86Izuku Midoriya woke up the next day after their Quirk Apprehension Test feeling… well like he'd been hit by a truck. Yesterday had exhausted him on so many levels, mostly just mental exhaustion but such rapid-fire use of his Quirk that day left him feeling a bit more sluggish, he'd definitely have to get a good meal in to try and counterbalance that. As per his usual morning routine he got up and had a quick jog, only doing a small lap around the neighborhood and over to Takoba Beach before coming home quickly to shower and eat.
Once properly bathed and full, Izuku put on his school uniform for their first official day of classes. In the pit of his stomach, there was a little butterfly of excitement fluttering about. Sure, a lot of these classes would be like the ones he had in middle school… but they'd be taught by heroes this time! Actual, honest to goodness pro-heroes were going to teach them English and Math and… okay it wasn't going to be terribly exciting but Izuku felt it, nonetheless.
The last piece of his uniform remained, once more picking up the watch from his desk and feeling the ever-increasing weight of it as he held it into his hand. Aizawa's words from yesterday rang out in his ears as he sighed and slipped it on, clicking the button on the side and wrapping his tail around his waist like a belt. Izuku Midoriya… or at least, the one his classmates had met.
Izuku walked out into the hall with his bag and began to put his shoes on as his mother came to the door to see him off.
"Have a good first day, sweety!" She said with a smile. "Don't work yourself too hard, okay?" She said, worrying for her son a bit after how tired he had come home just after orientation, of course Izuku didn't tell her quite yet what kind of orientation into U.A he had had.
"Thank you!" Izuku told his mother as he slipped his shoes on and walked to the door… though he stopped briefly before turning back to his mother. "U-Umm, hey mom…" Izuku said as he looked to her.
Inko had turned slightly to go back toward the living room when she heard Izuku say something, turning back to look at him with a slightly concerned look. "Yes dear?"
Izuku thought about asking her a question on his mind. Would she be alright with him if he suddenly stopped wearing the watch? So much had been sacrificed just to help Izuku adjust, and now that he wasn't sure how they'd feel. After seeing Mina and Shoji acting so carefree and open even while displaying their mutations, the more he felt like he wanted to join them in the light instead of slinking in the dark like he was… but this watch wasn't his burden alone. It was his family's burden, a burden he caused. Could he be so selfish as to suddenly toss it aside?
Izuku thought about all of that for a moment before giving his mother a smile, or at least the best one he could manage. "It's nothing… just a bit nervous is all."
Inko Midoriya took a step closer to the door and to Izuku. "Izuku?" She said, the concern growing on her face and in her voice.
"It's nothing, I promise." Izuku lied, doing his best to keep his voice steady. "We'll talk more later when I get home, okay?" He said with a smile.
Inko didn't seem terribly happy with that answer, but before she could say anything Izuku hugged his mother really quickly then teleported himself out of the house afterward and down at the bottom of the steps of their apartment.
"Izuku!" She shouted after him, the fire losing in her voice as she stood silently looking at the door. "No teleporting in the house please…" She said quietly as she watched the last bit of the blue smoke dissipate.
… At School
Izuku arrived at the school like normal and entered the classroom of 1-A. A lot of his fellow classmates had already gotten there. As he entered, he noted the steely gaze of Bakugo on him as he entered. Man, this year was going to be tough having to deal with Kacchan yet again. Normally, in the past, Kacchan would pick at him or get in his face, normally he'd even be spilling the dirt to others about the Image Inducer he wore, but this year he seemed to be letting his typical explosive rage boil inside instead of outright attacking Izuku. Izuku theorized it was because… well U.A… Both of them were in the top hero course after all, it wouldn't do to get in any big trouble for bullying and stuff like that, at least within their first week there. Still though, letting all that boil inside would cause its own problems.
For now, Izuku just skirted away from directly looking at Bakugo and noticed Shoji at the front where his seat was.
"Oh, good morning Shoji." Izuku said with a smile. "I'm feeling pretty worn out after yesterday, what about you?"
