Chapter 20: Conversations and Consequences
It was Monday afternoon, and there was only one day left of class proper before the sports festival. It was sweltering in the classroom, the late April heat mixing with the atmosphere of anticipation and nervousness that was permeating the entire campus, though the students wouldn't be able to switch to their summer uniforms for some time yet. The lectures had been more reserved than usual, likely their teachers doing their best to make sure the students weren't overwhelmed before the sports festival, and their foundational heroics courses in the two days leading up to the event had been cancelled entirely. The teachers certainly pushed them hard, but they also somehow knew exactly how hard to push and when to relent; a quality, it seemed, that was not limited to just Aizawa.
While the actual content of the day to day classes had not become any more interesting to Izuku, the lower bar for paying attention meant that he was free to let his mind drift onto designs and analyses even more than he usually did. None of his teachers seemed to mind, with Ectoplasm especially seeming grateful that someone other than Izuku was answering his questions, and actually following the grade appropriate methods to do it. Izuku would never admit as much, but it still annoyed him that his classmates didn't care to learn his process for solving equations; especially when it was so much faster.
Still, it was impossible to deny that even with the slight annoyances: Ashido's overexcited tendencies, Hagakure's volume, Kaminari's terrible jokes, Kirishima's constant proclamations of something's manliness or lack thereof, and all manner of other irritants from his classmates, each was still endearing in their own way. Well, except for Todoroki, but Izuku figured that he would come around eventually.
Or he wouldn't, and Izuku would just have to live with that. As much as he was enjoying having friends besides his upperclassmen, he knew logically that he couldn't befriend everyone. If nothing else however, he was determined to at least get on cordial terms with Todoroki. Even if he had deserved it, Izuku still felt a tad guilty for what he had said to the boy during the battle trials, and the dirty looks he kept receiving made him think that Todoroki hadn't forgotten it either.
He wouldn't apologize to the other boy at any rate. Bakugo had shot that idea down with his usual fiery profanity when he had brought it up. Hidden among the swearing and threats however were some very salient points concerning how he would only be enabling the other boy's 'shitty ass' attitude by offering an apology, much like his apologies had once reinforced Bakugo's own beliefs. But, an explanation at least, perhaps finding some way to show that he respected Todoroki's skill and that he deserved respect in turn, something along those lines might soothe his conscience.
Or it might only inflame the boy, which would at least give him an opportunity to make fire and ice jokes. From the quirk registry which they all had access to, Izuku knew that he had pyrokinetic abilities alongside his seeming ability to generate ice, but for some reason he absolutely refused to use it.
Why that was he couldn't say, but what Izuku did know was that it was the one thing about Todoroki that actually made him angry. He could take the sneers and the awful attitude, but it was the hypocrisy that really ate at him. That he had the nerve to look down on others for their 'weakness' without even using half his power. The fact that he lost in the battle trials but still refused to use his full strength against his classmates in any of their exercises since then, that he had refused to use his fire during the USJ attack, it wasn't just insulting, it was irresponsible as well.
Izuku detected the too-sweet odor of nitroglycerin before he felt his gauntlets slide down over his arms, noiseless crackles firing off in his palms beneath his desk. He grimaced and clenched his fists, wondering if it was the influence of the simulated quirk that was making him angry, or if his anger was subconsciously activating his gear. Either way, it wasn't a distraction or an existential crisis he could afford to be having at the moment, especially with only one day before the sports festival. He forced himself to relax, letting the ports on his palms slide shut before the metal bands of his gauntlets retracted back up his arms and into their inactive state.
It came as a relief when the bell rang, signalling the end of the day one period early thanks to the cancellation of the foundational heroics class. Their math teacher bubbled into nothing at the sound; apparently Ectoplasm had sent a clone to teach today, and the students were left alone in the classroom. Izuku's relief was short-lived however, as after he gathered his things and rose from his seat to join his friends, he stopped short at the sight that awaited him.
The nervous form of Uraraka, her posture defensive and seemingly ready for a fight, was facing down a mob of students that crowded around the door to their classroom, and Izuku felt his temper rise further. The chatter they were giving off was overwhelming, and he spared a sympathetic glance towards Jirou, who seemed to be sporting a rapidly growing headache while holding her earjacks.
"Ce qui se passe ici?" queried Aoyama, raising an eyebrow as he leaned forward in his desk and staring at the crowd. "I would assume we should be having fans after the sports festival, not before, non?" He let off a small glimmer as he spoke, and Izuku was reminded that he never did find out if the sparkles were part of the french boy's quirk or not. That was a problem for another day however, as the unmoving wall of students was making exiting their classroom impossible for the moment.
"Blocking the door is super unmanly, the fire marshals would be mad if they saw this!" yelled Kirishima from somewhere in the back, and Izuku had to suppress a snort of laughter. Maybe the boy's proclamations were more endearing than annoying after all. "Why are they all here, anyways?"
"They're late to the party and trying to gather some info at the last minute, Shitty Hair," scoffed Bakugo, drawing up beside Izuku and shooting a glare into the crowd. "Not that there's much they'll figure out anyways, since they've apparently spent the last two weeks just dicking around." He began to muscle his way forward, giving Izuku a pointed look to follow. "Gawk all you want extras, if you wanted to learn shit about how to survive a villain attack, you're too fucking late. C'mon Deku!"
"Bakugo, please refrain from referring to our fellow students as extras, and again, please remember that such vulgar language is unbecoming of a UA student!" Beside him Iida was once again chopping the air with every word, and Izuku was trying very hard not to laugh. When he caught sight of Kaminari at his desk mimicking Iida's chops in near perfect sync, he lost control entirely. Maybe his jokes weren't so terrible either.
"Well, you all clearly have very humble opinions of yourselves, don't you?" came a voice from within the crowd. A boy with eyes as tired as Aizawa's and untamed violet hair moved to the front of the group, standing a good deal taller than the students around him. "Discounting your competition because we don't have the resources that you hero course students do," his gaze shifted from Bakugo to Izuku, "laughing at our efforts. I gotta say, if this is what the best and brightest of UA act like, I'm disappointed."
"Hey, don't talk about Midoriya-kun that way, he's not like that!" said Mineta, moving up to stand beside Izuku.
"What about me, Grapestain?" snarled Bakugo. Mineta sent him a withering look.
"C'mon dude, you're kinda asking them for it. Don't give Midoriya and the rest of us a bad rap just cause you think these guys are beneath you."
"I wonder how hard I'd have to squeeze your head before I could get a glass of Welch's?" said Bakugo, looking back over his shoulder at Mineta, who only stared back, unmoving. He let out a contemptuous snort before returning his attention to the boy in front of him, and failed to see Mineta relax his posture in obvious relief.
"So, you just gonna stand there and waste everyone's time, or do you have a point, gen-ed?" The student in question tilted his head forward at that, letting his mouth drop open into a crooked yawn which he made no attempt to stifle as he glanced over Bakugo before he replied.
"Point is, there's a lot of us that could beat you down easily, but never got the chance because the entrance exam didn't match our quirks. The sports festival is our opportunity to change that. Don't suppose you knew, but depending on how we do, those of us in general studies can transfer into the hero track. And those of you in the hero track can get transferred down, too." Izuku straightened up a bit at that, wishing that he had his helmet with him so that he could tag the student before him for later analysis. This guy could be dangerous if what he was saying had any merit to it.
