The move-in process was a fairly casual affair. Similar to the entrance exams, tables had been set up at each department's main building, since the respective students' dorms were located nearby. Most departments at UA had their own way of scheduling and organizing their courses, so the administration had decided to have the students of each department grouped together, clustered together in a similar system to high school classrooms. That way, they could ensure courses wouldn't get overbooked, and the students from each department would be able to keep up with their peers.
Mezo waited near the Heroics tables as his bird-headed friend got his own packet before the two of them set off towards their dorms. "I'm glad we got here early," he said simply, shifting the large duffel bag on his back to a more comfortable position. "Seems like we were able to beat the crowd."
"You expected a crowd?" Fumikage laughed. "There can't have been more than forty or fifty packets on that table. I doubt our whole department could fill a lecture hall."
Mezo's only response was a shrug as they approached their assigned building. It was far bigger than they had expected, with the ground floor reaching nearly six meters high, almost double a regular home. The two students looked at each other for a moment, then back to the building. With another shrug, Mezo led the way forward, pulling the door open with one of his dupli-arms to let his friend enter first.
The interior of the building was just as spacious as the outside appearance had suggested. In the center was a walled off courtyard with glass doors leading out to it, and windows on all sides of the enclosure, letting in extra light. Two elevators beside the front doors lead up to the individual rooms, with two more elevators built in the far back of the building as well. Near the front set of elevators were two mirrored sets of couches, sofas and coffee tables, each set up by their own wall-mounted TV. More central in the common area were sets of tables, six on either side of the courtyard with a handful of chairs around each.
"This is going to take some getting used to." Fumikage's voice was quiet as he took in the sight. Mezo nodded in agreement, letting the door swing shut behind him as they made their way further into the building. Tucked into an alcove in the back left was a relatively simple kitchen setup, something that hadn't been visible from the entryway. Directly opposite the kitchen was a simple door with a nameplate bearing the name "Midoriya" attached to it.
According to the signs by each elevator, male student dorms started on the second level of the building; female dorms didn't start until the third floor, since there weren't as many in their section. Mezo hadn't seen the name Midoriya on any of the faculty lists, so he could only assume this was another student. "Guess we'll meet them later?" Mezo suggested, noticing the puzzled expression on his friend's face. The bird-headed boy hummed in agreement before the two of them called for the elevator to take them up to their respective rooms.
Only a few seconds later, Midoriya's door opened, drawing both of the new students' attention. True to his prediction, the room's owner was another student, a boy with a fairly lean build and shining green hair. The boy yawned and rubbed at his eyes as he made his way towards them, taking a moment to realize there were other people there. "Oh, hey. Didn't know people were moving in already."
A feeling of unease had settled over Mezo as the boy had gotten closer, causing him to tense up. Despite his otherwise plain appearance, something about this boy felt undeniably wrong. Still, he didn't want to be rude and make a poor first impression on who he could only assume was one of his new classmates. "Yeah, we just arrived," he replied, trying to keep his voice calm even as his senses were on alert. "I'm Mezo Shouji."
"Fumikage Tokoyami," his friend replied, voice tense. Mezo glanced down, realizing the bird-headed boy was feeling the same uneasiness as he was.
The boy smiled politely, but made no move to get closer, deciding to wave instead. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you two. I was just about to make some breakfast; want me to make you something?"
As Mezo opened his mouth to reply, the elevator dinged before the doors slowly hissed open. "Ah, we stopped by a cafe on the way here," Fumikage answered in his stead. "But it is kind of you to offer."
"Any time! Let me know if you need anything." Midoriya stayed put as the two entered the elevator, almost as though he were purposefully keeping his distance. Regardless of the reason, Mezo was grateful to be out of the boy's presence.
The elevator moved slowly upwards, and the uneasy feeling slowly faded in the process, causing both Mezo and Fumikage to breathe a sigh of relief. "Midoriya," the bird-headed boy said after a moment, his voice still sounding uneasy. "That boy has some darkness in him…"
"I've never felt anything like that," Mezo said softly, rolling his shoulders to relieve some of the tension that remained. As the two exited into the hallway where Fumikage's room was listed to be, he glanced back towards the elevator, idly wondering why he now felt so calm. "I guess only time will tell."
