Chapter 2: Who Are You?

Kacchan being in detention was a blessing to Midoriya.

At the end of the day, him and Todoroki were escorted out of the class A dorm, Heights Alliance (a pretty name for a place which was essentially a prison), and Midoriya was left in peace.

Prior to which, they were shown around the dorms, given an extensive list of rules (no turning off the lights around student 14; no touching anything marked with a pink number 2; no leaving the dorm after nine –), and allowed to unpack.

Another good thing for Midoriya, was that for once, the numbering system hadn't been used when assigning rooms. This was likely because of the need to separate the girls from the boys. But Midoriya was simply happy that he wasn't next to Kacchan.

It wasn't so great that two out of the five students with dangerous Quirks were on his floor. He had a sign stapled to the back of his door, explaining that if he dared turn off the lights in the corridor at night, student 14's shadow monster Quirk could lash out and potentially kill them all – oh, and his neighbour, student 1, had a laser in his navel which could leak out at any given notice, have fun with that. And his other neighbour was perverted student 19, who kept trying to talk to him and Midoriya really would rather not encourage that friendship, especially after how he'd called him out on his Quirklessness in front of the entire class.

Midoriya flopped down onto his bed with a sigh. He'd unpacked everything already, from the various boxes that had been brought up to his room earlier in the day. He didn't bring too much, just the norm – clothing, bathroom necessities, stationary and an array of notebooks. He wasn't allowed his laptop or phone. He didn't bring any posters to make his room look a little less drab either. He used to have a lot of hero merchandise, which made his bedroom look like a small shrine. He didn't bring any of it because, well, it didn't exist anymore.

A few months ago, he'd sold most of it off and thrown the rest in the trash – ripping the posters angrily off the wall and bringing some of the plaster along with it, but that was the fault of blue-tack. His notebooks used to be full of hero analyses, but he didn't have the heart for it anymore. He left all thirteen of those at home, including the one with the number one hero's, All Might's, signature inside that Kacchan had burned up, on the day it all went wrong. His new notebooks were all completely empty – he supposed he should find something to use them for.

And well, a life full of nothing but analysis directed him towards one thing.

This was why Midoriya picked up the first, empty notebook he could reach, and began his work. Before long, twenty double page spreads were set up – one for each student in his class. Now, he just needed to find the information to fill it up with.

What did he know already…? Well, there was him, Kacchan and Todoroki – those were the only names he could add. Oh, and there was what Mr Aizawa had said – certain numbers being here for dangerous Quirks, some for vigilantism, and the other half for villains. Midoriya didn't think he had many talents, but even he couldn't deny that his memory was excellent. Ah, and then they had warnings for each of the dangerous Quirks students…

On the first page, he made a quick contents section:

Dangerous Quirk – navel laser

Dangerous Quirk – acid – pink girl

Vigilante

Vigilante – with the glasses

Villain

Vigilante

Dangerous Quirk – electricity

Vigilante

Vigilante

Dangerous Quirk – something to do with sugar?

Villain

Villain

Villain

Dangerous Quirk – shadow monster

Shoto Todoroki – Villain – ice (and fire?)

Villain

Katsuki Bakugo (Kacchan) – Villain – explosive sweat

Me

Villain – short, purple guy

Villain – girl with the ponytail

Well… that wasn't much.

But he wasn't going to learn anything else by sitting in his room.

Midoriya sighed deeply, shoved his notebook and pen under his pillow, and braved leaving his room.

The dorms were eerily quiet. The solemn atmosphere sent shivers down his spine. Everyone else must have been thinking along the same lines as Midoriya, because when he arrived in the common room, he found it was completely empty. They must have retreated to their rooms immediately and hid away, seeing everyone else as villains and all-round dangerous people.

But the silence was better than a majority of the alternatives Midoriya could think up on the spot, so he wasn't complaining.

He collapsed onto the nearest sofa for a while. The dorms were nice, considering the situation they were all in.

