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When Izuku started on his journey as a vigilante, he'd expected it to end with him dead in a gutter somewhere, not in UA as a hero student. So in a roundabout way, he was on his way to fulfilling his childhood dream. He couldn't complain about that.
Honestly, he wouldn't have been where he was now if he hadn't met Eraser and Denki, or if Kacchan wasn't so kind. If you told 1-year-ago-Izuku that he became a hero student, taught by the Eraserhead, with his childhood friend genuinely spending time with him, and someone to love, he'd laugh it off and say that you got the wrong person.
But he was here, and from here on out, his life could go nowhere but up.
"Hey Izu-?" Denki asked, stopping his train of thought that had been ongoing for the past two weeks.
"Yeah?"
"What did you want to say?"
"What did I want to..." Izuku started trying to remember what they had been talked about before his mind had veered off. His eyes widened as he remembered. Right! That was it! Izuku continued tutoring Kaminari on a particularly hard Math question.
"So, do you remember what square root means? It's ok if you don't." Izuku asked, while writing down a simple square root equation.
"Honestly, that's about the most I remember of math."
"Great! So, if there's a 3 right here," Izuku said while drawing a '3' on the equation, "That means it's a cube root, basically a square root but, the number is multiplied by itself 3 times. Makes sense?"
"Kinda?"
Izuku chuckled at Denki's response. "You'll get it Denks. You just need practice... And me as your tutor."
"Hopefully." They'd just come back from a tiring heroics class.
"Why are you so fast?! Tell me your secrets Viridiannn!!" begged Mina.
Izuku chuckled at the compliment. "Uh.. I guess with almost a year of running from hero's for their attention made me gain speed quick."
That and running from bullies for 13 years...
Mina blinked, then got a rather worryingly contemplative look on her face. "I wonder if we could get Aizawa-sensei to chase us..."
"Um... Maybe we could think of another way for you to get faster? WithoutmakingEraserupset,ifthat'sokay?"
"What was that last part? Didn't catch that." Mina said while turning around.
"NOTHING!" Izuku shouted as he put on his best 'I'm totally not lying grin.'
"Sure."
"Heh, if you want a hero to chase you until you get as fast as heck, then might as well have Izuku do the job" Kacchan walked up beside them while massaging his wrists.
"Kacchan's right." He'd never expect to say that line, but here he was.
"Alrightt!!- Well then, catch me if you can!" She went on a running start while Tenya runs along, "NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!!"
Izuku, surprisingly enough, was fast enough to keep up. Denki stared at the problem as if it was an alien language. Izuku explained it to him again, turning back just long enough to do so.
"Am I seeing this wrong or is Midoriya teaching math while chasing Ashido?" Shinsou deadpanned, taking a sip of his coffee.
“SO DENKS, TRY AND SOLVE WHAT I WROT- HEY NO FAIR! NO USING YOUR QUIRK MINA!!” Izuku yelled as he chased Mina up and down the halls of UA. Mina cackled as she slid down the next hall on her acid, looking back at the green haired boy dragging Kaminari, yelling at him. Shinsou decided that he wasn't going to question what the former vigilante was doing since it was probably going to end in disaster. By the time he finished his cup of coffee, Ashido was apprehended by Izuku, who's still tutoring Denki.
“Here, you forgot to carry the five.”
"Mhmm, and then you- hm?" he looked at his slightly burned arm, still holding onto Ashido and Denki's homework.
Mina saw Izuku was looking at something and looked in the same direction as he did, and apologized, “Oh my god! Did I burn you?! I’m so sorry Mido!” The weird thing was that, Izuku barely felt it when Mina burned him. He didn’t even feel it right when he saw it. Welp, that’s not concerning at all…
[9:21 AM] MiHwa: When Izuku tried to wave it off, everyone near them made a big deal out of it. Denki frantically showered him with questions if he was alright, Iida said something about going to Recovery Girl, Shinsou had taken out a medkit from his bag already. All for a small burn.
It felt... nice. He thought they'd eventually wave it off, but even when they knew he was a former vigilante who dealt with bigger things, they still cared for him,and he liked that.
For the first time in a long time, he felt safe. And he finally had his childhood dream back.
When he was finally all patched up and had gauze around his forearm, he smiled, tried (and failed) holding back tears while saying, “T-thank you guys…”
"That's what friends are for!"
Ah, Iida.