Shoji had briefly been staring off into space when Izuku stepped in, it could sometimes be hard to tell what was on his mind. He looked up at the standing Izuku and shrugged. "Not really for me. I just went home, enjoyed some Takoyaki, and read through the syllabus."
Izuku blinked a bit at that. "Oh, really? Must be how much I used my teleportation, like during the sidesteps. Rapid-fire teleportation always leaves me feeling tired." Though, really, Izuku just felt tired in general even without factoring that in. He then had a thought occur…
"Oh crap, I forgot to read the syllabus! I just went home and passed out!" Izuku stated as he dug through his bag for it.
"Might want to skim it quickly, also, look at where Mineta's seat was." Shoji stated as he turned slightly and motioned with one of his hands. In the seat directly behind Izuku's seat, previously the seat of Minoru Mineta, was a large boy with straw-like yellow skin and an oddly shaped head that kinda reminded him of a glue bottle. This boy was also huge. Previously, Shoji had been the tallest student in their class… but this guy was at least several inches taller than even him and built very wide. Did their class really have two powerhouses like them in there?
"Bit odd, isn't it? Getting the seat filled so suddenly after Mineta was expelled?" Shoji said, to which Izuku could only nod.
Izuku stepped over to where his seat was, seeing Mina Ashido already standing over there and talking to this new guy along with a few others like Kirishima and Tsuyu Asui.
"Yo, Midoriya!" Mina said as he stepped over closer, waving to him.
"Good morning Ashido." Izuku said as he smiled to her
"We were just over here introducing ourselves to the new guy." Mina said with a smile, motioning to the large, stoic boy, who was staring right ahead.
Izuku bowed slightly to him. "Hello, I'm Izuku Midoriya. It's a pleasure to meet you." He told the large boy, who sat there like a statue. Izuku was beginning to wonder if this was all some sort of prank by Aizawa, like he'd placed a mannequin or a scarecrow in this seat to intimidate the other students, when suddenly the boy seemed to… well deflate… sinking his huge body down into his chair and flushing heavily at all the attention.
"H-H-Hello… I-I'm K-Kojiro. K-K-Kojiro B-Bondo." The boy said with a stammer as he covered the several eyeholes over his face. It wasn't hard for Izuku to tell that this boy was extremely shy, and that Izuku had kinda broken the hard exterior wall the boy had erected to keep his composure. Just too many people all at once paying attention to him.
"Hey, no need to be stressed man. How bad can the first day be?" Kirishima told him as he gave a reassuring smile.
"I don't know. Mineta did get expelled during orientation yesterday. Hard to say any of us will ever be safe." Tsuyu Asui interjected after Kirishima
Just as Izuku was going to say something else, the door opened, and Aizawa began talking. "Everyone, be seated! This is highly unaccept-" He started, but noticed they were all already sitting even as he had started his rant. "Right. Today starts your first day of official classes here at U.A. So, I expect all of you to behave accordingly for your other teachers and learn diligently. If you want to be pros, you're going to have to train your minds as well as your bodies. Now, on to other matters. I'm sure you've noticed that the seat previously taken up by Minoru Mineta has been filled, please meet Kojiro Bondo." Aizawa said, all eyes turning to Bondo who shrunk down more.
"Hey, wait a minute…" Interjected Kyoka Jiro. "You didn't expel Mineta though, I saw him this morning on the train ride to school, he was wearing a uniform and everything still."
"Wrong, Ms. Jiro, I did expel Minoru Mineta. I then, later that evening, reenrolled him." Aizawa stated, sending a shockwave through the class.
"All of you didn't believe Mr. Aizawa was really going to be kicking someone out of U.A, did you? Sorry, perhaps I should have said something." Momo Yaoyorozu stated as other students turned to look at her with wide eyes. "Yeah, you probably should have!" Others screamed in unison.
