Chapter 5: A Fresh Start
"Are you sure you're all set?" asked Inko, standing behind her son as he prepared for school. The woman's hands were clenched together in worry. "You didn't just back action figures, did you?"
Izuku said nothing at first, hiding a small smile as he tied his shoes. Today was the day, his first day at his dream school: U.A. Now dressed in his grey uniform and red tie, the teen felt almost giddy with excitement just to be wearing it. So much so that there wasn't a trace of nervousness within him. That or it was pushed to the back of his mind. His mother on the other hand, well, she seemed to have challenged all the anxiety they both should have been feeling. Ever since last night, she had been fretting over every little thing. Was his uniform ironed properly? Had all the right forms been sent to U.A.? Did he have everything he needed? Would the school provide the right lunch?
"Yep, I'm all set." There was confidence in the Sacred Gear user's voice as he said this, standing up while slinging his backpack onto his back. For a moment, no one said anything as the teen made his way toward the door. It was only when his hand touched the handle that his mother called out his name. Turning to look at his mother, Izuku saw that the worried look she had was gone. Now, in its place, was a smile as well as some tears.
"I just wanted to tell you I'm proud of you," she said, hands pumping upward in an encouraging manner. "You're really cool."
At that, Izuku felt his own smile grow as he slowly began to open the door.
"Thanks, mom. Well, I'd better be off," he said.
"There you are!" came a familiar girl's voice. "We were waiting for you. Oh, hi Mrs. Midoriya."
"Come on, come on!" came a second girl's voice along with the sound of hooves clopping on the ground. "We're going to be super, duper late if we don't hurry."
In his mind, Izuku heard glass shattering as he looked at the pair waiting for him at his doorway. Dressed in their own U.A. uniforms were Itsuka Kendo and Pony Tsunotori waiting for him. Two girls were at his door waiting for him to walk to school together. With his mother standing right behind. Slowly, very slowly, Izuku turned his head to look at his mother only to have his fears confirmed. The older Midoriya now had her hands clasped together as if in prayer while her tear ducts held all the usual signs that they were about to explode.
"M-My little Izuku is becoming a man!" cried Inko. "He really is becoming cool."
Knowing what was to follow, Izuku quickly stepped out of his apartment before quickly closing the door behind him while pressing his back against it for good measure. The door then bulged slightly as it bent outwards due to a massive stream of tears that nearly knocked all of the teens off their feet. As the girls watched in surprise at what was happening, they could hear the cries of the mother inside the apartment. At least she was crying because she was happy.
While the stream of tears never really stopped, Izuku felt some of the pressure leave the door causing him to move away from it. At the same time, he fished out his phone from his pocket to send a text message to his neighbors, asking them to keep an eye on his mom and keep her hydrated. That and to apologize for any water damage caused…again.
As he did so, both girls just stared at the door as well as tears flowing under the crack. Then, Pony looked at him excitedly as she pumped her fists into the air.
"Wow Izuku, you're mom's quirk is super cool," exclaimed the American girl. "It's like Superman's eye lasers from those old pre-quirk comics! Only with water!"
"Ah, that's not her quirk," exclaimed Izuku awkwardly. "That's more of a…family trait. Her real quirk is levitating small objects."
Pony just blinked at that. She then looked at Izuku, followed by the door, and then at Itsuka who simply nodded to confirm. Yeah, Itsuka had seen the Divine Divider tear up once or twice when he became overly emotional so she had been there to witness it firsthand. Not as powerful as his mother though.
"A-Are you sure she doesn't have two quirks?" Pony asked.
Shaking his head, Izuku put away his phone as the group began to quickly make their way to the train station. As the three of them leaped down multiple stairs at a time, the teenage boy glanced over at his two new best friends as their hair flowed behind them. And thinking about how the American girl had become a good friend to both of them.
Shortly after they had received their acceptance letters, Pony had tracked Izuku down. It had been 'super easy, barely an inconvenience' as she put it since all she had done was politely ask U.A. for his phone number. As for why she wanted to talk to him, Tsunotori wanted to thank him once again for helping her find her way to the school. That and she wanted to spend her time working on her Japanese until school started. While a little embarrassed that she thought so highly of his skills the forest-haired teen had agreed. Thus over the course of a couple of months, the pair spent time at the local libraries to help with Pony's language issue after she had found a place to stay in Japan. Not only that, but Izuku went to a Manga Café for the first time along with both Tsunotori and Itsuka so that the American girl could practice what she had learned by reading the manga aloud.
Naturally, Midoriya also spent a great deal of time continuing to train at the Kendo Dojo. There, he and Itsuka continued to train their bodies while Pony watched with wide-eyed excitement. And sometimes Mr. Kendo would be in such a good mood that he would allow Pony to train with them for free!
Back in the present, the trip to U.A. seemed to have occurred in the blink of an eye. One moment they were racing to catch their train, managing to squeeze through the doors right as they were closing and the next the three of them were making their way through the halls of the illustrious hero school. None of them could hide the excitement they were feeling as they marveled at everything they saw, ready to begin their journey to become the very best heroes they could be.
The only thing that they found an issue with came from a classroom. They, along with other students walking down the hall, couldn't help but turn their heads to look at the door marked 1-A. This was due to all the noise coming from the room as two people whose voices Izuku recognized. The first, and loudest, came from Bakugo as he yelled his usual threats of violence and murder. The other one belonged to that blue-haired boy from the exams who had called out Izuku for him mumbling as well as chastising Pony. While he was not as loud as Bakugo, the blue-haired teen could be heard trying to reprimand the ashen-haired boy for something.
