to argue, but Aizawa was glaring, just daring them to refute his words, and no one had the balls to go against him. Izuku felt like crying, hope actually lighting in his chest.
And then Aizawa descended upon him again.
"And if you think hiding your abilities in some sad attempt to make friends is going to cut it, you're sorely mistaken. If it weren't for the fact that you're not completely in the wrong right now, and your hand was pushed, I'd expel you without a second thought." Izuku tensed. "Luckily for you, I'm feeling gracious. Right now, you're guaranteed dead last in this evaluation. If you want to avoid expulsion, I want you to prove your abilities in full. Show everyone here exactly what you're capable of."
Izuku took a small step back, not liking at all where this was going. Aizawa smirked and pointed a finger at him. "If you really want to gain your classmates' trust, you're going to make it very obvious just how dangerous you are. No holding back. No cutting corners. And no quirk." The Eraser Hero activated his quirk, his eyes glowing red. "You, Midoriya Izuku, are going to fight me one-on-one using the same dangerous skills you used to take down the Tentacle. Refuse, and you'll never step foot into U.A. again."
Izuku's brain panicked, not knowing what to focus on. Aizawa wanted to duel him right now, right in front of everyone? Just using combat skills? Wait, he said no quirk — he's erasing my quirk, even though the last time we met, I told him I was quirkless. Does that mean he knows about my speed? Does he know how I got it? Did Nedzu tell him? Did—
"C'mon, kid, I don't have all day," Aizawa said, crossing his arms. "You going to attack or not?"
Izuku stupidly glanced behind him and saw how horrified his classmates looked, and he panicked. "No, I can't, I'm sorry—"
The capture scarf lashed out without warning, and Izuku's instincts kicked in. He dodged to the side and flat-palmed the weapon away while also blocking the kick to his face. Aizawa jumped back, smirking.
"There we go. There's that oh-so dangerous skill the world is so afraid of." The Pro-Hero smirked. "Doesn't seem like much if you ask me."
He went for another kick, which Izuku dodged. The teacher was obviously playing down Izuku's skill — aka the kid who kicked his ass a month ago — but the green-haired boy realized it was on purpose. If Aizawa seemed so unequivocally unimpressed with Izuku's assassination skills, then his classmates would begin to think similarly. After all, if the teacher had nothing to fear, why should they?
It was honestly kind of brilliant. And in a weird way, it wasn't much different than what Korosensei would've done.
(Except Korosensei definitely would've been nicer about it.)
Giving in, Izuku started fighting back. He went for a cross punch, cleanly landing it, but Aizawa barely reacted. He was clearly more prepared than on the mountain, especially with one less opponent. His fighting style, Izuku noted, was fairly similar to Karasuma's. Guesstimating his teachers' ages, would they have been classmates? Or maybe junior and senior? Have they fought against each other?
Aizawa went for a leg sweep. Izuku dodged and elbow-jabbed. A hit. He went for another, but was stopped with an uppercut to the jaw (ouch, okay, Aizawa was stronger than he looked). The capture weapon struck out, coming in on both sides, and without his enhanced speed, there was no way he could simply dodge. So instead, he took a step back, bent his legs, and leaped over the capture scarf and his teacher with a single bound. His landing was messy, and he somersaulted to recover, crouching a good distance away.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said, smiling lightly. "I can jump farther than 162 centimeters."
Aizawa's eyes went wide but he smiled back (it was extremely weird-looking, and it was nothing like Korosensei's. But maybe that was a good thing).
"Holy shit!" a classmate with weird elbows exclaimed, almost sounding impressed. Not wanting to get his hopes up, Izuku ignored it, and the fighting resumed.
They exchanged blows back and forth. It wasn't like a duel with Shinsou — they knew each other's fighting style so well they could predict every move and it was near impossible to land a hit. No, with Aizawa, hits and blows were exchanged left and right, but they kept on fighting. One particularly hard blow — a well-aimed kick to the chest by Aizawa — knocked Izuku hard on his back. He was immensely grateful his Ritsu-phone (which Karasuma ordered they keep on their body in all conditions if possible) was unbreakable because—
Wait. His Ritsu-phone. The phone Karasuma had designed for END. Which meant….
