Izuku was late for class. His alarm had failed to rouse him for the first time in years, only stirring when Katsuki beat his door down. Aizawa had sent Katsuki to find him when he missed roll call. They were in the gyms again; Izuku rushed to dress, throwing on his gym uniform and messily shoving his uniform in his bag. The pair made their way through the dorms, Katsuki lecturing him the whole way to the gym.
When they arrived, Aizawa stood in front of his class with a glare plastered across his face. "Decided to join us then, Midoriya?"
"Slept in. Sorry."
"Don't do it again."
Izuku nodded with nothing further to add.
"Sparring." The class groaned, "Yeah, yeah. Everyone find a partner; you will switch after every round. Midoriya, you are with me."
"Uhm, Aizawa sensei?"
"Is there a problem, Uraraka?"
"Isn't that a little unfair? Making him spar with you because he slept in?"
Aizawa chuckled, "I'm not sparing with him because he was late. I'm sparring with him so that he doesn't kill one of you. We are not having a repeat of last time. You can spar as a class when you are strong enough; I'm not having one student hold back and jeopardize their education for the betterment of their peers."
And with that, Aizawa moved to the larger mat in the center of the room. "Two hours, starting now. Find a partner, no quirks, no cheating, and switch every 20 minutes. Go."
Izuku stretched his tired arms, the gym uniform was uncomfortable at the best of times, and wearing a skin-tight turtleneck under it was no help. With a sigh, he made his way to the center of the room, joining his teacher.
"No quirks, huh?"
"No-" His teacher was cut off with a punch to the gut; he bent over at the waist, Izuku used the momentum to throw him off the mat.
Aizawa stood with a groan. "That was good."
"You look tired old man." Izuku flexed his fingers as his teacher got back on the mat, giving him time to prepare for the onslaught of attacks.
Izuku dodged a knee sweep from his teacher; jumping into the air, he gripped the back of Aizawa's head and brought it crashing into his knee with a sickening crack. "What've you been doing all night? Sneaking out of your dorm isn't allowed, sensei."
Aizawa glared at him; reaching out with lightning speed, he grabbed Izuku by the arm and, in the same move, used his leg to knock him down before throwing him from the mat.
"I'm a Hero Izuku; I have to work." He waited for his student to stand and take his position on the other end of the mat before riling him up some more. "How about you? Sleeping in is so unstudious of you. Been sneaking out, Izuku?" He leaped at Izuku with a flurry of attacks, all dodged and returned with hast.
"Yeah, been sneaking out" Izuku leaped up and sent a painfully powerful kick to the side of Aizawa's head with a loud cry of- "SNEAKIN OUT TO FUCK YOUR MUM!"
Aizawa tumbled out of bounds.
Two hours passed quickly, and Izuku found himself sitting beside Aizawa in Recovery Girl's office, giggling as the small woman grilled his teacher. Katsuki sat by the door; he was uninjured apart from a light bruise Kirishima had left on his cheek yet refused to leave until Izuku had seen the healer.
Aizawa and Izuku were by far the worst off in their class. They beat each other to a pulp, ignoring broken bones and gushing blood, barely stopping when the two hours were up. The students stared at them in shock as they laughed their injuries off and headed to Recovery Girl's office; Katsuki had followed behind them, grumbling obscenities as they went.
Aizawa was stuck with two black eyes due to his newly healed nose; Izuku wasn't much better, littered with half-healed bruises and scrapes. The three of them walked into the classroom silently, the students taking their seats while Aizawa stood behind his desk.
"You are improving. But not enough. You leave here, and you relax in your rooms; that won't do. I want to see you training yourselves. I have you for 6 hours a day, in that time I have to follow the curriculum and train you. We will get nowhere unless you take responsibility for yourselves." He looked across the sea of students before him, "Find another student in your same skill level and train together. You will improve faster than you expect. Recovery Girl is there for a reason; if you break a bone, or tear a muscle, go to her, it's her job to heal you. Just don't kill each other."
There wasn't much more to the day after that; Uraraka had shyly approached Izuku after class, checking to see if he was alright after his fight with their teacher. He reassured her that he was fine, but she didn't seem convinced; he ended up having to give her his number so she could check in on him for her to leave him alone. He saw her squealing with Mina as he walked out of the classroom.
Weird.
Izuku sat in his dorm in silence. Katsuki had gone out to train with Kirishima, leaving him to bask in his rare silence. He couldn't be bothered to work through the mountain of files that had built up on his laptop, instead opting to sit on his bed and allow his mind to fall quiet. Racing thoughts of selfishness and pain forgotten for the time being. His ears filled with the sound of his own deep breaths. The calm before the storm.
He was pulled from his moment of tranquility by an annoying buzzing. He stood from his bed with a groan, wandering over to his schoolbag thrown on the floor by his desk; he ripped the zip open and fumbled around until he found the source. He sighed before answering his phone.
"Hello?"
"Midoriya! Its Uraraka!"
