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Having surprise essays rudely assigned throughout the day wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary for the support course. It was Powerloader’s go-to trick whenever he’d forgotten to write a lesson plan, or fallen asleep for the entirety of the weekend, and Midoriya wasn’t too bothered by it usually.
Usually, however, did not include today, intriguingly, as when Midoriya took his seat and (After a brief glance at his teacher which disclosed the surprise exam via his exhausted face) stared at the brief titling the paper before him, he grinned widely.
Analysis was a new topic, previously unmentioned in the support course, and Midoriya was living for it. He’d just updated his eighteenth notebook the night before and the leftover motivation was still running through his bloodstream and desperate to get out.
And it did, flowing through his mind and pen in clear points, reasoning and conclusion, leaking his thoughts through the ink and pouring onto the paper in an unstoppable stream of kanji.
Midoriya was almost disappointed when Powerloader announced the end of the lesson, (Almost being the key word; he was rather excited to catch up with Iida’s antics in the heroics course.) and trudged out of the room side-by-side with Hatsume.
“So,” Hatsume began, “That sucked.” Midoriya shot his friend a scandalised look, recoiling slightly at her opposing opinion.
“It did not!” He replied, scoffing slightly in disbelief, “you usually love the vague briefs!”
Hatsume narrowed her eyes, “This one was different.” Her gaze softened slightly, “I’m glad you enjoyed it, though.”
“Ah! Iida!” Midoriya called, spotting his friend in the huddle of 1-A students, “Over here!”
Powerloader didn’t even make it seven sentences into Midoriya’s essay before he nominated it as a potential submission for the local analysis competition. The prize for first place wasn’t much; just some limited edition merchandise for some underground hero, but as soon as Maijima had heard of it he knew his favourite student would appreciate the prize monumentally more than any other contestant could even begin to fathom.
Doing so, however, required the rather horrific task of sending an email to Nezu. The teacher gritted his teeth and began to type.
Midoriya froze in his spot, eyes wide, “What?”
Powerloader shot him a remorseful look, “I’m afraid you have a meeting after lunch,”
The look of sheer terror on his student’s face only emphasised the overwhelming guilt coursing through Maijima, “With Nezu.”
Quite unfortunately, the contrasting emotions of excitement, grief and fear had an extreme reaction and Midoriya was rendered unable to move for the better half of an hour.
Once he was finally released from the tight grip of the emotional overload he took in a deep, shaky breath, and released a high pitched cry.
“Midoriya? Are you feeling alright?”
The student turned his head to his friend unsteadily, “Aren’t, aren’t you late for class?”
Iida blinked owlishly, “You appeared as if you needed assistance, it would have been rude to leave you alone.”
Midoriya skillfully ignored the growing blurriness in his vision with practised ease.
“Would you like me to walk you to the principal's office? Powerloader-Sensei informed me of your… meeting.”
“Would that be okay?” Midoriya fought back his instinctual desperate expression, “You’re already so late…”
Iida readjusted his glasses, “I would be honoured.”
Midoriya’s seat was too large. He supposed Nezu intended that; to make students in trouble just that bit more uncomfortable. Midoriya would have appreciated it if Nezu had a separate chair for people who weren’t rulebreakers.
(He wondered if the principal knew that Hatsume wasn’t the one to cause the explosion during the induction week and, instead, had covered for him.)
“Ah, Midoriya.” A voice spoke, “I’ve been expecting you.”
Midoriya blinked awkwardly, “Sorry for making you wait?”
The door to the principal’s office swung open dramatically.
“Enter!”
With the correct amount of hesitance for the scenario, Midoriya poked his head around the door and lightly stepped inside.
“Hello?”
A pair of ears appeared over the principal’s desk, slowly rising until Nezu was at what one would consider an ‘average’ height. “Greetings.”
Midoriya gulped, shifting his weight slightly.
“Please, take a seat.” Rather reluctantly, Midoriya moved from his place by the uncomfortable chair he’d just left and stumbled inside the office like an unsteady fawn.
The seat placed opposite Nezu’s own was in good condition; a direct contract to the other, and Midoriya was thankful that this one didn’t have a concerning smokey scent.