Which meant Principal Nedzu would probably be mad if he found out about what was going to happen, but that wasn't stopping Izuku at this point.
He pulled out the device — "Why is he getting out his phone?!" screamed a blond guy with a lightning bolt in his hair — pressed the special button, and the hidden nerve-knife popped out of the case.
"What the hell, did he just pull a knife from his phone?!" the lightning guy continued, grabbing onto a spiky red-haired guy. "Oh my god, he really had a knife in his phone!"
Aizawa, the professional, wasn't even distracted by the surprise. He lashed out his capture scarf, aimed right at Izuku's knife and—
And with a fluid motion, Izuku stabbed the knife through the scarf, brought the blade down to the floor, pinning the capture weapon. He used his momentum to kick up both legs into a handstand, and pushing off the knife, slammed both feet into his teacher's face to bring him to the floor.
The class screamed. Spiky Hair and Lightning Hair clung to each other. "OH MY GOD!"
Not hesitating for a second, Izuku spun off his downed teacher and brought his leg up for the finishing axe-kick and—
A hand shot up. "You really think I'd fall for that move again?"
Aizawa grabbed Izuku's leg and pulled him to the floor as he heard multiple students parrot, "Again?!"
Izuku rolled once he hit the floor, knowing better than to stay down too long in a fight, no matter how exhausted he was, and he sloppily popped up. Through the haze, he brought his fists up, expecting another blow, and flinched when he heard the slow clapping.
"And there you have it, students," Aizawa said, clapping as he stood back up. "The dangerous strength of an END assassin. If that doesn't make you scared, then you're lying to yourself. But if that also doesn't make you want to work your ass off, then get out of my class."
There was a stunned silence. His classmates stared in complete shock — even the ice guy, and he already had a glimpse of Izuku's abilities — and Izuku was scared to meet their eyes. But he did, and he saw how fearful they all looked, even Bakugou a little bit, and he realized that this was all for nothing, and his heart broke.
But then someone started clapping, and it wasn't Aizawa.
"That was the most incredible thing I've seen in my life!" Spiky Hair declared, running up to Izuku and giving him a friendly pat on the back. Izuku almost fainted. "I didn't know it was possible to move like that! That was so freaking manly, you've gotta teach me some tricks!"
Izuku could only blink and stammer, "Uh, I, uh, well, um, t-thank you-u?" His face felt as red as this guy's hair.
Spiky Hair grinned. "You're welcome!"
And while none of his other classmates were as eager as this guy, they did seem a lot more at ease. Spiky Hair was a pretty well-liked guy already, so him being so comfortable and casual helped a lot, though he knew it wouldn't have been possible without Aizawa's (insane) teaching tactics. But, well, Izuku was nothing if not used to unconventional teaching methods.
"Well, kid," Aizawa said, stepping in front of him with his arms crossed. "I'd say you well avoided your expulsion. Though part of me still wants to given how stupid you were being."
Izuku laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, it was a dumb idea. Did I really do so poorly?"
"I don't know. I didn't bother even recording your scores when you were doing it half-assed."
"O-Oh!"
The teacher smirked at his obvious alarm. "You still have to finish the test, though. Our fight proved what you can do as an assassin. Why don't you show them what you can do as a hero?"
There was a gleam in his eyes, and Izuku had no doubt the man knew about his quirk, yet he was still eager to see it? Maybe he wanted to compare it to Korosensei, see how similar they really were, like Nedzu? Yeah, that's probably it.
Nonetheless, Izuku stepped up to the starting line. Aizawa set up the device to measure and record his time. "Whenever you're ready, kid."
Whenever he was ready. Izuku took a deep breath and felt for his quirk, the gift left to him by Korosensei. Even with only 10% of Korosensei's speed, he could still feel the electric strength of the quirk. Korosensei gave it to him saying it was his most heroic quirk to give. And now was the time to prove it.
His eyes snapped open, and he ran.
If you blinked, you definitely missed it. Hell, even looking you probably still did. Running 50 meters at Mach-2, the equivalent of moving 686 meters per second, meant he finished the race in 0.07 seconds. Not that it was calculated. The resulting wind from moving that fast completely knocked over the recording equipment.