Aizawa activated his power, his eyes glowing red and his hair standing on end, the class quieting down instantly before he returned to normal and continued. "U.A isn't in the habit of discarding students who've already proven they can pass the tests unless absolutely necessary. Aside from his practical exam, where he did okay, his grades on the written exam were good, great even. However, I did seriously question his actual resolve in his goal of being a hero, so I did send him home with the thought that he had been expelled from the school to give him time to reconsider those goals and strengthen them. Everybody deserves a second chance, most people don't get one, and this was his. Since I'd already expelled him from my class, Vlad swapped out one of his students at random to join our class so that Mineta could take that spot in his own, that way one class isn't seriously outbalanced by the other. It isn't without consequence though, Minoru Mineta is now going to have to work twice as hard just to keep pace, on top of that we've given him remedial classes to better shape him into a proper hero. Whether he keeps pace or breaks is no longer my concern, all that matters was that he got that chance. As for the rest of you…"
Aizawa started before walking toward the door. "I wouldn't consider your own positions entirely safe either. Like I told you all yesterday, U.A has a freestyle system, and classes can be taught however we like, so start slacking or give me reason… and you may end up where Minoru Mineta is now."
Aizawa then opened the door only for Present Mic to step in. "Hey all you loyal listeners! Are all of you ready for… ENGLISH CLASS!" He stated in that overly excited tone of his, stepping dramatically in the room. "Can I get a yeah?!"
Though he was met with only silence, Aizawa had given them quite the morning announcement it seemed.
"Keeping it mellow in the morning, hun? I can dig it. Why don't all you cool cats take out your English textbooks and open them up to page 24!" Present Mic stated as he grabbed some chalk and began writing on the chalkboard. Officially, their regular school classes had begun.
… Lunchtime
After their morning classes came lunch, the 1-A students filling into the crowded cafeteria. Izuku found himself standing with Shoji and Mina in the line for food.
"I'm so hungry…" Mina complained, slumped forward in her posture as they waited behind all the other students that had arrived earlier. "Midoriya, let me cut ahead of you."
Izuku rubbed the back of his head slightly. "Y-You'd only be jumping up a single space, Ashido. You wouldn't be getting it that much faster just by cutting."
Mina smirked and held up a finger. "That's the plan though. I always ask the person in front of me so it doesn't seem like a big deal, then slowly but surely I inch my way up further into the line."
Shoji interjected then; his six large arms crossed over his upper body as he waited. "My answer is no. Just wait patiently please."
Mina deflated a bit then. "Aw, come on Shoji!" Mina pleaded.
Shoji kept his same, stoic expression even as Mina badgered him to let her cut ahead to get her food that little bit sooner.
As they grew closer, Izuku took in a sudden gasp as he looked. "No way, it's the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush! That's so cool! First we had Present Mic as our English teacher and now we really get to eat lunch made by a famous hero! U.A is the best!"
Shoji and Mina looked at Lunch Rush then to Izuku. "You know, for someone with a cool Quirk I figured you'd try to act more like a hard ass and less like a fanboy." Mina stated rather bluntly as the three got their lunches.
"H-Huh?" Izuku said as he looked at her, taking his tray of food and walking with them toward the tables. "W-What do you mean?"
"Well, you know. Someone gets an awesome, powerful Quirk and suddenly they turn into 'that guy', you know? The hard ass. The dude who is above it all, too cool for school, in his own little world. Like Bakugo or Todoroki, you know. They got powerful Quirks, so they always want to act cool, you know. Not you though! You get so geeky about hero stuff it's insane! I could hear your muttering about Present Mic all the way from my seat dude." Mina said, patting his back as she sat down next to Fumikage, who had been pecking at his food, though not literally of course.
"G-Geeky?" Izuku said, trying to process that as he watched Shoji take a seat at the table. "Am I geeky?"
"I wouldn't take everything she says quite so literally, or too seriously." Shoji stated, creating another mouth on one of his free arms. "But to answer your question: Yes, a little. You were doing the same thing just before the practical when Present Mic was explaining the rules."
"It's fine Midoriya, girls dig the nerdy guys too." Mina said with a smile as she began eating.
"I-I see.." Izuku said turning slightly to walk to another table when he heard Shoji speak.
"Are you not going to join us?" Shoji asked, making Izuku turn back slightly.
