{Third person pov}
A week had pasted since the beginning of the new year at UA, and already it had been a clusterfuck. deku went back to school the next day, after fully recovering from his fever and life went back to normal. Well... as normal as you can get when you are going to a prodigious high school full of Japan's top talent students. Everyday, a new mishap would occur which was caused by Deku's lively friends. Another thing burning, another person choking, another emo trying to send Kaachan back to the demon realm. Not only did deku not mind this new excitement in his life, but he felt he needed the good kind of chaos from time to time. If the good kind of chaos resulted in scorched hair and tears as Uraraka wanted to see if she could practice her gymnastics whilst holding sero's lighter in dark, she had to get a haircut the next day. School was going great too, he hadn't had many acting classes this week, but the few he did have, made him learn a whole new aspect on body language and projection, all thanks to the guidance of mr. Aizawa. Kaachan and deku were actually talking, of course Kaachan was still telling him to die and calling him a nerd, but now he had this playful attitude towards him, sharing sassy smirks at each other when they met. Deku was also putting on good amount of weight, he had almost hit a BMI of 18kg/m2, meaning he was almost at the ideal body weight for his size. His bags were decreasing around his eyes, he gained colour back in his skin, and those freckled were nicely highlighted by healthy glowing cheeks. This was the point of no return. Everything was peaceful.
"I AM HERE!" a deep bellowing voice had burst into their homeroom. Deku froze at the familiar voice, recognizing the sound of his mentor. All might, he had forgotten that he was becoming a teacher starting from this week. Deku had never been more excited, even though the sight of this man was a regular occurrence in his life now. Deku looked towards Kaachan, even Kaachan couldn't supress a smile. In fact, Kaachan even turned around to deku, giving him a smirk. However, bakugo was surprised that deku wasn't fainting in his seat right their and then, knowing that he is all might's biggest fan boy. The whole classroom was in awe, as the big muscly man walked into the room, flashing that expressive smile to each student. Mr aizawa signed, he found all might too loud, as to be expected.
"drama student, you will be taken care of my Mr. Smiley over here. He will take you lessons from now on," Mr aizawa sighed. Various of groans and surprised came from the classroom, many saying that they would have liked to have hand all might as a teacher. But as to be expected, he was an actor and nothing more. The four stood from they seats and followed the bright smiling man out of the classroom. Deku was more than excited, bouncing up and down as he walked. Bakugo smirked, "you really still a nerd for him huh? how did you even keep up with his movie if you couldn't afford a tv." Deku looked up and pouted, "I was poor Kaachan, I didn't live under a rock. Plus, If I wasn't in the music or drama department, I was watching all might clips in the school library. So shhhhhhhhhhh." Deku childishly started hitting the blond boys shoulder, resulting in an actual punch in the arm as a response. Deku whined in pain and bakugo laughed, making iida and Tokoyami feel uncomfortable because they have only seen the fuck-off-get-away-from-me-extra's attitude. All might also caught wind of this, young midoriya explained his weird relationship with the spiky haired blond, but this was different. All might smiled to himself, form the outside perspective he was already smiling to begin with, but this was different, his smile was genuine. He had only known the small boy for a small period of time, and yet he felt like he was the son he never had.
They arrived at the hall, it was empty, but the stage had a massive metal cube on it, which only sparked the boys' curiosity. Deku still felt excited going into this room, even though he goes here every time there is a drama class. But now his favour actor was here too !! deku felt so excited he could explode, which was usually kaachan's job, out of anger of course. Bakugo looked at the boy with a mixture of disgusted and joy, he was glad he was getting his energy back.
