Chapter 26: Will You Change Us?
Inko Midoriya opened the door to her son's room the next day with a plate of toast and a sympathetic smile ready on her face.
Poor Izuku, his friend had really gone through a tough time, and had disappeared off the face of the Earth. It was all over the news, and Izuku was distraught. Inko could only hope he had come to terms with it by the morning.
She stood in her son's doorway and blinked at the sight before her. Izuku was soundly asleep in a black hoody, his backpack tossed aside and spilling open with various items of clothing she was quite sure didn't belong to him, and lying in the middle of the room, amongst the sofa cushions she had been puzzling over the disappearance of only a few minutes before, was that very same, missing friend.
After a moment more, she put the toast down on Izuku's desk, and carefully closed the door.
Not long after, she returned with a second helping.
Shoto was used to waking up in unusual places. This took the cake.
Well, for most people, waking up at a friend's was not unusual at all. There are several differences in Shoto's case. First of all, he'd never really had a friend before. Secondly, he'd never visited any houses… of friends… for obvious reasons. Thirdly, he was quite sure his friend snuck him into said house and he wasn't actually supposed to be there. And fourth, err, last time Shoto checked the police were still looking for him.
He sat up, hair falling awkwardly over his eyes. He tried brushing it out of the way, but soon realised that it was held there by a hair band that had shifted oddly whilst he slept. He took it out and re-did the small ponytail. He was quite sure Midoriya didn't have any hair gel to offer anyway.
Speaking of Midoriya, he wasn't there. Shoto could hear distant murmurs somewhere else in the tiny house, likely speaking to his mother.
Shoto felt his stomach squirm with nerves. He hoped he wasn't intruding… well, he was – by definition of the word.
His shoulder was aching – right, Stain had kind of stabbed him the day before.
He was about to leave the room when he noticed a small plate of jam on toast – a small note in Midoriya's handwriting stating that it was for him. Shoto ate it hungrily, and only then did he brave finding his way to the living room, which… kind of doubled as the kitchen and dining area.
"Oh, you're awake!" Mrs Midoriya smiled. She hurried over and took the empty plate off him without a second thought. Wandering over to the sink to clean it, she said, "You've had a long few days, haven't you? No wonder you slept in so late – I thought Izuku would sleep in longer too! But his head is always so busy; it can't stay quiet for long."
"U-Um –" Shoto started.
Midoriya quickly interrupted, "Everything's fine!"
"Some would beg to differ."
Midoriya's winced at the third voice.
It didn't take long for Shoto's eyes to fall onto none other than –
"Mr Aizawa?" Shoto stared.
His teacher took a swig of the cup of coffee Mrs Midoriya had obviously made for him. He made no move to stand up. "Lemillion contacted me to say Midoriya was on the move when he got on the train after him last night. Then, he messaged again saying that he'd been found and that he was quite sure that both Midoriya and you were heading back here. I faked ignorance until the morning."
"…Thank you?" Shoto replied unsurely.
"Let's see your shoulder."
Midoriya gave him a reassuring nod, and Shoto sat down beside Mr Aizawa at the table, pulling off his hoody to reveal his bandaged shoulder.
Without hesitation, Mr Aizawa carefully began to undo the bandages. Stain had only hit once – with the spikes on his shoes at Shoto's shoulder, specifically his left. The wounds weren't deep, and a paramedic with a Quirk called butterfly stitch used her power to seal the wounds with painless, silver thread that she summoned from nowhere. Apparently, they'd fade organically as the cut healed. They were still visible at the moment, and the wounds were a little red, but other than that, they were pretty clean and didn't really hurt. He'd gotten off lucky. Midoriya even more so, who'd barely been injured at all.
"Hurt anywhere else?" Mr Aizawa quizzed.
Shoto instinctively reached up to the back of his head, which he'd hit harshly against the concrete at one point during the fight. There was a lump, but no obvious damage and he was quite sure he didn't get concussed. So, Shoto shook his head.
"Good," his teacher nodded in response. "Wash that, and then re-bandage. I've been talking with the Midoriyas, and we've come to two conclusions. Either you can come back with me and stay at UA for the rest of the week, or you can stay here. We're happy with either."
Shoto blinked at him, hand slowly falling away from his head, "I… don't have to go back to my father's?"
"I think it's clear that you're not comfortable there. Endeavor may have made his excuses last time, but if there's a risk of you disappearing again, we don't want to take it. So, you can stay here or at UA. At both, you'd be under close watch. I'm going to be patrolling this neighbourhood too now, so neither of you will be leaving."
Shoto glanced over at Midoriya, who ducked his head a little and looked away, agreeing to help his mum with the dishes in the meantime.
"So, which would you prefer?"
"I… I can stay here?"
"If you want to. You'd be alone at UA, so I can see why this would be the preferred choice."
"I wouldn't be a burden?"
