With a howl, Shigaraki threw his glass across the bar. Twice neatly dodged it, though he still ended up covered in shards of glass.
"Where are they?!" he shouted, a hand coming up to scratch at his red, raw neck. "Those Yakuza scum bags got arrested and the brats didn't even call to tell us! We were supposed to get back at Overhaul and now we can't!"
"Maybe they got arrested," Spinner suggested. He didn't lift his eyes from his sword as he continued to sharpen it.
"The heroes would have been gloating about it by now."
"Not if they got killed," Dabi suggested. "Heroes killing two kids? They wouldn't want the press catching wind of that."
The computer screen in the corner flickered to life, the message Video Unavailable showing brightly.
"You are concerned for your comrades, correct?" Shigaraki's Sensei said, his voice scratchy and deep. "I have news of them, if you wish to hear it."
Shigaraki spun to face the computer, a crazed glint in his eye. "Where are they?"
"As of late this morning, not long after the raid on the Yakuza base, two new students were enrolled at UA. Himiko Toga was enrolled in 1-B and Izuku Midoriya in 1-A. The two will be training to become heroes. Statements from them were given to the police. In these statements, they said that they stole what is referred to as "The Source" from the Yakuza and escaped to UA for asylum. It appears they have struck a plea bargain and will be a part of a newly formed villain rehabilitation program. You will need to move your headquarters immediately. I have already arranged for a new bar to be purchased and will alert you when it is ready to be moved into."
The room was silent, no one daring to speak. Shigaraki's chest was heaving with his heavy breaths as he stared at the dark computer screen. Kurogiri had even froze, his eyes locked on his young charge, waiting to see what would happen.
"They… betrayed us?" Shigaraki asked in a thin voice.
"Yes, it appears so."
"Maybe they are spying for us and will call soon! They're traitors! Let's kill them! " Twice yelled, switching between his personalities.
Shigaraki's Sensei continued to speak, ignoring Twice's outburst. "My contacts in the police force will continue to keep me updated on the matter. In the meantime, I can have one of my contacts within Tartarus handle Overhaul, should you wish."
"Yes… Yes… I want to make him pay. It's his fault we lost three party members. He killed Magne and he did something to Toga and Deku to make them go to UA! There is no other reason they'd switch sides like this." Shigaraki's hand had climbed back up to his neck, scratching again. His voice was even and cold, pure hatred shining from his red eyes. "And when we get the chance, we'll get the brats back. Yeah… I bet Overhaul got the kids arrested and it was the heroes' idea for the plea deal. They're trying to take them from us! We'll have to rescue them somehow. We won't let the heroes corrupt them."
"Whatever you want and need, Young Tomura, you shall get. You must only ask."
As the computer screen turned off, Dabi shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Something about the way Shigaraki's Sensei said that made his skin crawl and wondered, not for the first time, if being a part of the League was worth it.
His fingers skimmed across his pocket, feeling the bullet hidden away there.
--
"Deku! Toga!" Eri shouted, trying to crawl out of the hospital bed. Recovery Girl quickly put a hand on Eri's shoulder, trying to get the girl to settle. Flinching, Eri pulled away. Recovery Girl backed off immediately, giving Eri an apologetic look. Toga and Deku hurried into the room, helping Eri settle back into the bed and to get her to stop pulling on her IVs.
"Hey there, peanut, how're you doing?" Deku asked, a smile on his face.
"I've been really tired. And they wouldn't let me come see you guys."
Toga smoothed a hand over Eri's head, running it down the braid that was still in her hair. "We're sorry. We had to do a lot of stuff so we could all stay here, so we weren't able to come visit."
Eri cocked her head curiously as her eyes scanned over the two teens. "What are you wearing?"
"Oh!" Deku said, blushing. "Uh, these are our new school uniforms. Remember how we told you that UA was a hero school? Toga and I are going to take classes here now. That way, we can be near you and help keep you safe."
Vlad King, who was still standing in the doorway, gave a little huff. "That's a bit of a stretch," he grumbled.
Recovery Girl smacked his shin with her cane. He yipped in surprise, jumping away from her.
"Go get these kids some food and get yourself a coffee. You're too grumpy without it," Recovery Girl said, glaring up at him.
Vlad, looking sheepish at being reprimanded like that, nodded and hurried away.
