Izuku was panicking as he paced across the limited floor space of his dorm room. He was running his hands through his hair, eyes wide and glowing ever so slightly. The events of his first day of class weighed heavy on his mind, and he kept running through them in his head, hoping to find something .
Izuku finished his repeated side-steps with an above-average score. Draconic legs granted him extra strength and speed, but there were many other quirks more suited to the task. Katsuki had beaten him fairly easily, small explosions helping to cancel his momentum so he could change direction faster. He was curious about how Uraraka would perform, and if and how she would use her quirk to help her.
With practiced precision, he whipped out his notebook and pen and flipped to her page. She started by touching herself on her arm, flashing the pink light. 'Pink light created by quirk activation' was a note he already made. She began to jump from side to side, not as quickly as he expected. It appeared that she was not as weightless as she was during the 50-meter dash.
'Her quirk doesn't appear to be all-or-nothing, she must have a degree of control over how much weight she negates.' Izuku hypothesized as he jotted down notes. After a few seconds, he noticed her looking a little queasy. She clapped her fingers together, releasing her quirk and slowing herself down significantly. 'Nausea? Perhaps a side effect of her quirk. Maybe weightlessness causes it, that would make sense. Strange, unnatural motion and sensations can cause that reaction.'
His attention drifted for a moment as he felt a pang of tension in the back of his mind. His eyes flashed behind Uraraka, where he saw the short, shameless Mineta ogling her. He felt a surge of indignation and anger.
How dare you?!
He grabbed his head as his quirk flared involuntarily. He felt his already long canines sharpen in his mouth and his horns thicken. The painful impulse quickly subsided, but it left a sick pit in his stomach. He barely noticed Ashido turning around with a confused and slightly scared look.
That incident was bad enough on its own, but that wasn't the end of it. The worst was yet to come. He thought back to the incident in the locker room.
"Why didn't you tell us?!" Now that they were free from Aizawa, Kaminari resumed his indignant accusations.
"Uh…" Izuku stalled. "I forgot?" Izuku was joking, nobody was going to buy that excuse.
"I don't buy that." One of Shouji's mouthed tentacles had peeked around the corner of one of the lockers.
"Yeah, fair enough." Izuku took his shirt off and tossed it into his locker. "The real reason is that people treat me differently once they know who my dad is. They see 'The Son of Stormclaw' and not me, you know?"
"A sensible precaution, then." Tokoyami nodded his approval.
"Ah, c'mon man, you don't think we'd treat you special cause of that, do you?" Satou leaned out from around his locker as he took his shirt off.
"Don't be stupid, Lips, of course you would." Katsuki spoke up in Izuku's defense. "Everyone has, ever since we were kids."
"Could you get me an autograph?! I've always wanted one!" Kaminari was grinning wide-eyed.
"What did I just say?!" Bakugou reached over and slapped Kaminari upside the head. "Don't treat him any different, dumbass."
"It's okay, Kacchan." Izuku tried to calm his friend down. "Kaminari, I'll see what I can do, but please, I'm just one of your classmates. I know for a fact I'm not the only one here from a hero family. We're at UA, after all, the most prestigious school in the country. Every hero would want their kid to go here."
"Hey guys, someone shawshanked a hole in the wall between here and the girls' locker room!" Mineta waved his hand to get people's attention.
Izuku felt the pang of anger in the back of his mind again. 'No, calm down. Not again.' He put a hand to his head, trying to calm the dull pain.
"Don't be a creep, dude, what the hell?" Sero looked stunned.
"Oh, just imagine it. Kirishima's toned abs, or Uraraka's sexy hips!" He seemed to be almost salivating.
Izuku's eyes burned bright.
You will not defile them.
"Mineta, do not look through that peephole, that is a gross violation of privacy!" Iida chopped his hand in warning.
"Don't be such a prude! If you don't want to see Ashido's rocking bod or Yaoyorozu's giant boobs then don't look, but you won't stop me!" This tipped Izuku over the edge.
HOW DARE YOU?!
