Izuku blinked, staring ahead of him when Aizawa announced their next, uhm, project. One of Nezu's friends was working on these virtual worlds where they could study interactions between people like they only met for the first time. The Hero Commission had taken note of this and was now sponsoring the research under the guise of using it for a villain rehabilitation program. They wanted to use it to determine whether they still had a shot at a normal life, whether they were decent human beings if they were put into different contexts without memories of the crimes they committed.
"That sounds great sir, but, uhm, why test it on hero students?" Yaoyorozu asked, her hand up in the air as if that would excuse the fact she spoke without permission. It's not like their teacher really cared about those formalities either way.
"I objected to the idea, but Nezu insisted," Aizawa sighed. "And now that the Commission is backing the program, they can't simply deny us access to it."
Izuku briefly wondered how many strings their principal had pulled in order to get this approved. They were second year hero students, surely there were better candidates! But then again, once Nezu sets his mind to something... Izuku sighed as he read over the paper that Aizawa handed out to everyone. It gave some more information about the whole project with a permission slip attached at the bottom. Would his mom have to sign this? When were they even going to do this? Their schedules were already packed as is!
"We've sent these forms to your parents as well, they should be signed by the end of the week so we can start this project on Monday," Aizawa explained, hearing some complaints from the class. "Nezu wanted to make this mandatory so be glad I'm still giving you the illusion of free choice. Now stop complaining so I can start class."
And so the day continued like normal, but that didn't mean they forgot about it. Izuku wasn't surprised his friends started talking about it when they got back from school.
"Isn't this an invasion of our privacy?" Uraraka asked as she fell down on the couch. "I mean, it has to be, right?"
"They will temporarily wipe our memories, so we won't be able to say anything incriminating," Iida reminded her. "So no, strictly speaking our privacy will not be violated. That doesn't mean I like the fact they're planning on using us to test an experimental device! Nobody is aware whether or not this experience will have side effects or not! Our memories could be permanently affected or-"
"I'm sure principal Nezu wouldn't have us test it if it wasn't safe," Izuku interrupted, trying to reassure his friends, but also himself. There was still a lot that could go wrong in this stage of the project and Izuku rather not think about the possible consequences. By the looks of it, his friends didn't believe him in the slightest.
"Deku, this is Nezu we're talking about," Uraraka deadpanned. "The rat god loves gambling. And experimenting. Especially on students."
Izuku wished he could deny that, but he also knows Nezu regularly invents new lesson plans to see how students would act and perform. The entrance exam in and of itself was just one big game for him, for crying out loud! Sometimes he wondered whether he got joy out of torturing his students... But this was different, wasn't it? This wasn't some trap or test he designed. This was made by someone else and got backed by the commission, so it must have some credibility, right?
"It will be fine," Izuku said with a weak smile. "Probably..."
"Oi! Enough with the depressing talk, you're ruining my mood!"
Izuku turned to see Kacchan walk past with a bottle of water at hand. He must be coming from the kitchen, then. Right, it's Wednesday. He has sparring sessions with Kirishima after school today.
"Didn't know you could be in a good mood but okay," Uraraka snorted, earning an eye roll from the blonde. He had calmed down since their first year, to the point where he wouldn't start a fight inside the dorms for some stupid comment like that. "Anyway, don't you have to say something about this, Bakugou? You're normally the first to complain about stuff like this."
"Yeah, well," Kacchan grumbled, fumbling with his water bottle. Izuku could tell he didn't want to talk about it, but he was still going to try. Something he'd gotten better at, recently. "It's not like we can do shit to stop it, so there's no fucking point in being a whiny bitch about it."
With that he took his chance to escape the conversation, even if he'd never admit to running away from anything or anyone.
"Ugh, even Bakugou is just accepting it! Really, I can't be the only one who thinks this is a bad idea, right?" Uraraka asked, desperate for confirmation at this point.
"I'm sure things will be fine, like Midoriya said," Todoroki told her. "Nezu may not care about his students as much as he should, but he cares about UA's reputation and the possible personal consequences he'll face if something were to go wrong."
"Todoroki is correct, I'm sure Nezu has already calculated the risk and deemed this project safe!" Iida said, clearing his throat. "Safe enough, at least."
"You guys really know how to make a girl feel better, don't you?" Uraraka huffed, getting up from the couch again. "I'm gonna go hang out with Tsu, maybe she can see a bright side to all of this."
"I'm sure it won't be that bad!" Izuku called after her in a last ditch effort to comfort his friend. He wasn't so sure whether she believed him, though...
