Chapter 3: Why Are You Like This?

Midoriya struggled to sleep on the first night of UA.

The light pouring under his door from the hallway made it hard to keep his eyes shut, but if he turned it off, he risked the wrath of student 14's shadow monster Quirk. Just thinking about it in the middle of the night only made things worse. The unfamiliarity of his room made him uncomfortable, but not as much as the tracker anklet did.

They all had to wear one at all times, and they couldn't take it off. It was waterproof and surprisingly thin, so unnoticeable under clothing. But the feeling of it against his skin, however slight it was, still made him itch and fidget. He'd also noticed that different people had slightly altered designs. Todoroki's and Kacchan's were thicker and of a different material – perhaps fireproofing so they couldn't melt it off? The same must have applied to Ashido, but she wore clothing that covered as much of her skin as possible, meaning the anklet was hidden from sight. Kaminari's was different again, maybe to stop him from short-circuiting it. Of course, Midoriya had already tried prising his off, but it wouldn't budge. The anklet had more purpose than just keeping an eye on their whereabouts. Whilst most students needed a student ID to get through the gates to UA without the defences being activated, and barricades appearing from seemingly nowhere to stop intruders, the anklets did the exact opposite. They activated the barricades if they tried to leave. Moreover, with the Principal being able to see their exact positions at all times on a digital map of the school, Midoriya felt even more uncomfortable.

But he must have slept eventually, or else he couldn't have been awoken by the shrill sound of the alarm clock that he hadn't set himself. The wake-up call was so ear piercing that he almost fell out of bed. It didn't help that he could just hear everyone else's alarms go off at exactly the same time, despite the thick walls, and a chorus of groggy moans and complaints filled the dorm.

Wanting to get to the bathrooms first (as to avoid as many awkward interactions as possible), Midoriya got into his uniform in a hurry, and practically ran downstairs to brush his teeth and wash up. Not shower though, he'd do that in the evenings (again, to avoid awkward morning interactions).

Last night, they'd been supplied dinner by Lunch Rush, a hero who doubled as a brilliant cook. But Mr Aizawa was quick to inform them that from now on, they'd have to cook dinner themselves. Breakfast was for individuals to organise, and lunch was free for them (Uraraka was the most ecstatic about that idea, specifically by the word free).

Whilst everyone else slowly but surely set about their new morning routine, Midoriya was well ahead of the game. He'd scoffed breakfast before most of his classmates even appeared to go to the bathrooms, but he made sure to wait until he'd definitely seen Kacchan turn up, before risking going up the stairs. He didn't want to pass him because that gambled a quick trip back down the stairs, and another visit to Recovery Girl.

After the danger had passed, he returned to his room to gather what he thought he might need for the day. In his yellow backpack, artfully decorated with hand-shaped scorch marks, he shoved his slightly tattered PE kit, his pencil case and two of his notebooks – one empty, and one partially filled with information on the rest of class 1-A. He'd simply titled it A in a massive, bold letter that smothered the entirety of the front cover in splodgy, red ink.

He'd only had a day, so the information was still rather lacking. He took it back downstairs, and was able to finally add everyone's names, since a few were still missing last night, and he couldn't quite remember how to spell all of them. In fact, the only name that wasn't on the board by the morning was Kacchan's since he'd clearly rubbed it off in spite. But Midoriya watched as Uraraka wrote in its place Kacchan! in the tackiest writing possible. He'd had to correct her spelling of the name, which gave her fits of giggles. She sat down next to him whilst she ate her toast. Midoriya had to angle his arm to make sure she couldn't see what he was writing and drawing.

Having her sitting next to him was the perfect opportunity to add a sketch. He used to do that all the time with heroes, his villainous classmates were no different. With all the practise, he'd gotten quite good at drawing. But he'd learnt the hard way to keep his notes private. Kacchan burnt them all up whenever he caught a glimpse. Speaking of which, he was practically smouldering in anger when he wiped Uraraka's writing off the board.

At 8:20am exactly, Mr Aizawa unlocked the doors to the dorm to escort them all up to the classroom. Midoriya had thought he'd let them all make their own way to class, since that was what happened on day one. Perhaps Todoroki's incident yesterday, when he decided not to leave the changing rooms, had convinced Mr Aizawa to take extra precautions. Midoriya was sure that later in the year, their teacher would just unlock the doors and meet them at their classroom later on.