The pain in his head peaked but disappeared when Izuku stopped resisting. His right arm quickly morphed into a large scaled claw and his horns grew harshly. Scales crept over his shoulder and neck, and his voice deepened. He reared his claw back.
" I WILL. "
Izuku brought the claw down, right above Mineta's head, careful to miss his sticky hair. The concrete crumbled under his razor-sharp claws. As soon as he acted, the pressure went away and he was able to think clearly.
Mineta was staring up at him in terror. Izuku looked down. "Never do that again and I won't tell Aizawa." The boy nodded quickly and ran back to his locker.
"Damn, Midoriya, that was cool as hell. Way to defend the girls." Kaminari gave him a thumbs up.
Izuku laughed. "Don't get confused, Kaminari. The girls don't need me to defend them."
He smiled sadly to himself. 'Doesn't mean that they don't deserve it though.'
Izuku had held his composure until he was back at the dorms. He walked calmly to his room and shut the door quietly. Then he began to freak out.
'It was so easy! It felt so right! I can't give in like that, what if I actually hurt him? Sure, he's a little creep, but I can't just attack my classmates!'
He continued to pace his room in panic. 'How was I supposed to turn that into something positive? How could I have turned that anger into something constructive? Maybe I could have lectured him? No, Iida tried that, it didn't work. It happened so fast I couldn't think, I need to be able to think. I won't always be able to, though. What if I'm a hero and something happens on a mission and that happens? I can't afford to think during these situations. I have to get better, it has to become second nature to me. I can't hide from this.
But what if I can't? What if I just keep lashing out? I have a 50% pass/fail rate right now. Maybe that first time was a fluke? What if Uncle Hatsuo is right about me? What if-'
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. He stopped pacing and turned to look dumbly, as if asking the door itself to tell him who was knocking.
"Midoriya~! Open up!"
'Ashido?'
Midoriya's door opened after a few moments. Mina was waiting patiently, grinning ear to ear. "Hey, Mido- Woah!" She tilted her head to the side, looking around him and into his room. The pink woman quickly scrambled past him, nimbly slipping past his bulky frame, although she had to get pretty friendly to do it.
Midoriya's room was lined wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor with hero merchandise. Shelves occupied every single available inch of wall space, and several new display cases and cabinets had been moved in. There was barely enough space for someone to walk between the door, bed, bathroom and desk.
"I knew you were a hero fan, Midoriya, but this is nuts!"
She wheeled back around with bright eyes, but the smile on her face fell quickly. Midoriya was staring at her, a look of strained intensity on his face. He was clutching his head with one hand and his eyes were glowing slightly.
"Uh, Midoriya, are you okay?"
He seemed to be struggling to find words. The look on his face, combined with his height, stature and eyes made Mina feel truly intimidated. She resisted the desire to take a step back.
After what felt like ages, he spoke.
"Ashido, we're… friends, right?" His tone almost seemed… pleading.
Mina raised an eyebrow, half in confusion and half in concern. "Of course we are, Midoriya. We're horn buddies." She pointed at her horns, other hand on her cocked hip.
"Yes, but, are we good friends? Can we be good friends?"
Mina was confused even more by his line of questioning, but grew a wide smile. "Didn't take you for someone so forward, Midoriya. But, sure! You seem like a good dude and I think we've meshed well. I like you a lot." She put her finger to her chin in thought, and then snapped. "Tell you what, if you wanna make it more 'official': can I call you Midori? Ochako's got a cute nickname for you, I want one too!"
He smiled through what Mina guessed was a headache of sorts. "Yeah, alright. I'd like that. Thanks, Ashido." He sighed, his headache seeming to fall away as his strained expression was replaced by his normal smile and his eyes stopped glowing.
He shook his head slightly, and returned to normal. "Sorry about that, Ashido. And uh, yeah, I'm a huge hero fan. This isn't even all of my collection. I couldn't fit the rest in here."
The woman shook her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, okay. No problem, but what was that ? I'm not letting you off the hook that easily." Mina was not afraid to ask questions.
