Chapter Text
April 10, 2XX3
”I so sad,” Danny pouts while lounging across a couch on the first floor of Veiled Residences.
”Oh boy, what’s wrong now?” Hitoshi asks jokingly.
Danny sighs and turns over, “I wanted to help Yaoyorozu and Hagakure with their costumes yesterday, but when I confronted them about it after school, they said they’re both busy until the 12th. :(“
Hitoshi stares at Danny in shock after he finishes talking, “How the hell did you do that?”
”Do what?” Danny asks, confused.
”That—thing you did after pouting!” Hitoshi explains.
”This?” Danny questions, “:(“
”Yes! That was not a word!” Hitoshi shouts, “I just, how!?”
”A man never emotes and tells,” Danny replies.
”Okay, first of all, that’s not even how that quote goes,” Hitoshi argues, “And second of all, even if it was, you still totally used it wrong.”
”Shows what you know,” Danny retorts, and Hitoshi just deadpan stares at him.
”…I just can’t with you.”
”You know you love me,” Danny singsongs.
Hitoshi, in retaliation, grabs the nearest item (a muffin) and throws it at Danny’s face. Danny opens his mouth and catches it, causing Hitoshi to groan in frustration.
Just then, the front doors to the apartment building swing open, and in walks Mina. She skips over to the two boys and asks aloud, “What’s ruffled your feathers this time, Hitoshi?”
”Just Danny being annoying,” He grumbles.
”Oh,” Mina giggles, “So the usual?” Hitoshi just sighs dejectedly.
Danny floats off the couch and closer to the two, “>:D”
Mina pauses in her giggling and slowly turns her head to Danny, “Why did I just get the feeling of an evil smiley face?”
”You too!?” Hitoshi exclaims.
“How did you do that, Danny!?” Mina asks.
”Yeesh, it’s like you guys have never seen someone emote before,” Danny floats lazily on his back, arms crossed behind his head, “=^=“
”I…am so confused right now,” Mina comments.
The elevator then proceeds to sing and open up, allowing Izuku to exit joyfully. He shows no evidence that he had even been almost crushed just the day before, “Hi guys!” Izuku cheers.
”Hey Izuku,” Hitoshi and Mina greet in synch.
”Hi, Izuku!” Danny cheers, “ヾ(≧∇≦*)ヾ”
”(•̀’◡’•̀)ﾉ” Izuku automatically responds before stopping in his tracks and pausing. Both Hitoshi and Mina look at him in surprise and slight annoyance, while Danny just looks delighted, “What was that? How did I do that?”
”You were just emoting in response to mine,” Danny explains unhelpfully.
”Didn’t know I could do that…” Izuku mutters.
”It’s a liminal thing,” Danny explains.
”It’s linked to your quirks?” Mina asks.
“Sure,” Danny responds suspiciously.
”Then how come we can hear it?” Hitoshi asks.
”Do you have to speak Spanish to hear someone speak it?” Danny asks in response.
”Well, no…”
”It's basically the same premise. You know someone’s speaking a different language, you understand somewhat what they’re trying to get across, you just don’t speak the language yourself.” Danny explains.
”Are you ever going to stop dumping new surprises on us?” Hitoshi dares to ask.
”Probably not,” Danny shrugs, “And can someone go get Kirishima and Himi-Chan? We’re gonna be late.”
“ᓫ(°⌑°)ǃ” Izuku emotes and runs back to the staircase next to the elevator he had come through.
”That’s gonna be so hard to get used to…” Hitoshi sighs.
———✧
Opening up a portal—while on the sidewalk outside of the apartment building—to U.A., Danny steps through and immediately backtracks before slamming it shut and emoting, “(·'╻'·)!!”
”…What the hell was that all about?” Hitoshi dares to ask.
Danny turns to him with a haunted look in his eyes, “There were, like, 50 million strangers outside of U.A.”
”Σ(っ°Д°;)っ” Izuku exclaims, “Is it a villain attack?”
”Worse,” Danny says with a 100-yard stare.
”Worse??” Mina asks.
”It’s a vulture attack,” Danny shivers, “Reporters.”