"Huh? Oh, I didn't wanna presume it'd be okay just because I was already talking to you guys." Izuku said, most of the time he ate lunch by himself, and if it wasn't by himself it was because someone else was bothering him about the Image Inducer back in middle school. The thought hadn't really crossed his mind to try sitting around others in their class this year since he'd been doing it alone for so long.
"Of course, it's okay, I mean you're already here. Why go somewhere else?" Mina said between bites of food.
"Yes, we're classmates, I see no reason to make you sit anywhere else besides with us." Shoji said to him.
Izuku looked between the two briefly, his eyes turning to Fumikage, who had previously been eating alone, and seemed only slightly annoyed at the company. "Yes, why not? Others have already invited themselves to sit down."
Izuku took a seat opposite Fumikage. "We're… not interrupting, are we?" Izuku asked cautiously as Fumikage sat with his head down a bit.
"No, I…" He started before sighing. "It's nothing. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to seem discourteous." Fumikage didn't want to seem rude or hurt their feelings… but having company kinda ruined his whole lone-wolf, creature of the night vibe he had been trying to pull off. It was their first day, he wanted to look cool and mysterious.
Izuku looked over to Mina, who was leaning forward and staring at Shoji with a determined gaze, almost like she was having a staring contest with him. Fumikage turned his head as well.
"Umm, Ashido… What are you doing?" Izuku asked as he looked at her.
"I'm waiting." Mina replied, continuing to stare.
"Waiting… for what?" Fumikage asked as he looked at her.
"Waiting to see how Shoji eats his lunch. You gotta take the mask off to eat, right? I'm still curious about why you wear it." Mina stated. "I'm betting a huge pimple that you're embarrassed about. But you gotta eat, so now I get to see."
Shoji looked at her with that same stoic expression his eyes always held. "I'm right here, Ashido. I can hear you just fine. Besides, I'm already eating." He stated plainly.
"H-Huh?" Mina said, looking down to see one of Shoji's arms had changed into a mouth and started eating his food directly off the plate while he looked between them.
"T-That wasn't exactly what I thought would happen." Mina stated as she watched.
"I… want to stop watching… but I can't look away…" Fumikage said. The sight of it was both fascinating and strange to them all.
"How does that work? I thought the mouths you made could only speak but they can also carry food to your digestive system?" Izuku asked as he watched, mesmerized like Fumikage.
After their less than usual but still extraordinary lunch, they went about a few of their other classes before…
Hero Basic Training!
Everyone sat in the room of 1-A, all wondering to themselves about how this class was gonna be taught, all briming with excitement as, at a hero school, this was the most exciting part of the day. There was also some speculation about who was going to teach it among them. It was then that the door slid open dramatically.
"Here I am…." Came a booming voice from the hall, soon after they all saw the impressive figure that was All Might lean into the room, holding onto the doorway on either side as he posed dramatically, a gust of mysterious wind blowing that magnified his already imposing, heroic presence. "…Coming through the door like a normal person!"
That… is probably the least normal way to enter the door that Izuku had ever seen, and yet it was just so cool! All Might was going to be teaching this class! He was even wearing his Silver Age costume!
Much of the class was the same as Izuku… minus Shoji, who sat there looking at his mentor with a slightly tired gaze. "Definitely the most unnormal way to enter a classroom." He thought to himself.
The class then erupted into excited chattering which was quickly silenced as All Might let out a booming laugh. "Alright everyone, settle down, because today we are starting out strong with… Battle Training!"
The class then erupted into excited cheers as this was probably the most exciting thing they could do on their first day, and with All Might of all people!
"That's not all!" All Might said, pulling a remote out and pressing a button, the wall opening up to the left as several briefcases come out, each numbered according to the seats everyone took up in the class. "If you're going to train like heroes, then you've got to look the part! Here are your hero costumes as per the requisition forms that you all filled out after your acceptance! Go get changed and meet me out at Ground Beta!" All Might then exited dramatically as everyone grabbed the case with their number on it, heading to the locker rooms to change.
Izuku grabbed his suitcase off of the wall and followed along with the others toward the changing rooms, though he lingered quite a while outside pretending he was looking over something with his suit until he believed he could enter alone. He had done something fairly similar during their orientation yesterday. It didn't go unnoticed by all his other classmates though, most just thought he was unusually shy.