Toga sat on the edge of Eri's bed, listening as the little girl gave a detailed outline of what had happened since they last saw each other. Deku settled himself in the chair beside the two, smiling as he watched the two girls talk. Eventually, Eri got to the part where Aizawa had told her she was coming to live with him.
"And Mr. Eraserhead, the man with the dark hair, said I'd have my own room and that Deku would have his own room too," Eri said. Her little hands were balled into fists, clutching the sheet across her lap tightly. "But… I'm scared about it."
"It's understandable that you'd be scared, Eri." Deku reached out and took one of her hands into his, squeezing it lightly to try to get her fist to relax. "It'll be a new place with people you don't know. But my room will be right next to yours, so if you ever wake up during the night and don't want to be alone, you can come into my room."
"I'll be allowed to leave the room? The door won't be locked?"
A choking noise caught their attention. The three turned to see Vlad King in the doorway, holding their breakfasts. He had an unreadable expression on his face as he looked at the three children.
Deku and Toga turned back to Eri, ignoring the hero.
"Yes, you'll be allowed to leave your room," Deku said, smiling at her. "You can come and go from your room whenever you want! If you want, you can even leave your door open at night, if you're worried about it being shut. I bet if you asked, Eraserhead would probably let us have a slumber party in the living room so we are all together."
"A slumber party?"
Toga perked up. "They are so much fun, Eri! We all stay up late, watching movies, doing our hair, and we can build a blanket fort to sleep in! You'll love it!"
"She needs to get her strength up if she wants to do that," Recovery Girl said, nudging Vlad King to get him in motion again. "All three of you do. So eat up!"
The kids ate quietly, talking to Eri about the cats in Aizawa's apartment and the dog in Vlad King's. She was pretty excited to see the animals, since she couldn't remember ever getting to see one before. Once they all finished, Recovery Girl handed out vitamins to each of them and then the teens said goodbye to Eri. She pouted, but didn't complain.
Vlad King led them to Nezu's office. The principal had brought in two small desks for Toga and Deku to sit at and there were already packets of tests and multiple pencils waiting for them. Toga threw her new backpack on the floor beside one of the desks and sat down, looking at the papers distrustfully.
"How hard is this going to be?" she asked.
"It will start fairly simple and will get progressively harder. Give all of it your best shot. If you get to a point that you simply do not know how to continue, then you can hand that packet to me and begin on the next. I would like you to at least try, even if you get the answers wrong. The packets are broken up by subject and you can do them in any order that you would like," Nezu explained. "I expect this to take the entire morning. Once you are both finished, I will take you to the teacher's lounge. You will eat lunch there today and Eraserhead and Vlad King will collect you from there for your afternoon classes. Midoriya, at the end of the day, Vlad King will collect you from the 1-A classroom and walk both you and Toga to the 1-B dorm. Any questions?"
"What if Deku finishes early?" Toga asked. "Cuz he's really smart and he'll probably finish before me."
"Then he can work on some analysis. Anything else?" When neither teen spoke, he smiled and gestured towards the packets. "Then why don't you begin?"
--
After he finished his lecture on Algebra, Ectoplasm handed out worksheets to all of 1-A to complete. He let them work in groups, knowing that the kids were antsy and nervous about when the new villian students would be joining them. He'd hoped that by working on the problems together, they would be able to help fill in any gaps for each other on anything they missed in the lecture. What ended up happening instead was that half the class was talking about the new students, and the other half was staring at the worksheet blankly. Iida and Momo tried to get everyone back on track, but it took a small explosion from Bakugou to get everyone to shut up and get to work.
Todoroki and Shinsou worked together, as they always did for partner work. From day one, the two had gravitated towards each other, appreciating the quiet the other brought. Some in the class had initially been nervous about Shinsou's quirk, but Todoroki had never even batted an eye at it. He simply asked in a deadpan voice if Shinsou would brainwash his father for him. Shinsou had cracked up and nodded, saying that as long as Todoroki covered for him so he wouldn't get in trouble, he'd do it. Todoroki's lips had turned up into a small smile at that.
The pair had moved two desks together and worked quietly, only asking the occasional question about the problems. As they were about to finish, Todoroki finally said something that wasn't related to math.
"You stood up to Bakugou for the villains," he stated, his voice even and emotionless, as always.
