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Shinsou has always been scared of rejection, of being pushed away, of having everything taken away from him, just like in all his foster homes; every last one of them. So, moving to 1-A, he's bitterly expecting the same.
Constantly aware that the rug could be, oh so easily , pulled from under his feet. As it usually is.
When Aizawa-sensei had brought him to Nedzu after one of their training sessions, anxiety had kicked in. Even so, he kept his neutral expression in place for protection as they discussed his transfer into 1-A with him. He floated through that conversation, hardly able to believe it.
It was way too good to be true.
Mineta had been expelled on the grounds of sexual harassment, which anyone with eyes should've could've witnessed since day one, but whatever.
Passing the rest of class 1-A during lunch, all he heard were whispers about Mineta and who would be replacing him.
He kept his head resolutely downturned, refusing to let neither his smirk nor his slight panic show.
Thoughts ran on an endless loop through his head, a multitude of voices whirling in his mind, mixing together into only one static, numbing realisation.
It wasn't supposed to be you.
Taking a subtle deep breath, he sat at his normal table. His classmates quickly smiled at him in greeting and he returned it with a lazy nod. Glad to have a quiet lunch to sort out his muddled mind,- conversation would only make things worse- he took a small bite of rice.
He was happy to eat his food. Or he would've been, if Monoma hadn't decided today would be the most appealing day to annoy Shinsou.
" Sooo , I heard a rumour that you were getting moved to 1-A as a replacement of that purple grape. Hmm, is that true, Shinsou? " He sneered at Shinsou, who only deigned to shrug in response, swallowing the bite that now sat uncomfortably in his throat.
"You remembered my name. Cute . Pity I don't remember yours," he monotoned, flicking violet eyes that were brimming with blatant boredom up to meet Monoma's. He raised an eyebrow at the startled look on the others face, ignoring the snickers that spread throughout the lunch room as others watched on.
"Monoma Neito, from class 1-B. More relevant than you are, that's for sure," the boy sniffed, blond hair moving slightly as he tossed his head back in indignation.
"Good for you." He absently picked up more food with his chopsticks, gesturing to the other, "So, why are you gracing me with your presence again? I seem to have forgotten, since I don't really care."
Monoma let out a sharp snort of offence, while Shinsou waited in mild curiosity. He didn't really give a shit what the other boy had to say, but riling him up was… rather fun. Something else to focus on. Infinitely better than debating his worthiness for the transfer.
A loud bang startled him from getting too lost in his thoughts, simultaneously cutting off whatever Monoma was now yapping on about. A boy Shinsou recognised from 1-A slipped into the small space beside him, thigh nearly touching his own. Shinsou noticed a small lightning bolt running through his hair, and struggled to remember his name- he had studied them all, goddammit!
Before he could curse himself further, the boy introduced himself as, "Kaminari Denki, at your service. I heard you were possibly joining our class and I wanted to welcome you before the whole actual ordeal. We can be… unnerving... at the start!"
The boy's golden eyes sparkled with the sunlight shining through the high windows scattered around the room. Shinsou was startled by the broad smile twisting his features in a joyous way. He didn’t usually garner that sort of reaction from- well, from anyone.
"Are you excited?" Kaminari asked, leaning into his space. Shinsou scooted away a little.
He cleared his throat, looking away awkwardly. “I guess?"
"Glad to hear it!" Kaminari grinned, as if Shinsou had just gushed about joining the supposedly best class among the first years.
Shinsou blinked at him, still a little bit lost at what the FUCK was going on . That was when Monoma decided to pipe back in, his irritation even more obvious than it had been before. “Is all of 1-A this insufferable? Pity, when you’re supposed to be better than we are.”
Kaminari visibly dimmed, laughing off the obvious dig with a forced smile. “I’d hope not. Most of my friends are at least a little less loud, anyway. Sorry if I overstepped, Shinsou.”
Shinsou leveled a glare at Monoma before turning to Kaminari. “You didn’t. Monoma, I feel like you’re trying to tell us something. I mean, I know I’m awesome, I didn’t need to hear it from you.”
Kaminari snorted, and Monoma turned bright red. “You—! I did NOT say that!”