"Oh, of course not!" Mrs Midoriya interjected. "A-And UA has kindly offered to pay any expense – not that there would be any!"
"…Then I'd love to," Shoto found himself smiling.
Midoriya grinned back at him, holding a plate he was supposed to be drying.
Shoto turned back to Mr Aizawa, "Um… what happened?"
"Do you remember?"
"Oh, no – yeah, of course. I mean… what happened after we left?"
Mr Aizawa sighed and lent back in his chair, "Iida went to hospital to be properly treated. He'll be fine. From what we've gathered so far from him and Midoriya, it seems that he went out looking for Stain with the same motives as his first attempt, but Midoriya insists that he changed his mind and was heading home before Stain found him. Meanwhile, Midoriya went to Hosu in search of both you and Iida and was successful. You were trying to run from Dabi, and so you joined Midoriya before you ran into Iida and Stain. Midoriya tried to talk Stain down, but it didn't work, and he attacked, so the two of you acted in self-defence. Eventually, the provisional hero in search of Midoriya, Lemillion, stepped into finish the job and protect you. Does that seem right so far?"
Shoto could see some obvious flaws but wasn't about to mess with Midoriya's integrate plans of avoiding legal consequences. He nodded in agreement.
"You all met up with pro heroes who attended to your wounds and detained the Hero Killer, but a Nomu sent by the League of Villains arrived unexpectantly to take you and Midoriya away, correct?"
Another nod.
"Ok, now tell me what happened next."
Shoto gulped. He could hear Midoriya still very slowly drying bowls, listening in.
He did his best. "Dabi was with the League. That's how we got to Hosu in the first place. I didn't realise – if I did, I never would have gone with him. He seemed to think that I'd never go anywhere if Midoriya wasn't going too, so the League tried to detain the both of us. Then, Stain must have followed that flying Nomu because he jumped in and attacked the League. He forced them to teleport away – killed the Nomu – and collapsed. We didn't know if the League would come back or if Stain would get up and try to kill us again, so we ran off. We also knew there were two other Nomu in the city that the League might send after us, so instead of trying to find the heroes again and risk running into them, we went to the train station, because it was close, and came back here."
It was all the truth. Honestly, there wasn't much he needed to fabricate. Midoriya always liked to tell his alibis as close to the truth as possible. This had to align with whatever Midoriya had already said, right?
After a moment of tense silence, Mr Aizawa nodded, confirming that he'd gotten it right.
"Of course, this isn't a formal interrogation," his teacher reminded him. "Detective Tsukauchi will be coming over to talk with the two of you again soon. I know you both remember him."
"Yeah, makes sense…"
"Stain was found and arrested," he explained. "With his provisional licence, Lemillion was able to take the credit – we didn't have to keep it under wraps. Know that if you lot hadn't acted in self-defence – the consequences would have been a lot more severe."
Vigilantism was serious business. Shoto had learnt that from a good number of his classmates already, particularly Iida. Oh, right –
"W-What about Iida?" Shoto stammered. "Is he in trouble?"
Mr Aizawa let out yet another sigh, rubbing at his temples. "Well, he didn't actually attack Stain, according to your reports – Stain attacked him. We'll have to wait and see if Tsukauchi can confirm his side of the story. If so, all we can realistically punish him for is leaving his house, since you're all supposed to stay indoors –" Midoriya visibly flinched again – "and also his initial thoughts of going after Stain show that he hasn't improved much since joining UA. I'll wait until the week is up, but I'm thinking of stripping his vice-president title."
Shoto expected Midoriya to jump in and say you can't do that! – But they'd clearly already had this conversation because he did no such thing.
"And… if his story can't be confirmed?" Shoto questioned.
"If he attacked Stain like a vigilante?" Mr Aizawa raised his eyebrows, "then the consequences would be more serious, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Shoto nodded. It didn't seem like there was much he could do about the matter, so it was best dropped, for now.
"Now I'm not saying that either of you will get off without a hitch either," Mr Aizawa explained whilst Midoriya sat down opposite them, a sheepish look plastered across his face. "Both of you left your residences without permission or warning – you travelled significant distances – engaged in life threatening fights with a deranged villain – and then ran off again to come back here."
The expressions Midoriya was making here really were a sight to behold. Shoto should have woken up earlier. He must have had a rather heated conversation with Mr Aizawa whilst he was still asleep.
"Midoriya, according to the story you've told me, out of everyone, you are the one who has broken the most rules," Mr Aizawa continued. "Your behaviour could be categorised as that of a vigilante – going out to stop Iida like that, knowing you might have to face Stain – and face Dabi if you found Shoto."
Shoto didn't know why he blinked at the mention of his name. He put a moment more thought behind it before he realised that he'd never actually heard his name leave Mr Aizawa's mouth before. It had always been 15. Moreover, he was using his first name – not Todoroki. It really showed that their teacher had been listening – paying attention to his class' interactions with each other. Few outside the class knew that Shoto didn't like going by his last name.