"So yeah, I didn't have a lot of time to do surveillance on you all, but I bet you have pretty much no idea what I can do. For someone like me, someone overlooked in favor of a cocky brat like you, this is the perfect chance to knock you off your ivory tower. Consider this a declaration of war, Firecracker," he smirked as he said that, and Bakugo narrowed his eyes. For his part, Izuku was only slightly surprised that the other boy seemed to know what Bakugo's quirk was. Besides his high profile sludge-villain incident, his friend was hardly one to avoid showing off whenever he was able.
"Besides, at least one of us is guaranteed to make it in, after we beat the quirkless kid," said someone in the crowd, which sent up a general murmur of assent and several complaints about the quirkless kid somehow having gotten in out of pity. Izuku felt his stomach drop, and it was with some surprise that he saw the tall boy who had made his declaration grimace a bit at their words.
"This crap again?" muttered Mineta, detaching a grape and getting ready to move.
"I mean, it's basically a free spot," said another. "But Shinso's not gonna take a free pass like that into the hero course. He's gonna beat one of you guys for real." The now named Shinso frowned deeply at that, and turned his head towards the person who had spoken.
"Shut up already," he snarled, before turning back to face Bakugo. "I don't care who you are or what your quirk is, or if you even have one. I'm gunning for all your seats, so don't you forget that. Consider my declaration as extending to each and every one of you." He spun on his heel at that and stalked off back into the crowd, and Izuku noticed a number back away from him as he made his way out. He caught a few whispers following the other boy, something about villains and quirks, but he couldn't make out the rest because at that moment Kirishima's evil twin made an appearance. He was surging up above the crowd, glaring into their classroom from the side.
Well, the boy in questions wasn't quite Kirishima's twin, but the resemblance really was uncanny, especially considering their quirks. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu was a boy whose parents clearly had a twisted sense of humor when it came to naming schemes, but he was also one of the ones Izuku had performed an analysis for during his research. The fact that he not only looked like a slightly more jagged, silver, and less friendly version of Kirishima was one thing, but that his steel quirk would also be functionally the same as his 1-A colleague's was simply too much.
"Yo, I'm Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu from 1-B next door, heard you guys fought some villains, figured you'd be tough!" An ugly look crossed his face. "But all I see is a bunch of arrogant bastards that are gonna make fools out of the hero course tomorrow!" A moment of quiet descended over the crowd as the standing members of class 1-A looked on in stunned silence at the somewhat subdued mob before them. There was a beat, then Bakugo began to shove his way forward without another word.
"Bakubro, what're you doing? We don't want to make any more enemies than we just did!" That was undoubtedly Kirishima; only he would use a nickname like that for Bakugo.
Those thoughts didn't reach Izuku, however. Instead, he was standing back in the USJ, watching as his teacher was smashed into the cracked tiles of the plaza, blood pooling under him. A pale hand reached out to grab him, ready to annihilate him with a touch, but suddenly Mirio was standing over him, smiling down. His stomach lurched and he felt sick, before he was suddenly back in the classroom, white hot anger pouring off him in sheets. His full torso armor had snapped on, and the explosions charging in his palms were anything but small. Izuku snarled.
"Arrogant, huh? Is that what you think? What makes us arrogant, to train harder, to try to be better after getting attacked by a pack of attempted murderers and their rabid monster? Is it because Kacchan just called you out on being lazy and entitled?" He stalked forward and stood beside Bakugo, who looked at him quietly but didn't move to intervene. The onlookers seemed vaguely disinterested in whatever he had to say, but Izuku didn't care.
"For all your talk about us being arrogant, I haven't seen any of you at the gym putting in extra training these past two weeks, or in the support labs working on your techniques, hell, I haven't even seen any of you trying to gather intel on your competition until right now. You're treating this like it's a normal festival. Tell me, what's more arrogant, huh, training our hardest to be better after we almost got killed, or not even considering that we might be worth your attention until the last minute?" He turned to his friend, and noted the flicker of approval in his expression, and he felt himself relax again, the armor on his torso beginning to retract and the humming energy in his hands starting to dissipate.
"I don't care about your stupid vendetta or whatever because I've got more important things to focus on, like aiming to be the strongest I can be. The next time villains come to try and kill me and the people I love, I'll be ready for them. We've got three years at UA to become heroes, if you wanted all fun and games you should have gone somewhere else."
"Hey, you can't talk shit like that! I recognize you, you're the one that got messed up the worst out of everyone at the USJ," said someone at the back of the group. Izuku frowned but held himself from saying more, content that he had spoken his piece. Another voice in the crowd spoke up.
"Oh wait, he's the quirkless kid that got Ito-san in trouble for fighting last month. No wonder he's talking shit, it's all he can do!" Though he wanted to, Izuku didn't let himself shrink under the commentary. Bakugo did the unexpected and put a hand on his shoulder as he sneered out at the crowd.
"If any of you bastards think I give a shit about your opinions about him or me, then you're even dumber than I thought. Deku's stronger than all of you extras, and we're both headed for the top. So fucking move already, or I'll move you myself!" Bakugo surged forward, the crowd parting around him while Izuku followed, a little numb now that his anger was starting to fade. He looked left and right, noting the faces of the students they passed absentmindedly, recalling their quirks and their weaknesses where he could.
As they finally reached the end of the mass of bodies, the crowd began to disperse, most students wandering off to do whatever it was they did after school. Bakugo didn't look back as they walked, only continuing to stomp forward with a hunch in his shoulders. Something was wrong.
Izuku, uncharacteristically, grabbed Bakugo's wrist and dashed ahead, starting to pull him along instead of the reverse. His friend let out a noise of indignation and went to swat his hand away, but Izuku refused to relent, even as Bakugo began to shout.
"Fucking Deku, we're not five years old, let go!" They had reached Izuku's space, the same classroom Bakugo had chased him into only a week before, and Izuku finally released his grip before swinging open the door and gesturing inside.
He expected protests, cursing, maybe even explosions and fists if it came to it, but Bakugo simply groaned at him and rolled his eyes before walking inside and throwing his bag into a corner. He plopped down onto one of the lab stools and glared at him as Izuku closed and locked the door behind them.
"Spit it the fuck out, nerd, I wanted to get in another round in gym gamma before heading home." Izuku paused, feeling uncertain for a moment before he decided that this was a conversation that needed to be had, and soon. For both their sakes.
"Kacchan, how come you wanna be a hero?" a three year old Izuku asked him, bright green eyes looking up from the floor of Auntie's living room as they played together with their All Might action figures.
"Cause, Zuku, heroes are the best! They always beat the bad guys and save the day! I wanna be like All Might! I wanna be indefeasible! And when I get my quirk, I'm gonna be the best hero ever!" Katsuki felt the little fire burn inside him as he spoke. He would get his quirk soon, and it was going to be awesome! Maybe he'd be able to shoot acid, if his mom and dad's quirks got combined. That'd be so cool!
"I think it's undefeatable, Kacchan," offered Izuku happily. "But you'll definitely get a really cool quirk! And your birthday is coming up soon too!" Katsuki grinned.
"Of course it'll be cool! But you're gonna get a cool quirk too, and then we're gonna be the best heroes ever!" He paused to think for a moment, racking his three year old brain in concentration before an idea came to him. "I know, I'll be the best hero and you'll be the best sidekick, like Nighteye! You're smart like him, and you know big words and you like tests and stuff in school!"
Izuku looked at him uncertainly, and Katsuki worried he had upset his friend. He only wanted them both to be the best at something, and he wanted to be the best hero! So, it made sense that Zuku would be his best sidekick, didn't it?