"I stopped Bakugou from get expelled for murder."
"You know more about the situation than you're letting on," Todoroki said, still not looking up from his worksheet. "I'm not going to ask you to tell me. I know you probably can't. I just want to know if our classmates will be safe with the villains here."
Shinsou sighed, setting his pencil down. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I want to say yes though. Toga and Deku both… they both want better for the girl they rescued. And while I don't know a lot about their past, I get the feeling that they went through some of the same stuff I did. I mean, I had no friends as a kid and was always told that I'd end up as a villain because of my quirk. I was lucky enough to have my mom supporting me, but what would have happened if I hadn't? What if she also hated my quirk? Or if she had died? I could have ended up just like Toga and Deku. Under the right circumstances, any of us could go villain. Maybe a second chance is just what they need to turn their lives around."
Todoroki was silent and unmoving, taking in Shinsou's words. After a moment, his pencil started to move again as he nodded.
"I see what you are saying. You're right. With the right push, anybody in this class could go down a different path."
"Exactly. That's why when Deku joins the class, I think I'll try to talk to him or something. Don't know if I'll be his friend, since I really don't know what kinds of crimes he's committed, but he should have at least one person in the class that's nice to him."
Freezing, Todoroki's eyes went wide. A smile slowly started to form on his face and he raised his gaze to make eye contact with Shinsou.
Shinsou frowned, his brow furrowing. "I don't like that look. What are you thinking?"
"I'm going to make Deku my friend."
"Two seconds ago you sounded like you were ready to throw down with him if he was a threat to the class. And now you want to be friends? What the hell?"
"Just think for a second. The school will likely have to alert our parents that the villain reformation program is being initiated, even if they don't announce it to the public. That means my father will find out I am in class with a villain. How furious do you think he would be if I became friends with the villain?"
Snorting, Shinsou shook his head. "Dude, you can't just use Deku like that. If he finds out, who knows what he'll do."
"I'll tell him I'm doing it to piss off my father. He'll love that idea." Todoroki paused, his smile falling. "That is, if Deku will even let me get near him. He looked terrified of me yesterday. Perhaps he recognizes me as Endeavor's son."
"Take it one step at a time. The first step is helping me with this math problem because I have no idea how to solve for x ."
--
As Toga had predicted, Deku got done with the tests before her. He handed the packets off to Nezu, who promptly handed Deku his analysis notebook. Deku flipped through the pages, rereading past entries and adding notes in places. Once he finished that, he started cleaning up and adding detail to the sketches he had made in the entries. By the time he had finished, Toga was turning in her last packet to Nezu.
"Good job! I will grade theses and let you know the results later today. Now, Deku, let me put your notebook away and then I can walk you both to the teachers lounge."
As he led them through the halls, the bell rang, signaling the start of lunch. Doors started to open and students flooded the halls, all talking excitedly. The crushing noise and suffocating crowd made Deku's heart race. A buzzing started in his body and he felt himself start to shake. Looking around, all he saw were unfamiliar faces. As he stared, they slowly morphed into the faces of his old classmates from middle school. Their expressions were cold, sneering at him. The sounds of the students turned into jeering and taunts, whispers about how worthless he was.
Without thinking, Deku grabbed Toga's arm and Nezu's shoulder. Pressing backwards, he pulled them to the side of the hall, out of the press of the bodies. He managed to find a small gap of space beside a pillar that the students weren't crowding around. Once they were safely tucked away, Deku let go of the other two and leaned back against the wall, his breath coming in short bursts. His wide green eyes roved, fear shining brightly.
Toga stepped into his field of vision and clamped her hands over his ears, blocking out the majority of the noise. Tucking his head into her shoulder, Deku closed his eyes and tried to quell the rising panic.
"It's not true. It's not true. It's not true," he whispered to himself. He could feel Toga humming, her shoulder vibrating with the noise. He focused on that, focused on her breathing and the feeling of her hands on his face. The sound of the bell ringing again made him flinch, curling in on himself even further.
Slowly, Toga's hands came away from his ears.
"They're all gone, Deku. It's okay."
Lifting his head, he looked around the empty hall. He took a shaky breath and straightened, rubbing at his eyes and trying to slow his heart rate.
Nezu looked up at him curiously. "Are you alright, Midoriya?"
"I'll be fine."
