Chapter Text
In the end Izuku’s first fight was… disappointingly easy. He didn’t want to put down another student but it was clear Shiozaki had never really fought someone who had a strong ranged attack like Izuku did. When she sent out her first wave of vines that Izuku cut down easily enough with heat-vision she should have countered and tried something else. But she had responded by trying the same thing over and over while Izuku slowly closed the distance between them. Once he was close enough the win was easy, even without kinetic energy boosting his strength it was obvious he was stronger and better skilled in hand to hand than the 1B girl. It wasn’t too long before Izuku managed to flip her over his shoulder and out of the ring.
“Shiozaki is out of bounds, Midoriya wins!” Midnight shouted with the crack of her whip though her voice held little enthusiasm.
There was no roar of the crowd. There was no excitement in the audience. There wasn’t even a cough as Izuku sighed and reached out his hand to Shiozaki who lay crumpled in the grass. She gazed at his hand for a moment before reaching out and accepting the help.
She dusted herself off and gave Izuku a bow, “That was a good fight Midoriya, I had not realised how used I had become to the lack of ranged attacks in 1B. Thank you for pointing out such a glaring weakness.”
Izuku shrugged at her, “Honestly you shouldn’t feel too bad, it’s only because your vines were cut so easily by heat-vision that it worked as well as it did.”
Shoizaki nodded at Izuku before looking him up and down with a critical eye that made Izuku squirm slightly. She then glanced up at the silent cloud before looking back at him and offering a small smile.
“You should ignore them, God gifted you these powers for a reason. It’s all part of his great plan.” Shiozaki assured him.
Izuku offered a small, if awkward, smile in response, “Thanks Shiozaki… uhh God bless?”
Shiozaki giggled, “Yes, you too,” She said and walked off the stage, head held high.
Izuku watched her go for a moment before turning and walking towards his exit off the field. He tried not to let the silence of the stadium get to him. But he could hear every step he made, feel each beat of his heart and he knew that every eye was on him. Judging him, deciding if he was a hero or villain. He felt his heart constrict and he clenched his fists, he wouldn’t cry in front of everyone, not here. He wouldn’t break down… he wouldn’t… he would…
“Hell fucking yeah Zuzu! That’s what I’m talking about!”
“You go Modori! Show them why you’re the best!”
“That was so manly dude!”
“That was pretty rad Midoriya!”
“Midoriya you make ass whooping look so cool and easy!”
“Don’t think that you'll beat me after that fight Midoriya! You may be my friend but you’re also my rival!”
Izuku (as did everyone else) snapped his attention up to the Class 1A stands. There standing at the railings were his friends. Ashido and Kirishima were practically jumping up and down waving at him and even Jiro, who preferred to be quiet and in the background, was standing next to them smiling down at him and she offered him a peace sign when she saw him looking their way. In the middle of them stood Yoarashi, standing tall like a giant with crossed arms and even from this distance Izuku could see the wide smile on his face and the challenge in his eyes. Next to him Uraraka was practically falling out of the stands as she leaned over the railing to wave at him with Katsuki having to grab a hold of her gym uniform to stop the girl tumbling over the edge. Said boy was scowling at her but nodded to Izuku when he caught sight of him looking their way, it wasn’t much but for Izuku it portrayed more emotion than the rest of his friends combined.
Izuku felt his shoulders relax and his heart start to beat normally again as he allowed a smile to light up his face. He rolled his shoulders back, stood proud and waved to his friends who cheered even louder at their acknowledgement. He made sure to wave to a nearby camera too. His parents wouldn’t let him hear the end of it if he didn’t.
His head held high and a small smile creeping onto his face, Izuku marched off the stage towards the exit and remembered what Recovery Girl had said to him. She was right, Izuku didn't need the world to cheer him on, he had his parents, brother, teachers and now friends to do that and that was all he needed.
Though he did still let out a sigh and relaxed once he found himself in the safety and seclusion on the corridors of the stadium. One fight down, another possible three to go and somehow Izuku just knew they would only get harder.
But before that he supposed it was finally time he faced his classmates, at least Katsuki’s fight was last so he would at least have his brother with him. Despite his concerns he picked up the pace slightly, they only had a few minutes between each fight and he didn’t want to miss any of them. He could practically feel his notebook calling to him from where Jiro was holding onto it.