”Oh, that’s not too bad, right?” Kirishima wonders aloud, and Danny walks up to him to grab him by the shoulders.
”You don’t understand. They’re like evil sharks, they can smell blood in the water from a mile away,” Danny shakes him slightly, “They can even smell fear!!”
”…Why not just portal into the school building then?” Himi-Chan asks, swinging back and forth on her feet.
”Wait. Himi-Chan, you’re a genius!!” Danny exclaims and releases Kirishima. He spins wildly around to his original spot and rips open a new tear in reality.
”Me am?” Himi-Chan asks, and everyone slowly turns their heads to her.
”You is,” Danny nods and replies in as equally broken grammar as Himi-Chan's comment.
Danny pulls the portal open more and sticks his head through, delighted to see the hallways of U.A. and an absence of human vultures. He pulls his head back out and smiles wildly.
”All clear!” Danny cheers and marches into the portal, listening to the sound of the others following him through.
The six of them make it through smoothly, and Danny closes the portal like blinds once Kirishima exits. Looking around for a moment, Danny realizes the horrible news.
”I don’t recognize this hallway.” Danny spins to the others, “…D:…”
“What!? But you portaled us here!” Hitoshi argues.
”I was just thinking U.A.! Not a specific hallway!”
”Guys, calm down,” Izuku says placatingly, “I’ll just ask GAIA.”
”Ooh! Ooh!” Himi-Chan jumps in place and waves her hand rapidly, “Can I ask?!”
Izuku gives her a quizzical look but relents, “I…sure?” And he holds his watch-covered fist out to her.
”Yes!” She pumps her fist and loudly exclaims to the watch, “GAIA, where are we?”
The robotic voice of GAIA speaks up in response, “Hello, [Himiko Toga], you are currently on the third level of U.A. High School, in the second corridor near the gender neutral bathrooms. Would you like me to pull up a map?”
”Sure!” She chirps and then pouts, “And I wanna be called Himi-Chan.”
”Of course, [Himi-Chan],” GAIA replies and projects a U.A. Map with a blinking dot. A glowing arrow appears on the map. “Just follow the arrow to get to class.”
” Every day I am prouder and prouder for making you,” Danny says and wipes an imaginary tear from his eye.
”Thank you, [Dadiel].”
”Oh dear Ancients, please never call me that again.”
———✧
”BONZAI!!” Danny yells as he kicks the door to 1-A open and somersaults inside.
”What the he—“
”MADE IT!!” Izuku exclaims and punches the air in victory as he, Hitoshi, Mina, and Kirishima all flood in behind Danny, who had now popped back up.
Immediately after saying this, the bell signaling the start of class goes off and the group attempts to rush off to their seats, but are stopped by Aizawa-Sensei appearing behind them like a sleep-deprived ninja and clearing his throat. Loudly.
”You’re late.”
”Are not!” Danny argues, “You heard the bell, we totally made it!”
”By, like, 3 seconds…” A nasally voice refutes from the desks.
Danny whirls around and points at him, “Nobody asked you, Blue Balls!”
”I—Wha—They’re purple!!”
Aizawa-Sensei brings a hand to the bridge of his nose and rubs it exasperatedly. “And just why were you all—“
”Almost, remember the almost—“
”Almost late,” Aizawa-Sensei amends his demand.
Mina sucks in a huge breath, looking alarmingly similar to Kirby and suddenly spews a waterfall of words, “So, like, first we were just gonna all portal into the front of U.A., but the place was, like, full of reporters! And Danny has some kind of one-sided, possibly two-sided, beef with reporters, so he was all “Nuh-uh! Not going in!” Then Himi-Chan suggested we portal straight into the hallway, so Danny did! But then we realized we didn’t know where we were in the hallway, so we had to ask Danny and Izuku’s AI love child—“
”OUR WHAT!?”
”Hell yeah!!”
”—For directions, and she totally did! But even then, we were kinda confused as to where to go, and so we got lost a couple of times. We even ended up in the vents at one point, and Danny sobbed while befriending a really ugly rat that he named Ratticus. And then we finally found our hallway, but we had to drop Himi-Chan off first. Then finally, finally we showed up and weren’t late, cause we, y’know, beat the bell by 3 seconds.” She huffs out and takes in another deep breath to restore her air.
