Izuku grumbled as he ran his hands through his hair, trying in vain to get it to be a touch more tamed for today and it just wasn't cooperating.
Normally his Sunday's weren't so stressful but today wasn't any ordinary day.
Three days ago Izuku signed the final draft of the contract and he was now officially working at U.A. as a teaching assistant for this year, something Izuku insisted on since he wanted some experience in a professional class room and U.A. specifically because he didn't want to jump in cold turkey.
Nezu had negotiated him down to just one year as a TA but Izuku supposed that it would probably be enough time to get used to things and the grounds.
Of course the news of him accepting a job at U.A. caused some waves in his regular work, but the majority of his students were level-headed enough to accept it as just one of his things, there were some outliers but Izuku was sure they would come around eventually.
Today was the "first" day of classes and introductions for the beginning of the new school year at U.A. and Izuku would be meeting his new co-workers after the opening ceremony was over.
The meeting would include all of the first year homeroom teachers, most of his hero course colleagues, the school's head counselor for the hero course, the department heads of each course, one of the school nurses and Nezu himself obviously.
So assuming only a few were doubled up like himself Izuku was looking at a meeting with sixteen people minimum, maybe more and most of them would be heroes and the ones he did know would be there were ones he liked.
And that meant he was stressed and excited to go, which was why his mom was witness to him running around like a headless chicken as he got his things together, his poncho wasn't helping and Izuku had to pin it back to look more like a cape so he could move around easier.
When his hair sprung up for the thousandth time Izuku let out a loud moan of anguish and threw his hair brush at his bed as he walked out of his room "Mom! I need help with my hair." Izuku pleaded letting his head fall onto her shoulder.
She chuckled softly and put down her tea cup, she got up from the couch and led Izuku over to the bathroom, and then with nothing short of magic began to brush his hair and it stayed in place while she put it in a short ponytail.
Izuku let out a weary sigh once she was done and carefully placed on his sun-goggles "Thanks mom, it was just not cooperating, do you think I look alright or should I put on a tie?" Izuku asked as he gave himself another once over in the mirror, checking for any stains in his scarf or if his clothes didn't make him look as professional as it should've.
Izuku admittedly was insecure about his co-workers treating him as an equal given he was younger than most of the first years, and as much as he wanted to believe U.A. was a more inclusive place, the quirkless always got the short end of the stick.
His button up looked crisp and other than one stubborn lock his hair seemed alright, his Thirteen themed boots might be a bit much and were the only piece of obvious merch he was wearing, he felt safer about his sun-goggles since Eraserhead was a pretty niche underground hero and less likely to be seen as fan-boyish.
And the last thing he needed was for his co-workers thinking he was a rabid hero fan, well he used to be one and still was technically but being known as a fanboy would really hurt his professional image.
When his mom didn't say anything Izuku turned back to her and saw she was staring at him misty eyed, a sad smile on her face and holding her hands to her chest.
"Mom? Are you okay?" Izuku asked quickly going over to her.
She chuckled "I'm fine Izuku, my mind was just running away with me dear." she assured wiping away at her eyes, she shook her head then cupped his face with her hands "You're going to do just fine Izuku." she told him.
Izuku sighed leaning into her hands "Thanks mom." he muttered putting his hands over her's, her words bringing a soft form of reassurance.
The two of them stood for a moment then Izuku said his goodbyes and drove off to U.A. proper instead of portalling in, Izuku wasn't sure if U.A. had defenses against portalors but he didn't want to risk Kurogiri's safety over it until after he got the chance to ask Nezu about it.
Pulling up and parking in the designated lot Izuku couldn't say he was all that impressed, when he had signed the final draft of the contract Nezu had also given him a security-key card and a map for the campus, and staring at it showed the property was larger than he thought it would be.
And Izuku could understand it to a degree, the hero courses couldn't be expected to train right next to the main building for safety reasons and the upper year support courses would need larger spaces for their more dangerous testing, but to have twenty-six different training areas for the hero course was a bit much compared to the six lab areas on it.
And that wasn't even counting the U.S.J. which was labeled separately as for rescue training, or the areas marked as for the entrance exam or the Sports festival, it was just a lot.
Actually getting to the main building Izuku could begrudgingly appreciate the more expensive design since it would accommodate different quirk types, though it still seemed rather lavious.
