Chapter Text
Japan is renowned for its stringent laws and regulations governing hero work. It makes sense; Japan has the highest concentration of Metas in the world, which means nearly everyone has a power and can either use it for destruction or heroism. Due to this unique social structure, Japan has taken to establishing specialized schools devoted to the study and practice of heroism, where aspiring heroes can receive formal training in ethics, tactics, and the responsibilities that come with their abilities, allowing official licenses for their work legally.
Unfortunately for Tim, Batman is highly interested in these politics and functions, so he's being sent in "undercover" to learn everything firsthand. Tim argues that Batman has the skills and authority to get his hands on the relevant information from the comfort of the Batcave, Bruce argues that experiencing it firsthand is best and better than the biased reports by people who wrote the laws he's looking into. Bruce says it's in everyone's best interest, Tim knows that he wants Robin to take a break and is disguising a vacation as a mission.
The jokes on him, though, Tim is genuinely interested in the mission and is only pretending to be against it on the principle of being "benched" and "hating school". After all, who wouldn't want to explore a different culture while levelling up their hero game?
Did Tim drop out of high school his first year? Yes. But it wasn't for lack of trying! A lot was happening at the time, it's not like he didn't enjoy school. As long as he was learning something new, or, at least, learning things he already knows in a new way. Going to school in Japan will be great, he'll be learning stuff he knows in a completely different language, and he'll still technically be getting a "break" so everyone is happy. (his lack of high school diploma and babyface also greatly helps him in getting admitted to UA at a grade lower than he otherwise would be)
UA High School is apparently the most prestigious hero school in all of Japan and Tim has a meeting with the principal today to see if his application and recommendation from the Justice League will get him approved. This is also the day he moves out of the apartment that he moved into last week if he gets rejected, so he hasn't actually unpacked yet. Tim walks down the massive hallways of UA to the principal's office, it feels empty since there aren't any students here, but Tim can't imagine these halls actually feeling full, with how big they are. Realistically he's just distracting himself from his nerves, he's about to have an appointment with a man with hyperintelligence and lie to his face. No biggie, no pressure there.
Once Tim is outside the office door, he knocks, not giving himself time to calm down or psych himself out.
"Come in," a tiny, soft-spoken voice calls from inside and Tim steels himself and opens the door.
Tim takes one step into the room before pausing, blinking a few times in surprise. In hindsight, he probably should have looked at the images attached to the staff files he read, but forgive him for not thinking he was going to be talking to a giant... gerbil? Let's go with that. As well as a man with the longest and most gravity-defying hair he'd ever seen, which was saying something because he's met Starfire.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Drake, I'm glad you could make it. Please, take a seat," Nedzu says, gesturing to a chair in front of his desk and next to the eccentric man. "Allow me to introduce you to Present Mic, one of our esteemed instructors here at U.A.
"I understand that you do speak Japanese, but Present Mic is fluent in English, so I have invited him to sit in with us so there is no miscommunication between us if that is alright with you?" Nedzu says, tilting his head slightly in question.
Tim finds himself nodding before the other even finishes speaking. "Yes, thank you, it is a pleasure to meet you both," he says with a bow before sitting in the chair offered.
"Ha ha! Look at you, listener! Just come and ask me anything, anytime!" Present Mic said jovially, patting Tim on the back, hard. "I'm your man! I know all the fun slang you kids throw 'round, I won't let you get lost,"
Before Tim could even think about a response to that, Principal Nedzu clears his throat and their attention is back on him. "Yes, thank you Hisashi, now Mr. Drake, are you aware of how our recommendation process works and how it effects you?"
Yes. Tim read the paperwork on it thoroughly. Three times. "No sir,"
Nedzu nods in understanding, pulling out a folder with Tim's name on it. It was odd for him, to see it written in kanji, but it was clearly his name. Nedzu opened the folder, his tiny hands moving with surprising dexterity as he shuffled through the papers inside.
