Naturally the interview was better and worse than he thought it would be for various reasons, not getting arrested was good and it sucked that All For One was apparently able to successfully fake his death which was far from a vote of confidence in his mind, he wasn't sure where being offered a job at U.A. by Nezu himself fell just yet.
On the surface it felt like a no brainer and that he should've accepted then and there but Izuku as desperate as he was couldn't risk falling into a trap, so he'd be getting second opinions on Nezu's offer.
Riya and Mido were the first he told and after explaining how he'd possibly become a QTP/homeroom teacher to the two they began making a list of pros and cons, discussing how it would affect the rest of his work.
And even with the consideration of two "other" people he couldn't find many down sides though contract law wasn't their strong suit.
"The only drawbacks I can think would be how our students would react to us picking the other side, and that taking it would force us to stop working with 'questionable' characters." Mido commented skimming through the contents of the contract.
Riya agreed with a nod and a hum "Yeah, running the figures here prove that we could manage a healthy enough work life balance, and we'd only have to cut out college during the semester." Riya confirmed pointing over to the carefully drawn out breakdown of how their days would be.
"Should have the Vespas look this over to be safe Ori." Mido quickly added giving the papers back to Izuku, Izuku looked down at the papers and bit his lip as his thumb ran over the U.A. emblem on them.
"And if it comes back clean... ?" Izuku mumbled hesitantly meeting their eyes.
"Then it's your choice to whether we accept or not, it's our best chance at staying alive long enough to not just overthrow him but find a way to kill him once and for all." Riya answered crossing his arms and all of them looked away from each other.
Morally speaking, it was a tough pill to swallow that he couldn't see any other option than killing someone, but All For One was far too dangerous to be left alive, they could lock the man up at the bottom of the ocean and pump him with thousands of gallons of anti-quirk drugs and Izuku would still be sure he'd find a way to escape.
And the idea of locking him up in a prison like Tartarus made him shiver, it would probably be a part of his plans actually since he could easily scoop up some of the most dangerous quirks and people in Japan.
He'd need to remember warning Nezu about that after he called Nezu back about his offer.
Now however Izuku and his doubles would be leaving to their respective work for the day and naturally Izuku had to spend at least an hour calming his South Sider students, assuring them that the cops weren't going on a witch hunt for him because he was a two-toes and that he wasn't facing any form of charges, something the older folks were far too used to happening back in their day.
Dabi also stuck closer to him today and as subtle as he tried to be Izuku spotted Dabi's right arm trembling once and a while, but it was the younger children that had taken the news of cops taking him away the worst and Izuku was reminded of how things were when he first told them he was going to start traveling, though he had three kids on each leg and one hanging off his back.
When his friends arrived Izuku wasn't surprised that they'd heard what happened from the South Siders and then he had to reassure them to that it wasn't anything more than an interview because Ochaco-Chan and Awa-Kun storming the station was a very real possibility from how badly they were fuming.
Izuku was just glad that no one told Ochaco-Chan about how they thought it was about him being a two-toes otherwise he would've had to get Mezo-Kun to keep her from running off, and judging from the looks on Mezo-Kun and Awa-Kun they would be more likely to let her go do it, if not join her.
Any reservations about telling them before were quickly dashed if only to keep them from doing something stupid, which would ultimately prevent them from applying to hero schools.
Which was a good move since all the righteous fury of his friends evaporated in an instant, Mezo-Kun stared at him blinking while Ochaco-Chan was so flabbergasted she could be mistaken for a gasping fish.
Awa-Kun was the first to recover and started laughing "As they damn right should Zuri! You'd be such a great heroics teacher, damn... you teaching there would make U.A. so much cooler." Awa-Kun said already daydreaming about it, Awa-Kun had done it enough for Izuku to recognize it on his face.
"T-that's great Izu-Kun, but um, aren't you too young to work at a school? Like, officially." Ochaco-Chan carefully tried to point out trying not to ruin the mood.
"Well Mido-Kun is an adult by law, that's why he can own stuff and get work from your parents Uki, I would be more worried it would be a problem for him to work there and keep up his work here at the same time." Mezo-Kun corrected.
