Izuku POV:
"Kid c'mon we gotta go," Shouta called out from the front door.
Izuku shoved his coat on, giving up on the tie altogether before scrambling out to meet him.
It was his third day back at school and he no longer felt like passing out at the sight of teenagers. And not the good kind of passing out where it was like "wow they're so cool" and then hit the floor. More like "I'm about to die", say something embarrassing, stumble clumsily, and then eventually lose consciousness. Because if there was a humiliating way to faint, Izuku was bound to do it.
Shouta was waiting for him, leaning against the door frame with an amused expression on his face. Brows raised and his face pinched like he was holding back a smile. Probably from the fact Izuku still couldn't put on a tie after they'd dedicated a good half hour to learning how.
"Does the loud one have to be there?" Izuku questioned, frowning at the thought.
Shouta had told him that the explosion guy was coming back today and needless to say, Izuku was not excited. Apparently, they had gone to the same middle school and now hated each other- according to Uraraka. Izuku really wasn't interested in the details of how this hatred came to be. He'd just gotten past the fact he used to have a shrine for the former number one hero. There was only so much he could handle.
Shouta set a hand on his shoulder, looking sympathetic. "Yes. But don't forget you can just give me the signal and I'll excuse you from class. You don't owe anyone anything so don't feel like you have to talk to him."
Izuku doubted he'd need to leave class over it. Sass had slowly but surely been replacing the fear and while he still had his moments, he felt much more confident in himself.
But maybe he could work this to his advantage, Shouta probably felt bad Izuku had to meet yet another peer. This was the perfect chance to ask for what he really wanted. "Can I use my quirk today?" he asked shyly. The more scared he looked the more Shouta would be nice to him.
"No."
Or he would just say that.
"Just for five minutes?" he pleaded, blinking rapidly so his eyes would water.
"No."
"What if I promise to help you grade papers?"
Shouta stopped, looking down at him and seemingly considering the offer for a minute. His shoulders rose in an exaggerated sigh. "Fine," he agreed.
"Wait really?" Izuku gasped.
"No."
Before Izuku could continue to grovel, Shouta placed a hand on each shoulder and steered him out the door.
By the time they got to homeroom, Izuku had given up his pleas and settled for silent strategizing.
"Midoriya," Todoroki greeted, immediately grabbing Izuku's hand and pulling him away from their teacher. It had become a routine. The second they saw each other they immediately started talking. Well...Izuku talked, Todoroki mostly listened and sent occasional glares to Aoyama.
"Good morning," Izuku greeted, nodding to Uraraka as she walked over to them.
"Hi Deku!"
"Bonjour mon ami," Aoyama flashed a sparkly smile, making a beeline to them. "Comment vas-tu aujourd'hui?"
"Um....good?" Izuku said, the answer sounding more like a question. At least he'd gotten to the point where he could talk to people without his heart pounding.
"Are you still sitting out of training today?" Uraraka asked, earthy brown eyes wide and hopeful. Like before, she was light on her feet, circling around the others to get to him. She bumped her shoulder against his like training was their own little joke.
"In Sh- Mr.Aizawa's own words, no," Izuku said, correcting himself quickly before he could call their homeroom teacher Shouta. It wasn't like it was a secret Shouta was taking care of Izuku, but it was still a little embarrassing. He was the only teenager here who needed someone to look after them, that's probably not how they saw it, he had lost most of his memories after all, but that didn't ease the worries floating around in his head.
"I can sit with you today if you want Midoriya," Todoroki offered.
Uraraka's face darkened for a moment before her smile once again surfaced. The quick expression change gave Izuku chills.
"You're not just trying to steal my Deku time are you?" Uraraka questioned, emphasizing 'my' like it was something she had earned.
Izuku turned bright red.
Todoroki didn't react at all.
"Not at all," Todoroki replied. Izuku honestly couldn't tell if it was meant in a passive-aggressive way or not.
Deciding to cut in before the conversation went in a really weird direction, Izuku asked, "Has anyone seen Iida? He's usually outside waiting for me?"
Uraraka frowned. "Now that you mention it, I don't think I saw him at all after school yesterday. He told me he had a research project? But I've never heard anything about the project before."
Suddenly a much shorter boy approached, one Izuku hadn't taken too much notice to when they'd first gotten through introductions. He certainly didn't miss that weirdly excited expression on the boy's face now. Something about it made his stomach turn.
His friends didn't look too happy to see the boy. Uraraka's lips tightened into a thin line. Aoyama frowned and not so subtly crossed his arms over his chest. Todoroki stared silently.
"Did you guys see Hagakure today? She looks so-"
Before he could hear the end of that sentence hands pressed against his ears, one distinctively warmer than the other. But the way the boy's hands were moving and eyes were growing disturbingly brighter made him glad he couldn't hear.