He was moving so fast that he very nearly bumped right into someone, only managing to hit the brakes on his legs at the last second. Said person still noticed him however and turned to look down at him, quickly gaining a scowl as Izuku’s eyes widened.
“M-Monama!” He squeaked out, “I uh… I’m sorry about what happened!” He shouted out with a low bow that could rival Yoarashi.
Monama rolled his eyes and prodded Izuku’s chest with a finger, “You got the jump on me once but never again you hear me!? Next time I’ll make sure to put you 1A jackasses in your place!”
“O-Oh… ok.” Izuku responded, not really sure how to deal with that statement.
Monama let a humph and turned on his heels, stalking away from Izuku towards the 1B seating area. He only made it five steps forward before he paused, sighed and turned back round to face Izuku with a deep frown as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the boy.
“I don’t like you.” Monama stated.
“Understandable,” Izuku said automatically with no thought to what he was saying at all and nearly slapped himself in the face because of it.
Monama raised his eyebrow at the unusual response but didn’t comment, “I don’t like you because you're part of, and the president of, 1A. A bunch of self centred over the top drama queens who can’t handle not being in the spotlight.”
Izuku frowned, he absolutely did not agree with that assessment but knew if he countered it would just start an argument with the boy he had nearly killed 2 hours ago. So for once he decided to keep his mouth shut.
“Ok?” Izuku asked, not exactly sure what was going on here.
“My point is it’s not about your quirk,” Monama continued, “Having a copy quirk is only slightly better than being quirkless. So I get it. Your quirk has nothing to do with why I don’t like you. I despise you for your personality and who you are, not because of your quirk.”
With a final huff Monama turned around and marched away from a very confused Izuku. On the one hand, Monama seemed to hate him. On the other hand, it was the first person Izuku had ever encountered who didn’t hate him for his quirk. Izuku didn’t know if he should smile or frown. He decided on a confused shake of his head and continued on his journey towards the 1A stands.
Apparently though his confusing interactions with the students of 1A weren’t quite over yet as he approached the 1A stands he saw the same purple haired Gen Ed student pacing just outside of the way in. As Izuku approached the student caught sight of him and his eyes widened as he quickly ran over.
“I’m sorry!” He blurted out and stumbled forward slightly as Izuku stopped walking, “I didn’t know!”
Izuku blinked, “Didn’t know what… uh?”
“Shinso,” The purple boy supplied, “I didn’t know you also had a villain's quirk, I would have never said those things if I had known!”
Izuku frowned slightly as Shinso bowed in front of him, “Shinso I don’t have a villain's quirk and neither do you.”
Shinso came up from his bow with a confused face, “But Eraserhead said-”
“I have a quirk,” Izuku interrupted, “As do you, we have quirks like a lot of people do. What our quirks do doesn’t matter, it’s our actions with them that determine if we are villains or heroes.”
Shinso sighed and his whole body sagged, “If your upbringing was anything like mine you should know that’s not true.”
Izuku shrugged, “It’s what I choose to believe, it’s also what my friends believe and that’s all that should matter.”
Shinso frowned slightly, the coldness of their previous encounter starting to return, “Clearly you haven’t suffered on the same level as me then.”
Izuku’s quirk actually twitched at the words that sliced at him like knives, “Suffered!? Shinso I just announced my fucking quirk to the world, I’m about to walk into my class stands knowing they might all despise me now. Hell, a year ago a hero tried to arrest me just because of my quirk!”
Shinso winced at the words and seemed to realise he’d taken things a step too far, “I didn’t… I just mean that there’s no hope of me getting into the hero course now, I’ve made no progress in the weeks since the entrance exam.”
Izuku sighed and took a breath to calm himself, “Shinso what’s your workout regime?”
Shindo tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, “I uh… don’t have one?”
“Right,” Izuku continued, “And how is your hand to hand combat?”
“I’ve never… never been in a fight.” Shinso said and Izuku would admit he took a little pleasure in watching the boy squirm slightly, “I think I see your point.”
Izuku nodded, “Look, I get it, I know I got lucky but even without a recommendation for the exam I still would’ve trained and tried my best. I get life sucks with quirks like ours but you can’t sit back doing nothing and be surprised when you don’t walk into a spot on the hero course when everyone else is giving it their all. Jiro was right when she said you need to train more than your quirk.”