“The recommendation process here at UA is quite rigorous, Mr. Drake. While your application and the backing of the Justice League certainly hold substantial weight, we pride ourselves on a holistic evaluation of each candidate. This means that beyond recommendations, we have a physical evaluation that all of our students undergo to test their pre-existing abilities."
Tim nods along with the principal's words. "Yes, of course." A part of him just wanted to start asking questions about anything and everything at UA, but he knew he would only get curated answers and that would defeat the purpose of being here.
Nedzu smiles, something likely meant to be warm but is harshened by his animalistic features. "You are, unfortunately, a bit late to take part in our official entrance exam, but I am more than willing to let you take one today. If you have the time to do so, after our meeting here."
"Absolutely," Tim says, perhaps a little too quickly and with no small amount of genuine enthusiasm, Nedzu smiles even further.
"Wonderful," He says, messing with Tim's file again. "Now, I'm sure you have many questions about all of this-" that was putting it lightly "-and I have some questions to ask you too, do you mind if I go first?"
Tim simply nods, inviting him to continue.
Nedzu flips through the papers and places one down, pushing it closer to Tim. "this is your application form, it's all well, and an extra formality that is technically unneeded with such an organization backing you and giving us their recommendation, however, there are some blank spots,"
Tim nodded along, he was expecting questions, as far as anyone here knew, Timothy Drake-Wayne had no connections to the Justice League, they didn't know that he was already a vigilante and doing hero work back home. Not that Nedzu or anyone else was going to get that information out of him either, but still, he was expecting questions.
"Most notably here," Nedzu points at a part of the page, but what's written there is too small and far away for Tim to make out. "Could you tell me your quirk? You should not feel obligated to tell your peers if you do not wish to, however, it is something on all our student files."
At that, Tim blanked. He had prepared a number of answers for just about everything that would be asked in a student evaluation and then some, but this? Tim glanced over at Present Mic, who was smiling widely at him and awaiting his response, so he was clearly expecting Tim to understand. To an extent, he did, Tim knew what quirks were, they were physical or personality oddities that made people unique. What that had to do with a hero school application was beyond him and why they needed it on student files before they even entered the classroom was even more confusing.
"A quirk?" Tim repeats, just to be sure, to make sure he didn't mishear. Nedzu and Present Mic nod, which doesn't help because he was kind of hoping they meant something else. It's not that big of a deal, but he didn't know what to tell them, which certainly doesn't put his anxieties to rest.
"Do I need to have one?" Tim asks cautiously, hoping that, if required, Nedzu would at least give him an example.
Instead, Nedzu and Present Mic share a shocked look.
"You... don't have one?" Nedzu asked, which is not what Tim said but he'll roll with it.
"No, sir, I do not."
Nedzu and Present Mic share another, even more stunned look as if they hadn't expected him to say no. Was it really that strange that their student was boring with no special traits? Not that Tim didn't have plenty of quirks and oddities, but he genuinely had no clue what they expected him to say to put on file. He had a stalking problem? That's better kept off the records, especially in a foreign country.
"I see..." Nedzu said, shuffling around the papers again and seeming rather frazzled despite not looking at all different. Nedzu would be a very interesting creature to get to know or research and if Tim weren't determined to stay as far away from him as he had to, he'd be excited to do so.
"No powers at all?" Present Mic asks, looking like he's been hit over his head as he looks at the registration form again.
Tim didn't think that's what they were talking about but he was welcome to change the suspect. "No sirs, I have no extra abilities"
There was a long silence after that, the teachers looking at each other, talking through their eyebrows. Except Nedzu's face hardly moved that much so it was hard to tell.
After a long moment, the principal turned back to look at Tim. "And you're confident you can partake in the entrance exam despite the... lack?"
Tim felt like he should be offended but also wasn't cause he didn't actually care. He's been a full-fledged vigilante for years now, fought in a literal war, and done a million other things that make him qualified enough to take a simple school exam. " Of course, sir, I'm certain."