"Man, is it just me or is Midoriya painfully shy?" Kirishima said to no one of his male classmates in particular.
"Must be. He won't even come in to change with everyone here." Kaminari said to Kirishima as he finished readjusting his own jacket of his costume.
"Perhaps he simply enjoys the privacy." Fumikage said, mentally believing Izuku to be the lone wolf type, much like himself obviously.
Bakugo stood up, fully clad in his hero suit and cracking his neck. "All of you dumb extras are wrong. That's not why that nerd stays out there until we leave." He stated as he walked toward the door to go to Ground Beta.
"Oh really? Then why, Bakugo?" Shoji said, having just gotten there a bit ago after having, a very brief conversation with All Might before he left to go get changed.
Bakugo gave an ugly, sinister smile as he opened the door. "If today goes how I hope it will…" He then smashed his fist into his palm, creating a small explosion. "…Then I'll get to show you."
The boys of 1-A looked at each other, trying to figure out Bakugo's puzzling words.
"What does he mean by that?" Kaminari asked as he began walking to the door with Ojiro.
"Who knows? I can never get a read on that guy, Midoriya either." Ojiro stated as both left.
"It could be that Bakugo is just an asshole." Fumikage stated to the slightly surprised Iida, still shocked that Bakugo would say something like that about his own classmates, though he was also surprised by Fumikage's remark about Bakugo.
"H-Honestly, all of us should be setting prime examples of how exemplary students should be. We are students of U.A's hero course, we shouldn't be acting like common ruffians toward each other, using threats or foul language such as this." Iida stated as he walked out with Fumikage, who was kind of ignoring Iida's plea for better behavior.
Shoji was all who remained in the locker room after that, putting a hand to his chin in thought but shaking it off as he got dressed. Once he was fully outfitted in his hero costume he began walking to the door when it suddenly opened, seeing Izuku slipping in with his suitcase clutched to his chest.
"Ah! Shoji!" Izuku said with a slight start. "I didn't realize you were still here!" He said with a slight chuckle of nervousness.
"It's alright, Midoriya. I was just about to leave." Shoji said with that same stoic expression of his.
"Oh yeah? Haha, well I'll meet you out there as soon as I'm dressed. Your hero suit looks really cool Shoji! I just hope they made mine half as cool." Izuku said as she started walking over to one of the lockers to put his stuff into.
Shoji looked to the door to leave briefly before turning back to look at Izuku. "Excuse me, Midoriya? I'd like a word about something really quickly."
Izuku had sat on the bench though he hadn't started changing since he didn't hear Shoji leave, turning then to look at the larger boy as he sat on a bench across from him now. Izuku was slightly concerned regarding what this might be about.
"I don't mean to seem like I'm prying, whatever private issues you have going on are your own. I am no stranger to those myself." Shoji stated calmly. "Still though, Bakugo said something to us that was pretty disconcerting."
Izuku gulped. Earlier he had figured Bakugo had kept his mouth shut because he was concerned U.A might let him go for harassing Izuku, but had he told his fellow classmates about his secret? Instinctively Izuku touched his hand to the image inducer.
"I don't know what has transpired between you and Bakugo in the past, though from your reaction before orientation I can presume it hasn't been pleasant. I just wanted to tell you that, whatever this secret may be, it seems Bakugo might be planning something during this class." Shoji stated calmly.
"P-Planning something? Planning like what?" Izuku asked nervously.
Shoji gave a many-armed shrug. "That I can't say, Izuku. Nevertheless, I wanted to inform you to remain on your guard for whatever events transpire today. If you'd like, we can go to All Might, though I'm unsure if that would be the best course of action myself."
Izuku felt it, that cold chill that told him something was going to happen. Was Bakugo going to tear the watch off during class and expose him like that?
Izuku let his mind race for a moment as Shoji stood up. "I'm sorry to concern you with it, I merely wanted to keep you informed. I'll let you get changed now." Shoji then began to walk toward the door.