"Glad we don't have to deal with that," said Itsuka, shaking her head in embarrassment as she eyed the door one last time.
Izuku nodded in agreement, noticing as he did that several of the other students in the hallway were giving the heroics classroom similar disapproving looks. Now as he walked there a bit more of a skip to his step. His time here at U.A. was truly going to be a fresh start for the young man. He was going to be away from the teens who had an issue with him, surrounded by people who at best were already his friends and at worst held a neutral impression of him. A new start for the next part of his journey to becoming a hero!
Not too long after passing 1-A, the three friends entered their own classroom. 1-B was by no means silent with everyone sitting at their desks and staring at the board in front of them like mannequins. Nor were they as loud as their sister class. Instead, there was a light murmur going around as the students chatted politely with each other, some talking with a bit more energy yet smiling all the same. Only a few seemed to be sitting peacefully on their own, either reading a book or scrolling on their smartphone.
Entering the room, Izuku noticed several heads turn to look at the group entering. One of them, a girl with shoulder-length green hair and a shark-toothed grin, raised an eyebrow at this but seemed to say nothing about it. She just went back to talking to another student whose head reminded Izuku of a comic bubble. However, there was another teen in the room who kept his focus on Midoriya: a bespectacled teen whose quirk gave him the appearance of a beast-man of sorts.
Then, just as Izuku found an empty desk, the hairy teen spoke up. "Ah, I remember you," in a polite tone. "You were the one that got called out during the entrance exam."
A few teens stopped talking, turning their attention towards Izuku who was beginning to sink into his seat. Already he was fearing for the worst, that that instance could have given some of his classmates a poor impression of him already.
"Y-Yeah. That was me," Izuku admitted, hoping to remedy any negative thoughts that people here had of him with an honest apology. "Sorry if my mumbling bothered you. I, ah, it's sort of a habit I have when I'm deep in thought."
The beast-man simply shook his head.
"Oh no, no, no. I was hardly bothered at all, my good sir," replied the teen, dismissively waving his hand as he spoke. "To be perfectly frank, I barely heard a thing. Rather, I found our fellow examinee's actions rather disagreeable. He had every right to ask Sir Present Mic his question, yet there was no reason to assume that it was a misprint. At least not until the end of the explanation. And he certainly had no grounds to single you out in such a manner. At least not for something so minor. If your mumbling bothered him that much, the proper way he should have handled it would have been to seek you out afterward to have words in private."
The teen then paused, giving Izuku a friendly smile that showed off some of his sharpened canines. "Oh, where are my manners today? Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jurota Shishida. It is a pleasure to see you here."
Izuku, only slightly surprised by the teen's overly polite manner of speaking, returned the smile as he reached out to shake the teen's hand. Which Jurota accepted.
"Thank you," said the green-haired teen. I'm Izuku Midoriya."
Just then, another student in the room spoke up. One wearing a bandanna. "Yeah, I remember that guy," he said. "Kind of hard to forget such a stuck-up jerk. I bet it's because someone rammed a stick right up his God dam-" Before he could finish, a vine from one of Izuku's female classmates reached out to smack the boy right across the cheek. "Woman! What the heck is your problem?!?"
"First of all, please refrain from using the Lord's name in vain," said the girl whose hair was literally made out of thorny vines. "It is disrespectful towards the Creator. Second, never again refer to me as 'Woman' again. My name is Ibara Shiozaki."
"I don't care who you are! Just don't slap me again God dam-" Izuku watched as this time several vines were sent flying toward the face of the bandanna-wearing teen, one to stop less than an inch away from his face. All of them were positioned so that they could, if Shiozaki wanted to, strike him from multiple directions at once. And it seemed that the teen realized this as well as he gulped loudly before raising his hands in a surrendering manner. "Ok, ok. We're all good here. We're all friends. So how about you put away the thorny vines? Ok? Ok."
The vine-haired girl said nothing in response, only giving her fellow classmate a slightly irritated look as he began to push one of the tendrils away from him. After a moment or two, the various thorn-covered vines retreated.
As the class let out a sigh of relief, another teen with oval-shaped eyes and brown hair spoke up. "Yeah, that guy was pretty intense. I just remember thinking at the time: if he gets that annoyed now, what's he going to do when he becomes a sidekick or a pro? But he has nothing on the dude that was in my testing zone. Guy goes flying out of the gate, explosions coming out of his palms, and gets right to destroying all the robots fast. All while screaming 'Die' at the top of his lungs and looking like he was raised by feral wolves."
"I think I met that guy, shroom," said one of the girls in his class. Like the girl he had saved at the entrance exam, she had brown hair but the bangs were longer so that they covered her eyes. It was also interesting as, now that Izuku was really looking at it, her hair reminded him of a mushroom. "Did he have blonde hair, red eyes, and a face that seemed stuck on angry? Shroom?"
"That or someone smeared dog droppings under his nose," said the oval-eyed teen with a nod. "But, yeah, that sounds like the guy."
Hearing that caused the mushroom-haired girl to groan as she sank in her seat. "I nearly bumped into him right before the entrance exam. He was calling everyone 'extra's' and telling us if we got in his way he'd murder us. Shroom, I was hoping he was just full of hot air and would fail but from the sounds of it, he got in. Shroom."
Before the conversation could go on any further, the bell rang as the door opened once more to reveal a rather tall white-haired man dressed in a red hero costume. As he made his way toward the front of the classroom, the students became quiet while giving him their full attention.
