It felt like mere moments before Izuku's mom called for him. The detective waiting in the living
room had a familiar face. "Hello, Detective Tsukauchi," Izuku greeted the man.
The three of them took seats in the living room and Izuku went through the entire story of the USJ, how they arrived, how he saw the black portal opening, how Aizawa went down to fight and Thirteen stayed behind to protect the students, how the teleporter slipped past their defenses, how Izuku fell from a great height but landed without injury... how Ojiro flattened a bush in a vaguely amusing way. "We were ambushed in the park," Izuku continued, "by seven villains. One had a bear mutation. One could turn his hands into knives. I'm not sure what the rest of them had for quirks. Ojiro and I took down four of them and then we ran. We couldn't lose the other three so we took a corner sharply and then ambushed them when they followed us. We left the storm zone and... It's hard to say what was actually happening on the main plaza. There was this monster thing? Or was it a person? Someone reached out of a portal and tried to grab me and I stabbed the hand by reflex." He winced. That had kind of been a nasty thing to do.
Tsukauchi nodded slowly. "The beast is apparently called a nomu, as I am sure your classmates will inform you, and it is a very good thing that you reacted quickly and decisively to the hand reaching for you through the portal. That villain, he calls himself Shigaraki Tomura, has a five- point disintegration quirk." Oh. Reflexes were life-saving, then.
"I guess I won't feel bad about that, then, since he was trying to kill me." What a strange thing to say. His mother began to stroke Izuku's hair. "Ojiro and I were attacked by the nomu but Todoroki managed to slow it down. I got some distance and I ran into the teleporter, Kurogiri, but he was called away and then I realized that the nomu," what a weird name, "had caught Kacchan-- Bakugou Katsuki--so I ran back towards it and threw knives at vulnerable places to try to distract it." His mother squeezed his hand. Izuku shuddered at the thought that his old friend might have been killed if those daggers had missed. "It worked, but the nomu healed really quickly and I realized that there was no way we could beat it and just then All Might showed up. I went to check on Kacchan and by the time I was through with that, the fight was over. Kurogiri and Shigaraki left after Snipe started shooting at them."
The detective nodded and asked a few clarifying questions, details about where in the storm zone he had been (Izuku wasn't really sure) and descriptions of the villains he and Ojiro had fought
(those he could provide) . "Oh, I almost forgot," Izuku said as Tsukauchi was preparing to leave. How could he have forgotten to say this earlier? "I think Kurogiri recognized me." He might not want to tell anyone about his dreams, but Kurogiri's recognition was not something Izuku had any reason to keep to himself and it could be important.
"What do you mean, Midoriya?" the detective asked.
"When he saw me he said "you" as if he recognized me but didn't know my name. I think... maybe I fought him before, during the week when I was missing." It was convenient that Tsukauchi was involved in both investigations.
"You do not remember ever seeing him before this day?" Izuku shook his head. "Alright. Thank you, Midoriya. You have been a tremendous help. I am sorry this happened to you and I wish you better luck for the rest of your school year."
"Thank you," Izuku said, stifling a yawn. That had been draining and he hadn't had much energy to begin with. If he had another set of nightmares that night, he was going to be useless the next day.
Fortunately, his sleep that night was black and dreamless as the void between stars.
"Hey nerd," Bakugou greeted him at the train station.
"Hey Kacchan," Izuku returned the greeting. The ride to school passed by in silence. Back on the street, away from prying eyes, Izuku asked, "what happened to you? How did you... end up fighting that nomu thing? Or do you not want to talk about it, sorry, I..."
Katsuki took a deep breath than began talking in one, long, unbroken sentence as if desperate to get it off his chest. He must have talked to a detective, too, right? Maybe he was just dying to tell a friend rather than relive it before a stranger? "I got tossed in the ruin zone with Kirishima and Hagakure. Kirishima broke his ankle and maybe a wrist, too, in the fall, so after Hagakure and I totaled the assholes who were beating on Kirishima--don't wince, he was fine, his quirk protected him from that part--she helped Kirishima head towards the entrance hoping Thirteen would be there still... I think Thirteen was too hurt to help by that point but we hoped.
"I saw Aizawa get pinned by the nomu and the other villain trying to kill Asui--she was in the lake with Mineta and Kaminari. It looked like Todoroki saw the same thing. I don't know where Todoroki was or with who, but he showed up to help Aizawa at the same time I did. Kaminari had fried his brains with his quirk and Mineta was totally freaked out, not that I really blame him because it looked like he'd had his arm chewed on by a shark--it was bleeding a bit through the bandage. Anyway, Asui's got her group's act together enough to grab Aizawa and head for the entrance. Todoroki and I were trying to keep that nomu from chasing anyone else, 'cause let's face it: there aren't many people in the class that have the kind of offensive power we do. I figured if
hand creep decided to sic it on anyone else they... they wouldn't stand a chance and I guess Todoroki thought the same. We were only fighting it for a couple minutes before you and Ojiro showed up, and then All Might showed right after you..."