Shinso sighed, “I… You’re right. I guess I just… I figured most hero kids would underestimate a quirk like mine.”
Izuku actually snorted slightly, “Shinso we’re talking about a class where half the students could kill if they weren’t careful. Trust me, nobody on the hero course will underestimate your quirk.”
Shinso sighed, “That’s fair…. I uh… thanks I guess. I’ll think about what you said, train more than just my quirk.”
Izuku nodded and with that his new… friend? Walked away back to the General Education seating area. Izuku sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, Shinso was a stark reminder that if All Might hadn’t intervened Izuku may well not be in the position he was now.
Said position being he was about to walk into his class with them all knowing what his quirk was at long last.
Izuku’s inner debate about his life being cursed or blessed was becoming more difficult to decide.
Shaking his head of his internal strife Izuku steeled himself and walked towards the entrance of the 1A seating area. He didn’t know what was about to happen but he was prepared for anything.
As he walked through the entrance he spied an empty seat next to Katsuki (his own presumably) and his friends seated around the brooding blonde. The only two missing was Kirishima, who he assumed had left for the next fight already and-
“You lied to me.”
Izuku found his sight of the seats and stadium below blocked and sunlight around him darkened as a large shadow was cast over him. He found his new view to be that of the UA Gym Uniform which sat atop tall and broad shoulders. Izuku slowly looked up to find Yoarashi staring down at him with an expressionless face. His eyes were locked onto Izuku and they could have contained anything from delight to hatred to lust for all Izuku knew. Izuku gulped as the conversation within the class cut off immediately and all eyes turned to the pair standing in the entrance.
“Yoarashi I-” Izuku started but was cut off.
“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME ALL MIGHT WAS YOUR RECOMMENDATION!?”
Yorashai’s mouth turned into a wide smile and his volume seemed to shake up not just their class but the entire stadium as cheers and rowdy groups started up again after the eternally long awkward silence left from Izuku’s fight disappeared.
“I… what?” Izuku asked with a frown on his face.
“The big oaf came and told everyone he trained us and he was your recommendation, guess he figured it was gonna come out sooner rather than later.” Katsuki explained without turning around to look at anyone.
Izuku nodded, he supposed that made sense. Chances are the media were going to be digging up everything they could find on him so it was bound to be common knowledge eventually. Izuku supposed it was better his class find out before it was all over the news.
“Oh. Well I didn’t really uh… want to draw attention to myself…” Izuku mumbled.
Someone in the class scoffed, “Yet he pulls that stunt?”
Izuku winced but Yoarashi’s smile didn’t falter, “No wonder you are so far ahead of me! To think you’re the first student to ever be recommended by All Might! Maybe he’d be open to an internship…”
“You can’t internship with teachers moron!” Katsuki barked from the front.
“Are you naturally this much of an asshole or did you have to work on it?” Uraraka asked Katsuki with a smirk to which the boy just scoffed.
Izuku chuckled and led Yoarashi back to their seats, “Honestly the main thing All Might did was give me a confidence boost. You should have seen me before UA, I was a nervous wreck.”
As Izuku took his seat next to Katsuki he suddenly felt himself be enveloped in a hug from behind and became aware of someone's breath hot on his neck. The close contact caused him to blush furiously and splutter in panic.
Ashido giggled in his ear, “As opposed to the suave and confident person you are now?”
Izuku groaned and managed to shrug Ashido off, “Can’t you go one day without the teasing?”
“Nope. Ashido responded with a wide grin and a wink as she popped the P with her lips.
“All of you hush,” Jiro complained though her attention was locked out into the field, “Kirishima’s fight is about to start.”
Next to Katsuki Uraraka leaned over his lap with a shit eating grin at Jiro, “You look pretty excited for Kirishima’s fight Jiro… any particular reason why?”
Jiro blushed suddenly and leant back in her seat slightly, though it was obvious she was still watching this stadium with excitement, “N-No. It’s just that Kirishima is my friend!”
“I wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact Katsuki was telling us about how Pony’s horns could easily tear his clothes off?” Uraraka suggested with a wiggle of her eyebrows at Jiro who was doing a wonderful impression of a tomato.
“Kirishima might end up shirtless!” Izuku declared with enough excitement to make Katsuki turn to him with a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk while Uraraka turned her shit eating grin on him like a weapon of mass destruction.
