She giggled again, brighter this time. Her entire demeanor had shifted from embarrassed wreck to comfortable warmth in the span of thirty seconds.
Easy.
Izuku's peripheral vision caught movement. Toru had drifted closer, her invisible form positioning itself at his right elbow. Jiro remained at his left, her scowl now aimed at Ochaco with laser-like focus.
And Ochaco herself stood directly in front of him, still smiling that adorable, grateful smile.
The three girls formed a perfect triangle around him. Different energies. Different approaches. All of them aware of each other in that subtle way that girls always seemed to be aware of other girls in the vicinity of an attractive guy.
Ochaco's smile faltered briefly as she noticed the other two girls for the first time. Her eyes flicked to Toru's thigh-high socks, then to Jiro's combat boots, then back to Izuku.
"Oh! Are these your friends too?"
"Toru Hagakure!" Toru thrust her hand forward before Izuku could respond. "Midoriya-kun and I met during the written exam! We're super close!"
Ochaco shook the invisible hand, her smile becoming slightly fixed. "Nice to meet you, Hagakure-san!"
"Call me Toru! Everyone does! Well, Midoriya-kun calls me Spotlight, which is super cute, don't you think?"
Toru. What are you doing.
Jiro's jacks rose like warning flags. "He has nicknames for everyone. Don't read into it."
"I didn't say you could speak for me, Compass."
"See? Nicknames. Probably has a spreadsheet somewhere."
Ochaco looked between them. "Um... Compass is a cute name too?"
Jiro's face went red. "It's NOT cute. It's annoying. He's annoying. Everything about this situation is annoying."
"You're blushing," Toru observed cheerfully.
"I am NOT."
"Your jacks are doing the curly thing again."
Jiro's hands flew to her earphone jacks, which had indeed begun to curl in that embarrassed way they did when she was flustered. She forced them straight through what appeared to be sheer willpower.
Ochaco's nervous laughter broke through the tension. "You guys seem really close!"
'Close' is one word for it.
'Chaotic romantic tension' would be more accurate.
But I'll take it.
The classroom continued its descent into organized chaos around them. Students introduced themselves in clusters. \The pink girl, who Izuku had learned was named Mina Ashido, was attempting to convince the shark-toothed redhead, Kirishima, to try her homemade energy drink.
Izuku found himself in the middle of a lighthearted conversation with Ochaco about her Zero Gravity Quirk. She explained the mechanics with animated hand gestures, her earlier embarrassment completely forgotten.
"So you can make anything float just by touching it?"
"Up to my weight limit! Which isn't as high as I'd like, but I'm working on it!" She pressed her fingertips together in demonstration. "The hard part is the nausea. If I use it too much, I get really sick."
"Hence the entrance exam incident."
"Please don't remind me." Her face went pink again. "I'm trying to block that memory."
"Consider it blocked. Fresh start."
She beamed at him.
Cute. Earnest. Probably doesn't have a manipulative bone in her body.
A complete contrast to Jiro's prickly exterior and Toru's bubbly social warfare.
This is going to be an interesting year.
A sound reached his ears.
Soft. Almost imperceptible beneath the classroom chatter. A rustling. A sliding. Like fabric against linoleum.
Izuku's head turned toward the door.
Something was approaching the classroom from the hallway. Something that moved without footsteps.
He focused on the open doorway.
At first, there was nothing. Just the empty hallway, brightly lit and completely mundane.
Then a shape appeared at floor level.
Yellow.
Long.
Wriggling.
What the actual hell.
A giant yellow caterpillar lay on the hallway floor, inching its way toward the classroom with the slow, laborious movements of someone who had given up on life but hadn't quite gotten around to dying yet. The fabric, he realized after a moment, was a sleeping bag. An enormous, bright yellow sleeping bag containing what appeared to be a human being.
The creature reached the doorway and stopped.
It propped itself against the doorframe with a final, exhausted-looking wriggle.
A zipper slid down. A face emerged.
The face belonged to a man who looked like he hadn't slept in approximately a decade. Bloodshot eyes. Stubble that had transcended 'rugged' and entered 'health hazard' territory. Dark hair that hung in greasy tangles around gaunt, hollow cheeks.
He looked like a corpse that had forgotten to stop moving.
His gaze swept across the classroom with the enthusiasm of a man reviewing tax documents.
"If you're here to make friends, you can pack up your bags and leave."
The classroom fell silent.
Mina's mouth hung open mid-sentence.
Kirishima's energy drink sloshed in his frozen grip.
Iida's arms stopped mid-chop.
Even Bakugo, who had been radiating killing intent since Izuku walked in, went completely still.
The caterpillar man didn't seem to notice. Or maybe he just didn't care.
He reached into his sleeping bag and produced a juice pouch. He stuck the tiny straw into his mouth and took a long, slow sip while the entire class watched in horrified fascination.
"It took eight seconds for you to quiet down." Another sip. "That's not going to cut it. Time is precious. The rational thing to do would be to expel you all right now and save myself the headache."
His bloodshot eyes settled on various students around the room. Judging. Dismissing.
"My name is Shota Aizawa. I'm your homeroom teacher. And no, before any of you ask, this isn't a joke."
Aizawa finished his juice pouch with an obnoxiously loud slurp. He crumpled the empty container and let it fall to the floor inside his sleeping bag.
"We're wasting time. Get changed into your gym uniforms and meet me at the training field in fifteen minutes."
He began wriggling backward out of the doorway, still wrapped in his cocoon.
"Anyone who's late gets expelled."
The classroom remained frozen for a full three seconds after he disappeared.
Then chaos erupted.
Students scrambled for the door. Chairs scraped. Bags were grabbed. Iida's voice rose above the panic, something about orderly evacuation procedures that absolutely no one was listening to.
Izuku didn't move.
He stood in the center of the storm, watching his classmates flee with the amused detachment of someone observing particularly entertaining wildlife.
Fifteen minutes. Training field.
Day one and we're already being tested.
This is going to be fun.
Jiro appeared at his elbow, her face pale beneath her usual scowl. "Did he seriously just threaten to expel us on the first day?"
"Yep."
"And he showed up in a sleeping bag?"
"Yep."
"And drank a juice box while threatening our futures?"
"Yep."
She stared at him. "Why aren't you freaking out?"
"Because this UA."
He started walking toward the door, leaving the chaos behind him.
Jiro watched him go for a moment, her jacks twitching with something that might have been concern.
Then she swore under her breath and followed.