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“Consider yourself expelled. Grab your things and leave.”
The demand came as cold and callus. Izuku felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him and he partially expected Mr. Aizawa to say “Sike! I was just joking!” But Mr. Aizawa didn’t look like the type to joke, although if he were, he would definitely make a joke about something so heartbreaking.
“Wha- What? Me? Expelled?!” Izuku couldn’t believe it. But there was no denying those words were directed at him. Aizawa was glaring right at him!
“Do I have to repeat myself?” Aizawa rolled his eyes. “I’m not in the business of raising lambs for slaughter. Having a quirkless kid training to be a hero would be a liability. The last thing UA needs is a concerned parent suing the school because you can’t keep up.”
“But-” Izuku felt tears well up in his eyes. “UA is a non-discriminatory school! Quirkless people are allowed to apply! I got accepted!”
“An oversight. Doesn’t really matter,” Aizawa shrugged. “Your blood isn’t going to be on my hands. I guess,” he sighed. “You should have tried out for the general ed course.”
Sensing nothing he could say would change Aizawa’s mind, Izuku turned to his lifelong friend and future partner in heroism, Bakugou. The blond’s jaw dropped, and Izuku’s beseeching look shocked him into something other than baffled. Anger poured into his eyes from the never-ending tap he always had. His fist clenched at his sides. “This must be a sick fucking joke!” He growled.
Izuku looked at the other students, but very few would meet his eyes. Most of them looked down at their feet, and a couple of them were even crying due to all the shouting.
“Oh?” Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to get expelled as well?”
Izuku gasped, realistically, if his hero career was in the garbage, he at least wanted Kacchan to have one. “No, Kacchan…it’s fine.” He sniffled and turned toward the locker rooms. “I’ll…I’ll go…”
But before he could walk by, Kacchan’s arm gripped his shirt in a tight grasp and held him firm. “Like hell you are!” He spat. “Oi!” He turned to Izuku and nearly shook him. “What did you say his name was? Pencildick?”
“Eraserhead!” Izuku nearly shouted. “Kacchan, you’re gonna get in trouble!”
“Oi! Pencildick! You aren’t going to expel my sidekick, here. He’s too fucking smart for you to shove him off. He knew who you were from the second you walked in the door. It shows how fucking lousy you are as an underground hero! And if you’re that shit as a hero, you must be an absolute quack of a teacher to expel him. It’s 80 degrees out here and you're in sweats and a scarf looking like the neighborhood trigger addict!”
Gasps circled throughout the gathered crowd at the sudden insults. Izuku could see a navy-haired boy getting ready to defend Mr. Aizawa, but Bakugou was far from over.
“How fucking dare you try to expel Deku when he’s so smart, he’s already analyzed every other student’s quirk without even talking to them. You don’t deserve to teach at UA! As a matter of fucking fact, you don’t deserve to teach anywhere you self-centered, lazy-ass, half-wit quirkist.”
Kacchan was huffing between each breath, Izuku swore he was going to work himself into a fit. “Deku,” He shook Izuku’s arm. “Analyze that Pikachu’s quirk! Tell him everything.”
“Hey, Man, it’s Kaminari-” Another blond boy in the crowd piped up but was silenced by Kacchan’s glare.
“W-well uh,” Izuku twisted his fingers together nervously. “Obviously he has some sort of electrification quirk. But since we’re out on a field with the nearest electronics being the lights and a few pieces of equipment, it’s safe to assume his quirk draws on internal power over external factors. He barely used it at all during the tests, and when he did use it, there were obvious physical drawbacks which means he hasn’t gained control over it yet. It also enforces the idea that his quirk draws from an internal power as the equipment around him didn’t malfunction the one time he tried to use his quirk during the grip test. It could be possible that if he installed an exterior power source in his hero costume, he could lessen the physical drawbacks, and maybe even avoid internalizing to voltage completely. I think, with proper training, Kaminari could be a great hero with advantages in both close and long-range battles. I think he’d do exponentially better with more support items. Something that could store or delay his electric attacks would be great, but it would need to be unobtrusive to his activity or else he could be overwhelmed in a fight-”
Izuku would have continued but Kacchan’s hand covered his mouth. “And that’s from one glance at Pikachu while he was using his quirk! Imagine what he could do in a fight.”
Kacchan was left glaring at Aizawa who merely looked bored with the whole proceedings. “Is that all? Have you gotten it all out of your system?” He snarked. “If you’re done, we need to get back to class and your little quirkless friend needs to leave the premises.”
“Wait, sir,” The navy-haired boy from earlier held his hand up as he spoke. “Perhaps it was a rash decision the expel our classmate so suddenly. It seems as though he’s done quite a bit of preparing for hero school and he should have a fair chance with the rest of us.”
“Yeah!” Kaminari agreed. “I never thought about half the things he just said! He must be a genius.”
“You aren’t here to make friends,” Aizawa glared, eyes lighting up red as he activated his quirk to intimidate the crowd. “If you’re so eager to have a liability in this class, you can join him walking out the door.”