Izuku let out a squeal as he realised what he’d blurted out and covered his mouth with wide eyes which caused Katsuki and Uraraka to burst out laughing. Izuku ideally wondered when Uraraka had picked up Katsuki’s ability to mock other people.
Izuku was nearly thrown out of his seat when Ashido suddenly clambered over the top of him and placed herself in the empty seat between himself and Jiro.
“Ashido!” Jiro groaned as the pink girl swung her arms around Jiro and Izuku respectively.
“Hey, if Kiri is going topless I want a front row seat!” Ashido said with a wink at Jiro who dropped her face into her hands.
“I too would like to see the results of Kirishima’s workout routine! He showed me his exercises and I want to know if it would be effective for my body type!” Yoarashi said with a wide smile.
“Oh Yoarashi, you sweet innocent child. They’re not excited because of his work ethic.” Uraraka said and patted Yoarashi’s arm while he gave everyone a confused look.
“They just want something for the wa-”
“SHUT UP KACCHAN!” Izuku shouted and quickly covered his brothers mouth while Uraraka cackled with glee, Jiro and Ashido blushed furiously and Yoarashi just looked completely lost.
Katsuki narrowed his eyes at Izuku and went to move the boy's hands away from his mouth only for it to quickly evolve into a scuffle between the pair. By this point their friends were pretty used to it and they all simply leaned back and kept up the soft chatter between them as Katsuki and Izuku battled to death via slaps and curse words.
The battle was declared a draw however when Kirishima and Pony walked out onto the field. The return of the signature cheers and roars from the crowd would have made Izuku bitter after their reaction to his fight had it not been for the fact Izuku was one of the people cheering the loudest along with his friends.
In the end Kirishima’s fight was… fairly one sided. Maybe it was because he was now looking at it from the view of someone who had been trained to fight as opposed to a wide eyed child but Izuku suddenly realised how messy the one on one battles were.
The issue for Pony was that Kirishima already knew his hardening could withstand her horns. So the moment he activated his quirk he knew he was safe with a full frontal charge. Pony tried her best and Izuku could tell she was giving it her all but her horns just bounced off Kirishima and before long he was in her face. Just like with Izuku and Shiozaki, the 1A class member turned out to be far more skilled in hand to hand than their 1B counterparts. A few quick jabs and one hard shove later saw Pony laying in the grass with Kirishima standing over her offering her a hand up.
The crowd loved it with Midnight cooing over the sportsmanship and with it all the tension and awkwardness from Izuku’s fight had leaked out of the stadium and dissipated. Kirishima returned to the class with a wide smile and many congratulations, it was a far warmer welcome than Izuku had received.
As it turned out the rest of the first battle rounds were more or less the same, with one person dominating the other. Kaminari predictably went for an all out shock against Yoayorozu who easily created an insulated sheet to block it. At which point she all but guided a dumbfounded Kaminari out of the ring.
Todoroki and Hatsumi (the support course student) were… interesting.
“That’s a lot of support equipment, even for her…” Izuku mumbled as he subconsciously scribbled down notes in his notebook without him even looking at it.
“Oh yeah, she came looking to speak to Todoroki before your match Midoriya but he pretty much gave her the cold shoulder.” Uraraka commented as she tapped her chin.
“Guy could brood for all of Japan if he wanted.” Katsuki said with a scoff as Izuku rolled his eyes.
“Maybe you two could pair up for the international championships.”
“I DON’T FUCKING BROOD!” Katsuki screamed and Kirishima sighed.
“Can we get through one match without you two shouting at each other?”
Kirishima received a double glare in response that made him gulp with fear.
The crowd was all cheers and claps as Todoroki and Hatsume walked onto the field, one as stoic as ever while the other had a large grin on her face. As per the routine Midnight announced the start of her fight with the crack of her whip.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Allow me to-”
Fwoosh!
Slam!
Presumably Hatsume had thought Todoroki would let her speak, instead the moment Midnight started the match he launched a massive pillar of ice straight at her from his arm. Even with all her support equipment Hatsume lacked the reflexes that came with being a hero student. She took a hit right on her chest, her support equipment smashing to pieces as she was thrown out of the ring so hard she crashed into the stadium wall before falling to the crowd in a heap of tangled limbs and sparks.