"We will be starting ordinary lessons today," their drab homeroom teacher explained. "Some of your teachers may give you short tests to assess your abilities in each subject. We don't expect you all to be of a similar level, given your different backgrounds. Once they know what you know, they'll be able to alter the course to better benefit you all. So, actually try in these tests, it'll make it easier for everyone in the long run. Don't make me give out more detentions on the second day."

To everyone's surprise, including Mr Aizawa's, someone then actually raised their hand.

"Yes, 7?"

"If I'm just so bad at everything that it doesn't look like I'm trying, will I still get detention?" Kaminari asked with a sly grin.

A few others around the classroom suppressed their laughter. But Midoriya was more interested in what their teacher would –

"I'll be the judge of that," he snapped, and the class fell silent once more.

Mr Aizawa had the uncanny ability to keep even the rowdiest group under his complete control. Midoriya didn't know quite what it was about him, but no one dared put a foot wrong in his presence. He didn't exactly look like the sharpest, strictest person in the world, but something about his very existence, and his piercing glare, made even the toughest student cower in their place.

However, not all of the teachers of UA had the same intensity.

"WELCOME TO CLASS 1-A, LITTLE LISTENERS! YYYEEEAAAHHH!"

Midoriya grimaced and covered his ears, he wasn't the only one. Even Mr Aizawa was quick to try and make his leave when their new English teacher, the overly energetic hero, Present Mic, burst into the room.

"ANY INSTRUCTIONS, AIZAWA?!"

"Just don't try them," he sighed, and slipped out the door, dragging his sleeping bag along behind him.

"YOU GOT IT!" Present Mic exclaimed, giving his colleague a thumbs up as he disappeared. "NOW, WHO'S READY FOR SOME –"

"Hey, could you tone it down a little?!"

Everyone stared at Midoriya.

He swallowed, "S-Some of us have sensitive ears," and he gestured to Jiro, sitting not that far in front of him.

"You got it, Little Listener!" Present Mic grinned, now only at a slightly above average volume.

Midoriya didn't fail to notice the shocked look upon Jiro's face, and the soft smile that she developed soon after, whilst Present Mic was handing out empty exercise books.

Midoriya smiled too – that's one more person who didn't hate him.

Mr Aizawa had been right about the pop quizzes. English wasn't Midoriya's strongest subject, but that wasn't the end of the world. By the looks on some of his classmates' faces, he wasn't struggling nearly as much as they were when faced with all the grammar and vocabulary Present Mic threw at them.

When they'd finished, Iida volunteered to collect the exercise books back in. Present Mic sat back and watched whilst Iida wandered around the classroom like any other normal person would do to collect the books. But apparently, this was not normal behaviour for class 1-A.

"It's been a while since class A was so civil towards each other so early!" Present Mic almost laughed. "And in such a strange group too!"

"Why are we strange?" Asui asked immediately, doing that thing where she prodded her chin with her finger, it seemed to be a habit.

"Lot more vigilantes than usual! And some cool Quirks – or lack of!"

Midoriya narrowed his eyes at him, trying to ignore the glances in his direction.

"You know, you're the first person without a Quirk to ever attend UA, 18!" Present Mic announced.

Great, so they'd been talking about him in the staff room. Well, it was to be expected. The staff had likely had a lengthy conversation about every member of class A. Perhaps Mr Aizawa had instructed them all to call them by numbers during the meeting as well. It had to be some sort of twisted teaching method.

"Then why am I here?" Midoriya dared to ask.

The class fell silent like it did only in the presence of Mr Aizawa. Midoriya wondered how many others had quietly asked the same question about him to themselves.

Kacchan scoffed but didn't say anything.

Midoriya glared daggers at the back of his head, "What's so funny?"

"You know exactly why you're here, Deku," he hissed.

Midoriya wasn't going to cower down in front of Kacchan anymore. He'd said it before, but he'd say it again, even if only to convince himself, but he'd had enough. In a class full of villains, he refused to be so weak. "If I knew I wouldn't ask."

"You think you're so freaking smart, but you're actually as much of an idiot as the rest of them," Kacchan snarled back.

This classroom doesn't work that way, Kacchan – you can't intimidate people into liking you.

"Has anyone ever told you that your personality reeks like if someone set the sewers on fire?" Kaminari butted in.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Kacchan yelled, standing up and pushing his chair back so that it hit the front of Midoriya's desk in the process.

"Well, we only just met you, so it's quite telling, ribbit," added Asui.

"I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"

"Hey, settle down –" started Present Mic.

Uraraka took the opportunity, "Yeah, calm down, Kacchan!"