"Oh fuck, yeah that would be a problem." Awa-Kun conceded crossing his arms.
"I can do it, I just would have to do my college stuff in between terms if I wanted to keep doing that." Izuku explained with a dismissive wave of the hand.
"Then you should totally go for it Zuri!" Awa-Kun encouraged with a thumbs up and a wink before he threw an arm around Izuku's shoulders "I mean, you're already helping us loads with our quirks and stuff, and you'd be there to keep those crack-pots like the #2 from getting their license without earning it." Awa-Kun added with a shrug.
Izuku bashfully turned away and scratched his cheek "I don't if I'm that good, you guys are really co-operative and pretty good on your own." Izuku replied trying to shoulder off some of the embarrassment.
"Of course, you'd be a great heroics teacher Izu-Kun!" Ochaco-Chan playfully scoffed at him as he punched his shoulder "I know we 'technically' know our quirks better than anyone else could but that's why we take them for granted." She said with a wave of her hand.
" Look at me, I didn't even think about trying to make things heavy because I always thought I just made things lighter despite knowing my dad could do both." Ochaco-Chan argued.
Mezo-Kun nodded "I probably would have gone my whole life without figuring out how to make imitation reptile scales if you hadn't asked me about my quirk." Mezo-Kun added raising a secondary arm and creating a thick spiky layer of scales and a matching hand with claws to further the point.
Izuku, properly flustered now, buried his face in his hands "Alright, alright! I'll consider it, just give me some time to think about if I really want this, it would be a big change for me okay?" Izuku told them waving his hands in surrender.
"Duh, don't let our hype get to ya Zuri. If you don't want to deal with all the stuffy shirts and politics of working there then don't. As fun as having you as our teacher would be you shouldn't force yourself into a role you don't like for our sake." Awa-Kun playfully said back elbowing him.
Things were pretty much back to the usual after that and was glad he retired for the day in the Tanaka's apartment. It was a long day and there were only so many times you could talk someone down before it became annoying.
Taka, who had become the mini-mascot of the building at this point picked up on how drained he was and flopped on him almost completely covering his chest, Izuku huffed and scratched behind the dog's ears for a bit until his phone rang "Deku-Sensei." Izuku answered one hand still on Taka.
"Hey Deku, my cousins have finished looking it over and said it was a pretty good deal. No hidden crap or loopholes for them to use against you if you were to take it." a Vespa informed him, it was times like these that made Izuku glad his mom found Twice and he had two more of him out there to help him.
Izuku sighed "Thanks guys, I'll have another batch of quirks notes for you by tomorrow." Izuku said back then hung up after trading goodbyes with the woman on the other end, his mind going back to the large pup in front of him and stubbornly ignoring everything else for now.
Over the next two days Izuku spoke with those he was closest with about the opportunity for their opinions, his mom was absolutely flabbergasted and asked how he'd handle that and his work which was a lot better now that he thought about how she could've reacted.
He wasn't expecting her to almost faint like when he told her about his work in the South Side obviously but she wasn't acting like he won the lottery either, which was... good, really good.
He was worried she would've been thrilled about it, like some form of settling he knew she had been hoping for back before she found out about the bullying.
She had been far more concerned about if this was what he wanted in his life, and how he would juggle his duties to the districts like him continuing to work in them was a given, he couldn't stop himself from grinning as he explained it to her, an unshakeable warmth settling under his skin as they spoke.
Юрий-сан was supportive when he asked about it on his ride home the day before and at that point Izuku really didn't know why he hadn't leap at the offer, he had brought up Nezu's number more than once but there was something that kept him from dialing the man or texting him his answer.
There was no problem professionally or personally with the job and everything about it seemed to be great so he had no idea why he was choking at the final hurdle, especially since it was quite literally a matter of life or death.
Izuku groaned from his frustration and fell face down on his bed, grumbling into his pillow.
Izuku nearly leaped out of his skin once the sound of popping bubbles filled his room and it took him a minute to realize it was his phone, and that the noise was what he set Katsuki's notification sound after his graduation.
Clocking the time as well after Katsuki usually went to bed Izuku picked up his phone and checked what was so important that Katsuki had to text him right now.