Nedzu smiles even wider than before, and somehow it's even creepier. "Well then, that's all I wanted to ask." Present Mic looks lost and that he had a few of his own questions but the principal steamrolls over him. "What about you?"
Tim smiles widely too, unable to mask his excitement at the obvious challenge, always looking forward to it. "When can I start?"
The practical test wasn't that hard, it was just very clear that a lot of the tasks he was supposed to complete were supposed to be interfered with using his powers. Powers he didn't have, of course, so he had to get creative and hope that hitting things with a stick really hard would save him. Present Mic was the one to observe him and had shouted his encouragement but it was more of a distraction than anything else.
"Your test results are very good," Nedzu says, smiling as he serves Tim some tea after the fact.
"But not the best." Tim finishes, taking the offered cup and placing it beside him on the table. "I can't help but blame the testing standards for that, sir, they weren't exactly testing my strengths."
"Oh, of course, the rubric is entirely based on power you don't have," Nedzu says plainly, smiling despite it. "The odds were stacked against you I'm afraid, but our board has a strict education plan I am unable to change."
"So I fail?" Tim says, trying not to sound bitter. He knows he shouldn't care that much, failing the mission technically means he can go back home, but part of him really did want to do it and it's coming out of him in a childish way.
"Not at all, if anything, you pass with flying colours!" Nedzu says, clapping his little paws together. "You did about average on the tests, but given that was aided by no power other than your natural talent is wonderful."
Tim looks at him, quirking an eyebrow. "I'm sensing a "but" coming."
"But," Nedzu continues, a sparkle of humour in his eye. "I'm concerned that some of our teachers may pick on you for your powerlessness in the hero course."
Tim furrows his brows, frowning at the odd man. "Your faculty is blatantly prejudiced?" Tim asks, genuinely surprised the principal would admit that to someone not yet even properly enrolled at his school.
"Not exactly, Shouta will love you, I'm sure," Nedzu says gently, as if trying to soothe Tim's anger. Tim, who didn't really feel that offended before, is kind of starting to now. "Just, things like that are something that you've heard all your life and never thought to think differently about, is all."
Tim doesn't know who that is, nor does he particularly care, crossing his arms across his chest in a childish, petulant manner. "How do you mean?"
"It's like when people assume poor people are less educated, or that homosexuals are gross, sexual deviants," Nedzu explains evenly, like Tim is much older than he was. "In Japan, people like you are not very common, and so there are very unfortunate stereotypes for those without any superpower."
Tim nods his understanding, sinking in his seat a little. He knew and understood such prejudices existed, but he was genuinely a little bummed that he wasn't going to be able to enroll here.
"Putting you into the hero course would be an unfortunate hassle for you since I know you'd face discrimination there." Nedzu tells him cheerfully, smiling widely despite ruining the dream of this poor teenager, as far as he was aware, at least.
"I understand." Tim says, bowing in his seat at the man and waiting to be dismissed.
"That being said, you're free to enroll in any one of our other courses," Nedzu says, smile growing into a full grin, as if he was being mischievous some how. "I heard you like gadgets, you could do well in the support course."
Tim nodded, a pleasant smile on his face hiding how much he wanted to growl at the man. "Thank you sir, but I was only interested in the hero course, really." he says, standing up from his seat and bowing again, trying to end the discussion.
"Yes, I understand, and I'll be sure to save a spot for you there," Nedzu agrees easily, waving Tim back down into his seat. "We're just going to have to go the long way about it."
"Sir?" Tim questions, sitting back down reluctantly.
"My biggest fear is that someone might try and get you removed before they have fairly given you a chance." Nedzu starts explaining, chuckling a bit to himself. "I may be the principal, but if enough of my staff come to me with issues about your enrollment, I could be overruled in letting you stay here."
Tim frowned, looking up at the man with a searching look. "I don't think I understand, sir?"