"Hello, Uraraka."
"H-hey! We were wondering if you would like to come and study with a few of us! We have the gym booked for 5 pm if you want to come and train with your quirk too!"
He rolled his eyes, "I-" The words caught in his throat; there wasn't any harm in trying to be social. Was there? "Uh- Alright."
"Really! That's great! I'll come and get you in a few minutes, so get ready!"
He hung up and groaned. Rushing over to his closet, he pulled out his turtleneck and a hoodie. He liked to let himself breathe when he was alone, preferring to wear a T-shirt when there were no prying eyes. The scar hadn't healed as he hoped; the ugly purple raised skin was with him for life.
He dressed quickly and threw his books and laptop into his duffle bag. If they were going to the gym, he would need his water bottle and the change of clothes he kept pre-packed.
He had only just pulled on his shoes when there was a light knocking on his door. He threw his bag over his shoulder and walked out to meet the red-faced brunette standing in the hallway.
"Hey, Midoriya!" Izuku couldn't remember the last time someone smiled that brightly at him.
"Hi." God, he was awkward. Rubbing the back of his neck, he asked, "Where are we going?"
"Uhm, my dorm." She blushed brightly and looked at her feet. "If that's ok with you?"
"Yeah, you'll have to lead the way."
They took the elevator to the girls' floor in silence; Izuku trailed behind her as she bounced up to her door. She was the sane version of the blonde villain girl he had befriended so long ago. The thought bought a small smile to his normally stoic face.
Uraraka found her door and held it open for him. "I got him!" she exclaimed to whoever was inside.
He trailed into the girl's room, glancing over everyone inside. Mina, Yaoyorozu, Asui, Tokoyami, and Todoroki sat in a circle on the floor of Uraraka's overly bright pink room. He waved at everyone inside and took a seat in the gap between Todoroki and Mina. After a few minutes of awkward pleasantries, the group was pulling out their homework and notes. They had 20 minutes before their time at the gym, plenty of time to work through their homework. There was occasional chatter, mainly between Asui and Uraraka, who sat next to each other. Izuku finished his work after around 10 minutes; he glanced around the room; he seemed to be the first. Izuku grabbed his laptop from his bag and scrolled through the current news articles while he waited.
Nothing interesting jumped out at him, and by the time he had finished reading, most of the room had caught up, with the exception of Mina and Tokayami, who Yayorozu was helping. He slipped his workbooks and laptop back into his bag and sat in silence while the students around him fell into easy conversation.
"Midoriya, what do you think?" Uraraka asked.
"Uh- sorry, what?" Fuck, he should pay more attention to his surroundings.
"What do you think Aizawa's like outside of class?" Eyes turned on him; they knew he knew Aizawa outside of class. He was their sneak peek into their teacher's mysterious private life.
Izuku shrugged. "Tired. I don't know. Outside of hero work and school, I know he helps the police out as much as he can. I guess he doesn't really do anything outside of work."
Asui looked at him curiously, "How did you meet Aizawa, ribbit?"
Fuck.Fuck.Fuck.Fuc-
"We should get going. We've only got the gym till seven." Todoroki spoke up from beside him.
He sent the dual-toned boy a discreet nod of thanks before standing and slinging his bag over his shoulder.
When the group arrived at the gym, most of them went off to change into their workout clothes. Izuku took his hoodie and shoes off, leaving him in his turtleneck and shorts. He started stretching while he waited for the rest to join him.
Uraraka was the last to arrive, bouncing over in a sports bra and matching track bottoms.
"So," Izuku spoke up, "What do you want to do?"
"We could start with sparing? Like Aizawa sensei suggested?" Asui piped up.
"That's a great idea!" Uraraka beamed. "Midoriya, you should spar with me!"
"Uh, I don't know if that's a good idea?"
"No, it's fine!" She exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him over to one of the mats on the ground. "We can go slow."
He watched as the rest of the group sorted into pairs and eased into their matches.
Izuku cracked his neck with a sigh and moved his feet into a more suitable position. He brought his fist up in front of his face and waited for the bubbly girl before him to make the first move. He didn't have to wait long; she immediately to the offensive, leaping toward him with her hand outstretched. Amature. He sidestepped and grabbed her arm, rolling her over his shoulder and onto the ground.
She jumped up with a smile, "How did you do that!"
"Uh-"
"No, really! Please show me!"
"Well, uh- your quirk is more suited for defensive combat, so it was easier to get a hold of you; here." He repositioned them and showed her the move again, slowly. "If the roles reversed, and I had been on the offensive, you would have been able to dodge and hit me with your quirk while I was still moving. Like this-"
He showed her a few more moves. Before long, the rest of the group had gathered around and were watching Izuku teach.
"Me next! Do me!" Mina squealed from the sidelines.
He felt almost happy as he slowly made his way through the group. He started by beating them in a match, then showing them how they could have won.
For the first time since he joined U.A, he felt respected by his peers, not feared.
For the first time in his life, he was appreciated.