Just as one of Shoji's hands touched the doorknob, he heard Izuku speak.
"Shoji, wait, please…" Izuku said, turning to look at him from the bench.
Shoji turned to meet the gaze of the emerald haired boy, who seemed rather pensive and deeply worried.
"I… need to ask you something." Izuku said, feeling his heart pound in his chest and his hair stand on end. Shoji had been nice enough to tell him about this, not only that but ever since he got to U.A he could feel like Shoji was someone he could talk to rather easily… If Izuku was going to consider revealing his true appearance to others.. wouldn't Shoji be the natural first option?
"Have you ever… wished you could look more normal?" Izuku said, Shoji raising an eyebrow. Izuku realized how that may have sounded and waved his arms a bit. "Please, I don't mean that in an offensive way, of course. It's just that…" Izuku said, turning to face him. "You and Ashido have such prominent and obvious mutations, yet you don't seem to let it bother you that you appear different than others. I was just wondering if the thought of looking more normal ever crossed your mind."
Shoji was curious about this turn of the conversation to be certain, walking back over and sitting opposite of Izuku. "You're curious if I ever lament my mutated appearance?"
Izuku nervously waved his hands. "I wouldn't put it quite so harshly."
Shoji had no idea how this related to their prior conversation. "You ask if I ever wished that I look more normal? My answer to that is… no."
Izuku nodded a bit. It wasn't a surprising answer, hell it was a silly question.
"My appearance is a reflection of my parents, the same with my Quirk. I wouldn't wish to change that." Shoji stated calmly before continuing. "However, I won't say that I have never thought about what it might be like."
Izuku blinked a bit and sat forward, wondering if Shoji would continue.
"I grew up in a small town in the Fukuoka Prefecture. It's quiet, and a rather simple life in comparison to the hustle of the larger cities. However, under the idyllic country life, there is a deep hatred against those with outward mutations." Shoji stated, Izuku listening intently.
"My family and I are no strangers to the hatred that others feel for those with visible mutations, often I was separated from events with the other, less visibly mutated members of my classes. The harsh glares, harsh words, and sometimes even physical altercations are all too familiar for me. Sometimes, I thought about how things may go if I did look normal. Though I do not wish for it. My father is a proud man, and even despite the cruel words people say to him, he still goes through life unabated. That is the man I aspire to become as well." Shoji stated, holding his head high for a moment as he thought back to them. Now that he was at U.A, he had to live in the city, with help from the school and a bit of financial aid from his parents when they could spare it, he did miss his home with his parents though.
Izuku looked at Shoji with a slight awe. Even with so much that had happened to him, he still didn't wish for it. Yet here Izuku was, hiding, even as Shoji told this story. He looked down a bit, looking at the watch. Even in Musutafu, he'd experienced some of the same. The harsh glares of others, the mean words of either the ignorant or the malicious, they'd even talked harshly about his own parents because of how HE looked. He only wanted it to go away back then. That's why his father and mother got the watch made to help him. While it helped in at least their day to day, it still didn't fix the overall issue. He just… didn't know where he belonged. Could he just take it off and try to live like Ashido and Shoji, like he hadn't been hiding for years? Or did he try to go through the rest of his life pretending he didn't look like a fuzzy blue devil?
Both of those questions presented their own issues, he wasn't even entirely sure he could do either… but after talking to Shoji he did make up his mind to do one thing.
"Shoji, I need to show you something." Izuku said, lifting his head back up.
Shoji raised an eyebrow at this. He couldn't get a bead on Izuku's whole conversational path, asking him about whether he wished he was normal looking and now wanting to show him something.
Izuku didn't believe Shoji would be the type to freak out or run, that wasn't like him from what he had gathered these last few days, but he was still unsure about how he'd react. Slowly, Izuku moved his hand to his watch and unclipped it, which turned it off automatically. Slowly, the image of the pale skinned boy with bright emerald hair would change. The hair turned a slightly darker green, and his once pale skin was revealed to be covered in a dark blue fur. The emerald eyes of the boy changing to solid yellow, and his teeth and ears becoming pointed. Shoji could also see that his hands, which had once had five digits now only had three, and that a tail slowly unwrapped from around Izuku's waist. Izuku stood up, slipping off his shoes, even his toes which Shoji could see through the socks he wore would be changed with two large digits instead of the usual number. Izuku then sat crouched on the bench, a more natural sitting position for him than sitting normally. It was how he sat at home, when not wearing the image inducer, except of course for dinner where his mother insisted he sit straight down to eat.