"Alright," said the man after giving the class a once over. "Seems like everyone is here. That's good. Allow me to be the first to welcome you in person to the hero course here at U.A. Starting today, I will be assisting you on your journey to becoming the next generation of heroes as your homeroom instructor. My name is Sekijiro Kan, but I would prefer it if you just called me by my hero name: Vlad King. Now, we have a busy day today. The opening ceremony will be starting soon and I don't want us to be late."
A few minutes later, 1-B made their way out into the hallway. Almost as soon as he was outside Izuku could almost feel a hateful stare directed at him. Turning around, he noticed that the students of 1-A were milling their way out into the halls albeit heading off in the opposite direction. And, standing in the middle of the hallway with eyes filled with the fury of hell itself, was Bakugo. The ashen blonde's teeth gritted tightly as he clutched at a gym uniform. As for the boy's stance, it was one Midoriya was painfully familiar with. One that said that any moment the red-eye teen would come charging at him, using his explosion to close to the distance.
For a moment, Izuku's body twitched in fear as their eyes locked. He had been aware of Bakugo's ever-increasing anger towards him since the day they had received their test results. How could he not when the explosive blonde did nothing to hide it? Oh yes, Izuku was still afraid of this one. Even after all the leaps and bounds he had done to improve his body, to hone a fighting style that would make him a hero, and even managing to knock him done once that fear still remained. The memories of pain that Bakugo had inflicted on him seemed to be imprinted onto his very soul.
Seeing that he was falling behind the rest of his class, the Sacred Gear user took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Then, Izuku turned and walked away.
"DEKU!" screamed Bakugo, his voice easily being carried down the halls and over the students. In fact, several students and teachers turned to look at the deranged-looking teen who was frothing at the mouth. "DON'T YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON ME YOU FREAK!"
Biting his lower lip, Midoriya continued to walk without turning around. Though he remained tense and ready for a possible explosion right to his back.
Thankfully, Izuku made it to the welcoming ceremony without incident. There, all the students stood at attention save for one class. Out of the corner of his eye, the green-haired youth noticed some of the other hero course students glancing over at the spot where 1-A was supposed to be with pity. Others, well, seemed like they were taking bets. And he heard a few whispers that sounded like 'one student expulsion' and 'five students expelled max'. What kind of reputation did 1-A have?
Before the teen could begin to ponder this, mumbling under his breath the entire time, the opening ceremony began. It was there that Izuku saw the principal for the first time. He had heard that Nezu was an animal that had been experimented on and that he was a mixture of several different animals. Yet it was another thing to see the bear-dog-mouse walking to the podium in a suit with a scar over one of his eyes.
"To our new and old students, I welcome all of you to U.A." said Nezu in a cheerful tone. "I hope you are all ready for another exciting year of learning! Before we begin the ceremony proper, I would like to make a sad announcement as one of our veteran staff members shall be stepping down. After her many years of healing both students and pros alike, Recovery Girl has decided that she shall be retiring to live out the rest of her days with her friends and family in peace. While she will be remaining here for the next week or two so that she can get her affairs in order, I would like to say now that she shall be sorely missed. That she is a reminder to us all that you don't need a powerful and destructive quirk to be a true hero."
Izuku found himself shocked by this announcement. THE Recovery Girl was retiring? The youthful heroine who had saved countless lives with her quirk was leaving U.A.? Looking up at the stage, he saw the old woman with a cane tear up slightly at the comment. But she wiped the tear away before lightly waving to a crowd that all voiced their gratitude for all she had done.
"Thankfully, we have managed to find another hero with a powerful healing quirk to take her place," continued Nezu. "Meaning that the teachers won't have to hold back due to fear of excessive injuries!" At that, the small animal began to laugh wildly as he threw back his head. And he continued to do that until Recovery Girl whacked him on the head with her cane while also giving him a disapproving look. "Oh, I'm going to miss those. Now, while our new nurse has yet to arrive, we do have another teacher that is here ready to teach. Please welcome Japan's number one hero: ALL MIGHT!"
With that, the Symbol of Peace walked onto the stage dressed in a pin-stripped suit. He smiled brightly as he walked onto the stage, causing the entire crowd to explode with excitement. In one case that was literal as one student exploded into a cloud of confetti before reforming himself. As for Izuku, he was beside himself as he pulled out his notebook from…somewhere and held it tight to his chest. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he would get All Might to sign it. He may have found his own path to becoming a hero and had stopped trying to imitate the great hero that was All Might, but that didn't mean the man wasn't his all-time favorite hero!
From there, things proceeded as normal. A few speeches, singing the school's anthem, and so forth. When it was over, Vlad told his class to get changed in the locker room and then to meet him outside. While he didn't give them a time limit, he did stress not to take too long.
Fifteen minutes later, Izuku stood in a line with the rest of his class in the vast fields behind the school. To his right was Itsuka while Pony bounced on her hooves to his left excited about what else they were going to be doing today. Thankfully they didn't need to wait long as Vlad came out, rolling a large chart full of balls. He looked at them, nodding in approval.
"Good, you all made it out here in a decent amount of time," said the pro hero with a slight smirk. "For first years of course. Now then, today we're going to have a little bit of fun: Quirk Dodgeball!"
With that, the large man grabbed one of the balls from the cart before flinging it at Itsuka. Thinking quickly, the orange-haired girl activated her quirk to enlarge her hand to its full size. Just in the nick of time as she easily caught the ball before wrapping it up in a fist. Everyone else looked on in surprise at what the man had done before excitement took over. Almost as one, the group let out a cheer, some even jumping in the air at the prospect of being given permission to use their quirks.