Uraraka's cheeks morphed from a faint pink to angry red, spreading over her cheeks and nose. She started speaking quickly, too quickly for Izuku to try and read her lips. Her hands flew through the air as she spoke like she was painting an invisible picture.
A few minutes later and the creepy boy was practically running away.
The hands fell away from his ears. "Sorry Midoriya, but it's really for the best if you don't hear Mineta," Todoroki apologized, although he somehow found a way to make his apology sound unapologetic.
"I would ask why but I get the feeling I don't want to know the answer," Izuku grimaced, leaning back on one of the desks. "Is he always like that?"
"Not when Mr.Aizawa is close by. He knows he's one step away from being expelled," Uraraka answered, sounding wistful.
Aoyama nodded in agreement.
They carried on the conversation for a while, mostly discussing who in the class was most likely to be expelled first, if anyone at all. It turns out Shouta had a history of kicking kids out of his class but had yet to remove any from this group. That might make Izuku the first. There was no way he could stay in here until graduation when he hadn't even decided if he still wanted to be a hero or not.
If Shouta would actually let him train the decision might be easier. The problem was Izuku couldn't seem to go a day without at least one disaster waiting for him. If Shouta was actually going to trust him, Izuku needed to prove he could handle this new change, and he needed to prove it fast. Every day that went by with him sitting out and watching was another day he was left further and further behind.
So how could he make Shouta see he was doing fine? He kinda had a deer in the headlights look going on. And he still wasn't quite over the whole demon cat thing. But maybe if he-
Izuku looked up in surprise when Todoroki bumped shoulders with him. Todoroki titled his head, gesturing to the front of the room. "There's Bakugo," he whispered.
The boy walking past the front row didn't seem like he belonged in the room. His eyebrows were scrunched together, eyes downcast like something had really pissed him off but he was trying to hide it. Although looking back, he kinda looked the same when Izuku had first run away from him.
Speaking of running away....
Izuku began to back up but Uraraka was there, hand firmly grabbing his arm. Her smile was friendly, but he could see the 'I know what you're about to do' look in her eyes.
Bakugo walked over to one of the desks on the far end, close to where they were standing, setting a bag down before his head cocked to the side. Red eyes slid over to where Izuku stood wide-eyed. He looked mad. "You're back," he said, voice gravelly.
Izuku nodded mutely.
He could see Shouta stiffen from the corner of his eye like he was ready to step in at any moment.
"Your memories are still gone?"
Izuku made a face. His fingers twitched like he wanted to write or fidget or do something other than stand there and be judged. There really was no right answer to that. Was he supposed to say, 'No they're back. Pranked ya.'?
He also didn't particularly feel like getting interrogated by a guy that had just gotten in trouble for literally fighting someone.
Bakugo's shoulders tensed and he hunched in on himself slightly. It was vaguely reminiscent of a cat with its hair sticking up. "You think you're too good to talk to me now?" he questioned, voice growing loud enough that everyone in the room could hear.
"Bakugo. Watch your tone or leave," Shouta warned.
Izuku bristled. "I never said that," he said. He stood up a little straighter.
"Don't play that game with me," Bakugo warned, looking even angrier somehow.
What the hell? Izuku had literally done nothing wrong and he was having to defend himself? Had it been like this before?
"I don't know what game I'm playing," he said, lost on how he was supposed to respond to that.
He heard someone that sounded suspiciously like Uraraka snicker. There was another muffled cough from somewhere behind him. The room was eerily quiet after, everyone must have been waiting to see how 'no memory Izuku' would react.
"I deserve an explanation more than any of these damn extras."
Now was not the time for sassy Izuku to make a reappearance. He knew that. Shouta knew that. The whole school probably knew that.
But Izuku was coming to terms with the fact he had two main responses to stress.
The first was to run away or go silent or both. A tried and true method. Tried because he'd attempted to make a break for it at least four times. True because he really did have a history of staring at people silently and internally screaming.
The second was to turn up the snark to a hundred.
He preferred the second.
Shouta looked two seconds away from interjecting but Izuku had something to say first. "Why? Because we were supposedly childhood friends?" he questioned, not really buying that story. He didn't see any way his past self would have been able to stand Bakugo.
Bakugo looked taken aback, clearly not expecting Izuku to actually fight back. It was quiet for a long moment before he answered, "yes," gruffly.
"That doesn't mean I owe you anything," Izuku pointed out.
"Why the hell wouldn't you owe me?"
"Because you're kinda an asshole," Izuku shot back before he could stop himself. It was one of those things you said in your head but never out loud. Like when you silently judged someone after they tried to tell you Frozen was the best Disney movie or plain popcorn was better than buttered. He never meant to actually say it out loud.
Izuku immediately stepped back, trying to decide if his dignity was worth being destroyed and going back to hiding behind Todoroki.
Bakugo was beginning to look like a ticking bomb. His face was bright red and his body was tensed like he wanted to fight.
Luckily Shouta stepped in. "Everyone sit down now," he ordered, even when the bell hadn't rung yet.