"You might want to take back that comment about us being civilised, Sir," Sero laughed.

Kacchan slammed his hands onto Midoriya's desk, letting smoke hiss out from underneath them, "This is all YOUR FAULT!"

"And we're back to berating Midoriya again, leave him alone, man," said Jiro. "What did he ever do wrong?"

"Look at his freaking stalker notebooks and think again!" he shouted, grabbing Midoriya's bag before he even realised what was happening.

"Hey, give that back!" Midoriya stood up and lunged forwards, but Kacchan had already retrieved the notebook marked A, and Midoriya regretted labelling it so soon.

"Just try and take it from me!"

But Present Mic now had his hand on Kacchan's shoulder, and a disappointed look upon his face, "Come on, Little Listener – give the notebook back. I don't want to have to give out detentions! I'm the cool teacher!"

Kacchan gritted his teeth and chucked the notebook at Midoriya's feet. There – now it matched every other notebook he'd ever used. There was a nice set of burnt fingerprints on the cover.

They sat back down, and Iida finally handed Present Mic the pile of numbered exercise books. Iida gave Midoriya a sympathetic glance before making his way back to his own desk.

"So, what was the notebook?"

Midoriya gulped at Present Mic's question as he slid the item back into his bag. He was going to have to admit that Kacchan was right, and all the good relationships he'd forged would be void.

"It's one of your analysis books, right?" pink skinned Ashido perked up with a smile.

Midoriya blinked at her in surprise, "Err, yeah…"

Her smile grew wider, "He does Quirk analysis, Sir!" she explained. "He's going to help me with mine!"

"I-I never –" he hesitated. Last night, Kacchan had ranted about his notebooks again. Ashido picked up on it and asked if he could analyse her Quirk to help her out. It must have meant a lot to her… He thought Ashido wasn't that fond of him, but this might help amend that. "…Yeah, eventually."

She beamed.

"I… used to analyse heroes and stuff a lot," Midoriya admitted, absentmindedly brushing away the scorch marks on his desk, "It was a hobby, I guess."

"Did you ever write about me?" Present Mic asked, pointing a thumb at himself and grinning.

Midoriya had, although it was a while ago. If he were still much of a hero fan, he would have freaked out about having him as his English teacher. He used to listen to his radio show all the time. In fact, he was still secretly excited about meeting all these heroes, even though he'd tried to hide it. He just hadn't figured out who Mr Aizawa was yet…

"Err, yeah – I think so," Midoriya shrugged.

"Come on, what about my strengths and weaknesses?! I would say do it in English, but that's harsh – so think of this as a little public speaking exercise!"

Midoriya wasn't quite sure what to do. People usually weren't that interested in what he had to say, especially in terms of this kind of stuff.

He started mumbling about his Quirk and all his strengths, fiddling with his thumbs and never really meeting anyone's eyes. Kacchan seemed to be stewing in his anger in silence, which was the only thing which encouraged Midoriya to keep going.

"Hey! You know your stuff, Little Listener!" Present Mic exclaimed, "I'm impressed!"

Midoriya smiled. People hardly ever complimented him about all this. They usually found it creepy.

"Oh – what about his weaknesses?" asked invisible Hagakure.

"Yeah! Come on – how do we take him down?" laughed Ashido.

Present Mic waved it off, "The best heroes keep their weaknesses a secret! There's no way he knows about –"

Midoriya smiled, and deadpanned, "Insects."

And most of the class turned to the hero with identical, toothy grins, as a single bead of sweat fell from his forehead.

The bell sounded.

"AND THAT'S THE END OF YOUR FIRST LESSON!" Present Mic barked, still looking rather worried for his general wellbeing. "YOU HAVE MATHS IN TEN MINUTES SO HAVE FUN!"

"Are you scared of bugs?" asked Jiro.

"SIGNING OFF NOW – BYE, BYE!" And he slammed the door shut behind him.

A couple of seconds passed before the class burst into laughter.

By the time their maths teacher, Mr Ectoplasm, arrived, Kaminari and Ashido had already cooked up half a dozen pranks for poor Present Mic, and Midoriya was smiling so much that it hurt.

A tough morning of surprise exams passed them by, and soon enough, class 1-A was off down to lunch.

Midoriya found it kind of funny, watching how different friendship groups were already being forged.