“Excuse me, sir, but isn’t it actually beneficial to make friends here?” A red-haired boy stepped forward. “I mean, even if half of us decide the hero track isn’t for us, the other half will still be our potential coworkers in the future. We must get to know each other and get along…”
“Do you all have a problem with how I run my class?” Aizawa’s hair was starting to float and Izuku couldn’t tear his eyes away from the class as most of them gave nods of agreement. “It’s obvious most of you are extremely disillusioned about what the real world is like. You may not like the way I run my class, but the alternative is all of you walking out the door with Midoriya.”
“Not if we stage a fucking mutiny,” Bakugou growled. “Anyone could be a better teacher than you.”
“A mutiny?” Iida asked, stunned.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Kaminari smiled excitedly. “Mutiny! Let’s go!”
“Mutiny!” Bakugou echoed.
It started with just the two of them, but the red-haired boy from before soon joined in the chant. From there it was like a wave took over the class. Izuku could seem most of them were doing it to just join the chant, but a few of his fellow students were sparing scathing looks at Aizawa the entire time they cheered. To Izuku’s utter amazement, even Iida joined in. At first, the boy merely looked around at the crowd shouting ‘Mutiny’ at Aizawa, but then he started to clap as if timing out the chant. And of course, as the chant grew more spirited, he started to join in. Ironically, Izuku was one of the last ones to join the chant.
“Fine,” Aizawa swooped in and pushed Izuku out of the group to the spot he was standing in previously. “If you’re so eager for him to stay, let him teach you how to not die on the battlefield. I’m going to go take a nap. When you are all through with behaving like spoiled brats, come find me.”
Izuku could practically see the vein on Aizawa’s forehead threatening to burst out. But then he was left in front of the students, wondering what to do. It wasn’t as if Aizawa left behind any lesson plans either! “Um…So, I’m Midoriya Izuku…”
They went around, introducing themselves until Kirishima, the aforementioned redhead, asked the question nagging Izuku’s mind. “So does this mean you’re actually the teacher now?”
“Well, I…”
“He’d be better than that fucking Pencildick,” Kacchan was never one to pass up on an opportunity to insult someone who deserved it.
“Can you tell me about my quirk?” Uraraka piped up excitedly. “That was super cool, Mr. Midoriya!”
She said it as a joke, clearly, but as he gave his analysis of her quirk and its potential uses, the next person who asked also seemed to address him as such. It was…oddly empowering. Sure, he was a quirkless student who had been expelled from the hero school of his dreams, but to be able to pretend to be a teacher at said prestigious school was a dream come true! Izuku’s attention was stolen by a rather short boy with some sort of mutation quirk raising his hand to be analyzed next.
“Mineta Minoru here,” The boy smiled, striking some sort of silly pose. “And my quirk is sticky balls-”
Immediately laughter echoed from the crowd of students and Izuku’s eyes zeroed in on Kaminari.
“B-Basically,” Mineta continued, obviously trying to ignore the laughter. “I have balls on the top of my head-”
Mineta’s words slurred with a sudden lisp and Izuku saw Kaminari wheezing in laughter. His eyes narrowed and he held up a hand to silence Mineta’s flustered stuttering. “Kaminari, is there something you find funny?” Izuku asked with his arms crossed over his chest. Silence descended among the group and people stepped aside to expose Kaminari’s failed attempt at smothered laughter. Clearly, the boy didn’t understand what he was doing as wrong or didn’t understand that Izuku was upset with him as he shook his head and smiled.
“It- It’s just funny that-” He tried explaining, pointing at Mineta but Izuku didn’t give him the chance to elaborate.
“You think someone else’s quirk is funny?”
That finally caught Kaminari’s attention as he noticed others had stepped back to distance themselves. Nobody else was smiling or laughing. It was very sobering to him, it looked like. “Uh…no?”
Izuku tilted his head. “You say that as a question. But I’m already asking you one. Do you think that Mineta’s quirk is funny?”
“Well, obviously I didn’t mean it in a bad way-”
“There is only one way to take the way you were laughing during Mineta’s explanation. And I don’t tolerate bullying!” Kacchan stood forward, offering his support as Izuku’s quiet enforcer, but Izuku was sure that wasn’t necessary. “You will apologize right now.”
Kaminari looked over to Mineta. “Sorry, dude,” He muttered quickly, but Izuku wasn’t satisfied. “Sorry for what, Kaminari?”
“I’m sorry for laughing at your quirk.” He clarified.
“Good,” Izuku nodded his satisfaction. “I expect you to stay silent for the rest of this class…Now if you’d like to continue, Mineta?”
Mineta clearly had some sort of speech impediment he was well-experienced in hiding. After recovering his bearings after the mockery of his quick, it took a few lisped words until he was speaking in a normal cadence. It was almost sad, the feeling that settled into Izuku’s belly, as he saw a small bear-like creature in a suit start to make its way out to the track. He wished he’d had more time to spend with these people, but Izuku assumed it meant it was time for him to be escorted off the property.