"He has panic attacks sometimes," Toga explained. "Big crowds with not much space freak him out. Reminds him of middle school."
"It may also be sensory overload. That is common for those with anxiety. I have already arranged sessions for you both with Hound Dog, who is the school's therapist. I'll mention this to him as something to revisit," Nezu said, reaching up and gently patting Deku's arm. "Thank you for thinking of me when you got startled by the crowd. That was very kind of you."
Deku huffed and averted his eyes, a slight pout on his face. "I didn't know what I was doing."
"Ah, I see. A happy accident then." Nezu winked at Toga, who giggled lightly before realizing what she was doing. She quickly schooled her expression into something more neutral. "Let us continue on. I am sure you are both hungry by now."
In the lounge, various teachers were scattered about at different tables. Some were grading papers while others were eating and talking amongst themselves. When they heard the door open, all eyes looked up, locking onto the two newest students of UA.
Nezu didn't hesitate. He just urged the two further into the room and sat them at a table that was mostly empty. A tall, thin man in an ill fitting suit sat alone, quietly drinking a nutrition shake. When he saw Nezu guide the teens to his table, he straightened up, looking panicked.
"Uh, Nezu, are you sure -"
"I already know it's you, All Might. So does Toga," Deku said, his voice even and cold. He pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, Toga taking the spot directly next to him, pulling the chair even closer. "You don't need to worry."
That caught Nezu and the other teacher's attention.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" one hero, the one Deku recognized as Cementos, said.
"Yeah, Deku and I know. Don't worry, the only other one who knew in the League was Big Sis Mag and she's dead now," Toga said, her eyes narrowed into a glare. "I told Deku to tell Shiggy though. You should be thankful he didn't listen to me."
"Toga!" Deku hissed, elbowing her.
"Well, it's true!"
All Might cleared his throat nervously. "How… How do you two know?"
Deku turned to look back at All Might, his mouth hanging open slightly. Before he could say anything, Toga spoke up again.
"Holy shit, he doesn't remember you. How the fuck does he not recognize you?"
"I guess I do look kinda different."
"Oh, so you lose a little weight and change your clothes and suddenly you're unrecognizable?"
"To be fair, my hair has grown out too."
"Okay, but how many green haired, green eyed, quirkless kids does this douchebag meet?"
A look of realization flitted across All Might's gaunt face. "The boy from the rooftop."
"You two have met?" Nezu asked evenly, a frown stretching across his snout.
Deku nodded. "Yeah, he saved me from a villain back when I was in middle school. After I woke up, he signed my notebook and tried to leave. I grabbed hold of him cuz I had a question. He dropped me off on a rooftop. He sorta… I guess deflated. He explained why, answered my question, and left."
"What I think you mean to say is he told you to give up on your dreams and then left you on the top of a skyscraper by yourself," Toga said bitterly.
Aizawa gave a startled cough, nearly spitting out his coffee all over the table.
"What the fuck, All Might?" he choked out, still coughing.
All Might frowned. "Language! We have students present!"
"You curse in front of students all the time, so shut up. Now let me get this straight: a child was attacked by a villain, presumably knocked out, and you planned to just leave? You didn't take him to a hospital or anything? And then when he grabs onto you, which was stupid, Midoriya, I hope you know that, you dropped him off on the top of skyscraper and then left him there? I knew you were an idiot but I didn't know you were that dumb."
Toga was grinning, her sharp fangs on full display. "You're forgetting the part where he told Deku that he could never be a hero because he was quirkless. That's when he left him on the roof. You know, after he had been bullied all day and told to - what was it he said, Deku-kun? Oh right! Take a swan dive off a roof."
"It wasn't a big deal. You make it sound worse than it was," Deku said, huffing and folding his arms across his chest.
"I don't think I am."
"Yeah, I don't think she is," Aizawa said, fully glaring at All Might. "You left a kid on a skyscraper roof after he had been suicide baited?"
"I didn't know he had been! I didn't know leaving him there was a risk!"
"Leaving a child on any roof is a risk! It's a child! On a roof!"
Nezu gently tugged at Deku's sleeve, getting his attention. "Perhaps you and Toga should sit with Eraserhead and Present Mic. I thought perhaps sitting with All Might in this form would be less… threatening for you two but I think I may have miscalculated."
