1,109A.N.
So, It's my birthday today. I can't really go out this year to celebrate due to there being a pandemic and all, so I thought I'd celebrate by starting to post this reaction fic I've been working on. FYI, I've done my best to summarize and paraphrase the 'show' parts and make it so that someone who has seen the anime will understand what part the characters are reacting too without going into so much detail that we run into copyright problems.
A quick trigger warning here for mention and discussion of suicide in this chapter. I'm sure you all know the reason why, given that this covers the first episode of the anime.
'This...is not my bedroom.' Was Izuku's first, confused thought upon opening his eyes to a completely white room. It was quickly followed by the realization that he was already standing up, which was also odd considering that he'd never slept in any position other than sitting or lying down. He was pretty darn sure the last thing he had done was go to sleep in his room so why...
Maybe he was still dreaming. That was the simplest explanation, but what if he wasn't? Could he have been kidnapped somehow? Could a space like this be caused by a quirk? Had the villains from the USJ incident already struck again? It had hardly been a day! Was his mom okay? Did they get any of his classmates? What about-
"My, my, your mind is certainly a busy place isn't it?"
Izuku whirled around. About ten feet behind him sat an indistinct figure, presumably the source of the voice, whose body appeared to be as white as the world around them. The only way he could tell that there was anything there at all was due to the dark gray static that outlined their body. Izuku's observant gaze flew up and down the person's body, but he couldn't get any additional information. It was just an outline of a body. Like how some crime TV shows would put tape down to show what position a body had been found in, only with the colors reversed.
Well, there was one exception, one facial feature he could see. A wide, toothy grin.
"Did I startle you that much? I expected you to demand answers right away. Most everyone else did."
The voice wasn't of any help either. Izuku had read books where mythical or supernatural voices were described as being somehow young, old, masculine, and feminine all at once, but he'd never really known what that meant until he heard this being talk.
"Wait." Izuku's thoughts took a sharp turn as the being's words sunk in. "What do you mean 'most everyone else'?"
"Wouldn't it be easier to start at the beginning? Introductions are important after all."
A part of Izuku wanted to refuse and demand the answer to his question. But he took a breath and didn't give in to his knee-jerk reaction. He wasn't sure what was going on here, and was still really hoping this was a weird dream, but he got the feeling he'd just get more brush offs if he didn't play along for a bit.
"I'm Midoriya Izuku. May I ask who you are and what I am doing here?"
"Hmmm, more polite than some of the others." The strange voice sounded pleased. "As for who I am, there are some who would call me the world. Others might call me the universe, or perhaps God. But my personal favorite is Truth. I am all and I am one, and I am here to offer you a deal."
It took Izuku a minute to decide if he should try and puzzle out that introduction or just forge ahead. In the end he decided to prioritize figuring out what was going on.
"What kind of deal would someone like you offer to me? I'm just a kid in high school."
"You plan to be a hero, do you not? The heroes in your world always shape the things around them, but you bring that to an all new level. I can see the way you and your classmates bend the fate of all who cross your path, and it drew my attention."
"My classmates? Are they the 'others' you were talking about?"
"Indeed, them and a couple of teachers who will play a role in what is to come."
"What does that mean? What's coming?" Izuku demanded.
"That information is what I offer. I can make many things clear for you, though it will come at a price. One cannot get something for nothing, especially something as valuable as knowledge of the future events."
"You...you're offering to tell me about my own future?"
"Among other things, and it will be more show than tell, but yes. I will give you knowledge of the future that is in store for you, and those around you, as it is currently set to happen. What you do with that information will be up to you, of course, but I'm willing to bet a boy like yourself would find a way to save many lives, especially since you will have the support of those around you."
Izuku swallowed, trying to bring some moisture back to his dry throat. Knowledge of his own future? Knowledge that would save people's lives if he used it the right way? It sounded too good to be true, and how could he refuse with lives on the line? But still...
"And what do you want in exchange?"
"Exchange implies a trade, which isn't exactly what this is. You are crossing a bridge, and must pay the toll for your right of passage."
"So, what toll would I have to pay?" Izuku asked warily.
"In this case, the toll is pain. Any pain that your other self is shown to experience, you too will experience it."
"Is that the only condition? That I'll experience whatever future pains I would have gone through on my own body as I see the future?"
"That is your personal toll for what you see. Keep in mind that you are not the only one being given this offer. Your classmates and teachers will be given the same knowledge as you, and they may see things you would rather keep hidden. Are you willing to go through the physical pain as well as the mental and emotional pain of having your secrets revealed to others?"
The gears immediately began to turn behind Izuku's eyes. He thought of how he carried the secrets of All Might, how dangerous it would be if they got out, and how he didn't want to betray his mentor. But he also thought of the USJ incident. His class had been incredibly lucky that no one had been killed or permanently injured, and the leaders of that villain group were still out there. Right now they had no idea where they would strike next, or how long it would take them to regroup. They had been determined to kill All Might, and with what he saw of Shigaraki, the man wouldn't be deterred after one failure. If they were blindsided again, then a lot of people could get hurt, or even killed. But if there was a chance he could learn their next moves before they happened then that could be avoided.
When he thought about it like that, there was only once answer he could give.