Mr Aizawa turned back to Shoto, "On the other hand, you're a special case. You won't face any punishment for this – just know that UA will be keeping a much closer eye on you and your family."
"M-My family?" He thought of Dabi for a moment.
"Your father, specifically."
"Oh." That was… good – right?
Shoto's eyes drifted back to Midoriya. He was smiling thinly, tapping his fingers against each other nervously.
"Shoto, give me a number between one and five," Mr Aizawa asked oddly.
Shoto blinked at him for a moment, "What for…?"
"Was that a four?"
"Um, no… yes?"
"Midoriya, four weeks' detention."
"Oh, come on!" Midoriya exclaimed, "That's just uncalled for…"
"The only reason you keep your class president title is because you know full well that if I do so, class A will go feral."
Midoriya struggled to hold back his snort of laughter. Shoto found himself smiling at the comment. Mr Aizawa was a pretty cool teacher. He hadn't really appreciated it much before now.
"We will have to wait for the Detective's verdict before further action can be decided upon," he finished. "Other than that, the biggest punishment the two of you will face is the public's response."
"Their… response?" Midoriya perked up.
Mr Aizawa gave him a look, "Yes, their response. The world saw Stain break free of restraint and chase after you both when that Nomu came. It wasn't hard to put two and two together and realise that he saved you. It's sparked quite some debate. And to think I thought we'd gotten past the worst of it when we finished the Sports Festival."
"What about my father?" Shoto butted in. He knew the conversation had already moved past this, but he needed to know. "What has he said about what happened? Does he know where I am?"
"Not currently," Mr Aizawa answered casually. "But we've assured him you're in a safe place. He's been avoiding the cameras, so I can't tell you what he thinks about it all. Know that UA has been keeping a close eye on him."
It wasn't more than he already knew or had expected. Shoto simply nodded again.
"U-Um…" Midoriya stuttered, holding up a finger as he interrupted. "So, um, we're just… gonna be here… until, when?"
Mr Aizawa wavered as he pulled a smart phone from his pocket, checking the date. "It's Thursday – you're back on Monday, so that's another four days here, including today. I'll be escorting the two of you back. You've got a busy term ahead of you, if what I've heard from Nezu still applies after the stunt you've pulled."
Midoriya grimaced again, "O-Ok…"
"Are you sure it's alright?" Shoto asked, directing the question mainly at Mrs Midoriya, who rested a hand on her son's shoulder fondly. "It's alright for me to stay here for four days?"
"Of course," she said, tilting her head to one side as though she were confused as to why it would not be. "But no leaving the house!" she turned to Midoriya with a stern expression, "Izuku you worry me sometimes. I-I'm proud but my heart can't take it. Just… please stop getting yourself into these situations?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" he murmured.
"Well," Mr Aizawa interjected, standing back up. "I have damage control to attend," he said drearily.
"…Sorry," Midoriya repeated.
"You're going to be the death of me, problem child," he said as he walked away. "Thank you for the coffee," he addressed Mrs Midoriya.
They exchanged further thanks and pleasantries before Mr Aizawa made his leave – but not before turning around and pointing to his eyes, glowing red for a split second, and pointing back at Midoriya. A silent gesture that made Shoto smirk.
"Don't think you're any better, 15," his teacher called back before the door swung shut.
Shoto dropped his smile and Midoriya laughed at him mockingly.
"We're going to give him grey hairs," Shoto acknowledged.
"If we haven't already," Midoriya pointed out.
"I don't see any."
"Hair dye exists! Or… maybe he pulls them out?"
Shoto chuffed, "What? You think that's how his evening goes? Standing in the bathroom, pulling out grey hairs whilst cursing our names?"
"You don't pull out grey hairs, Izuku," Mrs Midoriya smiled softly, shaking her head.
"But you don't have any grey hairs," he blinked, "how would you know?"
She laughed pleasantly – she had a nice laugh, "How would I know, indeed?" And she walked off to another corner of the small house.
Midoriya narrowed his eyes and turned back to Shoto, "…I'm confused."
Shoto's smile grew a little wider. And just with the Sports Festival, he realised that the home visits weren't something he should have dreaded at all – as long as Midoriya was there.
Everything about the Midoriya residence was small.
It was close together, quaint, condensed, and warm. Sounds of neighbours in the apartment complex around them weren't nearly as unsettling as Shoto had perhaps expected. He didn't feel boxed in at all. This place felt more like home than his ever really had.
Mrs Midoriya, who had insisted on being called Inko after the first ten minutes of Shoto knowing her, was a far gentler soul than her son, but he reflected her greatly. Shoto could see how Midoriya had grown from perhaps a mirror image of his mother, into something moulded by society – a creation that could tear it to the ground. But right now, Midoriya wasn't the weak looking boy without a Quirk, fighting at every living, breathing moment to prove himself. He possessed none of the manic tendencies he showed at school. There were no cracks in his armour because he didn't wear any. Here, he was simply, Midoriya – Shoto's friend.