"today we are going to do a 'NO-BREAKING-CHARACTER-EXERCISE. What's the point of the emersion of theatre if you lose your character, it wouldn't engage the audience, only make them despise it. You must learn to never break character, even a sneeze could potentially ruin the performance. the show must go on." All might spoke proudly, placing his fists on his hips and bellowing his heart out with passion. "you will be given characters, a mood, a small background. The setting is easy. You all locked in a room. You don't know how you got there, or why. There were many of you when you woke up, you knew no one, and none of you have a correlation. But every so often, they would call a persons name and they had to walk out the room, never to be seen again. there are now four of you. The conversation can be anything about your past life, your theories, confessions. If you break character, you are taken out for the room, and the rest must carry on." He said, explaining the situation he had put them through. Deku stopped bouncing around...... uh oh. Everyone knew by now that deku is rather gullible and is easily affected by his emotions. All might presented a hat in front of the four students a hat, with four folded up pieces of paper. "pick one, it will be your characters." One by one, they carefully chose each note. Uncrunching the paper and crunching their noses. Everyone hated their characters. Deku looked at his paper, 'a tired single parent' what the heck was that supposed to mean. Deku often found that whenever he has to act, he puts himself in that scenario, and remember a feeling where he has felt the same as requested. But here, there wasn't a simple scenario, he never knew what it's like to have a child. He had to be his own character. He mumbled under his breath. he needs to find a solution, any behaviours he has seen that match the description. He didn't really know any parents that were tired other than his own.... Mother. All those countless nights of crying, all those baggy eyes tucked away behind a warm smile. He had seem enough of a tired parent.
He took a long breathe. Bakugo next to him, took note of this, he has a plan. This might be challenging.
Izuku smirked and looked up.
Lets do this.
{Izuku's pov}
the room was dark.
There was only four of us yet.
I was in the corner, hugging my knees to much chest.
I was scared.
I want to see my family.
I want to see my son.
A dark figure with his hair slicked back, was pacing the floor. Tokoyami looked really angry.
He seemed to finally have had enough and was banging at the door.
"damn it, damn it let me out!!"
"there's no use on trying, just wait until they come and get you." A tall navy-blue man properly adjusted his glasses. He was sitting with his arms and legs crossed against the left wall. He seemed calculated and logical, adjusting his glasses as they started to fall off. On the right wall, a blond man was lying on his back. only staring up to the ceiling, I have never seen Kaachan so sombre, it hurt me for some reason.
"shut up four eyes, fuck I need a drink," The brooding man shouted, he really has learnt from Kaachan.
"well, its just us now. I feel like its time to introduce myself. My name is tenya iida. Please call my tenya," he stood up, brushing dust off his perfectly cared for clothes. I'm glad we are getting to use our really names.
"Izuku midoriya, please call me Izuku." I flashed him a tired smile. But I couldn't keep my fake smile going. I missed my child.
"fumikage Tokoyami, you don't get the privilege, I don't know any of you and I need to get the fuck out here right now, "he punched and shouted the door once again. I looked towards the last guy. He began looking at his hand.
"k-katsuki bakugo. Call me whatever you want," he croaked. He lifted his hand in front of his face, like it was covered in blood.
"what were your jobs." Tenya asked.
"unemployed" Tokoyami finally game up with the door and slid down it.
"an accountant, " I replied. Sliding my legs down, letting the others see my face.
"a teacher" bakugo croaked. Not moving at all.
"I see. I'm a doctor" Tenya placed his hand on his chin.
A few minutes pass. And the silence was crippling.
Tenya stood up and walked towards the body of Tokoyami, who was clinging to the smooth surface of the door. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "you said you needed a drink. Are you determined to get out because you are an alch- "Tokoyami slapped the hand away from him. "mind you fucking business doc, "he turned around with a quivering lip.
"you are suffering."
"fuck off"
"it wont help you."
"fuck off,"
"you are hurting yourself."
"you don't know me."
"I know you are hurting."
"mind your fucking business."
Both males stood up. Tokoyami had a defensive stance, whilst tenya seemed to generally want to help.
"I'm here if you need to talk."
"oh bite me."
"I'm a doctor, I'm here to help the ill."
"don't"
"and you sir are ill."
"no I'm fucking not."
He pushed tenya away, making the tall boy fall the ground. He hit the floor quite hard making Tokoyami gasp. "iida I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"
" fumikage Tokoyami, step out of the room."
He gasped and looked defeated.
And he stepped out of the room
~*
A few minutes has pasted, and the disappearance of Tokoyami made the entire atmosphere thicken.
Bakugo finally sat up, resting his back against the wall like the rest of us.
Tenya looked distraught. He probably blamed himself, both in character and out of it.
I returned back to my huddled knees. I felt my eyes get droopy. I wanted to rest but I needed to stay awake and alerted.