“Your essay on Wash was quite an interesting read, Midoriya.” Nezu began, “I enjoyed your dive into his ability to sterilise surgery equipment and increase the cleanliness in hospital spaces.”
Midoriya nodded, albeit hesitantly.
“May I ask why you chose such a unique topic for your analysis essay?”
“Well,” Midoriya began, ignoring the way his throat dried up as the first bubbles of panic began to grow, “I thought it was admirable that he volunteers in understaffed clinics and visits schools to teach kids about the importance of hygiene.”
Nezu hummed, “I see. I think you have a strong chance of winning this, Midoriya.”
“Really?”
The principal nodded thoughtfully, “I see why Maijima is so fond of you. Say, do you have any other examples of your analysis?”
Midoriya felt his cheeks heat up as he reached into his bag and pulled out the two notebooks he’d brought with him that day. “It, It’s a hobby of mine,” He admitted, with the same tone one might use if confessing to a murder.
Nezu slowly lowered his paw onto the books before swiping them away as if Midoriya might try to stop him.
He flipped through the pages with impressive speed considering his lack of opposable thumbs, tail twitching periodically.
Silence overtook the office for a few minutes as Nezu absorbed his student’s work, the odd squeak interrupting the lack of sound.
The aforementioned silence, however, was broken rather suddenly as the office door was kicked open.
Midoriya recognised him as 1-A’s homeroom teacher from Iida’s descriptions, and the Hero stepped inside.
“You’ve never refrained from messaging me this long before, Nezu.” He stated, standing by the damaged door with his arms crossed.
“Ah, Aizawa, I was simply preoccupied in a meeting.”
Midoriya shrunk in his seat as Aizawa’s gaze turned on him.
“Hm. Impressive.”
Taking a page from Nezu’s book (albeit subconsciously) Midoriya let out a panicked squeak.
The hero paused for a moment before squinting, “Aren’t you the kid from the Stain incident?”
“Uh,”
“Why yes!” Nezu cut Midoriya off, which he was more than happy about, “Truly an amazing feat; managing to take down a heinous criminal with one of the most convincing arguments in recent history!”
“Huh.”
And with that, Aizawa left, leaving the pair to continue their discussion.
“I must say, Midoriya, your combat-free resolution was admirable, but the decision to make your posts on your public personal account was slightly,” Nezu trailed off, searching for a suitable word.
“Shortsighted?” Midoriya offered, “I didn’t mean for so many people to see those posts, I just needed him to know that murdering people who he saw as bad without disclosing their so called ‘crimes’ was stupid.”
Nezu smiled, “As well as holding all misdeeds on the same level without considering perspectives, if I remember correctly.”
The blush that had been fading from Midoriya’s face returned in full force.
“Well, if you feel uncomfortable or as if you may need any protection, make sure to bring it up.”
Nezu slid a piece of card with his number on it across his desk. (The student decidedly didn’t comment on the fact it was written in crayon.)
(The second he was released from the office he burst into tears, simply from the sheer roller coaster of emotions he’d been subjected to.)
(Iida managed to cheer him up with some raccoon stickers he’d managed to obtain from Aizawa, and even dared Mei to stick one to the back of a passing teacher.)
(She succeeded in her task and was rewarded with Iida’s remaining pineapple snacks.)
“So, Nezu,” Aizawa drawled, “How was your meeting?”
“Rather successful, Shouta. Midoriya is quite an intelligent student, if not on the anxious side.”
“What course is he in again?”
Nezu took a sip from the mug in his paws, “Support. He’s managed to make a friend in your class, though, and somehow tamed several other pupils.”
“Oh?” The teacher raised a questioning eyebrow, “Do tell.”
“Tensei’s brother is rather fond of him, the same with Monoma from 1-B. And he somehow managed to reduce the number of explosions in 1-H just by being present. A fairly intriguing being.”
“It’s unusual for you to speak so highly of a student, Nezu.” All Might interjected, “He must be something special.”
Aizawa scoffed, “He talked down a murderer with a couple social media posts; special is an understatement.”
“I’m considering reaching out to his mother,” Nezu mused, “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind joint custody.”