"But I want to be like All Might too, Kacchan," he said in a small voice. Katsuki went to reply but stopped himself short. He hated it when he made Zuku cry, especially when he didn't know what he did to make it happen. He took a moment to think it through again before he lit up.
"Well how about you be like All Might some of the time, and I'll be like All Might the rest of the time! We'll just take turns being the best, that way we can both be like All Might! Like when we take turns in heroes n' villains!" Izuku relaxed, the tension leaving his small frame as he stared up at his best friend with a wondering expression.
"You'd share being the best with me, Kacchan?" Katsuki laughed and jumped up, mimicking a pose he saw their idol perform on the news.
"Course I would Zuku, you're my best friend! But you gotta make it there with me so we can be the best together, got it?" Izuku stood up and tried to match his pose, determination shining through his humongous smile.
"Yeah Kacchan, I promise, I'll always keep up!"
Katsuki came back to himself with a start, wondering what the fuck just made him relive that moment from his childhood. Oh, right, Izuku had just asked him that same question, and then he had stared at him blankly for a full minute while he took a trip down memory lane. Great, he was turning into the nerd now. He recomposed himself, trying to make it look like he had been offended by the question before answering.
"To show everyone that I'm the best, ya damn nerd. What, did you forget or something?" Izuku didn't flinch, which was good, but he didn't laugh or even smile a little either, which wasn't good. He knew that the nerd was strong, he knew it well at this point, but that didn't mean he was impervious. Those bastards outside the classroom had probably gotten to him if the conversation was any indication.
And wasn't that just the fucking cherry on top of the shit sunday. Listening to those bastards talk about Izuku, he couldn't help but hear his own voice in the chorus, deriding and demeaning the kid who had only ever wanted to help people. He hated the guilt, the flares of disgust that would rise whenever he saw Izuku flinch at a hand on his shoulder, or deny a compliment when one of the extras offered him. Not extras, Katsuki, classmates , rang the voice of Therapy-Bitch in his mind.
"All right, what's eating you shitheel? Did I fuck something up back there, cause you know those pricks deserved every damn word of it." Izuku shook his head and looked down at his shoes. God, he still wore those red abominations everywhere. The old hag and pops would never say it, but Izuku's fashion sense made them die a little inside, especially considering how often they were seeing each other again. His parents hadn't questioned the reunion, and neither had Auntie, but Katsuki found himself almost wishing they had. Then they would find out and yell at him, tell him things he already knew, but maybe needed to hear from someone else. Then maybe the guilt would fucking stop.
"I don't know why I want to be a hero anymore, Kacchan," said Izuku, looking up with tears in his eyes. Oh, fuck. "I, I thought I w-wanted to save p-people, with a smile like All Might's, but I don't know anymore." He brought his sleeve up and wiped furiously at his face.
"Deku," he began, a little hesitant for fear of saying the wrong thing. "I don't know why you need to keep hearing other people say this. Actually no, that's bullshit, it's cause I fucked you up that you can't believe it when you hear it. But, tch, damnit nerd, you need to stop second guessing yourself! Stop doubting your dreams and just accept that you're a good fucking person that wants to help people, and that you're here to learn how to do that! Nothing more to it than that."
"I, I know that's what I want to t-think, Kacchan, but there's something else too." Izuku flushed a bit, and Katsuki noticed the metal of his gauntlets sliding forward again. It had been happening more and more to the nerd lately, his gear seeming to activate on its own, and Katsuki was beginning to worry. He began to talk more loudly as he continued. "I still want to save people, b-but I feel like I want to prove something too! People always underestimate me, and other people without quirks." Izuku looked conflicted for a moment, and Katsuki thought about interrupting, but then reconsidered. The nerd needed to say this, and he probably needed for him to hear it as well. Fuck, Therapy-Bitch really was starting to get into his head.
"So maybe I want to be a hero to prove them wrong, to make people stop judging quirkless people like we're nothing. I'm tired of it, Kacchan!" He was shouting now, popping off explosions in his hands that they were lucky weren't setting off the smoke alarms. "Why don't they see me, huh? How come they only see the quirkless kid, who couldn't possibly deserve to be a hero? How come you only saw the quirkless kid? Why did one fucking doctor's visit make you stop being my friend for ten years? Why? Why is everyone still looking down on me? "
Katsuki lunged, ignoring his instincts and pinning Izuku's arms to his sides as he wrapped him up in a bear hug, holding his shaking friend as tight as he could and hissing out curses and assurances as he struggled against him.
"Deku, calm down you shithead! You're freaking out cause you're angry and you don't know how to handle it. Fuck, Deku, you're sounding like me!" Izuku went still immediately and the bursts from his palms stopped as he sagged backwards, his armor snapping away in the blink of an eye. "Fuck's sake nerd, you're so used to not having it that the minute you get your spine back you start questioning your existence." Izuku sniffed, and Katsuki released him.
"Kacchan, I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to yell at you again. You've been trying so, so hard, and I can see that, and I hate feeling this way. I hate feeling angry, and I don't know what to do. I don't know if it's the quirks, or if it's me, and either way it scares me. How can I be a hero when I'm so messed up?" He pushed his back against the door and slid down, hanging his hands between his knees as he drew them up slightly. Katsuki sat back on the lab stool and looked at him. He really didn't want to say this next part, to admit weakness in front of Izuku, but he needed to hear it.
"Tch, I've got the same problem as you do nerd." Izuku looked up sharply. "Who the hell do I think I'm fooling, trying to be a hero after all the shit I pulled?" It was something he really didn't like to think about, but it had also been forced to prominence in his mind lately. Seeing those students acting like they had in the hallway, he was sure none of them ever deserved to be heroes. The fact that the things they said reminded him of himself during middle school only added to his internal conflict.
"But you're different than you were, Kacchan. You're here now, and you're trying to help me. And you don't look down on me," he added the last part quietly, and Katsuki was reminded of a time when they were five, and Izuku had reached out a timid hand to offer him help after he fell off a log into a stream. That had been the point where things had really started to fall apart.
"The fact that you know that I'm not looking down on you just for trying to help, you're already better than I was. The fucking Therapy-Bitch keeps trying to tell me that it's okay to have pride, so long as you don't let it define you. And you're not letting it define you." Izuku was looking at him in awe, and Katsuki felt a little bitter. Why had no one had this sort of talk with him when he was younger? Why had he been allowed to hurt his friend for so long?
"S'like I said, you're confused cause you're not used to having that pride. You're not used to knowing that you're worth something, and you're worth a hell of a lot more than those fucking asshats think. You still want to save everyone, nerd, that's why you're here. When we used to talk about being like All Might when we were kids, I wanted to be like him because of what he did. How he always won, no matter what. You wanted to be like him because of how he made people feel, safe and happy." He ran his hands through his hair and let out an unhappy sigh before he continued.
"Don't let anything distract you from that. Fuck, Deku, you're smart, you shouldn't need me to tell you all this shit. You just gotta focus on the here and now, and stop letting a bunch of assholes distract you." He heard a wet sounding giggle and breathed out in relief, even as Izuku went back and forth between tears and laughter. Finally, the sniffling stopped entirely, and a red-faced Izuku was staring at him with a look of determination that bordered on the dangerous.
"Thanks Kacchan...I needed to hear that." Katsuki grunted and rose to his feet while Izuku did the same.