"You think?" Toga scoffed. She grabbed both her backpack and Deku's and stood up, shooting another glare towards All Might. "Stay away from Deku or I'll kill you."
"Toga, you can't threaten him. He's our teacher now," Deku said, giving a defeated sigh, as though he was used to her acting like this.
He followed her over to Aizawa and Present Mic's table, which they shared with Midnight. Aizawa was still shooting daggers at All Might with his eyes while Present Mic and Midnight were fussing over the two teens. Vlad King entered a moment later and handed bento boxes to the kids along with a blood bag to Toga. When he spotted one of the business course teachers wrinkling her nose at that, he pulled out his own bag and slurped loudly, staring her down.
"So, kid, do you want to tell me about why you think its not a big deal to be told to kill yourself?" Aizawa asked, his tired eyes watching Deku carefully.
The teen looked up from his food, his cheeks full and distended from the massive bite he had taken. Both Toga and Deku had been shoveling the food into their mouths at top speed, silent besides Deku asking Toga to sniff his food. It was as though they were scared the food was going to be pulled away from them at any moment.
Deku gave Aizawa a shrug as he swallowed. "I'm quirkless."
"And this is normal for quirkless kids?"
"I think so. I've never met any others. From what I've heard, it could be a lot worse. But, I mean, people get picked on all the time. It's really not a big deal."
Aizawa's frown deepened. "That's not normal teasing. That's extreme bullying."
"Why are you so worried about this? People said worse to Toga when she was in school. Hell, people said worse to the both of us when we were on the streets. They are just words and it's in the past, so you don't need to get so hung up on it. Just drop it," Deku said, scowling down at his food.
Aizawa could tell there was more to the story. He had been a hero long enough to know when he hit a nerve, making someone clam up. Toga and Deku had both shutdown, their shoulders drawn up and tight by their ears, hovering over their food protectively. They kept their eyes down, avoiding the gazes of the heroes in the room. Mic glanced at Aizawa over the tops of the teens' heads, catching his eye with a meaningful look.
It was clear that he was just as concerned about what they had said as Aizawa was.
Midnight was trying to pull the kids into a conversation, chattering away about what kind of clothes they wanted and what things they could order to decorate their rooms with. Neither Toga nor Deku responded, only offering noncommittal grunts and shrugs.
The remainder of lunch was uneventful. When the bell rang, dismissing students back to their classrooms, the teachers began making their way out of the lounge. Vlad King and Aizawa got up, gesturing for the teens to stand with them.
"We'll wait until the halls are mostly clear before we head out. Do either of you have any questions?" Vlad asked, looking between the two.
"Will Deku have to sit near Bakugou?" Toga quickly asked. Her arms were folded across her chest as she fixed her yellow eyes on Aizawa.
"No. He will not. He will be sitting by Shinsou, who you two met when you first arrived."
She perked up at that. "The tall purple haired guy? He seemed nice!"
"He's a brat but he means well. He won't cause trouble."
Deku looked up at Vlad. "And Toga will be safe? Your students actually know who she is so they may be more hostile towards her. I don't want her to get hurt."
"I have planned for her to sit between two students who are known for being open and kind. Neither responds well to bullying and will put a stop to anyone bothering her. She will be in the front row as well, so I will be nearby to protect her."
Seemingly appeased, the two teens followed their new teachers towards the hero classrooms. Outside the doors, they each gave each other a lingering look, seeming to communicate with just their eyes, before breaking away, prepared to face their new classes.
With a heaving sigh, Aizawa yanked open the door to class 1-A and led Deku in. As soon as they entered, the room fell into a hush, all 19 students staring.
"This is Izuku Midoriya. He is joining the class. Don't cause problems," Aizawa said, glaring at them all. He then turned to Deku. "Go sit next to Shinsou."
Deku kept his eyes downcast as he nodded, scurrying over to sit in the empty desk beside Shinsou. This put him in the third row from the front and close to the middle. Shinsou sat to his left while the red haired boy sat to his right. The student with large elbows sat behind Shinsou and gave Deku a nervous look. In front of Shinsou was the invisible girl, and with her quirk it was impossible to tell if she was staring at him, but just in front of her, in the first row, was Bakugou. The explosive teen kept his eyes facing forward, dutifully ignoring Deku.