Everyone acted like ending up in class A was the end of the world. It was made very clear that finding yourself here was not any sort of prize or thing to aim for. Despite the posterchild results from some graduates, a majority don't end up becoming anything significant. Midoriya would rather be anywhere than here. Perhaps the bad reputation came from the UA Sports Festival…

The event was world renowned. Of course, there were plenty of similar contests in other countries, but UA blazed the trail. Essentially, the hero students duke it out and the world has the chance to watch their heroes in the making display awesome power. Usually it's the second- and third-years you want to watch – this is where the future heroes make their mark. But the first-year event was a different spectacle all together, and this was because of the inclusion of class 1-A.

With half the number of competitors, the Sports Festival for first-years might seem less interesting, but when a class of the most promising hero students in all of Japan, are pitched against a group of juvenile delinquents, it really did seem like heroes verses villains. Everyone watching cheered and clapped for class B, whilst booing and hissing at the grim-faced members of class A. It was as though you were publicly shamed for ending up there – like a group of clowns who never wanted the job.

Perhaps, if class A weren't portrayed so badly on television, some desperate individuals would get into trouble on purpose to end up in the class. Afterall, you do get some remarkable opportunities after graduation, namely transferring to UA's other courses.

If you make it that far.

Midoriya had to get out of here before the Sports Festival. Before the world saw him as the useless, Quirkless, would-be villain that this school seemed to already think he was.

He turned on his side, trying to banish the depressing thoughts from his mind. That was when he came face to face with a large whiteboard, spanning the wall opposite the TV, that separated the abandoned kitchen area from the rest of the common room.

He got up and wandered towards it, picking up the black pen that lay waiting for him. Spread across half of the whiteboard, he wrote down the student numbers, leaving blank spaces at each. By his, Kacchan's and Todoroki's numbers, he started writing their full names.

As he was writing his own, he heard footsteps. Hesitating on the kanji, he turned, finding himself facing stern number 4.

He walked right up to him and gazed at the names Midoriya had already added. Nervously, he finished his own writing, before realising number 4's hand was outstretched to him.

He gave him the pen, and watched as he added his name –

Tenya Iida

He knew that name… he just couldn't pinpoint from where.

Putting the pen back down, Iida held his hand back out to Midoriya, "Tenya Iida, nice to meet you."

With a gulp, Midoriya took his hand and shook it, "I-Izuku Midoriya – a-and you, too. Nice to meet you, I mean."

Iida gave him a soft smile and nodded, before turning back to the whiteboard and gazing at the blank spaces. "I see you know two of our classmates already," he realised.

"O-Oh, no – no, just one other. Kacchan – I-I mean, Bakugo. I've known him, well, forever, really. I just recognised Todoroki – student 15 – from the news…"

"Ah, of course. I recognised him too. He doesn't seem particularly pleased to be here."

"Well, does anyone?" Midoriya laughed, rubbing his head nervously.

"Hm, I suppose not," Iida sighed. "But I am thankful I have been given a chance here, at least. I don't know what would have happened if not."

Midoriya wavered, he didn't know if it was a good idea to ask yet, but… "Um, how did you end up here? I-If that's ok to ask! You don't have to answer, I'm just… interested."

"It's quite alright," Iida replied, waving his right hand about in a chopping motion. "It's only natural to be curious. I would bet that everyone here has quite the story to tell."

Midoriya nervously cast his mind back to his story. No, he still didn't reckon it warranted sending him here. He supposed he would find out why, eventually.

"Have you… ever heard of the Hero Killer, Stain?" Iida asked.

"Yeah," Midoriya answered immediately. Two seconds later, his eyes widened with recognition. "Oh – Oh, you're –"

"Yes," Iida sighed again, pushing his glasses further up his nose, "that was me. I was foolish; I got what I deserved. Permanent nerve damage in my right hand, and a sentence here, for vigilantism."

"More noble than me," Midoriya shrugged. "And… for what it's worth, I think it was really brave of you, standing up to him for your brother."

Iida stiffened, and then nodded, "Thank you, but I don't deserve it. A hero should never act in revenge. But that doesn't stop… the hatred."