Shinsou checked his nails absentmindedly. “You basically implied it. Since 1-A is so great and I might be joining the class, after all.”
Monoma fumed, pushing up from the table. “Stop putting words in my mouth! 1-A sucks, and so do you!” With that, he stormed away, snickers at his back.
Kaminari was full out cackling at the exchange, barely managing to keep his laughter to an acceptable volume. “That. Was. Epic. Dude, I so hope you’re the one. Monoma sucks, but we all just kind of… tolerate him? That was way better.”
Shinsou poked at his food, stuffing a bite of rice into his mouth. “Well, lucky for you, I am. Keep it to yourself though. I want to see genuine reactions, ya know?”
Kaminari bounced excitedly in his seat. “ Dude! That’s so poggers! When are you transferring?” He leaned back into Shinsou’s space, face alight with interest.
Shinsou suppressed the urge to smirk at the use of the word “poggers” in actual conversation. “Monday? Or something? I wasn’t listening too closely. Guess we’ll find out.”
Kaminari looked up, lost in thought with a dreamy smile on his lips. “Guess so…” He shook his head, refocusing on Shinsou. He placed a hand over his heart. “Anyway! I swear on my honor as a hero-in-training that I will not tell my classmates! I can’t promise they won’t find out on their own in the meantime, though.”
Shinsou smirked. “That’s all I ask. You know, you’re not as insufferable as Monoma likes to say you are.”
Kaminari beamed. “Flattered, really.” He turned at the sound of his name being called from across the cafeteria. “See you around, Shinsou!”
Shinsou gave a half-hearted wave as Kaminari bounced away. How could one boy have so much energy? A true enigma, Kaminari Denki. With any luck, Shinsou would have him figured out sooner rather than later.
Too bad Shinsou had a history of terrible, terrible luck.
Fortunately, it seemed that Kaminari had kept his secret and not informed anyone that he was the student being transferred into Class 1-A. He was absolutely certain that if Kaminari had told any of his classmates, Midoriya would have already texted him a congratulations instead of unsolicited reassurances this weekend.
Now, Shinsou stood in front of the door to Class 1-A. Staring at the door, he suddenly realized just how big this was. This was everything he’d been working for, everything he’d ever dreamed of. This was his ticket to being a hero. Everyone who ever told him that he was nothing, that he would never be anything, that his quirk wasn’t good for anything other than being a villian, would finally be proven wrong today.
The moment he stepped into that room, it would solidify his dream as a reality. This was his first step as a hero in training.
Shinsou could feel awe and excitement welling inside him. He glanced to his right, where Aizawa was standing with his back slouched and an eyebrow raised, then took a deep, grounding breath and reached a shaking hand out to the door knob.
With his hand on the knob, Shinsou paused and took another breath, rearranged his face back into his normal blank, unimpressed stare, before pushing the door open and taking his first step to his future.
And promptly choked on air.
The moment the door opened everyone into the class froze, which meant that Shinsou was now staring at one of the most ridiculous scenes he’d ever seen in his entire life.
Kirishima was standing over Todoroki’s desk, holding the eggshell of the egg he had just cracked open onto Todoroki’s forearm. Midoriya and Bakugou were both in the process of defenestrating a giant cardboard cutout of Mineta. Jirou was standing on a desk trying to throw pencils at Kaminari, who was floating near the ceiling. The rest of the class was split between standing near the windows while cheering Bakugou and Midoriya on, and sitting in a semicircle around Tokoyami as he and Dark Shadow played a game of charades.
After a minute of staring wide eyed in shock at his classmates (oh no, they’re his classmates now), Kaminari, from his position floating upside down near the ceiling, gave him a smooth nod and a, “Hey! What’s up, Shinsou!”
Whipping his head around, Shinsou stared incredulously at Aizawa, hoping for an explanation. The man just shrugged unhelpfully, not even batting an eye at the chaos.
“Welcome to Class 1-A, Shinsou,” Aizawa said dryly, strolling past and ducking under his desk to curl up in his sleeping bag.
His words seemed to break the spell of silence, because as soon as Aizawa disappeared into his sleeping bag, the class erupted.