Izuku sighed softly as he listened to the elevator moving upwards. He wanted to be sure the two students were fully out of range before he moved to the kitchen to get some breakfast. Nezu and Professor Aizawa had both agreed it would be a good idea for him to meet his new classmates with his ability unsuppressed. The latter wanted to see how the rest of the class would react initially to the sensation while also helping them get used to being around Izuku as early and quickly as possible. While he wasn't overly thrilled with the idea, Izuku hadn't been able to find much wrong with the professor's logic and reluctantly agreed.
A sizzling sound filled the kitchen as Izuku stirred his scrambled eggs in the small pan, making sure they didn't burn. As they neared completion, he turned down the heat and got to work on the rest of his breakfast, putting two slices of bread into the toaster and reaching into the cabinet for the bottle of maple syrup. Once the toast was done, he shredded both slices into a large cereal bowl before adding the eggs on top. Finally, he added a small amount of syrup and stirred the concoction together with a fork, deciding to take care of the pan later. The meal was a favorite of his, something Caitlyn had shown him a couple of years ago, making it one of the few pieces of home he still had left.
Carrying his bowl over to the nearest collection of couches, Izuku saw another student drawing closer to the building, a gorgeous looking girl with jet black hair. Judging by the distinct lack of luggage, he figured this was Momo Yaoyorozu. Izuku had spent almost two hours helping carry box after box up to her room the previous day; thankfully he hadn't been asked to help with the setup that followed.
As the girl entered the building and looked around the common area briefly, she offered a polite wave towards Izuku, one which he returned as he continued eating. He turned his attention back out the window, though it was a little difficult to not do a double take at the girl who could easily be mistaken for a model. A part of him wondered if all of his female classmates would be as attractive, but as soon as he felt his ears redden at the thought, he fought it away from his mind. Better to leave those thoughts well alone for now.
With his breakfast finished, Izuku stood from the couch and started to make his way back towards the kitchen to finish cleaning up. The girl, who was currently gazing out into the small central courtyard, turned as he walked by. From the corner of his eye, he could see her visibly stiffen as he drew just close enough for his influence to affect her, though she quickly tried to hide the reaction. Almost without thinking, Izuku quickly suppressed his ability, still not wanting to cause any more discomfort than was necessary.
The sound of footsteps caught his attention as he reached the kitchen and he turned to find the girl making her way towards him. The mix of confusion and curiosity on her face reminded him of his first encounter with Hatsume almost a year ago.
"Um, pardon me. You're another student here, correct?" The girl seemed a little hesitant to ask, sounding as though she wasn't sure how else to say what she was thinking.
Izuku chuckled softly as he finished pouring his juice, returning the bottle to the fridge. Texting with Hatsume was one thing, but face-to-face with a pretty girl was a whole new level of stress he was far from ready for. "That's right. I'm Izuku Midoriya." He gave a simple smile, amazed he had been able to keep his voice so level.
"Momo Yaoyorozu. It's a pleasure to meet you." Her reply seemed almost practiced, though her expression shifted as she spoke, more confused than before. She gestured back towards the front entrance, giving Izuku some idea of what she was about to say. "You— I don't think I saw your name on the board…"
"I'm not surprised. The board only shows floors two through five," he responded, taking a sip of juice before pointing towards his own room. "I'm down on the ground floor because… well…"
Taking a tentative step, Izuku let himself relax slightly. If this girl had an emitter or transformation Quirk, the last thing he wanted was to have her feel his full influence right off the bat. Predictably, Yaoyorozu's eyes widened in response, though to his surprise, the reaction seemed to be more out of curiosity than discomfort or uneasiness. His smile faltered slightly as he stepped back again, leaning against the far counter. "Is that… part of your Quirk?" Yaoyorozu asked after a moment, her eyes seeming to be studying him.
"I guess you could say that." Izuku shrugged, finishing off his juice as he felt his phone start vibrating out of control in his pocket. He fished out his phone to confirm his suspicions before glancing back up at his classmate. "We'll probably be talking about our Quirks at orientation tomorrow, so I'll just explain then. I've gotta run and help a friend real quick, though."
The girl nodded in understanding, the look of curiosity still present on her features. "Well, I look forward to it," she said simply, giving the boy a polite wave as she turned towards the elevator. "Good to meet you, Midoriya."
