The class starts to get to know the problem trio as they move into the dorms. Izuku has a discussion with Aizawa about what happened to Bakugo. And Nezu finds some disturbing implications in the things Bakugo told Toshinori about Aldera.

Well happy new year to you all! Kicking this year off with the next chapter! Sadly, I've lost my backlog now due to a combination of the holidays and falling ill a couple weeks back, so while I'm hopeful I can keep up my weekly posting, it'll depend on how much effort it takes for the next chapter. Still, I hope you all enjoy!

Ochako was not having a great day. It hadn't started the best…which yes, she knew that was just part of her mind not listening, but she still couldn't help the disgust she felt with herself for having ate that plate of omurice in the morning (didn't those two know how much money that costs and how many calories are in that) but she'd made a deal and she'd put up with it if it meant Izuku wouldn't hurt themselves again. Which, as part of the bargain, Izuku had agreed to let them 'check' periodically…it was a little awkward asking Izuku to lose their shirt every so often, but it wasn't like she hadn't seen them shirtless as kids (it was nothing like when they were kids). But any weird thoughts in her mind would always be wiped out the second she saw those marks.

Perhaps it was odd that the ones that bothered her more weren't the ones Izuku had put on themselves. The fact they felt the need to, that desire, truly made Ochako upset and sick to her stomach, but she found herself more angry at the ones others left on them. Izuku wouldn't have ended up feeling that way if it weren't for those bastards, and they were very lucky Ochako couldn't get ahold of them easily or else she'd probably be on the run from the police.

Either way, she'd stomach the food, no pun intended, if it meant Izuku would stop getting hurt, at least by their own hand. And if it meant Himiko would at least make an effort to let go of her guilt and self-loathing…yes, that was a bit hypocritical of her, but she was trying too!

Still, that wasn't what made her day bad. It had started off on a bad foot, but…she couldn't be unhappy about how much Himiko and Izuku had been spoiling her and encouraging her. It was embarrassing, how proud they seemed to be of her just for eating, but it also sent a warm feeling into her chest that made her flush, feeling the sheer affection and care and joy from them across the bond. That warmth had carried her all the way to the class introduction, where everything went to absolute shit.

Izuku had been nervous the whole way, which…she understood. Knowing what Izuku had faced in the past, and knowing that Bakugo would be there, she understood why Izuku would be nervous. Hell, so was she. Her prior classmates weren't that great themselves, even if they weren't as bad as Izuku's. And Himiko was surrounded by preppy pricks, so…yeah, none of them had high hopes for their classmates at first.

And then that blonde fucker had to come attacking her Izuku. The sudden, soul destroying fear that erupted within Izuku, the pure panic followed by an accepting numbness that paralyzed her as quickly as it had Izuku was the only reason Aizawa got to that bastard before Ochako or Himiko could. Logically that was probably better, since she didn't want to start her scholastic career with a murder, but still.

It had been agonizing to leave Izuku behind with Aizawa, but their teacher had yet to betray her trust, so, she accepted it, even if she was focusing heavily on the bond to try and see how Izuku was feeling about it. Which…was normal, she supposed? Izuku was nervous, fearful, feeling guilty, all those emotions she wanted to rip away from them and burn on a pyre, but at least they were slightly more calm, and it didn't seem like what Aizawa was saying was escalat-nevermind! What the hell did he say to Izuku that made that sudden guilt rocket through them?!

Ochako shared a glance with Himiko, the blonde having the same thoughts mirrored in her eyes. And yet they couldn't do anything about it, being forced to show their classmates to the dorms! She sighed internally. She was being unfair and she knew it. So far none of her classmates seemed to be bad people, and pretty much all of them had seemed horrified by Bakugo's attack. The only one who hadn't really reacted was that white and red haired boy, but then again, he seemed to just be standoffish in general, talking to pretty much none of them as he followed the group towards the dorms silently.

Still, Ochako thought she might get along with most of her classmates. The other girls were fun, although Ashido, the pink-skinned girl, was very interested in the whole bonded quirk thing, for reasons Ochako wasn't sure. Granted, most of the class seemed interested, although half of them seemed more interested in the cat ears and tails. It made her feel pretty self-conscious, especially with how focused that blonde boy, Kaminari, seemed to be on the tail. At first she thought he was staring at her ass and she was about to punt him into the sky but once she realized it was the tail itself, well…still awkward but she wasn't as upset, but she didn't want to start rocking the boat or starting any fights.

"Hey, Kaminari, can you cut that out?" Himiko suddenly asked, eyes narrowed as she stared at the blonde.