"Yes."
Izuku blinked once after speaking that word, and when he opened his eyes again he was no longer surrounded by white. He was standing in a room that looked like a mix between a cozy living room and a movie theater. There was a large screen on one wall, with numerous couches, chairs, and cushions facing it. The room itself had a few different levels, making it so couches further back would allow people sitting in them to see over the heads of those in front. Plus there appeared to be a table of food in the very back of the room, and other supplies on a table next to it, and the doors by them were labeled as bathrooms or bedrooms.
Oh, and he was surrounded by his entire homeroom class. He probably should have mentioned that first.
Everyone else looked about as stunned and confused as he did. (Well, except for Bakugo it was more 'angry and confused', but that was to be expected) Before any of them could say or do anything, there was a flash of light, and more people appeared. Eraserhead, Present Mic, Recovery Girl, Principle Nedzu, and a 'deflated' All Might appeared just in front of the food table. After a couple seconds of shock, students immediately ran up to the teachers. Their questions of 'Where are we?' 'What's going on?' and 'Did you see that thing too?' all blended together until Nedzu leaped onto the table and then onto Present Mic's shoulders. He cleared his throat and gestured for silence.
"May I have everyone's attention? Thank you. Now, for the sake of clarity, please raise your hand if you just had an interaction with a being called Truth that offered you secrets and/or future knowledge that would help save lives with the condition that you would feel pain along with your other self and might have information revealed about yourself that you did not wish others to know?"
Hands slowly went up all around the room, until all of the students and teachers had their hands raised.
"Well, it certainly helps that we were all given roughly the same message then. Now, I have a message that Truth apparently wanted me to share with you." He pulled a piece of paper out of his coat's breast pocket and unfolded it. "According to this, the visions we see will stop if the majority of people in the room stop paying attention to what is happening on screen, which I suppose will ensure we won't miss anything vital if we get distracted. Additionally, the 'show' will be separated into episodes, so we can choose when to take breaks and let information sink in. This also says that we don't need to worry about the outside world because no time passes there while we are in here. Also, quirks cannot be used in this space."
"What?! Seriously?!" Bakugo shouted. He looked down at his hands, and his fingers twitched, but nothing happened. "Dammit! I can't get my explosions to go off!"
This prompted other students to try using their quirks, only to confirm that they were being canceled out by something. Those with mutation quirks kept some of their quirks, since there was only so much that could be canceled out without drastically changing their bodies, but they still suffered some affects. Tsuyu found she could not jump as well or stick to things, and Shoji could not shift his appendages into forms other than what they currently were. Thankfully one of the appendages was in the shape of a mouth, otherwise he wouldn't be able to talk to anyone.
"Well, might as well get this show on the road. Everyone find a place to sit, and so help me if I need to come over and mediate disputes on seating arrangements." Aizawa said as he walked over to a couch in the highest corner of the room. The other teacher's followed him, and students slowly made their way around the room to find people they wanted to sit by.
Many students wondered why the unfamiliar, skeletal man had been transported into the room with them, but they were too busy finding friends and absorbing recent events to bother questioning it now. Truth had said that teachers that played an important role in the future would be here too. So the few that thought about it more decided he was simply a teacher that they hadn't met yet.
Before finding a seat, Izuku discovered that one of the back tables had notebooks and writing utensils. He grabbed a few before joining Uraraka and Iida, and when Momo saw him she went and grabbed one herself. She was closely followed by Recovery Girl, who grabbed one for each teacher in the group.
Once everyone was seated and looking forward, the screen lit up.
The first images on screen were of a playground in the afternoon. A very young Izuku was seen standing in defense of another little boy, against Bakugo.
"Oh, Izuku is that you? You're so small and cute, and trying so hard to be brave!" Uraraka said from her seat next to Izuku. The trio of Iida, Izuku, and Uraraka had taken over a couch near the front, and while Izuku blushed and tried to stammer that he hadn't really been any of those things, Iida hummed in agreement.
"I should have guessed you would have heroic instincts from a very early age. However it is odd-"
"Hey! Shitty static!" Bakugo, who was sitting near the back with Kirishima, suddenly yelled up at the ceiling. "You said we were here for the future! This is the past, you idiot! Did you lie to us?! And why the hell is it showing Deku of all people?!"
"I never lie." the disembodied voice of Truth sounded far too amused for anyone's comfort. "I agreed to grant you knowledge of the future to help save lives. However some events in the future will not make sense unless a certain amount of base information is established first, and much of that information can be gained through Midoriya's experiences. So I'm merely fulfilling the terms of the deal."
"You never said you'd show us the past." Bakugo growled.
"To be fair," Momo interjected "they didn't say they wouldn't show us the past, just that it would be information that would help us save people and would include things that hadn't happened yet. That's the message I got anyway." Bakugo turned to level his glare at her, but she seemed unaffected.
"A very astute observation. Now, shall we continue?" Truth asked. A ripple of uneasy murmuring swept through the room, and Bakugo hadn't stopped growling, but the video continued nonetheless.
The scene shifted to show a very young Bakugo and two other kids staring at Izuku. Bakugo mocked Izuku for trying to act like a hero despite being quirkless.