To say that Hatsume was already "unpacked" when Izuku arrived at her dorm was a bit of a subjective statement. All of her moving boxes had been emptied and broken down, but their contents seemed to have been simply placed wherever there was room, if they hadn't just been left on the floor. Izuku stepped carefully into the clutter, only briefly acknowledging the fact that he was now in a girl's room with said girl present.
Before his mind could dwell on that fact long enough to send him into a panic, Hatsume swiveled in her chair to face him with her usual broad grin. "You can just kick those out of the way." She gestured to the assorted items at his feet. "I'm still not sure if I'm going to keep any of them."
Looking down, he finally realized that most of the clutter consisted of mechanical and electronic components in varying states of disassembly. Or assembly, as the case likely would be, knowing Hatsume. "Where did you find all of this?" he asked after nudging a few of the devices aside, clearing a bit more of the floor.
"Junkyards, mostly," Hatsume responded, leaning over to grab a slightly larger structure from her bed and holding it out towards the boy. "I built this baby from an old entertainment system someone dumped on the beach. It doesn't do much; I mostly just built it to prove that I could. It's amazing what kinds of things you can find just lying around."
Izuku took the offered device and studied it for a moment, unable to make out what most of the individual components were beyond a speaker cone, a small display screen, and what he assumed was a power button. He tried the button a few times, but neither the speaker nor the display did anything as a result.
Hatsume let out a brief laugh, presumably at the look of confusion on his face. "There's no battery. Besides, it's basically just a fancy noise machine. Nothing actually impressive." She took the device back and set it on her desk, balanced on the speaker.
"So, does that mean you built all of these?" Izuku asked in an attempt to hide his brief fluster, gesturing towards a shelving unit that held another dozen or so creations. "I know you told me you built things, but I didn't know you meant… this."
"Why do you think I'm in the support program? Probably helps that Dad works for Misriah, but inventing feels like my life's calling. I'd love to show you some of my more impressive babies, but I'm not allowed to keep those in my dorm. They're definitely not designed for indoor use."
There was a brief pause as Hatsume seemed to remember something important, interrupting her train of thought. "Right, outside. Food. We're getting breakfast."
It was at that moment that Izuku realized he hadn't actually read any of Hatsume's earlier texts, only that she wanted him to come by her dorm. Before he realized what was happening, the girl had stood and grabbed him by the upper arm, all but hauling him out of the dorm and towards the stairwell. "I-I already ate before you texted," he managed to stammer out, managing to break free of her grip before actually reaching the stairs.
"You did?" The girl hesitated for a moment, the barest hint of a blush touching her cheeks. "Well, I still need to eat and want to try out the cafe here on campus. So we might as well go together since I know you're already moved in."
He had no reason to argue, so he followed the girl down the stairs and out the front door. The cafe was near the center of campus, one of a handful of simple shops meant to help students stay stocked on basic necessities. In the few months that Izuku had lived at UA, he'd gotten to know the people who ran the shops fairly well, they being some of the faculty he was tasked with assisting most frequently. By the time the break had ended, most of them seemed to have grown more or less used to his presence, though he still tended to keep his distance when he was there in an attempt to be polite.
As he and Hatsume arrived at the shops, Izuku was grateful to see only a handful of new students making purchases rather than the larger crowd he'd been silently dreading. The realization almost caused him to run straight into Hatsume, who would come to an abrupt stop right in front of the cafe. She barely seemed to notice, however, and quickly stepped up to the counter to place her order. In spite of his insistence, she managed to coerce Izuku into letting her buy him a coffee as well, and within a few minutes they were headed back across the open lawn.
"So when are you going to tell me about your Quirk?" Hatsume asked suddenly as they made their way towards a bench outside the support department building. "For somebody in the heroics course, there's got to be more to it than just making you seem a little weird."
The bluntness of her statement wasn't entirely unexpected, but he couldn't help but feel a little twinge of discomfort at her choice of words. He couldn't blame her for asking, though, and he shoved his feelings aside as he thought of how to answer the question. "I call it 'Null Zone,'" he answered, settling on using the explanation he and Nezu had decided on to keep his true nature a secret a little while longer. "I'm able to basically deactivate Quirks if I get close enough to the user. The discomfort I cause happens because my Quirk messes with people's connection to the Roil. That said—" he gestured towards Hatsume's eyes, "—it doesn't have actual effect on mutation Quirks."