“Well, it seems as though you kids have had an adventurous first class at UA,” he smiled, and Izuku tensed as he reached up to grab his sleeve and pull himself up. Without anything better to do, Izuku helped the strange creature climb up until he sat on his shoulder. “My name is Nedzu and I am the principal here at UA!”
Izuku nearly dropped him.
“I’ve been watching on the cameras for a while,” Nedzu continued, holding on to Izuku’s neck. “I hope you’ve all enjoyed your class despite the unfortunate departure of your original teacher.”
“Good riddance,” Kacchan, it seemed, couldn’t help but scoff.
“Quite,” Nedzu’s happy attitude didn’t waver. “But it’s nearly time for the start of your next class. Everyone, please get changed back to your uniforms. Mr. Midoriya, if you wouldn’t mind coming with me to my office?” Nedzu looked down at Izuku’s horrified face. “Don’t worry, you won’t miss your second class. We just have a few things to work out.”
It wasn’t quite the reassurance Izuku hoped for, but, tentatively, it meant he wasn’t going to be expelled…
Nedzu didn’t climb down as Izuku walked back into the building. Nedzu pointed to turns in the hallway, directing Izuku forward. “This is such an efficient means of transportation. You may not understand, but my legs are quite short. It’s a bit taxing to get wherever I need to be.” He made small talk and only jumped down to unlock his office door and lead Izuku inside. The office was huge. Probably larger than his entire apartment! And in the very center was a large wooden desk with several chairs. Nedzu scampered to the other side of the desk and Izuku watched the large leather chair lower and raise, Nedzu now sitting in it. “Have a seat Mr. Midoriya,” He encouraged.
Izuku sighed, taking one of the chairs. “So…”
“It seems we are down one teacher, but you have the endorsements of your classmates to step in,” Nedzu said, leafing around on his desk through various folders. “Now, I know you lack the proper qualifications for this position, but I’d be willing to offer you the position as a sort of…passive employment.”
“Wait…you can’t possibly be actually offering me a job,” Izuku gasped. “I’m just a student! Wait- I’m not even a student! I was just expelled!”
Nedzu shrugged, waving his paw in the air. “Aizawa has a long history of unjustified expulsions in recent years. Truthfully, I’ve been meaning to assign a new homeroom teacher to 1-A for quite some time. This would be…killing two birds with one stone.”
“Are we just going to ignore the part where I’m not qualified to teach a hero class?”
“Sure! If that makes it easier for you,” Nedzu seemed to find what he was looking for and handed a large manilla envelope to Izuku. “This is the lesson plan Aizawa had submitted earlier in the summer. I haven’t had a chance to look them over, but I believe it would help you. Look it over, change it as you see fit, and submit it back to me and we can go from there. In the meantime, I will be drafting up your employment contract for you to sign.”
Izuku didn’t tell his mother about his expulsion or his job offer that night. She sat at the dinner table asking him eagerly how his first day went, but Izuku distracted her with his analysis of his classmates’ quirks. That night, Izuku sat at his desk reading over the lesson plans Aizawa had planned out. Most of them were great theoretical lessons that Izuku knew would help them in the future, but he wished there were more opportunities for his class to explore those theoretical concepts. It seemed as though Aizawa wanted to emphasize combat training above all, but Izuku felt that there were more important topics to hit. After all, most of them would be sidekicks or interns before they were full-fledged heroes!
Belatedly, he realized he now had the power to change those plans and make them more balanced! Of course, he’d ask to see other teachers’ plans and maybe even talk to them if Nedzu was open to it, but Izuku was very excited about his potential curriculum. The next day, Izuku was half expected to be kicked out fully, the whole previous day exposed to be a charade. But he entered the school grounds early as easily as the day before. Kacchan looped an arm around his shoulder and walked side by side with Izuku. It was pretty early, but Izuku wanted to speak to Nedzu more to gather intel about his permissions and goals.
Surprisingly, the employment contract was ready to be signed. Looking it over, Izuku’s eyes widened. He wasn’t aware exact figures that teachers made, but Izuku was sure even if he were an adult living on his own with multiple responsibilities, the salary would be more than enough to live off comfortably. Then again, this was UA. Izuku handed over the drafted syllabus to be read over while he looked at his contract. Decent pay, hours limited to only his in-school times, an hour for lunch, and his own office even! Amazing benefits…It was all too good to be true!
“I must say, Mr. Midoriya, these plans are very well thought out,” Nedzu said excitedly. “I will make arrangements for your class to have access to the appropriate training areas on the specified days and I will send the details to your email,” He slid over a sticky note with an email and default password written on it. “I’ve informed your colleagues about the change in staff and they’ve agreed to a meeting during the allotted lunch hour. Don’t worry, catering will be provided.”
Izuku wasn’t thinking about catering, but he thought it was pretty nice.