Students and teachers alike frowned in confusion at the declaration of Izuku's quirklessness, having seen the boy use his, very destructive, quirk for themselves. The exception to this was Izuku and Yagi, who glanced at each other nervously. But before anyone could question the apparent contradiction...
The three boys on screen rushed at Izuku. The scene cut off abruptly, only to show a battered Izuku laying on the ground a few moments later.
"Ah!" Izuku suddenly cried, his whole body flinching.
"Deku? What's wrong?" Uraraka turned to him, eyes wide with concern. Iida put an arm around Izuku's shoulder's to steady him while the boy hugged himself.
"Ugh...my whole body suddenly feels sore."
"Ah, this would probably be the toll that Truth mentioned." Nedzu piped up from Present Mic's shoulder. "I guess this means all on-screen injuries will cause pain to the viewer, not just future ones."
"We're gonna feel past injuries again?! Oh man, that's gonna suck!" Kaminari whined.
Thinking about everything that happened during the entrance exam, battle training, and USJ arc, the other students couldn't help but agree. The teachers were looking a lot more concerned though.
"I've already seen young Midoriya a few times and it's only the first week of school." Recovery Girl said quietly. "I know he won't be experiencing real injuries, but he'll feel like he is. Depending on how close in succession this show makes those injuries come, the amount of pain Midoriya feels could grow to be a problem."
Yagi felt dread starting to twist in his gut. He knew first hand how chronic pain could eat away at you. Would Izuku end up feeling something similar by watching this?
The scene showed young Izuku laying on his back still, but it was a grown Midoriya's voice that spoke about finding out that people weren't equal in their society.
"Aptly put, even if people claim that all are created equally, society certainly doesn't treat people equally." Nedzu said.
"Pretty much any society is going to have some inequality." Momo mused. "Still it must a hard thing to learn at such a young age. I don't recall seeing such bigotry until I was much older than Midoriya appears to be here."
"I remember the teasing starting at about the same age as him." Ashido, who was lounging on a cushion, commented. "Don't remember seeing anything get that physical though."
The scene changed to a teenage Izuku running down the street.
"Oh," Izuku's surprised gasp had people looking at him. "the pain is gone."
"So the only time we'll be in physical pain is if the on-screen version of us is shown to be in pain. That's good to know. At least it won't take real time to recover from everything we see." Iida pointed out. That brought a small amount of relief to the room.
The scene continued to follow Izuku as he ran down the street, eventually ending up at a scene where a huge villain towered over everyone. Izuku smiled in excitement.
Aizawa sighed and muttered something about crowds and problem children. Present Mic patted him on the back sympathetically.
Then the scene suddenly cut away, and Izuku's voice was heard narrating about when quirks had first appeared and how they changed the world. Near the end of the explanation, All Might was seen striding into frame.
His appearance was greeted as it usually was, with cheers from the students and smiles from the teachers. Well, all the teachers but Aizawa, who just rolled his eyes instead.
The scene cut back to the fight Izuku was watching. The villain swatted over a metal tower that was caught by a pro-hero. Police were shown at the very front of the crowds, warning people back, but they were also watching the action. A hero called Backdraft was shown putting up a barrier between people and the fight and warning them to stay back.
"Aren't the police already keeping the crowd back?" Tsuyu asked. "Backdraft feels a little redundant right now." Aizawa sighed again.
"Even with the police there, the civilians are standing far too close. Did you see how close they were to that falling tower? Something could have easily gone wrong there, and it even looks like some of the police have their eyes more on the action than the crowed. It's important to see what's going on, but if someone tried to run in they might not see it in time. So it's a good thing Backdraft is adding another layer between the crowd and the fight."
"Oh, I see, thank you sir." Tsuyu replied. Aizawa nodded, and Momo and Izuku quickly wrote down notes about what Aizawa had just said, the latter of the two muttering about how he hadn't thought of that at the time.
The scene continued with Izuku working his way toward the front of the crowd. When Kamui Woods flew over everyone's heads, a group of girls in the crowd started gushing about about how much they loved him.
"Yeah! That's what being a pro is all about!" Mineta suddenly yelled from the floor in front of Kaminari. Kaminari and a couple other students chuckled, but most either rolled their eyes or gave him a side-eyed look. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the comment, while the Present Mic and Yagi hummed in disapproval. They were both flashy in their own careers, but they knew there was a lot more to the gig than fans and popularity.
Nedzu added Mineta's reaction to his list of 'things to keep an eye on now that we know how much this class will impact the future'. His pride took a hit for using the notebook he'd been given, but whatever quirk canceling affect was in place was lowering the efficiency of 'High Spec' as well, and he didn't want to risk forgetting anything.
While Kamui landed on the scene and got ready to fight, Izuku started gushing about the hero, and got labeled a fanboy by a man standing next to him. Izuku responded with a blush and looking away in embarrassment.
Which, consequently, was what he was doing right now as several people in the room laughed good-naturedly and made playful comments about how obvious he was.
Kamui Woods started to fight the villain in earnest. "Illegal use of powers during rush hour and robbery resulting in bodily injury. You are the incarnation of evil!"
Present Mic snorted at the declaration, and a few students joined him.