"Tch, whatever nerd. You'd figure it out yourself eventually, but I already said I don't want any excuses for when I kick your ass in the sports festival on Wednesday." They both laughed a bit at that, though Katsuki didn't really feel it. He had made a decision right then, and he hoped it was the right one. "Hey nerd, I'll see you tomorrow, alright? I got some stuff I gotta take care of, and you like you're about to give Bubblegum a run for her money when it comes to blowing shit up." He looked down at his hands, before adding, "on accident, anyways." That earned him another laugh and a genuine smile from Izuku.
"Thanks, Kacchan. Yeah, I think I want to make some last-minute adjustments to my gear before tomorrow. Meet you in front of my house tomorrow morning?" Izuku reached out a fist, and Katsuki brought his own up to bump it.
"Yeah nerd, I'll see you there," he said. Izuku nodded to him and went to his workbench while Katsuki let himself out of the nerd's demonic lair and walked down the hall, a sense of dread accompanying his every step. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, but he still hesitated outside the door, wondering if he really needed to do this. Fuck it, no time to hesitate. He went to knock before a chipper voice interrupted him halfway.
"Come in, Mr. Bakugo!" chirped Nezu, coming into view as the door swung inwards and revealed the mammal sitting at his desk. There was a tea service sitting in the middle of the surface, two cups set out and sitting there waiting. A seat had been pulled up in front of the desk, and as he took it all in, the principal gestured him inside.
Fuck, he really hoped he wasn't about to get expelled.
Nezu sipped his third cup of tea as he regarded the boy in front of him. He was brash, loud, and obsessed with victory, not unlike a certain Number Two hero that came to mind. Unlike a certain Number Two hero, he seemed genuinely willing to better himself, was learning to be humble, and had willingly submitted himself to the consequences of his actions. He had already been planning to burn Aldera to the ground ever since poor young Midoriya's breakdown and the subsequent discoveries he had made. Now, with young Bakugo's cooperation, he could afford to really throw the book at the school, and even hopefully undo some of the damage its incompetent staff had done.
"So am I expelled or what?" Nezu's eyes widened and he grinned behind his cup of tea. The more he learned of young Midoriya, the more time he spent with him, the more he saw how the boy defied both predictions and expectations. Now he was seeing how that effect extended to those around him as well. When young Bakugo's past had come to light, Nezu had calculated only a three percent chance that the boy would express any kind of regret for his actions before the second year. Now, he had walked into his office, seemingly completely voluntarily, and laid out the full picture for the principle and had not once asked for leniency. All within the first term.
Of course, expulsion was never on the table for Bakugo. Not only would it have devastated poor young Midoriya, but it would also have unleashed a potential villain in the making. A young foolhardy man turned out of an institution dedicated to making heroes, with a powerful quirk, misguided notions of morality, and a potential vendetta? Goodness no, Bakugo would be staying close at hand, no matter what.
Besides that, much of the blame for how things had gone could be attributed to the environment the boys had spent their time in; his investigation was already revealing a disturbing tendency among the faculty at Aldera to sympathize with dangerous elements. More than a few were outright members of some of the Meta Liberation Army offshoots, all of which claimed to operate under supposedly peaceful methods these days.
None of this absolved Bakugo of his misdeeds however, which was why Nezu now found himself at an interesting juncture. On the one paw, it would be a disservice to both Midoriya and the idea of justice to allow for his transgressions to go unpunished, though only one of his students would be likely to see it that way. Of the two of them, young Bakugo would be the least likely to protest at any punishment he handed down, while Midoriya would argue that the Bakugo Katsuki of today was a different person than the one who had tormented him in middle school.
On the other paw, Midoriya had a point; young Bakugo had willingly come forward and divulged every sin he could recall having committed against his victim, and in the entire time had never offered any excuse. He was showing a willingness to accept the consequences of his actions, and a desire to work towards fixing his mistakes and undoing any damage he had caused. It was tremendous growth, especially from one so young who had been failed by so many. Consulting his file showed that the boy had been enrolled in both traditional therapy and anger management courses for some time now, and while his personality was certainly abrasive, he had been nothing but supportive and protective of Midoriya since his arrival at UA. The Big Three had kept him well-informed on that regard, their continued presence and passive surveillance some small comfort in the pickle that was young Midoriya's life.
He suddenly realized with a start that he had referred to the pair of students in question no less than eight times with the prefix 'young' during his last train of thought. It seemed he had been spending too much time with Toshinori. Reflecting on the number one hero's relationship with Midoriya for a moment, Nezu reached his decision.
"No, Mr. Bakugo, you will not be expelled over this." The boy regarded him with cool eyes, so he continued. "You will also not be switching tracks or being moved from class 1A." That got a splutter of confusion from him.
"Why the fuck not? You were listening right? I'm practically a fucking villain!" Bakugo was indignant, color rising to his cheeks, though Nezu noticed a bit of a quaver in his voice at that last statement. He shook his head sadly, and held up a paw.
"No, Mr. Bakugo, you are not. A true villain would have neither the depth of character to realize that their actions were wrong, nor the bravery to admit to that fact. A villain would especially never willingly submit themselves to judgement for the sake of helping another. You are a child, Mr. Bakugo, a child who made mistakes that were enabled by those with ill intent, and who is trying to make up for that."
"I don't deserve to be here! UA has a policy against the kind of shit I pulled, I beat the shit out of Deku for ten fucking years, and you're just letting that go? I told him to kill himself!"
"I am not letting it go, Mr. Bakugo, but the fact that you have voiced these things to me proves my point; there is no purpose in punishing a child who already understands that their actions were wrong, especially not one who is trying to make amends. Too often people see consequences as purely punitive, when in fact, they are supposed to enable rehabilitation. The state of prisons, the existence of Tartarus, they are necessary, yes, but we often forget that they should not be."
Bakugo sat and stared at him in silence, a war of emotions raging across his face. It seemed the young man couldn't decide between being confused, disgusted, angry, or relieved, and the resulting expressions were quite amusing.
"What can I do to make it right?" he said at last, and Nezu's eyes gleamed with delight.
"Why, Mr. Bakugo, you are going to help me ensure that the circumstances surrounding your and Mr. Midoriya's schooling will never prevail over any child at Aldera ever again." Bakugo looked at him questioningly, clearly following what he was saying but not quite comprehending his part in it. Perhaps it would be wise to add Bakugo to his lessons with Midoriya and Yaoyorozu as well.
"You will provide testimony for me, under a blanket of confidentiality, which I will use in my pursuit of every fool and pretender at that school who dares to call themselves an educator. In addition, I will place a mark on your record indicating that your conduct should be more closely scrutinized than that of your peers for signs that you may be acting overly aggressively or with hostile intent against another student, but the reason for that mark will remain sealed, and it will be erased entirely after you graduate from UA."
"That's it?" he said after a while, and Nezu offered him a patient smile.
"That is, actually, it, Mr. Bakugo. It would be a disservice both to you and to Mr. Midoriya to act in the service of retribution rather than justice. We must, each of us, live with our sins, yet we should also remember to carry the good that we do with us as well. In the end, all I can ask of someone who is already travelling down that path is that they continue on, and always try to bring more good into the world than what they take out of it."
"I don't deserve the chance."
"The fact that you think so is all the proof I need to see that you do, Mr. Bakugo. I imagine it will be some time before you can truly believe that yourself, but when it is difficult, think about what Mr. Midoriya would tell you, and try to believe it." Bakugo closed his eyes and seemed to be counting slowly, keeping his breathing even. Finally he opened them and nodded to the principal, who clapped his paws together. "On a lighter note, I hope that both you and young Mr. Midoriya spend tonight and tomorrow preparing yourselves diligently, but not overmuch. I shall be looking forward to a good showing from the both of you in the festival." A bit of the fire came back to Bakugo's eyes as he got up to leave.