Midori seemed to have hoped that she was, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I uh, well, let's just say I'm, uh, very protective of what's mine. I'm not comfortable with people who I'm not good friends with in my room or near my stuff."
"Oh, so when I just barged in here, it upset you?" She felt upset herself. "I didn't mean to, Midori. I was just so impressed with what you had in here!"
"You… were?" He looked incredulous at her, but his grin had returned in earnest. The look in his eyes was…
'That's the same look he gives Ochako. Interesting… does that mean...? Oh, I can use this.'
"Yeah, this is like some sort of hero museum! But that's not why I came here."
"Oh! What can I help you with?" He immediately stood at the ready, eager to lend a hand.
"So earnest~!" She teased him, finally getting a little bit of green in his face. "I'm having a little get together with the other girls in class. Hanging out, playing cards, getting to know each other, right?"
"Um, okay? What do you-"
"Some of us want to get to know our savior a little better." Her eyes narrowed as she grinned. Mina knew that this would bug him.
"Savior? Oh… oh, you heard that. In the locker room." He seemed very distressed, beyond the embarrassment she predicted. Strange.
"Even if we didn't have Kyouka listening in, you were loud , Midori. And then you kinda smashed concrete with your bare hand? Yeah, we heard that."
He bowed his head. "Well, it wasn't with my bare hand…"
"Hey, chin up, buddy. We're glad that there's someone looking out for us. I'll return the favor if one of us tries to peep on you, yeah?"
She grinned wider. "Unless there's a girl or two you wouldn't mind looking at you."
That got him to turn green. "Uh, um, Ashido, I uh-"
"Broccoli achieved!" She began to laugh hard.
"Broc- How do you know all of Kacchan's nicknames for me?" There was a hint of accusation in his sputtering.
Mina kept laughing for a few moments, before collecting herself. "He calls you that, too? Easy to see why; dark green hair, your face turns green when you're blushing… Midori, you look like an actual piece broccoli right now." He grumbled a bit, still shifting awkwardly in the door frame as she kept laughing.
"But hey, you didn't answer my question. Do you want to come hang out with us? It'll be fun, you can get to know us, we can get to know you, it'll be great."
Midori thought for a few seconds as his hand went to his chin and he stared at the floor. "Yeah, okay. I'd like to get to know you all better, anyway."
"Great!" Mina moved towards him, put her hands on his firm shoulders and spun him around. She started pushing him like she had on Saturday, taking another opportunity to take a look at his butt.
She smiled behind his back as she pushed him towards the elevator, his door shutting and locking behind them. 'UA is getting more and more interesting every day. Never would have thought he would have looked at me like that.'
Izuku was impressed. He had been manipulating and influencing people since he could remember, and he considered himself quite good at it. He wasn't blind enough to assume that there weren't people better than him, of course, but he had quite a few victories under his belt.
But Ashido was something else. She had caught him off guard, adapted to the circumstances, never given him an opportunity to take control and even hit him with a compliment aimed directly at his pride in his collection. And in the end, she got him to do what she wanted, and he felt good about it. She even got him to agree to a new nickname.
Izuku had met people who could stand toe-to-toe with him in the game, but it had been quite a while since he had lost .
He couldn't help but grin as Ashido pushed him forward. He was excited . Losing never felt so good. His grin wasn't dumb, but confident; he was determined not to lose again.
Ashido pushed the button for the fourth floor and the elevator doors dinged closed. She let him move of his own volition once the doors opened up again, her walking just slightly ahead of him. They walked towards the girls' side of the dorm, passing by room 405.
"That's Ochako's room. I'm just down the hall in 408. Momo is in 406." Ashido explained cheerfully. "The third floor has Kyouka in 305 and Tooru in 308, and the fifth floor is Pony in 505, Kiri in 506 and Tsu in 508."
Izuku made a vague noise of acknowledgement. He was barely listening, instead mentally preparing himself for the task ahead. He was going to be in a relatively small room with eight women. Between Ashido and Hagakure, there was a degree of unpredictability, and Ashido especially seemed to like to tease him. He had to be focused and ready.