“Isn’t joint custody usually with the biological parent?” Nemuri whispered to Snipe, “Or at least someone she already knows?”
“I’m just here for the drama, darling.” He murmured back, readjusting his hat. “Wait for it…”
“Oh? You won’t be alone in that, I can promise.” Aizawa pushed his chair back, “I’m sure his mother would agree that I’d be a better influence than you.”
Nemuri wheeled her chair back from the duo, taking a long swig from her cup.
“You both hold him in such high regard.” All Might mused, “Do you think he’d mind if I paid him a visit?”
(It turned out that Midoriya did, in fact, mind, and upon discovering All Might was in his classroom, he promptly fainted.)
Recovery Girl was notably displeased to find that All Might had caused a poor first year to faint, a sentiment shared with Nezu and Aizawa and the new contender for custody of Midoriya; his mother.
The glare Inko was shooting the number one hero could have simply obliterated lesser men, and the man shrunk under it, desperate for any kind of end to his suffering. The demise of Toshinori was only postponed by the younger Midoriya regaining consciousness.
“So,” Nezu began, “What’s the custody situation like?” Aizawa elbowed him sharply, but it was too late.
“Well,” Inko began, shooting her son a concerned look, “I’m not as present as I’d like due to my work, however, I don’t know any of you and I’m not stupid enough to trust strangers around my boy even if you are heroes.”
Aizawa was the only one able to hide his disappointment at the statement, “But, if we ask Izuku what he thinks is a good idea I might be willing to give it a go.”
Midoriya, now subject to the attention of the entire room, stiffened.
“Uhm.” He blinked owlishly, “P-Perhaps a bonding activity? But I can call my mum at any point.”
Inko clapped her hands together, “Wonderful! If you don’t feel up to it on the day, or for any reason at all, don’t hesitate to cancel the appointment. I wouldn’t want a bad influence around my only child.”
“Well,” Nezu began, carefully flattening his fur before the extent of his fear was visible, “Let the trial commence?”
A
M
Looking back, the local HeroCon was the best choice to take Midoriya for his designated bonding activity. Midoriya had made a highly realistic Wash costume and All Might was disguised in a Lunch Rush cosplay, an unusual pair but very noticeably a pair.
The teenager dragged Toshinori from store to store, gushing over the merchandise and spending a concerning amount of money filling up the bags he brought in foresight.
It appeared easy to get lost in the large building and its many hallways but with worrying accuracy Midoriya somehow managed to find everything with ease. Toshinori could swear he hadn’t even been handed a map and was seriously considering a hidden homing pigeon quirk.
In fact, the student managed to predict nearly every major event. That was, however, until ten minutes before the end of the daytime event.
A crowd had begun to form around one cosplayer who was facing off against security.
“You can’t silence my vigilante oriented opinions!” He yelled and it was only then that Toshinori realised exactly who he was dressed as.
“Alltism for the win!” He shrieked as he was tackled to the floor ungracefully, green wig knocked off in the dispute. (Midoriya could swear he saw someone pocket it from the crowd.)
“I am one of many!” The man called out as he was dragged feet first out of the event.
Midoriya cleared his throat awkwardly, “Well, then.”
(Thankfully, Midoriya only got recognised by one person on their rather rushed exit, who was hastily silenced by Toshinori shoving an autograph in their face and high-tailing it out of the venue.)
A
S
Midoriya’s eyes widened dramatically as he stared deep into the pupils of the cat before him, gently nudging it with his nose and being gifted a strong purr in return.
He blinked slowly, and cautiously leant back into his seat. “What do you usually get?” He questioned, skillfully ignoring the way his voice shook slightly.
“Their cinnamon whirls are nice.” He responded, voice muffled slightly from the cat that was attempting to climb up his face.
“Why do you come here so often?” The teenager queried, wincing slightly as one of the younger felines attempted to use his leg as a scratching post.
“The calming atmosphere.” Aizawa deadpanned, disregarding the catling attempting to merge with his capture weapon with practised ease.
“Hey!” Midoriya flinched, eyes shooting up to the stranger that had decided to speak to him.
