No introduction to the school, no meeting with the administration, no speeches. That was how Shota Aizawa taught his students. I've read his record since then, and by the time my class arrived, he'd expelled over one hundred and fifty students.
A test, we just had to do a physical exam with our quirks, but whoever came in last was expelled? Shit, I remember the fear among us, but this would make us better.
A fifty-meter dash, and I learned how much faster Iida was than me, but that was okay. If I was the best already, then who'd push me to be greater?
Grip strength, long jump, side stepping, throwing a softball, endurance running, upper body strength, seated toe touches. There was always someone better, even a few people in some areas, but I was ahead of Bakugou. For the first time in my life, I was better than him at something.
By the end of the test, Aizawa told us that he'd been lying, and no one was getting expelled. But that didn't matter to me. I was number three, just under Shoto Todoroki and Momo Yaoyorozu, and Bakugo under me. Worse than me.
"What the hell?! How did you get a higher score than me?! How'd you cheat your way into U.A.!?" Bakugou screamed, and remembered the years of torment from him. What he'd called me. "Quirkless, nobody," I muttered, looking at the scoring still. I could do it. I could be the hero All Might saw.
"What was that?!" He yelled again, and I turned, walking up to him.
"That's what you called me. Even this morning, you didn't stop to think we'd been wrong. My quirk showed itself when I started working out, growing as my muscles did. I worked for my spot on that list, and if you stopped acting like I'm still competing with you, you could see we're not even playing the same game anymore, villain." I told him, blowing up at him. How many more times did he want to hear this?
I looked at Aizawa, hands shaking with rage, but I was fine.
"This is twice now that you've both aired your business in class. While this would be a good soap opera, this is my class. Don't let it happen again, or I promise you'll both see U.A. from the outside of that gate from now on." Aizawa told us, and I nodded, feeling my face heat up.
"Sorry, sensei," I muttered, listening to him talk for a moment longer, but his words didn't make it past my ears, almost trembling now, but I made it until I saw the others heading back, following Iida and Ochako, the three of us making jokes until I felt better. Soon, I didn't care about Bakugou, and I planned to spend the rest of my day resting. Tomorrow was All Might's class, and I knew he'd push us in an entirely different way.
"Oi, De-" Bakugou didn't yell, but he wasn't quiet. "I mean, Midoriya."
I looked him in the eyes, my friends stepping in front. They were protecting me? "Bakugou," I spoke after a moment, making my way to the front and looking at him.
"Let's talk." He grumbled angrily, the closest to nice he'd been to me in years.
"No. Not today. I'm tired. But you take the train to get here earlier than me. Tomorrow you should wait for me." I told him, offering a small smile. Maybe I'd gotten through to him for once.
"Tch, fine. But you'd better not keep me waiting!" He yelled as the little bit of restraint he had left his body.
"Yeah, yeah, we'll make it to class on time," I replied, watching him storm off.
"Okay, that was super weird. I'm weirdly hungry. Do you guys want some food? I'm buying." I offered, pulling out my notebook. I had a lot to write down, especially after seeing all the amazing quirks my classmates had.
"I'm afraid not, I've got to get home," Iida informed me, and I shrugged. It was no big deal.
"What about you, Uraraka?" I asked, wondering if she had a fever for a moment, her face had gone comically red.
"N-No, that's okay, I gotta get home too." She told me.
"Alright, get home safely," I told them as they left, putting my notebook away, or at least I tried to, but someone was holding it.
"You didn't call me." I heard her voice, my brain freezing up. Now I had to explain why I'd ghosted her for a month.
"I-I just thought, uh, you know, th-that maybe." Stuttering over myself, I tried not to meet her eyes. But she did also deserve the truth.
"I'm sorry, Ashido, I just figured you were being nice, and I didn't want to get my hopes up too high," I bowed my head in shame, putting up my hands.
"But the offer I made Ochako and Iida still stands. Come get some food with me, my treat, and I can get you your sketch, too!" I offered, looking up, one eye closed as she looked at me, thinking it over.