Izuku didn't need to be told twice, he rushed over to the new seat he'd been assigned near the back, thankful he wouldn't have a bunch of eyes staring at his back.
Todoroki slid into the desk next to him, eyeing him silently for a moment before pulling out his notebook. Izuku couldn't exactly tell, but he thought Todoroki looked impressed.
Halfway through taking attendance, the shrill ring of the bell finally started, signaling everyone should be in their homeroom by now. Iida was still nowhere to be seen.
Izuku tried not to let himself worry about that, instead concentrating on the schedule Shouta was currently writing across the board. He distracted himself by copying it word for word, taking much more time than needed to make the lettering perfect. Whenever he had to look back up he made sure to never look in Bakugo's direction, half expecting to see him turned around in his seat glaring.
"You all will be focusing on close combat today, so no messing around. I expect to see a difference from the last time we practiced," Shouta announced tiredly, not looking up from where he was still writing. "If you have failed to improve you can expect to stay for additional training after school."
That comment made a few of his classmates exchange looks.
"Any questions?" Shouta asked, finally turning back around to face them.
Every single hand stayed down. It was kinda funny how scared they were of Shouta, the teacher that couldn't even name his own cats.
Shouta sighed like that was the reaction he had expected before going back to talking about what kind of techniques they should focus on.
Not ten minutes into it, and a new much louder presence made itself known.
The door swung open, hitting the wall with a loud bang. Everyone's heads shot up.
Iida came running in, face blotchy and chest heaving as if he'd just run a marathon. His usually pristine uniform was crumpled, tie hanging crookedly. "Sir!" Iida greeted, out of breath. "I apologize for my tardiness. However, I believe I have information you really want to see."
Izuku sat up a little straighter, curiosity bubbling up.
Iida set down his bag, crouching for a second to riffle through and pull out a thin cream-colored folder.
Shouta held out his hand expectantly, taking the folder as soon as it was in reaching distance.
He opened it quickly, skimming over its content.
He glanced up at Izuku and then back at the folder. A minute later he slid it into his desk and nodded for Iida to take a seat.
Izuku really wanted to know what Iida had given him now. It obviously had something to do with him from the look Shouta had given. What was so important Iida would risk missing class over?
The rest of the day seemed to drag on, all Izuku could think about was what had been in that folder. He came up with at least three distinct possibilities. It had to do with his medical record, the villain they'd encountered, or something about his living arrangements. Although it didn't really make sense for Iida to be the one doing research on that.
He was much quieter at lunch and training, mostly nodding along to whatever the friend he was sitting with was saying.
Thankfully it seemed Bakugo was just as determined to avoid Izuku as Izuku was to avoid him. So there was one less thing to worry about.
It wasn't until they finally got back to Shouta's house Izuku got an answer to his questions.
He set his bag down, looking cautiously over to where Shouta was unraveling his capture weapon.
"Shouta?" Izuku asked, trying to not sound too excited.
"Hm?" Shouta answered glancing at him.
Izuku cleared his throat, unsure if the 'hm' was an encouragement to keep going. "I was wondering what was in that folder Iida gave you?" he asked.
"Don't get your hopes up," Shouta warned, "But it was someone with a memory quirk. Apparently, she can help bring up repressed or altered memories. The problem is she's in America and it's too much of a risk for you to leave U.A. right now."
Izuku's heart must have skipped a beat. He wasn't sure if he'd heard Shouta correctly, he'd said it so nonchalantly too- like he wasn't telling Izuku there was a possibility of getting his memories back. "Really?" Izuku asked, disbelief evident in his voice.
Shouta sighed, giving him his full attention. "Yes. But that doesn't mean it will actually happen. The principal isn't exactly eager to have you anywhere where'd you'd be at risk, especially an airport. There are other groups besides the League of Villians we have to worry about. As much as I'd like to be able to, I doubt I'd be able to provide enough protection when traveling and navigating an unfamiliar place. There are just too many risks."
"But we can't not try. If she really can help me get my memories back I won't need to be protected!" Izuku pointed out. He felt more desperate now that he could see a solution just out of reach.
If this really worked he wouldn't have to feel so lost anymore. He wouldn't have to deal with the guilt of his friends missing the 'real Midoriya'. Shouta wouldn't have to deal with him all the time.
"Kid, I know you really want this to work. But you have to understand we can't put you at risk like that," Shouta replied gently. He walked over, placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder.
Izuku shook his head in frustration. "No. I won't be at risk. Not if I have heroes in training there with me. Can't we ask Uraraka to go with us? Iida and Todoroki could come too as backup. That's three almost pro-heroes plus you."
Shouta didn't look convinced but he didn't look totally against it either. He stared at Izuku for a moment before finally saying, "If you can convince your principal, you can go. But you have to listen to everything I say. No being reckless or we go straight home. Okay?"
Izuku grinned.
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Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a great day!