———
He tried not to worry too much about it all, but Izuku would lie if he said his nerves weren't playing up when he saw the beds lined up against the wall, the men in white coats still readying up the equipment and machines as they entered. The VR headsets didn't look anything like the headsets Izuku had seen before, back when Kaminari had gotten it for his birthday and they played some dumb games down in the common room before Iida requested him to take it upstairs.
No, this was something else entirely. The scientists had gotten one of the training halls to their disposal and filled every inch of it. The beds were lined up against the wall, the headsets positioned at the head with thick wires running across the ground to a much larger machine. Something to read out their thoughts, their brain activity. Izuku had read something about that in the information sheet. And then there were the screens, the papers, the chaotic way everyone was running around as they were setting it all up-
It was a lot to take in.
So yeah, Izuku would lie if he said he wasn't nervous, maybe even a bit anxious. He didn't have good memories of hospitals and tests and brain scans. No, because society doesn't just deem someone quirkless. No. No, they rub it in. They test you in every way they possibly could, but scans were the most frequent thing Izuku had to go through. Or maybe it was the thing he remembered the most. Remembered being scared as he lay still in the big noisy machines, remembered crying, shaking, having nightmares about it all.
"Welcome! I'm so glad you could all make it!" some bubbly woman exclaimed, running up to their class with an excited smile on her face. Or, well, Izuku liked to think she was smiling. Her skin was dark, almost black, and her pupils were pure white, but despite that she tried her best to look approachable. Her clipboard was a mess though, from what Izuku could see at least, and that didn't comfort him in the slightest. "I'm doctor Mills! I run this experiment! Oh, I was just so happy to hear Nezu tell me you guys wanted to volunteer! With the collective trauma in your undeveloped brains it's sure to produce some promising results!"
Ah. So that's why they were the perfect candidates... Izuku didn't like the way she talked about them, and he could tell she hit a nerve with his classmates as well, but that didn't seem to bother her at all.
"Anyway, let's see," she continued, looking down at her clipboard. "I've organized the beds according to your class numbers, so please go to your assigned number. We'll start the first test run shortly!"
"You heard her," Aizawa said when nobody moved. "Come on, the quicker you get into it, the quicker you're out of it."
He didn't want to have his students strapped into these machines either, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. The sooner they got this whole show on the road, the sooner his class would be free to go. Izuku realized that too, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Still, he walked over to the bed that was labeled with the number 18, glancing aside to see Kacchan standing at the bed next to him. He was number 17, it was the whole reason his seat was in front of his.
"I hate this," Izuku admitted, knowing that Kacchan would understand, even if only a little.
"Suck it up, nerd," he grumbled, sitting down on the bed with his legs crossed. "We won't feel a thing, hell, we're not even gonna be conscious. It's not the fucking same."
"Yeah..." Izuku whispered. He knew Kacchan tried to show he cared in his own special way, but words weren't his thing. They never were. But he'd been getting better at communicating, something Izuku could appreciate.
"You'll be fucking fine, Deku," Katsuki sighed, acting all annoyed by him. "Isn't that what you've been saying round face?"
"It's easier saying it to other people," Izuku mumbled, glancing at the headset as he sat down on the bed.
"Hypocrite."
"Meanie."
"Tch."
It didn't take long for the assistants to make their rounds, putting the VR headsets in place and plugging them in while Dr. Mills told them about the simulation they'd be experiencing. It would be a replica of this world, normal society. They would wake up in standardized rooms in a UA dorm building. They would retain general information about how the world worked and they would be able to use their quirks, or at least feel like they're using them since their minds would be teleported into this fake reality and they wouldn't actually be able to move their bodies.
"Alright, here we go!" Dr. Mills exclaimed before the machines started whirring. Izuku took a deep breath, trying to stay calm as he closed his eyes. When he woke up again, the whirring was gone. Why had he dreamed of whirring..?
Izuku frowned, rubbing his head as he sat up. He was...inside his dorm room? Yeah, of course, where else would he be? He sighed, getting up from his bed and- And what? What did Izuku normally do? Why didn't he remember that..? He groaned, rubbing his temple as he walked over to his closet. There wasn't much in there, so he just picked out a white shirt and jeans. He frowned when looking at himself in the mirror, holding his hand over his chest for a moment. It felt like something was...missing, in a weird way... Did he normally wear plain shirts like this? It didn't feel like he did...
He didn't know why he felt so bothered about this, it's not like there was anything else he could wear. He groaned. This was so frustrating! Maybe he should just, I don't know, let muscle memory take over or something? He wasn't getting anywhere by staying in his room, anyway, so getting downstairs for breakfast was probably a logical first step.
"Oh, hi!"
