"So…what I'm hearing is you need a wingman?"
"Ashido, leave me alone," Denki groaned as he face-planted on his desk.
"No-come on, you have to tell us about the purple guy we saw you walk here with this morning!" Ashido said, pouting slightly. "You're clearly crushing hard, you know!"
"Why don't you ask Midoriya-it's his brother," Denki said.
Ashido's eyes went wide, then she whipped her head around to stare at Midoriya, who was at his desk and writing in a notebook, not really paying attention to the people around him.
"Does he know you like his brother?" Ashido asked.
"I don't think so-" Denki started.
Ashido quickly got up and marched over to Midoriya's desk, and Denki quickly followed her.
"Hey, hey, are you serious-" Denki started as they arrived, and Midoriya finally looked up.
"Oh, do you need something?" Midoriya asked, setting his pencil down and gently closing his notebook.
"Yeah-you have a brother, right?" Ashido asked.
"Uh…yeah, why?" Midoriya asked.
"Ashido, seriously-" Denki said.
"Someone here has a crush~" Ashido said.
"Huh?" Midoriya asked, taking a few seconds to process, then his eyes went wide and he whipped his head to Denki. "Wait-you like Hitoshi?"
Denki felt his cheeks go red as he slowly nodded.
Midoriya blinked for a few seconds, then beamed. "Aw, that makes so much sense! So that's why you're insisting on coming back from school with us-I was starting to think that it was because you were having trouble getting off at the right train station or something similar."
"Uh…that, too," Denki said, scratching the back of his head. "I blank sometimes-new area, route, and all that."
"Ah, gotcha," Midoriya said, nodding. "Well, in that case, taking the train to and from school with us is a good idea, as long as you can be ready, say, around 8 to start going to school each day? I might be able to get Hitoshi to agree to a little later than that since it would mean sleeping in a bit longer, but we'll still have to catch the train here."
"I can do that!" Denki said.
"Sweet," Midoriya said, taking out his phone and typing in something, then handing it over. "Here, add your number-Hitoshi said you don't have his yet, and I don't want to hand that out without him saying that's ok, so we can text and set up times here."
Denki grabbed Midoriya's phone and took out his, putting in his phone number and sending himself a text.
"Alright, and Hitoshi will probably be in the library after school again today, studying-I'll ask him during lunch if he'd be alright with you joining him there again," Midoriya said.
"Alright-thank you so much!" Denki said, handing Midoriya back his phone.
"No problem-if you two get together, though, I'm giving you the shovel talk," Midoriya said, looking strangely scary as he said that.
"Uh…noted," Denki said.
Midorya beamed. "Good!" He turned and looked at the door, talking a little louder. "Now, you might want to sit down-Aizawa-sensei's about to come into the classroom."
Everyone immediately dove for their seats as, sure enough, Aizawa-sensei walked in and looked around.
"Good, you're learning," Aizawa-sensei said. "Now, we have something important to do today."
Oh God, who are we fighting today?!
"Today you'll be choosing a class representative," Aizawa-sensei said.
"So normal!"
"Figure this out yourselves-just don't wake me up," Aizawa-sensei said, crawling into his sleeping bag and…passing out at the front of the room.
Immediately, everyone started whispering among themselves before getting louder, proclaiming that they'd be the best class president.
It wasn't long before Iida calmed everyone down and got everyone voting. Denki looked at his paper and looked around at his classmates.
He would love to be class president! In middle school, it was boring as hell, but in a hero school? It was extra opportunities for hero stuff!
With that said, he was getting lost on the way home, and how long would student council meetings last each day? Or would he have to get there early for them? Missing out on time with Hitoshi, or even getting lost on his way to or from school! (Not sure which one is worse!) Yeah…probably not the route he would go down in that case.
However…if Midoriya was class president, that could mean more time alone with Hitoshi-Midoriya was pretty smart, and he stayed late anyway doing…something, Denki wasn't sure what, but something. So…it was clear what name he should put down.
…
Izuku was quick to look around before writing down Yaoyorozu and turning in his ballot.