A few weeks after the "Math Chase Incident", (That's what Shinsou said once and everyone adopted it as the name) class 1-A was sparring in Gym Gamma. Izuku and Bakugo where paired up, which, by the way? Horrible idea, Aizawa. Anyway, it was a quirkless spar, and surprisingly, neither one of the students were winning. It was a complete standstill of dogding, throwing 1-2's, and breathing very harshly. Also some curses thrown in there by Bakugo.
"You got this Viri!"
"Beat his ass Viridian!!"
"Woah woah woah! Careful Viridian!"
And all sorts of encouraging cheers where shouted at Izuku. Finally, Bakugo let his guard down for a millisecond, which gave Izuku the opportunity to grab his wrist, twist, and sweep Bakugo's legs, making Izuku the champion of the nearly 25 minute sparring match.
"Um- You were really good too!" Izuku told Bakugou as he helped him up.
"...Thanks."
Time flew, and before long, final exams were coming up. "I'M GONNA DIEEE!!" Ashido cried, having 20th place in the first semester. Izuku made a mental note to spend more time tutoring her. She already was in his study group, but some one on one attention wouldn't hurt.
Izuku looked at the board again, 4th. Impossible. How could the only quirkless kid in the best hero course in all of Japan, get 4th in the mock practical exam? Izuku was good, at best, in combat, but practicality? Izuku swore he wasn't as good as the teachers thought he was. Then it dawned on him. His quirklessness was an asset here. He didn't have a quirk to accommodate when he did everything, from combat to rescue, so he was free to adapt on the fly.
The day of the final exams rolled around. Izuku did not feel ready. But when did he ever? At least he felt more confident for his academic and hero theory exams.
Until Sero thought it was a good idea to pull a harmless 'prank' on Izuku. He raised his hand while Aizawa was talking about what to expect during exams and what not.
"What, Sero?"
"Look, I'm sorry for bringing this up but, I think Viri shouldn't get the normal questions on the exams for quirk theory's and the 'what should a hero do' parts." Sero said, a small smirk painted on his face.
"Oh... fuck." Izuku was not looking forward to seeing the paper.
"Unfortunately, the papers have been set. I'm sorry, we can't change the questions at this point, especially not for only one student. " But thankfully for Izuku, the bureaucracy of school systems all over saved him, just this once.
His academic and hero theory papers were as easy as expected. He could see the straight As on the horizon already. The practicals were a different matter altogether. Even when Kendo from class 1-B told them that they will fight robots, something inside him screamed it's something else.
Unfortunately, the gut feeling was correct as the principal announced that each pair would go against a teacher.
Well... shoot.
Izuku was sort of lucky. He got placed with Aizawa. The teachers had some mercy on him and didn't put him up against All Might.
"Nedzu-san! Why am I paired up against All Might with Bakugou? Shouldn't Viridian do it with him since he's more manly- has more experience??" Kirishima asked innocently, unaware of the complete misery he's gonna put Izuku through.
"Pitting him against All Might would be unfair due to the sheer power differential."
He probably also doesn't want to make it awkward.
Izuku overheard Kirishima and Nedzu's conversation and couldn't help wondering what that would be like. A quirkless vigilante, well, hero in training, that only has a few weapons, up against the Symbol of Peace.
Izuku would rather die somewhere else, thank you very much.
Izuku found going against Aizawa really difficult though.
Aizawa had his capture weapon and years of practice. Even with a partner, could he really beat him?
Meanwhile..
Midoriya, aka Viridian, had experienced running from Shota multiple times, and succeeded. Why did he have to be the one going against him?
Unless Aizawa is going to force a confrontation with me. He knows damn well that I'm the stealthiest in the class, and I can run like it's no one's business.
In that case.... I'm screwed.
"Hey Midoriya! Got anything as a plan yet? I can't really move around yet though since.. Yeah-" Izuku winced as the memory of him asking Denki to technically kill Hagakure popped into his head. Now that he thought about it, did the teachers put them together on purpose?! They're lucky they didn't put Denki and her together since he'd handle it a lot worse - the memory of electrocuting her and all.
"Not really."
"Well then, how about I go to the escape gate? I think Aizawa will focus more on you since he'd expect you to be the one to run! That way, you can bait him into to thinking you're trying to escape! Sorry if it's a bad plan- Just came up with it"
"Sounds okay."
Dammit.
Izuku made his way to the gate.
Carefully looking around corners, he finally made his way to the end of the field.
