Chapter Text
Shota reluctantly opened his eyes and stared at his ceiling for a moment and just let his alarm ring. Sighing to himself, he rolled over and shut off the persistent beeping. Shuffling out of bed and making a bee line to the kitchen and therefore the coffee, he sighed while he waited for the liquid gold to finish brewing. He sleepily checked his phone for any news before pouring a cup of the fragrant drink. He paused, savoring the smell for a moment before chugging the entire thing in ten seconds flat and beginning the rest of his morning routine.
A handful of moments later, he was grabbing his wallet and key, coffee thermos in hand as he strolled out the door. It was Monday morning, and as much as he wanted to catch up on the sleep he desperately needed after covering for a fellow underground hero’s route on top of his own for the last two days, he had a class to whip into shape. They always came back with over inflated egos after internships, and he have the lovely job of reminding them that they weren’t in fact, all that, and that they actually needed to prepare for the final exam, both parts, if they wished to have the slightest chance of remaining in school for another semester. Luckily, last week had shown him that despite the absolute disaster that was Hosu, most of his students had managed to learn something practical and refrain from letting it go directly to their heads. Still, he wasn’t looking forward to the endless whining he was going to have to deal with when he started assigning finals review work.
Thankfully, he reached the UA gates without incident, nodding with a small smirk to Nemuri who was running late, her coat flapping around her and high heels clicking rapidly on the pavement as she jogged. As she passed him, she shifted her bag purse into the same arm and without looking, flipped him the bird over her shoulder. His smirk widened, teeth bared into a sight that all his students learned to fear at the sight of his usually seductive friend running across the lawn, her things bundled to her chest and her coat flapping like a tail. Shaking his head to himself, he started leisurely after her. Nemuri was only in a rush because she believed in having lesson plans that require set up. Still amused at her antics, he made his way to the classroom, only to pause in confusion. His class was huddled around the door, with only seconds to go until the bell. He glowered at them, hiding the concern that was blooming in his gut. The feeling intensified at the sight of Bakugo, pale and shaken. Still, he grumbled out, “Would someone care to explain why all of you decided to stand out in the hallway, and be late for homeroom?” Right on schedule, the bell rang not even a second after he finished speaking.
Ashido looked up and met his gaze before answering, “Um,” she said quietly, a nervous tension lining her shoulders. “Bakugo’s been blocking the door, and he really seems to think we should wait.”
He sighed heavily in response, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Come on brats,” he huffed tiredly in spite of his ever-growing concern. “Bakugo, whatever problem there is, I’ll deal with it. just get up before I have to give you detention.”
Clearly reluctant, Bakugo got up and slid the door open. Though he didn’t show it, Shota was on guard. Bakugo was a very prideful person; he tried to picture what might have put him in this state, and the images he configured were horrific. Still, he strode past the strangely silent and drawn boy in order to be the first to enter the classroom. He paused, blinking at the sight that met his eyes.
Of all the monstrous things he had imagined, Midoriya certainly hadn’t come to mind.
And yet, he still felt on guard at the sight of the student’s unusual appearance. Midoriya was strong willed and incredibly determined, but he held immense respect for all his teachers, and was a generally shy kid. Seeing him sit atop his desk, swinging his legs like a child, archaic black lines painted on his arms and face, humming a song under his breath, and an intense stare on his face… it was unsettling. Still, he began to usher the rest of the students into the classroom because strange student behavior or not, he still had a class to teach.
It was then, of course, that Midoriya giggled and threw away a petal-less flower stem as if it were a javelin. Shota realized he had misjudged the situation. This was not Midoriya acting out, or general teenage nonsense. He felt a shiver run down his spine and ice fill his veins as he felt the barest hint of what seemed like unrefined killing intent brush against his skin.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hizashi threw open the door to the classroom with cheerful dramatic flair, and began to crow his greeting, only to choke. The atmosphere in the classroom was suffocating. He froze in the doorway, sweat gathering at the back of his neck as he glanced around, trying to determine the source of the oppressive air, only to feel the chill intensify at the sight of Midoriya. Midoriya, a sunshine child, and one of the brightest and kindest students he knew, was sitting at a desk whose surface was covered in black marker, some of the insults visible even at a distance. He painted an unsettling picture, with his dark markings and flower crown. He faced him, his head tilted to the side with a closed-eye smile, and Hizashi felt the sweat trickle down his spine. “G-good morning, listeners!” He managed to stutter out.
The class was silent, still in a manner that he had never seen before until Midoriya responded with a nod, which most seemed to take a cue to respond, for quiet calls of ‘good morning’ echoed through the room after.