He did not have the time for student council meetings at this point-not when he was training with Present Mic after school, doing some training on his own or with All Might after that (less relevant at the moment because All Might was too busy with figuring this teaching thing out to really focus on Izuku's training, but that was fine!), and even if student council meetings were in the mornings, he enjoyed going to school with Hitoshi and Kaminari! They didn't need to come in earlier, and even if they agreed to, that would leave less time to make lunches-Izuku and Hitoshi already woke up late today and didn't get the chance to make lunch-
Wait, is he muttering?
Izuku glanced around-no one seemed to comment on anything, so he's probably good.
Izuku stared around the classroom and focused on the board, putting a hand over his mouth, just in case he started to mutter.
Soon, all the ballots were collected, and Iida volunteered to count them-
WHY DID IZUKU HAVE FIVE VOTES!? YAOYOROZU ONLY HAD THREE?!
"Well, I guess we have our president and vice-" Iida started, sounding a little disappointed-
"I resign the position!" Izuku blurted out quickly, and everyone stared at him.
"...pardon me?" Iida asked.
"I, uh…I have a lot going on right now and don't really have the time-really, I'm sorry, I didn't think I'd get votes…" Izuku said, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh…sorry."
"My apologies-perhaps I should have asked and had people refrain from voting from people unable," Iida said. "So, Yaoyorozu is our president, and for vice-"
"I think it should be Iida," Todoroki said bluntly, and everyone looked at the usually silent kid in surprise. "I mean, he stepped up and brought everyone to order to vote."
"Sounds good to me!" Uraraka said.
"All in favor, raise your hands?" Yaoyorozu asked.
Most of the class-Izuku included-raised their hands.
Yaoyorozu counted, then nodded. "It's settled, then!"
"Good," Aizawa-sensei said, getting up. Everyone quickly looked at him. "Homeroom is almost over, so I'm stepping out-don't destroy the classroom while I'm gone." With that, he walked away.
Yaoyorozu immediately walked over to Izuku.
"Are you certain?" Yaoyorozu asked. "We could always do a revote-"
"I'm sure-I voted for you, so I'm glad to have you as class president," Izuku said.
Yaoyorozu looked surprised at that. "You did?"
Izuku nodded. "You had really good feedback at the Battle Trials yesterday-it was a really fun discussion!"
"I see-thank you for your trust in me," Yaoyorozu said.
"Of course-we should trust our fellow heroes-in-training, after all!" Izuku said.
(A certain student in the room tried his best not to flinch upon hearing that-if you know, you know.)
Yaoyorozu smiled. "May I sit with you at lunch today?"
"Uh…I can ask my brother if he's alright with that, but sounds good to me," Izuku said.
"Hey, can I, then, too?" Kaminari asked quickly.
"Hey, I wanna sit with you at lunch!" Uraraka said, leaning over.
"Would you allow me to as well?" Iida asked.
Bakugou huffed, glaring over at Izuku as he felt overwhelmed.
I still have to ask Hitoshi!
"Good morning, everyone," Cementoss-sensei said, stepping into the classroom.
Immediately, everyone got into their seats.
"Sorry that I'm a little early," Cementoss-sensei said, setting down his folder and setting up the computer. "Continue to talk amongst yourselves, I won't be starting until I'm supposed to, I promise."
Izuku quickly got out his math notebook and quietly pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Hitoshi before grabbing out his pencils and textbook while the rest of his classmates did the same.
…
Hitoshi glanced at his phone during free period and raised an eyebrow, then sighed, sending Izuku back a, Sure, fine by me. He put his phone away and started sketching.
….
"My brother says ok," Izuku said, looking at Uraraka, Iida, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, and-surprisingly-Todoroki.
"Sweet!" Uraraka said. "Wait, I forgot to ask earlier-what year is your brother?"
"Oh, he's in the same year as us-Gen Ed," Izuku said.
"Oh, really?" Yaoyorozu asked. "Twins, I assume?"
"Yep," Izuku said. "He's hoping to get into the hero course at some point-Hitoshi!"
