It was an awkward lunch after Izuku's talk with Uraraka in the classroom. He simply sat down opposite her at a table in the lunchroom and ate silently, with Uraraka doing the same. All in all, it was actually nice, since they both had a chance to cool off, and so far it wasn't uncommon for them to spend stretches of time being quiet and enjoying their meals, it just so happened that this time it was a little longer spent averting their gazes and trying not to chew too loudly, for it might annoy the other. That silence was broken towards the end of lunch, when a group of their classmates came over to talk to Izuku, and that stunned him for a moment. That many people wanted to talk to him specifically?
All in all, it was a group of four that came up to start a conversation, composed of a muscular boy with red hair, the pink girl with horns, the girl that looked like a frog, and Iida. He wondered what they'd want with him, but they quickly started speaking, so Izuku tried his best to quiet his thoughts so that he could listen.
"Hey, man! That was super manly, the way you owned the truth. That's the kind of hero I want to be; living without regrets and saving as many lives as possible is super cool!" the boy with red hair said.
"Manly?" Izuku muttered under his breath, looking for the first time in about half an hour at an equally bewildered Uraraka.
"Yeah, and you were really cool in the battle trial yesterday! That agility had to take some serious training," the pink one said, giving Izuku a thumbs up that he hesitantly returned.
"Thanks, even if I don't agree," Izuku mumbled.
"I thought it was an impressive display of emotional intelligence and vulnerability to cry like that in front of so many people. Not many people would have the guts for that," the froggy girl said, getting a holler of agreement from the redhead.
Izuku just nodded at the girl, sensing that she already knew he agreed for some reason. It was in her eyes. They were wide, but sharp in a way that Izuku couldn't describe, like they saw everything in front of them, no matter how hard someone tried to hide it. It made Izuku shiver a little bit, but he looked over at Iida to get his reason for stopping by, causing the taller boy to … was he saluting Izuku? Hopefully that wouldn't be a thing.
"I was touched, as Asui and Kirishima have said, by your show of emotion this morning. I agree that it is a rare trait to be so unashamed of how one feels in the face of their peers," Iida said, making Izuku frown slightly, because it was kind of hilarious how wrong Iida would've been about Izuku hours beforehand. But, he was going to be making an effort going forward, and he didn't want to laugh in Iida's face, so he nodded.
"So that gives me their names, but I still haven't gotten yours," Izuku said, turning to the pink girl.
"Oh, I'm Mina Ashido, but you can call me Mina," she said, sending a wink his way that made his cheeks feel warm.
"Sorry, but I won't be doing that. Mom always says I'm too polite, even to my own detriment. I don't think I could use your given name, even if I wanted to," Izuku said with a soft, sheepish smile on his face. Luckily, that got a laugh from the girl, Ashido, so he hadn't accidentally offended her or anything.
"Ah, that's fine. I knew a couple of your kind back in middle school, so I'm used to it," Ashido said. She bumped Izuku out from the edge of the seat so that she could join them at the table, and Uraraka immediately moved further inwards to give the new arrivals space without having to walk around her.
"What 'type'?" Izuku asked as he settled further into the table. He didn't like the mischievous look on Ashido's face, but he'd asked anyway. This was Izuku's problem! He just went along with things. It was something to work on.
"A simp," she said simply.
"W-What?" Izuku choked on the mouthful of food he took as Ashido answered his question.
"It's not a bad thing, you're just too respectful. I'm actually flattered," Ashido explained, putting on a fake sweetness to her voice as she leaned a little too far into Izuku's personal space, a sweetness that she immediately dropped when she added on what seemed to be her real point. "Plus, I've seen the eyes you're throwing at Infinity Girl over there. Don't think you're slick, boy."
"Uh," Izuku droned like the intelligent young man he was. No matter how much he really didn't want them to, his eyes unconsciously flicked over to Uraraka, to see that she was also looking at him in a similar manner, and the momentary eye contact once again sent them into a state of 'avoid each other at all costs to make it not awkward'. Unfortunately, it was very awkward.
