The final bell rang like a gunshot.
Class 1-A erupted into chaos. Chairs scraped against tile. Voices overlapped in a cacophony of post-battle commentary. Someone, probably Kaminari, was already dramatically recounting his "near death experience" during the long-distance run to anyone who would listen.
Izuku packed his bag with the slow, deliberate movements of a man who had absolutely nowhere urgent to be.
His mind was elsewhere, picking apart Aizawa's methods like a mechanic disassembling an engine. The logical ruse wasn't just psychological warfare. It was a filter. Anyone who cracked under that kind of pressure on day one would crumble when facing real villains. The sleeping bag entrance, the juice pouch, the dead-eyed stare. All of it was theater designed to establish dominance from the very first second.
Hano would approve.
A floating uniform materialized at his elbow.
"Ready?"
Toru's voice carried enough energy to power a small city. Her blazer bounced slightly as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, clearly incapable of standing still after the day's excitement.
Izuku slung his bag over one shoulder. "Lead the way, Spotlight."
The hallway was wide enough to accommodate students with Quirks that made them take up the space of small vehicles. The afternoon sun slanted through massive windows, painting golden rectangles across the polished floor.
Toru lasted approximately four seconds before the dam burst.
"Can you believe that guy?! A sleeping bag! He showed up in a literal sleeping bag and threatened to expel us all! And then he didn't! What kind of teacher does that?! And oh my god, that ball throw! The ground cracked! Actual cracks! I thought the earth was going to open up and swallow everyone! And then Yaoyorozu made that bike out of nowhere and I was like 'that's so unfair but also so cool' and..."
She paused to breathe.
Izuku waited.
"...and THEN Aizawa said it was all a lie! A logical ruse! Who even says that?! I almost cried! Mineta actually cried! I saw real tears!"
"I noticed."
"How are you so calm about this?! We almost got expelled!"
Izuku's lips curved. "We didn't, though."
"But we could have!"
"Could have and did are two different things."
Toru made a sound of pure frustration. Her uniform sleeves flapped in what he interpreted as an exasperated gesture.
"You're impossible."
"I prefer 'unflappable.'"
"Same thing!"
"Not even close."
They turned a corner, heading toward the main gates. The crowd had thinned considerably, most students having already fled the building like it was on fire.
Footsteps echoed behind them. Fast. Enthusiastic. Coming closer.
"Hey! Midoriya, right?!"
Izuku turned.
Two figures jogged toward them. The first was unmistakable. Red hair spiked upward like flames frozen in time. Shark teeth flashed in a grin wide enough to split his face in half.
The second was equally distinctive. Pink skin. Small yellow horns curling from fluffy pink hair. Black sclera surrounding yellow irises that practically glowed with curiosity.
They skidded to a stop in front of Izuku and Toru.
"You guys were amazing today!" Mina's voice carried across the hallway. Several lingering students turned to look. She didn't seem to notice or care. "I'm Mina Ashido! And this is Eijiro Kirishima! We went to the same middle school!"
Kirishima nodded so hard his spiky hair bobbed. "Yeah! Dude, your performance was super manly!"
Izuku blinked.
In the past fifteen years of his life, no one had ever called him "manly." Arrogant, yes. Irritating, frequently. A cocky bastard who needed to be taken down a peg, more times than he could count.
But manly was a new one.
"Thanks." He offered a casual smile. "You both did well too. That hardening Quirk is impressive."
Kirishima's grin somehow got wider. "You think so?! Thanks, man! I've been training really hard to make it more useful!"
Beside him, Mina had already gravitated toward Toru like a moth to an invisible flame. The two girls were suddenly face to face, or face to where a face probably was, their words tumbled over each other, a rapid-fire exchange of high-pitched questions and excited gasps.
"Oh my god, your Quirk is so cool! Invisibility! That's like, perfect for stealth missions!"
"Right?! I've been working on light refraction too! I want to be a Spotlight Hero, not just a sneaky one!"
"That's amazing! Hey, do you think we could hang out sometime? I know this great café near Shibuya that has the cutest desserts!"
"Yes! Absolutely yes!"
Izuku watched this unfold with the bemused expression of a man observing a foreign culture for the first time.
Kirishima fell into step beside him as the four of them naturally began walking toward the station together. The redhead's posture was open, friendly, completely devoid of the competitive edge that colored most interactions at a hero school.
"Seriously though, dude." Kirishima's voice dropped slightly, taking on a more serious tone. "What Aizawa-sensei did was super unmanly. Singling you out like that? He totally had it in for you from the start, even though you crushed it and got sixth place!"
Izuku shrugged. "He had a goal."
"Maybe, but still! The way he talked about potential and stuff? That was harsh!"
"For real!" Mina chimed in, somehow maintaining three conversations at once. "I was ready to throw hands! Okay not really because he's terrifying and could probably kill us all with his scarf, but emotionally? I was throwing hands emotionally."
Toru's uniform bobbed enthusiastically. "Same! When Ochaco started crying, I almost lost it!"