Hitoshi stepped around the corner and walked over, glancing at the small crowd of 1-A students, glancing at Kaminari for a few seconds longer before looking at Izuku.
"Quite a few friends you've got there," Hitoshi said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep-you know Kaminari, that's Iida, that's Uraraka, that's Yaoyorozu, and that's Todoroki," Izuku said, pointing at each one in turn. "Guys, this is my twin brother, Hitoshi Midoriya." Izuku paused. "Uh-"
"Feel free to call me Hitoshi-makes it easier," Hitoshi shrugged. "Nice to meet you hero kids."
"You say like you're not trying to join us," Izuku said, stepping forward and starting towards the cafeteria. "Let's get going-what do you think we have for lunch today?"
"Not something as good as bentos," Hitoshi said, walking after Izuku, the others following along quickly.
"I'm sorry-I'll wake up on time tomorrow, I promise," Izuku said.
"Eh, I could've made them last night, not on you," Hitoshi sighed. "Oh well, I guess."
"Do you usually not eat in the cafeteria?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"No-we usually make food at home and hide out on the roof," Izuku said.
"Are we even allowed on the roof?" Iida asked.
"Yep!" Izuku said.
"Everything's allowed if the teachers don't give a crap," Hitoshi said at the same time.
Uraraka and Kaminari snorted as Iida started to lecture Hitoshi on that, but they quickly arrived at the cafeteria and got in line.
"Rules are in place for a reason-just because no one is watching doesn't mean that the rules shouldn't be respected and followed!" Iida was still saying as the group found a table to sit at.
"Sometimes, you've just gotta bend the rules a bit," Hitoshi said. "Not everything's so black and white."
"Name one rule that should not be followed!" Iida said.
Hitoshi made a point to make direct eye contact at that.
"I had a teacher once that made a rule that I wasn't supposed to talk in school-do you think I should have followed that?" Hitoshi asked.
Everyone stared at him at that.
"Have you told Mom?" Izuku asked, blinking at him. "I'm sure she'd have a field day tearing a shitty school to shreds again."
Everyone sputtered at that and whipped around to stare at Izuku.
"Eh, it was when I was…seven, I think?" Hitoshi shrugged, taking a bite. "Back before I was adopted-I don't think Mom would be able to do anything."
"You underestimate Mom," Izuku said.
"Wait, adopted?" Kaminari asked, looking at Hitoshi.
"Well, it's not like we look alike-it's obvious I'm adopted, especially when you meet Mom and Dad," Hitoshi said, then jabbed at Izuku. "Izuku here is the spitting image of both of them." He smirked. "Just really short."
Izuku jabbed back. "I'm not that short!"
"It's almost comical having you stand next to the local dumbass skeleton," Hitoshi said.
"The local what?" Kaminari asked, eyes wide.
"Stop calling him a skeleton," Izuku sighed.
"Not even gonna argue the dumbass part?" Hitoshi asked.
"Oh, I've given up on stopping that," Izuku said. "But he's not a skeleton!"
"He basically is!" Hitoshi said. "All skin and bones-even his blood knows it doesn't belong!"
"I'm sorry, what?" Uraraka asked.
"Seriously, who are we talking about-should I be scared to be in the neighborhood?" Karminari asked, eyes even wider.
Izuku waved him off. "He's not scary."
"Yeah, couldn't hurt a fly," Hitoshi said. "A strong wind could knock him over-"
"Hitoshi," Izuku sighed, glaring at him. "It's not his fault he got such a bad injury, and stop making him seem that weak-he's strong when his injury isn't acting up."
"And when it is, follow the blood trail to find him," Hitoshi said, nodding along solemnly.
"He doesn't cough up that much blood!" Izuku said.
"I think someone needs to get this man to a hospital," Iida said.
"He has a doctor on speed-dial," Hitoshi said, looking at Iida. "He barely even reacts to it anymore, just coughs and moves on with his day like nothing happened."
"That is very concerning," Iida said. "I would highly suggest-"
An alarm started to go off, cutting Iida off as the students quickly looked around and began to get up to evacuate…
…overcrowding the hallway and nearly causing a stampede. Izuku found himself smushed against the window and able to look outside-
Was it seriously just the press?
