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Izuku offered the other teen a hand. Shinsou had joined 1-A at the start of the second semester, and they had become friends. For the first few weeks, the purple-haired boy had been closed off, but that had changed when he walked in on Izuku having a panic attack in the bathrooms.
He’d spilled his past to Shinsou and then had to force a promise from the boy to not attack Kacchan. It was a novelty to have someone stand up for him, and he had maybe also stood up to Shinsou’s bullies from junior high the next time they showed up.
At some point, Shouto had joined the two of them, and there had been a very emotional afternoon where the three of them shared their trauma, created a bond stronger than anything Izuku had ever had. He was… he was happy.
“Thanks, ‘Zuku.” Shinsou grabbed the offered hand and hauled himself upright. Aizawa dismissed them from sparring, and Shinsou walked to the wall to grab his stuff, chatting with Shouji.
Once he was gone, Iida, Uraraka, and Tsu came up. All three of them looked tense and uncomfortable, badly disguised by a veneer of concern. Izuku kept his posture relaxed.
“Oh, hey guys. Did you need something?” Iida nodded.
“Yes. We just wanted to ensure you knew you could come to us about anything.” He sent a meaningful glance at Shinsou’s back. “anything” Izuku’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“Well, yeah I know tha-” Oh. “You think ‘Toshi’s brainwashing me, don’t you?” Uraraka and Iida shared an uneasy glance, and Tsu looked at the floor.
Of course his first friends would be quirkist. Just his luck. Fucking gods. “Ok. What’s your opinion on the quirkless?” That threw them off their rhythm apparently. Iida was the first to answer.
“Well, they aren’t really valuable? I mean, they don’t have a quirk!” Izuku’s expression closed off, completely blank.
“Do not ever speak to me again outside of situations in which you are required. I will be civil, and I will work with you as required, but that is all.” He turned on his heel and left, leaving three speechless teens at his back.
Once Izuku was out of the gym, his quirk sparked, and he sprinted to one of the testing rooms. They were old and abandoned, but they worked for his needs. He knew Shouto could find them, he had used them as well.
Once the door was locked, Izuku let his emotions free, quirk flaring with them. Tears ran down his face as Blackwhip writhed, trying valiantly to take down the walls. His chest started to tighten, and spots and sparkled danced in his vision. Wait, was that his quirk? The sparks were green, so it must be.
He focused on evening his breath, but it kept catching. He couldn’t get it to stop. The panic was flooding in, anger, fear, sadness, pain, Pain, PAIN! He floated off the ground and screamed, completely lost to a sea of emotion.
He felt the blessed nothing take fully as his eyes rolled up, scream cutting off.
From the viewing window, Shouto and Hitoshi saw Izuku’s quirks deactivate and watched him fall 5 feet to the ground, suddenly so small, curled on the concrete floor. The screaming had been muted by the soundproof glass but heard faintly.
“What the fuck was that?” Shouto’s hand started flaming as he whirled around to face Monoma. Hitoshi’s eyes widened.
“Shit. How long have you been here?” Monoma was uncharacteristically solemn.
“Long enough. What happened? It’s gotta be something bad for the poster boy of heroism to react like that.” Shouto let out a hollow laugh.
“The ‘dekusquad’ thought ‘Toshi was brainwashing him to be friends, and then said quirkless people were worthless.”
“I’m going to kill them.” Hitoshi growled. His eyes were filled with vitriol. “Bakugou was bad enough, but now those three?” Monoma smiled bitterly.
“So when I said 1-B was better, I was kinda right. Quirkism is fucking horrible. I would know.” Hitoshi laughed weakly. Neito was glad he could make them laugh, even if only a bit. “I’m guessing the two of you had similar shit to deal with?”
Hitoshi nodded. “Villainous quirk didn’t go down too well with classmates.”
“Mine’s reliant on others, so same issue I guess.”
Shouto looked at him, cold façade dropping. “Abused under the guise of ‘training’. Brother was forced to use a quirk that hurt to the point that he lost control and burned to death. Mother had a psychotic break and poured boiling water on my face because I reminded her of Endeavour.”
“I am burning all the merch of him I own.” Shouto smiled smally.
“Diagnosed biologically quirkless, abused for 12 years. Both at school and at home. Dad left when I got my diagnosis. Got told to kill myself more times than I can count. Developed after a villain almost killed me age 14. So, you know, having my first friends in a decade tell me I was useless kinda hurt.” Izuku was leaning against the doorframe, face pale and black streaks streaming down his face.