Hizashi hesitantly made his way to the podium at the front of the room. He was the teacher, and unnerving circumstances didn’t change that. He had an English lesson to teach. But even as he talked himself up, he could feel the oppressive weight of Midoriya’s attention. He glanced back over to the kid as he hesitantly made his way to the front of the room; Midoriya’s eyes were dark and sharp, Hizashi felt as if his gaze could see right through him, peeling back the layers of persona and defense until his every thought and weakness was laid out in the open for perusal. He shivered faintly, the hair on the back of his neck standing unsettlingly on end. He took a deep breath. This was going to be a long ninety minutes.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hizashi flew through the door to the teachers’ lounge, the door slamming into the wooden jam with a bang and bounced back, sliding back out to half-cover the entrance. Snipe’s head snapped up in alarm at the sound, before shifting to confusion at the sight of him in the doorway. Nemuri had turned from the coffee pot, delicately lifting a single eyebrow after meeting his eyes; she was more accustomed to his dramatic attitude. Thirteen jumped in her seat, the white eye shapes on her helmet wide, her knees banging into the bottom of her desk causing her things to jump and rattle. Normally, Hizashi would feel bad about scaring his younger coworker. But normally Hizashi didn’t have to deal with Midoriya.
“Did you know?” he asked the room, accusingly. He was met with blank stares and confusion. Still, he stared at everyone at length. Nemuri stepped forward cautiously, the flatly amused look in her eye no longer present.
“Hizashi?” She said questioningly, her voice quiet and her hands half-raised in front of her; akin to how one would approach a wild animal. At the moment, Hizashi felt the action was appropriate. “What’s going on?”
Still, he had to be sure. “None of you know?”
Nemuri just shook her head at him, the picture of confusion. “Know what?”
He sagged in relief. Just a bit. “Oh. Midoriya’s on a warpath - I have no idea why - and I thought that maybe you guys didn’t tell me on purpose as a prank, and if that was the case, I was gonna have to counter-prank, and I’m too stressed for that right now, and that would mean I must have done something to get pranked in the first place, and I have no idea what that could have been, the last few weeks have been really quiet-” Nemuri’s hands landed on his shoulders, cutting off his rambling.
“Hizashi, take a deep breath.” He did as she said. “Now,” she said slowly and calmly, staring him right in the eyes, “explain what’s going on, from the top, slowly.”
“Midoriya is terrifying. I don’t know why he decided to show it now, but he’s apparently been this way the whole time, and I never knew, which only makes it worse,” he whined.
Nemuri blinked at him, confused, as she stepped back, allowing him greater sight of the room. Everyone else was also looking at him in puzzlement.
“… what?” Vlad murmured in confusion.
“He’s horrifying!” Hizashi exclaimed. “His desk is covered in insults, and he sits at it as if it were a throne, and the way he looks, and looks at you…” Hizashi shivered. “He was in total control of the classroom the whole time.” He stared Nemuri in the eye. “I’ve never felt that sort of presence from a child before. It was… disturbing, Nem. He gave me a single glance, and with it he managed to convey that he could rip me to shreds, and the only reason he hadn’t was because he couldn’t be bothered to.” He huffed, his fingers ringing together in front of him, his eyes dropping to his hands before looking back up again. “Never before have I felt so close to being afraid of a student. A student, Nem. I love the little listeners!”
“Wait,” Snipe interjected, lifting a hand. “Back it up. Midoriya scared you? The little green kid? Ball of sunshine from 1-A? That Midoriya?”
Hizashi groaned at the visible disbelief in Snipe’s eyes. “Yes, that Midoriya. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I swear it’s true. The kid is terrifying.” He shuddered. “That he has been able to hide it so well only makes it worse.”
“Okay…” Nemuri hummed. “First of all, are you okay?”
Hizashi sniffed dramatically. “No.”
Nemuri raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh. Are all the kids okay?
“Probably?”
Nemuri nodded. “Alright. If everything’s alright on that front at the moment, then perhaps we should try to figure out what caused this?”
Hizashi wasn’t happy with the lack of immediate action being taken, but huffed in assent none the less. Giving a nod, Nemuri made her way over to her desk, unlocking her computer and began to search. They didn’t have to look long. And what they found left trickles of ice trailing down his spine.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Toshinori was having a pleasant day. Emphasis on the ‘was’, because that ended as soon as he walked into the teacher’s lounge after second period. He pushed open the sliding door, a soft greeting on his lips, but the words froze in his throat as he heard a tinny young voice emanating from one of the computers in the room; likely Kayama-san’s, given the way that Snipe, Hizashi, and Vlad were circled around it, Thirteen lingering nearby.