"Is he being serious right now?" Kirishima asked, thinking about what they'd seen at the USJ. "I get wanting to say something manly during a fight, but that was pretty over the top."
"Well, he is kind of new as a pro-hero. Maybe he's experimenting with catchphrases." Izuku pointed out.
"Remind me to think of some cooler material." Mineta said to Kaminari, who laughed.
"Only if you promise to do the same."
Kamui Woods was interrupted by Mount Lady, who appeared and took out the villain in one hit. She introduced herself to the crowd, making a point of showing off her butt as she did so. Lines of people were shown taking pictures of it.
"You were at Mount Lady's debut?!" Mineta cried "Aw man, now I'm jealous! You gotta tell me all about it Midoriya!"
Izuku looked uncomfortable with the idea, and did his best to brush it off by saying he'd send Mineta a copy of his notes. Meanwhile, Momo was making a note to herself about being careful of how she handled her own pro-hero introduction, which basically boiled down to 'don't do what she just did'.
As the cops and heroes did their jobs, Izuku's voice narrated about how the career of pro-hero came to be. Once the scene had calmed down Izuku was shown standing by the small crater Mount Lady had made, taking notes on her quirk and muttering to himself about whether or not the nature of it would cause her to be limited in the city due to potential property damage.
"I have to admit, I hadn't thought about any of that." Sato admitted. "Now than you've brought it up, I can't help but think that local drivers and maintenance workers are gonna be pretty unhappy about the damage to the street."
"It's a completely legitimate thing to be worried about in such close quarters, but if she is a pro than surely she has considered that herself." Iida replied. Sato nodded, but in a slow doubtful way.
"I guess. Still, kinda weird she chose to work in a croweded city. A more rural area would allow her more freedom of movement."
The man from before noticed Izuku writing and surmised he wanted to be hero. When the man told him he could do it, Izuku gave him a bright smile.
"Awwww! Izuku always has such a great smile!" Ashido cooed. Izuku blushed, and so did Uraraka for some reason. Bakugo scoffed.
Aldera Junior High was shown, and a teacher was heard talking to a class, which contained Izuku, about how they were third years and needed to plan their futures. The seriousness was quickly dismissed as he declared they were all going for being heroes anyway. The class exploded with noise and people showing off their quirks. Izuku looked uncomfortable with the whole thing.
"That is completely inappropriate behavior by both the teacher and the students! He should encourage students to explore multiple options!" Iida immediately railed, misreading the source of his friends past discomfort. Izuku was gaining a similar look in real time, as he realized precisely what day was being shown.
"Is this how public schools usually are?" Momo asked.
"What do you mean?" Sato asked.
"Well, in my own middle school I remember there being much more diversity in what my classmates were interested in. Some wanted to be heroes of course, but others wanted to go into medicine or law or education. I went to a private school though, so I was wondering if the disparity was due to private vs public schools."
Uraraka hummed thoughtfully. "I think kinda yes, but kinda no? Like I remember a buncha kids in my class wanted to be heroes, probably the majority, but it's not like what this is showing. It wasn't the whole class."
"My class was about the same as yours." Shoji said, nodding toward Uraraka.
"So Midoriya and Bakugo's school was just weird then?" Tsuyu stated bluntly. That earned her a snort from Bakugo.
Ojiro shrugged. "Either that or some of the kids actually weren't that interested and just started using their quirks because they saw others were doing the same and not getting in trouble."
The ruckus was immediately quieted when Bakugo's voice called out to the teacher, telling the man not to lump him in with his class full of rejects.
"Well, at least he got the class to quiet down. That's more than the teacher did." Kaminari commented, trying to keep the atmosphere light as various looks of disapproval and exasperation were sent toward Bakugo. "Oh yeah, Mineta, this shows you were right."
"Huh?"
"The other day we were talking and we wondered if Bakugo had always been, you know, like that. You said he probably was, and this stuff shows you were right."
Mineta went stiff as Bakugo's red eyes shot towards him. "Uh...and by 'like that' we meant how confident you are!" Mineta rushed to say, sweat building on his forehead. Bakugo's eyes lingered for a moment before he looked away with a grunt. Mineta sighed, then shot a glare at Kaminari. The blonde boy just smirked.
The rest of the class shouted at Bakugo for the insult. Bakugo just insulted them again and the teacher noted that Bakugo was planning to go to UA. Izuku looked even more uncomfortable as Bakugo went on to brag about how he was planning to surpass All Might.
"That's an admirable goal young man, I wish you luck." Yagi said.
Bakugo looked at the man in confusion, wondering why he'd bothered to say anything, before turning back to the screen and deciding it didn't matter.
Meanwhile, the rest of the class and staff were wondering why Midoriya was the one kid in that class being quiet and looking so down. Usually the subject of heroes made him so happy he couldn't stop talking.
The teacher noted how Midoriya was also planning to go to UA, and the rest of the class started laughing at him. Bakugo whirled around and slammed an exploding fist down on Midoriya's desk, sending the other boy to the floor. Bakugo demanded to know how he could even think of standing in the same ring as himself when Izuku was quirkless.
Confusion spread through the room again. They hadn't had much time to think about the quirkless accusation before, but here it was, being brought up again.