The gate didn't look so good there-did something happen?
Something's wrong here…
It wasn't long before Iida was calling for everyone to calm down and explaining that it was just the press. Soon enough, everyone was walking back to their tables to eat, albeit less calmly than before.
Izuku leaned close to Hitoshi.
"Something's wrong," he whispered, and Hitoshi tensed up slightly as he slowly nodded.
"Got it-let's just focus on lunch for now," Hitoshi said, taking a bite of his food.
"Is something up?" Iida asked.
"Nothing," Izuku and Hitoshi said at the same time, taking another bite of their food.
…
"Hey, Present Mic-sensei?"
"Yeah?" Present Mic-sensei asked as the two did some stretches.
"The break-in today…" Izuku trailed off. "There was something else going on at the same time, right?"
Present Mic-sensei looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well…the gate was destroyed in the middle of the school day," Izuku said. "If there was someone that could destroy the gate there sooner, why didn't they?" He looked at his feet. "I think someone used the break-in as a distraction for something else…you know?"
"Hmm…I see your thinking there," Present Mic-sensei said. "We're getting everything figured out though, so don't worry about it, ok? Today we're working on your quirk-I have some ideas I want to try to get it working, and your homeroom teacher will be here once we're done with warmups so we don't risk any broken bones."
"Right…right," Izuku nodded. "Thank you!"
"Of course!" Present Mic-sensei said. "Now, here's what I'm thinking. Yesterday, we just talked about your quirk and went through a plan, but today, I want you to use it instead."
Izuku tensed slightly at that.
"Don't worry-like I said, Aizawa will be here when you do," Present Mic-sensei said. "Hopefully, we won't need to go see Recovery Girl, but she's on stand-by if we need her."
Izuku nodded. "So…do you want me to punch something, or jump, or…?"
"Activate it first, then we'll try and have you move around and fight robots with it," Present Mic-sensei said. "Nothing too stressful, just getting you used to moving around with it, you dig?"
Izuku nodded. "Got it!"
As if on cue, Aizawa-sensei walked into the gym and over to them.
"Almost done warming up?" Aizawa-sensei asked, looking between the two.
"Almost!" Present Mic-sensei said.
Izuku nodded a little. "Quirk practice today?"
"Yep," Aizawa-sensei said. "No breaking any bones today, Problem Child. Your class has a field trip tomorrow, and I don't think you want to have to be tired from healing for that."
Izuku perked up at that. "Field trip?"
"Yep-don't tell your classmates," Aizawa-sensei said as Present Mic-sensei got up. Izuku quickly got to his feet as he nodded. "But it's rescue training-no fighting and just going over the basics. No quirk use, so if you can't handle it today, don't beat yourself up about it, got it?"
"Right," Izuku said. "I'll do my best, though!"
"I know you will," Aizawa-sensei said, then guided him over to the mats nearby. "Alright, so, here's what we're trying. Small levels, spread all through your body so one part of you isn't taking all the pressure. Do you think you can do that?"
"I'll do my best!" Izuku said, stepping back onto the mats and taking a deep breath.
Ok, small levels…if I think in percentages, I'm starting at one percent. All over my body…
Slowly, Izuku felt his quirk seep into his muscles and start to crackle on his skin. He took a deep breath and waited for a few seconds.
Ok, I can handle one percent. Let's try two.
Izuku took another deep breath, then imagined…
His power was a flowing river, and currently, the dam he had built was only letting a trickle through. Just needed to let the slightest amount more through-
It shot up to five, and Izuku hissed slightly-
Instantly, his quirk was turned off, and Izuku looked over at his teachers sheepishly.
"Are you alright?" Aizawa-sensei asked, stepping forward slightly.
"Y-Yeah," Izuku said. "I can go higher-I just…put more in than I thought I would." He looked at the mat. "I meant to only use two percent, but I shot up to five-I…I can keep going." He stretched his arm slightly. "Everything's good so far."