“For today, You will continue to follow your class through the regular schedule. Do not worry about homework, I have it stated in your contract that you will only be required to perform weekly assessments to prove you are up to speed with your class.” Nedzu’s smile was permanent.
Izuku’s was too, to be honest.
His first official class as a teacher was weirder than Izuku thought it would be. He’d met all the other students the previous day, but it was as if he was walking into a room with strangers. “Hello, everyone,” He forced a smile on his face. “Good morning to you all.”
“Good morning, Mr. Midoriya,” Most of the class greeted back. Kacchan was, of course, too cool for it.
“Today we will go over the syllabus that we didn’t get to see yesterday,” Izuku took out the stack of stapled papers and started passing them back. The syllabus was as normal as any with only a few footnotes added for hero basics. Most of it was even copied from Aizawa’s syllabus. However, Izuku did change the weight of tests versus regular homework. There was no reason for homework to only count for 10% and tests to count as 60%!
Izuku looked over his notes and fiddled with his fingers in front of the class. “I also have it in my lesson plans that we will choose a class Representative and Deputy. Is there anyone who would like the positions?”
Of course, half the class raised their hands.
“The Representative and Deputy will be in charge of keeping the class up to date on deadlines for assignments as well as writing and orating speeches at the various events hosted by UA.” Izuku informed and couldn’t help but chuckle as most of the hands immediately dropped.
“Yaoyorozu and Iida! That makes this easier. How about this, you each take the night to write a small speech about why you feel you would be the best candidate to be the Representative and you present them tomorrow. Then we will do a show of hands vote and the person with the minority of votes will get the Deputy position.”
The pair felt that was a fair deal and Izuku answered several questions before the bell rang signifying the next class. Izuku packed his backpack with everyone else and went to English, taught by Present Mic! It was a bit strange to teach a class and then attend one immediately after, but Izuku was sure he could get used to it. When the rest of the class departed for the lunch room, Izuku had to turn down several seat offers, citing that he had a staff meeting he needed to go to. Kacchan was, expectedly, annoyed that Izuku was going somewhere he wasn’t allowed, but Izuku managed to convince him that eating lunch with Kirishima and Ashido wasn’t the worst thing that could happen.
Izuku poked his head into the conference room seeing that there were already plenty of teachers there. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Izuku pushed the door open and stepped inside. Few teachers paid attention to him, instead grazing on the various platters of pastries and boxes of prepared food. Nedzu’s eyes widened as he spotted Izuku’s entrance.
“Ah! Mr. Midoriya, I am happy to see that you made it to the meeting,” Nedzu stood up, walked across the table (avoiding stepping on any plates, of course), and greeted Izuku at eye level. “Please, come in and take a seat anywhere you’d like. We have plenty of food mostly prepared by Lunch Rush himself, but there are a few baked goods as well. Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Do we want to give coffee to a teenager?” Mic’s concerned voice called out on the far end of the table.
Nedzu turned and Izuku couldn’t see the look he gave Mic, but it was enough to have the man turn pale and look down at his own steaming mug. “Coffee and other beverages are freely available to all UA staff!” He chirped before looking back to Izuku. “What would you like?”
“I think I’ll just take some water, sir,” Izuku smiled shyly.
Izuku was shuffled to a chair nearest the head of the oval-shaped table where a chilled bottle of water already sat by an empty plate. As he sat down, an arm appeared from behind to deposit a bowl of rice, one of soup, and a serving of tonkatsu. Turning his head, Izuku saw Midnight leaning over to place the items in front of him. “Let me know if you’d like anything else.” Despite her usual sultry persona, Izuku was surprised at the softness in her voice as she addressed him.
“Th-thank you!” He bowed his head, blushing as she ruffled his hair.
“Now that everyone is here,” Nedzu announced as someone Izuku didn’t recognize entered the room. He was tall and looked almost like a parent who had wandered into the wrong area with his casual attire. But he sat down at the conference table without anyone stopping him, so Izuku assumed he was supposed to be there. “We can start with introductions.” Nedzu grabbed his mug of tea and raised it in greeting the room. “As you all know, I am Nedzu, the principal at UA!”
They continued around the room introducing themselves and their position at UA. Most of which Izuku knew, but there were a few people that weren’t official heroes and were more behind the scenes. Like Emoto, who was the casually dressed man from before. Apparently, he was the counselor, or at least one of them, for the more extreme cases at UA. And then it was time for Izuku’s introduction.
“Uh,” He held up his bottle of water. “My name is Midoriya Izuku and I am the homeroom teacher of class 1-A!”
“It’s great to meet you.”
“If you need anything let us know!”
“You’re going to love it here, Midoriya!”
Izuku was surprised by the open support for his role but didn’t let it show that he was used to anything different. Kacchan would love to hear about the meeting, Izuku was sure. As the time came to eat, most of the teachers split off into their own conversations, but he didn’t have to wait long before he was greeted by someone privately. That someone just so happened to be Emoto. The man leaned over until he switched his seat with Mic’s as the aforementioned radio host was arguing with Cementoss about some kind of aftershave. What would Cementoss need with aftershave- it wasn’t important, Izuku decided.
