"Excuse me, can you please tell us what it's like to have All Might as your teacher?" The reporter lady jammed the microphone into Izuku's face as he arrived at the school gate.
"Uh, sorry, but I have classes to attend to!" Izuku weaved his way through the crowd of reporters and hurried inside the school to his classroom.
This was it, the day the league of villains will infiltrate UA and somehow steal a copy of the staff schedule.
The people responsible for the future war will come right to their doorstep today, but as much as he hated it, Izuku did not plan to stop them. In this fight, patience was the key, and Izuku needed to utilize his advantage as much as he could.
"Good job on the battle training yesterday, everyone did well." Aizawa said very unenthusiastically, "Now... homeroom stuff. Today you guys will decide on a class president. Make it fast."
The classroom instantly filled with euphoria as most of the students started yelling for others to choose them as class rep. And just like last time, everything ended with a vote.
"WHAT?! I got five votes?" Izuku said in disbelief as he saw the results on the board.
"Dammit, who voted for Deku?!!" Bakugo yelled.
"I mean, he did show a lot of leadership during the battle training..." Sero said quietly while some other students nodded around him.
"Well then, it is decided that Midoriya is class representative, and Yaoyorozu is deputy class rep," Aizawa said from his yellow sleeping bag.
Izuku forced himself not to object.
Patience, Izuku. Patience.
•••
"You doing good, Deku?" Uraraka asked during lunch.
"Oh, I'm fine." Izuku looked away from the window and tried to relax. "What were we talking about?"
"Iida just finished sharing about his brother, Ingenium. He wants to become a hero just like him! Isn't that cool?" Uraraka said as Iida nodded.
"Yeah, that's uh, cool..." Izuku forced away the memories of Iida's bloody arm after being stabbed by Stain, the hero killer responsible for Ingenium's retirement.
"Congratulations on being class representative," Iida said to Izuku, "you really deserve to lead our class."
"Actually, I think you should be the one to lead us," Izuku replied, "you're probably the most responsible and serious person I know."
Iida opened his mouth and was about to reply when the loud, screeching sound of the alarm started blaring.
"Security level three has been broken. All students, please evacuate in an orderly fashion." The automated voice said.
Then all hell broke loose and the students stampeded into the hallways.
Everybody was pushing and shoving, and Izuku was slammed against the window by the stream of students pouring out of the cafeteria.
Outside, an ocean of reporters was crowding the front gate, while Aizawa and Present Mic were trying to herd them away.
Anytime now, Iida, Izuku prayed as he felt his ribs getting squashed.
Suddenly, beyond the crowd of reporters, Izuku glimpsed a flicker of white and time seemed to stop.
It was the kind of white that made his heart freeze and breath choke and stomach flip.
The white thing vanished as quickly as it appeared but Izuku knew too well what it was.
A pale, white hand, on the face of a crazy, monstrous, nightmarish villain.
"Shigaraki..."
"EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!!!!" Iida's voice boomed through the hallway as he stood on top of the exit sign, "EVERYTHING IS FINE!!!!"
After Iida yelled for everyone to stop panicking and that the alarm was set off by the reporters, the students finally settled down and retreated to their classrooms. The police arrived a while later and drove away the reporters.
On the walk back to the classroom, Kirishima came up and asked if Izuku was ok.
"I saw you get squashed," Kirishima said with a small laugh, "and you looked so angry and all."
"I'm fine," Izuku said, half-lying, the brief glimpse of the villain replaying in his mind.
"Ok, if you say so."
Back in class, Izuku called for attention.
"We'll choose the other student council members, but before that, I have something important to say.
"I believe Iida is more suited to be class representative," Izuku said, "everyone saw how he led everyone in that crisis just now. If it weren't for him, the panic definitely could've got worse."
There were murmurs of agreement. A few people still thought Izuku was a better leader, but overall the class was happy with Iida being president.
"I will humbly accept the job then!" Iida rose from his seat.
"You can do it!"
"Exit sign Iida!"
Izuku gave an encouraging smile to his friend, "You got this, Iida. We're depending on you."
•••
"Hello, Midoriya Izuku," principal Nezu said, holding out a paw.
Izuku returned the gesture and shook the principal's paw, "thanks for letting me come."
"I am always open to having a conversation." Nezu sat down, "So, you are the one All Might chose as his successor."
"Yes, I am." Izuku hoped he sounded better than he felt.
"Please, have a seat." The principal gestured for All Might and Izuku to sit on a couch, "I believe you have something important to share with me?"
"Yes, principal," Izuku said nervously, "it's... gonna sound really crazy, but... I know the future."
"Oh?" Nezu sat up straighter.
"Less than a year from now on, there's going to be a huge war between heroes and villains. At least, that's what happened in my time.
"After the battle, I was sent to lure out All For One and the villains after they went into hiding. But, there's this girl, Eri, with a rewind quirk. It went wrong, and somehow I got sent back two years in time. I've relived around a year of my life by now."
Nezu did not say a word, and the room stayed silent for a minute or two.
"What do you know about the villains?" the principal finally said.
"Their organization is led by All For One and this other villain, Shigaraki Tomura. He's going to attack USJ Wednesday afternoon."
"Will any students get hurt?"
"No, but Aizawa, Thirteen and All Might will."
Then, Izuku explained his plan to the principal. A plan he had written in his notebook months ago after going through every possible outcome he could think of. More than once had All Might heard this plan and refined it. So, it had to work.
It just had to.
After listening to the plan, Nezu thought about it for a moment, then stood up.
"My boy, you have come up with a surprisingly detailed plan. I do believe it's plausible," he said, "however..."
Izuku felt his heart sink.
"As the principal of this school, I simply cannot allocate all pro-heroes to support your plan without any hard evidence that this attack will happen one hundred percent as you say it will. It leaves the other students vulnerable."
He also thinks I might be working with the villains, Izuku realized, a sense of hopelessness creeping up his spine.
The boy opened his mouth to object, but a stern yet calming look from All Might stopped him.
Patience, All Might's gaze reminded Izuku.
"Principal Nezu..." All Might started, but Nezu stopped him.
"Despite what I said, I'm not saying I won't support it. I trust you with all my heart, All Might," the principal turned to Izuku.
"I will allow a few teachers to go on Wednesday. I believe in class 1-A, and I think you kids are a promising group of young heroes."
Izuku beamed, "really? Thank you principal Nezu!"
"Show me I can trust you, Midoriya Izuku," Nezu said sternly, "because the future depends on you."