The next morning, while out running, Izuku deliberately chose a different route so he wouldn't run into Bakugo Katsuki.
"Still… Kacchan will probably question me at school anyway," Izuku thought, remembering an incident from middle school when Bakugo had pinned him down and beaten him over something trivial.
"I really hope Kacchan doesn't yell at me today…" Izuku muttered, running while rubbing his aching head.
"…Maybe I should just wear a mask."
Izuku jogged back home at an unhurried pace, went into his room, and opened his wardrobe. He crawled deep inside, reaching out and feeling around for something.
"Found it!"
Izuku pulled out a box and set it on his desk.
"I can't believe I haven't taken this out in so long… I wonder if anything in here can still be worn.""This one's from a festival when I was really little—too small.""This one's the All Might mask Kacchan and I bought together at a festival when we were kids… nope, that won't work either.""…Ah! This one!"
Izuku took out a mask and a photograph. The photo had yellowed slightly with age. It was only half of a photograph. In it, a younger Izuku was smiling brightly, playing happily with another child. For various reasons, he and that friend had eventually gone their separate ways. All that remained were this mask and the half photo each of them had kept.
"Alright then… I'll wear this mask to school today."
Izuku dusted it off and put it on.
"It actually looks okay. Not that weird."The mask was a half-face style, covering the lower half of his face.
"Mom! I'm heading out!"
"Okay! Hm? Izuku, why are you wearing a mask to school today?"
"Well, that's because… um…"
"Oh, I see. Izuku's reached that phase," Inko Midoriya said warmly with a smile. "Go on then. Don't forget to get along with your classmates."
"Okay! I got it!"
At exactly seven o'clock, Izuku arrived at the classroom. It was still completely empty.
"First one here again?"He sat down and glanced at Bakugo's seat in front of him. After a brief pause, he nodded and adjusted his mask.
"Alright, I've decided. I won't talk to Bakugo at all today. And other than class, I should run somewhere to hide the moment the bell rings. Somewhere Bakugo won't notice me… let's see… the library. Quirks aren't allowed there, and I could use some quiet time to recharge. Yeah, that settles it."
Izuku took out his textbooks and began previewing the material.
After studying for a while, he checked the time. He knew his classmates would be arriving soon—Bakugo included. He picked up his book and left the classroom. Most students arrived between 7:20 and 7:40, while Bakugo usually showed up around 7:10 to 7:20.
"Class starts at eight… so how do I survive until then?"
Izuku took the half photograph out of his pocket. The faces in the image were so faded they were almost impossible to recognize.
"Let me think… Back then, I was really close with him. We played together almost every day. After that… I don't remember."
Izuku shrugged.
"Oh well. I'll just wait for fate. When the time comes, we'll meet again naturally."
He put the photo away and pulled out his phone, scrolling through yesterday's messages with Bakugo. Almost all of them were threats promising to beat him up tomorrow.
"Yep… that's definitely Kacchan's style."Izuku twitched his mouth. Deciding not to talk to Bakugo today really had been the right choice.
"Let's see if there are any other messages… Oh right! I've only trained the martial arts forms up to Chapter Three so far. Next is Chapter Four. Let me check… Chapter Four of fist and leg techniques…"
At 7:10, Bakugo Katsuki was the first to arrive at the classroom. Normally, Izuku would already be inside, diligently studying.
"Deku! Explain yourself!"Bakugo yanked the classroom door open violently, ready to interrogate Izuku—but the room was empty.
"Tch. His bag's still here. So he already came and is deliberately avoiding me?"Bakugo kicked Izuku's desk hard.
"Damn it… when you come back, I'm beating the hell out of you!"He growled as he dropped into his seat.
At 7:40, class president Iida Tenya led the other students into the classroom. The moment they entered, they saw Bakugo sitting there with an extremely foul expression—and Izuku still absent.
"That's strange. Midoriya should have arrived much earlier," Kaminari Denki said as he set down his bag.
"Who knows where that idiot ran off to?" Bakugo snapped. "If he dares come back, I'll be the first to pound him flat!"
"I don't know what's going on between you two," Iida said sharply, "but homeroom is about to begin. Please take your seats!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the classroom door opened. Izuku walked in—followed by their homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta, whose face and hands were wrapped in bandages.
"Sensei! You recovered so fast!""Isn't that overdoing it?"
"Are you really okay, Sensei?"
"Does this look okay to you?"
Izuku tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. Just as he was about to sit down, Bakugo locked onto him with an intense glare. Izuku flinched, but with the mask covering the lower half of his face, Bakugo couldn't read his expression. Izuku quietly returned to his seat.
"My condition isn't important," Aizawa said flatly. "What matters is that the battle isn't over."
"Battle?"
"Don't tell me…"
"The villains again?"
"The U.A. Sports Festival is coming up," Aizawa announced, his voice slightly raised.
"Hell yes! A proper school event at last!" someone shouted.
The U.A. Sports Festival—an annual large-scale competition that had effectively replaced the Olympics. Anyone who shone brightly there had a strong chance of being scouted by hero agencies. Whether for experience or exposure, it was an enormous opportunity.
"This time, I'll definitely stand out at the Sports Festival," Izuku thought, clenching his fist.
"With my current physical abilities, plus All Might's Quirk… I can definitely place well."
Izuku glanced at Bakugo ahead of him, who looked fired up, and let out a quiet sigh.
"Before that, I just need to survive Kacchan's wrath… He's still furious."
After that class, everyone in the room noticed the same strange scene. Every time the bell rang, Izuku would immediately bolt out of the classroom, with Bakugo chasing after him. And every time class was about to start, Bakugo would return with an irritated expression—Izuku following behind. The two never exchanged a single word.
"What are those two even doing?"
"Something's definitely going on. Just look at Bakugo's face," Uraraka Ochaco whispered to Ashido Mina.
Suddenly, Hagakure Toru spoke up from her seat.
"I saw Bakugo and Midoriya staring at their phones earlier. It looked serious. Want me to sneak Midoriya's phone and see what's going on?"
"That's absolutely not okay!" Iida snapped. "That's a violation of privacy! Besides, I saw Midoriya take his phone with him as soon as class ended."