"Yeah… I get it."

He cleared his throat, "And you? May I ask why you're here?"

"Ah, well, you see…"

"Hi there!"

The two boys turned. Before anyone could say anything more, a bubbly girl with a brown, bob haircut swooped in between them, picking the whiteboard pen up off the floor, and adding her name to the list –

Ochako Uraraka

"This is a cool idea. Calling everyone by numbers feels so… weird," she shuddered. "I'm Uraraka! Sorry, did I interrupt…?"

"O-Oh, no, it's ok!" Midoriya stammered. "I-I'm Midoriya – and this is –"

"Tenya Iida, greetings!" His hand was in that stiff, plank-like position again. Midoriya wondered if that was a result of his nerve damage…

"It's super nice to meet you!" she grinned.

Student 5… so, not a dangerous Quirk or a vigilante. But… she seemed so nice? Why was she marked as a villain?

"How's your face?" she suddenly asked.

Midoriya blinked at her for a moment, "My – Oh, you mean the scratch. Yeah, fine – Recovery Girl was nice. She assumed I got into a fight though… she wasn't incredibly happy about it."

"Yeah – that 17 guy was so mean!" she huffed.

"Ah, yes – you're number 18," Iida realised. "I recall Mr Aizawa mentioning there was an issue of sorts between you and 17… Bakugo?"

Midoriya rubbed his head nervously, "Um, yeah… We're not the best of friends…"

"Well, I was secretly glad I didn't end up in detention with him," nodded Uraraka. "I bet you are too."

He nodded without hesitation, "You have no idea."

"Todoroki did not lead a good example of the effort we should be putting into this class!" Iida suddenly snapped, as if he'd been thinking about it all afternoon. "He most certainly deserved his detention."

"I just don't think he wants to be here," Midoriya pointed out.

"Frankly, I don't believe many of us do wish to be here," the statement was repeated. But that wasn't Uraraka – another girl had appeared. She snatched the pen from Uraraka's hands and scribbled her name down.

Momo Yaoyorozu

Ah, it was the girl with the ponytail, that Mr Aizawa had also told off for not trying hard enough.

"Unless any of you are exceptions?" she asked pointedly.

"Not really," Midoriya replied quickly, not keen to get on her bad side.

She seemed a little less tense after that. Perhaps she was just nervous and didn't show it well. "Would… any of you like some tea?" It was a rather sudden change in attitude. She went from a menacing, purposely cool sounding person, to someone quite timid and unsure.

"That would… be nice," Midoriya replied first, despite the fact that he didn't really feel like having tea at the moment.

Her smile made it worth it though.

"I-I don't know what's available!" she admitted, hurrying over to the kitchen area, "But I shall have a look!"

"You know what?" said Uraraka, "Maybe this place won't be so bad!"

"Kacchan's not back yet," Midoriya reminded them bitterly.

"Kacchan?" Iida and Uraraka repeated simultaneously.

"Jinx!" Uraraka yelled.

Iida didn't understand.

"O-Oh, I mean Bakugo – number 17? Sorry… I've just called him that ever since we were little kids. It's a habit."

"Aw, that's sweet!" Uraraka beamed. "I'm going to call him that too!"

"No – no, no. Seriously, he'll kill you!" Midoriya warned.

There was an evil glint in her eyes, "I'm going to do it!"

"He'll also kill me but, to be honest, that's no different than usual…" Midoriya moped.

"I have the tea!" Yaoyorozu called out. "I usually have mine black – does anyone want milk or sugar?"

"It's fine like this, thank you very much," Midoriya smiled as politely as possible. She still kind of frightened him, and the nicer he was, the happier she seemed.

"Likewise, thank you!" Iida nodded with a slight bow as he accepted the bland, chipped mug that Yaoyorozu had obviously found in one of the many cupboards.

"Iida!" Uraraka exclaimed after accepting her own tea, "You're not supposed to speak until I say your name! That's how jinxes work."

"But you just did?"

"…Oh, damn it!"