Nedzu nodded like he expected that and continued. "The problem is your late application, with a standard application, you could have taken the practical exams along with the rest of your peers and been judged accordingly and the staff wouldn't judge you since they've seen what you are capable of, the same with the recommendation students." He says easily, taking a sip of tea after he stops.
"So coming just a month earlier would have helped me?" Tim asks, just to clarify, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tim knew this was a last-minute mission on Bruce's part, but this is just sloppy now.
"Closer to two months, but yes, it most certainly would have helped your case." Nedzu agrees, not unkindly.
Tim sighs loudly, slumping in his seat. "Sorry." He says, resting his cheek on his shoulder in resignation.
Nedzu giggles, actually giggles at him, which honestly offends Tim more than it should. "Now now, listen, you may be able to transfer into hero course from a different one later in the year." Nedzu says, smiling warmly in his creepy animalistic way.
"Really?" Tim says, perking up before deflating again. "But that will take a long time, I'll be behind on their curriculum." He sighs, not that he needs the hero training, he's a professional in his own right, but he's supposed to be doing research.
"Not at all!" Nedzu says, waving him off. "You just need a chance to show off to all the teachers so they believe in you."
Tim huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "And when would I be able to do that? End of term?"
Nedzu chuckles again, covering his mouth with his paw. "The sports festival, I'm not sure if you're aware but it's a huge show off competition, as long as you get recognition there, I can transfer your courses."
Tim sat back, contemplating the options. Sure, transferring into the hero course isn't what he planned to do, but it would still be interesting and he would also learn about what sort of tech the students can design.
"You promise you're rooting for me instead of setting me up for failure?" Tim asks, just to be sure. His track record is admittedly abysmal at this point.
Nedzu grins once more, the animalistic nature having nothing to do with his actual facial features this time. "I'm looking forward to seeing you succeed, Timothy Drake."
Apparently, the sports festival is a little less than a month after the start of the school year, which was the perfect amount of time for Tim to get to learn and research everything about everyone in the two new hero course classes of the year. He also wanted to make good first impressions with all the teachers he could before the sports festival too, and make sure that while he's in the support class, he has a good relationship with his classmates so they'll be nicer to him later when he needs something for hero classes. All that being said, it may be a little early to say, since it's his first day and he doesn't actually have any information nor has he met anyone yet.
The information he did have was that there were approximately 10 different facility members he was bound to interact with on a daily basis, 7 for each period in the day and 3 odd ones around the building given you walk through the halls, go to the cafeteria or end up in the nurses office. There were 39 students in the new hero course and Tim can't help but think the odd number is because Nedzu literally claimed he would save a spot.
Tim walks down the tall wide hallways, early enough that he hasn't run into anyone and enough that he has his time to explore the campus a little before going to class. Sure, he read and memorized the layout of the building before he even got to Japan, but it was good to get a lay of the land with his own two feet. After half an hour of clocking the areas of the school important/relevant to him, (ie. The lunch room, the nurse's office, the hero corridor, and things like that) Tim makes his way to his actual classroom to start the day.
He enters the massive door of the 1-H classroom and walks inside, scanning the area. It was a nicely lit room with desks evenly spaced apart, 16 desks in total and about ten people currently present. Most of the students currently there are talking in a group in the center of the room, and three of the students not socializing. Tim trails the edge of the room, walking quietly and unnoticed by the others getting to know one another in the center. Tim places his school bag down on the desk second to last at the back row, next to a girl who was hunched over and fiddling with something he couldn't see. He was fine with this, more than fine really, since she looked kind of out of it, it just made her less likely to talk to him.
Another student entered the room and, unlike Tim's entrance, it drew attention. The main group in the center greet the new boy cheerfully, waving him in and pulling him into the group discussion, sharing names and getting to know one another. Tim considered also joining in, just for intelligence's sake, but he's already sat down and he simply didn't want to get up. Another student walks in shortly after the first, but it happens during a swell of laughter in the group so she hunches down and scuttles past them without being noticed too. She slinks to the back, sitting next to Tim on his left, she eyes him for a second, trying to figure him out and he smiles at her.