“-nuisance. He was such a pathetic little twerp, there’s no way he legitimately won that festival, not against his quirked betters. We all know quirkless equates to worthless, and you don’t get more quirkless than Midoriya. It’s not their fault they’re lesser,” the voice continued, dripping with condescension as ice filled Toshinori’s veins, “but they could at least stay out of our way.” There was an irritated huff. “So now you know. The UA Sports Festival winner is a quirkless chea-” the video cut out. He looked up from where he was glaring intently at the computer to see five pairs of wide eyes trained on him. It took him a moment to realize he was still holding the door, which now had a semi-circle chunk taken out of it where he had been holding on; the wood reduced to splinters. Still, he could hardly bring himself to care. “Who,” he asked, his voice low and rumbling, a tone that typically only came out in his Might form when he was long past the point of caring about appearing family friendly, “did this?”
Nemuri, still staring gulped nervously before glancing back down and attempting to compose herself. “I’m not sure,” she admitted, turning the computer around to show him the screen. On it was an image of a young man in all black with a mask on. “The boy doesn’t show his face, and we only just found the video. There might be a way to find his IP address, but I wouldn’t be the person to ask.” A part of Toshinori was impressed by how well she was holding together. He was well aware of how terrifying he could be, even in his smaller state. (One for All always had a presence whether he was using it or not, and it left an unsettling aura around him. If the world didn’t adore his hero persona as much as it did, perhaps they would be more inclined to notice the subtle feeling of other that seemed to radiate from him. Luckily or not, his smaller form has none of the attention and adoration that clings to his larger one, and the side effect of One for All is felt full force. There is a reason he has so few friends.) A larger part was far too focused on the horrid video in front of him, and his deep, abiding desire to find it’s creator and rip into them.
Still, he recognized that there wasn’t anything he could do immediately beyond taking the computer to Nedzu and staring the little rodent down until he dealt with it, and he could see his fury freezing the other teachers in place, so he took a deep breath, and pulled in his anger, turning it in on itself, and bundling it up until he could stuff it in a little box. His fury hadn’t diminished, no, he could still feel it raging in the back of his mind, but he had managed to hide it for now; saving it up until he was presented with a more appropriate target. His younger colleagues visibly relaxed. “Alright,” he murmured, pulling out his phone and snapping a photo of the name of the video. “I’ll take this to Nedzu,” he said, holding up his phone before turning around and walking out of the lounge.
As he slid the door closed behind him, he heard a heavy sigh and then a voice that sounded an awful lot like Hizashi-san’s wheeze “Holy-” before the door fully closed and the sound was cut off. Toshinori huffed to himself. He didn’t intend to scare them as he had, but sometimes it was nice to remind others that there was more to him than eye-searing costumes and cheesy one-liners. There were very few people who were aware of just how much work he put in to seem less threatening. Not that he wasn’t a dork with no fashion sense, but he had certainly exaggerated those traits to a comical degree. He had quickly found that people were far less likely to be afraid of a giant, muscle bound man if they thought that was all he was. Most of the time he didn’t really mind. Playing the idiot was fun.
Even still, he thought, looking down at his phone, which now held the barest beginnings of proof, there were times when he wished the general populace would take him more seriously. He had done a number of bulling and discrimination seminars when he was younger, not that he had directly mentioned the quirkless community because heaven forbid a public figure dare to mention them on television, but he had made an effort to prevent this sort of behavior. Looking back, it didn’t seem like nearly enough. Admittedly, at first, he was more concerned with (not) dealing with Nana’s death, and All for One, and then his recovery, but afterward, beyond the hero commission’s blatant (and heavily enforced) discouragement, there was no reason he shouldn’t have picked up where he left off.
He still remembered what it was like when he was younger, the constant stares and social isolation, the bullying and occasional casual negligence and abuse. He never wanted anyone else to go through that. And yet, his original goal had fallen to the wayside, and now another child, a bright, brilliant, child, one he cared for, had suffered similar, if not worse treatment. Now that he had gotten passed the original surge of anger, he could recognize that some of it was directed inwards.
He huffed, shaking his head to pull himself out of his thoughts. The door to the principal’s office stood in front of him, and he always needed every ounce of his wits to deal with the conniving mammal. He silently thanked the stars that Nedzu’s first experience with humanity hadn’t completely turned him against them as he raised his hand to knock, his knuckles never reaching the wood. He would take the passive sadism over villainy any day of the week.
He strode into the room, his head up and a steely glint in his eye. “Yagi-san!” Nedzu chirped cheerfully. “What bring you to my office?” he asked, a knowing look on his face.
“Were you aware of this?” he asked, his voice hard as he opened his phone and showed the photo he had taken of Nemuri’s computer screen.