“H-Hatsume is out of bounds, Todoroki wins!” Midnight declared and the crowd erupted into hushed whispers.
Kirishima winced next to Izuku, “Damn… Todoroki didn’t have to go that hard.”
“It was pretty overkill of him, especially considering she was just a support student.” Ashido said and bit her lip nervously as she watched Todoroki walk off the field.
Katsuki rolled his eyes, “Stop being a bunch of pussy’s, it was a fucking fight, he just finished her quickly and efficiently.”
Though in theory Izuku agreed with Katsuki, afterall despite her being only a support student they shouldn’t underestimate Hatsume, he wasn’t sure that was the actual reason Todoroki had won the battle so violently. It was subtle but Izuku could pick up on the tension in his shoulders, the way his jaw was clenched as he left the stands for the fight earlier. Todoroki was holding a lot of emotions inside him and if he wasn’t careful the boy would explode with dire consequences.
“Well, I guess that’s us then…” Jiro said as she and Uraraka stood up and paused to stare at each other.
“This suddenly got very anime….” Ashido whispered as she leaned forward between Izuku and Kirishima.
Jiro crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Uraraka, “You better not hold back Floaty.”
Uraraka just smirked right back, “Well then you better put up a fight Ears.”
Katsuki barked out a laugh, “You fucking call that trash talk?”
Both girls gave him a two fingered salute (which only made him laugh harder) before they left for their fight.
As it turned out, Uraraka and Jiro’s fight was the longest and most intense fight so far. It was one of the first decent match ups, both their quirks were non-combatant so it came down mainly to hand to hand fighting. In this Uraraka was a surprisingly deadly opponent, she only needed one clean hit on you with all five fingers and the lack of gravity would disable pretty much any opponent. But Jiro had the near perfect counter, her jacks could extend out to meet Uraraka in the middle and were too small for Uraraka to get a five finger touch on them.
It quickly became a close fight with the upper hand switching with every punch or kick thrown. The crowd grew wild, having finally got to see a decent fight after the previous ones had all ended within a few minutes. Izuku too got picked up in the excitement, finally able to watch a real fight that would help him update his notes.
In the end Uraraka came out on top. Jiro attempted another stab at the girl but rather than block or dodge Uraraka let both ends of the jacks pierce her shoulder. Blood spurted out and Jiro gasped in surprise but Uraraka simply grit her teeth and grabbed Jiro’s jacks, wrapping them around her arm. With a yank she pulled the girl forward and Jiro stumbled in surprise. One slap on the face later found Jiro floating in the air and Uraraka throwing her out of the ring.
“Tough fight,” Ashido said from behind Izuku, “I hope Jiro doesn’t take her loss too bad.”
“Nah, Jrio is chill.” Kirishima reassured her.
“That was an excellent fight!” Yoarashi cried and unnecessarily stood up, not that any of his friends reacted to it at this point, “You can really see how far they have both come with hand to hand combat!”
“Finally some good fucking fighting.” Katsuki grumbled though Izuku swore he watched the boy smile softly when Uraraka came back to the stands.
Jiro was in fact chill with her loss, claiming that she never expected to get this far in the first place and was just pleased she and Uraraka put on a good show. Uraraka also had a wide beaming smile on her face as she retook her seat, the bandages around her shoulder seemingly not bothering her and the entire class gave them all smiles and congratulations (something Izuku realised with a start hadn’t happened to him).
After that the matches returned to their more one-sided nature. Kendo put up a decent fight against Iida, getting a few good hits in, but the boy was just too fast for her and before long she was pushed out of the ring.
Tokage and Yoarashi’s fight was equally over quickly, the moment Tokage split up her body Yoarashi created a powerful whirlwind which drove the pieces apart in random directions. Tokage was forced to reattach herself and attempt to take Yoarashi, a man the size of a small tree, in hand to hand combat. The match ended as expected.
Finally it was Katsuki’s turn to fight, which was good because Izuku half expected the boy to start punching their classmates at one point with his agitation. Watching everyone else have their flights before him had caused the boy to fidget to no end. It got so bad that at one point Izuku was about to reprimand him when Uraraka beat him to it.
“Bakugou I swear if you don’t stop kicking your legs imma float you into the sun!”