Everyone stepped back in shock. He heard Aizawa choke out, "S-So fast. When Nedzu told me, I didn't—"
The glasses guy from earlier (who he recalled also had a speed quirk) literally fell to his knees. Bakugou looked seconds away from exploding. Spiky Hair, Elbow Guy and Lightning Hair were all screaming. Uraraka covered her mouth. Ice Guy stared at him like he was trying to uncover the secrets of his soul.
Izuku gave a weak smile before bending over and throwing up blood.
-.-.-.-
"Oh, so that's why you were covered in blood this morning!"
Izuku shakily nodded as Spiky Hair and Aizawa helped him to his feet. "Y-Yeah. I was running late, so I used my quirk, but because of c-circumstances, I can't use it properly right now. Usually end up like this."
"Why didn't you just say something?" a pony-tail girl asked, and Izuku bit down a spiteful answer, knowing anger wouldn't help much.
"W-Well, I tried…"
His classmates looked away, incredibly awkward as they realized how presumptuous and bullheaded they'd been. Izuku shoved away any bitterness, just grateful they admitted their faults.
Suddenly, his honed assassin instincts tingled and he subtly glanced around, feeling on edge. He spotted a disturbingly sunken-in looking man with wild blond hair watching him with shadowed eyes and blue irises. He looked shocked, perturbed even, but Izuku didn't know why.
Whoever he was, he instantly felt suspicious, and Izuku subtlety took a picture with his Ritsu-watch. He wasn't sure who the sunken-in man was, but in case he appeared again or did something bad, Izuku wanted to have something to go by so he could track the man down.
Before he could act on his suspicion any more, however, Glasses Guy went in a full 90-degree bow, making Izuku jump back with an eep! "I apologize! It was my overdramatic reaction that caused the situation to escalate. Please forgive me!"
It was incredibly forceful for an apology, and Izuku had a feeling it was because the guy was still scared of him. They probably all are, even Spiky Hair guy. But as he stood among them — "O-Oh, it's alright, please, th-there's no need to bow!" — and noticed that the distance they kept was just a centimeter smaller, and the look in their eyes just a little less hostile, a little less terrified, he thought, maybe things would work out.
He wasn't going to earn his classmates' trust in a day. He knew that coming in. But the fact that they were already moving toward it, already on the path to becoming equals, to becoming friends, Izuku had hope. Hope that one day, people would look at him, and they wouldn't see a terrifying assassin, or an END agent, or Korosensei's quirk.
They would look at him, and they'd see a hero.
-.-.-.-
ALL MIGHT IS MY DAD @tinymighty135
All right hero nerds, taking a poll. Who's scarier, villains or END?
Villains(13%)
END(36%)
THEY BOTH SCARE ME SHITLESS(51%)
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
When Midoriya dropped him off at his classroom door at Mach-2, Hitoshi was furious.
"You stupid piece of shit!" he screamed, but his best friend was already gone.
The idiot! Did he realize he was going to start his high school career covered in blood? He was under strict orders to refrain from using his quirk to help the healing process so he could use his quirk sooner rather than later, but no. The guy had to be a hero, even saving Hitoshi from being tardy on the first day.
Stupid piece of shrubbery.
Fired up, he opened the 1-C door probably a little too aggressively, and he probably looked a little too pissed off, because the moment he stepped inside the room, every student froze in fear. The horror was near palpable, and he even saw a tiny raven-haired girl with pink eyeballs duck under her desk.
Trying to remain unfazed, Hitoshi walked inside and made his way to the back of the room. His classmates ducked out of the way, and the moment he claimed the open desk in the back corner, the kid in front of him shamelessly picked up his desk and inched it forward.
Hitoshi sighed. Honestly, he expected worse. He was easily one of END's most notorious agents after Karma, and given the fact that the 1-C roster was leaked, it only meant his classmates knew he was coming and were prepared to fear him. Midoriya was right. This wasn't like how his old classmates used to treat him when they heard about his quirk. Because those kids saw him as a villain.
These kids? They saw him as a killer.
His eyes remained on his desk when another person walked in and cheerfully called, "Oh, hello everybody!"
He heard the classmates around him gasp in shock. The boy in front of him stood up. "M-Midnight?!"
Oh. Oh hell no.