"Huh wha?" he said, looking up at her and blinking in confusion.

"You're staring at our tails and it's making me uncomfortable." Ochako stared at Himiko, seeing the blonde with an unusually blank expression on her face. But, he'd been looking at her tail, she was sure of it…oh. Ochako felt a sudden surge of warmth in her chest, Himiko speaking up, knowing that it was bothering Ochako.

Kaminari sputtered, eyes wide. "Oh, oh shit, I'm sorry! I uh, I get um, distracted by fuzzy things sometimes, they think it's cause of my Quirk, but that's not an excuse, I'm not trying to make an excuse, sorry, I didn't think about it, I-"

"Breathe," Himiko ordered, cutting the boy off. "It's okay just, please try not to?"

"Y-yeah, of course!" Kaminari replied, giving a bright smile as pink dusted his cheeks in embarrassment.

"Your Quirk is electricity, right?" The tall, dark-haired woman asked. Yaoyorozu, Ochako remembered, the one who got first place on the Quirk assessment.

Kaminari nodded. "Yeah!" As he started going into explanation of his Quirk, Ochako chose to tune him out. She wasn't trying to be rude, and she did want to get to know her classmates better, but Izuku…she was worried about Izuku, she was really worried and-her ruminations were cut off by a tap on her shoulder. She blinked, glancing over to see a tall, tired-looking teenager with purple hair that oddly resembled Aizawa.

He glanced up above her head, confusing her for a moment before she realized he was looking at her ears, before his gaze returned to hers. "You alright?" he asked quietly.

"Why do you ask?" she asked, confused.

He shrugged. "Don't take this the wrong way, but your tail's flicking rapidly and your ears keep laying flat. Classic cat signs of being upset. If I'm off, feel free to tell me to fuck off."

She stared at him blankly for a moment, the gears turning in her head about how easy she was to read to someone who knew things about cats. She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Just…worried about Izu, that's all."

"Izu? I assume that's the other one with the cat features?" the purple-haired boy asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. They're um…mine and Himi's best friend, and we uh, it's a whole thing, like Sensei said. Kinda confusing. But I can feel how they feel and it's just a mess right now."

"Yeaaaah, that bomb boy was pretty pissed and acting like an idiot. I'm assuming there's a reason?"

Ochako noticed that the rest of the class seemed to be paying attention to her at this point, and found herself scrunching her shoulders at the unwanted attention. Still…fuck it. Izuku might be mad at her later, but she wasn't about to let Bakugo's bullshit go unsaid to everyone else just because Izuku was unable to admit to 'Kacchan's' faults. She wasn't going to spill their secrets or anything…but she wasn't going to defend Bakugo either.

"I'm not gonna break Izu's trust and tell their secrets. I'll just say Bakugo's an ass and if he pulls that again, I'm going to punt him into space," Ochako said, her voice clear and devoid of emotion.

"Not if I stab him first!" Himiko chimed in with a cheerful, wide grin that promised violence.

"That seems a bit excessive," the tall, blue-haired boy who had identified himself as Tenya Ida previously.

"You try feeling how Izu feels and tell me that," Himiko shot back, narrowing her eyes at the teen.

"So like…you three feel each other's emotions? Isn't that kinda weird?" the teenager with the strange elbows said, tilting his head to the side. Sero, Ochako remembered.

"It's super romantic is what it is!" Ashido exclaimed, a big grin on her face. Next to her, the floating clothes that represented the invisible girl Hagakure bounced up and down in agreement. "How long have you three known each other?"

Ochako ignored the weird romantic comment as she answered. "We were friends as kids, but me and Himi had to move away, and we lost contact. It was after we took the entrance exam that we found each other again, and then the accident happened."

Ashido and Hagakure squealed. "That is super romantic! Childhood friends separated and then finding each other and then getting bonded by a Quirk?!" Hagakure exclaimed.

"It is rather like some of the stories I've read," Yaoyorozu mused, before she seemed to notice what she said aloud and flushed, looking pointedly away from the group.

Himiko rolled her eyes indulgently at the girls, the feelings of exasperation and slight embarrassment coming across and mixing with Ochako's own embarrassment. They didn't get it, it wasn't romantic, it was just…Himi and Izu were her people, that's all! She cut her own thoughts off as she spied the dorms in the distance, pointing forward. "There, that's the dorms. If uh…if you need help moving, I'll be happy to, my Quirk's really helpful for moving stuff."