Kirishima's brow furrowed. "But what I don't get is..." He scratched his head, mussing his already chaotic hair. "What kind of power Quirk lets you throw a ball that far without any flashy lights or anything? It's gotta be some kind of enhancement thing, right? Like a physical boost?"
Izuku opened his mouth to give his standard deflection.
Toru beat him to it.
"That's the craziest part!" Her voice rang with pride. "He doesn't have one! He did all of that without a Quirk at all! Isn't he amazing?!"
Kirishima stopped walking.
Mina stopped walking.
The cheerful chatter died like someone had unplugged a speaker.
Silence.
Izuku closed his eyes.
He counted to three in his head.
"Toru."
His voice was flat.
Her uniform somehow managed to convey wilting. The shoulders drooped. The sleeves hung limp. If she had a visible face, it would probably be frozen in an expression of dawning horror.
"I... um..."
"My PR. My narrative. My decision when to share."
"I'm sorry! I just got excited and you're so amazing and I wanted them to know how amazing you are and it just... came out!"
Kirishima's jaw hung open. His eyes darted between Izuku's calm face and Toru's apologetic posture. Then to Mina, who looked equally shell-shocked.
"Wait." Kirishima held up both hands. "Wait, wait, wait. No Quirk? Like... none? Zero?"
"Zero."
"But... the ball throw..."
"Years of training."
"The dash?"
"Same."
"The grip test?!"
"I scored lower on that one, but yes."
Kirishima's mouth opened and closed several times. He looked like a fish trying to process calculus.
Then a grin split his face.
"No... way..."
He took a step closer.
"You got sixth place overall... without a Quirk?"
He let out a loud, whooping laugh that echoed down the hallway. His hand came down on Izuku's shoulder with enough force to stagger a normal person.
Izuku didn't move.
"DUDE!" Kirishima was practically vibrating. "That is the MANLIEST thing I have ever heard in my entire life!"
"Whoa... seriously? That's insane!" Mina punched the air. "You're like a real-life superhero! Like those old-school comic book heroes before Quirks existed!"
Izuku hadn't expected this.
He'd expected suspicion. Doubt. Maybe pity. The same cocktail of reactions he'd gotten his entire life whenever his Quirkless status came up.
Not... whatever this was.
Kirishima was still gripping his shoulder, apparently forgetting that normal people had personal space. His shark teeth gleamed.
"How did you do it?! What's your training routine?! Do you have a special diet?! Can you teach me?!"
"Eiji, calm down!" Mina laughed, tugging at his arm. "You're gonna scare him off!"
"I can't calm down! This is the most inspiring thing I've ever witnessed! A guy with no Quirk outperforming people with crazy powerful abilities just through pure hard work?! That's like... that's like Crimson Riot levels of manliness!"
Izuku's lips curved into a genuine smile.
"It wasn't anything special." He shrugged. "Just a lot of suffering and a crazy old man who thought throwing children at wild boars was an acceptable teaching method."
Kirishima's eyes went even wider. "Wild boars?!"
"Long story."
"I want to hear it!"
"Maybe later."
Mina had looped her arm through Toru's, pulling the invisible girl close. "See? I told you this school was gonna be amazing! We're making friends with actual legends on the first day!"
"I'm not a legend," Izuku corrected.
"Not yet!" Kirishima declared. "But you will be! I can feel it!"
They resumed walking, but the dynamic had shifted. Kirishima now stuck close to Izuku's side, peppering him with questions about training regimens and diet plans and whether he'd ever considered writing a book about his methods. Mina and Toru had formed their own bubble, already discussing potential study sessions and shopping trips.
Toru, however, kept glancing in Izuku's direction.
As they approached the station, she tugged gently on his sleeve.
"Midoriya-kun... I'm so sorry. I didn't think... I just got excited and I was so proud of you and it just came out and I know you wanted to control how people found out and I ruined it and..."
She trailed off.
Izuku looked down at where her head would be. He could almost imagine her expression. Wide eyes. Quivering lip. The universal look of someone who'd made a mistake and was genuinely remorseful about it.
He sighed.
"It's fine, Spotlight."
"But..."
"I said it's fine." He let a teasing smirk return to his face. "Just... next time, let me handle my own PR. I had a whole dramatic reveal planned for the Sports Festival. Cameras. Confetti. Maybe a live orchestra."
"Really?!"
"No."
"Oh."
"But since you feel so bad about it..."
His smirk widened. He could practically see the trap closing.
"There's a crepe place near the station. I've heard they have a triple-chocolate strawberry deluxe with extra whipped cream. Your treat."
Toru's uniform perked up instantly. The drooping shoulders straightened. The guilty posture transformed into something closer to her usual energetic stance.
"Deal!"
"And you owe me three favors to be named later."
"That seems like a lot..."
"Consider it the price of premature secret-spilling."
"...fine. Deal."
Kirishima let out another loud laugh. "Man, you two are hilarious! Hey, can we come to this crepe place too? I could go for something sweet after today!"
Mina raised her hand. "Seconded! I want to hear more about the wild boar thing!"
Izuku looked at the three faces, well, two faces and one floating uniform, surrounding him with various degrees of enthusiasm.
"Sure." He smiled. "Why not."