"Before you get too excited, there are a few ground rules," Vlad King continued. "First and foremost, I don't want to see anyone throwing the balls with the intent to cause harm. I know that accidents happen, but if I see any of you doing anything that would intentionally cause one of your classmates harm then we're going to be having a problem. And trust me, I'll know when you've done something like that. Second, standard rules of dodgeball apply here. See that line over there that divides the field in half? Neither team can cross it nor can you leave the field unless you are out. You're out if you get hit by the ball or if your opponent catches the ball you threw at them. Now, if you have a ball, you can use it to deflect incoming attacks. Once you are out, please leave the area and sit down on the side. This should go without saying, but if you are out you are forbidden to use your quirks to help your team."
Shishida then raised his hand. "Sir Vlad, how will we be deciding the teams?"
"I don't want us wasting too much time on this so we'll go by seat numbers," replied the homeroom teacher with a small shrug. "Evens on the right side with odds on the other."
Excited, Izuku rushed over to the right side of the field. Soon, he was greeted by a teen with skin with black skin and white hair who introduced himself as Shihai Kuroiro. Moments later, two more walked over to them. One of them was the green-haired girl who playfully introduced herself as Setsuna Tokage while the other, a pale teen without lips, said his name was Juzo Honenuki. Quickly joining them after that was a dark-haired teen named Hiryu Rin. Next came Sen Kaibara who seemed more than a little laid back about the whole thing followed by Shiozaki. The final three made their way to the group: a teen that was a bit on the smaller side named Nirengeki Shoda, a quiet dark-haired girl named Yui Kodai, and the oval-eyed Kosei Tsuburaba.
It was a little upsetting to not be with people he knew like Pony or Itsuka. Heck, he wasn't even with Shishida who was the only one in the class besides the girls he had an actual conversation with. Yet those feelings were pushed to the side as he told himself that this was the beginning of his journey here at U.A. A brand new start for him! So he was going to use this as a chance to make new friends.
"Ok so how do we want to do this?" asked Tsuburaba once they had all gathered around. "Just go in and everyone for themselves? That's how we always did it back in middle school."
"I guess. To be honest, this really isn't my game," said Kuroiro as he dug his hands into his pockets.
Izuku nervously raised his hand, instantly getting an eye roll from Setsuna.
"Dude, if you have something to say then spit it out," she said, slightly annoyed. "We're all equal here so you don't need permission."
"O-Oh, ok," said Izuku before he paused to take a deep breath. This seemed to calm his nerves, allowing him to speak with far more confidence than he really felt. "I think that's a bad idea. Since quirks will be involved, we should have a strategy in place to prevent our quirks from interfering with each other. Plus it would allow us to take down the other team more effectively."
Tokage hummed slightly as she nodded, clearly agreeing with the idea. "Did you have something in mind?"
"Well, in order to make a proper plan, we need to know what we can all do," began Izuku. "I'll go first. My quirk is called Divine Dividing. It allows me to steal half of the strength and power of whoever I'm touching once every ten seconds. It also gives me wings to store the excess energy I can't handle with my own body and allows me to fly. Oh, and I have some training in martial arts."
Everyone looked at Izuku with wide eyes, barely blinking as Izuku quickly spoke. Then, finally, Tokage broke out into a wide grin.
"Well dang," she said as she revealed all for her sharp teeth. "That sounds really awesome. Well check this out, my quirk is called Lizard Tail Splitter."
From there, everyone gave out their quirks one after another along with any other detail they could come up with that might help. Izuku adopted a thinking pose, hand on his chin as he mentally processed everything that he heard. With each new quirk and skill he heard, a plan was being created. When they finished explaining everything, Izuku wasted no time explaining what he had come up with. Most took it at face value except Tokage and Honenuki, who pointed out areas where they had issues with. Of course, Izuku had no issue with this as he welcomed their criticisms and opinions.
Finally, a few minutes later, Kan had finished placing several balls along the line that divided the teams. Izuku had one foot on the edge of the back section of the field, his eyes locked on a smirking Istuka who seemed eager for this match.
"And BEGIN!" yelled Kan
As the odd's team ran forward to grab the balls, Honenuki placed both hands on the ground with a wicked grin. Instantly, the ground underneath their opponent's feet began to soften causing them to sink as if in quicksand. At the same time, Tokage and Shiozaki began to use their quirks to get the balls, with Setsuna separating her body apart into small masses and flying over to grab the orbs while the Christian girl used her vines to do the same. Sure it was simple and straightforward, but it did the trick.
While the odd team had been taken aback by this, they by no means were willing to give up. Pony had been the first to act, using her Horn Cannon quirk to launch the horns out of her head and sent them to collect one of the balls. Meanwhile, a silver-haired girl reached out a hand before a couple of the balls began to levitate toward her. Yet, despite this, Izuku's team had managed to collect more balls.
Once all the balls were collected, it became an all-out war! Honenuki deactivated his quirk, the opposing team half stuck in now very solid ground making it harder to move. Shoda was first to act, punching the ball at his opponents before using his Double Impact quirk to give it a boost. The attack hit its target while another ball thrown by Rin was flung forward only to be caught by one of Kendo's massive hands. With the Dragon Scale user out, Kendo chucked the captured ball right at Tsuburaba who used his Solid Air quirk to block.
While this was going on, Izuku took flight into the air as the next part of their plan was ready. A few members of the opposite team noticed this, their eyes wide in surprise at the wings that had appeared on their green-haired classmate's back. However, they quickly dismissed him upon noticing that he held no ball in either hand. Was he supposed to get a bird's eye view or something?