"Just you watch, me and Deku, we're gonna blow them all away." Nezu voiced his support, and then he was alone once more, the only noise coming from the gentle tick-tock of the clock on his wall. He pressed the button on his desk that opened the hidden vents scattered about and withdrew a cigarette from the silver case he kept them in. Lighting it deftly, he puffed on it as he thought things over, running predictions about both the festival tomorrow, and how the two boys would be moving forward. Laughing a bit as he did, he settled on the lowest probability outcome, and decided to try and trust the pattern Midoriya had been setting. If nothing else, the results would certainly be exciting. Finally, he turned to the closed door and addressed his empty office.
"You certainly will, Mr. Bakugo. You and Mr. Midoriya both will put on quite show, I'm certain of it."
Chapter 21: Preparation and Oaths
"Morning is here! Morning is here! Morning is here!" Blared the alarm clock that perched on Izuku's nightstand. It was one of the old All Might themed clocks, and Izuku hadn't used it properly in years, instead relying on Lynchpin to pick a nice piece of music to rouse him in the mornings. Groaning, he resolved to figure out how it had been turned on later and fumbled with his hand for the alarm button. Instead of cool plastic however, his fingers brushed up against a familiar head of shiny blonde hair.
"Good morning Izukuuu!" yelled Mirio, drawing out every word like a radio announcer. His face was at eye level with Izuku's bed, and he appeared to be phased through the floor from his waist up. "Did ya like my All Might impression?"
"Mirio?! What are you doing here?" Izuku spluttered, falling out of his bed and into a tangle of sheets and wires. His room still resembled the lair of some kind of mechanical spider, and wrapped up as he was now, he felt like a hapless bug caught in a web. Which was funny considering he was supposedly the one who had spun it to begin with. He laughed at the thought, the nerves and pleasant surprise each competing for dominance over his mood.
"Like I'd miss the chance to walk you to school on the day of your first sports festival! Plus, Mamadoriya's making a breakfast that'll take us all through the day, so we can show off our POWER!!!" Izuku laughed again and echoed him from the floor, though not as loudly, as he untangled himself before a thought struck him.
"Did you just say, us, as in more than just you?" Mirio nodded and flashed a smile as he began to sink through the floor.
"Uh huh, Nejire and Tamaki are here too, and Bakugo is gonna meet us out front once we leave! I'll let you get dressed and see you downstairs bro, but make sure you hurry or else Tamaki will eat everything Mamadoriya makes."
"Mirio why would you say that, I wouldn't do that," came the muffled sound of Tamaki's voice from the floor below, followed by the almost musical notes of Nejire's laughter and his mother's as well. Mirio dropped through the ground completely, as if whatever had been holding him up was suddenly gone given the small look of surprise on his face, and Izuku was alone in his room again save for the blinking light of Lynchpin on his monitor in the corner.
"How come you didn't wake me or let me know Mirio was gonna do that, Lynch?" Izuku asked, pulling on clean clothes and gathering everything he would need for the day.
"Because it was both funny for me, and a positive way to start your day, Izuku." said his computer with a synthetic chuckle. Izuku huffed, but smiled despite himself.
He took a quick glance at his whiteboard, only slightly disappointed that his special upgrade wouldn't be ready for another week. He had really hoped to use it in whatever the third round ended up being, usually some kind of one on one battle. Unfortunately, the designs were too complex, the fabrication process too involved for it to be ready in time. Besides, using that kind of power on his classmates in a festival, even one as important as this, wouldn't have been right.
Thankfully, with Mei's addition to his normal gear, and a very last minute rush to get the forms cleared with principal Nezu and the overseeing staff, he would be able to use his torso and leg armor during the festival. Lynchpin and his helmet unfortunately would not be joining him, something he reflected on with only a bit of nervousness. Not having immediate access to the information his logistics program could provide might leave him vulnerable to unexpected variables, but if other people dealt with this kind of lack of information every day, then he could suffer through it for one festival.
Arriving at the table with somehow even more energy than usual, Izuku was greeted by the sight of his mother serving breakfast to a beaming Mirio, a cooing Nejire, and an embarrassed Tamaki. All of them had visited before during the years that they had known each other, Izuku's mother insisting on meeting her son's friends and thanking them for taking care of him. Today though, the atmosphere was different. The way his friends and his mother were interacting, it felt much more familiar, much more comfortable than when they first had started to visit his home. It was peaceful, and it was doing wonders for his nerves.
That wasn't to say that their early meetings had been strained, quite the contrary. They had gotten on so well that Ms. Midoriya nearly burst into tears every time they came by, always finding humor in their antics and absolutely loving being able to cook for an entire household. If there was one thing she loved almost as much as Izuku, it was cooking for other people and sharing stories over a warm meal.
Today's veritable feast consisted of rice, grilled eggs, hot miso, and best of all, homemade pickled plums. Izuku was almost willing to fight Mirio over those whenever his friends joined them for a meal, but in the end, his gratitude towards the older boy would always win out, and Mirio would be offered the last plum. It was some surprise to him then as he noticed that his bowl was piled high with the plums in question as he joined them at the table. A questioning glance sent Mirio's way only earned him an indulgent smile as his mother and Nejire both continued to fret over Tamaki.
"So, Mamadoriya," began Mirio, a bit of mischief entering his eyes as he glanced towards Izuku. Tamaki and Nejire both swiveled towards Mirio, Nejire looking very much like she was suppressing giggles.
"It's Inko to you dear, though I do like the name," she said, finally sitting down to join them at the table. A quick thanks for the meal was shared by all as Mirio picked up where he left off.
"We were wondering if you were planning to watch the sports festival today?"
"Oh, like I'd miss the chance to see my Izuku on TV doing something besides running into a villain attack," she quipped, sending a look towards her son who shrank a bit under it.
"Well hey, did you know that the school saves some seats for family and friends to watch in the upper boxes? They're in the area that lets you see all three arenas, in case somebody has kids in multiple grades! Isn't that neat? And did you know that Mirio has a couple extra? You should accept the extras and come watch Izuku and us!" Nejire finally exploded, unable to contain her excitement any longer. Tamaki's head hit the table as he groaned about a spoiled surprise but Mirio just chuckled good naturedly.
"It's okay buddy, I figured Nejire would spill the beans!" This only elicited another grumble from the shy boy while the girl in question bounced out of her chair over to him and placed a hand against his forehead. She said something about not getting sick before the festival, which only drew another tired groan from the boy. Inko meanwhile was alternating between giggling at the pair and thanking Mirio, a few Midoriya waterworks leaking out as she did so.
"But, what about your family dear?" Inko managed after a minute, finally collecting herself. Izuku also voiced his concern on that note, but Mirio was quick to dismiss it.
"Yeah Mirio, your mom and dad wouldn't like to miss watching you in your last year! Togata-san would never miss a chance to cheer you on!" Izuku recalled Mirio's black haired father, a kind man with the same simple, pointed features that Mirio sported. Though he didn't spend as much time at Mirio's home as Mirio and the others had spent at his over the years they had known each other, every visit had been comfortable and welcoming. Mr. Togata was very clearly proud of his son, his mother just as much so, and Izuku would hate to inconvenience the man in any way.