“Hello there, Midoriya. Are you free for a moment?” Emoto asked kindly, shaking a shaker bottle of some kind with a speckled pink liquid inside.
“Of course, is something wrong?” Izuku asked.
Emoto shook his head. “I just wanted to talk to you about what happened with Aizawa.”
“O-oh?” Izuku couldn’t help but stutter, feeling slightly insecure about his position at the staff table as his predecessor was mentioned.
“No worries,” Emoto insisted, taking a sip of the concoction in his cup. “I only wanted to tell you that Nedzu asked me to speak to him after he… relinquished his position. I feel as though I can give you insight into what his motivations were.”
“I think his motivations were just to see me fail,” Izuku said softly, pushing a few grains of rice around in the bowl. “He didn’t like me because I’m quirkless.”
And that was when Izuku gained the knowledge that Emoto’s quirk was essentially an empathic mirror that exposed Izuku’s emotions to him. Although, he was assured Emoto wasn’t actively trying to use it. And then Emoto started to explain how Aizawa had been pushing the envelope for years and that the previous year, he’d expelled his entire class on the first day. The students were all given glowing recommendations for Shiketsu and other prestigious hero schools in the area, of course. But Aizawa had a history of making rash decisions.
“So you think he said all those things about me because he didn’t want this job anymore? And that I was just the easiest target?” Izuku’s face screwed up into one of displeasure.
“I don’t mean to underplay your struggle as a quirkless student, Midoriya,” Emoto said instead. “I think you’re brilliant and you would not be in the position that you are in right now if Nedzu didn’t think you to be more than competent.” He gave a somewhat forced-looking smile. At least, it looked that way to Izuku. “Remember that.”
With that pearl of wisdom tucked under his belt, Izuku finished his meal and disbursed with everyone else when the meeting concluded. He shuffled his way to his next class, meeting up with everyone else.
____________
Izuku’s class was planning something. He stared at each one of them suspiciously. Kacchan especially. The blond had been uncharacteristically quiet all morning but stayed with the same surreptitious smirk on his face. Izuku stood by the door of his classroom to greet each student as they entered and immediately found out the game they were playing.
It started with Iida and Momo who were dressed rather smartly in blazers and each had glasses perched on the end of their noses. Iida always wore glasses, but Izuku wasn’t aware of Momo’s need for them at all. The next culprits were Kaminari and Ashido as they game in wearing black blazers, and black sunglasses, and had small earpieces coming out of their ears. Aoyama brought up the rear with the same formal attire and a notebook with the word ‘Treasure’ written in black marker at the top and ‘-me’ penned in below. But the cherry on the top of the cake was how each and every one of them addressed Izuku as ‘Mr. President’ when they walked in the door.
He couldn’t even be mad at them. He wasn’t even sure how they had all managed to orchestrate this stunt. And most of all, he couldn’t help but throw his head back in a laugh as, when he asked Iida and Momo to stand up front for a ‘Representative and Deputy’ photo, Aoyama demanded to join as the ‘Treasurer’, Kaminari and Ashido demanded to join as the ‘President’s Secret Service’, and Kacchan appointed himself as the ‘Secretary of State’.
However, it did come in useful when there was a sudden break-in on the school grounds in the middle of lunch.
“Mr. President!” Izuku heard two frantic voices shout and they rushed over to his side. Kaminari and Ashido grabbed him by the arms and pulled him protectively close to the two of them. The noise called the majority of his students to him as well and he demanded they know the importance of keeping calm in an emergency. This was UA after all. Izuku had no idea what was so hard about keeping calm. With the level-headedness of his students, Izuku was able to ascertain that the alarm was sounded because of the intrusion of the paparazzi in the front courtyard. And from there, he instructed Iida to use his quirk and a grappling hook from Momo to get high above the rioting crowd to announce that there was no serious danger. Most of the students were embarrassed about their desperate charge to the exit. And Izuku couldn’t stop praising his students, swearing to himself he would get some sort of treat or reward for them the following week when possible.
_____________
Izuku had…several notes about his students’ hero costumes. Some of them were pretty good but most of them were just…bad. He swore none of them even thought about the practicality of their costumes. Jirou and Kaminari just looked to be wearing regular clothes. And Hagakure?! She was naked! Izuku looked over the photographs detailing each costume and its gear with growing disbelief. There was no way he was letting his students go into All Might’s battle training dressed that way. It wasn’t hard for him to switch around some lesson plans to get a free class and he stood in front of the class with his hands twisted together anxiously.
“I want you all to know I think you all have creative potential,” He started softly. “But I think we all need to look back at the drawing board as far as costumes go.”
He reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a stack of folders. Each one contained copies of the original forms his students submitted for their costumes as well as a photo of the finished product and a simple sketch of what Izuku thought could be improved. He passed each folder out, staying silent as he did so. The last thing he wanted was to embarrass anyone.
“Oh my goodness!” Hagakure squealed as she opened her folder. “I hadn’t thought about using my hair as a material! And the detachable cape is perfect for being seen when I’m not sneaking.”
Luckily, most of his designs were received well, although Kacchan grumbled about how he wanted his gauntlets to be smaller and Izuku was just stealing his idea. Izuku was most proud of Ojiro’s costume as the boy chose something as basic and simple as martial arts robes! Where was the flavor?! With the students’ permission, Izuku submitted alteration request forms for most of their costumes and even assured Hagakure that she didn’t need to shave all of her hair off to have a good hero costume. By the time All Might’s battle simulator class was underway, Izuku was proud to see each of his students wearing appropriate and useful costumes.
His own costume was something simple. A bodysuit with a mask and visor. He had pouches for various support items and a bandolier of grenades made from Kacchan’s sweat that he left out for the safety of the other students. Well…All Might’s teaching left something to be desired. There was very little constructive commentary and it was more of a “have at it” type of exercise. Izuku wasn’t one to backseat teach (previous experience with Aizawa notwithstanding) but he still made sure to take notes to give to his students later on when they were most likely to absorb the critique.
______________
His students were in danger. His students were in danger! Maybe not actively. But they could have been. Had Izuku not changed Aizawa’s schedule to allow for the basic first aid lessons first before the USJ, his students would have been in that hell site fighting for their lives against wave after wave of villains. Luckily, he had changed his plans. All Might even shuffled into his classroom on the morning it was supposed to happen and asked for Izuku to pass on to Aizawa that he would be canceling his appearance at the event. The pair were interrupted before Izuku could correct All Might’s assumption as Vlad King ran into the room with Nedzu on his shoulder.
“Oh good, neither of you has left,” Nedzu crawled down Vlad’s shoulder to the ground and held a grim look on his face. “There’s been a terrible incident. Where are your students, Mr. Midoriya?”
“U-Uh,” Izuku looked at the clock on the wall. “They’re supposed to meet me in the auditorium for a triage presentation in twenty minutes. Why? What’s going on?”
Relief poured over Nedzu’s features. “That’s right! You changed the lesson plans. Of course.” He sighed.
It took a little convincing before Nedzu finally explained that there was a break-in at the USJ and villains had attempted to apprehend Izuku’s class. Footage showed that they were quite surprised at the lack of students and All Might in the building. After some petty vandalism, they disappeared through a weird portal. It was safe to assume that UA was unsecured somehow. The villains knew All Might would be there and that there would be students. Who knows their intentions?
Nedzu asked Izuku to revise his lesson plans once more, just to move things around in case there was a leak somewhere. Izuku had no problem obliging. His only issue was that he couldn’t tell his students. Worst of all, he couldn’t tell Kacchan . It ate him up inside as he stood in front of all his students and pretended that everything was fine while inside his heart was hammering in his chest. He thought this would be- well, not easy per se, but relatively not difficult. But now it was hitting him that he had the lives of 19 students on his hands…
This thought was further reinforced as he dismissed everyone to their next class and saw Aoyama huddled outside the auditorium with a cell phone pressed to his ear. The poor boy looked positively pale, a slight shiver rushing over his shoulders.
“T-There was some kind of first aid presentation today,” His voice trembled as well. “I-I- I didn’t know-”
Izuku’s heart went out to the boy and he leaned against the wall and waited for the call (perhaps to his parents?) to end before speaking up.
“I’m so sorry if the presentation today turned your stomach,” Izuku winced. “I should have given proper notice. Would you like to go see Recovery Girl?”
Aoyama flinched harshly and Izuku’s soft look softened even further. “Hey, it’s alright,” He said as if speaking to a wild animal. “Aoyama, are you okay?”
“Monsieur le président! Eh- of course,” He tucked his phone in his pocket and pasted on a sparkling smile that didn’t set Izuku at ease. “I know the presentation was for our benefit, Oui? It was just…a little graphic for me.”
They parted ways but Izuku sensed he’d have to keep an eye on Aoyama in the future. He had the drive for hero work, but he had the largest drawback with his quirk when compared with everyone else. Izuku would make it his personal mission to turn Aoyama into one of his star pupils. The boy would hardly recognize himself afterward!
______________
Izuku soon found another promising student. Not by his own merit, of course, Nedzu deserved the recognition for that. The principal slipped a small manilla folder to Izuku during one of the staff meetings. Izuku waited til he was back in his office to open it.
Inside, he found files for one Shinsou Hitoshi. A student with barely enough points to qualify for the hero course, but abysmal grades that had been on a steady increase as the year passed. By the boy’s school photo, he was perpetually exhausted. Looking over the other forms, Izuku felt for a moment that it was information he shouldn’t have had. After all, what did it matter to teachers if a student had several foster homes? Shinsou had been at his current one for almost a year. In fact, one of his parents was even UA faculty, as stated by the sticky note from Nedzu indicating that Shinsou was being considered to transfer to the hero course.