She panics a little, like she hadn't expected to be acknowledged, and bows clumsily. "Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you." She says awkwardly, not quite meeting his eyes when she looks back up again.
Tim takes pity on her, reciprocating her bow and adding a little wave at the end. "It's nice to meet you too, you can call me Tim," he greets easily and he sees her relax minutely. "What's your name?"
"I'm Maina Furasu." She says, smiling at him now that she's relaxed a little. "You're an exchange student?" She asks, tilting her head.
"Something like that." He says, nodding along. "I'm from America, if you were wondering."
"Woah," Maina marvels, her interest peaked. "That's cool, why come to UA?"
"My father wanted me to, said it would be good for me." Tim answers, not technically lying if we're being honest.
Maina nods in understanding. "Father's expectations." She says solemnly, still nodding.
By now, there appeared to be fifteen of the sixteen students in the class who had arrived, the bell was soon to ring and they still waited for more. One seemingly responsible student ushered the class standing around the center of the room to take their seats as they all prepare for their home room to start.
Just as the bell rang, the final student scurried in, taking the last empty seat and settling down in it. Then, again, another person opened the door and Tim had to do a double take at the literal tank of a man that stands there. He tells himself that later he will look over the facility files again, this time with images attached because he can't keep being shocked by every new person he sees.
"Hello, class 1-H, welcome to UA!" The man greets, disembarking the mechanical machine that Tim had assumed was his body.
Several people in the room took a second to sigh, apparently he wasn't the only one. He stands in front of the class, opening his mouth except it wasn't his mouth, it was just a large mechanical helmet and you would think Tim would be used to strange appearances but it's 8 in the morning and he just wasn't prepared for it, okay?
"I am the Excavation Hero, Power Loader." He introduces himself, staying in a pose for a split second before relaxing again, his large hand heavy and making him have a perpetual hunch forward, it seems. "I'm also your homeroom teacher, most teachers here are referred to as only their hero name but you may also call me Maijima-Sensei."
Ten hands shot up into the air and their teacher brought up his clunky hands in surrender. "Okay okay, eager I see." He chuckles, moving to the large desk at the front and clumsily picking up a clip board. "I need to finish my speech and then take attendance, but then I'll answer some of your questions as we go head down for orientation."
The hands in the room reluctantly lower and the man gives them a frankly off putting wide smile, though that was likely just what his face looked like. "Great, now, even though this is our homeroom, most of our course work happens in the studio, which is where you can find me anytime, unless otherwise here with you all."
Power Loader pulls a massive pen out of his pocket and clunkily holds onto it, bringing it up in preparation. "I'll take your attendance and then we'll head out, is that cool?"
The room murmurs their agreement and the teacher starts calling out names. Attendance is quickly taken care of, the class lines up to be brought down to a large stage for the UA orientation with all the first years. Tim tried hard to pay attention to the announcements teachers made on stage, but it was all normal boring stuff that every school does so it was hard to latch onto specifics. Plus, the girl standing next to him was vibrating with excitement and giving him some weird vibes, so it was doubly hard to focus. On their way back inside, however, Tim did notice there was a class on one of the open fields on campus. It didn't appear to be an upper-class, especially since the higher grades were supposed to have orientation after the first years, but also why would a first-year class already be doing physical tests?
Tim walks back to his class with the rest of his classmates and is decidedly ignoring what the hero course students might already be starting on that he can't participate in.
"Psst." Someone says from behind him. Tim ignores it, since they could be talking to anyone, but then someone grabs his shoulder. "PSST!"
Tim looks back and sees the girl he had seen before, hunched over at her desk next to him. "Hello?" He greets, unsure what she wanted from him.