"hey, doctor." Bakugo finally spoke up by himself. his voice didn't have a shed of hope. His eyes dull and emotionless.
Tenya hummed as a reply. Not having the guts to look up.
"why do you think we are here? Huh? Why are we trapped in this cube? You seem to know to your stuff." He mocked. His head fell limp, like he didn't have the energy or the strength to keep it straight up. He seemed to be very broke man, and I couldn't tell if this was due to the mystery of the room, or just in his nature. It really hurt me to see him so solemn.
"well. I was hypothesizing that we could be here for some sort of social experiment. Checking to see how humanity is uncomfortable with the company of others." Tenya mumbled under his breath. he was interrupted by bakugo's haunting laugh that seemed to only mock tenya's logical response.
"wow, how optimistic."
Kaachan's eyes were gloomy, they felt so real and full of despair it made me want to cry. I felt like he was acting this way to mock me. He knows that went I see him sad, I break.
"what about you? What do you think?" tenya raised an eyebrow. Looking towards the blond man. Bakugo sighed and finally but the energy in his body, sitting up straight and looking directly in tenya's eyes.
"I think on the other side of that door, is the end. We must have done something wrong, or disagreed with injustice, and now we are being punished for it. On the other hand, they could be just praying on the weak, for some rich asshole's entertainment..... I may not know what the fuck this room is, and I don't think I will ever know. But what I do know is that in the other side, is nothing. Possibly death, I'll accept it either way." He explained, finishing his rant by bringing his knees up to his face. Placing his head on his legs, shutting himself from the world.
The room feel silent, and I felt a shiver down my spine. Tenya looked at bakugo with a face that can only be described as sympathy. I couldn't blame him, bakugo seemed to be the type of person who expects the worse to avoid being disappointed. So much angst surrounded his soul, nothing felt darker than this man.
Damn Kaachan is good!
Me and bakugo seemed to be opposite. I wanted to felt him understand what positivity is. Kaachan's speech felt too real,, too easy for kaachan to say. If that was his true feelings, I am going to express my own. I felt like I had to say something, and I smiled to myself.
"well, I may not know why we are here. But I want to believe once we are out. We can go back to regular life. What's the point of feeling depressed and only think the negative? Even if there is nothing on the other side and I die once I get through, what's the point of having my last moments so negative, when I could think about the amazing life I have had! I want to believe Ill see my son again. I want to believe he is safe. So even if I don't, he was with me until the end." I stated. It was nice to finally get that off my chest. That opposite mentality of what Bakugo felt was needed in that room. I sighed and felt my body finally relax. I get a glimpse of bakugo's face, he didn't break away from his character but he still looked at me with awe. However, when I looked up at the other prisoner, I see Tenya's eyes gushing with tears. i tried my best not to say out of character but it was very surprising to see iida cry. "Midoriya, that was so beautiful!" tenya sniffed.
"Tenya Iida, step out of the room."
He realised what he has done and excepted defeat and walked out of the door. Smiling as he leaves, giving me a quick glimpse.
Now it was just me and Kaachan.
~*
"so, you are a teacher, right?"
"yeah."
"what grade do you teach."
"high school."
"ah ... I see."
it was around 20 minutes after tenya left. We had tried to make conversation but it always result in long periods of silence. I had moved closer towards him, keeping personal distance. He hadn't moved his position since tenya left. The air was thick, and the atmosphere was dark, but I was determined to create a normal conversation.
"I have a son. He's only 9 years old. His mother left when he was 3 so he doesn't remember what it is like to have a mom." I expressed, fiddling with my thumbs. I knew this is unnecessary conversation, but it was all I could do in that moment. Also its not acting if we are not talking, I'll at least make the conversation.
"do you have family? Like relatives near you." Bakugo finally asked. This wasn't written on my sheet; he might be trying to catch me out. If I am trying to act like my mum, I must represent our own living style.
"no... I don't have siblings and my parents are both dead. His mother's side refuses to talk to me." I reflected. This was hard, I could feel my mum's pain. I came to the realisation that If she were to disappear, I would have no one to go to. She had no family, we had no one to go to. Did she ever worry about that? I was channelling my mum's stress and it was already getting to me. The silence was deafening.