Surprisingly unlike the shouting rebuke Izuku expected (and that he most certainly would have received) Katsuki just grumbled but actually calmed down. Maybe Uraraka also had a secret quirk they didn’t know about.
Perhaps his agitation explained why Katsuki was so… brutal during his fight. Izuku had had a brief chat with Shoda about Yanagi’s quirk, it was essentially a form of telekinesis. Which already gave the girl a weakness in a one one one arena fight, there wasn’t really anything around for her to use her quirk on. Except Katsuki of course.
Maybe her plan would have worked against someone like Jiro or Kaminari, someone small and who didn’t weigh a lot. But against Katsuki, who had One For All flowing through him when Yanagi attempted to push him over with her quirk, all she achieved was a slight rustle of his clothes.
There was a brief pause after this before Katsuki launched himself forward. One punch to her gut and Yanagi cried out and hunched over. A second punch to the side of her head and Izuku winced as it snapped to the side, a black eye already forming as she toppled over. Finally a heavy kick into her side launched her out of the ring and onto the grass. She lay there trembling and clutching her stomach as the medic bots ran over to help her up.
Katsuki briefly glanced down at his opponent before he turned and marched out of the field. The crowd slowly started an awkward clap much like with Todoroki, none of them really sure how to take the violence of the two overpowered teenagers.
From her place leaning forward, between Izuku and Kirishima, Ashido sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Between Bakugou, Todoroki and you our Class Reputation is really taking a hit today.”
Izuku wilted in his seat at her words, “I uh… sorry… I didn’t… I just…”
Ashido seemed to suddenly realise what she’d said and her eyes widened in panic, “I didn’t mean that- I just meant… Well it’s… shit.”
Ashido flopped down against Kirishima who gave the pair an awkward smile as Jiro bit her lip behind him and Izuku just sighed, “It’s fine… I kind of figured this would happen. Maybe I should uh.. Step down as president…”
Ashido looked up from Kirishima’s shoulder with a scowl and slapped Izuku on the back of the head, “And leave me in all those meetings alone? Not a chance.”
Izuku grumbled and rubbed the back of his head while Kirishima shrugged Ashido off his shoulder and stood and the girl leaned back briefly with a pout at losing her human cushion. This only lasted for a moment however before her golden eyes slowly moved over to Jiro. There was a brief pause before Ashido leapt forward and leant on Jiro, who let out a squeal as she was assaulted by the pink girl.
“Guess it’s our turn Mirdoriya!” Kirishima said with a wide smile and thumbs up, “You just better not go easy on me!”
Izuku gave him a soft smile, “I would never.”
Both boys went to leave for their fight. As Izuku went to leave however, Tokayami (who had been coming back from the bathroom) walked in and the pair accidently bumped shoulders.
“Oh!” Izuku said and stepped back, “Sorry Tokayami I didn’t sense you coming.”
Tokayami waved him off, “No harm-”
Izuku suddenly found a tight grip on his wrist as his arm was all but pulled from his socket and lifted in the air. As this happened he was also pushed back and found himself surrounded by shadows.
“Midoriya, I demand you give Tokoyami his quirk back this instant!” Iida commanded as he tightened his already steel-like grip on Izuku’s wrist.
“W-What?” Izuku gasped, more in ludicrous shock than anything else, “I didn’t take his quirk!?”
“How can we trust you?” Ojiro asked as he stood next to Iida and blocked Izuku in against the wall.
“I-What?” Izuku asked, his shocked face turning into a frown, “Why would I take Tokayami’s quirk?”
“Because of your hunger.” Ojiro said and Izuku’s veins went cold, he hadn’t told anyone about that, not even his friends.
“I… How did you…?” Izuku whispered as he went very still.
“Yaoyorozu figured out the affliction,” Iida informed him.
Izuku’s eyes widened in shock and he managed to find Yaoyorozu within the class seats, she made brief eye contact with him before she flinched and looked away. Izuku felt like someone had stabbed him right in the chest, he was prepared for them to know all about his quirk but his hunger… that was a secret he was barely comfortable letting even Katsuki know about.
Izuku yanked his hand out of Iida’s grip and sighed, “I have my hunger under control, you don’t-”
“That’s so not cool Iida!” Kirishiama said and shoved the boy back, standing protectively in front of Izuku, “You know Midoriya man, he wouldn’t do something like that.”