"Well, Mom's out of town on a business trip right now which is one extra ticket, but Dad's gonna be there for me, and even if that wasn't the case, we'd still have had a second extra ticket for their plus one! Which reminds me, I invited someone else who wants to watch you compete!" Inko practically knocked him over as she scooped Mirio into a tight hug, thanking him again and again.
"Who, who else is gonna be in the box Mirio?" Nejire, once again, jumped up to answer Izuku's query.
"Ooh, ooh, it was hard to find him, but Mirio found that Professor Terri guy you mentioned but he was busy today, so then we looked for that teacher you liked, Saito-sensei, but we couldn't find him at all." She stopped mid-explanation to shoot Izuku a sympathetic look before brightening and continuing. "So then, we thought, who else would Izuku-kun like to have there, and it was easy, cause both you and Mirio really like him. So Yagi-san is gonna be there to watch too!"
Oh shit, Mom doesn't know who that is. Is she going to ask? I can't lie to Mom, she's Mom. I can barely lie at all. Oh no, she's looking at me now , Izuku thought, rapidly trying to come up with an explanation that was believable. Could he say he was All Might's secretary maybe? Bah, who would ever believe that.
"Izuku, who's Yagi-san?" He opened his mouth, a half formulated reply trying to make its way out when Mirio covered for him once again. He was really starting to despise keeping secrets.
"Oh, Yagi-san is a trainer from UA who helped me during the summer before my third year, and I asked him to help out Izuku too! When we were training at Dagobah beach he would come down and help sometimes, and he's always been really patient and friendly. We don't get to see him as much with school back in full session, but it'll be nice to give him and my dad a chance to catch up, and for you to have a chance to meet him finally."
His mother seemed satisfied at that, if a little flustered at the thought of going out today and meeting new people. Once she realized that, however, she was off down the hall in a flash, muttering to herself about being presentable to the outside world and fretting over whether she would have time do redo her hair. Nejire followed after her, shouting about how much fun it would be to do Inko's makeup for her, and before they knew it, the girl had been pulled into his mother's bedroom by a bright green glow.
"Huh, wouldn't have thought Nejire counted as a small object," mused Izuku, finishing the last of his rice and preparing to inhale the plums.
"Maybe her mass is lighter cause she's flying all the time," offered Tamaki, finally leaning up in his chair and giving Izuku a tired smile. "You're gonna do great today, so don't get all worried like we did freshman year." Mirio barked a laugh.
"Oh man, I tripped like three times because I kept trying to grab my pants during the race!" Izuku joined in as Tamaki and Mirio laughed and recalled their first festival. He had seen the event on TV two years before. In a way, it was surreal, to be getting ready to participate in one of his own. He wondered if out there somewhere was a kid who would be at UA in two years time, who would have seen his performance from today, and been inspired by it. He gulped, but soon found Mirio's hand on his shoulder.
"Just keep your pants on little bro, and there's no way you could be more embarrassed than I was my first year, no matter what ends up happening. And even if you do lose your pants, well, I turned out fine!" He felt the surge of tension melt away at that, but it returned in a sudden tsunami of anxiety at the next words out of Mirio's mouth. "Besides, you'll get a ton of good press when you give your speech!"
"Oh, my speech...shit," was all Izuku managed to eek out before the sounds of explosions outside signaled Bakugo's arrival.
"This is Klein, Camper and I have finished the initial sweep and are in position to place charges, how copy?"
"Solid copy, Tower confirms your location. Plant charges and head for the next set of coordinates."
Specialist Klein worked quickly, quietly, in the dark under Hosu, while private Camper kept watch down the massive tunnel. The gentle splash of their boots through the water and the occasional dripping of condensation or runoff had been the only sounds until the woman had radioed in.
"S'big fucking hole for a sewer, ain't it?" mused Camper from behind her. Klein was deftly unpacking the Semtex charges, affixing them to the walls of the tunnels with practiced motions.
"They're like this for storms, though regular shit and piss run through here too if they gotta." The wireless detonators were placed firmly into the mass of explosives, ready to receive the encrypted radio signal at the client's discretion. Klein shuddered, recalling the look on Commander Wolfram's already twisted face when he had given them their briefing.
"The fuck kind of storms they getting out here that they need this much room for a bunch of water?" Camper shifted uncomfortably, and for all her disdain of the woman, Klein sympathized. The water had a nasty way of climbing up one's boots, and the moist, heavy air was uncomfortable to breathe. Worse, it had a way of sticking to your skin and making you feel heavy.
"Tsunamis, mostly, though apparently there's some normal storms that dump near as much water." Klein stood back, satisfied with her work, and motioned for Camper to step forward. She did so quickly while Klein took up watch down the tunnel.
"We're fucking well West of the ocean though, Tokyo's nearer than here." Klein shot a glance back at her partner, who had slung her rifle back on its strap and was pushing a hole into the cement of the wall with her bare hands, as if the whole thing was made of putty. She pushed the explosive inside before she brought the walls of the tunnel back up around it, leaving only the very tip of the wireless receiver poking out through the stone.
"You underestimate how bad the Tsunamis can be. Plus, runoff from places nearby, add on a connected sewer network, it ain't like Jordan, I'll tell you that. Water actually moves here." Camper snorted and took up her place at the rear of their two-person formation as they continued on down the tunnel.
"Client sure knows their shit, huh? Picked a day when all the cops and dumb-asses in tights would be out playing babysitter. Makes me wonder if they planned it this way."
"Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to, Camper. It's a good way to end up with the boss's gun in your mouth."
"Which boss, the client or the Commander?"
"Either one," snapped Klein, shortly. She was beginning to remember why she disliked the other woman so much. One could only stand an inane disregard for someone's own well-being for so long, especially when the idiot running her mouth could put her in danger as well.
"Fair enough, after what happened to Full Band I don't want to get in the bosses' bad graces and end up - movement!" The two mercenaries snapped their rifles forward and leveled their aim at the sound of splashing coming from behind them, each switching off their torch as they did so.
A tense moment passed as the splashing kept coming closer and closer, the mercenaries trying to move as inconspicuously as they could behind a pair of the massive pillars that held up the roof of the cistern. A light appeared at the bend of the tunnel, soon followed by a public works employee wearing a yellow hard hat and galoshes as he moved down the tunnel, shining his flashlight around and muttering to himself.
Klein tensed, hoping that the man would pass quickly, considering she didn't want to be waiting in a sewer all day while some safety inspector did his checks. Fuck, she was already getting frustrated. Unfortunately for her, Camper decided to resolve the situation in a more timely fashion, stepping out from behind the pillar and blinding the man with her flashlight. Cursing, Klein followed suit.
The inspector's warbled cry of surprise was cut off as he suddenly rushed towards the two. Camper fired, two shots to the chest, one to the head, the familiar drill taking over as she dropped the man without a thought. A few puffs of blood sprouted up from the bullets as the man's body hit the water, falling face first into the cloudy runoff, a bit of red starting to leak from the corpse and mix with the rest.
"The fuck was that for, jackass? You know how much paperwork I'm gonna have to file now?" Camper didn't answer, simply moving over to the body and prodding it with her boot. Satisfied that he was dead, she used her foot to flip the inspector over before reigniting her torch and pointing it as the man's face.
"Bastard had some kind of vision quirk Klein, he coulda seen the detonators and investigated, then we'd be right proper fucked." Sure enough, the man's eyes appeared much too large for a normal human, and the slight filmy look they had to them was likely not because they were recently deceased. Klein just sighed in annoyance.
"Yeah, and now instead of him maybe noticing a bit of something weird in the wall, his boss will definitely notice a missing worker." Camper had moved over to the wall and was preparing another hole, much larger this time. The cement began to pile up around her fingers as she dug through it.
