The group of Surveye's-Villa met on point.
Nobody was even a minute too late and it was almost stunning for the to-be-heroes when suddenly six groups of four seemed to emerge out of thin air and collected at the same spot as if there had been an unnoticeable signal.
They all looked so… plain. Even if some of the teens were limping and if more of them had the scar crossing over their eye.
The only one who stuck out of the group like a sore thumb was a young man who looked like a humanoid-lizard.
Zuko greeted the group with a smile and asked one after the other if everything went well and if everyone bought what they should.
Every team had fulfilled its task effortlessly and Tenya felt a pang of jealousy in his heart when he had to witness that this most-likely-to-be-villains were better at working together than them, the next generation of heroes.
"So: Who'll go home now?"
Some hands rose and those who had come forward were soon holding all the purchases which had been given to them in a short span of time and an orderly fashion. The older and stronger ones had to carry more and heavier things than the younger and weaker teens.
It was the display of a perfectly synced community and their behavior bordered on collective consciousness which was frightening and eerie to watch, but on the other hand so extremely stunning.
Imagine how they could fight together.
The thought scared Tenya and the ravenette shook his head harshly to chase away the scenes that started to form in his mind.
It might not be enough to defeat All Might himself but if such a large group were to work together in perfect harmony and without any need for communication they would be able – with or without Quirks – to defeat one strong opponent or a smaller group with stronger members.
"Okay.",
said Zuko with a smile and looked around as one part of his group went to the train station and the other split up again to enjoy the rest of the day and the night,
"We're ready to go."
The little brother of Ingenium closed his eyes for a short moment and took a deep breath.
He respected Zuko – just to avoid saying that he was afraid of him – and didn't want to land on the greenette's bad-side by being unfriendly or rude.
Still, each following interaction of this stranger with the class was too much of a risk.
"I am terribly sorry but we, as a class, talked one more time about inviting you and reached the collective conclusion that it would be safer for everyone to part our company here."
Zuko's expression was one of bafflement for a few seconds before he lowered his head and his wild curls cast a shadow over most of his face.
"Oh… I… I understand."
He looked up again with a forced smile on his face that pushed his cheeks up in a way that looked painful. In his eyes was a dull glint of tiring resignation which caused most of the students to feel bad, and then Idori-kun did one thing that was like a kick in the stomach.
He bowed.
"Thank you, that we could spend some time with you. It was an honor to meet future top-heroes and to talk to them as well – especially for us. We'll be on our way now. Surely it would not be good for your reputation to know people who spend most of their lives in the darker grey-zones."
After that, the small teen straightened again and vanished big, long strides in the wild maelstrom of colors that the happy mass of people was and left the class of future heroes behind with a feeling of regret and Shouto with a letter for the class-president.
The bi-colored boy harrumphed to gain the attention of his classmates as he joined them.
"Zuko left this for you, Iida-kun."
Hesitantly the ravenette took the letter with was made out of a heavy, rather antique-looking paper that seemed to be quite expensive.
'In the end, you won't get rid off us, class 1A.
To a well future cooperation! And thank you that I was able to see Shouchan so early again.
I hope you'll pass the next test better than this one.
And congratulations on passing the exams, when we're talking about examinations already!
<X>'
Confused he read the text.
Then he read it a second time.
The sign obviously was the 'Surveye'.
He swallowed dryly.
"Todoroki-kun. Are you sure that your… friend… is no villain?"
Endeavor's son simply shrugged as if he wanted to say: 'And even if?'
Tenya cleared his throat and said loudly what Zuko had left them behind as a letter.
Momo frowned.
"Which test?"
"Quero ~ did he really sign with the 'Surveye'?"
"Cooperation?!"
"They are... ... . . . getting rid off?!"
Were the questions the class president was able to understand in the chaos, and he only deciphered them with a lot of effort.
"We should wrap up this outing as soon as possible and return home to prepare for our school trip. It would not be wise to stay out in the open where we're easy targets to attack."
Everyone nodded and the group dispersed in a matter of a few seconds because everyone gladly rushed to get themselves to safety.
Sighing Shouto shook his head and looked around to find the villain. He would not let his first outing in his life be ruined.
For a while he wandered around aimlessly between shops, families, and groups until somebody brushed against his arm and he turned his head just to stand in front of Yamikumo.
"So you didn't turn your tail like the rest of your awesome classmates?"
The taller teen shook his head and the double of his best friend grinned like a skull.
"Up to spending a bit more time with us?"