”…” Aizawa-Sensei stares at Mina and the rest of the group for a few moments before sighing and waving noncommittally in the direction of the desks, “Just…go sit down.”
With a chorus of “Yes, Sensei!”’s, and Ratticus squeaking three times, they all made their way to their desks.
He didn’t comment on Hitoshi obviously stomping on Blue Balls’ foot, though. Or the annoying cry of said midget. Sweet.
Aizawa-Sensei walked to the front of the classroom and stood behind the desk, preparing to say something. Not that Danny was paying attention, of course, he was marveling at Ratticus. Duh. He’s pretty sure the little guy may just be sapient…
Aizawa-Sensei lets out a deep sigh, “As you all are probably aware, All Might’s hero training classes with you yesterday went to shit.”
Now that got Danny’s attention. And Ratticus’s.
”You weren’t even supposed to be doing battle training. You were supposed to be trying out your costumes. And even if that weren’t the case, battle training is at the very least a two-teacher job. All Might fucked up, and you all had to suffer for it.” Aizawa-Sensei hesitates for a moment, “He will be taking courses with Nedzu, and will have his teaching privileges revoked for a couple of days. If I had my way, he’d be fired.”
Aizawa-Sensei paused to allow the class to process this. Iida, assuming it was to allow for questions, raises his hand.
”Nope, I am not answering any questions,” Iida sadly lowers his hand, and Aizawa-Sensei continues, “Now onto homeroom business, sorry for the sudden announcement, but today…”
Please don’t be a pop quiz, please don’t be a pop quiz!!
“You’ll pick a class president.” Aizawa-Sensei finishes.
Such a normal school-like thing!!
The class erupts into chatter, people getting out of their seats to volunteer and try to take the spot.
”I WANNA BE PRESIDENT!! LEMME DO IT!!”
“I’d like to do it.”
“The position was made for me.☆”
“I wanna be a leader!”
“In my administration, girls will have to show 30cm of thigh!!” Danny contemplates sending Ratticus, who looks absolutely murderous, after Blue Balls for that one… But he just drops a chunk of ice over him instead. Everyone ignores it.
Danny leans forward, looks past the frog girl, and asks Izuku, who he spots hesitantly holding up his hand, “What’s with all the hype..?”
Izuku turns around and tilts into the aisle as well, “In normal schools, the position just entails mundane tasks, so nobody really wants to do it,” He continues, “But in the Hero Course, it would mean leading the group…a position suited a top hero in the making.”
“Eesh, no thank you.” Danny leans back into his seat.
A voice then breaks through the chatter, gathering attention.
”Leading the many is a task of heavy responsibility!” Iida exclaims, “But ambition does not equate to ability!”
”Hah??”
“This sacred office demands the trust of the constituents,” Iida trudges on, “If this is to be a democracy, then I put forward the motion…
That our true leader must be chosen by election!!”
“This is just a classroom, not Congress!!!”
“But Iida, we haven’t known each other long enough to build trust…” Froggy argues.
“And everyone’ll just vote for themselves!” Kirishima adds.
“…Tha-That’s precisely why anyone who manages to get multiple votes will be the best suited individual for the job!” He turns stiffly to Aizawa-Sensei, “Will you allow this, Sensei!?”
“I don’t care, just make it quick.”
“How are we voting?” Uraraka asks.
”Heads down, hands up?” Danny suggests.
“Ah, excuse me?” The polite voice of Yaoyorozu breaks through, and continues when she has everyone’s attention, “We could all write down our vote and put it in a box?” To make a point, she uses her quirk to create a stack of small paper squares and a thin cardboard box.
”I’m down!”
”It does seem most efficient, non? ☆”
”Uhm, great! I’ll just…” Yaoyorozu goes around the room handing out the slips. Hitoshi takes two, so that Yaoyorozu doesn’t have to deal with Blue Balls. Finished, she finds her seat behind Danny.