The Pro-Hero known for her sexiness stood in the front wearing her vastly inappropriate costume, waving to the students. All the other boys and even some girls were drooling, but Hitoshi didn't even react. He wasn't in the least bit fazed by it — he's seen Bitch-sensei naked (a story he'll take to his grave). Nothing could faze him now.
"Hiya class! As you know, I'm Pro-Hero Midnight, your new homeroom teacher! Welcome to General Education!"
This time, he did react: by slamming his head on his desk.
This could not be happening. He just escaped Bitch-sensei. He could not deal with another goddamn year being taught by a woman like —
"Isn't this so exciting?! Who knew even non-hero courses could be so fun?" he woman cooed, giving them a sexy-cute pose.
— that.
-.-.-.-
The rest of the day was mind-numbingly uneventful. They went to orientation, everyone avoided him like a plague, blatantly sitting multiple chairs away from him. Hitoshi was fine with it. It didn't bother him. Not a little bit.
He was so caught up in looking for Midoriya (where was the shit, he better not have gotten himself expelled already) that he didn't even notice someone had sat next to him until he was being pulled in for a boob-suffocating embrace. Instantly, his brain defaulted to Bitch-sensei and what is she doing here, oh my Korosensei I'm going to brainwash her and make her walk off a cliff and not even Karasuma can stop me, I swear!
"Oh no, what is one of my students doing, sitting all alone? That just won't do!"
With practiced ease, he slipped out of the grip and inhaled deeply. "M-Midnight-sensei?"
The Pro-Hero (looking slightly perturbed by how quickly he broke free) threw him a peace sign. "Hiya! You're one of my students, right? What was your name? I'm pretty bad at remembering them."
That was a blatant lie. There was no way she didn't already know his name. So why bother faking it?
"...Shinsou Hitoshi," he answered, and the dark-haired woman grinned.
"Nice to meet you, Shinsou! Hey, don't you think you should be sitting with your classmates, getting to know them?"
Hitoshi eyed the group of students. Most of them wouldn't even look at him, and those that did looked positively terrified, like they thought he was going to upping knife Midnight or something.
"Yeah, I don't think that'd go over so well. I know you know why," he said, and Midnight's smile dropped. "While I'm more than willing to make friends with them, it's kinda hard when they won't even let you stand near them, much less talk to them. Plus, I doubt any of them ever want to talk to me."
He sighed, trying to ignore how unbelievably bothered he felt. He shouldn't feel like this. He was used to this kind of behavior, these kinds of reactions; he's been receiving them as long as he could remember. Had things been different in middle school, he probably could stand in front of an entire class of students and declare "I'm not here to make friends" and actually, genuinely mean it.
But being around E-class — ever accepting E-class, who admired and praised his quirk even after he ordered Korosensei to shoot himself in the head — changed him. Made him soft. Made him need to be accepted by his classmates, to have a bond with his classmates. He 100% blamed Korosensei, but it only made him miss the octopus that much more.
Great, now I feel like crying.
He was snapped out of his near bout with emotions (heaven forbid) when Midnight slapped a firm, friendly hand on his back. "Well, I'll talk to you then, how about that?"
He didn't know why she was acting like this. Didn't know why she was being so friendly. He doubted Nedzu put out some order to the teachers to treat the END agents nicely, so why was she treating him like this? Like he was a normal person, a normal kid?
Maybe because you are one? His brain supplied, and he promptly told it to shut up. As if, after everything he's endured, he could ever be considered normal.
-.-.-.-
He finally saw Midoriya again at lunch. He immediately grabbed his best friend's head and slammed it into a wall.
"Ow, Hitoshi, why?!" Midoriya screeched, holding his forehead, tears forming in his eyes. Everyone in the hallway with them went stiff, looking at them like they expected them to break out into some huge assassin brawl. Hitoshi sighed and let go of his friend's hair.
"I've had enough of your reckless dumbass choices. I'm kicking you out of my apartment. You can sleep on the streets," he stated, walking off and glaring at anyone he caught staring.
"What?! Wait, stop, please, I'm sorry, I promise to never do it again—"
"I know you won't because I'm no longer talking to you."
"Hitoshi!"