Once Midoriya was high enough he looked down into his hand to see several marble-sized objects within his palm. Smiling to himself, Izuku quickly looked down at where Kodai stood who responded with a nod. Seeing this, Izuku flung the 'marbles' down at the opposite team while his own began to throw the remaining balls they had at their disposal. Given the size of the objects Izuku had flung at them, it was not surprising that the evens team didn't see them or recognize them as a threat as they instead prepared for the incoming ground assault. That was their mistake as Kodai began to press her fingertips together, returning the size of the balls she had shrunk and given to Izuku back to their normal size. Balls rained down on the Itsuka's team, taking out over two-thirds of the students there.
Yet, despite how many had gotten hit, one person had seen it coming: Itsuka! The girl had kept her eye on Izuku the entire time, wondering what he was up to. And while she had been too late to put the pieces together, she had reacted quickly enough to grab one of the balls he had thrown at them and using it to block an attack from Kuroiro. As Vlad called out that Izuku was out, the two gave each other a look and a nod before the flying teen left the field to watch the rest of the match which they eventually won.
Class 1-B played two more matches of dodgeball that day. Who won after that, nobody really cared as they were all having way too much fun to care about little things like that. And, when they left, the class felt more like a group of friends than anything else.
Chapter 6: Fear of Return
"I'm doomed. There's no point in denying it," wailed Tetsutetsu.
Izuku looked up from his lunch, his attention now focused on his classmate who sat directly across from him at the table not touching his own meal. Rather, Tetsutetsu just sat there with his hands running through his hair as he stared wide-eyed into empty space. His expression looked like he had just seen all his worst nightmares come to life, combining themselves in order to throw the steel-hardening hero in training into a new level of terror. Midoriya was not the only one to notice this as several of the other people who sat there looked on with concern.
"Sir Tetsutetsu, come now," said Shishida politely, one of his hands gesturing to the steel quirk user as he did so. "There is no need to be so overly dramatic. It's only the second day of school and-"
"That's just it!" exclaimed Tetsutesu, interrupting his classmate while running his fingers through his hair. "It's only the second day of school and I'm already feeling lost. The classes here are harder than…Look, I barely passed the written portion of the exam! I had to guess over half the questions! I think I understood some of the stuff they told us in class. But only bits and pieces here and there! And it's only going to get harder as the year goes on! H-How am I going to pass the finals?!? Oh, man. They're going to kick me out."
That got a hum out of one of the last guys sitting in their section of that table: Honenuki. Izuku watched as the recommendation student closed his eyes while crossing his arms across his chest. Since the dodgeball game yesterday, Izuku had been eager to get to know more about the softening quirk user. A gesture that had touched Honenuki as he thought that it would take a while for some people to get over how different he looked. But Izuku hadn't been bothered by it. And, when he found out that Honenuki was bilingual, able to speak both Japanese and English, Izuku quickly introduced him to Pony who was happy to meet another person who could speak her native tongue.
Finally, Honenuki spoke. "Well, it's only our first day of classes. I'm sure sooner or later you'll get the hang of it. Maybe just spend more time studying."
"I guess" replied Tetsutetsu with a sigh. "But I suck at studying. I always get distracted and end up lifting weights or working out."
"Tetsutetsu, if you are having trouble you know you can always ask us for help," said Kendo, who was sitting next to Izuku, while waving a finger in the air. "We're your classmates. My dad has this saying: one who is truly strong knows when to ask for help."
At the same time, Pony, who had been sitting next to Kendo, leaned forward to look at Tetsutetsu with those wide, excited eyes of hers. "Oh! I know! I know! Ask Izuku to help you study! He helped me improve my Japanese big time. And made it fun too!"
That got Tetsutetsu's attention. Lowering his hands, he looked at Midoriya with hope returning in his eyes. "Really? Can you help? Dude, you would be a real lifesaver!"
Izuku didn't say anything at first, simply putting his utensils down as he adopted a thinking pose. It wasn't that he was against helping out his classmate as he was eager to have a fresh start and make more friends while on the road to becoming a hero. It was more like he didn't know if he could do the same for him as he did for Pony. He had used her interests to bridge the gap in her education. So could he…
"Well, if the problem is just that he gets distracted easily then maybe studying in a group might be the best solution," pondered Midoriya aloud in a low mutter. "More people around him keep him focused and on task. But will that be enough? Tetesutetsu did mention the gym and working out. U.A. does have several gyms that are open to all students after hours. Perhaps we could reserve one of them for an hour or so every night so we can go over what we learned while lifting weights or on the treadmill. Get a workout and learn at the same time. Might be a problem with our focus so divided, but as long as we don't push ourselves too much we should get in a good workout both mentally and physically. Though-"
"Is…Is he always like this?" asked Honenuki.
Caught off guard by the sudden interruption while in the zone, Izuku nearly jumped out of his seat. Looking around, the Divine Divider saw that everyone was staring at him. Kendo, for example, was resting her head on her fist as she watched him ramble on with a soft smile on her face that caused his cheeks to tint red. Pony had stars in her blue eyes while Honenuki seemed worried. Shishida had a hand on his chin as he looked at his classmate, his expression almost hidden. And as for Tetsutetsu…
"Dude, where were you when I was studying to get into U.A?" the teen asked excitedly, hands balled into fists while an open smile that showed off his sharp teeth was present. "That actually sounds like fun! I can't wait to get started!"
"Well, before you get too excited, we need to find out if it's possible," said Itsuka as she sat up straight. "We need to talk to the teachers about reserving time at one of the gyms and we might not be able to get it every day. But I am pretty sure that we'll be able to get some time in the library pretty easily."