Danny, meanwhile, looks at the slip for but a moment before writing down ‘Midoriya’ and folding the slip. Soon enough, everyone is finished, and Yaoyorozu collects the strips. Clearly, Aizawa-Sensei isn’t going to, so she heads to the front and begins to count them.
The end results are as follows:
Danny Nightingale — 5
Izuku Midoriya — 4
Momo Yaoyorozu — 3
Tsuyu Asui — 2
Ratticus — 2
Bakugou Katsuki — 1
Denki Kaminari — 1
Hanta Sero — 1
Minoru Mineta — 1
“I got 4 votes!?”
”Who the hell voted for the rat!?”
“What the…who the hell voted for Deku..!?”
“Zero votes…I thought as much! This is the harsh reality of this office…”
”Fine, so your President’s Nightingale and your Vice President's Midoriya.”
The two boys in question stand at the front of the classroom, shell-shocked, before Danny snaps.
”What!?” Danny exclaims with Ratticus on his shoulder, “I can’t be Class President!! I refuse!! I revoke it in the name of Clockwork!”
“Too late now,” Aizawa-Sensei smirks, and Ratticus faints.
———✧
“And…Yoink!!”
Danny barely had a moment to leave behind his ‘newly-appointed-vice-president’ daze for the cafeteria when he was suddenly yanked to the right by a calloused hand.
”Danny!” Izuku squeaks and turns to where Danny had been yoinked.
”Haha! Gotcha now!” The familiar voice of none other than Mei Hatsume rings out.
”Oh no…” Hitoshi groans in response.
”I’m not letting you get away this time, Ghostie!” Mei declares, “You’re gonna sit with me and you’re gonna like it, Mister!”
Danny and Ratticus just stare blankly at her before shrugging in synch, “Yeah, okay.” Danny agrees easily.
”Haha, yes!” She spins around, hand on Danny’s wrist as she marches off it with her hand to the sky, er, ceiling, “Onward!”
Mei drags Danny, who is followed by Izuku and Hitoshi, to a decently sized table in a corner of the cafeteria. It’s adequately spaced off from the rest of the room, and the chairs look surprisingly comfortable. She takes a deep breath in and plops herself down before grabbing a lunchbox from out of nowhere.
“I’d ask where that came from, but I’ve begun to realize that such questions are useless to ask at this point,” Hitoshi sighs as he finds a seat next to the now-seated Danny, “I’m half convinced I’ve been ‘friend-abducted’ by several chaos-demon overlords.”
”Close!” Danny chirps in response.
”Exhibit A.”
”Oh, they’re not that bad,” Izuku says from the other side of Danny.
”That’s because they’ve already corrupted you, Izuku,” Hitoshi mourns dramatically.
“It’s the ectoplasm!” Danny decides, snapping his fingers.
”Danny…Mei isn’t liminal,” Izuku says gently.
”Oh shit, you’re right,” Danny slumps before perking up again, “It’s the smoke inhalation!!”
”I’m just gonna stick with the demon overlord theory,” Hitoshi decides.
Hitoshi looks down at his lunchbox, hoping to grab one of the cat-shaped onigiri he had specifically requested from Lunch Lady, when he notices a significant lack of feline charm.
He slowly lifts his head with his eyes slanted and glares at every possible offender when he makes contact with Himi-Chan. He’s not gonna question when she showed up.
”Hi!!!” She waves happily from across the table, and then proceeds to lift a circle of Black Pudding and shove it into her mouth. Definitely not…
He turns his head to Izuku and immediately turns away from the sheer innocence radiating off of him. Danny hasn’t infected him enough for him to be that much of a goblin yet….
He looks to Danny and is met with the sight of him skewering two baby carrots with his fangs and just looking like an overall idiot…
He looks at Mei lastly, but…She clearly didn’t take it either, so then who—
“What’s up with Shinsou?” Mina asks as she sets her box down on the table and sits.
”Yeah, bro?” Kirishima asks, as well, while he takes a seat, “Why do you look, like, all suspicious?”
”Somebody ate my onigiri, but I don’t know who,” He explains, “Or how…”
”Wasn’t me! I just sat down!” Mina defends herself
“I also just got here…”
“I can’t eat that stuff! Blegh!”
