A State of Decay

Chapter 35

Izuku's first official day as a hero couldn't have started worse. 

He swears up and down that he set an alarm, but he hardly woke up in time to throw on some clothes and brush his teeth before rushing out the door in a panic, his newly revamped hero suit in the old, yellow backpack he has slung over his shoulder. Forget about combing his hair or checking his outfit choice- there was no time. He barely makes it through the agency's doors when scheduled to be there. He goes to the front desk, where he spots a familiar face. 

"Damn, late on your first day, Deku?" Bakugou remarks. He's already in his full hero costume, save for his mask and gauntlets. Izuku's stomach drops at the sight. He's one of the few people he hasn't told about his new boyfriend, and Izuku is terrible at keeping secrets. 

"K-kacchan! Hi!" he sputters. "Good morning! And yeah, I guess I forgot to set my alarm. Silly me!" 

Izuku knows he must be red in the face from the light jog he had to keep up to make it through the doors on time, and by the up-and-down glance he's given, he knows he must not look all that great. But it's whatever- it's fine. He assumes he'll change into his hero costume soon today, anyway. Hopefully. 

He suddenly feels a tickle in the back of his head, alerting him that Tomura is listening in. His eyes widen, and he quickly shuts that down, slamming his mental shields into place. He knows that there's no way he'll be able to handle being around Bakugou with his big secret already, and that's without the constant reminder of Tomura in the back of his mind. 

Baugou approaches Izuku. "What's got you in such a twist, nerd? Nervous or something?" 

"N-no, just feeling a little underprepared, is all," Izuku says, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Didn't have much time to think about anything or prepare this morning. Just trying to get my bearings, I guess."

"Well, you're with me today. M'supposed to be showing you the ropes and all that." He rolls his eyes before settling back on Izuku with a glare. "Didn't sign up for this babysitting shit, so you better not give me a hard time today." 

"No! I'll be good, Kacchan," Izuku responds. Bakugou simply grunts in response before turning on his heel and heading down the hallway. After walking a few feet, he throws his head over his shoulder. 

"You coming or what?" he calls. Izuku scrambles after him. 

The next few hours pass in a whirlwind with Izuku being shown to his own office (yes, his own office at an actual hero agency!), having to fill out an egregious amount of paperwork, and being shown around the building. The tour was quick and direct because Bakugou was the one giving it, so Izuku tried his best to memorize the building so as not to get lost. "I'm only showing you around once, got it? I don't have time to hold your hand and baby you," Bakugou had said. He resists the urge to nerd out and talk to every hero he sees at the agency, trying to focus on Bakugou as they make their way through the building. The tour ends at the locker rooms.

"Alright, suit up," Bakugou barks. "Patrol starts in fifteen minutes, and I'll leave your ass behind if you're not ready!" 

He leaves the locker room, and Izuku stands there momentarily before depositing his bag onto the bench. He takes in a deep breath and tries to calm the nervous feeling he gets just from being around his childhood friend. He knows he has to tell him about Tomura at some point, but he doesn't think today will be a good day to do that. He has so many other things to focus on, and adding that to the pile would be entirely too much for him to handle. He ignores his sweaty palms and shaky limbs as he pulls his new and improved hero suit from his backpack. 

The bodysuit is the familiar green color, while the rest of the pieces are sleek black, except for the red utility belt and his signature red shoes. It's an even mix between the darker colors he'd been donning as of late, and his older fashion from his time at UA. As far as additions went, there wasn't much. Mei had stated that she'd added additional shock absorption to the leg and arm braces, but not much else. Granted, she'd been busy when he showed up to retrieve it, so she didn't go into detail much. He puts everything on and shoves his backpack and clothes into his assigned locker before heading out of the locker room to find Bakugou. When he sees him again, he's now wearing the rest of his hero suit, ready for Izuku's first patrol. Izuku fidgets with the tops of the arm braces as they exit the building, nervously following behind Bakugou.