Izuku saw the first expressive emotion he had ever seen from Shoji: Surprise! Shoji's eyes had widened significantly, or at least the one Izuku could see past his white hair. Shoji sat back down in his seat and looked at Izuku up and down. This… this was the last thing he had expected. Izuku gave him a moment to process this before slipping the watch fully off of his wrist and holding it in his hand.
"This is what I really look like, Shoji…" Izuku said, the tail swishing slightly behind him. "What you've seen… that was thanks to this." Izuku said, showing Shoji the watch. "It's an Image Inducer. It covers my body in the appearance of, at least what I believe, I would look like now had I not changed."
Shoji blinked a bit. This was all a lot to process but the word 'changed' caught his attention. "Changed? Changed how?" Shoji managed to ask.
"I didn't always look like this. Up until about my fifth birthday, I looked as normal as anyone. They were speculating that I may never get a Quirk, that I'd become one of the Quirkless." Izuku said, moving the watch around his hand. "Then one day, I stepped in to stop a boy from being bullied by Kaachan and some of his friends… I couldn't fight them, so I grabbed the boy to shield him with my body… but I teleported us away. When we came out of the teleportation, I looked like this. The boy was so scared he cried and ran away from me, even after I saved him."
Shoji was relaxing a bit more as he talked to him. It was certainly bizarre to say the least. Shoji had looked like that since he was born, he hadn't changed. This was the first case he'd ever heard of a Quirk altering their physical appearance so much on activation. He remained silent as Izuku continued.
"The doctors believed that I was never supposed to develop a Quirk, that it was just supposed to remain dormant in my genes, perhaps even get passed on to my children instead of me, but it suddenly activated when I felt I desperately needed to protect someone. It's clearly a deviant mutation. My mother can only pull objects to her and my father can breathe fire, so this changed appearance and teleportation caused quite a stir in the neighborhood. Some believed my mother was a blue shapeshifter who was hiding her appearance from them, and that I had that ability myself. Others believed that my father Hisashi wasn't my real father, and that my mother had cheated on him with some blue skinned devil guy, then even swore they'd seen him visiting the house. It caused all kinds of trouble for my parents to have everyone make such vicious rumors because of me. School wasn't much better, other kids didn't wanna come near me, parents didn't want their children playing with the devil boy, I was even voted 'Most likely to be a villain' by my class in first grade. Some of the other students thought it would be funny to mimic the actual one by doing one for our class." Izuku said, using the tip of his tail to outline the grooves of the bench.
"I just kept wishing things would change. I didn't wanna look like this. I didn't wanna keep causing problems for them. I thought, if I only looked normal, they'd be fine. That's when my father contacted an old buddy of his at a Support company, he got them to mockup a device that would change my appearance to something more normal, to give me a chance at living a more normal life without all the eyes on me. Getting the Image Inducer actually made however…" Izuku started, trailing off. "…That cost money. We had to move into a cheaper apartment, my father also took a higher paying job overseas and works crazy hours just to meet the loan payments on the watch."
"I thought it would help, but it didn't really matter. Sure, people on the streets stopped gawking at me as long as I wore it, but Kaachan always made it his personal mission to out me right from the start. Every class, every year, he found a way to let everyone know I'm some fuzzy blue devil instead of just a normal guy. I guess it only makes sense he would want to do it here as well. I just… I just wanted to stop scaring people. I want to stop having people look at my appearance and becoming concerned. I want to save people, but I don't want to make them afraid to be saved by me, Shoji. That's why I've still worn it… or maybe I'm just still too afraid to take it off." Izuku said with a sigh, looking to Shoji for a reaction now.