Izuku wouldn't comment about some of the staff accommodations like the laundromat and mini-kitchen since those served their purpose for the active heroes no doubt and there wasn't anything that sounded incredibly out-landish like a buffet hall.
It had taken him a while to find the meeting room Nezu had outlined on the building floor plans, and he checked the time to see he was almost a minute ahead of schedule and sat himself down on a one of the seats listening to the voices inside, tapping his foot as he waited for Nezu to call him inside.
Izuku didn't have to wait for long as Nezu said something about introducing a new member of staff and he took that as his cue and Izuku steeled himself with the fact he could talk down major crime lords on a weekly basis and that a few heroes should be nothing compared to that.
Inside Izuku was unsurprised that there was a large table with a multitude of people sitting at it and immediately his brain raced to count/identify everyone there.
Nezu was the first and a given though Izuku was surprised he knew most of the staff there.
Hound Dog, Present Mic, Midnight, Vlad King, Cementoss, Snipe, Ectoplasm, Recovery Girl, Master-Mind, General Clique, and Power-Loader were all publicly known teachers/staff at U.A.
There were a few he didn't know or expect, he certainly couldn't recall the blonde woman in glasses, and such heroes like Bullet Jacker, Killer Automotive, Para-Dome, or Eraserhead since their code names weren't on the roster-
*Wait! Eraserhead!?* Izuku thought his head whipping back over to Present Mic and Midnight, and Izuku's eyes weren't lying for there in between the two of them was the Eraserhead, scarf and all.
Izuku mentally floundered in his head because Nezu hadn't said anything about Eraserhead working for him and Izuku was absolutely not prepared to come face-to-face with his favorite hero right here and now.
*So much for not being seen as a fanboy... * Some miserable voice said ever so helpfully in the corner of his mind.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for Izuku he didn't embarrass himself fully just yet because while Izuku's brain was still processing being in the same room as Eraserhead, the man himself got everyone's attention by jumping to his feet and pointing an accusatory finger at Izuku.
" You! " the man all but hissed and Izuku jumped back with a squeak.
And it might've escalated from there if Present Mic hadn't acted quickly enough to grab Eraserhead by his shoulders "Now, now Aizawa-San. We don't want to scare off our new assistant teacher before his first day." Nezu playfully said but Eraserhead didn't move from his one sided staring contest with Izuku.
Likely sensing Eraserhead wouldn't drop this Nezu merely turned to Izuku and quietly motioned for him to introduce himself.
Izuku swallowed and did his best to shove off Eraserhead's reaction to him and cleared his throat loud enough to get everyone's attention then bowed as far as he could "H-hello, my name is Midoriya Izuku and I look forward to working with you all." he greeted keeping his hands politely folded in front of him.
Some of them were staring at him pretty hard with puzzled looks on their faces and Izuku supposed they weren't briefed on him beforehand by Nezu, some of them might only know him from the news a couple weeks ago and Izuku guessed they were trying to figure out where they knew him from if not questioning what a kid was doing here.
The blonde woman with glasses was the first to speak and turned towards Nezu "This is the highly qualified replacement you found for Karin-San?" the woman asked, her voice completely flat.
Nezu grinned back at her "Indeed, we are incredibly lucky to have someone of Midoriya-San's qualifications joining us!" Nezu cheerfully proclaimed.
"Oh and what qualifications might that be?" Midnight asked teasingly as she leaned onto her hand, using her seduction to distract from her discomfort and how her eyes flashed to Eraserhead occasionally since he jumped to his feet.
Izuku was quite familiar with the tactic from his work with the ladies of the night as they preferred to call themselves when Izuku asked.
Nezu gave a simple hum and motioned Izuku to come sit with them, Izuku slipped into the only empty seat between Nezu and Bullet Jacker, sharing a glance with Nezu before he spoke up again.
"I've been a licensed quirk counselor for a couple years now, I have college degrees in Science, Biology, teaching, structural engineering, and law. I'm also certified in JSL, an E.M.T. certified, and hold a small business license." Izuku listed off for them, pulling out a folder containing copies of all his degrees and certificates and handing it to Nezu.
"I believe that alone would make him more than suitable on paper, don't you Hara-San?" Nezu asked the blonde, not bothering to open the file Izuku had given him while most of the room had their attention on Izuku now.