"C'mon, Mina, you gotta go easy on him. He doesn't know your style yet," the one with the red hair, Kirishima, laughed. "Give him a minute to learn more than your name before you start playing with him like that."
"Oh, alright. It's boring, though," she said, leaning away and kicking her feet slightly under the table, where they lightly impacted Kirishima's sturdy-looking legs. He looked like he was used to it, so Izuku, with help from the tone he'd used to set Ashido limits, as well as the limit-setting itself, reasoned that they were friends before UA, likely having gone to the same middle school.
"However boring you think it may be, that display was much closer than anybody should get to another person's face. We are all within earshot of each other, so we shouldn't have to do anything that makes anyone else uncomfortable," Iida said, holding a finger up in the air as if he was referring to a reference sheet that nobody else could see.
"Alright," Ashido said, her prior enthusiasm and energy dampened somewhat, which did make Izuku feel a little bad to see. It was like watching a balloon, usually so bright and associated with such happy times, deflate into a rubbery pile of wrinkles and disappointment, and it made Izuku want to cheer Ashido up somehow, but he didn't really know what she'd like just yet.
"Ah, right! I almost forgot how you scored infinity on Aizawa's ball throw. That's totally manly!" Kirishima çheered.
"Um, thank you," Uraraka said, though it sounded more like a question to Izuku. He was also wondering what the thing with 'manly' was.
"Indeed. You also got a result of infinity during the Quirk apprehension tests, didn't you, Midoriya?" Iida asked, bringing the attention of the group back onto him. Great.
"Uh, yes. I did. I think it's a little weird that it's even possible, but I did get an infinity during the grip strength test," Izuku answered.
"How did you manage that? Your Quirk isn't related to strength, nor do you look particularly muscular," Asui said. Izuku tried not to take offence to that.
"Uh, I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it," Izuku said, taking another mouthful of his food.
"Why not? I'm sure it's totally badass!" Kirishima all but yelled.
"I bet it's because of your Quirk, right?" Ashido asked, regaining some of her energy at the new conversation topic, which made Izuku quietly relieved.
"Uh, yeah. It's just a bunch of little technical stuff, so it's kinda boring," Izuku insisted.
"I'm sure it's just as impressive as your showing during the battle trial," Asui said, which made Izuku's resolve crack and convince him to explain.
"In summary, I vaguely understood the way the measuring device worked, so I took my time to work out what part of the machine actually measured the strength of my grip, then I used my Quirk to turn that part of the machine, and that part only, into dust, so that my score would read as infinite due to technically surpassing the method with which it measured that score. The machine didn't know what had happened to it, so it interpreted not being able to measure my grip strength as it being immeasurable. Technically, they're not the same thing, but for the purposes of the test, they were. It meant using my Quirk in very fine detail, but I managed it," Izuku rambled.
"Awesome! How'd you get your infinity?" Kirishima asked, turning to Uraraka.
"Oh! Um," she faltered, flushing slightly. "I just … used my Quirk to remove the ball's gravity and threw it. It kind of did that on its own," Uraraka explained in a small voice.
"Oh, that's so cool!" Izuku interrupted the brief quiet that had blanketed the table at Uraraka's embarrassment. She looked over at him with a puzzled expression, but he didn't notice it. "It just rode its own momentum? Do you think it would really go forever, or would it hit a wall somewhere and regain its gravity? Have you ever tested it on something you could track? That would be so weird if you could just completely negate gravity on one object forever. Oh, but wait—would that even be possible? Are all of the objects you use your Quirk on considered when you turn it off, or can you pick and choose which ones are released while keeping your Quirk on the things you want to keep floating. Like, could you float two objects and then release one, but keep the other? I think that'd warrant testing, but you obviously don't have to listen to me. I'm just some guy, you should take what I have to say with a grain of salt, and—" Izuku ranted on and on, until he was cut off by an amused chuckle.
"Thanks, I'll consider it," Uraraka said, a smile back on her face for the first time since their talk. That felt right to Izuku, and so he smiled, too, unable to take his eyes away from her for some weird reason.