"You all seem so… normal," Midoriya realised, sitting down on the nearest sofa and staring at his reflection in his tea. "Sorry, but it's not what I expected."

The three of them stared at him for a moment.

"Yeah… well…" Uraraka began, "I'm not that normal… I'm here for a reason. And I guess everyone else is too."

Yaoyorozu simply nodded, and Iida just looked sad.

"I'm… not sure why I'm here," Midoriya finally admitted. "I've been thinking about it a lot, but… I still don't understand."

"It's something to do with Kacchan, right?" asked Uraraka.

Midoriya flinched at the nickname, "Yeah… I guess. Maybe he said something about me to someone – I don't know what. But it's all I can think of at the moment…"

"Hm…" was all Iida uttered for a minute or so.

"Well, I know why I'm here," Uraraka admitted, her hands on her hips after she put her mug down on the coffee table. Yaoyorozu put a coaster underneath it that seemingly appeared from nowhere as she spoke. "And to be honest, it's really not that bad for me? Maybe I'll get somewhere after all this. Anyway… I might of… um, you see – my family's not… that well off? We own a construction business; work wasn't going well… A few machines broke and it all went wrong. I just wanted to help my family and might have resorted to some stuff my parents weren't too proud of when they found out," she explained shyly with a slight laugh. "My Quirk lets me float stuff – and myself. So, I, err, could get in and out of places others couldn't…"

"You're a thief," Midoriya realised. "Sorry!" he added quickly, "That was rude, I just –"

She waved the comment off, "Nah, you're totally right. Might as well admit it! I'm not proud but… I did get enough money to help my parents get the business running properly again! So, there's always that. Not that they realised at the time where I'd got the money… Thought I'd found some well-paid part-time jobs. Which is technically true!"

"It's still honourable, in a way," Midoriya supposed.

"Yeah… thanks."

"But wrong," Iida added.

"Oh, yeah – of course… Um, what about you, Iida?"

And so, Iida told his story again. Midoriya didn't pay quite as much attention now that he knew the details. He focused more on the fact that, slowly but surely, other people had started to arrive. It couldn't have been long until Kacchan and Todoroki returned from their detention either, right? Class A hadn't had their dinner yet, but that might have been because they were waiting until the other two came back. Midoriya wasn't sure how it worked yet.

He sat back and watched as more names were added to the board. Soon, it was almost full, and Midoriya was very glad he'd had the idea.

"Hey! When did everyone come out of their hiding places?!" called out pink-skinned number 2.

"About half an hour ago," replied Uraraka, allowing Yaoyorozu to refill her cup of tea.

"Aw, man! I should have come down earlier! Oh – I like the board idea, who started that?!"

"That would be Midoriya here!" announced Iida whilst gesturing to him.

Number 2 gave him a grin and a thumbs up, adding her name to the board.

Mina Ashido!!!

"Awesome! Is this super exciting or what?!"

"Or… what?!" Midoriya laughed nervously.

"Come on! This place is so cool! I've been looking forwards to coming here all year! I gotta say though, that Mr Aizawa is intense!"

"You were looking forwards to coming here?" scoffed number 12, Jiro.

"I agree, it seems rather counterintuitive," said Yaoyorozu with a hint of her earlier malice.

"Not for me!" Ashido grinned, "For someone with a super tricky, kind of deadly Quirk – this is the best place for me! I don't know about you lot, but –"

"Yeah, you clearly don't," Jiro interrupted, twiddling earphone-jack-like extensions from her ears around her fingers. So, that was her Quirk, huh…?

Ashido put her hands on her hips, "What's your story then?"

Jiro rolled her eyes, "You eavesdrop on one hero and suddenly you're a danger to society and need to be locked away or something!"

Midoriya narrowed his eyes, "…What hero?"

"Like I'm telling you. Last time I went around doing that, I ended up here. It's best to just keep yours and everyone else's secrets to yourself."

"…Super hearing Quirk?" Midoriya guessed.

Jiro's eyes flickered from her earphone-jacks and back to Midoriya. She pulled her hands away from them and tucked them into her hoody, out of sight.