Okay, Eraser's quirk is basically useless against me, that part is obvious.. Denki can try and place his plates around corners and on streetlamps, while-
Izuku's thoughts were cut off when a piece of Aizawa's scarf came flinging towards him.
He barely dodged and headed into the narrow alleyway, using one of his marbles(yes they still allow him to have marbles) and shot it at one of the paths of the alleyway, going the same path.
Obviously Eraser- Aizawa hadn't forgotten about the time he pulled that stunt, so he'd assume Izuku will go the other way thinking that he'd learn and go the other way. But Izuku also knew that Aizawa knew that he knew that he might change paths, so he went the same path the marble sounded.
Meanwhile, with Aizawa's attention focused on Izuku, Denki could focus on making his way to the escape gate.
He'd just about made it to the escape gate. And tripped over his own feet. Just after crossing the threshold. Letting out a sigh of relief, Izuku picked himself off the ground.
Then turned around to find Aizawa standing over him, panting slightly.
"Hehe... hey Eras- uhm I-I mean Aizawa-sensei."
“Problem child…”
Oh sh-
"Y-yeah?"
Era- Aizawa held out a hand. “Nice job kid,” he said with a smile.
Izuku was stunned for a second before hastily shaking the sleep-deprived teacher's hand
The rest of the exam went by quickly. The scores were basically spot on to what Izuku predicted, but of course, Izuku tried to say that "it was nothing" and that "it's just a hobby" ...none of class A listened and still praised him for it.
Not used to all the praise, he quickly made an excuse and went out to get some airHe found a bench and sat down, happy to not be crowded, when he heard footsteps trying to be quiet come from behind. “Hey Denks”, he said good-naturedly.
"What the- how did you even know it was me?!" Kaminari said as he skidded in front of Izuku.
“Denks, you are about as stealthy as a chihuahua with a large collar, you really need to work on that.”
"Harsh Izu.."
They both chuckled as Izuku rested his head on Denki’s shoulder.
"...Hey Denks?"
“Yeah, Izu?”
"If we make it to graduation, would you still like me? Like, as a quirkless person?"
Denki looked at Izuku in disbelief. “What kind of question is that? Of course! You are my sunshine, you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar, okay?”
Izuku looked back at Denki, tears pricking the ends of his eyes and replied, "Okay Denks.." He could tell his tone had some skepticism in it. While Izuku knew Denki wouldn’t lie to him, he couldn’t help but remember every time he’d been told otherwise. His mind flashed through every memory of his previous classmates telling him that he was worthless; a waste of space. That he didn’t deserve to be here. Was he really worth as much as Denki insisted he was? Then, to his surprise, Denki smiled and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss. Izuku squeaked before smiling into the kiss; he still wasn’t used to the idea that they could kiss now. What’s more, no one ever told him that people could put their emotions into it. He could feel Denki’s affection for him through the kiss, could feel the genuineness in his boyfriend’s previous words. And for once, even if it was just for a moment, he could believe he had some worth. Granted, even in this moment of bliss he still didn’t believe he was worth everything Denki said he was, but he could at least believe that he was worth something. And for now, that was enough. To their surprise, they heard cheers and hollers to their right. Whipping their heads to the commotion, they see class 1-A jumping up and down to the partner's interaction.
“How long have you guys been there?!” Denki exclaimed.
“Gu-guys!” Izuku blushed furiously.
“Well we heard Kaminari call you his ‘Sunshine’ and saw him kiss you so…” Mina replied, “since then I guess. And I just have to say, you guys are literally the cutest. Can I be best maid at your wedding?”
Izuku let out a sound equivalent to that of a keysmash. By that point, both of them were blushing madly. Though Denki was smirking, albeit nervously. Once they were all inside, Mina said that she could feel the heat from their faces. Aizawa gave them a look, but saw that they both looked like tomatoes and held out a hand to Midnight and Present mic, who both handed him some money, which he tucked in his capture weapon.
"You guys bet on us?!" Denki exclaimed
“Of course” Cementoss said.
“Yup.” Midnight really was just as shameless as people assumed. The other teachers looked a little more ashamed, but not by much. "I've had that one going for as long as you two've been friends" Aizawa said, patting his scarf.
“Eras-Aizawa-Sensei,” Izuku pouted, “how could you betray me like this?!”
Aizawa just smirked and stared at Izuku, who let out a terrified squeak before hiding behind his boyfriend out of instinct. And then blushed in embarrassment at remembering the tired man was no longer chasing after him. Chuckling, they boarded the bus with the other students and drove back to the main campus.