“Aren’t you AllTism?” The student flushed red at the recognition, sinking into his seat as if hoping to dissolve into a nerdy cloud of mist.
“No?” He tried, desperate. Aizawa raised an eyebrow, placing his arm on the table between the two in an unmistakably threatening manner.
Possibly stupid, the stranger ignored the clear warning, “I’m such a big fan of your account, been a follower since day thirteen and all, I’m, rather coincidentally, here with my fanclub, and we were wondering if you could maybe give us autographs?”
At the sight of Midoriya’s teary face the man tried again, “If not we totally understand, please feel free to tell us to fuck off and all, but we have some HeroCards if you’re interested?”
Midoriya’s anxiety vapourised into nothingness, and he entwined his hands together as if considering a great offer, “HeroCards, you say?”
Aizawa made sure to check all of the gifts for possible danger three times over before finally releasing them to the excitable Midoriya, who tore into the cards with less than no hesitation, the homemade AllTism plushie sitting at the top of his bag with a dittoesque smile and the raccoon stickers split between the two under the guise of ‘safekeeping’.
(Iida managed to ‘borrow’ the stickers back, (with the intent to keep) at a later date. The AllTism plush was taken care of by Midoriya almost religiously and the HeroCards sat on his desk in little individual picture frames.)
N
Hunting down criminals who just so happened to hate All Might was a rather unique bonding activity, Nezu thought, and would surely obliterate whatever attempts Aizawa and Toshinori made. After a mere fifteen minutes at the computer the disaster duo had already managed to get seven villains arrested simply by scouring through a site that appeared to be crawling with them.
Their latest target, however, was slightly different to the usual ‘Going to do crime wish me luck’ posts by quite a large margin.
Nezu watched as Midoriya scowled at the man’s account and (With rage) scrolled down on his profile to unveil some of the most unreplicatable posts ever recorded online, consisting of the following.
QuirkBank: Ate a sandwich today and imagined it was All Might’s heart lol
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QuirkBank: Might kickstart the downfall of society if I feel cute later IDK
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ManByDayWhoreByNight: WDYM by this???
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QuirkBank: Always thankful to be bald #NeverABadHairDay
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QuirkBank: Found an All Might look-alike [Bin.JPEG]
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QuirkBank: How to recconet with s child you forgort about tor foteen years??????
10 Likes 0 Comments 9 Shares
QuirkBank: Can my wife divorec me without me knowing??????
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QuirkBank: Vaults near me
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QuirkBank: Large vaults
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QuirkBank: Human sized vaults?????????
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QuirkBank: Vaults.org
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QuirkBank: How toe make my son okay with livgn in a veult????????
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QuirkBank: Sorry fellows! Thought this was Bing ignore my last posts!
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QuirkBank: All those losers focusing on the heroics kids are sleeping on that one kid Midoriya Izuku from First Year Support Department 1-H fr fr
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CarrotSticker: Why’d you bust out his whole ass government name [Crying.PNG]
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QuirkBank: UA should hold a rematch, Midoriya Izuku from First Year Support Department 1-H should have won. #UACorruption
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“Wow.” Midoriya blinked, “Kinda glad I’m not his son. What an.. Interesting character!”
Nezu bared his teeth as he spoke into his phone, voice muffled and crackling slightly from the bad connection, “Nuke his ass.”
(Unfortunately QuirkBank was in an area populated enough to take nukes out of the equation, but Nezu made sure to add a ‘kick in balls’ note to the mission brief.)
(Nemuri managed to take down the ancient villain with a surprising amount of ease and made sure to thoroughly fulfil the instructions given.)
(It was at this point that Midoriya noticed the ‘Do it for him’ poster plastered on Nezu’s office wall, a picture of his AllTism account profile picture staring back at him.)
(After the bonding activities were all complete, Inko was more than happy to grant the three the titles of ‘pseudo-fathers’ and made sure to try to take slightly more time off of work when possible, if only to admire the look of sheer, unadulterated joy on her son’s face as he spent time with his brand new role-models.)
(Midoriya won the analysis essay competition as if there were no other entries, to the surprise of nobody. Now, however, he had a small army of parents to accompany him in the retrieval of his reward.)