"Oh, you're Quirkless 18, right?!" Ashido recalled, bounding over to him. "It must be weird, not having any Quirk at all!"

Midoriya gave her a look, "You're the one who's pink and corrosive…"

She blinked and then laughed, "Hey, good point!"

"Don't be rude to Midoriya," Iida swooped in. "I won't hesitate to report any Quirkest comments to our teacher!"

"I'm not being rude!"

"Must be weird, not having the ability to control your Quirk at all," Yaoyorozu suddenly added, sipping her tea nonchalantly.

Ashido stared at her, "W-Well… that's why I'm here. So… there. What's your Quirk then? I didn't see you use it much during the Quirk assessment!"

"Well, wouldn't you like to know?"

That had gone south awfully quickly. Midoriya was just surprised he'd seemed to make a few friends already – or… maybe allies? People that stood up for him – whatever that meant. It hadn't really happened before.

So, Iida, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu seemed to tolerate him. Ashido… maybe not so much after that. Maybe not Jiro either. He didn't know about any of the others milling around. Todoroki seemed to not want to be involved at all, and Kacchan definitely didn't like Midoriya. Maybe he should write all this down later…

Midoriya wasn't powerful or any sort of intimidating presence. He hadn't done anything remarkable or had much of a story to tell. If he wanted to do well here, he couldn't just slip into the shadows and ignore everyone, desperate to just survive until the end. If he wanted to graduate, he had to actively prove he deserved it. His best course of action was not to gain strength nor academic prowess. He needed to be… social. Mr Aizawa had said that he and Kacchan had to learn to get along if they wanted to graduate. Midoriya knew that wasn't going to happen, but if he could get everyone else, or at least a majority of them, to vouch for him – be on his side, rather than Kacchan's, he had a chance. Mr Aizawa would see that he was the victim; he wasn't a villain; he didn't belong here.

"How low a pH can you make your acid go, Ashido?" Midoriya asked.

She blinked at him, "Like… how strong?"

"Yeah – what can it do?"

"Oh! Loads of stuff! It can go through plastic, I can melt like, nearly anything I want! It's hard to control though. That's why I have to wear this disgusting outfit! It's so uncomfortable," she picked at the thick fabric of her long sleeve top and baggy trousers. She wore gloves and covered as much skin as possible. "It couldn't hurt to have a little more style at least!"

It was in that moment that they heard the front door slam open, crashing against the wall, and footsteps march towards them.

Great, moment of peace, over.

Kacchan came into view, and for once, Midoriya dared to not avert his gaze. He refused to be his punching bag this time. This class was full of strong, tough and stubborn individuals. Midoriya was determined to be the same.

"What are you looking at, Deku?" Kacchan snarled.

Midoriya just sighed. He was done letting Kacchan intimidate him.

"What are you looking at, Kacchan?" grinned Uraraka, peering over the back of the sofa.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, ROUND FACE?!"

"Round Face?" she gasped. "Don't be mean, Kacchan!"

"CALL ME THAT AGAIN AND I'LL KILL BOTH OF YOU!"

"Told you," Midoriya shrugged.

Todoroki appeared, walking harshly into Kacchan's side and knocking shoulders with him.

"Watch where you're going, you damn popsicle!" Kacchan yelled, he was not in a good mood (but was he ever?). "Maybe if you brushed your hair out of your damn eyes you could actually freaking see!"

But Todoroki just pushed his hair further over his eyes in retaliation. His hair was two toned, half red and half white. But he'd pushed the white half back, so it covered up most of the red, spiking up and also covering part his face. It must have been rather long, without all that gel in it, and jaggedly cut. Midoriya could just see his famous scar, spanning the hidden half of his face. He looked very different to the missing posters and advertisements that had covered the internet over the last few years.

He glanced at the board, noting his name, before turning his gaze to Midoriya, who refused to flinch. But Todoroki didn't hold it for long, before turning and wandering up the stairs to his room, out of sight.