Nedzu barely glanced at it. “Of course!” he said cheerfully. Seeing the thunderous look he must have had on his face, Nedzu continued, “I have Maijima on it as we speak!” he reassured, and Toshinori all but slumped in relief. He had doubted that Nedzu would allow an attack (for that is the only word to describe the horrid video) on one of his students to stand, but Toshinori could never tell what would be a fight with the white mammal. “You have a plan.” He wasn’t asking.
“Of course!” Nedzu chirped once more, his smile wide and sharp. “Who do you take me for?” With that Toshinori turned towards the door. “Yagi-san,” Nedzu said, causing Toshinori to pause and turn to meet the dog-mouse-bear’s eyes again. “You’re going to check on Midoriya-kun, yes?” Toshinori didn’t answer in the half-second he was given, but Nedzu must have seen some form of confirmation in his eyes. “Before you do, I must caution you,” the ice had taken up residence in Toshinori’s veins once more, “to truly see him before you leap to conclusions.”
“What is that supposed to mean,” he all but growled out.
“Multiple students have seen the video, and a few students lashed out upon learning that they were beaten by a student they perceive to be beneath them.” The ice spread rapidly, curling around his lung, making it difficult to breathe, and leaving his heart beating furiously in his chest.
“What?” he whispered hoarsely, the single word filled with horror as his mind immediately began to fill with awful images: Midoriya bruised, Midoriya isolated, Midoriya ignored and scorned, Midoriya’s joyful rambling voice silenced- he couldn’t bear the thought.
A loud clap broke him out of his thoughts, leaving him feeling unbalanced. “Yagi-san!” Nedzu exclaimed. There was a strange light in his eyes. “I promise you Midoriya-kun is alright. He is a strong young man a promising hero student. While I have every intention to intervene – I would never let an offence such as this pass unnoticed – Midoriya-kun seems to have it under control. I merely meant to warn you that Midoriya has taken to using his appearance as a way of fighting back, and to not be alarmed by the rather drastic change.” Nedzu waited a moment before continuing in a quieter tone. “I did not intend to cause you any distress.” The swish of the principal’s tail as it swung from side to side was the only sound in the office as Toshinori processed what he had said, the ice beginning to recede and his heart rate dropping into a far more sustainable rhythm.
Finally feeling solidly back on his feet, Toshinori nodded at the small mammal before walking calmly out of the office. He immediately went to check the 1-A classroom, only to find it empty. Sighing as he realized that it was lunch period, albeit near the end, he turned to head towards the cafeteria before something caught his eye. There were strange marks on Midoriya’s desk. Trepidation swirled in his gut as he walked closer until he was able to read what was written. His stomach sank even as the flames of his fury were fanned. No one should be treated this way. He turned to make his way to the cafeteria when the end of period bell rang. Toshinori stifled a groan. He just wanted to check on the kid, and now it was looking like he’d have to wait until the end of the next period. He had a class to teach, after all. He was walking slowly towards his class, passing through throngs of students that filled the hallway, dragging his feet (he knew it was childish, but that wasn’t about to stop him) when he spotted an empty classroom. Eyes alight, he stepped in, leaving the door cracked open. He didn’t really need to be in his hero costume for this lesson, so all he needed was a place where he could transform without being seen! He could just rush to class afterwards! He had enough time. He stood, mostly out of sight, peering through the small opening, and waited. Not too long after, a strange hush passed over the students and the crowd thinned significantly. There, in the center of the hall, heading his way, was Midoriya.
At first, Toshinori was confused. Even at a distance, he looked different. Then he was concerned as the differences became clearer. Finally, Midoriya drew close enough that Toshinori was able to make out all the details, and the pieces clicked into place. From the crown of flowers to his painted jacket (he had a sneaking suspicion that were he able to catch more than mere glimpses of the back as it moved around him, he would be able to read out, verbatim, the insults that were left at his desk) Midoriya was claiming the insults as his own. In his own way, Midoriya was showing that he was proud to be quirkless and shoving it in the entire school’s face.
Toshinori couldn’t be more proud.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Striding away after leaving Mineta to his humiliation, Midoriya continued his way to class. He was halfway through the heroic’s wing when a strange sight met his eye. He wasn’t sure why Yagi-san was hiding behind a door giving him a thumbs up with that massive grin of his, but deep gratitude for the man welled up at the sight. He didn’t acknowledge the man beyond a simple nod, but if the way the man’s grin stretched even wider was any indication, the message was received none the less.
Even still, he made a mental note to thank Yagi-san later. He sighed to himself. When his determination to show everyone what exactly he was made of finally passed, his friends’ support was going to make him a blubbering mess.