"Right," agreed Izuku as he nodded at his orange-haired friend, his body relaxing as a smile appeared on his face. "We should also ask the rest of the class to see if anyone needs any additional help. Or, at the very least, wants to join. We have a group chat for our class so I guess one of us could post it there and-"
"DEKU!" A half second after the green-haired teen heard that familiar scream of rage, his face was slammed onto the table and into his food. Struggling to breathe the teen felt his body slide across the surface followed by empty air for a brief moment before finally crashing into the ground. Coughing, Izuku managed to turn his head slightly just in time to see the feral visage of his attacker, Katsuki Bakugo, as he had already leapt over the table. His brain was still processing what was happening as an open palm slammed into the back of his head, pressing down with great force while a knee pressed down on the Divine Divider's wrist.
It has been so long since he had been in this position. Not since he first activated Divine Dividing, standing up to his bully for the first time since the playground. But now, taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, Izuku found himself paralyzed with fear. He couldn't move, thoughts as complex as pushing him off were too complicated at this moment. He could only lay there, feeling like his old self as he looked up in the corner of his eye at the person who had made his childhood a living nightmare.
"You damned, useless NERD!" screamed Bakugo, viens already in his eyes as he spat down that the teen beneath him. "Worthless stain! Damned Deku! Did you think we were done?! DID YOU?! Did you think I wouldn't see how close you were to my entrance score? With damned RESCUE POINTS?! Still looking down on me? Trying to make me look bad?!"
More pressure was added to Izuku's face, squishing it further into the ground. His bones were feeling like they were put into a press with the potential for them to break at any given moment. Only now could he hear movement all around him, shoes squeaking against the floor. But his eyes refused to look away from the angry red eyes above him even as spit flew from Bakugo's mouth every time he yelled. There was no mistaking it: Bakugo was beyond angry or livid. It was something else. And it scared Izuku that there could be another level of anger within the teen. More fear was added as the teen tried to reach Baukgo with his other hand but to no avale. From this position, his attacker was out of his reach.
"Now, you are going to answer my question you pathetic waste of space," demanded Bakugo as heat began to emanate from him palm. Heat that Midoriya knew all too well despite not experiencing it in some time. "Then you are going that your worthless ass out of my school! Either by you walking out on your own two feet or in a body bag!"
"That is highly uncalled for," came Shishida's voice. "Cease this utterly barbaric behavior my good sir at-"
"Mind your own business sasquatch!" yelled Bakugo without taking his eyes off of Izuku.
"Well, we tried to do this the civil way," said Itsuka. Half a second later the sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the lunchroom as Bakugo was knocked off of Izuku, tumbling onto the floor before rolling into a crouching position. Looking over to his side, the teen saw that it had been Itsuka who had come to his rescue. Her normal-sized fist still extended, she looked down at the ashen-haired teen with contempt. Then, after glancing back at Bakugo, Izuku saw a large bruise forming while a trickle of blood escaped from his lips.
"You damned extra. If you want to die so badly then so be it!" growled Bakugo, palms open as several mini explosions began to appear in his hands.
Izuku nearly trembled where he was as he saw the flash in Bakugo's eyes. He also noted that the others who had been seated at their table had already risen, determination in their eyes as the silence filled the room. Thankfully, something came in the nick of time to prevent things from escalating. That thing happened to be long bands of some sort of white cloth. They wrapped around Bakugo, pressing the teen's arms against his body as he fell to the ground. Everyone looked up to see, at the other end of the cloth, a man with long shaggy black hair and glowing red eyes. At the same time, another person came running towards Izuku which caused a brief surge of panic in the teen. Though he did relax a little when he saw that it was the girl he had saved back in the entrance exam, her eyes filled with concern at what had happened.
"Oh my…I-I saw what happened," said the brown-haired girl with the permanent blush. "Are you alright Deku?"
As the other 1-B students looked at Uraraka in shock, Izuku felt his heart sink deep into an abyss. Tears threatened to form in his eyes as he looked up at her. This was supposed to be a fresh start for him, a new beginning. That he could go the next three years without anyone calling him Deku! Well, everyone but Bakugo. But now? If she was already calling him that, how long till everyone else started calling him Useless? He must really look pathetic. He was taken out so easily, froze in fear, and needed someone else to save him. Some hero in training he turned out to be.
Breathing quickly, Izuku did the only thing he could think of: get away from everyone. He was aware he said something, yet the words didn't seem to register in his mind as he got to his feet before charging out of the lunchroom. No doubt everyone was watching him, judging him harshly. But he didn't have the mentality to worry about that now as he left the room and only stopped when he got to the first intersection in the hallway.
Once he stopped, Izuku bent slightly as he panted while resting his hands on his knees. He could hear Albion trying to talk to him, but his voice was jumbled within his mind. With each breath, he tried to clear it. Tried to get his thoughts in order and to think clearly.
"I was right about you," came a cold, emotionless voice from behind him. "You don't belong here."
All sound in Izuku's head vanished when he heard those words. Slowly he turned to see a man dressed in all black, his long and unkempt hair matching his attire. Quickly Izuku realized that this was the person who had stepped in, the cloth in one hand as he led Bakugo with him. But now the man's gaze was upon the Divine Divider, giving him a look that Izuku knew all too well.
He was being judged.
"I saw that pathetic display of yours in the entrance exam," he continued, moving in closer to Izuku as his eyes flashed red. "You clearly have little understanding of how to use your quirk properly and wasted time figuring it out on the battlefield. Did you even practice it at all? And now this."
Izuku could feel his heart beating faster, his legs becoming shaky as the man continued to glare at him. Words tried and failed to form in the teen's mouth creating further annoyance in the man standing before him. Said man then took a step closer.