"Sure, sure, but that's the thing. They'll be focused on finding him, not whatever he might have been looking for. They'll figure he got washed away by a sudden surge of water or something, and then they won't bother checking the walls before the client pulls his surprise. Hell, they'll probably end up following these pipes all the way down to the ocean looking for a corpse."
Klein wanted to argue, to tell Camper how unnecessary and stupid it all was, but then again, this was a part of working for the Tower Company. Unnecessary and stupid was practically a part of the job description. Instead of arguing, she let out an angry sigh as her partner finished pushing the inspector's corpse into the hole she had carved and began covering it with the displaced concrete.
"Fucking fine, but you get to be the one to write out the incident report."
"Ah, fuck you, you're the supervisor for this op."
"Yeah well fuck you too, you're the one that decided to shoot the poor bastard, so have fun cleaning up your mess." They continued on in silence after that, placing more charges along the entire underside of Hosu, just as the other teams were doing. Finally, in the early morning of the next day, the mercenaries trudged out of the tunnels outside the city and boarded the waiting helicopters. On the way back, they listened to radio coverage of the UA sports festival, and chuckled at what they heard.
There was a nervous tittering air to the small waiting room that class 1A had been assigned to in the lead up to the sports festival. Izuku was the worst of all, muttering the entire time about how his speech was going to be a disaster, and how he would rather face the Nomu again than give a speech in front of a crowd of this size.
Katsuki felt his frustration growing with the nerd, especially when he noticed how he hadn't started gushing over the three B-list pros who were skulking around outside the door to the waiting room. He recognized at least two of the assholes from the group of idiots that tried to recruit him as a future sidekick after the sludge-fuck, and was even more pissed when Hardwood seemed to scoff at Izuku when they passed in the halls.
He ground his teeth, not even paying attention as Ponytail and Glasses started to talk about how many minutes it was until they would be expected to make their way onto the field. He hated to admit it, but he could almost respect the energy that Glasses was putting out, even with his stick-up-the-ass delivery. Regardless, Izuku needed some encouragement, and he was about to fucking get some. He made his way over to the nerd, chuckling a bit at the expression on Izuku's face while Grapestain whispered at him to keep it together.
He was almost there when a sudden presence behind him made him turn around, and suddenly Katsuki was face to face with the Icy-Hot prick.
"Bakugo," he said plainly while not showing even the barest hint of an emotion, a stark contrast to Katsuki's own sharp scowl. Katsuki growled at him, surprising even himself a bit.
"I'm busy Half and Half, so fuck off." Todoroki continued as if he hadn't heard him.
"Objectively speaking, I'm stronger than you, more experienced." That was not the right thing to say to an already irritated Katsuki.
"Fuck you asshole, me and Deku already kicked your ass once, I'll do it again by myself if I have to!"
"Your victory was a fluke; he makes you weaker, steals your identity from you, like he's trying to do to All Might. I don't know how he latched onto him, but I won't allow him to steal from the only man that could challenge my father." If Katsuki's rage had been burning before, at those words it turned white hot and started to radiate off of him. He saw red, and took a step forward towards Todoroki, but the boy continued undaunted.
"I'm going to win this tournament Bakugo, and if I happen to help your leech see reason along the way, all the better. He should know better than to try and become something he's incapable of being." Katsuki didn't think in that moment, didn't consider that he might be disqualified from the tournament for his actions. All he saw was his fourteen years old self trying to hurt Izuku again, and he wasn't about to let that little bastard get away with it.
He lunged, a strong right hook crackling with smoke and small explosions as he threw his punch, only to find his arm being swat down by the armored limbs of the damn nerd. Izuku promptly stepped in front of him and stared at Todoroki while Katsuki stood frozen in surprise.
"That's rich coming from you, Todoroki. Everyone here is, has given their all just to get here, and you think you're going to win this tournament while only half-assing it? Excuse me if I'm tired of being looked down on by assholes who think they can skate by in life with what they've been handed while mocking the efforts of those who have had to work for everything we have."
"Hey, c'mon guys, we're about to go on, why pick a fight right now? That's not really manly bro," interjected Kirishima, placing a hand on Todoroki's shoulder which was promptly shrugged off.
"I don't care, I'm not here to make friends. I have a duty to win today, and I'll do it with just my ice. Everything besides that is irrelevant." Katsuki was doing his best to hold himself back now, at least for the nerd's sake, but it was becoming a damn close thing.
"Todoroki. I don't understand you, and frankly, I'm not sure if I want to right now. But I'll make you a promise. Every time I come at you, I'll meet you with as much respect as you've been showing to the rest of us."
"Deku," began Katsuki, a low growl in his throat.
"You say you'll beat everyone here with only half your power? Fine, I'll meet you on your terms and still beat you." Todoroki scoffed.
"Half of nothing is still nothing, Midoriya." Izuku looked him dead in the eyes and stood silently as the armor plating covering his arms retracted until it was sitting in its compact form on his upper back.
"Every time I face you today, I'll do it with half my strength. I'll beat you with my hands tied behind my back." From behind him Katsuki heard Kirishima whisper a quiet 'So manly bro' as Izuku stared the other boy down. Neither made a move for what seemed like ten minutes until Todoroki spoke.
"I don't know why you think you can defy your nature, Midoriya, but I won't stand in the way of your self destruction. It is the duty of those granted great power to protect, but also ultimately, to rule the weak. When you lose today, you should drop out and join the support course or something, make room for someone who rightfully should be standing where you are. Just make sure you stay away from All Might and Togata so you don't end up hurting them any more than you already have, like at the USJ."
For a second, it really looked like Izuku would break under Todoroki's hateful glare, either folding in on himself in a fountain of tears and self-doubt or lashing out in rage. Katsuki was ready to do the latter, the nerd's wishes be damned, but then Izuku did something that surprised everyone watching. He laughed, right in Todoroki's face, and turned around with a light in his eyes that made Katsuki almost choke.
"I'll see you in the finals, Kacchan?" He asked, extending a naked fist that, to Katsuki's surprise, wasn't shaking at all. He grinned back at him, glad for once that the nerd was more level headed than he was, and returned the gesture.
"Fuck yeah Deku, let's go kick some ass." As he smacked their knuckles together, Katsuki felt something both familiar and new. It was pride, he was sure of it, but it didn't feel normal. As Izuku beamed at him, he realized that he was proud of someone other than himself. While new, he definitely didn't hate the feeling, and even managed a smile back at the nerd.
"Class 1A please make your way to the starting area. Class 1A, please, make your way to the starting area." An automated message blared through the prep room's speakers, and like that, the spell was broken.
The students who had been watching the confrontation in silence jumped to their feet as Iida tried and failed to organize a line. After a general mess of shoving and toes being stepped on, the mob that was 1A made it to their assigned tunnel, and at the cue from Present Mic, strode out into the light and noise. At the sight of the monstrous crowd around them, Katsuki couldn't help but smirk wickedly.
Oh crap, why did I antagonize him and then handicap myself, what the hell was I thinking? Izuku wasn't panicking per-se, but rather, was running through a list of every mistake he had ever made leading up to his current situation. Even more than his challenge to Endeavor's asshole son, he was regretting getting first in the entrance exam.
As a consequence of his success, he was going to be speaking in front of a crowd so large as to be uncountable, with a televised audience watching at home as well. Worse still, no one had told him about his apparently customary speech until the last minute.