He nodded and was grabbed at his wrist by the younger at the very same moment and pulled through the mall until he stood in front of a familiar, small group once more and finally could relax.
Together they wandered through the mall, left the place after some time to saunter through the streety of the city instead.
And Izuku could tell a lot about their city.
For every alley, every shop, every dark side-street he seemed to have his own, little story.
Nice memories seemed to be a rarity but each showed why Izuku Chizome was who he was and Shouto soaked up every word like a dried sponge would soak up water.
He really wanted to understand his friend better.
"... it was almost ridiculous! I mean, picture this: I, a small, half-blind, homeless kid stood there with nothing more than a pocket knife between a group of grown-up thugs and this young lady who was almost strangling me with her grip and this- haha - this guys were seriously trembling in their boots! Out of fear! Because of me! I mean, how pathetic can one be?"
"Oh! Oh oh oh oh~! Did you kill them, Izuchan? Did you? Did you?!"
"No. It went down like this: ..."
Touya bumped his arm lightly against Shouto's to gain his baby brother's attention.
"It pretty interesting to listen to him, ain't it?"
"Yeah… compared to his my life looks soooooo… so harmless."
"I'm rather happy to not be in his skin.",
said the ravenette affirmative,
"But I also wouldn't want to be in yours. Why don't you move out? I'm sure Zuko would have a way to remove you from the heartburn legally."
"And where should I go then?", inquired the younger brother quizzically, although the nickname for his father made the corner of his mouth twitch upwards for a bit.
Their conversation had gained the attention of the group.
"You're always welcome in the Villa, Shouchan! You could move in with us every day you'd like to, we have enough free beds."
What a temptation.
"I don't think Fuyumi would allow me to. And to convince Endeawhore would be a chunk of work.", was his mumbled reply.
Izukus expression was one of plain excitement and he stumbled towards his friend like a clumsy puppy.
"No no! It'll work out! I'm sure you'll be allowed to live with us! After all, we're a therapeutical-institution for children and adolescents with traumatic-/violent-/ and abuse-history! You would fit in perfectly!
I have some guys from the child protective services on my side, I could send them to your home because of child abuse and neglect and use this suspicion to blackmail your begetter into handing you over to us if he doesn't want an official trial!"
Toga and Yamikumo were nodding along enthusiastically and only the Todoroki-brothers looked skeptical but then Shouto felt a smile creep onto his lips and nodded.
"When are we going to start and how soon do I need to pack?"
Izuku cheered and jumped into the air with a victory-pose which made all the people around them look at them weirdly but the group simply laughed.
Whoever said that villains couldn't be funny was wrong.
Delighted the serial-killer began to tell his hero-friend about the rules in the Villa, what the building looked like, how the people there were. And then he started to talk about the gaps and shortcuts in the Protection of Young Persons Act.
An endless flood of words bubbled out of the mouth of Stain's adopted son. Sometimes they were understandable, sometimes just silent mumbling - at some point, the other villains turned away in an annoyed-amusement because they already knew this behavior of their leader but Shouto simply let the other talk; as long and as much as he wanted to.
It was nice to just listen, especially because he never repeated himself.
Izuku was always thinking onwards, a bit further ahead, a bit more complicated than before – there was no chance for him to say something two times.
The people were throwing wry looks at the greenette but he was so deep down in his very own mind that he did not notice and his taller companion already made it his purpose to save his friend from colliding with others with gentle pushing and pulling.
And still, he was listening intently.
It was such a pure, unsullied form of rapture that one couldn't struggle against it.
And when his new friends accompanied him to his house together with two workers of the CPS to discuss him moving into the Villa with his family he couldn't just send them away and so they came with him, although he did ask Touya and Toga to wait outside.
His brother didn't complain and almost seemed relieved.
The girl was disappointed but accepted it in the end and waited in front of the door with a pout.
Fuyumi though the idea was – instead of what Shouto expected – not bad but was rather keen that her little brother could live together with his friends at a place with other teens who could understand what he went through.
His father hated the idea but the officials and Izuku presented enough blackmail-material so that the "hero" was forced to crumble.
They arranged that Shouto's supervision was to be transferred to the manager of the Villa and that he would move there the very next day and that he could take everything of importance for him with him exactly the same day, although he had to promise that he would spend every Saturday with his family - it was not hard to promise that.
And so it came that Izuku arrived the next day with all the occupants of the Villa so that they could meet Shouto and help with carrying his things.