"Alright, get out your Hero Law textbooks. Since you all should have done the reading, which of you can tell me which section of the Quirk Regulation Act discusses quirk registration?"
Iida, the boy with engines in his legs, raised his hand, as did a girl with a large black ponytail.
"Yaoyorozu," Aizawa said, pointing to her.
"Section 18.5, sir."
"Correct. Iida, can you elaborate on what this section entails?"
"It discusses the guidelines for the registration of all quirks. It breaks down the different categories of quirks and outlines the registration process."
"Can you tell me why people opposed this section?"
Iida froze up, looking confused. When Aizawa saw he wasn't going to answer, he looked to the rest of the class, one eyebrow cocked.
Shinsou slowly raised his hand. When Aizawa nodded to him, he spoke. "Those with quirks that could be discriminated against were concerned about being targeted based on their registration."
"That's one of the reasons. Anyone else?"
There was the sound of flipping pages as some students scanned through their books and their notes, looking for the answer. Deku, on the other hand, was writing in his notebook, his mouth silently moving. Aizawa watched him for a moment, curious. After a moment of internal debate, he called on the boy.
"Midoriya, do you know the answer?"
Deku jumped in his seat, his pencil clattering to the ground as he dropped it. The red haired boy bent over in his desk and picked it up, holding it out for Deku to take. When he realized what he had done, he made a small, startled noise before setting the pencil on Deku's desk, looking nervous.
"Midoriya?" Aizawa prompted again.
Stammering, Deku felt his heart start to pick up speed. "Well… well… There were a lot of people who were worried that this was a way to track citizens. The counter argument that supporters made was that with birth and death records, driving registrations, tax filings, and other legal documents, that the government already had methods of tracking everyone. Some were worried that it would be used to exploit those with desirable quirks, which did happen, with the whole trend of quirk marriages that happened for a while. It can still be used today for exploitation in the underground quirk trafficking rings, but with recent laws and security measures being put in place, the registration information is becoming harder to access. In general though, when the act was first introduced, people felt the registration was a violation of privacy and it was only recently that it was widely accepted by the public."
"You know about quirk marriages?" a startled voice blurted from the back row.
Deku turned to look over his shoulder to see who spoke, only to find Todoroki staring at him with wide eyes. Tentatively, Deku nodded. There was a spark of something in Todoroki's eyes. Deku turned back to face the front, not sure how to feel about the other boy's reaction.
"You're correct, Midoriya, though the majority of that wasn't in the textbook. Quirk trafficking isn't covered until your second year."
The girl with pink skin and hair raised her hand. "Mr. Aizawa, what is quirk trafficking? I've never heard of it."
Seeing an opportunity to get the students to interact with Deku, Aizawa nodded towards the teen boy. "Why don't you explain it, Midoriya?"
"Oh… Uh… It's when people are trafficked and sold based on their quirk. There are a few categories for it. The most common reasons are for manual labor, for security, or for sex. If traffickers can get a hold of a batch of completed registration forms, they will go and kidnap the kids they think will make them money. It's typical for children to be the main target for trafficking, since they are easier to catch and control, but others can be targeted as well."
"That's messed up," Shinsou grumbled, glaring down at his desk.
Deku simply nodded.
"You've done research on this," Aizawa stated, his head cocking slightly to the side.
"I worked with some people who were a part of it. Wanted to know more."
"You helped traffickers?" a blond boy with a tail snapped, turning around in his seat to glare. "What is wrong with you?"
Deku looked offended, his eyes narrowing. "I said worked with people who were a part of it, not that I worked with fucking traffickers. I met people who had gotten out after being trafficked. I set up online presences for them and back dated it to cover the time they were being used as slaves. Employers check that kind of stuff and without it, they'd never have been able to get jobs. I only ever met one trafficker and I sure as hell didn't help him." Deku paused, giving a dark chuckle that made Aizawa's skin crawl. "He didn't come out of the conversation for the better."
Bakugou turned, a crazed, borderline scared look on his face. "When the fuck did you meet a fucking trafficker?"
"We aren't going into this," Aizawa said. He had straightened and was giving Bakugou a stern look. "We're moving on."
"No, Deku is going to fucking tell me where he met a trafficker."
Deku sneered. "Aw, is Kacchan worried about me?"
"Boys!" Aizawa snapped. Neither listened.