With the whole pranking Present Mic idea, Kaminari and Ashido had gotten talking. Kaminari had dragged along Sero, and Ashido had roped in Kirishima, who appeared to already know her from outside UA. Kirishima seemed to be a genuinely nice person. He was the only one who made much of an effort with Kacchan, despite the fact that he was still calling him Weird Hair. And so, Kirishima dragged Kacchan along to this group of energetic pranksters, who were still animatedly calling him names, and he was doing so in return. It was… strangely nice to see.

Midoriya found himself spending more time with Iida and Uraraka, since they were the first to actually talk to him. But now Yaoyorozu and Asui ("Please, call me Tsu,") were tagging along as well. Midoriya couldn't remember a time when he'd found himself in a group of people who seemed to actually like him.

Friends – they were… friends, right? It had been a while since he'd actually had friends (if ever). He'd come to learn that Kacchan didn't count – and he never had.

"– a lot of Quirkest people out there, ribbit," Asui – Tsu – croaked. "My brother had a problem with some of his classmates. They'd make fun of him. I stepped in when they started leaving dead frogs in his locker."

"Oh, that's horrible!" Uraraka gasped.

"It was," she agreed. "I went to the headteacher and he gave the bullies some stern words, but it didn't help, ribbit. They got angry that he told someone about it all. He started coming home covered in bruises, so I followed him around until I caught them in the act and confronted them, ribbit. They attacked so I defended, but no one believed me. I think one of the boys' family gave quite a few generous donations to the school in the past, so when they reported me, the school backed him up and I was punished for it."

Yaoyorozu frowned, "And you ended up here just because of that?"

"Not exactly, ribbit. It kept happening, and I kept stepping in. One day, I think hurt someone. Or maybe they made it up. The school had to act somehow, but they didn't want me locked up as a villain, so it was filed as vigilantism. The headteacher forwarded the case to UA, and they accepted me."

"It's not the best outcome, but I suppose it could have been worse…"

"Agreed. And the boys faced some consequences too; two of them were expelled. But I can't protect my brother anymore or contact him. I hope he's ok, ribbit."

"You did a very honourable thing, Asui," Iida nodded in respect.

"I've told you to call me Tsu."

Uraraka groaned loudly as they joined the lunch queue, "You guys are all so cool! And I'm here for something… way less cool!"

"You haven't heard my story yet," Yaoyorozu sighed, "I suppose I'll have to explain in due course…"

"Only when you want to," Iida insisted.

"Thank you."

Midoriya had remained silent throughout, listening, but also casting an eye towards a few people a little further up the queue. They kept giving them sideways glances. It wasn't hard to notice the red bands or the large numbers on their blazers – they were clearly class 1-A. So, who were they?

Todoroki was just ahead of them, standing alone. He was a hostile and abrasive individual, in a vastly different way to Kacchan. Midoriya hadn't quite figured him out yet. But right now, he was looking at the same group of people that Midoriya was, and there was a look of disgust in his eyes which seemed to indicate that he knew them.

A blond boy with dull eyes and a cocky smile turned his head. Todoroki immediately averted his gaze, but the damage was done.

"Well, hello there, number 15," the other boy said with a laugh. "Are you planning on washing up after us again tonight? Or will UA just lock you up with the other villains until morning?"

"Class 1-B," Midoriya muttered, and the other four immediately locked gaze with the opposing class. It was the first time they'd met, but Todoroki and Kacchan both received detention last night, and were tasked on washing up after class B's dinner.

Todoroki didn't say a word, trying to ignore him completely.

"Oh, come on," the boy grinned. "I'm just trying to strike up a conversation! You could have been in our class, once upon a time. I'm just extending the hospitality of UA. You should be glad they let you within a mile of this place!"

"How rude," Iida spoke up, but none of them were brave enough to step in. Perhaps Tsu's story about the fall backs of standing up for people had struck a chord.

"You have an incredible power, being the son of the number two hero," he leered, stepping closer to Todoroki and reaching out to him, "It's such a shame to see it go to waste –"

Todoroki slapped his hand away, "Back off," he snarled.

The hero student pursed his lips for a moment, before glancing down at the hand Todoroki had knocked away. He clicked his fingers, and a flame began to burn, "So, you can use fire – interesting. In all the encounters shown on the news, you'd only ever used ice. Why hide a part of who you are?" He let the fire grow brighter, catching the eyes of a few other students around them, so it wouldn't have been strange for Midoriya to continue watching carefully. The hero student held out his other hand, and let ice crystals form over it, "Half ice, half fire. You would have been the perfect –"

"Stop it," Todoroki interrupted, leaning in closer, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know Quirks," he sighed, "not people. But it is a shame – I know your Quirk better than you do."