“So… Bakugo…” Kaminari started in a teasing tone, “you’re gonna be Iz-Viridian’s best man, huh?”
“Fuck off Pikachu!”
"That's Bakugo for you.." Was said somewhere from the back, though everyone knew that there was no bite behind his words. The rest of the day passed in good spirits.
Between his boyfriend teasing his childhood friend, Mina swapping gossip with Hagakure, Tsu and Uraraka somehow dragging Todoroki into playing Uno with them on a bus, Jiro pirating an anime movie on her laptop that five others managed to find a way to watch all together, and Aoyama terrorizing Tokoyami with glitter and fashion advice that definitely did not agree with the emo’s aesthetic, Izuku remembered how grateful he was to be here. A year ago, he had been ready to die, but now? Now, he could finally say he was truly happy; something he thought he’d never be fortunate enough to experience, and that he wanted to be alive. With that, he squeezed his boyfriend’s hand tighter, wanting that moment to last forever.
When they got back to the dorms, Denki took his hand and dragged Izuku to his room. Not that Izuku minded; time spent with Denki was time well-spent, in his opinion. They both sat on Denki’s bed, pondering what to do. Just as Izuku was about to suggest one of the video games his boyfriend loved so much, Denki spoke. “I know you don’t think highly of yourself, and I know I can’t change that overnight. But I hope you know that whenever you’re having those thoughts, you can just text me and I’ll be there. I don’t care however dumb or unimportant you think they are; I’m gonna keep telling you how amazing you are for as long as you need to hear it, and then some, okay?”
Izuku was shocked to say the least. though that didn't stop him from stealing a kiss. Similar to how Denki had with their previous one, Izuku tried conveying his emotions via the kiss. He wanted Denki to know how grateful he was, how much Izuku felt he could truly trust him, how much of an amazing boyfriend he was, how much Izuku loved him-
Wait, what?
Where did those thoughts come from?
Obviously, he was romantically attracted to Denki or else they wouldn’t be dating but… love? Do teenagers even know what love is?! Oh god, what is love?! What does it mean to tell someone you love them? What’s the difference between romantic love and platonic love? What if Izuku just had strong platonic feelings for Denki and not the romantic ones like he thought? What if-
“Izu, hey, you with me?”
"..huh?"
Did Izuku zone out in the middle of a kiss?!
"sorry- did you say something?"
“Well, uh, you kinda zoned out in the middle of a kiss and were on the verge of hyperventilating so… something on your mind?”
"Oh I-" Izuku stopped. Denki said that Izuku could tell him anything. Should he say what's on his mind or keep it locked away like the rest of his problems? The thing about the second option was that he usually ended up telling Denki anyways, or Denki would manage to figure it out on his own. Izuku really wasn’t good at hiding things from his boyfriend.
“It’s okay Izu, you can tell me” Denki said.
He trusted Denki. Of course he did. Denki was probably the most wonderful person Izuku has ever met and deserved to know.
…but what if he was moving too fast? What if Denki said it back out of panic, or guilt? He couldn’t pressure his boyfriend into saying those three words. But at the same time-
No. Rip off the band-aid Izuku. Rip it off before your thoughts get the best of you.
“Uhm…” he started, “I, uh… well… you see…”
“I love you.”
Denki’s face went blank, as if he couldn’t quote process what Izuku had just said. Just as panic was about to build up, the electric teen’s eyes widened and began to water a little.
Then he said the four words that Izuku would remember for the rest of his life. “I love you too.”
…Cue the infamous Midoriya Water Show.
Years passed, they graduated UA, Izuku becoming a semi- underground hero, and Denki become a popular spotlight hero. After six years of dating and four of being pro heroes, they decided to get married. Only their closest friends and family had been invited; meaning a couple of their teachers from UA, Class 1-A, a couple of people from 1-B they had befriended over the years, a few Underground Heroes Izuku has bonded with, Eri, and, of course, both their families. As requested, Mina, who they had grown closer to, was the best maid, and Bakugou was the best man. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Izuku and Denki sobbed the whole time; Izuku more so because of the infamous Midoriya tears.
However, to absolutely everyone’s surprise, Kacchan let out a tear or two. He could deny it all he wanted to, but unfortunately for him, multiple people caught it on camera. The ceremony was small, but it was the greatest thing that had happened to them. Finding their significant other was the greatest gift ever. And they were so happy that they decided to take a chance at that hardware store.