"Alright…I'll still be ready to erase your quirk when I feel that I need to," Aizawa-sensei said. "Continue."
"Right!" Izuku said, closing his eyes and breathing again, turning his quirk back on at 5 percent.
10 percent…jumping by fives, it looked like. Still going well…the fact that he had been training for so many years, doing Saitama's workout and adding onto that, plus his fighting training, was definitely a good thing. Keeping it at this percent subconsciously was going to take some time, though, but this was at least a start!
15 percent. 20. 25. 30. 35-
As soon as Izuku got to 40, he hissed again, and his quirk was turned off immediately.
"Anything broken?" Aizawa-sensei asked.
"Just a little sore," Izuku said, rubbing at his right arm. "That was 40 percent, so…I think I could fight at 30 percent and burst up to 40 percent if I need to without breaking my bones. That said, I would have to concentrate in order to hold it, so when I add on that I would have to focus on both the fight and the percentage output, I think that I might be able to consistently do 20 percent without risking anything. Plus Ultra, though, I'll have to get myself to 100 percent without anything breaking by the time that I graduate. 40 percent is a good starting point for right now, and considering I just got the quirk, it's more than enough of a starting point-nothing to be mad at myself about, I don't need to be just like-
"Alright, let's try punching things now-this gym has some robots for sparring-they're made to be replaced, so don't worry about destroying them-I encourage it, in fact," Aizawa-sensei said, breaking through Izuku's muttering. "You already know how to throw a punch without breaking your thumb, right?"
Izuku nodded.
"Good," Aizawa-sensei said, then pulled something out of his pocket-a remote?-and pressed a button.
Instantly, a few doors on the wall opened up, and a few one-pointers came out, singling Izuku as a target.
"No lasers, slightly reinforced-don't get injured, do your best, plus ultra or whatever," Aizawa-sensei said.
Izuku instantly geared up.
I'll start at five and get used to that, go up from there.
With that, Izuku felt his quirk spark through him as he curled his fist up and punched the nearest robot.
….
"Alright!" Present Mic-sensei said as Izuku laid on the ground, panting as he was surrounded by broken robots-he didn't know how many he'd broken, or how long he'd been going, but all of his muscles ached. "That's really good! You said you only went up to about 20 percent as a base through that to keep concentration, right?"
"Y-Yeah…" Izuku said.
"If that's only 20 percent, no wonder full strength shatters your bones," Present Mic-sensei said. "It's a great baseline, especially since you just got your quirk and have only used it a few times so far."
"We'll still keep up the after school counseling, and don't expect me to go easy on you during class," Aizawa-sensei added. "Great work today, though, Problem Child."
Izuku shakingly gave him a thumb's up.
"Want us to call your brother right quick for you?" Present Mic-sensei asked. "Or did he go home?"
"He's at the library with Kaminari," Izuku said, sitting up and wincing slightly-his muscles were so sore.
Aizawa-sensei raised an eyebrow. "Kaminari doesn't seem like someone to stick around after school."
"He lives near us, so he stays until we head home-comes to school with us, too," Izuku said, then hunched his shoulders a little. "I…I haven't told anyone I'm doing quirk counseling-I don't know what he thinks I'm doing after school, but I don't know if he'll pick on me if he finds out I'm so far behind the rest of the class…"
"Oh, don't say that!" Present Mic-sensei said, coming over and kneeling down next to Izuku. "You're doing great, and you'll keep improving from here. It's not your fault, and you honestly aren't as far behind as you think-I mean, you did get first place in the entrance exam and ninth place in your test thingy on the first day-you're not behind, listener, unless everyone that scored below you is behind, too."
"That's…that's not-" Izuku started.
"Just relax a little bit, ok?" Present Mic-sensei said. "Again, everything's fine-you have that trip with your class tomorrow, remember? It's most of the day, and I know your class doesn't have homework due tomorrow, so go home and get some sleep-make sure to stretch your muscles so they aren't so sore, and we'll see tomorrow if we'll have another session after the field trip, alright? Don't want you to overwork yourself."