"Dude, we're hanging out, not taking a test. Relax!" Ashido evidently noticed his distracted state as they arrived outside her room. She gave him an appraising look as he took a deep breath and then smiled and nodded. Ashido flashed her cheerful smile back and swung the door open. "I found him!"
Izuku gathered his confidence and took a bold step inside. "Hi, everyone, thanks for inviting me."
"Of course, Midoriya, please come in." Yaoyorozu was always so proper.
Izuku glanced around the room, taking stock of his surroundings. Ashido's room was very… wow. Nearly everything inside was pink and black and styled with polka dots, hearts, leopard print, tiger stripes or some other boisterous design. Ashido was clearly not ashamed to be exciting. He noted a coat rack with scarves and hats on it that were just as vibrant and fluffy as the rest of the room. Her walls had a few posters on it and her balcony door was covered in a massive drape, just as pink as everything else. Her bed had… 'Is that a weighted blanket?'
Izuku put his observations of the room aside for now and took stock of the other guests. Six women sat in a circle in the middle of the floor, each staring up at him with a smile; he immediately noticed something missing. Ashido seemed to notice his confused expression and preempted his question. "Kyouka has a headache and took a rain check."
"A headache, but… wait, you said she was listening in when I uh, acted out." He pointed a finger towards Ashido. "Did I-"
"Wow, okay, Ochako, I owe you lunch. You called it." Ashido looked past him towards the brunette sitting on the floor.
"What did she call?" Izuku was caught off-guard again and noted that he was already losing control of the situation.
"She told us that you would immediately feel guilty when you found out about Kyouka." Ashido crossed her arms but looked slightly impressed. "Look, Midori, nobody blames you, especially not her. You didn't know that she was plugged into that wall."
"It's still my fault. I should apologize."
"So manly…" Kirishima put a fist to her chest proudly.
"If you insist, you chivalrous oaf." Ashido threw her arms up in defeat. "But do it later. For now, sit. " She pointed demandingly at the spot on the floor right next to Uraraka.
He obliged and sat down. Uraraka and him exchanged friendly smiles. Their time together over the past few days had finally started to make them more comfortable around each other, at least to the point that they didn't go stupid around each other… as much.
"Hi, Deku. Thanks for stopping Mineta."
He looked down. "I… I shouldn't have reacted like that. I'm glad that I stopped him, but my actions were inexcusable."
"Midoriya, you dork." Hagakure sounded like she was rolling her eyes. "How are you feeling bad about that?"
"No apology," Tsunotori said in her broken Japanese. "Back home, no tolerance for creeps. I'm glad for you, Midoriya."
"Please, Midoriya. We heard Iida try to rationalize with him, if you hadn't acted… well it was probably a kindness to Mineta, in all honesty," Yaoyorozu added, causing Izuku to look up in confusion.
"Yeah, Yaomomo is right." Ashido had plopped down on the other side of Izuku. "If you hadn't stopped him, he was going to catch an eye-full of Kyouka's jack."
"Yaomomo?!" Yaoyorozu seemed more caught off-guard than Izuku.
Hagakure squealed and flailed the sleeves of her shirt. "That's an adorable nickname! Can we call you that, pleeeease?"
Yaoyorozu thought for a moment. Then smiled and nodded. "That sounds lovely."
Izuku smiled knowingly. 'It's good to see her making friends. She's probably been more worried about it than I've been.'
They all settled in and Mina pulled out the card games. They played for several hours, talking and laughing all the while. Pony left early to video chat with her parents back in the United States, so there were only seven of them left in the room when Tsu brought up the question almost all of them had been thinking about.
"Midoriya, why didn't you tell us your dad was Stormclaw?"
Kirishima interrupted Tsu, even more fired up than usual. "I can't believe you're Stormclaw's son! Are you related to Gallant?"
"Sure, he was my great-grandfather!" Izuku was being polite; he was used to the interrogation that inevitably happened whenever people found out about his family.