Apparently, this was the right, or possibly wrong depending on how you look at it, thing to do. "Hi! I'm Mei Hatsume, you're Tim, I heard you earlier! Sorry I didn't introduce myself, I was busy working on something, wanna see?" She says quickly, almost too quickly, before shoving something into his face.
Tim takes the thing shoved at him and inspects it, looking at it closely. It's clearly mechanical in some way, but to what purpose it served, Tim just had no idea what it was.
"Uh, cool? But what-"
"Isn't she beautiful!? My baby can make an EMP bomb, like, kablam, like this-" Mei snatched the device back from him and pressed down on it. A small spring popped out of it and snapped against the frame of the contraption, making a loud noise and the lights of the hall flicker, but nothing else.
Multiple students in the hall look back at them but keep on walking back to the classroom, Tim speeding up a little to keep pace.
"That's not supposed to happen..." Mei pouts, shaking the mechanical piece and letting the little spring jingle around inside.
"Yeah," Tim agrees reluctantly, nodding. "I don't know what that was, but EMPs don't do that..."
Their class makes it back to their room without further incident before they're immediately taken out of the room again as Power Loader starts them on a tour. He leads them down and through the studio lab where projects can be worked on.
"None of you will be touching the lab equipment until we've all tested and passed out safety course, affirming that we all know how to use the tools in a regulated function and setting." The teacher explains loudly as he parades them through the workshop.
Tim routinely has to slap Mei's wandering hand when she goes to fiddle with things around, this unfortunately cemented him as best friend material by Mei and also Mei's handler by the rest of the class.
This is going to be a long month before he can transfer.
"Ah, there you are Mr. Drake," a soft voice calls behind him in the hall and Tim has to consciously not feel suspicious, relaxing his shoulders.
"Good morning principal Nedzu." He greets cheerfully, turning around to meet the man who-
Was perched on a girl's head??
"Good morning to you, too." He says, jumping off and onto the ground. "I was hoping to introduce the two of you, this is Pony Tsunotori."
"Ah, hello," Tim says awkwardly, bowing to her politely. "I'm Tim."
"Hello," she greets in turn, waving at him, expect she says it in English.
Tim looks up in surprise, caught off guard by the change and glancing at Nedzu.
"She's our other American exchange student this year." Nedzu says cheerfully, grabbing into the pant leg of a teacher as they walk by, scuttling up and perching on their shoulder. "I hope you can get along!" He calls, disappearing around a corner with the teacher.
The two of them look at each other for a long moment, absorbing that their principal is a general menace and radically accepting it.
"Hello," Tim greets again, responding in English too this time. "It's nice to meet you."
Pony beams, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It's nice to meet you too! It's been a long time since I've talked to from anybody from home."
"Yeah? Where are you from exactly?" Tim asks, also silently relieved to be talking to someone in his native tongue. Sure, Bruce called him most nights to check in, but Bruce communicated like a cave man and he also talked to Tim in Japanese, just to make sure he was on top of it.
"I'm from California," she says, smiling uncontrollably. "How about you?"
"I plead the fifth," Tim says, looking away in an over dramatic show of guilt.
"Uh oh," she says, though the laughter in her eyes and smile on her face show it's all in good fun. "It's not Florida, is it?"
Tim shakes his head, pretending to hang his head in shame as he hides his chuckle. "Worse. Jersey."
Pony sneers with distaste, though it's broken up slightly by her giggling. "Oh no, not New Jersey," she says, laughing into her hand.
"I know, why do you think I moved here?" Tim asked, playfully winking at her.
Pony snorts a laugh, shaking her head. "You're funny, I like that."
"Thanks, it's really nice to talk to you too." He says earnestly.
The two of them stand there for a long moment, just smiling at each other sincerely and warm. Their moment is broken by the bell ringing, signaling that they need to leave.
Tsunotori sighs, sagging. "I guess we should get going."
