Chapter Text
Nedzu stared down at Midoriya with sharp eyes, at a loss for words for what to say. Not for the first time, this student had caught him off guard. The week-long final had been eye-opening for him, but this was the first time he had spoken with Midoriya since the final began.
Izuku sighed, flexing his broken arm as if it wasn’t injured, “I understand if the answer is no, but I should say I have every intention of completing this plan without the help of anyone here.”
Nedzu held up his paw with a soft chuckle, “My silence was not a denial, Midoriya.”
“Izuku,” he corrected which caused Nedzu’s ears to twitch, “Today’s the start of a new chapter in my life and I’ve never been fond of my surname so I would like to start fresh with everything, including my name.”
Grinning, Nedzu nodded, “Well then, Izuku, as I was saying, my silence isn’t a denial. You have to understand that I was not expecting such a proposal from you.”
“You were expecting that you would have to be the one to do it?” Izuku asked with a sly grin.
“Exactly.”
Izuku chuckled, which caused Nedzu to shiver from how similar it sounded to Aizawa. “So your answer?”
Leaning forward, Nedzu mimicked Izuku’s grin, “I believe you already know what it is.”
“Well then,” Izuku said as he stood and held out his hand, “I look forward to learning from you, Nedzu-sensei.”
Taking his hand, he chuckled, “And I, you, Izuku. Now I suppose you must go to Recovery Girl before the start of school?”
He nodded, shuffling over to pick up a pawn on the assembled chessboard in the corner. Watching Izuku place the pawn back on the board two squares forward, Nedzu asked, “How are you planning to address the final with your classmates.”
Hesitating to take his hand off the pawn, Izuku glanced back at Nedzu. “The way I’ve never done it before.”
“Which is?”
Izuku dropped his hand and moved to the door. As he opened the door, he answered, “By telling the truth.”
Nedzu didn’t say anything else as he watched Izuku leave. He was an interesting student to put it plainly. In all his years at UA, he had never met a student who could keep pace with him, much less race ahead.
Flicking open the black notebook Izuku had handed to him, Nedzu couldn’t help the gleeful chuckle that escaped his lips as he scanned the tight writing on the page. Flipping through the pages and reading how Izuku figured out all his plans made his smile grow wider than it ever had in his life.
What an interesting student indeed.
“I’m just saying,” Tick mumbled to herself as she threw a heavy bag at Melancholy, “why do we have to drive there and camp out when the stupid League can just teleport when it’s time.”
“Because,” Maniac snapped, jamming the hilt of her blade into Tick’s sighed, “Boss doesn’t trust their leader and I would rather have time to scope out the location before it’s overrun with children.”
“I could just kill them.”
Takaida groaned as he listened to his team bicker. If they continued to act like this on the road, he could not be held responsible for throwing one out the window. “Tick,” he said.
“Yes, boss!”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“And if I refuse,” she barked back with the same bite Takaida had given to her.
“We’re going early so we can get what we need before the fucking League arrives and ruins everything.”
“Makes sense,” Maniac shrugged, opening the door to slide into the passenger seat next to Takaida, “Those children are bound to fuck it up once they get there.”
“Oh!” Tick shouted, shoving her head through Takaida’s window, “so we’re going early in order to steal the prize. I am so down, but can I still kill someone?”
“Yes, Tick, you can still kill people.”
She threw her hands up, nearly slapping him in the face, “Hell yeah! I get to kill people!”
“If you don’t shut up,” he threatened, “You won’t be able to.”
“My lips are sealed.”
Lady snorted as she passed Tick, “We’ll see about that.”
“Where’s Viper?” HellFire shouted from the bed of the truck in front of Takaida’s.
“Fucking driving the car you’re in, dumbass!” Lady shouted, throwing her ax at him just as Inko slammed her foot on the gas. The truck surge and HellFire went tumbling over the edge of the truck. Face planting into the dirt, he rolled childishly on the ground. Kicking his feet sporadically, he wailed, “You cruel mistress, why must you hurt me so?”
Shaking her head, Lady said nothing as she stepped over him and climbed into the back of the truck once Inko had stopped.
“Red, that’s hot,” HellFire mumbled as he stood only to be knocked to the ground when Lady kicked him in the face. Takaida groaned. This was going to be a long day but he had to keep reminding himself that it was worth it. This was the start of their plans, a new chapter. They were going to get Inko’s brat back and finally finish what he had been preparing for years. He was going to destroy everything this pathetic world cherished and he was going to start with Midoriya Izuku.