He watched in fascination as the girl's reticle-shaped pupils seemed to flex, almost as though testing his claim. After a moment, she let out a hum of satisfaction and her grin returned. "Not the most flashy of Quirks," she said in a thoughtful tone, "but no doubt one that would piss off any emitter types you'd have to fight. I wonder if it can be amplified, or if something could suppress that weird aura. Oh man, I totally have to call dibs when we actually get to design support equipment for you guys."
For the first second in his life, Izuku thought he felt a glimmer of pride in his odd nature. Though Hatsume wasn't the first person to express interest in his ability, hearing the genuine enthusiasm in her voice lifted his spirits more than he thought possible. "I look forward to it, Hatsume," he responded, his own smile just as broad as hers.
The sun was just starting to dip below the horizon when Izuku finally made it back to his dorm building. Spending time with Hatsume had done wonders for his mood and self esteem, but he still felt a bit of comfort in finding the ground floor empty upon his arrival. Still, it wasn't like he could avoid his classmates entirely, especially not with Nezu and professor Aizawa wanting to monitor their reactions to meeting him.
As he crossed the common area towards his room, an idea began to form in his mind. While there was little he could do to keep his classmates from feeling uncomfortable around him, there were a few options at his disposal to make an otherwise positive first impression. He turned to make his way to the small kitchen in the back corner of the building, sliding his phone from his pocket to pull up some of the recipe's Caitlyn had sent him a while back. Thankfully, most of them seemed fairly simple, and the generous stock of ingredients the school had provided for the start of the term meant just about any of them could be made. Izuku eventually settled on a recipe for a Thai yellow curry, the attached image making his mouth water and reminding him just how long it had been since his simple breakfast earlier that day.
In just a few short minutes, the smell of garlic and spices began to flow into the common room as Izuku started to prepare the rest of the curry base. As he worked, he caught the sound of the elevator opening and turned just as two of his classmates came into view. The girl had bright bubblegum-pink hair and skin and was wearing a broad smile that seemed to make her black eyes shine a little. The boy sported an equally broad grin, his teeth jagged and sharp looking, matching his spiked red hair in an oddly fitting way.
"Damn, didn't know we had a chef in the class," the girl laughed, all but skipping her way over to the island counter, causing Izuku to tighten his sphere of influence as much as possible at her rapid approach. "What's your name, stranger?"
"I-I'm Izuku Midoriya." He briefly turned back to the stove to drop the heat on the burners a little, not wanting the food to burn while he was distracted with conversation.
The red-haired boy cut in before the girl could respond. "So you're the one in the mystery room over there, huh? Nice to meet you. I'm Eijiro Kirishima. Normally, I'd try to shake your hand, but…" he gestured towards the stove in explanation.
Izuku barely kept himself from breathing a sigh of relief at that. He and Nezu had never actually tested what would happen if someone with an emitter or transformation type Quirk were to come in direct contact with him. He expected the result would probably be quite unpleasant, so it was something he hoped to avoid for as long as possible.
"And I'm Mina. Mina Ashido." The girl's voice pulled him back out of his thoughts. "That curry smells amazing! Makes me wish I had more confidence in cooking something like that myself."
"It just takes practice, honestly," Izuku responded, turning back to the stove in a subconscious attempt to keep as much distance between him and the other two students as possible. Briefly, he wondered why neither of them seemed to be even the least bit perturbed by his presence, though he quickly decided to attribute that to their obviously gregarious nature. He took a moment to add the last couple of ingredients and set the lid over the pot, dropping the heat further so the food could simmer until the rice cooker was done. "It's my first time trying this recipe, so I hope you guys end up enjoying it."
Kirishima's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, you're sharing? Damn, that's manly as hell! No wonder you were making so much."
The green-haired boy couldn't help but chuckle a little at the response, as well as the outright excitement in Ashido's expression. "I tried to make enough for most of the class, but I can make some more if we need. If you know any of the other students, you can tell them dinner will be ready in about ten minutes."
He watched in amusement as the two all but bounded off back towards the elevator, Kirishima pulling out his phone as they went. As he turned back to start cleaning up after himself, he thought he heard a little voice somewhere in the back of his mind telling him that everything would be all right.