"Answer the fucking question!"
"Fine! I was out with Dabi and a trafficker recognized him. Didn't know who I was so he assumed I was a trafficked kid. Took a liking to me. Dabi really hates quirk trafficking and burnt the bastard's arm for touching me. I barely convinced Dabi not to kill the guy. I zip tied him to a stop sign and called the cops so they could get the guy to fess up to where he was holding people. So don't worry, soft little baby Deku didn't get hurt."
"Midoriya, that's enough."
"What? You don't want your precious hero students to know what the real world is like?" Denku snarled, acting like a corner animal while glaring at Aizawa. "The world is twisted and fucked up and they need to know it or they'll end up dead, just like the majority of people that get sold into quirk trafficking. But heroes don't really care about that, do they? They just want the glamorous jobs that will help their ranking."
Aizawa's eyes flashed red, his hair floating up from his shoulders as he spoke. "Hallway. Now."
Deku stood from his desk, still glaring. "You're quirk doesn't do shit to me."
"Shut up and walk."
Once they were both in the hall, Aizawa slammed the door shut behind them and dragged Deku down the hall, away from the classroom.
"Two of those brats have enhanced hearing," he said as an explanation, as he let go of Deku's arm. "Now, you want to tell me what that was about?"
"Want to tell me why you thought it was a good idea to have me answer questions in class?"
"You're my student now. You have to participate in class."
"And you couldn't have waited until they had gotten used to me?"
Aizawa sighed. "I was hoping if I treated you like any other kid, they would do the same. Apparently, I was wrong."
"No shit," Deku scoffed. "It would have been fine if Bakugou hadn't jumped down my throat."
"He seemed genuinely concerned about what happened to you with that trafficker. To be honest, I am concerned as well."
"The dude is in jail now, it doesn't matter."
Aizawa continued to frown. "You aren't at all bothered that a man tried to purchase you?"
"Shit happens. I'm just thankful that my mom actually gave a damn about me and didn't sell me off when I turned out to be quirkless, which my old classmates loved to remind me of whenever they got the chance. ' What're you even good for? I know! You can just be some rich perverts fuck toy! Come on, you need practice! ' Some guy pinching my ass and asking how much I cost isn't a big deal. Hell, I bet shit like that has happened to all the girls in class and at least half the guys. So why does Bakugou give a shit about it happening to me?"
Breathing heavily, Deku finally looked up to meet Aizawa's eyes and was startled to find that the teacher had a grief ridden expression on his face. Taking a shaky breath, Aizawa reached out with both hands. Deku flinched back without thinking, ready to take the hit he was sure was coming. He spoke out against a teacher, a hero no less; it made sense that he would get hurt.
When Aizawa saw him shrink away, he froze, letting his hands slowly lower. "I was going to give you a hug, kid. Seemed like you needed one. Sorry, I'm… I'm not great at this stuff. Just… You should know that that type of stuff is not typical and has not happened to the rest of your class. Sure, some of them may have been cat called or something along those lines, but I can assure you that none of them have had to worry about being sold or been approached by a trafficker."
"Maybe not that they have told you. I've met plenty of people who have gone through the same or worse."
"People you met in the underground or on the streets? They are not the majority, Midoriya. And the fact that your former classmates treated you like that is disgusting. Your teachers should never have allowed that."
Deku said nothing. He let his gaze fall back to his feet. His stomach was churning as he tried to sort through what he had just been told. A part of him knew that Aizawa was right; that what Deku had gone through was not normal and that the adults in his life should have been protecting him. But the other part was screaming that Aizawa was wrong, drowning out his rational side. When it became clear that Deku wasn't going to respond, Aizawa took a step back and jerked his head towards the classroom.
"Come on, let's go. I won't call on you for the rest of the day unless you raise your hand to answer."
As they reentered the room, the class fell silent again, all eyes turned to watch Deku walk to his seat. Aizawa stood at the front of the room, an impassive look plastered on his face.
"Bakugou, detention after school today."
"What?! Why?!" Bakugou shrieked, setting off small explosions that made Deku flinch.
"You cursed in class."
"So did Deku!"
"Yes, but detention doesn't make sense for him since he's already always stuck with a teacher. He will receive a different punishment."
' Ah ,' Deku thought. ' So the beating comes later. Makes sense. '