"I assumed Midoriya was called quirkless in that first scene because he was a late bloomer and hadn't gotten his quirk yet. Is it even possible for someone to get a quirk this late in life?" Momo mused to herself. Only the people closest to her heard, since Iida and Bakugo were having a yelling match about the latter's disregard for school property, again. Not to mention the loud protests that others were giving in response to Bakugo assaulting Midoriya when the latter didn't even do anything to him.
"I don't know. Maybe he needed a really specific trigger for it to start working? I knew someone like that once." Jirou replied.
Todoroki sat forward a bit. After what Tsuyu had said on the way to the USJ he had found himself growing curious about Izuku's quirk and his connection to All Might. That curiosity had only grown after he saw All Might use his quirk up close during the USJ.
"Izuku, are you okay?" Uraraka asked Izuku, who was looking more distressed by the minute. "Why does Bakugo keep calling you that?"
"I already told you why he calls me Deku..."
"I meant about him calling you quirkless." she clarified. She frowned when the words made Izuku grimace.
"...I'm sure the show will explain it." Izuku finally muttered. A glare and sharp word from Aizawa got the shouting to stop, and the show continued.
Izuku quickly scuttled back from Bakugo, and tried to talk him down. When Bakugo demanded to know if he was taking the test for fun his form became dark and his eyes glowed red, as did everyone else's in the classroom.
"Before anyone asks." Truth interrupted as a couple people opened their mouths. "Visual affects such as these represent some measure of how a person is perceiving the world around them." Those mouths closed. After taking in what he looked like to Deku, Bakugo smirked.
While that explanation occurred, Izuku's hand found it's way into Uraraka's. She startled a bit, but then gave it a firm squeeze.
As people in the classroom continued to talk down to Izuku, the scene suddenly changed to another part of the city. A woman screamed and a shop owner ran out and yelled 'theif!' at a man made out of some sort of slime.
Some in the room immediately recognized him. Bakugo growled in annoyance and Izuku shuddered slightly.
The skinny form of Yagi was shown stepping out of another store. After hearing the commotion caused by the villain, his form seemed to inflate and bulk up, and then a familiar voice spoke.
"I am here!" All Might proclaimed.
There was a beat of silence, and the the students of 1-A burst into questions.
"What the-"
"Did he just-?"
"He can't be!"
"What does that mean?!"
"How did that guy turn into All Might?!"
Nedzu tapped on Present Mic's shoulder. He sighed before letting out a long, high pitched whistle. The chattering died down and all the students turned to the teachers.
"I know you all have questions, but based on how things are progressing I'm sure they will all be answered shortly. So to keep things simple I ask that you do your best to wait patiently. Self control is important for hero work after all." Nedzu said, with his ever-present knowing smile. At this point, Yagi stood up and waved to the class.
"I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Yagi Toshinori. I am a teacher at UA and that was me exiting the store in that scene. As for the rest of it...I must also ask for your patience."
The kids weren't happy about not getting answers right away, but were hardly going to go against the principle or the other teachers just for that, and went back to watching.
People were shown exiting Midoriya's classroom at the end of the day. Izuku was packing his bag to go home, until Bakugo grabbed Izuku's journal out of his hands. He and his friends laughed at the journal's contents. Then Bakugo used his quirk to burn the notebook.
"Why do you always have to be such a jerk Bakugo?" Uraraka demanded angrily. Other students were also giving him dirty looks. Kirishima was looking increasingly disheartened by what he was seeing.
"Shut it round face!"
"Don't talk to her like that!" Iida yelled back. "And you had no right to destroy Midoriya's personal property!"
"Yeah! There was no reason for you to be so mean!" Hagakure added.
"You don't know what you're talking about, extras!"
"Don't call-" Before Iida could continue, another high pitched whistle cut them off. Once they were quiet, Aizawa signaled for Mic to stop.
"I can't punish Bakugo for something he did before coming to UA, but I can punish the both of you if you don't stop fighting." Aizawa glared at them. "And just so we're clear, if you were to act like the Bakugo on screen currently is, either in here or at UA, there would be consequences." They both nodded their understanding and sat back down.
Uraraka huffed in annoyance, but then sent grateful looks to both Hagakure and Iida. Izuku was still holding her hand, his nerves and need for comfort overriding his usual anxiety and embarrassment.
Bakugo tossed the journal out the window, then started talking about how he wanted his backstory to be perfect by being the only person from their school to reach UA. He placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder, and it started smoking as he ordered Izuku not to apply to UA.
There had already been some grumbling among the students when they saw how Bakugo was acting, and it was getting louder as Bakugo continued to harass Izuku. When the hand on-screen started smoking, Izuku let out a small gasp and used his free hand to rub his shoulder. He knew it wouldn't help, but it felt better than doing nothing. Uraraka and Iida gave him worried looks, but he quickly brushed the pain off as no worse that getting a cramp. For some reason that didn't ease the looks they were giving him.
Bakugo's friends continued to mock him as they walked out. Just before walking out the door, Bakugo stopped. He told Izuku there was one last thing he could try to get a quirk, he could jump off the roof and hope he was born with one in his next life.