Izuku nudged Kacchan with his shoulder. "Thanks for saving me. Ojiro and I fought off about seven of the minor villains before we came out to meet you, but we... nothing could have prepared us for that. I... just, thank you."
"You, too, nerd. If you hadn't put a knife in its face I think it might've killed me," he said bluntly, returning the shoulder bump. It was... eight months ago Izuku could not have conceived of Bakugou Katsuki openly admitting that he had needed help from Izuku Midoriya of all people and here... well, the future can be rewritten on a dime, apparently. Izuku felt inexplicably warm. Katsuki took a slow breath through his nose. "I don't know what happened to anyone else, but everyone's going to be fine they said... except, well, have you heard about Thirteen or Aizawa?"
Izuku shook his head. "Only that they've been hospitalized."
"League of Villains... fancy name for a bunch of assholes and canon fodder," Kacchan groused.
"What were they even trying to do? Were they just... just after the shock value of killing hero students?" That would certainly have been the sort of headline news that attracted all kinds of attention to a fledgling villain organization.
Katsuki shook his head. "No, check this, they wanted to kill All Might."
Izuku blinked in incomprehension. "All Might. They... with that nomu thing?"
Kacchan nodded. "That was their big plan. They started attacking us 'cause he wasn't there. I don't have any idea how the hell they knew he was supposed to be there in the first place or why they didn't realize he was running late..."
"I'm not sure whether to be utterly terrified or amused. Honestly, no one can beat All Might." Although everyone retired eventually, even people like All Might, and he had been the number one hero for a very long time. In fact, taking a position at UA... that seemed like a clear sign that All Might was thinking of retiring from active duty soon. Becoming a teacher was likely just a step along that path, a way to gradually accustom everyone to the change--and it would be a huge change. It was hard to think of the Hero Billboard without All Might at number one.
"Well, not now, but you just watch. Someday I'm going to be the number one hero," Katsuki said. "You sure have your work cut out for you."
Kacchan snorted. " You just watch. I'll get there ."
"Watch I will." Could Explosion ever match whatever All Might's quirk was? Hard to say, but if it were possible Kacchan would probably find a way to do it. Izuku would like to see that. He would be happy to watch from his workplace in the shadows as his frontline friend climbed the charts.
The pair of them took their usual seats in the classroom. Most of 1-A had arrived already. Asui was chatting with Uraraka and Iida about something that happened on the news last night. Mineta and Kaminari seemed to be discussing some bizarre form of wrestling. No one mentioned the USJ.
"I wonder who our substitute is going to be," Izuku mused.
"No idea," Ojiro sighed. Dark circles beneath the tailed boy's eyes indicated that Izuku was not the
only one who had experienced some trouble sleeping.
A mummy walked into the room. What--oh. It was Mr. Aizawa, covered head to toe in bandages.
"Sir?" Izuku squeaked. This just was not a good idea!
"Excuse me, Mr. Aizawa," Iida spoke up, "I mean no disrespect, but given the severity of your injuries are you sure it is conducive to your continued health to come to work today?" Iida must know Aizawa personally. Izuku couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was in the class president's tone, but the greenette was absolutely sure that the two of them knew each other from outside of class.
"I'm fine," Aizawa said, voice somewhat muffled. "Just some cuts left, really." He paused, thinking. "I am glad to see that all of you are well and choosing to continue in heroics. I know something like this would be enough to convince many people to reconsider their career goals." Huh. That hadn't ever crossed Izuku's mind. "Our profession has a dark side, though I would have greatly preferred you were better prepared for your first introduction to it. Regardless, you have overcome a significant trial." He gave them a moment to think this over and feel a hum of pride.
"This is no time to be complacent, however. The UA Sports Festival is rapidly approaching. It's your only chance as first years to show off your prowess to pros and network for internships and, eventually, job offers. Take this seriously. We'll start training immediately."
Aizawa wasn't kidding about that "immediately" part. Their heroics class that day began early and ended late. They paired off and sparred with quirks (or with weapons for Izuku--he left the blade guards on all knives and pulled the blows with his staff). Snipe, Present Mic, Aizawa and All Might were all present, keeping a careful eye on the proceedings. Izuku, Ojiro, Shouji, Katsuki, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and Asui seemed to know what they were doing, or at least know how to fake it. The rest of the class stumbled through the exercise. They'd all survived the USJ, so they were all capable of fighting for their lives, but that wasn't at all the same thing as a practice bout. Teachers frequently had to step in to prevent injuries.