But that's not what the rest of the world saw.
He and Shoto sat on the sofa, absentmindedly flicking through useless television channels in search of something to watch. Midoriya was staring at his notebook – not writing anything in particular, but he had a pen that he tapped against his lip, brow furrowed, eyes focused. He was on Hagakure's page, Shoto had realised after a couple of accidental glances over his shoulder. Shoto had no idea what had got him so focused on their classmate, but maybe he did that with everyone – thinking up strengths and weaknesses to help them with.
Inko had gone out to the grocery store, meaning they were home alone, not that it mattered. The house was watched by heroes at all times, according to Mr Aizawa, so they couldn't leave even if they wanted to – and they didn't.
Shoto changed the channel again –
"–Killer, Stain, was defeated by the provisional hero, Lemillion, alongside three members of UA's infamous class 1-A – often dubbed the class A threat – namely, the class' president, Izuku Midoriya, their vice, Tenya Iida, and the son of the number two hero, Shoto Todoroki."
Midoriya sighed audibly, "Here we go…"
He'd been paying a lot closer attention to the media than Shoto had – he'd been ignoring it, as her usual. Nothing good ever came out of it anyway.
"Want me to change the channel?" he asked.
"No," Midoriya shrugged, putting his notebook down on the arm of the sofa, "Let's just listen."
It was a trashy news show that Shoto didn't recognise. It seemed the type to blow stories out of proportion. Perhaps that's why Midoriya rolled his eyes at it before they even started on their conversation.
Three presenters in clothing that Shoto would deem to be not quite smart enough to wear on television, sat around a wooden table in a cosy looking set. The first, with purple skin and glowing eyes, set a card that she'd been reading off, down on the table. "Tenya Iida is the younger brother of the retired pro hero, Ingenium. He attended class A in the first place after attacking Stain. What do you think about the Hosu police department's decision to not mark this as an act of vigilantism this time?"
"It's ridiculous, really," sighed a plan looking man with thick rimmed glasses and an orange-brown knitted sweater. He leant back in his chair as he spoke, picking at his sleeves. "It's so obvious the kid went after Stain for the same reason as the first time – they just don't want to admit it because then they'd have no choice but to expel him from UA, and they don't want to lose out on a hero hopeful."
"Is that really such a bad thing though?" said the final member of the group, someone that Shoto couldn't assign a gender to if he tried, their hair floating around them like they were under water, "I mean, more heroes are always good, right? Plus – they said he changed his mind; was going home when Stain attacked him. I just think it's best not to question it. Let it happen – he's just a kid and he barely got away with his life, that's punishment enough."
"Huh," Midoriya blinked, startling Shoto a little. "They're usually not that reasonable."
"You've seen this show before?"
He shrugged again, "When there's nothing else on. Watch them get to me and repeat literally everything said on the internet like it's their original idea."
The show skimmed over Shoto's involvement in a similar manner to Iida's – blaming it on him being in the wrong place at the wrong time; going through a rough few nights anyway and he stepped into save his friends, proving that he was less villainous than the public once thought. So… that was nice of them?
"But Midoriya," said Purple (Shoto assigned them names since the show didn't care to remind them of their real ones). "He's been propping up all over after the UA Sports Festival this year. He won third place alongside Iida – and he doesn't even have a Quirk."
Obnoxious (that's the one in the sweater) scoffed, "It says something about UA, doesn't it? And to think none of that year's hero course could get further than the first round of the finals. They're just not up to parr – UA should think about completely revamping the year group."
Floaty (yeah, with the hair) giggled at him, "See, you've fallen right into Midoriya's trap there – he covered that in his Sports Festival winning speech – said we're just looking for excuses if we say that class B was just weak."
Midoriya let out a huff of laughter.
Obnoxious rolled his eyes. He leant forwards whilst he desperately tried to back himself up, "It doesn't matter – the point is that yeah, he won – and UA let him! Now, during the end of term break when class A was supposed to be on monitored home visits, three members of the class broke out and got all the way to Hosu!"
"One was already in Hosu," blinked Floaty.
Obnoxiously threw his hands in the air, "You know what I mean. Midoriya just seems to do whatever he wants! UA and hero society needs better control over who can climb their ranks! If the likes of Midoriya can, why can't you? Why can't I? Why can't anyone?"
"What a good point," Midoriya said dryly.
"The whole point of UA to begin with was to train those with exceptional abilities to become heroes – and Midoriya is not one of those people!"
"He's the first Quirkless to attend UA since its founding," acknowledged Purple.