Shouto and Hitoshi tangled together with the fourth teen in a tight hug, Monoma standing awkwardly, not sure what to do. Apparently, the decision was made for him when a shadowy black tentacle grabbed him around the waist and pulled him into the hug. Tentatively, he wrapped his arms around the teen’s waist, and Izuku relaxed back into his chest easily.
Once they had all extricated themselves, Shouto and Hitoshi sized him up, before nodding.
“Hitoshi.”
“Shouto.”
Izuku smiled. “Izuku, of course. Welcome to our foursome!” Neito blushed.
“Uhh, I don’t think that means what you think it means, I-Izuku.” Izuku smirked and winked. Fucking winked!
“I’m not as oblivious as I act. The three of us are a thing, and you’re welcome to join. I know you want to~” Neito looked the three of them up and down.
“Call me Neito. And what I’m hearing is Kitten, Darling, and Angel, hmm?” The three of them blushed, and Neito smirked, victorious. “I knew it.”
The next day, the four boys all sat together. They had texted late into the night, just getting to know each other. Neito had been overly sappy on purpose and was rewarded by a picture of a flustered Shouto and a flaming couch.
He found that Shouto and Hitoshi were very good people deterrents, and they weren’t bothered once. But it looked like that was about to be broken. Bakugou stormed up to the table, trailed by Kendo.
“Deku what the fuck are you doing? Copycat bitch is from 1-B. don’t fucking talk to him.” Memories of Izuku explaining just what Bakugou had done to him in Junior High had rage flooding Neito’s system. He stood up from the table, chair screeching on the cafeteria floor. Bakugou looked at him dismissively.
“What are you going to do, punch me?” Neito glared at him, and side kicked him in the stomach. The other blonde dropped like a stone and Izuku squeaked in surprise. Neito towered over the fallen boy.
“Izuku told me exactly what you’re like. I am doing my absolute best not to copy your quirk and show you what point-blank explosions feel like right now. I suggest you make yourself scarce.” He turned and sat back in his seat, taking a bite of his beef udon. He sensed someone come up behind him and braced for the hit to his neck, but the impact never landed.
Izuku held her wrist in an iron grip, voice cold as Shouto’s. “He just stood up to someone who has gotten away with far too much. And hitting a student outside of sparring is against school rules. Given the number of times you’ve done this, I suspect I could push for expulsion. Leave.” Kendo deactivated her quirk and made a fast escape.
The four of them continued chatting easily, organizing a study date in Hitoshi’s dorm, ignoring the blatant staring and whispers as rumors and theories sped around the cafeteria. They only stopped when the bell rang, but the bell only heralded a different kind of hell.
Izuku discretely sent off a message to Hitoshi and Shouto telling them not to interrupt as Tsu and Uraraka approached. He focused his attention on finishing his analysis of Neito.
“Hey Deku!” Izuku ignored her, still writing. She looked over his shoulder at the notebook. “Hey, what are you working on? Is it the math homework?” Izuku started to sketch Neito in his hero costume, using the pictures he’d sent as references.
“I think he’s working on his analyses. Kero.” Uraraka’s face twisted a bit, but she quickly smoothed it back into a smile.
“Oh… Who’s it on?” At this point, Iida came over too.
“Midoriya! It is incredibly disrespectful to ignore your classmates! As class president I demand you answer her questions!” Slowly, Izuku set his pencil on his desk. The chatter in the classroom slowly died off, everyone watching for the response. Izuku leaned back in his chair, appraising the trio.
“Well, if the class president orders it, then I suppose I have no choice, do I?” a couple of people sniggered, and Hitoshi angled his phone for a better view. Neito was going to love this. “I am working on an analysis of a class 1-B student. Given that I specifically stated that I wasn’t going to interact with you in any social capacity, I am honestly confused as to why you are trying to make small talk. Additionally, please refer to me as Midoriya. All my other classmates seem to understand that only my friends are permitted to call me Deku.” Uraraka laughed.
“But we are friends, Deku!”
“No. we aren’t.” Uraraka and Iida looked shocked. “We stopped being friends yesterday afternoon when I realized the two of you are quirkist bigots.” Dead silence fell over the classroom. Everyone was staring at the trio in confusion or disgust.
That was what Aizawa walked into. Nobody looked to him, focused on the battle of wills between Uraraka, Iida, and Midoriya.
“What is going on?” Izuku looked to Aizawa, expression polite but emotionless.
“With all due respect, Sensei, this isn’t your fight. You wouldn’t have all the information, even if I did explain what has just happened.” The PA system crackled to life, interrupting whatever Aizawa’s response was.