"Right…right," Izuku said. "Just do my workout routine and relax after."
"No, just relax," Aizawa-sensei said. "You've already done pretty much a full workout just fighting those robots."
"But that's just training-I have a workout routine that I keep up with-I usually do half in the morning, but I woke up late today," Izuku said.
"Of course you aren't counting that as a workout-what's your routine?" Aizawa-sensei asked.
"150 push ups, 150 sit up, 150 squats, and a 15 kilometer run," Izuku said.
Both of his teachers stared at him.
"...no," Aizawa-sensei said, pinching his nose. "You're going home and not doing that-I'll come tell your brother to make sure that gets enforced."
"Hey, you don't have to-" Izuku said.
Aizawa-sensei glared at him with his quirk, and Izuku immediately shriveled up a little.
"You have a long day ahead tomorrow-you're fifteen, you don't need to work yourself that hard," Aizawa-sensei said. "Overworking can be just as detrimental to your training as not working enough. You'll get plenty of exercise and training tomorrow going over basic rescue training-it may look easy to some, but I hope you know better."
Izuku nodded immediately. "Rescue training is very tough on people! From having to move rubble without damaging the structures nearby and preventing collapses and carrying civilians to safety, rescue work is very physically demanding. People watch heroes like All Might and Endeavor, but heroes such as Thirteen are very important to keep an eye on, too-it's so interesting-"
"Your brother is in the library, right?" Aizawa-sensei interrupted. "You still need to change and shower-I'll go pull him aside and let him know what's going on." With that, he walked away.
"Alright, some cool-down stretches right quick-you can either shower here or at home, or maybe both-a quick shower here to get the sweat off, and a longer one at home to help your muscles," Present Mic-sensei said.
"Stretching first?" Izuku said.
"Stretching first," Present Mic-sensei nodded.
…..
"Hey, Purple Midoriya, can I talk to you for a second?"
Hitoshi and Denki looked up to see Aizawa-sensei glancing at him-sort of at Denki for a few seconds, too, but mostly looking at Hitoshi.
"Sure-hey, Denki, be right back," Hitoshi said, getting up-he had a feeling this was private-probably had something to do with Izuku's quirk counseling.
The two stepped away, and Hitoshi gave Aizawa-sensei a sort of worried look.
"Is Izuku alright?" Hitoshi asked.
"He's fine-I'll let him tell you about how today went," Aizawa-sensei said. "That said, he worked hard today and should not be exercising or doing his workout routine after he gets home."
"Like, at all?" Hitoshi asked.
"At all," Aizawa-sensei said. "Tomorrow's going to be a kind of physically-intense day for 1-A-don't tell Kaminari or anyone else, really-so he needs all the rest he can."
"Got it-I'll use my quirk if I have to," Hitoshi said.
"Technically I shouldn't condone that," Aizawa-sensei said. "But if you're aiming for the hero course, you need all the training you can get, I guess-just don't do anything illegal-public quirk use counts."
"You got it," Hitoshi said. "Guessing Izuku's coming up soon?"
"He's doing cool-down stretches, then has to change, but he should be here soon," Aizawa-sensei said. "Which means I get to leave." With that, he walked away, and Hitoshi walked back over to Denki.
"What was that about?" Denki asked.
"Nothing, really-Izuku's joining us soon," Hitoshi said.
"What is he doing right now, anyway?" Denki asked.
"Nothing you need to know about," Hitoshi said, carefully shutting his textbook and picking it up, standing up. "Come on, books back on the shelves before we go."
"R-Right!" Denki said, his face slightly red-was he getting a fever or something?-then quickly followed Hitoshi into the shelves.
And that's the chapter, folks!
Happy (one day late as of my time zone) Mother's Day! I have the coolest Mom ever, you can't change my mind (I'd go on about her, but you aren't here to hear me brag).
What's the next chapter? You guessed it, it's the USJ! Are you ready? Because, trust me, I promise that you are not. I keep circling back to having something in particular happen, and I think I'm going with it! I hope you have a fun (hopefully not long-I just started summer vacation, then start my last year of college) wait~