"What's the freaking board for?" Kacchan suddenly snapped.

"So that we all know each other's names!" Iida proclaimed. "It was Midoriya's idea, and a very good one, I must admit!"

"For sure!" Uraraka beamed, "Now we don't have to call you 17 all the time, Kacchan!"

He ground his teeth together, "Let me give you some advice, Round Face." He pointed an accusing finger at Midoriya, who held his gaze firm, green eyes cold and sure. "Don't freaking listen to him. The number thing was his idea, huh? Well then, I bet he's got all this copied down in a notebook somewhere. He'll find your strengths and weaknesses and turn them against you – it's all the Quirkless bastard can do."

Silence flooded the room, and Midoriya glared at Kacchan. It had to have been him who got him into class A. Perhaps he accused him of stalking or something – and maybe doing the same to heroes. It wasn't the truth, obviously, but Kacchan just loved making his life difficult.

"It's your own fault if you decide to trust him – or any of you losers! You're all villains – but I'm going to get into class B, and then those idiots will be sorry!" And with that, he shoved his hands in his pockets, turned on his heel, and thundered up the stairs.

Midoriya sighed, so much for his idea of being liked for once. Who was he kidding? He'd have to try and find some other way out of class A… But then –

"What's his problem?" student 13, Sero, grinned nervously.

"He's kind of scary," electric Kaminari, student 7, winced.

"He's so grumpy!" huffed Uraraka in agreement.

Kirishima, number 8, stood up and announced, "I'm going to go and try and talk to him."

"Don't be so righteous, just leave him alone," Sero protested. "If he doesn't make an effort with us, why should we make an effort with him?"

"I vote we just ignore him for a week," Jiro grinned. "Maybe he'll calm down after that."

Kirishima simply shrugged and went after Kacchan anyway.

But Midoriya was stunned. He'd never seen anyone else stand up to Kacchan like that. And after everything he'd just said about him!

"I don't get it," he laughed nervously. "H-He just –"

"He might have been the big bad at your old school," Uraraka interjected, "but I don't think it works like that here… He did really well in the Quirk test, but I don't think any of us are going to gang up with him just because he's strong. Plus, Iida did better!"

"It's not right to judge any of us by the means in which we arrived here," said Iida, standing up to collect empty cups. "It would be hypocritical. I'm not sure what to make of what Bakugo said about you, Midoriya, but unlike him, you made an effort. I respect you for that."

"U-Um… thanks?"

"So, you're like, super smart, yeah?" Ashido grinned, leaning over the sofa towards him.

Midoriya inched away, "I-I don't –"

"You analyse stuff? Isn't that what the mean guy said about strengths and weaknesses or something?" she guessed.

"Well, y-yes, but I –"

"What about me? Can you analyse me – can you help me with my Quirk?!"

"I-I might need a little more time!" Midoriya admitted standing up. He hesitated and gazed around at his… classmates. "Are you seriously… not bothered by what K-Kacchan just said?"

"We're in class A, dude," Jiro reminded him, flopping into the place he'd just left on the sofa. "Who cares?"

"I always speak my mind," spoke up croaky number 3, Asui, as she hopped towards him. "And I would like to point out that out of you and Bakugo, you are far more tolerable, ribbit."

"Thank you?" Midoriya replied unsurely.

"What he said just makes me want you to not hate me, like you hate him."

"I-I don't hate –" he wavered – "ok, yeah, m-maybe I do – just a little."

"A lot, ribbit."

"B-But why would I hate you?"

"We're in class A," she reminded him, holding a finger to her chin in a thoughtful manner, "anything's possible."

"Like you being here!" Uraraka interjected, grinning at Asui, "You seem so nice!"

"It's a long story."

"Well, we're happy to hear whenever you're happy to tell it!"

"Thank you. Maybe another time, ribbit."

"Sure! Wanna sit? There's space!"

Midoriya was still struggling to believe what had just happened. Out of all the places he expected to find blind acceptance… and he found it in a class full of villains.

If this is what it means to be a villain –

– then why did he ever want to be a hero?