Shinsou was dragged into at least five hugs, while what seemed to be the entire class tried to congratulate and welcome him at once. From his place buried in a hug under the combined force of Midoriya and Kirishima, he met Kaminari’s eyes, silently pleading for help.
Kaminari just let out a laugh and winked at Shinsou as he accidentally kicked the ceiling in an attempt to get down.
Unfortunately, he’d forgotten how close he was to the lights.
There was a popping sound, a shower of sparks and then the room (and judging from muffled shouts of alarm nearby, 1-B’s room as well) was plunged into darkness.
“Freeeeee!!!” Dark Shadow crowed, swelling to twice his usual size.
Iida and Kirishima ran for the window shades as Todoroki calmly set his left side on fire.
The smell of burning eggs quickly permeated the air.
“... welcome to class 1-A?” Kaminari’s tone was sheepish as Uraraka clapped her hands together and let him down.
“Well, looks like we’re gonna need Power Loader down here,” Aizawa sighed, already tapping at his phone, seemingly unfazed at this turn of events. “You kids are gonna be the death of me… Anyone injured?”
There were calls and shouts as what sounded like all nineteen members of 1-A answered at once.
Shinsou could feel his eye twitching from the sudden rush of noise but Aizawa simply nodded and opened the door.
“Into your gym uniforms then. We'll take this opportunity for a joint classes sparring refresher.”
His phone vibrated and he glanced at it casually. “Oh good. 1-B has agreed.”
“That’s not what I said!” Vlad King’s voice shouted, only slightly muffled through the walls.
“See?” Aizawa deadpanned with a slightly manic grin. “They’re ecstatic.”
Shinsou thought he could see where 1-A got it from now. He wondered how long it would take before he caught the crazy.
For some reason, he was kind of looking forward to it.
Putting on his hero costume felt different now. Before, Shinsou had been hopeful and nervous, driven with a wild kind of desperation.
Now, however, he only felt excitement. He’d done it. He was a hero course student, and sure, maybe this wasn’t quite the first day he’d pictured for himself, but in retrospect it fit what he’d heard and seen of class 1-A so far.
Shinsou almost expected something like what they’d been through during the exams, with teams facing each other off, but instead Aizawa grinned and announced a free-for-all.
“At last! A chance to prove the superiority of —”
“DIE you copycat bitch!” That was Bakugou, of course, and Shinsou couldn’t help but laugh as Monoma only narrowly dodged the explosion that followed.
“Aw, he missed,” Ashido snortled, bumping fists with Kaminari. They took off running after that, and Shinsou followed — he worked best from the shadows, after all, and this space was much too open for him to use his skills effectively.
He knew he didn’t need to prove himself to be allowed to stay — Aizawa had made it very clear that he wasn’t expected to be perfect, just to try his best — but Shinsou found himself easily infected with the spirit of the exercise.
He wanted to win. Wanted to beat class 1-B — especially Monoma.
Which actually gave him an idea…
He quickly caught up to Ashido and Kaminari, pulling them into a barely seen side-alley and pinning them against the wall... gently. Kaminari’s cheeks were somewhat stained with pink- probably from the running, he couldn’t tell if Mina’s were too because… well, anyway. They both glanced at each other, before looking back to him. Their hands stayed by their sides, clearly waiting for him to speak.
It was probably a stupid thing to be so touched by, but the fact that neither of them activated any part of their quirks, not even seeming to consider it, left his heart fluttering oddly in his chest.
Ugh, sentiment. Already. He had hoped he’d last at least a week.
He leaned closer to them, whispering his hastily constructed plan to them, studying their reactions. The grins that lit up their faces startled him, even more when they began adding their own little ideas to the plan.
For the first time in forever, Shinsou actually knew he was being listened to and… dare he say admired .
“We can definitely pull that off! Especially if we get Midoriya’s help,” Kaminari crowed excitedly, bouncing in place. Shinsou noticed he still had a hand laying on Kaminari’s shoulder and hastily withdrew it, chuckling at Kaminari’s reaction.
“Why Midoriya?” he questioned, tilting his head.