"How old are you kid?" Killer Automotive questioned, glancing at Izuku with a more thorough once over.
"I'll be fifteen this July, Automotive-San." Izuku answered mentally sighing inside as he already got to pulling out his paper copy of QAD fourteen, especially since his coworkers started sharing looks.
"You must have a pretty good intelligence quirk little listener." Present Mic joked trying to get Eraserhead to sit down but the man wasn't to be moved outside keeping his eyes on Izuku.
Izuku reframed from scowling at Present Mic's words, he had often heard the misconception but at some point it stopped feeling like any form of a compliment, because apparently he could only be smart if he had a quirk for it.
Izuku knew Present Mic wasn't trying to be insulting though, it was just a natural assumption people made given his age "No, I don't. I've worked very hard to earn each of my degrees." Izuku responded trying to temper his annoyance, but he likely failed given Present Mic's winch.
"I'm sure Yamada-San meant no harm Midoriya-San." Nezu diplomatically commented his tail moving to brush against Izuku's knee, a silent form of apology.
"Is no one going to comment on Nezu-San hiring a minor?" Hara-San brought raising her hand and voice still deadpan flat.
"I am not a minor, I've been a legal adult since I turned ten." Izuku corrected quickly passing the copy of QAD fourteen to Bullet Jacker "As of 2327, any quirkless individual ten years or older is considered and treated as a legal adult in the eyes of Japanese law, thanks to the Quirk amendment decree, paragraph fourteen." Izuku said giving the summarized version as the paper was passed around the table.
Different levels of shock or disbelief as they read the document, well expect Eraserhead since he was still staring at Izuku even if he had been coaxed to sit back down.
"And you are presumably quirkless?" Hara-San inquired her face remaining completely unfazed as she read the document and passing it along.
"Yes, I am. I had my second toe joint confirmed when I was five and all of the medical documentation to confirm the diagnosis to prove it... however I thought that it was rather obvious." Izuku cooly replied starting to suspect that Hara-San's quirk was behind her lack of emotional tells/responses.
"How is it obvious?" Power-Loader muttered under his breath likely not expecting anyone but Hound Dog to hear him.
Izuku frowned and shot the man a confused look.
How could they not? Quirkless 'identification' was a typical subject in medical basics classes in most professions around the medical field which heroics certainly crossed over, but as he turned to look at the rest of the table Izuku saw a similar wave of confusion about him being 'obviously' quirkless.
Izuku couldn't help a deep spike of disappointment as not even Recovery Girl or Hound Dog, the two people most involved in medicine also didn't seem to know what he meant, Izuku didn't make any attempt to hide or lower his voice as he released a long suffering groan and facepalmed.
Then he took off one of his shoes and placed it on the table pointing directly at it.
"This is the only shoe sold for quirkless people on an international scale, it is also the only shoe for quirkless people sold in Japan outside of custom built shoes you'd have to personally request. Due to the quirkless being a minor that suffers specific medical problems and conditions quirked people don't this specific brand of shoe is registered as a medical aid and can't be banned from sale." Izuku slowly explained to them like they were children.
"As such most if not all forms of medical aid training includes teaching people to identify this shoe even from a distance given the high suicide rates in certain countries like Japan, most if not all Japanese Quirkless people wear bright red high-tops with a white soles and black laces exclusively since again, these are the only shoes sold for quirkless people that won't tear apart our feet and give us back and or leg pain." Izuku elaborated then put on his shoe again done with his little moment of show and tell.
Izuku was sure there was a bit more bite in his tone than necessary but if these grown adults constantly surrounded by children were supposed to be teaching the next heroes couldn't tell what was right in front of them then he wasn't going to hold back his disappointment.
"Legality aside, do you have any in class experience?" Hara-San questioned moving on from Izuku's little scene far more quickly than her hero counter-parts.
"I've not been in a formal school setting since I was pulled from public school in '71, but I've been running large group lessons in multiple red-light districts for years now with few problems, along with one-one-one tutoring." Izuku answered.
"What subjects?" a new voice, Master-Mind asked not lifting his head enough to reveal his eyes as he leaned forward.
Izuku gave a dismissive wave "Quite a few, all the subjects I have a degree in to an extent with an exception of law as well as the common mandatory subjects every school teaches, such as spelling and math." Izuku easily replied.