"Yeah," Tim agrees but doesn't make the first move. "I had fun meeting you."
Pony smiles warmly, her cheeks glowing with wholesome joy. "It was." She agrees, blowing a kiss at him before skipping away down the hall. "I'll see you later, Tim!"
Tim laughs, waving goodbye to here. "Bye, Pony," he calls back, just as light. Tim had been on the fence about making new friends here at school, but he's glad he's had good luck so far, even if they were both technically pushed into him.
This was a good first day.
A little over a week into the new term of UA, there is a giant villain attack on an external part of the campus, injuring and traumatizing most of the students there. Tim finds out about it right around the same time everyone else does, teachers rushing out of class to go aid the situation, everyone at UA knew the basics. Tim, a professional bat and borderline stalker, knew more. After the USJ attack, classes were cancelled giving everyone a chance to cool off, but still just spent the whole day bent over his laptop. Tim had been looking up all of the students in the hero course this year for the past week, learning all their names, faces, powers, and any gossip that came up. He focused extra attention on class 1-A, since they notably only had 19 students in their class and it was likely where he was going to be placed once he entered the hero course.
This means he knows a lot about Izuku Midoriya, the student most injured during the attack and, here with him on the train. According to his file as well as word of mouth, Midoriya only came into his powers immediately before taking the UA entrance exam and majorly injures himself every time he uses those powers. That wouldn't be that weird, aside from the fact that meta genes in Japan are usually hereditary and manifested much earlier in their lives, making Midoriya an extraordinary case. Tim didn't really think anything too sinister was happening yet, but if there was someone out there experimenting on innocent kids and manufacturing powers like that, well, Tim was going to have to deal with it, to hell with this specific mission.
Anyway, Tim may or may not have followed him home, staked out his place, and then got on the same train as him to get to school. Just to make sure he was alright, of course, no other reason. The good news was that there wasn't really anything suspicious about Izuku, he's actually just kinda sad, but that's not what Tim's been making note of. Thanks to the news, everyone and their moms know who got attacked at the USJ, so Midoriya has been getting catcalled, having his photo taken, and bullied into talking with strangers all along his morning commute. Not to mention all the starring from everyone he passes by.
Once off the train and on route to UA on foot, Tim decides he's normal and we'll adjusted enough to strike up conversation and not have it come off as weird.
"Hey, you're in 1-A, right?" Tim calls up ahead, jogging up slightly to catch up to the boy.
Midoriya immediately freezes, hunching in on himself as he looks back. Tim internally curses himself, knowing better than to do that to someone he was literally witness to being harassed all morning.
"Sorry, sorry," Tim says, approaching him and crouching down a little. The boy wasn't that much shorter than him, but he was practically bent in half so it felt appropriate. "Didn't mean to startle you, I just wanted to know if you were okay." He says, flexing his hand and indicating to Midoriya's bandaged one.
Midoriya looked down at his own hand in shock, as if he forgot he had broken it, or maybe the fact that other people could tell he was injured. "Oh, yes, I'm perfectly fine." He says, quickly straightening up before bending back over again in a courteous bow. "Thank you so much for asking."
This boy has not experienced a lot of kindness, clearly, and Tim feels for him even more, sympathetic to a fault. "I heard you hurt your legs too, are you really okay to walk?" Tim says, trying to balance the nicety without being over bearing.
"I'm okay, really," Midoriya says, smiling widely at him like Tim had gifted him something particularly sweet. "You're a UA student too?" Izuku asks, starting to walk the path again. It's not really a question, they're both wearing the uniform, but it's a great way to keep the conversation going just as Tim had hoped.
Tim falls into step with him easily. "Yeah, Support, my first year," He says, fiddling with his bag straps to seem more normal, like an anxious teen talking to someone for the first time. "We'd probably end up meeting eventually, the hero course needs support gear all the time."
That and he was planning on being transferred into Izuku's class in less than a month, but nobody else needs to know that.