"Ahem," Ashido drew their attention away from each other with a very loud clearing of her throat. "We're still here, y'know. See, this is what I mean. God, just kiss already. It's only day two and you're killing me," she continued with a sly grin on her face.
The rest of lunch was spent by Izuku and Uraraka doing their best to deny Ashido's teasing, though a part of Izuku wanted to say yes, please at the suggestion. He didn't know where that came from, and he didn't want to know. Izuku had noticed how he felt around Uraraka. He'd have to be an idiot not to. He didn't want to ruin a good thing, though. He knew that asking for something like that so soon was going to be a death sentence to their friendship, and although Izuku would like Uraraka to get those same butterflies when she looked at him, he knew that it was too much to ask for. After what she'd seen, it felt like it would be weird to ask that of her now. It was Izuku's heart that was all screwed up, and putting that on Uraraka to validate would just make him feel worse. So, he didn't say anything. In fact, he did his best to push those feelings down entirely, because he knew what class they had next, and if they were going to be in their hero costumes again, he'd need the strength that action gave him to get through it. Overall, though, Izuku was feeling good about today. It felt nice to have a large group of people around him, who all wanted to be there and weren't picking on him. It felt weird, especially with Asui's frank, honest nature and Ashido's teasing, but Kirishima was able to keep Ashido in line, at least. Izuku almost felt like a normal kid, and he wasn't sure what to make of that.
Foundational heroics was going to be a chore as long as his heart was so shaken up about Uraraka. Izuku thought better than to just get it out in the open, but he also couldn't keep quiet about this. Who could he turn to? Where could he go? It was a matter for another time, because All Might immediately swept them up once more, instructing them to change into their costumes and meet at one of the gyms designed for the hero course. It was a large building, grey cement walls and a similar floor, with padded mats lining one wall and workout equipment along another. It was likely meant to be a one-stop-shop for any and all physical training that hero course kids would need; the gym equipment could be used for physical conditioning, and the mats could be used to spar on so that nobody was bruising against the cold, hard floor of the gym. It looked like there was a punching bag for every person set up on top of the mats, though, which probably meant some kind of basic instruction. All Might ended up explaining just that when he greeted them once again, and Izuku felt a surge of validation, though not from All Might himself. Of course not. All Might was a buffoon, who didn't know anything. God, he sounded like some petty ten year old.
"Welcome, students, to Gym Gamma. Usually, this space would be used a little later on, in your second year, to help develop your Quirk technique, but today we're not going to need the help of a certain teacher to get started. Today, we're going back to basics! Unarmed, non-Quirked hand to hand combat is the name of the game. I've come to realise that putting you all in a head to head brawl using your Quirks on your first day was a slight misstep, so this is my way of apologising to you. I hope you can forgive me," All Might explained.
A few students nodded and hummed in agreement, but Izuku did not. He could feel All Might's eyes on him, and he knew it was because of him that this was happening, at least partially. He wasn't stupid, and he knew what regret looked like on All Might's face by now, so he could recognise that he felt guilty for what had gone down yesterday, and he was right to. It was Bakugou that was in complete control of his actions, but All Might had put him in a position where he could carry out those actions. All Might wasn't responsible for Bakugou's actions during the battle trial, and Izuku knew that, but he was an enabler by putting them in an environment where violence was encouraged. Izuku still wasn't the biggest fan of All Might's, but he could see that the man was trying, and that gave him a little bit of hope for the rest of the year, if All Might was going to give his best effort at being a good teacher. He was clearly new to it, but if he put the same effort into it that he did with his hero work, then maybe it'd turn out okay.
"Now, we'll split you up into pairs," All Might said after a few moments of silence. "I'll ask one of you to join me for a demonstration on how to throw a proper, safe punch, and then you can all split off and practice. How does that sound, eh?"
"Is there such a thing as a safe punch?" Kaminari asked. Izuku thought his costume was pretty cool, even if it looked like normal enough street-clothes. He could appreciate the aesthetic.