"Uhm, hey," Izuku said, greeting the brown haired girl that bumped into him as he walked out of the elevator. "This is awkward, uhm, what's your name again?"
"Huh? Oh, Uraraka! Ochako Uraraka," she introduced herself. "And, uh, you are..?"
"Izuku Midoriya," Izuku answered, glad he wasn't the only one having trouble with names. Was it the start of the school year? Is that why he couldn't remember? Why he didn't have any habits yet? He was pulled out of thought when he heard a plate shatter on the ground. His eyes instantly shot towards the sound, seeing a very familiar ash blonde stare at him with wide eyes.
"Fuck," he cursed, and suddenly it all came rushing back to him. His life, his friends, his school, this damn experiment-
"Kacchan..?" he breathed, as if he wasn't sure what was the dream and what was real life. But his memories didn't lie, neither did the headache that was blooming underneath his skull. His vision was getting blurry as he stumbled forward, trying to reach out to Kacchan, wanting to make sure he was real, that this was real.
Then he woke up.
The whirring returned and he shot up from the bed, his head getting stuck in the headset, making him breathe louder, harder, but the air didn't seem to reach his lungs. No. No, no, no, no! No, he couldn't- He couldn't breathe. He had to breathe!
"Midoriya, it's okay, you're okay."
Tears blurred his vision when the headset was finally removed and he could see the wobbly outline of his homeroom teacher.
"Deep breaths," he instructed. "You're going to be okay."
Izuku nodded, taking deep breaths like Aizawa told him too, as he laid back on the back, covering his eyes with his arm. Fuck. He totally lost it just now! And that because of this stupid, dumb machine and this dumb fake reality and- His breath hitched for a moment. And Kacchan. He saw Kacchan and he just... He just crashed. Is that the right term to use here? It should be, right? Seeing him send him in a downward spiral in an instant. He blinked, lowering his arm as he took a deep breath.
He looked aside before he could stop himself, and now he wished he didn't. Kacchan was laying there, tears threatening to break free from his eyes as he sucked in shaky breaths. He looked so...fragile. It wasn't something Izuku ever wanted to see, not again, not after Kamino, after their fight in their first year, after everything they'd been through. And oh, he was clenching his shirt over his heart... That gesture alone hurt more than Izuku liked to admit.
"Fuck," he hissed, slamming his hand down on the bed, making Izuku flinch. "Fucking hell. What the fuck was that shit? That's... That's not normal, right? Something went wrong, something had to go wrong-"
"We don't know what happened exactly," Aizawa told him, glancing between his two problem students. "All we know is that you two saw each other in the digital dreamworld and your headsets malfunctioned, causing you two to be thrown out of the program."
Great. Just great! It's always them, isn't it? Izuku tried to move on from Kacchan, tried his best to regain his friendship and not be weird about it. But every single time the universe just hadn't fling something like this in his face, didn't it? Izuku took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling. At least they wouldn't have to re-enter the experiment, right?
"Fascinating!"
Oh no.
Dr. Mills was with them in less than a second, poking and prodding, which earned her a scowl and a shove from Kacchan.
"Our memory wipe system wasn't able to contain your memories when the two of you met. It was totally outside of my calculations!" she rambled, unbothered by the fact Kacchan was silently planning to strangle her. Izuku couldn't blame him. "You two must be strongly connected to each other!"
"Ah, uh, I guess you could say that?" Izuku said, but it came out like a question instead of an answer.
"And the side effects!" she gasped, instantly jumping onto the next thing. "Your brainwaves- They went like crazy! You two went into some sort of panic the moment the program forcefully pushed you out like WHAM! I need to study this in more detail-"
With that she trailed off, scribbling down on her clipboard as she walked over to some giant monitor where all kinds of activity was displayed in graphs and colors. Two of the fields were darkened out, which must be where their measurements were projected before they woke up, if you can even call it that.
"Don't tell me we have to go back in there," Kacchan asked, glaring at Aizawa sensei.
"This was the first test run in the first prototype world," Aizawa explained. "Nezu signed you up to enter the five worlds Dr. Mills has been working on and I'm convinced he won't be willing to give you two an exception after the excitement I just saw in her eyes."
He didn't want to send them back in either, but his hands were tied. There was nothing he could do but be there for his students right now. Izuku hated it, hated that he was stuck as a participant in this experiment due to their crazed rat god of a principal. Hated that it reminded him of hospitals, of scans, of tests. It made him feel all the more relieved that Recovery Girl never really had to do those, that she could simply heal him with a kiss and get it over with.
"I hate this," Izuku whispered, making Kacchan huff.
"Suck it up, nerd," he commented, like he'd done before, but there was no bite behind it. "We both have to."