They made their way outside, Hitoshi trying hard to ignore the whispers — "Wow, is that how assassins normally behave?" "I know, isn't it scary?" "To be honest, it was kinda funny." — as he scanned for a place to sit. Most of the tables were full. Everyone seemed to be grouping off as classes, but Hitoshi knew he'd be far from welcome at his.
"You got any buddies that are accepting of us in your class?"
Midoriya paused. "Well, there was this guy named Kirishima, I think, that seemed the least scared of me, but he's sitting with Kacchan right now—"
"Poofy?! He's in your class? The hero course?"
"Yeah. He's always wanted to be the Number One Hero, and he's so strong, I'm not surprised. Oh, and the Ice Guy from the entrance exam is there too! His name is Todoroki, by the way. He stared at me a lot, but I don't think he wants to talk to me? Doesn't seem like a talking person, you know, after what happened with Wind Guy. Plus I'm scared if I try, I'll accidentally let something slip about Karma..."
Hitoshi snorted. "So, in other words, no."
"Yeah, no."
Hitoshi eyed the lunch area. He thought the courtyard would be less packed than the cafeteria, but that clearly wasn't the case. He sighed, not really seeing any open spots that would elicit peace and quiet. Granted, people would probably get up and move away from them no matter where they sat, so…
"You got any ideas?" he asked, turning to his best friend. Midoriya gnawed on his lip, glancing around before freezing.
"You promise not to kill me if I use my quirk?"
"What the hell does that mean, Joll-"
Before he could finish, he was being picked up and suddenly found himself off the roof. His vision blurred from the Mach-2 speed and he had half a mind to roll out of his best friend's arms before he spit up blood.
"Oh my Korosensei, I don't need to kill you when you're going to end up killing yourself," he muttered, but pulled out a wad of tissues he determined was necessary to keep on his body at all times because his best friend was an idiot.
"Thanks," Midoriya said, wiping his mouth. "Sorry. I knew we could get up here by climbing pretty easily, but I didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention, so…"
"It's fine. But next time, let's take the stairs," he said, gesturing to the door behind them. Midoriya blushed.
"O-Oh, right, good idea."
They settled down on the roof. All things considered, it was a pretty good idea to come up here. They were alone, undisturbed; no frightful stares, no whispering rumors. It was just them and they could be themselves, prejudices gone.
"Here," he said, tossing Midoriya a sweet bun like he used to do every morning in E-class. "I quit my job after the bounty money came in, but I figured, why not stick to tradition?"
Midoriya blinked at the sweet, blinking widely, before laughing and reaching for his bag. "I thought the same thing," he said, pulling out a thermostat of — oh please be coffee. "I filled this up with the leftovers of the brew you made this morning. It should still be pretty hot."
"You're an angel, Midoriya Izuku," he whispered, greedily taking and downing drink. His best friend laughed.
"And you're an addict, Shinsou Hitoshi."
They finished the treat and drink, just like old times, but it only made an unsettling feeling fall upon them. Hitoshi's fingers twitched, searching, yearning for his capture rings…
"Um," Midoriya said, looking just as twitchy. "Well, you know, no one can see us up here, and I doubt anyone will try to join us. Do you, um. Do you want to—"
Hitoshi threw a punch to cut his friend off, and Midoriya blocked it. "Hell yes. I may not have my rings right now, but I'm still going to kick your ass."
-.-.-.-
After school, they picked up their weapons from Nedzu, and Hitoshi thoroughly inspected the case for his capture rings. These were state-of-the-art weapons, unique to him, and he had seen the threads online of people speculating how they worked or how much they wished they could take a look at them. He didn't trust anyone with his babies.
He and Midoriya were on a train to Tokyo, heading to meet up with their old 3-E classmates; they agreed to meet at the END base and talk about how (crappy) their first days went. That's when Hitoshi remembered.
"Hey, Jolly Green. Why weren't you at orientation today?"
The green-haired boy went stiff, and Hitoshi braced himself. This was going to be good.
"O-Oh, well, you see…"
-.-.-.-
The moment they stepped into the END headquarters, they were hounded by their classmates, all wanting to know how their day at U.A. went (Nakamura even resorted to pulling their hair. "Well, c'mon, spill. Everyone's dying to know the deets!") And when they heard about it all (from the morning villain attack, to their weapons being taken away, to Midoriya's classmates' reactions, to Eraserhead being his teacher and forcing him to fight to prove his strength, to Shinsou's isolation), well, needless to say, they were very pissed.