"The only reason you are still here is that you were not placed in my class," said the man, now almost directly in front of Izuku. "Believe me, I would have removed you on the first day for being a-"
"Aizawa, that's enough!" As the words were spoken, the large meaty hand of Vlad King slammed into Aizawa's shoulder. This act had surprised both Bakugo and Izuku, neither of whom even noticed the man approaching. But not Awiaza who simply turned to give the taller man an annoyed look. For a while, neither man said anything before the dark man began to walk away with Bakugo in tow.
Then…
"You know I'm right." And with that, Aizawa walked away from the pair with Bakugo in tow without looking back.
-x-
"Tea?" asked Kan.
Not trusting his voice, Izuku nodded his head as he kept his eyes on the small table separating him from his homeroom teacher. The young man just sat there on a couch in the teacher's lounge, his standard uniform replaced with his gym tracksuit. He was aware that the door was locked, giving them privacy that did little to calm the teen down. As he heard the tea being poured into their cups, his mind went to all of the worst-case scenarios. No doubt Vlad was going to expel him like how that other teacher had wanted. Just in a calmer atmosphere. Why wouldn't they? The school had just seen how pathetic he had handled a sneak attack followed by the way he had reacted. Clearly, they would say that he wasn't cut out for the hero course if he couldn't handle that.
And with Albion now going silent, he felt all the more certain that he was right. Perhaps even the soul of the ancient dragon no longer wanted anything to do with him.
Then, the tea was placed before Izuku.
"I want to apologize for what Aizawa said to you," said Vlad King in a gentle tone. One that seemed to contradict his very appearance. "It was certainly something you didn't need to hear after what you just went through. Though harsh, the man means well."
Izuku said nothing as he took up his cup and took a sip, his eyes still downcast. Then, after a moment, he spoke.
"Was he right?" began Izuku before pausing to swallow the lump in his throat. "Is the reason I'm even still here because you didn't place me in his class?"
For a moment, silence filled the room. Despite not looking up at the man before him, he knew there was no doubt a war going on in Vlad King's brain. To be honest, lie, or deflect. Then, finally, the man spoke.
"It…is possible," said Vlad with a heavy sigh. "Aizawa has a bit of a reputation for expelling students that do not meet his standards, regardless of how well they do in the entrance exam. One time he even expelled an entire class. But, despite this, he does not want to expel you."
Midoriya looked up in surprise, nearly dropping his tea as he stared at the man in disbelief. Now he saw that his homeroom teacher was holding the small cup in his hands, looking down at it with his eyes half lid as if remembering something.
"He was critical of how much time you wasted during the exam," continued the blood-themed hero. "How you did not use your quirk right away and, when you did use it, you began flying around out of control. With that said, he was mildly impressed that you managed to get some control over it in such a short amount of time. That as well as taking down the zero-pointer without getting hurt or putting anyone else's well-being at risk. So he recommended that you be sent into General Studies with the option to be moved into the Hero Course once you got a better handle on your quirk. However, myself, Principal Nezu, and the other teachers felt otherwise."
The large man then paused to take a sip from his drink. Then, when he looked at Izuku again, there was something of curiosity in his gaze.
"Now, I'm sure you know that U.A. does background checks on all of our students for obvious reasons," he said, Izuku simply nodding back in confirmation. "Normally, we scrutinize any reported misconduct ranging from quirk misusage to arrests. If we require a better understanding of the situation or that said potential student has learned and moved on then that student is called in so we can question them. Others we simply discard without a second thought. But perhaps some of us pay a little too much attention to that part and miss other things. Like, for example, both myself and Nezu noticed that you changed your quirk registration almost a year ago. And, originally, you were declared quirkless."
Izuku nodded again before going into the story he had told so many people thus far. How he had discovered that the reason everyone, including himself, had thought that he was quirkless was that his body hadn't been strong enough to handle his quirk. He intentionally remained vague on how he had discovered this, not wanting there to be more bad blood between himself and Bakugo. And, thankfully, Vlad never pressed the issue nor did he interrupt his student as he continued the story of how hard he worked to get his body into shape. About how, at the entrance exam, he wasn't one hundred percent sure that Divine Dividing worked on machines as well as wanting to see what he could do on his own. And that when he did activate his quirk was the first time he had discovered the wings and, well, the first time he had ever flown.
It was only when Izuku had finished his story that Vlad spoke once more, his voice filled to the brim with understanding. "I see. From what I am hearing, your quirk is still developing. No doubt due to coming in so late in the game. Well, considering that, I'm honestly a bit more impressed that you came so far in such a short amount of time. Now you have me curious to see what you'll be like at the end of the year!"
Izuku could now see an almost feral grin on Vlad's face. But, unlike Bakugo's feral expressions, this one held less of the murderous glint in the eyes and was replaced with excitement. Seeing it almost flew Izuku through a loop. But before the teen could dwell on it much longer, Vlad's expression softened.
"I'm sure it wasn't easy thinking you were quirkless for so long." said the pro hero shoftly.
"It wasn't…" Izuku's words cracked as he began to deny the truth of what it had been like. To dismiss it all like it had just been no big deal, a bit of rain that ruined what was supposed to be a sunny day. But his own voice had already betrayed him and already the pro hero sitting before him was giving him a look that said he already didn't buy that. So, Izuku spoke honestly. "Deku. I-I don't know if anyone told you, but that's the name Ka, er, Bakugo called me. It's the name a lot of people knew me as growing up. Useless. That's how I was made to feel for years. I was mocked for just wanting to have the same dreams as the rest of my class. For just wanting to help people. That's all I wanted to do. Yeah, I was stupid for not working out more if I wanted to be a hero. I realized that a while ago. I eventually did put in the hard work but…maybe I'll always be a Deku. If I freeze up like I did in the lunchroom, unable to fight back, then how can I ever be expected to do the same when I'm fighting a real live villain? Maybe Mr. Aizawa is right and I should just-"
Izuku was silenced when Vlad reached across the table to gently place a hand on his shoulder.