Hara-San turned to Nezu "Nezu-San, do you think he could handle the stress of teaching the hero course?" She questioned and despite her robotic lack of tone Izuku couldn't help feeling personally insulted and stood up.
"Hara-San, I've been working and practically living out of all thirty-eight red-light districts for years. I own over eighty different businesses in said districts and far more properties than that which I rent out. I don't have to be here. I don't need this job. And I certainly don't have to sit here and be treated like a brain-dead child ." Izuku spat all but glaring at the woman.
If the room wasn't shocked by Izuku before they were certainly taken off-guard by the potent emotions he was showing now, well all except Eraserhead whose gaze only hardened, far more familiar with Izuku's offense than anyone else in the room.
Nezu proceeded to stand up, clearing his throat and bringing all eyes back onto himself "While I can understand your concerns about hiring such a young man to teach, I can personally assure you all that Midoriya-San is more than capable of taking over for Ito-San." Nezu cordially said his tail again finding Izuku's knee though it was in an attempt to calm the boy.
Izuku took the hint with a deep breath and sat back down running his hand over his scarf though the room was still left feeling uneasy from his outburst.
"Now Hara-San, if you still have any lingering doubts over my choice to employ Midoriya-San, then perhaps you would feel more comfortable knowing he is also more widely known by his alias, Deku-Sensei." Nezu offered to the woman only for half the room to exclaim from their shock.
"Are you trying to tell us that a quirkless teenager somehow controls over half of the criminal underworld and has been having us running around in circles?" Vlad King questioned, one of the many now standing due to his shock.
Izuku rolled his eyes "I only have control of them by technicality, I don't hold any actual power over them, they simply follow my rules when they're in my territory. And you lot were only chasing your own tail because no one stopped to consider if I was just some kid teaching people how to write their names." Izuku replied crossing his arms.
The adults in the room were apparently no less shocked by that but Eraserhead had jumped back up to his feet "I knew it! You're the Yaizu vigilante!" Eraserhead exclaimed shocking Izuku for all but a second until his brain caught up and he became flustered.
Nezu mentioned Eraserhead had seen him break up fights in Yaizu and he, and the Vespas had assumed Eraserhead was chasing him because he thought Izuku was connected to Deku-Sensei, but apparently Eraserhead hadn't made the connection and had labeled him as a random vigilante.
"Um, technically I'm not. I don't have a quirk or fought anyone, just reminded them about their homework and told them to go home E-Eraserhead-San." Izuku nervously corrected tempted to hide his face in his scarf.
Unfortunately confirming this only made the room break out into more cries of shock and disbelief from the room.
"Woah, woah! You're the kid that Sho's been trying to catch! The one that been stopping gangs with pop quizzes and spelling homework?" Midnight questioned while Present Mic was gasping like a fish.
Nezu chuckled "Indeed, he is one in the same." Nezu confirmed delighting in the following chaos just a bit.
"And that worked!?" Present Mic exclaimed for the room as a whole.
Izuku shrugged "Basically." he answered once they were calm enough to be heard without yelling.
" They know if they don't listen to me they risk getting their whole faction kicked from my aid for at least a week, and if that happens well most people won't be happy with the ones who caused the fight. You have no idea how many times the leaders will personally apologize to me because their underlings were causing trouble and begging me to lift the ban." Izuku grumbled, pinching his the bridge of his nose as he thought of it.
Eraserhead meanwhile held his hands out in a way that screamed 'See! this is what I mean.' and looked at both of his nearby co-workers.
"Now that we've firmly established Midoriya-San's remarkable ability to control and manage large groups of violent, drug-addicted adults twice his age I doubt he'll have much trouble with twenty of our law-abiding hero students at a time." Nezu commented.
Izuku frowned and shot Nezu a look "While some of my students suffer from drug addiction, I would prefer you to not call them addicts Nezu-San." Izuku stated.
Nezu quickly flashed Izuku a smile "Of course, apologizes Midoriya-San." Nezu replied before turning back to the room as a whole "Now if there are no other questions regarding Midoriya-San's teaching abilities?" Nezu asked his eyes softly tracing the room.
No one however seemed to wish to voice any of their concerns if they had them.