A Strange Friendship
~A/N~ No-one: Welcome back, last time Izuku was writing analyses for his classmates and was teased by his mother about his new friend.
No-one: So today we're going back to school and Nezu and Izuku are going to have a conversation about his work.
"Speech" 'Thought' "Read Text" "Inner Voice" "Synchronised Speech"
Disclaimer: I don't own ~'My Hero Academia'~
~Chapter 8 Who Will Lead Us~
Ochako thought she was ready for anything to happen for her on her third day at UA. "Are you one of All Might's students? Tell us, what's the symbol of peace like in person?" a reporter all but demanded, shoving a microphone in the girl's face, but Ochako was not ready for this.
"Quick, say we're not in the hero course" said Himiko "they'll lose interest"
"Uh, sorry but I'm in the… support course" she stuttered slightly "so I don't have him as a teacher"
At this the reporters lost interest in her just like Himiko predicted, Ochako released a sigh of relief, however before she could leave she saw the same reporter shove her microphone into Midoriya's face.
"Can you tell us what it's like working so closely with All Might?"
The green haired boy stuttered trying to think of a reply, Ochako tapped his shoulder drawing his attention "Midoriya we better hurry, Mr Aizawa will be annoyed if we're late" she said loudly, the crowd lost interest in them and turned to harass someone else.
"H-how did you get them to leave us alone?" he asked as the duo crossed the gate.
"I kinda lied about being in the support course" Ochako admitted sheepishly "and when I said you were my classmate they probably assumed you were too"
"Pretty good idea huh?" Himiko said smugly.
'Yes Himiko, you're a genius' thought Ochako with a hint of sarcasm.
"W-well thanks Uraraka" he smiled and Ochako couldn't help but blush at how cute he looked "oh, I need to go see principal Nezu, so I'll see you in class"
" Someone is blushing" Himiko teased "I know you think he's cute too"
'Shut up!' Ochako replied with a red face 'you're the one who put that idea in my head'
" Maybe, but you're keeping it there all by yourself"
'Stop it!'
Izuku thanked Ectoplasm for escorting him to the principal's office, smiling down at the autograph in his notebook, Izuku shook his head and raised his hand to knock on the principal's office door, only for the door to swing open on it's own.
"Good morning Mr Midoriya" Nezu greeted from his desk, pouring a cup of tea "do come in young man"
Izuku nodded nervously before walking over to the mammal "g-good morning sir" he stuttered slightly, he sat down in one of the chairs in front of the principal's desk.
"How would you like your tea?" Nezu asked, gesturing to the second cup on his desk.
"Could I er, have a bit of honey in mine please?" asked Izuku "it's er, a healthy alternative to sugar"
"Quite, the antioxidants can help combat infections" Nezu replied, adding a small tea spoon into the teen's cup "would I correct in assuming that you have written some analyses for me to review?"
"O-oh, I er, yes I have written seven sir" he stuttered, reaching into his backpack and pulling out seven plastic paper sleeves and placing them on the principal's desk "but I don't think they'll be up to your standards sir"
"There is no need to worry young man" the mammal said reassuringly "after all you are here to improve, both as an analyst and as a hero"
"Th-thank you sir"
"You mustn't hold yourself to impossible standards young man" Nezu smiled "even if you are All Might's successor"
All colour seemed to leave Izuku at once "I er, wha-what er, I don- um" he stuttered.
"Relax Mr Midoriya I know about One for All and All Might's injury" Nezu said calmly "both of those facts are part of the reason I offered him a teaching position here at UA"
"What do you mean sir?"
"As we both know All Might's time as the number one hero is coming to an end" Nezu sighed "I offered All Might a teaching position here so he could conserve his time in a manner that didn't arouse suspicion from the public" Nezu paused as he took a sip from his tea cup "originally I gave him the offer with the belief that he could find a successor in one of the students, but he met you before the school year even started"
"O-oh so it was…" Izuku mumbled dejected "supposed to be someone better…"
"I disagree young man" Nezu interjected, drawing the teen's attention "I believe you can more then rise to the occasion, Yagi saw something in you and I think that you can do it"
"Y-Yagi?" Izuku asked, clearly not recognizing the name.
"Oh dear, it would seem All Might neglected to inform you" Nezu shook his head in disbelief "All Might's real name is Toshinori Yagi, I encourage you to refer to him as such whenever he's in his civilian form"
Izuku was speechless as he stared down at his tea 'I know All Might's real name'
"I must ask you a question Mr Midoriya" Nezu spoke up, drawing the boy's attention "have you received any training in quirk analysis?"