The grumbling that had been building up completely ceased for an instant, and then exploded into shouting. People demanded to know what was wrong with Bakugo, while he yelled at them to shut up. Iida and Izuku had to hold Uraraka back from marching over to Bakugo, though Iida kind of looked like he wanted to join her.
The teachers were stuck in shock for a moment, but it didn't last long. They all shared a significant look, and then Aizawa got up and calmly walked over.
"Bakugo."
That single sound from Aizawa held such weight that all shouting stopped. Bakugo turned and saw his teacher looming over him. Despite quirks not working in this space, he would have sworn his teacher's eyes had turned red.
"As soon as there is an official break, we will be having a discussion about his. About how wrong it is to say anything like that to anyone, ever, and how it will not be tolerated from someone planning to become a pro-hero."
Bakugo stared at Aizawa, his teeth grinding together. After a long moment, he looked down and nodded. Aizawa stood there a few moments longer, before he turned and walked back to his seat.
"I don't get what the big deal is." Bakugo grumbled as people slowly turned back to the screen. "Not like the nerd would ever do it."
"You can't be sure of that." Kirishima said. Bakugo sneered at him.
"Of course I can be, Shitty Hair. I've known him my whole life. He's way too positive and goody-two-shoes for that."
"Yeah...that's what I thought too."
The tone Kirishima had taken brought Bakugo up short. He didn't know the smiley redhead was capable of sounding so...sad? Solemn? Bitter?
"I had a cousin when I was younger, I was really close to her. She was usually really positive and stuff, like Midoriya. I never thought she'd do something like that either...but that didn't stop her. When...when we talked about it at the funeral, people picked up on signs once they started looking back, including me, but we all glossed over them because we never thought she'd do something like that."
Bakugo was staring at him with wide eyes now.
"You're usually so manly dude...but saying things like that? That's about as unmanly as you can get. Just...please try to think about it in the future, man. People listen to you when you talk, and it has a big impact whether you believe it or not."
Bakugo was much quieter as the show continued.
"Are you okay, Izuku?" Uraraka asked quietly. Izuku nodded, and smiled at her gratefully. Iida lay a grounding hand on his friend's shoulder.
Izuku was walking outside the school, thinking about what would have happened if he'd listened to Bakugo.
The class started to calm down when Izuku's thoughts showed he wasn't actually considering the suggestion. While Bakugo grimaced as Kirishima's words were partially repeated.
"One can be arrested for instigating suicide, you know." Nedzu pointed out helpfully.
Izuku found his notebook, and suddenly the scene blurred and was replaced with a toddler Midoriya calling for his Mom and holding an All Might action figure.
After the tenseness of that last scene, people couldn't help but laugh in relief and coo about how cute Izuku was as a kid. Thankfully this had the bonus effect of Izuku blushing, stammering denials, and focusing on something other than the last scene.
"You're mom is really pretty!" Uraraka complimented. Izuku nodded in agreement. Though it was weird to see his Mom look that young outside of photos and home videos.
Little Izuku begged his mother to help him get on the computer so he could watch a video. The video turned out to be an old one that essentially functioned as All Might's debut video. Izuku smiled widely as he watched, his eyes shinning.
"Oh my gosh the cuteness! I- I can't take it! It's overwhelming!" Hagakure gasped.
"I know! That smile! The eyes! And- oh my gosh he's actually imitating the laugh now, it's all too much!" Ashido gushed, clutching Hagakure's hands.
Izuku's face was buried in his hands. Iida patted him on the back once again, while Uraraka patted his hand and tried not to laugh. Yagi did his best not make his pleased smile too obvious.
"Aw man, I remember that video!" Sero cried. "No way Midoriya made up all those views, at lease half of them came from me, I'm sure of it."
"I contributed a few myself." Ojiro admitted, smiling nostalgically.
"Same here." Shoji confirmed.
"I'm gonna be just like him!"
The scene changed to a doctor's office, where a man in a lab coat said "You should probably give it up."
Izuku dropped his action figure in shock.
"That man has horrible bedside manner." Recovery Girl said, sniffing disdainfully as the other doctor spoke.
Midoriya Inko explained she had been worried because Izuku was the only one in his class not to manifest a quirk yet. At the doctor's request she explained what her quirk was and what quirk her husband had.
"I don't see how either of those quirks could result in the power Midoriya has shown off." Momo said, pondering over what she'd seen so far.
"Maybe the reason it took him so long to show it was because it was such an extreme off shoot of his parents' quirks." Jirou suggested. Momo conceded that was a possibility, since so little was known about how quirk genetics really worked.
Todoroki tried not to make it obvious he was listening to them, and couldn't help but agree with Momo. It really didn't make sense for Izuku to have the quirk he eventually manifested...unless his mother wasn't being entirely truthful here.
The doctor went on to explain how quirks had been connected to the number of joints in one's pinky toe, and how this proved Izuku's quirklessness.
Which caused even more confusion to build among the class and frustration to mount for Momo and Todoroki.
The scene switched back to Izuku's home at night. The All Might video was playing again, but this time in a darkened room while Inko looked on sadly.
"Mom...he saves everyone with a smile, no mater what trouble they're in. He's such a cool hero." Izuku's turned to his mother with watery eyes.
"Can I be a hero too?"