“I prefer Mama Hatsume's food!!”
”I waf a wifle preoccuphied…ptoo!”
”I would never steal your food, Hitoshi!”
”Then who did!?” He cried out. And then he heard it. A burp… The tiniest burp.
There, in the middle of the table, was Ratticus. Sitting with the fullest belly he’s ever seen on a rat, and a very self-satisfied face.
Danny notices as well and gasps, “Ratticus! How could you?”
”Oh, you little—“ Hitoshi is cut off by a siren suddenly blaring overhead.
Danny immediately straightens up and snatches Ratticus before jumping out of his chair and attempting to asses the situation. It’s chaos all around, students running to the exits in a worried frenzy. Danny spins around with a hiss and turns to his friends.
”Izuku, to me,” He commands, “Everyone else under the table!”
Izuku nods an affirmation and rises to join Danny. Mei and Himi-Chan are quick to slide under the table and drag Mina and Kirishima along with them. Hitoshi hesitates for a few seconds before getting under as well. The table dwellers huddle in close, Kirishima closest to the easiest exit.
”GAIA, what alarm is this!?” Izuku asks and lifts his wrist up. A small icon appears and vibrates for a moment before GAIA speaks up.
”Tier 3 alarm, break in. U.A. policy asks that students don’t panic and find a safe place, preferably with a staff member.”
”Well, that’s obviously not gonna happen…” Danny hisses and points to the crowd. He’s shoulder-checked by a random and pulls Izuku with him closer to the table. “Izuku, can you access U.A.’s cams to see who, or what, broke in?”
”Yeah!” When Izuku says this, a holographic display appears above the watch, and he begins to press separate buttons, “You gonna check the window?”
”I should try,” Danny responds and secures Ratticus before turning intangible and flying through the crowd.
He speeds through the students easily and is disturbed by the jam-packed hallway, thankful for his intangibility. He peers outside the window and sees the gates to U.A.’s inner courtyard as dust. The, ugh, reporters are attempting to rush in, but are all trying to force themselves through a bottleneck at the same time, while a few staff members hold them back. Taking stock of this, Danny nods once and backtracks to their table in the cafeteria. There’s still students freaking out, but the number has diminished some, with the hallway filling out.
“Reporters broke in,” Danny supplies.
”Hostile?” Izuku asks.
”Always,” Danny scoffs, “But the school is fine. No villains or anything.” Danny says the lady part louder, inspiring the rest of the group to exit from under the table.
”What now, bro?” Kirishima asks, “Everybody’s still freaking out!”
Danny sighs and turns to the boy, “We’re doing this Disney channel style.”
”What do you—“
The question is cut off by Danny spinning around and floating onto a table. He cups his hands around his mouth and forces his voice out, “STOP!”
The loud noise, louder than even the sirens, attracts a large amount of attention.
”There is nothing to be worried about!!” Danny yells, “There is no intruder, there is no threat, and there is no war in Ba Sing Se.”
Hitoshi makes a noise of flabbergasted confusion as Danny continues.
” It’s just the reporters! You are safe.”
What sounds like whispers, but is more likely to be normal speech, sounds out. The news that it’s just reporters travels fast and reaches those in the cramped hallway, stilling the wide panic and causing people to return to the cafeteria, sheepishly. Some students still look uncomfortable, though.
”If you don’t believe me, hang out here with Lunch Rush. Like we’re supposed to during a tier 3.”
That causes more people to become embarrassed by how they acted, and for the rest of the stragglers to return to their tables. Danny sighs, drops his hands, and hops off the table. Izuku absentmindedly raises a hand that Danny slaps in a high five. The watch is showing security camera footage of the front gates.
”Reporters are calming down too,” Izuku points out and gestures to the holographic screen, “We should be all good soon.”
”Thank the ancients,” Danny groans and sits back down, Ratticus running, leaving his shoulder. Hitoshi snatches the rat up and starts to lecture him about thievery and the sacredness of Lunch Lady’s food.
Mina looks at Danny with wide eyes, “…Are we sure you’re just a first year?”
Danny smirks, “As a hero student? Yeah.”
He doesn’t elaborate.