It was known Izuku was the only one with a class of 19 (technically). Shinsou would be assigned to him. If he approved of course. What was one more student to add to the roster? Izuku’s first impression of Shinsou was that he had a hard upbringing. Of which he used harsh words and actions to cope with.
“This has to be a joke,” Shinsou glared at Izuku as he held his costume case in one hand and his backpack in the other. “I’m supposed to be meeting the teacher.”
“That’s me, Midoriya Izuku, a pleasure to meet you,” Izuku held out his hand to shake but Shinsou didn’t take it. Rather, he stepped around Izuku and looked him over.
“You don’t look that impressive. What in the world possessed Nedzu to hire some kid?”
Izuku immediately knew this was coping. Even if it were rude, he wasn’t going to rise to the bait.
“No response?” Shinsou scoffed.
“If you’d like to take your seat, third row, far right, I’d like to go over the syllabus with you,” Izuku said with the same cheerful tone. Shinsou huffed but did as instructed. Clearly, he wasn’t outright disobedient which was a good sign.
Izuku turned Kacchan’s desk around and sat down with Shinsou’s folder and his lesson plans. “Unfortunately, Shinsou, you’re a bit behind the rest of the class as they’ve already started hero training. I know this isn’t your fault,” He stressed as he saw Shinsou’s mood sour even further. “And it’s something we will correct together. Would you be comfortable coming in 30 minutes early in the morning for tutoring?”
Shinsou blinked. “Uh…Yeah sure…”
This continued on, Izuku going over the curriculum and the assistance he’d be giving to catch up with the others. The longer their meeting went on, the more Shinsou seemed to come out of his defensive posture. And finally, when it was almost time for his other students to arrive, Izuku stood to greet everyone at the door after turning Kacchan’s desk back.
“We have a new student,” He warned each of them. “Be nice.”
“You got it, Mr. President! The 1-A welcome committee is on the job!” Kaminari cheered, immediately rushing over to Shinsou. By the end of the day, Shinsou had been added to all group chats and introduced to every other student who offered assistance in anything he needed to catch up. He showed up 30 minutes early the next morning and Izuku was surprised to see Present Mic walking him into the classroom. The words they exchanged were brief, but it was enough for Izuku to understand that Present Mic didn’t believe he would allow Shinsou into his class because of Aizawa’s actions and when he was assured that Izuku wasn’t that petty, he was overjoyed.
“Hitoshi seemed very excited about the upcoming school year. I was a bit worried he’d have trouble fitting in, but I see that wasn’t a concern I should have had,” He smiled.
Izuku returned the smile. “The other students are really excited to have him join in.”
They parted ways and Izuku brought up the next lesson Hitoshi had missed. He took some time afterward to as Hitoshi how his other classes were going as well and if he needed extra lessons on those. He got that look on his face that he wanted to accept, but also didn’t want to cause issues and Izuku made sure to reassure him there were plenty of other students that needed extra help. He was in the homework help group chat, after all.
With the Sports Festival right around the corner, Izuku’s worry about the villains stalking his students faded in the wake of more pleasant thoughts. He wonder who would win…Kacchan would want to, of course. But he would easily be eliminated if he were put up against someone like Todoroki whose ice would hinder his quirk or Shinsou who could get him to verbally react. And with so many pro heroes on the premises, there would be no way the villains would try anything…
_______________
BONUS:
Hitoshi couldn’t wipe the smile from his face as he walked in the door of his home. It was a little weird to call it ‘home’ even in his head, but he had been assured many times that he’d be there as long as he’d like. And there was the allusion that he’d even be able to stay permanently, of which he was overjoyed about.
“Easy there, Starshine,” Pops, Presentation Michael as people called him, said lightheartedly. “You smile any wider and your face might split in half.”
Hitoshi shook his head fondly and carried his bag to his room. He made sure to stay quiet as to not wake Dad, Eraserhead as people called him, from his post-work slumber. It was an easy routine to maintain and a constant he was grateful to have. It was the inconsistency that made his other foster homes nearly unbearable. Most of the time, he wouldn’t know what he’d be walking into at all. It was tiring constantly being on alert.
But Pops was standing in the kitchen as he always was, prepping an after-school snack for the two of them.
“I take it your lessons are going well?” He asked, concentrating on the food preparation. Hitoshi sat down at the kitchen counter to watch, but also to talk as he often did about his schooling.
“Great, actually,” He smiled thinking about his day. “In my morning lesson, Mr. Midoriya showed me the triage presentation I missed, which by the way, gross…”
“You think it’s gross, but you’ll be thankful to have seen it before you actually experience it in the field.” Pops lectured but encouraged Hitoshi to keep talking before putting food in front of him.