"Um, no sir" Izuku answered "it's just a hobby really, this is the first time I've written any for someone"
"I must admit this is quite impressive for someone self taught" Nezu complemented, glancing over all of the papers "I have seen better, but those were individuals who have received training"
"They're not that good sir"
"While humility is a positive trait, you should learn to accept complements, especially when they've been earned" Nezu took another sip from his tea, he reached into a draw on his desk and removed a cheque booklet, quickly writing something down he handed it to the student "this is what I'd willing to offer you for your analyses"
""975039 Yen" is that what you'd value all seven of my analyses?" he asked surprised "n-not that erm, I'm questioning you sir"
"Oh you misunderstand young man" Nezu chuckled "that is the amount I would offer for each analysis"
"W-what?…"
Ochako had barely managed to get her blush under control by the time she arrived in her home room, Himiko's laughter didn't help.
The topic on the whole class' mind seemed to be the media circus outside, Toru joked that her invisibility "finally came in handy" and Shoji questioned if he'd be able to deal with that all the time when he became a pro hero.
Ochako couldn't help but notice that Midoriya was still absent when Mr Aizawa arrived, the teacher scowled when he saw the empty seat in his classroom.
"Where's Midoriya?" he asked in a tired voice.
Ochako raised her hand to draw Aizawa's attention "he said he had to go to Principal Nezu's office" the pro-hero had an annoyed cross his features for a moment.
"He'll have to wait for now then" Aizawa mumbled "decent work on yesterday's combat training you guys" the teacher placed some papers down on his podium "I saw the video feeds and went over each of your teams results, Bakugo, you're talented so don't sulk like a child about your loss okay?" his gaze moved to the back of the class room "Todoroki, you need to stop underestimating you opponents, in real life you would have been killed"
" Wow he's actually giving constructive criticism to them" commented Himiko.
'Well they were the ones who did the worst in the battle trial' Ochako replied.
Before the girls could continue talking further the classroom door opened to reveal a nervous looking Izuku holding a bunch of papers, "I uh, I'm sorry for being late sir" he stuttered "p-principal Nezu wanted to see my analyses for the class"
"That's fine, give them out and take your seat" Aizawa replied emotionlessly, Midoriya handed the papers to various members of the class when Ochako and Himiko noticed something.
" Wait did Midoriya actually write an analysis for all seven of us that asked yesterday?" Himiko asked.
Ochako was silent as she counted who received a document from the green haired boy 'looks like it'
The other students who had asked for a quirk analysis from Midoriya were looking at their papers in surprise and the rest of the class looked a couple seconds away from openly discussing the analyses in question.
"Alright, quiet down" said Aizawa, looking down on the entire class "let's get down to business, our first task will decide your future"
" Is he doing another expulsion threat already?!" Himiko growled.
'Calm down, we have to let him finish first' Ochako reassured.
"You all need to pick a class representative" he finished bluntly.
The entire class seemed to sigh in relief that it was just an ordinary school event.
"Pick me guys, I wanna be class rep" Kirishima said loudly.
"I'll take it" Kaminari raised his hand with a small smirk.
"Yeah, you're gonna need me" Jiro interjected, raising her hand as well"
"Someone with style would be bes-" Aoyama started only to be interrupted by Mina.
"Oh I'm totally the right pick" the pink girl cheered.
'What do you think Himiko?' Ochako asked, watching all the chaos unfold.
" Sounds like too much work" Himiko groaned "but I think you could do a good job"
'Thanks sis' Ochako smiled.
"Silence everyone please!" Iida yelled, drawing everyone's attention "the class representative's duty is to lead others, that's not something just anyone can do, you must first have the trust of every student in the classroom" he raised his head to look at everyone "there for the most logical way to fill this position is democratically, we will hold an election to choose our leader"
" That's not a bad idea but…" Himiko started.
'We haven't known each other for long' Ochako finished.
"Is this really the best idea?" Kaminari asked with a confused look on his face.
"We've only known each other for a few days" Tsu commented "how do we know who we can trust?"
"Besides, everyone will just vote for themselves" Kirishima replied.
"Most people will" Iida answered "but that means whoever does receive multiple votes must truly be the most suitable person for the job, it's the best way right sir?"
"Do what you want" Aizawa grumbled, zipping up his sleeping bag "just decide before my nap's over"
" Is he seriously sleeping in here?" asked Himiko in disbelief.
"Thank you for your trust" said Iida, almost immediately the tall boy began handing out small pieces of paper to every student in class "after you have written your vote place it on the teacher's podium"
"So, are you voting for Midoriya? Himiko asked.
'Did you have someone else in mind?' thought Ochako.