“Midoriya Izuku, Todoroki Shouto, Shinsou Hitoshi and Monoma Neito to my office please, I repeat Midoriya Izuku, Todoroki Shouto, Shinsou Hitoshi and Monoma Neito to my office. Thank you.” Izuku stowed his notebook in his bag and stood, glancing back at his purple-haired partner.
“If you wait until we get to Nedzu’s office, we can watch the CCTV together and see his reactions real-time.” The other teen smirked and stood, the three walking straight past Aizawa and out of the room.
“Well, I would firstly like to apologize to the four of you. As an educator, your safety is my responsibility and I have failed to do that. I am truly sorry that the abuse you experience has been missed or written off.” The four boys sat in shock. None of them had ever had a teacher apologize to them, let alone the principal! “Secondly, it is clear to me that the classes as they stand are not conducive to your learning needs.” They all nodded vehemently. “As such, I would propose that we switch certain members of classes 1-A and 1-B.” The shock increased. He was actually trying to fix the issue?!?!
Nedzu continued, blissfully unaware. “I will take your wishes into account, as to which class you all wish to end up and who you would switch with. May I trouble you for your opinions on this?” The room was entirely silent for a few minutes as they processed.
“You aren’t joking, are you?” Hitoshi was as brash as always.
“No. of cou-” Nedzu fell silent as Hitoshi’s quirk snapped into place.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I understand how it feels to be an outsider, and how it feels to have no safe space. I detest that children go through that and see myself in all of you. you are all incredibly intelligent and have so much potential to do amazing things. With the right preparation, the four of you could change the world.” Nedzu’s voice was dull and monotone, directly contrasting his words. Hitoshi released his quirk, turning to his boyfriends.
“1-A has a lot of expectations, I say 1-B.” Izuku and Shouto nodded mutely. Neito looked thoughtful.
“Yeah, Vlad-Sensei is a lot more chill than Aizawa. I’d say push up Kendo, Tokage, and Shiozaki? Maybe Tetsu, but 1-A already has Kirishima.” Nedzu nodded, making a few notes.
“There is, perhaps, another option.” All eyes are on him. “None of you wish to be in the spotlight, yes?” Neito and Hitoshi nodded, but Izuku and Shouto looked conflicted. Nedzu raised an eyebrow. “I asked what you wish, not what your mentors push you towards.” They both nodded their heads, if slower. Nedzu clapped. “Well then, the other option is that I take the four of you as personal students, and you work with all of the hero classes, along with support and possibly business. Obviously, I would teach you psychology and laws and analysis and such. It would afford you a far greater level of independence and will give you the skillset an underground hero needs. Thoughts?”
“I want that one.” Izuku didn’t hesitate, and his boyfriends nodded in agreement. Nedzu grinned with far too many teeth.
“Excellent.”
The next time 1-A saw them, Izuku, Shouto, Hitoshi, and Neito all came in through the front door during dinner. They were all wearing black, from neck down.
“Hey everyone, terribly sorry for the interruption.” Everyone looked at the four of them, shocked that they were apparently back. They all took out small black boxes. “Nedzu-Sensei challenged us to acquire certain objects, so we do apologize for the intrusion, but we do need to return them.” Izuku handed his box to Kaminari with a bow. Shouto’s went to Shouji, Hitoshi’s went to Yaoyorozu and Neito’s went to Hagakure.
The four of them left as the boxes were opened.
“This necklace was in a locked safe-”
“I lost this two weeks ago-”
“This picture was buried in the back of my closet-”
“This USB was stuck in my bedframe-”
The four recipients blinked at one another, then all got up and ran to their dorms.
“What the fuck just happened?” Bakugou was on the verge of getting angry when something sailed through the open kitchen window and nailed him in the head. He picked it up and paled.
The rest of the class was very confused. Why was he scared of a half-melted All Might figurine?
“Fucking fine, Deku. You win.” The entire table vibrated. Bakugou, looking done with everything, felt the underside of the table and caught something, pulling it off with a ripping sound.
He withdrew a black box akin to the ones that had just been given. He opened it and closed it again standing as well.
“I’ll be back in a minute.”
Back in his dorm, Katsuki placed the framed photo of him and Izuku when they were kids on his bedside table where it belonged.
No one ever truly confirmed what the four were doing, and they liked it that way. They graduated as members of ‘Class X’ and opened a successful underground agency straight after graduation. Together, they managed to take down All for One in 4 months and became as feared as he once was.