Kaminari stared at him incredulously, while Ashido raised an eyebrow. “Dude, you can’t be serious, right? The dude can come up with plans fast as lightning, and execute them just as quick. If we get him in on it, we have a clear opening to reach Monoma!”
“Denki, you have to promise to dance over the copycat’s fallen corpse or I won’t give you any of my mint oreo chocolate bar,” Ashido uttered, gazing at the other with all the intensity of Aizawa-sensei if you dared distrurb him from a cat nap in the break room.
While Shinsou wondered why the actual FUCK they were talking about it as if Monoma would end up dead, Kaminari responded with a simple, “Only if you video it.”
“That was already guaranteed,” she said flippantly.
They shared a quick nod and then they were off, sprinting through the training area on the search of Midoriya. Once they found him- why he was so damn difficult to discover, Shinsou would never understand-, they panted in front of the green-haired boy for a few seconds. He gazed at them in concern.
“Midoriya, we… we need you to, to run out and.” Ashido wheezed, delving into a coughing fit before she could explain further.
Kaminari giggled and finished Ashido’s sentence for her, “and announce to him that you’d like to join forces.”
“We want to… get back at him-” Shinsou hesitantly informed the other boy.
“-For being a little bitch!” Kaminari shouted excitedly.
At this, Midoriya’s eyes narrowed and for a moment Shinsou thought he wouldn’t approve of their plan and was about to expl-
“I’m in.”
His body flashed with green lightning-like marks, and he dashed out from the corner they were hidden by, right into Monoma’s line of sight.
“Monoma!” they heard him call out, stopping a good distance from the boy.
The other three poked their heads around the corner, intrigued.
“I wanna team up with you,” Midoriya shouted.
Monoma sneered, as expected. “Why would I want to team up with you , someone from 1-A,” he spat, rolling his eyes.
Time to shine.
Shinsou stepped out from the corner. “Monoma, I can treat you so much better,” he cried out dramatically, clutching one hand to his chest. Ashido and Kaminari were in full blown shrieks of laughter at this stage and Shinsou struggled to stifle his grin. “Will you team up with me instead?”
“Of course I won’t yo-”
Pity, the boy realised his mistake too late, periwinkle eyes widening as he hastily took a few steps back. That wasn’t going to stop Shinsou.
Gotcha.
Now slack-jawed and hazy-eyed, Monoma stared blankly ahead, waiting for either the fog corrupting his mind to lift or Shinsou to compel him to do something. And compel he would.
“Do the worm,” Shinsou monotoned, barely restraining himself from bursting out into a cackle.
Everyone around the area, regardless of if they were fighting or not, stopped as this fucking asshole lay on the floor and began to push himself up with his arms while lowering his legs and then fllicking up. Shinsou was relatively impressed with how well Monoma executed it, although he knew most of it was due to his quirk’s effect.
“Stop,” he bit out, watching in mild satisfaction as all of Monoma’s muscles halted at his words. “Recite the ABC’s backwards, while standing on one leg and poking your cheek.”
He was pleased with his control over his quirk as Monoma quickly began to do as he commanded. It was utterly ridiculous , watching the teenage boy do this, but Shinsou was delighting in the gasing breaths of Ashido, Kaminari and Midoriya, who was now shaking with laughter by his side, watching on.
It was harmless, just some hilarity to indulge in. And if it ensured Monoma would fuck off and leave him alone at his lunchtimes, that was just an added bonus.
Eyes flitting over his classmates now gathering around him, recognising his quirk’s influence, he realised he could really see himself fitting in here.
A wicked smirk twisted his features. “Any requests?” he called out to the group, getting far too many responses to even try to decipher. They all muddled together, so he just picked the first one he could make out and tossed it over his shoulder to Monoma, who was waiting, twitching.
Kaminari sidled up to nudge his arm into Shinsou gently. Looking down at the blond boy from the corner of his eyes and meeting vivid, golden eyes sparkling with mirth, he raised a questioning brow.
Kaminari beamed, his words sinking slowly into Shinsou’s skin once they were out in the open air. Shinsou wished he could grasp them in his palms.
“I think you’re gonna fit in here perfectly, Shinsou.”