"That's so cool! Gallant was Crimson Riot's inspiration, so he's like, my inspirational grandfather or something!"
"Then maybe you're my horn sister instead of my horn buddy?" Izuku flashed his fanged mouth in a genuine smile, which Kirishima returned with her own sharp grin.
"Midoriya, don't change the subject," Tsu said flatly. "Why didn't you tell us?"
Deku sighed as he leaned back, cards in his hand. "Kaminari asked me that, too. Would you believe if I told you that I forgot?"
"No." Tsu didn't blink.
"Yeah, they didn't either." He chuckled a bit. "To tell you the truth, people...treat me differently once they know. I like you all, and I didn't want to change anything."
"Treat you differently? How?" Tooru asked, playing one of her cards. "Ha! Take that, Mina!"
"Well, like I told the guys, sometimes people just see who my dad is and not who I am. He's my idol, and I hope to be half the hero is someday, but I'm also my own person." Ochako saw Yaomomo and him exchanging knowing looks, smiling a small, sad smile at each other.
"Aw, man, I kinda already did that, didn't I?" Kirishima rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.
"Don't worry about it, Kirishima. Really, I know you're not one of those people." Izuku dismissed her concern with a kinda smile, which made her smile return.
"You certainly proved to me that you're more than just your father's son, Deku." Ochako smiled at him, hoping to cheer him up.
"Yeah! Ochako told us all about you rushing in and saving her!" Mina pumped her arm in celebration.
Deku turned a little green. "Well, I couldn't have just stood by and let that thing crush her."
Mina grew her signature teasing grin. "Oh, you're so heroic , Midori. You can't help but save a damsel in distress, can you?"
Instead of blushing, Deku grew a little indignant. "H-hey! I don't think that! You're students at UA, just like me. I know you're all just as tough if not tougher than anyone else, and you all have great quirks. Only an idiot would think that you're weak." Ochako gasped slightly.
"Now you're just being flattering, Midoriya." Momo was blushing slightly.
"No, come on, it's totally true!" He threw his arms wide and then pointed at Momo. "Yaoyorozu, the way you used your quirk this morning was totally se- smart at hell. You blew us all away and you looked like you were barely trying."
'What was that slip of the tongue?' Ochako noticed him turn a little greener.
"A-and Ashido, your quirk is great, too. I wouldn't have thought to use it as a lubricant for greater mobility, and your control seems great." Deku seemed to be trying to shift attention.
"Kirishima, there's so much you can do with your quirk, it's so well suited for offense and defense, you're gonna make a great hero one day, and in more than one way." Izuku gave his horn sister another big smile; she quickly returned the gesture.
"Hagakure, I'm sure I don't have to tell you how absurdly useful your quirk is, and Tsu, I was honestly surprised how much power you pack in your legs." All the girls were smiling as he complimented them. Well, Ochako assumed Tooru was smiling.
But that just left-
"And you, Uraraka." She started blushing a bit, seeing the intensity of his stare.
'Wait, I remember that look from the entrance exam. He looks…'
"Uraraka, your quirk scares the hell out of me."
"W-what?!"
"It's absolutely terrifying. I can't think of one in our class that frightens me more."
"Y-you're… scared of me?" She was hurt. 'I thought we were becoming good friends… it's not the first time I've scared a guy off. Stupid height.'
"No! Not at all!" Deku shook his head eagerly, causing her eyes to widen. "Uraraka, I've only known you for a bit but I already know that you're a great person. I have no doubts that you'll only use your quirk for great things, but imagine if a villain had it." He shuddered.
Her blush returned. "It's not that great… I can just shift weight around and stuff."
"Uraraka, are you kidding me? You functionally have control over one of the fundamental forces of our reality. If that's not a superpower, then I don't know what is."
"Psh, yeah, girl. Don't be so hard on yourself." Mina tossed a pencil at her. "You kick ass. We all do."
Ochako couldn't help but smile at the praise. 'Deku doesn't treat us differently 'cause we're girls, and he thinks that I've got one of the best quirks in class. I think the same thing about him, too….'