"I can't believe they treated that way! Do they freaking see us as serial killers or something?" Maehara exclaimed.
"I can't believe they'd think you'd leave the blood evidence on your shirt if you actually did kill someone," Hazama murmured, earning her an abundance of weird looks. "What?"
Hara, ever the mother figure, hovered over Midoriya threateningly. "Why are you using your quirk so recklessly! You know coughing up blood is bad, right?"
"Well, I think you all made great first impressions," Karma commented. Hitoshi couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. "I like this Aizawa guy. No point in catering to the weak when heroes have to be strong."
"Speaking of, how was going back to Kunugigaoka?" Mimura asked, and Karma grinned.
"Oh, it was great. Everyone knew who I was and practically bowed at my feet to try and get on my good side."
Nagisa sweatdropped. "Of course they did." He then turned to U.A. duo. "You know, your school sounds kinda similar to Kunugigaoka. Testing people on strength, threatening punishment on those who don't measure up."
"Well, I think that just might be how Aizawa functions, but you're probably not all that wrong," Midoriya chuckled. "Anyway, how was the first day for everyone else? I hope it wasn't as bad?"
Nakamura sighed. "No, but pretty damn close. People straight up trash-talked me to my face, saying the only place I belonged was behind bars, like I'm some kind of criminal."
Muramatsu whimpered in agreement. "My teacher freaked out when she saw me and made me sit in a seat far away from everyone else."
"Heh, my class is full of babies who'd probably be scared of a guy who looks like me no matter what. Being seen as a scary END agent means no one has the balls to challenge me," Terasaka said, crossing his arms, and Hazama nodded wickedly in agreement.
"Since Isogai and I are END's PR heads, everyone recognized us right away," Kataoka explained. "We're the most public and always try to seem civil on TV, so they weren't as scared of us as they could've been, but the school is making sit away from everyone at lunch for now."
"You know, I'm pretty sure the way they're treating us is discrimination," Yada argued, and Kurahashi nodded.
"We shouldn't have to feel like this. Midoriya shouldn't have to feel like he should act weak just to be accepted! That's not what Korosensei taught us!"
Sugaya rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but when the entire world is against you, they don't really care about your feelings."
There was no truer statement. And boy, did it sting.
Before anyone else could share their experiences, their Ritsu-watches went off, signaling a mission. Everyone groaned. Karma, who was voted END commander (with Nagisa as second-in-command), lazily jumped to his feet and went to the control room screens.
"Alright, who do you need this time?"
Ritsu appeared. "Hostage situation in South Korea. Agent Dark and Agent Gears will need to man the bird and take Alpha and Delta units. Beta and Gamma on standby. Sigma is not needed."
Figures. Hazama and Yoshida made their way to the special END jet pilot seats (Ritsu technically flew the plane and those two were just there for emergencies, but seeing Hazama sitting in the pilot seat of a massive military jet was still terrifying) as the units in question got geared up.
"Hey, Agent Bend, you stole my gun!" Kimura snapped at Okano. They were only supposed to use codenames on missions or when acting as END agents in public, but mocking each other using them had practically become a game.
"Oops, my bad, Agent Justice."
"Oh, shut up!"
-.-.-.-
Hitoshi was lightly snoozing through homeroom (after his education at Kunugigaoka and with Korosensei, he could probably miss every day of school and still rank in the top of his class) when he heard someone say,
"Midnight-sensei, I understand you're trying to bring up our spirits about being in General Education and all, but can you stop beating around the bush? It's obvious we're just a bunch of hero rejects."
He blinked awake, suddenly intrigued by the conversation.
"It's true," the nervous pink-eyeball girl from earlier piped up. "It's no secret not many kids apply to U.A. just for General Education."
"We ap-appreciate you trying t-to inspire us to follow our d-d-dreams and all," a guy with poorly dyed green hair said. "But our dreams wuh-were already c-c-crushed when we got into this class."