A copy Quirk – Midoriya realised. It was an incredible power, Midoriya would have done anything to have something like that, but it was not to be. That didn't mean he was powerless though. No… not against a copy Quirk.

Midoriya made his move, stepping forwards to Todoroki's side.

"If you plan on being a hero, you should first figure out how to be a good person," he snapped.

He narrowed his eyes, "And who might you be – ah, another villain. Who are you…?" he tilted his head to try and catch a glimpse of the number on Midoriya's back, "18 – I see. I'm Monoma, class 1-B."

"I figured," Midoriya replied. "Can you please leave us alone? We didn't do anything wrong."

"On the contrary!" the boy – Monoma – laughed. "Why do you think you're here?"

It was a question Midoriya had been asking himself a lot, but he decided to take a leaf out of Yaoyorozu's book in this situation, "Wouldn't you like to know?" he hissed.

He simply laughed again, "Oh, I can always find out. I always find a way." He stepped a little closer to Midoriya, holding an icy hand over his heart, "I am a hero, and you are a villain. Which side do you think this school is really on?"

Midoriya saw Todoroki flinch as Monoma rested his hand on Midoriya's shoulder. He must have come to the same conclusion Midoriya had; the Quirk was activated through touch. The ice cracked away and left a chill behind.

"Is that a threat?" Yaoyorozu spoke up.

Midoriya hated Monoma's laugh, "You villains are always quick to start a fight! We're just having a civilised conversation here." He turned back to Midoriya, pulling his hand away. "Now, what about you? I suppose I didn't make my query clear. Why are you here? What is your power…?"

He looked down at his hands and stared for a moment – and then frowned.

Midoriya let a smile creep across his face whilst Monoma grew increasingly confused. His eyes darted from Midoriya and back to his hand. After a few seconds, he turned around and grabbed his ginger-haired friend by the arm, who hadn't been paying attention to the interaction at all. Midoriya guessed that he was trying to copy her Quirk, already being familiar with it.

"Monoma – what are you doing?" she questioned, her hands on her hips after she pulled away from him.

Monoma just looked back to his hands, breath now frantic, "What did you do?!" he asked Midoriya.

Realising his assumption had been correct, Midoriya began his charade, "A copy Quirk, right? You make contact with someone, and you copy their power. That is bound to have some limitations – is it one power at a time? Or as many as you want, with a time limit on each? Can you combine Quirks, or do you have to switch one off and another on?" he questioned thoughtfully, genuinely interested.

"What did you do?!" he repeated, seemingly rather frightened.

Now, Midoriya could have just explained that he'd copied his Quirk, which, of course, was nothing. But he had a better idea.

"Well, our abilities seem to fundamentally contradict one another," Midoriya sighed. He turned and started to pace back and forth. "Can you at least answer my question? Is there a time limit?"

"Hey, what just happened?" frowned the ginger girl with the ponytail, clearly ready to step in if something was going wrong. They'd gathered quite an audience too.

"He did something to my Quirk!" Monoma accused, his calm composure lost to the wind.

"Well, it's your own fault," Midoriya shrugged. He walked around behind Todoroki, and whispered hastily to him, "Freeze my arm, quickly!"

Todoroki seemed unsure, but thankfully, didn't question it. He brushed his hand against Midoriya, and with a sudden chill, Midoriya's hand was as frozen as Monoma's had been, ice crystals quickly melting against warm skin and trickling down his palm.

Monoma stared.

"It is a cool Quirk – both of yours are."

"That's… my Quirk," Monoma gaped with wide eyes. "You took my Quirk! Give it back!"

"Tell me how long your time limit is," Midoriya insisted, brushing away the ice. "And I'll think about it."

Monoma gritted his teeth, "…Five minutes per Quirk."

"Ah, cool – and can you combine them?"

"No – now give it back to me!" He reached forwards as though to snatch something out of the air.

Midoriya just gave him a look, "It doesn't work like that. You won't need contact when you get it back. It just needs to be released. You'll have it in… five minutes."

"Hey, give it back," the ginger girl ordered. "It's not funny, you're frightening him."

"And it's not funny to have a go at us either! We didn't choose to be here – at least, most of us didn't. Stop having a go at us for being in your school, and we'll stop getting in your way, deal?"

"Fine!" Monoma exclaimed, "Just give me my Quirk back!"

"He said five minutes," Todoroki breathed. He must have caught onto Midoriya's trick. "Keep asking and it'll be ten."