She dared to look at Deku, who was flashing a warm, genuine smile and gazing at her with admiration. She couldn't help but blush a bit more at his honesty.
'Well, maybe my height isn't that big of a deal to him…'
'Dinner' was provided by Ashido's rather impressive collection of snacks she had stashed in her room. Midoriya would have preferred something a little more hearty, but he wasn't about to leave early to go make a proper meal. Eventually the sun set and Hagakure, Kirishima, and Asui left as well. Yaoyorozu opted to stay a little longer, seeing as her room was just down the hall.
The four of them had put the cards away and were instead just talking as the evening wound down. Or, rather, that's what they were doing until Ashido decided to introduce Yaoyorozu and Uraraka to her new favorite game.
"Hey, you girls wanna see something neat?" Yaoyorozu and Uraraka looked at her and then each other. The smug smirk on Ashido's face had them worried. Midoriya looked scared. "If you make Midori blush hard enough, he looks just like a piece of broccoli."
"A-A-Ashido, please d-don't." Midoriya's voice trembled with fear.
"Oh, it's so easy! Watch this." Ashido hopped up and walked over to the sitting man. She stood a little too close, looking down on him. He stared up at her black-and-gold eyes, already blushing slightly. "Midori~" The boy's eyes went wide at her mock-seductive whisper. "How about you just call me Mina instead~"
Midoriya squeaked as he lit up like a traffic light and quickly covered his face.
The pink girl collapsed back onto the ground, rolling with laughter. "See! Look at him!"
Yaoyorozu couldn't help but giggle slightly, holding her hand in front of her face.
Uraraka could only stare. 'Why do I like that look so much? It's makin' my stomach feel all weird...'
Midoriya quickly stood up, chuckling awkwardly while still doing his vegetable impression. "Oh, wow, would you look at the time? We have our first Hero Basic Training class tomorrow, gotta make sure we're well rested for that! T-thanks for inviting me, it was nice to get to know all of you. Bye!" He was out the door in a flash.
"You chased him off, Mina!" Uraraka tried to hide her disappointment with an accusation. 'I really don't like seein' him leave.'
Ashido finally stopped laughing, wiping her eyes. "Oh man, totally worth it, though!"
Yaoyorozu stood up as well. "He spoke the truth; we should all get to bed soon. Tomorrow will be even tougher than today." She gave them a small bow. "Thank you for organizing this, Mina. Goodnight, Ochako." With a smile and a small wave she left the room as well.
Then, it was just the two of them. Uraraka sighed, holding her knees to her chest and staring off into space.
"You're thinking about him, aren't you?" Ashido's voice was calm and kind. Instead of teasing the girl, she seemed truly concerned.
Uraraka blushed a bit. "...Yeah."
"Me too." Ashido scooted over closer to Uraraka, hoping to comfort her.
"Ugh, it's the worst !" She pouted into her legs. "He's distracting me so much."
Ashido chuckled gently. "A strong, cute boy with a heart of gold and a good head on his shoulders? Yeah, he distracts me too."
"You're not helping either, Mina! You keep making him blush and get all flustered and that makes it worse!"
"Aw, I was hoping I was distracting you in some other way." Ashido batted her eyelashes playfully.
Uraraka didn't say anything, but her blush deepened a bit as she averted her eyes.
Ashido's eyes went wide as her lilac blush started showing. ' Oh.'
"I-I need to get to bed too, Mina. I... had a lot of fun today." She stood up and began to walk out. She turned back, Ashido's eyes quickly darted up to her face from where she was staring at her butt.
Uraraka's blush deepened a bit further as she gave Ashido a small wave. "See you tomorrow, yeah?"
A half hour later, Ashido, Midoriya and Uraraka were all lying in bed, unaware that the others were also staring at their ceilings. A collective sigh was released, signalling the end of their first day of classes at UA as they drifted off to sleep.
Notes:
We'll see you next time for the beginning of the battle trial!
Leave a comment down below telling me what you thought of the chapter! :)