"And why start here?" Obnoxious asked, looking around as though waiting for someone to contradict him, "Why this kid? The reasons UA give for his enrolment are valid, but… flaky at best. I'm sure there are plenty of others that deserved the spot far more than him. UA's class 1-A isn't just about helping kids which have taken the wrong path in life – it's about training hero hopefuls or at least hopefuls for some part of that industry. Sure, the students they produce from the program are more often than not, mediocre, but this year's group has a lot of potential! Why lump Midoriya in with them? From the Sports Festival alone, it's clear that he's the catalyst to why the class has gone off the rails. And why is he class president? Anyone can run off their mouth like he does – make little speeches that he wasn't even supposed to make, pointing the blame for his condition at everybody else –"
It was at this point that Shoto turned off the TV.
Midoriya continued to stare at it unblinkingly. Shoto could see his reflection in the blank screen.
"I was watching that," he said slowly.
Shoto faltered, and before he knew it, the words had fallen out of his mouth, "I'm sorry."
Midoriya finally turned to him, frowning, "What are you talking about?"
"I-I'm so sorry about… what I said – back when I was with Dabi at your window."
"…Oh."
"– Because I'm a villain and you're just the Quirkless kid pretending that he can be a hero!"
"I… shouldn't have said it," Shoto began. "I knew that I shouldn't have the moment I'd said it. I… I didn't mean it –"
"You don't have to apologise," Midoriya sighed, picking up his notebook and flicking through again. The way that he said it made Shoto realise that he'd been thinking about it – and a lot.
"I really do," he realised. "I should have said something sooner. You know I… You know I just said that to make sure you didn't follow me, right?"
"Hm… Sure sounded like it after you threatened to kill me."
Shoto closed his eyes and dragged his hand down his face. God, he's such an idiot. "I didn't… I shouldn't have –"
"You really didn't have to bring it up. It doesn't matter. You were right, anyway."
Shoto whipped his head back around to Midoriya, wide eyed.
"I mean, listen to those people on TV. They're not the only ones having a whale of a time making fun of the fifteen-year-old Quirkless kid who seems to think he can be a hero."
…He should have never left that channel on.
Midoriya closed his notebook and dropped it in his lap. He leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "I mean, Stain runs rampage in Hosu – and at the same time, the League of Villains sends three Nomu on the city; Dabi is proven to be part of the League. And all everyone seems to care about is little old me. It was… so easy to ignore at UA – the attention. Maybe that's another reason why they don't let us have access to the internet. It's all so… toxic. A-And it's something I'm going to have to face for the rest of my life. I just… I don't know if I've decided that I can deal with that yet."
Shoto hummed in agreement, picking at the bandages on his shoulder, pocking out from under his T-shirt. "I know it's not the same – but I know what it's like to have everyone's eyes on you, all the time. You have to learn to block them out. I know it's easier said than done but… yeah. It's all you can do, really."
He didn't say anything for a while. It made Shoto feel uncomfortable – mainly because they were just sitting there – conversation unfinished – staring at a blank television screen. Well, Shoto was – Midoriya had returned to his notebook.
"…Thank you, by the way," Shoto spoke up.
"Hm? For what?"
"…For still coming after me – even when I said those things."
Midoriya faltered. Then, he sighed, closing the notebook and putting it down on the floor – as though to stop distracting himself with it. He turned back to him, now sitting sideways and cross-legged on the sofa, waiting for Shoto to continue.
It took Shoto a moment more to think up what to say, "See, that's the difference between you and Dabi; why I decided to go with you instead of with him. You've… always helped – even when it seems hopeless – even when I'm being… stubborn. Whilst Dabi just never did. I realise now that he… he didn't really care – he wasn't helping me – only helping himself, to get back at Father. I can't believe it's taken me this long to figure that out. And… it's the fact that you tried to help. Even though you're… Quirkless – you always try. You just don't seem to see your limits – I mean, if that isn't what UA is about, then I don't know what is – those… people on the TV don't know what they're talking about."
Midoriya just blinked at him, a little stunned, "…Thank you."
"I mean it," Shoto nodded, hoping this made up for what he'd done, at least in the smallest way. "And I still owe you – for… everything – don't let me forget that."
He smiled softly, a silent promise that he probably wouldn't remind him. Shoto wouldn't forget though. Midoriya was his first friend – the only one who had ever really cared, or at least, the first one to.
The door opened with the rattle of keys and the squeak of its hinges. Inko was home again.
Feeling infinitely better than he had before, Shoto was first to get up to help her unpack the shopping. It was like lifting a weight off his shoulders (those shoulders being injured) – talking to Midoriya about all that.
It was clear Midoriya had a lot on his mind – more than just about Shoto and maybe Iida. Whatever it was though, Shoto would help all he could. After all, that was what Midoriya had done for him.
Nothing much of note happened over those four days since Shoto's arrival, in Midoriya's opinion. Perhaps the most memorable occasion was when his mum had insisted that they did some sort of activity instead of sitting around watching TV all day. They'd settled on cooking – which was bound to be hilarious, considering Shoto didn't have the faintest clue how to cook.