" Nope, just wondered if you did" Himiko replied "I guess either Yaoyorozu or Iida since they seem quite smart and serious"
'Fair, but so is Midoriya' thought Ochako 'and Iida does look the part with those glasses and all'
" Oh I can see that"
After all the votes were counted Ochako couldn't help but stare in disbelief at the overwhelming six votes for Izuku, easily putting him in first with the second highest be Momo with three votes.
"How did I get six votes" Midoriya cried out in surprise.
"Okay you idiots!" Bakugo yelled, rising to his feet "who voted for him!"
"What, you did you honestly think anyone was gonna vote for you?" Sero asked rhetorically in a rather dry tone.
'Maybe we should keep our vote to ourselves' Ochako thought as Bakugo yelled back at the tape user.
"Agreed" Himiko replied.
"Zero votes" Iida grumbled "I feared this might happen, but I can't argue with the system I chose"
"So you voted for someone else huh?" Momo asked.
"But you knew it was best to vote for yourself right?" commented Sato "what were you trying to prove here Iida?"
"Alright, Yaoyorozu, Midoriya to the front" Aizawa ordered, both students obeying.
Ochako couldn't help but notice how nervous Midoriya looked at the front of the classroom 'I think we should've asked if Midoriya wanted to be class president' Ochako thought.
"... yeah" Himiko replied.
"Alright the class rep is Midoriya and our deputy is Yaoyorozu" Aizawa said plainly.
"R-really, uh it's not a mistake?" Izuku stuttered.
"I don't understand why you're so tense" Momo said quietly "you seemed confident when handing out your analyses"
"This might not be so bad" Tsuyu commented.
"Yeah, I could get behind Midoriya" Kirishima smiled "he did make those analyses for our classmates"
"Yaoyorozu was totally on top of it when it came to our training results" commented Kaminari.
"It's always so crowded in here" Ochako sighed, sitting down for lunch.
"That's because students from support, management and hero courses share the same cafeteria" Iida explained.
"We know Iida, we are students here" Himiko said with a metaphorical eye roll.
Ochako let Iida talk so she could take a bite out her rice, "this rice is delicious" she said with a content smile.
"Guys I'm kinda worried about the class rep thing, I don't think I'm qualified" Izuku sighed into his katsudon.
"Sure you are" Ochako and Himiko replied in sync, that had been happening more often lately.
"You'll be great" commented Iida in-between bites of his curry "your courage and quick thinking under stress will help make you a worthy leader" he paused for a moment "not to mention the strength you've demonstrated, and the fact you've willing provided analyses to your classmates" Iida looked back down at his plate "those were the reasons I voted for at least"
"You were one of the six?" Midoriya asked, surprised at Iida's bluntness.
"Didn't you wanna be rep really badly?" Ochako asked rhetorically "I mean you do look the part, because of the glasses"
"Wanting a job and being suited to it are quite different things" Iida replied, sipping his orange juice "observing the Iida family's hero agency has taught me that much"
"Agency?" Izuku and Ochako asked simultaneously.
"Hold on, Iida after some thought I have to ask" Midoriya started slowly "are you related to the turbo hero Ingenium?"
Iida let out a stuttering gasp as he tried to think of an answer "I was afraid people would treat me differently if they knew about my family" he surrendered "yes, he's my elder brother, the Iida's have been heroes for generations, it runs in our blood"
"That's amazing" Izuku gushed "he's a super popular pro with sixty-five sidekicks working alongside him at his Tokyo agency"
"Ingenium is an unmatched commander who honours the hero code" Iida said proudly "as the second oldest Iida son I strive to be just like him" he turned to look Midoriya in the eyes "however I think it might be a bit soon for me to be in a real leadership role, you for example you figured out what the judges were looking for in the practical exam, a rep needs that sort of insight"
"Wow you're really laying it on thick with the compliments Tenya" Himiko said with a smirk and closed eyes, the two girls switching places easily "trying to get special treatment?"
"What are you talking about, I'm just being honest" Iida replied confused "I would actually want to be treated the same as everyone else"
'Iida was facing me when it happened, but Uraraka's eyes changed again before she closed them' Izuku thought to himself 'does she have some kind of passive mutation?' he put those thoughts aside for a moment and decided to tell Iida about how he didn't know the entrance exam's secret.
"Hey, yeah so about that practical exam…" Izuku started, only to be interrupted by an alarm activating "what is that?"
"Warning level three security breach, all students please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion" a voice announce through the speaker system.
Iida immediately turned to the older student sitting next to him "What's a level three security breach?"