"Ah, a wonderful question. What I mean is a punch that is safe for you. Obviously, if you're resorting to violence, things have gotten past the point of no return for your opponent's safety, but you can still polish your technique in order to avoid pulling any muscles or spraining joints. Safety to civilians comes first, but to ensure that, a hero has to make sure they are safe as well, because who will protect them if a hero goes down because they got an angle wrong and broke their wrist, taking them out of the fight?" All Might explained.
"Oh, okay. I get that," Kaminari said.
"Alright. Let's get started. First, the demonstration. Young Kirishima, I saw yesterday that you've got a good handle on the basics of hand to hand combat. Let's see what you're made of!" All Might said, gesturing for the class to gather around one of the punching bags strung up over a mat.
Kirishima shrugged at the praise, and wandered over to a bag. He adjusted his stance slightly, putting his feet further apart and lowering his whole body, and quickly sent out a sharp jab at the bag that made it swing back slightly. Clearly, these punching bags were made to withstand much more than one person not using a Quirk. Izuku wondered if they could withstand All Might's smashes, but though that was probably a little much for what seemed like a mass-produced item to handle effectively. Either way, Kirishima's punch was impressive, and Izuku found himself noticing how thick the boy's arms were in contrast to his own. Would he have to bulk up to stand a chance here? Maybe, but Izuku didn't really like imagining himself as some massive hulk, just waiting to slam people into paste. It went against every image he had of himself, which was small, light and easily agile. Maybe he could focus on speed instead of power.
"Well done! Your form is good, and you've got the hang of following through. See kids, it's generally good practice to aim your hits behind what you actually want it to connect with, since it guarantees the most power is conserved all the way until impact, whereas some punches that are aimed solely at the target slow down and lose power because of it," All Might said. Izuku had to admit that he was pleasantly surprised. He would've assumed that All Might, the hero known for ending every fight in one hit, wouldn't know a lot of the theory behind it, but he supposed that he'd have to so he could avoid killing anyone with his overwhelming power.
The lesson continued on in peace from there. All Might set them up at individual stations, and Izuku got the hang of it quickly enough. It was mostly about the angle, he realised, as he found that quick jabs, like Kirishima's felt more natural then something like a big wide hook, and it leant itself more to his mindset that fast was good, and slow meant pain. That had been one that middle school had taught him, but he'd decided to leave all that behind. Why was he still getting caught up in that stuff? It was like he'd never left, and was still just a scared little boy clinging to what he thought was safe. Was he scared? Was this some kind of leftover thing from the times Bakugou and his goons would track him down after school—hell, during school—and take off his gloves so that he'd risk freak out? He hadn't always been fast enough back then, so was that why he valued speed now? Izuku guessed it was something to think about, and promptly ignored it.
The lesson was over soon enough. Nothing majorly bad had happened, which was a positive. His wrist was kind of sore now, but All Might said that was to be expected for people who hadn't practised a whole lot of hand to hand before, so he didn't read into it. Recovery Girl had already had to heal him twice this week, and he didn't need another visit to the old lady so soon. Speaking of, Izuku was feeling drained from his healing session that morning and training in the afternoon. He needed to go home and crash again, and hope that the next day wouldn't be so terrible for his stamina. He quickly said his goodbyes when class ended and rushed home to his nice, warm, soft bed, and a hot meal from his mother, which he appreciated very much. That day had been a good day, and not just because it had not been bad. Sure, Bakugou had done his thing and tried his best to screw things up for Izuku, but he wasn't going to be an issue anymore. He'd made new friends, hopefully, and foundational heroics had actually gone well. It seemed like his teachers were actually trying to be good to the class, which was a first in Izuku's experience. Things were looking up, and he couldn't wait to see how tomorrow would look, which was the first time that Izuku could say that in … well, years. Maybe since his Quirk awakened. This was a nice feeling, and so he rode it all the way until he went to sleep, hopeful that the next day would continue being better than the last as he was finally at UA.