Inko took a slow step forward, and was suddenly collapsing in front of the chair and hugging him tight, apologies flowing from her mouth.
"Oh man...I wasn't prepared for this." Kirishima said, rubbing the tears out of his eyes. He wasn't the only one who needed to do so. Uraraka felt the tears at the corner of her eyes, but did her best to blink them back. Ashido patted Hagakure's back while she brushed away tears that seemed to come from nowhere. Tokoyami awkwardly did the same for Koda when he noticed the boy was upset. Even over with the teachers, Present Mic was trying to subtly brush at his eyes. Most tried to avert their gaze while still paying attention. They knew they needed to watch to progress, but felt uncomfortable intruding on such a private moment.
Yagi gave his successor a mournful look, wishing he could offer some form of comfort, but not wishing to disrupt the comfort his friends were already giving him. Uraraka and Iida both had an arm around him now, and it looked like Izuku didn't mind in the least.
An older Izuku said that wasn't what he'd needed his Mom to say, before flashing back to 'the present' where teenage Izuku was entering a tunnel on his way home from school. He gave himself a pep talk, and walked into the tunnel, imitating All Might's laugh again.
Kirishima cheered for Izuku's determination. Both that and Izuku's on-screen actions earned watery chuckles from several people, including Izuku. But then he remembered what was about to happen.
Sludge started flowing up from the manhole Izuku had walked over. He turned around, and was shocked to see the slime villain from earlier looming over him. The villain laughed as it started pouring itself into Izuku's mouth.
"Deku!" "Midoriya!"
Uraraka and Iida cried in shock as Izuku started choking and grasping at his throat.
"Deku! Deku breath!"
"Recovery Girl-!"
Yagi realized what was happening before Izuku's friends did, and he immediately rushed to Izuku's side. He slapped his hands down on the boy's shoulders to ground him.
"Midoriya my boy! It isn't real! It only feels like you are choking! You must do your best to breath despite it! You can do it!"
And he did, he breathed in and out, but it sounded so pained and desperate and Yagi didn't want it to continue for another second.
"Everyone, please watch the screen. The sooner we continue the sooner this will stop!"
Students yanked their eyes away from Izuku, desperate to do whatever they could to make it so Izuku didn't sound like he was dying. Bakugo continued to stare at Deku though. He'd had no idea that the nerd had been attacked before Bakugo had been, and wondered how Deku had survived it.
"It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds. You'll feel better soon!" the villain taunted.
God they all hoped that was true. The class watched as the Izuku on-screen struggled to pull the slime away from his mouth, his feet kicking uselessly as the villain continued to taunt him. It was horrible and they didn't want to watch it but they kept their eyes glued to the screen, wishing time to go faster and for whatever stopped the attack the first time to hurry up so their current classmate could stop making those awful noises.
The manhole cover suddenly flew off, and All Might stepped into the scene.
The room exploded into cheers.
All Might made quick work of the villain, and blew apart his liquid body.
Izuku gasped like he'd just woken from a nightmare, and then coughed at the force of his own breath. But then he was breathing normally once again. A collective sigh of relief was let out across the room.
Tears leaked out of Izuku's eyes, and he wiped them away with an apology.
"There is no need Midoriya. Going through that would be stressful for anyone." Iida assured him.
"We're just glad you are feeling better." Uraraka added. Yagi nodded.
"Your friends are right my boy. Just focus on recovering for now."
Izuku looked at them with shining eyes. "Thank you."
Izuku's vision faded. The next thing he knew, someone was slapping his face to wake him up.
Yagi suddenly yelped as a cane smacked his knee.
"That is not the way to treat a civilian who has passed out you dimwit! Now out of my way I have a patient."
"Did Recovery Girl just tell Mr. Yagi off for doing something All Might did?" Kaminari wondered aloud.
Despite Truth's assurances that they wouldn't be injured by what happened on the screen, Recovery Girl decided to give Midoriya a quick check up anyway. She felt his neck and shined a light down his throat as the show continued. She also looked in his eyes when he admitted he'd briefly blacked out for a couple seconds, just like his on screen self had.
When Izuku opened his eyes and realized he was looking at his idol, he scampered back so fast he created a dust cloud. All Might apologized for getting Izuku caught up in his villain fighting, then showed how he was able to contain the villain.
There was a smattering of laughter across the audience, for a variety of reasons.
"Oh man Midoriya, you'd think he was a villain the way you went flying back." Kirshima teased. "Can't say I blame ya though, I'd probably freak out too if I woke up with my favorite hero standing over me."
"O-oh, who is your favorite?" Izuku asked around Recovery Girl's examination. Kirishima happily answered that it was Red Riot, and gave a few facts about him.
"How the heck did All Might managed to fit that whole mass into those two bottles?" Ojiro wondered.
"Maybe only some parts of the villain were actually vital? Or maybe there was a bunch of air inside him we couldn't see so he really wasn't as big as he looked?" Hagakure suggested.
"Who cares HOW he did it! Just look at him!" Sato managed to say between bouts of laughter. He couldn't get over the little x-ed out eyes floating in the bottle.
The laughter only continued to grow as Izuku continued to freak out at the sight of All Might and the discovery that All Might had signed his burnt notebook. Even Bakugo let out a little amused huff at the irony of that.