"Midoriya, you are certainly not the first student I've seen freeze up when taken by surprise," said the man firmly. "And you certainly won't be the last. I won't hold it against you especially since you were in a place where you thought you were safe. So go a little easier on yourself and we can work on it."
"R-Really?" asked Izuku.
"Of course," said Kan with a nod while removing his hand from Izuku's shoulder as he leaned back into his seat. "We train our heroes to deal with a number of different situations that can happen out in the field. That includes how to deal with unexpected attacks. Now, how are you feeling?"
Izuku blinked at that. Slowly, it began to dawn on him that he was feeling better. The panic he had been feeling was lessening, his mind now thinking far more clearly. Like how that girl had called him Deku. Of course, she didn't know his name as they had never really spoken. She no doubt heard Bakugo screaming it at the top of his lungs and, for some reason, assumed it was his name. Hopefully thinking it was his surname or something. Looking back at his homeroom teacher, Izuku saw a sad smile on the face of the blood-themed hero.
"I sort of know what you're going through," said Vlad King. "Believe it or not, I was bullied pretty bad back before I started my hero training."
Again, Izuku blinked at what he heard while his mouth hung open slightly.
"Y-You were?" asked Izuku, mouth slightly hanging open as his mind tried to process this. He knew a lot about the career of Vlad King. While not to the extent of All Might, but he did have several pages dedicated to the man sitting before him in a notebook back home. And in all the vidoes as well as pictures in articles he had seen the man in, Vlad King always appeared so strong. So powerful and focused. It was mind blowing to even consider that anyone would think to bully him.
Vlad King, however, nodded.
"A lot of people get unnerved by blood quirks," began the man as he looked down into his teacup. "It's a primal thing to grow uneasy when you see it, ten times more so when there's a scrawny kid that can manipulate his own blood. Got pushed around a lot, bullied, and called things like 'that creepy vampire'. One day I even found jars of pig blood stuffed into my locker, the people around me laughing it up and asking if that was my lunch."
Izuku gulped as a question burned in his mind.
"Did leaving that place help?" he asked.
"It did," replied Vlad King as he looked back up at his student. "When I started my hero training, I found that most of the people there were more accepting of me. Those that weren't didn't get very far. Some of them never made it past Sidekick when they graduated. But, some of that stuff stuck with me. Especially the things they said to me. There would be times when I could almost hear their voices in the back of my head. Then there were times when I would just snap at people when they made certain comments. It's…not as easy to escape that kind of stuff. It just seems to haunt you like a ghost, appearing and disappearing without a trace."
"C-Can I ask how you were able to…get past that?" asked Izuku.
"Of course!" answered Vlad with a smile, one that showed off his fangs. "The first thing I needed to do was admit that what they said hurt. Let it out. Then I found friends I could talk to, ones I trusted and who were willing to listen to me vent when I needed it. And, finally, I took the names they used to insult me and I owned them! It's the reason I decided that my hero name would be a reference to the inspiration of Dracula. Once I owed it, I took away all the power those people had."
Shortly after that, Izuku Midoriya left the teacher's lounge feeling infinitely better. He managed to head back to the classroom where a worried Itsuka and Pony were waiting for him along with the rest of the class. He was embarrassed yet glad at the same time to see that there were so many people who were worried about him.
"That ruffian!" declared Shishida as he adjusted his glasses. "Attacking anyone when their back is turned is the mark of a coward!"
"I knew he was bad news. Shroom," cried Komori, her own hands balled into fists. "I'm just glad he's in 1-A. Can you imagine what would have happened if he was here with us? Or if Midoriya was in 1-A with him? Shroom!"
Izuku smiled at their words.
"So, does anyone know what happened to Bakugo?" he asked as he turned to the rest of the class. "The guy who attacked me?"
Itsuka made a face that showed she wasn't happy. "Yeah. Tokage overheard some of the teachers while we were looking for you." As if to punctuate that statement, Tokage's eyes and ears separated from her body and began to move around on their own. Along with her mouth that was twisted into a sharp-toothed grin as Kendo continued to talk. "According to her, Principal Nezu was furious about the attack and wanted to expel that Bakugo kid. But that jerk Aizawa stepped in and managed to get him a suspension. He'll be back when they start rescue training in a couple of days."
"Oh, that's bullshit!" This statement by Awase was quickly shared by the rest of the class. Even Shiozaki seemed enraged with this, her hair slashing around like dozens of angry snakes. It seemed like too much of a slap on the wrist for attacking another student completely unprovoked. But perhaps there was going to be more to his punishment like he would be missing something important in class or something.
Some of the class even wondered if the reason they didn't expel the jerk was that the school feared unleashing such a ticking time bomb on the world.
However, their speculations had to be put on hold as Vlad entered the room, ready to give a lecture on proper heroing laws.
The next day, 1-B discovered what the angry blonde had missed out on as the door opened and All Might himself almost seemed to soar into the room before landing in front of Vlad's podium. Stars were in Izuku's eyes as he looked up at the number one hero. He stood there, dressed in his current hero costume while making a V for victory sign as a bright smile shone on his face.
"Greetings you bunch of newbies," announced the number one hero. "I, All Might, am here to teach you the ropes in what I like to call Heroing 101! And, just like your sister class, I will be pulling no punches as we start our battle training!"