“Kirishima please I don’t need-”
“How do we know he wouldn’t do something like that? He hid his quirk from us for weeks and we should trust him?” Ojiro said with a scowl at Izuku who steeled his eyes in response.
“That is completely uncalled for!” Yoarashi cried and shouldered his way in front of Izuku with Kirishima, cutting Iida and Ojiro off, “Midoriya would not go around using his quirk outside of training.”
“And even then I don’t like the idea of-”
“And as you can see,” Came the voice of Dark Shadow as it flew overhead from a frustrated looking Tokayami, “Clearly Midiroya didn’t steal our quirk!”
Izuku was starting to get frustrated, this isn’t what he wanted. He didn’t want his classmates to fight over him, he could defend himself. He could deal with the fallout of his decision, he didn’t need nor want Kirishima and Yoarashi to start a fight on his behalf. He just wanted to watch the sports festival.
“Guys I don’t want-”
“How do we know that? We should ask the teachers about a way to monitor him!”
“It’s fine I’m in complete control of my-”
“Like a dog!? Dude, are you gonna start asking Ashido to wear an acid proof suit too?”
“Kirishima I think you’re going too far, let me just-”
“Please, I’m sure there is a way around Midoriya’s issues that will-”
“ENOUGH!”
Izuku’s shout silenced the whole class and caused the boys surrounding him to take a step back, Yoarashi and Kirishima wincing at his furious expression. The entire attention of the class was on Izuku and he narrowed his eyes at them all.
“Ojiro, Iida, I can assure you I have my quirk under control. I’ve been dealing with this shit for a decade,” Izuku spat out his sentence like a piece of rotten food and it caused Iida to flinch, “So you don’t need to worry about me taking your quirks, I assure you, you’d know if I tried.”
A few people in the class shivered at the veiled threat from Izuku though nobody spoke up, “And Kirishima, Yoarashi, I appreciate you standing up for me but I don’t want you starting fights with our classmate because of it.”
Kirishima glanced away guilty, “Sorry Midoriya it’s just-”
“I don’t want to hear it Kirishima,” Izuku said and held up his hand causing Kirishima to look like a kicked puppy, “I’ve dealt with the blowback of my quirk for years, I don’t need you or anyone else to defend it.”
Before anyone could get another word out Izuku marched out of the seating area and down the hall towards his side of the arena. Slowly the class returned to an albeit awkward sense of normality, if they felt guilty about what happened Ojro and Iida didn’t show it and returned to their seats like nothing happened.
Yoarashi and Kirishima on the other hand stood staring at the doorway Izuku had just walked through, neither sure how to handle the situation.
“It’s not your fault.” Said a monotone voice behind them and the pair turned to discover Todoroki had walked up to them, though he too was looking at the exit where Izuku had just left.
“What do you mean?” Kirishima asked.
Todoroki paused for such a long time the pair thought he wasn’t going to respond.
“Neither of you can really understand what it’s like growing up and hating your quirk,” Todoroki said quietly, “To then have people suddenly defend the very thing you focused all your hate into for years…”
Kirishima didn’t see the way Yoarashi’s eyes widened in surprise and the mild horror that glanced across his face at Todoroki’s words.
“What are you saying?” Kirishima asked.
Todoroki finally turned to the pair, “I’m saying I think we may all misjudged Midoriya and Bakugou
Back with Izuku he marched through the halls with a fury that could be felt by those with empathy quirks for miles. If he paused to think he didn’t really understand why he was so angry. He knew his class would react badly and he could handle that. He didn’t need his friends to fight for him but why did the way they defended his quirk feel so… wrong? Just the thought of Kirishima praising Quirk Absorption made Izuku clench his fists.
He was so focused on his anger he nearly missed Katsuki strolling towards him coming back from his own fight. The blonde caught sight of Izuku and his face lit up slightly with a small smirk tugging at his lips.
“Hey Zuzu, you better show Shity hai-”
“Not now Kacchan!” Izuku barked out at his brother.
Katsuki nearly fell over in shock at the venom in the words and his eyes widened and followed Izuku as he walked past him. Anyone else and Katsuki would have unleashed a barrage of insults. But all he could do was stop and watch as Izuku disappeared round a corner, his footsteps violently echoing throughout the halls.
Well.
That was probably a bad sign.