"Easy with the bowing Midoriya, you're gonna bang your head if you go any further!" Sero teased.
All in all it was probably a good thing Midoriya was being distracted by Recovery Girl, as laughter increased even more as it was shown that even All Might didn't know how to respond to the extreme fanboying and could only offer and thumbs up and 'okay!'.
All Might started getting ready to leave. Izuku was distressed over not being able to ask him anything. All Might leaped into the air, and ended up taking Midoriya with him.
People were roaring in laughter now. Kaminari and Mineta were practically falling over each other, and Sato slipped from his chair and onto the floor he was laughing so hard.
"Impressive grip strength for someone with only two arms." Shoji teased lightly. Izuku chuckled.
"Yeah, pretty sure most of that was fear, and shock that I actually did it."
"I should say so! That was extremely reckless Midoriya!" Iida chided.
"Can't argue with the results though." Ashido grinned.
Todoroki just looked at the screen with raised eyebrows. A part of him was wondering why Izuku's lips and eyes were getting all blown back while All Might's face was fine. Were his muscles just that strong? Even in his face? The idea of training facial muscles was kind of amusing, though not quite enough to make him smile.
All Might grabbed a hold of the back of Izuku's shirt to keep him secure. Unseen by Midoriya, a few drops of blood were shown leaking from between his teeth.
The laughter died off, and concerned murmuring took it's place. Had the slime villain managed to injure All Might somehow?
All Might and Izuku landed on the roof of a building. All Might instructed Izuku to take the stairs down, while he walked to the side of the roof. Izuku went after him.
Words ran through Izuku's mind, echoes of all the people who had discouraged him over the years, but Izuku still managed to blurt out his question to All Might.
All Might looked back at him, and the shot held on the two of them on the rooftop as Izuku's narration was heard once again.
The screen went black, and the first episode ended.
"OH COME ON!" Bakugo shouted.
For once, everyone agreed with him.
"Let's get on to the next chapter! I wanna see what happens!" Ashido declared.
"Not yet." Aizawa said, drawing everyone's attention. He walked over to Bakugo and stood next to him. Remembering what he said earlier, Bakugo slowly got up, and followed his teacher. Aizawa lead him into one of the side rooms and closed the door.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Aizawa asked.
"About what?" Bakugo asked tersely.
"You know perfectly well what." The anger seeping into his teacher's voice put Bakugo off any further evasion.
"I didn't think he'd do it." Bakugo said, the words sounding more hollow to him than they did before.
"That's no excuse." Aizawa shot back. "If I'd known you were this okay with murdering people I would have expelled you the first day of class."
"What the hell?! I'm not a fucking murderer!"
"Telling someone to kill themselves shows that you'd be okay with being one though. You heard what Nedzu said. If someone kills themselves after you tell them to, isn't that far off from murdering them yourself. Acting so casual about it shows you would be okay with their blood being on your hands. That's not even taking into account all the verbal and physical abuse you've put him through, which is wrong in and of itself, and could make him more likely to follow through with your 'advice'."
Bakugo sputtered and tried to form some sort of argument, but the words died on his lips.
"Do you actually want to kill Midoriya? Or anyone else?" Aizawa pressed.
"Of course not! I'm not a fucking villain!"
"Then I expect you to never say anything like that to anyone ever again." Aizawa's eyes bored into him. "And if you want to continue at this school as a hero, then I also expect you to use this opportunity to take a step back and look at yourself and your past actions. Look at yourself, and see just how 'heroic' you've been acting." Aizawa turned to leave, but stopped just before exiting. "I'll be looking into anger management classes for you when we get back."
Aizawa walked out. Bakugo stayed only a few seconds before going back outside. The class and teachers had started to mill around, and most looked at him when he came out. He avoided all their stares and went over to a bit of wall without people standing nearby. He stood close to it, and stared straight ahead. He had some thinking to do.
A.N.
Well, there the first episode. Let me know what you guys think!
A note about Bakugo in this chapter: It has always bothered me that Bakugo's words to Izuku in this chapter tend to get glossed over. The canon never mentions it again, and even some reaction fics limit it to people being outraged and promises of talking about it with teachers later. That reaction is good, but I wanted to take it a step further. I wanted people Bakugo liked and/or respected to call him out for what he did and try to get him to understand why its an unacceptable thing to say to anyone. I hope that's what ended up happening with what I wrote for Kirishima and Aizawa here. I was worried it was a bit too early in canon for Bakugo to care much about what Kirishima thinks, but I'm going with the idea that Bakugo's respect of Kirishima started and grew from the USJ incident, so hopefully it doesn't come off as too awkward.
Just to be clear, I don't hate Bakugo. He's a well written character, and one that does make the story more interesting. I just wish the canon story addressed the harm of bullying more directly, and gave Bakugo more consequences for how he acted.
BTW, yes that was Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist, or at least it was heavily inspired by that. The FMA fanfic Truth Revealed, which is an amazing reaction fic, was a big inspiration for finally trying my hand at this, and I love the feel Truth gives off for this role. If anyone is interested in the fic let me know and I can send a link of where to download it. Sadly it was taken off a while back and was never put back up, but I believe I still have a working link to a downloadable version.