He snapped his mouth shut, and silence fell over them all.

"…You wanna eat lunch with us, Todoroki?" Midoriya asked whilst everyone continued to stare.

He hesitated, and then shrugged, "Sure – but don't call me that."

"Oh, ok – but I can't just call you 15…"

"Shoto is fine."

"O-Ok!"

The crowd parted as the group of 'villains' re-joined the lunch queue. In fact, there wasn't a queue, they let them go right to the front. Uraraka just hummed along to a tune in her head and followed suit, not bothered at all by the situation. The only one who seemed at all worried was Iida, who didn't speak up about it for a while.

"That was very brave, ribbit," Tsu voiced when they finally sat down, somewhere far away from everyone else.

Midoriya sighed in relief, "I-It was kind of scary."

"You were kind of scary!" Uraraka exclaimed. "But also, really cool – that was smart!"

"It was," Yaoyorozu nodded, "I don't think I would have thought of it."

"I don't get it though – you are Quirkless, right?" said Uraraka, picking at her food.

"Y-Yeah, I am," Midoriya answered, rubbing his head shyly. "But I realised he had a copy Quirk and um, well, if he tried to copy Quirklessness, I thought that maybe… he'd copy having nothing – which would mean he couldn't turn his Quirk on or off or do anything until his timer ran out. There had to be a timer – it made the most sense. I was a little w-worried there wasn't for a moment…"

"So, that's why he thought you took his Quirk! Uraraka gasped. "Wasn't there an old villain with a power like that or something…? Whatever – Now he thinks your Quirk is stealing others!"

"Because he didn't anticipate someone in this school being Quirkless," Yaoyorozu finished.

Todoroki didn't say a thing. He simply sat there and noisily slurped his noodles. Midoriya figured he wasn't the type for much social interaction, which he could relate to.

"I don't think antagonising the hero class was a wise idea," Iida finally spoke up. "They are our betters and we shouldn't –"

"They aren't our betters," Midoriya quickly interrupted. "Don't talk yourself down like that, Iida. You'll transfer soon enough. That's why you're here, right?"

He hesitated, before clearing his throat and continuing, "This may come back to haunt you."

Midoriya simply shrugged, "Why do you think I'm here?"

And they all fell silent again, filled only by the sound of Todoroki eating.

Midoriya stared at his rice, thinking over what he just said.

Why do you think I'm here?

"I've had a complaint from class 1-B today," Mr Aizawa announced at the end of the day, and Midoriya shrunk into his seat. "About one of their most promising students having their Quirk taken away from them and being threatened by you, 18."

Midoriya felt all their eyes on the back of his head.

"Care to explain?" Mr Aizawa asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I-I um… may have… faked taking his Quirk…" he admitted sheepishly. "He has a copy ability and he copied my Quirklessness so I thought that maybe I could trick him – but I didn't mean to scare him so much! I just –"

"Calm down," the teacher sighed, rubbing his temples, "I can't process if you're speaking that fast."

"It's not his fault," Todoroki – no, Shoto – suddenly interjected. Everyone stared at him. No one could have expected him to speak up. He glanced around the room, suddenly seeming a lot less cold and unforgiving, and a little more… human. "Monoma was… antagonising me, and Midoriya stepped in."

Mr Aizawa let a long, hard moment of silence hold the atmosphere in an iron grip, "18," he began. At his name, Midoriya flinched and cowered. Mr Aizawa continued, "you need to understand that fabricated strengths, can quickly become very real weaknesses."

The tension left Midoriya's shoulders, and he sat up a little straighter, confused.

"Class B will target you because of this," his teacher explained, "you will all be attending several classes together, and Monoma won't forget what you did. He'll catch on eventually."

Midoriya gulped, "Yes, Sir – sorry… Sir."

"You also need to realise that the lack of a Quirk, isn't a weakness – you all need to understand that."

Mr Aizawa gazed around the classroom. Midoriya stared back at him with wide eyes.

"Quirklessness isn't a weakness," he repeated, "it is just the lack of a strength. You have plenty of other strengths, Midoriya. You don't need to cover up and hide. If you step back and really look at it, you can find power in what you think is powerlessness."

He just… used his name.

"But if you do something like this again, it's detention in class B's dorm – get it, problem child?"

"Y-Yes, Sir! Sorry, again!"

"Good."

When the day came to a close, and Midoriya once again rested his head against his pillow, he realised he was still smiling.

Midoriya slept well on the second night of UA.