The idea was to make pancakes, mainly because it was the first thing that came up when Midoriya turned to the internet in search of something quick and easy to do. He thought that the less ingredients and steps there were, the less likely they were to go wrong.
So, Shoto burnt one of the pancakes, and then panicked when he dropped the paper instructions they'd printed off, onto the stove, setting it alight. He used his ice to put it out, which in turn startled Midoriya, who was holding the pan away from the disaster. Now, there was ice all over the floor, and pancake on the ceiling.
In conclusion, the best attempt at cooking Midoriya had ever had the pleasure of being a part of.
But those four days passed by soon enough. And as flurries of excited messages arrived in their brick phones, burying the concerns and debates over what had happened with Stain, Midoriya and Shoto packed their bags (Shoto's sister had sent over a suitcase of clothes and belongings of Shoto's back on Thursday), and after waving Midoriya's tearful mother goodbye, lugged themselves into Mr Aizawa's car.
"Hello, troublemakers!" called out a cheerful boy in a UA uniform that Midoriya almost didn't recognise without the hero get-up.
"Lemillion?!" Midoriya exclaimed in surprise.
He waved cheerfully from the front seat.
"Mirio had another appointment with Detective Tsukauchi," Mr Aizawa explained as he turned off onto the street. "Time was tight, I offered to take him as long as he could stand being in a car with you two on our way back."
Midoriya cleared his throat awkwardly, tearing his eyes away from his apartment complex as it disappeared from view, his mother fading from sight for the last time for who knows how long. "Yeah um… sorry for not answering your messages," he admitted.
Lemillion laughed, waving it off, "It's ok! You just scared us, that's all! And you can call me Mirio – I'm not wearing my hero costume!"
Midoriya didn't even know that was his name. He smiled thinly and nodded. He noticed Shoto silently laughing at him – so he elbowed him in his side. That's something Midoriya had realised he did – didn't make a sound or any sort of action to indicate his amusement. It was something in a smile, or a look in his eyes – a silent laughter.
"H-How is everything?" Midoriya asked after a moment more, trying to make conversation.
"All good!" Lemillion – Mirio – replied. "Although, all this attention from the public was a little unexpected. My mentor's pleased though! He says it's good for me."
"Who's your mentor?"
"Oh, um, just a hero from UA who's helping me out!"
"Which one?"
"Err –"
"I don't think he wants to tell you, Midoriya," Shoto told him with a raised eyebrow. He was still laughing at him. "Probably doesn't want you to write all his secrets down in your notebook."
"Oh, good point," Midoriya nodded sagely. He turned back to Mirio, "Don't worry though – I'll find out anyway eventually."
Mirio burst into laughter. Not the usual reaction, but Midoriya wasn't complaining.
"Looking forwards to coming back to UA?!" asked Mirio, swiftly moving away from the conversation.
"Err, sure?" Midoriya shrugged. Shoto nodded alongside him.
"That's good enough for me!" Mirio grinned, giving them a thumbs up.
The third-year continued to talk animatedly to them about what had happened after he took down Stain, and all the attention he got, positive and negative. He didn't feel arrogant or imposing at all. He just laughed at it. Mirio was a bubbly, easy-going kind of person. Midoriya wasn't often one to like heroes or soon-to-be heroes like him, but he couldn't help it. There was something about Mirio that just made him feel… safe. It was like how All Might's smile used to make Midoriya breathe easy. Mirio had that same charm – he just hadn't shot down his hopes and dreams yet. In fact, he'd actually enabled them, sort of. That put him in Midoriya's good books (literally, he had a page on him).
Soon enough, the black car rolled up to a back entrance to UA. They drove past the walls, back over the threshold, and into the not-so-much-of-a-prison that Midoriya… really was looking forwards to returning to, despite the tracking anklets that would soon be re-secured around their legs.
He opened the car door, yellow backpack on his shoulders, and breathed in the sight of the giant, H-shaped building, rising above them all. The sunlight reflected in the windows. Midoriya forced himself to look at it, regardless. It glistened across the glass, shining and reflecting the beams of light like it were a sun itself.
He pulled his suitcase out of the back of the car (well, Mirio did), and after waving the hero student goodbye, Shoto and Midoriya walked side by side, behind Mr Aizawa, on the way back to Heights Alliance.
The other students stared at them – whispered and pointed behind their backs. Midoriya tried to keep Shoto's and Mirio's words in mind, holding his head high. He didn't care about it – no. Why should he, anyway?
And that's it – he was inside. Home for the next… well, he didn't really care how long. He was just happy to be there.
"IT'S THE CLASS PRESIDENT!" bellowed Mina from across the room as soon as she lay eyes on him. The rest of them seemed to already be there, from the looks of it. Midoriya and Shoto were the last ones.