"You're one weird guy, Midoriya, you know that?" I felt dumb for a second, and I wanted to just melt into nothing. "Lucky for you, I happen to like weird."
Her words were different than most girls. She wasn't kidding or making me feel like a fool. No, she meant what she said.
"Deku. My friends can call me Deku." I told her, standing up and grinning.
"Deku? Like, useless? It's not a good look if that's your go-to nickname. How about Izu-kun?" She teased, my face heating a little.
She was too cute to argue with, and I didn't feel like doing it anyway. "It's better than a lot of things I've been called." I put my hands on my backpack straps, walking next to Ashido, my mind void of anything that we could talk about.
"Sooooo, what's the deal with you and that Bakugou guy?" She asked, hitting close to home immediately. It was a fair question, though.
How did I explain it to someone who'd never experienced it?
"My own experience is kinda biased, but I was friends with Bakugou since we were babies until we were four. Then he got his quirk, and we were still friends for a while. Then, one day, I tried to help him up after he fell, and he got mad at me, telling me I was looking down on him. From then on, when he tried to bully someone, I tried to stop him. But I wasn't much against his quirk, and eventually, he started to only bully me. Since we thought I was quirkless, it was just an easy target to bully me over that." I paused, looking both ways before crossing the street.
"I gave up on him for a little bit, and he got mad, so he tried to hit me, and I threw him on the ground. He hadn't talked to me since this morning, and by then, I'd figured out I had a quirk, and he never knew. So he went from being the best to being number four, and when a quirkless guy beat him, he kind of lost it."
From my point of view, it seemed pretty cut and dry. But I knew nothing was that simple with Katsuki. He was angry for other reasons, I just didn't know what.
"And no one did anything?" Her eyes were wide. Well, wider than they already were.
"No? I mean, strength is everything. If you aren't strong, people think you're nothing." I replied, stopping outside a McDonald's and holding the door open for her.
"A gentleman? My, aren't I lucky?" Teased the pink girl, my eyes rolling so far back that I thought for a second I saw my brains.
"Don't get used to it, I'm just trying to make a good impression." I joked back, running a hand through my curls.
"I've talked about myself a lot, but I'm interested in you." A few seconds passed as a blush spread across my face. "I mean, interested in getting to know you better, not like interested in you. I'm not like that, I swear."
My words came out quickly, too quickly, and I hid my now burning face in my hands, Ashido giggling at me.
"I knew what you meant. You didn't need to get so specific."
I put my order in, a nugget entre and some water, watching her order a chocolate orange frappe.
"You prefer sweets?" I asked, moving out of line and sitting, filling my cup with water before we found seats.
"Well, I usually prefer more savory stuff, but since you paid, I decided to treat myself a little." She looked at me, and then my hair, gently touching it.
"I was right! Your hair is so soft and fluffy!" Exclaimed the girl, leaving me feeling like my brain was melting until she finally retracted her hand.
"Uuuh..." She'd left me speechless, just a dopey grin and red face.
"Oops. I forgot you get flustered easily..." She apologized, and I blinked a couple of times, her words finally resetting my brain.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I mean, it was a little weird, but I don't mind. It was kinda nice." I told her with unearned confidence, expecting her to look at me like I was disgusting before she laughed and sat back.
"I just can't get a lock on you. The last time I saw you, you could barely hold a sentence. Now you're more confident than any boy I've ever talked to."
I leaned forward, sipping my water as my order was dropped off at our table.
"I hadn't gotten a good hold of my quirk when we first met, and I'd never had the confidence to talk to most people before. During the entrance exam, I felt confident when Iida and Uraraka worked with me. I just, I've been riding that feeling since, trying to be a better me." I explained, opening my nuggets and biting into one.
"So this is the normal, unabashed you from now on? 'Cause if it is, I like him." She told me, my face burning again, but my grin wide.
I was just sitting in a McDonald's with a friend, and I was having the best time of my life.