"I'll help too!" Himiko said with a grin, a grin that only Ochako could tell was fake. Not that Himiko wasn't genuine about helping, but the cheer was entirely mitigated by her concern for Izuku, who still was full of so many mixed emotions Ochako couldn't make heads nor tails of them. But for now, she'd have to set that aside, and working herself to exhaustion helping people move in was probably the best way. She just had to hope she didn't collapse. She'd eaten, as part of the deal, but Izuku had been clear in pointing out that one meal would not make up for what she'd already missed (she was terrified of what that meant) but she made a promise…and she would keep it. With a deep breath, she plastered a smile on her face, planted her hands on her hips, and turned to her classmates, ready to begin.

By the time Izuku made it back to the dorms, half the class were moved in thanks to Ochako and Himiko's assistance. The combination of Quirks made moving in a snap for them, and as each person finished their own move-in, they offered their own help as well, speeding up each student's arrival even further. Though Izuku felt wrung out and stretched thin, they plastered a bright grin on their face and hopped into helping, gently dismissing questions about how they themselves felt. Izuku could feel it though…Ochako and Himiko were not fooled, and they were just waiting for a moment to pull Izuku aside and grill them on how they felt.

On one hand, Izuku was exhausted and just didn't want to talk about it. On the other hand, there was a warm feeling in their chest knowing how much the girls cared, and they couldn't really ignore it. If they were in either of the others' shoes, they'd be doing the same and they knew it, and while their first thought was that they didn't deserve such consideration, they had promised to try and think less…that way. Not that they could, but still, they were trying to ignore that voice, just a little bit.

It was when they had almost finalized moving most of the students that Aizawa approached the dorms, Vlad King at his side and a red-haired girl with her hair pulled back in a ponytail following behind, looking a bit confused. Aizawa quickly gathered the class together in the common room, the red-head behind him gripping her suitcase nervously.

"I'm going to be blunt. Bakugo's behavior was unacceptable, and after review and a discussion with him, we've chosen not to expel him, but he has been removed from this class and moved into 1-B. In his place, we've switched him with Itsuka Kendo here," Aizawa gestured behind him to the redhead, Kendo giving a wave at the class.

Vlad stepped forward. "Do note that any such assaults or attacks by any student are grounds for disciplinary action here. If you witness such moments, report them immediately, and I would advise not taking part in any such hazing. Friendly rivalries or ribbing are fine, and during training you can and will get hurt sometimes, but assault is unacceptable. Bakugo will be very closely watched, you can be assured of that, but for now, the issue is settled. Unless someone has a complaint to bring up?"

It wasn't obvious, but everyone remained silent and sent sidelong glances towards Izuku, the one who Bakugo had attacked. Izuku kept one hand clenched behind their back, but didn't make a sound, not having any desire to bring more attention to themselves. Aizawa nodded. "Very well. Midoriya, I need a word with you outside, the rest of you, continue what you were doing." Izuku internally swore, knowing that they'd just cursed themselves about not having attention drawn to them, but kept quiet. Ochako and Himiko brushed past them, already offering assistance to Kendo, but as they went by them, Himiko gently brushed her arm against their hand and Ochako patted them on the shoulder, giving them just a bit of encouragement they sorely needed. Silently, they followed Aizawa outside, Vlad following a moment later and passing by the two, heading back to the dorms for his class.

"...what did you want to talk to me about, sir?" Izuku asked.

"I wanted to be certain you're alright with what we've done, and give you the details the others didn't need to know. Bakugo has detention for the foreseeable future, as well as mandatory anger management classes. Are you alright with this as a punishment? We can do more if you think this is unfair."

Izuku didn't think their teacher wanted them to admit that they thought this punishment was too much, and from the look in Aizawa's eyes, they knew their teacher already had assumed Izuku might say that and was giving very clear signs that Izuku shouldn't. They sighed, shoulders slumping. "...no sir. It's fine."

"Midoriya," Aizawa began, before letting out his own sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Nevermind. I know this is hard for you. But somewhere along the way, you have, for some reason, accepted that his behavior towards you is acceptable. I'm going to once again suggest you consider speaking to Hound Dog at some point, but I won't keep harping on this. Still, can you please think about it?"

Izuku's first instinct was to deny it. What right did they have to take up valuable time for a hero like Hound Dog, much less about their stupid issues that didn't ultimately matter. 'No!' they hissed internally, focusing on the warm spot in their chest where they could feel Ochako and Himiko, feel the care and worry they had for them. Aizawa was just trying to help. They were supposed to try and accept help. That was part of the deal, but…they still weren't ready. They could barely talk to Ochako or Himiko, and the thought of talking to a stranger nearly sent their entire body into panic mode. Still…

"...I'll think about it."