"H-Hi!" Midoriya called out as he hastily pulled off his shoes.
Uraraka skipped over with a smile, pulling him into a hug without warning, and then the same for Shoto. Midoriya took off his rucksack to set it by the door, ready to retrieve in a moment. With absolutely no class nor stealth, Uraraka unzipped it, took out the notebook, and wandered off. It was the first time Midoriya had actually seen her take it. She collapsed on a nearby armchair and opened it, blue pen already in hand to add her valued contributions.
"Hello," croaked Tsu, waving at them. She looked brighter and happier than usual. It was good to see that the week away had done at least some people good.
"Midoriya! Shoto!" called out Yaoyorozu, an even bigger smile than Uraraka's on her face. She held a fancy-looking tray in her hands, supporting equally fancy-looking cups and saucers, "I have new tea!" she announced in the same way one would proclaim that they've won the lottery.
"Cool!" Midoriya replied cheerfully. He'd missed Yaoyorozu – and Uraraka stealing his things – and Tsu's deadpan truths. Oh, and Iida!
"Iida!" he called out, hurrying over – he was standing by the board, supervising Kaminari and Sero whilst they added everyone's numbers and names back to the whiteboard, which a cleaner had struggled to wipe off (smudges of permanent pink marker were still visible). "How are you?!" Midoriya asked, spying the bandages still wrapped around his arm.
"I am perfectly fine!" he proclaimed at an unnecessary volume, "Thank you for asking!"
Midoriya smiled – this was more like the Iida he knew.
"I like your hair, Shoto," said Tsu, hopping up to him in the background.
He blinked at her – his hair was still in the little ponytail he'd taken to wearing instead of the hair gel. Not all of his hair would fit in it, because of how jaggedly it was cut, so an odd fringe hung out of it, namely the white, framing one side of his face. "Oh, I just haven't been putting gel in it," he admitted.
"I think it's lovely," smiled Yaoyorozu, "Tea?"
"Alright, listen up," called out Mr Aizawa, now standing in the middle of the room.
Everyone dutifully stopped their conversations and gathered around, perching on whatever seat they could find or leaning against counters.
"Uraraka – book down," Mr Aizawa insisted.
Uraraka did not look up from the notebook.
Their teacher sighed and gave up. "Welcome back to UA – this is your second term in class 1-A. Normally, there is a high chance that some members of this class graduate in this week or the next. But we all know this is no normal class," he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. It made a few of them giggle and exchange whispers.
"There will be a change in schedule from now on," Mr Aizawa announced, making everyone go dead-quiet again – even Uraraka finally looked up – they knew what this entailed. "We will be moving normal classes around and limiting study sessions to fit in more PE lessons. These lessons will involve me helping you with your Quirks and any other skills you want to cultivate. Moreover, we will also be fitting in theoretical and practical hero lessons."
The excited chatter rose up again. Mina grabbed Hagakure's shoulders and shook them in excitement, both squealing. Yaoyorozu put her tray of tea down and clapped her hands together, congratulations Midoriya on his brilliant deal with Nezu alongside many of the others.
"Quiet," Mr Aizawa sighed, rubbing at his temples – but no one listened, "Quiet –" still no response.
He caught Midoriya's eye, and he recalled that line about the class acting feral without him. Midoriya cleared his throat and pointed back to Mr Aizawa. Everyone hushed each other up and turned back to their teacher.
Midoriya blinked at the response. Huh, they really did listen to him…
Mr Aizawa took a deep breath and sighed even heavier – poor guy. "Over the next few weeks, we will be closely assessing your potential to become heroes. We will not be taking this lightly, especially due to recent events."
Midoriya shuffled awkwardly on his feet and a few of his classmates giggled at him, Shoto and Iida knowingly.
"On the condition that I believe you are ready; I will give the go ahead to enter you one at a time into the provisional hero licencing exam. All who make it through – which will hopefully be all of you – will attend the same provisional licencing exam centre at the same time in September."
The excitement bubbled up again for a moment before Midoriya grinned, shushing them all by tapping his finger against his lips. The only one who rolled their eyes at him was Kacchan (obviously). Midoriya tried to ignore him and his angry glare.
"This process will involve examinations, some questioning about yourselves and your peers, and the opinions of the other UA staff members. Finally, and most importantly, you will all be attending a summer training camp alongside class B as your final test. Get through this, and class A officially becomes a part of the hero course for the rest of the year."
Mr Aizawa let them have their moment of enthusiasm this time, waiting for the talk to die down naturally as they realised this wasn't all he had to say.
"In terms of what happened over the break –"
Midoriya shrunk in on himself a little.
"– I'm sure you're all aware. I know you've been talking about it with your brick phones," Mr Aizawa admitted. "But 4, 15 and 18 broke curfew, and ended up in Hosu in the middle of the attack the League of Villains was orchestrating, and also ran into Stain, the Hero Killer. The matter was dealt with by a respected third-year hero course student and the three of them are relatively unharmed. But that doesn't mean they're getting off this scot-free.