"do you enjoy your job? I heard being a teacher can be challenging, but it must be so rewarding to see kids blossom into young adults, right?" I beamed, trying to remain a positive energy. Bakugo looked up at me, with dull eyes. I saw for a second how his lip quivered into a smile for a second, could I be breaking through to him, I didn't understand what I did. My brain seemed to connect the dots; it seems that my positivity is going against kaachan's character. And from what I could tell he was a teacher with depression and stress problems. Kaachan can't seem to be able to ignore my positivity, so if I can find away to get him to see the positives, or even generally smile. I might be able to make him crack. His eyes flickered.
"quite to opposite. I have to teach them basic drivel, force them into pointless exams, trim their impressionable minds to fit with what the curriculum expects them to be. I have to watch these kids lose every bit of uniqueness as I practically ship them off to the no-mans-land of society. It's not up-lifting, its hell. " he stated, the words felt like they were from the heart, how was he able to channel the angst of a teacher so naturally. Still I wasn't going to give up.
"but doesn't it inspire you to fill the kids with knowledge. Even though you might think you are sending them into a battlefield. Don't you find that you are helping them survive it a little bit more."
Remain positive
"are you kidding me. The curriculum doesn't teach shit. They are not going to need how to do simultaneous equations in the future and yet if they fail even one exam, their life is tossed away." Bakugo said, he seemed to get angrier at every response, that's more like Kaachan.
"I can understand that, but what about the children themselves. You get to meet so many young people who have a new perspective. Sure that optimism might change but you're a teacher, you must love being around kids." I exclaimed. I watched as bakugo was covering his face, from an outside perspective, it looks like a stress moment, but from where I was, I could see he was covering a smile, it was working. He uncovered his face, displaying mocking smirk.
"kids these days don't care about their teachers. I could try and be comforting or personal, and they just call me a gross old man. No one cares anymore, you think those children are optimistic? They are not depressed than I am, it feels like every day I lose a new student." He said, sporting a sadistic laugh. Jeez, that's dark Kaachan. My thoughts were interrupted to see the blond change from his hostile position and directly sit in front of me, almost cornering me against the wall. I felt my face heat up, uh oh.
"you agree with me about this fucked up society eh? Tell me, how stable are you? Are you living comfortable?" Bakugo enquired with an almost evil look staring into my eyes. he knows my weakness.
"I can barely make ends meet. Every day I wonder how an accountant can make such low salary, but it happened. Some days I don't know if I will be able to pay for a meal."
"do you feel guilty."
"all the time, I feel like I am not working hard enough for him."
"do you blame him."
"why would I?"
"because he's an extra mouth to feed."
"I would rather feed his mouth than mine."
Kaachan stop it
"so... you had that speech about hoping to see your son. How do you know if he is even safe?
"I don't. All I can do is hope."
"what if you never see him again. he has no where to go."
"I won't think about that."
"isn't that selfish, you won't even think about your child's future after what's going to happen out there? He might never see you again, what are you going to do about it."
"I can't do anything about it."
Please Kaachan stop it.
"are you ok with your son being left alone."
"of course not."
"do you ever think about abandoning him"
"I would never abandon my son"
I gritted my teeth. I felt like I could hear my mum's soul screaming out at me... please Kaachan....
"he will be an outcast."
" I won't think about that!"
"he'll be an orphan."
"I refuse to listen anymore."
"I don't know, seems rather selfish to me. If you are forcing your child into a life of poverty, when he could be probably looked after in a home."
Stop....it...
"I wouldn't be surprised if your son blamed you for it."
Snap
My hand collided with his cheek, sending him to fall back from where he was sitting. My hand stung, so I could only assumed what he felt. He placed his own hand on cheek and looked up at me with teary eyes from the impact.
"what the fuc- "
"DON'T YOU DARE INSINUATE THAT I BLAME MY MUM FOR ANYTHING. MAYBE SHE COULD HAVE SENT ME TO A CARE HOME, MAYEB SHE OUDLNT HAVE. BUT I WOULD NEVER BALME HER FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO US. IT WAS ALL THAT FUCKERS FAULT!!" I held onto my hair, feeling every single strand feel stressed.
"deku I'- "
"Izuku midoriya, step out of the room."
I ran out the room without hesitation.