Aizawa was an expert at keeping his emotions in check, but it took effort to keep his lips from quirking up at Izuku's admission. He knew the teenager wouldn't say that if they didn't mean it, and that was progress. Glacial though it might be, he'd take this as an encouraging sign, adding on the fact he spied Ochako eating earlier that day. Just a bit more and they could maybe get these kids to finally accept help. He nodded.

"Thanks. Alright, finish what you're doing, you all need a good night's sleep for class tomorrow. I'll see you in class. Goodnight, Midoriya."

"Goodnight, Sensei," Izuku replied, offering a small half-smile that was more genuine than the fake one they'd plastered across their face beforehand. They turned around and headed back into the dorm, ready to finish helping anyone else before heading to bed…and to the girl's confrontation.

"Yagi, I would suggest you sit down," Nezu said gently, sipping his tea as he stared at the pacing hero before him.

"I am aware my actions aren't logical but I cannot sit still, Nezu. Not right now," Toshinori replied, his voice barely above a growl as he paced back and forth.

"I take it the information Bakugo gave you about Midoriya's school was not what you wanted to hear?" Aizawa asked, leaning against the wall.

"You have no idea," Toshinori replied, clenching his fists repeatedly. "It was…it was like some sort of pseudo-Darwinian bullshit! They insisted that everyone's social standing and place in society was entirely based upon the strength of their Quirk! Bakugo was their perfect little angel and could do no wrong. The only reason he didn't turn out worse was apparently he thought that attitude was stupid, but they still encouraged him to do whatever he wanted and damn the consequences. He internalized at least some of it, and it's going to be hell to break him out of that mindset."

"Which likely means Midoriya internalized some of that mindset too, just from the opposite end of the spectrum," Aizawa pointed out.

Toshinori nodded, his shoulders slumping. "I-I am afraid of that as well. I fear that may be the core of their self-worth issues, the belief that they are by default less valuable due to being born Quirkless. And now I handed them the most powerful Quirk in the world, but they didn't suddenly think they had value. I'm not entirely sure what that even means."

"While I am not Inui, I have a guess. My assumption would be they have now internalized that they do not have worth intrinsically, but they have a duty to your Quirk. So perhaps they have value as a vessel. At least, that is my running theory. I doubt they even have considered that consciously," Nezu remarked.

Toshinori snarled at the thought, but didn't dismiss it. If anything, it made more sense than he wished it did. He rubbed at his face with one hand. "Tsukauchi is trying to handle both cases, Aldera and the Toga's, but he is getting pushback from his superiors since it is based on unreliable testimony. I'm not entirely sure what to do. If I use my influence as All Might, it'll draw far too much media attention."

"Oh fret not Yagi, I shall personally interject. I have a few favors to call in. I'll clear the way for your friend to continue his work," Nezu waved dismissively. "Not only are both children my students, but as you are both aware, I take a dim view on those who would entrap or abuse others. Added onto that, the notes you took from your conversation with Bakugo have given me a…concern. Beyond what we've already learned, that is."

Aizawa arched an eyebrow. "And that concern is?"

Nezu reached into his desk and pulled out a book with a deep red cover with two large blots of ink on the cover, setting it on the desk before him. The other two in the room leaned over, glancing down to see the title. Yagi blinked. "The Meta Liberation War? Isn't that the book that ancient villain Destro wrote?"

"Yes. It is. It has been edited many times since then, but this is one of the original copies. The attitudes espoused by Aldera are direct mirrors of the opinions expressed within these pages. Disturbingly so. Some of the phrases Bakugo told you are word for word from these pages. I am…concerned about this."

"You cannot seriously be considering-" Aizawa began, before he was cut off.

"I'm considering many things. It could be as simple as one faculty member has read this book, or even was raised on its principles and doesn't know the origin. Or it could be as complex as an entire school system based on the MLA principles. Or even some things that should not merit consideration and yet I must. I will consider and investigate every possibility. If the worst comes to be true, I will be prepared," Nezu said, steel in his tone.

"...do you think that's a genuine concern?" Yagi asked, narrowing his eyes.

Nezu shrugged. "As I said, any number of theories are possible and I do not have enough evidence to discount or confirm any of them. Not yet. That is another reason I will be lending my full support to Tsukauchi. I intend on being certain this is a one-off scenario. Because if it is not…we have much, much bigger issues to contend with."

"I'll…leave that to you, Nezu. I need to focus on my successors," Toshinori said with a heavy sigh.

"Of course, of course. They need you. I shall focus on this end of the investigation, do not fret. You make certain the children are alright."