[CAT!?]
[Kat: Hey, you up?]
[Nerd: Yeah, what are you doing up?]
[Kat: Couldn't sleep, didn't want to wake the penguins.]
[Nerd: And you don't care about waking me? :P I feel so loved over here.]
[Kat: Oh shut up Nerd.]
Izuku couldn't help smiling and softly chuckled.
[CAT!?]
[Kat: What are you doing up Nerd?]
Izuku sighed and contemplated telling Katsuki about it, before deciding he had nothing to lose by doing it.
[CAT!?]
[Nerd: You know how we were on TV? Well Nezu, the Prinipal of U.A. was watching and apparently I caught his eye because he offered me a job at U.A.]
Katsuki's response took a minute or so to come back.
[CAT!?]
[Kat: About time someone recognized your worth.]
[Kat: What kind of job? Like as a QC or something?]
[Nerd: No, well kind of ('~-~)... He asked me to be a homeroom/QTP teacher.]
[Kat: {gif of a dog tilting it's head with comically wide eyes}
[Nerd: Sorry (_'-.-) Quirk theory and practice, I think it means I'll be teaching them about quirks more in depth and how to best used theirs for heroics.]
[Kat: That's cool I guess, you thinking about doing it?]
[Nerd: I guess, I've been meaning to text Nezu about it.]
[Kat: Meaning to? Are you interested in doing it or not?]
[Nerd: I am.]
[Kat: Then why haven't you told him you'll do it?]
[Nerd: I don't know... ]
[Kat:... It's because it's weird isn't?]
Izuku avoided looking at his phone, there had been this odd feeling building in the pit of his stomach and... weird was certainly the closest to describing the feeling than what he could think of.
[CAT!?]
[Nerd: Yeah.]
[Kat: Like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop? Because it sounds way too good?]
Once again Izuku was struck as Katsuki somehow managed to suss out what he was feeling about this whole thing despite he himself not understanding the problem until it was pointed out to him.
[CAT!?]
[Nerd: Yes.]
[Kat: Figured.]
Katsuki's bubble popped up and disappeared a few times and Izuku became a touch nervous about what Katsuki was trying to say.
[CAT!?]
[Kat: I know we've talked about this before but I never thought you were stupid Nerd. You had your head stuck pretty far up your ass but you weren't stupid, and anybody that ain't quirkist is gonna see that.]
[Kat: Unfortunately we were surrounded by nothing but those shitheads growing up and they made you think you aren't half as capable as you are, and I used to do that too.]
[Kat: But you are great with this crap and thanks to those crackheads you've befriended you have the backbone to stop taking our shit.]
[Kat: So even though you're right about it probably being something too neat I think you should go for it, cause you have the nerve to throw the other shoe back where it came from.]
Izuku eyes misted up as he read Katsuki's attempts to encourage him, it wasn't the best pep talk but Katsuki was clearly trying his best and it was probably only working cause Izuku had known Katsuki for so long.
[CAT!?]
[Kat: Don't go crying on me you damn Nerd.]
[Nerd: I am not.]
[Kat: {Bitch don't 'cha lie to me gif}
[Nerd: Okay I am, sue me TT]
[Kat: Fucking crybaby.]
[Nerd: And you're a rage-aholic, we all have our problems.]
[Kat: Fuck you, I'm trying to be nice you idjit.]
[Nerd: I know... and you suck at it.]
[Kat: {Middle finger gif}
Izuku couldn't help laughing at that, this was nice, messing around with Katsuki was fun even if he had to do it over text.
[CAT!?]
[Nerd: Seriously though, thanks Katsuki... I needed this.]
[Kat: {rolling eyes gif}
[Kat: No problem Nerd.]
[Kat: Now shut up and get some sleep before I go over there and knock you out myself.]
[Nerd: {Come at me bro gif}
Izuku placed his phone on the desk to charge for the night then laid down, one of many slight weights no longer constricting his chest so painfully so.
I don't know why but everytime I think of a toddler Katsuki the only thing I can think of is Toulouse, the oragne kitten from Aristocats.