“Anyway,” Hitoshi grabbed a bit of food and took a bite. He took a moment to give Pops an appreciative look before continuing his story. “We started applying emergency first aid today.”
He kept talking, explaining the things they went over as if Pops wasn’t a licensed hero who knew all there was to know about emergency first aid. But he only smiled and let Hitoshi speak. It was important for him to have his voice, even if Pops knew what he was going to say.
“And we were practicing on each other.”
“That’s a good way to learn,” Pops praised. “But I’m sure you had fun with it as well.”
Hitoshi’s face lit up and he pulled his phone from his pocket to show Pops a photo of Iida wrapped like a mummy in bandages. It must have been taken by someone else as Hitoshi was in the photo with his head thrown back in laughter. Mina sticking a childishly printed bandaid on Hitoshi’s cheek was the cause, it seemed.
“And I was applying a tourniquet on Kaminari, Mr. Midoriya says I did the best out of everyone else, and he practiced on me too.”
“What?!” A voice came from behind Hitoshi causing him to flinch and stumble out of his seat. Turning around, he saw the very disheveled look of his dad standing in the doorway. His hair hung in his face like a horror movie character and even though he was wearing his pink sweatpants, Hitoshi swore the man gave off a chilling aura. “That quirkless kid is your teacher?!”
“Shouta, lower your voice,” Pops ironically warned.
“...Yeah?” Hitoshi answered.
Aizawa began pacing the kitchen and muttering under his breath.
“Shouta, seriously, you knew he’d been moved to the hero course. Where else did you think he’d go?”
“I thought he was taking Midoriya’s place!”
“I did!”
“But he’s teaching the class! He’s going to get you all killed!”
It took a lot of convincing, but Hitoshi’s dad ended up not charging up to the school to demand Midoriya be fired from his position. Hitoshi was glad. His dad was hard enough on him (for good reason of course) with their weekly training sessions. He would have been a nightmare as his teacher…
__________________
Izuku pulled a chair into the center of the front of the class and turned it back before sitting down. “Now, I’m sure I don’t have to remind you all that the Sports Festival is coming up.” He said and allowed a moment for the students to cheer excitedly. “Yes, it’s very exciting as it’s going to be the first one of your hero career.” He smiled proudly.
“But it’s very important that you all go in there with a good attitude. Not all of you can win. And there’s a chance that none of you will win, although I have the utmost faith in each and every one of you.” He took a moment to survey the class to see the self-confident looks people were sending his way and the shy turns of heads as people absorbed his praise. He gave a few more words of encouragement before starting the lesson. According to the paperwork he signed, he wasn’t officially allowed to compete. It wouldn’t be proper for a teacher to battle against the students. Some might even say he had an unfair advantage. But he wasn’t too torn apart about the idea of hanging back. It gave him more time to sit and analyze his students’ quirks. He was sure he’d be able to get a full analysis for each of them on how to improve themselves.
The day of the Sports Festival was amazing. Even those who didn’t win had bright smiles on their faces and Izuku found that he was able to participate in a few of the intermission games. He’d already filled two notebooks with his analysis and only most of them were for his actual students. In the end, It came down to Todoroki and Kacchan to go against each other. As Izuku expected, Todoroki’s ice proved to be a big obstacle for Kacchan. It was a very close fight, but Todoroki came out on top.
Izuku all but ran to the side tunnel to greet both his students and was saddened to see Kacchan practically being dragged into the hall because of his aggressive behavior. Izuku knew him to be mostly bark with a little bite, but it seemed that didn’t translate to anyone else very well.
“Let him go!” Izuku demanded, watching immediately as Cementoss and Midnight released Kacchan’s arms. “Kacchan, behave yourself.”
Kacchan didn’t necessarily settle down. But he was far less explosive, only really glaring at Todoroki who leaned against the opposite wall.
“Should he be restrained for the medal ceremony?” Izuku heard Cementoss ask Midnight in a rhetorical fashion.
“You are not restraining my student!” Izuku glared heatedly, grabbing both Bakugou and Todoroki by the sleeve and dragging them toward one of the private waiting rooms further in the building. He made sure to tell them how proud he was of them and while neither showed it visibly, Izuku could tell they basked in the praise. From there, both were able to appear at the medal ceremony with no restraints necessary, thank goodness.
Izuku watched from the side tunnel, smiling as Todoroki and Kacchan took a photograph together with Monoma photobombing with bunny ears.
“Did you have fun?” Izuku heard from behind him. Turning, he was face to face with an exhausted-looking Aizawa. “Are you finished with this game of pretend?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Izuku looked away uneasy. He turned down the hall and started toward the exit. “These tunnels are for UA staff only.”
“Exactly. So run along home and stay there. You’ve had your tantrum and now it’s time I get back to teaching my students,” The man sneered.
“It’s too late for that, Eraser.”
“We’ll see,” Eraserhead smirked with emotionless eyes.
Izuku wouldn’t give up on his class that easy. Not after all the work he put into them. Aizawa would have to fight him for it.