"It means someone's managed to get past the school's barrier" he answered "this hasn't happened in my three years here, we should get going"
The evacuation was anything but orderly as everyone rushed into the corridor, Ochako was growing increasingly annoyed at all the people shoving her "ow this a total mob" she complained.
"Everyone was quick to react" Iida grunted "as I'd expect from UA students"
"Sure, but they're also causing a huge panic" Izuku squeaked "c-crap I can't stop"
"Midoriya" Ochako cried as she watched her friend get swept away by the crowd.
"Who in the world could've trespassed on the campus grounds?" Iida asked himself, as he pushed himself to the window, getting his answer "it it's the press that was outside"
He could see Mr Aizawa and Present Mic dealing with the situation "I was afraid it was some kind of attack on the school" he thought aloud "but, there's no need to worry everyo-" he was interrupted when the crowd pushed him harshly against the window.
Ochako saw Kirishima and Kaminari try and calm the crowd down, only to get swept away by the other students, Ochako squealed when she got shoved again "did someone just touch our butt?" Himiko asked incredulously "I'll kill them"
"Uraraka!" Iida called out, drawing the fused girls' attention.
"Iida! Help me!" she called out, she saw the tall boy force his way forward with a determined look on his face.
"I have an idea!" he shouted, reaching out his hand to her "touch my hand, make me float above everyone else"
Ochako pushed against the crowd and stretched out her hand to slap Iida's, the moment she removed his gravity he jumped above the crowd "I hope he's got a plan" Himiko commented.
Iida pulled up his pant legs "engine boost go!" he yelled, activating his quirk, the sudden propulsion sent him spinning down the corridor at high speeds, only stopping when he crashed into the wall with a painful sounding thud.
"LISTEN UP! EVERYTHING IS OKAY" he shouted, making everyone stop and stare at him "IT'S JUST THE MEDIA OUTSIDE! THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!" Iida's legs trembled slightly from his balance on the exit sign "WE'RE UA STUDENTS! WE NEED TO REMAIN CALM AND PROVE WE'RE THE BEST OF THE BEST!"
After his speech was delivered people started to calm down and stop pushing each other, allowing everyone to leave in an orderly manner like they were told to earlier.
When everyone returned to class after the incident in the cafeteria, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu moved to the desk at the front of the class, and while Momo looked confident in herself, Izuku looked one bad word from fainting.
"It's time class rep, let's begin" Momo said calmly.
"Erm, okay so we need to figure out who the other class officers will be" he stuttered, he looked down at the table in front of him "but first there's something that I wanna say, I've thought a lot about this" he paused for a moment "and I think that I'm not qualified to be the class rep, so I'd like step down and allow Yaoyorozu to be our class rep and nominate Iida to be our deputy"
'I didn't see this coming, did you?' Ochako asked mentally.
"Nope, I'm as clueless as you are" Himiko answered.
"He was able to capture everyone's attention and get us in line" he looked up with a small smile "so I believe that he should take part in leading our class from now on"
"Yeah y'know what? If Midoriya vouches for him I'm good" Kirishima agreed "plus he was a big help, he totally manned up and took charge right?"
"Yep" Kaminari answered "oh and did you notice he looked like the dude on the emergency exit signs when he was on the wall earlier?"
"This is a waste of time" Aizawa droned out, startling Midoriya "I don't care who the rep is, just hurry up"
Iida rose to his feet to address his classmates "if Midoriya is nominating me for this job, then I humbly accept" he raised his hand into the air as he said this "I pledge to carry out the duties of class deputy to the best of my abilities"
"Sounds good emergency exit" Kirishima smiled, giving a thumbs up.
"Emergency exit Iida" Kaminari smirked "don't let us down man"
"Are you sure about this Midoriya?" Momo asked the green haired boy next to her.
"I'm sure, while I was nervous about the idea of leading the class I'd still likne to help out" he answered.
"Like with your analyses?"
"Y-yeah, that reminds me" he stuttered slightly "could er, you and Hagakure come with me after class to the support department"
"Not to sound insensitive but why?" she questioned.
"It's about both of your costumes" He noticed a slightly uncomfortable look cross her face "I want to help propose solutions"
"Okay, I'll ask Hagakure after class"
~A/N~ No-one: I think I'll cut the chapter here for now.
No-one: Another minor change happened in the class dynamics and Midoriya is making more connections.
No-one: I'm sorry this took so long, a lot of things happened in my family life and that caused multiple delays.
No-one: I'm sure everyone noticed how different the votes for class rep turned out, I'll reveal who voted for who in the Author's notes for the next chapter, so feel free to guess, until then…
No-one: I'm No-one Special.