Midnight looked stunned and sad. "Well, if that's the case, then you can't just give up! You just need to push yourselves harder. If you do well in the Sports Festival, you might be able to move up!"
A guy with leaves randomly growing out of his skin snorted. "There's no way we can prove ourselves at the Sports Festival when we already couldn't do it during the entrance exam. Everyone knows only hero students do well. We're just there to make them look good."
"Well, if you have that kind of attitude—"
"But it's true, Midnight-sensei. In the history of the Sports Festival, the most Gen Ed kids to make it to the second round was three, and there's never been more than one to make it to the third. I mean, it's no shocker. We're not allowed to train like the hero kids," interrupted a guy with a bird beak.
"We're sorry we're being such downers, ma'am, but it's the truth. Class 1-C isn't meant for anything but to make the strong look even stronger," claimed a girl with a neck ten centimeters too long.
And suddenly, Hitoshi couldn't hear any more as his mind tumbled painfully through a world of deja vu. These attitudes, the logic behind it. It was exactly how E-class was before Korosensei came.
It was easy to forget that E-class was supposed to consist of the weakest in society. The ones with quirks that didn't measure up, or made bad grades, or had behavior issues. Principal Asano created 3-E as a way of paving the road with the weak so the strong could readily step on them. But it was so easy to forget because it didn't stay that way. Because Korosensei came and he taught them to be strong, to be smart, to be good. He taught them to turn their weaknesses into weapons. To compensate for a weaker quirk with a stronger skill set.
He didn't know what kind of situation presented itself as he stared at these new classmates and saw the faces of his old. He didn't know what it meant, didn't know what to do. But he felt like it was something important. Something Korosensei would want him to do.
Which meant he needed to figure it out.
-.-.-.-
His solution: call Asano. He seemed to think he knew all the answers.
"Isn't it obvious? You're seeing the similarities because 1-C is simply a less extreme form of 3-E."
"Oh, wow. Thank you for such amazing insight. I never noticed that at all."
The principal's son growled. "I'll ignore your sarcasm because I'm feeling generous, but if you're really not going to hear me out then—"
"No, no, I'll stop being an ass. Go ahead."
"Good. Now, as I was saying. 1-C is basically E-class. There's a reason Kunugigaoka and U.A. have such close relations, and it's because they are mirror images of each other in a way, except one is an academic school and the other is a hero school. 3-E was the academic rejects, 1-C is the hero rejects."
"Okay, that still doesn't explain why I can't shake this weird feeling."
"Must I spoon-feed you all the answers?" Asano mocked and Hitoshi bit his tongue to keep from retorting. "When the octopus came to E-class was when you all became a thorn in my side. You said so yourself — he taught you to be strong through your weaknesses. The reason you're feeling this way is because you want to help them do the same."
Hitoshi jolted. "What? No, I don't."
"Yes, you do. Despite your frustrating attitude, you're a hero at heart, Shinsou. You have a drive to not only prove yourself to others, but to help them too. While you may not be a super creature, you have the knowledge your new classmates need to become irritatingly better too."
"Yeah, just one tiny problem: they won't even look at me properly. How the hell am I supposed to teach them anything?"
"Goddammit — you gain their trust, Shinsou!"
"Oh yeah? How?"
That finally made Asano pause. "By proving yourself to them. By showing them that you know what it's like to feel weak, and you know how to change that. You said the Sports Festival is coming up. Tell your classmates that you can train them and break the record for the most General Education kids advancing. If you can gain your classmates' trust, and train them well enough, maybe you can prove to not only them, but the world that flashy hero quirks aren't everything."
Hitoshi went silent, thinking about it. It...was actually a really good idea. Here he was, presented with the opportunity to not only prove himself to his classmates, but to prove their greatness to themselves. He may not be Korosensei, but he has a year's worth of invaluable lessons and specially trained assassins as his friends. He doesn't know what miracle he's gonna have to pull off to earn their trust, but if he does — and that's a big if — Asano's plan might just work.
Per his deal with Nedzu and the school board, his acceptance to the hero course depended on his performance at the Sports Festival. And what better way to prove your strength while flipping someone off than to defy the system so preciously built? It'd probably drive the school crazy.
And with that, Hitoshi made up his mind. He may have already graduated from the assassination classroom, but soon 1-C will too.