"That was fun," Izuku said as heroics finally came to a close.
"Speak for yourself," muttered Sero who had been clobbered by Shouji, Sato, and Koda in short succession before Izuku had run circles around him. Izuku hadn't realized Koda was strong enough to clobber anyone, but he was.
"You'll get the hang of it," Izuku encouraged.
"Maybe," the human tape-dispenser groused. "You've been doing this for years, I guess?"
"Something like that," Izuku admitted. "Shouji, Katsuki, Ojiro and I sparred a lot when we were getting ready for the entrance exam."
"Huh. You all made it to UA?"
"Yeah. I was really surprised to get in, honestly. I didn't get into Shiketsu, so I figured UA wouldn't want me."
Sero raised an eyebrow. "You didn't get into Shiketsu? But... you're terrifying!"
Izuku blinked. "Uh... thanks? But their entrance exam is an obstacle course and I just wasn't that
fast."
Sero nodded. "I suppose... seems like a kind of silly entrance exam if it'd turn you away."
"The UA entrance exam is biased, too," Izuku shrugged. "I don't think you really can have an unbiased exam unless you have teachers evaluate every single student one to one, but even that would result in favoritism and it's not clear how assessments could be carried out and, of course, it's not feasible with the number of people who apply to big name schools--I'm rambling. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Sero sniffed. "You've got good points."
"I wonder if we're ever going to get to train at the USJ now," Uraraka sighed, mostly to herself but Izuku and Sero were happy to merge her into their conversation, "not that I mind sparring... but I was really looking forward to rescue training."
Sero shuddered. "I'm not sure I want to go back to the USJ just yet..."
"Were you two together?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah. We were both in the conflagration zone," Uraraka said. "It was... not pleasant."
"Some creepy guy who looked kind of like an alligator bit me," Sero shuddered. "That's just... so rude!" Izuku resisted the urge to laugh at the incongruity. "Rude" wasn't how he would typically describe attempted murder but, sure, if that was how Sero wanted to think about it, fine.
"I dropped a bench on someone," Uraraka said. "And I'm pretty sure he deserved it."
"Ojiro and I ended up having to fight off seven of them," Izuku offered, "but they weren't very good so we managed to handle it."
"Let's talk about something else, huh? I just... I'd like to forget about it for now, until it doesn't seem so recent," Uraraka said.
"Sure, sorry," Izuku winced.
"No need to be sorry just let's find something happier to discuss for now," Sero suggested. "I'm kind of looking forward to the Sports Festival. I've watched it a bunch before. It looks like fun, really."
"I'm kind of surprised we're still having it given the security breach," Uraraka shrugged.
"Well, they updated security and I guess UA wants to show that everything is business as usual," Izuku supposed.
Their next class was modern history (a bit of an oxymoron) which covered World War I to the present day. Izuku flipped through the textbook idly as he waited for Midnight to begin the lecture. The text was, of course, heavily focused on Japan but some world-wide context was included. Would the US Supreme Court cases and LA Metahuman Riots Izuku had heard about in his dreams be in this book?
Flipping through the index of the text, Izuku found a chapter labeled, "Rise of Quirks: Social Upheaval" which seemed promising. Izuku turned to page 243 and began to flip through the section reading headings and glancing at photographs. Really, he should have done this long ago. There was only so much information one could gain by searching specific (and somewhat bizarre) terms on the internet; a well-written text could provide so much more context and depth, and this being UA the assigned book was certainly a well-written text.
Izuku flipped to page 257 and stopped. Midnight had begun her lecture but Izuku couldn'tmake sense of a single word . He was keenly aware of the blood draining from his face as if sucked out
by a siphon. He snapped the book closed and then opened it again, staring at the photograph in abject disbelief. No. It just... no. It couldn't be it just couldn't be .
The greenette took notes, but most of what he wrote had nothing to do with Midnight's lecture and everything to do with "no way, no way, no way."
"You alright, nerd?" Kacchan asked him as they made their way towards the train that afternoon. "You've been acting really freakin' weird since history class."
"Yeah," Izuku whispered. Should he tell--no. He absolutely should not tell anyone about this. Nothing made sense and until something started making sense he needed to make sure no one had this information but him because... because what might they think? Izuku didn't even know what to think! People certainly wouldn't think anything good. "Everything's fine just... I guess the USJ psyched me out more than I thought." It wasn't a lie, not really.
Katsuki winced. "Sorry. I... I was freaked out a bit, too. Kinda' thought that thing was going to kill me, honestly. Thanks again for saving my ass, by the way."
"You saved me first. I'll always have your back."
Katsuki's face quirked into a grin. "And I'll have yours, then we'll hardly need to worry about anything." Izuku forced himself to smile tentatively, but his heart wasn't in it and he wasn't fooling anyone.