"15 is facing the least punishment due to obvious factors that I'm not going to repeat. But you can thank him for the heightened security for the last half of your break."
"Thank you, Shoto!" Mina called out mockingly, making a few of them laugh. Shoto didn't seem to get it was a joke and just stood there awkwardly and unsurely.
"After some debate from heroes and the police department," continued Mr Aizawa, "4 will clearly not be facing expulsion, but know that you are going to face the toughest scrutiny when deciding you can be become a hero or not."
"I understand," Iida nodded, voice solemn and serious.
"Some believe this is not punishment enough, so I have taken the initiative to remove your role as vice representative."
Any remaining laughter ceased immediately.
Iida bowed his head a little more. He nodded slowly, "Yes… I understand," he repeated.
"Which means, 18 –"
Midoriya perked up.
"–Choose a new vice."
"…Oh, y-you mean, right now?"
"Yes, right now."
"U-Um…" Midoriya looked slowly around the room. Most of his classmates tried to catch his eye eagerly. Notable exceptions included Uraraka, who was engrossed in his notebook again, Kacchan, who clearly did not want to be Midoriya's second in command, Tsu, who seemed rather indifferent, and Yaoyorozu, who was contently stirring a cup of tea and enjoying its warmth in her hands.
Yeah – who else could it be?
"Yaoyorozu," he decided surely, turning back to Mr Aizawa.
Yaoyorozu almost dropped her cup, "M-Me?"
Mr Aizawa simply nodded, "Congratulations, Yaoyorozu, you're vice president."
A beaming smile spread across her face as she put her tea down on the table behind her. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, eyes sparkling at the prospect.
"And that leads me onto the final thing I need to tell you all," Mr Aizawa droned, speaking over the little words of encouragement towards Yaoyorozu the class uttered. They fell quiet again to listen. "You have time to settle in today, and we've given you the day off lessons, which will start again tomorrow. Moreover, a new student will be replacing Mineta tomorrow evening."
"Wait, what?" Kaminari blinked.
"Is that normal?" frowned Sero, "I thought UA didn't replace missing members."
"Aren't they scared it would mess up the dynamic or something?" queried Jiro, who had been cradling her old music player like it was the most precious thing in this world since she had arrived.
"We've made an exception," Mr Aizawa shrugged. "As I said, they'll move in tomorrow. We thought we'd give you a day before they arrived to settle in again." He sighed like that was the end of that conversation, but Midoriya still had so many questions, namely – was it Shinso? "Oh, and I forgot to mention, 18 has four week's detention."
Midoriya groaned whilst everyone laughed at him. "Sir, please – a whole month?!"
He looked at him as though to silently ask, "Are you seriously asking me that question after the stunt you pulled?"
"You start tomorrow. 4 does too, but he's faced punishment enough, so he'll only be facing a week of detention. That's all," Mr Aizawa finished, ignoring Midoriya completely and turning around to leave. He said nothing more as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket, closed the front door behind him, and locked it shut.
"…Well," Midoriya spoke up, being the first to do so. He clapped his hands together, "How do we organise a welcome for a new member?"
His evil grin quickly spread to the rest of the class.
It was nice to see everything was back to normal.
You forgot, didn't you?
You forgot that life wasn't just one storyline – with a protagonist and their side characters. Because every side character has their own story, and to them, your protagonist is their side character.
It is not a story line – more like… a web. It can be hard to follow sometimes.
Because whilst Shoto ran from his past – and Iida ran towards it – and Midoriya desperately tried, and succeeded, to pull both of their lines back in sync with his – towards a future that didn't spiral out of control – somewhere completely different, absolutely ignorant to all this, there has been another story being told all along.
You've seen it – if not for a moment. You saw a rather important part of it, actually.
And now Shinso sat on his bed, head in his hands, surrounded by his bagged belongings, wondering where his story was about to go next. He had one more day here, at home. One more day before he was carted back to the prison he was once desperate to be a part of.
He turned to the curtains blocking the light from his window. After a moment of hesitation, he stood up and threw them open, letting the setting sun pour in. He squinted at the fading light, focusing on the city living, breathing, below his windowsill.
He could run now – he'd always been running. From the people who glared at him – the people who hated him for something he couldn't control. They labelled him as a villain, and now, that's what he's become, isn't it?
He gritted his teeth. Class 1-A – it's like he'd gravitated towards them from the start – like they could smell one of their kind.
Who was he kidding? He was never meant to be a hero.
But that thought didn't completely smother the glimmer of hope in the back of his mind, amongst memories of the Sports Festival and the shining members of the class he was about to become a part of. And whilst that damning thought of heroism being beyond his reach played on repeat, something else said –
What if class A didn't agree?