As the class made its way out onto the field to Present Mic's boisterous encouragement, Izuku caught sight of a few of the members of 1B he had analyzed leading what he assumed was the rest of their class out of the tunnel to their right. Most had the same awed expression that he and his classmates were wearing, but both Tokage and a lithe blonde boy with a sneer on his face seemed largely unaffected.
Following them came four classes worth of general studies students, with three classes of support students bringing up the rear. Izuku smiled and waved energetically at Mei when he spotted her in the group, and she waved back, earning a few stares from the support students who weren't familiar with Izuku by that point.
Searching for the general studies students, he finally caught sight of Shinso standing towards the back of class 1C, who was shooting the two hero classes an angry glare. Izuku made a point of making eye contact and acknowledging him with a nod, with the other boy only hesitating a second before returning the gesture, albeit reluctantly.
While Shinso seemed focused, alert despite his obvious lack of sleep, the general studies students around him seemed almost defeated already, with the exception of a few he recognized from the hallway. Some snippets of overheard conversations showed the mood to be decidedly downcast, with many considering their presence to be as mere accessories to the hero course students, and Izuku couldn't exactly blame them.
Having groups of students compete head to head in athletic events, when only two courses of all those competing were given daily training and quirk practice certainly seemed biased, almost as badly as the entrance exam. There were no mental quirks in his class; Jiro, Hagakure, and Koda being those who, at least on the surface, seemed to have the least applicable quirks for combat beside his own quirklessness.
Class 1B seemed much the same, which was such a shame given what he had found out about Shinso's quirk in the registry. Then again, the other boy could have focused on incorporating combat techniques into his repertoire before the entrance exam like Izuku had done. Hopefully Shinso had learned his lesson and would be ready to bring his absolute best today.
For some reason he couldn't quite say, Izuku really despised the idea of someone who had been put at a disadvantage not being given the opportunity to surpass it. Of course, he knew the reason he felt that way perfectly well, but it still seemed painful to acknowledge that the system was biased against him. After all, he had gotten into the hero course, he had beat the odds, and he had done the very things that Shinso was trying to do, all without a quirk, mental or otherwise.
His wandering thoughts could only distract him for so long however, as Midnight made her way up to a platform that had been erected in the center of the large field. She was sporting a referee's jersey over her usual costume, and had even added a black and white baseball cap as well as swapping her whip for one in UA colors. She blew the whistle dangling from her neck to grab the crowd's attention, unnecessarily, before cracking her whip and shooting out a smirk and a wink.
"Students, parents, spectators, and everyone in between, welcome to the first year stage for the annual UA sports festival!" her amplified voice boomed out over the field, sending the crowd into an expectant murmur. Another crack of her whip brought all attention firmly back to the pro. "Presenting some opening remarks as well as the first year athlete's oath, your student representative, the young man who earned a smashing first place in the entrance exam, from class 1A it's Izuku Midoriya!"
His peers who were standing near to him immediately parted, leaving a path that looked like an execution line towards the stage where Midnight waited next to a standing microphone. The small platform reminded him of a gallows, and with that grim image in his mind, he marched forwards, somehow managing not to trip as he made his way up the set of stairs in the back and moved to stand beside his teacher.
She tipped her head down, obscuring her face from the cameras and spectators with her hat, and gave him a smile and a wink while placing a hand on his shoulder. Unlike in class, it wasn't flirty, or dangerous, or hungry. It was warm, and confident, and along with the hand on his shoulder, it somehow conveyed both faith and reassurance. She removed her hand and gave the shocked Izuku a little push towards the microphone, which he finally grasped. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and stopped his shaking entirely, the world and noise fading away around him as he began to speak.
"Before the oath, I've been asked to make a personalized opening statement. All I can say is that I believe in everyone here, no matter what course they might be in. I believe in the drive that it took to get here, in the work that every student before you has put in leading up to today, and the potential that everyone here will show you today. Most of all, I believe in the future that the students before you represent, regardless of origin, natural gifts, or any mistakes we may have made along the way." He paused, scanning the crowd of students for two pairs of eyes in particular, one mismatched and the other a deep purple, but found neither. Taking a breath, he continued.
"Everyone here has the potential to be better than they were the day before, and everyone here will continue to try to be better tomorrow than they are today. Heroism comes in many forms, many paths, and though some may have been overlooked, or discriminated against, or left-behind, I believe it when I say that each and every student standing before you, ready to give their all, to show their worth, is already a hero to someone. I hope that we can show that side of ourselves to you as well." Izuku stood back from the microphone and dipped into a bow, waiting for what he was sure would be an inevitable wave of boos and jeers. Instead, the silence stretched on for a minute before the crowd began to react.
A wave of applause was the first sound to reach him as he straightened back up. The crowd wasn't delirious, wasn't yelling raucously like in all those bad sports movies he had seen, but the enthusiasm they were putting out seemed genuine enough, and it was a good feeling to know that he had reached them in some small way. Up in a box near the top of the stadium, his eyes caught a flash of movement that was tinted green, as well as an indistinct yet somehow still perceptibly baggy yellow blob beside it. Both seemed to be waving, with the shape that he was pretty sure was his mother bouncing up and down in excitement as the applause and cheering continued. After what felt like a year but could only have been twenty seconds in reality, he stepped back up to the microphone and readied himself to finish his task. He licked his lips, throat already uncomfortably dry, and spoke.
"As the student representative, I will now give the oath on behalf of the students, judges, and organizers. We promise to take part in this festival, respecting and abiding by the rules and in the spirit of fair play. We all commit ourselves to sport without enhancement or cheating. We do this, for the glory of sport, for the honour of our peers and in respect for the fundamental principles of Heroism." Relieved at finally being free of the burden of public speaking, Izuku felt a sudden surge of confidence, and said one last thing before returning to his peers.
"Now everyone, let's go beyond," he took a breath, the crowd readying itself to join in for the final words, "Plus Ultra!"
The combined roar of the stadium, the students, and even a few of the smirking pro heroes assigned to guard the event was deafening. The stadium didn't shake, but it felt like a close thing, and the random shouts and cheers that continued in the wake of the school motto seemed to stretch on and on as Izuku rejoined his class. As it turned out, the motto was pretty popular. Bakugo slapped him on the back as he passed, Iida offered his congratulations on a speech well executed, and Uraraka wrapped him up in a bone crushing hug. Towards the back of the class, Todoroki scoffed, and a ways away, Shinso stared at him, offering his own nod when they made eye contact. Izuku smiled back tightly, still being somewhat crushed by Uraraka who hadn't yet noticed what she was doing.
"What a speech, what a pledge, ah the joys of youth! I'd say more, but this broadcast is rated TV-14, so without any more delays, let's get the first event underway!" Midnight boomed out over the stadium, directing her whip towards the main screen where a graphic of a slot machine wheel was rapidly spinning, game names rolling past the screen almost too quickly to see. "As most should know, our first event is the qualifier, so for many, it will all end here. Don't feel too bad though, even if you're eliminated, there will be plenty of recreational games available throughout the rest of the day to show your stuff if you still wanna!"
Painfully slowly, the wheel came to a stop, a strange looking word in a language few recognized expanding to fill the screen as it began to flash in large black letters. Izuku, who fortunately had studied Latin at one point while trying to come up with cool hero names, recognized the word and paled immediately, with Yaoyorozu quickly stepping up beside him and asking if it meant what she thought it did. Izuku's only reply was a shaky nod as Midnight cracked her whip once more.
"The first event of the first year sports festival, the Venatio!"