Midoriya lights up, his hand suddenly cramping in a way that looks like he could be holding a pen. "That's super cool! Have you made anything yet?"
Tim chuckles at his enthusiasm, the boy's jittery excitement and wild messy hair reminding him of Bart and it just endeared him to the kid more. "Not yet, the class all needs to pass the safety rules tests before we're even allowed back in the lab."
"That makes sense," Midoriya nods, seeming a little disappointed that Tim didn't have anything he could share with him. "Wouldn't want anybody to get hurt..."
Tim sighed dramatically, getting Midoriya to perk his head back up. "I suppose you can see something I've made at home though..." He trails off, smirking as the boy's eyes sparkle with interest.
"Really?" He asks, practically bouncing as he walks along with him.
Tim nods, rummaging through his backpack for a gadget that doesn't have a godforsaken bat symbol on it. "This." Tim says with gravitas, pulling it out and presenting it to the boy.
Midoriya takes it and cradles it like it's precious, inspecting it closely. "You made this?" He asks, voice sounding in awe, then after a long moment of him looking at it he adds; "What is it?"
"I didn't make it, I remodeled it." Tim corrects, throwing his bag over his shoulder and beginning to walk again. "Added different filters, an electric detector that tells you what is passing through the filter, and an optional tracking device built in, in case someone loses you."
Midoriya looks up at him like he's hung the moon and stars and Tim almost worries that the sparkles will get stuck in the boy's eyes. "That's amazing! So it's like a compact gas mask?" He asks, marvelling at the device even more.
"Not exactly, the rebreather is better than nothing but when in an emergency, your brain won't think not to breathe through your nose, so you need to be conscious to only breathe through your mouth when you use it," Tim explains to him, Midoriya looking up at him with wide eyes, at rapt attention. "It can also be used underwater, but only for a short period, since it's obviously not attached to an oxygen tank."
Midoriya nods along, his hand twitching like he wants to write this down...
"Hang on, I've got something," Tim says, slipping his backpack off again and rummaging through it, pulling out a small pamphlet. "Here, the instruction manual, it should have everything to know." He smiles, handing it to him.
Midoriya gapes at him, holding the rebreather to his chest like he's clutching his pearls. "You're letting me keep this?" He asks, utterly bewildered as he takes the pamphlet.
"Yeah, I can make another one," Tim says casually, shrugging his bag on again. In truth, he's already made, like, twenty, and is in the process of making it a mandatory equipment upgrade for the bat family, but Izuku didn't need to know that. "It's a useful tool, but let's hope you won't need to." He says with a playful wink, slowing down his walking pace as they make it to the front gates together.
Midoriya, looking suspiciously misty-eyed, nods, smiling brightly at him. "Yes, thank you very much!" He says loudly, bowing unnecessarily low.
Tim pats Midoriyas head, getting him to stand back up straight. "No problem, Midoriya, I'll see you around." He says, somewhat awkwardly removing himself from the interaction, speed walking away to the other end of campus where his classes were.
Midoriya stares after his... peer? Upperclassmen? He said he was in the first year too but Izuku felt like he was talking to a senpai, someone generally more mature than him, even if only a little bit. He fiddled with the protective case of the rebreather, chest light and happy from receiving a tool as a gift from someone so seemingly dependable. The two of them hadn't talked for very long but Midoriya had felt very comfortable for the walk to school with him, especially after the hounding from everyone else he came across. Izuku practically floated down the hall to his classroom, his steps bouncy as he makes his way through the corridors.
He smiled to himself, inspecting the plastic case more closely and seeing the small bird carved into it. He wondered if it was the boy's marking it as his own, telling people that it belonged to...
"Deku!" Uraraka greets loudly from behind him, waving at him cheerfully as she comes up from down the hall.
"I forgot to ask his name!" Izuku wails, almost falling over in grief if Uraraka hadn't been there to catch him.