Shoji was still fairly stoic, but his eyes conveyed an understand. Slowly, he pulled the mask he always wore down, revealing his own rather large mouth, full of jagged teeth. It was fairly similar to the mouths he created on the ends of his arms though, so Izuku wasn't terribly surprised to see it, though he was surprised by what he actually said with it. "I understand." Shoji stated. "Perhaps more than you know."
Izuku listened intently as Shoji explained. "The reason I wear this mask, is because one time, long ago, I made a young girl cry, just from looking at my face. I didn't want to be the cause of other's sadness, Midoriya, that's why I started wearing it. So, as I also don't want to cause feelings of unease in others, I understand why you'd feel the need to hide. I am proud of my family, and I wish to become a man like my father as I have said, but I am not there quite yet myself."
Shoji stood up and placed a reassuring hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Thank you, for telling me. I know it couldn't have been easy." Shoji then put the mask back over his face, soon using one of his arms to create another mouth. "Rest assured, I won't tell anyone else about this unless you would want that. It is not my secret to reveal. However, regardless of how I feel, Bakugo seems intent to reveal it for you. Regardless of whether you try to remain wearing the Image Inducer or reveal yourself, you can count on me. We're classmates, which to me means we're comrades. So, I got your back." Shoji extended a hand to Izuku, who then took it and shook it, doing his best not to let his typical overwhelming emotions to cause him to cry. Shoji then walked to the door. "I'll see you out there."
Izuku sat in there for a moment processing that. Shoji's reaction had been better than he expected. Honestly, he had figured he would hate him for hiding. Izuku believed that Shoji may just be a genuinely nice guy, certainly one he had a lot in common with the more he thought about it. Izuku then shook his head and cleared his mind, he had to get dressed and fast to meet the others out at Ground Beta.
…Ground Beta
Izuku hurriedly got dressed and ran out toward Ground Beta, using his teleportation to jump forward a bit more quickly. He was definitely the last one to arrive.
Izuku stepped out into the light to join the rest of his class, looking around to see the various costumes of his classmates.
"Yo! Midoriya!" Came a voice that snapped him out of it. It was Mina Ashido, clad in a rather skintight, multicolored spandex outfit, wearing also a short brown vest with a high puffy collar and matching boots. She also had a small white mask over her eyes. "Check it out! Isn't it awesome?!" She said with a smile, spinning around in the outfit.
Izuku flushed a bit and rubbed his green hair some. "Y-Yeah! L-Looks cool!" He said, averting his eyes elsewhere.
"Yours is pretty cool too Midoriya!" Mina said with a smile, checking out the outfit Izuku wore.
Izuku's hero costume was also a spandex outfit, full-bodied unlike Mina's, which had a more tanktop design at the top. The main part of the outfit was black but over the torso was a dark red vest stitched into the costume shaped like a v coming down from his shoulders to his crotch. There was also some slightly pointed red shoulder guards to match and a pretty handy utility belt which he had ball bearings, caltrops, and other small utility items he could want or need. Izuku also had a short pair of thin white gloves and "shoes" with his costume made of the same material as the gloves. They were really just very thin fabrics that allowed him to still latch onto walls and didn't offer very much in the way of protection besides keeping his hands and feet from getting too dirty while crawling around. Better than nothing, that was all he really thought of them.
"H-Hehe, thanks. I didn't ask for this X over the buckle though." He told Mina as she looked at it. In the center of the belt buckle was a large yellow X, which definitely wasn't part of the design originally when he submitted it. "I think they may have just wanted some kinda placeholder design there and took some creative liberties, I could probably get them to put something different or maybe remove it all together."
Mina smiled at Izuku. "I think it's cool. Who knows, maybe you could work it into your Hero name. Oh, I got one! How about… the Uncanny X-Man!"
Izuku rubbed the back of his head a bit. "I… don't think that one is gonna work." He told her. It was then that they heard All Might clear his throat and ready himself to speak and explain what was going to happen today. Izuku's heart was racing. He knew, whatever it was, Bakugo was going to find a way to try and expose him. Izuku did have a plan though, regardless of whatever thoughts Bakugo had crossing his mind.